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Big break

Is there such a thing as a lucky person or a lucky streak? And does belief in good and bad luck play a part in whether we are prepared to take chances, asks Megan Lane.

I won a pair of cinema tickets recently. Then a free haircut. While sceptical about luck, I couldn’t help but wonder if it might run in threes.

The next day, I had a third stroke of luck. A mugging. Was it bad luck that I had my bag snatched? Or good luck that I was unhurt?

Neither. It was a chance event. When weighing the risks of walking down an unfamiliar street, feeling lucky didn’t come into it (much). Subconsciously, I balanced the time of day – early evening – and the presence of street lighting against the area being unexpectedly isolated.

Are you a risk-taker?

Lab UK’s Big Risk Test takes about 25 minutesIncludes attitudes to luckAsks users to weigh risks of activities such as air travel, gardening and smokingTake the Big Risk Test Aitken and Spiegelhalter on luck and risk

“Luck is a really interesting aspect of risk and chance,” says Cambridge University psychologist Dr Mike Aitken, co-creator of BBC Lab UK’s new Big Risk Test, which explores the type of person likely to be a risk-taker or risk-averse.

“We can all remember days when good things happened to us, and days when less-good things happened, and we attribute the difference to a lucky day and an unlucky day. You could argue that luck exists in that sense.”

But some people believe luck influences external events – that if they buy a lottery ticket on their lucky day, they’ll be more likely to win.

“That’s a much harder belief to justify, because there’s no way the day you buy your lottery ticket can influence the likelihood that you’re going to win,” says Aitken.

“Research has suggested that people who think of themselves as lucky actually are lucky, because they are more willing to take advantage of opportunities.”

Luck under the microscope

We’ve all come across humans acting irrationally. But could there be a rational reason for doing so? The scientist in me would delight in this being rigorously tested.

Ideally, we’d investigate an irrational behaviour that varies between people, but can be manipulated experimentally. What better than the belief in luck: the idea that luck is an attribute that you can possess – or even control?

Our understanding is still at an early stage. We can roughly measure this belief using simple questionnaires, and link it to aspects of mental health, propensity to gamble, or general optimism.

Do these suggest an evolutionary gain from feeling lucky? I’m more intrigued by the idea that people might benefit socially from being seen as “lucky”.

I have a suspicion that under my ultra-rational veneer lurk a fair number of irrational instincts.

Watch Yan test MPs on risk

The BBC’s risk test aims to find out whether belief in luck affects how we perceive the risks of day to day life.

In part, it draws on the BIGL – belief in good luck – scale developed in 1997 by two Canadian psychologists. This does what it says on the tin, measuring the extent to which a person believes in luck. Some think luck influences events in their favour; others think luck is random and unreliable.

The Canadian study that led to the BIGL scale debunked ideas that belief in luck was related to a person’s self-esteem and general life satisfaction.

But those who believe they are inherently lucky tend to be of an optimistic bent, and get more optimistic about the likelihood of future success after a seemingly lucky event – a “lucky break” makes them more confident and optimistic.

Believing that one’s success is down, at least in part, to good luck leads to attempts to control it.

Athletes and gamblers often carry out superstitious rituals in the middle of a winning streak, such as wearing the same lucky shirt, or eating the same lucky meal. Because then they might keep on winning.

Touch wood.

Dr Mike Aitken and Prof David Spiegelhalter

How to measure risk – and does luck exist?

There are two approaches to deciding whether to take a chance and leave the outcome to luck, whether it’s placing a bet, hang-gliding or even deciding whether to take an umbrella in case it rains – head v gut.

“There’s risk as analysis, where you work out the odds of [winning] the lottery,” says test co-creator David Spiegelhalter, professor for the understanding of risk at University of Cambridge.

“Then there’s risk as feeling, which can be influenced by you feeling ‘this is a good day for me, I’m going to take this risk, do this bold thing’.”

Perhaps that’s why I didn’t turn back and instead took what looked like a shortcut down a lonely road – I was feeling lucky. Maybe I should have crossed my fingers. Or was there a black cat that crossed my path?

Making origami cranes for the Senbazuru (a thousand cranes) campaign, with participants worldwide

Lucky charms are used all over the world

But believing in luck can serve a useful function. psychologists say.

It may help us coping with chance events, such as being involved in an accident, a mugging or natural disaster, as it can help people feel more optimistic when circumstances are beyond their control.

Maybe I should have bought a lottery ticket that day after all…

I passed my driving test on the 3rd attempt (third time lucky) on Friday 13th 2005.

Michael Egan, St Helens, England

My sister always seems to win on scratch cards much more than the rest of the family put together. Then I realised, she buys more scratch cards than the rest of the family put together.

Ed, London

Magpies. Singles are bad luck, unless there’s someone else to see it too – then it’s negated. My housemate saw a singleton on the morning she went to work; later that day I was in a car crash. Couples, however, are very good luck. One has to hope that the omens are out there and easily readable.

Alice, Eastleigh, Hampshire

I am quite prone to splinters but hopefully won’t get any today – touch wood.

David Clark, Gloucestershire

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

Delay BSkyB deal, urges Prescott

Lord Prescott is one of several public figures who say they may have been phone-hacking victims

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News Corp’s proposed takeover of BSkyB should be delayed until the police conclude their phone-hacking inquiry, Lord Prescott has said.

He told the House of Lords it would be “totally unacceptable” for a company “actively involved at all levels in criminal acts” to be given control.

The peer says he and others were victims of phone-hacking by the News of the World, which is owned by News Corp.

News Corp declined to comment on Lord Prescott’s remarks.

The company has been given the go-ahead by the culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, to buy the shares in BSkyB it does not already own.

On Tuesday police investigating allegations of phone hacking bailed two News of the World (NoW) journalists after a day of questioning.

Neville Thurlbeck, the tabloid’s chief reporter, and former NoW head of news, Ian Edmondson, had presented themselves voluntarily at two police station in London.

In 2007, the first police investigation into phone hacking led to the convictions and imprisonment of then NoW royal editor Clive Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire, who had been employed by the paper.

Lord Prescott told the Lords: “Are you aware of the decision yesterday following the imprisonments of two employees of [the] Murdoch press that the new inquiry has now arrested two senior employees of the Murdoch press?

Edmondson (l) and Thurlbeck are suspected of having unlawfully intercepted voicemail messages

“Is the government aware, in giving this decision on BSkyB, that it would be totally unacceptable for a company like this that is actively involved at all levels in criminal acts to be given control of BSkyB?”

He also said News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks had admitted a “criminal act” when she told a parliamentary committee in 2003, when editor of the Sun, that police were paid for information.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire told Lord Prescott: “You raised the issue of payments to the police, which clearly would have been illegal, and I know some of these have now been admitted.

“It’s necessary, of course, for the police to have a close relationship to the media because the media can help in solving crime, but payments for information received are clearly illegal.”

Conservative former Cabinet minister, Lord Fowler, complained there had been a “total abuse of power involving some parts of the press”.

He told peers that once criminal proceedings were completed, there should be an independent inquiry into what had happened and how scandals could be prevented.

Mr Hunt said last month he was minded to back News Corp’s proposals to buy the remaining 61% in BSkyB it does not already own.

It would also entail spinning off Sky News as part of any deal.

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

We won’t take risks with NHS – PM

The NHS is under going a major revamp

The government will attempt to wrestle back the initiative on its NHS reforms in England by launching a “listening exercise” later.

Prime Minister David Cameron will be joined by his deputy Nick Clegg and Health Secretary Andrew Lansley at the start of the two-month push.

They will aim to present a united front amid widespread criticism about plans.

The BBC understands they will rule out any U-turn, arguing change is necessary to ensure the NHS can meet demands.

They will say that while the health budget has been protected, the service still needs to make savings to keep pace with the rising pressures from factors such as the ageing population and cost of drugs.

Under the government’s overhaul of the NHS, GPs are to be given control of much of the budget – allowing two tiers of management to be scrapped.

The NHS is also to be opened up to greater competition.

On Monday, Mr Lansley told the House of Commons he wanted to engage with people about the changes before the bill underpinning the reforms returns to Parliament in late spring.

The government has already acknowledged it is willing to make amendments.

But ministers – particularly at the Department of Health – still believe some of the reforms are being misunderstood.

“This is also a question of making substantive changes to the legislation at the end of this two-month process”

Nick Clegg Deputy prime minister

During the next few months they will seek to convince people that the programme does not amount to the privatisation of the health service that some have claimed.

In particular, they will stress that the April 2013 deadline is not an absolute cut-off.

Instead, the national board, which will be headed by NHS chief executive Sir David Nicholson, will have powers to take control of local services where GP consortia are judged to be not up to scratch.

Speaking to the BBC, Mr Clegg said the government was serious about listening to the concerns.

“It is not just a question of presentation. This is also a question of making substantive changes to the legislation at the end of this two-month process.”

He said changes would be made to the governance of GP consortia and to ensure that private companies do not ‘cherrypick’ the most profitable parts of the NHS.

One option being seriously considered is the idea of inviting other experts to get involved in the consortia.

This was proposed by the House of Commons’ health committee on Tuesday.

‘PR stunt’ criticism

The cross-party group of MPs said involving the likes of hospital doctors, public health chiefs and councillors would improve accountability and decision-making.

But the listening exercise has been criticised by Labour.

Shadow health secretary John Healey said: “The test now is whether David Cameron will recognise the very wide concerns and respond with radical surgery to the health bill.”

But he added that he remained doubtful, suggesting that the government had failed to listen during the official consultation on the changes and during debates in Parliament.

“The pause looks suspiciously like a PR stunt to quell the coalition of criticism.”

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

Kabul woman dies after Nato crash

The accident comes at a time when tensions are running high in Kabul and elsewhere in Afghanistan

An Afghan woman has died after being hit by a British military vehicle in the capital, Kabul, police say.

Reports say the vehicle collided with pedestrians in the west of the city. Police say a woman and a child were also injured in the accident.

Police and Nato say no shots were fired by troops, contradicting earlier reports quoting police. An investigation is under way.

The issue of civilian casualties is highly sensitive in Afghanistan.

Hundreds of people marched in the streets of Kabul last month in protest over civilian deaths by foreign forces.

The BBC’s Paul Wood in Kabul says tensions in Afghanistan have been high since Friday, when protests – which have left dozens dead, seven of them UN staff – began over the burning of the Koran by a US pastor.

The British military vehicle had been travelling in a three vehicle convoy.

Nato says that a nearby patrol provided a security cordon while first aid was administered to those injured.

“After the wounded were taken by civilian vehicle to a medical facility, the Nato patrol departed the scene,” a statement said.

There were riots in Kabul in July of last year when an accident involving a US embassy vehicle killed civilians.

And there were city-wide disturbances in 2006 after a US military convoy ploughed into a group of pedestrians.

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

VIDEO: Mourners gather for Kerr funeral

Tyrone gaelic football manager Mickey Harte was among mourners carrying the coffin of murdered PSNI officer Ronan Kerr

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Sex divide

Feminism provided an obstacle to social mobility for working class men, Cabinet minister David Willetts has controversially argued. But is he right?

They were meant to welcome a new era of fairness and opportunity for all. Instead, a minister’s remarks have prompted debate over the effect of women’s entry into higher education and the professions.

In a briefing to journalists ahead of the government’s social mobility strategy, David Willetts, the universities minister, appeared to suggest that feminism had made it harder for working class men to get ahead in life.

Asked what was to blame for a lack of social mobility, the Daily Telegraph quoted him saying: “The feminist revolution in its first-round effects was probably the key factor.

“Feminism trumped egalitarianism. It is not that I am against feminism, it’s just that is probably the single biggest factor.”

His remarks sparked a wave of criticism, and Mr Willetts made it clear that he supported the move of women into the workplace and higher education. But to some the notion that more jobs for females equals fewer opportunities for males will be a convincing one.

An economist’s view

Alan Manning, professor of economics, LSE

“The expansion of university education was faster among women – they went from being a minority of students to a majority.

“But it’s not true that if one group takes something, there’s automatically less for the other.

“The deterioration in employment opportunities among young men was primarily the consequence of the decline in manufacturing.

“It’s not the case that all these apprenticeships were suddenly taken by lots of young women. It’s that the manufacturing jobs just weren’t there anymore.”

Certainly, there is no question that the number of female workers in the UK has increased significantly over the past four decades.

Labour Force Survey estimates suggest that the employment rate for women aged 16 to 59 rose from 56% in 1971 to 73% in 2004.

Whereas in 1971 there were nine million women over the age of 16 in work, by 2004 that figure stood at 13 million.

At the same time, social mobility for men appears to have fallen back over the same period.

According to the government’s own social mobility strategy, the proportion of males born in 1958, with parents who were in the bottom fifth of earners, moving upwards was 70%. For those born in 1970, the figure was 62%.

In 2008-09, 51% of young women entered higher education, according to figures released earlier this year by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, compared with 40% of young men.

It was the first time more than half of women went on to higher education – 20 years previously, only about one in five young women went into higher education and a decade prior to that it was about one in 10.

It is figures like these that may have led Mr Willetts to conclude that greater opportunities for women have resulted in fewer for men.

Mind the gapThe 2010 gender pay divide, which was the closest since figures started in 1997, showed UK men took home 10% more pay than their female counterpartsThe Office for National Statistics data shows that, in April 2010, the UK workforce was made up of 12.7 million men and 12.3 million women.However, work patterns were vastly different between the sexes. Some 88% of men worked full-time, but only 58% of women worked full-timeWomen tended to have lower hourly rates of pay in general, the figures show

Rod Liddle, the son of a train driver who has risen to become a prominent journalist, says he does not like the manner in which the minister made his point. And Liddle insists the move of women into the workplace was just and correct.

But he says such statistics demonstrate that the arrival of middle-class women in large numbers into the universities and professions has restricted the prospects for men with working-class backgrounds.

“The move of women into the workplace is absolutely right – it should be guaranteed,” he says.

“But what Willetts said in down-the-line, factual terms is right. It annoys me when the left refuse to accept that it’s harder for men or that the process has had an effect on the family. That doesn’t mean it was wrong.”

Of course, the number of job opportunities on offer and the nature of the labour market did not stand still as women began to make up a greater proportion of the labour force.

As a result, many academics regard such an interpretation of the data as hugely overly-simplistic.

Men used to achieve social mobility by rising through the factory ranks

Karen Mumford, professor of economics at the University of York, says it is “woolly-minded” to assume that the number of job opportunities has remained static.

In the days before feminism, she says, those working-class men who achieved upward social mobility tended to do so by moving through the ranks at their workplace.

But, Prof Mumford adds, the decline in manufacturing – which traditionally was a source of better-paid jobs for a predominantly male workforce – has meant that these opportunities are no longer available.

The number of jobs in manufacturing fell to 2.5 million in 2010, according to figures from business organisation, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). This is equal to just 9% of the total workforce. In 1978 over seven million people were employed in the sector, equal to 28.5% of the workforce.

She points out, additionally, that the rise in the proportion of women attending higher education mirrored a huge increase in the number of places available for both genders. Government figures show an all-time high of 45% of young people going to university in 2008-09 compared with only about one in 20 in the early 1960s.

As a result, Prof Mumford says, that there was never a pre-feminist golden age in which large numbers of working-class men attended universities.

A feminist for Willetts

Janice Turner, Times columnist

“I don’t like to defend government ministers.

“But I don’t think David Willetts was saying feminism is wrong or evil.

“It’s not about social mobility per se. What’s happened is that middle-class parents aren’t just getting their sons into university, they’re now getting their daughters in as well.

“That’s just a fact. We need to have a clearer debate about these things. The issue needs to be unpicked.”

“It was very rare then and it’s very rare now,” she says. “They are not competing. The problem isn’t feminism.

“What’s happened is that those middle-income working class jobs with which a man used to be able to keep a family have disappeared, while the number of lower-skill service sector jobs, which women have always tended to do, has expanded.”

She acknowledges that the number of better-paid “problem-solving” occupations at the top of the income scale which require a university education have increased, but that this has benefited male and female workers alike.

Moreover, feminists would point to the fact that men in the UK took home 10% more pay than their female colleagues in 2010, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Kate Saunders, feminist writer and novelist, says the idea that greater female participation in the workforce is to blame for a decline in male social mobility ignores the large numbers of women working in badly-paid service sector jobs that many men don’t want.

“So many things have changed, not just the number of women in the workplace,” she says.

“Years ago many working class men used to work in the factory at the bottom of their street, it just doesn’t happen like that anymore and that’s not the fault of women. They aren’t to blame for things like the decline of the manufacturing industry in this country.”

But as long as there is a debate over social mobility, there will also be debate about the repercussions of feminism.

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Editors’ Picks All Comments (38)

32. calmac12000

Society has changed enormously, not always for the better perhaps, in the last twenty to thirty years. It is this that has profoundly affected the lives of working class men, rather than feminism. It is convenient for those in politics to attach the blame for this alienation on one particular factor, particularly if it is one that can be assured of a poor reception on the political right.

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28. Neroli

Why has this stupid suggestion not been instantly dismissed as totally groundless? The 2010 Human Development Report named the Netherlands as the world’s most gender equal society, closely followed by Denmark and Sweden- countries with among the highest levels of income equality and social mobility in the world.

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27. Space

Today there is just as much inequality as in the past, but its now against men. As someone in their mid 30’s, I’ve never experienced any discrimination against women in the workplace, or any wage disparity – but I have experienced discrimination against men. Luckily there’s a culture of men not complaining – how very equal.

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23. homercles

Although women may be going to university in greater numbers these days, they generally seem to opt for qualifications with poorer career prospects, and if a decent job is not available they can always fall back on a more traditional role. While women now, quite rightly, have equal employment opportunities, men still get a much poorer deal if they want to be stay at home dads.

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8. kylefulton

Social mobility has more to do with the change from a workforce previously in manufacturing, where there was a clear path from blue-collar to white-collar sectors. Within the service industry, social mobility is muddied by middle management. I don’t think feminism is at fault. I don’t think there’s much social mobility amongst women who work in factories today.

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Cast announced for TV’s Titanic

Clockwise from top left: Linus Roache, Geraldine Somerville, Toby Jones and Celia Imrie

Roache, Somerville, Jones and Imrie (clockwise from top left) will lead the show’s ensemble cast

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Linus Roache and Celia Imrie are among the actors lined up to star in ITV1’s Titanic mini-series, to be written by Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes.

Geraldine Somerville and Toby Jones, who have both featured in the Harry Potter films, will also have roles in the series.

The four-part drama will be aired next year to coincide with the centenary of the 1912 sinking of the luxury liner.

According to ITV1, filming will begin in Hungary later this month.

Producer Nigel Stafford Clark said the drama would “tell the story in a way that is bold, fresh and gripping, with all the human detail that television does so well”.

“We hope it will be a fitting tribute to the events of that night.”

Roache, the son of Coronation Street veteran William, appeared alongside his father in the ITV1 soap last year.

Somerville, meanwhile, was seen in 2001 film Gosford Park, which earned Fellowes an Oscar for his original screenplay.

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

Degree can add £12,000 to salary

The ONS statistics show degree subject can have a significant effect on future earning potential

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People with degrees earned an average of £12,000 a year more than non-graduates over the past decade, statistics show.

The mid-point salary of graduates aged 22 to 64 was £29,900, compared with £17,800 for non-degree holders, the Office for National Statistics found.

Earnings for those aged 22 averaged £15,000, regardless of degree status.

Earnings for women, with or without a degree, levelled off earlier than for men with the same level of education.

This could be because women are more likely to choose to start a family and take time out from working.

The ONS statistics show young people’s choice of degree topic can have a significant effect on their future earning potential.

In 2010, 34% of female graduates had a degree in either health-related studies or education, compared with only 9% of male graduates.

The data showed 47% of male graduates had a degree in business and finance, sciences or engineering compared with 20% of female graduates.

Average earnings for graduates in the banking and finance industry (predominantly male) over the last decade were £37,300.

And in the public administration, education, and health industry (predominantly female) average earnings were £27,600.

Earnings for those without a degree were highest in the banking and finance industry at £20,300, compared with those in the public administration, education, and health industry at £14,700.

For men and women without a degree, earnings increased for each year of age, levelling off at the age of 30 and peaking at £19,400 at the age of 34.

For those with a degree, earnings increased faster for each year of age, levelling off at the age of 35 and peaking at £34,500 at the age of 51.

The data was compiled from the Labour Force Survey over the past 10 years and the average weekly earnings in 2010.

ONS statistician Jamie Jenkins said: “This analysis shows there is a big difference between average earnings for graduates and non-graduates.

“We also see a big difference between them by age, with graduates’ earnings not peaking until they are in their early 50s.

“After this age, average wages decreased, as the higher earners leave the labour market earlier.”

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

McGeough: 20 years for shooting

Gerry McGeough denied attempting to murder DUP councillor Samuel Brush in 1981

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Former IRA man Gerry McGeough has been sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for the attempted murder of an off-duty UDR soldier 30 years ago.

McGeough, 52, shot Sammy Brush, now a DUP councillor, in Aughnacloy in June 1981.

He was arrested in 2007 as he left an election count centre in Omagh where he was standing as a candidate.

Speaking outside the court, Sammy Brush expressed his approval of the sentence.

“I think in all honesty you have got to make sure that the message goes out loud and clear to people who would consider getting involved in terrorism that sooner or leter they are going to have to pay the price,” he said.

Handing down the 20-year sentence, Mr Justice Stephens told McGeough:

“You elevated your political opinions and views over democracy, the rule of law, the existence and bodily integrity of Mr Brush.”

Sammy Brush, who worked as a postman at the time, was making a delivery to a house north of Aughnacloy, County Tyrone, when he was attacked.

He had just put a letter through the letterbox when he saw a masked gunman stepping out from an adjacent shed, turn in his direction and shoot at him from about 12 ft.

A bullet proof jacket saved the Mr Brush’s life and he returned fire with his own pistol, wounding McGeough.

The gunman was treated in Monaghan Hospital before being flown to a Dublin hospital where he was treated for a gunshot wound.

He later escaped despite being under armed guard.

In 1983, McGeough tried to claim political asylum in Sweden.

His application was turned down.

At his trial, a Swedish immigration expert quoted a letter from McGeough in which he spoke about shooting a British soldier.

“I went there to ambush him and in accordance with the Geneva Convention, I wore military uniform,” said the letter.

“I shot him in the chest but I now realise that he was wearing a bullet proof vest under his shirt. He returned fire and wounded me,” it continued.

Sinn Fein MLA Michelle Gildernew supplied a reference for McGeough ahead of his sentencing.

The Stormont agriculture minister said the prosecution should not have happened because the offence took place before the Good Friday Agreement.

“It is clear that an anomaly has arisen around some of these historical cases – a fact acknowledged by the British Government some time ago along with a commitment to rectify the situation,” she said.

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

Leicester opts for highest fees

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Universities in England have been announcing their tuition fee levels for students starting in 2012, after the government permitted them to raise yearly charges to up to £9,000.

Institutions wanting to charge more than £6,000 must agree measures to help boost recruitment of students from disadvantaged backgrounds, and all announced fees remain subject to approval by the Office for Fair Access.

Please send further updates or information to [email protected]

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Japan plugs reactor leak into sea

A worker points to a crack in a concrete pit near Fukushima Daiichi's No 2 reactor, 2 April

The concrete pit near Reactor No 2 was cracked by the quake

A leak of highly radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean from Japan’s crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has been stopped, its operator reports.

Tepco said it had injected chemical agents to solidify soil near a cracked pit, from where the contaminated water had been seeping out.

Engineers have been struggling to stop leaks since the plant was damaged by the earthquake and tsunami on 11 March.

Japan has asked Russia for the use of a floating radiation treatment plant.

In another development, government sources said that a plan to cover the damaged reactor buildings with special metal sheets could not be carried out until September at the earliest due to high-level radioactivity hampering work at the site.

The official death toll from the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami stands at more than 12,000 with some 15,000 people still unaccounted for, and more than 161,000 people still living in evacuation centres.

Samples of water used to cool one of the plant’s six reactors, No 2, showed 5m times the legal limit of radioactivity, officials said on Tuesday.

The Landysh moored near Vladivostok (archive image from 2004)

The Landysh (Suzuran) is used to decommission nuclear submarines

In order to stem the leak, Tepco (the Tokyo Electric Power Co) injected ”water glass”, or sodium silicate, and another agent near a seaside pit where the highly radioactive water had been seeping through.

Desperate engineers had also used sawdust, newspapers and concrete to try to stop the escaping water.

The company still needs to pump some 11,500 tonnes of low-level radioactive seawater into the sea because of a lack of storage space at the plant.

But officials said this water would not pose a significant threat to human health.

Russia’s nuclear agency Rosatom said it was awaiting answers to some questions before granting Japan’s request to lend its vessel the Landysh, known in Japanese as the Suzuran, which is used to decommission Russian nuclear submarines in the far eastern port of Vladivostok.

One of the world’s largest liquid radioactive waste treatment plants, the Landysh treats radioactive liquid with chemicals and stores it in a cement form.

It can process 35 cubic metres of liquid waste a day and 7,000 cubic metres a year.

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

House prices ‘marginally higher’

Pastel coloured terrace houses in Camden, London

Halifax said it expected house prices to fall 2% in 2011.

House prices rose by 0.1% in March when compared with the previous month, but are still 2.9% lower than a year ago, according to the Halifax.

Its monthly survey found that the average price of a property was £162,912 – up £215 on February.

But over the first three months of 2011, prices actually fell 0.6% compared to the previous quarter.

It was the fourth consecutive quarterly fall, and “the best measure of underlying trend,” said the lender.

“The overall decrease in prices in the first quarter of 2011 compared with the previous quarter was a little lower than the quarterly falls recorded in the third and fourth quarters of 2010,” said Martin Ellis, Halifax’s housing economist.

“The recent increase in employment, particularly those in full-time jobs, may have been an important factor supporting the market.”

The lender forecast that house prices will decline 2% in 2011, blaming “uncertainty over the general economic outlook”.

Halifax’s month-on-month rise of 0.1% is slightly lower than that recorded by the Nationwide Building Society.

Its latest housing survey, published on 31 March, found that property prices increased in March by 0.5%.

While the Halifax figures showed a 0.6% quarterly decline in house prices, the Nationwide’s statistics showed a 0.6% rise in UK property values.

The Land Registry’s figures for England and Wales, which are considered to be the most comprehensive of the house price surveys, will publish its March figures on 4 May.

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

Lib Dems under fire over interns

Nick Clegg has promised “real support” for people work as interns for Lib Dem MPs

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Lib Dem MPs are under pressure to pay their interns after party leader Nick Clegg promised reform.

The party said it would push its MPs to give more help to unpaid staff – but said plans to pay interns working at party HQ will “not happen this year”.

All parties at Westminster use unpaid workers – but campaigners say some are treated “appallingly” by MPs.

Mr Clegg has declared war on unpaid internships across industry claiming they are unfair on the less well-off.

Work experience placements are seen as a gateway to a successful career in professions such as politics and journalism.

But the deputy prime minister says the common practice of making young people work for nothing is barring entry to those from poorer or less well-connected backgrounds and harming social mobility.

“The charge is that Nick Clegg is a hypocrite – trying to deny to others what he enjoyed himself”

Mark Easton BBC Home Affairs CorrespondentRead Mark’s thoughts in full

As part of a plan to boost social mobility, he announced that informal internships for young people in the civil service would be banned.

And he told BBC he wanted the practice to end at Westminster too – starting with his own party.

He told BBC News: “From today all Liberal Democrat MPs will give real support to cover costs and to conform with minimum wage legislation as much as possible”.

This was taken by some to mean that all interns would receive a salary.

But the party was forced to issue a clarification on Tuesday evening, saying plans to pay interns at the party’s Cowley Street headquarters the minimum wage “would not happen this year”.

The party is currently “looking for funding” to underwrite the costs.

But the party said the minimum wage commitment did not apply to interns working in the Parliamentary offices of Lib Dem MPs.

A spokesman said Mr Clegg had only promised they would be paid an “appropriate” amount – but that those taken on in the longer term by MPs should be paid at least the minimum wage, in compliance with existing law.

He said some firms had exploited interns by keeping them on for extended periods on expenses only, to avoid paying them a proper salary.

The spokesman added: “We want to make sure people aren’t out of pocket.”

The central Liberal Democrat Party takes on 15 interns a year, with no position lasting more than three months. All are paid expenses.

A party spokesman said: “We are continuing discussions to make sure all interns are recruited in the appropriate manner and are given the appropriate expenses in future.”

He added: “We are trying to make sure there’s a real improvement. We have had co-operation from all our MPs, who want to bring in the culture that he [Nick Clegg] has been trying to set out.”

But Ben Lyons of the student campaign group Intern Aware said Lib Dem MPs should pay salaries to interns to make their placements affordable.

He added: “I think it’s appalling. Clegg spoke about it in Parliament and he’s now turned back on it.

“It’s only amounting to a few pounds a day in expenses, which is hardly going to help much.”

Mr Lyons also said: “If you live outside London and your parents can’t afford to support you, £5 a day is going to make absolutely no difference.”

“Whereas we appreciate that Mr Clegg is making noises on the issue, it just seems so poorly thought out to come back only a few hours later to say ‘We haven’t got any money’.”

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

Human remains might be older man

Forensic officers at the scene where the human remains were found

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Human remains found on an embankment in West Lothian have been “there for a number of years” and could be from an older man, police have confirmed.

Police said the discovery of skeletal parts, by the River Almond in Craigshill, Livingston, on Monday, are now not being treated as suspicious.

Missing person databases are being searched by police.

It had been thought they belonged to pensioner, Mary Ferns, 88, who has been missing for almost three years.

However, police have now confirmed the remains have “male aspects”.

The “badly decomposed” bones have now been removed from the site for forensic tests and ongoing searches are being made by police in the area.

Police said clothing found along with them suggested they could belong to an older man.

As well as local inquiries, investigations are now underway with the National Missing Person Bureau to try to identify the man.

A Lothian and Borders Police spokesman said: “Inquiries are underway to establish who this person is, and how they died.

“There is no obvious cause of death, and no apparent criminality.

“Forensic tests can be done to help identify the man, but at this stage we are appealing for anyone with any information regarding these remains to contact police.”

Det Insp Phil Gachagan, of Lothian and Borders Police, said: “We are appealing for anyone with any information regarding these remains, to get in touch.

“It may be some time before this person is identified, as they have been at the scene for a significant amount of time, and painstaking inquiries will have to be carried out.”

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

Libya ‘planned to kill civilians’

ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo in the Hague, 5 April

Luis Moreno Ocampo is investigating Col Gaddafi, his sons and close aides

The government planned to crush protests by killing civilians even before the uprising in Libya broke out, the International Criminal Court says.

The chief prosecutor said the plans had been a reaction to street protests that led to the fall of the Tunisian regime.

Luis Moreno Ocampo is expected to request arrest warrants for Col Muammar Gaddafi, his sons and close aides.

Nato has vowed to do all it can to protect civilians after rebels accused it of failing to protect Misrata city.

“Misrata is our number one priority,” Nato deputy spokeswoman Carmen Romero told the AFP news agency on Wednesday.

She added that alliance warplanes had hit Col Gaddafi’s military assets around Libya’s third largest city on Monday.

“We have a clear mandate and we will do everything to protect the civilians of Misrata,” Ms Romero said, referring to the UN resolution that permits “all necessary measures” to defend Libya’s population.

A rebel fighter walks on a tank along the road between Ajdabiya and Brega, 6 April

The rebels have been pushed eastward, beyond the oil town of Brega

On Tuesday, rebel commander Gen Abdul Fattah Younis complained that bureaucracy was causing Nato to take hours to respond to calls for air strikes.

“[Nato] is letting the people of Misrata die every day,” he told reporters in the de facto rebel capital Benghazi. “If Nato should wait another week, there will be no more Misrata.”

In The Hague on Tuesday, Mr Moreno-Ocampo said: “We have evidence that after the Tunisia and Egypt conflicts in January, people in the regime were planning how to control demonstrations inside Libya.

“The planning at the beginning was to use tear gas and [if that failed to work]… shooting,” he told Reuters.

Doctors said last week that at least 200 people had been killed there since the uprising began on 17 February – a figure likely to have risen in recent days.

Nato says international air strikes have reduced Col Gaddafi’s military capabilities by nearly a third, but his forces have deliberately moved weaponry into civilian areas to hamper air strikes.

A Nato-led coalition mandated by the UN to protect civilians is enforcing a no-fly zone and attacking ground targets. It accuses Gaddafi forces of sheltering weapons in civilian areas.

The Greek-owned oil tanker Equator at Marsa el-Hariga oil terminal in Tobruk, 6 April

The oil tanker is a welcome sight for Libyan rebels

Rebel forces in the east of the country have retreated after heavy bombardment from Col Gaddafi’s army, the BBC’s Wyre Davies says from the front line, near the town of Ajdabiya.

In the past 24 hours, heavy and accurate shelling from Gaddafi troops has pushed the disorganised and poorly-equipped rebel army back to the fringes of the town, our correspondent adds.

It is a clear indication that without the protective cover of Nato air strikes, they would find it almost impossible to take the next town of Brega, never mind marching on Tripoli and removing Col Gaddafi from power, he adds.

In a boost to the rebels on Tuesday, a tanker arrived at the eastern port of Tobruk to pick up the first consignment of oil to be exported from the rebel-held region.

The Greek-owned ship is capable of carrying more than $100m (£61m) worth of oil.

Since the revolt against Col Gaddafi’s rule began nearly two months ago, exports of Libya’s main commodity have collapsed, driving up the price of oil to a two-and-a-half year high.

Also on Tuesday, the Gaddafi government made senior diplomat Abdelati Obeidi its new foreign minister, replacing Moussa Koussa, who sought refuge on the UK last week.

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