United Kingdom

A primary school caretaker was remanded in custody on Friday on charges that he was behind a three-week spate of letter-bomb attacks that injured eight people in Britain. Banbury Magistrate’s Court, in south-central England, ordered Miles Cooper (27) held by the detention authorities until his next appearance in nearby Oxford Crown Court on March 2.

Britain’s Prince Harry is to serve in Iraq with his regiment as the first British royal to see active service for 25 years, the Ministry of Defence said on Thursday. The 22-year-old, who is third in line to the throne, is a second lieutenant in the Blues and Royals regiment, which will deploy to Iraq in May and June for six to seven months. His uncle, Prince Andrew, was the last British royal to be sent to the front line.

Former England captain David Beckham insisted on Wednesday that he is still hopeful of playing for his country despite his move to Los Angeles Galaxy this summer. Beckham was dropped by new manager Steve McLaren following last year’s World Cup and has so far not been used during the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign.

Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Wednesday that Britain would reduce its troop levels in Iraq by 1 600 over coming months, but its soldiers would stay in the country into 2008 as long as they were wanted. The planned withdrawal comes as British troops hand over responsibility for security in Iraq’s south-eastern region to Iraqi forces.

Prime Minister Tony Blair will on Wednesday announce a timetable for the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq just as thousands of additional United States troops are arriving there to try to restore order in Baghdad. Blair will make his announcement on the troop pull-out to Parliament in the afternoon, a government source said.

British police arrested a man in the eastern English city of Cambridge on Monday in connection with a series of letter-bomb attacks in the past few months. Police made the arrest, which they described as ”very significant” between 3am and 4am local time. They said the man was in his 20s.

Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov scored two goals each on Sunday to help Tottenham advance to the FA Cup quarterfinal with a 4-0 win over Fulham. Keane scored in the seventh and 68th minutes and Berbatov added goals in the 77th and 90th. Manchester City also advanced, beating League Championship team Preston 3-1.

British actor Ralph Fiennes was a ”10 out of 10”, the Australian flight attendant who had sex with him on a flight to India said in an interview with the Sunday Mirror, but added that Fiennes turned his back on her in the wake of the scandal.

A British university has become the first in the country to offer a degree for funeral directors, it said on Friday. The course at Bath University, in south-west England, will cover everything from bereavement counselling to the disposal of remains. Organisers say it is necessary because traditional funerals are dying out in Britain.

The United Kingdom on Wednesday rejected charges it is failing children after the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) ranked the country as the worst among 21 rich countries for children’s well-being. A government spokesperson said much of the data used by Unicef was outdated and failed to reflect recent successes in Britain.

A British teenager had a full English breakfast tattooed on to his head on Friday — including bacon, eggs, sausages, beans and a full set of cutlery. Nineteen-year-old Dayne Gilbey, from Coventry in central England, spent six hours under the needle of tattoo artist Blane Dickinson after answering an add for a willing victim.

British police said on Friday they had arrested a 48-year-old man who claimed to have sent one of a series of letter bombs to hit the country in recent weeks. Anton Setchell, the police national coordinator for domestic extremism, said the man had been detained on Thursday under the Mental Health Act after he called a radio station to claim responsibility for a letter bomb.

British prosecutors charged a man on Friday with seeking to kidnap and kill a member of the armed forces as part of an alleged terrorist plot apparently aimed against Muslims who had served with British troops in Iraq. Parviz Khan (36) was one of five charged with various terrorism-related offences. All were due to appear before magistrates in central London later on Friday.

A letter bomb exploded at Britain’s vehicle-licensing agency on Wednesday, injuring six people, in a spate of attacks targeting motoring-related organisations. Police said seven devices had been sent through the mail in the last three weeks, including three bombs in the last three days.

A woman was injured on Wednesday in an explosion at Britain’s vehicle licensing agency, the third attack in three days on motoring-related agencies or companies. Police refused to confirm the nature of the explosion, but the BBC News reported that a parcel bomb had exploded at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency in Swansea, Wales.

Umpire Darrell Hair is suing both the International Cricket Council and the Pakistan Cricket board, claiming racial discrimination after he was prevented from appearing at Test matches, the BBC reported on Wednesday. Though Hair’s contract as a top official runs until 2008, he is now only allowed to officiate matches between non-Test nations.