Daily Grind Of Still Water

Harding was never a man to be bothered, however, what others thought. “You do it your way, and I’ll do it mine” was his motto.He was also criticised for attracting media attention – something which was still regarded as slightly distasteful in 1950s climbing, a sport clinging to pre-war “gentlemanly” attitudes towards professionalism. Given that The Nose was plainly visible from the road and about as obvious a US mountain mascot as any, it was inevitable that public interest was going to be aroused, especially when someone larger than life such as Harding was involved. “Harding was a devilish fellow,” thought the Yosemite historian Steve Roper: Looking at his flashing eyes, his wild black hair, his jet black pants, I was fascinated. Other climbers I knew were bespectacled scientists, staid folks who would never have dreamed of wheeling up to a rock with a sports car and a beer and a flashy dame.Harding and an interchangeable team of climbing friends were to pull off the groundbreaking climb after 47 days spread over 18 months. Up until then, the longest US rock climbs had lasted only about five days, and so the climbers’ lengthy sojourn on one of America’s prime tourist attractions did not go unnoticed by the National Park Authorities.

Rangers became increasingly annoyed by crowds of sightseers clogging the roads below the cliff and ordered Harding to finish the climb by Thanksgiving. In early November 1958, the team drilled 28 bolts into the rock to overcome final 100 feet of overhanging summit headwall during an all-night 14-hour burst of manic energy. At 6am Harding pulled over the ledge to a burst of press flashguns and the cheers of friends.It had been an exhausting undertaking, during which Harding had come close to death when one of the threadbare fixed manilla ropes snapped, pitching him on to a ledge a few feet below. “I do recall that El Cap seemed to be in much better condition than I was,” Harding noted laconically after reaching the summit.Today, although The Nose has been freeclimbed (i.e. ascended without the use of artificial aids) within a day it is still an awesomely challenging climb and one of the most coveted ascents among ambitious climbers.

To many, Harding’s breakthrough was as much psychological as physical, and it ushered a new era of “big-wall climbing” which was to galvanise rock climbing throughout the world.Showmanship was an integral part of Harding’s iconoclastically wacky character. Dubbed “Batso” (after the character Ratso Ritso, the diminutive limping misfit in the film Midnight Cowboy), he had a unique style. Unlike many of his beatnik climbing peers, who eschewed regular work to climb full-time, Harding remained a weekender, wedded to his conventional career as a land surveyor. This did not stop his leading the high life of drinking, partying, fast cars and, frankly, some pretty fast women.

Beryl Knauth, a beautiful San Francisco debutante, was one of Harding’s long-term companions whom he jokingly referred to “one of my many formerly fine girlfriends”.The exotic life belied a dutiful son who provided for an elderly mother and bought her a home. Harding had been raised during the great depression which afflicted 1930s California and into an American work ethic which never left him It partly explained his tenacity as a big-wall climber. “Harding’s ability to keep up his determination and drive when others were too lazy to keep up was incredible,” said a fellow Yosemite pioneer, the landscape photographer Galen Rowell. “He had it in spades over them.”But Harding also knew how to play hard and had a mischievous answer for his many critics.

This invaluable apprenticeship, which taught her more about comedy timing than Rada could then have provided, was useful in Hart’s subsequent period entertaining the troops for Ensa.An early West End break came with her casting as a high-spirited adolescent supporting role in Daughter Janie (Apollo, 1944) and her success in this led to William Douglas Home’s early hit The Chiltern Hundreds (Vaudeville, 1946, and Booth, New York, 1949). In this long-running political light comedy, centred round the eccentric Earl of Lister and a local by-election, Hart was widely noticed for her effervescent comedy as the pert young housemaid Bessie, more than managing to hold her own amid such seasoned comedy masters as A.E. Mathews.When Glynis Johns – the original choice – became unavailable for Terence Rattigan’s comedy Who is Sylvia? (Criterion, 1950), Hart was ideal casting. Loosely based on the amorous exploits of the author’s father and spanning three decades, the play offered a wonderful opportunity to its leading lady – a showy chance to play three very contrasted roles, one in each act (all variations on the eponymous love in adolescence of the Diplomatic Service’s hero); an office girl, an actress and a model. Rattigan was never happy with the tone of the production, although it opened at the home of his first success, French Without Tears, and also co-starred two of its cast (Robert Flemyng and Roland Culver). Still, it ran for just under a year and won Hart some very positive notices.In Nancy Mitford’s version of Andrew Roussin’s French frivol The Little Hut, Hart was distinctly happier casting than the rather stately American original (Joan Tetzel), taking over as the desert-island Delilah opposite Robert Morley, directed by Peter Brook. Another long-running success came Hart’s way with Joyce Rayburn’s feather-light West End comedy The Man Most Likely To.

(Vaudeville, 1968) opposite Leslie Phillips at his most raffishly urbane. She also had another long Vaudeville residence replacing Moira Lister in the successful Ray Cooney/John Chapman farce Move Over, Mrs Markham (1972).That her range was much wider than that of the lighter commercial theatre drolleries was amply proved by two strikingly contrasted performances in an exciting period in Sloane Square when she worked at the Royal Court. Hart’s first appearance there was as the mother in an early and powerful Howard Barker play, Cheek (Theatre Upstairs, 1970). She had an even better maternal role, which she played with movingly understated simplicity, in Morality (Theatre Upstairs, 1971), an underrated piece by Jeremy Seabrook and Michael O’Neill, directed by William Gaskill, a domestic drama about a schoolboy involved in a homosexual relationship with a teacher.There were few similarly challenging London parts for her in later years, although she often worked in regional theatre playing, among other parts, the juicy title role in Maugham’s Mrs Dot (Everyman, Cheltenham, 1974).Hart’s film career, which began with a small bridesmaid’s role in the Margaret Lockwood costume drama The Wicked Lady (1945), included a spell under contract to 20th Century-Fox, although, frustratingly, she was rarely cast in rewarding parts or in worthwhile movies. But she particularly enjoyed working for Jean Negulesco in Britannia Mews (1949), one of his better films, scripted by Ring Lardner Jnr, and playing opposite a favourite actor, David Niven, in the musical Happy Go Lovely (1951).She also made many television appearances, beginning at Alexandra Palace during the war. Her radio performances were even more numerous; she was popular with some of radio drama’s most respected directors, especially Val Gielgud, but was versatile enough to score a success as Ted Ray’s wife in his Ray’s a Laugh series.Hart’s invention of the “Beatnix” corselet, which sold strongly in Marks and Spencer’s stores during the 1960s, became a firm (if that’s the right adjective) favourite in Soviet Russia, not least with the wife of the Russian premier, Mrs Alexei Kosygin, herself no slouch in the embonpoint department. The War Office took up another of Hart’s notions, that of attaching by cable a farmer’s harrow to a helicopter to rake the ground for plastic mines during the Falklands campaign.A born political maverick, Hart stood as an Independent in the 1972 general election contesting Lewisham South (she lost her deposit), and also ran a campaign to encourage women to do more to enter Parliament.A favourite Hart bolt-hole in London was the Chelsea Arts Club, of which she was a zestful member (her speed at solving cryptic crosswords was legendary).

Until recently she was a familiar sight between the West End and the King’s Road, weaving in and out of traffic on her bicycle, most usually clad in a voluminous mink coat.Alan Strachan. Norman Siddall, industrialist: born Sheffield 4 May 1918; General Manager, No 5 Area, East Midlands Division, National Coal Board 1956-57, General Manager, No 1 Area, East Midlands Division 1957-66, Chief Mining Engineer 1966-67, Director General of Production 1967-71, Member 1971-83, Deputy Chairman 1973-82, Chairman 1982-83; CBE 1975; Kt 1983; married 1943 Pauline Alexander (two sons, one daughter); died Mansfield, Nottinghamshire 9 January 2002. Appointed as a stop-gap chairman in 1982, Norman Siddall was the most successful of the three – and had spent his entire working life in the coal industry.Siddall was born in 1918, the son of a Sheffield knife-grinder. His father died while he was still at school; his enterprising mother opened a corner shop to support the family and made sure that her son completed his education at King Edward VII School, Sheffield. He then studied engineering at Sheffield University.As in so many traditional British industries, credentials in coal took a long time to acquire.

He has known other people who have been kidnapped so he was aware of the risk.”. The Hungarian Prime Minister, Peter Medgyessy, was forced to admit yesterday that he worked for the country’s communist-era intelligence services. The Prime Minister said he planned to sue the newspaper, and has called for the document to be authenticated.In the late seventies and early eighties, Hungary was ruled by a communist regime under the sway of the Soviet Union. But at the time the country was desperately trying to distance itself from the Kremlin.Mr Medgyessy said yesterday that his work in counter-intelligence had been connected with Hungary’s secret talks at the time to join the West’s International Monetary Fund, which it did in 1982 – one of the first successful moves away from Moscow.”I helped prevent foreign spies from getting their hands on Hungarian secrets and ensured they should not be able to block our joining the IMF,” he told parliament.”I would like to emphasise that a spycatcher is not an agent, not an informant. Counter-intelligence and intelligence are ancient professions and serve to protect the country.”Jozef Oleksy, a former Polish Prime Minister, was forced to resign six years ago over allegations he had been a KGB informer, although he was later cleared of any wrongdoing by a military prosecutor. His party won more seats than Mr Medgyessy’s but could not find a coalition partner.He has vowed to oppose the new government tooth and claw, and began to call on his supporters to form a “civic movement of cells” to mount, among other things, street demonstrations.. The Austrian army is turning to the powers of divining rods to help to solve the mystery of the sleepwalking soldiers.

He suffered serious internal injuries, but made a full recovery and the case was closed. Or at least it was, until the end of last month when another young man at the same barracks fell out of a window just after 2am. This time the sleepwalker injured his head and broke several bones, but is recovering in hospital.The parallels between the two incidents do not end there. Both the young men were sleeping in the same room and in the same bed at the time of their falls. The room was evacuated, the windows sealed and an army investigation was launched.

It found that neither of the soldiers had shown suicidal tendencies and there were no suspicious circumstances.But a divining rod enthusiast has found that the bed in room 82c lies bang in the middle of a negative energy field. An earth-ray expert has also concluded that there were disturbances in the area and is investigating further.Lieutenant-Colonel Johann Heritsch at the barracks in Strass believes the mishaps are no more than a strange coincidence. But he added: “We will take the findings of the earth-ray experts and diviners seriously and take them into consideration for further measures.”There’s one more interesting detail The barracks at Strass are housed in a 450-year-old castle Colonel Heritsch dismisses talk that it could be haunted. “Soldiers have been billeted here for 150 years and this is the first time anything like this has ever happened,” he said.. President George Bush’s much-heralded proposals for a Middle East peace were further delayed yesterday by the latest suicide bombing – adding to the growing sense of frustration and impotence within Washington. After the latest attack in Jerusalem’s French Hill district, officials said an announcement at this time would be unlikely to have a positive impact.A Palestinian minister, Ghassan al-Khatib, complained that the latest delay would only widen the “cycle of violence”.Mr Bush’s spokesman, Ari Fleischer, said: “It’s obvious that the immediate aftermath is not the right time The President knows what he wants to say The President will share it when .. it can do the most good. I think the time will be soon.”Officials said the President was still determined to make his announcement as soon as possible – no later than Monday.

During a face-to-face meeting last week Mr Ali told Ms Kirby: “If anything, the opposite is true.”Ms Bahl is now standing for re-election to the Society’s ruling body, after she was forced to resign as vice-president after a bitter clash over allegations that she was a bully. She had been expected to become the first woman and ethnic-minority solicitor to head the society, until five staff came forward with reports of humiliation and intimidation. The affair has so far cost the Law Society £2m.Ms Bahl is contesting a seat on the council reserved for ethnic-minority solicitors. Her supporters include Imran Khan, solicitor for Stephen Lawrence’s family.Ms Kirby claimed in a statement the remarks had been reported out of context and labelled her a racist.”I want to put the record straight once and for all,” she said yesterday.”I absolutely refute that my remarks were made with racist intent. I deplore racism and would never knowingly cause offence to Asian lawyers or individuals from an ethnic- minority background.”. Satpal Ram, an Asian man who served 15 years after being convicted of murdering a man who he said had racially attacked him, spoke yesterday of the abuse and bigotry he endured in jail and his resolve to see his conviction quashed.

During the fight, Mr Ram was stabbed twice with a broken glass. Mr Pearce died from wounds inflicted by a small packing knife that Mr Ram claimed he had used to defend himself.Mr Ram, whose parents emigrated to England from the Indian state of Punjab in the 1950s, said Mr Pearce’s death was regrettable and tragic. But he added: “I would have ended up another statistic if I had not defended myself that night.”He also alleged he had suffered appalling and repeated abuse by officers during his time in jail, much of which was spent in solitary confinement.In 2000 the Parole Board said Mr Ram should be released on licence, but Jack Straw, Home Secretary at the time, overruled the recommendation because Mr Ram had refused to admit guilt.His release finally came after European Court judges ruled last month that the Government had breached the human rights of the convicted murder Dennis Stafford by keeping him in jail longer than recommended by the Parole Board. The judges added that the power of a minister to overrule the board had been illegally used.Mr Ram said he would be bringing a civil case for unlawful imprisonment for his incarceration during the past 18 months. “I feel there should be a public inquiry as to why I have been unlawfully held in prison since October 2000,” he said.”The court have ruled that the Home Secretary acted unlawfully. I feel that he should now be charged with unlawful imprisonment.”His supporters maintain that he acted in self-defence and was the victim of an unprovoked racial attack by Mr Pearce. The jury was not asked to consider the racist nature of the attack and key witnesses were not called, the campaigners say.Mr Ram’s cause has been backed by a string of high- profile figures including the pop bands Primal Scream, Apache Indian and Asian Dub Foundation.

The 15-year campaign to free him included a petition with 2,000 signatures.Mr Ram, who has three sisters and two brothers, said he did not regard himself as a murderer but as a political prisoner because of the political dimension to his case.Thinking back to the fateful night that led to his incarceration, he said he had been “filled with fear” when a group of white men hurled racist abuse at him, calling him a “wog” and a “Paki”.Mr Ram said the knife he had been carrying on the night of the killing was the penknife he used in his job as a warehouseman. He had only had it with him because he had neglected to take it out of his pocket, he said “I wasn’t in the habit of carrying a penknife It was in my pocket from work that day. I forgot to take it out and my employer verified this at the time.”During the course of his sentence, Mr Ram was moved to 74 different prisons and was regarded, he claimed, as a difficult prisoner. Yesterday he said he endured frequent and random racial abuse. None of his official complaints had been upheld.”I sat and took it all in the early days, but then I thought enough is enough. You can keep a dog in a kennel and kick it in the face every morning for three days but on the fourth day the dog will bite back.

I felt the prison officers I encountered tried to crush my resolve but I was determined not to let that happen.”Having served six years in solitary confinement, he said that he was randomly stripped, beaten and threatened with hanging by prison officers “They would come in and shout at me calling me racist names. Seventeen-stone men would shout “you black c***” at me,” he said.Mr Ram said he received the support of people from around the world and their sympathetic letters helped him to get through his prison experience. Having left school without any formal qualifications, he used his time inside to read and educate himself. “The one thing I refused to let happen was to become institutionalised,” he said.Mr Ram was refused a visit to see his ill mother without handcuffs last year. She died without seeing her youngest son, a moment he recalled as his all-time low in prison.”Prison leaves very few people’s lives intact and it caters for the guilty, not the innocent,” Mr Ram said.”It is all the worse if you are a person of colour who has been wrongfully convicted.”. An independent commission headed by a Labour MP will investigate how women are being failed by the criminal justice system.

Her lawyers insist she had prior arrangements with her broker to sell if the share price dropped below a certain level.”The stock price had dropped substantially, to below $60. Since the stock had fallen below $60, I sold my shares, as I had previously agreed to do with my broker,” Ms Stewart said in the statement.The attention given to Ms Stewart’s role in the scandal has already battered the fortunes of her own company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. The firm’s shares have plunged more than 20 per cent over the past week, as investors learnt of the allegations.The ruckus hardly matches Ms Stewart’s wholesome image. She has her own television show, publishes a monthly magazine and gives her name to countless household products in licensing deals. For years, she has been the unrivalled queen of the American ideal home, giving tips on everything from the perfect pie crust to pleating your curtains.Ms Stewart has been co- operating with Congressional aides, providing brokerage and phone records.But some on Capitol Hill are concerned about the precise timing of her instruction to her broker to sell and whether it was made with the help of tips from Mr Waksal.They note that she telephoned her broker on 27 December and that he was also broker to Mr Waksal.. Israeli forces rolled back into three Palestinian towns yesterday with no objection from Washington, which only a few weeks ago was demanding Ariel Sharon withdraw his soldiers from parts of the West Bank controlled by the Palestinian Authority. But Mr Fleischer added: “The President understands Israel’s right to self-defence, particularly in the wake of an attack of this severity.”Israeli forces had earlier returned to three Palestinian towns – Qalqilya, Nablus and Jenin and its neighbouring refugee camp.

Palestinian-run territory – so-called Area A – forms 20 per cent of the West Bank. The remaining 80 per cent has remained under Israel’s military control since the occupation began in 1967.Israel presented its decision to reoccupy Palestinian- administered areas as a “major change in policy” that followed late-night consultations between Mr Sharon and his coalition partners. His armed forces have made daily raids inside Palestinian-run towns and villages and spent months parked outside Yasser Arafat’s headquarters in Ramallah.In one area, near the town of Jenin and the adjacent refugee camp, troops set up an encampment of mobile homes and brought in water tanks, apparently preparing for an extended stay. The Israeli military said troops took over commanding positions in the town, declared a curfew and made arrests.

They blasted their way into offices of Al Razi hospital, run by an Islamic charity affiliated with Hamas, and blew up a safe, according to the hospital director, Ali Jabareen.Mr Sharon’s office announced: “Israel will respond to acts of terror by capturing Palestinian Authority territory These areas will be held as long as terror continues. “As long as the Israelis are continuing their invasion, using their tanks, F-16s and Apaches [attack helicopters], there will be no arrests of any Palestinian,” Mr Rajoub told The Associated Press from Egypt, where he was meeting officials to discuss Palestinian security matters.Hanan Ashrawi, a legislator, and Sari Nusseibeh, the Palestinians’ senior Jerusalem official, were among prominent Palestinians to sign a newspaper advertisement urging groups behind the assaults to “stop sending our young people to carry out such attacks”.. Seven people were killed and 35 were wounded yesterday in the second Palestinian suicide bombing in Jerusalem within 36 hours. The atrocity came less than a day after the Israeli government issued a statement on Tuesday’s bombing, saying it would reoccupy Palestinian-administered areas if there were further attacks and remain until the violence ended.Last night, after 27 deaths in Jerusalem in two days, Israel began to act on its threat. Tanks and armoured vehicles entered Ramallah from two directions, heading towards the town centre where the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, has his headquarters.Israeli helicopters struck targets in Gaza, hitting metal workshops believed to be used for manufacturing weapons.

He turned back, looked up, and it all happened.”Attempts by Oasis to break into the US market appear ill-fated. On previous tours there were walk-outs and their latest tour had a difficult start. Last week, Noel lost his passport and Liam lost his voice before the first show in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. On another tour in 2000, Noel briefly quit playing after a punch-up with a drunk Liam.

On the European leg of the same tour, a concert in Barcelona had to be rescheduled after Alan White, the drummer, got tendonitis. A performance in Switzerland was cut short when missiles were thrown at the band.The members hurt in Indianapolis have been ordered to rest for at least two days. Darlington, a former member of Kula Shaker, has his hand strapped up and has been asked to return to hospital.Peggy, the Gallaghers’ mother, said the three had taken the taxi to go shopping. “Noel was a bit shaken up because he got seat-belt bruises but thank God he was wearing a seatbelt.”. The Guatemalan twin girls whose heads were prised apart in Los Angeles this week were said to be doing well yesterday, although their doctors said it would be several days before they were out of danger. It was not clear what had caused the emergency but the team at the Mattel children’s hospital at the University of California – more than 50 doctors and nurses – said complications could arise in the next week or so.”The situation will remain life-threatening for both the twins for several days,” said Michael Karpf, director of the UCLA medical centre. According to the official bulletin, they remained in critical but stable condition..

At least 17 Colombians were killed and 24 were wounded when four explosions rocked the parliament moments before the new Colombian President, Alvaro Uribe, was sworn in yesterday. Two rockets were also reported to have hit the palace.Despite unprecedented levels of security, an urban cell of Marxist rebels opposed to the new hardline President had attacked, officials said. The skies over Bogota had been closed to all air traffic other than an American P-3 spyplane guarding against threatened rebel air assaults. Some 20,000 troops patrolled the capital as the right-wing independent leader was sworn in behind closed doors, fearing assassins. There have been three attempts on his life in the past six months.Less than an hour after Mr Uribe was sworn in, two more blasts went off in nearby slums. The stone walls of the government building splintered and glass windows blew out, bloodying the diplomats in attendance.

North of the city, a mortar attack caused a dozen injuries in the morning, with several children among the victims.A defiant Mr Uribe, whose own father was killed by Farc rebels, said his crackdown against terror would continue. In his inaugural speech, he said: “The world must understand that this conflict needs unconventional, transparent and imaginative solutions.”Mr Uribe, an Oxford-educated lawyer elected in May, starts out with a 70 per cent approval rating for his pledge to rule the civil-war racked country with a firm hand but the challenges will be daunting during his four-year term.He seeks support from both Europe and the United States. On Friday, Washington eased restrictions that limited its military assistance to drug interdiction.Marxists insurgents and paramilitary death squads have made Colombia bleed for nearly four decades. Every year, at least 3,500 people are killed in conflict and 3,000 are kidnapped; more than 37 people have died in the past two days alone.

Government tends to want to dig things up to see if they are growing.”Ms Owers, the former director of the human rights group Justice, said: “We lock up 23,000 more people than if we were any other European country, yet 50 per cent of men are reconvicted in two years and 70 per cent of young adults. Can we please see what we need to put in its place? There is this sense overcrowding is driving the agenda.”Ms Owers has delivered a series of scathing reports into conditions in jails. The Prison Reform Trust’s analysis of figures from the service’s annual report shows that just 839 sex criminals completed the Sex Offender Treatment Programme – the fourth year in a row the target has been missed.The Prison Service also set a target for reducing the number of assaults on prisoners, but there were 6,684 recorded incidents in 2001-02, 10 per cent higher than the stated aim.. He had pleaded guilty to threatening two police officers outside Lord’s cricket ground last month after a match between England and India. But there was condemnation from some quarters over the Home Office’s decision to give him what amounts to a year’s severance pay.Norman Baker, the Liberal Democrat spokesman on home affairs, said: “If Mr Singh was a normal public-sector worker he would not be getting compensation, he would be leaving under a cloud.”The Home Office said Beverley Bernard, Singh’s deputy, would become acting chairwoman.. Smiling in their Manchester United shirts, a picture of the two missing Cambridgeshire girls was taken just 90 minutes before they disappeared. It was taken by Holly’s mother, Nicola, in the front room of their home in Red House Gardens, in the quiet market town of Soham during a family barbecue.Holly changed into her football shirt, with the name Beckham and number seven on the back, after her best friend arrived.

Jessica put on Holly’s brother’s identical shirt and black shorts.Last night, Cambridgeshire police were examining footage of four adults and two girls caught on CCTV camera in the centre of Soham on the day of the girls’ disappearance. A police spokesman said the footage was being shown to the families to see whether Holly and Jessica were on the film. The spokesman stressed that the people in the tapes were not being treated as suspects.Earlier yesterday, 250 police officers searched fenland, waterways and farm buildings. Officers with experience in child abductions, including two of the detectives involved in the Sarah Payne murder inquiry, were also providing their expertise.The officer in charge of the inquiry, Detective Superintendent David Hankins, admitted: “We are having to consider the possibility of abduction.”A white van was seized yesterday and examined, although police later dismissed the incident as a routine search.. A bouncer who was allegedly struck in the face with a glass bottle by a professional footballer denied yesterday that using his fists was “in his blood” despite training his brother as a boxer.

But a lawyer for Mr Byrne accused Mr Thirlwall, who was temporarily blinded in one eye, of being obsessed with boxing.The jury was shown CCTV footage of the bouncer shadow boxing in the club’s reception shortly before the fight, along with his brother Matthew, a professional boxer, and another doorman, Shaun Brice. Simon Pentol, for Mr Byrne, asked Trevor Thirlwall: “Using your fists is part of your normal way of life, it’s in your blood?”Mr Thirlwall, who confirmed he had been his brother’s “conditioning trainer”, said he was asked to eject the men because of his social skills. He said: “That job would be issued, as a result of my eloquence and good nature, to me. I don’t use my fists.”All three footballers deny a joint charge of affray. Mr Terry denies further counts of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and possessing a glass bottle as an offensive weapon. Mr Byrne denies possessing a glass bottle as an offensive weapon.The case continues..

Detectives today released fresh details of the last known movements of the two 10-year-old girls missing in Cambridgeshire since Sunday. An army major appeared in court yesterday charged with dishonestly attempting to win £1m on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?

An army major appeared in court yesterday charged with dishonestly attempting to win £1m on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?.
Charles Ingram, 39, from Easterton, Wiltshire, won the top prize on the ITV programme hosted by Chris Tarrant in September 2001.He appeared at Bow Street magistrates’ court, central London, with his wife Diana Ingram, 38, and Tecwen Whittock, 52, from Whitchurch, Cardiff, who are all charged with deception and conspiracy. Mr Ingram has denied cheating and has launched a civil action against the programme makers to recover the money.. Holidaymakers travelling to Greece for their yearly dose of hedonism and sunshine could be in for an unpleasant surprise this month, with prices rising by up to 100 per cent in the wake of a slump in tourist numbers.

It was the day of reckoning for a rash, drunken episode that had seen Singh swear and threaten two policemen during a fracas at Lord’s cricket ground last month.
By the end of the day, Singh, 51, had resigned with a £115,000 pay-off and had been fined £500 for threatening behaviour. The court was given an embarrassing account of him raising his fists and trying to headbutt a police officer after pompously asking “do you know who I am?” and threatening to have him sacked by his friend “Blair”; not Tony, but Ian, the Deputy Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police.Last night, Singh expressed “deep regret” over the incident. But it was clear that his reputation was in ruins and, more crucially, his relationship with the police had been damaged.Singh, who has three children, had been a member of the CRE since its inception. He arrived in Britain from Punjab in 1956 and his parents settled in Wolverhampton. In 1972, he became a housing specialist with the former Community Relations Commission and then worked in local government in the 1980s, becoming chief executive of Haringey Council, the first Asian to be appointed to such a high-level post in London.Singh’s managerial role at the authority was publicly scrutinised during the inquiry into death of Victoria Climbie. The conclusions of the inquiry are yet to be published.Yet his fall was rapid and ignominious.

It began on 13 July when India beat England in a one-day cricket match.Deborah Walsh, for the prosecution, told District Judge Nicholas Evans that Singh had consumed more than seven glasses of wine during the day.On leaving the ground, Singh bumped into a police officer and then became abusive and threatening. His wife, Siobhan Maguire, 40, apologised to the officer but Singh continued to swear, shouting at the policeman: “F*** you! Do you know who I am? I’ll have your job Blair is going to hear about this. You’re in trouble now.” Ms Walsh said two men from the crowd held back Singh as he continued to shout and wave his arms. Ms Walsh said one of the police officers, PC Hambleton, “honestly believed that if these men had not held held him back, [Singh] would have assaulted him”.After being handcuffed, Ms Walsh said, Singh shouted “I will f***ing have you” and tried to headbutt one of the officers. He then went deliberately limp so the officers had to drag him.Singh pleaded guilty to the charge and sat impassively as the account of his behaviour was read out. In mitigation, his counsel, William Boyce QC, said Singh had insisted on writing a letter of apology to PC Hambleton after the incident, even though he knew the gesture would make it easier for the Crown Prosecution Service to build a case against him.”The defendant accepts he did swear and was moving his hands in a rather animated way but not deliberately in a clenched fist,” Mr Boyce said.

“We accept that had he not been drunk that day he would have been aware that his language and hand movements were inappropriate and that they could lead a person to believe that there could be trouble.”He is sorry to have slipped momentarily from setting an example to others at all levels. He deeply feels that he has let himself down and others.”Mr Boyce produced 40 pages of testimonials in support of Singh, asking Judge Evans to hand down only a conditional discharge.But the judge was unimpressed. Imposing a £500 fine and £55 costs, he said: “This was disgraceful behaviour over a long period of time.”After the hearing, Singh issued a statement that said: “I have today stepped down as chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality. I have decided to do so in order that a line can be drawn under recent events. I also believe this to be in the best interests of both the CRE and race relations in general.”He added: “I deeply regret this entire incident and now wish to put it behind me. I hope that the media will respect this and allow both myself and my family some privacy.”Lord Filkin, a Home Office minister, accepted Singh’s resignation, saying: “I am very sorry to see Gurbux Singh stand down as chairman of the CRE.

She thinks Ms Blackwell’s other outgoings are standard, although she could get a better deal on her mobile phone.Mr Katz thinks Ms Blackwell is paying a high premium for living in London. The tube pass is nearly £1,000 a year, and her overdraft probably costs a higher rate of interest than her student loan. He thinks Ms Blackwell could repay her overdraft by a personal loan with Intelligent Finance, at 8.9 per cent, if this is a lower rate than HSBC’s. If so, she could probably repay her loan in less than two years.Mr Katz agrees Ms Blackwell’s house insurance policy is too high. He thinks she has fallen into a common trap; her account is with HSBC and she has taken out her insurance with them too.

He says it never pays to put everything with your clearing bank They are rarely the most cost-effective option. He suggests she call phone insurers such as the AA or Direct Line for guideline quotes.There is also a specialist agency called Entertainment & Leisure Insurance Services which issues insurance for precisely for people in similar situations, he adds. Their “Digs, flats, bedsits and shared accommodation” policy has a standard premium for £7,000 contents at £84 a year Her cello would be £65 extra on a separate policy. She would pay about £149 a year, saving £163 a year, which is £13 a monthMs Bradshaw says Ms Blackwell is making another common error, by keeping money in a savings account while servicing a more expensive debt.

The first thing she should do is use the £100 in the Halifax to reduce her overdraft.Solution 2: SavingsMs Bradshaw thinks that if Ms Blackwell finds spare cash she should use it to pay off her overdraft and debt to her parents first and start saving for an emergency fund and a deposit on a house. She thinks a mini-cash Isa would be the ideal home, since interest rates are slightly higher than other savings accounts and are tax-free.Ms Haines also thinks Ms Blackwell ought to start saving. She should join her company pension scheme when she is able, although it is not clear whether her employers will contribute. Ms Haines also says surplus cash Ms Blackwell has after clearing her overdraft should be kept in a mini-cash Isa or for a possible deposit on a property or for travel, depending on her priorities.Solution 3: HousingMs Haines reckons Ms Blackwell cannot realistically consider a mortgage in London at present. She recommends that when Ms Blackwell’s finances are in better order and she has built up savings, if she still wants a property in London she would probably need to take out a joint mortgage with someone.Ms Haines adds that some lenders are prepared to look at lending higher levels of income multiples but Ms Blackwell should be wary about any mortgage because this is a long-term commitment she does not appear to want at present.Mr Katz says because Ms Blackwell lives with five others, her share equals the repayments on a mortgage of £117,000. Her income would probably allow a mortgage of £60,000, but she cannot afford a deposit. He thinks if she wants to be on the housing ladder her home town of Sheffield looks a far better bet than London, or anywhere else in the South-east, for that matter.Ms Bradshaw thinks that since Ms Blackwell does not envisage house purchase until at least 2009, she could consider putting a small regular amount into a mini-equity Isa, investing in a medium-risk managed or global growth fund or a FTSE all-share tracker.

As she is promoted she should make sure she increases her savings accordingly.Solution 4: PlanningMs Haines says Ms Blackwell needs to be realistic, and prioritise She must think about how much she spends. But she thinks it is a good sign that Ms Blackwell sees the way forward in earning more money and reducing expenditure.Mr Katz suggests Ms Blackwell could earn more money and make use of her language skills by working part-time and supplementing her existing job, perhaps in tourism, London being a prime centre.He is sure somebody fluent in European languages would not find it difficult to earn extra money on evenings and weekends He also thinks she should review her career options. For example, Ms Blackwell is well qualified for a European Union job in Brussels, which would pay her more than she could earn here, long before she is 30.*If you would like to be given a financial health check-up, please write to: Wealth Check, ‘The Independent’, 191 Marsh Wall, London E14 9RS, or e-mail cash independent.co.uk.. As university terms start around the country this weekend and thousands of freshers enjoy their first taste of freedom, research from Virgin One, the online bank in Sir Richard Branson’s empire, shows nearly three-quarters of young people in the UK still turn to their family first to borrow cash.

The market is punishing most heavily those firms that produce the biggest earnings disappointments, but companies with the best earnings momentum continue to outperform the rest of the market.The most encouraging news is that, as often happens, the contagion is spreading not just to those stocks that deserve the re-rating but others that arguably deserve more favourable treatment. Research by CSFB shows the 20 per cent of European stocks with the best earnings momentum have outper- formed the market by 10 per cent since the start of the year, and the 20 per cent with the worst experience have underperformed by 15 per cent. But, in absolute terms, many of the virtuous are still suffering along with the rest, as always happens in bear markets.It is reaching the point, as was noted here a few weeks ago, that it is at last producing genuinely interesting buying opportunities, at least for those with reasonably medium-term horizons. The market may yet break through its late summer lows and extend the bear market by one further leg – it is hard to say market sentiment is positive at present – but the number of large, well-capitalised stocks that have strong, consistent earnings records as well as, in many cases, healthy dividend yields is increasing by the day.

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Some are worth adding selectively to your stock watch list.Remember that bear markets, when they do end, tend to do so suddenly, and when they do, it is because investors have forgotten about the need to look at fundamental value and are instead so bewitched by the day-to-day price movements that they have lost sight of the more important issues, just as they do the other way round at the top of a bull market.davisbiz aol . Like a Beethoven or Wagner composition building to a climax, the bear market crashed and thundered again this week, with the only consolation being that fear is beginning to take over from greed as the dominant emotion. Moneynet Like a Beethoven or Wagner composition building to a climax, the bear market crashed and thundered again this week, with the only consolation being that fear is beginning to take over from greed as the dominant emotion.
This is an essential condition for the bear to enter its death throes and eventually pave the way for recovery in share prices. But it could still be a long time dying.Hugh Hendry, hedge fund manager at Odey Asset Management, said: “It could be the biggest bear market of all, and it has a symmetry in following the greatest of all bull markets.” While that would be a neat pattern with an almost Biblical air of seven fat years preceding seven lean years, it can be misleading to place much faith in such possibilities until long after they have happened.The 33-month downturn since the all-time peak has been characterised by analysts and pundits of all shades pointing to one potential similarity or another with 1987, 1974 or 1929, whether it be the duration, the depth or the impact on yields and price-earnings ratios. But Mark Twain probably got it right when he said: “History doesn’t repeat itself At best it rhymes.”This is not 1987, 1974 or 1929 It is 2002 and we are entering new territory.

That is scary enough in itself, without trying to be clever about where the bottom is and when it will be time to buy again. As I have said, it is best to ignore timing and keep trickling money into the market, with diversification from shares to bonds to spread the risk.On the opposite page, Colin McLean offers the useful advice that investors should concentrate on the basics of company performance: cash generated, tax paid, upward sales and profit margins. That strategy would not get you far in a raging bull market, but it is right for the present conditions. The latest rumblings from the life insurance industry suggest a volcano is about to erupt. The question is whether policyholders or shareholders should prepare for avoiding action.This week AMP, the Australian group which owns Pearl and Henderson Global Investors in this country, lost its chairman and its chief executive after admitting Pearl has breached its minimum capital requirements due to the slide in the stock market That may be a one-off. More worrying is Standard Life’s warning that it may have to penalise policyholders who want to cash in early, and Prudential’s closing of its staff’s final-salary pension scheme to recruits.These are outward signs of deep inner turmoil and considerable concern from organisations whose reputations are founded on measured control in the face of almost any circumstances.We are seeing the impact of the modern regulatory climate, with its emphasis on disclosure, as compared with the regime that prevailed in 1974. Given that the stock market then fell by three-quarters from peak to trough, it is certain some insurance companies were technically insolvent and their pension funds were billions of pounds in deficit on their future liabilities.But, only seven years after a devaluation of sterling in which newspapers were forbidden from mentioning the D-word before the event, the guiding principle in 1974 was to say nothing of these problems in public, for fear of panic.