METRO Friday, November 13, 2009 D METRODigest A NEW YORK teenager accused of robbery has been cleared of all charges... after providing a Facebook alibi. Rodney Bradford spent 12 days in Rikers Island prison after being arrested on suspicion of holding up two people close to his home in Brooklyn. But the 19-year-old was only released after an update on the social networking site placed him at his fathers flat across town in Harlem. The message was placed one minute before the robbery occurred. It it wasnt for Facebook, Id still be on Rikers Island, he said. A CLEAN-UP operation got under way yesterday after heavy rains caused flooding in several counties the previous night. Heavy rainfall swept the country for a number of hours yesterday, with the south and east worst affected. Met ireann said while the volume of rainfall was not unusual for the time of the year, it fell over a short period of time, causing flash floods. Cork was badly affected while there was also flash flooding in Co Waterford, but it was confined to areas prone to such incidents. Galway, Kilkenny and Waterford also saw flooding Met ireann forecaster Michael McAuliffe warned more wet weather was on the way. Clean-up begins after heavy rainfall CANCER campaigners today called for more tax on a packet of cigarettes to fund a major crackdown on tobacco smuggling. The Irish Cancer Society believes the extra tax would hit the sale of legal brands and cover a campaign to stop criminals bringing in black market cigarettes. Kathleen OMeara, of the ICS, said their proposed price increase in the Budget would raise an extra 200million in taxes. The investment based on a UK model, required 5million per annum to fund a concerted anti-tobacco smuggling strategy and reduce the smuggled cigarette market by one third, thereby saving the exchequer 130million annually in previously lost revenue, Cigarette tax will stop black market THE search for a small aircraft reported crashed in Northern Ireland was due to resume this morning. A large part of Co Fermanagh was combed by police and coastguard helicopters, mountain rescuers and firefighters after the alert was raised early yesterday. St Angelo Airport near Enniskillen is understood to have received the original call. As well as a reported sighting, several local people said they heard a loud bang in the area at around 10am. The operation was declared a major incident and support units from outside the area teamed up with local emergency services. The search, over a wide area from Enniskillen northwards to Belleek and from Lower Lough Erne westwards to the border, was hampered by fierce weather and poor visibility conditions. Search for missing plane to continue Cost of living falls as State fees riseBy ed cartyTHE cost of living continued to fall last month with prices now down 6.6 per cent in the last year. Official figures showed the annual rate of inflation has dropped steadily every month this year. The main movers were clothing, footwear and household goods and repairs which decreased because of sales while transport fell because of lower petrol and diesel prices. The Central Statistics Office showed education fees had risen by ten per cent and health service prices were up by three per cent. Despite the falling costs, Fine Gaels Richard Bruton claimed state- regulated charges were increasing, while others fell. The Government needs to end the rip-off and improve our national competitiveness by cutting costs and prices, particularly electricity, edu- cation, transport and health, Mr Bruton said. The head of the Irish Small & Me- dium Enterprises Association, Mark Fielding also called on the Govern- ment to address its costs, including public sector pay, local authority charges, energy and waste. BRACE YOURSELF Katherine thomas launched the Special Olympics Savana bracelet yesterday. Proceeds from sales go to Special Olympics Irelands programme for people with disabilities Picture: Marc OSullivan index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html24.html25.html26.html27.html28.html29.html30.html31.html