Other News In Brief

Eight-Year-old Accused Of Attacking Teacher

An eight-year-old boy has been arrested and charged after allegedly assaulting a female head teacher in Edinburgh. The young school pupil was removed from Balgreen Primary School by police officers following an incident at 9.20am last Wednesday. A Lothian and Borders Police spokesman confirmed: "We were called to Balgreen Primary School following reports of a disturbance. A pupil has been charged and a report sent to the Children's Reporter." An Edinburgh City Council spokeswoman said: "I can confirm that there was an incident involving an eight-year-old boy at Balgreen Primary School."

Construction Industry facing Bleak 2009

The construction industry is facing its sharpest decline for nearly 30 years and with little or no prospect of any turnaround in the short term, employment levels across the industry are expected to fall sharply throughout 2009. This is the stark picture according to the latest Trade Survey published jointly by the Construction Products Association and the Construction Confederation. The Survey, which covers the fourth quarter of 2008 provides no respite from the current recession, with contractors and product manufacturing predicting that the decline experienced in 2008 will continue during 2009 as shrinking output and over capacity of construction activity will fall further over the course of a very difficult 2009.

Met TV Documentary To Be Shown

The first installment of a two-part documentary on the work of the Specialist Firearms Command - CO19 - entitled 'In the Line of Fire' will be screened on Tuesday 10 February on ITV1 at 9pm. Made by Wild Pictures, the programmes follow the work of 'F' relief part of CO19's uniformed response team. Producers spent four months filming the relief accompanying them on live operations and responding to emergency calls from the public and their colleagues. Filmed during 2007, when the Met was working hard to combat a rise in fatal shootings the film crew followed CO19 and other specialist officers on proactive operations stopping cars known to be linked to people carrying guns. The second part will be screened at 9pm on Tuesday 17 February.

Top Award For Liverpool One

Liverpool One, the £1 billion retail-led development in the heart of Liverpool City Centre, has landed a major planning award. It has won the Royal Town Planning Institute national award for best city or metropolitan scheme. The scheme was submitted by Liverpool City Council. Cllr Peter Millea, Executive Member for Assets and Development, said: "This accolade is an acknowledgement not only of the quality of the design and architecture of Liverpool One but the way in which this massively complex scheme has been handled and delivered. The judges were particularly impressed with the partnership approach and we are delighted that it has won one of the top national honours." Liverpool One covers 42 acres, features four retail districts, 30 individually designed buildings, 1.4 million sq ft of retail space, a multiplex cinema, 230,000 square feet of restaurants, cafés and bars, together with more than 600 new apartments, two hotels, offices, a revitalised five acre park, and new public transport interchange.

(JM/BMcC)