Other UK News In Brief

Welsh Hero At Rest

The funeral of a Royal Welsh soldier killed by Afghan insurgents is due to take place in his home city of Swansea today. Fusilier Jonathan Burgess died from gunshot wounds while on patrol in the Nad 'Ali area of Helmand province earlier this month. The 20-year-old from the Townhill area was expecting a baby girl with his fiancee. The funeral is due to take place at the Cathedral Church of St Joseph.

PSNI Police Reserve Kept On

Just hours after scathing criticism of the PSNI's response to a bomb attack along the border, it has emerged that over 200 full-time reserve police officers are to be "retained for the foreseeable future because of the deteriorating security situation". The move came after Stormont First Minister and DUP leader Peter Robinson said yesterday: "I was massively concerned about the slow response to the recent attack (in Newtownhamilton). The public expects the police to be there when there are difficulties that have to be faced." His concerns added weight to a call by the Chairman of the Police Federation, Terry Spence, who said the PSNI's lack of resources means Northern Ireland is "sleepwalking" back into violence.

Scottish Expand

Scotland reached its highest population level in a generation last year. That's according to the latest figures from the Registrar General for Scotland, Duncan Macniven, who said the population was 5,194,000 in the middle of last year. This represented a rise of 25,500 on the previous year, and the highest total since 1979. Mr Macniven said migration accounted for most of the increase, while there were also about 4,600 more births than deaths. Over the year, 45,400 people came to Scotland from England, Wales and Northern Ireland - fewer than in the previous year - while 41,300 left Scotland to go in the opposite direction. But about 42,700 people, including asylum seekers, came from overseas and only 25,200 went in the opposite direction, giving a net gain of about 17,500 people - the highest net gain from overseas migration since current records began in 1991-92.

Chicago Robbery Suspects Charged

Police officers in the USA have charged a man and his girlfriend in connection with an attack that left a Co Armagh student - who is studying in Dublin - fighting for her life in hospital. Ms McShane is in a critical but stable condition after the weekend baseball bat attack. She is being watched over by her parents, who have flown to the Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Centre in Chicago, to be at her bedside. The graduate student was attacked along with a friend, named locally as Stacy Jurich, 24, as they walked to their lodgings after a night out in the city. This morning, it emerged that Chicago police have charged a man and a woman over the incident with both charged with aggravated battery and armed robbery. It is understood the pair were caught via records from cell phones and on CCTV camera using Natasha McShane's credit card.

Lost Sailor Found

A sailor who had to be rescued after running out of fuel was circling a small island when he thought he was sailing around the UK coast. The Sheerness lifeboat and the Thames Coastguard assisted the man who ran aground off the Elmley Marshes on the Isle of Sheppey on 19 April. With only a road map for directions, he set off on the river Medway, from Gillingham, and headed for Southampton. But the RNLI said the man had "ended up travelling round the Isle of Sheppey".

Aberdeen Bypass Faces Legal Delay

A legal challenge could delay the construction of the new Aberdeen Bypass, according to Transport Scotland. The agency responsible for the road made the claim about a Court of Session action by Road Sense. Opponents to the scheme have raised concerns over costs and the environmental impact. The Scottish government gave the bypass the go-ahead after a long-running public local inquiry in 2008.

(BMcC/GK)