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Thousands of Parachute Regiment personnel could lose the right to bonus pay for their parachuting skills, under MoD cost-cutting plans.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Mr Strauss-Kahn (centre) was moved to a location in New York’s Tribeca neighbourhood The former head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been moved to a new, more permanent location in New York City where he will await trial on sex assault charges.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn was reportedly moved from lower Manhattan to a townhouse about one mile (1.6km) away.
A lawyer for Mr Strauss-Kahn said on Wednesday his client was “very bored” under house arrest.
Mr Strauss-Kahn has denied charges of attempting to rape a hotel maid.
Mr Strauss-Kahn, who resigned last week as the head of the IMF, was seen smiling as he left the high-rise building where he had been staying, which is owned by the security company managing his home detention.
The French presidential contender, who is free on $1m (£618,000) bail, moved from New York’s financial district into a plush, four-bedroom townhouse in the city’s Tribeca neighbourhood, the Associated Press news agency reported, citing an unnamed source.
Mr Strauss-Kahn is under 24-hour guard and wears a monitoring bracelet.
His wife attempted to put him in a luxury building in another area of Manhattan last week, but those efforts were squashed when residents of the building complained.
Mr Strauss-Kahn, who has no prior criminal record, spent several days in jail on Rikers Island following his arrest on 14 May.
He is charged with seven counts including four felony charges – two of criminal sexual acts, one of attempted rape and one of sexual abuse – plus three misdemeanour offences, including unlawful imprisonment.
His accuser is a 32-year-old originally from Guinea in west Africa who reportedly told authorities that Mr Strauss-Kahn had accosted her after she entered his hotel room to clean it at the Sofitel near Manhattan’s Times Square neighbourhood.
Mr Strauss-Kahn, 62, denies the allegations and on 6 June is set to enter a formal plea.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Ernest Hemingway deemed it an art form but as Bullfighting ends by law this summer in Catalonia some are concerned that part of the culture will be lost.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Clashes between the Hashid tribe and government forces have continued since Monday Street battles between Yemeni security forces and the country’s most powerful tribal federation are continuing for a third day in the capital, Sanaa.
At least 44 people have died in the clashes, which began after forces loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh moved against a tribal leader’s compound.
The tribal leader, Sheikh Sadeq al-Ahmar, has joined an uprising against President Saleh’s rule.
On Sunday, the president refused to sign a deal to stand down.
One report early on Wednesday said forces loyal to Sheikh al-Ahmar had moved to take control of several public buildings.
They seized the state news agency Saba and the national airline building, while also trying to storm the interior ministry headquarters, AFP news agency reported.
But Mr Saleh remained defiant in a statement read by his spokesman on Wednesday.
President Ali Abdullah Saleh in power since 1978Population 24.3m; land area 536,869 sq kmThe population has a median age of 17.9, and a literacy rate of 61%Youth unemployment is 15%Gross national income per head was $1,060 (£655) in 2009 (World Bank)Profile: President Saleh Yemen country profile
“I will not leave power and I will not leave Yemen,” the spokesman, Ahmed al-Soufi, quoted the president as saying.
He dismissed fears that Yemen risked civil war, and that the country might turn into a failed state or an “al-Qaeda refuge.”
And he implicitly criticised Western efforts to mediate a transition, saying: “I don’t take orders from outside.”
He also said he was still prepared to sign a transition deal “within a national dialogue and a clear mechanism”.
“No more concessions after today,” he added.
Later on Wednesday, US President Barack Obama – in a joint press conference with British Prime Minister David Cameron in London – repeated his call for Mr Saleh to “move immediately on his commitment to transfer power”.
The deal Mr Saleh has so far refused to sign called for him to step down within a month after 33 years in office and hand over power to a unity government.
It would also have given the president immunity from prosecution.
Mr Saleh has previously said he would only sign in the presence of opposition leaders.
Sheikh Ahmar, head of the powerful Hashid tribe, is a former supporter of the president. He joined the anti-government protests against Mr Saleh in March.
On Tuesday, his compound appeared to have been shelled as tribal leaders were trying to mediate a ceasefire there.
President Saleh has accused the sheikh of trying to provoke civil war, but the same accusation has been levelled against the president.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Security is tight in the French seaside resort of Deauville World leaders are set to gather in the French resort of Deauville for a summit of the G8 bloc of wealthy nations.
A shift in global influence to emerging powers such as India and China who are not in the G8 has led to the group’s relevance being questioned.
But analysts say recent events such as uprisings in the Arab world and Japan’s nuclear crisis have given the group a new sense of purpose.
Also on the agenda is how little or how much the internet should be regulated.
The global economy and climate change are also to be discussed.
US President Barack Obama is travelling to the meeting after completing a state visit to the UK. He will later continue to Poland.
Leaders from Tunisia and Egypt and the head of the Arab League will be at Deauville, on the Normandy coast, for talks on a massive aid plan to help their transition to democracy.
The long-standing presidents of Tunisia and Egypt were overthrown earlier this year in popular uprisings.
“Even as more nations take on the responsibilities of global leadership, our alliance will remain indispensable to the goal of a century that is more peaceful, more prosperous and more just”
Barack Obama‘No let up’ on Gaddafi – ObamaObama UK speech in full, with analysis
The current stalemate in Libya is also expected to be one of the main talking points of the two-day summit.
The crisis there may throw up divisions within the G8, with Russia openly critical of the Nato operation against the forces of Col Muammar Gaddafi.
A Nato-led coalition is operating under a UN mandate to protect civilians as government forces battle rebels.
Speaking in London before heading to France, US President Barack Obama rejected arguments that the rise of superpowers like China and India meant the end for American and European influence in the world.
“Perhaps, the argument goes, these nations represent the future, and the time for our leadership has passed. That argument is wrong. The time for our leadership is now,” he said.
“It was the United States, the United Kingdom, and our democratic allies that shaped a world in which new nations could emerge and individuals could thrive.”
With the winding down of operations in Iraq, progress in Afghanistan and having dealt “al-Qaeda a huge blow by killing its leader Osama Bin Laden”, President Obama told his London hosts it was time to enter a “new chapter in our shared history” with new challenges.
“It was the United States, the United Kingdom, and our democratic allies that shaped a world in which new nations could emerge and individuals could thrive.
“And even as more nations take on the responsibilities of global leadership, our alliance will remain indispensable to the goal of a century that is more peaceful, more prosperous and more just.”
But he added that leadership had to “change with the times” and the days were gone when an American president and UK prime minister could “sit in a room and solve the world’s problems over a glass of brandy”.
The G8 is composed of the US, Russia, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Canada.
A group of internet bosses, including Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Google boss Eric Schmidt, is heading to the summit to urge governments not to over-regulate the internet.
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The Prison Reform Trust says the youth prison system is “simply not working” A quarter of the 1,600 children held in young offenders’ institutions in England and Wales have been in care, a report by prison inspectors has found.
Chief inspector Nick Hardwick said the figures were of “real concern” and showed a lack of progress over care.
His report also found that of 10 random detainees interviewed on their release, seven reoffended within three months.
The Ministry of Justice said the government would outline its youth justice reform plans shortly.
The report found many youngsters were being released with inadequate support and, in some cases, without an address to go to.
Three of the 10 detainees interviewed as part of the inspectors’ research were back in custody within a month, the report added.
“Accommodation was often not confirmed until close to the young person’s release or, occasionally, even the day of release,” Mr Hardwick said.
“This affected young people’s opportunity for early release and meant that some ended up in unsuitable accommodation.
“The most common reasons for children going into care are abuse, neglect or family dysfunction. It is perhaps unsurprising that in our survey, those who said they had spent time in care reported more vulnerability and greater need than those who had not.
“Our very limited follow-up information suggests that many looked-after young people leave custody with inadequate support.”
Penelope Gibbs, director of the Prison Reform Trust’s Out of Trouble programme, said the findings showed the system was “simply not working”.
“Children in care who end up in custody should be visited by their social worker while there, should know where they will be living on release and should have a training or education place set up,” she said.
The report polled young people and staff at seven institutions from May to October last year.
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said the government recognised youngsters in custody were among the most vulnerable in society and that support was essential to break the “cycle of offending”.
“There are already a range of statutory obligations on the part of local authorities to provide safe accommodation and related support, this includes young people who have been in care,” the spokesman said.
“We recently announced new financial support for social workers in young offender institutions, which should ensure better links to support in the community.”
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Girls are six times more likely to be sexually assaulted than boys, the figures suggest At least 64 children are sexually abused every day in England and Wales, figures obtained by the NSPCC suggest.
More than 23,000 offences – including rape, incest and gross indecency – were recorded by police in 2009-10, an 8% increase on 2008-9, the charity said.
For the first time, its research also looked at the age of abusers and found a quarter were aged under 18. One in four victims was aged 11 or under.
The Home Office said the figures were “appalling”.
The figures for recorded sex crimes against children were obtained through a successful NSPCC freedom of information request to all 43 police forces in England and Wales.
The figures showed that more than half of the victims were aged between 12 and 15, one in four was aged five to 11, and more than 1,000 were aged four or younger.
Girls were more than six times more likely to be assaulted than boys, with 86% of attacks taking place against females, the figures showed.
The police force reporting the largest number of crimes was London’s Metropolitan (3,672), followed by West Midlands (1,531) and West Yorkshire (1,205).
Jon Brown, who heads the NSPCC’s work on child sex abuse, said the increase was a “real concern”.
“Thousands of people come forward every year to report sex crimes against children. But many victims are too young to ask for help. Others are too scared to tell anyone about their suffering until years later,” he said.
“More than 2,000 suspects in these cases were under 18. It’s clear we need more services that address the harmful sexual behaviour of young people, as well as adult offenders.”
The Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) warned that recorded crime figures were “not a good indicator of the prevalence or trends of child sexual abuse” as much abuse went unreported and rises could be attributable to victims of historic abuse coming forward.
However, Assistant Chief Constable Peter Davies, the Acpo lead for child protection and child abuse investigation, said: “Understanding the crime though is central to success.
“We are starting to bring it out of the dark places where victims suffer in silence for fear of reporting while recent infiltration of intricate global paedophile networks is further testament to the work we have collectively done to understand how offenders think and operate.”
A Home Office spokesman said the government would continue to work with groups like the NSPCC to protect the most vulnerable people in our society.
It pointed to the roll-out of the child sex offender disclosure scheme across police forces in England and Wales earlier this year.
This allows parents to check whether someone in contact with their child is a convicted sex offender.
Dubbed “Sarah’s Law”, it was proposed after the murder of eight-year-old Sarah Payne by a convicted sex offender, Roy Whiting, in West Sussex in 2000.
The Home Office said this was a “major step forward in our ability to protect children from sex offenders”.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
There have been protests across Pakistan over the US raid to kill Osama Bin Laden The US military has announced the withdrawal of a number of its troops from Pakistan.
The Pentagon said it had received a request from the Pakistani government to reduce its presence in the country.
The request came after a raid by US special forces killed al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden in early May.
The US has more than 200 troops in Pakistan helping to train the army. But there are said to be intelligence and special forces operating there.
A spokesman at the Pentagon said that within the last two weeks Pakistan had asked the American military to reduce its footprint, and the Americans were doing so, pulling out some troops. The numbers are quite small.
It is not clear if any of the American intelligence and special operations forces that are said to be in Pakistan clandestinely are also being pulled out.
The request would appear to be a sign of Pakistan’s discontent at the manner in which the raid on Osama Bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad was conducted without Islamabad’s knowledge.
Relations between Washington and Islamabad are always complex and fragile but they are particularly volatile at the moment.
In Washington, suspicion is rife that some in Pakistan knew of Osama bin Laden’s hiding place.
And there is grumbling about continued US military aid.
A trial underway in Chicago may shed light on the relationship between Pakistani intelligence and violent extremist groups.
And to top it off, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has just been to China, buying fighter jets and reaffirming a strategic alliance the US finds troubling.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
The watchdog recommended better training and monitoring of care A Scottish hospital has been severely criticised over the care of an 80-year-old woman with dementia.
The woman was admitted to a hospital ward with a chest infection which meant she had difficulty swallowing.
Before her death, she was given dozens of sedative doses over 16 days in ways the Mental Welfare Commission watchdog deemed distressing and unnecessary.
Both the woman, known as Mrs V, and the hospital have not been named to protect the identity of the woman’s family.
Mrs V was admitted to a ward for the elderly in the general hospital in December 2008 after she developed a chest infection. She also had dementia.
“Our investigation revealed that nursing attitudes, medical decision-making and monitoring of medication were poor”
Dr Donald Lyons Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland
Over 11 days she was given no food and became increasingly agitated because she could not understand why people around her were eating.
She was given sedatives rectally 57 times and by injection 29 times, an amount described in a report as “astonishing”.
Eventually, when she was allowed to eat small amounts, she became calmer and did not need as much sedation. The woman later died in hospital.
The Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland, which examined the case, said her treatment was degrading, unnecessary, and may have breached her human rights.
The commission’s report, Starved of Care, said Mrs V was given repeated, uncomfortable and undignified administrations of sedative medication.
‘Not typical’
Dr Donald Lyons, chief executive of the commission, said: “We found this to be a wholly inappropriate way to treat a person with severe dementia and life-threatening physical illness.
“Our investigation revealed that nursing attitudes, medical decision-making and monitoring of medication were poor, and that there was a complete lack of a shared view on the best way to manage people with dementia who become physically ill.”
Several recommendations for improvement and better training have been made and subsequent visits to the hospital found care had been improved.
The recommendations to the NHS board involved included training on the management of delirium and use and misuse of medication, along with risk assessment guidance and triggers for advice from mental health specialists.
The commission added that visits to a range of general hospitals suggested the case was not typical of the care which people with dementia receive.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Alex Salmond says his government is taking a distinct approach First Minister Alex Salmond will lay out his early plans for government in an address to the Scottish Parliament.
Top priorities for the majority SNP government include laws to tackle football-related violence and minimum alcohol pricing.
Ms Salmond will also pledge a “social contract” with Scots, promising not to cut vital services in return for measures like public pay restraint.
Opposition parties will scrutinise the plans during a Holyrood debate.
The Scottish government said its first piece of legislation would be plans to increase jail terms for sectarian-related disorder, with the hope of parliament passing new laws in the next few weeks.
Ministers would also bring back plans to set a minimum price per unit of alcohol – proposals which were defeated in the last parliament when the SNP was in minority government.
Mr Salmond also plans talk about the concept of a “social wage” – telling MSPs of the importance of public sector pay restraint in a tough financial climate.
At the same time, he will say his government has committed to helping hard-pressed Scots by freezing the council tax over the course of the five-year parliament.
The government has also committed to keeping prescription charges and bridge tolls free, while maintaining free bus travel for the elderly and protecting NHS spending.
The first minister says the SNP administration has taken a “distinct” approach in Scotland in comparison, he argues, to a UK government cuts agenda.
The Scottish government’s detailed programme for government, including a list of planned bills, will come after the summer break.
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Singapore Airlines has yet to announce the name of its planned new budget subsidiary Singapore Airlines has said it plans to start a budget carrier flying across longer distances.
The new airline will start operating within one-year, using wide-body aircraft to ferry passengers.
Other details, such as its name, planned routes and ticket prices, have not been revealed.
The budget carrier is expected to compete with long-haul, cut-price Asian airlines operated by Australia’s Qantas and Malaysia’s AirAsia.
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Unemployed graduate Juan Lopez shows BBC News around the tent city in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol which has been the site of demonstration since 15 May.
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The Care Quality Commission carried out 100 unannounced inspections Serious concerns have been raised by the NHS care regulator about the way some hospitals in England look after elderly patients.
The Care Quality Commission said three had failed to meet legal standards for giving patients enough food and drink and treating them in a dignified way.
They were Worcestershire Acute, the Royal Free, in London, and Ipswich.
The CQC, which carried out unannounced inspections, also raised concerns about three other NHS hospitals.
The commission has published the first 12 results of 100 such inspections.
While its inspectors said there had been many examples of people being treated with respect and given excellent care, in other cases people had not been helped to eat and drink, “with their care needs not assessed and their dignity not respected”.
All six hospitals about which concerns were raised must now say how and when they will improve.
The worst three offenders will have to improve or face action from the regulator.
“These are the basics that help ensure every patient is treated like an individual – not a nuisance to be ignored or a task that must be completed. ”
Jo Williams Care Quality Commission
The inspections looked at nutrition and found cases of patients not being helped to eat, poor monitoring of patients’ weight and people not being given enough to drink, with water being out of reach for long periods of time.
In one case, a member of staff at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust said they had to prescribe water on medical charts to ensure patients got enough to drink.
Inspectors also looked at dignity and respect, noting that elderly patients were sometimes not involved in their own care and were given no explanation of the treatment they were to receive or asked for consent.
Staff also treated people in a disrespectful way, spooning food into their mouths without engaging them.
One man told inspectors that staff “talk to me as if I’m daft”.
The reports acknowledge examples of excellent care where treatment was explained in a way patients could understand and they were treated with respect and dignity.
Jo Williams, chair of the CQC, said the inspections had built a detailed picture of the care being received by elderly patients in NHS hospitals in England.
“Many of these reports describe people being ‘cared for’ in the truest sense. Sadly, however, some detail omissions which add up to a failure to meet basic needs – people not spoken to with respect, not treated with dignity, and not receiving the help they need to eat or drink.
“These are not difficult things to get right – and the fact that staff are still failing to do so is a real concern. These are the basics that help ensure every patient is treated like an individual – not a nuisance to be ignored or a task that must be completed.
“This is what we expect for ourselves and for our own families, and what every patient should expect from the people who care for them.”
Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said that everyone admitted to hospital deserved to be treated as an individual, with compassion and dignity.
“The inspection teams have seen some exemplary care, but some hospitals are not even getting the basics right. That is unacceptable.
“What the inspectors observed on that day was not acceptable and it has been something we have taken very seriously indeed”
Helen Blanchard Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust
“Where the inspections uncovered appalling levels of care, the CQC will be able to use its enforcement powers to ensure that real improvements are made.”
One of the hospitals found to have problems was the Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust.
In a statement the hospital said it was disappointed by the CQC report, but that it took the findings very seriously.
“Following the CQC’s concerns, we immediately implemented an action plan to make sure we comply with both the letter and the spirit of the standards,” it said.
“As part of the action plan, we are rolling out a programme of ‘nurse rounding’ which ensures that every patient is reviewed by a nurse at least once an hour to ensure their comfort and needs are met.
“We will continue to ensure that all measures are taken to respect patients’ privacy, dignity and confidentiality and patients are put at the centre of communication about their care.”
Siobhan Jordan, director of nursing at the Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust, said: “The trust was disappointed by, but responsive to, the findings of the review team. Much work is under way within the trust, particularly focusing on meeting the needs of the older person.
“The trust recognises the value of the regulator’s unannounced visit and continues to focus on improving care at the hospital.”
Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust said it was “extremely disappointed” by the findings and had already shown “significant improvements”.
Director of nursing and midwifery Helen Blanchard said: “I’d like to apologise to the patients and their families that were affected by the care that this report refers to.
“What the inspectors observed on that day was not acceptable and it has been something we have taken very seriously indeed.”
She said the findings were an unpleasant surprise because service on the wards concerned had been traditionally “very good”.
The trust would continue to carry out its own unannounced ward visits to monitor standards, she added.
More CQC reports will be published over the summer with the findings of the programme of inspections released in the autumn.
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Veteran talk show host Oprah Winfrey’s final programme broadcast on Wednesday after 25 years on the air.
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Mitchell was handed two life sentences for abducting and transporting a minor across state lines for sex A homeless street preacher who kidnapped a 14-year-old girl in the US state of Utah in 2002 has been ordered to spend life in prison.
Elizabeth Smart, who was held captive for nine months by Brian David Mitchell, looked on as he was sentenced in a federal court in Salt Lake City.
“I know that you know what you did is wrong,” Ms Smart told Mitchell.
Mitchell was found guilty in December of abduction and the transportation of a minor across state lines for sex.
The 57-year-old preacher, who had pleaded insanity in December, was handed two life sentences by US District Judge Dale Kimball in federal court in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, years after he was declared mentally ill and unfit to stand trial in state court.
Mitchell’s estranged wife Wanda Barzee pleaded guilty to kidnapping in 2009.
Authorities have said Mitchell kidnapped Ms Smart, now 23, from her parents’ home in Utah at knife point.
He had met the family when Ms Smart’s parents hired him for casual handiwork.
Ms Smart said she wanted to help bring other missing children back to their families Ms Smart briefly took the witness stand on Wednesday, confronting her kidnapper for the first time since the abduction ended.
“You will never affect me again,” Ms Smart said.
“You took away nine months of my life that can never be returned,” she added.
Speaking to reporters outside the courtroom in Utah, Ms Smart said she wanted to help bring other missing children back to their families.
Mitchell sang quietly to himself in the courtroom on Wednesday and did not respond when the two life sentences were handed to him.
Prosecutors said in December that Mitchell forced Ms Smart into a self-styled polygamous marriage and raped her almost daily, gave her alcohol and drugs to lower her resistance and threatened to kill her, her family and anyone who tried to rescue her.
The case was delayed for years after a state court found Mitchell incompetent to stand trial. Federal prosecutors stepped in, contending Mitchell was feigning mental illness in order to avoid prosecution.
Ms Smart was reunited with her family after she was spotted – wearing a dark wig and a veil – in the company of Barzee and Mitchell in Salt Lake City, about 10 miles (15km) from her home.
Barzee is due to be released from prison in 2016.
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