Category: news

Do you have a Wayne Rooney in your office?

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Scientists say they have found a “tipsy” gene that explains why some people feel the effects of alcohol after only a few drinks.

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Gay men forced out of the military give their side of the story

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Baroness Thatcher was PM from 1979 to 1990

Former Prime Minister Baroness Thatcher has been admitted to hospital.

It is understood that the Conservative peer was taken to Cromwell Hospital in west London on Tuesday evening, to be treated for an infection.

A spokesman said her condition was not serious and she was expected to be home in a few days.

Last week, Baroness Thatcher – who was prime minister from 1979 to 1990 – pulled out of a visit to Downing Street to mark her birthday, because of flu.

The BBC understands that she has not completely recovered and the hospital admission is linked to last week’s illness.

In 2005, Baroness Thatcher was advised by doctors that she should not make public speeches in the wake of some minor strokes.

But she still attends some public functions, including a recent address by the Pope during his state visit to the UK.

In March 2008, she was taken ill during a dinner in Westminster and spent the night in hospital as a precaution, bit was later given a clean bill of health.

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The BBC’s Caroline Wyatt looks at whether a smaller budget means Britain is less able to guard against future threats

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David Cameron has announced an 8% cut in defence spending with the army, navy and air force losing military hardware and thousands of personnel.

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New gay recruits are warned that their applications may be rejected if the latest ruling is overturned

The US military has started accepting gay recruits after a California judge last week struck down the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy barring openly gay people from serving.

But the US defense department says new gay recruits are warned the repeal of the law may be overturned.

The Pentagon is appealing against the decision and has asked the judge to reinstate the ban in the interim.

Judge Virginia Phillips on Monday tentatively refused that request.

Some gay activist groups were planning to send people to enlist at recruiting stations to test the Pentagon’s announcement that it was accepting recruits who openly state that they are gay.

“If they were to self admit that they are gay and want to enlist, we will process them for enlistment, but will tell them that the legal situation could change,” Douglas Smith, spokesman for US Army Recruiting Command at Fort Knox, Kentucky, said.

Democrats in the US Senate had attempted to overturn the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy in September, but failed to muster the necessary votes.

President Barack Obama has vowed to end the policy, but most advisers agree the president cannot end the ban on gays serving openly in the military without congressional or legal action.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon is due to release a report about the possible impact of allowing openly gay service-members on 1 December.

Some Pentagon officials have said allowing openly gay military personnel would necessitate dramatic policy changes on everything from housing and insurance to protocol at social events.

In California, Judge Phillips, declared that the policy violated gay military members’ rights to free speech and to equal protection under the law.

The lawsuit that prompted the injunction against the ban was brought by the Log Cabin Republicans, a pro-gay Republican group, on behalf of openly gay military personnel who had been discharged.

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The Chief Secretary to the Treasury was photographed with documents indicating half a million public sector jobs could be cut.

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UN investigators probing the killing of Lebanese leader Rafik Hariri carry out a controlled explosion, but deny it was a reconstruction.

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The BBC provides S4C’s news services, sports coverage and its daily drama series Pobol y Cwm

An announcement is expected on Wednesday that the BBC is to take over funding for Welsh-language channel S4C.

It is unclear if it will be asked to meet the whole of the current £100m budget, but the channel would remain operationally separate from the BBC.

UK government sources have told BBC Wales it would retain its “operational independence” and there is no question of the BBC “taking over” S4C.

A source said details remained to be worked out.

Meetings in Whitehall to decide the new structure were taking place as late as lunchtime on Tuesday, said the source.

BBC Wales understands that members of the S4C executive and authority are meeting to consider their response.

There are no details whether they have yet been fully briefed on the situation.

The Guardian is reporting that under the terms of the deal struck between the UK government and the BBC, the BBC would take over funding for S4C from 2015.

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Kenya’s coalition leaders came under pressure to suspend Mr Ruto in line with the new constitution

Kenya’s president has suspended Higher Education Minister William Ruto, after a court ruled he must stand trial over corruption allegations.

Last week a panel of three high court judges dismissed his plea that he would not get a fair trial.

He is charged with defrauding a state corporation of $1.2m (£750,000) nine years ago over the sale of forest land.

Mr Ruto is a controversial figure in the coalition government that took power in 2008 to end post-poll unrest.

According to the new constitution, adopted in August, anyone facing criminal charges should not be allowed to hold public office.

Earlier this year, Mr Ruto faced suspension over a separate maize scandal.

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The BBC’s Christian Fraser reports from the scene of a protest march in Paris

More than one million people have taken to the streets of France in a sixth national day of action against planned pension reforms, officials say.

Strikes have hit transport and education, 4,000 petrol stations have run dry and police have clashed with protesters in several cities.

Shops were looted in Lyon and cars were set on fire in a Paris suburb.

President Nicolas Sarkozy appealed for calm but insisted he would press ahead with plans to raise the retirement age.

He told a news conference in Deauville that it was his duty to focus on the “troublemakers” and ensure that public order was guaranteed.

“The biggest oversight would be to not do my job and to not ensure the financing of retirement pensions for today and tomorrow,” he added.

Sixth strike

Marchers set off during the afternoon from Place d’Italie in the south of Paris on the sixth national strike day since the start of September, one of 200 demonstrations across France.

The interior ministry said that 1.1 million demonstrators had taken to the streets across the country although the CGT union said the number was 3.5 million.

The day of action was being seen as a last attempt to mobilise protesters before the Senate’s final vote on the government’s pension reforms.

The street protests on Tuesday were comparable with the previous week’s national day of action, although police and unions gave widely differing numbers.

In Paris, the unions estimated that 330,000 demonstrators had taken to the streets but police put the number at 60,000.

In the southern port city of Marseille, unions gave an estimate of 240,000 protesters while police said the figure was 23,000.

Fuel supplies

Although the planned increase in the retirement age from 60 to 62 and the full state pension age from 65 to 67 is widely unpopular, the scale of disruption is beginning to affect large parts of society.

A blockade of France’s 12 oil refineries is hitting fuel supplies hard.

Energy Minister Jean-Louis Borloo told MPs that just under 4,000 petrol stations out of a total of 13,000 were awaiting supplies.

A third of the country’s departments (local authorities) were said to be experiencing shortages.

In Normandy in northern France, 12 petrol stations were taken over by the authorities for use by emergency services.

Public transport was also hit, with half the scheduled flights in and out of Orly airport in Paris cancelled because of a one-day walk-out by air traffic controllers.

One in three flights at other airports was affected. Most of the cancellations involved domestic and European services.

Trains on the Paris Metro were heavily crowded as only about half the services were running and national rail operator SNCF said as many as three-quarters of its fast regional trains had been cancelled.

School blockades

Education was also affected: the education ministry said 379 secondary schools were either blockaded by pupils or had suffered some disruption, the highest number since the protests began at the start of September.

In some areas, schools became a focus for violence. Outside a secondary school in the Paris suburb of Nanterre, youths threw stones at police who responded with tear gas.

For the second day running, cars were overturned and set alight in Lyon. There were also disturbances in Mulhouse and Montbeliard in eastern France.

Presidential popularity

Despite the widespread disruption, the strikers continue to attract popular support with one opinion poll suggesting that 71% of those surveyed back the industrial action.

However, people using public transport in the northern city of Lille appeared less happy.

Insurance worker Frederic Deraed said the French should no longer think it was still acceptable to stop working at 60.

Nadine Gestas agreed the protests were ultimately futile: “We can’t pay the pensions and we can’t avoid increasing the age of retirement. Every country in Europe is raising the age of retirement,” she told the BBC.

But Olivier Sekai, of the General Confederation of Labour (CGT), said he saw support increasing for the protests.

“The government is acting as if we didn’t have a rich country, as if we didn’t have the money. The thing is we do have the money,” he told the BBC.

President Sarkozy’s poll ratings appear to have dropped even further as he tries to tackle the wave of protests.

One poll for BVA conducted on 15 and 16 October suggested his approval rating was down to 30%, the lowest for three years.

The number of French with either a negative or very negative opinion of their president rose five points from September to 69%.

President Sarkozy’s ratings decline

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The licence fee generates around £3.5bn a year

The BBC Trust has warned the government it would fight any move to force the BBC to meet the cost of free television licences for the over-75s.

Ministers are reportedly considering whether to transfer the cost to the corporation as part of the Spending Review.

The Department for Work and Pensions currently funds the £556m annual cost.

A BBC Trust spokeswoman said it would be “unacceptable” for licence fee payers to foot the bill.

“Anything at this stage is speculation as we have yet to see the detail of the Spending Review.

“That said it would be unacceptable for licence fee payers to pick up the bill for what is a Department for Work and Pensions universal benefit,” she added.

According to Newsnight’s political editor Michael Crick, if approved, the proposal would take effect from the time of the next licence fee settlement, due in 2012.

He added increases in the licence fee were unlikely to cover the cost, which was the equivalent of a 16% cut in the BBC’s present budget.

A government spokeswoman said it would not comment on speculation ahead of the Spending Review.

Every pensioner over the age of 75 receives a free TV licence, which currently costs £145.50 per year.

The corporation received £3.45bn in licence fees in 2009/10.

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A convoy carrying the UN’s top envoy to Iraq has been hit by a roadside bomb, officials say.

Ad Melkert was unhurt, the UN said, but according to reports a policeman died and three other people were injured.

Iraqi police said the bomb hit the second-to-last vehicle in the convoy as it left the Shia holy city of Najaf, 160km (100 miles) south of Baghdad.

Mr Melkert, a Dutch politician, was made an associate administrator to the UN Development Programme in 2006.

“The special representative was in the convoy. He is unhurt. He is fine,” a UN spokeswoman said.

“We cannot speculate on what was the motive.”

Mr Melkert had visited Najaf for talks with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq’s most revered Shia Muslim cleric, Reuters reported citing officials.

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The level and speed of compensation payments has been criticised after 7/7

The government’s scheme compensating victims of crime is to be changed as a result of the 7 July London bombs, Justice Secretary Ken Clarke has said.

He said the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme was subject to “huge delays” and had not received enough funding to keep up with claims.

Four suicide bombers killed 52 people and injured hundreds more when they bombed three Tube trains and a bus in London on 7 July 2005.

By July 2010 victims had received £11m.

Mr Clarke’s comments came in the Commons, after Labour’s David Winnick MP asked how many victims of the London bombs awaited compensation and who held responsibility.

Mr Winnick added: “As regards the claims which have been finalised, are you aware there’s a good deal of dissatisfaction, by those who received them, that the sums are really inadequate bearing in mind the serious injuries inflicted by the mass murderers?”