Flights hit by computer crash

HUNDREDS of flights were cancelled or delayed yesterday after an air traffic control computer system crashed.

The computers which provide the air traffic controllers for London and the South-East with flight schedule information broke down, forcing the cancellation of all flights in the region for 20 minutes in the afternoon.

SHOW CLEARED: A Channel 5 series about killers Fred and Rose West, which prompted an appeal to the Attorney General to prevent its screening, has been cleared by a broadcasting watchdog. The Broadcasting Standards Commission rejected criticisms, saying the series - Fred And Rose - The West Murders - was a serious, unsensationalised effort to understand their motivations.

CATARACTS CONCERN: The lives of elderly women are more at risk if they suffer from cataracts, according to research, in the British Journal of Ophthalmology. The study revealed that, among a sample of 814 non-diabetic women aged 65 and above, having a sight-threatening cataract increased the death rate by about 60 per cent.

MORSE AUCTION: The burgundy Jaguar driven by TV detective Inspector Morse may fetch up to £80,000 when it is sold at auction - just months after it was given away in a competition. The 2.4-litre saloon is the star attraction in an auction of classic vehicles which is to be held in London next month.

CORPSE ATTACKED: A hammer attack on a human corpse displayed in a controversial exhibition has caused £30,000 worth of damage. The Body Worlds exhibition has come under critical and physical attack since it opened in London on Saturday.

GENDER BENDERS: Chemicals could be causing female birds to sing along with the boys. Research that has been carried out in America found that environmental doses of synthetic oestrogen can cause female birds to sing as if they were male.

MAKING NEWS: ITN newsreader Nicholas Owen stepped in to save a petrol station cashier who was being attacked. The journalist was filling up his car in south-east London when he saw a teenager break through the garage's locked main door and punch the cashier.