Meat from bird-flu farm ‘was sent abroad’
An investigation was under way last night after claims that poultry meat was exported from the Suffolk farm at the centre of the bird flu outbreak after the disease was identified.
Despite the imposition of quarantine rules, six trucks of poultry products from the farm owned by Bernard Matthews were said to have arrived in Hungary on Thursday.
The Department for Enviornment, Food and Rural Affairs launched an investigation into the claims made last night by Lajos Bognar, Hungary’s Deputy Chief Vet.
The movement of meat from a site infected with the deadly H5N1 strain of avian flu was said by a Defra spokeswoman to be within the rules, but caused astonishment among opposition groups.
The papers though cannot agree on this morning's main news.
The Telegraph's front page announces
One third of homes dependent on benefits
Official government figures showed that more than seven million households are getting most of their income from government handouts.
The figures also reveal the huge gulf in welfare dependency between single parent and two-parent households.
On the same topic the Guardian has on its front page
No 10 backs plan to force lone parents back to work
Downing Street is backing plans for an overhaul of the welfare state which would force single parents back into work much earlier than at present and make English lessons compulsory for people who cannot get jobs because they struggle with the language.
Officials are examining schemes in Germany and France where single parents with children as young as three are required to attend job interviews in order to qualify for lone parent benefits. At the moment the British system means lone parents do not have to attend interviews until their children reach 14.
And the Independent reports that
Flexible hours should be available to every worker, says minister
Beverley Hughes hopes the move will help staff to tailor their working patterns to the demands of home life. Her call has won support from trade unions and groups representing women and children.
Only about one in eight members of the workforce - 3.6 million parents with children under six or disabled children under 18 - have the right to ask for flexible working. Companies that refuse a request must explain the reason in writing and employees can appeal to a tribunal.
The right will be extended in April to another 2.8 million people who are responsible for caring for relatives or partners. But Ms Hughes calls for a dramatic widening of the entitlement to all 29 million employees in Britain, whatever their personal circumstances. She argues the step would particularly help parents to balance work around their children, rather than children around work, and make it easier for mothers and fathers to share their responsibilities.
It leads though with the growing tension between the United States and Iran
Target Tehran: Washington sets stage for a new confrontation
The United States is moving closer to war with Iran by accusing the "highest levels" of the Iranian government of supplying sophisticated roadside bombs that have killed 170 US troops and wounded 620.
The allegations against Iran are similar in tone and credibility to those made four years ago by the US government about Iraq possessing weapons of mass destruction in order to justify the invasion of 2003.
Senior US defence officials in Baghdad, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they believed the bombs were manufactured in Iran and smuggled across the border to Shia militants in Iraq. The weapons, identified as "explosively formed penetrators" (EFPs) are said to be capable of destroying an Abrams tank.
The Telegraph reports that
US presents 'evidence' that weapons from Iran are being used in Iraq
American officials organised a display of weaponry yesterday designed to prove that Iran has been supplying Shia insurgents inside Iraq with increasingly sophisticated equipment.
US defence officials displayed "Explosively Formed Projectiles" and the heat sensitive detectors required to detonate them remotely.
Such projectiles explode at more than six times the speed of sound, enabling them to penetrate even the heaviest armour-plating. A 7lb charge is enough to fire through 30 inches of concrete, or the weaker points of an American Abrams M1 tank.
The papers report the aftermath of yesterday's allegations about David Cameron,
Tories stand up for Cameron in row over school drug scandal
is the headline in the Times,
Senior Conservatives closed ranks round David Cameron last night after disclosures that he was punished for smoking cannabis while at Eton.
The Tory leader and his closest allies pointedly declined to deny the allegations, which are in a new biography and were splashed across the front of most Sunday newspapers.
Rather than avoid the media, Mr Cameron spoke to reporters outside his constituency home and admitted that he had done things he “regretted”, but said that politicians were entitled to a private life in their past. Other politicians declined to attack him, with John Reid, the Home Secretary, suggesting that it was a “so what?” moment.
The Guardian reports
Tories back Cameron over cannabis claims
The Conservative party yesterday threw its collective weight behind its leader, David Cameron, after he refused to deny stories that he had been punished as a schoolboy at Eton for smoking cannabis. One of his closest supporters, the shadow chancellor George Osborne, said the public did not care about his drug taking in his youth.
The home secretary, John Reid, insisted that Labour would not make an issue of the Tory leader's effective admission, but other Labour sources said that if a pattern of more serious drug taking emerged in Mr Cameron's circle, a future Labour leader would probably make something of such laxity.
Cameron: Just chill out, man
Says the Sun
SENIOR Labour and Tory figures rolled up to back Conservative leader David Cameron yesterday after he effectively coughed to pot-smoking allegations.
He won backing across Westminster despite admitting to things he “should not have done and regretted”.
The Mail casts some doubt and reports that
Drugs? My past stays private says Cameron
Labour sought to inflict maximum damage on David Cameron and his inner circle last night after revelations that the Tory leader smoked cannabis as a schoolboy.
Senior figures challenged him to deny that some of those around him have a "casual" attitude to drug taking.
One said the Cameron coterie appeared to have a "dilettante, anything goes" approach to drug abuse.
A party source told the Daily Mail: "Nobody cares what drugs David Cameron took in his past or what age he stopped taking them.
"The issue is why isn’t he just honest and straightforward about this - and does he share now the casual attitude towards drug taking which many of his inner circle seem to have?’
It though leads on
Billie-Jo foster father sues for £500,000
Sion Jenkins is suing the Home Office for up to £500,000 in compensation over his nine year battle to prove he did not kill his foster daughter.
The 49-year-old former deputy headmaster was cleared last year of murdering 13-year-old Billie Jo when an Old Bailey jury couldn't decide on his guilt.
Now Mr Jenkins - who is currently writing a book about his ordeal - has submitted a hefty compensation claim to the Home Office.
The enormous lawsuit is based on loss of earnings and a sum to compensate him for his wrongful imprisonment.
Following the news that a million people have signed a petition against road pricing,the Mirror champions the cause on its front page
EXCLUSIVE: GOVERNMENT AXE TOLL TAX AXE VOW
ROAD charging will not go ahead if the country opposes it, the Transport Secretary vowed yesterday.
Douglas Alexander said of the Government's toll tax scheme: "Unless motorists and families can see the benefits of bringing in a national road pricing system then it simply won't happen."
His commitment to axe plans for charging up to £1.28 a mile came as an anti-road toll petition on No10's website topped one million signatures. Mr Alexander said: "I understand the public's concerns.
Frankly if we were proposing what the petition suggests, I would share their concerns." But road charging pilot schemes in city centres will still go ahead.
Mr Alexander said: "Congestion is the enemy - and doing nothing is just not an option."
It also emerged yesterday even the Government admits a toll tax would hit the least well off hardest.
The Sun reports from last night's Bafta's
James Bombed at Baftas
JAMES Bond star DANIEL CRAIG went gunning for glory at the Baftas last night — but he ended up firing blanks.
Casino Royale — which had NINE nominations — snatched just one of the coveted prizes, and that was for sound.
Daniel, who took along girlfriend SATSUKI MITCHELL, was beaten to the Best Actor gong by FOREST WHITAKER, tyrant Idi Amin in The Last King Of Scotland.
Ignoring the main story of Helen Mirren's success,which the Express reports
Queen Helen beats Bond in battle of the Baftas
DAME Helen Mirren was sensationally crowned Queen of the Baftas last night, seeing off the challenge of 007 star Daniel Craig.The battle of the icons ended with royal biopic The Queen winning Best Film and Best Actress for its star Dame Helen.
The Telegraph reports from France where its presidential candidate gives
100 reasons why she should win
Ségolène Royal tried yesterday to breathe life into her troubled campaign for the French presidency when she finally unveiled the policies she hopes will see her succeed Jacques Chirac in May.
After months of criticism for her failure to spell out what she stands for, the 53-year-old candidate seeking to become France's first woman premier unveiled a 100-point "presidential pact" at a glitzy rally at an exhibition hall outside Paris.
Cheered by 15,000 Socialist supporters, Ms Royal pledged to raise the minimum wage, allow the state to take control of bank charges, boost social housing and "consolidate" France's 35-hour working week to "reduce its negative impact on workers and employees".
The Mirror ahead of Valentine's day reveals
VIAGRA TO BE SOLD AT BOOTS
VIAGRA goes on sale on the high street for the first time on Wednesday - Valentine's Day.
Men with erection problems will be able to buy the anti-impotence drug without having to get a doctor's prescription first.
Those aged 30 to 65 can have a consultation with a pharmacist and a pack of four tablets for £50 at branches of Boots participating in a pilot scheme.
The Express reports on
THE £25 TEST TO SAVE YOUR LIFE
MILLIONS of cancer sufferers could be saved by a revolutionary new test that costs just £25.The screening identifies abnormalities in genes linked to the disease, paving the way for tailor-made treatments to directly attack a specific tumour.It may also help spot problems before a cancer is even able to develop.The test is seen as a first step towards a “personalised medicine” approach to cancer, which costs the NHS £4.3billion a year to treat.
Finally a number of the papers report on a recent sex survey which according to the Times reveals
Millions of adults ‘are ignorant about sex’
Almost one third of adults believe that jumping up and down after sex stops a woman getting pregnant, according to a poll that has uncovered alarming ignorance about the facts of life.
The survey, conducted by Gfk NOP for the Family Planning Association, also found that 50 per cent of adults failed accurately to identify a woman’s most fertile time of the month, or knew that sperm could live inside the body for seven days.
Anne Weyman, chief executive of the FPA, said she was “deeply concerned” by the findings and blamed poor sex education at school, with teachers shying from telling teenagers how easy it was to get pregnant.
She said: “In today’s sexualised society, we are bombarded with a multitude of sexual imagery and messages. Yet none of us are born with the facts about sex and reproduction – we are taught them. If this doesn’t happen, myths start getting into circulation and people end up not being able to tell fact from fiction.”
No comments:
Post a Comment