TEN years ago this week, an off-duty soldier put his life on the line to tackle an armed robber holding up a betting shop.

During the dramatic incident at a Ladbrokes in Birmingham, the robber pointed the gun at Corporal Jason Robinson and pulled the trigger - but the weapon failed to fire.

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The 27-year-old Iraq veteran, from Peterlee, east Durham, realising the gun was not even loaded, then chased the raider a mile down the road.

Cpl Robinson, a driver with the Queen's Royal Hussars, was awarded the Queen's Gallantry Medal for his actions.

He was in the bookmakers as a customer on August 9, the year before, when Shazad Mahmood entered and threatened staff with a handgun.

Also that week, tributes had been paid to Steve Jobs, the visionary "geek" who changed the way the world looked at technology.

US President Barack Obama led the chorus of praise for the Apple cofounder, as even consumers flocked to the company's stores around the world to pay tribute.

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President Obama said Jobs, who died of cancer aged 56, was brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world and talented enough to do it.

In a tweet, the President added: "There may be no greater tribute to Steve's success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented."

Meanwhile, three wounded Libyan fighters thanked the people of the North-East for the vital part they have played in helping them recover from the injuries of war.

Only weeks ago, Khalid Moussa, 30, and Mohammed Ahmed, 28, both from Benghazi, and Jasim Shampy, from Zawya, were in the thick of the fighting to drive out the dwindling forces of Colonel Gaddafi in Libya.

But after they were injured in the uprisings, they were flown to The James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough, for surgery.

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They were flown to the UK as part of a mercy mission agreed by the British and Libyan governments. Speaking for the first time from their hospital beds they thanked the North-East for its support.