World News joined 0001

[JohnCenaFan28]

Thanks for this.

[JohnCenaFan28]

Thanks for the read.

[JohnCenaFan28]

Thanks for posting.

[JohnCenaFan28]

Thanks for this.

[JohnCenaFan28]

The teenager who murdered schoolboy Rhys Jones has been attacked in jail, the Prison Service has confirmed.

Sean Mercer, 18, was assaulted at HMP Moorland in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, but the incident was stopped by the "timely intervention" of staff, a spokeswoman added.

The gang member was taken to hospital after the attack in the communal area of the prison, according to reports. The attack is thought to have left Mercer with a broken nose and facial injuries.

A Prison Service spokeswoman said: "We can confirm an incident took place at HMP Moorland at 2.30pm on Saturday, December 27, in which two prisoners assaulted each other.

"The incident lasted less than two minutes and was quickly resolved by the timely intervention of staff."

The spokeswoman would not release any further details.

Last month Mercer, of Good Shepherd Close, Croxteth, Liverpool, was jailed for life and was told he would serve a minimum of 22 years behind bars.

Mercer, a Croxteth Crew member, blasted three shots across the car park of the Fir Tree pub in Croxteth on August 22 last year.

His targets were rival Strand Gang members who had arrived on his turf - but one of the shots hit innocent Rhys, who was walking home from football training.

The 11-year-old schoolboy died in his mother Melanie's arms.

-Nova

[lɐuǝɯo⊥ǝɥԀ]

He deserves everything he gets, Thanks For This EeL

[OMEN]

Waterford Wedgwood has gone into receivership.

This morning, the company asked that its shares be suspended from trading on the Irish Stock Exchange and said some of the group's Irish and UK subsidiaries have had to go into receivership and administration.

The company, which produces Waterford Crystal, and Wedgwood and Royal Doulton china, employs 800 people in Ireland.
It has appointed David Carson of Deloitte Ireland as receiver to the company. He said he is seeking a buyer for the firm, and wishes to sell it as a going concern.

A director of Waterford Wedgwood and former group chief executive officer, Redmond O'Donoghue, has said mayhem in the market place over the last three months was the chief factor which led to today's announcement.

Speaking on RTÉ Radio's News At One, he said the company could not have predicted how horrible the markets were going to be when it announced last October that it needed to raise funds of €150m.

He said the company had raised only half that amount.

Also on the programme, Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism Martin Cullen, who is a TD for Waterford, welcomed that the receiver will try to sell the business as a going concern.

He said the Government would do what it could to keep the very strong brand of Waterford Crystal in Ireland.

In Ireland, the ultimate holding company Waterford Wedgwood PLC is in receivership, and joint administrators are to be appointed to the UK companies, of which there are about ten.

No other companies other than those in Ireland and the UK have had receivers or administrators appointed. It means they continue to trade, even though they are all subsidiaries of the ultimate holding company.

Union representatives were expected to meet with workers at Waterford Wedgwood this morning.

Unite was seeking an urgent meeting with management.

News 'sickening' - union

Spokesman Jimmy Kelly said the situation is 'sickening' but added that he believed the firm can ride out the storm.

The company last month reported pre-tax losses of €63.2m for the six months to 4 October, up 13% from a loss of almost €50m a year earlier.

Chief Executive David Sculley said it was clear that the group needed extra financing to continue with its business plan.

'I am disappointed that certain of the group's UK and Irish subsidiaries have had to go into administration and receivership, but we remain optimistic that ongoing discussions will result in a buyer being found for the businesses,' he said.

In October last, Waterford Crystal told workers about its plans to lay off another 280 people at its plant in Kilbarry in the city, ending large-scale manufacturing at the plant.

Chief Financial Officer of Waterford Wedgwood Anthony Jones said it had become clear that maintaining manufacturing in Ireland at its current level was not feasible.

Under a restructuring plan announced in 2007, 490 people were already due to leave the company.

RTE

[OMEN]

US President-elect Barack Obama has chosen former lawmaker and White House chief of staff Leon Panetta to head the CIA.

US media were first to report that Mr Panetta, who was White House chief of staff for former president Bill Clinton, was the incoming president's choice to head the agency.

Presidential transition aides have also said that retired admiral Dennis Blair is Mr Obama's choice for director of national intelligence to oversee the country's sprawling intelligence system.
A former commander of US forces in the Pacific from 1999 to 2002, Blair will be only the third director of national intelligence.

The position was created by Congress in 2004 after investigations revealed that turf-sensitive intelligence agencies failed to share information that might have averted the 11 September attacks.

That failure was followed by US intelligence's fateful error on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.

The DNI's main mission was to break down the barriers between the agencies, and make them operate more collaboratively.

RTE

[OMEN]

Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair will receive the highest civilian award in the US - the Presidential Medal of Freedom - next week.

In his last week in office, President Bush will award the medal to Mr Blair, former Australian PM John Howard and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.

All three leaders had been "staunch allies" of the US, particularly against terrorism, said the White House.

The ceremony will take place at the White House on 13 January.

At a press briefing earlier White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said: "The president is honouring these leaders for their work to improve the lives of their citizens and for their efforts to promote democracy, human rights and peace abroad. "

She added: "Their efforts to bring hope and freedom to people around the globe have made their nations, America and the world community a safer and more secure world. "

The medal of freedom, awarded by the US President, is the highest civilian award in the US, alongside the congressional gold medal - awarded by Congress.

Mr Blair was awarded the congressional gold medal in July 2003, shortly after the invasion of Iraq, but he has yet to collect it.

There was some speculation that unease over the Iraq war and Mr Blair's close friendship with Mr Bush made him reluctant to accept it while in office.

But each medal is individually designed and minted and it was reported it was taking some time to decide on the words and images.

The office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives told the Sunday Telegraph this week that Mr Blair was taking a keen interest in the medal's design, before it was specially made by the US Federal Mint.


BBC

[OMEN]

Conservative leader David Cameron has announced plans to help savers, whom he has described as the "innocent victims" of the economic downturn.

He plans to scrap taxes paid by basic rate taxpayers' on savings interest and raise the level of non-taxable income for pensioners by £2,000 a year.

The Tories have said the tax cuts will be fully funded, paid for by lower public spending.

Labour say the Tories are making promises without having the funding.

The Lib Dems said the plan was a "fake giveaway."

Savers have suffered as interest rates have fallen to a 57-year low of 2%, with a further cut anticipated on Thursday.

'Big change'

In response, the Tories are proposing to help savers by ending the 20% tax paid by basic rate taxpayers on savings' interest.

According to the Tories, anyone with savings who has earnings or pension income of less than £43,875 will be better off.

They say those most dependent on income from savings, such as the retired and those not working, will benefit most and that someone with annual pension income of £12,000 would save £200 a year.

The amount of income that people aged between 65 and 74 would receive tax-free would rise from £9,490 to £11,490 while for the over 75's, tax-free allowances would rise to £11,640.

This would enable a 65-year old with £14,000 in pension income to save £400 a year, the Tories argue
Mr Cameron said his plans were designed to create a "less materialistic" society based on a culture of "save, save save" rather than "spend, spend spend".

"We need to make a really big change in Britain from an economy built on debt to an economy built on savings," he said.

Mr Cameron said the tax cuts - estimated to cost about £4.1bn - would be paid for by restricting public spending increases across most of government in 2009-2010 to 1% in real terms.

This would represent a reduction of about £5bn in the overall rise in public spending - from £30bn to £25bn - planned by Labour.

However, existing Labour spending commitments for health, schools, defence and international development would be left unaltered.

Such savings were "perfectly reasonable", he added, urging a "culture of thrift" in government.

Slowdown fears

One tax expert said the Tory proposals were a "good way" of putting money into the pockets of key groups in society.

But Carl Emerson, deputy director of the Institute of Fiscal Studies, said it was unclear whether the recipients would choose to spend the money or save it and there was a chance that it would result in less money flowing into the economy.

He also said it would result in a "very sharp slowdown" in the rate of spending growth across many areas of government.
Mr Cameron said the country faced a "grim" future of 1970s-style big government under Gordon Brown and called again for a general election any time this year.

Labour's economic strategy had failed, he said, and the country was facing a "catastrophic legacy of debt and disrepair".

In contrast, the Conservatives had a vision of more "productive, balanced and modern" economy with an emphasis on a savings culture and more environmentally sustainable economic activity.

"Our vision is a good future is of a less materialistic country, more concerned with people and our relationships; a contributor society not a consumer society."

'Debt crisis'

Mr Cameron also announced plans for a review of broadband services - with the aim of giving every home access to high-speed fibre optic broadband within 10 years - and for a "green" stock exchange to help fund new environmentally friendly businesses.

Mr Cameron earlier accused Gordon Brown of inflicting a "terrifying" debt crisis on Britain and called the VAT cut a "joke".
Mr Cameron told BBC Radio 4's Today that Mr Brown might as well have gone out and burnt the money and said he felt like "shaking the prime minister".

His criticisms came as both his party and Labour seek to gain the initiative over handling of the economic downturn.

The BBC's political editor Nick Robinson said the changes to savings tax rates would create a clear political dividing line, he added, between a Labour government committed to state intervention to inflate the economy and the Tories calling for a smaller state and tax cuts.

Meanwhile Gordon Brown has been discussing help for businesses trying to cope with the economic slowdown.

This is as a prelude to a three-day tour of England and Wales by the prime minister, which will culminate in a jobs summit in Downing Street next week.

'Better tomorrow'

Mr Brown said the UK was facing a "testing" year but that Labour's investment in areas such as housing and transport and its planned focus on creating jobs in new sectors of the economy was an "essential" response to the downturn.

"I believe with the right policies that we can build a better tomorrow while also immediately addressing the challenges we face today," he told a meeting of business groups and union leaders in London.
To do otherwise and to let the downturn run its course - the approach the prime minister has accused the Conservatives of taking - would be "socially divisive and economically mistaken".

"When markets fail the government has a responsibility to act."

The government also said it was mulling over further plans to encourage UK banks to raise lending to firms and households.

And Yvette Cooper, chief secretary to the Treasury, said: "David Cameron talks about the 1970s. The truth is the Conservatives are returning to the worst of Thatcherism in the early eighties with no support for jobs or the economy and cuts in public services as well.

"The Conservatives are repeating their mistakes of the past: if a timely fiscal stimulus of similar scale had been applied at the beginning of the 1990s recession, around 300,000 fewer jobs might not have been lost."

The Lib Dems said the plans would only result in a marginal saving for people on average incomes.

"What people need is much more money back in their pockets now," said their leader Nick Clegg.

BBC