28 October 2010 Last updated at 13:57Share this page
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11644859" title="Post this story to Twitter">Twitter
- Share
Housing benefit: How does it work?
Quite a lot of paperwork is involved in claiming housing benefit
Politicians are debating the future of UK housing benefit, with many thousands of people potentially affected by any changes.
The rules will be set by government, but the benefit itself is administered by local councils.
So who is eligible and how does the benefit work?
And if a cap is introduced who would be hit?
Who is housing benefit aimed at?
Those who struggle to pay their rent because they have a low income are the target of housing benefit.
It does not matter if these people are earning a wage or not, but their income and their savings are relevant.
People can get help for many different types of accommodation, such as furnished or unfurnished flats, bedsits, rented houses or hostels or lodgings, as long as they pay rent to a landlord or landlady.
But they cannot get the benefit to buy a home, for mortgage payments, or for day-to-day living expenses.
Some service costs are covered by the benefit, but water and heating bills are not.
How do I know if I am eligible and how is it calculated?
This is quite complicated but there is help available from local councils.
Generally, those with total incomes below £16,000 a year can claim.
The amount they receive depends on various factors.
So, local authorities will calculate so-called eligible rent by considering income, age, the size of family and disabilities of people living in a council property. This means people must keep the council up to date with any change of circumstances.
Those who live in private accommodation have their benefit calculated through what is known as the Local Housing Allowance, which takes into account local rent levels every month. Exactly half of homes will have rent levels below the Local Housing Allowance rate and so could be paid for in full with housing benefit.
If the rent is lower than the Local Housing Allowance rate, then recipients can keep any excess benefit up to a maximum of £15 per week. If the rent is higher than the Local Housing Allowance rate, tenants will need to pay the difference.
Housing benefit is often connected with other benefits - many claim together with benefits such as Income Support - and it depends on income, as well as levels of savings and investments. For those not on other benefits, they can fill in a claim form.
An online benefits calculator can help estimate how much a claimant might be due.
Perhaps it is easier to say who does not get it?
Indeed. Those who have savings of more than £16,000 are not eligible.
Most full-time students, those who live in the home of a close relative, and asylum seekers are also blocked from the benefit.
Only one of a couple living together can claim. And single people aged under 25 can only get the benefit for a bedsit or a room in shared accommodation, although this is set to change to people aged under 35.
How is it paid?
Council tenants will have it paid straight into their rent accounts.
Private tenants will usually be paid by cheque or by direct debit into a bank or building society account.
Claims can be submitted 13 weeks before moving in, or 17 weeks for those aged 60 and over. Sometimes it can be backdated.
What are the proposals that have caused a political rumpus?
PROPOSED HOUSING BENEFIT CAP
- £250 for a one-bedroom property
- £290 for a two-bedroom property
- £340 for a three-bedroom property
- £400 for a four-bedroom property
The coalition government wants to put a cap on housing benefit, ranging from £250 a week for those in a one-bedroom property to £400 for those in a four-bedroom property.
Some 775,000 claimants could be affected by changes to the way local housing benefit levels are calculated.
At the moment, the Local Housing Allowance is based on the median average rent for an area, so half of private rents cost less and half cost more than housing benefit levels.
From next year it will be based on the 30th percentile of local rented accommodation, so only 30% of all rented property on the market will cost less and 70% will cost more than housing benefit payments. The government says this will drive down housing costs. Claimants would lose an average of £9 a week.
There are also plans for a 10% cut in housing benefit for anyone on jobseeker's allowance for more than a year.
Labour says thousands of people will be forced out of their homes.
London Mayor Boris Johnson is also concerned that the higher living costs of London will lead to residents of the capital being severely affected.
The Department of Communities and Local Government is to grant £10m from its homelessness budget to local councils' funds to ease the consequences of the change, in addition to £60m already allocated for a similar purpose.
Sunday, 31 October 2010
BBC News - Housing benefit: How does it work?
BBC News - Housing benefit cap to price London's poor away - Shelter
31 October 2010 Last updated at 03:59Share this page
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11660316" title="Post this story to Twitter">Twitter
- Share
Housing benefit cap to price London's poor away - Shelter
Housing benefit payments will be capped at £290 a week for a two-bedroom property
The majority of two-bedroom properties in London will be beyond the reach of housing benefit claimants once new limits on payments are introduced, according to charity Shelter.
It says a study, done by Cambridge University, shows that much of the capital, including many of the suburbs, will become "largely unaffordable".
The government has accused critics of its reforms of "scaremongering".
But Labour say they will force a vote in Parliament on the plans.
Under the proposals, housing benefit payments would be capped at a maximum of £400 a week, with an upper limit of £290 per week for a two-bedroom flat.
'Poverty and inequality'The Department of Work and Pensions says nearly two-thirds of housing benefit tenants will be no worse off, or will face a gap of £10 or less a week between their rent and their benefits.
However, official figures also suggest that one in 10 households will face shortfall of £30 or more a week.
Continue reading the main storyHOUSING BENEFIT CAP
- £250 for a one-bedroom property
- £290 for a two-bedroom property
- £340 for a three-bedroom property
- £400 for a four-bedroom property
Campbell Robb, chief executive of Shelter, said the study showed how reforms would "change the make-up of London" and would affect outer boroughs as well as those in the inner city.
"We are concerned this could mean tens of thousands of households forced from the centre, creating concentrations of poverty and inequality," he added.
This week, London Mayor Boris Johnson was criticised after he told a radio station he would "not accept any kind of Kosovo-style social cleansing of London" as a result of the reforms.
"I'll emphatically resist any attempt to recreate a London where the rich and poor cannot live together," he said.
Mr Johnson said he had been quoted out of context, but Business Secretary Vince Cable accused him of using "inflammatory language".
Prime Minister David Cameron said the government would still be "prepared to pay up to £20,000 a year" in housing benefit to families, adding: "I don't think it will be necessary for anybody to go without a home."
BBC News - UK's 'brightest and best' migrants take unskilled jobs
31 October 2010 Last updated at 04:57Share this page
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11647258" title="Post this story to Twitter">Twitter
- Share
UK's 'brightest and best' migrants take unskilled jobs
By Adrian Goldberg Presenter, 5 live Investigates
The UK Border Agency says a third of skilled migrants in the UK are working in unskilled jobs
"Unfortunately, I'm not getting the chance which I was expecting, that's why I'm here in a fast food restaurant.
"I want a desk job but unfortunately it's highly impossible for me.
"Most of my friends work in fast food restaurants because they are not getting [a job] they deserve from what they studied.
"That's why they are working as night-time security and sometimes they are working in food restaurants."
In between serving customers at a busy sandwich shop in London's West End, Sultana explains why she and her friends who came to Britain seeking to build a professional career have ended up with low-skilled work.
Continue reading the main storyREAD THE BORDER AGENCY REPORT
PDF download UK Border Agency: Points Based System Tier 1 Operational Assessment[152kb]
Most computers will open PDF documents automatically, but you may need Adobe Reader
Sultana, from Hyderabad in India, is an intelligent woman, with a Masters degree in business administration from a UK university, but in the current economic climate has found more lucrative avenues of employment closed to her.
She is also an unwitting player in a political row about the number of overseas workers taking unskilled jobs from their British counterparts at a time when unemployment is nudging 2.5m.
Tier system
The issue came into sharp focus this week when a report published by the UK Border Agency identified that almost a third of migrants, given priority admission because they are highly skilled, have ended up working in unskilled occupations.
Continue reading the main story“Start Quote
End Quote Damian Green Immigration ministerThose coming into the UK under the highly skilled migrant route should only be able to do highly skilled jobs - it should not be used as a means to enter the low-skilled jobs market.”
These workers are classified as Tier 1 under Britain's points-based immigration system introduced in 2008. This was designed to attract investors, entrepreneurs and well-qualified applicants such as surgeons or engineers - described by the then Labour government as "the brightest and best".
Overseas graduates from British universities are also classified as Tier 1, and can apply for a Post Study Work visa allowing them to remain in the country for up to two years after their course has finished.
Just under 19 000 Tier 1 visas were issued last year, of which more than half were issued to migrants from just three countries: India, Pakistan and Nigeria.
The UK Border Agency's survey, based on more than 1 000 respondents, suggests that 29% of are doing unskilled jobs.
The employment status of nearly half the survey sample was unclear - they failed to declare the specifics of their job, or whether they were actually employed at all - leaving just a quarter known to be working in highly-skilled occupations.
Immigration Minister Damian Green has also joined the fray, and in reaction to the UK Border Agency report he said:
"While it is important that low-skilled jobs are filled, there are hundreds of thousands of British people who could be doing them instead of a migrant.
"Those coming into the UK under the highly skilled migrant route should only be able to do highly skilled jobs - it should not be used as a means to enter the low-skilled jobs market.
"Investors and entrepreneurs aside, this report questions the value of this route into the UK, and the findings will play a key part in discussions on how the annual limit will be shaped."
'Shaky ground'
The left leaning think-tank, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) claims the data the Border Agency's study was based on is "weak" and questioned how representative it was because only those Tier 1 migrants also applying to bring in relatives to the UK were part of the sample.
Tim Finch, the IPPR's head of migration said: "Damian Green is on shaky ground in implying that highly-skilled migrants coming to the UK under Tier 1 are entering the low-skilled job market in significant numbers over a sustained time period.
"This looks very much like an attempt to justify a drastic reduction in Tier 1 visa numbers under the proposed cap. But excluding the 'brightest and the best' from the UK will not help the unemployed, and it could undermine the economic recovery."
The IPPR highlights the findings of the Migration Advisory Committee from December 2009 which found 70% of Tier 1 migrants were in skilled work, while only 20% were in unskilled work.
However, the 5 live Investigates programme spoke to a frontline immigration officer, based at Heathrow airport, who has long had suspicions about exploitation of the Tier 1 Visa system.
A frontline immigration officer told BBC 5 live that he thought the Tier 1 visa scheme is being abused
Speaking anonymously, he told the BBC: "The majority of Tier 1 migrants I see coming through fill out landing cards that say 'occupation: supermarket or security' - to me that is not a highly skilled job. It is a major abuse of the system as far as I'm concerned.
"Most of the genuinely skilled migrants come in via the Tier 2 points system, such as people in finance who have a sponsored job fixed before they arrive in the UK. These are people with skills that we need."
"We have two sections to the Tier 1 - the highly skilled side and the post study side, who have supposedly studied in the UK, for probably around 6 years.
"You ask [Tier 1 migrants] questions they're not able answer and they are evasive. Their English is often not good, which is not a good sign if they've supposedly been in the UK for some years already."
"We break it down from that, go forward on the education side, as we can only really touch that and try to prove that fraudulently obtained certificates were given to the Home Office to get the Tier 1 status."
Fraudulent entry
There are wider concerns that the Tier 1 Post Study Work route is being exploited by some migrants using bogus qualifications to obtain visas.
One high-profile case concerned Tariq ur-Rehman who obtained his visa using a fake post-graduate diploma he had bought from a London-based college.
Continue reading the main storyLISTEN TO THE FULL REPORT
Hear the full report on 5 live Investigates, on Sunday 24 October at 2100 BST on BBC Radio 5 live.
Earlier this year, the Special Immigration Appeals Commission ruled that he posed a 'serious and immediate threat to national security'.
Rehman denies being an Islamic extremist but did admit in evidence that he did not study for his diploma in business management.
Now political pressure is growing for more restrictions in this area. The Migration Advisory Committee has described the UK's Tier 1 Post Study Work route as "probably one of the most generous schemes of its type in the world".
While the government continues to discuss new caps on immigration, Sultana in the meantime will carry on serving her grateful customers.
This brainy young woman with an interest in marketing laments: "It's very disappointing at the moment for me", before regretfully turning away to butter another sandwich.
You can hear the full report on 5 live Investigates on Sunday, 31 October at 2100 BST on BBC Radio 5 live.
You can also listen again on the BBC iPlayer or by downloading the 5 live Investigates podcast.
Send your comments and stories to 5 live Investigates
At no time should you endanger yourself or others, take any unnecessary risks or infringe any laws. In most cases a selection of your comments will be published, displaying your name as you provide it and location unless you state otherwise. But your contact details will never be published.
BBC News - Dubai bomb was flown on passenger planes
31 October 2010 Last updated at 13:14Share this page
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11661496" title="Post this story to Twitter">Twitter
- Share
Dubai bomb was flown on passenger planes
The device had been placed in a cardboard box and posted to the US
One of the two bombs posted from Yemen last week was transported on two passenger planes before being seized in Dubai, Qatar Airways says.
The device was carried on a Qatar Airbus A320 from Yemen's capital Sanaa to Doha, the company told the BBC.
There it was transferred onto another Qatar Airways aircraft to Dubai, where it was seized by police.
The bomb contained the explosive, PETN, which is difficult to detect using normal airport security screening.
A second device was found at East Midlands Airport in the UK. Both bombs were hidden inside printer toner cartridges.
Until now it had been thought that both devices had been transported using cargo planes.
The US freight firms, UPS and FedEx, had been used to post the devices, which were addressed to synagogues in the US city of Chicago.
The British authorities says the bomb seized in central England was believed to have been designed to go off in mid-air.
Continue reading the main storyAnalysis
Gordon Corera Security correspondent, BBC News
AQAP is known to have been developing advanced and inventive bomb-making techniques.
It came close to killing the Saudi interior minister with one device and to bringing down an airliner on Christmas Day with another.
The exact way in which these devices were to be detonated is not clear. This is another sign of growing creativeness allied to ongoing ambition.
Attacking cargo planes has also long been anticipated as a potential tactic. Militant groups regularly look for any weak spots in security and aviation remains a prime target.
Qatar Airways was unable to confirm which type of passenger plane was used to fly the device on from Doha to Dubai, but said it would have been an A320, A321 or Boeing 777. The firm also runs one freight-only flight a week from Sanaa to Doha.
"Qatar Airways can confirm that a recent courier consignment was carried aboard one of its aircraft from Sanaa to Dubai, via Doha International Airport," said a statement on the airline's website.
"The carrier stated that, as per Chicago Convention, it is not the responsibility of the country in which the cargo transits to x-ray or inspect the cargo. This responsibility belongs to the country from where the consignment originates.
"Furthermore, the explosives discovered were of a sophisticated nature whereby they could not be detected by x-ray screening or trained sniffer dogs. The explosives were only discovered after an intelligence tip off."
'Same bomber'US officials have said the Saudi-born bomb-maker, Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri, is the prime suspect for constructing the devices.
He is believed to be one of the leading figures in al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), a regional offshoot of the militant network, and the organiser of a suicide attack by his brother last year on the Saudi intelligence chief, Prince Mohammed Bin Nayif. The prince survived the attack, in which PETN was also used.
Washington's top counter-terrorism adviser, John Brennan, said officials also believed the same person had constructed the printer bombs and the underpants bomb used in the failed attempt to blow up an airliner over the US on Christmas Day last year. AQAP said it was behind the latter attack.
"I think that the indications are right now based on forensic analysis that the individual responsible for putting these devices together is the same," he told ABC News.
He also said the US was re-examining the unexplained crash of a UPS cargo plane in Dubai in September to see if anything could be learnt.
Suspect questionedThe Yemeni authorities are questioning a student who is alleged to have posted the devices, and whose mobile phone number was reportedly left with the offices.
She has been named by human rights groups as Hanan al-Samawi, 22.
The authorities initially described her as a medical student, but later reports said she was studying computer engineering at the University of Sanaa and had no known links to Islamist militants.
"Her acquaintances tell me that she is a quiet student and there was no knowledge of her having involvement in any religious or political groups," her lawyer, Abdel Rahman Burman, told the Reuters news agency.
"I'm concerned the girl is a victim because it doesn't make sense that the person who would do this kind of operation would leave a picture of their ID and their phone number."
How the alerts were raised (all times GMT):
• Early hours of Friday morning: alert raised at East Midlands airport after suspect package found on UPS plane. Security cordon put in place, then lifted.
• 0900: suspect package found on FedEx plane in Dubai.
• 1300: security cordon reinstated at East Midlands airport, apparently after a second suspect device is found.
• 1700: FBI says two suspect packages were addressed to religious buildings in Chicago.
• 1835: Emirates Flight 201 from Yemen via Dubai lands at JFK airport, New York, escorted by US fighter jets. The plane is carrying a package from Yemen.
• 1845: FedEx in Dubai confirms it has confiscated a suspect package sent from Yemen and is suspending all shipments from Dubai.
• 1900: two other FedEx flights investigated after landing at Newark, New Jersey, and Philadelphia. Both receive the all-clear.
• 2330: BA flight from London to New York (JFK) met by US officials as a "precautionary measure".
BBC News - Istanbul suicide blast injures 22, including 10 police
31 October 2010 Last updated at 12:11Share this page
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11660795" title="Post this story to Twitter">Twitter
- Share
Istanbul suicide blast injures 22, including 10 police
The blast occurred near the independence monument in Taksim Square
A suicide bomb blast in the centre of Istanbul has injured 22 people, including 10 policemen.
Police say the bomber tried to board a police bus in Taksim Square. Twelve civilians were also hurt.
No group has said it carried out the attack, but a two-month-old ceasefire by Kurdish rebels was due to expire later on Sunday, says the BBC's Jonathan Head in Istanbul.
Police identified other bombs nearby and have been working to disable them.
Television pictures from Taksim Square showed body parts lying on the ground.
A large explosion was heard throughout central Istanbul just after 0900 GMT.
Past attacksThe explosion took place right next to the independence monument on Taksim Square, which is always crowded with people, our correspondent says.
There are usually squads of riot police posted at this part of the square, as it is often the site of demonstrations.
A police spokesman has said he believes they were the target of the explosion, which he said may have been caused by a suicide bomber.
Eyewitness Aris Virkas told the BBC that he was walking through Taksim Square when he heard the blast.
"I turned around and saw policemen with blood on their face and someone lying on the ground," he said. "People, including police, were running around in panic.
"There was a big bus with maybe 20 police officers: they ran out of the bus, trying to find out what's going on.
"After a couple of minutes, they started asking people to step back. I think I think I heard a few gunshots afterwards, but I can't be certain it wasn't something else."
Our correspondent says suspicion is likely to fall on Kurdish separatist factions, or groups linked to al-Qaeda.
The Kurdish separatist PKK party has carried out bomb attacks in Istanbul in the past, as have extreme left-wing and Islamist groups.
The Kurdish Workers' Party, the PKK, went on ceasefire two months ago but that is due to run out on Sunday night.
However, PKK leaders have said recently that they will no longer target civilians.
Our correspondent says al-Qaeda-linked groups are small but active in Turkey, and police make frequent arrests. More than 100 suspected al-Qaeda militants have been arrested so far this year.
A group with ties to al-Qaeda carried out the bombing of the British consulate in Istanbul in 2003 in which 28 people died.
Are you in the area? Did you witness the explosion? Send us your experiences using the form below.
At no time should you endanger yourself or others, take any unnecessary risks or infringe any laws. In most cases a selection of your comments will be published, displaying your name as you provide it and location unless you state otherwise. But your contact details will never be published.
BBC News - Riot police tackle 'illegal' rave in High Holborn
31 October 2010 Last updated at 12:18Share this page
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-11660254" title="Post this story to Twitter">Twitter
- Share
Riot police tackle 'illegal' rave in High Holborn
A crowd of about 500 people gathered in the eight-storey building
Hundreds of people have been attending a suspected illegal rave in central London after a stand-off between revellers and riot police.
Several officers were hurt trying to disperse the gathering at a disused building in High Holborn, police said. Seven arrests have been made.
The Metropolitan Police said bricks were thrown at officers as they tried to disperse revellers.
But by 0930 GMT police said things had "quietened down".
Continue reading the main story“Start Quote
End Quote Flavia Pickler Dressed as a toffee appleIt's very friendly, you can trust people”
Police were first called to the building, which is bordered by High Holborn, Museum Road and New Oxford Street, at 2320 BST.
Halloween costumesElements of the estimated crowd of about 500 people at the eight-storey building became aggressive after officers asked them to move on, police said.
Dozens of riot squad officers were then called to the scene.
One police officer needed hospital treatment for a minor head injury, while a woman in her 30s, who police said was caught up in the disorder, was also taken to hospital with a cut face.
Hundreds of revellers spilled out onto New Oxford Street, some dressed in Halloween costumes
A number of buildings and vehicles were damaged during the disturbance and road closures are in place around the site.
Hundreds of revellers spilled out onto New Oxford Street, some dressed in Halloween costumes.
Two clubbers at the event, both originally from Brazil, had tried to have their photo taken with police and said the atmosphere at such events was always good.
Flavia Pickler, 28, who came on the train from Brighton where she works as a nanny, was dressed as a toffee apple.
"It's very friendly, you can trust people," she said.
Samanta Coletti, 27, a waitress living in west London, said: "We love it. You never find fights, if someone is stealing or harassing girls they are told to leave, you can leave your bag on the floor and dance."
NGB - NetworkGlobal Broadcasting
1 individual can change the world
Yes, One Person Can Change The World
Ben Ferencz was the Chief Prosecutor for the Nuremberg Trails, the largest murder trial in the history of the world. Ferenze tells us that anyone can change the world. Ferencz says that the only hurtle holding back great change in our gloal community is traditional forms of thinking, which Ferencz argues need to be updated.
Saturday, 30 October 2010
BBC News - Pagans celebrate Halloween as part of the country’s newest religion
30 October 2010 Last updated at 14:12Share this page
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11652512" title="Post this story to Twitter">Twitter
- Share
Pagans celebrate Halloween as part of the country’s newest religion
By Robert Pigott BBC News religious affairs correspondent
Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.
Inside a witches' coven, where the coming of the god of darkness is marked on the day also known as Halloween
In a riverside meadow in the Dorset town of Weymouth, a witch is using a broom to sweep a sacred circle in the grass.
The rest of the coven stand, some in hooded gowns, in a circle around an iron cauldron where a fire is burning.
They've met to celebrate Samhain, pronounced "sah-wen": the turning of the year from light into dark.
Many think of Halloween as a time of ghouls and ghosts, and for some retailers it has become the third most lucrative event of the year.
It is the time of year when some churches remember the souls of the departed.
For the witches of Weymouth it is one of their most important religious festivals, a time when they believe the barriers between the physical and spiritual worlds are at their thinnest.
Continue reading the main story“Start Quote
End Quote Ronald Hutton Professor of History, Bristol UniIt's feminist. Women have an automatic place... and in some areas of Paganism they are actually in charge”
They invite the spirits of north, south, east and west into the circle, and cut apples to share with the spirits of people who have died.
The leader of the coven, Diane Narraway, bids farewell to the goddess of light, and kneels before the head of a horned ram, holding her hands out as if to a flame.
"I kneel before... the horned god, Lord of Witchdom, as we welcome him back to reign over the dark months," she says.
The coven meets regularly to make spells, using a variety of potions and differently coloured candles in order to achieve particular ends.
Green is for money, pink is for loveThey say the spells are exclusively positive, and should be seen more as prayers.
Anouska Ireland, a 35-year-old teaching assistant, is wearing a hooded cloak in pale blue - the colour of good health.
Beth Irving and Teach Carter drummed to the site of the hand-fasting.
She says: "We sometimes use the cauldron to mix spells... it could be for the purpose of healing, and in harnessing positive intentions for someone who is unwell."
Sarah Sanford, a mother-of-three, uses spells to protect them.
"When my children are going to school I'll do a protection spell for them, so they get through the day all right," she says.
Among the youngest witches is Holly Syme, who says spells serve several purposes.
"You do a money spell, or you do a happiness spell, and it's giving you the motivation to go out there and get it as well. And it makes you feel better in a way," she says.
The coven is composed entirely of women, and as in other branches of Paganism, a particular regard for the female is driving its widening appeal in contemporary society.
Ronald Hutton, Professor of History at Bristol University, says Paganism is partly a reaction to a perceived discrimination against women, practised by mainstream religions.
Continue reading the main story“Start Quote
End Quote Tony Jameson Druid BardWe've come to a time, after thousands of years of dogmatic religion... for human beings to take hold of their spirit and become free”
He says: "It's feminist. Women have an automatic place... and in some areas of Paganism they are actually in charge. And they're working with a goddess or goddesses who are just as powerful as gods, if not more so."
The increasing popularity of Paganism is visible in the Dolmen Grove, a group of Dorset druids.
It claims a total membership of around 1,000, double what it was a year ago.
Its leader, or bard, Tony Jameson, says Druidry is functioning more and more as a mainstream religion.
Spectacular headdress and hornsWearing a spectacular headdress and horns, he presides over a wedding, or "hand-fasting".
Beth Irving and Teach Carter have their hands bound in coloured ribbons representing the elements of earth, wind, fire and water.
They drink mead and bread representing the blood and body of the earth.
It is symbolism strikingly similar to Christian practice.
Indeed modern Paganism is a reinvented religion, whose members seek the divine in nature.
Death and dangerIt originated among ancient Celts for whom the natural world was a wilderness that brought them death and danger as well as sustaining life.
In contemporary Britain its members are more worried about the destruction of the natural world.
Although Paganism is largely a recent invention, and imposes very few constraints on its members, one important branch of it has been designated "officially" a religion.
Earlier this month the Charities Commission gave the Druid Network the status of a religion.
It said its worship of a supreme entity, its set of coherent practices, and its beneficial moral code, met the definition of a religion.
The Dolmen Grove does not belong to the Network, but Mr Jameson says the decision is hugely significant, a sign of official acceptance that religion need not be all about rules and a prescribed form of spirituality.
"We've come to a time, after thousands of years of dogmatic religion... for human beings to take hold of their spirit and become free. Free themselves of all the dogma, of all the rules and regulations, and let the conscience grow on its own," he says.
Cat Treadwell represents another sign of official acknowledgement of Paganism as a mainstream religion.
In her everyday life she wears the green uniform of an NHS ambulance worker.
But she is also listed by Derby NHS Trust as their Pagan Hospital Visitor - a kind of Pagan Chaplain.
At home, in the long hooded cloak she wears as a Druid priest, Cat stands at a small altar on which is the sculpted form of a woman, green leaves and an apple.
She lights a candle at a small altar for the patients she has tended to during the day.
"Druidry has changed a lot in the last 20 years in terms of public perception. It's now certainly more legitimate to actually go out now and call yourself a Druid. I generally get a little bit of fun (made of me) but people understand that it's a specific and serious faith," she says.
In the ruins of a church on Portland Bill in Dorset, the hand-fasting ceremony is reaching a climax.
The beat of drums reaches a crescendo as Beth and Teach run down what was once the church's nave and jump over a broomstick.
It is a leap into married life, and a religion whose members say its time has come.
Will you be celebrating Halloween? Send us your pictures and videos using the form below.
Send your pictures and videos to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to 61124 (UK) or 0044 7725 100 100 (International). If you have a large file you can upload here.
At no time should you endanger yourself or others, take any unnecessary risks or infringe any laws. In most cases a selection of your comments will be published, displaying your name as you provide it and location unless you state otherwise. But your contact details will never be published.
BBC News - Nato troops repel insurgent attack in Afghanistan
30 October 2010 Last updated at 16:41Share this page
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11657981" title="Post this story to Twitter">Twitter
- Share
Nato troops repel insurgent attack in Afghanistan
Paktika province is a remote region close to the border with Pakistan
Nato says its forces in Afghanistan have killed at least 19 Taliban fighters who tried to storm a combat outpost under cover of darkness.
The attack happened at a base in Paktika province, bordering Pakistan.
The militants are reported to have attacked from all directions, using rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.
Meanwhile, President Hamid Karzai has criticised the first joint operation by Russian and US agents to destroy drug laboratories in Afghanistan.
Mr Karzai said Thursday's raid had taken place without his government's permission and was a clear violation of Afghan sovereignty.
A Russian official said about 70 military personnel and counter-narcotics agents were involved, and that they had destroyed a "major hub" about 5km (three miles) from the Pakistani border, near Jalalabad.
They seized more than a tonne of heroin and opium destined for Central Asia, which had a street value of $250m (£157m), he added.
The BBC's Quentin Sommerville in Kabul says Afghanistan's elite counter narcotics force, which relies heavily on foreign training, did participate in the operation but it appears the president's office was not informed of who would accompany them.
Nato wants to expand Russian involvement in Afghanistan, but given the history between Russia and Afghanistan that is a sensitive issue, our correspondent says.
The president said he wanted friendly ties with Moscow, but that the relationship had to be based on mutual consent. Any repetition of the operation would be met with a reaction from Afghanistan, he added.
Porous borderIn Saturday's fighting, five soldiers from the Nato-led coalition were wounded.
The assault was said to have been so fierce that troops inside the outpost had to call in air support to repel the militants.
Initial reports indicated that as many as 30 militants had been killed.
A statement from the International Security and Assistance Force (Isaf) said that none of its troops was killed. Most of the soldiers in the area are from the US.
Our correspondent says that combat outposts are often small, remote bases and are frequent targets for well-planned attacks using rockets and mortars.
Local commanders say many of the insurgents in the area come mainly from across the border in Pakistan, our correspondent adds.
The border region has long been a hiding place for Islamist extremists and has been targeted in drone attacks against the Taliban and al-Qaeda.
BBC News - China reassures US on key 'rare earth' minerals
30 October 2010 Last updated at 11:42Share this page
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11657982" title="Post this story to Twitter">Twitter
- Share
China reassures US on key 'rare earth' minerals
Rare earth metals come from China - they are vital for production of a range of electronic items
China has reassured the US it has no intention of withholding "rare earth" minerals from the market, the US Secretary of State has said.
China suspended export of the metals, key to some high-tech industries, to Japan after a diplomatic spat.
The US has pressed China, which has pledged not to use the minerals as a diplomatic weapon, to defuse the row.
Representatives from China and Japan also held informal talks on the fringes of an Asean conference in Vietnam.
US officials said Hillary Clinton's Chinese counterpart, Yang Jiechi, told the US secretary of state that his country would not use rare earths as a diplomatic, political or economic tool in dealing with other countries.
Cooling the rowAfter the meeting, Hillary Clinton said: "Foreign Minister Yang clarified that China has no intention of withholding these minerals" from the world market, according to AFP.
Continue reading the main storyRelated stories
China also said it did not want their export to become an issue in its foreign relations.
The US has encouraged China to cool the row with Japan and, according to Reuters, has offered to host a trilateral meeting with China and Japan to resolve the dispute between the two.
China produces some 97% of these valuable commodities, which are used to produce electronic items such as mobile phones and equipment for the car industry.
During the 1990s and for much of the past decade, China was able to produce rare earths more cheaply than other countries, leading to the closure of mines elsewhere, notably in Australia and the US.
But Mrs Clinton has said the recent Chinese export restrictions are a "wake-up call" for the world to seek additional sources of rare earths.
The stoppage followed a spat between China and Japan last month over islands whose ownership is disputed.
The islands - known in Japan as Senkaku and in China as Diaoyu - are controlled by Japan, but claimed by China. They are close to key shipping lanes, offer rich fishing grounds and are thought to contain oil deposits.
BBC News - Harriet Harman says 'ginger rodent' comment was wrong
30 October 2010 Last updated at 14:59Share this page
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-11658228" title="Post this story to Twitter">Twitter
- Share
Harriet Harman says 'ginger rodent' comment was wrong
Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.
Click to play
Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman was speaking at her party's Scottish conference.
A spokeswoman for Ms Harman said later: "Harriet Harman has today apologised for her comment about Danny Alexander and says it was wrong."
Mr Alexander wrote on Twitter that he was "proud to be ginger".
The Lib Dem MP for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey added that "rodents do valuable work cleaning up mess others leave behind".
In her speech, Ms Harman said many people who voted Lib Dem in May "believed that they were a progressive anti-Tory party".
She said they "woke up" after the coalition deal to see Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg with Tory prime minister David Cameron in the rose garden of Number 10 Downing Street.
The deputy Labour leader said there was "incredulity" at seeing Mr Alexander, a Scottish MP, becoming "the front-man for the Tory cuts".
Danny Alexander is a Lib Dem MP in the north of Scotland
"Now, many of us in the Labour Party are conservationists - and we all love the red squirrel," Ms Harman said.
"But there is one ginger rodent which we never want to see again - Danny Alexander."
Ms Harman went on to attack Mr Alexander's other party colleagues north of the border, telling delegates: "There's something deeply unnatural that's happened in Scotland.
"Without asking anyone in Scotland, the government has been carrying out a programme of genetic modification - political genetic modification.
"This mutation has contaminated every Lib Dem councillor, it's affected every Lib Dem MP and Lib Dem MSP.
"They've all mutated into something alien to Scotland - Tories."
Ms Harman said: "There's only one thing left to do - these political mutants must be got rid of next May at the ballot box."
She insisted Labour had learned the lessons of its general election defeat.
Ms Harman said the Scottish Parliament election will send a signal to the UK government - "it is the beginning of the end".
Mr Alexander later wrote on Twitter: "Red squirrel deserves to survive, unlike Labour."
Scottish Liberal Democrat election chairman, George Lyon, said: "There are no depths to which the Labour Party will not stoop.
"They aren't fit to be in opposition, let alone in government."
BBC News - Protesters blockade Vodafone shops in tax protest
30 October 2010 Last updated at 17:07Share this page
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11658950" title="Post this story to Twitter">Twitter
- Share
Protesters blockade Vodafone shops in tax protest
Vodafone say the protest is misguided and insist they do pay their taxes
Campaigners claiming Vodafone has been let off an unpaid tax bill of £6bn have blockaded several shops.
Campaigner Ed Brompton said: "This money - £6bn - could be spent on schools, housing and hospitals."
But a Vodafone spokesman denied the tax bill reports, adding: "We pay our taxes in the UK and all of the other countries in which we operate."
A spokesman for HM Revenue and Customs said of the £6bn: "That number is an urban myth."
Four shops in central London were forced to close because of the demonstrations, sparked by a campaign on Twitter and Facebook.
Other shops were closed by demos in Brighton, Bristol, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Hastings, Liverpool, Manchester, Oxford and York.
One of the protesters, Deborah Lee, said: "The cuts are not fair; we're not all in this together, and there are alternatives. Why not start by collecting the tens of billions owed in taxes by wealthy corporations? The government is writing off the taxes from big business while treating normal people on benefits like criminals."
Another protester, Ben Olabayi, said: "We will not pay for their crisis! The public need to join together and hit the streets to take concerted action to fight these cuts."
Continue reading the main story“Start Quote
End Quote HMRC spokesmanThere is no question of Vodafone having a tax liability of £6bn. That number is an urban myth”
A Vodafone spokesman said there had been protests outside a small number of UK stores and added: "We temporarily closed some of them and diverted customers to other locations so they were not inconvenienced."
He said: "We pay our taxes in the UK and all of the other countries in which we operate.
"Reports suggesting that we have an outstanding tax bill for £6bn are incorrect, as this was never the case."
The HMRC spokesman said: "We can't comment on the details of the settlement but we can confirm that it was reached by HMRC following a rigorous examination of the facts. It was agreed that Vodafone's liability was £1.25bn and at no point was the liability greater than that.
"There is no question of Vodafone having a tax liability of £6bn. That number is an urban myth."
The campaigners cite an investigation by Private Eye magazine which they said showed the taxman had dropped an attempt to reclaim £6bn in taxes.
The sum purportedly stems from Vodafone's purchase of the German telecoms firm Mannesmann, which was supposedly bought through a Luxembourg subsidiary to avoid paying tax in Britain.
The campaigners have also set up an online petition calling on the government to insist Vodafone pay the money.
The world's largest mobile operator measured by revenue saw "organic service revenue" rise 1.1% to £10.6bn in the April to June quarter.
Last week Vodafone was told to pay a 112bn rupee (£1.6bn) tax bill in India.
Vodafone has been given 30 days to cough up the £1.6bn the Delhi government claims it owes following the 2007 purchase of the Indian telephone assets of Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa.
Vodafone claimed the $11bn transaction was exempt from tax because it took place between two offshore entities.
U.S. slips to historic low in global corruption index | Reuters
U.S. slips to historic low in global corruption index
Tweet This
Share on LinkedIn
Share on Facebook
9diggsdigg Factbox
- Transparency International's global corruption index
Tue, Oct 26 2010
Analysis & Opinion
Related Topics
Related Video
By Dave Graham
BERLIN | Tue Oct 26, 2010 11:53am EDT
(Reuters) - The United States has dropped out of the "top 20" in a global league table of least corrupt nations, tarnished by financial scandals and the influence of money in politics, Transparency International said on Tuesday.BERLIN
Somalia was judged the most corrupt country, followed by Myanmar and Afghanistan at joint second-worst and then by Iraq, in the Berlin-based watchdog TI's annual corruption perceptions index (CPI).
The United States fell to 22nd from 19th last year, with its CPI score dropping to 7.1 from 7.5 in the 178-nation index, which is based on independent surveys on corruption.
This was the lowest score awarded to the United States in the index's 15-year history and also the first time it had fallen out of the top 20.
In the Americas, this put the United States behind Canada in sixth place, Barbados at 17th and Chile in 21st place.
Jointly heading the index -- in which a score of 10 indicates a country with the highest standards, and 0 as highly corrupt -- were Denmark, New Zealand and Singapore with 9.3. They were also at the top of the table last year.
Somalia scored 1.1. The watchdog group said its table was based on "different assessments and business opinion surveys carried out by independent and reputable institutions."
U.S. "INTEGRITY DEFICIT"
Nancy Boswell, president of TI in the United States, said lending practices in the subprime crisis, the disclosure of Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme and rows over political funding had all rattled public faith about prevailing ethics in America.
"We're not talking about corruption in the sense of breaking the law," she said. "We're talking about a sense that the system is corrupted by these practices. There's an integrity deficit."
Various financial scandals at state and city level had encouraged the impression that the regulatory oversight was weak and that influence could be bought, she added.
The index showed a number of countries -- including Iran -- climbing up the chart significantly from 2009, though TI said this could often be ascribed to the fact that different surveys were being used that offered no direct comparison to last year.
The fact that nearly three quarters of the countries scored 5.0 or less showed corruption was still a major global problem, said Robin Hodess, director of policy and research at TI.
However, the watchdog identified Bhutan, Chile, Ecuador, Macedonia, Gambia, Haiti, Jamaica, Kuwait, and Qatar as states where improvement had been made over the past year.
By contrast, it highlighted the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Madagascar, Niger and the United States as nations where perceptions had deteriorated.
(Editing by Andrew Roche)
After reading this article, people also read:
- Transparency International's global corruption indexOct 26, 2010
- Iraq's Tareq Aziz sentenced to death, Vatican appealsOct 26, 2010
- Departing Microsoft visionary sees 'post-PC' worldOct 25, 2010
- Double polio vaccine holds promise for ending virusOct 26, 2010
- Indonesian tsunami kills 108, hundreds missingOct 26, 2010
Comments
Oct 26, 2010 5:27am EDTMcBob08 Report As AbusiveThe US is more corrupt than ever; are we supposed to be surprised by this? What did you expect to happen when Roberts’ Activist Supreme Court gave the green light to corporations to spend as much as they wished on political smear ads, and not have to reveal that they had done so.
Oct 26, 2010 5:56am EDT
Oct 26, 2010 6:08am EDT
Oct 26, 2010 6:22am EDTxm75 Report As Abusive“We’re not talking about corruption in the sense of breaking the law.” “We’re talking about a sense that the system is corrupted”.
Judging governments by this groups personal beliefs or, “a sense”, instead of quantitative factual data lessens their credibility.
Oct 26, 2010 6:45am EDTbogger Report As AbusiveHow about the whole list being published? I’d like to see where Ireland figures in all of this given the ‘economic downturn’ being the euphemism applied?
Oct 26, 2010 6:48am EDTtoby3061 Report As AbusiveWhat should anyone have expected? A promise to “drain the swamp” has actually resulted in the swamp being filthier than ever.
Oct 26, 2010 7:02am EDTkaceltd Report As AbusiveThe USA is losing its ability to have moral persuasion on the world stage. Very sad indeed!!
Oct 26, 2010 7:16am EDTTomMariner Report As AbusiveSounds right. Sooner or later we will recognize that our orgy of spending for “fairness” (and votes) is based on the lack of morality by indebting our grandkids and lowering our international standing on every measure. Except those that play well on “Oprah”. (I feel so good about making myself feel good.)
Do we ever want to feel proud about our country again in our lifetime?
Oct 26, 2010 7:54am EDTthedownfall Report As AbusiveThe downfall of the Ameroman Empire is on course. After WWII everything went downhill for America. Behold the new world power: China and UAE
*We welcome comments that advance the story directly or with relevant tangential information. We try to block comments that use offensive language or appear to be spam and review comments frequently to ensure they meet our standards. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters.
Clinton urges calm after China-Japan row at summit | Reuters
Clinton urges calm after China-Japan row at summit
1diggdigg Related News
Related Topics
1 / 9Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (2nd R) is followed by her staff as she arrives for meetings with other leaders at the venue of the 17th ASEAN Summit in Hanoi October 30, 2010.
Credit: Reuters/Damir Sagolj
By Yoko Kubota and Arshad Mohammed
HANOI | Sat Oct 30, 2010 7:48am EDT
(Reuters) - The premiers of China and Japan met at an Asian regional summit in a bid to defuse a territorial dispute on Saturday, while the United States urged Asia's two big economies to cool the standoff and proposed three-way talks.HANOI
Expectations of a bilateral talk between Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan were dashed on Friday when China canceled it, blaming Japan for "damaging the atmosphere" at the Asia-Pacific summit in Hanoi by raising the issue of the disputed Diaoyu islands, called Senkaku in Japanese.
A Japanese official, however, said the two leaders subsequently held an "informal" 10-minute meeting on the summit sidelines on Saturday in a seemingly positive step.
"I am confident that we can maintain a relationship in which we can cooperate in a meaningful manner," Kan told a news conference.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who met her Chinese counterpart, Yang Jiechi, in Hanoi, urged calm on both sides, and offered to host trilateral talks to bring relations back on an even keel.
"We have certainly encouraged both Japan and China to seek peaceful resolution of any disagreements," Clinton told a news conference. "It is in all of our interest for China and Japan to have stable, peaceful relations."
China and Japan have long-locked horns over sovereignty claims in the oil-and-gas rich East China Sea but such disputes have rarely damaged commercial ties between the economic giants.
Clinton, in Vietnam for the first U.S. participation in an East Asia Summit (EAS), also got assurances from China over its policy on exporting rare earth minerals that it wished to be a "reliable supplier."
"Minister Yang clarified China has no intention of withholding these minerals from the market," she said.
She said the United States, Japan, Europe and other allies would search for more sources of supply of he mineral, vital in the manufacture of various high-tech products.
"So, although we are pleased by the clarification we have received from the Chinese government, we still think that the world as a whole needs to find alternatives."
CURRENCIES, MYANMAR
With a G20 leader's summit coming up in November in which currency tension is likely to loom large, some ASEAN countries addressed the sinking value of the U.S. dollar, which has led to a sharp appreciation in the value of most of the region's currencies and eroded the competitiveness of its exports.
"The United States is looking for ways to resolve internal economic problems but the way they are doing it is affecting currencies in our region," said top Thai trade official Kiat Sitheearmorn. Export-reliant Thailand's currency, the baht, has appreciated about 11 percent over the past year.
The China-Japan row deflected attention from regional issues like upcoming polls in military-ruled Myanmar, though leaders such as Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard demanded the vote be free and called for the release of political prisoners.
After reading this article, people also read:
- Japanese #034;mainstream#034; nationalism clouds China tiesOct 29, 2010
- Medvedev to sign nuclear power deal in VietnamOct 29, 2010
- First woman House speaker may be toppledOct 29, 2010
- Drones spur Yemenis' distrust of government and U.S.Oct 27, 2010
- Obama in rare, late campaign stop for congressmanOct 29, 2010
Comments
Oct 30, 2010 12:41am EDTbiztru Report As AbusiveCan one provide analysis for:
1. Rare earth reserves of each country. US has too if not mistaken;
2. Quantity mined and exported by each such countries?
The world is so huge it can’t be just China having rare earths. There are reports claiming China accounts for 97% of the world’s production when she only has 30% of the world’s reserves. Is this true? If there are rare earths outside China, maybe can ask China, which ought to have the expertise and economies of scale by now, to help those countries to extract those rare earths so that more countries can export rare earths and eliminate reliance on one country.
Also there is a need to probe whether there are traders/middlemen who hoard such earth secretly or not as well as the black market involved. General sense may indicate that there is a high possibility of these especially when one knows the value. Its like hoarding gold. Sometimes by control over an industry is to curb the black market.
Oct 30, 2010 1:31am EDTnieldevi Report As Abusive“The issue could come up again Saturday.”
What kind of reporting is that?
If you were doing an advertisement for an upcoming television drama, maybe.
*We welcome comments that advance the story directly or with relevant tangential information. We try to block comments that use offensive language or appear to be spam and review comments frequently to ensure they meet our standards. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters.
