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

Knife-wielding raider tried to rob shop 'after childhood sweetheart told him she had become a lesbian'

A knife-wielding raider tried to rob a shop after his childhood sweetheart told him she had become a lesbian, a court heard.

Craig Rock said he hit the bottle after his partner broke up with him, falsely claimed he was not the father of their child and announced her apparent change in sexuality.

He went out with a knife to rob a shop high on drink and tablets in the wake of this triple whammy of heartache, said his lawyer Simon Walker.

He pulled out the weapon and shouted “give me the money or I’ll stab you” to the proprietor of the Mini Food Store on Clarendon Road, central Middlesbrough.

The shop owner, who had worked at the store for 15 years, feared for his life and his wife’s safety, Teesside Crown Court heard.

He shouted at Rock to get out at 6.30pm on April 14, said prosecutor Rachel Masters.

Rock advanced on the victim, repeated his demands and threats, but ran off empty-handed after the shop owner managed to open the back door.

Police found him “flat out” on the ground nearby and initially thought he was simply a local drunk, said Mr Walker.

He pulled out the knife, put it to his own throat and threatened to hurt himself.

Rock told officers: “I did it. Tell the judge maximum sentence.”

He used insulting racist language as he confessed to robbing the store proprietor.

The defendant said he was “off his head” on sleeping tablets because he had personal and financial problems, and left his home planning to commit a robbery.

He claimed he could not remember anything after taking the tablets but apologised for what he did.

He had been to the store for an apparent “reconnaissance” earlier that day, said a judge.

Rock, of no fixed address, admitted attempted robbery and having an offensive weapon.

He had 15 previous offences including theft and burglary and was under a community order at the time.

In his defence, Mr Walker said: “This offence was committed at the time when he was perhaps at his lowest ever ebb.

“He had broken up with his childhood sweetheart. She was denying him access to his child.

“She went further and said he wasn’t the father and, further still, said “I’m now a lesbian”.

“He reacted to that situation in an entirely inappropriate and disgusting way.

“He would love the opportunity to be able to turn the clock back.

"He wouldn’t have done this if he hadn’t taken the cocktail of tablets and drink.”

He said the robbery attempt was out of character and Rock’s violence was directed against himself.

A DNA test proved he was in fact the baby’s father and the child had been brought to visit him inside.

A psychiatrist said he had an “unstable personality disorder” with difficulty managing anger and poor coping mechanisms.

He had already spent more than five months on remand and found this first time in prison very difficult.

Mr Walker said Rock expressed remorse, pleaded guilty immediately wanting to go to prison to “get his head sorted out”, and would love to apologise to the shopkeeper.

Judge John Walford said Rock was a persistent offender who reacted badly to “a number of problems”.

But he said Rock terrified the shop owner by brandishing the knife and making persistent threats, and such vulnerable traders would be protected by the courts.

The judge jailed Rock for three years.