Six years for Bali drugs Briton

29 January 2013 Last updated at 04:14 ET

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The BBC's Karishma Vaswani says Julian Ponder looked visibly relieved as the sentence was delivered

A British man has been jailed for six years in Bali for drug offences.

Julian Ponder, 43, from Brighton, was cleared of smuggling but was convicted of possessing 23g of cocaine which carried a maximum sentence of life.

Ponder was one of three Britons detained after Lindsay Sandiford, 56, from Cheltenham, was arrested for smuggling cocaine into Bali last year.

Sandiford was sentenced to death and is suing the UK Foreign Office for not supporting her appeal.

The two other Britons were also cleared of trafficking and received sentences of four years and one year each.

Prosecutors in Bali had sought a seven-year prison term for Mr Ponder.

Judge Gunawan Tri Budiono also ordered him to pay a fine of one billion rupiah (£65,000).

Ponder's lawyer Arie Budiman Soenardi said he would not advise his client to appeal: "(The sentence) is quite light, not far from what the prosecutors had asked, so we will soon advise our client to accept it."

Sandiford, 56, from Cheltenham, was arrested on drugs charges in May 2012 and sentenced to death by firing squad last week by a panel of judges at the district court in Denpasar, Bali.

She claimed she had been coerced into carrying a suitcase into the country by criminals who threatened her family.

Legal charity Reprieve said the UK government was in breach of its obligations to Sandiford as a British citizen.

Reprieve said Sandiford, originally from Redcar, Teesside, had no money for an appeal after exhausting her family's finances to pay for a lawyer for her trial.

Charitable donations

The charity said the appeal involved filing a complicated legal document in Indonesian, which she does not speak, by 12 February.

Reprieve, and solicitors Leigh Day & Co, have filed a judicial review in the UK on Ms Sandiford's behalf against the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

This argues that: "In failing to make arrangements for an adequate lawyer to represent the claimant's interests the defendant is acting unlawfully, in breach of its obligations as a matter of EU law, to take all reasonable steps to ensure that she does not face the death penalty, is not subjected to inhumane and degrading treatment, is not tortured and receives a fair trial."

Reprieve said Sandiford was relying on charitable donations for basic provisions such as food and water.

Sandiford was sentenced to death despite the prosecution seeking a 15-year sentence.

Harriet McCulloch, from Reprieve, said: "Everyone knows that capital punishment means that those without the capital get the punishment. Lindsay's poverty means that she has ended up sentenced to death after a manifestly unfair trial."

Sandiford's MP, Martin Horwood, called on the Foreign Office to review its policy on Britons facing the death penalty abroad.

The Foreign Office said the UK government did not fund legal representation abroad but Sandiford's case was being dealt with through diplomatic channels.

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Nursery changes 'to raise quality'

29 January 2013 Last updated at 05:08 ET

Nurseries and childminders in England are to be allowed to look after more children, in a package ministers say will improve quality and cut costs.

The ratio of children to carers can be raised, but only if carers' qualifications meet new standards.

Children's Minister Liz Truss said the proposals would make more childcare places available and reduce costs for parents in the "long term".

Critics warn the change in ratios could actually compromise quality of care.

They also predict the changes - which are due to come into force in the autumn - will be unpopular with parents and are unlikely to reduce the overall costs of childcare.

Continue reading the main story

England's nursery ratios

• CURRENT
• Under one and one-year-olds - 1:3
• Two-year-olds - 1:4
• Three-year-olds and above - 1:8 or 1:13 (teacher-led)
• PROPOSED
• Under one and one-year-olds 1:4
• Two-year-olds - 1:6
• Three-year-olds and above - 1:8 or 1:13 (teacher-led)

Statutory ratios for carers per child vary depending on age and setting. Ratios for two-year-olds are set to rise from four children per adult to six children per adult, and for ones-and-under to rise from three children per adult to four children per adult.

Ratios for three-year-olds and over would remain at eight or 13 children per adult, depending on whether a qualified graduate was present.

Ms Truss says the changes will bring the UK in line with countries such as France and Sweden. England's higher ratios lead to higher costs for parents and lower pay for staff, she says.

Ms Truss told the BBC the proposals were about raising standards and only those nurseries that hired staff with higher qualifications would be able to take on more children.

"It will make it higher quality, more available and more affordable. It will take time to recruit new people and expand nurseries. In the long term it will be more affordable," she said.

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Liz Truss: "We're raising the standards so that parents will be able to get more available nursery places."

Britain has some of the highest childcare costs in the world, with many mothers with two or more children saying it does not make financial sense to work.

An earlier report by Ms Truss suggested the average family spends 27% of their income on childcare.

Ms Truss said childcare professionals should be better qualified in the UK.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

Research also overwhelmingly indicates that introducing young children to quasi-formal academic learning too young has lifelong negative consequences"

End Quote Richard House Early Childhood Action Campaign founder

"When parents hand their child over to the care of a childminder or nursery, they are not just entrusting them with their child's physical safety, they are also entrusting their child's brain," she said

"With this in mind, it is no longer acceptable that childcare professionals are not required to have a GCSE grade C or above in English and maths."

This will apply to new nursery staff only, however.

'Very difficult'

Shadow education secretary Stephen Twigg said the plans to increase the ratios would undermine the quality of childcare in the UK.

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Stephen Twigg: "Saying that more children will be in each setting risks undermining quality and even risks undermining safety."

"I think this is one area where we've actually got something to teach other countries.

"If you look at France, there's actually quite a big public debate about whether they've got this right. I don't think you can compare the situation with Sweden where they have very, very generous parental leave so very few young babies are in these sorts of settings."

Anand Shukla, from national childcare charity Daycare Trust, said: "No matter how well qualified the members of staff, there are practical considerations when you increase the number of children that they have to look after," he said.

"For one person to look after six two-year-olds, for one person to talk to six two-year-olds, to help their language development, we think is going to be very difficult."

National Day Nurseries Association chief executive Purnima Tanuku welcomed the commitment made by the government to improve childcare but said the "quality of childcare and early education must not be sacrificed".

She said: "Many parents do not want an increase in the number of children nursery staff are allowed look after. They are worried it will have a negative impact on the individual attention and care their child receives."

Anne Longfield, chief executive of children's charity and nursery provider 4Children, said: "The welfare of the child must be our first concern throughout, but with highly qualified early-years teachers and a better inspection regime, there is an opportunity to review current arrangements and provide simpler information for parents and better incentives for providers to concentrate on what matters - children."

International comparison
Ratios of children to childcare professionals
Source: OECD * Allows teams of carers to look after extra children as part of a group
	Denmark	France	Ireland	Italy	Norway	Portugal	Sweden	UK	United States
1-year-olds	1:3.3*	1:5	1:3	1:7	1:8	1:11	1:5.5*	1:3	1:5
2-year-olds	1:3.3*	1:5	1:6	1:7	1:8	1:11	1:5.5*	1:4	1:5

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Government in criminal records row

29 January 2013 Last updated at 06:59 ET

The government is to seek leave to appeal against a court ruling that job applicants in England and Wales do not have to disclose all criminal records.

The Court of Appeal has ruled the law which requires people to disclose all previous convictions to certain employers is a breach of human rights.

The case at the heart of the row is a 21-year-old man - identified only as T.

He had to disclose in a job application that he had warnings from police over two stolen bicycles when he was 11.

Delivering the ruling, the Master of the Rolls, Lord Dyson, said the disclosure of old convictions and cautions was designed to protect children and vulnerable adults.

Continue reading the main story

Today's judgement will affect parents and children, employers and employees. The Court of Appeal has ruled that the current system which requires the blanket disclosure of criminal convictions, cautions and warnings, is disproportionate and incompatible with the right to a private and family life.

That raises the issue of when crimes committed by children should be expunged from their records. The court has said, firmly, that it will now be a matter for parliament to decide what amendments to make to the current system.

However, the potential implications of the judgement go beyond children. All criminal records checks are carried out under a system which is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act.

Today's ruling could apply to all of those checks, effectively throwing the entire system of criminal records checks into confusion.

However, he said, "requiring the disclosure of all convictions and cautions relating to recordable offences is disproportionate to that legitimate aim".

'Disappointed'

But a government spokesman said: "The protection of children and vulnerable groups must not be compromised. We are disappointed by this judgement and are seeking leave to appeal to the Supreme Court."

Liberty said the law had been incompatible with Article 8 of the Human Rights Act, the right to a private and family life.

Liberty's legal officer, Corinna Ferguson, said: "This sensible judgment requires the Government to introduce a more nuanced system for disclosing this type of sensitive personal data to employers. For too long irrelevant and unreliable information provided under the blanket CRB system has blighted people's lives.

"We hope that long overdue reforms - properly balancing the aim of public protection with privacy rights - will now be forthcoming."

Criminal records checks are the responsibility of the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) which took over the role when the Criminal Records Bureau and Independent Safeguarding Authority were merged last month.

Lord Dyson said a system of "filtering" was required, to allow for irrelevant criminal records to be removed, but he added: "It will be for Parliament to devise a proportionate scheme."

In allowing the appeal he rejected the argument of the Home Office's lawyer who said the judges should leave it to Parliament. He aid: "This is not a case where we can be confident that Parliament will move swiftly to find a solution."

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Murdoch apology over Scarfe cartoon

29 January 2013 Last updated at 07:09 ET

Rupert Murdoch has apologised for a "grotesque, offensive cartoon" printed in the Sunday Times that has led to complaints of anti-Semitism.

The cartoon, by Gerald Scarfe, appears to depict Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu building a brick wall containing the blood and limbs of Palestinians.

Scarfe has expressed regret over its publication on Holocaust Memorial Day.

The Board of Deputies of British Jews said it had complained to the Press Complaints Commission.

The cartoon was captioned: "Israeli elections. Will cementing peace continue?"

In a message to the Jewish Chronicle reportedly denying permission to reprint the cartoon, Mr Scarfe is quoted as saying that he "very much regrets" the timing of the cartoon.

He had apparently been unaware that Sunday was Holocaust Memorial Day.

The Board of Deputies of British Jews said the cartoon was "shockingly reminiscent of the blood libel imagery more usually found in parts of the virulently anti-Semitic Arab press".

Continue reading the main story

• The origins of the term blood libel lie in the Middle Ages when Jews were falsely accused of ritualised murder, particularly of children
• The claims were used to justify violence against Jewish people
• The earliest known example in the UK involves the death of a 12-year-old boy, William of Norwich, in 1144, followed by an unfounded rumour he had been kidnapped and murdered by Jews
• During the 1930s, Nazi propaganda in Germany periodically explored accusations of Jewish ritual murder
• The evolution of the term means it now can refer to any false accusation deemed to be anti-Semitic and/or involving bloody violence
• Former US politician Sarah Palin provoked controversy in 2011 by labelling as blood libel media suggestions that heated political rhetoric could have contributed to a mass shooting in Arizona in which then-congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was wounded and six people died

It added: "Its use is all the more disgusting on Holocaust Memorial Day, given the similar tropes levelled against Jews by the Nazis."

The term "blood libel" refers to myths dating back to the Middle Ages that Jews murder children to use their blood during religious rituals.

Israel's UK ambassador Daniel Taub said: "The image of Israel's security barrier, which is saving the lives of both Jews and Arabs from suicide bombers, being built from Palestinian blood and bodies is baseless and outrageous.

"The use of vicious motifs echoing those used to demonize Jews in the past is particularly shocking and hurtful on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, but the crude and shallow hatred of this cartoon should render it totally unacceptable on any day of the year."

Mr Murdoch wrote in a tweet: "Gerald Scarfe has never reflected the opinions of the Sunday Times. Nevertheless, we owe major apology for grotesque, offensive cartoon."

The paper's acting editor, Martin Ivens, said in a statement that insulting the memory of Holocaust victims was "the last thing I or anyone connected with the Sunday Times would countenance".

"The paper has long written strongly in defence of Israel and its security concerns, as have I as a columnist," he said.

"We are, however, reminded of the sensitivities in this area by the reaction to the cartoon, and I will, of course, bear them very carefully in mind in future."

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Mr Ivens is set to meet representatives of the Jewish community this week to discuss the controversy.

In a statement, the Sunday Times said the cartoon was aimed at Mr Netanyahu and his policies, not at Israel or Jewish people.

Veteran satirist Scarfe has been the Sunday Times' political cartoonist since 1967.

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No 10 confirms Mali troop numbers

29 January 2013 Last updated at 07:10 ET

The UK is to deploy about 350 military personnel to Mali and West Africa to support French forces, No 10 has said.

This includes up to 40 military advisers who will train soldiers in Mali and 200 British soldiers to be sent to neighbouring African countries to assist in the training of the army.

Britain has offered a roll-on, roll-off ferry to transport equipment to the French force in Mali.

It said the UK was doing what it could to support the French mission.

'Regional approach'

French-led troops are consolidating their position in the historic Malian city of Timbuktu after seizing it from Islamist extremists.

In Brussels later, defence officials are set to discuss details of the planned European Union-led training mission to build up the Malian army.

The BBC's Norman Smith says the British team of 40 military advisers is expected to be sent to Mali "fairly urgently".

But government sources told our correspondent no decision had been taken on who should provide "force protection" for them. It is possible existing French forces in Mali could be used.

Separately, deputy national security director Hugh Powell is to discuss the potential UK contribution at an international donors conference for Mali hosted by the African Union in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

Prime Minister David Cameron has assured French President Francois Hollande that Britain is "keen" to help Paris with its military mission.

The RAF has already provided two C17 transport planes and a Sentinel surveillance aircraft to assist France's operation.

Meanwhile, the UK's national security adviser, Sir Kim Darroch, was in Paris on Monday to discuss what further help the UK could provide to France's operation to drive Islamist militants from its former colony.

Mr Cameron has said the UK is ready to offer logistical, intelligence and surveillance help to France.

The French and Malian military said troops encountered little resistance when they entered the historic city of Timbuktu. They seized Gao, northern Mali's biggest city, on Saturday.

Islamist militants took the north of the country last year, but have been losing ground since French forces launched an operation earlier this month.

'Politically important'

Shadow defence secretary Jim Murphy said it was important the UK supported the mission in Mali, but it is "not for us to put combat troops on the ground".

Continue reading the main story

I suspect the strategy will be to guarantee the cities are safe so that Islamists are kicked out and then let time do its work"

End Quote Prof Michael Clarke RUSI

"We have to be very clear about how long we intend to be there [and] what it is we're seeking to achieve, so that the public, who are wary and weary after Iraq and Afghanistan, don't say 'Oh not again'," he said.

Mr Murphy also said British forces must be properly protected.

Military analyst Col Mike Dewar said the initial UK support was short term but its latest offer of help constituted a "much more long term plan".

It could take "years" for the British troops to make a difference to the "ill-trained" Malian army, he said.

Prof Michael Clarke, a director of the Royal United Services Institute think-tank, said the British involvement was a "politically important" gesture to illustrate Anglo-French military co-operation.

He said he could not discern a clear strategy at the moment in Mali, but he added: "That is understandable. In Libya we went in for humanitarian reasons and then a strategy evolved. That is what the French did, they went in initially for humanitarian reasons.

"I suspect the strategy [in Mali] will be to guarantee the cities are safe so that Islamists are kicked out and then let time do its work."

The former head of the Army, General Sir Mike Jackson, backed the government's position but warned that nations involved may face a "protracted guerrilla warfare".

"It doesn't really surprise me that the British government feels it needs to be seen to be helping," he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

"We cannot let states fail because we know from recent history that failed states just lead to really difficult circumstances, instability."

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Brazil mourns nightclub fire dead

28 January 2013 Last updated at 02:21 ET

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The BBC's Gary Duffy says there is a sense of national shock in Brazil

Brazil has declared three days of national mourning for 231 people killed in a nightclub fire in the southern city of Santa Maria.

The fire reportedly started after a member of a band playing at the Kiss nightclub lit a flare on stage.

Authorities say most of the victims were students who died of smoke inhalation. The first funerals took place place on Monday morning.

It is the deadliest fire in Brazil in five decades.

The BBC's Gary Duffy reports from Sao Paulo that the national sense of loss is profound.

Continue reading the main story

At the scene

The local gym has been turned into a makeshift morgue and is being called The Room of Despair.

That is where a few hours ago, the mobile phones of the victims could be heard ringing with no-one to answer them, and where, later on, family members identified their loved ones.

It is not only dozens of doctors and psychologists who have volunteered to help in Santa Maria, but also the local people who are displaying a tremendous sense of solidarity.

They are offering the victims' relatives - who have arrived from other towns - and volunteers free accommodation and food.

Some are walking around, carrying trays with food, fruit and biscuits. Others have offered to clean the gym's toilets as the last bodies await burial.

Brazil postponed a ceremony due on Monday in the capital, Brasilia, to mark 500 days to the 2014 football World Cup. In Santa Maria, 30 days of mourning were declared.

President Dilma Rousseff, who cut short a visit to Chile, has been visiting survivors at the city's Caridade hospital along with government ministers.

"It is a tragedy for all of us," she said.

Authorities have released the names of the victims, after revising down the death toll from 245.

More than 100 people were being treated in hospital, mostly for smoke inhalation.

Officials will now investigate reports that a flare was lit on stage, igniting foam insulation material on the ceiling and releasing toxic smoke.

They will also look at claims that many of those who died were unable to escape as only one emergency exit was available.

'Dark, heavy smoke'

The fire broke out as students from the city's federal university (UFSM) were holding a freshers' ball, the Diario de Santa Maria, a local newspaper, reported.

A local journalist, Marcelo Gonzatto, told the BBC that the flare had "started a huge and fast fire that grew quickly and made a very dark and heavy smoke."

Continue reading the main story

Eyewitness - Fernanda Bona

"I am the official photographer at the club and I was taking photos of people. I was watching a band on stage and the fireworks.

I was in the VIP area and I could see the whole club. The area was close to the exit. I saw the fire going through the club.

People were screaming 'fire, fire' and to run. People were scared and were running everywhere.

I ran as quickly as I could to the door of the street. But it was hard to get out because there were so many people.

It took a few minutes for me to get out of the club. I know people who are in hospital or who are missing. A lot of people died from not so much the fire but the toxic smoke."

"Lots of people couldn't get out and died mainly because of the smoke not the fire," he said.

Witnesses spoke of scenes of panic after the fire started, and a stampede as people tried to escape.

One, Mattheus Bortolotto, told local television: "It was sheer horror. The emergency exits did not work, and then I lost my friend in the confusion. Then a girl died in my arms. I felt her heart stop beating."

A large number of victims were trapped in the club's toilets, they said, possibly after mistaking them for an exit.

Survivors and police inspector Marcelo Arigony said security guards briefly tried to block people from leaving the club, the Associated Press news agency reported. Bars in Brazil commonly make customers pay their whole tab at the end of an evening before they are allowed to leave.

One of the owners of the club is reported to have confirmed that they were in the process of renewing its license to operate, and that its fire safety certificate had expired last year.

He is said to have received threats on the internet - in addition to surviving members of the band that was performing on stage when the blaze started.

Its guitarist, Rodrigo Martins, told local radio: "It might have happened because of the Sputnik, the machine we use to create a luminous effect with sparks.

"It's harmless; we never had any trouble with it. When the fire started, a guard passed us a fire extinguisher. The singer tried to use it but it wasn't working."

He said the band's accordion player had died in the fire.

Brazilian broadcaster Globo said most of the victims were aged between 16 and 20.

A temporary morgue was set up in a local gym as the city's main morgue was unable to cope.

Family members came to identify the dead, led in one by one to see the bodies, Diario de Santa Maria reported.

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HS2 northern rail route announced

28 January 2013 Last updated at 06:24 ET

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George Osborne: "I think it is the engine for growth in the north and the midlands"

Details of the next phase of the £32bn HS2 high-speed rail network have been unveiled by the government.

The preferred route of phase two running northwards from Birmingham will have five stops: Manchester; Manchester Airport; Toton near Nottingham; Sheffield; and Leeds.

Chancellor George Osborne said it would be "the engine for growth in the North and the Midlands of this country".

Phase one's London-Birmingham link has faced considerable opposition.

Critics argue that HS2's predicted economic benefits have been overestimated by the government, and suggest swathes of picturesque countryside will be blighted by the railway.

Mr Osborne's Tatton constituency in Cheshire is among the places phase two will pass through.

The chancellor said: "If our predecessors hadn't decided to build the railways in the Victorian times, or the motorways in the middle part of the 20th Century, then we wouldn't have those things today.

"You have got to commit to these projects even though they take many years."

Continue reading the main story

Seven months is ever such a long time in politics.

Last summer there were rumours that HS2 was about to be quietly ditched. A Tory minister told a magazine that the project was "effectively dead" because George Osborne was going cold on the whole idea.

Today, George Osborne will be all over your telly telling you HS2 is going to transform the economy, heal the north-south divide and help set us on the fast-track back to growth and prosperity.

This "dead" project is now back at the heart of the government's growth agenda; in a bid to convince voters that there is an ambitious plan to help rebalance and boost our sickly economy.

But there are still plenty of critics who claim the government's economic case for building a super-fast train line simply doesn't stack up. And that there are far better ways of spending £33bn to stimulate growth.

The Department for Transport said that HS2 phase two would virtually halve journey times between Birmingham and Manchester - to 41 minutes - and between London and Manchester from two hours and eight minutes to one hour and eight minutes.

Speeds of up to 250mph on HS2 will also reduce a Birmingham to Leeds journey from two hours to 57 minutes, while phase one will cut London-Birmingham travel to 49 minutes, from the current one hour and 24 minutes.

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said: "It's not just about journey times, it is also about capacity.

"We are finding the railways are overcrowded. We've seen massive growth in rail passenger numbers, so this is taking HS2 so it serves the north."

A final route for phase two is expected to be chosen by the end of 2014.

A proposed spur to Heathrow Airport has been put on hold pending a review of UK aviation policy, due to report in 2015.

'Fundamentally flawed'

More than 70 groups oppose HS2. StopHS2 argues the project is "fundamentally flawed", saying the majority of journeys will be to London so England's North and Midlands will lose out rather than benefit, and that projections do not take into account competition from conventional rail.

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Andrew Bridgen MP: "I have no confidence in their consultation process"

StopHS2 campaign manager Joe Rukin said: "Fifty-five percent of the economic benefits are based on the cash value of time, no-one works on trains and every business user is worth £70,000 a year - it's basically a train for the rich that everyone else is not only going to have to pay for the construction of but also have to subsidise throughout its lifetime as well."

Other opponents object on the grounds that HS2 will cut through picturesque countryside, and 18 councils along the route have said taxpayers cannot afford the line, and that it will increase greenhouse gas emissions.

The phase two announcement was welcomed by officials in northern English cities including Leeds, where city council leader Keith Wakefield said: "It will strengthen Leeds' position as the northern transport hub, and unlock major investment, jobs opportunities and connectivity to the rest of the country."

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said: "We can't keep turning a blind eye to the north-south divide in our economy. That is what this high-speed project is all about."

Construction on the Y-shaped extension could start in the middle of the next decade, with the line open by 2032-33.

Construction of the London-West Midlands route is expected to begin around 2017, once Parliament has approved the necessary powers, probably in 2015.

The Toton station along phase two of the route will primarily serve Derby and Nottingham, while the Sheffield station will be sited at the Meadowhall shopping centre five miles from the city centre.

'Timetable slipping'

Labour's shadow transport secretary Maria Eagle said: "I think it's tremendously important that we link our airports to our cities, not some station in the middle of nowhere near a city and bypass our main hub airports.

"So I think there are questions to be asked and we will be asking them, but overall this is a good thing for the country and we need to get on and give certainty."

She previously highlighted "worrying signs that the Department for Transport's timetable to deliver this vital infrastructure is slipping".

Details have also been published of the consultation on HS2 Ltd's proposed exceptional hardship scheme for phase two, which will cover compensation to affected property-owners.

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Delhi rape accused 'is a minor'

28 January 2013 Last updated at 06:45 ET

One of the suspects in last month's fatal gang rape of a 23-year-old student which shocked India is a minor, a court has ruled.

The Juvenile Justice Board said it accepted the accused's date of birth as 4 June 1995, making him 17 years old. He will be tried in a juvenile court.

If convicted, he faces a maximum of three years in a reform facility.

Five other accused are on trial for the crime at a specially convened fast-track court and face the death penalty.

The case has shocked India and sparked a debate about its treatment of women.

A lawyer present in the court said a magistrate announced the decision after going over documents presented to the court by officials of the suspect's elementary school, which indicated that he was a juvenile at the time of the attack, Associated Press reported.

The physiotherapy student, who cannot be named in India for legal reasons, and a male friend were attacked on a bus in south Delhi on 16 December.

Police said the assailants beat both of them, and then raped the woman. She suffered massive internal injuries and died nearly two weeks later in hospital.

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Green Deal loans scheme to launch

28 January 2013 Last updated at 06:53 ET

Householders are to be offered long-term loans to help make their homes more energy efficient and cut bills under a new government scheme.

Ministers said the Green Deal, which operates in England and Wales, will help thousands "stay warm for less".

Under the scheme, households can use cheap loans to spend on energy-saving improvements, such as insulation and new boilers, with no upfront cost.

Campaigners said the project would "not stop fuel poverty rocketing".

How it works

The move to insulate the UK's aged housing stock is designed to save carbon emissions, keep people warm, and make energy affordable.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

People who've taken on the Green Deal will generally feel a lot better off"

End Quote Paul Reeve Electrical Contractors' Association

Homeowners will first be visited by an assessor, who will ask some basic questions about their energy usage.

Approved Green Deal installers, such as energy companies or DIY chains, will then advise on potential improvements, such as double-glazing, insulation or new heating systems.

Consumers will pay for the improvements by taking out a loan with the Green Deal Finance Company, a non-profit making organisation backed by the government.

Such loans will be paid back through electricity bills for periods of up to 25 years.

There is no guarantee that the eventual savings made by consumers will match the cost of the loans they take out to make the improvements.

"However, there's a good chance that you will make savings," said Paul Reeve, of the Electrical Contractors' Association.

The costs

Consumers taking out Green Deal loans will have to repay them at a maximum rate of 6.92%, according to the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

Compared to a standard home loan rate, that is relatively high.

On top of the loan, householders will have to pay a £63 set-up charge, and a £20 a year annual fee.

On a loan of £5,000, the overall rate that is repayable is just under 8% over 10 years, or 7.7% over 25 years.

The government argues that such rates are comparable to the best High Street rates for long-term unsecured loans.

The amount that anyone can borrow will be capped at £10,000.

Moving on

Mr Reeve said it was possible, but unlikely, that consumers could end up out of pocket.

"Many of us believe that energy prices will continue to rise over the coming years. If that's true, people who've taken on the Green Deal will generally feel a lot better off," he explained.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

We call on the prime minister to use money from the carbon tax to super-insulate this country's homes"

End Quote Ed Matthews Energy Bill Revolution

Should householders sell their home, the loan will need to be taken on by any new homeowner.

Mark Bayley, the chief executive of the newly created Green Deal Finance Company, said: "What makes it work is that the experience of energy companies is that people's default rate is very much lower than the experience in consumer credit and that's how we're able to construct very long term, low cost financing."

"And as people move house the loans they take out under Green Deal plan stay behind with their electricity meter."

If householders transfer to a different electricity provider, the loan will transfer at the same time.

Consumers are allowed to pay the loans off early, but a fee might apply.

More needed?

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said: "The Green Deal will help thousands of homes stay warm for less. Those people will benefit from energy saving improvements - and their energy bills will fall."

However, campaigners have warned that the new scheme does not go far enough.

Ed Matthews, head of fuel poverty campaign group Energy Bill Revolution, said: "The Green Deal and Energy Company Obligation will not stop fuel poverty rocketing in the face of high gas prices."

"We call on the prime minister to use money from the carbon tax to super-insulate this country's homes.

According to Groundwork UK, which has been working on the scheme, potential energy savings can be worth up to £300 a year.

"For relatively low expenditure, you can make a big difference to the cost of your fuel bill," says Sir Tony Hawkhead of Groundwork.

He estimates that typical average savings on a small house can be £120 a year, rising to £270 for a three or four bedroom house, "or possibly higher than that".

But he acknowledges that in some cases, the cost of the loan could be more expensive than the savings gained.

"Obviously the cost of installing the energy efficiency measures, such as a new boiler or dealing with solid walls, can be higher."

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Troops 'take Timbuktu airport'

28 January 2013 Last updated at 06:57 ET

French-led troops in Mali have seized the airport in Timbuktu, as they move to capture the historic city from militant Islamists, officials say.

The troops encountered no resistance as they headed towards the city, where a building housing ancient manuscripts has reportedly been set on fire.

French and Malian troops have been pushing north in their offensive against Islamist rebels.

On Saturday, they seized Gao, the most populous city in northern Mali.

Thousands of people in Gao poured out into the streets to celebrate the arrival of the troops.

Islamists seized the north of the country last year, but have been losing ground since French forces launched an operation earlier this month.

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Analysis

French troops seem to have been very successful in retaking the major towns that had been occupied by Islamist militants linked to al-Qaeda for months.

Gao was reconquered over the weekend and Timbuktu should be falling within hours. Kidal will be next.

But this rapid advance has mainly been made possible by the fact that most rebel fighters had left their positions in the few days preceding the French-led operations.

Islamist combatants melted away with all their vehicles and weapons into desert hideouts. Hunting them down in this vast region they know better than any army will be much harder.

The French are hoping for a quick deployment of thousands more African forces but without the experience of the terrain and the equipment, these troops will achieve nothing.

This second phase is likely to last months and the French may well be on the frontline longer than they have said in public.

Most militants appear to have fled into desert hideouts, says the BBC's Thomas Fessy in the capital, Bamako.

The advance comes as African Union (AU) leaders are meeting to discuss sending more troops to Mali.

'Killed for celebrating'

"We control the airport at Timbuktu," a senior Malian army officer told AFP. "We did not encounter any resistance."

French army spokesman Col Thierry Burkhard told the BBC that "substantial airpower" had been used to support about 1,000 French and 200 Malian forces in their offensive against the militants in Timbuktu.

"Overnight, the French have retaken access points to Timbuktu," he said.

"The terrorist forces have refused all contact with us. We think they have either gone back into Timbuktu to blend in with the local population or they have fled the city into the north of the country."

Our correspondent says ground forces units and paratroopers have been despatched around Timbuktu and it is believed that these troops are cautiously trying to find a way into the city.

"We are going to liberate Timbuktu with the Malians very shortly," French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said.

Timbuktu Mayor Halle Ousmane Cisse, currently in Bamako, told the BBC that he had very credible accounts of Islamist militants burning ancient manuscripts that have been kept in the desert city for centuries.

"The rebels set fire to the newly-constructed Ahmed Baba Institute built by the South Africans... this happened four days ago," he is quoted by Reuters news agency as saying.

It was not yet clear how much of the building had been damaged, he said.

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Treasures of Timbuktu

• Timbuktu was a centre of Islamic learning from the 13th to the 17th Centuries
• 700,000 manuscripts survive in public libraries and private collections
• Books on religion, law, literature and science
• Added to Unesco world heritage list in 1988 for its three mosques and 16 cemeteries and mausoleums
• They played a major role in spreading Islam in West Africa; the oldest dates from 1329
• Islamists destroyed mausoleums after seizing the city

He said that the homes of several civil servants had been burnt down during the last week and a young man killed for celebrating the approach of the French-led forces.

Once Timbuktu is secured, the French-led troops are expected to focus on the last rebel stronghold, Kidal, near the border with Algeria.

Kidal - home of the head of Ansar Dine, the main militant group in northern Mali - was bombed overnight by French forces, Malian officials say.

Once Kidal is taken, the first phase of the French operation will be over, our correspondent says.

The second phase will be to track down the militants to their desert hideouts, which could prove a much more difficult task, he adds.

Mr Fabius warned that the militants had adopted a "strategy of evasion and some of them could return in the north".

Col Burkhard told the BBC that Malian and other African troops - not French forces - would be in charge of holding on to cities after they had been recaptured from militant forces.

He said a contingent of African troops was expected to make their way soon to Mali from Niger's capital, Niamey.

Some troops from Chad have already entered Gao.

French officials said they now had 2,900 troops in Mali, backed by 2,700 African forces in Mali and neighbouring Chad.

The African contingent is expected to be bolstered to 7,900, including 2,200 troops promised by Chad, AP news agency quotes a Nigerian military official, Col Shehu Usman Abdulkadir, as saying.

At an AU meeting in Ethiopia on Sunday, which is continuing on Monday, outgoing AU chairman and Benin's President Thomas Boni Yayi criticised the slow response of African states to the Malian conflict.

France's intervention was something "we should have done a long time ago to defend a member country", he said.

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