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Pakistan bomb hits police station

A suspected suicide car bombing in north-west Pakistan has killed at least six people, officials say.

The explosion took place at a police station in the town of Lakki Marwat in the Khyber region south of Peshawar.

There are reports that police officers are among the casualties.

Nearly 100 people were killed in suicide bomb attacks on Shia Muslim processions in the cities of Lahore and Quetta last week. The attacks ended a lull in violence during severe floods.

A police official in Lakki Marwat said a car bomb was driven into the police station.

“A suicide attacker drove his bomb-laden vehicle into the back of the police post,” Gul Wali Khan told the AFP news agency.

Pakistan’s security forces have been fighting Taliban and al-Qaeda militants based in the north-west of the country.

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

Met ‘may reopen phone hack probe’

Assistant Commissioner John YatesAssistant Commissioner John Yates is considering reopening the case

The Metropolitan Police has said it may reopen the investigation into claims of phone hacking by the News of the World if it uncovers new evidence.

Assistant Commissioner John Yates said officers would consider any new information – and examine if further action should be taken.

A former reporter on the paper has claimed the paper’s former editor, Andy Coulson asked him to hack into phones.

Mr Coulson has denied using or condoning the practice while editor.

Mr Coulson – who is David Cameron’s director of communications – has received strong backing from No 10 which says he “totally and utterly” rejects claims he was aware of any wrongdoing.

Mr Coulson came under fresh pressure last week after former journalists told the New York Times that the practice of phone hacking was far more extensive than the newspaper acknowledged at the time.

One reporter – Sean Hoare – said he had been personally told by Mr Coulson to intercept phone messages. In a statement, Mr Yates said the Met has asked the New York Times to provide officers with any new material it has relating to the case.

He said the Met had been clear on its stance and so far had seen no new evidence which would merit reopening the case but it would consider changing its position if that situation changed.

He said: “The New York Times contacted the Metropolitan Police Service about their investigation. Our stance remains as before. We have repeatedly asked them for any new material that they have for us to consider.

“We were never made aware of the material from Sean Hoare before the article’s publication. We have sought additional information from them and will consider this material, along with Sean Hoare’s recent BBC Radio interview, and will consult the Crown Prosecution Service on how best to progress it.”

The News of the World’s royal editor, Clive Goodman, was jailed for conspiracy to access phone messages in 2007, but the paper insists it was an isolated case.

“”The police looked into it and decided there were no grounds for taking the issue further and I thought that was pretty conclusive at the time”

Theresa May Home Secretary

In 2009, the Metropolitan Police chose not to launch an investigation into claims that News of the World journalists were involved in widespread phone hacking of several thousand celebrities, sports stars and politicians.

Home secretary Theresa May told the BBC on Sunday there were no grounds for a public inquiry.

She told Radio 5 Live: “It was thoroughly looked into at the time when it was raised and what was clear was that it wasn’t just politicians looking into it.

“The police looked into it and decided there were no grounds for taking the issue further and I thought that was pretty conclusive at the time.

Earlier on Sunday Education Secretary Michael Gove told the BBC’s Andrew Marr programme that the New York Times allegations “seem to be a recycling of allegations we have heard before” and said it may have been a product of newspaper “circulation wars” in the US.

There has been speculation that the New York Times’ decision to send a team of reporters to the UK to investigate the hacking story may have been linked to media rivalry with the Wall Street Journal – which like the News of the World is owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation.

Mr Gove said a House of Commons committee also found no evidence last year that Mr Coulson either authorised or was aware of any illegal activity by reporters in his time as editor.

He said it was often “overlooked” that Mr Coulson, by resigning as editor in 2007, had taken responsibility for what had happened over the Goodman case even though there “was no evidence he knew what was going on”.

Andy Coulson (file pic: 2009)Andy Coulson told MPs last year that he did not “use or condone” phone tapping

Labour leadership contender Ed Balls, former Labour minister Tessa Jowell, who says her phone was hacked 28 times, and former deputy prime minister Lord Prescott, who also believes he was targeted, have all called for action.

Mr Balls said Mr Coulson’s role at the heart of No 10 meant that the government’s “integrity” was under question.

Lord Prescott threatened legal action in his bid to gain access to documents relating to his records.

But in his statement on Sunday Mr Yates said: “There remains to this day no evidence that his phone was hacked by either [Glenn]Mulcaire or Goodman. This is a matter of public record.”

He said that Lord Prescott had been given the information the police had in its possession that were relevant to him but added: “However, we are not permitted to supply the actual documents except under a court direction.

“This is because the material was obtained for the purpose of a criminal investigation and cannot be used for another purpose, i.e. a civil action. Lord Prescott and his solicitors will be aware of this.”

The News of the World has said the latest allegations were “unsubstantiated” and the claims of “disgruntled” former employees should be treated with “extreme scepticism”.

The newspaper said it rejected absolutely suggestions “of a widespread culture of wrongdoing”.

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

Germany extends nuclear lifespan

Nuclear power station near Landshut, Germany Ms Merkel wants to extend the life span of nuclear power plants by up to 15 years

German government leaders are meeting in Berlin to debate the future of nuclear energy in the country.

Chancellor Angela Merkel is expected to seek a compromise in a row over the proposed life cycle of nuclear power plants.

The politicians will also discuss Ms Merkel’s plan to levy a nuclear fuel tax on energy companies.

Hundreds of protesters outside the Chancellery are demanding an end to nuclear power.

Ms Merkel wants to reverse a decision of the previous government – a coalition of the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) and the Greens – to shut down Germany’s 17 nuclear power stations by 2021.

The chancellor has proposed to keep the plants running for another 10 to 15 years, arguing that renewable energy sources are not yet sufficiently developed.

However, a row has broken out within the centre-right coalition and parliament about the best life span for the plants.

The government also faces protests by the big energy companies against a proposed nuclear fuel tax.

They have threatened to sue the government or shift investments abroad if the tax is implemented.

The big utilities also oppose Ms Merkel’s plans that they should contribute to public funds promoting renewable energy.

The opposition Social Democrats have said that they will sue the government if it extends the life span of nuclear power stations without the consent of the upper house of parliament, the Bundesrat , which represents the German states.

Ms Merkel has said that she aims for a decision that would enable her to circumvent the Bundesrat, where the conservative-liberal coalition has lost its majority.

Opinion polls suggest a majority of Germans would support an end to nuclear power generation.

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

MPs to debate AV bill on return

Ballot boxThe proposed date of next year’s referendum is a source of contention

Plans for a referendum on the way MPs are elected will take centre stage on Monday as the House of Commons resumes business after the summer recess.

MPs will debate a bill paving the way for a referendum on 5 May 2011 on whether to change the current system.

There is unease in Tory ranks and among nationalist parties about the date as it coincides with devolved elections.

Although it backs the poll Labour has threatened to vote against the bill due to plans to change constituency sizes.

The commitment to hold a referendum on replacing the current first-past-the-post electoral system with an alternative vote system – where voters rank constituency candidates in order of preference – was a key part of the coalition deal signed by the Conservatives and Lib Dems in May.

Most Conservative MPs, including David Cameron, are opposed to the change, but the party conceded the referendum as part of the power-sharing deal.

The Lib Dems have long argued the current system is unfair and needs reform.

Monday’s session will be the first debate on the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill – which must be approved in the next couple of months to enable a May poll to be held.

However, opposition to the poll date among Tory MPs could cause problems for the coalition.

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More than 45 MPs – most of them Conservative – have signed a motion calling for it to be moved to another day, arguing that holding it concurrently with elections to the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly and Northern Ireland Assembly, as well as local council elections in some parts of England, could distort the result.

By holding it then, they say it could lead to different levels of turnout across the UK – favouring one side over the other – as well as “clouding” the arguments involved.

Deputy Prime Minister and Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg has said it is “insulting” to voters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to say they cannot deal with multiple votes on the same day and a 5 May poll will save money.

In an article for the Sunday Telegraph ahead of the new Parliamentary term, Mr Clegg and Mr Cameron said the need for a referendum reflected “genuine concerns” about the current system.

Under the existing arrangement, Labour was re-elected in 2005 with just 35% of the total vote.

“We emphatically agree that the decision is not, in any case, for government alone. It should be taken by the people themselves,” they wrote.

The bill’s passage is likely to be further complicated by the fact that Labour has threatened to vote against it because of separate proposals to conduct boundary reviews to make constituency sizes more uniform.

The coalition says it is unfair that some MPs need almost twice as many votes to get elected as others as their constituencies are much larger in terms of registered voters.

Labour say the proposals to “equalise” constituency sizes – as well as cutting their number by 650 to 600 – will disproportionately hurt Labour-supporting areas and is equivalent to “gerrymandering”.

The coalition has accused Labour of “opposition for opposition’ s sake”.

Electoral reform campaigners have urged the parties to put “partisan” differences aside over the issue to ensure the referendum takes place 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.