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Cambridge University confirms it is considering reducing individual tutorials for students as a cost-cutting measure, as outlined in an internal paper.
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James Hook confirms he has signed a three-year deal with Perpignan keeping him in France until the end of the 2013/14 season.
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The Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee has kept rates at 0.5% since March 2009 Bank of England policymaker Martin Weale has joined Andrew Sentance in voting for an interest rate rise.
According to minutes of the Monetary Policy Committee’s most recent meeting the MPC explicitly discussed the case for raising rates in January.
The minutes reveal that members considered economic conditions pointed towards a possible rise.
For most members the risks to inflation “in the medium term had probably shifted upwards,” the minutes said.
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A 31-year-old man has appeared at Londonderry Magistrates Court charged with posting a grossly offensive, menacing, indecent or obscene, message on Facebook.
The charge relates to comments on the social networking site about DUP MP Gregory Campbell and his reaction to the Saville Report in June 2010.
Daryl O’Donnell, of Belvedere Park, Foyle Springs, denies the charge.
The case was adjourned until 16 February.
Around a dozen supporters of the defendant were in the courtroom for the hearing.
Afterwards, some of them attached leaflets to the railings outside the court building.
The case has been adjourned until next month.
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The global economy is set for a recovery, but debt and protectionism could scupper it, say leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
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The BBC is taking over the cost of the World Service from the Foreign Office The BBC is due to outline its plans to close five of its World Service language services.
Staff are due to be informed of the redundancy details on Wednesday, and it is thought that about 650 jobs will be lost from a workforce of some 2,400.
The Macedonian, Albanian and Serbian services will be axed, as will English for the Caribbean and Portuguese for Africa, in a bid to save £46m a year.
Unions have called the move “ferocious” and condemned the “drastic cuts”.
Last October, the government announced the BBC would take over the cost of the World Service from the Foreign Office.
The service, which started broadcasting in 1932, currently costs £272m a year, and has an audience of 241 million worldwide across radio, television and online.
The BBC will make a statement on Wednesday about the latest wave of redundancies, to be phased over two years.
It is understood that two-thirds of the jobs will go in the first 12 months.
A reduction of programmes in another seven languages is also set to be announced.
The BBC World Service has confirmed it is closing five of its 32 language services, but that’s just the start.
More savings will be announced shortly, including cutbacks in other language services and the probable loss of about 650 jobs. It’s not a total surprise.
In October, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office – which still pays for the World Service – said its grant would be cut by 16%, under the government’s Spending Review. (The World Service is not yet funded by the TV licence fee – but will be from 2014).
The BBC said it also faced extra costs – including a large pension contribution – which meant there would be service closures and significant job losses.
Even so, a cut of a quarter of the staff, if confirmed, would be dramatic by any measure. Protests are already planned. The National Union of Journalists is planning a “vigil” outside the World Service headquarters and is urging committees of MPs to review the planned cuts.
The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) said it would hold a demonstration outside the World Service headquarters in central London on Wednesday.
It has also written to the chairman of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs committee, Richard Ottaway, and the chairman of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, John Whittingdale, calling on them to review the plans.
The NUJ said that if early reports were correct, the “drastic cuts” would “severely damage the national interest of the UK”.
“These ferocious cuts to a valued national service are ultimately the responsibility of the coalition government, whose policies are destroying quality public services in the UK,” general secretary Jeremy Dear said.
BBC global news director Peter Horrocks said the closures were “not a reflection on the performance of individual services or programmes”.
“They are all extremely important to their audiences and to the BBC,” he said.
“It is simply that there is a need to make savings due to the scale of the cuts to the BBC World Service’s grant-in-aid funding from the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and we need to focus our efforts in the languages where there is the greatest need and where we have the strongest impact.”
On Monday, the BBC said it would cut about 200 websites and up to 360 posts from its online division as part of a plan to reduce its budget by £34m.
Among the websites set to close are teen services Switch and Blast, and the 606 football forum.
The corporation said the changes were intended to make its website more distinctive, and to reduce competition with commercial sites.
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Football fans have been reacting to the decision to withdraw assistant referee Sian Massey from a League Two fixture in Crew last night, following a sexism row which saw Sky Sports’ presenters Richard Keys disciplined and Andy Gray sacked.
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David Ferrer defeats an injury-stricken Rafael Nadal to set up a semi-final against Andy Murray at the Australian Open.
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The counter terrorism review was launched by the Home Office in July 2010 The government is set to publish its long-awaited proposed reforms to counter terrorism powers.
The review is expected to propose replacing control orders with a series of measures to monitor suspects.
Counter terrorism-related stop and search powers are also likely to be restricted.
The publication of the review, due on Wednesday, has been repeatedly delayed as coalition ministers have struggled to agree on the changes.
The Home Office launched the review in July 2010, saying it would be rapid and would be aimed at reconciling counter terrorism powers with civil liberties.
The parties agreed to scrap the power of police to hold a suspect without charge for 28 days – and the time limit has now reverted to the original 14 days, after ministers decided not to renew the legislation this month.
There are also expected to be changes to counter terrorism stop and searches, by only permitting their use in narrow and specific circumstances, such as during the 2012 London Olympic Games.
However, the coalition has struggled to reach a deal on the future of control orders – the controversial powers to restrict the movement of a small number of suspects who the government says cannot be prosecuted or deported where they are foreign nationals.
Security chiefs say the power is an essential tool in cases where there is intelligence that someone is involved in extremism but has not yet committed a crime, such as someone associating with known plotters.
The coalition ministers appear to have reached a deal to scrap control orders – but leaks in recent weeks have led critics to say the new system is little more than “control orders lite”.
The new restrictions are expected to include electronic tagging, a ban on overseas travel and visits to specific places or people.
The current regime of curfews of up to 16 hours is expected to be replaced by a more limited overnight home residency requirement.
Other control order restrictions expected to be ditched, include the power to move a suspect away from their home town.
The government is expected to say the changes will strike the right balance between security and liberties by being specific and proportionate to the threat.
It is unclear whether the package will be approved by Lord Macdonald QC, the former Director of Public Prosecutions, who has been overseeing the government’s review.
Writing in the London Evening Standard ahead of the review’s publication, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper indicated the opposition could support measures that it believed were in the national interest rather than coalition politics.
“This review should be a chance for the home secretary to lead a serious debate and build a new consensus,” she said.
“We must update policies and powers in response to ever-changing threats, looking too at new risks, prevention of radicalisation, handling intelligence and the framework of accountability.”
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All the action and reaction as David Cameron faces his weekly Commons questions session – followed by ministers on BBC cuts and control order changes.
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Shops lost sales in a crucial period The chancellor has blamed bad weather for a shock contraction in the UK economy, but how can snow have such a dramatic effect?
Tuesday’s official figures showed that the economy had taken quite a hit from the snow at the end of 2010.
Last year, it was discussed whether snow might actually be good for the economy. Why has it been so bad this time round?
That winter there was much talk of snow effects, but little sign of permanent impact on the official figures.
The figures on the construction sector, for example, showed it had a very difficult time in the first three months of 2010, which could be partly blamed on the weather, but then recovered extremely strongly in the following three months as builders caught up on delayed projects.
It is important to distinguish between a genuine dead loss for the economy and spending that is just being delayed.
The snow this winter appears to have had a greater effect than last winter.
Once again, the construction sector has taken a hit, which we can probably expect to be made up in 2011.
But other areas may not be made up. Last week’s retail sales figures showed a fall of more than 10% in sales at petrol stations in December, which reflects people leaving their cars at home as a result of difficult driving conditions.
Lots of people could not get into work as a result of the snow, but not all of them cost the economy anything.
Some freelance or casual workers will not have been paid for the days they did not work, and cafes, restaurants, taxi drivers and train operators will not make back all of the money that they lost as a result of people staying at home.
Some people work in sectors where a missed day cannot be made up with a bit of overtime or slightly delayed deliveries, but if you are a hairdresser, for example, then the people who were going to come in for a trim but cancelled because of snow are pretty likely to make another appointment.
It is also important not to forget the gains to the economy from snow. Utility companies had a bumper December as people were forced to turn up their heating to cope with the coldest December on record.
Also, last week’s retail sales figures showed significant growth in sales of winter clothing.
Halfords announced in a trading statement that its sales of car maintenance products had risen.
The big difference between this winter’s snow and last winter’s snow was the timing.
Several big shopping centres were forced to close in the weekend before Christmas, meaning that some people did not get their gifts until January, if at all.
Cafes and restaurants were among the businesses worst hit by the weather This is the crucial point. If you were planning to go out in the first week in December to buy a drill and actually you had to go and buy it in the second week, the economy would barely bat an eyelid.
But if you were going to buy it on 23 December and instead had to buy it on 27 December, it is a big deal.
The difference to the economy of having buying sprees at full-price pre-Christmas and at cut-price in the sales is significant and will not be made up later in the year.
Also, many people will have been planning pre-Christmas drinks and meals with friends and colleagues, which will have been cancelled or delayed.
Even the part of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) that calculates the official growth figures for the economy had to postpone its Christmas party because of the weather, and will not be holding it until April.
Last winter, the snow was timed much more favourably, coming mainly in January.
This year’s Christmas trading statements from big retailers were full of comments about the weather.
The boss of Tesco said that its performance had been “hindered” by the “disruptive effects of the severe winter weather conditions”, while Dixons said: “The adverse weather conditions reduced footfall in the run up to Christmas day.”
So while last year it could be argued that in the medium term the snow had not done the economy much harm, this year the effect has been much more damaging.
The ONS said that the snow had knocked 0.5% off the economic growth figures, which is a considerable amount of lost growth.
Some of that will be made back, perhaps by the construction sector as happened last time, and perhaps by bumper January sales shopping and delayed parties, but a significant proportion of it is probably lost to the economy for ever.
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Scientists solve the mystery of the seahorse’s strange and beautiful shape with slow-motion footage showing how it helps them to feed.
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Japanese car manufacturer Toyota is to recall nearly 1.7 million vehicles worldwide over concerns about a possible fuel leakage.
About 1.2 million models are being recalled in Japan and 421,000 overseas, including 140,000 of the Avensis models in Europe.
Japan’s transport ministry said slight cracks could appear in fuel pipes which could cause leakages if untreated.
No accidents have been reported because of the flaw, said Toyota.
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An epic battle between the government and Labour peers over plans to change the way MPs are elected could be nearing its end in the Lords.
Ministers aim to complete the committee stage of the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill later.
But Labour is still resisting plans to cut the number of MPs and redraw constituency boundaries.
The bill, which MPs have approved, must become law by 16 February for a planned referendum to be held on 5 May.
The BBC understands talks are going on behind the scenes between coalition ministers and Labour peers over a possible compromise – with the government under pressure to give more leeway over plans to standardise the size of constituencies.
Wednesday’s debate will be the bill’s 14th Lords committee day – thought to be the most since 1971, when peers spent 18 days on the Industrial Relations Bill.
Under the AV system, voters rank candidates in their constituency in order of preference.
Anyone getting more than 50% of first-preference votes is elected.
If no-one gets 50% of votes, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and their backers’ second choices allocated to those remaining.
This process continues until one candidate has at least 50% of all votes in that round.
Vote reform: Where parties stand Q&A: Alternative Vote referendum
Three further provisional days have been scheduled for the committee stage next week, if no deal can be reached on Wednesday.
If Royal Assent is not received by 16 February, the referendum date could be in doubt – although ministers may seek to force the measure through the Lords by a series of “guillotine” motions.
This would be unprecedented and likely to result in widespread opposition in the House of Lords, which traditionally is self-regulating when it comes to debates.
Another option could be to find a way of reducing the statutory 10 weeks granted to the Electoral Commission to prepare for a referendum, to allow the bill to complete its passage, the BBC understands.
The bill’s report stage and third reading are still to come.
Ministers have accused Labour peers of time-wasting as they seek to separate the referendum on a move to the Alternative Vote (AV), which they support, from the bill’s plans to cut the number of MPs from 650 to 600.
Coalition ministers insist they are part of the same package of reforms.
Peers had already spent more than 98 hours debating the bill by Tuesday morning, including a two-day second reading in November and a 21-hour all-night sitting last week.
Tuesday’s debate lasted eight and a quarter hours, as peers dealt with 10 out of the remaining 50 groups of amendments.
But there were signs that Labour peers’ alleged delaying tactics had finally ended, as one amendment was dealt with in 34 minutes, the next in 11, another in 17, and the last in just four minutes.
Lib Dem Justice minister Lord McNally was, meanwhile, taken ill during the debate in the early hours of Tuesday. He was taken to hospital with what a ministerial colleague said was gastric flu.
The government has suffered two defeats in the Lords over the planned legislation, and ministers will have to decide whether to risk further delay by asking MPs to overturn them when the bill returns to the Commons.
The Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill would schedule a referendum on bringing in the alternative vote (AV) system for Westminster elections on 5 May.
It also contains provisions for the number of MPs to be cut and for constituency boundaries to be re-drawn so that they are of roughly equal size.
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An unlikely sight has appeared off the the coast of Miami – a grand piano sitting on a sand bank.
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