September 1, 2010, 8:41 pm
![Image]( "BBC 'had massive bias to the left'")
The BBC was guilty of a "massive bias to the left" in the past, director general Mark Thompson has said.
He said staff were "quite mystified" by the rise of Margaret Thatcher but now there was "less overt tribalism" among its journalists.
Conservative commentators have long taken aim at the BBC as a hotbed of left-wingers and an internal report from 2007 said it had to make greater efforts to avoid liberal bias.
Mr Thompson told the New Statesman: "In the BBC I joined 30 years ago, there was, in much of current affairs, in terms of people's personal politics, which were quite vocal, a massive bias to the left.
"The organisation did struggle then with impartiality. And journalistically, staff were quite mystified by the early years of Thatcher.
"Now it is a completely different generation. There is much less overt tribalism among the young journalists who work for the BBC."
The 2007 report criticised the BBC for coming late to several important stories including Euroscepticism and immigration which it described as "'off limits' in terms of a liberal-minded comfort zone".
Mr Thompson described relations between the BBC and the Labour government in its last few years as "quite tetchy" and said he was optimistic of a good settlement in forthcoming licence fee discussions with the coalition.
He told the magazine: "What we want is an effective and businesslike relationship with government - it's not about personal relations."
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September 1, 2010, 8:41 pm
![Image]( "Public service ombudsmen 'shake up'")
Plans to reform "outdated and inconsistent" public service ombudsmen will make it easier to complain about poor services, the Law Commission has said.
The shake-up aims to bring consistency to the way the main public services ombudsmen do business and make it easier for the public to seek redress.
It will also help keep cases out of court, the Law Commission, which reviews and recommends reform of the law in England and Wales, said.
Frances Patterson QC, the Law Commissioner leading on the project, said: "The public services ombudsmen have a vital role to play in providing remedies for administrative injustice suffered by individuals.
"By improving access to these ombudsmen, we can reduce the burden that falls on the citizen, public bodies and the courts, and realise savings for citizens and Government."
The commission's proposals include a strengthening of the role of Parliament, a general presumption in favour of a public services ombudsman being able to open a complaint, and a stay and transfer power allowing matters to be transferred from the courts to the ombudsmen.
It also recommended dispensing with the requirements that a complaint must be in writing and that complaints to the parliamentary ombudsman must go through an MP.
Its consultation, which closes on December 3, focuses on the work of the parliamentary commissioner, the local government ombudsman, health service commissioners, the independent housing ombudsman and the public services ombudsmen for Wales.
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September 1, 2010, 8:41 pm
![Image]( "Miliband 'would move party forward'")
David Miliband has told Labour members he would move the party on from the Blair-Brown era if his leadership bid was successful.
In an email to party members the shadow foreign secretary insisted he was "ready to lead" and would "change the way we do politics".
Mr Miliband said that although he respected both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, "their time has passed".
Mr Blair's memoirs published on Wednesday have reopened old wounds about the Blair-Brown feud during Labour's years in government.
In A Journey, Mr Blair issued a stark warning to the party not to drift to the left and said he believed Labour lost the general election in May because it "stopped being New Labour" under Mr Brown's leadership.
Although he made no endorsement in his memoirs of any of the leadership candidates, Mr Blair's comments will be seen as a mark of support for front-runner Mr Miliband over his brother Ed.
But with ballot papers being delivered to party members Mr Miliband said: "I'm sick and tired of the caricature that this leadership election is a choice between rejecting or retaining New Labour. It does a disservice to all of the candidates and, even worse, a disservice to the thousands of members who've been participating in this contest over the last few months and working hard for years."
He said the leadership election was about "pulling together all the talents of our party" rather than "tired old Westminster games".
"I want to change the way we do politics. Because I want to lead a government not a gang, a movement not a machine, where honest debate can be a source of strength, not a sign of weakness," he said.
Urging members to give him their vote he said: "I respect both Tony and Gordon deeply. But their time has passed. Their names do not appear on the leadership ballots. And now we need to stop their achievements being sidelined and their failings holding us back."
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September 1, 2010, 8:41 pm
![Image]( "Women's prison 'difficult to run'")
The UK's largest and most high profile women's prison is "extremely difficult to run safely and effectively", with almost six out of 10 inmates feeling unsafe at some point, inspectors have said.
Threats and intimidation from other prisoners at Holloway in north London were rife, with one inmate describing it as "a very scary place for a first-time prisoner".
Many of the problems were long-running and stemmed from badly designed residential units that made it hard for staff to see inmates, but there were also reports of inappropriate behaviour by male prison officers, the inspectors found.
Nigel Newcomen, deputy chief inspector of prisons, said: "Holloway remains an extremely difficult prison to run safely and effectively."
Managers and staff were hampered by the "unsafe and unsatisfactory design of the prison" and "the lack of strategic direction and effective operational management within the women's prison system in general", he said.
"Unless both are confronted and dealt with, Holloway will continue to drain its managers and struggle to meet the needs of the women it holds."
A total of 220 recommendations for improvement were made after the full unannounced inspection of the prison, which holds about 450 women, in April.
Its design, which was intended to produce an atmosphere more like a hospital than a prison, was recognised as a failure in the 1980s as its lack of traditional wings or landings, and a maze of corridors, means warders have difficulty monitoring inmates' activities.
Michael Spurr, chief executive officer of the National Offender Management Service (Noms), said: "Holloway presents a challenging physical environment, but staff work extremely hard to provide as extensive a regime as possible."
Inspectors found 57% of women said they had felt unsafe in the prison, with bullying consistently raised as a concern, limited intervention by staff, and inmates having little confidence that these issues would be dealt with effectively if reported.
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September 1, 2010, 9:56 pm
![Image]( "US TV channel hostage taker killed")
A man who railed against the Discovery Channel's environmental programming for years burst into the company's headquarters with at least one explosive device strapped to his body and took three people hostage at gunpoint before police shot him to death, US officials said.
The hostages - two Discovery Communications employees and a security guard - were unhurt after the four-hour stand-off. Montgomery County Police Chief Thomas Manger said tactical officers moved in after officers monitoring Lee on building security cameras saw him pull out a handgun and point it at a hostage.
An explosive device on the gunman's body detonated when police shot him, Mr Manger said. Police were trying to determine whether two boxes and two backpacks the gunman had also contained explosives.
A law enforcement official said authorities had identified James J Lee as the likely suspect.
NBC News reported that after its producers called Discovery's general number, a man identifying himself as James J Lee got on the phone and said he had a gun and several bombs.
"I have several bombs strapped to my body ready to go off. I have a device that if I drop it, if I drop it, it will ... explode," the man told NBC. He said he built the bombs in about three weeks. "I did a lot of research. I had to experiment," he added.
Mr Manger said the suspect held the hostages in the lobby area of the first floor. Authorities said they will methodically go through the building and identify any suspicious items. "The building is still a crime scene," Mr Manger said. "We still have work to do."
Mr Manger said police spent several hours negotiating with the armed man after he entered the suburban Washington building. None of the 1,900 people who work in the building were hurt, and most made it out before the stand-off ended.
Lee was convicted of disorderly conduct for a protest he organised outside Discovery's offices in February 2008. According to court records, he paid homeless people to carry signs and set off a scramble for money when he threw fistfuls of cash into the air, calling it "just trash".
Lee served two weeks in jail. County State's Attorney John McCarthy said Lee was ordered to stay 500 feet away from Discovery headquarters as part of his probation, which ended two weeks ago. A magistrate ordered a doctor's evaluation, but the result was not immediately available.
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September 1, 2010, 11:22 pm
![Image]( "Property prices 'continue to fall'")
Property values fell by 0.9% during August, following a drop of 0.5% in July, the first time house prices have fallen for two consecutive months since February 2009, according to Nationwide.
Annual growth was also down, for the fourth month in a row, to 3.9%, the lowest year-on-year rise since November last year. The quarter-on-quarter growth rate fell to 0% during the three months to the end of August.
The building society said that unless house prices bounced back strongly in September, quarterly growth is likely to turn negative next month.
Martin Gahbauer, Nationwide's chief economist, said: "Recent market trends remain consistent with an unwinding of the supply-demand imbalance that drove up prices for much of the last year.
"As more sellers have returned to the market, buyers have a greater selection of properties to choose from and more bargaining power with which to bid down asking prices."
But he added that there is little evidence of distressed selling, with the number of homes being repossessed falling during the second quarter.
He said: "As such, the current period of price declines is likely to remain relatively modest. Given that the price increases of the last year had gotten ahead of the recovery in the wider economy, the current correction is not an unhealthy development."
Nationwide's figures are unlikely to improve confidence among potential buyers, many of whom have adopted a wait-and-see approach because of the state of the economy, job insecurity and the potential impact of future tax rises. Meanwhile, lenders continue to demand high deposits for their most competitive deals.
Economists are divided on how far they expect house prices to fall, with some predicting drops of 3%-5% before stabilising. Others however expect property to lose around 25% of its value between the beginning of this year and the end of 2012.
The average home currently costs £169,347, according to Nationwide.
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September 2, 2010, 2:54 am
![Image]( "Alcohol pricing 'would save £700m'")
A minimum price for alcohol of 45p a unit would save Scotland more than £700 million in 10 years, Scottish Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon has said.
Ms Sturgeon said that changing the law so alcohol could not be sold cheaper than that would mean 50 fewer deaths from alcohol in the first year alone.
Speaking as the proposed minimum price was announced, she said: "This policy will very quickly make big inroads into the big problem of alcohol misuse we have in Scotland."
Plans to bring in a minimum price per unit for alcohol form a key part of the SNP administration's bid to tackle Scotland's drink problem - which is estimated to cost the country £3.56 billion a year.
While the policy has won support from the medical profession and others, the main opposition parties in Scotland - Labour, the Tories and the Liberal Democrats - are all against the measure and have vowed to vote it down.
However, Ms Sturgeon said: "We have, I think, a golden opportunity to be bold and to face up to a big problem that is costing all of us dear in Scotland."
If a minimum price of 45p was introduced, it would mean a two-litre bottle of supermarket-brand cider would treble in price from about £1.32 at the moment to almost £3.80, while supermarket-brand vodka would go up from about £8 currently to about £11.80.
Whisky from Asda and Tesco would increase from £9.20 and £9.95, to £12.60, according to figures provided by the Scottish Government. But there would be no change for Bell's, Whyte & Mackay or Johnnie Walker, which all currently retail above £14.
But Ms Sturgeon said the policy would have "significant benefits", including 50 fewer deaths in its first year, rising to 225 fewer deaths per year after a decade. She added that there would be 1,200 fewer hospital admissions in the first year while the measure could also result in 22,900 fewer days' absence from work.
Ms Sturgeon said: "The financial savings of this policy across our health service, our justice system and the economy would amount to £52 million in year one and £721 million over a 10-year period."
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September 2, 2010, 2:54 am
![Image]( "Talks hope to avert Tube strikes")
Crucial talks aimed at averting strikes by thousands of London Underground workers in a row over jobs got under way, with union leaders calling for the cuts to be scrapped.
London Underground (LU) bosses met leaders of the Rail Maritime and Transport (RMT) union and the Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) to resolve the dispute and head off a series of 24-hour strikes.
Thousands of Tube staff are due to launch the walkouts from next Monday evening in protest at plans to cut 800 jobs.
At the start of the talks, held at the conciliation service Acas, union leaders said the need to make savings was not of their making and claimed that the job losses had nothing to do with the success of the pre-paid Oyster cards, as managers have maintained.
RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: "After weeks of dragging their heels over talks around the issues of staffing levels and safety at the heart of this dispute, RMT is pleased that London Underground has now recognised the importance of using the negotiating machinery to open up these urgent discussions.
"RMT has always been committed to meaningful and structured negotiations which protect jobs, quality of service and the safety of both passengers and staff.
"The industrial action remains on and in light of the recent incidents involving fires at Euston and Oxford Circus and the runaway train on the Northern Line, there are no grounds for compromising on safety and safe staffing levels.
"The mayor was elected on a promise of maintaining safe staffing levels and retaining ticket offices and he is doing the opposite, planning to leave stations and platforms dangerously understaffed and threatening to turn the network into a muggers' paradise."
Howard Collins, LU's chief operating officer, said: "We welcome the RMT and TSSA leaderships' willingness to try to resolve this issue through discussion. We will be entering the discussions listening to the concerns raised and trying to work together to resolve the matter without unnecessary disruption to Londoners.
"London Underground needs to change, as it is not possible to go on with a situation where some ticket offices sell fewer than 10 tickets an hour."
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September 2, 2010, 2:54 am
![Image]( "Another 3,500 jobs to go at RBS")
Royal Bank of Scotland is axing another 3,500 jobs under plans to more than halve the bank's administration centres across the UK.
Part-nationalised RBS said the job losses would go across back office and IT functions in the business services arm - coming on top of the division's 9,000 job cuts announced last year.
The bank, which is 83% owned by the taxpayer, will close 12 of its business services centres across the UK and put three under review.
RBS said the latest jobs cull would start next year and run through to the end of 2012.
The UK jobs blow comes just a week after RBS revealed that 14 of its 27 offices in the Churchill and Direct Line insurance arm were being axed.
Trade union Unite described the announcement as a "horror story".
Rob MacGregor, Unite national officer, said it would be a particularly "bitter pill for staff to swallow" as RBS has decided to move 500 of the jobs offshore to the Far East, India and America.
He said: "The scale of the cuts beggars belief and staff across the country will be left reeling from this news."
All the 3,500 cuts announced will affect the bank's UK administration workforce. RBS said it had almost completed the 9,000 job losses first revealed last year, of which 4,500 were in the UK. The business services division previously employed around 45,000 globally.
In Scotland, the company's centre in Greenock and Drummond House in Edinburgh will see an increase in jobs over the next two years as a result of the announcement.
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September 2, 2010, 3:07 am
![Image]( "Hague 'had enough' of untrue claims")
William Hague has said that he and his wife decided to go public with intimate details about their private life because they had "had enough" of untrue allegations circulating on the internet.
The Foreign Secretary shocked Westminster on Wednesday by releasing a frank statement in which he denied having had an "improper" relationship with a male aide and insisting his marriage was secure.
He revealed that his wife, Ffion, had suffered a number of miscarriages as they tried to start a family.
The aide, Christopher Myers, quit his post as special adviser, citing the pressure put on his family by media inquiries into the allegations.
Downing Street confirmed that Mr Hague continued to enjoy the "100% support" of Prime Minister David Cameron.
And the Foreign Secretary tried to get back to work as normal, holding talks with German opposite number Guido Westerwelle. But he faced a series of questions about his private life as he and Mr Westerwelle staged a press conference at the Foreign Office.
Mr Hague insisted he had no more to add to his statement on Wednesday, but gave an insight into why he and Ffion had decided to go public.
"Yesterday, I made a very personal statement, which was not an easy thing to do. I am not going to expand on that today.
"My wife and I really felt we had had enough of the circulation of untrue allegations, particularly on the internet, and at some point you have to speak out about that and put the record straight."
Asked whether Mr Hague continued to have the support of Mr Cameron, a spokeswoman for the Prime Minister said that he was not making any new statement on the issue but had given the Foreign Secretary his full backing throughout.
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September 2, 2010, 3:07 am
![Image]( "Forces could face cuts 'Armageddon'")
Police forces would face "Armageddon" if ministers imposed funding cuts as high as 40%, a chief constable has said.
Julie Spence, head of Cambridgeshire Police, said police could be reduced to a "999 emergency service" if such a level of cuts was pushed through.
She was speaking as she prepared to retire after five years as Cambridgeshire's chief constable and 32 years as a police officer.
"If the Government pushed through 40% cuts, there would be a drastic reduction in service. There is no other way you could do it," said Mrs Spence, 55.
"It would be Armageddon. The police service you see today would not be the police service you would see in the future.
"It could even be retrenched to a 999 emergency service. That is not what a modern police service should be and not what society wants."
She said Government departments had been warned to prepare for 40% cuts in a worst-case scenario and added that coping with cuts would be the biggest challenge forces had faced during the past three decades.
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September 2, 2010, 3:07 am
![Image]( "Pair escape as plane ditches in sea")
Two men had a lucky escape after their light aircraft ditched in the sea, coastguards said.
Pilot Gary Collings, 49, and his passenger Mark Andrews, 34, were taken to hospital after the dramatic ending to their flight on Wednesday evening.
Mr Collings brought the plane down three miles off Orford Ness, Suffolk, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said.
The men were rescued from the water after making a mayday call. They had deployed their life raft and were not in the sea for long before a rescue helicopter winched them to safety.
Lifeboats arrived on the scene shortly after to search for the aircraft wreckage. It is thought the aircraft's engine may have cut out, forcing Mr Collings to ditch.
The pilot, from Ditchingham in Norfolk, and his passenger, from Northampton, were taken to Ipswich Hospital after the incident at about 6.30pm.
They were described as "walking wounded" and were discharged later in the evening.
Thames Coastguard watch manager Karen Paradise said: "The two people in the light aircraft are incredibly fortunate. As the result of the skills of the rescue helicopter crew this incident was brought to a swift and successful conclusion."
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency said the pilot had done "exactly the right thing".
The spokesman said: "If you've got trouble you call mayday, which is a distress call. He called mayday and was able to give his position so he was able to be tracked on radar, he had a life raft on board, he was able to control his ditching to minimise the effect, and they lived to tell the tale."
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September 2, 2010, 3:07 am
![Image]( "'Honour killing' parents held again")
The parents of suspected honour killing victim Shafilea Ahmed have been re-arrested in connection with her murder.
The 17-year-old disappeared from her home in Warrington, Cheshire, in October 2003, sparking a major police search.
Her decomposed remains were discovered in Cumbria five months later.
Shafilea's father Iftikhar and mother Faranza were initially arrested on suspicion of kidnapping but the Crown Prosecution Service had insufficient evidence.
A spokeswoman for Cheshire Police said: "A 50-year-old man and a 47-year-old woman were arrested ... on suspicion of the murder of Shafilea Ahmed."
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September 2, 2010, 3:07 am
![Image]( "Pakistan cricketers to miss matches")
Three Pakistani cricketers at the centre of match-fixing claims will miss the remaining games in the tour of England, their team manager has said.
Test captain Salman Butt and fast bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir are in London for talks with Pakistani officials about allegations of a plot to bowl no-balls to order during the fourth Test defeat at Lord's.
Team manager Yawar Saeed told reporters in Taunton, where Pakistan are playing Somerset, that the trio would not take part in the forthcoming Twenty20 and One Day Internationals against England.
Butt, Asif and Aamer travelled from Taunton to London on Wednesday night for meetings with Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ijaz Butt and Pakistan's High Commissioner to the UK.
They are being quizzed over a News of the World report which said journalists posing as Far Eastern businessmen paid a middleman £150,000 to arrange for Pakistan players to deliberately bowl no-balls in last week's fourth Test against England.
Pakistani High Commissioner Wajid Hasan said the three players insist they are innocent, want to clear their names and will not run away.
Speaking outside Pakistan's High Commission in central London, he said: "The three players have said that they are extremely disturbed with what has happened in the past week, especially with regard to their alleged involvement in the crime.
"They further maintain that, on account of the mental torture which has deeply affected them, they are not in the right frame of mind to play the remaining matches.
"Therefore they have requested the Pakistan Cricket Board not to consider them for the remaining matches."
Asked what he thought about the allegations against the players, Mr Hasan said: "I believe in their innocence."
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September 2, 2010, 5:11 am
![Image]( "Underground strikes to go ahead")
Talks aimed at averting a series of strikes by London Underground (LU) workers from next week have broken down and the industrial action will go ahead as planned, union leaders said.
The Rail Maritime and Transport (RMT) union said LU had failed to remove the threat of cuts to safety and safe staffing levels which would have allowed "meaningful discussions" to take place.
Thousands of Tube staff are due to launch the walkouts from next Monday evening, September 6, in protest at plans to cut 800 jobs, threatening travel chaos in the capital.
The RMT accused LU management of "sabotaging" talks at the conciliation service Acas with officials from the union, and the Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA).
RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: "LU management knew very well that meaningful talks could not proceed while the threat of cuts to safety and safe staffing levels hung over our members' heads - their failure to remove that threat sabotaged any prospect of making progress.
"RMT and TSSA negotiators completely demolished the LU line that the cuts are simply about new technology and the Oyster card. The planned cuts are part of a multi-billion black hole facing the Mayor due to the costs of the failure of Tube privatisation and an attack on funding levels from the coalition Government.
"Not only are ticket offices and ticket staff jobs threatened but hundreds of other station staff posts are also on the line. It was the presence of those very staff that averted potential disaster in recent incidents involving fires at Euston and Oxford Circus."
Howard Collins, London Underground's chief operating officer, said: "London Underground went to Acas to take part in meaningful discussions with the TSSA and RMT leaderships, with the expectation that they would be prepared to do the same.
"However, from the outset, they have imposed unreasonable preconditions that they knew would render constructive discussions impossible.
"London Underground needs to change, as it is simply not possible to go on with a situation where some ticket offices sell fewer than 10 tickets an hour. We have assured the unions, and I do so again unequivocally, that our staffing changes are being delivered without compromising London Underground's high safety standards."
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September 2, 2010, 5:11 am
![Image]( "Parents quizzed on 'honour killing'")
The parents of suspected honour killing victim Shafilea Ahmed have been questioned by detectives investigating her murder.
The Muslim teenager disappeared from her home in Warrington, Cheshire, in 2003 amid fears that she was being forced into an arranged marriage.
The 17-year-old's decomposed remains were discovered in Cumbria five months later.
Shafilea's father, Iftikhar, and mother, Faranza, were initially arrested on suspicion of kidnapping but the Crown Prosecution Service later concluded there was insufficient evidence and they were released without charge.
Police sources confirmed the couple were re-arrested on Thursday and were being held on suspicion of the murder of their daughter. They have always denied any involvement in her death and said they would never have forced her into a marriage she did not want.
A spokeswoman for Cheshire Police said: "A 50-year-old man and a 47-year-old woman were arrested ... on suspicion of the murder of Shafilea Ahmed."
During a trip to Pakistan to meet a prospective husband, Shafilea had refused an arranged marriage and had drunk bleach. She was last seen alive a few months later, doing her homework at home on September 11 2003, her inquest was told.
The Bradford-born teenager, who hoped to become a solicitor, was reported missing a week after her disappearance by a former school teacher. Mr Ahmed said he did not report her missing because police dismissed his previous reports that she had disappeared in November 2002 and January 2003. Shafilea also ran away for 10 days in February 2003.
In his inquest evidence, Mr Ahmed told the hearing that such an arrangement needed the consent of the boy and girl. He said he accepted his daughter's reply of "no way" when a potential suitor was mentioned.
Shafilea's body was discovered after heavy floods washed away the dense undergrowth where it was hidden on the banks of the River Kent at Sedgwick, Cumbria, in February 2004. Coroner for East and South Cumbria, Ian Smith, who conducted the inquest in January 2008, concluded she suffered a "vile murder".
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September 2, 2010, 6:34 am
![Image]( "Diplomat: Match-fix claims a set up")
Pakistan's top diplomat in Britain has claimed that the three cricketers facing match-fixing allegations were "set up".
Test captain Salman Butt and fast bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir insisted they were innocent as they withdrew from the remaining games in their team's tour of England.
Wajid Hasan, the Pakistani High Commissioner in London, said he believed the trio played no part in an alleged plot to bowl no-balls to order during Pakistan's fourth Test defeat at Lord's. He went on to cast doubt on video evidence about the allegations released by the News of the World.
In an interview on BBC News, he said: "We are not seeing on the video what the date or what the time is. Do you have answers to these questions? The video wasn't timed or dated. It could have been dated before the match or after the match, or at a different time."
Asked if he thought the three players had been "set up", Mr Hasan said: "Yes, I would say that."
The News of the World dismissed the High Commissioner's claims as "ludicrous", adding in a statement: "Watch this space."
It is understood that the paper is planning to publish further revelations this weekend.
The three players were questioned by police at the weekend at their London hotel and had their mobile phones confiscated.
Scotland Yard refused to comment on reports that detectives will interview them again on Friday. A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: "We are not discussing who we have spoken to or may wish to speak to in connection with this investigation."
Butt, Asif and Amir will miss Pakistan's remaining games against England in the current tour, beginning with the first of two Twenty20 matches on Sunday, followed by five One Day Internationals. The trio held meetings in London with Mr Hasan and Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt.
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September 2, 2010, 6:49 am
![Image]( "Hague statement 'not easy to do'")
Foreign Secretary William Hague has said his decision to publicly deny speculation about a gay affair with an aide was "not an easy thing to do".
Revealing the frustration he felt, Mr Hague said he and his wife Ffion had "had enough" and decided to "put the record straight" about the rumours which had been circulating, particularly on internet sites.
Downing Street said Mr Hague continued to enjoy the "100% support" of Prime Minister David Cameron.
In a frank statement issued on Wednesday, Mr Hague denied having had an "improper" relationship with special adviser Christopher Myers and insisted his marriage was secure. He also revealed that his wife, Ffion, had suffered a number of miscarriages as they tried to start a family.
Mr Myers quit his post as special adviser, citing the pressure put on his family by media inquiries into the allegations.
In a press conference at the Foreign Office, Mr Hague said his former aide was "someone who is rather fed up of the political world, and who can blame him?".
Mr Myers told Sky News he "categorically denied" the allegations about an improper relationship with Mr Hague.
The Foreign Secretary insisted he had no more to add to his statement on Wednesday, but gave an insight into why he and Ffion had decided to go public.
"My wife and I really felt we had had enough of the circulation of untrue allegations, particularly on the internet, and at some point you have to speak out about that and put the record straight."
Questions about his private life dominated the joint press conference held with Mr Hague's German counterpart Guido Westerwelle. Mr Hague insisted that the work of the Foreign Office "had not missed a beat at any stage" despite the rumours circulating about him.
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September 2, 2010, 6:49 am
![Image]( "Clinton plea as peace talks open")
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton formally opened the first direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians in nearly two years with a plea for both sides to make compromises to forge an agreement.
At a ceremony in the State Department's ornate Benjamin Franklin room, Mrs Clinton said the Obama administration was committed to securing a settlement in a year's time.
But, she stressed that the heavy lifting must be done by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
"We will be an active and sustained partner," she said in Washington. "But we cannot and we will not impose a solution. Only you can make the decisions necessary to reach an agreement and secure a peaceful future for the Israeli and Palestinian people."
Mr Netanyahu and Mr Abbas pledged their seriousness to securing an agreement and overcoming decades of mutual hostility and suspicion.
"This will not be easy," Mr Netanyahu said. "True peace, a lasting peace, will be achieved only with mutual and painful concessions from both sides."
Abbas said: "We do know how hard are the hurdles and obstacles we face during these negotiations - negotiations that within a year should result in an agreement that will bring peace."
Mr Abbas called on Israel to end Jewish settlements in the West Bank and other areas that the Palestinians want to be part of their own state. Mr Netanyahu insisted that any agreement must assure Israel's security.
The negotiations are the first since the last effort broke down in December 2008 and are fraught with complications, including recent violence in the West Bank and Israeli settlement activity. Expectations are low and US officials have said success may be only an agreement to hold a second round of negotiations.
Officials say they are hoping to arrange that meeting for September 15 in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik and top aides to the leaders are expected to meet later to iron out final details of the next step.
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September 2, 2010, 8:14 am
![Image]( "Mid-East leaders vow further talks")
Israeli and Palestinian leaders have agreed to produce a framework for a permanent peace deal and to hold a second round of direct talks this month.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will meet again on September 14 and 15 in the Middle East, likely at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik, with an eye toward forging the outline of a pact that could lead to a final agreement in a year's time.
The United States' special Middle East envoy George Mitchell announced the agreement after several hours of talks between Mr Netanyahu and Mr Abbas at the State Department at which the two leaders pledged to work through the region's deeply ingrained mutual hostility and suspicion to resolve the long-running conflict.
"I believe these two leaders - President Abbas and Prime Minister Netanyahu - are committed to doing what it takes to achieve the right results," Mitchell said. He refused to discuss specifics of what the framework agreement would entail but said it would lay out the "fundamental compromises" needed for a final settlement.
Those compromises will involve the thorniest issues that have dogged the parties for decades: the borders of an eventual Palestinian state, the political status of Jerusalem, the fate of Palestinian refugees and security.
Mr Mitchell said both he and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would be at the next round. Diplomats said it will likely also include other officials from the Quartet of Middle East peacemakers - the US, the UN, Russia and the European Union.
Earlier, Mrs Clinton had opened the talks with an appeal for the two leaders to overcome a long history of failed attempts to resolve the conflict and make the difficult compromises needed for peace.
"I know the decision to sit at this table was not easy," said Mrs Clinton, who with Mitchell has been working to relaunch talks stalled for 20 months. "We understand the suspicion and scepticism that so many feel borne out of years of conflict and frustrated hopes."
"But, by being here today, you each have taken an important step toward freeing your peoples from the shackles of a history we cannot change and moving toward a future of peace and dignity that only you can create.".
Mr Netanyahu and Mr Abbas vowed to work together but each outlined concessions required from the other.
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The BBC was guilty of a "massive bias to the left" in the past, director general Mark Thompson has said.
He said staff were "quite mystified" by the rise of Margaret Thatcher but now there was "less overt tribalism" among its journalists.
Conservative commentators have long taken aim at the BBC as a hotbed of left-wingers and an internal report from 2007 said it had to make greater efforts to avoid liberal bias.
Mr Thompson told the New Statesman: "In the BBC I joined 30 years ago, there was, in much of current affairs, in terms of people's personal politics, which were quite vocal, a massive bias to the left.
"The organisation did struggle then with impartiality. And journalistically, staff were quite mystified by the early years of Thatcher.
"Now it is a completely different generation. There is much less overt tribalism among the young journalists who work for the BBC."
The 2007 report criticised the BBC for coming late to several important stories including Euroscepticism and immigration which it described as "'off limits' in terms of a liberal-minded comfort zone".
Mr Thompson described relations between the BBC and the Labour government in its last few years as "quite tetchy" and said he was optimistic of a good settlement in forthcoming licence fee discussions with the coalition.
He told the magazine: "What we want is an effective and businesslike relationship with government - it's not about personal relations."
Plans to reform "outdated and inconsistent" public service ombudsmen will make it easier to complain about poor services, the Law Commission has said.
The shake-up aims to bring consistency to the way the main public services ombudsmen do business and make it easier for the public to seek redress.
It will also help keep cases out of court, the Law Commission, which reviews and recommends reform of the law in England and Wales, said.
Frances Patterson QC, the Law Commissioner leading on the project, said: "The public services ombudsmen have a vital role to play in providing remedies for administrative injustice suffered by individuals.
"By improving access to these ombudsmen, we can reduce the burden that falls on the citizen, public bodies and the courts, and realise savings for citizens and Government."
The commission's proposals include a strengthening of the role of Parliament, a general presumption in favour of a public services ombudsman being able to open a complaint, and a stay and transfer power allowing matters to be transferred from the courts to the ombudsmen.
It also recommended dispensing with the requirements that a complaint must be in writing and that complaints to the parliamentary ombudsman must go through an MP.
Its consultation, which closes on December 3, focuses on the work of the parliamentary commissioner, the local government ombudsman, health service commissioners, the independent housing ombudsman and the public services ombudsmen for Wales.
David Miliband has told Labour members he would move the party on from the Blair-Brown era if his leadership bid was successful.
In an email to party members the shadow foreign secretary insisted he was "ready to lead" and would "change the way we do politics".
Mr Miliband said that although he respected both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, "their time has passed".
Mr Blair's memoirs published on Wednesday have reopened old wounds about the Blair-Brown feud during Labour's years in government.
In A Journey, Mr Blair issued a stark warning to the party not to drift to the left and said he believed Labour lost the general election in May because it "stopped being New Labour" under Mr Brown's leadership.
Although he made no endorsement in his memoirs of any of the leadership candidates, Mr Blair's comments will be seen as a mark of support for front-runner Mr Miliband over his brother Ed.
But with ballot papers being delivered to party members Mr Miliband said: "I'm sick and tired of the caricature that this leadership election is a choice between rejecting or retaining New Labour. It does a disservice to all of the candidates and, even worse, a disservice to the thousands of members who've been participating in this contest over the last few months and working hard for years."
He said the leadership election was about "pulling together all the talents of our party" rather than "tired old Westminster games".
"I want to change the way we do politics. Because I want to lead a government not a gang, a movement not a machine, where honest debate can be a source of strength, not a sign of weakness," he said.
Urging members to give him their vote he said: "I respect both Tony and Gordon deeply. But their time has passed. Their names do not appear on the leadership ballots. And now we need to stop their achievements being sidelined and their failings holding us back."
The UK's largest and most high profile women's prison is "extremely difficult to run safely and effectively", with almost six out of 10 inmates feeling unsafe at some point, inspectors have said.
Threats and intimidation from other prisoners at Holloway in north London were rife, with one inmate describing it as "a very scary place for a first-time prisoner".
Many of the problems were long-running and stemmed from badly designed residential units that made it hard for staff to see inmates, but there were also reports of inappropriate behaviour by male prison officers, the inspectors found.
Nigel Newcomen, deputy chief inspector of prisons, said: "Holloway remains an extremely difficult prison to run safely and effectively."
Managers and staff were hampered by the "unsafe and unsatisfactory design of the prison" and "the lack of strategic direction and effective operational management within the women's prison system in general", he said.
"Unless both are confronted and dealt with, Holloway will continue to drain its managers and struggle to meet the needs of the women it holds."
A total of 220 recommendations for improvement were made after the full unannounced inspection of the prison, which holds about 450 women, in April.
Its design, which was intended to produce an atmosphere more like a hospital than a prison, was recognised as a failure in the 1980s as its lack of traditional wings or landings, and a maze of corridors, means warders have difficulty monitoring inmates' activities.
Michael Spurr, chief executive officer of the National Offender Management Service (Noms), said: "Holloway presents a challenging physical environment, but staff work extremely hard to provide as extensive a regime as possible."
Inspectors found 57% of women said they had felt unsafe in the prison, with bullying consistently raised as a concern, limited intervention by staff, and inmates having little confidence that these issues would be dealt with effectively if reported.
A man who railed against the Discovery Channel's environmental programming for years burst into the company's headquarters with at least one explosive device strapped to his body and took three people hostage at gunpoint before police shot him to death, US officials said.
The hostages - two Discovery Communications employees and a security guard - were unhurt after the four-hour stand-off. Montgomery County Police Chief Thomas Manger said tactical officers moved in after officers monitoring Lee on building security cameras saw him pull out a handgun and point it at a hostage.
An explosive device on the gunman's body detonated when police shot him, Mr Manger said. Police were trying to determine whether two boxes and two backpacks the gunman had also contained explosives.
A law enforcement official said authorities had identified James J Lee as the likely suspect.
NBC News reported that after its producers called Discovery's general number, a man identifying himself as James J Lee got on the phone and said he had a gun and several bombs.
"I have several bombs strapped to my body ready to go off. I have a device that if I drop it, if I drop it, it will ... explode," the man told NBC. He said he built the bombs in about three weeks. "I did a lot of research. I had to experiment," he added.
Mr Manger said the suspect held the hostages in the lobby area of the first floor. Authorities said they will methodically go through the building and identify any suspicious items. "The building is still a crime scene," Mr Manger said. "We still have work to do."
Mr Manger said police spent several hours negotiating with the armed man after he entered the suburban Washington building. None of the 1,900 people who work in the building were hurt, and most made it out before the stand-off ended.
Lee was convicted of disorderly conduct for a protest he organised outside Discovery's offices in February 2008. According to court records, he paid homeless people to carry signs and set off a scramble for money when he threw fistfuls of cash into the air, calling it "just trash".
Lee served two weeks in jail. County State's Attorney John McCarthy said Lee was ordered to stay 500 feet away from Discovery headquarters as part of his probation, which ended two weeks ago. A magistrate ordered a doctor's evaluation, but the result was not immediately available.
Property values fell by 0.9% during August, following a drop of 0.5% in July, the first time house prices have fallen for two consecutive months since February 2009, according to Nationwide.
Annual growth was also down, for the fourth month in a row, to 3.9%, the lowest year-on-year rise since November last year. The quarter-on-quarter growth rate fell to 0% during the three months to the end of August.
The building society said that unless house prices bounced back strongly in September, quarterly growth is likely to turn negative next month.
Martin Gahbauer, Nationwide's chief economist, said: "Recent market trends remain consistent with an unwinding of the supply-demand imbalance that drove up prices for much of the last year.
"As more sellers have returned to the market, buyers have a greater selection of properties to choose from and more bargaining power with which to bid down asking prices."
But he added that there is little evidence of distressed selling, with the number of homes being repossessed falling during the second quarter.
He said: "As such, the current period of price declines is likely to remain relatively modest. Given that the price increases of the last year had gotten ahead of the recovery in the wider economy, the current correction is not an unhealthy development."
Nationwide's figures are unlikely to improve confidence among potential buyers, many of whom have adopted a wait-and-see approach because of the state of the economy, job insecurity and the potential impact of future tax rises. Meanwhile, lenders continue to demand high deposits for their most competitive deals.
Economists are divided on how far they expect house prices to fall, with some predicting drops of 3%-5% before stabilising. Others however expect property to lose around 25% of its value between the beginning of this year and the end of 2012.
The average home currently costs £169,347, according to Nationwide.
A minimum price for alcohol of 45p a unit would save Scotland more than £700 million in 10 years, Scottish Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon has said.
Ms Sturgeon said that changing the law so alcohol could not be sold cheaper than that would mean 50 fewer deaths from alcohol in the first year alone.
Speaking as the proposed minimum price was announced, she said: "This policy will very quickly make big inroads into the big problem of alcohol misuse we have in Scotland."
Plans to bring in a minimum price per unit for alcohol form a key part of the SNP administration's bid to tackle Scotland's drink problem - which is estimated to cost the country £3.56 billion a year.
While the policy has won support from the medical profession and others, the main opposition parties in Scotland - Labour, the Tories and the Liberal Democrats - are all against the measure and have vowed to vote it down.
However, Ms Sturgeon said: "We have, I think, a golden opportunity to be bold and to face up to a big problem that is costing all of us dear in Scotland."
If a minimum price of 45p was introduced, it would mean a two-litre bottle of supermarket-brand cider would treble in price from about £1.32 at the moment to almost £3.80, while supermarket-brand vodka would go up from about £8 currently to about £11.80.
Whisky from Asda and Tesco would increase from £9.20 and £9.95, to £12.60, according to figures provided by the Scottish Government. But there would be no change for Bell's, Whyte & Mackay or Johnnie Walker, which all currently retail above £14.
But Ms Sturgeon said the policy would have "significant benefits", including 50 fewer deaths in its first year, rising to 225 fewer deaths per year after a decade. She added that there would be 1,200 fewer hospital admissions in the first year while the measure could also result in 22,900 fewer days' absence from work.
Ms Sturgeon said: "The financial savings of this policy across our health service, our justice system and the economy would amount to £52 million in year one and £721 million over a 10-year period."
Crucial talks aimed at averting strikes by thousands of London Underground workers in a row over jobs got under way, with union leaders calling for the cuts to be scrapped.
London Underground (LU) bosses met leaders of the Rail Maritime and Transport (RMT) union and the Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) to resolve the dispute and head off a series of 24-hour strikes.
Thousands of Tube staff are due to launch the walkouts from next Monday evening in protest at plans to cut 800 jobs.
At the start of the talks, held at the conciliation service Acas, union leaders said the need to make savings was not of their making and claimed that the job losses had nothing to do with the success of the pre-paid Oyster cards, as managers have maintained.
RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: "After weeks of dragging their heels over talks around the issues of staffing levels and safety at the heart of this dispute, RMT is pleased that London Underground has now recognised the importance of using the negotiating machinery to open up these urgent discussions.
"RMT has always been committed to meaningful and structured negotiations which protect jobs, quality of service and the safety of both passengers and staff.
"The industrial action remains on and in light of the recent incidents involving fires at Euston and Oxford Circus and the runaway train on the Northern Line, there are no grounds for compromising on safety and safe staffing levels.
"The mayor was elected on a promise of maintaining safe staffing levels and retaining ticket offices and he is doing the opposite, planning to leave stations and platforms dangerously understaffed and threatening to turn the network into a muggers' paradise."
Howard Collins, LU's chief operating officer, said: "We welcome the RMT and TSSA leaderships' willingness to try to resolve this issue through discussion. We will be entering the discussions listening to the concerns raised and trying to work together to resolve the matter without unnecessary disruption to Londoners.
"London Underground needs to change, as it is not possible to go on with a situation where some ticket offices sell fewer than 10 tickets an hour."
Royal Bank of Scotland is axing another 3,500 jobs under plans to more than halve the bank's administration centres across the UK.
Part-nationalised RBS said the job losses would go across back office and IT functions in the business services arm - coming on top of the division's 9,000 job cuts announced last year.
The bank, which is 83% owned by the taxpayer, will close 12 of its business services centres across the UK and put three under review.
RBS said the latest jobs cull would start next year and run through to the end of 2012.
The UK jobs blow comes just a week after RBS revealed that 14 of its 27 offices in the Churchill and Direct Line insurance arm were being axed.
Trade union Unite described the announcement as a "horror story".
Rob MacGregor, Unite national officer, said it would be a particularly "bitter pill for staff to swallow" as RBS has decided to move 500 of the jobs offshore to the Far East, India and America.
He said: "The scale of the cuts beggars belief and staff across the country will be left reeling from this news."
All the 3,500 cuts announced will affect the bank's UK administration workforce. RBS said it had almost completed the 9,000 job losses first revealed last year, of which 4,500 were in the UK. The business services division previously employed around 45,000 globally.
In Scotland, the company's centre in Greenock and Drummond House in Edinburgh will see an increase in jobs over the next two years as a result of the announcement.
William Hague has said that he and his wife decided to go public with intimate details about their private life because they had "had enough" of untrue allegations circulating on the internet.
The Foreign Secretary shocked Westminster on Wednesday by releasing a frank statement in which he denied having had an "improper" relationship with a male aide and insisting his marriage was secure.
He revealed that his wife, Ffion, had suffered a number of miscarriages as they tried to start a family.
The aide, Christopher Myers, quit his post as special adviser, citing the pressure put on his family by media inquiries into the allegations.
Downing Street confirmed that Mr Hague continued to enjoy the "100% support" of Prime Minister David Cameron.
And the Foreign Secretary tried to get back to work as normal, holding talks with German opposite number Guido Westerwelle. But he faced a series of questions about his private life as he and Mr Westerwelle staged a press conference at the Foreign Office.
Mr Hague insisted he had no more to add to his statement on Wednesday, but gave an insight into why he and Ffion had decided to go public.
"Yesterday, I made a very personal statement, which was not an easy thing to do. I am not going to expand on that today.
"My wife and I really felt we had had enough of the circulation of untrue allegations, particularly on the internet, and at some point you have to speak out about that and put the record straight."
Asked whether Mr Hague continued to have the support of Mr Cameron, a spokeswoman for the Prime Minister said that he was not making any new statement on the issue but had given the Foreign Secretary his full backing throughout.
Police forces would face "Armageddon" if ministers imposed funding cuts as high as 40%, a chief constable has said.
Julie Spence, head of Cambridgeshire Police, said police could be reduced to a "999 emergency service" if such a level of cuts was pushed through.
She was speaking as she prepared to retire after five years as Cambridgeshire's chief constable and 32 years as a police officer.
"If the Government pushed through 40% cuts, there would be a drastic reduction in service. There is no other way you could do it," said Mrs Spence, 55.
"It would be Armageddon. The police service you see today would not be the police service you would see in the future.
"It could even be retrenched to a 999 emergency service. That is not what a modern police service should be and not what society wants."
She said Government departments had been warned to prepare for 40% cuts in a worst-case scenario and added that coping with cuts would be the biggest challenge forces had faced during the past three decades.
Two men had a lucky escape after their light aircraft ditched in the sea, coastguards said.
Pilot Gary Collings, 49, and his passenger Mark Andrews, 34, were taken to hospital after the dramatic ending to their flight on Wednesday evening.
Mr Collings brought the plane down three miles off Orford Ness, Suffolk, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said.
The men were rescued from the water after making a mayday call. They had deployed their life raft and were not in the sea for long before a rescue helicopter winched them to safety.
Lifeboats arrived on the scene shortly after to search for the aircraft wreckage. It is thought the aircraft's engine may have cut out, forcing Mr Collings to ditch.
The pilot, from Ditchingham in Norfolk, and his passenger, from Northampton, were taken to Ipswich Hospital after the incident at about 6.30pm.
They were described as "walking wounded" and were discharged later in the evening.
Thames Coastguard watch manager Karen Paradise said: "The two people in the light aircraft are incredibly fortunate. As the result of the skills of the rescue helicopter crew this incident was brought to a swift and successful conclusion."
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency said the pilot had done "exactly the right thing".
The spokesman said: "If you've got trouble you call mayday, which is a distress call. He called mayday and was able to give his position so he was able to be tracked on radar, he had a life raft on board, he was able to control his ditching to minimise the effect, and they lived to tell the tale."
The parents of suspected honour killing victim Shafilea Ahmed have been re-arrested in connection with her murder.
The 17-year-old disappeared from her home in Warrington, Cheshire, in October 2003, sparking a major police search.
Her decomposed remains were discovered in Cumbria five months later.
Shafilea's father Iftikhar and mother Faranza were initially arrested on suspicion of kidnapping but the Crown Prosecution Service had insufficient evidence.
A spokeswoman for Cheshire Police said: "A 50-year-old man and a 47-year-old woman were arrested ... on suspicion of the murder of Shafilea Ahmed."
Three Pakistani cricketers at the centre of match-fixing claims will miss the remaining games in the tour of England, their team manager has said.
Test captain Salman Butt and fast bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir are in London for talks with Pakistani officials about allegations of a plot to bowl no-balls to order during the fourth Test defeat at Lord's.
Team manager Yawar Saeed told reporters in Taunton, where Pakistan are playing Somerset, that the trio would not take part in the forthcoming Twenty20 and One Day Internationals against England.
Butt, Asif and Aamer travelled from Taunton to London on Wednesday night for meetings with Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ijaz Butt and Pakistan's High Commissioner to the UK.
They are being quizzed over a News of the World report which said journalists posing as Far Eastern businessmen paid a middleman £150,000 to arrange for Pakistan players to deliberately bowl no-balls in last week's fourth Test against England.
Pakistani High Commissioner Wajid Hasan said the three players insist they are innocent, want to clear their names and will not run away.
Speaking outside Pakistan's High Commission in central London, he said: "The three players have said that they are extremely disturbed with what has happened in the past week, especially with regard to their alleged involvement in the crime.
"They further maintain that, on account of the mental torture which has deeply affected them, they are not in the right frame of mind to play the remaining matches.
"Therefore they have requested the Pakistan Cricket Board not to consider them for the remaining matches."
Asked what he thought about the allegations against the players, Mr Hasan said: "I believe in their innocence."
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton formally opened the first direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians in nearly two years with a plea for both sides to make compromises to forge an agreement.
At a ceremony in the State Department's ornate Benjamin Franklin room, Mrs Clinton said the Obama administration was committed to securing a settlement in a year's time.
But, she stressed that the heavy lifting must be done by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
"We will be an active and sustained partner," she said in Washington. "But we cannot and we will not impose a solution. Only you can make the decisions necessary to reach an agreement and secure a peaceful future for the Israeli and Palestinian people."
Mr Netanyahu and Mr Abbas pledged their seriousness to securing an agreement and overcoming decades of mutual hostility and suspicion.
"This will not be easy," Mr Netanyahu said. "True peace, a lasting peace, will be achieved only with mutual and painful concessions from both sides."
Abbas said: "We do know how hard are the hurdles and obstacles we face during these negotiations - negotiations that within a year should result in an agreement that will bring peace."
Mr Abbas called on Israel to end Jewish settlements in the West Bank and other areas that the Palestinians want to be part of their own state. Mr Netanyahu insisted that any agreement must assure Israel's security.
The negotiations are the first since the last effort broke down in December 2008 and are fraught with complications, including recent violence in the West Bank and Israeli settlement activity. Expectations are low and US officials have said success may be only an agreement to hold a second round of negotiations.
Officials say they are hoping to arrange that meeting for September 15 in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik and top aides to the leaders are expected to meet later to iron out final details of the next step.
