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Hearses carrying the bodies of UK military personnel killed overseas will, from autumn, no longer travel through Wootton Bassett in Wiltshire.

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

Ministry of Defence officials have received £39.7m in performance-related pay in the six months to October 2010, documents show.

The figures were released to the Daily Mail after a Freedom of Information request.

An MoD spokesman said the full amount for the financial year would be broadly comparable with last year’s £44.2m, with most staff’s PRP already paid.

Defence spending is to fall by 8% as part of the strategic defence review.

Under the review announced by Prime Minister David Cameron last year, 42,000 Ministry of Defence and armed forces jobs will be cut by 2015, and defence spending will fall by 8% over four years.

The Daily Mail reported that in the 2009-10 financial year, £44.2m was paid to civilian staff for their job performance.

The chief executive of the Defence Support Group, Archie Hughes, received £84,000 in performance pay in the year to April 2010. DSG is responsible for military equipment in Afghanistan.

Other large awards of £75,000, £72,540 and £55,350 were paid to unnamed senior civil servants, the paper reported.

In the first half of the 2010-2011 financial year, senior officials shared £2.7m, averaging £8,000 each.

The MoD said: “These are not bonuses, but a proportion of overall salary which is linked to performance. These awards are non-pensionable and have to be earned each year.

“In 2009-10, the average award, which is taxable, was £677. More than half of all MoD civil servants earn less than £20,000 a year. All public servants are subject to the pay freeze.”

Conservative MP Patrick Mercer, a former Army officer, told the Daily Mail: “Our armed forces get no bonuses whatsoever when they go away to fight. It makes me wonder if we’ve got our priorities right.

“Civil servants don’t face bombs and bullets. Our soldiers, sailors and airmen are the ones who should be receiving these payments, not the bureaucrats.”

However, the MoD said personnel on tour received an operational allowance of £5,400 for six months, and long-separation allowances, among other payments.

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

A senior Chinese official warns it will take 300 years to turn back China’s advancing deserts at the current rate of progress.

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

The increase in the top rate of VAT is a “tough but necessary” step towards restoring the UK’s economy, Chancellor George Osborne has said.

The rise from 17.5% to 20%, which came in on Tuesday, is expected to raise an extra £13bn in revenue.

Mr Osborne told the BBC this was more “progressive” than increasing income tax or National Insurance and would “increase employment”.

But Labour said the VAT rise would “hit the poorest hardest”.

Business groups have also warned that retailers will be adversely affected.

The VAT rise is the second in a year, after Labour chancellor Alistair Darling restored the 17.5% rate last January having temporarily reduced it to 15% for 13 months to stimulate the economy during the recession.

Mr Osborne said: “I didn’t come into politics and become chancellor of the exchequer wanting to increase taxes. I’m actually someone who believes we want to try and lower taxes in this country.

“But when you’ve got a very large budget deficit and you’ve in the middle of a European sovereign debt crisis – and you’ve decided that at least part of dealing with the deficit has to come from tax rises – then I think VAT presents itself as the choice.

“And interestingly enough of course, my predecessor – Alistair Darling – came to exactly the same conclusion, wanted to increase VAT in office and made it very clear after the election that he would have increased VAT had he remained the chancellor.”

He added: “If you look at the population and how much they spend, then VAT is progressive.”

Mr Osborne also said the VAT rise was a “tough but necessary step towards Britain’s economic recovery”, and that 20% was “a reasonable rate to set, given the very difficult situation we find ourselves in”.

He added that he regarded the increase as “permanent” and it would “increase employment” because it would increase confidence that the government was tackling the budget deficit.

For Labour, shadow chancellor Alan Johnson said: “This is a broken promise – this was the big issue of the general election campaign.

“It does nothing for jobs and growth – this year has to be all about continuing the growth momentum. It hits the poorest hardest. For those three reasons this is the wrong tax at the wrong time.”

The change affects any VAT-registered business which sells or purchases goods or services that are subject to the standard rate.

Food, children’s clothing, newspapers and magazines are not subject to VAT.

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

The standard rate of VAT has gone up from 17.5% to 20%. What will this mean for familiar “price points” ending in 99?

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

A pensioner has died after sustaining serious burns in a “ferocious” blaze in an Edinburgh tenement.

The 79 year-old was taken to hospital after being rescued from the blaze at her home in Argyle Park Terrace at 1515 GMT on Monday.

She died in the early hours of Tuesday. Two men and a woman were taken to hospital with less serious injuries.

Firefighters said the blaze, on the first floor of the building, was severe and caused “very high temperatures”.

The woman was treated by paramedics at the scene before being taken to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.

She was transferred to the burns unit at St John’s Hospital in Livingston, where she later died.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

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

Greece has announced plans to build a 12km (eight-mile) fence along part its border with Turkey to prevent illegal immigrants from crossing the border.

Public Order Minister Christos Papoutsis said more than 100,000 people had entered Greece illegally last year and Athens had a duty to act.

Greece has long complained to Turkey about border security.

But the European Commission said such fences were “short-term measures” which did not tackle the root of the problem.

The proposed fence would cover a short section of the Greece-Turkey border in the Orestiada area of north-eastern Greece.

The area has become the main route into Greece for migrants from Africa and Asia with an average of 245 people crossing illegally every day in October 2010, according to Frontex, the EU’s border agency.

The European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Cecilia Malmstroem, has said the numbers are “dramatic”.

In a statement, Mr Papoutsis said Greece could “no longer tolerate this”.

“Greek society has exceeded its limit in its capacity to accommodate illegal immigrants,” he said.

“This is the hard reality and we have an obligation to the Greek citizen to deal with it.”

He said the Greek coastguard would also be upgraded and modernised to tackle illegal migration.

But the proposals have come under criticism in Greece, with the Greek Communist Party describing them as “inhuman and ineffective”.

Human Rights Watch warned Athens that the plan would not relieve it of its obligations to protect refugees.

Earlier on Monday, a spokesman for the EU Commission said that walls and bars were “short-term measures which will not allow us to tackle illegal immigration in a structural manner”.

“We made clear with Greece that the country needs sound and long-term structural reforms and measures to better manage its border, to better address the challenges linked to migration flows,” Michele Cercone said.

“It is important that these borders… are managed in order to discourage and interrupt traffickers and smugglers that exploit [illegal immigrants].”

Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said it was seeking further information about the plans, but the governor of one Edirne, one of the country’s border provinces, said all physical barriers were surmountable.

“There’s a 200km river that can be passed with boats in winter and by foot in summer when the water level is low,” Gokhan Sozer told NTV.

Around 90% of all migrants who illegally enter the EU have come through Greece, say officials.

The UN’s refugee agency says 38,992 arrived in the 10 months to November 2010, compared with 7,574 for the same period of 2009.

In November, Frontex deployed 175 border control specialists to the Orestiada area to help Greece tackle the problem.

The agency says this led to a 44% fall in the numbers of people successfully crossing the border.

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

Students occupying a building at the University of Kent have said their protest at education cuts and rises in tuition fees could end within days.

The group began its sit-in at the Senate building at the Canterbury campus on 8 December.

Other university sit-ins ended last month but the Kent protest continued.

University officials aim to regain control of the building by seeking a possession order at a hearing at Canterbury County Court on 7 January.

Alan Stephenson, a spokesman for the students, said: “We wanted to keep it going as long as possible but we had to face up to some legal matters.

“There is a court summons due on 7 January. So it will be ending round about then.”

Mr Stephenson said there were currently seven students in the Senate building.

They had spent much of Christmas without heating and living on food parcels passed to them via the security officers in the building.

The protesters have called on the university and its vice-chancellor Julia Goodfellow to condemn the government’s plans publicly.

They have also demanded that she retract herself as signatory of a letter, published in the Daily Telegraph on 8 December, which opposed cuts but also supported government plans for university funding.

Professor Goodfellow has since written an open letter in which she again deplored the cuts to higher education funding, but the students said this did not meet their demands.

The university has previously said in a statement that it had sought to establish common ground with the students.

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

A partial solar eclipse has taken place over Europe, the Middle East, Russia and northwest China.

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

The chairman of the campaign for a Yes vote in March’s referendum on further powers for the assembly says he believes it will create a “no excuses culture” for Welsh politics.

Roger Lewis was speaking at the official launch of “Yes for Wales” in Cardiff.

The cross-party campaign group is backing further law-making powers for Wales.

The No campaign has yet to launch and is being led by True Wales.

Mr Lewis said people from across the country were coming together to support what he called “a simple principle” – that laws affecting only Wales should be made in Wales.

At present, the assembly can only pass Welsh laws if the UK Parliament grants it the powers in specific devolved areas – a process which can take months or even years.

A Yes vote in a referendum would enable the assembly to have law-making powers across all devolved areas without reference to Westminster, whereas a No vote would mean the piece-by-piece system would continue.

Mr Lewis, who is also chief executive of the Welsh Rugby Union, said that if given what he called “the tools to do the job”, Welsh politicians would not be able to hide behind the way laws are made as an excuse for not delivering for the people of Wales.

He said: “Time, money, energy and imagination are being exhausted on making an over-complicated law-making system work.

“In times like this we cannot afford to waste a moment continually arguing about the way laws are made.

“It is time for the assembly to be given the tools necessary to get on with the job it was elected to, so that all our energies can be focused on forging a better future.”

Mr Lewis would not be drawn on what he believed would be a satisfactory turnout in the poll – recent opinion polls have pointed to a turnout of around 35 to 40%.

He admitted that the Yes For Wales group would be “walking a tightrope” as far as politicising the campaign was concerned, with assembly elections due in May, just weeks after the referendum.

Its campaign leaflet refers to the assembly protecting “schools, skills and hospitals” during the squeeze on public finances – a phrase used repeatedly by Labour and Plaid Cymru ministers in discussing their recent budget.

True Wales, the group which will campaign for a No vote in the referendum due to be held on March 3, is expected to launch its campaign in the next couple of weeks.

A spokeswoman criticised the Yes campaign’s decision to host the launch at the University of Glamorgan, saying the assembly was guilty of “long-term chronic underfunding” of higher education.

“Politicians are asking the people of Wales to give them more powers as a vote of confidence, but why should the latter have any confidence in a government with the current educational spending record?” she said.

“How can our country’s economy flourish if its successive governments short-change our children’s future by chronic under-investment in our schools and universities?”

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

Detectives have begun a Facebook campaign in a bit to catch the killer of Jo Yeates.

Her body was found on Christmas Day, in Longwood Lane, Failand, eight days after she was reported missing from her home in Clifton, Bristol.

The campaign involves an advert that will allow people to contact the incident room via the social networking site rather than calling in.

Police said Facebook was more effective than posters and leaflet drops.

Detectives investigating the murder of the 25-year-old landscape architect have said there is no evidence she was sexually assaulted, but they have not ruled out a sexual motive.

The force has appealed for sightings of a 4×4 seen near to where her body was found.

Her landlord, Chris Jefferies, 65, who was arrested on suspicion of her murder, is free on bail.

Detective Chief Inspector Phil Jones, of Avon and Somerset Police, said he hoped the Facebook appeal would encourage more people to come forward with information.

“The majority of people these days are spending time on Facebook and other social networking sites; this has become part of everyday routine for many people,” he said.

“This advert allows us to point people to special features on our website with all the latest information, it allows them to contact the incident room direct online rather than calling in.

“I would once again urge anyone who may have not contacted my team and may have information that could help this enquiry to contact us. Let us decide if this information is significant.”

He said police had successfully used Facebook in a number of high-profile cases because information could be shared more widely than by poster.

Scott Fulton, head of e-services at the force, said: “On this inquiry alone we have had shares of the story from the force’s Facebook page of 24,220.

“Additionally there have been over 63,000 views of the news updates on our website, a further 18,000 on the dedicated Jo page and over 70,000 views of the CCTV clips on our YouTube channel.

“Through the website we have had 260 inbound messages to the incident room through the website.”

Miss Yeates was last seen at about 2000 GMT on 17 December after she had been drinking with colleagues in the Bristol Ram pub in Park Street in the city.

She visited three shops on the way home and was filmed on CCTV.

She bought a pizza in one of the stores – the receipt was discovered in her flat but no evidence of the pizza or the packaging has been found.

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

BT has introduced a controversial service that some say could allow broadband providers to create a “two-tier internet”.

Content Connect, as it is known, allows Internet Service Providers (ISPs) that use BT’s network to charge content firms for high-speed delivery of video.

It could spell the end of so-called “net neutrality”, where all traffic on the net is treated equally.

Critics say it will also reduce competition for consumers.

“This is a sea change in the way that content is delivered by ISPs,” Jim Killock of the net freedom campaign organisation, the Open Rights Group, told BBC News.

“It is essentially them saying: ‘Rather than delivering whatever content is on the internet as best we can, here are our services that we will deliver through our own network.'”

He said the result could be a “fundamental shift” from consumers choosing what video and gaming services they buy on the internet to “buying services from the internet to bundled services from ISPs”.

“This would reduce competition and take investment away from internet companies – that would be bad for everyone.”

But a spokesperson for BT denied that the offering would create a “two-tier internet”.

“BT supports the concept of net neutrality, but believes that service providers should also be free to strike commercial deals, should content owners want a higher quality or assured service delivery.”

It said that its new service would speed up download speeds across its network – even for those not buying into Content Connect – by easing congestion.

Network neutrality is one of the founding principles of the internet and is meant to ensure that all ISPs treat all web traffic equally – serving merely as a conduit for whatever data is passing from content providers to end users.

But debates have been raging around the world as the explosive growth in internet traffic – and particularly video – has put a strain on the existing infrastructure.

In the US, regulators recently voted in favour of rules that are designed to uphold the principles of network neutrality.

The EU has openly backed network neutrality, but has introduced regulation that allows network providers to manage traffic on their networks, provided what they are doing is transparent.

The UK regulator Ofcom is expected to clarify its stance later this year.

In the meantime, the UK government has already said that it backs a two-speed internet.

Culture minister Ed Vaizey said in November that ISPs had to be free to experiment with new charges to help pay for the expansion in internet services and infrastructure.

“This could include the evolution of a two-sided market, where consumers and content providers could choose to pay for differing levels of quality of service,” he said.

The new offering from BT seems to be the first major step in that direction.

The service, offered by BT’s wholesale division, is based on a new content distribution network built by BT that stores video content closer to the user, reducing congestion on the network and speeding up load times.

BT retail – a separate division of BT – will begin to use the service to deliver BBC iPlayer content on its BT Vision TV service within the next few months.

“It will cache iPlayer content closer to customers on the network, allowing for the content to be delivered to customers in a more efficient and cost-effective way, as well as improving the overall viewing experience,” a BT spokesperson told BBC News.

“The Content Connect service will also be available to all UK ISPs within the same timescales.”

The spokesperson said that BT would not throttle or discriminate against other video services on the network, but did not rule out that ISPs using the network could do so.

“The treatment of content on the network – such as prioritisation of content or bandwidth throttling – is strictly within the domain of the ISP and not the wholesale provider.”

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

The head of Egypt’s Coptic church appeals for calm as protesters clash with police for a third day, over the New Year blast that killed 21 churchgoers.

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The policeman blinded by Raoul Moat says he feels let down by the organisation which should have supported him after the event.

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A 10-year-old girl in Canada is the youngest person to discover a supernova – an exploding star which can briefly outshine a whole galaxy.

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