The National Union of Journalists has been cleared of any deliberate act after a disabled delegate at its 2000 conference claimed the union had tried to poison her and had committed substantial acts of discrimination.
The union was ordered to pay £6,700 compensation to Ju Gosling, after she claimed £650,000 at a tribunal under the Disability Discrimination Act. The hearing said the union had been the victim of unfortunate circumstances.

An appeal in the Bury Times has resulted in new homes being found for 26 kittens.
RCPCA staff were inundated with inquiries after the paper reported how a box with five kittens in it was found in the car park at Asda, in Pilworth. Two of them are to be rehomed in Scotland.

The Guardian Media Group, publisher of the Manchester Evening News, has unveiled its plans to run a 24-hour news and talk radio station.
The company would appoint a team of more than 20 journalists and presenters and use its existing resources at the MEN and Channel M television in the city.

A Bournemouth-based freelance journalist has recalled her meeting with the “very tough” aid worker Margaret Hassan, who is now being held hostage in Iraq.
Christine Aziz visited Mrs Hassan’s office in Baghdad five years ago while working on a story about how sanctions were affecting Iraqi women.

The Greenock Telegraph is calling for paralympian Margaret McEleny to be given the freedom of Inverclyde.
She won a 50m breaststroke silver medal in Athens to complete her comeback after eight operations last year for kidney, abdominal and breathing problems. The campaign has received backing from politicians and community leaders and the general public.

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