The Friday Round-Up, Week 7

Hello, and welcome to this week's edition of The Friday Round-Up!

In the news this week:

UK


GEORGE Osborne has set out a plan for economic growth in the Chancellor's annual Budget which was announced on Wednesday.

Motorists were celebrating when the Budget revealed the planned increase in fuel duty would be scrapped and instead fuel duty would be cut by 1p a litre. However, experts soon discovered that duty would then increase by 3p a litre from January 1st 2012, and by 6p a litre from August 2012. On top of this, the new VAT rate of 20% means that fuel prices are still set to rise.

Oil companies face a £2 million windfall tax to pay for the temporary cuts to fuel duty.

SCOTLAND Yard's detectives made basic errors that left Night Stalker, Delroy Grant, free to sexually attack his elderly victims.

Grant was convicted of 29 counts of rape, sexual assault and burglary on Thursday. The Metropolitan Police released a statement saying they were "deeply sorry" for not arresting the rapist, known as the Night Stalker, in 1999 when his car was seen outside a victim's house.

SIAN O'Callaghan's body was found on Thursday after she went missing from her home last weekend. Police are now hunting for a second murder victim after suspect Chris Halliwell, who was arrested yesterday, told officers the location of Sian's and another victim's body.

World


TWENTY people have died after Syrian police opened fire on protesters in Deraa. President Bashar al-Assad has promised to make serious reforms as pro-democracy demonstrators continue to rise up against the repressive regime.

ELIZABETH Taylor has died after a long history of heart troubles and ill health. The actress passed away on Wednesday. She was being treated for congestive heart failure.

Also in the news


KNUT, the polar bear famously raised by humans, has died aged only four years old.

That's all from this week's Friday Round-Up! Keep watching the blog for updates.

IB