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England and Newcastle striker Michael Owen will play no further part in the World Cup. Owen, who had to be taken off in the game against Sweden last night, has sustained serious damage to his knee. See full story in Sport

Solutions ACROSS 1 Prod. P+ROD 3 Ahead. (hidden) 6 Bats. (two meanings) 11 Netball. NE(TBA)LL (bat anag.) 12 Stamina. S+T(AM)INA 13 Ariel. (anag.) 14 Suppliant. SUP+PLIANT 15 Triallist. TRIAL+L+IST 18 Stage. (two meanings) 20

MICHAEL Owen is out of the World Cup. The stricken striker is flying back to Newcastle this afternoon. A statement from the Football Association said: "Following his injury in last night's match with Sweden, Michael Owen had his right knee scanned

Cryptic Clues ACROSS 1 Pointed instrument made from copper bar (4) 3 In the media he advocated moving forward (5) 6 Crazy fliers (4) 11 Girl holds funny bat in this game (7) 12 Southern girl carrying mother back displays staying power (7) 13

Day 2 MY mission for Tuesday was to make it home, eat, shower, change and be down the pub 25 minutes' walk away - for 8pm to see the England vs Sweden match. But first, there is the little matter of getting to work. My 6.30am alarm is half

An experiment involving the use of lie detectors on sex offenders could be coming to an end. Barry Nelson investigates and finds out what its like to take a polygraph test. HARDLY a day goes without the cases of sex offenders cropping up in the news

It's not every week that you're awarded the MBE in the Honours List, and the columnis in fine company. ON the very morning that a House of Commons select committee began its investigation into the cash for honours allegations, a letter arrived from

The wives and girlfriends (WAGs) of England's World Cup football team are spending like there's no tomorrow over in Germany. But are they just a throwback to another age? Aren't the WAGs wonderful? The WAGs, wives and girlfriends of the English football

AN Army staff sergeant today admitted killing a police constable who was transporting him to the cells by grabbing the handbrake as the patrol car travelled at 70mph. Pc Joe Carroll, 46, died from severe head injuries after the patrol car he was driving

The wives and girlfriends (WAGs) of England's World Cup football team are spending like there's no tomorrow over in Germany. But are they just a throwback to another age? Aren't the WAGs wonderful? The WAGs, wives and girlfriends of the English football

PART of a police station damaged by flooding last year is being replaced by a civil engineering firm based in the region. Henderson Campbell, of Guisborough, has won a share of the £4.5m project to create a new cell complex for Cumbria Police on the

It's not every week that you're awarded the MBE in the Honours List, and the columnis in fine company. ON the very morning that a House of Commons select committee began its investigation into the cash for honours allegations, a letter arrived from 10

Hampshire v Durham (County Championship) : Day One MAN of the moment Callum Thorp almost trebled his previous best score in serious cricket to drag Durham out of the Rose Bowl mire yesterday. Going in at 108 for seven, he hit Shane Warne for three

AN afternoon of entertainment is planned for the weekend to raise money for playground equipment at a primary school. The event takes place at Nevilles Cross Primary School, in Durham City, from 1pm to 4pm on Saturday. Money raised during the day, which

ASYLUM seekers and their supporters in north Durham and Tyneside are to meet with a religious leader next week. Kevin Dunn, Catholic Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle, will meet volunteers and help collect their donations in Lanchester and Low Fell, Gateshead

CARERS are helping to mark National Childminding Week with healthy food tasting events. The theme of the week, which runs until Saturday, is Food, Fitness and Fun to raise awareness of how important a healthy lifestyle is for children from an early age

A CONSERVATION trust has launched a campaign opposing multi-million pound proposals to replace Victorian buildings in a north Durham town centre with a shopping mall. The Osborne Conservation Trust, in Annfield Plain, has started a petition to block plans

A MATRON with 46 years' service is among healthcare staff who are to receive long service awards tonight. Eighty-seven employees of Derwentside Primary Care Trust (PCT) are to be recognised for years of effort at The Greenhouse, in Annfield Plain, near

POLICE are appealing for help to solve a mystery of how a young England football fan sustained injuries after a World Cup game last week. The man had been watching the game against Trinidad and Tobago with a group a friends, in Bishop Auckland, on Thursday

A WOMAN from north Durham has celebrated her 100th birthday. Lilly Ayre danced with family and friends at Hollie Hill Nursing Home, in Stanley, last Tuesday. Mrs Ayre, who was born in New Brancepeth, Durham, was delighted to get a card from the Queen.

An officer at Deerbolt Young Offenders' Institution, in Barnard Castle, has been nominated for a top award for his work with prisoners. Dave Glendinning has been nominated from more than 48,000 staff nationwide for a prize at the Prison Officer of the

MORE than 20,000 rundown homes will be demolished or renovated across Tees Valley thanks to £18m in Government funding to breathe new life into struggling areas. The package aims to rebuild the "fragile" housing market in parts of Hartlepool, Middlesbrough

FEMALE health workers will take part in the Race for Life on Saturday to raise money for Cancer Research UK. The event takes place at Ormesby Hall, Middlesbrough, and 18 staff will be running, including district nurses, health visitors, podiatrists,

PEOPLE can find out more about searching for jobs on the Internet and gaining new skills and qualifications at an open day. First Steps and Skills4Life Online are holding the open day at Annfield Plain Library, near Stanley, from 10am to 4pm next Tuesday

THE funding team at Derwentside District Council is offering help to anyone applying for grants under the Breathing Places programme, run by the BBC and Big Lottery Fund. The programme provides small grants to improve wildlife habitats in the community

A COMMUNITY which took advantage of a mobile gym has been rewarded with its own permanent facility. The community gym at Wolsingham School and Community College was set up with a £15,000 grant from Sport England. It is one of four new community-run facilities

DERWENTSIDE District council is to consider a plan to convert a former fire station into 13 houses. The plan, for Front Street, in Stanley, has been put forward by Dunelm Castle Homes. The development control committee of the council is to rule on

CHILDREN at a Spennymoor nursery handled the pressure when they stepped up to the penalty spot for a World Cup inspired shoot- out tournament yesterday. Staff at the Pixley Dell Day Nursery organised the World Cup tea party for more than 20 children,

A HEADMASTER has paid tribute to a school caretaker who died at work. Michael Carr, 58, was found dead at Hartlepool's English Martyrs School, in Catcote Road, on Monday. He had worked there for 28 years, and was described by headteacher Joseph Hughes

David Royle spent months repairing a 26-year-old car after he bought it for £40 - but it launched him into a new career and led to a successful business. The 1930 Standard Avon Special he bought 50 years ago for £20 down and £1 a month launched a

PUPILS were so inspired by a presentation by charity workers at their school assemblies that they have organised a fundraising event to support the cause. Lorraine Coulson and Alistair Baker, from Water-Aid, presented an assembly to year ten students

CLASSROOMS have moved to the garden as pupils get their say on the design of a sculpture. A nature reserve in Stockton will be developed over the next few years and schoolchildren are working alongside Tees Valley Wildlife Trust on the project. A £10,000

ANNE SAUNDERS is in training for her ninth charity run in aid of her local hospice. The 53-year-old, from Hartlepool, will take part in the Great North Run on Sunday, October 1, to raise cash for Hartlepool and District Hospice. Mrs Saunders, a civil

A FACTORY worker who is between jobs is preparing for the longest cycle ride of his life, in aid of charity. Dean Laing, 31, of Gilesgate, Durham, plans to cycle 2,500 miles over five weeks - twice the distance of Land's End to John O' Groats. Mr Laing

YOUNGSTERS from five schools have been discovering African culture this week. Thirty pupils from the Kingsley, Rift House, St Aidan's, Stranton and Owton Manor primary schools, in Hartlepool, are exploring African drumming and dance at workshops led

THE latest entry to The Northern Echo's community environmental competition is an increasingly successful furniture project. County Durham Furniture Help Scheme, in Sedgefield, helps needy families while stopping items ending up as landfill. Scheme managers

ONE of the world's leading scientists visited the North-East yesterday to see examples of its world-class research. Professor Bob Grubbs, of the California Institute of Technology, who was awarded a Nobel Prize in December, has collaborated with Dur-ham

MEMBERS of the RAF Regiment at a North base are on their way to guard an airfield in Afghanistan. About 130 personnel from 34 Squadron at RAF Leeming, North Yorkshire, will protect Kandahar airfield, which plays an essential role in UK and Allied operations

Schools and councils across England need to spend more than £1,000 per pupil on school repairs over the next five years. Olivia Richwald speaks to one headteacher battling crumbling classrooms. THERE are 16 mobile classrooms of various ages at Durham

As the Northern Echo continues its campaign to persuade Prime Minister Tony Blair to pardon more than 300 soldiers executed for cowardice during the First World War, Gavein Englebrecht looks at one of the most shameful episodes in British military history

A MOTHER who lost her nine-year-old son in a road accident last week has launched a campaign to persuade youngsters to wear cycle helmets. Football fanatic Ryan Marshall died as he cycled home in Bearpark, near Durham City, to watch England play in the

DEVOLUTION: SOME time ago, a correspondent commented on the large number of Scots in the Government. He was right then, more so now. As Blair and Co have become more unpopular, they have fallen back increasingly on strongholds in Northern England and

An experiment involving the use of lie detectors on sex offenders could be coming to an end. Barry Nelson investigates and finds out what its like to take a polygraph test. HARDLY a day goes without the cases of sex offenders cropping up in the news.

THREE wooden crosses placed on the bloody battlefields of The Somme in memory of North-East soldiers will be reunited for the first time in eight decades. The crosses were erected on top of the Butte de Warlencourt in memory of Durham Light Infantry soldiers

AMBITIOUS plans to build the biggest golf course in Europe have been officially submitted to a council. The multi-million pound development would see a historic hall near Darlington transformed into a luxury hotel and spa, with a golf course of international

A GROUP of volunteers in Darlington has been recognised for demonstrating good practice in volunteer recruitment and training. During National Volunteers' Week, Mark Lever, chief executive of the Women' Royal Voluntary Service (WRVS) visited the Darlington

SPEEDY Roxan (4.55) will be hard to peg back in the Group 2 Queen Mary Stakes on the second day of Royal Ascot. Two years ago Mark Johnston's Attraction blitzed her rivals to bring the prestigious prize to the North-East, however this season the name

A WEEK ago I noted how, to gain access to a field on which he hopes to build, a local developer near Harrogate ruthlessly obliterated a little garden tended by a widow, who had created it on spare ground with her husband. "A triumph for the forces of

PUPILS at a Darlington school are celebrating after picking up a national award. St Augustine's School, in Beechwood Avenue, has been awarded the gold level Artsmark from the National Arts Council for its work promoting arts to its pupils. The school

A DARLINGTON Methodist minister is about to start the busiest year of his life, at 62. The Reverend Graham Carter becomes president of the Methodist Conference on Saturday - a year-long appointment that will take him to Korea, Bolivia, India and all

A MARTIAL arts instructor who was caught with more than £900 worth of cocaine has been spared jail - to carry on teaching children in his karate club. Howard Bowlt was told by a judge he had come close to prison, but was saved by his voluntary work and

THE operators of a retirement complex have joined forces with building firm Clarion Homes in a £6m deal to develop and sell retirement apartments in its grounds. Jeremy Walford, managing director of Middleton Hall, in Middleton St George, near Darlington

KEEPING your eyes on the road may be good advice for drivers, but charity fundraisers were left with no choice when they took part in a blindfold driving challenge. A team from BiB insurance and financial services group, in Darlington, took to the wheel

A JOBLESS man who swindled almost £100,000 out of banks and customers' accounts to pay gambling debts is facing jail. Raad Hajim, 49, from Darlington, applied for credit cards with hefty limits by lying about his annual income. A court heard yesterday

SINCE the weekend euphoria over John Reid's pronouncements on making information on paedophiles available to parents, the reins have been pulled in. The Home Secretary's decision to send a junior minister to America to learn lessons from "Megan's Law"

A PLAN to redevelop the site of a former television factory into a multi-million pound business park were last night welcomed by the County Durham Development Company (CDDC). The Northern Echo last week revealed plans, by Mandale Commercial, to build

BILLIONAIRE businessman and Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich was last night a step closer to acquiring an interest in Corus, which employs 3,000 people in the North-East. The Russian tycoon bought a 41 per cent stake in the Evraz Group, his

FUELS company D1 Oils announced last night that it had received its first shipment of vegetable oil at its Teesside base to be refined into environmentally-friendly biodiesel. The soya oil, from Brazil, will be refined at D1's Middlesbrough base, which

HOTELS group Aston said last night it was renaming one of its hotels in the region. The Sleep Inn Darlington, which the company owns and manages, will instead operate under the name Aston Hotel Darlington. The hotel, near Newton Aycliffe, will be rebranded

IN one respect, it was mission accomplished last night as England secured the point they needed to avoid a second-round meeting with World Cup hosts Germany.But, in so many others, it was catastrophe in Cologne as Sven-Goran Eriksson's side failed to

VICTIMS of asbestos-related cancer were last night celebrating after ministers announced a change in compensation.The move comes after a House of Lords ruling prevented thousands of victims getting a full payout.A legal victory by the insurance industry

A HIPPO-shaped paddling pool has played a crucial role in preventing a seaside tragedy. A lifeboat was called out when an object was spotted floating in the sea in North Bay, Scarborough, North Yorkshire.Coastguards feared the item was an upturned jet

China (BBC2): 'There are two Chinas. The familiar one, the one that is Beijing and Shanghai - and the other China." It was the 'other' China that was revealed in this enlightening documentary - the under-developed, almost backward China, where poverty

MIDDLESBROUGH are hoping to include Ray Parlour as part of a deal designed to lure Steed Malbranque to Teesside instead of Tyneside. Both Newcastle United and Boro have made inquiries about the creative Frenchman and are understood to have been encouraged

NEWCASTLE United striker Michael Owen's World Cup campaign appeared to be over last night as England failed to end a 38-year winless run against Sweden. The 2-2 draw means England top their group and so avoid Germany in the last 16, booking a Sunday game

A METAL fabrication company bought out of administration only two months ago has created ten jobs and is planning to break into new markets. Evenwood Industries was rescued in a management buyout by directors Stewart Maudsley and Duncan McDonald in April

A reorganisation of rural bus services is on the cards for the second time in seven months, it was announced last night. Durham County Council warned it would be forced to cut or reduce services to avoid a looming financial crisis. The council blamed

CRUMBLING schools across the region need £450m of repairs in the next five years, The Northern Echo can reveal. The figure is more than double the sum that was needed ten years ago, despite the Government spending millions to improve facilities. In 1996

ONE of the region's biggest employers was last night understood to be considering the sale of two of its regional operations. Huntsman, which saved thousands of jobs on Teesside after buying a large section of ICI's operations in 1999, was last night