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Prime Minister Gordon Brown is expected to carry out a limited reshuffle of his Cabinet in the coming days, officials indicated.

Speculation over a widespread shake-up of his frontbench team has cooled in the context of a global financial crisis that has helped quieten Labour internal revolt.

Mr Brown's spokesman has insisted that the PM remained "focused very much on the economic situation and that is his overwhelming priority".

But a smaller-scale revamp has been enforced by the public revelation of Ruth Kelly's desire to quit as Transport Secretary to spend more time with her family.

The timing of the reshuffle has not been confirmed.

Earlier, it was reported Mr Brown would set up an emergency committee to take charge of Britain's response to the financial crisis.

The Times claimed it would be modelled on similar lines to Cobra, the Government's crisis management committee, and would bring together ministers, officials and advisers.

Its secretariat would be run from the Cabinet Office.

According to The Times, the Prime Minister will announce its formation at the same time as the expected reshuffle to replace Ruth Kelly.

Details of Ms Kelly's resignation were confirmed in a chaotic 3am briefing in a hotel bar by aides to Ms Kelly and Gordon Brown during the Labour Party conference last week.

-Ananova

Government attempts to tackle rising energy bills were accused of being in "meltdown" as the latest figures showed a million more households slipped into fuel poverty in 2006.

Some 3.5 million UK households spent more than 10% of their income on heating and powering their homes in 2006, a million more than 2005, official figures showed.

And the situation is worsening - with the Government's own projections suggesting more than 3.5 million households in England alone will be in fuel poverty this year.

Ministers insisted they were committed to tackling the problem, but the new figures drew renewed calls from unions for a windfall tax on energy companies and caps on fuel bills.

The number of households suffering fuel poverty in England rose from 1.5 million in 2005 to 2.4 million in 2006, and was expected to rise to 3.1 million in 2007 and top 3.5 million in 2008. Across the UK, 2.75 million vulnerable households - those with children, elderly people or someone with a long term illness - were in fuel poverty in 2006, including 1.9 million in England.

The worsening situation is caused largely by spiralling gas and electricity bills, which rose 22% between 2005 and 2006 and have jumped twice this year.

Energy firms have blamed the price increases on soaring wholesale costs. The rising prices are increasingly undermining Government commitments to eradicate fuel poverty - as far as reasonably practical - in all vulnerable homes in England by 2010.

In response to the problem, the Government recently pledged an extra £1 billion to tackling fuel poverty. It also upped its obligations on energy suppliers and generators, who are now required to spend £3.7 billion between now and 2011 on helping people with energy efficiency measures.

But Friends of the Earth director Andy Atkins said: "The Government's fuel poverty strategy is in meltdown. The only long term solution to fuel poverty is a massive energy efficiency programme. This will heat homes, cut bills and help meet our targets for tackling climate change."

Help the Aged special adviser Mervyn Kohler said the Government's response to the problem was "completely feeble".

-Ananova

Gordon Brown has led the praise for the Metropolitan Police commissioner.

The Prime Minister said in a statement: "Sir Ian Blair has made a huge personal contribution to the safety and security of our country, leading the national police effort against terrorism and the fight against crime, successfully introducing neighbourhood policing in London and cutting crime in the capital very significantly.

"I congratulate him and his officers, and of course I want to pay particular tribute to Sir Ian's leadership when London experienced the most serious terrorist attacks ever on British soil."

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith accepted Sir Ian's resignation with reluctance - but the Conservatives welcomed the move.

The Tories repeatedly called for him to stand down after the Metropolitan Police was found guilty last year of serious failures that led to the death of innocent Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes.

Ms Smith said she accepted Sir Ian's decision to quit "with regret".

"Sir Ian has always had my support for the demanding and vital tasks that we expect of the Met," she said.

But shadow home secretary Dominic Grieve accused the Government of showing a "serious lack of judgment" about the leadership of the Met. He said: "This is the right decision.

"We have been calling for Sir Ian to step down for almost a year - since the serial and systematic failings at the Metropolitan Police disclosed during the de Menezes trial - whilst Cabinet ministers from the Prime Minister onwards continued to express total confidence in him.

"It is vital that a successor is appointed who can restore public confidence."

-Ananova

Sir Ian Blair has announced his resignation as Metropolitan Police Commissioner, saying he cannot continue without the support of London mayor Boris Johnson.

Britain's most senior police officer said the mayor had told him on Wednesday he wanted a "change in leadership" at the top of the Met.

Sir Ian said: "Without the mayor's backing I do not think I can continue in the job."

Mr Johnson took over as chairman of the Metropolitan Police Authority on Wednesday.

Sir Ian defended his record at the top of the Met and said it was the duty of the Commissioner to lead the force "through good times and bad".

He said he would leave the job on December 1 after Home Secretary Jacqui Smith had "reluctantly but graciously" accepted his resignation.

"I am resigning not because of any failures of my service and not because the pressures of the office and the many stories that surround it are too much," he said.

"I am resigning in the best interests of the people of London and of the Metropolitan Police Service.

He said he had wanted to stay on until his contract ran out in February 2010. "However, at a meeting the new mayor made clear, in a very pleasant and determined way, that he wished there to be a change of leadership at the Met."

London Mayor Boris Johnson praised Sir Ian Blair but said the Met would benefit from new leadership following his resignation as commissioner.

-Ananova

SYDNEY, Australia - A 7-year-old boy broke into a popular Outback zoo, fed a string of animals to the resident crocodile and bashed several lizards to death with a rock, the zoo's director said Friday.

The 30-minute rampage, caught on the zoo's security camera, happened early Wednesday after the boy jumped a security fence at the Alice Springs Reptile Center in central Australia, said zoo director Rex Neindorf.

The child then went on a killing spree, bashing three lizards to death with a rock, including the zoo's beloved, 20-year-old goanna, which he then fed to "Terry," an 11-foot, 440-pound saltwater crocodile, said Neindorf.

The boy also fed several live animals to Terry by throwing them over the two fences surrounding the crocodile's enclosure, at one point climbing over the outer fence to get closer to the giant reptile.

In the footage, the boy's face remains largely blank, Neindorf said, adding: "It was like he was playing a game."

By the time he was done, 13 animals worth around $5,500 had been killed, including a turtle, bearded dragons and thorny devil lizards, Neindorf said. Although none were considered rare, some are difficult to replace, he said.
"We're horrified that anyone can do this and saddened by the age of the child," Neindorf said.

Alice Springs police said they are unable to press charges against the boy because of his age. Children under age 10 can't be charged with criminal offenses in the Northern Territory. His name was not released because of his age.

Neindorf said he plans to sue the boy's parents.
The boy's small size is probably the reason he didn't trip the zoo's security system, which relies on sensors to detect intruders, Neindorf said.

"I just want people to learn that they can't let their children go and run amok," Neindorf said. "If we can't put the blame onto the child, then someone has to accept the responsibility."


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What a little bastard, where the hell where his parents.. shame a croc didnt eat him.

wow this is a very sad story. i hope he can get some kind of help for doing what he did.

That's awful...

Peter Mandelson's shock return to the Cabinet has been officially confirmed by Downing Street, shortly after he described his latest comeback as "third time lucky".

Gordon Brown appointed Mr Mandelson Business Secretary in his most radical reshuffle since becoming Prime Minister.

His appointment was the most surprising element of a wider-than-expected shake-up that saw returns for other experienced Labour figures such as Margaret Beckett and Nick Brown.

None of the most senior posts were changed - Chancellor Alistair Darling, Foreign Secretary David Miliband and Home Secretary Jacqui Smith all remaining in their posts.

But John Hutton, who is making way for Mr Mandelson, was named Defence Secretary, with Des Browne leaving the Government altogether.

The transport brief, being vacated by Ruth Kelly who is also stepping down as an MP at the next election to concentrate on family life, goes to Geoff Hoon, previously Chief Whip.

No 10 also announced the creation of a new department, covering energy and climate change, to be headed by Ed Miliband, who moves from the Cabinet Office.

Having given up his parliamentary seat in 2004 to take up the post of Trade Commissioner, Mr Mandelson's return to Government is the latest remarkable twist in the career of a man who was twice forced to quit the Cabinet under a cloud.

It appeared to signal the end of a feud with Mr Brown dating back more than a decade to when Mr Mandelson supported Tony Blair to become Labour leader following the death of John Smith.

Downing Street also confirmed that the present leader of the House of Lords, Baroness Ashton, was the Government's recommendation to Brussels to replace Mr Mandelson as a European commissioner.

-Ananova

Chancellor Alistair Darling has again pledged to do "whatever it takes" to protect bank deposits as Gordon Brown announced plans for a new National Economic Council to co-ordinate the Government's response to the global economic crisis.

At a joint Downing Street press conference with Mr Brown, the Chancellor said savers should be reassured by the Bank of England's promise to make sure that banks had the funds they needed.

At the same time, the Financial Services Authority said it was extending the guarantee to depositors in British banks from £35,000 to £50,000.

"That will make a difference and I believe that it will go a long way to assuring people that their deposits are safe," he said.

"I have made it clear in addition to that on countless occasions and again I make it clear that our priority is to do everything we can to stabilise the financial situation and protect depositors.

"I mean it when I say I will do whatever it takes to make sure that that happens."

Mr Brown said he believed that other countries would soon follow Britain's example in setting up a National Economic Council, made up of key ministers, to co-ordinate policy across government.

"My sense is that in a few months' time all governments around the world will be taking similar action to the action we are taking today," he said.

"Quite simply, the new era that we have entered requires new ways of governing. We don't just need to change policies to deal with the new financial difficulties but the way we take decisions, the way we govern, has got to change as well."

Chaired by the Prime Minister, the council will meet twice a week, starting on Monday, to assess the implications of ongoing problems in the financial markets and the impact of global commodity price fluctuations on the UK economy.

-Ananova

Talks aimed at averting strikes and other industrial action by Network Rail signalling workers ended without resolution.

Around 450 members of the Rail Maritime and Transport (RMT) union in Scotland are due to stage two 24-hour walkouts next week in a row over staffing rosters and transfers.

RMT officials and Network Rail managers held eight hours of talks at the conciliation service Acas in Glasgow.

But they will reconvene on Monday after no resolution was reached.

Strike action remains scheduled to take place from noon on October 7, and again from noon on October 9, while a ban on overtime and rest-day working is set to start from Tuesday.

David Simpson, Network Rail route director, Scotland, said: "Following a day of negotiations hosted by Acas, talks will reconvene on Monday morning.

"In the meantime, we have requested that the strike is suspended in order to spare passengers the prospect of four days of severe service disruption.

"Network Rail is disappointed that the RMT has refused this request."

Ian Macintyre, RMT regional organiser for Scotland and Northern Ireland, said there had been progress.

He said: "The talks were quite meaningful and we are still working on a number of issues that will get us out of the impasse we are in. We went in with a positive attitude and we hope to continue the talks because of the progress that has been made today."

-Ananova