WHAT HAPPENED ON 21st December 1996?

20th December 1996

What People were saying on

"Prince Philip had no intention whatsoever of causing offence or distress to anyone & he is sorry if he has done so."

Buckingham Palace commenting in the wake of The Duke of Edinburgh's comments on gun clubs

"A judge's life is a desperate attempt to keep your head below the parapet."

Mr Justice Rougier

"Thoughts of marriage & children are far off. Perhaps I will become a nun who knows?"

Liz Hurley

21st December 1996

MAN ARRESTED IN IRA HOSPITAL SHOOTING

A man has been arrested in connection with the IRA shooting of a policeman guarding the Democratic Unionist Party secretary Nigel Dodds. Two men wearing dark wigs opened fire while Mr Dodds was visiting his son at the children's hospital in Belfast. But the IRA said police bodyguards not Mr Dodds were the target. One of the three policemen is reported to have been slightly injured in the foot by the gunfire.

21st December 1996

SHOOTING COULD MARK RETURN TO VIOLENCE

The IRA shooting at a Belfast children's hospital could activate a loyalist return to violence a leading Unionist politician has warned. PUP leader David Ervine said he would do everything in his power to prevent a loyalist paramilitary backlash but doubted whether he would succeed. Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams said he personally regretted the incident while accepting that the IRA was targeting the RUC aod not councillor Nigel Dodds of the DUP.

20th December 1996

RIFKIND CONDEMNS CHINESE HONG KONG PLAN

The Foreign Secretary has condemned China's plan to effectively appoint a new legislature for Hong Kong. Malcolm Rifkind referred to a "serious setback" for democratic government. He said Britain would monitor the situation & was prepared to take the case to the International Court of Justice if necessary. The Chinese Ambassador was summoned to the Foreign Office yesterday to underline Britain's concern.

21st December 1996

MAN ARRESTED IN IRA HOSPITAL SHOOTING

A man has been arrested in connection with the IRA shooting of a policeman guarding the Democratic Unionist Party secretary Nigel Dodds. Two men wearing dark wigs opened fire while Mr Dodds was visiting his son at the children's hospital in Belfast. But the IRA said police bodyguards not Mr Dodds were the target. One of the three policemen is reported to have been slightly injured in the foot by the gunfire.

21st December 1996

CHINA APPOINTS OWN HONG KONG GOVERNMENT

Britain has reacted angrily after China ignored warnings & appointed a new legislature for Hong Kong. Governor Chris Patten has dubbed the process a "bizarre farce" & said it was a setback for democracy. All but one of the 34 existing assembly members will be on the body but Hong Kong's biggest political party the Democratic Party is not represented. "The people were promised step-by-step democracy here " Mr Patten insisted.

20th December 1996

SOMALIA Some 1 500 people have been admitted to hospitals in Mogadishu in the past week following fierce fighting between rival factions & 132 have died from their wounds. EGYPT President Hosni Mubarak's wife has said she is willing to play a personal role in the campaign to combat female circumcision in the country. FRANCE Imports of live cattle have been suspended from Switzerland because of an outbreak of mad cow disease. There have been 230 BSE cases recorded in Switzerland so far.

21st December 1996

MAN ARRESTED IN IRA HOSPITAL SHOOTING

A man has been arrested in connection with the IRA shooting of a policeman guarding the Democratic Unionist Party secretary Nigel Dodds. Two men wearing dark wigs opened fire while Mr Dodds was visiting his son at the children's hospital in Belfast. But the IRA said police bodyguards not Mr Dodds were the target. One of the three policemen is reported to have been slightly injured in the foot by the gunfire.

21st December 1996

SHOOTING COULD MARK RETURN TO VIOLENCE

The IRA shooting at a Belfast children's hospital could activate a loyalist return to violence a leading Unionist politician has warned. PUP leader David Ervine said he would do everything in his power to prevent a loyalist paramilitary backlash but doubted whether he would succeed. Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams said he personally regretted the incident while accepting that the IRA was targeting the RUC aod not councillor Nigel Dodds of the DUP.

20th December 1996

I am sure the shooting community along

with everyone else on Christmas morning will say a prayer for the Dunblane parents facing up to Christmas without their children. The fact remains that if senior Scottish police had put the advice of their officers in the field to revoke Hamilton's licence ` before the possible expense to their budget of a High Court appeal ` then the children would still be with us today. AE Upcott Hertford

21st December 1996

MAN ARRESTED IN IRA HOSPITAL SHOOTING

A man has been arrested in connection with the IRA shooting of a policeman guarding the Democratic Unionist Party secretary Nigel Dodds. Two men wearing dark wigs opened fire while Mr Dodds was visiting his son at the children's hospital in Belfast. But the IRA said police bodyguards not Mr Dodds were the target. One of the three policemen is reported to have been slightly injured in the foot by the gunfire.

21st December 1996

MAN QUIZZED ON WIDOW'S MURDER RELEASED

A 37-year-old man arrested by detectives hunting the sex killer of widow Alice Rye has been freed on police bail. The 74-year-old mother of three was bound stabbed through the heart & left semi-naked in a guest bedroom of her luxury home in Spital Wirral. She was found tied up & stabbed 11 days ago. Police are appealing for a schoolboy seen near the scene to come forward.

20th December 1996

COURT Radio host Peter Hetherington has been jailed for five years for abusing young boys over a 30-year period. The Wearside presenter with Great North Radio had denied 13 charges. TRAINS The RMT union has called another one-day strike on ScotRail for December 31. It will be the 10th day of action in a row over disciplinary action. NEGLECT Diane Bogg & Paul Pattinson of Warrington who went on holiday leaving their three children with virtual strangers in their filthy home have been given three years' probation.

21st December 1996

MAN ARRESTED IN IRA HOSPITAL SHOOTING

A man has been arrested in connection with the IRA shooting of a policeman guarding the Democratic Unionist Party secretary Nigel Dodds. Two men wearing dark wigs opened fire while Mr Dodds was visiting his son at the children's hospital in Belfast. But the IRA said police bodyguards not Mr Dodds were the target. One of the three policemen is reported to have been slightly injured in the foot by the gunfire.

21st December 1996

SHOOTING COULD MARK RETURN TO VIOLENCE

The IRA shooting at a Belfast children's hospital could activate a loyalist return to violence a leading Unionist politician has warned. PUP leader David Ervine said he would do everything in his power to prevent a loyalist paramilitary backlash but doubted whether he would succeed. Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams said he personally regretted the incident while accepting that the IRA was targeting the RUC aod not councillor Nigel Dodds of the DUP.

20th December 1996

I'm a small 'u' Unionist. I believe in

federal unions of Britain Europe and ultimately the world (but that's a dream I'll never see). So long as Europe is democratic (it's the Tories who've prevented greater European democracy) it's the most efficient way of governing Europe & creating a truly single market for all our benefit. Alan Grimes Farnham

21st December 1996

MAN ARRESTED IN IRA HOSPITAL SHOOTING

A man has been arrested in connection with the IRA shooting of a policeman guarding the Democratic Unionist Party secretary Nigel Dodds. Two men wearing dark wigs opened fire while Mr Dodds was visiting his son at the children's hospital in Belfast. But the IRA said police bodyguards not Mr Dodds were the target. One of the three policemen is reported to have been slightly injured in the foot by the gunfire.

21st December 1996

SHOOTING COULD MARK RETURN TO VIOLENCE

The IRA shooting at a Belfast children's hospital could activate a loyalist return to violence a leading Unionist politician has warned. PUP leader David Ervine said he would do everything in his power to prevent a loyalist paramilitary backlash but doubted whether he would succeed. Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams said he personally regretted the incident while accepting that the IRA was targeting the RUC aod not councillor Nigel Dodds of the DUP.