Category: news

Several airlines have temporarily suspended flights between Singapore and Jakarta because of volcanic ash spewing from Mount Merapi in central Java.

Among those affected were Singapore Airlines, Japan Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Lufthansa and Cathay Pacific.

Merapi, one of the world’s most active volcanoes, began erupting two weeks ago and has killed more than 130 people.

Airline officials say the ash is a safety threat and could damage aircraft.

Domestic flights have been unaffected.

Azharuddin Osman, director of operations for Malaysia Airlines, said “the volcanic ash presence in the airways surrounding Jakarta could cause severe damage to our aircraft and engines, which could impair the safety of our operations.”

Indonesia has already been forced to close its international airport at Yogyakarta and divert flights to the nearby city of Solo. A Silkair flight to Solo was also cancelled.

Mount Merapi has been producing thick clouds of ash and superheated gases in its biggest eruption in a century. In addition to the loss of life, some 200,000 people have been evacuated from the area.

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More than 60 eco-friendly cars are taking part in a 60 mile rally with the aim of using the lowest amount of energy possible.

The electric, hybrid and low-emission cars, LCVs and motorcycles are part of the inaugural RAC Brighton to London Future Car Challenge.

They set off from Madeira Drive on the East Sussex city’s seafront.

The event is aimed at showcasing low-emission cars of the future.

Drivers include rally legends Paddy Hopkirk and David Richards, who are driving differently powered Minis, along with former Formula One driver Perry McCarthy and Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason.

It is taking place a day before the annual London to Brighton Veteran Car Run, taking the traditional route in reverse.

Among the vehicles in the rally were the electric Mini E, Toyota Auris and Prius Hybrids, the hydrogen-powered Honda FCX Clarity, the diesel-powered VW BlueMotion Golf and Tesla electric roadster.

Speaking before the rally, Professor Stephen Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation, warned that despite having the technology to cut carbon emissions the development of the cars was likely to be hampered by their expense.

He said: “There is a large price difference between the most fuel-efficient models currently available and the next generation of vehicles already arriving in the showrooms.

“The cars of tomorrow might have very low running costs, but that will be irrelevant if people haven’t got the cash to buy them in the first place.”

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The University of Wales has suspended relations with a Malaysian business college, pending an inquiry.

The action, the university says, is due to a controversy relating to the personal academic qualifications of the head of the institution.

The University of Wales Vice Chancellor, Marc Clement, said; “The principal doesn’t himself teach on the course, and I don’t want to pre-judge the case, but I’ve taken this decision as a precaution to protect the reputation of the University of Wales.”

The Fazley International College is one of three education institutions with which the University of Wales collaborates in Malaysia.

The University signed an agreement with FIC in 2007 and saw the first students admitted to its validated courses the following year, having gained provisional approvals from the Malaysian Qualifications Agency.

The University of Wales has said it will not recognise any additional admissions to its BA (Hons) Business Administration and MBA courses at the college until concerns about the principal’s qualifications have been fully investigated.

However, the university added that the 35 students currently enrolled on university-validated courses will not be affected.

A BBC Wales Week In Week Out programme on this subject will be broadcast on Tuesday, 10.35pm, BBC 1 Wales.

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Pope Benedict XVI is preparing to begin a visit to Spain, where social changes have eroded Catholic influence in recent years.

The Pope will visit Santiago de Compostela, and celebrate an open-air mass outside the cathedral.

On Sunday he will continues to Barcelona.

There he is due to consecrate the Sagrada Familia church, still unfinished more than a century after Antoni Gaudi designed it.

This is Benedict’s second visit during his papacy, and a third visit is planned next year for World Youth Day, a sign of how important the Vatican considers the health of the church in Spain.

Only 14.4% of Spaniards regularly attend mass, and legal changes to allow divorce, gay marriage and abortion have caused concern to the Catholic church.

But 73% of Spaniards still define themselves as Catholic.

In Santiago, the Pope will pray at the tomb of St James, the focus of pilgrimage to the city for many centuries. He will then celebrate mass outside the 12th century cathedral.

Pope set for Spanish visit

But some shopkeepers are disappointed by the number of people coming to the city for the Papal visit.

“There are still no people, we’re very surprised,” one souvenir shop owner told the Agence France-Press news agency.

In Barcelona, gay activists are calling for a kiss-in outside the Sagrada Familia when the Pope arrives to consecrate it.

After his visit, the church will hold daily masses for the first time since its construction was begun in 1882, although it is still not expected to be completed before 2026.

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Ireland entertain world champions South Africa after New Zealand beat England at Twickenham and Australia beat Wales in Cardiff.

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The Duke of York has criticised Ministry of Defence chiefs for failing to “get off their fat backsides” over ordering armoured vehicles.

He was speaking about the MoD wanting independent tests carried out on the new Ranger vehicles.

“I would say to you that regrettably they will not get off their fat backsides,” the Duke said on a tour of the Ranger factory in Weymouth, Dorset.

An MoD spokesman said the Ranger did not meet current requirements.

Prince Andrew was visiting Universal Engineering as part of his role as a UK trade ambassador.

He was shown the new Ranger vehicle, which the company claims offers superior protection for troops from the threat of roadside bombs.

The Dorset Echo reports that he was told the company had already carried out tests to show what protection the vehicles could offer, but the MoD had asked for independents tests before considering any orders.

“Why do they have to do blast tests?” he is reported as saying. “It’s just increasing the cost.

“It just seems that because it takes time to get these things done – I would say to you that regrettably they will not get off their fat backsides.”

He went on to observe that the MoD is “completely hopeless at these kind of things”.

Roadside bombs, or IEDs, have been a regular threat to soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The MoD has said previously it had no immediate plans to order the vehicles, but had asked for tests to determine the Ranger’s resistance to roadside bombs.

An MoD spokesman said: “We have looked into the Ranger vehicle but it does not meet any of our current requirements.

“The size and weight of the prototype Ranger vehicle is similar to that of our Mastiff and Ridgeback vehicles that are already being used in Afghanistan.

“In the event that future operational requirements are identified for a vehicle of its type then the Ranger could be considered.”

Buckingham Palace refused to comment on the Duke’s comments, saying it was a “private conversation”.

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More than a thousand people turned out in Cardiff to support a rally by Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg, the Welsh Language Society, over the future of S4C.

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Hurricane Tomas clips quake-hit Haiti, bringing floods in its wake

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Police and recovery teams are preparing to remove the wreckage of the concrete mixer which fell from a bridge onto a train at Oxshott, Surrey.

The 26-tonne vehicle crashed through a brick wall onto the Guildford to Waterloo train which was passing below.

Five of the 40 passengers travelling on the eight carriage train were injured, two seriously.

The 38-year-old lorry driver was freed from the wreckage and taken to hospital.

“His injuries don’t appear to be as serious as first thought and are not life-threatening,” a hospital spokesman said.

The incident happened at about 1530 GMT on Friday on Warren Road, a short distance from Oxshott railway station.

The vehicle struck the third carriage from the back of the train punching a large hole in the metal roof.

The Conservative MP for Esher and Walton, Dominic Raab, has been at the scene of the incident.

Mr Raab said: “We will have all the inquiries and forensics conducted in the days and hours ahead, both by the police and also by the rail accident investigation branch.

“But we will have to wait for the outcome as to why this happened and to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

It may be Monday before rail services in the area can return to normal.

The injured passengers were taken to various hospitals following the accident.

A 60-year-old passenger was taken to St George’s Hospital as a “precaution”. The other injured passengers were treated at Epsom General Hospital in Surrey and the Royal Surrey County Hospital.

Passenger Ade Joshua told BBC News: “In the carriage right next to us where the incident happened, there was a guy trapped with what looked like a broken back, so we were trying to console him as much as we could until the emergency services arrived.

“But we couldn’t actually get through to the carriage because the door was blocked as that bit of the train collapsed.”

Timi Raji, 18, who was in the carriage next to the one that was crushed, rushed to the adjoining door when the train ground to a halt following a loud bang.

He said: “The door was blocked but we could see someone was at the bottom of the carriage, trying to get out.

“The train had been crushed and the guy was trying to escape.

“He was on his stomach and we could only see his feet sticking out. My friends and I were trying to calm him down and talking to him.”

Witness Nikki Karim works in a taxi office near to the crash site.

She said: “There’s a lot of police at the station, there’s a few minor casualties that are sat at the platform.”

She added: “You don’t expect this sort of thing to happen.”

The incident took place on a branch line, and is unlikely to result in major disruption.

The bridge from which a lorry fell was assessed as safe in the nationwide checks made after the Selby rail disaster nearly 10 years ago.

The checks were ordered after a Land Rover came off the road and on to the East Coast Main Line in February 2001.

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A leading Russian journalist for the Kommersant newspaper has been severely beaten outside his Moscow home.

Russian media said Oleg Kashin was in hospital in an induced coma and police were treating the attack as a case of attempted murder.

“It’s clear that the people who did this did not like what he says and writes,” Kommersant editor Mikhail Mikhailin told Moscow radio.

Mr Kashin had covered demonstrations and opposition rallies.

The Russian prosecutor general will personally oversee the case, according to Tass news agency.

Komersant said in a statement that Mr Kashin was attacked outside his Moscow apartment building in the early hours of Saturday. He had a fractured jaw, broken shins and injuries to his fingers and skull.

In recent months Mr Kashin had been reporting on demonstrations against the building of a highway through Khimki forest outside Moscow which has now been put on hold by the government.

Two years ago a local newspaper editor who had been critical of the local Khimki administration was seriously assaulted.

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Qantas has said it hopes to have its grounded fleet of A380s flying again within days after urgent checks following an engine failure.

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Third and final practice is under way after Red Bull dominate the opening day at Interlagos.

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Pope Benedict has begun his official visit to Spain with a service at the cathedral in Santiago de Compostella.

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US President Barack Obama is due to arrive in India on the first leg of an Asian tour designed to boost US exports and create jobs.

He will pay his respects to the victims of the 2008 Mumbai attacks when he flies into India’s financial centre.

Mr Obama will also meet local business leaders and American executives. US officials say they expect major contracts to be announced.

Mr Obama’s 10-day tour also takes in Indonesia, South Korea and Japan.

It comes in the wake of the Democrats’ heavy losses in the US mid-term elections, widely seen in part as punishment by for the Obama administration’s inability to drive down a stubbornly high unemployment rate.

Warship patrol

The BBC’s Sanjoy Majumder, in Mumbai, says that while residents are celebrating Diwali – the festival of light – celebrations in the city are muted by a huge security operation that has swung into action for the US president’s visit.

Thousands of Indian and US security personnel are deployed and a US naval warship is on patrol in the waters off the coast of the city, where in 2008 Islamic militants killed more than 170 people in a series of co-ordinated attacks.

But while the president will pay his respects to victims, he will also be seeking to drum up business for the United States, our correspondent says.

Before the trip, Mr Obama spoke of the need for greater US access to India markets as part of a drive to double US exports over the next five years and help revive the economy at home.

Trade between India and the US was worth about $40bn in 2008 – still significantly less than US trade with other partners like China and Europe.

‘Range of issues’

India’s Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao has said Mr Obama’s visit will expand strategic ties between the two countries leading to a more “productive” partnership.

“We are not at a stage in our relationship perhaps for another big bang but certainly there will be positive outcomes,” Ms Rao said on Wednesday.

“We will see concrete and significant steps in wide range of areas that will expand the long-term strategic framework in a way that we can create productive partnership for the mutual benefit and [will be] equally important to give substantive content and shape to the global strategic partnership,” she said.

White House officials say the administration plans 17 or 18 announcements during the trip on a range of economic, security and political issues.

Later on his trip, Mr Obama will announce a “comprehensive partnership” including economic ties in Indonesia, attend a G20 summit of global economic powers in Seoul and participate in an Asia-Pacific economic forum in Yokohama, Japan.

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Labour MP Paul Farrelly has admitted he “wrestled” a man to the floor inside the Houses of Parliament.

The MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme described the altercation as “a John Prescott moment” and said it was an act of self-defence.

The Daily Mail said the man, Bjorn Hurrell, was left with a cut above his eye, and planned to complain to police and to Parliamentary authorities.

Scotland Yard said it was not investigating the incident.

The altercation happened on Thursday evening during a karaoke party at Parliament’s Sports and Social club.

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