Two airline pilots have been arrested on suspicion of being under the influence of alcohol before a flight in Glasgow.
Concerns were raised before the 9am United Airlines flight took off to New York on Saturday.
Police say the two men, aged 35 and 45, were arrested at the airport and are likely to appear in court on Monday.
The flight eventually took off several hours later with two different pilots and 141 passengers on board.
A spokesman for United Airlines said: "The two pilots have been removed from service and their flying duties.
"We are co-operating with the authorities and will conduct our own investigation as well. The safety of our customers and crew is our highest priority."
A Police Scotland spokesman said the alleged offences were under the Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003, Section 93.
This relates to carrying out pilot function or activity while exceeding the prescribed limit of alcohol.
For pilots, it is an offence to exceed nine microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The drink-drive limit in England and Wales is 35 microgrammes per 100 millilitres.
Last month, two Canadian pilots were charged with being drunk as they prepared to fly a passenger jet from Scotland to Toronto.
Jean-Francois Perreault, 39, and Imran Zafar Syed, 37, were arrested on 18 July before they were due to take off on the Air Transat flight from Glasgow Airport.
The men were remanded in custody when they first appeared at Paisley Sheriff Court, having also been charged under section 93 of the same Act.
At a second hearing they were granted bail on condition they surrender their passports.
Sunday, August 28, 2016
Germany's Sigmar Gabriel defends middle finger gesture
Germany's economy minister and vice-chancellor has defended flicking the middle finger to a group of right-wing protesters earlier this month.
Sigmar Gabriel, who is Angela Merkel's second-in-command, said his only mistake was not using both hands.
He said his critics should think about what they would do if faced with 12 "young, aggressive, swearing and ready-for-violence Nazis".
Mr Gabriel was confronted by the hecklers in northern Germany.
They called him a traitor of the people and mentioned his father's Nazi past.
Mr Gabriel has spoken openly of his father Walter, who he says was a supporter of Hitler's Nazi party and denied the Holocaust until his death in 2012.
In a video released on social media of the incident, one of the protesters can be heard shouting: "Your father loved his country. And what are you doing? You're ruining it."
At the time, his political party the Social Democratic Party (SPD) called it an "emotional reaction" and released a statement saying: "Obviously Sigmar Gabriel does not regard that gesture to be an appropriate form of everyday communication, but communication was not possible with bellowing neo-Nazis who were clearly prepared to use violence."
Sir Richard Branson 'should lose knighthood' - John McDonnell
British tycoon Sir Richard Branson is a "tax exile" and should be stripped of his knighthood, shadow chancellor John McDonnell has suggested.
Mr McDonnell told the Sunday Mirror Sir Richard wanted to "undermine" democracy, after a row over Jeremy Corbyn's journey on a Virgin train.
Earlier this week, Sir Richard's Virgin Trains released footage disputing Mr Corbyn's claims about overcrowding on one of its services.
Sir Richard has not responded.
Speaking to the newspaper, Mr McDonnell said former BHS boss Sir Philip Green should also be stripped of his knighthood.
It comes on the day that the last BHS stores close for the final time. Sir Philip has not commented on the remarks.
'Even worse'
Mr McDonnell said it was time to "take control" of the honours system, adding: "The whole purpose of the honours system is undermined when the rich and the powerful can collect their gongs without giving anything back. It's even worse when tax exiles are given honours."
He continued: "And you should certainly have [honours] stripped from you if you subsequently have been found to be not acting in the spirit of our country."
He singled out Sir Richard, calling him a "tax exile who thinks he can try and intervene and undermine our democracy".
There is no suggestion the businessman, who lives on Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands, has done anything illegal.
In 2013, Sir Richard said he was living on the island because of a love for the "beautiful" location - not for tax reasons.
'Ram-packed' train
Responding to Mr McDonnell's comments, Labour MP John Woodcock, a prominent critic of leader Mr Corbyn, tweeted: "Dare to question Saint Jeremy's version of the truth? John McDonnell will strip you of your knighthood..."
Earlier in August, footage emerged of Labour leader Mr Corbyn sitting on the floor of what he dubbed a "ram-packed" Virgin train.
However, Sir Richard later tweeted to say Mr Corbyn had walked past empty seats, with Virgin Trains releasing CCTV of the incident.
In response, Mr Corbyn's campaign team said: "When Jeremy boarded the train he was unable to find unreserved seats, so he sat with other passengers in the corridor who were also unable to find a seat.
"Later in the journey, seats became available after a family were upgraded to first class, and Jeremy and the team he was travelling with were offered the seats by a very helpful member of staff."
Saturday, August 27, 2016
Pair Found On Remote Chuuk State Island After Writing SOS In Sand
Two people stranded on a remote, uninhabited island in the Pacific have been rescued after they wrote "SOS" in the sand.
They were spotted by the crew of a US Navy aircraft who gave the coastguard in Guam their location.
Hawaii News Now reported that they left Weno island in Micronesia on Wednesday 17 August, and were expected to arrive at Tamatam island the following day.
The pair were rescued after being spotted from the air. Pic: US Navy
But they did not turn up.
The coastguard was told on 19 August that their 18-foot vessel had gone missing.
In the following days, the coastguard and others searched nearly 17,000 square miles looking for the lost mariners.
They were found on the uninhabited Chuuk State island. Pic: US Navy
They apparently had limited supplies and no emergency equipment.
On Wednesday, a ship saw some flashing lights on the uninhabited Chuuk State island.
The US Navy was informed and spotted the survivors - and their plea for help - on the beach.
They were eventually picked up and taken to a patrol boat.
They were spotted by the crew of a US Navy aircraft who gave the coastguard in Guam their location.
Hawaii News Now reported that they left Weno island in Micronesia on Wednesday 17 August, and were expected to arrive at Tamatam island the following day.
The pair were rescued after being spotted from the air. Pic: US Navy
But they did not turn up.
The coastguard was told on 19 August that their 18-foot vessel had gone missing.
In the following days, the coastguard and others searched nearly 17,000 square miles looking for the lost mariners.
They were found on the uninhabited Chuuk State island. Pic: US Navy
They apparently had limited supplies and no emergency equipment.
On Wednesday, a ship saw some flashing lights on the uninhabited Chuuk State island.
The US Navy was informed and spotted the survivors - and their plea for help - on the beach.
They were eventually picked up and taken to a patrol boat.
Aftershocks Ahead Of State Funeral For Italy's Earthquake Victims
A series of aftershocks have struck central Italy ahead of a state funeral for many the 281 earthquake victims.
The strongest measured magnitude 4.2 as the country began a day of national mourning which will see flags lowered to half mast.
Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and President Sergio Mattarella will attend a service in the town of Ascoli-Piceno for about 40 of those who died in the mountain villages of Arquata del Tronto and Pescara del Tronto.
Several funerals were held on Friday and a common funeral service for the dead in the hard-hit towns of Amatrice and nearby Accumoli will take place next Wednesday.
Relatives of some of the dead visited an airport hangar in the regional capital of Rieti on Friday to see the bodies of their loved ones that had been taken there.
It came as the mayor of Amatrice said he was afraid that his town was at risk of getting cut off as the rescue work continues following more than 1,000 aftershocks.
Sergio Pirozzi said two crucial access roads and a bridge had been further damaged in the last few days outside the town where 221 out of the total death toll of 281 died.
People left homeless after the Italian earthquake are living in tents
Mr Renzi has declared a state of emergency for the area affected by Wednesday's 6.2 magnitude quake, which occurred in a region that straddles Umbria, Lazio and Marche.
The youngest victim was five-and-a-half months old and the oldest in her mid-90s.
At least 388 people remain in hospital, with about 40 of them in a critical condition.
Several of those killed were foreigners, including three Britons and up to eight Romanians, thousands of whom are living in the area.
Spain, Canada, Albania and El Salvador each said that one of its citizens had perished and a further 21 Romanians are missing.
More than 4,000 professionals and volunteers have been taking part in the rescue effort.
Mr Renzi has praised the effort they have put in to rescue 215 people, but it is feared not many more will be found alive.
No one has been pulled alive from the piles of collapsed masonry since Wednesday evening.
Many of those who survived but were rendered homeless have gone to live with relatives in Rome and elsewhere but more than 2,000 who could not have been spending the night in tent villages.
Officials said they were afraid the devastation would mean the end of the towns.
Paolo Cortelli, a member of the Alpine Rescue service that recovered about 30 bodies from Pescara del Tronto, said his group had done all it could.
"We have removed the last bodies that we knew about," he said.
"We don't know, and we might never know, if the number of missing that we knew about actually corresponds to the people who were actually under the rubble."
Friday, August 26, 2016
French Court Overturns Controversial Burkini Ban
France's highest administrative court has suspended a town's controversial ban on full-body burkini swimsuits.
The ruling by the Council of State specifically concerns a ban in the Riviera town of Villeneuve-Loubet, but the binding decision is expected to set a legal precedent for the 30 or so areas that have also imposed bans.
Lawyers for two human rights groups challenged the legality of the policy, saying it infringes basic freedoms and that mayors have overstepped their powers by telling women what to wear.
Mayors cited concerns about public order after deadly terror attacks this summer, and some officials have argued the garment oppresses women.
The court said in a statement the decree "seriously, and clearly illegally, breached the fundamental freedoms to come and go, the freedom of beliefs and individual freedom".
Lawyer Patrice Spinosi, representing the Human Rights League, said mayors in other towns should take heed of the court's decision and drop their bans.
He also said women who have already received fines can protest against them based on the decision.
Amnesty International praised the ruling. John Dalhuisen, the charity's Europe director, said: "By overturning a discriminatory ban that is fuelled by and is fuelling prejudice and intolerance, today's decision has drawn an important line in the sand."
But the mayor of Sisco, in northern Corsica, has said he will not lift his ban.
Ange-Pierre Vivoni told BFM-TV: "Here the tension is very, very, very strong and I won't withdraw it."
Earlier this week, a mother-of-two told Sky News she was horrified when French police ordered her to remove her headscarf while she was on the beach.
The woman, who gave her name as Siam, had gone to the beach in Cannes, and said she was given a verbal warning when she refused to remove the headscarf.
It came after photos emerged from nearby Nice, appearing to show officers enforcing a "burkini ban" on the beach there.
More follows...
The ruling by the Council of State specifically concerns a ban in the Riviera town of Villeneuve-Loubet, but the binding decision is expected to set a legal precedent for the 30 or so areas that have also imposed bans.
Lawyers for two human rights groups challenged the legality of the policy, saying it infringes basic freedoms and that mayors have overstepped their powers by telling women what to wear.
Mayors cited concerns about public order after deadly terror attacks this summer, and some officials have argued the garment oppresses women.
The court said in a statement the decree "seriously, and clearly illegally, breached the fundamental freedoms to come and go, the freedom of beliefs and individual freedom".
Lawyer Patrice Spinosi, representing the Human Rights League, said mayors in other towns should take heed of the court's decision and drop their bans.
He also said women who have already received fines can protest against them based on the decision.
Amnesty International praised the ruling. John Dalhuisen, the charity's Europe director, said: "By overturning a discriminatory ban that is fuelled by and is fuelling prejudice and intolerance, today's decision has drawn an important line in the sand."
But the mayor of Sisco, in northern Corsica, has said he will not lift his ban.
Ange-Pierre Vivoni told BFM-TV: "Here the tension is very, very, very strong and I won't withdraw it."
Earlier this week, a mother-of-two told Sky News she was horrified when French police ordered her to remove her headscarf while she was on the beach.
The woman, who gave her name as Siam, had gone to the beach in Cannes, and said she was given a verbal warning when she refused to remove the headscarf.
It came after photos emerged from nearby Nice, appearing to show officers enforcing a "burkini ban" on the beach there.
More follows...
Two Nuns Margaret Held And Paula Merrill Stabbed To Death In Mississippi
Two nuns working as nurses and helping the poor in rural Mississippi have been found murdered in their home.
Although the cause of the deaths was not officially revealed, a local priest said the women had been stabbed.
The Reverend Greg Plata said Sister Margaret Held and Sister Paula Merrill, both 68, were "two of the sweetest, most gentle women you can imagine".
"Their vocation was helping the poor," he said.
The women's bodies were found on Thursday morning after they failed to appear at a nearby clinic where they provided flu jabs, insulin and other medical care for children and adults who cannot afford to pay for medicine.
Police said they may have been killed during a break-in and theft of their car. The blue Toyota Corolla was found later in the evening abandoned and undamaged on a nearby street.
Dr Elias Abboud, who worked with the sisters for years and helped build the Lexington Medical Clinic, said he did not know what will happen to the facility following their deaths.
"I think the community is going to be different after this. You need somebody with that passion to love the people and work in the underserved area," Dr Abboud said.
"For somebody to come and do this horrible act, we are all shocked," he added.
Dr Abboud said the clinic provided about one quarter of all the medical care in the county.
The two nuns provided almost all the care at the clinic and cultivated relationships with drug company representatives, who often left extra free samples, the clinic's manager Lisa Dew said.
Sister Merrill, who was from Massachusetts and had joined the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth in Kentucky order in 1979, had worked in Mississippi for more than 30 years.
When asked about her ministry for an article, she said: "We simply do what we can wherever God places us."
Sister Held had been a member of the School Sisters of St Francis in Milwaukee for 49 years "and lived her ministry caring for and healing the poor," a statement from the order said.
She moved to Mississippi in the 1980s.
The sisters were involved in caring for the community after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 left much of the town without power for weeks.
They shared their house and cooking facilities with those left with nothing, because their gas stove still worked.
Local supporter Sam Sample said the nuns could stretch resources and routinely produced great food from what seemed like a very small home garden.
"These ladies didn't require any fanfare, any bells and whistles. They would just keep their nose to the grindstone, doing what had to be done," he said.
The Roman Catholic community in Mississippi is relatively small with some 108,000 following the faith in a population of almost three million people.
Although the cause of the deaths was not officially revealed, a local priest said the women had been stabbed.
The Reverend Greg Plata said Sister Margaret Held and Sister Paula Merrill, both 68, were "two of the sweetest, most gentle women you can imagine".
"Their vocation was helping the poor," he said.
The women's bodies were found on Thursday morning after they failed to appear at a nearby clinic where they provided flu jabs, insulin and other medical care for children and adults who cannot afford to pay for medicine.
Police said they may have been killed during a break-in and theft of their car. The blue Toyota Corolla was found later in the evening abandoned and undamaged on a nearby street.
Dr Elias Abboud, who worked with the sisters for years and helped build the Lexington Medical Clinic, said he did not know what will happen to the facility following their deaths.
"I think the community is going to be different after this. You need somebody with that passion to love the people and work in the underserved area," Dr Abboud said.
"For somebody to come and do this horrible act, we are all shocked," he added.
Dr Abboud said the clinic provided about one quarter of all the medical care in the county.
The two nuns provided almost all the care at the clinic and cultivated relationships with drug company representatives, who often left extra free samples, the clinic's manager Lisa Dew said.
Sister Merrill, who was from Massachusetts and had joined the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth in Kentucky order in 1979, had worked in Mississippi for more than 30 years.
When asked about her ministry for an article, she said: "We simply do what we can wherever God places us."
Sister Held had been a member of the School Sisters of St Francis in Milwaukee for 49 years "and lived her ministry caring for and healing the poor," a statement from the order said.
She moved to Mississippi in the 1980s.
The sisters were involved in caring for the community after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 left much of the town without power for weeks.
They shared their house and cooking facilities with those left with nothing, because their gas stove still worked.
Local supporter Sam Sample said the nuns could stretch resources and routinely produced great food from what seemed like a very small home garden.
"These ladies didn't require any fanfare, any bells and whistles. They would just keep their nose to the grindstone, doing what had to be done," he said.
The Roman Catholic community in Mississippi is relatively small with some 108,000 following the faith in a population of almost three million people.
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