http://news.uk.msn.comMSN UK News - Latest UK and World News©2007en5Newshttp://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8273872http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8273872Aid agencies are stepping up their relief efforts to help those caught in the devastation wrought by the Burma cyclone.Some members of the Disasters Emergency Committee, a coalition of charities, have workers on the ground and have been able to begin handing out aid.Fri, 09 May 2008 15:57:26 GMThttp://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8270734http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8270734Lenders have come under pressure to do more for struggling homeowners after the number of people threatened with losing their homes rose to its highest level for 16 years.Government data showed a total of 27,530 mortgage repossession orders were made during the first three months of 2008, up 17% from the same period a year ago.Fri, 09 May 2008 15:57:26 GMThttp://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8271762http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8271762Government staff have been sending out highly sensitive data in packages that include the passwords.The errors at the Department for Work and Pensions "defeat the purpose" of tighter security rules brought in after last year's data loss scandals, according to an internal email.Fri, 09 May 2008 15:57:26 GMThttp://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8272534http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8272534Two teenagers have been given life sentences for the murder of a schoolboy.They were part of a gang which chased 16-year-old Kodjo Yenga shouting "kill him, kill him".Fri, 09 May 2008 15:57:26 GMThttp://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8272666http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8272666The BBC failed to pay £106,000 to charity from phone votes in over 20 programmes, including last year's UK Eurovision final, it said.In the case of Eurovision: Making Your Mind Up 2007, a presenter mistakenly told viewers to vote when phone lines had not yet opened.Fri, 09 May 2008 15:57:26 GMThttp://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8260716http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8260716The house at the centre of a mystery explosion was the target of a vandalism attack hours earlier when a purple liquid was poured through the letterbox, police have said.The incident happened about 10 hours before the property in Harrow, north London, was levelled in the blast.Fri, 09 May 2008 15:57:26 GMThttp://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8271760http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8271760British Airways will start transferring its Heathrow long-haul flights to the ill-starred new Terminal 5 (T5) on June 5.BA and Heathrow operator BAA said eight long-haul flights, including services to New York, will move from Terminal 4 to T5 on that day.Fri, 09 May 2008 15:57:26 GMThttp://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8273936http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8273936A Filipino man has lost his right to remain in Britain - because his wife was killed by an NHS blunder.Lawyers for Arnel Cabrera, 39, have confirmed the Home Office has refused his application to stay in the UK.Fri, 09 May 2008 15:57:26 GMThttp://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8250349http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8250349Barrister Mark Saunders was hit at least five times by police marksmen during a shoot-out at his home, an inquest has heard.The divorce specialist was killed after holing himself up in his £2.2 million London flat armed with his shotgun on Tuesday night.Fri, 09 May 2008 15:57:26 GMThttp://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8274575http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8274575A career conwoman who poisoned her husband with rat killer and anti-depressants has been given an indeterminate prison sentence.Heather Mook, 58, tricked her husband John into taking the tablets and rat poison in an attempt to confuse him while she fleeced his mother of £43,000.Fri, 09 May 2008 15:57:26 GMThttp://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8269211http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8269211Boris Johnson, London's new Conservative mayor, has handed his New York counterpart Michael Bloomberg a novelty shirt of the London Underground, as the pair met to discuss the challenges of running a world class city.The two mayors briefly took in the view from the balcony of City Hall before returning inside to exchange novelty gifts.Fri, 09 May 2008 15:57:26 GMThttp://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8268666http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8268666An opinion poll showing Labour is less popular than ever will heap further pressure on Gordon Brown as he seeks to recover from last week's local election mauling.The YouGov poll for The Sun put the Prime Minister's party on just 23% - its lowest score since records began in the 1930s and a massive 26 points behind the Tories.Fri, 09 May 2008 15:57:26 GMThttp://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8267692http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8267692Ministers are to face fresh calls to change their anti-terror strategy after a preacher once dubbed "Osama bin Laden's right-hand man in Europe" was granted bail.Abu Qatada, who last month defeated the Government's efforts to deport him to Jordan, will be released from prison within weeks but subjected to a 22-hour curfew.Fri, 09 May 2008 15:57:26 GMThttp://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8271907http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8271907A bat found injured in Surrey has tested positive for a strain of rabies, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said.The Daubenton's bat was found last August in Bushy Park, by a member of the public and passed to experienced bat handlers to be looked after.Fri, 09 May 2008 15:57:26 GMThttp://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8269734http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8269734The Government has made five pledges to calm fears about an overhaul of the way the NHS provides health services.Health Minister Lord Darzi promised that any changes will benefit patients and be based on clinical evidence.Fri, 09 May 2008 15:57:26 GMThttp://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8262380http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8262380The Foreign Office is urgently trying to track down "a small number" of British nationals who are among the tens of thousands of people still unaccounted for in cyclone-hit Burma.The long-term residents in the secretive south-east Asian state have failed to make contact with friends or family in the UK since the disaster struck.Fri, 09 May 2008 15:57:26 GMThttp://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8269212http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8269212Traffic jams on Britain's major roads have got worse despite a Government pledge to ease congestion.The Times newspaper said official figures showed the average motorist now spent an extra 10 seconds at a standstill for every 10 miles on 100 key routes.Fri, 09 May 2008 15:57:26 GMThttp://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8269967http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8269967Chef Gordon Ramsay has called for legislation to ban restaurants from selling fruit and vegetables which are out of season.Hefty fines should be given to eateries which flout the rule, he said in an interview.Fri, 09 May 2008 15:57:26 GMThttp://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8268995http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8268995Families facing having their house repossessed because of the credit crunch will get free legal help to avoid losing their homes, the Government has announced.Housing Minister Caroline Flint said the move was needed to prepare for mortgage difficulties when fixed-rate deals ended, leaving borrowers facing a payment hike.Fri, 09 May 2008 15:57:26 GMThttp://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8268994http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8268994The Government has been condemned by a leading charity for its treatment of the elderly.Figures revealed by Help The Aged show that almost two-thirds of the population believes the Government does not take seriously pensioners' needs, and that this attitude has fuelled a sense of fear and rejection in both the old and the young.Fri, 09 May 2008 15:57:26 GMThttp://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8269213http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8269213The number of homeless young people in England and Wales has fallen in the last three years, new figures show.But there was no drop in youth homelessness in Scotland and Northern Ireland.Fri, 09 May 2008 15:57:26 GMThttp://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8264355http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8264355Superstars Ant and Dec have handed back an award and ITV were hit with a record £5.67 million fine after details of a massive TV phone-in scam were made public.Sources close to the duo said they were "completely appalled" and they would be sending their award back to ITV.Fri, 09 May 2008 15:57:26 GMThttp://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8260899http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8260899The Government has been accused of "giving up" on Asbos after the latest official figures showed a sharp fall in the numbers being issued.Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said the decline reflected the success of early interventions - such as acceptable behaviour contracts and parenting orders - in "nipping problems in the bud".Fri, 09 May 2008 15:57:26 GMThttp://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8268664http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8268664Companies have launched a database which allows them to share details of employees accused of dishonesty at work.The National Staff Dismissal Register lets firms log details of staff caught stealing, committing fraud or damaging company property.Fri, 09 May 2008 15:57:26 GMThttp://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8266325http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8266325A teenager who was brain damaged when he was kicked in the head on a bouncy castle has won his damages action against the couple who hired it for their children's birthday party.Sam Harris, then 11, was hurt when a much taller and heavier 15-year-old caught the left side of his head with a heel while they were somersaulting on the castle in September 2005.Fri, 09 May 2008 15:57:26 GMThttp://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8267321http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8267321The father of a man stabbed to death outside a pub has described investigations into his son's murder as a "disaster" after a teenager branded in a poem as a killer was cleared of any wrong doing.Nathan Dixon, the 18-year-old named in poems displayed on lampposts and bus stops around Bath, was not responsible for the death of father-of-two Paul Kelly, a jury ruled.Fri, 09 May 2008 15:57:26 GMThttp://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8261695http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8261695Homeowners hoping for a back-to-back cut in borrowing costs have been left frustrated after the Bank of England kept interest rates at 5%.Members of the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) had been under pressure to make a fourth cut in six months following a flurry of poor economic news.Fri, 09 May 2008 15:57:26 GMThttp://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8263496http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8263496Four men accused of conspiring to support the banned terrorist Tamil Tigers organisation have been remanded in custody.Scotland Yard said the men are accused of possessing equipment including radios, computers and high-power magnets for terrorism.Fri, 09 May 2008 15:57:26 GMThttp://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8263860http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8263860The Royal Mail's profits have fallen by almost a third to £162 million, the lowest figure for five years. The letters business recorded a loss of £3 million because of a sharp decline in mail volumes as well as the impact of competition in the postal industry. It was the first loss of its kind for a number of years. Fri, 09 May 2008 15:57:26 GMThttp://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8261895http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8261895Justice Secretary Jack Straw is expected to receive a hostile reception when he addresses prison officers amid warnings of growing industrial unrest over pay. Mr Straw will deliver a speech to the annual conference of the Prison Officers' Association (POA) which has already supported calls for industrial action. Fri, 09 May 2008 15:57:26 GMThttp://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8260687http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8260687UK households are throwing out £10 billion-worth of edible food every year, a study shows.The average household throws out one-third of all food bought, wasting £420 each year or £610 for those with children, the Waste and Resources Action Programme (Wrap) said.Fri, 09 May 2008 15:57:26 GMThttp://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8260460http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8260460Foreign criminals could be working air-side at Britain's airports because of a loophole in vetting requirements.Since 2003 all staff who work in the "restricted zone" of terminals have had to undergo UK criminal records checks, but offences committed abroad are not covered. This means that the estimated "thousands" of foreigners who work airside at British airports may not have been fully vetted.Fri, 09 May 2008 15:57:26 GMThttp://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8260897http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8260897One of the architects of New Labour, Peter Mandelson, has warned that Gordon Brown risks losing power unless he identifies himself more clearly with the principles which won Tony Blair three General Elections.Mr Mandelson said that the scrapping of the 10p income tax rate was "a very big mistake" which breached the New Labour tenet that the Government should help the poorest and neediest in society.Fri, 09 May 2008 15:57:26 GMThttp://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8259235http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8259235Amy Winehouse has been released on bail after being questioned by police over alleged drug offences, Scotland Yard said. The singer left Limehouse police station in east London at 10.30pm after arriving by appointment at 1pm.Fri, 09 May 2008 15:57:26 GMThttp://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8260688http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8260688The Government is set to miss more than half the targets it has set on environmental issues since 1997, research has claimed.A study by centre-right think-tank Policy Exchange said 60% of green aims laid out by Labour have been missed, are unlikely to be achieved or are so vaguely worded as to make analysis of whether they've been met impossible.Fri, 09 May 2008 15:57:26 GMThttp://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8260772http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8260772The number of stillbirths is still not declining, with obesity, social deprivation and a mother's age possibly contributing to the lack of progress, a report has said.Over the last decade, the number of stillbirths in England, Wales and Northern Ireland has hardly changed.Fri, 09 May 2008 15:57:26 GMThttp://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8259135http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8259135A group of British aid agencies and charities has launched an "urgent" appeal to help victims of the Burma cyclone.The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) said the scale of the disaster meant the need for aid was "immediate and vast".Fri, 09 May 2008 15:57:26 GMThttp://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8256200http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8256200The Government has finally confirmed cannabis is being restored to Class B status - bluntly snubbing the views of its own experts.Home Secretary Jacqui Smith insisted the U-turn was necessary to safeguard "the future health of young people". She also unveiled a crackdown on cannabis "paraphernalia" such as pipes and even potentially posters that "glamorise" its use.Fri, 09 May 2008 15:57:26 GMThttp://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8257189http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8257189David Cameron has accused Gordon Brown of treating the public "like fools" after the Prime Minister claimed Scottish Labour Party leader Wendy Alexander had not called for a referendum on Scottish independence.The Tory leader wrote to Mr Brown calling on him to explain his comments at Prime Minister's Questions. Ms Alexander, meanwhile, was resisting calls to quit amid claims by rival parties that her position was "untenable" following Mr Brown's intervention in the Commons.Fri, 09 May 2008 15:57:26 GMThttp://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8258914http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8258914A council has said an award-winning garden was trashed after hundreds of people responded to a Facebook listing and took part in a mass water fight.Leeds City Council claim around 350 people armed with water pistols and buckets trashed the city's Millennium Square garden.Fri, 09 May 2008 15:57:26 GMThttp://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8258225http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8258225The head of Heathrow operator BAA has told MPs he was "not aware" in advance that there were likely to be problems with the airport's new Terminal 5 (T5).BAA chief executive Colin Matthews also told the House of Commons Transport Committee that 17 of T5's lifts were still not working - more than five weeks after the £4.3 billion facility's disastrous opening on March 27.Fri, 09 May 2008 15:57:26 GMThttp://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8259007http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8259007Prince William will be joining Royal Navy vessels patrolling the Caribbean in search of drug runners, it was reported.It was announced last year that the young royal would be joining the Navy on attachment in the summer.Fri, 09 May 2008 15:57:26 GMThttp://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8258343http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8258343Almost 1,000 jobs will be lost with the closure of a credit card call centre.Barclays is proposing to close the Goldfish call centre in Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire, with the loss of 900 jobs.Fri, 09 May 2008 15:57:26 GMThttp://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8255197http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8255197The brother of a British airman, one of 14 servicemen killed when a Nimrod spy plane crashed, has described hearing a recording of his sibling's last moments as "very traumatic".Families of those who died when the aircraft exploded mid-air heard for the first time a tape of the radio communications during the flight.Fri, 09 May 2008 15:57:26 GMThttp://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8258030http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8258030Eastern European immigrants to the UK have a higher employment rate than British citizens, a report reveals.An average 84% of workers from eight countries that joined the EU in 2004 have jobs - 9% higher than the UK-born average, according to Business for New Europe (BNE).Fri, 09 May 2008 15:57:26 GMThttp://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8254016http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8254016Defence giant BAE Systems has called for a full review of the controversially abandoned Serious Fraud Office inquiry into its massive arms deal with Saudi Arabia.Chairman Dick Olver said a fresh look at the evidence would show there was no chance of bringing a successful prosecution and that ending the probe had been the right decision.Fri, 09 May 2008 15:57:26 GMThttp://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8252273http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8252273Major changes to the driving test and the driver learning process, including a star-rating system for instructors, have been proposed by the Government. Aimed at reducing the high accident rate among young drivers, the proposals, which will now be consulted on, could see changes in place within two to three years. Fri, 09 May 2008 15:57:26 GMThttp://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8253398http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8253398A scheme which checks voice stress levels to catch benefit fraudsters is to be extended across the country under moves which could save £30 million a year.The Government will provide funding worth £1.5 million to treble the number of local authorities in Britain testing the technology from the current seven to 22.Fri, 09 May 2008 15:57:26 GMThttp://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8252275http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8252275Aid agencies in the UK are expected to launch a major appeal on behalf of the victims of the cyclone in Burma.As the death toll soared past 22,000, the Disasters Emergency Committee has been holding talks about launching an appeal similar to that in the aftermath of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.Fri, 09 May 2008 15:57:26 GMThttp://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8252276http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=8252276A 39-year-old Ipswich man has been arrested on suspicion of threatening to kill.Police marksmen and negotiators were called to reports of a man, thought to be armed, who had barricaded himself inside a flat in the Suffolk town.Fri, 09 May 2008 15:57:26 GMT