National & International News Stories from 2019 to date

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Surrey train stabbing: Man charged with murder

A man has been charged with murder after a father was stabbed to death in front of his son on a train.
Darren Pencille, 35, of Willbury Road, Farnham, is accused of killing Lee Pomeroy, 51, on a Guildford to London train on Friday.
Chelsea Mitchell, 27, also of Willbury Road, has been charged with assisting an offender.
Both have been remanded in custody to appear at Staines Magistrates' Court on Monday.
Mr Pencille has also been charged with possession of an offensive weapon.

BBC Breaking News

[Abu Nuwas]

There is a side to these stabbings -I don't mean the kids _ which concerns me, as they seem to be fulfilling predictions I had years ago. Prior to 1959, 95% 0f those in Mental hospitals were compulsorily detained. The 1959 Act changed that: technically, the position was reversed, with only 5% detained. Later Acts including Care in the Community, and an idea that asylums were a bad thing, coupled with a desire to sell off their valuable grounds, meant that more and more people were cared for -or not -outside hospital. People always had a fear that the mentally ill might be violent -- and it struck me, that if Patients were discharged wholesale, there were bound to be some violent ones in the mix -- and that when the public identified this, they would turn against all people with that label.

I fancy that the case you mention involved a frenzied attack, as did the case recently in Manchester, where the police are following terrorist lines, but have had the suspect admitted under the MHA.. The population does not yet seem to have turned, and perhaps it will not. But it would do no harm for HMG to get on and actually improve care for such people; government after government says mental health is the Cinderella of the NHS, but little gets done. Rant over.

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PM's pledge to baby Carter Cookson needing heart transplant

Theresa May has promised a health minister will look into the case of a baby given weeks to live.
Carter Cookson, from South Shields, has suffered three cardiac arrests since being born on Boxing Day and needs a heart transplant within five weeks.
Carter's parents Sarah and Chris set up a charity in 2013 after their other son, Charlie, died aged two.
Labour MP Emma Lewell-Buck asked the PM to help raise "awareness to find a heart for little baby Carter".
Responding to the comment during Prime Minister's Questions Mrs May said Carter's story was a "tragic case" and she highlighted the new "opt-out" organ donation system due in 2020.

Full story - BBC News

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Two men killed in Spanish mountains plane crash

Two men have been killed in a light aircraft crash in mountains in Spain.
Pilots Simon Moores, from Westgate on Sea, and David Hockings, of Herstmonceux, were flying from Portugal to Kent on Wednesday.
The Piper single-engine aircraft, owned by Mr Hockings, had been due to make a stopover in northern Spain.
Spanish rescuers said two bodies were recovered from Hernio mountain in the Basque region.
Mr Moores - the brother of Bake Off judge Paul Hollywood's estranged wife, Alex - was one of the few aerial banner pilots in the UK.
The 62-year-old former Thanet District Council Conservative councillor tweeted pictures from the air Wednesday.
Mr Hockings, 67, ran an aircraft maintenance company called Cristal Air based at Spilsted Farm airfield at Sedlescombe, near Hastings.
The Aviation Safety Network said the plane crashed at 13:50 GMT on Hernio mountain in northern Spain's Basque Country.
It said there were foggy conditions at the time of the crash.
Next of kin have been informed.
Mr Moores worked as an aerial photographer and recently had been attempting to film migrant boats in the English Channel.
He had also been contracted by Highways England and London Zoo.

BBC News

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German WW1 submarine emerges off French coast

The wreck of a World War One German submarine is gradually resurfacing on a beach in northern France after decades of being buried in the sand.
Shifting sand off Wissant, near Calais, is exposing the remains of the UC-61 which was stranded there in July 1917.
The crew flooded the vessel and abandoned it and by the 1930s the submarine had largely been buried.
It is now becoming a tourist attraction again, although the local mayor warns it may only be a fleeting visit.
Since December, two sections of the submarine have been visible at low tide about 330ft (100m) from the dunes.
"The wreck is visible briefly every two to three years, depending on the tides and the wind that leads to sand movements, but a good gust of wind and the wreck will disappear again," said Mayor of Wissant Bernard Bracq.
However, local tour guide Vincent Schmitt believes the winds and tides could lead to even more of the UC-61 being exposed.
"All the residents of Wissant knew there was a submarine here, but the wreck is mostly silted and therefore invisible," he said.
"Pieces reappear from time to time, but this is the first time we discover so much."
German submarines, known as U-boats, targeted Allied shipping during World War One, sinking hundreds of vessels.
Historians say the UC-61 was credited with sinking at least 11 ships, either by laying mines or by firing torpedoes.
On its last journey, the submarine had left Zeebrugge in Belgium and was heading to Boulogne-sur-Mer and Le Havre to lay mines when it ran aground.
The 26 crewmen surrendered to French authorities.

BBC News

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Rahaf al-Qunun: Saudi teen refugee arrives in Canada

A Saudi teenager who fled her family and got stranded at a Bangkok airport has arrived in Canada after being granted asylum there.
Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, 18, had been trying to reach Australia via Bangkok but was initially told to return to Kuwait, where her family were waiting.
She refused to fly back and barricaded herself into her airport hotel room, attracting international attention.
She said she had renounced Islam, which is punishable by death in Saudi Arabia.Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland introduced the teenager as "a very brave new Canadian" but said that Ms al-Qunun was tired from her ordeal and long journey and would not be making any public statement on Saturday.
"She is a very brave young woman who has been through a lot... and she is now going to go to her new home," the minister added.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau earlier told reporters that his country had granted a request from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to grant asylum.
"Canada has been unequivocal that we will always stand up for human rights and women's rights around the world," he said.

BBC News

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Family had to sit on floor of TUI plane

A family returning from holiday found they had no seats once they had boarded their plane and spent part of the flight sitting on the floor.
Despite having boarding passes, the Taylor family found empty spaces where their seats should have been.
The family, from Alcester, Warwickshire, had paid £1,300 and were flying from Mahon in Menorca to Birmingham with TUI airlines.
The Civil Aviation Authority is looking into the matter.
The family raised the issue with BBC One programme Rip Off Britain: Holiday.
Paula Taylor told the show that she, her husband and 10-year-old daughter had got to the airport early, in June, to make sure they were seated together.
Their seat numbers were 41 D, E and F. But when they got on the plane there was an empty space underneath the numbers.
"We all just looked at each other as if to say 'where's our seats gone?'," Mrs Taylor said.
Once all the passengers had boarded there was just one seat left. Mrs Taylor's daughter Brooke was given that seat while she and her husband were given flip-up seats in the crew section.
The Civil Aviation Authority says while passengers are allowed to sit in crew seats under certain conditions, they must not be left unseated during any stage of the flight.
It told Rip-Off Britain it would be contacting TUI for an explanation.

The episode will be broadcast on BBC One at 9.15am on Tuesday 15 January

BBC News

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Pawel Adamowicz: Gdansk mayor stabbed at charity event

The mayor of the Polish city of Gdansk has been seriously hurt after being stabbed on stage at the country's biggest charity event, officials say.
Pawel Adamowicz, 53, had to be resuscitated after the attack and is in a critical condition in hospital.
The 27-year-old suspect, who has a criminal record, has been detained.
He reportedly shouted that he had been wrongfully imprisoned under the previous government, led by the mayor's former party.
The incident took place at the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity event, which was attended by hundreds of people.
The suspect, who was released from prison recently, had access to the scene using a media badge, Polish media say.
The stabbing, during an event that raises money for children's hospitals, has shocked Poland, the BBC's Adam Easton in Warsaw reports.
Mr Adamowicz is a well-known political figure who has been mayor of Gdansk, a Baltic port city, for 20 years, our correspondent adds.
Interior Minister Joachim Brudzinski said the attack was "an act of inexplicable barbarism".

BBC News

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Heathrow: Man charged with flying drone near airport

A man has been charged with flying a drone near Heathrow Airport on 24 December.
George Rusu is accused of using a drone on a field near the runway just days after a scare at Gatwick grounded more than 1,000 flights.
He has been charged with flying a "small unmanned aircraft without permission of air traffic control".
Mr Rusu, 38, from Hillingdon, will appear at Uxbridge Magistrates' Court on Tuesday.
The alleged incident happened just three days after Gatwick Airport fully reopened on December 21, following three days of chaos affecting about 140,000 passengers.

BBC News

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Emiliano Sala: Cardiff City FC player on missing plane

Premier League footballer Emiliano Sala was on a light aircraft which went missing over the Channel Islands, the French Civil Aviation authority said.
The £15m Argentine striker, 28, was one of two people on board the Piper Malibu which lost contact off Alderney in the Channel Islands on Monday night.
Cardiff City signed Sala for a record fee from French club Nantes on Saturday and Guernsey Police said there was "no trace" of the Cardiff-bound flight.
His family said they felt "desperate".
Sala's father, Horacio, told Argentine TV channel C5N, he heard the news from a friend.
"I didn't know anything. I couldn't believe it," he said. "I'm desperate. I hope everything goes well."
The plane left Nantes in north west France at 19:15 and had been flying at 5,000ft when it contacted Jersey air traffic control requesting descent, Guernsey Police said.
The plane lost contact while at 2,300ft and disappeared off radar near the Casquets lighthouse, infamous among mariners as the site of many shipwrecks, 8 miles (13km) north-west of Alderney.
The force added UK authorities have been calling airfields on the south coast to see if it landed there but there had been no confirmations and a decision about an overnight search would be made at sunset.
A spokesman for the French Civil Aviation Authority said the Piper PA 46 Malibu aircraft was French but had not been registered in France.
"We can confirm Emiliano Sala was on board," he said.
"This morning, the French research started with one French national navy ship and one aircraft. The investigation will determined which authority will take the lead on the research."
Sightings of red flares were reported during a lifeboat and helicopter search, but "nothing of significance was found", a Channel Islands Air Search spokeswoman said.
Police said on Tuesday more than 100sq miles had been searched by five aircraft and two lifeboats. The search had resumed after being called off overnight "due to strengthening winds, worsening sea conditions and reducing visibility".
Cardiff Airport confirmed the aircraft was due to arrive from Nantes but a spokeswoman said there were no further details.
Guernsey harbour master Captain David Barker said no distress call had been received and if the search continues into the night it is unlikely to have a good outcome.
"It's far easier to see something on the surface in daylight," he said. "We are looking for any traces of an aircraft, a life raft, persons in the water, life jackets."

BBC News Wales

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[boatbuilder]

I see from the following report that the plane on which the footballer Emiliano Sala was flying from Nantes is owned by Southern Aircraft Consultancy Inc Trustee, in Bungay, Suffolk, according to the US Federal Aviation Administration database, although the company told the BBC it was the trustee of the plane, not its ultimate owner.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-46981205

The search has now been called off.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-46992612

I would think some sort of search will resume to locate wreckage and to find answers, by the AAIB and/or its French counterpart - BEA.

[Dave]

London's Thames river has record-high levels of cocaine, and researchers are trying to figure out if it's making eels high.

A research team at King's College London found water overflowing into the Thames river from sewers during storms contains traces of cocaine. London has the continent's highest concentration of cocaine in its sewage, and another study suggests critically endangered eels could be made "hyperactive" by the traces of drugs in Britain's waters.

Read article here.