Six charged with terror offences

25 September 2011 Last updated at 21:50 GMT Specialist police teams searched properties in the city Six men have been charged with terrorism offences, including a suspected suicide bombing campaign, West Midlands Police have said.

Four of the men were charged with preparing for an act of terrorism in the UK, and two with failing to disclose information.

It follows a police operation in Birmingham last week.

The six, all from Birmingham and aged between 25 and 32, will appear at West London Magistrates' Court on Monday.

Irfan Nasser, 30, of Sparkhill, and Irfan Khalid, 26, of Balsall Heath, are accused of preparing for an act of terrorism, including travelling to Pakistan for training in terrorism, making a martyrdom video and planning a bombing campaign.

They are accused of constructing a home-made explosive device for terrorist acts and stating an intention to be a suicide bomber.

Seventh man

Ashik Ali, 26, of Balsall Heath, is accused of preparing for an act of terrorism, which involved planning a bombing campaign, providing premises for the planning of terrorist attack and stating an intention to be a suicide bomber.

Rahin Ahmed, 25, of Moseley, is accused of helping fund terrorist acts.

Mohammed Rizwan, 32, and Bahader Ali, 28, both of Sparkbrook, are both charged with failing to disclose information about potential acts of terrorism.

It is alleged that between 29 July and 19 September this year, both had information which they knew may help prevent the commission of an act of terrorism but did not disclose the information.

Mr Ali is also charged with providing money for the purposes of terrorism.

The offences are alleged to have taken place between Christmas Day 2010 and 19 September this year.

A seventh man from the city, aged 20, who was arrested on Thursday, continues to be questioned. Officers have until 29 September to charge, release or apply for further time.

The men were arrested as part of an operation carried out by the West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit. The arrests were unarmed, pre-planned and intelligence-led.

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Tech City's silicon dreams

22 September 2011 Last updated at 08:14 GMT The Old Street area is home to many creative industries including art and fashion Can east London really rival Silicon Valley as a place to start technology businesses? Indeed, can it even rival the likes of Cambridge, home to giants like ARM and Autonomy, or Guildford, where some of Britain's best games firms have been born?

That's been the ambition since last November, when David Cameron set out his vision for what's become known as Tech City in a speech at the Tech Hub just off "Silicon Roundabout" - or Old Street as less digital folks know it.

I've been something of a sceptic because, while the area does have a healthy sprinkling of web and new media start-ups, it seems to lack some of the key components of a successful cluster.

There is no world-class university to feed out ideas and ambitious young scientists, no giant anchor company to spin off new firms, no community of angel investors.

But this week I met two men who did a pretty good job of selling the idea that Shoreditch, Stratford and the Olympic Park could soon be the cradle of the Googles and Facebooks of tomorrow.

Eric Van Der Kleij is a serial entrepreneur with a good record of building technology businesses in London, and is now running the Tech City Investment Organisation, appointed by Number 10.

He brought with him to our meeting Bob Schukai, a London-based American technology executive who's acting as an unpaid ambassador for Tech City in the US.

Both were bubbling with enthusiasm about the project, and keen to lay out the evidence that they were already making a difference.

The number of start-ups in the area had more than doubled from 200 to 500, they told me, making Tech City Europe's fastest growing cluster.

Well okay, but rapid growth from a small base does not necessarily mean much - look back at the dotcom bubble and remember all those start-ups claiming 1000% user growth in six months. And gone six months later.

But they were already making a difference to the policy environment.

Number 10, they assured me, was listening to their advice on tax breaks for entrepreneurs and on looser immigration rules for skilled individuals who might start companies here.

Olympic appeal

Yes, but such changes would apply across the UK - what was so special about east London?

Eric explained that there were two things: "One is it's an entirely natural cluster which has grown naturally without help, rather than a greenfield site - the other is the Olympics. We have the opportunity to spend £9bn on the most extraordinary infrastructure."

The new £1.45bn Westfield complex houses more than 300 shops and 70 restaurants

Already, he said, east London was benefiting from better connectivity - BT has upgraded its networks for the area, while Virgin is using it to trial its 1.5 Gb/s broadband service.

I mentioned that colleagues had found that it was just about impossible to make phone calls from the new Stratford Westfield shopping centre and they agreed that better mobile coverage was a priority.

But what was the plan to get business booming? This had four elements, Eric Van Der Kleij assured me, rattling through his plan.

Big corporates like Google and Cisco had committed to invest in the area, with ambitious plans to build research bases employing hundreds of engineers.

Tech City's job will be to make sure those plans are put into action,

Then there will be help for new businesses, including an Entrepreneurs' Festival in November where mentors will help start-ups to refine their business ideas.

Investors were being lured to the area, with showcases of what was on offer.

And finally there was work underway to develop and showcase the talent the area will need, building on an existing set of skills among the coders, designers, artists and new media types already populating the lofts and studios of east London.

I came back to the big question - why east London, not Cambridge, not Newcastle or Manchester?

"My job is to concentrate on London, then make sure it is connected to the rest of the UK," said Eric. "It's a younger cluster - but it has really good assets on its doorstep, customers in the City Of London, the advertising agencies, the post-production industry in Soho."

And Bob Schukai chimed in to underline how much easier it is to market London to American entrepreneurs and investors.

"London is the easiest city to sell around the world," he explained. "If you say pack up your bags and go to Cambridge, think what you're asking your poor lazy American to do - first they've got to get through Heathrow."

The evangelists for Tech City certainly deliver an impressive elevator pitch.

And, from existing businesses like the thriving games firm Moshi Monsters to new ones like Housebites, which promises to reinvent the takeaway, there are already examples of enterprise flowering in the noisy streets around Silicon Roundabout.

But is this already "the Digital Capital of Europe" or "the number one European location for IT and the creative industries", as Tech City's website proclaims?

I think the likes of Cambridge - or Munich, Tallinn and Helsinki - might say come back in 2015 and we'll see about that.

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Saudi women to get right to vote

25 September 2011 Last updated at 15:12 GMT Saudi women face severe restrictions in their working and personal lives Women in Saudi Arabia are to be given the right to vote and run in future municipal elections, King Abdullah has announced.

He said they would also have the right to be appointed to the consultative Shura Council.

The move was welcomed by activists who have called for greater rights for women in the kingdom, which enforces a strict version of Sunni Islamic law.

The changes will occur after municipal polls on Thursday, the king said.

King Abdullah announced the move in a speech at the opening of the new term of the Shura Council - the formal body advising the king, whose members are all appointed.

"Because we refuse to marginalise women in society in all roles that comply with sharia, we have decided, after deliberation with our senior clerics and others... to involve women in the Shura Council as members, starting from next term," he said.

"Women will be able to run as candidates in the municipal election and will even have a right to vote."

Cautious reformer Continue reading the main story Emily Buchanan BBC world affairs correspondent

Saudi Arabia is a conservative society which has been inching towards reform under the leadership of King Abdullah, himself a reformist.

About 10 years ago the king said women should be central to the Saudi economy. Since then, change has been gradual for fear of a religious backlash.

Steps have been taken to reduce segregation and give more respect to women. Now, allowing women to stand and vote in municipal elections is a big step towards political reform, even though the municipal councils have very little power.

The right for women to join the all- male Shura Council could turn out to be even more significant as it is the most influential political body in the country.

The BBC's world affairs correspondent Emily Buchanan says it is an extraordinary development for women in Saudi Arabia, who are not allowed to drive, or to leave the country unaccompanied.

She says there has been a big debate about the role of women in the kingdom and, although not everyone will welcome the decision, such a reform will ease some of the tension that has been growing over the issue.

Saudi writer Nimah Ismail Nawwab told the BBC: "This is something we have long waited for and long worked towards."

She said activists had been campaigning for 20 years on driving, guardianship and voting issues.

Another campaigner, Wajeha al-Huwaider, said the king's announcement was "great news".

"Now it is time to remove other barriers like not allowing women to drive cars and not being able to function, to live a normal life without male guardians," she told Reuters news agency.

Correspondents say King Abdullah has been cautiously pressing for political reforms, but in a country where conservative clerics and some members of the royal family resist change, liberalisation has been very gradual.

In May more than 60 intellectuals called for a boycott of Thursday's ballot saying "municipal councils lack the authority to effectively carry out their role".

Municipal elections are the only public polls in Saudi Arabia.

More than 5,000 men will compete in municipal elections on Thursday - the second-ever in the kingdom - to fill half the seats in local councils. The other half are appointed by the government.

The next municipal elections are due in four years' time.

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AUDIO: 'No short cuts' for Greek economy

Greece remains in the front line of the turmoil in the world economy. US treasury secretary Timothy Geithner spoke to Martin Wolf for a forthcoming Radio 4 series, sharing his opinion on the crisis in the eurozone.

And the Greek minister in charge international economic relations, Constantine Papadopolos, assesses the situation in his country.

Get in touch with Today via email , Twitter or Facebook or text us on 84844.

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BBC News website wins top award

25 September 2011 Last updated at 06:09 GMT Giles Wilson and Bella Hurrell, from the features team, accepted the award The BBC News website has won an international award for general excellence in online journalism.

The site won the Online Journalism Award for a large website beating competition from the New York Times, Washington Post and Al-Jazeera English.

Accepting the award in Boston, features editor Giles Wilson said it was "fantastic recognition" for the hard work of all involved in the site.

Zeit Online, Flipboard and the Washington Post also won awards.

The BBC News website was praised by the judges in a posting on Twitter, reading: "The standard bearer, pushing the whole field forward. Strong in leveraging tech for journalism."

Editor Steve Herrmann said: "The award is brilliant news - it comes in the year following a major revamp of the news site, including a complete redesign. It's also been a year of huge news stories and we have been able to be increasingly effective at showcasing all the BBC's newsgathering potential and expertise on the site.

"We also launched our North America edition a year ago, and have just announced a further investment in Washington, to run an international edition of our popular Magazine section, with the backing of BBC Worldwide, the BBC's commercial arm, which funds our services internationally."

'Excellent work'

The awards were launched in 2000 and are administered by the Online News Association, in partnership with the University of Miami's School of Communication.

They seek to recognise excellence in digital journalism and focus on independent, community, nonprofit, major media and international news sites.

The Los Angeles Times and Pro Publica each won $2,500 and the Gannett Foundation Award for Innovative Investigative Journalism for investigations about corruption in a small California town and the high cost of kidney dialysis in the US respectively.

Online Journalism Association chairman Anthony Moor said: "What's most gratifying is to see the proliferation of quality work from next-generation digital journalists.

"While there is justifiable concern about the fate of numerous long-established newsrooms, there's a healthy amount of excellent work coming from a new class of publications that don't rely on broadcast or print to inform the public."

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Fresh attack on pro-Gaddafi city

25 September 2011 Last updated at 14:52 GMT Alastair Leithead says anti-Gaddafi fighters have made a "major breakthrough"

Libya's interim government forces are renewing their attack on Sirte, one of the last pro-Gaddafi strongholds.

National Transitional Council (NTC) fighters have surrounded the city and Nato warplanes are reported to be blasting targets inside.

It comes a day after NTC troops launched a surprise assault on the birthplace of the ousted Libyan leader, taking them close to the city centre.

Meanwhile in Tripoli, Libyan officials say they have found a mass grave.

The site is believed to contain the remains 1,270 people killed by Col Gaddafi's security forces in a massacre at Abu Salim prison in 1996.

And in the southern town of Ghadames, on the border with Algeria, NTC soldiers repelled an attack by around 100 pro-Gaddafi forces and Algerian and tribal "mercenaries", officials said.

At least eight NTC soldiers were reportedly killed in the attack. Military spokesman Ahmed Bani told a news conference they had information the attackers were related to Col Gaddafi's son Khamis.

'Cautious advance'

Troops were reported to be setting up new roadblocks and checkpoint, posting snipers at various key points and cleaning their guns in preparation for a final assault on Sirte.

Nato planes could be heard buzzing overhead. The alliance confirmed it carried out several sorties on Saturday around Sirte and said it had hit several military targets.

Fighter Ahmed Mohammed Tajuri in the west of the city told AFP they had been ordered to leave downtown Sirte on Saturday evening "because Nato has a mission to do there", without giving more details.

One fighter on the east of the city told the AFP news agency that they had been told by their commanders to keep their guns ready.

"We expect fierce urban battle once we fully enter Sirte," Maatiz Saad said.

The BBC's Alastair Leithead, with the anti-Gaddafi forces in the east of Sirte, said the troops are advancing steadily and cautiously towards Sirte.

They appear to be intent on taking and holding the farms and dusty villages on either side of the main coastal road - making sure there are no pro-Gaddafi forces remaining to call in rockets or slow the main advance further, he says.

Our correspondent has seen a number of civilians fleeing from Sirte who are clearly shaken and nervous, not knowing if the NTC troops have come to liberate or persecute them. Some appear to be unaware that Tripoli fell more than a month ago.

NTC fighters tried to push into Sirte last weekend but were driven back by pro-Gaddafi forces entrenched in the city.

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Booker titles are 'best-selling'

23 September 2011 Last updated at 12:33 GMT The six hopefuls have had a sales boost since they made the shortlist The shortlist for this year's Booker Prize has enjoyed the best sales boost since the announcement of the six contenders, new figures reveal.

Some 37,500 copies of the books have been sold since the shortlist was revealed on 6 September, more than double the previous record set in 2009.

Snowdrops by AD Miller is the biggest seller so far, followed by Jamrach's Menagerie by Carol Birch.

The prize winner will be revealed at a ceremony in London on 18 October.

The successful author will walk away with a cheque for £50,000 and is likely to see a considerable sales increase after the win.

Price is thought to be a contributing factor in the current sales boost with the shortlisted titles available for less than £8 each, most in paperback.

Julian Barnes rates third in post-shortlist sales with his novel The Sense of an Ending.

But the author may be considered a leading contender to lift the prize, having been shortlisted for it on three previous occasions.

Stephen Kelman's Pigeon English, The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt and Esi Edugyan's Half Blood Blues make up the second half of the shortlist sales list.

Miller is at number one with 11,800 sales following the announcement, with Edugyan registering 2,800 in sixth spot.

It is thought that Miller is also enjoying a boost in fortunes due after featuring on Richard and Judy's WH Smith book club picks.

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'Service charge gripes 'up 46%'

23 September 2011 Last updated at 23:01 GMT By Brian Milligan Business reporter, BBC News Some complaints have been made about one-off charges of thousands of pounds Flat-owners' complaints about service charges have risen by 46% in two years to 7,600, figures show.

They queried the amount they were being asked to pay for maintenance and repairs, the Leasehold Advisory Service for England and Wales said.

In some cases flat-owners have been asked for payments of tens of thousands of pounds by those who manage the blocks they live in.

But an agents' association said actual numbers of complaints remained low.

'Frustration'

Rod Campbell, a former film stuntman from Zimbabwe, lives in a block of flats in Worthing in West Sussex.

He and the other 44 leaseholders have been told to pay £11,000 each to cover recent repairs. This included painting and installing new railings.

"The people here are feeling the heat and they are very frustrated," he said.

"To find that sort of money, in a one-off payment? Pretty much impossible."

Rod Campbell said that residents were feeling the financial pinch

The managing agents have justified the charges to residents by telling them in a letter that they are trying to "push for a better future".

There are 2.5 million leaseholders across England and Wales.

That refers to people who own their own flat, but who are obliged to pay maintenance and service charges to the owner of the freehold.

The flats can be part of a block, or an individual house.

Just over 7,600 queries or complaints about one-off charges have been recorded in the last year, according to the Leasehold Advisory Service. That is a 46% increase over two years.

Anthony Essien, chief executive of the service, puts that down to the fact that more people are worried about their finances in tougher economic times.

But he also said that some managing agents could be overcharging flat-owners.

"There must be, on occasion, some poor behaviour," he said. "It happens."

Overall he believed that the situation was not as bad as in the mid-1990s.

"However that does not mean that there are not mistakes made, and overcharging."

'Staggering'

Those who own flats previously owned by local authorities can be in an even tougher situation than Rod Campbell.

Continue reading the main story

A lot of people do not understand what they are paying for and what they are getting”

End Quote Steve O'Connell Greater London Authority inquiry leader On the Warwick Estate in West London, flat-owners are being charged up to £35,000 each for repairs.

In some cases that could be more than they actually paid for the flats in the first place.

Westminster Council justifies the charge by saying that no repairs had been done to the tower blocks since the 1950s.

They have had new lifts, windows and cladding installed.

A spokesperson said the value of the individual flats was likely to increase as a result of the improvements.

But Steve O'Connell, who is leading an inquiry into maintenance charges for the Greater London Authority, is not impressed.

"£35,000 is a staggering amount," he said.

Any recommendations his committee makes before the end of the year could be applied across the country.

"There are a lot of unhappy people out there, and a lot of people who do not understand what they are paying for and what they are getting. I hope we can help them," he said.

Growth

In the early part of this decade, half the homes being developed were flats, as a result of the property boom. That is much higher than the long-term trend.

There are now twice as many leaseholders in England and Wales than there used to be.

David Hewett, head of the Association of Residential Managing Agents, believes that is one reason for the increase in complaints.

"We have got to get this into perspective," he said.

"That is 7,000 complaints for 2.5 million flat-owners."

Like Anthony Essien, he also believes people are becoming more money conscious in difficult economic times, so are doing all they can to reduce costs.

Rights

Under the 1985 Landlord and Tenant Act, leaseholders have the right to examine any receipts for maintenance work.

That work has to be deemed "reasonable".

If not, leaseholders can take their managing agents to a Leasehold Valuation Tribunal.

But, despite that safeguard, some in the industry are highly concerned that the whole business of property management remains unregulated.

However, countries like France and Australia take a very different view. They have a system whereby property managers are licensed.

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French left captures upper house

25 September 2011 Last updated at 21:48 GMT The French Socialists are savouring their historic victory over the conservatives French President Nicolas Sarkozy's conservative government has lost its majority in the Senate for the first time in recent French history.

The Socialist Party and its Communist and Green allies have won enough seats to gain control of the upper house.

Their victory comes just seven months before the country's presidential election in April.

Right-wing parties have controlled the Senate since the Fifth Republic was founded in 1958.

Early results from the indirect elections showed left-wing candidates took at least 23 seats from the governing conservative party, giving them an absolute majority.

"The 25th of September, 2011, will go down in history," Jean-Pierre Bel, head of the Socialist group in the Senate, said on French television.

"The results of this Senate election represent a real comeuppance for the right."

France's conservative Prime Minister Francois Fillon has said the right had suffered from its divisions and that the left had made a "strong breakthrough".

"The moment of truth will come next spring. The battle begins tonight," he said in a statement.

Of the 170 seats up for grabs in the election, Mr Sarkozy's centre-right UMP party had 147 seats out of a total 343 to the Socialist Party's 115 before Sunday's vote.

The number of seats in the upper house is being increased to 348 to reflect an increase in population.

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Man faces 'collar-bomb' charges

24 September 2011 Last updated at 06:53 GMT Mr Peters was arrested in the US state of Kentucky, and has now been extradited to Australia A man has been extradited to Australia to face charges over an alleged attempt to extort money by locking a teenage woman to a fake bomb.

Paul Douglas Peters, 50, arrived in Sydney on Saturday morning under guard on a flight from the US, where he was arrested in Kentucky in mid-August.

He was charged with kidnapping and other offences.

The charges stem from an alleged ordeal endured by 18-year-old Madeleine Pulver on 3 August.

A masked man is alleged to have entered her bedroom in a wealthy Sydney suburb as she studied, attaching a device he said was a bomb to her neck.

A police squad spent 10 hours removing the device, which was later found to contain no explosives.

Mr Peters, a successful international businessman, was later arrested in the US at the home of his ex-wife in Louisville, Kentucky. He did not fight the extradition, though his US lawyer has previously said he rejects the charges against him.

'Admiration'

Mr Peters did not attend a brief hearing at Parramotta Bail Court in Sydney, where charges of kidnapping, aggravated breaking and entering, and demanding money with menaces were filed against him.

He did not apply for bail and will remain in custody until his next hearing on 17 November.

Madeleine's father said she was now focused on studying for her final school exams

"I have great admiration for Madeleine Pulver and her family for the way they have dealt with this matter and what has been obviously a very traumatic time of their lives," Det Supt Luke Moore said on Saturday.

Det Supt Moore also thanked authorities in the United States for their efforts in finding and arresting Mr Peters.

"The job is far from done and the courts will now make their determination," Det Supt Moore told reporters in Sydney. "I am very pleased that we have been able to bring this matter to where we are today relatively swiftly."

Madeleine's father Bill - a businessman who has made millions from internet software - praised police for their work so far, adding that his daughter was focusing on studying for her final school exams.

"Maddie is a very strong young woman who I think is doing just a stellar job in the circumstances," he said, according to AFP news agency.

The Pulvers say they are mystified as to why they were targeted in the saga.

They say they have never met Mr Peters, though reports suggest he may once have worked for a company with links to the family.

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