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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20981743
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Police hunt killers of PKK co-founder Sakine Cansiz
French police are hunting the killers of three Kurdish women activists found shot dead in Paris on Thursday.
The bodies of Sakine Cansiz - a co-founder of the militant nationalist PKK - and of two others were found in a Kurdish information centre.
France and Turkey both condemned the killings.
The motive for the shootings is unclear. Some 40,000 people have died in the 25-year conflict between the Turkish state and the PKK.
However, Turkey has recently begun talks with the jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, with the aim of persuading the group to disarm.
It is the first time that such a senior member of the PKK has been killed in Europe. There has been a tacit agreement between the PKK and the Turkish government that no such high-profile attacks would be carried out against either senior PKK members or senior members of the government.
During the 1980s, there were some attacks believed to be from within the Turkish state against members of the militant Armenian group Asala, but there have been no political assassinations targeting the PKK.
The Paris killings come against the backdrop of fresh peace talks between jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan and the Turkish government. Those talks have not been easy and have opponents on both sides.
The Turkish government says the previous round of peace talks was derailed because of a clash between Turkish soldiers and the PKK in June 2011.
Thursday's killings will make the current negotiations even more difficult, no matter who might be behind the attack.
"Rest assured that French authorities are determined to get to the bottom of these intolerable acts," French Interior Minister Manuel Valls said, adding that the killings were "surely an execution".
French President Francois Hollande described the killings as "horrible".
"The investigation is ongoing and I think we ought to to wait to find out the reasons [for the killings] and those behind them," he said.
Turkish government spokesman Bulent Arinc condemned the killings, saying: "This is utterly wrong. I express my condolences."
The BBC's James Reynolds in Turkey says two rival theories have emerged about the killings.
The deputy chairman of the ruling party, Husein Celik, said that the killings appeared to be the result of an internal Kurdish feud.
The theory was later picked up by other officials and commentators in the Turkish media, who suggested that PKK factions opposed to the talks were to blame.
But Kurdish activists said the killings were carried out by forces in the Turkish state itself who wanted to derail the talks.
Our correspondent says that in Turkey many believe that there is a so-called "deep state" - a powerful nationalistic establishment which seeks to undermine the work of democratic governments and activists.Locked doors
The three women were last seen inside the information centre on Wednesday afternoon. Later, a member of the Kurdish community tried to visit the centre but found the doors were locked.
Their bodies - all three bearing gunshot wounds - were found in the early hours on Thursday.
One of them was Sakine Cansiz, who was detained and tortured in Turkey in the 1980s, and was close to Ocalan.
A second woman has been named as Fidan Dogan, 32, who worked in the information centre. She was also the Paris representative of the Brussels-based Kurdistan National Congress.
The third, named as Leyla Soylemez, was a young activist.
The PKK took up arms in 1984, and demands greater autonomy for Turkey's Kurds, who are thought to comprise up to 20% of the population.
It is regarded by Turkey, the US and European Union as a terrorist organisation, because of its attacks on Turkish security forces and civilians.
In 2012 it stepped up its attacks, leading to the fiercest fighting in decades, but violence has subsided during the winter.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8612812.stm
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Thousands of mourners attended Saturday's funerals
Funeral ceremonies have been held in Kyrgyzstan for some of at least 78 people killed during a violent uprising that ousted the president.
Thousands of mourners watched as 15 coffins draped in the national flag were carried through the burial ground outside the capital, Bishkek.
Interim leader Roza Otunbayeva said those killed were heroes.
Meanwhile, the US has suspended all troop flights to Afghanistan from Kyrgyzstan amid continuing tension.
In the early hours of Saturday, hundreds of cars drove to a memorial site some 20km (12 miles) outside Bishkek for the funerals of 15 of those who died during last week's violence.
Other victims were being buried at private family funerals.
The memorial site was the scene of a massacre by Soviet forces in the 1930s of Kyrgyz noblemen.
Solemn music played as families and friends laid name plates and pictures of the victims.
The funerals marked the second day of mourning in the country, where calm appears to have largely returned.
The mourners were convinced that the dead had given their lives for a good cause.
"The people died for freedom, people do not like to live in the way it was in the past," said one mourner, Getykhan Abaskhanov.
"How much longer must we wait? People simply want to live like normal human beings, not like dogs."
Tension, however, remains high. The US military in Kyrgyzstan announced that all troop flights to Afghanistan from Kyrgyzstan were being suspended indefinitely.
US Central Command spokesman Maj John Redfield told the BBC that troop flights from the base just outside Bishkek would resume once conditions allowed.
Meanwhile, the US would transport forces to Afghanistan via Kuwait, he said.
The US base is crucial to US operations in Afghanistan, says the BBC's Madeleine Morris in Washington - some 50,000 coalition troops passed through in March alone - but its lease is due to expire in July.
Russia also has an airbase in Kyrgyzstan, and the presence of both has been the focus of debate in recent months.
Ms Otunbayeva, the former foreign minister, told the BBC's Kyrgyz service that her interim government would keep to its international commitments.
"We'll work in the same regime, the same manner which the work has been done," she said.
And she also denied accusations that Moscow had backed the uprising to oust President Kurmanbek Bakiyev - seen by some as being pro-US.
The violence was the culmination of weeks of discontent over rising prices and allegations of corruption in Kyrgyzstan.
Clashes in the capital, Bishkek, and other towns left at least 78 dead and more than 1,600 injured.
Mr Bakiyev said that although he still regarded himself as the legitimately elected president with widespread support, he feared he would be killed if he returned to the capital, Bishkek.
Speaking from a secret location in the southern city of Jalalabad, he told the BBC that armed opposition supporters had targeted his office during Wednesday's uprising, and were still trying to track him down.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7932068.stm
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Devolution of most central government power to a Northern Ireland Assembly was a key element of the Good Friday Agreement of April 1998.
BBC News Online outlines the main events in the assembly's brief, but troubled history.
16 February 1999: Deadline of 10 March is set to establish the executive and is later postponed to 2 April - Good Friday.
20 May 1999: Prime Minister Tony Blair sets an absolute deadline of 30 June for agreement on the formation of an executive, or the assembly will be suspended.
30 June 1999: The deadline passes without agreement. Tony Blair agrees to an extension.
18 November 1999: Former US senator George Mitchell reveals details of the plan to rescue the peace process and allowing the setting up of a power-sharing government.
27 November 1999: The Ulster Unionist Council backs the Mitchell deal by 480 votes to 349 - paving the way for devolution within days.
29 November 1999: The Northern Ireland Assembly meets and the d'Hondt mechanism is triggered and 10 ministers are nominated to the Northern Ireland Executive.
2 December 1999: Power is passed from Westminster to Belfast and the new Northern Ireland Executive meets for the first time. The IRA announces that it has appointed a representative to the international body on decommissioning.
Tony Blair insisted election would go ahead on 26 November
11 February 2000: No deal is struck on decommissioning and Secretary of State Peter Mandelson signs the order to suspend the assembly.
6 May 2000: The IRA releases a statement saying it is ready to begin a process that would "completely and verifiably" put its arms beyond use. The statement follows a proposal to restore the assembly, linked to a firm commitment to decommissioning.
27 May 2000: David Trimble secures the backing of his party to re-enter the power-sharing assembly at Stormont despite no decommissioning of IRA arms. Two days later devolved power is restored.
26 June 2000: The two international arms inspectors report that they have been secretly taken to IRA arms dumps, inspected them and concluded that the arms cannot be used without their detection.
16 November 2000: Sinn Fein begin a legal challenge against First Minister David Trimble's ban on them taking part in North-South ministerial councils.
30 January 2001: The High Court rules that David Trimble's ban on Sinn Fein ministers is illegal.
The assembly has been suspended several times
8 May 2001:
UK Prime Minister Tony Blair calls a general election for 7 June. Launching his own campaign and attempting to head off a substantial challenge from the Democratic Unionists, David Trimble tells the UUP that he will resign as First Minister of the Northern Ireland Assembly on 1 July if there has been no progress from the IRA on decommissioning.
1 July 2001: First Minister David Trimble resigns - but nominates fellow UUP minister Reg Empey as caretaker, triggering a six-week period in which to resolve the impasse over arms.
1 August 2001: The British and Irish governments unveil a package of proposals, discussed at Weston Park in July, aimed at breaking the deadlock and give the parties less than a week to respond.
6 August 2001: The international arms decommissioning body headed by General John de Chastelain says the IRA has put forward a plan to put its weapons "beyond use".
10 August 2001: With no sign that the IRA is about to decommission and no sign that the unionists will accept anything but, Northern Ireland Secretary John Reid suspends the devolved institutions for 24 hours starting from Saturday 11th.
12 August 2001: Devolution is restored, resetting the clock for a deal by six weeks.
19 September 2001: Two days before the deadline for solving the political crisis, the IRA releases a statement saying that it is "intensifying" its engagement with the decommissioning body.
Cyril Ramaphosa and Maarti Ahtisaari made arms inspections
21 September 2001: John Reid announces the second technical suspension of the Northern Ireland Assembly after a failure to break the deadlock and reinstate a first minister. He insists that it will be the last time that he carries out the technical order.
23 October 2001: The IRA announces that it has begun a process of putting arms beyond use in line with an agreement with the Independent International Decommissioning Commission. Hours later the IICD confirms it has witnessed the disposal of arms and describes it as "significant".
24 October 2001: David Trimble renominates UUP ministers to the NI Executive, thereby preventing its collapse.
2 November 2001: David Trimble fails to become first minister after two rebel members of his own party vote against him.
Devolution in trouble
3 November 2001: Pro-Agreement parties strike a deal to re-elect David Trimble by redesignating three Alliance Party members as unionists.
8 April 2002: After weeks of speculation, the IRA says it has put a second tranche of its arsenal "beyond use".
John Reid suspended the Assembly in October 2002
1 May 2002: John Reid says a ceasefire is not enough from the IRA, there needs to also be a "sense that the war is over".
21 September 2002: David Trimble says his party will withdraw from the power-sharing executive at Stormont on 18 January if republicans do not demonstrate they have left violence behind for good.
4 October 2002: Sinn Fein's offices at Stormont are raided as part of a major police investigation into alleged intelligence gathering by republicans. Mr Trimble warns that the assembly may not survive if action is not taken by the British Government against Sinn Fein.
14 October 2002: John Reid announces the suspension of devolution and the return of direct rule by London ministers from midnight.
10 April 2003: The British and Irish governments postpone at the last minute the publication of a blueprint to restore devolution to Northern Ireland.
1 May 2003: Prime Minister Tony Blair announces he is postponing assembly elections until the autumn because of a lack of clarity over the IRA's position. He accuses the IRA of point-blank refusing to completely rule out all paramilitary-related behaviour as described by the governments. At the same time, the governments publish the much-delayed blueprint for tying up the final issues on the Good Friday Agreement.
6 May 2003: The IRA releases two statements on the peace process. The first was the draft that had been passed to the prime ministers in April. The second commented on the state of the peace process.
17 June 2003: David Trimble wins the narrow backing of his party for London and Dublin's proposals for breaking the impasse over the Good Friday Agreement. MP Jeffrey Donaldson, Martin Smyth and David Burnside later announce they are resigning the party whip in protest against Mr Trimble's policies.
4 September 2003: Richard Kerr, a former deputy director of the CIA, joins the four-strong Independent Monitoring Commission charged with scrutinising paramilitary ceasefires. The three other commissioners are: John Grieve, formerly a senior officer in the Metropolitan Police, Lord Alderdice, the first Presiding Officer of the NI Assembly and Joseph Brosnan, former Secretary General of the Department of Justice in Ireland. The announcement comes as the main parties tentatively begin exploratory talks aimed at restoring devolution.
John De Chastelain heads Decommissioning Commission
19 October 2003: Behind the scenes contacts continue between Sinn Fein, the Ulster Unionists and British and Irish officials as efforts continue to broker a deal to restore devolution.
21 October 2003: After Downing Street announces 26 November as the assembly election date, arms chief John de Chastelain says a third act of IRA decommissioning has been witnessed. However, Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble says the arms report is not enough and more transparency is needed. He puts moves towards a pre-election deal "on hold".Following more talks at Hillsborough, Tony Blair insists the assembly election will go ahead on 26 November.
22 October 2003: Talks resume in a bid to break the impasse.
26 November 2003: The Assembly election takes place, with the DUP and Sinn Fein emerging as the largest parties within unionism and nationalism.
18 December 2003: Rebel Ulster Unionist MP Jeffrey Donaldson quits the party along with two newly elected assembly members, Arlene Foster and Norah Beare.
22 December 2003: UUP leader David Trimble says he will remain leader of the party.
5 January 2004:Lagan Valley MP Jeffrey Donaldson joins the DUP along with two other former UUP MLAs, who left the party in December.
3 February 2004: A review of the working of the Good Friday Agreement involving all the political parties begins at Stormont.
20 February 2004: Dissident republican Bobby Tohill is taken from a Belfast bar. The van he was being held in is stopped by the police. Chief Constable Hugh Orde says the incident was an abduction attempt which members of the Provisional IRA were behind.
24 February 2004: The Tohill incident is described as a "serious breach" by Secretary of State Paul Murphy who asks the Independent Monitoring Commission to investigate.
2 March 2004: The UUP leader pulls his team from the review saying the failure by the government to exclude Sinn Fein following the alleged false imprisonment of a dissident republican was "quite appalling". The review process stalls.
23 March 2004: Prime Minister Tony Blair and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern meet the parties in Belfast. They say a breakthrough is needed in the talks process before the European elections in June.
27 March 2004: David Trimble is re-elected as Ulster Unionist Party leader.
20 April 2004: The IMC backs the chief constable over the Tohill affair and recommends financial sanctions against Sinn Fein and the Progressive Unionist Party in response to continuing IRA and loyalist violence. The government accepts the recommendation, despite protests from Sinn Fein and the PUP.
26 May 2004: The review is put on hold for the European election.
11 June 2004: In the European election, the UUP's Jim Nicholson keeps his seat; The DUP's Jim Allister replaces party leader Ian Paisley in Europe and Sinn Fein's Bairbre de Brun becomes an MEP after Martin Morgan is unable to retain the SDLP's seat.
15 June 2004: Review talks resume at Stormont.
Bertie Ahern and Tony Blair chaired the Leeds Castle talks
22 July 2004:
DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson says unionists will guarantee the stability of political institutions in Northern Ireland if republicans abandon paramilitarism for good.
27 July 2004: The Northern Ireland Office confirms that the British and Irish prime ministers will host a new round of political talks aimed at restoring the assembly in late September. The venue is later revealed as Leeds Castle, Kent. Preliminary talks in Belfast start at the beginning of September.
10 September 2004: Prime Minister Tony Blair says the Leeds Castle talks will show if there is the will among the political parties to end violence and share power. Paul Murphy says the negotiations will be the most critical in the peace process.
18 September 2004: Three days of intensive negotiations at Leeds Castle end with the parties failing to reach agreement. Despite this, there is a mood of cautious optimism among party leaders and the prime ministers, and further talks aimed at resolving various sticking points are to continue at Stormont.
4 October 2004: DUP leader Ian Paisley has a landmark meeting in Dublin with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern. It was the first time Mr Paisley had led a political delegation to meet an Irish prime minister in Dublin. It came amid continuing efforts to iron out the sticking points encountered at Leeds Castle.
18 October 2004: Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy says he hopes a breakthrough in the political process is just weeks away, although he concedes two days later that the governments still face some "very difficult" issues in bridging the gap between the DUP and Sinn Fein.
23 October 2004: Sinn Fein chairman Mitchel McLaughlin says the DUP is seeking to humiliate the IRA over its demand for visible decommissioning. DUP deputy leader Peter Robinson says his party's position on IRA disarmament and activity had been "clear and consistent throughout the negotiating process".
28 October 2004: The Independent Monitoring Commission says the IRA shows no signs of winding down its capability. The ceasefire watchdog's third report said the UDA remained heavily involved in organised crime and the UVF remained a "ruthless organisation retaining a capacity for more widespread violence". Paramilitary violence had "considerably reduced" in the last six months but remained "at a disturbingly high level", the commission found.
8 November 2004: Bertie Ahern says it would be an "enormous tragedy" if a breakthrough was not made in the Northern Ireland political process in the next two weeks.
12 November 2004: The British Government officially recognises the UDA's ceasefire in a bid to bring loyalists more fully into the political process. Paul Murphy says he believes that Northern Ireland's biggest loyalist paramilitary group is ready to move away from violence. Government recognition for the UDA ceasefire was removed in October 2001 because of its involvement in violence. The group declared a new ceasefire in February 2004.
17 November 2004: The two governments put their proposals aimed at breaking the political stalemate to the DUP and Sinn Fein. The plans followed two months of continuing negotiations aimed at exploring a way around the stumbling blocks faced at Leeds Castle. The two parties begin consulting with their members about the blueprint, which is not made public.
24 November 2004: Ian Paisley hands Tony Blair his party's response to the proposals. Both parties continue high-level negotiations with the governments, although no direct negotiations take place because the DUP refuses to talk directly with Sinn Fein. Both parties are backing the creation of a £1bn peace fund as part of the price tag for any deal.
26/28 November 2004: US president George W Bush telephones Ian Paisley and Gerry Adams to offer his support to efforts to achieve a breakthrough in the process. Both parties have concerns about the British-Irish proposals which they want resolved.
29 November 2004: Gerry Adams holds a groundbreaking first meeting with the head of Northern Ireland's police force. Top of the agenda is demilitarisation - the scaling down of the military presence in Northern Ireland. He describes his meeting with PSNI Chief Constable Hugh Orde at Downing Street as "useful". The meeting came as Ian Paisley met the head of the decommissioning body to discuss any possible IRA disarmament.
Ian Paisley insisted on photographic proof of IRA decommissioning
30 November 2004:
Ian Paisley gives the message to the IRA that a deal to restore devolution is "now or never". But he also repeats his call for the IRA to "wear sackcloth and ashes" and repent for its actions. Gerry Adams says Mr Paisley's comments are "offensive".
1 December 2004: Gerry Adams says the political process has reached a "defining point" but the current talks could go no further. "As far as we are concerned we have made our final representations on the governments' text," he said.
4 December 2004: Ian Paisley meets decommissioning body chief General John de Chastelain for the second time in less than a week. He said it was unrealistic to set deadlines for a political deal when the IRA has still not discussed decommissioning with General de Chastelain. Meanwhile, Gerry Adams appealed to republicans not to be provoked by the "unacceptable language" used by Mr Paisley. He said comments made by Mr Paisley that he would have to "swallow hard" to do business with republicans, were an acknowledgement of the prospect of Sinn Fein in government.
7 December 2004: Gerry Adams recommends that his party should accept the British-Irish proposals, saying that its negotiations had resolved issues of concern and succeeded in strengthening key provisions of the Agreement. It came hours after Ian Paisley said the main stumbling block to any deal remained decommissioning.
8 December 2004: Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern travel to Belfast to make their proposals public. These include a plan for the IRA to allow photographs to be taken of its weapons being put beyond use in the presence of independent witnesses. However, Ian Paisley's DUP say they are not signing up, because the IRA is refusing photographs of decommissioning. Mr Paisley says "significant progress" has been made on all aspects of the comprehensive agreement with the exception of how decommissioning would be handled. Gerry Adams says that progress is being held up by "the demand for a process of humiliation".
9 December 2004: The IRA says it is committed to the peace process but would "not submit to a process of humiliation". In a statement in republican newspaper An Phoblacht, the organisation says in the event of a deal, it would end its activities, complete decommissioning by December "if possible" with two clergymen overseeing the process. It says DUP demands for photographic proof of decommissioning were "never possible" and an excuse for rejecting a power-sharing deal which could "remove the causes of conflict".
13 December 2004: The British and Irish prime ministers hold separate meetings with Sinn Fein leaders Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness in London and Dublin. After his meeting, Bertie Ahern says he accepts that the issue of photographs for verifying decommissioning is not workable. Both he and Mr Adams said they would continue to close the gap on the remaining issues before Christmas.
The Northern Bank robbery
21 December 2004: An armed gang steals £26.5m from the Northern Bank in Belfast city centre, casting a long shadow over the political negotiations amid speculation the IRA was responsible. The IRA later says it was not involved in the bank robbery and Sinn Fein leaders say they believe this denial.
The IRA was widely blamed for the £26.5m Northern Bank robbery
7 January 2005:
Chief Constable Hugh Orde says the IRA carried out the Northern Bank robbery. A Downing Street statement says Tony Blair had made it clear the political institutions could only be restored if there was a "complete end" to all paramilitary and criminal activity. Bertie Ahern says trust and confidence in the peace process has been damaged.
30 January 2005: Difficulties in the process are compounded when IRA members are implicated in the killing of Robert McCartney, who was stabbed to death near a Belfast bar. Over the coming year, Mr McCartney's sisters lead a high-profile campaign calling for his killers to be brought to justice. The IRA later expels three members
17 March 2005: US President George W Bush meets Robert McCartney's sisters and partner at the White House on St Patrick's Day, attracting global media interest. Unlike previous years, Northern Ireland's politicians were not invited to the celebrations.
6 April 2005: Gerry Adams appeals to the IRA to help rebuild the political process, asking it to "fully embrace and accept" democratic means. He made the call at the outset of campaigning for the Westminster election. The call followed a difficult few months for the party, which had come under increasing pressure over claims of continued IRA criminality.
6 May 2005: The DUP emerges as the big winner in the general election, winning nine constituencies. Its biggest scalp is Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble, who later steps down after defeat in the Upper Bann constituency. He is later replaced as leader by Sir Reg Empey, who is left to oversee a party which has just one remaining MP. Meanwhile, Sinn Fein becomes the biggest nationalist party in Westminster, winning five seats, although the SDLP avoid the electoral disaster predicted by some commentators, securing three seats. Paul Murphy is replaced as Northern Ireland Secretary by Peter Hain, who will combine the job with his other duties as Welsh secretary.
IRA announces end to armed campaign
The IRA statement was delivered by former hunger striker Seanna Walsh
28 July 2005:
The IRA formally orders an end to its armed campaign and says it will pursue exclusively peaceful means. It says it will follow a democratic path, ending more than 30 years of violence. Gerry Adams hails the move as a "courageous and confident initiative". Tony Blair says it is a "step of unparalleled magnitude". A sceptical Ian Paisley says the IRA had "reverted to type" after previous "historic" statements. The IRA made its decision after an internal debate prompted by Mr Adams's call in April to pursue its goals exclusively through politics.
1 August 2005: The government sets out a two-year plan to scale down the Army's presence in Northern Ireland and change the way the province is policed. The number of troops will be reduced from 10,500 to about 5,000 if the security climate is right. The government says it is also aiming to repeal within two years counter terrorist legislation particular to Northern Ireland. Army posts will also be closed and police stations defortified. A day later, it is announced that the Northern Ireland-based battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment are to be disbanded as part of the Army response to the IRA ending its armed campaign. The Army will end its support role to the police on 1 August 2007, the same day that the battalions will disband. Unionists react angrily to the move, which nationalists welcomed.
19 August 2005: Former Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam dies aged 55 following a fall at home. She had overseen the talks which led to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.
Rev Harold Good and Fr Alec Reid witnessed decommissioning
26 September 2005:
Arms decommissioning body head General John de Chastelain says the IRA has put all of its weapons beyond use. The two churchmen who witnessed the process, Catholic priest Father Alec Reid and ex-Methodist president Rev Harold Good, say they are "satisfied that the arms decommissioned represent the totality of the IRA's arsenal". Ian Paisley says questions remain without photographic proof, an inventory and details on how the weapons were destroyed.
22 November 2005: Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain unveils the biggest proposed shake-up in Northern Ireland's local government for more than 30 years, with district councils being reduced from 26 to seven. It is part of a Review of Public Administration.
'Stormontgate' charges dropped
Denis Donaldson publicly admitted being a spy
8 December 2005:
Three Belfast men at the centre of an alleged IRA spying incident at Stormont are acquitted of all charges. The men, whose arrests led to the collapse of the power-sharing executive in 2002, claimed the case against them had been politically motivated. At an unlisted hearing at Belfast Crown Court, Ciaran Kearney, William Mackessy and Sinn Fein's Denis Donaldson are told all charges are being dropped. The prosecution offered no evidence "in the public interest".
16 December 2005: Veteran Sinn Fein figure Denis Donaldson admits he was a paid British agent for two decades. He is expelled from the party. Mr Donaldson headed the party's administration office at Stormont before his October 2002 arrest over an alleged spy ring led to its collapse. Mr Donaldson said there had not been any republican spy ring at Stormont.
11 January 2006: The government drops its controversial proposals on paramilitary fugitives, which would have seen those accused of paramilitary crimes before 1998 appear in front of a special tribunal, then be freed on licence. Mr Hain told Parliament the legislation dealing with so-called "on-the-runs" was necessary but Sinn Fein's rejection of it made it unworkable. The legislation had been widely opposed.
4 April 2006: Former senior Sinn Fein figure Denis Donaldson is found shot dead in a remote cottage in County Donegal. The IRA issued a statement saying it had "no involvement whatsoever" in Mr Donaldson's death, which came less than 48 hours before a planned visit to Northern Ireland by Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern to unveil their plans for reviving the assembly at Stormont.
6 April 2006: Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern arrive in Northern Ireland to unveil their blueprint for restoring devolution. In it, assembly members are given until 24 November to set up a power-sharing executive. They confirm the assembly is to be recalled on 15 May with parties being given six weeks to elect an executive. If that fails, the 108 members get a further 12 weeks to try to form a multi-party devolved government. If that attempt fails, salaries will stop. They say the British and Irish governments would then work on partnership arrangements to implement the Good Friday Agreement.
10 May 2006: Gerry Adams says his party would not be participating in the discussion of issues such as education reform water charges, health and rates increases because "that would be pointless". He says he will nominate Ian Paisley for the position of first minister when the assembly returns, but Mr Paisley insists there will be no first or deputy first minister until Sinn Fein "met its obligations".
15 May 2006: Northern Ireland's politicians take their seats in the Stormont assembly for the first time since its suspension in October 2002.
6 June 2006: The Preparation for Government Committee, which is preparing the way for the return of devolution, fails to reach an agreement over who should be chairperson. A few days later, the DUP's Jim Wells and Sinn Fein's Francie Molloy are appointed by the Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain.
Policing has been a dividing issue between the DUP and Sinn Fein
29 June 2006: The UK and Irish prime ministers restate the 24 November deadline is the last chance for politicians to restore devolution, and warn that failure to meet the deadline would put the assembly in cold storage.
19 September 2006: The DUP begins its process of internal consultation on whether or not to share power with Sinn Fein. DUP leader Ian Paisley calls for the IRA to disband.
11 October 2006: Three days of intensive multi-party talks, aimed at brokering a deal to restore devolution, begin at St Andrews in Scotland. Tony Blair says there is a political will to make devolution work. Subsequently, the Northern Ireland parties are given until 10 November to respond to what the governments call the St Andrews Agreement.
13 October 2006: A roadmap to restore devolution to Northern Ireland is unveiled by the British and Irish governments. It contains a target date of 26 March 2007 for a new executive to be up and running.
17 October 2006: A meeting due to have been attended by Ian Paisley and Gerry Adams is postponed at Stormont. It comes after the DUP insist a pledge of support for policing and law and order is in place before Mr Paisley and Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness can become shadow first and deputy first ministers on 24 November.
16 November 2006: The government confirms a 7 March election date. A transitional assembly, which comes into effect on 24 November until the end of January 2007, is established until then.
The PUP's David Ervine died suddenly in January
24 November 2006: A transitional assembly is installed. The assembly meets to hear if the DUP and Sinn Fein would indicate ministerial choices. However, proceedings are interrupted as loyalist killer Michael Stone tries to force his way into Stormont. He is later charged with murder bids on Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness
4 December 2006: Sinn Fein's Gerry Adams and the DUP's Ian Paisley have direct exchanges across the floor of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
18 December 2006: Former leader of the Ulster Unionist Party Lord Trimble announces he will not stand in the forthcoming assembly elections, following his elevation to the House of Lords earlier in the year. Mr Trimble was Northern Ireland's only first minister.
28 December 2006: Sinn Fein announces it is calling a special meeting of its executive to discuss the issue of republican backing for policing in Northern Ireland. Party leader Gerry Adams says he will put forward a motion asking for a special party-wide conference "on the policing issue". Sinn Fein support for policing is viewed as removing one of the main obstacles to restoring devolution.
4 January 2007: Tony Blair flies home a day early from holiday in Florida to try to rescue hopes of devolution returning by the end of March. The move comes after doubt is thrown on the Sinn Fein policing conference in the wake of what the party says is lack of a "positive enough" response from DUP leader Ian Paisley. If the conference does not go ahead, the March election may be in doubt.
8 January 2007: DUP leader Ian Paisley denies he ever agreed that policing and justice powers would be transferred to the Northern Ireland Assembly by 2008.
Progressive Unionist Party leader and East Belfast assembly member David Ervine dies after suffering a heart attack and subsequently a stroke and a brain haemorrhage.
Power-sharing and policing
17 January 2007: The Sinn Fein leadership says it will hold debates across Northern Ireland to sell to grass-roots republicans the idea of backing policing. The party's executive is to hold a special conference on the issue in Dublin on 28 January. More than 2,000 republicans will vote.
28 January 2007: Sinn Féin votes to support the police in Northern Ireland for the first time in the party's history. About 900 party members voted on the motion at a special party conference (Ard Fheis) in Dublin, which was carried by over 90%.
The guard post at Crossmaglen police station was removed in 2007
13 February 2007: The last remaining British army watchtower in south Armagh is dismantled. The guard post at Crossmaglen police station is taken down as part of the government's normalisation plans.
7 March 2007: Northern Ireland goes to the polls to elect candidates to the Assembly. The DUP are the largest party, winning 36 of the 108 seats. Sinn Féin take 28. The UUP win 18, the SDLP 16, and the Alliance Party seven. Anna Lo (Alliance) becomes the first person from an ethnic minority to take a seat in the Assembly.
24 March 2007: The DUP's ruling executive decides it will share power with Sinn Féin, and agrees to nominate ministers to a Stormont executive. The British and Irish governments had threatened to suspend plans for devolution if agreement could not be reached.
26 March 2007: Ian Paisley and Gerry Adams tell a news conference in Stormont that power-sharing will return to Northern Ireland on 8 May.
27 March 2007: DUP MEP Jim Allister resigns from the party in protest at its decision to share power with Sinn Féin. But he says he will not give up his seat as an MEP.
4 April 2007: Sinn Féin announces its ministerial nominations to Stormont. Conor Murphy will be the new minister for Regional Development, while Michelle Gildernew is the new minister for Agriculture. Catriona Ruane will follow in Martin McGuinness's footsteps to become the new minister for education, while Gerry Kelly will take on a junior post in the Office of First and Deputy First Minister.
16 April 2007: The DUP makes its nominations to Stormont. The former Ulster Unionist Arlene Foster will take on the Environment portfolio, while Peter Robinson, the DUP deputy leader, will hold the finance portfolio. North Belfast MP Nigel Dodds and Lagan Valley Assembly member Edwin Poots will be the ministers of enterprise and culture respectively. Ian Paisley Junior will be the DUP's junior minister in the Office of First and Deputy First Minister.
8 May 2007: Direct rule over Northern Ireland by Westminster officially ends after almost five years. DUP leader Ian Paisley and Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness are sworn in as First and Deputy First Ministers and take their pledges of office at Stormont, witnessed by British and Irish Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern. Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain is confident: "It's going to stick, I believe, because the DUP and Sinn Féin... these are the two most polarised forces in Northern Ireland's politics, they have done the deal."
31 May 2007: Sinn Féin takes its seats on the Policing Board for the first time. The party will be represented by Alex Maskey, Martina Anderson and Daithí McKay.
14 June 2007: The Fianna Fáil leader Bertie Ahern is re-elected as the Irish taoiseach, or prime minister, for a third term.
Denis Bradley and Lord Eames chair the Consultative Group on the Past
22 June 2007:
An independent consultative group to find the best way to deal with the legacy of the Troubles is announced by the Northern Ireland Secretary, Peter Hain. The group will be co-chaired by Denis Bradley, who was vice chairman of the Policing Board, and former Archbishop of Armagh, Lord Eames.
27 June 2007: Tony Blair resigns as British prime minister after ten years in office. During his time in power he witnessed the Good Friday Agreement, IRA weapons decommissioning, the suspension of direct rule and the re-establishment of a power-sharing executive in Northern Ireland.
13 September 2007: Taoiseach Bertie Ahern begins giving evidence at the Mahon Tribunal into planning corruption. He is asked to explain cash transactions of almost £100,000 which went through bank accounts on his behalf in the early 1990s. Mr Ahern denies any involvement in corrupt planning.
30 October 2007: The Minister for Social Development withdraws £1.2m in funding from a UDA-linked conflict transformation scheme. The group had refused to give up their weapons according to a deadline set by Margaret Ritchie, and insisted it would adhere to its own timetable for decommissioning.
The Education Minister made the announcement in the Assembly
4 December 2007: The Education Minister, Caitríona Ruane, announces the end of the 11-plus transfer test exam, saying she wants to end the "outdated and unequal education system" which labelled 11-year-olds as "failures". There is widespread opposition to her proposals amongst unionists.
7 December 2007: The former DUP MEP, Jim Allister, forms a new anti-agreement party. The grouping, which is to be known as the Traditional Unionist Voice, will oppose power-sharing at Stormont.
24 December 2007: The Sinn Féin president, Gerry Adams, says that the transfer of policing and justice powers from Westminster to the Stormont assembly must be a priority in 2008. The Northern Ireland Office has earmarked May as a possible date.
8 January 2008: The group set up to consider how to deal with the legacy of the past is involved in controversy after a suggestion that the British government may be asked to formally say it fought a war against the IRA. There is also anger amongst unionists at suggestions of an amnesty for anyone involved in the Troubles.
18 February 2008: The DUP's Ian Paisley Junior says he will step down from his role as a junior minister in the Northern Ireland Assembly. But he will continue in his role as an assembly member for North Antrim. The move follows criticism over his links to developer Seymour Sweeney and allegations he lobbied on his behalf.
24 February 2008: The DUP says the devolution of policing and justice powers will not happen by May - the target date set in the St Andrew's Agreement. The party says there is not yet "adequate public confidence", and the party will not be rushed.
Ian Paisley stood down as First Minister of Northern Ireland in 2008
4 March 2008: The First Minister, Ian Paisley, announces he will stand down from the post in May. He also says he will resign as leader of the DUP- a party he has led for almost 40 years - but he will continue as MP and MLA for North Antrim.
11 March 2008: The Stormont committee which examines progress on devolution of policing and justice powers reported that agreement had failed to be reached on when it should happen. The Assembly and Executive Review Committee says the government's May target for transferring the powers cannot be met, and recommends that political parties engage in further discussion.
5 June 2008: Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness are appointed first and deputy first ministers of the Northern Ireland Assembly. Mr Robinson was nominated by former DUP leader Ian Paisley and Mr McGuinness by Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams.
16 September 2008: The prime minister calls on Northern Ireland's political leaders to set a date for the transfer of policing and justice powers. Gordon Brown argued that the Assembly could not address issues such as youth disorder unless they were responsible for the "levers of change".
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13785546
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First Chromebook on sale in US
The first laptop running Google's Chrome operating system has gone on sale in the United States.
The Samsung machine replaces installed software with browser-based apps which store files online.
Google claims that the technology enables a new way of computing, removing the need for features such as anti-virus software or optical drives.
However, many applications available for Windows, Mac and Linux do not yet exist for Chrome.
The Chromebook is available in WiFi only and WiFi and 3G models for $429 (£266) and $499 (£310) respectively.
It is expected to sell for between £349 and £399 when launched in the UK in August.
A second Chromebook, made by Acer is due to start shipping soon.
Sundar Pichai, senior vice president for Chrome, said at the launch last month: "Most people spend all their time on the web, and for the first time we have distilled the entire computing experience to be about nothing but the web.
"End-to-end, I think your computing experience will be far simpler, safer and faster."
Some early reviews of Google's Chrome OS have criticised the system for its poor usability when offline.
Ruper Goodwins from ZDNet said: "For all the things that are on the web browser, this works really well - better than anything else. But for all the stuff you do on the desktop, it doesn't do very well at all.
"The idea that this doesn't matter - that you're always connected and always online - isn't quite true yet. The idea is very good but it's a little premature."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18692702
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England v Germany: Goal-line technology decision imminent
Football's world governing body Fifa and other organisations are preparing to vote on something many fans of the game have been crying out for: goal-line technology (GLT).
For years, supporters have watched, heads in hands, as balls bounced over the line - only for the referee and his assistants to somehow be the only people in the stadium not to see the clear goal.
Meanwhile, other sports like tennis, cricket and rugby have all embraced technology to assist officials in making the right decisions.
But in football, the powers-that-be have always been reluctant. Fifa's outspoken president Sepp Blatter said he didn't want to slow the game down or make it less exciting.
The footballer's view
I'm against it. I just think human error is a part of football, there are just so many things that go unseen by the referee, and I don't see why goal-line technology should take a preference over a penalty appeal or a foul that might lead to something that might lead to a goal.
It's just one area of football that we're trying to perfect when there are many areas that are left to human error. With technology, where do you stop? Surely an offside decision for a winning goal to get a team into the premier league is as important as whether the ball goes over the line or not.
I know I stand alone - I'm probably one in a hundred. I understand the argument for goal-line technology, of course I do, but I played in hundreds of games where the referee hasn't seen certain things. There are a lot of important decisions that referees miss.
In Europe, Uefa president Michel Platini has been equally hesitant, instead pressing ahead with the largely unpopular introduction of extra officials near the goal-line - an addition viewed by many as useless.
One such official was described by a television pundit as "just a bloke with a silly wand".
But a shot by England's Frank Lampard during a World Cup match versus Germany in 2010 meant Fifa had no choice but to reconsider.
It was clear - to everyone except the officials - that it had crossed the line.
The wheels were finally set in motion to make GLT part of the beautiful game - and on Thursday football chiefs will decide which technology will be given the green light.Hawk-Eye vs Goalref
In 2011 Fifa released a document outlining the criteria which the technology must meet:
- Accuracy must be 100% - with no concessions made for shots that, for example, hit the side netting and bulge into the goal.
- The referee must be notified of the goal within a second of it crossing the line, as any longer would disrupt the flow of the match.
- And the technology must be able to work both during the day and at night under floodlights, and in all weather conditions.
Of 12 initial candidates, just two companies made the cut. And, fittingly enough, it's England versus Germany all over again.
From Germany: Goalref, a system which relies on a customised ball with a special sensor in the middle.
When the ball crosses the line it disrupts a magnetic field, and the referee is told almost instantly.
England's offering is Hawk-Eye, a technology that will be familiar to many sports fans thanks to its widespread adoption in tennis and cricket.
The lower league view
Goal-line technology is a must in football. If it can be proven that it's economically viable outside the major leagues in any country, it should be introduced wherever possible.
Any technology that proves whether the ball is over the line or not has to be right, because that's what football is all about: goals. As long as it does the job, that's the right thing for football.
The conference has got more and more professional over the years. It would be important that the Conference considers it.
It is a camera-based system; six for each goal, set up in various parts of the ground. When combined they can pinpoint exactly where the ball is. Like Goalref, the referee is then informed immediately via a wristwatch.Drama vs cost
A simple choice between in-the-ball or in-the-stands tech then? Not quite.
The vote, to be hosted by the International Football Association Board (IFAB) - of which Fifa represents 50% of the vote - is about a lot more.
For instance, Hawk-Eye relies on more than 25% of the ball being visible to its cameras. A messy goalmouth scramble could stop it working.
But the Hawk-Eye method brings great "was it in?!" drama, and while Goalref can merely tell the referee and supporters that the ball has gone in, Hawk-Eye can provide documented evidence of the fact via an instant virtual-reality replay.
But Goalref has a trump card: cost. The system itself is easier and cheaper to install than Hawk-Eye, and doesn't require any extra surrounding structures to which to attach cameras.
It means it is far more likely that Goalref could be used in almost any significant football league.
There is a chance, Fifa told the BBC, that both systems could get the IFAB's backing.
It would mean leagues across the world could decide to adopt either system - with the most likely scenario being that the top divisions, such as the Premier League, would go for Hawk-Eye, with Goalref adopted in the lower leagues to keep costs down.
The expert's view
In a weird way, one argument is to say that it won't make any difference at all. There is not a piece of technology in the world that is infallible. In every measurement that you make in life, there is an uncertain associated with it.
It ought to eliminate blunders and mistakes - like the situation with Frank Lampard's goal in the World Cup. Any system that is employed ought to detect that as it was a gross mistake.
But the Ukraine goal against England in the recent championships is a slightly different story. That was very very close.
I watch recordings day-in, day-out, we analyse footage at over one thousand frames per second. What was interesting in the reaction to the Ukraine goal was that it was almost unanimous in the media that it was a goal. But yet I looked at the footage and thought 'how confident could I be?'. I definitely wouldn't have been 100% confident.
Let's imagine the technology had been in place, and had said 'no goal', we'd still have pundits in the studio saying that 'everyone could see it was over the line'.
Whichever they choose, it will mean that leagues finally have got the green light for the technology to be rolled out. It will be too soon for the upcoming Premier League season, officials said, but by 2013-2014 we could see it in action around the UK's stadiums.
The first major league to take it up could be the US Major League Soccer - home to David Beckham - which kicks off its next season in March.
However, one league we're unlikely to see technology at in the near future is the Champions League, despite it being host to several controversial goal-line incidents.
Such is Uefa president Michel Platini's disdain for GLT, he has called for Fifa to postpone Thursday's decision and instead "start an open debate about technology in football".
"I am wholly against goal-line technology," the Frenchman said.
"But it's not just goal-line technology. I am against technology itself because it will invade every single area of football."
At the time of writing, Fifa has told the BBC that the vote is still set to go ahead despite Uefa's protests - but that could potentially change at the last minute.
Additionally, the members of the IFAB panel could vote for neither option - sending the process back to the drawing board.
Should that happen, it will no doubt be seen by most fans worldwide as one of world football's biggest own goals to date.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-21236147
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Legal bid to find who posted Facebook threats against Catholic
Legal attempts will be made to find out who threatened a Catholic man on Facebook pages linked to union flag protests, the High Court has heard.
The man's lawyers are seeking to discover who posted comments on two pages: Loyalists against Short Strand and Loyalist Peaceful Protests Updater.
The pages were removed last week after the man was granted an emergency injunction against Facebook.
This was due to the perceived gravity of the threat.
The judge said he had granted the man's application because of "an imminent risk of serious injury".
In court on Monday, a lawyer for Facebook Ireland Ltd said that suspending the pages concerned has taken the urgency out of the case.
But he reserved his client's position on whether the final remedy should be shutting down the pages or just removing the offending content. He said Facebook took the view that primary responsibility rested with those who posted content and operated the pages.
Loyalist protests have been ongoing since Belfast City Council voted on 3 December to restrict the flying of the union flag to designated days only.
It is the second time that the social media operator has come before the High Court in the last three months.
In November a convicted child sex offender won a landmark case forcing Facebook to take down a page monitoring paedophiles in Northern Ireland.
He is now seeking damages in an action due to be heard in March. This latest case will now be transferred to the judge handling those proceedings.
Meanwhile, a man accused of shoving a wheelie bin at police during trouble in east Belfast linked to the flags protests has been refused bail in court on Monday.
Malcolm Stevenson, 46, of Templemore Street, Belfast, denies a charge of rioting in the Newtownards Road area on 7 January.
The High Court was told that loyalist rioters attacked police vehicles with hatchets, knives and sledgehammers and petrol bombs were thrown during the trouble.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12115013
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Sudan: One country or two?
South Sudan gained independence in July 2011 but after two decades of conflict with the north, relations with Sudan remain fraught. These maps show the extent of the divisions between a richer, Arabic-speaking, Muslim Sudan and a poorer South devastated by years of conflict and neglect.
Both Sudan and the South are reliant on their oil revenues, which account for 98% of South Sudan's budget. But the two countries cannot agree how to divide the oil wealth of the former united state. Some 75% of the oil lies in the South but all the pipelines run north. It is feared that disputes over oil could lead the two neighbours to return to war.
Although they were united for many years, the two Sudans were always very different. The great divide is visible even from space, as this Nasa satellite image shows. The northern states are a blanket of desert, broken only by the fertile Nile corridor. South Sudan is covered by green swathes of grassland, swamps and tropical forest.
Sudan's arid north is mainly home to Arabic-speaking Muslims. But in South Sudan there is no dominant culture. The Dinkas and the Nuers are the largest of more than 200 ethnic groups, each with its own languages and traditional beliefs, alongside Christianity and Islam.
The health inequalities in Sudan are illustrated by infant mortality rates. In South Sudan, one in 10 children die before their first birthday. Whereas in the more developed northern states, such as Gezira and White Nile, half of those children would be expected to survive.
The gulf in water resources between north and south is stark. In Khartoum, River Nile, and Gezira states, two-thirds of people have access to piped drinking water and pit latrines. In the south, boreholes and unprotected wells are the main drinking sources. More than 80% of southerners have no toilet facilities whatsoever.
Throughout the two Sudans, access to primary school education is strongly linked to household earnings. In the poorest parts of the south, less than 1% of children finish primary school. Whereas in the wealthier north, up to 50% of children complete primary level education.
Conflict and poverty are the main causes of food insecurity in both countries. The residents of war-affected Darfur and South Sudan are still greatly dependent on food aid. Far more than in northern states, which tend to be wealthier, more urbanised and less reliant on agriculture.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_league/9053149.stm
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Try-scorer Gareth Thomas is congratulated by his new Wales team-mates
Gareth Thomas scored on his Wales rugby league debut but could not prevent his side losing 13-6 to Italy in Wrexham.
With their opening European Cup match away to Scotland in Glasgow looming on Sunday, Wales coach Iestyn Harris opted to blood 13 new caps in the friendly.
At the other end of the scale was Ian Watson, the Swinton Lions half-back winning a record 27th Wales cap to beat Jim Sullivan's record set in 1939.
But Italy tries from Ben Falcone and Christophe Caligari spoiled Wales' day.
Despite the result of the game, postponed from Sunday because of heavy rain, Harris was happy with what he had seen on the pitch: "I was really really pleased today.
"We had a lot of academy players in the side and for the last 30 to 40 minutes we had nine or 10 kids under the age of 19 playing.
"I think it's really pleasing for the game of rugby league in Wales. The Italians had an experienced side with a lot of Australians who play at a good level and were more experienced than our kids.
"I thought our lads handled themselves with distinction and should be proud of what they've done. We would have liked to have won the game but I'm not too disappointed.
"However we were disappointed to have Sunday's match postponed. It would have been nice for our squad to have had a hit out then but with the game being today, we couldn't risk a lot of our first-choice players.
"We can take some real positives into Sunday's game against Scotland. Gareth Thomas was great for the half-hour that he played, Ben Flower was good too after coming back from injury and Gil Dudson looked good too. We're all looking forward to Sunday now."
We can take some real positives into Sunday's game against Scotland
Wales coach Iestyn Harris
Thomas was making his comeback from injury after three months on the sidelines and made a dream start to his debut, giving Wales the lead on nine minutes.
Watson put the Crusaders wing through, with Lewis Reece converting to give Wales a 6-0 lead.
Lee Williams thought he had followed Thomas over for a try two minutes later but hit the corner flag when diving for the line.
Italy were not going to lie down and forced a goal-line drop-out. They had a chance to score but Thomas was first to a high bomb aimed for Domenico Brunetta and Caligari. Ryan Tramonte was also close but was held short of the line.
The visitors finally levelled things on 34 minutes. Following a 70-metre run from Rhys Lenarduzzi, Caligari, the experienced former France junior international was on hand to ground, Josh Mantellato converting.
Italy put all the early second half pressure on the youthful Welsh line-up and were rewarded 19 minutes into the second period when rising star Falcone scored in the corner. Mantellato did well to convert to put Italy 12-6 up.
There could have been a further score but for Reece's try saving tackle on Raymond Nasso, forcing him into touch.
Reece looked to have gone over for a score-levelling try with five minutes to go but was pulled back for a forward pass.
A solid Italian defence kept Wales at bay, with Ben Stewart kicking a final minute drop-goal to ensure a win for Italy at the Racecourse Ground.
Wales: Andrew Gay (South Wales Scorpions), Ashley Bateman (South Wales Scorpions), Lewis Reece (South Wales Scorpions), Gareth Thomas (Crusaders), Lee Williams (Crusaders), Danny Jones (Keighley Cougars), Ian Watson (Swinton Lions), Gil Dudson (Crusaders), Steve Parry (South Wales Scorpions), Ben Flower (Crusaders), Lewis Mills (Crusaders), Jordan Ross (York City Knights), Geraint Davies (Limoux Grizzlies).
Subs: Chris Davies (Crusaders), Harri Greville (South Wales Scorpions), Joe Burke (South Wales Scorpions), Rhodri Lloyd (Crusaders), Mark Wool (Leeds Rhinos), Dafydd Carter (Crusaders), Jack Pring (Crusaders).
Tries: Thomas (9)
Goals: Reece 1/1
Italy: Dominic Nasso (Parramatta Eels), Josh Mantellato (Newcastle Rebels), Rob Quitadamo (XIII del Ducato), Domenico Brunetta (Grifons Padova), Christophe Caligari (Palau), Ben Stewart (Windsor Wolves), Rhys Lenarduzzi (Sydney Roosters), Andrew Kaleopa (Cabramatta), Raymond Nasso (Windsor Wolves), Ryan Tramonte (Windsor Wolves), Dean Vicelich (Leoni Veneti), Rocky Trimarchi (Crusaders), Ben Falcone (Wests Tigers).
Subs: Alessandro Cuomo (XIII del Ducato), Marcelo Segundo (XIII del Ducato), Matt Sands (Grifons Padova), Fabio Nannini (XIII del Ducato), Jonathan Marcinczak (West Bowling), Liam Zollo (Grifons Padova), Mauro Fusaro (Leoni Veneti).
Tries: Caligari (34), Falcone (59)
Goals: Mantellato 2/2
Referee: Bob Thaler (RFL).
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21191120
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The future of the car 'is electric'
Driving is bad for the environment. And in Singapore it is really expensive too.
That is why Smove offers electric car sharing as a cheap option for Singapore residents who do not want to own a high-maintenance gas-guzzler.
The company's founder, Tom Lokenvitz, explains what motivated him to start it up, and why it is not such an easy thing to be his own boss.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17211285
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Flag Fen archaeology idea brings in public to dig deep
Renowned Bronze Age archaeological site Flag Fen in Cambridgeshire will host a first-of-its-kind dig that makes the public integral to the project.
The idea combines both "crowdfunding" and "crowdsourcing"; for contributions starting at £125, donors can get their hands very dirty and dig for a day.
The venture's website will also stream live video from the dig as well as host lectures and interviews with experts.
The aim is to fully explore the site before it dries out and is destroyed.
Flag Fen was discovered in 1982 by archaeologist Francis Pryor, who uncovered part of a one mile (1.6km) causeway across the Fenland marshes in Cambridgeshire.
The site lies largely underground, preserved for 3,000 years beneath a layer of peat that keeps artefacts from decaying.
An exposed part of the site, called the preservation hall, shows some of the thousands of timbers that make up the site poking up through the ground, and these are regularly watered to stave off decay.
"It's the only place in Europe where you can see this kind of archaeology exposed," said Lisa Westcott Wilkins, managing director of Digventures, the firm behind the new project.
Beneath, the peat will have preserved not just the wood artefacts such as leather and other organic material, which at other Bronze Age sites will have long since been consumed.
"The reason Flag Fen doesn't have the sort of public profile of Stonehenge is that there aren't all these huge stones everywhere people can see - the entire site rests on top of very sensitive archaeology," she told BBC News.
But the water that has kept Flag Fen preserved until now is seeping away, due in part to climate change but largely to active drainage and the sprawl of neighbouring Peterborough, which nearly reaches the borders of the site.
So the team at Digventures chose Flag Fen as its flagship site to try a new kind of archaeology, against a difficult global economic climate.
"Most of the archaeology outside of universities happens in advance of infrastructure or building, so when the market for that slows down, we don't get to dig very much," explained Mrs Wilkins.
"We've been thinking for a long time that things need to change, that there's not the kind of outreach that we feel really could be happening. There are lots of good people who are held back by the traditional way of doing things."
The crowdsourced dig will take place between 23 July and 12 August.
For those who cannot visit the site in person, the project aims to solicit contributions starting from £10 to gain access to a wealth of resources on its website - including features such as "find of the day" and interviews with "super-star archaeologists".
But Mrs Wilkins said combining this crowdfunding with the crowdsourcing of archaeologists of all stripes made the project unique, and held the potential to truly bring the public into an otherwise rarefied academic world.
"This is for people who have always wanted to try it but are not sure they're going to like it, not sure they want to commit to a week, but who also don't want to just turn up and look at stuff.
"This will put you in a hole, on-site."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18029771
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Microsoft's Bing search engines to use Facebook tips
Microsoft is revamping its Bing search engine to include advice from Facebook and other social media platforms.
The move involves the introduction of a new sidebar which seeks to connect users with friends and other enthusiasts who can provide help.
The firm says it is based on the fact "90% of people consult with a friend or expert before making a decision".
Surveys suggest Bing has about a 15% share of the US search market, lagging behind Google's 66% portion.
The new service appears on the right-hand side of all results and includes a feature dubbed Friends Who Might Know.
"Bing suggests friends on Facebook who might know about the topic - based on what they 'like', their Facebook profile information, or photos they have shared so you can easily ask them about relevant experiences and opinions," said Microsoft on its blog.
"For example, if you're searching for diving spots in Costa Rica... you may discover that one of your friends knows a great spot, based on photos from their last trip."'Holy Grail'
Beyond Facebook the firm said it would also flag up other experts identified from their posts on Google's social network Google+ as well as Twitter, Foursquare, Quora and Linkedin.
Microsoft said that the service would roll out "in the coming days" in the US, but did not mention other locations.
"Using social signals for search results is obviously the Holy Grail as people tend to trust each other more and can help with the whole discovery process," Sameet Sinha, an internet analyst at the investment bank B Riley & Co told the BBC.
"This wlll help Microsoft compete against Google and may encourage people to try switching to Bing."
The move builds on a partnership between Microsoft and Facebook created when the Windows-maker paid $240m for a 1.6% stake in the social network in 2007.
When Facebook goes public soon, that stake will be worth more than $1bn.
However, Microsoft runs the risk that if the latest tie-up proves successful it could encourage Facebook to launch its own search service.
"Facebook could capture around 22% of the global search market by simply launching its own search engine tomorrow," suggested the London-based digital marketing agency Greenlight which has carried out a study into the matter.
"It wouldn't need to be a spectacular engine either, just well integrated into the Facebook experience."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19044029
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Armitstead and Adlington medals just the start, papers say
"It's girl power", is how the Daily Mail sums up the Olympic medals won by the British cyclist, Lizzie Armitstead, and the swimmer, Rebecca Adlington.
The Daily Express predicts their triumph will be "the beginning of great things to come, that will make us all even prouder to be British".
"Show on the road for Team GB" is the Daily Telegraph's headline.Sexism in sport
The Times has an in-depth interview with Armitstead.
She describes being frustrated by the sexism which she has experienced in cycling - and which she feels exists more widely in sport.
Armitstead is quoted as saying that she hopes to do something about it when her cycling career comes to an end.
"It's difficult to change things in a positive way," she tells the paper: "As a female athlete, you don't want to come across as negative and moaning".Anger at NBC
The Telegraph reports that the Olympic opening ceremony soundtrack is the best seller on the iTunes stores in Britain, France, Belgium and Spain.
But the Independent says matters Olympic have not been going so well for US television network NBC.
It says that as the US men's basketball team played their first match, US viewers saw highlights of the women's cycling.
This has compounded anger generated by the decision to show an edited version of the opening ceremony, the paper claims.'Triple-dip' recession
Fears that the UK's double-dip recession might evolve into a triple dip preoccupy several of the papers.
The Mail says business leaders are calling on Chancellor George Osborne to cut interest rates immediately.
The Mirror quotes an economist as saying Britain's financial fortunes will be boosted by the Olympics but are likely to deteriorate once again next spring.
Its editorial describes the triple dip warnings as "the final nails in George Osborne's economic coffin".
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-19489251
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Government marketing budget 'to increase'
The government looks set to increase the amount it spends on advertising and PR to help it sell NHS changes and other policies to the public.
Next year's marketing budget is £285m, according to Cabinet Office figures.
That is an increase on the £168m spent by the now axed Central Office of Information in its final year.
The Cabinet Office says it is not fair to compare the figures and the overall budget is still far below that spent by the previous Labour government.
A spokeswoman said not all government marketing money was spent through the COI so it was misleading to compare the organisation's budget for 2010-11 with the projected spend for next year, which will include all marketing activity.
In addition, there was no "meaningful" figure for 2011-12, when the COI, which bought advertising space and commissioned public information films on behalf of government departments, was being wound up.Complex changes
But marketing industry insiders say the figures, which are included in the government's new marketing plan for 2012-13 released this week by the Cabinet Office, clearly indicate an increase.
Oliver Hickson, former PR chief at the COI, said: "My view on this is that spending is going up.
End Quote Cabinet Office
We are determined to ensure spend never returns to anything like the highest levels seen before”
"The vast majority of central government marketing spend was through the COI.
"There was some other spend but I would suggest that was either internal press offices or local authorities, which will still carry on."
Part of the planned increase in spending is likely to go on explaining complex changes to the welfare system and trying to convince health service workers and the public of the merits of NHS reforms, says Mr Hickson, who now runs his own public sector PR consultancy.
"They are quite big and potentially sensitive issues that you would imagine would need a reasonable amount of money spent on them to talk to stakeholders and the public," he told BBC News.
But he says it is "sensible" for the government to spend money on communication, particularly if it is targeted at "hard-to-reach groups" such as young people and pensioners.
In its "annual plan for proactive government communications" the Cabinet Office details how departments are being forced to work together on marketing to save cash.Campaigns
It also sets out each department's "priority communication activities" for 2012-13.
The health department's priorities - in addition to long-running campaigns against smoking, obesity and other public health problems - include "supporting the implementation of the NHS's efficiency and productivity challenge" and "informing and engaging staff groups and stakeholders in the health and care reforms".
The department for work and pensions' priorities include "building understanding and positive perceptions of Personal Independence Payments as a fair benefit, personalised to reflect claimants' needs".
And the business department plans to spend money on "communicating the government's macroeconomic strategy" and "supporting policies designed to boost enterprise and manufacturing".
The COI was axed in April with the loss of 400 jobs as part of coalition efforts to cut the amount of money spent by the government on marketing, which reached more than £500m a year under Labour.
A Cabinet Office spokeswoman said the coalition was "determined to ensure spend never returns to anything like the highest levels seen before".
She said the Cabinet Office was working with the Government Procurement Service to put in place a new system for "accurately capturing, on a monthly basis, all central government communications spend" for the first time.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-21184872
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Peter Lewis murder trial: Victim was 'never a threat'
A disabled pensioner who was fatally stabbed at his home in Cardiff could get frustrated but was "never a threat", a court has heard.
Peter Lewis died in April after opening the door to William Jones, of Cardiff.
Mr Jones, 32, denies murder at Cardiff Crown Court and claims he must have stabbed Mr Lewis accidentally as he tried to take a knife off him.
But the prosecution disputed claims by a defence lawyer that the pensioner, 68, could be "aggressive".
The court has heard allegations that the enraged defendant was armed with a knife as he knocked on doors looking for his former girlfriend and her partner.
After Mr Lewis opened his door in the city's Roath suburb at 02:30 BST on 28 April last year he got into a confrontation with Mr Jones and was fatally stabbed in the stomach, it is claimed.
The defendant then ran off and threw a knife away into a scrap metal van, the court was told.
But Mr Jones, a drug addict, says the victim answered the door to him armed with a kitchen knife and the pensioner was stabbed as he tried to take it off him.
Defence lawyer David Aubrey QC claimed on Thursday that Mr Lewis could be aggressive, that he had been warned about his behaviour by police and that on one occasion he said he would petrol bomb a neighbour's house.
"Are we sure Peter Lewis did not answer the door with a knife in his hands?" he asked the jury.
However, prosecution lawyer Peter Murphy QC said that although Mr Lewis could get frustrated and "would sound off", he was never a threat.
"He didn't appreciate the danger he was putting himself in and boy did he pay the price," he said.
He said of the defendant: "We suggest he was down there carrying a knife."
Mr Murphy added that the suggestion that Mr Lewis had threatened the defendant with a knife and that he was physically able to do so was "ludicrous".
The trial has previously heard that Mr Lewis was vulnerable, had a low IQ and only had one eye.
He also had great difficulty moving without the aid of a carer and his walking stick
However, he lived a busy social life, volunteered at charity shops, was a committed Christian and was described in court as a "champion of people with learning difficulties".
The trial continues.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-18831935
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China hit by worst growth figures in three years
China, the second largest economy in the world, is experiencing its worst slowdown for three years.
Growth in the second quarter of this year was 7.6 per cent, down from 8.1 per cent in the previous three months.
Falling exports to Europe and weak domestic demand in China are being blamed.
The BBC's correspondent Damian Grammaticas reports from the city of Tianjin.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20503969
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A bittersweet victory for Catalonia's president
After regional elections on Sunday in Catalonia, in the north-east of Spain, Artur Mas, the man who trumpeted the cause of independence throughout the campaign will still run its regional government.
But only after he has reached a deal with other parties.
His centre-right nationalist coalition, Convergencia i Unio (CiU) still has the largest number of votes in the Catalan parliament. However last night was a disappointment for Mr Mas.
Neither the polls, nor the pundits in Catalonia predicted that CiU would lose as many as 12 seats, leaving it well short of the absolute majority.
During the campaign Mr Mas said he had needed such a majority to push-ahead with a referendum.
That said, a source close to a "somewhat disappointed" Catalan president told me that a referendum - or at least a public consultation on independence - is "still the plan".
For that to happen though he would now have to do a deal with another pro-independence party, Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC), which more than doubled the number of seats it has in the Catalan parliament.
The language of the two main parties shows how neither is ready to give up their dream of a referendum on independence from Spain”
My source said that a deal between Mr Mas' CiU and the ERC "has to be possible", and, given last night's result, "there is no other alternative".
Mr Mas' coalition and the ERC might both want a referendum on independence from Spain, but, when it comes to the economy, and how to tackle the economic crisis in Catalonia, they are poles apart.
A CiU-led government has implemented significant spending cuts and economic reforms to the public sector, including, most controversially, to Catalonia's public health system.
Alfred Bosch, a member of Spain's parliament for Esquerra Republicana says his party wants to "put the brakes" on Mr Mas' economic reforms.Poor deal
On the issue of a possible referendum, Mr Bosch, says his party "will push them [the CiU] hard".
On whether they would win a referendum on independence, Mr Bosch points to some opinion polls which give a Yes vote as much as 57% percent.
However, other polls on the question of an independent Catalan state are much less convincing.
Whereas both CiU and ERC are split over economic ideology, both agree that Catalonia gets a poor funding deal from the Spanish central government.
They claim the taxes collected in their industry-rich region are around €16bn (£12.9bn), more than the money Madrid pays back to the Catalan government to fund the region's schools, hospitals and other public services.
Some economists cast doubt over this claim, but what is clear is that Catalonia's economy is, unsurprisingly, inextricably linked to the rest of Spain. A lot of Catalan businesses do a large proportion of their trade in the rest of the country.
In the run-up to the election we spoke to several business-owners who expressed unease about what independence might mean for the economy.Unclear future
With a complicated result in these elections, and no simple, clear mandate for the current President Artur Mas, there is more uncertainty over the political roadmap for this region and its future relationship with the rest of Spain.
Pro-independence parties might have won a majority of the seats in the parliament, but, between them, they only increased their total by one seat. So, on the face of it, not much has changed.
However, the language of the two main parties shows how neither is ready to give up their dream of a referendum on independence from Spain.
And what also seems very unlikely at the moment, is that negotiations between Catalan pro-independence parties and Spain's ruling centre-right Popular Party will be possible, over the question of a referendum.
The PP is vehemently opposed to the idea, and the colourful language of Spanish ministers on the issue in recent weeks shows they are nowhere near a position where they might consider sitting down for talks.
They fear that would be a dangerous path, which could lead to the eventual break-up of Spain.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/4356081.stm
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The estimated £5bn funding for the government's academy schools in England should be withheld until they are shown to be cost-effective, MPs have said.
Academies have cost between £13m and £38m each
Ministers were accused of lacking a coherent strategy and of rolling out schemes without proper evaluation.
The Commons education committee also criticised the admissions system, saying schools increasingly chose pupils, not the other way round.
The education department said standards
in schools had never been higher.
After a two-year inquiry, the select committee concluded it was "difficult to detect a coherent overarching strategy in the government's proposals".
The MPs welcomed the rise in standards seen in many specialist schools and some of the new academies.
But they said the reasons for success needed to be understood.
Good management and extra funding alone, rather than the specialising, might account for better results in specialist schools - now the "universal model" for secondary education.
Academies have cost the Department for Education and Skills between £13m and £38m each, whereas their independent sponsors put in 10% up to a maximum of £2m in return for control of the governing body.
The committee said this averaged £21,000 per pupil - often far more to begin with - compared to £14,000 for a new comprehensive.
Yet in the GCSE-level results for the first 11 academies, five had not improved and some had actually got worse.
The communities they served were "particularly vulnerable" and had suffered "years of inadequate education provision", it said.
So investment was welcome.
"But the government should ensure that the current programme of academies is thoroughly evaluated, both in respect of the performance of individual academies and the impact on neighbouring schools, before embarking on a major expansion of an untested model."
Schools Minister Stephen Twigg told the Today programme on BBC Radio Four the government wanted to learn from evidence about what was happening in the academies.
"There is some evidence that there have already been improvements," he said.
He said that it was not suprising that exam results at some academies were not good. They were usually in the most deprived areas of the country.
"Some are brand new schools and some replace existing schools which by their nature are failing schools which have been languishing at the bottom," he said.
The select committee's report also tackled admissions, saying ministers showed "startling complacency" on the issue.
The committee said: "The evidence we took during our inquiry indicates a troubling slide away from parents choosing schools for their children and towards schools choosing the pupils they wish to admit."
The government refused to acknowledge this let alone act to reverse it.
Indeed its proposals to give schools greater independence might make matters worse.
So the admissions code of practice should be given legal force.
The committee also found a "tension" between plans to give schools more independence, and the desire for them to work more co-operatively to share expertise and the disruptive pupils whose behaviour was driving teachers out of the profession.
Committee chairman Barry Sheerman said: "Whilst the strategy offers some welcome changes, it also contains much that has not been properly worked through."
But a spokeswoman for the Department for Education and Skills said: "The facts speak for themselves. Standards of education have never been higher, and continue to rise."
Academies were "making big strides in a very short space of time". Specialist schools were performing better, faster than other schools.
"We are committed to ensuring that every school is a good school, using choice and diversity to drive up standards, so that every parent will be satisfied with the school of their choice for their child."
Shadow education secretary Tim Collins said the report "highlights the appalling extent to which Labour has failed parents, teachers and children".
"After eight years of Labour failure, a new approach is clearly needed. The incoming Conservative government will make improved classroom discipline, academic attainment and school pride one of its top priorities."
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4607770.stm
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The stoning ritual at Mina, outside Mecca, is one of the most dangerous aspects of the annual Hajj pilgrimage.
Thursday's stampede, in which at least 362 people died, happened on the entrance ramp to the Jamarat Bridge as pilgrims thronged to cast stones at three pillars representing the devil.
The two-tier bridge - which allows access to the pillars on both levels - has seen many lethal stampedes in recent years.
After 251 people died in 2004, the one metre diameter cylindrical pillars were replaced by short walls.
This was to improve crowd flow and allow more people to stone the pillars at one time.
A five level version of the bridge is planned and work was due to begin at the end of the 2006 Hajj.
Mina is one of the key sites of the Hajj and pilgrims camp there for several nights, turning the area into a city of tents.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/389884.stm
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Friday, July 9, 1999 Published at 09:07 GMT 10:07 UK
World: South Asia
Analysis: Can Sharif deliver?
Nawaz Sharif seems to have army backing for his policy
By BBC Islamabad Correspondent Owen Bennett-Jones
Nawaz Sharif has returned to Pakistan to face considerable criticism, after agreeing in Washington to take the initiative to defuse the conflict over Kashmir.
In the city of Muzaffarabad, in Pakistani-administered Kashmir, there were demonstrations to denounce the Washington declaration, and effigies of the two leaders were burnt. It is likely that many militants will bear a long-standing grudge against the prime minister.
What is not clear is to what extent they represent the feelings of those who are still serving in the military.
For all the denials, many believe that the military did play a significant role in sparking off the Kargil crisis. And if that is so, there might be some reluctance to withdraw from the Indian side of the Line of Control.
But with President Clinton having sanctioned Nawaz Sharif's pull out policy, the army seems to have little choice but to go along with the new line.
On Friday, the prime minister chairs a session of the defence committee of the cabinet, which brings together the country's top military and political leadership. Observers will be watching closely for the military's statements after that meeting.
As for the opposition political parties in Pakistan, they are arguing that Nawaz Sharif has mishandled the Kargil crisis. But with the Mr Sharif's Muslim League majority in parliament firmly in place, those voices will not give the government too much concern.
It may be more worried about public opinion. Many Pakistanis believe the militants deserve all the support they can get, and they are not pleased with the idea that officials will now try to persuade them to give up their current positions.
They point to the fact that the public demonstrations called for by Jamaat-e-Islami to denounce the Washington Declaration only attracted a few hundred people. And they say that the Prime Minister will allay any public concerns when he addresses the nation on Saturday.
The Pakistan government is arguing that the last two months have considerably advanced the Kashmiri cause. The world has been forced to focus on an issue which many would prefer not to bother with.
Nonetheless, at an international level Pakistan has been widely criticised for its role in Kashmir.
In Washington, Nawaz Sharif effectively backed down. His task now is to convince the Pakistani people that he did extract as much as he could out of the Kargil crisis.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/4049265.stm
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Before he resigned the position of home secretary on Wednesday, David Blunkett had been in charge of a substantial body of government portfolios including race, policing and immigration.
David Blunkett is a powerful voice in the government
His responsibilities in running the Home Office included civil emergencies, security, terrorism and expenditure.
Named home secretary after the 2001 general election, Mr Blunkett had seen the focus on his office intensify.
The attacks on the World Trade Center on 11 September 2001 heightened concern for security and immigration in particular.
A Labour loyalist from a working class background Mr Blunkett, 57, had been unafraid of pushing for tough changes to Labour policy.
Recently the issue of identity cards had provoked controversy with questions raised over cost and invasions of civil liberties.
Mr Blunkett was also at the centre of a humiliating scandal involving the former immigration minister Beverly Hughes.
Having received his full backing, Ms Hughes was forced to resign in April over abuses in the visa processing system, which she claimed to be unaware of.
Mr Blunkett's own comments on immigration had prompted censure - he told refugees from Afghanistan and Kosovo to "get back home" to start rebuilding their countries.
And he also urged people from ethnic minorities to develop a "sense of belonging" in Britain, telling them to speak English at home.
Avoiding political correctness is second nature to the former home secretary, who spurns a metropolitan elite and "airy fairy libertarians" and earlier in the year coined the phrase "liberati", as an amalgam of "glitterati" and "liberal".
Yet in January of this year he courted further controversy over his seemingly liberal reclassification of cannabis, from a Grade B to Grade C status drug .
Before the recent furore, Mr Blunkett had always appeared more interested in politics than his personal life.
Mr Blunkett told the Daily Telegraph in 2001 that he continued to wear his wedding ring, in spite of being a divorcee, as "a useful way of ensuring that people don't casually think I am available".
He added: "I am not available because I am just getting on with the job."
Mr Blunkett entered Parliament for Sheffield Brightside in 1987, after first contesting the Sheffield Hallam seat in 1974.
He is one of very few blind MPs, and was the first to reach the front bench and the Cabinet.
His relaxed performances - with his guide dog by his side - at the despatch box, in the Labour Party's National Executive, and on the conference platform made it easy to forget his disability.
Mr Blunkett himself described not being able to see as simply "an inconvenience".
Using Braille for speeches, and briefed by his officials on tape, he also has a sharp tongue at times, and a pragmatic approach to politics.
Mr Blunkett was schooled in Sheffield where he led the city council for seven years before entering the Commons.
He chaired the Labour Party nationally, and was a unifying force in the 80s and 90s, shadowing health and education.
In Tony Blair's first government Mr Blunkett was put in charge of education and employment, where he won big increases in funds for schools, while insisting on improved standards of literacy and numeracy.
He was prepared to stand up to the teaching unions - which sometimes heckled his speeches - and his policy of charging university students for tuition fees was not popular.
In the Labour Party he has been regarded as a loyal colleague, a conciliator who avoids factions, and a man whose humour and determination make him widely popular.
There have been wry smiles as well. In 1999, his then guide dog Lucy threw up in the Chamber during the speech of his Tory opponent.
Lucy was replaced by her half-sister, Sadie, a black Labrador-curly-coated retriever cross, in 2003 after nearly a decade by Mr Blunkett's side.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15393014
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Basque group Eta says armed campaign is over
The Basque separatist group Eta says it has called a "definitive cessation" to its campaign of bombings and shootings.
In a statement provided to the BBC, Eta called on the Spanish and French governments to respond with "a process of direct dialogue".
The declaration, if followed through, would bring an end to Eta's campaign of violence, which has lasted more than 40 years and killed more than 800 people.
Spain's PM said the move was "a victory for democracy, law and reason".
Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said after 40 years of bomb attacks and assassinations, Spain was now experiencing "legitimate satisfaction" at the victory over terror.
Eta's decision to end its violence for good has been met here with a series of victory speeches.
Prime Minister Zapatero said the Rule of Law had triumphed, calling Eta's statement a victory for democracy and reason.
Until now, Spain's politicians had always insisted Eta must dissolve and disarm, nothing less.
Opposition leader Mariano Rajoy did stress that Spaniards will never be truly at ease until that happens.
But a common position has clearly been agreed that this - finally - is a move worth accepting, in order to secure a lasting peace.
Still, the prime minister described today's victory as stained by the memory of the 829 people killed, and all those injured. They will never be forgotten, he said.
Talks lie ahead on the difficult issues of more than 700 Eta prisoners and the separatists' arms and explosives.
But that's a task for the next government, after November's elections.
He said that terror should never have happened and must never return.
The new Spanish government to emerge after November's general election is to take charge of the process, said former interior minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba - who is running on behalf of the Socialist Party in the poll.
Mr Zapatero is not running for re-election.
Analysts say Eta has been badly weakened by a security crackdown in recent years.
The declaration follows a conference this week in the Basque Country, attended by international statesmen including former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, and protagonists in the Northern Ireland peace process.
They called on Eta to lay down its arms.
Our correspondent, Sarah Rainsford, says the event was so carefully choreographed that this move from Eta was widely anticipated.Ceasefire broken
In its statement, Eta said "a new political age is opening" in the Basque Country.
"We face a historic opportunity to obtain a just and democratic solution to the age-old political conflict," it said.
"Eta has decided on the definitive cessation of its armed activity. Eta makes a call to the governments of Spain and France to open a process of direct dialogue which has as its aim the resolution of the consequences of the conflict and thus the conclusion of the armed conflict. With this historic declaration, Eta demonstrates its clear, firm and definitive purpose."
The announcement - provided to the BBC as well as to the Basque outlet Gara - is the latest step in what Eta claims is a transition to peaceful methods.
In September 2010, it announced, again to the BBC, a decision not to carry out further attacks.
In January this year, it declared a permanent and "internationally verifiable" ceasefire.
Spain's Socialist government has continued to insist that it will not negotiate on demands for Basque self-determination until Eta disbands.
The government is cautious about engaging in another peace process, after the last one failed.
It opened contacts with Eta when the group called a "permanent" ceasefire in 2006, only to break it by bombing an airport car park in Madrid, killing two people.
Eta under pressure
A string of arrests in recent years is believed to have weakened the group significantly
- 11 March 2011: Suspected Eta leader Alejandro Zobaran Arriola arrested in France
- 28 February 2010: Suspected key militant Ibon Gogeascotxea arrested in France
- 6 August 2009: Juan Manuel Inciarte, accused of six murders, deported from Mexico
- 19 April 2009: Jurdan Martitegi, Eta's suspected military chief, arrested in France
- 8 December 2008: Aitzol Irionda, suspected military chief, arrested in France
- 17 November 2008: Suspected military chief Garikoitz Aspiazu Rubina arrested in France
The group has also abandoned previous ceasefires.
Inigo Gurruchaga, of El Correo, the most prominent newspaper in the Basque Country, says Eta simply used previous truces to reorganise and rearm.
But this time appears to be different, he says.
Not only has there not been a killing for more than two years, but businessmen have stopped receiving demands for a "revolutionary tax", and there have not been street protests by Eta supporters for several months.
The group is also widely considered to have been seriously weakened, by a concerted Spanish and French crackdown.
Dozens of Eta militants, including successive leaders, have been arrested and jailed, and analysts say the group realises its days are numbered.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12601173
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Frank Buckles, America's last WWI veteran, dies aged 110
America's last surviving veteran of World War I, Frank Buckles, has died aged 110.
Mr Buckles, who joined the US army in 1917, at the age of 16, lying about his age to get enlisted, died of natural causes at his home near Charles Town, West Virginia, on Sunday.
He was one of more than 4.7m Americans who signed up to fight in the Great War between 1917-18.
He served in England and France, as a driver and a warehouse clerk.
Mr Buckles was turned down by the marines and the navy for being too young to serve, but managed to convince an army recruiter he was 21.
"A knowledgeable old sergeant said if you want to get to France right away, go into the ambulance corps," he said in a 2001 interview with the Library of Congress.
He sailed to Britain in December 1917 on board the ship which five years earlier had picked up survivors of the Titanic.
"During my stay in England, I drove a motorcycle sidecar, then Ford ambulances and cars. Perseverance paid off and I got assigned to follow an officer who had been left behind from his unit and I got to France," he said.Last link
Mr Buckles rose to the rank of corporal but never got closer than 30 or so miles from the Western Front trenches. After the war he helped return prisoners to Germany - and became one himself during WWII.
In 1941, while working for a shipping company in the Philippines, he was captured by the Japanese, and spent more than three years in prison camps.
After the wars he settled in West Virginia with his family.
He remained committed to honouring the 100,000 Americans who had died in WWI and achieved fame as the last surviving link to that conflict in the United States.
"Frank Buckles lived the American Century," US President Barack Obama said.
"Like so many veterans, he returned home, continued his education, began a career, and along with his late wife Audrey, raised their daughter Susannah. We join Susannah and all those who knew and loved her father in celebrating a remarkable life that reminds us of the true meaning of patriotism and our obligations to each other as Americans."
In March 2008, Buckles was honored at a special ceremony at the Pentagon and the White House by president George W Bush.
In 2009 he travelled to Washington DC to lobby senators to rededicate a memorial on the national mall in honour of the Americans who had fought in the campaign.
The Frank Buckles World War I Memorial Act never became law.
There are only now two documented surviving veterans of The Great War, 109-year-old Claude Choules and 110-year-old Florence Green, both of whom are British.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7671292.stm
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Mbhazima Shilowa said he would help organise a convention for ANC rebels
The ex-premier of South Africa's Gauteng province has resigned from the ruling African National Congress (ANC) to join those calling for a new party.
Mbhazima Shilowa said the rebels, led by ex-Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota, would hold a convention on 2 November.
Mr Shilowa resigned as premier in protest at the ousting last month of Thabo Mbeki as president.
The ANC has been riven by splits between Mr Mbeki's supporters and those of ANC leader Jacob Zuma.
Mr Zuma won a bitter contest to replace Mr Mbeki in December.
Kgalema Motlanthe has been sworn in as the new president, but Mr Zuma is favourite to take over after elections next year.
Observers have said a split in the ANC has appeared increasingly likely, though a new party is unlikely to become a major power in South Africa unless it attracts political heavyweights.
The ANC suspended Mr Lekota this week, saying it would take similar action against anyone else from the party who threatened to establish an opposition movement.
Mr Shilowa broke the news of his defection at a press conference in Pretoria.
"I have decided to resign my membership from the ANC with immediate effect and to lend my support to the initiative by making myself available on a full-time basis as a convener and volunteer-in-chief together with comrade Mosiuoa," he said.
"I have taken this decision knowing fully well that I will be vilified," he said.
The new party would discuss constitutional reform and in particular whether, in the light of what happened to Mr Mbeki, South Africa's president should now be directly elected.
Mr Mbeki stood down after a judge suggested he had interfered in the prosecution of Mr Zuma on corruption charges, something the former South African leader denies.
Mr Lekota had accused the ANC's new leadership of arrogance, saying a split within the movement was "inevitable".
On Tuesday, Mr Zuma described party dissidents as charlatans, and said the ANC would act "very decisively" to rid the movement of what he described as factionalism.
"History has been extremely unkind to those who break away from the ANC," he said.
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By Richard Black
Environment correspondent, BBC News website
Turtles are among the creatures put at risk through fishing and habitat loss
Governments are being urged to agree measures for protecting open ocean and sea floor habitats at a major United Nations conservation meeting in Bonn.
Argentina and Brazil are among the countries objecting to proposals put forward at the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) meeting.
Scientists advising the CBD believe more protection is vital for marine areas outside national jurisdiction.
The CBD is the UN agreement intended to slow the loss of the Earth's species.
Its key target is to halt and begin to reverse the global decline by 2010, a target that many observers believe cannot be met.
The rate of species extinctions is estimated to be between 100 and 1,000 times the rate it would be without human impacts such as loss of habitat, climate change and overfishing, and some marine ecosystems remote from land are showing signs of degradation.
"Increasing attention has been brought to the fact that many marine species including commercially important ones have been brought to the edge of collapse," said Jacqueline McGlade, executive director of the European Environment Agency (EEA), the EU's environmental research and advisory body.
"The last 18 months have brought a huge body of evidence showing how vulnerable the ocean is to depletion and climate change," she told BBC News from the meeting in Germany.
Among that evidence is a major recent study concluding that if current trends continue, there will be no commercially viable marine fisheries by 2050.
Against this background, the CBD's advisors proposed a raft of measures aimed at researching and protecting the oceans and the life within them.
They include taking a series of steps towards establishing marine reserves in international waters.
These areas, which make up the vast majority of the oceans, are partly regulated by Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs).
But these are basically there to manage fishing, not to pursue a wider conservation agenda - and the environmental record of some is so poor that critics have labelled them "mis-management organisations".
Bottom trawlers rip coral from the ocean floor, which is discarded
The EEA says nations' objections to the measures do not mean they are opposed in principle to greater open ocean protection.
Rather, it says, they question whether the CBD is the right organisation to make decisions in this field, preferring to work through the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos).
Such a dispute may appear arcane, but can have important consequences.
Last year, Japan objected to plans to protect fish species under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites), arguing that the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is the more appropriate body.
Governments generally send environment officials to Cites, but farming and fisheries officials to the FAO; and different priorities may be displayed by the two groups.
Professor McGlade is anxious that if the root of the current dispute is procedural, it should not prevent the adoption of measures that could prove vital to the long-term health of ocean ecosystems and the food that flows from them.
"It would be pitiful if we lost this opportunity for procedural reasons," she said.
The Brazilian and Argentinian delegations at the CBD could not be reached for comment.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8506047.stm
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The cultivation of the BT brinjal aubergine variety has divided opinion
India has deferred the commercial cultivation of what would have been its first genetically modified (GM) vegetable crop due to safety concerns.
Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said more studies were needed to ensure genetically modified aubergines were safe for consumers and the environment.
The GM vegetable has undergone field trials since 2008 and received approval from government scientists in 2009.
But there has been a heated public row over the cultivation of the GM crop.
The BBC's Geeta Pandey, who was at the news conference in Delhi, says Mr Ramesh's decision has put any cultivation of GM vegetables in India on hold indefinitely.
"Public sentiment is negative. It is my duty to adopt a cautious, precautionary, principle-based approach," Mr Ramesh said.
He said the moratorium on growing BT brinjal - as the variety of aubergine is known in India - would remain in place until tests were carried out "to the satisfaction of both the public and professionals".
The minister said "independent scientific studies" were needed to establish "the safety of the product from the point of view of its long-term impact on human health and environment".
Mr Ramesh said it was "a difficult decision to make" since he had to "balance science and society".
"The decision is responsible to science and responsive to society," he said.
India is the largest producer of aubergines in the world and grows more than 4,000 varieties.
HAVE YOUR SAY
Another discouraging factor is the high pricing of GM foods
Aziz Merchant, Mumbai, India
Indian seed company Mahyco - partner of US multinational corporation Monsanto - which has developed BT brinjal, says the GM vegetable is more resistant to natural pests.
But anti-GM groups say there are serious health concerns and they allege that consumption of GM crops can even cause cancer.
The government-controlled Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) approved BT brinjal for commercial cultivation in October 2009.
Following an uproar from farmers and anti-GM activists, the environment minister held a series of national consultation meetings across India.
Several of the aubergine-growing Indian states have already said they were opposed to BT brinjal.
India allowed the use of genetically modified seeds for cotton in 2002.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20330847
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The Bank abandons a lot of hope
A gloomy message from the Bank of England today, but no gloomier, perhaps, than we have come to expect.
Britain's central bank revised up its short-term inflation forecasts today and revised down its expectations for growth. That's been the story of nearly all the Inflation Report press conferences I have been to in the past few years.
We also had gloomy words from the Governor Mervyn King about the challenges facing the UK and broader global economy. But that's not exactly new, either.
What is new is that the Bank now thinks that the UK economy will not get back to where it was at the start of 2008 until well into 2015. This time last year, it thought we would have recovered out lost output by the second half of next year. Two years ago, it thought we would get there at the end of 2011.
The Bank hasn't just lowered its growth forecasts for the next year or so - it has more or less given up hope of being pleasantly surprised.Chopped off
This chart shows what I mean:
I know, it's not pretty. But it's quite telling.
In essence, it shows how likely the Bank thinks it is that the UK will achieve various growth rates by the end of 2013. The taller the bar, the more likely it thinks that annual growth rate will be.
The grey line shows what the chart looked like in August. Back then the range of possible outcomes was quite widely spread: in effect, the Bank thought that anything could happen, including something very good.
The economy was just as likely to be growing by more than 3.5% at the end of 2013 as it was to be shrinking or broadly flat.
Now look at where the distribution of possibilities lies today - you'll notice most of the rosy scenarios have been chopped off.
In effect, the Bank now thinks that that kind of rapid bounce back in the economy is all but inconceivable. Its best guess is we will grow modestly - but if we're surprised, it's unlikely to be a happy one.
If you're the kind of person who thinks it is "always darkest before the dawn" you might think all of this a reason to buck up. Historically, the moment when absolutely everyone has resigned themselves to continued slump is usually the time when the economy takes off.Nerdy journalists
But the journalists who came to the Bank this morning weren't interested in such musing. They were interested in the chancellor's decision to take hold of the big pile of interest payments sitting in the Bank as a result of its policy of quantitative easing.
I went into this fiendish topic in my last post. Suffice to say the governor does NOT think the Treasury move has compromised the MPC's capacity to set monetary policy.
Nor do officials think there is any risk that the Bank of England will be taken to court for illegally helping the government to finance its deficit.
It was all, said the governor, a "fuss about nothing".
Perhaps, but the FT's Chris Giles did confirm one clear implication of last week's policy change. It has made it hard to answer the following simple question: how much money has the Bank created by quantitative easing?
Is it the £375bn the MPC has officially voted to create since 2009? Or is it closer to £410bn - £375bn plus approximately £35bn of the Bank's money which the Treasury will spend over the next 10 months as a result of the policy change, which the MPC chose not to offset and the governor agrees will have the same effect as more QE?
It's a puzzle. But in practice, I suspect the MPC will continue to refer to the £375bn figure, leaving nerdy journalists to add the footnotes (sigh).
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business/market_data/shares/3/87630/default.stm
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Features & Analysis
- Emergency runway closure at Heathrow
- Higher IQ link to good concentration
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- Dog years: The calculator
- The uneven charm of Rome's cobblestones
- Woolwich murder: The suspects
- Unnamed page
Elsewhere on BBC News
Why trying to become a successful entrepreneur has never been more fashionable
Tom Brook looks at Red Obsession, a film which charts China's thirst for red wine
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19047521
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Young with eating disorders 'missing out on vital help'
Eating disorders in children are not being taken seriously enough, depriving them of vital treatment, a leading expert has told BBC Newsnight.
Professor Bryan Lask said he is seeing ever younger patients, with increasing numbers becoming ill under age 10.
His pioneering research suggests a strong genetic predisposition to anorexia, which experts say needs to be tackled through early intervention.
New figures reveal eating disorders cost the NHS £1.26bn a year in England.
Specialists have reported that cutbacks in health spending are putting pressure on specialist services, with patients becoming sicker while they wait for admission.Genetic link
Anorexia is recognised as the most deadly of all psychiatric illnesses, killing more people than alcohol and drug addiction and depression.
The outcome for patients remains very poor - only half the people who get it will recover.
New understanding of the disease is coming from research led by Prof Lask, who set up the eating disorders unit at Great Ormond Street Hospital.
His team have been researching a tiny part of the brain, the insula, which photo imaging technology shows to be underactive in people with anorexia.
"We are suspecting that there is an abnormality in the insula, it is not quite working properly and... there's a knock on effect around the body," he told Newsnight.
Prof Lask believes his work shows there is a genetic pre-disposition to getting anorexia which should transform attitudes to the illness.
"For so long people thought that this is essentially middle class girls getting it. But it's not like that at all. It's an illness we do not choose to get," he says.
"This is a much more serious disease than was previously understood."
'Revolving door treatment'
End Quote Rosemary Marston
I think I was very good at being anorexic, losing weight, that was my drive”
Rosemary Marston was severely ill with anorexia for 30 years.
As a teenager she was a high achiever and insisted on the exacting standards commonly associated with the illness.
"I think I was very good at being anorexic, losing weight, that was my drive... just as some people are successful at sport, I was that dedicated to being ill," she says.
This dedication is one reason why anorexia is so difficult to treat.
Another is the painstakingly long process of recovery. Rosemary describes her experience as a "revolving door situation".
"I would go into hospital, my weight would be restored, I would leave feeling not much better about my prospects and end up back in hospital.
"I worked out that in the last 20 years of the illness, I spent 18 years as an inpatient."Root causes
Prof Lask believes one problem is that treatment focuses on restoring weight and not tackling the underlying issues:
"The focus is so much on re-feeding and weight restoration."
End Quote Martin Davies Care UK
A well-intended strategy to keep people out of hospital will actually lead to more chronic and severe and enduring cases”
"We are struggling with the idea that once their weight is restored they're cured. It's nonsense. They're not at all," he says.
Care UK, a private company, runs a number of specialised services for people of all ages with eating disorders.
Martin Davies, who runs the service, says pressures on NHS budgets mean people are not getting the treatment they need. He thinks the root causes of the disease are not being tackled:
"We're addressing the symptoms quite effectively, but we're doing so over and over again and in turn that will mean that a certain percentage of those cases will keep coming back," he says.
"I think that actually a well-intended strategy to keep people out of hospital will actually lead to more chronic and severe and enduring cases," he adds.Osteoporosis at 18
As many patients and their families know, accessing specialised services is not easy.
The parents of Ffion Jones, from Camarthenshire, had to campaign to get funding for the specialised treatment she needed.
She is now being treated at a centre run by the Oxford Health Trust.
Her room, which has been home since last March, is covered with art work containing motivational messages which she hopes will help her recovery. One reads: "Don't make excuses, make improvements."
Ffion became ill when she was 11 years old. She says that was the last time she had a birthday cake.
Now 22, Ffion hopes to study psychiatric nursing at university. But she says she will not escape some of the devastating consequences of malnutrition.
"I have a lot of long-term complications which I was quite naive about and didn't really want to acknowledge as part of the illness.
"I was diagnosed with osteoporosis when I was 18. I had a scan last week which showed I might have a curved back, where two of my vertebrae are crumbling. I'm not sure if I'll get to have children or not."
A new study by the eating disorder charity Beat reveals the financial cost of eating disorders, especially among young people.
Most cases start in adolescence, affecting seven in 1,000 girls, and one in 1,000 boys.
In England, it costs a minimum of £1.26bn a year - and in line with mental health issues generally, this figure is expected to double over the next 20 years.Early intervention
While the numbers affected by anorexia remain stable, researchers and clinicians have told the BBC that the age of patients is getting younger, and they are seeing more sick children under the age of 10.
They say this makes the early intervention of specialised treatment even more urgent.
It has taken her decades, but Rosemary feels she has beaten anorexia. She now works as a mentor for others with eating disorders.
"The last two years has been about making use of what I could look back on as a futile period of my life. I'm not willing to do that.
"I invested a lot in anorexia, it nearly killed me... If all I can do is offer the hope about being recovered then I will."
For details of organisations which offer advice and support, go online to bbc.co.uk/actionline or call the BBC Action Line to hear recorded information on 08000 933 193. Lines are open 24 hours and are free from a landline. Mobile operators will charge.
Watch Liz MacKean's full report on Anorexia on Tuesday 31 July at 2230BST on BBC Two. Or watch afterwards on BBC iPlayer and the Newsnight website.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-20595897
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Dangers of 'pro-ana' sites highlighted in report
A study has shown there are up to 500 websites which promote eating disorders, many set up by teenagers.
Dr Emma Bond, a senior lecturer in childhood and youth studies at University Campus Suffolk, has published the report on what are often referred to as "pro-ana" sites with the eating order charity Beat.
Dr Bond says young people need to be encouraged to view the internet with a critical eye as it is impossible to police the sites.
In her report Virtually Anorexic - Where's the Harm? she makes recommendations on how education at home, in schools and universities and awareness-raising in the media will help.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-17967462
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'Iron' Boris ends Livingstone's political career
It was bad enough having a family holiday ruined by the summer riots but Boris Johnson's winter break also seemed to come at a cost.
While he was skiing with his family in Italy over new year, his deadly rival stole a march on the chilly streets of the capital.
To mark the introduction of another round of above-inflation fare rises on London's transport system, Ken Livingstone and supporters leafleted commuters outside stations.
His pledge to cut - and then freeze - fares seemed to make an immediate impact. A poll suggested for the first time that he had edged ahead of the Tory incumbent.
Reports surfaced of a big wobble in the Boris campaign team which had been set up before Christmas, separate but to run in parallel with his City Hall administration until polling day.
If there had been any doubt before, they knew there was a fight on.
End Quote Tim Donovan
For Livingstone once again, a painful truth was exposed: enemies gained, stances adopted, conflict pursued over a lifetime of political activism combined to bring him down”
Some wiser heads counselled that if that was all that Ken had, there was nothing too much to worry about.
And sure enough the bounce from the fare rise proved short-lived.
But it remained a promise potentially fatal to the Johnson re-election bid which was to absorb enormous energy to address.
The 2012 mayoral election campaign was dominated by debates on numbers - Tube fares, police strength, affordable housing starts - which occurred with relentless frequency on TV news programmes and at hustings.'Broken record'
Perhaps it was their over-airing in the end which reduced their toxicity.
The campaign never became a focus or comparison of policy, but any hopes Livingstone had that he would win on the basis of detailed costings and help for the poorest were soon dented by revelations about his tax arrangements.
During a gruelling campaign, Boris Johnson demonstrated a hitherto unrecognised iron discipline.
Guided by self-denying ordinance and sticking limpet-like to the plan crafted by his dynamic campaign guru Lynton Crosby, new suits appeared, the shirt was tucked in and the hair was neat and often flattened.
Rhetorical flourishes were kept to a minimum. His cautious, repetitive responses to TV interviews out on the trail were sometimes so robotic that passers-by were prompted to comment.
"You're like a broken record," said one.
The level of control was immense. Journalists often struggled to establish what he was doing on any given day, learning of public visits via Twitter after they had happened.
The mask slipped on ever so few occasions, with one four-letter rant at Livingstone in a lift, out of sight, and one just a little more visible - directed straight into a BBC camera.
But if the style was unusual, it did prove effective at protecting the incumbent and his poll lead.
So too did constant attacks on Livingstone and the rapid rebuttal of his claims. Taken together it sometimes managed to suck oxygen from Labour's campaign.
That task was made the easier by almost universal support for Johnson in the media, and in particular, from London's Evening Standard. That may actually have proved more damaging this time.
There was a greater degree of subtlety and less obvious raw invective, but the impression was relentless.
But for Livingstone once again, a painful truth was exposed: enemies gained, stances adopted, conflict pursued over a lifetime of political activism combined to bring him down.Tax questions
He believed London could return to him out of gratitude, relief or desperation, but was unable to create a fresh and distinctive narrative to make that possible.
It may have taken one question-mark over his tax transparency to revive all kinds of animosity which reminded voters why they had moved against him four years ago.
More than a million votes garnered in defeat last time appear to have made it hard for him to give up the dream of City Hall. The support was still out there, wasn't it?
Officials still appreciated his competence as an administrator and decision-maker, didn't they? So much more to give?
But no longer able to cast himself as the outsider speaking truth unto the evil of the establishment, he was a challenger who could not escape the impression he wanted to roll back time.
His weapons of wit and mastery of details, once regarded by some as deadly, had their effect dulled by an adversary more than capable of responding with both.
Livingstone announced his apparent retirement from frontline politics in his speech on Friday night, saying "this will be my last election".
In the vote for the London Assembly, the Conservatives lost two fairly high-profile figures -controversial fire chief Brian Coleman and deputy-mayor for communities Richard Barnes - but the party's vote share was sufficient to give them the necessary nine members to get four more years of Johnson budgets past the Assembly.
End Quote Tim Donovan
It hasn't taken long for people to start raising concerns that a second Johnson term will be dominated - even distorted - by his plans for his next career move”
Those documents will make interesting reading, with funding for police indicated to dry up and police numbers likely, say some, to "fall off a cliff" once the Olympics are done.Relationship with PM
Fares look set to continue to increase by above inflation if transport managers are to be given the funds for investment they have been promised, unless the government achieves a reconciliation with the notion of subsidy.
In the short-term, the focus will be on the Olympics, though it is unlikely one particular mayoral project - the cable car over the Thames - will be ready in time.
There may be changes in style, with Guto Harri - Johnson's friend and director of communications - moving on, reportedly to join News International.
He was admired for the way he projected his boss' image in the national media, but was felt to have found it difficult to establish positive relationships with the corps closely watching City Hall.
To freshen up the team, it is possible Johnson may move his policing deputy Kit Malthouse to a new economic post.
It has not taken long for people to start raising concerns that a second Johnson term will be dominated - even distorted - by his plans for his next career move, and will be seen through the prism of his relationship with David Cameron.
Cameron does not find himself in an overly strong position.
But faced by the option of the burning building and jumping into the arms of Boris Johnson, he may take a good long hard look at the smoke-filled room and decide there must be another way down.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-20818124
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Man jailed for having Crossmaglen PSNI station bomb
A County Monaghan man has been jailed for three years for having a car bomb left outside Crossmaglen police station.
Paul Maguire admitted the unlawful possession of an improvised explosive device with intent to endanger life or cause serious injury to property.
The device was loaded into a stolen car and left outside the PSNI station where it failed to detonate on 3 April, 2010.
Maguire had a last address at Drumleek South, Castleblayney.
Mr Justice Paul Butler told the Special Criminal Court in Dublin that the court would sentence father-of-one Maguire to nine years with six years suspended, having regard to evidence that the defendant was a "vulnerable and biddable" character.
The 27-year-old is currently serving an 18-month sentence imposed by the non-jury court in March.
He had pleaded guilty to the unlawful possession of a sawn-off, 12-gauge side-by-side shotgun and two 12 gauge Eley shotgun cartridges at Ecco Road, Dundalk, on 8 August, 2010.
Maguire was one of five men arrested after Irish police stopped two cars which had been travelling in convoy and drove up and down past a garage on the Castletown Road near Dundalk, County Louth on the morning of 8 August.Cylinders
A detective inspector William Hanrahan told counsel for the state that a red Peugeot 406 car with a Republic of Ireland registration was abandoned at the entrance gates of Crossmaglen Police Station on 3 April, 2010.
He said that the PSNI inspected the vehicle using a remote controlled "wheelbarrow" robot and found two gas cylinders, a length of wiring and a car battery.
The police officer agreed that the device was made safe following a controlled explosion.
An explosives expert gave evidence that, had the device functioned as intended, it was capable, at the upper end, of causing death or serious injury to anyone within the blast radius.
He agreed that the device did not explode owing to a defect in the timing unit and an error in the mix of paraffin and diesel fuel contained in the cylinders.
The police officer told the court that Maguire was present at a yard in Culloville where the car was loaded with the bomb and that his role was to fuel a jeep - which was to be used as a getaway car - and to telephone the Samaritans with a bomb warning.
Maguire, he said, did not actually go to the police station.
Counsel for Maguire said a psychiatric report indicated his client was not "ranked in the highest echelons of scholarship", adding that Maguire was a young man who had made "two very large mistakes in life".
Taking the stand, Maguire said he was sorry for what he had done, apologised to the court and said he would not be involved "in any similar organisation" again.
Mr Justice Butler said that Maguire had pleaded guilty to a very serious offence but that there was a lot to be said in his favour.
He said the court had taken all matters into consideration and noted the case could have been prosecuted at an earlier date, which led the court to impose a lower sentence to date from Friday rather than a backdated tariff.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-20606791
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New Bristol parking zone goes into operation
A parking zone in the Cotham area of Bristol has gone into operation, the city council has said.
Motorists now need a permit or a pay-and-display ticket to park in the area.
The Liberal Democrat-controlled authority approved the scheme - which runs from Cotham Hill to Redland Road - earlier in the year.
Households within the zone will have to pay £30 per year for a permit for their first car and £80 for a second but with no guarantee of a space.
Plans for a similar scheme in Cliftonwood were turned down last year after residents told the city council they did not want it.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-21007134
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Pakistan provincial minister sacked over Quetta attacks
The chief minister of the Pakistani province of Balochistan has been sacked over deadly bomb attacks in the provincial capital Quetta on Thursday.
The sacking, announced by Pakistan's prime minister, had been demanded by Shia protesters in the city.
They have been mounting a three-day protest vigil with the shrouded bodies of the victims of Thursday's attacks.
The banned Sunni militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi said it carried out the bombings, which killed at least 92.
Security concerns have grown among Pakistan's Shia minority, which makes up about 20% of the country's predominantly Sunni population.
Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf announced that the governor of Balochistan had been put in charge of running the province after talks in Quetta, with representatives of the Shia community.
Sunni and Shia Muslims
- Muslims are split into two main branches, the Sunnis and Shia
- The split originates in a dispute soon after the death of the Prophet Muhammad over who should lead the Muslim community
- There are also differences in doctrine, ritual, law, theology and religious organisation
- The great majority of Muslims are Sunnis
- Pakistan - where Shia are a minority - has a history of sectarian bloodshed dating back to the 1980s
Protesters had previously rejected a delegation led by the Minister for Religious Affairs, Syed Khurshid Shah, which came to the city on Saturday.
The worst of Thursday's attacks targeted a snooker hall. A suicide bomber detonated his device and a car bomb was detonated minutes later as police, rescuers and media arrived.
The president of the Shia Conference, Syed Dawood Agha, had told the BBC his community would not bury its dead until the army had given an assurance it would take administrative control of the city.
Among the dead was Quetta-based rights activist Irfan Ali, who was reportedly helping those wounded in the first blast.
Balochistan is plagued by a separatist rebellion as well as the sectarian infighting.
The Taliban and armed groups that support them also carry out attacks in the province, particularly in areas near the Afghan border.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14542505
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Profile: Ramush Haradinaj
Former Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj has become the first suspect to be tried twice for the same offences at the UN's war-crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
Both trials, which dealt with allegations from his time as a rebel commander during the 1998-1999 war, ended in acquittals.
Before he resigned as prime minister in 2005, his colourful past made him stand out among a new generation of politicians in Kosovo.
After his second acquittal in November 2012, his lawyers said he wanted to resume his political career.Torture allegations
Born in western Kosovo in 1968, Mr Haradinaj completed military service with the Yugoslav Army.
He has said the authorities blocked his attempts to further his education in Pristina, forcing him to emigrate to Switzerland in 1989.
He spent nine years in Switzerland doing jobs that included working as a security guard at sporting events and pop concerts.
Mr Haradinaj returned to Kosovo when violence broke out between Albanian guerrillas and Serbian security forces in early 1998.
He became a regional commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in the west of the province. Two of his brothers were killed during the conflict.
After the conflict, Mr Haradinaj studied law at Pristina University and set up a political party, the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo.
In October 2004, his party came third in an election and formed a coalition with Kosovo's largest party.
Mr Haradinaj, 36 at the time, was chosen as prime minister.
Western diplomats were said to be impressed by his work during his tenure.
His term lasted 100 days before he stepped down to face his first trial at The Hague.'Rightful position'
Mr Haradinaj and two close associates were accused of seeking to take control of an area in western Kosovo during the war by killing, torturing and beating Serbs or those suspected of collaborating with them.
In 2008, he and one of the associates were acquitted on 37 counts including murder, persecution, rape and torture.
The second associate was convicted of torture and jailed for six years.
At the retrial, the three men were accused variously of six counts of murder, torture and cruel treatment as war crimes.
Judge Bakone Moloto said there was no evidence that Mr Haradinaj had taken part in a plan to establish KLA control through a policy of murder and torture.
In fact, the judge said evidence suggested he had played a part in trying to mitigate the violence.
After the verdict, his lawyer Ben Emmerson told reporters: "With the consent of the people, he will soon be resuming his rightful position as the political leader of the country."
Mr Haradinaj still enjoys a widespread following within the Kosovo Albanian community.
Crowds in the capital Pristina watched the 2012 verdict on a giant screen, and celebrated his acquittal by letting off fireworks and cheering.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-16258472
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Mexico City closes Bordo Poniente rubbish dump
Mexico City has closed its main rubbish dump, Bordo Poniente, which is one of the world's biggest open-air landfills.
At its peak, hundreds of lorries were dumping more than 12,000 tons of waste each day.
That figure had already been cut in half this year by new recycling and composting plants, officials said.
Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard said the closure would significantly help reduce the capital's greenhouse gas emissions.
Mr Ebrard said his government would seek bids to establish a plant to turn the methane gas given off by the accumulated waste into energy.
A cement company has agreed to buy 3,000 tons of dry waste daily to burn as fuel.Scavengers
The composting plant is already providing organic fertiliser for the city's parks and gardens, as well as for farms in neighbouring areas.
There are also plans to reprocess building waste into construction materials.
The city government says it is negotiating with hundreds of people who scrape a living by scavenging for reusable material on the site to find them formal jobs in waste processing.
The Bordo Poniente dump was established on a dry lake bed in the 1980s, partly to handle rubble from the devastating Mexico City earthquake of 1985.
More than 70m tons of waste have been dumped there, and in places the rubbish lies more than 17m (56 feet) deep.
Its closure is being seen as a milestone in Mexico's City's efforts to make its waste management system one of the greenest in Latin America.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8470796.stm
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Steve Massiah of the US hits Australia for four
By Tom Geoghegan
BBC News Magazine
The Indian Premier League has announced plans to take cricket to the US. But could the home of baseball ever take cricket to its heart?
There are plenty of English people who find it hard to understand the joy of cricket.
But could the United States, the home of brash, all-action sports like American football and basketball, ever embrace a sport steeped in etiquette and played by gentlemen in white trousers?
The Indian Premier League, the new powerhouse in world cricket, certainly hopes so.
This week it promised to take its competition Stateside. Regional Indian sides could be competing in the Twenty20 competition by next year, according to Lalit Modi, the vice-president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
So could cricket take hold in the American imagination?
THE US CAPTAIN'S VIEW
Steve Massiah was born in Guyana and is captain of the US team. He is also a real estate agent in New York
Next month he takes the US team to Dubai for the Twenty20 World Cup qualifiers
"The problem when you look at American sports is that they like a fast pace, so going to the park to watch a 50-over match over six or seven hours is not likely
"But the Twenty20 game is a sharp format that could capture the market.
"And the Indian Premier League coming here could be a start"
Many people would be surprised to learn that the US already has a strong cricketing heritage.
A fact that all pub quiz fanatics would do well to note is that the first international cricket match was played between the US and Canada in 1844, in Bloomingdale Park, New York.
"Most of the white inhabitants at that time in America had come from Britain and they took cricket with them," says Peter Wynne-Thomas, author of The Complete Encyclopaedia of Cricket. Indeed, there are references to cricket in the US from the early 1700s.
The first overseas cricket tour was by England in the US, says Mr Wynne-Thomas, but it was unfortunate that it came months before the outbreak of the Civil War, so there were no subsequent tours to build on that interest.
"At the same time, baseball got organised as a national sport and by the time the Civil War ended, baseball had taken off and cricket became more isolated, confined to the elite living in the Philadelphia and New York areas."
15 million fans
In the 1930s, the sport took an interesting twist when the actor and England cricketer C Aubrey Smith founded the Hollywood Cricket Club. He recruited the likes of David Niven and Boris Karloff to play in California, but it was already a minority sport.
Relations between cricket and baseball had never got off to a great start. The first officially recorded game of baseball was in 1846 in New Jersey. The New York Knickerbockers were defeated 23-1 by the New York Nine, a team reportedly made up of travelling cricketers.
KEVIN CONNOLLY, BBC CORRESPONDENT IN WASHINGTON
"Cricket is a hardy flower which has always flourished in unlikely places - I've seen it played in France and Afghanistan myself. So it could flourish again here, as it has throughout history. It won't replace baseball or the NFL but there's room for minority sports in the United States. Just look at soccer.
"George Washington's troops are said to have amused themselves playing cricket as they wintered at Valley Forge before defeating the inventors of the game in battle. And Barack Obama demonstrated a promising batting stance when he met Brian Lara in Trinidad last year. In between a Philadelphia XI toured Edwardian England and British Hollywood team demonstrated the importance of the tea break. Hopes for the future lie with immigrants from South Asia and the Caribbean"
Today, there are 30,000 registered players and about 200,000 people who play cricket of some sort at weekends, says Don Lockerbie, chief executive of the USA Cricket Association. Throw in an estimated 15 million fans, 950 clubs and 48 leagues, and the game probably hasn't been this healthy since that famous match in 1844.
"In the 1960s, a huge [immigrant] influx began from Commonwealth countries, but it took 40 years for them to find themselves in communities that became both affluent and influential enough to have cricket games in public parks or private pitches."
Developments in recent years suggest fortunes are changing. The first international-standard stadium has been completed in Florida, at a cost of $15m (£9.3m). A pilot scheme in New York, in which 32 schools play cricket, is in its third year, for pupils aged 15 to 19. And in Atlanta, 35 schools have introduced the sport into their physical education class.
Cricket's supporters in the US have also been finding themselves in the media spotlight. Joseph O'Neill's highly-acclaimed novel Netherland, which has been championed by Oprah Winfrey and President Barack Obama, tells the story of cricket-playing immigrants in New York and is to be made into a Hollywood film.
But Mr Lockerbie realises it will take more than velvet prose to sell the sport to the American public.
"I've tried to explain Test cricket to Americans who say 'How can any sport go on four or five days?' To that I say 'Tiger Woods starts on a Thursday and plays until Sunday or even Monday.' We watch eight hours of golf at a time and still don't know the winner.
Actor C Aubrey Smith played cricket for England and brought the sport to Hollywood
"It's not so much whether cricket is boring or slow but Americans just want to see the great players excel. They don't need high-scoring games. Some of the great baseball games are the low-scoring ones. Twenty20 is the form of the game to put before Americans."
The next target is to have a professional Twenty20 league by 2012 and top international teams regularly playing in the US.
One advantage cricket has over baseball is that the top batsmen can have hours at the crease to demonstrate their run-making prowess, he says, while the rules of baseball conspire against players having more than four scoring hits in a match.
"Cricket is much better at showing the action of the great players. It's far more exciting at hitting balls and scoring runs than baseball, yet baseball is over in three hours.
"If Twenty20 cricket is marketed properly and fans, television and sponsors embrace it, we could see the sport of cricket becoming the next great sport in the US, where other sports have tried."
There is some way to go, says sports historian David Brooks. To many Americans, cricket is a mobile phone company of the same name, or to those who know their sports, it's a strange English quirk.
A CRICKET SHOP IN NEW YORK
Dupaul Singh owns Singh's Sporting Goods in Queen's
It is, he says, the only shop in the US entirely devoted to cricket
Hundreds of cricket bats line the walls
"I came from Guyana to the US in 1986 and arrived on a Thursday. On the Saturday I was playing cricket."
People are optimistic about the future of cricket but there have been many false dawns, so there is caution too, he says
"I think demographics were vital in the early days when the sports market was still relatively open. But cricket, with its need for a lot of time and good facilities, was not well suited to a country dominated by low-income immigrants, many of them from European non-cricketing nations.
"Today I think time is important. I'm not sure what it is in the American psyche that makes long attention spans rare, but it is a fact that none of the US sports last more than three hours. They've found a formula that works, and cricket - with the possible exception of Twenty20 - does not fit into it."
American sports fans also can't stand a draw, or a tie as they call it, he says. They always play until there's a winner, so the concept of playing five days and not having a result is completely alien.
Today's demographics also count against cricket taking off, because the fast-growing Latino community prefers soccer and baseball.
On the other hand, the sport has some things going for it - plenty of time for adverts and lots of statistics, which Americans love. So how could it spread in popularity?
Given its need for facilities and equipments, it will need to take hold in schools and universities, says Mr Brooks. And Americans will need to be exposed to world-class cricket, although the time difference means that mostly happens when they are in bed or in work.
"Perhaps if the US team, complete with a baseball star selected by reality TV, qualified for a Twenty20 World Cup in the West Indies, with a game or two in Miami, then perhaps, just perhaps, with the right marketing, cricket could get the exposure it needs."
Sounds like a plot for a novel, but who wants to read about American cricket?
Below is a selection of your comments.
Cricket has a very long history in the US. My great-grandfather used to coach at the Merion Cricket Club, near Philadelphia. To some degree, it's still looked upon as an elitist sport here, since one needs to be a member of the Country Club or Cricket Club - which tends to be a very expensive proposition. It would be interesting to try to introduce it into schools as an alternative or supplement to the usual offerings of basketball or football. There is, however, the risk of a starting a brand new breed of cricket cheerleaders.
Jean Upton, Chelmsford
Cricket has one very important element going for it and another which could scupper it as a US spectator sport. For - it is a natural for American TV because of the ready-made breaks at over end for advertising and the limited over game would fit well into the four-five hour attention span of the public.
Against - US spectators would never give the ball back if a six landed in the crowd because of the baseball tradition as the homer ball as a trophy. This would radically affect the strategy of managing the wear and tear on the ball as part of the game.
Tony Lord, Ann Arbor MI
Cricket flourishes in Southern California. The Los Angeles based league has 5 divisions and 50+ teams. Social cricket matches these numbers and the weather means games are played year-round. The British & Dominion Cricket Club has British roots but has a diverse playing membership from all over the globe.
David Collicutt, Hermosa Beach, US
As an Indian attending a US veterinary school in the Caribbean, I can see how Americans can be drawn into watch T20. Several of my classmates who did not even get swept up in local World Cup fever caught the IPL on TV and were so entranced, ended up having picking their own favourites and betting on games while learning it from scratch. With a little help on the rules from me, they are now crickets newest American fans.
Arvind Badrinarayanan, Conaree, St Kitts, West Indies
I'm an immigrant from the US, and have noticed a crucial difference between cricket and baseball. The situation, meaning likely winners and losers, changes very rapidly in baseball. Scoring is harder, with a "base hit" closer to a cricket run, and not a few baseball games are won or put out of reach by the result of a "bases loaded, two outs, full count" batting situation, resolved by a single pitch (bowl). Cricket has none of this situational tension, its own situations taking hours to develop even in Twenty20.
Richard Reed, London, UK
Cricket would be a hard-sell in America, considering, as you have stated, "There are plenty of English people who find it hard to understand the joy of cricket." Also, just to be clear, this is patently false: "plenty of time for adverts and lots of statistics, which Americans love". We ENDURE adverts because there is no choice if you want to watch TV; we don't have the option of advert-free TV because we don't pay a TV tax.
Becky, Rochester, NY
It would be a major breakthrough if cricket could gain more popularity in the US. In the long run it might increase the popularity of the sport in other countries worldwide. I've always viewed cricket as chess on a field and would love for more people to enjoy the tactics involved in the game and the moments of greatness it produces. And of course attending a cricket match is a fantastic day out for all ages and always with good fun banter between the supporters.
Jennifer Reed, Manchester, UK
Americans only take to a sport in which they are the world leaders, normally with only two or three countries worldwide that play it. Just look at football - they had a World Cup in 1994 and although there have been some good results and an increase in quality and numbers playing, it will never overcome American football, baseball or basketball. The main thing in cricket's favour is that it is played by so few countries - and baseball is probably the most boring game ever invented, it can go on for hours and finish up 1-0 - so cricket should be pretty interesting.
My father used to explain to me that "The English had no conception of boredom and so they had to invent cricket." Dad was born in Middlesborough.
Bill Dunn, Paisley, Scotland
As an American who loves cricket, I have a hard time imagining it taking hold here. Most people will see it as too similar to baseball, and I'm afraid a lot people will immediately dislike it for being too "foreign." Soccer (football) is still struggling to break through into the mainstream here, and I think that has a much wider appeal than cricket.
Jim, Virgina, US
I think 20-20 has a real chance in the US as it really is "all-action". In fact much more "all-action" than American football or baseball which I find extremely formulaic and - even at the highest level - potentially boring compared to soccer, rugby and cricket. They need the cheerleaders to add atmosphere.
Tim Reynolds, Brussels, Belgium
Were I in charge of the project of marketing cricket in the US, I would start with some sort of challenge to major league ball players to attempt to hit world class bowling and vice versa. It would give American baseball fans some sort of reference point.
Kealin Murphy, Cresco, Pa
Philadelphia has a very active cricket scene - albeit played mostly by expats. We have some wonderful grounds that go back to when cricket was very popular in the region in the 1900s. We also have the Philadelphia International cricket festival which will include teams from the UK, Canada and sometimes the WI. The clubs have preserved the cricket grounds as they use them for grass tennis during the summer.
David Lamb, Philadelphia
I live in a relatively new suburb with a lot of open space. Some of that space has been devoted to cricket pitches; Indian and Pakistani immigrants are out there all weekend playing cricket. It's hard to believe the game isn't already more popular; it's really just a matter of time.
Cricket is a Commonwealth sport and provides a wide reaching role not just on sporting but also on cultural and political fronts. Cricket helps to bind together the Commonwealth countries that play it and sometimes (perhaps one could argue not for the better) it plays an important political role too. For a global superpower to take it up at this stage would dilute all of this. I don't think the sport will be richer for it either - it doesn't need the US for expansion when it has India and all the possibilities that country brings as it continues to develop in to a major global economic super power. Is football any the better off for having what is now a very respected US team?
John Raftery, Morpeth, Northumberland, UK
Cricket is too long and boring. I have watched it on cable and I failed to understand is appeal. BTW, I am a retired ESL teacher so I am well educated and still fail to see the purpose in playing the same game for so many days. Nevertheless I wish you good luck.
Roberto Yarzagaray, Milford, PA, US
Could America take to cricket? Answer, no.
Could America take to 20/20? Answer, possibly, but it ain't cricket.
Keith Hart, Wimborne, Dorset
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7285817.stm
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Serbian President Boris Tadic has said he will call an early general election after the coalition government fell apart over policy on Kosovo.
Kosovo Serbs continued to hold anti-independence rallies this week
Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica announced the collapse after failing to get his cabinet to reject closer EU ties in protest at independence.
Mr Kostunica has said recognition of Kosovo by EU states is illegal.
Mr Tadic is awaiting a formal request for the new election, expected on Monday, before setting a date.
"I respect the prime minister's decision that he is no longer able to lead the government of Serbia and, when I get the government's decision, I will call an election," he said in a statement.
"Elections are the democratic way to overcome political crises and the people are the only ones who have right to decide which is the way forward for Serbia."
The political establishment in Serbia has been deeply divided over the way forward and a general election would be the first opportunity for the people of Serbia to express their views, says the BBC's Nick Hawton in Belgrade.
Kosovo's declaration of independence came nearly a decade after Nato forces expelled Serbian forces from the mainly ethnic-Albanian territory.
Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia on 17 February.
The US and major EU countries have recognised it as independent.
Serbia, backed by its ally, Russia, says it will never accept an independent Kosovo.
Announcing that his cabinet had fallen, Prime Minister Kostunica told reporters in Belgrade:
"The government of Serbia has no united policy any more on an important issue related to the future of the country - Kosovo as a part of Serbia.
"Such a government could not function any more. This is the end of the government and we should return the mandate to the people."
However, Mr Tadic, who says Belgrade will only be able to defend its right to Kosovo if it joins the EU, said the main difference between himself and his prime minister was not on Kosovo but Serbia's "European and economic outlook".
Mr Kostunica's Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) split with its coalition partner, the Democratic Party (DS) of Mr Tadic, over policy towards the EU in the wake of Kosovo's independence declaration.
The outgoing prime minister has maintained that ties can improve only if the EU rejects Kosovo's declaration of independence.
Belgrade has reacted angrily to an EU mission to ease Kosovo's transition.
The DSS is backing a draft resolution from the opposition nationalist Radical Party, condemning the EU's 1,800-strong mission to Kosovo as illegal and calling on countries to overturn their decision to recognise it.
But a number of pro-Western ministers have failed to support Mr Kostunica's approach.
Mr Kostunica has scheduled a cabinet meeting on Monday to propose an early election for 11 May - the date for Serbia's local elections.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4148164.stm
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An international research team has proposed new techniques that may lead to the mass production of meat reared not on the farm, but in the laboratory.
Pork cuts could come fresh from the lab
Developments in tissue engineering mean that cells taken from animals could be grown directly into meat in a laboratory, the researchers say.
Scientists believe the technology already exists to directly grow processed meat like a chicken nugget.
The technology could benefit both humans and the environment.
"With a single cell, you could theoretically produce the world's annual meat supply. And you could do it in a way that's better for the environment and human health.
"In the long term, this is a very feasible idea," said Jason Matheny of the University of Maryland, part of the team whose research has been published in the Tissue Engineering journal.
Growing the meat without the animal could reduce the need to keep millions of animals in cramped conditions and would lessen the damage caused by the meat production to the environment.
Laboratory-grown meat could also be healthier, proponents say.
Tissue engineering techniques were first developed for medical use and small amounts of edible fish tissue have been grown in research conducted by Nasa.
To industrialise the process, researchers suggest the cells could be grown on large sheets that would need to be stretched to provide the 'exercise' for the growing muscles.
Concerns have been raised about eating meat from cloned animals.
"If you didn't stretch them, it would be like eating mush," said Mr Methany.
Whilst the technology to produce processed meat is here now, producing a steak or chicken breast is still quite a way off, the researchers say.
The new techniques could also provide a dilemma for vegetarians.
Some may feel able to eat meat that has been grown without an animal being harmed.
Others feel that question marks remain about the way the cells would be taken from animals.
"It won't appeal to someone who gave up meat because they think it's morally wrong to eat flesh or someone who doesn't want to eat anything unnatural," Kerry Bennett of the UK Vegetarian Society told the Guardian newspaper.
How regulators might react is also unclear.
The US Food and Drug Administration has asked companies not to market any products that involve cloned animals until their safety has been evaluated.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7732971.stm
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Fraudsters are targeting those that bank online
To an internet fraudster an identity is worth £80, suggests research from the UK's Get Safe Online campaign. The same study revealed that in 2008 23% of net users fell victim to phishing attacks - far higher than the 8% it claims were caught out in 2007.
Small wonder that Britain has been described as being in the midst of a cyber crimewave. Here the BBC offers some advice about how to stay safe online.
How bad is identity fraud?
In 2006, a government estimate put the cost of ID theft at £1.7bn a year. In 2007 Cifas - the UK's fraud prevention service - helped more than 65,000 victims of ID fraud and theft.
Fraudsters use personal details to gain access to bank accounts, run up bills, launder money, create false documents such as passports or birth certificates and carry out benefit fraud.
The consequences can be very distressing and a headache for victims to sort out.
While you will not normally be liable for the stolen money, credit reference agency Equifax estimates it can take up to 300 hours to resolve one case.
My bank has sent me an e-mail, asking me to update security details - what should I do?
Ignore it and delete it.
COMPUTER SECURITY TIPS
Make sure you have good anti-virus software which regularly scans for spyware
Make sure you use a firewall, spam filter and security software that keeps an eye on you while you browse the web
Avoid keeping passwords stored on your computer and disclosing them to anybody
If you are accessing banking details from a computer that is used by other people, ensure you do not click on "save" password, as another user could gain access
Check your bank statements and receipts carefully to ensure there are no fraudulent transactions
If you receive an e-mail purporting to be from your bank or credit card provider which asks you to update your details, it is very likely to be a "phishing" scam.
Anyone falling for the scam will let fraudsters can gain access to their bank accounts or use them to launder money.
It is important to remember that your bank will never ask for your log in and password by e-mail. Many explicitly say so on their banking websites - after all the bank already has these details and does not need them. By contrast the fraudsters do not have them and want them.
If in doubt, call the bank.
I've got an e-mail from a friend with an attachment but it's not the type of message they usually send. What should I do?
Ignore it and delete it. Many hi-tech criminals still use e-mail to try to catch people out. Many of the messages they send play on current events or subjects of prurient interest to get people opening them up.
The attachment could well be booby-trapped with a malicious program that aims to infiltrate your computer and lie in wait to gather data when you visit an online bank or login to an online game.
If you are not sure most anti-virus programs allow users to scan attachments and other documents before opening them. However, this check is not infallible because there are so many viruses and variants now in circulation.
The vast majority of security threats are aimed at Microsoft's Windows and its other programs. Advice from security firms is to ensure that, if you use Microsoft software, ensure it is updated as soon as security fixes are available. Some advise users to consider using non-Microsoft programs for web browsing, e-mail and other day-to-day tasks.
Am I safe if I avoid sites dealing in pornography, pirated media, cracks for games and gambling?
Not necessarily. It used to be the case that anyone visiting such sites was at far greater risk of falling victim to an attack.
Many scammers now target legitimate sites to catch out browsers
However, in recent months hi-tech criminals have put a lot of effort into subverting popular sites with a good reputation.
Scammers often inject booby-trapped adverts onto such sites or get at the website code to install malicious programs that infect every visitor.
Web users can reduce the chance of being caught out by making sure they use the latest version of their web browser of choice and using security software that keeps an eye on them while they browse.
A pop-up advert tells me that my computer is riddled with spyware. What should I do?
Ignore the advert and close the pop-up page. Many scammers are turning to fake tools that warn about non-existent problems on a PC.
At best when installed these machines will nag users until they pay for some useless security software. At worst they will be completely fake and simply steal saleable data. It is better to stick with one security software suite than it is to get bits and bobs from here and there.
How can I safeguard my personal documents?
Although the rise of ID fraud is very alarming, there are steps you can take to try to protect yourself.
You have a good credit history but are turned down because of a default on your record
There are entries on your credit file you do not recognise
You are being chased for outstanding debt
Mail you normally expect from financial institutions does not arrive
You have lost or had important documents stolen
You apply for benefits and are told you are already claiming, when you are not
*Source: Home Office
Carelessly discarding personal details is an easy way to become a victim.
Criminal gangs have been known to employ homeless people to search through rubbish bins for financial records and identity documents.
The number one tip from experts is that all documents containing personal information and financial transactions should be either ripped up or shredded before they are thrown out.
Destroying evidence should also extend to direct mailings or any documentation that contains your name and address, experts advise.
Electric shredders can be purchased for as little as £15 and can help take some of the hassle out of destroying documents.
How can I keep my passwords safe?
Experts urge people not to write down their passwords and pin numbers and not to disclose them to anyone.
They also suggest people should steer clear of using obvious passwords, such as a mother's maiden name or date of birth.
Some security firms offer programs known as a "password safe", which let users keep a secure record of important logins on their computer.
It is also worth using what is known as a "strong" password. This is one that is not easily guessed or would take a long time for a computer to work out. Instead of being words it could be a random combination of letters, numbers and symbols.
What if I am a victim?
Act quickly and notify the credit provider straight away. It is also important to report it as a crime to the police and request a crime number.
Industry body Cifas advises victims to keep a record of everything, as recovering from identity theft can be a long and complicated process.
Cifas also advises all letters should be sent by recorded or special delivery and for people to keep track of how much time they spend dealing with the problem.
Victims of identity fraud or people who are concerned they could become a victim because they have had important documents stolen, can apply for extra protection through Cifas' Protective Registration Service.
It costs £11.75 and places a warning on credit files. This should ensure that if anyone applies for credit under your name, further identity checks are made.
This service can also be used to protect the identity of a deceased person. Telephone 0870 0102091 to register.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/5200962.stm
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Two staff associations within the UK's police forces are at the centre of an increasingly bitter dispute.
The advert has sparked an investigation
The row between the Gay Police Association and the Christian Police Association has been simmering for a while.
A newspaper advertisement taken out by the GPA coincided with London's Europride event a fortnight ago.
The ad featured a Bible next to a pool of blood under the heading "in the name of the father", and claimed that religion was the sole or primary motivation behind most of the homophobic incidents logged by the GPA's staff helpline.
A minister, Reverend George Hargreaves, complained about the advert and said its claim was nonsense.
He also called the GPA "Christianphobic", prompting a Met Police investigation into whether the advert constituted a faith crime.
But far from backing down, members of the GPA say their colleagues in the Christian Police Association are themselves guilty of breaking police equal opportunities rules which outlaw discrimination on the grounds of sexuality.
The GPA's national coordinator Vic Codling told BBC News they are in dispute with the CPA after a gay, Christian police officer was refused membership of the CPA unless he agreed to become celibate.
"Black or female police officers wouldn't be asked to be "less black" or "less female" in order to join staff associations, so why should gay or lesbian officers?" said Mr Codling.
The unnamed Metropolitan Police officer sought the help of the GPA, who referred the complaint to the Police Federation.
When the GPA complained about the case of the gay officer, the CPA sent them their "position paper" on homosexuality which is based on a report by the Evangelical Alliance.
It states it rejects homophobia, but doesn't regard religious criticism of gay lifestyles as discriminatory.
The CPA's Executive Director Don Axcell, told BBC News that his organisation was trying to be conciliatory, but the GPA were being uncooperative.
"They published a vitriolic article in Police Review magazine about faith-based homophobia. We've been trying to work through conciliation, but we keep coming up against conflict."
'In the mind'
And Mr Axcell disputes the GPA's allegation that religion is a motivator of homophobia.
"They say their helpline dealt with 14 cases of faith-based homophobia last year - but not all of that was Christian.
Other adverts were less controversial
"Fourteen cases is minuscule if you consider the thousands of police officers in Britain. And what's considered to be homophobia is in the mind of the complainant."
Mr Axcell denies that his members are homophobic. And he points out that although some CPA branches do some of their work on police time, the GPA he says, receives thousands of pounds of funding from the government.
The case concerning the Met officer was due to be discussed on Friday, with the Police Federation's chairman Jan Berry acting as mediator, but the meeting was cancelled because of a planned rail strike.
The Police Federation said it did not want to comment on the case at the moment.
Mr Codling says he's not anti-Christian but he doesn't want people's faith interfering with their job, or encouraging them to discriminate.
"Some homophobes look around for excuses and see the CPA's position and it gives them support. But many of them don't have a practising religious background themselves."
Mr Codling thinks that some of the problem lies with senior officers either being practising Christians, or members of the CPA itself, which Mr Codling says raises questions about how willing they are to confront work-based prejudice.
"The police wouldn't accommodate the discriminatory values of the BNP, so why are they accommodating the values of the CPA, simply because they're based on faith?"
And referring to the police investigation of the GPA's advert, he says it wasn't badly received by all Christians.
"A police chaplain told me he wasn't offended and wanted to put the ad on his notice board because the issue needed to be discussed."
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/6183358.stm
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Colchester's Chris Iwelumo scored four goals as Hull were thumped.
But the hosts were forced to come from behind after Nicky Forster prodded home Craig Fagan's header on 16 minutes.
Iwelumo headed an equaliser three minutes later and after the break he gave his side the lead from the penalty spot after he had won the kick himself.
The superb Iwelumo set up Jamie Cureton to score from seven yards before he sidefooted his third goal and then completed the scoring with a header.
Colchester boss Geraint Williams:
"I'm delighted for the players. In the first half we were a bit flat and we got caught out to let them go ahead.
"However, Chris Iwelumo scored a great header and it was important that we really got stuck into them after the restart. The boys did that superbly.
"But the only P word I'm thinking of is points and not play-offs."
Hull manager Phil Parkinson:
"I've never had a defeat that's hurt so much, I can't remember a worse time at Layer Road.
"Colchester played very well and they can take a lot of credit. But I can't get concerned about the opposition, my worry is more with my own team.
"We just didn't do the simple things right and as a result we were just second best."
Colchester: Davison, Halford, Baldwin, Brown, Elokobi, Duguid, Jackson, Izzet, McLeod (Watson 73), Iwelumo (Guy 85), Cureton (Ephraim 85).
Subs Not Used: Gerken, White.
Goals: Iwelumo 19, 54 pen, Cureton 57, Iwelumo 66, 79.
Hull: Myhill, Ricketts, Coles, Turner, Delaney, Fagan, Welsh (France 59), Livermore, Elliott, Marney, Forster (Barmby 59).
Subs Not Used: Duke, Dawson, McPhee.
Booked: Delaney, Elliott, Marney.
Goals: Forster 16.
Ref: P Miller (Bedfordshire).
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/cycling/5254402.stm
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Floyd Landis claims his doping test was "fatally flawed" and says officials behind the process have an agenda.
Landis has not been stripped of his Tour de France title yet
The American tested positive for unusual levels of testosterone after winning stage 17 of this year's race and is set to lose his title.
But Landis, 30, claims the leak of his test broke rules and questions the anonymity of the procedure.
"There's extraneous circumstances that indicate there's some strange things going on with this test," said Landis.
The only explanation I can come up with is that there is some agenda here
Landis criticised officials from the International Cycling Union (UCI) and World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) for announcing the results of his test without analysing his B sample.
He also claimed the test was not conducted anonymously, saying he had evidence to prove laboratory staff had access to the names of the samples being tested.
"You'll see that they clearly broke the rules and their excuse was pathetic. The only explanation I can come up with is that there is some agenda here," Landis told Radio Four's Today programme.
"The public display of humiliation they've brought upon me, breaking their own rules in the process, and the excuses they've used, have been unacceptable in the least.
"I can prove to you, and will demonstrate to you, that the people at the laboratory are not objective about this.
I do have an agenda - my agenda is a clean sport and to retain the credibility of the sport
"I have evidence to indicate they have the names of the riders connected to the numbers.
"In order for them to be objective, without any kind of bias, it has to be completely anonymous. That has to be a fatal flaw in the system.
"It's devastating and now I'm angry and disappointed in the system. I'm upset that some people with ethics like they have have been given the authority to do the things they're doing."
UCI boss Pat McQuaid, however, insisted there were no such rules regarding the naming of a rider who has failed a drugs test.
"I make no excuses for the fact that we announced we had an adverse analytical finding on the Tour de France - it's important we're completely transparent - and that's all we announced.
"It was his team that released his name, not the UCI," McQuaid told BBC Sport.
The Irishman also rejected the likelihood that the independent, Wada-accredited lab in Paris would compromise the anonymity of the test.
"I have no evidence, or ever been aware of any evidence, to show the labs have the names at the same time as the numbers, so I would reject that completely," he said.
"But I do have an agenda. My agenda is a clean sport and to retain the credibility of the sport."
Landis has denied ever taking performance-enhancing drugs and a variety of reasons were offered for his failed test, including one that he drank whisky and beer the night before stage 17.
The ride to Morzine saw him record an epic victory after struggling on the final climb the day before.
I have a new goal - to prove myself innocent
Other reasons given were dehydration, injections for pain in his hip and his natural metabolism.
Since then the former mountain bike star has launched a vigorous defence of his reputation on American television.
Landis told NBC's "Today" show that some of the explanations for the unusual levels of testosterone were given in haste.
"I've come out in the press and tried to explain these test results, but I think that was a mistake," said Landis. "I was forced into this situation because of leaks from the UCI."
Speaking on ABC's "Good Morning America" show, Landis denied all of these explanations came from him.
"All of these reasons that have come up, some from me, some from other people, we need to forget about them and let the experts figure out what's going on," he said.
"The whisky idea was not mine and the dehydration was a theory from the lawyers I hired in Spain to represent me at the opening of the B sample.
"But I did not authorise them to say something like that so I'm disappointed with that."
Landis, who has already been sacked by his Phonak team, faces a two-year ban if the US Anti-Doping Agency decides he is guilty, though he will have the opportunity to appeal.
UCI officials must then decide whether to award the Tour de France title to runner-up Oscar Pereiro of Spain.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/21639663
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Florida family told sinkhole house was 'on stable ground'
A Florida man has disappeared into a 20ft-deep (6m) sinkhole that swallowed up a bedroom in his house.
Jeffrey Bush, 36, is presumed dead after rescue crews failed to make contact with him.
Sinkholes are common in certain parts of Florida, Hillsborough County's fire chief said.
But Jacqueline Ingles, a reporter with WFTS-TV, said the Bush family had been told their home was "absolutely on stable ground".
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8284958.stm
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The fighting in Kismayo between rival Islamist groups could be the beginning of the end of their national alliance - and good news for the embattled interim government.
It is not unexpected that the two Islamist groups - Hizbul-Islam and al-Shabab - would fall out.
- Alleged to have links with al-Qaeda
- Has foreign fighters in its ranks
- Well organised militarily and logistically
- Led by Hassan Dahir Aweys
- Aweys led al-Itihad al-Islamiya, put on US terror list in 2001
- Home-grown Islamist movement
But what is surprising is the timing.
It was thought that their alliance would last until after they had unseated the UN-backed government, which now controls only a few key areas of the capital, Mogadishu.
Both sides have tried to play down rivalries that have been bubbling below the surface for some time.
Hizbul-Islam is thought to have more fighters than al-Shabab, but this is not to say it would necessarily gain the upper hand countrywide if it came to an all-out battle.
Al-Shabab, which is alleged to have links with al-Qaeda and has foreign fighters in its ranks, is better organised logistically and militarily.
Eyes on the palace
Ideologically the groups are similar: They both want Somalia to be an Islamic state.
The interim government also wants Sharia imposed, but in the areas under control of al-Shabab, the interpretation of Sharia has been very strict.
Traditionally, Somalis have practised a moderate and tolerant form of Islam.
But under al-Shabab, music is not allowed, cinemas have been closed down and traditionally colourful women's robes have been replaced by hijabs made from heavy dark material.
Hizbul-Islam, a home-grown Islamic movement, has been more moderate in its rulings.
However, the crux of the dispute between Hizbul-Islam and al-Shabab is the battle for power and who will get to occupy the presidential palace.
A full-scale fall-out of the allies could cause further misery for Somali civilians - most villages and towns in central and southern Somalia have fighters from both Hizbul-Islam and al-Shabab.
Since 1991 the country has experienced almost constant warfare - although until 2006 it was mainly along clan lines.
And although the battle lines appear to have shifted, local clans tend to have allegiance to one group over another.
Al-Shabab has its roots in the Union of Islamic Court (UIC) which controlled much of the country for six months before Ethiopia invaded in December 2006 to oust them.
Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys's battle with the president is personal
It was the UIC youth wing and one of its main leaders - Aden Hashi Ayro - had allegedly been trained in Afghanistan.
He was killed last year in a US air strike - and little is known about the leadership of the group, except that it has international backing.
Hizbul-Islam too comes from the remnants of the UIC. Its leader is Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys - one-time UIC leader.
Before the UIC he led al-Itihad al-Islamiya - now a defunct group which was added to the US list of terrorist groups in 2001, although Mr Aweys has always denied any terror links.
He is a bitter enemy of fellow UIC leader Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, who became Somalia's president in January.
His battle with the president is personal - and he is resisting attempts by the government to engage in reconciliation talks.
Despite a UN arms embargo neither group will have a problem finding arms.
Mogadishu has a well-stocked arms market and weapon shipments can come in across the country through airports and ports under their control.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6463463.stm
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The residents of a village in the Czech Republic have voted overwhelmingly to reject a radar station that would form part of the US missile defence shield.
In Trokavec, 71 of the 72 who voted said no to the radar station
Only one of the residents voted yes, while 71 of the 90 eligible voters were opposed, said the mayor of Trokavec, 70km (44 miles) from Prague.
Villagers fear the area will become a military target. The vote was largely symbolic and has no legal power.
The US plans the shield to prevent long-range missile attacks.
The programme has bases in the US, Britain and Greenland, and Washington wants more in Poland and the Czech Republic to complete the coverage.
The Czech government is in favour of the plan but needs the approval of parliament, where it has no majority.
Trokavec, which is less than 2km (1.25 miles) from the planned radar base, also fears the area may be affected by radiation.
Several hundred peace activists marched through Prague city centre
Mayor Jan Neoral told AFP news agency: "This is our message to the government and the government should take notice of the fact that our village wishes [the radar site] not to happen."
He said more villages would hold symbolic referendums.
The BBC's Rob Cameron in Prague says the capital held a rally of several hundred peace activists.
They marched through the city centre and campaigners carrying burning torches formed a peace sign in the old town square, he said.
Jan Tamas, spokesman of the No To Bases group, told him: "If we want to have security, then we need to begin disarming not creating new weapons."
However, a spokesman for a group backing the shield, Vaclav Marhoul, rejected claims that the plan would make the Czech Republic a military target.
"We believe that the EU or European civilisation couldn't save ourselves without the United States," he said.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8654076.stm
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The results may boost the Prince's chances of returning to Afghanistan
Prince Harry has passed the Army pilots' course, St James's Palace confirmed on Friday.
The pass mark completes his training and he is now qualified to fly Lynx and Apache helicopters.
It is not known how much the result could affect the chances the Prince will return to serve in Afghanistan.
He can express a preference about which aircraft he would prefer to fly before his graduation ceremony, set to take place next Friday.
"Prince Harry is very pleased," said a St James's Palace spokesman.
"He will give the matter serious consideration over the next few days before inputting his preference."
The prince has made no secret of his wish to return to Afghanistan after spending 10 weeks in Helmand province in 2007-8 as a forward air controller directing air strikes.
The officer with the Household Cavalry Regiment decided to become a pilot to increase his changes of being re-deployed.
Harry, who began his flying training with the Army Air Corps last January, said in June: "I'm really enjoying it and, as everyone knows, it's my easiest way of getting back to the front line.
"Maybe safer, maybe not, I don't know. To get out to Afghanistan again would be fantastic and my best chance is to do it from a helicopter."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13142299
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Toyota cuts UK car production due to parts shortage
Toyota, the world's biggest carmaker, has said it will cut output at its Burnaston plant in Derbyshire to the equivalent of three half-days a week.
The reduced work schedule from 3 May until the end of the month is to manage the current shortage of car parts.
Separately, Honda said a 50% cut in output at its Swindon plant would remain in place until the end of May.
Carmakers have been facing a shortage of parts due to the damage caused by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.Global production shortfall
Output at the Toyota Burnaston factory will stop entirely on two days a week, with workers agreeing to do half-shifts on the other three days.
"The combination of this and flexible working arrangements will help ensure that we are able to quickly respond to the demand for our products as soon as parts are available," Toyota said in a statement.
The company said it would be 12,600 cars behind schedule in the UK by the end of May.
Tony Walker of Toyota Manufacturing UK said workers at the UK plant would remain on full pay and described the feeling amongst staff as "very positive".
"Everyone understands this is a unique situation. Usually our production is determined by demand, but demand is still there," Mr Walker told the BBC.
"There is an understanding that this is because of the terrible situation in Japan and we just can't get the parts," he said.
Workers will make up the time at a later date.Components centre
Toyota also announced plans on Wednesday to cut production in North America by 70% and to reduce output in China by 50-70%, until 3 June.
The firm has previously said it will also curb production at factories in Turkey, Poland, France and Australia.
The area of eastern Japan which is an important source of electrical components for the car industry has been badly hit by the earthquake in March.
The company has been able to resume production at all of its Japanese assembly plants, although these are also affected by the parts shortages.
"As we are producing, we are keeping a careful eye on the parts situation," said Paul Nolasco, a spokesman for the manufacturer.
"We are doing the best we can to return the situation back to normal as soon as possible."
The company now faced a total production shortfall of 540,000 cars from North America, Europe, Japan and China for the period up to 3 June, he said.
That is equivalent to 7% of Toyota's global production target of 7.7 million units for 2011.Delivery delays
Other car companies have also announced their own production cut-backs because of the earthquake.
Nissan has closed its Sunderland plant from Good Friday until May Day, while Honda had to halve output at its Swindon factory earlier this month.
Honda said on Wednesday that full production at Swindon would not now resume until the end of May, and that delivery times for UK customers would be extended to eight weeks from the usual four.
Japan revealed earlier on Wednesday that its exports in March had fallen a surprise 2.2% compared with a year ago, largely due to the impact of the earthquake on manufacturers.
Car shipments were down 28% in the month.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20778454
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World Bank raises China growth forecast
The World Bank has raised its growth forecast for China, saying stimulus measures and approval of infrastructure projects will help boost growth.
It added that the pick-up in factory output and investment "suggested that China's economy was bottoming out".
The bank said it now expects China's economy to grow by 8.4% in 2013, up from its earlier projection of 8.1%.
A slowdown in China's growth in recent months had prompted policymakers to announce various stimulus measures.
These include two interest rate cuts since June, and the approval of infrastructure projects worth more than $150bn (£94bn).
China's central bank, the People's Bank of China, has also lowered the amount of money that banks need to keep in reserve three times in the past few months in an attempt to boost lending.
"The impact of easing credit conditions and public investment in infrastructure is beginning to show," the bank said in its report.
"The impact is expected to continue to be felt into 2013, as the authorities have accelerated the approval of large projects."'Bright spot'
The bank also raised its forecast for the developing East Asia region, excluding China.
The grouping, which includes Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia and Burma, is now projected to grow 5.7% in 2013, up from the previous forecast of 5.5%.
The bank said that the region was likely to benefit from Thailand's recovery from last year's floods and strong growth in the Philippines.
The Philippines economy has been one of the better performing ones in the region this year.
Its growth has been helped by a strong domestic demand, government spending and increased investment in the country.
The bank raised its projection for the Philippines to 6.2% for 2013 from 5%.
It added that the opening up of Burma and the continuing reforms in the country, which have seen various sanctions against it being lifted, was "another bright spot in the region".
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-13637632
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Tory MP James Arbuthnot to step down for 'new challenge'
Long-serving Conservative MP James Arbuthnot has said he will stand down from Parliament at the next election.
Mr Arbuthnot, 58, said the decision was to "take on new challenges".
The Eton-educated barrister has represented North East Hampshire since 1997 and previously was MP for Wanstead and Woodford from 1987 to 1997.
He is currently the Defence Select Committee chairman and before that was a minister for social security and defence in John Major's government.
Mr Arbuthnot is the first MP from last year's general election to announce plans to leave Parliament.
He had a majority of 18,597 at the last election.'Rewarding role'
In a statement released by his office, Mr Arbuthnot said: "It has been a great privilege to have represented North East Hampshire for the last 14 years, and before that Wanstead and Woodford for 10.
"My constituents have been generous and supportive and have taught me much.
"Their friendship has meant a great deal to Emma and me, and we shall always be grateful to them.
"After a fulfilling career, first as a barrister and then in Parliament, it is now right to move on at a time when I can still take on new challenges."
Mr Arbuthnot described his chairmanship of the Defence Select Committee as an "especially rewarding role", which comes to an end at the end of this Parliament.
The next general election is scheduled for 2015.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-21093895
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Gritters keep Sussex roads clear after heavy snowfall
Gritters are continuing to work around the clock to ensure the main routes across East and West Sussex are kept clear following heavy snowfall.
Further snow flurries are possible on Saturday but more significant snow is forecast for Sunday.
Air passengers, motorists and rail travellers faced disruption on Friday, while 275 Sussex schools were closed because of the snow.
Gatwick Airport said disruption was minimal due to snow clearance vehicles.Match postponed
However, it has advised passengers to check the status of their flight with the airline before travelling to the airport, and to allow extra time for their journey.
Southern Rail has been running an amended timetable and fewer services, but it said a normal Saturday service would operate although some routes would be affected by "major improvement works".
End Quote Kaddy Lee-Preston BBC South East weather presenter
On Sunday, there is a weather system... which could [bring] large amounts of snow”
Services on First Capital Connect were also disrupted on Friday, and passengers were urged to check its live train updates page before travelling and allow extra time for their journey
The weather has also lead to the postponement on Saturday of the League One football match between Crawley Town and Carlisle United at the Broadfield Stadium because of problems with the pitch.
BBC South East weather presenter Kaddy Lee-Preston said freezing temperatures would remain across the weekend "with many places struggling to reach even 1C and feeling bitter in the strong winds".
She said temperatures would fall on Friday night to -3C.
Many places will not see any snow on Saturday, although there is a chance of a few flurries which could amount to a further 2cm.
She added: "Ice is also a concern and surfaces will be prone to ice throughout the weekend
"On Sunday, there is a weather system moving up from the continent which could give large amounts of snow.
"Details are difficult to pinpoint at the moment but it's the type of situation where we could get 5cm or more of snow."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-18506787
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Tom Maynard death: IPCC refers case back to police
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has referred the case surrounding Surrey cricketer Tom Maynard's death back to Scotland Yard.
Cardiff-born Maynard, 23, was hit by a London Underground train on Monday.
The Metropolitan Police said a man matching his description ran away after a car being driven "erratically" was stopped about 50 minutes earlier.
The IPCC referred it back because pursuing officers lost sight of the man.
A statement said: "The IPCC has assessed the referral from the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) regarding the death of a 23-year-old man.
"The police evidence is that at 4.13am officers saw a car being driven erratically which they followed.
"The driver then decamped and after a short chase on foot, officers lost sight of him and had no further contact. The man appears to have been hit by a train at 5.04am.Not suspicious
"In the circumstances the IPCC has referred this matter back to the MPS. British Transport Police will prepare a file for the coroner."
Maynard's death, which is not being treated as suspicious, was announced a day after he played for his county in the t20 game against Kent.
The Metropolitan Police said a man matching his description ran away after a black Mercedes C250 car being driven "erratically" was stopped in the early hours of Monday.
A force spokesman added: "At approximately 05:10 BST the body of a man fitting the same description was found on tracks near Wimbledon Park station."
Earlier on Tuesday, Maynard's family thanked the public for its support following the "devastating blow" of the 23-year-old's death.
In a statement issued through the British Transport Police, Maynard's family asked to be left to grieve in private.
His family including his father, former England batsman Matthew Maynard, who played for and later coached Glamorgan said: "The Maynard family would like to thank everyone for the many messages of support following Tom's tragic death in London yesterday morning.
"As you can appreciate, the news has come as a devastating blow and although the family is grateful for all the kind messages of sympathy, we would ask that we can be left to grieve in private at this very difficult and sad time for us."
Maynard's current club Surrey described him as "an incredibly talented young batsman".
The county along with former club Glamorgan, where he spent four years, have both postponed their respective Friends Life t20 games scheduled for Wednesday.
Surrey's flag flew at half-mast at its Oval ground where England were playing the West Indies in a one-day match.
Both sides wore black arm bands as a mark of respect for the match and there was a minute's silence.
Flowers and shirts have been left outside both Surrey and Glamorgan's ground.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12985289
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Jos violence: 'Everyone lives in fear of his neighbour'
Reverend Noah Maikano shows me what remains of the house he spent most of his adult life building in the central Nigerian Plateau state. It has been burnt for a third time.
Plateau, at the crossroads between Nigeria's predominantly Muslim north and the largely Christian south, was once celebrated as "The Home of Peace and Tourism".
Now it is home to neither. The state capital, Jos, is stuck in a cycle of sectarian violence stretching back more than a decade.
He described then how his house was first attacked in 2001, and again in late 2008. But he was in the process of repairing it and moving his family back in.
"Soon after we finished the repairs, the same problem came up again. The Muslims said their people were killed so they were going to retaliate. We narrowly escaped."
End Quote Pastor Declan Onyebuchi
The instigators of this crisis are living in the better-off areas, with well-fenced houses, and security agents at their disposal”
On my last visit, I also met students and staff at Al-Bayan Islamic secondary school.
They were clearing up after a mob of Christians had burnt most of the buildings and brutally murdered five of the students, along with another child who was on the campus at the time.
In the run-up to Nigeria's presidential elections, I went back to Jos to find out whether things have changed for people like this.
Reverend Maikano takes me back along the same road we walked together two years ago. Fresh destruction is soon clear. Slogans on blackened buildings tell Christians to leave.
But nothing prepares me for the view as we turn the corner.
The reverend's house has not just been burnt for a third time. Many of the walls have been demolished as well.
Reverend Maikano and his family have now moved to a village outside Jos.
"There is nothing we can hope for again. They have destroyed what I took 20 years to build," he says.
Last time I met him, he was optimistic he and his Muslim neighbours would go back to living in peace, in a street that had been mixed.
This time as he stands in ruins of the house, he seems less sure.
"For now can we can see Muslims and Christians living apart. Everyone is living in fear of his neighbour in Jos."
Over the past two years, more than 1,000 people, both Muslims and Christians, have been killed in fresh violence in Jos and the surrounding villages.
Massacres have been committed on both sides.
The most recent round of large-scale violence was sparked by a series of bomb attacks on Christmas Eve. That led to killings of several hundred people.
At Al-Bayan Islamic school things have improved since my last visit, at least on the surface. The mosque and the library have been rebuilt. The classrooms are full again.
But the fear has not gone away.
"The culprits who burnt the school were arrested, and taken to police headquarters," says teacher Jibril Yakubu Ibrahim.
"They only spent some days in detention, and then were released, and no-one came to say a word to us."
"Even today they are neighbours of the school, and psychologically it's affecting our students, looking at these people around the area."
The police confirmed that the suspects initially charged were released on bail. Two years on, the case is yet to come to court.
Most of the clashes in Jos have been between members of the predominantly Muslim Hausa-Fulani and other ethnic groups, that are mainly Christian.
But many in Jos say the conflict is not about religion. It's about who should be seen as the rightful owners of the city.
Members of the Hausa-Fulani community say they are discriminated against because the government of Plateau State classifies them as "settlers".
Many local authorities in Nigeria give preferential rights, for example to education and employment, to communities that are judged to be the original inhabitants of an area.
In Jos, three main ethnic groups, all predominantly Christian, are recognised as indigenous.
Tensions between "indigenes" and "settlers" occur across Nigeria. And as the population has grown, competition between them for land, jobs and education has intensified.
But in Jos, the friction between settlers and indigenes coincides with religious and ethnic divisions.
Hausa-Fulani politicians say they want equal rights for their community. But some among the indigenous groups oppose that. They fear that the Hausa-Fulani - the biggest ethnic group in northern Nigeria - would come to dominate the smaller ethnic groups in and around Jos.
It is estimated that 700 people were killed in the sectarian violence in late 2008, the period when Al-Bayan school and Reverend Maikano's house were attacked.
There is no record of a single successful prosecution related to those crimes.
This impunity for acts of violence helps explains why the cycle of revenge and counter-revenge has continued.
It also makes building bridges between the divided communities in Jos more difficult.
"Right now there is no reconciliation. Look at my house, I know it's a Muslim that has pulled it down, sent me to the village. It's not easy to forget, it will take time," says Reverend Maikano.
Last time I was in Jos, I found a number of mixed communities still existing. Now there is a mosaic of new front lines between Muslims and Christians.
But the tragedy of Jos is that the root of the conflict is not about religion.
It is a battle for power and resources between members of different ethnic groups.
Most of the violence has been between the predominantly Muslim Hausa-Fulani community and the mainly Christian ethnic groups that control the state government.
Most people in Jos will tell you that politicians have actively inflamed the tensions between these groups.
But there is one island of hope in the city.
In the Dadin Kowa neighbourhood of Jos, Pastor Declan Onyebuchi and Imam Abdul Aziz Suleiman show me streets where Muslims and Christians still live side by side.
The area has largely escaped the violence that has affected many other parts of the city.
"When this crisis started, we had an agreement between the Christians and the Muslims, then we also had an understanding of protecting our community from outside intruders," explains Imam Abdul Aziz Suleiman.
"We are not going to allow anyone to come in here and disturb our peaceful co-existence. We fortified ourselves."
End Quote Imam Abdul Aziz Suleiman
We are not going to allow anyone to come in here and disturb our peaceful co-existence”
The religious leaders believe their community has avoided violence because they have refused to allow politicians to whip up tensions there.
"The instigators of this crisis are living in the better-off areas, with well-fenced houses, and security agents at their disposal," said Pastor Onyebuchi.
"They incite the masses who are vulnerable because of poverty, and their own children not even living in the vicinity."
The pastor and imam show me where new residents are moving into the neighbourhood from other parts of Jos, both Christians and Muslims, seeking safety.
It is the opposite of what is happening in other areas. As formerly mixed communities become more segregated, interaction and trust is steadily reducing.
Many residents live in fear of the next outbreak of violence.
But as Reverend Maikano finishes showing me around the ruins of his house, he tells me he hasn't given up. If he can find the money, he will rebuild once more.
"We hope that if Christians and Muslims can forgive each other, we can live together again."
Rob Walker's Assignment documentary is broadcast on BBC World Service on Thursday 7 April.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-19771668
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Youngest Guantanamo Bay prisoner Omar Khadr leaves for Canada
The youngest prisoner to be held at the Guantanamo Bay detention centre has been returned to his native Canada.
Omar Khadr had been held at the US base in Cuba since 2002, after being detained in Afghanistan aged 15.
A military plane flew Khadr, the last Westerner at Guantanamo, to Canada early on Saturday.
He will serve the rest of his eight-year jail term in Canada. He pleaded guilty to killing a US soldier in Afghanistan.
Khadr left the prison on a US military plane and arrived at a Canadian air base in Trenton in Ontario province, from where he was transferred to the Millhaven maximum prison, Public Safety Minister Vic Toews told a news conference.Plea bargain deal
Omar Khadr's treatment at the naval base has been the subject of a passionate and often polarised debate here in Canada. He has been variously described as a child soldier following orders and a trained radicalised fighter from a family that was part of Osama Bin Laden's inner circle.
For many human rights groups, Canadian opposition MPs and other critics, the main sticking points are that Mr Khadr was just 15 at the time of his detention by US military authorities and that, as a Canadian citizen, the government should have demanded his extradition to be tried in Canada, rather than face US military justice in a controversial detention facility.
Some of those critics believe that, under international law, Canada had an obligation to provide rehabilitation and counselling services to a minor, regardless of the crimes of which he may have been accused.
The US Department of Defense said in a statement: "The United States government has returned Khadr to Canada where he will serve out his remaining sentence. The United States co-ordinated with the government of Canada regarding appropriate security and humane treatment measures."
Khadr was sentenced to 40 years in prison by a US military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay in 2010 on war crimes charges.
The charges against him were: murder in violation of the law of war; attempted murder in violation of the law of war; conspiracy; providing material support for terrorism; and spying.
But, as part of his plea deal, his sentence was limited to eight years.
Under the deal, he became eligible to return to Canada last October.
Canada declined to intervene in Khadr's trial, despite federal court rulings in Ottawa that his rights were violated when Canadian agents interrogated him at Guantanamo Bay.'First family of terror'
- 1986: Born in Toronto
- 1996: Family moves to Jalalabad, Afghanistan, where it allegedly has regular encounters with Osama Bin Laden and other al-Qaeda leaders
- 2002: Khadr captured during clash between US and Afghan soldiers, and small group of militants
- 2007: Charged with murder, attempted murder, conspiracy, providing support to terrorism and spying
- 2008: Video shows Khadr being questioned by Canadian officials, and complaining of being denied access to proper medical treatment
- 2010: Pleads guilty and is sentenced to 40 years in prison, reduced to eight
- 2012: Returns to Canada
The majority of Canadians supported the campaign to repatriate Khadr, now 26, though the country remains split over the case.
"Omar Khadr is a known supporter of the al-Qaeda terrorist network and a convicted terrorist," Mr Toews said on Saturday.
Many still consider him and some members of his family a threat, while others see him as a child victim of both an extreme Islamist ideology and cruel and unusual treatment at the hands of the US authorities.
The Khadrs have been called Canada's "first family of terror".
Omar Khadr's father, an associate of Osama Bin Laden, took the family to Peshawar, in Pakistan, to support the Afghan mujahideen in their war against the Soviets when Khadr was a child. The father died in a firefight with Pakistani troops near the Afghan border in 2003.
One brother is paralysed from the waist down after being wounded in that same battle. Another has just been released from jail in Toronto after successfully fighting extradition to the US on terror charges.
Omar Khadr's sister, Zaynab, and his mother, Maha, are well-known in Canada for their radical views.
Some 166 detainees remain in detention at Guantanamo Bay.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/fast_track/9443918.stm
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The Batwa pygmies of south western Uganda are indigenous forest-dwellers who were evicted from their ancestral homeland in 1991 when the forests became a national park for gorilla conservation.
The Batwa are traditional hunter-gatherers who have struggled to cope with life in the 21st Century. Some now work as guides for tourists - giving walking tours of the forests and an insight into their ancient and lost way of life. Vishva Samani joined them.
Get in touch with Fast Track via
Watch Fast Track on the BBC World News channel on Saturdays at 0430, 1230 and 1930 GMT or Sundays at 1930 GMT.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13643716
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US employment growth registers sharp slowdown in May
US employment growth slowed sharply in May, with only 54,000 net new jobs added during the month.
Markets had expected a rise of 150,000. It follows a downwardly revised but still rapid 232,000 increase in April.
Despite the slowdown, it was the eighth month in a row of positive employment growth, according to data from the US Labor Department.
President Obama acknowledged that even though the economy was growing, the US still faced some tough times.
"There's nobody here who doesn't know someone who's looking for work and hasn't found something yet," he said, speaking on a visit to a Chrysler plant in Toledo, Ohio, where he highlighted the turnaround in the car industry after government help.
But he made no specific reference to the latest jobs data.
He added: "There are always going to be bumps on the road to recovery," also citing high fuel prices, the economic problems that followed the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, and instability in the Middle East.Local government cuts
Foul weather, high energy prices and the earthquake in Japan are being blamed for the bad news on jobs. But it may be the broader picture that is most troubling.
The manufacturing surge has failed to lead to significant new hiring and a property market that is still on its knees is dragging down growth.
Unemployment had fallen steadily from December To April, but since then it has climbed. The country is not generating nearly enough jobs to soak up new entrants into the labour market, let alone re-engage the millions that lost their jobs in the recent severe recession.
After two big economic stimuli and significant monetary intervention, the government's economic armoury is looking pretty bare. That leaves President Obama in a tough place. Jobs - or the lack of them - have overshadowed his time in office. Few get re-elected with jobs numbers like these.
The unemployment rate also rose unexpectedly to 9.1%, from 9% a month earlier.
The number of unemployed remained largely unchanged at 13.9 million, but the number out of work for more than 26 weeks rose by 361,000 to 6.2 million.
Local governments reduced their headcount for the the 22nd month in a row, by an unusually large 28,000.
The private sector created 83,000 new jobs in the month, but this is less than is needed to soak up new people coming into the labour market.
"Job gains continued in professional and business services, healthcare and mining," said the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Total employment in the US still remains nearly 5% below the pre-recession peak it registered nearly three-and-a-half years ago, in what has been the worst jobs recession since World War II.'Dramatic turnaround'
Jobs are a key political issue in the US and White House officials sought to play down the significance of this month's figures.
"Every time we look at those numbers we don't get too excited by what those numbers say, or we don't get too disappointed. What we're looking at is the overall trend," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest.
"If you look at where we've come from, the turnaround is pretty dramatic."
Mitt Romney, who this week began his fight to become the Republican candidate in next year's presidential election, said the jobs data showed the economy was "going backwards" and President Obama's economic policies were not working.
"Three years later, we have higher gasoline prices, higher food prices, more people are feeling the squeeze," Mr Romney said.
"The truth is, Barack Obama has failed America."Recession fears
The figures echo similarly disappointing US economic data released in the past week, including apparent slowdowns in the manufacturing sector and in consumer spending.
It all points to a marked slowdown in the US economy during the second quarter of the year, according to Nigel Gault, chief US economist at IHS Global Insight.
"[The jobs report] is weak across the board," he said. "We can't point to any one special factor and say that makes this an aberration."
However, he remains upbeat about the outlook for the second half of the year: "We have seen some easing in commodity prices, gasoline prices are starting to come down, and the bad effects on vehicle production of the Japanese problems will start to unwind."
But the figures may resurrect fears of a possible slide back into recession, analysts warn.
And that prospect will fuel speculation that the US Federal Reserve may embark on a third round of "quantitative easing" - purchasing government bonds to pump more cash into the financial system - later this year.
"Arguing about the merits of whether QE3 would be a good idea, is irresponsible right now," said Tod Schoenberger, managing director at Landcolt Trading in Delaware.
"It would be proactive for the [Federal Reserve's monetary policy committee] to discuss and develop a strategy for implementing QE3, because it's painfully clear the United States is headed for a very messy second half of 2011."
Stock markets fell sharply following the data release, with the FTSE 100 index falling 0.8% immediately following the announcement.
The Dow Jones dropped 1.2% at the start of trading, before recovering during morning trading in New York.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-21498535
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Belgium court denies Marc Dutroux release
A Belgian court has rejected a request by convicted child killer Marc Dutroux for early release.
Dutroux, 56, was given a life sentence in 2004 for kidnapping and raping six girls, four of whom died, after being arrested in 1996.
He insisted he was no longer dangerous and wanted to be released into house arrest with an electronic tag.
His mother Jeannine Dutroux was among those who called on the courts to reject the request.
Under Belgian law, prisoners can be freed after serving 15 years of a life sentence if they are no longer considered a risk to the public.
But Mrs Dutroux told Le Soir Magazine: "This is a repeat offender in his soul, as he has already proved throughout his life."
In its ruling the court said there was an "absence of any prospect" that Dutroux could be reintegrated into society.
Dutroux was initially jailed in the 1980s, along with his now ex-wife Michelle Martin for kidnapping and raping five young girls.
Both were freed early on good behaviour - only to go on to abduct more young victims.
In 2004, Martin was convicted of being complicit in the deaths of two of Dutroux's later victims, who she allowed to starve to death.
She was released in August last year, after serving 16 years of her 30-year sentence, and now lives in a convent.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20358192
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Prince Charles and Camilla visit Christchurch, New Zealand
Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall have been in New Zealand's second biggest city, Christchurch.
They visited parts of the city that were damaged in an earthquake which killed 185 people in 2010.
Then they danced with locals in the mall.
Charles and Camilla were in the region as part of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7775013.stm
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Quicker to compose the slang may be, but it takes longer to read
A study of new slang terms entering English finds that technology is driving and perpetuating them.
For instance, "404" - the error message given when a browser cannot find a webpage - has come to mean "clueless".
Slang lexicographer Jonathon Green says that some such terms and abbreviations come about because of the limited speed and space afforded by text messaging.
However, an Australian study found that reading "textese" takes more time and results in more mistakes.
A study conducted by the telecommunications arm of the Post Office has searched out the terms that are not yet in wide use but may be soon.
"What we're seeing is the influence of technology coupled with current events and, inevitably of the young, who in many cases drive language," says Mr Green.
"It's focused on this world of mobile phones - these abbreviations are perfectly suited to those little screens."
And the very act of text messaging can throw up new terms: predictive text tends to choose "book" when users type the letters for "cool". Solution? Book now means cool.
Of the more unlikely slang sources identified in the Post Office research is the Oyster system, a card-based payment scheme on the London Underground. The card readers show the number 35 if the card has run out of credit. As a result, "Code 35" has come to mean penniless.
Similarly, if you're behind the times, you might be "Code 11" - Oyster's way of signifying an out-of-date card.
While these might seem London-centric, Mr Green says that slang is inherently an urban phenomenon, and London has ruled the invention and propagation of slang since as far back as the 16th Century.
Other terms from the study are of a more topical bent; the economic downturn has given rise to "GOOD job" - an acronym for Get Out Of Debt, the kind of job that many of the cash-strapped formerly employed may be on the lookout for.
Other examples are simple abbreviations, the technologically driven equivalents of FYI or TBC. Such consonant-heavy shortcuts are well-documented, but new examples are creeping in. "I love you" can take the shortened form of 143 - for the number of letters in each word.
Such labour-saving is nothing new; as another fairly fiddly mode of communication, the telegraph had its own rich collection of abbreviations. But the sheer number of mobile users compared to the number of telegraphers in their heyday means that these abbreviations and terms will spread further and last longer.
Hrd 2 rd
According to a study by psychologist Nenagh Kemp at the University of Tasmania, however, such shortcuts benefit only the sender, not the recipient.
A group of 55 students was asked to send and read out text messages either in standard English or its vowel-impoverished cousin "textese".
While writing in textese was significantly faster across the board, nearly half the students took twice as long to read messages aloud as compared to standard English versions.
Contrary to the idea that shortenings and deliberate misspellings are dulling our language skills, Dr Kemp argues that expertise with phonetics and grammar is directly tied to the ability to decipher messages in textese.
The development of this technologically savvy (or lazy) branch of language is a natural part of our language's evolution, argues Mr Green.
"It's just another form of the Queen's English - not better, not worse," he says.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8120432.stm
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Gordon Brown: "An ambitious agreement at Copenhagen is achievable"
Prime Minister Gordon Brown wants to set up a £60bn annual fund to help poor countries deal with climate change.
He hopes it will break the deadlock over who will pay developing nations to adapt to the changing climate and who will help them obtain clean technology.
Countries must reach a binding global agreement on carbon emission cuts at December's Copenhagen summit, he said.
The summit is seen as the last chance to negotiate a successor to the Kyoto agreement, which expires in 2012.
Environment and anti-poverty campaigners welcomed Mr Brown's remarks but said he and other leaders must deliver real financial support not merely "empty rhetoric".
Finance is one of the key sticking points in global negotiations, with poor nations demanding huge amounts of cash and rich nations reluctant to commit.
The UK figure is less than developing nations say they need - but at least it will provide a negotiating point in the coming G8 when the leaders of emerging nations will join for a special climate summit chaired by US President Barack Obama.
Some of the political blocks need to be cleared in this meeting if there is to be a new global deal at the UN climate talks in Copenhagen in December.
Mr Brown said: "Copenhagen is twenty-three weeks away. When historians look back on this critical moment, let them say, not that we were the generation that failed our children; but that we had the courage, and the will, to succeed."
'Act with vision'
Speaking in London, Mr Brown said leading industrialised economies must support developing nations most at risk from climate change to enable them to keep on growing while meeting their environmental obligations.
He suggested £60bn would be needed to help poor countries adjust to climate change, stressing the UK would pay "its fair share" towards this.
"Over recent years, the world has woken to the reality of climate change," he said.
"But the fact that is that we have not yet joined together to act against it.
"Copenhagen must be the moment we do so.
"If we act now, act together and act with vision and resolve, success at Copenhagen is within reach."
Money could be raised from selling carbon permits and from existing development aid budgets, although he said contributions from the latter should be limited.
The BBC's Environment Analyst Roger Harrabin said Mr Brown's efforts were designed to break the deadlock over who would pay for poorer countries to make the difficult transition to a low-carbon economy.
But Oxfam said at least $150bn a year was needed to protect poorer countries from climate change.
"The prime minister's proposal could give a welcome kick-start to negotiations if other leaders rise to the challenge," said chief executive Barbara Stocking.
"Ultimately, if catastrophe is to be avoided and the poorest people protected, we need more money and sooner."
Friends of the Earth said it welcomed the government's "recognition that finance is key to breaking the deadlock in the stalled UN talks," but added: "We have no chance of achieving the cuts required through the con of carbon offsetting."
By putting a figure on the cost of climate change adjustment, Greenpeace said Gordon Brown was showing leadership but urged him to put "serious money" on the table when G8 leaders meet in Italy next month.
Lord Stern, who wrote a climate change report for the government in 2008, said Mr Brown's initiative was "timely" but countries getting money should be able to follow their own development agendas and not have them imposed.
The UK government is committed to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050 and argues the rest of the world must follow suit if global temperature rises are to be restricted to 2 Celsius - above which is regarded dangerous.
"We cannot in good conscience plan for the world to exceed that limit," Mr Brown said.
Ministers say the legally-binding target puts the UK in the vanguard of international efforts on climate change.
But the Lib Dems said the UK's targets were not ambitious enough and its green credentials were undermined by the government's approval of new coal-fired power stations and airport runways.
"People in the UK and around the world should do all they can to tackle climate change, but we need the government to lead by example," said the party's climate spokesman Simon Hughes.
"Ministers should push for tougher targets that follow the science and not the politics."
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/6744297.stm
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World champion Fernando Alonso believes his McLaren team are giving preference to his rookie team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
Tensions between the McLaren drivers appear to be growing
The Spaniard had misgivings as soon as he joined the team at the end of 2006, he told Spain's Cadena Ser radio.
He said: "From the first moment, I wasn't completely comfortable. I am in an English team, with an English team-mate, who is doing brilliantly.
"We knew all the support and help would go his way. It is something I understand and I'm not complaining."
Alonso added that he remained confident of winning a third straight drivers' title.
The 26-year-old, who won the world title with Renault in 2005 and 2006, is eight points behind Hamilton in the championship following the Englishman's maiden victory in Canada on Sunday.
Alonso finished seventh in Montreal after falling foul - through no fault of his own - of a new rule forbidding drivers to pit in the initial stages of the safety car being deployed.
I know there is some impatience to return to the top and dominate
Although Alonso has won two races to Hamilton's one, Hamilton has been more consistent and has finished on the podium in each of the first six races.
But Alonso insists he has a strong chance of winning a third consecutive world title.
"I've won two races out of six and I've finished on the podium four times and I have those 40 points that will allow me to fight for the title in the end," he said.
"I'm calm, I'm fine, though I know there is some impatience to return to the top and dominate.
"But I'm second in the championship, I'm eight points behind. It would be worse if I were at Renault, or Honda or any other team.
"At the moment I am where I expected to be and with a clear chance of winning the title in Brazil [the last race of the season], and not now, in the sixth race."
Asked if he felt some of the mechanics in the team celebrated Hamilton's successes more than his, Alonso said: "I have sensed it a little, but I understand it, it's an English team."
Hamilton (foreground) won in Canada while Alonso was seventh
Alonso's remarks come just over two weeks after he won the Monaco Grand Prix, when McLaren ordered Hamilton not to challenge him in the closing stages of the race.
In the wake of that decision, and before his victory in Canada, Hamilton said he would not stay long at a team he felt was favouring his team-mate.
Alonso has made uncharacteristic mistakes at the start of two of the last three races, but Renault driver Heikki Kovalainen, who worked with Alonso last year, does not believe he is feeling the strain of Hamilton's brilliant debut season.
"He's not feeling the pressure," Kovalainen told BBC Sport.
"I don't think Lewis has any impact on him. Fernando is mentally very tough and is still one of the top guys.
Fernando might have made two mistakes in a short period of time, but I don't think Hamilton is affecting him
"He pushes very hard for the win every race and mistakes can happen when you race like that.
"Yes, he might have made a mistake in Barcelona and one in Canada, and because they have happened in a short period of time it looks very dramatic, but I don't think it affects him.
"He is going to be very strong, fighting for the championship for sure."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13957761
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Sony boss Howard Stringer takes a pay cut
Sony boss Howard Stringer took a 16% pay cut last year, the electronics and media giant announced at a shareholder meeting on Tuesday.
His salary and bonuses fell to 345m yen (£2.7m) - a drop from 408m yen a year earlier.
The fiscal year, which ended on 31 March, is Sony's third year of losses.
The company is still recovering from the damage to its factories, hit by the recent earthquake and tsunami, and from a series of security breaches.
Speaking at Sony's annual meeting in a Tokyo hotel, Mr Stringer praised PlayStation network gamers for coming back after the hacking attacks.
He said that up to 90% of subscribers have remained loyal to the network.
Despite the chief executive's apology for the hacks, some shareholders appeared frustrated, with one person asking for Mr Stringer to step down.
The data breaches have made the company's stock price slide by 30% this year.
Hacker group Lulz Security claimed responsibility for the attacks.Global leader?
But Mr Stringer seemed positive about the firm's future.
"Our brand perception, you'll be happy to know, is clearly improving again," he said.
"My foremost responsibility to the board and all of you is to further advance the transformation process, firmly establish Sony's position as a global product, content and service leader in the networked digital era and ensure our continued development and growth," he added.
According to the company's estimates, the attacks will cost it 14bn yen (£108m) in increased customer support costs, welcome-back packages, legal fees, lower sales and measures to strengthen security.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-18669688
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Westfield Stratford stabbing: Nine charged
Nine people have been charged with violent disorder following a fatal stabbing at Westfield shopping centre in Stratford, east London.
Liam Woodards, 24, of Stratford, was killed during a fight at the centre on Friday afternoon.
Three men were arrested on Friday and a further six were held over the weekend. They were due to appear before magistrates.
Scotland Yard said two other men suffered minor injuries.
Michael Alvaranga, 23 of Leytonstone; and Javin Righbie, 22, of Stratford; appeared at Barkingside Magistrates' Court. They were remanded in custody until 9 July.
Michael Ndefo, 21, Rhys Regisford, 20, and Emmanuel Oloyede, 19, all from Plaistow; Jason Vaughan, 24, Tony Caton, 21, and Danny Caton, 23, all of Stratford; and Jerome McLeish, 20, of Victoria Docks; appeared at Thames Magistrates' Court.
A 23-year-old man arrested on Friday was later cautioned for affray and released with no further action while a 20-year-old man, also arrested in connection with the investigation, has been bailed to return to an east London police station on a date in July pending further inquiries.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-13958866
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Dave MacLeod in first free climb of Longhope Direct
A climbing route on the UK's largest sea cliff, previously deemed too difficult to free climb, has been completed by a Scottish climber.
Lochaber-based Dave MacLeod ascended Longhope Direct on St John's Head, on Orkney. The cliff rises to more than 343m (1,128ft).
In free climbing, ropes and equipment are only there as protection against a fall and cannot be used as an aid.
The route has only been tackled twice before in 40 years.
It is one of three climbing routes on the cliff.
Ed Drummond and Oliver Hill first climbed Longhope Direct in 1970 over seven days using ropes and gear.
They slept in hammocks tied to the cliff face and in large cracks in the sandstone.
Later John Arran and Dave Turnbull free climbed the route over a number of days.
However, the pair considered a crack up the centre of overhanging rock too hard for free climbing and took an alternative route to the left of it.
Mr MacLeod completed his free climb - which included the crack - in 10 hours last Wednesday.
The climber paid tribute to the four who had ascended the route before him.
He said: "It was the hardest route in Britain when they did it. It was a very audacious cliff to take on.
"The last 150ft were by far the hardest on the route for me. It came down to gritting my teeth and going for it."
Mr Arran has congratulated Mr MacLeod on the UK Climbing website and said he and Mr Hill had viewed the route's most difficult section as "ridiculous" to free climbing.
Longhope Direct has been a long-term project of Mr MacLeod's after Mr Hill e-mailed him in 2006 to point out that the most difficult section had still to be free climbed.
Mr MacLeod was joined on the climb by Andy Turner.
Originally from Stockport, Mr Turner is one of the UK's leading winter climbers.
With fellow climber Tim Emmett, Mr MacLeod completed one of the hardest rock climbs in the UK in August 2010.
The pair struck a new route up the Sron Ulladale cliff face on Harris live on television.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-14383071
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Guatemala Dos Erres massacre soldiers sentenced
Four former Guatemalan soldiers have been sentenced to life in prison for the massacre of more than 200 people during the country's civil conflict.
The court said the four had committed crimes against humanity when they were part of a counter-insurgency unit which carried out the killings in the village of Dos Erres in 1982.
They received a sentence of 30 years for each of the 201 victims.
They are the first former soldiers to be convicted for human-rights abuses.
Daniel Martinez, Manuel Pop Sun, and Reyes Collin Gualip were sentenced to 6,060 years in prison each for murder and crimes against humanity.
Carlos Carias received an extra six years for aggravated robbery, bringing his sentence to 6,066 years.
The massacre at Dos Erres is one of the most violent episodes in Guatemala's brutal 36-year civil conflict.
Hundreds of villagers were shot or bludgeoned to death and their bodies thrown down a well.
The number of victims is disputed.
The judge who sentenced the four put the number at 201, but relatives of the victims have always maintained the number was well over 250.
The four accused were members of a special unit of the Guatemalan military, the Kaibiles.
Their unit entered Dos Erres in December 1982, during the time of the military ruler, General Efrain Rios Montt.
The military suspected the villagers of supporting or harbouring left-wing guerrillas.
Over a period of three days, the Kaibiles interrogated and then killed residents, including children, women and the elderly.
Many were raped and beaten before they were killed.
In 2001, then-President Alfonso Portillo acknowledged that 226 people had been killed and that the state bore responsibility for the massacre.
He awarded the relatives of those killed $1.8m (£1.1m) in compensation.
But until now, no-one had stood trial for the massacre, even though the case was first investigated in 1994.
And while prosecutors had asked for even longer sentences, human rights groups have welcomed the convictions, saying they hope it may signal the end of Guatemala's culture of impunity.
An estimated 200,000 people were killed in Guatemala's civil conflict, which ended in 1996.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-21501574
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US lawmakers in Cuba amid Alan Gross imprisonment row
A group of seven US lawmakers have met Cuba's foreign minister in an effort to improve relations between the two countries.
The US state department says the delegation will also see Alan Gross, a US contractor whose arrest in Cuba in 2009 stalled diplomatic efforts.
He was accused of smuggling internet kit and sentenced to 15 years.
US state department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the lawmakers would seek Gross' immediate release.
She added the US would "look forward to the results of their diplomacy on his behalf and, more broadly, with regard to all of our concerns about Cuba, human rights and other things".
The US has previously said relations with Cuba could not move forward until Gross was released from prison.'Interest in Cuba'
Cuba said in September that it was prepared to negotiate with Washington over Gross but only if the US was prepared to discuss the fate of five Cuban intelligence officers serving long prison sentences in the US.
Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy, who saw Gross and met Cuban President Raul Castro a year ago, leads the group of five senators and two congressmen.
"Every one of us has an interest in Cuba," Sen Leahy said on arrival on Monday. "We all want to see relations improve and both sides take steps in that direction."
On Monday, Sen Leahy and other members of the delegation dined with Parliament Chief Ricardo Alarcon and toured American writer Ernest Hemingway's former villa.
They were seen entering an upscale restaurant in Old Havana along with Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez on Tuesday.
The delegation hopes to meet Mr Castro before they depart on Wednesday.'Obvious problems'
The two countries have had no formal diplomatic ties since shortly after Cuba's 1959 revolution, and the US has maintained a trade embargo against the island since 1961.
Gross' arrest brought about an abrupt end to a thaw begun when President Barack Obama was first elected in 2008.
But the number of people travelling between the two countries increased in 2012, and food-for-cash sales allowed under a 2000 amendment to the embargo increased as well.
Between 450,000 and 500,000 Cuban-Americans and Americans visited Cuba, according to tourism industry sources, and food sales increased by $100m (£65m) to $457m, making the US one of Cuba's top 10 trading partners and its second largest origin of tourists after Canada.
Sen Leahy said on Monday members of the delegation would like to take Gross with them when they leave for Haiti, but doubted that would happen.
"There are obvious problems between our two countries, but we are not here to negotiate," he said. "We are here to listen and then go back home and talk about what we see."
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8311776.stm
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By Kevin Connolly
BBC News, Montana
The small, remote town of Sidney, Montana, is true to its cowboy roots - this is ranching country and outside one bar amidst the many pick-up trucks I noticed one with a huge set of bull horns stuck jauntily to the cab.
Nodding-donkey oil pumps dot the farmland around the town of Sidney
But Sidney has another reason to feel bullish too: as America agonises over its future energy choices, Sidney is revelling in an oil boom.
The town's mayor, Bret Smelser, took me for a drive through the town and across the flat farmland that stretches off to the horizon in every direction to see the changes oil has brought.
Inside Sidney - population about 5,000 - the changes leap to the eye.
There's a new water-slide, for example, plenty of evidence of heavy investment in local schools and a startling number of slot-machine casinos whose operators presumably calculate that the townspeople and workers from the oilfields have money to burn.
There is an urban myth that it has also meant that Sidney has the highest-paid pizza delivery guy in North America, but we'll come back to that.
Mayor Smelser sums up the situation so far simply: "Oil has been good for us."
On the landscape beyond the town limits, the change is less spectacular but equally impressive.
Dotted around the farmland are hundreds of nodding-donkey oil wells which are strangely reminiscent of the kind of pumps you'd have seen in action during oil booms in Texas, California or Oklahoma a century ago.
The similarity is deceptive. The oil boom up on the Northern Great Plains is based on dramatic changes in drilling technology. Oil deposits beyond the reach of even the most modern pumps and drills 20 years ago are now viable.
Sidney - and plenty of other small towns like it on the Great Plains of North Dakota and Montana - sit on top of the shale reserves of the Bakken Formation. They were first discovered and mapped in the 1950s but back then there was no way of reaching them.
Now, new technologies are changing the definition of what is, and is not, a recoverable oil deposit.
The modern nodding-donkeys are sitting on top of a complex network of hi-tech pipes which bore down two miles into the earth's crust then make a sharp right-angled turn and travel up to two miles horizontally into the oil-bearing shale.
Every so often, the light, sweet, crude has to be dislodged and flushed out with steam or water forced down under huge pressure.
Appetite for oil
All this is taking place, of course, in the midst of Barack Obama's attempt to make the US a "greener" place - partly to reduce its dependence on foreign oil and partly to create some sense of American leadership as the world prepares for the UN conference on climate change in Copenhagen.
As a candidate, Mr Obama talked about harnessing the power of the wind and the sun and increasing US research into projects like building a smarter electricity grid, arguing that in these cases what's good for the planet can be good for American jobs too.
Mayor Smelser, up on the frontline of America's energy choices in Sidney, says he doesn't necessarily disagree with any of that - in fact he'd like to see Montana starting to refine more of the oil it produces and getting into alternative energies too.
It's just that he believes that the timeframe for reducing America's appetite for oil and bringing alternative energy on stream in a big way is much longer than the White House likes to contemplate.
Wind and solar power, he says, won't be big enough to supply America for years. Oil is right here, right now.
He told me: "We know that a new source of energy is going to come, whether it's hydrogen, whatever it is. We're saying we need a bridge between now and then and we're at the epicentre of energy, whether that's traditional or renewable."
It is all a reminder of the obvious, but sometimes overlooked, point: that for all the talk of global warming and green energy, America is essentially still powered by coal (for electricity generation) and gasoline.
Scott Staffanson says the income from oil helps keep his farm running
That is good news for farmers like Scott Staffanson, a thoughtful, strong, slow-talking character who lives just outside Sidney but whose family also receives a steady income from the oil discovered far below the land on which he grows his crops and tends his cattle.
His take on what that extra income means is interesting. It doesn't give him wealth beyond the dreams of avarice - it just finances his slice of the American dream.
"This is the first year since I started farming that I didn't need to go to the bank to borrow money to operate with," he said.
"I've got four girls and by the time they get done with college, I don't imagine we're going to have a lot of money to do a lot of lucrative things."
And the rumours of that sky-high pizza delivery salary?
Restaurant manager Bill Ackley says the oil boom has pushed up wages
Well, at the height of the boom it was reported that someone in the local fast food industry was being paid $38 (£23) an hour to shuttle around the town with pepperoni and four seasons pizzas - a job which wouldn't normally pay far above minimum wage here.
No-one is quite sure where the figure came from but there's no doubt that the high salaries available in the local oilfields have made it difficult for other local employers to find workers.
Bill Ackley, who manages a local restaurant called Footer's, says it is a long-running problem.
"The rest of the country is basically suffering because there's no jobs where they're at but we keep telling them to head this way because there's more than enough," he said.
"I won't say our wages have doubled but they've gone up to compete with the oil and gas and we just can't compete with them."
There are downsides to all this, of course.
The more you drill for oil, the longer the delay in making a really serious switch to cleaner forms of energy.
And, of course, to exploit the Bakken oil deposits you have to drill into the lonely majesty of the Great Plains... transforming a great wilderness with the intrusion of so many nodding-donkey pumps.
Mayor Smelser, who loves his town and the remote stretch of Montana that lies around it, says that on balance he feels it's worth it.
He said: "I don't speak for everyone but I think the majority of us understands that this is just something we have to do.
"This half of Montana only has maybe 20,000 people living in it and many of the people on the farms benefit from the minerals and are ready to put up with it."
So perhaps over the course of Barack Obama's time in power a cleaner, greener America will emerge - and we will get some sense of that from Copenhagen - but in the meantime, the oil lobby in places like Sidney, Montana, is strong.
And so is America's appetite for Sidney's oil.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7702129.stm
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By Georgie Rogers
6 Music news reporter
Glastonbury has already sold 100,000 tickets for next year
Michael Eavis has said this year's Glastonbury Festival was his favourite, but for the first time in recent history the event did not make money.
He said a rise in fuel prices and general costs meant there was no margin for investment in next year's event.
Despite that, organisers said they still managed to give £1m to charity.
Glastonbury was not the only event to suffer tough economic conditions. Bestival did not make a profit either, its organiser Rob Da Bank said.
Eavis was speaking as he picked up three prizes at the UK Festival Awards.
Glastonbury won best major festival, outstanding contribution, and most memorable moment, for Jay Z's rendition of Oasis' Wonderwall.
Eavis told BBC 6 Music: "It was hard work making it work last year because costing had gone through the roof and the diesel costs had gone up by about £200,000. All the other costs had gone up as well.
"Glastonbury costs £22m now, it's huge. The infrastructure, the fencing, the roads, the water and the loos, the marquees, the management, the security and the police, it goes on and on so we do have to sell out in order to make it work."
"We still made about £1m for the charities we work for," Eavis continued.
"But we didn't make any beyond that. There's no money to reinvest or anything."
But the line-up for next year is looming large and Eavis is sure tickets will be snapped up. "I'm very confident with the bands that we've got next time that we will sell out," he said.
One hundred thousand tickets have already been sold for next year's festival.
The Glastonbury Festival has been held on Eavis' farm since 1970
Bestival mastermind Rob Da Bank, meanwhile, told 6 Music they did not do festivals for profit. "We put so much heart and soul into these things, we don't make money," he said.
"It really is all about the love. To win best new festival for Camp Bestival, which was a massive risk, is a really good reward."
Scotland's T In The Park was awarded best line-up, and after topping the bill at some of the most high-profile shows this year, US Rock gods Kings Of Leon took home best headliner.
The Ting Tings were the other major winners, taking a trio of gongs for best festival pop act, best live newcomer and anthem of the summer for That's Not My Name.
BBC 6 Music's breakfast presenter Shaun Keaveny hosted the awards, which featured performances from Pete and the Pirates and Ocean Colour Scene.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7173282.stm
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As the legendary QE2 sails away on her final world cruise, one man tells of his family's extraordinary connection with the world's most famous passenger ship.
By Stephanie Busari
For Sam Warwick the QE2 will always hold treasured memories.
The QE2 has crossed the Atlantic more than 800 times
His grandfather William Warwick was its first captain when the ship entered service 40 years ago.
And his father, Ron, made history when he took over the helm in 1990 - the first time a father and son have commanded the same Cunard liner.
Sam's sister Rebecca got married aboard the QE2 in a ceremony performed by her father. It is thought to have been the first legal marriage carried out by a Cunard master on board any of the company's ships.
"My sister had been due to get married to her fiance aboard the QE2 in the port of New York in October 2001," Sam, 39, explains.
"They had arranged for a priest to come and perform the ceremony. Unfortunately, because of the 9/11 terrorist attacks the ship was diverted to Boston and the priest was not licensed to perform weddings in the state of Massachusetts."
Wedding plans had to be hastily re-arranged as Captain Warwick researched the rules of matrimony for Massachusetts on the internet.
He discovered that he could get special permission from the Governor of the State to perform the ceremony himself.
Captain Warwick performed his daughter's marriage on the QE2
"When he contacted the Governor's office he was told that the application would be considered but it would take six to eight weeks to process.
"After explaining who he was and the reason for the request at short notice, the Governor's aide agreed to give the necessary document immediately.
"In the end, I walked my sister up the aisle and gave her away. It was a very special moment," Sam says.
Sadly, Sam, an IT consultant, did not inherit his dad and grandfather's sea legs.
"It's the number one question everyone asks me," he laughs.
"I never went to sea but it's definitely a big part of my life. I was seven or eight when my parents separated and I always associated that with my dad being away at sea so much.
"But one of my main passions is scuba diving, so there's definitely a connection to the sea."
He may not have worked on the QE2 but Sam makes up for it by running a meticulously researched website dedicated to the ocean liner.
The 70,000-tonne vessel was sold last year and will now spend the rest of her days moored to a pier at the Palm Jumeirah development - the world's largest man-made island - off the coast of Dubai.
Sam and his father with a picture of his grandfather William Warwick
Sam remembers his first voyage as a seven-year-old on the QE2 "vividly".
"It was in 1975, a transatlantic trip to New York and it took five days each way," he says.
"In all the trips I went on, I probably remember more about that one as it was the first time I went aboard.
"I had always seen it at shore as a young child waving my dad away, so to actually be on it was absolutely fantastic. I didn't get seasick at all.
"I explored all over it and got so caught up watching bananas being loaded on to a conveyor belt that I caused a panic because everyone thought I had got lost," he recalls.
In all, Sam has sailed on the QE2 around 20 times, but one of the most memorable occasions was being on the ship when it was hit by a 90-foot wave during a hurricane in 1995.
Sam and his father, Captain Warwick, aboard the QE2 in 1984
But it was for all the wrong reasons.
"My dad always tells the story to embarrass me because while he was at the helm battling the waves at 2am, I was downstairs in the ship's nightclub, dancing away! Luckily no one was hurt."
The QE2 is not the only ship that is special to the Warwick family. In 2002, Captain Warwick was asked to take command of the Queen Mary 2, the largest passenger ship ever built.
And as if to complete a family tradition, his granddaughter Beth, now 3, was christened on the QM2 and the ship's bell was used as a font, with a stand built specially by the ship's carpenter.
963 feet long
Carries 1,900 passengers and 1,000 crew
Top speed 32.5 knots
The QE2 will make her final voyage to Dubai in November this year and Sam and his dad hope to be on board as she sails for the last time.
"She means so much to me and my family," he says.
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Features & Analysis
- Syria army 'storms' rebel-held town
- Yahoo 'to buy Tumblr for $1.1bn'
- The world's largest camel herd - in Australia
- 'Sole winner' nets record US jackpot
- Boko Haram militants 'in disarray'
- Google chief defends tax affairs
- Tom Ripley and a talent for evil
- US Army hollowed out after war
- The Somali pirates 'jailed in paradise'
- US spy-row diplomat 'leaves Russia'
Elsewhere on the BBC
Why Hitler’s propaganda war against modernism dominated German art
Lichtenstein’s paintings imitated popular culture but do they also reveal more than we think?
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14405122
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Antimatter belt around Earth discovered by Pamela craft
A thin band of antimatter particles called antiprotons enveloping the Earth has been spotted for the first time.
The find, described in Astrophysical Journal Letters, confirms theoretical work that predicted the Earth's magnetic field could trap antimatter.
The team says a small number of antiprotons lie between the Van Allen belts of trapped "normal" matter.
The researchers say there may be enough to implement a scheme using antimatter to fuel future spacecraft.
The antiprotons were spotted by the Pamela satellite (an acronym for Payload for Antimatter Matter Exploration and Light-nuclei Astrophysics) - launched in 2006 to study the nature of high-energy particles from the Sun and from beyond our Solar System - so-called cosmic rays.
These cosmic ray particles can slam into molecules that make up the Earth's atmosphere, creating showers of particles.
Many of the cosmic ray particles or these "daughter" particles they create are caught in the Van Allen belts, doughnut-shaped regions where the Earth's magnetic field traps them.
Among Pamela's goals was to specifically look for small numbers of antimatter particles among the far more abundant normal matter particles such as protons and the nuclei of helium atoms.'Abundant source'
The new analysis, described in an online preprint, shows that when Pamela passes through a region called the South Atlantic Anomaly, it sees thousands of times more antiprotons than are expected to come from normal particle decays, or from elsewhere in the cosmos.
The team says that this is evidence that bands of antiprotons, analogous to the Van Allen belts, hold the antiprotons in place - at least until they encounter the normal matter of the atmosphere, when they "annihilate" in a flash of light.
Although normal matter particles outweigh the antiprotons by thousands to one, the band is "the most abundant source of antiprotons near the Earth", said Alessandro Bruno of the University of Bari, a co-author of the work.
"Trapped antiprotons can be lost in the interactions with atmospheric constituents, especially at low altitudes where the annihilation becomes the main loss mechanism," he told BBC News.
"Above altitudes of several hundred kilometres, the loss rate is significantly lower, allowing a large supply of antiprotons to be produced."
Dr Bruno said that, aside from confirming theoretical work that had long predicted the existence of these antimatter bands, the particles could also prove to be a novel fuel source for future spacecraft - an idea explored in a report for Nasa's Institute for Advanced Concepts.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-19200771
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Major Rolls-Royce East Kilbride plant to close
Aerospace giant Rolls-Royce is to close one of its major plants, in East Kilbride, after deciding to move operations to another facility.
Aero-engine repair and maintenance is being shifted to a more modern plant at Inchinnan, near Glasgow Airport, along with its 600-strong workforce.
Rolls-Royce said the 59-year-old East Kilbride plant, which will close in 2015, was nearing the end of its life.
Local politicians said the decision was a huge blow to the local area.
The East Kilbride workforce will move 16 miles to Inchinnan, joining the 1,000 people already working there.
Rolls-Royce said the move would be more efficient, improve value for customers and deliver a better working environment for employees.
Rolls-Royce East Kilbride managing director, Alex McMillan, said: "This is a positive development for our employees and helps to safeguard jobs.
"Transferring our operations from East Kilbride will enable us to maximise efficiency at the nearby Inchinnan facility, helping us to become even more competitive.
End Quote Michael McCann MP for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow
East Kilbride has backed Rolls Royce, but it appears that Rolls Royce doesn't want to back East Kilbride”
"We will work closely with our employees to ensure that the proposed transition process is managed considerately."
Describing the decision as a "devastating blow", East Kilbride Labour MP Michael McCann, said: "Rolls Royce is part of the fabric of our town, and, most importantly, generations of families from East Kilbride have provided the workforce that has made a huge contribution to the company's success.
"I am extremely angry at this proposed move and I know that every member of the workforce will be as furious as I am.
"East Kilbride has backed Rolls Royce, but it appears that Rolls Royce doesn't want to back East Kilbride.
Local SNP MSP Linda Fabiani, added: "It's the expertise of the East Kilbride workforce which helped to secure major work for Scotland in recent times, despite global competition.
"I spoke with the management earlier today, and, whilst I welcome their commitment to maintain all of the workforce by moving to the Inchinnan site, we have to recognise that for some people commuting will be difficult, and obviously, given travel time, they have to ensure that this move is logistically possible for their workers."
Tam Mitchell, of the Unite union, said there was a feeling of "devastation" in East Kilbride.
He said: "We welcome the job security, however, there was a lot of emotion on the site, because the majority of the workforce live within a five-mile radius of the plant.
"It is a big upheaval for people to be travelling with a round trip of about 40 miles a day."
Mr Mitchell said some of the employees at the East Kilbride site were third-generation workers.
He added: "Manufacturing in East Kilbride has all but disappeared.
"This week, they've started knocking down the Motorola factory, which closed five years ago, and East Kilbride was the only major manufacturing plant left - it's devastating for the town."
Rolls-Royce employs more than 2,100 people in Scotland, including its operation at Inchinnan, which makes manufacturing components for the civil, defence, energy and marine sectors.
The company said more than £85m had been invested at the plant to bring it to modern standards.
The East Kilbride plant first opened to service engines during the Korean War.
More recently, Rolls-Royce said demand the services offered at its East Kilbride plant had reduced, leading to job cuts in the last few years.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15996583
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Syria 'violations' condemned by UN Human Rights Council
The UN Human Rights Council has strongly condemned the violence in Syria and is to appoint a special investigator on the crackdown on anti-government protesters.
A council report on the violence is to be sent to the UN Secretary General.
The UN estimates 4,000 people have been killed during a crackdown on anti-government protests.
The UK ambassador said it was the toughest resolution ever passed by the Geneva-based council.
Earlier, UN human rights chief Navi Pillay called for "urgent" action to protect civilians in Syria.
But Syria's ambassador in Geneva told the council a solution to his country's problems could not be found by the international community.
Any UN intervention would simply deepen the crisis, he warned.'Crimes against humanity'
The resolution was approved at an emergency meeting of the council by 37 votes in favour to four against, with six abstentions.
Those voting against included Russia and China, who have resisted moves for a UN Security Council resolution on Syria, for fear it could lead to a military intervention such as the one in Libya.
"The positions [adopted] in the document, which include the veiled hint of the possibility of foreign military intervention under the pretext of defending the Syrian people, are unacceptable to the Russian side," Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement, quoted by the AFP news agency.
The resolution demands the suspension of security forces suspected of violations and the release of prisoners of conscience.
However, some human rights groups are disappointed the council did not make a clearer call for referring Syria to the International Criminal Court (ICC), as Ms Pillay had wanted.
A report for the UN earlier this week said security forces had committed crimes against humanity in Syria.
"The Syrian authorities' continual ruthless repression, if not stopped now, can drive the country into a full-fledged civil war," Ms Pillay warned.
"In light of the manifest failure of the Syrian authorities to protect their citizens, the international community needs to take urgent and effective measures to protect the Syrian people," she told the council.
Ms Pillay said at least 4,000 people had been killed, including 307 children, and tens of thousands arrested in the unrest.
Correspondents say there is unusual unity among council member states, with Arab nations, Europe and the US all backing pressure on Mr Assad.
The US ambassador Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe told Reuters news agency the resolution "set the stage" for further action by the UN and other institutions.
Asked if this included the ICC, she replied: "Absolutely, including the ICC if the Security Council chooses to refer this matter."
Meanwhile, there has been no let-up in anti-government demonstrations in Syria, the BBC's Jim Muir reports from neighbouring Lebanon.
Protesters - who regularly take to the streets after Friday prayers - have dubbed the latest protest "the Friday of the no-fly zone", a reference to the safe haven they hope the outside world will impose. Activists say at least six people have died.
Heavy shooting was reported near the border with Lebanon in the town of Talkalakh. Activists said at least two people were wounded on the Lebanese side of the border, including an 11-year-old girl.
Seven soldiers were also killed, after army defectors attacked an intelligence base in Idlib, a spokesman for the group told the BBC.
In Damascus, meanwhile, thousands of loyalists held rallies in support of Mr Assad, our correspondent reports.Impact on oil
Human Rights Council findings
- Security forces guilty of systematic human rights violations
- Soldiers were ordered to "shoot to kill" unarmed demonstrators
- Pattern of summary killings, arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances
- Extensive practice of torture indicates state-sanctioned policy
- Men and boys sexually abused at military facilities
- At least 250 children killed by security forces, at least two of them as a result of torture
Earlier, French Interior Minister Claude Gueant said the authorities were tightening security for Syrian opposition leaders based there, because of threats.
Members of the opposition Syrian National Council, including its leader, Burhan Ghalioun, are based in Paris.
On Thursday, the European Union tightened sanctions against Mr Assad's government, placing bans on exporting gas and oil industry equipment to Syria and trading in Syrian government bonds.
It also expanded a list of companies and individuals which face assets freezes and travel bans.
Royal Dutch Shell said it would stop its oil operations in Syria to comply with the EU sanctions. Shell is a minority partner in Syria's state-owned Al Furat Petroleum Company, which has been added to the sanctions list.
However, French oil company Total is to continue oil production in Syria for now, as its Syrian joint venture partner is not on the sanctions list.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4434231.stm
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A contest to elect the next secretary general of the Organization of American States has ended in a dead heat.
The two candidates have been lobbying for support
Five separate votes between Chile's Interior Minister Jose Miguel Insulza and Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Ernesto Derbez all ended 17-17.
The race between Mr Insulza, a socialist, and conservative Mr Derbez has been one of the closest in the history of the organisation.
The last secretary general quit after one month to face corruption charges.
Miguel Angel Rodriguez, a former president of Costa Rica, stepped down to face charges in his homeland, triggering a special election.
Under OAS rules, the organisation will now have to open the election to other candidates, but there may be more negotiations to try to reach a deal at the current meeting, correspondents say.
Francisco Flores, former president of El Salvador and the preferred candidate of the US, dropped out of the contest last week amid indications that his popularity with Washington was not tilting the balance in his favour among delegates.
His withdrawal meant that the OAS will for the first time elect someone not explicitly backed by the US.
The resulting contest between Mr Insulza and Mr Derbez has in effect divided the OAS along geographical lines.
Many left-leaning South American states were reported to favour Mr Insulza, 61, a lawyer and former adviser to Salvador Allende, the Chilean leader who died in the 1973 coup.
Central American nations and those expected to back Mr Flores were lining up behind 58-year-old Mr Derbez, reports said.
The division meant fierce lobbying for the votes of the OAS' 14 Caribbean members, who appeared to hold the balance of power.
The OAS promotes democracy and has recently attempted to achieve political reconciliation in Venezuela and Haiti.
But the organisation faces severe financial problems and is dogged by accusations of ineffectiveness.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-15836511
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Stephen King nominated for Bad Sex awards
Authors Stephen King, James Frey and Haruki Murakami are among the list of nominees for this year's Bad Sex in Fiction Award.
Horror writer King picked up his nomination for 11.22.63, which featured the line: "She was wearing jeans. The fabric whispered under my palm."
Other shortlisted authors for the prize included Sebastian Barry, Peter Nadas, David Guterson and Jean M Auel.
The winner of the Literary Review event will be announced on 6 December.
A Million Little Pieces author Frey received is included for The Final Testament of the Holy Bible and Murakami was nominated for 1Q84.
David Guterson, Christos Tsiolkas - author of bestseller The Slap, Dori Ostermiller, Simon Van Booy and Chris Adrian complete the list.
The Literary Review said the purpose of the prize was to "draw attention to the crude, tasteless, often perfunctory use of redundant passages of sexual description in the modern novel, and to discourage it".
Last year Rowan Somerville was crowned the winner for The Shape of Her. The award was presented to him by Michael Winner.
The award was created in 1993 by Auberon Waugh.
Previous winners include Norman Mailer, AA Gill, Melvyn Bragg and Tom Wolfe.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19346880
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Paralympic Games: Thousands more sports tickets on sale
Paralympics organisers have put 40,000 more sports tickets and 100,000 ground entry tickets to the Olympic Park during the Games up for sale.
Locog said the sports tickets were for a range of events, including athletics and wheelchair basketball.
The non-sporting tickets cost up to £5 and are for various days throughout the Paralympics but do not grant admission to any sporting venues on the Park.
Some 2.3 million tickets have been sold for the Games which open on Wednesday.
Ticket sales have outstripped any previous Paralympics, with a total of 2.5 million expected to be made available in total.
The non-event tickets cost £5, and £1 for those aged under 16 or over 60, and are available for morning sessions between 10:00 BST and 15:00 BST and afternoon sessions from 16:00 BST until 21:00 BST.
They are available from the London 2012 ticket website.
These ticket-holders will be able to explore the Park and enter the Park Live area where a giant screen will show the sporting action.
However, they cannot gain access to any of the sporting venues.
Paralympics coverage online
Seb Coe, chair of Games organisers Locog, said: "I'm thrilled that we can give even more people the opportunity to experience the Olympic Park, soak up the atmosphere and perhaps catch some Paralympic action on the big screen.
"We wanted to give as many people as possible the opportunity to visit the Olympic Park and releasing more tickets is part of this commitment."
More sporting event tickets are due to be released during the Games on a session-by-session basis.
Aside from the non-event tickets there are four types of ticket for the Paralympics:
- Reserved - for a specific seat for athletics, track cycling, swimming and medal events in some other sports
- General admission - any seat for other Olympic Park sports plus rowing, equestrian, road cycling, events at the ExCeL arena, archery, shooting and wheelchair basketball. Some finals are excluded
- Olympic Park day pass - access to sports including goalball, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby, wheelchair tennis and football
- ExCeL day pass - access to table tennis, judo, sitting volleyball, wheelchair fencing, powerlifting and boccia at the ExCeL arena.
Organisers Locog said the 45,000 sports tickets that went on sale last week were snapped up within three hours.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20090388
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Burma Rakhine clashes death toll at 56 - state officials
At least 56 people have been killed and hundreds of homes torched since Sunday, as clashes spread in Burma's Rakhine state, officials say.
Several were killed overnight as violence erupted despite a night-time curfew in at least two towns.
The latest clashes are the first serious outburst of violence since June when a state of emergency was declared in Rakhine after 90 people were killed.
But tensions remained high between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Muslims.
The BBC's International Development Correspondent, David Loyn, has recently returned from Burma.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19798323
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Georgia President Mikheil Saakashvili admits election loss
President Mikheil Saakashvili has admitted his party has lost Georgia's parliamentary election, in a live TV announcement.
He said the Georgian Dream bloc of his main rival, billionaire tycoon Bidzina Ivanishvili, had won Monday's election.
Victory for Mr Ivanishvili means the first democratic transfer of power in Georgia's post-Soviet history.
Mr Ivanishvili said the "only right decision" would now be for Mr Saakashvili to resign.
While Mr Ivanishvili, 56, is set to become prime minister, his rival, who has led the country since 2003, is due to remain in power until presidential elections next year.
This is a momentous day for Georgian democracy but a sad one for President Saakashvili.
It has been a fierce election campaign, with mudslinging on both sides.
There were fears that the results would be disputed, which could have sparked unrest.
By admitting defeat, President Saakashvili is allowing a peaceful transition of power. And for the first time in modern Georgia's history, a change of government is the result of a peaceful election, rather than a revolution.
Western observers are calling these the most credible elections Georgia has ever known.
Mr Saakashvili's party will be in opposition, instead of enjoying the huge majority it has been used to for the past nine years.
And some voters will feel worried about this new government. Mr Ivanishvili is suspected by some of having links to the Kremlin.
Under agreed reforms, the parliament and prime minister will acquire greater powers than the president after that election.
With results in from 72% of polling stations, Georgian Dream led the party list vote, which accounts for 77 of the 150 seats, with 54% of the vote. The president's United National Movement was on 41%.
The rest of the seats are made up of 73 constituencies elected by a first-past-the-post vote.
President Saakashvili said it was clear that Georgian Dream had won a majority.
Earlier Mr Ivanishvili, Georgia's richest man, had already declared victory.
In his TV address, Mr Saakashvili said he would respect the Georgian people's decision, and his party would become "an opposition force".
"It's clear from the preliminary results that the opposition has the lead and it should form the government - and I as president should help them with this."
The US congratulated Georgians on the "historic milestone" of their parliamentary election and praised the president's response to the result.
In a later news briefing, Mr Ivanishvili called on Mr Saakashvili to admit he would not be able to retain power, to resign and call a snap presidential election.'Good relations'
Mr Saakashvili, a pro-Western leader who champions the free market, has warned that the Georgian Dream bloc will move Georgia away from the West and back into Moscow's sphere of influence. Russia defeated Georgian forces in a brief war in 2008.
But in his briefing Mr Ivanishvili said both normalisation of relations with Russia and membership of Nato would be pursued.
"If you ask me 'America or Russia?', I say we need to have good relations with everybody," Mr Ivanishvili said according to AFP news agency.
Mr Ivanishvili made his fortune in Russia in the early 1990s, with stakes in the metals industry, banking and later property, including hotels. Forbes business website estimates his wealth at $6.4bn (£4bn).
His success was welcomed in Moscow where Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said it would mean more "constructive forces" entering parliament.
Vyacheslav Nikonov, deputy head of the parliament's international affairs committee in Moscow, said that in the eyes of both Mr Medvedev and President Vladimir Putin the Georgian president was a war criminal.
"Anything that would keep Saakashvili further away from the instruments of power is a plus for Russian-Georgian relations."Landmark for Georgia
The BBC's Damien McGuinness in Tbilisi says it is a momentous day for Georgia - a day which strengthens the country's democratic credentials. Georgia has experienced much political turmoil since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
The ugly election campaign had polarised the country and there were fears that the results would be disputed, our correspondent says.
Observers from the European security organisation OSCE said that "despite a very polarising campaign the Georgian people have freely expressed their will".
Georgia's Central Electoral Commission (CEC) said there had been no grave violations during the voting.
More than half of the country's population has no proper job. Older and poorer Georgians, in particular, are struggling and some feel nostalgic about the Soviet Union.
The OSCE said the election process had "shown a healthy respect for fundamental freedoms... and we expect the final count will reflect the choice of the voters".
However, the statement regretted "detentions and fines of mostly opposition-affiliated campaigners" during the campaign.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18859097
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US retail sales down in June for third straight month
US consumers cut back on retail spending in June, official figures have shown, the third month in a row that sales have fallen.
Retail sales fell 0.5% last month from May, according to the Commerce Department.
Spending on key goods, including cars, electronics products, building and gardening materials, all fell.
The data has raised fresh worries over a sustained recovery, as consumption is a main pillar for growth.
Household spending represents about two-thirds of gross domestic product (GDP) in the US.
It was the first time that sales have fallen for three months in a row since late 2008, when the economy was in the midst of a recession. Analysts had expected June's figure to show an increase.
"Evidence is increasingly clear that the US economy is slowing," said Jim Baird, an investment strategist at Plante Moran Financial Advisors.
Sales of cars and car parts fell 0.6% while the figure was worse for furniture and building materials, underlining the persistently sluggish housing market.
Receipts at petrol stations fell 1.8%, while spending on health products also dropped 0.7%. Food and beverage spending was nearly flat.Mounting pressure
The data add to a recent string of gloomy economic news, creating headwinds for President Barack Obama, who is running for a second term this year.
Three years after pledging an economic recovery, growth has been weak.
The unemployment rate has been stuck at 8.2%, and manufacturing activity unexpectedly shrank in June.
The Institute for Supply Management earlier this month said its purchasing managers' index, which measures manufacturing demand, fell to 49.7 last month. Any figure below 50 indicates a contraction.
And June sales figures released by the country's biggest retail operators - Costco Wholesale, Target, and Macy's - all fell below expectations.
Investors say the soft data may add pressure on the US Federal Reserve to unveil new measures to boost the economy.
The International Monetary Fund slightly revised downwards its US growth forecast for this year and next, from its April estimate.
It now expects GDP to grow by 2% in 2012 and 2.3% in 2013.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-20983125
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Argo triumphs at Critics Choice Awards
Hostage drama Argo was the big winner at this year's Critics' Choice Awards, hours after director Ben Affleck missed out on an Oscar nomination.
Affleck jokingly "thanked the Academy" as he accepted best director, but added: "This is the one that counts." The movie was also named best film.
Oscar favourites Daniel Day Lewis and Jessica Chastain won the best actor and actress prizes respectively.
In a separate comedy category, Silver Linings Playbook swept the board.
The film won best comedy actor and actress for leads Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, best comedy film, and best ensemble for a cast which includes Oscar nominees Robert De Niro and Jacki Weaver.
Director David O Russell dedicated his award to his son - who, like the film's male lead has bipolar disorder - saying: "I made it to give him hope," adding, "That's my silver lining."
Lawrence, who bagged an Oscar nomination for best actress on Thursday, also took home the best actress in an action movie for The Hunger Games, based on the bestselling book.
"Critics aren't so bad," she joked, as she accepted the award,
Skyfall was named best action movie, a day after it failed to become the first Bond film to secure a best picture Oscar nomination.
Its star Daniel Craig also picked up the best actor in an action film prize, and Adele won the best song award for the title song Skyfall - a prize she is tipped to win at the Oscars.
The awards are handed out by the 250-member Broadcast Film Critics Association, the largest film critics organisation in the United States and Canada.
Les Miserables' Anne Hathaway, who attended the ceremony in Los Angeles with her co-star Hugh Jackman received the best supporting actress prize, while Philip Seymour Hoffman was named best supporting actor for his turn as a cult leader in The Master.
Nine-year-old Quvenzhane Wallis, who this week became the youngest actress to secure an Oscar nomination, won in the best young actor or actress category.
Other notable winners included Michael Haneke's Amour, which won best foreign film and Quentin Tarantino, who picked up best original screenplay for his spaghetti western-style film Django Unchained.
Munich screenwriter Tony Kushner won Lincoln's second award of the night, for best adapted screenplay. The presidential drama leads the Oscar hopefuls with 12 Academy Award nominations.
However, Life of Pi - nominated for 11 Oscars - only won two technical awards.
Comedy writer and director Judd Apatow, best known for box office hits such as The 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up, received a special "genius" award created to honour "an unprecedented demonstration of excellence in the cinematic arts".
The awards precede Sunday's Golden Globes ceremony.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-21501982
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China media: Housing law anger
Media outlets criticise controversial measures taken by authorities in several cities to protect the privacy of homeowners amid concerns that the new rules could shield the ill-gotten assets of corrupt officials.
Authorities in Guangzhou in Guangdong and Yancheng in Jiangsu have introduced rules stipulating that a homeowner's consent must be obtained before anyone can run searches on their property.
In Zhangzhou in Fujian, government staff who make property ownership information public may face criminal charges.
"Rather than protecting privacy, many outraged netizens suspect the new regulations will merely help to hide illegal wealth amassed by corrupt officials," Hong Kong's South China Morning Post reports.
China has been hit by a series of housing scandals involving officials and bankers using multiple identities to amass property.
Zhou Weisi, a Shenzhen official nicknamed "House Uncle", was arrested earlier this month for alleged bribery and amassing 2bn yuan in assets, including villas and luxury cars, Beijing Times reports.
Last month, Gong Aiai, a former bank executive known as "House Sister", was charged with allegedly using multiple identities to buy 41 properties in Beijing.
Global Times backs the new privacy measures but notes the Chinese public's fierce aversion to corruption.
"These new regulations have clashed with public anger of 'House Uncle and House Sister' and it is hardly surprising that they have brought negative feelings that are at odds with the policy's objectives," the Global Times comments.
China Youth Daily says that if the authorities immediately made public the alleged assets of "House Uncle" and other officials, internet users would feel less inclined to conduct online witch-hunts known as "human flesh engine searches".
"The deliberate evasiveness of government departments towards the public's keen desire to combat corruption and their deaf ear towards public demands for 'public information on officials' property' have resulted in public fears that the 'government is shielding corrupt elements'," China Youth Daily adds.
Beijing Institute of Technology Professor Hu Xingdou tells Hong Kong's Oriental Daily News that "interest groups" are doing everything possible to cover up corruption and stop authorities "beating tigers" or going after high-ranking officials.
Prof Hu calls the move a "step backwards" and "open resistance against the central government's anti-corruption initiatives".
"The best solution to resolve this conflict is of course to promote a system for making government officials' property public," The Beijing News comments.
People's Daily says public concerns can be allayed by stricter checks on civil servants "owning property from unknown sources".Match-fixing
Meanwhile, China's biggest sports corruption crackdown has ended after 33 people including players, referees and officials were banned from football for life and 12 football clubs fined for alleged match-fixing, The Beijing News reports.
Shanghai Shenhua have been stripped of their 2003 league title. It is among the 12 clubs fined for alleged match-fixing and to have six points deducted from next season's campaign.
"I personally think the punishment is not enough. It is regretful that no clubs were relegated this time," Xu Jiren, sports head of Xinhua News Agency, is quoted by China Daily as saying.
Turning to international news, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman denies a Reuters news agency report that North Korea told China that it is prepared to carry out more nuclear tests, Xinhua reports.
Global Times says Chinese government ships ignored Japanese coast guard warnings when patrolling 1km from disputed islands called Diaoyu in China and Senkaku in Japan yesterday. Japan protested to the Chinese ambassador over the incident.
Xinhua and the People's Daily Overseas Edition condemn authorities in Okinawa for including the disputed islands in Japan's application for Unesco World Natural Heritage status for the Amami and Ryukyu Islands.
People's Daily, Global Times and Liberation Daily accuse Indian and Western media of scaremongering about a "China threat" after Pakistan officially handed over the operations of Gwadar Port to a Chinese enterprise yesterday.'Chat chick'
Back in China, many internet users complain of enjoying no paid leave despite Xinhua's reminder that the public are entitled to 115 days off a year from weekends and statutory holidays, roughly one-third of a year.
China Daily says many private sector staff only get limited paid leave from work and some miss out on paid leave altogether.
Despite bumper harvests in recent years, officials and experts warn that China's grain security still faces potential risks as over 35m metric tonnes of grain are wasted each year from poor storage and transportation, Global Times and China Daily report.
A local environment official tells China Daily that nitrogen-containing particles in Beijing's air similar to toxic smog in London and Los Angeles in the 1950s are within a "normal range" and should not set off alarm bells.
However, one think-tank expert warns New Express of worsening air pollution caused by higher levels of nitrogen-containing compounds in the southern Pearl River Delta compared to northern or eastern coastal regions.
Southern Metropolis Daily says officials must take action to clean up a polluted local river in Rui'an in Zhejiang province after entrepreneur Jin Zengmin offered 200,000 yuan (32,000 dollars) to any environment official willing to swim in the river for more than 20 minutes.
"Anyone can post a message to which the 'chick' will respond with its smart while mischievous replies... It understands the latest news events, hot words and even dirty jokes, which it actually learns from online followers," says Xinhua.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-20028418
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A chronology of key events:
1498 - Christopher Columbus sights the coast of Suriname.
1593 - Spanish explorers visit the area and name it Suriname, after the country's earliest inhabitants, the Surinen.
1600-c.1650 - Settlements attempted by Spanish, Dutch, British, and French during the first half of the 17th century. They all fail, in part because of resistance by the native inhabitants.
1651 - First permanent European settlement in Suriname, established by the British at Paramaribo by Lord Francis Willoughby.Dutch rule
1667 - British cede their part of Suriname to the Netherlands in exchange for New Amsterdam (later called New York City).
1682 - Coffee and sugar cane plantations established and worked by African slaves.
1799-1802, 1804-16 - British rule reimposed.
1863 - Slavery abolished; indentured labourers brought in from India, Java and China to work on plantations.
1916 - Aluminium Company of America (Alcoa) begins mining bauxite - the principal ore of aluminium - which gradually becomes Suriname's main export.
1954 - Suriname given full autonomy, with the Netherlands retaining control over its defence and foreign affairs.Independence, coups and civil war
1975 - Suriname becomes independent with Johan Ferrier as president and Henk Arron, of the Suriname National Party (NPS), as prime minister; more than a third of the population emigrate to the Netherlands.
1980 - Arron's government ousted in military coup, but President Ferrier refuses to recognise the military regime and appoints Henk Chin A Sen of the Nationalist Republican Party (PNR) to lead a civilian administration; army replaces Ferrier with Chin A Sen.
1982 - Armed forces seize power in a coup led by Lieutenant-Colonel Desire (Desi) Bouterse and set up a Revolutionary People's Front; 15 opposition leaders charged with plotting a coup and executed; Netherlands and US respond by cutting off economic aid.
1985 - Ban on political parties lifted.
1986 - Surinamese Liberation Army (SLA), composed mostly of descendants of escaped African slaves, begins guerrilla war with the aim of restoring constitutional order; within months principal bauxite mines and refineries forced to shut down.
1987 - Some 97% of electorate approve new civilian constitution.
1988 - Ramsewak Shankar, a former agriculture minister, elected president.
1989 - Bouterse rejects accord reached by President Shankar with SLA and pledges to continue fighting.
1990 - Shankar ousted in military coup masterminded by Bouterse.Return to civilian rule
1991 - Johan Kraag (NPS) becomes interim president; alliance of opposition parties - the New Front for Democracy and Development - wins majority of seats in parliamentary elections; Ronald Venetiaan elected president.
1992 - Peace accord reached with SLA.
1996 - Jules Wijdenbosch, an ally of Bouterse, elected president.
1997 - Dutch government issues international arrest warrant for Bouterse, claiming that he had smuggled more than two tonnes of cocaine into the Netherlands during 1989-97, but Suriname refuses to extradite him.
1999 - Dutch court convicts Bouterse for drug smuggling after trying him in absentia.
2000 - Ronald Venetiaan becomes president, replacing Wijdenbosch, after winning early elections that followed protests against the former government's handling of the economy.
2002 April - State-owned banana company closes, its financial woes compounded by low market prices. A smaller, restructured company opens in March 2004.
2004 January - Suriname dollar replaces guilder. Government says move aims to restore confidence in economy.
2004 June - UN sets up tribunal to try to resolve long-running maritime border dispute between Suriname and neighbouring Guyana.Venetiaan re-elected
2005 August - President Venetiaan is re-elected after months of deadlock. His New Front coalition won a narrow majority in parliamentary elections in May.
2006 May - Flooding, caused by torrential rain, leaves more than 20,000 people homeless. President Venetiaan says lowland areas are in "total chaos".
2006 July - Government makes official apology to relatives of at least 39 people killed in 1986 massacre during military dictatorship.
2007 September - A UN tribunal rules in the Guyana-Suriname dispute over maritime territory, giving both a share of a potentially oil-rich offshore basin.
2008 July - Trial begins of former military ruler Desi Bouterse and 24 others accused of involvement in 1982 killings of opponents of military regime. Frequent delays in proceedings follow for the next two years. Bouterse accepts "political responsibility" but denies direct responsibility.
2008 October - Following a dispute with the government over the development of a new bauxite mine in the west of the country, the mining giant BHP Billiton announces it is to cease operations in Suriname by 2010.
2009 December - Troops are called in to suppress anti-Brazilian and anti-Chinese riots in a gold-mining area in the northeastern city of Albina.The return of Bouterse
2010 May - The Mega Combination coalition, led by former military ruler Desi Bouterse, wins 23 out of 51 seats in parliamentary elections to emerge as the largest group.
2010 August - Desi Bouterse becomes president.
2012 April - Parliament passes amnesty law for President Desi Bouterse and 24 other defendants on trial for the alleged execution of political opponent during Mr Bouterse's military rule in 1982.
Former colonial power the Netherlands recalls ambassador and suspends some of its aid payments in protest.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/4945764.stm
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Five suspected nail bombs put west London on major alert, before a woman walked into a police station claiming they were her "works of art".
No explosives were found in the packages
Police helicopters and bomb squad officers were scrambled to Shepherd's Bush and Hammersmith on Wednesday morning, to examine the packages.
Some of the packages were cardboard boxes containing soft toys and training shoes with nails sticking out of them.
A 36-year-old local woman was held on suspicion of causing a public nuisance.
She has since been released on bail.
The emergency services were called to the area shortly after 0800 GMT.
BBC home affairs correspondent Daniel Sandford said the packages - cardboard boxes and cylinders - were "all of a similar appearance and all quite prominently placed".
One, in Charecroft Way, Shepherd's Bush, consisted of three cardboard tubes supporting a polystyrene "altar" on which stood some flowers and a note which talked about the loss of a "Pelagius".
It read: "Your absence has gone through us like thread through a needle. Everything we do is stitched with its colour."
As a precaution police closed roads around the area, many used by commuters getting into central London, and people in local buildings were told to keep away from windows.
Jonathan Boakes, who lives near the police cordon, said he and neighbours were left waiting for an hour for the situation to clear.
"There were lots of helicopters in the sky, lots of ambulances and sirens going off," he said.
Police later confirmed no explosives were found and all the roads were re-opened after a woman claimed to be responsible for placing the suspect objects.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20923511
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Iran drug shortage: US Iranians send medicine to avert crisis
Amid strict Western sanctions and allegations of economic mismanagement, Iran is suffering a critical drug shortage. A growing number of Iranians in the US have taken it upon themselves to send medicine to their loved ones back home.
To keep her brother's heart beating, this autumn an Iranian immigrant living in the US state of Georgia devised a smuggling operation worthy of a le Carre novel.
Her 60-year-old brother Ibrahim, who lives in Tehran, takes Qualaquin, an anti-malaria drug, to keep his pacemaker functioning since his heart surgery.
But with the Iranian economy in shambles, the drug is no longer available in the country, says Sarah, his sister, who asked not to be identified by her real name to shield her family from the Iranian authorities.
"That medicine - they cannot find it in Iran," she says. "He's scared."
End Quote Sarah, Ibrahim's sister
At least let the people have the medicine - who cares about Apple phone or this or that?”
So Sarah and Ibrahim's other relatives in the US found a friendly doctor to write a prescription for a patient he had never examined - a violation of state medical regulations.
A family friend delivered the pills to Turkey and handed them off to another family friend, who carried them into Iran and to Ibrahim.
"That's the only way I can take that medicine to my brother to give it to him before he dies," she said.
"I want to scream. Why do they do this to people? At least let the people have the medicine. Who cares about Apple phone or this or that?"
Iran's worsening shortage of critical medicine is the result of the country's dire economic situation, which analysts say is caused by a combination of the ever-tightening Western sanctions against the Islamic Republic, as well as by economic missteps there.
The US state department is quick to point out that export of medicine and other humanitarian goods are specifically exempted from the measures intended to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions, which the country says are solely peaceful but which Western powers suspect have military aims.Corruption and mismanagement
But the sanctions levied against Iranian banks, which are effectively cut off from the global financial system, have made it nigh impossible for Iranian companies to finance imports of whole drugs or raw ingredients, analysts say.
"There is not a proper channel through which they can pay, unless they send somebody to Pfizer with a suitcase full of cash," says Muhammad Sahimi, an Iranian political analyst and engineering professor at the University of Southern California.
Sanctions against Iran's oil industry have left the country short on foreign currency reserves. This week a prominent Iranian parliamentarian said oil revenues had declined 45% in the last nine months.
Iran's currency, the Rial, is also believed to have lost 80% of its value against the dollar since the beginning of 2012, making imports prohibitively expensive.
Analysts in the US and Iran and political figures inside Iran have complained the government has spent needed cash on goods less pressing than medicine.
"The sanctions have accentuated the already existing bad situation that was due to corruption and mismanagement," says Sahimi.
Last month, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sacked Health Minister Marziyeh Vahid Dastjerdi, the only woman minister in the history of the Islamic Republic. That step came a month after she angered the government by complaining publicly that foreign currency reserves were being spent on luxury items rather than on medicine.
"I have heard that luxury cars have been imported with subsidized dollars, but I don't know what happened to the dollars that were supposed to be allocated for importing medicine," she said on state television, weeks before she was sacked.
The US treasury department, which administers the US sanctions, says exports of medicine, medical devices and food "have been maintained at a steady level" in recent years.
"If there is in fact a shortage of some medicines in Iran, it is due to choices made by the Iranian government, not the US government," spokesman John Sullivan said in a written statement.
As many as six million Iranian patients could be harmed by the drug shortage, Fatemeh Hashemi Rafsanjani, the head of Iran's Charity Foundation for Special Diseases and daughter of former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, wrote in a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
In a highly publicised case, a 15-year-old boy from a nomadic tribe in Iran's south-western province of Khuzestan died in July of haemophilia because his family did not have access to medicine.Amateur pharmacists
Amid the shortage, Iranians in need of the chemotherapy, cardiac, diabetes, haemophilia and other drugs have turned to the large Iranian diaspora for informal help.
About half a million people of Iranian descent live in the US, according to the US Census.
Most of them arrived since the political turmoil of the 1970s and 1980s and maintain close ties to family and friends living in Iran.
About 84% of Iranian Americans have family currently living in Iran, according to a 2012 survey by the Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans.
And six out of 10 Iranian Americans communicate with family and friends in Iran several times a month, according to a 2011 survey by the group.
Like many immigrant groups in the US and the UK, Iranian Americans have long been accustomed to bringing care packages to loved ones back in the homeland.
But the drug shortage has turned many Iranian Americans into ersatz pharmacists.
Majid, a Persian language teacher in the Washington DC area, bought bags of vitamins and dietary supplements from discount retailer Costco this autumn.
Then he arranged for a doctor friend to examine his mother, who was visiting from Iran, and to prescribe a large stock of blood thinner Warfarin to treat her heart disease, as well as a diabetes drug.
In November Majid's mother returned to Iran with "baggage full of medicine", he said.
"They had like 10 bags," he said. "One of them was just full of medicine. I'm talking about 50 pounds."
But as Sepideh, a graduate student in the US state of Virginia, has found, residence in a land of relative plenty is no guarantee one can help those in need back home.
When Sepideh was in Tehran visiting family over the summer her mother's supply of Gliclazide, a diabetes pill, became perilously low.
Sepideh went from one pharmacy to another across Tehran in search of a refill, but none had any in stock. The Iranian factory that produces Gliclazide had been unable to import raw ingredients from Europe, she was told.
Finally, she found a black market merchant who agreed to sell her mother a small supply for four times the market price - an untenable arrangement.
In the US, Sepideh has been unable to find a doctor to write a prescription for her mother sight unseen.
"She's still OK, she's still taking those pills," say Sepideh. "But I don't know what we're going to do after."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-14004755
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Thailand: Yingluck Shinawatra wins key election
The party allied to ousted and exiled ex-leader Thaksin Shinawatra has won a major victory in Thailand's general election, provisional results show.
With most votes counted, outgoing Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has conceded victory to his rival, opposition leader Yingluck Shinawatra.
Ms Yingluck, who will become Thailand's first female prime minister, said there was "a lot of hard work ahead".
She is the younger sister of Thaksin Shinawatra, ousted in a coup in 2006.
With 92% of votes counted, Ms Yingluck's Pheu Thai party had won 260 seats, giving it a majority in the 500-seat parliament.
"It is now clear from the election results so far that the Pheu Thai party has won the election, and the Democrat Party concedes defeat," Mr Abhisit said on national TV.
Yingluck Shinawatra is a political novice. Her popularity has largely rested on the fact that she has been selling her brother's policies.
Mr Thaksin, speaking from self-imposed exile in Dubai, has said he wants to return to Thailand but will wait for the right moment.
Analysts say his return would aggravate the already tense political situation.
It could be a potentially destabilising factor, making it harder for the new government to get on with its task of reuniting this divided nation and healing Thailand's wounded democracy.
"I will give the chance to Yingluck, the first woman to form a government," he added. "I want to see unity and reconciliation. The Democrats are ready to be in opposition."
After Mr Abhisit admitted defeat, Miss Yingluck was cautious in her response. She thanked Mr Abhisit and said she would wait for the official results to be declared.
"I don't want to say it is victory for me and the Pheu Thai party but people are giving me a chance and I will work to my best ability for the people," she said at her party headquarters.
"I would like to reiterate that we are ready to deliver on all of the policies that we have announced. There is a lot of hard work ahead."
She said her party officials had been in talks with the smaller Chart Thai Pattana party with a view to forming a coalition.
"In the future there are more parties expected to come and work with Pheu Thai," she said.
The BBC's Rachel Harvey in Bangkok says the result is a clear rejection of the military's intervention in Thai politics and a bitter disappointment for Mr Abhisit.'Voted for change'
Mr Thaksin told the BBC from his self-imposed exile in Dubai that it was clear the Thai people had voted for change.
"They want to see reconciliation, we want to have reconciliation," Mr Thaksin told the Newshour programme.
All parties will have to respect the voters' decision, he said.
Mr Thaksin, whose government was toppled in a military coup in 2006, said the military should also "be listening to what the people think".
Asked whether he would now be returning to Thailand, the former prime minister said he was in "no hurry".
"I want to see reconciliation really happen," he said. "I want to be part of the solution, not part of the problem."
The past few years have seen street protests, airport closures and clashes between the supporters of the two main groups, which our correspondent says have tarnished the country's economy and reputation for being a bastion of democracy in south-east Asia.
Last year, protesters shut down parts of Bangkok for two months in a bid to force the government to resign. When the army stepped in to clear the capital's streets it degenerated into violence, leaving 91 people dead.
- Sept 2006: Army overthrows government of Thaksin Shinawatra, rewrites constitution
- Dec 2007: Pro-Thaksin People Power Party wins most votes in election
- Aug 2008: Mr Thaksin flees into exile before end of corruption to trial
- Dec 2008: Mass yellow-shirt protests paralyse Bangkok; Constitutional Court bans People Power Party; Abhisit Vejjajiva comes to power
- Mar-May 2010: Thousands of pro-Thaksin red shirts occupy parts of Bangkok; eventually cleared by army; dozens killed
Many of the red-shirt demonstrators were supporters of Mr Thaksin.
More than 40 parties fielded 3,832 candidates for the 500-seat lower house of parliament, the House of Representatives.
In a two-tier system of voting, 375 legislators will be elected by constituency, while 125 candidates will be chosen from lists according to the proportion of votes each party receives nationwide on a separate ballot. There are some 47 million eligible voters.
Ms Yingluck is a political novice and analysts say her popularity seems to rest on the fact she is campaigning on the policies of her brother, who many believe is Pheu Thai's real leader.
He is living in Dubai to avoid a corruption conviction.
With Pheu Thai's win all but confirmed, analysts say all eyes will once again be on the military, which has regularly intervened in the political process. Army chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha on Thursday stressed that he would stay neutral.
Thailand has had 18 attempted or successful military coups since democracy was established in 1932.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5319884.stm
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Nigeria's military say they have found an arms cache belonging to a wanted militant leader in Port Harcourt.
Machine guns, ammunition and dynamite were amongst the haul
The weapons were discovered after a raid on the hide-out of Ateke Tom, the head of the Niger Delta Vigilantes.
The group has been blamed for a spate of recent kidnappings and bank robberies in the oil-rich city.
The BBC's Abdullahi Kaura Abubakar says the find is significant as the group was supposed to have handed in all their weapons after a truce last year.
The Vigilantes, accused of stealing crude oil, were involved in bloody battles with other militants competing for territory in 2004.
Nigeria's military has taken a tough new approach with militants
A reliable military source told our correspondent that four arrests had been made.
But Mr Tom has told the BBC the seized weapons did not belong to him.
The military say their haul included 12 AK47s, seven general purpose machine guns, eight sub-machine guns, ammunition, bullet-proof vests and dynamite.
The abductions and attacks on oil facilities have led to oil companies withdrawing staff, cutting Nigeria's oil production by a quarter.
Foreigners in Nigeria's oil capital, Port Harcourt, now move around with several armed guards.
Oil industry sources say hostage-taking has become an attractive business, as oil companies strike clandestine ransom deals.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8564342.stm
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Clashes between Japanese whaling vessels and activists from the Sea Shepherd anti-whaling group have received global attention, but do not go down well in Japan, where whale meat is still considered a delicacy, as the BBC's Roland Buerk reports.
Whale meat, once widely consumed, is now considered a delicacy in Japan
In the Taru-ichi restaurant in Tokyo's Shinjuku nightclub district, they are getting ready for another busy night.
There is no doubt about what is on the menu here: "Whales of the World" posters are the first thing customers see as they walk through the sliding door.
Shintaro Sato is the manager, running the business his father founded 40 years ago.
This evening he recommends whale sashimi [raw slices], deep-fried whale or whale stew.
As for the whale penis suspended from the ceiling, that is best eaten boiled with a side order of ginger, although Mr Sato admits the taste is "a little strange".
When it comes to anti-whaling activists like Peter Bethune, the Sea Shepherd captain brought to Japan and arrested by the coastguard after boarding a whaler in the Southern Ocean, he is uncompromising.
"They are terrorists, I think," he says. "Their purpose is money."
A group of salarymen has ordered a plate of whale sashimi to share with their glasses of sake. They have chosen the restaurant for an office night out.
Like many other Japanese, Mitoshi Noguchi says he does not give whaling much of a thought.
The issue is discussed on Japanese television and in newspapers less than in countries where there is opposition to whaling like Australia.
But when he sees images of anti-whaling activists clashing with the Japanese fleet he is irritated.
For him there is nothing wrong with eating whale, it reminds him of school lunch.
"When we were growing up we didn't have ample supply of food, so this was meat for us, our protein," he says.
"So when we eat it now it's very reminiscent. It's delicious."
Mr Noguchi is in late middle age, but on the same table is one of his much younger colleagues, Yoshitaka Takayanagi, born after the meat was phased out in Japanese schools.
Many in Japan see Pete Bethune as little more than a "terrorist"
Few Japanese eat whale regularly these days, especially the young, and he has only eaten it twice before.
"I think it's part of Japanese culture," Mr Takayanagi says.
"But I haven't had that many chances to try it. If it's becoming extinct we should not eat it. So I don't totally disagree with them [anti-whaling protestors].
"If I couldn't eat it I guess I could live without it."
While the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has been confronting Japanese whalers on the high seas, Greenpeace has been taking a different approach to end whaling.
It is trying to turn the take-it-or-leave-it attitude to whale meat among many young Japanese into outright opposition to whaling.
They have produced videos and held protests highlighting the cost to taxpayers of subsidising the annual whale hunt in the Southern Ocean, justified by Japan as scientific research.
"Japanese people need to know the reality of this so-called scientific research," says Junichi Sato, a Greenpeace programme director.
"Most of the people in Japan don't know that Japan is killing close to 1,000 whales a year in the Southern Ocean.
"Most of the people, once they know about it, think this is not a science at all. That's a start, that's why we need to feed information."
It was to try to draw attention to whaling that Junichi Sato and another Greenpeace member intercepted a box of whale meat at a courier company depot two years ago.
Mr Sato wanted to prove whale meat was being sold on the black market
Crewmen, they claimed, had smuggled it from the taxpayer-subsidised whaling fleet to sell on the black market, with the connivance of the authorities.
They handed their evidence, very publicly, to prosecutors.
"They promised to have a proper investigation, but a month later they dropped it," says Mr Sato.
"On the very same day the Tokyo Metropolitan Police arrested us. They basically didn't prosecute the corruption in the government.
"They instead prosecuted the person who exposed the corruption."
Mr Sato and his colleague are on trial.
They hope to be cleared on the grounds they were acting in the public interest, but if convicted of theft could face up to 10 years in prison.
Peter Bethune, the Sea Shepherd activist brought to Japan, could yet face a trial too.
After his arrest he was led off the Shonan Maru 2 by the coastguard, the scene hidden from photographers with a blue plastic sheet.
He is being held on suspicion of trespassing on a vessel.
If charged and convicted he could be fined or imprisoned.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/7993087.stm
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Leon Panetta said the CIA no longer used harsh interrogation techniques
The US has stopped running its global network of secret prisons, CIA director Leon Panetta has announced.
"CIA no longer operates detention facilities or black sites," Mr Panetta said in a letter to staff. Remaining sites would be decommissioned, he said.
The "black sites" were used to detain terrorism suspects, some of whom were subjected to interrogation methods described by many as torture.
President Obama vowed to shut down the facilities shortly after taking office.
The Bush administration allowed the CIA to operate secret prisons on the territory of allied countries in Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa, according to media reports.
During his first week as president, Mr Obama ordered the closure of the black sites, as well as the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, as part of an overhaul of US detainee policy.
In his letter, Mr Panetta also stressed that the CIA no longer employed controversial "harsh interrogation techniques", like "waterboarding", or simulated drowning, which have been widely condemned.
"CIA officers do not tolerate, and will continue to promptly report, any inappropriate behaviour or allegations of abuse," he said.
He also announced that the CIA was no longer allowing outside "contractors" to carry out interrogations.
But the CIA retains the power to detain suspects "on a short-term transitory basis".
The BBC's Kevin Connolly says Mr Panetta's statement has an impressive ring, but the CIA's secret prisons may never have been elaborate affairs in themselves and decommissioning may be straightforward.
The key issue for the Obama administration, our correspondent adds, will be its policy towards suspects who fall into its hands, not the buildings in which they are held.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/election_2010/england/8667863.stm
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Dr Harris said it was a "great disappointment"
Liberal Democrat Evan Harris has lost the seat for Oxford West and Abingdon to Conservative Nicola Blackwood.
In a surprise defeat Dr Harris, who took the seat from the Tories in 1997, polled 23,730 votes - only 176 less than Ms Blackwood's 23,906 votes.
The count was so close that the votes had to be recounted.
Dr Harris, who said opponents had told untruths against him during the campaign, said the result was a disappointment but he would come back.
During the campaign, Dr Harris criticised an opponent's leaflet campaign describing him as "Dr Death".
The Animal Protection Party claimed Dr Harris had an "enthusiasm for euthanasia", but Dr Harris dismissed the attack as "disgraceful".
Tory MP Nicola Blackwood sings live on BBC Oxford radio
Ms Blackwood said: "I feel rather elated; I have to say this wasn't the result I expected when I came over in the car this evening.
"It has been rather a tense evening. We've had several recounts but when it comes down to it this was a seat where every single vote counted."
Ms Blackwood then fulfilled a promise to sing live on air on BBC Oxford.
Earlier in the night she promised she would sing if she won - after fellow Tory MP Ed Vaizey revealed she was a trained opera singer.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19565937
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Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg admits stock 'disappointing'
The boss of social network Facebook has spoken for the first time of the drop in his company's market value.
Mark Zuckerberg called the drop in his firm's value "disappointing". The value of its shares is almost half the $38 debut price in May.
But he vowed that Facebook will make more money on phones than on desktops.
"Over the next three to five years, the biggest question on everyone's mind is really going to be how well Facebook does with mobile."
Speaking at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in San Francisco, Mr Zuckerberg said: "Literally, six months ago we didn't have an ad on mobile."
Earlier this year, Facebook launched native apps for Apple's iOS smartphones.
"Ads have to be more integrated into the product on mobile," Mr Zuckerberg said.
Mark Zuckerberg's key message in the interview was that Facebook was focusing on mobile - acting to both improve the way its apps work and finding ways to make money from them.
One of his insights was that the platform was more similar to TV than a PC - ads have to be closely integrated into the product rather than shown to the side of a column.
He added that the benefit was that people were consequently more likely to interact with them, meaning users might prove to be more valuable to the firm when on their handset than on their laptop.
It was also illuminating to hear him describe a previous focus on HTML5 language for mobile apps as being his firm's biggest strategic mistake to date.
Facebook's iOS mobile product manager Mick Johnson recently refused to describe the move in similar terms when he discussed the recent relaunch of the iPhone and iPad app in native code.
His boss's admission is a red light to others building services on the technology.
In another exchange, he joked: "Everything I do breaks, but I fix it quickly."'Moving the needle'
Facebook is the world's most popular social network with 950 million users.
When asked of constant rumours that he was building a Facebook phone, he rejected the speculation and pointed to the site's huge reach.
"If we make a phone we could get maybe 10 million users? Twelve million users? That doesn't move the needle for us.
"Building a phone is the wrong strategy for us."
He admitted the fall in Facebook's share price had made it harder to find and retain staff. "It doesn't help," he said.
"There are tons of people that are super-pessimistic," Mr Zuckerberg said. "I would personally rather be underestimated. It gives us latitude to go out and make some big bets."
Since their debut at $38 in May, Facebook shares have lost 49% of their value. They closed at $19.43 on Tuesday.
Mr Zuckerberg owns about 444 million Facebook shares plus an option to issue another 60 million.
Last month, Peter Thiel, a venture capitalist and one of Facebook's earliest backers, sold much of his stake and made more than $1bn in total from his investment in Facebook.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20766952
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Has Mario Monti done a good job?
Mario Monti is stepping down as prime minister, saying he has lost the support he needs to govern.
He took over from Silvio Berlusconi a little over a year ago, when Italy's cost of borrowing was approaching unaffordable levels and the eurozone's leaders were desperate for credible leadership in the country.
The most important thing he did was in the early days of his government, according to Tito Boeri, professor of economics at Bocconi University in Milan.
"The first stability budget law included pension reform and real estate tax, which were very important for reassuring markets," he says.
"It showed the government was in charge and prepared to take action."
The retirement age was raised to 66 for men and 62 for women, with the age for women rising to 66 by 2018.
The reforms also did away with the system of seniority pensions, which had allowed many public workers to retire at the age of 58.
End Quote Fabio Basagni Actinvest
It is important to remember that the largest party in the coalition was Mr Berlusconi's, so there were some things that just could not be done”
Italy has a relatively low rate of employment because Italians retire so early.Avoiding the precipice
But Mr Monti's greatest achievement was not to do with the specifics of pension reform, it was in the restoration of credibility for the Italian political system, according to Fabio Basagni, chairman of Actinvest, a corporate financial adviser specialising in Italy.
"His biggest job was to keep Italy from the precipice," he says.
"The specifics were not as important as establishing the systems."
Italy's key problem in late 2011 was that the yield on its 10-year bonds, which are a key indicator of how much it will have to pay to borrow money, was over 7%, which is unaffordable in the long term.
When the unelected Mr Monti formed a government supported by a fragile majority in parliament, Italian bond yields fell to more affordable levels.
The original plan had been for him to stay in power until the end of the parliamentary term in April 2013, but when Mr Berlusconi's People of Freedom party withdrew its support from the government he said he would resign after the budget had been passed, meaning elections would take place in February instead.
"It is important to remember that the largest party in the coalition was Mr Berlusconi's, so there were some things that just could not be done," says Mr Basagni.
"He's done rather well - he could have done better if he'd been supported by a larger majority."Spending review
Mr Monti's next step was to hold a spending review, which "could have been more effective", according to Prof Boeri.
End Quote Tito Boeri Bocconi University
He had the right principles and the right direction, but his policies were not effective enough”
"It brought a 3bn euro ($4bn; £2.4bn) cut in spending out of a 300bn euro budget," he says.
Some of the more ambitious part of the spending review will not have a chance to be enacted now because of the early election, according to Robert O'Daly, Italy analyst for the Economist Intelligence Unit.
"There was a proposal to reduce the number of small provinces to save money, which has been blocked in parliament and probably will not happen for at least a year," he says.
"My main regret was that he didn't use the high levels of public support when he came in to push harder for structural reforms."
He adds that it was a shame Mr Monti had not managed to do more to deal with the duality of the Italian labour market, in which younger workers are on temporary or fixed term contracts while older workers are on permanent contracts that make it almost impossible to make them redundant.
"Monti gave in to the Confederation of Trade Unions and the final result was far from satisfactory," Mr O'Daly says.
But again, it may be that the importance of the spending review was in the process rather than the results.
End Quote Robert O'Daly Economist Intelligence Unit
Will the serious way he went about governing affect the next government?”
"It showed that spending at national, regional and local levels would be closely monitored," Mr Basagni says.'Right direction'
Prof Boeri would also have liked to have seen more structural liberalisation.
"There are very strict rules about opening pharmacies, for example, with a ceiling to the number of stores allowed in each town," he says.
"Mario Monti marginally raised that number when he should have completely phased out the limit."
"He had the right principles and the right direction, but his policies were not effective enough."
The final judgement on whether Mr Monti's year as an unelected premier has been successful may not be made for some time, because it depends on his legacy.
"Will the serious way he went about governing affect the next government?" Mr O'Daly asks.
"Will the Monti Agenda of fiscal discipline and structural reforms be followed?"
Another part of his legacy may be in the way Italians treat taxes, according to Mr Basagni.
"People protest about paying taxes, but they are less nonchalant about it," he says.
"They have started getting receipts from plumbers and builders."
Mr Monti may have the opportunity to continue shaping Italy's future himself if, as is being reported, he stands in next year's elections.
But there is little doubt that Mr Monti did what was required in November 2011, which was to provide a new government to inspire international confidence and keep borrowing costs down, without the need for elections.
"Elections last year would have been extremely disruptive - it would have been a disastrous three or four months," says Mr Basagni.
"Monti provided a bridge solution, which was very useful - almost indispensable."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-21244564
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New Tyrannoneustes lythrodectikos predator found
A new category of prehistoric species has been discovered by researchers at Edinburgh University.
They have identified it as a marine super-predator which is distantly related to modern day crocodiles.
Parts of its skeleton were found near Peterborough just over 100 years ago and are held at Glasgow's Hunterian museum.
Researchers have named it Tyrannoneustes lythrodectikos which means blood-biting tyrant swimmer.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-21349013
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Child cancer lies: Cwmcarn teacher Kelly Baker banned
A teacher who lied that a child was dying of cancer in order to get time off work has been struck off.
Kelly Baker, 31, was given paid leave during her "elaborate story," which she kept going for more than a year.
Miss Baker, who taught at Cwmcarn Primary School in Caerphilly county, was banned from teaching for four years by a disciplinary hearing.
The teacher, of Maesycwmmer, who also claimed several times she was ill, was given a suspended jail term last year.
She received a six-month jail term suspended for two years in 2012 after admitting two counts of fraud.
End Quote Steve Harmes Prosecuting
Staff and pupils at the school were distressed believing the child had cancer”
A disciplinary hearing in Cardiff was told she even phoned the school on one occasion to say she could not work because the child had lost the use of their legs and fallen into a coma.
She produced fake medical certificates on her home computer in a bid to back up her story. But her lies were exposed when her head teacher tried to visit the child in hospital to deliver a card.
Education officials suspended her from her £30,000-a-year job after becoming suspicious.
The General Teaching Council for Wales (GTCW) has banned her from teaching after finding her guilty of unacceptable professional conduct.
She did not attend the hearing and cannot reapply for registration until 2017. There is no guarantee she will be reinstated.
The panel said: "We have heard evidence that Miss Baker's persistent and dishonest behaviour did adversely affect the emotional wellbeing of her pupils.'Abused trust'
"She abused the trust of the school authority and her colleagues and her conduct did have serious financial implications for the school."
During her trial at Cardiff Crown Court last July, the jury was told the school called in the police who arrested her for fraud.
Steve Harmes, prosecuting, told the hearing: "Staff and pupils at the school were distressed believing the child had cancer. Baker initially took a month off.
End Quote Vaughan Britton Defending
She had created a fantasy world and then couldn't separate that from reality”
"Then, 18 months later, she said the child had had lost the use of their legs before falling into a coma caused by a faulty ventilator starving the child of oxygen.
"Two months later she said the child had regained consciousness but was in a high dependency unit and unable to recognise people."
Mr Harmes said head teacher Gwyn Evans travelled to the Princess of Wales Hospital, Bridgend, to take a card to her and was told the teacher was not there.
Mr Evans was later told that the child was perfectly well and had never been in hospital.
The school later sacked her after discovering she also lied to them about needing time off work for her father's funeral. She also faked 13 health problems of her own to take time off.
She claimed she was suffering from viral fatigue, a broken arm, fractured ribs, dislocated hip and a urinary tract infection.
The school discovered that she had forged one of her references to get the job at the school.
Vaughan Britton, defending, said: "She had created a fantasy world and then couldn't separate that from reality."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-18722986
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Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II, represented by a governor
Prime minister: Perry Christie
The Progressive Liberal Party returned to power at elections in May 2012, and party leader Perry Christie became prime minister for the second time. He defeated Hubert Ingraham's Free National Movement, which had won parliamentary elections in 2007.
The PLP had dominated Bahamian politics up until 1992, when the FNM swept to victory on an anti-corruption programme. The PLP returned to power in 2002, and the two parties have alernated in government ever since.
Mr Christie, 69, was prime minister in 2002-2007. Top of his agenda now is tackling the high unemployment rate, concerns about rising crime figures, and controversy over oil exploration.
Critics fear that oil development could harm the ecology and tourism sector. Mr Christie supports exploration, but insists he will protect the vital tourism industry.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4417202.stm
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The BBC will begin trial broadcasts of high-definition television (HDTV) next year, director of TV Jana Bennett has confirmed.
The BBC has filmed series such as Rome in high-definition format
Highlights of its schedule will be made available in high-definition format to selected digital satellite and cable viewers from mid-2006.
The BBC also aims to test the format on digital terrestrial TV in London.
Current series Bleak House and Rome have been made in HDTV, which requires a compatible TV and receiver.
HDTV provides a sharper, clearer and more colourful image than the current standard television picture.
This is due to the way the picture is filmed, broadcast and displayed on compatible HDTV sets, which use a greater number of pixels to display images than on a standard television set.
Many HDTV broadcasts will also include a soundtrack which will provide surround sound to viewers using appropriate speakers.
BBC director general Mark Thompson has pledged to deliver free-to-air HDTV on all BBC digital platforms "as soon as practical", which is expected to be by about 2010.
The BBC trials aim to test out how HDTV broadcasts are transmitted and received. The corporation said they would not affect the reception of current channels.
Its trials are expected to last a year. The BBC has yet to decide how many participants will take part in the trials, or how they will be selected.
Sky also plans to launch its own HDTV service in 2006, which will include live Premiership football.
The HDTV system is already available in Japan, Canada, Australia and South Korea and the US, and compatible HDTV sets are already on sale in the UK.
On Tuesday BBC director of television Jana Bennett said: "Our promise to our licence payers is to give them the highest quality television, so the time is right for the BBC to get involved in high definition.
"High definition may take time to grow in Britain, but as with the other technologies we helped to build, the BBC wants to prepare now to be able to deliver the benefits of HDTV to all its licence payers in the long term."
The BBC aims to produce all its programmes in high-definition format by 2010.
A BBC spokeswoman said there was a possibility that next year's football World Cup would be broadcast in high definition format as part of its trials.
"It would be a great opportunity to test high-definition broadcasting from a live event," said a BBC spokeswoman.
"We hope the World Cup would be a part of the trial but that has still to be confirmed."
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4160122.stm
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The Royal Mint has launched a competition to find new designs for six of the UK's coins.
Six of the UK's eight coins will be re-designed
The winning designs will be used on the "tail side" of coins from the penny to 50p with each designer winning £5,000.
The existing designs, except for the 20p, have not changed since they were introduced with decimalisation in 1971.
Would-be designers have been asked to come up with images that better reflect modern Britain, while the Queen's portrait will remain on the other side.
The Queen has ultimate say in the final design of the 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p and 50p coins, after the chancellor approves the selection chosen by the Royal Mint Advisory Committee.
The public will have to compete against invited artists and the Royal Mint Engraving Department.
Royal Mint chief executive Gerald Sheehan said: "Although we use coins everyday and we often take them and their designs for granted, it is fascinating how strongly people feel about the coinage and how integral it is to our history."
The Royal Mint, based in Llantrisant, south Wales, did highlight "heraldry" as a potential design element, but want it to be shown in an "imaginative and creative way".
Other themes it suggests are flora or fauna, geographic features, social, political or cultural achievements or British institutions.
The Royal Mint advised against having a person on the reverse side because of the difficulty of choosing a candidate and to avoid having two heads on a coin.
The competition closes on 14 November when the public will be consulted on the designs prior to formal approval.
The one and two pound coins are not included in the competition as they were only recently re-designed.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/wiltshire/4694894.stm
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Five options designed to protect Stonehenge for the future have been unveiled by the Highways Agency.
The aim is to remove traffic from near Stonehenge
The aim is to remove traffic from the World Heritage site, provide a bypass for Winterbourne Stoke and reduce accidents at the Wiltshire site.
Following a public inquiry in 2004 a new dual carriageway and a 2.1km bored tunnel was suggested.
Ministers have since asked for a cheaper option after the tunnel's costs spiralled from £284m to £470m.
The four alternatives to the published scheme for the bored tunnel are:
A northern route - which would have a junction with the A360 then go south of Larkhill and rejoin A303 at the Countess roundabout at Amesbury. It would involve a cut-and-cover tunnel.
A southern route - which would have a junction with the A360 then go south of Stonehenge before rejoining the A303.
A cut-and-cover tunnel - like the first tunnel scheme - but closer to the surface than a bored tunnel.
A partial solution - which would include closing the A344 at its junction with the A303 and offer options for the end of the Winterbourne Stoke bypass.
English Heritage said until this latest review was completed, it would remain a supporter of the long bored tunnel.
"Any alternative would need to offer benefits that are comparable to this scheme," said a spokesperson.
An exhibiton of the options was due to open on Friday.
A government decision is due next year.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10337424
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Many killed by Burma landslides
Landslides and floods caused by torrential rain have killed 46 people in Burma this week, state television has reported.
MRTV said 28 people were killed in Maungdaw, and 18 people were killed in Buthidaung, on the border with Bangladesh.
Rescue efforts are under way and the regional authorities have begun evacuating people, the report added.
Landslides in Bangladesh killed at least 53 people on Tuesday.Houses damaged
Burmese officials said 34cm (13.5in) of rain fell in Maungdaw, on the border with Bangladesh, on one day this week.
One resident told the BBC's Burmese service that he had seen 10 houses damaged by a mudslide.
An official told the Reuters news agency that deforestation had contributed to the problem.
At least 140,000 people were killed in Burma in 2008 when a cyclone hit the south of the country.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19318094
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Stansted Airport to be sold by BAA
Airports operator BAA has decided to sell Stansted Airport, ending its long-running legal battle.
It has been fighting a 2009 Competition Commission ruling that it must sell Stansted because of the lack of competition between London airports.
BAA was told to sell off Stansted and Gatwick, but by then it had already started the process of finding a buyer for Gatwick.
It was also ordered to sell off either Glasgow or Edinburgh airports.
BAA said it had decided not to challenge the Stansted ruling in the Supreme Court, the last opportunity it had to appeal.
"We still believe that the Competition Commission ruling fails to recognise that Stansted and Heathrow serve different markets," it said.
End Quote Laura Carstensen Competition Commission
We believe that both passengers and airlines will benefit from the introduction of new ownership ”
Ryanair, which has long been critical of the way BAA ran Stansted and the prices it charges airlines to use the airport, welcomed BAA's decision to proceed with the sale.
"The BAA's seven failed court appeals were nothing more than a blatant attempt to delay the sale while BAA and its Spanish owners, Ferrovial, fattened up its monopoly profits at the expense of airlines, passengers and British jobs," said Stephen McNamara from Ryanair.
The Irish airline blames lack of competition for the declining passenger numbers at Stansted, which carried 6 million fewer passengers in 2011 than in 2007.Market dominance
When the inquiry process was launched five years ago, BAA owned seven UK airports, carrying 60% of all UK air passengers.
It had a virtual monopoly over airports in the South East of England, where Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Southampton carried 90% of air passengers in the area.
Its Scottish airports - Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen - accounted for 84% of airport passengers in Scotland.
BAA has recently completed the sale of Edinburgh airport.
The Competition Commission said it was "very pleased" the sale of the UK's fourth busiest airport could finally go ahead, and would remain closely involved to ensure a suitable buyer.
"We believe that both passengers and airlines will benefit from the introduction of new ownership and increased competition," said Laura Carstensen, a member of the original inquiry group said.'Outdated' restrictions
Now that London's three biggest airports are in three different hands, rather than one, Gatwick has called for regulations on their activities to be lifted.
"The Civil Aviation Authority now needs to remove the unnecessary burden of economic regulation imposed when BAA was a monopoly and which threatens to restrict full competition and investment which will benefit passengers and airlines," said Gatwick Airport chief executive Stewart Wingate.
Every five years, the regulator looks at the performance of airports and caps the amount they can charge airlines per passenger.
These restrictions mean airports cannot enter into any contracts longer than five years, and the five-year regulatory cycle can slow the response to customers' needs, Gatwick argues.
Manchester Airports Group, which owns East Midlands and Bournemouth, is hoping to expand the business and is being talked about as a possible buyer for Stansted.
It refused to comment on Stansted specifically, but said in a statement that it was exploring whether "to add a quality airport to the group" and looking at bringing in a new investor to help it do this.
Spanish transport company Ferrovial, which borrowed heavily to buy BAA in 2006, has been selling off stakes in the UK operator, reducing its stake to 40%.
Last week state-backed investment company Qatar Holding bought a 20% stake in BAA. Analysts suggest other sovereign wealth funds and infrastructure funds of big banks could be interested in Stansted.
On buying the BAA stake Qatar Holding said: "The United Kingdom remains an attractive investment destination and there is long-term fundamental strength in the British economy."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19514195
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Unite Union warns of co-ordinated strike action
The leader of the UK's largest union has warned that there could be more co-ordinated strikes in response to the government's spending cuts.
Len McCluskey, the general secretary of the Unite Union, said he would support calls for strikes which could take place within months.
"There is a real chance of co-ordinated action, if not this winter then certainly early next year," he said.
Mr McCluskey was speaking ahead of the TUC Congress in Brighton this weekend.
Delegates are expected to hear repeated calls for co-ordinated industrial action - like that seen over the issue of pensions during the past year.'Support action'
An estimated 1.5 million people went on strike on 30 November last year to protest over reforms to public sector pensions.
Hundreds of thousands of people also marched through London in March 2011 to highlight the need for an alternative approach to the economy.
Mr McCluskey says such action could happen again, but this time linked to issues including pensions, jobs and pay.
"We would certainly support calls for co-ordinated industrial action on pay and indeed other issues," he said.
"It was never going to be one single march on 26 March, or indeed one dispute over pensions - it was always going to be an ongoing fight."'Paying the price'
Mr McCluskey is expected to address the congress on Monday. He will call for a £1 increase in the national minimum wage to boost the economy by giving lower paid workers more spending power.
He will also call for a cap on energy bills to help struggling families.
Mr McCluskey said he believed strike action was "inevitable". He said that the timing of any industrial action would be down to union members.
"This government is intent on trying to make… ordinary working people pay the price for a crisis that they didn't cause," he said.
"I think it is inevitable, as workers get more and more angry and frustrated as to the pressures on them, both in the private and the public sector, that there will be a demand for them to take industrial action.
"I see the issue of strikes and continuing protests actually increasing as we move closer and closer towards a general election."
Mr McCluskey has previously called for civil disobedience in response to government cuts.
The Unite union, which has 1.5 million members, was at the heart of the tanker drivers' dispute earlier this year, which resulted in panic buying on petrol-station forecourts.
The union also threatened to disrupt public transport during the Olympics over the issue of a bonus payment for London bus drivers.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19911761
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My Bottom Line: David Haines, Grohe
David Haines is CEO of Grohe, a German sanitary fittings manufacturer.
He says "never waste a good crisis" and the recent global financial slowdown has made his company even more focussed on rigorous cash management.
While good customer service and quality products are always important, cash management - paying suppliers and getting customers to pay you - is vital.
David says this approach is now embedded in the DNA of his company - and is a lesson he learned working for a family business.
Find more business wisdom from other chief executives on the My Bottom Line website.
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Subsets and Splits
Argument Posts from BBC News
Retrieves 10 texts containing both 'pros and cons' and 'argument', with lengths between 2000 and 6000 characters, offering limited insight into content distribution.