FBI probes Boston 'terror' blasts
By Anonymous on Apr 16, 2013 02:52 am 16 April 2013 Last updated at 00:24 ET 
Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.
The moment of the first explosion
An investigation is under way after two explosions near the finishing line of the Boston Marathon left three people dead and more than 100 injured.
The FBI has taken over co-ordination of what it described as a "potential terrorist inquiry".
Boston police say officers are working around the clock and all leave has been cancelled.
At least 17 people are critically wounded, officials say, and the injuries include several amputations.
In a televised address, President Barack Obama vowed to bring those behind the attack to justice.
"We will find out who did this. We'll find out why they did this," he said.
"Any responsible individuals, any responsible groups, will feel the full weight of justice."
Continue reading the main story "Start Quote
President Obama will have to balance the firmness and resolution the country expects with his clear desire not to be pushed into snap solutions ahead of clear answers"
End Quote Although he did not use the word "terrorism", a White House official later said: "Any event with multiple explosive devices - as this appears to be - is clearly an act of terror, and will be approached as an act of terror."
The first explosion came at about 14:50 local time (18:50 GMT) on the north side of Boylston Street, about two hours after the winners crossed the line.
There was initial confusion and panic. Some runners fell to the floor while police and bystanders ran to help those caught in the blast.
Then seconds later, a second explosion ripped into the crowd further away from the finishing line.
TV footage showed bloodied runners and spectators being treated at the scene and the road strewn with debris. Rescuers tore down temporary fencing to reach the casualties.
At an initial news conference, Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis said authorities had received "no specific intelligence that anything was going to happen".
He urged people to stay indoors and not congregate in large groups.
At a second conference he said the death toll now stood at three. He said that no suspects were in custody.
A local TV station reported that a search related to the inquiry was under way at a flat in a Boston suburb.
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, speaking at the same news conference, confirmed reports that more than 100 people had been injured, some gravely.
He said Boston would be "open" on Tuesday but that there would be "a heightened law enforcement presence".
"There will be random checks of backpacks and other parcels. We are also asking that everyone be on a state of heightened vigilance," he said.
Continue reading the main story The Boston Marathon
- World's oldest annual marathon - 2013 was the 117th event
- Second biggest single-day sporting event in the US behind the Super Bowl, in terms of media coverage
- Organised by the Boston Athletic Association, the course is 26.2 miles
- This year there were 28,000 runners, representing athletes from every US state and more than 90 countries
- More than 500,000 spectators line the course every year
- $806,000 (£527,000) in prize money offered in 2013
- In 1975, Boston became the first major marathon to include a wheelchair division
- A Kenyan or Ethiopian man has won the Boston Marathon 23 times in the last 25 years
FBI Special Agent Richard DesLauriers also appeared, saying that the inquiry involved city, state and federal officials, but refusing to give any details of the investigation.
Details of the victims have also not been revealed, however the Associated Press news agency reported that an eight-year-old boy was among the dead. Quoting a family friend, the report said the boy's mother and sister were also injured as they waited for his father to finish the race.
Officers have already begun poring over video and photographs from the marathon.
State police officer Roupen Bastajian had just finished the race when he heard the blasts.
"I started running toward the blast and there were people all over the floor," he said.
"We started grabbing tourniquets and started tying legs. At least 25 to 30 people have at least one leg missing, or an ankle missing, or two legs missing."
A doctor at Massachusetts General Hospital said "several amputations" had been performed there.
As a massive security operation swung into operation, the Federal Aviation Administration barred low-flying aircraft from within 3.5 miles (5.6km) of the site.
Key sites in Washington DC and New York have also seen security tightened.
Officials in Washington said no group or individual had so far said they carried out the attack.
Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.
President Obama: "We will find out who did this and hold them accountable"
Shortly after the blasts, a fire broke out at Boston's John F Kennedy Library a few miles away from the explosions.
Police said the blaze might have been caused by an incendiary device but it is unclear whether it is related to the explosions.
The annual Boston Marathon this year had a field of about 23,000 runners and was watched by hundreds of thousands of spectators.
It is held on Patriots Day, a Massachusetts state holiday which commemorates the first battles of the American Revolution in 1775.
British police are reviewing security plans for Sunday's London Marathon, the next major international marathon, following events in Boston.
Read in browser » 
London Marathon to review security
By Anonymous on Apr 16, 2013 03:02 am 15 April 2013 Last updated at 16:56 ET 
The London Marathon takes place this Sunday
Security for the London Marathon will be reviewed after two explosions hit the Boston Marathon in the US, British police have said.
At least two people were killed and 23 injured after the blasts at the finish line in Boston, at one of the country's biggest sporting events.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: "A security plan is in place, but we will be reviewing this."
The London Marathon takes place this Sunday.
The Met added that the blasts in Boston would not have any implications for security for Baroness Thatcher's funeral in central London on Wednesday.
Police said these plans were extensive and that it was a very different event.
Read in browser » Harding named BBC News director
By Anonymous on Apr 16, 2013 03:39 am 15 April 2013 Last updated at 15:04 ET 
James Harding resigned from the Times in 2012
The ex-editor of the Times, James Harding, will be named as the BBC's director of news on Tuesday, BBC media correspondent Torin Douglas understands.
Mr Harding resigned in December, saying it had been made clear that publishers News International wanted a new editor.
He became editor of The Times five years ago and was the youngest editor in its history at 38.
The BBC is officially making no comment.
Mr Harding is a former business editor of the Times and was also Washington bureau chief of the Financial Times.
Read in browser » Prison criticised over sex offenders
By Anonymous on Apr 15, 2013 07:33 pm 15 April 2013 Last updated at 19:33 ET 
Sex offenders make up about a third of the population of Moorland Prison
An unannounced inspection of a South Yorkshire prison has led to "serious concerns" over its handling of sex offenders.
HM Inspectorate of Prisons found evidence of bullying at HMP Moorland, and "limited provision for the third of prisoners who were sex offenders".
A report said it had made progress since 2010, when there were riots, but "there remained much to do".
Serco is expected to take over management of the prison this year.
Inspectors said Moorland had faced "considerable change and uncertainty" over the last three years.
In November 2010 parts of the prison were damaged during three days of rioting. The facility was then expanded in 2011, which the report said was "followed by the introduction of over 300 sex offenders and 250 foreign national prisoners".
Moorland is part of a cluster of South Yorkshire prisons - along with Hatfield and Lindholme - due to transfer into the private sector this year.
"With the high number of sex offenders, the lack of any sex offender treatment programmes was a serious concern," the report said.
It added that not enough priority was given to learning, skills and work, while 35-40% of prisoners "were unemployed or failed to attend their place of work or learning".
'Dangerous and intimidating' Chief Inspector of Prisons Nick Hardwick said: "We found that Moorland had made some progress and was dealing with considerable uncertainties. That said, the pace of progress was disappointing and there remained much to do, some of it fundamental.
"The need to deal with these problems, and improve outcomes for prisoners, should not be lost in the transit to the private sector."
Andrew Neilson from the Howard League for Penal Reform said: "Moorland is still a dangerous and intimidating place. Almost a fifth of prisoners feel unsafe and there are high levels of victimisation and bullying.
"Perhaps most concerning is the fact that, although one in three prisoners at Moorland has been convicted of a sexual offence, the prison failed to offer a single course designed to tackle that behaviour."
Moorland Prison is 10 miles from the centre of Doncaster, and is a category C training prison with a capacity for 1,006 inmates, including young offenders.
The inspection was carried out in December.
Read in browser » MPs urged to back extensions opt-out
By Anonymous on Apr 15, 2013 11:29 pm 15 April 2013 Last updated at 23:29 ET 
Ministers say that a temporary relaxation of extension rules will boost the building industry
MPs have been urged to back a local opt-out for controversial planning changes in England, ahead of a vote.
Ministers want to double the maximum size to which home extensions can be built without planning permission, in a bid to boost construction.
But the Local Government Association (LGA) wants MPs to give individual councils the power to reject the rules.
The LGA says the plan could "open the floodgates" to thousands of "unsightly and unsuitable" house extensions.
Ministers announced last year that they were considering a three-year relaxation of the planning rules to allow single-storey extensions of up to eight metres for detached houses and six metres for other houses to be built without planning consent being required.
The proposal has angered some local authorities and is opposed by Labour.
Talks with MPs The government has been consulting on the plans, but last month the House of Lords voted through an amendment on some separate legislation - the Growth and Infrastructure Bill.
The amendment, proposed by Lord True, leader of Richmond Council, called for local authorities to be given the option of rejecting the planning rules for extensions in the event they are adopted at a national level.
The government said the Lords defeat did not change its position and insisted the change in extension rules would "bring great benefits to individuals and help drive economic growth".
On Tuesday, MPs will vote on whether to accept or reject the local opt-out, with some coalition MPs, including Conservative Zac Goldsmith, expected to rebel and vote in favour of it.
Planning Minister Nick Boles held talks with Tory MPs on Monday night to discuss their concerns. He has also written to all coalition MPs urging them to vote with the government and accused his critics of "misunderstanding" the proposals.
'Free-for-all' Cllr Mike Jones, chairman of the LGA's environment and housing board, said: "The local opt-out is a common sense compromise.
"Imposing a home extensions free-for-all on the whole country risks opening the floodgates to thousands of unsightly and unsuitable extensions which create disputes between neighbours, impinge on garden space and increase flood risk.
"The 22,000 applications which are rejected each year are knocked back for good reasons and it would be totally wrong if extensions, which were previously rejected due to objections from neighbours or because they were judged to blight the neighbourhood, could now sneak back in unimpeded.
"We agree with the government that stimulating the construction industry is essential to economic recovery but sweeping national changes which remove the rights of residents to have a say on development is not the answer."
Read in browser » EU horsemeat test results expected
By Anonymous on Apr 16, 2013 12:08 am 16 April 2013 Last updated at 00:08 ET 
Burgers and ready meals were among the products affected by the mislabelling of horsemeat
Results of random tests for horse DNA in processed beef products are being published by the European Commission.
The three-month programme of checks was agreed by the 27 EU member states in February after horsemeat had been found in a batch of Findus frozen lasagne.
National food inspectors were also asked to test horsemeat in the food chain for the banned anti-inflammatory horse drug phenylbutazone, or "bute".
The UK has announced a "wide-ranging" strategic review of its food chain.
Corned beef The tests were commissioned by the EU amid concerns about possible fraudulent attempts to sell horsemeat as processed beef in a number of member states.
The tests will not be conclusive - they may only amount to about 2,000 so far - but they will provide a snapshot of the scale of the problem and have already had an effect.
Last week the Dutch government announced that, as part of its investigations, it had identified two processing plants that might have supplied horsemeat as beef since January 2011.
The UK's Food Standards Agency has conducted 150 tests for the commission, but separate to that there have been 6,000 tests carried out by the industry and local councils in the UK.
So far 24 have shown the presence of horsemeat in a range of food.
One product, Asda's Smart Price Corned Beef, contained a very low level of bute.
Ripple effect BBC European correspondent Christian Fraser, in Brussels, said the commission believed the EU had one of the best food safety systems in the world but it relied on a complex web of suppliers.
In a food chain that might stretch from Romania to the Netherlands, the south of France and Britain, pinning down where the system had gone wrong had proved difficult, he added.
Our correspondent said the food companies across the EU were so interwoven that one fraud could have a serious ripple effect across a number of countries.
The results are expected to be revealed in Brussels at 12:00 local time (11:00 BST).
In the UK, Food Minister David Heath said the government's review would look for any vulnerabilities in the food chain that could be exploited by fraudsters.
Consumers "must have confidence in the food they buy", he said.
Read in browser » 
No comments:
Post a Comment