Category: news

A Saudi prince accused of murder was not in a gay relationship with the alleged victim, his lawyer has said.

Bandar Abdulaziz, 32, was found beaten and strangled in central London’s Landmark Hotel, on 15 February.

Saud Abdulaziz bin Nasser al Saud, 34, admits manslaughter but denies murder and a separate count of causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

Mr Al Saud had carried out several assaults on the victim before he died, the Old Bailey has heard.

The jury has been asked to decide whether he is guilty of manslaughter or murder.

Dobomir Dimitrov, a porter from the Landmark Hotel in Marylebone, who went to their room during their stay, said: “I would describe them as a gay couple.”

But the prince’s barrister John Kelsey-Fry QC said in cross-examination: “It is not accepted that this was in fact a gay couple – but I readily accept that you had the impression they were a gay couple.”

When the body was found, in a room at the hotel in Marylebone, the prince claimed his aide had been attacked and robbed three weeks before his death.

Mr Dimitrov, who is gay himself, said he believed they were not behaving like two heterosexual men.

He said of Mr Abdulaziz: “It was impossible not to notice that he was homosexual.”

Mr Kelsey-Fry said: “You had an effeminate gay man sharing a room with another man and colour coding their clothing?”

“Yes,” Mr Dimitrov replied.

“That is why you were led to the impression of them being a gay couple?” asked Mr Kelsey-Fry.

“Yes,” the witness answered.

The prince, 34, admits killing Mr Abdulaziz but denies murder and a separate charge of grievous bodily harm with intent relating to an alleged assault in a lift at the hotel weeks before.

The case continues.

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Ethiopian opposition leader Birtukan Mideksa is freed from jail, four months after the government’s landslide win.

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Three scientists have shared this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing new ways of linking carbon atoms together.

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Liam Fox blames Labour’s economic mismanagement for what he says will be inevitable cuts to the defence budget.

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Suspected militants have exploded a device near the British embassy in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa, officials say.

The UK Foreign Office confirmed there had been an “attack involving a British embassy vehicle”.

It said there had not been any British embassy casualties.

In a separate incident, a security guard is said to have opened fire in the compound of Austrian gas firm OMV near Sanaa, Reuters news agency said.

One employee was wounded, the agency reported, but this has not been confirmed.

In the attack near the UK embassy, one report said a rocket had been fired, but this has also not been confirmed.

Yemen has seen a string of militant attacks on Western targets.

In April a suicide bomber threw himself at the British ambassador’s two-car convoy in Sanaa as it neared the embassy compound.

The attacker injured three passers-by and damaged a police car.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) later claimed responsibility for the attack.

The embassy was closed for two weeks as a result.

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Tribute are paid to former Lotus team manager Peter Warr, who has died at the age of 72.

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British singers Lily Allen, Sting and Elton John are honoured for their songwriting by the US music industry during a ceremony in London on Tuesday.

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Sandwell Council joins three other English authorities taking legal action over the axing of the Building Schools for the Future scheme by Education Secretary Michael Gove.

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Thai police say bomb-making equipment has been found at the site of Tuesday’s fatal explosion outside Bangkok.

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Green Wing star Stephen Mangan is to play quirky detective Dirk Gently in a screen adaptation of Douglas Adams’ creation.

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The smoking ban should be extended to the home and private cars to protect children from second-hand smoke, says Wales’ top doctor.

Chief Medical Officer for Wales Dr Tony Jewell said it was “unfair for children to bear the brunt of other people’s habits”.

Wales brought in a ban on smoking in enclosed public places in April 2007.

The number of deaths from smoking in Wales is still too high at about 5,650 a year, said Dr Jewell.

In his annual report, Dr Jewell said smoking costs the Welsh NHS around £386m a year, equivalent to £129 per person or 7% of total healthcare expenditure.

He said people “know that smoking is a dangerous habit, but choose to ignore the facts”.

But children had an increased risk of asthma, middle ear infections and cot death when exposed to second-hand smoke and were then also more likely to become smokers as adults, said Dr Jewell.

In his 2009 annual report to be published later, he said the proposed ban on tobacco vending machines and shop promotions for tobacco products “goes some way in addressing the problem but we must go further”.

He said if the assembly government extended the ban on smoking to private cars and encouraged smoke-free policies in homes where children live, it would help to discourage children from taking up smoking themselves in later life and may help some adults to quit.

He said: “As a society, creating such a measure is a powerful statement of intent about our commitment to the health of our children.

“It could be seen as the final piece of the protection picture or at least adding to the growing public consensus on the social acceptability of smoking.”

The Tobacco Manufacturers Association’s said Dr Jewell’s proposals were “a step too far and an unwarranted intrusion on individual freedom”.

It said: “In private vehicles, adults should be free to smoke, provided they do not light up or smoke in a way that would distract from safe driving.

“They should also show due consideration for other occupants and dispose of cigarette ends responsibly in ashtrays.”

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Two teenagers who were arrested on suspicion of arson after a huge fire on Hastings Pier have been bailed.

Firefighters also remain at the scene damping down more than 24 hours after the fire started at the historic structure in East Sussex.

Up to 95% of the pier has been destroyed and Hastings council has warned the pier is at risk of collapsing into the sea.

It warned people to keep away from the pier, which is in a dangerous state.

Road closures remained in place on Wednesday morning, around the A259 area.

In a statement, the council said: “The pier remains in a very dangerous state and people are advised to stay well away from it as the risk of collapse is high.

“Under no circumstances should people attempt to gain access under the pier at this time.”

Two men, aged 18 and 19 and from St Leonards, were arrested and detained for questioning on Tuesday as crews fought the flames on the pier, which was already closed for safety reasons.

A spokesman for Sussex Police confirmed early on Wednesday that both teenagers had been bailed.

The alert came in the early hours of Tuesday after a member of the public alerted police officers on patrol to a fire on the pier.

Nearby residents also reported hearing a series of explosions in the early hours.

Within a short time, the entire structure was engulfed in flames.

Emergency crews on the scene described seeing a plume of thick, acrid smoke and the historic ballroom reduced to a burning framework, with bits falling into the sea.

At the height of the incident, about 55 firefighters were at the scene.

The fire was brought under control by 0800 BST on Tuesday, with no reports of any injuries, but the pier continued to burn and smoulder.

After the fire, campaigners who had wanted to restore the derelict pier said they were still hopeful that it could be salvaged.

Earlier this year, the council agreed to buy the pier with a compulsory purchase order and hand it to the Hastings Pier and White Rock Trust.

Jess Steele, the trust’s treasurer, said: “This tragedy has further galvanized public support for securing the future of this much-loved pier.

“If the survey shows that the substructure is reusable we will do our utmost to bring this great asset back to life.”

The pier opened in 1872 and was originally 910ft (280m) long. It closed in 2006 because of fears it had become unsafe.

It was owned by Panamanian-registered company Ravenclaw, which the council said it had been unable to contact.

Campaigners have also been writing about their shock and disbelief on the Facebook page, Save Hastings Pier, which has more than 1,600 members.

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Gunmen in Pakistan have torched at least eight oil tankers carrying fuel for Nato vehicles in Afghanistan in the latest such attack in the country.

The attack occurred near a hotel near the south western Quetta city.

There have been several ambushes on tankers in the past week since one of the main border routes into Afghanistan was shut by the Pakistani authorities.

The Torkham crossing was closed after three Pakistani soldiers were killed in a Nato helicopter strike in Pakistan.

Islamabad has not yet said when the border post will be reopened.

Wednesday’s attack happened in the parking area of a roadside hotel on the outskirts of Quetta, police official Shah Nawaz Khan told the AP news agency.

Reports say that the tankers were believed to be he heading for a smaller border crossing into Afghanistan that still remains open.

On Friday, at least 27 lorries carrying supplies for Nato troops were set on fire in the southern Sindh province.

Nato has been playing down the logistical impact of the attacks, but analysts say if such ambushes continue, they will begin to have an impact.

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The trial of four men accused of fixing more than 30 football matches in several European countries is due to begin in Germany.

If found guilty they could be jailed for up to 10 years.

Several other men are expected to be charged in what has been called the biggest fraud scandal ever in European football.

In total, nearly 300 matches in 15 European countries are alleged to have been affected.

The four men to appear in court in the western city of Bochum have been in custody since November 2009 when German police made a total of 15 arrests.

Officers had been eavesdropping for several months on telephone conversations in which the suspects had allegedly been discussing the games they were going to fix and the money they would make by betting on the results.

The 15 are accused of having profited to the tune of several million euros, sometimes with bets placed in Asia by agents based in London.

More than 70 of the games under suspicion were played in Turkey.

Germany and Switzerland also feature prominently among the 15 countries affected.

Many of the suspect matches were played in the lower divisions, but it is believed that at least three were in the Champions League. One of the accused is a professional footballer.

This is likely to be the first of several trials. Police say they have 250 suspects.

There is no evidence that games in Germany’s top league, the Bundesliga, are involved, to the relief of the German football authorities.

But this trial will raise questions about the integrity of football in the lower leagues in a large number of European countries.

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UK car sales fell for the third consecutive month in September, although the rate of decline was less severe than in August.

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