Royal Mail seeks Christmas staff

19 September 2011 Last updated at 08:24 GMT Royal Mail is looking for 18,000 extra staff to help deliver the post this Christmas The Royal Mail is looking for tens of thousands of temporary workers to help with deliveries this Christmas.

It wants to hire 18,000 extra staff, 2,000 fewer than last year, partly because of a fall in postal volumes.

It says temporary positions across a variety of shifts will be available between mid November and early January 2012, with the peak of the extra temporary work in December.

The seasonal posts will boost Royal Mail's staff of 130,000 by 14%.

The 18,000 people will work in mail and distribution centres across the UK, sorting Christmas cards and packets.

The jobs will include 3,000 in the Midlands, 2,000 each in Scotland, the South West, Thames Valley, the North East and the South East, 1,500 each in the North West and East Anglia, 1,000 in Wales and 400 in Northern Ireland.

Last year, more than 70,000 people applied to work for Royal Mail over the Christmas period.

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Libya seeks arms against Gaddafi

14 September 2011 Last updated at 20:19 GMT Mustafa Abdul Jalil says he believes Col Gaddafi is planning attacks

The head of Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC) has appealed for weapons as NTC forces fight to capture parts of the country still loyal to Col Muammar Gaddafi.

Mustafa Abdul Jalil told the BBC that the ousted leader was in southern Libya and planning revenge attacks.

A written message attributed to Col Gaddafi appealed to the UN to stop "crimes" against his birthplace Sirte.

Meanwhile, French President Nicolas Sarkozy will visit Tripoli on Thursday.

"We say to the leaders coming tomorrow that they will be safe," Mr Abdul Jalil said. He did not specify which other foreign leaders might be accompanying President Sarkozy.

However, French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy, who championed the international intervention in Libya, will be joining the visit to Tripoli.

Earlier, the US said it was encouraged by the increasing control the NTC was exercising over security forces in the country.

'Fierce battles'

Gaddafi loyalists still control four areas, including Sirte on the Mediterranean coast, and Bani Walid, south-east of the capital Tripoli, as well as Jufra and Sabha.

Mr Abdul Jalil said many pro-Gaddafi forces had fled to Sabha in the southern desert.

"There will be fierce battles in Sabha with equipment that we do not yet have, and we ask for more equipment to retake these places," said Mr Abdul Jalil.

He said Col Gaddafi had possession of "all the gold" and would be planning attacks on cities, oil fields and power plants.

Col Gaddafi has previously said he would rather die than flee Libya.

NTC officials say members of the former leader's inner circle took gold and cash with them when they fled south across the border to Niger last week.

Mr Abdul Jalil was speaking in his first BBC interview since moving to Tripoli at the weekend from the anti-Gaddafi stronghold of Benghazi.

He confirmed that the NTC would not move the whole of its administration to Tripoli until the last pockets of pro-Gaddafi resistance had been captured.

Earlier, he held talks with senior US envoy Jeffrey Feltman, who pledged Washington's support for the NTC and said the US would reopen its embassy in the capital as soon as possible.

"We remain encouraged by growing command and control over security and police forces," said Mr Feltman, the assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs.

Mr Feltman said the US was working with Libya on the control of conventional weapons such as shoulder-fired missiles.

The Americans were also talking to the Libyans about the risk from non-conventional weapons such as mustard agent and toxic chemical precursors, he said.

These had in the past been accounted for by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Warfare.

Meanwhile, a Syrian TV channel sympathetic to Col Gaddafi has broadcast a message purporting to be from the fugitive leader.

"Terrorism and destruction exercised by Nato on the Sirte area is beyond description and has no match in past history of wars," said the written message, which was read out by a presenter.

"You must bear your international responsibility and intervene immediately to stop this crime."

The presenter said the letter had been signed: "Muammar Gaddafi, the leader of the revolution."

Nato has been carrying out air strikes under a mandate from two UN resolutions to protect Libyan civilians.

At least 36 members of Col Gaddafi's inner circle, including relatives and generals, have fled to neighbouring Algeria and Niger since Tripoli fell to NTC forces last month.

With roads to Tunisia, Egypt, Chad and Sudan largely controlled by anti-Gaddafi forces, Niger has been used as an exit route by Gaddafi loyalists - including his son Saadi

Anti-Gaddafi fighters say they have captured the northern half of Bani Walid but have struggled to push further.

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Bill Richardson seeks release of American in Cuba

HAVANA — Former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson arrived in Cuba on Wednesday to seek the freedom of a U.S. government subcontractor sentenced to 15 years in prison for bringing communications equipment to the island illegally.

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It was the first sign that intensifying calls for Maryland-native Alan Gross' release might bear fruit after months of false hopes and bitter disappointment that have overwhelmed efforts at improved relations between the two Cold War enemies.

A lawyer for Gross said Richardson made the trip at the invitation of the Cuban government, though Richardson himself would not confirm that, nor say what he hoped to accomplish on the trip.

"I don't have any comment," he told The Associated Press at the capital's Nacional Hotel. "Perhaps at the end of my stay."

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the Obama administration was aware of the trip and was in contact with Richardson.

"While Gov. Richardson is traveling as a private citizen, we certainly support his efforts to obtain Alan Gross' release," she said.

Gross has been jailed since his arrest in December 2009. Cuba says he was distributing satellite telephones and other communications equipment that are illegal to use without authorization. It has also called the USAID-funded democracy program that he was on a thinly veiled attempt at overthrowing the government

Gross has said that he was only trying to help Cuba's tiny Jewish community improve Internet access, and that he had no desire to offend. In court testimony from March that was released earlier this week by his own lawyer, Gross described himself as a "trusting fool."

"I was duped. I was used. And my family and I have paid dearly for this," Gross told the court.

The court was apparently unmoved, convicting him of crimes against the Cuban state. The decision was later upheld by the nation's Supreme Court, leaving the American with no legal recourse.

That has led to growing appeals for Gross' release on humanitarian grounds. Those who have met and spoken with him say Gross has lost 100 pounds while in custody, and both his elderly mother and adult daughter are suffering from cancer, among other hardships the family has endured.

Richardson was last in Havana in August, when he met with Cuba's foreign minister and appealed for Gross's release. A former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Richardson has experience with winning prisoner releases. As a congressman in 1996, he secured the liberation of three island political prisoners during talks with Fidel Castro in Havana.

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter also raised Gross' case at the highest levels of government during a trip to Havana in March. The former president was received warmly by Fidel and Raul Castro and was even allowed to talk with Gross in jail, but he left empty handed.

Even before Gross was convicted, a senior State Department official said in January that she had received assurances from the Cuban government that he would soon be freed on humanitarian grounds. But optimism faded in recent months, as Cuban prosecutors sought and then won a stiff jail sentence against the American.

Gross' lawyer, Peter J. Kahn, said he welcomed Richardson's latest visit, which he said was undertaken at the invitation of Cuban authorities. He said he hoped it would lead to his client's freedom.

"We welcome any and all dialogue that ultimately will result in Alan's release," Kahn said in a statement on behalf of Gross' family. "We are grateful to Gov. Richardson for his continued efforts. We hope that the governor and Cuban authorities are able to find common ground that will allow us to be reunited as a family."

However, two senior Cuban officials said they were unaware of the trip.

"I know nothing about it," Parliament Chief Ricardo Alarcon, normally a leading voice on issues concerning the United States, told the AP.

Josefina Vidal, the Cuban Foreign Ministry's director of North American affairs, also said she had no information.

"I'm not up on that," she said.

___

Associated Press reporters Bradley Klapper in Washington and Anne-Maria Garcia in Havana contributed to this report.

___

Paul Haven can be reached at www.twitter.com/paulhaven

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Startup Seeks to Be Online Destination for World’s Best Photography

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Sony insurer seeks hack opt-out

The PlayStation Network was shut down for weeks following the data theft 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 worldwide for more than a month while Sony reviewed its security procedures.

Claim game

Zurich American Insurance has now gone to court in New York seeking a declaration that it does not have to help Sony with current or future legal action related to the data breach.

Legal papers filed by Zurich reveal that 55 separate class action lawsuits are pending in the US because of the breach.

Also underway are investigations by state and federal regulators that could also end-up before the courts.

Sony has made claims on several of its insurance policies, including one with Zurich, to help pay its legal bills and provide compensation.

However, Zurich argues that the policy it set up for Sony does not cover the part of the business that suffered the breach or the sort of damage the theft caused.

Specific clauses in the policy also rule out Zurich providing cover, it said.

Sony declined to comment because the matter is the subject of pending litigation.

In financial statements, Sony said it expected costs for the breach to top 14bn yen (£109m) this year. The figure does not include any costs for compensating customers.

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