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‘Significant’ phone hacking lead

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Police have launched a fresh investigation into phone hacking after receiving “significant new information”, Scotland Yard has said.

The inquiry will be moved from the Met Police’s counter terrorism command to the specialist crime directorate.

The information relates to hacking at the News of the World in 2005, which led to its royal editor being jailed.

The BBC has learned the paper sacked former head of news Ian Edmondson on Tuesday following an internal inquiry.

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

Irish PM party chooses new leader

Irish ex-Foreign Minister Micheal Martin, file imageMicheal Martin staged a leadership bid last week, helping to de-throne Brian Cowen

The main party in the Irish Republic’s coalition has announced a new leader, days after Prime Minister Brian Cowen resigned his party post amid a long-running political and economic crisis.

Fianna Fail, long dominant in Ireland, announced the election of ex-Foreign Minister Micheal Martin on Twitter.

The party, which may face a general election next month, has slumped in the polls amid Ireland’s financial crisis.

Parliament is soon expected to pass the government’s austerity bill.

“Micheal Martin has been elected as the eighth Leader of Fianna Fail,” the party said on its Twitter feed.

Mr Martin, 50, was elected a week after he launched a failed leadership challenge against Mr Cowen – a move that helped to fatally destabilise the prime minister.

Mr Cowen quit as party leader on Saturday, but will stay on as prime minister until elections which are widely expected next month.

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

Clashes in Egypt protest cities

Protest outside journalists' union buildingProtesters have vowed to stay on the streets until the government falls
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Police have clashed with anti-government protesters in two major Egyptian cities following Tuesday’s unprecedented protests, witnesses say.

Police broke up a demonstration in central Cairo, beating protesters with batons. Demonstrators also gathered in the eastern city of Suez.

Meanwhile security officials said at least 500 people had been arrested in a crackdown against the protests.

Public gatherings would no longer be tolerated, the interior ministry said.

Anyone taking to the streets against the government would be prosecuted, it added.

The BBC’s John Leyne in Cairo says the authorities are responding in familiar fashion, treating a political crisis as a security threat.

However, the state news agency Mena quoted Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif as saying the government was committed to “freedom of expression by legitimate means”.

Police had acted with restraint, he said.

Protesters have been inspired by the recent uprising in Tunisia, vowing to stay on the streets until the government falls.

They have been using social networking sites to call for fresh demonstrations, but both Facebook and microblogging site Twitter appear to have been blocked inside Egypt.

Following a “day of revolt” across Egypt on Tuesday, protesters attempted to stage new demonstrations in Cairo on Wednesday.

“We believe that the open exchange of information and views benefits societies and helps governments connect with their people”

Official posting by Twitter Egypt protests face net clampdown

There were scuffles reported outside the journalists’ union building in central Cairo as hundreds of people gathered to protest.

Police beat some with batons and fired tear gas when they tried to break through a cordon, and protesters on nearby buildings threw stones.

Reuters news agency reported more clashes outside a central court complex in the city.

Meanwhile, in the eastern city of Suez, crowds gathered outside the morgue where the body of a victim of Tuesday’s protests was being kept.

Demonstrations are illegal in Egypt, which has been ruled by President Hosni Mubarak since 1981. The government tolerates little dissent and opposition demonstrations are routinely outlawed.

In Washington, the White House urged the Egyptian government to allow protests to go ahead, describing the situation as “an important opportunity to be responsive to the aspirations of the Egyptian people”.

Tuesday’s protests were co-ordinated through a Facebook page, where organisers say they are taking a stand against torture, poverty, corruption and unemployment. One page called for protesters all over Egypt to gather after prayers on Friday.

Water cannons fired at protesters in Cairo

The BBC’s Jon Leyne: “Tear gas and water cannon were used against protesters”

However, Wednesday brought reports that Facebook was being blocked inside Egypt.

Twitter also played a key part, with supporters inside and outside Egypt using the search term #jan25 to post news on Tuesday, but it was blocked later in the day.

The government blamed the violence on the banned Islamist movement the Muslim Brotherhood, although it was reported to have been ambivalent about the protests.

One opposition leader, Mohamed ElBaradei, had called on Egyptians to take part in the protests.

Tunisia’s President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was ousted from power and fled the country earlier this month, after weeks of protests in which dozens of people were killed.

Egypt has many of the same social and political problems that brought about the unrest in Tunisia – rising food prices, high unemployment and anger at official corruption.

However, the population of Egypt has a much lower level of education than Tunisia. Illiteracy is high and internet penetration is low.

There are deep frustrations in Egyptian society, our Cairo correspondent says, adding that Egypt is widely seen to have lost power, status and prestige in the three decades of President Mubarak’s rule.

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Colombian miners killed in blast

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At least five miners have been killed and many others are missing following an explosion at a coal mine in north-east Colombia, an official says.

Rescue teams raced to the La Preciosa mine in Sardinata, Norte de Santander department following the blast, which was blamed on a build-up of gases.

Early reports said about 30 miners had been underground, but the mayor later said at least 13 were trapped.

In February 2007 a gas explosion at the same mine killed more than 30 workers.

After that blast, authorities said they would step up their supervision of Colombia’s mines.

Last November, nine workers died at two mines in the Cundinamarca region of Colombia.

Following the latest incident, Sardinata Mayor Yamile Rangel said five miners had been injured and taken to hospital.

She said four were confirmed dead at the scene and a fifth had died on the way to hospital.

“In the mine there are between 13 and 19 workers trapped,” she said in the latest update.

Emergency teams were unable to enter the mine because of the collapse, officials said.

Red Cross rescue chief Carlos Ivan Marquez said it appeared that methane gas had caused the explosion.

The blast occurred during a change of shift at about 0630 (1130 GMT), RCN radio reported.

Correspondents say conditions for miners in South America have improved radically over recent decades, but there are still many accidents.

Colombia is one of the world’s largest coal exporters and has the second-largest reserves in South America, after Brazil.

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

New controls for terror suspects

An armed officerThe counter-terrorism review was launched by the Home Office in July 2010
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New measures to replace control orders have been revealed by the home secretary after a review of counter-terrorism powers.

It comes after the man who headed the review, Lord Macdonald, said the UK had over-reacted to 9/11 and 7/7.

The control order regime should now be scrapped by the end of the year and replaced with T-Pims (Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures).

Critics have said the new system is little more than “control orders lite”.

In addition, as part of the counter-terrorism review, the limit of pre-charge detention will be cut from 28 to 14 days.

Outlining the plans to Parliament, Home Secretary Theresa May said the new regime would “better focused”.

As with control orders now, T-Pims will require the home secretary’s permission with reviews by the High Court.

The measures will be limited to two years, but will be able to be extended if there is new material that the individual still poses a threat.

They will also require overnight residence of eight to 10 hours, which will be verified by an electronic tag.

Currently curfews can last for up to 16 hours.

Analysis

The coalition says it wants to rebalance counter-terror powers and liberties – but the replacement for control orders raises complex legal, security and political questions.

Officially, the current regime goes, but critics say the fundamental objection to the regime has not been addressed. The Home Secretary still has the power to use secret evidence kept from a suspect to impose restrictions on them – albeit lesser ones – which, if broken, could lead to jail.

Theresa May insists a more “focused and flexible” regime will leave no gaps in national security. The immediate political danger is that she will face attack from the security-minded for being too weak – and from civil liberties campaigners for falling short of hopes.

But once the detailed legislation comes to Parliament, the bigger question will be whether the new system genuinely changes the status quo – or simply tweaks the edges of a very difficult business.

The home secretary said this would be more flexible than a curfew and a controlee could stay away from their home address with permission.

Some measures will stay, such as a ban on overseas travel, the requirement to regularly report to the police and a breach of these conditions leading to a maximum five-year jail term

There will be limited restrictions on communications including the use of the internet, but controlees will be able to use it at home as long as they notify authorities of their password.

According to the Home Office these measures are not as restrictive as now.

In his report overseeing the counter-terrorism review, the former director of public prosecutions, Lord Macdonald, said he supported most of the recommendations.

However, he was critical of the replacement measures for control orders.

“It may be appropriate and proportionate to mandate overnight stays at a notified address,” he said.

“But a tag is of limited use here, in the absence of curfew, and neither tags nor curfews are commonly used in criminal cases where residence requirements are in place: generally the police rely on spot visits and intelligence to enforce the requirement.

“In the circumstances I would regard the use of curfews and tags in this context to be disproportionate, unnecessary and objectionable. They would serve no useful purpose.”

CONTROL ORDERS: NEW REGIME?End overnight curfews – but overnight residency at named locationTag suspects – same as nowBans on visiting locations difficult to keep under surveillanceAllow mobile phones – but only if numbers are suppliedForeign travel banBan on meetings with other suspectsFuture of control orders revealed Send us your comments

Lord Macdonald told the BBC ahead of the announcement that “traditional ideals” had been sacrificed in the push against terrorism, and a balance had to be drawn between security and freedom.

He said there had been an element of over-reaction, meaning British institutions became a “symbol of hypocrisy” around the world.

The Home Office launched the review in July 2010, saying it would be rapid and would be aimed at reconciling counter-terrorism powers with civil liberties.

The parties agreed to scrap the power of police to hold a suspect without charge for 28 days – and the time limit has now reverted to the original 14 days, after ministers decided not to renew the legislation this month.

However, the coalition has struggled to reach a deal on the future of control orders – the controversial powers to restrict the movement of a small number of suspects who the government says cannot be prosecuted or, where they are foreign nationals, deported.

Security chiefs say the power is an essential tool in cases where there is intelligence that someone is involved in extremism but has not yet committed a crime, such as someone associating with known plotters.

The coalition ministers appear to have reached a deal to scrap control orders – but leaks in recent weeks have led critics to say the new system is little more than “control orders lite”.

Responding to the home secretary’s statement in the Commons, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the review had been” chaotic”.

She said it had been “delayed, confused, riven by leaks and political horse-trading”.

“It is a review with some serious gaps, which raises serious questions about security and resources and the public and the people who work to keep us safe deserve better than this.”

Shami Chakrabarti, director of human rights group Liberty, said the government had “bottled it”.

“Spin and semantics aside, control orders are retained and rebranded, if in a slightly lower-fat form,” she said.

“As before, the innocent may be punished without a fair hearing and the guilty will escape the full force of criminal law.”

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

Two jailed for homophobic killing

Alexander (left) and ThomasAlexander (left) and Thomas were jailed for manslaughter

Two people who fatally attacked a man in London’s Trafalgar Square after subjecting him to homophobic taunts have been jailed for manslaughter.

Ian Baynham, 62, of Beckenham, south-east London, was assaulted outside South Africa House in September 2009.

He was punched by Joel Alexander, 20, and then repeatedly stamped on by Ruby Thomas, 19, as he lay unconscious.

The Old Bailey jailed Thomas and Alexander for seven and six years respectively.

Rachael Burke, 18, of Upper Norwood, south-east London, was found guilty of affray at an earlier trial but cleared of manslaughter.

Former public schoolgirl Thomas hurled obscene abuse at Mr Baynham, a civil servant, during the drink-fuelled assault.

The court heard she swore and screamed “faggots”, and smiled as she “put the boot into” Mr Baynham after he was knocked to the ground by Alexander.

Ian BaynhamIan Baynham was attacked in Trafalgar Square in September 2009

Mr Baynham died 18 days after the assault in central London.

Police found his blood smeared on Thomas’s handbag and the ballet pumps she was wearing as she kicked him.

Thomas’s ex-boyfriend Declan Seavers told the court that the teenager was “not the type of girl” to have done it.

But Judge Richard Hawkins increased Thomas’s sentence from six years to seven years because of the homophobic nature of the attack.

“This was a case of mindless drink-fuelled violence committed in public,” he said.

Thomas, of Anerley, south-east London, and Alexander, from Thornton Heath, also in south east London, were convicted of manslaughter at the Old Bailey in December.

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

Confusion over Adams resignation

David Cameron

David Cameron told MPs Mr Adams had accepted a role as “Baron of the Manor of Northstead”.

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The Prime Minister’s statement that Gerry Adams had accepted a Crown title has been disputed by the Sinn Fein President.

David Cameron told the House of Commons Mr Adams had accepted the title in order to resign his Westminster seat.

In response, Mr Adams said he had not applied and had received an apology from the PM’s office.

Meanwhile, a treasury spokesman said that the Chancellor had appointed Gerry Adams to the title.

Parliamentary rules mean MPs cannot officially resign and have to accept a crown office to give up their seat.

A Treasury spokesman said on Wednesday: “Gerry Adams has said publicly that he is resigning from Parliament.

“Consistent with long-standing precedent, the Chancellor has taken this as a request to be appointed the Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead and granted the office.”

Earlier, David Cameron told MPs Mr Adams had accepted the role.

Speaking in response to a question from DUP MP Nigel Dodds, the Prime Minister said he was glad that the rules had been followed.

To laughter from MPs, he added: “I’m not sure that Gerry Adams will be delighted to be Baron of the Manor of Northstead. But nonetheless I’m pleased that tradition has been maintained.”

Later on Wednesday, Mr Adams said that when he was told of Mr Cameron’s remarks it was the first he had “heard of this development”.

In a statement he said the claim that he had accepted a crown title was “untrue” and that he had “simply resigned”

“I am an Irish republican,” he said.

“I have had no truck whatsoever with these antiquated and quite bizarre aspects of the British parliamentary system.”

He described Mr Cameron’s announcement as “bizarre” .

“I am sure the burghers of that Manor are as bemused as me,” he added.

“I have spoken to the Prime Minister’s private secretary today and he has apologised for today’s events.

“The onus is on the Westminster parties to call a by-election as soon as possible in the West Belfast constituency.”

On Tuesday, the Speaker’s Office told the BBC that it was its understanding that Mr Adams had not applied for the crown position and therefore remained an MP.

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

Republicans reject spending call

President Barack Obama, left, and Republican Representative Eric Cantor, centreRepublican Representative Eric Cantor, centre facing left, said Congress should cut spending “right away”
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Republicans have moved quickly to reject US President Barack Obama’s call for new public spending on research, infrastructure and education.

Speaking after Mr Obama’s State of the Union address, leading Republicans reiterated their proposal for massive cuts in the government budget.

They cited their gains in the November election as evidence Americans had rejected Mr Obama’s approach.

But polling suggested Americans were receptive to Mr Obama’s proposals.

In the official Republican Party response, Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, chairman of the House budget committee, emphasised “the crushing burden of debt” he said the US faced.

“We hold to a couple of simple convictions: endless borrowing is not a strategy; spending cuts have to come first,” he said.

“The debt will soon eclipse our entire economy and grow to catastrophic levels in the years ahead.”

A CBS News poll taken immediately after Mr Obama’s address on Tuesday night suggested 91% of those who watched it approved, and only 9% disapproved.

Last year, 83% of Americans approved of Mr Obama’s address, the poll’s authors said.

Mardell’s America

“What was striking, despite the calls for unity, despite the mild almost academic language was the sheer defiance of the speech in terms of the central question of government spending. Obama did not so much reach out to find hands across the aisle as throw down a gauntlet.”

Read Mark’s thoughts in full

In the widely viewed speech to a joint session of Congress, Mr Obama outlined his plan for America to “win the future”: significant spending – which he dubbed “investment” – on education, infrastructure, high-speed rail, broadband internet, clean energy and scientific research.

To drive home the message, Mr Obama on Wednesday travels to Wisconsin to tour a company that designs and manufactures renewable energy technology for commercial and industrial customers, and a wind turbine maker.

On Tuesday night Mr Obama also called for a five-year freeze in domestic spending at current levels – except on security and some social programmes.

He acknowledged that would require “painful cuts”, and endorsed a plan by the US secretary of defence to slash “tens of billions of dollars” from the military budget.

In a change from tradition, many rival Democrats and Republicans sat together in the House chamber on Capitol Hill to hear the president’s speech, instead of separately across the centre aisle.

The gesture was intended to show unity, amid the heated debate since a mass shooting in Arizona earlier this month in which Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was seriously injured.

Mr Obama began his speech by paying tribute to Ms Giffords, saying the shooting had reminded the US public that they “share common hopes and a common creed”.

He continued with a challenge to the Congress – including Republicans who won control of the House of Representatives in November – to work together in the coming two years.

“That’s what the people who sent us here expect of us,” he said. “With their votes, they’ve determined that governing will now be a shared responsibility between parties.

“New laws will only pass with support from Democrats and Republicans. We will move forward together, or not at all – for the challenges we face are bigger than party, and bigger than politics.”

“We’re going to have to force the budget down”

Republican Representative Eric Cantor

While Republicans welcomed his call for bipartisan co-operation – as well as proposals to lower corporate taxes and simplify the tax code – they said Mr Obama’s proposals failed adequately to address the yawning budget deficit and called for immediate, dramatic spending cuts.

Leading Republicans called for far deeper cuts in the budget than Mr Obama outlined.

“Freezing government spending for five years at the increased levels of the last two years is really not enough,” Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said.

House Republican Majority Leader Eric Cantor said Congress should look “at things that we can do right away to slash spending.”

“We’re going to have to force the budget down,” he said on CBS News on Wednesday morning.

And Senator Jim DeMint, a leader of the anti-government tea party movement and one of the most conservative senators, declared voters had already rejected Mr Obama’s approach to increased government spending.

“When the president says ‘investment’ he means bigger federal government and higher taxes,” he said.

“Americans sent a clear message in the 2010 elections. They no longer wish to ‘invest’ in President Obama’s big-spending plans.”

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

Wales-England school funding gap

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New figures to be published later will show whether the gap between spending on pupils in Wales and England has grown further.

Last year schools in Wales received on average £527 less per pupil, and unions fear that the divide will widen.

First Minister Carwyn Jones has pledged to make school funding a budget priority.

The assembly government declined to comment ahead of the publication of the statistics.

Some schools near the Wales-England border have already been comparing budgets ahead of the release of the assembly government statistics.

“It’s quite shocking when you see it in black and white”

Gregg Dixon Head teacher, Connah’s Quay High School

Figures show that Connah’s Quay High, Flintshire, is worse off to the tune of £643 per pupil when compared with The Catholic High School, Chester, which is about 10 miles away. Meanwhile, Wrexham’s Ysgol Clwydeog is worse off by £606.

Gregg Dixon, head teacher at Connah’s Quay, described the disparity as “shocking”.

Meanwhile, his counterpart in Chester, John Murray, said if the situation was suddenly reversed, a £643 cut in funding per pupil at his 1,000-pupil school would mean redundancies and bigger class sizes.

‘Really stretched’

“It’s quite shocking when you see it in black and white,” said Mr Dixon.

“Just in terms of level of staffing we are really stretched in everything we do in terms of teaching and support staff.

“With that additional funding we could do so much around that and be able to support learners more effectively.”

Earlier this month it was confirmed that Welsh universities are losing out by almost £80m per year compared to their English counterparts.

On Tuesday the schools inspection body Estyn said standards in nearly a third of schools in Wales were not good enough.

“While I feel every sympathy with my colleagues in Wales, I’d quite like some of the funding they get in Manchester or Liverpool so I could do so much more here”

John Murray Head teacher, The Catholic High School, Chester

Mr Murray said he had every sympathy with his Welsh colleagues, but he claimed the Cheshire education authority was not as well as funded as other English counties.

“Actually, while I feel every sympathy with my colleagues in Wales, I’d quite like some of the funding they get in Manchester or Liverpool so I could do so much more here,” said Mr Murray.

Other statisitics already published show education expenditure in Wales is budgeted to increase by 3.2% in 2010-11.

In Wales, 75% of the total gross schools budgeted expenditure is delegated directly to schools, with local authorities holding the rest centrally.

In England that figure is 90%.

In Wales local authorities have been asked to hold back less, giving more to schools, according to BBC Wales education correspondent Ciaran Jenkins.

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