Pupils face national rankings at 11
By Anonymous on Jul 17, 2013 03:30 am 16 July 2013 Last updated at 19:59 ET By Sean Coughlan BBC News education correspondent 
Primary schools will have a new curriculum and a new way of being measured
Primary school pupils in England would be ranked more directly against their peers across the country, under new government proposals.
Pupils aged 11 would be ranked in 10% ability bands across the year group and parents told how they measured up.
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said: "For children to achieve their potential, we need to raise the bar."
But head teachers' leaders described the plans, which could come in in 2016, as "disappointing and destructive".
"Labelling an 11-year-old as a failure is totally unacceptable," said the National Association of Head Teachers.
Mr Clegg said: "I make no apology for having high ambitions for our pupils. But for children to achieve their potential we need to raise the bar - in terms of tests, pass marks and minimum standards. I am confident that primary schools and their pupils will meet that challenge."
'Secondary ready' As parents across the country are receiving their children's Sats results, Mr Clegg and Schools Minister David Laws are launching a consultation on plans to overhaul England's primary tests and targets.
They would mean significant changes to how primary schools are measured and their pupils' achievements shown to parents.
The intention is to show whether pupils are ready for secondary school and where they are ranked against the national cohort.
Under the plans, the test results would be divided into bands of 10% and parents and schools would be able to see where their children were placed on this national scale.
There are also plans for baseline tests against which to measure progress, although it has yet to be decided how early this should take place.
There would be a tougher minimum level of achievement for schools - the so-called "floor-standard" - below which an Ofsted inspection would be triggered.
The current minimum is 60% of pupils achieving the expected level at Sats tests for English and maths. This would be replaced with an 85% minimum - but the current levels are being scrapped, so this would be 85% based on an assessment that has still to be decided.
The threshold for the tests would be that children were "secondary ready" in maths, reading, spelling, punctuation and grammar and teachers' assessments of writing.
Extra funding The government says that the levels currently used to measure progress, including the Level 4 used as the benchmark for Sats tests, are "unambitious and too broad".
The minimum level for schools would also take into account pupils' progress as well as their raw test results.
Under the proposals, schools would be able to develop their own way of measuring how well pupils were progressing and their ability would then be assessed with tests for all 11-year-olds in English and maths and a sample of pupils for science.
There will be extra funding for poorer pupils with a rise in the level of pupil premiums, from £900 this year to £1,300 in 2014-15.
Russell Hobby, leader of the National Association of Head Teachers, welcomed the greater recognition of pupil progress, but warned that the changes to measuring schools were built on "foundations of sand".
"All the 'rigour' in the world won't matter if you're rigorous about the wrong things," he said.
Brian Lightman, head of the ASCL heads' union, said that there was a need for a more accurate testing system at the end of primary school, because secondary schools currently had to re-test their new intakes.
But he was unconvinced by the idea to rank 11-year-olds.
"I worry what will happen to those children who have tried hard yet are told that they are in one of the bottom bands. Children at that age mature differently and their confidence can be easily damaged," he said.
NUT leader Christine Blower rejected the idea that primary schools should be measured in terms of the idea of pupils being "secondary ready".
"The description 'secondary ready' will be seen as offensive and insulting to so many hard-working teachers in the primary phase. Education, from the earliest years, is not a conveyor belt to the end of secondary school," she said.
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Heathrow to unveil third runway plan
By Anonymous on Jul 16, 2013 08:21 pm 16 July 2013 Last updated at 20:21 ET 
Opponents want to stop the third runway because of noise and air pollution
Heathrow Airport will reveal details of its plan for a third runway later.
The airport will submit its proposal to the Davies Commission, set up by the government to look at raising capacity.
Heathrow chief executive Colin Matthews has already told the commission the UK is at risk of "dropping out of the premier league" of airport hubs.
But environmentalists criticised the plan - and London Mayor Boris Johnson said thinking Heathrow could be the major hub London needed was "crackers".
Just a year ago government officials said the idea of a third runway was "dead and buried", but it is now "very much back on the table", said BBC transport correspondent Richard Westcott
'Four-runway solution' Heathrow managers are keen to make it happen despite opposition, and competition from Mr Johnson's plans for major airport expansion east or north-east of London.
"If the UK does not want to be left behind by its foreign rivals, it must have the connectivity to compete and trade on the world stage," Mr Matthews said.
Continue reading the main story Analysis
Richard Westcott BBC transport correspondent
I've just been looking back through my notes from last year, when I talked to government officials about the prospect of building a third runway at Heathrow.
They told me it was "dead and buried" and said they'd look at "all ideas bar a third runway". Back then we also had a Transport Secretary, Justine Greening, who lived under the flight path and had campaigned against the plan.
What a difference to today, when a third runway at the UK's biggest and busiest airport is very much back on the table.
This is a big week for airports. By Friday, we'll know all the different suggestions on how they could expand.
But don't let all this apparent momentum fool you. This is one of the thorniest issues in politics, and there are plenty in the industry who think that 20 years from now, nothing will have actually been done.
"That connectivity can only come from a single hub airport in the right place for taxpayers, passengers and business.
"Only Heathrow can meet all these demands."
David Learmount, of aviation experts Flightglobal, said expanding Heathrow was the "most disastrous" option in terms of air pollution and noise, but it was the best short-term solution.
He said the best long-term options were large hub airports at Gatwick or Stansted, while the Thames Estuary plan could also work but would "take ages" to build.
"The ultimate solution is a four-runway airport that has 24-hour operation, which Heathrow doesn't have," he said.
A hub airport is one used by many passengers for connections to other airports, and Mr Learmount said the UK economy would be "harmed dramatically" if Heathrow expansion were blocked and no replacement hub built.
All airports must submit their plans to the commission by 19 July.
On Monday London Mayor Mr Johnson published details of three possible replacement hubs - an artificial island in the Thames Estuary (dubbed "Boris Island"), a major expansion at Stansted, or an airport at the Isle of Grain in north Kent.
"Ambitious cities all over the world are already stealing a march on us and putting themselves in a position to eat London's breakfast, lunch and dinner by constructing mega airports," he said.
"Those cities have moved heaven and earth to locate their airports away from their major centres of population, in areas where they have been able to build airports with four runways or more."
He added: "Anyone who believes there would be the space to do that at Heathrow, which already blights the lives of hundreds of thousands of Londoners, is quite simply crackers."
'No runways needed' But Nic Ferriday, of Airport Watch, which opposes airport expansion that might harm the environment, said claims that the UK needs a bigger airport hub "have become a mantra for vested interests based on hype".
"There is currently no shortage of runway capacity in south-east England and more 'interchange' capacity, which is what hubs airports facilitate, has no appreciable economic benefit to the UK," he said.
Friends of the Earth head of campaigns Andrew Pendleton added: "The region doesn't need more airport capacity; London already has more flights to the world's top business centres than any of its European competitors."
The Davies Commission, chaired by Sir Howard Davies, was set up last year to examine "the need for additional UK airport capacity and recommend to government how this can be met in the short, medium and long term".
It is expected to recommend options by the end of this year, but will not submit its final report until summer 2015 - after the next general election.
Read in browser » School meal kills 21 in India
By Anonymous on Jul 17, 2013 12:56 am 16 July 2013 Last updated at 16:50 ET 
At least eight children have died and dozens more have fallen sick after eating a tainted school meal in India's eastern state of Bihar.
The poisoning occurred at a government school in the village of Masrakh in Saran district.
A probe has been launched and 200,000 rupees ($3,371) in compensation offered to the families of each of the dead.
India's Mid-Day Meal Scheme provides free food to try to boost attendance, but often suffers from poor hygiene.
Foul smell Dozens of sick children were taken to hospital in the nearby town of Chhapra and the state capital, Patna, after the incident.
The Times of India quoted villagers as saying that the oil used to cook the vegetables had emitted a foul smell.
There are fears the death toll could rise as some of the children, all below the age of 12, are critically ill.
One father of a sick child, Raja Yadav, said his son was vomiting after returning from school and had to be rushed to hospital.
Television images showed sick children laid out on wooden tables.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar called an emergency meeting and ordered a team of forensic experts to the school.
Bihar is one of India's poorest and most populous states.
Read in browser » Hunt denies strategist had influence
By Anonymous on Jul 17, 2013 02:54 am 17 July 2013 Last updated at 00:16 ET 
Mr Hunt said there was a "clear dividing line" in Mr Crosby's role for the party
Conservative Party election strategist Lynton Crosby had no influence on the decision to delay the introduction of plain cigarette packets in England and Wales, the health secretary has said.
Jeremy Hunt told the BBC ministers do not allow Mr Crosby to advise them on public health issues as his lobbying company works with tobacco firms.
His comments come as MPs are set to discuss a new lobbying bill.
Labour says advisers' business interests should be more transparent.
Speaking on the Newsnight on Tuesday, Mr Hunt said: "Lynton Crosby's work is for the Conservative Party. He hasn't lobbied me and he hasn't lobbied the prime minister on issues to do with public health and there is a clear dividing line.
"There is also transparency. We are not hiding this fact."
Mr Hunt agreed that public health was a "whole area he [Mr Crosby] is not allowed to touch".
He added: "It is quite right he shouldn't because his company has clients in that area."
Mr Crosby's public affairs firm has been working with tobacco giant Philip Morris in the UK since November and Labour have questioned whether he influenced the decision to postpone the plans to bring in plain packaging.
'Emphatic denial' BBC political correspondent Iain Watson said Mr Hunt's comments represent the most emphatic denial yet of the accusation that Mr Crosby had influenced policy.
Mr Crosby has been seen as the driving force behind the prime minister's portrayal of Labour leader Ed Miliband as a weak leader and Labour has been keen to draw blood, our correspondent added.
The government says that before proceeding with its plans, it wants to see more evidence from Australia, where plain packets were introduced in December last year in an effort to cut smoking.
Earlier this week Mr Miliband said Mr Crosby's links to the tobacco industry were as "clear a conflict of interest as you could possibly imagine". Two shadow ministers have written to the cabinet secretary to ask whether Mr Crosby has had any influence on UK tobacco policy.
Downing Street, however, said last week that Mr Crosby had "no involvement" in the decision to postpone the plans. Mr Cameron also insisted he had been "unaware" of Australian-born Mr Crosby's role as a consultant to Philip Morris.
The government's lobbying bill is expected to create a register of third-party lobbyists and compel them to publish a full list of their clients.
In the run-up to the 2010 election, Mr Cameron suggested lobbying was "the next big scandal waiting to happen" and a promise to introduce reforms was included in the coalition agreement.
Restrictions on trade union funding, Labour's main source of cash, are also set to be included in the bill. Mr Miliband last week set out proposals to end the automatic affiliation of members of some unions to the party.
Read in browser » UK arms exports 'raise questions'
By Anonymous on Jul 16, 2013 08:16 pm 16 July 2013 Last updated at 20:16 ET 
By Jonathan Marcus BBC diplomatic correspondent 
Arms licences to Sri Lanka included pistols, small arms ammunition and 600 assault rifles
The UK government has approved more than 3,000 export licences for military sales to countries which it believes have questionable records on human rights, MPs say.
The House of Commons Committees on Arms Export Controls says the value of the existing export licences to the 27 countries in question exceeds £12bn.
This includes significant sales to China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Israel.
Sales to Sri Lanka raise "very serious questions", the report adds.
The committees consist of four select committees meeting and working together: business, defence, foreign affairs, and international development.
The chairman, Conservative MP Sir John Stanley, said he was astonished at the scale and value of the licences.
'Clear risk' There were, for example, more than 60 licences for Iran, including components for military electronics and what is described as "equipment employing cryptography".
This appears to be a catch-all term which encompasses a variety of equipment, much of it in the telecommunications sector.
Similar equipment figured prominently in China's £1.4bn worth of licences, which also included some small arms ammunition, even though there is a European Union arms embargo on Beijing.
Sir John told the BBC that in his view the EU embargo "was not drafted as widely as many people would wish".
Arms licences to Sri Lanka included pistols, small arms ammunition and approval for the sale of 600 assault rifles, which he said "raised very serious questions".
The report urges the UK government to look again at all the 134 existing UK export licences to Egypt to ensure that they do not breach the current policy, which is not to issue licences where it feels "there is a clear risk that the proposed export might provoke or prolong regional or internal conflicts, or which might be used to facilitate internal repression".
The committees also want more detail on a sales licence granted to Israel earlier this year for the purchase of £7.7bn worth of what is described as "equipment employing cryptography and software for equipment employing cryptography".
This one licence granted in February 2013 accounted for well over 50% of the value of all existing licences to the countries in question.
The committees also comment on military sales to Argentina.
The UK has adopted a restrictive policy for such sales and the committees note that: "It is reprehensible that the UK government is unwilling to lobby other (friendly) governments to make the same changes in (their) arms export policies towards Argentina."
The committees have asked the government to report back and give assurances that arms export licences to all the countries mentioned are in tune with policy.
The report concludes: "Whilst the promotion of arms exports and the upholding of human rights are both legitimate government policies, the government would do well to acknowledge that there is an inherent conflict between strongly promoting arms exports to authoritarian regimes whilst strongly criticising their lack of human rights at the same time, rather than claiming, as the government continues to do, that these two policies 'are mutually reinforcing'."
'Information security' "Cryptography" is a term that appears frequently in the arms licensing data.
It appears to refer to technology which can be applied to a variety of tasks, encapsulating the "dual-use" problem - technology which can be used for peaceful purposes but which equally could have a security or military role.
A Department for Business, Innovation and Skills spokeswoman said cryptography was "a means of ensuring information security, ie preventing unauthorised access to data".
There was, she explained, "a huge range of commercial applications that use cryptography, from public mobile telephony, online shopping and banking, through to providing secure networks for businesses and governments. Commercial applications account for the vast majority of licences under the cryptography category."
These commercial applications, she stressed did "not raise any concerns with respect to internal repression or conflict".
Read in browser » Cuban arms on seized N Korean ship
By Anonymous on Jul 17, 2013 03:07 am 16 July 2013 Last updated at 20:53 ET 
A North Korean ship held in the Panama Canal on its way from Cuba was carrying obsolete arms for repair, the Cuban foreign ministry says.
The ministry said the weapons, manufactured half-a-century ago, were to be returned to Cuba after being refurbished.
The ship was seized by Panama after "undeclared military cargo" was found hidden in a shipment of sugar.
Panama's president said it included "sophisticated missile equipment".
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