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A UN’s human rights committee criticises Burma’s recent elections and expresses “grave concern” over human rights in the country.
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Plans for a new £27m visitor centre at Stonehenge are given a boost with a £10m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
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The details behind Whitehall spending over £25,000 made since the election are being published by the government.
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Pudsey’s got a girlfriend – but what’s her name?
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Progress has been slow on the M25 widening project The cost of widening the M25 motorway has increased by a quarter because of failings by the Highways Agency, a government report has said.
The project covers 22 miles (35km) between junction 16 and junction 23.
But an 18-month delay meant the contract was let in May 2009 at the height of the credit crisis, a National Audit Office (NAO) report said.
This increased the cost by £660m to £3.4bn, the report said. The Highways Agency said it would respond later.
The delay occurred because the Highways Agency was testing whether using the hard shoulder at peak times could negate the need for motorway widening.
This testing took longer than expected, postponing the start of procurement for the road works.
NAO head Amyas Morse said: “The Highways Agency’s project to widen the M25 could have achieved a materially better value-for-money outcome.
“This was partly because the slowness with which the project was taken forward subjected it to the cost effects of the credit crisis.
“The agency should have adopted a more agile approach to procurement.”
Roads minister Mike Penning said: “This government is driven by the need to get value for money for taxpayers so I welcome this report.
“I am determined to learn the lessons of the report and we will act on its recommendations.”
Junction 16 is where the motorway joins the M40 while junction 23 is the A1(M) interchange.
A spokesman for the Highways Agency said it would respond to the NAO report at a forthcoming meeting of the Public Accounts Committee.
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Many stations remain only accessible to people who can take stairs One in 10 Londoners cannot access large sections of the public transport network in London because of mobility issues, a report has warned.
The London Assembly study found step-free access to stations falls far short of demand.
Val Shawcross AM, chairwoman of the transport committee, called the situation “simply unacceptable”.
Transport for London said it was already improving areas mentioned by the report.
The study claimed:
Only 10 of London’s 270 Tube stations are completely step-free all the way from street level to train.Just one third of London’s 300 rail stations have step-free access from street to platform.While all London’s buses now have ramps, only half of London’s 17,476 bus stops meet the criteria for full accessibility.
Ms Shawcross said: “The fact that hundreds of thousands of Londoners cannot use the public transport network with relative ease is simply unacceptable.
“Transport for London must get on top of the situation now or risk leaving an increasing number of people excluded from travelling on trains, Tubes and buses.”
She added: “Despite funding pressures, we believe there are measures that could be put in place, reasonably cheaply and quickly, that would dramatically improve the transport experience for people with reduced mobility.”
A Transport for London spokesman said: “We are grateful to the Assembly for its recognition of the improvements we are making to accessibility on the transport network.
“We are already taking forward improvements in many of the areas referred to by the committee.
“We have the most accessible bus network in the UK. The number of Tube stations with level access from street to train is more than three times that stated in the report.”
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Helena Bonham Carter on the perils of her Harry Potter role
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Andrew Marr on JFK’s dirty tricks
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Demand for rooms to rent is growing, according to the industry Frustrated buyers are continuing to push up the price of renting a property in the UK, according to a survey.
The average cost rose for the ninth consecutive month to £691 a month in October, according to LSL Property Services.
The price is rising as potential first-time buyers struggle to get a mortgage and so continue to rent.
A separate survey from Spareroom.co.uk suggested that seven people were chasing every room for rent.
The house sharing website said this was the highest level of demand since it launched six years ago.
The survey by LSL found that the average rent was 0.4% higher in October than the previous month, and 4.5% higher than in October last year.
High demand was also being driven by potential buyers waiting as they expected house prices to continue to fall.
Landlords were also unable to extend the supply of rental properties because the mortgage drought was making it difficult for them to extend their property portfolios.
“Rents have been creeping upwards, month in, month out for the last year, and now stand just a few pounds shy of £700 per month,” said LSL’s estate agency managing director David Newnes.
“The recent increases are likely to steady slightly in run up to Christmas – traditionally a slower time for the market. But a strong underlying growth will remain, as the key market dynamics are geared towards further rises.”
Rent rises were strongest in the South East of England, but the average rent fell slightly in Yorkshire and the Humber in October.
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The council said £91m worth of damage was caused to homes Damage to homes, businesses and infrastructure caused by the Cumbrian floods in 2009 resulted in a £276m bill, it has emerged on the first anniversary of the disaster.
In November 2009 unprecedented rainfall caused rivers to burst their banks, flooding towns and villages.
A year on, Cumbria County Council said about 150 flooded households had still not returned to their properties.
A further 198 people in the affected areas had sought psychological help.
The council said the first road bridge to be completely rebuilt since the floods would reopen later to mark “a significant symbol of the recovery operation”.
Little Braithwaite bridge, situated south of Braithwaite near Keswick, was completely destroyed by the floods.
Cumbria County Council said damage estimated at £124m was caused to shops, farms and factories during last year’s floods.
It said damage put at a further £91m was caused to homes and £34m to the county’s bridges and roads.
Little Braithwaite bridge was completely destroyed by the floods Much of the cash has been borne by the insurance industry and the taxpayer through support and grants from local and central government.
There were 25,000 flood and storm damage insurance claims, according to the Association of British Insurers, with £174m paid out.
Twenty road bridges across Cumbria were destroyed or damaged but 17 of those are now open to traffic again.
The Grade II-listed Calva bridge in Workington is now expected to open early in the new year, meaning the town will once again have two working road bridges, including the temporary road bridge opened in April.
The town’s Northside bridge which collapsed, killing police officer Pc Bill Barker, is expected to be replaced by 2012.
United Utilities dealt with damaged water mains and has built a new £3.4m wastewater pumping station at Willowholme in Carlisle.
More than 2,500 tonnes of gravel and debris, strewn across farmland downstream, has still to be dealt with.
Tourism suffered a “devastating” £15m hit with £2.5m lost on cancelled bookings alone and bookings down 7%, year on year.
But tourism has “bounced back” the council claimed, with visitor numbers stabilising. The council said it was “cautiously optimistic” for 2011.
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The cost of gas for many households is rising this winter New energy statements are failing to make clear that some customers could save hundreds of pounds on fuel bills.
The statements, which will be delivered to every UK home by the end of the year, will explain discounts available on a customer’s current tariff.
But they will fail to detail the savings that can be made by switching to an internet-based plan.
Figures show a difference of £239 between an online tariff and paying by cheque when a bill arrives.
Suppliers have been told by the regulator Ofgem to start sending out annual statements. They are intended to help consumers understand their energy use and what it is costing them.
They should include information such as the name of a customer’s tariff and a reminder that the customer can switch provider, along with advice on how to do so.
They must also point out any discounts that apply to the tariff the customer is on when compared with the same supplier’s standard direct debit tariff.
But they will not show cheaper deals available for online tariffs. These are internet-based deals that use e-mails instead of paper bills and require customers to enter meter readings online.
“The important thing is that consumers understand that these [online] plans continue to be highly competitive”
Ann Robinson Uswitch.comEnergy statements ‘too confusing’How suppliers calculate bills
At present an estimated 13% of UK households are on an online energy plan.
The regulator has not demanded these cheaper deals be flagged up, because it says direct debit – not an online plan – is “the cheapest payment accessible to the majority of customers”.
The reason, according to an Ofgem spokesman, is that these deals are often time-limited or have other conditions – in other words, that they are a moveable feast.
This has had some support from watchdog Consumer Focus, which said it could prove difficult to put an accurate price of the cheapest deals on annual statements.
And the energy suppliers say the statements will make consumers better equipped in any case.
“The best way to ensure you are on the best deal from your supplier is to talk to them direct – there is no one-size-fits-all solution. But it is also important to shop around to see if other companies might offer a deal that suits you better,” said a spokesman for Energy UK, which represents the major energy companies.
“Annual statements provide useful information on cost and energy usage, making it easier for customers to make comparisons with offers available from both their existing supplier and other companies.”
Customers will be informed on their statement about how to switch suppliers But the argument does not seem to have convinced the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC). In line with the coalition agreement, it is planning a change in the law next year to force suppliers to include details of the cheapest deal on the statement.
This move, according to Ann Robinson, of price comparison website Uswitch, is leading to a narrowing of the gap between the annual cost to those paying when they receive a paper bill and those on an online tariff.
“The proposal that suppliers will have to show their cheapest tariffs on all household bills could be causing them to re-think their pricing strategy,” she said.
“At the moment just over one in 10 of us are on a competitive online energy plan. If suppliers bring it to the attention of all their customers, this number could rocket. Clearly suppliers are concerned about the impact it could have on their bottom line and so may be looking to see how this pans out.
“The important thing is that consumers understand that these plans continue to be highly competitive and along with fixed price plans offer an easy way to protect yourself from the impact of winter price hikes.”
Uswitch calculated figures for the BBC showing the difference between the average standard plans (payment on receipt) and the average online price among suppliers in the UK for dual-fuel gas and electricity bills.
This stood at £143 a year in November 2007, and widened to £179 a year later, and to £265 by November 2009.
However, the difference narrowed again to £239 by November this year. The typical online price was £956 compared with £1,195 for the average standard bill.
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Sanctions may be lifted after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi The release of the pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has led to speculation that sanctions against Burma and its military rulers could soon be dropped.
“If the people really want sanctions to be lifted, I will consider it,” Miss Suu Kyi told reporters in her first news conference after her release.
Sanctions ranging from embargoes on arms sales to visa bans have been in place for more than 20 years in Burma, in an attempt by Western governments to prompt the military leaders to engage in political reform.
But the imposition of sanctions has not been uniform and, many argue, has not had the desired impact.
Most sanctions have been placed by Western governments, which traditionally were strong trading partners and investors in Burma.
The first measures were taken against Burma by the EU and the US following the crushing of the democracy uprising in 1988.
These included an end to development assistance and an arms embargo.
Tougher sanctions were introduced after clashes between the military and monks in 2007 A significant racheting-up of sanctions came in 1996, when the EU adopted a Common Position on Burma, including a ban on arms or weapons or any equpment that could be used for repression.
The following year, a ban on new investment in Burma by US persons and organisations was announced by US authorities.
But the sanctions never worked in the ways that supporters of Aung San Suu Kyi might have hoped.
In the first instance, they were patchy, either in the way they were enforced or in the products and services that were targeted. And in the second, they were not retrospective.
“Divisions within the EU have weakened the EU’s influence with sanctions,” says Burma Campaign UK director Mark Farmaner.
Some countries – notably the UK, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Ireland and Denmark – have consistently called for increasing pressure, while the likes of France and Germany have been opposed to any such action.
“France’s opposition to stronger EU sanctions is attributed to the fact that Total Oil, France’s largest company, is a big investor in Burma,” says Mr Farmaner.
The US ban on investment lacked teeth, because most major investment had already taken place. Links that had been established before 1997 could continue to be nourished, reaping returns for American investors.
So despite what look like tough economic sanctions, a US company, Unocal (now Chevron), in a joint venture with France’s Total, was able to carry on developing the Yadana gas project, one of the biggest sources of foreign currency for the Burmese military junta.
And as Mr Farmaner points out, many of Burma’s key exports were not initially included in any list of sanctions.
“Until 2008, three of the top exports earning revenue for the dictatorship, gas, timber and gems, had not been significantly touched by any sanctions. This changed after the crushing of the monk-led uprising in 2007,” says Mr Farmaner.
While pro-democracy groups in the West have criticised their governments for the way sanctions have been placed and their lack of support, neighbouring countries in Asia have taken a different approach to Burma.
Most of Burma’s Asian neighbours, such as Thailand, India and China, have continued trading with the country and remained silent about the detention of Miss Suu Kyi.
Investment by these countries in Burma has actually increased during the period that sanctions have been in place.
Teak is one of Burma’s valuable exports China has poured billions of dollars into Burma and now accounts for two-thirds of its total investment over the past 20 years, according to Burmese state media.
“China is certainly still the ‘bagman’ for Burma, and will be by far Burma’s most important economic partner,” says Sean Turnell, economics professor and Burma expert at Macquarie University in Australia.
“Currently it is Chinese banks that have taken the role of providing the safe haven for the regime and the funds they secrete offshore deriving from the gas exports,” Prof Turnell told the BBC.
One of the principal reasons for interest in the area is because of its natural resources.
Burma is the world’s 10th biggest and Asia’s top exporter of natural gas.
According to the Foreign Office, natural gas exports are now Burma’s main source of foreign exchange income, its sales making up 12.5% of Burma’s GDP.
The world is hungry for energy and Burma will soon be in a position to start transforming itself from one of the world’s poorest economies.
So do the sanctions by Western democracies have any impact on Burma and its military leaders? Yes, according to Prof Turnell.
“The US and Europe remain very influential,” he says, “especially amongst that crucial ‘connected’ business elite. They crave to send their kids to Western universities, they want to travel, they want legitimacy, and they do not really trust Chinese financial institutions. “
Experts say that the military generals are keen to promote economic growth and Miss Suu Kyi holds sway over international opinion and sanctions policy.
She says she will listen to the people when it comes to lifting sanctions. But she, as well as the wider world, will be keenly aware of the more than 2,000 political prisoners still being held in Burmese prisons.
And for all the jubilation over her release, Aung San Suu Kyi remains in a vulnerable postion in a country slow to change, but quick to repress.
For this reason, campaign groups insist that sanctions still have a place.
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Brazil is hosting the 2014 World Cup football tournament The biggest names in the football industry are arriving in Rio for the annual gathering of the Soccerex football business congress.
There is added interest in the international event this year, as it is being hosted for the first time in Brazil, host to both the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics.
Brazil is only the third country, after West Germany in the early 1970s and the US in the mid-1990s, to host both events in succession.
“I’m excited about our move to the spiritual home of football and above all the vast commercial opportunities we can open up for our international array of delegates and exhibitors,” says Soccerex chief executive Duncan Revie.
“With the Olympic Games and World Cup coming to Brazil, the country will be the focal point for the global sports industry and Soccerex will be at its very heart in Rio de Janeiro,” adds Mr Revie, son of former Leeds United manager Don Revie.
Thousands of delegates from football businesses, federations, clubs, and governments from around the world will descend on the Forte Copacabana.
Inside the historic building, positioned at the junction of the Ipanema and Copacabana beaches, football businesses will look to sell and promote their products and services.
The event is set to be opened by the governor of Rio state, Sergio Cabral, who will be accompanied by a wealth of city, state, and national officials.
This year’s event includes a two-day football festival and a conference and exhibition lasting two-and-a-half days to bring together industry executives for “networking, socialising and learning”.
“Brazil provides the perfect scenario for an event of Soccerex’s magnitude”
Ricardo Teixeira President, CBF
Soccerex feels that its global brand has been strengthened by holding the past three events in South Africa in the run-up to the World Cup there this summer.
And despite the global economic downturn, Soccerex says Brazil had to fend off opposition from other parts of the world to secure the football industry event.
The convention will be held in Rio de Janeiro from 2010 to 2013, with Mr Revie calling it “a natural fit for our strategic objectives”.
And the president of the Brazilian football association agrees that the convention will be a fruitful partnership in the years leading up to his country’s hosting of the two major events.
The city is one of the best-known in the southern hemisphere “Brazil provides the perfect scenario for an event of Soccerex’s magnitude,” says Ricardo Teixeira.
“In the coming years, it will bring with it the most relevant football industry matters and present the world with the beauty of this wonderful sport that transcends global boundaries.”
Mr Teixeira, who is charged with delivering the next World Cup in 2014, will be joined by Danny Jordaan, chief executive of the 2010 event, who will be giving an overview of South Africa’s hosting of the event this summer.
Mr Jordaan will be giving a debrief about how South Africa staged its successful World Cup.
Brazil has been fortunate in that its economy has escaped the worst of the global economic downturn.
And much of its GDP growth over the coming years will be boosted by sports infrastructure projects.
Football-mad Brazil will host Soccerex for the next three years So it will welcome the thousands of delegates from the worldwide football fraternity, as well as the hundreds of exhibitors, from across the globe, gathering in Rio.
The conference will see experts from football and business tackle the global issues and focused topics currently affecting the industry in a series of panels, one-to-one interviews, keynote addresses, presentations and workshops.
Firms exhibiting at Soccerex cover all aspects of the football industry – from commerce, training, design and event management to logistics, marketing, manufacturing and construction.
“Attendees will be representing internationally-renowned brands and football clubs, all of them are looking to use Soccerex as an opportunity to do business,” says Mr Revie.
One of the firms attending is London-based sports architecture firm Populous, which designed the 2010 World Cup stadium in Johannesburg, Soccer City.
It is also the official architectural and overlay design service provider for the London 2012 Olympics.
The firm’s UK office said it was attending Soccerex as “the conference represents a unique opportunity to participate in a global sports business event where we can promote our unique design services for sporting venues and events”.
The event is also becoming popular with former players looking to make an impression in the world of business, or in football administration.
And many former members of the Brazil 1970 World Cup winning team are expected to attend the annual Soccerex awards ceremony.
As well as organising its first Soccerex, Brazil hopes that the World Cup and Olympics will be a catalyst for the nation’s economy, as the sport, tourism, transport, telecoms and construction sectors all receive a boost.
Global sports events will be a catalyst for the future of Brazilian tourism According to Brazilian official figures, more than 30 million Brazilians have been lifted out of poverty in recent years.
It is estimated that about 25 million of them have risen to the social C class, which accounts for about half of Brazil’s population – around 90 million people.
In 2010, Brazilian GDP is expected to grow by 7.5%, with global infrastructure investments estimated to increase by more than 20%, reaching 49bn euros (£41.5bn; $67bn).
And that will be of interest to sports business firms around the world looking to get a foothold in Brazil.
“Soccerex facilitates the expansion of thousands of international organisations into key football markets such as Brazil,” says Mr Revie.
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Afghanistan, as well as Nato’s ties with Russia, will top of the summit’s agenda Nato members are preparing to meet in Portugal for what is being billed as one of the most crucial summits in the alliance’s 61-year history.
The 28 member states are hoping to reach a “New Strategic Concept” to shape the way Nato defends itself against threats over the next decade.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will also attend, in a sign of warming ties.
Afghanistan will be top of the agenda, with plans to bring Nato’s combat operations to an end by 2014.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who is scheduled to address the summit on Saturday, has said he wants Nato to hand back control of the country by the end of 2014 – a deadline the US has described as realistic but not set in stone.
Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said the deadline had existed for some time as “an aspirational goal” but that this did not mean all coalition forces would have to leave by that date.
The Lisbon talks are expected to shape the future of Nato at a time of shrinking budget cuts and expanding challenges, says the BBC’s defence correspondent, Caroline Wyatt.
Key to the future credibility of the alliance will be ensuring a workable transition in Afghanistan, our correspondent adds.
On Thursday, Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the alliance had “underestimated the challenge” in Afghanistan but was confident it was now “on the right track”.
“I’m very optimistic about our Afghanistan operation and we’ll make a positive announcement in Lisbon – that the handover is about to begin,” he told Portugal’s Renascenca newspaper.
There are some 120,000 international troops attached to the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) in Afghanistan.
Mr Medvedev will meet the leaders on Saturday, becoming the first Russian president to attend a Nato summit since his country’s conflict with Georgia in 2008.
The alliance is keen to build bridges with Moscow, and a key issue at the summit will be agreeing plans for a joint study of missile defence.
The efforts have been aided by US President Barack Obama’s insistence that the US will ratify a new nuclear arms treaty with Russia
He said there was “no higher national security priority” for the government before the start of the new Congress in January.
Moscow is also promising logistical help for Nato in Afghanistan by easing restrictions on transit routes into the country.
The summit will also debate proposals on changing Nato’s command structure, in an attempt to reduce bureaucracy and expenditure.
The changes could see the number of Nato agencies which look after areas such as logistics, communications, research and training cut from 14 to three.
Meanwhile Portugal’s Defence Minister Augusto Santos Silva has said the resignation of the country’s spy chief will have no effect on security or intelligence gathering.
Jorge Silva Carvalho resigned on Thursday in protest over budget cuts being imposed by the government.
He is reported to have told colleagues he was quitting “to draw attention to the mistake that is being made” in closing seven of the agency’s overseas bureaux.
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A Colombian man has been murdered inside a church as he attended a memorial mass for a relative who had also died violently, police say.
The 24-year-old, John Jairo Valencia Osorio, was shot a number of times by two men who approached him as he sat in the pews of a Catholic church in the city of Medellin.
The man died of his wounds in hospital.
The church has been closed until a ceremony of atonement can be carried out by the local archbishop.
A police commander in Medellin, Adan Leon, said he believed the man could have been targeted in a revenge attack.
Rival gangs operate in the barrios of Medellin, which was once among the most violent cities on the planet.
It was at the heart of the cocaine trade, and was the base of the drugs lord, Pablo Escobar, until he was killed in 1993.
Thousands of people were killed in violence as drug cartels, urban left-wing guerrillas and right-wing paramilitaries fought each other and the authorities.
Crime rates in the city, which is Colombia’s second biggest, dropped steeply as the authorities cracked down on urban violence, enabling it to enjoy something of a renaissance during parts of the last decade.
Recently though, violent crime is once more on the rise. This is due in part to former paramilitaries setting up new, smaller drug cartels.
The number of annual murders in the city almost doubled to 1,432 in 2009 – in a city of just more than two million – and this year has seen a similar trend.
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