-----------------------------------------------
Doomed Concorde On Fire When It Left The Ground
-----------------------------------------------
The Air France Concorde which crashed outside Paris on Tuesday was on fire as it left the runway, says The Sun today. "The doomed jet was delayed on the tarmac at Charles de Gaulle as engineers installed a thrust reverser on the Number Two engine," says the Report. "It was the SAME engine on the left wing that exploded in flames as Concorde took off." The thrust reverser "slows a landing aircraft by changing the direction of jet propulsion," explain Charles Bremner and Ian Cobain in The Times. Pilot Christian Marty refused to take off until the work was carried out and the part was "cannibalised" from another Concorde. "A criminal investigation for manslaughter, formally launched in France yesterday," says The Independent's John Lichfield, "will focus on the possibility that the repair may have introduced another fault."
Thursday 27th July:
Sunday 30th July:
Monday 31st July:
Tuesday 1st August:
Wednesday 2nd August:
-----------------------------------
3rd August:
-----------------------------------
9th August:
10th August:
16th August:
21st August:
Wednesday 23rd August 2000:
Monday 28th August 2000:
Wednesday 30th August 2000:
Thursday 31st August 2000:
Thursday 7th September 2000:
Sunday 10th September 2000:
Monday 11th September 2000:
Monday 12th September 2000:
Tuesday 13th September 2000:
Sunday 17th September 2000:
Thursday 5th October 2000:
Thursday 25th October 2000:
----------------------------
Sunday 29th October 2000:
Tuesday 7th November 2000:
Wednesday 7th November 2000:
Sunday 26th November 2000:
Tuesday 13th November 2000:
Thursday 4th January 2001:
Monday February 12th, 2001
Thursday 22nd February 2001:
Wednesday 28th February 2001:
Monday 13th March 2001:
--------------------------------
Thursday 29th February 2001:
Friday 8th June 2001:
Tuesday 11th September 2001:
Hundreds of people are feared dead after the
attacks, which began shortly before 9am local
time (2pm BST), when two planes crashed
into the World Trade Centre tower in the
heart of New York's financial district.
Shortly afterwards in Washington DC, an
aircraft is said to have hit the helicopter pad at
the Pentagon and part of the US military
headquarters has now collapsed.
A third explosion in New York an hour after
the initial crashes brought the south tower of
the World Trade Centre crashing to the
ground. A witness said he saw bodies falling from the towers and people
jumping out.
Minutes later, the Centre's north tower collapsed. The death toll is as yet
unknown but could run into the hundreds.
"I just saw the building I work in come down," said businessman Gabriel
Ioan, shaking outside City Hall, with a cloud of smoke and ash from the
World Trade Centre behind him. "I just saw the top of Trade Two come
down."
The ash was two to three inches deep in places. People wandered dazed
and terrified.
Authorities had been trying to evacuate the 50,000 people who work in the
twin towers, but many were thought to be trapped.
Several subway lines were immediately shut down. Trading on Wall
Street was suspended. and New York's mayoral primary election has
been postponed. All bridges and tunnels into Manhattan have been closed
down.
Osama bin Laden has warned of an "unprecedented attack" on US
interests three weeks ago, according to Abdel-Bari Atwan, an Arab
journalist with access to the Saudi dissident. Meanwhile Abu Dhabi
television said a Palestinian group claimed responsibility.
The Federal Aviation Administration said it was diverting transatlantic
flights headed for the US to Canada after earlier grounding all flights in
response to the attacks in New York and Washington.
It has been reported that the FBI was investigating reports of plane
hijacking before the two crashes.
The US president, George Bush, and the secretary of state, Colin Powell,
are returning to Washington and have convened a national security
meeting. He said the explosions were an "apparent terrorist attack" and
said "terrorism against our nation will not stand".
Bridges and tunnels in New York have been closed amid fears of further
attacks.
Thousands of people have been evacuated from the White House and all
other government and public buildings in Washington DC and New York,
including the Treasury, the White House, the UN headquarters and the
State Department. Chicago has also begun evacuations of major buildings.
The World Trade Centre, the tallestbuilding in New York, is a popular
tourist attraction which houses financial services companies and the
attack occurred at 9am when employees and tourists would have already
arrived at the building.
It is thought that the aircraft were passenger planes. The first aircraft
crashed into one of the towers shortly before 9am (2pm BST). It is
believed to be a Boeing 767 plane flying from Boston to Los Angeles.
Smoke billowed out of a gaping hole in the 110-storey tower, which was
damaged on at least two sides.
Just 18 minutes after the initial explosion there was a second blast as a
plane hit the other tower. Flames shot out of the side of the building and
debris rained down.
A witness to the first explosion, Jeanne Yurman, said she heard a sonic
boom then looked out of her window to see an explosion.
"I looked out and the side of the World Trade Centre exploded as I looked
up. Debris started sailing down, I couldn't believe what was happening,"
she said.
Another witness, Todd Harris, who saw the second explosion, said that it
looked like the second plane was lining itself up to hit the building.
Thousands of pieces of what appeared to be office paper came drifting over
Brooklyn, about three miles from the tower, another witness said.
James Winter, 30, a British worker living in an apartment close to the
centre, said he had been woken by a huge bang at around 8.50am local
time.
"I was in bed and there was a huge explosion. The whole building rattled
and shook," he said.
"I ran to the window and there was smoke billowing from the south side of
one of the towers. Everyone in my building was panicking and running
around."
The Centre was bombed in February 1993, killing six people and injuring
more than 1,000 others.
Monday 11th November 2001:
----------------------------------------------------------
Sunday 25th November 2001:
-----------------------------------------------
Catastrophic Engine Failures of Doomed Concorde
-----------------------------------------------
"A catastrophic series of failures, including a fire in one engine and a
loss of power in a second, brought down Concorde flight AF4590 near Paris
on Tuesday," reports John Lichfield in The Independent.
"The aircraft was starting to break up even before it left the ground,"
reports The Times on revelations from the black box recordings released by
crash investigators yesterday.
"One port engine failed and the second malfunctioned twice in just two
minutes," the report continues. "The pilot was unable to lift his
undercarriage, making the stricken aircraft even more difficult to handle."
"In his final words to the control tower, the pilot said he was unable to
gain sufficient altitude," says The Express. "According to its black box,
Concorde veered to the left, rose and then slammed into a hotel in the town
of Gonesse, killing all 109 people on board and four on the ground".
---------------------------
BA Concorde In Safety Scare
---------------------------
"A British Airways Concorde made an emergency landing last night after
terrified passengers smelled fuel in the cabin as it soared over the
Atlantic," says today's Sun.
"The incidents came as French investigators said that the flames that spewed
from the wing of an Air France Concorde minutes before it crashed last
Tuesday were probably due to a massive fuel leak rather than an engine
problem," says The Guardian's Jon Henley.
"According to the French Accident Investigation Bureau (BEA) this would mean
that the flames seen coming from the plane were caused by leaking fuel and
not a damaged engine," reoports The Independent.
-----------------------------------
Man Arrested For Sarah Payne Murder
-----------------------------------
"A man questioned within 24 hours of the disappearance of eight-year-old
Sarah Payne was arrested again yesterday on suspicion of murdering her,"
reports David Sapsted in The Telegraph.
The suspect, 41 year-old Roy Whiting, was originally questioned for two days
before being released on police bail. He is now reportedly being held at a
police station in in Bognor Regis.
"Police have searched Mr Whiting's Littlehampton flat for any clues to
Sarah's abduction," says Oliver Wright in The Times, "and have taken away a
white van he owned which is understood to be undergoing forensic
examination".
Eight year-old Sarah Payne was abducted in West Sussex on July 1st. Her body
was found on July 17th in a field beside the A29 near Pulborough.
-----------------------------------
"Muslim terrorists fired into a pilgrim camp at a remote town in the
disputed northern state of Kashmir and a fierce gun battle ensued as the
security forces responded, killing two of the militants" - The Independent
-----------------------------------
Home Office Minister Charles Clarke announces new proposals for dealing with alcohol-related violence: "Police could get new legal powers to seize bottles and glasses and for the first time have the power to arrest people who refuse to
comply." [Express]
"In the most significant judicial decision since the former
president's arrest in London in October 1998, the judges of Chile's highest
court voted by 11-9 to remove the bar to him being put on trial" - [Telegraph]
-----------------------------------
Prisoners Ricky Loveridge and Richard Hurley Flee Slough court in "hail of
bullets: "Two men armed with a sawn-off shotgun and a handgun fired several
times into the air and battered a police officer over the head with a gun
butt as suspected burglars Richard Hurley and Ricky Loveridge dashed
outside to a waiting high-powered getaway car." [Express]
FIFA Decides that future World Cup tournaments will "rotate around the
continents"
--------------------------------
Mob Rules In Paedophile Protests
--------------------------------
"Angry parents vowed last night to continue their campaign against
paedophiles as the wave of violence spread," says The Mirror. Campaigners
at the Paulsgrove estate in Portsmouth have been protesting for seven days
and vow to continue until every last offender has left.
"As events threatened to degenerate into mob rule," says Nicole Martin in
The Telegraph, "a crowd of 300 protesters collected outside the homes of
suspected paedophiles yelling: 'Hang him! Hang him!'."
"Hampshire police confirmed yesterday that four families had fled their
Paulsgrove homes because they featured among the names being touted as
potential threats," reports Cahal Milmo in The Independent. "None of those
who have left have convictions for child-related sex offences."
"Violence has also flared in Plymouth," says Vikram Dodd in The Guardian. "A
man was chased by a mob in Whitley, Berkshire, and two men accused of child
sex offences have committed suicide".
Meanwhile, says The Times, the chairman of the Home Affairs Select
Committee, Labour MP Robin Corbett, "called yesterday for the prosecution
of the News of the World for the incitement of public order offences."
"It was perfectly predictable when the News of the World started this what
the outcome would be," he told Radio 4's PM programme.
--------------------------------
"A girl Brit was found raped and murdered in Thailand yesterday after fellow
backpackers at a hostel ignored her screams in the night," says The Sun.
"The partially-clothed body of Kirsty Sara Jones, 24, was discovered lying
face down on her bed with a T-shirt knotted around her neck," says The
Mirror. "Guests heard sounds of a scuffle and a scream coming from her room
during the night, but thought it was no more than a lovers' tiff and did
not intervene."
-------------------------------------------
Russian Sailors Feared Dead In Stranded Sub
-------------------------------------------
"All 118 trapped sailors on the stricken submarine Kursk were feared dead
last night - victims of obsessive Kremlin secrecy," says Will Stewart in
The Express today.=20
"Russia finally asked for help from a specialised British rescue mini-sub,
but the call seemed to have come far too late to save the men freezing and
suffocating 500 feet below the surface of the Barents Sea".
"Last night the Deputy Prime Minister, Ilya Klebanov, warned that there were
no longer any tapping noises coming from the Kursk," says The Independent.
"With the submarine listing at the hopeless angle of 60 degrees in vicious
currents it appeared that Moscow was preparing its people for the worst
possible scenario".
Vladimir Lukin, deputy speaker of the Duma and former Ambassador to
Washington, "acknowledged the unspoken truth" that has caused
the Russian navy to wait so long before accepting help from abroad, says
Giles Whittell in The Times. The Russian military, said Mr Lukin, "likes to
pretend that everything's OK".
"A 27-strong British team is set to leave the Norwegian port of Trondheim
for the disaster site early today with an LR5 mini-sub," says The Mirror.
"Swallowing its pride, the Kremlin asked Britain for help at 4pm
yesterday... Anticipating the move, the LR5 team had already left Prestwick
airport for Trondheim".
------------------------------------
Crew Found Dead On Russian Submarine
------------------------------------
"Ten days of drama in the Arctic reached a grim climax," reports Ian Traynor
in The Guardian, "when all 118 Russian crew who went down with the Kursk
nuclear submarine in the Barents Sea on August 12 were declared dead."
"All attempts to rescue the crew were abandoned after Norwegian divers found
that the Russian nuclear submarine was completely flooded," says The
Telegraph. "When the divers opened the emergency hatch, they discovered a
body in murky water in the stern compartment, the section most likely to
have contained air pockets".
"Russia tried to pin blame on the Royal Navy," says The Express. "Even as
British deep sea divers were risking their lives at a depth of 350 feet
assisting them, the Russian navy said it had found a fragment of a foreign
submarine - 'most likely British' - close to the wreck of the Kursk".
Meanwhile, in Russia, president Vladimir Putin has been damned attacked by
Russian media for taking a holiday on the day the Kursk sank and not
returning until the end of last week.
Mr Putin's defended his actions saying he had decided to leave it to the
professionals. "But this argument is now in trouble," says Patrick Cockburn
in The Independent, "because the rapid Norwegian success since Sunday
morning shows the professionals did not know what they were doing".
------------------------------------
Hailstones the size of Mint Imperials banked up to eight inches=
high at Hedon, East Yorkshire, leaving homes and businesses with a huge=
mopping-up operation after they melted.
----------------------
Airbus Crash Kills 143
----------------------
"The Bahrain authorities say all 143 people on board a Gulf Air plane which
crashed off the country's coast on Wednesday are now known to have died,"
says the BBC this morning.
The Airbus-320 "plunged off radar screens into the shallow sea after an
engine caught fire as it tried to land," reports The Sun's Nick Parker.
"About 70 bodies - mostly children - had been recovered as rescuers hunted
in darkness for survivors".
An air traffic controller said that the crew had not reported anythiung out
of the ordinary, says Anton La Guardia in The Telegraph. He described how
the plane had inexplicably circled the runway twice in an attempt to land,
before "plunging into the sea on the third attempt and exploding in flames.
He saw no fire or sign of trouble before the impact".
Two Britons were reported to have been among the Egyptians and Bahrainis on
board the scheduled three-hour flight from Cairo.
"We can confirm there were two British passengers on the plane," a Foreign
Office spokesman told The Times. "British officials know their identity but
that information will not be released until they have been positively
identifed and the next of kin have been informed."
-------------------------------------------
BSE Scare Linked To Sheep, Pigs and Chicken
-------------------------------------------
"The spectre of a hidden form of mad cow disease jumping animal species to
infect lamb, pork and poultry was raised by scientists yesterday," says The
Express this morning.
"Not only cattle, but sheep, pigs and poultry exposed to BSE via animal feed
may have developed a 'subclinical' form of the disease which remained
symptom-free and hidden," says The Mirror.
"New research has shown that certain strains of prions, the infectious
agents thought to cause BSE, can infect laboratory mice yet the animals
never develop the disease," explains Steve Connor, Science Editor of The
Independent. "The findings indicate that BSE can exist in a 'sub-clinical'
form, where high levels of infectious agent are present in an animal yet
fail to result in any symptoms".
"The latest developments come amid signs that the incidence of vCJD [the
deadly human form of BSE] is growing at between 20% and 30% a year," says
The Guardian's James Meikle. "In Britain, 70 people have died and nine
others are still alive suffering the always fatal condition".
------------------------
Chaos Of Calais Blockade
------------------------
"Ten thousand Brits were devastated last night after the French fishermen's
blockade of Channel ports wrecked their holidays," says The Sun's Jamie
Pyatt. "Fourteen boats encircled Calais and hundreds of others brought
other ports to a standstill".
Fisherman from 14 trawlers in Calais started a fuel price protest yesterday
morning which rapidly spread along the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts,
including Boulogne and Dunkirk. And the blockade had an immediate effect on
travellers to and from Britain and Ireland.
"As huge traffic delays built up in Dover, police closed the M20 between
junctions 11 and 12 for use as a giant lorry park," says The Mirror.
"Portsmouth, Plymouth, and Folkestone were also hit by the action".
"The chaos is likely to get worse by the weekend," says The Times. "French
hauliers, farmers, taxi drivers, ambulance owners and motorcyclists are all
preparing to throw their weight behind the campaign to cut the price of
diesel".
"Why don't the ferries just ram them out of the way?" says a frustrated
Malcolm Richardson, 42, from Birmingham, quoted in The Mirror.
"I've just travelled from Thailand and I have come through 11 countries,"
complains David Langford, 28, from King's Lynn in The Independent. "It is
always France that causes the trouble. It is typical that it all messes up
when I am 23 miles from England."
-----------------------------------------
Final Seconds of Doomed Concorde Revealed
-----------------------------------------
The final terrifying moments of Air France flight 4590 were revealed
yesterday," reports The Guardian's Jon Henley, "when French accident
investigators released their preliminary report on last month's Concorde
crash outside Paris, in which 113 people died".
A transcript from the black box recorder was released to the press yesterday
and is reproduced in full online by The Mirror and The Times today,
detailing the desperate 134-second dialogue between the pilot, the
co-pilot, a flight engineer, an airport controller and a fire chief at
Charles de Gaulle on July 25th.
The first sign of trouble was spotted by the controller, who was heard to
say "Concorde, you have flames... you have flames behind you."
Pilot Christian Marty tried to advise the controller that he was taking the
plane down to nearby Le Bourget airport. But before he could complete his
sentence, says Justine Smith in The Mirror, his words were cut off. "The
Air France Concorde exploded into a fireball on impact, killing all 109 on
board and four people on the ground."
The report by the French Accident and Inquiry Office (BEA) confirmed "that a
piece of metal on the runway punctured one of the tyres on take-off,
hurling debris upwards and bursting a fuel tank," says The Times. "Aviation
experts are now doubtful that Concorde will fly again because the crash
shows how vulnerable the design can be to a single blow-out."
-----------------------------------------
British Motorists Blockade Channel Tunnel
-----------------------------------------
British motorists declared war on the French last night," says The Express,
"launching their own blockades in protest at the antics of farmers who had
paralysed France's transport network".
The French government is at loggerheads with "a growing lobby of road
hauliers, ambulancemen, taxi drivers and farmers blocking roads and
refineries," writes Adam Sage in The Times.
Despite refusing to compromise as recently as Wednesday, Jean-Claude
Gayssot, the Transport Minister, dramatically U-turned yesterday by saying
"my door is always open" to the protestors who are demanding cuts in fuel
taxation.
In Calais yesterday, "French cops drew their batons and pushed the Brits
aside," says The Sun, "after officers sparked a row by letting only local
drivers through a farmers' blockade outside the Channel Tunnel."
"There was no way I'd back down," says 66 year-old British holidaymaker Ron
Jones in The Sun. "I'd sooner be arrested than watch racist French police
let their countrymen pass as we miss our ferries."
After a three hour wait, about fifty British holidaymakers reacted by
"staging their own blockade of a lane of the A26," says The Telegraph.
"Organisers of the counter-protest said they were angry at being the
innocent victims of French internal problems and being treated as
scapegoats by the police, who appeared to be in league with protesting
farmers".
"This was as sweet a victory as Wellington's over Napoleon at Waterloo,"
said 49 year-old protester Frank Davidson, in The Express. "They didn't=
like it when we put up a fight."
---------------------------------
Britain's Petrol Stations Drained
---------------------------------
"Motorists face desperate petrol shortages today after fuel price protesters=
stepped up their campaign" says The Express. "Around 100 Shell stations in=
the North-west had run dry or were due to close last night. Supplies=
vanished by the hour in other parts of the country as drivers resorted to=
panic buying."
"Protests continued at Shell's giant refinery at Stanlow, Cheshire, and at
Milford Haven in Wales," reports The Guardian's Charlotte Denny, "and the
A1 near Alnwick was targeted by hauliers and farmers with a slow moving
convoy blocking lanes."
"Picket lines were manned outside 12 key supply sites and dwindling supplies
were further hit by panic buying," says The Times. The RAC has already
advised motorists to make only essential journeys and use public transport
where possible.
"Sainsbury's supermarket reported that a number of their forecourts were
seriously affected," says The Independent, "as panic buying pushed up
petrol sales by 30 per cent".
"Farmers and lorry drivers have simply had enough," says Northumberland
farmer Charlie Armstrong in The Independent. "We have seen our costs spiral
upwards while the price we get for our produce stays the same or goes
down."
Meanwhile, a meeting of the Organisation of Petrol Exporting Countries
(OPEC) in Vienna this weekend agreed to put an extra 800,000 barrels of oil
a day on the market in an attempt to bring down prices, although this is
likely to take about a month to filter down to the consumer.
------------------------------------------
SAS Free British Hostages In Jungle Rescue
------------------------------------------
"British paratroopers and special forces yesterday staged an extraordinary
jungle operation to rescue the six soldiers being held by the West Side
Boys militia group in Sierra Leone," reports The Independent this morning.
Tony Blair, who gave his personal authorisation for the rescue on Saturday,
led the tributes to the British paratrooper who gave his life in Operation
Barras, the mission which brought to end the 17 day hostage crisis by
freeing six Royal Irish Regiment soldiers captured on August 24th.
"This was an operation carried out in circumstances of immense danger in the
face of armed resistance," said Mr Blair. "I cannot pay high enough tribute
to the skill, the professionalism and the courage of the armed forces
involved. Inevitably, in such an operation as this, there are casualties."
"Three Chinook and one Lynx helicopter left [the capital city] Freetown at
6.16am," reports The Telegraph, "and mounted a simultaneous two-pronged
attack after reaching militia positions 15 minutes later."
"Men from the Parachute Regiment's 1st Battalion silently surrounded the
camp, which straddles two villages on opposite sides of the 300-yard Rokel
Creek amid dense mangrove swamps," reports The Sun's Neil Syson.
The final, brief jungle firefight resulted in the deaths of 25 rebels and
one British soldier. Twelve other British soldiers were wounded, one
seriously. The hostages were safely on board a Royal Navy ship moored off
Freetown by 7am.
Critics believe that the success of the mission "throws up more questions
than it answers," notes The Guardian's report, "wider questions about the
precise nature of the British troops in Sierra Leone and, more
specifically, exactly what the captured troops were doing in a rebel-held
area."
-------------------------------
Petrol Could Run Out By Tonight
-------------------------------
"Most of Britain could run out of petrol by TONIGHT," warns The Sun today.
"We are within 24 hours of having a critical situation," said Ray Holloway,
director of the Petrol Retailers Association last night. "Panic buying has
doubled sales in the region in and around London. The North West is
completely dry and we suspect all major urban centres will be cleaned out
by Tuesday".
"Rejecting calls from petrol retailers for a reduction in fuel duty, Downing
Street made clear that additional forces were necessary to protect delivery
drivers from intimidation and keep supplies running to station forecourts,"
reports The Guardian.
"We cannot, and will not, alter Government policy on petrol through
blockades and pickets," said Tony Blair yesterday. "That's not the way to
make policy in Britain and, as far as I'm concerned, it never will be."
At Balmoral The Queen attended a meeting of the Privy Council to give her
consent to the use of "contingency powers" to ensure the even distribution
of fuel across the country, says The Times. "It was decided that troops are
not needed at present but ministers said later that they remained an option
if the situation worsened."
Meanwhile, elsewhere in The Times a correspondent reports that police were
called in to settle an argument at The Pear Tree garage in Derby where
owner Paul Gizzonio was charging 11 pounds per gallon for fuel. "I am not
breaking any rules," he said.
------------------------------------------
Blair Stands Firm Against Petrol Blockades
------------------------------------------
"Just five fuel tankers were on the move last night," says The Mirror,
"despite Tony Blair's late attempt to break the blockade bringing Britain
to its knees."
"On Labour's worst day since the election," says The Times, "the Prime
Minister called a press conference to predict that the situation would be
'on the way back to normal' within 24 hours, while a senior government
source said the tankers were 'ready to roll'."
"Were we to yield to that pressure it would run counter to every democratic
principle this country believes in," said the prime minister, maintaining
his hardline against the protest. "What is more, if the government was to
decide its policy on taxes in response to such behaviour, the credibility
of economic policy vital to any country would be severely damaged. I will
simply not allow that to happen."
But, says The Guardian's Patrick Wintour, "the tanker drivers, many of them
sympathetic to the road hauliers' complaints, say they are too frightened
to drive out of the refineries and oil depots".
Ninety percent of Britain's petrol stations were expected to be dry by this
morning and London's 19,000 black cabs are likely to be at a standstill by
the end of today. Bus services, post offices, hospitals, police, schools
and thousands of other institutions, shops and businesses have felt the
impact of the fuel shortage.
Last night an order to leave private property was served on picketers at a
refinery in Colwick, Nottinghamshire. Meanwhile, police escorted the Esso
tankers from the refinery at Purfleet in Essex where demonstrators accused
authorities of being "heavy-handed".
-------------------------
Fuel Blockades Called Off
-------------------------
"Protesters at the Stanlow oil refinery in Cheshire, one of the UK's largest
fuel blockades, have called off their action," reports the BBC this
morning, "and urged all other campaigners across the country to follow
suit".
But, warns Michelle Nichols in The Scotsman, "it could be at least three
weeks before the UK's critically-depleted fuel supplies will be back to
normal again" and after days of panic-buying, the crisis for motorists is
likely to hit its peak today.
Under the headline "Keep on pumpin", The Star today publishes online the
complete list of petrol stations "designated" by Trade and Industry
Secretary Stephen Byers under the Energy Act 1976 - the garages which are
due to be the first in the country to receive petrol supplies from oil
refineries.
Meanwhile, the government has been accused of "scaremongering" by warning
that lives are at risk due to a fuel-starved NHS.
"Enough is enough," said Mr Blair yesterday. "It's not just hospitals that
need fuel, but nurses, doctors and others who have to drive to work. Lives
are at risk if these people cannot get to work."
"Drugs, food and medical supplies are now running short," said Health
Secretary Alan Milburn, who claimed that central blood stocks could only
last for another four days. But a press release from the National Blood
Service immediately denied his claims.
"There is no problem with distribution," said a spokeswoman. "This is
scaremongering and it is causing unrest. People are saying that they are
being told that blood donation centres have closed when they have not. It
is outrageous."
-----------------------
Paula Yates Found Dead
-----------------------
"Tragic Paula Yates died yesterday and was found slumped in her bed by
daughter Tiger Lily," reports John Kay in The Sun. "The four-year-old is
now an orphan - her rock star dad Michael Hutchence killed himself in
1997".
Tiger Lily "answered the telephone when a friend called Miss Yates," says
The Telegraph's report, "and was playing near her mother's body when the
woman arrived at the flat in Notting Hill, west London, shortly after
10am."
"An empty vodka bottle and a partly empty bottle of barbiturates - believed
to be painkillers - lay near her body," claims The Mirror. "There were
traces of heroin and cannabis on a bedside table. She had choked on her own
vomit."
An ambulance and police were called but Ms Yates was pronounced dead at the
scene. Police said they were treating the death as suspicious until the
results of a post-mortem examination at Westminster mortuary are known
later today.
"In April 1998 Paula was admitted to a psychiatric hospital with
depression," recalls The Express, "and two months later, after losing
custody of [her daughters] Fifi, Peaches and Pixie to [ex-husband Bob]
Geldof, she was admitted to a rehabilitation clinic after trying to hang
herself in an apparent suicide bid."
"It doesn't require much imagination to understand the pain," said Bob
Geldof in a statement asking for privacy. "Please do nothing to add to
that. Leave the children with their loss."
"I can't believe it," said Kell Hutchence, Tiger Lily's grandfather. "I've
just been speaking with a friend in London who was telling me how well she
was doing. I don't know what's going to happen to poor Tiger Lily."
Sunday 17th September 2000:
--------------------------------
Peru's President Abandon's Power
--------------------------------
"President Alberto Fujimori of Peru announced new elections yesterday,"
reports The Telegraph's Latin America Correspondent Jeremy McDermott, "and
said he would not be a candidate, four months after being re-elected in a
widely condemned poll."
"There were celebrations in the streets of Lima," reports David Lima in The
Times, "as opponents of the Government hailed the President's decision as a
victory for democracy".
The announcement "was apparently prompted by the release last week of a
videotape in which his security chief was seen buying the support of a
recalcitrant opposition politician with a thick wad of cash" says Andrew
Gumbel in The Independent.
"After profound reflection, I do not want to become a disturbing factor, and
much less, an obstacle to the strengthening of the democratic system,"
Fujimori announced in a televised address on Saturday night.
Mr Fujimori, an authoritarian right-wing president who governed for ten
years and manipulated the judicial system to allow himself to be elected
for an unconstitutional third term this May, promised to disband his
controversial national security agency. However, "opposition members of
Congress are calling for proof that this is being done," says the BBC
today, "and some say they are concerned that the security chief, Vladimiro
Montesinos, may not obey the order".
---------------------------------------
Serbia Liberated By People's Revolution
---------------------------------------
"Slobodan Milosevic's state was burning to the ground last night," reports
The Times, "as a million people seized Belgrade in a ferocious outburst of
revolutionary power."
Alex Todorovic in The Times explains how he and four other journalists
"inadvertently began the half-hour uprising that demolished the Milosevic
dictatorship" by clambering onto the steps of the parliament to get a
better view of a public speaker. "Misinterpreting our purpose," he says,
"the crowd followed... A few dozen were followed by hundreds, then
thousands surged up the steps of parliament".
Shortly afterwards, a fire was started which gutted president Milosevic's
seat of power and the crowd moved on to seize the state-run RTS television
station.
"Police who had been firing tear-gas ran out of the back of the buildings,
threw away their flak jackets and helmets and joined the protests," says
Steve Crawshaw in The Independent. "The whereabouts of Mr Milosevic and his
entourage, many of them with international arrest warrants for war crimes
on their heads, was unknown."
"A new phase has started today, one where power will be changed with
elections," said Vojislav Kostunica, the leading opposition presidential
candidate in last weekend's disputed poll, who appeared on television last
night. "We are living the last twitches of Milosevic's regime. Democracy
has happened in Serbia. Communism is falling. It is just a matter of
hours."
Western leaders have shown their support for the uprising. "The people are
trying to get their country back, and we support democracy and the will of
the Serbian people," said president Bill Clinton yesterday.
"The verdict from the elections was clear. The verdict on the streets is
clear," said Tony Blair. "The message for Milosevic is clear. Go. Go now.
Go before any more lives are lost, before there is any more destruction."
--------------------------------
Winter of discontent approaches?
--------------------------------
With the railways on go-slow and petrol protestors' 60 day deadline for
price cuts fast approaching, are we heading for another Winter of
Discontent ending with an election defeat for Tony Blair?
Rail Delays Will Last Months
----------------------------
"Britain's rail network was in chaos last night in the wake of the Hatfield
disaster [4 killed]," says The Mirror. "Huge delays hit hundreds of trains as
passengers were warned to expect three months of line closures,
cancellations and slow services."
"Railtrack's decision late on Monday night to close part of the West Coast
mainline caused chaos as there were nationwide cancellations and massive
delays," reports Juliette Jowit, Transport Correspondent to The Financial
Times.
The closure was announced after John Prescott ordered the inspection of
track between Glasgow and Carlisle where experts expected to find so-called
"gauge corner cracking" similar to the track which caused last Tuesday's
fatal accident in Hatfield. Speed restrictions were introduced in 150
locations, some as low as 20mph, and are expected to be in place for weeks
or in some cases months.
"Virgin Trains, which had to cancel more than half of its West Coast and
mainline services north of Carlisle near the Scottish border, led angry
complaints by operators about the short notice," Jowitt's report continues.
On inspection, the track between Glasgow and Carlisle was found to be in
acceptable condition and has been re-opened, with restrictions, this
morning. Meanwhile, Royal Mail has complained that millions of letters will be
delayed because of the disruption, despite adding extra emergency air and
road routes. "Downing Street said that the handling of the closure of the
west coast line had not been 'ideal'," says Linus Gregoriadis in The
Telegraph.
-------------------------------
Storms Batter England and Wales
-------------------------------
"Two people died yesterday as gales and torrential rain swept across the
country," reports The Telegraph, "disrupting travel and threatening further
flooding in southern England."
A woman motorist was killed by a falling tree on the A3 near Hindhead,
Surrey and another died when she fell into a fast-flowing waterfall in
Powys. But the worst hit area was Bognor Regis in Surrey, says The Express,
where a tornado caused an estimated 5 million GBP of damage.
"More than 500 houses suffered damage and cars were smashed and overturned
by the 110mph twister which left a man and a woman with facial injuries
from flying glass," reports Edward Black. "Two women were also seriously
injured when a caravan was lifted into the air and dropped on to another
parked nearby."
The Star talks to 45 year-old motorist Tony Lucas whose vehicle was caught
in the 70ft-wide twister.
"The wind lifted my car and we lost all contact with the ground," he says.
"It was terrifying. Instead of going straight on we were going sideways.
Then we landed with a bump on the opposite side of the road."
Flood alerts have been issued and the Met Office is expecting more bad
weather today. "It's time to batten down the hatches," says a spokesman in
The Mirror, comparing the gales to the devastating storms of 1987 which
caused 1 billion GBP in damage. "We've got a lot of very strong winds on the
way."
----------------------------------
Daring Dome Diamond Robbery Foiled
----------------------------------
"A daring attempt to steal =A3350 million of diamonds from the Millennium
Dome was thwarted by police yesterday," reports The Telegraph.
"More than 100 officers, including firearms teams disguised as cleaners,
intercepted a gang," says the report by John Steele and Peter Foster,
"after they smashed through the gates with a JCB digger and attacked the
gems vault with sledgehammers and a nail-gun".
"As astonished visitors looked on," reports The Mirror, "the armed raiders -
wearing gas masks and bullet proof vests - hurled five smoke grenades as
they raced for their fabulous prize in the vaults of the Money Zone.
The raiders, who had a speedboat standing by to make their getaway along the
Thames, stormed right into a trap set weeks ago. "Instead of escaping with
the 203 carat Millennium Star - one of the most valuable stones ever cut -
and 11 other 'priceless' blue diamonds - they were snared by a police
operation every bit as bold as their own," says The Guardian.
"The gang never stood a chance of stealing the diamonds - because they were
FAKES," says The Sun. The real collection was swapped for crystal replicas
24 hours earlier as part of Operation Magician.=20
"If this robbery had succeeded it would have been the biggest to occur
anywhere in the world," said Detective Superintendent Jon Shatford
yesterday.
---------------------------------------
US Holds Its Breath As Florida Recounts
---------------------------------------
The result of the US presidential election is still in the balance with a
re-count in progress in the disputed state of Florida. "The American people
have spoken," commented Bill Clinton yesterday. "It's just going to take a
little while to figure out what they have said."
Democratic Party candidate Al Gore privately conceded defeat to his
Republican rival George W Bush in a phone call early yesterday morning, but
later withdrew his concession when it became clear that only a few hundred
votes separated the two.
"Mr Bush has won 29 states for 246 electoral college votes," explains Ben
Macintyre in The Times. "Mr Gore has won 19 states plus the District of
Columbia for 260". Florida's 25 electoral college votes will decide the
race.
Allegations of impropriety have added to the confusion. "Aides of
vice-president Al Gore claim that irregularities in the voting procedures
cost the Democratic presidential candidate thousands of votes," reports The
Financial Times. In the pro-Democratic Palm Beach County, third party
candidate Patrick Buchanan won far more votes than expected and it has been
alleged that his name was not properly distinguished from Al Gore's on the
ballot paper.
Other alleged violations, according to the Democrats, include missing ballot
boxes and intimidation of black voters. The result of the re-count is
expected at 5pm, local time, but there is speculation that Al Gore may
mount a Supreme Court challenge.
--------------------
Bush Declared Winner
--------------------
"George W Bush was certified this morning as the winner of the presidential
election in Florida," reports The Telegraph, "giving him enough electoral
college votes to claim the White House."
But Democratic Party candidate Al Gore has made it known that he will fight
the election result to the end after a manual recount gave Mr Bush a mere
537 vote lead. Votes from the diputed Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties,
where Al Gore had been expected to gain votes, were not included in the
recount. The Palm Beach recount was subsequently completed outside the
deadline, giving Gore a disappointing 172 vote increase.
"The vice-president's lawyers will today trigger a formal 'contest' of the
results in Florida," reports The Guardian. "They will ask a state judge to
order court-appointed 'special masters' to complete interrupted recounts of
about 2,000 uncounted votes in Palm Beach county and 10,700 uncounted votes
in Miami-Dade county."
Meanwhile, Mr Bush has effectively claimed victory in a speech to the
nation. "Saying it was time for the country to find common ground," reports
Gerard Baker in The Financial Times, "Mr Bush announced the formation of
his presidential transition team, appointing Dick Cheney, his
vice-presidential running mate, to head the team".
-----------------------
Bush Is President Elect
-----------------------
At 2am this morning (14th December), UK time, Al Gore conceded defeat in the
American
presidential election, finally ending 37 days of courtroom wrangling with
victory for George W Bush and the Republican Party.
Quoting Senator Stephen Douglas, who was defeated by Abraham Lincoln, Mr
Gore appeared in a good-humoured live television address saying: "Partisan
feeling must yield to patriotism. What remains of partisan rancour must be
put aside."
"Let there be no doubt," he continued, commenting on the Supreme Court's
decision which led inevitably the conclusion of the Florida election
dispute, "while I strongly disagree with the court's decision, I accept
it."
President elect Bush, who replied in his own television address two hours
later, "sought to demonstrate his willingness to lead the country to a
fresh start," says The Financial Times.
"I know America wants reconciliation and unity," he said. "I know Americans
want progress. And we must seize this moment and deliver".
"The Republicans have greater control over the Government than at any time
since Dwight Eisenhower was president in the 1950s," comments The Sun's
Paul Thompson. The party has a majority in the House of Representatives and
vice president Dick Cheney will have the casting vote in the Senate, which
is split 50-50.
--------------------------
Killer Doctor Murdered 265
--------------------------
"The mass murderer Harold Shipman killed up to 265 of his patients over a
quarter of a century," reports The Times this morning.
Shipman, who was convicted for 15 murders almost a year ago, has now been
linked to more than 250 other suspicious deaths of patients in his care=
after an investigation into his medical history. A government report,
conducted by healthcare specialist Professor Richard Baker from the
University of Leicester, will be published today revealing "the chilling
details of the Manchester GP's relentless appointments with death," writes
Roland Watson.=20
"Although it is not clear quite how many deaths can be laid at the GP's
door, it is said to be 'definitely' 236, and probably 250," not counting
the 15 he has already been convicted for, reports The Guardian's Michael
White. "No medical serial killer is ever known to have murdered so many
people, outside the Nazi death camps."
"Shipman injected victims with lethal doses of Diamorphine," explains The
Sun's Andy Russell. "He is serving 15 life sentences at Frankland Prison,
Co Durham."
--------------------------------------------
NASA lands NEAR space probe on Eros Asteroid
--------------------------------------------
Mission controller Dr Robert Farquhar said "I'm happy to report
that the Near spacecraft has touched down on the surface of Eros. This is
the first time that any spacecraft has landed on a small body." The landing
ends a five-year journey by the craft, one of the first of Nasa's 'faster,
better, cheaper' missions, according to BBC Online.
-------------------------------------
Foot-and-Mouth: Countryside In Crisis
-------------------------------------
"People were urged to stay away from the countryside last night," says The
Mirror, "as desperate efforts to halt a foot-and-mouth epidemic were
stepped up."
"Experts said the disease outbreak - the first for more than 20 years -
could become catastrophic if people helped it spread by wandering across
farmland," explains The Sun's Paul Gilfeather. Although the foot-and-mouth
virus is not harmful to humans, we can pick it up in the air and transport
it.
"We cannot stress these measures enough," said a spokesman for the Ministry
of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF). "Even postal deliveries could
pose a risk, particularly as they travel between farms. Dogs should also be
kept under control away from all livestock and horse riders should think
carefully about how they can go".
"Hunting is banned for seven days, anglers have been asked to take strict
precautions and the Jockey Club cancelled a point-to-point event at High
Easter in Essex," reports The Times. Race meetings could be cancelled and
ramblers have been asked to avoid routes near to livestock.
Authorities believe that a farm in Northumberland may be the source of the
outbreak, says The Guardian. Farms have been quarantined in Tyne and Wear,
Buckinghamshire, Gloucestershire, Surrey, Essex and the Isle of Wight.
British exports of meat and livestock have been banned.
-----------------------------
13 Dead In Selby Train Horror
-----------------------------
"At least 13 people were killed and 75 were injured yesterday," says The
Telegraph, "in a rail crash caused by a series of extraordinary
coincidences."
Shortly after 6am, Gary Hart, the driver of a Land Rover Discovery on his
way to Manchester, crashed off the M62 near Selby, North Yorkshire, through
a gap in the fencing and onto the main east coast rail line. "Scrambling
out of his vehicle, he reached the embankment at 6.12am," says The
Scotsman. He called the emergency services on his mobile phone. "The
operator heard him say he had been in a road accident and his vehicle was
stuck on a rail line. Then he shouted 'There's a train coming'."
GNER's 4.45am service from Newcastle to London, travelling at about 120mph,
hit the Land Rover and became derailed with nearly 100 people on board.
Worse still, says The Independent, it then "crashed almost head-on into an
oncoming train loaded with more than 100 tons of coal travelling at about
60mph."
"Two train drivers died in the crash," says The Times. "The impact was so
great that bodies were flung out of carriages, and one carriage was hurled
70 yards into a field. Most of the dead appear to have been at the front of
the passenger train in the first class carriage".
British Transport Police fear they will find more dead when the wreckage is
moved. "We are going to be working though the night and as long as it
takes," said a spokesman last night. The line is likely to be closed for
about a month.
--------------------------
Unemployment At Record Low
--------------------------
"Unemployment will drop below the symbolic one million figure today for the
first time in more than 25 years," reports The Telegraph's political editor
George Jones. "The fall will be a pre-election boost for the Government and
will be hailed by ministers as further evidence of a strong economy".
Simultaneously, the government will today unveil plans for a crackdown on
the "hardcore jobless" which, says The Guardian, signals "a decisive shift
towards a US-style workfare system".
Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and David Blunkett will together launch a Green
Paper on employment outlining their =A3200m-a-year measures to encourage
lone parents, disabled people, criminals and drug addicts to find work.
Crucially, there will be a change to the process of "signing-on", says The
Independent. "Under the new 'employment first' regime," says Andrew Grice,
people who are out of work "will have to be interviewed by Jobcentre staff
about finding work before they can draw benefits".
Foot-and-Mouth Spreads To France
--------------------------------
"Miles of farmland were sealed off in western France yesterday after a herd
of cows was found to be suffering from foot-and-mouth disease," reports The
Times. It was the first confirmed outbreak of the disease outside Britain
since the epidemic began 21 days ago, spreading panic throughout the global
farming community.
"Europe's fears of cross-Channel infection came true when foot-and-mouth was
confirmed at a farm near the village of La Baroche-Gondouin," says The
Mirror. A neighbouring farm had imported 20,000 sheep from Britain in
February, at least half of which are thought to have the virus. Infected
sheep may have already been despatched to twenty locations around France.
Authorities in and around Europe have reacted unilaterally, says The
Independent. "Belgium, Ireland, Spain, Portugal and Poland announced bans
on all hoofed animals from France. The Czech government banned hoofed
animal imports from the whole of the EU, and the Dutch prohibited transport
of cattle, pigs and goats in the Netherlands." Italy and Germany have also
introduced emergency regulations.
Elsewhere, The Financial Times reports that the USA and Canada have
suspended the importation of livestock and animal products from the
European Union. The US Department of Agriculture has announced that all EU
meat products shipped since February 21 will be subject to quarantine.
-----------------------------------------
George Bush: "Polluter of the Free World"
-----------------------------------------
"At a single stroke, the United States has condemned the planet to a more polluted, less certain future," writes The Independent's Andrew Gumbel today. "That was the growing realisation yesterday as world leaders rose up to denounce Washington's decision to abandon the Kyoto Protocol and turn its back on cutting emissions of greenhouse gasses."
The decision not to sign the agreement "has unleashed widespread condemnation around the world," says The Financial Times. Margot Wallstrom, European Union environment commissioner warned that there may be serious implications for international relations. "we have to react as strongly and as quickly as possible," she said yesterday. Britain's environment minister, Michael Meacher, said that the decision was "exceptionally serious" and his French counterpart Dominique Voynet called it "entirely provocative and irresponsible."
Mr Bush has said that he is worried about the impact of the treaty on the US economy. "We will not do anything that harms our economy," he said, "because first things first are the people who live in America. That's my priority."
------------------------------------
Hague Resigns After Labour Landslide
------------------------------------
News of Tony Blair's record victory was eclipsed at breakfast time on Friday morning when William Hague announced that he is to resign as leader of the Conservative Party.
Addressing the media outside Conservative Central Office he said it was "vital that the party be given the chance to choose a leader who can build on my work and also take new initiatives."
After the Labour Party won a second term in government for the first time in its history last night with a projected majority of 167 seats, Mr Hague - who had promised to bear the blame for an election defeat - admitted that it was "deeply disappointing".
Inevitably, the debate has already moved on from the failings of the Conservative campaign to speculation over the new leader. "Michael Portillo is 6/4 favourite to succeed William Hague," says The Independent. "William Hill make Iain Duncan Smith 2/1 second favourite with Ann Widdecombe at 11/2 and Ken Clarke 7/1."
Meanwhile, as he was re-elected MP for Sedgefield despite a high 4.7% swing to the Tories, Tony Blair claimed that Britain was "a better country" than it was four years ago and promised that in four years' time it would be better still.
The turnout for the election was the worst since 1918, with around 59% of eligible voters making the trip to the ballot box.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Breaking News: Hijacked Passenger Jets Crash Into Twin Towers
-------------------------------------------------------------
"At least six people were reportedly killed today when two planes crashed into the World Trade Centre tower in the heart of New York's financial district in what is suspected to be a terrorist attack," reports The Guardian. The first aircraft crashed into at around 8.50am local time (1.50pm UK). The second crashed about 18 minutes later. Hundreds are feared killed. No terrorist organisation has yet taken responsibility for the attacks.
"It is horrific," said David Lee Miller on Sky News, quoted in The Times. "One of the two towers literally collapsed. I was talking to an officer and we heard an eerie, loud explosion and looked up at the building. There was debris falling. We were running for our lives. I am standing in a black cloud of smoke. It's difficult to breathe. People are running into buildings just to breathe. I cannot see more than a quarter-block away." Elsewhere, in Washington DC, a third plane has crashed into the Pentagon building. More news will
appear on the WTPS website as it is revealed.
Staff and agencies
Tuesday September 11, 2001
Thousands of people are feared dead in a
concerted terrorist onslaught on Washington
DC and New York.
4pm LATEST: Both towers of the World
Trade Centre in New York and part of the
Pentagon in Washington DC have collapsed
after attacks in a concerted terrorist
onslaught in the two cities. A large aircraft
has crashed in western Pennsylvania.
--------------------------------
Taliban Flee Afghan Capital City
--------------------------------
"Taleban forces have abandoned Kabul," reports the BBC this morning, "fleeing south overnight as
contingents of Northern Alliance troops entered the city amid scenes of jubilation."
"Dozens of pick-up trucks loaded with Taliban families and their possessions were seen leaving the
city," says Alan Philps in The Telegraph. "Lights went out at key ministries and Taliban
institutions in Kabul, which has been ruled by the militia since 1996."
The Taliban in Kabul approached the Northern Alliance and offered to hand over the city peacefully
in exchange for a role in a future government, according to information from senior Iranian
officials reports in The Financial Times. "The offer would include surrendering some Arab Taliban
fighters but the proposed deal would not involve Mr bin Laden."
"The Taliban's spectacular military collapse in northern Afghanistan followed the seizure of the key
western city of Herat," explains The Guardian. Kabul now seems to be in a state of semi-anarchy
after the US military urged the alliance to stay out "to allow time for a coalition government
including members of the southern-based Pashtun tribe to be formed."
"We have made a decision not to advance to Kabul," says Alliance Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah,
quoted in The Mirror. "We should evaluate the situation, we should try our best not to enter Kabul.
That should be the focus."
BBC latest: Northern Alliance rebels have entered the city and taken control "amid scenes of chaos
and jubilation."
At least 255 dead in crash of American Airlines flight 587
----------------------------------------------------------
One phrase is common to almost all the papers this morning: "not again," as Mayor Rudolph Giuliani - amongst many others - expresses the horror of millions of New Yorkers at the news of a devastating air disaster in a residential area. Preliminary evidence, says the BBC, indicates that the crash was an accident.
------------------------------------
First Cloned Human Embryo Sparks Row
------------------------------------
"Our intention is not to create cloned human beings," stresses Advanced Cell Technology
vice-president Robert P. Lanza in today's Guardian, "but rather to make lifesaving therapies for a
wide range of human disease conditions, including diabetes, strokes, cancer, Aids, and
neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease."
The announcement is one that has been hoped for and feared in equal measure and will arouse fierce
passions on all sides, notes the Guardian's Sarah Boseley after ACT became the first company to
clone a human embryo. ACT produced an early human embryo by transplanting the nucleus of an adult
cell into an unfertilised human egg with its own nucleus removed the same technique used to create
Dolly the sheep, explains Steve Connor in the Independent. "The egg cell divided several times, in
what appears to be normal embryonic development, to produce a six-cell cloned embryo. However ACT
did not manage to get the ball of cells to divide further."
Vivienne Nathanson, head of ethics at the British Medical Association, warns in the Guardian that
"the development underlined the need for strong regulation so that therapeutic cloning to extract
embryonic stem cells for life-saving medical treatment, which most of the public supports, can go
ahead while reproductive cloning which most of the public opposes, cannot." "The key thing", she
says, "is to have not just a voluntary ban but a way of regulating," she said. This would have to
include the inspection of all labs involved in therapeutic cloning to ensure the work was done
ethically and to a high standard.
But, while many scientists welcomed the announcement, says BBC Online, politicians in the US have
warned that they plan to outlaw all human cloning. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle said he did
not yet quite understand what ACT had done. "But it's disconcerting, frankly. I think it's going in
the wrong direction." Republican Senator Richard Shelby told NBC's Meet the Press: "I believe it
will be a big debate, but at the end of the day, I don't think we're going to let the cloning of
human embryos go on."