Jenjie

Been mugged or burgled? Well, don't consider yourself a victim of crime. To the police, you're actually a "customer". It is one of a string of examples of needless police jargon - or "ploddledygook" - which should be ditched, according to the Plain English Campaign. Force control rooms have been given the futuristic title "Citizen Focus Command". And it's not just constables, sergeants and inspectors working at force HQ anymore. Expect to find an office set aside for the Head of Protective Services, Head of Citizen Focus, Director of Criminal Justice Change and - most intriguing of all - the Director of Knowledge Architecture. The PEC said that enough was enough and, Life on Mars-style, it was time to go back to a time when police were blunt about their business: catching criminals. There are, say its officials, simply too many examples of police forces being "customer-led", having "mission statements", giving officers "ludicrous job titles" and "pointlessly stating the blindingly obvious". "I think 'ploddledygook' is the term to describe it," said a PEC spokeswoman. "The police have always had their own language. In the past we might have thought of Pc Plod with his flat feet, proceeding a westerly direction, saying 'ello, 'ello, 'ello, what 'ave we got 'ere then?' It was endearing. "But now police force websites talk about 'customers' and 'end games' and 'mission statements', or have slogans saying things like 'our focus is you'. "We know what police officers are and what they do. They do what it says on the badge. "They don't to need to waste their time calling us 'customers' or telling us that we are their 'focus' or what their 'mission' is." Some of the police jargon is well-known. Many forces now, for example, insist on taking a "holistic" approach - which must be a major consolation when a housebreaker has just made-off with your new flat-screen television. And Met boss Ian Blair memorably spent thousands of pounds adding the word "together" to the force's logo. It created the slogan "Working Together for a Safer London". But it seems the craze has stretched far and wide. Examples picked out by the PEC include: * Suffolk Police titling their senior officers as Head of Protective Services, Director of Criminal Justice Change and Director of Knowledge Architecture. * Norfolk Police's description of its control room as "Citizen Focus Command". * The same force describing its latest uniform as a 'wicking' shirt and a "blouson". * Essex Police's website declaring: "We strive to always put the customer first." * A Humberside Police press release saying burglaries were caused by "insecurities". Even a few unpleasant home truths were disguised by management babble, the respected campaign group said. An Essex Police press release, headed "Putting you First", said "There are 47 police stations in Essex: 12 of which are open around the clock." The PEC said: "The opposite of what most people would conclude. Isn't it saying, sorry, nearly 75 per cent of police stations are not open after 5pm?" Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the Taxpayers' Alliance, said it was an "offshoot of the management-speak" used in local government and government departments. He added: "It's as if there's some machine turning out crazy management-speak. All this 'ploddledygook' might be funny, but there's a serious side. "If police forces are spending time and wasting public money churning out this sort of rubbish it's no wonder they have problems. "It's very simple. People want coppers to come when they're called and to catch criminals." http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=559431&in_page_id=1770

Most people dream of coming home to find a private plane sitting on their patio. But Graham Seymour was horrified when he returned from a shopping trip with his wife to find a mangled microlight had crash-landed in his back garden - with the pilot still trapped inside. Chris Harborne, suffering from a bleeding head wound, had to be airlifted to hospital after narrowly avoiding the 60-year-old's house and crashing into the rear garden last Friday. As neighbours frantically dialled 999, firefighters, paramedics and police officers dashed to the crash site. Harborne, a wealthy businessman, lived just 500 yards away from Mr Seymour and was attempting to land on his own private air-strip when he clipped a tree and crashed into the garden. The four-bedroomed detatched home in Highclere where Mr Seymour lives with his wife Jacki remained sealed off as a probe into what happened got underway. Mr Seymour said: "I came home from shopping and as I came into the close and came around the front, my neighbour said there was a 'problem'. He added: "Then I was told there was an aircraft in my garden. My neighbours had let themselves in and they were tending to the pilot in the plane which was on the patio against the wall. "There was blood all over the place. Someone had already phoned the emergency services and they were on their way. "The air ambulance had to then land in the garden across the road and the pilot was taken to hospital. He looked shaken and dazed. "I was stunned, it was not really what I was expecting to come home to." He added: "We have been told to stay at the front of the house because there is a rocket propelled emergency parachute still inside and that might go off." As the air accident investigation was launched, Mr Seymour was calling in insurers and a structural engineer to examine his home. "The conservatory was damaged slightly but the house does not appear to be damaged thankfully." A spokesman for South Central Ambulance Service said that it sent two ambulances and two officers, an emergency care doctor, a rapid response vehicle and the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance. He said: "We were called to reports that a plane had crash into a house in Highclere, near Newbury. "On arrival we found that this was not the case and it had come down in the back garden of the house. "We treated just one patient at the scene for a serious head injury. "Having been treated there he was taken by air to the North Hampshire Hospital, in Basingstoke, where he remains. His injuries are not thought to be life-threatening. A spokesman for Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service said it sent one fire engine and three crews from the Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service were also drafted in. "We are still at the scene at the moment. A light aircraft crashed into a garden and clipped a conservatory. There was no structural damage to the house. "There was one person injured. It looks like a lucky escape." http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=559350&in_page_id=1770

THE railway station bar, once a classic venue for romantic encounters, has fallen victim to the health and safety police. When Michael Leventhal, a London publisher, wanted to impress his date on her birthday, the longest champagne bar in Europe seemed to be the perfect setting. So Leventhal, 35, made a booking at the new St Pancras station, whose 96-metre bar has been promoted as a perfect meeting point for lovers. He also e-mailed a request for help in arranging a birthday surprise. Leventhal asked whether he could bring a candle and have it surreptitiously placed on a cake, brought to the bar and presented to his companion when she was least expecting it. In its 140-year history, St Pancras has survived steam trains, bombing raids and a massive electrification programme - but a candle was too much. Leventhal was baffled to be told that a full risk assessment of the 4in children’s candle would have to be made before it could be allowed on the premises. Senior officials would have to give their approval and safety measures put in place. An e-mail from Raymond Lay, the bar’s events manager, explained: “I have asked the station operations if we would be allowed to have a lit candle at the champagne bar for a birthday cake and they have said that we will have to submit a risk assessment form stating what the risk will be to the bar and the station, and what we will put in place to combat any possible risks. “The risk assessment form will then be put to Mike Page (head of station operations).” There was just one snag, as the e-mail noted: “Unfortunately Mike Page will not be back from holiday . . . so the champagne bar would not be able to let you light the candle for your friend’s birthday cake.” Leventhal was shocked by the response - not least because St Pancras was built at the height of the steam age when blazing furnaces filled the station every day. “I was amazed that such a tiny candle could cause such a huge problem. It was bureaucratic insanity,” he said. “I thought it was preposterous but very funny. It was a second date. I had wanted to treat her.” The date, in February, went ahead but without the cake and candle. The couple found themselves in an empty bar staring at a parked Eurostar. She is no longer in contact with him. The station, which was opened as the Eurostar terminus last year, said the champagne bar was right to have demanded a risk assessment because of the potential danger from a naked flame. If permission had been granted, a spokesman said, a fire extinguisher would have had to be on stand-by in case the candle burnt out of control. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article3736240.ece

THE Royal Navy, once the scourge of brigands on the high seas, has been told by the Foreign Office not to detain pirates because doing so may breach their human rights. Warships patrolling pirate-infested waters, such as those off Somalia, have been warned that there is also a risk that captured pirates could claim asylum in Britain. The Foreign Office has advised that pirates sent back to Somalia could have their human rights breached because, under Islamic law, they face beheading for murder or having a hand chopped off for theft. In 2005 there were almost 40 attacks by pirates and 16 vessels were hijacked and held for ransom. Employing high-tech weaponry, they kill, steal and hold ships’ crews to ransom. This year alone pirates killed three people near the Philippines. Last week French commandos seized a Somali pirate gang that had held a luxury yacht with 22 French citizens on board. The hijackers were paid off by the boat’s owner and then a French helicopter carrier dispatched 50 commandos to seize the hijackers and the ransom money on dry land. Britain is part of a coalition force that patrols piracy stricken areas and the guidance has troubled navy officers who believe they should have more freedom to intervene. The guidance was sharply criticised by Julian Brazier MP, the Conservative shipping spokesman, who said: “These people commit horrendous offences. The solution is not to turn a blind eye but to turn them over to the local authorities. The convention on human rights quite rightly doesn’t cover the high seas. It’s a pathetic indictment of what our legal system has come to.” A Foreign Office spokesman said: “There are issues about human rights and what might happen in these circumstances. The main thing is to ensure any incident is resolved peacefully.” The guidance is the latest blow to the robust image of the navy. Last year 15 of its sailors were taken prisoner by the Iranians and publicly humiliated. In the 19th century, British warships largely eradicated piracy when they policed the oceans. The death penalty for piracy on the high seas remained on the statute books until 1998. Modern piracy ranges from maritime mugging to stealing from merchant ships with the crew held at gunpoint. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article3736239.ece

ON the day he died Georgi Stoev, the author, knew he did not have long to live. “Something’s going to happen,” he told his lawyer as he left a cafe in Sofia, the Bulgarian capital, shortly after midday last Monday. Seconds later he was lying fatally wounded in the street in front of the Pliska hotel in the centre of the city. He had been hit by three bullets. This weekend police were investigating the theory that Stoev had been hunted by one of the characters from his nine crime books, including three about the country’s mafia “godfathers”. Stoev, 35, claimed that his books, which mixed fact and fiction to reveal the secrets of some of the country’s most notorious crimes, were based on his own experiences in the formative years of the ruthless Bulgarian mafia in the 1990s. As a teenager training to be a wrestler he attended Sofia’s “Olympic Hopes” school. With the collapse of communism in 1989 the school was closed and the wrestlers formed a gang that has become one of the most dangerous in Europe. Stoev later turned his back on the mafia and began to write. In a country renowned for brutal contract killings, he took the startling decision to expose alleged mafia characters in his books, making no attempt to disguise their identities. In Godfather 3, Stoev wrote about a prominent secret service officer and politician. “This is the book that will get me killed,” he told his publisher when he handed over the manuscript. In another Godfather book, Stoev wrote about an alleged mafia boss who had supposedly offered him £240,000 to kill an underworld figure. According to the novel, Stoev refused and went to the police. He knew the risks: another witness against this man had “got a bullet in the head”, he wrote. Stoev’s publisher, Dimitar Zlatkov, claimed the interior ministry was a “moral killer” for failing to protect him. This is denied by the ministry, which claims Stoev had refused to testify and had exaggerated his mafia past. What is clear is that Stoev had become convinced that he was about to die. In the weeks before he was shot he told the press he would be murdered. “My life is in danger. I’ve been protecting myself but now there is a serious threat,” he said on a television show. According to his editor, Stoev, the divorced father of a seven-year-old daughter, had hired bodyguards and frequently changed his car and telephone number. On Thursday he was buried in a private funeral at Bistrica, nine miles outside Sofia. The public prosecutor’s office said it will question three mafia bosses featured in his books. Stoev’s killer is unlikely to face justice. His murder is one of more than 150 contract killings in seven years - with no convictions. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article3736050.ece

OUTSIDE the walls of Fort Concho, a former US cavalry station deep in the heart of Texas, a flock of slight young women were wailing and tearing at their long, pink and blue gingham dresses. Inside the fort 400 children, removed last weekend from the nearby compound of a polygamy cult amid allegations of rape and child abuse, heard the commotion and cried out for the parents they had not seen for days. Even for casehardened social workers flown in from Arizona and Utah to help soothe distraught children, ranging from infants to 17-year-olds, the scale of the distress was heartrending. “We want to reunite the girls and boys with their mothers, but right now we don’t know who belongs with whom, so we’re asking for mothers to wait until we match up DNA samples,” said a spokesman for child protection services in San Angelo. “We understand how awful this is for everyone, but we’ll arrange supervised visits over the next few days.” Many of the teenage girls are pregnant after being forcibly married to strangers who treated them as servants. Cut off from the world, they have been brainwashed into believing they must obey husbands far older than them or face a beating as punishment. Toys donated by the local Wal-Mart supermarket last week were dazzling to children for whom entertainment had previously revolved around needle-point sessions between grinding daily chores. These tasks consisted largely of sweeping desert dust out of the polygamists’ imposing limestone temple, the massive centrepiece of the Yearning for Zion (YFZ) ranch 40 miles from San Angelo. The 1,700-acre ranch was purchased in 2004 by followers of Warren Jeffs, a self-proclaimed prophet and leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints. The group split from mainstream Mormons in the 1890s after they outlawed polygamy. Jeffs and his followers believe men must “seal” as many wives as possible in “celestial marriages” so they can go to heaven and the women can be closer to God’s wife Gonhorra, who lives on a faraway planet. Fundamentalist polygamy favours middle-aged men who chase away younger rivals with accusations of heresy and marry girls as young as 13. Their brides must be white, as Jeffs proclaimed that “the devil always brings evil unto earth through the black people”. A few months after he appeared on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list, Jeffs was stopped during a routine traffic check in 2006. In his car police found $55,000, 16 mobile phones and disguises, including three wigs and 12 pairs of sunglasses. The 52-year-old preacher was jailed on two counts of being an accomplice to rape, with more charges pending, but is said to be running the cult from his prison cell. Texas police, who were criticised last week for being slow to investigate the ranch, admitted they had been wary about provoking a siege like the one at Waco in 1993, when a routine search for guns escalated into a 51-day standoff between the FBI and another cult, the Branch Davidian. It ended in a pitched battle that cost 80 lives. The Texas Rangers finally took action on the Yearning for Zion ranch after a desperate call from a young woman two weeks ago. She claimed she was 16, had been impregnated and beaten by a cult elder, and was in fear for her life. The police obtained warrants based on her testimony, which included the suggestion that the elders had up to 20 wives each, mostly of whom had been married under the minimum legal age. Police arrived at the ranch at 5.30pm on April 3 and pushed their way through a cordon of men in order to force open the doors of the temple, where they found safes stuffed with cash and a tousled bed, which they suspect was used for the consummation of “celestial” marriages. Last week a total of more than 500 women and children were taken from the compound, but police have yet to find the distraught teenager who tipped them off. They fear that her 50-year-old “husband”, named as Dale Evans Barlow, may have absconded with her. A man of the same name is said to be living across the border in Arizona, where he once served 45 days in jail for having sex with a 16-year-old minor. He admits having three wives and 22 children but claims not to know the girl the police are seeking. Arnold Jessop, who says he is a friend of Barlow’s, said his teenage marriages “seemed to me to be very natural and proper, in the tradition of Abraham who also had multiple wives”. Some who have escaped from polygamist communities hope the police will now stop turning a blind eye to a dozen other fundamentalist compounds in Utah, Arizona and Nevada, where up to 40,000 polygamists live. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article3736218.ece

PLANS for a third runway at Heathrow, the world’s busiest international airport, flout safety guidelines by placing a proposed crash-landing zone on top of a motorway junction. The mis-siting emerged in an investigation by The Sunday Times into the expansion of Heathrow. The investigation also revealed that figures for carbon emissions and the impact on air quality have been downplayed. The government is under pressure to rethink the £12.7 billion project. BAA, the airports operator, has decided that the risk of a plane crashing into the six-lane motorway, which rises to 65ft (20 metres), does not merit relocating the M25/M4 junction. Opposition to the scheme is being led by Hillingdon council, the planning authority for Heathrow. It states that expansion should be “rejected outright on safety grounds”. The government is likely to be challenged in the courts if it approves plans for the development this summer. Its own guidelines state that the number of people in “public safety zones” around airports should be kept to a minimum. They say: “The basic policy objective . . . is that there should be no increase in the number of people living, working or congregating in public safety zones.” This should apply because of the extra traffic generated by the enlarged airport. The Department for Transport (DfT) has been advised to create ways of avoiding traffic jams on the junction to reduce the risk of fatalities in a hypothetical plane crash. Most crashes occur during landing or take off. In January, a British Airways jet crashed after its engines failed during its descent to Heathrow. The official submission by Hillingdon to the DfT says: “Government guidance states that density of occupation of a six-lane motorway is similar to that of a housing development . . . Such transport developments should not be permitted within public safety zones.” Ruth Kelly, the transport secretary, was criticised this weekend for failing to publish maps showing that the M25/M4 is within the safety zone, the area with the highest crash risk. Campaigners are now calling for an independent review. Justine Greening, a Conservative frontbencher, said: “Yet again a key aspect of expanding Heathrow that the public need to understand was left out from the consultation document.” Documents released under the Freedom of Information Act show the Civil Aviation Authority has raised concerns about the potential conflict with air traffic from nearby RAF Northolt. Another of the authority’s concerns was a proposal to reduce from 90 seconds to 60 seconds the gap between planes taking off in the same direction from the two existing runways. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article3736233.ece

One of England's newest universities is offering tailor-made degrees in the management of selling beds. Buckinghamshire New University in High Wycombe is offering a retail management foundation degree developed in partnership with bed company Dreams. This is the kind of collaboration between industry and higher education the government wants to encourage. Most of the sector's expansion is through such two-year courses mixing academic and work-based learning. Like the much-publicised "McDonald's A-level", the Dreams degree incorporates the existing company training package. But Buckinghamshire New University vice-chancellor Ruth Farwell said: "Whilst we recognise the impetus behind the decision to allow companies such as McDonald's to award their own qualifications, we believe that it is better for employers to partner with universities in initiatives such as this one." Skills base Dr Farwell added: "We pride ourselves on our work-based foundation degrees that are designed in conjunction with employers, and enable students to gain qualifications whilst they are working and on the basis of their work experience. "Offering Dreams' managers this opportunity is a natural extension of our work, especially since Dreams' head office is in our home town. "It fits perfectly with the government's drive for greater participation in higher education and the need to enhance the skills base of the nation." Dreams founder Mike Clare said many of his staff had attended the university. "The university's pragmatic approach and understanding of the challenges we face has enabled us to launch a development programme which will enable staff to continue their education whilst also focusing on their careers," he said. The first course begins in mid-April, with 12 Dreams managers specially selected to be fast-tracked through the foundation degree in one year. Two years will be the norm for subsequent students. Flexibility On Monday, Higher Education Minister Bill Rammell is launching a consultation, Higher Education at Work - High Skills: High Value, on how best "to build stronger and more flexible links" between business and universities. The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills said the independent Leitch review of the nation's skills requirements in 2006 had argued there was a need for a significant increase in the proportion of workers with degree level skills. Currently 30%, the review said the aim should be more than 40% by 2020. A spokesman said that 70% of what will be the 2020 workforce had already left school. So new types of higher education needed to be provided, including more flexible courses designed and co-funded by employers. However, a report from the Higher Education Policy Institute think tank has said the potential market for such degrees is untested. It says expanding them at a reduced rate of state funding risks repeating the underfunded growth of the 1990s. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7343027.stm

The London Marathon had to be rerouted 200m after a suspected gas leak in a pub in east London. Reports of a strong smell of gas at the Old Rose Pub on The Highway, Wapping, changed the course for the remaining runners at the 13 mile point. But engineers investigated and found no leak. The area has now been given the all-clear. About 35,000 runners set off on Sunday morning from south-east London and finish on The Mall, central London. London Fire Brigade said it was called at 0950 BST to reports of a strong smell of gas. Precautionary measure Spectator had to be moved and parts of the road closed as Transco investigated the leak. The pub was taped off by police as the route was moved from one side of the highway carriage to the other. A spokeswoman for Transco said any gas escape would have been internal and would not have posed a risk to the marathon route. However, it was decided to change the course as a precautionary measure. The barriers were moved back to their original position after the all-clear was given. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7345058.stm

Israeli defence chiefs have moved to tighten internet social networking rules after photographs appeared showing sensitive military subjects. A review of Facebook pages belonging to Israeli troops found that some had posted detailed pictures of air bases, operations rooms and submarines. "These are things we don't want the public to see for security reasons," an official source told the BBC. Posting photos of troops in uniform - a popular pastime - is still allowed. The new set of rules - which has not been made public - includes a ban on images of pilots and members of special units, and anything that shows specific military manoeuvres. Rite of passage The defence ministry launched its inquiry earlier in the year to check the potential security risk in the dozens of social networking groups dedicated to life in the Israeli military. Compulsory military service is a rite of passage experienced by large numbers of young Israelis and in recent years they have shared their experiences through photos and web-posted accounts of their activities. There's a lot of illegal photography inside the Israeli Defence Forces, including the Israeli Air Force," a source inside the air force told the BBC. "Most of the soldiers don't understand how much damage it may cause," the source added. Militants in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories are believed to monitor Israeli web forums and communities, including Facebook and the photo sharing site Flickr, to get information. Enthusiasts The military source, who cannot be identified, says a few of his comrades are authorised to take pictures at their bases and to post them on Flickr. Every photo is vetted by military censors, and the ones considered appropriate are assured a warm reception by the many enthusiasts of military hardware in the online photo-sharing community. But the defence ministry says military tribunals have investigated and disciplined about 100 soldiers who broke the rules and unwittingly helped the enemy this year. It may seem a large number, but the defence ministry source said: "Considering the number of soldiers there are with social networking websites, it is a tiny proportion." The worst offenders were punished with a month in jail for particularly egregious posts, while others were warned they would face similar punishment if they re-offended http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7343238.stm

The Chinese ambassador to London has accused the Western media of demonising China and says there are "complicated problems" in Tibet. Fu Ying also said that a young Chinese woman asked her: "Where is the gentlemanship?" after the protests during the Olympic torch run in London. Many of the visitors from China who were in London last week felt that Britain was against them, she added. Ms Fu said in the Sunday Telegraph that Tibet is "loved" by the Chinese. The ambassador wrote: "I am concerned that mutual perceptions between the people of China and the West are quickly drifting in opposite directions. China's objective "Of those who protested loudly, many probably have not seen Tibet. For the Chinese people, Tibet is a loved land and information about it is ample. "There may be complicated problems of religion mixing with politics, but people are well-fed, well-clothed and well-housed. "That has been the main objective of China for centuries. Tibet may not grow into an industrial place like the eastern cities in China, but it will move on like other parts of China." According to BBC political correspondent, Laura Kuenssberg, officials from the British Foreign Office suggest that one way to settle disputes about biased reporting would be for China to allow the international press free access to Tibet. But Ms Fu says that Western media has to earn China's "respect". She said: "Many complain about China not allowing enough access to the media. In China, the view is that the Western media needs to make an effort to earn respect. "Coming to China to report bad stories would not be stopped, as China is committed to opening up." http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7344895.stm

Five British women have been killed and another 12 Britons injured in a bus crash in Ecuador. Gap-year students Indira Swann, 18, of Berks, Lizzie Pincock, 19, of Somerset, Rebecca Logie, 19, of Lancs, and Emily Sadler, 19, of Hertfordshire, all died. Warwick-based tour company VentureCo's guide Sarah Howard, 26, of Cheshire, was the fifth victim. Gordon Brown said his thoughts were with their families. The bus is thought to have collided with a truck near Jipijapa on Saturday. 'Deeply saddened' The victims' next of kin have been informed. Gordon Brown's spokesman said: "The prime minister was deeply saddened to hear of the deaths of five young British people in Ecuador." The family of Emily Sadler, who was from Northwood in Hertfordshire and due to start at Manchester University in September, have paid tribute to their "fun-loving and popular" daughter and sister. In a statement they said "her enthusiasm for adventure and new experiences had been the incentive to travel to Ecuador", and they had last spoken to her on Wednesday. "She was a beautiful bubbly girl with her whole life ahead of her. Her loss is indescribable," they said. None of injured Britons is thought to be in a critical condition. VentureCo said they had sustained whiplash, and minor facial and leg injuries. A French national, who was also on the tour, and two Ecuadorians were also hurt. A Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) spokesman said the acting ambassador in Quito had arrived in Manta, where the injured were being treated. He also said the FCO welcomed the news that Ecuadorian authorities had appointed a prosecutor to investigate the crash. The accident happened in Sancan, on the road between Manta and Jipijapa, an Ecuadorian news website reported. The bus was owned by Reina del Camino, a company well known to VentureCo, and the crash occurred at 1900 local time. Ecuadorian police have said the driver of a lorry carrying a load of sand crashed into the bus. The truck driver then fled the scene. 'Tragic accident' The group was part of a 15-week "Inca and Amazon Venture", which set out on 27 March. They had been heading to the second stage of their trip, which involved volunteering on a development project on the coast at Puerto Lopez. They were planning to renovate a children's creche there. They had just completed two weeks of Spanish language classes in the capital Quito. Mark Davison, a VentureCo director, said the four students were heading to university in September. He added the group was only 30 minutes from its destination, and the accident had happened in the least dangerous, lowland part of the eight-hour journey. "Any form of road travel in South America is inherently risky," he said. "We know this route well and we have groups there most months of the year. "It starts in the high Andes, and this is the part of the journey covered in the morning, and then as you reach the afternoon you're onto the lowlands where the road is flatter and straighter. "I think it was just an unfortunate combination of circumstances. It's a tragic accident. A parent should never have to go through this. As a parent myself, my heart goes out to them." He added that the survivors were being looked after by their staff in Ecuador, the British Embassy and the Ecuadorian authorities. The group are due to fly to Quito later today for any further medical treatment. A group set up on the social networking site Facebook ahead of the trip lists 18 expedition members, including one person from VentureCo. 'Third world' About 22,000 Britons visit Ecuador every year, according to the Foreign Office. The South American country - which includes the Galapagos Islands - is known for its volcanoes, tropical forests and rich wildlife. The travel editor of the Independent newspaper, Simon Calder, said the country's infrastructure was basic. "This is a third world country with all the problems that come with that," he told the BBC. He said the operators "will certainly have gone to every length to make sure that the local bus company is reliable and safe". "Unfortunately you cannot legislate against accidents." Anyone concerned for the safety of a friend or relative in Ecuador can call the Foreign Office on 020 7008 1500. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7345069.stm

awwww thats so sad.

lol I can't believe you read Wuthering Heights before 1984. Would have thought you'd have left wh til last

Make sure you buy a decent edition. I decided to read it, bought the bargain version and then found the print to small to read. Its still on my list of things to read someday

I asked 2 questions because i'm greedy!!! :laugh3: Does Death actually have any friends? Would have thought its quite a lonely job?

It was so dire, it was funny. The acting was atrocious, the scenery could have been made better by 'Blue Peter', and the special effects were dismal. And I got all that out of the first half hour!

the airport police carry machine guns. and the armed response units would, i hope!

hmmm so the royal symbolism slowly leaves. how long til we chuck the Queen off the other side?

i first saw it on an online news site about a week before April Fools. we commented at the time that if we'd first seen it on 1st april we never would have believed it

Get Me Out Of Here - Rachel Reiland

A woman was killed by a train after her Ugg Boot became stuck on a level crossing. The 29-year-old had tried to cross the railway tracks after the barriers came down across the road. But her foot became stuck in the wooden grid which prevents animals from straying on to the line. A man believed to be her boyfriend battled to pull her free. He was helped by Jonathan Smith, a passer-by who had seen them walk on to the track, as the train approached Hythe station, in Colchester, on Thursday. The woman died almost immediately. Her companion was taken to Colchester General Hospital with leg injuries. Yesterday, the woman's father, who declined to be named, visited the scene, and told onlookers that her boot had become stuck. It is thought she was wearing Ugg Boots - the fashionable sheepskin footwear which has wide, flat soles. Mr Smith, 18, said they had managed to free the woman, known locally as Kelly, before she was hit by the National Express East Anglia service from Liverpool Street to Clacton. The IT student said he saw the pair continue crossing, even though the train was bearing down on them. He said: "I was standing waiting to cross. She got her foot stuck. "There were four or five people waiting there but they just watched, none of them were helping. No one wanted to get hit by a train. "I didn't think, it was just instinct - it was a young girl's life. "I saw the train coming. I just thought, 'I've got to save her', I didn't think about my own life. I went through and saw she had her foot stuck at first and I grabbed her hand and got her foot out. "I had her in my arms, she was safe. But her boyfriend screamed at her to get to the other side. I said, 'Stay on this side'. "But he said, 'This is my train, I've got to be on this side of the track', and so she tried to cross. The train was about 25ft away. The train didn't have any chance to stop. "She just curled up in a ball. Her boyfriend jumped out of the way. I tried to help her but I slipped on the wet. It was luck I wasn't hit. I was still holding her hand when the train came. "My friend told me to let go of her hand, otherwise I would lose my arm." British Transport Police said: "Police can confirm that a woman in her late twenties died at the scene after she attempted to cross the line when the barriers were down and got her foot stuck in the wooden guards of the crossing and became trapped. "Two men attempted to pull her free from the crossing as the train, which was travelling between 40mph and 50mph, approached." Locals said that the crossing was dangerous and pedestrians often tried to make it across the track before the train arrived. Matt Wilson, who was on the train, said: "There was no warning, the driver slammed on the brakes. Just a minute later you heard the sirens. "It is such a dangerous crossing. People chance it all the time. "They just push back the barrier and run over. I've done it before - loads of people do it." http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=548159&in_page_id=1770

It is a tour which is guaranteed to show the seamier side of life in Amsterdam. The itinerary includes a trip to a "cannabis college" and the red-light district where prostitutes sit in windows advertising their wares. Hardly the usual sort of trip undertaken by children aged between 14 and 16 - funded by taxpayers' cash. The three-day jaunt to the Dutch city, whose coffee shop customers can smoke cannabis without fear of prosecution, was yesterday condemned as an "appalling abuse" of public money. It involves 20 teenagers, 16 of whom attend the Helena Romanes School, a comprehensive in Great Dunmow, Essex. Three other teenagers work and one is home tutored. All 20 met through Dunmow youth centre and have each contributed £20 towards the cost of the trip. A £3,000 grant from the Government's Youth Opportunity Fund should pay the rest of the bills. The visit has been organised by Essex County Council's youth service to help children discover how the Dutch tackle drugs, alcohol and sexual health issues. They will travel to Amsterdam on April 7 with youth workers, a community police officer and four sexual health nurses to compare the different ways that Britain and Holland treat the subjects. Linda Barnes, the youth worker organising the trip, said: "Holland has the lowest teenage pregnancy in Europe, whereas in the UK we are approaching the worst. "The same is true of drugs and alcohol. The UK's problems are well publicised, but in Holland it is nowhere near as bad. The idea is to compare the two countries to find out if there is anything we can learn from one another." The council has reassured parents that youngsters will not be allowed into cafes where drugs are bought and consumed openly, but they will tour the red-light district. "We will take them along those streets so they can see how open it is over there," said Miss Barnes. "Some of them thought initially they would be having a wild time, but they will find out Holland is in some ways more restrictive." The "cannabis college" which the group will visit is an information centre which features a cannabis garden, a sexual health clinic and a police station. Nick Gibb, Tory schools spokesman, said: "This is an appalling abuse of public money. There is a very serious risk that this trip could educate the children in the seedier side of life. "They should be touring the harbour and go to the Anne Frank museum but definitely not be seeing the red-light district." Peter Stoker, director of the National Drug Prevention Alliance, said there was a danger that the trip could glamorise drug-taking. 2Or it could normalise it and teenagers would say, 'Here we are in a big city and nobody seems to be too bothered about it'. "The answer is that the people who go there are not bothered about it but most people vote with their feet and go somewhere else. "If they wanted to show Amsterdam in all its tackiness, they could do that through a film in the classroom rather than making it a jolly. The money being spent on this trip could be spent in much better ways, on drug prevention activities." A spokesman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families, said yesterday: "Our policies are designed to improve the well-being of young people by giving them opportunities to take part in rewarding activities. "But this visit appears to be an inappropriate use of money and we are following this up with Essex County Council." http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=548070&in_page_id=1770

British youth are violent, drunken and out of control, a leading American magazine concludes today. The front cover of renowned publication Time Magazine depicts a young man in a "hoodie" with mugshots of others across a Union Jack. Its headline reads: "Unhappy, Unloved and Out of Control - An epidemic of violence, crime and drunkenness has made Britain scared of its young." It also pours scorn upon the parenting abilities of the British, claiming they do not spend enough time with their children and cannot cope. The magazine criticises our class-riven society, education system and binge-drinking culture. The weekly magazine, which goes on sale across the world today, cites a survey by the children's charity TS Rebel which found last year that more than a fifth of Britons avoided going out at night rather than risk encountering groups of intimidating youths. A 3,200 word article states: "It's easy to see why. "The boys and girls who casually pick fights, have sex and keep the emergency services fully occupied are often fuelled by cheap booze." It says that British youngsters drink far more than their European counterparts, are more frequently involved in violence and are more likely to try drugs, adding that English girls are the most sexually active in Europe. "Small wonder then, that a 2007 Unicef study of child well-being in 21 industrialised countries placed Britain firmly at the bottom of the table," the article states. The magazine, which has a circulation of four million, has put the story on its international front cover. It will also feature the article in its US editions, providing further embarrassment to the Government. Time also says that Labour's ambitious target of halving child poverty by 2010, set by Tony Blair, is unlikely to be achieved. It states: "The British have a long propensity to recoil in horror from their children - whether they be Teddy boys in the 1950s, mods and rockers in the Sixties, skinheads in the Seventies or just a bunch of boisterous teens making a lot of noise but little real mischief. "But it is also true that for what Bob Reitemeier, chief executive of the Children's Society, call a 'significant minority' of British children, unhappiness - and the criminality, excessive drinking and drug-taking and promiscuity that is its expression - really have created a crisis. "All over the world, teenagers give their parents headaches. "Why are the migraines induced by British kids felt across a whole society? "Part of the reason may be that parents aren't always around to help socialise their children - or even just to show them affection. "Compared to other cultures, British kids are less integrated into the adult world and spend more time with their peers. "Add to the mix a class structure and an education system that rewards the advantaged, and some children are bound to be left in the cold." The article expresses particular concern at Britain's binge-drinking culture. "Alcohol Concern noted that one in three British men and one in five women drink double the amount considered safe at least once a week," it says, citing pictures of Princes William and Harry leaving nightclubs. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=547930&in_page_id=1770

One of Britain’s favourite butterflies may be being killed by a parasite that behaves like the monster from the movie Alien, experts say. The small tortoiseshell, right, has suffered a dramatic decline in recent years and it is thought that a tiny parasitic fly, Sturmia bella, is the cause. The butterfly caterpillars eat the fly’s eggs, found on nettles, which then hatch, killing the host. The charity Butterfly Conservation and Oxford University’s zoology department are conducting research to find out if the fly is to blame. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article3642889.ece