The week: 30 December – 5 January

Published on Friday 4 January 2008 19:18

BILAWAL Bhutto Zardari, the eldest son of the assassinated Benazir Bhutto, was named on Sunday as the Pakistan People's Party's co-chairman, alongside Asif Zardari, his father.

Rioting broke out in Kenya after the president, Mwai Kibaki, was declared the winner of an election marred by allegations of vote-rigging. David Trueman, a retired RAF squadron leader, died when his single-seater aircraft crashed in thick fog in the Borders after trying to make an emergency landing. Richard Lambert, the director-general of business organisation the CBI, criticised what he said was the large number of poor quality graduates in the UK.

Edinburgh's giant Hogmanay street party went ahead on Monday but without X-Factor winner Leon Jackson, who pulled out of his concert appearance with tonsillitis. Billie Piper married fellow actor Laurence Fox at a ceremony in the Parish Church of St Mary's in Easebourne, West Sussex. Katie Johnson, a police dog handler, was shot in the leg at Bamber Bridge, near Preston, when she responded to a reported robbery at a pub.

About 500 people braved the cold waters of the Forth on Tuesday for the New Year's Day Loony Dook at South Queensferry. It was revealed that Phil O'Donnell, the Motherwell captain who collapsed during a match with Dundee United, had died of heart failure. France began enforcing a ban on smoking in bars, nightclubs and restaurants, while eight German states launched partial smoking bans in bars and restaurants. A man died in a house fire in Stranraer. A head-on collision involving a police car closed the A8 for 13 hours near junction six, at Eurocentral.

Patients and staff were forced to evacuate the Royal Marsden Hospital in London on Wednesday after a major fire broke out on the top floor of the world-famous cancer centre. The Office of Rail Regulation announced an inquiry into the over-running maintenance work on the west coast main line between Birmingham International and Northampton, which affected up to 60,000 passengers. Over-running work at London Liverpool Street station frustrated passengers in the capital. George MacDonald Fraser, who wrote a dozen Harry Flashman novels, died at the age of 82.

The first heavy snow of the winter fell on many parts of Scotland on Thursday, with up to 8in falling in parts of Aberdeenshire. In the United States, Barack Obama won the Democrats' Iowa caucuses, while Mike Huckabee took the most Republican votes. The latest version of Big Brother got under way on E4, with John Laughton, chairman of the Scottish Youth Parliament, among the contestants who will face tasks set by celebrities. AL Kennedy's Day won the best novel title at the Costa Book Awards.

Snow continued to cause problems across Scotland yesterday. A freight train hit a lorry on a level crossing near Gleneagles, closing the line between Aberdeen and Glasgow. Phil O'Donnell's funeral took place in Hamilton.

THE WEEK IN BRIEF

Still tickling

KEN Dodd fans can breathe a sigh of relief: their hero may have been taken into hospital this week but the 80-year-old comedian expects to be back on stage soon, after a successful hernia operation. Dodd, right, was taken to the Royal Liverpool Hospital on Hogmanay, hours after finishing one of his mammoth shows at Liverpool's Philharmonic Hall. Dodd, whose shows regular overrun into the early hours of the morning, is famous for his tickling stick and for the "Diddy Men".

Who killed me?

LINDSAY Lohan's year got off to a bad start when a poll of British films fans said she gave the poorest turn of 2007, in I Know Who Killed Me. Eddie Murphy was also panned, with his film Norbit being considered the biggest waste of time. Around 3.8 million votes were cast in the poll.

Rapping it all up

JAY Z, on the other hand, got his new year off to a successful start by opening a new sports bar in Las Vegas. Beyonc Knowles, Ne-Yo and Joe Jackson were among the star guests at the rapper's new bar. Not content with his drinks business, Jay Z, bottom right, also announced plans to open a chain of luxury hotels. The first J Hotel is due to open in New York, at a $66 million site in Manhattan.

A voyage to forget

IS IT cursed? That's what passengers onboard the 90,000-ton Queen Victoria, below, may be asking. The 300 million ship has been hit by an outbreak of the winter vomiting bug. During its naming ceremony, the bottle of Champagne slung at the ship by the Duchess of Cornwall failed to break, seen as a bad omen by seafarers. A spokesman for Cunard said he couldn't comment on superstition.

A frosty reception

TROUBLE at the bottom of the world, where an American contractor was sacked from an Antarctic base after he allegedly broke a colleague's jaw. A fight broke out at the Amundsen-Scott station, reportedly over a woman, while other sources suggest it was fuelled by alcohol. The victim was allegedly punched in the face and had to be flown to New Zealand for treatment on Christmas Day in a USAF Hercules, scrambled from another US base at a cost of around 45,000.

The alleged attacker was also flown out on the transport aircraft and was dismissed by Raytheon Polar Services, which helps the base's scientists.

Dr Karl Erb, head of the US Antarctic programme, said: "The assailant has been removed and his contract terminated by his employer. Such behaviour has no place whatsoever in the US Antarctic programme."

Raiders of the lost parts

TWO of my childhood favourites came together this week when Lego unveiled its new range of Indiana Jones kits. The Lego version of Indy comes complete with a bull whip and his trademark brown hat. Other sets in the series include a jungle temple, inspired by the opening to Raiders of The Lost Ark (complete with a giant rolling ball), a motorcycle chase from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and a "race for the stolen treasure", featuring our hero on horseback. The range begins at 8.99, rising to 44.99 for the big "temple escape" set, which includes a seaplane and some scary skeletons.

Candid camera

THEY may have only done what million of motorists dream about but Peter Hochstacher and Thomas Moebel paid the price this week when they were fined 75,000 for burying a speed camera. The pair of 19-year-olds hacked down the camera using axes and a saw, and then buried it in fields near the town of Lustenau, in Austria.

There was, however, a flaw in their plan: the camera still had a tape inside it and, before it was buried in the earth, the device had taken pictures of the pair speeding passed. The camera was found by a farmer. When police examined the tape and confronted the pair, they admitted their crime. The court said the fine would cover the cost of replacing the camera.

Knicker-elastic tastic

A PAIR of big pants saved the day for the Marsey family in Meryl Gardens, Hartlepool, after a frying pan fire in their kitchen. John Marsey, 18, and his cousin, Darren Lines, 23, were frying slices of bread when the contents of their pan caught light. Mr Marsey threw water on the fire, making it worse. Then Mr Lines grabbed the pants from a pile of washing and saved the day. "I just grabbed the knickers, put them under the tap to dampen them and then used them to put the fire out," he explained.

Jenny Marsey, a baker, returned home from the pub to find her size 18-20 blue cotton M&S pants, above, had been used as a fire blanket. "I think if they had been my daughter Sarah's skimpy knickers they wouldn't have done any good," she said.

Run ripe reindeer

YOU'VE heard of the Pamplona bull run, now try… the Anchorage reindeer run. Visitors will get the chance to run with reindeer through the streets on 24 February. Tom Williams, who is supplying the reindeer, said: "I'm afraid the deer are just gonna stand there. It may be a very slow walk, with the animals sticking their noses in people's pockets, looking for something to eat."

Up in smoke

THE head of the Portuguese agency responsible for enforcing a new ban on smoking in public was seen lighting up at a New Year party, breaking the law on the first day it came into effect. Antonio Nunes, president of the food standards agency, was photographed smoking a cigar at a casino on the outskirts of Lisbon.

Storm in a D-cup

A RECRUIT was kicked out of the German army after she had a boob job. Alessija Dorfmann said she wanted to be an army nurse. She added: "I'm devastated – it has always been my dream to be a soldier and have a great figure – now my fake boobs have cost me my job."