Hello, Peter here. It is very shocking to see the news in Mumbai. Gunmen have been cleared from one of Mumbai's hotels, India's security chief says, as operations continue at another top hotel and a Jewish centre. It is a really worrying time for friends and families.
Former England cricket captain, Michael Vaughan, revealed he and the rest of the performance squad would have been in the hotel when it came under siege but for a late change of plans. "All our white Test kit is in one of the rooms at the Taj Mahal," said Vaughan in his Daily Telegraph column. "This week I was due to be in Mumbai with the rest of England's high performance squad. It was only at the last minute that our training camp was switched to Bangalore. Pietersen admitted the players had been taken aback by events and that the decision to fly home was correct. "The walk that those guys have taken is very fresh in our memories. I've stayed there (the Taj Mahal Hotel) a couple of times - it's a wonderful hotel and Mumbai's a wonderful spot, so it's really sad to see what is happening." England captain Kevin Pietersen insists none of his players will be forced to return to India for the two-Test series after the terror attacks in Mumbai. On Friday, Indian officials i! nsisted the series would go ahead and moved the second Test from Mumbai to Chennai. But Pietersen told the BBC: "We will make every effort to come back for the Tests, but at the end of the day if it's not safe we won't be coming back. One of the hotels attacked was the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai, where the England squad stayed a fortnight ago and were due to return to on 16 December. Glamorous Newcomer to Coronation Street On a lighter note, Former Dynasty star Stephanie Beacham will join the cast of Coronation Street in January as a potential love interest for soap stalwart Ken Barlow. The 61-year-old, seen last year on the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing, will play Martha, a slightly eccentric theatre actress who lives on a canal barge. According to ITV, Ken and Martha's relationship begins "as a friendship born out of similar cultural interests. This weekends Strictly Come Dancing sees the competition hotting up with every couple presenting two dances each instead of one. Tipsy Toes! Late night revellers in a Devon resort are being offered flip-flops to help them get home. Police in Torquay say it makes it easier for women, rather than struggling along in high heels. Campaigners The Taxpayers' Alliance said the £30,000 cost of the scheme was an "idiotic waste of money". Police say it is part of a wider package of the measures including advice on safer sex and a police team who have reduced crime. The flip-flops, which will be given out from December, will have messages about safe alcohol limits printed on them. The footwear will be paid for by £30,000 of funding secured from the Home Office by Safer Communities Torbay, an alliance of local authority, police and health services. The scheme is the latest late-night policing idea in Torbay where mop cops order people who urinate in the street to clean up after themselves. Matthew Elliott of the Taxpayers' Alliance said: "This is an idiotic waste of money. Do you think these types of initiati! ves are a good idea? I would like to hear your views. I hope you will join me on Monday for my BBC Humberside weekday radio show on 95.9FM, 1485AM and DAB at 12 noon and I will be keeping you up to date with news on Look North at 6.30pm every weekday evening. If you would like to catch up with my radio show, it is available on listen again at bbc.co.uk/Humberside. Enjoy the weekend. Take care Peter And for the latest news and more where you live, go to: http://bbc.co.uk/humber and http://bbc.co.uk/lincolnshire ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the BBC Look North newsletter, go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/england/looknorthhull/newsletter/newsletter_index.shtml, enter your email address in the unsubscribe box. Your email address will be held by the BBC and kept confidential, and will only be used in relation to this newsletter. You will be given the option to unsubscribe from this newsletter each time you receive it. Please visit the BBC's Privacy & Cookies Policy (www.bbc.co.uk/privacy) for more information.
