Southern Sudan minister shot dead

Jimmy Lemi Milla (Photo: Government of Southern Sudan)Jimmy Lemi Milla had been the rural development minister since August 2010

A Southern Sudanese minister has been shot dead inside his ministry building in the capital, Juba.

Jimmy Lemi Milla, Minister for Rural Development, was killed by a driver working at the ministry, said Philip Auger of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA).

The assailant also killed a guard and then shot himself, Mr Auger added.

After a referendum vote, Southern Sudan is due to become the world’s newest independent state on 9 July.

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Pakistan cabinet quits for revamp

File pic of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has been under pressure for some time to downsize his cabinet

Pakistan’s cabinet has quit as part of plans to reduce the number of ministers by more than a third and cut government spending amid an economic crisis.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani paid tribute to his cabinet colleagues as he announced the move live on television.

He has decided to appoint a smaller cabinet in line with the demands of political opponents.

The proposal is to cut the number of ministers and deputy ministers from 60 to less than 40.

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Welfare overhaul plans ‘imminent’

FamilyThe changes could significantly change families’ experiences of the welfare system

Details of a major overhaul of the benefits system will be published “imminently” in a government bill, a committee of MPs has heard.

This will outline exactly which benefits and tax credits could be replaced by the proposed Universal Credit system.

Work Secretary Iain Duncan Smith has been taking questions from the Work and Pensions Committee.

If given the go-ahead, the system will start for new claimants in 2013.

However, it will take 10 years for the changes to come into effect fully.

The government is planning to simplify the UK benefits system, claiming that universal credits would “make work pay”.

It wants to consolidate the existing 30 or more work-related benefits – such as jobseeker’s allowance, housing benefit, child tax credit, working tax credit, income support and employment support allowance – into a single universal payment.

Universal Credit – Key pointsLow paid workers to keep more of what they earnReplaces working tax credit, child tax credit, housing benefit, income support, jobseeker’s allowance and income-related allowancesBenefits cut for three months if job offers refused – and for up to three years in the most “extreme” casesPeople can move in and out of work without losing benefitsStarts for new claimants in 2013Will take up to 10 years to come fully into effect£2.1bn start up costsMeant to save money in the long run through reducing fraud and errorQ&A: Benefits overhaul A basic guide to benefits

But there has been debate over exactly which of the dozens of benefits will fall under the umbrella of the Universal Credit system.

Mr Duncan Smith told the committee that the bill would outline whether benefits such as carer’s allowance would be included, adding that the publication of these details was imminent.

“The current system is a pretty near nightmare to negotiate,” he said.

“We are pretty well ready [to publish the bill].”

He added that this would include details about carers who currently faced losing their allowance if their earnings reached more than £100 a week.

Mr Duncan Smith also said he wanted families to decide themselves exactly where the single universal payment would be made – such as into a joint bank account, or to a man or woman in a household.

The plan was for a monthly payment, as this was similar what happens in a workplace. Many benefits are paid every two weeks, at present.

The government has insisted that nobody will experience a reduction in the benefit money they receive as a result of the introduction of the Universal Credit.

But a recent report by the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) suggested that 1.4 million families would lose money as a result of the government’s reforms. It also calculated that the changes would help 2.5 million households.

Under the plans, there would be stricter rules for people losing their payments if they refused a job, with those who do so three times losing their benefits for three months.

Part of the committee’s discussion was how job centre staff would be able to find out all of the key details that would affect people’s benefit claims.

Some of the information from new claimants will be entered online, if they are able to access the internet, before a face-to-face interview with an adviser.

People could also input details on terminals at benefits centres. A review of online use is being conducted among existing benefits claimants at present.

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Oil supertanker hijacked off Oman

breaking news

An supertanker carrying about $200m (£125m; 146m euros) worth of crude oil has been hijacked off the coast of Oman, the vessel’s Greek operator says.

Athens-based shipping company Enesel said they had lost communication with the Irene SL.

The vessel was on its way from the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Mexico when it was attacked.

Although the incident happened hundreds of miles from Somalia, pirate gangs are known to operate there.

“This morning the vessel was attacked by armed men,” said Enesel in a statement quoted by Reuters.

“For the moment there is no communication with the vessel.”

Greece’s Merchant Marine Ministry told the Associated Press that the vessel was attacked as it sailed 230 miles (360km) east of Oman.

The ship was carrying 266 tons of crude oil and has a 25-member crew including seven Greeks, 17 Filipinos and one Georgian, according to the ministry.

The incident comes a day after pirates took control of an Italian oil tanker in the Indian Ocean, some 800 miles from Somalia’s coast.

Somali pirates have made millions of dollars in recent years by capturing cargo vessels in the shipping lanes around the Horn of Africa and holding the ships and crew for ransom.

Somalia has had no functioning central government since 1991, allowing piracy to flourish off its coast.

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PM accused of troop pledge U-turn

Catherine Spencer from AFF reads one of the emails of complaintThe federation says it has received e-mails from soldiers who express a sense of betrayal
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A “tidal wave of low morale” is sweeping through the Army because of “attacks” on allowances, a group representing military families says.

The rules on who can claim continuity of education allowance (CEA), which helps families pay for school fees, were tightened last December.

The Army Families Federation (AFF) says it has been inundated with outraged messages from all ranks over the move.

The MoD says it is doing everything it can to support military personnel.

The CEA enables military families, who are often on the move, to claim boarding school fees of up to £5,833 per child per term, but the rules on who can apply have been changed.

It is claimed by 5,500 military personnel, fewer than 3% of total service personnel, costing the MoD £180m a year. The government says the changes in the system would save £20m a year.

But the AFF says it has received e-mails from soldiers expressing a sense of betrayal. Many say they now question the government’s promise to create a new military covenant between the nation and its Armed Forces.

“Army personnel do feel betrayed – and secondly, they feel like they might leave the Army”

Catherine Spencer AFF

One e-mail read: “People have their backs to the wall and have no way of defending themselves. Pay freeze, loss of Child Benefit, tax increases, cost of living increases, the continual pressure of contemporary military life, allowance cuts, changes to CEA entitlement (or worse); when will it end?

“The government has directed that the armed services will be cut. They need to be made aware that they may end up with no armed service left at all!”

Catherine Spencer from the AFF said they had heard from an officer serving in Afghanistan and commanding officers over the issue.

“I think army personnel do feel betrayed. And secondly, they feel like they might leave the Army,” she said.

“It’s becoming unaffordable for them to stay in the Army, but there’s also a sense of feeling undervalued because of these cuts, as if the last 10 years they have given in Iraq and Afghanistan has been forgotten and the work they have done has been undermined.”

The government points to a recent rise in the operational allowance for those on the front line, but also says it is having to make savings right across the board.

Minister for Defence Personnel Welfare and Veterans Andrew Robathan said: “We are doing everything we can to ensure that the support we provide to them is focused on the most important areas, given the current financial situation.

“Changes that we have made, for example raising the operational allowance and increasing support to deal with mental health illness, show how we are focusing on the biggest issues.

“But the fact remains that we have inherited an economic mess from Labour and tough decisions have had to be made. Savings are needed across the public sector to bring the national deficit down, and the Armed Forces are not immune from this.”

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No votes for murderers – Clarke

Wormwood ScrubsPrisoners serving longer sentences will not get the vote, ministers say
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Justice Secretary Ken Clarke has said it is “nonsense” to suggest that murderers and rapists are going to be given the right to vote in elections.

He also rejected calls for the UK to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights over the issue.

The government has been warned it must allow some prison inmates to vote to comply with a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights.

MPs will vote on the matter on Thursday with some Tories expected to rebel.

The shadow cabinet will abstain in the vote, while the rest of Labour’s front bench will have a free vote.

Shadow Justice Secretary Sadiq Khan said: “It isn’t – nor has it ever been – Labour’s policy to give prisoners the vote.

“It is important that MPs get to debate this issue, but despite numerous requests by me the government has refused to share the legal advice on which their decision to grant certain prisoners the vote is based nor have they answered the other questions I have asked.

“There are therefore questions about whether Thursday’s motion is compliant with our obligations under the European Convention of Human Rights. As a result, it is right that the shadow cabinet abstain on Thursday.”

Backbench MPs of all parties will have a free vote.

Mr Clarke told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the government plans to apply the ruling to the minimum number of prisoners possible.

“We are actually grasping the nettle, we have to fulfil our obligations but we’re not going to give the vote to any more prisoners than is necessary to comply with the law,” he said.

“What we can’t do is just defy the law and pretend we’re going to go wandering off.

“Human rights law tends to be applied to rather unattractive and unpleasant people.

“It’s easy to give human rights or freedom of speech to people with big popular support. These issues always come up with people who are not very popular.

“Prisoners are quite rightly being punished and not popular. Some of them are going to get the vote but probably as few as we can give them consistent with our legal obligations.”

Mr Clarke said prisoners serving longer sentences would not be given the vote – but the cut-off point would be decided at a later date.

He said the Attorney General, Dominic Grieve, would set out the legal position in the House of Commons on Thursday.

Prime Minister David Cameron said he felt “physically ill” at the thought of granting convicted criminals the right to vote but he had to abide by the European Court’s ruling.

Some Conservative MPs have reacted angrily to the PM’s stance and have called on him to withdraw from the UK from the European Convention on Human Rights over the issue.

Mr Clarke said that was not an option, although the coalition government was setting up a convention to “look again at exactly how the Human Rights Act works”.

“The government does not defy the ruling of courts whose jurisdiction it has always accepted,” he told Today, saying the previous Labour government had “messed about” since the ruling was made five years ago and the coalition was “grasping the nettle”.

At present, in the UK, only prisoners on remand are allowed to vote.

In 2005, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that blanket ban unlawful, and in June, the Council of Europe, which enforces the court’s decrees, urged the coalition government to rectify the situation.

The government says it has been advised that unless the law is changed it could face compensation claims from prisoners costing well over £100m.

Thursday’s debate was secured by senior Conservative backbencher David Davis and former Labour cabinet minister Jack Straw who convinced a new Commons committee to allow a vote on the issue.

The voting rights of prisoners is a UK-wide issue and will affect Scotland and Northern Ireland even though the administration of justice is devolved.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.