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Legal aid bosses have seized the house belonging to radical cleric Abu Hamza to pay off some of his defence costs. The Legal Services Commission appropriated the property in Greenford, west London, despite Hamza claiming it did not belong to him. It will now be sold in an attempt to pay off some of the £300,000 of taxpayers' money spent on his legal bills. Officials hope to raise £280,000 from the sale. Hook-handed Hamza, 51, is in jail as he attempts to fight extradition to the U.S. on terror charges at the European Court of Human Rights. He is also...

SHOCK CLAIM: Naked Body Scanner Images Of Film Star Printed, Circulated By Airport Staff... Bollywood in the buff...

A drug to treat advanced kidney cancer has been rejected for use on the NHS in draft guidance, a health watchdog has announced. While evidence shows everolimus (Afinitor) is clinically effective, it is "expensive" and there is limited data on how much it can extend people's lives, said the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice). snip... Novartis offered a risk-sharing scheme to give patients the first treatment pack for free followed by 5% off the cost of subsequent packs but this was rejected. Professor Peter Littlejohns, Nice clinical and public health director, said the draft guidance is open...

Voters are deeply pessimistic about the state of Britain today, believing that society is broken and heading in the wrong direction, a Populus poll for The Times has found. Nearly three fifths of voters say that they hardly recognise the country they are living in, while 42 per cent say they would emigrate if they could. But worries over the pace of social change and dislocation are balanced by the belief that life will get better, according to the survey undertaken at the weekend. It suggests that 70 per cent believe that society is now broken, echoing a Conservative campaign...

A Christian teacher yesterday claimed he was forced out of his job after complaining that Muslim pupils as young as eight hailed the September 11 hijackers as heroes. Nicholas Kafouris, 52, is suing his former school for racial discrimination. He told a tribunal that he had to leave his £30,000-a-year post because he would not tolerate the 'racist' and 'anti-Semitic' behaviour of Year 4 pupils. The predominantly Muslim youngsters openly praised Islamic extremists in class and described the September 11 terrorists as 'heroes and martyrs'. One pupil said: 'Don't touch me, you're a Christian' when he brushed against him. Others...

"Bradninch church blaze arson probe" Monday, February 08, 2010, 07:12 SNIPPET: "ARSONISTS are believed to be responsible for a fire that has destroyed part of a church in Bradninch. Church and Scout leaders have expressed their sadness at the blaze that broke out in an annexe at the back of the Bradninch Baptist Church just after 11pm on Friday." SNIPPET: "The fire service said 25 per cent of the roof and 50 per cent of the first floor of the annexe was severely damaged by fire, while half of the ground floor was damaged by smoke. Investigations are on-going but...

“It’s ‘Elf ‘n’ Safety, mate, innit?” You only have to spend, oh, 20 minutes in almost any corner of the British Isles to have that distinctive local formulation proffered as the explanation for almost any feature of life. The signs at the White Cliffs of Dover warning you not to lean over the cliff? It’s Health & Safety, mate. Primary schools that forbid their children to make daisy chains because they might pick up germs from the flowers? Health & Safety, mate.The decorative garden gnomes Sandwell Borough Council ordered the homeowner to remove from outside her front door on the...

February 9, 2010 12-Year-Old Saudi Girl In Divorce Battle With 80-Year-Old Husband It is common for Saudi girls from poorer regions to be married off early Hugh Tomlinson in Dubai A 12-year-old girl fighting to divorce her 80-year-old husband in Saudi Arabia is to receive legal assistance from the Government in what could become a test case for banning child marriage in the kingdom. The state-run Human Rights Commission has hired a lawyer to represent the girl when she takes her case to court in Buraidah, a conservative town near the capital Riyadh. Saudi Arabia has no minimum legal age...

Passengers Left Stunned After Muslim Bus Driver Pulls Over and Begins Praying In The Aisle By DAILY MAIL REPORTER 08th February 2010 The driver pulled over in his No.24 bus and began to pray in front of bemused passengers. A Muslim bus driver stunned passengers by pulling over mid-route and beginning to pray in the aisle. The driver stopped the bus without warning before removing his shoes and, using a fluorescent jacket as a prayer mat, beginning to chant in Arabic. Passengers said they feared the driver could be preparing for a terror attack. No one was able to get...

Ali Dizaei, A 'Criminal In Uniform’, Jailed For Corruption One of the country’s most senior police officers, who tried to counter misconduct allegations by accusing his force of racism, was jailed for four years yesterday after he was finally exposed as “a criminal in uniform”. By Richard Edwards, Crime Correspondent 09 Feb 2010 Commander Ali Dizaei became the highest-ranking officer to be convicted of a criminal offence in 33 years. A jury took 10 minutes to convict the 47-year-old Iranian of misconduct and perverting the course of justice after he assaulted and tried to frame a businessman to settle a...

February 9, 2010 We're Living In Broken Britain, Say Most Voters Peter Riddell Voters are deeply pessimistic about the state of Britain today, believing that society is broken and heading in the wrong direction, a Populus poll for The Times has found. Nearly three fifths of voters say that they hardly recognise the country they are living in, while 42 per cent say they would emigrate if they could. But worries over the pace of social change and dislocation are balanced by the belief that life will get better, according to the survey undertaken at the weekend. It suggests that...

It is among the U.S. Air Force’s most finite resources, but the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber is still growing in capabilities, and it’s an aircraft America is happy to allow an ally to use. A long-standing exchange program that has seen USAF personnel trade places with those from the Royal Air Force was extended to the B-2 in 2004. The offer to open up the secretive B-2 mission to a key ally was made by then-President George W. Bush in an e-mail to then-Prime Minister Tony Blair. Among the achievements of the first British pilot, Sqn. Ldr. David Arthurton, was...

2/8/2010 - EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AFNS) -- The first remotely piloted aircraft exchange officer stationed at the 556th Test and Evaluation Squadron at Creech Air Force Base, Nev., is not bothered by the 5,000 miles between the state of Nevada and her native England. "It has been an opportunity that money can't buy," said Royal Air Force Maj. Adele Stratton. "This post is the only exchange job within the rapidly evolving RPA community, and as the first incumbent, I have found it to be an interesting couple of years." As the first exchange officer at the RPA operational...

The stunning wife of footballer Robbie Keane is pictured here showing off their baby son Robert. Former Miss Ireland contestant Claudine married the Celtic footballer in June 2008 and gave birth to their first child eight months ago. Speaking about her marriage, the 26-year-old blonde told Hello! magazine: 'Friendship, having things in common and working at it is really important.

A little boy is still desperately waiting for a heart transplant - a hundred days after he was admitted to hospital. Aaron Vincent, 3, is being kept alive in hospital by a mechanical pump connected to his chest. His heart has been so badly damaged by a virus that he is in urgent need of a transplant.

A Muslim bus driver stunned passengers when he pulled over and started praying in the aisle - with the engine still running. The driver parked without warning then rolled out a fluorescent jacket as an improvised prayer mat. He took off his shoes, knelt down facing Mecca, and began to chant. The prayer session held up the bus for more than five minutes with no-one able to get on or off. Passenger Gayle Griffiths complained to Transport for London about the bizarre incident on the No.24 bus in Gospel Oak, north London, this week

Christian teacher told today how he lost his job after complaining that Muslim pupils as young as eight hailed the September 11 hijackers as 'heroes'. Nicholas Kafouris said he was forced from his £30,000-a-year post because he would not tolerate the 'racist' and 'anti-Semitic' behaviour of children. He said the predominantly Muslim youngsters openly praised Islamic extremists in class, and hailed the terrorists of the 2001 atrocities as 'martyrs'. Mr Kafouris, 40, told how one pupil said to him, ‘Don’t touch me, you’re a Christian’, when the teacher accidentally brushed against him with his arm. Others said, ‘We want to...

Girls as young as ten are falling pregnant, shocking new figures have revealed. Over the past eight years, no fewer than 15 girls found they were expecting when they were aged just ten. A further 39 found out they were pregnant when they were 11.

For generations Dover has stood as an indomitable symbol of Britain’s freedom and independence. The town, with its white cliffs, port and sprawling castle stood at the very edge of the nation’s frontier with the Continent. But now part of that proud history is up for sale and the leading bidder is revealed as the former age-old enemy – France. The Port of Dover is being recommended by Government advisers for sale to the French authorities. It is one of a string of public assets which have been earmarked for privatisation as the Government battles with a record £830billion national...

A Christian teacher told today how he lost his job after complaining that Muslim pupils as young as eight hailed the September 11 hijackers as 'heroes'. Nicholas Kafouris said he was forced from his £30,000-a-year post because he would not tolerate the 'racist' and 'anti-Semitic' behaviour of children. He said the predominantly Muslim youngsters openly praised Islamic extremists in class, and hailed the terrorists of the 2001 atrocities as 'martyrs'. Mr Kafouris, 40, told how one pupil said to him, ‘Don’t touch me, you’re a Christian’, when the teacher accidentally brushed against him with his arm. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1249393/9-11-bombers-heroes-What-Muslim-children-told-Christian-teacher-forced-job-tolerating-racism.html#ixzz0exaAvpzP

A Muslim bus driver stunned passengers when he pulled over and started praying in the aisle - with the engine still running. The driver parked without warning then rolled out a fluorescent jacket as an improvised prayer mat. He took off his shoes, knelt down facing Mecca, and began to chant. The prayer session held up the bus for more than five minutes with no-one ab Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1249335/Bus-delayed-Muslim-driver-pulls-pray-aisle.html#ixzz0exJVsRO1

Cherie Blair was criticised today after she spared a violent offender jail because he is “a religious man”. Shamso Miah, 25, broke a man's jaw following a row in East Ham. Mrs Blair, the wife of ex-prime minister Tony Blair, was sitting as a judge at Inner London crown court and sentenced him to six months in jail, suspended for two years. She said: “I am going to suspend this sentence based on the fact you are a religious person and have not been in trouble before. You are a religious man and you know this is not acceptable behaviour.”...

Aaqil Ahmed, a controversial executive whose appointment last year prompted more than 100 complaints, said: "I think all the faiths should be treated in the same way. I don't believe in treating any faith differently." He dismissed claims that the BBC was marginalising religion as overly simplistic and argued that Christianity, in particular, was already covered well on television. His comments come on the eve of a debate at the General Synod, the Church's parliament, over the BBC's treatment of Christianity. There has been growing concern at top levels of the Church over the corporation's approach to religion, with warnings...

LONDON – The number of anti-Semitic incidents in the UK set a new high in 2009, the most since records began, according a report released on Friday. The Community Security Trust, a charity that monitors anti-Semitism and provides security for the Jewish community in Britain, recorded 924 anti-Semitic incidents in 2009. The high number of incidents was attributed to “unprecedented levels of anti-Semitism” during and in the immediate aftermath of Operation Cast Lead. This included 288 incidents last January, during the conflict, and 114 in February, after the cease-fire. These compared with a previous highest monthly total of 105 incidents...

PHOTOGRAPHS of Professor Phil Jones show a handsome, smiling, confident-looking man. Not chubby exactly, but in blooming good health. The man who meets me at the University of East Anglia (UEA) looks grey-skinned and gaunt, as if he has been kept in prison. In a way, he has. Since November last year he has been a prisoner of public opprobrium and a target of such vilification that was he was almost persuaded to comply with the wishes of those who wanted him dead. In bare outline, the story of the Climatic Research Unit emails — “Climategate” — is well known....

An Army search dog that has saved the lives of scores of British soldiers in Afghanistan is to receive the canine equivalent of the Victoria Cross. Yet as a puppy he was a badly behaved rebel in danger of being put down until intensive Army training turned him into the gutsy canine described by his handler, Sergeant Dave Heyhoe, as the best military dog he has served alongside. Now Treo is to be honoured with the Dickin Medal from the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals for his conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. It will be placed around his neck...

A LEADING British government scientist has warned the United Nations’ climate panel to tackle its blunders or lose all credibility. Robert Watson, chief scientist at Defra, the environment ministry, who chaired the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) from 1997 to 2002, was speaking after more potential inaccuracies emerged in the IPCC’s 2007 benchmark report on global warming. The most important is a claim that global warming could cut rain-fed north African crop production by up to 50% by 2020, a remarkably short time for such a dramatic change. The claim has been quoted in speeches by Rajendra Pachauri, the...

A LEADING British government scientist has warned the United Nations’ climate panel to tackle its blunders or lose all credibility. Robert Watson, chief scientist at Defra, the environment ministry, who chaired the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) from 1997 to 2002, was speaking after more potential inaccuracies emerged in the IPCC’s 2007 benchmark report on global warming. The most important is a claim that global warming could cut rain-fed north African crop production by up to 50% by 2020, a remarkably short time for such a dramatic change. The claim has been quoted in speeches by Rajendra Pachauri, the...

A Welsh mother has been jailed after she bit a midwife who was helping to deliver her baby. Leanne Pennington, 26, was sentenced to 20 weeks in jail after sinking her teeth into the arm of 41-year-old midwife Carolyn Burden during the final stages of labour at Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil last May, news website southwales.co.uk reports. Mrs Burden, herself a mother of four, went back to help deliver the baby after receiving first aid treatment. Pennington, classified a "high risk patient", admitted to the assault which left Mrs Burden with a swollen and bruised arm. "It was...

A patient who suffered a heart attack on a hospital ward died because clerical staff had mistakenly inserted a ‘Do Not Attempt Resuscitation’ form into his medical notes. Peter Clarke was not treated by doctors after going into cardiac arrest as a nurse had spotted the form in his files and, even though it was blank and had not been filled in, told other ward staff he should not be revived. The blunder emerged at an inquest into the incident at Derby Hospitals NHS Trust, where bosses revealed staff had been ‘routinely’ placing the forms alongside medical records before they...

....It is 95 years since Ross, a doctor from Tain and one of the first women in Scotland to gain a medical degree, died of typhus in a military hospital in Kragujevac, where she had been treating Serb First World War casualties. Yet today, her name in Serbia is a byword for courage and bravery, emblazoned upon street signs, taught to schoolchildren, and celebrated every 14 February – the anniversary of her death – in numerous similar ceremonies across Serbia....

Fanatics must stop playing fast and loose with global warming dataAs a climate change agnostic–and I suspect most of us are, especially now, and more especially after the Guardian series this week–I've been bothered by two aspects of the argument. The first is the religious overtone. Humankind has always wanted to blame its own behaviour for natural events, whether Noah's flood, plagues of frogs, or volcanos which demonstrate that the gods are angry.Three years ago a British bishop announced that gay marriage had caused our floods. I've often wondered whether global warming is another example of this, an irrational belief...

Slack security or subversion at the university may have led to 'unintentional sharing', making the police investigation pointlessMore than two months after the moment that thousands of confidential emails, documents and computer code from the University of East Anglia (UEA) was released online it remains a mystery who was behind the hack.Even Sir David King, the government's former chief scientist, remains confused. This week, he sought to blame the leak on a foreign intelligence agency, only to admit later he had no evidence.The university called in police last November, insisting they were victims of a criminal "theft" of data. Under...

Straight off his polo horse (and I don’t mean Camilla) the Prince of Wales decides to set the record straight and give a piece of his mind to all those nasty people who question global warming. I mean who are we mere mortals to question the authority of a man who has spent most of his life cushioned from the rest of the world like Buddha before enlightenment. Princess Diana’s ex decided to stick his oar into the debate on global warming in Manchester at the launch of ‘Start’, which is an initiative to give advice to the public on...

Honda Recalls Thousands Of Cars Amid Fire Fears Honda has become the latest car manufacturer to recall thousands of vehicles amid fears that one of its models could catch fire. By David Millward 05 Feb 2010 Despite no complaints in Britain, Honda is contacting all drivers as a precaution. The Japanese motor company has recalled 171,372 of its Jazz models in Britain, as part of a larger worldwide recall, after several accidents including one in which a South African child died. Honda's recall comes after Toyota called in at least 180,000 cars amid concerns over faulty accelerator pedals and means...

Courtesy UK Ministry of DefenceElements of the Royal Welsh, Grenadier Guards and Scots Guards have taken part in an air and ground ISAF operation to the south of Nad e-Ali, Helmand Province, Afghanistan.The operation, being conducted with Afghan National Security Forces, is part of the preparation for a major ISAF offensive known as Operation MOSHTARAK.Op MOSHTARAK has been planned to remove insurgents from areas of central Helmand not previously cleared by ISAF troops. Major General Gordon Messenger briefed the media today on Op MOSHTARAK. He said that the operation was fully supported by Afghan President Hamid Karzai and that...

He lied about his age to get into the service, and was rewarded for his gallantry with an early death. Now, on what would have been his 82nd birthday, Reginald Earnshaw's sad place in history has finally been acknowledged. On Friday, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission officially recognized him as the youngest known British service casualty in World War II. The lad lived just 14 years and 152 days. He died when German planes attacked the SS Devon, the ship he was on, off the east coast of England on July 6, 1941. He had only served for several months....

As scientists have the first 'conversation' with a patient in a vegetative state, one man's awe-inspiring story'One cannot even begin to imagine the despair, frustration and fear that was Martin Pistorius's life for more than a decade. After contracting meningitis at the age of 12, he found himself locked inside his body and spent 14 years with no form of communication and completely unable to control his body. His parents were told that their only option was to allow him to die and that he had the brain function of a three-month-old baby. That, however, was not the case. While...

A former mayor of a Lancashire town who broke into women's homes to steal their underwear has been jailed for two years.

A heroin user in London has tested positive for anthrax, the Health Protection Agency (HPA) has announced. The case is the first in England linked to the Class A drug, but follows the deaths of nine users in Scotland from anthrax infection. The HPA said the unnamed user was being treated in a London hospital and that other drug users in the capital should be "extremely alert to the risks".

''No child is ever too young to be started off on Jihad training,'' states one document recovered by police from the North West's Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU) during raids. CTU officers, interviewed by the BBC's Inside Out team for a special programme, show the document and a film they recovered of two children aged about three and six playing with a pistol and Kalashnikov rifle. The officers say the discoveries are evidence of attempts to radicalise youngsters. The footage, which police believe was filmed in Pakistan, was uncovered on the hard drive of a suspect's computer – though investigators have...

David Cameron Strong stance: David CameronGay refugees from Africa should be granted asylum in the UK, David Cameron has said. The Tory leader suggested that homosexuals should be allowed to stay in Britain if their lives would be put in danger were they sent home. Under immigration rules, gay men are often sent back to countries with homophobic regimes - and advised to keep their sexuality a secret in case local police attack them. But in an interview with gay magazine Attitude, Mr Cameron said the rules should be changed to protect homosexuals fleeing persecution. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1248484/Cameron-Gay-refugees-Africa-given-asylum-UK.html#ixzz0edJM6Yi5

As the Xinhua news agency reports, a top British military official met on Wednesday with visiting Deputy Chief of General Staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Ma Xiaotian, pledging to strengthen bilateral military ties. Jock Stirrup, Chief of the Defence Staff, said during the meeting that the British military "attaches great importance to the friendly relationship" with the Chinese military and expects more efforts to be made to improve mutual understanding and trust and to step up pragmatic cooperation. Ma suggested that both sides should maintain high level exchange visits, steadily promote the communication and cooperation of professional personnel,...

When Liberty Rose Finn's little body could take no more gruelling chemotherapy to fight her inoperable brain tumour, the three-year-old's parents feared the worst. The benign growth behind her eyes threatened to leave the toddler blind and carried the risk of brain damage and stunted development. But nearly a year after her treatment was stopped, Liberty's family were left stunned after the tumour vanished.

One year shy of her 90th birthday, The Duchess of Devonshire is a formidable lady who has experienced more than her share of scandal and dark times. Deborah, known as Debo, is the last of the Mitford sisters, whose colourful and tragic family history caused controversy in the 1930s and 1940s. But it's the state of modern society, which she brands 'sloppy and sentimental', that most concerns her in her dotage. Ms Mitford laments the demise of the stiff upper lip, slamming the new kiss-and-tell generation for dwelling on their problems. In an interview, she said: 'I think we made...

Bailed-out insurance giant AIG last night risked another wave of public disgust at the financial industry by awarding 'outrageous' bonuses worth more than £62million to executives in London and the U.S. The payouts were sent out to staff in the same department - the financial products division - that was blamed for almost driving one of the world's largest firms out of business during the credit crunch in 2008. American taxpayers funded a £113billion bail out of AIG after the company was deemed 'too big to fail'. As President Barack Obama tries to cut his country's £1trillion budget deficit, Treasury...

LONDON (Reuters) - A man in a deeply unconscious state for five years has been able to communicate with doctors using just his thoughts in a study scientists say is a "game changer" for care of vegetative state patients.British and Belgian researchers used a brain scanner called functional magnetic resonance imaging to show the man, who suffered a severe traumatic brain injury in a road accident in 2003, was able to think "yes" or "no" answers to questions by wilfully changing his brain activity. Experts say the result means all patients in coma-like states should be reassessed and it may...

Rod Liddle says that the outrage directed at a taxi firm for advertising “English spoken here� serves only to strengthen white working-class resentment—and the BNP “Rraaaaaaaacissst!�—that Pavlovian whine of complaint, almost always from a white person, an idle and meaningless howl of outrage where once, when uttered by a black or Asian person who had suffered discrimination, it had a point and a potency. “Raaacisst�—a new definition; a word which, as soon as it is uttered, can cause debate to cease, people to be punished, argument to be subverted, the Old Bill to get involved. “Raaaaacccissst!�—a lie, a mischief,...

The media gave big headlines to this week's stories on a prestigious British medical publication's retraction of an article that had claimed to show a causal link between standard childhood vaccinations (measles, mumps and rubella) and autism. Yet the coverage of the Lancet affair didn't truly convey the outrageousness of the original publication or the gravity of its consequences -- consequences long festering, since the paper was published not last week but 12 years ago. Many of us in the scientific community recognized the "study" as junk when it appeared in 1998. Even before we learned of then-unknown ethical failings...

In the 1950s and 1960s, more Triumph motorcycles were sold in the United States than anywhere else. After all, who didn’t want the bike that Marlon Brando rode in “The Wild One”? And who could forget Steve McQueen, in “The Great Escape,” trying to do just that on a Triumph Bonneville? Despite a cult following, the brand ran into financial problems and was liquidated in the early 1980s. British real estate developer John Bloor, at first looking to buy the factory’s land, instead purchased the company’s assets to re-establish Triumph. In 1994 the company opened its North American headquarters in...