Category: news

Bahraini authorities charged 23 Shia activists of planning a coup in September

The trial of 25 Shia Muslim opposition activists has opened in Bahrain, five days after a tense general election.

The activists have pleaded not guilty to charges of plotting to overthrow the Sunni-led government and to supporting “terror cells” in the Gulf kingdom.

Some of the accused have told the court that they were tortured behind bars.

Rights groups have criticised the government for arresting dissidents and curtailing media freedoms in the run-up to last Saturday’s poll.

The election came amid rising tension between the dominant Sunni Muslim community and Shia Muslims, who make up most of the population but complain that they have been treated as “second-class” citizens for years.

Bahrain’s main Shia opposition group, al-Wifaq, held on to their 18 seats in the 40-seat lower house of parliament, but they are not expected to gain enough allies to form a majority in a run-off vote on Saturday.

Security was tight for Thursday’s court hearing in the Bahraini capital, Manama.

The original 23 suspects – whose names were splashed across state media last month – were unexpectedly joined by two other defendants, including a prominent blogger, the AP news agency said.

The men were charged with forming an illegal organisation, resorting to terrorism, financing terrorist activities and spreading false information, according to the indictment.

Among those on trial is British citizen Jaffar al-Hasabi, a 38-year-old London minicab driver.

His lawyer, Mohamed al-Tajer, has told the BBC that he was beaten all over his body and hung from his hands and feet while in detention. Bahraini officials deny charges that any of the detainees have been mistreated.

Other accused coup plotters include prominent rights activist Abd al-Jalil Singace, who was taken into custody in August when he returned from London with his family, and blogger Ali Abdulemam, whose case has been taken up by media freedom groups.

All face possible life sentences if convicted.

Bahrain has been hit by sporadic unrest for decades as Shias – who make up 70% of the country’s 530,000 citizens – press for greater political power.

Political reforms – including parliamentary elections – in the past decade have opened more room for Shias, but they complain the Sunni-directed system still excludes them from any key policymaking roles or top posts in the security forces.

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

Violet Mullen died in hospital after suffering cardiac arrest

A man has been found guilty of murdering his partner’s 15-month-old daughter after a trial at Manchester Crown Court.

Gary Alcock, 28, had denied murdering Violet Mullen. His partner Claire Flanagan, 22, was convicted of causing or allowing her daughter’s death.

Violet died in the Royal Oldham Hospital after suffering a cardiac arrest on 12 January.

The couple will be sentenced on 18 November.

Doctors raised concerns after finding bruises on Violet’s face and body which led to the couple’s arrest.

The child had been taken to hospital by paramedics after she was found unconscious at the family home on Huddersfield Road in Oldham.

Vanessa Thomson, Senior Crown Advocate for the Crown Prosecution Service said the evidence showed that Violet was violently assaulted on at least three separate occasions in the weeks leading up to her death.

She added: “Violet sustained in excess of 35 separate injuries including multiple bruises, rib fractures, brain damage and catastrophic internal injuries.

“In the opinion of the Home Office Pathologist, Violet must have been subjected to a severe blow or blows delivered in the form of punches, kicks or stamps.”

Ms Thomson added: “Claire Flanagan, Violet’s mother, ignored the obvious signs of abuse and failed her wholly dependant daughter by doing so.

“This has been a tragic case which has had a devastating effect upon all of those who knew and loved Violet.

“Our thoughts are with those who are left to deal with the consequences of this little girl’s death.”

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

David Cameron says housing benefit reforms are “fair”

MPs are to discuss controversial planned reforms to housing benefit amid calls from some Lib Dems and Tories for aspects of the changes to be rethought.

Concerns over the proposed £400 a week cap on housing support are set to be raised during a parliamentary debate on the government’s Spending Review.

Labour has said the cap is unfair and may force families out of their homes.

David Cameron has insisted he will stick with all the changes, describing them as “difficult but right”.

He made a robust defence of the proposals, due to come into effect next April, at prime minister’s questions on Wednesday, saying the housing benefit bill had got “completely out of control” under Labour.

Mr Cameron has said it is simply wrong to carry on paying out more than £20,000 a year in housing benefit to a single family as taxpayers’ money was being used to enable people to live in homes working people “couldn’t even dream of”.

His comments came amid suggestions that ministers were prepared to reconsider facets of the plan which have caused most unease, such as the 10% proposed cut in payouts when people have been on jobseeker’s allowance for more than a year.

Several London-based MPs have expressed concern about the impact of this on the poorest people in the city, Deputy Lib Dem leader Simon Hughes calling the measure “harsh and draconian”.

London Mayor Boris Johnson has said the government needs to “mitigate the impact” of the cap to take into account high rental levels in the capital and the fact that people need to stay in an area because of work and their children’s schooling.

The Department of Communities and Local Government is to grant £10m from its homelessness budget to local councils’ funds to ease the consequences of the change, in addition to £60m already allocated for a similar purpose.

According to government figures, 21,000 people will be affected by new caps on the amount families can claim for five, four, three, two and one-bedroomed properties across the UK including 17,000 in London, the majority of whom are out of work.

But 775,000 claimants could be affected by changes to the way local housing benefit levels are calculated, which could see claimants lose an average of £9 a week.

Labour has warned that thousands of people will be forced out of their homes as a result of the changes. Leader Ed Miliband said it showed how “out of touch” the government is with people’s lives.

The opposition will seek to keep up the pressure on the government on Thursday when shadow work and pensions secretary Douglas Alexander meets representatives of housing associations and charities to discuss the issue.

The BBC’s deputy political editor James Landale said that while there was opposition to the plans, it was largely unfocused at this stage.

While ministers were happy to be seen to be clamping down on excessive benefits payouts, he said they were aware of the political impact that any significant demographic upheaval may have, particularly in London.

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Crowds gathered in Buenos Aires to mourn Mr Kirchner’s death

Thousands are expected to converge on Argentina’s government palace to pay their respects to ex-President Nestor Kirchner, who died on Wednesday at 60.

His body will lie in state from 1000 (1300 GMT), allowing people to file past in honour of the man who was president from 2003 to 2007.

Overnight, crowds took to the streets of Buenos Aires to voice their grief.

Mr Kirchner, succeeded by his wife Cristina Fernandez as president, was expected to run in the 2011 election.

President Fernandez has so far not spoken publicly about her husband’s death.

Mr Kirchner’s body was flown back to the capital, Buenos Aires, early on Thursday from the southern town of Calafete, where he died in hospital with his wife by his side.

Mr Kirchner had suffered health problems and had a heart operation last month, but nevertheless his death shocked many in Argentina, where three days of national mourning were declared.

Tens of thousands of his supporters gathered in front of the government palace, the Casa Rosada or Pink House, waving Argentina’s blue and white flag, lighting candles and leaving flowers.

The Kirchners had faced some criticism for appearing to get around presidential term limits

“We’re Argentines, soldiers of the penguin,” they chanted, an allusion to the creature identified with Mr Kirchner on account of his origins in Patagonia, in southern Argentina.

“We must show solidarity in the coming days so that the opposition doesn’t take advantage of this moment,” one of the demonstrators, Roberto Picozze, told Reuters.

Mr Kirchner came to power as Argentina was emerging from a profound political and economic crisis, and he oversaw the country’s return to relative stability and prosperity.

He also supported the prosecution of those responsible for human rights abuses under military rule in the 1970s and 1980s.

Mr Kirchner was a polarising figure, says the BBC’s Daniel Schweimler in Buenos Aires. He was very popular among the trade unions and in the industrial belt around Buenos Aires, deeply unpopular among the wealthy, especially so among the influential agricultural lobby which did not like him nor his wife.

His death leaves a huge void in Argentine politics, which both his supporters and opponents will now have to face, our correspondent adds.

The couple had faced some criticism for appearing to get around the constitutional limit on two consecutive terms.

Just as Mr Kirchner stood aside for his wife in 2007, it was widely thought President Fernandez would step back and allow him to run in the October 2011 election.

Several regional leaders, including Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Chile’s leader, Sebastian Pinera, are expected to attend the funeral ceremonies.

Exact details have yet to be announced but local media reported that Mr Kirchner was expected to be buried in the southern city of Rio Gallegos, where he spent much of his political career.

Argentine authorities have been preparing the area around the Casa Rosada in expectation that large crowds will attend the wake.

A look back at the political career of Nestor Kirchner

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A surgeon in the Ulster Hospital says he has treated 12 teenagers with horrific injuries caused by fireworks in the past two weeks.

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

The redevelopment will cost £70m in total

The founder of Travelex Lloyd Dorfman has donated £10m to the National Theatre.

The National will now rename the Cottesloe Theatre after their benefactor, whose gift will kickstart the £70m redevelopment of the Grade-II listed building.

Hayden Phillips, the National’s chairman, described the donation as a “supremely generous gift”.

The money he hoped would act as an “inspiration to other philanthropists”.

Mr Dorfman described himself as a “huge fan of the energy and innovation the National has achieved in recent years”.

He said he was delighted “to lead from the front in supporting its redevelopment”.

The theatre hopes some of the rebuild will be completed by 2013 but a spokeswoman could not say when the project would be finished.

It had hoped to raise £50m from the private sector and £20m from other sources like the the National Lottery.

The design, by architects Haworth Tompkins, includes plans to refurbish the theatre on all sides, drawing more people in with green spaces and gardens.

The building will also feature a new education centre, allowing an extra 50,000 people a year to engage in learning and training activities at the theatre.

Mr Phillips said the donation was the largest ever made to the National Theatre.

“I hope it will also act as a spur and inspiration to other philanthropists, as a powerful demonstration of faith in the performing arts,” he added.

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Edwin Poots will not face proceedings over his comments.

The Attorney General is to take no action over comments made by the environment mnister over the John Lewis planning application.

A judge had asked the Attorney General to consider remarks made by Edwin Poots on BBC Radio Ulster.

Mr Poots said it was ‘outrageous’ for courts to allow judicial reviews when it was one commercial interest competing against another.

The judge said the remarks could amount to ‘bias and pre-determination’.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Attorney General’s office confirmed that a decision had been taken “not to make an application under the contempt of court in respect of Mr Poot’s remarks”.

In early October businesses opposed to the 500,000 sq ft retail scheme at Sprucefield had been granted leave to seek a judicial review over claims that a proper assessment was not carried out on the impact a development would have on badgers, bats and newts.

Mr Poots told the BBC’s Nolan Show that the actions of those involved in the litigation were “despicable and disgraceful” and “intolerable”.

Lord Justice Girvan ruled that there was an arguable case that the minister’s remarks amounted to “bias and pre-determination”.

He said that Mr Poots should neither have been invited onto the programme nor accepted the invitation.

He said: “The role of each of these parties should be considered by the Attorney General.”

Mr Poots said he would refute any claim of apparent bias against him, and had checked with departmental advisers about whether his previous associations could in any way undermine the proper processing of the application.

At the time Lord Justice Girvan said as a consequence of what had happened the public inquiry into the John Lewis planning application had been postponed until the case was resolved.

“The whole situation can only be described as lamentable,” he said.

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Ivan Klasnic signed a two-year deal with Bolton Wanderers in August

A Premier League footballer has been arrested on suspicion of raping a teenage girl in Manchester.

Bolton Wanderers striker Ivan Klasnic was questioned by police on Monday.

The 17-year-old girl was attacked in an apartment in the city centre in the early hours of Monday, a spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said.

Klasnic, 30, who also plays for Croatia, has been released on police bail until 1 November pending further inquiries.

Police were called to the flat at 0500 BST when the allegation was made.

Klasnic was arrested later, police sources said.

The player, who has won 38 caps for Croatia and scored 12 international goals, signed a two-year deal with Bolton Wanderers in August.

He was on loan from French club Nantes last season but the French side did not renew his contract over the summer.

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

Leaders are meeting at the European Commission HQ in Brussels

European leaders are gathering in Brussels amid pressure to rein in the EU budget and punish member states who have spiralling debt crises.

While next year’s EU budget is not formally on the agenda, the UK has been pressing other states to reject a 5.9% rise voted for by MEPs.

At a time of austerity, a rise closer to 2.9% is likely to be agreed.

But a row is brewing over a proposal to temporarily strip repeat over-spenders such as Greece of voting rights.

This Franco-German suggestion for a crisis resolution mechanism would mean rewriting the EU’s Lisbon Treaty, which was itself only adopted after tortuous negotiations.

The proposal was reached independently of other EU leaders, who are formally due to discuss a report by a European Council task force on measures to strengthen economic governance in the EU.

The measures are intended to avoid the domino-like collapse of successive European economies should there be another major debt crisis in one of the weaker members.

“There will be a hot discussion on treaty change,” one unnamed senior EU diplomat told Reuters news agency.

On the eve of the summit, EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding dismissed talk of treaty change as “irresponsible”.

“The two of them [Germany and France] must realise that it took us 10 years to close the deal on the Lisbon Treaty,” she told Germany’s Die Welt newspaper.

In her opinion, the treaty already contained enough elements “to safeguard bail-out measures”.

France’s Europe Minister, Pierre Lellouche, fired back with a description of Ms Reding’s language as “unacceptable”.

There is broad agreement among EU leaders on the need for something to be done, the BBC’s diplomatic correspondent, Jonathan Marcus, reports from Brussels.

But a revision of Lisbon would spell major domestic political problems in many EU states with referendums or embarrassing parliamentary votes, our correspondent says.

The Germans clearly believe this may be the only way in which tough automatic sanctions could be imposed on EU countries that break the tax and spending rules.

There may be more heat than light once battle is joined, our correspondent says.

The likely outcome is that the European Council’s President, Herman Van Rompuy, will be sent away to explore how some kind of compromise might be stitched together.

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

Oxford students are staging a protest against the Browne review

The vice chancellor of Oxford University is warning the institution will face a funding gap if ministers adopt the proposals of a review into higher education funding.

On the university website, Professor Andrew Hamilton writes that, even if tuition fees rise, those funds could be cancelled out by teaching grant cuts.

Oxford students are staging a protest about the Browne Review.

Business Secretary Vince Cable has cancelled a planned speech there.