29th January 2009 18:32GMT, UK evening news flash

Top Stories:

Telegraph – Alistair Darling has pulled out of the World Economic Forum, within hours of being warned that the UK faces a worse recession than any other major country in the world. The Chancellor of the Exchequer cancelled his trip to the summit of politicians and executives at the last minute, despite the meeting being attended by a pantheon of leaders from around the world, including Russia and China. He is understood to have called off the trip, planned for tonight, after it transpired that a number of the people he had planned to meet also cancelled. However, the move will spark speculation that the Chancellor is battling a further bout of instability in the financial markets and the economy. The foreign minister, David Miliband has also pulled out of the forum, which has been cast as the most gloomy in recent memory in the face of the global financial crisis.

Independent – The United Nations launched an emergency appeal today for $613 million to help Palestinians recover from Israel’s three weeks of military operations in Gaza. Donations will enable the UN and other aid organisations to jump into action, meeting critical needs for food, clean water, shelter, medicine and restoration of basic services, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said. “Help is indeed needed urgently,” he told reporters at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland.

BBC – All UK homes should have access to broadband and faster download speeds by 2012, the government has said. An interim report on the UK’s digital future also looked at plans for public service broadcasting. Prime Minister Gordon Brown said digital technology was as important today as “roads, bridges and trains were in the 20th Century”. But the Conservatives said the report promised “no new action”. The Lib Dems said it was a “complete damp squib”.

Times – Almost 200 passengers and crew spent the night stranded on a ferry in a Scottish port today after a lorry broke free and burst through the ship’s rear door. The Stena Line service from Stranraer to Belfast was forced to sail back to the port with the lorry hanging out of the back. Passengers said they became concerned after hearing a loud bang at the rear of the vessel, the Stena Voyager. The coastguard was alerted at around 9.20pm. Once back in Stranraer, in Dumfries and Galloway, the 156 passengers and 33 crew were not able to disembark because the ferry could not berth as the lorry was blocking the way. A 400-tonne crane was travelling from the north of England today to remove the lorry and allow the ferry to dock, and was expected to arrive late morning.

Business:

Scotsman – Royal Dutch Shell today said profits more than halved in the final three months of last year. The impact of falling oil prices led to a haul of 4.78 billion US dollars (£3.35bn) for the final quarter of 2008, against 10.9 billion US dollars (£7.7bn) in the third quarter and off 28% on the same period a year earlier. Shell still reported profits of 31.37 billion US dollars (£22bn) for 2008, up 14% after oil prices peaked at 147 US dollars a barrel in the summer.

ITN – Sandwich chain Subway has unveiled plans to open 600 new stores in the UK and Ireland, creating more than 7,000 jobs. The US company said it would invest more than £60 million in opening the new franchises by the end of 2010. The chain already has more than 1,400 UK and Irish stores, employing more than 16,000 people. The jobs will be a mix of full and part-time positions.

Also In The News:

Guardian – A statue of a giant shoe has been unveiled in Saddam Hussein’s hometown in honour of the Iraqi journalist who threw his footwear at the former US president George Bush. The statue also features a poem honouring Muntazer al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who shot to international fame last month when he hurled his shoes at Bush during a farewell press conference. The shoes narrowly missed the then president and Zaidi was quickly bundled to the ground by security staff.

Mail – The world’s fastest electric car that can reach speeds of 208mph has been unveiled. The eco-vehicle created by Shelby Supercars can accelerate to 60mph in just 2.5 seconds. It is powered by a twin motor system, which produces a staggering 1,000 horse power and 800lb-ft of torque. In contrast the current electric sports car flagbearer, the Tesla Roadster which was recently tested by Jeremy Clarkson on Top Gear, produces 250 horse power. Makers Shelby Supercars, who also manufacture the world’s fastest production car, say the Ultimate Aero EV is powered by a ‘revolutionary All-Electric ScalableB Powertrain’.

Sky – A stuntman who doubles for Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe has reportedly suffered a serious injury during filming. The 25-year-old is understood to have been hurt during a planned explosion. The accident happened on Wednesday morning on set at Leavesden Studios, near Watford, Hertfordshire. The man was performing an aerial sequence when he fell to the ground following a blast which was part of the stunt.

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28th January 2009 18:34GMT, UK evening news flash

Top Stories:

Times – The British economy will shrink by 2.8 per cent this year in the worst performance of any developed economy, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicted today. In a profoundly gloomy set of figures, the fund slashed its previous forecasts for world economic growth to near standstill at only 0.5 per cent, the weakest since the Second World War, from a November estimate of 2.2 per cent. The dire figures came as the United Nations’ International Labour Organisation published a report predicting that the two years of global recession could cost a total of 50 million jobs worldwide and trigger social unrest. The outlook was also dire for the United States and the eurozone, whose economies were seen contracting by 1.6 per cent and 2 per cent, respectively.

BBC – Proposals to deal with the legacy of Northern Ireland’s Troubles could cost up to £300m, a report has said. The plans include a £12,000 payment for families of all those killed. Unionists and some victims’ groups have rejected the proposed payment because it would include republican and loyalist paramilitaries. Protesters temporarily disrupted the launch, including former unionist politician Cedric Wilson and Willie Frazer from victim’s group Fair. Lord Eames, one of the report’s authors, said it was time for a “final step out of the conflict by dealing with the legacy of the past”. The 190-page report, which contains more than 30 recommendations, will go to the government for consideration.

Herald – Scotland’s SNP government was on the brink tonight after MSPs rejected the country’s £33bn budget. The budget was rejected by the parliament after a vote by MSPs was tied at 64/64 and Presiding Officer Alex Fergusson cast his deciding vote against the spending plans. The rejection came despite finance secretary John Swinney making two multi-million pound pledges in a last-minute bid to secure Holyrood support for its budget.

Guardian – Russia today announced it was abandoning plans to deploy nuclear-capable Iskander missiles in its European Kaliningrad outpost – a sign that Moscow wants improved relations with the new US administration. Defence officials said the Kremlin’s proposals to station short-range missiles in the small Baltic territory next to Poland had been “suspended”. The move followed Barack Obama’s decision to review the Pentagon’s controversial missile defence shield in central Europe. The Kremlin has been incensed by the Bush administration’s plans to site missile interceptors and radar bases in Poland and the Czech Republic. Moscow believes the plan upsets Europe’s strategic nuclear balance and targets Russia, but the Bush administration insisted it was intended to defend against a threat from Iran. Obama has not yet decided whether to press ahead with the scheme or to abandon it, although indications suggest he is sceptical about its value.

Business:

Telegraph – George Soros, the man renowned for “breaking” the Bank of England by selling the pound in 1992, has admitted he has been shorting sterling in recent months. Mr Soros said he foresaw the recent plunge in sterling, which has seen the currency undergo its worst devaluation since the end of the gold standard in 1931. However he said he has closed most of his sterling positions, in a sign that he no longer expects it to fall much further.

ITN – Supermarket chain Asda is creating 7,000 new jobs this year, a spokesman has said. More than half of them will be created by the opening of 14 new stores and the planned expansion of 15 existing sites. President and chief executive officer of Asda Andy Bond said: “This year we will create 7,000 new jobs at a time when many companies are having to lay people off. “We will also be helping 3,000 long-term unemployed get back into work by specifically targeting them for existing vacancies in our business.

Also In The News:

Sun – TROUBLED soccer star Robinho was welcomed back by his team-mates today – following his arrest over rape claims. The Brazilian striker was smuggled into Manchester City’s training ground under cloak and dagger – less than 24 hours after being arrested and quizzed by police over sexual assault allegations. Robinho was arrested yesterday over the rape claims – two days after flying back from his own country. The star had spent a week in his homeland when Manchester City bosses sent a private plane to pick him up. British detectives had planned to speak to him after City’s training camp in Tenerife earlier this month. But they were stunned to learn he had gone to Sao Paulo — without his club’s permission — citing “personal reasons”, believed to be his 25th birthday. Robinho, who joined City from Real Madrid in September for a British record £32.5million, was released on bail.

Independent – A group of squatters was cleared from a £22.5 million Mayfair house today and the property was placed under 24-hour surveillance, the owner’s solicitor said. The central London building, which is two linked houses, was taken back by bailiffs, Andrew Jeffrey of Stitt and Co said. He said: “The squatters had mainly cleared out and taken their stuff with them, although they left some things in there and there were two or three squatters left when the bailiff arrived.” The house is being inspected for damage, although the squatters maintained they would not harm the property. One wrote an internet blog under the name luckyjim, which said: “We’ve turned a private space into a public one, bringing a long-dead building back to life, whilst respecting its heritage.”

Sky – A Florida couple has spent more than £100,000 on a clone of their deceased pet Labrador. Lancelot Encore is a clone of Ed and Nina Otto’s late dog Lancelot, who died of cancer in January 2008. The Ottos, who could not bear life without their beloved dog, placed a £108,000 bid on a biotech firm’s dog-cloning auction last July. BioArts International created Lancelot Encore in South Korea, where he was born ten weeks ago.

Metro – Most neighbours have a pet dog or cat – but not Siouxsie Gillett and Mark Amey. The animal mad couple have got an entire zoo in their back garden complete with a crocodile, snakes, meerkats and a whole room of scorpions. They’ve spent the last nine years converting their suburban home in Bovingdon, Hertforshire into an exotic animal paradise with help from the RSPCA. The zoologists have opened their doors to unwanted and abandonded creatures who have simply become too much to handle for their original owners.

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27th January 2009 17:25GMT, UK evening news flash

Top Stories:

Sky – Britain’s car industry is to get help in the shape of a £2bn loan guarantee scheme from the Government. The Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said £1.3bn worth of loans from the European Investment Bank would be guaranteed, as well as £1bn of loans for “worthwhile investments”. He told the House of Lords the Government was committed to making sure anything backed by the scheme offered value for taxpayers. “This industry is not a lame duck and this is no bail-out,” he said.

BBC – Ministers have been ordered to release minutes of the cabinet meetings which discussed the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The Information Tribunal upheld a decision by the Information Commissioner that details of the March 13 and 17 sessions should be disclosed. The meetings considered the issue of whether the invasion was allowed under international law.

Telegraph – Nato is losing its battle in Afghanistan because of tensions within the alliance, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). The think tank said that the Taliban were stepping up the use of suicide bombings and expanding their operations into areas that were previously quiet. At the same time, Nato members are struggling to agree among themselves what constituted “success” in Afghanistan while the global economic crisis meant that military budgets throughout the alliance were coming under pressure. The warning, in the IISS’s annual Military Balance survey of armed forces around the world, comes as new US President Barack Obama is expected to appeal to America’s European allies to send more troops in an attempt to force a strategic breakthrough. The report said that the Taliban insurgency had continued “unabated” throughout the past 12 months – even moving into previously quiet provinces – adding to pressures on the alliance.

London Paper – THE scale of a behind-the-scenes row between London mayor Boris Johnson and the police chief he later forced out has been revealed after an exchange of letters between them was published. Former Metropolitan commissioner Sir Ian Blair wrote to the then mayoral candidate in November 2007 after being incensed by his public suggestion that armed officers who mistook innocent Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes for a terrorist and shot him dead could have been “too trigger happy”. Letters obtained using freedom of information legislation showed Sir Ian demanded a retraction of the “outrageous” comments but was strongly rebuffed. “I consider your comments that it could be argued that MPS (Metropolitan Police Service) officers are ‘trigger happy’ to be outrageous. I would remind you that out of over ten thousand potential firearms incidents attended by the MPS in the past year, shots were fired on only three occasions,” he wrote to Mr Johnson. “I would suggest in the strongest possible terms that you withdraw your remarks.” But an unrepentant Mr Johnson, who was elected the capital’s mayor months later, refused.

Business:

Guardian – Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cabinet approved a €50bn (£46.7bn) stimulus package today, the biggest programme in Europe, to tackle overcome the country’s deepest economic crisis since the second world war. The package will require a new borrowing level of €36.8bn, more than twice the amount planned for 2009 before the impact of the global crisis on Europe’s largest economy was realised. It is also more than three times the amount forecast in the middle of last year. A controversial draft supplementary budget is planned to cover the leap in borrowing. The programme is equivalent to 1.6% of gross domestic product, and is the biggest of its kind in German history. In the UK, the government unveiled fiscal stimulus measures totalling some £20bn in last year’s pre-budget report.

STV – Water group Severn Trent warned a drop in water use by companies collapsing or struggling in the credit crunch was likely to hit revenue more than expected, sending its shares down more than 5 percent. Lower consumption by the likes of premium car maker Jaguar Land Rover meant annual revenue would drop by between 20 million pounds and 25 million, compared with a fall of 12 to 15 million it previously forecast, Severn Trent said on Tuesday.

Also In The News:

ITN – A woman in California has stunned doctors by giving birth to octuplets – the second set of eight babies to be born in the US. The infants – six boys and two girls – were delivered nine weeks premature by caesarean section in the space of five minutes in Bellflower, California, and stunned the medical team which was expecting only seven babies. Weighing in at between 1lb 8oz and 3lbs 4oz each, they are said to be doing well and are in a stable condition in the neonatal intensive care unit at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center. But two of the babies needed some help to breath with ventilators, according to a hospital spokesman. Hospital officials said they will be kept in incubators for at least six weeks and the mother, whose identity has not been revealed, is planning to breast feed them all.

Times – Armed police guarded cinemas in eastern India today after slum dwellers ransacked a picture house showing Slumdog Millionaire because they didn’t like the use of the word “dog” in the title. Several hundred people rampaged through the cinema in Patna, capital of the eastern state of Bihar, on Monday and tore down posters advertising the film. They said the title was humiliating and vowed to continue their protests until it was changed. The protest was organised by Tateshwar Vishwakarma, a social activist who filed a lawsuit over the title last week against four Indians involved in its production – a lead actor, the music director and two others. “Referring to people living in slums as dogs is a violation of human rights,” said Mr Vishwakarma, who works for a group promoting the rights of slum dwellers. We will burn Danny Boyle [the film's British director] effigies in 56 slums here.”

Mail – More ‘Who is the Stig’ gossip: To viewers of Top Gear, he harbours almost mythical capabilities – part man, part machine forever clad head to toe in pristine white racing leathers. But it has emerged that the BBC has been rather economical with the truth with regard to their superhuman Stig character who test-drives cars around the Top Gear track and hides his identity behind a black visor. The Mail has learned that the corporation has in fact employed no fewer than eight different drivers to don the Stig’s famous racing whites.

Sun – A police drugs sniffer dog has died of a rare nose cancer after sniffing too much cocaine during his training. Springer spaniel Max may have caught the disease because of the effect of cocaine and other drugs he was taught to detect. Owner, Inspector Anne Higgins, fears the nine-year-old’s intensive training may have led to the disease which meant he was put down last week. Max worked as a drugs dog with Avon and Somerset Police and lived with Anne who is based at Tiverton police station in Devon. She said: “It is ironic the wonderful organ that made him successful in his work has been his demise.

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26th January 2009 18:43GMT, UK evening news flash

Top Stories:

Independent – From bounce to backlash. The Conservative Party lead over Labour at the opinion polls has rocketed from five to 15 points in one month, with voters turning against Gordon Brown as the recession bites. The ComRes survey for The Independent puts the Tories on 43 per cent (up four points on last month), Labour on 28 per cent (down six), the Liberal Democrats on 16 per cent (unchanged) and other parties on 13 per cent (up two). The research shows Labour at its lowest standing since September’s survey; the party has slumped back to where it stood before Mr Brown won international plaudits for the Government’s rescue of the banks last autumn.

BBC – Sky has joined the BBC in deciding not to broadcast a charity appeal for Gaza, despite mounting political and public pressure for them to do so. BBC boss Mark Thompson has again defended the decision, saying it would jeopardise the BBC’s impartiality. Sky News said running the Disasters Emergency Committee advert was “incompatible” with its objective role. More than 50 MPs say they will back a parliamentary motion urging the BBC and Sky to run the appeal.

Sky – Two peers at the centre of a corruption controversy have apologised if they have done anything to bring the House of Lords into disrepute. The Sunday Times alleges that four Lords, including Lord Snape and Lord Taylor of Blackburn, were prepared to change the law for cash. In the House of Lords this afternoon, Lord Snape said: “May I first of all apologise to your Lordships for bringing this house, if I have done so, into disrepute. “But may I say that these are allegations in a Sunday newspaper and may I appeal to the noble Lords to allow me the opportunity to refute these allegations before your Lordships here and elsewhere.”

Times – Richard Fuld, the disgraced former chief executive of Lehman Brothers, sold his $13.3 million (£9.6 million) Florida mansion to his wife in November for $100, according to real estate records. Mr Fuld, who is widely blamed for the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September last year, bought the house with his wife, Kathleen, in March 2004 for $13.75 million. On November 10, the 62-year-old banker transferred the seaside mansion into Mrs Fuld’s name in return for $100. Mr Fuld is expected to face civil lawsuits from shareholders furious that he allowed Lehman to fall into bankruptcy rather than be sold months earlier.

Business:

ITN – Corus has confirmed it is cutting 3,500 jobs from its global workforce, with 2,500 going in the UK. The Anglo-Dutch company, which employs 24,000 people in the UK and has steelmaking operations at Port Talbot, Scunthorpe and Teesside, has been hit by a downturn in its main markets – construction and car manufacturing.

Evening Standard – British Airways has said it would make an annual operating loss of around £150 million after costs rose by more than expected. The airline blamed the impact of currency movements for an 8% year-on-year rise in non-fuel costs, compared to previous guidance of 5%. It now expects results for the third quarter to December 31 to show an operating loss of £50 million, leading to a possible deficit of £150 million for the year to March 31. BA shares were 5% lower following the update.

Also In The News:

Mirror – The mother of X Factor winner Alexandra Burke wept tears of anger yesterday after being told she is being investigated as a suspected benefits cheat. Furious Melissa Bell, 44, protested her innocence as she stormed: “They’re idiots – I’ll sue them!” The probe centres on claims that the mum-of-four – a former soul singer – has been getting paid for gigs while claiming benefits worth £17,344 a year. Every venue the mum-of-four has appeared at within the last six months has been contacted by investigators. Alexandra, 20, clinched the £1million a year X Factor winner’s contract and had a Christmas No 1. Now it is alleged her mother should no longer be claiming full benefits. Melissa, who has severe diabetes, gets a monthly £258 disability living allowance and £124 per week in income support. Her weekly £150 rent and council tax fees are covered by housing benefit.

Herald – Sir David Attenborough receives hate mail from viewers for not crediting God in his nature programmes. “They tell me to burn in hell and good riddance,” Sir David said during an interview with the Radio Times about his latest documentary on Charles Darwin and natural selection. This year marks two centuries since Darwin’s birth and 150 years since the groundbreaking On the Origin of Species was published.

Telegraph – Scrabble is just as good at improving mental sharpness as a Nintendo DS video games console and a copy of Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training, say researchers from the University of Rennes, Brittany. It’s a craze that has been credited with bringing video games to a whole new audience. But now it seems that so called “edutainment” games do not boost the brain as much as claimed. Researchers at the University of Rennes, Brittany, have concluded that playing Scrabble or completing sudoku puzzles is just as effective at improving mental sharpness as playing games such as Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training on the Nintendo DS.

Sun – A FIESTY raccoon has bitten off a pervert’s PENIS as he was trying to rape the animal. Alexander Kirilov, 44, was on a drunken weekend with pals when he leapt on the terrified – but toothy – fur ball. “When I saw the raccoon I thought I’d have some fun,” he told stunned casualty surgeons in Moscow. Now Russian plastic surgeons are trying to restore his mangled manhood.

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25th January 2009 19:03GMT, UK evening news flash

Top Stories:

Times – LABOUR peers are prepared to accept fees of up to £120,000 a year to amend laws in the House of Lords on behalf of business clients, a Sunday Times investigation has found. Four peers — including two former ministers — offered to help undercover reporters posing as lobbyists obtain an amendment in return for cash. Two of the peers were secretly recorded telling the reporters they had previously secured changes to bills going through parliament to help their clients.

Sky – A computer disk containing the details of 2,000 members of the British Council has been lost, it has been revealed. The details reportedly include names, national insurance numbers, salary and bank account details. It is the latest in a string of cases of official information going astray in recent months. But the British Council – set up to promote knowledge of British culture and the English language overseas – has said the missing disk was securely encrypted to keep its contents safe if it falls into the wrong hands.

Observer – Every taxpayer in the country has lost almost £40,000 since the onset of the credit crunch, as plunging house prices and the savage sell-off in stock markets have obliterated £1.2 trillion of Britain’s national wealth. The combined impact of the property downturn and the slide in share prices has wiped out the equivalent of a full year’s economic output, according to research by analyst Dharval Joshi at City bank RAB Capital, £38,700 for every one of Britain’s 31 million taxpayers.

Mail – A schoolboy was stabbed to death in a frenzied attack minutes after leaving a party staged by campaigners against black youth violence. Steven Lewis, 15, was ambushed by a mob of youths shortly after the function in Plaistow, east London. He is feared to have been a victim of a ‘postcode war’ involving youths from a rival area. Witnesses said he was attacked by a gang of 30 youths who were armed and ‘looking for trouble’. The same group is said to have issued death threats to the teenager over the last four months.

Business:

BBC – Steelmaker Corus is set to cut 3,500 jobs worldwide, including more than 2,500 in the UK, the BBC understands. Corus said it could not comment on rumour or speculation, but the company, like all steelmakers, is facing an unprecedented downturn in demand. One union official told the BBC Corus would announce its restructuring plans to workers at 0930 GMT on Monday. Corus, a subsidiary of India’s Tata Steel, employs 24,000 people in the UK and 42,000 worldwide.

London Paper – ROYAL Bank of Scotland today looked poised for a clear-out of directors associated with the reign of former chief executive Sir Fred Goodwin. The Sunday Times said BP chairman Peter Sutherland and former civil servants Sir Steve Robson and Jim Currie were preparing to step down. Senior independent director Bob Scott and Colin Buchan, a board member since 2002, could also go, although they may delay their exit until replacements are found.

Also In The News:

Telegraph – Google is on the verge of launching a system that experts believe could make the personal computer as we know it virtually redundant. The company is about to launch the ‘GDrive’, according to industry reports, which would allow people to store almost all their data on the internet and access it from wherever they are.

Sky – Scots the world over are celebrating the birth of their national poet, Robert Burns. And this year is particularly special – it is the 250th anniversary of his birth. The traditional Burns suppers consists of haggis and whisky for the toast. Burns’ hometown of Alloway in Ayrshire opened the weekend of events with a Scotland-wide programme of poetry readings, music and dance to celebrate the life of the author of “Auld Lang Syne”.

Metro – Sex-mad funnyman Russell Brand has confessed to bedding 80 women a month in a startling interview. The comic, 33, boasts in the new American issue of GQ magazine that he enjoys getting down and dirty with up to three girls a day. When asked how many women he has sex with a month, he revealed: “Work out how many days and, here’s a simple rule, triple it!”

STV – The Russian Orthodox Church prayed for divine guidance on Sunday at the start of a contest for a new leader that is likely to pit conservatives against those who want to open up the church to the rest of the world. The new patriarch will lead a church of about 165 million believers worldwide and determine whether to repair ties with the Roman Catholic Church that have been strained since a schism in 1054 split Christianity into eastern and western branches.

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