Man Accused Of Daughter Murder

A man has appeared in court in Shetland accused of the murder of his eight-month-old baby girl. Billy Middleton, 32, appeared in private at Lerwick Sheriff court charged with murder and two further charges of attempted murder. His daughter Annalise Middleton died in a fire in the family home in Brae on 20 September. The family's six-year-old girl and four-year-old boy escaped serious injury. Mr Middleton was remanded in custody and is due to appear in court again next week.

Student Hospitalised After Swim

A French student is in a critical condition and her two female friends are suffering with shock and hypothermia after they were overwhelmed by sea conditions during an afternoon swim. The three teenaged girls went swimming off Porthmeor Beach near St Ives, but they began to struggle in the Force 5 winds and heavy surf and swell. Two of the girls were able to make it to shore by themselves, but the third had to be recovered from the sea by a member of the public. Meanwhile, a member of the public had called 999 at 3.45 pm and requested urgent help from Falmouth Coastguard. The Coastguard Rescue Team from St Ives were sent to the scene and both RNLI lifeboats from St Ives were requested to launch. A Royal Navy helicopter was also scrambled. An air ambulance was sent to the scene by ambulance control.

£235m Contracts Propel Naval Project Forward

The Royal Navy's two new aircraft carriers will be powered by the latest electric propulsion technology, it was announced today. Worth a total of £235 million, contracts have been placed for gas turbines, generators, motors, power distribution equipment, platform management systems, propellers, shafts, steering gear, rudders and stabilisers. Simultaneously, the key industrial suppliers have formed an Alliance to ensure that the equipment is integrated into the ships in the most cost effective manner. Two state of the art gas turbines producing 70 mega watts (MW) of power for each ship will be built in Bristol, and will be coupled to generators to be built in Rugby. Combined with the diesel engines already on order, they will supply the 109 MW of electricity each carrier needs to move through the water at speeds sufficient for launch and recovery of aircraft and to power services such as lighting, cooking and heating.

(JM)