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Explosions shake Libyan capital

A smoke plume rises into the sky over Tripoli, Libya, following an air strike.

Most Nato air strikes on Tripoli have been carried out at night

Huge explosions have rocked the Libyan capital, Tripoli, during a series of air strikes by low-flying Nato jets.

Some of the blasts appeared to strike close to the compound of Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi.

The attacks came as diplomatic pressure mounts on Col Gaddafi to step down.

The head of the African Union Panel for Libya, Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, said his departure had become necessary to end the conflict.

Russia and China, meanwhile, despatched for the first time top diplomats to the rebel stronghold of Benghazi in an attempt to mediate an end to the four-month-long conflict.

“We have come to Benghazi to facilitate dialogue between the two camps,” Russia’s Africa envoy, Mikhail Margelov, said.

At the same time, Libya’s Foreign Minister Abdul-Ati al-Obeidi flew to Beijing for talks in what analysts describe as an attempt to regain diplomatic support on the international stage.

“Whatever happens, there will be a negotiated solution”

Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz Head of the AU Panel for Libya

On the military front, Nato carried out rare daytime strikes on Tripoli, including a wave of attacks on military barracks near Col Gaddafi’s residence. The explosions shook the ground and smoke billowed into the air.

Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim condemned the strikes.

“Instead of talking to us, they are bombing us. They are going mad. They are losing their heads,” Mr Ibrahim said.

Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev recently said the Libyan leader had lost legitimacy and should step down – echoing the views of most Western powers.

Most African leaders have, until now, remained quiet on Col Gaddafi’s future.

But the Mauritanian leader, tasked with leading Africa’s mediation efforts, has now said Col Gaddafi should go.

“Whatever happens, there will be a negotiated solution. In any case, Gaddafi can no longer lead Libya. His departure has become necessary,” he told the AFP news agency.

Nato started air strikes in March, after the UN Security Council passed a resolution backing military force to protect civilians in Libya.

Col Gaddafi threatened to wipe out Libya’s second city, Benghazi, after it was seized by his opponents.

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

Miliband offers social care talks

Ed Miliband says the scenes of abuse filmed by Panorama at the Winterbourne View care home “shame our country”

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Labour leader Ed Miliband has called for an independent inquiry into abuse at a care home near Bristol, uncovered by the BBC’s Panorama programme.

He said he was “sickened” by the scenes at Winterbourne View and a Care Quality Commission probe was not enough.

A government source said an independent inquiry could be difficult while the police investigate the abuse.

Mr Miliband also made a “serious offer” of cross-party talks on the future of funding adult social care in England.

It follows Tory claims of a planned Labour “death tax” ahead of last year’s general election – which effectively ended previous hopes of getting cross-party agreement on funding adult social care.

Mr Miliband was speaking in London at his regular press conference – his first public appearance since his marriage two weeks ago.

His decision to speak out on social care follows the Winterbourne View revelations, the financial crisis at the UK’s biggest care homes provider Southern Cross and comes weeks before the independent Dilnot commission is due to report on the future of funding for adult social care in England.

Panorama uncovered a pattern of abuse at the privately owned Winterbourne View residential care home in Bristol – which led to 13 employees being suspended and four arrested. The government said at the weekend it would strengthen safeguards for vulnerable adults.

“We will come to these talks with an open mind about the best way forward, not simply advocating what we have proposed in the past”

Ed Miliband

Mr Miliband said he was shocked and sickened by the scenes from Winterbourne View and called for an independent investigation into what happened.

“The government appears to believe that reviews by the Care Quality Commission and by South Gloucestershire Council are enough – it is not because these bodies were involved in the failure itself,” he said.

Last week it also emerged that Southern Cross, which runs 750 care homes, was having to reduce its rent payments as it struggles with its financial problems.

Mr Miliband said: “It is plain wrong that financiers creamed off millions, while as we now know the care of tens of thousands of elderly people was being put at risk. They seem to have been treated merely as commodities.”

He said it did not mean that “all private homes are bad” but that better regulation was needed of organisations’ finances – adding that the collapse of a major care provider could have consequences for the taxpayer.

Mr Miliband also said he wanted to make a “serious offer” of cross-party talks with Prime Minister David Cameron on the findings of the Dilnot commission into the funding of social care in England.

The commission was set up by the government last year and is due to report in July 2011.

Labour explored a number of options for reform of long term care for the elderly before the 2010 general election but the three largest parties failed to reach agreement on how to proceed.

Cross party talks broke down in March after the Conservatives launched a poster campaign claiming Labour was planning a £20,000 “death tax” to fund a National Care Service.

Mr Miliband said every previous attempt to resolve the issue had broken down – often due to the failure to find a political consensus.

“We will come to these talks with an open mind about the best way forward, not simply advocating what we have proposed in the past.

“But the principles are clear – high quality care for those that need it, funded in a fair way, with properly accountability for those who deliver the care.”

Asked what that meant for previous Labour care pledges – such as National Care Service, announced by Gordon Brown in his 2009 Labour conference speech – he said: “It doesn’t mean we are ditching our commitment… I’m still a supporter of that idea.”

But, he added, he would go into any cross-party talks with an open mind.

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

GP guilty of abusing young girls

A former family doctor is found guilty of indecently assaulting young girls at his surgery over a 10-year period.

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News of World apology for Miller

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The News of the World’s owner has formally apologised in court to the actress Sienna Miller for hacking into several of her mobile phones.

Newsgroup newspapers said sorry for what it called the “harassment and distress” it had caused.

The 29-year-old actress, who was not at London’s High Court, formally settled for £100,000 damages and costs.

Four alleged victims of phone hacking have already reached out-of-court settlements with the newspaper.

Last month, the News of the World admitted liability for the phone hacking and said it would make a full disclosure in private to her legal team to show the extent of all of its wrongdoing.

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

Protest slows Dutch nuclear train

A train carrying waste from a Dutch nuclear plant is delayed for three hours by Greenpeace activists chaining themselves to the rails.

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VIDEO: Gruffalo author is children’s laureate

Gruffalo author Julia Donaldson has been named as the new children’s laureate.

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Murders tribunal met with IRA men

Harry Breen and Bob Buchanan were murdered by the IRA in 1989

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The Smithwick Tribunal has been told that its legal team has held a face-to face meeting with three former members of the Provisional IRA in recent weeks.

The inquiry is investigating allegations of Garda collusion in the murder of two RUC officers shot dead in an IRA ambush in March 1989.

It was told the three former IRA leaders, one of whom had a command role in the attack, had met the tribunal.

Their evidence will be presented to the inquiry shortly.

The tribunal was told the IRA members gave detailed accounts and replied to questions from the inquiry team.

The two police officers were shot dead after a meeting at Dundalk Garda station.

In a statement on Tuesday, Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams said the tribunal had met with his party’s leadership in May 2006 to see if a meeting with the IRA leadership could be arranged.

He said this was not possible, as the IRA “had left the stage”.

“But we were advised that there was the possibility of former volunteers engaging on a voluntary basis with the tribunal,” he said.

“The Sinn Fein leadership worked to facilitate this.

“Having established the process between the tribunal and these former volunteers Sinn Fein played no further role in the process, though our understanding is that the people involved were in a position to answer all questions about the IRA action in which the two RUC officers were killed.”

Scappaticci

The tribunal also heard that requests for documents from the British security services had not been offered to the investigation.

Among those granted legal representation at the inquiry is former senior IRA member Freddie Scappaticci.

There will be 214 witnesses, including former RUC Special Branch officers, DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson and journalists Kevin Myers and Toby Harndon.

Earlier, the NI Commission for Victims and Survivors expressed concern over the imposition of a deadline for the tribunal.

Commissioner Patricia MacBride said a time limit must not impact upon its independence and impartiality.

She said the commission had “a duty” to review the effectiveness of law relating to victims and survivors of conflict.

Last week, the Irish parliament backed a move by the justice minister, Alan Shatter, to impose a November deadline on the completion of its final report.

“We have requested a meeting with the justice minister, Alan Shatter, and will be seeking from him assurances that resources to complete the tribunal’s work are in place,” Ms McBride said.

The commissioner said the organisation was “concerned that lack of resources and time limits could have the effect of undermining confidence in the inquiry” and it wanted to ensure this was not the case.

“These are difficult days for the Buchanan and Breen families, as indeed for many families seeking answers about the deaths of their loved ones, and we have a duty as a society to support them in their search,” she said.

The tribunal, headed by Judge Peter Smithwick, was established in 2005 but did not begin its formal process until March 2006.

In 2009 the attorney general confirmed that information given by potential witnesses, including an IRA informer, cannot be used in a future prosecution and any witnesses would be given immunity.

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

Killer’s Supreme Court bid fails

Mitchell was 14 when he committed the murder

Convicted killer Luke Mitchell is to appear in court later in his latest attempt to have his conviction overturned.

Mitchell, 22, is to seek leave to appeal to the UK Supreme Court.

He has been arguing his human rights were breached because he was questioned by police without a lawyer present.

Mitchell was sentenced to life in 2005 after he was found guilty of murdering his 14-year-old girlfriend Jodi Jones in Dalkeith, Midlothian.

The Supreme Court ruled in October that the Scottish system which allowed suspects to be held and questioned for six hours without access to a lawyer breached the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

In light of the Cadder ruling, 867 cases were abandoned, including 60 serious cases, nine of which were High Court cases.

Mitchell, who was ordered to serve at least 20 years for the 2003 murder, claims evidence taken from a police interview when he did not have access to a lawyer was “crucial” to the Crown case.

In April, Mitchell’s bid to challenge his conviction for murder following the human rights ruling was rejected by the Appeal Court in Edinburgh.

He now wants the Appeal Court to refer its decision to the UK Supreme Court in London.

Two weeks ago, Nat Fraser won his appeal at the Supreme Court to have his conviction quashed.

Fraser, who was jailed after the High Court in Edinburgh heard he ordered a hitman to kill his wife, Arlene, in Elgin in 1998, had exhausted all avenues of appeal in Scotland.

The Supreme Court backed his appeal under Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights on the ground of the Crown’s non-disclosure of evidence to the defence.

They sent the case back to the Appeal Court in Edinburgh to be quashed.

The Fraser case has led to a political storm over the role of the UK Supreme Court in Scottish criminal cases.

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

Syria town braces for army attack

Still from mobile phone video of recent funeral procession in Jisr al-Shughour

A recent funeral in Jisr al-Shughour. Residents say they fear massive bloodshed.

The northern Syrian town of Jisr al-Shughour is bracing for an assault by the military after the government said 120 security forces personnel had been killed there by “armed gangs”.

The government says it will act “with force” to restore control.

Activists say the source of the violence is unclear, possibly involving a military mutiny.

Residents have posted messages on Facebook saying they fear a slaughter and appealing for help from outside.

Activists insist the uprising against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad is peaceful and scorn the government’s talk of armed gangs.

Communications were cut to the area around the town on Monday and the details of the attack were impossible to verify. Syria does not allow foreign journalists to report on events.

But Syrian state television said hundreds of gunmen had taken over Jisr al-Shughour, which lies about 20km (12 miles) from the Turkish border.

It said “armed gangs” ambushed police and 20 officers died. It said another 82 personnel were killed when the town’s security headquarters were overwhelmed, eight in a bomb attack on a post office and 120 overall.

Opposition activists said there had been fighting but the situation was unclear and they feared the government was simply setting the stage for a new onslaught.

One told the Associated Press news agency that dozens of people had been killed in the past 24 hours – “a mix of civilians, police and security forces”.

The BBC’s Jim Muir in Beirut says some activist websites have suggested dissent within the security forces, even a mutiny.

He says YouTube carried footage, said to be from the town, showing several dead bodies described as belonging to soldiers who had been killed by security forces for refusing to fire on the people.

One resident told BBC Arabic: “We don’t have any kind of weapons. The soldiers were coming our way, then they were shot in the back by some Syrian security elements.”

State television says many civilians from the town have fled to nearby Latakia, and it carried interviews with people calling on the army to clear Jisr al-Shughour of “armed gangs” they said had been terrorising the place.

However, in messages posted on Facebook, residents appealed for help from the outside world, saying the “regime’s gangs” were preparing to move in.

Our correspondent says one video posted on YouTube appeared to show the town square with a huge message written on the road saying “Jisr al-Shughour doesn’t want the army to come in”.

The government admitted it had lost control for “intermittent periods of time”.

Alain Juppe: “Bashar has lost his legitimacy to rule the country”

But Interior Minister Ibrahim Shaar vowed: “We will deal strongly and decisively, and according to the law, and we will not be silent about any armed attack that targets the security of the state and its citizens.”

An Islamist uprising in Jisr al-Shughour in 1980 against the late President Hafez al-Assad was brutally crushed with scores of deaths.

Meanwhile, France says it is ready to ask the UN Security Council to vote on a draft resolution condemning Damascus, despite a likely Russian veto.

Speaking in Washington, Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Paris believed that strong support in the 15-member Council might persuade the Russians “to change their mind”.

“We think that it will be possible to get 11 votes in favour of the resolution and we’ll see what the Russians will do,” he said.

The draft resolution was drawn up by France, Britain, Germany and Portugal. The document condemns violence at the hands of the regime of President Assad and asks him to open Syrian cities to humanitarian teams.

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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.

Clashes rock south Yemen cities

At least 15 people have been killed in heavy clashes in the southern Yemeni city of Zinjibar.

The violence, which officials blame on al-Qaeda militants, comes days after President Ali Abdullah Saleh left the country after being injured in an attack on his compound.

Government officials routinely blame violence in the country on al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

There were also reports of violence in Yemen’s second largest city, Taiz.

According to the AFP news agency, it is now controlled by government opponents.

“We the tribes, in support to the oppressed and in retaliation against the illegitimate government … have deployed around government installations … which we now control in order to protect from thugs,” Sheikh Hammoud Saeed al-Mikhlafi, the head of the tribal council in Taiz, told the agency by telephone.

Transition call

AP reports that clashes erupted near the presidential palace in Taiz and that a shell fired by a tank near the palace landed on a nearby residential area. Four people were killed, three of whom were children, the agency reports.

On Monday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged a “peaceful and orderly transition” of power from the president, who has led the country for 33 years.

Western powers fear the crisis enveloping the country might make it easier for the powerful Yemen-based wing of al-Qaeda to strengthen.

Mr Saleh left for Saudi Arabia at the weekend for surgery after sustaining wounds during Saturday’s attack in the capital, Sanaa. He is being treated in a Riyadh hospital.

The 69-year-old was injured on Friday when rockets struck his presidential palace, killing seven people and wounding senior officials in what officials said was an assassination attempt.

In Zinjibar, reports said that both government troops and fighters were killed during overnight clashes as troops moved on the city, sections of which have been held by gunmen since late May.

“Heavy fighting broke out between the army and al-Qaeda gunmen when troops advanced towards the city to storm it,” one military official told AFP.

Once home to about 50,000 people, Zinjibar is reported to be now mostly a ghost town due to the clashes.

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

The Queen has performed the official opening on three previous occasions

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The Queen officially opens the fourth session of the Welsh Government in Cardiff later.

It marks a new era since a referendum gave assembly members direct law-making powers in 20 devolved areas including health and education.

The Duke of Edinburgh, 90 on Friday, is attending with Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall.

They will be greeted by Presiding Officer Rosemary Butler and First Minister Carwyn Jones.

A fly-past of four Hawks from 208(R) Squadron RAF Valley on Anglesey in Gwynedd will take place.

Fanfares at the Senedd will be performed by brass and percussion students from the Royal College of Music and Drama.

After the royal opening, the Queen and other royal visitors will meet guests in the assembly’s Neuadd (public space).

Royal harpist Claire Jones, from Clydach, Pembrokeshire, will perform before a pre-lunch reception at the Wales Millennium Centre where the royal guests will meet AMs.

Analysis

As AMs assemble today for the royal opening, they’ll be conscious that they’re the first Welsh lawmakers in many hundreds of years who hold direct law making powers without any reference to Westminster.

And with that privilege comes responsibility. For the last four years, they’ve been examining the bids for powers from Westminster, and then the laws that are made through them.

This time round, there’s no dry run, no rehearsal. The Welsh Government will soon begin to table its Bills for the assembly to pass into law. These are likely to be longer, more complex and cross cutting than the Measures put forward during the last assembly – and the job of scrutiny is correspondingly greater.

We can also look forward to much more drama, potentially, when it comes to that law making process, thanks to the knife-edge election result in May.

Labour will have to haggle and compromise to get their policies into law much more than in the days of the huge majority afforded to them as a result of the coalition with Plaid Cymru.

It’s going to be a very interesting five years of the fourth assembly – the key for both ministers and the assembly itself is what difference Wales will see when it’s over.

However, four Plaid Cymru AMs who will not be attending include Leanne Wood, for South Wales Central and Bethan Jenkins who represents South Wales West and Lindsay Whittle for South Wales East.

Llyr Huws Gruffydd, Plaid’s new North Wales regional AM, is to meet homeless charity Shelter Cymru rather than attend the “ceremonial pomp and pageantry” in Cardiff, saying it “won’t contribute” to his work to help people.

Later, Ms Wood and Mr Whittle will attend a Cardiff Bay Republican Day event.

Ms Wood said it was the second time she would not attend a royal opening of the assembly.

“My wish is for Wales to become a modern, independent country, and I cannot see any place for an outdated concept like the monarchy within it.”

Ms Jenkins said she would spend the day talking to businesses in Bridgend about the economic downturn.

“I define myself as a republican so I don’t believe the royal family represent what I believe in as a Welsh citizen,” she said.

“I respect the people who are attending but I decided to carry on my work as an assembly member and try to represent the people of my area to the best of my abiliities.”

The reception at the Wales Millennium Centre will be used to showcase new and established Welsh talent, including choir Only Men Aloud.

The presiding officer said hundreds of representatives from diverse communities, cultures and faiths across Wales have been invited.

This is to mark the fact that “communities” will be one of the assembly’s themes for the next five years.

“We are honoured to have Her Majesty The Queen return here to the national assembly at the beginning of our fourth assembly term, as we embark on another significant stage in the history of devolution,” said the presiding officer.

“The people of Wales rightly have high expectations of this assembly. Today is a celebration but it is also an opportunity for us, as assembly members, to reflect on the road that lies ahead as we strive to meet those expectations.”

Special TV programme

The Royal Opening of the Assembly: full coverage with Jamie Owen on BBC1 Wales and BBC Parliament from 1045 to 1215 BST and on S4C with Dewi Llwyd from 1050 to 1215 BST

The Royal Opening of the National Assembly of Wales

Personnel from No. 4 School of Technical Training, based at MoD St Athan, Vale of Glamorgan, are taking part in parade duties with members of Cardiff Air Training Corps.

A referendum in March gave assembly members the right to make laws for Wales in 20 devolved areas without requiring the permission of the UK Government in Westminster.

The queen opens the assembly with Labour in government but without an outright majority.

The party won 30 of the 60 seats in May’s elections.

The assembly has developed ceremonial elements of previous royal openings by engaging the Wales Herald, the Honourable Thomas Lloyd, and enhancing the role of the Macebearer, David Melding AM.

The Wales Herald takes part in occasions such as the State Opening of Parliament.

The mace is the symbol of the royal authority by which the assembly makes laws.

Ahead of Tuesday’s royal visit, a ceremony entitled the Celebration of the Mace took place at the Senedd.

It emphasised the need for greater understanding between different sectors of society.

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