Terrorism convict released early

A man convicted of a terrorism offence has been released 17 days early under the scheme to reduce jail overcrowding, the government has confirmed.

Yassin Nassari left Wakefield Prison on 11 February 2008, after being jailed last summer for three and a half years.

He was arrested in May 2006 at Luton Airport carrying what police said were blueprints for a rocket in his luggage.

The Ministry of Justice said Nassari had met the release criteria because he was not guilty of serious violence.

Under the terms of the government's early release scheme, prisoners are eligible to leave prison 18 days earlier than normally expected, if they had been jailed for less than four years and not committed a serious violent offence.

Nassari, 28, from Ealing in west London, was convicted in July 2007 of having articles of use to terrorists.

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I do not understand how a potential terroristic threat cannot be considered a serious offense. Although he did not commit any violent acts, he was still in the process of conspiracy.

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Watchdog admits failure over Rock

The UK financial watchdog, the Financial Services Authority (FSA), has admitted that it failed to regulate Northern Rock adequately.

The FSA said there had been "a lack of adequate oversight and review" by the agency of the troubled bank.

It said too few regulators were assigned to monitor Northern Rock, which ran into trouble in August.

The FSA said it would be overhauling its procedures as a result of the weaknesses identified.

Newcastle-based Northern Rock was nationalised in February after the credit crisis forced it to seek a Bank of England lifeline to fund its mortgage loan book.

Last week it said it would cut about 2,000 jobs by 2011 and reduce its residential mortgage lending by half under plans to turn around its fortunes.

Northern Rock must also pay back Bank of England loans worth about £25bn.

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It appears that the few regulations that Parliament set on Northern Rock Bank have failed. This may cause Parliament to reform their policies on foreign companies.

UK will fight turbulence - Brown

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has promised that the UK and other EU countries will "lead the way" in fighting "global financial turbulence".

He told MPs that an EU summit at the weekend had agreed "co-ordinated action at a European and global level".

Tory leader David Cameron said the UK was suffering from not "putting money aside in the good years".

It came as an ICM poll suggested the Tories had a 13-point lead over Labour and were trusted more on the economy.

Markets have recorded heavy losses in reaction to the emergency bailout of US investment bank Bear Stearns.

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The U.K. to the rescue!

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Burrell 'removed ring from Diana'

Former royal butler Paul Burrell claimed he had removed an engagement ring from Princess Diana's body, his former bodyguard has told her inquest.

Michael Faux said Mr Burrell had told him he had taken the ring, with blood on it, from her body, in Paris after her fatal car crash in August 1997.

Mr Faux also said he had seen Mr Burrell burning documents, some with Buckingham Palace letterheads.

Mr Burrell denied he had ever spoken of such a ring or burnt important papers.

BBC News royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell said the ring discussed in Monday's evidence could not be the one described throughout the inquest as an engagement ring bought by Dodi Al Fayed, as that ring was on public display at Harrods department store.

The ring Mr Burrell referred to "could only have been a friendship ring, a Bulgari friendship ring," he said.

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And Burnell's back.

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Darling bumps car and beer tax up

Big increases in duty on alcohol and high-polluting cars have been announced by Chancellor Alistair Darling.

In his first Budget he put 4p on a pint of beer, 14p on a bottle of wine and 55p on a bottle of spirits. Duty on a packet of cigarettes is up 11p.

He announced a one-off £950 tax on the most polluting new cars but put a 2p rise in fuel duty back six months.

Mr Darling, who insisted the UK could "weather economic storms", also increased winter fuel payments.

But Conservative leader David Cameron dismissed his Budget statement as a "a dire list of reviews and reannouncements".

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Pubs are unhappy.

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U.K. All Wet

Fourteen flood warnings are in place across England as a powerful storm moves across the UK, causing widespread travel disruption and power cuts.

On Monday, gale force winds and heavy rain affected roads, rail and air travel, while almost 12,000 homes are without power.

More bad weather is expected in the early hours of Tuesday.

The Environment Agency say the Bristol Channel, Severn Estuary and the Somerset coast are most at risk.

High tides along the south west, southern and west coasts will peak by midnight GMT.

A spokeswoman for the Environment Agency said: "The situation has now improved along parts of the south west and southern coasts."

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This storm is one of the strongest the U.K. has seen in the past several years. The picture really explains it all.

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Trivia Question Results

The answer to last week's trivia question was Bo Diddley. Congratulations to those of you who answered correctly! Kritesh is currently leading by 9 points.

Assessment Complete

Trivia Question

Kritesh is ahead by 9 points now. Next week the question will be worth 10 points and only the first answer will be accepted.

Trivia Results

The answer to the special question was Noel Fielding.

Kritesh is currently 4 points ahead of Camp . If anyone reads this 5 points will be given to the first person to tell me Noel Fielding's Birth City.

Behind camp are Sean and Courtney both by one point. Lauren has 0 points.

Burrell refuses return to inquest

Former royal butler Paul Burrell has refused to return to the inquest into the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.

He had been asked to explain discrepancies between his evidence and comments reported in the Sun newspaper.

In a video recording obtained by the Sun, Mr Burrell apparently claims he introduced "red herrings" during his evidence and held back facts.

The coroner said he cannot compel him to give evidence because he is outside the court's jurisdiction in the US.

Lord Justice Scott Baker said in a statement: "The coroner asked him to give further evidence either in person or via videolink from abroad.

"Mr Burrell has refused to do this and, as he is outside the court jurisdiction, the coroner has no power to compel him to give evidence."

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Once again Burrell is back. One innocent testimony must not be enough for the British courts.

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Migrants challenge rule changes

The government's decision to change the rules for highly skilled immigrants is facing a challenge in the High Court.

It is claimed retrospective changes to the Highly Skilled Migration Programme (HSMP) in 2006 will mean thousands of non-EU migrants have to leave the UK.

The HSMP Forum, which is seeking the judicial review, says 90% - 44,000 people - who entered under the HSMP no longer qualified.

They claim the decision was unfair and in breach of their human rights.

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Parliament tries to create strict imigration policies and the immigrants reject them.

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Tories planning new prison places

Conservative leader David Cameron says his party would build 5,000 more prison places in England and Wales - taking capacity in jails to more than 100,000.

Under the plans, older inner-city jails would be sold off to pay for more new prisons on cheaper land elsewhere.

Mr Cameron also wants new "min-max" sentences - with no chance of parole until the minimum term has been served.

Justice Secretary Jack Straw accused him of copying Labour plans, saying the rest of the scheme was "uncosted".

The 5,000 extra spaces would be on top of the 15,000 new prison spaces being created by the government over the next five years.

Inside Look

This new policy could very well be England's solution to their problem of overcrowded prisons.

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Man is found dead in city street.

Police believed the man lived locallyPolice are investigating the "unexplained death" of a man, whose body was found in a Swansea street. The unidentified man, who was aged between 40 and 55, was found in Llangyfelach Road, close to Brynhyfryd Square, near the Landore district.
South Wales Police said he was found at 0031 GMT on Sunday.

The man, who was believed to be local, was white, slim, 5ft 8ins to 5ft 10ins tall, with short brown, straight, tidily-kept hair and a brown moustache. He was wearing a green Barbour-style jacket, blue jeans and white trainers. A post mortem examination will take place on Monday.

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This is an interesting story for two reasons, one is that the man should have been caught on camera dying and number two is that this small of a story would not make national news in the U.S. but Britain is so much more close knit.

Fatal wartime Tube crush marked

It was one of Britain's worst civilian disasters during World War II. On the evening of 3 March, 1943, a crowd of people were descending the steps into Bethnal Green underground station to take shelter from an impending air-raid. Suddenly, they surged forward and in the crush 173 people were killed and more than 90 injured.

A high proportion of the victims were women and children, some younger ones babes-in-arms or holding hands, as they made their way down the stairs. The disaster happened on one small stairwell, in the capital city, as people followed their routine to take cover from the coming bombs.

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During WWII 173 people died in a crushing. All of this happened on one small stairwell. this awful event took a long time to unfold because of the wartime attitude.

UK prisons now 'over-capacity'

Prison officers accuse ministers of "total mismanagement"The prison population in England and Wales has exceeded its highest normal level for the first time. The Ministry of Justice said that as of Friday morning there were 82,068 inmates in jails - 96 over the Prison Service's "operational capacity". Justice Secretary Jack Straw has asked magistrates to jail fewer people while officials attempt to manage the crisis.

Some 358 inmates are in police or court cells to ease pressure on a system with current capacity of 81,972. Ministry of Justice figures reveal that the population breached that capacity on Thursday evening. The breach comes despite a year of efforts to reduce pressures by releasing more prisoners and building more cell. The figures mean that for the first time the Prison Service has almost 100 more inmates in jail than the numbers governors want to hold to ensure a controlled and secure regime.

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The U.K. is now officially over capacity in their prisons. Maybe we can house some inmates to ease our debt. Oh wait we are more over capacity than they are.

Assessment Complete