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Tues - June 8 -

FROZEN ZONE: Frank Gardner is being guarded by armed police guards as he lays unconscious in a Riyadh hospital because there was evidence, according to UK Channel 4 News, that Gardner had been deliberately targeted.

BBC sources said he received about nine bullet wounds. He reportedly remains unconscious (perhaps that a mercy) in critical but now stabilized condition.

An English-language Saudi newspaper described the Riyadh neighbourhood of Suweidi, where the shooting took place, as home to 15 of the 26 most wanted terror suspects in the country, including al-Qaida's leader in Saudi Arabia, Abdel-Aziz al-Moqrin.

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OBITUARY: Simon Cumbers

Simon Cumbers, who has been shot and killed at the age of 36, took his good humour and patience to many of the world's trouble spots.

He downplayed his talent with easy charm and an unassuming manner. His technical skills were outclassed only by his humour. "With Simon, you almost forgot you were working," a BBC colleague said.

Another colleague remembers him turning a wretched trip to the Falklands, Chile and Argentina into a thoroughly enjoyable adventure...

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