World briefs

Susan Boyle celebrated a triple whammy after she ended up with three different entries in the book of Guinness World Records.

Ms Boyle’s debut album I Dreamed A Dream was the fastest selling album by a UK female and also had the most successful first week sale of a UK debut album, selling 411,820 copies.

Ms Boyle, then 48, was also the oldest person to reach number one with a debut album, breaking the record set by then 35-year-old Jane McDonald in 1998. (PA)

Terrorism suspect arrested at Schiphol

Dutch military police arrested a British man of Somali descent at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport yesterday morning on suspicion of links to terrorism, the Dutch public prosecutor said.

The prosecutor said in a statement that police were investigating whether the man, who had flown from the northern English city of Liverpool and was travelling through Schiphol on his way to Entebbe in Uganda, had connections to a foreign militant organisation.

The military police arrested the man in an aircraft that was ready to depart, the prosecutor said.

Dutch authorities said the arrest was made on the basis of a tip from British authorities, but there was no immediate comment from London’s Metropolitan Police, which handles terror issues, Liverpool’s Merseyside Police or the British Home Office.

“We are just investigating his possible involvement in a terrorist organisation. There was no explosive material found in his luggage,” a Dutch police spokesman said.

The arrest marks the third terror scare in less than a year at Schiphol, Europe’s fifth-largest passenger airport. (AFP)

Detained over child fire death

Two people are being questioned by UK police after a toddler was killed when a blaze tore through a flat.

A murder inquiry was launch-ed after 19-month-old Siariah Letang died in hospital following the fire in Camberwell, south east London, early on Saturday morning.

A 27-year-old man and a 28-year-old woman were arrested and are being questioned, Scotland Yard said.

Fire crews used thermal imaging cameras and breathing apparatus as they attempted to rescue the child and four family members trapped in the building.

The group – reported to be grandmother Brenda Ricketts, 45, her daughters Shakira Jackson, 11, and Ellisha Letang, the child’s 23-year-old mother, and her four-year-old son Cameron – were found with the toddler. They were all unconscious and suffering from smoke inhalation.

Shakira was said to be in a critical condition yesterday while the other surviving relatives were described as being in a “serious but stable” condition. (PA)

Combating cannabis

Police efforts to combat cannabis should be focused on dealers and organised gangs rather than individual users found with the drug, one of Britain’s most senior police officers has said.

Humberside chief constable Tim Hollis, who is the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) lead on drugs, called for a “mature debate around the harms caused by illicit drugs and the role of the police service regarding enforcement”.

But Mr Hollis denied he or ACPO were suggesting legalisation of the personal use of cannabis. (PA)

Cooking threatened

TV chef Jamie Oliver said looming Government spending cuts could threaten his pioneering centre aimed at a teaching communities healthy cooking.

Oliver said Rotherham Council fears budget cuts will jeopardise Oliver’s Ministry of Food project which he set up in the South Yorkshire town in 2008.

Writing in The Observer, he said letting centres like his wither was “foolhardy and a false economy – particularly in a country that is spending billions on obesity-related diseases”. (PA)

Engagement put off

Earl Spencer, the brother of the late Diana, Princess of Wales, and Lady Bianca Eliot have called off their engagement.

Lawyers for the pair, who announced their plans to marry in March, said they had ended their relationship “some time ago” but remained friends.

The twice-married Earl, 46, whose family seat is at Althorp, Northamptonshire, had been dating Lady Eliot, 33, for 18 months before their engagement was announced. (PA)

Cricketer appears on gay mag cover

England cricketer Jimmy Anderson bowled a googly at one of Britain’s most conservative sports as he became the first professional player to appear on the cover of gay magazine Attitude.

The 28-year-old, who is married, insisted there was no homophobia in the game as he posed nude for next month’s issue which goes on sale tomorrow.

Mr Anderson said the game was “moving with the times”, adding: “If there are any gay cricketers, they should feel confident enough to come out, because I don’t think there is homophobia in cricket.” (PA)