METRO Friday, November 20, 2009 D METRODigest StiNg has claimed he once confronted a ghost which wandered into his room at the dead of night. the singer, who famously sang Spirits in the Material World in the 1980s, said wife trudie Styler also witnessed the figure, standing with a child in the corner of their bedroom. Sting said he also experienced flying objects and mysterious voices in one of his homes in an interview to be aired by BBC radio. He said: i would never have said i believe in ghosts, until i saw one and ive seen a ghost with my own eyes. A NEW report from the Ombudsman for Children has revealed 118 children separated from their parents and seeking asylum in ireland are housed in seven hostels with no care staff on duty after 5pm. the report said the centres did not meet the standards stipulated in the Child Care Act 1991 and other child protection legislation, and were not subject to examination by the Health and information Quality Authority. Speaking about the 175 separated children currently in care, Ombudsman for Children Emily Logan said: Separated children are entitled to the same treatment and rights as nationals or resident children. they should be treated as children first and foremost. Asylum-seeking children not cared for tWO MEN have been sentenced at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to 12 and 14 years imprisonment for their involvment with a drugs cache valued at more than 2million. Cannabis resin was found by garda in 14 boxes split between a Ford transit van and an Opel Astra car in Browns Barn car park. the two men were arrested nearby. William Hynes,43, of Park Close, Dunshaughlin, Co Meath and John Mangan,41, of Whitestown green, Blanchardstown, were found guilty of conspiring with others to possess cannabis resin and conspiring with others to possess the drug for sale or supply. Judge McCartan noted both men were deeply involved in the drugs trade. Two men jailed after 2m drugs haul A BOMB discovered in Northern ireland was intended to kill police officers. the device, found in Armagh city after a member of the public raised the alert, was confirmed as a viable explosive device and made safe. District Com- mander Chief Superintendent Alasdair Robinson said: i have no doubt the aim was to kill police officers. Dissident Republican groups opposed to the peace process have launched repeated attempts to kill police. But Mr Robinson said the latest murder bid would not de- ter police from serving the community. A car bomb in east Belfast last month injured a police officers girlfriend. He was not in the vehicle when the device exploded. Earlier this year, the Real iRA shot dead two soldiers outside the Massereene Army barracks. Bomb in North was targeting police 20% of us are behind with bill paymentsBy ed cartyA FIFTH of all households are behind with at least one of their bills, according to a poverty survey published yesterday. The study showed people on lower in- comes were more likely to be in arrears on mortgage, rent or utility charges while the better paid were late with credit card and overdraft payments. The Monetary Advice and Budgetary Service (Mabs) said it was dealing with more than 8,000 cases of personal debt to lenders this year and one in three peo- ple using its service has a mortgage, spokesman Michael Culloty said. Mabs has had 23,000 calls to its help- desk in the first nine months this year and more than 17,200 face-to-face meet- ings with clients. Mr Culloty said many people under financial strain put off paying utility bills to focus on mounting mortgage repayments. In effect its like borrowing from Peter to pay Paul, he warned. The Central Statistics Office survey on Income and Living Conditions also found one in seven people were at risk of poverty, down from one in six in 2007 and the average household had 940 per week disposable income. It also found almost one in five chil- dren are at risk of poverty; one quarter of the population suffered some form of deprivation where they could not af- ford one of 11 specified basic items and consistent poverty rate was 4.2 per cent where people are living on less than 12,455 and could not afford two items. The Government has aimed to get the poverty rate below four per cent by 2012 but with social welfare cuts expected in the Budget that may prove difficult. Anna Visser, director of the European Anti-Poverty Network Ireland, warned the CSO survey was already out of date. There were 170,000 people on the live register in December 2007 while there are now 423,000 people signing on. The statistics are not reflecting the current impact of the crisis, Ms Visser said. index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html