European Political News

To mention it once again, I continue - since the hyperlinks which they broke when they redesigned their website continue to be broken, and I have received no response to requests for them to sort it out. I have added this paragraph to the Daily Roundup template. Here is today’s roundup of stories. Iraqi Interpreters Deborah Haynes (Times Online) - Iraqi interpreters and families prepare for new lives in Britain Iraqis who risked their lives working for Britain have been cleared to resettle in the UK, with the first families expected to arrive next month, The Times can reveal. The first wave will include seven former interpreters who have met the strict criteria for resettlement and have chosen to come to Britain. Many others have accepted cash payments to stay in Iraq or decided to resettle in a neighbouring country such as Jordan or Syria. Comment Jeff Jarvis (Comment is Free) - A smothering embrace - Bebo AOL - which is paying $850m for the social networking site, the other Facebook - is where innovations go to die. Remember Netscape? Bought for $4.2bn and now dead. News BBC (BBC) - All MP claims may be published The Commons has been ordered to publish details of the claims of 14 MPs under Freedom of Information laws. Sources say all claims may be published by December. Economist (Economist) - US Election - The scrap is getting uglier THE Democratic race for the presidential nomination has settled into a pattern. Barack Obama gains momentum, and is nearly crowned the winner. Then Hillary Clinton wins a high-profile contest and makes a comeback, before Mr Obama builds up steam yet again. Mrs Clintons latest resurrection came with big wins in Texas and Ohio. But now Mr Obama is back. Over the weekend he won a caucus in Wyoming and on Tuesday March 11th he emerged as victor at a primary in Mississippi. He won both by margins of over 20 points. Deborah Summers (Guardian) - Brown dampens Mandelson hopes of second term at EUGordon Brown last night moved to quash the hopes of Peter Mandelson of staying on as EU trade commissioner, despite suggestions earlier this week that the feud between the pair was diminishing and Mandelson was prepared to serve a second term. Elissa Gootman (NYT) - For Bronx Schools Dancers, the Moves Are Irish With a student body that is 71 percent Hispanic and 27 percent black, Public School 59 does not seem an obvious home for a thriving Irish dance troupe. And when Caroline Duggan first arrived from Dublin at age 23 to try her hand as a New York City public school music teacher, it wasnt. Many of her students had never heard of Ireland. Why, they wanted to know, did she talk funny? Rosa Prince (Telegraph) - Revealed: what MPs can claim on expenses The John Lewis list was released under the Freedom of Information Act after weeks of pressure. The list of allowances is used by finance officials to pass or reject MPs’ expenses claims for decorating their second homes and buying household items. Until recently it was kept secret even from MPs who were not given formal guidance on how much they could spend on individual items. It shows that MPs are allowed to spend £10,000 for a kitchen and £6,000 to install a new bathroom. Air conditioning units, beds, food mixers and rugs are all allowed, while carpets and wood flooring can be bought at £35 per square metre.” James Bone (Times Online) - Prostitute Ashley Alexandra Dupre behind Eliot Spitzer sex scandal cashes inAshley Alexandra Dupr, a struggling singer, uploaded a new track to Amie Street, an online music-seller, hours after she was exposed as the prostitute Kristen talking on tape about the disgraced Eliot Spitzer. Suzy Jagger (Times Online) - Father and daughter team duped 15,000 pensioners out of £35mAround 15,000 British pensioners are thought to have been duped out of more than $70 million (£35 million) by a father and daughter team working an aggressive investment scam in Florida. Scotland BBC (BBC) - Salmond’s Trump action cavalier First Minister Alex Salmond took a cavalier approach to his involvement with Donald Trump’s £1bn Scottish golf resort, a parliament committee said. BBC (BBC) - High heels spark car parking rowA councillor said she has been denied free parking that would save her walking half a mile in her high heels for meetings with the public. Wales BBC (BBC) - Inquiry into stabbed vicar deathA heath watchdog is examining why a man with paranoid schizophrenia who stabbed a vicar to death was not identified as a threat. Tags: daily roundup, the skinny, matt wardman, wardman wire, mattwardman, independent newspaper

Today “Parliamentary Roundup Thursday” gains another report. In addition to Sadie’s “Westminster Watch” report, today Will Patterson - who writes the J Arthur MacNumpty blog and contributes to the Scottish Roundup - has done the first weekly roundup with news from the Holyrood Parliament. For now I’m calling the column “Holyrood Herald“, but we may come up with a better name (suggestions are welcome). Over the next several weeks a roundup from the Welsh Parliament (”Senedd Scan“?) will be added, and I’m working on similar roundups from Stormont and Brussels/Strasburg. The Roundup of the Papers will be out in the early evening today, and will be - shall we say - idiosyncratic. As a final note, I have added mobile websites to the Scottish Politics and Welsh Politics blog aggregators, and to the Comment from the Senedd Welsh Assembly AM Comment “blaggregator”. The links are, respectively, http://m.politics-scotland.co.uk/ http://m.politics-wales.co.uk/ http://m.senedd.me.uk/ These are experimental at this stage, so there may be some glitches - and I welcome comments. Tags: daily roundup, holyrood herald, will patterson, mobile phone political feeds, scotland, wales

To mention it once again, I continue - since the hyperlinks which they broke when they redesigned their website continue to be broken, and I have received no response to requests for them to sort it out. I have added this paragraph to the Daily Roundup template. Here is today’s roundup of stories. Comment Mail (Daily Mail) - Sultry in sequins: Holly looks just like Toon sex symbol Jessica Rabbit It’s another week and another plunging neck line for controversial Dancing on Ice presenter Holly Willoughby. Clad in a daring, curve-hugging scarlet gown, the glamorous star, who is becoming famous for her revealing style of dress, resembled racy cartoon character Jessica Rabbit. Philip Webster (Times Online) - Petrol price rises and penalties for gas-guzzlers as Chancellor Alistair Darling goes green He will give tax incentives to companies that opt for greener vehicle fleets. And in a further move to show his green credentials Mr Darling will announce that Britains first five-year carbon budget, setting out the way independent experts believe that the country should meet the target of reducing emissions by 60 per cent by 2050, will be published next year alongside the main Budget Ed Pilkington (Guardian) - Bush vetoes move to ban water torture President George Bush maintained his collision course with the Democrats in Congress over the use of torture when he wielded a rare presidential veto on Saturday to block legislation that would have banned the CIA from applying force when interrogating terror suspects. News BBC (BBC) - Clegg urges new political system Nick Clegg says he will never join a Labour or Tory cabinet, but will push instead for a new type of government. BBC (BBC) - Pienaar view: Clegg looks comfortable After a trying week, Nick Clegg has come through his first party conference looking surprisingly comfortable - almost relaxed - in the role of leader. Philip Johnston (Telegraph) - Britain must not betray the Commonwealth How many of us any longer feel an affinity to the billion or more people who belong to this extraordinary comity of post-colonial nations? Quite a few, I suspect, especially to those with whom we share a common kinship. William Rees Mogg (Times Online) - And for our next lie . . . the great EU betrayal The facts about the Lisbon treaty are relatively simple, but the implications are deeply disturbing. In May 2005, the Labour Party won a general election on a manifesto that included a commitment to hold a referendum on the European constitutional treaty. BBC (BBC) - I did smash Sinn Fein - Paisley Speaking on the BBC1’s Andrew Marr Show, he said Sinn Fein could no longer be true republicans because they were in part of the British government. Gordon Brown (FT) - Time for the third act in public sector reform Time for the third act in public sector reform Louise Story (NYT) - To Aim Ads, Web Is Keeping Closer Eye on You A new analysis of online consumer data shows that large Web companies are learning more about people than ever from what they search for and do on the Internet, gathering clues about the tastes and preferences of a typical user several hundred times a month. Scotland BBC (BBC) - Info requests centre on politics Ministers and councils have been the subject of almost two-thirds of requests to the Scottish Information Commissioner, a report has revealed. BBC (BBC) - Information act hailed a success The rate of freedom of information appeals in Scotland is double that in England, it has emerged. Wales BBC (BBC) - Concern at cross-border services Patients and politicians in Wales have voiced concern about devolution eroding the shared use of public services such as health with England. Tags: daily roundup, the skinny, matt wardman, wardman wire, mattwardman, independent newspaper

To mention it once again, I continue - since the hyperlinks which they broke when they redesigned their website continue to be broken, and I have received no response to requests for them to sort it out. I have added this paragraph to the Daily Roundup template. Here is today’s roundup of stories. Comment Henry Porter (Comment is Free) - Why I told Parliament: you’ve failed us on liberty After a celebrated two-year campaign to protect our freedoms, The Observer’s Henry Porter was called last week to give evidence to a panel of peers and MPs assessing whether a Bill of Rights is necessary for Britain today. Here is his impassioned submission Mail (Daily Mail) - Cambridge University sex attack victim did NOT want fellow student punished It took a jury just two-and-a-half hours to clear 23-year-old Cambridge University graduate Jack Gillett of sexually assaulting a fellow student after a night of drinking. She claimed that after they kissed he had repeatedly ignored her pleas to stop as he pulled off her clothes in his room and pinned her to the ground and groped her. But the judge questioned why the case had ever been brought to court. Here a close friend gives a compelling insight into how the 22-year-old woman found herself in a judicial process she could not halt and the motives behind her reporting the case. For legal reasons she must remain anonymous " Sara is not her real name ” Antonio Maria Costa (Guardian) - Every line of cocaine means a little part of Africa dies The UN’s drugs tsar denounces celebrities such as Amy Winehouse for adding to the misery of already vulnerable countries News BBC (BBC) - Thatcher resting at London home Baroness Thatcher is resting at her London home after spending the night in hospital undergoing tests. Economist (Economist) - Chinese art-buyers are in overdrive FEW of the international specialists who deal in Asian art could have predicted the outcome of the main sale of the season at Christies in London last November. Of the ten most expensive lots, eight went to Chinese buyers, including an early 15th-century Song porcelain flask that was not in the best condition. James Politi in Washington (FT) - Obama wins Wyoming Democratic caucus Mr Obama clinched 59 per cent of the vote in Wyoming, against 40 per cent for Mrs Clinton, with 96 per cent of precincts reporting. Both candidates had campaigned in Wyoming ahead of Saturdays caucuses, the latest contest in the increasingly bitter battle to face Republican John McCain in the US presidential election in November. Paul Harris in New York (Guardian) - The most powerful people in American politics Their email accounts are full and their phones are ringing off the hook. They are the superdelegates - the 795 Democratic bigwigs who will now decide whether Obama or Clinton will become their party’s candidate for president STEVEN LEE MYERS (NYT) - Bush Veto of Bill on C.I.A. Tactics Affirms His Legacy Mr. Bush vetoed a bill that would have explicitly prohibited the agency from using interrogation methods like waterboarding, a technique in which restrained prisoners are threatened with drowning and that has been the subject of intense criticism at home and abroad. Many such techniques are prohibited by the military and law enforcement agencies. Obituary Telegraph (Telegraph) - Carol Barnes After a year as a radio reporter with the BBC, she joined ITN two years later. Her early assignments as a reporter included the return from exile of the Iranian spiritual leader Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979 and, two years later, the Brixton riots (which Barnes covered while seven months pregnant with her daughter). Scotland BBC (BBC) - Talks over scrapping council tax Talks have taken place between the Scottish Government and the Liberal Democrats over scrapping the council tax in favour of a local income tax. Tags: daily roundup, the skinny, matt wardman, wardman wire, mattwardman, independent newspaper

To mention it once again, I continue - since the hyperlinks which they broke when they redesigned their website continue to be broken, and I have received no response to requests for them to sort it out. I have added this paragraph to the Daily Roundup template. Here is today’s roundup of stories. Comment Jakob Illeborg (Comment is Free) - Danish doormats The Swedes were supposedly wiping their feet all over Denmark - thanks to Ikea. But no one had checked the facts Global Muslim networks - How far they have travelled (Economist) A Turkish-based movement, which sounds more reasonable than most of its rivals, is vying to be recognised as the world’s leading Muslim network Clare Dyer (Guardian) - Medical tests after rape may be handed to NHS Responsibility for the medical examination of rape victims may be taken away from police and handed over to the NHS, amid concerns that services in some parts of the country are short-changing victims and contributing to the low conviction rate for rape. Joanna Bourke (Times Online) - Mini-skirt or burka - my choice What is it about the way women dress that excites so much fury? In Johannesburg, a young woman was recently stripped, sexually assaulted and paraded naked by a group of taxi operators as punishment for wearing indecent clothes. News BBC (BBC) - Lib Dems plan tax for super rich Lib Dem treasury spokesman Vince Cable says he wants to end the “ridiculous anomaly” which sees the owners of homes worth millions paying only council tax. Ian Urbina (NYT) - To Revive Hunting, States Turn to the Classroom When David Helms was in seventh grade, he would take his .22-caliber rifle to school, put a box of ammunition in his locker and, like virtually all the other boys, lean his rifle against a wall in the principals office so he could start hunting squirrels as soon as classes let out. Roya Nikkhah (Telegraph) - Local council to buy out doomed post offices Essex county council is set to become the first local authority to take over the running of post offices that have closed. Lucy Bannerman (Times Online) - Forced marriage fear prompts a national count of missing girls Ministers have called on local authorities to carry out immediate checks in 15 areas that have been identified as forced-marriage risk zones, after it emerged that 33 girls had vanished from the school roll in Bradford alone. Obituary Andrew Roth (BBC) - Lord Pym of Sandy After long and frequent battles with Margaret Thatcher in the privacy of cabinet, Francis Pym’s final defeat came at a pre-election press conference in 1983. Then foreign secretary, Lord Pym of Sandy, who has died aged 86, dared to contradict the prime minister in public. He said he would be satisfied with a majority of 50 to 100, while Thatcher proclaimed the sky as her limit. Scotland BBC (BBC) - E-count causes vote result delay Electronic counting should not be used in Scottish elections until improvements to the system are made, the Electoral Commission has said. It comes after a council by-election declaration was delayed by more than 12 hours after a technical fault. The same counting software was used for the Cambuslang East count as that used in last May’s chaotic Holyrood election. Wales BBC (BBC) - Six Plaid AMs to refuse pay rise Six of Plaid Cymru’s 15 assembly members say they will refuse to take an inflation-busting 8.3% pay rise. Tags: daily roundup, the skinny, matt wardman, wardman wire, mattwardman, independent newspaper

To mention it once again, I continue - since the hyperlinks which they broke when they redesigned their website continue to be broken, and I have received no response to requests for them to sort it out. I have added this paragraph to the Daily Roundup template. Here is today’s roundup of stories. Comment Victoria Brittain (Comment is Free) - Spanish practices The collapse of Spain’s extradition case against el-Banna and Deghayes should lead to an official British acknowledgement of their innocence Guy Herbert (Comment is Free) - The politics of identityThe Labour ID card schedule, announced today, makes a mockery of the joined-up government it is supposed to embody Economist (Economist) - Why the Grand Canyon has been floodedFloods once raged through the canyon every year. Snow from as far away as Wyoming would melt and swell the Colorado river to a flow that averaged around 1,500 cubic metres (50,000 cubic feet) a second. Every eight years or so, that figure rose to almost 3,500 cubic metres. These floods infused the river with sediment, carved its beaches and built its sandbars. Telegraph (Telegraph) - If Livingstone loses London, he will have only himself to blame The formidable political machine that is Ken Livingstone has started to leak oil. London’s mayor has not yet broken down, but his pistons are no longer pumping quite so freely. A nasty noise is emanating from City Hall engine, as friction over corruption allegations tests Team Ken’s mettle. David Cameron (Telegraph) - Do not ignore feelings over post office closures Post Offices provide much needed services for millions of vulnerable people in this country, particularly the elderly, and Labour has been closing almost 10 a week since 1997. Post Offices often provide the only community service in rural areas and the strength of public protest against closures is being ignored by this Government. News Norma Cohen in London (FT) - Companies face bigger pensions risk levy Companies with pension schemes heavily reliant on risky investments such as equities will pay far higher premiums to the Pension Protection Fund under proposals to be unveiled this year. Duncan Campbell and Ian MacKinnon in Bangkok (Guardian) - Lord of war arms trafficker arrestedIf Viktor Bout did not exist, a thriller writer would have invented him. A former Russian lieutenant, he became one of the world’s biggest arms dealers, flying his ancient Soviet planes into battlefields from Liberia to Afghanistan. His clients have included the Taliban and the US government, African warlords and the UN. NYT (NYT) - Party Donations Show G.O.P. Edge The Democratic National Committee ended 2007 nearly flat broke, with cash of $2.9 million and debts of $2.2 million. Since then it has raised some money, paid down debt and managed to put $3.7 million in its piggy bank. This compares, however, with $25 million that the Republican National Committee has in cash on hand, after having raised $97 million since the beginning of 2007. Christine Buckley, Grainne Gilmore and Miles Costello (Times Online) - The British status as a financial leader is under threat, Alistair Darling is cautionedIn separate warnings, the CBI and the ABI said that if the Government made hasty changes to banking regulation and pushed ahead with changes to rules on capital gains tax and nondomiciled workers, the financial services sector and the countrys reputation would be damaged. Nick Ray/The Times (Times Online)- Grudging GPs give in and agree to open evenings and weekends Family doctors have reluctantly decided to open in the evenings or at weekends after being bulldozed into an agreement by the Government. GPs accepted a set plan to work extra hours but 98 per cent of those in a poll said that the Government method of negotiation was not acceptable and that their hand had been forced. Wales BBC (BBC) - Assembly members get 8.3% pay rise Welsh assembly members are set to receive an inflation busting pay-rise of 8.3%, bringing their salaries more in line with MPs at Westminster. Tags: daily roundup, the skinny, matt wardman, wardman wire, mattwardman, independent newspaper

To mention it once again, I continue not to link to the Independent - since the hyperlinks which they broke when they redesigned their website continue to be broken, and I have received no response to requests for them to sort it out. I have added this paragraph to the Daily Roundup template. Here is today’s roundup of stories. Comment Economist (Economist) - Simba Makoni is getting up steam President Robert Mugabe may face a real challenge in the election on March 29th Guardian (Guardian) - Can you do me a quick cow head?From Damien Hirst to Mark Wallinger, many major artists now rely on legions of helpers. How do they feel about their often uncredited roles? Patrick Barkham reports Mikhail Gorbachev (Times Online) - Memo to Medvedev: democracy counts Russia has elected a new president. I voted, and I urged not only my friends and family but all citizens of Russia to go to the polls and cast their ballots - despite the fact that the result was predictable, even programmed. News BBC (BBC) - Paisley to quit as first minister Northern Ireland first minister Ian Paisley is to stand down from the post in May, he has announced. He also said he would be resigning as leader of the DUP, a party he has led for almost 40 years. He will continue as MP and MLA for North Antrim. “ BBC (BBC) - Fire chiefs plea on flood rescues Scotland fire chiefs believe their service should be the single agency in charge of flood rescues. Joanna Chung and Jennifer Hughes (FT) - FSA cold calling in insider trading clampdown Traders and investors are being cold-called by the City regulator in its latest bid to gather evidence of potential insider dealing crimes. James Rossiter (Times Online) - Chancellor Alistair Darling to close loophole in finance deals based on ShariaThe Government brought in changes to the stamp duty regime three years ago amid concern that homeowners opting for Sharia-compliant mortgages were paying stamp duty twice. The 2005 Budget brought in measures to correct this anomaly but inadvertently created a tax avoidance opportunity that property developers have rushed to exploit. More than ?1 billion of commercial property deals over the past two years have escaped stamp duty at 4 per cent. Chris Brooke (Times Online) - Dozens of missing schoolchildren feared forced into arranged marriagesDozens of children are missing from school amid fears they have been forced into arranged marriages, it was revealed yesterday. In Bradford, 33 children remain unaccounted for after being off school for at least two months with no explanation. Obituary AP (NYT) - Dungeons & Dragons Co - Creator Dies at 69 Gary Gygax, who co-created the fantasy game Dungeons & Dragons and is widely seen as the father of the role-playing games, died Tuesday morning at his home in Lake Geneva. He was 69. Scotland MARTYN McLAUGHLIN (Scotsman) - Pulling plug on water monopoly Whether it is a newsagents in the Shetland Islands, or a major housebuilding concern in Edinburgh, tens of thousands of Scottish businesses will have the right to choose their water and sewerage suppliers from the beginning of next month. Telegraph (Telegraph) - Questions over ?1,500 tax subsidy for Scots In a move expected to reignite tensions between the Westminster and Edinburgh parliaments, Mr Brown has told Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, to look again at the Barnett formula. Downing Street confirmed last night that the review - which could end the much-maligned formula - had been ordered to inform the debate. Mr Darling will present its findings in the next few months.” Wales BBC (BBC) - Plea to legalise flags on platesA campaign calling on the UK Government to allow national flags such as the Welsh dragon to be displayed on car number plates has been launched. Tags: daily roundup, the skinny, matt wardman, wardman wire, mattwardman, independent newspaper

To mention it once again, I continue not to link to the Independent - since the hyperlinks which they broke when they redesigned their website continue to be broken, and I have received no response to requests for them to sort it out. I have added this paragraph to the Daily Roundup template. Here is today’s roundup of stories. Comment Nick Cohen (Comment is Free) - The awful squeal of fundamentalism Authoritarians seeking to extend repression have always drawn innocents into manufactured crises. None was more innocent than Jacques Barrot, who, in 2005, helped trigger a wave of death when he entered the Frrench annual pig squealing contest at the Pyrenean village of Trie-sur-Base. Economist (Economist) - New Russia president - The name is Dmitry His record is more mixed. A lawyer from St Petersburg, Mr Medvedev has been by Mr Putin’s side for most of his professional life, even running his presidential campaign. In 2000, when Mr Putin became president, his protg became his deputy chief of staff, and later a deputy prime minister. NYT (NYT) - The Office as Architectural Touchstone How much longer can any of these postwar corporate centers " perfect embodiments of a moment in history when cities began to feel pestilential, when suburban flight grew easier on the interstates and when faith in Americas corporate power was unshakable " maintain the architecture and landscaping that made them such landmarks? Telegraph (Telegraph) - St David’s Day: Top 10 Welsh links Damian Noonan trawls the web for the best links into the red dragon’s lair News Gaby Hinscliff (Guardian) - Cameron vow on women ministers Tory leader risks wrath of his MPs by pledging to give a third of senior government jobs to females Dominic OConnell (Times Online) - Pentagon tanker order brings British aerospace boom BRITISH aerospace firms were celebrating an order bonanza this weekend, after EADS, the parent company of Airbus, won a $35 billion (?18 billion) Pentagon contract for tanker aircraft. Times Online (Times Online) - Barnstorming Obama plans to pick Republicans for cabinet As he jets across two key states whipping up the support that could finish off Hillary Clinton this week, the Democratic frontrunner is already mapping out a government of all the talents. Our writer joins him aboard Obama One Scotland John Knox (BBC) - Hubble, bubble, toil and trouble The ancient art of witch-pricking is enjoying a revival in Holyrood. BBC (BBC) - Adverts target organ donor rise A TV advertising and poster campaign aimed at encouraging more people to donate their organs is to be launched by the Scottish Government. BBC (BBC) - Smith rejects UK gun laws review Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has rejected Scottish Government calls for a review of firearms laws. BBC (BBC) - Stephen makes partner plea to SNP Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Nicol Stephen has urged the Scottish Government to work with his party to scrap council tax. Economist (Economist) - From geeks to greens Executives are switching in droves from the computer industry to clean-technology firms. Do they have what it takes to succeed? Sport David Walsh Chief sports writer (Times Online) - The Big Interview: Jonny Wilkinson Englands star stand-off has cast off the demons that drove him to the top of the game " and to the depths of despair Wales BBC (BBC) - Tories celebrate their success Do not expect any big policy announcements from the Welsh Conservatives at their conference in Llandudno this week - as they “celebrate their success”, as they like to put it. Tags: daily roundup, the skinny, matt wardman, wardman wire, mattwardman, independent newspaper

Here is today’s roundup of stories. Comment Giles Fraser (Comment is Free) - Intimations of mortality We have lost the art of plain speaking when it comes to death - and that is not healthy for children Naomi Klein (Comment is Free) - It is no slur to be called a Muslim The turban photos affair was a missed chance for Obama. If he really is to repair the world, he must tackle this Islamophobia Economist (Economist) - Whorehouses and American nostalgia MY DAD, who lived a long good life, always used to tell us kids that a town without a whorehouse was a stupid place in which to live. So wrote one woman in a letter to Helenas daily newspaper in 1973. Montana may not want to bring back its old brothels, but everywhere I went, there seemed to be one or two on the list of things to see. News BBC (BBC) - MPs apologise for motorbike error The influential Commons Public Accounts Committee of MPs has apologised to motorcyclists after wrongly suggesting 40% of motorbikes were untaxed. BBC (BBC) - Political quakes hit parliament The magnitude of this earthquake only really emerged inside the House when Labour’s David Winnick suggested that reform of the expenses for MPs, under Mr Speaker, was not really going fast enough. Guardian (Guardian) - Provinces pay price for green Olympics Reservoirs around Beijing are being tapped to flush out the foul, polluted waterways in the centre of the city and to fill the fountains and keep the grass green in the Olympic park. Meteorologists are even firing silver iodine crystals into the clouds to induce rain. NYT (NYT) - In 2008 Politics, Rhode Island Defies Its Size For the first time anyone can remember, this small state is relishing its role in the presidential primary cycle. Scotland BBC (BBC) - Holyrood will not give back powers Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Nicol Stephen has said his party would oppose any UK Government move to take powers from Holyrood. BBC (BBC) - MSPs vote to scrap endowment fee Students will no longer have to pay the graduate endowment fee when they finish university, after MSPs voted to abolish the charge. Sport Times Online (Times Online) - Timely Andrew Strauss century cements Test place Andrew Strauss was a relieved man after hitting a timely century for England on a rain-hit final day of the last warm-up match for the Test series with New Zealand. Wales BBC (BBC) - ?15m plan to aid Menai economy The Welsh Assembly Government says it wants to see an economic hub of industry and tourism for Anglesey and Gwynedd based around the Menai Strait.

Here is today’s roundup of stories. Blogs Economist (Economist) - Montana’s problem with new drivers’ licences Montana is larger than Germany or Japan"around 150,000 square miles. But the cities are small and scattered widely across the state, and this time of year the roads tend to be icy and treacherous. Comment Ali Eteraz (Comment is Free) - The prophet and politicsThe Prophet Muhammad was the first person to establish an Islamic state - and he should have been the last NYT (NYT) - For Obama, a Taste of What a Long Battle Holds If Mr. Obama becomes the Democratic presidential nominee, he is sure to face an onslaught from Republicans and their allies that will be very different in tone and intensity from what he has faced so far. Ben Macintyre (Times Online) - The Arts as Religion Art is our new secular religion. Just look at the motives of the criminal and the benefactor News BBC (BBC) - The most spied upon people in Europe Germany’s highest court has ruled that spying on personal computers violates privacy, but governments across Europe are under pressure to help their security services fight terrorism and organised crime. Here, BBC reporters give a snapshot of the extent of surveillance across Europe. James Mcintosh (FT) - Hedge Fund Implodes One of Londons most successful hedge funds imploded Thursday when Peloton Partners put the assets of its $2bn flagship fund up for sale and froze its remaining fund after geared mortgage bets left it unable to meet lenders demands. Guardian (Guardian) - McLaren rally round unsackable Dennis after Italian police raidsMcLaren last night dismissed rumours that their chairman Ron Dennis could be fired in the wake of the continuing Italian criminal investigation into the team’s involvement in the acquisition of confidential Ferrari design information. Richard Tyler (Telegraph) - Sting in the tail of CGT changes The Government has decided on the most severe way of introducing its new capital gains tax regime by insisting on a controversial measure that will catch thousands of Britain’s most successful entrepreneurs who have already sold businesses. Scotland BBC (BBC) - Clegg sets target for Lib Dem MPsThe Liberal Democrat leader is to set his party the task of doubling its tally of Scottish MPs within six years. BBC (BBC) - Trump disappointed over inquiryThe US tycoon Donald Trump has described as disappointing the decision to hold a public inquiry into his ?1bn golf resort application. Wales BBC (BBC) - Best practice of E.coli butcher A butcher at the centre of an E.coli outbreak had featured in an Welsh Assembly Government publication promoting local businesses.

Here is today’s roundup of stories. The lead story this morning is about the earthquake which wobbled my chair at 12:56am. Fran Yeoman (Times Online) - Earthquake hits Britain, 5.3 magnitude Britain was shaken by a huge earth tremor at 12.56am this morning which was felt by people from Yorkshire to the South Coast. Comment Martin Kettle (Comment is Free) - Talking TurkeyThere is no more fascinating country in Europe at this moment than Turkey, so why do we know so little about what’s going on there? News BBC (BBC) - Assessing Cameron’s Sharia speech Much of his speech in fact, which discussed the need to strengthen British identity, sounded enormously similar to some of Gordon Brown’s previous statements. And unusually, the Conservative bloggers have not bitten at this story so far. It is rare for them not to dissect a major speech from the party’s leader, but this time perhaps they feel it has all been said. BBC (BBC) - Lib Dem ordered out of EU debate Lib Dem frontbencher Edward Davey has been ordered out of the Commons, after angry protests to the deputy speaker. Economist (Economist) - An IPO for Visa - Play your cards right On Monday February 25th Visa said that it would soon go ahead with an initial public offering (IPO) of around half of its shares, which might raise as much as $18.8 billion. Given the dark mood at most of Americas leading financial institutions what has motivated Visa to embark upon what would be, by a comfortable margin, Americas biggest IPO? FT (FT) - Olympics water diversion threatens millions The diversion of water to Beijing for the Olympics and for big hydropower projects threatens the lives of millions of peasant farmers in Chinas north-western provinces, according to a senior Chinese government official. Vikram Dodd and Nicholas Watt (Guardian) - Terror remands over 28 days will be rare, minister tells rebel MPsAs the government prepares for a battle over its anti-terrorism bill, the Home Office minister Tony McNulty said the new powers would only be triggered on exceptional occasions. NYT (NYT) - Oil Hits a High; Some See $4 Gas by Spring Gasoline prices, which for months lagged the big run-up in the price of oil, are suddenly rising quickly, with some experts fearing they could hit $4 a gallon by spring. Kaveh Solhekol (Telegraph) - Fast cars, models and . . . QPR: In life, you need to be happy Flavio Briatore wants to get married and settle down one day, but for the time being the 57-year-old is happy running a Formula One team, owning a football club and dating a supermodel. Scotland Brian Taylor (BBC) - More sorrow than angerThe justice committee of the House of Commons had sojourned to Edinburgh to find out how this devolution business is getting on. (Or at least five committee members - three of them Welsh - plus associated clerks.) It was an intriguing occasion. Dignified not solemn, polite but incisive, detailed but ultimately, and inevitably, inconclusive. At least at this stage.” Wales BBC (BBC) - Calls to axe park planning powerThere are calls for Brecon Beacons National Park to be stripped of the power it has to grant planning permission after long-running concerns. Blogs Nick Robinson (BBC) - I’ve caused a stirIf you ladle it out, you’ve got to take it, as the old saying goes.

Here is today’s roundup of stories. Comment Madeleine Bunting (Comment is Free) - Secularists have nothing to fear from women wearing headscarves Separation of church and state should not preclude the assertion of religious identity - as Turkey is learning Polly Toynbee (Comment is Free) - One last chance to resist the temptations of gamblingThere is an important social difference between letting people seek out a harmful pursuit and thrusting it at everyone Rowan Williams (Guardian) - It is adults, not young people, who are a public menaceThe sight of young people gathering on streets and in shopping centres is one of the things that can create alarm or suspicion in adults, who think such groups are going to be abusive or extreme in their behaviour. But today’s report from the Good Childhood inquiry ought to challenge many popular misconceptions about young people and our shared public space. Andrew o’Hagan (Telegraph) - A care home and dark secrets in Jersey Stuart Syvret, who served as Jersey’s health minister until recently, was ousted after making claims about excessive punishments being meted out at a children’s institution. Someone, somewhere - or powerful groups of someones - didn’t seem to want allegations from that world to get out. News BBC (BBC) - City hits back over super casino Senior councillors have now said they would seek a judicial review if the casino plan does not get the go-ahead. BBC (BBC) - Speaker denies harming Parliament Commons Speaker Michael Martin has dismissed claims that his review of MP expenses is taking too long and causing damage to Parliament’s image. Economist (Economist) - Internet - Facebook fatigue THE number of Britons logging on to Facebook has fallen for the first time, according to Nielsen Online, an internet-metrics firm. In January, 8.5m unique users caught up with friends and colleagues, down by 5% from December. Facebook has added 712% more users in Britain since January 2007 and it appears that a natural plateau has been reached: Bebo and MySpace hit their user peaks in mid-2007. People may also be turning to more specialised sites, such as LinkedIn, a professional-networking site. America has already seen growth slacken. NYT (NYT) - Pieces of Texas Turn Primary Into a Puzzle When Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton issued her gunslingers invitation to Senator Barack Obama recently, challenging him to meet me in Texas, the question many people here asked was, Which one? Times (Times Online) - Secret report reveals massive MEP fraud Chris Davies, the Liberal Democrat who revealed the existence of the internal audit, said: I dont think it will be made public because the poachers are in charge of the game park. MEPs might introduce reforms after the next elections when half of them have changed because it is just too embarrassing for them now. Obituary Economist (Economist) - Steve Fossett, adventurer and record-breaker, was declared dead on February 15th, aged 63 In his 30s Mr Fossett had typed out a list of things to do that included, rather than putting up shelves or going to the gym, doing all the World Loppet cross-country skiing marathons, swimming the English Channel and climbing the highest mountain on each continent. He did them all, except for climbing Everest, for which he found he did not have the patience. But he also took part in the Le Mans 24-hour car race, the Boston Marathon and the Iditarod dog-sled race in Alaska. Scotland BBC (BBC) - Cheap island ferry plan launched Ferry fares on some sailings to the Western Isles could be slashed by a pilot project to be launched by the Scottish Government on Tuesday. Wales BBC (BBC) - AM cleared in standards inquiryA Labour AM has been cleared of misuse of the Welsh assembly’s postal service to send leaflets to party members.