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Japan’s cabinet set for reshuffle

Prime Minister Naoto Kan wants to rein in Japan’s public spending

Japan’s cabinet has resigned prior to a reshuffle by Prime Minister Naoto Kan.

Mr Kan, who was re-elected as leader of the governing Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) on Tuesday, is hoping to boost public support for the government.

He is expected to retain Yoshihiko Noda as Japan’s finance minister, and to appoint Banri Kaieda as his new economics minister.

The reshuffled cabinet is to be announced on Friday afternoon, said Mr Kan’s spokesman, Noriyuki Shikata.

Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada is leaving to become secretary general of the DPJ and is expected to be replaced by Seiji Maehara, currently land and transport minister.

Correspondents say other key ministerial posts, including defence and trade, are expected to be retained.

Earlier this week, Mr Noda oversaw Japan’s first intervention in the currency markets in six years to stem a rise in the yen and protect the country’s export-reliant economy.

He repeated on Friday that Tokyo was ready to intervene again if needed.

Mr Kan was re-elected as prime minister after surviving a party leadership challenge from veteran MP Ichiro Ozawa.

Mr Kan took office in June, and has said he wants to rein in spending and curb Japan’s massive public debt.

However, he faces a struggle in parliament because he does not have a majority in the upper house.

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

Pope state visit moves to London

Pope Benedict delivers a sermon in Glasgow

About 70,000 people attended Mass at Bellahouston Park in Glasgow on the first day of the state visit

Catholic education, relations with the Church of England and the role of faith in the UK are set to be major themes of the second day of the Pope’s UK visit.

He flew into London for the next leg of his state visit late on Thursday.

Later Pope Benedict XVI will meet hundreds of students, make a speech at Westminster Hall and hold joint prayers with the Archbishop of Canterbury.

On Thursday the Pope celebrated open-air Mass in Bellahouston Park, Glasgow, attended by about 70,000 people.

BBC diplomatic correspondent James Robbins says the second day of the Pope’s four-day visit will be heavy with symbolism.

Pope Benedict will lead a gathering of nearly 4,000 young people at St Mary’s University College, Twickenham, at an event called The Big Assembly.

Pope Benedict XVI: “Drugs, money, sex, pornography, alcohol … these things are destructive and divisive”

The Church sees it as an opportunity to celebrate the work of more than 2,000 Catholic schools across the UK, in partnership with the state.

However, our correspondent says that for some people it will fuel hostility to faith schools and it could also be a painful reminder of the abuse scandals hanging over the trip.

The Pope will meet representatives of other faiths, before visiting the Archbishop of Canterbury at Lambeth Palace.

The meeting is a gesture of reconciliation on both sides, as Catholic archbishops lived at the palace until England, under Henry VIII, broke with Rome.

The Pope will then make the most political speech of his visit at Westminster Hall, our correspondent adds.

He is likely to stress the value of Catholic social teaching and link it with ideas of community-building contained in David Cameron’s concept of the “Big Society”.

The Pope arrived in London at Heathrow airport where he was met by London Mayor Boris Johnson.

Pope’s visit17 September: Meets Archbishop of Canterbury; Address at Westminster Hall; Service at Westminster Abbey18 September: Mass at Westminster Cathedral; Open-air vigil in Hyde Park19 September: Beatification Mass at Cofton Park Birmingham; Meets bishops of England, Scotland and Wales; Leaves for Rome.Pope’s atheism remarks spark row Pope offers ‘hand of friendship’ Pope aide apology urged for jibe Catholics in Britain Queen and Pope’s speeches in full

The mayor presented him with three books including Mr Johnson’s own historical work, To Dream of Rome.

The Pope is staying the night at the Apostolic Nunciature, in Wimbledon, the residence of his representative in Britain.

A spokesman for the Catholic Church in England and Wales hailed the first day of the Pope’s visit as a success.

“Everybody in the Pope’s entourage was overwhelmed by the people on the streets of Edinburgh and the turn out in Glasgow. It wasn’t just the size of the crowd but their enthusiasm,” he said.

In his homily in Glasgow, Pope Benedict warned against people who seek “to exclude religious belief from public discourse”, saying they even went as far as painting religion “as a threat to equality and liberty”.

He insisted: “Religion is in fact a guarantee of authentic liberty and respect.”

The Pope had travelled to Glasgow from Edinburgh, where he was welcomed to the UK by the Queen at Holyroodhouse.

There were performances by two Scottish singers, Britain’s Got Talent star Susan Boyle and 2003 Pop Idol winner Michelle McManus.

The Popemobile joined the annual St Ninian’s Day parade where police estimated about 125,000 people had turned out to see him.

The trip is the first to the UK by a pontiff since John Paul II in 1982.

It is also the first to be designated as a state visit because the Pope was invited by the Queen rather than the Church.

Dioceses in England and Wales have reported thousands of unfilled places for a vigil in London’s Hyde Park on Saturday and a beatification Mass in Birmingham on Sunday for 19th Century cardinal John Henry Newman.

The Pope’s visit has caused controversy in the UK because of the cost and the scandal surrounding child abuse within the Catholic Church.

Tens of thousands of people cheered and waved flags as Pope Benedict travelled to Bellahouston Park in Glasgow.

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Exiled Chechen leader in Poland

Akhmed Zakayev in London (image from 2004)

Akhmed Zakayev has been based in London since claiming political asylum

Chechen separatist leader Akhmed Zakayev has arrived in Poland in defiance of a warning that he faces arrest on a Russian warrant.

Mr Zakayev is due to attend a two-day Chechen congress being held in the town of Pultusk.

A close aide said Mr Zakayev would report to prosecutors in Warsaw to clarify why he is being sought.

Prosecutors said they would be obliged to arrest Mr Zakayev on the basis of the warrant issued through Interpol.

Mr Zakayev, who has been living in the UK since receiving political asylum in 2003, said on the eve of the congress that he had received his Polish visa and meant to attend the event.

Russia regards him as a terrorist, charging him with armed rebellion, murder and kidnapping, dating back to the 1996 and 1999 wars between Moscow and Chechen separatists.

Mr Zakayev’s representative, Adam Borowski, told the Polish news agency PAP that the exiled leader did not want to “hide or cause problems for Poland”.

“He will present himself tomorrow morning [Friday] at 8am [0600GMT] at the prosecutor’s office with friends and a lawyer to ask why he is being sought,” he said.

Earlier, congress organiser Deni Teps told reporters that Mr Zakayev “is in Warsaw, is staying in a hotel, and I think he will come to the congress tomorrow morning”.

Poland has been among the fiercest critics of Russian policy in Chechnya but relations between Warsaw and Moscow improved this year after Russia’s sensitive handling of the Polish air disaster on its territory, which killed President Lech Kaczynski and other top officials.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is due to visit Poland before the end of this year, at the invitation of the new Polish President, Bronislaw Komorowski.

On Wednesday, Mateusz Martyniuk, spokesman for Poland’s chief prosecutor, said the country had an obligation to detain Mr Zakayev if he entered its territory.

“If Mr Zakayev comes to Poland, even though he is not wanted by our country, the police still have the obligation to detain him and bring him before public prosecutors and a court that will rule on his eventual extradition,” he told AFP news agency.

The Chechen congress is expected by its organisers to attract about 200 delegates from the Chechen diaspora.

Mr Zakayev has served as a representative of the Chechen government in exile in the West since it was ousted by Russian military action in 2000.

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

Plodding along

Pro-EU demonstrations like this in 2004 are much less common in Turkey these days

It has been five years since Turkey began formal negotiations for membership of the European Union.

But a process which was the cause for jubilation in Turkey at the time has become bogged down. It had been a central platform in the campaign of the governing Justice and Development Party (AK Party) when it won its first general election in 2002. Today, politicians rarely mention it.

Turkey has to complete a total of 33 chapters of negotiations to bring all its laws into compliance with the body of EU law known as the acquis communautaire.

To date only 13 chapters have been opened, and only one, on science and research, completed. Nineteen have been frozen, over the issue of Cyprus, or due to other objections by EU members.

The position of France and Germany – that Turkey should not get full membership even if it does fulfil all the criteria – has killed public enthusiasm for the EU in Turkey. Its long journey to the gates of Europe has slowed to a crawl.

But behind the stalemate, a lot is still happening. The EU is already starting to change the Turkish economy and society.

“People don’t see all those civil servants who are travelling between Ankara and Brussels,” says Joost Langendijk, a former Dutch MEP who now works as a policy advisor on the EU at Sabanci University in Istanbul.

“You’ll only get 10% of the subsidies European farmers get. And they’ll flood our market with their goods”

Hasan Karagoz Local farmers’ union

“But they are. A lot of laws have to be changed. And a lot of changes to the Turkish constitution, to human rights laws, to freedom of speech laws, have already been adopted and implemented.”

This year Turkey opened the chapter on food safety and veterinary policy. This involves adapting the entire food production system to EU standards. For a country where agriculture still employs one third of the workforce, that is a big job.

Just outside the town of Kesan, close to the Greek border, farmers are already discussing the likely impact. They don’t know much about it; no one has been to talk to them yet. But they have watched with envy the support their colleagues over the border get from Brussels.

“Once we become an EU member our products can travel to Europe to be sold,” says one.

“Right now we can only sell locally. Also, say I only have two cows – with EU help I could have 10.”

They are quickly brought down to Earth by Hasan Karagoz, head of the local farmers’ union.

Many Turkish farmers work on the “micro” level

“We won’t get full membership,” he says, “so you won’t be able to travel freely, and you’ll only get 10% of the subsidies European farmers get. And they’ll flood our market with their goods.”

“We’re already suffering,” says another farmer. “The future can only be brighter in the EU. Think of our children.”

Like most Turkish farmers, these are small-scale producers – what the EU calls micro-farmers. They have just a few cows; they have to use a communal milking machine donated by a French multi-national dairy company.

And, says Ozgur Bozcaga, a researcher at the Economic Development Foundation, they will probably become casualties of the EU harmonisation process.

“The micro-producers, who have less than 10 animals, who produce on 10 acres or less, will be wiped out,” he says.

“So the government must encourage them to get out of the business with the minimum levels of loss, or there will be a social earthquake.”

It is the job of Egemen Bagis, the minister for EU affairs, to sell the harmonisation process to the Turkish public.

“Some jobs may be eliminated because of the rules,” he says, “but there are also many jobs being created. For example the food safety law made it a requirement to employ a vet in every farm that has more than a certain amount of animals.

“We had to place more than 18m computer chips in the animals’ ears to help us follow the animal movements. We will employ many people in these areas.”

One of the toughest chapters is environment. Most candidate countries leave that one to the end of their negotiations. But because so many of Turkey’s other chapters are frozen, it has had to open the environment chapter early.

Keram Okumus is the deputy director of the Regional Environment Center, an EU-backed organisation which has been given the job of working out how much raising Turkey’s environmental regulation to the level of the EU’s will cost.

His estimate is 100bn euros (£83bn), of which the business sector will have to pay one third.

Agriculture still employs a third of the Turkish workforce

“It’s really hard to sell the issue to business when you look from a cost perspective,” he says.

“So that’s why we are looking at to make a business case out of the EU accession, how they can be much more energy efficient, and how they can use raw materials more efficiently”.

Already the local authorities are working to improve areas like waste disposal. All have departments and personnel dedicated to reaching EU standards – the environment ministry has employed 1,000 extra people, primarily to work on the EU accession standards.

But as they do this they are confronting other issues, like what to do with Roma communities who make a living from informal recycling on the old-style refuse dumps that are being phased out.

The biggest challenge, though, say all those working on Turkey’s EU bid, is having no certainty of membership in the end.

“It’s very de-motivating”, says Keram Okumus. “Businesses and local governments ask us ‘Why are we negotiating if we don’t know whether we will ever be accepted?’.”

That de-motivation is one reason the accession process has slowed down so much. The two remaining chapters that can still be opened are on procurement and social policy. Both will involve some very tough and costly decisions by government and business to meet EU requirements.

The governing AKP has promised to inject new urgency into the accession negotiations when the Turkish parliament re-opens next month, and make passing EU-related laws a priority.

But it also has an election to fight some time next year – and the EU is no longer a vote-winner.

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

Exiled Pakistani politician murdered

A senior Pakistani politician has been murdered outside his home in north London, party leaders have said.

Dr Imran Farooq, a member of the MQM political party, is believed to have been attacked in Green Lane, Edgware.

The Metropolitan Police said a 50-year-old man had died after suffering multiple stab wounds and head injuries.

They were called to reports of a serious assault at 1730 BST. The man was treated by paramedics but declared dead at the scene about an hour later.

Dr Farooq’s next of kin have been informed. No arrests have been made.

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

MI5 head in terror attack warning

The head of MI5 said Somalia and Yemen were important concerns for the security service

The UK faces a continuing serious risk of a lethal terrorist attack taking place, the head of MI5 has warned.

Jonathan Evans raised concerns over the number of soon-to-be-freed inmates who are “committed extremists and likely to return to terrorist activities”.

He also said Somalia and Yemen were important concerns for MI5, as a source of serious plots against the UK.

And, he said, the security service had not expected dissident republicanism to grow as it had in Northern Ireland.

Mr Evans, who made the rare public remarks to the Worshipful Company of Security Professionals in London, said dealing with international terrorism remained the main focus of MI5’s efforts.

“Counter-terrorist capabilities have improved in recent years but there remains a serious risk of a lethal attack taking place. I see no reason to believe that the position will significantly improve in the immediate future,” he said.

“I am concerned that it is only a matter of time before we see terrorism on our streets inspired by those who are today fighting alongside Al Shabaab”

Jonathan Evans Head of MI5

He said hundreds of officers were involved in an “intense struggle”, largely out of sight of the public.

Every month, hundreds of new leads come into MI5 headquarters at Thames House from various sources, with only sufficient resources to investigate those that appeared to be high priority, Mr Evans said.

“At any one time we have a handful of investigations that we believe involve the real possibility of a terrorist attack being planned against the UK,” he said.

One concern is that a number of individuals, convicted of offences in the years after the 9/11 attacks, are now coming out of prison having served their terms.

“We know that some of these prisoners are still committed extremists who are likely to return to their terrorist activities,” Mr Evans said, adding that they would be added to the cases that needed to be monitored.

He said another change in recent years was the source of the most serious plots.

In previous years, officials have said that 75% of priority plots had links to Pakistan. That figure has now dropped to 50%.

This was partly because of pressure on al-Qaeda leadership operating in Pakistan’s tribal areas, but it was also a sign of a diversifying threat, he said.

Mr Evans said in Somalia there were a “significant number of UK residents training in Al Shabaab camps” to fight in the country.

“I am concerned that it is only a matter of time before we see terrorism on our streets inspired by those who are today fighting alongside Al Shabaab,” he warned.

He said Yemen was the other main country of concern.

He said the involvement of the radical preacher Anwar Al Awlaqi in a succession of plots – and the influence of his message in the UK – had raised concerns that his adherents, possibly lone individuals, would respond by mounting attacks.

“In recent years we appear increasingly to have imported from the American media the assumption that terrorism is 100% preventable and any incident that is not prevented is seen as a culpable government failure”

Jonathan Evans Head of MI5

There had been a surge in Yemen-related casework this year, he said.

It is widely believed that the raising of the UK terror threat level to “severe” at the start of 2010 was largely related to intelligence surrounding Yemen.

Mr Evans admitted that when MI5 assumed the lead responsibility for intelligence in Northern Ireland in October 2007, its “working assumption” was that the residual threat from terrorism was low, and likely to go down.

Instead the opposite has happened. Mr Evans described a “persistent rise in terrorist activity and ambition”, with signs of increasing co-ordination and co-operation between disparate groups in recent months.

This year there had been more than 30 attacks or attempted attacks by dissident republicans on security targets, compared with just over 20 for the whole of last year, he said.

Mr Evans also warned that while the campaign by dissident republicans was currently focused on Northern Ireland, MI5 “cannot exclude the possibility” that it might spread to the mainland.

Mr Evans also warned against a “zero tolerance” attitude to the terrorist risk, which he said was spreading.

“In recent years we appear increasingly to have imported from the American media the assumption that terrorism is 100% preventable and any incident that is not prevented is seen as a culpable government failure.

“This is a nonsensical way to consider terrorist risk and only plays into the hands of the terrorists themselves. Risk can be managed and reduced but it cannot realistically be abolished and if we delude ourselves that it can we are setting ourselves up for a nasty disappointment,” he said.

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

Dust to dust

Associated with a bygone age of child labour and smoke-filled skies, chimney sweeps are reporting a mini-revival. Why?

They might be considered lucky, they might – thanks to a certain 1964 Walt Disney movie – be portrayed as nifty dancers, but there is little about the popular conception of chimney sweeps that evokes modern Britain.

Mention the trade, and the associations conjured up are of a distant, Victorian, pre-radiator era: grim, soot-filled skies; small urchins compelled to spend long days toiling up chimneys; Dick Van Dyke’s abysmal cockney accent.

Yet as autumn dawns and householders across the country prepare to have their flues swept, one unintended consequence of the credit crunch has been a resurgence in demand for the service.

The 1956 Clean Air Act, which enforced the use of smokeless fuels in many areas, may have been good for the environment and the quality of life of millions, but it proved devastating to a centuries-old occupation often passed down from father to son.

However, according to the National Association of Chimney Sweeps (Nacs), recent years have seen their members having to juggle extra demand and an “influx” of new trainees.

Thanks to soaring gas prices, sales of wood-burning and multi-fuel stoves rose 40% in 2008 as homeowners reduce to cut their bills.

This, in turn, has meant more chimneys needing to be regularly cleaned and more business for the small, self-employed army of sweeps across the country.

All of this is a welcome surprise for Martin Glynn, who as president of Nacs represents its 250 members.

“We aren’t the men with a stick and a brush that you saw in Mary Poppins”

Martin Glynn President, National Association of Chimney Sweeps

On the one hand, Mr Glynn, 54, who runs BG Wright Master Sweep Services in Orpington, Kent, talks wistfully of the trade’s traditions and customs: he is, he annunciates with audible pride, a third-generation sweep.

Yet he also talks sombrely of the Nacs’s strict accreditation scheme, the NVQ in chimney engineering typically undertaken by its members, the £4,000 worth of CCTV equipment used by modern sweeps such as himself.

“These days, we aren’t the men with a stick and a brush that you saw in Mary Poppins,” he says.

“It’s not easy – it’s hard, physical work, which is why so many sweeps are ex-services. You have to be careful because the soot is carcinogenic.

“But, I tell you, you never need to go to they gym, and when you’re up there on the roof among all the chimney pots there’s nothing like it.

“I don’t mind getting dirty. Now I can identify all the different types of soot – coal soot, wood soot, oil soot. It’s a fascinating job.”

Mr Glynn says his peak season runs from September to March, although in the relatively quiet summer months he supplements his income by appearing at weddings.

In doing so, he capitalises on a superstition that sweeps are good luck, dating back to King George III’s life supposedly having been saved by one. As a result, he says, “we welcome anyone as a sweep, from any background – the only people we discriminate against are anti-monarchists”.

Indeed, the seasonal nature of the job – not to mention its usually self-employed status – is, for some sweeps, a lure in itself.

Gina Somerton became a chimney sweep so she could spend more time with her children

Growing up, Gina Somerton, 42, of Wells-Next-the-Sea, Norfolk, had dreamed of becoming a hairdresser and went on to work as a shop assistant and in restaurants.

But a conversation about possible alternative careers with her partner’s mother got the mum-of-three thinking that chimneys might be an ideal source of income; six years on, her business, Lady Sweep, is thriving.

“I wanted to be my own boss, I wanted to be able to spend time with my children during the summer,” she says. “It might sound strange to some people, but to me it’s perfect.

“It’s true that I get dirty. But I can come home and have a shower afterwards, can’t I?”

Nonetheless, even the oldest hands have a limited tolerance of soot and grime.

“Everything in Bradford was dark, dismal and black – We wouldn’t want to go back to that”

Lashman Singh Chimnwey sweep

Lashman Singh, 60, has been a sweep for 30 years in Bradford, West Yorkshire, and is old enough to remember the days before the Clean Air Act. Although the trade has been good to him, he has no desire to return to its heyday.

“As a child, growing up, everything in Bradford was dark, dismal and black,” he says. “We wouldn’t want to go back to that.

“To me it’s a job, a way of making a living. What I like is the variety of people you meet. Everyone has different ornaments and decorations on their mantelpiece.”

For now, anyway, the living can be a good one; for this, Britain’s sweeps are counting themselves lucky. As lucky can be.

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

Chapman explains Lennon’s killing

Chapman is being held at Attica Correctional Facility in New York State

John Lennon’s killer Mark David Chapman has told the parole board in New York he thought by killing The Beatles singer he would become a somebody.

Instead, Chapman told the board that “I became a murderer and murderers are not somebodies”, according to the published transcript of the interview.

Chapman was denied parole for the sixth time last week.

Chapman, now aged 55, shot and killed Lennon outside his New York apartment in December 1980.

The former security guard, who experienced bouts of depression, told the parole board he had a list of people he wanted to kill, including the talk show host Johnny Carson and the actress Elizabeth Taylor. Lennon was at the top of the list.

“My life has changed because of Jesus Christ. I know him, he is with me… Without him I am nothing, I would have been an even bigger nobody”

Mark David Chapman

“I wasn’t thinking clearly,” Chapman stated, “I made a horrible decision to end another human being’s life, for reasons of selfishness.”

“I felt that by killing John Lennon I would become somebody and instead of that I became a murderer and murderers are not somebodies,” he said.

In prison, Chapman works as a porter and a clerk in the law library.

He told the parole officers a judge was willing to help him find a job and give him a place to stay if he was released.

In a closing statement, Chapman said his life had changed because of Jesus.

“I know him, he is with me, he is with me now, he is helping me speak to you now. Without him I am nothing, I would have been an even bigger nobody.”

After the interview, Chapman was denied parole yet again. The board said it remained concerned about the disregard he showed for the norms of society and the sanctity of human life.

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

7 days quiz

Info

It’s the Magazine’s 7 days 7 questions weekly quiz – a chance to find out how much news from the past week you’ve read, heard and watched… and how much has stayed lodged in the old grey matter.

1.) Multiple Choice Question

Who accepted a Silver Buffalo award from whom, for “distinguished service”?

Andrew Flintoff, Taylor Swift, Bill Gates, Tony Blair Andrew Flintoff, by Sir Ian BothamTaylor Swift, by Kanye WestBill Gates, by the Boy Scouts of AmericaTony Blair, by Bill Clinton

2.) Multiple Choice Question

The Pope has started his four-day visit of the UK. The trip is the first to Britain by a pontiff since John Paul II in 1982. But what is the literal meaning of “pontiff”?

Pope Benedict XVI Deepest thinkerSettler of feudsGreatest bridge builder

3.) Multiple Choice Question

“Oh dear, it was me.” It was who?

Imprisoned pop singer George Michael, when arrestedBritish boy who sent abusive e-mail to Barack ObamaBoxer Ricky Hatton, when confronted about a drug habit

4.) Multiple Choice Question

Which proposed ban announced this week divided opinion in New York?

Manhattan skyline Outdoor smokingPop songs at Catholic funeralsAdvert featuring a pregnant nun

5.) Multiple Choice Question

Still in New York, Victoria Beckham was the toast of the city’s fashion week, with her dresses winning many plaudits. Who did she say had influenced the collection?

Victoria Beckham at her fashion show Actress and activist Audrey HepburnRomanian sculptor Constantin BrancusiFashion designer Marc Jacobs

Info

Obvious really… on the left is one of Brancusi’s works – White Seal and, on the right, a new Beckham frock.

Brancusi and Beckham outfit

6.) Multiple Choice Question

Big Brother is no more in the UK, after a decade on our screens. But it continues in other countries, sometimes going by a different name. Which is these is NOT a version of the show?

Ultimate Big Brother winner Brian Dowling Secret StoryEye SpyBigg Boss

7.) Multiple Choice Question

Who made a point of watching CBeebies this week?

Squiglet Union leader Bob Crow, at the TUCWayne Rooney, dropped by Man Utd

Answers

It was Bill Gates, who received the award in recognition of his leadership and philanthropy. Mr Blair got the Liberty Medal for leadership and pursuit of freedom. Swift, who was upstaged by West at last year’s MTV awards, performed her new song at this year’s event. Flintoff quit cricket. It’s “greatest bridge builder”. Pontiff comes from the Latin “Pontifex Maximus”. In ancient Rome this was the high priest of the College of Pontiffs (Collegium Pontificum). This was the most important position in the ancient Roman religion. It was Luke Angel, a 17-year-old who was this week told by Bedfordshire police that as result of an “abusive and threatening” e-mail he was banned from ever entering the US. Michael was jailed for eight weeks for “drug-driving”. Hatton faces a police probe after he was filmed apparently taking a class A drug. It’s outdoor smoking, which would cover areas such as Central Park and Times Square. The pop songs ban was announced in Melbourne and the advert featuring the nun was banned in the UK. It’s Constantin Brancusi. She cited the sculptor as an influence and said that she “wanted to celebrate curves”. Brancusi (1876-1957) was one of the founding figures of modern sculpture. His carvings introduced abstraction and primitivism into the art form. It’s Eye Spy. Big Brother is known as Secret Story in France and Bigg Boss in India. It’s Bob Crow at the TUC. He turned on the television while the governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, was addressing the conference. Rooney was spared abuse at Everton, although some suggested it was a punishment for recent allegations.

Your Score

0 – 3 : Mr Tumble

4 – 6 : Wibbly Pig

7 – 7 : Something Special

For a complete archive of past quizzes and our weekly news quiz, 7 days 7 questions, visit the Magazine page and scroll down. You can also do this quiz on your mobile device. Find out how to get the BBC News website on your mobile device

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

No teacher thirds idea ‘flawed’

Science and maths teachers are harder to recruit

Government proposals to raise the bar for trainee teachers in England could worsen the shortage of science and maths teachers, a report suggests.

Education Secretary Michael Gove has said the government should only pay to train graduates as teachers if they have at least a 2:2.

A study by Buckingham University says that policy would lead to “big holes” on key teacher training courses.

The government is due to give more details of its plans this autumn.

In opposition, the Conservatives talked of the need to “raise the bar” in the teaching profession and attract the best graduates.

Mr Gove said England should look to countries such as Finland and South Korea, where only top graduates can become teachers.

The Conservatives’ education manifesto said they would only pay for graduates to train as teachers if they had at least a second-class degree.

But a study of current entrants to the profession by Professor Alan Smithers and Dr Pamela Robinson of Buckingham University says that policy could lead to “big holes” in teacher training courses for maths, physics, chemistry and languages.

A quarter of those who trained as physics teachers in 2008-09 would not have made the grade, along with 20% of maths recruits.

Professor Buckingham says while the aim of improving teacher quality is a good one, a blanket bar on third class degrees is not the way to achieve it.

“The idea is rather formulaic,” he told BBC News.

“We need to have high quality teachers and that is the key to improving our education system and making schools better, but it is a matter of organising it in the right way.”

The study says: “Finding teachers for key subjects will become even more difficult if the government will not fund the training of those with poor degrees”.

UK DEGREES 2008-09England – 62% awarded 2:1 or firstWales – 58% awarded 2:1 or firstScotland – 69% awarded 2:1 or firstNorthern Ireland – 63% awarded 2:1 or first

“Poor teachers are bad news for pupils, but is it better for physics to be taught by a well-qualified biologist than someone who has studied the subject at university even without much success?

“Michael Gove is putting the cart before the horse. Improving quality depends on attracting sufficient applicants to be able to choose those who can make subjects come alive for children.”

The proposals would not make much of an impact on the recruitment for trainee teachers in subjects such as history and English, where courses are heavily over-subscribed.

According to the report, 78% of graduates training to be history teachers in 2008-09 had a 2:1 or a first. For English, the figure was 73%, while for maths it was 47%.

Across all subjects in that year, nine out of 10 graduate trainee teachers did have a second- or first-class degrees, according to this study.

Just under 60% had a first or a 2:1, while about 10% had thirds or below.

This is similar to the UK-wide picture for graduates in general.

In 2008-9, a total of 62% of students getting their first degree achieved a 2:1 or a first.

Another 30% achieved a 2:2, while just under 8% were awarded thirds, data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency shows.

The coalition government says its top priority for the schools workforce is to improve the quality of teachers and that ministers are looking at a “range of plans”.

More details will be set out in a White Paper before Christmas, officials say.

A spokesman for the Department for Education said: “The countries which give their children the best education in the world are those which value their teachers most highly and where the profession attracts the brightest graduates.

“Our priority is to deliver robust standards and high quality teaching to all, whatever their background. To do this we must attract highly talented people into education, because the quality of teachers has such a huge influence on children’s achievement.

“The department is currently working to identify the most effective ways of doing this and further details will be made available in due course.”

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Special honour for fallen soldier

L/Cpl Joseph Pool was killed during a rocket-propelled grenade attack in Afghanistan

The body of a soldier from Dumfries who died in action in Afghanistan nearly two weeks ago is to be taken on a farewell journey through his home town.

A hearse will carry L/Cpl Joseph Pool through town centre streets, giving local people a chance to pay tribute.

The procession will depart from the town’s Burns Statue at 1500 BST.

Dumfries MP Russell Brown, who has helped set up the event, said it was the public’s opportunity to pay its respects to the local soldier.

L/Cpl Pool, who was 26, was serving with the Royal Scots Borderers in Helmand Province when he was killed in a rocket attack by insurgents on 5 September.

His body was returned to Wootton Bassett last week and has now been released by the Ministry of Defence to his family.

L/Cpl Pool latterly lived in Greenock where his funeral will be held at a later date.

However, his family wanted him to be taken round his home town of Dumfries one last time.

The hearse will leave Burns Statue, travel along the High Street pedestrianised area to Nith Place and then along Whitesands and Buccleuch Street to the Municipal Chambers where the family will be waiting.

They have encouraged local people to line the route.

L/Cpl Pool joined the Army in August 2003 and leaves behind his fiancee and their two sons, aged seven and two.

Mr Brown said: “This will give the public the opportunity to pay their respects to this brave young man and show their support to the family.”

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Pakistan ‘needs more flood aid’

Oxfam says the situation in Pakistan could still get worse without more aid

International donors must “step up to the plate” once again to help flood-hit Pakistan, UK charity Oxfam has said.

Oxfam’s call comes as the United Nations (UN) prepares to launch a new appeal for Pakistan, seeking to treble the $460m (£295m) raised so far.

Jane Cockling, Oxfam humanitarian director, said the crisis in the country was “far from over yet”.

The UK aid appeal by the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) has so far raised more than £54m.

Oxfam says that almost four million affected people in Pakistan have yet to receive food aid.

“If the people that need help do not receive it, then disease and hunger could spiral,” said Ms Cockling.

“These people have lost so much, but they still could lose more. Even today, people are drinking dirty and contaminated water straight out of the Indus river.

“Soon we will need to help them go home and restart their lives.”

The UN says more than 70% of Pakistan’s flood-affected population lack access to safe drinking water, while more than 80% did not have access to clean, functioning toilets.

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