Traces of Mrs Ward’s blood were found in the bathroom of the couple’s home
Related Stories
The jury has retired to consider its verdict in the case of a man accused of murdering and dismembering his wife at their Norfolk home.
Nicky Ward, 29, of Rockland St Peter, near Norwich, denies murdering Emma Ward, 22, last year, claiming he has no memory of the incident.
Mr Ward told Norwich Crown Court: “I do accept she died at my hands.”
He said he believed she had died in an accident, but said he had no memory of it happening or cutting up her body.
The court heard from forensic expert Hazel Johnson who said blood, hair and body matter that matched the DNA profile of Emma Ward had been found throughout the house.
Traces of Mrs Ward’s blood were found in the bathroom where the prosecution alleged her body was dismembered.
There were also traces of Mrs Ward’s bone and blood in an electric saw. Mrs Ward’s body has not 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.
Action for Happiness tips include making others laugh
The world’s first membership organisation dedicated to spreading happiness is being officially launched.
Action for Happiness, which claims to have 4,500 members in more than 60 countries, says it prioritises healthy relationships and meaningful activities as a means to happier living.
It has ambitions to become what it calls “a global mass movement for fundamental cultural change”.
Its launch event in the City of London will include tips on how to be happier.
The movement says it is based on the new science of happiness and the belief that our mood can be altered.
“The movement attempts to counter contemporary cynicism with practicality”
Mark Easton’s UK
“Despite massive material progress, people in Britain and the US are no happier than they were 50 years ago, while there are many societies in which people are much happier than in Britain.
“Rejecting a societal focus on materialism and self-obsessed individualism, the movement instead prioritises healthy relationships with others and meaningful activities as a means to happier living,” a spokesman said.
On joining the organisation, members pledge to produce more happiness and less misery.
On its website, Action for Happiness gives advice for happier living, such as do things for others; keep learning new things; be comfortable with who you are; and connect with people.
The movement was founded last year by Richard Layard, a Labour peer and professor of economics at the LSE, Geoff Mulgan, chief executive of The Young Foundation and Anthony Seldon, master of Wellington College. It has no commercial, political of religious affiliations.
Its official launch comes as some UK households are being asked, in a government survey measuring happiness, how satisfied they are with their lives.
The Office for National Statistics has added the questions to the existing nationwide Integrated Household Survey, which is currently taking place.
After becoming Conservative leader in 2005, David Cameron said gauging people’s feelings was one of the “central political issues of our time”.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Despite sustaining losses, Gaddafi forces are still a threat
Nato is not doing enough to destroy heavy weaponry used by Muammar Gaddafi’s forces in Libya, the French and British foreign ministers say.
Libyan civilians remain at risk, France’s Alain Juppe said, despite the ongoing Nato-led bombing campaign.
The UK’s William Hague urged Nato allies to intensify military operations against the Libyan regime and called on Col Gaddafi to step down.
Libyan rebels opposing Col Gaddafi have been pushed back despite the air raids.
“Nato must play its role fully. It wanted to take the lead in operations,” Mr Juppe said, calling efforts so far “not enough”.
Mr Hague later echoed Mr Juppe’s comments, saying: “We must maintain and intensify our efforts in Nato.
“That is why the United Kingdom has in the last weeks supplied additional aircraft capable of striking ground targets threatening the civilian population… Of course it would be welcome if other countries also did the same,” he said on arrival at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg.
The US and other Western allies began air strikes on 19 March after UN Security Council Resolution 1973 authorised “all necessary measures” to protect civilians from Col Gaddafi’s forces.
After initial sorties were flown under US command, Nato has since taken over responsibility for the campaign from Washington.
Despite this, heavy weapons are still being used to bombard the rebel-held western Libyan city of Misrata, reports say.
Libyan government forces began a renewed attack on Misrata on Monday, hours after news emerged of an African Union ceasefire plan.
There are grave concerns for the humanitarian situation in Misrata and for the safety of civilians still inside the city.
“It [Nato] must play its role today which means preventing Gaddafi from using heavy weapons to shell [civilian] populations,” Alain Juppe said on Tuesday.
Mr Juppe and Mr Hague’s remarks came after the African Union (AU) proposed a ceasefire plan that was rejected by rebel leaders in Benghazi.
The plan included a call for an immediate end to hostilities, unhindered humanitarian aid, protection of foreign nationals, dialogue between opposing sides and an end to Nato air strikes.
The AU said Col Gaddafi has accepted the plan, but the rebels said it was unfeasible as it did not include a provision for the Libyan leader to step down.
On Tuesday the AU urged the rebels to reconsider, blaming the Transitional National Council (TNC) – in effect the rebels’ parallel government in Benghazi – for imposing preconditions.
The AU “makes an urgent call on the TNC to fully co-operate, for the sake of Libya’s higher interests, and assist in the quest for and implementation of a fair and lasting political solution”, AFP news agency reported.
In clashes reported on Tuesday, rebels near the town of Ajdabiya said three of their fighters were killed overnight amid battles with pro-Gaddafi forces, Reuters news agency reported.
Moussa Koussa – a former head of Libyan intelligence – said he could not continue in Libya’s government
In the UK, Former Libyan Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa has warned against the risks of civil war and the possibility of his country becoming “a new Somalia”.
Mr Koussa, the highest-profile figure to defect from Col Gaddafi’s Libya, told the BBC in a prepared statement that the unity of Libya was essential to any settlement.
“I ask everybody to avoid taking Libya into civil war,” Mr Koussa said. “This would lead to so much blood and Libya would be a new Somalia.”
“More than that, we refuse to divide Libya. The unity of Libya is essential to any solution and settlement for Libya.”
In his statement on Monday he said he had been “devoted” to his work for 30 years under Col Gaddafi, and was confident that it was serving the Libyan people.
However, he said, after recent events “things changed and I couldn’t continue”.
“I know that what I did to resign will cause me problems, but I’m ready to make that sacrifice for the sake of my country,” he said.
He added that the solution in Libya would come from the Libyans themselves, through discussion and democratic dialogue.
Libya’s Minister for Social Affairs, Ibrahim Zarouk al-Sharif, said he could not comment on Mr Koussa’s statement while the former foreign minister was “captured” in a hostile country.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
