Category: news

Rolls-Royce launches an investigation after a plane carrying 136 people makes emergency landing in Singapore.

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A “plant clinic” scheme to improve food security in developing nations receives a £6.8m boost from the UK and Swiss governments.

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The Queen is due to begin the first visit to the Republic of Ireland by a British monarch, amid a massive security operation.

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Texas police have arrested a man for the murder of a man found beheaded and dismembered with a chainsaw discovered next to a bag holding body parts.

Police in Houston allege Noe Gerardo Morin, 32, killed Marlon Thomas, 35, with whom he shared a house.

Mr Thomas’s body was found at a vacant property on Sunday. Next door, police found a chainsaw and rubbish sack containing his head and an arm.

The men had been friends for 20 years, the Houston Chronicle paper reported.

“He was a good man,” Jessica Riggs said of the victim, whom she identified as her ex-boyfriend. “A good person. He didn’t deserve what he got.”

A neighbour told the Houston Chronicle she had heard gunshots on Saturday night.

The authorities were conducting an autopsy and had yet to confirm the victim’s identity and cause of death, police said on Monday.

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A 53-year-old man from Rochdale and his dog survive a 200ft fall at cliffs near Scarborough in North Yorkshire.

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A convicted New York City mobster has been found guilty of murder for ordering the killing of mob associate.

Vincent “Vinny Gorgeous” Basciano, 51, was already serving a life sentence. He was convicted of murder, racketeering, conspiracy and other charges.

The case was based in part on testimony from a mob boss who wore a secret recording device while jailed with him.

Prosecutors said Basciano had ordered the 2004 murder of Randolph Pizzolo, whom he described as “a dangerous kid”.

The Brooklyn jury heard testimony from Joseph Massino, who was convicted in 2004 of murder, racketeering and other crimes and agreed to wear a wire while jailed with Basciano and “chat him up” about the killing.

Massino testified Basciano had admitted ordering Pizzolo’s death.

“He said he was a scumbag, a rat, a troublemaker,” Massino testified last month.

Prosecutors say Basciano, known as Vinny Gorgeous and Vinny from the Bronx, became acting boss of the Bonanno crime family in 2004 following the conviction and imprisonment of a slew of top-ranking mob figures, including Massino.

Jurors heard a recording of Basciano boasting: “I’m a hoodlum, I’m a tough guy. Whatever happens, happens.”

Prosecutors said Basciano had ordered the killing of Pizzolo as payback for a drunken tirade in which he demanded induction into the crime family.

The killing was also intended to send a message that Basciano “doesn’t play around”, another mob figure testified.

Prosecutors said Basciano, the one-time owner of a beauty salon who was known for his temper, had become acting boss of the Bonanno crime family in 2004 following the conviction and imprisonment of a slew of top-ranking mob figures, including Massino.

He could face the death penalty when sentenced.

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Cases of bowel cancer may be missed because of the cut off level used with the current NHS screening test, a study suggests.

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Independent schools in England and Wales are to mount a legal challenge against tighter regulations over charitable status.

The Independent Schools Council claims the requirements to show how schools offer “public benefit” are unfair.

It says the cost of offering bursaries to poorer pupils could mean higher fees and pricing out hard-pressed families.

The Charity Commission says it looks at a wider range of public benefits when assessing cases – not just bursaries.

The Charity Tribunal will be asked to clarify the disputed rules under which independent schools can retain charitable status at a hearing which begins on Tuesday.

The 2006 Charities Act meant that independent schools could no longer automatically claim charitable status – instead they had to demonstrate that they offered benefits to a wider public, beyond their own fee-paying pupils.

But the Independent Schools Council, representing more than 1,200 schools, has argued that the Charity Commission guidelines interpret this in too narrow a way – with too much emphasis on bursaries.

The ISC says that its “key concern” is about whether private schools should be obliged to provide bursaries for poorer students, as a condition of keeping charitable status.

The council says that many schools already offer bursaries – but it wants schools to be allowed flexibility over how they benefit the wider community, such as sharing facilities and developing partnerships with local state schools.

It warns that requiring schools to provide bursaries could mean pushing up fees, which it says will hurt those middle-income families who are already financially-stretched.

But the Charity Commission says that it takes a wider range of factors into account when assessing public benefit – including educational work with local communities and state schools as well as bursaries.

The Charity Commission also says that it allows up to five years for charities to meet requirements.

Last year the ISC was successful in its bid for a judicial review – and the Charities Tribunal hearing is expected to last more than a week.

The proceedings will take place alongside questions from the Attorney General about charity law and public benefit, relating to fee-charging charities.

Charitable status brings tax benefits to independent schools believed to be worth more than £100m a year.

But independent schools say that they are offering means-tested bursaries worth over £200m a year.

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Toyota car owners in the US can pursue claims that the carmaker caused the value of their vehicle to fall, a federal judge has ruled.

The owners argue they have suffered economic losses because Toyota didn’t disclose or fix defects that made their cars accelerate suddenly.

Toyota had made a motion for the lawsuits to be dismissed but a US judge has allowed the claims to move ahead.

In 2009, Toyota started recalling millions of US vehicles.

“Taking these allegations as true, as the court must at the pleading stage, they establish an economic loss,” wrote US district Judge James Selna in Santa Ana, California.

“A vehicle with a defect is worth less than one without a defect.”

Toyota said there was no evidence of the defects.

“Toyota is confident that no defect exists in its electronic throttle control system,” spokeswoman Celeste Migliore said in a statement.

“The burden is now squarely on plaintiffs’ counsel to prove their allegations, and Toyota is confident that no such proof exists.”

However, the representative for the car owners said there was a rationale for the claims.

“Judge Selna agreed with our contention that Toyota owners who did not attempt to sell their vehicle could still bring a claim because they overpaid for their vehicles, buying cars that were not worth as much as a car free of these defects,” said Steve Berman, co-lead counsel for many of the plaintiffs.

Toyota started recalling cars globally in September 2009, beginning with 3.8m vehicles that it said had a defect that might cause floor mats to press the accelerator pedal.

Following that, in January 2010 another 2.3m cars were recalled due to sticking accelerator pedals.

Finally, another 2.17m vehicles were recalled in the US, again for carpet and floor mat issues that could cause jams in the accelerator pedal.

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Can the ‘hardiest animal on Earth’ survive off it?

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Kay Mellor on playing a role based on her own mother

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Sir Trevor McDonald will be given the Academy Fellowship at the TV Baftas for his “outstanding and exceptional contribution” to the medium.

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Envoys of embattled Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi are due to hold talks in Moscow with senior Russian officials.

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Forced marriage should be made a criminal offence to show that it was not tolerated in society, MPs said.

The Commons Home Affairs Select Committee said it was “not at all clear” that current legislation was protecting those at risk.

MPs also expressed concern at how schools and immigration officials were not as effective as they could be in protecting victims.

The government said it was “working hard to stop” forced marriages.

The MPs warned that support for victims was “at risk from spending cuts”.

The MPs said: “We believe that it would send out a very clear and positive message to communities within the UK and internationally if it becomes a criminal act to force – or to participate in forcing – an individual to enter into marriage against their will.”

They added: “The lack of a criminal sanction also sends a message, and currently that is a weaker message than we believe is needed. We urge the government to take an early opportunity to legislate on this matter.”

Forced marriage protection orders are used to protect victims. If the conditions are breached, people who force others into marriage can be sent to jail for up to two years.

Almost 300 forced marriage orders were issued between November 2008, when they were introduced, and February 2011, but MPs said there was a lack of effective follow-up action, with only one person jailed for breaching an order.

Regarding schools, the MPs said there was evidence that many schools were not fulfilling their statutory responsibilities, partly because of a “great deal of ignorance and a culture of disbelief around the risks involved” and “an enormous fear of tackling the issues in case they get it wrong and appear racist”.

They called for more support for teachers from the government, and expressed disappointment at Education Secretary Michael Gove’s stance.

“We are extremely worried about the fact that many schools continue to refuse to engage in preventative activity with children at risk of forced marriage,” the MPs said.

“On the basis of the evidence we have received, we do not accept [Mr Gove’s] assurance that ‘schools will already be aware of the guidance available on forced marriage’ or that, if they are, they are acting on it.

“Teachers who are not trained to respond properly to cases of forced marriage can inadvertently put pupils in greater danger by, for example, contacting their families.”

The report also highlighted the plight of estranged or abused partners “who are under pressure from their families to sign a request for their spouses to have indefinite leave to remain in the UK”.

They are often refused access to information by officials citing data protection laws, but the MPs called for the UK Border Agency to “encourage its staff to make decisions about disclosure on a case-by-case basis”.

British spouses should “have every opportunity to alert the immigration authorities in confidence to cases of marriage breakdown”, the committee said.

“Clamping down on these immigration abuses is essential first and foremost in order to protect current and future victims of forced marriage, but also to form part of a controlled immigration policy.”

Committee chairman Keith Vaz said: “There should be zero tolerance of this harmful activity that ruins the lives of so many.”

A government spokesman, responding to the committee’s report, said: “Forced marriage is an appalling and indefensible practice that we are working hard to stop.”

Its Forced Marriage Unit helped “nearly 500 people” last year, both in the UK and abroad, he said.

“We provide training for professionals to help them identify potential victims and improve awareness of the issue so that those at risk – including children and young people – know where to go for support.”

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Willie Rennie is expected to be appointed as the new leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats later.

The politician is set to replace Tavish Scott in the role, despite having been elected as an MSP for the first time in the 5 May Holyrood election.

The Lib Dems lost 11 seats in the Holyrood election, down from 16 to 5, which saw the SNP win a majority.

Mr Rennie is not likely to face any leadership challengers when nominations close at noon.

The former MP and UK government adviser will have to re-build the party after Scottish voters decided to punish the Lib Dems for their role in the UK coalition government.

Mr Rennie, now an MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, said his party’s election performance was “bad” and is promising to rebuild trust and reconnect with voters.

He has also pledged to stand up against what he has called the “SNP bulldozer administration”.

The post of Scottish Lib Dem leader became vacant when Mr Scott, the MSP for Shetland, quit the post he had held since 2008.

The Lib Dems lost 25 deposits after failing to win 5% of the vote in some areas on election night.

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