MI5 'approached Woolwich suspect'
By Anonymous on May 25, 2013 03:37 am 24 May 2013 Last updated at 18:22 ET 
MI5 asked Woolwich murder suspect Michael Adebolajo if he wanted to work for them, a childhood friend has said.
Abu Nusaybah told BBC Two's Newsnight his friend had revealed to him six months ago that the security service had been "knocking on his door".
He said Mr Adebolajo told him he had turned down an offer to work for them. The BBC could not obtain any confirmation from Whitehall sources.
Mr Nusaybah was arrested at the BBC after giving the interview.
Mr Nusaybah said that, six months ago, his friend was "basically being harassed by MI5, this is something that he specifically mentioned to me".
He added: "His wording was, 'They are bugging me - they won't leave me alone.'
"He mentioned initially they wanted to ask him if he knew certain individuals.
"After, they asked him if he would be interested in working for them."
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Tiger attack wildlife worker dies
By Anonymous on May 24, 2013 08:25 pm 24 May 2013 Last updated at 19:22 ET 
Sarah McClay suffered head and neck injuries in the attack
A woman zoo worker attacked by a tiger has died of her injuries.
Sarah McClay, 24, was attacked in an enclosure at South Lakes Wild Animal Park, near Dalton-in-Furness in Cumbria.
She died at Royal Preston Hospital where she had been taken suffering from head and neck injuries.
Cumbria Police said the animal was later securely locked in its enclosure and there had not been any risk to the public.
Read in browser » French army to begin Mali pullout
By Anonymous on May 25, 2013 12:14 am 25 May 2013 Last updated at 00:14 ET 
France says troop numbers in Mali will be down to 1,000 by the end of the year
France is set to begin the first major stage of its military withdrawal from Mali, four months after sending troops to push Islamist rebels out the north.
A convoy of 80 lorries will leave a French base outside the capital, Bamako, and drive south to Ivory Coast.
France began withdrawing some of its 4,000 troops from the country in April.
They plan to gradually hand over to the Malian army and a UN peacekeeping force, which will deploy in July ahead of planned nationwide elections.
Saturday's withdrawal comes just two days after Islamist rebels targeted an army barracks and French-run uranium mine in neighbouring Niger, killing 21 people. French special forces helped Nigerien soldiers end a hostage siege at the barracks on Friday.
It is not known if the attacks will affect French troop deployments.
'Surplus to requirements' The French intervention in Mali in January was prompted by Islamist rebels' increasing control of the north and their advance further south towards Bamako.
The militants had taken advantage of weak central government after a coup in March 2012 and the inability of Malian forces to secure territory. Major towns such as Gao, Kidal and Timbuktu fell, and a strict form of Islamic law was imposed.
Within weeks of launching their offensive, French and Malian soldiers, backed by fighter jets and helicopters, forced the rebels out of urban areas. However, some fighters retreated to hideouts in the mountains and desert, from where they have launched isolated attacks.
The BBC's Alex Duval Smith in Bamako says the French intervention has been immensely popular, and most Malians have dreaded the beginning of the withdrawal.
The convoy leaving Bamako for Abidjan is impressive in its size, but the French insist it is simply carrying equipment and vehicles that are surplus to requirements, our correspondent adds.
Tanks and most heavy patrol vehicles will remain in northern Mali for now.
France still has 3,800 troops in its former colony. It says their number will be down to 2,000 by September and 1,000 by the end of the year.
The United Nations' Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali (Minusma) is to be composed of 11,200 soldiers and 1,440 police officers. The force says it will be deployed to help establish stability and to rebuild the Malian armed forces.
Last week, more than $4bn (£2.6bn) was pledged at an international donor conference in Brussels to fund the Malian government's plan for a "total relaunch of the country".
It includes rebuilding government institutions, repairing damaged infrastructure, organising presidential elections, holding dialogue with rebel groups in the north and stimulating the economy.
Read in browser » Pakistan bus fire kills 16 children
By Anonymous on May 25, 2013 03:54 am 25 May 2013 Last updated at 01:34 ET 
At least 17 children have been burned to death after a gas cylinder exploded on their school bus in eastern Pakistan, police have said.
At least seven more children were taken to hospital after the blast, which caused the bus to catch fire. The incident took place on the outskirts of the city of Gujrat.
Local media quoted the police as saying the driver had survived the explosion.
Gujrat is about 200km (120 miles) south-east of the capital Islamabad.
Read in browser » Warnings over flagship projects
By Anonymous on May 25, 2013 12:16 am 25 May 2013 Last updated at 00:16 ET 
The decision to award the £5bn West Coast Main Line franchise - currently run by Virgin - to FirstGroup was scrapped
More than 30 of the coalition's flagship schemes, including Universal Credit and the West Coast Main Line scheme, are at serious risk of failure, a government annual report has warned.
The Major Projects Authority (MPA) has given 32 projects a red or amber/red rating, meaning they are deemed unachievable or in doubt.
Red projects include two £7bn aircraft carriers dogged by delays.
The Cabinet Office welcomed the report and said it would lead to improvements.
The MPA was established in 2010 in a bid to turn around the civil service's "lamentable record" of delivering large schemes.
Its report warns that billions of pounds of public money could be at risk because of delays and inefficiencies in delivering key projects.
Documents setting out the status of projects worth £350bn were released on Friday.
'Urgent action' Eight red projects - meaning those deemed unachievable as a result of budget, schedule or delivery problems - include the West Coast Main Line scheme.
In October, the government scrapped its decision to award the £5bn franchise to FirstGroup.
The mistakes in the West Coast process came to light after rival bidder Virgin Trains launched a legal challenge against the decision.
Virgin will continue running the service until November 2014, when a new long-term franchise will begin.
Some 23 schemes given an amber/red rating, meaning their successful delivery is in doubt and urgent action needs to be taken, include some of Work and Pensions Secretary Ian Duncan Smith's welfare reforms and the HS2 high-speed rail network.
Of 191 programmes assessed, 32 were given the green all-clear rating with 49 classed as amber/green.
Some 58 were amber and 21 were exempt from ranking.
Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude said the MPA had helped to save more than £1.7bn.
He said that, when he came into government, there was "a relaxed approach to managing projects worth hundreds of billions of pounds" with problems "swept under the carpet where they festered at the taxpayers' expense".
"Since the general election we have got things back on track and are equipping the civil servants with the skills they need," he said.
He added: "There's much more to do but thanks to the work of excellent officials we now expect to double the success rate of major projects, compared with the figures from 2010."
But shadow Cabinet Office minister John Trickett said the report offered "yet more proof that David Cameron's government has no answers to the challenges facing this country"
"The economy is flatlining, prices are going up faster than wages, almost one million young people are unemployed and there's a crisis in A&E - yet all David Cameron offers is failure and more of the same," he added.
And Matthew Sinclair, chief executive of the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: "The fact that this report was quietly slipped out on a Friday evening will only add to suspicions that the government was trying to bury bad news.
"Alarm bells will now be ringing yet again for taxpayers over central government's ability to deliver value for money on some of its multi-billion pound projects."
Read in browser » Swedish riots spread beyond capital
By Anonymous on May 25, 2013 03:08 am 24 May 2013 Last updated at 12:07 ET 
Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.
The BBC's Steven Evans in Stockholm: "The whole policy of immigration and integration is being questioned"
Reinforcements of specially trained police are being sent to Stockholm after five nights of unprecedented rioting in the capital's suburbs.
Police officers are being sent from the cities of Gothenburg and Malmo, both of which saw rioting in recent years, a spokesman told BBC News.
"They are trained and educated for the police tasks going on in Stockholm," Kjell Lindgren said.
Several schools and scores of cars have been burnt in Stockholm this week.
The nightly riots began on Sunday in the north-western suburb of Husby, a deprived, largely immigrant area. It is believed they were sparked by the death of a man nearly a week before, who was shot by police after he allegedly threatened to kill them with a machete.
The unrest has since spread around the city, with groups of youths stoning police and firefighters summoned to tackle arson attacks.
The rioting has raised questions about the success of the country's attempts to integrate foreign-born residents, who now make up some 15% of the population.
In Husby, more than 80% of the 12,000 or so inhabitants are from an immigrant background, and most are from Turkey, the Middle East and Somalia.
Community activists have accused the police of using racist language during the unrest and prosecutors are investigating complaints. Police have tried to calm the situation by speaking to community leaders, such as in mosques.
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