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US attacks ‘sacred war’ threats

South Korean helicopter, 23/12/10 in PocheonThe South has held one of the biggest military drills in its history this week

The US has denounced North Korea for threatening a “sacred war” against the South, whose military has been holding live-fire drills near the border.

The state department’s Philip Crowley told the BBC there was no justification for Pyongyang’s “belligerent words”.

In a day of rising tension, Seoul and Pyongyang traded strong rhetoric, with the South warning of a “powerful response” to any attack from the North.

A month ago, the North fired on a Southern island, killing four people.

Thursday’s speech by Armed Forces Minister Kim Yong-chun marks the strongest statement from Pyongyang since the attack on Yeonpyeong island.

Analysts believe the hard-line stance might be timed to coincide with the 19th anniversary of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il taking control of the armed forces, which will be marked on Friday.

“We’ve heard this language before,” said Mr Crowley in an interview with BBC’s Newshour.

“Unfortunately sometimes that kind of language is followed by irresponsible actions, whether it’s a missile test, a nuclear test or the shelling of South Korea, as occurred last month.”

He added that the North would get no reward for its “provocative actions”.

China, the North’s only major ally, also issued a statement asking both parties on the peninsula to remain calm.

Pyongyang is frequently accused of sabre-rattling in order to strengthen its hand in negotiations with other countries over its nuclear ambitions.

But the North insists that it is the victim, and repeatedly accuses the South of preparing for war by holding military drills on the border.

Kim Yong-chun, quoted by state news agency KCNA, said the North was “getting fully prepared to launch a sacred war of justice”, and also threatened to use a “nuclear deterrent”.

Despite possessing enough plutonium to create a bomb, the North is not thought to have succeeded in building a nuclear weapon.

International talks over Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions halted in April 2009, when the North walked out and expelled UN nuclear inspectors.

The US has refused to resume the talks until North Korea recommits to its past promises to give up its nuclear-weapons programme.

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40,000 face Dublin airport delays

Aer Lingus

About 6,000 travellers could be stranded after Aer Lingus cancelled all outbound flights from Dublin airport due to heavy snow falls.

The situation will be reviewed at 2300 BST on Thursday. The airline said that the earlier closure of the runway earlier affected its flights schedules.

Inbound flights are still arriving into Dublin airport.

Aer Lingus flights to and from Shannon, Cork and Belfast airports are still operating.

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Bombs explode at Rome embassies

The Swiss embassy in Rome (image from embassy website)The embassy stands on via Barnaba Oriani

A parcel bomb blast has seriously injured a Swiss national at the Swiss embassy in Rome, officials from the two countries say.

A male member of staff at the embassy received serious injuries to both of his hands, emergency services told Italian media.

The man was rushed from the embassy on via Barnaba Oriani to hospital.

As police began an investigation, there was no immediate indication of who might have sent the device.

A spokeswoman for the embassy told Reuters news agency the explosion had occurred around midday (1100 GMT).

No further details of the incident were released by the Italian foreign ministry, and police were not commenting as of early Thursday afternoon.

The embassy is located near Villa Glori Park, to the north of the city centre.

A suspected bomb was found on an empty underground train in Rome on Tuesday. The device lacked a detonator and tests showed it contained no explosive.

Anti-government protests had gripped Italy over the past week, with Rome the scene of some of the most serious rioting.

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

Austerity Christmas

Christmas is usually a key sales period for retailers and businesses as people stock up on presents for their loved-ones.

But at the end of a lean economic year, many councils and businesses have been deciding against a lavish festive spend.

BBC News website readers have been sending in their plans for celebrating Christmas without spending a fortune.

Mary Middleton, Spain

Christmas tree surrounded by cardsFamily photos take pride of place around Mary’s modest Christmas tree

Given the crisis both here in Spain and elsewhere we have decided it would be wrong to buy things we don’t want or need.

Instead we have asked that family and friends who are not here with us donate to charity rather then send presents and cards.

We will not be buying presents, we will spend the day as a family, share a meal and each other’s company. We do have a Christmas tree but it is very small – our family photographs take up more space than the tree.

We plan to make Christmas about enjoying time with family and being thankful for what we have.

Heather Barkhouse, Ontario, Canada

Christmas card text Heather wrote individual messages in each of her home-made cards for her colleagues

My company didn’t have a Christmas party this year so I decided I would bring my own Christmas to work.

Being on a budget I decided to make my own Christmas cards.

I was inspired by something I had made earlier in the year after my husband had an organ transplant – a package for the family of the organ donor describing who we were and showing what the transplant had done for us.

The cards I made contained personal messages and poems, describing how each of these people had helped me through the year.

Some of my colleagues actually cried when they received these cards. I think they were surprised and touched.

I am so happy I did it – my gift was from the heart and seeing how they appreciated these cards was like their gift back to me.

Rachel Langford, Manchester, UK

This year has been particularly hard and I have spent less than £150 on gifts and have been using loyalty points and vouchers from credit cards that are used for weekly shopping and petrol.

I’m not that caught up in the materialism of Christmas – I see it as an opportunity to spend time with my family rather than to buy things.

We’ve decided that we will all only buy presents for the children and that everyone will contribute to the Christmas lunch.

Ordinarily one couple would provide lunch and we take it in turns, but this year my mother-in-law will do the turkey, I’ll be doing the puddings and someone else is doing the vegetables. That way no one person has to pay all the food costs.

On the day we’ll be playing board games and having a go at my brother-in-law’s Nintendo Wii which he’s bringing it down for everyone to use.

Henry Procter, Oxford

I’ve decided to pay off as many debts as possible with the money I’d usually spend on Christmas presents.

Each member of my family will be receiving a hand-made card thanking them for helping me pay off my debts as well as supporting the demise of capitalism.

It was a couple of factors that decided this for me – because of the recession, I’ve become more conscious of financial circumstances.

Rather than put myself under pressure by getting myself into more debt I decided to reverse what is expected of everyone.

If you weigh everything up, you need to think about what you really want to do – not what the high street tells you to do.

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Venezuela student protest blocked

A demonstrator is sprayed by water cannon as troops with riot shields look on outside the University of Central Venezuela in CaracasVenezuela’s universities have been a focus of anti-government protests
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Venezuelan police have used water cannon and rubber bullets to break up a protest against a law that increases government control over universities.

Dozens of police and national guard troops blocked a march by students outside the University of Central Venezuela in Caracas.

The protesters say the new law will be used to promote President Hugo Chavez’s socialist ideology in universities.

The government says it is designed to make them more democratic.

Hundreds of students gathered at the university to begin a protest march after the law was passed early on Thursday morning.

But riot police stopped them from leaving the university grounds and marching on the parliament building, saying the demonstration had not been authorised.

At least three people were injured during the clashes, including an opposition politician and a news agency photographer.

Student leaders say the law on university education damages the autonomy of Venezuela’s state universities, which have been a bastion of anti-government protests.

The new law “imposes socialism as the sole ideology and does away with university autonomy because it concentrates all powers in the minister for higher education”, the university’s student federation leader, Diego Scharifker, told the Associated Press news agency.

The government says the law makes universities more democratic by giving university workers, as well as students and teachers, a say in how they are run.

One university worker, Carlos Lopez, said the law would break the control of education by Venezuela’s “oligarchy” and make universities truly autonomous.

“With this law we begin a new stage of education in Venezuela, where all education is democratised,” he told Venezuelan National Radio.

The higher education law is the latest in a series of measures passed in the final days of the current parliament, which is dominated by Mr Chavez’s supporters.

A new National Assembly, with many more opposition members, will be sworn in on 5 January.

The opposition has accused Mr Chavez of rushing laws through to increase his hold on power and avoid proper parliamentary scrutiny.

Last week the assembly gave Mr Chavez special powers to pass laws by decree for 18 months to deal with the aftermath of devastating floods.

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

Boxing Day Tube strike goes ahead

A London Underground trainAslef wants its members to be paid triple time and be given a day in lieu
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London Underground (LU) is taking legal action to try to prevent a strike on Boxing Day by Tube drivers.

Members of train drivers’ union Aslef are planning the 24-hour walkout, after negotiations at conciliation service Acas failed.

Drivers want to be paid triple time, and receive a day in lieu, for working on 26 December.

LU is seeking an injunction against the “completely unnecessary” strike. Aslef said LU’s actions were “disappointing”.

In 1996 the union signed an agreement that it would consider Boxing Day a normal working day in return for higher pay and longer holidays.

But Aslef said that increased Tube services on bank holidays meant drivers now had to work more public holidays than was the case when the agreement was signed.

A TfL spokesman said: “The union has ripped up a long-standing agreement on pay and working hours that gave LU employees increased pay and 6.8 weeks’ holiday, in return for working some public holidays.

“We have tried to resolve this through negotiation, but our offer to reduce the number of drivers rostered to work on Boxing day was flatly rejected.

“This left us no option but to seek a legal solution.”

An Aslef spokesman said: “We are disappointed that, instead of trying to resolve the dispute, LU is taking the legal route.

“But nowadays it seems par for the course to go to the courts rather than sit round the table.”

Aslef drivers will walk out from 0001 GMT on 26 December.

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Dozens killed in Ivory Coast – UN

UN peacekeepers patrol street in Abidjan, 22 Dec 10UN forces in Abidjan are struggling to contain the escalating crisis

Post-election violence has claimed 173 lives in Ivory Coast, the UN says, as international pressure mounts for Laurent Gbagbo to quit the presidency.

The US says it is exploring ways to strengthen the UN presence in Ivory Coast, where Mr Gbagbo’s forces are in a tense stand-off with supporters of his rival, Alassane Ouattara.

Liberian mercenaries are helping Mr Gbagbo’s troops, the UN has confirmed.

The UN and world powers have recognised Mr Ouattara as the new president.

The UN Human Rights Commission is meeting in Geneva to discuss the crisis. It says 173 people have been killed in the past week and nearly 500 arrested in Ivory Coast.

The BBC’s Thomas Fessy in the main city, Abidjan, says there are many reports of night raids on neighbourhoods loyal to Mr Ouattara, but Mr Gbagbo’s forces are blocking access to those areas and the killings are hard to verify.

Mr Ouattara’s supporters have called on the International Criminal Court to prosecute any crimes committed by Mr Gbagbo’s associates.

Mr Ouattara and his supporters are holed up in the Golf Hotel in Abidjan, protected by 800 UN peacekeepers.

A senior US government specialist on Africa told the BBC’s World Today programme that various options for defusing the crisis were being considered, and “we’re really trying to avoid violence if at all possible”.

US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State William Fitzgerald said the fact that African countries had called for the special UN human rights meeting was “pretty telling about how unified the Africans are and the pressure that this will continue to put on President Gbagbo – or former President Gbagbo, I should say”.

Mr Gbagbo says the vote on 28 November, meant to unify a country split by war in 2002, was rigged in rebel areas that backed Mr Ouattara.

The country’s Independent Electoral Commission ruled that Mr Ouattara had won, a decision later certified by the UN. The country’s Constitutional Council said Mr Gbagbo had been elected, citing vote-rigging in some areas.

France, the former colonial power in Abidjan, says its 15,000 nationals should leave the country as a “precaution”.

The UN has a 9,000-strong peacekeeping force in Ivory Coast called (Unoci) and its mandate has been extended for another six months.

The West African regional grouping Ecowas will hold a special summit in Nigeria’s capital Abuja on Friday to consider how to remove Mr Gbagbo from power, Mr Fitzgerald said.

Ecowas sent Nigerian-led forces to help bring peace to Liberia and Sierra Leone in the 1990s.

The Ivorian election, delayed for five years, was supposed to reunite the world’s largest cocoa producer, which was split between the government-controlled south and rebel-controlled north in the 2002 conflict.

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New solar fuel machine unveiled

In the prototype, sunlight heats a ceria cylinder which breaks down water or carbon dioxide In the prototype, sunlight heats a ceria cylinder which breaks down water or carbon dioxide
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A prototype solar device has been unveiled which mimics plant life, turning the Sun’s energy into fuel.

The machine uses the Sun’s rays and a metal oxide called ceria to break down carbon dioxide or water into fuels which can be stored and transported.

Conventional photovoltaic panels must use the electricity they generate in situ, and cannot deliver power at night.

Details are published in the journal Science.

The prototype, which was devised by researchers in the US and Switzerland, uses a quartz window and cavity to concentrate sunlight into a cylinder lined with cerium oxide, also known as ceria.

Ceria has a natural propensity to exhale oxygen as it heats up and inhale it as it cools down.

If as in the prototype, hydrogen and/or water are pumped into the vessel, the ceria will rapidly strip the oxygen from them as it cools, creating hydrogen and/or carbon monoxide.

Hydrogen produced could be used to fuel hydrogen fuel cells in cars, for example, while a combination of hydrogen and carbon monoxide can be used to create “syngas” for fuel.

It is this harnessing of ceria’s properties in the solar reactor which represents the major breakthrough, say the inventors of the device. They also say the metal is readily available, being the most abundant of the “rare-earth” metals.

Methane can be produced using the same machine, they say.

The prototype is grossly inefficient, the fuel created harnessing only between 0.7% and 0.8% of the solar energy taken into the vessel.

Most of the energy is lost through heat loss through the reactor’s wall or through the re-radiation of sunlight back through the device’s aperture.

But the researchers are confident that efficiency rates of up to 19% can be achieved through better insulation and smaller apertures. Such efficiency rates, they say, could make for a viable commercial device.

“The chemistry of the material is really well suited to this process,” says Professor Sossina Haile of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). “This is the first demonstration of doing the full shebang, running it under (light) photons in a reactor.”

She says the reactor could be used to create transportation fuels or be adopted in large-scale energy plants, where solar-sourced power could be available throughout the day and night.

However, she admits the fate of this and other devices in development is tied to whether states adopt a low-carbon policy.

“It’s very much tied to policy. If we had a carbon policy, something like this would move forward a lot more quickly,” she told the BBC.

It has been suggested that the device mimics plants, which also use carbon dioxide, water and sunlight to create energy as part of the process of photosynthesis. But Professor Haile thinks the analogy is over-simplistic.

“Yes, the reactor takes in sunlight, we take in carbon dioxide and water and we produce a chemical compound, so in the most generic sense there are these similarities, but I think that’s pretty much where the analogy ends.”

The PS10 solar tower plant near Seville, Spain. Mirrors concentrate the sun's power on to a central tower, driving a steam turbineThe PS10 solar tower plant near Seville, Spain. Mirrors concentrate the sun’s power on to a central tower, driving a steam turbine

Daniel Davies, chief technology officer at the British photovoltaic company Solar Century, said the research was “very exciting”.

“I guess the question is where you locate it – would you put your solar collector on a roof or would it be better off as a big industrial concern in the Sahara and then shipping the liquid fuel?” he said.

Solar technology is moving forward apace but the overriding challenges remain ones of efficiency, economy and storage.

New-generation “solar tower” plants have been built in Spain and the United States which use an array of mirrors to concentrate sunlight onto tower-mounted receivers which drive steam turbines.

A new Spanish project will use molten salts to store heat from the Sun for up to 15 hours, so that the plant could potentially operate through the night.

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

Heathrow chaos inquiry launched

Plane takes off at HeathrowAfter days of delays and cancellations Heathrow airport is operating 90% of flights

An external inquiry into Heathrow airport’s handling of the snow chaos has been launched by its operator BAA.

Thousands were stranded at the airport following the heavy snowfall.

BAA’s chief executive said a panel of experts would “forensically examine” what had gone wrong and make recommendations to the company.

The festive getaway on the roads has been described as “remarkably quiet” although ice caused treacherous conditions on some routes.

Although Thursday was expected to be one of the busiest traffic days of the year for shoppers and travellers, the AA reported roads were running well.

There are warnings for further heavy snow in eastern Scotland and north east England.

The panel of experts from airports and airlines around the world will scrutinise Heathrow’s “planning, execution and recovery” from the heavy snowfall last weekend.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has said some airlines’ behaviour towards passengers during the disruption was ‘unacceptable’.

BAA chief executive Colin Matthews said the airport owner has already approved an extra £10m for winter equipment.

He said: “The inquiry will forensically examine what went wrong at Heathrow, and look fundamentally at our ability to prepare and respond more effectively to periods of bad weather at an airport operating at its maximum capacity.

“The inquiry will have complete freedom to examine the sequence of events, and to deliver recommendations for BAA to implement.”

Meanwhile, on Thursday afternoon, AA president Edmund King said the organisation was expecting some 14 million people to get away in the next few days.

“The roads have been really remarkably quiet. Apart from a couple of incidents on a slip road on the M25 and another on the M5, generally the motorways and trunk roads have been running really well.”

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The AA said it was likely to attend 19,000 breakdowns by the end of Thursday, approximately double the normal rate.

Some 142 sets of roadworks were due to be completed by the Highways Agency ahead of the Christmas and New Year holiday traffic.

Darron Burness, head of AA special operations, said: “Daytime temperatures haven’t risen above freezing in most areas, so ice will remain the biggest hazard for those travelling on Thursday night and through the Christmas weekend.”

In other developments:

Flights at Gatwick and London City are said to be “back to normal” after days of delays and cancellationsHeathrow expected to operate 1,206 flights and 200,000 customers on Thursday – almost a full scheduleThe Local Government Association promised gritters would be operating on Christmas Day in many areasNottinghamshire, Wiltshire and Somerset councils have also asked for extra supplies of saltNHS Warwickshire is appealing for drivers of 4×4 vehicles to spare a few hours over the next 10 days to drive nurses to patients in snow-hit areasSome services on the East Coast and West Coast main lines have been cancelled, while some First Great Western London to Cardiff services were also cancelled. ScotRail is running a reduced service. National Rail has more details of service reductions and cancellations on its websiteIndustrial action scheduled for Thursday on London Midland trains was cancelledNorthern Ireland hit a record temperature low on Thursday with -18.7C at Castlederg, County TyroneTwo people were killed on the roads in Scotland, although it is not clear if the weather was to blame

Christmas shopping

Some experts suggested Thursday would be the busiest day of the year for shopping centres.

While figures will not be available until Friday, Visa Europe said it was expecting to process 26.5 million transactions, worth more than £1.2 billion as customers, many of whom had delayed shopping because of the bad weather, made Christmas purchases.

Met Office weather warnings for heavy snow are in place for Orkney and Shetland, the Highlands, Grampian, North East England and Yorkshire and Humber.

WEATHER AND TRAVEL INFO

Get the latest on travel problems and school closures via your local website Check if snow is forecast in your area at BBC Weather Details of motorway and local road closures and public transport disruption are available at BBC Travel News For advice on handling difficult driving conditions, see the Highways Agency website For information about severe weather warnings, see the Met Office website For information about staying healthy in the cold weather, see the NHS Winter Health website

People planning to use the trains to make their Christmas getaway are being warned to expect delays and cancellations because of problems caused by bad weather.

The Association of Train Operating Companies (Atoc) said up to a quarter of services would not be running on some routes on Thursday, but spokesman Edward Welsh said the cancellations were intended to help passengers.

He said the reduced timetable meant those remaining services should run more reliably.

Heavy snow at RAF Brize Norton, in Oxfordshire, means not as many troops as usual have been able to leave Afghanistan to return home for Christmas.

Some have been delayed for days either in Helmand or the Middle East.

But the BBC has been told by the British military at Camp Bastion in Afghanistan that all troops due on leave this week would have left for the UK by late Thursday afternoon.

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UK forecast for 23/12/2010

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Extra grit on the way for roads

Drivers are told that more rock salt supplies should reach Wales soon in the fight to keep main routes clear.

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Too much bread kills petting goat

A council warns visitors not to feed animals at a Middlesbrough park after a goat had to be put down due to being overfed with bread.

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Parcel bombs hit Rome embassies

The Swiss embassy in Rome (image from embassy website)The embassy stands on via Barnaba Oriani

A parcel bomb blast has seriously injured a Swiss national at the Swiss embassy in Rome, officials from the two countries say.

A male member of staff at the embassy received serious injuries to both of his hands, emergency services told Italian media.

The man was rushed from the embassy on via Barnaba Oriani to hospital.

As police began an investigation, there was no immediate indication of who might have sent the device.

A spokeswoman for the embassy told Reuters news agency the explosion had occurred around midday (1100 GMT).

No further details of the incident were released by the Italian foreign ministry, and police were not commenting as of early Thursday afternoon.

The embassy is located near Villa Glori Park, to the north of the city centre.

A suspected bomb was found on an empty underground train in Rome on Tuesday. The device lacked a detonator and tests showed it contained no explosive.

Anti-government protests had gripped Italy over the past week, with Rome the scene of some of the most serious rioting.

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Cable fury over Telegraph sting

Vince CableVince Cable was secretly taped by reporters posing as constituents
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The Daily Telegraph has caused “great damage” to the relationship between MPs and constituents with its undercover sting tactics, Vince Cable says.

The business secretary was stripped of some powers after reporters posing as constituents taped him “declaring war” on Rupert Murdoch.

He has told his local newspaper the Telegraph has “completely undermined” the work of local MPs.

Four Lib Dem ministers apologised earlier after the latest revelations.

Mr Cable was one of a string of Lib Dem ministers to be taped by undercover Telegraph reporters posing as constituents.

He has not spoken publicly since being slapped down by the prime minister over his unguarded comments, in which he criticised coalition policies and said he had “declared war” on Rupert Murdoch.

But in an interview with The Richmond and Twickenham Times, he said: “I feel quite angry and strongly about this, I’ve had constituency surgeries now for 13 years every week, that’s well over 600.

The Telegraph sent two reporters to a string of constituency surgeries, posing as young mothers with benefit problems.

They taped hours of conversations with the ministers, many of which the BBC understands have yet to be published.

Some have argued that the ministers in question should not have been so naive and foolish as to unburden themselves to complete strangers.

Surely they must have realised something was going on when the “constituents” moved seamlessly from talking about problems with their benefits to very pointed questions about political strategy?

There have also been suggestions that the ministers, who are all middle-aged men, were showing off to the two young female reporters.

One of the MPs caught up in the sting told BBC News the two reporters were “really quite attractive”.

Read Brian’s analysis in full

“Thousands and thousands of constituents have been to see me, often on very difficult and highly confidential issues which have been respected by me and by them.

“Then somebody who isn’t a constituent falsifies their name and address and comes in with a hidden microphone – it completely undermines the whole basis on which you operate as a local MP.

“All my colleagues, of all parties, feel very strongly that some great damage has been done by this.”

He told the Richmond and Twickenham Times he had prefaced his remarks by saying that “if they want to have a conversation about a political matter as well as a personal matter it is confidential”.

He went on: “Obviously one will have to be more guarded, but the problem is you need to give people an honest answer when they ask a question. Again it diminishes our role.”

Several senior Lib Dems have now questioned the Telegraph’s tactics, which they claim will lead MPs to be far less candid with their constituents.

The Press Complaints Commission says it has now received 22 complaints from members of the public over the secret taping of Lib Dem MPs by the Daily Telegraph.

The commission says that, of those citing the code specifically, all refer to Section 10 which deals with subterfuge. It has not received any complaints from the Lib Dem ministers themselves.

It will now look at the complaints and decide in due course whether there is a case to answer.

A spokesman for the Telegraph Media Group said: “There is a clear public interest in The Daily Telegraph publishing this story.

“The Daily Telegraph takes the Press Complaints Commission code extremely seriously and has always adhered to it.”

The revelations have been seized on by Labour as evidence that the coalition is a “sham” but senior Lib Dem and Tory ministers insist such tensions are inevitable when two parties work together in the national interest.

Labour has meanwhile stepped up its efforts to make capital out of the row, with shadow work and pensions secretary Douglas Alexander offering to work together with Lib Dem ministers on a confidential basis to halt proposed cuts in child and housing benefit.

He denied he was simply making mischief and insisted he wanted to “try and turn private complaints into public policy changes”.

Asked on the BBC News Channel whether he agreed that the Telegraph’s tactics had undermined trust, Mr Alexander said: “It is not for me to condone or justify the editorial decisions a newspaper has reached.”

In the latest Telegraph revelations, Care Minister Paul Burstow told the undercover reporters: “I don’t want you to trust David Cameron”.

He later apologised and told the BBC he was “embarrassed” by the comments, adding: “Not a question of me trusting the prime minister, of course I do”.

Transport Minister Norman Baker and Deputy Leader of the House, David Heath, have also apologised after criticising Chancellor George Osborne and saying they voted in favour of tuition fees even though they opposed the policy.

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