World News joined 0007

[JohnCenaFan28]

A man appeared in court charged over a carjacking which left a mother fighting for her life in hospital.

Caroline Johnson, 46, received horrific injuries after being knocked over when her car was allegedly stolen as she scraped ice off the windscreen.

Kevin Richardson, 33, of no fixed address, appeared in the dock charged with aggravated vehicle taking and grievous bodily harm with intent over the incident in Langley, Berkshire on Tuesday last week.

He was remanded in custody following the brief hearing at East Berkshire Magistrates Court in Slough.

Mrs Johnson was dragged up to 60ft underneath her Citroen Picasso which she was clearing of frost before taking her son to school.

She was left lying in the road close to her home in Humber Way.

She remains in hospital in a critical but stable condition after suffering serious internal damage and injuries to her arms and legs.

Richardson will next appear before Reading Crown Court on March 19.

-Nova

[JohnCenaFan28]

An independent investigation has been launched after four people died when a stolen car crashed into a takeaway and burst into flames.

Witnesses described seeing a "huge fireball" as the Subaru car collided with Killinghall Fisheries, on Killinghall Road, in the Laisterdyke area of Bradford, at around 4.35am.

West Yorkshire Police said the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) was now assessing the crash because police were in the area at the time.

Police could not confirm whether the Suburu was involved in a police pursuit when it collided with the building.

Speaking outside Trafalgar House police station, in Bradford, Chief Superintendent Alison Rose told how a police officer pulled one of the victims from the burning vehicle in a life-saving attempt.

Ms Rose said: "A Subaru car, which is believed to have been stolen last night in the Daisy Hill area of Bradford, was in collision with a commercial premise. An officer at the scene pulled one person from the burning car but they died at the scene. A further three people from the car also died at the scene."

She continued: "Obviously, this was a terrible incident and the officers who went to the scene have understandably been affected by what they saw and are being supported by colleagues."

Local residents said they had seen a police presence in the area just before the collision.

Zac Hussein said: "My friend and I were sat in the car and we saw police cars moving up the street in a rolling road block. They were moving slowly up the road at least two or three abreast.

"Then they moved past where we were parked and no more than eight seconds later we heard a crash and then almost instantly there was this huge fireball."

-Nova

[JohnCenaFan28]

Prince Harry is to train to become an Army Air Corps (AAC) helicopter pilot after passing the unit's selection process, Clarence House has said.

The young royal will start training next month after completing a four-week course that assessed whether he had the talent and ability to fly.

Harry, 24, is an officer in the Household Cavalry Regiment but has now re-directed his military career and probably given himself a better chance of being deployed to the front line.

He served for 10 weeks in Afghanistan earlier this year and has repeatedly said he wants to return.

In a statement, Clarence House confirmed that if Harry successfully completes his training, he will be able to serve wherever his unit is posted.

It stated: "If Prince Harry qualifies as an Army Air Corps pilot, he will, like any officer, be available for operational service wherever the AAC flies."

Elements of the Corps are deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq working with other British units.

To complete the flying course, the Prince spent 13 hours in a Slingsby T67 light aircraft receiving lessons from an instructor but did not have to fly solo.

He also passed the practical part of the AAC's grading process, which included medical and aptitude examinations.

The final stage saw Harry interviewed by a selection board at the School of Army Aviation in Middle Wallop, Hampshire.

-Nova

[JohnCenaFan28]

Stabbings have fallen in areas targeted by a police crackdown on knife crime, Home Office figures reveal. Figures from knife crime hotspots revealed the number of youngsters admitted to hospital with stab wounds fell more than a quarter between July and September compared to last year.

The number of serious injuries and deaths against youngsters in the same period fell by nearly a fifth. In the 10 Tackling Knives Action Programme areas where there was increased use of stop and search, fewer youngsters were caught with knives - down from one in 30 to one in 65.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown welcomed the figures, but added: "We have got more to do." He said it was important to send out the message to young people that it is "not cool, not smart, not macho" to carry a knife and that they are putting themselves in more danger by having one.

In an interview with LBC Radio, Mr Brown said: "There have been 100,000 searches and we are finding that less people have knives at the moment, but we are always going to be vigilant. We have increased sentences. There is a presumption to prosecute if you are carrying a knife. We are stopping shops selling knives. We have got retailers signed up. We have got a texting service if people want to report people who are carrying knives.

"But the main thing we want to see is a change in the attitude, a change in the culture. It is not cool, it is not smart, it is not macho to carry a knife."

But critics said knife carriers were still being given a "slap on the wrist".

Shadow home secretary Dominic Grieve said anyone caught carrying a knife should face an automatic prison sentence.

Police carried out 105,000 searches for weapons between June and October and seized 2,200 weapons. The crackdown followed a string of high profile stabbings of young people during the summer.

The Prime Minister later joined young people, celebrities, business people and families of the victims of stabbings to launch an initiative to combat knife crime. Mr Brown said the launch of No To Knives marked a "momentous day".

Mr Brown was joined by Brooke Kinsella whose brother Ben was stabbed to death and Richard Taylor who lost his son Damilola. The Prime Minister said he respected both for their campaigns against violence and said the launch of the No To Knives coalition campaign gave communities "one voice". "There should be no more families suffering as Brooke Kinsella's family or Richard Taylor's family has," he said.

-Nova

[JohnCenaFan28]

Postal workers complained they were being pressured into walking faster to complete their rounds under cost-saving measures.

The Communication Workers Union said delivery staff were being told to walk at a speed of 4mph, an increase over a previous target of 2.4mph.

The union said delivery workers were being pressed to complete "unrealistic" rounds to gain financial savings. The Royal Mail denied the union's claims.

The row has flared over a software system that originated in Canada, which is now used by many countries including the UK to plan delivery walks.

The idea is that by using the system, deliveries will be more efficient, but the union said it had been introduced without agreement and claimed that a number of problems had broken out in various parts of the country.

A union official said: "Royal Mail has altered the system to meet budgetary savings, not to consider the actual physical realities of delivery rounds. In some areas jobs are being lost or changed to part-time as the system finds efficiency savings. In other areas overtime is taken away.

"More and more managers are going out and delivering mail, which is not in their job description and they should not be doing. Mail backlogs or consistent returned mail, because of an over-estimated workload, have been reported this year in Watford, Enfield, Oxford, Coventry, Belfast, Cambridge and Evesham, amongst others.

"Managers in problem areas are putting delivery workers under undue pressure to complete unrealistic rounds.

"In some offices this is leading to bullying and harassment by managers trying to force delivery workers to take on larger rounds, work beyond their finish time and refusing to pay overtime. In extreme circumstances this is leading to suspension and even sacking."

The Royal Mail has denied that anyone was being bullied or harassed.

-Nova

[JohnCenaFan28]

More radical measures are needed to tackle childhood obesity, campaigners said after figures showed no decline in the number of fat children.

Almost a quarter of four to five-year-olds in England's primary schools are overweight or obese, according to the latest data from the NHS Information Centre.

And almost one in three children aged 10 to 11 are also overweight or obese, the figures showed.

The data represents little change from the proportion who were overweight or obese last year.

It was drawn from the National Child Measurement Programme, which measures the weight of children in reception class (four to five-year-olds) and Year 6 (aged 10 to 11) in primary schools in England.

Almost a million children took part in the 2007/08 programme, with 88% of those eligible being weighed and measured. This was up on the 80% who took part in 2006/07.

The scheme has attracted criticism in recent years because parents can "opt out" of having their children weighed and measured.

Research has suggested that the heaviest children opt out of the programme, leaving campaigners suggesting it fails to offer a true picture of childhood obesity in England.

National Obesity Forum spokesman Tam Fry said he was unsurprised that the Department of Health's measures were failing to reverse the obesity trend.

"We had high hopes that there would have been a marked improvement after all the money that is being thrown at the problem but it seems that more radical measures will be needed to reduce obesity levels," he said.

-Nova

[DUKE NUKEM]

thanks for the read Eel

[JohnCenaFan28]

A jury rejected the police account of the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes as the Brazilian's inquest was branded a "whitewash" by his family.

After returning an open verdict, the 10 jurors rejected a string of claims made by officers about the events leading up to Mr de Menezes being killed.

In a damning indictment, they dismissed claims by firearms officer C12 that he shouted "armed police" before opening fire.

The jury also disputed that 27-year-old Mr de Menezes had walked towards officers before he was killed.

The jurors concluded that six police failings caused or contributed to the innocent man's death.

Firearms officers shot Mr de Menezes at Stockwell Tube station in south London on July 22, 2005, after mistaking him for failed suicide bomber Hussain Osman.

As the jury returned its verdict after its sixth day of deliberations, the Menezes family accused coroner Sir Michael Wright of "presiding over a complete whitewash".

In a stinging attack on the coroner, they said he "failed on every count" during proceedings.

A family statement, released through the Justice4Jean campaign group, said: "After three months of evidence, 100 witnesses and millions of pounds, the coroner, Sir Michael Wright, has presided over a complete whitewash.

"He has failed on every count of the purpose of an inquest investigation."

-Nova

[JohnCenaFan28]

The Metropolitan Police accepts "full responsibility" for the death of Jean Charles de Menezes, its acting head said.

Sir Paul Stephenson, the acting commissioner of the force, said officers made a "most terrible mistake" when they shot the innocent 27-year-old dead in Stockwell on July 22 2005.

He said the Brazilian electrician's death was a tragedy, and offered his condolences to the dead man's family.

Speaking at the Oval cricket ground in south London after the verdict on Friday, Mr Stephenson said: "The death of Jean Charles de Menezes was a tragedy.

"He was an innocent man and we must and do accept full responsibility for his death.

"For somebody to lose his life in such circumstances is something the Metropolitan Police Service deeply regrets.

"I wish once again to extend my profound condolences to the family of Jean Charles. They have suffered the most dreadful of losses."

He said the suicide bombings of July 7 and the failed suicide attacks on July 21 had created a unique situation in the capital, with terrorists on the loose.

"No-one set out that day to kill an innocent man," he said. "The coroner has ruled that, on the extensive evidence put to the court, this was not an unlawful killing."

He said the officers who shot the Brazilian "set out with the intent to protect and defend the public".

-Nova

[JohnCenaFan28]

A British soldier serving in Iraq has died after shooting himself.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said there was no evidence to suggest enemy forces or a third party was involved in the death of the soldier, from 20 Armoured Brigade.

The shooting was reported on Thursday at 10pm local time at the Contingency Operating Base in Basra.

The MoD said immediate medical assistance was provided but the soldier died at the scene.

The soldier was the second to die in Iraq in eight days from wounds which are thought to be self inflicted.

Lance Corporal David Wilson, 27, from West Yorkshire, died from a gunshot wound to the head at the same contingency operating base in Basra on December 4.

L/Cpl Wilson, who was serving with 9 Regiment Army Air Corps, died 11 weeks after the birth of his daughter, Poppy, who his family said "had made his world complete".

The two servicemen are the only British fatalities in Iraq since March.

A total of 177 British service personnel have lost their lives in Iraq since the US-led invasion in March 2003.

-Nova