Other News In Brief

Copper Cable Theft Sees ‘Dramatic’ Drop

Telecommunications company BT have announced a 50% drop in copper cable theft in the UK, which in turn as lead to a 24% reduction in faults.

The dramatic drop has been credited to “co-ordinated action and sophisticated prevention measures”.

The British Transport Police (BTP), which launched Operation Tornado last year to deter criminals, said it had noted a 51% drop year-on-year.

The industry is pressing for new legislation to make it tougher to profit from the crime.

Ministers Consider Negative Immigration Ads

A negative advertising campaign aimed at dissuading Bulgarians ad Romanians from coming to the UK is being considered by the government, it has been revealed.

The advertisements, which would focus on the downsides of British life, is one of a range of potential measures to stem immigration to Britain next year when curbs imposed on both country's citizens living and working in the UK will expire.

A report over the weekend quoted one minister saying that such a negative advert would "correct the impression that the streets here are paved with gold".

113 Year Old Fossil Identified

Scientists examining fossil remains discovered more than a century ago have identified a creature resembling a hybrid dolphin and crocodile.

The new species, named Tyrannoneustes lythrodectikos, was a marine "super-predator" that lived 163m years ago. It belonged to a group of ancient crocodiles with dolphin-like features.

Found by an amateur fossil hunter in a clay pit near Peterborough in the early 1900s, experts have only now been able to confirm the identity of the partial skeleton, housed at the Hunterian Museum at the University of Glasgow.

The animal had pointed, serrated teeth and a large gaping jaw suited to feeding on large-bodied prey. It represents a transitional form between marine crocodiles that fed on small prey and their supersized relatives.

(H)