China navy in Pacific exercises

23 November 2011 Last updated at 23:48 ET

China's military build up has caused concern elsewhere in the region

China's navy will carry out exercises in the Pacific Ocean in the coming days, amid continuing tension over maritime disputes in the region.

The defence ministry said the drills were routine and were not targeting any specific country.

China is locked in territorial rows with several nations, and the US has recently made a series of announcements bolstering its presence in the region.

A Pentagon spokesman said the US had no problem with the naval exercises.

Captain John Kirby said that China was "entitled to exercise their military in ways they deem fit".

A short statement on the defence ministry's website announced the exercises late on Wednesday.

"This is an annual, planned, routine drill. It is not directed at any specific country or target and is in keeping with relevant international laws and practices," said the statement.

"China's freedom of navigation and other legal rights should not be obstructed."

Japanese defence officials reported seeing six warships sailing in international waters near the country's southern Okinawa prefecture.

China has clashed with several other nations in the South China Sea, where countries including Vietnam and the Philippines have overlapping claims.

US President Barack Obama announced last week that the US was boosting its presence in the region, and will base a full Marine task force in northern Australia.

Analysts say the US move is a direct challenge to China's attempts to dominate the area, and is likely to bolster US allies in the South China Sea dispute.

Continue Reading... Labels: China, exercises, Pacific

Train-hit girl's arm reattached

23 November 2011 Last updated at 20:50 ET

A girl whose arm was severed when a train hit her at a level crossing on Tyneside has had the limb reattached.

Rebecca Huitson, 12, underwent surgery at Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary after she was dealt a "glancing blow" by an Edinburgh-to-London train.

Rebecca's arm was retrieved from the track after she was hit at Killingworth at 18:30 GMT on Monday, police said.

Michael Schenker, a consultant plastic surgeon, said there was a "small risk" the "replant" of her arm could fail.

He said Rebecca's arm had sustained considerable damage.

Further operation

"I don't know how they found it but was told it was found quite far away from the patient," Mr Schenker said.

"It has a number of fractures so we have to deal with that at a later stage.

"The main thing was to get the blood supply into the arm as quickly as possible, and so far that is working."

Rebecca is expected to have a further operation.

"It is impossible to say at present what the final outcome will be, but we are working hard for her to have an arm with useful function in the end," Mr Schenker added.

Rebecca, who studies at Seaton Burn College, has now been returned to a normal ward from the ICU.

Students 'distressed'

Principal Alison Shaw said everyone was hoping Rebecca would make a good recovery.

"A number of our young people were very distressed, when they heard what had happened," she said.

"Some of them had witnessed it, so we are trying to help them get back to their learning with appropriate support to deal with the trauma they have suffered."

A British Transport Police spokesman said that investigations were continuing but the incident appeared to be an "accident".

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch of the Department for Transport has been informed.

Continue Reading... Labels: girl's, reattached, Train-hit

Portugal braces for mass strike

24 November 2011 Last updated at 00:08 ET

Air traffic controllers were the first to go on strike, grounding flights in and out of Portugal

A 24-hour strike in Portugal has grounded flights and halted public transportation in protest against proposed austerity measures.

Air traffic controllers and workers on Lisbon's metro system were the first to go on strike late on Wednesday.

They are expected to be joined by hundreds of thousands of other workers, including teachers and hospital staff.

Parliament votes next week on a deficit reduction plan imposed as a result of an EU and IMF bailout.

The strike is expected to one of the biggest in Portugal's history, where mass industrial action is rare.

The strike is being supported by the two main labour unions, which represent more than a million workers.

Many Portuguese are shocked by the scale of austerity the budget implies, says the BBC's Alison Roberts in Lisbon.

The government proposes spending cuts across a broad range of public services, including health care and the armed forces, and tax hikes.

Also planned is the elimination of Christmas and holiday bonuses equal to about a month's pay for most public sector workers and allowing private firms to extend the work day by 30 minutes without overtime pay.

Under the terms of its 78bn euros ($105bn; £67bn) bailout, Portugal's government must sharply reduce its deficit.

With the unemployment rate higher than 12% and the economy forecast to contract next year, the conservative government of Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho has said there is no choice but to slash government spending.

"It is up to me to try to mobilise the Portuguese for action every day to contribute to transform Portugal," he said.

Mr Coelho became prime minister in June after the socialist government collapsed over the budget cuts. His governing coalition has a majority in parliament so the final vote next week on the 2012 budget is expected to pass.

Portugal was the third country after Greece and the Irish Republic to receive a bailout. Further instalments of the emergency loans could be withheld if it does not meet targets for deficit reduction.

Are you in Portugal? Are you taking part in the strike? What do you think of the action? Send us your comments and experiences.

Continue Reading... Labels: braces, Portugal, strike

UK 'may return Afghan children'

24 November 2011 Last updated at 01:10 ETBy Angus Crawford BBC News

More Afghan children seek asylum in the UK than any other nationality

Afghan children whose asylum claims have failed may be sent back to Kabul by the UK from next year.

European refugee groups have warned they risk ending up in orphanages in a war zone.

One children's rights organisation says the move may be unlawful because of a recent Supreme Court ruling.

But the Home Office, which is working with three other European countries, says it will affect only 16- and 17-year-olds whose families can be traced.

More Afghan children than any other nationality seek asylum in the UK. Last year they made 547 applications.

At present, unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) from Afghanistan are not removed from the UK before their 18th birthday.

Most have their asylum applications refused but are given discretionary leave to remain. Those under 16 usually go into foster or other local authority care.

Traffickers

It costs £95 a day to look after a young asylum seeker.

The government is concerned that more are being sent to the UK by their families, risking danger and hardship at the hands of traffickers.

Last year the Home Office tried and failed to set up a system to return 16- and 17-year-olds to Afghanistan.

But BBC News has learned it has now teamed up with the governments of Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands to create the European Return Platform for Unaccompanied Minors (ERPUM).

It hopes to start repatriations next year, with 100 children going through the process by 2014.

It has received an £845,000 grant from the European Union.

ERPUM says its objectives are "to develop methods and contacts in order to find the parents of the minors who shall return home, but also to find safe and adequate shelter in the country of origin".

"No minor shall return home without a safe and orderly reception," said a spokesman.

It says the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) "will be the co-ordinator".

But BBC News has learned of serious objections to the scheme.

An IOM spokesman said: "IOM is not and will not be involved with the return of unaccompanied minors under the ERPUM project."

The Afghan ministry of refugees opposes all forced returns.

In statement it said: "We don't support the repatriation of children because a lot of them left at an early age so we are not sure we can find their parents or relatives.

"They could fall into the hands of drug addicts, Taliban or criminal gangs."

According to a report commissioned by the EU and obtained by BBC News, the Afghan government has not accepted any returned children "because of the security situation and a lack of a satisfactory child protection system".

'Little training'

The report also states "there are no reintegration programmes in place" and "the authorities seem to receive little or no training on children's' rights".

ECRE - The European Council on Refugees and Exiles - says family tracing is almost impossible and the risk is that "children are returned to orphanages in a war zone".

Some claim the ERPUM is being used to send a message to Afghanistan that children are not welcome in the West.

Syd Bolton, a lawyer at the Coram Children's Legal Centre in London, says a recent judgement by the Supreme Court means any decision about a child seeking asylum must be taken "in the best interests of the child".

"An ongoing war situation is not a place to experiment with the lives of children," he added.

In a statement the Home Office said: "We have taken no decision on whether we will return any unaccompanied minors to Afghanistan.

"Returns will only occur if their families can be located or appropriate support and care arrangements are in place."

Continue Reading... Labels: Afghan, children', return

We lost trust, British Gas says

23 November 2011 Last updated at 18:20 ET

The regulator Ofgem has told energy companies to make their tariffs simpler

British Gas has said it is simplifying its tariffs after acknowledging a lack of public trust in the energy industry.

Managing director Phil Bentley told the BBC his company "had not made it easy for customers".

As a result, he said all customers will be able to choose between two tariffs - variable and fixed - and benefit from more transparent bills.

Earlier this year, the regulator Ofgem told energy companies they must offer simpler tariffs.

Following a comprehensive review of the UK energy market sparked by claims that energy companies were making excessive profits, Ofgem said suppliers needed to change the way they operated by next year.

Ofgem welcomed British Gas's "recognition that suppliers need an open and honest dialogue with their customers".

It said it would examine the company's proposals "in detail" to see how far they met its own objectives to simplify tariffs.

Earlier this week, E.On announced it had "pressed the reset button" on its relationship with customers, while other major energy suppliers have said they are working towards simplifying their tariffs.

'Complete breakdown'

Mr Bentley told the BBC that British Gas was making the changes because its customers had said they did not like the current pricing structures.

"We are very conscious of our social responsibility," he said.

He said bills were going up in part due to increasing transport costs and green levies.

He also admitted that British Gas had offered cheap deals as loss leaders in order to attract customers. The company would no longer be doing this, he said.

"It's not right if we are charging honest customers more [to fund these deals]," he said.

The supplier is sending a letter to all its customers explaining its new policy, in which Mr Bentley says: "It's clear that we need to make things better for our customers. To make sure we do that, I'm committed to having an honest conversation with [them]."

As well as offering just two tariffs, the supplier said that, from this month, it will include a "complete breakdown" of all the costs that make up its customers' bills.

Earlier this week, British Gas announced it had secured a £13bn gas supply contract with Norway's Statoil designed to help insulate customers from volatility in global gas prices.

E.On said its own review would take six months to complete, and would look at tariffs, bills, customer support and how it sells its products.

As well as calling for simpler tariffs following its review, Ofgem said it had found evidence the so-called big six energy firms had increased their prices in response to rising costs more quickly than they had lowered them in response to costs falling.

The suppliers, it said, should face more competition.

Continue Reading... Labels: British, trust

Councils 'may reject tax freeze'

23 November 2011 Last updated at 21:48 ET

Prime Minister David Cameron warned that councils that rejected the offer were making "a huge mistake"

Up to a fifth of councils in England may not accept the government's offer to help pay for a freeze in council tax next year, a survey suggests.

Research by the Local Government Chronicle found that 4% of respondents had already decided against a freeze.

A further 16% said they were still thinking about the offer, which ministers cannot force them to accept.

Local Government Minister Bob Neill accused councils shunning the freeze of "contempt for hard-working families".

At last month's Conservative Party conference, Chancellor George Osborne said he was making £805m available to enable councils to extend a council tax freeze from 2011-12 to 2012-13.

The government said the money would be paid for through efficiencies and involve one-off grants to local authorities to absorb planned tax rises of up to 2.5%.

Money is also being offered to the Scottish and Welsh administrations, which will choose how it is spent.

'Brighton criticised'

But, according to the chronicle's research, based on responses from 146 local authority finance directors, 116 said their councils would implement the freeze, six councils said they would refuse and 24 remained undecided.

It said many councils were concerned that if council tax was frozen next year, they may have to raise it abruptly the following year.

Of those who expressed an opinion on the knock-on effects of accepting the cash, 29% predicted a bigger rise in subsequent years, 18% predicted additional savings or cuts and 18% said there would be no effect.

Councils in London and the South East were most likely to implement the freeze, with the North East showing most doubt, the survey suggested.

Brighton and Hove Council, run by the Green party, has already decided it will increase council tax by 3.5% next year and has been criticised by the prime minister.

'Huge mistake'

"It is a decision for individual councils," David Cameron said at prime minister's questions on Tuesday.

"If they want the money to go ahead with the council tax freeze, the money is there, but if they reject it, as they plan to in Brighton, that is a huge mistake, because the council will be asking families in Brighton to pay more at a time when it should be on their side."

Among those expressing doubts to the Local Government Chronicle, two-thirds were Conservative-controlled councils.

Last year, the scheme was adopted across England meaning average Band D bills remained at £1,439 following significant rises in previous years.

But changes to the terms of the offer have left local politicians concerned about the longer-term implications of repeating the exercise.

Unlike the previous tranche, there will be no funds provided to protect councils against knock-on effects of the freeze in future years, local government bosses have warned.

'No sense'

One finance director of a Tory-controlled district told the chronicle that the deal "financially makes no sense" and would result in a bigger-than-planned hike the following year.

Local Government Minister Bob Neill said: "Under Labour, council tax more than doubled, pushing typical bills to £120 a month.

"This government is helping freeze council tax for two years, as well as abolishing Labour's plans for an expensive council tax revaluation which would force up bills.

"Town hall bureaucrats who want to hike the cost of living and shun the freeze are showing contempt for hard-working families and pensioners."

Labour has said the freeze would save people about £72 a year.

Continue Reading... Labels: Councils, freeze', reject

Unrest continues in central Cairo

23 November 2011 Last updated at 22:02 ET

Tear gas and the wail of ambulance sirens are a constant presence in Tahrir Square

Unrest is continuing in Cairo as protesters step up their demand for Egypt's military rulers to resign.

Street battles with riot police have been heaviest around the fortified interior ministry located on a side street off Tahrir Square.

Gunfire was reported late on Wednesday but the interior minister said security forces were only firing tear gas.

The protesters have rejected a pledge by the ruling military council to speed up transition to a civilian government.

The BBC's Jeremy Bowen in Cairo says the violence threatens to overshadow next week's parliamentary elections.

He says public opinion on the protests is divided. Some Egyptians want elections to go ahead unhindered while others believe the military must be swept from power first.

The clashes, now entering their sixth day, are the longest outbreak of violence since the 18-day uprising that toppled former President Hosni Mubarak in February.

Since then a military council has been tasked with guiding the country's transition to democracy. The latest protests have been triggered by suspicions that the military intends to hang on to power.

On Tuesday Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, sought to defuse the situation by promising presidential elections by the end of June, six months sooner than planned. The military-appointed civilian cabinet also tendered its resignation.

"They [the military] were with Mubarak from the start," said Fatihia Abdul Ezz, 60, who had come to the square to protest.

"I came when I saw our sons being killed."

Steel buckshot

Groups of stone-throwing demonstrators have been locked in pitched battles in the streets between Tahrir Square and the interior ministry for several days.

Riot police blocking streets leading to the ministry have driven back the protesters with volleys of tear gas and rubber-covered steel buckshot.

Protesters have spoken of gunshots and injuries or deaths from live bullets but Interior Minister Mansour el-Essawy said security forces were only firing tear gas.

On state TV he said unidentified people were shooting from rooftops near Tahrir Square, Reuters news agency said.

At one point on Wednesday a truce was apparently brokered by religious leaders, but soon broke down and the clashes continued into the night.

There were also clashes in Egypt's second city, Alexandria, and in Ismailia, on the Suez Canal.

Television pictures from Ismailia showed armoured vehicles patrolling streets as security forces tried to disperse protesters with volleys of tear gas.

In Alexandria protests have been smaller than in Cairo, but one protester said clashes were continuing early on Thursday outside the security headquarters.

One protester, Mahinour, told the BBC the number of injured people there was increasing.

"Most of them are suffocating because of gas. This time they are not using tear gas, it's more nerve gas than tear gas. And as well there are some people injured by rubber bullets," she said.

Despite the clashes, the BBC's Wyre Davies in Alexandria says the appetite for conflict is lessening and people want their country to move on.

'Excessive force'

The main opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, is not supporting the protests and expects to do well in the parliamentary elections which start next week and will be staggered over several months.

Earlier on Wednesday, UN human rights chief Navi Pillay condemned the "clearly excessive use of force" by Egypt's security forces during the clashes.

She called for an independent inquiry into deaths since the weekend.

The health ministry said on Wednesday that 35 people had died in clashes since Saturday - all but four in Cairo. Hundreds more have been injured.

State news agency Mena reported that one person had been shot dead in the north-western city of Mersa Matruh as demonstrators tried to storm a police station.

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Continue Reading... Labels: Cairo, central, continues, Unrest