Category: news

All flights in and out of Northern Ireland’s three airports have been cancelled until 0100 BST due to the return of the volcanic ash cloud.

The Irish Aviation Authority has closed airports in Sligo, Donegal and Knock.

Flights to and from Dublin Airport will be grounded from 1900 BST on Sunday until 0900 BST on Monday.

Passengers who are due to travel on Sunday have been advised to check with their airline or tour operator before travelling to the airport.

The UK no-fly zones are set out by the Civil Aviation Authority using Met Office data.

Forecasts suggest the ash cloud could extend further over the UK during Monday and Tuesday.

The cloud is expected to lie over the London area by Tuesday, but is likely to have drifted out of UK airspace by Wednesday, forecasters say.

Prof Brian Golding, head of forecasting research at the Met Office, said the cloud stemmed from an eruption on Thursday.

"The volcano has now dropped back in height. It did that yesterday, so the ash coming towards us for the future isn’t quite so deep as it was on Thursday.

"It isn’t going to turn into a huge area and it’s being blown eastwards, between south-east and east. "

Ash from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano has caused disruption to thousands of flights since April.

The Department of Transport, which is establishing five-day ash prediction charts, is warning there is a chance airports in south-east England may be also be affected in the next few days.

Transport Secretary Philip Hammond said the situation was "fluid" but passenger safety was the top priority.

The air traffic authority Nats’ Jonathan Astill said: "Unfortunately, yet again, a mixture of volcanic activity and weather systems have conspired to bring a cloud of ash down towards the UK."

In April, airspace across Europe was shut down for five days over concerns ash could turn to molten glass in high temperatures, crippling plane engines.

Scientists and engineers have since revised the safe-to-fly threshold, but clouds of volcanic ash have continued to drift over Europe, causing airport closures, flight delays and cancellations.

In the past week, several airports in southern Europe have been forced to close and flights have been re-routed.

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

Wounded UK soldiers have sights set on North Pole

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

Britain’s two busiest airports are to close shortly as a volcanic ash cloud drifts further south, threatening major disruption to many thousands of people.

A no-fly zone imposed by the Civil Aviation Authority will shut Heathrow, Gatwick and London City airports from 0100 BST until at least 0700 BST.

Flights will also be grounded in parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Restrictions will be lifted in northern England, allowing Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds Bradford airports to re-open.

Prestwick Airport will also no longer be within the no-fly zone from 0100 BST, although a spokeswoman said it would not be receiving any flights for another 12 hours.

According to air traffic authority Nats, other airports facing closure on Monday morning include Farnborough, Shoreham, Biggin Hill, all airfields in Northern Ireland, Scottish Western Isles, Oban, Campbeltown, Caernarfon and Aberdeen.

It said Cardiff would remain open but operations may be limited due its proximity to the no-fly zone.

Flights in and out of Dublin, in the Irish Republic, are also grounded until at least noon.

The Department of Transport has warned restrictions are likely across different parts of the UK until at least Tuesday.

Travellers are being advised to check with their airline before leaving home.

Ash from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano has caused disruption to thousands of flights since April.

Are your travel plans likely to be affected by the latest disruptions? Will you make alternative travel plans? You can send us your comments Click here to add comments..

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

Flights are grounded at Heathrow and Gatwick due to a volcanic ash cloud, but some midland and northern airports re-open.

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

Turkish officials say they believe a deal on Iran’s nuclear programme is close, as PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan flew to join talks in Tehran.

Mr Erdogan will try to persuade Iranian leaders to allow their nuclear material to be sent abroad for processing.

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is also at the talks.

The West, worried that Iran is trying to build a bomb, has warned of stiffer sanctions if the mediation fails. Iran denies having a weapons programme.

The Turkish foreign ministry said a formal announcement on the new deal could be made on Monday.

Last-chance meeting

Last year, Western powers proposed that Iran transfer its stockpiles of low-enriched uranium to Russia and France, who would process it into a form usable in a research reactor before returning it.

The deal was an attempt to allow Iran the benefits of nuclear energy without the concern of it having weapons capabilities. But Tehran rejected the idea.

The current talks with Brazil and Turkey, two non-nuclear states on friendly terms with Tehran, are an attempt to resurrect that plan but reportedly with Turkey as the country where the uranium would be sent.

"We thought that we should also go there, in case the exchange takes place in Turkey," said Mr Erdogan.

"I guarantee that we will find the opportunity to overcome these problems, God willing."

Both Russia and the US say the talks represent Iran’s last chance to avoid harsher sanctions.

Mr Lula arrived earlier and held talks first with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and then with spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

After the meetings, Mr Lula said the level of hope of reaching an agreement "has increased".

The BBC’s Iran correspondent Jon Leyne, reporting from London, says the country has given mixed messages about a fuel-swap deal.

He says officials have suggested they are still open to the idea, but have then imposed conditions that the West would not accept.

Iran has been mounting a big diplomatic effort to prevent new UN sanctions; the foreign minister has travelled to all 15 members of the security council.

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

American heavy rock singer Ronnie James Dio, who replaced Ozzy Osbourne in Black Sabbath, has died at the age of 67, his wife has said.

Dio had been suffering from stomach cancer.

Before joining Black Sabbath he sang in Rainbow – formed when Ritchie Blackmore left Deep Purple – and later in Heaven & Hell and Dio.

Dio’s wife Wendy said on her husband’s website: "Please know he loved you all and his music will live on forever."

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

Airports across much of the UK are to close between 1300 and 1900 BST as volcanic ash drifts across Europe, the air traffic authority Nats has said.

In England, East Midlands, Manchester, Liverpool, Doncaster, Humberside and Carlisle airports will be hit by the Civil Aviation Authority’s no-fly zone.

Airports in Northern Ireland, Prestwick near Glasgow, those on Scottish islands and the Isle of Man are also affected.

London airports are unaffected, while Dublin remains open on Sunday.

Planes have been grounded in other parts of the Irish Republic. Travellers are being advised to check with their airline before leaving home.

The UK no-fly zones are set out by the Civil Aviation Authority using Met Office data. Forecasts suggest the ash cloud could extend further over the UK during Monday and Tuesday.

Nats’ Jonathan Astill said: "Unfortunately, yet again, a mixture of volcanic activity and weather systems have conspired to bring a cloud of ash down towards the UK."

The cloud is expected to lie over the London area by Tuesday, but is likely to have drifted out of UK airspace by Wednesday, forecasters predict.

Transport Secretary Philip Hammond said the situation was "fluid" but passenger safety was the top priority.

Prof Brian Golding, head of forecasting research at the Met Office, said the cloud stemmed from an eruption on Thursday.

"The volcano has now dropped back in height. It did that yesterday, so the ash coming towards us for the future isn’t quite so deep as it was on Thursday.

Airline fined

"It isn’t going to turn into a huge area and it’s being blown eastwards, between south-east and east. "

Ash from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano has caused disruption to thousands of flights since April.

Meanwhile, Italy has fined Irish airline Ryanair 3m euros (£2.5m) for failing to help some passengers after cancelling their flights during the crisis.

Ministers agreed on Saturday that the five-day forecasts, rather than 18-hour ones, would be made available on the Met Office website.

The Met Office said its charts would be updated every six hours but that the wind was expected to change direction in the middle of next week, taking ash away from the UK.

Scottish transport minister Stewart Stevenson called upon airlines to be "consistent" to "avoid unnecessary and unhelpful confusion".

He said he had written to BA chief executive Willie Walsh after the airline cancelled three flights to Scotland on Friday. BA said the flights were cancelled as a "precaution".

Molten glass

BA is facing industrial action in the coming days, potentially adding to travel disruption.

Meanwhile, Network Rail said it was boosting services to and from Scotland, and to Irish Sea ports, with engineering works postponed where necessary.

Dr Dougal Jerram, a volcanologist from Durham University, warned the last big eruption of Eyjafjallajokull – in the 1820s – went on for about two years, and its current eruption could last "several months".

But he said the continued eruptions would not necessarily cause more problems to air travel, as a number of factors – explosive eruptions, a concentrated plume and certain weather patterns – needed to be in place at the same time to create "the perfect storm".

In April, airspace across Europe was shut down for five days over concerns ash could turn to molten glass in high temperatures, crippling plane engines.

Scientists and engineers have since revised the safe-to-fly threshold, but clouds of volcanic ash have continued to drift over Europe, causing airport closures, flight delays and cancellations.

In the past week, several airports in southern Europe have been forced to close and flights have been re-routed.

Italy’s civil aviation authority fine on Ryanair comes after it said it knew of 178 cases of passengers who did not receive mandatory assistance, such as food – required under EU regulations – between 17 and 22 April. Ryanair called the allegation "complete rubbish".

Are your travel plans likely to be affected by the latest anticipated disruptions? Are you travelling from an airport in the south-east of England between Sunday and Tuesday? Will you make alternative travel plans? Send us your comments Click here to add comments..

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

Scientists have found vast underwater plumes of oil, one 10 miles (16km) long and a mile wide, in the Gulf of Mexico, following last month’s rig disaster.

A Georgia University expert warned oxygen levels had fallen 30% in some areas of the sea, and it could take decades to repair the damage.

BP is still trying to insert a tube into the gushing well to siphon the crude to a ship on the surface.

The US government has demanded BP make clear its commitment to pay damages.

Researchers from the National Institute for Undersea Science and Technology say they have detected several sprawling oil slicks lurking just beneath the surface of the sea and at depths of 4,000ft (1,200m).

Dead zones

The find suggests the scale of the potential environmental disaster is much worse than previously feared since the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig blew up on 20 April, killing 11 workers.

Samantha Joye, a marine science professor at the University of Georgia, said: "It could take years, possibly decades, for the system to recover from an infusion of this quantity of oil and gas.

"We’ve never seen anything like this before. It’s impossible to fathom the impact."

The experts say the oxygen depletion is likely to continue, endangering sea life and raising the prospect of underwater dead zones.

The scientists said the chemical dispersants BP has been dumping underwater may be preventing the oil from rising to the top of the ocean.

Official estimates doubted

The oil giant has said the chemicals, which it began deploying on Friday, have already resulted in less oil surfacing.

Some scientists are casting doubt on official estimates of the oil flow rate, saying the widely repeated figure of 5,000 barrels per day dramatically understates the real amount.

On Saturday, BP failed in its latest attempt to thread a 6in-wide (15cm) tube into a damaged oil pipe a mile beneath the surface.

Like a long straw, it is intended to slurp oil to a ship on the surface, and a stopper surrounding it would stem the leaking crude.

The tube could capture more than three-quarters of the leak; BP must also contain a smaller spill on the seabed nearby.

A week ago, BP tried to cap the well with a 100-tonne box, but gave up after it became encrusted with ice crystals.

On Saturday, the Obama administration demanded immediate clarification from BP over its commitment to pay damages for the spill.

Officials said they wanted to be sure BP would honour commitments not to limit costs to a US statutory cap of $75m (£50m).

It is not clear what prompted the letter as BP said last week the cap was irrelevant and it would settle all costs.

Mississippi has become the third US state to have oil wash up on its coast, along with Louisiana and Alabama.

The spill is threatening to eclipse the 1989 Exxon Valdez leak off Alaska as America’s worst environmental disaster.

Underwater efforts to cap oil leak

Initially, BP tried to lower a 125-tonne, 18-metre (40 feet) high container dome over the main leak on the sea floor. However, this failed when gas leaking from the pipe mixed with water to form hydrates, ice-like crystals, that blocked up the steel canopy.

Instead, engineers have lowered a smaller device onto the site. Dubbed the Top hat, it will sit over the tear in the pipe and partially stop the leak. To prevent the build up of hydrates, methanol is pumped into the top hat to disperse the water and gas.

The top hat is 1.5m (5 feet) high and 1.2m in diameter. Two special side lines are used to pump methanol into the top hat to displace water and gas leaking from the broken oil pipe. This should prevent the build-up of hydrates. Once in place, oil can be pumped up to the surface.

BP plan to lower the original subsea containment dome over the top hat to provide a better seal over the leaking site and pump oil up to the surface. This time, it will be attached to a pipe that can pump warm water into the dome to prevent the build-up of hydrates.

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

Little Britain star David Walliams has married Dutch model Lara Stone at Claridge’s hotel in London.

The 38-year-old comedian and the Vogue cover girl, who is 12 years his junior, became engaged in January. They had been dating for about a year.

Guests at the star-studded event included new parents Lee Mead and Denise Van Outen, actress Barbara Windsor and film-maker Sam Taylor-Wood.

Actor James Corden and fashion designer Tom Ford also attended.

They were joined by Walliams’ mother Kathleen and the comedian Ronnie Corbett and his wife Anne Hart.

Walliams, who successfully swam the English Channel in 2006 for Sport Relief, is best known for starring in Little Britain with comedy partner Matt Lucas.

He had previously been linked to a string of celebrities including Abi Titmuss and Lisa Snowden.

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

Rafael Nadal beat Roger Federer 6-4 7-6 (7-5) to win the Madrid Masters and make himself hot favourite for the French Open, which starts next week.

It was the first encounter between the arch rivals since last year’s final in Madrid, which Federer won.

Both players dropped serve early in the first set before the second-seeded Nadal broke decisively to lead 4-3.

In the second set, Nadal won a tightly contested tie-breaker after two breaks of serve each.

It was a record-breaking 18th Masters crown for the Spaniard and his victory extended his unbeaten run on clay to 15 matches this season.

Nadal, the four-time French Open champion, has now won 168 of 174 matches on clay since 2005.

He will return to number two in the world, behind Federer and above Novak Djokovic, in Monday’s rankings after also winning in Monte Carlo and Rome.

"Winning here at home is a dream," said Nadal. "Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would win all three of these big events."

World number one Federer, who has won 16 Grand Slam titles, took advantage of Nadal’s fourth-round exit last year to clinch his first French Open crown.

"The clay court season will not be judged here but in Paris," he said.

"We will see what happens in three weeks. I feel I’m ready for Paris. I felt a major improvement in my game compared to last week when I came here from Estoril.

"It’s been a wonderful event for me. I’m sorry I couldn’t defend the title. Rafa’s had an incredible clay season, he was supreme today."

Nadal came into the match having beaten Federer in 13 of their previous 20 meetings and the home favourite drew first blood by taking an evenly fought first set.

Federer had chances to break in the second game but he failed to take them, and Nadal made him pay by immediately breaking the Swiss in the next.

However, Federer, 28, broke back immediately after taking full advantage of a triple break-point to level the scores at 2-2.

The next two games went with serve before Nadal made his second breakthrough in the seventh game following a fiercely fought battle that saw the left-hander earn four break points before finally putting the fifth one away.

Federer had a great chance in the 10th game after earning four break points, only to come up short as the 23-year-old Nadal took the set.

Nadal enjoyed the perfect start to the second set as he broke Federer in the opener, but the top seed again hit back immediately to level it at 1-1.

The next break came in the fifth game when second seed Nadal again got his nose in front, but once more Federer responded, breaking back to make it 4-4.

With neither player able to make any more dents on their opponents’ serve, the set went to a tie-break.

Federer took the early initiative before Nadal hit back to secure the set, the match and the 39th title of his career.

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

Keane top the UK album chart with their Night Train EP in the first week of its release.

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

The winner of the UK’s biggest lottery jackpot has come forward to claim their £84.4m prize, Camelot has said.

The ticket-holder won the jackpot in Friday’s EuroMillions draw.

No details of the winner or where the ticket was bought have been released, and it is not yet known if the ticket belongs to an individual or syndicate.

The jackpot win smashed the previous record lottery prize of £56m won by Nigel Page and Justine Laycock in February, also in a EuroMillions draw.

The five winning numbers in Friday’s draw were 1, 17, 31, 43 and 47, with the Lucky Star numbers 2 and 3.

Before the winner came forward, Camelot, which runs the draw, described the new UK record as "fantastic news".

A spokesman said: "Subject to a claim being received and validated, the prize could be paid out when the banks open on Monday."

It is up to the winner to decide whether or not to go public.

EuroMillions is played across Europe. Tickets can be bought in countries including France, the Irish Republic, Portugal and Spain.

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

ICC World Twenty20 finalVenue: Kensington Oval, Barbados Date: Sunday, 16 May (1630 BST)Coverage: Live ball-by-ball Test Match Special commentary on BBC 5 live, BBC Radio 4 LW and BBC Sport website (UK only, from 1600 BST); live text commentary and report on the BBC Sport website & mobiles

England captain Paul Collingwood is relishing the prospect of taking on arch rivals Australia in the final of the ICC World Twenty20 on Sunday.

"This is literally the ultimate," he said. "You’re through to a World Cup final, you’re playing against the old enemy, it doesn’t get much better."

But Collingwood warned his young side against overconfidence in Barbados.

"We haven’t won anything yet," he added. "Until we win a World Cup, we’re going to keep our feet on the ground."

Victory over Australia at the Kensington Oval would deliver England’s first trophy in 35 years of ICC limited-over competitions.

A win for Michael Clarke’s Australia would give them a clean sweep of World Cup, Champions Trophy and Twenty20 titles.

Collingwood is the only survivor from England’s last final – a defeat by West Indies in the 2004 Champions Trophy.

"There are a lot of guys in our side that haven’t experienced finals – but I really do sense they are ready," he stated.

"The guys seem very relaxed going into such a big occasion and that’s a great sign.

"I think if you have played in big matches it does help but if you are fresh into a side and you don’t know what it’s all about it can sometimes help."

England have been hugely impressive in being unbeaten in five games to reach the final, a run that has only been surpassed by their rivals Australia, who have won all their games.

Clarke’s men chased down a target of 192 to beat Pakistan in the semi-final, with Michael Hussey striking three sixes in the final over.

Yet Collingwood, who was part of the England side that wrested back the Ashes from Australia in 2009, insists his men are not overawed by their illustrious counterparts.

"It was no surprise that Australia got over the line eventually," he told BBC Sport. "They are a very powerful side and Hussey is a phenomenal player.

"But we’ve got a very strong side as well. To be the best you’ve got to beat the best."

While England’s batsmen have grabbed most of the headlines, Collingwood lavished praise on his seam bowlers, who have varied their pace, line and length throughout the tournament to great effect.

"The guys have been really thinking for themselves," he added. "The communication has been fantastic, not just from the bowlers but the whole team. Where to bowl at certain players, how to use the wind with the long boundaries. Things have really worked well for us."

Coach Andrew Flower singled out left-arm spinner Michael Yardy, whose partnership with Graeme Swann has made scoring difficult for opponents.

"We were looking for a left-arm spinning all-rounder, someone with a different angle of attack," commented Flower.

"He’s very experienced, streetwise, a leader. Coming into our side now, I’d call him an internal leader – just because of the way he carries himself.

"He’s good under pressure, just a good man to have around."

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

Islamist rebels attacked Somalia’s parliament as it met for the first time this year, in clashes which led to the deaths of nine people.

Insurgents fired mortar bombs at the building in Mogadishu, triggering retaliatory shellfire from African Union peacekeepers.

There were rowdy scenes in the chamber earlier as members voted to remove the speaker, who had criticised the PM.

The rebels have fought a three-year war against the fragile interim government.

They launched Sunday’s attack from their stronghold in the capital’s main market at Bakara.

‘Treason’

A police official told news agency Reuters that some mortars had landed near the parliament, but there had been no direct hits.

More than 20 people were injured in the crossfire as AU soldiers guarding MPs fired back with artillery.

Parts of Bakara market caught fire and several shopkeepers were killed, according to reports.

Shortly beforehand, the parliamentary speaker, Sheikh Adan Madobe, urged Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed to appoint a new prime minister.

MPs voted to sack the speaker and Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke later accused him of treason.

Many Somali MPs live abroad because of safety fears; the chamber last convened in December.

The Horn of Africa nation has not had a functioning central government since 1991.

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

The Football Association has refused to comment on newspaper claims its chairman Lord Triesman said Spain was planning to bribe World Cup referees.

Triesman alleged in the Mail on Sunday Spain could end its bid to host the 2018 World Cup if rival bidder Russia helped bribe referees in South Africa.

The 66-year-old Labour peer alleged that votes from Spanish Fifa members would then switch to Russia for 2018.

"Spain are looking for help…to bribe the referees," he was quoted as saying.

Apart from the damage to the standing of Triesman and the FA that may be created within the Fifa corridors of power by the Mail on Sunday’s reported bribery allegation, the world governing body’s rules prohibit World Cup bidders from talking about rival bids.

BBC Radio 5 Live’s sports news correspondent Gordon Farquhar said: "There has been no comment from the FA or the 2018 bid team so far.

"The FA did try and fail to get an injunction against publication of the story on privacy grounds.

"The story makes uncomfortable reading. The FA and 2018 bid chairman was seemingly unaware his unguarded comments in a private conversation were being recorded.

"Most damaging is his apparent speculation about possible collusion between Spain and Russia to bribe referees in South Africa.

"He reportedly suggests in return for Russian help in targeting officials, Spain could drop out of the race to stage the 2018 World Cup.

"There’s likely to be a furious reaction from both the Spanish and Russian FAs and Lord Triesman is surely to come under considerable pressure to resign."

The revelations come just two days after former England captain David Beckham helped the FA submit a 1,752-page bid book as they try to persuade Fifa to award England the 2018 World Cup.

Fifa chief Sepp Blatter had already spoken in glowing terms of England’s bid which includes 12 towns and cities from Sunderland to Plymouth, calling it "the easiest bid in the world" – but also described the plans put forward by Russia as "remarkable."

After the good publicity that was generated by the 2018 team and Beckham on Friday it remains to be seen what effect Triesman’s reported comments are likely to have on the FA’s 2018 bid.

From its inception the bid has been troubled by infighting with senior members resigning from the board while Triesman’s leadership has also been questioned.

In October the 2018 bid was criticised by Fifa vice-president Jack Warner and Danny Jordaan, who led South Africa’s successful 2010 campaign.

A month later former Birmingham City director Karen Brady, who was one of six board members to stand down, said that England’s hopes of hosting the 2018 World Cup were in danger of being undermined by internal politics among the bid team

"There’s been bickering, infighting and disruption," she told BBC Radio 5 live at the time.

In November a senior member of Fifa’s executive committee returned a handbag given to his wife as a gift by the England bidding team.

Triesman is not the first senior figure to be embarrassed by a newspaper’s reported revelations.

In 2004 chief executive Mark Palios resigned in the wake of the scandal over England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson’s affair with Faria Alam, a secretary at the FA.

The latest story was taken from a conversation Triesman reportedly had with a former civil servant aide.

The Mail on Sunday quotes Triesman as saying: "There’s some evidence that the Spanish football authorities are trying to identify the referees…and pay them.

"My assumption is that the Latin Americans, although they’ve not said so, will vote for Spain. And if Spain drop out, because Spain are looking for help from the Russians to help bribe the referees in the World Cup, their votes may then switch to Russia."

A European bid is tipped to get the 2018 tournament with England up against Russia and joint bids from Spain/Portugal and Belgium/Netherlands.

The other bidders, although they are mainly focused on the 2022 tournament, are Australia, the United States, Japan, Qatar and South Korea.

In the reported tape recorded conversation with former aide Melissa Jacobs, Triesman also talks openly about the John Terry scandal, the governance of Premier League football clubs and criticises former Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s election campaign as "awful."

Triesman reportedly said ex-England captain Terry did not feel he had done anything wrong over his affair with former club and country team-mate Wayne Bridge’s former partner, Vanessa Perroncel.

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