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Police in the Maldives use tear gas to break up a third night of violent protests, the opposition says.
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The Sellafield site handles nuclear material and is carefully guarded Five men are being held under the Terrorism Act after being arrested close to the Sellafield nuclear site in Cumbria, according to police.
The men, who are all from London and aged in their 20s, were arrested on Monday shortly after 1630 BST.
The arrests were made after Civil Nuclear Constabulary officers conducted a stop check on a vehicle close to the Sellafield site, in Cumbria.
The men were held in Carlisle overnight and are being moved to Manchester.
The BBC’s Fiona Trott said the men were thought to have been filming and were all Bangladeshi.
The BBC understands the arrests were not the result of a long running investigation.
The North West Counter Terrorism Unit is leading the investigation.
A police officer can arrest anyone they “reasonably suspect” of being a terrorist, under Section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000.
The Sellafield site, on the Cumbrian coast, is responsible for decommissioning and reprocessing nuclear waste and fuel manufacturing on behalf of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.
The site, which has operated since the 1940s, is heavily protected by both private security and officers from the Civil Nuclear Constabulary
Sellafield is also home to the world’s first commercial nuclear power station – Calder Hall, which operated from 1956 to 2003.
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Foreign Secretary William Hague tells MPs he is working with European partners on “asset freezes and travel bans” against members of Syria’s regime.
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John Demjanjuk says he was forced to help the Nazis A lawyer for alleged death camp guard John Demjanjuk has called for his client to be acquitted, as final arguments began in a trial in Germany.
Ulrich Busch told the court in Munich that prosecutors had failed to produce any evidence of Mr Demjnajuk’s guilt.
The 91-year-old is accused of having helped to murder 27,900 Jews at the Sobibor death camp in Nazi-occupied Poland in 1943.
Mr Demjanjuk denies the charges. A verdict is expected later in May.
“Prosecutors and plaintiffs have not put forward a single piece of evidence that show the guilt of my client,” Mr Busch said on Tuesday.
The defence lawyer added that his demands were “acquittal for the defendant, release from prison and damages for false imprisonment”.
“If not, then there will be an appeal,” Mr Busch said.
The defence has a few days to wrap up its arguments.
The prosecutors are calling for Mr Demjanjuk, who appeared in the courtroom in a wheelchair, to be sentenced to six years in jail.
They say he participated willingly in the Holocaust.
Mr Demjanjuk insists that he was forced to help the Nazis and had no choice.
An estimated 250,000 people died in the gas chambers at Sobibor.
Born in Ukraine, Mr Demjanjuk emigrated to the US in 1951 and later became a naturalised citizen.
In 2009, he was extradited to Germany from the US to face trial.
Mr Demjanjuk had already spent eight years in detention in Israel.
In the 1980s, an Israeli court identified him as “Ivan the Terrible”, a notoriously sadistic guard at the Treblinka death camp. But his conviction was overturned after new evidence showed that another Ukrainian was probably responsible.
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Forest fires break out across UK
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Fires have been burning over the bank holiday weekend in Scotland Fires are still burning in parts of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland as high winds and dry conditions frustrate emergency services.
Firefighters are dealing with various blazes across large parts of the Scottish Highlands.
Two boys, aged 10 and 15, have been questioned about a gorse fire in the Mourne Mountains of County Tyrone.
Meanwhile 150 firefighters have been called to deal with a number of incidents at Swinley Forest, Berkshire.
Elsewhere 50 firefighters in Lancashire have been using beaters and spraying water on flames and smouldering moorland at Belmont, Bacup and Ormskirk.
Crews from Merseyside, Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire are involved in tackling the fires, which were fanned by winds of up to 45 mph.
Paul Richardson, from Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service, says the high winds and very dry conditions make it risky for walkers and emergency crews.
Weather forecasters have said there is very little chance of rain in the next 24 hours.
In the Highlands several homes at Inverkirkaig in Assynt and Shiel Bridge in Kintail have been evacuated because of advancing flames.
Crews have been working on steep rugged terrain and helicopters have been brought in to reach inaccessible areas.
Hundreds of firefighters have been involved – most of them part-time and retained.
In Northern Ireland, the Mournes, Ballycastle, Gortin and Rostrevor have been badly affected.
Chief Fire Officer Peter Craig said it had been “phenomenally busy”.
He said: “What we are highly concerned with is protecting life, property and infrastructure.
Fire crews used a helicopter to water bomb the flames at Kintail “In Rostrevor, I saw a ball of flames rolling towards a property. Firefighters, the local community and property owners themselves worked extremely hard to make sure that that person’s home did not go up in flames.”
The National Trust has warned the fires will cause “immense damage” to the Mournes.
In Berkshire 150 firefighters from four different counties have been dealing with four serious blazes at Swinley Forest.
A large area of Bracknell and Crowthorne remains closed off.
Elsewhere in Europe the dry weather has led to fires in parts of Switzerland, Russia and the Netherlands.
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The searches followed a police operation in south Armagh Semtex explosives and a horizontal mortar were among weapons found during searches targeting dissident republicans over the Easter weekend.
Police have released more details about what was found during the searches in south Armagh and east Tyrone.
Also found were 25 kilos of home made explosives, an automatic weapon, a silencer, ammunition, three timer power units, booster tubes and a detonator.
The searches followed the arrest of three men in Keady on Good Friday.
The men were subsequently charged after a number of weapons – including machine guns and rifles – were found in a car they were travelling in.
They have not been charged in connection with the other weapons found in the follow-up searches.
The horizontal mortar found in the later searches contained more than half a kilo of Semtex.
There have been a number of significant arms finds by the PSNI since dissident republicans murdered Constable Ronan Kerr in Omagh on 2 April.
Days after the murder rifles, detonators, component parts for rocket launchers and explosives were found in the Coalisland area of County Tyrone.
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The polls are the biggest test of electoral opinion in England since last year’s general elections Campaigning is entering its final stages ahead of Thursday’s council elections across England.
Labour leader Ed Miliband has urged voters to “send a message” to the government that they feel “utterly betrayed” by their policies.
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, who will campaign in Surrey, has accused Labour councils of slashing services.
More than 9,500 seats in 279 councils across England are being contested in the 5 May poll.
The Conservatives are defending about 5,000 seats, which were last contested in 2007. Labour and the Lib Dems are fighting to hold onto about 1600 and 1800 seats respectively.
Among the 36 metropolitan councils electing a third of their seats are Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Sheffield. In addition, elections will be held in 49 unitary authorities and 194 district councils.
The campaign has been dominated by the impact on council services of government spending cuts.
“These elections are an opportunity to vote for a different direction”
Ed Miliband Labour leaderAnalysis: Lib DemsAnalysis: ToriesAnalysis: LabourAnalysis: UKIPAnalysis: Green Party
Labour, who are hoping to make substantial gains on their performance four years ago, have argued that their councillors will be the “first line of defence” against cuts to council budgets.
In a press conference, Mr Miliband said the government had “no mandate for front-loaded cuts to local council budgets that go too far and too fast”.
“As I have gone round this country, I have met many people who say they feel utterly betrayed by this government,” he said. “These elections are an opportunity to vote for a different direction.”
The Conservatives have said that while local authorities are facing difficult decisions, many have demonstrated that they can do “more for less” by cutting waste and sharing services.
The Lib Dems have said their councils have made more responsible decisions than the other two parties, insisting that no libraries or Sure Start children’s centres are being closed in areas under their control.
Other parties, including the UK Independence Party, the Green Party and the BNP, are also hoping to get a boost in the polls.
UKIP leader Nigel Farage said the party, which currently has just 19 councillors, was putting more effort into the campaign this year than at previous polls.
“I am confident that, in this year’s elections, we have the highest number of candidates and I am confident we are going to make some significant gains,” he told BBC Radio 5Live Breakfast.
BNP leader Nick Griffin denied their support had “collapsed” at last year’s elections – when it lost all 12 of its seats on Barking and Dagenham council – and said the party had focused this campaign on measures to cut crime and boost school discipline.
“We had the best general election we’ve ever had in the last election. It wasn’t as high as some people’s expectations and hopes were but it was a solid improvement,” he told the same programme.
The Greens hope to take control of Norwich and Brighton councils and boost their representation in Bristol among other cities by stressing their opposition to spending cuts and support for a living wage, public transport and greater recycling.
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Erin O’Connor’s bank card Pin number was used by her personal assistant A personal assistant to model Erin O’Connor who stole money from her employer to pay for shopping and holidays has been spared jail.
Michelle Knox-Brown, 46, admitted two counts of fraud, including stealing £10,251, over three years.
Knox-Brown, of east London, who was paid £45,000 a year for working three-and-a-half-days-a-week, was ordered to do 200 hours’ of unpaid community work.
Kingston Crown Court heard the fraud left the model “doubting herself”.
Knox-Brown was given a 40-week suspended sentence and ordered not to contact her former employer.
Judge Andrew Campbell told the former PA, of Glyn Road, Clapton: “You were in a position of trust, indeed a relatively high position of trust.
“The goods and the money you obtained were not obtained because you were short of money, but out of sheer greed.
“You have let Miss O’Connor down quite badly, and as she explains, what you have done has affected not only her work but the trust she puts in other people.”
Knox-Brown, who was hired in 2007, had access to O’Connor’s personal information and bank accounts, including the Pin number to the 33-year-old Marks & Spencer model’s bank card.
She made hundreds of transactions, even while on holidays to Morocco, India, Spain and America, the court heard.
She ran up a £1,607 taxi-bill and hundreds of pounds in parking fines, even though the model did not drive.
She also went on a spending spree in London’s West End and withdrew £1,500 cash over a two-week period.
Knox-Brown used her employer’s money to pay for a friend’s hen night party in Brighton and VIP tickets and £400 spending money to the Isle of Wight music event, Bestival.
Knox-Brown was caught in February 2010 when Miss O’Connor became suspicious of the taxi bills.
“Miss O’Connor and her partner spent days and days and days trying to piece together the fraud that had been perpetrated on her,” prosecutor Jonathan Polnay said.
“Effectively Miss O’Connor turned detective.”
Julian Winship, defending, said his client was “ashamed” and “properly remorseful”.
Knox-Brown was also ordered to pay back £2,000 to the model within a month and return another £6,000 over two years.
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Police officers have been carrying out routine searches of Heathrow Pakistan’s leadership should be backed as it is in the UK’s interests to aid “democratic forces” in the country, David Cameron has told the BBC.
The PM’s comment came as he prepares to address the Commons later about US special forces killing Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan.
He said it would be wrong to “throw up our hands in despair and walk away” and not engage with Pakistan.
Mr Cameron spoke on Monday to the Pakistan and Afghanistan presidents.
A 45-minute meeting of the Cobra civil emergencies committee was also held on Monday evening.
UK embassies have been ordered to review security amid fears of reprisal attacks, and Britons have been urged to be vigilant.
BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera said security officials in the UK would likely be watching “those people they already are watching, and asking ‘are they speeding up what they might have been trying to do?'”.
He said they would also be looking at other countries to see if there was a “violent reaction”.
Recent – foiled – plots, such as the printer cartridges, one of which came through the UK, have come out of Yemen.
“That’s the place that has been the centre of some of the most dangerous activity, in terms of al-Qaeda,” our correspondent said.
“That kind of group won’t be affected operationally by the death of Osama Bin Laden.”
Bin Laden, believed to be behind the 9/11 attacks, was killed on Sunday about 62 miles from Pakistan’s capital in an US operation which did not involve Pakistan.
Mr Cameron hailed the death as “a great success”, but said it was not the end of terror threats.
He chaired a 45-minute Cobra meeting on Monday evening.
A Downing Street spokesperson said: “The group welcomed the president’s announcement and agreed it was an important step forward in the fight against terror.
“The group also discussed the potential impacts of the incident. They agreed to continue to make every effort to counter terrorism and extremism.”
Mr Cameron spoke to President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, and President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani of Pakistan, on Monday.
Downing Street said: “The prime minister made clear in the conversations that Britain would continue to work extremely closely with both Afghanistan and Pakistan to tackle the terrorist threat from al-Qaeda and from the Taliban.”
David Cameron: “It is a massive step forward”
Writing in the Washington Post, Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari has denied that the killing of Osama Bin Laden in his country is a sign of its failure to tackle terrorism, adding that his country was “perhaps the world’s greatest victim of terrorism”.
The Foreign Office has urged Britons overseas to “exercise caution in all public places and avoid demonstrations, large crowds of people and public events”.
Defence Secretary Liam Fox has also ordered British military bases – both in the UK and abroad – to maintain a “high level of vigilance”.
Meanwhile, the Prince of Wales is beginning a three-day trip to Washington, where he will meet US President Barack Obama at the White House.
Mr Cameron was phoned by Mr Obama before dawn on Monday UK time, a couple of hours before the president announced the news in a televised address.
Speaking later from the prime minister’s country residence, Chequers, he said: “This news will be welcomed right across our country.
Those who follow Bin Laden may now wish to show that the death of their leader has not affected their ability to pursue his agenda of violence.
Pakistan’s main Taliban faction has already threatened to attack the country’s rulers and the US and the Foreign Office has urged Britons overseas to “exercise caution”. The prime minister also made clear there is a need for particular vigilance in the weeks ahead.
Many groups affiliated to al-Qaeda – like the offshoot in Yemen which has been most active in recent months – will be barely affected by Bin Laden’s death operationally.
The Home Office in London is making clear the threat level will remain where it is – at the second highest level, meaning an attack is highly likely.
However, al-Qaeda supporters have been trying to carry out a successful, major attack for many years and even if their desire may be increased by Bin Laden’s death, their ability to actually do so will not have changed. Any violence is therefore more likely to be low-level.
But while the fear is of reprisals in the short term, the hope will be that the death will – in the longer term – help erode the appeal of al-Qaeda’s ideology.
“Of course, it does not mark the end of the threat we face from extremist terror – indeed we will have to be particularly vigilant in the weeks ahead. But it is, I believe, a massive step forward.”
The PM plans to make a statement to the House of Commons on Tuesday afternoon.
Foreign Secretary William Hague said the network may try to reassert itself and stressed the likelihood of reprisals against UK targets.
The threat level to the UK from international terrorism has remained at severe since January 2010, indicating a terrorist attack is highly likely.
The Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, which includes representatives from 16 government departments and agencies, sets the threat level.
Bin Laden was top of the US “most wanted” list, and President Obama said his death was “the most significant achievement to date in our nation’s effort to defeat al-Qaeda”.
In the attacks in New York and Washington on 11 September, 2001, 67 Britons were among the 3,000 people killed when four planes were hijacked and flown into New York’s World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania.
Tony Blair, UK prime minister at the time of the attacks, expressed his “heartfelt gratitude to President Obama and to all of those who so brilliantly undertook and executed this operation”.
Tony Blair: “If you, by acts of terror, kill innocent civilians, we will find you”
Labour leader Ed Miliband, while reiterating the call for vigilance, said: “The world is a safer place as a result of the death of Osama Bin Laden because he is no longer there to command or encourage terrorism.”
Farooq Murad, the secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said few would mourn the death of Bin Laden, “least of all Muslims”.
“Many Muslims will reflect on the 10 years that have passed in which our faith and our community have been seen through the prism of terrorism and security.
“His extremism has been responsible for the deaths of many people, including many Muslims around the world.”
Bin Laden evaded the forces of the US and its allies for almost a decade, despite a $25m (£15m) bounty on his head.
He was killed in a firefight in a fortified residence in Abbottabad, 100km (62 miles) north-east of Islamabad.
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Fire crews try to tackle wildfires in parts of Scotland, Ireland and England, but high winds and dry conditions are frustrating their efforts.
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Daniel Barenboim accepted honorary Palestinian citizenship in 2008 Israeli conductor Daniel Barenboim is due to lead an orchestra of European musicians in a “peace concert” in Gaza.
It is the first-ever performance in the Palestinian territory by an international classical ensemble.
Israel forbids its civilian citizens from travelling to Gaza, so Barenboim is entering via Egypt, along with 25 musicians.
For years, Daniel Barenboim has used music to try to promote peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
He famously set up an orchestra made up of young Arab and Israeli musicians, known as the East-West Divan orchestra. In 2005, it performed in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
But today’s concert in Gaza City is one of his most ambitious moves, says the BBC’s Jon Donnison in Ramallah.
“This visit is very important to us”
Ibrahim al-Najjar Al-Qattan music schoolAudio slideshow: Gaza music school
Audio slideshow: Gaza music school
In a statement released by the UN Special Co-ordinator for the Middle East peace process (Unsco), Barenboim said: “We are playing this concert as a sign of our solidarity and friendship with the civil society of Gaza.”
“The concert is to try and bring something to the people of Gaza,” he said. “It is not a political event in any sense.”
The so-called Orchestra for Gaza includes musicians from five leading European orchestras, including the Berlin and Vienna philharmonics.
It will perform before an audience of several hundred Palestinians at the al-Mathaf Cultural House. The programme includes pieces by Mozart including Eine Kleine Nachtmusik and the G minor symphony.
“This visit is very important to us for many reasons, both cultural and civil,” Ibrahim al-Najjar, director of al-Qattan music school, the only such establishment in Gaza, told the AFP news agency.
“And from a political perspective, it is important to show that Gaza is a safe place,” he added.
Gaza is governed by the Islamist group Hamas, which Israel regards as a terrorist organisation.
The impoverished coastal strip has been subjected to a crippling Israeli blockade since 2006. The embargo was eased somewhat last year following international outrage over the killing of Turkish activists on an aid flotilla.
The Israeli government has previously blocked attempts by Barenboim to perform in Gaza. His entry through Egypt’s Rafah crossing comes amid Israeli criticism of plans by Egypt’s new military rulers to open up the border, our correspondent says.
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The 10 Russian agents appeared in a US court before their expulsion A former top Russian spy has been charged in Moscow over the exposure of 10 sleeper agents in the United States.
The man, identified as Alexander Poteyev, will be tried in his absence with high treason and desertion, Russia’s secret service, the FSB, said.
Russian media say he fled to the US days before last year’s scandal broke.
The 10 sleeper agents were expelled by the US and exchanged for four Russians who allegedly spied for the West, in the biggest swap since the Cold War.
Russian intelligence sources have been quoted as saying the affair was a major embarrassment for the Federal Security Service (FSB).
But, on their return, the Russian sleepers were met by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, and bestowed with Russia’s top honours by President Dmitry Medvedev.
They included Anna Chapman, who has since become a media sensation in Russia.
“The FSB investigative department has concluded its investigation into Russian citizen AN Poteyev,” Russian news agencies quoted an FSB statement as saying.
“The indictment was submitted to the Moscow district military tribunal for a hearing on April 21.”
High treason carries a maximum of 20 years’ prison.
Mr Poteyev was apparently exposed in the Russian newspaper Kommersant last November – though it used the name of a Colonel Shcherbakov.
Russian media say Mr Poteyev was indeed a colonel at Directorate C, a spy agency that placed long-term agents in foreign countries.
“He fled Russia a few days before Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s June trip to Washington and is currently in the United States,” an unnamed security official was quoted as saying by the Russian news agency Interfax.
In its report in November, Kommersant quoted an unidentified Kremlin official as suggesting that a Russian hit squad was planning to kill the colonel.
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Alice Ding died from stab wounds, police have revealed A suspect in the investigation into the murders of a couple and their two daughters has been named by detectives.
Police said Anxiang Du, 52, was being sought in connection with the deaths of the family who were found stabbed in their home in Pioneer Close, Wootton, Northampton, on Sunday night.
The family was named locally as college lecturer Jifeng Ding, his wife Helen Chui, and daughters Alice and Xing.
Police said Mr Du, last seen on 29 April, had left a suicide note.
Mr Du, who is from the West Midlands area, left a note to his family inferring that it was time to say goodbye.
Police said they were still looking for a murder weapon.
Mr Du was described by police as a business associate of Ms Chui and of Chinese descent.
He has a slim build and wears a baseball cap to hide a bald patch on his head.
Earlier, police said they did not think the family were victims of a random attack.
They are believed to be investigating the background of the family – who are also of Chinese descent – to try to establish a motive for the murder.
Police also want to trace a silver five-door Vauxhall Corsa, registration BG60 PMO, that was hired by one of the family members and was last seen on Friday.
A tribute page set up on Facebook to Nancy, 18, who has the Chinese name of Xing, and Alice, 11, has been joined by more than 1,500 people.
Detective Superintendent Glyn Timmins said the public should not approach the suspect Anxiang Du
On a separate page, comments have been made by students at Manchester Metropolitan University in praise of Xing and Alice’s father Jifeng, who was known as Jeff.
Helen Chui is believed to have worked locally as a teacher.
Manchester Metropolitan University said it was “shocked and saddened by the news of the death of Dr Jeff Ding”.
“As a senior lecturer, Jeff was a popular and dedicated member of staff who joined the university in 2004,” a university spokesman said.
“Jeff will be very sadly missed by all his colleagues in the division of chemistry and environmental sciences, all our staff, students and his friends at Manchester Metropolitan University and by the wider academic and research communities.”
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Questions are being asked over how Osama Bin Laden was able to live in Pakistan without being detected by security forces.
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