![At least 24 killed in Egypt riots]()
Flames have lit up central Cairo, where massive clashes raged, drawing Christians angry over a recent church attack, hard-line Muslims and Egyptian security forces.
At least 24 people were killed and more than 200 injured in the worst sectarian violence since the uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak in February.
The rioting lasted late into the night, bringing out a deployment of more than 1,000 security forces and armoured vehicles to defend the state television building along the Nile, where the trouble began. The military clamped a curfew on the area until 7am.
The clashes spread to nearby Tahrir Square, drawing thousands of people to the vast plaza that served as the epicentre of the protests that ousted Mubarak. Last night, they battled each other with rocks and firebombs, some tearing up pavements for ammunition and others collecting stones in boxes.
At one point, an armoured security van sped into the crowd, striking a half-dozen protesters and throwing some into the air. Protesters retaliated by setting fire to military vehicles, a bus and private cars, sending flames rising into the night sky.
After midnight, mobs roamed downtown streets, attacking cars they suspected had Christian passengers. In many areas, there was no visible police or army presence to confront or stop them.
Christians, who make up about 10% of Egypt's 80 million people, blame the country's ruling military council for being too lenient on those behind a spate of anti-Christian attacks since Mubarak's exit. As Egypt undergoes a chaotic power transition and security vacuum in the wake of the uprising, the Coptic Christian minority is particularly worried about the show of force by ultraconservative Islamists.
The Christian protesters said their demonstration began as a peaceful attempt to sit in at the television building. But then, they said, they came under attack by thugs in plain clothes who rained stones down on them and fired pellets.
"The protest was peaceful. We wanted to hold a sit-in, as usual," said Essam Khalili, a protester wearing a white shirt with a cross on it. "Thugs attacked us and a military vehicle jumped over a sidewalk and ran over at least 10 people. I saw them."
Television footage showed the military vehicle slamming into the crowd. Coptic protesters were shown attacking a soldier, while a priest tried to protect him. One soldier collapsed in tears as ambulances rushed to the scene to take away the injured.
A wheelchair-bound man who was caught on CCTV stealing a television during the summer riots has been jailed for a year.
David Knott, 18, of Bromhedge, Eltham, south-east London, was caught on camera as an accomplice piled an Alba television on to his lap before wheeling him away.
Knott, who was suffering from a broken leg at the time, was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment for handling stolen goods belonging to an Argos store in Woolwich, east London.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said he was jailed at Inner London Crown Court on Thursday.
Police working on Operation Withern - the force's investigation into the violence and looting - are continuing to make arrests associated with the disorder.
Borough commander Richard Wood said: "Officers from Operation Withern continue to arrest suspects nearly every day. We have plenty of CCTV footage which is being closely analysed by a team of experienced officers.
"Our officers and PCSOs are on the streets of the borough looking for those being circulated as wanted. We will not rest until we have arrested them."
A breakaway Anglican bishop and his supporters have demonstrated outside Harare's main cathedral against a visit to Zimbabwe by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Dr Rowan Williams is visiting the country amid a bitter dispute between Bishop Nolbert Kunonga and mainstream Anglican Church worshippers, and he is due to hold mass at a city stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Mr Kunonga, a loyalist of long-time Zimbabwean ruler president Robert Mugabe, was excommunicated in 2007 by the main Anglican Province of Central Africa and the worldwide head of the Church. He was accused of inciting violence in sermons supporting Mugabe's party.
Mr Kunonga insists he split from the Anglican Church because of its position on gay marriage.
Leaders of the global Anglican Communion have condemned gay relationships as a violation of scripture. However, the Anglican Communion is loosely organised without one authoritative leader such as a pope, so some individual provinces have decided on their own that they should move towards accepting same-gender unions.
Mugabe is a bitter critic of homosexuality.
The Anglican Church in Zimbabwe has been divided since Mr Kunonga's excommunication. He has taken over the main cathedral, schools and the Church's bank accounts.
The schism in the Church has left mainstream Anglicans without places of worship and they have experienced intimidation and alleged threats of violence.
Mr Kunonga led the demonstrations on Sunday because he said Dr Williams's visit to Zimbabwe is a "crusade for gays".
"This is a demonstration against homosexuality. I told people to come and demonstrate if they wanted," Mr Kunonga said. "Rowan Williams erred by accepting homosexuality and that has broken up the Church all over."
Sainsbury's has pledged to match thousands of prices at rivals Tesco and Asda as the price war between the UK's leading supermarkets intensifies.
The "Brand Match" promotion starts on Wednesday and comes two weeks after Tesco launched a £500 million "Big Price Drop" that cut the prices on 3,000 lines including milk, bread, fruit and vegetables.
Sainsbury's has installed a price comparison system at tills across its branches that will instantly calculate the price of branded goods in a customer's shopping basket against the same brands at Asda and Tesco.
If the basket is cheaper at its rivals, Sainsbury's customers will get a coupon for the difference that is valid for two weeks. The minimum spend is £20 and the promotion will not apply to online shopping.
Competition for shoppers' cash has become increasingly fierce as economic uncertainty, wage freezes and high inflation have squeezed consumer income.
Last week, Tesco posted its worst quarterly sales performance for two decades and described the conditions as the toughest for a generation.
Its sales fell by 0.9% in the three months to August 27 excluding VAT, petrol and new stores.
Sainsbury's did better as same-store sales including VAT increased by 1.9% in the 16 weeks to October 1, but chief executive Justin King also described conditions as "tough".
The Brand Match promotion, which compares the prices of 13,000 branded goods, has already been trialled in Northern Ireland, where it was "overwhelmingly well-received", Sainsbury's said.
Tesco responded in Northern Ireland by accepting the Sainsbury's coupons in its own stores. It is not known if it will do the same following the full UK roll-out by its rival.
Libyan revolutionary forces claim to have captured parts of a sprawling convention centre in Sirte that loyalists of Muammar Gaddafi have used as their main base, and they arenow shelling the city as they aim to crush the key bastion of the old regime.
The inability to take Sirte, the most important remaining stronghold of Gaddafi supporters, more than six weeks after the capital Tripoli fell has stalled efforts by Libya's new leaders to set a time-line for elections and move forward with a transition to democracy.
Gaddafi supporters also hold the enclave of Bani Walid, where revolutionary forces have been adversely affected by a challenging terrain. But the transitional leadership has said it will declare liberation after Sirte's capture because that will mean it holds all of the seaports and harbours in the country.
Defence Secretary Liam Fox, on a visit to Libya on Saturday, pledged that Nato air strikes will continue even after Sirte's fall and until the remnants of the Gaddafi regime no longer pose a risk to the people of Libya.
"We have a message for those who are still fighting for Gaddafi that the game is over, you have been rejected by the people of Libya," he added.
Revolutionary forces began a major attack on Sirte on Friday after a three-week siege from the outskirts of the coastal city, during which they said they were giving civilians time to flee. On Saturday, fighters fired rockets into the city from the backs of pick-up trucks, though visibility was severely limited by a sandstorm.
National Transitional Council leader Mustafa Abdul-Jalil said the battle for Sirte has been "ferocious", with 15 revolutionary fighters killed and 180 wounded on Friday alone.
"Our fighters are still dealing with the snipers positioned on the high buildings and we sustained heavy casualties," he said on Saturday at a joint news conference in Tripoli with Dr Fox and Italian defence secretary Ignazio La Russa.
Abdel-Basit Haroun, a revolutionary field commander, said 32 people had been killed in two days of fighting, while the military council in the nearby city of Misrata, which has sent many fighters to Sirte, reported 80 wounded.
The council said revolutionary forces are attacking houses to try to eliminate the "overwhelming hordes of snipers out there."
The home of the British Grand Prix will also become the home of a new specialist school, the Department for Education has confirmed.
Land at Silverstone motor racing circuit will be used as the base for one of the first wave of university technical colleges (UTCs) that will train teenagers in highly specialised subjects from next year.
The school, backed by Northampton University and Tresham college, will allow pupils to study Formula One mechanics as well as attending more traditional lessons.
It is one of the 13 UTCs being announced as part of a flagship Conservative policy drawn up by former Tory education secretary Lord Baker.
Critics claim the colleges will mean pupils specialise at too early a stage in their school career, but ministers believe it will give them the skills they need to compete in the modern workplace.
All of the colleges are sponsored by a local university and employers, focus on disciplines that require highly specialised equipment, such as engineering, manufacturing and construction, and will have between 500 to 800 students.
They have more freedom over the curriculum, the length of the school day and teachers' pay and conditions.
Education Secretary Michael Gove will also announce 55 new free schools, which can be set up by parents, community groups or other organisations, on Monday.
All of the new state-funded schools and college have been approved to open from September 2012 onwards.
Sir Paul McCartney and American heiress Nancy Shevell have married in London, on what would have been Beatle bandmate John Lennon's 71st birthday.
The couple spent around a minute posing for photographers after arriving at The Old Marylebone Town Hall in London shortly after 3.25pm.
The 69-year-old former Beatle wore a dark suit with a white shirt and pale blue tie while his bride chose a long-sleeved white dress for the ceremony.
Sir Paul's former band mate Ringo Starr posed for photographs and made a peace sign as he arrived at the register office.
After the ceremony the beaming couple waved to the gathering of around 200 cheering fans - some of whom had been waiting all day to catch a glimpse of the singer - before getting into their red Lexus to travel to the reception at Sir Paul's home.
Sir Paul and Nancy posed for pictures and kissed outside their home when they got back from the ceremony.
Asked how he felt, he said: "Terrific, thank you. I feel married." He added: "I feel absolutely wonderful."
The bride's second cousin, US broadcast journalist Barbara Walters, described the wedding as "beautiful and wonderful" as she left the register office.
Alison Cathcart, Westminster City Council's superintendent registrar said: "I am overjoyed to have played a part in bringing these two wonderful people together in marriage.
"Lots of couples get married at Marylebone Town Hall because of the venue's iconic status and reputation as the place to get married in central London. I wish them both great happiness as they further their lives together."
Defence Secretary Liam Fox has apologised for making a mistake in allowing "distinctions to be blurred" in his working relationship with former flatmate Adam Werritty.
In a statement released on his return to London, Dr Fox conceded that his "frequent contacts with him may have given an impression of wrongdoing".
The beleaguered Tory also accepted that their close ties my have given outsiders the "misleading impression that Mr Werritty was an official adviser rather than simply a friend".
He said: "I accept that it was a mistake to allow distinctions to be blurred between my professional responsibilities and my personal loyalties to a friend. I am sorry for this.
"At no stage did I or my department provide classified information or briefings to Mr Werritty or assist with his commercial work - let alone benefit personally from this work.
"Nevertheless, I do accept that given Mr Werritty's defence-related business interests, my frequent contacts with him may have given an impression of wrongdoing, and may also have given third parties the misleading impression that Mr Werritty was an official adviser rather than simply a friend. I have learned lessons from this experience."
Dr Fox has apologised to Prime Minister David Cameron, who is poised to make a decision on his fate on Monday after receiving a report into the controversy.
The Defence Secretary added: "I accept that with the benefit of hindsight I should have taken much greater care to ensure that any meetings with Adam Werritty, at which defence and security related issues were raised, were properly attended by officials and recorded - to protect myself and the Government from any suggestion of wrongdoing.
"I have apologised to the Prime Minister and agreed with my permanent secretary to put in place new procedures to ensure that this does not happen again."
Dr Fox insisted he will "answer all questions in the House of Commons" following demands by Labour for him to make a full statement.
The head of the worldwide Anglican church has said during a visit to Zimbabwe that Christianity should not be about politics but about God.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, told more than 15,000 mainstream Anglican worshippers gathered for mass at a city stadium today that Anglican worshippers are constantly "tortured by uncertainty and risk of attack" and have endured "mindless and Godless assaults," in the southern African country.
He praised the worshippers for being "active and courageous" amid a bitter dispute between the followers of breakaway Bishop Nolbert Kunonga and mainstream Anglican church worshippers.
Kunonga, a loyalist of long-time ruler President Robert Mugabe, was excommunicated in 2007 by the main Anglican Province of Central Africa and the worldwide head of the church. He was accused of inciting violence in sermons supporting Mugabe's party.
The Anglican Church in Zimbabwe has been divided since Kunonga's excommunication. He has taken over the main cathedral, schools and the church's bank accounts, leaving mainstream Anglicans without places of worship. They have experienced intimidation and alleged threats of violence.
Williams urged the worshippers not to be embroiled in violence or retaliation.
"Day by day, you have faced arrogance. We have been treated with so much contempt and scorned by the rich but we give thanks and praise to God for your patience, generosity and endurance," Williams said. "It is not a building that makes the church, but spiritual foundation."
The Archbishop is expected to meet Mugabe to discuss an end to the disruptions.
Meanwhile, Kunonga and his supporters demonstrated outside Harare's main cathedral against Williams' visit.
Kunonga insists he split from the Anglican church because of its position on gay marriage.
The leaders of Germany and France, the eurozone's two biggest economies, have reached agreement on strengthening Europe's shaky banking sector.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she and French President Nicolas Sarkozy "are determined to do the necessary to ensure the recapitalisation of Europe's banks".
Merkel spoke after talks with Sarkozy at Berlin's chancellery aimed at forging an agreement ahead of a summit of the European Union's 27 leaders later this month.
Sarkozy said it was "not the moment" to go into the agreement's details but said that the French-German accord "is total".
When asked whether all European banks would be recapitalised, Merkel did not directly answer the question, saying only that all banks across the eurozone would be measured by the same criteria that would be established in co-ordination with, among others, the European Banking Authority and the International Monetary Fund.
Both leaders declined to elaborate on their proposal, saying it must first be discussed with other European leaders.
Earlier this week, Merkel spoke in favour of a co-ordinated bank recapitalisation following talks with the International Monetary Fund and other European leaders.
The chancellor said banks must first seek to raise new capital on the market before turning to their government, insisting that the eurozone's newly strengthened 440 billion euro (£378 billion) bailout fund would then only serve as a backstop if a member state cannot cope with shoring up its banks' capital.
France, however, has appeared to favour turning to the fund's resources right away instead of relying on a national facility to re-capitalise its banks - who are among the biggest holders of Greek bonds.
The chancellor has insisted that the October 17-18 summit of European leaders in Brussels must send a clear signal on the issue in a bid to restore market confidence.
A busy London bridge was forced to close as thousands of protesters joined a demonstration against the Government's controversial health reforms.
Westminster Bridge was shut to traffic as around 2,500 demonstrators took to the streets outside Parliament to highlight their concerns, a spokeswoman for direct action group UK Uncut said.
She said trade unionists, pensioners, comedians - including Josie Long and Mark Thomas - and health workers were among those occupying the bridge between 1pm and 4.30pm.
The protesters wanted to highlight their concerns before the House of Lords debates the Health and Social Care Bill later this week.
The spokewoman said: "It was quite an unprecedented act of mass civil disobedience, with people from all walks of life coming together. Many of the people there were saying that the Bill is going to be a bad thing for not only patients but society as a whole."
A Scotland Yard spokesman confirmed that officers were in attendance at the demonstration but it concluded peacefully with no arrests.
Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services union, said: "UK Uncut has described the threat to our NHS as an emergency and it is absolutely right.
"The Government's Health and Social Care Bill represents the gravest threat to the NHS, one of our nation's finest achievements, since its foundation. Peaceful protest and civil disobedience have a long and proud history in this country, and are a perfectly legitimate response to plans that no-one voted for and no-one wants."
A Department of Health spokesman said: "The principles of our modernisation plans - patient power, clinical leadership, a focus on results - have been widely supported, as reported by the independent NHS Future Forum.
"We accepted all of their recommendations to strengthen the Bill but the most destabilising factor for the NHS would be greater uncertainty and delay of reform to the ultimate detriment of patients. We simply won't secure the future of the NHS without this bill."
David Cameron is to launch a major crackdown on abuse of the immigration system , including plans for tougher visa rules to weed out sham marriages.
In a keynote speech, the Prime Minister will call for relatives joining their families in the UK to be able to speak English and have enough cash to live on.
He will say the Government wants to prevent immigrants becoming a burden on the taxpayer, so is looking at discounting promises of financial support from family and friends when considering applications and forcing some applicants to pay financial bonds.
The Prime Minister will say: "Of course in the modern world where people travel and communicate more easily than ever before and where families have connections all across the globe people do want to move to different countries to be with loved ones. We all understand this human instinct.
"But we need to make sure - for their sake as well as ours - that those who come through this route are genuinely coming for family reasons, that they can speak English, and that they have the resources they need to live here and make a contribution here - not just to scrape by, or worse, to subsist on benefit.
"A sample of more than 500 family migration cases found that over 70% of UK-based sponsors had post-tax earnings of less than £20,000 a year. When the income level of the sponsor is this low, there is an obvious risk that the migrants and their family will become a significant burden on the welfare system and the taxpayer.
"So we have asked the Migration Advisory Committee to look at the case for increasing the minimum level for appropriate maintenance.
Mr Cameron wants to stop sham marriages by extending the time it takes for migrants to qualify for a spousal visa.
He will say: "Time and again, visa officers receive applications from spouses or partners sponsoring another spouse or partner soon after being granted settlement in the UK, suggesting that the original marriage or partnership was a sham simply designed to get them permanent residence here.
"We simply cannot sit back and allow the system to be abused in this way."
Fierce clashes have erupted between Christians protesting against a recent attack on a church and the Egyptian military, leaving at least 19 people dead and more than 150 injured, Health Ministry officials said.
In rioting outside the state television building along the Nile in Cairo, witnesses said some of the protesters may have snatched weapons from the soldiers and turned them on the military. The protesters also pelted the soldiers with rocks and bottles.
The clashes spread to nearby Tahrir Square and the area around it, drawing in thousands of people. They battled each other with rocks and firebombs, some tearing up paving for ammunition and others collecting stones in boxes. At one point, a group of youths with at least one riot policeman among them dragged a protester by his legs for a long distance.
The Christian protesters said their demonstration began as a peaceful attempt to sit in at the television building. But they said they came under attack from thugs in plain clothes.
"The protest was peaceful. We wanted to hold a sit-in, as usual," said Essam Khalili, a protester wearing a white shirt with a cross drawn on it. "Thugs attacked us and a military vehicle jumped over a sidewalk and ran over at least 10 people. I saw them."
Television footage of the riots showed some of the Coptic protesters attacking a soldier, while a priest tried to protect him.
Christians blame Egypt's ruling military council for being too lenient on those behind a spate of anti-Christian attacks since the ousting of Hosni Mubarak in February. As Egypt undergoes a chaotic power transition in the wake of this year's uprising, minority Christians are worried about the increasing show of force by the ultra-conservative Islamists.
The rally began in the Shubra district of northern Cairo, then headed to the state television building along the Nile where men in plainclothes attacked about a thousand Christian protesters as they chanted denunciations of Egypt's military rulers.
"The people want to topple the field marshal," the protesters yelled, referring to the head of the ruling military council, field marshal Hussein Tantawi. Some Muslim protesters later joined in the chant. Armed with sticks, they chased the Christian protesters from the TV building, banging metal street signsf. It was not immediately clear who the attackers were.
After hours of intense clashes, chants of "Muslims, Christians one hand, one hand" rang out, a call for a truce. The stone-throwing then died down.
The Government has been urged to call a temporary halt to spending cuts to stimulate economic growth and tackle rising unemployment.
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) said public sector job losses in the first quarter of the current financial year were five times greater than projected by the Office for Budget Responsibility for the entire year.
More than 600,000 public sector jobs could be lost between 2010/11 and 2015/16, a third more than ministers say they expected, according to the CIPD.
The public sector shed almost 250,000 jobs in the Government's first year in office, said the CIPD, which called on the Chancellor to announce a temporary halt to spending cuts when he unveils his autumn statement next month.
Dr John Philpott, chief economic adviser at the CIPD, said: "With the economy and labour market in such a fragile condition, it is worrying that public sector job losses are turning out to be much greater than ministers have previously been suggesting.
"Public sector job cuts in this context are a false economy, adding to unemployment and in turn hindering rather than helping the task of fiscal deficit reduction.
"A more sensible course would be to delay public sector job cuts to the end of this Parliament and if necessary into the next, thereby enabling them to be absorbed more easily without nasty macroeconomic side-effects.
"The Government's plan for growth must rightly contain measures to stimulate private sector job creation but the Chancellor should also avoid the own goal of cutting public sector jobs at a time of high and rising unemployment."
A Treasury spokesperson said: "Risks in the global economy make it even more essential to stick to the Government's essential deficit reduction plan which is supported by the IMF, OECD and CBI. This plan is essential for sustainable growth and has helped deliver record low interest rates for families.
"Half a million private sector jobs were created last year and the independent Office for Budget Responsibility has forecast that there will be 900,000 more jobs created in the private sector than lost in the public sector by 2015."
Women are experiencing unnecessary heartbreak as they miscarry due to poor NHS services, two new surveys suggest.
A Mumsnet poll of around 1,400 women who had a miscarriage in the last decade found 63% of women who miscarried at home following a hospital scan were not offered adequate pain relief, while 48% of those who were in hospital for their miscarriage were treated alongside pregnant women or those with newborn babies, causing unnecessary distress.
More than a fifth (21%) of those referred for a scan had to wait three days or more for it, while 35% of women who needed a surgical procedure had to wait four days or longer. Overall, 29% said the information provided by healthcare staff was poor or inadequate.
A second gurgle.com survey of more than 500 women who miscarried found 14% were told they needed to experience four or more in a row before they could be tested for a cause. Recommendations are for women to be referred after suffering three miscarriages in a row.
The poll also found 62% of women were given no information by their GP about further testing following miscarriage, while 12% of women were placed on the labour ward to recover after a miscarriage and 32% were put on a general ward.
Almost half (44%) said they did not feel they were treated sensitively by medical staff after their miscarriage, while 69% said there was not enough support to women to help increase the chances of a subsequent healthy pregnancy.
Mumsnet members have developed a five-point Miscarriage Code of Care, calling for supportive staff, access to scans and more information on treatment.
Mumsnet co-founder Justine Roberts said: "There is no getting away from the hurt of miscarriage, but there are a number of simple changes that could make a considerable difference to the level of trauma miscarrying parents undergo."
Professor Tom Bourne, consultant gynaecologist at Imperial College NHS Trust, London, said: "Possible miscarriage is one of the most common reasons women are seen in hospital. The Mumsnet Code of Care addresses some of the fundamental principles involved in caring for women at this difficult time and is to be applauded."
Health minister Anne Milton said: "Miscarriage is devastating for women and their partners, so it is essential that they get the best care to deal with the physical and emotional effects."
Government proposals to make NHS providers contractually required to admit their mistakes have been opened to consultation.
Health Secretary Andrew Lansley is planning to introduce a "duty of candour" that will require hospitals to be more transparent and open with patients when something goes wrong with their care.
The Department of Health is now asking stakeholders, that include NHS ambulance and mental health providers, their views on the best way of enforcing the duty.
It hopes the move will give patients and local clinicians more power to hold the NHS to account.
Mr Lansley said: "We must develop a culture of openness in the NHS. This is a key part of how a modern NHS should be - open and accountable to the public and patients to drive improvements in care.
"That's why we are introducing a requirement on providers to be transparent in admitting mistakes.
"We need to find the most effective way to promote openness and hold those organisations who are not open to account.
"A more transparent NHS is a safer NHS where patients can be confident of receiving high-quality care."
More than a million patient safety incidents are reported every year, according to the Government. Under the plans providers will have to make an annual "declaration of openness".
The consultation will ask questions on key issues such as what the duty should require the NHS to do and what penalties should be enforced for breaching it.
Aberdeen has enjoyed the fastest disposable income rise in the UK in recent years, boosted by the strength of its oil industry.
Glasgow and Dundee also came in the top five, with London in second place, according to a study by accounting group UHY Hacker Young.
The average disposable household income after outgoings like tax, mortgage payments and pension contributions rose by nearly 25% in Aberdeen between 2004 and the end of 2009, when the latest figures could be obtained.
In 2004 people living in the Aberdeen area had £13,669 left over - and this figure has leapt by 24.65% over five years to £17,039.
London came in second place in terms of percentage change but had the highest disposable income overall.
The capital saw a 22.13% jump over the same period, with households pocketing £19,658 in 2009 compared with £16,096 five years earlier.
Hacker Young partner Marc Waterman said: "London has been seen as streets ahead of all the other UK towns and cities for growth in disposable household income, but these figures show that the gap is closing.
"Although London still has the greatest disposable income in the UK, Aberdeen is catching up fast."
Mr Waterman said Aberdeen, known as the Granite City, has benefited from persistently high oil prices.
He continued: "Despite the recent North Sea tax increases, there has been continued investment in North Sea oil and gas production."
