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Fifa vice-president Jack Warner says the BBC Panorama programme examining bidding for the 2018 World Cup is “deliberately designed to negatively impact” England’s chances.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
The addition of a simple visor to soldiers’ helmets could vastly reduce head injuries caused by explosions, say researchers.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
World number one Rafael Nadal takes on American Andy Roddick on the second day of the ATP World Tour Finals in London.
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Enhanced body “pat downs” are given to those opting out of full body scans The US agency overseeing airport screening says it is working to make controversial new screening “as minimally invasive as possible”.
But Transportation Security Administration chief John Pistole said there would be no “short-term” changes.
Some passengers are objecting to revealing full-body scanners and “pat-downs” for those opting out of scans.
This week is one of the busiest for US airports as millions travel for Thursday’s Thanksgiving holiday.
‘Trade-off’
Travellers who refuse to be screened via new full body scanners – in use at 60 US airports – must undergo an extensive hand search, which include touching of the genital region and breasts.
Mr Pistole appeared to row back from a position he stated on Sunday in which he said the TSA had no plans to back away from the procedures.
“We’re going to look at how can we do the most effective screening in the least invasive way knowing that there’s always a trade-off between security and privacy,” he told NBC’s Today programme on Monday.
The official said security officials were trying to determine how methods might be changed and still protect against a passenger posing a security threat.
While there have been complaints about the new procedure, recent polling suggests a large majority of Americans support the use of full body X-ray machines to help security officials check underneath passengers’ clothing.
“… You have to constantly refine and measure whether what we’re doing is the only way to assure the American people’s safety”
Barack Obama US President
‘Recalcitrant passengers’
There are also fears that potential protests against the new measures could disrupt the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
A loosely-organised National Opt-Out day is scheduled for Wednesday – with organisers urging all those against the new screening checks to exercise their right to opt-out of the full body scans in favour of a more time-consuming pat down check.
Mr Pistole implored passengers not to take delaying actions, saying they would only serve to “tie up people who want to go home and see their loved ones”.
Paul Ruden, a spokesman for the American Society of Travel Agents, said: “Just one or two recalcitrant passengers at an airport is all it takes to cause huge delays.”
Clinton would avoid pat down
Mr Pistole’s latest comments come after a weekend in which US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton both spoke out on the issue.
Mr Obama told the TSA: “You have to constantly refine and measure whether what we’re doing is the only way to assure the American people’s safety”.
Ms Clinton, speaking on a Sunday morning talk show, said she would not submit to a security pat down “if I could avoid it”.
She added that everyone, “including our security experts, are looking for ways to diminish the impact on the travelling public” and that “striking the right balance is what this is about”.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Ex-Happy Mondays dancer Bez is wanted by police after failing to answer bail over allegations he breached a restraining order taken out by his ex-partner.
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Protesters have marched on the Irish parliament building in Dublin
The Republic of Ireland’s two main opposition parties have called for an immediate general election after an EU-led bail-out of the country’s economy.
The Labour Party and Fine Gael spoke out after the Green Party, junior partners in the governing coalition, called for an election in January.
The government is facing public anger after accepting up to 90bn euros (£77bn; $124bn) in loans.
It will publish a four-year economic plan on Wednesday.
“What is needed now is an immediate general election so that a new government, with a clear parliamentary majority, can prepare the four-year economic plan, complete negotiations with the EU and IMF, and frame a budget for 2011,” Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said in a statement.
Labour leader Eamon Gilmore said it was “essential that we have a new government elected as soon as possible”.
“The past week has been a traumatic one for the Irish electorate”
John Gormley Green Party leaderPolitical shake-up loomsIrish readers reflect on EU deal‘I cannot wait to get away’Irish uncertainty dents marketsRobert Peston’s blog
The BBC’s Mark Simpson in Dublin says the most likely shape of the next government is a right-left coalition between Fine Gael and Labour.
He says that in theory a general election will not stop the EU-led bail-out or the austerity budget, which will be unveiled on 7 December.
Even with Green Party support, the government of Prime Minister Brian Cowen has just a three-seat majority in parliament and faces a by-election in one of those seats on Thursday.
In a statement, Green Party leader John Gormley did not say the party was pulling out of the coalition but he made a number of demands and said a general election date should be set for the second half of January.
The ruling coalition also relies on two independent MPs, who both said on Monday they could not give a commitment that they would support the budget unless the opposition had a hand in drafting it.
The 1990s were good for the Irish Republic’s economy, with low unemployment, high economic growth and strong exports creating the Celtic Tiger economy. Lots of multi-national companies set up in the Republic to take advantage of low tax rates.
At the beginning of 1999, Ireland adopted the euro as its currency, which meant its interest rates were set by the European Central Bank and suddenly borrowing money became much cheaper.
Cheap and easy lending and rising immigration fuelled a construction and house price boom. The government began to rely more on property-related taxes while the banks borrowed from abroad to fund the housing boom.
All this left Ireland ill-equipped to deal with the credit crunch. The construction sector was hit hard, house prices collapsed, the banks had a desperate funding crisis and the government was receiving much too little tax revenue.
The economy has shrunk and the government has bailed out the banks. A series of cost-cutting budgets have cut spending, benefits and public sector wages and raised taxes. But there are still doubts about future government funding.
The main concern for the Republic’s economy is its banks, most of which are now controlled by the government. They have had to borrow at least 83bn euros (£71bn) from the European Central Bank because other banks will not lend to them.Mr Gormley, the current environment minister, stressed the election should only be held after the 2011 budget had been passed.
“Leaving the country without a government while these matters are unresolved would be very damaging and would breach our duty of care,” he said in a statement.
“The past week has been a traumatic one for the Irish electorate. People feel misled and betrayed. But we have now reached a point where the Irish people need political certainty to take them beyond the coming two months.”
A tough budget is the trade-off for the bailout that Irish ministers agreed with the EU and the IMF on Sunday.
European shares and the euro both fell following the election call from the Green Party.
They had risen in earlier trading after the announcement of the bailout.
The UK is expected to contribute about £7bn of the bailout. Chancellor George Osborne said: “Ireland is a friend in need, and we are here to help.”
The crisis in the Irish Republic has been brought on by the recession and the almost total collapse of the country’s banks.
Once known as the Celtic Tiger for its strong economic growth – helped by low corporate tax rates – the country has experienced a property bubble burst, leaving its banks with huge liabilities and pushing up the cost of borrowing for them and the government.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Novak Djokovic hammers sixth seed Tomas Berdych in his opening match at the ATP World Tour Finals in London.
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Jean Pierre Bemba faces five charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity
The war crimes trial of former Congolese rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba is to start at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
The former vice-president of DR Congo is accused of murder, rape and pillage in the Central African Republic (CAR) in 2002 and 2003.
He is the most high profile figure to face trial at the ICC since it began its work eight years ago.
The trial is expected to last several months.
The 48-year-old faces two counts of crimes against humanity and three counts of war crimes.
At the time of the alleged crimes, Mr Bemba was a militia leader in DR Congo, but his forces went into the neighbouring country of CAR to help the president put down a coup attempt.
It is alleged that attacks carried out by his troops against the civilian population were widespread and systematic.
Jean Pierre Bemba later became a vice-president in his own country and, in 2006, lost a run-off election against President Joseph Kabila.
He was arrested in Brussels in 2008, and handed over to the ICC.
Prosecutors will be trying to show that as a military commander, Mr Bemba was in control of his forces but did nothing to stop them committing the atrocities in question.
Mr Bemba has argued that he was not in command of the militia after it crossed the border.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Kabul is a “very family orientated society”, said Mark Sedwill Children may be safer growing up in Kabul than they are in London, Glasgow or New York, a Nato official has said.
Mark Sedwill said the Afghan capital, as a “city of villages”, was better for youngsters than many Western cities, despite dangers posed by the conflict.
The senior civilian representative told CBBC’s Newsround: “Most children can go about their lives in safety.”
But some Kabul youngsters spoke of their fears, and Save the Children said the claim was “wrong and misleading”.
A spokesman for Glasgow City Council also said Mr Sedwill was “wrong” to include the city in his comments.
Kabul has borne the brunt of the war in Afghanistan and although the security situation there has improved of late, it is still deemed a dangerous place to live.
“Afghanistan is the worst place on earth to be born a child – one in four children living there will die before they reach the age of five”
Justin Forsyth Save the Children
The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office website advises against all but essential travel to parts of Afghanistan, and that nobody visits the areas worst-hit by fighting.
It says Kabul has witnessed a “significant escalation in the number of suicide and rocket attacks in the last year. Since late August 2009, there have been 14 ‘successful’ suicide attacks in the city, with at least five further suicide attacks known to have been thwarted.”
Several young people interviewed by Sonali Shah, a presenter for BBC children’s channel CBBC, spoke of their fear of the violence.
Sohrad, a 16-year-old student, told Newsround: “Because of explosions happening in the city, it is frightening when we come to school. We are afraid of explosions in the school.”
And Manija, 11, also from Kabul, described the reality of growing up in a country at war. She said: “When there are explosions I get sad because people are dying, but the next day when they are living a normal life and celebrating I get happy.”
However Mr Sedwill told the programme: “In Kabul and the other big cities actually there are very few of these bombs. The children are probably safer here than they would be in London, New York or Glasgow or many other cities.
“It’s a very family-orientated society. So it is a little bit like a city of villages.”
“We are not going to leave Kabul until we are absolutely sure the Taliban can’t return”
Mark Sedwill Nato
But chief executive of Save the Children, Justin Forsyth, said it was wrong to make the comparison with children living in Western cities.
“Afghanistan is the worst place on earth to be born a child – one in four children living there will die before they reach the age of five,” he said.
“We should be listening to what children in Afghanistan are saying. Last year was the deadliest for children since late 2001, with more than a thousand killed because of the conflict.
“But it’s not just about the bombs. A staggering 850 children die every day, many from easily preventable diseases such as diarrhoea or pneumonia, or because they are malnourished.
“The lives of children in Afghanistan are in extreme danger. The international community needs to put as much time, effort and money into stopping children dying unnecessarily as into security operations there.”
A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said it understood it was important to reassure children in Afghanistan about their safety, but added that Mr Sedwill “has got it wrong here”.
“This comparison will simply lead people in Glasgow, London and New York to pull out the statistics showing how very wrong he is and his, very important, message to the people of Afghanistan will be lost,” he said.
When asked why Nato troops had not won the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan, Mr Sedwill said: “It’s not like the Second World War, or other wars that people are familiar with, where you fight on the battlefield.
“Because the Taliban can’t fight that way… [what] they do is, they hide among the people. We are not going to leave Afghanistan. We are not going to leave Kabul until we are absolutely sure the Taliban can’t return.”
Leaders of Nato’s 28 states have backed a strategy to transfer leadership for the fight against the Taliban to Afghan forces by the end of 2014.
Growing Up In A War Zone: A Newsround Special will be broadcast on CBBC at 1815 GMT on Monday 22 November
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Ireland has agreed up to 90bn euros of EU-led loans The junior partner in the Irish Republic’s governing coalition has urged a general election in January, after a European Union-led bailout of the country’s ailing economy.
The Green Party said the Irish people needed “political certainty”.
The government on Sunday agreed up to 90bn euros (£77bn; $124bn) of EU-led loans and will publish a four-year budget plan on Wednesday.
It also faces a by-election on Thursday which may cut its three-seat majority.
Green Party leader John Gormley, the environment minister, said he wanted the election to be held in the second half of January.
The Green Party said the election should only be held after the 2011 budget had been unveiled and passed.
“Leaving the country without a government while these matters are unresolved would be very damaging and would breach our duty of care,” the party said in a statement.
Mr Gormley said: “The past week has been a traumatic one for the Irish electorate. People feel misled and betrayed.
“But we have now reached a point where the Irish people need political certainty to take them beyond the coming two months.”
Mr Gormley said Prime Minister Brian Cowen had expressed disappointment at the Greens’ decision.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Fifty-two people died in suicide attacks on three London Underground trains and a bus Home Secretary Theresa May has lost a legal bid to force the 7 July inquests to hear top-secret evidence behind closed doors.
Earlier this month, coroner Lady Justice Hallett rejected pleas to exclude victims’ relatives from hearings relating to MI5’s knowledge of the bombers before the attacks.
Two High Court judges have now upheld that ruling.
The government said it would “consider the judgement carefully”.
Fifty-two people died in suicide attacks on three London Underground trains and a bus in July 2005.
The BBC’s June Kelly said the evidence in question was related to the issue of whether the bombings could have been prevented.
Relatives of those killed want to ask security officials why two of the bombers – Mohammed Sidique Khan and Shehzad Tanweer – were not pursued more aggressively by MI5 after they were observed meeting known terror suspects 17 months before 7/7.
Our correspondent said some of the families were adamant that those questions must be asked in public.
But MI5 has argued that would be both unnecessary and impossible because it would require the disclosure of top-secret files.
Lady Justice Hallett, in her ruling on 3 November, concluded that while she had the power to exclude the public from certain hearings in the interests of national security, that did not include “interested persons”, such as the bereaved relatives, who were legally entitled to be represented at the inquests.
She said she hoped that “with full co-operation on all sides” – and by redacting certain details where necessary – most if not all of the relevant material could be heard without threatening national security.
“A secret inquest would have been a contradiction in terms”
Corinna Ferguson Liberty
It is not yet clear whether Mrs May will appeal against the High Court’s decision.
She could also use powers to transform part of the inquests into a public inquiry, which could then examine documents in closed hearings.
A Home Office spokesman said the government was “committed to co-operating fully with the coroner’s inquiry”.
“Along with many victims’ families, we believe a closed hearing for a small part of the July 7 inquests would be the best way for the coroner to consider as much information as possible,” he said.
“The court has decided this is not possible and we will consider the judgment carefully.”
Human rights group Liberty called the High Court ruling a “milestone for open justice”.
“The whole point of an inquest is that those most affected by untimely death should have some answers to why it happened and reassurance that lessons will be learned for the future,” legal officer Corinna Ferguson said.
“A secret inquest would have been a contradiction in terms.
“No one doubts that the security agencies do vital and sensitive work, but they also need to respect the ultimate role of the courts in upholding the rule of law.”
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Irish PM Brian Cowen: “We are now in a position to apply for assistance”
The euro and global shares have both risen in value, as markets welcomed the bail-out for the Irish Republic.
Following Sunday’s deal, the euro strengthened to $1.376 while Japan’s Nikkei index closed up 0.9% at a five-month high.
The exact amount and terms of the European Union-led package will be negotiated in the coming days.
Irish Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said his government would be getting less than 100bn euros ($136bn; £85bn).
The UK and Sweden have also offered direct loans.
The crisis in the Irish Republic has been brought on by the recession and the almost total collapse of the country’s banks, analysts say.
Once known as the Celtic Tiger for its strong economic growth – helped by low corporate tax rates – a property bubble burst, leaving the country’s banks with huge liabilities and pushing up the cost of borrowing for them and the government.
The Irish Prime Minister, Brian Cowen, said the government would be publishing a four-year budget plan that would restructure the banking industry.
EU Finance Commissioner Olli Rehn, speaking in Brussels, said the loans would be provided to the Republic over a three-year period and the assistance would help preserve the stability of the eurozone – the group of 16 nations using the euro as their common currency.
There was a real sense of urgency as eurozone finance ministers held a conference call trying to agree as much of this as they could before the markets open on Monday.
The European Central Bank said this was all about safeguarding the financial stability of the euro and the eurozone. The German finance minister said this was not about defending a country – namely Ireland – but about defending a common currency.
What was driving all of this was the fear of contagion – that Ireland’s problem could spread to other eurozone countries such as Portugal, force up borrowing costs and perhaps force them to accept a bail-out as well.
The big question now is that there have been two eurozone bail-outs this year: Will this help draw a line under instability or are we going to see a succession of crises, raising long-term questions about the future of stability in the EU?
The Reuters news agency quoted senior EU sources as saying the loans would total 80-90bn euros.
Mr Cowen said the Irish Republic’s banks would be made smaller, as part of a restructuring of the banking industry.
The other part of the bail-out package would help to reduce the government’s budget deficit to a target of 3% of GDP by 2014, Mr Lenihan said.
Under the bail-out scheme, income tax will increase but the country’s low 12.5% corporation tax – controversial for some other countries but “non-negotiable” for the Irish government – will not be touched.
It is a sign of the crisis facing the Irish Republic and some of the other highly-indebted European nations that the rescue plan had to be announced late on Sunday, before the financial markets opened on Monday, without many important details having been worked out, says BBC Europe correspondent Jonty Bloom.
Announcing the bail-out on Sunday, Mr Cowen appealed for public solidarity.
“We should not underestimate the scale of our economic problems, but we must have faith in our ability as a people to recover and prosper once more”
Brian Cowen Prime Minister, Irish RepublicRobinson blog: Friend in needIrish voters reflect on rescue deal
“To the Irish people I say simply this: We should not underestimate the scale of our economic problems, but we must have faith in our ability as a people to recover and prosper once more,” he said.
“The task of rebuilding our economy falls to our own efforts as a people,” he told a news conference following a cabinet meeting on the rescue plan.
“That is where the focus of our efforts must turn over coming weeks, beginning with the four-year plan and then the budget. And now we need to show the solidarity in our own country that our neighbours have shown to us at this time.”
Although the country’s government claims to be fully funded until the middle of next year, it has provided a blanket guarantee to the Irish banks, some of whom are now finding it impossible to borrow money in the markets.
On Thursday, Mr Cowen’s government admitted for the first time that it may need outside help.
Previously the government had said it did not need any financial support from the European Union and IMF.
EU officials fear the Republic’s financial problems might spread to other eurozone countries with large budget deficits, such as Spain and Portugal.
The EU and the IMF launched a 110bn euro rescue programme for Greece in May after the government was faced with the prospect of bankruptcy.
Big government spending cuts sent large numbers of Greeks onto the streets in protest.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Work is beginning in Israel on a barrier along the border with Egypt, aimed at stemming the flow of illegal immigrants into the country.
The barrier, including an electric fence and surveillance technology, will run for 250km (155 miles).
Work on the $372m (£232m) project is expected to take up to a year.
Hundreds of migrants – including many asylum seekers – enter Israel from Egypt every week, Israeli government figures suggest.
Egyptian border guards have shot dead dozens of migrants – mostly from Africa – in recent years.
Egyptian officials insist they only shoot at the border after those crossing ignore repeated orders to stop, and point out that human-trafficking gangs carry guns.
However, the United Nations and human rights groups have asked Egypt to stop excessive force being used.
The Israeli defence ministry said on Sunday that “dozens of heavy engineering vehicles will be deployed at points along the Israeli-Egypt border” on Monday.
The Israeli government approved the construction of the barrier in March, after months of planning and preparatory work.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described the influx of illegal migrants across the border as a major threat to “the Jewish and democratic character of the state of Israel”.
Many African migrants try to sneak into Israel to escape poverty The Israeli immigration authority said in a report earlier this month that some 700 illegal migrants – a record number – infiltrated through the Egypt-Israel border on a weekly basis, Israel’s Haaretz newspaper says.
This marked an increase of about 300% since the start of 2010, according to the report, which put the number of migrants at 10,858 over the January-November period.
In 2009, 4,341 migrants were recorded.
A deal struck between Libya and Italy in 2009 has cut off a popular sea route to Europe for illegal African migrants and helped direct the flow towards Israel, the BBC’s Yolande Knell in Cairo says.
Our correspondent adds that many African migrants believe that Israel is currently offering better work opportunities and more Western standards.
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Students protesting against raising tuition fees and budget cuts are staging an occupation in a university building in London.
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Legally Blonde actress Sheridan Smith and former Spice Girl Melanie Chisholm are both nominated for prizes at Sunday’s London Evening Standard Theatre Awards.
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