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US Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is due to testify on the federal government’s response to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

BP’s Lamar McKay will also appear before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

Oil has been spewing into the Gulf since BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig exploded on 20 April.

US President Barack Obama has described it as a "potentially unprecedented" environmental disaster.

Senator Joseph Lieberman, chair of the committee, said it had "lots of questions" to ask Ms Napolitano and Mr McKay, BP America’s chairman, about what happened.

Mr McKay was among oil industry executives called to Congressional hearings last week, but this is the first time Congress will have an opportunity to question a senior Obama administration official about the government’s handling of the crisis.

Coast Guard Rear Admiral Peter Neffenger will also testify about the authorities’ response.

Compensation claims

BP said on Monday it was managing to funnel the equivalent of 1,000 barrels a day of oil from the blown well to a tanker ship with the use of a mile-long tube.

That would amount to a fifth of the estimated daily spill of 5,000 barrels – an estimate made by the Coast Guard and BP, but increasingly challenged by other experts as being too small.

"This is just containing the flow, later this week, hopefully before the end of the week, we’ll make our next attempt to actually fully stop the flow," BP Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles told NBC’s Today programme.

BP finally managed to insert the tube into the leaking pipe, using underwater robots, on Sunday at the third attempt.

But, in a joint statement, Ms Napolitano and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said the latest technique was "not a solution to the problem and it is not yet clear how successful it may be".

It added: "We will not rest until BP permanently seals the well head, the spill is cleaned up, and the communities and natural resources of the Gulf Coast are restored and made whole."

BP also said on Monday it had received 15,000 claims for compensation, and had already paid out on 2,500 claims. It reinterated it would pay all "legitimate claims".

Over the weekend, Ms Napolitano and Mr Salazar had called for "immediate public clarification" from BP over its intentions about paying clean-up costs.

Current US law limits energy companies’ liability for lost business and local tax revenues from oil spills to $75m.

But experts warn that BP’s total liability for the spill could run into billions of dollars.

Lurking slicks

Scientists said on Sunday they had found vast underwater plumes of oil, one 10 miles (16km) long and a mile wide, lending weight to the fears of those who believe the actual spill could be many times greater than the estimate of 5,000 barrels daily.

Researchers from the National Institute for Undersea Science and Technology said they had detected the slicks lurking just beneath the surface of the sea and at depths of 4,000ft (1,200m).

Samantha Joye, a marine science professor at the University of Georgia, said: "It could take years, possibly decades, for the system to recover from an infusion of this quantity of oil and gas.

"We’ve never seen anything like this before. It’s impossible to fathom the impact."

Chemical dispersants BP has been dumping underwater may be preventing the oil from rising to the top of the ocean, the scientists said.

The find suggests the scale of the potential environmental disaster is much worse than previously feared since the rig blew up, killing 11 workers.

Some scientists cast doubt on BP’s estimate of the oil flow rate, saying the widely repeated figure of 5,000 barrels per day dramatically understates the real amount.

A week ago, BP tried to cap the well with a 100-tonne box but gave up after it became encrusted with ice crystals.

Mississippi has become the third US state to have traces of oil wash up on its coast, along with Louisiana and Alabama.

The spill is threatening to eclipse the 1989 Exxon Valdez leak off Alaska as America’s worst environmental disaster.

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

Swindon01 Lucas (Smith 5)02 Cuthbert06 Greer red card19 Jean-Francois Lescinel21 Darby04 Douglas yellow card07 McGovern24 Ward30 Ferry (Amankwaah 72)20 Paynter (O’Brien 64)32 AustinSubstitutes12 Smith,15 Amankwaah,08 Easton,10 Timlin,18 O’Brien,05 Pericard,09 NoubleRef: SwarbrickAtt: 21,521SWINDONPossessionCharlton 59%Swindon 41%Attempts on targetCharlton 20Swindon 8Attempts off targetCharlton 6Swindon 4CornersCharlton 11Swindon 4FoulsCharlton 20Swindon 12

Coca Cola League One play-off semi-final, second legVenue: The Valley Date: Monday, 17 May Kick-off: 1945 BSTCoverage: BBC Sport website, BBC Radio 5 live, BBC London 94.9, BBC Wiltshire on all FM frequencies, live on Sky Sports 1

TEAM NEWS

Charlton will check on defender Sam Sodje’s knee injury as they attempt to overturn a 2-1 first leg deficit in their play-off semi-final.

Miguel Llera could deputise if Sodje is out, while full-backs Grant Basey (ankle) and Kelly Youga (knee) are the only definite injury absentees.

Swindon striker Billy Paynter remains a major doubt with a hamstring strain.

Charlie Austin and Danny Ward are set to continue in attack after scoring the goals which gave Swindon their lead.

Swindon Town manager Danny Wilson told BBC Wiltshire: "The Valley is a tough place to go and it’ll be banging and thumping just as it was at the County Ground on Friday night.

"We’ve got to embrace it and we’ll need to approach it like we did when we went to Leeds and Southampton.

"It’s often the last 10-15 minutes of the second leg when the sparks start to fly and I don’t think it’s going to be any different."

BIG-MATCH FACTS

Head to head

• These clubs have met 56 times previously; Charlton have won 25, Swindon 13 with 18 drawn.

• Goals from Charlie Austin and Daniel Ward have given Swindon a 2-1 lead going into this second leg. Charlton’s goal was scored by Deon Burton.

• Swindon have won one of their last five league and cup visits to Charlton; they prevailed 1-0 in the Championship in March 2000 with a goal from Steve Cowe. Charlton were top of the table at the time, and Swindon bottom, and they finished the season in those positions.

Charlton Athletic

• The club trailing after the first leg of their play-off semi-final has gone on to win the tie, and then to gain promotion to the second tier four times in since 1993. Barnsley were the most recent in 2006.

• Spent the first half of the season in the top two, but fell out of the automatic promotion places at the start of 2010, and never returned to them.

• Eager to make an instant return to the Championship; not experienced consecutive seasons in the third tier for 35 years.

• Successful in the first ever play-offs, when they retained their top-flight status in 1987.

• Promoted to the Premier League in 1998 after, arguably the most dramatic play-off final ever, when they drew 4-4 with Sunderland after extra time, and won 7-6 on penalties.

• Phil Parkinson’s first experience of the play-offs as a manager was Friday night’s odd goal in three defeat.

• The club finishing two places below the automatic spots in the third tier has won promotion on five occasions since 1991. Brighton were the most recent in 2004.

Swindon Town

• It’s three years since a club won their opening match in the play-off semi-finals, and then went on to win promotion to the Championship (Blackpool, 2007).

• Swindon finished in fifth, one place and two points inferior to Charlton.

• Since 1991 when the play-offs assumed their current format, the club finishing three places below the automatic promotion spots has been promoted to the second tier only twice (Sheffield Wednesday in 2005, and Barnsley in 2006).

• They conceded 57 goals, making their defence the weakest of the four clubs in these play-offs.

• Won two of their last three in all competitions, and failed to win five of seven.

• Hoping to rise out of League One after a three-year stay.

• Last promoted to the second tier in 1996, where they stayed for four seasons.

• Promoted to the second tier in the first ever play-offs in 1987, and also successful in them in 1990 and 1993.

•This is the third play-off campaign for manager Danny Wilson. He was unsuccessful with Bristol City in 2003 and 2004.

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

New rules to allow planes to fly at higher ash densities for a limited time will be introduced at noon on Tuesday, the Civil Aviation Authority has said.

To fly in the ash zone, airlines will need to get agreement from their aircraft and engine manufacturers.

The authority’s move has been welcomed by airlines, regulators and manufacturers.

It comes after heavy criticism of the current no-fly zone system by airline chiefs.

Thousands of passengers have been stranded by the latest raft of flight cancellations following airport closures across the UK.

All restrictions have now been lifted, after the volcanic ash cloud over UK airspace moved away, but knock-on disruption continues.

Airport operators are advising passengers to check for delays to their flights with airlines.

‘Exceptional features’

Air traffic control company Nats said it was "delighted" by the new measures, which meant there were "no predicted restrictions on UK airspace in the immediate future".

CAA chief executive Andrew Haines said "unprecedented situations" required "new measures" and the challenge posed by the volcano could not be underestimated.

"The world’s top scientists tell us that we must not simply assume the effects of this volcano will be the same as others elsewhere.

"Its proximity to the UK, the length of time it is continuously erupting and the weather patterns are all exceptional features.

"The answer can only come, therefore, from aircraft and engine manufacturers establishing what level of ash their products can safely tolerate," he said.

Jim French, chief executive of budget airline Flybe – the only airline so far to satisfy the CAA’s conditions – said he welcomed the move.

He said the airline had been forced to cancel 381 flights during the past 48 hours but if the new criteria had already been in place, it would have only affected 21 flights.

Transport Secretary Philip Hammond said the CAA, aircraft and engine manufacturers and airlines had been working "extremely hard" to "get people flying".

Airline criticism

Airlines had been calling for the system – which uses Met Office data to set out no-fly zones – to be revised.

Earlier, British Airways chief executive Willie Walsh had said blanket bans on flying were "a gross over-reaction to a very minor risk" and called for a "much better and more sensible" approach.

Ash cloud forecast17 May 1800 GMT18 May 0000 GMT

Meanwhile Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said reliance on "outdated, inappropriate and imaginary" computer-generated volcano concentration charts was "ridiculous".

On Sunday, Virgin Atlantic president Sir Richard Branson called the closure of Manchester airport "beyond a joke".

The CAA had already raised the density threshold level that forces a flight ban once, following six days of airport closures in April.

Since the Eyjafjallajokull volcano erupted last month, throwing huge amounts of ash into the air, thousands of flights have been delayed or cancelled across Europe due to fears that ash could turn into molten glass within a hot jet engine, crippling the aircraft.

Stranded passengers

The latest UK disruption saw airspace over Northern Ireland close first on Saturday, before the cloud moved south and grounded flights in many parts of the UK on Sunday.

On Monday, thousands of passengers were left to rebook their flights or to wait in airports for new departure times.

Virgin Trains said 7,000 extra seats had been made available on Monday, mainly on routes between Birmingham and Glasgow and Edinburgh, and between London Euston and Glasgow.

Eurostar laid on six extra trains through the Channel Tunnel on Monday, amounting to about 5,500 additional seats.

In the Netherlands, Amsterdam’s Schiphol and Rotterdam airports reopened from 1300 local time (1200 BST) after being closed for seven hours.

Among the affected travellers who contacted the BBC News website was Matt Pope, from Guildford, who e-mailed to say it was the third time the ash had disrupted his travel plans. On the first occasion he was stuck in North Carolina for six days.

He wrote: "Last weekend the Easyjet flight from Prague to Gatwick was cancelled due to aircraft positioning problems after ash in central Europe.

"This was after we ran the marathon and I missed my flight to Singapore the next day causing expensive rescheduling.

"Now I am sat at Heathrow awaiting for a flight to NY. Will this ever end?"

Are your travel plans likely to be affected by the latest disruptions? Will you make alternative travel plans? You can send us your comments Click here to add comments..

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A key committee of Euro MPs has backed a directive that may lead to greater supervision of the hedge fund industry.

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British Airways wins an injunction to stop the latest strikes by its cabin staff, which had been due to start on Tuesday.

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Backbench MP Jon Cruddas has ruled himself out of the Labour leadership race, saying he does not want the job – nor to be prime minister.

Mr Cruddas, who came third in the 2007 deputy leadership race, said the jobs required "qualities I do not possess".

But he said he wanted to help rebuild and energise the party.

Brothers David and Ed Miliband have officially declared they will both run to replace Gordon Brown and Ed Balls has not ruled himself out.

Former health secretary Andy Burnham is also thought to be taking soundings – and the veteran left wing MP John McDonnell has said he will run, if he can get the support of sufficient MPs.

‘Humbled by enthusiasm’

The contest was triggered by Mr Brown’s resignation as Labour leader and prime minister last week, when the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats agreed to form a coalition government.

Mr Cruddas, an influential backbencher who turned down a job offer from Gordon Brown when he became prime minister in 2007, had been thought likely to stand for the leadership as a standard-bearer for the grassroots and the left of the party.

But the Dagenham MP said while "many people" had urged him to stand: "I do not feel that I am in a position to deliver on the hopes and expectations that will be placed in the next leader."

He said he had been "humbled" by the enthusiasm shown for his candidacy and had given it "serious thought". And he said he was "determined to play a full role in the reinvigoration" of the Labour Party.

But he added: "To put it simply, that role of rebuilding and energising the party is a job that doesn’t have a vacancy.

"I would like to be involved in the debate about the future direction of the party and how we reconnect with our lost voters.

"But I cannot enter a leadership election just to contribute to a debate, to go into this must be on the basis of running to win and hand on heart I do not want to be leader of the Labour Party or, subsequently, prime minister. These require certain qualities I do not possess."

BBC political correspondent Iain Watson said it was interesting that Mr Cruddas had not endorsed anyone else – as he would be a welcome supporter for the leadership rivals, because he was likely to bring with him endorsement from the trade unions.

Earlier, David Miliband officially launched his leadership campaign – warning against "re-fighting the battles of the past".

"The Blair-Brown era is over. New Labour is not new any more. New Labour did fantastic things for the country but what counts is next Labour," he said.

His brother Ed has said the party must renew itself and needed to be "clear and honest" about the scale of its election defeat.

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Cardinal Brady has said he will stay on as the Archbishop of Armagh.

He had been facing increasing pressure to resign after he participated in an investigation into clerical abuse.

It was revealed in March that the Cardinal was present when children signed vows of silence over allegations against a paedophile priest in 1975.

Dr Brady also revealed he has asked a Vatican inspection of child protection procedures to include a visit to the Armagh diocese.

His comments follow the publication of the Annual Report of the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland.

It found that nearly 200 new allegations of abuse have been reported to the Catholic Church’s child protection watchdog since April 2009.

In a statement, Cardinal Brady said he was committed with all his "human weaknesses to walk this journey of renewal and to discern God’s will for the Church at this time".

Dr Brady said the impact on abuse survivors of the "drip-by-drip revelation of past failings has to be addressed".

The Archbishop revealed he had held both public and private meetings with survivors of abuse.

"I also listened to people from the Diocese, in Parishes and in Diocesan groups."

Cardinal Brady said he was committed to building on the substantial progress made in child safeguarding in recent years and to achieve the objectives set out by Pope Benedict XVI in his pastoral letter to Irish Catholics.

He has also asked Pope Benedict for an additional bishop in the diocese.

Cardinal Brady said that he would be appointing a Director of Child Safeguarding for the diocese who would handle all future allegations of child abuse and report to civil authorities in both jurisdictions.

Sharing ‘soft information’

"In the future, it will be this statutory authority and not the Church (or any other organisation which works with children in Northern Ireland) that will decide who is permitted to work with children," he said.

" As part of our registration with this new Independent Safeguarding Authority, Bishops in Northern Ireland will give a commitment to sharing ‘soft information’ held or known about any person working in a Church context, as well as all allegations of abuse, with the new Authority."

The head of Ireland’s Catholics apologised in March for his role in mishandling the case of a serial child abuser.

As a priest in 1975 Cardinal Sean Brady was at meetings where children signed vows of silence over complaints against paedophile priest Fr Brendan Smyth.

The Catholic Church in Ireland released more details about why Cardinal Brady asked two victims, aged 10 and 14, to sign secrecy agreements.

The church said the boys were asked to sign oaths "to avoid potential collusion" in evidence-gathering for an internal church inquiry.

It added this this would ensure that the complaints could "withstand challenge."

The church statement did not explain why either Cardinal Brady or his superiors at the time did not share their information with the police. Fr Smyth went on to abuse more children in the following years.

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

England coach Andy Flower insists his team "have a long way to go" despite becoming ICC World Twenty20 champions.

England beat Australia by seven wickets in Sunday’s final, but Flower is keen the significance of a first global one-day triumph be put in perspective.

"This is one form of the game. If we talk about the England team we talk about all three forms," he said.

"We have got huge scope for improvement in various areas. We will be working hard to get better and better."

England ended a 35-year history of failure in the limited overs international arena with a superb display of bowling, fielding – limiting the Australians to 146-6 – and fearless batting as a 111-run stand from Craig Kieswetter and Kevin Pietersen sent Flower’s men on their way to victory with three overs to spare.

A combination of daring selection choices – the likes of Michael Lumb, Michael Yardy and Kieswetter – a more aggressive defence, a clinical, adaptable attack who all chipped in with big wickets, and increased athleticism in the field all contributed to England’s six wins in the tournament in the Caribbean.

And while Flower is reluctant to predict more glory for England in 2011’s Cricket World Cup on the sub-continent, he also admits that the lessons learned in the West Indies will stand them in good stead in the 50-over game.

"This is only one tournament we have dominated," added Flower, who has led England an Ashes victory and a Test series draw in South Africa since formally taking over from Peter Moores in April in 2009.

"I think one of the greatest things we will get out of this is growth in our self-belief. The players should believe in themselves – because they have played some outstanding cricket."

Spinner Graeme Swann pinpointed Flower’s influence, Yardy’s selection and England’s strength in depth as key to their World Twenty20 success.

"We’ve simplified things," Swann told BBC Radio 5 live. "They’ve picked people who like hitting massive sixes and said go and hit massive sixes. We have the people with the skill to do it and they’ve been given the licence to do that.

"It’s important to have a couple of spinners in the middle of the innings. Michael Yardy has come in and been exceptional and he’s one of the main reasons why we have done so well.

"Jimmy Anderson is one of the best bowlers in the world, but he isn’t in the team. That speaks volumes for how well the team is playing and how good a squad that we have in that the four guys on the sidelines are all world-class."

Skipper Paul Collingwood does not want to return to the 50-over captaincy, meaning Andrew Strauss will lead England in the World Cup, which starts in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh on 19 February 2011.

Flower believes the handover will be "seamless", while he also acknowledged the huge part Durham all-rounder Collingwood played in making England world champions.

"He has got a lot more confident about what he is doing," said Flower. "He feels more comfortable. He has led from the front – I don’t mean his batting but in his attitude.

"He has always been a bit of a driver of the environment, because he is a nuggety Englishman who will have a go at whatever is thrown at him."

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

Thailand must step back from the brink and begin talks to end clashes between protesters and troops, the UN says.

UN rights chief Navi Pillay said Bangkok was in danger of spiralling out of control, after five days of violence which has seen 37 people killed.

She spoke a day after protesters called for UN-backed talks to end the crisis – a move rejected by the government.

A protest leader and the government’s negotiator had a five-minute phone call earlier but could not agree a truce.

Ministers say the protesters must leave their makeshift camp in the centre of Bangkok before talks can commence.

They set a deadline of 1500 local time (0800 GMT) for protesters to leave – but few of the 5,000 protesters camped in the so-called red-zone heeded the ultimatum.

The protesters insist that government troops must lift their blockade of the red-shirt camp before any negotiations.

In a statement, Ms Pillay said: "I urge leaders to set aside pride and politics for the sake of the people of Thailand.

"To prevent further loss of life, I appeal to the protesters to step back from the brink, and the security forces to exercise maximum restraint in line with the instructions given by the government."

The demonstrators, who want Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to step down, have been occupying large areas of the city since mid-March.

Sporadic outbreaks of unrest have accompanied their protest, including an attempted crackdown by security forces in April that left 25 people dead.

Violence again broke out last Thursday, and soldiers are now openly using live ammunition; sniper fire has been reported.

The authorities say they are targeting "terrorists" who have infiltrated the protesters’ ranks, but TV footage has shown unarmed protesters being shot in the streets.

While the majority of the red-shirts are conducting their protest peacefully, some have been building barricades of tyres and setting them alight. Witnesses say others are armed with guns.

Late on Monday, the two sides held what is believed to be their first direct talks since the latest unrest broke out.

The government’s chief negotiator Korbsak Sabhavasu said red-shirt leader Nattawut Saikuwa had called him and asked for a ceasefire.

But Mr Korbsak told the Associated Press news agency that nothing had been agreed.

On Monday, protests spread outside the capital with a military bus torched in Chiang Mai and demonstrations in two other northern towns.

Many of the protesters are from poor rural areas in the north, where support is still strong for former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was deposed in a 2006 coup.

The protesters say the current government is illegitimate, having come to power in a parliamentary vote after a pro-Thaksin government was forced to step down in December 2008 by a Constitutional Court ruling that it had committed electoral fraud.

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A US missionary has been convicted of trying to illegally take 33 children out of Haiti in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake in January.

The judge sentenced Laura Silsby, 40, to the time she had already spent in jail on remand, and said she was free to leave the country.

Silsby, from Idaho, was caught with nine other Americans trying to take the children into the Dominican Republic.

The other missionaries were not charged and returned to the US.

They claimed they were trying to help destitute orphans.

But it emerged that the children were not orphans. Some of the parents said they had handed them over because they thought they would get better care in US hands.

The earthquake in Haiti on 12 January killed more than 220,000 people and left more than a million homeless.

‘Praising God’

All 10 of the Americans were initially detained by the Haitian authorities, but only Silsby was charged.

Prosecutors first accused her of abducting the children, but the charge was downgraded to one of "irregular travel" – a crime which covers people smuggling.

Prosecutor Jean-Serge Joseph said she had been sentenced to three months and eight days in jail – the exact time she had spent in custody waiting for her trial.

The Associated Press reported that Silsby returned briefly to her jail cell before heading to Port-au-Prince airport.

"I’m praising God," she told an AP reporter as she waited for her flight.

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There has been a cool international response to Iran’s announcement that it will send uranium abroad for enrichment after talks with Turkey and Brazil.

The UN and Russia said the move was encouraging, but the US expressed concern at Iran’s statement that it would continue to enrich uranium.

The US and the UK said work on a UN resolution imposing more sanctions on Tehran would continue.

The West suspects Iran’s nuclear programme is aimed at making weapons.

Iran insists it is solely designed to meet its enemy needs.

Teheran hopes the new agreement – in which it would ship 1,200kg (2,645lb) of low-enriched uranium to Turkey in return for higher-grade nuclear fuel for a research reactor – would avert new sanctions.

Progress made?

In a deal brokered by Turkey and Brazil, Iran said it was prepared to move uranium within a month of its approval by the so-called Vienna Group (US, Russia, France and the IAEA).

In return, Iran says it expects to receive 120kg of more highly enriched uranium (20%) – a purity well below that used in the manufacture of nuclear weapons – within a year.

The deal does not address the central nuclear issues dealt with by successive UN Security Council resolutions – Iran’s refusal to halt its enrichment programme.

The US reacted by saying it still had serious concerns over Iran’s nuclear programme, although it did not reject the agreement.

The US is in the final stages of negotiating a fourth sanctions package with other UN Security Council members.

It said the Iranian government "must demonstrate through deeds – and not simply words – its willingness to live up to international obligations or face consequences, including sanctions".

"While it would be a positive step for Iran to transfer low-enriched uranium off of its soil as it agreed to do last October, Iran said today that it would continue its 20% enrichment, which is a direct violation of UN Security Council resolutions," said a White House statement.

Russia welcomed the deal, although President Dmitry Medvedev said further talks were needed on Iran’s nuclear programme.

‘Constructive’

Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said there had been "some important progress" in talks at the Security Council on fresh sanctions against Tehran.

The UK, for its part, said work on a UN resolution would continue until Tehran showed its intentions were peaceful.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva were at the talks in Tehran with Mr Ahmadinejad.

Crucially, Turkey and Brazil are both on the UN Security Council, and so have a vote on those sanctions.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who spent 18 hours hammering out the deal with his Brazilian and Iranian counterparts, said there was now no need for more sanctions against Iran.

"The swap deal shows that Tehran wants to open a constructive path… there is no more ground for new sanctions and pressures," he said.

Iran has been mounting a big diplomatic effort to prevent new UN sanctions; its foreign minister has visited all 15 members of the Security Council.

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

A magistrate who described two boys as "absolute scum" for vandalising Blackburn Cathedral has been warned he could face disciplinary action.

Austin Malloy has been removed from his post as chairman of the bench while he is investigated by the Judicial Office of Communications (JCO).

He criticised the two 16-year-olds at the town’s youth court after they caused £3,000 worth of damage.

The JCO said what happened was currently being investigated.

The court was told that the teenagers, who cannot be named because of their ages, wrote sexual and racist graffiti on prayer books and bent an ancient St John the Baptist cross after being invited to have a look around the cathedral.

‘Mindless act’

On sentencing them during Thursday’s hearing, he said: "This court is disgusted by the mindless destruction you have caused. Normal people would consider you absolute scum."

Both boys were fined and given supervision orders.

Mr Malloy said the other magistrates agreed with his comments, but the clerk in the court stood up and said she objected to his description of them.

The part-time magistrate, who has been on the bench for the past 18 years, said: "I have no regrets whatsoever, I made an appropriate statement about what they had done.

"It was an unprovoked, terrible mindless act."

He has received countless messages of support after discovering he had to stand down as chairman of the bench while an investigation is carried out.

He said that no date for his return as chairman of the bench has been set.

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