Author: xaurav

On the left and right of the political spectrum – presidential hopefuls Ollanta Humala and Keiko Fujimori

Voters in Peru are set to cast their ballots on Sunday in a closely fought presidential second-round run-off.

They face a choice of Keiko Fujimori, daughter of jailed ex-president Alberto Fujimori, and Ollanta Humala, one-time ally of Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez.

The two candidates are at opposite ends of the political spectrum – a fact that has worried some Peruvians who say they will not vote for either of them.

Opinion polls indicate that the outcome is too close to call.

The two candidates led the field after the first round on 10 April, which saw the defeat of three centrist candidates. No-one gained more than the 50% needed to win the election outright.

Whoever wins Sunday’s vote will succeed Alan Garcia, who cannot stand for a second term.

Keiko Fujimori, 36, appeals to voters who still admire her father, president for a decade from 1990. He is now serving a 25-year jail sentence for corruption and organising death squads.

She has defended his record, saying by taming hyper-inflation and defeating Marxist Shining Path rebels, he laid the basis for Peru’s current economic boom.

She supports free-market economic policies, advocates a tough approach to crime and has promised to improve social programmes and infrastructure in poor areas.

Critics say her main aim is to secure a pardon for her father, a claim she denies.

If she wins, she would become Peru’s first woman president.

Ollanta Humala, 48, comes from a left-wing tradition of greater state intervention. He staged a short-lived rebellion against Alberto Fujimori in 2000 and narrowly lost to Alan Garcia in the last presidential election in 2006.

He has campaigned on a promise to increase the state’s role in the economy and redistribute wealth to Peru’s poor majority.

His critics fear he will embark on interventionist policies similar to those of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, although Mr Humala says he is more in sympathy with Brazil’s moderate left-wing approach.

He has also denied allegations that he committed human rights abuses during the fight against Shining Path rebels in the 1990s when he was an army captain.

Polls suggest that around 10% of Peru’s voters could abstain or spoil their ballots, Reuters news agency reports.

Peruvian painter Fernando de Szyszlo is one of those. “It really pains me not to vote, but I’m not voting,” he told the Associated Press.

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

Rushent was named Best Producer at the 1982 Brit Awards for his work with the Human League

Music producer Martin Rushent, who worked with bands including the Human League and the Stranglers, has died aged 63.

His son, James, confirmed on his Facebook and Twitter pages that his father had died on Saturday.

Rushent started as an engineer in the 1970s, working on records by T-Rex and Fleetwood Mac among others.

He produced the Human League’s hit album Dare, which contained the classic “Don’t You Want Me?”.

Rushent also worked with the Stranglers, Buzzcocks, XTC, Generation X, the Go-Go’s and Altered Images.

A tribute page has been set up on Facebook called Martin Rushent Memories.

His son, James, guitarist for the band Does It Offend You, Yeah?, who he also produced, paid tribute on the page.

“I will miss him, so so much, he was my best mate,” he said.

The Stranglers paid tribute to him on their official website, saying: “We have just received the sad news that another early band collaborator, Martin Rushent, passed away yesterday aged 63.”

Rushent produced the band’s first three albums, Rattus Norvegicus, No More Heroes and Black and White.

Rushent, from Reading, Berkshire, leaves behind wife Ceri, sons James and Tim and daughters Amy and Joanne.

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

Too much electrical signalling in the brain can cause a fit.

The risk posed to unborn children by powerful epilepsy drugs could be easier to avoid following an 11-year study.

While the four most common drugs are all linked with a higher chance of birth defects, researchers believe they have pinpointed the safest.

The 3,900 patient study, published in Lancet Neurology, could help doctors work out whether to switch drugs or cut doses.

The Epilepsy Society said avoiding seizures in pregnancy was a priority.

The link between epilepsy drugs and birth defects was first noticed in the 1960s, but choosing the right drug for women of childbearing age without exposing them to the risk of seizures can be a balancing act for doctors.

Simply taking a patient off medication entirely is not usually an option, as uncontrolled seizures could harm both baby and mother.

Earlier studies have highlighted valproic acid as the drug most linked to birth defects, but there has been little information as to the safety of alternatives.

The latest research, from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden and the University of Pavia in Italy, also looked in detail at other drugs such as carbamazepine, lamotrigine and phenobarbital.

Researchers studied 3,909 women and 4,540 pregnancies. Of those, there were 230 pregnancies involving major birth defects, including heart defects and neural tube defects such as spina bifida.

None of the major drugs was given the all clear, and as the dose of each increased, so did the risk.

However, the lowest risk was linked to smaller doses of lamotrigine and carbamazepine.

The researchers stressed that, regardless of which drug was used, the vast majority of women still gave birth to perfectly healthy children.

They added: “Our results show that dose selection is as crucial as the choice of drug.”

In an editorial in the same journal Professor W Allen Hauser, from Colombia University in New York, said that the findings were “important” because they offered alternatives to the drugs linked most strongly to problems.

He said: “The data provide another reason for use of the lowest dose of a drug associated with optimum seizure control.

“Incidence of major congenital malformations associated with a low dose of a higher risk drug might be lower than that associated with a high dose of a lower-risk drug.”

Professor John Duncan, Medical Director at The Epilepsy Society, said that the results would be useful to GPs with a specialist interest in epilepsy and hospital neurologists, both of whom would be well placed to offer advice to women.

But he warned that controlling seizures should remain a priority, even during pregnancy: “It should be remembered that a lot of women have epilepsy, and it is not an uncommon cause of death during pregnancy.

“This research helps to clarify the extent of the risks involved with these drugs – and all drugs carry some degree of risk.”

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

President Hugo Chavez ordered a thorough investigation to get to the bottom of the allegations

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has called for a thorough investigation into reports of the deaths of three prisoners in police custody.

Mr Chavez said the police force had to be cleaned up so there would be no more hitting or torturing of inmates.

Of the three prisoners who died in the past few weeks, forensic tests suggested at least two of them had been beaten and drowned.

Four police officers have been arrested in connection with the allegations.

“I congratulate the great majority of the police who do their job, but one rotten apple can spoil the barrel,” President Chavez said.

“You can’t mistreat, hit or harass a prisoner for any reason,” he urged police officers in his weekly TV programme “Alo, Presidente”.

‘Bruised and drowned’

The prosecutor general’s office announced last week it would investigate the deaths in police custody of the three prisoners.

Forensic pathologist Franklin Perez said two of the prisoners had died of brain oedemas, or swelling, caused by drowning and that the bodies of all three showed bruising.

The inmates’ families have blamed the police for their deaths.

The campaign group Venezuelan Prison Watch says 476 inmates died inside Venezuela’s prisons in 2010.

Prisons are notoriously overcrowded with reports suggesting they are three times over capacity.

The Inter-American Commission of Human Rights has urged Venezuela to take action to tackle violence and insecurity in its prisons, and to protect the human rights of inmates.

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

Smaller companies say they need help with finance

Five leading business groups have called for changes to government schemes meant to help companies get access to finance.

The groups include the Federation of Small Businesses and the Institute of Directors in Scotland.

One suggestion was for tax support for wealthy individuals who are prepared to lend to firms.

They said that would fill the funding gap left by banks which have cut lending, particularly to start-ups.

Much of the government support system was created after the credit crunch began in 2008.

The joint proposal also came from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland, the Scottish Chambers of Commerce and the Scottish Financial Enterprise.

It called for improved communication of the finance guarantees the UK government is willing to make available to banks to support lending to companies.

They want smaller companies to be eligible for the Business Growth Fund, which currently allows banks to take an equity stake of between £2m and £10m in companies with turnover of at least £10m.

The business organisations have proposed lowering the turnover threshold to £2m, bringing many more small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) into the scheme.

They also suggested changes in the Enterprise Investment Scheme, which encourages long-term equity finance, saying it would help if it also supported short-term financing, making it more attractive to individuals to invest in firms through the scheme.

The unusual joint statement by business groups called for the Scottish government to direct its £94m Scottish Loan Fund fairly towards companies with growth or export potential, rather than skewing it towards particular sectors.

Holyrood ministers, they said, should produce data on Scottish Loan Fund applications received, accepted and rejected, and on the cost of administering the fund through investment company Maven Capital Partners. The fund was set up in February.

David Wood, of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland, said: “Affordable finance remains an issue for the majority of SMEs despite the many measures that have been introduced to improve the situation.

“Our organisations are committed to working with government and the banks to improve the outlook for businesses across Scotland and the UK. We firmly believe that our joint statement offers a signal of intent – if we work together, solutions can be found.”

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

The couple will move at some point in June or July, a spokesman said

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are to move into a home at Kensington Palace, St James’s Palace says.

The prince previously lived at the palace with Prince Harry and his mother Diana, Princess of Wales, after her divorce from the Prince of Wales.

But the apartment he will share with his new bride will not be the same property he used to live in.

William is currently working as an RAF search and rescue helicopter pilot in north Wales, where the couple live.

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

Igor Andreev hanged himself after being bullied and beaten by other soldiers

“Hello, my name is Nikolay, I am 24 years old and I died serving in the Russian army.”

Twenty-seven young men, many in military uniform, gaze out from a page on the social networking site Odnoklassniki.ru – a Russian equivalent of Facebook.

Many smile, looking happy and proud.

All of them have died while in the army – but only a few perished in actual combat operations in Chechnya or Dagestan.

A non-governmental charity, MThe Mother’s Right Foundation, has set up the unusual page. It says that the majority died from extreme bullying, crime, bad living conditions or the abnormal psychological climate in the army.

Some were killed by fellow servicemen, shot at point-blank range or beaten to death.

Others were forced to commit suicide by constant violence and abuse, the charity claims.

But on Odnoklassniki.ru, the men all look very much alive.

Users can add them as friends, look at their photos, write on their walls or send a private message.

And in their bios, they describe their lives – and deaths – in the first person.

Nikolay Ishimov from the village of Mezhozernyj, not far from Chelyabinsk tells his story.

“On 20 August 2007, in front of 47 fellow soldiers, I was shot by a drunkenofficer, Vladimir Bazelev, just like that, for no reason.

“The bullet hit me right between the eyes; I died instantly.

“After three court cases and with the help of the Mother’s Right, my mom managed to get my killer jailed for five years and eight months.

“But my mom still cries, every day… Sometimes my parents see me in their dreams.”

Only weeks into the internet campaign, this unusual way of drawing attention to the problem of violence in the Russian army has already got people talking, says the foundation’s head, Veronica Marchenko.

“By sharing this information with the world, we show what happened not with some abstract words and statistics, but with these concrete examples, these boys, so that people start thinking about whether this is normal, and what they can do to change it.”

She explains that by using the first-person format, saying “I died, I was killed”, the charity was suddenly able to hit a nerve, to get a reaction from people.

“You may live in the same building as a woman, but only find out that her son died in the army from this social network, because so many people go online and interact with one another more than they interact with their neighbours.”

Since 1990, The Mother’s Right has been providing free legal aid and support to parents of deceased soldiers, guiding them through the labyrinths of the Russian court system.

In 2009, the US First Lady Michelle Obama and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton presented Veronica Marchenko with a prestigious International Women of Courage award for her work.

For many parents, it is extremely important to find out exactly how their son died

Ms Marchenko says that parents of dead soldiers usually not only seek financial compensation and justice, but also attempt to establish why and how their son died.

The most common verdict on a young conscript’s death is suicide, but parents often say that after examining their child’s body, they find internal injuries and fractured bones.

Some believe that soldiers have been beaten to death then put into a noose to make it look like suicide, or even forced to hang themselves.

Ninteen-year-old Igor Andreev from Saint Petersburg died in 2005. He was found hanging from his belt on a train while being transferred from one military unit to another.

“We were so shocked and shaken by the news that we never performed an autopsy,” says Igor’s mother Lyudmila Strugova, sobbing.

“They told us that his body had been lying in the coffin for five days and that they had forgotten to embalm it, so they said not to open it.”

“How is that possible? Why wouldn’t they let us open the coffin?” she asks.

On the website, Igor’s story is laid bare for all to see.

“I was constantly bullied and abused by other soldiers: they demanded money, beat me, I was covered in bruises and haematomas,” Igor “writes”.

“In March 2005, I was very badly beaten by a soldier, Ruslan Romadov, because I was unable to get the money for him. I had to ask my parents for money, and I come from a poor family.

“Serving in the president’s unit, these constant beatings, extortion and humiliation broke me.”

Sobbing, Igor’s mother says she had heard the army could be tough, but her family had never imagined the full extent of it – including the complete lack of punishment for the abusers while Igor was still alive.

“In court, I looked the officer in the eyes and asked him why my son was tortured, deprived of sleep for nights in a row, made to stand in the corner, constantly severely beaten – all of this is written in his case documents,” she says.

“I did not get a real answer, but thanks to the lawyers from the charity, we were able to at least get the main person responsible for the abuse behind bars, and we got financial compensation.”

The Russian government says it is trying to tackle the problem of bullying and abuse and has introduced several reforms to military training

Igor and Nikolay’s deaths are not isolated cases.

Activists say thousands of Russian military personnel die from non-combat incidents every year – and many more come back home either mentally or physically handicapped, or both.

Many are said to be the victims of “dedovshchina” – a brutal form of military hazing.

One conscript, 19-year-old Andrei Sychev, made headlines in 2006 when his legs and genitals were amputated after he was forced to squat for several hours during New Year’s Eve, and then tied to a chair and brutally beaten.

A violent tradition

Dedovshchina is a brutal rite of passage for young soldiers in the Russian army.

This “grandfather system” dates back to the post-WWII era.

In his final months of service, a recruit becomes a “ded” – a “grandfather”, and must teach rookies about army life.

However, the system is far from educational according to military analyst and journalist Alexander Golts.

“There are still no professional sergeants in the Russian army, whose functions would be to bring discipline into the barracks.

“So that’s why the conscripts who have almost finished their service are naturally seen as the ones enforcing the discipline – using the methods they deem necessary.

“Dedovshchina in the Soviet and now in the Russian army is a barbaric, horrible way to enforce discipline, nothing like in any other army.”

His complaints of severe pain were ignored, and when he was finally hospitalised four days later, he had gangrene in his legs and doctors had to remove them.

Hearing such horror stories, many young men try to avoid service any way they can, sometimes paying thousands of dollars in bribes or pretending to be clinically insane and spending months in a mental institution.

The Russian government has been trying to eradicate the problem for some time.

In 2008, the Defence Minister, Anatoliy Serdyukov, announced military reforms: cutting down the number of officers, reducing the service time to one year and eliminating some cadre formations and units, among other changes.

“It’s much easier now that the service period has been reduced – there are no psychological reasons to first endure the service and then to take it out on the new recruits,” explains Mikhail Nenashev, a Russian MP and member of the Duma defence committee.

But Alexander Golts disagrees.

He says that now the function of “enforcing discipline” – and all the abuses of power that come with it – lies with those “who have bigger fists”.

Analysts say that reducing the service to one-year terms has not solved the problem of bullying

The Ministry of Defence acknowledges that several hundred soldiers – about 500 – still die every year during peace-time.

NGOs say that the real figure is several times higher, putting the number at 2,000-3,000 deaths per year.

Initiatives, such as The Mother’s Right, help to keep up the pressure for change.

For Igor Andreev’s mother, it is a way to ensure that her son’s death was not completely in vain.

Nothing will bring Igor back, but sharing his story online could help save the lives of other young Russians and spare their families from pain.

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

Two deaths at Elsie Inglis Nursing Home have led to police investigations

Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon is to identify care of the elderly as a top priority for the Scottish government at a conference later.

Ms Sturgeon will outline her plans to an Alzheimer Scotland’s dementia awareness event in Glasgow.

Questions about the quality of care were prompted by a police investigation into a nursing home in Edinburgh.

And hundreds of residents could also be affected by financial difficulties at care home provider Southern Cross.

Police launched an investigation into the death of an 87-year-old man, days after he left the Elsie Inglis home in Edinburgh.

Officers have already sent a report to the procurator fiscal after a 59-year-old woman, who had been a resident at the home, died after being transferred to hospital.

That death prompted NHS Lothian and Edinburgh city council to intervene.

The home was closed and all 70 residents moved elsewhere.

Hundreds of elderly people in Scotland are cared for in Southern Cross homes

In a separate case the Mental Welfare Commission has severely criticised Ninewells hospital in Dundee over the care of an 80-year-old woman with dementia.

The commission found that use of sedatives in the days leading up to the woman’s death was distressing and unnecessary.

In its response, NHS Tayside accepted that the treatment was “woefully inadequate” and said it had begun a programme of improvements.

Government and local authorities throughout the UK have been monitoring financial problems at care homes operated by Southern Cross.

It looks after hundreds of people in Scotland.

Rising costs and falling income have forced it to cut the rent it pays to the owners of its properties.

Some owners may not be able to agree to the cut in rental payments, which would cast doubt on the operation of the care homes.

Labour, the main opposition group within the Scottish Parliament, has called for closer working between hospitals and local authorities.

Its health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said: “We need to see clarity from the SNP government on whether or not they support integrating health and social care.

“There is no room for uncertainty and older people deserve to know exactly what the government’s intentions are.”

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

Imagine if you had to pay a bribe to see your newborn baby, get your water supply connected or obtain your driving licence. It’s an everyday fact of life in India – but campaigners are now using people power and the internet to fight back.

Transport commissioner Bhaskar Rao has reformed his department with the help of ipaidabribe.com data

“Uncover the market price of corruption,” proclaims the banner on the homepage of ipaidabribe.com.

It invites people to share their experiences of bribery, what a bribe was for, where it took place and how much was involved.

Launched in August, the site gives Indians a chance to vent their frustrations and shine a spotlight on the impact of corruption on everyday life.

“I did the driving test correctly but still the official said I was driving too slow, I realised his intention so gave him 200 Rupees and got the thing done,” is a typical example of a posting.

The website was the brainwave of Ramesh and Swati Ramanathan, founders of a not-for-profit organisation in Bangalore called Janaagraha which literally means “people power”.

“Bribery is routinely expected in interactions with government officials”, Swati Ramanathan told me, “to register your house, to get your driving licence, domestic water connection, even a death certificate.”

Having lived in the US and the UK for several years, they were dismayed on their return to see how widespread corruption had become and decided to do something about it.

“We are all also responsible because we end up paying the darn bribes because otherwise you can never get anything done in India.

“We said, ‘It’s not enough to moralise, we need to find out what exactly is this corruption? What’s the size of it?'”

The website has evolved into a consumer comparison site where people can also get information and advice in different languages on how to avoid paying bribes.

One man told me how he got round paying a bribe to register his mother’s house.

“I went with all the paperwork and at first they looked through it and said, ‘Oh, I think one of the documents is not up to date.’

“What I had been told at the website is that this is one of the excuses they make to take a bribe, and what we need to do is tell them, ‘OK, give it to me in writing with your stamp and seal, and I will make sure I get these documents the next time so that I can get it registered.'”

“The moment I said that, they backed off and said, ‘No, no, it’s OK, we will pass it through.'”

So far, nearly 10,000 bribe experiences have been reported across 347 cities and 19 government departments.

As the numbers mount, Swati Ramanathan hopes the website will become a powerful tool for shaming government departments into tackling corruption.

“There is so little risk to being corrupt in our country and so high a reward,” she explained.

“The moment you change the equation and you make it riskier, the reward becomes less. You make it riskier by making it public.”

One of the website’s early successes has been with the State Transport Department of Karnataka, which was repeatedly cited in bribe reports – prompting transport commissioner Bhaskar Rao to invite the I Paid A Bribe team to present their findings to his staff.

“I wanted to use that website to cleanse my department,” he said.

“If I try to do things on my own here, I may run into rough weather… But the evidence on this website gives me some internal support to bring about reforms.”

“People in the office are realising that if they take money, it definitely is not something just between the giver and the taker. It is spreading out of this room, and now across the globe, on the web.

“So everybody in the world gets to know that this office is not a good office and institutional pride is hurt.”

The website team helped Bhaskar Rao’s department to identify the procedures most prone to corruption.

Twenty senior officers have been cautioned, and technology is now being introduced to minimise the opportunities for bribe-taking.

The automated driving test centre did meet opposition at first from driving inspectors

For example, driving licences can now be applied for online, making the status of each application transparent to everyone involved.

Driving test bribery was a tougher problem. Bhaskar Rao turned to a local IT company to come up with a solution. The result: the world’s first automated driving test centre opened in Bangalore this year.

Drivers register for the test using a smart card and have to negotiate their way around a paved driving track fitted with electronic sensors. Their progress is recorded electronically.

They also have to complete a screen-based test of their knowledge of the Highway Code. All opportunities for bribe-taking and bribe-giving have thus been removed.

Not surprisingly perhaps, there was some initial opposition from driving inspectors to the introduction of this automated test centre.

But it is now conducting up to 200 tests a day and has become a source of pride. And, they say, there are now a few better drivers on the Indian roads.

Solving the problem of bribery in India is not going to happen overnight. But ipaidabribe.com shows that ordinary people can be turned from the victims of corruption into part of the solution.

Blogging Against Bribery is on BBC Radio 4 Monday 6 June 2000 BST.

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

Jose Socrates has vowed to protect welfare programmes

Voters in Portugal are going to the polls to choose a new government which will implement a demanding 78bn euro ($116bn; £70bn) bail-out.

Opinion polls suggest the opposition centre-right Social Democrats (PSD) lead the governing Socialists, but not by enough to form a majority.

Analysts say the PSD may try to form a coalition with the third-ranked CDS.

All the main parties endorsed the bail-out, which requires tough austerity measures amid a faltering economy.

Socialist leader Jose Socrates resigned as prime minister in March, triggering early elections after the opposition in parliament rejected his minority government’s fourth austerity package in less than a year.

Since then, he has acted as caretaker prime minister.

Portugal is faced with unemployment of more than 12% and an economy that is expected to contract by 2% this year and next.

Polls suggest the centre-right Social Democrats will win nearly 37% of the vote, compared to about 31% for the Socialists.

Party leader Pedro Passos Coelho suggested this week that he was the preferred candidate of donors to the bail-out fund.

Social Democrat leader Pedro Passos Coelho said he would cut wasteful state spending

“We are going to cut state waste and excesses while finding a way for the needy to get what they need,” he told supporters.

Mr Socrates has accused the Social Democrats of pursuing a “radical right-wing agenda” and criticises Mr Passos Coelho for lacking experience in government.

“If you think social protection programs are important, vote for the Socialist Party because our policies ensure the welfare state,” he told a party rally on Friday.

Whoever wins on Sunday will have to enact urgent and far-reaching social and fiscal reforms, including more austerity measures, to restore national fiscal health and encourage growth.

The terms of the bail-out call for tax hikes, a freeze on state pensions and salaries and cuts in unemployment benefits.

“The road with this package is long and filled with reforms which may be politically difficult to pass,” Diego Iscaro, an economist at IHS Global Insight, told Reuters news agency.

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

Ashley Young will hold talks with Aston Villa chairman Randy Lerner to discuss his future after stating he wants to play “at the highest level”.

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

Most residents of Greer, Arizona, packed up their belongings and left on Saturday

Fire crews are battling to contain a massive blaze in Arizona that is threatening mountain communities in the east of the state.

The fire, covering 225 sq miles (583 sq km) is being described as the third largest in the state’s history.

Smoke from the burning pine forests can be seen in neighbouring New Mexico and Colorado.

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, who flew over the fire, described the rapidly moving blaze as a “frightening sight”.

The fire was expected to grow, given a forecast for winds and lightning.

Most residents of the resort town of Greer, in the White Mountains, left on Saturday, packing their belongings in to vehicles as what is being called the “Wallow Fire” moved closer.

On Sunday, the town was shrouded in smoke.

The towns of Alpine and Nutrioso were also menaced by the fire and residents who had not already left were standing by to evacuate.

Fire crews were lighting lines of smaller controlled fires in an effort to contain the advance of the wind-driven main blaze.

“It gives a much greater chance of it having diminished fire behaviour as it approaches the lines,” fire information officer Peter Frenzen told the Associated Press.

About 1,300 firefighters from across the United States were battling the fire, said Brad Pitassi, a spokesman for the area fire management team.

The fire is dwarfed in Arizona only by one in 2002 that burnt through 732 sq miles in the centre of the state and another in 2005 that scorched 387 sq miles near Phoenix.

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

The body of Paul Cox, who lived alone, was found on 3 June at his home near Birmingham

A man has been arrested by police investigating the murder of a 83-year-old man at his home near Birmingham.

Paul Cox was found at his semi-detached home in Waseley Road, Rednal near Birmingham, on 3 June.

No details have been released by West Mercia Police about the man in custody but it is understood he is being held in north Worcestershire.

Detectives are continuing their search for Mr Cox’s blue Ford Focus, registration MH05 DFN.

Chf Insp Amanda Blakeman, of West Mercia Police, said locating the car was crucial.

“I would again urge anyone who has seen it, thinks they have seen someone they know driving it or indeed suspects they know who has acquired it, to contact us as a matter of urgency,” she said.

Ms Blakeman said the local community had clearly been shocked by the “tragic circumstances” of Mr Cox’s death.

The car is thought to have been stolen from the driveway of the house some time between 1930 on Thursday and 0800 BST the next morning.

The vehicle is said to have scrape markings along the passenger side and paint damage to the front bumper.

Police have not yet disclosed how Mr Cox died but his body was found after officers were alerted by concerned neighbours.

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

It has existed for just three and a half years but the forces charity Help for Heroes is about to reach a fundraising total of £100m.

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