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The number of people aged over 50 taking up apprenticeships has nearly doubled in two years, say charities.

Age UK and The Age Employment Network said a rapid expansion of places in 2007 coupled with the recession has led to the rise in “silver apprentices”.

According to the charities, the number of apprenticeships taken up by the over-50s jumped from just over 2,600 to more than 5,000 in that time.

The figure includes 400 people in their 60s and 13 in their 70s.

Age UK charity director Michelle Mitchell said: “It’s great to see so many 50-plus workers snap up the opportunity to upgrade their skills or make a fresh start with their careers through an apprenticeship.

“This 5,000-strong army of silver apprentices is a refreshing sight which defies the stereotype that older people are reluctant to learn new skills, and sends a clear message that age is no barrier to what people can achieve.”

The Revenue and Customs website says employers are exempt from paying the full minimum wage to older apprentices for the first 12 months.

Despite this, Age UK is urging the government to maintain opportunities for older people to take up apprenticeships in the face of impending spending cuts.

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

Officials have linked a recent increase in US drone missile attacks in Pakistan to efforts to disrupt a suspected al-Qaeda plot to attack European targets.

The strikes include one on Monday which killed eight militants, among them five German nationals, Pakistan’s ambassador to the US told the BBC.

The strikes have targeted Pakistan’s tribal regions bordering Afghanistan.

A British man killed in a strike last month was to head an al-Qaeda faction in the UK, BBC’s Newsnight has learnt.

“The activity we see in North Waziristan, in terms of strikes and terms of measures to try to get people from al-Qaeda and associated groups, is connected to the terrorist warnings that we have heard about potential strikes in Europe,” Pakistan’s ambassador to the US, Hussein Haqqani, told the BBC.

Mr Haqqani said Pakistan was working with European and US intelligence agencies to prevent the suspected plans to attack Europe and that people should not panic.

Security sources say a German man detained in Afghanistan in July had provided the first information about plans to launch commando-style attacks on targets in Britain, France and Germany.

As well as Paris and London, Berlin was cited in a US warning at the weekend as a possible target for a suspected al-Qaeda plot.

Several countries have issued travel warnings to their citizens, saying they should be vigilant while travelling in Europe.

The US has carried out 26 drone strikes on Pakistan in the past month – the highest monthly total for the past six years.

Monday’s attack destroyed the house of a tribal leader with close links to a local Taliban commander in a village 3km (2 miles) from North Waziristan’s main town of Mir Ali.

Pakistani officials have said five German nationals were killed along with three other militants. A number of people were said to have been wounded.

Identification of the victims is being made more difficult because Taliban militants sealed off the area after the missile strike, taking away the remains for burial.

There have been concerns about the presence of German nationals in Pakistan’s tribal areas.

According to German media, several Islamist militants disappeared from their homes in Hamburg in 2009 and were thought to have headed for North Waziristan.

On Monday, the German interior ministry revealed that 70 Germans had been given paramilitary training in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and a third of them had returned home.

In August, German police shut down a mosque in Hamburg which had been used by the 9/11 attackers and which the authorities believed was again becoming a focus for extremists.

The area around Mir Ali has been known to harbour militants from a number of foreign countries in the past.

A drone strike in North earlier in September killed a British national named Abdul Jabbar who had been living in Punjab province.

A British security source told the BBC’s Newsnight programme that Jabbar was being groomed to head an al-Qaeda offshoot in the UK.

Intelligence agencies monitored a meeting of 300 militants in North Waziristan he attended three months ago where he was put forward as the leader of the new group, which was tasked with preparing commando-style attacks against targets in Britain, France and Germany, Newsnight has learnt.

British government officials declined to comment on the Newsnight report.

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

Liverpool receive two new bids that would wipe out the club’s debts, but a huge split divides the Anfield boardroom.

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

Victims of domestic abuse have been given more protection after a legal loophole was closed.

A new offence of engaging in threatening or abusive behaviour came into effect just after midnight.

It was introduced after a court ruling in July 2009 meant that the common law offence of breach of the peace was no longer appropriate in such abuse cases.

The 2009 ruling had required breach of the peace cases to have a “public” element.

The case meant many domestic abuse crimes could go unpunished because they were committed behind closed doors.

The new statutory offence, created through the recently-passed Criminal Justice and Licensing Act, does not require any public element for an offence to have been committed.

Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said: “This will give victims greater legal protection, whilst ensuring prosecutors have the full range of powers available to them to bring about a conviction.

“We want to send out the message loud and clear that if you carry out this offence, there will be no escape, there will be no wriggle room to exploit, and you will be met with the full force of law.”

The new law states that it is an offence for a person to behave in a threatening or abusive manner where the behaviour would be likely to cause a reasonable person to suffer from fear or alarm.

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

A purple potato that growers claim is healthier than the traditional white variety has been developed.

The Purple Majesty has a distinctive deep colour and contains up to 10 times the level of antioxidant, anthocyanins, compared with standard potatoes.

It was developed from a traditional variety by scientists at Colorado University.

Despite its unusual appearance, the potato – grown by producers Albert Bartlett – is not genetically modified.

Potatoes originate from the high reaches of the Andes and come in thousands of varieties, with many having developed deep red and purple colouring.

However, trials over the past two years found that Purple Majestys could be grown in Scotland.

An initial crop of 400 tonnes of the variety will go on sale in Sainsbury’s stores across Scotland and the south-east of England this week, with a larger yield expected next year.

Albert Bartlett, which has a base in Airdrie, has been working with Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh and the Scottish Crop Research Institute to determine what health benefits there could be from eating the potato.

Dr Catherine Tsang, who took part in research, said: “Our research specifically looked at Purple Majesty potatoes which, unlike white potatoes, contain a natural pigment called anthocyanins.

“It’s this pigment that gives the potato the purple appearance, but more importantly, it possesses antioxidant properties, which are maintained even after cooking.”

She added: “We’re all aware of the stories about red wine having a more positive effect on the heart than white wine, due to their higher levels of antioxidant.

“The same thing applies to purple potatoes. Anthocyanins have potent antioxidant properties and some studies have shown that it has a positive effect on blood vessels and reducing blood pressure.”

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