Category: news

The award sparked calls for Mr Liu’s release in the West as well as in Hong Kong

China has angrily condemned the decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize to jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo.

The Beijing government summoned the Norwegian ambassador in protest. It called Mr Liu a “criminal”, said the award violated Nobel principles and could damage relations with Norway.

The Norwegian Nobel committee said Mr Liu was “the foremost symbol” of the struggle for human rights in China.

The US and other Western countries have called for his immediate release.

Mr Liu, 54, was a key leader in the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989.

Last year he received an 11-year sentence for “inciting subversion” after drafting Charter 08 – which called for multi-party democracy and respect for human rights in China.

Announcing its 2010 peace prize in Oslo, the Nobel Foundation said: “Liu has consistently maintained that the sentence violates both China’s own constitution and fundamental human rights.”

It praised Mr Liu for his “long and non-violent struggle” and highlighted its belief in a “close connection between human rights and peace”.

The citation described him as “the foremost symbol of this wide-ranging struggle for human rights in China”.

Beijing quickly condemned the award, saying it could damage China-Norway relations.

Foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said: “Liu Xiaobo is a criminal who violated Chinese law. It’s a complete violation of the principles of the prize and an insult to the peace prize itself for the Nobel committee to award the prize to such a person.”

Later Norway said its ambassador in Beijing had been summoned to the Chinese foreign ministry.

“They wanted to officially share their… disagreement and their protest,” a Norwegian spokeswoman said.

“We emphasised that this is an independent committee and the need to continue good bilateral relations,” she added.

Unlike other Nobel prizes, which are administered in Sweden, the peace prize is awarded in Oslo by a committee appointed by the Norwegian parliament.

The prize is worth 10 million Swedish crowns ($1.5m; £944,000) and will be awarded in Oslo on 10 December.

US President Barack Obama said Mr Liu had “sacrificed his freedom for his beliefs” and called for his speedy release.

German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said China should free him so he could attend the ceremony.

France’s Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner also welcomed the award and also called on China to release Mr Liu.

UN human rights commissioner Navi Pillay said the prize recognised a “very prominent human rights defender”.

Mr Liu’s wife, Liu Xia, said she was “so excited” by the award.

She told AFP news agency: “I want to thank everyone for supporting Liu Xiaobo. I strongly ask that the Chinese government release Liu.”

Mrs Liu said police had informed her they would take her to Mr Liu’s prison in the north-eastern province of Liaoning on Saturday so she could give him the news.

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Everton defender Phil Jagielka is ruled out of England’s Euro 2012 qualifier against Montenegro with a hamstring injury.

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Repossessions in the US are expected to rise to a record 1.2 million this year

Bank of America (BoA) says it will extend its ban on sales of repossessed homes from 23 US states to all 50 as it looks for possible legal flaws.

BoA, the largest US bank, is checking for omissions in foreclosure documents.

It is the latest move in a growing scandal that has also seen JPMorgan Chase and Ally GMAC Mortgage suspend foreclosures in 23 states.

At the heart of the story lie allegations that foreclosure documents were signed off without proper checks.

BoA is looking into whether homes were being taken back from householders by so-called “robo-signers” and other automated processes, whereby mortgage company employees or their lawyers do not thoroughly verify the information in them.

With banks are expected to take over a record 1.2 million homes this year, up from about one million last year, according to the real estate data company RealtyTrac, the foreclosure issue is a hot political potato.

On Thursday, the Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, urged all five large mortgage lenders to suspend foreclosures in Nevada until they have set up systems to make sure homeowners aren’t “improperly directed into foreclosure proceedings”.

Nevada, where home repossessions are among the highest, is not among those 23 states where foreclosures must be approved by a judge, meaning that the process is relatively swift.

BoA company spokesman Dan Frahm said in a statement: “We will stop foreclosure sales until our assessment has been satisfactorily completed.”

But he added: “The basis for our past foreclosure decisions is accurate.”

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The BBC’s Duncan Kennedy: “The mud is all around. You can’t escape it”

The death toll following the spill of a large amount of toxic red sludge from an industrial plant in western Hungary has risen to seven, officials say.

Disaster unit chief Tibor Dobson said two bodies had been found near the town of Devecser, but were likely residents missing from Kolontar, a town nearby.

Earlier, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said the River Danube was no longer under threat of widespread pollution.

Mr Orban said the situation had now been brought “under control”.

Experts have been pouring large quantities of clay and acid into affected waterways in an effort to neutralise the alkaline pollutants.

Kolontar and Devecser were the towns hardest hit when up to 700,000 cubic metres (24.7m cu ft) of red sludge flooded from a burst reservoir at an alumina plant in Ajka on Monday.

Officials had earlier put the size of the spill at 1m cubic metres.

The sludge reached the Danube on Thursday, pushing the pH level to 9, well below the pH13.5 measured in the worst-hit tributaries. By Friday morning, the pH level had fallen to 8-8.2.

Water is pH7 when neutral, with the safety levels ranging from pH6.5 to pH8.5.

“This data gives us hope… and we have not experienced any damage on the main Danube so far,” Mr Dobson told the Reuters news agency.

Prime Minister Orban, visiting Bulgaria, said: “The good news is that we have succeeded in bringing it under control and very probably waters threatening the environment will not enter the Danube, even on Hungarian territory.

“We managed to take control of the situation in time.”

Interior Minister Sandor Pinter said the Danube was no longer at risk of biological or environmental damage, and drinking water supplies had not been affected.

However, the BBC’s Duncan Kennedy in the affected region says there is an additional concern – the weather.

Recent days of rain have kept the sludge wet and officials now fear that warmer and sunnier weather will create dust that could spread toxins – and possibly low-level radioactive materials – into the atmosphere.

If that happens, our correspondent says, the authorities will have to decide whether to evacuate more areas. They have already urged locals to wear masks.

Environment Minister Zoltan Illes confirmed that the sludge – which now covers a 41 sq km (16 sq mile) area – had a “high content of heavy metals”, including carcinogens.

“If that [were to] dry out then the wind can blow that heavy metal contamination through the respiratory system,” he said.

Greenpeace said samples of the sludge it took on Tuesday contained “surprisingly high” levels of arsenic and mercury. It said the detected arsenic concentration was twice the amount normally found in sludge.

“We are afraid that the arsenic might go into the groundwater and pollute the drinking water in the area. This is a serious problem when we are thinking about the long term effects,” one of Greenpeace’s scientists, Herwig Schuster, told the BBC.

“We fear the mercury will go down the rivers and enter the foodchain.”

The company responsible for the alumina plant, MAL Hungarian Aluminium Production and Trade Company, has offered its condolences to the families of the bereaved but insists it did nothing wrong.

It said it was devoting “all its energies and efforts” to tackling the spill, and had released 110,000 euros ($150,000) so far to help with the clean-up.

The sludge has caused massive damage to Hungarian villages and towns close to the plant, as well as a wide swathe of farmland. All life in the Marcal river, which feeds the Danube, has been “extinguished”.

Those who lost their lives were believed to have drowned, with the depth of the flood reaching 2m (6.5ft) in places, but many of the 150 injured suffered chemical burns. One more Kolontar resident is still missing.

One woman told the BBC about the moment the sludge came to Kolontar.

“I went outside to check on the dog because it was barking like mad and the sludge was just coming towards us. The sludge took our car, lifted it up and took it along. It was just like a boat,” Niki Barta said.

“Then, we found it the next day about a mile-and-a-half away.”

Meanwhile, emergency crews have begun draining a second industrial reservoir at the spill site to prevent a repeat of the disaster. Gypsum was being dropped into the Marcal river from helicopters to neutralise it.

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The Premier League approves New England Sports Ventures’s proposed £300m takeover of Liverpool but BBC Sport understands the threat of a points deduction could hang over the Merseysiders.

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Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are all in action as qualifying for Euro 2012 continues, while England Under-21s face Romania on a busy night of international football.

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The catering supervisor was told she could be seen to be ‘grooming’ the boy after giving him a biscuit

A County Fermanagh school has been criticised after warning a dinner lady who gave a child a biscuit that she could be seen to be ‘grooming’ the boy.

It happened at St Mary’s Primary in Brookeborough in January 2008.

The incident was reported after the woman left her job. She has since returned.

Chair of the Stormont Education committee Mervyn Storey described it as “political correctness gone too far”.

The case was reported to the NI Ombudsman, Tom Frawley, who said the woman should receive an apology from and a payment from the local education authority.

In a copy of the Ombudsman’s report, seen by the local newspaper the Impartial Reporter, the woman was told by the acting principal that under the Child Protection Act, she could be seen to be grooming the boy after arranging for him to be given a biscuit.

The catering supervisor, who was a relative of the child, then had to attend three meetings, firstly with the acting principal then two with the school principal.

One of the meetings with the principal lasted over an hour and he wanted her to attend a fourth.

The woman decided to leave her job as she felt she had been subjected to a “grilling”.

She made a complaint to the body responsible for education in the area, the Western Education and Library Board (WELB).

The Ombudsman Tom Frawley said the woman had endured gossip and rumours over a period of two years.

His report found that the Western Board failed to address a complaint the woman made about her treatment “promptly and appropriately”.

Mr. Frawley also found there was no proper protocol in place under which board employees can raise grievances about non-board co-workers.

The woman has since returned to the school.

In a statement, St Mary’s primary school said the issues between the individuals involved had been resolved using mediation through the Labour Relations Agency.

“A confidentiality agreement was signed by all parties involved so it would not be appropriate to comment any further,” it said.

“We have not received a copy of the Ombudsman’s report so we cannot comment on a report that we have not seen,” it added.

The WELB said the board had noted the findings of the Ombudsman’s report and was “presently actioning the recommendations”.

The chair of the Stormont Education committee said that while rules were there to protect children and staff this was a case of “political correctness gone too far”.

“I think it’s a sad situation that schools are “so boxed in because of legislation.”

The Ombudsman has recommended that an apology to the woman should be made in writing and a consolatory payment made.

He is to also write to the Permanent Secretary of the Department of Education to address the lack of policy as a “matter of urgency”.

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Mr Johnson will be a key figure as Labour develops its economic strategy

Alan Johnson has been named shadow chancellor in a surprise move by new Labour leader Ed Miliband.

Ed Balls, widely tipped for the Treasury brief, will be home secretary, while his wife Yvette Cooper, who topped the shadow cabinet poll of MPs, is shadow foreign secretary.

Andy Burnham is shadow education secretary, while John Healey, who did well in the poll of MPs, gets health.

Mr Miliband said the line-up was “drawn from a broad range of talents”.

He added: “My team is united in one central mission for the future – to win back the trust of the British people and take Labour back to power.

“Together, this new generation of Labour will work together to reject the pessimism of this coalition government as we set out our vision of what Britain can achieve.

“Our values are those of the British people, and this shadow cabinet will ensure that the hopes and concerns of working families are at the heart of our offer to the country.”

Here is the full list:

Leader of the Opposition: Ed Miliband

Deputy Leader and Shadow Secretary of State for International Development: Harriet Harman

Shadow Chancellor: Alan Johnson

Shadow Foreign Secretary and Minister for Women and Equalities: Yvette Cooper

Shadow Home Secretary: Ed Balls

Chief Whip: Rosie Winterton

Shadow Education Secretary: Andy Burnham

Shadow Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary (with responsibility for political and constitutional reform): Sadiq Khan

Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary: Douglas Alexander

Shadow Business Secretary: John Denham

Shadow Health Secretary: John Healey

Shadow Secretary Communities and Local Government Secretary: Caroline Flint

Shadow Defence Secretary: Jim Murphy

Shadow Energy and Climate Change Secretary: Meg Hillier

Shadow Commons Leader: Hilary Benn

Shadow Transport Secretary: Maria Eagle

Shadow Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary: Mary Creagh

Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury: Angela Eagle

Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary: Shaun Woodward

Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland: Ann McKechin

Shadow Welsh Secretary: Peter Hain

Shadow Culture, Media and Sport Secretary: Ivan Lewis

Shadow Lords Leader: Baroness Royall of Blaisdon

Shadow Olympics Minister: Tessa Jowell

Shadow Cabinet Office Minister: Liam Byrne

Lords Chief Whip Lord Bassam of Brighton

Shadow Attorney-General Baroness Scotland

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Andrew Oliver Kingsley was a probationary teacher at a Fife school

A 23-year-old music teacher from Fife has pled guilty to a catalogue of sexual offences against young boys.

Andrew Oliver Kingsley, from Dunfermline, was a probationary teacher at a secondary school in Fife.

At the High Court in Edinburgh he admitted 31 sexual abuse charges against 16 boys, some as young as 12.

The abuse took place in locations in Fife, Glasgow, Ayrshire and London over four years from 2006. He was remanded in custody.

Police were alerted after the parents of a 12-year-old boy found explicit texts on their son’s mobile.

The father told BBC Scotland: “He lost a lot of his childhood after that. His innocence. The first thing I thought of was revenge, but there’s no point in that.

“He was so cunning, he was so nice. He introduced us to his parents, who were a nice couple.

“It was the cunningness that got to me, humiliating my son, myself, my wife.”

And he added: “I still get upset, I’ll never forget it.”

Kingsley, who was known as Olly, worked at the Fife school for five months until his arrest in December 2009.

As a graduate of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, he had also been involved in a number of youth theatres.

Kingsley had been through all the relevant disclosure checks.

Andrew Oliver Kingsley is known as Olly

The chairman of one youth theatre where Kingsley volunteered said: “I feel hurt and embarrassed.

“When we were first informed of this it was just stunning and shocking.”

He said Kingsley had come across as “a very bubbly sort of character” with a “very nice personality”.

He added: “It’s just horrendous.

“I hate him. I hate him for what he has done, for what he has put kids through.”

Garry McEwan, a senior investigating officer with Fife Constabulary, told BBC Scotland: “Andrew Oliver Kingsley is without doubt a predatory sex offender who would target vulnerable boys within Fife and elsewhere solely for the purpose of engaging and abusing them sexually.

“He has spread his wings beyond Fife into neighbouring forces, but also we have evidence of him travelling down to London to abuse a young boy.

“This is a school teacher who abused his position and the trust that comes with being a school teacher.

“He managed to get unrestricted, unsupervised access to children, which is particularly disturbing. He is a disturbing individual.”

Area procurator fiscal David Green said that securing an early guilty plea had spared Kingsley’s victims the trauma of having to give evidence in court.

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That was the right patient wasn’t it?

Fifty-seven patients underwent operations on the wrong part of their body last year due to NHS errors, figures show.

The National Patient Safety Agency says these were some of the 111 so-called “never events” in 2009-2010.

These are very serious, preventable patient safety incidents which the government says should not occur.

The Department of Health has added 14 other kinds of incidents to the official list, taking it to 22.

The list includes medical instruments and swabs left in the body after surgery, the wrong route of administration of chemotherapy, death or injury resulting from the transfusion of the wrong blood type and death by falls from unrestricted windows in places such as mental health hospitals.

Hospitals can have funding withheld if a never event occurs.

Wrong-site surgery refers to an operation on the wrong limb or organ (for example wrong knee, wrong eye, wrong kidney) or on the wrong person.

After wrong-site surgery, the second highest number of never events (41) related to misplaced feeding tubes in adults and children.

This puts patients at risk of being fed directly into the respiratory tract.

Data on never events from previous years was collected differently and cannot be compared, according to the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA).

Health minister Simon Burns said that unsafe care must not be tolerated.

“We are committed to extending the system of ‘never events’. We will introduce clear disincentives through non-payments, just as there will be clear incentives for quality.

“Across the NHS there must be a culture of patient safety above all else. These measures will help to protect patients and give commissioners the powers to take action if unacceptable mistakes happen.”

NHS Medical Director, Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, agreed: “Never events by their very name should never occur in a modern NHS.

“The proposed list includes avoidable incidents with serious adverse consequences for patients. No one wants these to happen, therefore we will not pay hospitals when these events occur.

“This will send a strong signal to leaders of the organisation to learn from their mistakes so they don’t happen again,” he said.

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Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha welcomed the news

Members of the European parliament have backed visa-free travel for visitors from Albania and Bosnia ahead of a final decision in November.

The two states hope to join the EU within a decade but failure to enact reforms has dogged their bids.

To qualify for visa-free travel, they must prove they can tackle illegal immigration and trafficking.

France is believed to oppose the move but would be unable to block it on its own.

Drug-trafficking routes from Asia into Europe pass through both Albania and Bosnia. Other Balkan states obtained EU visa-free travel rights last year.

Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha welcomed Thursday’s vote, saying he was optimistic that EU ministers would endorse it next month.

The bill on visa-free travel was passed by 538 votes to 47, with 41 abstentions.

To become law, it will have to be approved by a qualified majority – or 255 votes out of 345 (74.8%) – at the EU’s Council of Ministers in November.

Apart from France, which has stated concerns about opening up EU borders even further, the Netherlands and Denmark are said to be hostile towards the move, according to the EU information website Euractiv.

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Sanofi is in the middle of a hostile takeover bid for US biotech firm Genzyme

French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi-Aventis has announced it will shed 1,700 jobs from its US workforce.

The move is part of a restructuring process that will allow the company to focus on drugs for diabetes, cancer and heart problems, it said.

The cuts represent 13% of the firm’s total workforce of 13,000 in the US.

Like many major pharmaceuticals companies, Sanofi is facing increased competition from generic drug companies.

“Given the serious challenges facing our organization and the health care industry, it is important to act decisively now so that our organisation has greater stability and that our resources are allocated to our strategic growth priorities,” said Gregory Irace, chief executive of Sanofi’s US and Canadian pharmaceutical operations.

The group is in the middle of an $18.5bn (£11.8bn) hostile takeover bid for US biotech company Genzyme.

Sanofi said the cuts were not related to the bid.

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Libya is hosting the Arab League meetings, with peace talks at the top of the agenda

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas is due to consult Arab leaders on whether to quit the Middle East peace talks after Israel refused to extend its partial West Bank settlement freeze.

Mr Abbas has arrived in the Libyan city of Sirte, where the Arab League will hold two days of meetings.

He is expected to lay out his position in a speech to delegates.