World Briefs

The country’s top judge has warned jurors of the dangers of using the internet to research cases.

Lord Judge, the Lord Chief Justice, said if extraneous material was introduced into the decision-making process it could lead to the quashing of a conviction.

Issuing new guidance at the Court of Appeal in London, Lord Judge stressed jurors needed to understand that “although the internet is part of their daily lives, the case must not be researched there”.

End of life praise

The UK is the best in the world at supporting people at the end of their lives, according to a report.

The country tops the Quality of Death Index, which ranked 40 countries according to the care offered to dying people.

The UK performed well in areas such as public awareness, training for NHS staff and access to painkillers for patients. It was also praised for its network of hospices.

Breakfast on the move

BBC Breakfast is moving to the corporation’s new home in Salford Quays, the broadcaster has confirmed.

The move will come as various teams including BBC Sport, Children’s, Learning and Radio 5 Live, up sticks to relocate to the new base, which opens next year.

The BBC said it would use the move of Breakfast to build on the show’s success and enhance its “strong reputation” for providing news and features from across the UK.

House price gains

House prices have regained more than half of the value they lost during the property market correction, research indicated.

The average home in Britain is now worth £218,705, with prices having risen by £21,667 since they reached their trough in March 2009, according to property website Zoopla.co.uk.

But despite rising for 16 consecutive months, the average property still costs £20,358 less than it did in November 2007 when the housing market peaked.

Big fish

A schoolboy angler has reeled in what is thought to be the biggest goldfish ever found in Britain.

The 5lb, 16in monster was plucked from a lake in Poole, Dorset, by 16-year-old Nick Richards.

It is thought to have been abandoned after outgrowing its tank and has since thrived on plenty of food in the sheltered lake.

Just the tonic

Ice cream made from the controversial tonic wine Buckfast is proving a hit with customers at a swish restaurant in Edinburgh.

Buckfast ripple ice cream is on the menu at the Englishman, Scotsman and an Irishman, or E:S:I, in Leith.

It emerged earlier this year that the tonic, brewed in Devon, was mentioned by Strathclyde Police in 5,000 crime reports over three years.

Disaster review

A review of how the Government responds to disasters such as the Haiti earthquake will be led by ex-Liberal Democrat leader Lord Ashdown.

International Development Sec­retary Andrew Mitchell said the review would also look at how international efforts could be better coordinated, to make the most of public generosity.

The Department for Inter­national Development said the number of people affected by natural disasters was predicted to rise from 250 million a year now to 375 million by 2015.

Missing laptops

Some 41 laptops were among electronic equipment worth more than £30,000 that went missing from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs last year, figures show.

A total of 63 items were lost or stolen from the department between July 2009 and the end of June, junior minister Richard Benyon said, with a total value of £30,620.

As well as the laptops, worth £25,650, nine BlackBerrys worth £1,510 and three projectors worth £1,850 also went missing. Four desktop PCs worth just over £1,000, five monitors worth £460 and a £100 camera also vanished.

Bogus birthday

A man who staged a bogus 21st birthday bash in a bid to cheat the law and escape justice has been jailed.

Geoffrey Ewart faked his own 21st birthday party and falsified photographs to prove his arrest over a street brawl was a case of mistaken identity. The snaps were really taken 18 months or more after his real 21st birthday celebrations.

Once his deception was uncovered by detectives Ewart, of Middlesbrough, was jailed for two-and-a-half years after admitting attempting to pervert the court of justice, affray and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Nick nicked

A convicted criminal has been caught stealing, inside prison where he was awaiting sentence.

Roberts Cherry, held at the Tombs in lower Manhattan on a narcotics charge, took more than £800 in stamps and pens from the jail office when the officer in charge briefly looked away.

Warders found the roll of stamps down his underpants during a strip search.

Animal house

A police raid for stolen vehicles found 42 of them at a warehouse in Malaysia - along with hundreds of birds and other protected wildlife.

Around 700 birds, caged leopards, albino pygmy monkeys and other animals were rescued.

They included a pair of rare birds of paradise worth about £240,000.