Remember When: 12 archive pictures of North Ormesby from years gone by

VIEW GALLERY

A delve into The Gazette archives has uncovered a fascinating record of the human history of North Ormesby.

From an Armistice celebration almost 100 years ago to the changing fashions through the decades, one thing that has remained constant has been the steadfast sense of community.

North Ormesby was established after John Vaughan and geologist John Marley discovered large seams of iron ore at Eston, in the nearby Cleveland Hills in 1850.

After mining began a year later, North Ormesby saw a massive surge in its population as workers flocked to the region.

On November 11 1918, residents of Worsley Street, North Ormesby, certainly had plenty of reason to celebrate with the end of the Great War.

The picture of a street party to celebrate Armistice Day was sent in by Mrs Maria Campion in the late 1980s.

One of her sisters is the baby having a grand time in the highchair in the foreground of the picture, watched by another sister.

Another image shows Mr Henry Cordeux, the original owner of the undertaker’s business at 43 King’s Road, North Ormesby, outside his premises in the early 20th Century.

The images also document a bus crash in the mid-1940s, a market trader dressed in 1980s fashion and the clock tower of Holy Trinity Church overlooking North Ormesby Market back in 1991.

Random Thoughts on the Passing Scene

Random thoughts on the passing scene:

What a non-judgmental society amounts to is that common decency is optional — which means that decency is likely to become less common.

The biggest issue in this fall’s election is whether the Obama administration will end when Barack Obama leaves the White House or whether it will continue on, by appointing federal judges with lifetime appointments who share President Obama’s contempt for the Constitution. Whether such judges will be confirmed by the Senate depends on whether the Senate continues to be controlled by Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Why in the world would any sane American go to North Korea and put themselves at the mercy of a crackpot dictator?

Since Illinois enacted a law permitting more people to carry concealed firearms, more than 65,000 people got permits to do so. Rates of robbery, burglary and motor vehicle thefts have dropped significantly, and the murder rate has fallen to a level not seen in more than half a century. If only the gun control fanatics would pay some attention to facts, a lot of lives could be saved.

If you took all the mumbo-jumbo out of our educational institutions, how much would be left? Students could finish their education years earlier and end up knowing a lot more than they know now.

Why are Americans — and the Western world in general — falling all over ourselves stifling our own self-expression to appease people who chose to immigrate here, and are now demanding the suppression of anything they don’t like, such as public expressions of Christianity or displays of the American flag?

Someone should write a history of political rhetoric, if only to put us on our guard against being deceived into disasters. The First World War, for example, was said to be a war “to make the world safe for democracy.” What it actually led to was the replacement of despotic dynasties by totalitarian dictatorships that were far worse, including far more murderous.

Professor Sterling Brown remains as much a hero to me in my old age as he was when I was a freshman at Howard University.

He wrote bitterly eloquent attacks on racism — and yet, when I was preparing to go off to Harvard, he said to me, “Don’t come back here and tell me you didn’t make it ’cause white folks were mean.”

The fatal weakness of most clever people is that they don’t know when to stop being clever. The past cleverness of President Obama is finally starting to catch up with him.

Why Republicans would bring up the subject of immigration during an election year is beyond me. Yet Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner seems drawn to the subject like a moth to a flame.

Who says the Obama administration is not transparent? They are constantly telling our enemies overseas when it will pull out our troops and where we will not put boots on the ground.

Heartening as it has been to see Derek Jeter get farewell honors during his last season, as with Mariano Rivera last season, it is also a melancholy thought that we may not see their like again — in their personal dignity and class, as well as their performance on the field. They are throwbacks to an earlier time, in a sports world of spoiled brat showoffs today.

I must have heard the word “diversity” proclaimed in ringing tones as a great benefit to society at least a thousand times — and probably closer to a million — without even once hearing a speck of evidence provided, or even suggested as a way to test whether that is true or false.

Attorney General Eric Holder has picked the perfect time to resign, in terms of his own self-interest. He will have two years in which to cash in with lucrative fees on the lecture circuit and to make a big-bucks book deal. If he waited until the end of the Obama administration, a former Attorney General would be eclipsed in both respects by a former President of the United States, thereby reducing the demand for Holder.

With the momentous consequences of control of the Senate at stake in this fall’s election, anyone who risks the outcome by running as a third party candidate should not only be voted against this year but remembered for such irresponsibility in future years.

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Live: Breaking news, traffic and travel across Teesside

The Evening Gazette's live breaking news blog brings you regular updates, pictures, video, tweets and comments covering the latest Teesside and North Yorkshire traffic, travel, weather, crime and council news for today, Wednesday 1st October, 2014.

You can contribute to the live blog by posting your comment below, and you can also tweet us @EveningGazette to share breaking news stories, pictures and opinions.

Our Teesside breaking news live blog begins at 07:00am every weekday and is updated throughout the day and into the evening.

The Throat-Clearing President vs. the Throat-Cutting Terrorists

Last week, President Obama spoke to the United Nations about the growing threat of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. In the course of that speech, he discussed a wide variety of threats to Western civilization, ranging from Ebola to global warming, from chaos in Syria to China’s incursions in the South China Sea. The speech seemed unfocused, meandering. But it held together thanks to one common thread: Barack Obama believes that words solve everything. Particularly his own.

Obama’s narcissism isn’t mere arrogance. It’s messianism. It’s pure faith that his verbiage can alter the course of history. “We are here,” Obama said, “because others realized that we gain more from cooperation than conquest.” Well, actually, no — the United Nations exists because evil nations were forced through conquest to admit that cooperation might be a more advantageous strategy.

“While small gains can be won at the barrel of a gun,” Obama said, “they will ultimately be turned back if enough voices support the freedom of nations and peoples to make their own decisions.” Not exactly — millions of voices in North Korea have not altered the fate of those stuck in the world’s largest gulag, nor have millions of voices in Iran freed them of the tyranny of the mullahs.

“The ideology of ISIL or al Qaeda or Boko Haram will wilt and die if it is consistently exposed, confronted, and refuted in the light of day,” Obama spouted. If good argument killed bad argument, Islamism wouldn’t be on the march, but on the ash heap of history. Global politics, it turns out, is not a Harvard Law mock trial.

“We believe that right makes might,” Obama summed up, “that bigger nations should not be able to bully smaller ones, that people should be able to choose their own future.” Hogwash would be too kind a word to describe this sort of highfaluting idiocy — if right made might, millions of Jews would still populate Europe.

In reality, right dictates that right arm itself — right must become might in order to emerge victorious. Americans know that.

Because Americans know that, Obama must occasionally bow to reality. And so, in the same speech in which Obama called for Russian, Chinese and Syrian conflicts to be resolved through diplomacy, he uttered the most un-Obamaesque comment of his entire presidency with regard to ISIS: “The only language understood by killers like this is the language of force.”

This is eminently true. It is also so far out of Obama’s wheelhouse that he almost strained an oblique in making that statement. And, in fact, when polling doesn’t apply to him, Obama is happy to pressure other nations not to use the language of force — in the same speech, Obama pressured Israel to negotiate with its enemies, even though its enemies are of the exact same ilk as ISIS. If Obama does not bear a striking animus for the Jewish state, the best that can be said is that he wants Israel to be on the cutting edge of Western civilization’s rhetoric-first throat-cutting. After all, Obama tells Israel, too many Israelis are “ready to abandon the hard work of peace.”

Yes, the hard work of peace. With people who want to slit their throats.

That’s the real Obama, not the puffed-chest commander-in-chief threatening to bomb virtually everyone in virtually every country in the Middle East.

And that’s the problem. Lack of foreign policy comes from lack of belief in the principled use of force. And so Obama, the messianic narcissist, vacillates between two extremes: empty threats and pathetic wheedling. Neither works.

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Israeli police arrest 2 Palestinian women, man at Aqsa compound

JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Israeli police on Monday detained two Palestinian women and a man at the al-Aqsa compound in Jerusalem, witnesses said.

Eyewitnesses told Ma’an that Rania Abu al-Hawa, Islam Abu Sneineh, and her husband were detained at the holy site and taken to the Chain Gate police station.

They were later transferred to the al-Qashla police station in the Old City.

Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told Ma’an three suspects were arrested while “groups (were) visiting on the Temple Mount.”

He said stones were thrown at police officers at that there were “cries of ‘Allahu Akbar,’ et cetara” from Palestinians in the area.

Israeli forces regularly escort Jewish visitors to the Al-Aqsa compound, leading to tension with Palestinian worshipers.

The compound, which sits just above the Western Wall plaza, houses both the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque and is the third holiest site in Islam.

It is also venerated as Judaism’s most holy place as it sits above the site where Jews believe the First and Second Temples once stood.

Al-Aqsa is located in East Jerusalem, a part of the internationally recognized Palestinian territories that have been occupied by the Israeli military since 1967

Live: Boro v Blackpool from the Riverside Stadium

Winless Blackpool come to the Riverside bottom of the Championship and without a competitive victory since April.

Boro’s home form was a cause for concern earlier this season following back-to-back defeats against Sheffield Wednesday and Reading, but any demons were tackled as the Teessiders thrashed Brentford 4-0 a fortnight ago.

Boro will be looking to return to winning ways following the stalemate at Charlton.

Sexual predator who groped schoolgirl after following her off a bus avoids jail

A sexual predator who groped a 15-year-old schoolgirl after following her off a bus avoided prison today.

Shakeel Razaq was caught after being chased by his young victim’s sister who called police and pursued him until she saw him being caught by an officer.

But a court was told today he still could not explain what possessed him to pursue the underage girl and grab her, leaving her traumatised.

Teesside’s top judge said a short prison sentence would only release Razaq back on to the streets without supervision.

The girl noticed Razaq constantly staring on her as she sat on a bus after school, Teesside Crown Court heard.

She felt uncomfortable and tried to ignore the 22-year-old stranger on the afternoon of May 15.

Carrying a bag containing a chef’s uniform from an Indian restaurant, Razaq got off the bus at the same Middlesbrough stop as the girl and her older sister.

He kept pace with them as they deliberately slowed down to see if he would walk past them, said prosecutor Harry Hadfield.

Razaq then put his hand up the 15-year-old girl’s skirt and grabbed her bottom so hard it hurt her.

The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, froze and screamed.

Razaq ran off, chased by the girl’s sister who saw him detained by police.

The victim was in tears, shocked and scared after the attack. She ran into her home and locked the door. When police came to see her, she could not stop crying and shaking.

She later said the assault made her feel dirty and was aghast that it could happen on a busy street in the middle of the day.

Razaq, of Acklam Road, Middlesbrough, admitted sexual assault, his first offence. He had initially denied it then owned up saying he was ashamed.

Andrew White, defending, said: “He is at a loss to really explain why this event took place.

“It was really a moment of madness.

“He shows genuine remorse. He does genuinely bitterly regret what he did and he sincerely apologises to the complainant.

“He’s mortified by what he did. He’s deeply ashamed and he’s disgusted by his behaviour.

“For his part he’s absolutely determined that there will be no recurrence.

“He’s never taken alcohol, never taken drugs. He has no previous convictions whatsoever.”

He said Razaq’s guilty plea in May would have reassured the victim, sparing her having to give evidence and relive her ordeal in a trial.

Razaq lost his job because of his crime, hoped to get new work and had family support in court.

Mr White added: “An immediate custodial sentence would be completely counter-productive.

“It would place him in the company of malign influences rather than giving him the benefit of constructive support from the Probation Service.”

A probation report said Razaq was a “predatory young man” who would continue to pose a risk, recommending a community order for him.

Judge Simon Bourne-Arton QC, the Recorder of Middlesbrough, told Razaq: “For reasons that only you know, and perhaps you don’t know or claim not to know, you became interested in this young girl.

“You pursued her and followed her for some distance before you indecently assaulted her.”

He said it was a “determined and deliberate” attack which horrified, frightened and disturbed the girl, and would affect her for some time.

He gave Razaq a six-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months with supervision and programme requirements.

Explaining his decision, he said: “If you were to serve the sentence of six months you’d come out and nothing would be done by way of supervision or guidance of you.”

Razaq was given a five-year sexual offences prevention order banning him from unsupervised contact with girls under 16 except in certain circumstances.

Police search for vulnerable missing Redcar man Bryan Rawstron

Police are currently searching in and around the Redcar area for a vulnerable missing man.

Bryan Rawstron is described as a white male, five feet seven inches tall, of medium build with short dark brown hair which is greying.

The 52-year-old has a short trimmed goatee beard and could be wearing a light coloured or white short sleeved shirt with a collar and thin hoops around the chest area.

He also could be wearing jeans or grey tracksuit bottoms.

Anyone who has seen Mr Rawstron is asked to contact Cleveland Police on the non emergency number 101.

Billingham Stars lack bite in Solway Sharks cup mauling

Billingham Stars gave their most lacklustre performance of the season in the British Challenge Cup, losing 4-2 in front of their home fans to gritty Solway Sharks.

The Teessiders had to reshuffle with several players out and were slow to start, appearing sluggish and second to every puck.

Solway, although still light on numbers, by contrast looked bright and up for the fight.

A defensive error in the fourth minute allowed captain Alan Crane to set up Rick Bentham nicely for the opening goal, which seemed to go some way to waking up the home side.

The Ultimate Windows-sponsored Stars continued to shake some of their lethargy as the session wore on but could not find a breakthrough and the period closed with the Sharks a goal to the good.

The visitors were again fast out of the blocks in the second period, stunning their hosts with two quick goals in the 22nd minute.

First Iain Bowie fired into the roof of Mark Watson’s net, then just seconds after the restart youngster Gordon Horne tipped in past a screened Watson to make it 3-0.

Billingham needed a quick response, and it came just over a minute later when Garry Dowd rifled home to open the home side’s account.

The Stars continued to make hard work of the game, although it took a top-drawer save from Solway’s Gary Russell to prevent Billingham from narrowing the gap.

The Sharks were on target again early in the final period, another defensive lapse punished in fine style by Bentham as he bagged his second of the evening for 4-1.

Solway began to absorb increasing Stars pressure and Michael Bowman gave the home fans hope when he knocked in a loose puck at Russell’s near post in the 46th minute.

Billingham tried everything to get back into the game, pulling Watson for the final 56 seconds to give them the extra man, but never really troubled Russell and the Scots were able to comfortably close out their victory.

Man of the match for the Stars was Jamie Pattison.

The Stars won 5-2 at Solway in their second game of the new season, and director of coaching Terry Ward felt complacency might have crept into the cup clash at Billingham Forum.

“The lads just didn’t turn up,” Ward said.

“Perhaps they thought it was just going to be too easy, which was a major mistake on our part.

“Solway have always produced good sides, and we just weren’t up for the game.

“We were late coming out for the warm-up, a total lack of professionalism from our side, and consequently we were late for the first period.

“We’re disappointed with the mistakes we made on the goals.

“We just weren’t intense enough in and around the net. When we got near their net they had one or two defensemen and the goalie scrambling to make sure they got that puck.

“We weren’t doing that, and I think that was the difference,” he added.

Billingham are again in Challenge Cup action this Sunday at home to Blackburn (5.45pm).

Man is stabbed in the leg by thief he caught stealing from his car

A man was stabbed in the leg by a thief who was stealing from his car in what has been described as a “nasty attack”.

The 26-year-old victim had noticed that the door to his car was open at about 11.30pm on Saturday September 27, and when he went to check a man was in his car.

When he confronted him, the suspect pushed the victim away, striking a blow to his leg.

The offender then made off, and the victim chased him until he realised he had been stabbed - believed to be with a screwdriver.

The victim attended Middlesbrough’s James Cook University Hospital, where he received three stitches to the wound.

A cash card and a small amount of cash had been taken from the vehicle, a silver Volkswagen Golf was parked on Belvedere Road, in Beechwood in Middlesbrough.

The suspect is described as a white male, no taller than six feet, and was wearing a black Berghaus jacket and black bottoms.

Detective Constable Andrew Bean, from Middlesbrough Volume Crime Team, said: “This was a nasty attack on a man who has been left in shock and understandably upset by what has happened.

“We would appeal to any local residents who may have seen anyone suspicious around the time of the incident.”

Anyone who may have information is asked to contact DC Andrew Bean on the non-emergency number 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

01642 changes: Teessiders must use area code for local landline calls from tomorrow

From tomorrow, Teessiders making a phone call will have to remember to dial five extra numbers.

People in the area will have to include the full 01642 number code every time they make a phone call from a landline - in the same way as a mobile phone user.

Ofcom says the change is designed to safeguard the future supply of landline numbers in the 01642 area, avoiding the need to change existing phone numbers.

Now, callers in the area who do not dial the 01642 code when making a call locally will not be connected.

Instead, they will hear a message telling them to redial and include the code.

The 01642 code covers many towns on Teesside - from Billingham to Redcar and including Middlesbrough, Stockton and Yarm among others.

Telephone companies are expected to have implemented the change by late afternoon on Wednesday, and Ofcom say the price of making local calls will not be affected by the change.

Ofcom said on their website: “The number of communications providers with landline numbers has increased significantly over recent years, leading to more competition and cheaper landline bills for millions of homes and businesses.

“But it has also led to increased pressure on the supply of phone numbers.

“Currently, Ofcom cannot allocate phone numbers in which the first digit after the area code is 0 or 1.

"This is because the network that is connecting the call may confuse the number with other existing dialling codes, such as a mobile number beginning with 075, or with a number reserved for special use such as 118 for calls to directory enquiry services.

“Dialling the code avoids this confusion and allows Ofcom to allocate numbers in which the first digit after the area code is 0 or 1. This makes almost 200,000 more 01642 numbers available for use.”

Cleveland Police have confirmed that members of the public will no longer be able to use the 01642 326326 number for non-emergency calls to the force, as a result of the change.

Those wanting to speak to police about anything that is not an emergency should use the 101 number.

Chief Inspector Kath Prudom said: “The advantage to using the 101 number is that no matter where you are in the country – if you need to contact the police you only have one number to remember.

“People should continue to call 999 in an emergency – when a crime is in progress, there is danger to life or violence is being used or threatened.”

Recap: Breaking news, traffic and travel across Teesside

The Evening Gazette's live breaking news blog brings you regular updates, pictures, video, tweets and comments covering the latest Teesside and North Yorkshire traffic, travel, weather, crime and council news for today, Monday 29th September, 2014.

You can contribute to the live blog by posting your comment below, and you can also tweet us @EveningGazette to share breaking news stories, pictures and opinions.

Our Teesside breaking news live blog begins at 07:00am every weekday and is updated throughout the day and into the evening.

Billingham-based group that helps adults with disabilities recognised for work

Nominate your local heroes in the Gazette Community Champions Awards

Adults living with disabilities across Teesside face multiple struggles in their everyday lives.

One of the toughest challenges for them can be accessing a suitable social life.

Now, a user-led group which has come up with a solution to this issue has had its hard work recognised by receiving a nomination as a Champion Fundraiser in The Gazette’s Community Champions Awards.

Our Version of Events was set up by adults with disabilities for adults with disabilities, with the hope of providing age appropriate activities that people can attend with or without the help of a carer.

One of the main events they have set up is a social night which takes place at Billingham Synthonia’s Fosters suite twice a month.

The group is supported by Alison Watson-Shields who placed the nomination. The 29-year-old from Stockton said: “I am so proud of them and they never cease to amaze me.

“The group identified a gap in the market for people with disabilities and they decided to do something about it.

“Our Version of Events has been going for around 18 months and we didn’t even think it would last three.

“They are still as enthusiastic and dedicated as they were in the beginning which is brilliant.”

The group consists of 12 paying members and six non-members who regular attend events.

Support worker Alison acts as a voluntary facilitator and group treasurer, but is humbly keen to point out that it is the group who do the majority of the work - which is why she feels they deserve to win the award, sponsored by npower. She said: “Everything they have achieved so far they have done themselves.

“The group comes up with all the ideas, from the fundraising side of things to how the money will be spent. They even wrote and agreed their constitution and make sure to thoroughly stick to it.

“They have worked extremely hard for the last 18 months and their work deserves the recognition.”

As well as working to raise funds for the benefit of those who access the group, the members donate their time and money to other local, national and international campaigns - most recently getting on board with the ice bucket challenge phenomenon.

Other activities they are regularly involved in include Race for Life, Macmillan coffee mornings and Miles for Men.

It is clear that Alison thinks extremely highly of Our Version of Events and the work it does, but she is also held in high regard and has herself been nominated in the Community Champion category, sponsored by Johnson Matthey.

Paul Willows, who nominated her, said: “Alison has devoted a lot of her free time over the last two years listening to and working with the members and committee of Our Version of Events.

“She was the one who suggested that we become a user-led group in order to meet the needs of those who were left without access to services for various reasons. She is always there to lend a hand whether it is for fundraising or to help us to understand our roles and responsibilities. She gives her time freely and fits it in around her full-time job and part-time studies. Alison is a valuable member of our team and without her support, the group would not be here today, which is why we want to show our appreciation.”

Good Samaritan who confronted Flatts Lane knife attacker is rewarded by judge

VIEW GALLERY

A Good Samaritan who bravely confronted a knife attacker on a public path was today rewarded by Teesside’s most senior judge.

David McNicholas was on his way home from the shops when he saw a woman being attacked on a footpath between Flatts Lane and the Trunk Road in Normanby.

He came to her aid when he saw Tony Griffin, 20, making “deliberate methodical slashing movements” at her with a kitchen knife.

He blocked Griffin and advanced on him holding his car keys when the victim ran behind him for safety. A female dog walker shouted at the attacker and called 999.

Griffin walked away and ran into the path of a vehicle on Normanby Road and was arrested after a chase. The victim escaped with mainly superficial injuries.

The severely autistic assailant was given an indefinite hospital order at Teesside Crown Court yesterday.

Judge Simon Bourne-Arton QC, the Recorder of Middlesbrough, said: “That she did not sustain further injuries or any greater injuries was due in part to her courage, but also due to the courageous intervention of Mr McNicholas.”

Today he went further, saying: “One of the merciful aspects of the case was that the attack was forestalled to an extent by the intervention of a passer-by.”

He ordered that Mr McNicholas should receive £350 from public funds.

Griffin, of Sandmoor Close, Eston, was detained indefinitely under the Mental Health Act yesterday, on psychiatrists’ recommendation.

He will not be released until doctors and a mental health tribunal decide it is safe.

The court heard how his severe autism led him to attack the woman, whom he had met via a dating website, with a knife after she broke off his first relationship.

He pinned her down and slashed at her neck, chest and face two days after she told him she just wanted to be friends, Teesside Crown Court heard.

She bravely fought him off and later showed her attacker “a level of understanding and forgiveness that is remarkable and commendable”, said the judge.

Judge Bourne-Arton said Griffin was “an exceedingly dangerous young man” who could not accept rejection because of his condition.

He said he would have considered jailing Griffin for life if it were not for his mental disorder.

He said the condition made it “difficult if not impossible” for Griffin to manage social relationships - and prison would make it worse.

The judge said: “You carried out a brutal, unprovoked, prolonged and indeed vicious attack upon an entirely innocent young woman.

“She had shown you nothing but friendship.

“What was precisely in your mind at the time that you attacked her, perhaps nobody knows. Perhaps you do not know.

“For as long as you suffer from this illness, you will pose a significant danger to the public and particularly to young women.”

He said the sentence was designed to protect the public and help Griffin receive treatment.

Griffin denied attempted murder but admitted wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm and possession of a bladed article.

He seemed to accept the woman’s wish just to be friends, said prosecutor Nick Dry yesterday.

But his father visited the woman expressing concern he might react differently because of his autism.

She and Griffin, both 20, met and talked on the Normanby footpath on the afternoon of March 24.

She became scared as he tried to take her to a small hut and a wooded area. When she said he was nice, he said she was wrong.

Wearing black gloves on a warm day, he attacked her with a kitchen knife from his family home.

She fled but he brought her to the ground making “deliberate methodical slashing movements”.

The petrified victim put up a strong struggle and ran when a dog walker shouted at Griffin and called 999,

After his arrest he told police he was shocked after he lost control and took his anger out on the woman wanting “to hurt her as she had hurt him”.

Dr Helen Pearce said all of his offending stemmed from his autism which, though subtle and not fitting a stereotype, had a huge impact and made him vulnerable.

Lacking autism-specific treatment and with a poor understanding of relationships, he would be “taught the wrong things” in jail.

Michael Bosomworth, defending, said Griffin was well brought up by a decent family but had been bullied, ridiculed and picked on.

He said this was Griffin’s first sexual experience and his first proper relationship: “When told that it was over and they were just friends, his brain can’t compute what that means. For him, none of this made sense.”

He said Griffin saw things in black and white, thought she was making fun of him and “snapped” at a comment about his father.

He added: “What he wanted to do was to make her think he was trying to kill her, in his disordered mind punishing her for the wrongs that he thought she had done him.

“He understands that it will be many years before he’s able to be released into the community, and there’s a long road ahead of him.”

Model Heather McCartney apologises for stripping naked at Aussie cup final but admits: 'I've no regrets'

A gorgeous model says she has no regrets after stripping nude and dancing in front of fans at the Aussie Rules Grand Final.

Blonde beauty Heather McCartney was caught on camera peeling off her clothes in a corporate box at Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday.

She then put on a sultry strip show, dancing as she celebrated the Hawthorn Hawks' impressive victory over Sydney Swans.

But the Scottish-born 26 year-old's impromptu performance was stopped by police who had to wrestle her to the ground to stop her climbing out the window.

Heather was then led away from the ground in handcuffs and spent the night behind bars before being fined £160.

But a defiant Heather told the Herald Sun: “I guess I got a bit carried away with all the free alcohol in the box."

“Everyone was making silly bets on the day so I thought I’d just up the ranks and go ‘well I’ll get naked.’

“I don’t regret it but I’m sorry for offending anyone.”

Photos of her antics were widely circulated on social media after the Hawks' victory over the Swans.

When police stepped in, she attempted to kick, punch and bite officers who tried to arrest her shortly after the final siren of the game.

“I don’t know how I managed to bite someone, because I was handcuffed! I was drunk, like five cops dragged me away,” the model said.

“It was a silly thing to do I guess and I can see how it’s been blown out of proportion, but I had a great time.”

Despite thrilling some of the huge crowd at the match, the incident has angered officials who are reportedly launching an investigation.

Melbourne Cricket Ground spokesman Shane Brown said the body was "taking the matter seriously."

Images of Heather being dragged away from the ground by police have been shown on Australian TV.

Pictures have also appeared of Heather in a host of skimpy outfits, including a bikini in the colours of the Scottish Saltire flag, and one of her in a bunny suit.

She was spotted leaving court on Sunday holding her belongings.

Thornaby care home residents knit over 80 blankets to donate to charities

More than 80 blankets knitted by Thornaby care home residents have been donated to charities this year, bringing much-needed warmth to rescue dogs and cats as well as other causes.

Knitting needles have been clicking away in Poplars Care Home, on Thornaby Road, since January when residents started spending their spare time creating coloured squares to then be stitched together into blankets.

After an appeal for spare wool saw bags full come in, the group of residents were able to step up their efforts, and have already made around 100.

Brenda Smith, activity co-ordinator at the care home, said: “The blankets are lovely and we’ve so far given them away to charities including the Dogs Trust, Save Our Strays, Cats Protection and the local church.

“Each of the charities have had people come into the home to talk to the residents about what they do and what the blankets will be used for, and it’s really nice that they’ve been able to see where their hard work is going.

“When we appealed for donations of wool we had bags of it come in - it was absolutely wonderful. Some people said they just had bags of it stored away not being used so it’s good that that’s been able to go to a good cause instead of just sitting in someone’s loft.

“We’re running low again now and the residents want to continue knitting for this good cause, so again, if anyone has any wool spare that we could have, we’d be very grateful.

“The ladies get so much out of the knitting. It’s only a handful of ladies who do it - obviously lots of our residents have eyesight problems or issues with using their hands, but they really enjoy it.

Young Middlesbrough actress lands lead role in Cinderella panto

A young actress has proved that hard work and determination does prevail after landing the lead role in Cinderella.

Gabrielle Green will be hoping to ‘break a leg’ after being chosen to appear alongside celebs Maureen Nolan and Lee Latchford-Evans, in the panto version of the classic fairy tale.

The 20-year-old, who grew up in Linthorpe, will play Cinders throughout the panto season at Ipswich’s Regent Theatre but at one point was not even going to apply for the job.

The former Stockton Riverside college student said: “I didn’t actually end up doing an audition.

“My agent, Sue Francis, sent some clips of me from Wolfblood to the casting agents and really pushed for me to get the job.

“I have worked hard for this but I also have a lot to thank her for.”

Gabrielle - who got knocked back from over 50 auditions before landing her first big role in CBBC’s Wolfblood - studied Musical Theatre at college.

She has always wanted to be in a pantomime and is looking forward to combining her love of singing and dancing.

The actress said: “I really enjoy television acting but I miss not singing and dancing.

“Panto is going to be totally different to what I am used to, but I will finally be getting the chance to do what I am trained in, which is amazing.”

Prince Charming is played by Steps heart-throb Latchford-Evans but Gabrielle is more excited at the prospect of acting opposite singing and acting legend Maureen Nolan.

She said: “I can’t believe that I am going to be acting opposite someone as experienced as Maureen.

“I went to see her in Blood Brothers at Sunderland Empire and she was amazing.

“I am hoping to really learn from her as she has done pantomime before so I am hoping that she can get me through.”

Gabrielle, who now lives in Normanby, hopes that her performance in the panto grabs the attention of the right people to help further her career.

She said: “I would love to do more TV acting but the dream role would be in a musical film.”

More than one in six three-year-olds in parts of Teesside have obvious tooth decay

More than one in six of three-year-olds in parts of Teesside have obvious tooth decay.

Some 17.3% of three-year-olds in Middlesbrough and Redcar and Cleveland have had at least one tooth removed, a filling or tooth affected by decay.

That is higher than the England average of 11.7%, according to a survey done by Public Health England.

Sunderland is the only place in the North-east with a worse rate of tooth decay among three-year-olds.

It means that in Middlesbrough the average three-year-old has 0.53 teeth affected by decay, higher than the England average of 0.36 teeth per child.

Among children who actually have obvious deterioration in their teeth, that figure rises to over three teeth per child in Middlesbrough.

In contrast, Stockton had just 7.3% of children with obvious tooth decay.

This is the first time a survey on dental health has been done on children as young as three across England.

The data for North West England was collected in 2011, but this is the first time it has been published.

The survey was done on children who attend nurseries. If parents did not want their children to be examined they could withdraw them from taking part in the survey.

It comes just weeks after figures released by Health and Social Care Information Centre show that the rate of children in Stockton, Middlesbrough and other parts of the region requiring dental work such as fillings and root canal surgery was among the highest in the country.

The NHS data showed that children in Stockton were having a tooth filled every seven minutes on average last year and the rate in Middlesbrough was also one of the highest in England.

Mark Tapson on “Breaking Ranks With the Left” — on The Glazov Gang

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This week’s Glazov Gang was joined by Mark Tapson, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center. He is a Hollywood-based writer and screenwriter who focuses on the politics of popular culture.

Mark came on the show to discuss Breaking Ranks With the Left, sharing his own personal journey out of the political faith. He also focused on Fighting the Culture War, emphasizing why Conservatives need more filmmakers, songwriters and novelists instead of political lecturers.

Don’t miss it:

Don’t miss this week’s second Glazov Gang episode with Louis Lionheart, a Christian preacher who engages in open-air debates, dialogues and evangelism on 3rd. Street Promenade in Santa Monica, Ca. For information on his ministry visit his web site: TruthDefenders.com.

Louis came on the show to discuss “The Battle Over Islam on the Streets of L.A.,” sharing his experience of engaging Muslims about their religion on 3rd St. Promenade:

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Live: Breaking news, traffic and travel across Teesside

The Evening Gazette's live breaking news blog brings you regular updates, pictures, video, tweets and comments covering the latest Teesside and North Yorkshire traffic, travel, weather, crime and council news for today, Tuesday 30th September, 2014.

You can contribute to the live blog by posting your comment below, and you can also tweet us @EveningGazette to share breaking news stories, pictures and opinions.

Our Teesside breaking news live blog begins at 07:00am every weekday and is updated throughout the day and into the evening.

Middlesbrough-based Hertel reports 10% drop in profits

Underlying pre-profits at Middlesbrough-based industrial services firm Hertel have fallen by 10%, the firm reported.

The maintenance and project services outfit reported a fall in underlying pre-tax profit from £11.3m to £10.1m in 2013, the year immediately after the loss of a major contract at Ineos’ Grangemouth oil refinery.

Hertel, which is headquartered at Middlehaven, said turnover had fallen from £162.6m in 2012 to £147.6m in 2013 as it cut its workforce by 452 during the period.

In accounts filed at Companies House, the firm said its directors were “very happy” with the overall performance during 2013, which had brought strong competition in the market.

It expected 2014 to be challenging with results similar to those in 2013.

Hertel highlighted concerns about the potential impact of a legal case that found against the company in February 2014.

The case initially involved 10 employees claiming for under payment of holiday pay, and has now been appealed to the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT).

If the EAT is lost, it is still unclear how the holiday pay would be calculated or the period that would need to be review. Hertel said that while it was unlikely to lose the appeal, further costs in the event that it lost could range anywhere between £1m to £4m, or even escalate higher.

The firm said it has raised the issue with the CBI to flag up to the Government the consequence of recent decisions and the potential impact on the private sector.

In its strategic report, Hertel director David Hall said the directors had continued a program of “very tight” working capital management.

He added: “2013 saw the continuation of strong competition in the market, with clients very active in their management of supplier margins. Directors of Hertel (UK) Limited were very happy with the overall performance of the company in 2013.”

Commenting on the loss of the firm’s Ineos Grangemouth contract, he added: “Whilst this was a significant loss to the company and has undoubtedly impacted on the results for 2013, it is a testament to the hard work and perseverance of all the company employees that the overall normal trading results for the company in 2013 were ahead of expectations.

“This is due to the award of other contracts to the company during late 2012 and 2013.”

What the Arab World Produces

At least since the early part of the 20th century, aside from oil, the Arab world has produced and exported two products.

It has produced essentially no technology, medicine or anything else in the world of science. It has almost no contributions to world literature, art or to intellectual development.

According to the most recent United Nations Arab Human Development Reports (2003-2005), written by Arab intellectuals, Greece, with a population of 11 million, annually translates five times more books from English than the entire Arab world, population 370 million. Nor is this a new development. The total number of books translated into Arabic during the last 1,000 years is less than Spain translates into Spanish in one year.

ArabianBusiness.com reports that about 100 million people in the Arab world are illiterate; and three quarters of them are between the ages of 15 and 45.

As for Arab women, the situation is even worse. Nearly half of the Arab world’s women are illiterate, and sexual attacks on women have actually increased since the Arab Spring, as have forced marriages and trafficking. And the exact number of women murdered by family members in “honor killings” is not knowable. It is only known to be large.

In Egypt, the largest Arab country, 91 percent of women and girls are subjected to female genital mutilation, according to UNICEF. Not to mention the number of women in the Arab world who must wear veils or even full-face and full-body coverings known as burkas. And, of course, Saudi Arabia is infamous for not allowing women to drive a car.

Another unhappy feature of the Arab world is the prevalence of lies. To this day, Egypt denies that it was the Egyptian pilot, Ahmed El-Habashi, who allegedly crashed an EgyptAir jet into the ocean deliberately. Vast numbers of Arabs believe that Jews knew of the 9-11 plot and avoided going to work at the World Trade Center that day.

So, then, is there anything at which the Arab world has excelled for the past two generations? Has there been a major Arab export?

As it happens, there are two.

Hatred and violence.

The Arab world has no peer when it comes to hatred – of the Western world generally, and especially of Israel. Israel-hatred and its twin, Jew-hatred, are the oxygen that the Arab world breathes.

Two of the most popular songs in Egypt over the past decade have been “I Hate Israel” and the ironically named “I Love Israel.”

Lyrics of the latter song include:

“May it [Israel] be destroyed. May it be wiped off the map. May a wall fall on it. May it disappear from the universe. God, please have it banished.”

“May it dangle from the noose. May I get to see it burning, Amen. I will pour gasoline on it. I am an Egyptian man. I am not a coward.”

“I Hate Israel” is so popular that it was the song which Egypt’s pop star Chaaboula sang at the largest music festival in the Arab world, Morocco’s Mawazine.

The festival, one of the biggest in the world, featured Alicia Keys, Justin Timberlake, Ricky Martin and Kool and the Gang.

Some of the lyrics:

“I hate Israel, and I would say so if I was asked to.

“Two faces of the same coin, America and Israel. They made the world a jungle and ignited the fuse.

“About that [Twin] Tower, oh people. Definitely! His friends [Israel] were the ones who brought it down.”

The other major Arab product and export has been violence.

It is difficult to overstate the amount of violence in the Arab world. Mass murder and cruelty have characterized the Arab world.

Regarding Iraq under Saddam Hussein, Dexter Filkins, the New York Times correspondent in Iraq from 2003-2006 wrote: “Here, in Hussein, was one of the world’s indisputably evil men: he murdered as many as a million of his people, many with poison gas. He tortured, maimed and imprisoned countless more. His unprovoked invasion of Iran is estimated to have left another million people dead.”

Syria, too, has been a country of mass murder, torture, and brutal totalitarian rule — under the rule of Hafez Assad (in power 1971-2000), and his son, Bashar, the current killer-dictator who, among other atrocities, used Sarin gas against his own people in 2013.

In the ongoing Syrian Civil War, according to the United Nations, between March 15, 2011 and April 30, 2014, 191,000 Syrians, about a third of them civilians, were killed. In addition, 2.5 million people have fled Syria to neighboring countries, and 6.5 million have fled their homes within Syria.

In Algeria in the 1990s, Islamist terrorists engaged in wholesale murder of their fellow Algerians. That war cost Algeria about 100,000 lives, mostly civilian.

In Sudan, the Arab government’s atrocities against the non-Arab population in the region of Darfur led to about 300,000 deaths and over a million refugees. In addition there was systematic rape of untold numbers of non-Arab women by Arab gangs known as the Janjaweed.

And then there was the terror unleashed by Palestinians against Israeli civilians in restaurants, at weddings, on buses, etc. The Palestinians are the modern fathers of terrorism directed solely at civilians.

There are two possible reactions to this description of the Arab world. One is that it is an example of anti-Arab “racism.” That would be the reaction in much of the Arab world, on the left and among most academics — despite the fact that the description is of a culture and that the Arabs are not a race. The other is that is that it is tragically accurate. That would be the reaction of some in the Arab world and anyone who cares about truth. One such individual is an Arab. In Politico Magazine two weeks ago. Hisham Melhem, Washington bureau chief of Al-Arabiya, the Dubai-based satellite channel, titled his article “The Barbarians Within Our Gates.” The subtitle is “Arab civilization has collapsed. It won’t recover in my lifetime.”

Islamic State, which is overwhelmingly Arab, is just the latest manifestation.

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Will the West Defend Itself?

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), sometimes called ISIS or IS, is a Sunni extremist group that follows al-Qaida’s anti-West ideology and sees a holy war against the West as a religious duty. With regard to nonbelievers, the Quran commands, “And kill them wherever you find them, and turn them out from where they have turned you out.” The Quran contains many other verses that call for Muslim violence against nonbelievers for the sake of Islamic rule.

Contrast the words of the Quran with the statements of limp-wristed Western leaders such as this by President Barack Obama: “We have reaffirmed that the United States is not and never will be at war with Islam. Islam teaches peace.” While reacting to ISIL’s slaughter of British citizen David Haines, Prime Minister David Cameron said, “Islam is a religion of peace.” Then there was the U.S. secretary of state’s explanation: “The real face of Islam is a peaceful religion based on the dignity of all human beings.” But John Kerry and other Western politicians calling Islam a religion of peace doesn’t make it so.

A debate about whether Islam is a religion of peace or not is entirely irrelevant to the threat to the West posed by ISIL, al-Qaida and other Middle Eastern terrorist groups. I would like to gather a news conference with our Army’s chief of staff, Gen. Raymond T. Odierno; Marines’ commandant, Gen. Joseph Dunford; chief of naval operations, Adm. Jonathan W. Greenert; and Gen. Mark A. Welsh, the U.S. Air Force’s chief of staff. This would be my question to them: The best intelligence puts ISIL’s size at 35,000 to 40,000 people. Do you officers think that the combined efforts of our military forces could defeat and lay waste to ISIL? Before they had a chance to answer, I’d add: Do you think the combined military forces of NATO and the U.S. could defeat and eliminate ISIL. Depending on the answers given, I’d then ask whether these forces could also eliminate Iran’s capability of making nuclear weapons.

My question to my fellow Americans is: What do you think their answers would be? No beating around the bush: Does the U.S. have the power to defeat the ISIL/al-Qaida threat and stop Iran’s nuclear ambitions — yes or no?

If our military tells us that we do have the capacity to defeat the terror threat, then the reason that we don’t reflects a lack of willingness. It’s that same lack of willingness that led to the deaths of 60 million people during World War II. In 1936, France alone could have stopped Adolf Hitler, but France and its allies knowingly allowed Hitler to rearm, in violation of treaties. When Europeans finally woke up to Hitler’s agenda, it was too late. Their nations were conquered. One of the most horrible acts of Nazi Germany was the Holocaust, which cost an estimated 11 million lives. Those innocents lost their lives because of the unwillingness of Europeans to protect themselves against tyranny.

Westerners getting the backbone to defend ourselves from terrorists may have to await a deadly attack on our homeland. You say, “What do you mean, Williams?” America’s liberals have given terrorists an open invitation to penetrate our country through our unprotected southern border. Terrorists can easily come in with dirty bombs to make one of our major cities uninhabitable through radiation. They could just as easily plant chemical or biological weapons in our cities. If they did any of these acts — leading to the deaths of millions of Americans — I wonder whether our liberal Democratic politicians would be able to respond or they would continue to mouth that “Islam teaches peace” and “Islam is a religion of peace.”

Unfortunately for our nation’s future and that of the world, we see giving handouts as the most important function of government rather than its most basic function: defending us from barbarians.

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Phoning ‘home’: What your mobile may be giving away

SINGAPORE: When popular Chinese handset maker Xiaomi Inc. admitted that its devices were sending users’ personal information back to a server in China, it prompted howls of protest and an investigation by Taiwan’s government.

The affair has also drawn attention to just how little we know about what happens between our smartphone and the outside world. In short: it might be in your pocket, but you don’t call the shots. As long as a device is switched on, it could be communicating with at least three different masters: the company that built it, the telephone company it connects to, and the developers of any third party applications you installed on the device — or were pre-installed before you bought it.

All these companies could have programmed the device to send data ‘back home’ to them over a wireless or cellular network — with or without the user’s knowledge or consent. In Xiaomi’s case, as soon as a user booted up their device it started sending personal data ‘back home’. This, Xiaomi said, was to allow users to send SMS messages without having to pay operator charges by routing the messages through Xiaomi’s servers. To do that, the company said, it needed to know the contents of users’ address books.

“What Xiaomi did originally was clearly wrong: they were collecting your address book and sending it to themselves without you ever agreeing to it,” said Mikko Hypponen, whose computer security company F-Secure helped uncover the problem. “What’s more, it was sent unencrypted.”

Xiaomi has said it since fixed the problem by seeking users’ permission first, and only sending data over encrypted connections, he noted

KSA has allocated SR252bn in foreign aid since 1990

Saudi Arabia allocated SR252 billion ($67.2 billion) in aid to foreign countries between 1990 and 2014, according to a financial report.

Saudis gave SR85 billion ($22.7 billion) in aid to nine Arab countries, namely Egypt, Yemen, Jordan, Bahrain, Oman, Palestine, Morocco, Sudan, and Djibouti, between 2011-2014, said the report. According to the report, however, only SR40.8 billion ($10.9 billion) actually reached those countries. Egypt captured the lion’s share of Saudi actual aid, at SR22.3 billion ($5.9 billion), or 55 percent, followed by Jordan, at SR7.2 billion ($1.9 billion), or 17 percent, the report said.

Egypt also topped the list, having received the biggest portion of money allocated by the Saudi government, at SR24.4 billion, or 29 percent of the total sum of aid.

This is followed by Yemen, which received SR14.3 billion, Jordan (SR11.2 billion), Bahrain (SR10.7 billion), Oman at SR9.4 billion, Palestine (SR 6.7 billion), Morocco (SR6.2 billion), Sudan (SR2 billion), and Djibouti (SR255 million).

Meanwhile, Yemen was the third largest recipient of Saudi actual aid after Egypt and Jordan in the last three years, having received SR4.4 billion, followed by Palestine (SR3.9 billion), Morocco (SR1.8 billion), Sudan (SR900 million), Bahrain (SR259 million) and Djibouti (SR68 million).

Hebron woman has baby after sperm smuggled from jailed husband

RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — The wife of a Palestinian prisoner in Israeli custody gave birth to a baby boy on Saturday after being artificially inseminated from her husband’s smuggled sperm, a rights group said.

Ahrar Center for Prisoners Studies and Human Rights said in a statement that the wife of Nabil Maslama gave birth at al-Ahli hospital in Hebron.

Maslama, who has spent 15 years in Israeli custody, smuggled his sperm from prison two years ago, and artificial insemination succeeded in a second attempt at Razan Medical Center for Infertility and In Vitro Fertilization in Nablus, the statement said.

Forty-six-year-old Masalma is serving a 23-year sentence in Ketziot prison in the Negev desert. He has a 16-year-old son and a 15-year-old daughter.

Ahrar also reported on Saturday that a Palestinian woman had given birth to twins in Arab Specialized Hospital in Nablus after her husband had smuggled his sperm from Israeli prison.

Denied conjugal visits by the Israeli Prison Service, Palestinian prisoners who seek to have children have in recent years been sneaking sperm from their cells to their wives in the West Bank and Gaza.

There have been at least 19 cases of childbirth from sperm smuggled from Israeli jails — 17 of them in the West Bank and two of them in Gaza, according to Ahrar

Houthis fight against Islamists in Yemen

Shiia Online website, which is the official website of the religious institution in Iran close to the Iranian government, has commented on recent events in Yemen: “The Houthis’ true war has just begun with battles in Sanaa against Islamic currents that are opposed to the Houthis’ revolution in Yemen.”

The Iranian website added that the official results of the negotiations between the Yemeni government and the Houthis were not positive and that Abd Al-Malik Al-Houthi has not given way under pressures he was subjected to during negotiations in Sanaa. It added that the Yemeni Islamic revolution is continuing under the leadership of Al-Houthi against the Yemeni government.

The website accused the Islah Party, the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood in Yemen, of forming armed militias to aid the Yemeni army in killing the Houthis and the revolutionaries who were demonstrating to bring down the government in Sanaa.

The Iranian website justified the entry of Houthi armed men in Sanaa saying: “The Yemeni Islah Party was the one who started the armed onslaught on the positions of the Houthis in Sanaa in a bid to remove them from the positions they seized and controlled inside the city. On this basis, the armed Houthis had the right to respond to whoever is attempting to undermine the popular revolution that erupted in Yemen under the leadership of Abd Al-Malik Al-Houthi.”

The website explained that the Yemeni army and the Islah Party separated a number of sensitive areas within the capital Sanaa from the regions that are under the control of the Houthis there. The aim was to prevent the supporters of the Islamic revolution in those areas from joining the rest of the revolutionaries and the Ansarullah (The Supporters of God) movement inside the capital.

He added that had these areas been coterminous with the areas under the control of the Houthis, the capital Sanaa would have fallen into the hands of the Houthis and the Shiia revolution under the leadership of the Al-Houthi would have succeeded.

The Iranian website stressed that following the field developments witnessed by the Yemeni capital Sanaa, “the Houthis fight against Islamists in Yemen has officially begun. This phase will be critical and decisive in determining the fate of the Islamic revolution in Yemen. All political and military options remain open before the Houthis in defending their just revolution.”

It is worth mentioning that the Iranian official newspaper Keyhan, which is owned by the Iranian Guide Khamenei himself and represents the official position of the Iranian authority and that of Khamenei, noted in its Saturday’s editorial on the Yemeni crisis that after Yemen and the success of the Islamic revolution in Sanaa, the next step would be to bring down the Al Saud government and to dismantle this “state that has been imposed on Hijaz”

Darlington Mowden Park in double Six Nations boost

International rugby will return to Darlington next year after Mowden Park landed another two major sporting events.

The Arena will host a Six Nations double header in March 2015 with England’s World Cup-winning ladies facing Scotland, as well as the men’s under-20s battling it out with their Scottish counterparts.

The two games will be shown live on Sky Sports and is the latest boost for the club, after the Arena was last month confirmed as an official team base for New Zealand during the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

Danny Brown, arena and event manager at Darlington Mowden Park, said: “We are delighted to welcome both England Under-20s and England Women here to the Arena, both of whom are current world champions.

“The Arena is fast becoming an attractive venue to a multitude of events. Attracting the likes of the England Under-20s and England Women is huge for the club and for the region, and we hope that the North-east will come out on mass to support and enjoy the occasion.”

Both matches will take place on Friday, March 13, 2015.

Since hosting the England Counties international fixtures earlier this year in front of a record crowd, the off-field team at Mowden Park have continued working with the Rugby Football Union to take the next steps.

Commercial director Lee Rust said: “We have been working exceptionally hard with a number of key partners over the past 12 months to bring the Arena to life in a number of ways.

“The work to that end with the RFU is now taking shape. The England Counties fixture was a success that has since allowed us to secure the next tier of internationals.

“Our event calendar is a key piece of the puzzle for the club and Arena, and we are also progressing well with events outside of rugby union.”

Tickets for both international matches are on sale now from the Arena’s ticket office.

Tees Valley Mohawks improve but lose again

It was a case of deja vu for Tees Valley Mohawks as they gave another improved performance, but lost again

It’s been a tough start to the season for Steve Butler’s men, who went down 84-79 at home to Leicester Warriors in the National Trophy.

They enoyed a solid first quarter at Teesside University’s Olympia Building, with Alvaro Pontes and Jonny Foulds scoring freely.

Leicester led 25-23 after the first quarter but with Acho Anygibo grabbing some offensive rebounds and put-backs, Mohawks went in front and led 44-40 at half-time.

In-form Romonn Nelson made some big shots and got to the basket at will in the third session and Mohawks were looking good as they took a 71-60 lead into the final period.

They werent further ahead but Leicester hit some big shots and a 24-8 quarter condemned Mohawks to defeat.

“It’s very frustrating to play 30 minutes of great basketball, the best so far this season, but to then collapse at the finish line,” said Butler.

“I don’t think it was fatigue - just bad decisions heading down the stretch. We have to believe we can win these games and we should have won this one.”

Top scorers Nelson (30pts) and Rob Donaldson (20pts) caught the eye of Butler, who added: “On a positive note, Rob and Romonn are making themselves out to be two of the best guards in the country so I’m very impressed with them. We just need to start getting those wins and once one comes, I think a lot will follow.”

Mohawks visit Bradford Dragons on Saturday before entertaining Team Northumbria in the National Cup second round on Sunday.

Meanwhile Mohawks II lost 76-55 away to Gateshead Phoenix in the National Shield.

Algeria sends humanitarian aid to Gaza

The Algerian Red Crescent sent on Thursday 75 tons of humanitarian and medical aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Three Algerian military planes, carrying 75 tons of medicine and 50 wheelchairs, left the Boufarik Airport on Thursday, heading to Ismailia in Egypt.

Head of Algerian Red Crescent Saida Benhabyles said that the aid will be passed to Gaza through the Rafah Crossing.

Benhabyles hailed Algerian solidarity with the Palestinians and said that this is only the first batch of aid. There are others to follow. She did not give more detail about the other aid, or when it would arrive.

She said that 40 tons of medicine has been collected thanks to the efforts of the young Algerians, in addition to the partners of the Red Crescent, including the National Union of Algerian Workers (UGTA) and the General Union of Algerian Traders and Artisans (UGCAA)

25 percent of new Jerusalem homes built in occupied east

JERUSALEM (AFP) — About 25 percent of new Israeli houses being built in Jerusalem in the first half of 2014 were in the city’s annexed east, an Israeli NGO said on Sunday.

Jerusalem city council published a statement saying that between January 1 and June 30 work began on 2,100 homes in the city.

It did not say where construction was taking place, in line with Israel’s definition of the whole city as in integral and indivisible part of the state.

But Hagit Ofran, of settlement watchdog Peace Now, told AFP in response to a query that about a quarter of the new homes were in settlements in the Palestinian areas occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War.

The occupied east of the city was later annexed in a move never recognized by the international community.

“We’re talking about approximately 500″ homes, Ofran said, adding that the figures were broadly in line with recent years.

Figures provided by the municipality say there are about 306,000 Palestinians living in East Jerusalem, whose civil status is that of residents, not citizens. They account for 38 percent of the city’s overall population.

Over 75 percent of Palestinians, and 82 percent of children, live below the poverty line in East Jerusalem, according to the Association for Civil Rights in Israel.

Only 14 percent of East Jerusalem is zoned for Palestinian residential construction, ACRI says, while one-third of Palestinian land has been confiscated since 1967 to build illegal Jewish-only settlements.

Some 200,000 Israeli settlers also live in East Jerusalem

Billingham motorcyclist in hospital after collision with car

A Teesside motorcyclist was left in hospital after a collision in Northallerton.

Police are now appealing for witnesses to the crash, which took place at approximately 4pm on Saturday, on the A167, at the junction of Northallerton’s Standard Way industrial estate.

The collision involved a blue Volkswagen Bora car and an orange Yamaha motorcycle.

As a result of the incident the rider, a 49-year-old man from Billingham, suffered leg injuries and was taken to James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough where he currently remains in a comfortable and stable condition.

Traffic Constable Laura Cleary, of North Yorkshire Police’s Roads Policing Group, said: “If you witnessed the collision or saw either of the vehicle prior to the incident I ask you to contact the police straight away as you may have information which could assist my enquiry.”

Anyone who can assist with the investigation should contact the police on 101, select option 2 and ask for Laura Cleary.

Alternatively, information can be emailed to laura.cleary@northyorkshire.pnn.police.uk quoting crime reference number 12140166500.

Man arrested on suspicion of drink-driving after car and bus collide in Redcar

A man has been arrested after a car and a bus collided in Redcar.

The 50-year-old - who was driving a silver Ford Fiesta - was arrested on suspicion of driving whilst over the limit.

It came after the car collided with a single decker bus at the junction of Troutbeck Road and Mersey Road, in Redcar, this afternoon.

The collision took place at around 1.30pm near to Newcomen Methodist Church.

Troutbeck Road, Mersey Road and Trent Road were blocked by police after the incident, as diesel and debris littered the road.

All roads are now open.

Gus Robinson Developments construction firm doubles turnover

A construction and maintenance firm that was battered by the recession has more than doubled turnover after winning a host of major contracts.

The 2008 financial crash sparked a major downturn in fortunes for Hartlepool-based Gus Robinson Developments (GRD), which saw revenues collapse from £16m to £5m.

But Dan Robinson, who took over as chief executive and chairman, in 2011, masterminded a strong recovery by streamlining the business, reducing the number of core staff and focusing on lucrative large-scale building projects in the housing sector.

The company, which also carries out refurbishments and maintenance work on schools, care homes and sheltered accommodation, has now built revenues back up to £12m and is predicting a turnover of £20m next year.

Mr Robinson said: “The business did need an overhaul. We had always delivered a high-quality level of work but strategically we were very naive. We were adopting a 1980s approach and carrying too many staff. Now we have a core of about 100 and we scale up when new projects come in.

“The housing market has been a growth area for us. There was - and still is - massive demand for new homes but a large under-supply.

“There was also the problem of access to finance but the Government has addressed this through Help to Buy, which has made it more affordable for people to purchase their own home.”

Under the Help to Buy scheme, the Government provides up to 20% of the cost of a new-build home, meaning homeowners need a 5% cash deposit and a 75% mortgage to make up the rest. Launched last year, it triggered a surge of activity in the housing market, which had been hit badly when banks reigned in lending following the financial crash.

In recent months, GRD has won more than £1.5m of work on new-build housing schemes in Stockton and Springwell near Gateshead. It has also secured lucrative contracts on a sheltered housing scheme in Hartlepool and a £2.2m student accommodation development in the town.

Further afield, the company undertook a major refurbishment of the Royal College of Art in London.

Mr Robinson took over GRD following the suicide of his father Gus, who founded the business in 1975. A former pupil of St Bede’s Comprehensive School in Peterlee and English Martyrs School in Hartlepool, the younger Mr Robinson left the region at the age of 18 and spent 13 years in the Royal Air Force and US Air Force, He also worked for a New York-based asset management company before returning to the North-east to take up his current role.

Hong Kong democracy protesters defy tear gas

Riot police advanced on Hong Kong democracy protesters in the early hours of Monday, firing volleys of tear gas in the worst unrest there since China took back control of the former British colony two decades ago.

Protesters erected barricades to block security forces amid chaotic scenes still unfolding as the city centre – one of the world’s major financial districts – opened for business.

Several Hong Kong financial firms advised staff to work from home or go to secondary offices, as Standard Chartered and Bank of China suspended some of its banking operations, due to “situations in certain areas”

Many roads leading to the Central business district remained sealed off as thousands defied police calls to retreat.

Earlier, police baton-charged a crowd blocking a key road in the government district in defiance of official warnings that the demonstrations were illegal.

Several scuffles broke out between police in helmets, gas masks and riot gear, with demonstrators being angered by the firing of tear gas, last used in Hong Kong in 2005.

Thousands of protesters were still milling around the main Hong Kong government building, ignoring messages from student and pro-democracy leaders to retreat for fear that the police might fire rubber bullets.

The protests fanned out to the busy shopping district of Causeway Bay and across the harbour to Mong Kok, posing a greater challenge for authorities to contain, local media reported.

The protesters also brought traffic to a halt and called on Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying to step down.

Police, in lines five deep in places, earlier used pepper spray against activists and shot tear gas into the air.

The crowds fled several hundred metres, scattering their umbrellas and hurling abuse at police they called “cowards”.

‘One country, two systems’

Britain returned Hong Kong to Chinese rule under a formula known as “one country, two systems” that guaranteed a high degree of autonomy and freedoms not enjoyed in mainland China.

Universal suffrage was set as an eventual goal.

But Beijing last month rejected demands for people to freely choose the city’s next leader, prompting threats from activists to shut down the Central business district. China wants to limit elections to a handful of candidates loyal to Beijing.

Communist Party leaders in Beijing are concerned that calls for democracy could spread to cities on the mainland.

In a move certain to unnerve authorities in Beijing, media in Taiwan reported that student leaders there had occupied the lobby of Hong Kong’s representative office on the island in a show of support for the democracy protesters.

Hong Kong leader Leung had earlier pledged “resolute” action against the protest movement, known as Occupy Central with Love and Peace.

“The police are determined to handle the situation appropriately in accordance with the law,” Leung said, less than two hours before the police charge began.

Police denied rumours that they had used rubber bullets.

A spokesperson for China’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office said the central government fully supported Hong Kong’s handling of the situation “in accordance with the law”.

Organisers said as many as 80,000 people thronged the streets in Admiralty district, galvanised by the arrests of student activists on Friday.

A week of protests escalated into violence when student-led demonstrators broke through a cordon late on Friday and scaled a fence to invade the city’s main government compound.

Police used pepper spray to disperse the crowd. The Hong Kong Federation of Students has extended class boycotts indefinitely and called on the city’s leader to step down.

Police have so far arrested 78 people, including Joshua Wong, the 17-year-old leader of student group Scholarism, who was dragged away after calling on protesters to charge the government premises.

Wong was released without charge on Sunday night. He told reporters he planned to return to the protest site after resting. Other student leaders, Alex Chow and Lester Shum, have also been released.

Source: Al Jazeera