France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy (left), National Transitional Council (NTC) head Mustafa Abdul Jalil (centre) and Prime Minister David Cameron (right) join hands in Benghazi on September 15, 2011.
Nicolas Sarkozy and David Cameron landed in Libya to a heroes’ welcome yesterday, promising help for the new rulers that French and British air power helped to install and being told the favour may be repaid in business contracts.
Just three weeks after rebels backed by Nato bombers overran the capital, French President Sarkozy and the British prime minister promised in Tripoli to help hunt down Muammar Gaddafi and to hand his frozen assets to his successors.
The forces of the National Transitional Council (NTC) later said they had stormed Gaddafi’s home town of Sirte, one of three main urban areas still beyond the interim government’s control.
NTC fighters were facing strong resistance from loyalist fighters, especially snipers, a military spokesman said.
In Benghazi, seat of the uprising which early intervention by French and British jets helped to save from Gaddafi’s army in March, Sarkozy and Cameron were treated to a rowdy welcome on “Freedom Square,” shouting to be heard over a cheering crowd of hundreds — many in the city were unaware of their arrival.
A gang of Asian men went on trial yesterday accused of a sickening catalogue of child prostitution offences against vulnerable teenage girls as young as 13.
The nine – six are married and one is a grandfather – face 55 charges, including inciting child prostitution, grooming and rape between 2007 and 2009.
The girls – who cannot be named for legal reasons – were said to have received cash, alcohol, drugs, meals and mobile phone credit in exchange for sex with some of the defendants.
Three of the men – Ahdel Ali, 23, his brother Mubarek Ali, 28, and Tanveer Ahmed, 39 – allegedly acted as ‘pimps’, passing two of the young girls among their friends and using them as sexual commodities.
Mubarek Ali is also accused of trafficking one of the girls, while Abdul Rouf, 34, and Mohammed Younis, 59, are accused of using their homes as brothels for child prostitution.
Deborah Gould, prosecuting, said: ‘The Crown say that the men in the dock variously trafficked, raped or sexually abused girls both over and under the age of 16 years over a considerable period of time.
‘These men ensnared these girls. They had cars, jobs and money which gave them both freedom and power. They enticed the girls, groomed the girls and then exploited them either for their own sexual gratification or for money.’
Accused: Mohammed Islam Choudhrey (L) and Noshad Hussain are among the defendants facing trial at Stafford Crown Court
Also accused: Mohammed Ali Sultan, left, and Marhoof Khan are on trial for sex offences
Brothels: Defendants Mohammed Yunis, left, and Abdul Rouf are accused of using their homes for child prostitution
'Pimp': Tanveer Ahmed Tanveer Ahmed, 39, allegedly passed two of the young girls among his friends
As senior Naval officers back First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope's criticisms of the ability of the Navy to fight in Libya, Commander John Muxworthy, who sailed to the Falklands with the Royal Navy Task Force, looks at the ignominious end of a symbol of the once-mighty British fleet.
The image is a poignant symbol of Britain’s rapid decline as a maritime power. With her metallic carcass exposed, the once mighty aircraft carrier HMS Invincible languishes in a Turkish port, being broken up for scrap.
The ship was once the pride of the Royal Navy, a hero of the Falklands War and a veteran of other conflicts from Iraq to Yugoslavia.
But now, as Britain’s naval heritage is obliterated by an irresponsible Coalition Government, she faces an utterly degrading end.
HMS Invincible sits in the Port of Aliaga, Turkey, earlier this year, waiting to be scrapped and recycled
Unseemly death of a courageous veteran: Like a tired but noble beast brought down by jackals, HMS Invincible's carcass is picked clean in a Turkish scrapyard
* Taliban must make 'decisive split' with al Qaida, says Cameron in joint press conference with Obama after garden party
Forget table tennis - this is the ultimate photo opportunity for Barack Obama and David Cameron.
The UK and U.S. leaders forged a special culinary relationship today as they manned the grill at a barbecue in honour of servicemen in the garden at No. 10.
It was a moment of fun after this morning's in-depth talks on issues ranging from military campaigns in Libya and Afghanistan to global economic reform.
Obama and Cameron diligently serve a burger to a soldier wounded in service during the garden party
U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama and Samantha Cameron, wife of the Prime Minister, serve food at the barbecue for British and American service members and veterans
Michelle Obama, the wife of the U.S. President, and Samantha Cameron, wife of the Prime Minister, pose with their husbands on the steps of 10 Downing Street yesterday
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton walks with British Foreign Secretary William Hague to join Obama at 10 Downing Street
Mr Obama made the short journey in Cadillac One - his bombproof limousine known as 'The Beast' - from Buckingham Palace
Mr Obama's motorcade travels along the Mall as it leaves Buckingham Palace to go to Downing Street this morning
Barack Obama and David Cameron serve food from a barbecue as they entertain British and American service members and veterans at 10 Downing Street today
Obama and Cameron wave to members of the media outside the Prime Minister's official residence, prior to their meeting
Mr Obama speaks during a joint press conference with David Cameron at Lancaster House today. The Prime Minister said the next 12 months represented a 'vital year' in Afghanistan
The Irish army blew up a makeshift bomb found in a bus outside Dublin ahead of a historic visit by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth today, amid the biggest security operation ever mounted by the state.
The Queen’s visit, the first by a British monarch since Ireland won independence from London in 1921, is designed to show how warm neighbourly relations have replaced centuries of animosity.
But the discovery of the bomb on a bus in a town outside Dublin, and a coded warning yesterday about a possible bomb in London, were stark reminders that a small minority remain violently opposed to continued British rule in Northern Ireland.
Britain’s Foreign Office said the Queen’s visit would still go ahead despite discovery of the bomb.
Queen Elizabeth lays a wreath at the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin May 17, 2011.
Queen Elizabeth honoured Irish people killed fighting for independence from Britain yesterday in a powerful gesture of reconciliation few people would have believed possible even in recent times.
The queen laid a wreath at Dublin’s Garden of Remembrance, Ireland’s monument to its fallen heroes, before a hushed crowd of dignitaries, soldiers and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, whose uncle was killed by militant Irish nationalists in 1979.
The visit, the first by a British monarch since Ireland won independence from London in 1921, is designed to show how warm neighbourly relations have replaced centuries of animosity but security was tight after a homemade bomb was found.
Members of the All India Anti-Terrorist Front (AIATF) hold placards in New Delhi May 3, 2011, during a pro-US rally as they celebrate the killing of Osama bin Laden. British police have arrested five men near a nuclear reprocessing plant in England under counter-terrorism law
British police said today they had arrested five men close to the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant in northwest England under counter-terrorism laws.
The arrests were made after Prime Minister David Cameron urged Britain to remain vigilant against potential reprisals following the killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan by US forces.
Police said the men were arrested yesterday after officers conducted a stop check on a vehicle near the site in Cumbria.
The men are all aged in their 20s and from London, police said.
Police held the men under section 41 of the Terrorism Act, which allows offices to arrest people suspected of terrorist offences and hold them for 48 hours without charge.
HMS Astute, the first of the biggest ever hunter-killer submarines to be ordered by Britain’s Royal Navy, sails into the River Clyde and up the Gareloch to her new home at HM Naval Base Clyde in Faslane near Glasgow, Scotland in this file picture of November 20, 2009.
A Royal Navy sailor appeared in court today accused of shooting dead a colleague and of the attempted murders of three other crew on board a nuclear-powered submarine.
Ryan Donovan, 22, Dartford, Kent, spoke only to confirm his name, age and address during the short hearing at Southampton Magistrates' Court.
Donovan has been charged with killing Lieutenant Commander Ian Molyneux, 36, who was fatally shot on board HMS Astute while it was docked in Southampton on Friday.
BAA chief Colin Matthews faced calls to relinquish his bonus amid continued chaos and delays
Heathrow's chief executive relinquished his bonus today amid claims bosses 'failed' to buy enough de-icer, ruining Christmas getaway plans for more than a million people.
The world's busiest airport has drawn widespread criticism after holidaymakers were left to sleep on cold terminal floors during the festive period as thousands of flights were cancelled or delayed.
Furious airlines have now hit out at Heathrow's owners BAA, insisting the company did not stock up on enough de-icing fluid to keep its two runways open.
Boss Colin Matthews later bowed to calls to relinquish his six-figure bonus.
Snow is cleared from the southern runway. The airport has turned down an offer of help from the Army
Snow ploughs clear the southern runway at Heathrow, as travel chaos continues at the London airport
Passengers sleep on the hard floor of Terminal 3 as flights are cancelled or delayed by bad weather
Royalty protection officers were warned by a police colleague not to drive down Regent Street 15 minutes before Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall were attacked by a baying mob, the Daily Mail can reveal.
A police sergeant told a member of the couple’s protection team that the area surrounding the road should be avoided because up to 200 thugs were in close proximity.
But the advice – logged in official police records – was not followed and Charles and Camilla’s royal limousine was driven straight into a splinter group of anarchists who had attended the student protests against the raising of tuition fees.
Danger: Camilla and Charles betray their fear during the attack
Wrong turn: The royal limousine heads through the protests, which it now appears the couple's protection team were warned of but chose to ignore
Police officers stand in an alleyway between two house being searched in Stoke-on-Trent, central England, on December 20, 2010
Twelve men were arrested across Britain yesterday in counter-terrorism raids described by a senior police officer as essential to protect the public from the threat of an attack.
John Yates, Britain’s most senior counter-terrorism officer, said the men were held on suspicion of the “commission, preparation, or instigation of an act of terrorism in the UK.”
He described the operation to arrest the men as significant, but refused to give details of the allegations against them.
The BBC said in an unsourced report that the arrests were linked to an investigation into al Qaeda-inspired attacks within Britain. The inquiry was led by the MI5 domestic security agency and the suspected plot was in its early stages, it said. Police would not comment on the report.
Yates said it was right to launch the raids, particularly because Britain is on the second highest state of alert for an attack. The threat level stands at “severe,” meaning an attack is highly likely.
“With the current threat level at severe and with the information we had, I believe that today’s arrests were absolutely necessary in order to keep the public safe,” Yates said. “This operation has used significant resources from the country’s counter-terrorism network.”
Britain is 'losing the battle against Islamic extremism' by failing to outlaw burqas, the architect of the French ban said today.
Jacques Myard, a senior member of President Nicolas Sarkozy’s ruling UMP party, said relaxed UK policies had ‘opened the door to terrorism’.
He added: ‘Allowing women to exclude themselves from society by wearing the full Islamic veil makes radicals extremely comfortable, and Britain should realise this.’
Man behind the burqa ban: Jacques Myard, a member of Nicolas Sarkozy's ruling UMP party, said relaxed UK policies have 'opened the door to terrorism'
A stricken tanker loaded with a type of gasoline was being towed to safety today after colliding with a huge cargo vessel in the English Channel.
All 13 crew of the 6,970-tonne YM Uranus were rescued by helicopter after the Maltese-flagged vessel was in collision with the 179,000-ton Hanjin Rizhao about 60 miles west of the Brittany coast in north-west France.
No one was hurt in the incident and none of the Uranus cargo - a specialist gasoline product called heavy pygas - is thought to have escaped.
The boat took in some water, but that inflow has stopped, and the cargo tanks were not breached, international ship manager V. Ships said, confirming that there had been no pollution of the waters.
'I think the danger is behind us now,' V. Ships spokesman Patrick Adamson confirmed.
He said the company would cooperate fully with investigators.
Listing heavily: The YM Uranus after the collision with a Panamanian bulk container off the Brittany coast
Sinking: The 400ft, Maltese-flagged YM Uranus was carrying 6,000 tonnes of solvent after the collision
France's Foreign Ministry is warning French travelers of a high terrorism risk in Britain, asking them to be watchful in public transport and busy tourist areas across the English Channel.
A message posted on the ministry's Web site late Tuesday said British authorities have warned that "the level of terrorist threat is very high in the United Kingdom, and the risk of an attack is very likely." The ministry said France wanted to pass those concerns on to French citizens, many of whom live in Britain or travel there frequently.
France has not issued any recent warnings for other countries in Europe, though officials have repeatedly insisted that the threat is high in France as well and have boosted security at busy tourist sites such as Notre Dame Cathedral and the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
France and Britain are among many European countries that have stepped up terrorism alert vigilance recently. Germany, meanwhile, says it remains watchful but that there is no reason to be "alarmist."
Security officials have said terrorists may be plotting attacks in Europe with assault weapons on public places, similar to the deadly 2008 shooting spree in Mumbai, India. European officials have provided no details about specific targets.
French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said there was close cooperation between European countries and the U.S.
"Second ... we don't want to alarm (people) too much, but also we want to keep a very high level of preparedness on this issue," he said.
The French warning was issued before gunmen fired a rocket at a convoy carrying Britain's No. 2 diplomat in Yemen on Wednesday, wounding four people amid heightened fears about al-Qaida influence in the Arabian Peninsula country.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. In a separate incident in Yemen the same day, a gunman fatally shot a French citizen working for Austrian oil and gas company OMV.
This weekend, the U.S. State Department advised American citizens living or traveling in Europe to take more precautions about their personal security. Britain's Foreign Office in turn warned travelers to France and Germany of a high terror threat.
France's warning did not mention Germany. That was because the Germans, unlike the British, have not expressed such serious concerns about a terror threat inside their territory, said a French diplomatic official speaking on condition of anonymity because of office policy.
Germany's Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere has said security forces in Germany remain vigilant due to the ongoing "high abstract danger" of a terror threat, but he has insisted there was "no reason to be alarmist."
The United States believes a cell of Germans and Britons are at the heart of a terror plot against European cities, a plan they link to al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden. Pakistani officials said this week that eight German militants were killed in a U.S. missile strike in Pakistan.
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said his nation is trying to clarify the situation.
"We don't have reliable information at this point," he said.
The Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere told Deutschlandfunk radio he was astonished that militants killed by a drone were identified so swiftly.
"What I find particularly astounding is that this attack allegedly was carried out by unmanned drones the day before yesterday in a region that is difficult to reach, and at the same time they find identity papers," he said. "That doesn't go together, we first need to clarify this."
The French have issued their most extreme warning in recent years about the dangers of visiting Britain, saying a terrorist attack is ‘very likely’.
A dramatic statement on the website of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs adds that visitors need to exercise ‘extreme vigilance’.
This is especially so in world famous sites like London’s Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus, and on the capital’s public transport system.
Target: London's Piccadilly Circus is one of the English capital's tourist hotspots and the French Foreign Ministry have warned people to exercise 'extreme vigilance'
Pope Benedict this week makes a challenging trip to Britain – only the second by a pope in history – and his welcome in one of Europe’s most secular nations will range from polite to indifferent and even hostile.
Coming on the heels of a simmering scandal of sexual abuse of children by priests in several European countries, strained relations with the Anglicans, and discontent over the taxpayer footing part of the bill, he will have his work cut out for him.
Britain and France are getting ready to unveil plans to share aircraft carriers amid pressure on the British military to cut costs, the Times newspaper reported today.
British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Nicholas Sarkozy were expected to announce the proposal at a November summit, the Times said, quoting an unidentified British naval source for its information.
No immediate comment was available from British officials on the report.
