Category: news

Afghan President Hamid Karzai is preparing to meet Nato leaders in Lisbon for talks on withdrawing troops from his country by the end of 2014.

A spokesman for Mr Karzai said he and Nato shared the “same strategic interests” but that there were many issues still to be worked out.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is also due to address the summit.

On Friday, the military alliance agreed to develop a joint missile defence shield covering all member states.

The Portugal summit also backed the swift ratification of the Start treaty between the US and Russia, aimed at cutting the nuclear weapon stockpiles of both sides.

Nato’s International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) has some 130,000 soldiers based in Afghanistan, most of them from the US.

US President Barack Obama said the Isaf mission was “moving to a new phase”, and that the target for handing over the overall responsibility for security to the Afghans was still 2014.

Some Nato members have expressed concerns that Afghanistan may not be ready to manage its own security by that time, but Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has said the goal is “realistic”.

Mr Rasmussen said there would still be a role for Isaf troops in the country in 2015 and onwards, but that would largely be in training Afghan forces.

Mr Karzai’s spokesman and advisor, Ashraf Ghani, said Nato and Kabul had “the same strategic objectives” for the withdrawal – they now needed “to work out a lot of implementation issues” and set milestones for the intervening years.

“A journey that has a clear sense of destination is a much easier journey than a journey into the unknown,” the Associated press quoted him as saying.

“We have now agreed on the destination, this becomes the question of aligning ends and means, together determining the pace and bringing about a common understanding of strategy.”

The two-day Lisbon summit has been billed as one of the most important in the alliance’s history as it seeks to update its strategy and structure to face new security threats.

On day one, the member states reached an agreement to develop and deploy defences against ballistic missile attack on its territories.

Mr Obama said the agreement “responds to the threats of our times” and shows Nato’s “determination to protect our citizens”.

Nato hopes Russia will also agree to join the project, and will speak about the issue with Mr Medvedev on Saturday.

But the BBC’s diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus says that bringing Russia on board will not be easy – Moscow has rejected all previous invitations over fears its own missile force might be compromised.

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Arsenal boss urges Arsenal fans to show respect to former captain William Gallas when he returns with Tottenham.

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Former Chelsea assistant manager Ray Wilkins is to take legal advice following his departure from the club.

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Three of the 29 men missing following an explosion in a mine in New Zealand are British, journalists at the scene have been told.

A union representative said he believed one man was Scottish, while the other two were from Yorkshire.

The families of all the trapped men are reported to have been notified.

The police chief heading the mission to rescue the men – with whom there has been no contact – has vowed to “bring them home”.

Trevor Bolderson, of the Engineering Printing and Manufacturing Union, said he believed the men from Yorkshire had been working at the mine for about 12 months, while the Scottish man had been there “for a bit longer”.

Police spokeswoman Barbara Dunn said she believed the Scottish man was 25 years old.

The missing workers range in age from a 17-year-old – believed to be on his first shift – to a 62-year-old.

The explosion at the Pike River mine, on New Zealand’s South Island, happened at around 1530 local time (0230 GMT) on Friday.

Superintendent Gary Knowles said they had to ensure the site was safe before sending rescue teams below ground.

Officials said there were 29 miners unaccounted for, two more than previously thought.

Earlier, two workers walked out of the mine with moderate injuries.

“Our primary focus over the next 24 hours is to to hopefully locate the miners and bring them home safely,” Mr Knowles said at a news conference.

Concerns about the possibility of another explosion have delayed the search effort, officials say.

There were also fears that ventilation in the mine may have been compromised due to an earlier power outage, hindering attempts to pump fresh air in, said Ms Dunn.

Each miner carried 30 minutes of oxygen, enough to reach oxygen stores in the mine that would allow them to survive for several days, officials from Pike River Coal, the mine operators, said.

The mine, which employs some 150 people, has been operational since 2008 and runs deep under the Paparoa Ranges on the rugged western coast of the South Island.

Of the 29 men, 16 are local employees, while 13 are contractors. Two are thought to be Australian.

An electrician went into the mine at 1550 to investigate a power failure, and 1,500m (4,920ft) into the shaft he discovered the driver of a loader who had been blown off his machine. He then raised the alarm.

Mining experts said it could have been an explosion of methane gas, coal dust, or a combination of the two.

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The London house where Charles Dickens wrote Oliver Twist is given a £2m grant by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

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Two shots are fired through the kitchen window of a house at Portlee Walk in Antrim.

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Hollywood star Wesley Snipes has been ordered by a US judge to surrender to authorities to start serving a three-year jail term for tax-related crimes.

Florida Judge William Terrell Hodges rejected a request from Snipes’ lawyers to review his sentence and grant a new trial.

In April 2008, Snipes, 48, was found guilty of deliberately failing to file tax returns for 1999, 2000 and 2001.

He then launched an appeal and has been on bail ever since.

The actor, whose films include the Blade trilogy, was cleared of more serious fraud and conspiracy charges.

“The defendant Snipes had a fair trial; he has had a full, fair and thorough review of his conviction and sentence,” Judge Hodges wrote in his decision on Friday.

“The time has come for the judgement to be enforced,” he said.

It was not immediately clear when and where Snipes had to surrender.

However, his defence attorney Daniel Meachum later said he planned to appeal at the US Supreme Court, the Associated Press reports.

Mr Meachum said that Snipes, who was in Atlanta to film a movie, remained “incredibly calm and positive”.

“He wasn’t angered. He wasn’t bitter.”

Snipes’ lawyers had argued his 2008 sentence was “unreasonable”.

The actor earned more than $37m (£24m) in gross income between 1999 and 2004 but did not file individual federal income tax returns for any of those years, according to official court papers.

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The growing community of mic-wielding music fans

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Officials at a mine in New Zealand where 29 men are thought to be trapped say air tests have not yet shown it is safe for rescuer workers to enter.

Mine chiefs say they “remain positive” that the men will be found alive, and rescuers are ready to go in as soon as they are given the all-clear.

New Zealand’s Prime Minister John Key said bringing the men out of the Pike River mine remained the top priority.

There has been no contact with the men since they were trapped on Friday.

Speaking at a press conference, regional police commander Gary Knowles said tests were being carried out on samples of gas taken from in and around the mine.

The tests have so far proved inconclusive and Mr Knowles said he was not prepared to send any of the volunteer rescuers into the mine until it was proved to be a safe environment.

He said they needed to balance the safety of the rescuers with the lives of those underground.

“We will still look for that window of opportunity to get underground and get those men out,” he said.

“We still remain positive and we believe that once that window of opportunity opens, we are ready to go.”

Mr Knowles refused to speculate on the men’s chances of survival.

“We don’t go on gut feelings – these are people’s lives. I’m not going to give a percentage to their families based on a gut feeling,” he said.

New Zealand’s Prime Minister John Key, speaking at the same press conference, said his government was “doing what we can to make sure these 29 brave men are taken out of the mine and are here in one piece”.

“This is a time of huge anxiety for the families and for the miners, so our heart and thoughts go out to them,” he said.

“The big issue is balancing the rescue of the miners with the safety and security of those who undertake the operation. It’s a difficult time but we’re determined get them out alive.”

The explosion at the Pike River mine is believed to have happened at around 1530 local time (0230 GMT) on Friday.

The missing workers range in age from a 17-year-old – believed to be on his first shift – to a 62-year-old.

Most are New Zealanders but there are a number of Australian and British nationals among them, police said.

Pike River Mine chief executive Peter Whittall said the mine was relatively small, so the men would have been working close together.

Each miner carried 30 minutes of oxygen, enough to reach oxygen stores in the mine that would allow them to survive for several days.

Mr Whittall said there were also supplies of water underground and the temperature was about 25C.

He said that until the location of the missing men could be confirmed, the structure of the mine went it was not possible to send supplies down “with any certainty as to where it’s going”.

Two workers who walked out of the mine have been treated in hospital for moderate injuries but have since been discharged.

Officials said one of the men had been very disorientated when he emerged. The other was able to speak to officials and said he believed he had been knocked over by a blast, causing him to briefly lose consciousness.

The mine, which employs some 150 people, has been operational since 2008 and runs deep under the Paparoa Ranges on the rugged western coast of the South Island.

An electrician went into the mine at 1550 to investigate a power failure, and 1,500m (4,920ft) into the shaft he discovered the driver of a loader who had been blown off his machine. He then raised the alarm.

Mining experts said it could have been an explosion of methane gas, coal dust, or a combination of the two.

The last mining disaster to occur in the country was in 1967 at a mine called Strongman, close to Pike River, where an explosion killed 19 miners.

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England demonstrate their form ahead of the first Ashes Test by completing a 10-wicket victory against Australia A in Hobart.

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Alain de Botton on morality, happiness and the spread of ideas

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The credibility of the Wales Audit Office will not suffer long-term as a result of the jailing of its ex-auditor general, says a senior assembly member.

Jeremy Colman is beginning an eight month jail term for possessing more than 170 indecent images of children.

Chair of the assembly’s public accounts committee, Jonathan Morgan, said a “golden future” lay ahead for the office Colman formerly led.

Colman, 62, admitted 15 separate offences.

Mr Morgan admitted to BBC Wales that he had been “gobsmacked” when the allegations against Mr Colman surfaced.

He said: “That’s the only way I can describe it because I would never have thought that he would have committed those offences.

“But I don’t think the (audit office’s) credibility has been damaged because these are the acts of one man.”

The auditor general for Wales heads the Wales Audit Office, which is independent of government and is responsible for the annual audit of some £20bn of public expenditure.

Reports it prepares on the Welsh Assembly Government’s accounts are scrutinised by the public accounts committee.

Mr Morgan credited the staff at the audit office with continuing to work hard despite the strain they had felt during the investigation into Colman’s offences.

He said: “The Wales Audit Office is an incredible organisation with some of the most dedicated, professional and intelligent public servants that I have ever met.

“I think it’s a golden future for them, however, they have had a very difficult number of months and it must have been very demoralising.

“In some senses it may have damaged their reputation but I think that’s going to be a short-term dip.

“And I think longer term people will see that we have a confident and capable organisation of highly motivated professional people who are capable of delivering the sort of work that we need and rely on.”

Huw Vaughan Thomas was recently appointed the new auditor general and Mr Morgan welcomed the reforms he is heading up at the office.

“There’s a review at the moment and I hope that will lead to some reforms in the future.”

Considerable embarrassment

Colman, who stood down from his £170,000-a-year post in February, had been remanded in custody since 1 November after admitting downloading and possessing images of child sex abuse.

He has a home at Dinas Powys in the Vale of Glamorgan but has been living near Peterborough in Cambridgeshire.

Sentencing, Judge Nicholas Cooke QC, the Recorder of Cardiff, told Colman he had caused considerable embarrassment for the Welsh assembly.

The court heard 51 of the images were of level four, the second most serious level.

The images were described by the judge as utterly revolting material.

Colman was ordered to register as a sex offender for 10 years.

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The response to the cholera outbreak in Haiti which has killed nearly 1,200 people is failing to meet the needs of the population, warns MSF.

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Officials at a mine in New Zealand where 29 men are thought to be trapped say air tests have not yet shown it is safe for rescuer workers to enter.

Mine chiefs say they “remain positive” that the men will be found alive, and rescuers are ready to go in as soon as they are given the all-clear.

New Zealand’s Prime Minister John Key said bringing the men out of the Pike River mine remained the top priority.

There has been no contact with the men since they were trapped on Friday.

Speaking at a press conference, regional police commander Gary Knowles said tests were being carried out on samples of gas taken from in and around the mine.

The tests have so far proved inconclusive and Mr Knowles said he was not prepared to send any of the volunteer rescuers into the mine until it was proved to be a safe environment.

He said they needed to balance the safety of the rescuers with the lives of those underground.

“We will still look for that window of opportunity to get underground and get those men out,” he said.

“We still remain positive and we believe that once that window of opportunity opens, we are ready to go.”

Mr Knowles refused to speculate on the men’s chances of survival.

“We don’t go on gut feelings – these are people’s lives. I’m not going to give a percentage to their families based on a gut feeling,” he said.

New Zealand’s Prime Minister John Key, speaking at the same press conference, said his government was “doing what we can to make sure these 29 brave men are taken out of the mine and are here in one piece”.

“This is a time of huge anxiety for the families and for the miners, so our heart and thoughts go out to them,” he said.

“The big issue is balancing the rescue of the miners with the safety and security of those who undertake the operation. It’s a difficult time but we’re determined get them out alive.”

The explosion at the Pike River mine is believed to have happened at around 1530 local time (0230 GMT) on Friday.

The missing workers range in age from a 17-year-old – believed to be on his first shift – to a 62-year-old.

Most are New Zealanders but there are a number of Australian and British nationals among them, police said.

Pike River Mine chief executive Peter Whittall said the mine was relatively small, so the men would have been working close together.

Each miner carried 30 minutes of oxygen, enough to reach oxygen stores in the mine that would allow them to survive for several days.

Mr Whittall said there were also supplies of water underground and the temperature was about 25C.

He said that until the location of the missing men could be confirmed, the structure of the mine went it was not possible to send supplies down “with any certainty as to where it’s going”.

Two workers who walked out of the mine have been treated in hospital for moderate injuries but have since been discharged.

Officials said one of the men had been very disorientated when he emerged. The other was able to speak to officials and said he believed he had been knocked over by a blast, causing him to briefly lose consciousness.

The mine, which employs some 150 people, has been operational since 2008 and runs deep under the Paparoa Ranges on the rugged western coast of the South Island.

An electrician went into the mine at 1550 to investigate a power failure, and 1,500m (4,920ft) into the shaft he discovered the driver of a loader who had been blown off his machine. He then raised the alarm.

Mining experts said it could have been an explosion of methane gas, coal dust, or a combination of the two.

The last mining disaster to occur in the country was in 1967 at a mine called Strongman, close to Pike River, where an explosion killed 19 miners.

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

Take That, JLS and Cheryl Cole are among the acts gearing up for the BBC’s annual Children in Need TV appeal.

A host of celebrities will take part in the seven-hour telethon, which raises money for disadvantaged children and young people in the UK.

Viewers will get a preview of the Doctor Who Christmas special during the show, which hopes to raise more than the £39m generated last year.

The show kicks off at 1900 GMT on BBC One and BBC One HD.

Sir Terry Wogan, Tess Daly and Fearne Cotton will host the programme, which will feature a joint appearance from the casts of EastEnders and Coronation Street.

Elsewhere, Formula 1 drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button will go head to head in a go-karting challenge.

The presenters of Loose Women will perform a Girls Aloud song, while the stars of Dragons’ Den will take part in a Come Dine With Me special.

Doctor Who and Torchwood star John Barrowman will be presenting from Glasgow, where the cast of the Queen musical We Will Rock You will perform.

Over in Cardiff, The One Show’s Alex Jones will be seen at the Millennium Stadium during half-time in the Wales v Fiji international rugby match.

Meanwhile, viewers in Northern Ireland will see Radio One DJ Reggie Yates and John Daly host their part of the show from the Odyssey Arena in Belfast.

David Ramsden, chief executive of Children in Need, said the BBC was “humbled and inspired” by the money raised every year.

You can help the appeal by calling the donation line on 0345 7 33 22 33. A full list of ways to donate is available on the Children in Need website.

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