Category: news

Forensics experts at the scene of the shooting on the Shankill Road

A 40-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the murder of a man on Belfast's Shankill Road.

Bobby Moffett, 43, was shot in the face shortly before 1300 BST on Friday.

The police said Mr Moffett, had strong links to the Ulster Volunteer Force, and was well known in loyalist circles.

Dawn Purvis, leader of the Progressive Unionist Party which is linked to the UVF, said there would be consequences for the paramilitary group if it was behind the killing.

"Regardless of whether or not Mr Moffett was a member or not or had previously been a member or not, he has been shot dead in broad daylight and it's absolutely wrong.

"This could have broader implications in terms of the ceasefire and decommissioning."

The shooting happened on Belfast’s Shankill Road

The UVF said last June it had put all its weapons beyond use.

At least two masked gunmen wearing fluorescent jackets shot Mr Moffett at the corner of Conway Street and the Shankill Road.

He died in hospital. Police do not believe the shooting was sectarian.

There is speculation that Mr Moffett may have been involved in a fight with a member of the UVF in recent days – but this may have been a personal dispute rather than anything to do with the organisation.

The attack happened in an area that was crowded with shoppers.

In a statement, the police said it was "a cold-blooded, ruthless killing".

"It is a chilling reminder of a violent past that everyone in the community hoped we had left behind," they added.

The gunmen were seen running off along nearby Conway Street.

One witness said: "I heard about four shots and saw the gunmen standing in the middle of the road wearing balaclavas and orange tops.

He said he saw the victim lying on the ground.

"I think he was shot in the head or the face," he said.

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By Emma WilkinsonHealth reporter, BBC NewsThe effect was seen in men and women

Comparing your income with those of family and friends is a recipe for unhappiness, a study has suggested.

Researchers analysing data from a Europe-wide survey found three-quarters of those asked thought it important to compare their incomes with others.

But those who compared salaries seem less content, especially if they looked at those of friends and family rather than work colleagues.

The paper in the Economic Journal also found the poor were most affected.

The researchers, from the Paris School of Economics, used data from the European Social Survey covering 19,000 participants in 24 countries.

They found that those who compared their incomes with others tended to be less happy.

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We need to know what comes first – is it those who are glass half empty types who do the comparisons as a consequence of that, or is it the comparison that makes them unhappy?

Professor Cary CooperLancaster University Management School

The responses showed that the greater the importance people attached to such comparisons, the lower they ranked themselves on measures of satisfaction with life and standard of living, as well as on feeling depressed.

There was no difference seen between men and women in how much they compare their income with those around them.

But limiting comparisons to work colleagues seems to be the most innocuous – as comparisons with friends appeared to be twice as painful as comparisons with colleagues.

People in poorer countries were found to compare their incomes more than people in richer ones and, within countries, poorer people were more likely to compare their incomes than richer people.

Glass half empty

The researchers suggest that when it comes to comparing your salary with colleagues' earnings, it may help boost feelings about the prospects for potential future income.

They concluded: "Constantly looking over one's shoulder seems to make the world a less happy – and more unequal – place."

Study leader Professor Andrew Clark added that the larger effect seen in poorer groups was a surprise.

"I had thought that richer people would compare more because if you're down towards the bottom what really matters is just getting the minimum required, but it didn't come out that way."

Professor Cary Cooper, an expert in organisational psychology and health at Lancaster University Management School, said the kind of people who constantly compare themselves with others tend to be unsure of themselves.

"We need to know what comes first – is it those who are glass half empty types who do the comparisons as a consequence of that, or is it the comparison that makes them unhappy?"

He said comparisons with school and university friends were probably most damaging.

"With work colleagues it's a fairness issue, but with school friends who had the same opportunities as you you might think 'They've done much better than me so I must be less competent'.

"I would advise people to not compare themselves and be happy with who they are and the situation they're in – remember those you're comparing yourself with may not actually be more content."

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The US military has reprimanded six operators of an un-manned drone, which mistakenly attacked a civilian convoy in Afghanistan killing at least 23.

Warnings that the convoy was not an attacking force were ignored or played down, while the ground-force commander was not sure who was in the vehicles, an investigation found.

The deadly assault took place in Uruzgan Province in February.

Civilian deaths in strikes have caused widespread resentment in Afghanistan.

A Nato statement at the time said it was thought the convoy contained Taliban insurgents on their way to attack Afghan and foreign military forces.

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Inadvertently killing or injuring civilians is heartbreaking and undermines their trust and confidence in our mission

Gen Stanley McChrystalAir strike kills Afghan civilians

However, troops then found "a number of individuals killed and wounded", including women and children.

A US military investigation said the order to attack was based on inaccurate information from the crew monitoring the convoy from an Air Force base in Nevada and on flawed analysis by Nato commanders.

The reports said poorly functioning command posts "failed to provide the ground-force commander with the evidence and analysis that the vehicles were not a hostile threat".

The commander of the international forces in Afghanistan, Gen Stanley McChrystal, said letters had been issued reprimanding four senior and two junior officers in Afghanistan.

He said: "Our most important mission here is to protect the Afghan people; inadvertently killing or injuring civilians is heartbreaking and undermines their trust and confidence in our mission.

"We will do all we can to regain that trust."

The botched strike happened despite Gen McChrystal's introduction of much tougher rules of engagement in a bid to minimise such casualties.

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Officers investigating the deaths of three women in Bradford find what are thought to be more human remains in the River Aire.

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Biggs was released from prison on medical grounds

Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs has been admitted to hospital in London after complaining of chest pain.

Biggs, 80, is expected to undergo tests at Barnet General Hospital later, his son Michael said.

"He had pain in his chest this morning, he's conscious but he's in a lot of pain," he said.

Biggs was released from prison on compassionate grounds in 2009 because of health problems. He has been living in a care home in Barnet.

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The next five-day strike is due to start at midnight on Sunday

British Airways cabin crew who have been on strike are returning to work for one day before the next five-day stoppage begins on Sunday.

It comes after talks between the airline and the Unite union ended without an agreement.

The two sides are locked in a row over pay, staff levels and work conditions.

Despite the brief break before the second five-day strike, dozens of BA flights scheduled for Saturday are still set to be cancelled.

The Daily Telegraph quoted the airline as having criticised the "impossibly" short break between strikes for not providing enough time for a normal service to resume.

However, the airline says it is increasingly confident about its ability to withstand the impact of the strike when it resumes.

On Friday, conciliation service Acas said talks had been adjourned and it would now try to arrange futher negotiations.

Cancelled flights

Unite also wants the travel perks of striking workers to be reinstated and disciplinary action against others to be cancelled.

Unite says 121 flights out of 333 scheduled to leave Heathrow on Friday have been cancelled.

However, BA says it is flying 70% of passengers.

A third five-day strike is due to start on 5 June.

Unite has said it will call off the industrial action if the airline restores travel concessions to staff who previously went on strike.

Joint general secretary, Derek Simpson said this would not cost the airline anything, and accused BA chief executive Willie Walsh of "blocking a deal".

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The explosion happened outside Strand Road police station

A device has exploded outside a police station on Strand Road in Londonderry. The small explosion happened at about 0015 on Saturday morning.

Army bomb experts are examining a car in nearby Queen Street which was reported to have been on fire shortly after the explosion was heard.

A nearby home for elderly residents had to be evacuated, with people taken to Brooke park leisure centre.

SDLP councillor Helen Quigley said the area was cordoned off.

"It is my understanding that there was on explosion last night and Strand Road won't be open for some time while the police look into this."

On Friday night another suspicious object found in a bar in Londonderry was a viable pipe bomb, police have said.

The alarm was raised after the object was found upstairs in a bar at Stanley's Walk, in the Brandywell area.

The army was called and the alert has ended. In a separate alert, five homes in Derry were evacuated over night.

A suspicious device, left at the roadside at O'Connor Court in Ballymagroarty, turned out to be a hoax.

Two controlled explosions were carried out during the Ballymagroarty alert shortly after 0500 BST on Friday.

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By Malcolm BrabantBBC News, AthensThe Danish company’s decision has been criticised in Greece

The world's leading supplier of the anti-diabetes drug insulin is withdrawing its medication from Greece.

Novo Nordisk, a Danish company, objects to a government decree ordering a 25% price cut in all medicines.

People with diabetes in Greece have condemned the Danish action as "brutal capitalist blackmail".

More than 50,000 Greeks with diabetes use Novo Nordisk's state of-the-art-insulin, which is injected via an easy-to-use fountain pen-like device.

A spokesman for the Danish pharmaceutical company said it was withdrawing the product from the Greek market because the price cut would force its business in Greece to run at a loss.

The company was also concerned that the compulsory 25% reduction would have a knock-on effect because other countries use Greece as a key reference point for setting drug prices.

‘Insensitive’

Greece wants to slash its enormous medical bill as part of its effort to reduce the country's crippling debt.

International pharmaceutical companies are owed billions in unpaid bills. Novo Nordisk claims it is owed $36m (£24.9m) dollars by the Greek state.

The father of a 10-year-old Greek girl with diabetes called Nephele has written to Novo Nordisk's chairman saying there was more to health care than the bottom line.

"You could not have acted in a more insensitive manner at a more inopportune time," he wrote.

The Greek diabetes association was more robust, describing the Danes' actions as "brutal blackmail" and "a violation of corporate social responsibility".

The Danish chairman, Lars Sorensen, wrote to Nephele's father stressing that it was "the irresponsible management of finances by the Greek government which puts both you and our company in this difficult position".

People with diabetes in Greece have warned that some could die as a result of this action.

But a spokesman for Novo Nordisk said this issue was not about killing people. He pledged that the company would make traditional insulin products available free of charge to compensate.

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Dubovie was chosen to represent the UK in March

Acts from 25 countries are preparing to take part in the grand final of this year's Eurovision Song Contest, taking place later in Norway's capital Oslo.

British hopes rest on 19-year-old Josh Dubovie, who will perform a Mike Stock and Pete Waterman song called That Sounds Good To Me.

The UK has not won Eurovision since 1997, when Katrina and the Waves triumphed with Love Shine a Light.

Bookmakers have made Azerbaijan favourite to win the contest.

Their chosen act, Safura, will open Saturday's show with her song Drip Drop.

Because the phone vote that decides the winner opens at the beginning of the show, it is thought the 17-year-old may have an advantage over her fellow contestants.

More than 125 million watched last year's competition in Moscow, when Norwegian violinist Alexander Rybak took home the trophy with a record 387 points.

The economic downturn has hit this year hard, though, with several countries having to pull out of the event because they could not afford to take part.

Graham Norton will host the BBC's live TV coverage of the event, which kicks off at 2000 BST on BBC One.

Bookmakers have made Safura from Azerbaijan favourite to win

Radio listeners, meanwhile, can hear Ken Bruce report on proceedings on BBC Radio Two from 2000 BST.

Speaking to the BBC earlier this week, Waterman admitted it was "highly unlikely" the UK will win this year's competition.

However, he added, "there is always an outside chance that something bizarre might happen."

Dubovie was chosen to represent the UK after securing the most public votes on Your Country Needs You! on BBC One in March.

Bookmakers Ladbrokes have given him odds of 175/1 – the lowest given to any UK Eurovision hopeful ever.

The UK is one of five automatic finalists, alongside France, Germany, Spain and last year's winners Norway.

The remaining 20 finalists have been whittled down from the 34 countries that participated in the two semi-finals that took place on Tuesday and Thursday.

Among them is Niamh Kavanagh, who is representing the Republic of Ireland for the second time after winning the competition in 1993.

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CCTV images had been released of Zoe Nelson

A 20-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the death of teenager Zoe Nelson, whose burned body was discovered in a field.

The 17-year-old was found near Branchalfield Drive in Wishaw, North Lanarkshire, on Sunday, and a murder investigation was launched.

Strathclyde Police said the suspect was in custody but gave no other details about the arrest.

Zoe was last seen leaving her Newmains home at 1700 BST last Saturday.

Residents later reported seeing a fire in woods known as Monkey Hill at about 2320 BST.

Security cameras

Earlier this week detectives released CCTV images of the last known movements of the teenager, who was due to celebrate her 18th birthday in a few months.

The pictures were taken by security cameras in a local store around 1730 BST on Saturday, the evening she disappeared.

Zoe's mother Marianne, stepfather Daniel, and sisters Laura Ann and Ashley said they were "shattered" by the Motherwell College student's death.

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Dafydd Wigley said the decision ‘has major implications’ for Welsh councils

The first minister's rejection of plans to expand Welsh-medium education in Cardiff is a "challenge to the credibility of his government", the former leader of Plaid Cymru says.

Dafydd Wigley said he was "shocked" that Carwyn Jones blocked proposals to cut surplus English-medium places and replace them with Welsh-medium ones.

The assembly government has said Cardiff council's plans were "not likely to improve the standard of education provision".

Plaid Cymru – which shares power with Labour in the Welsh Assembly Government – has called the first minister's decision an "outrage".

Cardiff council's Lib Dem leader said it would send "shockwaves" through Welsh speaking parents in the area.

‘Created hole’

The plans involve schools in the west of the city.

The local authority proposed closing Lansdowne Primary in the Canton area to make way for the expansion of Welsh-medium school Ysgol Treganna, which is short of space.

After meeting parents on Friday, Mr Wigley, the former president of Plaid Cymru, said Mr Jones's decision stopped the council from being able to fulfil its obligations in meeting demand for Welsh-medium education in the area.

He said the decision also contradicted the assembly government's Welsh-medium education strategy.

Mr Wigley said: "The only way that Carwyn Jones can dig his way out of the hole that he has created for himself by intervening in this way is to immediately provide the necessary funding in order to create a new Welsh-medium school in the area.

"This is a challenge to the credibility of the government that Carwyn Jones leads.

"I am shocked by the way that Labour have second guessed a democratic decision taken by Cardiff council. This decision has major implications for all the local authorities in Wales."

‘Overcrowding’

Parents of children at Lansdowne Primary mounted a strong campaign to save the school, claiming the closure would simply move the problem elsewhere, leaving English-medium schools in Canton without enough room.

Plaid Cymru councillors meanwhile say they support the council taking legal advice, while noting one possible solution could be building an English-medium primary school on the site of Fitzalan High School.

This would require £5m funding from the assembly government.

In a statement, the assembly government said: "Whilst its the local authority's responsibility to identify alternative proposals that would provide a solution which will meet the needs of all pupils in Canton, ministers have asked officials to provide whatever support that can lawfully be given to the local authority to assist them to meet that responsibility.

"We recognise that any solution must ensure decent conditions and provision for children educated through both the medium of Welsh and English in the area.

"It is important that overcrowding in any schools in the locale, should not happen as a consequence of any proposed solution."

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Footage of the Pacaya volcano in Guatemala spitting stones and ash

Thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes as two volcanos erupted in Guatemala and Ecuador.

In Guatemala, the Pacaya volcano began spewing lava, rocks and debris on Thursday, killing at least two people and injuring more than 50 others.

In Ecuador, the Tungurahua volcano forced the evacuation of seven villages and shut the airport and schools in Guayaquil, the country's largest city.

There is no suggestion the upsurge in volcanic activity is related.

In Guatemala, at least 1,700 people have fled the eruption, some 30km (19 miles) south of the capital city.

President Alvaro Colom has declared a state of emergency in Escuintla region, Guatemala City and areas surrounding the capital.

He said two people had died and three children were missing. One man was killed when he fell from a building while sweeping up the ash. A TV reporter also died while covering the eruption.

The volcano has covered parts of Guatemala City in ash – up to 7cm thick in some areas – forcing the closure of the country's main international airport.

Seismologists have warned of more eruptions from the Pacaya volcano "in the coming days".

In Ecuador, the Tungurahua volcano sent ash plumes six miles (10km) into the air.

Strong winds blew the ash over the country's most populous city, Guayaquil, and forced aviation officials to close the country's main airport.

Several thousand people have evacuated their homes in the area, 95 miles (150km) south-east of the capital Quito.

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South Korea wants China to increase pressure on its old ally North Korea

China is to face renewed pressure from South Korea to censure North Korea over the sinking of one of its warships in March, amid rising regional tensions.

Seoul is hosting a three-way summit with China and Japan as it steps up its diplomatic efforts over what it says was a torpedo attack by the North.

Beijing has so far refused to condemn North Korea, but has said it would assess the evidence objectively.

Pyongyang has fiercely denied the allegations.

South Korea says an investigation involving international teams uncovered indisputable evidence that North Korea fired a torpedo at the ship.

It has announced a package of measures, including a halt to most trade with North Korea, and is also seeking action via the United Nations Security Council.

If such action is to succeed, China's support is crucial.

Under pressure

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has already held bilateral discussions with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.

Speaking on Friday, Mr Wen said China "will not protect" whoever sank the warship.

Beijing is under pressure to take a strong stance against North Korea but so far has not accepted the findings of the independent investigation.

Mr Wen said that China would take its position after "objectively and fairly judging" the evidence while "respecting the international probe and responses to it by each nation".

Early on Saturday, on his way to the summit, Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama paid his respects at the graves of the 46 sailors who were killed in the explosion.

The BBC's John Sudworth in Seoul says the gesture was a demonstration of solidarity with South Korea and its conclusion that the ship was attacked by North Korea.

Japan has already said it is tightening its stringent sanctions against North Korea.

The three leaders will hold two days of talks on the South Korean resort island of Jeju.

North and South Korea are technically still at war after the Korean conflict ended without a peace treaty in 1953.

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Roseleen McMenemy appeals for mercy from her husband Alan’s captors in Iraq

The wife of the only British hostage still missing in Iraq has appealed to his kidnappers to end her ordeal on the anniversary of his abduction.

Gunmen abducted five men including security guard Alan McMenemy, from Glasgow, exactly three years ago.

Rosaleen McMenemy has urged those holding him to show "mercy and compassion".

Only one of the men has been released alive, while the bodies of three others have been returned to Britain.

Family torment

Mr McMenemy was snatched in broad daylight from a ministry building in Baghdad three years ago.

Along with four other Britons, he was bundled into the back of a van, hooded, shackled and driven off.

Alan McMenemy was among a group of five Britons snatched in Iraq

Since then only one man, Peter Moore, has been released alive, while the bodies of three of the men have been returned to Britain over the last 12 months, giving their grieving families at least some kind of closure.

Mr McMenemy's kidnappers, an Iraqi Shia militia group, have told the British embassy he is dead, but they have so far failed to provide any proof or return his body.

Mr McMenemy has made a direct appeal to the kidnappers to end her family's torment.

‘Bring closure’

She said: "It's now been three years since he's been held captive, which is 1,096 days.

"This is far too long for myself and our two children and I would ask those holding him to please show mercy and compassion and return him to us immediately and unconditionally.

"You've showed compassion by releasing his four colleagues and I would ask you to do the same for my family to bring closure to this."

Mrs McMenemy will never know for certain what happened to her husband until the kidnappers hand over the proof.

For now, she is surviving on the memory of their last time together before Mr McMenemy went off to work in Baghdad.

She said: "We'd spent the weekend with the children in Edinburgh, it was our wedding anniversary, we spent a couple of days there, it was a lovely couple of days, it was very nice.

"And Alan was just looking forward to coming back from work and maybe having a family holiday.It would have been lovely."

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Searches of the River Aire and the area near Mr Griffiths’ home continue

A massive police search is under way in Bradford to try to find the remains of two missing women.

Stephen Griffiths, 40, who is suspected of murdering them and third woman, gave his name as "the crossbow cannibal" when he appeared in court.

The remains of Suzanne Blamires have been found, but Susan Rushworth and Shelley Armitage are unaccounted for. All three were sex workers.

Fingertip searches and sniffer dogs are being used by police in the search.

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The three women all worked as prostitutes in Bradford

In pictures: Murder search

On Friday morning Mr Griffiths, of Thornton Road, Bradford, appeared in Bradford Magistrates' Court and later in Bradford Crown Court.

He is charged with murdering Ms Rushworth, 43, Ms Armitage, 31, and Ms Blamires, 36.

Body parts belonging to Ms Blamires were discovered in the River Aire at Shipley on Tuesday.

Officers from West Yorkshire Police are searching a variety of locations across Bradford including around the city's red light district.

Many streets and alleyways in the Sunbridge Road area remain sealed off and detectives have been seen taking a large number of objects away in plastic bags.

Ms Armitage, from the Allerton area of Bradford, was last seen on 26 April and Ms Rushworth, of Manningham area, disappeared on 22 June last year.

Decriminalising prostitution

Forensic work is continuing around Mr Griffiths' flat and further searches of the River Aire have taken place.

Prime Minister David Cameron told BBC Look North in Leeds that the decriminalisation of prostitution should be "looked at again" in the wake of the situation in Bradford.

"I dare say it should be looked at again. I don't think we should jump to conclusions on this, there are all sorts of problems that decriminalisation would bring," he said.

He also called for a clamp-down on kerb crawling.

Meanwhile, officers investigating the disappearance of York woman Claudia Lawrence have said they will be working with West Yorkshire Police to investigate any potential link with the alleged Bradford murders.

A North Yorkshire Police spokesman said: "Consultation will take place with our colleagues in West Yorkshire Police to ensure that any factors that are common to both cases are identified and investigated promptly."

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