Olympic heroes head New Year Honours

28 December 2012 Last updated at 20:29 ET

Bradley Wiggins, who won the Tour de France and an Olympic gold, has been knighted in a New Year Honours list dominated by London 2012 medallists.

The cyclist appears on a special list drawn up to recognise 78 Games heroes.

Paralympic cyclist Sarah Storey becomes a dame after taking four golds while the most decorated sailor in Olympic history, Ben Ainslie, is knighted.

Katherine Grainger, Victoria Pendleton, Jessica Ennis, Mo Farah and David Weir become CBEs, and Andy Murray is an OBE.

And the men behind cycling and rowing success, performance directors Dave Brailsford and David Tanner, also become sirs.

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Olympics and Paralympics

Knight/Dame:

• Ben Ainslie (sailing)
• Sarah Storey (cycling)
• Bradley Wiggins (cycling)
• Dave Brailsford (cycling)
• David Tanner (rowing)

CBE:

• Jessica Ennis (athletics)
• Mo Farah (athletics)
• Katherine Grainger (rowing)
• Victoria Pendleton (cycling)
• David Weir (athletics)

OBE:

• Jason Kenny (cycling)
• Andy Murray (tennis)
• Ellie Simmonds (swimming)
• Laura Trott (cycling)

MBE:

• Nicola Adams (boxing)
• Alistair Brownlee (triathlon)
• Jonny Peacock (athletics)
• Greg Rutherford (athletics)
• Louis Smith (gymnastics)

Away from the Games, there are OBEs for actor Ewan McGregor and fashion designer Stella McCartney, while illustrator Quentin Blake was also knighted on the main list for those not involved in London 2012.

There is also a knighthood for the industrial designer, Kenneth Grange, the man behind the UK's first parking meter, the InterCity 125 train and the Kodak Instamatic camera.

Singer Kate Bush and artist Tracey Emin are made CBEs, an honour also bestowed on former Strictly Come Dancing judge Arlene Phillips, for her services to dance and to charity. Comedy writer Jeremy Lloyd, 82, who co-wrote TV shows including the BBC's 'Allo 'Allo and Are You Being Served is among the OBEs.

There is also a CBE for Cherie Blair, the wife of former Prime Minister Tony Blair, in recognition of her service to women's issues and to charity in the UK and overseas. The first female foreign secretary Margaret Beckett becomes a dame.

For the first time, the Cabinet Office has published citations giving details of why the highest honours have been made following a complaint from MPs on the Public Administration Select Committee that the process should be more transparent.

But much of the attention will centre on the people rewarded for making the two London Games such a success.

Affectionately known as Wiggo, the first British winner of the Tour said: "I never ever imagined that I would ever become a knight so it's an incredible honour.

"But there's a slight element of disbelief and it will take a while to sink in."

Known for his sideburns and his retro Mod fashion sense, Sir Bradley already had a CBE.

Storey, who is expecting her first child, is honoured for services to para-cycling after her London medal haul took her gold medal total to 11, which equals Tanni Grey-Thompson and Dave Roberts as one of the country's most successful Paralympians.

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Other notable recipients

Companion of Honour:

• Lord Coe (London 2012)
• Professor Peter Higgs (physics, pictured)

Knight/Dame:

• Quentin Blake (illustration)
• Kenneth Grange (design)
• Bernard Hogan-Howe (policing)
• Hector Sants (financial services)
• Margaret Beckett (political service)

CBE:

• Cherie Blair (women's issues)
• Kate Bush (music)
• Tracey Emin (arts)
• Martha Lane Fox (digital economy)
• Arlene Phillips (dance)

OBE:

• Stella McCartney (fashion)
• Ewan McGregor (acting)

MBE:

• Nicola Benedetti (music)
• Mark Ramprakash (cricket)
• Pat Rice (football)

The 35-year-old from Disley in Cheshire said: "Wow, I am speechless but incredibly honoured and extremely proud."

Some of the biggest names of London 2012 received CBEs - the UK's most successful female rower, Katherine Grainger, the poster girl of the Games, Jessica Ennis, and wheelchair athlete David "The Weirwolf" Weir. Weir won four gold medals in the 5,000m, 1500m, 800m and marathon at the 2012 Paralympics.

Joining their ranks with his first honour is athlete Mo Farah, who lifted the nation with his double gold in the 5,000m and 10,000m.

His first came during a pulsating 46 minutes in the Olympic Stadium on Super Saturday, 4 August, when Team GB picked up three gold medals - Farah in the 10,000m, Ennis in the heptathlon and Greg Rutherford in the long jump, an achievement that earned him an MBE.

Andy Murray was made an OBE in a year which saw him win Olympic gold and become the first British man to win a grand slam singles title for 76 years when he triumphed in the US Open.

Paralympic swimmer Ellie Simmonds, 18, now has an OBE to add to the MBE she won in 2009, the youngest person to do so aged 14.

Some of the people who helped to make the games such a success were recognised, including Lord Coe, who becomes a Companion of Honour, a special honour given for service of conspicuous national importance and limited to 65 people at any one time.

It is an exclusive club and now also includes Professor Peter Higgs, who predicted a new particle, the Higgs Boson, in the 1960s, and this year the particle was proved to exist.

But one name missing from the list is film and theatre director Danny Boyle, whose artistic vision was so spectacularly realised in the Olympic opening ceremony but who is believed to have turned one down.

A Cabinet Office spokesman said an unprecedented number of sportspeople had received honours, with 123 awards compared to 44 in the last list. Of these, 78 were related to the Olympics or Paralympics.

He said there were four criteria in deciding which athletes should be awarded including longevity in the sport, general performance and how much they give back to the sporting community.

The sporting honours committee also assesses what stage the individual is in their career in terms of whether they are likely to be competing for a further number of years.

He added that 72% of the recipients are people who have undertaken outstanding work in their communities either in a voluntary or paid capacity.

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Sir Quentin Blake: "To me it's amazing"

They include Penelope Clough, 53, who becomes an MBE after campaigning for a change in the law related to bail, following the murder of her daughter Jane by her ex-partner.

The man committed the offence after being released on bail but following the work of Ms Clough, prosecutors are now able to challenge judges' bail decisions in the High Court.

Recipients of the British Empire Medal (BEM), reintroduced in the 2012 Queen's Birthday Honours, include Robert Clinton for his work with the Veterans Aid charity, which looks after homeless ex-service personnel.

The Foreign Office's diplomatic and overseas list honouring those living or working abroad includes recognition for codebreaker Raymond Roberts, who is made an MBE for services to Bletchley Park. Alison Shalaby, who is the chief executive officer of Reunite, becomes a CBE for services to the prevention and resolution of international parental child abduction.

Some 31 head teachers have been recognised, including Joan McVittie, who transformed two schools in deprived areas of London and Sally Coates, who has overseen huge improvements at Burlington Danes Academy in west London. Both become Dames.

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The Honours System

Commonly awarded ranks:

• Knight or Dame
• CBE - Commander of the Order of the British Empire
• OBE - Officer of the Order of the British Empire
• MBE - Member of the Order of the British Empire
• BEM - British Empire Medal

In the world of business, former head of the Financial Services Authority Hector Sants who was in charge of regulation at the start of the credit crisis, has been knighted, while Alan Budd, who was on the first Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee in 1997, becomes a Knight of the Grand Cross.

Prof Simon Wessely, a leading researcher into the mental health of military personnel who heads the department of psychological medicine at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College, London, has been knighted.

The head of MI5, Jonathan Evans was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath and Metropolitan Police chief Bernard Hogan-Howe is knighted.

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Funeral for brothers killed on M6

29 December 2012 Last updated at 03:32 ET

A funeral for two brothers who died when their car crashed on the M6 on Christmas Day will take place later.

Adnan Habib, 10, and Mohammed Arsalaan Habib, four, were killed along with their aunt Bushra Tazarib, 32, close to junction 15, near Stoke-on-Trent.

The three bodies will lie in rest at the Castlefield Centre near their home in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire.

A private funeral for the boys will then be held while their aunt's body will be taken to Pakistan.

The boys' mother, Parveen, 38, who was driving, and their sister Misbah, 17, were also both injured in the crash on Tuesday but have since been discharged from hospital.

All five from High Wycombe were travelling to a family wedding in Greater Manchester.

Family and friends will be able to pay their respects at the Castlefield Centre before the three bodies are taken to a mosque for prayers.

A private family funeral will then take place for Adnan and Mohammed Arsalaan at a cemetery in the afternoon.

In a statement released on Thursday, the boys' family described the children as "precious jewels, spreading joy wherever they went" and described their aunt as "beloved".

The boys' grandfather was among those who attended the opening of an inquest into their deaths at North Staffordshire Coroner's Court in Stoke-on-Trent on Friday.

In his report, Stoke and North Staffordshire coroner Ian Smith revealed the three family members died from extensive head injuries.

He adjourned all three inquests until a later date.

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Former England captain Greig dies

Former England captain Tony Greig has died aged 66 after suffering a heart attack in Sydney.

The South Africa-born 66-year-old was diagnosed with lung cancer two months ago.

The all-rounder played 58 Tests for England from 1972-77, including 14 as skipper, before giving up the captaincy to join Australian media magnate Kerry Packer's breakaway World Series.

He later became a popular television commentator in Australia.

"He was a massive character," said BBC cricket correspondent Jonathan Agnew. "Whatever he did, Tony was huge - as a character, as a man, as a cricketer."

Former England captain Ian Botham described Greig as "an amazing guy, just full of energy".

"He revolutionised the game and it had to be done," he added.

Tony Greig's career

• Major teams: England, Border, Eastern Province, Sussex
• Tests: 58
• ODIs: 22
• Test runs: 3,599 (average 40.43)
• Test wickets: 141 (average 32.20)
• Scored 16,600 runs (average 31.19) and took 856 wickets (average 28.85) in 350 first-class matches

Australian broadcaster Channel Nine said Greig died at about 13:45 local time on Saturday, after being rushed from his home to St Vincent's Hospital earlier in the day.

Greig, who stood 6ft 6in, scored 3,599 Test runs at an average of 40.43, took 141 wickets with his off-spin and medium pace at 32.20 apiece, and was named one of Wisden's Cricketers of the Year in 1975.

He told Channel Nine colleagues before having surgery last month: "It's not good. The truth is I've got lung cancer. Now it's a case of what they can do."

He tweeted on Christmas Day:  "Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year to you all. Would love to be at Test but son Tom and I will be tuned in."

Greig, who played for Sussex and qualified for England through his Scottish parents, provoked controversy in 1976 when, as England captain, he said he intended to make West Indies "grovel" in the home Test series.

England were beaten 3-0 but the following winter he led them to their first series victory in India since the Second World War.

After presiding over three wins, six draws and five defeats he relinquished the England captaincy in 1977.

Greig was a central figure in recruiting several England players for the controversial World Series,  which ran in opposition to Test cricket from 1977-79 and featured international stars earning much higher salaries.

Although several players were banned from representing their country, World Series Cricket helped revolutionise the sport with increased player wages and presentational changes such as the introduction of coloured clothing.

Greig lived in Sydney from the late 1970s until his death and became a popular voice around the world with his enthusiastic and opinionated commentary style for Channel Nine, often wearing a large panama hat and inserting car keys into playing surfaces as part of his pitch reports.

"He changed cricket in the way we know it now," said fellow broadcaster Botham. "The players of today have a lot to thank Tony Greig - and Kerry Packer - for.

World Series Cricket

The first year of World Series Cricket in 1977 saw two series of five-day matches, which were not allowed to be called Tests and had to be termed "SuperTests", Australia losing them both to West Indies and a World XI. The three teams also took part in a round-robin one-day tournament, won by West Indies. The following year the format changed to four-day matches played as day-night games, the World XI winning a round-robin format and West Indies retaining the one-day title.

"Flamboyant is the word - he was larger than life and very much an extrovert. He made things happen."

England & Wales Cricket Board chairman Giles Clarke said: "Tony Greig was a magnificent and fearless cricketer capable of changing games with ball or bat. He was a determined supporter of players' rights in his later years."

Former Australia captain Bill Lawry, a long-term colleague in the commentary box, said: "He's been a great friend of mine for 33 years.

"He's well known right throughout the world, well loved and respected. World cricket has lost one of its great ambassadors."

Australia captain Michael Clarke said: "I was only speaking with Tony a couple of days ago so news of his passing is absolutely devastating. He has been a great mentor for me.

"Cricket will be much poorer for his loss. We will never forget the lasting legacy Tony leaves us with."

Australia Prime Minister Julia Gillard described Greig as "a wonderful example of someone who came to Australia from somewhere else in the world and embraced his adopted country as his own".

International Cricket Council chief executive Dave Richardson said: "Tony played a significant part in shaping modern cricket as a player in the 1970s and then provided millions of cricket lovers with a unique insight as a thoughtful and knowledgeable commentator."

Current England Test and Sussex wicketkeeper Matt Prior tweeted:  "Can't believe one of my heroes Tony Greig has passed away. One of the greatest voices in cricket and will be sorely missed. #RIPGreigy."

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1975 Ashes archive - Lillee and Thomson star for Australia as Greig becomes captain

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Mum 'overwhelmed' as girl returns

29 December 2012 Last updated at 05:31 ET

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Atiya's mother Gemma Wilkinson: "I just want to cuddle Atiya"

A mother reunited with her six-year-old daughter three years after the girl was abducted by her father and taken to Pakistan has said she feels "absolutely overwhelmed" at seeing her again.

Atiya Anjum-Wilkinson disappeared in November 2009 after going to stay with her father, Razwan Ali Anjum.

After being found in Pakistan, Atiya was returned to her mother Gemma Wilkinson in Manchester on Friday.

Ms Wilkinson, 32, said she just wanted to cuddle her daughter.

'Absolutely fine'

Atiya had last been seen when she was taken from her home in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, on her third birthday.

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"Start Quote

Atiya was told that I was mummy and she said 'mummy' and smiled"

End Quote Gemma Wilkinson

She was reunited with her mother at a Manchester hotel after being found in a five-week investigation which followed the intervention of Conservative North West MEP Sajjad Karim, who formally raised her abduction with the foreign minister of Pakistan in the European Parliament.

Ms Wilkinson said: "I'm just absolutely overwhelmed in seeing Atiya now and giving her a cuddle and a massive kiss.

"I did have a few fears that Atiya would be unsettled with the change and the flight but she's absolutely fine. She's trying to communicate and she's playing with the things we've bought for her, she's had a big smile on her face.

"Atiya was told that I was mummy and she said 'mummy' and smiled.

"It's more than I could ever imagine or hope for.

"I can't explain that in words, to see her little face and know what she's actually like now, it's very emotional.

"I was very worried that she would either be upset or scared but she hasn't been."

Ms Wilkinson said her daughter looked "exactly the same as she did three years ago; she is just taller and a bit older".

She said: "I believe she is happy to be back, she has a big smile, she's playing nicely, she's talking.

"She will find things strange but she's home and she's loved and we'll take it day by day."

But Det Supt Phil Owen, from Greater Manchester Police's Child Protection Unit, warned that reintegrating Atiya into life with her mother would not be a quick process as she had been away for a long time and did not speak any English.

Extended family

Speaking after Atiya arrived on a flight into Manchester Airport on Friday evening, her mother said the events leading up to the reunion had been a "whirlwind".

She said: "We have gone from not knowing where Atiya is to finding out that we do know where Atiya is, to receiving pictures of Atiya and how she looks now, to Atiya coming here and Atiya actually being here."

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"Start Quote

I think my belief was never to give in, it's just been a very long time"

End Quote Gemma Wilkinson

The BBC's Aleem Maqbool said Atiya was found in the village of Daska, near Sialkot in eastern Pakistan.

Mr Karim, who said the authorities in Pakistan had been crucial in returning Atiya home, saw the child with her mother shortly after they were reunited.

"It was just such a natural bonding between the two," he said.

"It seemed as though they had never really been apart, it was that natural mother-daughter bonding taking place.

"It only happened because Gemma was absolutely resolute in her determination. Despite three years and not getting very far, she stuck with it."

Atiya's mother was informed she had been found on Christmas Day and photographs were sent to her of Atiya by the Pakistani authorities.

Ms Wilkinson, who split with Anjum in 2008, had made several appeals for information to find her daughter.

In her latest appeal last month, she described not knowing if Atiya was even alive as an "absolute nightmare".

Father in jail

Atiya's father Razwan Ali Anjum is serving a prison sentence for refusing to reveal his daughter's whereabouts.

Ms Wilkinson took legal action against her former partner in an attempt to force him to reveal where Atiya was.

In 2009, Anjum had said he was taking Atiya to Southport, but instead he took her to Lahore, Pakistan, and told Ms Wilkinson she would never see her again.

In April, he was handed a 12-month jail term by a High Court judge who found him in contempt of a High Court order instructing him to disclose Atiya's whereabouts.

The sentence was the fourth consecutive jail term to be imposed on Anjum. Judges have previously imposed jail terms of two years, 12 months and 12 months in the hope that he would provide the information which would allow Atiya to be reunited with her mother.

Ms Wilkinson said: "It's just been an absolute nightmare. I think my belief was never to give in, it's just been a very long time."

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Delhi protests after rape death

29 December 2012 Last updated at 06:20 ET

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Sanjoy Majumder reports from a protest in Delhi

Thousands of people have staged peaceful protests in India's capital, Delhi, following the death of a woman who was gang-raped in the city.

The 23-year old woman, who has not been identified, died early on Saturday at a hospital in Singapore, where she had been taken for specialist treatment.

The attack on 16 December triggered violent public protests in India.

Six men who had been arrested in connection with the rape have now also been charged with murder.

Two police officers have already been suspended.

The woman's body is to be flown back to India for burial.

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"Start Quote

Clearly, many Indian women face threats to life at every stage - violence, inadequate healthcare, inequality, neglect, bad diet, lack of attention to personal health and well-being"

End Quote

On Saturday, police sealed off large parts of central Delhi close to government buildings, closed down a number of metro railway stations and asked people not to travel into the city.

Hundreds of armed police and riot troops are on duty, many of them women, and Delhi's police commissioner Neeraj Kumar has called on the public to remain calm.

Gatherings of more than five people have been banned in the city centre.

But some 4,000 people have gathered at the Jantar Mantar observatory, one of the areas of the city where protests are permitted, said the BBC's Sanjoy Majumder in the city.

One protester, Poonam Kaushik, blamed the attack on "the government's inefficiency to ensure safety of women in Delhi" and said the woman's death would generate "even more anger".

One banner on display told politicians: "We don't want your condolences! We don't want your fake sentiments! We demand immediate action to strengthen the laws against sexual violence."

Delhi's Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit - who has described the death as a "shameful moment" for the country - arrived to speak to the protesters but was shouted down, says our correspondent.

Protests have also been held in other cities across the country, including Calcutta and Mumbai.

There has also been an angry reaction in the Indian media, with one editorial in the Times of India calling for wider changes in society and an awareness that as well as attacks on the street, there are "a thousand unheard voices" of women who face sexual violence at home.

'Constructive action'

The Mount Elizabeth hospital in Singapore said the woman "passed away peacefully" early on Saturday with her family by her side.

Hospital chief executive Kelvin Loh said she had been in "an extremely critical condition" since arriving there, and had suffered severe organ failure following serious injuries to her body and brain.

The Indian home minister said the government had decided to send the woman abroad for treatment on the recommendation of her doctors.

India's Home Affairs minister, Ratanjit Pratap Narain Singh, said he was "heartbroken" by her death.

"I can only assure the family that the government will take whatever steps are needed to ensure that her killers get the harshest punishment in the quickest of time," he said.

"The government will work overtime to try and bring about laws and steps that will ensure that no other person, no other citizen of this country, has to go through or undergo the same kind of trauma."

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"Start Quote

We need to repent. And repentance would not be in hanging the accused or castrating them. Repentance will be in ensuring that no-one else goes through what she had to"

End Quote

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he was "very saddened" by the woman's death, and that the angry public reaction was "perfectly understandable".

"It would be a true homage to her memory if we are able to channel these emotions and energies into a constructive course of action," he said in a statement.

He called on politicians and the public to set aside "narrow sectional interest" and work together to make India "a demonstrably better and safer place for women to live in".

The woman - a medical student - and her friend had been to see a film when they boarded the bus in the Munirka area of Delhi, intending to travel to Dwarka in the south-west of the city.

Police said she was raped for nearly an hour, and both she and her companion were beaten with iron bars, then thrown out of the moving bus into the street.

The assault sparked angry protests about the general conditions for women in India, and about what is seen as an inadequate police response to rape allegations.

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India's High Commissioner to Singapore, TCA Raghavan: "We extend our condolences to the family"

Officials have since announced a series of measures intended to make Delhi safer for women.

These include more police night patrols, checks on bus drivers and their assistants, and the banning of buses with tinted windows or curtains.

The government has also said that it will post the photos, names and addresses of convicted rapists on official websites to shame them.

It has set up two committees - one looking into speeding up trials of cases involving sexual assaults on women, and the other to examine the lapses that might have led to the incident in Delhi.

But the protesters say the government's pledge to seek life sentences for the attackers is not enough - many are calling for the death penalty.

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French 75% tax rate struck down

29 December 2012 Last updated at 06:54 ET

France's constitutional council has struck down a top income tax rate of 75% introduced by Socialist President Francois Hollande.

Raising taxes for those earning more than 1m euros (£817,400) has been a flagship policy for Mr Hollande.

The policy angered France's business community and prompted some wealthy citizens to say they would emigrate.

Mr Hollande's government said it would rework the tax, due to take effect in 2013, to meet the council's complaints.

In its ruling on Saturday, the Constitutional Council said the new tax rate "failed to recognise equality before public burdens" because, unlike other forms of income tax, it was to be applied to individuals rather than households.

For example, that meant a household in which one person earned more than 1m euros would pay the tax, but a household in which two people earned 900,000 euros each would not have to pay.

The council also rejected new methods for calculating the tax.

Pressing ahead

But Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said the government would press ahead with the new tax rate.

"The government will propose a new system that conforms with the principles laid down by the decision of the Constitutional Council," he said.

The new rate was seen as largely symbolic since it would have only applied to some 1,500 people for a temporary period of two years.

But along with other tax rises, it has still been the subject of fierce debate in France.

French actor Gerard Depardieu recently announced he was moving to Belgium to avoid taxes, sparking a furious reaction from some on the left.

There was also speculation that people employed in high-income jobs like banking and finance would move elsewhere, including to London.

Mr Hollande campaigned against the austerity policies used in many European countries affected by economic crisis, favouring higher taxes rather than spending cuts to bring down the deficit.

The 75% rate for high earners was included in the government's 2013 budget, approved by parliament in September.

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Journalist William Rees-Mogg dies

29 December 2012 Last updated at 07:03 ET

Journalist William Rees-Mogg, former editor of the Times, has died aged 84.

Lord Rees-Mogg, who was Times editor for 14 years, passed away after a short illness, according to the newspaper.

The peer was also a former chairman of the Arts Council and vice-chairman of the BBC.

"It has been a mercifully short illness. He died very peacefully and a member of his family was with him. He was very prepared for it," his son, the MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, told the newspaper.

Lord Rees-Mogg was born in Somerset and went from Oxford - where he was president of the students' union - to the Financial Times, then to the Sunday Times, where he was deputy editor for three years.

He finally went to the Times, where he succeeded Sir William Haley as editor, in January 1967 and was at the helm during one of the most turbulent periods in the newspaper's history, until March 1981.

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We are all enormously proud of him and all that he did"

End Quote Jacob Rees-Mogg MP Son

A dispute over new technology led to the newspaper being off the streets for 11 months in 1978-9.

When it returned he was still editor, but before long Lord Thomson sold out to Rupert Murdoch, and Lord Rees-Mogg was succeeded by Harold Evans.

In an editorial, he referred to his departure as "my resumption of liberty".

His son Jacob, Conservative MP for North East Somerset, said his father had worked until the very end, writing his final column for the Times just two weeks ago.

"I had the greatest father anyone could ever want, who always encouraged his children in the different things that they did," he told the newspaper.

"He had the most extraordinary knowledge of almost every subject you could ever ask him about, and had this fascinating position in British public life for the last 60 years.

"He interviewed the leader of the opposition only six weeks ago, and had been a speechwriter for Anthony Eden.

"We are all enormously proud of him and all that he did; and that he found time to be the most active and loving father."

Lord Rees-Mogg was also the proprietor of an antiquarian book firm, chairman of the publishers Sidgwick & Jackson and a director of GEC.

He was knighted in 1981, and created a life peer in 1988. He was married with two sons and three daughters.

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US Gen Norman Schwarzkopf dies

28 December 2012 Last updated at 02:41 ET

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The BBC's Nick Childs looks back at Gen Norman Schwarzkopf's military career

Retired US General Norman Schwarzkopf, who led troops in the 1991 Gulf War, has died aged 78.

Gen Schwarzkopf - known as Stormin' Norman - was commander of coalition forces in the first Gulf War in 1990-91.

The US-led coalition drove Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's forces out of Kuwait.

Former US President George H W Bush described Gen Schwarzkopf as "one of the great military leaders of his generation".

Gen Schwarzkopf spent his retirement in Tampa, Florida, where he had served in his last military assignment as commander-in-chief of US Central Command.

His military success made him one of America's most famous modern generals, although some criticised him for negotiating ceasefire terms which allowed Saddam Hussein to remain in power, says the BBC's Ben Wright in Washington.

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"Start Quote

General Schwarzkopf was justly recognised as a brilliant strategist and inspiring leader"

End Quote Leon Panetta US Defence Secretary

President Bush, who was in office during the first Gulf War, said he "mourned the loss" of Gen Schwarzkopf, "one of the great military leaders of his generation".

Mr Bush, who remains in intensive care at the Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas, issued a statement, saying: "A distinguished member of that Long Gray Line hailing from West Point, General Schwarzkopf, to me, epitomised the 'duty, service, country' creed that has defended our freedom and seen this great nation through our most trying international crises.

"More than that, he was a good and decent man - and a dear friend. Barbara and I send our condolences to his wife Brenda and his wonderful family."

US Republican Senator John McCain tweeted that Gen Schwarzkopf was "one of the great American heroes".

"We thank him for his service," he said.

US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta also paid tribute to the general, saying his 35 years of service had "left an indelible imprint on the United States military and on the country".

"His bravery during two tours in Vietnam earned him three silver stars, and set him on the path to lead our troops into battle in Grenada, and then to take charge of the overall allied effort in the first Gulf War as Commander of United States Central Command," he said.

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Gen Schwarzkopf: Career highlights

• Born on 22 August 1934 in Trenton, New Jersey
• Aged 12, he moves to Iran where his father, a high-ranking army officer, trained the police and was an adviser to the Shah
• Studies in Switzerland and Germany, attends US Military Academy at West Point, New York. Gains masters degree in guided-missile engineering from the University of Southern California
• Highly decorated for his services in the Vietnam and Grenada wars
• Named commander-in-chief of the US Central Command in 1988
• Best known for leading allied forces as part of Operation Desert Storm in the Gulf War in 1991
• Often referred to as 'Stormin Norman', he used to taunt Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein

"General Schwarzkopf's skilled leadership of that campaign liberated the Kuwaiti people and produced a decisive victory for the allied coalition.

"In the aftermath of that war, General Schwarzkopf was justly recognised as a brilliant strategist and inspiring leader. Today, we recall that enduring legacy and remember him as one of the great military giants of the 20th Century."

During Operation Desert Storm, Gen Schwarzkopf famously used one of his regular news conferences to taunt his opponent.

"As far as Saddam Hussein being a great military strategist, he is neither a strategist, nor is schooled in the operational art, nor is he a tactician, nor is he a general, nor is he a soldier: other than that, he's a great military man - I want you to know that," he said.

Gen Schwarzkopf's sometimes fiery temper meant that he clashed with subordinates and superiors alike, including the then Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen Colin Powell.

Despite this and his bluff appearance, he was smarter and more diplomatic than many critics gave him credit for, says BBC world affairs correspondent Nick Childs.

After the first Gulf War Gen Schwarzkopf became a national celebrity, but always rejected suggestions that he run for office himself.

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UK-wide scheme to protect witnesses

28 December 2012 Last updated at 02:51 ET

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Supergrass Paul: ''You feel like you have no-one, you have to start again under false pretences''

The UK's first national witness protection scheme has been launched to overhaul the currently "inconsistent" approach to keeping vulnerable people safe, the Ministry of Justice has said.

It said more than one in four collapsed prosecutions last year were because witnesses refused to give evidence.

Current services were "variable" and lacked "uniform standards", it added.

Victims' minister Helen Grant said witnesses whose lives were in danger needed "the best possible protection".

Witnesses to the 2007 murder of Liverpool schoolboy Rhys Jones as well as those who gave evidence about the 2004 Morecambe Bay cockle pickers tragedy, in Lancashire, are among those who have been given protected persons status.

In 2009 and 2010, 18% of witnesses who went to court to give evidence said they or their families had felt intimidated at some point while 40% said they were worried about coming into contact with the defendant or their supporters.

The UK Protected Persons Service has been introduced thanks to a one-off £211,000 investment from the MoJ and Home Office.

Continue reading the main story

People think you get a new house, car and money but it isn't like that at all"

End Quote 'Supergrass' on being part of a witness protection programme

The MoJ, which said £19m a year was currently spent on protecting witnesses, said the new system would introduce national quality standards and ensure better co-ordination across "existing fragmented services".

It would also promote better intelligence-sharing between police forces, the MoJ added.

The Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), which has long supported a move to a national system, has previously said the change would make the system more attractive and would lead to more people coming forward to give evidence.

Responding to the announcement, Assistant Chief Constable Andy Cooke said it would "strengthen the fight against organised crime".

Tory MP Mrs Grant said witnesses were "the unsung heroes of society - especially those who could be jeopardising their own safety".

"I cannot thank them enough for the vital role they play in bringing criminals to justice," she said. "We are clear any witness whose life could be in danger must be given the best possible protection."

And she later told BBC Radio 5 live: "We want to do everything we possibly can so that they know if they do take that decision and come forward they will be protected, supported and cared for wherever they are in this country.

"At the moment we have a system which is good but it's patchy and it's inconsistent and often witnesses don't know, if they do come forward, exactly what protection they will get."

Mrs Grant said people wanted to be witnesses because "it's a matter of doing the right thing - people call it a civic duty, some others just feel it's telling the truth".

In February, it was revealed the Met Police and the Crown Prosecution Service paid a family more than £600,000 in damages and costs after a child witness was identified to a gang.

The boy, 16, had been promised anonymity to give evidence about a violent attack, but details were inadvertently passed to gang members.

In August 2010, meanwhile, a coroner called for a review of systems to protect vulnerable witnesses following the 2004 murder of Joan and John Stirland at their home in Trusthorpe, Lincolnshire.

They were shot in retaliation after their son, Michael O'Brien, killed a friend of the notorious Gunn family, headed by crime boss Colin Gunn.

The couple fled to Lincolnshire eight months before their deaths after shots were fired at their former home in Carlton, Nottingham.

A jury at their inquest found Nottinghamshire Police failed to share with officers in Lincolnshire - or properly act on - intelligence about the threat posed by Colin Gunn's gang.

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Falklands attack surprised Thatcher

28 December 2012 Last updated at 04:14 ET By Peter Biles BBC World Affairs Correspondent

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The 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands by Argentina took Margaret Thatcher by surprise, newly released government papers have shown.

The then-prime minister only saw it was likely after getting "raw intelligence" two days before the Argentines landed.

Papers released under the 30-year rule show Mrs Thatcher was acutely worried about retaking the islands.

One historian said the documents were among the "most powerful material" declassified in the last three decades.

In October 1982, a few months after the war ended, Mrs Thatcher gave evidence behind closed doors to the Falkland Islands Review Committee, chaired by Lord Franks.

The transcript of that dramatic testimony has now been published for the first time.

"I never, never expected the Argentines to invade the Falklands head-on. It was such a stupid thing to do, as events happened, such a stupid thing even to contemplate doing", Mrs Thatcher told the Franks Committee.

There had been some British contingency planning in the month before the Argentine invasion of the Falklands.

On 26 March 1982, Ministry of Defence officials came back to Mrs Thatcher with a plan to deter a full-scale invasion.

Continue reading the main story

• 2 April 1982: Argentine forces invade Falkland Islands. Other British South Atlantic territories including South Georgia are seized shortly afterwards
• 5 April: A British task force of more than 100 ships sets sail for the South Atlantic
• 25 April: South Georgia is recaptured by British forces.
• 2 May: Argentine cruiser General Belgrano sunk by HMS Conqueror, killing more than 320
• 21 May: Three thousand British troops begin landing at San Carlos on East Falkland
• 28-29 May: British forces recapture Goose Green.
• 8 June: British landing craft are bombed at Fitzroy, killing more than 50 men
• 13 June: Argentine positions on mountains overlooking the capital Port Stanley are taken
• 14 June: Argentine forces surrender. British troops march into Stanley

255 British servicemen and three Falklands civilians died during the conflict. The number of Argentine dead is estimated at about 650

One sentence shocked her, and she wrote it in her diary: "Moreover, if faced with Argentine occupation on arrival there would be no certainty that such a force would be able to retake the dependency."

She told the committee: "You can imagine that turned a knife in my heart, that lot."

However, in her oral evidence, she said she had still considered an invasion unlikely: "I again stress, I thought that they would be so absurd and ridiculous to invade the Falklands that I did not think it would happen.

"Nevertheless, one has always to make contingency plans, and soon after we got the South Georgia incident happening."

The picture changed on 31 March 1982 when Mrs Thatcher was shown intelligence suggesting that an invasion was on the cards: "I just say it was the worst I think moment of my life."

She also told the committee: "That night no-one could tell me whether we could retake the Falklands - no-one. We did not know - we did not know."

The British foreign secretary at the time, Lord Carrington, also gave evidence to the Franks Committee, where he too held the view that Argentina was not going to invade the Falklands.

"I have been accused, and was accused violently after 2 April in the House of Commons, and in the press and elsewhere - of wilfully ignoring signs and statements and evidence, and just ignoring it. I can truthfully say I did not do any of these things… they (the signs of an invasion) were not there," Lord Carrington said.

On 5 April, Lord Carrington resigned as foreign secretary, which prompted this reaction from Mrs Thatcher: "I had tremendous confidence in Peter Carrington, and his loss seemed to me a devastating blow for Britain and I would back him up all the way."

The political historian Lord Hennessy said Mrs Thatcher's evidence about the Falklands War was some of the most powerful material to be declassified by the National Archives in the last three decades.

"It's only three months after the end of the war, so it's immensely vivid. It's still coursing through her veins.

"She also has this great power of expression - she's a primary colours politician."

Argentina's invasion of the Falklands may have come as a surprise to Mrs Thatcher and her ministers, but the government papers do reveal some interesting pointers.

As early as 1977 there was a British intelligence assessment that Argentine military action was possible if talks over the Islands went badly.

At the end of that year, the British government decided to send a submarine and two frigates to the South Atlantic.

However, the ships' movements were kept secret.

Indeed, there was no conspicuous British naval presence in the South Atlantic in the five years that preceded the war. This may be why Argentina thought Britain would not launch an attack to retake the Falklands in April 1982.

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Also, Britain's ambassador in Buenos Aires in 1982, Anthony Williams, felt some of his warnings sent to London were simply ignored.

"Argentina is not just another 'banana republic' - a tin pot country led by a tinpot dictator," he wrote in his valedictory despatch in June 1982.

"Argentina has its share of vandals, hooligans and roughs. But this is not the whole story, nor was the seizure of the islands a simple act of brigandage."

Lord Armstrong was Margaret Thatcher's Cabinet secretary at the time. He told the BBC: "If we had failed to recover the Falklands she would have had to go.

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The BBC's Laurie Margolis speaks about how he found out exactly what was going on in the Falklands and broke the news story

"If we had lost it she couldn't have won the next election. Her own political career, and that of her party, were on the line.

"During those weeks, she lived more fully and more completely than at any time in the rest of her time as prime minister."

Argentine forces landed on the islands in 2 April 1982 and the recapture by a British task force was completed on 14 June.

Argentina says it inherited ownership of the islands - which it calls Las Malvinas - from Spain, arguing that British colonists occupied the islands by force in 1833 and expelled settlers - thus violating Argentina's territorial integrity. It also bases its claim on the islands' proximity to the South American mainland.

Some 255 British servicemen and three Falklands civilians died during the conflict. The number of Argentine dead is estimated at about 650

All document images courtesy of the National Archives

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