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http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/5292236.stm	The International Cricket Council has cancelled a board meeting about the controversial end of the England v Pakistan Test at The Oval. Hair offered to resign in an e-mail to his boss, Doug Cowie It was thought officials would also discuss the position of Darrell Hair, the umpire at the centre of the row. The meeting was due to take place in Dubai next weekend. But ICC president Percy Sonn said it was now clear the directors already had an "understanding" of the issues and a meeting was not therefore necessary. It was thought the executive board would also have discussed whether they had the power to over-rule the umpires decision to forfeit the Test. But Sonn said: "There has been much speculation over the past few days about whether the executive board has the power to overturn a properly-laid charge by the umpires. "That speculation would only be bound to intensify ahead of the weekend and so, by cancelling the meeting, it will allow everyone to get off that particular topic and focus on the cricket to be played this week instead. "The original intention was to seek legal advice concerning the executive board's powers, but I do not believe it is necessary to obtain that advice - we have processes in place to deal with code of conduct matters and we should not seek to interfere with it." The controversy began when Hair and fellow umpire Billy Doctrove imposed a five-run penalty against Pakistan for allegedly tampering with the ball. Inzamam was back in action in Thursday's Twenty20 game The tourists initially stayed in their dressing room after tea on the fourth afternoon in protest and the game was awarded to England by forfeit. Pakistan skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq was later charged with bringing the game into disrepute and ball-tampering because he is deemed responsible for the actions of his players. The hearing of the charges against Inzamam is due to take place in the last two weeks in September, but the exact date has yet to be confirmed. As far as Hair is concerned, however, the onus is now on the Pakistan Cricket Board to bring a charge against him under the provisions of umpires' Code of Conduct, should they wish to do so. Following the Oval Test, Hair e-mailed umpire' boss Doug Cowie and expressed a willingness to resign in return for a payment of $500,000 but subsequently withdrew the offer. In a statement on Monday, Hair said: "During an extended conversation with Mr Cowie, I was invited to make a written offer. The figure in the e-mail correspondence was in line with those canvassed with the ICC. "I would have thought that it was quite apparent from the text of correspondence that I had been in discussions with ICC about the issue."
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-19463119	Deep-fried Mars bars: A symbol of a nation's diet? The deep-fried Mars bar has become a worldwide symbol of all that is wrong with the high-fat, high-sugar Scottish diet. But do people really eat them or is it a novelty item which has unfairly taken on a wider significance? The Economist newspaper recently ran a feature on Glasgow's health record under the headline "No city for old men". It was just the latest in a long line of news stories to cite "an excessive love of deep-fried Mars bars" to represent all that is wrong with the eating habits of a city and - by extension - a nation. The roots of the phenomenon go back to August 1995 when the Daily Record reported on "Scotland's craziest takeaway". The newspaper called the delicacy, which was being served up in the Aberdeenshire town of Stonehaven, the Mars Bar supper - the term supper often being used in Scots chip shops to describe a meal served with chips. "Sweet-toothed youngsters are ordering their favourite choc bars deep-fried in batter," the Record said. Soon UK-wide publications were following up on a phenomenon which seemed to speak eloquently about poor diet and the ever-increasing lengths people would go to to get a hit of sugar and fat. By 2004, the reputation of the deep-fried Mars bar had travelled the Atlantic and it was mentioned on the Jay Leno Show in the US. But was it true or was it an urban myth? Was it a widespread phenomenon or did its reputation outstrip its popularity? UK medical magazine The Lancet published research eight years ago from two Glasgow-based public health experts who claimed never to have met anyone who had eaten one. They surveyed hundreds of fish and chip shops in Scotland to find out if "the delicacy" was available and if people were actually buying them. It found 66 shops which sold them, 22% of those who answered the survey. David Morrison, senior lecturer in chronic disease epidemiology at the University of Glasgow, was one of the experts who did the research. The deep-fried Mars bar is seen as a "totem" for something which is a significant driver of ill health, obesity and high-fat diets, he says. Morrison doesn't want to "demonise" a single food stuff but notes that it is well-known that high-fat and high-sugar foods lead to health problems. Annie Anderson, from the Centre for Public Health Nutrition Research at the University of Dundee, used to send her medical students out into the city to see if they could find somewhere that sold deep-fried Mars bar. "It was not much of a challenge in Dundee," she says. And in Glasgow on Wednesday it was also a relatively simple task. Ahmed at Neptune's on Duke Street refuses to fry chocolate bars because "it turns the oil black and oil is very expensive." But Mustapha from Denis's takeaway on the High Street is happy to oblige. He says he will deep-fry anything. "That's my job", he says. Mustapha says he sells one or two deep-fried Mars bars a day - more when the students are back at the nearby Strathclyde University residences. He takes a Mars bar from the shelf, unwraps it, dips it in the same batter he uses for the fish and throws it in the fryer. A couple of minutes later he presents a soggy chocolate bar covered in batter. The caramel squirts out when it is bitten. It is soft warm and sweet. Sickly sweet and fatty. The Carron Fish Bar, formerly called the Haven, which began the craze, reckons it sells about 100 to 150 of the culinary concoctions a week. But about 70% are to visitors to the town, who have heard of its reputation or seen the large sign outside saying "Birthplace of the World Famous Deep Fried Mars Bar". Sparked into action by publicity surrounding an application for secured status under the EU's Protected Food Name Scheme, Mars has written to the fish bar asking it to make plain that deep-frying of the bars is "not authorised or endorsed" by the chocolate manufacturer. Glasgow restaurateur John Quigley is "not a fan" of the deep-fried Mars bar, which he says "tastes disgusting". He recoils from the thought of "fat on fat" and says that if something is fatty it should be "cut with" something fresher. Quigley, who was once a private tour chef to singer Bryan Adams, says Scotland has been trying to "shake off" its unhealthy image for 20 years and it has been succeeding in many ways. "The deep-fried Mars bar is probably doing harm to the reputation of Scottish food because really there are not a lot of people actually eating them," he says. But while Quigley, the chef/patron of Red Onion in the city's West Campbell Street, rejects the battered chocolate bar, he says deep-fried foods such as fish and chips still have a place. "If you get a good fish and make the batter correctly, the fish is actually steamed. The batter is fried but the fish is not and you can remove and throw away the batter if you want. "That's not the case with the Mars bar. They are just fat and sugar and it is really hard to cook them without the caramel escaping through the chocolate." However, despite his distaste Quigley admits that he had a large group of 18-year-olds up from England for a birthday party in his restaurant and they requested deep-fried Mars bars. "It was a bit of fun so I did it. I threw in some Snickers and Twixes as well and they scoffed the lot. "It's a novelty though. You will try one once but you will not be back."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4085486.stm	Kuwait has appointed its first female cabinet minister, a month after parliament agreed to let women vote and stand for office. Kuwaiti women have welcomed the political reforms Massouma al-Mubarak, a political science professor and columnist, was named as planning minister and minister for administrative development. She told AFP news agency it was "a great honour for Kuwaiti women and appreciation of their struggle". Women will be able to take part in parliamentary elections in 2007. The law was passed by parliament last month but it came too late for municipal polls on 2 June. Ms Mubarak replaces Sheikh Ahmad al-Abdullah al-Sabah in her new posts. Her appointment comes a week after the government named two women as members of its municipal council, the first women appointed to the body. The Emir of Kuwait has backed female suffrage in the face of strong opposition from tribal and Islamist factions in parliament, the BBC's Gulf correspondent Julia Wheeler reports. The recent changes in Kuwait mean that Saudi Arabia is the only Gulf State that does not give women the right to vote and stand for public office.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/english/6317939.stm	Olly Morgan will make his England debut in their Six Nations opener against Scotland on Saturday after being called up to replace the injured Iain Balshaw. Morgan was named in the Saxons side to take on Italy A on Friday The 21-year-old comes in at full-back after his Gloucester team-mate failed to recover from a groin problem. Balshaw suffered the injury during training on Wednesday and Morgan was called up from England Saxons duty as a precautionary measure. Substitute flanker Lewis Moody was ruled out of the game on Thursday. Moody, who has a shoulder problem, also picked up the injury in training and his place on the bench is taken by Wasps back-rower Tom Rees. Morgan and Rees were originally named in the England Saxons side to face Italy A in Exeter on Friday but they both linked up with the senior squad at their Bath University base on Wednesday. With Balshaw out, England coach Brian Ashton could have switched Josh Lewsey or Jason Robinson to the number 15 shirt and put Mathew Tait on the wing but has opted to go with the untried Gloucester back. "I believe we need to pick the best players in their right positions," said Ashton. "Mathew Tait has only played full-back once in his life, and I did not consider moving Lewsey or Robinson because they are best on the wing. "Olly was very close to playing for England during the autumn before he was injured. He has all the qualities of an old-fashioned full-back, which he will find handy against Scotland. I am delighted, this is something I have wanted to do since I was a kid England full-back Olly Morgan "He is good under the high ball, he is strong, and I am sure when the time is right he will come into the attack." Morgan, who has represented England at under-21 and under-19 level, has made 38 appearances for Gloucester and scored eight tries since joining them during the summer of 2004. "It will be the first XV-a-side match I have played at Twickenham. I get nervous before most games and I will be extremely nervous on Saturday," he told BBC Sport. "I am gutted for Iain. He is an experienced player and one that I have looked up to from young but he has been really helpful. "I just hope I can bring my Gloucester form onto this stage. "I am delighted, this is something I have wanted to do since I was a kid. The fact I have this opportunity is really exciting." 606 DEBATE: Will Balshaw's absence affect England? England will launch their campaign with a much-changed side, with only two players - flanker Joe Worsley and number eight Martin Corry - retained in their starting positions from the world champions' last match against South Africa in November. Revised England team to face Scotland: Morgan (Gloucester); Lewsey (Wasps), Tindall (Gloucester), Farrell (Saracens), Robinson (Sale); Wilkinson (Newcastle), Ellis (Leicester); Freshwater (Perpignan), Chuter (Leicester), Vickery (Wasps, capt), Deacon (Leicester), Grewcock (Bath), Worsley (Wasps), Lund (Sale Sharks), Corry (Leicester). Replacements: Mears (Bath), White (Leicester), Palmer (Wasps), Rees (Wasps), Richards (Gloucester), Flood (Newcastle), Tait (Newcastle).
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-41004124	Scottish leg of Queen's Commonwealth baton relay begins The Queen's Baton Relay (QBR) has arrived in Scotland as it tours the globe ahead of next year's Commonwealth Games in Australia. The baton made its first stop in Glasgow, which hosted the last Commonwealth Games in 2014. It is making a 142,915-mile (230,000km) journey over 388 days ahead of the Gold Coast 2018 event. The baton's tour will take it through Africa, the Americas, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia and Oceania. It left Buckingham Palace in March carrying a message from the Queen and will arrive in Australia in December and travel through the country, finishing its journey at the Opening Ceremony on 4 April. In Glasgow, the 42nd stop of its global tour, the baton visited a range of youth and community projects with a strong focus on the legacy of the previous games. Michael Jamieson, Olympic and Commonwealth silver medallist in swimming, was the first baton bearer as the relay arrived at Glasgow School of Sport. He was accompanied by Louise Martin, president of the Commonwealth Games Federation, and Jon Doig, chief executive of Commonwealth Games Scotland. - Glasgow School of Sport, near Bellahouston Academy - 11:00 - Commonwealth Games village, Auckland Wynd, Glasgow - 12:00 - Cuningar Loop in Downiebrae Road, Rutherglen - 12:10 - The World Badminton Championships at the Emirates Arena, Glasgow - 12:35 - The Legacy Hub, Dalmarnock - 13:30 - Reunion for the Glasgow 2014 volunteers and baton bearers in Glasgow's George Square - 16:15 Accepting the baton on behalf of Scotland, Mr Doig said: "The Queen's Baton Relay is the iconic symbol of the Commonwealth Games and we are delighted to welcome the Gold Coast 2018 Baton to Scotland today. "We have had tremendous enthusiasm and support from local authorities, schools and community groups across the country, helping to organise an exciting programme of events, using the QBR to connect their communities with the Games and embrace the values of the Commonwealth movement as a whole. "The public support Team Scotland enjoyed for Glasgow 2014 was phenomenal and I look forward to seeing that passion sparked once again, as the baton journeys through Scotland this week." The relay team was greeted by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, Lord Provost of Glasgow Eva Bolander, Glasgow City Council leader Susan Aitken, and Angela Porter, director of the Glasgow School of Sport. Ms Sturgeon said: "I am delighted to be able to welcome the Queen's Baton Relay to Scotland during its journey around the Commonwealth ahead of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games. "Scotland hosted the most successful Commonwealth Games ever in Glasgow 2014 and we are looking to achieve our best away Games ever in Australia next year." She added: "We will continue to invest for the future by creating world-class facilities and providing funding for coaching and training so that, from grassroots to elite, Scotland can be proud of its sporting achievements." While in Glasgow, the baton is also visiting the former Commonwealth Games Village in Dalmarnock and the Cuningar Loop woodland park, a 2014 legacy project. It is stopping at the Emirates Arena and Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome and The Legacy Hub in Dalmarnock, finishing the day in George Square. Ms Bolander said: "It only seems like yesterday that we were welcoming our own Queen's Baton Relay to the city ahead of the 2014 Commonwealth Games. The people of Glasgow were so excited and enthusiastic, and it really was wonderful to see." She added: "If the excitement today is any indicator, everyone in the country will be behind the Scottish athletes next April, cheering Team Scotland on as it aims for its best ever overseas medal haul!" The baton will spend five days in Scotland. Designed for each games by the host nation, the 2018 Queen's Baton has a distinctive loop design and has been made using macadamia wood and reclaimed plastic, sourced from Gold Coast waterways.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-11020007	Climate change protesters have set up camp close to the Royal Bank of Scotland headquarters in Edinburgh. The Camp for Climate Action is angry about the banking group's role in financing oil industry developments which they believe could be dangerous for the environment. Dozens of protesters are in an open area close to the building, which is to the west of Edinburgh. RBS said its offer to meet with the protest leaders had been declined. Police made two arrests at the site on Wednesday night. Officers are currently surrounding the building, along with security staff. The environmentalists have criticised the banking group for backing the fossil fuel industry in the UK and around the world. There has been particular anger about moves to exploit Canadian tar sands for commercial oil production. The protesters say they do not rule out taking direct action against the RBS headquarters building itself. The protesters claim about 100 activists "swooped" on the grounds of RBS at Gogarburn at about 2115 BST on Wednesday. They said this happened a day earlier than planned so they could "outfox" the authorities who were keen to prevent the camp from taking place. The location of the site was announced through a mass text message that campers were subscribing to. They have set up marquees, eco-toilets and kitchens and the organisers said hundreds of activists would be arriving at the camp over the next few days. A spokesman for RBS said: "In recent years RBS has been one of the most active banks in the world in providing funding for renewable energy projects so we are at the forefront of helping finance the transition. "Therefore, while we understand the protesters' intent and publicity tactics we clearly cannot agree with their decision to target RBS. "We have offered to meet with the leaders of the protest, and although they have not accepted, this offer still stands. "Our top priority is securing the safety of our staff and customers and we urge the protesters to make their point peacefully." One of the protesters, Ruth McTernan, said: "It's been a dramatic start to what's going to be a week full of workshops, sustainable living and direct action against RBS crimes against the climate. "We're in a beautiful location here at Gogarburn, surrounded by the woods. "People should come down, have a cup of tea and check out what's going on for themselves." Activists have declared a day of mass action against the Royal Bank of Scotland on Monday. The protesters said Thursday's swoop would still take place but only at the bank's St Andrew's Square base.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-34369351	Burkina Faso has frozen the assets of the leader of last week's failed coup, Gen Gilbert Diendere. Another 13 people suspected of involvement have also had their assets frozen, the state prosecutor says. Interim President Michel Kafando was reinstated on Wednesday after an intervention from the army and West African leaders. On Friday, his government ordered the presidential guards' unit that carried out the coup to be disbanded. At least 10 people were killed and more than 100 injured in clashes during the take-over which Gen Diendere described as "the biggest mistake". In a statement announcing the latest move, state prosecutor Laurent Poda said that the assets of 14 people, including Gen Gilbert Diendere and his wife Fatou Diendere, an MP for the former ruling party, would be frozen for three months. During this period, they would only be able to withdraw 300,000 CFA ($512) a month. On Friday, the first full meeting of the government since Mr Kafando's reinstatement decided to disband the presidential guard (RSP) and to dismiss the minister in charge of security. The RSP - a unit of 1,200 well-armed and well-trained men - is loyal to Blaise Compaore, the country's long-time ruler who was ousted in a popular uprising last year. They were unhappy about being integrated into the regular army. Members of the unit stormed the cabinet room on 16 September, seizing the interim president, the prime minister and others. A week later, when it became clear they did not enjoy popular support and after a threat from the regular army to step down or be ousted by force, the RSP withdrew. An emergency meeting of the regional bloc Ecowas earlier in the week also helped to bring a smooth end to the crisis. Mr Compaore is currently in exile and was accused of committing widespread abuses, and trying to change the constitution to extend his term in office.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-45231222	India's armed services are stepping up efforts to rescue thousands of people stranded by flooding in southern Kerala state that has killed 324 people. Hundreds of troops, and dozens of boats and helicopters are helping to evacuate people from what officials say is the worst flooding there in a century. Many people are still believed to be trapped on rooftops of flooded homes. Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier flew over the worst-hit sites and met state officials to discuss the crisis. There are fears the situation may get worse with more heavy rain and strong winds forecast over the weekend. Nearly 1,000 people have died in total since India's rainy season began in June. How bad is it in Kerala? Kerala's chief minister, Pinarayi Vijayan, says the flooding is the worst the state has seen in 100 years. In a tweet, he said that more than 314,000 people were now living in more than 2,000 emergency relief camps set up in the area. But many others remain stuck on trees and rooftops - NDTV says the number is in the thousands, but other news sites puts the figure in the hundreds. According to The Times of India, at least 10,000 people are stranded in one village alone after all surrounding roads were submerged. People who are stuck without electricity and supplies have been resorting to social media to appeal for help and say they have been unable to contact rescue services. Krishna Jayan, 58, told the BBC she was at home sleeping when her friend woke her up. "I opened the door and water gushed in," she said. "When we stepped into the street, we were neck-deep in water." She said locals had tied ropes along the streets to help people walk through the water, allowing her and her friend to reach a bus to escape. One heavily pregnant woman stranded by floods gave birth soon after being airlifted to safety, AFP reports. Parts of Kerala's commercial capital, Cochin, are also under water, snarling up roads and leaving railways across the state impassable. At the scene Yogita Limaye, BBC News, Kerala At Kuzhippuram, a town in the north of the state, the adjoining river breached its banks a week ago. Driving to a bridge over the river, for more than a kilometre on both sides of the road, houses are under water. Only their rooftops are visible, and the tops of banana trees. The coconut trees that Kerala gets its name from, are tall, so they shoot up above the water. People from the town were evacuated a few days ago, but a few of them have come back to see the state their homes are in. Some have swum to their houses, and are trying to salvage what they can. One man is sitting on the roof of his home, clutching on to a ceiling fan. While floods have been the cause of most deaths in the state, heavy rainfall has also caused other disasters. In Malappuram, nine people were killed when a mudslide destroyed a single home. A large part of Kerala is hilly which makes rescue operations even harder. What is being done? Authorities say a total of 38 helicopters and 20 aircraft have been deployed and are helping to airlift emergency supplies to many areas. A special train that carries drinking water has also been sent to the state. Prime Minister Modi flew to Cochin early on Saturday where he chaired a meeting of officials, before conducting an aerial survey of the worst affected areas. The international airport there is closed because of flooding on the runway. #WATCH: Prime Minister Narendra Modi conducts an aerial survey of flood affected areas. PM has announced an ex-gratia of Rs. 2 lakh per person to the next kin of the deceased and Rs.50,000 to those seriously injured, from PM’s National Relief Funds (PMNRF). #KeralaFloods pic.twitter.com/T6FYNVLmMu— ANI (@ANI) August 18, 2018 Anil Vasudevan, the head of the Kerala health disaster response wing, has said it is planning for the risk of water-borne diseases when the flooding recedes. Why is the situation so bad? Weeks of heavy monsoon rains triggered landslides and floods. While it is normal for Kerala to get some of the country's highest rainfall during monsoon season, the India Meteorological Department said it had been hit with 37% more than usual because of a spell of low pressure over the region. Environmental scientists are also blaming deforestation, especially the failure to protect ecologically fragile mountain ranges in the area, local media report. Mr Vijayan, the region's chief minister, has said the situation in Kerala has been made worse by neighbouring governments. Earlier this week, he and his counterpart in Tamil Nadu had a public spat over the release of water from a dam. Kerala has 41 rivers flowing into the Arabian Sea, and 80 of its dams are now said to be open after being overwhelmed.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/cycling/5222142.stm	Tour de France chiefs say they will be angry and sad if 2006 winner Floyd Landis' failed drugs test is confirmed. Landis could be stripped of his title if his positive test is confirmed Landis' Phonak team revealed that the American had tested positive for the male sex hormone testosterone. As well as a two-year ban, Landis faces being stripped of his victory if his B sample matches the first test. "If the result is confirmed, anger and sadness would be the dominant feelings for those thrilled by the 2006 race," said the organisers in a statement. The 30-year-old Landis tested positive after his sensational win in the 17th stage, which he won by powering away on a 130km solo breakaway. If the counter-analysis confirms the positive he must be punished Phonak director Juan Fernandez The announcement is the latest debilitating blow to cycling, which is seeking to clean up its tarnished image. It follows the withdrawal of pre-race favourites Jan Ullrich of Germany and Italian Ivan Basso before the start of the Tour after they were linked to a Spanish doping investigation. "Now more than ever the organisers will maintain the firm attitude they have displayed since the start from Strasbourg," added the statement. "No matter how harrowing this news is for cycling, it nevertheless illustrates that the fight against doping by the Tour de France together with the teams and the sponsors is gaining ground in an irreversible way." If Landis is stripped of his title, 2006 Tour runner-up Oscar Pereiro is expected to be declared the winner. Pereiro (R) is not celebrating Landis' positive test "Until the UCI confirm it, it isn't possible to say anything, despite what Phonak have said," he said. "In any case, I have a bittersweet feeling because it is bad news for cycling, and I would prefer to remain second and that they don't confirm the positive. "Should I win the Tour now it would feel like an academic victory. The way to celebrate a win is in Paris, otherwise it's just a bureaucratic win." French rider Cyril Dessel, who finished seventh in this year's Tour, revealed his surprise at the announcement. "I am shocked by this revelation. I don't know what to say," he said. "We should not draw any hasty conclusions, we must wait for the result of the sample B of course. But if it turns out to be true, this is going to be another huge blow to cycling." We are going to think about our future as broadcaster German television station ZDF Triple Tour de France winner Greg LeMond expressed anger upon hearing the news of Landis' test. "I'm devastated and extremely disappointed," he said. "I can't imagine the disappointment for Floyd and his family. "I still believe it was one of the cleanest Tours ever. But is it 100% clean? No. "You will always find riders who transgress the laws. I really did believe Floyd was not among them, that he was clean." Phonak have suspended Landis pending the results of tests on the B sample and the team say they will sack the 30-year-old if the positive test is confirmed. "We will have to wait for the counter-analysis and see if this gives a positive as well," Phonak director Juan Fernandez told Spanish radio. "It is very bad news. It is very sad. These types of things are really bad but if they happen we have to face up to them. Fernandez will take a hard line with Landis if the test is confirmed "If a rider does something wrong or bad he has to be dealt with. "If the counter-analysis (B sample) confirms the positive he must be punished. He will need to be expelled as has happened in other cases." US Olympic Committee chairman Peter Ueberroth says more needs to be done in the battle against doping. "The bottom line is this, while good progress has been made in the fight against doping in sport, we believe that much more needs to be done," he said. "If the B sample confirms the result of the A sample, and if Floyd Landis is ultimately found to be guilty of a doping offence, it would be an incredible disappointment." USA Cycling spokesman Andy Lee refused to condemn Landis, saying that he would wait for the B sample results. "Because it's an anti-doping matter we can't really comment on it," he said. "Out of respect for both the process put in place and the rights of Floyd as an athlete we need to let the process run its course before we can make any type of comment." Meanwhile German television station ZDF said it might now cease broadcasting the Tour de France. "We signed a broadcasting contract for a sporting event, not a show demonstrating the performances of the pharmaceutical industry," said editor-in-chief Nikolaus Brender. "We are going to think about our future as broadcaster and maybe refuse to broadcast this event."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11097382	AMS particle detector lands at Kennedy Space Center The most expensive science experiment devised for the International Space Station (ISS) has arrived in Florida to make it ready for launch. The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) will be attached to the outside of the orbiting platform to conduct a survey of cosmic rays. Scientists hope the research will reveal new insights into the origin of the Universe and what it is made of. The $1.5bn machine will be taken up to the ISS by space shuttle Endeavour. End Quote Professor Sam Ting AMS project leader No-one has put a detector with such a sensitivity - using the technology developed at Cern/LHC - in space before” The launch is currently scheduled for 26 February and could mark the final flight for the US space agency's re-usable spaceplane system. AMS was delivered to the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in a US Air Force C5 Galaxy transporter plane from Europe. The 7-tonne machine will be housed in a cleanroom over the coming months for some final tests before being packed into Endeavour's payload bay and rolled out to the launch pad. The AMS project is the collaborative effort of 16 nations sponsored largely by the US Department of Energy. Much of the technology in the experiment has been developed and built at Cern (European Organisation for Nuclear Research) near Geneva, Switzerland - the same facility that hosts the world's biggest particle physics experiment, the Large Hadron Collider. AMS will be doing very complementary science. The device will be mounted on the station's truss, or backbone. Over the course of several years, it will count and characterise high-energy cosmic rays - fast-moving subatomic particles and nuclei that originate in deep space and which continually rain down on Earth. Because the planet's atmosphere tends to filter out much of this torrent, an orbiting detection system is seen as the best way to get at the real statistics of these particles. AMS will identify them by their charge, mass and energy, in order to determine their origin. It will seek definitive data on whether the Universe retains any large quantities of anti-matter - matter with an alternate electrical charge to normal matter and which theorists suspect was created in equal amounts in the Big Bang but then destroyed. The experiment also hopes to detect evidence for dark matter which scientists say makes up some 25% of the Universe but which is invisible to conventional telescopes. In addition, AMS should provide valuable new information on astrophysical phenomena such as black holes and exploding stars - the high-energy locations thought to produce substantial numbers of cosmic rays. Transition Radiation Detector determines highest-energy particle velocities Silicon trackers follow particle paths; how they bend reveals their charge Permanent magnet is core component of AMS and makes particles curve Time-of-flight counters determine lowest-energy particle velocities Star trackers scan star fields to establish AMS's orientation in space Cherenkov detector makes accurate velocity measurements of fast particles Electromagnetic calorimeter measures energy of impacting particles Anti-coincidence counter filters signal from unwanted side particles Nobel Laureate and AMS project leader, Professor Sam Ting, travelled with the detector to America. End Quote Simonetta Di Pippo Esa human spaceflight director We are trying to enlarge more and more the number of fields in which we use the space station” He told BBC News: "Over the past 50 years there has been enormous progress in understanding astrophysics and cosmology, but all these measurements have been in using light rays. "In space, beside light rays, there are an enormous amount of charged particles - positrons, electrons, protons, deuterons, anti-deuterons and so forth. These have hardly been measured," he said. "We want to study the physics of charged cosmic rays. No-one has put a detector with such a sensitivity - using the technology developed at Cern/LHC - in space before." AMS was originally envisaged to cost just a few hundred million dollars, but the project has been subjected to a series of delays - some technical but mostly political. At one stage, it looked as though the experiment would not even get to the ISS when Nasa announced the curtailment of the shuttle programme following the Columbia accident in 2003. Additional funds provided by the US Congress and a reshuffling of the shuttle manifest eventually found AMS a ride to orbit. Simonetta Di Pippo, the director of human spaceflight at the European Space Agency, was at Kennedy to greet AMS when it landed. She said the recent decision to extend the life of the ISS was good news for science. "With the space station now staying in orbit for a minimum additional minimum 10 years, AMS will be able to achieve so much more," she told BBC News. "We are trying to enlarge more and more the number of fields in which we use the space station. We are working on climate change experiments from the ISS; we are working on using the ISS more for exploration purposes, and in fields like space weather, observing the Universe and the Earth. We're showing how the ISS can be useful for science and society." The Endeavour flight - designated STS-134 - is supposed to be the last shuttle mission before Nasa's orbiter fleet is retired to museums. But there are strong efforts now under way in Congress to add at least one further mission next year.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/8688580.stm	Prince Charles wrote a letter complaining about the scheme London's Chelsea Barracks developers have made a £81m claim at the High Court, blaming Prince Charles for the withdrawal of a planning application. The Candy brothers say their Qatari partners were swayed after the prince complained about the scheme for the UK's most expensive housing project. The court heard the prince wrote a letter saying his "heart sank" when he saw architect Lord Rogers' designs. The plans were to build 552 modernist flats in glass and steel on the site. Lord Grabiner QC, representing the brothers' company CPC Group, told Mr Justice Vos that the Prince of Wales had written to the Qatari prime minister, who is also chairman of the Qatari Diar development company. "He urged Sheik Hamad bin Jasim to reconsider the plan before it was too late and attached a scheme by a different, classical architect he preferred," he said. Lord Rogers designed the complex that was to replace Chelsea Barracks "Prince Charles and Lord Rogers had form in the way that they had previously crossed swords and Prince Charles's opposition to modern architecture is notorious." Nick and Christian Candy are claiming the Qatari company breached the terms of their contract and must now make the payment that was due when Lord Rogers' scheme won the approval of planners. Lord Grabiner said Qatari Diar could have mounted a "robust defence" of the plan and said that, notwithstanding Charles's intervention, it was going ahead. Qatari Diar could also have considered the request from Charles. But from March to April 2009 all the company did was to "flounder" and was not prepared to take on Charles publicly without the "say so of the Qatari royals", Lord Grabiner added. The 12.8 acre site, in one of London's most expensive residential areas, was sold by the Ministry of Defence for £959m to Qatari Diar and CPC Group.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3839375.stm	The first disappointed England football fans are returning home after watching their side lose to the host nation in Euro 2004. England fans watch their team crash out of the tournament A number of visibly dejected fans arrived at Heathrow airport on Friday morning after catching one of the first available flights from Lisbon. There were few smiles as the unhappy supporters trudged on to home soil. For many England fans the pattern was all too familiar and once again many feel cheated out of a victory. And to lose to England's bete noire - penalties - added insult to injury. The England coach's tactics were called into question by one disappointed fan. John Teague, 31, a plasterer from Horsham, in Sussex, said: "Sven got his tactics wrong, just like he did against Brazil. "He let Portugal run at us rather than trying to get a second goal and a win. "He also took off two of our best players - Gerrard and Scholes - which added to the loss of Rooney." The despair felt by the returning fans was summed up by Andy Beddard, 32, an electrical engineer from Middlesbrough. Mr Beddard followed the England team in Euro 96 and travelled to Japan for the World Cup two years ago. He said: "I'm depressed - I feel really flat. I have been through the mill and seen this all before. "We played well in the group stages but we let ourselves down when it counted". He added: "I have seen a couple of penalty shoot outs in major tournaments and I'm yet to see us win one". And the sense of gloom extended from the arrivals lounge at Heathrow Terminal One to Downing Street. Prime Minister Tony Blair was "as disappointed as anybody else" by England's exit from Euro 2004, Downing Street said. But it was not all doom and gloom, as Portuguese communities across the UK celebrated a dramatic victory. Hundreds of Portugal fans lined Stockwell Road in south London to celebrate the victory on Thursday night. Ana Da Silva, 36, one of London's 40, 000 - strong Portuguese community, said: "It is much more than a game for me. "Whether we won or lost I would have still been proud to be Portuguese."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-12482293	In November 2011, President Ali Abdullah Saleh handed over power to his deputy, Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, following months of anti-government protests and hundreds of deaths. Demonstrations calling for the end of Mr Saleh's 33-year rule began at the end of January 2011, with tens of thousands taking to the streets of the capital, Sanaa. The president quickly announced that he would not seek re-election in 2013 and would not pass power to his son, but the promise failed to end the protests. As they became more frequent and widespread, security forces and supporters of the president launched a deadly crackdown. In late April 2011, Mr Saleh's General People's Congress (GPC) party agreed to a Gulf Co-operation Council-brokered deal to hand over power in return for immunity from prosecution, but the president refused to sign. The decision prompted the head of the powerful Hashid tribal federation, Sheikh Sadiq al-Ahmar, to declare his support for the opposition. Heavy fighting between security forces and armed tribesmen subsequently erupted in Sanaa, leaving dozens of people dead. In June 2011, Mr Saleh was seriously injured by a bomb explosion inside the presidential compound in the capital. He was forced to travel to Saudi Arabia, and then to the United States, to receive medical treatment. Many Yemenis thought the attack would see Mr Saleh finally step down from power, but in September he returned to presidential palace amid a new wave of violence. In October 2011, the UN Security Council again urged the president to agree to the GCC-brokered deal, but it was not until 23 November that he signed. Mr Hadi assumed presidential powers until 25 February 2012, when he was sworn in as head of state following an election in which he was the only candidate. Mr Saleh formally ceded power two days later. President Hadi is expected to serve a two-year term to pave the way for new parliamentary and presidential elections in 2014. In that time, he must tackle widespread poverty and malnutrition, a secessionist movement in the south, and Islamist militants linked to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula who took advantage of the instability to temporarily seize control of several southern towns. Many Yemenis are also angry that Mr Saleh, his family and his supporters will not be prosecuted for the deaths of people during the uprising.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7751628.stm	By Maggie Shiels Technology reporter, BBC News, Silicon Valley Tap Tap Revenge is ranked number three in the App Store for 2008 With CD sales in decline the music industry is looking for novel ways to recover some of its dwindling revenue. Not least because the rising popularity of digital downloads will not make up the shortfall suggests research by Jupiter Research. Instead some record labels are looking to new online models to reach new fans, enthuse old ones and boost profits. One company that thinks it can help the industry redefine how to sell music is Tapulous, based in Palo Alto, California. It develops applications for Apple's iPhone and its free game called Tap Tap Revenge has won over more than three million users since it launched in July. The game, in which players tap and shake their devices to the beat of a tune, was one of the first iPhone games. It has also attracted a loyal following among musicians who have been lining up to have their music featured on it. The Guitar Hero franchise is regarded as a cultural phenomenon "To make the game addictive, it requires great technology and great features but it also requires great music," said Bart Decrem, chief executive of Tapulous. Musicians making music for video games is nothing new with games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band making hundreds of millions of dollars for those involved. But Mr Decrem said importing that model to the iPhone or Google's Android platform has the same potential. "We are offering people rich new ways to be part of the music and in doing so people are then much happier to pay for that music," he said. "We believe that is an important way to help the music industry to make it through this tough transition to the mobile world." A major boost for the company came when the band Nine Inch Nails approached it to create unique music to serve as the soundtrack that plays to the beat of the game. The band's front man Trent Reznor is known as someone who likes to experiment with new distribution methods for his music and new ways of reaching his fans. Bart Decrem said the iPhone means people engage with music in new ways Like Radiohead, he put an album online and let fans pay what they thought it was worth to download and he has given an entire album away for free. Fans who play the Nine Inch Nails version of Tap Tap Revenge can submit their scores and enter a contest to win floor tickets to a concert or even a Les Paul electric guitar signed by the singer. Earlier in the year Mr Reznor said: "I don't agree that [music] should be free, but it is free, and you can either accept it or you can put your head in the sand." The Nine Inch Nails premium game costs $4.99 (£3.30) to download with an undisclosed chunk of the fee going to the band. Jupiter Research analyst Sonal Ghandi said as gaming grows and people adapt to listening to music on their phones, this marriage of the two presents some interesting opportunities. "For musicians it's a good thing because it diversifies the way they can make money while CD sales shrink. And its always a good thing when you are making money from more than one thing. "The other added benefit, if artists are not getting too much in the way of licensing fees, is they are reaching an audience they may not have reached otherwise and that may eventually result in music sales," she told BBC News. For Tapulous the partnership with Nine Inch Nails helped open other doors. "Trent Reznor is really a trend setter in the industry and it's really helped us accelerate our partnerships," Mr Decrem told the BBC. Weezer has sold more than 15 million records worldwide To that end the company have just released two new premium games. One is called Dance Dance Revenge and features music from the likes of Moby, Daft Punk, DJ Tiesto, and the Chemical Brothers. Another game is called Xmas with Weezer with the band reworking classics such as Oh Holy Night, the First Noel and O Come All Ye Faithful. "This is an important first for us because it marks the first time a top act is creating content exclusively for the iPhone for our game. It also marks a very important evolution of the iPhone as the next great platform for engaging with music," said Mr Decrem. "We are building a large community of people who love music and who love games. And this partnership with our premium games means we do a revenue split with the musicians." "Follow our heart" Weezer knows only to well the benefits of such a partnership. When the band's song "My Name is Jonas" was included in Guitar Hero 3, there was a tenfold increase in sales. "I would be lying to you if I said we didn't want to make money but at the same time we are always looking at different ways to include our fans and get our music out to people," said bassist Scott Shriner. The band took just seven days to record the festive favourites He told the BBC: "As a band we just follow what is exciting to us and it just seems that when we follow our heart the money seems to come along. I love music, I love playing games on the iPhone and I think this is a genius device." Mr Decrem said he thinks more bands will soon tap into what he sees as a burgeoning revenue model. "The reason bands are excited to work with us is because we have over three million users and that's a lot. What you are also seeing is that some bands are selling more music and making more money like this than through traditional CD releases. "That can only get bigger because everybody has a cell phone or iPhone and I think there is real potential for this channel to become really, really big over the next couple of years and that's why these guys are eager to do an experiment like this with us."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8447432.stm	3D TV is being billed as possible industry saviour By Maggie Shiels Technology reporter, BBC News, Las Vegas Stuff Magazine's Simon Osborne-Walker tries out 3D TV 3D TV is being billed as a possible saviour for recession hit manufacturers looking to boost sales. On the opening day of the Consumer Electronics Show, CES, in Las Vegas, all the big names unveiled 3D TVs. Industry experts said the picture looks promising with a survey showing around 3.4m 3D TV sets will be sold in the US this year. "It's a challenging market. We need something to kick us out of this," said Panasonic's Elsuke Tsuyuzaki. "To me, the thing that's going to get us there is 3D," added the firm's chief technology officer. "2009 is a year none of us want to repeat," said Gary Shapiro the president of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) which hosts the annual tech gathering. The association has predicted that for the coming year the whole consumer electronics industry should eke out a slight revenue increase of 0.3%. The rise of $440m (£280m) will take expected revenues to $165.3bn (£105bn) However Mr Shapiro noted that lower average selling prices for TVs will be a drag. CEA expects TV revenues to decline 2% in this sector to $22.1bn (£14bn) even though unit sales will go up 5% to 37.7m (£24m) CES is full of 3D evangelists For several years the industry has talked up the arrival of 3D TV in the home to little effect. Many however believe 2010 really is the breakthrough year for the technology, helped in large party by the growing number of 3D movies at the theatre and the success of James Cameron's sci-fi epic Avatar. "While 3D has taken a number of years to penetrate in the movie theatres, I believe this is the year it will begin to enter the home," Jeffrey Katzenberg, the head of Dreamworks Animation told BBC News. However he added a caveat to that statement. "It usually takes from five to ten years to transition from one platform to a newer one. To go from analogue to digital has taken about ten years so that is why I say to you this is the year in which 3D is going to enter the home in a really meaningful way." Mr Katzenberg, who is known as a 3D evangelist, said he is so confident about the future of that vision that he has committed his studio to make 3D versions of all its future movies. During CES, he announced Dreamworks would release Monsters vs. Aliens as a 3D Blu-ray disc in an exclusive promotion with Samsung and Technicolour. In 2010 around 20 out of 170 movies will be made in 3D, double the number from last year. Everywhere you walk, promotions scream out at you. You are left in no doubt that the TV-makers are backing this to the hilt. This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/3446321.stm	This is the second page of your comments. Click here to return to the main page The following comments reflect the balance of opinion we have received so far: The issue can be resolved if the inquiry is handled by the opposition parties. I really do not understand the form of democracy both Blair and Bush are practicing. How can the accused (or those under suspicion) dictate by whom and how and on what material they can be questioned? Have we not learnt anything from the Hutton inquiry?? We owe it to the thousands who died. We owe it to their families. I doubt much will change as a result, but this is the least we can do. To those who say Saddam's going was worth the cost regardless - well, let us not pass judgement until we see that we haven't replaced one awful regime with another. How can a report give you answers to such a complex issue which I think no-one has really understood fully? I mean was the reason for having the war to get rid of WMD or to stop the oppressive Saddam regime or was it greed for the west over oil? There are so many rumours, theories, inquiries etc, the question is will the inquiry actually be sufficient to explain it all and most of all convey the TRUTH to the rest of the world!! David Hilton, Huddersfield, UK My stomach is very heavy from hearing all of this talk of "inquiries." It should be obvious that the whole WMD issue, whether substantiated or not, was only a legal justification for a war that needed to happen. Saddam Hussein was a dangerous man, and his demise was long overdue. Matt, Ohio, USA I supported the war in Iraq because I believed in giving the government the benefit of the doubt, trusting that they would only take such extreme measures as war if their intelligence indicated it was absolutely necessary. I find it absolutely outrageous that in fact we were lied to. It appears that the excuses for invasion that I thought were genuine were actually lies to gain support for some other agenda. This betrayal of trust has cost this government my support, and from now on I shall join my friends on protest marches while this appalling administration is in power, whatever the results of another shambolic inquiry. Oliver Blacklock, Southampton What is there to inquire about? If you read the Hutton Report on page 112. The intelligence re relation to the 45 minutes claim paragraph 178 says, "Iraq has probably dispersed its special weapons, including its CBW weapons. Intelligence also indicates that from forward-deployed storage sites, chemical and biological munitions could be with military units and ready for firing within 45 minutes". Now if the intelligence services knew that, why didn't Mr Hoon? And why didn't the Prime Minister repeat this statement in its entirety to the nation when he made his famous 45 minute claim? Maybe the inquiry would be a warning to MP's and PM's that they are accountable to the public. And they have a duty to serve and we will not tolerate being lied to. Elizabeth Sellers, London, UK A fair and decent inquiry like the one the Liberals are calling for would resolve the issue. But the inquiry the PM is calling for will not. It will find some poor blameless intelligence operative who failed to follow the "proper procedures" and lay the entire blame upon him or her. Dudley Nelson, Ilkley, Yorkshire An inquiry will result in the CIA and intelligence gathering people stating that they only provide the available data (whether it be hard data or rumours)to their leaders. It is the leader's job to review and judge the data and react to it. So an inquiry called for by Bush is like the fox calling for an investigation into the whereabouts of the missing chickens. Jim Brown, Osterburg, Pennsylvania, USA All the anti-war people want 'hard facts' and the truth. Well the truth is that you cannot ascertain these hard facts without proper inspections of the WMD facilities and programs by the UN which Saddam did not allow after decades of defying the UN resolutions. Then you have to go on intelligence gathered which can unfortunately be unreliable sometimes. If you look at the pre-2002 reports from the UN Inspectors the British and American Intel Services they found that they were either unsure of the exact capability and programs or it was probable that they had these weapons and programs still functioning some to a lethal capacity. The decision was in my mind justified due to a combination of these factors and Saddam's previous atrocities. Jon, Stirling, Scotland A head of state cannot blame his/ her intelligence. If it were just a matter of intelligence and deciding to go to war rested on them, then the intelligence services would be openly running the country! They don't, because we have a layer of officers above them who have to take responsibility for decisions using intelligence available. It's no excuse to wimp out saying he didn't understand what they meant. If he didn't want the job of decision maker why is he in it? The only way he could convince me he believes he was right, is to submit his decision to the UN for ratification. So yes, let's have an inquiry. But ask the UN to do it with a multinational panel. Use it to restore the attempt at world government we had before Bush and Blair wrecked its status. Shan Jayran, UK The Government is already setting up their defence before the inquiry begins: Hoon & everyone else knew the 45 mins referred to battle weapons, but Blair did not. And even when the newspaper headlines screamed we were 45 mins away from attack by WMDs, Hoon chose not to set the record straight, but was happy to let us all infer the 45 mins referred to WMDs. Semantics, deception, and complete contempt for the people of this country. Kate, West Midlands There is a significant difference between basing a decision on evidence and basing evidence on a decision. Bush (and hence Blair) made the decision to attack Iraq then cobbled together some reasons - reasons which changed in priority as, one by one, their validity came into question. When confronted, the two duplicitous leaders continually hark back to that initial decision, supplementing truth with impassioned avowals of how justified they were in making the decision. Do they really think the (minorities) of people who voted for them are so stupid as to believe them? They do? Well maybe on that at least they are right! Andrew Graham, Johannesburg, South Africa In my view, the only thing that would resolve this (and many other issues) is to let the people decide via a General Election. I object, as a tax payer, to fund yet another expensive, meaningless and time wasting report. Kevin, Ashton under Lyne, UK Whether the WMD were battlefield (tactical) or strategic is immaterial - the difference is only one of delivery system. The warheads themselves have not been found. It is quite clear that before committing to war one has to ask the right questions. The Government were either deceitful or quite staggeringly incompetent in not fully understanding the apparent threat. In either case the Government must be held accountable for their decisions. Gary, London, UK Another enquiry and more cost. What will it achieve? Nothing! It won't bring back a single life, return a single £ spent on the war and due to the uniqueness of this situation, we'll learn very little in terms of lessons for the future. What's more, the only people who will accept the outcome are those who agree with it's conclusions. Everyone else will rubbish it, just like Hutton. Whether justified or not CA Berridge, Surrey I really feel that a word should be said in support of the intelligence services here - it now seems very clear, that they didn't get it wrong. Robin Cook stated that he knew that the 45 minute warning was only for battlefield weapons, Tony Blair stated that he was not informed - it seems a more simplified means of communication between the relevant ministers and the Prime Minister should be devised. Maybe they could try drawing him a picture next time? Wendy, UK Expat, Dubai, UAE The government knew the claim was for battlefield weapons and knew as presented in the dossier it would be interpreted as ballistic WMD by the press. They did not rectify the situation. They knew the interpretation was (not even probably) wrong. Gilligan was in essence correct (though he still misreported). Someone has to own up to this - a full and unlimited inquiry is an absolute necessity. Tony Blair claims he was only made aware of what the WMD really were after the report was published. This was still BEFORE troops actually engaged in combat. Why was there no attempt to call another vote/inform the rest of the house based on the new information available? An inquiry which ignores the political decisions can achieve nothing. Jon Baggaley, Northampton, UK To suggest that 'battlefield' WMD are somehow more acceptable than 'strategic' or 'long range' is grossly insulting to the armed forces that were and are put in harms way! These new arguments about whether Tony Blair knew what the 45 minute claim meant or not, are damning evidence that a war was rushed into too soon. Even if you accept he wasn't told, that is still no excuse, he plainly should have known. It's his cabinet after all. The hypocrisy in this matter when compared to the Gilligan report is absolutely appalling. This is exactly what an inquiry should look into. I can honestly say I have not met one person he believes the government on any of this. John Manton, Berks UK Have you noticed how Gordon Brown as a cabinet member is left out this whole saga? The back-up plan for the Labour party! Piet Boon, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Some seem to think the cost of an inquiry is a reason not to have one. On those grounds perhaps we shouldn't have had a war. George Lee, London If Robin Cook was involved in the enquiry and he was convinced all was in order that would be good enough for me. Oliver Wright, London, UK Looks like Saddam was telling the truth to the world. He did not have any WMD at all. Some critics of the war are asking for a political inquiry into why we went to war and who decided this. It is quite simple. The vote went before Parliament, with the evidence from the Intelligence community. All MPs had a free vote. The vote indicated that we should go to war. Without this, the UK could not have gone to war. So there you go. Who decided we should go to war? All the MPs that voted to go to war. Paul Halfpenny, London, UK We need a full public inquiry. It needs a panel to reduce the chance of any bias. And, importantly, it needs to look at the questions: 1. Why did we go to war? 2. Who decided we should go to war? 3. When was it decided to go to war? 4. What information was used in the decision to go to war? If these questions aren't answered, then the public will have no confidence and it'll be a waste of time. Pete, London, UK Maybe we should have a public inquiry into whether public inquiries ever actually manage to achieve anything? You already had an inquiry, what you need now are elections. Frank Verbeken, Antwerp, Belgium There is no need for an inquiry. As far as I'm concerned they did find and disarm one of the most effective Weapon of Mass Destruction in Iraq - Saddam Hussein. Lynda Wood, Paris, France An inquiry is not going to alter what happened and how much will it cost the tax payer. Maybe some high ranking official will resign but that's about it. The lives lost and the money spent will not change and Mr Blair will certainly not admit that he made a mistake - he will pass the buck as usual. It is about time he learned that as Prime Minister the buck stops with him. Richard Scott, Windsor, UK To be perfectly honest a real question needs to be posed as to whether an inquiry will truly achieve anything in political terms. We have already seen that irrespective of what an independent inquiry such the Hutton determines, the various stakeholders will not be happy until someone comes along to validate their version of the truth. Given the expense in time and money of these processes I think perhaps more focus should be given on running the country rather than running rings round each other Mark Moore, London UK From your report it seems the enquiry will only address the role of the intelligence services and not the political process, how convenient. D Smith, Manchester, UK As my driving instructor used to say: "manoeuvre, indicate, look" is not the recommended sequence. Well done Charles Kennedy for not being part of another sham. The public need to know how the decision to go to war was arrived at and who actually made it. Concentrating purely on the security services information tells us very little. Keith Watson, Rugby, England It's quite ironic how both the US and UK inquiries are based on the gathering of intelligence, not how or why the decision was made for war. The whitewash has begun. Laurie, MB, USA Blair will squirm out of this just like he has every other time and the increasingly supine Labour Party will end up backing him because they are so desperate to cling on to power. It's a sad day for the Labour movement and democracy in this country. We have no credible opposition and it is becoming clearer by the day that our rulers are no longer accountable to us. Marc Dauncey, London, UK As they say in New York, "Same circus, different clowns". What we need is a general election not an inquiry. Let the people of this country resolve the issue at the ballot box. Derek, Newark, England The inquiry is another smoke screen. But this is all irrelevant. When a BBC journalist failed to do his job properly, the director and the chairman of the board resigned. If the intelligence services failed to do their job properly, the head of the intelligence services and Tony Blair must resign. The responsibility to go to war is at the top. It is all very easy to blame it on those who risk their lives in the field while the Masters of War sit comfortably in London. Enrique, Lima, Peru God bless Charles Kennedy for not taking part in yet another political whitewash! My vote goes Lib Dem at the next election. Dave M, Northampton Accountability is the key. We want an honest inquiry. Unlike Hutton's where Blair smuggled in the outcomes beforehand when he drafted the terms of reference. It is very disappointing that the Liberal Democrats have decided not to participate in the bi-partisan enquiry. This smacks of precisely the opportunism that the Liberal Democrats have been accusing other political parties of. Peter Carpenter, London, UK Jack Straw is being misleading when he argues that there are only two questions to answer; "Either the intelligence was flawed, or it was mishandled". The first question must be whether intelligence was the reason we went to war at all. Pay heed to Ken Clarke and Charlie Kennedy, they are on the right track. Matthew Page, Lewes, UK Tony Blair said that "The issue of good faith was determined by the Hutton inquiry." The Hutton enquiry was a judgement upon the circumstances leading to David Kelly's death, not a license of immunity from wrong doing that may yet be found under investigation of further and more complete evidence. Blair's position is indefensible; he is trying to spin a judgement on the outcome of an investigation before it has even begun. As he also says far too often, let's wait and see. Tom, London UK Don't make me laugh...we've already been told remit of the enquiry does not include how the intelligence was used in the political decision to go to war. In other words this so called enquiry will totally ignore all the issues the British public deserves to know the answers to. I am not a Liberal Democrat, but here is finally a party that will take a principled stand on the issues. If the inquiry cannot look or decide on the political actions taken on the intelligence, then it will not solve anything. There is no point in having it. We know the intelligence was faulty...the weapons are not there. What we need to know is why we went to war...that was a political decision, and that's what the inquiry need to look at. Dave K, Cambridge, England There are key questions that the inquiry certainly won't resolve. Was the decision to go to war based on the actual threat posed by Saddam? Or was the WMD argument just produced to garner public support for that decision, which was in reality taken for other reasons? Did Bush indicate to Blair that he was going to invade anyway, thus forcing Blair into a decision that was nothing to do with the threat Saddam posed? Julian, Brighton, UK If we are to end up with a meaningful inquiry, we need to understand why people want another one having just had the Hutton inquiry. It is because there is a general feeling of uncertainty about the war. People want to know why we went to war, if we needed to go to war, and, if not, who is to blame and how we can avoid making the same mistakes in future. An inquiry that only looks into WMD will not answer these questions. John Wallace, London, UK No, not in the way it is to be set up. This inquiry should be totally independent of parliament. The parliamentarians all have vested interests, hence we will end up with another whitewash. What is needed is an inquiry chaired by three judges, with all the evidence being given in public. Andrew Harrow, Aberdeen, Scotland It's unfortunate that they have chosen Lord Butler to head the inquiry - someone who, despite his enormous experience and undoubted intelligence, will nonetheless be perceived as pure 'establishment'. Thus, the public will have no confidence in his conclusions, much in the same way they have no confidence in Hutton's. The government isn't learning any lessons - the public believe in Sir Humphrey and conspiracy theories. Jamie, Folkestone, Kent Yet another weapon of mass distraction. Why pay millions for an inquiry when Bush no longer even pretends that the weapons exist? Guy Chapman, Reading, UK Why are findings that go against what you want to be true, always a whitewash? Difficult decisions had to be made and if intelligence was insufficient then the intelligence services were at fault. As for the government being accountable, surely that will happen at the next election, or do you seriously think that Blair will resign? As someone recently said, he's a decent bloke doing a decent job. Steve, Newcastle, England If an inquiry is held, it will only be another whitewash. Blair will be very careful that nothing under its remit could directly accuse him of leading the country to war on false pretences. We should be focusing on whether the government put pressure on the intelligence services to give them the information they needed. Ed, Sheffield, UK What is the point? The public, without any knowledge of what intelligence was given to Mr Blair and what he did with that intelligence, has already passed sentence. Step back and think to yourselves. Do you actually want to know what's gone on, or do you just want to get rid of Mr Blair because he had to make the unenviable decision to go to war in Iraq? An inquiry may just resolve the WMD issue but only if an examination of the political decisions is included in the remit. Clearly Blair seems to have bullied his cabinet into this decision and most of the people I talk to about this believe that there were political considerations which were probably allied to the Blair's wish to remain in the Bush administration's good books. Tony Haworth, Sedgefield, UK There is no need for such an inquiry. It is now crystal-clear that the invasion of Iraq was not justified. The issue about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq was used as a smokescreen so as to justify the invasion. Alvin Blake, Hannover, Germany Bush has landed Blair right in it! By trying to save his own neck, he's hung Blair out to dry. What are allies for? They didn't even have the decency to plant some WMD and make this topic irrelevant. To paraphrase Stalin; It's not the intelligence that counts, it's who counts acts on the intelligence. Maureen, Antigua West Indies Surely an inquiry is vital. If what the Government were saying was right and Iraq was bristling with ready-to-go WMD then where are they? This is an important point as one of the lines spun to the public was that invading Iraq was essential in order to prevent these WMD falling into the hands of terrorists. So, if they are not in Iraq then maybe the terrorists have already got them. Such a scenario would be of major concern to the whole planet and thus must be worthy of an inquiry? How can people say it would be a waste of money? The war spent a hell of a lot of taxes and we deserve to find out if it was justified. What is the point of a public enquiry into the government's own intelligence service? A waste of public money, then what else? Blair is far from undoing all the bad publicity his government got with the war in Iraq, so please Mr Blair, leave it. We don't need another inquiry. Mary J, London UK I think there should be an enquiry into why the intelligence we went to war on was so wrong. The Hutton Report has let the government off the hook and this is quite simply unacceptable! The government must be held to account for their actions. By its very nature all intelligence cannot be totally trusted - The inquiry should focus on the "use" of the intelligence, not what the intelligence was. What IS the point? Nobody believes anything that comes out of these inquiries any more: the Hutton Report was a whitewash. Seriously, how likely is it that any inquiry on either side of the pond will conclude: "Actually we went to war because we wanted to"? Rachel Coldbreath, London, UK Yet another opportunity for the BBC to airbrush the facts and spin the story to show how they have been right all along. The basic fact is the world is now short one murdering dictator. Inquire into that. This enquiry is purely to deflect criticism. To take the heat of Blair and is Government again. It is so shameful that this Government insults our intelligence constantly with regard to this. The reason for the War as we all know was Oil. David Roberts, Mansfield UK Absolutely there should be an inquiry. Current evidence suggests that the intelligence was very badly wrong. If the BBC can be so heavily criticised for the quality of its investigation then the same standard should be required of the government. Pieter Dyson, Manchester, UK What's the point? The government will come out whiter than white and America will still dictate foreign policy. It will be an expensive waste of public money with no discernable outcome. Dave Jowett, Yate, UK What would be the point? Most people have drawn their own conclusions anyway. The move by George Bush is simply an easy way out because he can now fend off accusation from the Democrats by saying that he has authorised a full inquiry and that he will make no further comment until the results are out. Of course, the results won't be known until after the election. Philip, San Francisco, USA I think most people would agree when I say - who gives a toss? I mean we've just had to sit through this Hutton circus and now just when you think it's over we have to now listen to an "inquiry". I thought we just had one! The Bush and Blair administrations cherry picked intelligence that supported their oil war and ignored the vast majority of intelligence which stated that Iraq was not a threat. Also, Bush And Blair are ultimately in charge of the intelligence agencies, so their heads should roll, and we must not be distracted into blaming the intelligence services. Tajinder Singh, London, UK I think an inquiry is crucial. How else can the nation have faith in the intelligence services and the government? I am still a supporter of the government, but fail to see how they can avoid questions being asked about the situation. Simon, Northants, UK No, an inquiry is not necessary. The war was the only way to eliminate the threat posed by Saddam Hussein. If a person is threatening you with a weapon, you do not need to see it to take action! This should be the end of the story. Sam Delaney, Ferndale, Michigan, USA If having an inquiry helps to avoid thousands of deaths in the future through unnecessary wars then it has to be worth it. Tim Sowter, West Wickham, England I'd rather have an inquiry into the reasons why this government has seemingly put British foreign policy into the hands of the US. Absolutely not, it would be a shameful waste of money which would be better spent on ensuring that next time our brave troops go into battle, they have enough flak jackets to go round! James, Milton Keynes, England There should be an immediate investigation. Did the intelligence services dupe the government? Or did the government pressure the IS into delivering bad intelligence? A lot of people trusted Tony Blair. Was he himself guilty of being too trusting? An inquiry may well now be necessary, but I fail to see what good it will do. The majority of the press and public have already made up their minds and any verdict, as seen by the recent Hutton report, will be dismissed unless it complies with the already pre-judged views. The government has consistently been accused by the media and public of not listening and yet it is these who seem to only listen to what will back up their already steadfast views. Rob, Manchester, UK No. This is not government by consultation; those that voted for this government did so because they believed that it was capable of governing, and governing well. The money spent on all these pointless finger-pointing resignation-seeking exercises should be spent on all matter of useful things. We will cast our vote on this government at the next general election. Leah McCann, London What I find distasteful is the current political point scoring by the Tories when they voted to go to war. Two million people marched through London because it was blatantly obvious that the reasons given by the Labour Party for going to war were weak in the extreme. Geraint Day, Trefforest, Wales I fail to see how an inquiry can be avoided. The case for war was that WMD needed to secured from the use of Saddam and terrorists. We've now searched the country (and no doubt much of the Middle East) and there is no sign of them. It stands to reason therefore that we need to know what evidence there was and how it was interpreted so that the same mistakes can be avoided again ... not just by Blair and Bush but by any future government. Phillip Holley, UK, Cambs It is obvious to all who truly understand international affairs and the dominance of the American empire, that this intelligence was manipulated to justify a war that America wanted in order to secure its 'rights' over the energy resources of the Middle East, and to scare any other country that might stand up to them to 'think twice'. The American empire and the furthering of it, can be summed up in 2 words, 'greed' and 'power'. Stuart Rankin, London, UK Why waste tax payers money. Look at the Hutton report, how much did that cost and since the result was not what many people wanted to hear the results have been questioned. Unless an independent inquiry gives a "guilty we should not have gone to war" result, the press and public will question the result and the independence of the author of the report. I wish these people who keep harping on about Bush and Blair facing the consequences would face reality. WMD are not necessarily massive missiles and bombs. One test tube of a chemical agent could be classed as a WMD. Try finding that in Iraq. Saddam was warned of the impending war months before it began. Plenty of time to hide WMD away. I don't like this government but I'm glad they went to war and got rid of an evil tyrant Lianne, Cannock, UK When you remember that intelligence is not based on standards of truth required in law courts, we can see that it is perfectly possible to get very reliable (but not perfectly reliable) intelligence, make excellent interpretations and still get false conclusions. This probably may not happen very often, but when you are dealing with a master of deception like Saddam Hussein, it is a likely possibility. It seems to me that the intelligence at the time suggested that there would be WMD found in Iraq, and Saddam made a strategic decision not to cooperate sufficiently in order to give the impression that he did have WMD, but the inspectors were incapable of finding them. Sebastian, Oxford, England Tony Blair has constantly avoided the central issue in this debate. It is time that he is called to account fully. It is tragic that a government which was elected with such a mandate from the people for reform has failed so monumentally by virtue of its unrelenting pursuit of political opportunism, spin and cronyism. Who do they think they are fooling? An inquiry would only demonstrate further the control that this Prime Minister has (or is trying to exert) on all the established independent bodies in our country. Having got parliament, the BBC and the judiciary to fall into line, no doubt the intelligence services are next on his list. This man is rapidly destroying the fabric of the country, one which is much admired by the rest of the world. Please somebody stop this self-possessed lunatic before he inflicts any more damage elsewhere. Robert Russell, London UK I don't think the problem is the intelligence data itself. The problem is how it was used. Accusations were simply stated as fact in order to justify war. There was no presentation given to parliament regarding the level of reliability of the sources used or to the possible ulterior motives of those providing the information. Nigel, Oxford, UK The intelligence on WMD from Iraq has been consistent for years. The politicians should tell us what changed and why the timescale had to be February 2003. My guess is elections in the USA this year and UK next Jeremy, Hitchin, Herts What about the intelligence from the large team of weapons inspectors in Iraq? Blair and Bush were determined to have a war and now they are blaming it on bad intelligence. Governments should take responsibility. Tim Collyer, Lancing UK There was nothing wrong with the intelligence, being dubious and uncertain by it's very nature. Rather we should find out why the UK and US governments interpreted it in the way they did and ignored the doubts and alternatives offered by the other UN Security Council's member states who had access to the same intelligence. Lucien van Wouw, Leiden, The Netherlands Having been in Kuwait before and after the invasion by Saddam, it is clear to me that it is still possible to find the WMD in Iraq, they were finding major arms and even tanks buried in Kuwait up to 18 months after they left Kuwait, Iraq is much larger and Saddam had much more than 18 months to bury/hide/conceal any such WMD. Why don't we just have a General Election and be done with it. Blair can then be judged on his whole WMD war - which in many ways is really what this is all about. Grant, MK, England I don't see the point. As with Hutton people will dismiss the findings as a whitewash unless they agree exactly with their own (politically motivated) opinions. The money would be better spend on rebuilding Iraq. Peter McFarlane, Nottingham, UK I think we already know that Saddam and the intelligence agencies (UK, US, Germany, France and Israel) were a victim of Saddam's bluff and their own limitations. The question that needs answering is why Bush and Blair couldn't wait for the UN inspection teams to finish their inspections and let the UN decide how to go forward with Saddam's behaviour. In my opinion, Bush and Blair wanted Saddam ousted and the Intelligence was simply a convenient way of justifying a war. So if we investigate the intelligence failures, we're going to have another Hutton finding on our hands. In the end, even if Bush and Blair were sincere and the intelligence was misleading, they both did a terrible job of understanding the ramifications of their actions. Eric, London, UK It is truly astonishing that we are considering a 'public' inquiry into intelligence activities. By their very nature, intelligence matters are secret; there's no point otherwise. We have to depend on the fact that the general standards of our society will act as the ultimate rein on the limits of activity of our intelligence services. Even if that is not acceptable, conducting the activities of a 'secret service' in the public gaze is completely absurd. Perhaps that's where the problem lies; the government tried to reinforce their position by appearing to discuss 'intelligence' in the open, whereas this could never really be the case. Paul B, Oxford, UK Of course there must be an inquiry into WMD. Since 9/11 our foreign policy has radically changed. Both the American and British governments are now advocating pre-emptive strikes. More wars are in the offing. If we're going to attack other countries we must have reliable intelligence. To launch wars on the basis of bogus information will stir up more hatred of the West and bring the clash of civilizations that much nearer. Roger George Clark, London, UK To hold an inquiry is superficially attractive, but all it does is hand the ruling party a convenient opportunity to stifle inconvenient debate during the run-up to elections. Once those are safely out of the way, you can bet the enquiry will exonerate the ruling party, not least because its terms of reference will be carefully chosen for that outcome. Mark my words. Hutton Schmutton! Andy h, Bristol UK There is growing evidence to support the assertion made before the invasion of Iraq that such an invasion would be an illegal act of aggression. In effect a crime against peace, under the Nuremburg Articles established to protect nations against such acts. At a hypothetical trial of such an act by Public Interest Lawyers it was held that an invasion would be illegal. It is time to forget the red herrings and side issues and let the hawks who sent us to war face legal accountability. Michael Wills, Cumbria Half of the world's spy satellites have been watching the middle-east for over a decade. How come they didn't spot these weapons, or the movement of them if they really existed? I support an inquiry into intelligence failures, but let's stick to the facts on these pages. The French and the Germans thought Iraq had WMDs, Dr. Kelly thought Iraq had WMDs and the majority of Britains supported the war and still do. We should also face the fact that the world is a complicated and dangerous place, and our leaders have to make difficult choices with imperfect information. Tim, London, UK To Tim, London: Are you sure that your information regarding Germany and France is in fact correct or are you just repeating what someone else thought because it conveniently suited their argument ? Both the German and French government always talked of 'alleged WMDs' and in fact there was a highly publicized outburst between Donald Rumsfeld and Joschkar Fischer on this issue. Rumsfeld told reporters that he would take anyone who did not believe in the existence of WMDs in Iraq as an 'idiot'. Fisher then replied (in broken English) that he himself did not believe in their existence and that therefore he could not convince the electorate of their existence either. Michael, France, Bordeaux It is better to have no inquiry than another inquiry with a strategically limited remit this time looking at the 'failures of intelligence services regarding WMD'. That kind of an inquiry would likely deflect attention from the a priori intentions and blatant partiality of the 'coalition' leaders in their biased interpretation and selective meddling with available intelligence and simply dwell on the imperfection of intelligence, misleading of Iraqi exiles, posturing of Saddam and the like. What matters is an inquiry on the true reasons for going to war. Celine, London, UK Those who promoted this war generally rubbished those who did produce factual information that indicated the WMD issue, and the supposed information supporting it, was most questionable. As the UK is a democracy, then an inquiry is essential to identify a) who lied and/or b) who is incompetent and should resign. Starting wars on mistaken information, is a bit more than a passing error, it is a resigning offence at the very least! Of course if there was an inquiry then neither Tony Blair, nor any government member, should have any part in selecting a chairman nor the remit, being that none of them hold a neutral position. A Wilson, Edinburgh How much do these inquiries cost? And what is the point of them? If the Government is cleared of wrongdoing the anti-war / anti-American lobby will cry "whitewash". The Iraqi people are now free. Free to tell their own story. Why doesn't the BBC ever talk to ordinary Iraqi's about what they feel about the war? Maybe the BBC & the anti war lobby would not like the answers. Maybe we should start a lobby for an inquiry into the BBC's reporting bias during the war?. Roger Morgan Freedlan, Whitwick, England If the WMD story was in good faith and intentions, I don't see what the Prime Minister and government have to fear. However, I think it's about time the Prime Minister stopped insisting the so called WMDs will be found. The tune has changed, and it makes him look out of touch with realty. Andy Karis, London, UK What good is an inquiry going to do? Is it going to bring back to life the tens of thousands who died in vain? Is it going to restore little Ali's arms and legs? Are Bush and Blair going to do the honourable thing and resign for taking two countries into war illegally and making the world a more dangerous place? Of course not. All that will happen is a lot of tax payers money will be spent, a report published blaming no one and a lot of time being wasted. People of UK and USA - just remember this incident and all those who died when you cast your vote in Nov 2004 and May 2005. Tony G, Reading, UK An inquiry is essential if credibility in the intelligence service is to be restored. How can we be expected to believe the next threat assessment when this one was so wildly wrong? What I would like to know is why we went to war in such a rush, before allowing the weapons inspectors to do their jobs. It seems there was another agenda behind this war - an inquiry should focus on exactly what that agenda was and make it public. John, Inverness, Scotland Whether Iraq possessed WMD or not is clearly irrelevant at the end of the day. The justification for war was clear. Saddam Hussein's appalling Human Rights record made the use of force justifiable. The UN's resolutions, blatantly and repeatedly ignored by this man for years, made this organisation a laughing stock with little credibility. Saddam's game of brinkmanship brought about the death and destruction not Bush or Blair. Time for the doubters and the ostriches to get their heads out of the sand and face reality - sometimes you have to do the right thing! Phil, Southampton, UK It's only worth having inquiries if people are prepared to accept the findings. Given the general reaction to the Hutton Report, why should we spend millions of pounds on another inquiry which people are going to rubbish and ignore if it doesn't match their pre-conceived ideas? Richard, Newton of Ardtoe, UK A very neat piece of work by the President and Prime Minister. Transfer the blame to the intelligence services and deflect the public's gaze from their own failings. Andy, Purfleet, UK I believe that we should get on with life instead of keep spending fortunes paying groups of people to take months, or years, to give their opinions of the facts they uncover. Saddam Hussein apparently kept threatening use of these weapons, his bluff was called. Whether he had them or not is a bit late now. If I go into a bank and threaten the staff with the fact that I have a gun, or bomb, I don't expect an inquiry afterwards into whether or not I had one, or was capable of getting hold of one! Mike, Ashford, UK Of course there should be an independent investigation into WMD. The only problem is that by the time it reaches any conclusions, Bush will be re-elected already. Erik Petersen, Basel, Switzerland Of course, those that governed the decision to engage in this war should be held accountable. What is most disturbing is Bush's interest to now examine preliminary UN WMD inspection team documentation on their pre-war findings. Perhaps it would have been an idea to collaborate before invading! With the exception of Tony Blair, everyone knows there are no WMD in Iraq. The question for the UK is why was the intelligence so wrong? This requires investigating. Hugh Wilson, Glasgow Scotland Bush Should have asked for the facts before going to war. Suhail Bhatia, Bombay, India An independent commission is definitely needed to investigate WMD. The UN should also hold its own investigation. James Tudor, Allen, Texas There are two different issues, who has WMD and how did the UK and the US obtain their "intelligence" on the Iraqi program. Knowing details of the first might avoid some of the errors apparent in the information about Iraq and its WMD? Alan Cook, Wollongong, Australia Unless we have a public inquiry into how the intelligence services got it so wrong, how can we possibly sleep easy in our beds. It is imperative to find the truth. An inquiry into the existence of WMD is a must. All expert weapons inspectors, i.e., Joe Ritter, David Kay, Dr. David Kelly, all stated there were no WMD. I know Joe Ritter repeatedly stated this before Mr. Bush went into Iraq. Yet Mr. Bush and Rumsfeld both stated that they 'knew' Saddam had them, that they 'knew' where they were. An unbiased, international investigative team from the UN should have been appointed to the inquiry of WMD rather than one judge, appointed by Mr. T. Blair. Hopefully, the US Senate can pursue these issues soon. Maria, San Diego, USA I believe we do need an inquiry into the issue of WMD. However, I honestly don't know who would be able to raise one; all the major players in this issue have vested interests of some kind. Robert Bennett, Nantwich, Cheshire It is absolutely critical that a full and independent inquiry is held. I ask all journalists and media not to let this matter rest. J E Delve, Essex UK It should definitely be established through an independent impartial inquiry that the reasons cited for going to war were correct. If the reasons are found to be false, US and UK should be made to pay reparations to Iraq in the same way Saddam was forced to pay Kuwait. Abraham K, Toronto, Canada Why did the powers that be choose to believe the 45 min account and ignore the majority of sources that needed more time? Susan Harrison, Yorkshire Now, more than ever we need an inquiry into WMDs. It was the 45 minute claim that was used to justify the Iraq war, and it is now quite clear that this claim was totally false. Even Bush now wants to know what was wrong with the intelligence, and yet we have Blair still saying they were definitely there. Intelligence, by its very nature, can never be absolutely certain, but it is imperative that its reliability be established, and even more importantly that the politicians who then act on it are shown to judge the intelligence impartially. Who's going to appoint the investigation body? Bush like Blair appointed Hutton. Than of course we know what the outcome will be! De Ravet, Brasschaat, Belgium Surely the issue at hand here is the fundamental principle behind going to war. If the United States went into the war for the wrong reasons, knowing that they didn't have all the facts and evidence, then it stands that they somewhat deceived the public as to what they did and didn't know. If the reasons behind their actions were flawed, then how can we trust the individuals that make up the government to make correct decisions? These are the people who the public elects, and if they cannot be trusted, then they shouldn't be in power. Kabir Dhanji, Nairobi, Kenya No. It would just be yet another red herring. We need an inquiry as to the real reasons for the invasion/occupation of Iraq. Why was Bush so intent on waging this (or any?) war? And, especially, in the British context, why was Tony Blair so determined to blindly follow despite public opinion being against intervention and despite knowing that there was no real justification for war. G. Cowell, Spain/Scotland Yes we need an enquiry into WMDs, we cannot have these politicians declaring war on anybody because they think there are WMD in that country. The world is still waiting for the proof from Iraq, Mr Blair and Mr Bush where are they? Steve, South Yorkshire, UK An Inquiry would achieve nothing, as we saw with Hutton people will think what they think, if the result of the inquiry is different to their opinion they will just say the inquiry is at fault. Ashley Toms, Bristol Mr. Bush has just admitted that he doesn't have a clue what's going on. I find this very disturbing. It was, after all, Mr Bush who went around convincing the world that Iraq's WMD were an immediate threat to American security. An inquiry before the '04 American Election will cost Bush the White House - An inquiry after the '04 American Election won't matter - Mr Bush must stall the inquiry if he is to remain in the White House. Phil McCammon, GB Nobody ever had access to what intelligence said. All we had access to was what Bush, Blair, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz told us intelligence was saying. Even then, that didn't hold up in the court of public opinion. Looking at intelligence is a distraction. Comparing intelligence reports and analysis with what the leaders of Britain and the US told the world is what should be done. Tunde, Lagos, Nigeria If the basis to go to war against Iraq because of its presumed stocks of WMD was flawed, then surely the wider question begs, why did the UN still impose sanctions against Iraq for ten years for non compliance with the UN on whether or not Iraq had these weapons? Anthony Adekoya, London, UK Of course there should be a full inquiry, an enquiry that covers all the ground that the Hutton Report didn't. We entered into a war on the SOLE issue of WMDs, it is absolutely clear that they never existed, we have all been spun a lie, bring an inquiry on! A really worrying aspect of all this is that if these intelligence reports can be so completely inaccurate, then how can we trust intelligence in the future? Darren Hurley, Bristol, UK We have to remember that apart from a few weapons like those in the above picture, we claimed Saddam was in material breach of Resolution 1441. We invaded his country on that basis. If he did not however have the stockpiles of WMDs that were claimed, and the clear imminent threat (of the 45 minute launch claim), then the war was illegal (as many would say anyway) under International Law. Antony, Dorset, UK Just to be counted, "YES,YES, YES!!! Larry, Markstay, Canada No, an inquiry into the inquiry about WMDs pre-war would just be a propaganda vehicle for the anti-war brigade. The Hutton inquiry has answered the question as to who was lying. That's why Blair has not resigned, and the BBC heads have. Andrew Walden, Hilo, Hawaii, USA It's a bit late now - the damage is done. The evidence for no WMDs was abundant before the war! Experts with first-hand knowledge like former weapons inspector Scott Ritter were crystal clear - Saddam had no WMD production capability and no WMD stockpiles. The weapons inspection process had eliminated them. Yet Iraqi exiles with no expertise who stood to gain power in a "liberated" Iraq cooked up any number of fanciful stories about Saddam, including the bogus 45-minute claim. They were believed. Bush and Blair simply chose the intelligence they needed based on expedience, not reliability. Marc Brett, Richmond, UK Exactly which 'facts' does the president wish to know? Does this imply he went to war without 'facts'? Surely he had all the 'facts' necessary? He had the 'facts' presented by the UN weapons inspectors suggesting there were few if any WMD. He also had the 'facts' presented by intelligence sources and elements opposed to Saddam Hussein (with very vested interests) stating that there were stockpiles of WMD and even that they could be deployed within 45 minutes. He and Blair chose to believe the latter. Bush's call for the 'facts' is simply a smokescreen trying to obscure a very bad piece of judgment and shift the blame. Clive, Milwakee USA If we lived in a perfect world, intelligence would be perfect. As it is, we don't and it wasn't. It is not the job of the President to micro-manage government agencies but it is his job to determine how efficiently and productive they are run. Keep in mind, however, that during the previous administration, funding for the intelligence agencies was not as high a priority as lowering the deficit. You do get what you pay for. No - all that those calling for an inquiry want to do is to 'prove' their opinion that the War had no justification. No inquiry can persuade those who are 'anti-war' that honest men made difficult decisions about our future safety. They certainly do not want to find out how to improve our future use of intelligence, as no amount of intelligence would satisfy them that we should ever act. If what you want is to punish Bush, or Blair, then use your vote in an election. I will still be voting for Blair - he acted in all our interests. Billie, London UK The government needs to be judged by a jury of its peers. As an elected body of the public it has a responsibility to answer to them. Therefore the public should have the information to decide. Or does the government think we are not astute enough to make a decision for ourselves. Paul Young, London, England Surely, wouldn't it have been better for Bush to get the "facts" before going to war? We need a very thorough investigation to prevent such a thing from happening in the future - we also need to find out how such a small group of ideologues usurped power from the majority. Steve, Washington DC Of course we need an inquiry. I suggest Lord Hutton should run it. Rod, Oxford England I believe we owe it to the families of the 500+ men and women who died serving in the US/UK military. We owe it to the families of the thousands of innocent Iraqis who died as a result. David, Minneapolis, USA Pity Bush couldn't wait for the truth before launching this illegal and unnecessary war. I think an independent inquiry should be set up-on both sides of the Atlantic. Many powerful heads will roll as a result of this. Peter Bolton, US The question seems to me to be, "Why SHOULDN'T there be an inquiry?" Horse, Boston, MA Inquiry? Didn't King Oedipus find out that he himself was the cause for his nation's ills? President Bush is only going to find himself at the end of such an inquiry. Erik B, NJ, USA What good will an inquiry do? The politicians will just appoint people who will whitewash the facts. Peter Vevang, Minneapolis, USA< The Bush Administration was not interested in 'facts' when Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld directed the Office of Special Plans to cherry-pick intelligence to support the Bush desire for invasion. Why would Bush be interested in facts now? Bush's search for facts will be a search for a scapegoat - nothing more. Ian, Texas, USA The real question to be answered is not whether the intelligence was wrong but whether anybody knew that it was wrong at the time it was presented... War is serious business, so many lives have been lost and destroyed. It is important to determine what put us in this mess so that the same mistakes are not repeated. Is it possible that this war was fought for personal reasons? Let's find out. After all, perhaps that next loss of life maybe be someone near and dear. Michael Metti, San Diego, USA
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-26376987	Venezuela student protest in Caracas ends in clashes - 28 February 2014 - From the section Latin America & Caribbean Security forces in Venezuela have used tear gas to break up a student demonstration in the capital, Caracas. Hundreds of protesters were demanding the release of fellow students detained during two weeks of unrest, and called a fresh march for Sunday. In another part of Caracas, a large pro-government march was held. Earlier this week, President Nicolas Maduro declared an early start to the week-long Carnival public holiday in an attempt to end the unrest. On Monday, Venezuela's Attorney General Luisa Ortega said 13 people had died in the violence, although President Maduro put the figure of protest-related deaths at more than 50 on Wednesday. Despite the start of the long holidays on Thursday, students again gathered in Caracas. "There's no Carnival for anybody here. Here we are still on the streets, committed to the fight," student leader Juan Requesens told EFE news agency. Their peaceful demonstration ended in clashes with security forces when some masked protesters tried to block a road. Police and the National Guard used tear gas to break up the protest, while demonstrators hurled stones at them. Mr Requesens said there would be a "big march" on Sunday. At the presidential palace in Caracas, hundreds of Mr Maduro's supporters took part in a celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Caracazo, the violent protests against economic measures imposed in 1989 by the government. There were no reports of other large protests in other parts of Venezuela on Thursday. Meanwhile, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Elias Jaua, who is in Uruguay as part of a regional tour, said he believed the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) would be a better forum to discuss the current political crisis in Venezuela. Panama had suggested the Organization of American States (OAS) should discuss the issue, but Venezuela requested the motion to be cancelled. "Unasur has been much more efficient on these issues than the OAS. How many coups has the OAS stopped in its existence? On the contrary, it has legitimised many," Mr Jaua told reporters. On Wednesday, Mr Maduro held a "national peace conference" without the participation of the opposition. The Roman Catholic church and a major business federation took part in the meeting. The current unrest started more than two weeks ago with student protests in the western states of Tachira and Merida demanding increased security. They also complained about record inflation and shortages of staple items. But it soon spread to the capital and other parts of the country.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-26140652	East Midlands train passengers face delays despite track upgrade Rail passengers travelling between the East Midlands and London will face delays until April, because of setbacks to a £70m track upgrade. Improvements were meant to reduce journeys to London by eight minutes. Instead there have been delays of "two to three minutes". Network Rail and East Midlands Trains said they knew the project was behind schedule two weeks before it launched. Some passengers have been benefitting from faster journeys, they said.Apology Network Rail said "it became clear" in late November that parts of the project would not be completed on time. It said that the bad weather has set back its attempts to mitigate delays of up to three minutes caused by the remaining works on the lines. "By the start of April, the majority of the line speed improvement works will be complete and the published timetable will operate more reliably. Faster journey times - Sheffield to London: 2 hrs - Nottingham to London: 1hr 31 mins - Derby to London: 1hr 28 mins - Leicester to London: 1 hr 5 mins "We apologise that we have so far been unable to deliver all of the promised journey time improvements on all of our train services," the spokesman said. East Midlands Trains said that passengers "are still benefitting from faster journey times than seen before the launch of the new timetable". When not subject to delays, trains on the East Midlands mainline to London should reach a top speed of 125mph (200kmph) as a result of track work. The £70m upgrade on 160 miles of track means the fastest journey from Nottingham to London should be reduced by eight minutes to 91 minutes.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/oxford/hi/people_and_places/music/newsid_8518000/8518020.stm	The album cover was designed by local illustrator Matt Halliday In March 2010 BBC Oxford's local music show "Introducing " celebrates its fifth birthday. To mark the occasion the team have also decided to recreate Radiohead's seminal album The Bends. Their version, dubbed 'Round The Bends', is a loving reinterpretation of the classic record which is 15 years old in March. The team have brought together their favourite acts to work their magic on these amazing Radiohead songs. Each of the album tracks have been completely reinterpreted and as a whole stand together as a phenomenal homage to the original. Local band Stornoway kick off proceedings with their version of Planet Telex. Stornoway are arguably the most successful local group of late having played at Radio 1's Big Weekend, Glastonbury and on Jools Holland. They started the new year in The BBC's Sound Of 2010 list. Richard Walters and Little Fish have also given up time from their hectic international schedules to play tracks on the album. 'Round The Bends' also features various new exciting discoveries from the last 12 months, such as The Scholars, Spring Offensive and Ute. We Aeronauts reworked Fake Plastic Trees The album was released on 4 March 2010 on iTunes. A total of 49p from every individual track downloaded and £4.90 from every album downloaded will benefit the BBC Children In Need Appeal, a company limited by guarantee. BBC Children in Need Appeal is a charity registered in England and Wales (802052) and Scotland (SC039557)' The album launch gig took place on 6 March at the 02 Academy. More details can be found 'Round the Bends' tracklisting Stornoway 'Planet Telex', Ute 'The Bends', Jessie Grace 'High and Dry', We Aeronauts 'Fake Plastic Trees', Spring Offensive 'Bones', The Winchell Riots 'Nice Dream', Little Fish 'Just', The Scholars 'My Iron Lung', Richard Walters 'Bulletproof I Wish I Was', The Family Machine 'Black Star', Alphabet Backwards 'Sulk', The Evenings 'Street Spirit (Fade Out)', BONUS TRACK Lee Christian 'Talk Show Host'.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7172924.stm	By Kevin Young Entertainment reporter, BBC News In "the good old days" of Saturday morning television, there were only two programmes to watch. Children who were allowed to tune into ITV saw Tiswas, while those of us in homes where the BBC was our parents' broadcaster of choice settled for Noel Edmonds' Multi-Coloured Swap Shop. Barney Harwood and Basil Brush are the new show's presenters This show ran from 1976 until 1982 and helped to make household names of presenters such as Keith Chegwin and Maggie Philbin. Beyond the celebrity guests and light-hearted banter was one central premise - those taking part had to bring a "swap" with them, which would be exchanged with an item offered by another viewer or audience member. Whether it was a tatty dartboard, a Sindy car set or one of the early electronic games, gifts changed hands in a show which was (mostly) full of clean, simple fun. We are all being encouraged to recycle much more in 2008, and the BBC is leading by example by reviving Swap Shop, this time with Basil Brush at the helm and CBBC presenter Barney Harwood as his sidekick. The show produced a parody of Doctor Who, called Doctor What Harwood appeared bemused and even a little nervous about appearing alongside an unpredictable wise-cracking furry fox during an hour of live television. It was as if he was the only babysitter in a house full of mischievous young know-it-alls who were threatening to trash the place before their parents returned. However, Brush stamped his authority on the proceedings by stating "it's my Swap Shop - don't you forget it" at one point, with a slight menace in his tone. Things began with a bright title sequence full of pink, yellow and orange, and a theme tune which - to its credit - was more than a nod to the music used on the original show. There was a mild dig at the "boring" Edmonds era when a clip from 1980 was played, showing the bearded star reading out a young viewer's letter about paper-folding, and then we were straight into the swaps. One girl ended up in the gunk tank during one of the competitions Someone wanted to exchange nine Airfix model kits and nine series of Friends on VHS for an MP3 player. "You must be over 12 to enter this swap because of the content of Friends," Brush warned, in this era of greater transparency and responsibility on TV. A young girl asked if she could swap a Jacqueline Wilson book for another by the same author. And I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! winner Joe Pasquale - this week's star guest - brought an electric guitar, seeking a radio-controlled aeroplane in return, on behalf of his 12-year-old daughter. As well as the recycling of gifts, other classic Saturday morning ideas were brought back. The BBC's original Swap Shop ran for six years until 1982 A gunk tank was filled with green gloop for a fun game in which one youngster launched their friend, strapped to a bed which had wheels on it, along a platform. If they pushed the bed too hard, their partner-in-crime ended up covered in slime - certainly a good test of their friendship. Some of the audience members were watching the show from a rubbish skip, a concept taken straight from the (thankfully long-forgotten) BBC quiz show Knock Knock. I remember this because I was one of the youngsters sitting in that skip back in 1989. There was a parody of Doctor Who with Brush as Doctor What, the hard-of-hearing Timefox. And a send-up of post-watershed drama Heroes focused on Zeroes, people who wrongly believed they had special abilities. Noel Edmonds (back right) was the original show's presenter Brush did what he does best - keeping the corny puns flowing to the sound of wind being broken around him - and in the end, half a dozen children went away happy with new presents on what must have seemed to them like a second Christmas Day. To today's younger generation, I'm sure it was good, clean fun and was perhaps a way for those too young to be allowed to look at sales websites such as eBay to swap their toys. And you never know in this age of recycling - perhaps one day, Noel Edmonds will return to the Saturday morning slot and make it his own once more. After all, he has proved himself the king of the comebacks over the years. We asked if you or your children had watched Basil Brush's Swap Shop and how it compared to the original show with Noel Edmonds. Here is a selection of responses received. My six-year-old twins thought it was a great new programme! The old ones are the best... They loved the gunk tank and they are rooting through their unwanted toys for next week. Viv Johnstone, West Wickham I watched the show with my daughter, who is almost eight, so it's an exact generation between us watching the two versions. I didn't like the Noel Edmonds bits where he was shown as god-like! But my daughter and I thought it was good. Could've been more exciting, though - not a lot of swapping going on and too many dressed-up characters. I thought that perhaps the show could introduce live locations whereby a reporter goes out and meets children at their homes to show what they want to swap. Also, you could have "nostalgia" toys of items that are perhaps parents' toys. I have been trying get hold of the original Transformers and am happy to swap my son's new ones for them. Errrm, Basil Brush was great; Barney Harwood looked like he did not really know what he was doing or what was going on. Nothing like the Swap Shop I remember - bring back Dick and Dom!! Mark Deamer, Watford, Hertfordshire It was bad. Take it off. Another waste of licence money. We all watched today - my wife and myself grew up with the first one, and our daughter wanted to see what it was like. Shame about the annoying Basil Brush - rubbish in the '80s and no better now. Let's have Swap Shop with Barney and Kirsten and leave the brush behind. I watched Swap Shop this morning because I'm a kid and I'd never seen it before in the 1970s/80s, so it was brilliant. Keep it coming!!! Tomas Astell, Beverley, East Riding I watched it this Saturday morming because I am a kid and I had been watching the adverts on CBBC. They made the show look good. There is nothing special about it. All it was was a few kids swapping things, a few rubbish clips and hardly any fun games. My mum told me about the 1970/80s one and it sounded brilliant. You can never make anything as good as the original. Bethany Sim, Aberdeenshire I used to love watching Swap Shop when it was first on in the '70s so I watched today just to see how Basil would get on. I must say for a politically policed show it was great fun. Basil was his usual brushy self and totally in charge. I used to watch him when he was on TV with Mr Roy and Mr Rodney and the original Mr Derek - where are Basil's Jelly Babies? He never went on TV without his favorite sweeties. Oh, I forgot - we're not supposed to encourage children to eat sweets... Sally Loveday, Bridgend, South Wales How can we be certain that the swaps are genuine and not "set up"? The original Basil Brush was a one-off. Watching as a child I used to be in hysterics with the rest of my mates and family because you knew there was something crazy and anarchic about that little puppet. There was always a sense that the people who were working with Basil Brush didn't know what he was going to do next. Which brings me to this new Basil Brush... My daughter of eight likes him, but not in the way I loved him when I was her age. This new Basil Brush is pretty flat and boring. They need to add an element of zany humour and craziness to make it as fun as before. Why not try creating a new character, for heaven's sake, like they used to do in the old days! (I am joking but you get the point. Boom! Boom!) Gaverne Bennett, London Wasn't a patch on Zokko or Outer Space - but then again I'm probably showing my age! Bring back Tiswas. Ian, Treorchy, Glamorgan Bring back Dick and Dom!!!! It sounds like you need those two Geordie blokes presenting it. Glenn Farron, Milwaukee, USA It was a nice touch putting in Noel Edmonds and it would be a great idea to ask the old presenters on to the show. My family and I are currently stationed in Japan, so I'm unable to watch the new Swap Shop. As a kid, I loved getting up on Saturday mornings and watching Swap Shop. Basil Brush was my highlight - I thought he was great! Paula, Yokosuka, Japan I thought Basil's remake highlighted one thing that the BBC does too many of - remakes. However, this one was alright, but could have been longer. Basil was just too tacky. Nev the bear and Barney would be better for the job. It must have been bad for so many of you to want Dick and Dom back instead! Frie, Echternach, Luxembourg I think it is brilliant, ha ha boom boom! Bailey Jama, Cardiff At the great age of 54, I remember Basil fondly. Now as a British talk show host here in the USA, I will often finish a story or joke with a "boom boom". My producer looks at me strangely, and chips in saying that must be one of those typical English sayings. It is. Welcome back, Basil. When will he be on BBC America? Will he be on Torchwood? Jeremy Taylor, Lawrence, Kansas, USA
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport3/worldcup2002/hi/matches_wallchart/turkey_v_china/newsid_2018000/2018488.stm	92 mins: The referee blows the final whistle. China bow out of the tournament without scoring. But Turkey's win - combined with Brazil's victory over Costa Rica - means Turkey have reached the last 16. Scenes of jubilation follow. 90 mins: Hakan Sukur - with the goal at his mercy - cannot quite reach a Hakan Sas cut back. 86 mins: Jiang superbly saves to deny Ilhan Mansiz. 84 mins: Umit Davala scores the third goal Turkey so desperately want. He brilliantly volleys home a Hakan Sas cross, sparking mass celebrations as Turkey realise - with Brazil leading Costa Rica 5-2 - that they are going to qualify for the second round. Turkey 3-0 China 83 mins: Tugay comes off after an industrious match - and is replaced by Tayfur Havutcu. 81 mins: Hasan Sas is booked for a late challenge on Xu Yunlong. 79 mins: Emre Asik should score for Turkey, but having sneaked in at the far post to get on the end of a corner kick he misses the target from short range. 76 mins: Qu Bo drags a shot wide from the edge of the area. The crowd in Seoul are desperate for China to score before the end of their participation in the tournament. 72 mins: Qu Bo and Yu Genwei come on for Hao Haidong and Yang Chen. 71 mins: Hakan Sukur fails to convert an excellent opportunity. The striker pulls away from his marker and meets Umit Davala's cross but his header is too close to Jiang, who makes a good save. 69 mins: Yildiray Basturk is substituted for Ilhan Mansiz. The Bayer Leverkusen striker has had few opportunities to make his mark in front of goal. 60 mins: Li Weifeng is booked for obstruction. 58 mins: Shao Jiayi - introduced as substitute at the start of the second half - is given a straight red card for a lunge at Emre Belozoglu. Although the challenge is poor a red card does seem a little harsh on the Chinese player. 50 mins: Hasan Sas forces a save from Jiang with a powerfully struck shot. 46 mins: The second half begins with Turkey pushing forward for a third goal. 45 mins: Yang Pu goes down in the penalty area under a crude challenge from Fatih Akyel. But instead of awarding a penalty the referee books the Chinese player for diving. Seconds later he blows for half-time. Half-time: Turkey 2-0 China 35 mins: Turkey goalkeeper Rustu Recber - injured in his team's previous game against Costa Rica - fell awkwardly earlier in the half and is unable to continue. He is replaced by Omer Catkic. 30 mins: Emre Belozoglu is booked and will miss the next match should Turkey reach the second round. 27 mins: China are unlucky not to score their first goal of the finals. Hao Haidong crosses from the left and Yang Chen's shot crashes against the woodwork with the goalkeeper comfortably beaten. 19 mins: Emre Asik is booked for a foul on Hao Haidong and will miss Turkey's next match if they qualify from their group. 11 mins: China's Hao Haidong cuts in from the left-hand side and shoots at goal but Rustu Recber saves. China seem a lot more cohesive moving forward than defending. 9 mins: Turkey score again. A deep cross from the left-hand side is met by Bulent Korkmaz, whose looping header evades Jiang in the China goal. Turkey 2-0 China 5 mins: Hasan Sas scores for Turkey - his second goal of the tournament. The goal comes after Umit Davala takes a quick free kick - which he feed to Sas, who shrugs off the challenge of two China defenders before smashing home with his right foot. Turkey 1-0 China 0730 BST: The game begins and within seconds Turkey's Hakan Sukur almost heads his team ahead but cannot quite get on the end of a deep cross from the right. Turkey: Rustu, Asik, Korkmaz, Unsal, Akyel, Tugay, Basturk, Emre, Davala, Sukur, Sas. Subs: Abdullah, Alpay, Erdem, Ergun, Izzet, Mansiz, Nihat, Okan, Omer, Ozat, Tayfur, Zafer. China PR: Jiang, Pu Yang, Wu, Weifeng Li, Du, Xu, Tie Li, Zhao, Xiaopeng Li, Hao, Chen Yang. Subs: An, Gao, Jihai, Ma, Ou, Qi, Qu, Shao, Su, Yu, Zhang, Zhiyi. Referee: O Ruiz (Colombia).
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-27260040	Gerry Adams arrest: NI police granted extension - 2 May 2014 - From the section Northern Ireland Police in Northern Ireland have been given more time to question Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams in connection with the 1972 murder of Jean McConville. Detectives were granted a 48-hour extension on Friday evening by a judge. Mr Adams, 65, denies allegations that he was involved in the abduction and murder of the mother-of-ten. He has been held for questioning since voluntarily presenting himself at Antrim police station on Wednesday. Mr Adams is the former MP for West Belfast and is currently an elected representative for County Louth in the Republic of Ireland. An initial 48-hour deadline to either charge or release him was due to expire at 20:00 BST on Friday, but the police successfully applied for more time to question him. Mr Adams appeared in court via video link, as his lawyers contested the police's application for an extension under the Terrorism Act 2000. Detectives could have asked for five more days to question Mr Adams, but instead applied to hold him until Sunday evening. Earlier on Friday, his party colleague Martin McGuinness told a news conference: "Yesterday, I said that the timing of the arrest of Gerry Adams was politically motivated. "Today's decision by the PSNI to seek an extension confirms me in my view." Mr McGuinness, who is Northern Ireland deputy first minister, said the detention of Mr Adams was "a very, very serious situation". He said Sinn Féin supported the progressive elements within the PSNI. However, he added: "There is a cabal within the PSNI who have a different agenda, a negative and destructive agenda to both the peace process and to Sinn Féin." He said Sinn Féin had been told this by "very senior members of the PSNI" who had coined the phrase the 'dark side'. "Am I angry? Yes I am, but it's a very controlled anger," he said. In regards to Sinn Féin's support for policing in Northern Ireland, he said that would continue if the situation with Mr Adams is resolved in a satisfactory manner. "If it doesn't, we will have to review that situation." When pressed if this meant Sinn Féin would withdraw support for the police if Mr Adams was charged, he said: "We're not taking any decision at this time, about anything." Mr McGuinness added: "I believe Gerry Adams will be totally and absolutely exonerated." Northern Ireland Justice Minister David Ford of the Alliance Party said: "If there are dark forces within policing, I can see no sign of dark forces." Mr Ford, who was first appointed minister when policing and justice powers were devolved to Stormont in 2010, said: "I see a police force with very high levels of confidence, higher than the Garda Síochána (Irish police) or many forces in Great Britain. "I see a police force carrying out its duties properly and appropriately, following up evidential opportunities where they present themselves and operating in conjunction with the community across a range of issues." Ulster Unionist Party leader Mike Nesbitt said: "It is one thing to scrutinise the police - it is totally unacceptable for their support for police to be conditional on getting political policing in relation to republicans, which Martin McGuinness seems to be suggesting." Dolores Kelly of the nationalist SDLP said: "For Sinn Féin to threaten to withdraw support from the PSNI because an investigation is not going the way they want it completely unacceptable." On Thursday, Northern Ireland First Minister and DUP leader Peter Robinson said: "I would suggest to you that it would be political policing if the PSNI had not questioned those that were deemed to have been involved in any way." Mrs McConville, a 37-year-old widow and mother of 10, was abducted and shot by the IRA. Her body was recovered from a beach in County Louth in 2003. She is one of Northern Ireland's Disappeared, those who were abducted, murdered and secretly buried by republicans during the Troubles. She was kidnapped in front of her children after being wrongly accused of being an informer - a claim that was dismissed after an official investigation by the Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman. The widow was held at one or more houses before being shot and buried in secret. The IRA admitted in 1999 that it murdered and buried at secret locations nine of the Disappeared. Sixteen people are listed as "disappeared" by the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains, which was established in 1999 by a treaty between the British and Irish governments. Despite extensive searches, the remains of seven of them have not been found. Last month, Ivor Bell, 77, a leader in the Provisional IRA in the 1970s, was charged with aiding and abetting the murder. There have also been a number of other arrests over the murder recently.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-19261644	Higher fees 'makes students cautious in choosing courses' - 15 August 2012 - From the section Education & Family Higher tuition fees are likely to make students in England more "choosy" this year about their final decisions over university courses, suggests research. With hundreds of thousands of young people awaiting their A-level results this week, the research from Oxford University indicates debt wariness. The study suggests higher fees could make students less willing to take places on offer through clearing. Researcher Helen Carasso says students will be "very selective". "This may mean fewer of them are willing to go through the clearing process and accept an offer of a course or institution that was not on their original shortlist," said Dr Carasso, from the Centre on Skills, Knowledge and Organisational Performance in Oxford University's education department. The study, based on interviews and focus groups with more than 700 sixth formers in England, suggested uncertainty about the financial cost of university - and an awareness that this represented a "significant investment". Students who get their results this week, beginning courses in the autumn, will be the first to pay higher tuition fees of up to £9,000 per year. This meant that there would be greater "pressure on them to make the right decisions concerning where they invest their time and money", said researcher Hubert Ertl. "However, the complexity of the range of fee waivers and bursaries makes it difficult for them to compare the costs of studying at different universities," said Dr Ertl. More than three-quarters of these sixth formers believed that graduates would be likely to earn more than non-graduates. But there remained concerns about the level of debt - particularly among female students. This week will see students finding out A-level results - and whether they have gained the grades needed for university. There have been suggestions of a more unpredictable clearing process this year for those who miss out on their grades this year. Universities have been given greater flexibility over how many top grade students they can recruit - with no limit on the number of places for students getting AAB A-level grades or better. A number of leading universities - including Oxford, Cambridge and Durham - are not planning to expand to recruit more of these students. But there are other universities, including Bristol and University College London (UCL), which are planning to use this flexibility and increase their intakes. But these extra places in Bristol and UCL will be made available to students who have already applied to these universities. What remains less certain is whether there will be a knock-on effect from this expansion at the top ability range - when the overall student numbers are not increasing. But there are many young people who find the clearing process "baffling", according to a survey from London South Bank University and the Student Room online forum. This found that almost half of A-level students were uncertain about the clearing system for allocating any remaining university places after results have been published. For students planning to study abroad in countries with lower tuition fees, growing demand looks set to mean higher grades this year. Maastricht University in Holland says that this year it will require at least three B grades at A-level - with almost 600 students from the UK applying for undergraduate courses, up from almost 300 last year. Earlier this week, the head of Universities UK warned against any "predictions of chaos" in the application and clearing process. "The reality for most students is that 2012 will work no differently than previous years," said chief executive, Nicola Dandridge.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-23586026	Kaesong complex: Two Koreas to hold more talks - 7 August 2013 - From the section Asia North and South Korea have agreed to resume talks on reopening the Kaesong industrial zone, days after Seoul demanded "final talks" on the matter. In a statement on Wednesday, Pyongyang offered talks on 14 August, saying its workers would return to the joint complex and the safety of South Korean staff would be guaranteed. Both sides would prevent another suspension of operations, it added. South Korea has accepted the proposal, describing it as "forward-looking". Several previous rounds of talks have ended in deadlock. South Korea is demanding Pyongyang provide guarantees it will not unilaterally close the zone again. It was not immediately clear whether North Korea's offer fulfilled Seoul's criteria for such a guarantee. The North Korean offer came shortly after Seoul announced insurance payments to companies affected by the stoppage - a move seen as paving the way for a formal closure of the site. The zone, which lies just inside North Korea, has been closed since Pyongyang withdrew its workers in April, angered by UN sanctions following its 12 February nuclear test and a US-South Korea military drill. The zone is home to 123 South Korean factories employing more than 50,000 North Korean workers, and is a key source of revenue for the North. Several rounds of talks on resuming operations ended in deadlock in July. Wednesday's statement, attributed to North Korea's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea, said: "The North side will lift the step for temporarily suspending operations... [and] allow the entry of South Korean businesses." "The North and the South will prevent the recurrence of the suspension of operation in the KIZ [Kaesong Industrial Zone] and ensure normal operation in the KIZ without being affected by any situation in any case," it said, without giving further details. The proposal was "prompted by [North Korea's] desire to bring about a new phase of reconciliation, co-operation, peace, reunification and prosperity by normalising operation in the Kaesong zone", the statement added. South Korean Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Hyung-suk said Seoul had agreed to the 14 August talks. Hours earlier, as around 500 South Korean factory owners and workers protested in Paju over the closure, Seoul said it had authorised insurance payments worth 280bn won ($251m; £163m) to companies affected by the suspension. Under insurance rules, companies can receive up to 90% of their investment losses in compensation, and ownership of the companies' assets will go to the government, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported. The move was seen as a step towards closing down the zone permanently. The proposed movement on Kaesong also came a day after Seoul said it was providing $6m (£4m) in aid to North Korea. South Korean officials said it was the first time in two years that government aid had been sent to North Korea. The North, which suffered severe floods in the last two years, relies on aid to feed its people. But the flow of aid from Seoul has been halted in recent years amid deadlock over North Korea's nuclear ambitions. The aid will be sent through the UN children's charity Unicef, and will provide vaccines, medical care and food for children.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-28669943	Five US generals killed in action - 6 August 2014 - From the section Magazine Maj Gen Harold Greene, killed by an Afghan soldier in an insider attack, follows a long line of US generals killed in war. And their deaths say much about the changing nature of warfare. In the past decade, thousands of American soldiers have lost their lives to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Yet news this week of Maj Gen Harold Greene's death made headlines. Gen Greene is not only the highest ranking US military official to have been killed since the start of the war in Afghanistan, his death also marks the first time in more than 40 years that a general has been killed in combat. Although it's now a rare occurrence, before modern technology and tactics, the deaths of senior officers were far more common. Civil War combat Gen John Sedgwick was the highest-ranking Union official killed on the battlefield during the United States Civil War. "They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance," he allegedly said to his colleagues during battle, right before he was shot and killed by a confederate sharpshooter. Like many wars in the 19th Century, the American Civil War was particularly lethal for high-ranking officials due to the nature of combat at that time. "In the Civil War, soldiers were more densely packed and fighting in lines," said Richard Kohn, a military historian at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "Brigadier Generals were often leading the brigades so they were in greater danger given the tactics and weapons involved." Killed at peace talks Following the US Civil War, many career officers served on the front lines of the American Indian Wars. However, unlike the Civil War, the fight for territory in the western frontier was asymmetric, lasting decades. Gen Edward Canby was the only US general killed during the American Indian Wars, and at the most unlikely stage possible. At peace talks in northern California with the Modoc tribe, he was assassinated by treaty negotiators. "It was once common for generals to share the fate of the ordinary soldier," says Boston University political scientist Andrew Bacevich. "There was once a common used phrase - 'fighting generals' - those who stayed on the front lines." Fewer deaths in World War Two Lt Gen Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr was killed in the final days of the Battle for Okinawa during World War Two. Posthumously promoted to the rank of four-star general, Gen Buckner became the highest-ranking military officer killed on the battlefield during that war. "In the US Civil War, it was quite common for generals to be killed. In World War Two, the odds were substantially lower," says Stephen Biddle, a military expert with the Council on Foreign Relations. "As weapons' ranges increased, the headquarters tended to move to the rear, to get them further out of harm's way." Maj Gen John Albert B Dillard Jr was killed during the Vietnam War when his helicopter was shot down in 1970. According to data compiled by the Associated Press, Gen Dillard was the last army general killed in action overseas before the death of Gen Greene. As military technology and tactics changed in Vietnam, so did the nature of the war. Because of the lack of distinct frontlines, many commanders would lead their battalions from helicopters above the battlefield, radioing commands to their soldiers below. "In the Vietnam War, the helicopter was the platform that seemed to provide the most effective means to command and control operating forces," says Bacevich. "For those who believed the Vietnam War was a military failure, they said it was a failure of command. One example was the tendency to try to control ground operations from a helicopter above." In the office Lt Gen Timothy Maude became the highest-ranking officer killed by foreign action since Gen Buckner when a passenger plane crashed into the Pentagon on 9/11. Following the Vietnam War, high ranking officers were rarely placed in vulnerable positions, such as on the battlefield. Instead, they occupied more strategic positions in places like the Pentagon. "In modern times, the American military has become more bureaucratised," says HW Brands, a historian at the University of Texas. "These days it takes a long time to become a general - 25 years - whereas in the Civil War, people became generals after three months in battle. The army will not put someone with 25 years training on the field." Subscribe to the BBC News Magazine's email newsletter to get articles sent to your inbox.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-26060532	Sleepwalker statue at US campus awakens art debate - 5 February 2014 - From the section US & Canada A lifelike sculpture of a nearly-nude man walking in snow has drawn a mixed reaction from students at a Massachusetts college. The artwork, entitled Sleepwalker, depicts a somnambulant in nothing but underwear at Wellesley College. Nearly 300 people have signed a petition to have the statue removed. The work, on campus to promote a forthcoming exhibition, is designed to trigger "unexpected new ideas", the college president said.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_prem/9392565.stm	Gohouri (second left) is congratulated after scoring Wigan's equaliser By Phil Dawkes Liverpool's resurgence under Kenny Dalglish was dealt a setback as struggling Wigan battled to a deserved draw at Anfield. The home side led at the break thanks to Raul Meireles' volley - his fourth goal in his last five matches. But Wigan fought back and equalised when Steve Gohouri prodded in Antolin Alcaraz's flick on at the far post. Liverpool striker Luis Suarez was twice denied a goal by the woodwork on his first start for the club. The Uruguyan's selection signalled a more adventurous Liverpool formation to the one that employed a heavily loaded midfield and a three-man defence in a successful contain and capitalise operation at Chelsea last Sunday. It was a system designed to dominate their struggling opponents but, despite coming into the game full of confidence off the back of four successive wins, they were unable to do so. Dalglish blames internationals for tired Liverpool This may be partly due to the absence of midfield driving-force Steven Gerrard, who missed the game because of the thigh injury that caused him to sit out England's international win in Denmark on Wednesday. The chief reason though was the performance of Wigan, who adopted a similar philosophy to that used to such good effect by their hosts in London six days ago. Wigan's performance was a battling one - which should give them heart in their quest to avoid the drop - but it also showcased enough fluency and ability to make one wonder why even with this point they remain in the relegation zone, albeit only on goal difference. The Latics began the game well, looking composed with the lion's share of possession, without creating anything of meaning to hurt the home side. In contrast, when Liverpool came forward they looked more threatening, and it was they who had the first goalbound effort courtesy of Dirk Kuyt's 25-yard drive, which Ali Al-Habsi saved. The home side were growing as a force soon after they went ahead when Fabio Aurelio's cross from the left was deflected to Meireles by the attempted headed clearance of Gohouri, and the Portuguese midfielder lashed a volley past Al-Habsi. Suarez almost doubled the lead soon after, but after jinking in from the left, his curling effort struck the far post and went wide. Wigan refused to wilt though and continued as a threat in the game, although Charles N'Zogbia's 25-yard free-kick - easily gathered by Reina - was their only effort on target before the break. The visitors would fashion the first chance of the second half, and it was one from which they should have scored, but Hugo Rodallega put his first-time side-foot effort wide after being found at the near post by Victor Moses. Anfield draw will breed confidence - Martinez The miss did not dishearten them though and with 65 minutes gone they got a deserved but controversial equaliser. N'Zogbia's inswinging cross from the right was flicked on by the head of Antolin Alcaraz and then prodded in at the back-post by Gohouri. The defender appeared to be in an offside position when Alcaraz made contact but the linesman's flag stayed down. It was the first goal Liverpool had conceded in over seven hours of football, since Jermaine Beckford's strike for Everton in the 2-2 draw at Anfield on 16 January. Sensing their first lost points since that Merseyside derby, Liverpool pressed for a winner and they were inches away when Suarez struck the bar with a 20-yard free-kick. Aurelio fired over from 20 yards and Martin Skrtel headed over from a corner late on but Wigan were able to hold out. This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/jersey/7200359.stm	A man who believes he may be the illegitimate son of the late Princess Margaret has begun another court battle to access papers relating to her will. Mr Brown believes Princess Margaret was "forced" to give him up Jerseyman Robert Brown, 53, was given leave to appeal after the Family Division ruled in July that his claims to see the documents were unfounded. The Appeal Court later ruled Mr Brown might still have the right to test the principle of sealing royal wills. Mr Brown believes his father may have been Group Captain Peter Townsend. Although he was born on 5 January 1955 in Nairobi, Kenya, Mr Brown's birth was not registered until 2 February and the birth certificate gives the date of 4 June 1955. Research carried out by Mr Brown has convinced him the princess was forced to give up her "secret" son. He has also said a mystery Privy Council meeting on the day he was born backs up his claim. If the princess, who died in 2002 aged 71, and the former RAF pilot were Mr Brown's biological parents, the Channel Island accountant would be 12th in line to the throne. Princess Margaret was engaged to divorced Mr Townsend, but she called off the wedding in October 1955. The princess said her decision was based on her duty to the Commonwealth and on the Church's teaching that Christian marriage was indissoluble. Mr Brown's previous attempts to access the wills of Princess Margaret and the Queen Mother have been blocked by judges who say orders to seal the documents should remain in force. Princess Margaret called off her engagement because of "duty" But in October, the Court of Appeal ruled it was at least arguable that Mr Brown had standing to assert a general public interest in whether it was right for them to be sealed. Mr Brown has returned to the appeal court to argue that point before the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Phillips, Lord Justice Thorpe and Lord Justice Dyson. Geoffrey Robertson QC, representing Mr Brown, said the appeal raised important questions as to the circumstances in which wills - particularly those of the Royal Family - could be sealed and the circumstances in which wills which have been sealed can be unsealed. Mr Robertson said his client genuinely believed he could be the son of Princess Margaret . "He wants to inspect the Royal wills as part of his search for the truth about his identity," he said. Royal wills were made public in the usual way until 1911 when a will was sealed and this had been used as a precedent ever since, said Mr Robertson. Mr Robertson said there was a heightened need for transparency of the wills of the Royal Family. He said the Royal Family "enjoys extremely favourable treatment under the Inheritance Tax arrangements" and their wills should be public documents so that the extent to which they are benefiting can be examined. Mr Brown's appeal is opposed by executors of both estates and the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith. Jonathan Swift, who is representing the Attorney General, will argue the Supreme Court has power to allow a will to be sealed.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/welsh/3701431.stm	The departing Stephen Jones kicked Scarlets to Celtic League glory at a jam-packed Stradey Park. Scarlets (9) 23 Pens: Jones 5 Ulster (9) 16 Pen: Humphreys 3 Jones, who was playing his final game in front of his home crowd, contributed 18 points as the Scarlets pipped the Irishmen to the title. The Welshmen were completely dominant after the break with Matthew Watkins touching down. Ulster had very little to offer out wide, with Neil McMillan scoring their only try a few minutes from the end. Ulster mostly relied on the boot of David Humphreys, who contributed 11 points to what was really a damp squib of a performance. The visitors did, however, start well when their lively pack gave them the platform for Humphreys to rifle over a long-range penalty in the fourth minute. Scarlets v Ulster There was very little room to manoeuvre on the park with both defences cutting down space. It was left to Jones to stroke over an equalising penalty in the 14th minute. With the atmosphere tense, Humphreys rattled over his second penalty in the 22nd minute. But that was matched by a snap drop goal by his opposite number. The Scarlets then upped the tempo to allow Jones to kick his side ahead. There was still no sign of a try, however, as Humphreys levelled things up again in the fourth minute of first-half injury time. The Scarlets stepped up a gear on the resumption with Simon Easterby the driving force. It was his charge down of Humphreys' clearance that set up another penalty by Jones. The fly-half virtually wrapped up the game for the Scarlets when he burst through a yawning gap to set up Watkins in the 48th minute. Jones missed the conversion but kicked his fourth penalty to push Llanelli towards the title. Two more penalties by Jones sealed it, even though Ulster replacement McMillan plundered a try in the dying minutes. Jones now leaves for Montferrand with a winner's medal as the Scarlets become the first Welsh side to take the Celtic League title. Scarlets: B Davies, Evans, Taylor, Watkins, Finau, S Jones, Phillips, I Thomas, McBryde, Thiel, Cooper, Wyatt, Hodges, Easterby, Quinnell. Replacements: J Davies, A Gravelle, Griffiths., D Jones, Burn, G Bowen, L Davies. Ulster: Cunningham; S Young, Mallon, Stewart, Topping; Humphreys, Doak; S Best, Sexton, Moore, Mustchin, Frost, Ward, N Best, Wilson. Replacements: Shields, McCormack, Barker, McMillan, Campbell, Larkin, Wallace. Referee: Rob Dickson (Scotland).
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3020780.stm	Untreated heavy snoring and sleep disorders cost the NHS millions of pounds a year, a leading specialist has said. Sleep apnoea often goes undiagnosed Dr Thomas MacKay said people with the disorder sleep apnoea went on to develop serious - and expensive - health problems if their condition went untreated. If more patients were properly diagnosed and treated it would have a huge economic impact on the NHS. The government must act on sleep apnoea and it must act quickly Obstructive sleep apnoea causes people to stop breathing for up to 45 seconds each minute throughout the night. This disturbs their sleep, which leads to tiredness during the day - raising the risk of heart failure. In addition, the DVLA estimates that 20% of all fatal road accidents are caused by someone falling asleep at the wheel. Dr MacKay said 180,000 people in the UK suffer from sleep apnoea. However, many are unaware they have the condition, and only one in five get the appropriate treatment. Dr MacKay said: "Widespread availability of resources to diagnose and treat sleep apnoea patients are urgently needed to reduce the crippling health and economic burden of this condition. "Prompt diagnosis and treatment of people with sleep apnoea is of paramount importance." The British Thoracic Society is calling on the government to run a national education campaign to raise awareness of the problem. It also wants extra resources to be made available to improve diagnosis and treatment of the problem. BTS spokeswoman Dr Melissa Hack said: "The government must act on sleep apnoea and it must act quickly. "If we can treat the condition earlier we can save the NHS millions of pounds in reducing hospital admissions and other costs."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4261035.stm	A group dominated by Shia Muslim candidates and sponsored by religious leader Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani has won the Iraqi national elections. Officials will not confirm the results for three more days It picked up nearly half of the 8.5m votes cast in the 30 January poll. Kurdish parties won about a quarter of the vote, followed by the alliance led by interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. Members of the winning alliance said they wanted all Iraqis to be represented in the government, although many Sunni Muslims boycotted the vote. Shia list: 48% Kurdish parties: 26% Iyad Allawi list: 14% Shia leaders say they will try to draw them into the political process. The US state department, describing the election as "a positive and significant accomplishment", also called for Iraqis who were not elected, or who did not take part, to contribute to the political process. The main Shia list, the United Iraqi Alliance, is expected to nominate a new prime minister. The Kurdish parties received nearly 2.2 million votes, while Mr Allawi's list attracted nearly 1.2 million. Correspondents say the Kurdish parties are expected to hold a balance of power in the proposed 275-member national assembly and want the post of president. There are three days in which complaints can be lodged, and if none are upheld the results will be declared official. Overall turnout across the country was 58% of eligible voters. But in Anbar province, at the heart of the restive "Sunni triangle" area of central Iraq where the insurgency is strongest, fewer than 2% of those eligible to vote actually did so. Insurgents had threatened to kill those who ventured out to vote. 14-16 February: Complaints dealt with Early March: PM appointed Late March: Government formed 15 August: Draft constitution (six-month extension possible) 15 October: Possible referendum on constitution By 15 December: Elections for government At a news conference in Baghdad on Sunday, electoral commission members Farid Ayar and Adel al-Lami also announced the results of the elections for Iraq's 18 provincial councils and the Kurds' 111-member autonomous parliament. "Today marks the birth of a new Iraq and a free people," Mr Ayar told reporters. UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw welcomed the announcement of the election results. "The Iraqi people have taken another important step on the way to a secure and democratic future," he said. The announcement of the results comes after a week of violence in which scores of Iraqis have died. In the latest attacks, gunmen ambushed and killed Brigadier General Jadaan Farhan in northern Baghdad, along with two other passengers who were in a car with him. Elsewhere in the capital, police said they had found the bodies of two men who worked for the party of Mr Allawi. A police spokesman said the men were from the same family. North of Baghdad, in the town of Baquba, gunmen shot dead a communist member of the local council. Further north, in Mosul, hospital officials say two people were killed in a rocket attack on the city hall. In the western city of Samarra, two Iraqis are reported to have been killed in an attack at a roadblock, and another person is reported to have been killed in a car bomb attack at a checkpoint south of Baghdad, on the road to Karbala.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7860350.stm	The oceans are thought to have absorbed about half of the extra CO2 put into the atmosphere in the industrial age This has lowered its pH by 0.1 pH is the measure of acidity and alkalinity The vast majority of liquids lie between pH 0 (very acidic) and pH 14 (very alkaline); 7 is neutral Seawater is mildly alkaline with a "natural" pH of about 8.2 The IPCC forecasts that ocean pH will fall by "between 0.14 and 0.35 units over the 21st Century, adding to the present decrease of 0.1 units since pre-industrial times" The world's marine ecosystems risk being severely damaged by ocean acidification unless there are dramatic cuts in CO2 emissions, warn scientists. More than 150 top marine researchers have voiced their concerns through the "Monaco Declaration", which warns that changes in acidity are accelerating. The declaration, supported by Prince Albert II of Monaco, builds on findings from an earlier international summit. It says pH levels are changing 100 times faster than natural variability. Based on the research priorities identified at The Ocean in a High CO2 World symposium, held in October 2008, the declaration states: "We scientists who met in Monaco to review what is known about ocean acidification declare that we are deeply concerned by recent, rapid changes in ocean chemistry and their potential, within decades, to severely affect marine organisms, food webs, biodiversity and fisheries." 'The other CO2 problem' It calls on policymakers to stabilise CO2 emissions "at a safe level to avoid not only dangerous climate change but also dangerous ocean acidification". The researchers warn that ocean acidification, which they refer to as "the other CO2 problem", could make most regions of the ocean inhospitable to coral reefs by 2050, if atmospheric CO2 levels continue to increase. The also say that it could lead to substantial changes in commercial fish stocks, threatening food security for millions of people. "The chemistry is so fundamental and changes so rapid and severe that impacts on organisms appear unavoidable," said Dr James Orr, chairman of the symposium. "The questions are now how bad will it be and how soon will it happen." Another signatory, Patricio Bernal, executive secretary of the UN Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, outlined how the marine research community intended to respond to the challenge. "We need to bring together the best scientists to share their latest research results and to set priorities for research to improve our knowledge of the processes and of the impacts of acidification on marine ecosystems." Prince Albert II used the declaration to voice his concerns, adding that he hoped the world's leaders would take the "necessary action" at a key UN climate summit later this year. "I strongly support this declaration. I hope that it will be heard by all the political leaders meeting in Copenhagen in December 2009."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7751638.stm	It remains unclear who carried out the audacious attacks By Andrew Whitehead Former BBC India correspondent Over the past 20 years, Mumbai has suffered vicious communal riots, repeated bomb attacks, persistent gang violence, and political assassinations. It is India's most prosperous city, its most outward-looking - and also its most volatile. Still, the scale and sophistication of these audacious attacks will be shocking for the 20 million people who live in and around Mumbai - and for a country whose growing prosperity is in large part built on the city's commercial success. The targets included the main rail station, one of the world's busiest, and the sort of hotels and restaurants patronised by local and visiting business leaders. The country has been captivated and horrified by live television pictures of flames leaping from the roof of one of its grandest hotels - and of troops surrounding another Mumbai luxury hotel to root out remaining assailants. Mumbai has been the target of attacks before, such as in 2006. For the authorities, the immediate priority is to respond to the emergency and to free those still trapped or held hostage, rather than to attribute responsibility. India's TV news channels have, in the initial hours of the drama, largely refrained from pointing the finger of blame. The claim from a little-heard-of organisation, Deccan Mujahideen, may harden suspicions that Islamic radicals are involved. Two years ago the authorities blamed a series of bomb attacks on Mumbai commuter trains on Islamic militant groups once based in Pakistan. Back in 1993, a string of co-ordinated attacks on landmarks across Mumbai, bombings which left hundreds dead, were widely believed to have been the work of organised crime. The Indian authorities held neighbouring Pakistan responsible for organising those bombings, an allegation angrily rejected in Islamabad. But there are other possible culprits. Some recent bomb attacks - though on nothing like this scale - have been blamed on militant Hindu organisations. The motive is far from clear. The choice of targets might suggest an attempt to undermine business confidence and put off foreign investors. Some may wonder whether the attacks are intended to frustrate attempts to improve relations between India and Pakistan. Or perhaps they are designed to destabilise the world's largest democracy. A nationwide election is expected in the next few months, and there are regional elections currently being held in several Indian states. One is in Indian-administered Kashmir, the Himalayan region whose disputed status has been the main cause of 60 years of tension and conflict between South Asia's two nuclear neighbours.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-20157502	Freeview retune in north Wales over 4G mobile broadband - 31 October 2012 - From the section Wales Freeview TVs and boxes in north Wales will have to be retuned next month as local airwaves are cleared for the roll-out of faster mobile broadband. Technical changes to the Moel-y-Parc and Llanddona transmitters will free up frequencies for future fourth generation (4G) mobile services. The UK's first major 4G service went live in 11 cities, including Cardiff, on Tuesday. Freeview boxes across north Wales will need retuning on 14 November. Between now and the end of 2013 a number of transmitters across the UK will undergo similar upgrades to prepare for 4G. 4G offers increased speed and capacity and allows for high-quality streaming of audio, video and other content while on the move. Channels including BBC One, ITV1, S4C, Channel 4, Channel 5, Film4 and Yesterday are moving to new frequencies as part of the retune. Work at the Moel-y-Parc and Llanddona transmitters is expected to be completed by 06:00 GMT and viewers can retune at any point after this on 14 November. Digital UK is launching an information campaign to make viewers aware of the need to retune, including local advertising and messages on screen. David Scott, Digital UK chief executive, said: "It's a good idea to retune your Freeview TV or box regularly to make sure your channel list is up to date. "It usually only takes a few minutes but if anyone is unsure what to do, there's plenty of information available on our website or from our advice line team." The UK's conversion to digital TV began in 2007, with a region-by-region switch-off.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/890959.stm	\|You are in: Business\| Tuesday, 22 August, 2000, 14:28 GMT 15:28 UK Altavista blames BT for 'fiasco' Altavista UK has confirmed that it never launched its much-hyped service to give users unmetered internet access, but blamed BT for failing to provide the lines it needed. The service was due go live in June, but the company now says it was never turned on, disappointing some 270,000 users who signed up. Altavista's UK managing director, Andy Mitchell, told the BBC that he was "absolutely remiss" in not telling people sooner about the problems. Speaking on Radio 4's Today Programme, he said that BT has promised to provide flat-rate circuits by September, but they would not now be available until January. "The whole industry is a fiasco. A lot of people are dependent on BT for this service. Altavista alongside other companies are the symptom, not the cause" of the problem, he added. Altavista is advising the thousands of people who signed up for the service to opt for one of its other offers. These either restrict how long users can stay online, or ask them to pay their telephone charges. Altavista says it will be meeting Oftel, the industry regulator, next week to complain about BT's behaviour. Some rivals carry on BT has denied that it is blocking progress on unmetered access, and says it has offered wholesale flat rate lines to its competitors in response to Oftel's concerns. "We had no discussions with them prior to their announcement. They appear to have promised to launch a product with no network provider set up, no sustainable business case and no customers," he added. Freeserve, the UK's biggest ISP with two million customers, says it will continue to provide its flat rate, unmetered access for 140,000 users. A Freeserve spokesman told BBC News Online that it was "unfair" of Altavista to blame BT when they had not made any arrangements with any telecoms company in advance of their highly publicised offer. "Everybody in the industry knew about these issues," he added, saying that Freeserve and its telecoms partner Energis were in negotiations to increase their capacity for unmetered use. And World Online UK editor-in-chief Richard Ayers said that Altavista had only been interested in short-term gain. World Online, which also runs its own telecoms service, would be continuing with its own unmetered access service, he added. In March this year Altavista promised to change the way people used the internet in the UK by launching an unmetered surfing service. Anyone signing up for the deal would pay a low annual or monthly fee for their net access and would never have to pay call charges again. In June, when the service was due to be switched on, Altavista announced it would then be charging £60 per year for the service and was restricting the numbers that could sign up. In July, an Altavista spokesman told BBC News Online that the service was up and running, although he declined to say how many customers were participating in what he called a "controlled roll-out". Campaigns and searches by national newspapers, internet magazines, online news sites and ISP chat sites ISPReview and Net4Nowt failed to find a single subscriber. Now the reason has become apparent: the service was never switched on and no-one was invited to use it. Companies struggle to make money out of the unmetered services because, although surfers pay next to nothing, ISPs currently have to pay network provider British Telecom the full telephone bill. Later this year, a new charging regime will be brought in, which is set to change the situation. Known as Friaco, for Flat Rate Internet Access Call Origination, this charges ISPs for the number of lines they take from BT rather than the amount of traffic flowing over them. In the past month, two companies, LineOne and CallNet 0800, announced they had to stop offering unmetered services, arguing the business was not viable. Companies still taking on subscribers - which include Freeserve, RedHotAnt and NTL - are restricting the numbers that are signing up in an attempt to keep the service manageable. Despite the problems there are still many ISPs offering unmetered access. To offset the cost of providing the service, most charge monthly fees or require people to make a certain amount of voice phone calls per month. The collapse of unmetered services by well-known companies is having a knock-on effect. Last week Freeserve said that its network is starting to getting jammed as more people try and subscribe to its unmetered service. 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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/sport/golf/458201.stm	Sunday, September 26, 1999 Published at 18:53 GMT 19:53 UK Tiger lets out a Ryder roar Andrew Coltart was blown away in his first match by an in-form opponent Tiger Woods (US) bt Andrew Coltart (Eur) 3&2 to put the US 12-10 in front. World number one Tiger Woods put his Ryder Cup problems behind him to record a convincing win over new-boy Andrew Coltart and stretch the USA's lead to two points. After the draw for the singles, Coltart said he was relishing the chance to take on the biggest name in the sport in a match which most people expected him to lose. But the natural order was restored as the Scot, who was clearly suffering from a lack of match practice, had no answer to Woods' superior skills. The American had won only one point from his first four matches at Brookline - but he doubled his tally, despite never finding his best form. Coltart was given a let-off at the par-four first when Woods missed a straightforward par putt and the hole was halved in five. Thankfully for the Scot, who failed to find his range early on, Woods was also producing some scrappy fare and the first six holes were all shared. But Woods then suddenly exploded, winning three holes in a row to take complete control of the match. When Coltart left a par putt just an inch short of the hole at the short seventh, Woods went one-up. And the crowd following the Americans' star player were then sent into raptures as Woods chipped in from deep rough beside the eighth to move two ahead. Just when Coltart thought it could not get any worse it did. He skewed his tee shot deep into the woods at the ninth and, after reloading, there was no way back as he slumped three-down. Coltart showed signs of resistance and at least managed to pull a hole back - but a poor putt saw him lose the 13th and effectively ended his challenge.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/norfolk/3980729.stm	Norwich Prison has been slammed by the Prison Reform Trust for keeping 755 inmates in buildings designed for 568. The charity's research has revealed inmates are being kept in overcrowded conditions with nearly half of the single cells holding two prisoners. The report, called A Lost Generation, catalogues the experiences of young people in prison. Its author Enver Solomon claims many young people spend on average 16 hours a day locked up. Purposeful activity in prison amounts to only 18 hours a week for some inmates and this puts undue pressure on them. A Prison Reform Trust study also says the kind of standards within Norwich Prison could have serious consequences on inmates, particularly young offenders. Its author Enver Solomon said: "At a prison like Norwich young people will find themselves in an alien environment and will not get the care and attention they need. "Unfortunately, those at risk of suicide will struggle to cope."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/world_news_america/presenters/7575094.stm	Rome also helps to co-ordinate the BBC's online news strategy stateside Rome Hartman is Executive Producer of the BBC's first ever newscast tailored for American viewers, the Emmy, Peabody and duPont Award-winning BBC World News America. In addition to producing the nightly newscast, Hartman advises on strategy and coordinates production of other U.S.-based and U.S.-facing news content for BBC AMERICA, BBC World News, and the U.S. Edition of BBC.com/news. Hartman joined the BBC in 2007 after a 24 year career with CBS News, where from November 2005 through March 2007, he was Executive Producer of The CBS Evening News and oversaw the launch of The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric. Prior to that role, Hartman was a prolific producer of more than 100 reports for the flagship CBS magazine program 60 Minutes. Hartman also served as the senior producer responsible for 60 Minutes II from January to early September 2005. Before his 60 Minutes tenure, Hartman was the senior producer for the CBS Evening News in Washington, D.C. (1989-91) and CBS News' White House producer (1986-89). He first joined CBS News in 1983 as a field producer in the Atlanta bureau. In addition to three prestigious Peabody's and a duPont Award for BBC World New America, Hartman has been honored with five Emmy Awards, an Overseas Press Club Award, a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, and a Gerald Loeb Award from the UCLA Anderson School of Business. Hartman was born in West Palm Beach, Florida. He graduated from Duke University in 1977 with a degree in political science. He lives in Bethesda, Maryland with his wife. They have two sons.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-13081897	Wickerman Festival 2011 unveils Feeder as headliner - 15 April 2011 - From the section South Scotland The first acts have been announced for the 10th anniversary of the Wickerman Festival in south west Scotland. They include Feeder, Echo and The Bunnymen, The Hoosiers, The Damned and The Bluebells. Festival organisers said the event would take place across 10 stages to allow for a "greater mix of established acts and future stars". The Wickerman Festival is being held on 22 and 23 July at East Kirkcarswell Farm in Dumfries and Galloway. Feeder lead singer and guitarist Grant Nicholas said: "The Wickerman Festival's reputation precedes it as being one of the most diverse in the UK. "This will be our first ever appearance and we're honoured to be headlining the main Summerisle Stage in their 10th year. "Even better, playing on the Saturday night is an added bonus as it means we'll get to stay on and watch the Wickerman burn!" A crowd of more than 15,000 is expected over the two days of the event. Further line-up announcements are due in the run-up to the festival.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/6355447.stm	A Kenyan secondary school has sent home 20 boys because they were not circumcised, saying it feared they would be bullied by other students. The new pupils at Kiriani boys' high school in Eastern Province had only been at the school for three days. The pupils were told not to return until they had completed the procedure. "Please do the needful within two weeks and let your son report back to school with you immediately he is well," a letter to parents from the school said. Circumcision is not obligatory for admission to secondary school, but a study released in December said it reduced the risk of contracting HIV/Aids. Circumcision is practised in many, but not all, of Kenya's various ethnic groups.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20340909	Eurozone back in recession The eurozone is back in its second recession since 2009. Double dip is here. Both France and Germany managed modest growth in the third quarter, but their economies are slowing. The eurozone's strongest economies cannot escape the ill winds blowing elsewhere. Spain is now in the second year of recession. Its economy has been shrinking for 15 months. The economy which saw the biggest fall in the last quarter was the Netherlands - it shrank by 1.1%. Both northern and southern Europe are hurting. The charge levelled at Germany and the European Commission is that they under-estimated the effects of austerity on output. There are signs that the Commission is backtracking. Spain is the latest country to be allowed to miss targets for reducing its deficit and to be granted a reprieve. Portugal and Greece have also been granted more time. The eurozone is in a bind. Its policy is to reduce deficits and to adopt structural reforms, such as greater flexibility in the labour market. The heart of the problem, however, is the lack of competitiveness of many southern countries in relation to Germany. The gap cannot be narrowed by devaluation in a monetary union. The only option is to slash wages and pensions and to reduce unit labour costs. That, of course, weakens demand and pushes countries further into recession. That is what is driving the massive protests - the sense that countries face years of hardship. The single currency is not seen as delivering higher living standards, but pain. And next year the European Commission sees growth of 0.1% at best. There are some green shoots: Spain and Portugal's exports are doing well, but it is doubtful that exports alone will return these countries to growth. What they may indicate is that over time some of the reforms will bring benefits, but Europe does not have time. It was noticeable last night in Madrid that when Chancellor Angela Merkel's name was mentioned the boos echoed around the crowd. One of the leaders of the union which organised the protests said today "nothing is getting better. The situation is getting worse". The size of the crowds on the streets last night - maybe 300,000, maybe more - should serve as a warning that Europe's people will not be patient for ever. The President of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, has spoken of "a slow, gradual, but also solid recovery". It does not feel that way and Europe's officials have a poor record in judging this crisis. Today's figures and the street protests are likely to strengthen the hands of those who say the current policy is damaging Europe's economy.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4357106.stm	Many thousands of Zimbabweans whose houses were destroyed earlier this year remain in rural areas without proper homes, say a group of church leaders. Some displaced people say they have nowhere to go Speaking in Johannesburg about Zimbabwe's Operation Murambatsvina, priests from various churches said evictions were still continuing. The government crackdown targets informal traders and buildings the authorities deem illegal. The Archbishop of Bulawayo warned that some 200,000 were threatened by hunger. A United Nations envoy said 700,000 people were affected by Operation Murambatsvina. Archbishop Pius Ncube said that according to his estimate, about 200,000 people would die by early next year because they no longer had money to buy food, and because the population was affected by HIV-Aids. "Hunger is due to the Zimbabwe government refusing food aid," Archbishop Ncube added. "Even if there are good rains this year, the government is so bankrupt that it has very little to spend on seed, and there is no fertiliser." "Eighty percent of those displaced people who were sent to rural areas have not yet acquired any permanent settlement," said Pastor Albert Chatido, the logistical co-ordinator of church aid efforts in Bulawayo. "They are dwelling with relatives or in the headman's homestead. NGOs are only allowed to supply food to a certain area." Pastor Ray Motsi, chairman of the Combined Churches of Bulawayo, said that "out of the 700,000 the UN was talking about, between 300,000 and 400,000 have been displaced to rural areas". "The tragedy is that many had no rural background and made their way back." However, Shari Eppel, human rights advisor to Archbishop Ncube said that while the UN figures on displacement were credible, there were no reliable figures on how many had ended up in the rural areas. "Where people are now we just don't know," she told the BBC News website. Church leaders say it is not possible to get an accurate number of the number of people forcibly displaced to the rural areas, since they are widely dispersed. A survey published in a report by the Solidarity Peace Trust - a South African-based group working in Zimbabwe - suggests that of the people whose homes were destroyed in Bulawayo's Killarney squatter camp, 70% said they had nowhere else to go. Pastor Chatido said between 500 and 1,000 people were still living in the open in various parts of Bulawayo. He said that a group of people of Malawian descent, interviewed by the BBC News website in August, were still living in the bush in the Bulawayo suburb of Cowdray Park. "One of them died recently," Pastor Chatido said. He added that demolitions were continuing in Killarney, after people rebuilt the shelters that had earlier been demolished. People have become dependent on aid from churches "Killarney Village 2 was recently squashed for the third time," he said. In Killarney Village 3, Pastor Chatido said informal settlement dwellers had come up with a novel way of beating the demolitions: "They take down their corrugated sheets in the morning, and then reconstruct their shelters in the evening." In Victoria Falls, Pastor Chatido said people were living 15 in a small house, after the destruction of outbuildings forced people to share the available accommodation.
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-13454681	Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer bolted to space station A giant particle detector has been slotted into position on the back of the International Space Station (ISS). The 7-tonne Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) will sift cosmic rays over the next decade, looking for clues to the origin and make-up of the Universe. With an estimated development cost of $2bn, the detector is the single most expensive experiment at the ISS. AMS was brought up to the station by the US shuttle Endeavour, which is on its final mission before retirement. Astronauts Roberto Vittori and Andrew Feustel used the orbiter's robotic arm to lift AMS out of its payload bay, before handing off the machine to the station arm operated by Greg Johnson and Greg Chamitoff. The latter pair then swung the device on to an attach point on the platform's starboard truss, or backbone. Confirmation that all latches were secure came at 0946 GMT as the ISS was travelling over the border between Pakistan and India. The machine should be streaming data down to a temporary operations centre in Houston, Texas, within hours. AMS's perch is slightly tilted to give it a view of the sky that is unobstructed by the station's big solar wings. No-one is expecting dramatic announcements immediately, but the scientists working on the detector project say it could eventually make profound discoveries. The device will undertake a comprehensive survey of cosmic rays - the blizzard of high-energy particles (mostly protons and helium nuclei) that are accelerated in Earth's direction from exploded stars, black holes and who knows what other exotic corners of the cosmos. AMS will: - look for clues to the nature of "dark matter", the material that shapes galaxies and makes up most of the mass of the Universe - hunt for complex antimatter, which might hint at the existence of stars and planets made from material that is a mirror of the matter in normal stars and planets - try to catch strangelets, or strange matter, which is built from a slightly different mix of sub-atomic particles to that of normal matter - characterise the space radiation environment so that the dangers for astronauts and satellites of being in space is fully comprehended Endeavour arrived at the station on Wednesday after a two-day journey from Earth. The ship is commanded by Mark Kelly, who just a few months ago looked like he might not even make the trip because of a gun assault on his wife, the Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Doctors say she is making good progress as she recovers from a bullet injury to the brain - sufficient progress to allow Kelly to fulfil his astronaut duties. Ms Giffords underwent surgery on Wednesday to put a piece of plastic over a hole in her skull. "Obviously this has been a long road for us since January 8th," Commander Kelly said from orbit just after AMS installation. "Her having surgery yesterday was not planned all along, but she was ready and the doctors wanted to do it then; and it didn't make sense to wait a couple of weeks until I got back. I've been thinking a little bit about that, but it's pretty common surgery and it went very well." The US Navy captain was the first through the hatch after Wednesday's docking. After the customary greetings from the station's residents, which included the ringing of a ship's bell to welcome aboard the visitors, the Endeavour shuttle crew then immediately set about their tasks. The key one for the day was the transfer of a tray of critical spare parts for the platform. These spares comprised gas tanks, electrical units, and computer and communications equipment. Endeavour's crew will do four spacewalks during their stay to carry out routine maintenance on the exterior of the ISS - the last spacewalks ever to be conducted by a shuttle crew. The ship is due back on Earth on 1 June. Completion of its mission will leave only Atlantis still to fly before the US space agency (Nasa) stands down its orbiter programme for good. Atlantis should launch its cargo delivery mission to the station sometime in July. Nasa engineers are assessing some damage to heat-resistant tiles on Endeavour's belly, but the defects are not thought to be serious. "We've seen this kind of damage before, and it's not too much of a concern for us," said Commander Kelly.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5167570.stm	Rail firm GNER is going to court to try to overturn a decision by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) allowing a rival firm to operate on its routes. The ORR says it will "vigorously contest" the proceedings by GNER GNER, which runs intercity trains on the East Coast Main Line, argues that ORR's decision to allow Grand Central to operate on the route is unlawful. GNER says it pays more to access the track than Grand Central, which is set to run a London to Sunderland service. A spokesman for the ORR said it would "vigorously contest the proceedings". GNER, which has a franchise agreement to run intercity trains on the East Coast Main Line, is focusing on the rates it pays in track access charges compared with Grand Central, which is an open access operator. As a franchise rail operator, GNER has to make three payments to gain access to the tracks: a fixed charge, a variable charge, and a franchise premium of £1.3bn over 10 years. In March, Grand Central won the right to run three direct trains a day between Sunderland and London. GNER believes the ORR decision is "unlawful because Grand Central would not pay either the fixed track access charges or premium payments that GNER pays under its franchise contract". In addition GNER is challenging Grand Central's plan to stop at York, "which is already served by 61 trains a day to and from London, when its stated goal is to create a new rail market between Sunderland and London". Another grievance of GNER is that it would lose money to Grand Central since it would have to share revenue with the firm. GNER stressed that the case is against the ORR not against Grand Central. The court case, which is taking place in London, starts on Tuesday and is set to run until Friday.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-29058644	Nuclear reactors may stay offline until end of year, EDF says Four UK nuclear reactors that were shut down for safety reasons may not be back online until the end of the year, EDF Energy has said. The reactors at the Heysham 1 and Hartlepool power stations were shut in August following a routine inspection. EDF said there could be a "phased return to service between the end of October and the end of December, 2014". Earlier this week National Grid announced it was seeking emergency supplies of electricity this winter. It cited concern over potential shortages of power. BBC industry correspondent John Moylan said that today's announcement from EDF means "up to a quarter of the nuclear fleet being offline as the UK enters winter". All four reactors were closed after inspections found a crack in one of the boilers. The other three reactors were closed as a precautionary measure because they were of the same design. Analysis: John Moylan, Employment and Industry Correspondent Britain's power crunch was expected to come in 2015-16. But a series of incidents now means our spare power capacity this winter may be much tighter than expected. The two EDF nuclear plants account for 2.3GW of electricity. The firm says they can provide up to 4% of Britain's power in periods of peak demand. But fires at the Ferrybridge and Ironbridge coal-fired plants in the early summer, and the announcement that a gas-fired plant at Barking, in East London, is to close means that a further 1.2GW of power is also in doubt. In June, the energy regulator Ofgem said it expected to have around 5% to 10% of spare generation this winter. But with problems linked to five power plants, that margin has now reduced. That uncertainty has led National Grid to take emergency measures, a year earlier than planned, to ensure extra power generation is available in the months ahead. But will that be enough if there are further plant outages in the coming months, or if a particularly cold winter sends power demand soaring? EDF said on Thursday that it had now had time to assess any work and draw up a timetable. "Dates for returning the stations to service depend on the findings and completion of the inspections," the company said. "Depending on the progress of the programme and any necessary modifications, the company expects there to be a phased return to service between the end of October and the end of December, 2014. Any re-entry into service will have to be approved by the nuclear safety regulator, EDF said. Power supplied by the reactors at Heysham 1 and Hartlepool accounted for about 25% of the UK's nuclear output, and about 4% of the total output of all power generated. On Tuesday, National Grid, which runs the power distribution network, said it was seeking additional electricity supplies for winter. The company said it was accelerating an emergency plan asking providers how much more electricity they could provide to fill a possible shortfall. After Thursday's announcement from EDF, National Grid said: "We have already taken the sensible precaution to tender for Supplementary Balancing Reserve this winter, owing to uncertainty over plant availability. "The tender process - which does not specify volumes - is sufficiently flexible to cater for any new information from the market." EDF, owned by the French government, has other nuclear power stations in the UK: Hunterston and Torness in Scotland, Heysham 2 in Lancashire, Dungeness B in Kent, Hinkley Point B in Somerset and Sizewell B in Suffolk. The UK has put a nuclear expansion programme at the heart of its low-carbon energy policy and drive for energy security. As part of this strategy, last year the government signed a £16bn deal with EDF to build two reactors at Hinkley Point C.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-north-west-wales-10738798	£300,000 to improve shop fronts in Llandudno Junction Businesses in the Conwy town of Llandudno Junction are to get a boost as part of a £300,000 scheme. Conwy council will offer grants to businesses to improve shop fronts as part of planned street improvements. Later in the year the council also plans a consultation exercise to ask local people which other improvements they would like to see. Ideas include improving new gateway signage, cycle parking, public art, parking and traffic management. "The objective is to create a distinctive and attractive local shopping centre that will meet the aspirations of the Llandudno Junction master plan," said Coun Philip C Evans, cabinet member for corporate and regulatory services. Llandudno Junction Councillor Mike Priestley said it was a "fantastic opportunity" with the opening of the Welsh Assembly Government building recently to develop the town as a "hub" for people working in the area. The scheme is also seen as a way to benefit the community by enhancing retail and leisure opportunities, safeguard jobs, and create new ones. Any businesses interested in the scheme should contact the council project team on 01492 575254/85.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-19492760	Shaking it up There is a charming little ditty from the musical "Annie get your Gun" in which two rivals chide each other with the refrain "anything you can do, I can do better". Perhaps Alex Salmond might be tempted to hum a few random bars as he contemplates the substantial changes to his ministerial outfit - just a day after David Cameron essayed an exercise in refreshing his own team. The circumstances, admittedly, are somewhat different. Mr Cameron has the persistent joy of coalition - obliged - nay, charmed - to consult and, occasionally, defer to his Liberal Democrat chums. By contrast, Mr Salmond governs tout seul. However, there is one similarity. Both must simply hope that the changes they have made will assist in the fundamental purpose of government, of all governments - which is to sustain popularity and remain in office. At the core of today's reshuffle are two big changes -the departure from office of Bruce Crawford after an extended period of distinguished service; and the strategic role given to Nicola Sturgeon with regard to the referendum. Firstly, Mr Crawford. He has been a bedrock of the SNP administration from the very earliest days, deploying a blend of easy affability, integrity and tough politics. In minority government, he was simply invaluable - striking complex deals on all sides in order to protect as much as possible of the government's programme. Alex Salmond has noted, rightly, that Mr Crawford is respected across party divisions. It is also true that he has been key to the necessary back-stage dealings between the Scottish and UK governments. In many respects, he has been the "usual channels" which are vital to such relationships. His decision is personal, driven by family bereavement and the wish to pursue a slightly more settled life. Equally, however, it is the case that his biggest tasks are behind him - minority rule, the Scotland Act which upgrades Holyrood's powers and the groundwork for a deal between Edinburgh and London over the referendum. Next, Ms Sturgeon. It is probably sensible that she be given a move from health. It is a portfolio which applies endless strain, given the public profile and the near impossibility of meeting ever expanding demand. Most would feel that she has performed that challenging task well - a task she now passes on to Alex Neil who can be expected to match, if not exceed, her for combative chamber rebuttals. However, it is her new roles which will attract most attention. Firstly, she takes charge of infrastructure and economic development. As the debate on the Programme for Government attests, this is the core of government effort - not just in itself but also with an eye to the referendum. Secondly, she is to take "lead responsibility for government strategy and the constitution, including preparations for the referendum." The team, then, is in place. Alex Salmond in overall command, his deputy as the day-to-day minister and Kevin Pringle starting work next week back at the SNP, co-ordinating party effort on the referendum after demitting his government post. To those who are departing, all the best. To those who are entering government for the first time, congratulations.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23951747	Who, What, Why: Can a prison cell be suicide-proof? Ariel Castro, who abducted and imprisoned three women in Cleveland, has died after hanging himself in his prison cell. So is it possible to make a cell suicide-proof? A sentence of life in prison plus 1,000 years lasted only a few weeks. The man who kidnapped, raped and beat three women he held captive for a decade - crimes that deeply shocked the US - was found hanging in his cell. The details are yet to emerge but his death raises the question of how prison cells can be designed to minimise the risk of suicide or, indeed, eliminate it. "The term we like to use is 'suicide resistant' not 'suicide-proof'", says Lindsay Hayes, one of the top experts on suicide prevention in US prisons and jails. "This means that you do your due diligence trying to ensure as much as you can the physical safety of a cell by trying to outwit the inmate and looking at all the potential accoutrements and possessions they have or don't have and trying to make it as safe as possible. "But there are times when, because they are in that cell 24 hours a day, they have the time and the opportunity to think up creative ways of committing suicide." Not every cell in a prison - where sentences are served - or jail, where inmates are awaiting trial, is made suicide resistant, just the ones that are going to be used for suicide watch. Of over-riding importance is stopping an at-risk inmate from getting hold of something they can use as a ligature. "You can't keep sheets and clothing away from all inmates but if an inmate is identified as at risk of suicide, you can put them in a safety smock and prevent certain items from going into the cell," says Hayes. A safety smock is made of very heavy and bulky material like canvas, so it can't be torn or turned into a tourniquet. But even with a ligature, suicidal inmates look for something upon which it can be hooked - what the authorities call "anchors". A cell can have as many as four grilles or grates on the walls and ceilings, for ventilation or to cover lights and smoke alarms. A third of suicides in US prisons and jails are hangings from these grilles. To make them suicide resistant, they should have holes no more than 0.18in wide because otherwise a prisoner can weave a piece of clothing or bedding through these holes, says Hayes, a project director at the National Center on Institutions and Alternatives. That diameter has now become an industry standard in new prison cells. Secondly, beds should ideally be either heavy moulded plastic or solid concrete slab with rounded edges, he adds, although these come at some cost. And metal bunks should be bolted flush to the wall with the frame constructed to prevent its use as an anchoring device. A third risk comes in older prisons that still have cell bars, but these are usually clearly visible to prison officers so not often used. About 90% of prison suicides in the US are by hanging - the other 10% use a smuggled sharp instrument or drugs. The overall suicide rates have fallen due to better research, training and care. There were 42 suicides per 100,000 inmates in US jails in 2010, down from 107 in 1986. The number in prisons has been steady between 15 and 20 for the past two decades. In the general US population it's 12 per 100,000. Suicide rates are higher in UK prisons, where serial killers Harold Shipman and Fred West are two notable examples. The number of deaths in England and Wales per 100,000 inmates for the three years to the end of 2010 was on average 71, a figure that has fallen since 2004 when it was 130 deaths. Whatever measures are implemented, inmates can always find a way, says Anasseril Daniel, a psychiatrist in Maryland who is a member of the International Association for Suicide Prevention, and has written extensively on prison suicides. "I've come across situations where you can remove all the potential anchors like hooks and rails, and anything which can be used as an anchor can be removed, but still people who are intent on committing suicide will accomplish their goal." The ways in which they do this can be either ingenious or obvious, but there are often no warning signs before suicides happen in prison, says Dr Daniel. While 90% of suicides in the general US population are preceded by warning signs like depression, in prisons that figure falls to two thirds. The best preventive measure is human supervision, he says. "While a perfectly designed suicide-proof cell is unlikely, it is important that the entire interior of each cell be visible from the walkway. Frequent monitoring of inmates in their cells is more important than any cell design. Nothing can replace human supervision as a deterrent to suicide." Given the cost of keeping prisoners fed and clothed, some may question why money is spent on preventing them from killing themselves. But the prison system has a duty of care towards inmates, says Dr Daniel, and prisoners' rights have been upheld up the Supreme Court.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-45292032	Hawaii storm: Hurricane Lane downgraded to tropical storm Hurricane Lane has been downgraded to a tropical storm as it churns towards Hawaii, but is still causing flash flooding and landslides. Schools and offices were closed as residents took shelter from the storm, which pummelled the US state with strong winds and torrential rain. But Hawaii looks was spared its first direct hit by a major storm in 25 years. President Donald Trump earlier declared a state of emergency for the state. The White House said federal authorities were on standby to provide support and supplies to local and state emergency response efforts. The Central Pacific Hurricane Center said early on Friday afternoon Hurricane Lane was "weakening quickly", with sustained winds of 85 mph (137km/h). By 17:00 local time (03:00 GMT Saturday), the sustained wind speed had dropped to 70 mph, although "more flooding and damaging winds" were expected on parts of the islands. Weather Service forecaster Leigh Anne Eaton said some parts of Big Island had already seen almost 3ft (90cm) or rain. Meanwhile, the National Weather Service said there had been "catastrophic flooding" and wind gusts reaching 67mph (108 kmph). Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) chief Brock Long took to Twitter to warn those in Hawaii to "heed the warnings of local officials and stay aware of your surroundings" until the danger had passed. Amidst concerns of the approaching storm, emergency personnel responded to "rapidly spreading" brush fire in western Maui. The fire has prompted highway closures, power outages and precautionary evacuations. Lane was also forecast to cause dangerous surf heights of up to 25ft (7.6m) in Maui and Oahu. Officials warned of "significant beach erosion" and waves hitting coastal roadways. Meanwhile, United Airlines said it had cancelled all Friday flights to and from the main airports on Maui, the second-largest island. How are residents coping? Roads were closed due to the landslides and images of cars attempting to tackle the deep waters were posted on social media. Residents in other areas of the Big Island, such as Hilo, were caught out by the flash floods with several vehicles becoming trapped. A member of staff at a local service station in Haleiwa, on the north shore of Oahu island, told AFP news agency that motorists had been "constantly filling" their vehicles. "Everybody is in a panic mode right now, everyone is filling up gas, gas cans, propane cans," he said. According to the Red Cross, more than 1,500 people are in shelters, Hawaii News Now reported. Hawaii Governor David Ige urged residents to set aside supplies of water, food and medicines as a precaution and to avoid driving if possible. Dozens of evacuation centres were also set up throughout the day as Mr Trump urged Hawaiians to hunker down and prepare for the worst. Does Hawaii see many hurricanes? According to NWS, only four named storms have made landfall in Hawaii since 1959 - and only two of those storms were hurricanes. Hawaii generally sees about one storm strong enough to earn a name pass within 60 miles of the islands every four years. Earlier this month, Hurricane Hector, a category four storm, also passed by the islands, though it did not come as close as Lane. The state has also seen serious volcanic eruptions this summer, with lava and ash spewing from the Kilauea volcano on the Big Island since May.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32391752	An African migrant's story: 'Libya is too dangerous' The European Union has set out measures to try to ease the migrant crisis in the Mediterranean which has claimed hundreds of lives over the past few days alone. Here, one African migrant, Gassama, describes his long journey from The Gambia through Libya to Europe and how he is now trying to dissuade others from making the hazardous trip. I made the crossing from Libya to Sicily last November, after several attempts. I am from The Gambia and had been trying to get to Europe since I left home, originally in 2009. I travelled through Senegal to Mali and on to Libya, working along the way when I could find jobs and trying to save money for the trip. I worked loading trucks and any other jobs I could get. Once I eventually got to Libya, it was very hard. It was difficult to find work there. I was also arrested three times and taken to five different prisons. I had to pay each time to get out of prison. I also had to pay a few different people to try to get on one of the boats making the crossing to Italy. The men that run these boats take people's money, and put too many of them into the boats. That's if you can get on to the boats. They take your money anyway. The first attempt I made to cross on one of these boats from Tripoli failed. After two days in the water, we had to turn back. After someone I knew helped me to raise the money, I eventually managed to get on another boat after paying 1,200 Libyan dinar ($870, £585). There were far too many people on the boat, and it wasn't safe. After a difficult journey across the Mediterranean, I managed to make it to Sicily. From there, I eventually ended up in Milan. It's not easy here, with harassment and other problems, but I am so happy to have got across. I have since set up a Facebook group to try to educate people who are trying to make the journey through Libya to Europe about just how difficult it is. I have spoken to many people who have contacted me directly through my Facebook page and have so far got a good response. I have tried to tell them not to come through Libya as it is too dangerous, and I will continue to do so. They have every right to try to come to Europe, just like I did, but travelling through Libya is just too hazardous. It is a desperate situation and has now become too dangerous. There are people who will try to rob you and take your money just to get you on to these boats, which are overcrowded and not safe. Interview by Stephen Fottrell.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19242818	Easyjet founder Sir Stelios fails to oust chairman Easyjet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou has failed to oust Sir Michael Rake as the airline's chairman. Discounting shares owned by Sir Stelios and those who did not vote, 96% of shareholders voted in favour of keeping Sir Michael as chairman. Sir Stelios had argued that Sir Michael's role as deputy chairman of Barclays bank kept him too busy to devote enough attention to Easyjet. The vote is the latest disagreement between the company and its founder. Sir Stelios and his family control 37.5% of the company. Last month, Easyjet issued a statement welcoming independent advice from proxy advisory services ISS and Glass Lewis recommending that shareholders vote against the resolution to remove Sir Michael. It said the majority of Easyjet's institutional shareholders subscribed to one or other of these bodies, and that seven of the company's largest shareholders accounting for 26.5% of the company's shares had already said they would vote against the resolution. In its report, Glass Lewis said: "We question whether removing chairman [Sir Michael] Rake from the board is necessary or appropriate... [it] would be an unnecessary and unwarranted disruption that would ultimately prove detrimental to the company."Opposition Sir Stelios first expressed concern at Sir Michael's role at the company when he was seen as a possible candidate to take over from Barclays chairman Marcus Agius, who is leaving the bank in the wake of the rate-fixing scandal. But although the chairmanship of Barclays has now been filled by Sir David Walker, Sir Stelios remains opposed to Sir Michael's position as chairman of Easyjet, saying he has too many other roles. Sir Stelios founded Easyjet in 1995 and floated the airline on the stock exchange in 2000. Two years later he resigned as chairman, although he remained a director until 2010. He has had a number of high-profile arguments with the management over the way the company is run. Earlier this year, Sir Stelios tried to throw out a multi-million pound pay deal for executives but the vast majority of shareholders approved the pay packages. Easyjet is one of Europe's biggest airlines and employs more than 8,000 people.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-19286673	Seven Sisters revamp plan angers traders Campaigners against plans to redevelop part of Tottenham in north London claim the proposals will destroy local businesses and ruin the character of their high street. Haringey Council has approved plans which include replacing the indoor market at Seven Sisters Station saying it will bring more money and jobs to the area. But some traders fear they will not be able to afford to return. The BBC spoke to Nick Jopling of Grainger, market trader Alejandro Gortazar, shopkeeper Malti Patel and Alan Strickland of Haringey Council.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18532839	Jihadists' Twitter presence becomes more sophisticated Jihadists and their sympathisers' presence on Twitter is limited, rather sophisticated and increasing. That's what I found after spending more than a month-and-a-half following their tweets. The micro-blogging website Twitter, which attracts more than 100m users, allows people to create a list of Twitter users they follow. You can observe a stream of tweets for people in that list. I created a list for more than 35 accounts which explicitly affiliate themselves with jihadist movements. Some of these Twitter accounts have thousands of followers. By the end of May, Shabakat Ansar al-Mujahideen (Partisans of Mujahideens' Network) had announced its presence on Twitter. The web forum is a famous site that disseminates jihadist propaganda and serves as a means of communication for jihadist sympathisers, Also the al-Midad Network of Yemen-based Ansar al-Sharia joined Twitter recently. But these were not the only official incidences of jihadists on Twitter; the Taliban in Afghanistan, and al-Shabab in Somalia also have a strong presence on the site.The Lion of Jihad Other al-Qaeda-affiliated media outlets such as The Jihad Media Elite, which specialises in reproducing selected materials of jihadists, also has an account on Twitter. These official accounts mainly use the site to promote links to jihadist material and update followers as soon as the content is broadcast on the jihadist forums. Another Twitter account is dedicated to promoting jihadist poetry and hymns. Some "tweeple" - a jargon term used to describe people who use Twitter - have created accounts for well-known jihadist figures including the leader of al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, the late American-Yemeni cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki, and others. Despite using them to tweet their writing, speeches and messages, they have stated clearly that these are non-official accounts. Recently, jihadist sympathisers welcomed Assad al-Jihad 2's arrival on Twitter. Assad al-Jihad 2 (the Lion of Jihad 2) is a pseudonym of a regular contributor on jihadist web forums. His articles, which are highly regarded by their users, show that he is an authority who speaks on behalf of al-Qaeda and affiliated groups. His tweets are attracting followers. The other type of jihadist presence on Twitter is represented by jihad sympathisers who do not represent official affiliation but they explicitly support the jihadist movements. They use Twitter, in addition to promoting what officials produce, to encourage jihad, advocate causes and also to defend their ideology. Saad al-Khathlan, a Saudi cleric and professor of Islamic jurisprudence at Al-Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University, tweeted on 3 June criticising al-Qaeda. He wrote that al-Qaeda does not represent "right Islamic jihad", arguing that they have not shot even a bullet at "Zionists in Israel," nor on "the Nusayri regime in Syria", another name for the Alawite sect to which President Bashar al-Assad belongs. These tweets brought Khathlan a huge amount of criticism from jihadist sympathisers. Assad al-Jihad 2 asked him for public debate on the internet, while jihad sympathisers on Twitter hashtagged him. To hashtag is to use the # symbol to mark a keyword or a topic which allow it to appear in a single stream of related tweets, and make it easier to find in a search. Jihad sympathisers defended al-Qaeda, accusing Khathlan of being a mouthpiece of the Saudi regime, and insisting that al-Qaeda and its affiliates have attacked Israel and have a presence in Syria.Campaign tool Syria is one of the topics dominating jihad sympathisers' Twitter activities. They are encouraging donations for the uprising against the Assad regime, and are using Twitter to promoting their channels for such donations after Saudi Arabia banned fundraising for Syria in June. Jihadist sympathisers are also campaigning via the site to release clerics - including jihadist supporters - from Saudi prisons. Their Twitter timelines are full of stories about prisoners' biographies, their families' activities to support them and allegations that they have been tortured by Saudi authorities. I tried to check what Twitter is doing to monitor such tweets and what its policy is regarding this. My emails have not yet been answered - email is the only method to reach Twitter, as even if one calls, an automated message asks you to send an email. The nature of Twitter, which is a wide open public forum, means that the presence of jihadists on the site is expected to increase.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/7493978.stm	Margaret Curran has been named as the Labour candidate in the Glasgow East Westminster by-election. The MSP for Glasgow Baillieston will launch her campaign on Tuesday. She was chosen after frontrunner, George Ryan, pulled out of the race last week. Campaigning on Monday also saw the SNP call for action on fuel bills. The Tories promised to tackle social decay. The Liberal Democrats will formally launch their campaign on Tuesday as will the Scottish Socialist Party. The 24 July by-election was triggered by Labour MP David Marshall's resignation on health grounds. Labour was expected to name George Ryan as its candidate on Friday night but he failed to turn up for a selection meeting. He later cited family reasons for pulling out. Ms Curran emerged as the new frontrunner over the weekend amid speculation that several other party figures had turned down the chance to stand. She is currently Labour's health and wellbeing spokeswoman at Holyrood, having been first elected in 1999 and returned in 2003 and 2007. She has indicated that if she wins Glasgow East she will continue as an MSP and MP for the immediate future. Speaking as she stepped out of the selection meeting, Ms Curran said she was in politics to fight poverty and stand up for the people of the east end. She said: "That's what I've done all my life, and what I promise to keep on doing. "Let me be clear: Labour's fightback starts right here, right now." The constituency was one of the safest Labour seats in Scotland at the last election, with a majority of more than 13,500 over the SNP. It also had the highest Labour vote share in the city at the General Election. Other candidates declared include Glasgow councillor John Mason for the SNP, university worker Davena Rankin for the Conservatives, maths teacher Ian Robertson for the Liberal Democrats, retired GP Eileen Duke for the Scottish Greens, former MSP Frances Curran for the Scottish Socialist Party and council worker Tricia McLeish for Solidarity.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21121138	UK snow: Map of areas on alert Snow and icy conditions are continuing across the UK for the fourth day in a row. Click on the images below to find out more about some of the areas that have seen most disruption. Lauder, Berwickshire, Scotland Heavy drifting snow has closed schools and is causing travel disruption across parts of Scotland. Roads in the Borders and the north east have been affected and airports are warning of cancellations on some routes. The Met Office urged the public to "be prepared" for snow and gale force winds in eastern, central and southern areas. Oldham, Greater Manchester About 150 schools across Greater Manchester closed on Monday with the worst-affected areas in Wigan, Bolton and Oldham. There was disruption to flights at Manchester Airport and to train services between Manchester and London. Drivers were also being warned to take extra care on the area’s roads. Up to 5cm (2in) of snow fell across Nottinghamshire on Sunday into Monday and around 200 schools across the region have shut. East Midlands Airport was closed and Nottinghamshire County Council has warned drivers that some untreated side roads remained icy and hazardous. Heathrow Airport reduced its schedule on Monday by about 10% - cutting about 130 flights - in anticipation of low visibility. Heathrow cancelled 300 flights on Sunday and weather conditions also led to more than 40 cancellations at London City Airport. Huddersfield, West Yorkshire The Met Office said the snow would continue throughout the day in West Yorkshire with up to 20cm (8in) forecast. Leeds Bradford Airport, which closed its runway because of the snow, said it hoped flights would resume later on Monday. Click play to watch Andy Yeomans from the RAC give some tips on how to drive in the snow. There has been transport disruption in eastern England with icy conditions affecting road, rail and air travel. Traffic was brought to a standstill on the A14 at Molesworth in Cambridgeshire on Monday morning after a van overturned. In neighbouring Essex, a 59-year-old man from Colchester died on the A12 near Kelvedon on Sunday while driving in snowy conditions. A number of centimetres of snow was seen across London over the weekend. A yellow weather warning of ice has been issued by the Met Office for southern England and further snow flurries are possible. Transport has been disrupted across the London - on the trains, Eurostar and at Heathrow and London City airports. Tunbridge Wells, Kent While some Kent residents took advantage of the snowy weather to take part in winter sports, commuters were being warned of disruption after Southeastern trains cancelled more than 60 services. More than 200 schools and nurseries were also closed across the county amid the icy conditions.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/glasgow_and_west/7399255.stm	Quinn boasted to friends about what he had done A Scottish Premier League footballer has been convicted of attacking a man and knocking him unconscious at a team-mate's birthday party. Motherwell FC captain Paul Quinn, 22, punched Andrew Smith to the ground in a Glasgow nightclub after he spotted him chatting to a girl in August last year. He later followed Mr Smith, 22, outside and knocked him unconscious with another punch. Sentence on Quinn, of Wishaw, was deferred at Glasgow Sheriff Court. The court heard Quinn had been out celebrating Motherwell striker Ross McCormack's 21st birthday on 19 August. Quinn, who became Motherwell skipper after the death of Phil O'Donnell in December, returned to the nightclub after the attack and boasted about what he had done to friends, the court was told. Mr Smith reported Quinn to police after recognising him on the Motherwell club website. The court heard that Mr Smith was chatting to a girl in the VIP lounge of the Classic Grand nightclub when Quinn walked over and asked "is this guy annoying you?", before striking Mr Smith with his shoulder. When Mr Smith, a trainee civil engineer, asked him to leave, Quinn punched him to the ground. The two men were quickly pulled apart and club bouncers asked Mr Smith to leave and escorted him outside. Minutes later Quinn and his friend appeared, threatened Mr Smith and said: "what you gonnae do now?" The footballer then swung a punch at his victim and again knocked him to the ground, leaving him unconscious. Mr Smith told the court: "I felt a punch and my eyesight started going dark and I could feel something hitting the back of my neck and then I fell unconscious. "The next thing I remember was my friend's girlfriend pouring water over my face to wake me." Amanda Currie, 20, watched the attack from across the road before running to help Mr Smith, who eventually regained consciousness and went home. He visited the city's Southern General hospital the next day, where he was treated for a swollen jaw and given painkillers. He now suffers from hearing difficulty in his right ear as a result of the attack. The court heard that after the assault, Quinn went back inside the club where reveller Graeme Findlay, 24, spotted him boasting about it with friends. Mr Findlay said: "After leaving, Paul was back in the club about five or 10 minutes later and I saw gestures on the dance floor as if there had been a fight and people were happy. "They were laughing, tapping each other and throwing fake punches." Sheriff Sean Murphy QC deferred sentence until July for background reports. Quinn was released on bail. Quinn was publicly criticised by Motherwell manager Mark McGhee after suffering a broken jaw in a separate nightclub incident in April which caused him to miss the final five matches of the season. A 39-year-old man was arrested in connection with the incident at a nightclub in Wishaw.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-15780705	Stranraer harbour bids farewell to ferries - 18 November 2011 - From the section South Scotland Stena Line is moving its operations up the coast to a new deep water port just north of Cairnryan. The company's Irish Sea route director Paul Grant said the development secured a future in Loch Ryan that it might not have had without the move. However, local historian Jack Hunter said it was a major milestone which would leave a void in the town. The development took more than a decade to plan and deliver and has been project-managed by Stena's Alan Gordon. It is designed to cut costs and reduce crossing times to Northern Ireland. "It represents £200m worth of investment by Stena Line in Loch Ryan port and two new ships," said Mr Gordon. "It shows that there is a future here for Stena Line - it means that Stranraer will benefit because the majority of people that work on the ferries live in Stranraer." The company proposed relocation out of Stranraer several years ago and subsequently entered into talks with rivals P&O about sharing expanded facilities in Cairnryan. However, in 2007 those plans were dropped due to the prohibitive costs involved. Two years later it reverted to its original plans and decided to go it alone with the move. Mr Gordon admitted there had been a "few false dawns" along the way but added that he believed it was the "right thing to do". Mr Grant said it was the "right facility in the right location" and now had the "right ships" to take the business forward for decades to come. "The route has been losing money and that is the harsh reality of it," he said. "We couldn't sustain the route, potentially. "We have had to make this investment to make this route profitable and give us all a future and keep the jobs and so forth in this area because that is what's important." Mr Hunter said the end of the ferries was a moment of "psychological significance". "This is a link that has been in operation for more than 150 years," he said. "People are used to seeing the ferries coming and going - it gives them a feeling they are connected to other places. "With no boats coming in I think it will give a feeling of isolation, a feeling of being at the end of the line."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/kent/7103938.stm	For years, the residents of the neat council estate which surrounds Irvine Drive in Margate would have found it easy to describe the area. Police have searched the garden and house Most would have readily handed it the title "ordinary". However, since the discovery of two bodies buried in the garden at 50 Irvine Drive, this very unassuming cluster of homes is now anything but typical. And the local community are left facing the question of what to do next with the 1960s-built three-bedroom house which has become so irrecoverably tainted. The house has joined a list of properties better known for their grim history - some of which were demolished to deter macabre sightseers and to enable the surrounding community to move on. Residents in Irvine Drive will get their chance to talk about the fate of the property at a meeting on Thursday. The remains of Dinah McNicol, 18, from Essex, were found in the garden of the terraced house on Friday. The body of Vicky Hamilton, 15, from Redding near Falkirk, was recovered on 12 November. Both teenagers went missing in 1991. On Saturday, the current tenant Nicola Downing - who is not linked in any way to the horrific discoveries at the house - described the awful day when Essex police officers knocked on her door and explained they would have to dig up her garden. Ms Downing and Mark Drage had lived at the house since 1995 with their four children. She said: "I can only describe it as a nightmare that gets worse every day. We lived in that house for 12 years and we had a happy family home. "What they have found is awful and it has turned our family life upside down." Ward councillor Edwin Watt-Ruffell said: "It's an ordinary community, there are young people, disabled and elderly. It is a normal mixture of people, working class and middle class. "The majority of people there took advantage of the right-to-buy their council home." Ms Downing and her family have been rehoused by the local authority and are not expected to return to Irvine Drive. Fred and Rose West's house has been replaced with a walkway The former home of serial killer Fred West, 25 Cromwell Street in Gloucester, was knocked down as was the house in which Ian Huntley murdered two girls in Soham. However two properties where the serial killer Dennis Nilsen murdered his victims are still in occupation in north London. And the infamous 10 Rillington Place, the home of murderer John Christie, was only demolished in the 1970s to make way for the Westway road in London. The street had been re-named to remove its associations with the killings following Christie's execution in 1953. When asked about the fate of its property in Irvine Drive, Thanet District Council said: "We will seek the views of the residents and the families of the victims before we make any decision." And Mr Watt-Ruffell confirmed that discussions between the authority and the local community were going to take place. He said: "We are meeting with the residents and the vicar and there will be a briefing on Thursday at the council offices about the future of Irvine Drive. The bodies of Dinah McNicol (l) and Vicky Hamilton were found last week "I can't say any more than that at the moment." Essex Police have spent more than a week searching the house and garden in Margate. Officers and forensic archaeologists have broken up tiles and drilled through concrete on the ground floor and used radar equipment to focus on "anomalies" in the structure. Kent Police said each force had a duty to return a home that had been the scene of a major criminal investigation to its original state. But a spokesman said whether the occupants returned to the property was up to them.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8566007.stm	By Paul Lewis Presenter, Radio 4's Money Box Some online customers have spotted mystery debits The Information Commission has warned online shoppers to avoid inadvertently agreeing to allow retailers to share their details with other firms. Customers of several online companies told the BBC that they did not realise they were agreeing to join discount services when clicking on links. They uncovered it when amounts of up to £99 were taken from their accounts. The companies involved denied being unclear and said customers who had complained were refunded. Veronica Hayton told Money Box on Radio 4 that she bought some storage bags from spacebags.co.uk. A month later the company called to see if she was happy and then asked if she wanted a holiday discount brochure. "I noticed it referred to a 30-day free trial but then next thing I knew a firm called Break4Free had taken £99 out of my current account without my authority. "I wasn't aware that debit card details had been passed on by the original supplier." Veronica questioned the transaction but when she asked for a tape of the phone conversation was told it had been deleted. She was refunded in full. Another listener, David Strange, told Money Box that he had bought a ticket on thetrainline.com and then was asked to click a link to get a £15 discount off his next purchase. Mr Strange then re-entered his card details, believing this was necessary to receive the discount. But he was surprised to find money was then taken from his account by a company called Shopper Discounts and Rewards. Mr Strange argues that this was not made clear enough at the time of purchase: "Having seen the website again it states there is a £10-a-month charge. "But a lot of people might not realise and might not check their account to notice the £10 a month charge." Deputy Information Commissioner David Smith warned companies that they did not just have to comply with the letter of the law. "Some businesses [think] so long as it is there in the small print somewhere that's good enough. But it isn't. "It is not about complying with the law it's about making sure your customers know what's happening with their information." Spacebags admitted that bank details were passed on to Break4Free. But Break4Free told Money Box it would refund people who complained. Shopper Discounts and Rewards also promised to refund unhappy customers. "It is very important that all customers understand the benefits before they join so we ensure that offer pages are clear and straightforward." David Smith said: "These notices have to be upfront and obvious and if there is financial information and a charge involved you'd expect it to be up there in flashing lights. "We do have some cases involving Spacebags.co.uk and Shopper Discounts and Rewards. "If we are satisfied their practices are improper and they won't change voluntarily we will use our enforcement powers to require them to do so." But he warned that customers had to be smart when shopping online too. "The responsibility isn't all one way. Consumers shouldn't go to websites with their eyes shut or blinkers on." BBC Radio 4's is broadcast on Saturdays at 12 noon, and repeated on Sundays at 2100h. Download the
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_league/skills/4216894.stm	If you want to beat defenders, this is the move for you. It is simple but effective skill every winger and full-back should have mastered as they are often the players in one-on-one situations with defenders. You need a fast brain as well as fast feet if you want to pull off the perfect sidestep - it's not all about power and speed. As you approach the tackler, decide which direction you are aiming to run past them. Shorten your stride to get your timing and balance right. Step wide with your outside leg, placing your body weight onto that leg, ready to explode off that foot in an instant. Shift your body weight to the other side of your body. Then push off on your outside leg, using your inside leg to keep your balance. Take advantage of the tackler's imbalance and run as fast as you can past them. Keep looking around to see if there is a team-mate in a better position than you to offload the ball.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4223893.stm	By Alex Kleiderman BBC News business reporter Chelsea's on-the-pitch fortunes have been transformed by owner Roman Abramovich's cash injection but the club's ambition to turn its accounts around in five years is likely to prove a challenge. Chelsea is striving to build a new fan base While success is bound to bring increased television revenue and sponsorship money, building a new fan base also appears key to Chelsea's goals. But it will also have to rely on revenues from outside the tried and tested opportunities related to gate receipts. The club's 42,000-capacity Stamford Bridge stadium is smaller than many of its rivals - limiting its options to bring in huge extra revenues from current ticket sales. Despite that, Chelsea spent £174m on new players last season, compared to £77m at Manchester United, but the London club says it is "now being run properly". One avenue under exploration may be to increase the number of executive boxes and hospitality packages on offer. "It will need to find imaginative ways to satisfy its fan base and find new ways for its global fan base to come into 'contact' with the club," says Michael Stirling, of London law firm Field Fisher Waterhouse, who advises football clubs on investment. Chief executive Peter Kenyon is vowing to make Chelsea, which saw a loss of £88m last year, break even by the 2009-2010 financial year. Chelsea have not won the league championship trophy for 50 years, but revenues in the 2003-2004 period increased by 40% to £152m, following the club's Champions League run and higher merchandise sales. Building a squad of top players for manager Jose Mourinho does not come cheap, however, and Mr Kenyon intends to cut the £115m wage bill as a proportion of turnover, from 76% to 55%. Jose Mourinho and Peter Keynon are taking Chelsea into new areas The club has just agreed a £100m eight-year shirt deal with Adidas and is said to be lining up a new sponsor after an agreement with Emirates comes to an end this season. It hopes to build up a supporter base and merchandise sales in China and US, and its Chelsea TV station will be key to such growth. While at Manchester United, Mr Kenyon had the vision to woo international fans with summer tours abroad. Chelsea last year joined the likes of Manchester United and AC Milan for a series of games in the US and Canada and future tours look a certainty. Chelsea says its commercial budget is not based on winning a trophy - but on securing a place in the lucrative Champions League. But Mr Stirling says: "If a club is doing well supporters will go to matches, use pay-per-view TV and buy merchandise. If the club is failing, sales go flat very rapidly." He also points out the leading English, Spanish and Italian clubs are all chasing the same markets abroad. Football finance expert professor Tom Cannon of the Ideopolis research group has described Chelsea's aims as "supremely ambitious". Its commercial exploits abroad are unlikely to prove profitable enough to increase income by significant amounts over the next five years, he says. Manchester United arguably have the largest fan base of any football club in the world, but have failed so far to produce a "genuine revenue breakthrough" in Asia and the US, he claims. "Manchester United's revenues are massively to do with a stadium of nearly 68,000 seats and having the most executive suites in the Premiership," he says. Professor Christine Oughton, of the Football Governance Research Centre at the University of London's Birkbeck College, believes Chelsea does need to maximise all income streams over the next five years. "Peter Kenyon's strategy appears to be for Chelsea to increase its revenues from cup runs but it really has to win a number of Premiership titles and Champions League titles to become financially viable and that's quite a big asking," she says. Michael Stirling, meanwhile, does see a commercial rationality in Chelsea's ideals. "Contrary to what many commentators have said in the past that Roman Abramovich's ambitions and interest defies commercial sense, there is a definite strategy that is emerging to take football into the 21st century. "The difference between clubs that succeed and those that don't is not having the ideas but being able to implement them. Chelsea has a vision and is working towards it."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7809330.stm	Nick Clegg said the temporary VAT cut had made little difference Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has added his voice to concerns that the government's temporary 2.5% VAT reduction has been a "waste of money". The party would have spent the £12.5bn cost of the measure on creating jobs through investments to make schools, hospitals and homes greener, he said. Tory leader David Cameron has branded the VAT cut an "expensive failure" which did not encourage shoppers. The government insists it is offering help to families. Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Clegg restated the Lib Dems plan to build a "fairer" tax system through income tax cuts for low and middle-income earners. "We would not waste £12.5bn on the VAT cut which the Prime Minister has delivered, which we don't think makes much difference," he said. "We would use all of that money for a green investment programme, insulating every school and every hospital in this country, and installing smart meters in every home. "That kind of radical action not only creates jobs but it's good for the kind of green economy we need in the future." On Friday, Mr Cameron cited figures from the latest Retail Insight Report, which suggested retail footfall was down 3.1% in December from a year earlier. "This government, that lectured us about prudence, has spent £12.5bn of our money... and wasted it," he told the BBC. But the government has defended the decision to reduce VAT from 17.5% to 15% until the end of 2009. It says the cut was the fairest way to get money into the economy because low-income households spend a larger share of their income on VAT than richer households. Prime Minister Gordon Brown also argues that he acted to recapitalise the banks, bring forward public spending and increase child tax credit and payments to pensioners. There has been some criticism of the VAT change from two German politicians and the chief economist at the International Monetary Fund. The Lib Dems tried to get it overturned in a Commons debate in December, when Treasury spokesman Vince Cable said it was "seriously defective" as a way of getting money into the economy.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/376297.stm	Thursday, June 24, 1999 Published at 00:18 GMT 01:18 UK In a dark, silent world Mike is marching on Parliament on Thursday Many people who are both deaf and blind feel isolated in their own homes, according to a report out on Thursday. Mike Jones explains what it is like. Mike [not his real name] is in his mid-40s and lives in London. He has had to use two high-powered hearing aids since 1979 and has been registered blind since 1985. He believes his problems may be linked to a form of a genetic condition called Usher syndrome. This causes hearing loss and a progressive loss of vision from retinitis pigmentosa. He says he only noticed his hearing problems when he developed tinnitus after attending discos in the 1970s. "I am sure the speakers were above government safety levels and I noticed I was particularly sensitive to loud noise," he said. He has particular problems with background noise and needs a special type of hearing aid. The loss of vision came gradually. At first, he had difficulty seeing at night. Now he is almost totally blind. He worked in administration in the civil service until 1996 and says he feels he was pressurised into resigning on medical grounds. "I had been trying to find a transfer to another section as you are expected to move on, but it was hard to find a suitable post." Mike lives with his partner and he also has a rehabilitation worker who visits him once a week to help out with domestic tasks. He says he is very lucky to live in a part of London which offers good support, but he knows many people who are missing out and are virtually confined to their home. His council subsidises his taxi trips to visit friends and to go out. He says this is vital. "They understand that dual sensory loss is much more stressful than having just one sensory impairment," he said. Mike uses a white stick when he goes out and also has a special close circuit television (CCTV) which helps him to read by enlarging the print. But his set is very old and needs replacing. He is also trying to get someone to visit regularly to read his post as he has recently sprained his wrists and is finding his CCTV almost impossible to handle. "I feel I am becoming more isolated as a result," he said. "I am going backwards." He says he does not know how long he will still be able to see his CCTV. He cannot watch television any more because he cannot see the pictures. This makes him feel a bit cut off from the world. "I have no idea how long I will be able to see the close circuit television. I will just have to cross that bridge when I come to it." He says some people can be patronising and some call him names. Others try to help, but can overdo it. Someone recently tried to help him with his shopping by grabbing his hand. But because of his sprained thumb, they ended up leaving him in excruciating pain and in need of expensive osteopathic care. "I try to be as independent, optimistic and forward-looking as possible," he said, "but it can be very, very depressing."
http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-26226989	Fallon brings Tonight back to New York 18 February 2014 Last updated at 15:59 GMT Jimmy Fallon appears during his "The Tonight Show" debut on Monday, Feb. 17, 2014, in New York. Fallon departed from the network's "Late Night" on Feb. 7, 2014, after five years as host, and is now the main host of "The Tonight Show," replacing Jay Leno after 22 years. American television critics say Fallon will now be competing for ratings with Letterman's long running CBS show. Footage courtesy of NBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8242144.stm	The new Supreme Court will rule on overdraft fees later this autumn Banking group RBS-NatWest - majority owned by the taxpayer - has broken ranks with the rest of the industry and decided to slash its overdraft charges. The move comes ahead of a decision of the new Supreme Court on whether or not the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) can regulate these charges. From 1 October, RBS and NatWest customers will be charged £5 for having a cheque bounced, down from £38. The fee for paying an item on an overdrawn account falls in half to £15. "This is good news for customers, not least because the fees for unarranged borrowing have been an area of ongoing concern for them," said the head of UK retail banking, Brian Hartzer. "As we look ahead there are many issues to consider, but we thought it was time to move this particular customer concern forward by cutting our charges. "As it relates to past charges we are awaiting the outcome of the industry-wide bank charges test case," he added. At stake is annual income for the banks of more than £2bn a year. Since 2005 the banking industry has faced increased customer discontent. Hundreds of thousands of customers have tried to reclaim the overdraft fees they have been charged, on the grounds that they were unfair and therefore illegal. In 2007 the UK's banks refunded about £784m to nearly 378,000 customers. But since the banks and the OFT embarked on their legal test case in July 2007 a further 1.2 million people have now had their claims frozen, awaiting the outcome of the legal battle. Peter Vicary-Smith, of Which? said it was a victory for consumer pressure. "If RBS and NatWest truly want to get back in their customers' good books, they should admit defeat in the bank charges test case and repay the millions of pounds Which? believes they've been unfairly taking from their current account holders for years," he said. "Hopefully this is a recognition of how unfair their pricing system has been," said Marc Gander of the Consumer Action Group. "But apart from the £5 charge I think that the others are still much too high." After losing before both the High Court and Appeal Court, the banking industry took the matter to the House of Lords, whose decision will now be handed down by the new Supreme Court. NEW RBS-NATWEST CHARGES Bounced cheque, direct debit or standing order - £5, down from £38 Payment on overdrawn account - £15, down from £30 Guaranteed card payment fee - £15, down from £35 Monthly overdrawn account charge - £20, down from £28 Overdraft interest rate - reduced to 19.24% In July this year, the government in its White Paper on reforming the financial markets called on the industry to find a quicker way to resolve the issue. "This announcement [by RBS-Natwest] is highly significant," said Nick Spooner of the campaign group Legal Beagles. "I would expect most of the other banks to follow suit quite quickly," he added. The RBS-Natwest group declined to say how much income it would forego each year from its reduced fees. A spokesman said its change of policy had been prompted by the arrival of Mr Hartzer. But the spokesman said there had been no pressure from the government to change the bank's overdraft fees. Between them, the RBS and NatWest have 12.5 million current account holders, of whom only a minority go overdrawn without permission each year. The OFT said it noted the RBS-NatWest decision. "Our investigation into the fairness or otherwise of unauthorised overdraft charging terms is ongoing, and is unaffected by this announcement," said a spokeswoman. The British Bankers' Association (BBA) said it was purely a commercial decision for the RBS-NatWest group.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/298131.stm	Wednesday, March 17, 1999 Published at 13:23 GMT Racak killings 'crime against humanity' The killings prompted the latest attempts to secure a peace deal A final report by forensic experts into the killing of 40 Kosovo Albanians in the village of Racak has failed to rule on whether they were massacred by Serb police. But the report does conclude the victims were unarmed civilians. The killings provoked international outrage and prompted the latest efforts to secure a peace deal between the warring Serbs and ethnic Albanians. The Serb authorities said the Albanians died in clashes after opening fire on police. But locals said they believed that Serb forces were to blame for the deaths. Dr Ranta said there were no signs that the victims were anything other than unarmed civilians and that they were most likely shot where they were found. Dr Ranta told a press conference in Pristina, Kosovo's regional capital, said: "This is a crime against humanity." But she added apportioning blame for the killings fell outside her remit. Dr Ranta said her report should be the start of a longer, criminal investigation which would have the power to hear from witnesses. Dr Ranta's Finnish team examined the bodies of 40 of the 45 Racak victims to determine how they died. The ethnic Albanians have said that they are ready to sign the three-year Kosovo peace plan, but the Serbs are continuing to reject both the deal and the presence on the ground of Nato peacekeeping troops. Jacky Rowland, a BBC correspondent in Pristina, said Dr Ranta's team were keen not to say anything inflammatory which might disrupt the peace talks. A pathologist, who carrried out an investigation for the Yugoslav authorities, denied that those who died were victims of a massacre. Dr Sasa Dobricanin said: "Not a single body bears any sign of execution." The head of the OSCE's mission in Kosovo, William Walker, said the deaths were a "massacre" by Serb police. He was ordered to leave Yugoslavia after pinning the blame on the security forces, but defied the expulsion order. The 45 dead are among some 2,000 people who have lost their lives during a year of fighting in Kosovo.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-coventry-warwickshire-20926437	Warwickshire Police release online hate crime video - 6 January 2013 - From the section Coventry & Warwickshire A new video has been released by police in a bid to tackle hate crime in Warwickshire. The film is part of a Response and Engagement Against Crimes of Hate (Reach) initiative aimed at encouraging victims to report such incidents. One of Warwickshire Police's targets for 2012-13 was to provide better help for hate crime victims Ch Insp Mike Slemensek said he hoped putting the video online would prove useful in getting the message across.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10201202	UN statement on Israel's Gaza aid ships raid - 1 June 2010 - From the section Middle East The UN Security Council has agreed a statement following Israel's raid on Monday on a convoy of aid ships bound for Gaza. Here is the full text: The Security Council deeply regrets the loss of life and injuries resulting from the use of force during the Israeli military operation in international waters against the convoy sailing to Gaza. The Council, in this context, condemns those acts which resulted in the loss of at least ten civilians and many wounded, and expresses its condolences to their families. The Security Council requests the immediate release of the ships as well as the civilians held by Israel. The Council urges Israel to permit full consular access, to allow the countries concerned to retrieve their deceased and wounded immediately, and to ensure the delivery of humanitarian assistance from the convoy to its destination. The Security Council takes note of the statement of the UN Secretary-General on the need to have a full investigation into the matter and it calls for a prompt, impartial, credible and transparent investigation conforming to international standards. The Security Council stresses that the situation in Gaza is not sustainable. The Council re-emphasizes the importance of the full implementation of Resolutions 1850 and 1860. In that context, it reiterates its grave concern at the humanitarian situation in Gaza and stresses the need for sustained and regular flow of goods and people to Gaza as well as unimpeded provision and distribution of humanitarian assistance throughout Gaza. The Security Council underscores that the only viable solution to Israeli-Palestinian conflict is an agreement negotiated between the parties and re-emphasises that only a two-State solution, with an independent and viable Palestinian State living side by side in peace and security with Israel and its other neighbours, could bring peace to the region. The Security Council expresses support for the proximity talks and voices concern that this incident took place while the proximity talks are underway and urges the parties to act with restraint, avoiding any unilateral and provocative actions, and all international partners to promote an atmosphere of cooperation between the parties and throughout the region.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7264592.stm	A claim that Germany has failed to protect genuine Italian Parmesan cheese from imitation has been rejected by the top court in the European Union. Parmesan, like Greek Feta and Champagne, has special status The European Commission argued Berlin had not acted against producers who did not meet Italy's stringent rules. The Court of Justice said Germany had measures in place but rejected Berlin's claim that Parmesan was a generic name. It said only the authentic product bearing the name "Parmigiano Reggiano" could be sold under the name Parmesan. 'No more doubts' Authentic Parmesan, often sold in powdered form and sprinkled on pasta dishes, is made by fewer than 450 cheese-makers close to the Po River in northern Italy. The German government had argued that the word "Parmesan", in Germany, merely referred to hard cheeses which were either grated or intended to be grated. The official association of Parmesan producers said the court's ruling on the name Parmesan meant there were no longer any doubts about the cheese's identity. Leo Bertozzi, director of the Consorzio del Formaggio Parmigiano-Reggiano, told the BBC News website that the ruling was "completely positive". "The Court of Justice has stated that Parmesan can be used only to identify Parmigiano-Reggiano. The name is protected and even its translations are protected," he said. Parmesan was among dozens of foods and drinks awarded the status of "protected designation of origin" (PDO). Others include Champagne and Parma ham as well as Gorgonzola and Feta cheese. The court said that the German government had legal instruments - like courts - to ensure effective protection. It rejected the European Commission's complaint that it was up to member states to penalise infringements on their own territory, saying instead it should be the responsibility of the country from which the protected product came. The official association of Parmesan producers has already brought cases through the German courts. So the days of German parmesan could be numbered anyway, the BBC's Dominic Hughes in Brussels says.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_9330000/newsid_9339100/9339114.stm	Manchester United have gone three points clear at the top of the Premier League table after beating Stoke City at home 2-1. Javier Hernandez scored the game's opening goal at Old Trafford. But then Stoke's Dean Whitehead equalised early on in the second half. It was down to Nani and a left-foot strike into the net to give the Reds a 2-1 victory. The club remains unbeaten this season after 20 games. Elsewhere in the league, Fulham have moved out of the relegation zone after beating West Brom 3-0. Brede Hangeland headed in the third goal of the game. Birmingham also lifted themselves out of the danger zone, thanks to a late goal from Scott Dann against Blackpool. The final score was 2-1.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/snooker/7375801.stm	Cannot play media. Sorry, this media is not available in your territory. Replay: Hendry cruises to semi-finals Scotland's Stephen Hendry wasted little time in wrapping up a place in the World Championship semi-finals as he completed a 13-7 win over Ryan Day. Resuming the quarter-final 11-5 ahead, the seven-time Crucible champion claimed a break of 48 to move to within one frame of victory. Day battled and a 71 pulled him back to 12-7 but he conceded the match when he potted the white when well behind. It is the first time Hendry, 39, has reached the semis since 2004. "I am very happy," he told BBC Sport. "I was not coming in here with any great form under my belt with just one semi-final this season, but I knew if I could get past the first round anything could happen. "It will have to improve if I am to win it. I am not scoring as heavy as I would like but my all-round game is pretty solid." Hendry will now take on Ronnie O'Sullivan in what is expected to be a mouth-watering semi-final. Hendry delighted to reach semi-finals Hendry said: "I'll be taking on the best player in the world at the moment, right-handed, left-handed, one-legged, one-armed, whatever you want. "He's knocking in centuries all over the place. He's a genius. I know I've got the game capable of beating him but I need to bring my best game out. He doesn't know what will happen if I start to fly, we could have a massive game on our hands. "I just can't wait to get out there, I love playing Ronnie. There will probably be just two people supporting me but I played Jimmy White a few times so I'm used to it. "If you look back at the record I've had here - six wins in seven years from 1990-96 - it can give you nothing but confidence." Day's semi-final hopes seemed dashed as early as the first session when he lost seven straight frames to go 7-1 behind. Hendry, who was 33-1 to win the title at the start of the tournament, continued his dominance in the second session, winning three of the closing four frames, to maintain his six-frame advantage. In the final session, he went 12-5 ahead after a break of 48 which was kicked off with a superb red potted at a difficult angle. Despite the seemingly hopeless situation, Day refused to throw in the towel and he reduced the deficit after Hendry missed a red to the corner when constructing a break of 46. The Welshman claimed another with a break of 71 but the game was up when he fouled in the 20th frame. "I think on the whole, through the match, Stephen played far more consistently than I did, there were one or two little edges that could have thrown one or two of the frames either way, and they fell on his side," said Day. "There were a lot of easy balls missed and unforced errors, and I didn't deserve to win in any shape or form. It was pretty poor really. Maybe a lack of concentration constantly through the match and caused me to make unforced errors." This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-20012530	Badge man predicts Ohio winner 22 October 2012 Last updated at 00:57 BST Mort Berkowitz has been producing political campaign badges (or buttons, as they are known in the US) in New York City since 1976, the year when the headquarters of each party stopped producing pins and started outsourcing merchandise. Every election, his agency "Bold Concepts" creates 700 to 800 different designs for both the Republican and the Democratic Party. Each design can be print in a number from 100 to 1,000 copies, which are sold at conventions and throughout the campaign to parties, local organisations and collectors. This year he has produced about a million pins. Inspired by the debate, he is now working on: "I'm not a binder, I'm a woman and I vote". One of his favourite ever is "Hillary Rodman Clinton", a combination of basketball player Dennis Rodman and the then first lady, who even mentioned the button at the convention in 1996. "Everybody is Palin by comparison" was a good seller during the primaries. According to Mr Berkowitz, the internet and virtual campaigning are not taking over buttons. He sold as many pins this year as in 2008, especially to Democrats. "Democrats love buttons, they always buy more than Republicans", he explains. The two parties differ both in taste - simple and serious versus colorful and ironical - and in content - anti-Romney buttons are much more popular among Democrats than anti-Obama among Republicans. As buttons sales is also a measure of enthusiasm, from his tiny office on Times Square Mr Berkowitz explains to the BBC how the campaign is going and, more important, he predicts who, according to his "pins polls" will win in Ohio. Produced by Anna Bressanin, Camera by Ilya Shnitser
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/wimbledon_diary/3843891.stm	The All England Club was a happier - and busier - place on Sunday morning as 'the people' made it their own. Fans rush to take their places on 'People's Sunday' The Centre Court, which was half-empty for the start of Tim Henman's match on Friday, was filling up over an hour before Sunday's 1100 BST start time. And the crowd was noticeably noisier than usual, with the arrival of a ball boy carrying the net provoking wild cheers and applause. The first Mexican Wave of the day was officially timed at 1043 BST. With 11,000 Cente Court and 10,000 Court One tickets issued on a first come, first serve basis, a large crowd was inevitable. The mid-morning queue that normally stretches around 500m from the All England Club along Church Road, was at least trebled in length. Australians were much in evidence, with an early morning game of "footy" taking place alongside the queue in the car park. So, were our antipodean cousins keen to grab Centre Court tickets to watch Tim Henman? "Couldn't care less mate," said Steve from Adelaide. "We're here for the Scud (Mark Philippoussis) and the beer." WHERE IS EVERYONE? Her power on court and colourful life history off it usually make Jennifer Capriati a favourite with the crowds. So the American had to admit she was a bit stunned to find Court One nearly deserted at 1100 BST when she began her third round match with Nathalie Dechy. "I was surprised it was a bit empty when I first went out there," she said. Q: Where was everybody? A: Queueing to get in or flocking to Centre Court, so Capriati must wait at least another year to experience a 'People's Sunday'. NO KANGAROO COURT 'People's Sunday' certainly gives The All England Club a chance to prove they enjoy a raucous atmosphere just as much as the fans who rarely get onto the show courts. But as you'd expect, there are limits to how far they will go. "I think there are things like large banners and claxons that won't be allowed," said All England Club chief executive Chris Gorringe. "But I won't say kangaroos, because I know you'll write it down." Mission accomplished then.
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-16218284	Secrets of pop success revealed, scientists claim - 8 March 2012 - From the section Technology Budding pop stars may fare better if they swap a piano keyboard for a PC, according to university researchers. University of Bristol scientists claim to have developed software that can spot whether a song has hit potential. The program looks at 23 separate characteristics including loudness, danceability and harmonic simplicity. Trained using hit songs from the Top 40 over the last 50 years, the software can predict chart positions with about 60% accuracy, the scientists say. "The goal was to find out if we could come up with an equation that distinguishes between a hit and something that dangles at the bottom of the charts," said Dr Tijl De Bie, a senior lecturer in artificial intelligence at Bristol, who heads the research team. Dr Bie said the equation was developed using the publicly available data about songs in the UK top 40 since 1961. For each week in that long history, the equation was tested with new releases to see if it could predict where that song would get in the chart. "At every moment in time the equation can be different because we only took into account past data," Dr De Bie told the BBC. Machine learning techniques were used to help the equation learn about the relative importance of all the elements that make up a pop song. The result, he said, was an equation that is right more often than it is wrong. "We can expect to get it right in about 60% of cases," said Dr De Bie. "It's not perfect." What regularly tripped up the equation were the unexpected hits that became popular for reasons that often had nothing to do with their musical qualities, he said. In 2010, Surfin' Bird by The Trashmen reached number three in the UK charts, thanks to a web campaign persuading people to buy it to prevent X Factor winner Matt Cardle being the Christmas number one. In a similar way, said Dr De Bie, the equation could not determine to what extent marketing determined whether a song was a hit. And, he added, predicting that something would be a hit was no guide to whether a song was worth listening to. "It's not a value judgement," he said, adding that it was really a social barometer that measured what people were more likely to buy. Despite this, said Dr De Bie, neither he nor his colleagues were planning to gamble any money on which song would be the 2011 Christmas number one. What the work has also revealed is the steady change in musical tastes that have been reflected in chart music over the past half century. Analysis showed that music had become easier to dance to and louder over the years, said Dr De Bie.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/school_report/resources_for_teachers/9542969.stm	In addition to the material available on BBC websites, you may want to look at resources provided by other media and broadcasting companies elsewhere on the internet. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites. The New York Times offers a range of teaching and learning materials on its website. The page is regularly updated with quizzes on the big news of the day and activities designed to help students hone their research skills. There are also lesson plans and videos on a wide variety of subjects. The Royal Statistical Society Centre for Statistical Education (RSSCSE) has come up with this initiative to help pupils improve their knowledge of statistics. Journalists often use statistics, polls and surveys as the basis for stories, and the material and advice here will help make sure they are getting the full picture. This resource is based around sporting data, such as pulse rates, and also has quizzes and suggestions to help develop statistical awareness. For more general statistics-related teaching resources, the project is also available to provide help and teaching material. A useful resource for GCSE, A-level, and undergraduate Media students, this virtual Sky News Student Newsroom takes you on a tour of the various job descriptions involved in television news production. It explains the journey of a story through the newsroom, the sound and vision department and the studio and gallery before being broadcast. The Channel 4 news team worked with nine schools and colleges to make an online news bulletin. The accompanying website shows how students scripted, compiled and edited the bulletin at the end of eight weeks of preparation. The website also features a media studies course for 14 to 19-year-olds developed with Channel 4 News, ITN and the participating schools. Teachit is full of resources for teachers across the curriculum, but in School Report terms the most useful area of the site are probably in the media studies section. The site does require registration, and has different levels of membership. Some resources are free, while others require a subscription.
http://www.bbc.com/news/health-15853743	Is HIV still a death sentence in the West? For many in the affluent world, HIV has become yesterday's epidemic. A quarter of a century of drug development means that for most people who contract the virus it has become manageable through medication. Yet Aids still claims many lives in the West. In a quiet road, a short walk from the bustle of the High Street in St Albans, Hertfordshire, is an HIV support group called The Crescent. Two of its regulars, Mike and Fiona (not their real names), have come together to share their experiences of living with HIV on either side of the anti-retroviral revolution. Mike, who was diagnosed with HIV in the late 1980s, aged 26, remembers being part of a support group in which many fellow members died. He recalls the black humour of the time. "It became like a standing joke. Who's the next one that's going to drop like flies, because people were." For Mike, it was almost him. He had a brush with death after returning from a trip to the US. "When I came back I was chronically ill. I fell asleep and I woke up two days later and my niece had been ringing the house, she'd been expecting me home two days before and over to hers. "Fortunately one of my neighbours have got a spare key and she came in. I was in bed and I looked like I had fallen out of bucket. Apparently I was in a real bad state. "If I'd stayed there on my own I probably wouldn't have been here now." By contrast, when Fiona's daughter was diagnosed, in 2001, drugs that suppress HIV were widespread in the UK. Yet she too fell very ill, repeatedly getting pneumonia after giving birth. Fiona remembers one particularly bad episode. "She was sick, she was very, very thin. She couldn't breathe. She was blue round her mouth. Her eyes were black. At one stage I thought that was it, she was going to go." The point is clear. While people with HIV in developed countries have come to rely on drugs that help suppress a virus that was once a death sentence - both know that, even in the rich world, HIV can still be a killer. In the UK, 680 people with HIV died last year, according to the Health Protection Agency. That's a long way down from the 1995 peak of 1,723 deaths, but still a significant number. At the end of 2009, total deaths of people with an Aids diagnosis in the UK, numbered 15,180. That's lower than many other major European countries, such as Spain (44,883), Italy (36,210) and France (35,600), and close to Germany's figure of 14,065. An expert for the Terrence Higgins Trust, which campaigns on Aids and HIV issues in the UK, says the difference can be explained by the fact the UK and Germany were more proactive in launching effective public health education schemes, and clean needle exchange initiatives. But even then, the ready supply of anti-retroviral drugs to patients has not wiped out Aids deaths in the West. Indeed, for charities such as Community Servings, based in the Jamaica Plain area of Boston, and The Food Chain, in London, Aids remains a killer. They provide nutritious meals to individuals and families living with HIV/Aids. Every Sunday morning volunteers at The Food Chain make their way to one of four kitchens where they prepare meals before delivering them to homes around the UK capital. General manager Andrew Davies says: "A lot of these people are just out of hospital, they don't have any support." "Many of the users that we support have quite complex health needs, not just HIV-positive, but might also have diabetes or TB co-infection renal problems all sorts of things." 16 years more Results of a study released last month, showed life expectancy of those with HIV who are on anti-retroviral treatment, has improved. In 1996, when such drugs were starting to become widespread, the UK Medical Research Council estimated a 20-year-old with HIV, who was receiving treatment, could expect to live to an average age of 50. By 2008, this group could expect to live to an average age of almost 66 - a 16-year improvement. There are wide variations. Many of those who die from Aids-related illnesses, do so younger, often because they were not diagnosed early. Mike, of the St Albans support group, says he doesn't expect to live beyond 60. Nevertheless, the curve in life expectancy for people with HIV appears to be going up. One doctor believesmany HIV patients can expect a normal lifespan in years to come. "If a person is diagnosed with HIV today, the first thing I would say to them is I expect to see them for the next 30 years plus and that is because the treatment is so good," says Dr Steve Taylor, an HIV specialist at Birmingham Heartland Hospital. "If they can get that medication then their life expectancy after you've been on the drug for five years is that of the general population." However, one in four HIV-positive people have not been diagnosed and half of those being diagnosed are diagnosed "late". Those classified as "late" have a severely reduced immune system. For them, as the immune system gets weaker still, the body becomes vulnerable to opportunistic infections and some tumours, which land the fatal blow. "Until we actually tackle the problem of diagnosing the undiagnosed then that [death] rate is going to continue," argues Dr Taylor. "So the more people we diagnose the more people we can get onto therapy early enough, that's when the rate will start to fall." Until then, HIV may no longer be the automatic death sentence that it was two decades ago, but it is still deadly. That is just in the West, however, in many parts of the world access to lifesaving treatments remain woefully poor.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7149197.stm	Japan has for the first time shot down a ballistic missile, testing a defence system aimed at warding off potential missile threats from its neighbours. A Japanese warship stationed off Hawaii launched a US-developed Standard-3 interceptor missile to destroy a mock target fired from onshore. The test was carried out in partnership with the US Missile Defense Agency. Experts say the test will strengthen the US-Japan security alliance but it could also escalate regional tensions. Japan and the US have worked closely on missile defence since North Korea flew a missile over northern Japan in 1998. The US has carried out such tests in the past but this is the first time a test has been carried out by one of of its allies. Japanese government spokesman Nobutaka Machimura described the test as very significant for Japan's national security. "The Defence Ministry and the government have been putting efforts into the development of ballistic missile defence, and we will continue to install the needed equipment and conduct exercises," he said. The BBC's correspondent in Japan, Chris Hogg, said the test could cause unease among Japan's neighbours. China in particular is likely to be concerned that if it ever decides to attack Taiwan the system could be used to help the US defend the island, he said. So far, the Chinese response has been muted, with the Beijing authorities referring indirectly to the test in a regular press briefing. "We have taken note that Japan has reiterated many times it will follow the path of peaceful development," said spokesman Qin Gang. "We hope that the actions of Japan are beneficial to the peace and stability of the region and conducive to mutual trust of the countries in the region." North Korea threat The target, which a US official said resembled "a North Korean scud-like missile," was fired from the US Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. JAPAN'S MISSILE DEFENCE SYSTEM The Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) launches from the sea to intercept missiles in space It is complemented by Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) which intercepts missiles as they descend The programme is estimated to have cost 127bn yen ($1.2bn; £560m) over four years It uses the US-developed Aegis combat system A Japanese vessel, the JS Kongo, tracked the missile and then fired its interceptor after three minutes, destroying the target some 160km (100 miles) above the Pacific Ocean. Japan ultimately plans to install missile interceptor systems on four of its destroyers equipped with the high-tech Aegis tracking system. Japan and the US accelerated co-operation on missile defence after Pyongyang test-fired a long-range Taepodong-1 missile over northern Japan and into the Pacific in 1998. North Korea is also thought to have an arsenal of medium-range Rodong missiles capable of striking Japan. The test target was said to resemble one of these. This test marks a second stage of Japan's expanding missile defence. Land-based Patriot Advanced Capability 3 (PAC-3) missile defence systems have already been installed at two bases in Japan, with further installations planned. Defence Minister Shigeru Ishiba dismissed concerns about the high costs of the programme, estimated to be several billion dollars, and said Japan would continue working to increase the credibility of the system. "We can't talk about how much money should be spent when human lives are at stake," he told reporters.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-wiltshire-40842456	Missing Briton Anthony Collis found in Australian outback A man who went missing for three days in the Australian outback has been found alive and well, police have said. Anthony Collis, who is originally from Wiltshire, was driving to Darwin when he became separated from his travelling companion on Thursday. The alarm was raised hours later when the 32-year-old's friend walked into a campsite disorientated and dehydrated. Following a large search, he was found on Sunday morning in bushland half a mile from where his car was recovered. Mr Collis, who is believed to have lived in Perth for some years, was driving the Canning Stock Route with a 39-year-old woman when they became separated, according to Western Australia Police. A police spokesman said: "She [the woman] was located by travellers at the Georgia Bore camp on Thursday night which lead to a search and rescue operation commencing at first light on Friday. "He [Mr Collis] is dehydrated and suffering from exposure but otherwise fine. "He is currently being flown by helicopter to Newman where he will be treated in hospital." Mr Collis's mother, Karen, praised the emergency services for finding her son. "Thanks to everybody. My son has been found," she wrote on Facebook. "All of you guys out searching, too many to thank individually but you are our heroes. Everybody in the family will be eternally grateful to you all."
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-kent-49072464	Charlie Elphicke: Tory MP charged with sexual assault A Conservative MP has been charged with three counts of sexual assault against two women. Charlie Elphicke, the MP for Dover, is alleged to have assaulted one woman in 2007 and a second woman twice in 2016. Mr Elphicke, 48, is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 6 September. A Crown Prosecution Service spokesman said it had made the decision to charge Mr Elphicke "after reviewing a file of evidence from the Metropolitan Police". Mr Elphicke will sit as an independent MP in the House of Commons after the Conservative Party again suspended the party whip following the charges. The whip was originally suspended in November 2017 after "serious allegations" against him were referred to police, but was reinstated in December 2018 ahead of a vote of confidence in Theresa May. The Tories' majority in the Commons, where the party has the support of the DUP, is now down to two, with the prospect of a further cut if the party loses a by-election in Brecon and Radnorshire on 1 August. In a statement, the MP's solicitor Ellen Peart said: "Charlie Elphicke has said from the outset that he denies any wrongdoing. "He will defend himself vigorously and is confident that he will clear his name." Mr Elphicke has represented his constituency since 2010 and was a government whip from 2015 to 2016.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-37811442	Taiwan gay pride: Thousands throng Taipei streets Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets of Taiwan's capital, Taipei, to participate in Asia's biggest gay pride parade. Many of those who attended carried placards calling on the government to legalise same sex marriage. Dressed in colourful costumes and carrying rainbow flags, they paraded in front of Taiwan's presidential palace. Taiwan is more liberal than much of Asia on LGBT rights but moves toward marriage equality have stalled. The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which controls Taiwan's parliament and took power five months ago, is widely considered sympathetic to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Many are hopeful that same-sex marriage will become a reality under the DPP. Earlier this week, the DPP announced new measures to allow homosexual party employees the same honeymoon leave and wedding gift entitlement that heterosexual couples get, the Taipei Times reports. "The call for marriage equality feels stronger than last year," Corinne Chiang, who works in IT, told the AFP news agency. "We hope same-sex marriage can be realised as soon as possible so our child can have two legal moms." Proposals for gay marriage in Taiwan have stalled in recent years because of resistance from the Kuomintang (KMT) party, which was unseated by the DPP in May. But the new president, Tsai Ing-wen, has voiced her support for same-sex marriage and parliament is expected to consider fresh proposals on the issue soon. If it goes into force, Taiwan will become the first Asian country to legalise same-sex marriage.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-lancashire-42284381	Burnley FC charity offers to run Hameldon College Burnley Football Club's official charity has offered to take on the running of a struggling secondary school in the town. Burnley FC in the Community said it was interested in "operating Hameldon Community College under an alternative strategy." The Lancashire school has been told it faces closure next year after falling standards and student numbers. "No decisions have been taken at this stage," said Lancashire County Council. In a letter to the council dated 20 October, the charity presented two options to take on the threatened college. The first involves Burnley FC in the Community working in partnership with the county council. Under this proposal, the school would remain under the control of the education authority, but would benefit from the "positive publicity created by the involvement of the football club". In the second option, the charity has offered to work with a "different education provider to implement a free school/academy trust arrangement." The partnership would be similar to the Everton Free School which was created earlier this year by Everton FC's own official club charity. But in the letter, Burnley FC in the Community has warned the council that the project "needs to be managed carefully" as "a Burnley FC School could attract pupils from existing schools in the town and weaken them." Hameldon Community College faces closure in August 2018 after seeing pupil numbers fall every year. As of May 2017, there were 275 pupils in a school built for 750. The £22m school was built under a Private Finance Initiative and a 2015 Ofsted inspection rated it as "requiring improvement", highlighting issues with teaching quality and pupil's achievement. In a statement, Lancashire County Council said: "As part of this process, we've received comments from various organisations and the public, which we have considered. "As we move into another stage of consultation, no decisions have been taken at this stage about the future of the school." Burnley FC in the Community declined to comment on the proposals. The BBC has contacted Hameldon Community College for comment.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22105209	A row has broken out in Kyrgyzstan over the release from jail of the country's most notorious crime boss. Aziz Batukayev is one of several powerful criminal leaders who effectively run the Central Asian country's jails and prison colonies. Of Chechen origin, he has served many years for serious crimes including murder and drug smuggling. Mr Batukayev has also used his influence to orchestrate mass riots in dozens of jails on several occasions. The Kyrgyz Supreme Court upheld a lower court's order that Mr Batukayev should be released for medical reasons after several doctors certified his poor state of health. The country's ombudsman, Tursunbek Akun, said Mr Batukayev was terminally ill with cancer and that his release was in line with Kyrgyz and international laws. The Kyrgyz border service confirmed that he has left the country - giving his destination as Grozny, the capital of the Chechen Republic. But the crime leader's release has caused anger. The Kyrgyz parliament called a special debate with some MPs demanding the resignation of officials responsible. One prominent MP, Ismail Isakov, called the decision "criminal" and demanded that prison officials explain themselves to the house. Some have argued that the release is in breach of a new law adopted in February which bans any amnesty for criminal bosses. Mr Batukayev was convicted while already in jail in 2006 for orchestrating large scale unrest which spread through the Kyrgyz penitentiary system. An attempt by a government delegation to negotiate an end to months of chaos during his incarceration resulted in four members being killed when they entered the prison colony where he was being held. Mr Batukayev's quarters were subsequently stormed, with officials releasing video footage showing the criminal leader's extraordinary lifestyle which included TV sets, computers, an array of weapons as well as horses and dogs which he had apparently been allowed to breed. Kyrgyzstan's arcane prison system is a legacy of the Soviet Union where the day-to-day running of large jails and prison colonies was often left to inmates led by powerful individuals, who in return were supposed to co-operate with the prison administration. Observers say that mafia bosses in Kyrgyzstan wield significant power and influence because they have long cultivated connections with those in authority. The government has promised to eradicate criminality and corruption. Late last year it celebrated a major success with the arrest of another powerful crime boss, Kamchi Kolbaev. He is currently in pre-trial detention.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-44642340	A bar worker on a zero-hours contract has won a legal dispute with his former employers over last-minute shift cancellations. Alasdair Thomson, from Inverness, said his shifts were cancelled on a number of occasions leaving him unable to find other work to replace his lost wages. Better than Zero, a campaign fighting zero-hours contracts, backed his claim against a local bar. His lawyers said the case was settled before a judgement was handed down. Better than Zero said it hoped the case would lead to "significant changes" in employers' practices in the hospitality industry. Mr Thomson said: "It's not everywhere that treats you badly, but certainly it's not the first bad experience I've had. "When bosses cancel these shifts at the last minute, is has such a huge effect on your life. "Not only is it impossible to find replacement work at such short notice, it mean it's impossible to make basic plans about what you do with your life."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-41969061	The BBC has discovered a security flaw in the office collaboration tool Huddle that led to private documents being exposed to unauthorised parties. A BBC journalist was inadvertently signed in to a KPMG account, with full access to private financial documents. Huddle is an online tool that lets work colleagues share content and describes itself as "the global leader in secure content collaboration". The company said it had fixed the flaw. Its software is used by the Home Office, Cabinet Office, Revenue & Customs, and several branches of the NHS to share documents, diaries and messages. "If somebody is putting themselves out there as a world-class service to look after information for you, it just shouldn't happen," said Prof Alan Woodward, from the University of Surrey. "Huddles contain some very sensitive information." In a statement, Huddle said the bug had affected "six individual user sessions between March and November this year". "With 4.96 million log-ins to Huddle occurring over the same time period, the instances of this bug occurring were extremely rare," it said. As well as a BBC employee being redirected to the KPMG account, Huddle said a third party had accessed one of the BBC's Huddle accounts. KPMG has not yet responded to the BBC's request for comment. How was the flaw discovered? On Wednesday, a BBC correspondent logged in to Huddle to access a shared diary that his team kept on the platform. He was instead logged in to a KPMG account, with a directory of private documents and invoices, and an address book. The BBC contacted Huddle to report the security issue. The company later disclosed that a third party had accessed the Huddle of BBC Children's programme Hetty Feather, but it said no documents had been opened. How did this happen? During the Huddle sign-in process, the customer's device requests an authorisation code. According to Huddle, if two people arrived on the same login server within 20 milliseconds of one another, they would both be issued the same authorisation code. This authorisation code is carried over to the next step, in which a security token is issued, letting the customer access their Huddle. Since both User A and User B present the same authorisation code, whoever is fastest to request the security token is logged in as User A. How has Huddle addressed this? Huddle has now changed its system so that every time it is invoked, it generates a new authorisation code. This ensures no two people are ever simultaneously issued the same code. "We wish to clarify to Huddle users that this bug has been fixed, and that we continue to work to ensure such a scenario is not repeated," the company told the BBC. "We are continuing to work with the owners of the accounts that we believe may have been compromised, and apologise to them unreservedly."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/300910.stm	Monday, March 22, 1999 Published at 18:58 GMT Eclipse cooks eyeballs What the world is waiting for - daytime darkness Click here to watch a solar eclipse from last year. The hordes who will descend on Cornwall and Devon to see the total solar eclipse in August risk "cooking" their eyeballs, specialists have warned. Some home-made viewers could even lead to worse damage. More than a million people are expected to crowd into the south-west corner of the UK to observe the rare event on 11 August. It will be the first total eclipse to cross the UK since 1927 and will be the world's last this millennium. There will not be another visible in the UK until 2090. Michael Maunder is an author and photographer who has travelled the world to view solar eclipses. He has called on people to heed safety warnings and to avoid home-made viewers such as smoked glass or photographic negatives. These may not be able to block all the sun's harmful rays - which means infrared heat radiation could "cook the eyeball", he said. "You could damage the eyeball without being aware it," he said. He pointed to research published following a partial eclipse in the 1950s. This found that several hundred people suffered eyesight damage and problems, he said. Professor John Parkinson, of Sheffield Hallam University, is an eclipse specialist. He said home-made viewers were "totally unacceptable". He said: "Do not run the risk - your eyes are too precious. "I just hope the numbers of people that do silly things is vanishingly small." The recommended way to watch the eclipse is to use a small mirror to project the moon's movement across the sun onto a flat surface. "Even with viewers we do not recommend people look constantly at the partial eclipse," said senior adviser John Tranter. However, where the eclipse was total, it could be viewed safely for a short time without a viewer, he said. Retired army officer Gage Williams is Cornwall's eclipse co-ordinator. He said low numbers of people were likely to sustain injuries - perhaps 200, depending on the weather. The Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust estimates that an extra 2,500 visitors could be treated during the eclipse period. It has formed an eclipse operational planning group and is prepared to treat a number of conditions including eye damage.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2901923.stm	Leftist rebels have attacked a Pepsi warehouse in southern India have attacked in protest against the US-led war on Iraq. Police say 10 armed rebels belonging to the outlawed People's War Group (PWG) entered the warehouse in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh state late on Sunday night. They ordered four employees to leave the premises before smashing cases containing hundreds of Pepsi bottles. This is the third such attack on American Cola companies in Andhra Pradesh since the Iraq war began. The Press Trust of India quoted witnesses saying the rebels fired gunshots in the air and shouted anti-war slogans. The PWG has called on people to boycott American and British goods to protest against what it describes is "naked aggression" by the United States and its allies on Iraq. "The invasion of Iraq is the imperialist design to control its oilfields besides attempting to redraw boundaries of West Asia in favour of the Anglo-American surrogate state of Zionist Israel," the rebels said in a statement. Last week, the rebels bombed a Pepsi warehouse in Andhra Pradesh and attacked shops selling Coca-cola and Pepsi in the state. Coke and Pepsi are seen as symbols of the US No one was hurt in the attacks but the owner of the warehouse said the damage was estimated to be worth more than $20,000. Police said the rebels left a note at the scene of the blast which said the action was in protest against the American-led attack on Iraq. The note also demanded immediate withdrawal of US forces from the Gulf. In late 2001, the PWG targeted the multi-national soft drink companies in the state to condemn the US invasion of Afghanistan. The PWG is active in five Indian states and says it represents the interests of landless farm workers and peasants. It targets rich landlords and farmers, accusing them of exploiting the labourers. Thousands of people have been killed since the rebels began fighting 20 years ago.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2993389.stm	King Abdullah II visited a police officer injured in the blast The Japanese photographer whose battle souvenir from Iraq exploded at a Jordanian airport killing a security guard has appeared before a military tribunal. "The journalist was taken before the prosecutor of the security court, which will judge this affair," Jordan's Information Minister Mohamad Adwan said. Hiroki Gomi, a photographer for a leading Japanese newspaper Mainichi Shimbun, was intending to board a flight to Cairo, en route to Tokyo, when the device exploded at Queen Alia international airport. Airport security guard Ali al-Sarhan noticed the metal device in the journalist's luggage - it blew up in his hands as he tried to examine it. Three others were injured in the blast. Mr Gomi, 36, was talking on a mobile telephone a short distance away. It was not immediately clear what the device was. Mr Gomi has told police he brought the object and several artefacts from Baghdad as war souvenirs. Mr Gomi had spent two years in Jordan and covered the war in Iraq, said his newspaper, which expressed its "heartfelt apologies" for the incident. The criminal offence of carrying an illegal weapon through airport security checks and causing the death of a person and the injury of others carries the death penalty in Jordan, AP reported. Jordan has recently stepped up security checks at airports and its border crossings with Iraq in search for objects stolen from Iraqi museums and presidential palaces.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21364696	India cuts economic growth forecast to 5% India's economy is set to grow at its weakest pace for a decade according to newly released government figures. The latest growth estimates for the current financial year is just 5% - yet another cut as India struggles with high inflation and weak investor sentiment. India's growth has slowed in recent months because of several factors, not least the sharp slowdown in its manufacturing and services sectors. Shilpa Kannan reports.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4655035.stm	Debbie and Laina, photographed by Chris Stewart for the SF Chronicle A healthy baby girl has been born in the US after spending the last 13 years in frozen suspension as an embryo. This is thought to be the longest an embryo has been frozen and resulted in a health baby. Baby Laina Beasley has two teenage siblings who were conceived through IVF at the same time as she was frozen, which technically makes her a triplet. Her parents' path to having her was far from smooth, highlighting the risks of a largely unregulated industry. When Debbie Beasley, now 45, began her fertility treatment in at the University of California Irvine Center in the 1990s, the doctors used her eggs and her husband Kent's sperm to make 12 embryos. Debbie had three embryos transferred to her womb and became pregnant with triplets, but lost one halfway through her pregnancy. Twins Jeffrey and Carleigh were born in 1992. Three years later, they discovered their fertility doctor, Dr Ricardo Asch, and his colleagues were accused of taking eggs and embryos from parents without telling them and implanting them in other women or sending them to outside scientists for research. The clinic was shut down and Dr Asch left the US. Debbie and Kent were told that some of their remaining embryos had been send to an East Coast university for experiments. They managed to track down eight. In the summer of 1996, Debbie and Kent decided they wanted to try to have another baby using the frozen embryos. They were told that the chances of success were about 20% or one in five - about half don't survive the thawing process and of those that do, many do not thrive once in the womb. Debbie had two of the frozen embryos thawed for transfer. However, she had a severe reaction to a fertility drug and went into shock and nearly died. The two thawed embryos perished. It wasn't until seven years later that she felt well enough to try for a baby again. Last June, with the help of Dr Steven Katz and colleagues at the Fertility Associates of the Bay Area in San Francisco, Debbie and Kent had their six remaining embryos thawed. Four appeared to have survived and one looked perfect. All four were transferred to Debbie's womb. In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, Debbie said: "I put my hand over my lower abdomen and said, 'Welcome Home'. They had been in a cold place for so long. Now it was over. Whether God took them to heaven or they became babies, it was OK." One of the embryos did become a healthy baby - Lania - even though she was born five weeks early. Debbie said: "I still look at her and can't believe it. I smell her and kiss her and I still can't believe she is here." There are many differences between the US and the UK in terms of fertility laws and practice. In the UK, frozen embryos are typically stored for only five years and sperm and egg for 10 years. These storage periods can be extended in extenuating circumstances, for example if a couple's fertility problems are particularly severe. Also, written consent is required from both the man and the women for the use and storage of their sperm, eggs and any resultant embryos. This consent can be changed at any time as long as the sperm, eggs or embryos have not been used. A spokeswoman from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority said: "It is about effective informed consent so that the people involved understand the full implications." UK clinics also put a limit on the number of embryos that can be transferred into a woman's womb at one time - a maximum of two at a time for those under the age of 40 and three for those over 40. This is to avoid health complications associated with multiple births for both the mother and the babies.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/6037407.stm	As the parties involved in talks on the future government of Northern Ireland take part in this week's key summit in Scotland, we take a look at the key issues and players. Like the Ulster Unionists, the SDLP have lost their old pole position in the assembly, so they are no longer crucial to the formation of an executive. That said, they fared better during last year's Westminster election than some commentators had predicted with the SDLP leader Mark Durkan holding John Hume's old Foyle seat and his deputy Alasdair McDonnell stealing in between two unionists to take South Belfast. At St Andrews, the SDLP will be trying to limit any changes to the details of the Good Friday Agreement, seeking to increase north-south cooperation and looking for safeguards on the proposed extension of MI5's authority over intelligence gathering in Northern Ireland. The SDLP wants more north south bodies The party is particularly angry about proposed changes to the Stormont rules circulated in the form of draft legislation in the week before the talks. Dating back to the 2004 Comprehensive Agreement, these changes would replace the old Assembly vote for a unionist and nationalist "joint ticket" for the first and deputy first ministers positions with a single vote for the executive as a whole. The SDLP believe this was designed to spare the DUP's blushes at voting for a Sinn Fein deputy first minister. But what annoyed the SDLP the most was that if they vote against the executive they will be excluded from taking their ministerial seats. Some ask why the party would want to join an executive it didn't have enough confidence to vote for. But the SDLP see it as an unfair rewriting of the rules by the DUP, which used to vote against but appoint ministers who then left empty chairs at executive meetings. The SDLP wants more north-south bodies and more all-Ireland cooperation whether or not there is a deal. It is anxious that, having made the leap to support the police, Sinn Fein might be allowed by the two governments to occupy a "halfway house" offering some level of practical cooperation with the police on the ground but still refusing to take places on the Policing Board. Whilst Sinn Fein has highlighted the need for the devolution of policing and justice, the SDLP has played down how much difference this will make. The SDLP was the first party to focus on the increased role for MI5 which will accompany the demise of the old police Special Branch. The SDLP has been holding talks with the security service in an attempt to ensure that MI5 does not try to circumvent the accountability procedures set up by the police ombudsman and the policing board. The party will press its concerns on this score with both prime ministers. The SDLP is also likely to keep a close eye on the question of so called "on the runs". It scored a tactical hit on Sinn Fein over the controversial legislation enabling the return of IRA fugitives. SDLP criticism that the inclusion of former security force members in the scheme made it a "colluders charter" contributed to Sinn Fein's decision to withdraw its support. The SDLP argues that the IRA fugitives have to be dealt with but not by an effective amnesty for all sides.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3245120.stm	It looked like being another normal family Thanksgiving Day at US President George W Bush's ranch in Texas. Troops were genuinely surprised and delighted to see Bush George Bush senior and his wife Barbara arrived there unaware that their son was soon to make a momentous visit to Iraq. Even the White House media pool were unprepared - having already been given a menu of what the first family would be having for dinner at home in Texas. Yet, despite the extreme secrecy, it was a trip that had been weeks in the planning. The president himself admitted being "the biggest sceptic of all", after his chief of staff Andy Card first raised the idea of the high-risk journey in mid-October. HOW IT WAS DONE Bush driven to ex-military base in Waco in unmarked vehicle on Wednesday evening boards Air Force One lands briefly outside Washington to change planes departs for Baghdad press ordered to hand over electronic devices British Airways pilot almost derails secret plan final check with secret service three hours before landing lands in Baghdad Thursday evening driven in motorcade to dinner with troops spends two hours celebrating Thanksgiving Day flies back to US news "breaks" only after plane leaves Baghdad Mr Bush wanted to make certain that it could be done safely, and was also worried in case his Baghdad blitz would "jeopardise somebody else's life". "I had a lot of questions," the president recounted later. The president said he and Mr Card used code words when planning the trip, about which only a handful of aides knew in advance. Although First Lady Laura Bush was apparently aware of the preparations, she and her daughters were only told of the final decision hours before the president left. "It looks like we're on," the president told her on Wednesday morning. A photographer for AFP news agency described how he was given a moment's notice to prepare to leave. "I had been taking a nap and had just a few minutes to grab what I need and be outside the back of my hotel and not to make any calls," Tim Sloan said. Mr Bush and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice were driven in an unmarked car with tinted windows from the president's ranch on Wednesday night, past secret service agents who did not know he was going. Mr Bush helped serve a traditional Thanksgiving meal Both wore baseball caps, pulled low over their eyes. As he made the 45-minute ride from the ranch to the airport, Mr Bush apparently joked about encountering traffic for the first time - normally his motorcade speeds through red lights. Before arriving at the airfield at a former military base in Waco, Texas, he slouched down to avoid being recognised by guards. "We looked liked a normal couple," the president said later. He boarded Air Force One at 2025 local time (0125 GMT) with a small number of press. The departure of the presidential plane was explained by the ruse that it needed maintenance at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington. The group landed briefly at Andrews at around midnight to change planes and pick up some aides and press. The switch took place in a huge hangar, away from prying eyes. 'No calls, got it?' Before the take-off, Mr Bush ordered the pool of five reporters, photographers, a television producer and a two-person camera crew not to break telephone silence. "No calls, got it?" he said, emphasising the point by slashing his hand in front of his throat. While on the flight, the were asked to hand over their mobile phones, pagers, batteries and other electronic devices. They were told that if news of the visit leaked out then the plane would turn around and head home. "I was fully prepared to turn this baby around, come home," Mr Bush said. The closest that came to happening was when a pilot flying a passing British Airways passenger jet radioed the president's aircraft to ask if it was Air Force One he had just seen. Once assured by Air Force One pilot Colonel Mark Tillman that it was not, the president's extraordinary journey to Baghdad continued. Three hours before the scheduled landing in Baghdad, Mr Bush again checked with the secret service to see if the secret was intact. White House communications director Dan Bartlett warned journalists the plane would be landing - in the dark - with its lights dimmed. "It is absolutely critical, when we land, that you do not open your window [blinds]," he told the press pool. "Particularly as we land and when we're on the ground, we want no light emanating from the plane. We will not be pulling up to a terminal. We will be stopping at the end of the runway." On the approach to Baghdad, the president went into the cockpit and watched Colonel Tillman bring the plane down. Mr Bush said that if security had been breached the plane would have been most vulnerable at this moment, despite being equipped with hi-tech devices to ward off missiles. Mr Bartlett confirmed that staff on the ground at Baghdad International Airport had no idea that Air Force One was about to arrive. The president landed at 1732 local time (1432 GMT) and was put in a white jeep - in a motorcade of 13 vehicles, including a military ambulance - for the five-minute journey to the back of the Bob Hope Dining Facility. More than 600 troops thought the dinner was with US administrator Paul Bremer and Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, head of the coalition forces in Iraq. Correspondents say the soldiers were genuinely surprised and delighted when their commander-in-chief walked in, and welcomed him with deafening cheers and applause. News only broke of the visit once the president was safely on his way back on Air Force One. The BBC's David Bamford in Washington said news of the visit was perfectly timed for maximum impact in the US. The story broke in the late morning on the east coast, just as Americans were preparing their Thanksgiving dinners.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/badminton/4154814.stm	Olympic silver medallist Nathan Robertson has withdrawn from the World Championships in Anaheim, California, with an ankle injury. Robertson and partner Gail Emms were the top seeds and won the All England Championships earlier this year, He suffered a strained right ankle in training on Sunday and was forced out. Their scheduled opponents Songpol Anukritayawan and Kulchala Worawichitchaikul from Thailand get a walkover into the last 16. England's Andrew Smith crashed out at the first hurdle to Kennevic Asuncion of the Phillipines ina marathon three set encounter, 17-14 5-15 17-15.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-22193295	Devon and Somerset Fire Services extends consultation - 17 April 2013 - From the section England A public consultation on controversial cuts to Devon and Somerset fire service has been extended until the end of next week. It follows a public meeting in Torbay when the proposals, that would result in frontline fire fighting cover reduced, were strongly criticised. More than 16,000 people in Torbay have now signed a petition opposing the cuts. Fire service officials said safety would not be compromised. Proposed cuts include making some full-time crewed appliances part-time. The fire service is losing 17% of its government grant over the next two years, meaning it has to find £5.5m-worth of savings. The consultation had been due to end on 22 April.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/7604631.stm	The number of students entering university has increased by 50% in a decade across industrialised countries, says a major annual survey. But for the UK, the growing number of graduates risks a widening social gap warns the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The report shows that on average 56% of school leavers in advanced economies now enter university courses. But there are fears that in the UK that low achievers are falling behind. Each year the OECD publishes an Education at a Glance guide to international trends in school and university in more than 30 countries, showing how industrialised economies compare in terms of spending and results in education. This year, researchers have highlighted the expansion in higher education, which between 1995 and 2006 has seen an extra eight million students entering university in these OECD member countries. Student growth risks widening gap But OECD analyst, Andreas Schleicher, says that while graduates in the UK are benefiting from this expansion, there are worries about the scale of the penalties facing those youngsters who drop out of education. "The UK has seen a rapid growth in participation in higher education, like most other countries, with a dramatic increase in demand for better qualifications - driven by higher earnings, better employment prospects and a growth in skilled jobs," says Mr Schleicher. Graduates in the UK have a particularly high "rate of return" in increased earnings, in terms of international comparisons. And unemployment rates among graduates are amongst the lowest in the OECD. Those with degrees were gaining more in higher earnings in 2006 than in 1997, says the report, contradicting claims that increasing the number of graduates would limit the financial benefits in the workplace. But Mr Schleicher warns of a "polarising" effect, with non-graduates falling further behind. "In terms of the outcomes - the difference it makes to people's life prospects - those at the high end are having better prospects, those at the lower end are paying a higher price. The spectrum of society is becoming more polarised," he says. The report says that in the UK the "employment prospects for those who have no upper secondary qualification are particularly poor". For these people who do not achieve the benchmark of five good GCSEs, there is a higher risk of unemployment and a lifetime of low earnings. Across the OECD, the employment rate for such under-qualified adult men is 73% - in the UK it is only 60%. The relationship between low qualifications and low income is stronger in the UK than anywhere except the United States. The OECD's figures show that higher education is becoming something that most young people in industrialised countries will experience. UK HIGHER EDUCATION 37% of 25-34 year olds have degrees In 2006, 12th highest graduation rate in OECD, compared to fourth in 2000 Above average university entry rates for first time in six years in 1997, earning advantage for graduates over non-graduates was 53%, in 2006 the advantage is 59% High levels of overseas students, particularly at postgraduate level High proportion of science students High tuition fees by European standards Public spending on higher education rose by 48%, private spending by 53%, between 2000 and 2005 Mr Schleicher says there appears to be no sign of this trend diminishing. On the question of whether there will be an upper limit to the number of graduates in the workforce, he says: "We could have asked the same question a century ago for secondary education? There is no reason the assume this will level off soon." The economy benefits from a better-educated workforce, individuals gain financially from having a degree and the labour market has a growing number of vacancies for graduates. With such conditions, he says that the growth in participation in university will only continue further. Mr Schleicher says the growth in graduate numbers - with countries such as Iceland having graduation rates in excess of 60% - is part of the change in the composition of the workforce, with a shift towards high-skilled jobs. Although many students might drop out of courses, in Australia, Finland, Poland and Sweden, more than three quarters of school leavers enter a degree course. There are different patterns for funding this university expansion, he says, identifying three main international trends. There are Scandinavian countries which use high levels of taxation to pay for high participation rates; there is a mixture of tuition fees and public spending, such as used in the UK and Australia and there is a more traditional reliance on state funding, used in continental Europe. Although unpopular, tuition fees have been a successful funding model for an expanding system, he says. The impact of getting rid of fees would be likely to be a lowering of student numbers, he says, based on the experience in Ireland. The least effective are the systems of mainland Europe, says Mr Schleicher, which have "clung to an old system" with state support straining to match the need for expansion. "The OECD figures highlight the high quality of our higher education system and UK graduates still enjoy a better return on their investment than most OECD countries," says Higher Education Minister Bill Rammell. “Having a workforce with graduate level skills has never been more important to the economic success of our country and this report shows that the number of skilled jobs still outnumbers the supply of students with higher education qualifications which is why we are committed to increasing participation." This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/cycling/5297900.stm	Oxford's Roger Hammond won the second stage of the Tour of Britain from Blackpool to Liverpool on Wednesday. Hammond has been tipped for a move to T-Mobile The Team Great Britain leader, 32, prevailed after a bunch sprint involving most of the field. Holland's Aart Vierhouten was second, while British pair Russell Downing and Mark Cavendish finished third and fourth respectively. Australia's Matthew Goss took the yellow jersey from stage one winner Martin Pedersen of Denmark. Pedersen is two seconds behind Goss, while Spain's Luis Pasamontes is eight seconds back in third. Hammond, who won a stage in Blackpool last year and has spent the last two years riding for the leading Discovery team, is fourth overall, two minutes 44 seconds off the pace. My team-mates have produced a mega-performance - I haven't been given that sort of service for two years Belgian pair Bert Roesems and Johan Van Summeren were almost six minutes ahead at one point having broken after just 3km. But they were reeled in by the peloton 30km from the finish as the riders passed through Southport. Hammond, who was led out by his team of young riders from British Cycling's Olympic academy, rated the efforts of his young team-mates as better than his Discovery colleagues. "Those guys have produced a mega-performance," said Hammond. "They delivered me with 400 metres to go - I haven't been given that sort of service for the last two years." Hammond was in the right place to take advantage of a mistake by Quick Step's Filippo Pozzato, who was trying to put world champion Tom Boonen in a winning position. The Italian accidentally took the Belgian too wide on the final bend into Water Street and Hammond took full advantage. "I was quite surprised - I didn't have a much faith in the guys as probably I should have had when Quick Step started riding flat out for Boonen. "But our guys were all at the front with a few hundred metres to go and, when you think they are only 18 and 19 years old, it's a cracking performance." The win will be extremely satisfying for Great Britain coach Rod Ellingworth given that his six riders only raced as a unit for the first time on Tuesday. Sheffield's Downing leads the points standings after finishing third behind Skil-Shimano's Vierhouten. And the DFL rider, 28, will be worth watching as he seeks victory in his home city in Thursday's Yorkshire stage. Stage two result: 1 Roger Hammond (GB) Team Great Britain 3hrs 54mins 15secs 2 Aart Vierhouten (Ned) Skil-Shimano at same time 3 Russell Downing (GB) DFL-Cycling News-Litespeed at same time 4 Mark Cavendish (GB) T-Mobile at same time 5 James Vanlandschoot (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago at same time 1 Mathew Goss (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS 7hrs 57mins 35secs 2 Martin Pedersen (Den) CSC at 2secs 3 Luis Pasamontes (Sp) Unibet.com at 8secs 4 Roger Hammond (GB) Team Great Britain at 2mins 44 secs 5 Aart Vierhouten (Ned) Skil-Shimano at 2mins 48secs
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-21638050	Dubai-based VAT fraudster faces extra 10-year jail term - 2 March 2013 - From the section England A convicted fraudster has been sentenced to an extra 10 years in jail after failing to repay £14m in taxes. Jasbinder Bedesha, formerly of Arabian Ranches, Dubai, was already serving a seven-and-a-half-year sentence for his part in a £38m VAT fraud. Originally convicted in 2008, Bedesha, was again found guilty of conspiracy to cheat the public revenue and conspiracy to launder money at a retrial in 2011. He was due to be eligible for early release from this month. At a hearing at Leamington Crown Court lawyers acting for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) successfully applied to trigger a jail term after Bedesha failed to meet the 28 February deadline for repayment. The criminal compensation order was made against him two years ago during the retrial. Bedesha was one of seven men, most of whom were from the West Midlands, who were convicted of defrauding HMRC in a complex scheme involving submitting VAT credit claims when no VAT had been paid for the goods. The conspirators imported mobile phones and computer parts to the UK through Europe, but would sell them on in the UK adding VAT. They then exported them back to the EU, claiming VAT credits. Once paid, the cash was laundered through companies in Dubai and Spain and used to fund a lavish lifestyle, including luxury homes, sports cars and jewellery.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-20873412	Husband and wife in China turn 100 on same day 31 December 2012 Last updated at 04:52 GMT A village in China has been marking a very special occasion with a married couple celebrating their 100th birthdays on the same day. Shi Sifan and his wife Liu Yaogu were both born on 28 December 1912. The couple have four children and have spent 78 years together. Bill Hayton reports.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4794477.stm	Airline passengers have been contacting the BBC to complain about luggage that has gone missing since air security was stepped up after news of an alleged terror plot. Delays at Heathrow continued over the weekend Here are some of the stories passengers have told us about their experiences of losing their luggage and the response from the airlines. Marie Henley, together with her partner and one-year-old daughter, flew from Heathrow to Brussels on Friday, arriving back in London on Saturday evening. The family were asked to pack keys and mobile phones in suitcases. "The luggage never arrived at Brussels, but we understood that there might have been a problem and just dealt with it. "But returning to Heathrow, it was just so chaotic - worse than when we'd left. "Having spent several hours trying to claim our bags, we abandoned the car at the airport because the keys were in the luggage as requested. "We queued for ages for a taxi - which cost £60 - and travelled home obviously with a distressed baby and had to smash a window to get into our house in the dark on Saturday evening because both sets of keys were in the baggage as requested." Matthew Ward, who is disabled, was flying from Nice to Luton on Saturday. An airline assistant had helped him onto the Easyjet plane and told him his wheelchair would be put in the hold. Mr Ward does not expect to see his wheelchair again However, it did not arrive at Luton and Mr Ward says he cannot live without it. "I have not got the wheelchair back yet, but I have been chasing it and ringing Easyjet. "At the moment, from the last time I spoke to them, my wheelchair might not even be in Nice Airport. "It might be at a different airport in Europe. "Regardless of the stress they were under, and that is not their fault, they should not be so careless. "I have borrowed a neighbour's wheelchair but it is not one I can pull myself up on. "I am hoping to get my wheelchair back but I am not expecting it back. It does not look good at the moment. "It has been a nightmare." Michelle Pierce from Maidenhead flew up to Edinburgh at the weekend. The last time she saw her bags was when she checked them in on Friday evening. "A large majority of the people on my flight did not receive their bags. "We have no information about the whereabouts of our bags; apparently they do not know where they are and there are too many lost bags at Heathrow for them to go and search for individual ones. "I could cope with the delays and flight cancellations (I experienced both), but am feeling very frustrated at the airport for letting us fly when they knew that our bags would not be going with us. "Especially as the extra security meant we had no hand luggage to help us get through the weekend, including of course our mobile phones." Natalie Brown flew to Frankfurt on Friday night. Her original flight was cancelled and the flight she managed to get on was two and half hours late. When she finally arrived in Frankfurt, she found out her bags had not travelled with her. "Half of the plane did not have their bags. "I was told I could get my bag in London on my return as it was still there. "When I arrived in London, I was told I could not get my bag as there were 20,000 bags 'lost'. "It is now the fifth day and BA still cannot tell me where my bag is - it has my house keys, mobile and work pass." Michelle Brown flew into Heathrow then on to Edinburgh at the weekend. She said only a handful of the 200 passengers on board her flight were able to pick up their luggage after they landed. "The captain said there's two people on the plane that we've got bags for, but the people aren't here, they hadn't made the connection so we have to take the bags off," she said. "So we waited about 45 minutes and they said we've got about 180 bags to sort through and then he said that's ok, we've found the two bags, we've taken them off and we're ready to go. "So when we got up there, and there was no bags there, it was clear that they'd just taken them all off."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/politics_show/6151316.stm	The Politics Show East New road charges could be used to tackle traffic congestion Under plans announced in the Queens Speech, the prospect of road pricing is looming larger on the motorist's horizon. A draft road traffic Bill, to be published in 2007, will examine the scope for "pay as you drive" schemes. Cambridge and Norwich are two of the areas earmarked for trials of road pricing by the end of 2009. It is believed that the government is working towards having a national road pricing policy in place by around 2015. Drivers could face paying up to £1.34 a mile to drive on the busiest roads in rush-hour installing a hi-tech 'black box' in their cars, tracked by satellite congestion charging zones in more and more cities more road tolls East Anglian pilot funded Councils will have the freedom to design road pricing schemes. Cambridge and Norwich have been asked by the government to put together pilot schemes. Earlier this month it was announced that Norwich has been given £250,000 by the government. The figure amounts to half of the costs of the study looking at how to charge drivers to use the city's roads - with Norfolk council taxpayers having to find the rest. Measures to be explored in the two-year study include a London-style congestion charge based on a cordon around the city, tolls on some roads and the possibility of a charge weighted against gas-guzzling vehicles with high emissions or discounts for greener cars. Road pricing funded Cambridgeshire county council received an additional £1m to develop their road pricing scheme. It had already been given £385,000 from the Transport Innovation Fund to look at the feasibility of charging vehicles for entering the middle of the city in July 2005. Transport Secretary Douglas Alexander has now added another £1,055,000 to develop the plans. In all 10 areas across the UK have now received £25.5m to develop local congestion charging schemes. The Government says it will work closely with Cambridgeshire and the other eight authorities through the Road Pricing Local Liaison Group to develop a consistent approach. Advocates hope that if drivers had to pay up front for journeys they might begin to change their habits. At present car costs, which range from breakdown cover to the wear on tyres, are more hidden than the price of a bus or train ticket. On the other hand, road charging without alternatives can be seen as a blunt weapon. Motorists may view it as simply another tax on drivers, more about raising revenue than helping with the environment or tackling congestion. What do you think? Let us know on the e-mail form below what your thoughts are... Join the Politics Show team on Sunday 19 November 2006 at 12:00 GMT on BBC One. Disclaimer: The BBC may edit your comments and cannot guarantee that all emails will be published.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/essex/hi/people_and_places/music/newsid_8872000/8872550.stm	By Jon Prideaux BBC Blast reporter Dubstep is the hottest music genre in the UK at the moment A new Essex mix has been produced by a Braintree-based DJ, Brown and Gammon and is set to air exclusively on BBC Essex Introducing. The mix features a collection of music from the 'Dubstep' genre, including new tracks from Essex artists. Flux Pavilion, recently selected as Radio 1's Hottest Track in the World, has provided two songs for the mix. Brown and Gammon told BBC Essex: "It was a challenge to fit 21 tracks into an eight minute mix." Brown and Gammon spoke to BBC Blast's reporter, Jon Prideaux. How did you get started? Me, and my good friend Oliver, would muck around with the computer basically. We got hold of some software called Acid, which is loop based, and we messed around on that for several years and it progressed from there. Have you always been producing Dubstep? BBC Essex have featured mini mixes from Southend DJs, Many Faces I've done all sorts! It started off with no genre at all really, I started making Dubstep about four years ago, I was doing Drum and Bass before that, but I wasn't very good! How did you get your music out there, eventually ending up with some of your releases ending up on different labels? I didn't do too much really! I just posted my stuff on MySpace and Dubstep Forum, which is a good place for anyone to go to, to get recognised, then labels contacted me. If you get good feedback you get contacted! Do you think the commercial success of the genre will lead to it being over done by the major labels? I think its going to stay underground. Drum and Bass has been underground for 20 years, and I think Dubstep will be exactly the same. It won't ever reach the success that Garage has had, so I think its going to be around for a long time. A lot of the people who are into Drum and Bass, are into Dubstep, and Dubstep also attracts people from the Garage and Reggae scenes. Do you think the internet is important in getting artists increased exposure? Is it becoming more important than radio? Minimix Selected Tracklisting OutRun ft Wilson - 'Caliber Rap' Flux Pavilion - Hold Me Close Brown and Gammon - Painkillers Noah D - Seeerious The Streets - In The Middle (Nero Remix) Its very important! I think it depends what radio station you're broadcasting on. If you get a tune on Radio 1 that's going to be extremely important because you're going to have thousands, possibly millions, of people hearing it. Plays on the mainstream stations will help people who aren't into the scene, recognise it, and it may attract more listeners and fans. The internet is a great way for smaller artists to get their music heard by a lot of people, and I think that contributes to Dubsteps success. What are your views on illegal downloading? If they can [illegally] download it, they're not going to buy it. You do get people who are loyal and buy your track, but I'm just happy people are listening to my music at the end of the day. I'm not to fussed about the money 'cause I enjoy it and never started to make money, I just did it for fun. Is the live Dubstep scene where the money is made? If you get a massive release and you can earn a fair bit of cash off it, but unless you have a massive tune, you're not going to make a lot of money from producing. Do you see any familiarities with the increased exposure of Dubstep, and that of the Garage scene at the end of the 1990s into the early 2000s? Back in the day with garage I think it had more of a commercial start, and the style of the music is more commercial to begin with so in that sense I think Dubstep has had a different start to Garage, but Dubstep is slowly become more commercial as time progresses. Do you think that Essex has a local scene? I've got a few friends in Southend who are doing pretty well. You've got Talk Bar and the Royal Hotel. In Colchester you've got some small nights, and we've got the Barhouse in Chelmsford. Who are you tipping for the future? There's a guy called Filth Collins; he's from Australia; and he's got some absolute bangers in the making! I haven't really heard of any unknown producers who have got that much potential. I think Flux Pavilion will be one of the first guys to get into the top 40. He's got quite a commercial sound, and I think he's going to go far. Whats next for Brown and Gammon? I've just finished graduated, and I've got no job, so I've got a lot of free time on my hands! I got a first in Multimedia Technology and Design and I've got a release coming out on Analogic, a new label, which will be on vinyl and digital. I'm going to keep cracking on with the tunes and see what happens! To check out more visit my website at: MySpace: Brown and Gammon Also check out Outrun, if you like 80s Nintendo-step, with a bit of a Miami Vice vibe! BBC Essex Introducing has the first exclusive play of the new mix by Brown and Gammon on Friday, 30 July.