The BBC Trust is considering a non-religious Thought for the Day on Radio 4’s Today programme, sparking criticism from faith leaders, The Daily Telegraph says.
Lots of listeners previously complaint the two minute slot should give a voice to a wide range of religions and a voice to those from around the UK.
Secularists also claim the slot discriminates against non-believers and have complained to The Trust, the BBC’s governing body, which will deliver its response in Autumn, The Daily Telegraph reports.
Mark Damazer, the channel’s controller, has said that the slot on the flagship programme could “take in a wider range of voices”.
However, faith leaders have criticised the move saying that in an increasingly secular climate, it was “vitally important” that religion retain its voice.
Steve Clifford, General Director of the Evangelical Alliance said in an interview with The Daily Telegraph: “The Today programme has no problem running slots for business and sport, so why shouldn’t it have a slot dedicated to religion? It strikes me that the secularists predominate in the other two hour and 55 minutes, so is it really asking too much for religion to just have a small chunk of dedicated time?
John Newsbury, former editor of BBC religious programmes, writes an opinion article on The Guardian, entitled: Thought for the Day may be doomed.
He is concerned that if the programme opens up to atheists, to achieve a wider audience, it may no longer be able to fulfill its original brief, previously satisfied by the BBC news editors.
He then writes the brief on The Guardian Thought for the Day is “a theological reflection on the sorts of issues, topics and people with which the Today programme normally deals”.
Mr Newsbury says now the BBC Trust is to consider whether non-believers should be invited on to the programme. If they are, then the existing brief will have to be torn up.
Though non-religious people might have valuable insights to offer on matter of moral, social or political importance but they cannot personally reflect theologically on anything. It would be a bit like asking one of the favourite comedians, Sandi Toksvig, to reflect on the meaning of football when she loathes the game, The Guardian reports.
He thinks if non-religious contributors make it on to Thought for the Day, the slot is doomed, and there is no need for a non-theological Thought-style reflection on Today, the show is already stuffed with secular opinion in the form of interviews.
Secular and humanist groups have long campaigned for the slot to be opened up to those outside of religious groups, and in January this year a non-religious version, called Thought for the Afternoon, was broadcast on Radio 4’s Saturday afternoon programme, iPM, The Daily Telegraph says.
One listener told Feedback she found the programme “deeply irritating and quite often quite insulting”.
“I would be quite happy with a Thought for the Day with a secular point, some philosophical dilemma, a little bit of science,” she said. “I think it’s a very good opportunity to do that, I just feel annoyed it’s always the Sikhs or the Muslims or the Jews or the Christians or whatsever.”
However, some of the faith leaders were open to the idea of opening the slot to different voices, according to The Daily Telegraph.
Sir Iqbal Sacranie, former head of the Musliim Council of Britain, said: “I have no problem with secular people or people of no faith appearing on the programme if it fosters a spirit of inclusivity.”
A spokesman from the BBC Trust said: “The Trust's General Appeals Panel is considering this issue in response to a number of complaints. We expect to be able to publish a decision in the Autumn.”
Tuesday, 11 August 2009
Legal loopholes makes Britain “safe haven for evil”
Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, has recently announced that he would change the law to ensure suspected war criminals living in the UK could not escape prosecution, The Daily Telegraph reports.
The amendment aims to enable the prosecution of the overseas war criminals and tortures living in the UK dating back to 1991 go further enough, a committee of MPs and peers tells The Guardian.
As the 1991 cut-off and a requirement that only resident in the UK should face prosecution will leave an “impunity gap” which will allow international war criminals to visit and stay in Britain without fear of prosecution, a report from parliament’s joint human rights committee says to The Guardian.
The possible prosecution of war criminals is limited to those legal residents in Britain. This is based on the grounds that it was neither attractive nor practical to progress further for their trials, says Mr Straw.
The cross-party group of MPs and peers say they “fail to understand the justification” for using 1991 as the cut-off date for prosecution, saying it means that the 1994 Rwandan massacres are covered but not the 1970s Cambodian genocide, Alan Travis write on The Guardian.
MPs and peers urge Straw to adopt a date as far back as possible for each offence, with 1948 for genocide and 1949 for war crimes committed during internal armed conflicts.
Though ministers told the committee the UK did not aim “to become a policeman for the world”, The Daily Telegraph reports.
The committee questioned why ministers had set the cut-off point for genocide and war crimes in internal conflicts, as well as crimes against humanity at 1991, when international law allowed alleged crimes committed in those two categories as far back as 1948 and 1949 to be prosecuted.
The report said that having different cut-off dates was not “an exercise beyond the capacity of the UK government or beyond the understanding of the public”.
The report also called for a specialist war crimes unit to be set up and given “resources commensurate with the seriousness of crimes they need to investigate and the importance of leading the world in bringing international criminals to justice.”
Andrew Dismore, chairman of the parliament's human rights committee, said: “The UK must not be a safe haven for evil. The message to those who have perpetrated the most heinous crime imaginable must be clear: they are not welcome here – not to visit, not to live, not to holiday, shop or get medical treatment.
“The UK should close these loopholes in the law. We also need to re-establish the specialist war crimes unit. Victims of torture must be able to pursue compensation … We should lead the world in bringing international criminals to justice,” The Guardian reports.
The Aegis Trust, which campaigns against genocide, has said there were “significant numbers of suspected war criminals and genocidaires who are either in the UK or have visited this country,” says The Daily Telegraph.
The amendment aims to enable the prosecution of the overseas war criminals and tortures living in the UK dating back to 1991 go further enough, a committee of MPs and peers tells The Guardian.
As the 1991 cut-off and a requirement that only resident in the UK should face prosecution will leave an “impunity gap” which will allow international war criminals to visit and stay in Britain without fear of prosecution, a report from parliament’s joint human rights committee says to The Guardian.
The possible prosecution of war criminals is limited to those legal residents in Britain. This is based on the grounds that it was neither attractive nor practical to progress further for their trials, says Mr Straw.
The cross-party group of MPs and peers say they “fail to understand the justification” for using 1991 as the cut-off date for prosecution, saying it means that the 1994 Rwandan massacres are covered but not the 1970s Cambodian genocide, Alan Travis write on The Guardian.
MPs and peers urge Straw to adopt a date as far back as possible for each offence, with 1948 for genocide and 1949 for war crimes committed during internal armed conflicts.
Though ministers told the committee the UK did not aim “to become a policeman for the world”, The Daily Telegraph reports.
The committee questioned why ministers had set the cut-off point for genocide and war crimes in internal conflicts, as well as crimes against humanity at 1991, when international law allowed alleged crimes committed in those two categories as far back as 1948 and 1949 to be prosecuted.
The report said that having different cut-off dates was not “an exercise beyond the capacity of the UK government or beyond the understanding of the public”.
The report also called for a specialist war crimes unit to be set up and given “resources commensurate with the seriousness of crimes they need to investigate and the importance of leading the world in bringing international criminals to justice.”
Andrew Dismore, chairman of the parliament's human rights committee, said: “The UK must not be a safe haven for evil. The message to those who have perpetrated the most heinous crime imaginable must be clear: they are not welcome here – not to visit, not to live, not to holiday, shop or get medical treatment.
“The UK should close these loopholes in the law. We also need to re-establish the specialist war crimes unit. Victims of torture must be able to pursue compensation … We should lead the world in bringing international criminals to justice,” The Guardian reports.
The Aegis Trust, which campaigns against genocide, has said there were “significant numbers of suspected war criminals and genocidaires who are either in the UK or have visited this country,” says The Daily Telegraph.
Teachers "prevent" state schools pupils from applying Oxbridge report says
Bright pupils from comprehensive schools are being put off applying to Oxford and Cambridge universities because of fears over “elitism”, the Sutton Trust researcher tells The Daily Telegraph.
Graeme Paton, The Daily Telegraph education editor wrote teachers often promote the view that Oxbridge universities are “not for the likes of us”.
The Sutton Trust charity said that pupils from comprehensive schools needed better guidance to help them apply to leading universities.
Lord Mandelson, Business Secretary last month also said more needed to be done to widen access to higher education, Graeme Paton wrote.
More than four in 10 students currently admitted to Oxbridge are from independent schools, though they only educate just seven per cent of children in the United Kingdom.
The Sutton Trust suggested that schools were the ones often to blame for creating “not for the likes of us” situation.
Dr Lee Elliot Major, the charity’s research director said in an interview with The Daily Telegraph that teachers often confused excellence with elitism.
“What we’ve found is that independent school pupils with similar grades to state school pupils are far more likely to apply to leading research universities,” he said.
“One of our concerns is that there is a confusion between excellence and elitism in many state schools – that often the prestigious universities are perceived to be “not for the likes of us”.
The government is now considering introducing new guidance urging universities to give pupils from poor families a two-grade “head start” in the admissions process.
The Sutton Trust is due to publish research later this week which will demand an overhaul of careers advice in schools, said The Daily Telegraph.
Dr Elliot Major said around half the guidance pupils currently received in comprehensive schools was poor, “We’re also concerned about teachers – that half of comprehensive school pupils, even if they had the brightest pupils in their class, they wouldn’t advise them to consider Oxbridge.”
Graeme Paton, The Daily Telegraph education editor wrote teachers often promote the view that Oxbridge universities are “not for the likes of us”.
The Sutton Trust charity said that pupils from comprehensive schools needed better guidance to help them apply to leading universities.
Lord Mandelson, Business Secretary last month also said more needed to be done to widen access to higher education, Graeme Paton wrote.
More than four in 10 students currently admitted to Oxbridge are from independent schools, though they only educate just seven per cent of children in the United Kingdom.
The Sutton Trust suggested that schools were the ones often to blame for creating “not for the likes of us” situation.
Dr Lee Elliot Major, the charity’s research director said in an interview with The Daily Telegraph that teachers often confused excellence with elitism.
“What we’ve found is that independent school pupils with similar grades to state school pupils are far more likely to apply to leading research universities,” he said.
“One of our concerns is that there is a confusion between excellence and elitism in many state schools – that often the prestigious universities are perceived to be “not for the likes of us”.
The government is now considering introducing new guidance urging universities to give pupils from poor families a two-grade “head start” in the admissions process.
The Sutton Trust is due to publish research later this week which will demand an overhaul of careers advice in schools, said The Daily Telegraph.
Dr Elliot Major said around half the guidance pupils currently received in comprehensive schools was poor, “We’re also concerned about teachers – that half of comprehensive school pupils, even if they had the brightest pupils in their class, they wouldn’t advise them to consider Oxbridge.”
Monday, 10 August 2009
Cleared doctor resumes his NHS career
A doctor who had alleged links to an Islamist terror plot was cleared of his offence and is now working in an NHS hospital, the Daily Mail reports.
Dr Mohammed Asha was cleared of conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to cause explosions following the 2007 terror bids, before starting his job at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital (RSH), the Sun reports.
According to the Daily Telegraph, the government last week withdrew a long-standing attempt to deport the 28-year-old on the basis that he was a threat to national security.
According to the Sun, Dr Asha started work at the RSH last week, a few days before the Home Office dropped its deportation bid, and days after the government dropped its deportation application.
However, the Department of Health spokesman was unable to confirm his employment status.
Trust chief executive Tom Taylor said: “Dr Mohammed Jamil Asha is a very capable young doctor and we are very pleased that he is continuing his training in our hospitals.”
“It is important to remember that he has been proven innocent and the government had withdrawn its application for deportation before he returned to the trust last week.”
“We hope everyone will judge him on the basis of his medical skills, and respect his and our wishes to let him continue his training in peace,” said the Daily Telegraph.
The Jordanian neurologist works at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital in Shropshire as Dr Jamil – his middle name, said the Daily Mail.
He was arrested on the day of a suicide bomb attack on Glasgow Airport on July 30th 2007. At the time, he worked for the University Hospital of North Staffordshire in Stoke-on-Trent.
Dr Asha spent a year on remand before being cleared of conspiracy to murder and cause explosions by a jury at London’s Woolwich Crown Court last year.
His solicitor said after his deportation application was dropped by the government, the father-of-one was determined to resume his career in the NHS.
“Mohammed Asha has always said he was innocent and was not a threat national security. Now, finally, he has been entirely vindicated,” said Tayab Ali.
“Hopefully he can now get his position back, which was offering help and support to people in the UK by being an NHS doctor.”
According to different UK publications, the London-Glasgow car bomb attacks were plotted by an NHS British-born Iraqi doctor Bilal Abdulla, 29 and a 28-year-old Indian engineering student Kafeel Ahmed.
Bilal Abdulla was convicted of plotting to commit mass murder and has been sentenced to at least 32 years in jails, and Kafeel Ahmed died five weeks later after suffering serious burns during the attacks.
The prosecution alleged Dr Asha was the financier and supporter of the Glasgow airport terror cell.
However, Dr Asha denied any offences that the government had charged him. He said he did not know the £1,300 he lent to Abdulla was to rent and buy cars and bomb-making equipment. He claimed the two men had betrayed him.
After the Woolwich Crown Court cleared his convictions, the Home Office was still trying to kick him out of the country, claiming he was a threat to national security.
Dr Mohammed Asha was cleared of conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to cause explosions following the 2007 terror bids, before starting his job at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital (RSH), the Sun reports.
According to the Daily Telegraph, the government last week withdrew a long-standing attempt to deport the 28-year-old on the basis that he was a threat to national security.
According to the Sun, Dr Asha started work at the RSH last week, a few days before the Home Office dropped its deportation bid, and days after the government dropped its deportation application.
However, the Department of Health spokesman was unable to confirm his employment status.
Trust chief executive Tom Taylor said: “Dr Mohammed Jamil Asha is a very capable young doctor and we are very pleased that he is continuing his training in our hospitals.”
“It is important to remember that he has been proven innocent and the government had withdrawn its application for deportation before he returned to the trust last week.”
“We hope everyone will judge him on the basis of his medical skills, and respect his and our wishes to let him continue his training in peace,” said the Daily Telegraph.
The Jordanian neurologist works at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital in Shropshire as Dr Jamil – his middle name, said the Daily Mail.
He was arrested on the day of a suicide bomb attack on Glasgow Airport on July 30th 2007. At the time, he worked for the University Hospital of North Staffordshire in Stoke-on-Trent.
Dr Asha spent a year on remand before being cleared of conspiracy to murder and cause explosions by a jury at London’s Woolwich Crown Court last year.
His solicitor said after his deportation application was dropped by the government, the father-of-one was determined to resume his career in the NHS.
“Mohammed Asha has always said he was innocent and was not a threat national security. Now, finally, he has been entirely vindicated,” said Tayab Ali.
“Hopefully he can now get his position back, which was offering help and support to people in the UK by being an NHS doctor.”
According to different UK publications, the London-Glasgow car bomb attacks were plotted by an NHS British-born Iraqi doctor Bilal Abdulla, 29 and a 28-year-old Indian engineering student Kafeel Ahmed.
Bilal Abdulla was convicted of plotting to commit mass murder and has been sentenced to at least 32 years in jails, and Kafeel Ahmed died five weeks later after suffering serious burns during the attacks.
The prosecution alleged Dr Asha was the financier and supporter of the Glasgow airport terror cell.
However, Dr Asha denied any offences that the government had charged him. He said he did not know the £1,300 he lent to Abdulla was to rent and buy cars and bomb-making equipment. He claimed the two men had betrayed him.
After the Woolwich Crown Court cleared his convictions, the Home Office was still trying to kick him out of the country, claiming he was a threat to national security.
Phones and emails snooped every 60 seconds
Councils, police and other public bodies are seeking access to people’s private telephone and email records on an average of 1,381 times a day last year, The Daily Telegraph reports.
Sir Paul Kennedy, the interception of communications commissioner released a report today that More than 500,000 requests have been made by the authorities for confidential communications data last year, which is equivalent to spying on one in every 78 adults.
The figures showed in the report will fuel concerns over the use of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act by public bodies, says The Daily Telegraph.
The Act gives authorities such as councils, the police and intelligence agencies the power to request access to confidential communications data, including lists of telephone numbers dialled and email addresses to which messages have been sent.
However, recently councils have been accused of using the powers for trivial matters such as littering and dog fouling, which were originally intended to tackle terrorism and organised crime.
Last month, it emerged that councils and other official bodies had used hidden tracking devices to spy on members of the public.
Maev Kennedy wrote on The Guardian the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, Chris Huhne, said the figures “beggared belief” and showed that Britain had sleepwalked into a surveillance state.
“Many of these operations carried out by the police and security services are necessary, but the sheer numbers are daunting,” he added.
“It cannot be a justified response to the problems we face in this country that the state is spying on half a million people a year.
“We have sleepwalked into a surveillance state, but without adequate safeguards. Having the home secretary in charge of authorisation is like asking the fox to guard the hen house.
“The government forgets that George Orwell's novel 1984 was a warning and not a blueprint. We are still a long way from living under the Stasi but it beggars belief that it is necessary to spy on one in every 78 adults.”
The government has now launched a review. A Home Office spokesman said: "Of course it's vital that we strike the right balance between individual privacy and collective security and that is why the Home Office is clear these powers should only be used when they are proportionate."
Sir Paul Kennedy, the interception of communications commissioner released a report today that More than 500,000 requests have been made by the authorities for confidential communications data last year, which is equivalent to spying on one in every 78 adults.
The figures showed in the report will fuel concerns over the use of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act by public bodies, says The Daily Telegraph.
The Act gives authorities such as councils, the police and intelligence agencies the power to request access to confidential communications data, including lists of telephone numbers dialled and email addresses to which messages have been sent.
However, recently councils have been accused of using the powers for trivial matters such as littering and dog fouling, which were originally intended to tackle terrorism and organised crime.
Last month, it emerged that councils and other official bodies had used hidden tracking devices to spy on members of the public.
Maev Kennedy wrote on The Guardian the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, Chris Huhne, said the figures “beggared belief” and showed that Britain had sleepwalked into a surveillance state.
“Many of these operations carried out by the police and security services are necessary, but the sheer numbers are daunting,” he added.
“It cannot be a justified response to the problems we face in this country that the state is spying on half a million people a year.
“We have sleepwalked into a surveillance state, but without adequate safeguards. Having the home secretary in charge of authorisation is like asking the fox to guard the hen house.
“The government forgets that George Orwell's novel 1984 was a warning and not a blueprint. We are still a long way from living under the Stasi but it beggars belief that it is necessary to spy on one in every 78 adults.”
The government has now launched a review. A Home Office spokesman said: "Of course it's vital that we strike the right balance between individual privacy and collective security and that is why the Home Office is clear these powers should only be used when they are proportionate."
Calls for independent torture inquiry
Campaigners have called for a judicial inquiry on recent row mounts over abuse of detainee abroad, The Daily Telegraph reports on 9 August.
The Home Secretary Alan Johnson and the Foreign Secretary Daily Miliband said it was “not possible to eradicate all risk” that foreign allies had mistreated terrorism suspects.
They pointed out in a jointly written article published on Sunday that intelligence officers faced “hard choices” and that their overriding aim was to “defend both our citizens’ rights and their security”.
They wrote: “Our position is clear, and the UK firmly opposes torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment.
“When detainees are held by our police or Armed Forces we can be sure how they are treated. By definition, we cannot have that same level of assurance when they are held by foreign governments, whose obligations may differ from our own.”
Their article came following several detailed allegations of British complicity in torture.
According to today’s Guardian newspaper, Sir John Scarlett, the head of MI6, denied his officers were complicit in torture.
Scarlett told BBC Radio 4’s A Century in the Shadows programme there was “no torture and no complicity in torture” by the British secret service.
He said: “Our officers are as committed to the value and the human values of liberal democracy as anybody else.”
However, he then added: “They also have the responsibility of protecting the country against terrorism, and these issues need to be debated and understood in that context.”
Sir John Scarlett addressed the parallel concerns of what the Home Secretary and the Foreign Secretary have previously underlined that our Armed Forces need to “defend both our citizens’ rights and their security”.
Scotland Yard is currently investigating an MI5 officer over the questioning of the UK resident Binyam Mohamed while he was being held incommunicado in Pakistan.
Two high court judges recently revealed MI5 knew more about the circumstances surrounding Mohamed than it had originally admitted.
However, The Guardian reports that David Miliband is continuing to refuse to allow a seven-page summary of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) about the case to be disclosed.
The CIA material is widely believed to contain evidence of what the UK knew about abuse of Mohamed.
The foreign affairs committee yesterday said the government must adopt a more healthy approach to Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency about the abuse of detainees, and also it was "imperative" that the government fulfilled its legal obligations to act positively to prevent torture, and investigate allegations of it.
The parliamentary joint committee on human rights, in a stinging report last week, also said an independent inquiry was the only way to restore public confidence in the intelligence and security agencies.
The Home Secretary Alan Johnson and the Foreign Secretary Daily Miliband said it was “not possible to eradicate all risk” that foreign allies had mistreated terrorism suspects.
They pointed out in a jointly written article published on Sunday that intelligence officers faced “hard choices” and that their overriding aim was to “defend both our citizens’ rights and their security”.
They wrote: “Our position is clear, and the UK firmly opposes torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment.
“When detainees are held by our police or Armed Forces we can be sure how they are treated. By definition, we cannot have that same level of assurance when they are held by foreign governments, whose obligations may differ from our own.”
Their article came following several detailed allegations of British complicity in torture.
According to today’s Guardian newspaper, Sir John Scarlett, the head of MI6, denied his officers were complicit in torture.
Scarlett told BBC Radio 4’s A Century in the Shadows programme there was “no torture and no complicity in torture” by the British secret service.
He said: “Our officers are as committed to the value and the human values of liberal democracy as anybody else.”
However, he then added: “They also have the responsibility of protecting the country against terrorism, and these issues need to be debated and understood in that context.”
Sir John Scarlett addressed the parallel concerns of what the Home Secretary and the Foreign Secretary have previously underlined that our Armed Forces need to “defend both our citizens’ rights and their security”.
Scotland Yard is currently investigating an MI5 officer over the questioning of the UK resident Binyam Mohamed while he was being held incommunicado in Pakistan.
Two high court judges recently revealed MI5 knew more about the circumstances surrounding Mohamed than it had originally admitted.
However, The Guardian reports that David Miliband is continuing to refuse to allow a seven-page summary of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) about the case to be disclosed.
The CIA material is widely believed to contain evidence of what the UK knew about abuse of Mohamed.
The foreign affairs committee yesterday said the government must adopt a more healthy approach to Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency about the abuse of detainees, and also it was "imperative" that the government fulfilled its legal obligations to act positively to prevent torture, and investigate allegations of it.
The parliamentary joint committee on human rights, in a stinging report last week, also said an independent inquiry was the only way to restore public confidence in the intelligence and security agencies.
Jackson lawyer denies Oliver star fathering Jacko’s child
Michael Jackson’s family lawyer has rejected claims from child star Mark Lester that he could be the biological father of the pop star’s daughter Paris, says The Daily Telegraph.
Mr Lester, 51, who found fame in the 1968 musical Oliver!, was a close friend of the late pop superstar. He is godfather to Paris, 11, and Jackson's two other children, 12-year-old Prince, and Prince Michael II, the seven-year-old nicknamed Blanket.
He claimed over the weekend that he gave Michael his sperm so that the King of the Pop could have kids and he said he felt a "definite bonding" with Paris, the 11-year-old, with pale skin and blue eyes might be his daughter, the Metro reports.
However, Brian Oxman, the Jackson family's lawyer, said he was confident the King of Pop was Paris' father.
He said: “The thing I always heard from Michael was that Michael was the father of these children, and I believe Michael," he said on GMTV from Los Angeles, The Daily Telegraph reports.
Mr Oxman went on to say in GMTV he did not think that Lester was lying, but that he was repeating what he had wrongly been told.
“Mark Lester is a friend of mine – he is a straight shooter," he said. “I think what Mark said is what he understands – he was told these things. That’s what Michael wanted it to be. But Michael always told me he was the papa.”
Mr Lester told the News of the World he was speaking out because he claimed he had been “cruelly” cut out of the lives of Jackons’ children since the start did in June, says the Metro.
He said up until the pop singer’s memorial last month, he was in touch with them on a weekly basis, but recently all of this phone calls and emails had gone unanswered.
“This isn’t what Michael would have wanted,” Lester continued to tell the News of the World. “I feel I have to come forward, as my only way of saying, ‘Please don’t shut me out!’.”
He was supported by Jackson’s close friend, Uri Geller, The Daily Telegraph reports.
"I have no reason to doubt Mark's story simply because I remember years ago in New York Michael implied to me that he wanted Mark to help him father a child for him," he told GMTV.
Though Mr Uri Geller said he cannot be 100 per cent sure that Paris is the biological daughter of Mark but he remembered those words, knowing the close relationship that Mark had with Michael and his families and his children.
Mr Lester, 51, who found fame in the 1968 musical Oliver!, was a close friend of the late pop superstar. He is godfather to Paris, 11, and Jackson's two other children, 12-year-old Prince, and Prince Michael II, the seven-year-old nicknamed Blanket.
He claimed over the weekend that he gave Michael his sperm so that the King of the Pop could have kids and he said he felt a "definite bonding" with Paris, the 11-year-old, with pale skin and blue eyes might be his daughter, the Metro reports.
However, Brian Oxman, the Jackson family's lawyer, said he was confident the King of Pop was Paris' father.
He said: “The thing I always heard from Michael was that Michael was the father of these children, and I believe Michael," he said on GMTV from Los Angeles, The Daily Telegraph reports.
Mr Oxman went on to say in GMTV he did not think that Lester was lying, but that he was repeating what he had wrongly been told.
“Mark Lester is a friend of mine – he is a straight shooter," he said. “I think what Mark said is what he understands – he was told these things. That’s what Michael wanted it to be. But Michael always told me he was the papa.”
Mr Lester told the News of the World he was speaking out because he claimed he had been “cruelly” cut out of the lives of Jackons’ children since the start did in June, says the Metro.
He said up until the pop singer’s memorial last month, he was in touch with them on a weekly basis, but recently all of this phone calls and emails had gone unanswered.
“This isn’t what Michael would have wanted,” Lester continued to tell the News of the World. “I feel I have to come forward, as my only way of saying, ‘Please don’t shut me out!’.”
He was supported by Jackson’s close friend, Uri Geller, The Daily Telegraph reports.
"I have no reason to doubt Mark's story simply because I remember years ago in New York Michael implied to me that he wanted Mark to help him father a child for him," he told GMTV.
Though Mr Uri Geller said he cannot be 100 per cent sure that Paris is the biological daughter of Mark but he remembered those words, knowing the close relationship that Mark had with Michael and his families and his children.
Sunday, 9 August 2009
Ancient briton “ate each other” report says
Ancient Britons could have been cannibals, Geoff Marsh wrote on Sunday Express.
A human arm bone from a prehistoric cave in Devon was found to have seven cut marks made by a stone tool and the bone had been fractured.
The 9,000-year-old bone were examined by the scientists and it was believed the marks on the bone had been left after removing flesh from it, or the dismemberment had taken place shortly after death.
Dr Rick Schulting, of the School of Archaeology at Oxford University, said in an interview with Sunday Express: “There are intentional cut marks on there, and it seems the bone has been intentionally split.
“These two together can raise the possibility of cannibalism,” he then added: “The location of the fracture, right at the elbow, is where the cut would be made if dismemberment had taken place.”
The fact the markings are all in the same place indicate they were made to remove muscle attachments from the bone while it was still “fresh”, Dr Schulting said.
He then went on to say had the remains come from an animal, he would have assumed the bone had been fractured to remove the marrow.
The bone fragment, from Kent’s Cavern, is currently being kept at Torquay Museum.
Barry Chandler, Curator of Torquary Museum showed it to Dr Schulting, and it was him who had noticed the parallel cut marks on the bone.
The whereabouts of the rest of the adult human’s body are unknown, Geoff Marsh wrote.
Dr schulting also said it might also be wrong to consider ancient Briton as cannibal, as these markings could have been part of a ritualistic burial process.
He added: “These cuts may have been made to help the body decompose more quickly and speed up the process of joining the ancestors.
“Finds like this highlight the complexity of mortuary practices in the Mesolithic period, many thousands of years before the appearance of farming in the Neolithic period, which is more usually associated with complex funerary behaviour.”
Dr Schulting said the marks and the fracture were rare in British prehistory, and that the find was “particularly interesting” for this reason.
“This may only be a single bone, but it has already shown us something about mortuary practices, and the possibility of cannibalism,” he added.
According to the Sunday Express, the bone from kent’s Cavern was discovered by archaeologist and geologist William Pengelly in 1866.
It is hoped more remains found at the cave can now be analysed to look for further evidence of cannibalism.
A human arm bone from a prehistoric cave in Devon was found to have seven cut marks made by a stone tool and the bone had been fractured.
The 9,000-year-old bone were examined by the scientists and it was believed the marks on the bone had been left after removing flesh from it, or the dismemberment had taken place shortly after death.
Dr Rick Schulting, of the School of Archaeology at Oxford University, said in an interview with Sunday Express: “There are intentional cut marks on there, and it seems the bone has been intentionally split.
“These two together can raise the possibility of cannibalism,” he then added: “The location of the fracture, right at the elbow, is where the cut would be made if dismemberment had taken place.”
The fact the markings are all in the same place indicate they were made to remove muscle attachments from the bone while it was still “fresh”, Dr Schulting said.
He then went on to say had the remains come from an animal, he would have assumed the bone had been fractured to remove the marrow.
The bone fragment, from Kent’s Cavern, is currently being kept at Torquay Museum.
Barry Chandler, Curator of Torquary Museum showed it to Dr Schulting, and it was him who had noticed the parallel cut marks on the bone.
The whereabouts of the rest of the adult human’s body are unknown, Geoff Marsh wrote.
Dr schulting also said it might also be wrong to consider ancient Briton as cannibal, as these markings could have been part of a ritualistic burial process.
He added: “These cuts may have been made to help the body decompose more quickly and speed up the process of joining the ancestors.
“Finds like this highlight the complexity of mortuary practices in the Mesolithic period, many thousands of years before the appearance of farming in the Neolithic period, which is more usually associated with complex funerary behaviour.”
Dr Schulting said the marks and the fracture were rare in British prehistory, and that the find was “particularly interesting” for this reason.
“This may only be a single bone, but it has already shown us something about mortuary practices, and the possibility of cannibalism,” he added.
According to the Sunday Express, the bone from kent’s Cavern was discovered by archaeologist and geologist William Pengelly in 1866.
It is hoped more remains found at the cave can now be analysed to look for further evidence of cannibalism.
Friday, 7 August 2009
David Miliband backs US-style primaries
Foreign Secretary David Miliband said in an interview with the left-leaning magazine that US-style primary elections would give the public a greater say in choosing candidates, The Daily Telegraph reports.
According to BBC News Online, the Foreign Minister said: “The traditional political structures of mainstream political parties are dying and our biggest concern is the gap between our membership and our potential voter base.
“We need to expand our reach by building social alliances and increasing opportunity for engagement and interaction with our party,”
The Daily Telegraph says in the Tribune magazine article, the Foreign Minister praised both the Greek socialist party and the US democrats for the way they involved the wider electorate and not just party members in decision making.
He said Labour should consider introducing a system of registered voters, as in the US, where anyone who identifies with a political party could vote not just in a general election but in primary elections to choose the party's candidates.
However, critics say this could hasten the decline in party membership as those who pay subscription fees would have far fewer rights in return.
The latest party accounts figures, submitted to the Electoral Commission, shows Labour Party membership fell from a peak of 405,000 in 1997 to the ninth consecutive year of 166, 247 in 2008, according to BBC News Online.
Neal Lawson, Chairman of left-wing campaign group Compass, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that David Miliband, as one of those at the top of the Labour Party over the last 10 years, he was among those responsible for leading it “to its death” through measures like increased privatisation.
He said: “The revival of the Labour Party and the revival of British democracy will come from political parties that believe and have a vision of the good society and compete over that in fair and open democratic elections. That’s what we want to see,” BBC News Online reports.
David Miliband also advocates donating some of the money raised by Labour’s fundraisers to charities and voluntary groups as a way of rebuilding trust, says The Daily Telegraph.
The issue of introducing more “open primaries” to Britain was raised earlier this week when GP Dr Sarah Wollaston was named as the Conservatives’ next Parliamentary candidate for Totnes in Devon after 16,497 people voted in a selection process.
The Conservative Party said the turnout exceeded its “wildest expectations” but had cost £38,000.
The party had opened up selection meeting to non-members before, but this time had done a step further and sent all 69,000 Totnes voters a postal ballot.
In a traditional selection meeting only a few hundred party members will vote, according to BBC News Online.
According to BBC News Online, the Foreign Minister said: “The traditional political structures of mainstream political parties are dying and our biggest concern is the gap between our membership and our potential voter base.
“We need to expand our reach by building social alliances and increasing opportunity for engagement and interaction with our party,”
The Daily Telegraph says in the Tribune magazine article, the Foreign Minister praised both the Greek socialist party and the US democrats for the way they involved the wider electorate and not just party members in decision making.
He said Labour should consider introducing a system of registered voters, as in the US, where anyone who identifies with a political party could vote not just in a general election but in primary elections to choose the party's candidates.
However, critics say this could hasten the decline in party membership as those who pay subscription fees would have far fewer rights in return.
The latest party accounts figures, submitted to the Electoral Commission, shows Labour Party membership fell from a peak of 405,000 in 1997 to the ninth consecutive year of 166, 247 in 2008, according to BBC News Online.
Neal Lawson, Chairman of left-wing campaign group Compass, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that David Miliband, as one of those at the top of the Labour Party over the last 10 years, he was among those responsible for leading it “to its death” through measures like increased privatisation.
He said: “The revival of the Labour Party and the revival of British democracy will come from political parties that believe and have a vision of the good society and compete over that in fair and open democratic elections. That’s what we want to see,” BBC News Online reports.
David Miliband also advocates donating some of the money raised by Labour’s fundraisers to charities and voluntary groups as a way of rebuilding trust, says The Daily Telegraph.
The issue of introducing more “open primaries” to Britain was raised earlier this week when GP Dr Sarah Wollaston was named as the Conservatives’ next Parliamentary candidate for Totnes in Devon after 16,497 people voted in a selection process.
The Conservative Party said the turnout exceeded its “wildest expectations” but had cost £38,000.
The party had opened up selection meeting to non-members before, but this time had done a step further and sent all 69,000 Totnes voters a postal ballot.
In a traditional selection meeting only a few hundred party members will vote, according to BBC News Online.
Taleban Leader Killed in US Missile Strike
Baitullah Mehsud, Pakistan’s top Taleban commander, described by Times Online as “the country’s most wanted man”, has been killed in a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) missile strike, officials disclose today.
The Tehrik-e-Taleban Pakistan, the group he headed, said the 35-year-old was killed early on Wednesday at his father-in-law’s house in South Waziristan.
According to Times Online the militant commander, who was reportedly blamed for dozens of suicide bombings and the murder of the former Pakistani premier Benazir Bhutto, has been seriously ill with a kidney ailment.
He was spending the night on the roof of the compound when the missiles, fired by an unmanned drone, hit in the early hours.
BBC News Online reports after the incident happened, the Taliban leader gathered in South Waziristan to choose a successor.
Local sources told the BBC reporter Abdul Hai Kakar, based in Peshawar, that the three candidates under the consideration for succeeding Baitullah Mehsud at the moment are Hakimullah Mehsud, Maulana Azmatullah, and Wali-ur-Rehman.
Shah Mahmood Quresh, Pakistani Foreign Minister said that no officials had yet seen Mehsud’s body, but the authorities would send a team to the site of the strike to verify his death.
Mr Qureshi said: “To be 100-per cent sure, we are going for ground verification and once the ground verification re-confirms, which I think is almost confirmed, then we’ll be 100-per cent sure,” Times Online reports.
According to the BBC Kafayat Ullah, who was described as an aide to Baitullah Mehsud, told the Associated Press by telephone on Friday 7 August, that his leader had been killed along with his second wife by a US missile, but he has no further details.
Zahid Hussain wrote on the Times Online that Mehsud is reportedly thought to have had some 20,000 men under his command and had a $5 million US bounty on his head after Washington branded him “a key al-Qaeda facilitator”.
Only until last month, the US envoy to the region, Richard Holbrooke, branded him “one of the most dangerous and odious people in the entire region”.
An intelligence source in South Waziristan said that Mehsud had already been buried after the strike in Zangar village in the Ladha region.
The Taliban military group emerged in the early 1990s in northern Pakistan following the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan.
The Taliban is a predominantly Pashtun movement, and came to prominence in Afghanistan in the autumn of 1994.
In recent years, the re-emergence of the hardline Islamic Taliban movement has been regarded as a fighting force in Afghanistan and a major threat to Pakistani government.
The Tehrik-e-Taleban Pakistan, the group he headed, said the 35-year-old was killed early on Wednesday at his father-in-law’s house in South Waziristan.
According to Times Online the militant commander, who was reportedly blamed for dozens of suicide bombings and the murder of the former Pakistani premier Benazir Bhutto, has been seriously ill with a kidney ailment.
He was spending the night on the roof of the compound when the missiles, fired by an unmanned drone, hit in the early hours.
BBC News Online reports after the incident happened, the Taliban leader gathered in South Waziristan to choose a successor.
Local sources told the BBC reporter Abdul Hai Kakar, based in Peshawar, that the three candidates under the consideration for succeeding Baitullah Mehsud at the moment are Hakimullah Mehsud, Maulana Azmatullah, and Wali-ur-Rehman.
Shah Mahmood Quresh, Pakistani Foreign Minister said that no officials had yet seen Mehsud’s body, but the authorities would send a team to the site of the strike to verify his death.
Mr Qureshi said: “To be 100-per cent sure, we are going for ground verification and once the ground verification re-confirms, which I think is almost confirmed, then we’ll be 100-per cent sure,” Times Online reports.
According to the BBC Kafayat Ullah, who was described as an aide to Baitullah Mehsud, told the Associated Press by telephone on Friday 7 August, that his leader had been killed along with his second wife by a US missile, but he has no further details.
Zahid Hussain wrote on the Times Online that Mehsud is reportedly thought to have had some 20,000 men under his command and had a $5 million US bounty on his head after Washington branded him “a key al-Qaeda facilitator”.
Only until last month, the US envoy to the region, Richard Holbrooke, branded him “one of the most dangerous and odious people in the entire region”.
An intelligence source in South Waziristan said that Mehsud had already been buried after the strike in Zangar village in the Ladha region.
The Taliban military group emerged in the early 1990s in northern Pakistan following the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan.
The Taliban is a predominantly Pashtun movement, and came to prominence in Afghanistan in the autumn of 1994.
In recent years, the re-emergence of the hardline Islamic Taliban movement has been regarded as a fighting force in Afghanistan and a major threat to Pakistani government.
Thursday, 6 August 2009
Obama Urges North Korea Denuclearisation
US President Barack Obama has urged North Korea to give up developing nuclear weapons if the country wants better relations with the United States, the BBC reports.
Hours after former US President Bill Clinton had secured the release of the two journalists from Pyongyang, Obama made a speech and said North Korea should not engage “in provocative behaviour”.
In an interview with US TV network MSNBC, the President also said: “We have said to the North Koreans there’s a path for improved relations and it involves them no longer developing nuclear weapons.”
“We just want to make sure the government of North Korea is operating within the basic rules of the international community,” Obama added.
Daniel Sandford, the BBC correspondent in Washington says it appears the two US reporters were used fairly cynically by Pyongyang as pawns in a diplomatic game.
Tensions between the US and North Korea have risen in recent months, as the BBC reports, Pyongyang dropped out of six-party talks on its nuclear ambitions after the UN censured a long-range missile test in April.
Since then the North has also conducted an underground nuclear test and further missile tests, provoking new UN Security Council sanctions.
The two reporters were arrested by North Korea guards in March while filming a video about North Korea refugees for Current TV, The Daily Telegraph reports.
Ms Ling, speaking on behalf of the other journalist arrested with her, said both of them were surprised when they were taken to a meeting and found out Mr Clinton standing there in from of them.
“We were shocked. But we knew instantly in our hearts that the nightmare of our lives was finally coming to an end,” She said.
Mr Clinton’s unannounced visit to Pyongyang had been described as a private mission but a White House official later confirmed that North Korea had asked him to visit.
A senior US official said President Obama had been aware of the mission from its early stages and that US allies involved in the six-party talks over North Korea’s nuclear programme were also informed.
US officials earlier said the North Korean government had agreed in advance that Mr Clinton’s mission would not touch on the question of its nuclear programme.
The reporters now finally will have some “peace and quite” with their family, as they had suffered more than 100 days of nightmare.
The special pardon for the arrested journalists from the North Korea leader Kim Jong-il was described as a signal as the country’s “humanitarian and peace-loving policy”.
Hours after former US President Bill Clinton had secured the release of the two journalists from Pyongyang, Obama made a speech and said North Korea should not engage “in provocative behaviour”.
In an interview with US TV network MSNBC, the President also said: “We have said to the North Koreans there’s a path for improved relations and it involves them no longer developing nuclear weapons.”
“We just want to make sure the government of North Korea is operating within the basic rules of the international community,” Obama added.
Daniel Sandford, the BBC correspondent in Washington says it appears the two US reporters were used fairly cynically by Pyongyang as pawns in a diplomatic game.
Tensions between the US and North Korea have risen in recent months, as the BBC reports, Pyongyang dropped out of six-party talks on its nuclear ambitions after the UN censured a long-range missile test in April.
Since then the North has also conducted an underground nuclear test and further missile tests, provoking new UN Security Council sanctions.
The two reporters were arrested by North Korea guards in March while filming a video about North Korea refugees for Current TV, The Daily Telegraph reports.
Ms Ling, speaking on behalf of the other journalist arrested with her, said both of them were surprised when they were taken to a meeting and found out Mr Clinton standing there in from of them.
“We were shocked. But we knew instantly in our hearts that the nightmare of our lives was finally coming to an end,” She said.
Mr Clinton’s unannounced visit to Pyongyang had been described as a private mission but a White House official later confirmed that North Korea had asked him to visit.
A senior US official said President Obama had been aware of the mission from its early stages and that US allies involved in the six-party talks over North Korea’s nuclear programme were also informed.
US officials earlier said the North Korean government had agreed in advance that Mr Clinton’s mission would not touch on the question of its nuclear programme.
The reporters now finally will have some “peace and quite” with their family, as they had suffered more than 100 days of nightmare.
The special pardon for the arrested journalists from the North Korea leader Kim Jong-il was described as a signal as the country’s “humanitarian and peace-loving policy”.
Lloyds’ Bad Debts Hit 13.4bn Reports Say
Lloyds Banking Group has laid bare the scale of its latest state bail-out after revealing that taxpayers will insure three-quarters of the “toxic” assets, Philip Aldrick says in The Daily Telegraph.
The assets will cause a record £13.4bn of bad debts at the lender in the first half of the year.
Analysts say most bad news was now out and the future results would improve, which had heartened investors, the BBC reports.
The group, which is 43% owned by UK taxpayers, said £13bn of loans and investments had turned bad, most of them from the HBOS - Halifax and Bank of Scotland (BoS).
Eric Daniel, chief executive of the Lloyds banking group blamed the dismal performance on the BoS book acquired with HBOS, which was highly exposed to individual entrepreneurs and commercial property.
He said it was not performing “how any reasonable book would behave…it was not a balanced portfolio”.
The government is reportedly paid for the group’s stake - the closing price of 92.3 pence compares with the average of about 120p.
The banking analyst Lee Goodwin of Fox – Pitt Kilton told the BBC that with further share price rises, at some point the government would be able to sell its Lloyds stake at a profit, meaning taxpayers would get their money back.
The BBC business editor said the figures were more troubling for taxpayers than shareholders, as most of the poor loans were now being insured by taxpayers, not the banks.
Lloyds said it was in talks with the government about the insurance scheme, which is known as the Asset Protection Scheme.
It would insure Lloyds against further losses from bad loans, but would probably lead to the government increasing its stake in the bank, the BBC reports.
Lloyds has then added that about 75% of the charges it took in the first six months related to assets that it planned to put into the scheme.
Stephen Timms, financial secretary of the Treasury welcomed the signs of increasing leading from Lloyds, and he said: “Lloyds is starting to do the things we need banks to be doing, £18bn of mortgage leading in the first six months of this year and 60,000 news start-up business accounts.”
The BBC business editor pointed out any claims that Lloyds is doing its bit appear to be at odds with a 90% reduction in the value of its loans and advances to corporate customers over the past six months, to £198bn.
Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman Vince Cable also expressed his concern by saying the big bans were still not lending enough to viable business, says the BBC.
The assets will cause a record £13.4bn of bad debts at the lender in the first half of the year.
Analysts say most bad news was now out and the future results would improve, which had heartened investors, the BBC reports.
The group, which is 43% owned by UK taxpayers, said £13bn of loans and investments had turned bad, most of them from the HBOS - Halifax and Bank of Scotland (BoS).
Eric Daniel, chief executive of the Lloyds banking group blamed the dismal performance on the BoS book acquired with HBOS, which was highly exposed to individual entrepreneurs and commercial property.
He said it was not performing “how any reasonable book would behave…it was not a balanced portfolio”.
The government is reportedly paid for the group’s stake - the closing price of 92.3 pence compares with the average of about 120p.
The banking analyst Lee Goodwin of Fox – Pitt Kilton told the BBC that with further share price rises, at some point the government would be able to sell its Lloyds stake at a profit, meaning taxpayers would get their money back.
The BBC business editor said the figures were more troubling for taxpayers than shareholders, as most of the poor loans were now being insured by taxpayers, not the banks.
Lloyds said it was in talks with the government about the insurance scheme, which is known as the Asset Protection Scheme.
It would insure Lloyds against further losses from bad loans, but would probably lead to the government increasing its stake in the bank, the BBC reports.
Lloyds has then added that about 75% of the charges it took in the first six months related to assets that it planned to put into the scheme.
Stephen Timms, financial secretary of the Treasury welcomed the signs of increasing leading from Lloyds, and he said: “Lloyds is starting to do the things we need banks to be doing, £18bn of mortgage leading in the first six months of this year and 60,000 news start-up business accounts.”
The BBC business editor pointed out any claims that Lloyds is doing its bit appear to be at odds with a 90% reduction in the value of its loans and advances to corporate customers over the past six months, to £198bn.
Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman Vince Cable also expressed his concern by saying the big bans were still not lending enough to viable business, says the BBC.
Wednesday, 5 August 2009
North Korean pardon frees two US journalists
Former US President Bill Clinton has left North Korea with two US journalists whose release he has helped to secure, the BBC reports.
Mr Clinton’s spokesman said they were flying to Los Angeles where the journalists would be reunited with their families.
Laura Ling and Euna Lee had been found guilty of illegally entering the North Korea and had been serving 12-year sentences for “hostile acts”, at the time when the former president come to rescue them.
The pair’s release was followed by North Korean leader Kim Jong-il issuing a special pardon to the journalists after a meeting with Mr Clinton.
The New York Times quoted a senior official saying that the Obama administration carried out “due diligence” with the North Koreans to ensure if Clinton went, he would return with the two arrested journalists.
Reports from Pyongyang media have said Clinton apologised on behalf of the women and said the visit would “contribute to deepening the understanding” between North Korea and the US. The claim of an apology has however been denied by the Obama administration.
The Guardian reports that a senior US official said the two women, appearing at the Pyongyang airport, were apparently in a “good health condition”, and the pair shook their hands with Clinton when they boarded the plane.
The two American reporters, Lee, 36, and Ling, 32, were on a reporting trip for Current TV – which was co-founded by Clinton’s former vice-president, Al Gore – when they were arrested.
According to the BBC, the pair had been informed previously by the North Korean government that if they would persuade Mr Clinton to visit Pyongyang on a private trip, they will be freed from jail.
The North Korean government had agreed in advance that Clinton’s private mission would not touch on the question of its nuclear programme, though a US official acknowledged that Clinton was likely to have expressed his views on denuclearisation to Kim.
He also warned that North Korea would face deeper isolation if it continued with “provocative behaviour” such as the recent nuclear test and missile launches, the Guardian says.
Analysts say it seems that Clinton’s trip is a new start of the renewed dialogue about North Korea’s nuclear weapon programme, albeit not immediately. His visit was the highest profile visit by an American for almost a decade.
According to the Guardian, Pyongyang wants direct talks with Washington, but the Obama administration has said any bilateral discussion would have to take place on the sideline of the stalled six-nation disarmament talks, which North Korea has described as “dead”.
However, the Guardian quotes South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo Daily as saying despite the US administration’s claims, the Clinton and Kim meeting signals the start of direct bargaining.
Tadashi Kimiya, associate professor at the University of Tokyo told Reuters, “it is hard to believe the North Korea release of the two journalists is purely based on humanitarian grounds, and it probably had something to do with a package deal with the United States, to resolve the issues of denuclearisation and normalisation of ties.”
Mr Clinton’s spokesman said they were flying to Los Angeles where the journalists would be reunited with their families.
Laura Ling and Euna Lee had been found guilty of illegally entering the North Korea and had been serving 12-year sentences for “hostile acts”, at the time when the former president come to rescue them.
The pair’s release was followed by North Korean leader Kim Jong-il issuing a special pardon to the journalists after a meeting with Mr Clinton.
The New York Times quoted a senior official saying that the Obama administration carried out “due diligence” with the North Koreans to ensure if Clinton went, he would return with the two arrested journalists.
Reports from Pyongyang media have said Clinton apologised on behalf of the women and said the visit would “contribute to deepening the understanding” between North Korea and the US. The claim of an apology has however been denied by the Obama administration.
The Guardian reports that a senior US official said the two women, appearing at the Pyongyang airport, were apparently in a “good health condition”, and the pair shook their hands with Clinton when they boarded the plane.
The two American reporters, Lee, 36, and Ling, 32, were on a reporting trip for Current TV – which was co-founded by Clinton’s former vice-president, Al Gore – when they were arrested.
According to the BBC, the pair had been informed previously by the North Korean government that if they would persuade Mr Clinton to visit Pyongyang on a private trip, they will be freed from jail.
The North Korean government had agreed in advance that Clinton’s private mission would not touch on the question of its nuclear programme, though a US official acknowledged that Clinton was likely to have expressed his views on denuclearisation to Kim.
He also warned that North Korea would face deeper isolation if it continued with “provocative behaviour” such as the recent nuclear test and missile launches, the Guardian says.
Analysts say it seems that Clinton’s trip is a new start of the renewed dialogue about North Korea’s nuclear weapon programme, albeit not immediately. His visit was the highest profile visit by an American for almost a decade.
According to the Guardian, Pyongyang wants direct talks with Washington, but the Obama administration has said any bilateral discussion would have to take place on the sideline of the stalled six-nation disarmament talks, which North Korea has described as “dead”.
However, the Guardian quotes South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo Daily as saying despite the US administration’s claims, the Clinton and Kim meeting signals the start of direct bargaining.
Tadashi Kimiya, associate professor at the University of Tokyo told Reuters, “it is hard to believe the North Korea release of the two journalists is purely based on humanitarian grounds, and it probably had something to do with a package deal with the United States, to resolve the issues of denuclearisation and normalisation of ties.”
University staffs cuts to tackle huge debts
The University of Wolverhampton plans to cut 250 jobs out of 2,700, in a bid to tackle debts of £8m, the BBC has learnt.
England’s higher education funding council has told the University to repay £3.5m because it understated drop-out rate.
The BBC says the university aims to “reposition” itself to be more employer-focused.
The university and College Union (UCU) opposes the trawl for redundancies and is seeking a full breakdown of the university’s income and expenditure.
The funding council (Hefce) has conducted an audit of Wolverhampton, but says such matters are not usually made public.
A spokesman from the Hefce said negotiations with the university is still continuing.
Wolverhampton in a statement said it was developing a new employer-focused curriculum for 2010, with more continuous professional development and innovation and enterprise activities to support regional businesses.
The university’s accounts for 2007- 08 showed an income of £148.5m and a deficit on continuing operations of £4.7m, and it says all of the universities in England were facing challenging times and itself is not alone, according to the BBC.
As the BBC continues that rising pay costs, a change to funding methodologies, a cap on growth and efficiency saving required by the government mean it had to take steps to balance its books and maintain its ability to invest in strategic development.
Prof Caroline Gipps, the Vice-chancellor said the university has sufficient reserves which ensure their financial future, but it is imperative that the university move as quickly as possible towards a balanced budget with a percentage for investment.
He went on to say: “Our priority remains our students and their learning experience. Every effort will be made to minimise disruption.”
On the other hand, the academics’ union said the quality of the student experience was bound to suffer if staff cuts were made.
Loraine Westcott, the chair of UCU’s negotiating committee at Wolverhampton said that they want to know a complete breakdown from the university as how they have got themselves into this situation.
The Wolverhampton University, according to the BBC, had a big reputation and an important role in the West Midlands in widening participation, and it has been taking many students who would probably have problems getting into other universities.
England’s higher education funding council has told the University to repay £3.5m because it understated drop-out rate.
The BBC says the university aims to “reposition” itself to be more employer-focused.
The university and College Union (UCU) opposes the trawl for redundancies and is seeking a full breakdown of the university’s income and expenditure.
The funding council (Hefce) has conducted an audit of Wolverhampton, but says such matters are not usually made public.
A spokesman from the Hefce said negotiations with the university is still continuing.
Wolverhampton in a statement said it was developing a new employer-focused curriculum for 2010, with more continuous professional development and innovation and enterprise activities to support regional businesses.
The university’s accounts for 2007- 08 showed an income of £148.5m and a deficit on continuing operations of £4.7m, and it says all of the universities in England were facing challenging times and itself is not alone, according to the BBC.
As the BBC continues that rising pay costs, a change to funding methodologies, a cap on growth and efficiency saving required by the government mean it had to take steps to balance its books and maintain its ability to invest in strategic development.
Prof Caroline Gipps, the Vice-chancellor said the university has sufficient reserves which ensure their financial future, but it is imperative that the university move as quickly as possible towards a balanced budget with a percentage for investment.
He went on to say: “Our priority remains our students and their learning experience. Every effort will be made to minimise disruption.”
On the other hand, the academics’ union said the quality of the student experience was bound to suffer if staff cuts were made.
Loraine Westcott, the chair of UCU’s negotiating committee at Wolverhampton said that they want to know a complete breakdown from the university as how they have got themselves into this situation.
The Wolverhampton University, according to the BBC, had a big reputation and an important role in the West Midlands in widening participation, and it has been taking many students who would probably have problems getting into other universities.
MPs’ expenses boss got pay rise reports say
The man who oversaw the discredited MPs’ expenses system got an 8% pay rise last year, Commons accounts show, according to the BBC.
Andrew Walker, the Director of Resources’ salary rose from a band of £115,000 - £120,000 to £125,000 - £130,000.
Mr Walker was criticised after playing an active role in trying to prevent the publication of MPs’ expenses, according to the politics.co.uk.
Last year, he was the official who defended the Commons’ position at an information tribunal, when it was resisting publishing full details of MPs’ expenses claims.
When details were eventually published, after being leaked to the Daily Telegraph, many MPs justified their claims by saying they had within the rules and agreed by Commons Fee Office, says the BBC.
However, the MPs’ “excuse” that strongly replies on their previous fee agreement with the Commons Fee Office had further undermined his position, says the politics.co.uk.
The increase of payment of Mr Walker comes at a time when others in public sector are seeing their annual salary restricted to only about 2%.
The salary increases have to be approved by a senior pay panel.
The BBC political correspondent Carole Walker said it was unclear whether the rises were agreed under the previous Commons speaker Michael Martin, who stepped down following the expenses row, or had been voted upon more recently, since officials vowed to clean up the system.
Amid public furore over some of the claims made under MPs’ second homes allowances, new interim rules were brought in to limit their use and an independent inquiry is currently considering what changes need to be made, says the BBC.
Malcolm Jack, the most Commons official, has now got an 11% rise which means he currently earns more than the Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
His pay rose from a £170,000-£175,000 band to £190,000 to £20,000 to £25,000, according to the BBC.
The biggest rise went to Joan Miller, who runs Parliament’s IT systems. Her pay rose from between £90,000 and £95,000 to a pay band of between £105,000 and £110,000, says the BBC.
The MPs’ expenses scandal was sparked after weeks of Daily Telegraph’s revelations on what MPs had claimed for their second homes expenses when they attend Westminster sessions instead of staying at their constituency home.
According to the Daily Telegraph, some of the MPs even claimed for DVDs renting fees, garden reparation fees, house utility bills, which utterly angered the general public, who condemned those MPs were wasting their – taxpayers’ money.
Andrew Walker, the Director of Resources’ salary rose from a band of £115,000 - £120,000 to £125,000 - £130,000.
Mr Walker was criticised after playing an active role in trying to prevent the publication of MPs’ expenses, according to the politics.co.uk.
Last year, he was the official who defended the Commons’ position at an information tribunal, when it was resisting publishing full details of MPs’ expenses claims.
When details were eventually published, after being leaked to the Daily Telegraph, many MPs justified their claims by saying they had within the rules and agreed by Commons Fee Office, says the BBC.
However, the MPs’ “excuse” that strongly replies on their previous fee agreement with the Commons Fee Office had further undermined his position, says the politics.co.uk.
The increase of payment of Mr Walker comes at a time when others in public sector are seeing their annual salary restricted to only about 2%.
The salary increases have to be approved by a senior pay panel.
The BBC political correspondent Carole Walker said it was unclear whether the rises were agreed under the previous Commons speaker Michael Martin, who stepped down following the expenses row, or had been voted upon more recently, since officials vowed to clean up the system.
Amid public furore over some of the claims made under MPs’ second homes allowances, new interim rules were brought in to limit their use and an independent inquiry is currently considering what changes need to be made, says the BBC.
Malcolm Jack, the most Commons official, has now got an 11% rise which means he currently earns more than the Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
His pay rose from a £170,000-£175,000 band to £190,000 to £20,000 to £25,000, according to the BBC.
The biggest rise went to Joan Miller, who runs Parliament’s IT systems. Her pay rose from between £90,000 and £95,000 to a pay band of between £105,000 and £110,000, says the BBC.
The MPs’ expenses scandal was sparked after weeks of Daily Telegraph’s revelations on what MPs had claimed for their second homes expenses when they attend Westminster sessions instead of staying at their constituency home.
According to the Daily Telegraph, some of the MPs even claimed for DVDs renting fees, garden reparation fees, house utility bills, which utterly angered the general public, who condemned those MPs were wasting their – taxpayers’ money.
Barack Obama joker socialism poster denounced as racist
A poster depicting the US President Barack Obama as Health Ledger’s “Joker” character from “The Dark Knight” has sparked controversy after it appeared on the streets of Los Angeles, Toby Harnden writes in The Daily Telegraph.
The poster shows the US president with white face paint, dark eye shadow and smudged red lipstick above the caption “socialism”.
It is unknown who created and distributed the image, but apparently it attacked the US President’s efforts to reform health care and stimulus spending.
Some critics believe the poster has racial overtones because it shows Mr Obama as a black-and-white minstrel in reverse.
According to The Daily Mail, a spokesman from the Los Angeles urban policy unit said depicting the president as demonic and a socialist “goes beyond political spoofery”.
The president’s supporter condemned the images and calling it “mean-spirited and dangerous”.
Toby Harnden, The Daily Telegraph correspondent says the Los Angeles urban policy unit have issued a public challenge to the person or group who put up the poster to come forth and publicly tell why they have used this depiction to ridicule President Obama.
Previously, South California born contemporary artist, graphic designer, and illustrator Shepard Fairey created a popular red, white and blue image of the President-elect featuring the caption “hope”.
The current emerged “socialism” image seems to indicate the President is facing a growing swell of criticism as he attempts to force through his $1 trillion health care programme.
The “socialism” poster has spread virally cross the internet, and crashed the website that first displayed images of it, and now it is rising to the top of Google’s “Today Hot Trends” list.
Apart from spreading on the web, paper version of the images also appear to be circulating, with some showing up in Atlanta, Georgia.
Some Right-wing commentators have seized approvingly on the images, Toby Harnden quotes what Thomas Lifson wrote on the conservative American Thinker website: “It is starting. Open mockery of Barack Obama, as disillusionment sets in with the man, his policies, and the phony image of a race-healing, brilliant, scholarly, middle-of-the-roader.”
The Liberal tabloid “LA Weekly” denounced the Obama-Joker poster as virulently racist.
The paper previously depicted George W. Bush, the former US president as Dracula on its cover in 2004.
The poster shows the US president with white face paint, dark eye shadow and smudged red lipstick above the caption “socialism”.
It is unknown who created and distributed the image, but apparently it attacked the US President’s efforts to reform health care and stimulus spending.
Some critics believe the poster has racial overtones because it shows Mr Obama as a black-and-white minstrel in reverse.
According to The Daily Mail, a spokesman from the Los Angeles urban policy unit said depicting the president as demonic and a socialist “goes beyond political spoofery”.
The president’s supporter condemned the images and calling it “mean-spirited and dangerous”.
Toby Harnden, The Daily Telegraph correspondent says the Los Angeles urban policy unit have issued a public challenge to the person or group who put up the poster to come forth and publicly tell why they have used this depiction to ridicule President Obama.
Previously, South California born contemporary artist, graphic designer, and illustrator Shepard Fairey created a popular red, white and blue image of the President-elect featuring the caption “hope”.
The current emerged “socialism” image seems to indicate the President is facing a growing swell of criticism as he attempts to force through his $1 trillion health care programme.
The “socialism” poster has spread virally cross the internet, and crashed the website that first displayed images of it, and now it is rising to the top of Google’s “Today Hot Trends” list.
Apart from spreading on the web, paper version of the images also appear to be circulating, with some showing up in Atlanta, Georgia.
Some Right-wing commentators have seized approvingly on the images, Toby Harnden quotes what Thomas Lifson wrote on the conservative American Thinker website: “It is starting. Open mockery of Barack Obama, as disillusionment sets in with the man, his policies, and the phony image of a race-healing, brilliant, scholarly, middle-of-the-roader.”
The Liberal tabloid “LA Weekly” denounced the Obama-Joker poster as virulently racist.
The paper previously depicted George W. Bush, the former US president as Dracula on its cover in 2004.
Tuesday, 4 August 2009
Assisted suicide guidance applies both abroad and at home
New guidelines on assisted suicide will apply to people who help their loved ones die both in Britain and abroad, the Director of Public Prosecutions has disclosed, The Daily Telegraph reports.
Keir Starmer, the head of the Crown Prosecution Service, is to clarify whether people should be prosecuted for aiding a suicide following a landmark ruling by the Law Lords.
Though it had been assumed that this guidance would affect only cases in which friends or relatives helped people to die abroad, such as at the Dignitas clinic in Zurich.
According to the BBC, Mr Starmer said: “This policy is going to cover all assisted suicides. The same broad principles will apply. They've got to apply to all acts, in the jurisdiction or out of it.
“We won't have separate rules for Dignitas,”
Mr Starmer says he would not be arguing for the wholesale changes in the law, but said “Parliament has to speak” on the irregularity of assisted suicide being illegal in Britain but permitted in Switzerland, according to The Daily Telegraph.
The DPP has reportedly been reluctant to clarify the law for fear of making it easier for unprincipled relatives who might want to bring about the death of an elderly relative for threatening reasons.
In the interview with The Daily Telegraph, he provides an insight into the difficulties he faced in drafting the new guidelines.
He said: “On the question of whether this is better dealt with by Parliament, there’s nothing much I can do to nudge them along.
“They’re divided, there’s no inclination to change the law, so we have no choice but to produce this policy.
Mr Starmer did not insist that he would prefer Parliament to rule on the matter, however, he provokes the Government to intervene in such a sensitive area.
Meanwhile, he accepted that the House of Lords judgment gave him a mandate to shape the law.
He gave an example of 23-year-old paralysed playing rugby who died at the Swiss clinic, to illustrate his point that the location of a suicide would make no difference.
He said: “The factors we took into account — whether he was exercising individual judgment, whether there was any undue influence by the parents, whether they sought to persuade rather than assist him — will be as relevant for those acting inside the jurisdiction as for those acting outside.”
The change of assisted suicide guidelines was ordered after Debbie Purdy won her case ruled by the Law Lords.
She wants to know whether her husband would be prosecuted if he assisted her to commit suicide at the Dignitas in Switzerland.
Under the previous guidelines - the 1961 Suicide Act covering England and Wales, those who aid, abet, counsel or procure someone else's suicide can be prosecuted and sentenced to serve up to 14 years in jail, the BBC reports.
Though to date, nobody was prosecuted when assisting their relatives commit suicide abroad.
Keir Starmer, the head of the Crown Prosecution Service, is to clarify whether people should be prosecuted for aiding a suicide following a landmark ruling by the Law Lords.
Though it had been assumed that this guidance would affect only cases in which friends or relatives helped people to die abroad, such as at the Dignitas clinic in Zurich.
According to the BBC, Mr Starmer said: “This policy is going to cover all assisted suicides. The same broad principles will apply. They've got to apply to all acts, in the jurisdiction or out of it.
“We won't have separate rules for Dignitas,”
Mr Starmer says he would not be arguing for the wholesale changes in the law, but said “Parliament has to speak” on the irregularity of assisted suicide being illegal in Britain but permitted in Switzerland, according to The Daily Telegraph.
The DPP has reportedly been reluctant to clarify the law for fear of making it easier for unprincipled relatives who might want to bring about the death of an elderly relative for threatening reasons.
In the interview with The Daily Telegraph, he provides an insight into the difficulties he faced in drafting the new guidelines.
He said: “On the question of whether this is better dealt with by Parliament, there’s nothing much I can do to nudge them along.
“They’re divided, there’s no inclination to change the law, so we have no choice but to produce this policy.
Mr Starmer did not insist that he would prefer Parliament to rule on the matter, however, he provokes the Government to intervene in such a sensitive area.
Meanwhile, he accepted that the House of Lords judgment gave him a mandate to shape the law.
He gave an example of 23-year-old paralysed playing rugby who died at the Swiss clinic, to illustrate his point that the location of a suicide would make no difference.
He said: “The factors we took into account — whether he was exercising individual judgment, whether there was any undue influence by the parents, whether they sought to persuade rather than assist him — will be as relevant for those acting inside the jurisdiction as for those acting outside.”
The change of assisted suicide guidelines was ordered after Debbie Purdy won her case ruled by the Law Lords.
She wants to know whether her husband would be prosecuted if he assisted her to commit suicide at the Dignitas in Switzerland.
Under the previous guidelines - the 1961 Suicide Act covering England and Wales, those who aid, abet, counsel or procure someone else's suicide can be prosecuted and sentenced to serve up to 14 years in jail, the BBC reports.
Though to date, nobody was prosecuted when assisting their relatives commit suicide abroad.
Sudanese trousers woman challenges Sharia code
The trial of Lubna Hussein, a young woman facing 40 lashes for wearing ‘indecent clothing’ in public was adjourned by a Sudanese judge, says The Daily Telegraph.
Miss Hussein, a former journalist and United Nations press officer is expected to learn whether she would be found guilty of committing an indecent act and sentenced to 40 lashes with a camel hair whip inside the Khartoum court.
However, the judges adjourned their verdict until 7 September.
It was apparently, according to the Daily Telegraph, to consult over whether Miss Hussein’s UN job would grant her immunity, reports The Daily Telegraph.
At the time of her arrest, Hussein was working for the media department of the UN mission in Sudan, which gives her immunity from prosecution.
She submitted her resignation after her trial began because she wanted to go on trial to challenge the dress code of the Sharia law, says The Guardian.
Miss Hussein told the Reuters outside the Khartoum court that the judge wants to check with the UN whether she has immunity from prosecution, according to The Daily Telegraph.
“I don’t know why they are doing this because I have already resigned from the United Nations. I think they just want to delay the case,” Miss Hussein said.
The former journalist and UN press officer, who is in her earlier 30s, said she was arrested by the Public Order police for wearing ‘indecent clothing’ when she was in a Khartoum restaurant with 12 other women.
At that point of time, Miss Hussein was wearing a pair of loose green slacks, blouse and a think headscarf, and the rest of the women were also in trousers.
She and the rest of the women were then deemed to have contravened Article 152 of Sudanese law, which punishes with 40 lashes anyone who “commits an indecent act which violates a public morality or wears indecent clothing”.
Ten of the women accepted the punishment of 10 lashes, but Hussein and two others did not.
She says: “"I am not afraid of being flogged. I will not back down,” she told The Sunday Telegraph in her first interview with a Western newspaper.
“I want to stand up for the rights of women, and now the eyes of the world are on this case, I have a chance to draw attention to the plight of women in Sudan.”
Miss Hussein's defiant stand against the charge has gathered wide publicity and has embarrassed Sudan's strict ruling regime, according to The Daily Telegraph.
Women’s groups have argued that the law gives no clear definition of indecent dress, leaving the decision of whether to arrest a woman up to individual police officers.
Miss Hussein then argued wearing trousers does not contravene Sharia, the Islamic law in operation in Muslim northern Sudan.
She went to say “If I’m sentenced to be whipped, or to anything else, I will appeal.
“I will see it through to the end, to the constitutional court if necessary. And if the constitutional court says the law is constitutional, I’m ready to be whipped not 40 but 40,000 times.”
She defiantly appeared in court wearing the same clothes in which she was arrested. She printed 500 invitations to supporters, human rights activists and journalists to attend the hearing.
Miss Hussein, a former journalist and United Nations press officer is expected to learn whether she would be found guilty of committing an indecent act and sentenced to 40 lashes with a camel hair whip inside the Khartoum court.
However, the judges adjourned their verdict until 7 September.
It was apparently, according to the Daily Telegraph, to consult over whether Miss Hussein’s UN job would grant her immunity, reports The Daily Telegraph.
At the time of her arrest, Hussein was working for the media department of the UN mission in Sudan, which gives her immunity from prosecution.
She submitted her resignation after her trial began because she wanted to go on trial to challenge the dress code of the Sharia law, says The Guardian.
Miss Hussein told the Reuters outside the Khartoum court that the judge wants to check with the UN whether she has immunity from prosecution, according to The Daily Telegraph.
“I don’t know why they are doing this because I have already resigned from the United Nations. I think they just want to delay the case,” Miss Hussein said.
The former journalist and UN press officer, who is in her earlier 30s, said she was arrested by the Public Order police for wearing ‘indecent clothing’ when she was in a Khartoum restaurant with 12 other women.
At that point of time, Miss Hussein was wearing a pair of loose green slacks, blouse and a think headscarf, and the rest of the women were also in trousers.
She and the rest of the women were then deemed to have contravened Article 152 of Sudanese law, which punishes with 40 lashes anyone who “commits an indecent act which violates a public morality or wears indecent clothing”.
Ten of the women accepted the punishment of 10 lashes, but Hussein and two others did not.
She says: “"I am not afraid of being flogged. I will not back down,” she told The Sunday Telegraph in her first interview with a Western newspaper.
“I want to stand up for the rights of women, and now the eyes of the world are on this case, I have a chance to draw attention to the plight of women in Sudan.”
Miss Hussein's defiant stand against the charge has gathered wide publicity and has embarrassed Sudan's strict ruling regime, according to The Daily Telegraph.
Women’s groups have argued that the law gives no clear definition of indecent dress, leaving the decision of whether to arrest a woman up to individual police officers.
Miss Hussein then argued wearing trousers does not contravene Sharia, the Islamic law in operation in Muslim northern Sudan.
She went to say “If I’m sentenced to be whipped, or to anything else, I will appeal.
“I will see it through to the end, to the constitutional court if necessary. And if the constitutional court says the law is constitutional, I’m ready to be whipped not 40 but 40,000 times.”
She defiantly appeared in court wearing the same clothes in which she was arrested. She printed 500 invitations to supporters, human rights activists and journalists to attend the hearing.
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