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[JohnCenaFan28]

The parents of a former rugby player who killed himself in a Swiss euthanasia clinic have said that they were "relieved" not to be facing charges over his death.

In a statement read out by their solicitor, Mark and Julie James described the "heartbreaking ordeal" of helping their son Daniel carry out his wish to die at the Dignitas clinic after a rugby accident left him paralysed from the chest down.

Speaking after Worcestershire coroner Geraint Williams recorded a verdict of suicide in relation to the 23-year-old's death on September 12, solicitor Adrian Harling said: "My clients are not campaigning or fighting the cause of euthanasia or assisted suicide. They purely helped their son carry out his wishes.

"My clients are relieved that the Director of Public Prosecutions has come to this decision, a decision which many commentators will say is sensible in the circumstances.

"My clients hope that the decision may help others in a similar situation facing similar dilemmas. However, every case may, of course, be different and should be judged on its own merits.

"This is still a very distressing time for my clients. More so as we approach Christmas, a family time, and Dan's birthday thereafter."

The Crown Prosecution Service announced on Tuesday it would not be bringing charges against Mr and Mrs James, from Sinton Green, Worcester, who made payments to Dignitas, sent documents and made travel arrangements to take their son to Switzerland.

The inquest in Stourport-on-Severn was told that Mr James's cause of death was poisoning.

Mr Williams said: "In light of information I have heard, I have no doubt of Dan's intention and therefore record the verdict that Daniel Mark James killed himself."

He said there was nothing a coroner could say to Mr James's family to ease their pain but he offered his sincere condolences.

-Nova

[JohnCenaFan28]

A television programme which shows a man ending his life in an assisted suicide has been accused of being the latest "reality TV" stunt.

Craig Ewert, 59, suffered from motor neurone disease (MND) and chose to die rather than endure the "torture" he feared his degenerative condition meant.

Footage of his death will be broadcast during the programme Right To Die? on Sky Real Lives at 9pm.

Dr Peter Saunders, director of the campaign group Care Not Killing, said the show was a "cynical attempt to boost television ratings".

"There is a growing appetite from the British public for increasingly bizarre reality shows. We'd see it as a new milestone. It glorifies assisted dying when there is a very active campaign by the pro-suicide lobby to get the issue back into Parliament."

Care Not Killing opposes assisted suicide and campaigns for better care for those living with terminal illness or disability.

Mr Ewert, a former university professor who lived in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, travelled to Switzerland to commit suicide, assisted by the controversial organisation Dignitas.

At a Zurich clinic, with his wife Mary by his side, the American father of two drank a mixture of sedatives and turned off his own ventilator using his teeth.

He allowed his death in September 2006 to be filmed for a documentary by Oscar-winning director John Zaritsky.

Right To Die? shows Mr Ewert bleakly outlining his options as "death, or suffering and death".

-Nova

[Darth Fozzy]

Mine has already started their closing down sale.

[JohnCenaFan28]

The pound has hit a record low against the euro amid more economic gloom for the UK.

At its low point, one pound bought just under 1.14 euros - its weakest-ever showing against the single currency and a blow for holidaymakers planning festive trips.

It comes as growing concerns over a lengthy recession heighten the prospects of UK interest rates falling to all-time lows below 2% next year, putting pressure on the pound.

The National Institute of Economic and Social Research think-tank said Britain's economy shrank by 1% in the three months to November as the pace of the downturn quickened.

Its downbeat assessment comes on top of dire manufacturing and retail figures on Tuesday.

Rates in the eurozone remain higher at 2.5%, despite a 0.75% cut from the European Central Bank last week.

The pound has sunk nearly 20% against the euro in the past year as UK interest rates fall from a peak of 5.75% to 2%.

The weaker currency should be a boost to UK exporters but the economic woes of major export markets such as the US and Europe is hitting demand.

The pound also hit a six-and-a-half-year low against the dollar last week, falling below 1.45 for the first time since April 2002.

Sterling remained below the 1.50 mark, trading at about 1.48 US dollars.

-Nova

[JohnCenaFan28]

Prime Minister Gordon Brown made himself the butt of merciless mockery in the House of Commons when a slip of the tongue led him to boast "we have saved the world".

Mr Brown was defending the Government's actions to rescue the UK economy from attack by Conservative leader David Cameron, who claimed that his £37 billion recapitalisation of ailing banks had "failed".

Mr Cameron urged the Prime Minister to adopt the Tories' plans for a multi-billion pound loans guarantee scheme to get credit flowing to small businesses.

In a fiery exchange at Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons, Mr Brown accused the Tories of being "on the wrong side of history", arguing that Mr Cameron's promise on Tuesday to restrain public spending meant he was committed to policies which failed the unemployed and small businesses in the 1980s.

But the Tory leader responded that Mr Brown was "on the wrong side of mathematics", as the Government's £1 billion loan guarantee scheme covered only 0.2% of business lending in the country.

Mr Cameron cited Bank of England Governor Mervyn King's call for the return of normal rates of lending to the real economy, and asked: "Does the Prime Minister accept that on those terms his recapitalisation has failed and when is he going to change it?"

The Tory benches then collapsed into gales of derisive laughter as Mr Brown responded: "We not only saved the world... "

The PM tried to correct his wording to "saved the banks", but could not make himself heard above the uproar in the Commons.

And Mr Cameron made capital of his mistake, joking: "Well, it's now on the record.

"He is so busy talking about saving the world, he has forgotten about the businesses of this country."

-Nova

[John]

Thanx for posting

[JohnCenaFan28]

Prime Minister Gordon Brown dismissed criticism of his economic rescue plan for the UK as a matter of "internal German politics".

In a surprise attack, German finance minister Peer Steinbruck derided the headline 2.5% cut in VAT announced by Chancellor Alistair Darling in the Pre-Budget Report while warning that a generation of taxpayers would be saddled with the debt.

In an interview with Newsweek magazine, he described the Government's switch to a "crass Keynesianiam" to try to spend its way out of the economic crisis after years of preaching fiscal rectitude as "breathtaking".

But Mr Brown, who will head to Brussels for a major European Union summit, told London's LBC Radio: "Actually the German government is investing more. They have just announced a fiscal expansion so that they can invest in public works and helping their banks and doing these sorts of things.

"I do not really want to get involved in what is clearly internal German politics here, because they have a coalition in Germany with different political parties. The important thing is that almost every country around the world is doing what we have been doing."

Not taking such actions would mean "failing in the role of Government", he said.

It is highly unusual for ministers of a friendly country to be so openly critical of the policies of an ally.

Mr Steinbruck said: "Our British friends are now cutting their value-added tax. We have no idea how much of that stores will pass on to customers. Are you really going to buy a DVD player because it now costs £39.10 instead of £39.90?

"All this will do is raise Britain's debt to a level that will take a whole generation to work off.

"The same people who would never touch deficit spending are now tossing around billions. The switch from decades of supply-side politics all the way to a crass Keynesianism is breathtaking."

-Nova

[JohnCenaFan28]

The Royal Navy's two new aircraft carriers are likely to be delayed by up to two years following a cash-saving review of Ministry of Defence equipment spending, it was announced.

Defence Secretary John Hutton also announced £70 million of new spending on Lynx helicopter upgrades which he said would provide significant extra capability to commanders in Afghanistan.

There were calls for Mr Hutton to ensure the expected delays in the £4 billion aircraft carrier project would not impact on jobs at shipyards in Portsmouth, Barrow-in-Furness, Glasgow and Rosyth.

He assured workers that the programme would still provide "stability for the core shipyard workforce", sustaining or creating 10,000 jobs in the UK.

The MoD spending review will also mean delays in the Army's Future Rapid Effect System (FRES) armoured vehicle programme and the provision of fleet tankers under the MARS (Military Afloat Reach and Sustainability) project.

Work on the aircraft carrier project was due to begin in earnest next spring, with the HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales entering service in 2014 and 2016 as the biggest and most powerful surface warships ever constructed for the Royal Navy.

But Mr Hutton said that their production timetable was being put back to bring it more closely in line with the introduction of the Joint Combat Aircraft which will provide their strike force. The ships' entry into service was likely to be delayed by 1-2 years, he said in a written statement to the House of Commons.

Britain is expected to buy around 150 Joint Combat Aircraft, to replace the Navy's Sea Harrier FA2 and the RAF's Harrier GR7, in a £1.3 billion deal with US aerospace giants Lockheed Martin. Their in-service date will not be announced until the deal is finalised following tests on prototype models in the New Year.

The Defence Secretary said that the MoD review was designed to respond to the rising cost of state-of-the-art military equipment and to allow greater support to ongoing operations, including in Afghanistan and Iraq.

He said: "Inevitably this has required a reprioritisation of investment to ensure that we deliver those capabilities of the highest immediate urgency, while continuing to invest in capabilities needed to respond to future threats."

-Nova

[JohnCenaFan28]

Closing-down sales were under way at more than 800 branches of ailing retailer Woolworths as thousands of shop workers feared for their jobs.

Christmas shoppers are being offered cut-price toys, entertainment and other items at the chain's 813 stores nationwide.

Administrator Deloitte announced the sale after saying it had so far failed to find a buyer for the struggling firm.

Woolworths has been in business for almost a century but was forced to call in administrators two weeks ago as debts and losses mounted in a worsening high street climate. The group employs 30,000 staff, with around 25,000 working in retail.

Talks on the future of the stores are continuing, Deloitte said. Some stores could close by the end of the month if no offers for the business emerge. If stores do close this month, the administrator said it would consult employees to discuss the support available in the event of redundancies.

John Gorle, national officer for shopworkers' union Usdaw, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the latest developments at the chain are "absolutely devastating" for workers.

Deloitte, which has already launched a massive sale with up to 50% off toys and gifts to generate cash for creditors, previously pledged that stores would carry on trading beyond Christmas while a rescue deal was sought.

Reorganisation services partner Neville Kahn said he was making "every effort" to convert interest in Woolworths into firm offers. He said: "While we are still seeking bids from interested parties, Christmas is clearly the busiest time of the year for retailers and it is prudent to do all we can to sell existing stock. By moving to a store closing sale and further discounting the stock, we are maximising the sales potential that this period offers."

Deloitte has already cut 450 jobs at Woolies' head office and support operations in London and Castleton, Rochdale. It has held talks with former Woolworths chief executive Sir Geoff Mulcahy and Dragon's Den star Theo Paphitis but no deals have been struck.

The complexity of the group's leases and difficulty in restocking the business after Christmas have reportedly put off interested parties. But rival retailers are understood to have agreed to buy hundreds of store leases - including Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Iceland - as many of the group's outlets have planning permission to sell food. Some employees could subsequently find jobs with the new owners.

-Nova

[JohnCenaFan28]

Two British men have been arrested in Thailand as part of a child abuse investigation.

Malcolm Henry Payne, 59, and Robert Alexander Horsman, 45, were arrested at different locations in the Thai coastal resort between 6am and 7am on Thursday and are being held for questioning.

A 67-year-old German man, Fritz Dieter Battener, and 62-year-old American Robert Roy Lond were also arrested in the tourist resort of Pattaya following a joint operation between the UK's Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) and the Royal Thai Police.

All four men were arrested at addresses in Pattaya and charged with sexually abusing children under the age of 15.

The arrests were made as part of operation Naga, which began earlier this year after CEOP identified an online network of suspected child abusers.

CEOP chief executive Jim Gamble said: "This is a huge breakthrough from a child protection perspective. People for too long have believed that sex offenders from the UK who travel to foreign jurisdictions to offend don't represent the same level of threat as at home. The truth is that of course they do.

"Such individuals are sufficiently deviant and dangerous that they target areas where they believe that children are all the more vulnerable perhaps because of the social and economic conditions."

"This operation, led by the Royal Thai Police, demonstrates that at home or abroad, online or off-line, if you represent a threat to children, we will follow you and ensure you are properly held to account."

Pattaya is a popular beach resort about an hour from the Thai capital Bangkok.

Child abuse links were discovered between the UK and Thailand earlier this year, prompting the initiation of a joint operation with the Royal Thai Police and CEOP.

-Nova