Tamil National Alliance says ahead of elections it is ready to accept self-rule in north and east provincesSri Lanka's main ethnic Tamil party has dropped its demand for an independent state and said it is ready to accept regional self-rule, following the defeat of separatist Tamil Tiger rebels in a 25-year civil war.The Tamil National Alliance, which backed the rebels, said ahead of parliamentary elections that it would accept a "federal structure" in the north and east provinces with power over land, finance and law and order.Formed in 2001, the alliance acted as a proxy for the Tamil Tigers until their military defeat by government forces last year. It has 22 members in the outgoing 225-seat parliament.Tamils have long complained of discrimination at the hands of the island's majority...

Victims' group says Sean Brady should consider quitting as head of Irish Catholic church over role in Brendan Smyth tribunalThe head of the Catholic church in Ireland should consider standing down over revelations that he knew about an alleged cover-up involving the country's most notorious paedophile priest, child abuse victims said today.Cardinal Sean Brady said today he had been present at a closed canonical tribunal into the activities of the late Father Brendan Smyth. During the meeting, two of Smyth's child victims were made to sign an oath to the Catholic church that they would not talk about their claims with anybody other than a priest.The disclosure that the children gave these written assurances in Brady's presence will again raise fears that the church thought it was above...

A hoarse-sounding Nick has just started adressing the Lib Dems’ spring conference in Birimingham. Here’s what he’s saying … Shall I tell you the one phrase that bothers me more than any other? It’s this. “That’s just the way things are”. No. The way things are is not the way they have to be. We do not have to live in a country where the poorest pay the biggest chunk of their income in tax. We do not have to live in a country where politics is the plaything of wealthy donors and corrupt MPs. We do not have to live in a country where the banks can profiteer at the expense of everybody else and our climate is in jeopardy. We do not have to live in a country where children’s chances are determined more by their parents’ background than by their own hopes...

I don’t want to be excessively partisan, but for the second time this weekend at conference, I’m getting a really good feeling about the Liberal Democrats. The first was when we heard that a senior, experienced MEP thought our party was the best way forward. But the second has been our response to the Digital Economy Bill and a huge online campaign from internet activists within the party and of no party. Yes, it’s true that our team in the Lords invited the anger of the online activist fraternity. A lot of resentment has been brewing about the Digital Economy Bill as a whole, and when even the Liberal Democrats seemed to be untrustworthy and in favour of censorship, that anger spilled over and was directed at us. I live in a lot of online communities as I suspect many...

Wen Jiabao defends China's place on world stage, says his conscience is clear on climate deal and warns US on currencyThe Chinese prime minister, Wen Jiabao, today launched a robust defence of his country's place on the world stage, including a sharp rebuttal of what he called "baffling" criticism of his country's role at the Copenhagen summit.Acknowledging "serious disruption" in ties with the United States and rising criticism of Chinese assertiveness on the climate, currency, trade and other issues, the premier said he wanted to set the record straight."Some say China has got more arrogant and tough. Some put forward the theory of China's so-called 'triumphalism'. You have given me an opportunity to explain how China sees itself," Wen said.In a press conference marking the close of the...

That’s the headline in today’s leader column in the Independent on Sunday. Here are 4 things especially worth picking out … 1. On Nick’s task as Lib Dem leader: Nick Clegg has done a good job of preparing the Liberal Democrats for an election that suddenly looks likely to be the closest since 1992, and possibly since 1974. His task has not been an easy one. … Mr Clegg has to fight to be heard in this restricted space, while leading a party that, perhaps even more than Labour, harbours a deep suspicion of its leaders. And yet, somehow, Mr Clegg has kept his head and is showing a new confidence and clarity at just the right time. 2. On Nick’s hung parliament strategy: … he has pre-empted the inevitable questions about which party the Lib Dems would...

Denise Fergus says comments that Venables and Thompson were too young to stand trial in adult court for killing were 'twisted and insensitive'James Bulger's mother has called for the children's commissioner, Dr Maggie Atkinson, to be sacked after she called for the age of criminal responsibility to be raised and said that the toddler's killers should not have stood trial because they were too young.Denise Fergus described Atkinson's comments in a newspaper interview – stating that Jon Venables and Robert Thompson should not have been prosecuted because they were too young to understand the full consequences of their actions – as "twisted and insensitive".Despite England and Wales having one of the lowest ages of criminal responsibility in the EU, the Ministry of Justice yesterday...

Four explosions in Kandahar cause chaos but terrorists' attempt to free prisoners is thwartedAt least 30 people were killed when four suspected suicide bombers blew themselves up yesterday in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar. The bombers' targets included a new prison and the local police headquarters.The attacks are believed to have been timed to draw attention away from the main target, the prison. Guards had been reinforced by Canadian troops after a 2008 bombing led to a mass jailbreak. No prisoners escaped yesterday."They wanted to keep people busy in the city and break the prison, but the Canadians did a good job," said Wali Karzai, a provincial councillor and the half-brother of Afghanistan's president, Hamid Karzai.Kandahar, with 800,000 inhabitants, is one of Afghanistan's...

Ethiopian ambassador says the BBC World Service has endangered its credibility with claims that western aid money was diverted to buy weaponsThe row between Bob Geldof and the BBC escalated into a diplomatic dispute yesterday as the Ethiopian ambassador called for an apology from the World Service after it reported claims that aid money meant for famine victims had been spent on weapons.Peter Horrocks, director of the World Service, has said he fully supports the report, which featured one former Ethiopian rebel saying 95% of the money that flowed into famine-hit Tigray in 1985 was spent by the TPLF militia on guns.A second man claimed that the TPLF (Tigrayan People's Liberation Front, now the ruling party of prime minister Meles Zenawi) had made a fortune selling sand disguised as grain...

Managing director Mark Price aims to keep fast-growing upmarket grocer ahead of rival M&S;Waitrose boss Mark Price is drawing up plans to transform the upmarket food chain into a consumer brand available in thousands of non-Waitrose shops in the UK and overseas. He believes the Waitrose label has the potential to be a big "fmcg" – fast moving consumer goods – name like Heinz or Kellogg's, which he can sell to other retail businesses, rather than just direct to shoppers.He has similar ambitions for the Duchy Originals brand, founded in 1990 by the Prince of Wales. Waitrose signed a licensing deal with the struggling royal label last autumn, which gives the John Lewis-owned grocer the right to manufacture, distribute and sell all Duchy goods in the UK. Price said there would be more...

Rights groups express concern at the rising number of juveniles as young as 12 who are held behind bars and 'treated like terrorists'With more than 300 Palestinian children being held in Israeli prisons, human rights groups and Palestinian officials are increasingly concerned about the actions of the Israeli military.The Israeli group B'Tselem said that security forces had "severely violated" the rights of a number of children, aged between 12 and 15, who had been taken into custody in recent months.The family of one 13-year-old boy from Hebron who was arrested on 27 February by a military patrol and detained for eight days have brought a legal case against the authorities. The teenager, Al-Hasan Muhtaseb, described how he had been interrogated without a lawyer late into the night,...

Chancellor will cite state investment in jobs as key to lower-than-expected unemploymentAlistair Darling will claim next week that government action to protect jobs has saved around £12bn, as Labour uses the pre-election budget to spell out key economic dividing lines with the Tories.In what is expected to be the most political budget in decades, the chancellor will cite government investment in jobs programmes as a major reason why unemployment has turned out to be dramatically lower than economists predicted. Last year's budget anticipated that the level of unemployment, based on National Audit Office assessments of independent forecasts, would be 2.09 million people in the fourth quarter of 2009 and 2.44 million in the fourth quarter of 2010. By December's pre-budget report (PBR),...

Billions of pounds of debt, the internet and piracy are crippling one of Britain's most iconic firmsIt is a tale of sex, debt and rock'n'roll that is unlikely to have a happy ending. When Guy Hands, a City financier with a penchant for fast food and an insatiable appetite for deal-making, came up with a plan to buy EMI, Britain's flagship music company, using billions of pounds of borrowed money, many wondered how he could possibly make a decent return on his investment. As it has turned out, he couldn't.This weekend EMI's new chairman Charles Allen, the former ITV chief executive hired by Hands last week to run the music arm of the company, is battling to ensure its independence, assembling a rescue plan for the company that signed the Beatles and became synonymous with the golden age of...

For four years, Officer A lived a secret life among anti-racist activists as they fought brutal battles with the police and the BNP. Here he tells of the terrifying life he led, the psychological burden it placed on him and his growing fears that the work of his unit could threaten legitimate protestAn officer from a secretive unit of the Metropolitan police has given a chilling account of how he spent years working undercover among anti-racist groups in Britain, during which he routinely engaged in violence against members of the public and uniformed police officers to maintain his cover.During his tour of duty, the man – known only as Officer A – also had sexual relations with at least two of his female targets as a way of obtaining intelligence. So convincing was he in his...

MPs and financial experts demand regulators reform industry in effort to eliminate risky practices, writes Phillip InmanPressure was mounting this weekend for a root-and-branch review of the role played by auditors in the credit crunch, following the revelation that Lehman Brothers was able to hide $50bn (£32bn) of debts from regulators despite checks by accountancy firm Ernst & Young.MPs and financial experts called on regulators to clean up the audit industry as part of a clampdown on reckless and risky practices in the financial sector.Liberal Democrat treasury spokesman Lord Oakeshott urged the government to commission a fundamental review, while Tory MP Michael Fallon, who is deputy chairman of the influential treasury select committee, said: "Too much is being concealed. We need a...

Study finds US, Germany, Italy and Norway have more problems with foods such as apples, peaches, shrimp and wheatBritish people are some of the least likely in the western world to suffer from food sensitivity reactions. This is the conclusion of a study of more than 4,500 adults from 13 countries carried out by Imperial College London.The study found that nations varied in the rate of individuals who reacted to at least one food. At the top end of the spectrum, about 25% of people in Portland, Oregon, in the US, displayed food sensitivity reactions, compared with 11% in Iceland and Spain. Britain and France were next at 14%.For the study, published in the journal Allergy, the researchers tested participants' blood for antibodies against a range of foods. This gauges food sensitivity,...

Charities say reports of abuse being routinely ignored is a 'systemic and increasing problem'Torture survivors seeking sanctuary in Britain are being wrongly held in government detention centres, despite independent medical evidence supporting claims of brutal violence against them in their home countries.According to Home Office guidelines, in cases where there is evidence that a person seeking asylum has been tortured they should be detained only in "exceptional circumstances". But medical charities that carry out hundreds of independent assessments of torture survivors every year have accused the government of routinely ignoring their reports, with victims held in detention centres until their asylum claims are heard – and, in almost every case, rejected.Sonya Sceats, a spokeswoman...

The New Yorker's theatre critic has divided US theatregoers with a furious assault on Irish writer Martin McDonagh's hit new playControversial playwright Martin McDonagh is used to creating headlines in Britain and Ireland with his dark tales laced with black humour and flowing with stage blood.So his attempt to crack the American market with his first play set in the US has caused an understandable stir on Broadway, where Christopher Walken has been persuaded to play the lead role. But trying out an American setting as opposed to an Irish one is proving a challenging exercise.The play, A Behanding in Spokane, has a typically bleak and violent McDonagh premise: an ageing killer, played by Walken, is looking for a severed hand that he lost many years ago, then he meets a couple of con...

Top doctor accuses hospitals of failing to provide beds for families, who end up exhausted, stressed and depressedThe NHS is adding to the suffering of parents with a child in hospital by not giving them somewhere to sleep, the UK's top children's doctor has warned.Far too few hospitals provide parents with accommodation so they can stay beside their ill son or daughter, Professor Terence Stephenson, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, told the Observer.He said it was "not good enough" that some parents have to sleep on a pulldown bed or an unused patient's bed, sometimes for weeks or even months, in order to keep a vigil by their child. Some end up exhausted and reduced to tears by sleep deprivation and the lack of privacy, he added. He accused the NHS of...

Nick Clegg describes George Osborne's plans to slash budgets as 'economic masochism'The Liberal Democrats have distanced themselves from the Conservatives by warning they would not support plans to cut public spending too early in the next parliament.The party's leader, Nick Clegg, said early deep cuts would be "economic masochism". It came as the Lib Dem treasury spokesman, Vince Cable, hit out at the Tories' economic plans. In his speech at the party's spring conference in Birmingham, Cable accused the Conservatives of engaging in a "phoney war over cuts" that would affect millions of lives. He also hit out at George Osborne, the shadow chancellor.Cable said the Tories were trying to present their economic team as "'Slasher' Osborne and the Hard Men". But, he added, they appeared to...

Former prime minister builds network of Christian allies as he prepares to launch a religious 'offensive' in North AmericaTony Blair is preparing to launch a "faith offensive" across the United States over the next year, after building up relationships with a network of influential religious leaders and faith organisations.With Afghanistan and Iraq casting a shadow over his popularity at home in Britain, Blair's focus has increasingly shifted across the Atlantic, to where the nexus of faith and power is immutable and he is feted like a rock star.According to the annual accounts of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, a UK-based charity that promotes cohesion between the major faiths, the foundation is to develop a US arm that will pursue a host of faith-based projects. The accounts show that...

The exhibition hall is an important part of conference, along with the debates in the main hall, fringe events, training and, of course, the conference bar. So why are so many of the stands so dull? (not necessarily these ones, I hasten to add). I know it’s not easy to come up with a novel and interesting stand, especially on a limited budget, and I’ll certainly plead guilty to being as unimaginative as the next man (probably more). But conference after conference the stands look much the same, in many cases just a few uninspiring leaflets scattered around on a table, with one or two dedicated souls (who have my complete admiration for their commitment to the cause) sitting, looking mildly bored and reading a paper. Even the more expensive looking stands tend to look pretty...

Fears over Muslims in prison, fears about Mosques, fears about… Jihad Jane, etc, etc. Ian McEwan, The Booker Prize winner, has said that criticising Islam is not racist, however, the credibility of such an argument would depend on the nature of the criticism particularly since he appears to ignore that the majority of terrorists...

Campaigners demand David Cameron identifies member who killed bill protecting developing world from vulture fund bankersPressure is growing on David Cameron to identify the mystery Tory MP who deliberately scuppered a landmark anti-poverty bill that could have stopped "vulture" bankers profiteering from the developing world's debt burdens.Debt campaigners have reacted in fury and disbelief to the killing of the bill and Labour MP Sally Keeble, one of the bill's backers, has accused the Conservatives of "duplicity" by pretending to back the legislation and then sabotaging it at the last minute.Campaigners are now calling on the leader of the opposition to clarify his view of the bill and asking whether the MP concerned will be identified. The international development secretary, Douglas...

Benedict XVI's spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, suggests 'tenacious' plot to implicate pontiff in cover-upThe pope's spokesman has launched a vigorous counter-attack against a report linking Benedict XVI to a sex abuse cover-up while he was archbishop of Munich from 1977 to 1981.Father Federico Lombardi appeared to suggest in an interview on Vatican Radio that the pope, who also has strong links to the city of Regensburg, was the victim of a plot."It's rather clear that in recent days there have been people who have searched – with notable tenacity – in Regensburg and Munich for elements to personally involve the holy father in the question of the abuses," Lombardi said. "To any objective observer it's clear that these attempts have failed."The Vatican has been appalled in recent...

Leaked adjudication largely clears government over campaign that some thought 'scary, inaccurate and too political'Read the full text of the ASA adjudicationThe advertising watchdog has mildly rebuked the government over the phrasing of a claim in two advertisements on the danger of climate change, while dismissing the rest of the complaints against the controversial television and newspaper campaign.The campaign, run by the Department of Environment and Climate Change last winter, brought in 939 complaints. Various groups said the adverts were political, too scary, and factually misleading.The vast majority of these complaints have now been dismissed by the authority.The Advertising Standards Authority's only criticism was that a claim that "flooding, heat waves and storms will become...

• Vettel beats Massa and Alonso into second and third• Lewis Hamilton fourth, Michael Schumacher seventhRed Bull's Sebastian Vettel will start the first race of the 2010 season on pole position after edging out the Ferraris in qualifying for the Bahrain grand prix. Last year's championship runner-up put in a stunning lap in the closing 10-minute qualifying session at the Sakhir circuit to beat the Ferrari pair of Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso into second and third, with McLaren's Lewis Hamilton fourth and the returning Michael Schumacher down in seventh place.Vettel, who finished the 2009 campaign by winning two of the final three races, was brilliant throughout all three sessions, finishing second in the opening 20 minutes, before topping the middle 15-minute stint and then coming...

Postman Pat, the cheating twat We all know that Bitterwallet readers think the Royal Mail suck a big dog’s one but it has been revealed that from an official point of view, they’re even worse than we’ve all been led to believe. Postcomm, who oversee the Royal Mail, have discovered that quality tests on the service had been rigged, with posties learning in advance when and where they were going to be tested. An anonymous tip-off to Postcomm stated that the names and addresses that would be receiving test mail was circulated, meaning that extra care could be taken over those specific items of mail, leading to increased quality rating. The abuse is said to have being occurring for several years and involved countless staff across the country from delivery workers to senior managers....

That was the message of Danny Alexander’s speech to the Liberal Democrat spring conference this morning. Change – but not just any sort of change: Two ideas will dominate this election campaign: change and fairness. Only one party is arguing at this election for both fairness and change: the Liberal Democrats. Change: because business as usual is not the answer to the economic, political, and environmental crises that we face. Fairness: because too many people in our society are still held back because of the circumstances of their birth, their sex or their parent’s bank balance. He repeated a now often said promise to have a short and sharp manifesto: The core of the Liberal Democrat manifesto will be short, direct and to the point. We have stripped away everything that is...

In a close vote in the conference hall, Lib Dem conference delegates decided to debate “Freedom, Creativity and the Internet” as the single emergency motion to be considered tomorrow. The alternative NHS motion was narrowly edged out. Promoters of the Freedom, Creativity and the Internet motion hope that it will send a clear signal of the Lib Dems both understanding and supporting a liberal position on enforcement of copyright laws...

Children's commissioner Maggie Atkinson intervenes over Jon Venables, arguing that 10 is too young to be branded a criminalThe killers of James Bulger should not have been prosecuted for his murder, the children's commissioner for England has said in a call to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12.Maggie Atkinson, who was appointed to the post last autumn, said children under 12 should not be prosecuted for any crime because they were too young to understand the full consequences of their actions.A civilised society should recognise that children who commit offences should be treated differently from adult criminals, Atkinson told the Times.Her comments come after James Bulger's mother, Denise Fergus, met the justice secretary, Jack Straw, this week to discuss the return...

The Birmingham Mail reports: He’s recently been touted as a Lib Dem supporter after attending one of their parties at the House of Commons, but Rory admits that, professionally speaking, he doesn’t want them to do well in the general election – because he can’t take off Nick Clegg. “I struggle with David Cameron, but I find Clegg particularly difficult to master,” confesses the impressionist and satirical comic, who is about to embark on his first tour in five years. “I imagined meeting him at the party and him asking ‘Can you do me?’ I was going to say ‘No, can you?’. “I don’t think my life would be significantly poorer if I don’t impersonate Nick Clegg. I think life is short enough without sitting up night after night listening to tapes of him and George...

If you’ve read Iain’s post about Anna Arrowsmith “The LibDem Candidate Who Supports Labour” there’s one little detail you won’t have seen. The shocking piece of text saying that Anna Arrrowsmith supports Labour is … six years old. Yes verily, it’s shocking news that the party has selected as a candidate someone who was a Labour supporter six years ago Hat-tip and further details: this comment from Alex...

Records compiled from investigations after golfer's car crash raise fresh questions about his account to journalistsFresh questions have been raised about Tiger Woods' account of the car crash outside his home that led to the unravelling of his private and sporting life, after revelations that the ambulance crew refused to allow his wife, Elin Nordegren, into the ambulance because they thought it was a case of domestic violence.Records compiled from investigations by the Florida highway patrol, released last night, show that when paramedics collected Woods "one of the crew stated that [his] wife could not go in ambulance because this was a domestic".In the few public statements Woods has made about events on the night of 27 November, he has consistently denied that he was attacked by his...

Report revealing 'mistreatment and exploitation' of workers could be describing conditions in developing countriesThe examples are many and varied, but appalling all the same.Pregnant women being forced to stand for long hours in factory production lines without breaks, or perform heavy lifting under threat of the sack; meat factory workers having frozen hamburgers "like stones" thrown at them by line managers; women with heavy periods being refused toilet breaks so that they bled on their clothes on the production lines; workers with bladder problems refused breaks so that they urinated on themselves, workers exposed to verbal and physical abuse.The "widespread mistreatment and exploitation" of agency workers, particularly migrant and pregnant workers, in meat and poultry processing...

Supermarket suppliers under fire as one-fifth of workers interviewed for inquiry report being pushed or hitThousands of workers in Britain's lucrative food industry are being subjected to widespread mistreatment and exploitation, including physical and verbal abuse and degrading working conditions, according to an inquiry published today.The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said it has uncovered significant evidence of abuse among producers supplying Britain's big supermarkets. The inquiry includes reports from meat factory workers who say they have had frozen burgers thrown at them by line managers, and accounts of pregnant women being forced to stand for long periods or perform heavy lifting under threat of the sack.It also contained reports from women with heavy periods and...

• Storrie claims he left club over 'intolerable' abuse• Former chief executive will continue as consultantPeter Storrie has left his job as chief executive of Portsmouth. He said tonight that he had gone because he could no longer tolerate the abuse he has been subjected to over the club's plight.Storrie has departed without a pay-off but Portsmouth's administrators said he would be "remunerated accordingly" for ongoing work on a range of matters, including the sale of the club and the FA Cup semi-final arrangements for game against TottenhamHotspur or Fulham at Wembley on 11 April at Wembley.Last night Storrie told ESPN: "It is best that I walk away for the sake of the club as well as my family and friends. Despite working non-stop to try to keep this club alive for the last 14...

Nine-minute duet with Beyonce already being touted by some as successor to Michael Jackson's ThrillerWith some grunts, G-strings, heavy product placement and an enormous amount of hype, the 21st century's take on feminism and social commentary arrived this week with the video to Lady Gaga and Beyonce's duet, Telephone. Within 12 hours of the video being released on the internet it had half a million hits and nearly as many blogs eagerly dissecting the possible meanings behind the nine-minute video.Already being touted by some as the successor to Michael Jackson's Thriller, Telephone continues Gaga's tradition of elevating her songs with clever videos. This time she and director Jonas Akerlund have created a melange of Russ Meyers, Quentin Tarantino, Thelma and Louise and the brief...

Lib Dem leader condemns bankers as 'Scargills in pinstripes' and says electorate, not him, will decide who is next PMNick Clegg is to call for a 10% tax on bank profits to fund a £2bn job creation programme to rescue victims of the recession.In a Guardian interview, the Liberal Democrat leader condemned bankers for behaving like ''Arthur Scargill in pinstripes'', and vowed his party would be "a radicalising, rather than moderating force" in the event of a hung parliament so long as the majority party was committed to bring the deficit under control.On the eve of his party's pre-election spring conference, he insisted he will consult his party fully before joining a coalition or supporting a Queen's speech tabled by a minority government.Clegg insisted it is not for him, but for the...

Neighbours were oblivious that recluse who froze to death in her home was first black woman on South Carolina legislatureThe neighbours knew Juanita Goggins only as an elderly recluse with no friends and a family that was rarely seen.Goggins was so private that she instructed a neighbour who delivered groceries to leave them at the door, ring the bell and go away before she emerged. She spurned offers of home help from the local authorities even though she was evidently finding it increasingly difficult to look after herself.So the residents of her South Carolina community were saddened, if not entirely shocked, to hear that the 75-year-old woman had frozen to death in her own home and that her body went undiscovered for nearly a fortnight.But in the days before her funeral today, they...