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Voters punish Lib Dems at polls

 
Polling stationThe first results are expected to be announced from midnight

Counting has begun after polls closed in elections for 279 English councils and elections to the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly.

The English polls are the biggest test yet for the coalition, with results due in from midnight. Labour hope to make gains from the Tories and Lib Dems.

Counting in the Northern Irish Assembly election begins on Friday morning.

The outcome of the UK-wide referendum on the Westminster voting system is due on Friday evening.

In the most significant test of public opinion since last year’s general election, parties face the voters’ verdict across the UK.

In Scotland, the SNP is hoping to keep power at Holyrood, where it runs a minority administration.Labour is looking to win overall control of the Welsh Assembly, where it currently rules in coalition with Plaid Cymru, but party sources say it may fall short of a majorityThe DUP and Sinn Fein are expected to remain the biggest parties in the Northern Ireland Assembly.

In what has been dubbed “super Thursday”, a parliamentary by-election also took place in Leicester South, following the decision by Labour MP Sir Peter Soulsby to stand down to run for mayor of the city.

More mayoral contests are being held in Mansfield, Middlesbrough, Torbay and Bedford while local authority elections also took place in Northern Ireland.

Almost a year since the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition was formed, the contests taking place in England are the first chance for most voters to deliver a verdict on its performance.

Sunderland is expected to be the first council to declare at about midnight, with significant results expected from Birmingham at 0130 and Lib Dem held Bristol at 0200.

WHEN RESULTS ARE DUE

2200: Polls close

2330: Early results expected from some English councils

0130-0230: Key council results expected in Birmingham, Bristol, Hull and Sheffield

0230: First Scottish and Welsh constituency results expected

0300: Results due from Liverpool, Manchester and Stockport councils

0600: First results from Scottish and Welsh regional list elections

0730: Counting begins in Leicester South parliamentary by-election

0800: Counting begins in Northern Ireland Assembly elections

1600: Counting begins in AV referendum

LIVE: Election 2011 Vote 2011: How events will unfold

Labour, which ran an anti-spending cuts campaign, will be hoping to make gains on many English councils at the expense of the other two main parties.

It is looking to take control of several large authorities, including Leeds, Bolton, Ipswich and Sheffield.

The council seats up for grabs were last contested in 2007, when Labour lost 642 councillors in one of the party’s worst ever performances.

Support for the Lib Dems is expected to fall, although the party also had a bad time in 2007, with a net loss of 257 councillors, meaning it too is starting from a low base.

The Conservatives, the big winners four years ago, are predicted to lose some of their 9,432 councillors.

Smaller parties are looking to make headway. The Greens are hoping to take control, either on their own or in alliance with other parties, in Brighton and Hove and Norwich while the UK Independence Party is looking to increase its representation.

The result of a UK-wide referendum on whether to end the first-past-the-post system for Westminster elections and replace it with the alternative vote (AV) system will not be known until Friday evening – with counting set to begin at 1600 BST.

Polls suggested AV – under which voters rank candidates in order of preference – will be rejected by a sizeable margin, but turnout levels at polling stations are predicted to have been fairly low, making the result more unpredictable.

The Conservatives oppose changing the electoral system, while the Lib Dems are in favour of AV. This has led to some bitter rows between senior coalition colleagues over the past few weeks.

Former Lib Dem leader Lord Ashdown has accused Prime Minister David Cameron of a “breach of trust” for not disassociating himself from what he said were “vicious” attacks by the No to AV campaign on Deputy PM Nick Clegg.

He told the Guardian that Mr Cameron had “panicked” in the face of pressure from the right of his party and “backtracked” on promises about how the campaign would be conducted.

The BBC’s political editor Nick Robinson said anger over the issue was rife among the Lib Dems. Although the party was committed to the coalition, he added that if the polls went badly, they would face demands to assert themselves more on key policies.

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

Police block Maldives protesters

Maldives police, left, block protesters who tried to rally during an opposition-led demonstration against soaring prices in Male, Maldives, Friday, May 6, 2011Police have been accused of using excessive violence
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Police in the Maldives have clashed with hundreds of protesters, preventing them from demonstrating in a square in central Male over soaring food prices.

Opposition-led demonstrators blame the government’s monetary reform policies for the rising cost of goods.

They are demanding the resignation of the President, Mohammed Nasheed, saying he has failed to solve the Indian Ocean archipelago’s economic problem.

The government says the protests risk harming the tourism-based economy.

Foreign Minister Ahmed Naseem told reporters in Sri Lanka’s capital, Colombo, that potential visitors might be scared away.

“Today, there is a planned big demonstration, which may go quite nasty,” he said before the protests began.

“So, police have taken appropriate action to prevent any damage to public property, damage to people, and to keep order in the country.”

There were a number of arrests in Male and some reports say people were injured during the clashes.

Protesters say that the decision to let the local currency, the rifiyaa, float against the dollar has caused the Maldives’ economic problems.

Mr Nasheed’s government blames a faction of the opposition DRP party for the unrest. It accuses them of throwing bricks and petrol bombs.

The DRP – led by Maumoon Abdul Gayoum, who was president for 30 years until 2008 – says it is the government who has let “thugs” loose.

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

SA minister’s wife gets 12 years

Sheryl Cwele, wife of South Africa's intelligence minister, on 5 February 2010Sheryl Cwele was arrested in January 2010
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Sheryl Cwele, the wife of South Africa’s intelligence minister, has been sentenced to 12 years in jail for drug trafficking.

Cwele, married to Siyabonga Cwele, was convicted of recruiting women to smuggle drugs into the country.

Her accomplice, Nigerian national Frank Nabolis, received the same sentence.

Allegations of drug trafficking surfaced in 2009 after the arrest of a South African woman caught in Brazil with cocaine worth $300,000 (£200,000).

Tessa Beetge is currently serving an eight-year jail sentence in Sao Paulo.

She was found with 10kg (22lb) of cocaine in her luggage.

There was a solemn atmosphere at the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Friday when the pair arrived for sentencing, South Africa’s Times newspaper reports.

Delivering the sentence, Judge Piet Koen described their offences as serious.

“Many families are affected by drugs which are brought here illegally. They suffer as a result of dealers who often initiate addiction by constant supply and thrive on that addiction,” he said.

The pair, who had pleaded not guilty, could have received up to 15 years in prison.

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

Obama to meet Bin Laden kill team

US President Barack ObamaMr Obama is expected to meet members of the raid team privately

US President Barack Obama is to visit Fort Campbell in Kentucky to meet and thank members of the special forces team that killed Osama Bin Laden at his compound in Pakistan five days ago.

Mr Obama is expected to express his gratitude to the raid team privately.

The news comes a day after the president visited New York City to lay a wreath at Ground Zero.

Meanwhile, documents found at Osama Bin Laden’s compound suggest al-Qaeda was planning further attacks on the US.

Officials are examining computers, DVDs, hard-drives and documents seized from the Abbottabad home where Bin Laden may have hid for up to six years.

One planned attack targeted a US rail route, US officials revealed, although no imminent threat was detected.

President Obama is scheduled to arrive at the Fort Campbell military base on Friday afternoon.

The president “will have the opportunity to privately thank some of the special operators involved in the operation,” a White House official said.

Mr Obama, who will be joined by Vice President Joe Biden, will also address soldiers who have returned from Afghanistan during his trip to the base.

He is also scheduled to make a stop in the state of Indianapolis on Friday to promote his energy policies and showcase a transmission plant that produces systems for hybrid cars.

During his trip to lay a wreath at the site of the World Trade Center on Thursday, the president also met with firefighters and police officers who responded to the 9/11 attacks.

“When we say we will never forget, we mean what we say,” the president told firefighters.

He did not mentioned Bin Laden by name publicly during his trip on Thursday, and political analysts have said the White House is being cautious about overplaying its hand regarding the operation in Pakistan.

The president has received some criticism in the past several days for not releasing photographs of Bin Laden’s corpse, but his opinion poll ratings have risen in the wake of his decision to authorise the raid.

Meanwhile, al-Qaeda has confirmed the death of its leader Osama Bin Laden, according to a statement attributed to the group and posted on jihadist internet forums.

The statement said his blood would not be “wasted” and that al-Qaeda would continue attacking the US and allies.

Bin Laden, the now former leader of al-Qaeda, was shot dead on Monday when US commandos stormed his compound in the Pakistani town of Abbottabad.

American officials say the CIA had been secretly watching for months the house in Pakistan where Bin Laden was killed.

From a safe house in Abbottabad, a surveillance team used telephoto lenses and sensitive eavesdropping equipment, US reports said.

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

Commodities’ volatility continues

Jonathan Barratt of Australian-based Commodity Broking Services

Australian broker Jonathan Barratt says the price of oil still has a “lot more weakness”

Commodity prices have stabilised after markets were hammered by one of the biggest sell-offs in recent history.

Brent crude was up more than 1%, but US light crude stayed flat at $100 a barrel.

Silver continued to extend losses – shedding 5% early on Friday, after its biggest one-day fall in 31 years.

At the end of trade on Thursday in New York, commodity prices had tumbled, with oil falling nearly 9% after weak economic data from the US and Europe.

Victor Shum of Purvin and Gert energy consultants said oil markets were clawing back some of their loses, as traders capitalise on cheap crude prices and buy back into the market.

Silver Index $/ozLast Updated at 05 May 2011, 11:20 ET Silver Index one month chartprice change %37.84–

-2.45

–

-6.08

“Prices are up but this is not unusual after a massive sell-off, we are observing some market participants considering this as a buying opportunity,” he said.

But analysts warn the volatility in the markets could remain.

“When you have this kind of damage, it will take several weeks, or maybe several months, for people to be taken out, and for confidence to be rebuilt,” said Dennis Gartman, author of a markets guide.

“It’s not the end of the commodities cycle, not even close. You still have to call this a correction. It’s a sizable one and scared the heck out of everybody.”

Asian markets have slid in early trade in reaction to the commodities falls of Thursday.

The Nikkei 225 index shed 1.8%, South Korea’s Kospi index also dropped 1.8% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index slid 0.5%.

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

Child leukaemia ‘no nuclear link’

Fergus WalshBy Fergus Walsh

Radiation signBut the report says there is no increased cancer risk near nuclear power plants
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Children living near nuclear power plants in Britain are no more likely to develop leukaemia than those living elsewhere, experts have found.

Any risk was “extremely small, if not actually zero”, the Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (COMARE), said.

It examined data from 1969-2004 on children under five living near 13 nuclear power plants in Britain.

About 500 children develop leukaemia each year – the majority are cured.

COMARE was set up in 1985 to advise government on the health effects of radiation.

The committee examined 430 cases of leukaemia occurring within 25 kilometres of nuclear power plants over the 35-year period.

COMARE has recommended that the government looks at other possible factors involved in childhood leukaemia.

In an earlier report it found that cases of leukaemia were more likely among wealthier families in the least overcrowded conditions.

“The government should be looking for other causes beyond radiation for childhood leukaemia cases.” ”

Professor Alex Elliott COMARE chairman

Other studies have suggested that babies who have regular contact with other children are less likely to develop leukaemia, perhaps because their immune system is primed by early contact with infections.

Professor Alex Elliott from the University of Glasgow, who chaired the committee, said “We should not be complacent about this issue, but we think the government should be looking for other causes beyond radiation for childhood leukaemia cases.”

The committee will now examine clusters of leukaemia cases previously identified around the Sellafield reprocessing plant and Dounreay research facility – these were not included in the current report which focussed only on power plants.

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

A* ‘helps Cambridge state pupils’

Cambridge UniversityCambridge and other top universities are under pressure to increase state school intake
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Cambridge University has said its use of the A* A-level grade for admissions helped raise the percentage of UK students from state schools last year.

The proportion of students from state schools offered places in 2010 was 59.3%, 0.8 percentage points up on 2009, according to the university.

But it was still below the 2008 figure and the university’s 60-61% target.

Cambridge said the rise came despite predictions that the A* would make entry harder for state school pupils.

The new A-level grade was introduced last year, but most top universities – with the exception of Cambridge and, for some courses, University College London and Imperial College London – continued to use the existing grades as a basis for offering places.

Top universities are under pressure to boost their state school intakes, and have to commit to targets as a condition for charging tuition fees of more than £6,000 from September 2012. Most want to charge the maximum of £9,000.

Cambridge University’s own figures – which differ slightly from official ones as they are calculated differently – show 59.3% of students starting in October 2010 were from the state sector, compared with 58.5% in 2009 and below 59.5% in 2008.

Around nine in 10 students who gained a place at Cambridge last year achieved at least one A* and two As at A-level, the university said in a statement.

It chose to include the A* grade in conditional offers in order “to help identify the very brightest students from all backgrounds, after modelling showed that it would have no detrimental impact on widening access”, it said.

Dr Geoff Parks, director of admissions for the Cambridge colleges, said the university was pleased with the admissions trends, but there was “no room for complacency”.

“Many commentators predicted that using the A* would harm our goal of widening access to the university. Our own modelling showed that it would not, and these results speak for themselves,” he said.

Last year, there were fears that the grade would favour students from independent schools, which were able to tutor students more extensively.

Research by the Independent Schools Council concluded that, had A*s been awarded in the 2008-09 academic year, some 36.5% of them would have gone to pupils at ISC schools, even though independent schools educate just over a tenth of sixth formers nationally.

Cambridge University said it had proposed changing the state pupils target to 61-63% of students for admissions in 2012, when the new fees regime begins.

Universities wanting to charge more than £6,000 in fees must commit to an “access agreement” with the Office of Fair Access (Offa).

Proposed agreements had to be submitted to Offa by mid-April, and are currently being assessed by the official body.

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

African migrants lost off Spain

African migrant boat off Canary Islands (file pic)Desperate migrants pack into small boats for perilous voyages to Spain
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Hope are fading for 22 African migrants missing after their small boat took on water off the coast of southern Spain.

Spanish rescuers pulled 29 Africans from the water on Thursday. A search is continuing for the others, about 43km (23 nautical miles) from Melicena.

According to some of the rescued sub-Saharan Africans, a woman, two infants and 19 men are missing.

The boat had set off from Morocco. It is unlikely anyone could survive in the water after 10 hours, officials say.

In recent years Spain has seen a decline in the numbers of African migrants reaching its shores by boat, since a peak of 13,425 in 2008.

The migrants, fleeing poverty in West Africa, risk their lives in open, rickety boats threatened by strong currents. In most cases in the past they headed for the Canary Islands.

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

7 days quiz

7 days quiz

It’s the Magazine’s 7 days, 7 questions quiz – an opportunity to prove to yourself and others that you are a news oracle. Failing that, you can always claim to have had better things to do during the past week than swot up on current affairs.

Graphic of the number seven

1.) Multiple Choice Question

Blue Peter dog Mabel has died after a 14-year screen career. The white and black rescued dog with one floppy ear was the longest-serving pooch on the BBC children’s show. True or false?

Mabel in 1998 with Konnie Huq, Stuart Miles, Katy Hill and Richard Bacon TrueFalse

2.) Multiple Choice Question

On Thursday the electorate voted on whether to change its voting system, the second UK-wide referendum. The subject of the first?

Schoolboy runs past polling station sign Adopting the euroDevolutionUK staying in European Economic Community

Info

Tuesday was the annual Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute gala in New York, one of fashion’s biggest nights. It marked the opening of the Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty exhibition, which honours the late British designer. Many guests wore his creations…

Naomi Campbell, Daphne Guinness and Sarah Jessica Parker in McQueen dresses

3.) Multiple Choice Question

…but which British High Street brand did American actress Ginnifer “Big Love” Goodwin wear?

Ginnifer Goodwin TopshopMiss SelfridgeRiver IslandNew Look

4.) Multiple Choice Question

A driver has 39 points on their licence – the most in Britain – but hasn’t been banned. What these are for is not known. But what does this sign warn against?

Traffic sign: Not wearing seatbeltUsing hand-held mobile phone while drivingChild not in booster seatFailing to do roadside breath test

5.) Missing Word Question

* have ‘evolved to love mud’

HipposPigsFestival-goers

6.) Multiple Choice Question

The Turner Prize shortlist is out. And for only the second time in its history, the exhibition will be staged outside London, at the Baltic Centre in Gateshead. Where was it held the first time it left the capital?

Work by finalist Hilary Lloyd Gallery of Modern Art in GlasgowTate LiverpoolThe Lowry in Manchester

7.) Multiple Choice Question

And finally, not a birthday, but a birth question. Mariah Carey’s newborns Monroe and Moroccan have been named after Marilyn Monroe and the place her husband proposed. Where?

Mariah Carey pregnant MoroccoHer favourite couscous restaurantTop tier of Carey’s New York apartment

Answers

It’s false – Mabel was second to Petra, whose 15 years on air made her the longest-serving Blue Peter dog. Mabel died just a month after the passing of her canine co-star, Lucy the Labrador. It was in 1975, on whether the UK should remain part of the European Economic Community, and the result was yes. It’s Topshop. Her long-sleeve green gown had cut out details around the waist and a thigh-high split. The sign warns against using a hand-held mobile phone. Twelve points on a licence usually means a temporary ban for a driver, unless they can prove it would cause exceptional hardship. It’s pigs who have evolved to love mud, says a researcher in the Netherlands. His conclusions suggest wallowing is vital for the animals’ well-being. It was at Tate Liverpool in 2008, when the city on the Mersey was the European Capital of Culture. It’s the top of her apartment, called the Moroccan Room, where Nick Cannon proposed.

Your Score

0 – 3 : Norma Jeane Mortenson

4 – 6 : Norma Jeane Baker

7 – 7 : Marilyn Monroe

For past quizzes including our weekly news quiz, 7 days 7 questions, expand the grey drop-down below – also available on the Magazine page (and scroll down). You can also do this quiz on your mobile device.

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

Birmingham free to play in Europe

Birmingham City will play in the Europa League next season after being granted a licence by Uefa.

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

Jaguar to build a hybrid supercar

Jorn MadslienBy Jorn Madslien

The Jaguar C-X75 on display in ParisThe C-X75 was on display in Paris in October with an experimental gas-powered jet engine

Jaguar has unveiled plans to build a £700,000 petrol-electric hybrid supercar in the UK.

It will build 250 cars in partnership with Formula 1 team Williams F1.

The C-X75’s ultra-light chassis and two electric engines will help it accelerate from nought to 60mph in three seconds.

It will have an all-electric range of 50km and its overall emissions of less than 100g CO2 per kilometre will be one of the lowest in the industry.

It will have a top speed of more than 200mph.

The car is central to the Indian-owned luxury car company Jaguar Land Rover’s (JLR) plan to establish itself as a technology-inspired carmaker.

“It is a showcase of our capabilities and of the hi-tech engineering skills that exist within Jaguar and Williams F1,” said Carl-Peter Forster, chief executive of JLR’s parent company Tata Motors.

“This is a showcase of what can be done in this country if we all pull together.”

Brand director Adrian Hallmark said: “There is a clear business case for this exclusive halo model.”

In March, JLR announced a plan to launch 40 “significant new products” over the next five years, backed by a £5bn investment plan.

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