Birmingham Post

Unions Attack Brown's Threat to Close Schools

Prime Minister Gordon Brown came under fire from Birmingham's education community last night for "recycling old thinking" after he set new tough targets for schools. In his first major education speech since taking office, the Prime Minister dramatically raised the bar for GCSE achievement.

Court Blow to Lib Dem Fight Over Aston Result

Liberal Democrats seeking to overturn the Aston ward result in this year's Birmingham City Council elections suffered a blow yesterday when a judge ruled a central part of their case was inadmissible. Lawyers representing Lib Dem candidate Saeed Aehmed, who lost in the May 2007 polls by more than 600 votes to Labour's Muhammed Afzal, wanted to raise fresh evidence about allegations of corruption at Aston during the 2004 elections They had intended to produce witnesses and records of mobile ph...

Blues Star's Fears Over Kidnap

Birmingham City footballer Wilson Palacios was waiting anxiously last night to hear the fate of his teenage brother who has been kidnapped in Central America. The club yesterday confirmed Edwin Rene Palacios, the 15-year- old brother of Honduran midfielder Wilson Palacios, had been kidnapped.

Rush-Hour Chaos On Broad Street ; Traffic

Commuters faced rush-hour chaos yesterday after police closed Birmingham's Broad Street following a road crash. A 20-year-old pedestrian was in collision with a car and was described in a serious condition in hospital last night.

Mobile Tickets Now Soaring ; Fines

The number of motorists handed on-the-spot fines for using their mobile phones at the wheel has rocketed by 71 percent, new figures showed. The Ministry of Justice said 126,800 fixed penalty notices were issued for the offence by police in England and Wales in 2005, up nearly 53,000 on the previous year.

Quiz for 200 Teams ; Charity

A quiz to raise money for the Lord Mayor of Birmingham's charities is set to take place next monthat Birmingham University. Featuring BBC Midlands Today presenter Nick Owen as the star quizmaster, Mega Quiz 2007 promises to be a fun-filled night of trivia, brainteasers and mind-stretching questions.

Woman Airlifted ; Crash

A woman was airlifted to a Birmingham hospital after her car hit a lamppost yesterday. The patient, believed to be in her 20s, suffered head injuries after her car veered off College Road, in Perry Barr, at about 9.20am.

Birmingham School Is Shining Example Says Pm

A Birmingham school has been held up by the Prime Minister as a shining example of using technology to get parents more involved in their children's education. Parents at Cardinal Wiseman Catholic Technology College in Kingstanding can find out about all aspects of their youngster's schooling by logging on to a website.

Hot and Heavy Planets Discovered

Three planets which are hotter and heavier than Jupiter have been discovered, astronomers said yesterday. Wasp-3b, Wasp-4b and Wasp-5b, which are hundreds of light years away from Earth, were located by researchers, including Midland scientists, using specialist cameras in the northern and southern hemispheres.

Funeral Tributes to Flood Death Man

Friends and family of a Solihull man who was swept to his death by a flash flood in a cave in Thailand yesterday paid tribute to him at his funeral as a "shining example" to others. John Cullen, aged 24, was one of eight people killed when water washed away a party of tourists as they explored the cave in the Khao Sok national park in the south of the country on October 13.

Putting Birmingham On the Music Map Around the Globe ; Birmingham Will Be Lit Up by the Stars of the City's Music Scene Tonight As the Gigbeth Music Festival Brings the Region's Top Performers Out for an Early Weekend of Rock Action. Tom Scotney Reports

Digbeth will be the focus of the UK music world for three nights as a mind-bogglingly diverse gaggle of bands, singers and groups turn the city's East End into something like an inner-city Glastonbury. Despite being the home of heavy metal, and the birthplace of world-famous acts like Black Sabbath, UB40 and ELO, Birmingham is often overlooked as a hub of excellent music.

85 Days Custody for Handling Broomstick

A judge in Birmingham has said he was "appalled" that a man was remanded in custody for 85 days for handling a broomstick and a mirror. Cory Youlden, 19, of Oast House, Gumbleberrys, Washwood Heath, had been charged with burgling a flat in the same block where he was living.

Media Treated Me Like Diana, Says Heather Mills Mccartney

Heather Mills McCartney claimed she was close to suicide, compared herself to Princess Diana and the McCanns, and accused Sir Paul McCartney of stalling on their divorce settlement in dramatic TV interviews yesterday. The estranged wife of Sir Paul, 65, pledged to campaign to change the press laws, and said she had received death threats and wondered whether she might be "revered" like Linda McCartney if the "death threats came true".

Sex Offender Faces Return From Ireland

One of the UK's most wanted child sex offenders could be extradited back to Britain within weeks, it emerged yesterday. A Dublin High Court will hear the case against John Richard Murrell on November 21. The 39-year-old was arrested in Ireland on September 28 after seven years on the run.

Supermarkets 'Are Giving Consumers a Good Deal' ; Tesco Sainsbury's Morrisons

The Competition Commission yesterday said shoppers needed more supermarkets in some areas as it outlined plans to overhaul planning rules and force grocers to sell some of their landbanks. The long-awaited report from the watchdog attacked supermarkets for stifling competition by holding on to land and suggested plans to stamp out so-called "land banking". The Commission also recommended revamping the planning system to allow chains to open new stores as part of its 18-month inquiry into the ...

Big Four 'Let Off Hook' by Grocery Report

Small businesses and campaigners have accused the Competition Commission of letting the big four supermarkets off the hook in yesterday's report on the grocery sector. The watchdog's provisional findings have been slammed as inadequate and pandering to the needs of the leading retail chains.

Main Findings

A significant number of local markets have high levels of concentration, which have persisted over a number of years. The Commission said weak competition in local markets lets grocery retailers weaken their retail offer in all of the markets in which they operate, as well as in those individual markets where competition is weak. The four largest grocery retailers own a significant number of landbank sites, as well as controlling further sites through leases to third parties, restrictive cove...

Inquiry Into Shooting of Birds of Prey On Royal Estate

Police yesterday said they were interviewing three people about the alleged shooting of two protected birds of prey on a royal estate. Officers said they would be making a report to the Crown Prosecution Service following an investigation into the alleged shootings on the Queen's Sandringham Estate near King's Lynn, Norfolk, on Wednesday, October 24.

Credit Card Firms Lose Faulty Goods Appeal

The Law Lords yesterday dismissed an appeal by credit card issuers against a ruling that consumers who use their cards abroad are entitled to the same "money back" protection as in the UK when goods or services turn out to be faulty. Five senior judges unanimously backed the Court of Appeal which had overturned an earlier High Court decision that Section 75 of the 1974 Consumer Credit Act, which makes the lender jointly liable with the retailer for faulty purchases, did not apply to overseas ...

Baby Escapes Firework Prank

A baby escaped serious injury yesterday after a man in Hallowe'en fancy dress set off an industrial-style firework in an off-licence, police said. The man, who was wearing a skeleton mask, exploded a firework containing up to 200 rockets inside the shop in Bolton.