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[JohnCenaFan28]

A planned strike by over 200,000 civil servants has been suspended pending fresh talks over a long-running row over pay.

Members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union were due to walk out for 24 hours on Monday, threatening disruption to jobcentres, benefit offices, driving test centres and coastguard sites.

The union was planning to follow the stoppage with a rolling programme of strikes to hit different Whitehall departments and agencies.

But on Friday the union said that the strike had been suspended for 28 days pending fresh talks aimed at resolving a series of disputes over pay.

The union's national executive decided to suspend the industrial action so that talks could be held with Civil Service officials.

General secretary Mark Serwotka said: "Our national industrial action has been suspended for 28 days. I welcome the dialogue and hope an agreement is possible."

A spokesman for the Cabinet Office said: "We welcome this reasonable decision in tough economic times and remain committed to an ongoing dialogue."

-Nova

[JohnCenaFan28]

Britain has issued an appeal for all parties in the Democratic Republic of Congo to work for peace and security in the troubled region.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband called for serious engagement from all sides in talks currently under way in Kenyan capital Nairobi to find a resolution to the latest round of violence.

The United Nations mission in the Congo, MONUC, reported new clashes between the Congolese army and rebel militias around the town of Goma, where around 250,000 people have been displaced by fighting over recent weeks.

Angolan troops have recently joined Government forces near the eastern city, in a move which it is feared may be seen as provocative by Rwanda, which has been accused of offering support to rebels led by Tutsi general Laurent Nkunda.

In Nairobi, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is chairing a peace summit with Congolese President Joseph Kabila and six other African leaders.

In a statement released by the Foreign Office, Mr Miliband said: "The situation in the eastern DRC remains unstable. The need for a political solution to the region's problems is urgent and I am grateful to the African Union, regional leaders and the UN Secretary General for their leadership and efforts to kick-start this process.

"(The) summit in Nairobi, which Lord Malloch-Brown is attending on my behalf, provided that impetus.

"Continued fighting in the region in the last few days, despite the ceasefire, creates real danger that violence will escalate.

"MONUC's efforts to maintain security on the ground have helped, but humanitarian agencies continue to face challenges in getting assistance to those affected by the recent fighting.

"I appeal to all parties involved to engage seriously and work towards peace and security for the people of the region."

-Nova

[John]

He's off to a great start.

[John]

BAGHDAD – Two Iraqi insurgent groups called on President-elect Barack Obama to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq and abandon the war on terror, an Internet monitoring service reported Friday.

Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, self-styled head of the al-Qaida front group the Islamic State of Iraq, said in a speech posted on an extremist Web site that it would be better "for you and us" to "withdraw your forces," according to the SITE Intelligence Group that monitors militant Web sites.

"You do not interfere in the affairs of our countries," he continued in an apparent reference to Muslim dominated nations. "We, in turn, will not prevent commerce with you, whether it is in oil or otherwise."

Al-Baghdadi blamed the global financial crisis on the wars "launched in Muslim countries" and said he was issuing the call on behalf of "my brothers in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, and Chechnya," SITE said.

The U.S. military says al-Baghdadi is an actor who provides a voice for al-Qaida in Iraq propaganda.

In a separate statement, the Mujahedeen Army, a Sunni insurgent group, urged Obama to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq or face "days that will be more difficult than the nightmare experienced by his predecessor."

According to SITE, the statement said both Democrats and Republicans share attitudes hostile to Muslims.

The authenticity of the statements couldn't be verified.

Obama has called for an increase in forces in Afghanistan and a withdraw of combat troops from Iraq in 16 months, but said that the time period wasn't rigid and could be adjusted.

The Islamic State of Iraq purports to be an umbrella organization of religious extremist groups including al-Qaida in Iraq. The Mujahedeen Army emerged in late 2004 and has distanced itself from al-Qaida because of opposition to the terror movement's attacks on Shiite civilians.

Yahoo.

[John]

As of Friday, Nov. 7, 2008, at least 4,191 members of the U.S. military have died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

The figure includes eight military civilians killed in action. At least 3,388 military personnel died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.

The AP count is two fewer than the Defense Department's tally, last updated Thursday at 10 a.m. EDT.

The British military has reported 176 deaths; Italy, 33; Ukraine, 18; Poland, 21; Bulgaria, 13; Spain, 11; Denmark, seven; El Salvador, five; Slovakia, four; Latvia and Georgia, three each; Estonia, Netherlands, Thailand and Romania, two each; and Australia, Hungary, Kazakhstan and South Korea, one death each.

Yahoo.

[JohnCenaFan28]

Thanks for the news.

[JohnCenaFan28]

Thanks for the news.

[JohnCenaFan28]

Verdicts of accidental death by drowning have been returned by a coroner on the deaths of seven crewmen aboard the sunken fishing boat the Solway Harvester.

The ship went down in stormy seas off the Manx coast in January 2000, with the loss of the men from the close-knit village of the Isle of Whithorn, in Dumfries and Galloway.

Recording his verdict Isle of Man coroner Michael Moyle said: "My formal finding in respect of each and every one of the deceased is that the cause of death was drowning."

Mr Moyle added that the precise reason for the vessel sinking could not be pinpointed with certainty because of conflicting views from experts.

The coroner was highly critical of the boat's owner, Richard Gidney, for acting "in his own self-interest" during the inquest proceedings.

After being acquitted of manslaughter in 2005, Mr Gidney refused to attend an inquest on the Isle of Man the following year, claiming he had received legal advice that it may "prejudice a civil claim".

Mr Gidney was eventually summoned to give evidence at Kirkcudbright Sheriff Court in June this year after a petition from Mr Moyle was granted which ordered his examination as a witness.

The inquest heard that the vessel had experienced three flooding incidents in eight years and that while Mr Gidney had installed a bilge alarm in the fish room of the Solway Harvester, it was not working when the boat began its final trip. As a result, the boat's skipper Craig Mills was not alerted that water was rising in the fish room during the stormy weather.

Mr Moyle drew attention to other equipment shortcomings on the boat, including the fact that the lifeboats on board had not been serviced "for a considerable time".

Skipper Craig Mills, 29, Robin Mills, 33, David Mills, 17, Martin Milligan, 26, John Murphy, 22, David Lyons, 18, and Wesley Jolly, 17, all lost their lives when the ship sank.

-Nova

[JohnCenaFan28]

The BBC has broadcast an apology for the "grossly offensive" phone call made by Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross on Radio 2.

It ran just after 10am when Ross, who has been suspended without pay for three months for the prank, would normally be hosting his weekly show.

Richard Allinson has stepped in to fill the Radio 2 Saturday morning slot.

The BBC apologised to licence fee payers and said the phone call to Fawlty Towers actor Andrew Sachs answering machine should never have been recorded or broadcast.

Ross and Brand left messages claiming Brand had slept with the actor's granddaughter, Georgina Baillie.

The on-air apology will be repeated just after 9pm, when Brand, who resigned as a result of the fallout from the broadcast made on his own Saturday night show, would usually be on the airwaves.

On Friday it was disclosed a second BBC Radio 2 executive had resigned in the wake of the controversy, which sparked more than 40,000 complaints.

Radio 2 boss Lesley Douglas quit on Thursday October 30 and that was followed by the resignation of David Barber, the Radio 2 head of specialist music and compliance.

A BBC spokeswoman said: "We can confirm that David Barber has resigned from the BBC." It is thought Barber's job would have involved checking that content complied with BBC guidelines.

The BBC has not identified the person responsible for approving the broadcast which went out on October 18. An internal inquiry is currently being carried out into the events which led to the call being broadcast.

-Nova

[JohnCenaFan28]

Two former bank chiefs have sent a letter to HBOS calling for its chairman and chief executive to resign.

Sir Peter Burt and Sir George Mathewson, former chief executives of the Bank of Scotland and Royal Bank of Scotland respectively, oppose the takeover of HBOS by Lloyds TSB.

Sir George said they had sent the letter to chairman of HBOS, Sir Dennis Stevenson.

In it they say that Sir Dennis and HBOS chief executive Andy Hornby should resign - and that Sir George should become the new chairman of the bank and Sir Peter Burt should be its chief executive.

Speaking from his Perthshire home Sir George said: "It is a lengthy, detailed letter. We do not believe the alternatives to the Lloyds takeover of HBOS have been properly explored.

"And, that this deal was conceived in response to a particular problem and then the world changed a week later. As such that deal is no longer the proper deal for the shareholders of HBOS or anybody else."

HBOS is the subject of a £12 billion merger with Lloyds TSB.

Lloyds TSB has said that its acquisition of HBOS would save it at least £1.5 billion a year.

But the SNP has been critical of the takeover and believe many Scottish jobs could be lost.

The former bankers want to keep HBOS an "independent bank" and believe that the merger was no longer required after the Government's bank bailout.

-Nova