Deadline looming for April police
OFFICERS investigating the disappearance of April Jones have until this afternoon to question abduction suspect Mark Bridger.
They have until 5pm to charge or release Mr Bridger – unless they apply for a further warrant of detention.
With no sign of April since Monday evening, search teams worked through the night in the hunt for the five-year-old.
Hamza awaits extradition ruling
RADICAL Islamic cleric Abu Hamza and four other terror suspects are expected to find out today if they have won their latest legal move to avoid extradition from the UK to America for trial on terrorism charges.
Two judges at the High Court in London heard from Home Secretary Theresa May’s QC that if they rule in her favour that “effectively is the end”, as no further appeal was available in criminal cases.
Mr James Eadie agreed with Sir John Thomas, President of the Queen’s Bench Division, that he will be saying to the court that “the Secretary of State would be entitled to move instantly”.
‘Shock’ at BBC tax arrangements
MPs have raised concerns that the BBC employs up to 25,000 people a year who do not pay tax at source.
The cross-party Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said it was “shocked” to discover how many off-payroll contracts, under which individuals must make their own tax and national insurance payments, were provided by the BBC.
According to the committee, that number includes 13,000 people who appear on television and radio – so-called on-air “talent” – and another 12,000 off-air staff.
Families hail Bettison resignation
THE families of Hillsborough victims have welcomed the resignation of a top police officer who criticised Liverpool fans in the wake of the tragedy.
Sir Norman Bettison, then a South Yorkshire Police chief inspector, sparked fury in 1989 when he said supporters made policing “harder than it needed to be”.
Now the Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police, he announced he will step down in March next year amid an investigation by the police watchdog.
Consumer spending increases by 3%
CONSUMER spending recorded its strongest monthly growth in nearly three-and-a-half years in September, as improvements to people’s finances led to strong clothing sales as they renewed their winter wardrobes, a study said today.
UK household spending increased by 3% month-on-month, representing the strongest monthly growth seen since May 2009 and following a more subdued 1.2% increase in August, according to Visa Europe’s UK expenditure index.
The study said that while improvements in the job market and people’s disposable incomes are likely to continue to boost to the economy, low consumer confidence will persist as a dragging factor.
