Other NI News In Brief

Accident Baby 'Critical'

An infant boy is critically ill in hospital today after a car crash in Co Londonderry yesterday afternoon. Two cars collided at Dunglady Road on Upplerlands, near Maghera at about 2pm on Wednesday. The baby, aged three months, was taken to Belfast's Royal Victoria Hospital and his mother is being treated in Antrim Area Hospital.

Omagh Case Closes

The long-running civil action brought by relatives of Omagh bomb victims has finally drawn to a close at the High Court in Belfast. One year after the case opened against five men being sued over the atrocity, Mr Justice Morgan heard final submissions on behalf of the defendants this week. He is to begin work on his judgement over the Easter recess, with a verdict anticipated by June. When no one was convicted for the August 1998 Real IRA outrage which killed 29 people - and unborn twins, some of the bereaved are seeking an order for millions of pounds in damages. They claim jailed dissident republican chief Michael McKevitt, Liam Campbell, Seamus McKenna, Colm Murphy and Seamus Daly can all be held responsible for the worst single loss of life during the Troubles. All five men deny liability.

QUB Skywatchers Recover Meteorites

Astronomers from Queen's University have recovered 15 meteorites during a search of the Nubian Desert. The remains are to be studied as part of an international operation to predict asteroid entry into the earth's atmosphere. The story of the dramatic astral event, which happened last October, was published for the first time in scientific journal Nature yesterday. Experts from Queen's Astrophysics Research Centre observed the asteroid as it hurtled towards planet earth, and captured the only image of it before it exploded in the atmosphere. The asteroid, named 2008 TC3, weighed in at 80 tonnes with a diameter of four metres. It landed in the Nubian Desert in Sudan where it scattered after exploding at an altitude of 37km.

Banks 'Not Honouring' Pledges, Says Robinson

Northern Ireland banks may not be keeping their promises to support business in the face of the economic downturn, the Stormont Assembly has been told. First Minister Peter Robinson said he would be holding further candid talks with the banks after mounting reports that businesses were being turned down for loans. Mr Robinson said this was despite claims by the banks that they had millions of pounds at their disposal and were keen to lend. The First Minister told MLAs that the experience of businesses did not match the promises made by the banks.

Cooking Up Success

NI Skills Minister Sir Reg Empey has today paid tribute to the high standard of culinary talent on display at the first Northern Ireland Hospitality Skills Cookery Competition. Held in the Newry Campus of Southern Regional College, the competition was designed to identify and select young chef talent to go forward to qualify for UK national finals, which could see them compete in WorldSkills 2011 in London. Held every two years, WorldSkills is the world’s greatest skills showcase event, involving over 850 of the best young professionals from trades, service and vocational programmes from around the world.

(BMcC/JM)