Category: news

Mr Putin said the vote was a “tough and fair fight”

Russian PM Vladimir Putin has thanked Fifa “from the bottom of my heart” for choosing Russia to be the host of the 2018 World Cup.

Arriving in Zurich, Mr Putin said the competition would be held to the highest standards.

He said it had been a “difficult decision” not to come for the result earlier in the day.

He did so out of respect for Fifa members who, he said, had been under unacceptable and unjustified pressure.

A recent investigation by the BBC’s Panorama programme, which was broadcast on Monday, accused three executive committee members of accepting payments and alleged Fifa vice-president Jack Warner attempted to supply ticket touts.

Russia was selected as 2018 host ahead of co-bidders Spain-Portugal, Holland-Belgium and England. Qatar won the 2022 bid.

The moment Russia won 2018 World Cup bid

Russia received nine votes in the first round of voting and an outright majority of 13 in the second round.

Mr Putin said the decisiveness of Russia’s victory in two rounds had been “absolutely unexpected”.

“We are honoured to win in this tough and fair fight,” he said.

“From the bottom of my heart, thank you.”

Mr Putin said that in Russia, football “brings a spark into the lives of people young and old”.

He recalled the siege of Leningrad by the Nazis in World War II, saying football matches were played even then despite harsh living conditions and the lack of food and heating.

The Russian prime minister had been expected to be a prominent figurehead for the Russian bid in the final days of campaigning but instead he remained in Moscow, leading to speculation that Russia’s bid was likely to fail.

But Mr Putin explained that his absence was prompted by the corruption allegations against Fifa executive members.

“I did this out of respect,” he said. “There was unacceptable campaigning that was deployed for the World Cup in 2018.”

“People were accused of corruption. There were accused without any grounds, without any reasons, no justifications.”

The Russian leader’s presence in Guatemala in 2007 for the announcement of the venue for the 2014 Winter Olympics is thought to have been a key factor in choosing the Russian city of Sochi.

Mr Putin’s promise to scrap visas for people in possession of tickets for the competition was seen as crucial to his country’s prospects of winning the vote, as nationals of almost all countries outside the former Soviet Union must obtain permission to visit Russia.

There had been concerns that Russia’s vast size, its remoteness from other countries and what is seen as a relatively weak transport system could make travelling around the country problematic.

All the host cities are in the European region of the country and Mr Putin has promised that fans will be able to travel on public transport for free during the event.

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The latest US cables revealed by Wikileaks expose Afghan and American criticism of British forces and strategy in Helmand in 2008.

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A number of exploration companies are seeking oil in the Falklands

A British exploration company says it has discovered oil off the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic – the second such find this year.

Desire Petroleum said it would carry out further tests to assess the significance of the discovery.

It said it believed further oil fields would be found in the area.

Oil exploration around the Falklands has angered Argentina, which challenges British sovereignty over the islands it calls the Malvinas.

Desire Petroleum’s shares went up by 24% on the news.

Chairman of Desire Stephen Phipps called the find in the North Falkland Basin “highly encouraging.”

Another British company, Rockhopper, found oil in the same area in May.

It is not clear if either find will prove commercially viable.

The resumptrion of oil exploration around the Falklands earlier this year revived the long-running dispute between Britain and Argentina over the islands.

In February Argentina announced new controls on shipping to the Falklands.

It has also raised the issue at the United Nations and rallied support for its sovereignty claim among Latin American countries.

Britain says it has no doubt about its sovereignty over the islands, where most of the population is of British descent.

The Argentine military invaded the Falklands in 1982 but was defeated by Britain in the war which followed.

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Two people arrested for alleged perjury and perverting the course of justice at a 1988 murder trial are bailed.

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Norway investigates allegations that Nobel Peace Laureate Muhammad Yunus diverted millions of dollars of aid money from a bank.

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About 40 people are killed and many injured by a forest fire raging in the Carmel Mountains near the northern Israeli city of Haifa.

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The MPs’ expenses scheme was overhauled after last year’s scandal

MPs’ anger about their expenses system will be aired in the Commons later when they debate the body which runs it.

The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority was set up in the wake of the expenses scandal, to restore faith in the way MPs allowances were run.

But MPs regularly raise complaints about its complexity and effectiveness.

The debate, proposed by Conservative Adam Afriyie and backed by 40 MPs, comes as Ipsa publishes MPs’ claims made between May and August.

Ipsa will publish a breakdown of each claim, including the date, amount and a basic description.

Individual receipts will not be published due to cost, nor will rejected claims, as Ipsa agreed to give MPs a few months to get used to the new system.

But a Freedom of Information request by the Times revealed that more than 1,500 claims submitted between May and August were not paid for various reasons – either because of mistakes made by MPs, or by Ipsa itself. Rejected claims will be published in future.

Having an external, independent regulator for MPs’ expenses was a key recommendation of a seven-month inquiry into the system last year.

Previously the Commons’ own fees office had paid out claims – a system that was discredited during the expenses scandal in 2009 when lavish claims made under the second homes allowance came to light.

But while Ipsa is an external regulator, a committee of MPs, the Speaker’s Committee, proposes its members and signs off its cost estimate. It requested £6.46m for its administrative costs for 2010-11 but said that included set-up costs.

Mr Afriyie’s motion “regrets” the “unnecessarily high costs and inadequacies” of the new expenses system.

The motion also calls for a simpler scheme for office expenses and calls for time to be made available for MPs to amend the legislation which set it up, if the system is not improved.

It was accepted for debate by the new backbench business committee – itself a result of reforms drawn up in the wake of the expenses scandal – which now controls the timetable for non-ministerial debates and motions.

The committee said it had been approached three times by Mr Afriyie about debating Ipsa – whose motion has the backing of more than 40 MPs.

However others are critical of the move. Labour’s John Mann told BBC Radio 5live: “Some MPs are trying to get rid of the independent system, threatening it with legislating it out of existence – it shows how clinging to the past is still a bit of a problem in Westminster.”

Ipsa is conducting an annual review of its rules and is consulting MPs and others about the way they work and has already introduced some “simplifications” to the way it administers them, including allowing direct payments to landlords for rental charges.

Before Mr Afriyie’s debate begins, a separate debate will be held on another expenses-related issue – the wider publication of fast-tracked expenses complaints which have been criticised in the press as “secret deals”.

The Parliamentary Standards Commissioner John Lyon wants permission to publish on his website details of expenses cases dealt with under the so-called “rectification” procedure – used to deal with cases where MPs are judged to have made “less serious” expenses mistakes.

The procedure allows MPs to apologise and repay the money, rather than face a full-blown standards investigation and widely published report, although the conclusions are passed to whoever made the complaint.

However a motion to allow Mr Lyon to publish the details more widely was delayed on 17 November when one MP cried “object”. He also objected to another motion aimed at giving Mr Lyon the power to initiate investigations into whether an MP had breached the code of conduct. Currently the standards commissioner has to wait for a formal complaint.

Both will be debated again on Thursday.

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Russia are chosen to host the 2018 World Cup and Qatar will stage the 2022 tournament.

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Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency is to charge US former Vice-President Dick Cheney over a bribery scandal involving a former subsidiary of energy firm Halliburton.

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England miss out on the right to host the 2018 World Cup after football’s governing body Fifa picks Russia to stage the event for the first time.

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Debt management firms have been told not to pretend they are charities or offer official services.

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Linda Norgrove was being held by her captors in a gully

Aid worker Linda Norgrove was killed by a grenade thrown by a US special forces soldier sent to rescue her, a joint US-UK investigation has found.

Ms Norgrove, 36, from Lewis, Scotland, was taken hostage in Afghanistan in September. She died on 8 October.

It had been thought she was killed by her captors.

Foreign Secretary William Hague said US soldiers had been disciplined for not informing commanders immediately that the grenade was a suspected cause.

He revealed the results of the probe in a statement to the House of Commons.

An investigation team of 10 staff spent almost three weeks in Afghanistan interviewing all involved in the rescue attempt.

They also had access to video footage, reports and post-mortem examination results which showed Ms Norgrove died of “penetrative fragmentation injuries” to her head and chest.

Mr Hague said: “After the investigation is clear that these injuries were caused by the grenade.”

He said US special forces had not immediately notified officers further up the chain of command about the grenade.

Mr Hague said this was in breach of military law and a number of soldiers had been disciplined.

Before making his statement, Mr Hague met with the Scottish aid worker’s parents John and Lorna Norgrove.

In a statement, the family said: “We are grateful to have been briefed in detail by the UK and US military officers who led the inquiry into Linda’s kidnapping and subsequent failed rescue attempt.

“We would like some time to digest this and the contents of the report before we make any further comment.

“We will issue a statement early next week and would ask the media to respect our privacy in the meantime.”

The foreign secretary said that with the agreement of the prime minister he had agreed to a rescue bid because of fears that Ms Norgrove’s life was in “grave danger”.

He said an incredibly difficult operation was launched by highly experienced personnel in extreme mountain terrain at night.

After being dropped off by two helicopters, one of two teams moved along a narrow ledge and came under attack.

Mr Hague said it was believed Ms Norgrove was being held in buildings higher up a mountain.

Linda Norgrove’s funeral was held on Lewis in the Western Isles

He said: “A grenade was thrown by a member of the rescue team who feared for his own life and those of his team towards a gully from where some of the insurgents had emerged.

“When the grenade was thrown no member of the team had seen, or heard, Linda Norgrove.”

Following the operation Ms Norgrove’s body was found in the gully.

She had been working for American-based aid organisation Development Alternatives Inc (DAI).

On 26 September, she was kidnapped in the Dewagal valley in the Kunar province while looking into the development of agricultural projects in the east of Afghanistan.

Her funeral was held on Lewis in the Western Isles.

An inquest into Ms Norgrove’s death was opened and adjourned by Wiltshire coroner David Ridley in Salisbury in October.

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A man who filmed himself abusing his girlfriend’s 15-month-old son is found guilty of the child’s murder.

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A key opponent of President Barack Obama’s bid to allow gays to serve openly in the US military says the current repeal effort is “premature”.

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Political parties spent £10m less on the 2010 general election than on the 2005 poll, according to figures from the Electoral Commission.

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