City news in 250 words

POLICE have raided 17 addresses in Longsight in a bid to crackdown on gun crime. Nine suspects have been arrested and a replica gun has been siezed following the raids. Police believe some of the suspects are members of L-Town, a splinter group of the notorious Longsight Crew.

A MANCHESTER CHURCH is unable to fund its damaged roof after thieves stripped it to steal the copper. Parishioners at St Andrew's Church, Brownley Road, Wythenshawe spent three years raising £26,000 to repair the roof which thieves then ruined back in May. Now, the insurance company claims the copper roof isn't covered because it's classed as an 'external metal fitting'. Rev David Brown believed the buildings' insurance would cover the £68,500 cost of a replacement.

A PSYCHOLOGIST who believes that Marmite could end the Arab-Israeli conflict is coming to Manchester. Edward de Bono believes zinc-rich foods such as Marmite could be beneficial to Israelis and Palestinians, who have a low-zinc diet. He has now been hired to launch the Centre for Serious Creativity and Constructive Thinking in a deal with Manchester Metropolitan University's institute of education. The aim is to give trainee teachers the ability to think creatively.

CITY MIDFIELDER, Did Hamann believes if he and his team mates stick together they should expect a win against Hull on Sunday. He told mcfc.co.uk: “I said after Newcastle that if you work hard, play as a team you will get the good results. If we keep playing as we know we can then we should be ok.”