Scotland defends Lockerbie bomber release
Kenny MacAskill spoke out as Libya prepares to mark the first anniversary of the day he freed Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi on compassionate grounds. Mr MacAskill said: "It was a decision I didn't choose to make, it was a decision I had to make. It was my responsibility and accordingly I followed the rules and laws of Scotland. I acted appropriately and I stand by the decision." On August 20 last year, the SNP minister had said Megrahi was going home "to die". But the Libyan has now lived four times as long as the medical prognosis, as set out in the published medical report. Mr MacAskill said: "The information on which I predicated my decision, the report from Dr (Andrew) Fraser, the senior clinician at the Scottish Prison Service, has been published, apart from some individuals' names which is clearly private and confidential to them."(itn)
Latest Sky News Weather Forecast
t'll be a cool, clear evening for southern Scotland and northern England. Wales and western England will remain cloudy and wet, though. Overnight, and into tomorrow, the rain will continue pushing south eastwards, and southern England will again be rather cloudy. Elsewhere, it'll be mostly dry and bright. The wind in northern Scotland should ease through the day, and southern parts will be warm and humid; highs of 25 degrees for London. Through the afternoon, there'll be further rain for southwest England and Wales. The southeast, though, should stay dry.(skynews)
AS Byatt, John Carey win James Tait literary award
Two of Britain's best-known literary figures, novelist A.S. Byatt and critic John Carey, have each received the 2010 James Tait Black Memorial Prize, the oldest British literary award. Awarded annually by the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures at the University of Edinburgh, the prizes were announced on Friday by best-selling crime novelist Ian Rankin at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. Byatt, the pen-name for Dame Antonia Duffy, received the fiction prize for The Children's Book, published last year, which explores the effect on children of their parents' artistic creativity in the novel set in the early 20th century. Carey, one of Britain's foremost literary experts and Emeritus Merton Professor of English at Oxford University, received the biography award for his book William Golding: The Man Who Wrote Lord of the Flies. Golding, a Nobel laureate for literature, was himself recipient of the James Tait Black prize in 1979. The prizes, founded in 1919 and awarded for the best work of fiction and best biography published during the previous 12 months, are the only major British awards judged by scholars and students. They are each worth 10,000 pounds.(reuters)
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Kenny MacAskill spoke out as Libya prepares to mark the first anniversary of the day he freed Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi on compassionate grounds. Mr MacAskill said: "It was a decision I didn't choose to make, it was a decision I had to make. It was my responsibility and accordingly I followed the rules and laws of Scotland. I acted appropriately and I stand by the decision." On August 20 last year, the SNP minister had said Megrahi was going home "to die". But the Libyan has now lived four times as long as the medical prognosis, as set out in the published medical report. Mr MacAskill said: "The information on which I predicated my decision, the report from Dr (Andrew) Fraser, the senior clinician at the Scottish Prison Service, has been published, apart from some individuals' names which is clearly private and confidential to them."(itn)
Latest Sky News Weather Forecast
t'll be a cool, clear evening for southern Scotland and northern England. Wales and western England will remain cloudy and wet, though. Overnight, and into tomorrow, the rain will continue pushing south eastwards, and southern England will again be rather cloudy. Elsewhere, it'll be mostly dry and bright. The wind in northern Scotland should ease through the day, and southern parts will be warm and humid; highs of 25 degrees for London. Through the afternoon, there'll be further rain for southwest England and Wales. The southeast, though, should stay dry.(skynews)
AS Byatt, John Carey win James Tait literary award
Two of Britain's best-known literary figures, novelist A.S. Byatt and critic John Carey, have each received the 2010 James Tait Black Memorial Prize, the oldest British literary award. Awarded annually by the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures at the University of Edinburgh, the prizes were announced on Friday by best-selling crime novelist Ian Rankin at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. Byatt, the pen-name for Dame Antonia Duffy, received the fiction prize for The Children's Book, published last year, which explores the effect on children of their parents' artistic creativity in the novel set in the early 20th century. Carey, one of Britain's foremost literary experts and Emeritus Merton Professor of English at Oxford University, received the biography award for his book William Golding: The Man Who Wrote Lord of the Flies. Golding, a Nobel laureate for literature, was himself recipient of the James Tait Black prize in 1979. The prizes, founded in 1919 and awarded for the best work of fiction and best biography published during the previous 12 months, are the only major British awards judged by scholars and students. They are each worth 10,000 pounds.(reuters)
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