Category: news

A strike is under way across Pakistan’s southern Sindh province after a controversial court decision to remove the head of an anti-corruption body.

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

A massive earthquake has hit the north-east of Japan, triggering a tsunami that has caused extensive damage. Seismologist Dr Roger Musson explains how it happened.

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

UK factory gate inflation hits a 28-month high in February, fuelled by rising oil and food prices.

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

The suspected head of armed Basque separatist group Eta has been arrested in northwest France, reports say.

Alejandro Zobaran Arriola was among four Eta suspects held in an operation by French police near the Belgian border, Spanish national radio reports.

Mr Arriola was described as the group’s “new military chief”.

Eta’s campaign for independence for the Basque region has cost more than 800 lives since 1968 but it called a halt to armed attacks last year.

Spanish newspaper El Pais said the arrests took place in Willencourt, west of the city of Arras.

According to AFP, the suspects were arrested late on Thursday in a house where firearms and documents were also seized.

Mr Arriola – known as “Xarla” – is Eta’s sixth military chief to be detained since Francisco Javier Lopez Pena was arrested in May 2008.

Eta has been coming under increasing pressure to lay down its weapons and, in January this year, announced that it would cease “offensive armed actions”.

But Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero rejected the declaration, saying he wanted the group to be completely disbanded.

Spanish authorities believe their campaign against Eta has crippled its operational capacity, with dozens of arrests – including a number of top leaders – made in collaboration with forces in other countries.

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

Sadler’s Wells and the Barbican Centre are to collaborate for the first time to present a season of works by the late German choreographer Pina Bausch in 2012.

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

UK embassy staff are investigating the situation on the ground in Japan and David Cameron has expressed his condolences to the Japanese people after the country was rocked by a massive earthquake.

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

As eurozone leaders meet to try to find a way out of its year-long debt crisis, the Greek prime minister calls for action.

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

A group of leading historians have voiced their opposition to altering the UK voting system while several senior businessmen have called for change.

Niall Ferguson, Anthony Beevor and Andrew Roberts are among those who say a switch to the Alternative Vote (AV) would harm democratic principles.

But the chairman of insurer Aviva and other executives said moving to AV would be a “victory for fairness”.

A referendum on the change will be held on 5 May.

In a letter to The Times, 25 historians argue that the current first-past-the-post voting system for Westminster elections is the product of a long fight for one vote for every man or woman in the country regardless of wealth, gender, race or creed.

They claim this principle of “equal votes” would be threatened by a move to AV – where voters rank candidates in order of preference and second preference votes given to the candidate with the least support are re-distributed after the initial ballot if no-one gains over 50% of first preference votes.

The letter was conceived by the historian turned Conservative MP Chris Skidmore – the author of a number of books on the British monarchy – and not organised by the official No to AV campaign.

Its other signatories include the Regius Professor of History at Cambridge Richard Evans and the best-selling writer Professor Anthony Beevor.

“The cause of reform, so long fought for, cannot afford to have the fundamentally fair and historic principle of majority voting cast aside,” the historians write.

“Nor should we sacrifice the principle which generations of men and women have sought: that each being equal, every member of our society should cast an equal vote.”

At the same time, 11 leading businessmen have endorsed AV in a rival letter to the Daily Telegraph – in a move which was independent of the official Yes to Fairer votes campaign.

The signatories, who include Aviva chairman Lord Sharman, Home Retail Group boss Terry Duddy and top corporate PR executive Roland Rudd, said they were speaking in a private capacity.

AV would make MPs “work harder” to get elected, they claimed, as they would need to aim to secure a majority of voters’ support in their constituency.

“Parties would have to pay far more attention to the vast majority of people during election campaigns under AV,” they write.

The current system forced parties to “sacrifice stability for short-term electoral gain”, they add, and AV elections would give “greater legitimacy” to political parties.

“A vote for change on 5 May would be a victory for fairness, a break with a system of the past and a foundation for greater political stability. It would be good for the country and good for business.”

Voters will go to the polls in the first UK-wide referendum since 1975 on 5 May.

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

Leaders of EU member states hold an urgent summit in Brussels on the Libya crisis, as pro-Gaddafi forces make major gains against rebels.

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

The axed aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal will be decommissioned at a ceremony later in its home base of Portsmouth.

The warship was scrapped after 25 years’ service as part of the government’s defence budget review.

It will leave the navy without the capability of launching fixed wing aircraft until replacements come into service at the end of the decade.

The vessel’s white ensign will be lowered for the final time at a special ceremony in front of honorary guests.

The ship’s last remaining 150 sailors on board will take part in the event in front of about 900 guests including families and former commanding officers.

Principal guest will be First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope, who will inspect a guard comprising 30 ship’s company.

The service will be conducted by the ship’s chaplain, the Reverend Martin Evans, with music from the Royal Marines Band, Portsmouth.

Captain Jerry Kyd, the last Commanding Officer of HMS Ark Royal, said: “Ark Royal has played a very important role throughout her history and has had considerable success in delivering carrier strike.

“For me, personally, I have been exceptionally proud to serve as her captain – my very first job after finishing my initial officer training 25 years ago at Dartmouth was in the then brand new HMS Ark Royal.

“It is therefore a great honour for me to have been her last captain.”

Ark Royal was built at the Swan Hunter ship yard in Wallsend, North Tyneside, in December 1978 and was launched by the Queen Mother.

She also accepted it into service in July 1985 and it was commissioned in November of that year.

The Queen bid farewell to the Royal Navy carrier at a ceremony in November last year.

Capt Kyd, who now commands sister ship HMS Illustrious, added: “I am only too aware that this famous ship and her iconic name mean a great deal to many people.

“Although Ark Royal will be decommissioned, the new Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers are vastly more capable and will provide the Royal Navy with an exciting future.”

Operations have included leading the UK’s naval forces during the invasion of Iraq, with a fleet of helicopters embarked.

The current ship is the fifth vessel to carry the name and has clocked up 621,551 nautical miles during its career.

The first Ark Royal saw battle in 1588 and smashed the Spanish Armada.

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

Members of a BBC orchestra caught up in the Japanese earthquake have described it as a “frightening experience”.

The tremor hit at 1446 local time (0546 GMT) as 90 musicians with the BBC Philharmonic were travelling on a coach from Tokyo to Yokohama.

Tour manager Fiona McIntosh said they had arrived in Yokohama safely but the city was on tsunami alert.

The Manchester-based orchestra is on a tour of Japan where it was scheduled to perform 10 concerts in 17 days.

The orchestra’s coach was crossing a bridge when the earthquake rocked the east side of the country – the latest of a number of powerful foreshocks in recent days.

Violinist Simon Robertshaw, 39, sent a text message when it happened.

“OMG we’ve just been in an earthquake over a bridge.

“Crikey – that was scary!!”

The 8.9 magnitude earthquake struck about 80 miles (130km) off the Pacific coast of Japan, triggering a huge tsunami.

Television pictures showed a massive surge of debris-filled water sweeping away buildings, cars and ships and reaching far inland.

Seismologists said it was one of the largest earthquakes to hit Japan for years.

A Philharmonic spokesman said the musicians had arrived at the Yokohama concert hall – “a safe building” – but Friday night’s concert had been cancelled.

The orchestra left Manchester on 1 March and is due to return on 17 March.

A helpline has been set up for anyone in the UK worried about friends or relatives in Japan affected by the earthquake and tsunami: 020 7008 0000.

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

Libya frees the three-strong crew of a Dutch navy helicopter captured on a botched mission to evacuate civilians near Sirte.

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

Tributes are paid to a Royal irish Regiment soldier from Banbridge who was killed in Afghanistan on Wednesday.

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

An earthquake has struck off the north-east coast of Japan triggering a powerful tsunami

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

The number of new mortgages lent to house buyers slumped by 29% in January, the Council of Mortgage Lenders said

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