New restrictions on MPs' expenses
Tighter checks on MPs' taxpayer-funded expenses have been announced as part of a speeding up of a review of pay and allowances. From April, they will no longer be able to claim for items worth up to £250 without a receipt, the committee drawing up reform proposals revealed.
It is almost certain to be cut to £50 - in line with a recommendation from the Senior Salaries Review Body - but details are yet to be finalised.
MI6 - Diana murder 'unthinkable'
An MI6 agent has told the Diana inquest it was "absolutely unthinkable" that British spies would kill the Princess. The spook, referred to only as 'A', admitted he came up with a proposal to assassinate a Balkan leader in the early 1990s - but was swiftly overruled by security chiefs. He denied the target was ex-Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic and the plan was later used as the blueprint for the murder of Diana. Former agent Richard Tomlinson has claimed the plot involved staging a crash in a tunnel with a blinding flash of light.
Downing Street intruder gets last chance at reform: judge
A serial burglar who breached security designed to protect the official residence of Britain's prime minister was spared jailed Tuesday, after a judge gave him one last chance to mend his ways. Obadiah Marius, 45, sparked a major security alert last June after he managed to get into the Cabinet Office. The government building backs on to Downing Street, which is heavily protected by armed police and high iron gates.
He and his girlfriend, who was with him at the time, were eventually stopped at a rear door but although detained in the famous street, did not get inside the prime minister's residence at number 10.
Jersey 'victim' speaks out
A former resident of a Jersey care home where a child's skull was found has claimed youngsters were repeatedly raped there. Peter Hannaford spent the first 12 years of his life at Haut de la Garenne, now at the centre of a major child abuse investigation after human remains were found in a bricked-up cellar. Police are continuing to search the building but the work may take weeks to complete while a structural survey is carried out.
British watchdog orders gov't to release Iraq war documents
The British government was ordered Tuesday to release the minutes of ministerial discussions about military action in Iraq in the run-up to the 2003 invasion. In a move likely to stoke up fresh controversy over the divisive war, the information commissioner Richard Thomas said the papers should be released because of the "gravity and controversial nature" of the discussions.
News from Yahoo news
Tighter checks on MPs' taxpayer-funded expenses have been announced as part of a speeding up of a review of pay and allowances. From April, they will no longer be able to claim for items worth up to £250 without a receipt, the committee drawing up reform proposals revealed.
It is almost certain to be cut to £50 - in line with a recommendation from the Senior Salaries Review Body - but details are yet to be finalised.
MI6 - Diana murder 'unthinkable'
An MI6 agent has told the Diana inquest it was "absolutely unthinkable" that British spies would kill the Princess. The spook, referred to only as 'A', admitted he came up with a proposal to assassinate a Balkan leader in the early 1990s - but was swiftly overruled by security chiefs. He denied the target was ex-Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic and the plan was later used as the blueprint for the murder of Diana. Former agent Richard Tomlinson has claimed the plot involved staging a crash in a tunnel with a blinding flash of light.
Downing Street intruder gets last chance at reform: judge
A serial burglar who breached security designed to protect the official residence of Britain's prime minister was spared jailed Tuesday, after a judge gave him one last chance to mend his ways. Obadiah Marius, 45, sparked a major security alert last June after he managed to get into the Cabinet Office. The government building backs on to Downing Street, which is heavily protected by armed police and high iron gates.
He and his girlfriend, who was with him at the time, were eventually stopped at a rear door but although detained in the famous street, did not get inside the prime minister's residence at number 10.
Jersey 'victim' speaks out
A former resident of a Jersey care home where a child's skull was found has claimed youngsters were repeatedly raped there. Peter Hannaford spent the first 12 years of his life at Haut de la Garenne, now at the centre of a major child abuse investigation after human remains were found in a bricked-up cellar. Police are continuing to search the building but the work may take weeks to complete while a structural survey is carried out.
British watchdog orders gov't to release Iraq war documents
The British government was ordered Tuesday to release the minutes of ministerial discussions about military action in Iraq in the run-up to the 2003 invasion. In a move likely to stoke up fresh controversy over the divisive war, the information commissioner Richard Thomas said the papers should be released because of the "gravity and controversial nature" of the discussions.
News from Yahoo news