Cameron in US as Tory EU row rages
By Anonymous on May 13, 2013 03:37 am 13 May 2013 Last updated at 00:31 ET 
Mr Cameron's visit means he will miss a possible vote in the Commons on the EU referendum plans
The prime minister has arrived in Washington for talks with US President Barack Obama as a fierce debate rages within his party about the UK's future within the European Union.
David Cameron is expected to highlight the benefits to Britain of a trade agreement between Europe and the US.
But the visit means he will miss a possible Commons vote over Conservative plans for a referendum on the EU.
Two ministers have said they would opt to leave if a referendum were held now.
On Sunday, Education Secretary Michael Gove and Defence Secretary Phillip Hammond became the most senior figures to declare how they would vote at the present time.
But both men said Mr Cameron must be given a chance to bring powers back from Brussels before they decide.
It comes as backbench Tory MPs have tabled an amendment to the motion welcoming the Queen's Speech - in it, they express regret about the absence of legislation paving the way for a referendum.
BBC political correspondent Ross Hawkins says tensions within the party are likely to be brought to a head if a vote on the amendment takes place in the Commons later this week.
Eurosceptic cabinet members are now also likely to be asked whether they too would vote for the UK's departure were the issue to be tested now, our correspondent added.
Referendum calls The prime minister has promised to hold an in/out referendum by 2017 - if the Conservatives win the next election - but has said he would campaign to stay within the EU if he was able to secure a new relationship.
A group of Conservative backbenchers, led by John Baron, have been campaigning for him to firm up this commitment by legislating in the current Parliament for a referendum.
The Commons amendment is highly unlikely to be passed, as Labour, the Lib Dems and many Conservatives will vote against it or abstain but Mr Baron has said it will keep the issue in the spotlight.
Meanwhile, the Tory Mayor of London Boris Johnson is supporting the call for a government bill.
In a Daily Telegraph article, Mr Johnson said David Cameron must make clear Britain is "ready to walk away" unless its relationship with the EU is reformed.
He said: "I personally back legislation now to make sure that referendum goes ahead.
"It will be a good thing for everyone, because we will all have to focus not on the feud... but on what is actually right for the country".
Party control The furore within the Tories has been seized on by Labour as a sign that Mr Cameron has lost control of his party.
Some Conservatives want a referendum to take place now, arguing it would give the government a mandate to negotiate with EU leaders.
Labour aides have stressed that party leader Ed Miliband was opposing the decision to signal a referendum now but is not ruling out the possibility of one in the future.
But a group of Labour MPs and peers, including the former Europe minister Keith Vaz, are to call for their party to support a referendum, says our political correspondent.
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has criticised his coalition partners for their "endless navel-gazing over Europe," which he said was in danger of distracting the government from its priorities.
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Sharif seeks Pakistan majority
By Anonymous on May 13, 2013 02:52 am 12 May 2013 Last updated at 23:55 ET 
Supporters of Nawaz Sharif have been celebrating in Lahore
Nawaz Sharif is hoping to secure a majority in Pakistan's parliament and form the next government after claiming election victory.
Unofficial results suggest his Muslim League will win easily, though Mr Sharif has reportedly opened talks with independents to guarantee a majority.
He has already been congratulated by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Afghan leader Hamid Karzai and US President Barack Obama have also pledged to work with the new administration.
Mr Sharif is set to become prime minister for the third time.
Continue reading the main story Nawaz Sharif
- Born in 1949 to family of a prominent Lahore industrialist
- Served as Punjab's chief minister from 1985 to 1990 under military dictator Zia ul-Haq
- Previous terms as prime minister 1990-1993 and 1997-1999
- Deposed by Gen Musharraf and given a jail term
- Went into exile in Saudi Arabia before returning in 2007
- Seen as conservative and pro-business
Former cricketer Imran Khan, whose Movement for Justice Party (PTI) is in a close fight for second place, has promised to provide genuine opposition.
Analysts say Mr Sharif, 63, is in a far stronger position than the outgoing Pakistan People's Party (PPP) which led a weak coalition often on the verge of collapse.
The PPP of late Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto appears to have been badly beaten in Saturday's election. It was one of several secular parties unable to campaign freely due to Taliban attacks.
An election commission spokesman said turnout had been around 60%. In 2008 it was 44%.
On Sunday evening, Pakistani media said the PML-N had so far captured 94 seats with the PTI securing 21 and the PPP 19.
Analysts said the PML-N was likely to get around 130 seats and should be able to make up the required majority of 137 with support from independents and small parties.
Once it achieves a majority, Mr Sharif's party would be allocated a majority of 70 other parliamentary seats reserved for women and non-Muslim minorities.
The election appears to have paved the way for the first transition from one elected government to another in a country prone to military takeovers.
Mr Sharif - who was toppled in a military coup in 1999 and spent years in exile - spent Sunday in talks on forming a government.
Imran Khan, still bedridden after a fall at a campaign rally, said the election would boost Pakistan's young democracy.
But he said his party was collecting evidence of alleged vote-rigging.
"We are now moving towards democracy. I congratulate the nation on the numbers in which they turned out to vote," he said.
'New course' President Obama congratulated Pakistan on successfully completing the election and said he looked forward to working with the government that emerged.
He welcomed the "historic, peaceful and transparent transfer of civilian power" but stopped short of naming Mr Sharif.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he hoped for a "new course" in relations between the two countries.
"PM extends his congratulations to Mr Nawaz Sharif and his party for their emphatic victory in Pakistan's elections," he said on his Twitter account.
He invited Mr Sharif to go to India "at a mutually convenient time".
Afghan President Hamid Karzai said he hoped for co-operation to root out what he called terrorist sanctuaries.
Both Pakistan and Afghanistan are engaged in a long battle with Taliban Islamist militants.
In the run-up, more than 100 people died in election-related violence.
Read in browser » Huhne and Pryce released from prison
By Anonymous on May 13, 2013 03:05 am 13 May 2013 Last updated at 02:13 ET 
Vicky Pryce has been released from prison after serving part of her jail term for taking speeding points for her ex-husband, former Cabinet minister Chris Huhne.
Ms Pryce was in East Sutton Park prison in Kent for a quarter of her eight-month jail sentence.
Read in browser » Olivia Colman wins two Bafta awards
By Anonymous on May 12, 2013 04:38 pm 11 May 2013 Last updated at 19:05 ET 
Clockwise from top left: Accused, Twenty Twelve, The Girl and Last Tango in Halifax all have four nominations
Stars from the world of TV are preparing for this year's Bafta Awards, with Olympic satire Twenty Twelve and BBC drama Accused among the nominees.
They have four nominations each, as do The Girl, about Alfred Hitchcock, and Last Tango in Halifax, starring Sir Derek Jacobi and Anne Reid.
Sir Derek is up against Sean Bean, who played transvestite Tracie in Accused, for the best actor award.
Graham Norton will host the ceremony at London's Royal Festival Hall.
Also in the best leading actor category, Toby Jones is nominated for his performance as film director Hitchcock in The Girl and Ben Whishaw is in the running for playing Richard II.
Last year, the best actor trophy went to Dominic West for his portrayal of serial killer Fred West in ITV's Appropriate Adult.
Sheridan Smith received her first Bafta nomination for her role in Mrs Biggs
Sheridan Smith has earned her first Bafta nomination in the best actress category for Mrs Biggs, based on the true story of the wife of Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs.
She will face competition from Sienna Miller, who played American model and actress Tippi Hedren in The Girl, plus Rebecca Hall for Parade's End and Anne Reid for Last Tango In Halifax.
Last Tango in Halifax, which told the story of teenage sweethearts reunited through Facebook 60 years on, is nominated in the best drama series category, while Sarah Lancashire is up for best supporting actress.
There are two nominations for Peter Capaldi, who is up for best actor for BBC Two's 1950s newsroom drama The Hour and best male performance in a comedy programme for his role as foul-mouthed spin doctor Malcolm Tucker in The Thick Of It.
The Thick Of It is in the running for best comedy, along with Twenty Twelve, Episodes and Hunderby.
Steve Coogan's return as Alan Partridge in Welcome To The Places Of My Life is also nominated for best performance in a comedy programme, along with Inbetweeners star Greg Davies, who is recognised for Cuckoo.
Coronation Street and EastEnders face Holby City and Shameless in the soap and continuing drama category - won last year by ITV's Coronation Street.
The best sport and live event shortlist features the London 2012 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony, Super Saturday on BBC One, Channel 4's Paralympics coverage and the Wimbledon 2012 Men's Final.
Viewers have been voting for the winner of the audience award, with Call the Midwife, Game of Thrones, The Great British Bake Off, Homeland, the Olympic Opening Ceremony and Strictly Come Dancing competing for public support.
Read in browser » Right-to-die cases at Appeal Court
By Anonymous on May 13, 2013 02:24 am 12 May 2013 Last updated at 22:23 ET 
Paul Lamb was severely injured in a car accident in 1990
Two severely disabled men are going to the Court of Appeal in an attempt to change laws governing the right to die.
Paul Lamb, from Leeds, was paralysed from the neck down in a car accident and wants a doctor to help him to die.
The 58-year-old, who has taken up the case begun by the late Tony Nicklinson, is seeking a ruling that would give doctors a defence to a murder charge.
The other man known only as Martin is seeking a change to the prosecution of assisted suicide.
The High Court in August last year turned down the challenges to the law in England and Wales, saying such decisions were for Parliament to decide.
The Court of Appeal hearing before the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, and two other judges, is expected to last several days.
The family of the late Tony Nicklinson is also a party in the case.
Mr Lamb was paralysed in a car accident in 1990 and suffers excruciating pain.
His paralysis is so severe that he could not take the final steps to assist in his own suicide and would need a doctor to kill him, which would amount to murder in the eyes of the law.
Mr Nicklinson, 58, who was paralysed by a stroke in 2005 and suffered from locked-in syndrome, died from pneumonia at his home in Melksham, Wiltshire, a week after the High Court ruling.
Martin is hoping that his legal action will force the director of public prosecutions to allow health professionals assist him to end his life.
Current guidance makes it clear that friends or family assisting a suicide out of compassion are unlikely to be prosecuted. But Martin's wife does not wish to be actively involved in his suicide.
Mr Nicklinson's family pledged to continue the legal fight after his death
BBC legal correspondent Clive Coleman says the challenges are being seen as the most ambitious attempt yet to change laws governing the right to die.
Other cases in the past included Diane Pretty, who was terminally ill with motor neurone disease and died in 2002, - she wanted the courts to give her husband immunity from prosecution.
Debbie Purdy, who has severe multiple sclerosis, challenged the lack of clarity on the law on assisted suicide. She won her case and guidance was issued in 2010, but the law did not change.
Mr Lamb, a divorced father of two, said he was not depressed and just wanted to end his life in a dignified way, with his loved ones around him.
His case is being supported by the British Humanist Association, which wants to establish the right to doctor-assisted death in certain circumstances.
But the disability rights group Scope and anti-euthanasia campaigners have argued that current laws protects vulnerable people.
In Scotland there is no specific law on assisted suicide, although in theory someone could be prosecuted under homicide legislation. The law in Northern Ireland is almost identical to that in England and Wales.
Read in browser » Fears grow over deadly new virus
By Anonymous on May 12, 2013 02:46 pm 12 May 2013 Last updated at 10:35 ET 
The World Health Organisation says it is closely monitoring the novel coronavirus
The World Health Organization says it appears likely that the novel coronavirus (NCoV) can be passed between people in close contact.
This comes after the French health ministry confirmed a second man has contracted the virus in a possible case of human-to-human transmission.
Two people are also reported to have died from the virus in Saudi Arabia, according to health officials.
NCoV is known to cause pneumonia and sometimes kidney failure.
World Health Organisation (WHO) officials have expressed concern over the clusters of cases of the new coronavirus strain and the potential for it to spread.
Since 2012, there have been 33 confirmed cases across Europe and the Middle East, with 18 deaths, according to a recent WHO update.
Cases have been detected in Saudi Arabia and Jordan and have spread to Germany, the UK and France.
"Of most concern... is the fact that the different clusters seen in multiple countries increasingly support the hypothesis that when there is close contact this novel coronavirus can transmit from person to person," the World Health Organisation said on Sunday.
"This pattern of person-to-person transmission has remained limited to some small clusters and so far, there is no evidence to suggest the virus has the capacity to sustain generalised transmission in communities," the statement adds.
Continue reading the main story NCoV cases to date
- Since September 2012, 33 confirmed cases of human infection with NCoV
- 18 confirmed deaths
- Since May 2013, 15 reported cases in Saudi Arabia, with second deaths
- Two cases confirmed in each of Jordan, Qatar, the UK, France and one from the UAE
- Most patients are male and within an age range of 24 to 94 years
France's second confirmed case was a 50-year-old man who had shared a hospital room in Valenciennes, northern France, with a 65-year-old who fell ill with the virus after returning from Dubai.
"Positive results [for the virus] have been confirmed for both patients," the French health ministry said, adding that both men are being treated in isolation wards.
Meanwhile, the Saudi deputy minister of health said on Sunday that two more people have died from the coronavirus in the al-Ahsa governorate in the east of Saudi Arabia, Reuters news agency reports.
WHO officials have not yet confirmed the latest deaths.
Novel coronavirus is from the same family of viruses as the one that caused an outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) that emerged in Asia in 2003.
However, NCoV and Sars are distinct from each other, the WHO said in its statement on Sunday.
Coronavirus is known to cause respiratory infections in both humans and animals.
But it is not yet clear whether it is a mutation of an existing virus or an infection in animals that has made the jump to humans.
In February, a patient died in a hospital in Birmingham, England, after three members of the same family became infected.
It is thought a family member had picked up the virus while travelling to the Middle East and Pakistan.
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