News Headlines - 20 August 2011

▽Birmingham riots EXCLUSIVE: Gang tried to shoot down police helicopter - Birmingham Mail
http://www.birminghammail.net/news/top-stories/2011/08/20/birmingham-riots-exclusive-gang-tried-to-shoot-down-police-helicopter-97319-29269644/
At least eight shots were fired at police and officers dived for cover inside their van as trouble flared outside the Bartons Arms, in Newtown, in the early hours of Wednesday August, 10.
In a chilling development, the Birmingham Mail has now learned that detectives believe the helicopter was also shot at as it hovered overhead.

▽Riot shooting footage raises fears that violence was organised - The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/aug/20/riot-shooting-footage-violence-organised
It is believed to be the first evidence that police came under fire during the riots and has heightened concerns that some of the seemingly random violence and looting was conducted by organised criminal gangs.

▽More openness urged over oil leaks - The Press Association
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5goS5BeuGEQCD5A2FYWJJVqZF_G1Q?docId=N0496461313857730106A
More than 200 tonnes of oil spilled into the water after a leak from a flowline to Shell's Gannet Alpha platform, about 112 miles east of Aberdeen.
Divers closed the leaking valve on Friday, more than a week after the spill was detected on August 10.

▽Stagecoach founders net £88m windfall - The Independent
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/stagecoach-founders-net-16388m-windfall-2340955.html
Sir Brian Souter and his sister Ann Gloag, the founders of Stagecoach, will receive £51m and £37m respectively from a scheme to return cash to shareholders unveiled by the transport company yesterday.
In total, Stagecoach, which runs bus and rail services across the UK as well as a burgeoning US operation, will return £340m of cash to shareholders. Investors will be given a choice of taking the money, worth 47p a share, via a special dividend or as a capital gain.

▽Climate change driving species out of habitats much faster than expected - The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/aug/18/climate-change-species-habitats
Animals and plants have adapted to warming by moving regions up to three times faster than previously thought, report shows