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British networks reject jihad comedy

LONDON, Sept. 23 (UPI) -- A British TV creator said networks have refused his idea for a comedy about would-be suicide bombers, but the project may find legs as a film.

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Chris Morris, who rose to fame as the creator and star of controversial Channel 4 comedy "Brass Eye," said BBC and Channel 4 have rejected his proposal for a comedy about jihadists in the North of London on the grounds that it was deemed unsuitable for prime time audiences.

Mark Herbert, from Warp Films, which produced the TV project, said Morris had carefully researched the product to ensure it would not be offensive to Muslims.

"Chris's research has been meticulous. It is fatwa-proof," he said.

A Channel 4 spokesman said the program had been given consideration, but it was decided that it would work better as a film under the company's movie-developing wing, Film4.

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"It was agreed at a very early stage that the project would work best as a film and from this point was developed through Film4," the spokesman said.


Woman kept off plane by long name

LONDON, Sept. 23 (UPI) -- A Swedish woman said she was refused entry onto a budget jet in England because her name was too long to fit on a boarding pass.

Ulrika Ortegren-Karjenmaki said she was attempting to board a Ryanair jet at Stansted Airport with her daughter when she was told she would not be able to board because her name was too long to fit on the boarding pass and the dots over certain letters in her name invalidated the ticket, The Sun reported.

Ortegren-Karjenmaki said she had to pay $256 for a flight the next day, only to be faced with the same problem. However, she said this time an alternative pass was issued and she was allowed to board the plane.

"I did not receive any explanation," she said.

Ryanair said it is considering offering compensation to the woman.


Teacher cleared in porn incident

FLOYD, Va., Sept. 23 (UPI) -- A Floyd County, Va., school district has cleared a teacher of any wrongdoing after students at an assembly were mistakenly shown a pornographic video.

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Superintendent Terry Arbogast said in a letter sent home with parents and posted on the district Web site that pornography was downloaded "in the summer time, off school grounds, during non-school hours," and that the accused teacher, Students Against Destructive Decisions adviser Stan Hawkins, "did not have any knowledge of this occurring," the Roanoke (Va.) Times reported.

Hawkins was found not to be at fault for the incident during the Sept. 15 assembly. Students Against Drunk Driving members were supposed to have viewed a film on drunken driving but instead viewed the pornographic video "by default" when the DVD malfunctioned, Arbogast said. The video played for about five seconds.

Arbogast said Hawkins, a history teacher and assistant football coach, was suspended after the incident, but he "anticipated" the teacher would return.


Iraq vet cited for discarded french fry

LONDON, Sept. 23 (UPI) -- A discarded french fry turned into a $150 dispute for a British Iraq War veteran who allegedly dropped the food illegally in a McDonald's parking lot.

Ex-British Army officer Ian Tomlinson, 43, says he was enjoying lunch in his car at his local McDonald's in North London when a community policing officer marched up and issued him a fine, the British tabloid The Sun reported.

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"I was gobsmacked," said Tomlinson, who last served with the Duke of Wellington's Regiment in 2005 and is now a British Ministry of Transportation inspector. "I asked if she didn't have better things to do. With all this knife crime and teenage murders, what is she achieving by staking out McDonald's for litterbugs?"

Tomlinson maintained his innocence, saying some french fries lying on the ground near his car were not his.

"I will demand CCTV footage from the car park," he told The Sun. "I'm innocent."

No comments from police officials were included in the newspaper article.

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