Blast 'kills 10' Afghan labourers

24 May 2011 Last updated at 13:40 GMT Many of the wounded are in a critical condition, doctors say At least 10 road workers were killed and 28 injured in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar when their truck hit a roadside bomb, hospital officials say.

No group has said it carried out the attack. Last week gunmen shot dead 35 highway workers in Paktia province.

Road workers are frequently targeted by Taliban militants.

The Taliban recently declared a "spring offensive" of attacks. This is the fourth attack in as many days.

The labourers, who worked for a local construction firm called Nisa, were on their way to work when the bomb went off in rural Panjwayi district of Kandahar province.

According to the health director of Kandahar, Abdul Qayum Khan, 18 of the 28 injured are in critical condition.

The BBC's Bilal Sarwary in Kabul says attack comes only weeks after Nato forces conducted operations in the district, allowing for the reconstruction of roads and much-needed irrigation canals.

Only on Monday, our correspondent says, Nato commander Gen David Petraeus was in the district praising the reconstruction work and newfound security in the area.

Kandahar is considered to be the spiritual homeland of the Taliban. Earlier this month the city effectively came under siege as insurgents attempted to seize control of several government buildings.

There are also frequent attacks on security forces, both foreign and Afghan, operating across the province.

Soldier arrested

Over the last week there has been a dramatic escalation in the frequency of attacks nationwide.

On Saturday, a suicide blast at a hospital in Kabul killed six people and on Sunday gunmen stormed a government building in the city of Khost, also killing six. On Monday, a suicide blast killed four people in a crowded market place in eastern Laghman province.

A spokesman for Afghanistan's NDS intelligence agency told reporters on Monday that several insurgents had been arrested in connection with Saturday's attack.

One of those arrested is an Afghan National Army soldier working at the hospital. The spokesman said the soldier had provided the attacker with a uniform and valid ID card to help him get into the hospital.

Correspondents say that although Nato says it is making progress against the insurgents, the Taliban are still able to strike at will including at the heart of the Afghan government, often in its most heavily guarded bases.

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S Korea police end Hyundai strike

24 May 2011 Last updated at 13:27 GMT Officials said the strikers had illegally blocked others from entering the factory South Korean police have broken up a strike at a car parts factory which was threatening the country's car industry.

More than 3,000 riot police moved in to disperse protesters at the Yoosung Enterprise factory in Asan, south of Seoul, Korea's Yonhap news agency said.

About 500 workers had been staging a sit-in at the factory since last week after wage negotiations broke down.

Hyundai, South Korea's top carmaker, had warned it was facing severe disruption to production.

Yoosung manufactures piston rings, which are key components in car engines.

Hyundai had already suspended production of diesel engines at its Ulsan plant and warned earlier on Tuesday it could also have to stop production of petrol or gasoline engines.

Supply disruption was also expected to hit its subsidiary car manufacturer Kia Motors.

Yoosung also supplies parts to the Korean units of General Motors and Renault.

'Negative impact'

In a statement issued before the raid, the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association said the industry could lose up to five trillion won (?2.8bn: $4.57bn) if the stoppage ran into June, and urged the union to consider the "negative impact" of the strike.

Officials at the plant said the strike was illegal because those taking part were occupying the production line and blocking non-strikers from entering the building.

"Police have marched into the plant... so far without any violent clashes," a police spokeswoman in Asan told the AFP news agency.

Yonhap said police had secured warrants for the arrest of two union leaders involved.

The majority of strikers occupying the plant were detained while others were dispersed, a police statement said, adding that most of those in detention would be released later.

It remains unclear when production might resume at the plant.

The disruption comes as South Korean carmakers are poised to take market share from their Japanese rivals, which are suffering from parts shortages of their own.

Hyundai reported record profits in the final three months of last year, due in part to strong overseas sales in China and the US.

Analysts had been expecting the carmaker, the fifth-biggest in the world, to continue to perform well in 2011.

There were concerns that serious disruption to production lines could have affected those forecasts.

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Thousands face ash flight delays

24 May 2011 Last updated at 15:51 GMT Eurocontrol's Brian Flynn explains how the ash cloud is being monitored as passengers wait at airports in northern Europe

Thousands of passengers have had their flights cancelled because of drifting ash from an Icelandic volcano.

Airports affected include Londonderry, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Prestwick, Durham Tees Valley, Newcastle and Carlisle, air traffic services company Nats said.

The UK's emergency response committee, Cobra, met to discuss the knock-on effects of the ash cloud.

Air traffic management body Eurocontrol said about 500 flights were cancelled across Europe on Tuesday.

UK air traffic control service Nats said the ash cloud would continue to affect flights from some airports in Scotland and northern England from 1900 BST on Tuesday until 0100 BST on Wednesday.

Transport Secretary Philip Hammond, who led the Cobra talks, said although there would be widespread disruption for Scottish airports, it was unlikely to last long.

"At the moment the model suggests that disruption later in the week is likely to be limited, but of course the weather patterns are changing all the time," he said.

The Met Office said the ash had reached northern Scotland and would spread across much of the UK by the end of the day.

But forecasters said changing wind patterns made it hard to predict its exact path and concentrations would vary between regions.

The following airlines have announced cancellations:

British Airways will not operate any flights to and from Glasgow, Edinburgh and Newcastle on TuesdayKLM cancelled flights to and from Aberdeen, Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Newcastle as well as from Durham Tees Valley AirportAer Lingus cancelled 12 flights to and from Glasgow, Aberdeen and EdinburghFlybe cancelled 11 flights to and from ScotlandBMI has cancelled all flights from Edinburgh and Glasgow for the rest of TuesdayLoganair, based in Glasgow, has cancelled 38 flights. Only inter-island routes in Orkney are unaffectedEastern Airways will not be operating any services in or out of Scottish airspaceEasyjet has cancelled flights to and from Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, Aberdeen and Newcastle until 1900 BSTRyanair has cancelled all flights to and from Scotland for the rest of Tuesday

Minor air traffic disruptions were also reported in Norway and a small part of Denmark.

Despite later cancelling its flights, the Irish carrier Ryanair claimed it had made a test flight through ash over Scotland and challenged a ruling some flights should be grounded.

Ryanair said its 90-minute flight at 41,000ft showed there was "no visible volcanic ash cloud or evidence of ash on the airframe, wings or engines".

Ryanair said the "red zone" over Scottish airspace where ash has been classified "high-density" was invented by the Met Office and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

Continue reading the main story During last year's disruption, the advice was for planes to avoid the ash at all costsSince then, the CAA has worked towards a better understanding of what engines can takeThere are now three recognised levels of ash concentrationLow: 0 to 0.002 grammes per cubic metreMedium: 0.002 to 0.004 grammes per cubic metreHigh: Over 0.004 grammes per cubic metreThere are no restrictions on flying in low ash concentrationHowever if an airline wants planes to fly through medium or high concentration ash, it must put forward a "safety case" to its aviation authority showing it has assessed whether the aircraft will be able to copeThe safety case includes information from a series of tests and from consultations between the airlines and plane manufacturersBut a CAA spokesperson said: "The CAA can confirm that at no time did a Ryanair flight enter the notified area of high contamination ash over Scotland this morning."

BBC transport correspondent Richard Scott said the CAA confirmed Ryanair were being, at best, "misleading".

The cancellations come just over a year after another volcanic eruption in Iceland caused widespread disruption across Europe, including the closure of UK airspace, amid concerns about the damage volcanic ash could cause to engine aircraft.

This year, in the UK, the decision on whether to fly or not in ash cloud conditions is down to individual airlines subject to aviation authority approval.

The CAA said procedures were "totally different" to last year and although no airlines had applied to fly in high-density ash, some had applied for, and been given, permission to fly in medium ash.

The Grimsvotn volcano in Vatnajokull National Park began erupting on Saturday and closed Iceland's airspace for a period.

Experts say the eruption is on a different scale to the one last year and ash particles are larger and, as a result, fall to the ground more quickly.

Frances Tuke, from travel industry body Abta, urged passengers to contact their airlines, which he said had legal obligations to their customers.

He said passengers could have a claim under European "denied boarding" regulations.

These state that if a flight is cancelled or delayed for more than five hours, passengers are entitled to be either re-routed, given a replacement flight, or a refund.

Since last year, the CAA has graded ash levels as low, medium or high, and airlines are notified if levels reach medium or high.

All British aircraft can fly in medium-density ash but the airlines need to consider whether to fly, according to risk assessments.

The Foreign Office is advising passengers to remain in regular contact with their travel agent or airline for the latest news on the status of flights and bookings.

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Colombian cocaine shipment seized

24 May 2011 Last updated at 07:18 GMT Police suspect the seized money came from a Mexican cartel to pay for drugs The Colombian security forces say they have seized a massive haul of cocaine in the port city of Cartagena.

Sniffer dogs found more than 12 tonnes of the drug hidden in a shipment of brown sugar destined for Mexico.

It is believed to belong to one of Colombia's most powerful drug gangs, the Rastrojos.

In another development, police at Bogota airport arrested a Mexican national who had arrived with $2.8m (?1.7m) in his hand luggage.

Sniffer dogs checking a ship bound for Veracruz in Mexico alerted their handlers to the presence of drugs in the hull of the vessel.

Laboratory tests revealed a large shipment of brown sugar had been laced with cocaine.

Investigative teams are still testing the sugar, which had been packed into 33,450 units of 500g each, to determine the exact concentration of cocaine.

However, officials say it already amounts to more than 12 tonnes of the drug.

It is one of largest hauls of cocaine seized in Colombia over the past years.

'New enemy'

Police said it came from the Valle del Cauca region, in the south-west of Colombia.

The area is the stronghold of the Rastrojos, a drug gang which exports large amounts of cocaine to Central America and Mexico.

The Colombian government recently declared criminal gangs its new enemy and promised to devote more resources to the fight against them.

In January, Defence Minister Rodrigo Rivera told Colombian news magazine Semana drug gangs were increasingly taking control of drug-trafficking networks from Colombia's left-wing Farc guerrillas.

Also on Monday, police officers detained a Mexican national, Jesus Ochoa, who is from Culiacan in the state of Sinaloa.

Officers said they suspected the cash was payment for drugs shipments to Mexico's Sinaola cartel.

"It's one of the biggest cash seizures in recent years," the customs authorities said in a statement.

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Khodorkovsky to stay in prison

24 May 2011 Last updated at 13:34 GMT Mikhail Khodorkovsky (right) and Platon Lebedev were convicted together A Moscow court has upheld ex-tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky's second conviction appeal for fraud but cut his 14-year sentence by one year.

Khodorkovsky was convicted in December of embezzling nearly $30bn (?19bn, 21bn euros) worth of his own company's oil and laundering the proceeds.

He had told the court his conviction, which extended his existing jail term by six years, was "absurd".

It appears he will not be eligible for release now until 2016.

The prosecution and imprisonment of Khodorkovsky, once Russia's richest man as owner of the energy giant Yukos, have been widely criticised outside Russia.

His fate has been seen by some as punishment for seeking to support a liberal opposition in Russian politics, and thereby challenging Vladimir Putin, the former president and current prime minister.

'Spitting on the law'

Questions over his conviction gathered new force in February, when the sentencing judge was accused of having changed his verdict, under external pressure.

Judge Viktor Danilkin denied the accusation, levelled by his court aide, Natalya Vasilyeva.

In a speech to the court on Tuesday, Khodorkovsky said "it was clear" the accusations against him and the sentence which had been handed down were "absurd".

He called on the three appeal court judges to throw out the case.

"Either overturn the sentence and put at end to this disgrace or you will join those criminals who spit on the law," Khodorkovsky said.

He was certain, he said, his fate was being decided outside the court and added that he would not seek clemency.

Appealing along with him is his business partner, Platon Lebedev.

Arrested in 2003, the two men were eventually sentenced to nine years' prison in 2005 for fraud and tax evasion, a term also later reduced by one year.

The new prison sentence handed down in December is running concurrently with the first term.

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Netanyahu defiant on 1967 borders

24 May 2011 Last updated at 04:16 GMT Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu: "Israel cannot return to the indefensible 1967 lines"

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeated his insistence that there can be no return to Israel's "indefensible" 1967 borders.

He was speaking to the US pro-Israel lobby, Aipac, on the eve of an address to the US Congress.

Mr Netanyahu and President Barack Obama have clashed over the issue recently.

Mr Obama has said the border of a future Palestinian state should be based on the 1967 lines, but modified to include land swaps with Israel.

Israel occupied the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights in the 1967 Six Day War.

It is the pre-war borders that the Palestinians seek to map out a future state.

That issue, along with security and Israeli settlements in the West Bank, has deadlocked peace talks between the Palestinians and Israel.

Swap talk

Mr Netanyahu promised to describe in his speech to Congress what a peace between a Palestinian state and the Jewish state would look like.

"I will outline a vision for a secure Israeli-Palestinian peace. I intend to speak the unvarnished truth. Now more than ever what we need is clarity."

He said that a peace could, and must, be realised but that the conflict persisted because "Palestinians refuse to accept the Jewish state".

The shape of future borders is one of the most contentious issues between Israel and the Palestinians

"We can only make peace with the Palestinians if they're prepared to make peace with the Jewish state."

A peace deal, he said to loud applause, "must leave Israel with security, and therefore Israel cannot return to the indefensible 1967 lines".

Tension flared between Mr Obama and Mr Netanyahu last week when the president said "the borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps".

After an angry reaction from Mr Netanyahu, Mr Obama had clarified his remarks.

"Let me reaffirm what '1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps' means," he said.

"By definition, it means that the parties themselves - Israelis and Palestinians - will negotiate a border that is different than the one that existed on June 4, 1967."

That is the day before the Six Day War began.

Mr Netanyahu is likely to get a warm reception from Congress, where Israel has strong and often uncritical support, says the BBC's Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen.

He will find support for his view that the Palestinians need to make big new concessions to forge any peace deal, our correspondent says.

But he says the Palestinians believe there is no point in any more negotiations if Mr Netanyahu does not agree to their independence within the 1967 border framework.

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Blanchett leads Barbican line-up

24 May 2011 Last updated at 11:25 GMT Cate Blanchett will star in Gross und Klein by German playwright, Botho Strauss Oscar winners Cate Blanchett and Juliette Binoche lead the line-up for the Barbican's 30th anniversary celebrations next year.

Blanchett will star in Botho Strauss play Gross und Klein, in January, while Binoche will appear in French language piece Mademoiselle Julie, in September.

Among other events will be the UK's biggest Bauhaus exhibition in 40 years.

The Barbican said its "world-class events" put it "at the heart if the London 2012 Festival".

This summer's festival is the culmination of London's Cultural Olympiad programme.

'International moment'

The Bauhaus: Art as Life exhibition will include work from artists who attended the German modern art school, which was founded by Walter Gropius in 1919.

It will feature Paul Klee, Marcel Breuer, Anni Albers and Mies van der Rohe works.

The Barbican programme will include theatre, art, architecture, design, film, music, opera and dance.

Barbican managing director Sir Nicholas Kenyon said there would be "something for everyone".

"In 2012 London welcomes the world for the Olympic and Paralympic Games and the Barbican will be at the forefront of that international moment with an extraordinary range of great cultural experiences for all," he added.

Other highlights will include the UK premiere, in May, of Robert Wilson and Philip Glass' 1976 work Einstein on the Beach, An Opera in Four Acts.

As part of the finale to the Barbican's London 2012 Festival celebrations, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra will return, following on from their residency last year.

They will perform with trumpeter Wynton Marsalis as well as Simon Rattle, who will conduct the Barbican's resident orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra.

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Sarkozy questions 'neutral' net

24 May 2011 Last updated at 11:32 GMT By Iain Mackenzie Technology reporter, BBC News, Paris Internet bosses are meeting in Paris at a two-day forum arranged by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, as Christian Fraser explains

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has opened the first ever e-G8 forum in Paris.

The event brings together leading figures from the technology industry to discus the impact of the internet.

Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, and Google's Eric Schmidt are among those due to speak.

Critics have claimed that the e-G8 is too focused on handing net control to companies and governments.

Moral rules

Addressing those concerns, President Sarkozy said that states were subject to the will of their citizens who were currently engaged in a revolution, empowered by the internet.

"The global revolution that you incarnate is a peaceful one. It did not emerge on battlefields but on university campuses," he said.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy tells internet heads at the e-G8 conference in Paris that they do not live in a parallel, moral-free universe.

However, President Sarkozy claimed that countries could not remain neutral and allow completely unchecked internet use.

"The world you represent is not a parallel universe where legal and moral rules and more generally all the basic rules that govern society in democratic countries do not apply."

In the past, the French president has been characterised as someone who favours the rights of content creators and rights holders over internet users.

France has passed one of the toughest laws to crack down on people who download content without paying for it, with a three-strikes-and-out law for illegal filesharers.

Repeat offenders face a range of punishments, including disconnection from the web.

No harm

A number of prominent rights-holders including News Corp chief executive Rupert Murdoch and BBC director general Mark Thompson were also due to speak at the event.

Addressing delegates, Mr Sarkozy said the role of government regulation was to promote creativity and prevent criminality, but he also acknowledged the claims of his critics.

"I know and I understand that our French idea of copyright laws is not the same as in the United States and other countries.

"Nobody can have his ideas, work, imagination and intellectual property expropriated without punishment," he said.

American media commentator Jeff Jarvis challenged President Sarkozy, during a question and answer session, to sign up to an oath to "do no harm" to the internet.

The suggestion was met with some indignation, with the President suggesting that asserting controls on illegal activity could never be regarded as harmful.

Speaking to the BBC afterwards, Mr Jarvis said that President Sarkozy's comments betrayed the true intent of many world leaders.

"At least Sarkozy acknowledged that he doesn't own the internet and his government doesn't own the internet. Nonetheless, he is claiming sovereignty here and so will the G8 and I have fear in that.

"Perhaps out of best intentions they will try to change the architecture of the internet and how it operates, but we don't even know what it is yet. It is too soon to regulate the beast," he said.

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Can indulging in the Arts improve your health?

24 May 2011 Last updated at 10:46 GMT Culture linked to good health Trips to the theatre, concerts, art galleries and museums have been linked to better health and wellbeing, according to researchers in Norway.

A report, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, showed the more often people engaged in cultural activities the greater their health benefits.

The authors suggest culture could be used to promote good health.

The study interviewed 50,797 adults from Nord-Trondelag County in Norway.

They were asked about their health, and satisfaction with life, as well as levels of anxiety and depression.

They were also questioned about their involvement in two cultural fields: "creative culture" when the person does something such as play an instrument, paint or sing, and "receptive culture" including going to galleries and concerts.

Both types of cultural activity were linked with good health, wellbeing, low stress and low depression even when other factors, such as social background and wealth, were taken into account.

In men the effect was most pronounced in those who preferred to get their dose of culture as an observer rather than doing something more hands on.

The authors said: "The results indicate that the use of cultural activities in health promotion and healthcare may be justified."

The study, however, cannot say that culture improves health. It could be the case that healthier people are more likely to take part in cultural activities.

Professor Alan Maryon-Davis, spokesperson for the UK Faculty of Public Health, said: "It's interesting research, probably working through the release of hormones, like endorphins, increasing the feeling of wellbeing and reducing anxiety and depression."

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Queen greets Obama on state visit

24 May 2011 Last updated at 16:00 GMT The Queen welcomes President Obama to Buckingham Palace

The Queen has greeted US President Barack Obama, and his wife Michelle, at the start of his first UK state visit.

The Obamas also met Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall and spent 20 minutes with newlyweds the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

They have laid a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey and will attend a state banquet at Buckingham Palace.

It came after David Cameron and Mr Obama spoke of "essential" UK-US ties.

'Common interests'

In a joint article in the Times, Mr Obama and Mr Cameron said of their countries' relationship: "Ours is not just a special relationship, it is an essential relationship - for us and for the world.

Continue reading the main story James Landale Deputy political editor, BBC News

Whenever a US president comes here there is always a slightly tortuous debate on whether or not the relationship is still special or not.

Both sides have decided the best way of avoiding that debate is to come up with a new wording entirely. They have a new adjective. It is now an essential relationship.

In a joint article for the Times newspaper, the prime minister and the president say the relationship between their countries was based originally on what they called emotional connections, sentiment and the ties of people and culture but now it thrives on common interests and shared values.

So what they are trying to focus on here now is more business-like pragmatism rather than any idea of appealing to the mythology of past historic links.

"When the United States and Britain stand together, our people and people around the world can become more secure and more prosperous.

"The reason it thrives is because it advances our common interests and shared values. It is a perfect alignment of what we both need and what we both believe."

The presidential pair's visit to Westminster Abbey included an impromptu meeting with choirboys, when Mr Obama was teased by his wife for his lack of singing talent.

"He insisted on speaking to each one of them and shaking their hands," the Dean, Dr John Hall said.

"He said that he liked to think he could sing and Mrs Obama said 'Well, he can't really, he can dance'."

Mr Obama briefly met the prime minister in Downing Street ahead of talks on Wednesday. They then left together for a surprise visit to the Globe Academy in Southwark, south London.

The leaders' talks are likely to focus on the Middle East and the ongoing conflict in Libya.

David and Samantha Cameron greet Barack and Michelle Obama

In their article, they also vowed not to abandon the protesters fighting for democracy in Arab countries, writing that they would "stand with those who want to bring light into dark, support those who seek freedom in place of repression, aid those laying the building blocks of democracy.

"We will not stand by as their aspirations get crushed in a hail of bombs, bullets and mortar fire.

"We are reluctant to use force, but when our interests and values come together, we know we have a responsibility to act."

BBC diplomatic correspondent Bridget Kendall said the two countries were anxious to play up their closeness.

"Security is the secret glue at the core of the special relationship, and that bond is being strengthened," our correspondent said.

"Behind the flags and formalities, be sure there are tensions, but in this era of tightened budgets and sudden crises, there's a new eagerness to work together."

Mr Obama arrived in the UK from the Republic of Ireland a day ahead of schedule on Monday, to avoid any disruption from a volcanic ash cloud.

After the president was welcomed by Prince Charles and his wife at the US ambassador's residence Winfield House in Regent's Park, his cavalcade made its way to Buckingham Palace where he joined the Queen.

They briefly met the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge before moving to the palace gardens where there was a ceremonial welcome, including a 41-gun salute.

There was an exchange of gifts, with the Obamas presenting the Queen with a collection of memorabilia and photographs from her parents' 1939 visit to the US.

They also received a selection of letters from the royal achives, between past US presidents and English monarchs.

When President Obama was shown letters and artefacts charting Britain's loss of the American colonies, he joked: "That was only a temporary blip in the relationship."

The royal newlyweds spent 20 minutes with the Obamas, but will not attend the state banquet

Michelle Obama was also given an antique brooch made of gold and red coral in the form of roses.

Number 10 barbecue

The Obamas are due to return to Buckingham Palace to meet Labour leader Ed Miliband.

In the evening there will be a state banquet at Buckingham Palace, where they will stay overnight.

Wednesday's itinerary will include talks with the prime minister before Mr Obama is joined by his wife and British and American military veterans for a barbecue at Number 10.

They will visit the Houses of Parliament and give a speech about US foreign policy to MPs in Westminster Hall, before a return banquet at Winfield House, where the Queen will formally say farewell.

The state visit to the UK is the 101st to be hosted by the Queen but only the third involving a US president in 100 years. The last US president to visit officially was George Bush in 2003.

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'Lost' McKellen footage unearthed

24 May 2011 Last updated at 13:53 GMT Sir Ian McKellen was 25 when he made his first TV appearance Footage of actor Sir Ian McKellen in his first TV role has been found in the US decades after it was thought lost.

The veteran actor played a character named Plowden in the 1964 BBC period drama The Tomb of His Ancestors.

The programme, based on a short story by Jungle Book author Rudyard Kipling, was no longer thought to exist.

It used to be BBC policy to wipe recordings to recycle expensive tape stock, so only two of the original 25-part series were known to exist.

'Important find'

A copy of the episode featuring Sir Ian was discovered in a private collection in Illinois, and bought by a consortium led by classic TV organisation Kaleidoscope.

The company's Chris Perry described the McKellen drama as an "important find".

He said: "The Tomb Of His Ancestors is a vintage piece of BBC drama set in the days of the British Raj and is especially important because of its connection to Sir Ian McKellen.

Sir Ian has made numerous TV appearances since his debut

"For the first time in nearly 50 years we can once again watch the very first TV appearance by one of the UK's greatest living actors."

Mr Perry added that Sir Ian had not been informed of the find because he was probably "too busy filming The Hobbit".

The programme was filmed as part of a series called Kipling: The Indian Tales of Rudyard Kipling.

Broadcast between July and December 1964, Kipling featured performances from the likes of David Hemmings, Michael Bates, Alfred Burke, Barbara Murray, Keith Barron and Patrick Troughton.

Sir Ian has become a much loved British actor, appearing in Hollywood blockbusters including The Lord Of The Rings and X Men.

He is also well known for his stage acting and in recent years has returned to TV, appearing in The Prisoner and Coronation Street.

Also recovered by the consortium were two other BBC programmes previously thought to be lost - a 1950s ballet production, Giselle, and a 1963 episode of the series Suspense, starring Sylvia Simms.

All three finds have been made available on loan to the BBC for digitisation, after which the original film prints will reside at the Tim Disney Archive's Nottingham facilities.

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US new home sales rise in April

24 May 2011 Last updated at 15:24 GMT New-home sales make up only a small proportion of the US housing market US new home sales rose for the second month in a row in April, climbing 7.3% on the month before, figures show.

April sales came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 323,000 homes, the Commerce Department said, which was stronger than analysts had forecast.

But sales are still at historically low levels and April's figure was 23.1% below that of April 2010.

In February 2011, new-home sales had fallen to a rate of 278,000, the lowest since records began in 1963.

The better-than-expected improvement in April signals a slight pick-up in the depressed construction sector.

However, in terms of total sales, new home sales represent only a small portion of the US housing market.

Sales of previously-owned homes unexpectedly fell by 0.8% in April to an annual rate of 5.05 million, the National Association of Realtors said last week.

And despite mortgage rates being at historic lows and rock-bottom house prices, would-be homebuyers face high unemployment and a weak economic recovery.

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Robots develop their own language

24 May 2011 Last updated at 09:32 GMT The robots play word games to learn and test their geographic knowledge Robots are developing their own language to help them navigate and improve their intellectual ability.

The Lingodroid research project lets robots generate random sounds for the places they visit in both simulations and a real office.

The "words" are shared and the robots play games to establish which sound represents which location.

The lexicon has proved so sophisticated that it can be used to help robots find places other robots direct them to.

The machines are being allowed to generate their own words because human language is so loaded with information that robots found it hard to understand, said project leader Dr Ruth Schulz from the University of Queensland.

"Robot-robot languages take the human out of the loop," she said. "This is important because the robots demonstrate that they understand the meaning of the words they invent independent of humans."

Robots engaging in a location language game. Courtesy of the University of Queensland.

One set of the trials with Lingodroids sees wheeled robots fitted with a camera, laser-range finder, and sonar used to map their world - roaming around at an office at the University. The robots also have a microphone and speakers onboard so they can communicate with each other.

The wheeled robots travel about and, when they reach a place that does not have a name, they generate a random combination of syllables that represent that place.

When that robot meets another robot it tells it about the places it has been. Slowly, as the robots travel and talk, they narrow down their lexicon of place names until a mutual gazeteer of their world has been generated.

The robots generated place names such as "kuzo", "jaro" and "fexo".

Each location was broadly tied to the sensory horizon of the sonar and laser-range finder they have on board, said Dr Schulz. Each chunk of territory was typically a couple of metres in diameter, she said.

The names the robots generate map to places they have been or have been told about.

This enabled the names to be used as rough distance measures and allowed the robots to play other games which communicate distance, travel time and direction.

Some games involve swapping sounds but others, such as the "go-to-game" involve the robots trying to meet up at a distant location.

The power of the language being created by the Lingodroids was starting to become apparent, said Dr Schulz.

"They enable the robots to refer to places they haven't been or even places that they imagine beyond the edges of their explored world," she said.

Dr Schulz said work was continuing to enable the robots to generate and understand more place names and make their appreciation of their geography more subtle.

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US mother in child death trial

24 May 2011 Last updated at 14:26 GMT Ms Anthony says a babysitter kidnapped her daughter The trial has opened in Florida of a young US woman accused of murdering her two-year-old daughter in 2008.

Prosecutors base their case on forensic evidence they say shows Casey Anthony, 25, kept Caylee Anthony's dead body in the boot of her car.

But they have no witnesses or confession linking Ms Anthony to the 2008 death, and forensic experts are unable to say how the child died.

Ms Anthony has pleaded not guilty, and says a babysitter kidnapped the child.

The trial is being held in Orlando in the US state of Florida, though jurors are being selected elsewhere due to the intense media scrutiny the case has garnered there.

Weeks to report

Her lawyers are expected to argue she was in jail when the child's body was left in a wood.

If she is found guilty of first-degree murder, she could face the death penalty.

Ms Anthony is also charged with aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter of a child and providing false information to law enforcement.

Ms Anthony drew investigators' attention when it was learned she waited weeks to tell her mother the child was missing.

Caylee's decomposed body was found in December 2008 in a patch of woods near her house.

Ms Anthony's mother reported smelling something like a dead body emanating from the boot of Ms Anthony's car. And there, prosecutors say forensic experts found traces of chloroform.

Ms Anthony's lawyers will say the foul smell came from a bag of rotting rubbish, but prosecutors plan to offer a novel form of forensic science they say shows chemical compounds from decomposition were present in the boot.

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'Blast' at new Iran oil refinery

24 May 2011 Last updated at 11:22 GMT President Ahmadinejad was unhurt in the blast At least one person has been killed and 20 injured in a blast at an Iranian refinery around the time of a visit by Iran's president, local media say.

A technical problem caused the blast and then a fire, Fars news agency said.

Thick smoke was seen rising from the refinery but the fire was under control, the semi-official agency said.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was not injured, and made a televised speech to mark the opening of the oil refinery in the south-western city of Abadan.

A senior Iranian official said the incident was "not an act of intentional sabotage".

"Experts had forewarned that Abadan refinery was not ready to be inaugurated," Hamid-Reza Katouzian, head of Iran's parliamentary energy committee, was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.

"The incident in Abadan refinery was due to technical problems."

Another news agency, Mehr, said the explosion was caused by a gas leak and some employees inhaled toxic substances.

It reported that at least two people had been killed.

Historical significance

There were conflicting reports about whether the blast had occurred before, during or after Mr Ahmadinejad's visit.

In August last year, Iranian authorities denied that an explosive device had been thrown at Mr Ahmadinejad's convoy near the city of Hamedan.

Analysts say Mr Ahmadinejad is currently involved in a power struggle with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, after the latter reinstated the intelligence minister the president tried to sack.

The refinery is being launched in two phases and ultimately will produce more than 6m litres (1.3m UK gallons) of petrol a day, mostly for domestic consumption.

Correspondents say Mr Ahmadinejad's presence shows the importance Iran, a major oil producer, places on increasing its refining capacity as sanctions hit its ability to import petrol.

Accidents are relatively frequent in Iran's oil and gas infrastructure, and state media said similar incidents had been reported at the plant in the weeks before it opened.

There have also been media reports of two acts of sabotage against the main gas pipeline from the south to the capital Tehran, though they said supply was not affected.

The port of Abadan has a special significance in Iranian history after post-war Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadeq nationalised the Iranian assets of the Anglo-Iranian oil company.

His move led eventually to a CIA-backed coup which overthrew him and led to decades of Iranian animosity towards the West.

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Tepco confirms extra rod meltdown

24 May 2011 Last updated at 03:59 GMT The problems with the Fukushima nuclear plant have raised questions over Tepco's future Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) has confirmed the meltdown of extra fuel rods in reactors at its damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant.

The company said that the rods were in its Number 2 and Number 3 reactors.

Tepco has been trying to contain radiation from the plant, crippled by the 11 March earthquake and tsunami.

The company said that it planned to stick to its timetable of getting the radiation under control by January.

Tepco's announcement came on the same day that a team from the United Nations' atomic watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), kicked off a visit in Japan.

100 hours Continue reading the main story

Based on our analysis, we have reached the conclusion that a certain amount of nuclear fuel has melted down.”

End Quote Ken Matsuda Tepco Earlier this month, Tepco had revealed that rods at its Number 1 reactor melted down. It was thought that a similar problem had occurred in the other reactors but it was difficult to confirm.

"Based on our analysis, we have reached the conclusion that a certain amount of nuclear fuel has melted down," Ken Matsuda, a Tepco spokesman told the BBC.

He said the analysis came from a report that Tepco was required to submit to Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (Nisa).

The spokesman added that most of the fuel from the Number 2 reactor had melted approximately 100 hours after the earthquake, which measured 9 on the Richter scale, struck Japan.

The meltdown in the Number 3 reactor took place about 60 hours after the quake.

Mr Matsuda said the new discovery would not alter Tepco's plans.

The company has said that it wants to reach a "cold shutdown" of the power plant by January, and has been trying to cool the reactors and get the unstable fuel rods back under control.

"This result does not change our work," he said.

Continue reading the main story Roland Buerk BBC News, Tokyo

Japan's government has faced some criticism at home, and from its neighbours, over its handling of the crisis at the Fukushima nuclear power station.

The Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano has said the team from the International Atomic Energy Agency is being welcomed into the country to demonstrate transparency.

Led by Mike Weightman, Britain's chief inspector of nuclear installations, the 20 experts from a dozen countries are expected to visit the crippled plant.

They'll also meet officials as they compile a report which will be presented to member states of the IAEA next month.

The aim is to learn lessons to improve nuclear safety worldwide, and to share expertise.

Radiation monitoring Earlier in May, Tepco revealed that the damage sustained by the Number 1 reactor immediately after the earthquake and tsunami was far more severe than initially thought.

Professor Nobumasa Akiyama of Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo said Tepco's new revelation reinforces that idea.

In an effort to better understand the current situation in Japan specialists from the IAEA are joining other international experts in Tokyo for a fact-finding mission.

They are expected to submit a report on Japan's handling of the nuclear crisis to present to the IAEA's member states.

The group is expected to visit the Fukushima nuclear plant, though details have not been finalised.

Professor Akiyama said that the IAEA had come under criticism for its reaction to the Fukushima crisis.

"First of all, it has not been able to provide the information on what's going on on the ground," he said. "Secondly, it hasn't been able to provide a prescription for the solution of the crisis."

Mr Akiyama said the nuclear agency would be expected to provide more guidelines for nuclear safety after the visit to Japan this week.

He added that it may need to be beef up its funding and staff if it was going to be able to fulfil its mandate.

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Mubarak to be tried over deaths

24 May 2011 Last updated at 14:51 GMT Hosni Mubarak is being held in a military hospital in Sharm el-Sheikh after reporting heart problems Egypt's ousted President Hosni Mubarak and his two sons are to be tried over the deaths of anti-government protesters, judicial officials say.

Mr Mubarak, who was ousted in February, is being detained at a hospital in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

He and his wife also face allegations of illegally acquiring wealth while they were in power for 30 years.

The couple's two sons, Alaa and Gamal, are being held in Cairo's Tora prison and also face fraud charges.

The three men have been charged with "premeditated murder of some participants in the peaceful protests of the 25 January revolution," the country's state news agency reported the prosecutor general as saying.

More than 800 people died in the weeks-long crackdown that preceded Mr Mubarak's departure.

The charges come after renewed calls for protests on Friday to demand the trial of the Mubarak family as well as the lifting of emergency law.

Continue reading the main story Jon Leyne BBC News, Cairo

Hosni Mubarak and his sons Gamal and Alaa are accused of planning the killing of protesters in the revolution that began on 25 January. The aim, according to the accusation was to kill some and to intimidate others.

The former president is accused of accepting gifts, including a palace and four villas at the resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. He is also accused of conspiring with businessman Hussein Salem, who has also been charged, to sell gas cheaply to Israel and thus defraud the Egyptian government of many millions of dollars.

According to one report, a medical team is now visiting Mr Mubarak at the hospital in Sharm el-Sheikh to see if he is well enough to travel to Cairo - either to be moved to hospital in the capital or into the prison where his two sons are already being held.

Egypt's military-led administration appears to be responding to public pressure to bring the former first family to trial, says the BBC's Jon Leyne in Cairo.

Frozen accounts

The 83-year-old former leader was admitted to Sharm el-Sheikh's military hospital in April with reported heart problems.

He and his wife Suzanne - who was also recently examined for possible heart problems after falling ill - have already been questioned at the Red Sea resort on charges of profiteering.

Reformers in Egypt believe the Mubarak family accumulated a fortune worth tens of billions of dollars while in power.

The Mubaraks have denied this, and little hard evidence has yet been made public. However their bank accounts in Cairo and in Switzerland have been frozen.

Suzanne Mubarak was not mentioned in Tuesday's charges announcement, but her situation may have brought the latest development about, adds our correspondent.

Suzanne Mubarak was released from custody after handing over a villa and ?2m from Cairo bank accounts

The 70-year-old was released from custody last week after she returned turned over a villa in a Cairo suburb and $3m (?1.9m) held in bank accounts in Egypt. Her release prompted a backlash, with many fearing the Mubaraks may be negotiating some form of amnesty.

More than 20 Mubarak-era ministers and businessmen linked to the regime have been detained since February's uprising.

Earlier this month, former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly was sentenced to 12 years in jail on charges of money-laundering and profiteering.

Adly also faces separate charges of ordering troops to fire on demonstrators. He could face the death penalty if convicted.

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Netanyahu addresses US Congress

24 May 2011 Last updated at 16:19 GMT Mr Netanyahu said Israel would not return to its "indefensible" pre-1967 borders Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told a joint session of the US Congress the US and Israel have no better friends than one another.

"Israel has always been pro-American, Israel will always be pro-American," Mr Netanyahu said.

His remarks come four days after he opened a rift with US President Barack Obama over the direction of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

Israel enjoys strong bipartisan support in the US Congress.

"In an unstable Middle East, Israel is the one anchor of stability. In a region of shifting alliances, Israel is America's unwavering ally," Mr Netanyahu said

And he thanked the US and President Barack Obama for killing al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, saying "good riddance".

'Startling fact'

Mr Netanyahu also gave a vigorous defence of Israel's place in the Middle East, describing it as an outpost of democracy and freedom in the region.

And he said that of 300 million Arabs in the Middle East and North Africa, only the one million living in Israel "are truly free".

"This startling fact reveals a basic truth," he said. "Israel is not what is wrong about the Middle East, Israel is what is right about the Middle East."

Mr Netanyahu was briefly interrupted by a heckler who denounced Israel's treatment of the Palestinians. He paused used the point to applaud American democracy, saying no one in the "farcical parliaments" of Tehran and Tripoli would be permitted such a protest.

"This is real democracy," he said.

Mr Netanyahu praised America's programme of sanctions against Iran, where President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called for Israel's destruction.

And Mr Netanyahu praised Mr Obama's declaration that the US was determined to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, and urged the US to hold up the threat of military action deter that outcome.

"The more Iran believes that all options are on the table, the less the chance of confrontation," he said. "And this is why I ask you to continue to send an unequivocal message that the US will never permit Iran to develop nuclear weapons.

"If history has taught the Jewish people anything, it is that we must take calls for our destruction seriously. We are a nation that rose from the ashes of the Holocaust. When we say 'never again', we mean 'never again'".

He said he remained committed to a two-state solution to the conflict in which an independent Palestinian state sits alongside a Jewish state.

"I'm willing to make painful compromises to achieve this historic peace," he said. "We seek a peace where [the Palestinians] will be neither Israel's subjects nor its citizens."

But he said the future border could not rest at Israel's "indefensible" 1967 lines, because many Israelis now live in suburbs of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem beyond Israel's pre-1967 territory.

He said the precise border must be drawn at the negotiating table, but said it would be different from the 1967 border.

Noting that Israel accepts Jewish immigrants from across the world, he said the Palestinian refugees who fled Israel in 1948 must be accepted into a future independent Palestinian state.

"The Palestinian refugee problem will be resolved outside the borders of Israel," he said.

About 500,000 Israelis live in the West Bank and in East Jerusalem, areas that lie behind Israel's pre-1967 borders.

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Midler 'to star in Spector movie'

24 May 2011 Last updated at 09:55 GMT Midler's acting and singing career spans more than 40 years Bette Midler has been cast alongside Al Pacino in a TV film for US network HBO about jailed music producer Phil Spector, according to reports.

The singer and actress will play Linda Kenney Baden, Spector's defence lawyer in his first murder trial, according to the Hollywood Reporter and Variety.

In a retrial, he was sentenced to 19 years in jail for murdering actress Lana Clarkson in 2003.

The film, still in development, will reportedly star Pacino as Spector.

Actor Jeffrey Tambor is also reported to have joined the cast, playing Bruce Cutler, another of Spector's defence lawyers.

Midler's last TV movie, Gypsy, was in 1993. She was nominated for an Emmy award for her portrayal of Mama Rose, the mother of burlesque entertainer Gypsy Rose Lee.

Famous for creating the Wall of Sound production technique in the 1960s, music mogul Spector was known for his eccentric personality and trademark wigs.

He produced more than 25 Top 40 hits between 1960 - 1965 alone and worked with the likes of Tina Tuner, The Beatles and the Righteous Brothers.

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Sudan minister quits over Abyei

24 May 2011 Last updated at 12:55 GMT James Copnall says the latest clashes "clearly reveal the tensions" between the north and south

A southern minister in Sudan's national government has resigned, saying "war crimes" had been committed in the disputed Abyei region.

Luka Biong Deng said he could no longer work with the party of President Omar al-Bashir in the unity government.

He is a senior official in the south's ruling party, which is set to lead South Sudan to independence in July.

The two sides fought for decades before agreeing to share power and hold a referendum on southern independence.

Analysts fear the the dispute could reignite the north-south conflict, in which some 1.5 million were killed.

Northern troops seized the territory at the weekend after southern forces had ambushed a convoy of its forces in the area, killing 22 people.

Some 20,000 people have now fled the town, which has been left deserted, aid workers say.

UN human rights chief Navi Pillay said she had received reports that northern forces had been shelling and bombing civilian areas.

On Monday the UN said the town had been set ablaze, while gunmen were looting property following the northern takeover.

Mr Biong Deng is originally from Abyei, which both sides claim.

Its status was left undecided in the 2005 peace deal and a referendum, due in January, on whether the area should be part of the north or south has been postponed indefinitely.

Aid 'jeopardised'

"We had hoped that we could form two viable states in good relationship with each other, but those in Khartoum do not seem interested in peace," Mr Biong Deng said in his resignation statement.

"But with war crimes being committed in Abyei at the hands of the [President Bashir's] National Congress Party, I could not in good faith continue to take part in such a government."

His party, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, has urged the northern troops to withdraw from the town.

The US envoy to Sudan, Princeton Lyman, has warned that the takeover could jeopardise possible debt relief worth billions of dollars.

He also said that Washington would find it difficult to remove Sudan from its list of state sponsors of terrorism unless troops were withdrawn from Abyei.

Under these sanctions Sudanese companies are banned from using US currency - a major obstacle to international trade.

The US has previously suggested that a peaceful transition to independence for the south and a negotiated solution to the separate conflict in Darfur could normalise relations.

Show regions

The great divide across Sudan is visible even from space, as this Nasa satellite image shows. The northern states are a blanket of desert, broken only by the fertile Nile corridor. Southern Sudan is covered by green swathes of grassland, swamps and tropical forest.

Sudan's arid northern regions are home mainly to Arabic-speaking Muslims. But in Southern Sudan there is no dominant culture. The Dinkas and the Nuers are the largest of more than 200 ethnic groups, each with its own traditional beliefs and languages.

The health inequalities in Sudan are illustrated by infant mortality rates. In Southern Sudan, one in 10 children die before their first birthday. Whereas in the more developed northern states, such as Gezira and White Nile, half of those children would be expected to survive.

The gulf in water resources between north and south is stark. In Khartoum, River Nile, and Gezira states, two-thirds of people have access to piped drinking water and pit latrines. In the south, boreholes and unprotected wells are the main drinking sources. More than 80% of southerners have no toilet facilities whatsoever.

Throughout Sudan, access to primary school education is strongly linked to household earnings. In the poorest parts of the south, less than 1% of children finish primary school. Whereas in the wealthier north, up to 50% of children complete primary level education.

Conflict and poverty are the main causes of food insecurity in Sudan. The residents of war-affected Darfur and Southern Sudan are still greatly dependent on food aid. Far more than in northern states, which tend to be wealthier, more urbanised and less reliant on agriculture.

Sudan exports billions of dollars of oil per year. Southern states produce more than 80% of it, but receive only 50% of the revenue, exacerbating tensions with the north. The oil-rich border region of Abyei is to hold a separate vote on whether to join the north or the south.

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G20 death Pc will be prosecuted

24 May 2011 Last updated at 11:43 GMT Keir Starmer explains the decision to charge Pc Simon Harwood with manslaughter

A police officer is to be charged with manslaughter over the death of newspaper seller Ian Tomlinson during the 2009 G20 protests.

The Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer, said there was now a "realistic prospect" of convicting Pc Simon Harwood.

An inquest earlier this month returned a verdict of unlawful death on the 47-year-old.

Mr Tomlinson's family said they were "more than happy" about the decision.

The officer is due to appear before magistrates on 20 June.

The inquest heard Mr Tomlinson collapsed and died after he was hit by a baton and pushed to the ground by Pc Simon Harwood in central London on 1 April 2009.

'Conflicting medical evidence'

The officer said after the inquest he had not intended to push him over.

Pc Simon Harwood gave evidence to the inquest over three days

Mr Starmer said: "The difficulty facing any prosecution in relation to the death of Mr Tomlinson lies in the conflicting medical evidence about the cause of death. That difficulty remains."

But he said new medical evidence had been presented at the inquest, and the medical opinion of pathologist Freddy Patel had been tested in extensive questioning at the inquest.

He said this had allowed "a degree of clarity to emerge".

Mr Starmer said the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) had taken the legal opinion of a senior barrister, Tim Owen, QC.

He said: "Taking the evidence as it now stands, we have concluded that, even with those remaining difficulties, there is now sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of successfully prosecuting PC Simon Harwood for the manslaughter of Mr Tomlinson."

Ian Tomlinson collapsed at the G20 protests in London two years ago

Mr Tomlinson's stepson, Paul King, made a statement on behalf of the family: "We welcome today's decision to bring a charge of manslaughter against the officer.

"We believe this is the right decision. What we have always wanted is to achieve justice for Ian and to show that police officers are not above the law."

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson said: "This is clearly a very, very serious matter for all concerned."

He added: "I have got to be very, very concerned at an inquest verdict that returns a verdict of unlawful killing involving, as the inquest did, one of my police officers.

"My sympathies continue to be with the Tomlinson family."

1. 1855: Mr Tomlinson leaves Monument station to head home

2. 1859: He walks north along King William Street, but is turned back by police

3. 1902: The newspaper seller sits on a wall before cutting through onto Lombard Street

4. 1906: A few minutes later, he comes into contact with police again on Lombard Street

5. 1915: Mr Tomlinson then passes through Change Alley and is diverted again by more police officers

6. 1918: He crosses Cornhill towards Royal Exchange Buildings

7. 1920: As police sweep down Royal Exchange, Mr Tomlinson is hit by a baton and pushed to the ground. A bystander helps him to his feet

8. 1921: The newspaper vendor walks along Cornhill before collapsing and dying

Source: Inquest into the death of Ian Tomlinson. Note: Parts of route and some timings are approximate

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Banks warned of Moody's downgrade

24 May 2011 Last updated at 08:52 GMT Watch: ETX Capitals' Manoj Ladwa says 'there is some weakness in the banking sector'

Fourteen UK banks and building societies have been told that their credit ratings may be cut because of the withdrawal of government support.

Moody's said on Tuesday it was reviewing banks including Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland, hitting the share prices of both firms.

Moody's sees less government support as possibly weakening the creditworthiness of some financial institutions.

A downgrade would raise borrowing costs for banks and building societies.

The Bank of England has already said that an emergency funding line - the Special Liquidity Scheme - will not be rolled over when it expires in January 2012.

Elisabeth Rudman, a Moody's senior credit officer, said: "The reassessment is not driven by either a deterioration in the financial strength of the banking system or that of the government."

"It has been initiated in response to ongoing guidance from the UK authorities - the Bank of England, the Financial Services Authority and the Treasury."

The agency said that current levels of state support for the financial sector adds two to five notches of ratings uplift for the large UK banks and one to five notches of uplift for the smaller firms.

The ratings of Barclays and HSBC were not placed on review by Moody's.

Shares in Lloyds and RBS fell about 1%, but recovered slightly after the initial surprise at Moody's announcement subsided.

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Greece default 'would hit others'

24 May 2011 Last updated at 13:56 GMT Greece is seeking political consensus over its latest austerity programme Any Greek debt default would likely hurt the credit rating of other peripheral eurozone countries, the ratings agency Moody's has warned.

In a statement on the impact of a potential default, Moody's said such a default would also hurt Greek banks.

Moody's also became the latest agency to say any kind of restructuring of Greek debt would constitute a default.

Meanwhile, the Greek opposition leader has rejected the government's request to support a four-year austerity plan.

The plan would lay out deficit reduction measures that go two years beyond the next general election.

Greece received a 110bn euro (?96bn; $155bn) bail-out from the European Union and International Monetary Fund last year.

'Wrong recipe'

Greece's European partners had demanded cross-party support for the plan after talks last week on possible further bail-out measures.

Antonis Samaras, leader of the New Democracy party, said he believed the austerity demanded by Brussels would hurt the country's economic recovery.

Continue reading the main story

I didn't come to discuss the looting of Greek society with Mr Papandreou”

End Quote Alexis Tsipras Leader of the Left Coalition opposition party "I am not going to agree to this recipe, which has been proven wrong," said Mr Samaras after meeting Prime Minister George Papandreou.

The right-winger instead wants to cut taxes in order to stimulate an economic recovery.

"The government lacks the courage to restart the economy and is not considering a renegotiation," he added.

"It is repeating the same mistake, and exceeding the limits of the Greek economy and of our people."

The government has a majority in parliament and does not rely on opposition support for its current austerity budgets.

'Looting'

But Mr Papandreou faces even more opposition from the left.

The head of the Communist party, which is influential with trade unions, refused even to meet him, while Alexis Tsipras, leader of the Left Coalition party, called on him to resign.

"I didn't come to discuss the looting of Greek society with Mr Papandreou," said Mr Tsipras. "I came to tell him that he must not... go ahead with this crime against the Greek people."

Meanwhile, Greece's second biggest union Adedy, which represents civil servants, announced plans for a general 24-hour strike in June.

"This policy must stop now," the union said in a statement, referring to budget cuts including public pay cuts, civil service redundancies and an increase in VAT.

"These measures will bring down the living standards of small and medium classes by over 20%."

'Adverse implications'

There has been increasing speculation that Greece could be allowed to restructure its debt.

On Monday, the Luxembourg Prime Minister and head of the eurogroup, Jean-Claude Juncker, said that a restructuring would involve a delay in repayments and a cut in interest payments, but would only be granted if the Greek government met strict targets.

In its statement, Moody's said: "It is apparent that the longer the current state of uncertainty affecting Greece persists, the greater the temptation on the part of both the Greek and the euro area authorities to try to undertake some form of debt restructuring - in other words, to allow Greece to default.

"Moody's believes that a default is likely to have adverse credit rating implications for Greece, possibly some other stressed European sovereigns, and the Greek banks, regardless of the efforts made to achieve an 'orderly' outcome.

"The full impact on Europe's capital markets would be hard to predict and harder still to control. The fallout would have implications for the creditworthiness (and hence the ratings) of issuers across Europe."

Meanwhile, Greece's cost of borrowing in bond markets has continued to rise steadily, as expectations of an eventual default rise.

The yield on its 10-year bonds rose above 17% on Tuesday, up from 15.3% a week ago.

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Tribe shows geometry 'is innate'

24 May 2011 Last updated at 08:04 GMT The Mundurucu do not even have words for geometric concepts Tests given to an Amazonian tribe called the Mundurucu suggest that our intuitions about geometry are innate.

Researchers examined how the Mundurucu think about lines, points and angles, comparing the results with equivalent tests on French and US schoolchildren.

The Mundurucu showed comparable understanding, and even outperformed the students on tasks that asked about forms on spherical surfaces.

The study is published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The basic tenets of geometry as most people know them were laid out first by the Greek mathematician Euclid about 2,300 years ago.

This "Euclidean geometry" includes familiar propositions such as the fact that a line can connect two points, that the angles of a triangle always add up to the same total, or that two parallel lines never cross.

The ideas are profoundly ingrained in formal education, but what remains a matter of debate is whether the capacity, or intuition, for geometry is present in all peoples regardless of their language or level of education.

To that end, Pierre Pica of the National Centre for Scientific Research in France and his colleagues studied an Amazon tribe known as the Mundurucu to investigate their intuitions about geometry.

"Mundurucu is a language with only approximative numbers," Dr Pica told BBC News.

"You don't have a lot of geometrical terms like square or triangle or anything like that, and no way of saying two lines are parallel... it looks like the language does not have this concept."

Dr Pica and his colleagues engaged 22 adults and eight children among the Mundurucu in a series of dialogues, presenting situations that built up to questions on geometry. Rather than abstract points on a plane, the team suggested two villages on a notional map, for instance.

'Playing tricks'

Similar questions were posed to 30 adults and children in France and the US, some as young as five years old.

The Mundurucu people's responses to the questions were roughly as accurate as those of the French and US respondents; they seemed to have an intuition about lines and geometric shapes without formal education or even the relevant words.

The questions posed to the tribe echo a classic Socratic dialogue on geometry

"The question is to what extent knowledge - in this case, of geometry - is dependent on language," Dr Pica explained.

"There doesn't seem to be a causal relation: you have a knowledge of geometry and it's not because it's expressed in the language."

Most surprisingly, the Mundurucu actually outperformed their western counterparts when the tests were moved from a flat surface to that of a sphere (the Mundurucu were presented with a calabash to demonstrate).

For example, on a sphere, seemingly parallel lines can in fact cross - a proposition which the Mundurucu guessed far more reliably than the French or US respondents.

This "non-Euclidean" example, where the formal rules of geometry as most people learn them do not hold true, seems to suggest that our geometry education may actually mislead us, Dr Pica said.

"The education of Euclidean geometry is so strong that we take for granted it's going to apply everywhere, including spherical surfaces. Our education plays a trick with us, leading us to believe things which are not correct."

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US moves closer to Libya rebels

24 May 2011 Last updated at 11:46 GMT The EU has already established ties with the rebels US Assistant Secretary of State Jeffrey Feltman has said Libya's rebels have accepted an invitation to open a representative office in Washington.

Mr Feltman is the most senior US diplomat to visit the rebels in their de facto capital Benghazi.

The US has insisted that Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi step down, but has not given the rebels full recognition.

The visit came as Nato planes launched a series of air attacks on Libya's capital, Tripoli, the heaviest so far.

Libyan officials say three people were killed and dozens injured in an attack on the barracks of the popular guard.

Nato says it bombed a vehicle depot next to Col Gaddafi's Bab al-Aziziya compound which had been used by his forces in attacks on civilians. However, the Libyan government described it as a reserve military base and said the casualties were civilians.

On Monday, France announced it and the UK would also deploy attack helicopters to escalate strike power.

Nato is enforcing a UN resolution to protect Libyan civilians, following the uprising against Col Gaddafi's rule.

'Assets release'

Mr Feltman said the US was not negotiating with Col Gaddafi, and that the rebel Transitional National Council (TNC) was the legitimate representative of the Libyan people.

The BBC's Andrew North says a large plume of smoke rose from near Col Gaddafi's compound

"I delivered a formal invitation to the council for the opening of a representation in Washington," Mr Feltman said at a news conference. "We are happy they accepted it."

"We have no office in Tripoli now. And we asked the Gaddafi people to close their embassy in Washington. Our officials see members of the council, the council sees us," he added.

"There is an ongoing diplomatic, political relationship and dialogue with members of the council who are considered by our fellows credible and legitimate representatives of the Libyan people."

But Mr Feltman said there was no point in formally recognising the council as "its job is to go out of business" - it plans to wind itself up in the event of the country being reunited and Col Gaddafi overthrown.

He said the US had already contributed $53.5m (?33.1m) in humanitarian aid and $25m in non-lethal military supplies.

Mr Feltman also expected the US Congress to release frozen Libyan government assets to be used for purely humanitarian purposes, he added.

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton opened an office in Benghazi on Sunday. Germany has also announced the establishment a liaison office there.

AFP news agency reported that the rebels would shortly nominate someone to represent them in Paris.

Only a handful of countries, including France and Italy, have recognised the TNC as Libya's legitimate government.

Deployment 'soon' UK Apache attack helicopters would deploy from HMS Ocean

On Monday, French Defence Minister Gerard Longuet confirmed media reports France was deploying attack helicopters to Nato's Libya mission.

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said 12 Tiger- and Gazelle-type helicopters were being despatched to Libya.

He also said Britain would send helicopters. But in Parliament on Tuesday UK Armed Forces Minister Nick Harvey said "no decision" had been taken to send attack helicopters although it was being considered.

Nato jets have been targeting Col Gaddafi's military infrastructure, but have been unable to stop the fighting.

Rebels control much of Libya's east, while Col Gaddafi's forces control most of the west of the country.

The rebellion against his rule began in February, spurred on by uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt that saw the presidents of those countries overthrown.

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EU may scrap Balkans visa waiver

24 May 2011 Last updated at 13:47 GMT The EU has fresh doubts about visa waivers for visitors from the Balkans EU countries will be able to reimpose a visa requirement on visitors from the western Balkans, under new rules proposed by the European Commission.

Since December 2009 nationals of Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro have not needed visas to enter the Schengen zone, which includes most of the EU.

But Belgium and some of its neighbours have complained of a rise in asylum claims since the visa waiver came in.

This year 544 such claims from Serbians have been registered in Belgium.

That figure is higher than for the whole of 2009, the Belgian national broadcaster RTBF reports on its website.

A high number of the asylum claimants are ethnic Roma and Albanians from the south of Serbia, RTBF says.

Belgium's Migration Minister Melchior Wathelet flew to Belgrade this week to discuss the issue with Serbian officials.

Schengen challenged

The Schengen Agreement, which dates back to 1995, abolished internal borders, enabling passport-free movement across much of Europe.

The Schengen zone covers 22 EU states and three non-EU countries - Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.

Now the Commission is recommending a "safeguard clause" that would allow Schengen countries to restore a visa requirement for non-EU countries, in cases where the visa waiver has led to irregular migration or abuse of the system, such as asylum claims from economic migrants.

EU interior ministers are expected to approve the change next month.

The visa waiver was intended to ease travel for Balkan holders of biometric passports planning short stays in the EU.

Last December the waiver was extended to citizens of Albania and Bosnia-Hercegovina.

The Schengen rules are now under review because France, Italy and some other countries want more flexibility to reinstate border controls.

The review was prompted by an influx of migrants fleeing the strife in North Africa this year. Most of them arrived on the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa, creating an emergency for the authorities there.

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High hopes

24 May 2011 Last updated at 07:04 GMT By Jonathan Amos Science correspondent, BBC News Skylon would operate from a runway A revolutionary UK spaceplane concept has been boosted by the conclusions of an important technical review.

The proposed Skylon vehicle would do the job of a big rocket but operate like an airliner, taking off and landing at a conventional runway.

The European Space Agency's propulsion experts have assessed the details of the concept and found no showstoppers.

They want the next phase of development to include a ground demonstration of its key innovation - its Sabre engine.

This power unit is designed to breathe oxygen from the air in the early phases of flight - just like jet engines - before switching to full rocket mode as the Skylon vehicle climbs out of the atmosphere.

It is the spaceplane's "single-stage-to-orbit" operation and its re-usability that makes Skylon such an enticing prospect and one that could substantially reduce the cost of space activity, say its proponents.

Mature concept

The UK Space Agency (UKSA) had commissioned Esa to evaluate the design, and the European organisation's staff reported on Tuesday that they had not seen any obvious flaws.

"Esa has not identified any critical topics that would prevent a successful development of the engine," they write in their review.

Skylon has been in development in the UK in various guises for nearly 30 years.

It is an evolution of an idea first pursued by British Aerospace and Rolls Royce in the 1980s.

Continue reading the main story

From what we've seen so far, we can't identify any showstoppers”

End Quote Dr Mark Ford Esa's head of propulsion engineering That concept, known as Hotol, did have technical weaknesses that eventually led the aerospace companies to end their involvement.

But the engineers behind the project continued to refine their thinking and they are now working independently on a much-updated vehicle in a company called Reaction Engines Limited (REL).

Realising the Sabre propulsion system is essential to the success of the project.

The engine would burn hydrogen and oxygen to provide thrust - but in the lower atmosphere this oxygen would be taken directly from the air.

This means the 84m-long spaceplane can fly lighter from the outset with a higher thrust-to-weight ratio, enabling it to make a single leap to orbit, rather than using and dumping propellant stages on the ascent - as is the case with current expendable rockets.

But flying an integrated air-breathing and rocket engine brings unique challenges.

At high speeds, Sabre would have to manage 1,000-degree gasses entering its intake. This hot air would need to be cooled prior to being compressed and burnt with hydrogen. Reaction Engines' answer is a novel precooler heat-exchanger.

This would incorporate arrays of extremely fine piping to extract the heat and plunge the intake gases to minus 130C in just 1/100th of a second.

Ordinarily, the moisture in the air would be expected to freeze out rapidly, covering the network of fine piping in a blanket of frost and dislocating its operation.

Regulatory support

But REL says it has developed an anti-frost solution that will allow the heat exchanger to run and run. Esa's technical staff have witnessed this "secret technology" on the lab bench and can confirm it works. The agency's experts say they also fully expect a scaled up version of the precooler technology to function properly this summer when it is tested in conjunction with a standard jet engine.

"We've not looked at everything; we've focussed on the engine and the [Skylon's] structure," explained Dr Mark Ford, Esa's head of propulsion engineering. "But from what we've seen so far, we can't identify any showstoppers. It's quite an innovative technology if it works."

Assuming, this summer's test programme does indeed achieve its goals, Reaction Engines says private investors will release ?220m ($350m) of funds to take Skylon into the next phase of its development.

This would include the production of a ground demonstrator that would show off Sabre's full engine cycle - its air-breathing and rocket modes and the transition between the two.

Sabre's precooler technology will be put through its paces on a test rig this summer

The price for launching a kilogram of payload into a geostationary orbit - the location for today's big telecoms satellites - is currently more than $15,000 (?9,000). Skylon's re-usability could bring that down to less than $1,000, claims REL.

If the vehicle ever does go into full production, the investment required will probably be in the region of $9-12bn (?5.5-7.5bn), but the company will not be looking to government for that money.

"The government hasn't got that sort of money and we want this project to be a privately financed one," said Alan Bond, the managing director of REL.

"What government can do for us however is deal with the legislation that surrounds the eventual introduction of a spaceplane - how it is certified and how it conforms to certain aspects of international space law. And the government has already indicated its willingness to do all this in the recent budget."

Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk

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