New MMR jab clinic in measles fight

26 April 2013 Last updated at 23:38 ET

Another health board is opening a drop-in measles vaccination clinic in south Wales later, amid warnings of a likely outbreak in north Wales.

It comes as a million pupils in England who missed MMR jabs are targeted in a catch-up campaign to curb the threat.

A drop-in clinic opens in Llanelli on Saturday, the centre of 65 cases since the beginning of the year.

Four hospitals in and around Swansea are hosting MMR drop-in vaccination clinics for a fourth weekend.

The number of cases in the Swansea-based epidemic could pass 1,000 over the weekend if current trends continue.

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Whilst I understand why people have historically had reservations about immunising their children we now have a very different situation"

End Quote Andrew Jones Director of public health for north Wales

The outbreak is centred on the Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board area - which covers Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Bridgend, southern parts of Powys and eastern parts of Carmarthenshire.

High rates of the disease have also been seen in Neath Port Talbot and north Powys.

Eighty-three of the 942 confirmed cases have needed hospital care since the outbreak began in November.

Further tests will be carried out on a 25-year-old Swansea man who died at his flat in the city while suffering from measles after post-mortem examination results were inconclusive.

Special measures to tackle the disease are also in place in Llanelli on Saturday with a drop-in centre at the town's Elizabeth Williams Clinic.

It follows a drive launched on Friday to vaccinate an estimated 4,000 schoolchildren across the three counties of neighbouring Hywel Dda Health Board area.

Health board director Teresa Owen said youngsters in all secondary schools in Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire will be offered the MMR jab.

She said: "Due to Llanelli's close proximity to the outbreak centred in Swansea the programme will begin in the east of Carmarthenshire and is due to be completed across all three counties within four weeks."

Two other health boards - Anuerin Bevan and Cardiff and Vale - have held drop-in MMR clinics on previous weekends.

Meanwhile, Public Health Wales has warned that is is "was only a matter of time" before the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board area in north Wales sees measles cases unless more children and young adults are vaccinated against the disease.

The health board has arranged vaccination sessions at all secondary schools in north Wales. Primary schools that have a vaccination rate of less than 90% are also being targeted.

Andrew Jones, director of public health for north Wales, said: "I'm worried that 10% of our young people are at risk of catching this potentially fatal disease.

"Whilst I understand why people have historically had reservations about immunising their children we now have a very different situation.

We are very vulnerable and if we wait until cases start to appear here it will be too late to prevent the spread across the north.

Epidemics

"The vaccine is safe, the needles are tiny and the jab takes seconds; it is never too late to catch up on missed jabs.''

Health officials have warned epidemics similar to the one in Swansea could occur anywhere.

A £20m catch-up campaign in England already has 1.2 million vaccines ready to go amid concerns that that a generation of children have low levels of protection against measles after the MMR scare more than a decade ago.

The campaign aims to vaccinate children yet to be protected with the MMR - measles, mumps and rubella - jab by September.

Run through GPs, schools and community groups, it will focus on children aged 10 to 16.

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Welby raps City 'entitlement' ethos

27 April 2013 Last updated at 03:26 ET

The City of London has been affected by a "culture of entitlement" at variance with what others think reasonable, the new Archbishop of Canterbury has said.

But the Most Reverend Justin Welby told the BBC business morality was in many ways much better than in the past.

He also defended his description of the UK's economic situation as a depression rather than a recession.

Asked if this had upset Number 10, the archbishop said: "Sometimes feathers get ruffled. I mean - that's life."

The archbishop - a former oil industry executive - is a member of the cross-party Banking Standards Commission.

He told BBC Radio 4's the Week in Westminster there should be exams for those who want to work in the banking industry and suggested employees could be overseen by a professional body.

He said that as banks "have the capacity to have such an impact on the wider economy" then specific training should be necessary.

"Banks are incredibly complicated things, it is one of the most demanding and complicated areas of management going. The idea that people can hold hugely responsible positions in them without any kind of formal training seems to a number of us as quite surprising."

Regional banks

He said: "I think in banking, in particular, and in the City of London, a culture of entitlement has affected a number of areas, not universally by any means, in which it seemed to disconnect from what people saw as reasonable in the rest of the world."

Archbishop Welby has proposed recapitalising a major bank and breaking it up to create regional banks.

But he declined in the radio interview with Financial Times political editor George Parker to name which institution he had in mind.

Archbishop Welby noted that economic activity had been "significantly below" the levels of 2007 for "quite a long time".

He said he did not know whether his use of the term "depression" had annoyed "people in Number 10".

"Historically, depressions have been recognised as lengthy periods in which the economy did not get back to its previous level of activity before a recession set in," he said.

"So 1929 to 1932 is the great example. There was a big one towards the end of the 19th Century.

"We are still significantly below where we were in 2007 in terms of economic activity, of GDP, and that's quite a long time of being below.

"Now, I'm not pointing any fingers at anyone in particular and saying it's so-and-so's fault or so-and-so's fault, it's simply a measurable fact coming from the national statistics."

'Social implications'

The archbishop acknowledged that part of his mission may be to inject "more morality" into the City of London.

He said: "My key mission is to lead the Church in worshipping Jesus Christ and encouraging people to believe in him and follow him. That's my mission.

"The Christian gospel has always had strong social implications and one of them is around the common good and it's one of the key areas in which the Church of England focuses.

"So issues of how the City of London, which is so important and so full of very gifted people, how that behaves in relation to the common good is very key, not to the whole thing that I'm about or the Church is about, but to how we express the implications of that in day to day life."

Parker said the archbishop could have withdrawn from the banking commission when he took up his role, but opted to stay involved. He now had three "pulpits" - the Church, the House of Lords and the banking commission.

BBC political correspondent Ross Hawkins says the cities of London and Westminster are growing used to an archbishop who produces plans for restructuring financial services and a regular commentary on economic growth.

The interview can be heard on the Week in Westminster on BBC Radio 4 at 11:00 BST on Saturday 27 April

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American faces trial in North Korea

27 April 2013 Last updated at 05:49 ET

A US citizen will be tried soon on charges including attempting to overthrow North Korea's government, the North's official news agency says.

KCNA says that Pae Jun-Ho has admitted the charges, without specifying when the verdict will be handed down.

Pae Jun-Ho, who is known in the US as Kenneth Bae, was held last year after entering North Korea as a tourist.

His case comes at a time of high tension between Pyongyang and Washington.

This follows North Korea's third nuclear test in February.

'Proved by evidence'

"The preliminary inquiry into crimes committed by American citizen Pae Jun-Ho closed," the KCNA said in a report on Saturday.

"In the process of investigation he admitted that he committed crimes aimed to topple the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) with hostility toward it.

"His crimes were proved by evidence," the report added. "He will soon be taken to the Supreme Court of the DPRK to face judgement."

Continue reading the main story

For North Korea, Bae is a bargaining chip in dealing with the US "

End Quote Koh Yu-hwan Dongguk University, Seoul

It is not clear what sort of sanction Mr Pae, 44, might face, although North Korea's criminal code provides for life imprisonment or the death penalty for similar offences.

North Korea has arrested several US citizens in recent years, including journalists and Christians accused of proselytism. They have been released after intervention by senior American public figures.

Mr Pae, believed to be a tour operator of Korean descent, is the sixth American detained in North Korea since 2009.

Former Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter as well as former UN Ambassador Bill Richardson have all been involved in mediation efforts to gain the release of previous American detainees.

Industrial complex

In one of the most high-profile cases, Mr Clinton negotiated the release in 2009 of two US journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, who had been found guilty of entering North Korea illegally.

"For North Korea, Bae is a bargaining chip in dealing with the US," Koh Yu-hwan, a professor of North Korean Studies at Dongguk University in Seoul told Associated Press news agency.

"The North will use him in a way that helps bring the US to talks when the mood slowly turns toward dialogue,'' he said.

Mr Pae was reportedly arrested in November after arriving in Rason - a special economic zone in the north-east of the country near the Russian border.

Washington has so far not publicly commented on the latest development.

The US and North Korea do not have diplomatic relations. The Swedish embassy in Pyongyang represents the US.

In a further sign of the continuing tension on the Korean peninsula, South Korea has begun withdrawing its remaining workers from the Kaesong joint industrial zone in North Korea.

The complex, once considered a symbol of reconciliation, lies just north of the military demarcation line dividing the two Koreas.

South Korean officials said 126 people had left, with the final 48 expected home by Monday.

North Korea has already withdrawn its 53,000 workers and blocked access to the zone in response to joint South Korean and US military exercises.

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First Dreamliner flight lands safely

27 April 2013 Last updated at 05:57 ET

An Ethiopian Airlines 787 Dreamliner has flown from Addis Ababa to Nairobi, the first commercial flight by the Boeing aircraft since all 787s were grounded in January.

The 50 planes around the world were grounded due to battery malfunctions that saw one 787 catch fire in the US.

Over the past week teams of Boeing engineers have been fitting new batteries to the aircraft.

This was after aviation authorities approved the revamped battery design.

The Ethiopian Airlines plane took off at 09:45 local time (07:45 GMT) and landed in Nairobi, Kenya, some two hours later.

Engineering team

Each 787 has two of the lithium-ion batteries which caused problems.

In addition to new versions of the batteries which run at a much cooler temperature, the batteries are now enclosed in stainless steel boxes.

These boxes have a ventilation pipe that goes directly to the outside of the plane. Boeing says this means than in the unlikely event of any future fire or smoke, it would not affect the rest of the aircraft.

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The two-hour flight from Addis Ababa in Ethiopia to Nairobi in Kenya is not normally a flight that would make headline news around the world.

But this journey is special, because it should mark the end of an incredibly damaging chapter for Boeing's flagship airliner.

I'll be talking to passengers on board the flight, and it'll be fascinating to see how they feel about flying on a plane that was grounded across the globe only last January after one battery caught fire and another overheated, forcing an emergency landing.

Boeing and its customers, who include British Airways, Virgin and Thomson, will be desperate to put the whole episode behind them.

Boeing said it put 200,000 engineer hours into fixing the problem, with staff working round the clock.

On Thursday, the US Federal Aviation Administration issued a formal "air worthiness" directive allowing revamped 787s to fly.

Japanese airlines, which have been the biggest customers for the new-generation aircraft, are expected to begin test flights on Sunday.

A total of 300 Boeing engineers, pooled into 10 teams, have in the past week been fitting the new batteries and their containment systems around the world.

Boeing is expected to complete repairs on all 50 of the grounded Dreamliners by the middle of May.

In addition to the Dreamliners in service with airlines, Boeing has upgraded the 787s it has continued to make at its factory in Seattle since January.

The Dreamliner entered service in 2011. Half of the plane is made from lightweight composite materials, making it more fuel efficient than other planes of the same size.

The two lithium-ion batteries are not used when the 787 is in flight.

They are operational when the plane is on the ground and its engines are not turned on, and are used to power the aircraft's brakes and lights.

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Boeing engineer Rich Horigan explains how the battery problem was fixed

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Hen party crash victims 'critical'

27 April 2013 Last updated at 06:30 ET

Eight women are still in a critical condition after a crash on the M62 involving a minibus of hen partygoers.

One woman was killed and 20 others injured when the bus was in collision with a lorry on Friday morning, near junction 32 at Castleford.

The victim who died at the scene of the accident has been named by police as Bethany Jones, 18, from Pontefract.

West Yorkshire Police said the lorry driver, arrested on suspicion of death by dangerous driving, has been bailed.

Crews from West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, said it was the worst crash they had seen in years.

Staff from five stations attended the scene and found the minibus on its side.

Patients were treated at the scene before being taken to hospitals including Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield and Leeds General Infirmary.

At one stage six air ambulance were involved in dealing with casualties at the scene.

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Arrests over Dhaka building collapse

27 April 2013 Last updated at 07:44 ET

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The BBC's Anbarasan Ethirajan in Dhaka says rescuers and volunteers worked through the night

Two owners of garment factories in the building that collapsed on the outskirts of the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka have surrendered to police.

Mahbubur Rahman Tapas and Balzul Samad Adnan are suspected of forcing staff to work in the eight-storey building, ignoring warnings about cracks.

At least 336 people are known to have died after the Rana Plaza in the suburb of Savar collapsed on Wednesday.

On Saturday morning, at least 24 more people were rescued from the rubble.

Rescuers and volunteers, who worked through the night, cheered as they were brought to safety.

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I have just seen a woman pulled alive from deep inside the rubble of the Rana Plaza, four days since this huge garment factory complex collapsed.

She was crying as she emerged into the light on what was once the roof of the building. Rescuers shouted Allahu Akbar (God is great) as she was brought up on a rope and then carried away on a stretcher.

Emergency personnel say up to 14 more people are still trapped on what was the fifth floor of the building and work is under way to free them.

Hundreds of volunteers are still helping army and emergency services. Bodies are also still being retrieved from this massive tangle of concrete and metal.

There have been more clashes with police and protesters near the site as anger simmers over the disaster.

We passed dozens of riot police on the drive here, some were guarding other nearby garment factories following attacks on several others.

Earlier, rescue teams said they had located about 40 survivors on the collapsed third and fifth floors of the building.

Officials said they were working to extricate the remaining survivors and had passed oxygen cylinders and water to those still trapped.

More bodies of victims were also retrieved overnight and on Saturday morning.

Some 3,000 people are believed to have been working in the building at the time of the collapse and about 600 are still missing.

Watching the operation are hundreds of relatives of those still missing, many clutching photographs of their loved ones.

Abul Basar wept as he awaited news of his wife who worked in one of the garment factories.

"My son says that his mother will come back some day, she must return," he cried.

'Negligence'

Mr Tapas and Mr Adnan, the owners of the New Wave Buttons and New Wave Style factories, turned themselves in to police in the early hours of Saturday.

Deputy chief of Dhaka police Shyami Mukherjee said the two were accused of causing "death due to negligence", according the AFP news agency.

The owners reportedly told their employees to return to work on Wednesday, even though cracks were visible in the building a day earlier.

Three other clothing factories were reportedly operating in the building.

Police are also questioning two municipal engineers who are reported to have approved the safety of the building a day before it collapsed.

The owner of Rana Plaza, Mohammed Sohel Rana, is said to have gone into hiding.

"Those who're involved, especially the owner who forced the workers to work there, will be punished," Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina told lawmakers on Friday.

"Wherever he is, he will be found and brought to justice," the prime minister added.

There is widespread anger in Bangladesh over the disaster and fresh clashes between police and protesters erupted again on Saturday.

On Friday, police used tear-gas and rubber bullets to break up crowds that had blocked roads, set fire to buses and attacked textile factories.

Protesters are demanding that the government arrests all those responsible for the disaster and improves conditions for garment workers.

Police are guarding other garment factories in the area.

Bangladesh has one of the largest garment industries in the world, providing cheap clothing for major Western retailers that benefit from its widespread low-cost labour.

But the industry has been widely criticised for its low pay and limited rights given to workers and for the often dangerous working conditions in garment factories.

Primark, a clothes retailer with a large presence in Britain, confirmed that one of its suppliers was on the second floor of the Rana Plaza, and said it would work with other retailers to review standards.

Labour rights groups say the companies have a moral duty to ensure their suppliers are providing safe conditions for their employees.

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Armed drones operated from Britain

27 April 2013 Last updated at 07:52 ET

Armed drone aircraft have been operated remotely from Britain for the first time, the Ministry of Defence has said.

It said Reaper drones had flown missions controlled from RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire, where campaign groups are holding a protest rally against the practice.

The MoD said it respected people's rights to protest peacefully.

The drones are mainly used for surveillance, but could use weapons if commanded to by their pilots in the UK.

Campaigners say the switching of control of flights to the UK marks a "critical expansion in the nation's drones programme".

They are calling on the government to abandon the use of drones, claiming they make it easier for politicians to launch military interventions, and have increased civilian casualties.

The MoD has defended their use in Afghanistan, saying it has saved the lives of countless military personnel and civilians.

The 10 Reaper aircraft are all based in Afghanistan to support UK and coalition forces and can carry 500lb bombs and Hellfire missiles for strikes on insurgents.

They are piloted remotely, but launched and landed with human help at Kandahar airbase.

BBC defence correspondent Caroline Wyatt says the "overwhelming majority" of missions the British drones are used for involve surveillance.

Continue reading the main story

Analysis

The RAF is not keen on the term "drone". It prefers the use of "Remotely Piloted Air Systems", RPAS, to make clear that these are not autonomous systems: they still need a human being to fly and command the mission - and crucially, decide whether or not to use weapons, and whether a strike can take place under the UK's rules of engagement.

But drones are playing an increasingly important role in air warfare and air support, with many saying the Joint Strike Fighter - currently being developed in the US - is likely to be the last manned fighter aircraft bought by the UK.

After that, there will be no more "magnificent men in their flying machines".

She says the MoD told her British drones are not being used for targeted assassinations, unlike the Predator drones used by the US in places such as Pakistan.

Estimates suggest CIA drone attacks in Pakistan killed up to 3,533 people between 2004 and 2013.

About 890 of them were civilians and the vast majority of strikes were carried out under President Barack Obama's administration, according to research by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism.

Earlier this year the UN launched an inquiry into the impact on civilians of drone strikes and other targeted killings, saying a proper legal framework was required to provide accountability.

The MoD says that when weapons are used, the same rules of engagement are followed that govern the use of weapons on manned aircraft.

Previously, RAF personnel would control the drones from Creech Air Force Base, in Nevada, US.

In October last year, the RAF created 13 Squadron based at RAF Waddington south of Lincoln, where about 100 personnel include pilots, systems operators and engineers that control missions over Afghanistan.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

They present an aerial occupation, almost a form of collective punishment, that causes huge concern and distress to people living in those communities"

End Quote Kat Craig Reprieve

In a statement issued on Thursday, the RAF said it had commenced supporting the International Security Assistance Force and Afghan ground troops with "armed intelligence and surveillance missions" remotely piloted from RAF Waddington.

Air Vice Marshall Sir John Walker, a former chief of defence intelligence, said "having a capability like the drones on the order of battle can only be a good thing" because they could help troops on the ground who are in trouble, if necessary.

Speaking on Radio 4's Today programme, he likened drones to Polaris submarines which, he said, provided an effective nuclear deterrent without being used.

He said terrorists in parts of Afghanistan operate in "a condition of sanctuary", prompting him to ask: "How are you going to get them without something like a drone approach?"

Meanwhile, Kat Craig, legal director of human rights charity Reprieve, said the use of drones was a blight on the communities the drones monitor.

"The nature of drones means they hover above communities 24 hours a day, seven days a week," she said.

She went on: "They present an aerial occupation, almost a form of collective punishment, that causes huge concern and distress to people living in those communities.

"In addition to the terrorising of populations that we see living under drones, there is real concern about the accuracy of the targeting."

Several anti-war groups including CND, War on Want, the Drone Campaign Network, and the Stop the War coalition are holding a march and rally outside RAF Waddington on Saturday.

Between 200 and 300 people are thought to have attended the demonstration, according to the BBC's Look North team.

Chris Nineham, vice-chairman of the Stop the War Coalition, said: "I think people feel that there is something sinister and disturbing about the idea that someone can attack a foreign country thousands of miles away with, simply, the push of a button and this technology that is being introduced is giving carte blanche to governments to fight wars behind the backs of people with no public scrutiny or accountability.

"That's the fundamental problem."

The route of the march, from South Common along the A15 to the peace camp site opposite RAF Waddington, involves road closures in phases to limit inconvenience to motorists.

An MoD spokesman said: "We fully respect people's right to protest peacefully and within the law and would do nothing to prevent members of the public exercising their right to peaceful protest.

"Nevertheless, we have a duty to protect public property, and to ensure that we meet our operational needs.

"The MoD has a duty to maintain security at all defence installations and uses all lawful means to do so, including the right to seek injunctions against any person who persists in trespassing on MoD property."

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Measles jab plan targets 1m children

25 April 2013 Last updated at 04:40 ET By James Gallagher Health and science reporter, BBC News

One million schoolchildren in England who missed MMR jabs are to be targeted by a vaccination plan aimed at curbing the growing threat of measles.

Health officials warn epidemics similar to the one in Swansea, which has seen nearly 942 cases, could occur anywhere.

There are fears that a generation of children have low levels of protection after the MMR scare a decade ago.

The catch-up campaign, run through GPs, schools and community groups, will focus on children aged 10 to 16.

The campaign is expected to cost £20m and the Department of Health already has 1.2 million vaccines ready to go.

It will aim to vaccinate children yet to be protected with the MMR - measles, mumps and rubella - jab by September.

Measles is a highly contagious disease characterised by a high fever and a rash. In one in 15 cases it can lead to severe complications, such as pneumonia and inflammation of the brain, and can be fatal.

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In 2012, there were nearly 2,000 cases of measles in England - the highest figure for nearly two decades.

This year could be another record with cases already higher than at the same point last year.

Discredited research

Children aged between 10 and 16 are the most likely to have missed jabs when research linked MMR with autism and caused vaccination rates to plummet. The research has since been discredited.

Continue reading the main story

Analysis

Travel back in time to the mid-90s and measles was not a worry. It had been effectively eradicated in the UK with cases only coming from abroad.

It seems remarkable that two decades later such campaigns are needed.

Discredited claims by Andrew Wakefield of a link between MMR and autism led to vaccination rates falling to 80% by 2005, far below the level needed to prevent the spread of the disease.

Those unvaccinated children are now entering a vulnerable period in their lives as they move to secondary school.

It is a significant moment as mixing with far more pupils significantly increases the risk of infection.

Being older also means the dangers of complications will be higher.

Vaccination rates have since recovered to record levels. It suggests measles will be confined to the Wakefield generation and not be a long-term problem.

The most urgent need for vaccination is in the third-of-a-million completely unprotected children in that age group. They should be given their first MMR jab before the next school year and a booster jab later.

A similar number of children who had only their first MMR vaccine will be targeted with their booster.

The aim is to give a further third-of-a-million children in other age groups, who are not totally protected, their vaccines as well.

Prof David Salisbury, the director of immunisation at the Department of Health, said parents needed to act to prevent outbreaks on their doorstep.

"Swansea is the wake-up call for parents and it tells us just how infectious measles is - it just spreads like wildfire.

"If you think your child has not had one or even two doses of MMR, for goodness' sake contact your GP and get it sorted out.

"The message from Swansea is very clear and it is trivialised at the risk of your children's health."

Similar plans are already under way in Wales.

Both Scotland and Northern Ireland maintained relatively high MMR uptake but NHS boards in Scotland are to write to parents of all unvaccinated or partially vaccinated children aged 10 to 17 with an invitation to attend for vaccination over the next few weeks.

Danger zones

Figures from Public Health England show there have been 587 confirmed cases of measles in the first three months of 2013.

Measles outbreak: In graphics

A fifth of cases needed hospital treatment and 15 people developed complications such as pneumonia, meningitis and gastroenteritis.

The cases were mostly in the north-east and north-west of England, even though the north of the country generally maintained high levels of vaccination at the height of the MMR scare.

Dr Mary Ramsay, head of immunisation at Public Health England, said: "We have potential for school outbreaks in many areas of the country.

Continue reading the main story

Mandatory vaccination

Scientist Dr Craig Venter, who was one of the first to sequence the human genome, has called for all unvaccinated children to be banned from school.

He told the Times that said such children were a "hazard to society".

It echoes calls Dr Paul Offit, a US-based measles expert, that vaccination should be mandatory.

He says such a policy, which can affect school admittance and job offers in the US, had prevented similar outbreaks there.

It is not compulsory as people can object on health, philosophical and religious grounds.

A similar scheme is not expected in the UK and schools cannot independently choose to exclude those who have not been vaccinated.

"The areas most likely to be affected would be London and the south and east of the country, where we know that the historical coverage was not as high."

Prof Salisbury said he worried about London because of the high density of people, who were rapidly moving.

He warned that children who received single jabs, instead of the combined MMR, may also need additional protection as there had been "major problems" with the quality and storage of some of the vaccines handed out.

He added that nobody should be considering single jabs now.

Dr Paul Cosford, the director for health protection at Public Health England, said: "Although nationally the numbers needing catch-up vaccination is quite large, there are relatively few in each local area.

"We are confident that local teams have the resources to identify and vaccinate those children most at risk."

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Imaginary portraitist up for Turner

25 April 2013 Last updated at 05:01 ET

A portrait painter, whose subjects are imaginary, is one of four artists in contention for the 2013 Turner Prize.

Lynette Yiadom-Boakye joins French installation artist Laure Prouvost, Britain's David Shrigley and the British-German performance artist Tino Sehgal on this year's shortlist.

This year's Turner exhibition will be held at Ebrington in Derry-Londonderry, 2013's UK City of Culture.

The winner - who will receive £25,000 - will be announced on 2 December.

The other shortlisted artists will each receive £5,000.

Established in 1984, the Turner Prize is awarded to a contemporary artist under 50, living, working or born in Britain, who is judged to have put on the best exhibition of the last 12 months.

Previous winners include Damien Hirst, Antony Gormley and last year's recipient, the video artist Elizabeth Price.

Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, who lives and works in London, is shortlisted for her Extracts and Verses exhibition at the Chisenhale Gallery.

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Born in 1977, she attended Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, Falmouth College of Arts and the Royal Academy Schools.

According to the prize's organisers, Yiadom-Boakye's "intriguing" paintings "appear traditional but are in fact much more innovative".

"Her portraits of imaginary people use invented pre-histories and raise pertinent questions about how we read pictures in general, particularly with regard to black subjects."

Yiadom-Boakye is of Ghanaian descent and is the first black woman to be in contention for the award.

Glasgow-based David Shrigley is best known for his humorous line drawings, but also makes sculptures, photographs, paintings and animated films.

His work, which combines jokes and commentary, can be found on greetings cards, in books and in magazines, as well as in galleries.

His words have been used in recordings by David Byrne and Franz Ferdinand and he directed the video for Blur's 2009 track Good Song.

Born in Macclesfield in 1968, Shrigley is shortlisted for his solo exhibition Brain Activity, at London's Hayward Gallery.

The exhibition, said the Turner Prize organisers, was a "comprehensive overview" that revealed "his black humour, macabre intelligence and infinite jest".

Born in Lille in 1978, Laure Prouvost won the fourth Max Mara art prize for women in 2011 for her short films and installation work.

Based in London, she is shortlisted for her new work Wantee, featured in Tate Britain's Schwitters in Britain exhibition, and her two-part Max Mara art prize installation.

Her "unique" approach to film-making, said organisers, "employs strong story-telling, quick cuts, montage and deliberate misuse of language to create surprising and unpredictable work".

Born in 1976 and based in Berlin, Tino Sehgal has been shortlisted for his "pioneering" projects This Variation and These Associations.

The latter, staged last year at Tate Modern in London, invited the public to interact with volunteers in a "live installation" staged in the gallery's expansive Turbine Hall.

"Both structured and improvised, Seghal's intimate works consist purely of live encounters between people and demonstrate a keen sensitivity to their institutional context," said organisers.

"Through participatory means, they test the limits of artistic material and audience perception in a new and significant way."

This year's jury is chaired by Tate Britain director Penelope Curtis and includes the curator Annie Fletcher and the writer and lecturer Declan Long.

Long said the each of the four shortlisted artists represented "remarkable developments" in art.

"There's so much range here, it's fantastic," he told the BBC's arts editor Will Gompertz.

It is the first time the Turner Prize exhibition has ever been held outside England.

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Economy avoids triple-dip recession

25 April 2013 Last updated at 06:22 ET

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Chancellor George Osborne called the latest GDP figures "encouraging" and defended his austerity measures

The UK economy has avoided falling back into a recession after recording faster-than-expected growth in the first three months of the year.

The Office for National Statistics said its first estimate for gross domestic product (GDP) showed the economy grew 0.3% during the first quarter of 2013.

Chancellor George Osborne said it was an "encouraging sign".

But the shadow chancellor, Ed Balls, said that the economy was "just back to where it was six months ago".

The growth in GDP means the economy avoided two consecutive quarters of contraction - the definition of a recession. There had been fears the UK would enter its third recession in five years, a so-called triple-dip recession.

Economists say the news should give a small psychological boost to consumers and businesses, but the broader picture of the economy remains the same.

The UK economy has been on a plateau since the financial crisis hit in 2008, with small spurts of growth and contraction.

'Making progress'

The better-than-expected rise in GDP for the first quarter was largely down to strong growth in the services sector and a recovery in North Sea oil and gas output.

The ONS figures also showed that GDP had risen by 0.6% when compared with the first quarter of 2012, the strongest year-on-year increase since the end of 2011.

Chancellor George Osborne said: "Today's figures are an encouraging sign the economy is healing. Despite a tough economic backdrop, we are making progress. The deficit is down by a third, businesses have created over a million and a quarter new jobs, and interest rates are at record lows.

"We all know there are no easy answers to problems built up over many years, and I can't promise the road ahead will always be smooth, but by continuing to confront our problems head on, Britain is recovering and we are building an economy fit for the future," he added.

Matt Basi, from CMC Markets UK, said: "Growth of 0.3% is hardly cause for celebration, but may ease some of the pressure that has been piling on the government's austerity plans."

The chancellor has faced calls from the International Monetary Fund to rethink the pace of the austerity programme.

But the government insists its austerity measures are vital to bringing down borrowing, and guarantee growth in the long-term.

Poor growth has already led to two international credit rating agencies stripping the UK of its top-notch triple-A rating.

Continue reading the main story

There were no doubt sighs of relief in the chancellor's office when these figures arrived 24 hours ago ahead of today's publication.

Growth of 0.3% is not much to write home about and there may be revisions in the light of subsequent data.

The overall picture, according to the ONS, is a flat economy. But the growth number was above expectations and there were no special factors like the Olympic effect to flatter the figures.

The dominant services sector provided much of the impetus, including a strong bounce-back for retail, hotels and restaurants.

In the end the cold weather proved to be no hindrance because North Sea oil and gas output was boosted to keep up with higher demand. Construction and manufacturing, however, were weaker.

After a difficult week with criticisms from the IMF and ahead of the Fund's visit to the UK next month, the chancellor will be grateful to have some growth to report.

Shadow chancellor Ed Balls said: "If we're to have a strong and sustained recovery, and catch up all the ground we have lost over the last few years, we need urgent action to kick-start our economy and strengthen it for the long-term - as Labour and the IMF have warned."

He added: "We need radical bank reform and a jobs and growth plan, including building thousands of affordable homes and a compulsory jobs guarantee for the long term unemployed. And instead of a tax cut for millionaires, we need a lower 10p starting rate of tax to ease the squeeze on millions of people on middle and low incomes."

Strong services

The pound rose nearly 1% to $1.5414 against the US dollar on the news, its highest point in two months.

The services sector, which accounts for three-quarters of the economy, grew by 0.6% in the quarter, with a strong performance from hotels and restaurants.

Transport and communications also made a solid contribution with growth of 1.4%.

But there were some areas of continuing weakness. Construction activity fell 2.5% in the first quarter and remains more than 18% lower than it was before the start of the financial crisis in 2008.

Phil Orford, the chief executive at the Forum of Private Business said: "While the service sector looks to have led the way, the construction industry figure is more worrying, and shows the need to get projects moving at a quicker pace."

The size of the economy as a whole remains 2.6% below its pre-crisis peak.

"The recovery still faces significant obstacles ahead, with households still experiencing falling real pay and policymakers still struggling to get bank lending to rise," said Vicky Redwood, UK economist at Capital Economics.

"Today's figure offers some hope that things might finally be starting to move in the right direction again."

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Teenager wins police custody ruling

25 April 2013 Last updated at 07:14 ET

A teenager has successfully challenged the policy of treating 17-year-olds in police custody as adults, not children.

The High Court ruled the policy was "incompatible" with human rights law. Under-17s are given greater protection.

The case was brought by Hughes Cousins-Chang, now 18, who had been kept in custody for 12 hours and strip-searched before being released on police bail.

The ruling follows the deaths of two 17-year-olds who killed themselves after getting into trouble with police.

Joe Lawton of Stockport and Edward Thornber of Didsbury, both Greater Manchester, had been arrested and treated as adults.

According to the Home Office, every year 75,000 17-year-olds are taken into police custody.

Robbery arrest

Those aged 16 and under are entitled to contact their parents or seek advice and assistance from an independent "appropriate adult".

In his ruling on Thursday, Lord Justice Moses, sitting with Mr Justice Kenneth Parker, said:

"I conclude that it is inconsistent with the rights of the claimant and his mother, enshrined in Article 8 (of the European Convention on Human Rights) for the secretary of state to treat 17-year-olds as adults when in detention."

To do so "disregards the definition" of a child in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the "preponderance of legislation affecting children and justice", the judge said.

Continue reading the main story

Obviously we are delighted that some good has come out of it, but it's not going to bring Joe or Edward back"

End Quote Ann Thornber

Mr Cousins-Chang - who had never been any trouble with the police before - brought the challenge with the help of his uncle Christopher Chang.

Now 18 years old, the court lifted an anonymity order on Mr Cousins-Chang following the ruling.

He was arrested four weeks after his 17th birthday, on 19 April 2012 on suspicion of the robbery of a mobile phone on a bus.

His mother, Carrlean Chang, was not aware of his arrest for more than four hours, after the police had denied his request for her to be contacted.

When she did arrive at Battersea Police Station, she was not allowed to speak to her son.

The teenager, from Tulse Hill in south London, was finally released almost 12 hours later and was informed by letter a month after his arrest that his bail would be cancelled. He was not charged.

'Stop the devastation'

A Home Office spokesman said the government accepts the court's judgment and "will consider the next steps we should take to implement the changes".

Joe Lawton's parents said he would "still be here today" if he had received their support when he was taken into custody for drinking and driving,

Edward's mother, Ann Thornber, also welcomed the verdict. Her son took his own life after being summoned to court when he was caught smoking cannabis.

She said: "Obviously we are delighted that some good has come out of it, but it's not going to bring Joe or Edward back.

"If it can stop another family going through the devastation we have been through, there has to be something positive."

A number of charities that had pushed for the reforms were pleased with the verdict and have called for them to be implemented as soon as possible.

The director of Just for Kids Law, Shauneen Lambe said: "Our pressing concern is how this protection can be implemented to protect 17-year-olds from today.

"We have asked the Home Secretary to issue immediate guidance to police forces around the country before she begins her consultation.

"We would be happy to assist in the drafting of this. We are of course anxious to make sure another tragedy doesn't happen in the interim."

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Frantic search for Dhaka survivors

25 April 2013 Last updated at 07:45 ET

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A man trapped in the rubble of the collapsed building in Dhaka

A search for survivors is continuing at a building which collapsed in a suburb of the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, killing at least 200 people.

Rescue workers are working with volunteers to free survivors trapped inside the remains of the building.

Tens of thousands of weeping family members have gathered at the site.

Police said the factory owners had ignored warnings not to allow their workers into the building after cracks were noticed on Tuesday.

The High Court has summoned the building owner and senior management staff of the factories to appear before judges on 30 April, local media report.

The factory owners are said to have gone into hiding.

Police earlier confirmed that cases had been filed against the building owner and the owners of the factories for causing unlawful death.

The exact number of those trapped is not clear, but accounts from survivors and eyewitnesses suggest there may be hundreds still unaccounted for.

The disaster has prompted questions over Bangladesh's chronically poor safety standards.

Bangladesh has one of the largest garment industries in the world, providing cheap clothing for major Western retailers which benefit from its widespread low-cost labour.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has announced a national day of mourning on Thursday in memory of the victims.

Thousands of garment workers in other areas of Dhaka have taken to the streets and blocked roads to protest at the deaths of the workers in Savar.

'Like a pancake'

Some 2,000 people were in the Rana Plaza building in Savar, some 30km (20 miles) outside Dhaka, when it collapsed suddenly on Wednesday morning.

Firefighters and soldiers joined volunteers in the effort to locate survivors in the mangled wreckage of concrete and steel.

Rescue workers and volunteers have been using heavy machinery and their bare hands to free survivors.

Continue reading the main story

• Nov 2012 - More than 100 workers die in a fire at a factory in Dhaka suburb of Tazreen
• March 2012 - More than 100 people die as a ferry collides with an oil tanker and sinks
• June 2010 - Four-storey building in Dhaka caves in, killing at least 25 people
• April 2005 A garment factory collapses in Savar, killing 73 people
• May 2002 - Up to 500 people die when a river ferry sinks during a storm

Trapped workers can be heard inside the rubble, screaming for help. Food and water is being passed to survivors through gaps in the the rubble.

Lengths of textile that were earlier being cut into garments - many destined for Western consumers - were now being used as makeshift slides to evacuate survivors and corpses.

Mosammat Khursida told the Associated Press (AP) news agency she was looking for her husband.

"He came to work in the morning. I can't find him," she said. "I don't know where he is. He does not pick up his phone."

Lines of relatives filed by numbered bodies of victims, looking for their family members.

"Save us brother. I beg you brother. I want to live... It's so painful here ... I have two little children," Mohammad Altab, a garment worker trapped in the building told rescuers, according to AP.

Only the ground floor of the building remained intact, officials said.

"The whole building collapsed like a pancake within minutes. Most workers did not have any chance to escape," national fire department chief Ahmed Ali told AFP news agency.

Local hospitals were overwhelmed with the arrival of more than 1,000 injured people.

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Bangladeshi factory worker: "In one minute everything collapsed"

Speaking at the scene, Home Minister Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir said the building had violated construction codes and "the culprits would be punished".

There are reports that the building owner had illegally added three extra stories to the building.

'Catch-22'

In November, a fire at a garment factory in the Dhaka suburb of Tazreen drew international attention to working conditions in Bangladesh's textile industry.

Primark, a clothes retailer with a large presence in Britain, confirmed that one of its suppliers was on the second floor of the Rana Plaza.

It said it was "shocked and deeply saddened by the appalling incident" and that it would work with other retailers to review standards.

Discount giant Wal-Mart - which was found to be sourcing products from the Tazreen factory - said it was still trying to establish whether its goods were being produced at the Rana Plaza.

"We remain committed and are actively engaged in promoting stronger safety measures, and that work continues,'' said Wal-Mart spokesman Kevin Gardner.

A company called New Wave, with two factories in the building, supplies firms from around Europe, the US and Canada.

Meanwhile, Spanish retailer Mango said it had not been using any of the suppliers in the building but had been in talks with one of them to produce a batch of test products.

Edward Hertzman, a textiles broker based in New York, told Reuters news agency that pressure from US retailers to keep costs down was in part responsible for unsafe conditions.

"Bangladesh is the longest lead-time country and a difficult country to work in, so the only way it becomes competitive is by offering the lowest [cost]. That's the catch-22," he said.

"If the factories want to raise prices to make up for rising wages and costs, the buyers say: 'Oh why do we want to go to Bangladesh if I could go to China, Pakistan, Cambodia etc for a similar price?"

He said if Western companies really wanted safety standards to improve, they would have to accept that they needed to start paying higher prices.

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Papers reject press Royal Charter

25 April 2013 Last updated at 08:20 ET

The newspaper industry is to reject cross-party press regulation plans, and will publish proposals for self-regulation backed by royal charter.

The three main political parties agreed to a royal charter last month in response to Lord Justice Leveson's report on press standards and ethics.

They said an independent watchdog would be set up by Royal Charter with powers to issue fines and demand apologies.

But newspapers argue that they had no say in the final discussions.

According to a statement released by the Newspaper Society on behalf of the national and local newspaper industry, the industry said the royal charter published by the government on 18 March had been condemned by a "range of international media freedom organisations" and enjoys "no support within the press" in the UK.

"A number of its recommendations are unworkable and it gives politicians an unacceptable degree of interference in the regulation of the press," warned the statement.

The industry's proposal is closely based on the draft royal charter published on 12 February following negotiations with national and local newspapers and magazines.

The statement described it as "a workable, practical way to swiftly deliver the Leveson recommendations, which the industry accepts, without any form of state-sponsored regulation that would endanger freedom of speech".

The statement said the new proposal has "widespread backing across the industry".

Those who arranged the response said all national papers apart from the Guardian and Independent were signed up.

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Google offers clearer search labels

25 April 2013 Last updated at 08:15 ET

Google has agreed to alter its search results in the light of a European investigation into whether it unfairly promoted its own services.

The firm said that it will more clearly label results from YouTube, Google Maps and its other sites.

It also agreed to display links to rivals close to where it displayed its own services on its results page.

EU regulators are asking for feedback and have proposed that the concessions be tested for a month.

If the European Commission accepts them, they will become legally binding for the next five years.

As part of the agreement, Google will clearly separate promoted links from other web search results as well as displaying links to three specialised search rivals "close to its own services in a place that is clearly visible to users".

"The objective of this process is to try to see if we can achieve a settled outcome in this antitrust investigation," said Commission spokesman Antoine Colombani.

But the Microsoft-backed lobby group Initiative for a Competitive Marketplace (Icomp) was not convinced the changes went far enough.

"It is clear that mere labelling is not any kind of solution to the competition concerns that have been identified. Google should implement the same ranking policy to all websites," it said.

It added it would comment further once it had fully evaluated the proposals.

Dominant in Europe

Other concessions being offered by Google include:

• To offer all websites the option to opt out from the use of all their content in Google's search services, while ensuring that any opt-out does not "unduly" affect the sites' ranking in its general results
• To offer specialised search sites which focus on product search or local search the option to mark certain categories of information so that they are not indexed or used by Google
• To no longer include in its agreements with publishers any written or unwritten obligations that would require them to source online search advertisements exclusively from Google
• To no longer restrict advertisers from running search advertising campaigns across rival ad platforms

An earlier US Federal Trade Commission investigation into how Google displayed links to its services concluded there was no competition issue.

Explaining why it took a different view the Commission said: "Bing and Yahoo represent a substantial alternative to Google in web searches in the USA; their combined market share is around 30%. In contrast, Google has been holding market shares well above 90% in most European countries."

"The way Google presents its web search results therefore has a much more significant impact on users and on the competitive process in Europe than it does in the USA."

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Lloyds' Co-op deal falls through

24 April 2013 Last updated at 04:28 ET

The planned sale of 631 UK bank branches by Lloyds Banking Group to the Co-op group has fallen through.

The Co-op blamed the continued economic downturn and tougher regulatory environment imposed on banks.

Lloyds said it will now seek to sell the branches as a stand-alone bank through a stock market listing.

It had been hoped that the Co-op's purchase of the branches would create a bigger competitor to the main high street banks.

Lloyds' chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio said: "We are disappointed that the Co-operative Group is unable to complete this transaction."

The sales of the branches, known as Project Verde, was demanded by European regulators as the price for being bailed out by the UK government during the financial crisis.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

For the Co-op and the banking market, the ramifications are much more serious."

End Quote

The Lloyds statement said: "The Co-operative Group's board has decided that they can no longer proceed with a purchase of the Verde business given their view of the impact of the current economic environment, the worsened outlook for economic growth and the increasing regulatory requirements on the financial services sector in general."

During the summer the branches will be branded as TSB Bank, and the group will operate as a separate business within Lloyds ahead of a sale.

The Co-op's chief executive, Peter Marks, said: "After detailed and thorough consideration of all aspects of the Verde transaction, we have decided, at this time, that it is not in the best interests of our members to proceed with the transaction.

"Against the backdrop of the current economic environment, the worsened outlook for economic growth and the increasing regulatory requirements on the financial services sector in general, the Verde transaction would not currently deliver a suitable return for our members within a reasonable timeframe and with an acceptable level of risk."

The BBC's business editor, Robert Peston, said the Co-op's decision was a blow for the Treasury, which has been backing attempts to create powerful competitors to the UK's big high street banks. He said that the Co-op will now review the future of its banking business.

Challenger banks

Lloyds, which is 39%-owned by the government, had a deadline of November 2013 to complete the sale in order to meet European Commission competition rules. But there have been reports over the past few months that the Co-op was going cool on the acquisition.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

Millions of Lloyds customers face an element of uncertainty after a proposed deal to sell 631 branches to the Co-op collapsed"

End Quote

Kevin Peachey Personal finance reporter, BBC News

---

A flotation is unlikely to be possible until the second half of 2014, which would mean the UK government and Lloyds asking Brussels to extend its late 2013 deadline for the sale.

Co-op agreed in 2012 to buy the branches.

This involved the potential transfer of 4.6 million customers, including 3.5 million in England and Wales and the remainder in Scotland.

Customers in England and Wales had already received letters telling them of the move and giving them the option to stay with Lloyds. This information is still relevant, as customers of the branches being sold will still become customers of the new TSB Bank.

The aborted takeover would have created Britain's seventh-biggest bank with about 5% of personal current accounts and mortgage market and about 10% of the branch network.

A Treasury spokesman described the Co-op's move as "a commercial matter." However, he stressed that government remained committed to encouraging so-called "Challenger" banks to increase competition on the high street.

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Godolphin trainer on doping charges

Godolphin trainer Mahmood Al Zarooni has been charged after tests found traces of anabolic steroids in 11 of his horses.

Al Zarooni will appear before a British Horseracing Authority (BHA) disciplinary panel on Thursday.

Analysis

Eyebrows are being raised at the speed of all this.

It often takes weeks for charges of this type being made by the British Horseracing Authority to the case being heard by a disciplinary panel, yet with Al Zarooni, it will take little more than 24 hours.

Critics are sure to seize on the whole timescale, asking if the BHA is opening itself to accusations that the matter is being swept away to save further embarrassment for Sheikh Mohammed, one of British racing's biggest benefactors.

The big question: can such an important matter, seen as the biggest drugs scandal for racing in modern times, really have been satisfactorily investigated when the process is so fast?

On Monday, the trainer admitted making "a catastrophic mistake".

The 37-year-old faces multiple counts related to prohibited substances, medical records and conduct prejudicial to horse racing.

According to the BHA he has admitted giving anabolic steroids to four other horses, but further doping charges cannot be brought as these animals were not tested.

Al Zarooni could lose his training licence in what has been described as one of the biggest doping scandals in British racing history.

Godolphin is overseen by the constitutional monarch of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed, who appointed Al Zarooni, a former stable groom, three years ago. He is one of the group's two British-based trainers, the other being Saeed bin Suroor.

Simon Crisford, the racing manger for Godolphin, said in a statement on Monday that they were to urgently review all procedures and controls.

"His Highness Sheikh Mohammed was absolutely appalled when he was told and this is completely unacceptable to him," he added.

Mahmood Al Zarooni

• A former stable groom, 37-year-old Al Zarooni had previously assisted the Godolphin stable's long-term trainer Saeed bin Suroor
• Al Zarooni won his first British Classic in 2011 when Blue Bunting landed the 1,000 Guineas under Frankie Dettori at Newmarket. The filly also won the Irish Oaks
• Rewilding provided a victory at Royal Ascot and Monterosso won the world's richest race, the Dubai World Cup, in March 2012
• In September 2012, he enjoyed a second British Classic success when 25-1 shot Encke upset Camelot to win the St Leger at Doncaster

The BHA said that on 9 April this year samples were obtained from 45 horses trained by Al Zarooni at Moulton Paddocks Stables in Newmarket.

Subsequent analysis revealed 11 of the samples contained ethylestrenol and stanozolol, which are prohibited substances.

The 11 horses, who together have won more than $2m (£1.31m) in prize money, include unbeaten Certify. They have been suspended from racing for an indefinite period.

According to the BHA, Al Zarooni has told the investigators that in addition to the 11, Comitas, Sashiko, Vacationer and Tearless were also given one of the banned substances.

While doping charges cannot be brought, Al Zarooni is accused of rule breaches relating to medical records and his conduct for these incidents.

The BHA also disclosed details of its drug-testing procedures and revealed there had only been one other case of anabolic steroids found in a tested horse "in recent years". This resulted in trainer Howard Johnson receiving a four-year ban in 2011.

Who are Godolphin?

• Godolphin is the racehorse operation founded by Sheikh Mohammed which has bases in Dubai and Newmarket
• Since its formation in 1992, the Maktoum family's racing stable has won more than 200 top-level Group One races in 12 different countries
• Dubai Millennium, Lammtarra, Fantastic Light and Street Cry are among the big-race winners

"The use of anabolic steroids is prohibited at all times for any horse registered as 'in training' under the care of a trainer licensed by the BHA," it said.

In 2012, of the 90,174 runners on race days, 7,182 samples were taken. Some 14 positive tests were found, a figure down from 25 in 2010.

Around 700 tests were carried out during training in 2012, although the BHA did not disclose any details about the number of positive tests.

The National Trainers' Federation (NTF) said on Tuesday it was shocked at the doping scandal, though chief executive Rupert Arnold added that it was not symbolic of a wider culture of doping within the sport.

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Tandem deaths driver pleads guilty

24 April 2013 Last updated at 07:21 ET

A man who killed a couple when he knocked them off their tandem bike with a car while being pursued by police has pleaded guilty in court.

Ross Simons, 34, and his wife Clare, 30, died at the scene in Hanham, Bristol on 27 January.

At Bristol Crown Court, Nicholas Lovell, 38, of West Street, Oldland Common, admitted two counts of causing death by dangerous driving.

Lovell, who fled from the crash scene, was banned from driving at the time.

During the hearing, he also pleaded guilty to one count of driving while disqualified.

At the time of the crash he was driving a Citroen Picasso owned by Louise Cox, 35, also of Oldland Common, who admitted perverting the course of justice, at the hearing.

Cox gave the police a false name and description when asked who the driver of the vehicle was.

Victims' IVF hopes

Before the collision, which was initially referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), Avon and Somerset Police said an officer indicated for the car to stop but then lost sight of it.

Shortly afterwards, Lovell struck another vehicle on Lower Hanham Road before colliding with Mr and Mrs Simons' tandem.

The IPCC has since said the matter has been "referred back to the force" for investigation.

The case has been adjourned until 22 May to prepare pre-sentencing reports.

Cox is currently the subject of a supervision order and has been released on bail while Lovell remains in custody.

Judge Neil Ford told Cox: "The fact that I'm adjourning for pre-sentencing reports is no indication of the type of sentence you will receive.

"That will be a matter entirely for the sentencing judge."

Friends of the couple said they desperately wanted children and at the time of their deaths had just been given the go-ahead to start IVF treatment.

'Callous' deception

They said Mr and Mrs Simons had been married for about 18 months and had been together for several years.

Det Ch Insp Rachel Williams of Avon and Somerset Police said she hoped the guilty verdicts would provide "some comfort" to Mr and Mrs Simons' families.

"This collision was caused by Nicholas Lovell, a disqualified driver who got behind the wheel of the car and drove at speed, before losing control and striking the couple while they cycled," she said.

"Nicholas Lovell then ran away from the scene in a bid to escape, leaving behind Louise Cox who then deliberately and callously set out to mislead police at the scene.

"The pleas entered today by both Nicholas Lovell and Louise Cox reflect that both have taken some responsibility for the deaths of Ross and Clare.

"While these pleas will never bring Ross and Clare back, I hope they go some way to providing comfort for their families."

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UK 'becoming a more peaceful place'

24 April 2013 Last updated at 07:44 ET

Rates of murder and violent crime have fallen more rapidly in the UK in the past decade than many other countries in Western Europe, researchers say.

The UK Peace Index, from the Institute for Economics and Peace, found UK homicides per 100,000 people had fallen from 1.99 in 2003, to one in 2012.

The UK was more peaceful overall, it said, with the reasons for it varied.

The index found Broadland, Norfolk, to be the most peaceful local council area but Lewisham, London, to be the least.

The research by the international non-profit research organisation comes as a separate study by Cardiff University suggests the number of people treated in hospital in England and Wales after violent incidents fell by 14% in 2012.

Some 267,291 people required care - 40,706 fewer than in 2011 - according to a sample of 54 hospital units, its report said.

BBC home editor Mark Easton called it the "riddle of peacefulness" and said the fall in violence was "perhaps a symptom of a new morality".

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

I do wonder whether the analysis is focusing on traditional social and criminal justice theories when the answer to the quite remarkable drop in violence may lie somewhere else entirely. Could it be that global communication is having a calming effect on people's behaviour?"

End Quote

"We are less tolerant of violence in all forms," our correspondent added.

For its inaugural index, the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), which defined peace as "the absence of violence or fear of violence", used Home Office data on crime, such as public disorder offences and weapons crime, and police officer numbers.

It found the violent crime rate was down by about one quarter - from 1,255 per 100,000 people in 2003, to 933 in 2012. This was a more rapid fall than the average decrease across western Europe for that period - although not more rapid than all other European countries, as was stated in earlier reports on the BBC News website.

These reductions came despite a 6% drop in the number of police officers per 100,000 people, it said.

In Broadland - an area which includes three market towns, Acle, Aylsham and Reepham as well as part of the Norfolk Broads, and which has a population of about 125,000 people - eight violent crimes were recorded for 2012.

Its average overall crime rate for the decade was 323 per 100,000 people - about a third of the national average.

Continue reading the main story

Most peaceful local authorities

1. Broadland, Norfolk

2. Three Rivers, Hertfordshire

3. South Cambridgeshire

4. East Dorset

5. Maldon, Essex

Source: IEP

Welcome to UK's most peaceful place

The five most peaceful local authority areas, which also included Three Rivers, in Hertfordshire, South Cambridgeshire, East Dorset and Maldon, in Essex, recorded a combined total of 24 homicides over the decade.

Broadland resident Paul Lancaster, who lives in Rackheath, told the BBC it was a "rural, very well-to-do area". "I feel very safe in Broadland," he said.

Lewisham, meanwhile, had a homicide rate of 2.5 in 2012 - two-and-a-half times the national average.

The year 2011 was the borough's worst in the decade for the actual number of homicides - defined by researchers as murder, manslaughter and infanticide - with 11.

All five of the least peaceful local authority areas were London boroughs - the others being Lambeth, Hackney, Newham and Tower Hamlets.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

The UKPI shows that this dramatic fall is not a blip in police reporting - the UK really is becoming more peaceful"

End Quote Institute for Economics and Peace

Mark Easton said that while Lewisham, an area scarred by gang violence, was found to be the least peaceful area, overall the capital was markedly more peaceful than it was 10 years ago, with some of the biggest drops in some types of violent crime.

The capital's rate of homicides was far lower than in New York, Amsterdam, Brussels and Prague, he added.

Of the UK's "urban areas", the index found Glasgow, with a murder rate of double the national average, to be the least peaceful and Cardiff and Swansea, with 60% less violent crime than Glasgow, the most peaceful.

Sheffield, Nottingham and Leeds came second, third and fourth respectively behind Cardiff in the urban areas peacefulness ranking.

Minimum wage

The IEP's report said that 80% of the 343 local authority areas it had evaluated had seen at least a 10% improvement in their peace over the past decade.

Continue reading the main story

Least peaceful local authorities

1. Lewisham, London

2. Lambeth, London

3. Hackney, London

4. Newham, London

5. Tower Hamlets, London

Source: IEP

"This is the fastest decline in violence of any country in Europe," it said.

"Cross-checking Home Office and Eurostat data against a number of metrics, such as hospital admissions, the UKPI shows that this dramatic fall is not a blip in police reporting - the UK really is becoming more peaceful.

"Reasons for this fall in violence are varied, however one of the more likely reasons, often overlooked, is the substantial improvement in police practices particularly related to the adoption of advanced technologies.

"Other factors which have had an impact in reducing violence include an aging population, decreasing alcohol consumption and, finally, rising real wages, supported by the introduction of the minimum wage."

Other findings include

• Extreme poverty is the factor most closely associated with violence
• The number of police officers had no correlation to levels of peace
• Fear of violence is greater than the reality: 17% of Britons think they will be a victim of violent crime, but fewer than 4% will experience violent crime
• The UK homicide rate is now roughly equivalent to the Western European average and at its lowest level since 1978
• But UK violent crime rate is significantly higher than the European average

The research follows the IEP's US Peace Index published last year.

IEP chairman Steve Killelea said the increased level of peace in the UK "cannot be narrowed down to any single factor".

But he added: "The findings of the UK Peace Index show that poverty and economic opportunity are significantly associated with peace, as supported by other international studies, including the US Peace Index.

"This suggests greater emphasis needs to be placed on programmes that tackle poverty and related issues, such as access to education and economic opportunity."

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"Start Quote

When I started as a young officer the Friday night pub fight was an extraordinarily common phenomenon. Everybody swung a chair, got a few black eyes and went home satisfied"

End Quote Sir Ian Blair Former Met chief

Sir Ian Blair, former commissioner of the Met Police, said that, given the downward trend was across the developing world, he believed the fall was due to the "change in the way society views and abhors violence".

"We are a more violence-adverse society," he said.

"When I started as a young officer the Friday night pub fight was an extraordinarily common phenomenon. Everybody swung a chair, got a few black eyes and went home satisfied.

"That is not happening in the same way any more. Domestic violence is being targeted again and again. Football hooliganism, with the exception of the occasional incident, is dying away.

"We have the lowest level of non-accidental child deaths in western Europe, except for Denmark."

However, Prof Marian Fitzgerald, visiting professor of criminology at the University of Kent, voiced caution, saying she believed the report was based on "two fundamental misconceptions".

"First of all it keeps saying 'isn't it amazing that despite the recession violence has gone down'. Actually, any serous criminologist knows that violence goes down in a recession because most violence is relatively low-level violence and most of it is associated with the late-night economy," she said.

"So when people don't have money to go out, get tanked up, start having fights, violence goes down.

"The other flaw in this is... they said that they took as their starting point in this as 2003 because the rules on how you counted crime changed at that point.

"What they don't seem to have understood is that those changes meant there was an artificial spike in crime in 2003."

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Letta set to become Italy's next PM

24 April 2013 Last updated at 07:49 ET

Enrico Letta is set to become Italy's new prime minister, after being asked by President Giorgio Napolitano to form a broad coalition government.

The appointment of Mr Letta, currently deputy leader of the centre-left Democratic Party, could see the end of two months of parliamentary deadlock.

An inconclusive general election in February has left the country in flux.

In a statement, Mr Letta said as prime minister he would aim to change the course in Europe on austerity.

"European policies are too focused on austerity which is no longer enough," he said, following the closed-door meeting with the president in Rome.

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• Former youth member of a right-wing party
• Currently deputy head of the centre-left Democratic Party
• In 1998, became youngest government minister in Italy's history aged 32
• Has held several ministerial posts
• Uncle is an aide to former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi

The 46-year-old also said he had accepted the post knowing that it was an enormous responsibility and that Italy's political class "has lost all credibility".

Mr Letta must now form a cabinet that can win cross-party support and a vote of confidence in parliament.

Factions from across the political spectrum have indicated that they are now ready to form a coalition under a figure like Mr Letta.

He is the nephew of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's chief-of-staff Gianni Letta, and is seen as a moderate acceptable to the centre-right.

A broad alliance would include Mr Berlusconi's right-wing group - making him again a major political influence.

This awkward coming together of bitter rivals is seen as the only way to end the parliamentary stalemate and put an administration in place, says the BBC's Alan Johnston in Rome.

But it is a forced political marriage that may not last long, our correspondent adds.

The new government will be expected to try to implement a limited range of economic and institutional reforms.

Among its priorities will be an effort to re-shape the current election law. The aim would be to ensure that future general elections would deliver more emphatic, clear-cut results.

Mr Letta's appointment follows the swearing-in on Monday of President Napolitano, who berated his country's feuding politicians.

Taking up an unprecedented second term, he told the assembled MPs that they had been guilty of a long series of failings and that their inability to implement key reforms had been "unforgivable".

He has threatened to resign if no administration is formed.

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At least 70 dead in Dhaka collapse

24 April 2013 Last updated at 08:04 ET

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Efforts are under way to rescue those beneath the debris

At least 70 people have been killed and many more are feared trapped after an eight-storey building collapsed on the outskirts of the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, government officials say.

Frantic efforts are under way to rescue those beneath the debris. At least 200 people were injured by the collapse.

The army is helping with the rescue operation in the Savar area.

Building collapses are common in Bangladesh where many multi-storey blocks are built in violation of rules.

The eight-storey building contained a clothing factory, a bank and several other shops. It collapsed during the morning rush hour.

Many people have gathered near the scene looking for friends and relatives.

Dhaka resident Tahsin Mahmoo described the scene as a looking like a "war zone" to the BBC, adding that appeals had been put out for citizens to donate blood.

The BBC's Anbarasan Ethirajan in Dhaka says that it is not yet clear what caused the collapse, but local media reports said a crack was detected in the block on Tuesday.

Rescue workers are using concrete cutters and cranes to dig through the rubble, our correspondent says.

One doctor at a nearby hospital said it "could not handle" the volume of casualties coming in.

"I have not seen so many patients being brought in like this before," Dr Imrul Hasan Warsi told the BBC.

Local police chief Mohammad Asaduzzaman told the Reuters news agency that factory owners appeared to have ignored a warning not to allow their workers into the building after the crack was detected.

Police told local media that the rear of the building had suddenly started to collapse on Wednesday morning, and within a short time the whole structure - except the main pillar and parts of the front wall - had caved-in, triggering panic.

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Anbarasan Ethirajan BBC News, Dhaka

---

Grieving relatives have been anxiously waiting outside the collapsed building in Savar. Rescue teams have been working frantically using concrete cutters and cranes digging through the rubble to pull people out. The army has also been deployed in the rescue operation.

It is still not clear how many people are trapped inside, although local media say there are hundreds. A doctor at the local hospital told the BBC that their services had been stretched.

The reason for the collapse is not yet known. The latest incident has once again raised questions about safety standards in the country's thriving garments industry. However, factory owners say safety standards have improved significantly in recent years.

Only the ground floor of the Rana Plaza in Sava remained intact after the collapse, officials said, as army and fire service rescuers equipped with concrete cutters and cranes dug through rubble to pull out trapped people. Many onlookers also joined the effort using their bare hands.

An opposition strike planned for Wednesday has been called off to aid the rescue effort, local media reports say.

Survivors have described their terror as the collapse began.

"I was in the cutting section of the garment factory and suddenly we heard a huge noise and the building collapsed within a few minutes," a garment worker told private Somoy TV.

"I removed the rubble and came out with two other workers. But at least 30 other workers in my cutting section were still unaccounted for," he said.

In November, a fire at a garment factory in a Dhaka suburb killed at least 110 people and triggered a public outcry about safety standards in the industry.

The last major building collapse was in 2010, when a four-storey building collapsed in Dhaka, killing at least 25 people and injuring several others.

In 2005, there was a building collapse near the site of Wednesday's incident, killing 64 people.

Bangladesh has one of the largest garment industries in the world, providing competitively priced clothes for major Western retailers which benefit from its widespread low-cost labour.

Following November's fire, Western retail chains that buy from factories in Bangladesh urged factory owners to improve safety standards, our correspondent reports.

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May outlines new Abu Qatada treaty

24 April 2013 Last updated at 08:14 ET

The government has signed a mutual assistance treaty with Jordan to ensure that radical cleric Abu Qatada can be extradited, Theresa May has told MPs.

The home secretary said the treaty had guarantees on fair trials within it.

The government is doing "everything it can" to deport Abu Qatada, she said.

It comes after she failed to get the case referred to the Supreme Court to reverse a ruling that the radical cleric could face an unfair trial if sent to Jordan to face terror charges.

Mrs May has applied directly to the Supreme Court for permission to challenge the ruling.

The treaty will come into play should the Supreme Court reject the government's request.

'Every chance'

Giving a statement to the Commons, Mrs May said the agreement would have to be ratified by the UK and Jordan.

She said she believed it would satisfy concerns that Abu Qatada would not receive a fair trial there, and there was now "every chance" of deporting the cleric.

However, Mrs May added that even once the agreement was fully ratified, Abu Qatada would still be able to launch a legal appeal. This could mean it may still be months before he is deported.

She told the Commons: "I have signed a comprehensive mutual legal assistance agreement with Jordan.

"This agreement is fully reciprocal, offers considerable advantages to both countries, and reflects our joint commitment to tackling international crime. It covers assistance in obtaining evidence for the investigation and prosecution of crimes in either country, and provides a framework for assistance in the restraint and confiscation of the proceeds of crime.

"The agreement also includes a number of fair trial guarantees. These would apply to anyone being deported from either country. I believe these guarantees will provide the courts with the assurance that Qatada will not face evidence that might have been obtained by torture, in a retrial in Jordan."

'Denial of justice'

The Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac), which adjudicates on national security-related deportations, ruled last year that Abu Qatada should not be removed from the UK because his retrial could be tainted by evidence obtained by torturing the cleric's former co-defendants.

Mrs May had argued she had obtained fresh assurances that would guarantee the fair treatment of the preacher on his return to Amman.

But the Court of Appeal upheld Siac's decision last month, saying the lower court had not misinterpreted nor misapplied the law.

Government lawyers had stressed that Jordan had banned torture and the use in trial of statements extracted under duress.

But the Court of Appeal judges said Siac had been entitled to think there was a risk the "impugned statements" would be used in evidence during a retrial and there was "a real risk of a flagrant denial of justice".

The Supreme Court can reconsider Court of Appeal decisions if the justices are convinced there is a "point of law of general public importance".

On 17 April 2012, the home secretary told the Commons that, following fresh assurances from Jordan that he would get a fair trial, "we can soon put Qatada on a plane and get him out of our country for good".

Bids for freedom before the European Court of Human Rights and the High Court followed before Abu Qatada's successful appeal to Siac in November.

Abu Qatada was re-arrested and returned to Belmarsh prison in March, following an alleged breach of bail conditions, concerning the use of communications equipment at his home.

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Top stable in horse doping inquiry

Eleven horses from the Godolphin stable have tested positive for anabolic steroids in one of the biggest doping scandals in British racing history.

Godolphin trainer Mahmood Al Zarooni will attend a British Horseracing Authority inquiry after irregularities were discovered in 11 of 45 racehorses.

Al Zarooni has admitted making "a catastrophic mistake".

"This is a dark day for Godolphin," said stable manager Simon Crisford. "We are all shocked by what has happened."

The 11 horses, who together have won more than $2m (£1.31m) in prize money, include unbeaten Certify, who will not be allowed to run in next month's 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket.

Godolphin is the Maktoum family's private thoroughbred horseracing stable and is overseen by the constitutional monarch of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed, who appointed Al Zarooni three years ago.

This is hugely embarrassing for Godolphin's figurehead, Sheikh Mohammed, the head of the Maktoum family and, as such, the ruler of Dubai. His hands-on approach to Godolphin, the largest stable in the world and one of the few players in racing's premier league, is legendary.

It's constantly emphasised how no decision, from numerous horse purchases to race strategy and tactics, is made without reference to Sheikh Mohammed - 'the Boss'. Indeed, the very fact that most Godolphin horses spend their winters in Dubai is down to his desire to see them on a daily basis, when affairs of state must also be dealt with.

And it's on the back of all this and the much-vaunted sporting nature of the Sheikh and his family, that Dubai has become amongst the world's great centres for sport and leisure. Yet, apparently right under their noses, perhaps racing's greatest ever drugs scandal has unfolded. Little wonder an urgent review of 'all of our procedures and controls' has now been ordered.

Horses spend the winter in Dubai before transferring to Godolphin's UK stables in Newmarket.

A statement on Godolphin's website said: "Al Zarooni has admitted that he was responsible for the administration of the prohibited substances."

The trainer said: "Because the horses involved were not racing at the time, I did not realise that what I was doing was in breach of the rules of racing.

"I can only apologise for the damage this will cause to Godolphin and to racing generally."

The substances detected were ethylestrenol and stanozolol. Adam Brickell, director of integrity, legal and risk for the BHA, said: "Ethylestranol and stanozolol are anabolic steroids and therefore prohibited substances under British rules of racing, at any time - either in training or racing."

A former stable groom, 36-year-old Al Zarooni had previously assisted the Godolphin stable's long-term trainer Saeed bin Suroor.

Al Zarooni won his first British Classic in 2011 when Blue Bunting landed the 1,000 Guineas under Frankie Dettori at Newmarket. The filly went on to claim the Irish Oaks.

Rewilding provided a victory at Royal Ascot and Monterosso won the world's richest race, the Dubai World Cup, in March 2012.

In September 2012, he enjoyed a second British Classic success when 25-1 shot Encke upset Camelot to win the St Leger at Doncaster.

The BHA confirmed that on 9 April this year samples were obtained from 45 horses trained by Al Zarooni at Moulton Paddocks Stables in Newmarket and that the Horseracing Forensic Laboratory had detected prohibited substances.

Certify, unbeaten in four career outings and winner of the Shadwell Stud Fillies' Mile at Newmarket in September, had been ante-post favourite through the winter months for the Guineas, but was one of the seven horses whose sample tested positive for ethylestrenol.

Last year's Royal Ascot Gold Cup runner-up Opinion Poll was one of four horses testing positive for stanozolol.

Racing manager Crisford added: "His Highness Sheikh Mohammed was absolutely appalled when he was told and this is completely unacceptable to him. We will await the outcome of the BHA inquiry before taking any further internal action.

"Sheikh Mohammed has instructed me to begin an urgent review of all of our procedures and controls. That is already under way and we will take advice from the BHA in completing it."

No date has yet been announced for the BHA inquiry. However, Brickell said: "The BHA understand the importance of this process being carried out as quickly as possible because of implications for betting markets."

The 11 horses are:

Desert Blossom (Career earnings: $19,262)

Certify ($254,829)

Fair Hill

Ghostflower ($2,819)

Orkney Island

Sweet Rose

Valley Of Queens ($2,088)

Artigiano ($68,952)

Bathrat Amal

Opinion Poll ($1,671,075)

Restraint Of Trade ($21,230)

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FBI faces Boston suspect questions

23 April 2013 Last updated at 06:28 ET

US security officials are to face questions in Congress over whether they mishandled information about Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev.

They will brief the Senate Intelligence Committee in a closed hearing, after some Congress members accused the FBI of failing to act on Russian concerns.

Tsarnaev was questioned in 2011 amid claims he had adopted radical Islam.

He was killed in a manhunt after the attack but his wounded brother Dzhokhar has been charged over the bombings.

Federal prosecutors charged him in hospital with using a weapon of mass destruction and malicious destruction of property resulting in death. He could be sentenced to death if convicted on either count.

Both men had origins in the troubled, predominantly Muslim republic of Chechnya in southern Russia. They had been living in the US for about a decade at the time of the attack.

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Questions for the FBI

• Why was no further action taken after 2011 investigation of Tamerlan Tsarnaev?
• Why was he not identified as a threat based on links to radical websites?
• Why were the authorities unaware of his visit to Russia in 2012?

The twin bombs which exploded near the finishing line of the marathon killed three people and injured more than 200.

Of those injured, 13 lost limbs. More than 50 people remain in hospital, three of them in a critical condition.

No evidence

Members of Congress want to know why no further action was taken after Tamerlan Tsarnaev was investigated in 2011 at the request of the Russian government.

Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, who chairs the intelligence committee, said that she and her colleagues would have to "sort it out" when they met FBI officials later on Tuesday.

The full Senate is expected to receive a briefing later in the week.

The FBI has defended itself, saying in a statement on Friday that it ran checks on the suspect but found no evidence of terrorist activity.

A request to Russia for more information to justify more rigorous checks went unanswered, and an interview by agents with Tsarnaev and his family also revealed nothing suspicious.

But Republican Senator Lindsey Graham questioned why the FBI was unable to identify him as a threat based on his alleged links to radical websites.

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The Tsarnaev brothers

• Sons of Chechen refugees from the troubled Caucasus region of southern Russia
• Family is thought to have moved to the US in 2002 from Russian republic of Dagestan
• They lived in the Massachusetts town of Cambridge, home to Harvard University
• Dzhokhar, 19, (right) was awarded a scholarship to pursue further education; he wanted to become a brain surgeon, according to his father
• Tamerlan, 26, was an amateur boxer who had reportedly taken time off college to train for a competition; he described himself as a "very religious" non-drinker and non-smoker

He called for better co-operation with Russia and the amendment of privacy laws to allow closer scrutiny of suspects' internet activity.

Senator Graham added that the US authorities did not know Tsarnaev had gone to Russia in 2012 because his name was misspelled in travel documents.

He spent six months in Dagestan, another mainly Muslim Russian republic bordering Chechnya. During the visit, he also reportedly spent two days in Chechnya itself.

Tsarnaev, 26, was killed during a manhunt last Friday. His 19-year-old brother Dzhokhar was later captured but was seriously wounded and remains in hospital.

No motive found

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev attended a hearing on Monday from his hospital bed, where a 10-page criminal complaint was filed against him.

At the hearing, he managed to speak once despite a gunshot wound to his throat sustained during his capture.

Mr Tsarnaev, 19, said the word "no" when asked if he could afford a lawyer. Otherwise he nodded in response to Judge Marianne Bowler's questions from his bed at Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

The next hearing in his case has been scheduled for the end of May.

The complaint seeks to locate both suspects at the scene of the bombing and then pieces together the operation to intercept them three days later, as they allegedly drove a hijacked car near the city, hours after images of their faces were broadcast by the media.

No mention is made of their possible reasons for attacking the marathon.

Some reports say the brothers do not appear to have been linked to any Islamist militant groups, and little has emerged to suggest the younger brother was a religious militant.

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