Category: news

Since the start of the flu season 23 people have required intensive care treatment

Two people have died from seasonal flu in the last week, bringing the total number of deaths in Scotland this winter to four.

Twelve people were also hospitalised in the last week, bringing the total so far to 23.

The NHS in Scotland said the figures were to be expected at this time of year.

However, the number of pregnant women having the flu jab has gone up from 19% last week to 27% this week.

The Scottish government report showed the rate of GP consultations for flu-like illness across Scotland was 55.8 per 100,000 people, an increase from last week’s figure of 45.8 per 100,000.

The highest rates were observed in children under the age of one, with 288 and 186 infants per 100,000 population for the previous two weeks respectively.

The one to four years age group attending GP surgeries with symptoms was also high, at 244 and 251 per 100,000 population.

These rates are less than seen at the same time last year.

The flu jab uptake rate for people under the age of 65 who are eligible for the vaccine has reached 48.4%.

Amongst those aged 65 and over the rate stands at 71.5%.

The government report revealed, of the 360 laboratory confirmed cases of influenza reported over the last 11 weeks, 237 tested positive for swine flu (H1N1), while the remainder were positive for other flu strains.

Health Secretary, Nicola Sturgeon, said: “We are seeing the number of people consulting their GP with a flu-like illness starting to increase, but not yet above the levels that would be expected at this time of year.

“The highest rates are among the under fives.

“The majority of healthy children experience mild symptoms from flu and current expert advice is that they do not need to be vaccinated.

Ms Sturgeon added: “Children with an underlying health condition, such as asthma, should get the vaccine.

“Decisions on who should receive the seasonal flu vaccine are based on recommendations from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, an independent panel of experts that provides advice to all UK health departments.”

Chairman of the BMA’s Scottish GP committee, Dr Dean Marshall, said: “Although recent figures show that the number of people with flu is up from last week, thankfully the number of eligible people receiving the vaccine has also increased.

If they have not already done so, I urge pregnant women, people over 65 and those who are at risk under 65, to contact their surgery to receive the vaccine.

“The vaccine has been thoroughly tested and protects those at risk from serious complications from the flu.

“It can, quite simply, save your life.”

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

A Thai court jails 79 members of the “yellow shirt” movement over the invasion of a television station in 2008.

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 rules bring the Vatican in line with international regulations

The Vatican has set up a new financial authority to fight money laundering and make its financial operations more transparent.

The Pope has signed into law new rules to bring the Vatican’s banking regulations in line with international efforts to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

The move comes ahead of an EU deadline.

It follows accusations the Vatican had been contravening international rules on money laundering.

In September, Rome prosecutors formally put the director of the Vatican Bank, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, and his deputy under criminal investigation after receiving a tip-off from the Bank of Italy about possible money laundering.

The Italian justice authorities seized 23m euros ($30m; £19m) which the Vatican had deposited at a branch of an Italian commercial bank near Saint Peter’s Square, allegedly without properly identifying either the depositor or the recipient.

The Vatican said there had been a misunderstanding and there had been no wrongdoing by their bank or its employees.

On Thursday, Pope Benedict XVI signed the documents, saying the Vatican wanted to join other countries in cracking down on legal loopholes that have allowed criminals to exploit the financial sector.

The Vatican is acting ahead of a 31 December deadline to create a compliance authority to oversee all its financial operations, which is required by the EU and other international organisations.

The Vatican’s centuries-old secrecy over the way it handles its money will no longer be an excuse to avoid its obligations under international and Italian criminal law to combat money-laundering operations by third parties, says the BBC’s David Willey in Rome.

The Vatican Bank – known officially as the Institute for Works of Religion – has hitherto exempted itself from international banking regulations on the grounds that it is not a real bank in the normal sense of the word, our correspondent says.

It handles accounts for the Pope, his cardinals and religious orders, and has only one branch inside the apostolic palace in Rome.

The new laws are due to come into effect by 1 April, after the new authority is set up and its members chosen, the Vatican said.

It will take some time, however, for the Vatican to be put on the so-called “white list” of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, our correspondent adds. The list identifies countries that have agreed to share tax information and crack down on tax havens.

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

The BBC’s Rupert Wingfield-Hayes says Moshe Katsav is expected to appeal against the judges’ unanimous decision.

Israel’s former President Moshe Katsav has been convicted of rape by a court in Tel Aviv and could go to jail.

He was found guilty of raping an employee in the 1990s when he was tourism minister and of later sexual offences while he was president.

The judges said they believed the evidence of the woman whose testimony had led to two charges of rape.

Moshe Katsav resigned from the largely ceremonial post of head of state in 2007 and was indicted in March 2009.

While his resignation caused shock across Israel, it had limited political consequences.

Rape commands a jail term in Israel of at least four years, although Katsav is thought to be likely to contest the conviction in Israel’s supreme court.

State prosecutor Ronit Amiel said the verdict carried a message to other victims of abuse of power that they should not remain silent.

The former president, in office for seven years from 2000, had denied the charges, the most serious ever levelled against an Israeli head of state.

When he stepped down in 2007, he initially agreed to plead guilty to sexual misconduct and avoid more serious charges, but he withdrew the plea bargain the following year.

Katsav, president for seven years until 2007, had rejected a plea bargain

According to the indictment, the rape charges dated back to April 1998 when the former employee described as Woman A alleged he had first raped her at the tourism ministry office and later at a hotel in Jerusalem.

The further charges related to claims of sexual harassment of two women in 2003 and 2005 during his presidency.

Reading the verdict, Judge George Karra who presided over a panel with two other judges, said: “We believe the plaintiff [Woman A] because her testimony is supported by elements of evidence, and she told the truth.”

Katsav’s evidence, the judges decided, was “riddled with lies”.

Although members of his family were with him in court, his wife Gila was not. He appeared to be visibly distraught as the verdict was read out and one of his sons was heard saying repeatedly “it’s not true”.

Sentencing is expected to take place next month and before the former president left court, he was told to surrender his passport.

His son, Boaz, told reporters the family would fight on to prove his innocence. “We will continue to walk with our heads high, so all the nation throughout its generations, with God’s help, will know that father, the eighth president of the State of Israel, is innocent.”

Moshe Katsav was born in Iran and immigrated at the age of six to Israel with his family in 1951. He joined the right-wing Likud party and held a number of ministerial posts before becoming president.

The allegations against him first surfaced in 2006 and led to him stepping down the following year, to be replaced by current President Shimon Peres.

After his indictment, he gave a televised news conference claiming he was the “victim of a lynching” organised by then-Attorney General Menahem Mazuz.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was a “sad day for the State of Israel and its citizens” but added that the trial was a sign of strength of the country’s judicial system.

“Today the court conveyed two clear-cut messages, that all are equal before the law and that every woman has exclusive rights to her body,” he said.

Women’s groups in Israel have welcomed the verdict, arguing that allegations of sexual harassment are too often ignored.

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

Agathe von Trapp (second from left) is seen here rehearsing with the Trapp Family Singers in 1946

Agathe von Trapp, eldest daughter of the Austrian family who inspired The Sound of Music, has died at the age of 97 in the US state of Maryland.

She died in a hospice in the Baltimore suburb of Towson after suffering congestive heart failure in November, a long-time friend told reporters.

In the hit musical she was portrayed as Liesl, singing the duet Sixteen Going on Seventeen with Rolf.

While liking the film version, she felt her father came over as too strict.

“She cried when she first saw it because of the way they portrayed him,” said Mary Louise Kane, the friend who lived with Agathe von Trapp for half a century.

“She said that if it had been about another family she would have loved it.”

The 1959 Rodgers-Hammerstein musical, made into a film in 1965 with Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer, tells the story of a singing family who flee the Nazis across the Austrian Alps.

The original Trapp Family Singers performed in Europe and North America in the 1930s-40s with their father, Austrian naval Capt Georg Ritter von Trapp, and stepmother Maria.

Four of the Singers are still alive: Maria von Trapp, 96; Rosmarie von Trapp, 81; Eleonore “Lorli” von Trapp Campbell, 79; and Johannes, 71.

Johannes said his sister had been a private person who was also a talented sketch artist, the Associated Press news agency reported.

She will be buried in the spring at a cemetery at the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, Vermont, he added.

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

Five people were seriously injured in the crash

Police are still investigating the cause of a crash in Norfolk on Christmas Eve in which coach overturned injuring 19 elderly people.

Three casualties are still at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital although two are due to be discharged. One woman remains seriously ill.

The crash happened on the A140 at Horsham St Faith near Norwich International Airport.

The road was closed for six hours following the accident.

Forty-nine people were on board the Galloway Travel coach at the time of the collision, at about 1540 GMT.

Police are still carrying out inquiries to investigate the cause of the accident.

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

Little Fockers continues the enmity between Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller’s characters

Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller’s latest Meet the Parents sequel was the top film at the UK and Ireland box office over the Christmas period.

Little Fockers made more than £3 million in its first five days on release, knocking the previous week’s top film, Tron Legacy, down to three.

Chronicles of Narnia film The Voyage of the Dawn Treader remained at two.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 fell one place to four in its sixth week on release.

Little Fockers, which sees De Niro and Stiller play a bickering father and son-in-law, also topped the North American box office chart over the same period.

Despite being coolly received by critics, the film made $30.8m (£20m) between 24 and 26 December in the US and Canada.

Bollywood release Tees Maar Khan came fifth in the UK chart, with 3D animation Megamind in sixth place.

Another family film, Arthur and the Great Adventure, made a disappointing debut in ninth place with takings of less than £85,000.

Lower down the chart, a seasonal re-release of Christmas classic It’s a Wonderful Life made more on a screen by screen average than half of the titles in the Top 10.

Despite playing on just 52 screens the Jimmy Stewart favourite made just over £680,000, according to figures collated by Screen International.

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

Many people can look forward to a card from the Queen, the government suggests

Nearly one in five people currently in the UK will live to see their 100th birthday, according to the government.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said its figures suggested 10 million people – 17% of the population – would become centenarians.

These are based on Office for National Statistics population projections and life expectancy estimates.

Pensions Minister Steve Webb said the “staggering” figures brought home the need for pension reforms.

“Many millions of us will be spending around a third of our lives or more in retirement in the future,” he said, adding the government was determined to reform the pensions system to make it “sustainable for the long-term”.

The DWP estimates there will be at least 507,000 people aged 100 or over by 2066, including 7,700 people aged 110 or over, so-called super centenarians.

Currently 11,800 people in the UK are aged 100 or over and fewer than 100 are over 110.

The government figures suggest that of the more than 10m who will go on to reach 100, 3m are currently aged under 16, 5.5m are aged between 16 and 50, and 1.3m are aged between 51 and 65.

About 875,000 are already aged over 65, it says.

The fear is that longer life spans will put an intolerable pressure on the pensions system and the NHS.

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

Mr Bashir wants a deal before attention is turned to southern Sudan

Sudan will withdraw from peace talks with rebels in the western Darfur region if no deal is reached by Thursday, its president has said.

The talks would go back to Darfur and anyone bearing arms would be dealt with decisively, Omar al-Bashir said.

Mediators at the Qatar talks are currently in discussion with representatives of both sides.

Rebels in Darfur have been fighting government troops and Arab militias, said to be backed by Khartoum.

President Bashir told a rally in Darfur he had set a deadline of Thursday for the negotiations to be successful.

“But if there is no agreement, we will withdraw our negotiating team and the talks will then be held in Darfur,” he said.

“We will fight those who choose to take up arms, but we will sit next to those who want development.”

The most heavily-armed rebel movement, the Justice and Equality Movement (Jem), called Mr Bashir’s speech “a declaration of war”.

Khartoum has been seeking a comprehensive peace agreement with all the rebel groups at the Qatar talks.

It had hoped to secure a deal before the end of the year, as an independence referendum in southern Sudan is set to dominate the government’s agenda in January.

Mr Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court, accused of war crimes and genocide in Darfur, but he strongly denies the charges.

About 300,000 people have died since fighting began in Darfur in 2003, and some 2.7 million people have fled their homes as a result of the conflict, the UN says.

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Billy Taylor was considered one of the foremost ambassadors of American jazz music

The jazz musician and composer Billy Taylor has died in New York of heart failure at the age of 89.

Taylor had been playing professionally since the 1940s, and later became a TV and radio personality, presenting several jazz programmes.

His most famous song, I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free, became the unofficial anthem of the US civil rights movement.

Taylor was considered to be one of the most ardent advocates of jazz music.

In the 1960s he set up the Jazzmobile movement, which promoted education through the arts and staged free concerts by high-profile jazz musicians in deprived areas of the US.

Taylor, who had a doctorate in music education as well as several honorary degrees, is survived by his wife, Theodora, and a daughter.

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

SAS soldiers entered the embassy on 5 May 1980

The Foreign Office expected countries to ask for the loan of the SAS in a siege or hijack after the London Iranian Embassy rescue, documents show.

Documents from 1980 released by the National Archives reveal a discussion about a legal agreement to cover the use of the SAS by another country.

A memo says those countries would have to accept “prior responsibility for any claims for damage or injury”.

The documents also reveal the government’s pride in the SAS mission.

The special forces stormed the embassy on 5 May 1980, and within 15 minutes, the six-day siege by six Iranian Arab separatists was over. Five of the gunmen and two of the 26 hostages were killed during the siege.

The rescue operation by black-clad figures was watched by millions of people on television and it brought the SAS and its motto – Who Dares Wins – to the world’s attention.

An internal memo from the FCO’s Middle East department, dated 9 May, considers the “future use of SAS anti-terrorist squads”.

It suggests the successful outcome of the Iranian embassy siege will lead to “a fresh wave of requests for SAS training teams to visit well-disposed Middle Eastern countries”.

“… we may also get requests in the event of a future hi-jack (sic) or siege involving hostages, for the loan of an SAS team to resolve the problem. If British hostages are involved, ministers may be disposed to agree.”

It talks of the need for a “proforma agreement” covering such issues as immunity from prosecution and liability.

Another internal memo says such an agreement is already in place as part of the “Pulpit plans – military intervention in the event of a terrorist incident overseas”.

It said there was still an issue with compensation, which would not be a factor if the overseas operation was carried out for the UK’s benefit.

“If a Pulpit force was sent in at the request of a Government then we probably would insist on that Government accepting prior responsibility for any claims for damage or injury.

“If the operation was a success, there would be no problem about payment. But if things went badly it seems doubtful that the Government concerned would pay up willingly and unlikely that we would press them to do so.”

The newly-released documents show the extent of the government’s pride in the SAS operation or “military gymnastics”, as it is called in one memo.

“Mr Haydon Phillips mentioned at the Home Secretary’s party on 8 May that they were considering a grand tour by a joint team to brief friendly countries about the incident and to stress that command and control is as important as the actual military gymnastics. (Perhaps it is only because the SAS are so competent that we can afford to say this).”

The successful SAS mission came a month after a covert US military mission failed to free 52 American hostages held at the US embassy in Tehran. Eight soldiers died, and another four men suffered burns, when a helicopter crashed into a transport plane.

The hostage ordeal began in November 1979 when a group of radical Iranian students stormed the embassy and the hostages were not freed until January 1981.

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Margaret Thatcher, pictured in 1980, set her sights on the Eggs Authority during a review of quangos

A major review of quangos in 1980 suggested the name should be changed because it had become a term of “ridicule and abuse”.

Newly-released National Archives files show Margaret Thatcher homed in on the Eggs Authority and wanted it axed.

But she saved the “ineffective” Women’s National Commission for political reasons.

The Duke of Edinburgh got involved in the review and wanted to know if there were any plans for a sport body.

The 1980 quango file released by the National Archives has deep resonance thirty years later.

Both the Thatcher government and the Cameron coalition came to power in difficult economic times, and a “bonfire of the quangos” was ignited amid a general culture of cuts.

In January 1980, a White Paper report recommended that 246 quangos should be abolished saving £11.6m and costing 3,700 jobs.

The current government announced in October that 192 public bodies, such as the Film Council and the Audit Commission, would be axed, while 118 will be merged.

Quangos – quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisations – are arm’s-length bodies funded by Whitehall departments but not run by them.

Politicians – particularly when in opposition – have been complaining about quangos for decades and the name has become a byword for paper-pushing and waste.

This notion emerged during Mrs Thatcher’s quango review, which was carried out by former civil servant Sir Leo Pliatzky.

In notes accompanying his draft report, he said he did not want to be a “spoil-sport” but the shorthand term quango did “not really fit”.

“Moreover in some quarters it has become a term of ridicule or abuse,” he wrote.

“A number of Departments would have been unhappy about even listing their organisations in the report if that meant stigmatising them as quangos and causing offence to a lot of worthy people who give their services free.”

Sir Leo’s aim was a “rapid, significant reduction in quangos and their staff and costs”, but another instruction pointed to the Iron Lady’s softer side.

“The PM is aware that there are many Quangos which cost very little indeed and which keep particular interest groups happy, and she has said that there is no point in hurting people’s feelings unless there is a positive gain to be achieved from abolition which cannot be ignored.”

Mrs Thatcher went for a “leave well alone” policy when it came to the Women’s National Commission

He was also tasked with personally looking into the details of the Eggs Authority, which had a budget of about £3m, most of which came from levies on producers.

It replaced the British Egg Marketing Board which was responsible for the “Go to Work on an Egg” campaign, and its main function was to provide generic egg advertising and market intelligence.

Mrs Thatcher’s private secretary sent a note to Sir Leo, saying: “Mrs Thatcher is herself sceptical about the value of this Authority.”

Sir Leo wrote several memos to Downing Street specifically about the Eggs Authority but he concluded it would be saved, for the time being. It was finally abolished in 1986 and replaced with the British Egg Industry Council.

Sir Leo’s attention was also drawn to the Sports Council after he received a letter from the Duke of Edinburgh about the unelected make-up of the body.

Mrs Thatcher said Sir Leo’s report was marvellous

In a memo to No 10, Sir Leo wrote: “Apart from his general dislike of bureaucracy and his support for voluntary effort, his particular interest stems from his being President of the Central Council of Physical Recreation (CCPR), a capacity in which he conducts a running battle with the Sports Council…”

In a letter to Prince Philip, signed “Your Royal Highness’s most humble and obedient servant”, Sir Leo said ministers were responsible for looking at the quangos in their departments.

“I do not have the time or resources to involve myself personally in the details of each of the many hundreds of bodies covered by the review,” he said.

On the Women’s National Commission – set up in 1969 “to ensure by all possible means that the informed opinion of women is given its due weight in the deliberation of government” – Sir Leo concluded its terms of reference were “extraordinarily vague”.

But he said its chairman Baroness Young felt it was “politically out of the question” to abolish it, and Mrs Thatcher agreed, opting for a “leave well alone policy” and recommending it be given an extra half-secretary.

The Women’s National Commission may have been saved in 1980 but it is on the current government’s list of quangos to be axed.

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

The Archbishop, pictured here in 1980, had more run-ins with Mrs Thatcher

Margaret Thatcher wanted the Church of England to change the enthronement of the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1980 so it did not clash with Budget Day.

Newly-released documents show the Conservatives were aware of the clash but still went for the 25 March.

The Church voiced its discontent but Mrs Thatcher wrote on a memo: “I also am very unhappy – is it possible to change the date of the enthronement?”

Bishop Runcie was enthroned on 25 March and the budget took place on 26 March.

The National Archives files show the original date of the budget was announced in the Commons on 17 January.

A day later, Colin Peterson, No 10 Secretary for Appointments, sent a memo to the PM: “Lambeth Place have told me that there is some unhappiness in the Church, apparently very much shared by the Free Churches, that Budget Day and Bishop Runcie’s enthronement at Canterbury coincide on 25 March.

“People are quicker than they should be to feel that this is something of a slight by the government to Bishop Runcie.”

The Chancellor, Sir Geoffrey Howe, wrote to Dr Robert Runcie to explain the reasoning behind the choice of date.

He assured him there was no “dark conspiracy to distract attention from the Canterbury installation”.

Sir Geoffrey said the “sheer mechanics” of Budget Day made Tuesday the best day of the week, as “successive chancellors have found”, and he had to chose that particular Tuesday for religious reasons.

“Ironically enough my choice has been very much influenced by the dictates of the ecclesiastical calendar,” he wrote.

“With the Tuesday before Easter, and the two succeeding Tuesdays more or less ruled out, 25th March was in effect our only option.”

Mrs Thatcher, who made her famous speech “The lady’s not for turning” speech in 1980, clearly did a U-turn in this case and the government changed the date of the budget to Wednesday 26 March.

This hand-written note reveals Mrs Thatcher’s own unhappiness at the clash of dates

In a letter to Dr Runcie, who was then Bishop of St Albans, she wrote: “You will know how glad I am that we have been able to change the Budget date, and I am deeply grateful to you for the spirit in which you have spoken about this.”

She wrote to the outgoing Archbishop of Canterbury, Frederick Coggan, apologising for the “distress” caused. She also sent a similar letter to Cardinal Basil Hume, head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales at the time.

Dr Runcie was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1980 to 1991. His reformist tenure saw a breakdown in relations with the Tory party and he had several more run-ins with Mrs Thatcher.

His criticism of government policies on unemployment and inner cities incurred the wrath of the prime minister who accused him of failing to provide moral leadership.

And he angered her in 1982 when he asked a congregation to pray for the relatives of Argentine soldiers killed in the Falklands War.

Dr Runcie died in 2000 aged 78 after a long battle with cancer.

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Martin McGuinness calls Northern Ireland’s lack of water a ‘grave crisis’

Ministers in Northern Ireland are to hold an emergency meeting to discuss how to help the 36,000 people who have been without running water for days.

Eighty villages and towns have been affected as pipes burst in the thaw.

As the first of 160,000 litres of bottled water arrive from Scotland, the Stormont Executive will discuss what further measures can be taken.

Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness has said he feels “absolutely let down” by Northern Ireland Water’s response.

The state-owned company, which is the sole provider of water and sewerage services in Northern Ireland, said an unprecedented number of leaks caused by the thaw following the long period of freezing weather had been putting “big pressure” on its systems.

The thaw followed the worst snow in Northern Ireland in 25 years and record cold temperatures.

As temperatures rose, burst pipes drained reservoirs, forcing NI Water to turn off the tap to the 80 locations.

The BBC’s Northern Ireland political editor Mark Devenport said there was recognition that NI Water’s engineers were struggling to deal with an unprecedented number of call-outs, but there was also general condemnation of the company’s inability to communicate better with its increasingly angry consumers.

The Stormont Executive has accepted help from Scotland and sent civil service staff to help out at NI Water’s call centre.

Ministers will want to discuss what further measures can be taken to resolve an emergency which has raised fresh questions about historic under-investment in Northern Ireland’s outdated water network, our editor adds.

Local councils are working to supply water and offer free showers to people without a mains supply and information is being provided on the NI Water website on when supplies will be turned on or cut off.

The interim chairman of NI Water, Padraic White, admitted its response had been unsatisfactory.

He said: “The organisation has to improve its performance, has to improve its communication and I believe will improve its communication over the next two days or so.

“I empathise as interim chairman with those people who haven’t had water for the last two or three days – that’s an awful situation to be in.”

NI Water’s head of customer services, Liam Mulholland, said Northern Ireland had suffered from years of under-investment.

“We had the Troubles and that has led to a level of under-investment in the network which is now manifesting some problems for us which we’re trying to deal with as fast as we can,” he said.

The Scottish government is providing 160,000 litres of bottled water, the first of which were loaded on to the ferry to Larne on Wednesday evening.

Mr McGuinness said people had not been given enough information as to when water would be restored.

Belfast resident: “It’s unbelievable… it’s just not on”

“My focus is on how NI Water can do things better over the course of the next number of days,” he said.

Dame Joan Harbison, who speaks on behalf of older people, said many pensioners were struggling to cope.

“There are many older people throughout Northern Ireland who haven’t access to water, who can’t go to where the water is and certainly can’t stand in long queues for long periods of time to actually get water,” she said.

Peter Maguire, a doctor from Newry, has been living for eight days without water.

“This is really now a public health emergency. NI Water has been shambolic. Young families have been left without drinking water and not able to flush toilets. This is unacceptable.”

Emergency centres have been set up across Northern Ireland to supply water. Leisure centres are also open to offer free bathing facilities.

Details are available from the NI Water website, or telephone hotline: 08457 440088, on Ceefax 169 and BBC News Online.

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Hugo Chavez had vowed Larry Palmer would not be US ambassador

Washington has revoked the visa of the Venezuelan ambassador to the US, the state department has said.

The move comes amid a diplomatic dispute between the two countries over President Barack Obama’s choice of ambassador to Caracas, Larry Palmer.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez had been angered by comments Mr Palmer made about the country this year.

Washington’s move effectively expels Venezuela’s envoy, Bernardo Alvarez Herrera.

It is not thought Mr Herrera is currently in the US but the revocation means he cannot return.

State department spokesman Mark Toner said Caracas had only itself to blame.

“We said there would be consequences when the Venezuelan government rescinded agreement regarding our nominee, Larry Palmer. We have taken appropriate, proportional and reciprocal action,” he said in an e-mailed statement.

News of the revocation been carried earlier on Venezuelan sources.

Venezuela’s Deputy Foreign Minister Temir Porras wrote on his Twitter account: “I can confirm. USA revoked the visa of ambassador Bernardo Alvarez.”

On Tuesday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a fierce critic of the US, said: “We have denied permission to this aspiring ambassador and now the US government threatens us with reprisals.

“They will do what they want but that man is not coming here as ambassador. Anyone who comes here as an ambassador has to show respect. This is a country that must be respected.”

He dared the US to cut off diplomatic ties.

“If the US government wants to expel our ambassador there, let them. If they cut off diplomatic relations, let them,” Mr Chavez said on state television.

Mr Chavez has long been at loggerheads with the US, denouncing “American imperialism”.

The BBC’s Iain Mackenzie in Washington says it is unclear how the latest escalation will affect the two countries’ tempestuous relationship.

He says the situation had shown signs of improving with the election of Barack Obama, however President Chavez later declared him to be “a great disappointment” and claimed he had “the same stench as George W Bush”.

Venezuela is a major oil producer and despite its political differences with Washington remains the fifth biggest crude supplier to the US.

Mr Palmer’s appointment has yet to be confirmed by the US Senate.

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