Tense S Africa awaits Mandela news
By Anonymous on Jun 24, 2013 03:13 am 24 June 2013 Last updated at 02:45 ET 
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Karen Allen: "There is a sense of deep sadness in South Africa today"
South Africans are heading to work in a sombre mood as they await news on former President Nelson Mandela.
The South African presidency announced on Sunday evening that Mr Mandela had become critical, even though doctors were "doing everything possible".
A senior official said South Africans should not hold out "false hopes".
South Africa's first black president, 94, was taken to hospital in Pretoria earlier this month for the third time this year, with a lung infection.
President Jacob Zuma said on Sunday that he had visited Mr Mandela and spoken to his wife and medical teams.
Mr Zuma said he had been told by doctors that the former president's condition had worsened over the past 24 hours.
"The doctors are doing everything possible to get his condition to improve and are ensuring that Madiba is well-looked after and is comfortable. He is in good hands," said President Zuma, using Mr Mandela's clan name by which he is widely known in South Africa.
Mac Maharaj, Mr Zuma's spokesman, told the BBC's Newshour that the doctors' use of the word "critical" was "sufficient explanation that should raise concern amongst us".
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"Therefore we want to assure the public that the doctors are working away to try and get his condition to improve," he said.
Mr Maharaj added that this was a stressful time for the Mandela family, and appealed for their privacy.
"I think there is need to be sombre about the news. There is a need not to hold out false hopes but at the same time let's keep him in our thoughts and let's will him more strength," he said.
The ANC - the party of Mr Mandela and Mr Zuma - said it "noted with concern" the latest reports, and that it joined the president in calling "for us all to keep Madiba, his family and medical team in our thoughts and prayers during this trying time".
'Expert care' The BBC's Karen Allen reports from outside the Pretoria hospital that the mood in the country is sombre.
Reality is sinking in, says our correspondent. This, however, is uncharted waters and analysts say it is not clear how South Africans will react.
It is not known what kind of condition precipitated the deterioration, she says.
There has been little information about his condition in recent days. On 13 June Mr Zuma said Mr Mandela's health continued to improve but that his condition remained serious.
Continue reading the main story Nelson Mandela: Key dates
- 1918 Born in the Eastern Cape
- 1944 Joins African National Congress
- 1956 Charged with high treason, but charges dropped
- 1962 Arrested, convicted of sabotage, sentenced to five years in prison
- 1964 Charged again, sentenced to life
- 1990 Freed from prison
- 1993 Wins Nobel Peace Prize
- 1994 Elected first black president
- 1999 Steps down as leader
Mr Mandela is revered for leading the fight against white minority rule in South Africa and then preaching reconciliation despite being imprisoned for 27 years. He left power after five years as president.
The former president and Nobel Peace Prize winner is believed to have suffered damage to his lungs while working in a prison quarry.
He contracted tuberculosis in the 1980s while being held in jail on the windswept Robben Island.
Mr Mandela retired from public life in 2004 and has rarely been seen at official events since.
On Saturday, it emerged that the ambulance in which Mr Mandela was taken to hospital on 8 June broke down, meaning he had to be moved to another vehicle.
But Mr Zuma said he had been assured that "all care was taken to ensure his medical condition was not compromised".
"There were seven doctors in the convoy who were in full control of the situation throughout the period. He had expert medical care," he said.
Mr Zuma also denied reports that the former leader had suffered a cardiac arrest.
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PM calls for Lawrence 'smear' probe
By Anonymous on Jun 24, 2013 03:43 am 24 June 2013 Last updated at 03:16 ET 
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Peter Francis, who says he says he posed as an anti-racism campaigner, served in the Met's now-disbanded Special Demonstration Squad
The mother of Stephen Lawrence has expressed anger at claims an undercover police officer infiltrated the family's campaign for justice in 1993.
Doreen Lawrence said allegations in the Guardian that the police had wanted to smear her family "topped" everything she had heard since her son's murder.
Labour has called for a speedy inquiry to get to the bottom of the claims made by former officer Peter Francis.
Scotland Yard has refused to confirm or deny the reports.
But a spokesman said the Metropolitan Police shared the Lawrence family's concerns.
Mr Francis told the Guardian and Channel 4's Dispatches programme he posed as an anti-racism campaigner in a hunt for "disinformation" to use against those criticising the police.
'Tarring the campaign' He said the Metropolitan Police were concerned the reaction to the Lawrence murder might result in rioting similar to that following the beating of Rodney King in Los Angeles.
Working as part of the Met's now-disbanded Special Demonstration Squad, which specialised in gathering intelligence on political activists, he said he came under pressure to find "any intelligence that could have smeared the campaign" - including whether any of the family were political activists, involved in demonstrations or drug dealers.
Doreen Lawrence told the Guardian that the family had been suspicious of police motives at the time
Mr Francis, who used the name Peter Black while under cover, says the aim of his operation was to ensure that the public "did not have as much sympathy for the Stephen Lawrence campaign" and to persuade "the media to start maybe tarring the campaign".
Doreen Lawrence said she was shocked and angry at the disclosure. She said: "Out of all the things I've found out over the years, this certainly has topped it."
"It just makes me really, really angry that all of this has been going on and all the time trying to undermine us as a family.
"Somebody sitting somewhere, calculating what, you know, what they'd be doing to look at and infiltrate, our family. It's like, we're treated as if to say we're not human beings.
"We weren't linked to any political groups, you know, we weren't linked to any of them so at the time.
"Nothing can justify the whole thing about trying to discredit the family and people round us."
The Metropolitan Police would not confirm or deny the account given by Mr Francis, but admitted "the claims in relation to Stephen Lawrence's family will bring particular upset to them and we share their concerns".
An independent investigation into a number of allegations against former undercover police officers, codenamed Operation Herne is under way.
In a statement the Met said: "Any actions by officers working on or with the Special Demonstration Squad need to be understood by Operation Herne in terms of the leadership, supervision, support, training, legal framework, tasking and reporting mechanisms that were in place at the time."
But the force gave the same response to allegations that another undercover officer had helped write the leaflets at the centre of the McLibel trial in the mid 1980s.
The statement said: "At some point it will fall upon this generation of police leaders to account for the activities of our predecessors, but for the moment we must focus on getting to the truth."
'Morally reprehensible' Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the allegations were "shocking and appalling".
She said: "Given the significance of the Lawrence case, and the unresolved concerns about corruption too, the home secretary should seek a faster investigation into these specific allegations."
Continue reading the main story Stephen Lawrence profile
Brought up in Plumstead, south-east London, the 18-year-old's family life was based on education and religious faith. Friends say he had a good and trusting nature.
He was born on 13 September, 1974 - the first of three children to Doreen and Neville who emigrated from Jamaica in the 1960s.
Neville was a carpenter, upholsterer, tailor and plasterer. Doreen took a university course and became a special needs teacher.
Stephen was studying A-levels in English, craft, design and technology and physics at Blackheath Bluecoat School.
He was keen on becoming an architect, and a local firm had already offered him a job.
He loved athletics and, like many teenagers, liked going out, girls and music. He had never been involved in crime.
Mr Francis told the Guardian he had come forward because of the "morally reprehensible" way in which under cover officers had sometimes worked.
He is particularly angry his role was never discussed by the Stephen Lawrence public inquiry chaired by retired High Court judge Sir William Macpherson. He claims senior officers deliberately chose to withhold the information from the inquiry.
Stephen Lawrence, a black teenager, was killed as he waited for a bus in April 1993.
More than 18 years later, in January 2012, Gary Dobson and David Norris were found guilty of his murder by an Old Bailey jury after a review of the forensic evidence.
Dobson and Norris had first been arrested in connection with the murder just weeks after it happened, but the case against them collapsed.
In 1999, the Macpherson inquiry into the killing and its aftermath published a report accusing the police of institutional racism.
Sir William said during the investigation the Lawrences had been patronised, treated with "insensitivity and lack of sympathy", and kept in the dark.
Dispatches is broadcast on Channel 4 on Monday 24 June at 20:00 BST.
Read in browser » Mutilation victim 'aged just seven'
By Anonymous on Jun 23, 2013 07:42 pm 23 June 2013 Last updated at 19:42 ET By Judith Burns BBC News family reporter 
From Monday a new NSPCC helpline will help protect girls at risk of ritual mutilation
A girl of seven was the youngest victim of female genital mutilation (FGM) treated by the NHS in the past two years, according to new data.
Some 1,700 women and girls were treated by specialist FGM clinics but this masks a bigger problem says the NSPCC.
A UK-wide helpline to protect girls at risk of ritual cutting, practised by some African, Middle Eastern and Asian communities, goes live on Monday.
The victims "are hidden behind a wall of silence", said Lisa Harker of NSPCC.
The helpline is run by NSPCC child protection experts who have had training and advice from experts who work with women and girls who have undergone this form of ritual mutilation.
Extreme pain The charity describes the practice as "illegal and life-threatening" and says that it results in extreme pain as well as physical and psychological problems that can continue into adulthood.
Female genital mutilation, sometimes known as female circumcision has been illegal in the UK since 1985 - but still continues in secret, often carried out without anaesthetic.
The NSPCC says ritual mutilation can be performed on girls as young as four (posed by model)
Sometimes girls are sent abroad to have it done. Sometimes it is done in the UK.
It involves the partial or total removal of the female genital organs. The NSPCC says that victims are usually aged between four and 10 but some are younger.
Comfort Momoh, a midwife at Guys and St Thomas's Hospital in London, collated the figures from the specialist clinics.
She told BBC news that many women are not identified until they become pregnant and are examined by medical staff.
Others suffer recurrent urinary tract infections and abdominal pain.
"Many people are not aware they have had it done as it was carried out when they were babies."
'Anonymous' The NSPCC says the free 24-hour helpline is aimed at anyone concerned that a child's welfare is at risk because of female genital mutilation, particularly teachers and medical staff, but they are also hoping that relatives will come forward.
They stress that callers can remain anonymous but information on children at risk will be passed to police and social services.
Ms Harker said: "There is also a huge pressure within these communities to keep quiet about female genital mutilation, with some people even being threatened with violence if they speak out.
"We want this helpline to be a safe space for families who are against their daughter having female genital mutilation but feel powerless to stop it. Anyone from these communities can speak to us to get advice and help about female genital mutilation without fear of reprisal."
Some 20,000 girls in England and Wales are thought to be at risk, according to government estimates, but there is a lack of accurate figures.
Ms Momoh hopes that another benefit of the helpline will be to "generate more robust information and data".
Crime prevention minister Jeremy Browne described the helpline as "a vital step towards eradicating this horrendous crime".
"It builds on the work we have already undertaken through our violence against women and girls action plan to raise awareness, identify potential victims and prevent this form of child abuse."
Det Ch Supt Keith Niven of the Metropolitan Police Service added: "This practice cannot be disguised as being part of any culture, it is child abuse and offenders will be relentlessly pursued."
Read in browser » Snowden poised to fly out of Moscow
By Anonymous on Jun 24, 2013 03:17 am 23 June 2013 Last updated at 23:44 ET 
Edward Snowden is regarded as a hero by some, and a villain by others
Fugitive former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden is due to fly out of Russia in the next few hours in a bid to seek asylum in Ecuador.
Reports suggest he will be on an early afternoon flight out of Moscow, heading first to the Cuban capital Havana.
Washington says it is warning countries in the "Western Hemisphere" not to let him enter their territory.
The US has charged him with espionage over leaked secret documents revealing US internet and phone surveillance.
In a series of rapidly moving developments on Sunday, Mr Snowden flew to Moscow from Hong Kong where he had been holed up since fleeing the US.
Once at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport it is thought he was met by Ecuador's ambassador to Moscow whose car was seen arriving by reporters.
Continue reading the main story Who is Edward Snowden?
- Age 30, grew up in North Carolina
- Joined army reserves in 2004, discharged four months later, says the Guardian
- First job at National Security Agency was as security guard
- Worked on IT security at the CIA
- Left CIA in 2009 for contract work at NSA for various firms including Booz Allen
- Called himself Verax, Latin for "speaking the truth", in exchanges with the Washington Post
On Sunday night it was unclear exactly where Mr Snowden was, but he was believed to be still at the airport.
BBC Moscow correspondent Daniel Sandford says it is being reported that he will fly first to Cuba and then to Venezuela before heading to Ecuador. The first plane scheduled to fly to Havana was due to leave Sheremetyevo at 14:05 Moscow time (10:05 GMT).
He will be trying to avoid any country that might arrest him on behalf of the US, our correspondent adds.
The US had been trying to extradite Mr Snowden from Hong Kong, but authorities there said the US request was incomplete and there was no legal basis to stop from departing.
The US justice department said it was "disappointed" that Hong Kong did not arrest Mr Snowden and that it "disagrees" with its reasons for not doing so.
"We find their decision to be particularly troubling," an official said.
As Washington scrambled to stop the former analyst moving beyond its reach, an official said the US had contacted "Western Hemisphere" nations that Mr Snowden might travel to, or through.
"The US is advising these governments that Snowden is wanted on felony charges, and as such should not be allowed to proceed in any further international travel, other than is necessary to return him to the United States," the state department official said.
The US justice department also says it will seek co-operation from whichever country Mr Snowden arrives in.
'Escorted by diplomats' Our correspondent says there seems to have been a concerted effort by China, Russia and Ecuador to help him escape the net that was closing around him in Hong Kong.
Ecuador's Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino, who is in Vietnam, said on Twitter: "The Government of Ecuador has received an asylum request from Edward J. #Snowden."
Ecuador is already giving political asylum to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who has been sheltering in its London embassy for the past year.
Wikileaks said in a statement that Mr Snowden was "bound for the Republic of Ecuador via a safe route for the purposes of asylum, and is being escorted by diplomats and legal advisers from Wikileaks".
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Wikileaks spokesperson Kristinn Hrafnsson told the BBC he believed the fugitive would eventually be recognised as a hero
Although the US and Ecuador have a joint extradition treaty, it is not applicable to "crimes or offences of a political character".
Wikileaks said Mr Snowden's asylum request would be formally processed when he arrived in Ecuador.
Spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson told the BBC he believed history would show that the former analyst had performed "a great public service".
The US state department would not confirm a report that Mr Snowden's passport had been revoked but said it was "routine" for anyone charged with a felony. Such people should be stopped from any further international travel, a spokeswoman said.
Mr Snowden had left his home in Hawaii after leaking details of his work as an NSA (National Security Agency) analyst and the extensive US surveillance programme to the UK's Guardian newspaper and the Washington Post.
He has been charged in the US with theft of government property, unauthorised communication of national defence information and wilful communication of classified communications intelligence.
Each of the charges carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence.
The Obama administration is desperate to get its hands on Mr Snowden before he reveals any more secrets, reports BBC Washington correspondent Paul Adams.
A number of prominent politicians have called him a traitor and raised suspicion about the roles played by China and Russia, he adds.
Mr Snowden's leaks have led to revelations that the US is systematically seizing vast amounts of phone and web data under an NSA programme known as Prism.
He Snowden said earlier that he had decided to speak out after observing "a continuing litany of lies" from senior officials to Congress.
US officials have defended the practice of gathering telephone and internet data from private users around the world.
They say Prism cannot be used to intentionally target any Americans or anyone in the US, and that it is supervised by judges.
Read in browser » Murray recalls Dunblane shootings
By Anonymous on Jun 23, 2013 05:42 pm Andy Murray hopes his tennis success has helped the healing in Dunblane, his home town ripped apart by a horrific shooting incident 17 years ago.
Thomas Hamilton killed 16 children and one teacher at Dunblane Primary School on 13 March, 1996.
In a BBC One documentary broadcast on Sunday, Murray, a pupil at the school at the time of the shooting, broke down in tears when recalling what happened.
"You have no idea how tough something like that is," he told Sue Barker.
Cradling his dog on his lap, the emotional Scot, 26, said the incident had affected him deeply but hoped his numerous triumphs on the tennis court had been a positive influence on Dunblane.
"It is just nice being able to do something the town is proud of," said the reigning Olympic and US Open champion, whose elder brother Jamie was also a pupil at Dunblane Primary School.
In the hour-long documentary, Murray's mother, Judy, recalled the day Hamilton entered the school with four handguns, opening fire on a class of five- and six-year-olds in the gymnasium.
The scout leader later shot himself dead before he could be captured.
Andy Murray signs autographs on a visit to Dunblane following his Olympic success in 2012
Judy said that Andy had been walking to the gym when the shootings had begun and said her family knew Hamilton, a 43-year-old unemployed former shopkeeper, before the incident took place.
"Andy's class were on their way to the gym, his class were the next ones in the gym," she said. "His class was stopped when somebody went up, when they heard the noise and discovered what had happened."
Struggling to contain her emotions, she explained: "I was one of hundreds of mums that were queuing up at the school gates waiting to find out what had happened, not knowing if your children were alive or not."
She added she still found it difficult visiting the school and purposely avoided the gym where the shootings took place.
"I actually don't go near that part of the building," she said. "When I go up to school now, if I'm doing something, I'll do it in the playground or I do it in the new gym."
In the aftermath of the shooting, Judy said Andy and Jamie had wanted to know why Hamilton had done what he did.
"There were lots and lots of questions from them, mainly I think because they knew the guy who had done it because they used to go to one of his boys' clubs up at the high school," said Judy.
She also revealed that she had given Hamilton "lifts up and down from the train station to the high school", making her sons question the killer's motives even more.
She added that Andy would talk about the incident from "time to time" but that Jamie "never ever talked about it".
Andy added that he had not wanted to know too much about what had happened at the time but that his view had changed.
"It wasn't until a few years ago that I started to actually research it and look into it," he said.
Jamie, 27, was also interviewed in the BBC documentary, titled 'Andy Murray: The Man Behind the Racquet'.
Highlights: Federer beats Murray
A former Grand Slam winner himself, having won the mixed doubles title with Jelena Jankovic in 2007, he agreed that his brother's achievements had helped Dunblane recover from its ordeal.
"It's nice that, after all the negative publicity the town got after what happened so many years ago, that it's able to be shown in a positive light now," he said. "I guess that's a testament to the success that Andy's had."
Andy, currently ranked number two in the world, begins his quest for a first Wimbledon men's singles crown on Monday, when he faces German Benjamin Becker in a first-round match on Centre Court.
The British number one lost in last year's final, beaten in four sets by Roger Federer, who was claiming the title for a seventh time.
Read in browser » Ex-CQC executive denies 'cover-up'
By Anonymous on Jun 24, 2013 03:27 am 24 June 2013 Last updated at 03:13 ET 
A former deputy chief executive of the CQC has told the BBC she was not involved in any decision to delete a critical internal review.
Last week an independent report into the CQC's investigation of the deaths of babies at Furness General Hospital found evidence of a possible cover-up.
But Jill Finney insisted that she and two other colleagues did not decide to suppress the review.
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