Sion Owens is due before magistrates in Swansea
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A BNP candidate for the Welsh assembly is due in court on Monday after police were passed a video appearing to show him burning a copy of the Koran.
Sion Owens, aged 41, has been charged with a public order offence.
Joanne Shannon, another BNP candidate also arrested in connection with the incident, has now been released on police bail.
Mr Owens, a BNP candidate for the South Wales West regional list, is due before magistrates in Swansea.
A BNP spokesperson said both would still be candidates in the assembly election on 5 May.
South Wales Police said Mr Owens was arrested on Friday when the force was passed a video recording showing a man, who appeared to be Mr Owens, burning the Koran.
He was taken into custody at 20.45 BST and charged on Saturday evening under the Public Order Act.
Joanne Shannon, a BNP candidate in in Swansea East, was arrested at the same time.
She has been released on police bail, pending further inquiries.
Last week in Afghanistan seven United Nations workers were killed in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif.
It was reported that it happened partly in relation to the burning of a copy of the Koran in America.
That happened in a small church in Florida after controversial pastor Terry Jones judged the holy book to be “guilty” of crimes.
But Terry Jones denied it led to events in Afghanistan.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
The Open University has been applying its distance-learning experience to global projects
The UK’s Open University is to receive funding from the United States to improve staying-on rates among poorer students in US colleges.
The Open University (OU) is to provide online courses to improve basic maths for students in community colleges.
The $750,000 (£458,000) pilot project will help students in 10 US colleges – and will be extended if successful.
The project is intended to bolster the maths of students who might otherwise drop out before graduating.
There have been worries in the United States about the number of students who fail to complete degree courses – particularly among students from low-income backgrounds.
The OU materials will provide an online “safety net” to help students whose difficulties with maths could stop them progressing.
The project is run by Next Generation Learning Challenges (NGLC) – a partnership of US public education officials, educational technology companies and charities such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
According to the NGLC, only 26% of low-income students who enrol successfully gain bachelors degrees.
This is against a background in which the US jobs market is becoming tougher for those without degrees – with forecasts that by the end of the decade almost two thirds of US jobs will need education beyond secondary level.
This venture, being piloted in colleges in Maryland until June 2012, is the first such project by the Open University in the US higher education market.
“The intention is to scale this up,” says Patrick McAndrew, associate director at the OU’s Institute of Educational Technology.
The funding will allow the OU to explore how such projects can be developed more widely, applying the university’s experience of distance learning in an increasingly globalised higher education sector.
The Open University, which has been a pioneer of distance learning in the UK since the 1960s, has been developing its international profile.
While a growing number of UK and US universities have been setting up bases overseas, the OU has been developing ways of using the internet to deliver courses to an international audience, operating in 23 countries.
It has also become the biggest global provider of online downloads on the iTunes U service.
This allows students to download lectures from universities around the world – and the Open University has been the first to reach 30 million downloads, more than 90% of which were from outside the UK.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
A rebel spokesman said any deal designed to keep Colonel Gaddafi or his sons in place would not be acceptable
Members of an African Union delegation are offering a peace proposal to end Libya’s eight-week-old conflict to rebel leaders in the city of Benghazi.
The AU says the government has already accepted the plan. The delegation met leader Col Muammar Gaddafi on Sunday.
Rebels promised to study the plan, but ruled out a truce unless Col Gaddafi stepped down and his forces withdrew.
Pro-Gaddafi forces have recently pushed back rebels – but Nato has thwarted their advance.
Nato says its planes destroyed 25 government tanks in Ajdabiya on Sunday alone.
The alliance said it had “taken note” of the AU initiative and welcomed efforts to save Libyan civilians.
The AU deal’s main points are:
An immediate ceasefireThe unhindered delivery of humanitarian aidProtection of foreign nationalsA dialogue between the government and rebels on a political settlementThe suspension of Nato airstrikes
Analysis
The African Union does not have a good reputation when it comes to solving crises. On Libya it is sounding determined and maintains it is in the unique position of being able to speak to both Col Gaddafi and the forces in Benghazi.
But any intervention which does not involve the removal from power of Muammar Gaddafi will be seen by some as the AU saving the Libyan leader. It has often been accused of standing up for the incumbents and is criticised as being a club which serves the interests of the continent’s presidents more than the people.
The situation is muddied by money. Col Gaddafi has bankrolled the AU for years and he has bought friends in Africa.
Having complained that the West was ignoring Africa’s view on Libya and pushing for regime change, the AU has a chance to take the lead. Now the tough part – convincing the Libyan rebels to hold fire and talk.
In all, the AU mission comprised representatives from five nations: presidents Jacob Zuma of South Africa, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz of Mauritania, Amadou Toumani Toure of Mali and Denis Sassou Nguesso of Congo-Brazzaville, and Uganda’s Foreign Minister Henry Oryem Okello.
Mr Zuma, who led the delegation on its visit to Tripoli, is now returning to South Africa.
The five-strong panel was approved by the European Union.
The AU delegation arrived in Benghazi to a rough reception, with demonstrators shouting “Gaddafi out” and mobbing their vehicles, reports the BBC’s Jon Leyne in the city.
More protesters have gathered at the hotel where they are due to stay.
Our correspondent says the opposition will be very uneasy that they are in danger of being outmanoeuvred by this delegation, which they will see as being very sympathetic to Col Gaddafi.
Earlier rebel spokesman Mustafa Gheriani told Reuters the proposal would be considered, but “the Libyan people have made it very clear that Gaddafi must step down”.
Another spokesman, Shamsiddin Abdulmolah, told AFP news agency: “The people must be allowed to go into the streets to express their opinion and the soldiers must return to their barracks.”
“The world has seen these offers of ceasefires before and within 15 minutes [Col Gaddafi] starts shooting again,” he added.
The British-based representative of the Libyan opposition leadership, Guma al-Gamaty, has told the BBC that any deal designed to keep Col Gaddafi or his sons in place would not be acceptable.
Meanwhile welcoming the AU initiative, Nato spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said the alliance had “always made it clear that there could be no purely military solution to this crisis”.
“We welcome all contributions to the broad international effort aimed at stopping the violence against the civilian population in Libya.”
Before his departure , Mr Zuma said Col Gaddafi had give his approval to the plan.
“The brother leader delegation has accepted the roadmap as presented by us,” he declared.
“We have to give the ceasefire a chance.”
An AU official said the idea of Col Gaddafi stepping down had been discussed, but gave no further details.
“There was some discussion on this but I cannot report on this. It has to remain confidential,” said AU Commissioner for Peace and Security Ramtane Lamamra.
“It’s up to the Libyan people to choose their leaders democratically.”
Nato air strikes have been continuing: the alliance says its planes destroyed 25 government tanks on Sunday alone.
Eleven were reportedly destroyed as they approached Ajdabiya and 14 were destroyed earlier near Misrata, the only city in western Libya still in rebel hands.
Accusing government forces of “brutally shelling” civilian areas, Nato said it was responding to a desperate situation in the two towns, under its UN mandate to protect civilians.
It was one of the biggest series of air strikes since the coalition’s initial onslaught, our correspondent says.
Ajdabiya is important to the opposition as it controls a strategic crossroads and is the last town before the main rebel city of Benghazi.
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This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
