Birmingham Post

Police Highlight Election Fraud

A police campaign to stamp out election fraud was launched yesterday. Hundreds of leaflets warning of the criminal consequences of postal ballot rigging are being handed out in at-risk wards in the run up to the city council elections on May 3.

Was City Airport a Target for Terror?

Birmingham International Airport may have been the intended target of a Libyan terror suspect, controversially ordered to be released from custody yesterday. The man, described as a "real and direct threat to the national security of the UK", is related to Islamic terrorists in Europe and northern Africa.

Probe Over Council's 'Misspent Millions'

An investigation into claims that millions of pounds of public money was misspent at Walsall Council has been passed to the Crown Prosecution Service. The West Midlands Police inquiry was launched after former council official Peter Francis was awarded more than pounds 650,000 by an employment tribunal. Mr Francis was unfairly dismissed by the local authority after raising concerns about the way regeneration funding was spent.

Goats in Attack Horror

A pet goat was killed and three others mutilated at a Warwickshire smallholding. The animals were attacked in their stable on a smallholding in Kingsbury on Thursday evening. Details were only released by police yesterday.

Hundreds Honour Iraq Medic

Hundreds of mourners paid their last respects yesterday to teenage Army medic Eleanor Dlugosz, who died in a bomb attack in Iraq. A horse-drawn carriage carried the Union Flag-draped coffin of 19- year-old Pte Dlugosz to the parish church of St Peter in Bishop's Waltham, a small country town in Hampshire.

Family Connections of Terror Suspects ; Background

Libyan terror suspect DD, in whose car an A-Z highlighting Birmingham International Airport was found, is related to two Islamist terrorists, according to the Home Office. The Home Secretary's case to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission claimed DD's brother-in-law Serhane Fakhet was the mastermind of the 2003 Madrid train bombings, in which 191 people died, and blew himself up in a raid by Spanish police in the wake of that atrocity.

Map May Have Been for Missile Attack

The A-Z found to have footpaths marked running under Birmingham airport's aircraft routes may have been preparation for a shoulder- launched missile attack, an expert from the University of Birmingham has said. But Dr Steve Hewitt, a security and intelligence expert from the Department of American & Canadian Studies, warned that, equally, the map could have been innocently drawn up by a plane spotter.

Call for Rethink Over More Power

The Chief Constable of West Midlands police has revealed he is "not confident" about giving his community support officers more powers as cross-party politicians lobbied for a rethink on the matter. Paul Scott-Lee said giving them more powers meant more paperwork for PCSOs which meant their presence on the street - and the "sense of personal safety" they provided - would be reduced.

Chancellor Impressed with Good Hope Hospital After Visit

Chancellor Gordon Brown was clearly impressed by what he saw during a tour of a top-performing Midlands hospital yesterday. After meeting elderly patients on Ward 22, he was given a demonstration in how doctors learn to perform lapar-oscopies, which are internal investigations made using a telescopic camera.

Mum Handbags Brown On Ward Tv Switch-Off

Chancellor Gordon Brown was ambushed yesterday by a Midlands mother frustrated that patients on her son's cystic fibrosis ward had their free bedside televisions switched off by private company Patientline. Linda Smith made her point as the 'Prime Minister in waiting' arrived at Heartlands Hospital in Birmingham, and was treated to a private discussion away from the cameras.

Council Absenteeism Mistakes Mean Figures Are Really Higher

More mistakes in calculating absenteeism at Birmingham City Council have come to light, pushing the employee sick leave level to a two-year high. Errors in adding departmental totals for February and March, along with miscalculations revealed in The Birmingham Post yesterday for a period between April 2006 and January this year, disguised the real amount of time off according to a Labour Party survey.

Binge Drinking Warning to Children

A Midland-based organisation providing alcohol education to drink drivers is being recruited by schools to tell 11-year-olds about the dangers of binge-drinking. The move is response to increasing concern over growing alcohol abuse among schoolchildren.

25 Is the Age for Asda Alcohol

Shoppers who look under 25 will not be able to buy alcohol without ID in a new initiative at Asda stores, it was reported yesterday. The supermarket giant has introduced the scheme at several of its shops in a bid to cut down on under-age drinking.

'Misspent Millions' Probe at Council

Police have handed a file to the Crown Prosecution Service following claims that millions of pounds of public money was misspent by a Black Country council, a MP has revealed. David Winnick (Lab Wal-sall North) called on Ministers to investigate the case of former council official Peter Francis, who was awarded more than pounds 650,000 by an employment tribunal.

'Blair Won't Set Departure Date Before Elections'

Downing Street has quashed speculation that Tony Blair would announce when he is stepping down as Prime Minister ahead of the May 3 elections. And Mr Blair insisted: "I wouldn't hold your breath on that story."

Uk Military Cuts Fear As New Cold War Looms

The threats of the Cold War could return as Russia becomes richer and more confident, the former chair of the Defence Select Committee has warned. But Bruce George (Lab Walsall South) said Britain was poorly equipped to defend itself because of cuts in military spending.

No Place for Secrecy in the Commons

A West Midlands MP is leading opposition to plans to exempt the Commons from freedom of information laws. A controversial Bill granting MPs and peers immunity to the Freedom of Information Act will be discussed next month.

Old Mps a Rare Species

Old MPs have become a threatened species, yet they are the people who keep the House of Commons alive, Austin Mitchell, a 72-year-old Labour back-bencher, claimed yesterday. "They should be preserved," he insisted.

Bard's Key Characters Trail Around Garden

Sir Ian McKellen officially unveiled a new sculpture dedicated to Macbeth in Shakespeare's Great Garden in Stratford-upon-Avon as the town begins a weekend of celebrations for the Bard's 443rd birthday. Sir Ian, currently starring in King Lear at Stratford's Courtyard Theatre, was joined by Austin E Quigley, the Dean of Columbia University, in New York, to unveil the bronze sculpture by American artist Greg Wyatt.

Bus Driver Still Critical

A bus driver who had a heart attack after a youth abused him and tried to steal from his cash tray remained in a critical condition last night. The 66-year-old Metrobus employee was taken to hospital following the incident on the 354 bus outside Clock House railway station in Beckenham, south-east London.