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Gates warns on N Korea missiles

File image of US Defence Secretary Robert GatesRobert Gates said North Korea’s missile development could become a “direct threat”

North Korea’s missile development could pose a direct threat to the US within five years, Defence Secretary Robert Gates has said.

Mr Gates warned that North Korea could develop a limited number of intercontinental ballistic missiles within that time frame.

And he warned that the risk of conflict on the Korean peninsula was increasing, because South Korea’s “tolerance for not responding” to Pyongyang’s provocation was nearly gone.

Mr Gates was speaking in Beijing, after talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao.

Later this week he leaves China for more talks on the issue of North Korea with top leaders in Tokyo and Seoul.

Tensions have been high since North Korea shelled a South Korean border island on 23 November, killing two marines and two civilians.

North Korea has since called for talks, but the South says it needs evidence that the offer is sincere.

It is also seeking an apology from Pyongyang for the sinking of the Cheonan warship, which went down in March 2010 with the loss of 46 lives. North Korea denies any role in the incident.

Mr Gates said that he believed North Korea would have a limited ability to send a weapon to US shores within five years.

“With the North Koreans’ continuing development of nuclear weapons and their development of intercontinental ballistic missiles, North Korea is becoming a direct threat to the United States, and we have to take that into account,” he said.

North Korea’s missile programme evolved from Soviet-era Scud technology.

It has for several years been working on a family of missiles known as the Taepodong, the most recent of which could potentially have a range that would reach Alaska.

Precise details on this programme are sketchy. But, says the BBC’s diplomatic correspondent, Jonathan Marcus, Mr Gates’ assessment that such a missile could be operational within five years fits with the views of some independent analysts.

This is a worrying prospect for the Obama administration, our correspondent adds.

Up till now North Korea’s missile arsenal has clearly been a threat to South Korea and to the thousands of US troops that are based there, as well as to US allies in the region like Japan.

There will also be a political message in Mr Gates’ remarks for his Chinese hosts; an attempt to underline the continuing seriousness with which Washington treats the North Korean challenge.

The US wants China – North Korea’s key trading partner – to use what influence it has to rein Pyongyang in.

Mr Gates described the situation on the Korean peninsula as “of real concern”.

“We think there is some urgency to proceeding down the track of negotiations and engagement,” he said.

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

Forgotten spy

Noor Inayat KhanBritain’s Asian spy Noor Inayat Khan was shot by the Nazis in 1944 after being betrayed

“Liberte!” – That was the last word spoken by the heroine of Churchill’s elite spy network before being executed by her Nazi captors.

On 13 September 1944, the glamorous British agent, code named “Madeline,” was shot dead at Dachau concentration camp.

Despite being tortured by the Gestapo during 10 months of imprisonment, she had revealed nothing of use to her interrogators.

Noor Inayat Khan, died aged just 30, but her story has gone down in history.

“She was an incredibly brave woman and I think it is important that her bravery is permanently recognised in this country”

Shrabani Basu Noor Inayat Khan Memorial Trust

She joined Winston Churchill’s sabotage force, the Special Operations Executive (SOE), and became the first female radio operator sent into France in 1943, with the famous instruction to “set Europe ablaze”.

The role was so dangerous that she arrived in Paris with a life expectancy of just six weeks.

Noor became the last essential link with London after mass arrests by the Gestapo had destroyed the SOE’s spy network in Paris.

As her spy circuit collapsed, her commanders urged her to return, but she refused to abandon what had become the principal and most dangerous post in France because she did not want to leave her French comrades without communications.

For three months, she single-handedly ran a cell of spies across Paris, frequently changing her appearance and alias until she was eventually captured.

Despite having a full description of her and deploying considerable forces in their effort to break the last remaining link with London, it was only her betrayal by a French woman that led to Noor’s capture by the Gestapo.

Noor’s decision to stay in Paris to fight Nazism was a decision that cost her her life.

Despite carrying a passport of an imperial subject she had no innate loyalty to Britain.

Winston ChurchillWinston Churchill sent SOE agents to France in 1943 with the instruction to “set Europe ablaze”

Born in Moscow to an Indian father and an American mother, she was a direct descendant of Tipu Sultan, the renowned Tiger of Mysore, who refused to submit to British rule and was killed in battle in 1799.

Her father was a Sufi Muslim who moved his family first to London and then to Paris, where Noor was educated.

But when war broke out in 1939, Noor and one of her brothers, Vilayat, decided they had to travel to London, dedicating themselves against what they saw as the evil of Nazi Germany.

Her fluent French, quiet dedication and training in radio transmitting were quickly spotted by SOE officers.

Noor’s bravery has long been recognised in France, where there are two memorials and a ceremony held each year to mark her death.

However, in Britain, although Noor was posthumously awarded the George Cross in 1949, her courage has since been allowed to fade in history.

That is about to change with the launch of a campaign to raise £100,000 to install a bronze bust of her in London, close to her former home.

It would be the first memorial in Britain to either a Muslim or an Asian woman.

Shrabani Basu, who spent eight years researching Noor’s history in official archives and family records, said: “I feel it is very important that what she did should not be allowed to fade from memory.

”Noor died for this country. She made the highest sacrifice. She didn’t need to do it. She felt it was a crime to stand back.

”She was an incredibly brave woman and I think it is important that her bravery is permanently recognised in this country.”

The project, which has the backing of 34 MPs and prominent British Asians, including human rights campaigner Shami Chakrabarti and film director Gurinder Chadha, is being led by Noor’s biographer, Shrabani Basu who wrote The Spy Princess in 2006.

Around £25,000 of the cost of the bust has been raised and permission granted to install the sculpture on land owned by the University of London in Gordon Square, close to the Bloomsbury house where Noor lived as a child in 1914, and where she returned while training for the SOE during World War II.

The memorial is scheduled to be completed and installed by early 2012.

Noor Inayat Khan’s story will be featured on Asian Network Reports on Tuesday 11 January at 1230 and 1800 GMT and afterwards on BBC iPlayer

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

RBS and NatWest are fined £2.8m

RBS signThe RBS group has ‘acknowledged’ its failings

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and its NatWest subsidiary have been fined £2.8m for failing to deal properly with customers’ routine complaints.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA), which imposed the fine, said there was an “unacceptably high risk” that the customers had been treated unfairly.

The banks’ main failings were delays, shoddy investigations and inadequate explanations.

RBS acknowledged its complaints handling had been poor.

“We recognise the importance of complaint handling for our customers and are focused on addressing the root causes of complaints,” said Brian Hartzer of RBS.

The poor performance of the RBS and NatWest staff came to light in the autumn of 2009 when the FSA was investigating the way all the UK’s main banks had been dealing with complaints.

It found problems with more than half of those it examined at RBS and NatWest.

For instance, in 62% of cases the complaints were not dealt with in time and the customers had not been told they could go to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) if they were still dissatisfied.

The FSA said the blame lay with poor training and guidance for the bank staff assigned to dealing with complaints, and inadequate monitoring of their work by managers.

“We expect firms to treat customers fairly and that consumers can be confident that their complaints will be dealt with properly,” said Margaret Cole, the FSA’s managing director of enforcement and financial crime.

“The review showed that banks need to make major changes to handle consumer complaints fairly and the FSA will continue to take appropriate action to ensure these changes are put in place,” she added.

The FSA pointed out it had only examined the way routine complaints were dealt with.

Its findings did not cover complaints about the mis-selling of payment protection insurance, or bank overdraft fees, which have generated hundreds of thousands of complaints to the major banks in the past few years.

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

Thais on spy charges in Cambodia

Thai "Yellow shirt" activist Veera Somkwamkid (2nd L)Yellow-shirt activist Veera Somkwamkid (2nd L) has been charged with espionage, reports say
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Cambodia has charged two Thai nationals with espionage, in a move that could reignite a diplomatic row.

They were among seven Thai politicians and activists charged with illegal entry after crossing into a disputed border area in December.

Cambodian officials cited “new evidence” for bringing the additional spy charges against two of the men.

Ties between Cambodia and Thailand, fractured by a border dispute, have only recently been repaired.

“According to new evidence the authorities have gathered, we also charged two of them with attempting to gather information which affects national defence,” Cambodian prosecutor Sok Roeun said.

Espionage carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in Cambodia.

Thailand’s Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has insisted the men “meant no harm”, and the foreign ministry is seeking their release on bail.

The Thai group were arrested on 29 December and charged with illegal entry and trespassing on a restricted military zone in Cambodia.

Analysts are watching the current case closely, as several of those detained are members of the “yellow-shirt” People’s Alliance for Democracy.

This group has made nationalism, and in particular border disputes with Cambodia, a key part of its political platform.

Yellow-shirt activist Veera Somkwamkid has been charged with espionage, as well as his secretary Ratree Pipatanapaiboon, the Bangkok Post reported.

Another of those detained for trespassing is a member of parliament from Thailand’s governing Democrat Party, Panich Vikitsreth.

The border issue is a flashpoint for the two neighbours. In recent years there have been sporadic exchanges of fire in areas around a disputed hill-top temple that both sides claim.

Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen had also angered the Thai government by giving an advisory role to ousted Thai leader Thaksin Shinawatra.

But three Thais held for trespassing were recently returned to Thailand without fuss.

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

Ectopic pregnancy linked to STI

PregnancyAn ectopic pregnancy is when an embryo implants outside the womb in the Fallopian tube
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Women who have had chlamydia are at greater risk of an ectopic pregnancy because of a lasting effect of the infection, according to new research.

A study by Edinburgh University experts has shown for the first time of how the sexually-transmitted infection can increase the risk of ectopic pregnancy.

An ectopic pregnancy is when an embryo implants in the Fallopian tube.

Women who have had chlamydia are more likely to produce a protein in their Fallopian tubes, the study said.

Increased production of this protein, known as PROKR2, makes a pregnancy more likely to implant outside of the womb.

The study follows on from research, also at Edinburgh University, which showed that production of a similar protein increased the likelihood of smokers having an ectopic pregnancy.

Chlamydia is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the UK. It can be treated but often goes undiagnosed because it can occur without symptoms.

The infection is known to cause infertility as it can lead to scarring and blockages in the Fallopian tube.

The research shows, however, that chlamydial infection linked to ectopic pregnancy causes “much more subtle changes” in the Fallopian tube, without evidence of severe scarring.

The study, published in the American Journal of Pathology, was funded by the Wellbeing of Women and the Medical Research Council.

Dr Andrew Horne, of Edinburgh University’s centre for reproductive biology, said: “We know that chlamydia is a major risk factor for ectopic pregnancy but until now we were unsure how the infection led to implantation of a pregnancy in the Fallopian tube.

“We hope that this new information allows health care providers to give women accurate information about risks following chlamydial infection and to support public health messages about the importance of safer sex and chlamydia testing.”

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

Foster ‘to preside’ over Cesars

Jodie FosterJodie Foster is no stranger to French cinema after starring in several movies
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Oscar-winning actress Jodie Foster is to preside over the 36th annual Cesar Awards next month, industry newspaper The Hollywood Reporter has said.

The Silence Of The Lambs star was raised partly in France and speaks the language perfectly.

She is the first foreign president of the French Oscars since Marcello Mastroianni in 1993.

French actor Antoine De Caunes will reprise his role as Master of Ceremonies.

Foster is no stranger to French cinema after starring in Eric Le Hung’s 1977 film Moi, Fleur Bleue, Claude Chabrol’s The Blood of Others in 1984 and Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s A Very Long Engagement in 2004.

The ceremony, which will be held at the Chatelet Theater, takes place on 25 February.

Last year hard-hitting prison drama A Prophet won nine awards at the Cesar awards.

Jacques Audiard’s film was named best movie at the ceremony, with additional prizes going to lead actor Tahar Rahim and the director himself.

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

Energy firm E.On to raise prices

GasE.On is the last of the major suppliers make an announcement on prices this winter

Customers of energy firm E.On will see a 9% increase in electricity prices and a 3% rise in gas prices from 4 February.

The supplier said it had “no option” but to increase prices because of the rising wholesale cost of energy.

E.On is now the fifth of the “big six” energy companies to have increased prices this winter.

Energy regulator Ofgem is currently investigating the prices charged to domestic customers.

Energy companies that have raised bills this winter have pointed to the cost of buying gas on the wholesale markets as key to the decision.

E.On has repeated this, although its prices will rise about a month later than many of the other suppliers.

“It has been over two years since we last increased our prices, and, unlike other companies, we held off from increasing them during the incredibly cold temperatures we saw in late November and December,” said Graham Bartlett, managing director of E.On’s Energy Solutions business.

“But we now have no option but to make this change due to increases in the prices we pay for gas and electricity, although our customers will not actually see the increases until next month.”

Winter price changesScottish Power: gas up 2%; electricity up 8.9%Scottish and Southern Energy: gas up 9.4%British Gas: gas and electricity up 7%EDF Energy: no change before March 2011Npower: gas and electricity up 5.1%E.On: gas up 3% and electricity up 9% from 4 February

E.On’s announcement makes it the last of the major domestic suppliers in the UK to make an announcement on prices.

EDF Energy has said that it is keeping its prices on hold during the winter, with no change before March 2011.

But in the last week of November, Scottish Power increased electricity bills by an average of 8.9% and prices for gas customers increased by an average of 2%.

Scottish and Southern Energy followed by putting up its domestic gas tariffs by 9.4% at the start of December. The 7% rise in gas and electricity prices for British Gas customers started on 10 December.

Npower customers saw their gas and electricity prices rise by 5.1% on 4 January.

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

PFA defends Babel’s Twitter posts

PFA chief Gordon Taylor believes football is losing its sense of humour after Liverpool’s Ryan Babel is charged by the FA for criticising referee Howard Webb on Twitter.

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

Footage shows speed of Australia floods

Footage shot by David Jutsum in Toowoomba, west of Brisbane, shows the speed of the flash flooding.

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

FA in Vauxhall sponsorship deal

Steven Gerrard celebrates scoring for England v the USA at the 2010 World CupThe deal will cover Euro 2012 and the 2014 World Cup

The Football Association has unveiled a new three-and-a-half year sponsorship deal with carmaker Vauxhall.

The multi-million pound deal comes six months after Nationwide building society ended its 11-year FA deal.

The car firm is also set to complete further deals with the national associations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland within the next week.

And BBC Sport says Vauxhall is understood to be keen to revive the Home International championship.

The contest, involving England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, ran from 1884 to 1984, before being scrapped as England and Scotland lost interest.

The Vauxhall sponsorship agreement runs from 1 January 2011 to 31 July 2014, covering the time period of Euro 2012 in Poland-Ukraine and the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

As well as covering the men’s national team, the deal also covers sponsorship of the other 23 representative England teams.

“Through a difficult economic climate, we have concluded a deal of considerable value to the FA and we can now look forward with optimism”

Alex Horne FA general secretary

That includes the women’s teams, men’s youth teams and all the England disability sides.

It will also see Vauxhall become the official vehicle supplier to the FA.

“This announcement represents a major landmark for the FA and the England teams,” said FA general secretary Alex Horne.

He added: “Through a difficult economic climate, we have concluded a deal of considerable value to the FA and we can now look forward with optimism.

“Everyone is aware of the difficulties of last year, but we have an opportunity to move forward and there is much in 2011 to be excited about.”

Other England commercial partners include Umbro, McDonald’s, Tesco and Carlsberg.

Vauxhall managing director Duncan Aldred said Vauxhall had a strong history of supporting football in England, including official sponsorship of Euro 96.

“Vauxhall is firmly behind not only a successful England senior team, but is also committed to supporting grass-roots initiatives covering youth and junior football, as well as women’s football and disability football,” he added.

It is understood the car giant had been keen to get the Home International tournament in place for 2011/12 season, but the FA is thought to prefer waiting until after Euro 2012.

This year, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are involved in their own tournament, the Celtic Cup – also known as the Carling Nations Cup – with the Republic of Ireland.

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

China test flies stealth fighter

Photo apparently showing prototype of Chinese-made stealth bomberPhotos of the Chinese-made stealth aircraft began appearing on websites earlier this month
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China has conducted the first test-flight of its J-20 stealth fighter, Chinese President Hu Jintao has confirmed to US Defence Secretary Robert Gates.

The confirmation came after images of the 15-minute flight in Chengdu appeared on several Chinese websites.

Mr Hu said that the flight had not been timed to coincide with Mr Gates’ visit, the US defence secretary said.

The US is currently the only nation with a fully operational stealth plane.

But both Russia and China are known to be working on prototypes of stealth fighters, which are invisible to radar.

Mr Gates’ three-day visit to Beijing comes amid US concern over the speed at which China’s military is modernising and upgrading its technology.

“I asked President Hu about it directly, and he said that the test had absolutely nothing to do with my visit and had been a pre-planned test. And that’s where we left it,” Mr Gates was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.

Analysis

Before the official confirmation from the president, pictures reportedly taken by fighter jet spotters had appeared on all major Chinese web portals, including the state-run Xinhua news agency.

There is also a video clip showing the stealth fighter taxi-ing, taking off and landing, accompanied by a trainer jet, with fans chatting and shouting “magnificent”.

The spotters have been camped out near the fighter jet design institute in Chengdu, in south-west China. They have dubbed the prototype “Black Ribbon”, meaning black 4th generation fighter.

They also say that Xi Jinping, China’s Vice-President and Vice-Chairman of the Military Commission, visited the airfield on Saturday, presumably to witness a test flight that was aborted due to bad weather.

Leaked images of what was said to be China’s J-20 fighter first appeared earlier this month during taxi tests at the Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute.

On Tuesday, the plane took off and flew for about 15 minutes, according to eyewitness accounts published on unofficial Chinese web portals.

A video clip of the flight was also posted on the web.

China says it expects the stealth plane to be operational some time between 2017 and 2019.

But earlier this month the Pentagon played down concerns over the fighter.

“Developing a stealth capability with a prototype and then integrating that into a combat environment is going to take some time,” said US director of naval intelligence Vice Admiral David Dorsett.

China’s official military budget quadrupled between 1999 and 2009 as the country’s economy grew. In 2010 it stood at $78bn (£50bn).

But the US has by far the largest defence budget in the world at just over $700bn.

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

Jackson ‘threat to cancel gigs’

Dr Conrad Murray (centre)Dr Murray was bailed after pleading not guilty to involuntary manslaughter in February 2010
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Michael Jackson told his doctor on the day he died he would have to cancel his comeback concerts unless he had a dose of propofol, a court has heard.

Dr Conrad Murray told police he gave Jackson the anaesthetic after a night administering lesser drugs to help him sleep, detective Orlando Martinez said.

Prosecutors at the preliminary hearing in Los Angeles have said the drugs combination was lethal and accuse Dr Murray of involuntary manslaughter.

He has pleaded not guilty.

Mr Martinez, who interviewed Dr Murray two days after Jackson’s death on 25 June 2009, said the doctor told him the singer had stopped breathing shortly after 1100.

The detective said Dr Murray admitted giving Jackson propofol – the key drug responsible for his death – between 1040 and 1050.

Mr Martinez said Dr Murray told him Jackson fell asleep at about 1100.

The doctor said he then left the room for “two minutes” to go to the bathroom but, on returning shortly after 1100, found the singer had stopped breathing.

He started to try to resuscitate Jackson but told Mr Martinez he did not call 911 himself because “he said he was caring for his patient and he did not want to neglect him”.

Prosecutors say that phone records show the doctor made a series of calls between 1100 and 1200 and that an ambulance was not called until 1221.

Rebbie and Janet JacksonMichael Jackson’s family have been attending the hearing

Dr Murray administered other drugs – lorazepam, midazolam and valium – to Jackson throughout the night before in an attempt to help the star sleep.

Jackson repeatedly told the doctor he would cancel his This Is It concerts in London if he could not sleep and said he wanted his “milk”, which was how he referred to propofol.

Mr Martinez also said Dr Murray told him he had given Jackson doses of propofol six nights a week for two months but was trying to wean him off the drug as he feared his patient was becoming addicted.

Following the preliminary hearing, which could end later this week, a judge will decide if there is enough evidence for Dr Murray to stand trial for involuntary manslaughter.

He could face up to four years in prison if tried and convicted.

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

Intel and Nvidia settle chip row

Intel sign outside buildingIntel’s dispute with Nvidia began in 2009

The world’s biggest micro-chip maker Intel has agreed to pay its smaller rival Nvidia $1.5bn (£965.2m) to use its technology.

The move brings to an end a legal dispute that began in 2009.

Intel had sued Nvidia, a graphics chip maker, over the right to keep making an Intel designed chip. Nvidia then counter-sued.

Intel now has the right to use Nvidia technology at a time when graphics processing is increasingly important.

“This agreement ends the legal dispute between the companies,” said Doug Melamed, Intel senior vice president and counsel. “It also enables the companies to focus on innovation and the development of new products.”

Intel is the dominant market player supplying micro-processors for 80% of the world’s personal computers.

However, the sector is changing rapidly as computing becomes more mobile.

Hand held computers, smartphones and tablet computers require high-definition video.

The amount that Intel has agreed to pay in Monday’s settlement reflects the importance of Nvidia’s graphics technology to the chip-making giant, which is keen to take a slice of the mobile computing market.

“This agreement signals a new era for Nvidia,” said Jen-Hsun Huang, Nvidia’s president and chief executive.

“It also underscores the importance of our inventions to the future of personal computing as well as the expanding markets for mobile and cloud computing.”

Nvidia is pushing for its chips to be used for other complex processing uses that could challenge Intel’s dominant market position.

However, under the terms of the deal, Nvidia will not have the right to use Intel’s main technology, its processors built on the the x86 design for PC’s.

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