New inquests to probe fans' deaths

31 March 2014 Last updated at 10:10

Fresh inquests are to begin in Warrington later into the deaths of 96 football fans who lost their lives in the 1989 Hillsborough disaster.

The inquests were ordered in December 2012 when the High Court quashed the original accidental death verdicts that had stood for more than 20 years.

It came after new evidence was revealed by the Hillsborough Independent Panel about Liverpool FC's FA Cup semi-final where the men, women and children died.

The inquests are set to last a year.

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"Over the coming year new light will be shone on Britain's worst sporting disaster", reports Judith Moritz

All the victims were Liverpool supporters watching their team play Nottingham Forest at Sheffield Wednesday's ground.

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The coroner, a serving Lord Justice of Appeal, a very senior judge, is being assisted by five lawyers, five counsel to the inquest, three solicitors and of course there are lawyers representing all the families of those who died who wish to be represented, the authorities, the police, the emergency services and so on.

When the coroner selects individual jurors they will be told they have to set aside up to a year. They will not be sitting continuously for that period, they will have to take a break, but nevertheless it is a considerable period of time.

Obviously, they will be asked about any particular connections to the tragedy at Hillsborough and they will be checked to make sure that they really can serve this considerable period of time.

The coroner could record a verdict of natural causes; accidental death, unlawful killing; an open verdict; or these days, they often give a narrative verdict, where they set out in some detail what they believe to have happened.

The inquests, being heard by a jury, are being held in a purpose-built courtroom, the biggest in England and Wales, in an office building in Birchwood Park, in Warrington.

Unseen footage

Proceedings will begin with the selection of 11 jurors who are expected be sworn in on Tuesday.

Lord Justice Goldring, a Court of Appeal judge who is acting as coroner, will open the hearing with a statement to the court.

Families of the victims will be invited to read out "background statements" - or what they are calling "pen portraits" - of their loved ones.

The hearing will then break for several weeks for lawyers to consider new pathological evidence into how each of the 96 died.

Over the course of the inquests, jurors are expected to hear evidence on themes including stadium safety, emergency planning, crowd management and the response of the emergency services.

The court will also be shown hitherto unseen BBC footage recorded on the day.

Kenny Dalglish, Liverpool's manager at the time of the disaster, said: "We were there, we experienced it, but what about the families, the mothers and the fathers who were watching it on television? What a horrible experience that must have been."

Margaret Aspinall, who lost her son James in the disaster, said: "A lot of the families will find out an awful lot of things that they did not know about before, and I think that's going to be a very difficult time for them."

There are two separate inquiries running alongside the inquests.

Operation Resolve, led by former Chief Constable of Durham Jon Stoddart, is a criminal investigation into events leading up to the disaster, as well as the disaster itself.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission is looking into allegations of police misconduct arising from the aftermath of the tragedy.

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London borough could face inspection

31 March 2014 Last updated at 00:14 By John Ware Reporter, BBC Panorama

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has said he may send in inspectors to investigate a London borough.

Panorama has found that Lutfur Rahman, the Bangladeshi mayor of Tower Hamlets, has more than doubled funding recommended by officers for Bengali-run charities.

Opposition councillors say they believe the grants were made in return for electoral support.

Mr Rahman categorically denies the accusation.

In 2010, residents of Tower Hamlets voted in Britain's first directly elected Asian mayor.

Mr Rahman won as an independent with only 13% of registered voters.

Almost two-thirds of those who turned out to vote that day were from his own Bangladeshi community.

To win re-election in May, the mayor is expected to need a high Bangladeshi turnout again.

As a directly-elected mayor, he has executive power over the allocation of some grants to local bodies. Council officers made recommendations to the mayor based on the neediest in the borough.

Labour and Conservative opposition councillors allege that his selection of charities for grant funding in the run-up to the election was motivated by electoral advantage.

"I am pretty sure there is some quid pro quo in some of those grants decisions being made," said Labour councillor, Joshua Peck.

"Part of that is about supporting the mayor politically on the ground in the run-up to the election.

"He doesn't have a political machine and he needs organisations… making sure the electorate turns out to vote for him."

The mayor strongly denies this but if his selection of which groups to fund was based on who he thought would get him votes, that would be unlawful.

Panorama has gained access to confidential paperwork that reveals the extent to which the mayor rejected recommendations from council officers.

They had proposed that Bengali and Somali groups receive £1.5m. But a review by Panorama of 362 grants approved by the mayor found that he increased funding to these organisations by nearly two-and-a-half times - to £3.6m.

To pay for it he used funds from the council's reserves and reduced what was left for other organisations by 25% overall.

The mayor categorically denied his allocation of grants was motivated by electoral advantage.

"It's absolutely untrue", he said. "My principle has all along been that we will distribute the money to as many organisations as possible… because they benefit the community."

In exchange for more personal power, directly elected mayors are expected to present themselves for questioning.

The mayor said he upholds the "highest standards of probity and transparency" and that the decisions have an "adequate audit trail".

But Mr Rahman declined to answer opposition questions in council meetings about his award of grants or answer questions from the special council forum that is meant to hold him to account, the Overview and Scrutiny (O&S) committee, for more than a year.

The confidential council papers provide only the barest explanation for the hundreds of changes made by the mayor to officer recommendations.

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Panorama has unearthed some very serious allegations that demand an answer"

End Quote Eric Pickles MP Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government

The changes were described as being based on "local knowledge" and because it was "known where money needs to be redistributed".

Mr Rahman said the grants decisions were properly scrutinised.

"Three grants panels, four cabinet meetings, two O&S meetings [were attended] about the grants - a vigorous process - after which I made the final decision," he said.

"My executive members attended [two overview and scrutiny committees and] answered each and every question and gave a proper answer."

Since he became mayor, Mr Rahman has changed the grants process from one held mostly in public to one which now takes place mostly behind closed doors.

Rob Whiteman, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, told Panorama: "It's very important that the process isn't behind closed doors.

"When it is, it calls into question whether or not that process is being properly followed and whether or not the decisions are being soundly made.

"Up and down the land you will see councils very keen to ensure that their decision making in this regard, in these areas, is very much in public."

Panorama took the findings to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles.

"Panorama has unearthed some very serious allegations that demand an answer," he said. "I think the allegations or questions that Panorama raise are of a completely different magnitude to worries and concerns that I have with other councils."

He said he would ask his experts to review Panorama's analysis in detail and added: "If I feel the allegations that you made are substantial and serious, I will actively consider intervening.

"I have powers to put in an inspector to look at the way that the council's been run."

Panorama: The Mayor and Our Money, BBC One, Monday 31 March at 20:30 GMT and then available in the UK on the BBC iPlayer.

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Climate impacts 'overwhelming' - UN

31 March 2014 Last updated at 01:02 By Matt McGrath Environment correspondent, BBC News, Yokohama, Japan

The impacts of global warming are likely to be "severe, pervasive and irreversible", a major report by the UN has warned.

Scientists and officials meeting in Japan say the document is the most comprehensive assessment to date of the impacts of climate change on the world.

Some impacts of climate change include a higher risk of flooding and changes to crop yields and water availability.

Humans may be able to adapt to some of these changes, but only within limits.

An example of an adaptation strategy would be the construction of sea walls and levees to protect against flooding. Another might be introducing more efficient irrigation for farmers in areas where water is scarce.

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Natural systems are currently bearing the brunt of climatic changes, but a growing impact on humans is feared.

Members of the UN's climate panel say it provides overwhelming evidence of the scale of these effects.

Our health, homes, food and safety are all likely to be threatened by rising temperatures, the summary says.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

Nobody on this planet is going to be untouched by the impacts of climate change"

End Quote Rajendra Pachauri Chairman, IPCC

The report was agreed after almost a week of intense discussions here in Yokohama, which included concerns among some authors about the tone of the evolving document.

This is the second of a series from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) due out this year that outlines the causes, effects and solutions to global warming.

This latest Summary for Policymakers document highlights the fact that the amount of scientific evidence on the impacts of warming has almost doubled since the last report in 2007.

Be it the melting of glaciers or warming of permafrost, the summary highlights the fact that on all continents and across the oceans, changes in the climate have caused impacts on natural and human systems in recent decades.

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Carbon dioxide emissions from modern society are turning the oceans more acidic

In the words of the report, "increasing magnitudes of warming increase the likelihood of severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts".

"Nobody on this planet is going to be untouched by the impacts of climate change,'' IPCC chairman Rajendra Pachauri told journalists at a news conference in Yokohama.

Continue reading the main story

Analysis

The prognosis on the climate isn't good - but the doctor's changing his bedside manner with the people in charge of the planet's health.

The report's chair, Dr Chris Field, is worried that an apocalyptic tone will frighten politicians so much that they'll abandon the Earth to its fate.

There is nothing inevitable about the worst impacts on people and nature, Dr Field says. We can cut emissions to reduce the risks of catastrophe and adapt to some changes that will inevitably occur.

We have to re-frame climate change as an exciting challenge for the most creative minds.

Cutting local air pollution from, say coal, can also reduce carbon emissions that cause warming; creating decent homes for poor people in countries like Bangladesh can improve lives whilst removing them from the path of flood surges.

Some will criticise Dr Field for being too upbeat. But many politicians have gone deaf to the old-style warnings. Maybe it's worth a new approach.

Dr Saleemul Huq, a convening lead author on one of the chapters, commented: "Before this we thought we knew this was happening, but now we have overwhelming evidence that it is happening and it is real."

Michel Jarraud, secretary-general of the World Meteorological Organization, said that, previously, people could have damaged the Earth's climate out of "ignorance".

"Now, ignorance is no longer a good excuse," he said.

Mr Jarraud said the report was based on more than 12,000 peer-reviewed scientific studies. He said this document was "the most solid evidence you can get in any scientific discipline".

The report details significant short-term impacts on natural systems in the next 20 to 30 years. It details five reasons for concern that would likely increase as a result of the warming the world is already committed to.

These include threats to unique systems such as Arctic sea ice and coral reefs, where risks are said to increase to "very high" with a 2C rise in temperatures.

The summary document outlines impacts on the seas and on freshwater systems as well. The oceans will become more acidic, threatening coral and the many species that they harbour.

On land, animals, plants and other species will begin to move towards higher ground or towards the poles as the mercury rises.

Humans, though, are also increasingly affected as the century goes on.

Food security is highlighted as an area of significant concern. Crop yields for maize, rice and wheat are all hit in the period up to 2050, with around a tenth of projections showing losses over 25%.

After 2050, the risk of more severe yield impacts increases, as boom-and-bust cycles affect many regions. All the while, the demand for food from a population estimated to be around nine billion will rise.

Many fish species, a critical food source for many, will also move because of warmer waters.

Continue reading the main story

What is the IPCC?

In its own words, the IPCC is there "to provide the world with a clear scientific view on the current state of knowledge in climate change and its potential environmental and socio-economic impacts".

The offspring of two UN bodies, the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme, it has issued four heavyweight assessment reports to date on the state of the climate.

These are commissioned by the governments of 195 countries, essentially the entire world. These reports are critical in informing the climate policies adopted by these governments.

The IPCC itself is a small organisation, run from Geneva with a full time staff of 12. All the scientists who are involved with it do so on a voluntary basis.

In some parts of the tropics and in Antarctica, potential catches could decline by more than 50%.

"This is a sobering assessment," said Prof Neil Adger from the University of Exeter, another IPCC author.

"Going into the future, the risks only increase, and these are about people, the impacts on crops, on the availability of water and particularly, the extreme events on people's lives and livelihoods."

People will be affected by flooding and heat related mortality. The report warns of new risks including the threat to those who work outside, such as farmers and construction workers. There are concerns raised over migration linked to climate change, as well as conflict and national security.

Report co-author Maggie Opondo of the University of Nairobi said that in places such as Africa, climate change and extreme events mean "people are going to become more vulnerable to sinking deeper into poverty".

While the poorer countries are likely to suffer more in the short term, the rich won't escape.

"The rich are going to have to think about climate change. We're seeing that in the UK, with the floods we had a few months ago, and the storms we had in the US and the drought in California," said Dr Huq.

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IPCC Chairman Rajendra Pachauri said the findings in the report were "profound"

"These are multibillion dollar events that the rich are going to have to pay for, and there's a limit to what they can pay."

But it is not all bad news, as the co-chair of the working group that drew up the report points out.

"I think the really big breakthrough in this report is the new idea of thinking about managing climate change as a problem in managing risks," said Dr Chris Field.

"Climate change is really important but we have a lot of the tools for dealing effectively with it - we just need to be smart about it."

There is far greater emphasis to adapting to the impacts of climate in this new summary. The problem, as ever, is who foots the bill?

"It is not up to IPCC to define that," said Dr Jose Marengo, a Brazilian government official who attended the talks.

"It provides the scientific basis to say this is the bill, somebody has to pay, and with the scientific grounds it is relatively easier now to go to the climate negotiations in the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) and start making deals about who will pay for adaptation."

Follow Matt on Twitter.

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'No time limit' on Malaysia jet hunt

31 March 2014 Last updated at 02:46

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Tony Abbott: "I'm certainly not putting a time limit on it"

Rescue crews have put no time limit on the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has said.

Mr Abbott told reporters near Perth, where the operation is being co-ordinated, that the hunt for flight MH370 was still being stepped up.

Ten aircraft and 10 ships are scouring the sea south-west of Perth for debris from the airliner.

The Beijing-bound plane disappeared on 8 March with 239 people on board.

The signal from its flight-data recorder lasts about 30 days.

The search teams are deploying a special tool known as a "towed ping locator" to find the recorder, which will be used once debris from the plane has been found.

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The BBC's Jon Donnison explains how a "towed pinger locator" is used

Several floating objects have been found during the search in recent days, but none is believed to belong to the missing plane.

"We can keep searching for quite some time to come," said Mr Abbott.

"The intensity of our search and the magnitude of our search is increasing, not decreasing."

Some 153 of the passengers were Chinese, and dozens of their relatives arrived in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday.

They have become increasingly upset with the perceived lack of information from the Malaysian authorities.

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• 8 March: Malaysia Airlines Kuala Lumpur-Beijing flight carrying 239 people disappears
• Plane's transponder, which gives out location data, was switched off as it left Malaysian airspace
• Satellite 'pings' indicate plane was still flying seven hours after satellite contact was lost
• 24 March: Based on new calculations, Malaysian PM says "beyond reasonable doubt" that plane crashed in southern Indian Ocean with no survivors

Chanting "Tell us the truth", they said they wanted Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak to apologise for what they regard as misleading statements.

Many were outraged when Mr Najib stated earlier that he believed the plane had come down in the Indian Ocean with no survivors.

But Mr Abbott gave his backing to that assessment, saying: "The accumulation of evidence is that the aircraft has been lost and it has been lost somewhere in the south of the Indian Ocean.

"That's the absolutely overwhelming wave of evidence and I think that Prime Minister Najib Razak was perfectly entitled to come to that conclusion."

Various theories about what went wrong have been suggested - including the captain hijacking his own plane.

The speculation was fuelled by reports that files had been deleted on the pilot's home flight simulator.

However, on Saturday Malaysia's transport minister said investigators had found "nothing sinister" from the simulator.

Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 vanished less than an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur.

The airliner diverted off course and lost contact with air traffic controllers between Malaysian and Vietnamese air-traffic control areas.

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Network Rail plans £38bn investment

31 March 2014 Last updated at 08:06

Network Rail has announced a five-year plan to invest £38bn in rail infrastructure.

It includes the construction of new tracks, the renovation of stations and the upgrade of existing lines.

The announcement comes after it emerged that Network Rail was expecting a record fine of £70m for delays suffered by passengers over the past five years.

It blamed congestion and extreme weather for the delays, but said it was disappointed by its performance.

'Bigger, better'

In a statement accompanying Monday's announcement about its investment plans Mark Carne, chief executive of Network Rail, said: "Passenger numbers in recent years have grown far beyond even our own industry's predictions, so it's vital that this investment over the next five years helps meet the continuing increase in demand for rail travel.

"Bigger, better stations, more tracks and longer platforms, electric-powered trains, reopened railway lines and fewer level crossings - all will help deliver more frequent, more comfortable, more reliable journeys and a safer, better-value railway for everyone," he said.

The plan, which runs from 2014 to 2019, includes:

• Up to 700 more trains a day between major northern cities
• 20% increase in the capacity of London's commuter trains
• 850 miles of track to be electrified
• An east-west rail project connecting Oxford and Milton Keynes
• Upgrades for stations including Birmingham New Street and Manchester Victoria

In addition to those new projects, £13bn will be put into replacing and renewing old tracks, points, fencing and platforms.

'Punctuality priority'

David Sidebottom, acting chief executive of rail watchdog group Passenger Focus, said: "The £38bn investment for Network Rail over the next five years is welcome, particularly during difficult economic times.

Continue reading the main story

I don't think in this century we should be having railways that are out of action for two months as we've suffered in Dawlish"

End Quote Mark Carne Network Rail chief executive

"Passengers should ultimately see an improved rail service bringing the things they tell us they want: improved punctuality, reliable trains with more seats."

Alluding to the fine expected to be imposed on Network Rail for delays, he added: "Punctuality should be a particular focus given the priority passengers give to it."

Mr Carne told the BBC that "huge growth in passenger numbers over the past five years" had contributed to punctuality issues.

"The train network is becoming more and more busy, and that's why we have to invest again to increase the capacity, to improve the reliability still further," he said.

Network Rail says it also wants to improve the network's ability to withstand extreme weather.

Mr Carne said: "Over the next five years we will work tirelessly to improve the resilience of our railway, targeting investment in areas we know are vulnerable to nature's impact and reducing the likelihood of damage and disruption."

Storms in February destroyed the main line at Dawlish in Devon, cutting rail services to Cornwall.

"I don't think in this century we should be having railways that are out of action for two months as we've suffered in Dawlish," Mr Carne told the BBC. "It's quite clear we need to invest further in improving the resilience of our network."

Network Rail expects the line to reopen on 4 April.

Dawlish was just one example of a town cut off from the network by bad weather, Mr Carne said. Network Rail has just reopened the line to Hastings after several weeks of closure due to landslips.

"We've suffered an enormous amount of damage to the railway right across the network, and that's one of the reasons why our punctuality figures have been lower than we would have liked."

"We need to do more to improve the resilience and to provide the passengers with the kind of service that I think they rightly deserve," he added.

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'Cinderella' cruelty law considered

31 March 2014 Last updated at 09:48

The government is considering whether to introduce a new offence of emotional cruelty to children, it has been confirmed.

The proposed change to neglect laws in England and Wales would see parents who deny their children affection face prosecution for the first time.

It follows a campaign for a "Cinderella Law" from charity Action for Children.

The government said child cruelty was an abhorrent crime which should be punished.

Social workers have a definition of child cruelty that they work on but because it is not written into law, this makes it difficult for the police to gather evidence.

Action for Children's chief executive, Sir Tony Hawkhead, said the change would be a "monumental step forward for thousands of children".

'Terrorising a child'

Robert Buckland, a Conservative MP who has backed the charity's campaign, said the current law was outdated as it is based largely on legislation first introduced 150 years ago.

Continue reading the main story

This proposal is not about widening the net, it's about making the net stronger so that we catch those parents and carers who are quite clearly inflicting significant harm"

End Quote Robert Buckland Conservative MP

And he stressed that non-physical abuse could cause "significant harm" to children.

"You can look at a range of behaviours, from ignoring a child's presence, failing to stimulate a child, right through to acts of in fact terrorising a child where the child is frightened to disclose what is happening to them," Mr Buckland told BBC Radio 5 live.

"Isolating them, belittling them, rejecting them, corrupting them, as well, into criminal or anti-social behaviour."

He said the new law would not criminalise parents for being nasty, but for their criminal behaviour.

"This proposal is not about widening the net, it's about making the net stronger so that we catch those parents and carers who are quite clearly inflicting significant harm on their children, whereas they should be nurturing them and loving them," Mr Buckland said.

He added that it would also give police a "clearer way" in which to work, he said.

The campaign was also backed by Liberal Democrat MP Mark Williams, who introduced a private member's bill on the issue last year, the late Labour MP Paul Goggins and Baroness Butler-Sloss, a former judge who was president of the family division of the High Court.

'Abhorrent crime'

The Children and Young Persons Act of 1933 provides for the punishment of a person who treats a child "in a manner likely to cause him unnecessary suffering or injury to health (including injury to or loss of sight, or hearing, or limb, or organ of the body, and any mental derangement)".

Mr Williams's bill would add a further category of harm for which the perpetrator could be punished: impairment of "physical, intellectual, emotional, social or behavioural development".

Child neglect was made a punishable offence by the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1868.

The Ministry of Justice confirmed they were "considering ways the law can support" protecting children from this sort of harm.

A spokesman said protecting children from harm was "fundamental" and that child cruelty was an "abhorrent crime which should be punished".

Ministers are looking to introduce the measure ahead of the next election, possibly in the Queen's Speech, but sources told the BBC it was not yet a done deal.

But it is understood this might not be the case as such a change would not require a separate piece of legislation - it could instead be added on to an existing bill.

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Russian PM Medvedev in Crimea visit

31 March 2014 Last updated at 10:16

Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has arrived in Crimea - the most senior Russian official to visit since it was annexed from Ukraine.

Mr Medvedev is visiting Crimea's main city Simferopol, leading a delegation of Russian ministers.

The prime minister tweeted that the Russian government was meeting there to discuss development in the peninsula.

Moscow's annexation of Crimea earlier this month has sparked international condemnation.

Meanwhile four hours of "frank" talks on Sunday between the US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, ended without a breakthrough.

Continue reading the main story

Mr Kerry's description of what should be up for discussion covered quite a lot on Russia's wish list: rights for national minorities, language rights, the disarmament of irregular forces and inclusive constitutional reform, including - most importantly - the idea of federalising Ukraine.

No wonder Sergei Lavrov looked satisfied and called the talks "very very constructive", while John Kerry just looked tired. It's true the Americans are insisting that all negotiations must be subject to the approval of the government in Kiev - which has already dismissed the idea of federalism as unacceptable. But if the issue is on the table, from Russia's point of view, that is the first step.

In other ways, too, Mr Kerry seemed less than forceful: Russian troops massed on Ukraine's border were "intimidating" and "inappropriate" but he admitted they were on Russian soil so legally there could be no demand they were moved. And he made no American call for Russian troops to be pulled back in Crimea, or for the annexed territory to be returned to Ukraine. The impression left was that Washington is bending over backwards in its search for a diplomatic solution to stop this crisis getting worse.

Mr Kerry told reporters in Paris that the US still considered Russia's takeover of Ukraine's Crimea region to be "illegal and illegitimate".

He said he had stressed that no decision on Ukraine's future could be made without Kiev's involvement.

Earlier Mr Lavrov said Ukraine should become a loose federal state - a suggestion Kiev rejects as an attempt to dismember the country.

Russia's decision to take over Crimea - following the ousting of Ukraine's pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych after months of protests - has triggered a crisis in relations between Russia and the West.

The US and the European Union have imposed sanctions on members of President Vladimir Putin's inner circle and other officials. Russia has retaliated with its own sanctions on US lawmakers.

Phone call

Sunday's crisis talks between the US and Russia's top diplomats were hastily arranged following a phone call between Mr Putin and President Barack Obama on Friday evening.

The US says that Russia is massing troops on its border with eastern Ukraine, and fears that Moscow might seek to take over further areas of the country.

As the rest of Europe put their clocks forward by one hour on Sunday morning, Crimea aligned its time with Moscow - jumping two hours ahead. Hundreds of people waving flags greeted the time change in Simferopol.

Voters in the mainly pro-Russian peninsula backed leaving Ukraine for Russia in a referendum on 16 March. But the vote has been condemned as illegal by Kiev and the UN General Assembly.

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MP quits as aide over paper claims

30 March 2014 Last updated at 02:53

Conservative MP Mark Menzies has quit his post as a ministerial aide after newspapers reported allegations by a Brazilian male escort.

The MP for Fylde in Lancashire said a number of the claims were "untrue" and he would set the record straight.

He resigned as Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to International Development Minister Alan Duncan after an investigation by the Sunday Mirror.

Mr Menzies said a number of the allegations were untrue.

In a statement he said: "I have decided to resign as a PPS tonight after a series of allegations were made against me in a Sunday newspaper.

"A number of these allegations are not true and I look forward to setting the record straight in due course."

Councillor Brenda Ackers, who chairs the Fylde Conservative Association, said: "Mark has the full support of his constituency party."

The Sunday Mirror reported a series of allegations about Mr Menzies' private life which it said had been made by the Brazilian man, including claims that the MP paid him for sex and asked him to buy an illegal drug.

The Conservative MP, 42, has been active in the party since he was 16 and later joined Marks and Spencer as a graduate trainee.

Before working for Mr Duncan he was PPS - an unsalaried role and not technically part of the government - to the housing and climate change ministers.

He studied economics and social history at Glasgow University, and was elected as an MP in 2010.

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Prince George photograph released

29 March 2014 Last updated at 22:01

An official photograph of Prince George with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge has been released ahead of their tour of Australia and New Zealand.

The eight-month-old is pictured in his mother's arms while Prince William holds their dog, Lupo.

In the image, taken by royal christening photographer Jason Bell, the family is looking through an open window at their Kensington Palace home.

The Cambridges are due to arrive in New Zealand on 7 April.

They then fly to Australia on 16 April and their three-week tour ends on 25 April.

First tour

In the new image, the blond baby prince is wearing a pale blue jumper bearing his name, while his mother wears a cream-coloured blouse and his father a shirt with rolled-up sleeves.

Prince George, who is third in line to the throne, is not looking directly at the camera like his parents - instead, he is smiling at the black cocker spaniel next to him.

Other than a glimpse of the curtains, little of the Cambridges' renovated Kensington Palace home can be seen in the photograph.

It is the first official picture of Prince George to be released since his christening last October.

The visit to Australia and New Zealand will be his first official overseas tour. The trip echoes the Prince and Princess of Wales's visit to Australia and New Zealand in 1983 when the couple took William, then aged nine months, with them.

The tour will begin in Wellington, where the Cambridges will be greeted with a ceremonial welcome to New Zealand, called a Powhiri in Maori.

They will see a yacht race, visit a rugby stadium and a vineyard, and there will also be Maori engagements in Christchurch and Dunedin.

During their time in New Zealand, they will attend a ceremony in Blenheim to recognise the sacrifice of members of the Australian and New Zealand armed forces in the First World War.

There will be a similar commemorative ceremony in Canberra, Australia.

Their Australian itinerary includes visits to Uluru in the Northern Territory, as well as Sydney and Adelaide.

The duke and duchess will also visit an area of the Blue Mountains, New South Wales, that was hit by bushfires last October.

Their 11-strong entourage includes Prince George's new nanny, Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo, and a hairdresser.

Celebrity photographer

Prince William has made a number of official trips to Australia and New Zealand in the past, but Catherine is yet to pay an official visit to either country.

The couple passed through Brisbane airport on their way back to the UK at the end of their South Pacific tour in September 2012, however.

The duke had paid an official visit to New Zealand and Australia in March 2011. He went to Christchurch shortly after it suffered an earthquake and also visited Queensland and Victoria, which had been hit by floods.

It is the third joint official trip abroad for the duke and duchess, following a visit to Canada and the US in July 2011, shortly after they were married, and their South Pacific tour.

Before taking official photographs following Prince George's christening at St James's Palace, Bell was known for his celebrity subjects.

His images from the christening included one of the young prince with his father, grandfather Prince Charles and great-grandmother, the Queen.

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Diplomatic push for Ukraine solution

29 March 2014 Last updated at 23:13

US Secretary of State John Kerry has diverted his homebound flight from the Middle East for hastily arranged talks in Paris on the Ukraine crisis with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

The decision came after President Vladimir Putin spoke to President Barack Obama by phone late on Friday.

Mr Obama has called on Russia to pull its troops back from Ukraine's border.

Mr Lavrov told Russian TV on Saturday that Moscow had no intention of sending troops into Ukraine.

Several thousand Russian soldiers are reported to have been stationed near Ukraine's eastern borders.

The two foreign ministers are due to meet in Paris on Sunday evening.

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People in the Crimean capital Simferopol have been celebrating the change of the clocks to synchronise with the time in Moscow

Reports say Mr Kerry was flying home from the Middle East on Saturday when he abruptly changed travel plans and instructed the plane's crew to fly to France.

There were festivities in the Crimean capital Simferopol late on Saturday when the clocks were moved forward two hours at 22:00 (20:00 GMT) local time to align with Moscow time.

However, representatives of the peninsula's Tatar minority, who largely opposed Russia's annexation, voted in favour of "ethnic and territorial autonomy".

The delegates at a congress convened in the town of Bakhchisaray left open the form this autonomy would take and how it would be achieved.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's interim authorities have been pressing ahead with plans for elections due on 25 May.

Boxer and leading political figure Vitaly Klitschko pulled out of the race for president on Saturday, declaring his support for billionaire chocolate tycoon Petro Poroshenko.

"The only chance of winning is to nominate one candidate from the democratic forces," he told supporters of his Udar (Punch) party.

Former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who was freed from jail when Viktor Yanukovych was ousted as president last month, has also said she will stand.

After Mr Yanukovych fled Ukraine, pro-Russian forces moved in to take control of the Crimean peninsula. Moscow then annexed the Ukrainian region after a referendum condemned as illegal by Kiev and the UN General Assembly.

In an interview with state TV channel Rossiya 1 on Saturday, Mr Lavrov said: "We have absolutely no intention of - or interest in - crossing Ukraine's borders."

He added that Russia was ready to protect "the rights of Russians and Russian-speaking people in Ukraine, using all available political, diplomatic and legal means".

After the interview was broadcast, it emerged Mr Lavrov had spoken by phone to Mr Kerry, in a conversation that Russian officials said was initiated by the US.

That call followed an hour-long phone discussion late on Friday between the US and Russian presidents. Mr Putin had contacted President Obama, according to US officials.

The White House said in a statement. that the US was keen to de-escalate the crisis.

"President Obama made clear that this remains possible only if Russia pulls back its troops and does not take any steps to further violate Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty," it added.

The US proposal, described as a "diplomatic off-ramp", has been developed in consultation with Ukraine and several EU countries,

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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov: "We have absolutely no intention of, or interest in, crossing Ukraine's borders"

It is thought to involve halting the military build-up near Ukraine's border, the deployment of international monitors in eastern Ukraine to protect the rights of Russian speakers, and the return of Russian troops in Crimea to their bases there.

The Kremlin said that the Russian president had drawn Mr Obama's attention to "the continued rampage of extremists" in Kiev and various regions of Ukraine.

Russia's reported troop movements near Ukraine's eastern border - described by Nato as a "huge military build-up" - have triggered fears that Mr Putin's interest in Ukraine is not limited to Crimea.

Acting Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsya said on Saturday Russia was trying to create an "instability belt" in Ukraine's south-eastern regions.

"If you look at the map, there are plans to destabilise the situation in... particularly in Odessa, which would give the Russian Federation a pretext for creating a corridor between Russia [and] Crimea," Mr Deshchytsya said.

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Police seek outsiders for top ranks

30 March 2014 Last updated at 02:37

A move to fast-track external recruits into senior policing roles for the first time is about to come into force in England and Wales.

A second fast-track scheme for some graduate recruits will enable them to rise from constable to inspector in three years.

PM David Cameron said the move would make the police more open and diverse.

For 180 years the normal way to enter the police has been to join as a constable and rise up the ranks.

The rank of chief constable is to be opened up to applicants from overseas.

'Talented and experienced'

The College of Policing, the professional body for policing, announced the recruitment schemes and said they would bring in "people with more diverse backgrounds and new perspectives".

The direct entry programme is aimed at recruiting 20 "experienced leaders" from the private, public and charity sectors to join as superintendants, the college said.

There are approximately 800 superintendents in England and Wales. The officers have operational responsibilities for local divisions and major investigations.

On the graduate scheme, some 82 recruits can expect to earn £47,000 after three years when they become an inspector.

"Schemes like these will enable talented and experienced people from a range of backgrounds to bring new ideas and a fresh approach to policing," Mr Cameron said.

"We have already slashed red tape and cut bureaucratic targets, this is about opening up policing culture by making the workforce more diverse."

He said he wanted every force in England and Wales to use the schemes.

Policing Minister Damian Green added: "This is the first time that chief constables will be able to recruit talented and motivated leaders from other walks of life, who can bring a wide range of experience and expertise."

The move was recommended by Tom Winsor in his review of police pay and conditions.

But the Police Federation, which represents rank and file officers, has previously insisted external candidates should not be able to enter the force above the level of constable.

Applications are due to open in April or May with the first recruits from both schemes starting before the end of the year.

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US mudslide missing 'drops to 30'

30 March 2014 Last updated at 08:46

The number of people missing from last week's Washington state mudslide has been revised down substantially from 90 to 30, the authorities say.

The official death toll has risen to 18, with several bodies yet to be formally identified.

Rescue workers halted operations briefly on Saturday to observe a moment's silence for those who died.

It has been over a week since the town of Oso, north of Seattle, was struck by a 177ft (54m) wall of mud and debris.

Identification

The authorities say the number of those killed is believed to be at least 27 but that the official tally does not include those who have yet to be formally identified.

Jason Biermann, of the Snohomish Department of Emergency Management, said the crews were not always recovering complete remains, making it difficult to identify those killed.

"Often they are making partial recoveries," he said.

More than 200 rescue workers are involved in the rescue operation, which has been hampered by days of heavy rain.

They paused for a moment's silence at 10:37 (17:37 GMT) on Saturday, a week after the landslide struck.

"I know that every Washingtonian holds in their heart the people of the Stillaguamish Valley and we all wish we could ease their pain," said Washington governor Jay Inslee.

Snohomish County executive director Gary Haakenson told reporters on Friday it was "a very, very slow process".

He said the conditions at the one sq-mile site had continued to deteriorate, with the rain turning the already dangerous debris field into "quicksand".

No survivors have been found since the day of the mudslide.

The victims

Authorities have so far identified five victims: Christina Jefferds, 45; Stephen Neal, 55; Linda McPherson, 69; Kaylee Spillers, 5; William Welsh, 66.

Ms Jefferds, who the Seattle Times reports was a dental office manager, died of blunt impact injuries, says the medical examiner.

Family members have told local media that searchers also discovered the body of Ms Jefferds's four-month-old granddaughter, Sanoah Violet Huestis, whom she had been babysitting at the time of the mudslide.

Nichole Webb Rivera, 39, has not heard from some of her family members since the disaster struck.

Her 20-year-old daughter, Delaney Webb, was visiting Ms Rivera's parents for the weekend with her fiance Alan Bejvl, 20, when disaster struck.

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Snohomish County Fire Battalion Chief Steve Mason explained on Friday what was happening at the site

The couple planned to wed on 16 August at Ms Rivera's parents home on the river, Ms Rivera said.

Her parents, Thom and Marcy Satterlee, were married 41 years and had lived in the area for three decades.

"If they could choose a way to go out, it would be like that, really fast and in the place they loved. Together," she told the BBC last week.

The mudslide destroyed about 30 houses, temporarily damming a river and leaving a square mile field of muck and debris in its wake.

The debris field is pocked with deep pits of water and strewn with sharp and dangerous wreckage, including fallen trees, propane and septic tanks, destroyed vehicles and smashed timber.

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China families vent fury in Malaysia

30 March 2014 Last updated at 10:25

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The BBC's Jennifer Pak in Kuala Lumpur: "The family members have come here for answers"

Relatives of Chinese passengers from the missing Malaysian plane have vented their anger at government officials, after arriving in Kuala Lumpur.

Chanting "Tell us the truth", they said they wanted the Malaysian prime minister to apologise for what they regard as misleading statements.

Ten planes and eight ships are looking for remains of the airliner in a vast area of the Indian Ocean.

The Beijing-bound plane disappeared on 8 March with 239 people on board.

Continue reading the main story

At the scene

These new arrivals are being carefully guarded. Blue-shirted volunteers chaperone them to and from meetings. There are security guards dotted around their hotel, and at the airport this morning a welcoming party, including a local politician, was left standing as the families were whisked away from a hidden exit.

But the message these families have brought won't be so easy to manage. At a brief press conference, they unfurled a banner which accused the Malaysian government of speculation and "trampling on innocent lives".

Many relatives accuse the Malaysian authorities of misinformation and secrecy. With no sign of flight MH370 or its passengers, their worn faces have become the most visible symbols of this mystery. And their frustration won't be easy for the government to deal with.

Some relatives of the 153 Chinese passengers on board Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 have refused to accept the Malaysian account of events and accused the authorities.

On Sunday several dozen family members travelled from Beijing.

After landing in Kuala Lumpur they held a news conference at a hotel holding up banners that read "We want evidence, truth, dignity" in Chinese, and "Hand us the murderer. Give us our relatives," in English.

Their designated representative, Jiang Hui, said they wanted the Malaysian government to apologise over the initial handling of the disaster, as well as for Prime Minister Najib Razak's earlier statement that indicated the plane had crashed with no survivors.

He said the conclusion had been announced "without direct evidence or a sense of responsibility".

He said the group wanted to meet airline and government officials face to face - although he stopped short of saying that these included Mr Najib, as some relatives had earlier suggested.

The relatives have previously expressed anger at officials during regular briefings by Malaysian officials at a hotel in Beijing.

Malaysia's acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said on Saturday that the search for survivors would continue.

"The hardest part of my job is to see the families," he said. "I've always said we are hoping against hope that we will find survivors."

For a second day on Sunday, Malaysian officials cancelled their daily update on the search operation.

Malaysian officials have concluded that, based on satellite data, the missing plane flew into the sea somewhere in the southern Indian Ocean. So far no trace of it has been found.

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The BBC's Jon Donnison, in Perth, explains how a "towed pinger locator" is used

A Chinese and an Australian ship failed to identify debris from the missing flight after their first day in a new search area, about 1,850km (1,150 miles) west of Perth, on Saturday.

Chinese patrol ship Haixun 01 and Australia's HMAS Success both retrieved objects but none was confirmed to be from flight MH370, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa) said in a statement.

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MH370 - Facts at a glance

• 8 March - Malaysia Airlines Kuala Lumpur-Beijing flight carrying 239 people disappears
• Plane's transponder, which gives out location data, was switched off as it left Malaysian airspace
• Satellite 'pings' indicate plane was still flying seven hours after satellite contact was lost
• 24 March - Based on new calculations, Malaysian PM says "beyond reasonable doubt" that plane crashed in southern Indian Ocean with no survivors

Some of the objects have been very small, and officials have cautioned that they may be sea junk.

Aircraft involved in the search have so far reported seeing a number of objects of various colours floating in the sea in the new area since Friday.

Poor conditions have hampered recent search efforts.

An Australian vessel carrying a US device known as a "towed pinger locator" is due to join the search in the coming days.

The device is designed to detect any ultrasonic signals - "pings" - from flight recorders and can operate up to a depth of about 6,000m.

But the search area is huge - covering some 319,000 sq km (123,000 sq miles) - and time is running short. The flight recorders' batteries are expected to run out in about a week's time.

The current search area is about 1,100km (700 miles) north-east of the previous zone.

Officials said the focus changed after radar data showed the plane had been travelling faster that previously thought, thus burning more fuel.

This would reduce the possible distance the aircraft travelled south.

Various theories about what went wrong have been suggested - including the captain hijacking his own plane.

The speculation was fuelled by reports that files had been deleted on the pilot's home flight simulator.

However on Saturday Malaysia's transport minister said investigators had found "nothing sinister" from the simulator.

Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 vanished less than an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur.

The airliner diverted off course and lost contact with air traffic controllers between Malaysian and Vietnamese air-traffic control areas.

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Crackdown on nuisance calls promised

30 March 2014 Last updated at 10:30

The government is planning to make it easier to fine firms that hound members of the public with nuisance calls.

Currently, they can be punished only if unsolicited calls cause "substantial damage" to householders.

Ministers will also consult on imposing heftier fines. Some consumer groups say the measures do not go far enough.

The Information Commissioner's Office received 120,310 complaints about "unsolicited marketing calls" from April-November 2013.

Overseas call

It is illegal for companies to call domestic numbers registered with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS).

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The Telephone Preference Service

The Telephone Preference Service runs a register that allows people to opt out of any unsolicited sales or marketing calls.

Individuals can register free of charge by visiting the website or calling 0845 070 0707. It takes 28 days for registration to become effective.

Mobile phone numbers can also be registered, although this will not prevent unsolicited text messages.

It is a legal requirement that all organisations - including charities, voluntary organisations and political parties - do not make such calls to numbers registered on the TPS unless they have the individual's consent to do so.

The rules do not apply when people consent to their details being used for marketing purposes.

But consumers' association Which? says it has received many complaints about people being cold-called at home by many different companies, despite being signed up to the TPS.

Repeat offenders include firms inquiring about mis-sold payment protection insurance.

Many calls are made from overseas.

Under Culture Secretary Maria Miller's plans, the current "substantial damage" threshold could be lowered.

And the Ministry of Justice will launch a consultation on Monday on whether firms that break the rules should face fines of up to 20% of their annual turnover.

'Unwanted intrusion'

"Nuisance calls must stop," Ms Miller said.

"At best they are an irritation and an unwanted intrusion; at worst they cause real distress and fear, particularly to the elderly or housebound.

"People need to feel safe and secure in their homes.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

It's not going to be possible to turn this off overnight"

End Quote Richard Lloyd Which?

"The rules are clear - people have the right to choose not to receive unsolicited marketing calls. We will work to ensure their choice is respected."

Which? executive director Richard Lloyd welcomed the plans saying he hoped regulators would now be given "the tools to get rid of the unwanted calls that millions of us are getting bombarded with".

"But we've got to be honest about this - some of this is firms that are operating overseas," he told BBC Radio 5 live.

"The companies in Britain that benefit from those calls have to be held to account for that.

"But it's not going to be possible to turn this off overnight."

'Long battle'

Mr Lloyd, who said a thousand complaints a week were made to Which? about nuisance callers, urged more people to register their phone number with the Telephone Preference Service.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

Let's remember the industry employs a million people, many of those in areas of fairly high unemployment, and we want to drive these rogue companies out of this particular field of business"

End Quote Mike Lordan Direct Marketing Association

"But it's going to be a long battle to keep these rogue companies - that really don't care about the rules - to get them under control and stop these nuisance calls and texts."

Mike Lordan, chief executive of the Direct Marketing Association, which represents the UK telemarketing industry, said it was unacceptable for people to receive unsolicited phone calls at home if they were registered on the TPS and hadn't given their consent for someone to call them.

He told 5 live the regulations on calls generally covered those made from overseas.

"It affects companies that operate in the UK and, if they use overseas call centres to make calls, the law still applies to them.

"And most of these calls that are being made - these rogue calls - are being made on behalf of companies that are registered in the UK."

He said he regretted "some of the image" associated with his industry but added: "I'd like to stress that it's not our business.

"Our code of practice is very strict."

He said the industry employed a million people, "many of those in areas of fairly high unemployment and we want to drive these rogue companies out of this particular field of business".

'Tough action'

Under the new rules, claims management companies (CMCs) could also face punishment if they buy leads generated by other firms which bombard customers with unwanted cold calls.

CMCs advertise widely on TV, in newspapers and on the internet, encouraging people to sue for personal injury compensation and for other losses.

Justice Secretary Chris Grayling said: "The Claims Management Regulator already takes tough action against companies which break the rules, suspending and closing down rogue firms, but now these fines will give us an extra weapon to drive bad behaviour out of the industry."

The Fair Telecoms Campaign group welcomed the announcement, but said it did not go far enough in dealing with the distress caused by constant nuisance calls.

In April 2013, telecoms operator TalkTalk was fined £750,000 by regulator Ofcom for making an excessive number of abandoned and silent calls during a telemarketing campaign to attract new subscribers.

TalkTalk said it had terminated its relationship with two call centres used when the problem was discovered.

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Mandatory porn site age checks urged

28 March 2014 Last updated at 00:14 By Leo Kelion Technology reporter

A UK industry regulator has called for the law to be changed to require pornography sites to carry out age checks before granting access.

Video-on-demand watchdog Atvod said the government must act to protect children from seeing graphic adult material.

It said credit and debit card operators would be forbidden from processing payments from British customers to sites that did not comply.

But one campaigner said the action would be a "worthless gesture".

The Authority for Television On Demand (Atvod) said the matter was so urgent that it was "critical the legislation is enacted during this Parliament".

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To back up its demand, the body commissioned market research firm Nielsen Netview to install equipment that monitored the online habits of 45,000 desktop PC and laptop users over the course of a month. The volunteers were picked to reflect a cross-section of the wider population.

The survey indicated that during that period:

• 6% of children aged 15 years or younger had accessed an adult website
• 5% of visitors to such sites had been under-18
• One website alone - Pornhub - had been visited by 112,000 boys in the UK aged between 12 and 17-years-old
• Of the wider population, 23% of those who had used the net over the month had visited an adult site
• Visitors to adult sites spent an average of 15 minutes looking at them during each visit and typically clocked up two-and-a-half hours of time in total over the month

Atvod added that the survey probably underestimated the scale of the issue since smartphone and tablet use was not included in the figures.

Porn licences

The regulator already forces UK-based sites to carry out age verification checks before explicit photographs and videos can be viewed.

This can be done by requiring valid credit card details, or other personal information that can be cross-referenced with the electoral roll or another ID database.

However, the body said the vast majority of online pornography was downloaded from businesses based overseas, over which it had no control.

To tackle this, Atvod said it wanted all adult sites to request a licence that would only be granted if they had age checks in place. Payment processors would be ordered not to handle fees for premium services - such as higher definition or longer clips - from UK citizens to unregistered sites.

"We're a very substantial market and to access the money that's flowing from the UK would be quite a powerful incentive to introduce restrictions," Atvod's chief executive, Pete Johnson told the BBC.

Mixed reactions

The UK government has already pressured the UK's major internet service providers to use software filters that automatically block adult material unless households specifically ask for them to be turned off.

However, a spokesman for the coalition government indicated it needed time to consider Atvod's request.

"We will continue to work with industry and others to look at where further action could be taken, including around age restrictions," he said.

Labour has, however, already come out in support of the move.

"It is only by threatening to cut off the flow of money that we will force these websites to act responsibly, and payment processors need legal clarity before they can act to help achieve this," said shadow culture minister, Helen Goodman.

However, Sex and Censorship - which describes itself as a free speech campaign group - said the move would prove ineffective.

"It won't make any difference to the sites that give all their videos away for free and sell advertising because they don't need credit card processing," said Jerry Barnett.

"And some sites are already accepting bitcoin and other anonymous online payment systems. A clampdown on card payments would just accelerate this trend.

"Even if implemented, this measure would have no effect on the range of content available to British consumers."

Mr Barnett previously ran a UK-based adult website himself until he was fined for failing to prevent children accessing its content.

'Significant win'

Mindgeek, the Luxembourg-based operator of adult site Pornhub, said it already carried out age verification checks in countries where this was required. But it indicated this did not address the crux of the problem.

"There is no single 'silver bullet' solution to protecting children and adolescents from potentially harmful content and interactions in their digital lives," said a spokeswoman.

"The best solution lies in a multi-layered approach in which the parent assumes the central role."

Atvod acknowledged its proposal was only part of the solution, but it insisted that the scheme could still be designed to make a difference.

"The material that appears on the free services is placed there by the paid services to attract customers to sign up to subscriptions.

"As long as the paid service placed content on a free service without age verification it would be in breach of its licensing conditions and so would not be able to access funds from the UK.

"We're not saying this will stop all children seeing all pornography online.

"But our argument is that even if you reduce the number of children who are accessing hardcore pornography online by 10%, that would be a significant win."

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Germany offers UK eurozone backing

28 March 2014 Last updated at 05:43

The EU must ensure non-eurozone countries, such as the UK, are legally protected in the event of further European integration, the finance minister of Germany has said.

Chancellor George Osborne and his German counterpart said any changes to EU treaties must "guarantee fairness".

Writing in the Financial Times, the pair say non-eurozone nations must not be put at a "systematic disadvantage".

It comes a month after Germany's leader Angela Merkel visited the UK.

During the visit she and Prime Minister David Cameron discussed possible changes to the EU.

'Optimism'

Mr Cameron has said that if the Conservatives win the 2015 election, he will seek to renegotiate the terms of the UK's membership of the European Union and put the outcome to an in-out referendum of the British people in 2017.

One of Mr Cameron's key negotiating demands ahead of the referendum is that the interests of non-eurozone states must be protected.

In the joint article, Mr Osborne and the German finance minister Wolfgang Schauble wrote that "as the euro area continues to integrate, it is important that countries outside the euro area are not at a systematic disadvantage in the EU".

It is the first time Germany has indicated that countries such as the UK must not be put at a disadvantage by eurozone nations' moves to integrate more closely.

Writing together, the pair said: "So future EU reform and treaty change must include reform of the governance framework to put euro area integration on a sound legal basis, and guarantee fairness for those EU countries inside the single market but outside the single currency."

They said economic recovery in Europe was "vital", but warned that the European economy had "stalled" over the last six years.

The pair wrote that they "approach European reform with optimism", adding that "looking ahead we can create a flexible and outward-looking EU".

Mrs Merkel, who met the Queen during her visit to UK, said after meeting Mr Cameron that she was willing to work with the UK to reform the European Union but warned it would not be "a piece of cake".

And during an address to Parliament she praised the "unparalleled success" of the EU free market but stressed that "we need to change the political shape of the EU in keeping with the times".

She told the UK's gathered political leaders the EU had to become stronger, saying: "In order to attain this goal we need a strong United Kingdom with a strong voice inside the European Union.

"If we have that, we will be able to make the necessary changes for the benefit of all."

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Oscar Pistorius trial postponed

28 March 2014 Last updated at 08:12

The defence in the murder trial of Oscar Pistorius has been postponed until 7 April as one of the assessors assisting the judge has been taken ill.

The athlete had been expected to take the stand on Friday.

The trial, in the South African city of Pretoria, has already heard 15 days of prosecution-led testimony.

Mr Pistorius denies deliberately shooting his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, in February 2013, saying he mistook her for an intruder.

Prosecutors allege that he killed her after an argument.

Judge Thokozile Masipa announced that one of the assessors is ill and suggested the date of 7 April to resume the trial. The prosecution and defence teams agreed to the postponement.

Under South African law, there is no jury system and two assessors help the judge reach a decision.

The BBC's Karen Allen in Pretoria says that, although Mr Pistorius is not legally obliged to testify, he is the only witness to the alleged murder and is expected to testify when the trial restarts.

His lawyers had previously told journalists that it was "likely" they would call him to give evidence first, she adds.

Prosecution testimony has relied on accounts from neighbours and specialist ballistics, forensic and mobile phone evidence.

Our correspondent says the defence had been due to address key questions, in particular:

• Allegations from witnesses that Mr Pistorius was reckless with guns and had fired a pistol indiscriminately on two occasions in the past
• Why he didn't check the whereabouts of Ms Steenkamp when he feared an intruder was in the house
• Why, as a person used to handling weapons, he didn't fire a warning shot

Ms Steenkamp, a model, reality TV celebrity and law graduate, was hit by four bullets while in the toilet cubicle of Mr Pistorius' home in Pretoria.

People who were in the area on the night of the shooting have told the court they heard screams, shots and bangs.

However, Mr Pistorius has said he believed Ms Steenkamp was in bed when he shot at the toilet door, thinking an intruder was about to attack them.

Mr Pistorius is a double amputee who holds six Paralympic medals and competed in the 2012 Olympic Games.

If found guilty, the 27 year old - dubbed the "blade runner" because of the prosthetic limbs he wore to race - could face life imprisonment.

Continue reading the main story

INTERACTIVE

• ×
• ×

  Mr Pistorius said in his statement at the start of the trial that he woke in the early hours and walked on his stumps to the balcony, pulled in two fans, closed the sliding door and drew curtains. He said that shortly before he had spoken to Reeva, who was in bed beside him.

  He said he rejected prosecution claims that a witness heard arguing coming from the house before the shooting.

• ×

  Mr Pistorius said he heard the bathroom window sliding open and believed that an intruder, or intruders, had entered the bathroom through a window which was not fitted with burglar bars.

  "Unbeknown to me, Reeva must have gone to the toilet in the bathroom at the time I brought in the fans," he said.

  Mr Pistorius said he approached the bathroom armed with his firearm, to defend himself and his girlfriend, believing Ms Steenkamp was still in bed.

• ×

  Both sides agree four bullets were fired. Ms Steenkamp was hit three times.

  Mr Pistorius said he fired his weapon after hearing a noise in the toilet which he thought was the intruder coming out of the toilet to attack him and Ms Steenkamp.

  He said he was in a fearful state, knowing he was on his stumps and unable to run away or properly defend himself.

  Mr Pistorius said he rejected claims that he was on his prostheses when he shot at the door.

  A witness told the trial she woke to hear a woman screaming and a man shouting for help. She said that after the screams she heard four shots.

• ×

  At his bail hearing last year, Mr Pistorius said he went back to the bedroom after shooting at the toilet door, then noticed Ms Steenkamp was not in bed.

  Mr Pistorius said he then realised she could have been in the toilet.

• ×

  Mr Pistorius said he went back to the bathroom but the toilet was locked, so he returned to the bedroom, pulled on his prosthetic legs, turned on the lights before bashing in the toilet door with a cricket bat.

  Forensics expert Johannes Vermeulen told the court that the height of the marks on the door caused by the cricket bat suggest Mr Pistorius was on his stumps at the time.

• ×

  Mr Pistorius's defence team say he then called security at the gated housing complex and a private paramedic service before carrying Ms Steenkamp downstairs.

  A security guard claimed it was the other way round, and he had called Mr Pistorius first after reports of gunfire. However, phone records shown to the court revealed Mr Pistorius called the estate manager at 3:19am, a minute later he called the ambulance service and at 3:21am he called estate security.

  A minute later he received an incoming call - estate security calling him back.

  According to police phone expert Francois Moller, Mr Pistorius called his friend Justin Divaris a short time later and just after 4:00am he called his brother Carl.

Are you in the region? Email us at haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk adding 'Pistorius' in the subject heading and include your contact details.

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Search for Malaysia plane shifted

28 March 2014 Last updated at 08:16

The search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has moved to a new part of the Indian Ocean due to a "credible lead", Australia says.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa) said the search would now focus on an area 1,100km (684 miles) north-east of the previous zone.

The move was based on further analysis of radar data that showed the plane was going faster, thus using more fuel.

The Beijing-bound airliner disappeared on 8 March with 239 people on board.

Malaysian officials have concluded that, based on satellite data, it flew into the sea somewhere in the southern Indian Ocean. So far no trace of it has been found.

Search efforts had until Friday morning focused on an area some 2,500km (1,550 miles) to the south-west of the Australian city of Perth.

Using satellite images, several nations have identified objects floating in the sea in that search area, but these have not been located and there is no evidence that they are related to the plane.

John Young, general manager of Amsa's emergency response division, said that teams had "moved on" from that area based on the new information.

'Reduced distance'

A statement from Amsa - which is co-ordinating the search - said the new information had come from the international investigation team in Malaysia.

This was based on "continuing analysis of radar data between the South China Sea and the Strait of Malacca before radar contact was lost", Amsa said.

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Amsa's John Young: "The search has moved from the 'roaring forties'

"It indicated that the aircraft was travelling faster than previously estimated, resulting in increased fuel usage and reducing the possible distance the aircraft travelled south into the Indian Ocean."

It said that the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) had determined that this was "the most credible lead to where debris may be located".

The new search area is about 1,850km west of Perth and covers some 319,000 sq km (123,000 sq miles).

Mr Young, of Amsa, said it represented the "best estimate of the area in which the aircraft is likely to have entered the ocean" and took account of possible drift.

The new search area was outside the "roaring forties" bad weather zone, meaning conditions were likely to be better. Aircraft would also be able to spend more time in the area because it was closer to land, Mr Young said.

The potential flight path could be the subject of further refinement as investigations continued, Amsa said, adding that satellites would now focus on the new area.

Amsa said nine military aircraft would be scouring the area on Friday, with a civilian aircraft acting as a communications relay.

Continue reading the main story

• 8 March - Malaysia Airlines Kuala Lumpur-Beijing flight carrying 239 people disappears
• Plane's transponder, which gives out location data, was switched off as it left Malaysian airspace
• Satellite 'pings' indicate plane was still flying seven hours after satellite contact was lost
• 24 March - Based on new calculations, Malaysian PM says "beyond reasonable doubt" that plane crashed in southern Indian Ocean with no survivors

Five ships from China and one from Australia were also relocating to that area. One Chinese patrol ship was already at the scene, Amsa said.

Mr Young said the shift to a new search area did not mean the original work was "a waste of time".

"This is the normal business of search and rescue operations, that new information comes to light, refined analysis take you to a different place," he said.

Major challenge

Mystery still surrounds the fate of the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 which vanished from civilian radar screens less than an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur.

The reason why the airliner veered off course and lost contact with air traffic controllers continues to baffle experts.

The remote and vast expanse of ocean has turned the search into a major challenge.

Some relatives of the flight's 153 Chinese passengers have refused to accept the Malaysian account of events and have accused officials of withholding information.

Earlier, China's state news agency Xinhua said that Chinese insurance firms had begun to offer payouts to the relatives.

On Thursday, Malaysia Airlines took out a full-page condolence advertisement in the New Straits Times, saying: "Our sincerest condolences go out to the loved ones of the 239 passengers, friends and colleagues. Words alone cannot express our enormous sorrow and pain."

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