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Dundee United move into the Scottish Premier League’s top six as they convincingly end Aberdeen’s unbeaten run.
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Elephants know when a job requires teamwork, footage reveals
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Mr Arnold was caught on camera carrying feed buckets along a 200m track A couple who claimed more than £6,000 in disability benefits while running a stud farm have been handed a suspended prison sentence.
Nicolas Arnold, 57, and wife Mair, 57, received financial aid after claiming various health problems left them “virtually unable to walk”.
Cameras caught them carrying food pails and mucking out horses at Blackbridge Arabians in the Garw Valley.
Magistrates in Bridgend ordered the pair to be placed under curfew.
They were given an eight-week custodial sentence suspended for 12 months.
Fraud investigator Garth Jones played the court an 18-minute DVD of surveillance showing the couple working on their stud farm over a nine-month period.
He said: “As you can see, neither of them are displaying any difficulty with their mobility.
“In fact, they were running an operation called Blackbridge Arabians specialising in Arabian horses.”
He added: “At no time during the video surveillance did Mr or Mrs Arnold make use of any walking aids.”
The court was told the couple claimed disability living allowance saying neither of them could walk and they suffered from conditions including diabetes and heart problems.
Nicolas Arnold wrote on claim forms that “words could not describe” how tough his life was.
“Mr Arnold filled in the form saying that he could not walk at all”
Jonathan Holmes Prosecutor
He claimed he “could barely walk” as he battled diabetes, hypertension, heart arrhythmia, sleep apnoea, depression, severe back problems and impotence.
Mair Arnold said “chronic fatigue and depression” meant she slept up to 20 hours a day.
Prosecutor Jonathan Holmes said the couple had both been receiving benefits payments for their care and mobility allowance for nearly 15 years.
He said: “Nicolas also received the highest rate of allowance related to care, claiming he needed round-the-clock attention including help using the toilet.
“Mr Arnold filled in the form saying that he could not walk at all.
“He said he walked zero metres seven days a week and needed a walking stick or someone to help him stand up and get his balance.”
Mrs Arnold said she could not walk at all and needed a zimmer frame, walking stick, wheelchair or carers, he told the court.
But surveillance footage showed her holding a rake as she cleared horse manure out of their stables.
He said the footage showed Mr Arnold taking manure away using the wheel barrow and carrying two blue buckets of horse-feed along a 200m farm track.
Magistrates’ chairman John Hughes said: “The offences were so serious that they warranted an eight-week custodial sentence.”
But he suspended it for 12 months and put the couple on a combined 24-hour curfew.
Mrs Arnold will be under curfew from midday to midnight while her husband will be unable to leave the house from midnight to midday.
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Facebook is launching a system that allows users to ‘report’ friends who they think may be contemplating suicide.
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Ministers are aiming to cut the prison population by 3,000 and to reduce costs. Labour did not do enough to encourage prisoner rehabilitation while in office as they did not want to appear “soft on crime”, a senior party figure has said.
Sadiq Khan said Labour’s record on cutting prison numbers and reoffending rates during its 13 years in power could have been “much better”.
But the shadow justice secretary said the coalition’s penal policy was driven by the need “to cut costs not crime”.
His Tory counterpart Kenneth Clarke has urged a “rehabilitation revolution”.
Ministers want to cut the 85,000 prison population in England and Wales by 3,000 and tackle the causes of reoffending.
In December, the justice secretary outlined plans to provide more help to address inmates’ drug and alcohol addiction problems, establish regular work routines for prisoners to prepare them for life outside jail and to toughen up community sentences.
“It was almost as if we had to give off the impression we were even more tough on crime just to demonstrate we weren’t soft on crime”
Sadiq Khan Shadow Justice Secretary
In his first major speech since taking on the shadow role last autumn, Mr Khan said he supported efforts to reduce inmate numbers but questioned the government’s motives for doing so.
The opposition says 20% budget cuts to the prison and probation service over the next four years will make any rehabilitation-led approach much harder.
Penal policy was “founded on the short-term need to cut costs” and “arbitrary” targets for prison numbers, he said, rather than a considered focus on reducing crime.
“In the long run, they are risking increased costs by gambling with public safety,” he told the Fabian Society. “There is a real and genuine danger that because of their policies crime will rise.
“Quite simply it is irresponsible to pursue this agenda without the investment to match it.”
But Mr Khan admitted Labour, which is currently reviewing its policy in a number of areas including criminal justice, had failed to get a grip of reoffending during its own time in office.
“Reoffending rates are still too high, as is the prison population. I’m clear that this is one area where our scorecard in office would have said ‘Could have done better’. Much better, in fact.
“We became hesitant in talking about rehabilitation and the merits of investment in bringing down reoffending rates. It was almost as if we had to give off the impression we were even more tough on crime just to demonstrate we weren’t soft on crime.
“Playing tough in order not to look soft made it harder to focus on what is effective.”
The Ministry of Justice said its objective was to break the “destructive cycle of crime” which had led to 14 prisons in England and Wales having reconviction rates of over 70%.
“Society has a right to expect the criminal justice system will protect them. Prison will always be the place for serious and dangerous offenders,” a spokesman said.
“Prisons should also be places of hard work and industry and community sentences must be credible and robust. Criminals must be reformed so that when they finish their sentences they do not simply return to crime, creating more misery for victims.”
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This graffiti in Benghazi shows the confidence of the anti-Gaddafi rebels Whitehall sources have told the BBC that the botched SAS mission to Libya was personally authorised by Foreign Secretary William Hague.
The six soldiers were freed along with a man described as a British Foreign Office official two days after being detained in eastern Libya.
They left for Malta on board HMS Cumberland on Sunday night.
The Foreign Secretary is to make a statement about the mission on Monday afternoon in the Commons.
The group was dropped by helicopter into eastern Libya but were seized by opposition fighters and found to be carrying weapons, ammunition, maps and passports from four different countries.
In an earlier statement Mr Hague said: “The team went to Libya to initiate contacts with the opposition.
The Libyan State TV broadcast claims to show the UK ambassador speaking to a rebel spokesman
“They experienced difficulties, which have now been satisfactorily resolved. They have now left Libya.”
Mr Hague said: “We continue to press for Gaddafi to step down and we will work with the international community to support the legitimate ambitions of the Libyan people.”
The British ambassador to Libya, Richard Northern, was called in to explain to opposition forces what the group was doing in eastern Libya.
“I’m glad that this particular episode seems to have ended in farce rather than tragedy”
Oliver Miles Former UK ambassador to Libya
He spoke to a spokesman for former justice minister, Mostafa Abdel Jalil, who is now a rebel leader, to explain the men’s mission.
A telephone call between Mr Northern and Mr Jalil’s spokesman was intercepted by the Gaddafi regime and excerpts were played on Libyan state television on Sunday.
In it, Mr Northern could be heard apologising for the “misunderstanding” and pleading for the men’s release.
Oliver Miles, a former British ambassador to Libya, said he found the entire incident “bizarre”.
He added: “The phone lines to the country still work so there’s still quite a lot of information there if you’re prepared to dredge for it.
“I’m glad that this particular episode seems to have ended in farce rather than tragedy.”
He pointed out that Britain is not the only country to have experienced military embarrassment in Libya. The Dutch government is currently negotiating to free three of its marines who were captured along with their helicopter by pro-Gaddafi forces.
The troops had apparently been tasked with evacuating Dutch nationals from the port of Sirte.
What appeared to be video of the personnel has since been broadcast on Libyan state television.
Sir Emyr Jones Parry, former UK ambassador to the United Nations, said the government had been right to try to establish contact with the rebels, but had not gone about it in the right way.
“I think the mistake perhaps was to blur the distinction between what is a routine diplomatic activity, where your protection is declared to the host government or to the authorities in place, and something which is altogether more clandestine,” he said.
Forces loyal to Col Muammar Gaddafi have fought bitter clashes with rebels in the central towns of Bin Jawad and Zawiya.
Some of Sunday’s heaviest fighting was reported in Misrata, 200km (125 miles) east of Tripoli, where a local doctor told the BBC the situation became “very bad” after pro-Gaddafi forces with tanks and armoured cars went into the city centre and opened fire.
Libyan air force pilots have also been involved in the fighting, strafing and bombing rebel targets.
Defence Secretary Liam Fox says the idea of a “no-fly zone” would be discussed at a meeting of Nato defence ministers later this week.
Prime Minister David Cameron has also reiterated his call for Col Gaddafi to go and criticised Tony Blair’s government for conducting “dodgy deals in the desert” in Libya back in 2004.
Mr Cameron told the Conservative Party spring conference: “When Margaret Thatcher was prime minister, this party stood by those who wanted to reject communism and embrace freedom.
“And today, this party stands by those reaching for that same freedom in the Arab world.”
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Injury doubt Robin van Persie is a surprise inclusion in Arsenal’s squad for Tuesday’s Champions League last-16 second-leg meeting with Barcelona on Tuesday while Cesc Fabregas is rated as “90% likely” to play.
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Tennyson was a man for the maxim The poetic words of Alfred Lord Tennyson will be engraved in the 2012 Olympic village. But what other notable expressions can be attributed to Tennyson?
The last line of Tennyson’s monologue Ulysses, “to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield”, will serve as inspirational words for the world’s athletes when they come to London for next year’s games.
Tennyson is quoted everywhere from books to episodes of the Simpsons, and some of his phrases have become commonly used maxims.
Here are 10 other quotes by Tennyson that may ring a bell.
1. “Theirs is not to reason why, theirs is but to do and die.”
From The Charge of the Light Brigade, the poem tells of the famous and brutal military disaster in the Crimean war. Nowadays, the saying is often used in the workplace and encourages one to press on no matter what the task.
Though the narrative as a whole tells the story of soldiers, pieces of the text can be applied to modern situations. “Readers can detach lines from their context and enjoy rolling them around in their mouths and heads,” says Oxford University literature professor Dr Robert Douglas-Fairhurst.
2. “Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.”
Perhaps the most well-known of Tennyson’s quotes comes from “In Memoriam”, a tribute to one of his late friends.
The saying, which is most commonly used to console someone after a break-up, tugs at the heartstrings and serves as a comfort for those with tumultuous love lives.
3. “If I had a flower for every time I thought of you… I could walk through my garden forever.”
This romantic sentiment may sound like the message on a greeting card, but it now makes its way into wedding speeches and toasts.
4.”Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers.”
From the dramatic monologue Locksley Hall, this poem tells the story of a soldier who stays behind to reflect on childhood struggles.
This simple phrase insinuates that knowledge is pieces of information that aren’t always retained, but wisdom is a deeper understanding based on life experiences.
5. “A lie that is half-truth is the darkest of all lies.”
“His poems are full of concentrated lines and phrases that linger in the mind because of their shape, their sound, their mouthability. They ask to be read and then re-read,” explains Douglas-Fairhurst.
6. “I am a part of all that I have met.”
In Ulysses, a dramatic monologue detailing the Greek hero’s escapades, Tennyson succinctly offers his view that humans are shaped by a combination of all life’s experiences.
7. “Better not be at all than not be noble.”
In The Princess, Tennyson tells the story of a heroine who refuses to marry, and instead ends up founding a women’s university. After a long pursuit and a series of trials, the princess eventually falls in love with a prince.
Tennyson’s musing on nobility suggests that there is nothing worse than poor character.
8. “No man ever got very high by pulling other people down. The intelligent merchant does not knock his competitors. The sensible worker does not work those who work with him. Don’t knock your friends. Don’t knock your enemies. Don’t knock yourself.”
This is the kind of maxim that The Office’s David Brent might consider framing.
“Often he composed individual lines before working out where to fit them into a poem, and just as he sometimes treated these lines like pieces of lego he could build up into bigger blocks of writing,” according to Douglas-Fairhurst.
9. “Who are wise in love, love most, say least.”
In Merlin and Viviene, Tennyson tells the passionate love story of a woman seducing a man.
In this particular line of the poem, Tennyson suggests that someone who is in love should show love, not just vocalise their admiration.
10. “Nor is it wiser to weep a true occasion lost, but trim our sails, and let old bygones be.”
“Many of Tennyson’s poems are concerned with memory – what we should hold onto from the past, and what we should abandon,” says Douglas-Fairhurst. “His best poems don’t just describe the workings of memory – they also enable it by making themselves so memorable.”
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A report on “innovative financing”, including a tax on financial transactions, has been condemned by some MEPs, describing it as “kamikaze economics”.
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Shia cleric Tawfiq al-Amer has used his sermons to call for change in Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia has freed a Shia cleric whose arrest provoked protests and sparked calls for a “day of rage” on Friday, human rights activists say.
Sheikh Tawfiq al-Amer was arrested last month for reportedly calling for a constitutional monarchy in the kingdom, which is an absolute monarchy.
He was freed on Sunday after hundreds of Shias protested near the eastern city of Qatif; 26 people were arrested.
The authorities have vowed to crack down on any protests, which are banned.
Correspondents say the move is likely an effort to diffuse anger before the planned “day of rage” on Friday.
There have been a series of small protests in recent weeks by the kingdom’s Shia minority in the Eastern Province, where much of the country’s crude oil is sourced.
The protesters have been demanding the release of nine Shia prisoners who they say have been held without trial for more than 14 years.
Saudi security forces arrested 26 of the protesters – 22 on Thursday and four on Friday – for taking part in the peaceful demonstrations.
Police in Qatif kicked and beat with batons at least three of the protesters, rights group Amnesty International said.
Among those arrested were Shia activists Hussain al-Yusef and Hussein al-Alq, who have written for the Shia website, Rasid News Network, which often details arrests of and discrimination against members of the minority Shia community.
The nine members of the Shia community in prolonged detention were arrested in connection with the 1996 bombing of a US military complex in al-Khobar in which 20 people were killed and hundreds injured.
According to reports obtained by Amnesty, they were interrogated, tortured and denied access to lawyers together with the opportunity to challenge the legality of their detention.
On Saturday, the Saudi interior ministry issued a warning that the police were authorised to take “all measures needed” against those who took part in demonstrations, marches and sit-ins, which have long been banned in the desert kingdom.
The moves come after the return last month of Saudi King Abdullah to the capital after an absence of several months due to illness.
Amid signs of growing unrest in the region, he unveiled $37bn (£22.7bn) in benefits for citizens, including a 15% pay rise for state employees, as well as extra funds for housing, studying abroad and social security.
Shias, who are mainly concentrated in the eastern of the country, make up about 10% of the Saudi population.
The region borders Bahrain, a Shia-majority kingdom ruled by a Sunni government that has been rocked by anti-government protests since mid-February.
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Labour peer Baroness Jones of Whitchurch has criticised the government for scrapping the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) in England without first finalising the details of its replacement scheme.
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Forty-six people who work for a safety glass company in Kilkeel, County Down, have been told they could lose their jobs.
Employees at Tough Glass have been given the statutory 30 days’ notification.
Management said the next step means the company could close.
Plant manager John Agnew said the rise in oil prices and cheaper imports from Turkey and China had hit demand for its glass products.
He paid tribute to the workforce but said the company had found itself “caught up in a set of circumstances beyond its control”.
The company is a leading independent manufacturer of toughened safety glass in the UK and Ireland.
Tough Glass closed in July 2008 with the loss of 60 jobs but was bought out of administration by its current owners, the Glasgow based company – Independent Glass Ltd.
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Lawyers for the group say the lecture was just an academic political debate Thirty-eight Zimbabweans arrested last month for discussing an Egypt-style uprising have been freed but eight remain in custody, their lawyer says.
They were arrested on 19 February after attending a lecture and watching videos of the unrest in Egypt which toppled long-term leader Hosni Mubarak.
Among those still in custody is former opposition MP Munyaradzi Gwisai, accused of organising the meeting.
They could face charges of treason, which could be punishable by death.
Human rights groups have condemned the arrests.
Defence lawyer Alec Muchadehama said the state had dropped the charges against the 38 due to a lack of evidence.
The defence says those arrested were taking part in an academic debate about African politics.
Some have said they have been tortured in detention.
How do you measure fear? A set of new statistics from Zimbabwe attempts to do just that.
The figures, compiled from a “nationally representative sample of 1,200 adult Zimbabweans” by an independent organisation called Freedom House, paint an alarming picture of a population, which after more than a year of growing confidence following the formation of a power-sharing government and the halting of the country’s economic collapse, is once again beginning to cower.
But prosecutors accuse them of discussing ways to oust a constitutional government.
“In their speeches, the accused noted that there was a long-serving dictator, authoritarian leader, general poverty, unemployment and capitalist practices where the general populace of Zimbabwe was suffering,” according to the charge sheet, as reported by the AFP news agency.
Political tension is mounting in Zimbabwe, with President Robert Mugabe calling for elections this year.
The most recent polls, in 2008, were marred by widespread violence, which prompted his rival, Morgan Tsvangirai to withdraw from the contest, saying he was trying to save the lives of his supporters.
The pair later formed a power-sharing government which halted the collapse of Zimbabwe’s economy but the two men – and their parties – remain bitterly divided.
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Some Tunisians are calling for protesters to return to work and let the country recover Tunisia’s interim government has announced it is dissolving the country’s secret police service.
The agency had been widely accused of committing human rights abuses during the rule of President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, who was ousted on 14 January.
Interim Prime Minister Caid Essebsi has also announced a new government, which includes 22 ministers.
The interim government is running Tunisia until elections scheduled to take place on 24 July.
The country has struggled to restore stability since mass protests ousted Mr Ben Ali in January.
The victorious protesters have been demanding that the new leaders move faster to bring about the political and social changes they had been calling for.
Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi and six other ministers have resigned from the interim government in the past few weeks.
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David Haye will fight Vitali Klitschko if Wladimir fails to recover in time from an injury, the brothers’ manager reveals.
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