BSF official Tim Byles feared his phone was hacked" By Angela Harrison

A key figure in a school building programme in England feared his phone was being hacked during an outcry over the government's decision to scrap it.The government says "a senior education official" complained of "politically motivated" nuisance calls last July. The BBC understands that the official was Tim Byles, then the chief executive of the body running the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme. The government is not naming the official involved. It was in July last year that...

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UK cuts interest rate on Republic of Ireland loan

The UK has cut the rate of interest on the £3.26bn loan it gave to the Republic of Ireland last year.It comes after eurozone ministers agreed to reduce the rates Ireland, Greece and Portugal pay on their European Union-led bail-outs. The UK gave its loan to Ireland late last year, at the same time as the EU and International Monetary Fund agreed to support the country. The UK has trimmed the rate on the loan from 5.8% to 3.5%. This is broadly in line with the reduction in interest Ireland will...

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Swine flu jab 'narcolepsy risk'

A swine flu jab has been linked to rare cases of a sleeping disorder and should be the last line of protection for young people, European regulators say.The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said Pandemrix should only be given to children and teenagers at risk of H1N1 flu if other jabs are unavailable. More than six million doses of the vaccine have been given in the UK. Ten suspected cases of narcolepsy linked to the vaccine have been reported to the UK's drug regulator. Pandemrix, made by GlaxoSmithKline...

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India's BJP 'put pressure on anti-corruption judge'

India's main opposition BJP wanted the Karnataka chief minister's name dropped as a key suspect in a report on illegal mining, a former judge told the BBC.Judge Santosh Hegde, the state's anti-corruption chief, said he refused to bow to pressure from Dhananjay Kumar, a former BJP cabinet minister. Mr Kumar admits meeting Justice Hegde, but denies asking him to omit BJP Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa's name. Mr Yeddyurappa denies profiting from illegal mining. "So far they have not submitted...

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Indian army officers killed in Siachen fire

Two Indian army officers burned to death when their shelter caught fire in the disputed Siachen glacier area of the Himalayas, the army told the BBC.Two soldiers were injured when they tried to rescue the officers on Thursday night, an army spokesman said. An inquiry has been ordered into how the fire started, he added. Siachen borders the Pakistani- and Indian-administered portions of disputed Kashmir and is regarded as the world's highest battlefield. India believes that the glacier is of...

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A court in the Spanish capital Madrid has jailed Garikoitz Aspiazu, a former military leader of the Basque separatist group Eta, for 377 years.Aspiazu, arrested in France in 2008 and moved to Spain in May, was convicted of a role in the attempted assassination of a mayor in 2002. At the time of his arrest, the man who went by the alias "Txeroki" (Cherokee), was the most wanted Eta fugitive. More than 820 deaths have been blamed on Eta over 40 years. Aspiazu was convicted of involvement in a...

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Serbia extradites Goran Hadzic to Hague court

War crimes suspect Goran Hadzic has been flown from Serbia to face the UN court at The Hague.A police motorcade, sirens blaring, was earlier seen leaving the Belgrade jail where Mr Hadzic was being held. Before being taken to the airport, Mr Hadzic, 52, was allowed to see his sick mother in northern Serbia. Mr Hadzic led Serb separatist forces during Croatia's 1991-1995 war and was arrested on Wednesday after seven years on the run. The plane carrying Mr Hadzic has now landed in Rotterdam. Last...

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Derry police in 'sham wedding' arrests blunder

A Castlederg man has rejected an apology from the police after they interrupted his wedding on suspicion it was "a sham marriage". The police wrongly arrested Neil McIlwee and his pregnant fiancee, Yanan Sun, moments before the ceremony at the Guildhall in Londonderry on Tuesday. Chief Inspector John Burrows said the police had acted in good faith, but sometimes they got things wrong. Mr McIlwee said "sorry" would not make up for the distress caused. The couple were taken to a police station,...

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Angry Birds maker Rovio sued over app patents

Rovio, the Finnish maker of the Angry Birds game, is being sued by a licensing company for infringing its patents.Lodsys has said that Rovio and other developers violated its patents with games on Apple's iOS platform and Google's Android. Lodsys is embroiled in lawsuits with other big technology companies, including Apple. Rovio said it had not received any direct contact regarding the complaint. "As soon as we receive more information we will take appropriate action," a spokesperson said. Angry...

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Syrians defy crackdown to protest over Assad regime

Protesters appear to gather in Kusweh City. The BBC is unable to verify this footage.Tens of thousands of Syrians have again taken to the streets for Friday protests, in defiance of the massive crackdown against them.One human rights activist thought as many as 1.2 million people were taking part across the country. Security was tight in the capital Damascus, with checkpoints set up, communications cut and arrests made. There are reports of gunfire and tear gas being used against several demonstrations....

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Venezuela's Chavez undergoes chemotherapy in Cuba

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says he has completed the first course of chemotherapy in Cuba. Mr Chavez said he was now preparing for the second of various phases of the treatment. He was previously in Cuba in June, where he had a tumour removed. Before returning to the island for the chemotherapy on Saturday, he delegated some of his presidential powers to his ministers. That was the first such move from the Venezuelan president since he took office 12 years ago. But he has resisted opposition...

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China: Bus fire in Henan kills dozens

Chinese state TV shows images of the burnt out wreckage of the busA bus has caught fire on a highway in central China, killing at least 41 people on board, state media say.The Xinhua news agency reported that six passengers and the driver had escaped the inferno in Xinyang City, in the province of Henan. State television said that the bus had 35 sleeper berths, suggesting it had been overcrowded. The cause of the fire is not yet known, but state TV said the bus was also carrying hazardous goods. The...

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Kenya burns ivory in fight against poachers

Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki has set on fire nearly five tonnes of ivory worth $16m (£9.9m) to curb poaching. Mr Kibaki said the burning - only the third of its kind in Africa - showed the continent's determination to fight "criminal networks". The ivory was seized in Singapore and sent to Kenya where DNA tests showed it came from Malawi and Tanzania. The countries agreed earlier this year to jointly stop the trade, which conservationists say is increasing. At a ceremony in the Munyani region...

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Malawi anti-Mutharika protesters buried in Mzuzu

Eight anti-government protesters killed in Malawi have been buried in a mass grave after the authorities initially refused permission for the funerals.They were buried in the northern city of Mzuzu, where half of the deaths recorded during the two days of protests occurred. Western governments have condemned the violence, which has led to 18 deaths - many reportedly shot by police. Protesters say the government has caused Malawi's worst economic crisis. Prices have shot up, while there are shortages...

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Pilot whales die after Highland beaching

Fifteen whales have died and many others have become stranded at Kyle of Durness, on the north Highland coast.The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said the whales were believed to be from a pod of as many as 60. The long-finned pilot whales may have been hunting prey or had sought a place to rest. Rescuers trying to save the pod said the whales had perished when they stranded at low tide. About 35 beached as the water in the sea loch receded. Some 20 of them were refloated to deeper water...

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David Cameron condemns Norway attacks

Prime Minister David Cameron has said he was "outraged" at the attacks in Norway which have reportedly left at least 80 people dead.He said he has spoken to the country's PM Jens Stoltenberg to express the UK's condolences and offered assistance in tracking down the perpetrators. A bombing in Oslo severely damaged government offices and a gunman is said to have opened fire at a youth camp. Diplomats say they are checking whether any British nationals are affected. Around 250,000 British tourists...

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Bombardier supporters to march in Derby over train deal

Thousands of people are expected to demonstrate in Derby later in support of the UK's last train manufacturer.Bombardier plans to cut 1,400 jobs - just under half its workforce - after it missed out on a £1.4bn government contract for carriages. German firm Siemens will build carriages for the Thameslink route, prompting anger from unions. A poll of more than 25,000 adults for the Unite union showed 88% wanted the government to reconsider its decision. On Friday Bombardier UK's chairman Colin...

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Sunday Mirror phone-hacking claim revealed by Newsnight

Evidence of possible phone hacking at the Sunday Mirror newspaper has been found by the BBC's Newsnight.The programme spoke to a journalist who worked on the paper in the past decade who claimed to have witnessed routine phone hacking in the newsroom. The source said celebrities including actress Liz Hurley and footballer Rio Ferdinand were targeted. Trinity Mirror said its journalists work within the criminal law and Press Complaints Commission code of conduct. 'Dark arts' The source told...

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Stepping Hill Hospital: Nurse charged after deaths

A nurse has been charged by police investigating the deaths of five patients at a Stockport hospital. Rebecca Leighton, 27, is accused of six counts of causing damage with intent to endanger life or being reckless as to whether life was being endangered. The Crown Prosecution Service says she is alleged to have tampered with medical products, saline ampoules and saline bags at Stepping Hill Hospital. Ms Leighton is due to appear before Manchester magistrates on Saturday. The 27-year-old nurse,...

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DADT: Obama certifies gay military ban repeal

US President Barack has announced the ban on openly gay people serving in US military is to end on September 20.His certification on Friday of the repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) law comes seven months after it was overturned in the US Congress. The Pentagon had asked for time following the repeal to prepare troops for the arrival of openly gay comrades. Mr Obama's move affirmed the Pentagon had declared it was ready to accept openly gay troops. 'Served in silence' "I have...

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Anthony Sowell found guilty of murder of 11 women

A sex offender who lived among the remains of 11 dead women at his home in Cleveland in the US state of Ohio has been convicted of killing all of them.Anthony Sowell was found guilty of aggravated murder, kidnapping, tampering with evidence and abuse of a human corpse in the 11 deaths. The 51-year-old former US Marine could face the death penalty. The bodies were found after police went to arrest Sowell in October 2009 on a sexual assault allegation. He showed little emotion on Friday as the...

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'Eighty dead' in Norway shooting

At least 80 people died when a gunman opened fire at an island youth camp in Norway, hours after a bomb attack on the capital, Oslo, police say.Oslo police are questioning a 32-year-old Norwegian man in connection with Friday's attacks. The man was arrested on tiny Utoeya island outside Oslo, where police say he opened fire on teenagers. Earlier, the number of dead from the island shooting spree, which is among the world's most deadly, was put at 10. The Oslo bomb attack killed at least seven...

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Large Hadron Collider results excite scientists, By Paul Rincon

The Atlas experiment is one of two multi-purpose experiments at the LHC The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has picked up tantalising fluctuations which might - or might not - be hints of the sought-after Higgs boson particle.But scientists stress caution over these "excess events", because similar wrinkles have been detected before only to disappear after further analysis. Either way, if the sub-atomic particle exists it is running out of places to hide, says the head of the European Organization...

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Heatwave breaks records in parts of US and Canada

One New Yorker says being outside is like "sitting in a sauna all day long" A heatwave has baked eastern parts of the US and Canada, as temperatures on Friday surged to record-breaking highs in some parts.The mercury in Newark, New Jersey, reached 108F (42C), the highest ever recorded in the city. In Canada, an extreme heat alert remained in effect, a day after two dozen cities and towns broke their previous single-day heat records. At least 22 deaths have been blamed on the heat. Across...

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Republican House Speaker John Boehner quits debt talks

Republican House Speaker John Boehner has walked away from crunch debt ceiling talks at the White House with US President Barack Obama.Mr Obama said Mr Boehner had rejected an "extraordinarily fair deal" that would have included $650bn (£400bn) of cuts to entitlement programmes. The president said he had been willing to take "a lot of heat" from his party. Mr Boehner told a news conference afterwards that Mr Obama had "moved the goal posts" by demanding a tax hike. President Obama said he wanted...

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Mars rover aims for deep crater" By Jonathan Amos

Nasa's next Mars rover will be aimed at one of the planet's deepest craters.The MSL-Curiosity vehicle weighs almost a tonne and is the size of a Mini Cooper, and will carry instruments to study whether Mars had the conditions in the past to support microbial life. The US space agency has selected an equatorial depression called Gale Crater to investigate that question. The rover will launch from Florida in November and will arrive at the Red planet in August 2012. Gale Crater is about 155km in...

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Sony insurer seeks PlayStation Network hack opt-out

Sony faces a court battle over how it will pay for legal claims made in the wake of a massive data breach.One of the company's insurers has asked a judge to rule that it is not liable for losses related to the cyber attack. In April, Sony discovered that hackers had gained access to 77 million accounts on its PlayStation Network. The firm agreed to pay anyone who lost-out financially as a result of the incident, but it is still being sued by a number of users. PlayStation Network was shut down...

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Mohamed Bin Hammam expects Fifa to find him guilty

Suspended former Fifa presidential candidate Mohamed bin Hammam believes he is likely to be found guilty of bribery allegations.Fifa's ethics committee has begun a two-day hearing to rule on claims the Qatari tried to bribe Caribbean delegates to vote for him as president. "It seems likely that Fifa has already made its decision weeks ago," he wrote in a blog. "None of us should be surprised if a guilty verdict is returned." Bin Hammam, 62, pulled out of the presidential race in the wake of the...

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Phone hacking: PM says James Murdoch has 'questions to answer'

David Cameron says James Murdoch "clearly" needs to answer questions from MPs after his evidence on phone hacking was challenged. Labour's Tom Watson wants a police probe after the evidence was disputed by two ex-News of the World executives. The News International chairman had said he was not "aware" of an email suggesting hacking went wider than a "rogue" reporter at the firm's paper. But ex-NoW editor Colin Myler and legal manager Tom Crone said they told him. In a statement later, Mr Murdoch,...

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Deadly heatwave settles across US and Canada

One New Yorker says being outside is like "sitting in a sauna all day long" A punishing heatwave has settled over central and eastern parts of the US and Canada, pushing temperatures as high as 37C (99F) and causing up to 22 deaths.The US weather service warned of "dangerous" levels of heat and humidity creeping east on Friday, with no relief in eastern states until Sunday. As much as 50% of the US population was under a heat advisory, officials said. Meteorologists have put the temperatures...

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Greece aid package boosts stock markets

Shares have risen following the eurozone's agreement designed to resolve the Greek debt crisis.UK and French markets gained more than 1% in morning trading, before slipping slightly, while Japan's Nikkei closed up 1.2%. US stocks opened flat. Eurozone leaders agreed a new package worth 109bn euros ($155bn, £96.3bn). Private lenders will also be asked to contribute and, as a result, the Fitch ratings agency said it would consider Greece in "restricted default". 'Unthinkable' German Chancellor...

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