Category: news

A poem by Ted Hughes, describing the night his first wife Sylvia Plath took her own life, is published for the first time.

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

An X Factor contestant who narrowly missed out on a place for the live finals of the show is facing deportation from the UK.

Gamu Nhengu, who is originally from Zimbabwe, was controversially eliminated from the ITV show on Sunday.

Immigration officials have confirmed that her mother, Nokuthula Ngazana, had been refused permission to stay in the UK after her visa expired in August.

The 18-year-old’s family has lived in central Scotland for eight years.

A statement from the UK Border Agency said: “The applications made by Ms Ngazana and her family were considered in line with the published immigration rules.

“Ms Ngazana’s application was refused as it did not meet all of the conditions for approval.

“Her family, who had applied as her dependants, were therefore also refused.”

The family currently live in Tillicoultry, Clackmannanshire, where Nhengu attended Alva Academy.

Ms Ngazana said she was not aware of UK Border Agency’s decision to deport the family.

She refused to comment on her daughter’s elimination from the show.

More than 200,000 people have joined a Facebook campaign calling for the return of Gamu to the show.

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

Former Societe Generale trader Jerome Kerviel has said he was “crushed” by a French court’s decision to jail him for three years for risky trades.

In his first comment since being sentenced on Tuesday, he told Europe 1 radio he was being made a scapegoat for the 4.9bn-euro ($7bn; £4bn) loss.

He was found guilty of forgery, breach of trust and unauthorised computer use.

Kerviel’s lawyer said they would appeal against the conviction. He will remain free until the appeal is heard.

The total sentence handed down was five years in prison, with two years suspended. Kerviel was also ordered to repay the bank’s losses and banned from trading for life.

“I’m starting to digest it, but I’m nonetheless crushed by the weight of the sanction and the weight of responsibility the ruling places on me,” Kerviel said in the French radio interview.

He added that the court ruling was like being “hit on the head with a club”.

The trial earlier this year centred on charges that he bet 50bn euros of SocGen’s money without the bank’s knowledge.

Kerviel’s defence was the bank knew about the risk-taking and was content while he was making profits.

But the court was unconvinced, with presiding judge Dominique Pauthe telling the court that Kerviel “knowingly went beyond his remit as a trader”.

On the basis of his current earnings, Kerviel would need about 180,000 years to reimburse to Societe Generale the sum he was ordered to pay.

Even if this is obviously unachievable, Kerviel could be left with the equivalent of a living wage for the rest of his life, any exceeding amount being taken directly from his salary or pension.

It is up to the bank to decide whether it will ask for payments. Many analysts expect it will not, as the aim was mainly to be publicly cleared of allegations that it turned a blind eye to Kerviel’s behaviour.

Societe Generale has said it is very satisified with the ruling and wants to draw a line under this case, from which it says it has learnt lessons by reinforcing its control systems.

The bank was fined 4m euros by French regulators for failures in those systems following the scandal.

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

The US Supreme Court has heard arguments about whether a fundamentalist church had the right to protest at a Marine’s funeral.

The father of a Marine killed in Iraq is asking the court to reinstate a $5m (£3m) civil verdict against members of Westboro Baptist Church.

Members had carried signs with slogans like “Thank God for Dead Soldiers”.

The case is being seen as a test of the First Amendment to the US Constitution, which ensures the right to free speech.

The court will weigh whether Albert Snyder should be allowed to grieve privately for his son against arguments the church members should be able to say what they want.

Mr Snyder filed the lawsuit in March 2006 after members of the church picketed the funeral of his son, Lance Cpl Matthew Snyder, who was killed in a Humvee accident.

Mr Snyder was originally granted an $11m (£7m) verdict in 2007 against the church for the intentional infliction of emotional distress.

That award was then reduced to $5m, before a federal appeals court in Virginia threw out the verdict altogether, citing the church’s free speech rights.

Members of Westboro Baptist Church marched outside the Supreme Court building early on Wednesday with signs they would typically carry to military funerals.

The church, which is based in Topeka, in the state of Kansas, says US military deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan are punishment for the immorality of Americans, including tolerance of homosexuality and abortion.

But Mr Snyder has said the case is not about free speech but rather about how the church harassed him.

US Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said on Wednesday that the question was whether the First Amendment must tolerate “exploiting this bereaved family”.

Church members, led by the Reverend Fred Phelps, have said they will not change their behaviour, no matter what the top US court decides.

“No American should ever be required to apologise for following his or her conscience,” said Margie Phelps, Mr Phelps’s daughter and the lawyer representing the church.

A decision on the case is expected early next year.

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

Liverpool’s prospective new owner confirms it will unburden the club of debt if its takeover plans are accepted.

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

The first civilian trial of a former Guantanamo Bay detainee is set to begin in a New York courtroom on Wednesday.

Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, a Tanzanian, is accused of helping al-Qaeda kill 224 people in the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya.

Mr Ghailani was held in Pakistan in 2004 and taken to Guantanamo in 2006. His lawyers say he was tortured.

The case is seen as a test of the Obama administration’s pledge to close the US military base in Cuba by next January.

Whereas other detainees have been tried by military commissions, Mr Ghailani is the first Guantanamo prisoner to be tried in the civilian courts.

The BBC’s Laura Trevelyan, in New York, says that if this trial is successful, it will make it easier for the Obama administration to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks.

Mr Ghailani, who is believed to be in his mid 30s, is accused of having purchased the vehicle and explosives used in the attack in Tanzania and as having served as an aide to Osama Bin Laden.

“Ghailani is one of the lucky ones who will be given a real trial in front of a real judge,” said George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying.

He added: “The [Obama] administration seems to be suggesting that they are willing to give this a try and if successful, they might allow it for trial of other people.”

Mr Ghailani was subject to what the government refers to as “enhanced interrogation” at secret prisons run by the CIA before being moved to Guantanamo Bay.

His lawyers say he endured cruel interrogation techniques while in the secret prisons.

Critics of trying terrorism suspects in civilian courts say that government secrets could leak out and that evidence obtained through torture may be inadmissible.

In the Ghailani case there are concerns about the length of time since the alleged offences took place.

“He’s charged with a crime that occurred 12 years ago. That’s a very long time to go without a trial. Witnesses become scarce, evidence become stale and memories fade,” Mr Turley said.

But Judge Lewis Kaplan has rejected complaints from Mr Ghailani’s lawyers, who said their client’s rights were violated by his lengthy incarceration and treatment while in custody.

Mr Ghailani faces life in prison if convicted.

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

The deaths of a mother and daughter in a fire at their house in Swansea were accidental, an inquest has ruled.

Michelle Thomas, 32, was at home with her three sons and her four-year-old daughter Courtenay when fire broke out at the property in Townhill.

Mrs Thomas’s sons aged 15, 12, and nine, survived the blaze last September.

Verdicts of accidental death were recorded at the Swansea inquest.

More to follow…

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

Protesters have gathered at the home of X Factor contestant Gamu Nhengu, who is facing removal from the UK, to show support for her.

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

Families and friends welcome back Royal Marines from 40 Commando after Afghanistan tour

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

A paedophile has told a court he was told what to do by his then girlfriend as the pair sexually assaulted and took photographs of a five-month-old baby.

Colin Blanchard told Winchester Crown Court it had been Tracy Dawber, 44, who had taken the lead in the abuse.

Ms Dawber, formerly of Southport, Merseyside, denies the assault and allowing him to take indecent pictures.

Blanchard, 40, formerly of Rochdale in Greater Manchester, previously admitted being involved in the assault.

He is in custody awaiting sentence.

‘Quite passive’

Blanchard told jurors Ms Dawber had lifted the child’s clothes to show the infant had no nappy on. He said Dawber had told him to look at the child and to take the photographs.

“I was quite passive in the whole thing. I was taking the photographs as instructed,” he said.

“I took a photograph and she asked me to show it to her and then I took another and I showed it again and she repositioned the child accordingly.”

He told the court there had been sexual talk during the taking of the images but not much had been said afterwards.

Blanchard told the court the pair met in 2007 and started having normal sex before moving onto an “A to Z of sexual desires and fantasies”. The pair had discussed child sex, he said.

He admitted he had been involved with other women including two named in court as Vanessa George and Tracy Lyons.

Blanchard also told jurors had also sent images of child sex to two unnamed women.

Earlier the jury heard Dawber admitted it was her holding the baby in the photographs but denied any wrongdoing.

Blanchard was caught in June 2009 when a colleague discovered child pornography on his computer, the court heard.

He was arrested at Manchester airport and a connection through a Facebook account was made with Dawber.

Officers also uncovered the mobile phone from Blanchard’s Volvo that contained the images of the baby, which were shown to the jury. It also showed Dawber in explicit poses.

When arrested in November 2009 Dawber would not confirm it was her holding the baby but she later admitted it.

The court heard that officers found child pornography on her computer that was the same as that discovered on Blanchard’s and search words on her machine sometimes linked to child pornography, such as “Lolita”.

A computer file containing stories about incest was also found.

The trial continues.

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

An adult-friendly url shortener has been sezied by the Libyan domain register, threatening other Libyan-based web addresses.

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

Who is Liverpool’s prospective new owner?

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

The prime minister David Cameron pledges to fight the “increasing” threat from dissident republicans.

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 will use his first conference speech as prime minister to warn that spending cuts will “not be easy”.

He will tell the Conservative Party faithful in Birmingham that jobs will be lost and programmes cut.

But he will also give his backing to wealth creators and pledge protection for the vulnerable, sick and elderly.

Ahead of the speech he apologised for not including changes to child benefit in his election manifesto.

Speaking to ITV News political editor Tom Bradby, Mr Cameron said the party had made clear during the election campaign that there were going to be “difficult cuts”.

He said: “We did not outline all of those cuts, we did not know exactly the situation we were going to inherit. But, yes, I acknowledge, this was not in our manifesto.”

When questioned, he said: “Of course I’m sorry about that but I think we need to be clear about why we’re doing what we’re doing.”

In his speech, Mr Cameron will try to defuse the situation by stressing plans for a tax break for married couples.

The government has denied plans for the tax break by 2015 has been announced in response to the backlash over proposals to end child benefit for high rate tax payers in 2013.

Mr Cameron is expected to acknowledge the row in his speech, as a sign of how difficult reducing the deficit will be.

He will warn that jobs will be lost and programmes cut following the government’s long-awaited spending review on 20 October.

He will vow to protect the vulnerable – but he will also call for a debate on what fairness means in the new age of austerity, saying it should not just be about how much money is spent of welfare.

“You can’t measure fairness just by how much money we spend on welfare – as though the poor are products with a price tag; the more we spend on them the more we value them.

“Fairness means supporting people out of poverty, not trapping them in dependency.

Recognise marriage

“So we will make a bold choice. For too long, we have measured success in tackling poverty by the size of the cheque we give people. We say: let’s measure our success by the chance we give.”