BAA, the owner of Heathrow, was publicly shamed by the head of the global air travel industry yesterday over the “embarrassingly low service levels” at its airports.
Giovanni Bisignani, the director-general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), said that the only beneficiary of new security rules in Britain was BAA, which was scrimping on providing sufficient staff and equipment to clear security queues.
Mr Bisignani said that the rules, which restrict passengers to one piece of hand luggage and only small liquid containers, were of no practical use.
– The Times
Previously unseen videotape of the tragic end to the school siege at Beslan shows that a botched raid by the Russian security service triggered the slaughter, according to relatives of many of the victims.
The Beslan Mothers’ Committee said that the film contradicted official claims that a bomb detonated by Chechen terrorists inside the school sparked the chaos that led to the deaths of 344 people, half of them children. They said that the film proved that an explosion had taken place 20 minutes before a bomb went off inside the sports hall where more than 1,000 children and parents were being held hostage.
– The Times
Gordon Brown prepared the ground yesterday for the withdrawal of British troops from the frontline in Iraq.
The Prime Minister tried to redefine the relationship between Number 10 and the White House when he made clear that he would retain control of the timetable for British withdrawal regardless of America’s involvement.
– The Telegraph