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The Scottish division of collapsed construction firm Rok makes a further 294 redundancies after failing to find a buyer.
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Mr Rangel had been accused of 13 counts of engaging in financial and fundraising misconduct An eight-member House ethics committee has found Democratic Representative Charles Rangel of New York guilty on 11 counts of breaking House rules.
The panel will make a recommendation to the House of Representatives on appropriate punishment for Mr Rangel following a hearing.
The 80-year-old had been accused of 13 counts of engaging in financial and fundraising misconduct.
He is a former committee chairman with 40 years’ service in Congress.
Possible punishment options the committee may consider include a House vote deploring Rangel’s conduct, a fine and denial of privileges.
The senior New York congressman walked out of a hearing on the ethics counts on Monday in protest at the panel’s refusal to postpone the proceedings while he found a new lawyer.
Mr Rangel was first elected to Congress in 1970 from a heavily Democratic district in New York City’s Harlem district.
Despite the charges against him, he won re-election on 2 November with 80% of the vote.
He stepped down as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, which handles tax legislation, amid the ethics allegations in March.
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UK resident Binyam Mohamed had sought compensation following his release The UK government has paid compensation to 16 men who were detained by US forces at Guantanamo Bay.
The men, 12 of whom had launched damages claims, allege that London knew or was complicit in their treatment in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.
Justice Secretary Ken Clarkes said the settlement was confidential – but necessary to avoid a legal battle which could have cost up to £50m.
The heads of both MI5 and MI6, who were being sued, welcomed the settlement.
The coalition government made clear in the summer that it wanted to avoid a massive court case which would also have put the British secret intelligence services under the spotlight.
Prime Ministers David Cameron offered to enter settlement talks with six men seeking damages.
In his statement, Mr Clarke said: “I can today inform the House that the Government has agreed a mediated settlement of the civil damages claims brought by detainees held at Guantanamo Bay.
The government has resisted this legal claim tooth and nail. The court hearings became an exhausting battle of legal wits, as massed benches of government lawyers refused to give ground.
So why settle, given critics will inevitably accuse ministers of a cover-up? The decision should come as no surprise.
The Court of Appeal rejected ministers pleas to hear secret evidence in closed courts and the drip-drip of secret material from MI5 and MI6s vaults could have become a flood.
Settling the case therefore achieves the government’s greater aim.
It paves the way for a judge-led inquiry into complicity and rendition. That inquiry will soon go about its business but the main accusers won’t be appearing in public demanding the exposure of a secret paper trail from Afghanistan to government offices in London.
Paying out millions looks bad, but ministers know that exposing state secrets is worse still.
“The details of that settlement have been made subject to a legally binding confidentiality agreement. They have been reported in confidence to the Chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee, and to the National Audit Office. No admissions of culpability have been made in settling these cases.
“The alternative to any payments made would have been protracted and extremely expensive litigation in an uncertain legal environment in which the government could not be certain that it would be able to defend Departments and the Security and Intelligence Agencies without compromising national security.
“This cost was estimated at approximately £30-50m over 3-5 years and in our view there could have been no inquiry until that ligation had been resolved.”
In a statement issued on their behalf, the heads of both MI5 and MI6 welcomed the deal.
“Further to the Lord Chancellor’s statement in the house on 16 November, Chief of SIS, Sir John Sawers and Director General of the Security Service, Jonathan Evans, welcome the conclusion to the mediation which allows the agencies to concentrate on protecting national security,” said the statement.
Mr Clarke told the Commons that there was a risk that public confidence was being eroded in the UK’s adherence to human rights, including the rules governing the way in which the security and intelligence agencies work.
The police are still investigating allegations made by some of the detainees – but Mr Clarke said that once those inquiries were complete, a judge-led inquiry could begin.
Bisher al-Rawi, Jamil el Banna, Richard Belmar, Omar Deghayes, Binyam Mohamed and Martin Mubanga had led a High Court case against five government departments, including MI5 and MI6.
They had claimed that officials in London were complicit in their transfer to Guantanamo Bay and should have prevented it and their alleged ill treatment.
In May, the Court of Appeal ruled that the government could not rely on secret evidence to defend itself against the six cases, saying allegations of wrongdoing had to be heard in public.
Since then, more than 60 government lawyers and officials have been sifting through some 500,000 documents at a secret location. The case was estimated to cost millions and could have lasted for at least another three years.
The Intelligence and Security Committee and the National Audit Office have been briefed about the payments, but nothing will be made public, including how much each detainee has received.
As in common in such settlements, the government has not admitted liability – and the claimants have not withdrawn their allegations.
Shadow justice secretary Sadiq Khan asked for details of the cost of the payments, saying it was in the “public interest” to know the sums involved.
But Mr Clarke told him the settlement “could be reopened if either side started breaking the confidentiality”.
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France has accused Iranian security services of committing “unacceptable acts of violence” on French diplomatic personnel in the Iranian capital.
The entry to the French embassy residence in Tehran was blocked by unidentified officials on Sunday, the French foreign ministry said.
“[They] proceeded to arrest guests of the French ambassador and carried out unacceptable acts of violence against French diplomatic personnel,” it said.
Iran has yet to comment on the claims.
“Following the incidents, the French authorities summoned Iran’s ambassador in Paris to convey in the strongest possible terms this extreme violation of the Vienna Convention,” said the French statement.
The news comes hours after reports that Iran has charged two Germans with spying after they interviewed the son of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, the women sentenced to death by stoning for adultery.
They have been identified only as a reporter and a photographer. Germany has said it is doing all it can to try to secure their release.
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Chelsea captain John Terry could be out for “months” with a mystery nerve problem in his right leg, while Alex is sidelined for up to two months.
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Bob Bird was giving evidence for a third day at the High Court in Glasgow The Tommy Sheridan perjury trial has heard his best man feared “retribution” for selling a video tape which allegedly incriminated the former MSP.
Scottish News of the World editor Bob Bird said George McNeilage was paid to take his family out of Glasgow at the time the story was due to be printed.
Mr Sheridan and his wife Gail deny perjury at the High Court in Glasgow.
They are accused of lying during his successful defamation action against the News of the World in 2006.
Mr Sheridan, the former leader of the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP), won £200,000 in damages after the newspaper printed allegations about his private life, claiming he was an adulterer who had visited a swingers club.
Following a police investigation, the former MSP and his wife, both 46, were charged with perjury.
Mr Sheridan is representing himself at the perjury trial The trial previously heard how Mr McNeilage secretly recorded a tape in 2004 which is alleged to show Mr Sheridan discuss “confessing” to the allegations before an emergency meeting of the SSP.
While giving evidence for a third day, Mr Bird told the trial how Mr McNeilage, who had been the best man at Mr Sheridan’s wedding, approached the News of the World following the former MSP’s successful defamation action.
Under questioning from Mr Sheridan, who is representing himself in the trial, Mr Bird said Mr McNeilage was paid £1,000 to take his family on a short holiday on the weekend that the story was due to run.
But when the story did not appear in the newspaper, Mr Bird said he thought Mr McNeilage “might” have been given a further £1,000 to leave Glasgow on the weekend it was actually published.
Mr Bird said: “He was very worried about you and retribution that people who knew you might take on him.
“He wanted to go away. We gave him £1,000.
“The weekend that we ran the story he might have got another £1,000 to do the same thing for his family so they were safe.”
The court heard how Mr McNeilage had originally asked for £250,000 from the News of the World for the tape, but the newspaper eventually negotiated a £200,000 fee.
Mr Bird said: “We thought that was a bit expensive, which kind of blows a hole in your theory that we would spend anything to set you up.”
It is alleged that Mr Sheridan made false statements as a witness in his defamation action against the News of the World on 21 July 2006.
He also denies another charge of attempting to persuade a witness to commit perjury shortly before the 23-day legal action got under way.
Mrs Sheridan denies making false statements on 31 July 2006, after being sworn in as a witness in the civil jury trial at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.
The trial, before Lord Bracadale, continues.
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Efforts to find a buyer for the social housing and English construction business continue The collapsed construction firm Rok has announced a further 1,800 redundancies after efforts to sell some parts of the business failed.
Administrators PwC said the jobs would go in the maintenance division across the UK and in the construction business in Scotland.
They are still trying to find a buyer for the social housing division and the construction business in England, which employ 500 people.
A total of 2,600 jobs have now gone.
“Regrettably, the redundancies made today were necessary as it became clear in the last 24 hours that we were not going to be able to find a purchaser for these parts of the Group,” said Rob Hunt, joint administrator.
“Operations cannot continue and hence we have had to take steps to close both the maintenance and improvements division as well as the Scottish construction division. We have retained a small workforce to assist us in this process.”
Rok plc and Rok Building Limited, based in Exeter, Devon, were put into administration earlier this month.
Earlier in the year, the loss-making firm said it had uncovered “serious failings” in financial and operational controls.
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Health officials in Haiti say more than 1,000 people have died from cholera, as the outbreak spreads there
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Defence secretary Robert Gates replaced Donald Rumsfeld in 2006 US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates says UN sanctions have hit Iran hard and created a rift between the country’s supreme leader and president.
He said Ayatollah Ali Khamenei feared that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was “lying” about the impact of sanctions.
The UN has slapped four rounds of economic penalties on Iran over its disputed nuclear weapons programme.
Mr Gates argued against a military strike on Iran, saying it would only unite the country against the West.
Addressing the Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council in Washington, he said that military action would only “bring together a divided nation” and make Tehran’s weapons programme “deeper and more covert”.
Iran has repeatedly denied pursuing atomic weapons. It says its nuclear work is for civilian projects such as energy and medical research.
Mr Gates said that UN sanctions had “bitten much harder” than Iran’s leadership had expected, and was causing tensions at the highest levels.
“The information we have is that they’ve been surprised by the impact of the sanctions,” Gates said.
“We even have some evidence that [Ayatollah] Khamenei now is beginning to wonder if [President] Ahmadinejad is lying to him about the impact of the sanctions on the economy,” he added.
Publicly, Mr Ahmadinejad has insisted that the measures have had no impact on Iran’s economy.
Also on Tuesday, the Iranian air force started a five-day military exercise designed to test Iran’s defences against air strikes.
Tehran said it was the biggest exercise of its kind it had ever staged.
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A police officer passed on confidential information to a drugs suspect whose car was being watched by detectives, a court hears.
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Live coverage of BBC News following the announcement by Clarence House that Prince William is to marry Kate Middleton next year.
Prince William is to marry Kate Middleton next year, Clarence House has said.
William, second in line to the throne, will marry in the year which would have marked the 30th anniversary of his parents’ wedding.
The couple, who are both 28, became engaged in October during a private holiday in Kenya.
They began dating eight years ago while studying at St Andrews University in Fife, where they shared a house.
The royal engagement was announced in a brief statement released by Clarence House.
It said: “The Prince of Wales is delighted to announce the engagement of Prince William to Miss Catherine Middleton.
“The wedding will take place in the Spring or Summer of 2011, in London. Further details about the wedding day will be announced in due course.
“Prince William has informed The Queen and other close members of his family.
“Prince William has also sought the permission of Miss Middleton’s father.
“Following the marriage, the couple will live in north Wales, where Prince William will continue to serve with the Royal Air Force.”
Prime Minister David Cameron’s spokeswoman said he was “delighted” and sent the couple his very best.
Ed Miliband said he was also delighted for Prince William and Kate Middleton.
“The whole country will be wishing them every happiness.”
Prince William and Kate Middleton both started out on the same history of art course at St Andrews in 2001, although William later switched to geography. For several years, they shared accommodation with friends.
Miss Middleton, who is six months older than William, was credited with persuading the prince to stay on as he struggled to adjust to university life during his first year.
They graduated in the same ceremony from St Andrews in 2005 and their families joined them for a celebratory lunch.
The couple’s relationship was exposed in 2005 when they were photographed together on the Swiss ski slopes of Klosters.
Miss Middleton is the eldest child of businessman Michael Middleton and former air hostess Carole.
She was raised in a modern five-bedroom detached house in the Berkshire village of Bucklebury and her family, who are self-made millionaires, run a mail order toy and party goods company.
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There is intense speculation the Irish government needs financial help from the European Union Eurozone ministers are set to meet in Brussels as the debt crisis once again threatens the 16-member bloc’s economic stability.
The talks come as the spotlight once again falls on the weaker member countries, and whether they can manage their debt without help from European Union (EU) assistance funds.
The Irish Republic on Monday insisted it did not need EU help.
But there is intense speculation it may be forced to use EU bail-out money.
Dublin said it was in contact with “international colleagues” but the Prime Minister, Brian Cowan, dismissed talk of a bail-out by the EU or IMF.
“One of the great pejorative phrases that continue to be used is this thing of bail out which suggests that the country is in some way seeking not to meet its obligations to meet its own debts – that is not the case,” he said.
He added that his government had firm plans for sorting out the country’s problems.
“In the coming weeks will be putting forward the plans that show how we put our budget back into order as a member of the Euro area,” he said.
Jean-Claude Juncker, the head of the Eurogroup of finance ministers, said the eurozone was ready to act “as soon as possible” if Ireland sought financial assistance.
But he stressed that “Ireland has not put forward their request”.
“As long as they don’t, we are not supposed to deal with a theoretical request,” he said.
A spokesman for Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said that pressure on Dublin to take a bail-out was not coming from the European Commissioner, but from “another player”.
“A bail-out would be a humiliation for a country that just a short while ago was the Celtic Tiger. Some see these days as critical for Irish fiscal independence”
Read Gavin’s blog Greece’s budget deficit worsens Europe’s Pigs: What went wrong EU austerity drive country by country
Last week, market anxiety spread to other heavily indebted eurozone nations, including Portugal and Spain, driving up their borrowing costs.
Portuguese Finance Minister Fernando Teixeira dos Santos told the Financial Times there was now a high risk that Portugal would have to seek foreign financial aid.
“The risk is high because we are not facing only a national or country problem,” he told the FT. “It is the problems of Greece, Portugal and Ireland. This is not a problem of only this country.”
He stressed subsequently, however, that Portugal had no immediate plans to ask for assistance.
The yield on Irish bonds – essentially IOUs sold by the government to fund state spending – traded lower on Monday, suggesting a slight easing of concerns.
Although Tuesday’s talks are routine, formal meeting of Eurozone ministers, the BBC’s Europe editor Gavin Hewitt said that high-level talks had already begun, involving European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and his economy commissioner Olli Rehn.
Brussels fears that any delay risks repeating the Greek crisis that earlier this year threatened the entire eurozone, he added.
“There would not be a banking system in Ireland – and therefore not an economy in any conventional sense – if it weren’t for the generosity of the European Central Bank in providing loans to Irish banks that the markets won’t provide”
Some reports suggest that the Irish Republic could seek help for its banking sector alone, rather than asking for help at a government level.
This, say observers, would save them the embarrassment of being rescued by the EU and avoid greater involvement by Brussels in economic decisions.
The Irish government has all but nationalised the country’s banking system, which had lent recklessly to property developers at a cost of 45bn euros.
The government has consistently stated its determination to restore stability to the public finances and stressed that it was “fully funded” until 2011.
Meanwhile concerns persist about the state of the Greek economy, which received an EU bail-out worth up to 110bn euros.
European and IMF officials will be in the country this week to decide whether to release the final tranche of the money.
The scale of the problems still facing Greece were further underlined by the latest official European figures which showed that its budget deficit in 2009 was markedly higher than previously stated.
Since 2008, the Irish Republic has suffered a dramatic collapse of its property market.
House values have fallen between 50% and 60% and bad debts – mainly in the form of loans to developers – have built up in the country’s main banks, bringing them to the verge of collapse.
The country has promised the EU it will bring its underlying deficit down from 12% of economic output to 3% by 2014.
Its current deficit is an unprecedented 32% of gross domestic product, if the cost of bad debts in the Irish banking system is included.
The Irish government, which has a flimsy majority in parliament, is expected to publish another draconian budget on 7 December.
This will impose spending cuts or tax rises totalling 6bn euros to bring the deficit down to between 9.5-9.75% next year.
Investors fear the budget cuts are likely to worsen the country’s already deep recession, leading to further losses to the government via falling tax revenues and higher benefit payments.
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The court heard Mr Singh was killed after he refused to hand over his “hard-earned money” to the men Two men have been jailed for life for murdering a shopkeeper during a robbery at his village store in West Yorkshire.
Gurmail Singh was hit over the head with bottles of wine from the shelves of Cowcliffe Convenience Stores in Cowcliffe, Huddersfield, in February.
Huddersfield men Muawaz Khalid and Nabeel Shafi were previously convicted of murder at Bradford Crown Court.
Khalid, 20, was told he must spend at least 21 years in prison while Shafi, 18, was given a 20-year minimum term.
As the two men were sentenced Shafi shouted: “That’s not right. I’m innocent. I never touched anyone. You’ve got the wrong guy.”
His supporters joined in the shouting before they left the court.
During the trial the prosecution said Mr Singh, 63, was attacked on the night of 20 February after he refused to “meekly hand over his property, his hard-earned money” during the robbery.
He died in hospital the following day.
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Business and personal customers were able to pre-order foreign currency Customers who lost thousands of pounds in travel money when an exchange company collapsed are only expected to recoup a “small percentage” of lost funds.
A creditors’ report detailing the collapse of Crown Currency Exchange reveals that 8,000 people have made claims totalling £16.5m.
The company went into administration at the beginning of October.
The administrators said the case would take some time to “unravel”.
The business, based in Hayle in Cornwall, was established six years ago.
It allowed individuals and business customers to pre-order foreign exchange at a set price up to a year in advance. Foreign currency was often sent through the post to customers who had sent a cheque in advance, or transferred money online.
It provided travel money in 80 different currencies, as well as travellers’ cheques and money transfers, sometimes for people to buy property.
“The value of the transactions typically ranged from £100 to around £20,000. However there are several transactions in excess of £100,000,” said Paul Clark, of administrators MCR.
When it collapsed at the start of October, customers were warned it could take up to six months before they heard if they would get any cash back.
CCE was not covered by any Financial Services Authority compensation schemes.
Cases of lost money included couples planning honeymoons, surprise holidays and a Disney break for a youngster who had been suffering from cancer. An action group has also been set up, representing about 2,000 creditors.
Joint administrators SPW and MCR received nearly 9,500 e-mails and 3,000 phone enquiries from customers.
However, in an unusual move, the administrators have obtained a court order so the names and addresses of those who have lost money need not be listed on the creditors’ report.
The administrators had also obtained a freezing order on the assets of the director, Peter Benstead, which has since been discharged after he gave an undertaking not to sell any of his assets.
They added that “a significant number of transactions have been identified that require further investigation”.
According to the report, Mr Benstead believed on 27 September – when he held a meeting with the eventual administrators – that the businesses were heavily insolvent and had been for some time. The company went into administration on 4 October.
The company’s bank – Barclays – had been “seeking clarity” on the how the company operated since May.
A creditors’ meeting will be held at the Hilton Metropole Hotel, at the NEC in Birmingham, at 2pm on 30 November.
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More than 300 jobs could be at risk after a company which makes frozen food in Flintshire confirmed it has entered a 90-day consultation with staff.
Headland Foods Ltd, in Flint, confirmed the news, but made no further comment.
The company, which was established in 1990, cut 95 jobs last year, blaming a downturn in sales.
Delyn MP David Hanson said he had contacted the company but it had yet to respond.
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