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The government is resigned to UK banks paying billions of pounds in bonuses, despite its calls to curb the payments, the BBC learns.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
The costly Marine Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle is to be scrapped US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has announced a $78bn (£50.3bn) military budget cut, including a move to scrap a $13bn plan for amphibious vehicles.
The cuts are part of a five-year spending plan for the Defence Department and go beyond the $100bn in internal savings already announced.
Those savings will be redirected to other defence programmes, but the new cuts reduce the overall defence budget.
The plan comes as a new Congress takes office amid concerns about the deficit.
Mr Gates said on Thursday he planned to cancel the purchase of amphibious Expeditionary Fighting Vehicles (EFVs) from manufacturer General Dynamics Corp.
The vehicles, which have long been targeted by Mr Gates as a way to shrink the military’s budget, are manoeuvrable on both land and water and can transport 17 fully-armed troops to land from approximately 20-25 miles offshore.
Mr Gates has been sceptical about whether large military vehicles, like tanks and EFVs, will continue to be crucial military instruments as engagement in modern warfare changes.
He has previously said the enemy has developed sophisticated weapons capable of attacking ships hovering close to shore.
Other cost-cutting measures announced by Mr Gates include plans to cut orders for the F-35 joint strike fighter over the next three to five years to compensate for repeated delays in development and testing.
The cuts come in addition to a $100bn in cuts by 2016, which Mr Gates has said should be reinvested into modernising weapon systems.
Mr Gates said much of the savings would be achieved by eliminating more than 100 general and flag officer positions, more than 200 top civilian defence positions, by cancelling redundant programmes and through reduced administrative costs.
He said he wanted to end the post-9/11 Pentagon’s “culture of endless money where cost was rarely a consideration”.
The major weapons cuts are likely to encounter opposition from US Congressmen and Senators in whose constituencies the weapons are manufactured.
“I’m not happy,” House Armed Services Committee Chairman Howard McKeon told reporters. He said the cuts were greater than defence companies had been expecting.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Ivory Coast’s incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo is expelling the British and Canadian ambassadors, a statement on state television says.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
The head of the body that represents football managers in England warns that clubs should not be “treated as the playthings of the super rich”.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Mr Daley (pictured) will replace the interim chief of staff Pete Rouse President Obama is to name bank executive and former commerce secretary William Daley as the next White House chief of staff, US media report.
Mr Daley will replace the interim chief of staff Pete Rouse, officials told the Associated Press news agency.
Mr Rouse, who recommended Mr Daley for the position, will remain at the White House in a senior position as a counsellor to President Barack Obama.
Mr Obama is expected to make a formal announcement later on Thursday.
Mr Daley, who served as commerce secretary in the Bill Clinton administration, is the brother of Chicago mayor Richard Daley, a heavyweight in Democratic politics.
The president discussed the position with Mr Daley, currently working as a banking executive for JPMorgan Chase, at the White House on Wednesday.
Mr Rouse has served as Mr Obama’s chief of staff since the departure of Rahm Emanuel, who left Washington to run for mayor of Chicago.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
A small costumier 200 miles from London manages to buck the recession and land a major film contract.
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Many in south and mid Wales could wake to a blanket of snow like this in Cwmbran last month Snow and sub-zero temperatures are expected to make a return to Wales overnight.
Forecasters predict a band of rain, sleet and snow will push up from south Wales after midnight on Thursday.
The Met Office is warning of between 8 and 12cm (3-5in) in some areas, but snow showers will be heaviest in Powys and southern counties.
Temperatures in many areas will fall close to freezing or below and many will wake up to snow or frost.
BBC Wales weather presenter Behnaz Akhgar said: “Thursday night is one to watch out for as heavy snow will be spreading up from the south.
“Sleet and snow will spread in from the south during the early hours of Friday morning.
“Temperatures in many areas will fall close to freezing or below with a widespread frost.”
Rain, sleet and snow will continue to move northwards through the morning, but by the afternoon will mostly be falling as rain.
The weekend forecast is better: patchy cloud with occasional showers and dry spells with blustery winds that will ease later on Sunday.
Temperatures will remain cold until at least Monday.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
The New Flemish Alliance promotes the break-up of Belgium outside its headquarters in Brussels A new bid to form a government in Belgium has failed, nearly seven months after the ethnically divided state’s last general election.
Two parties representing the Flemish community said a compromise plan proposed by King Albert II’s official mediator would have to be adjusted.
The leader of a third Flemish party accused them of seeking “Utopia”.
Belgium is under pressure to reach a deal because sovereign debt is close to 100% of gross domestic product.
The Dutch-speaking Flemish population has been seeking more control over tax policy while French-speaking Walloons want greater protection and more money for the region around the capital, Brussels.
Ahead of an official announcement by King Albert’s mediator, Johan Vande Lanotte, the Flemish Christian Democrats said essential items of the plan would have to be adjusted.
The New Flemish Alliance, which made the break-up of Belgium a central manifesto pledge at the election, said it had “fundamental remarks” to make about the proposal before continuing negotiations.
“I think the parties who don’t see the note [plan] as a basis for negotiations will have to run for election in a country called Utopia next time,” Bruno Tuybens of the Flemish Social Democrats said on Flemish TV.
“Those who pull the plug now will have to take the responsibility.”
Since the election, the country has been run by a caretaker government.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Two Palestinian militants are killed in southern Gaza and two rockets are fired over the border into Israel, amid rising tension in the area.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Iran detains an American woman accused of hiding a spying device in her teeth, Iranian newspapers report.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
David Cameron insists the Conservatives are fighting hard in Oldham East Prime Minister David Cameron is promoting his economic growth plans on a visit to the North-West of England.
He is being accompanied by Lord Heseltine, recently appointed chair of a new regional growth task force.
The Tory leader has also promised to hit the campaign trail in Oldham East and Saddleworth, with a week to go before a crucial by-election.
He has denied the Tories are soft-pedalling in the seat to give coalition partners the Lib Dems a better chance.
Nick Clegg’s party is in need of a boost after it registered the lowest opinion poll rating in its history in the wake of public anger over their U-turn on tuition fees.
Paying his second visit to the constituency on Wednesday, Mr Clegg said his party were “here to win”.
Mr Cameron visited a £4.5bn development in the Wirral, where he was joined by Sir Terry Leahy, the outgoing chief executive of Tesco, and other business leaders to discuss the government’s new Local Enterprise Partnerships, which are being brought in to replace Regional Development Agencies.
Mr Cameron said the partnerships, which are joint ventures between local authorities and business, “will work for renewal and be locally driven”.
In a speech in Manchester he is encouraging firms to bid for money from the £1.4bn Regional Growth Fund, announced in November to boost private sector growth in parts of England facing public sector job cuts. The grants, which will be available throughout England, will run from 2011 to 2014.
Labour said it hoped Mr Cameron’s plans would work – but accused the coalition of going “too far and too fast” in its efforts to cut Britain’s budget deficit and of lacking a “credible” growth strategy.
Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Douglas Alexander told the BBC News Channel: “His only growth strategy seems to be a deficit reduction strategy.
“The rate of jobs being taken out of the public sector won’t match jobs coming from the private sector.”
Mr Cameron is expected to join the campaign trail in Oldham East later, a sign, he says, of how seriously he is taking the contest.
Conservative candidate Kashif Ali told the BBC News Channel: “It’s getting very close. There’s no truth in the suggestion we are running a soft campaign.”
He added: “We are seeing a momentum building towards the Conservative Party. It’s going to be a tough race but it’s a three-horse race.”
Labour leader Ed Miliband, who was in the constituency on Monday to support the party’s candidate Debbie Abrahams, is hoping to capitalise on public anger over this week’s VAT rise and government cuts.
At the general election Labour’s Phil Woolas got 31.9% of votes and Lib Dem Elwyn Watkins 31.6%, with Conservative Mr Ali getting 26.4%. The BNP got 5.7% of votes, UKIP 3.9% and the Christian Party 0.5%.
But the result was declared void by a special election court, which found Mr Woolas had lied about Mr Watkins in election literature.
Mr Woolas was stripped of his seat, expelled by the Labour Party and banned from standing for election for three years.
The full list of candidates (in alphabetical order) is:
Debbie Abrahams (Labour)Derek Adams (British National Party)Kashif Ali (Conservative)Peter Allen (Green Party)David Bishop (Bus-Pass Elvis Party)The Flying Brick (Monster Raving Loony Party)Loz Kaye (Pirate Party of the United Kingdom)Stephen Morris (English Democrats)Paul Nuttall MEP (UK Independence Party)Elwyn Watkins (Liberal Democrats)
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Andrew Lloyd Webber and Sir Cameron Mackintosh fail to top an annual UK poll that lists the most influential people in theatre.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
The body of Jo Yeates was found near Bristol on Christmas Day Police investigating the murder of Jo Yeates have asked for patience, saying it “will take time” to find her killer.
The 25-year-old’s body was discovered on Christmas Day in a lane near Bristol eight days after she was last seen.
Ch Supt Jon Stratford, of Avon and Somerset Police, said: “We can only solve this crime with the assistance of the public.
“It will take time and we ask people to be patient. But rest assured we’ll find the person who killed Jo.”
Detectives still do not know where or when Miss Yeates died and forensic examinations are continuing at the flat she shared with her boyfriend Greg Reardon in Canynge Road, Clifton.
Mr Stratford said: “This is a large investigation. We’ve got well over 70 officers and police staff dedicated to it.
“There’s lots and lots of lines of inquiry, lots of leads which all need to be followed.
“The investigation team are meticulously following every single one.”
Miss Yeates, a landscape architect originally from Hampshire, was last seen on 17 December after she had been drinking with colleagues in the Bristol Ram pub in Park Street in the city.
Police are looking for a grey ski sock that was missing from Jo Yeates’ body She was reported missing by Mr Reardon two days later.
Her snow-covered body was found on Christmas Day morning on a lane in Failand three miles from her home.
A post-mortem examination revealed she had been strangled.
Miss Yeates’ body was fully clothed but she was not wearing her jacket or her boots and she was only wearing one sock.
Her jacket and boots were found at her home but the sock is still missing.
Police have said they are “keeping an open mind” about whether she had been strangled with the sock or whether her killer or killers could be keeping it as some kind of trophy.
They said there was no evidence that Miss Yeates was sexually assaulted but they had not ruled out a sexual motive.
Her landlord, Chris Jefferies, 65, who was arrested on suspicion of her murder, has been freed on bail.
Meanwhile, the Bishop of Bristol, the Right Reverend Mike Hill, has said people in the city had been badly affected by Miss Yeates’ death.
He said: “Communities feel death but I think they feel it in a particular way if they have a sense that the death was untimely.
“And if the death at the same time was borne of violence.
“I think if I were a young woman, I would have a real anxiety about those moments between your car and your front door.”
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Eleni Saunders received a suspended jail sentence for her part in the bullying Two care workers have been given suspended jail sentences for using a glove puppet to bully elderly women.
Helen Males, 34, and Eleni Saunders, 22, were both previously convicted of two charges under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 while working at The Old Rectory care home in Wenvoe, near Cardiff.
Males received a 52-week suspended jail term and Saunders 38 weeks.
Both sentences were suspended for two years.
Judge Philip Richard said the offences were “quite disgraceful as they were employed to look after people in the last years of their lives.
“They were employed to care for them but they ridiculed them, frightened them and caused distress to them on repeated occasions.”
More to follow.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Laurence MacKenzie said he believed firmly in the principles of responsibility and accountability The chief executive of Northern Ireland Water, Laurence MacKenzie has resigned following water shortages for tens of thousands of homes over Christmas.
His departure was announced after an eight-hour meeting of the NI Water board of directors.
In a statement the Department for Regional Development said NI Water had asked the minister to approve Mr MacKenzie contractual entitlement.
“This contractual entitlement is not a golden handshake,” it said.
It continued: “The minister will be seeking legal advice and liaising with Department of Finance and Personnel to satisfy himself that as advised by the NIW board this is the minimum contractual entitlement.”
The statement also said the minister wants to ensure Mr Mackenzie remains “available to assist the review” being initiated by the Executive.
NI Water was criticised for failing to prepare properly for disruption following December’s heavy snowfall.
Half-a-million litres of water had to be sent from Scotland to Belfast as supplies began to run out.
The resignation of Laurence MacKenzie was widely predicted. As chief executive of Northern Ireland Water, he was the man in charge when the water began to run out.
After Stormont ministers last week described the company’s performance as “shambolic”, it was clear his days in the job were numbered.
But Northern Ireland Water is a state-owned company, and the minister in charge of water, Sinn Fein’s Conor Murphy, is still facing calls for his own resignation.
Unionists say they intend putting down a motion of no confidence in him in the Assembly. But the move is unlikely to have any impact.
The complicated rules at Stormont mean that Mr Murphy’s job is safe unless his own party turns on him. In effect, only Gerry Adams can sack Conor Murphy. And with an Assembly election only four months away, that is not likely to happen.
There were complaints from the public about a lack of information from Northern Ireland Water as 40,000 homes and businesses were without supplies at one stage.
Phone lines were jammed and the company website lacked up-to-date information.
After more than 10 days of disruption, just 33 households in Northern Ireland are now without a full water supply.
Mr MacKenzie said in a statement: “This is entirely my own decision. I believe firmly in the principles of responsibility and accountability. It is for that fundamental reason I have decided to pursue this course of action.
He added: “I readily accept and recognise that there were aspects of the way in which we handled the situation that could have been better.
“In particular our ability to communicate with our customers and let them know the reasons for and the times at which they were going to be taken off supply.
“This failing added to the considerable inconvenience experienced by our customers – for that I apologise sincerely both personally and on behalf of the organisation.”
Mr MacKenzie came under increasing pressure after members of the Stormont Executive criticised the company’s handling of the crisis.
Appointed
A spokeswoman for Northern Ireland Water said: “Following discussion, the board has accepted his (Mr MacKenzie’s) resignation as CEO and agreed terms of settlement consistent with his contractual entitlement.
“Accordingly the board is making a recommendation to the Minister for Regional Development, Conor Murphy, that he approves the settlement terms proposed by the board.”
Mr MacKenzie’s resignation becomes effective from Friday and the search for a new chief executive will begin.
The board is recommending that NI Water engineering procurement director Trevor Haslett is appointed as acting chief executive.
Mr MacKenzie became chief executive of Northern Ireland Water in 2009, having previously headed Northern Ireland Electricity.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.