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Some 48 members of the Order of the Solar Temple, a minor religious cult, were found dead in Switzerland, on October 5 1994, having apparently committed suicide. Some 23 bodies were found in Cheiry and a further 25 in Granges- sur-Salvan. There had been suffocation and shootings. These deaths follow those of two others in a duplex in Quebec, Canada, which was burnt out, next to a house belonging to Luc Jouret, the founder of the sect.

Anna Pasternak, 27-year-old journalist has written a 192 page book, published by Bloomsbury on October 3 1994, about an alleged affair between Diana, Princess of Wales and 36-year-old Major James Hewitt, a former member of the Household Cavalry. Some 75,000 copies, at 14.99 pounds sterling each are believed to have been sold on the first day of publication, and further copies are being printed. Hewitt has been banned from barracks for bringing his regiment into disrepute.

A UK High Court judge has ordered the former solicitor of Frederick West, charged with a number of murders, Howard Ogden, to give in letters, tapes and other property of his former client by August 15 1994. The temporary order also prohibits Ogden from disclosing details of conversations with West. Ogden claims he had an agreement with West whereby West gave up his right to confidentiality and allowed Ogden use of his property, but West claims to have requested Ogden not to break confidentiality when he was sacked. Ogden denies rumours that the agreement covered a book or film on West.

An accident on the water chute at Coney Beach Pleasure Park in Porthcawl, UK, caused the death of 9-year-old Timothy Morgan and a number of injuries. The carriage in which Timothy was seated with his father and brother was hit by a lighting hoop while travelling at speed, throwing him onto a roof below. Most amusement parks had closed their rides, due to strong winds, which reached gale force in South Wales. The Health and Safety Executive has begun an investigation into the reasons for the tragedy. Timothy's is the eleventh UK amusement park death since 1986, and the first at Coney Beach.

UK prisoners in a Japanese Prisoner of war camp had an amazingly high morale at Christmas 1944. The chaplins were good at keeping up the prisoners' spirits. Acarol service was held on December 25 1944 in the morning and, after work, a concert party was held in the afternoon. Harold Payne, a UK lieutenant, who lost 7 stones during his internment, remembers beatings, sickness without treatment, starvation, and executions for attempted escape, and still has nightmares.

Caroline, Duchess of Beaufort, traveller and charity worker, 66-year-old wife of the fifth ranking UK duke, is suffering from terminal cancer of the pancreas. She has already achieved her ambition of making a trip to the Himalayas and now plans to go white-water rafting and see the mountain gorillas in Uganda. She also plans to carry on fundraising for 76 charities. The Duchess is fond of cricket, once foiled a burglar, and has participated in a fundraising abseiling stunt. She is not in much pain, but tires easily, and could have a further two years to live, but is uncertain.

Drug trafficking through Stansted, Heathrow and Gatwick airports in London, England, can only be stopped, if every air passenger is searched, according to Customs officers. Customs made 1,724 drug seizures in FY1993-94, up from 1,637 in FY1992-93. Drugs seized in 1993-94 were worth a record 75 million pounds sterling, compared to 70.8 million pounds sterling in 1992-93. Customs destroyed around 70 organized drug gangs in 1993-94.

The recent bomb attack on the Israeli Embassy in London, which injured 14 people and badly damaged the building, was the work of pro-Iranian extremists, according to experts in the UK and Moshe Raviv, the Israeli Ambassador to London. An investigation will now be made into how a woman terrorist was able to drive a car carrying the bomb into a car park adjacent to the building without being stopped by security staff. Some observers are linking the attack to a recent bombing in Argentina, in which 96 people were killed.

An eight month trial costing an estimated 10 million pounds sterling has led to the conviction of five members of a paedophile ring. The men, who faced a total of 33 charges, were found guilty of subjecting children to systematic abuse in the Dyfed area. Some of the paedophiles included the victims' parents. 10 children gave evidence to the court through a video link.

The UK Dept. of Health has sent information about necrotising fasciitis, which has caused six deaths, to hospitals and health laboratories. It is believed to be caused by the streptococcus bacterium, which destroys tissue and muscle. Christopher Bartlett, Dir. of the Public Health Laboratory Service communicable disease surveillance centre stressed that there was no cause for undue concern. The bacteria can be treated with penicillin if caught in time. People should consult their doctors if they run a high temperature and have painful limbs.

French police have arrested Patrick Alesworth, a doctor from Aylesbury, UK, wanted for questioning by UK police, after his daughter was found battered to death. The arrest took place on Apr. 14, 1994, after the body of 20-year-old Sarah and their family spaniel, were found by her mother shortly before 4 pm. on Apr. 13, 1994, in their house. Gas had also been switched on. Patrick Alesworth set off in his wife's car following an argument. Thames Valley Police have travelled to France to interview the doctor, whose car was recognised by a passenger on the overnight ferry to St Malo.

UK consultants should reduce their fees for operations, following a ruling by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission (MMC). It ordered the British Medical Assn (BMA) to withdraw its recommended price list for over 1,500 types of surgery, with UK costs averaging 170% more than in France. Some 12,000 of the 19,000 UK consultants work privately, with around 3,400 of them charging in line with BMA guidelines. The MMC also demanded that patients should be informed of costs before treatment. The changes should also reduce the costs of Bupa and other healthcare insurers.

Somerset County Council's ban on the Quantock Staghounds has been removed by Mr Justice Laws, High Court judge. The council had voted to ban deer hunting on Over Stowey Customs Common. However, the councillors were found to have exceeded their authority by imposing a moral judgement on the hunting, which they thought was 'morally repugnant'. Nine in 10 people want blood sports to be made illegal.

A UK Defence Ministry file released to the Public Record Office has revealed that former SS officer, Wilhelm Mohnke, ordered the massacre of over 80 UK prisoners of war in May 1940. He commanded the 2nd Battalion Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler Regiment, and the outrage took place in Wormhoudt, near Dunkirk, France. The report, written by a member of the War Crimes Interrogation Unit, dates from Mar 1947. UK veterans are calling for Mohnke, now aged 82 and on an army pension, to be brought to justice, but official German enquiries in Dec 1993, claimed that there was inadequate evidence against him.

Volumes of alcohol and cigarettes imported illegally for resale in the UK have become so great that Customs and Excise officers have resorted to disposal in land-fill sites. Customs officers in Dover confiscated over 10 tons of wine, beer and spirits in Dec 1993, with the single market facilitating imports. Before disposal the drink is kept in so-called Queen's Warehouses, while the incinerators used to destroy the drink are called the Queen's Pipe. Customs officers try to follow some smugglers rather than arresting them at the port, so they can find out others involved.