Abu Hamza to be held for another week
Police have been allowed to hold Abu Hamza al-Masri, the Muslim cleric arrested on suspicion of terrorist activities, for another seven days (Stewart Tendler writes).
Abu Hamza, who already faces extradition to the US, was arrested at Belmarsh prison on Thursday. Bow Street Magistrates’ Court yesterday gave police the permission to hold the radical cleric until September 2.
He was arrested under the Terrorism Act 2000 on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism.
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Arthritis drug risk
A drug taken by arthritis sufferers has been found to triple the risk of heart attack and sudden death. The US Food and Drug Administration found that high doses of Vioxx, made by Merck & Co, were 3.15 times more likely to cause death or heart attacks than ibuprofen.
Case wrecked
A driver who killed a pedestrian while high on drugs escaped prosecution because police crushed the car involved. Stephen Whittaker admitted at an inquest in Rotherham that he drove the car that killed Kevin Keeton, 27, in Mexborough, South Yorkshire, in 2002.
Bus Briton dies
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A sixth Briton has died from injuries sustained in a coach crash in Austria this month, the Foreign Office said. The unnamed Briton is thought to be a married man. Five other British tourists died when a bus plunged off a mountain road near Salzburg. Six are still in hospital.
Sentence appeal
Britain’s “Children’s Champion” wants the jail sentence imposed on the Queen’s former choirmaster for child sex attacks to be increased. Shy Keenan has urged the Attorney-General to refer Jonathan Rees-Williams’s sentence to the Court of Appeal.
Hunt for missing fishermen
Police have begun a search for two fishermen who have been missing for almost a month. Alan Naylor, 50, and Lance Wiltshire-Butler, 54, have not been seen since leaving Mallaig harbour on the west coast of Scotland on July 28 aboard a prawn trawler, Kathryn Jane, said to be in poor condition.
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The 28ft vessel was spotted in Loch Bracadale, Dunvegan, but there was no sign of Mr Naylor, from London, and Mr Wiltshire-Butler, who is thought to be Australian but had been renting a home in Inverness. A search of the loch had found fishing nets but no sign of the vessel.
The men were reported missing by Mr Naylor’s wife on August 10.
Property surge
The price of an average house in Scotland has now reached £108,238. The figure represents a rise of 1.2 per cent on the previous quarter — and 19.3 per cent on the same quarter last year. Edinburgh has the highest prices, with an average house cost of £144,685.
Mystery attack
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A gunman has forced a mother and her two children into hiding after firing a bullet through the living room window of their home in Dingwall, in the Highlands. Detectives have not found a motive and believe it may be a case of mistaken identity.
Faulty tower
The rotating Glasgow Science Centre tower had to be closed less than 24 hours after it opened to the public two years late. The tower was closed when a glass lift broke and engineers had to shut down the building to fix it. It will, however, be open for business today.
Abortion record
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The number of abortions in England and Wales rose to a record 181,600 last year, a rise of 3.2 per cent on the previous year, despite government efforts to reduce unwanted pregnancies. The number of abortions for girls aged under 15 rose by nearly 9 per cent to 1,171.
Teacher killed
Gillian Neesham, 51, a primary school teacher from Hexham, Northumberland, was killed in a jet-ski accident while on holiday in Fiji with her family. It is believed that the machine left the water, skidded across land and smashed into a tree.