Author: xaurav

Thailand’s government tells red-shirt protesters it will clear their camp and cut services if they do not leave on Wednesday.

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Seven children have been hacked to death in north-western China in the latest in a series of violent attacks on schools, state media report.

At least 20 others were injured after the attack in Hanzhong city in Shaanxi province, Xinhua news agency reported, citing local authorities.

China has been shaken by a spate of attacks on schools in recent weeks.

In March, a man stabbed to death eight pupils at a school in Fujian province, and several similar attacks followed.

A doctor was convicted of the Fujian attack and executed.

But in the space of a week in late April, three more attacks in different parts of China left dozens of children injured.

Motives for the attacks are not known, although officials have speculated that the incidents in late April were likely to be copycat attacks.

Hanzhong city official Liu Xiaoming told the Associated Press news agency that the man who carried out the killings in Hanzhong had killed himself afterwards. This has not been independently confirmed.

The official also told AP that a teacher had been killed along with the seven children.

Last month, the education ministry ordered all schools to upgrade their security facilities, teach students about safety and ensure that young children were escorted home.

But correspondents say such measures are expensive and their effectiveness is unproven.

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New UK Prime Minister David Cameron is beginning to shape his government, after the Conservatives agreed to form a historic coalition with the Lib Dems.

Mr Cameron, 43, was installed as PM on a dramatic day that saw Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg announced as his deputy.

Four other Lib Dems will take cabinet posts in what is the first coalition government in the UK for 70 years.

Mr Cameron vowed to set aside party differences and Mr Clegg urged doubting Lib Dem voters to "keep faith with us".

The coalition is the first time the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have had a power-sharing deal at Westminster.

The Conservatives won the most seats in last week’s general election, but not enough to secure an overall Commons majority, resulting in a hung Parliament.

Following days of talks between the Tories and Lib Dems – and also the Lib Dems and Labour – on forming a new government, a deal was reached on Tuesday that resulted in Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown resigning.

Mr Cameron has already begun the work of appointing his first cabinet, with the Tories’ George Osborne as Chancellor, William Hague as Foreign Secretary, Liam Fox as Defence Secretary and Andrew Lansley as Health Secretary .

Mr Clegg’s chief of staff, Danny Alexander, who was part of the party’s negotiating team, is to be Scottish Secretary, the BBC understands.

Lib Dem Treasury spokesman Vince Cable has been given responsibility for "business and banks" but it is not known if his title will be chief secretary to the Treasury, a senior Lib Dem source said.

There are expected to be about 20 Lib Dems in government jobs in total.

Meanwhile, details have been emerging from Conservative sources about the new government’s programme, including:

There will be a "significant acceleration" of efforts to reduce the budget deficit – including £6bn of spending reductions this year. An emergency Budget will take place within 50 days Plans for five-year, fixed-term parliaments, meaning the next election would not take place until May 2015 The Lib Dems have agreed to drop plans for a "mansion tax" on properties costing more than £2m, while the Conservatives have ditched their pledge to raise the inheritance tax threshold to £1m The new administration will scrap part of Labour’s planned rise in National Insurance and will work towards raising income tax thresholds for lower earners A pledge to have a referendum on any further transfer of powers to the EU and a commitment from the Lib Dems not to adopt the euro for the lifetime of the next Parliament The Lib Dems have agreed to Tory proposals for a cap on non-EU migration The Conservatives will recognise marriage in the tax system, but Lib Dems will abstain in Commons vote The Lib Dems will drop opposition to a replacement for Britain’s Trident nuclear missiles but the programme will be scrutinised for value for money There will be a referendum on moving to the Alternative Vote system and enhanced "pupil premium" for deprived children as Lib Dems demanded

The Lib Dem parliamentary party and its federal executive endorsed the coalition agreement by the required three-quarters majority at a meeting that broke up just after midnight.

Speaking minutes later, Mr Clegg said: "I hope this is the start of the new politics I have always believed in – diverse, plural, where politicians of different persuasions come together, overcome their differences in order to deliver good government for the sake of the whole country."

He acknowledged there would be "glitches" and, in a message to Lib Dem voters, he added: "I can imagine this evening you’ll be having many questions, maybe many doubts, about this new governing arrangement.

"But I want to assure you that I wouldn’t have entered into this agreement unless I was genuinely convinced that it offers a unique opportunity to deliver the kind of changes you and I believe in.

"So I hope you’ll keep faith with us, I hope you will let us prove to you that we can serve you and this country with humility, with fairness at the heart of everything we do, and with total dedication to the interests and livelihoods of everyone in Great Britain."

Mr Cameron’s arrival in Downing Street marks the end of 13 years of Labour rule.

The Tory leader, who is six months younger than Tony Blair was when he entered Downing Street in 1997, is the youngest prime minister since 1812 and the first Old Etonian to hold the office since the early 1960s.

Barack Obama was the first foreign leader to congratulate Mr Cameron in a brief telephone call during which the US president invited the new prime minister to visit Washington in the summer, Downing Street said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel also offered her congratulations and invited Mr Cameron to visit Berlin.

In a speech outside his new Downing Street home, after travelling to Buckingham Palace to formally accept the Queen’s request to form the next government, Mr Cameron paid tribute to Gordon Brown for his long years of public service.

He also pledged to tackle Britain’s "pressing problems" – the deficit, social problems and to "rebuild trust in our political system".

He said he aimed to "help build a more responsible society here in Britain… those who can should and those who can’t, we will always help. I want to make sure that my government always looks after the elderly, the frail, the poorest in our country.

"We must take everyone through with us on some of the difficult decisions we have ahead.

"I came into politics because I love this country, I think its best days still lie ahead and I believe deeply in public service.

"I think the service our country needs right now is to face up to our big challenges, to confront our problems, take difficult decisions, lead people through those decisions, so that together we can reach better times ahead."

Earlier the Lib Dems said talks with Labour had failed because "the Labour Party never took seriously the prospects of forming a progressive, reforming government".

However, Labour’s Lord Mandelson told the BBC they had been "up for" a deal, but the Lib Dems had "created so many barriers and obstacles that perhaps they thought their interests lay on the Tory side, on the Conservative side, rather than the progressive side".

After it became clear the talks had failed, Mr Brown tendered his resignation and said he wished the next prime minister well.

In a resignation statement in Downing Street, Mr Brown said it had been a privilege to serve "this country I love".

Mr Brown had announced on Monday that he would step down as Labour leader by September.

Former Labour minister Kim Howells was scathing of the Lib Dems, and said he was glad his party had not done a deal with them.

He said: "I tell you why it’s been rejected by most Labour MPs – because they know that they’re [the Liberal Democrats] a bunch of opportunistic toerags, who’ll say anything to anyone in order to get power. And they’ve done it this time, they’ve got power."

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Spain is to detail deep cuts in public spending amid EU concerns that economic problems afflicting Greece may spread.

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The details of a long-awaited US bill on climate change are to be made public later, but analysts are warning it faces a tough battle to be made law.

The bill, backed by Senators John Kerry and Joe Lieberman, will propose cutting US carbon emissions by 17% by 2020.

But it is also expected to propose easing restrictions on offshore oil drilling – likely to face opposition after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Legislation on climate is a key part of US President Barack Obama’s agenda.

But the bill has been repeatedly delayed amid Republican opposition.

In March, Mr Obama announced restrictions on offshore drilling could be relaxed in a move analysts said was designed to win Republican support for the wider climate bill.

According to media reports, the proposals to be outlined by Senators Kerry and Lieberman will include protection for coastal states that do not want oil drilling off their shores.

Political constraints

The bill will propose setting a price on carbon emissions for large polluters such as coal-fired power plants, the Associated Press reported.

But the senators say the bill will exempt farms and most small and medium-sized businesses.

It will offer incentives of up to $2bn (£1.35bn) a year for firms to develop so-called clean coal technologies, including methods to capture and store carbon emissions.

And in another sweetener to the bill’s potential opponents, the legislation has several provisions aimed at boosting nuclear power.

But the bill is subject to a constrained political timetable.

Immigration laws have been moved to the top of the agenda and, with elections later in the year, it is uncertain whether the climate bill will even be discussed this year.

After the elections, the Democrats may well lose their stranglehold on Congress, making it much harder to get the bill passed into law.

"Everyone knows this is Congress’s last, best chance to pass comprehensive climate and energy legislation," said Mr Kerry.

He said a failure to pass the bill would mean Congress "will be rendered incapable of solving this issue".

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Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai has arrived in the US for four days of talks aimed at repairing rocky relations between Kabul and Washington.

US envoy to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry said he believed the visit would leave the two nations "well aligned".

While the Afghan leader is expected to focus on civilians being killed by foreign troops, US officials are likely to tackle Mr Karzai on corruption.

He is scheduled to meet President Barack Obama on Wednesday.

‘Candid relationship’

Relations between Kabul and Washington nose-dived last year after Mr Karzai won an election widely condemned for corruption.

But the BBC’s state department correspondent Kim Ghattas says the US has rolled out the red carpet for Mr Karzai’s visit.

Mr Eikenberry said every relationship experienced "ups and downs" and insisted Mr Obama had full confidence in Mr Karzai.

"What measures true partnership is the ability, when the stakes are as high as they are for Afghanistan and the US, to be able to work our way through difficulties," he said.

Gen Stanley McChrystal, the top US commander in Afghanistan, insisted he had a good relationship with Mr Karzai.

"I think it’s important that I have an effective, candid, responsible relationship. And I’ve been real happy with it thus far," he told reporters.

As well as holding three hours of talks with Mr Obama, the Afghan leader is also scheduled to meet Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defence Secretary Robert Gates.

The trip comes at a crucial time for Afghanistan.

Nato is preparing for an assault in southern Kandahar province, and Afghan officials are set for a forthcoming meeting of tribal leaders who will discuss how to promote peace.

The US hopes to start pulling out troops from July 2011, but the country has seen a marked increase in violence over the past year.

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The Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond warns Scotland will not be a “helpless bystander” in the face of potential spending cuts.

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Northern Ireland politicians react to the formation of a new government, with David Cameron as prime minister.

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Conservative leader David Cameron is the new UK prime minister after the resignation of Gordon Brown.

Mr Cameron, 43, is in Downing Street after travelling to Buckingham Palace to formally accept the Queen’s request to form the next government.

He said he aimed to form a "proper and full coalition" with the Lib Dems to provide "strong, stable government".

His party won the most seats in the UK general election last week, but not an overall majority.

In a speech at Downing Street, Mr Cameron said he and Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg would "put aside party differences and work hard for the common good and the national interest".

He paid tribute to outgoing PM Gordon Brown for his long years of public service and said he would tackle Britain’s "pressing problems" – the deficit, social problems and reforming the political system.

Mr Cameron stressed there would be "difficult decisions" but said he wanted to take people through them to reach "better times ahead".

The Conservatives have been in days of negotiations with the Lib Dems – who were also negotiating with Labour – after the UK election resulted in a hung parliament.

But the Lib Dems said talks with Labour failed because "the Labour Party never took seriously the prospects of forming a progressive, reforming government".

Formal agreement

A spokesman said key members of the Labour team "gave every impression of wanting the process to fail" and the party had made "no attempt at all" to agree a common approach on issues like schools funding and tax reform.

"Certain key Labour cabinet ministers were determined to undermine any agreement by holding out on policy issues and suggesting that Labour would not deliver on proportional representation and might not marshal the votes to secure even the most modest form of electoral reform," he said.

However Labour’s Lord Mandelson told the BBC they had been "up for" a deal with the Lib Dems, but they had "created so many barriers and obstacles that perhaps they thought their interests lay on the Tory side, on the Conservative side, rather than the progressive side".

After it became clear the talks had failed, Mr Brown tendered his resignation and said he wished the next prime minister well.

In an emotional resignation statement outside Number Ten, Mr Brown thanked his staff, his wife Sarah and their children, who joined the couple as they left for Buckingham Palace.

Mr Brown said it had been "a privilege to serve" adding: "I loved the job not for its prestige, its titles and its ceremony – which I do not love at all. No, I loved the job for its potential to make this country I love fairer, more tolerant, more green, more democratic, more prosperous and more just – truly a greater Britain."

‘My fault’

He also paid tribute to the courage of the armed forces, adding: "I will never forget all those who have died in honour and whose families today live in grief."

Later he thanked Labour activists and MPs for all their efforts and told them Labour’s general election performance was "my fault, and my fault alone".

The Lib Dem and Conservative teams met for hours of negotiations at the Cabinet Office on Tuesday – four days after the UK general election resulted in a hung parliament.

The talks resumed after Lib Dem negotiators met a Labour team, which followed Mr Brown’s announcement on Monday that he would step down as Labour leader by September.

But there were signs throughout the afternoon that the two parties – who together would still not command an overall majority in the House of Commons – would not reach a deal.

Several senior Labour figures, including John Reid and David Blunkett, warned against a coalition with the Lib Dems, particularly if the price involved offering them a referendum on changing the voting system to proportional representation.

After Mr Brown announced he would be stepping down and would see if Labour could do a deal with the Liberal Democrats, the Conservatives upped their offer to a promise of a referendum on changing the voting system from existing first past the post system to AV.

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Wales’ First Minister Carwyn Jones says he wants a “constructive relationship” with the new Conservative-Liberal Democrat UK government.

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DJ Campbell hits a superb hat-trick as Blackpool stun Nottingham Forest to book their place in the Championship play-off at Wembley.

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A Pakistani man is being questioned after he tested positive for explosives while entering the US embassy in Chile.

Police said Mohammed Saif Ur Rehman, 28, who holds a US visa, was stopped at the embassy in the capital Santiago on Monday.

Prosecutors said he had traces of explosives on his hands, mobile phone, bag and ID.

The arrest came days after a Pakistani-born American was charged with an attempted bombing in New York.

Mr Rehman was taken into custody while police searched his student lodgings.

Local media said he arrived in Chile in January to study tourism.

Letter bomb

US ambassador Paul Simon told Chilean radio he did not think the man had been tying to attack the embassy, as only traces of explosives were detected on him.

US state department spokesman PJ Crowley said the US had had information about Mr Rehman and he had been called into the embassy to clarify it.

Mr Crowley said he was not aware of any connection with the attempt to plot Times Square in New York.

Although Mr Rehman has been handed over to the Chilean authorities Mr Crowley said this did not mean US was no longer interested in him.

The US embassy in Santiago has been targeted before. It was sent a letter bomb in 2001, shortly after the 9/11 attacks.

The bomb was defused and a Chilean man was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the attack.

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