Drop in middle-age drinking

Afghanistan attracts adventure tourists
London: Well-heeled travellers are exploring blacklisted parts of the world in ever-increasing numbers, despite the threat of terrorism there. Bookings for group tours to destinations such as Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraqi Kurdistan have more than doubled in the past year, according to Wild Frontiers, a specialist tour operator. Hinterland Travel, another specialist agent, said that 2014 had been its busiest year for trips to Afghanistan.
Police arrest charity worker
London: The counter terrorism police have arrested a charity worker at Manchester Airport as he attempted to board a flight to Pakistan. The family of Mohammad Suleman, 24, have insisted he has no terrorist links after he was detained. It is believed that he had been set to travel on to war-torn Syria. His arrest came 24 hours after the North West Counter Terrorism Unit raided his family home on Peakdale Avenue, Crumpsall. Officers seized laptops and computers from the semi-detached property and detectives are understood to be examining whether terrorism-related material is stored on the equipment. Suleman travelled to Syria 18 months ago as part of a charity food mission and had recently been visiting family in Pakistan and Qatar. He returned to the UK four weeks ago.
Police have stressed the arrest did not relate to any threat posed to the Greater Manchester community.
Man charged for dangerous driving
London: A 20-year-old man was charged for causing death by dangerous driving after two people were killed as they crossed the road the night before Christmas eve. Paula Jolly, 37, a mother of five, died at the scene at Whalley Range, Manchester. Her partner Michael Ward, 45, a father of ten, died later in hospital. Police said that a blue Vauxhall Corsa had collided with the couple as they crossed the road. Mobein Ali, who lives in the area, was charged and remanded in custody. Jolly’s mother, Slyvia Duddle, 61, said that she had been planning to spend Christmas with her daughter for the first time in years, surrounded by their family. She said: “We were in contact again, it was like a fresh start. We’d lost contact for a while, but about five months ago we heard from Paula again. She was supposed to be coming to one of my other daughter’s houses and staying for Christmas, but then I found out what had happened in the early hours of the morning. I feel broken.”
Lawyers under attack for NHS fees hike
London: An MP has demanded that the NHS complaints system should be “completely overhauled” in the face of rising litigation costs that now take up a quarter of the annual £1 billion bill for clinical negligence claims. The amount paid out by the NHS Litigation Authority has almost doubled in five years, with legal costs of £250 million. In 2009-10 the total bill for claims was £650 million, with £150 million of it going to cover legal costs.
Prince Harry was fathered by James Hewitt, claims play
London: The West End production - Truth, Lies, Diana - will suggest that former household Cavalry officer James Hewitt fathered Prince Harry.
Again, a white cop kills a black in US
Washington: The familiar script of a white cop gunning down a black man occurred again last week less than five miles from Ferguson, Missouri, where a similar case in August this year triggered African-American unrest across the country. Police said the officer was on a routine patrol near a gas station after responding to a call of a theft when he approached two men near the building in the suburb of Berkeley, Missouri. The officer exited his vehicle to question them when one person pulled out a handgun. “Fearing for his life, the Berkeley officer fired several shots, striking the subject, fatally wounding him. The second subject fled the scene,” police said.