A former News of the World journalist will give evidence to the trial of two top Pakistan cricketers accused of match-fixing.
Mazher Mahmood, the now-defunct Sunday tabloid's investigations editor, will describe how a sports agent allegedly took bribes in return for a promise that Pakistan players would bowl deliberate no-balls during the Lord's Test against England last summer.
Posing as a rich Indian businessman, the undercover reporter covertly filmed Mazhar Majeed, 36, accepting £150,000 from him and discussing fixing games, Southwark Crown Court heard last week.
Mr Mahmood allegedly recorded the agent boasting that he had seven players in Pakistan's national side rigging matches for him and claiming that the result of a Test match could be fixed for £1 million.
Prosecutors allege that Majeed, from Croydon, south London, conspired with Pakistan's former Test captain, Salman Butt, 26, and fast bowlers Mohammad Asif, 28, and Mohammad Amir, 19, to fix parts of the Lord's Test between August 26 and 29 last year.
Butt and Asif, who are standing trial, deny conspiracy to cheat and conspiracy to accept corrupt payments.
Journalist 'filmed match-fix boast'
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Yeates murder trial set to begin
The prosecution case against a neighbour accused of murdering landscape architect Joanna Yeates is due to begin.
Vincent Tabak, 33, denies the premeditated killing of Miss Yeates, whose body was found on a snowy verge on Christmas morning last year.
Her boyfriend Greg Reardon and parents David and Teresa are expected to attend the first day of evidence at Bristol Crown Court.
Prosecutors will claim Tabak, who lived in a ground-floor flat adjoining Miss Yeates's home in Clifton, Bristol, murdered the 25 year old after she went for festive drinks with colleagues.
She was reported missing two days after disappearing, when Mr Reardon returned to their shared flat after a weekend visiting family in Sheffield.
Following a string of appeals by relatives and police, her frozen corpse was found by dog walkers three miles from her home in a lane in Failand, north Somerset.
The bespectacled Dutch engineer appeared in the dock last week as a jury of six men and six women was selected.
With press and broadcasters from across the world attending the court, Mr Justice Field issued repeated warnings last week to jurors about reading background material surrounding the case.
Jurors answered a series of questions which included whether they knew any of the witnesses due to give evidence in the trial or had links to the firms BDP, Buro Happold or Dyson.
They were also asked whether they had any contact with the police during the investigation into the disappearance of Miss Yeates before the four-week trial.
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MPs quiz Fox on adviser controversy
Defence Secretary Liam Fox faces a grilling by MPs over whether he has breached ministerial guidelines as more claims surfaced about his working relationship with a former flatmate.
Prime Minister David Cameron will also consider the early findings of an internal investigation into the Secretary of State's dealings with self-styled adviser Adam Werritty as pressure continued to mount on the beleaguered Tory Cabinet minister.
Dr Fox issued an apology for allowing "distinctions to be blurred between my professional responsibilities and my personal loyalties to a friend" when he landed back in Britain after an official visit to Libya.
He conceded that his "frequent contacts with (Werritty) may have given an impression of wrongdoing" and insisted he "learned lessons" from the furore.
However, more claims emerged about the meetings Mr Werritty brokered and the access he enjoyed to government and parliament, despite having no official role.
According to the Daily Telegraph, financial records from 2005/06 show Dr Fox's Commons office budgeted for a £690 National Insurance payment relating to Mr Werritty's employment.
It claims the payment suggests that he had been employed by Dr Fox in the previous year, when he was the director of a company called UK Health, despite never having been issued with a House of Commons security pass.
A spokesman for Dr Fox said the payment could be a mistake or a hangover from previous "internship years".
He said: "There is no record of Adam Werritty working in the Parliamentary office that year. We will urgently be seeking details from Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority to see if this is a legacy payment to HMRC from an internship years before or an accounting error."
The Times claimed Mr Werritty had a reputation among lobbyists as the "go-to guy" for gaining access to the Defence Secretary. It also suggested he was not registered as a member of Dr Fox's Westminster office, despite running a charity from it, which would break Commons rules.
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New problems as rugby team returns
The England rugby players and team management will begin to arrive back in the UK amid further off-field problems.
Leicester centre Manu Tuilagi was detained by Auckland police after jumping from a ferry as it was about to berth.
Tuilagi, 20, swam to a nearby pier at the Auckland Ferry Terminal where he was met by police and taken to Auckland Central Police station.
He was given a pre-charge warning for disorderly behaviour before being released back to the England team management, who were said to have been "a little bit embarrassed".
Noreen Hegarty, a spokeswoman for the Auckland police, would not confirm the identity of the player but Press Association Sport understands it to be Tuilagi.
Ms Hegarty said: "A member of the England rugby team at 6.48pm yesterday (New Zealand time) jumped overboard from a ferry just before it was about to berth at the ferry terminal in Auckland and he swam to a nearby pier.
"He was then detained by police and given a pre-charge warning for disorderly behaviour and he was collected by his team management."
It has been reported that Tuilagi was returning from a day trip to Waiheke Island with fellow England team-mates.
Tuilagi was England's most impressive player in their 19-12 World Cup quarter-final defeat to France at Auckland's Eden Park on Saturday.
Neither the police nor the Rugby Football Union would confirm whether Tuilagi was drunk at the time he jumped from the ferry.
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Dozens held after fatal Egypt riots
Dozens of "instigators of chaos" have been arrested after deadly clashes between angry Christians, Muslims and security forces in which 24 people were killed and at least 200 others injured, Egypt's official news agency has reported.
Sunday's clashes, sparked by a recent attack on a church in southern Egypt, were the worst sectarian violence since the uprising which ousted Hosni Mubarak in February.
The Mena news agency did not say whether those arrested were Christians or Muslims.
Egypt's state television said authorities have stepped up security at vital installations in anticipation of renewed unrest, deploying additional troops outside parliament and the cabinet.
The rioting in Cairo lasted until late into the night, bringing out a deployment of more than 1,000 security forces and armoured vehicles to defend the Nile-side state television building, where the trouble began.
The clashes spread from outside the TV building to nearby Tahrir Square, drawing thousands of people to the vast plaza which served as the epicentre of the protests that ousted Mr Mubarak.
On Sunday night, they battled each other with rocks and firebombs, some tearing up paving slabs for ammunition and others collecting stones in boxes. At one point, an armoured security van sped into the crowd, striking half a 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 the streets, attacking cars they suspected contained 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 Mr Mubarak's ousting.
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.
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MPs query banks' cash machine curbs
Two of Britain's largest banks have been told by MPs to justify their restrictions on basic account customers using rivals' cash machines.
The influential Treasury Select Committee has written to the chiefs of Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group expressing their concern at the policy.
Committee chairman Andrew Tyrie said he was concerned that it would exclude basic bank account customers from the majority of the UK's free cash machine network.
Mr Tyrie wrote: "Your decision has major implications for access to universal banking customers and appears to target vulnerable customers who are most at risk of financial exclusion."
Basic accounts offer most of the services of a standard current account, but do not have overdraft facilities or chequebooks. They are useful for people with poor credit histories, the select committee said.
In August, RBS announced that it would end its policy of allowing access to other banks' cash machines for its one million basic account holders, saying the fees it was paying to other banks for the service were too high. Lloyds has had a similar policy in place for a number of years.
In a reply to the MPs, Brian Hartzer, the head of RBS's retail operation in the UK, said the bank pays a charge every time a customer checks a balance or makes a withdrawal at a rival cash machine.
As a result it loses money on its basic accounts service, "which we need to reduce", he said.
Mr Hartzer added that RBS customers can still use machines at NatWest, the Post Office, and supermarkets Tesco and Morrisons, and said it would review cases of customers in remote rural areas or with disabilities.
RBS is 83%-owned by the UK Government, while Lloyds is 43% state- owned.
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Unions hold biggest strike ballot
More than a million public sector workers are to vote on strikes from next week in the biggest-ever union industrial action ballot.
Unison said probation officers, nurses, social workers, teaching assistants, dinner ladies and hospital cleaners will be among those voting in the bitter row over public sector pensions.
The result will be known on November 3, giving time for Unison to strike on the TUC day of action on November 30.
Unison general secretary Dave Prentis said the union was fighting for the future of public sector pensions because of "attacks" by the Government. Workers faced increased contributions, waiting longer to retire and receiving worse pensions.
The ballot will cost Unison millions of pounds, with officials expecting a big yes vote. Unison members will be asked to strike on November 30, with the prospect of further action, including a rolling programme of stoppages.
Mr Prentis said essential public services will be protected on strike days.
Other unions are also balloting workers, raising the prospect of a strike by millions of workers on November 30.
Mr Prentis said the strike in November will be the biggest day of industrial action ever held in the UK.
Unison said 9,500 separate employers were involved in its dispute and Mr Prentis said he was expecting some to mount a legal challenge to the ballot.
It is the first time Unison has balloted its entire membership for industrial action. Unions have been talking to the Government for eight months over pensions, but Mr Prentis said "very little progress" had been made.
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Cairo hit by more street violence
Clashes between Christian protesters and Egyptian security forces have flared again in Cairo, with hundreds pelting police with rocks.
At least 24 people were killed when Christians, angered by a recent church attack, clashed on Sunday night with Muslims and security forces outside the state television building in central Cairo.
The latest clashes took place outside a Cairo hospital where bodies of Christian victims were kept.
The latest violence came hours before funeral services for the victims were to be held at the city's Coptic Christian cathedral.
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Yeates jury told of 'bored' text
A neighbour strangled Joanna Yeates then sent a text to his girlfriend saying he was bored, a court has heard.
In the days after killing the blonde landscape architect, Vincent Tabak attended parties and dinners as he coolly maintained the pretence of a worried neighbour, the prosecution claims.
The bespectacled Dutch engineer looked on from the dock as Nigel Lickley QC, for the Crown, told a jury he had already admitted the manslaughter of Miss Yeates. The 33-year-old denies the premeditated killing of Miss Yeates, 25.
Mr Lickley told the jury: "He was able to mislead and manipulate others and to hide his inner feelings," Mr Lickley said. Phone records showed he had contacted his girlfriend saying "bored" in the hours after the killing, Mr Lickley said.
Neighbours at a Christmas party near Miss Yeates's flat in Clifton, Bristol, heard screams as the killing took place on December 17, Bristol Crown Court also heard.
Tabak, who lived in a ground-floor flat adjoining Miss Yeates's home, killed her after she went for festive drinks with colleagues. She had got home and "settled down for the evening when she was interrupted by Vincent Tabak", Mr Lickley said.
He added that Tabak knew "full well" what had happened to Miss Yeates. "Having killed her, he drove her body in boot of his Renault Megane car and deposited her in Longwood Lane," he said.
"Before Joanna Yeates' boyfriend, Greg Reardon, had reported his girlfriend missing in the early hours of the morning, Vincent Tabak was using Google Maps to search for Longwood Lane."
Mr Lickley said that when police told Tabak they could forensically link him to Miss Yeates' body, he accused the forensic science service of "forgery and taking bribes".
"There is no doubt and neither is it in dispute as to how that young woman died," Mr Lickley said. "Vincent Tabak strangled her with his hand or hands. He held her throat hard enough and for long enough to kill her. He was in complete control and knew what he was doing."
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Cameron: Fox gave 'good account'
Prime Minister David Cameron has defended Defence Secretary Liam Fox, who is at the centre of a storm of allegations relating to his links with close friend Adam Werritty.
Mr Cameron, who spoke to the minister by phone on Sunday, said Dr Fox had given "a good account" of himself.
Later, the Prime Minister will receive the interim findings of an internal inquiry into the allegations by the top civil servant at the Ministry of Defence.
His official spokesman said Mr Cameron will discuss the findings with Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell, but it is not yet known whether he will order a formal inquiry into possible breaches of the ministerial code of conduct.
Asked if Mr Cameron had full confidence in Dr Fox, the spokesman told a regular daily media briefing in Westminster: "Absolutely."
Speaking at Heathrow Airport, Mr Cameron said: "Liam Fox does an excellent job as Secretary of State for Defence. He gives that department good leadership - I think we've seen that with all that it's had to deal with in the Libyan campaign.
"Of course there are a whole series of questions that have come out of the media that Liam is answering; he answered them last night, he gave a good account of himself, he's in front of the House of Commons today.
"And I'll be getting the interim report from his permanent secretary at the Ministry of Defence, so I hope we'll be able to deal with it in that way."
Mr Cameron's spokesman stressed that the report from MoD Permanent Secretary Ursula Brennan represented only the "interim findings" of an inquiry due to be completed on October 21.
The report had not been received at 10 Downing Street by 11am and Mr Cameron will not have time to read it until after he has delivered a speech at 1pm.
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Chef jailed over bomb hoax call
A chef who made a hoax phone call claiming his estranged wife was about to board a transatlantic flight with a bomb has been jailed for 12 months.
Kevin Flynn, 31, told police that the device was being taken on a New York-bound aircraft by Kerensa Flynn at either Heathrow or Gatwick airport.
He made the anonymous call from a phone box in Bognor Regis, West Sussex, on July 31 after the couple had decided to end their four-year marriage and she was to fly home to the United States.
Prosecutor Ed Hand told Chichester Crown Court: "His motivation was to get her stopped and humiliated."
Flynn agreed to give her time to pack her things, but when he returned found she had damaged some of his belongings, the court heard. He called police from their home, before making the hoax 999 call from a phone box some hours later.
A transcript of the brief call was read out in which he told the operator: "I'm only going to say this once, it's an anonymous call. There's a Kerensa Flynn or Kerensa Romara-MacMahan currently boarding at Heathrow or Gatwick with a bomb in her bag."
The court heard that police quickly made the connection with Flynn's earlier call about his wife from his home and officers were dispatched to his address in Bognor. Meanwhile officers from Sussex Police and the Met Police were sent to Gatwick and Heathrow airports where Ms Flynn was intercepted.
During mitigation, Gareth Morgan, for the defence, said that Flynn's marriage woes had led to problems with alcohol and he had also been badly affected by witnessing the death of his best friend's father in the months leading up to the incident.
Judge William Wood QC said he gave Flynn credit for having pleaded guilty at the first opportunity but went on: "I take the view that this kind of behaviour in which police resources may have to be wasted to prevent any threat coming to fruition and when there is a chance of large-scale disruption or evacuation of buildings or aeroplanes and airports, this class of misconduct is so serious there is no possibility to do anything but impose an immediate custodial sentence."
Wearing a short-sleeved checked shirt, Flynn, of Ashburnham Close, Durrington, looked shocked as the one-year sentence was passed.
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Complaints over McCartney party
It must have been a hard day's night for Sir Paul McCartney's neighbours after they complained about the noise in the early hours at his wedding party.
The party at Sir Paul's home in St John's Wood, north London, which reportedly included a DJ set by Mark Ronson, came after the former Beatle tied the knot with New York heiress Nancy Shevell at Westminster Register Office in London.
Ronson, who is friends with John Lennon's son Sean, reportedly played a series of Beatles' songs as well as more modern hits in the set which ended with Hey Jude.
Among the guests were model Twiggy, Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood, artist Sam Taylor-Wood and her partner Aaron Johnson, who played Lennon in her film Nowhere Boy.
Enforcement officers arrived at the property at around 1.30am after complaints.
Head of noise and licensing at Westminster City Council Andrew Ralph said: "A complaint was received about an address in St John's Wood. Officers visited and the volume was reduced on request. No further action is being taken."
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Fox discloses Werritty meetings
Defence Secretary Liam Fox has disclosed that he had met his friend and former flatmate Adam Werritty during around 18 overseas visits.
In a Commons statement, Dr Fox also disclosed that Mr Werritty had visited him 22 times at the Ministry of Defence in the past 16 months - more than previously acknowledged.
He said he is now putting in place measures to ensure Mr Werritty does not make private visits to the MoD in future, will not attend international conferences where he is present and they will not meet socially abroad when Dr Fox is on official business.
Dr Fox told MPs: "Mr Werritty was never present at regular departmental meetings, during private meetings we did not discuss either commercial or defence matters.
"He had no access to classified documents, nor was he briefed on classified matters."
But, he added: "I accept, with the benefit of hindsight I should have taken great care to ensure a more transparent separation of Government, party political and private business and that meetings were properly recorded to protect myself and Government from any suggestion of wrongdoing.
"Again, I accept my personal responsibility for this."
He also repeated the comments he made on Sunday that "it was a mistake to allow distinctions to be blurred between my professional responsibilities and my loyalties to a friend".
He added: "I am sorry for this, I have apologised to the Prime Minister, to the public and, at the first opportunity available, to the House."
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Child cruelty couple get five years
A couple said to have swapped the identity of their dead baby daughter to her twin sister in a bid to cover injuries they inflicted have been jailed for five years.
The seven-month-old was rushed to hospital in Blackburn, Lancashire, after her parents reported she had breathing difficulties, and was pronounced dead shortly after.
Preston Crown Court heard Mohammed Karolia, 29, and wife Nafisa, 22, made a deliberate attempt to hide the ailing twin from the outside world in the weeks leading up to her death in June 2009.
It was alleged the defendants told medics at Royal Blackburn Hospital the girl was the healthier and smaller of their identical twins before they allegedly later switched to naming her sibling on the death certificate.
The couple denied any baby swap, which was described by their legal teams as "fanciful" and "far-fetched", but the jury convicted them in July of child cruelty after a five-week trial.
Both chose not to give evidence, they maintain their innocence and do not believe the other was responsible for the injuries, but the trial heard that no one else looked after the children.
Sentencing, Mr Justice Irwin said it remains unclear whether a swap did take place but what matters is that the child had been hurt and "victimised" while the other identical twin was "looked after well".
Addressing the pair, he said: "Only you two know if both of you or one of you have directed and inflicted the injuries.
"Whichever of those is true, you certainly knew it was happening, you knew it was wrong, gave it encouragement and concealed it, and you have continued to deny it."
The Karolias will be released on licence halfway through their jail terms and will then have to serve an extended licence period of five years.
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Forced marriage could become crime
Forcing someone to marry against their will could become a criminal offence under plans set out by Prime Minister David Cameron.
Mr Cameron announced he was making it a criminal offence to breach an order issued by the courts to prevent a forced marriage and he has asked Home Secretary Theresa May to consult on whether the practice should be made an offence in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The cross-party Commons Home Affairs Committee called earlier this year for forced marriage to be criminalised, but its recommendation was rejected by the Home Office in July for fear that it would discourage victims from coming forward.
The Prime Minister announced he was asking Mrs May to rethink the decision in a speech in central London in which he outlined measures to get immigration under control, including "stricter and clearer" tests on those claiming the right to settle in the UK to be with their spouses.
"Forced marriage is little more than slavery," said Mr Cameron. "To force someone into marriage is completely wrong. And I strongly believe this is a problem we should not shy away from addressing. But I know that there is a worry that criminalisation could make it less likely that those at risk will come forward.
"So, as a first step, I am announcing today that we will criminalise the breach of Forced Marriage Prevention Orders. It's ridiculous that an Order made to stop a forced marriage isn't enforced with the full rigour of the criminal law.
"And I am also asking the Home Secretary to consult on making forcing someone to marry an offence in its own right, working closely with those who provide support to women forced into marriage to make sure that such a step would not prevent or hinder them from reporting what has happened to them."
Mr Cameron said that in future individuals applying to come to the UK for family reasons will have to show that they can speak English and have the financial resources to support themselves, as well as genuine family links in Britain.
Family migration made up almost one-fifth of non-EU immigration last year, with 50,000 visas issued. But a survey suggested that more than 70% of UK-based family sponsors had an income of less than £20,000 after tax, creating "an obvious risk" that they may become dependent on welfare.
Mr Cameron said the Migration Advisory Committee will look at the case for increasing the minimum level for financial support. Ministers will consider whether to discount all promises of support from family and friends and require a financial bond from migrants in some cases.
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Man 'shopped after killing Joanna'
A neighbour strangled Joanna Yeates then went shopping in Asda with her murdered body in his car boot, a court has been told.
Vincent Tabak texted his girlfriend to say he was bored just minutes after murdering the 25-year-old landscape architect, a jury was told.
CCTV footage showed Tabak then wandering the aisles at an Asda supermarket, in Bedminster, Bristol, before dumping her body.
Tabak - who admits manslaughter but denies murder - did not even know his victim's name, Nigel Lickley QC, for the Crown, said.
Shortly after killing blonde Miss Yeates, Tabak sent his girlfriend a text message: "Miss you loads. It's boring here without you Vxx".
Mr Lickley told Bristol Crown Court: "It would appear this message was sent after he had killed Joanna Yeates, a message to his girlfriend indicating that he was bored."
He then went to the 24-hour supermarket to buy rock salt - for melting ice - along with crisps and beer. "It must be that the body of Joanna Yeates was in the boot of his car at the time of his visit to Asda," Mr Lickley said. Tabak went to the Asda store twice and did his shopping on the second visit.
In the days after killing the landscape architect, Vincent Tabak attended parties and dinners as he coolly maintained the pretence of a worried neighbour, the prosecution claims.
The bespectacled Dutch engineer looked on from the dock as Mr Lickley said: "He was able to mislead and manipulate others and to hide his inner feelings. He was in complete control and knew what he was doing."
Less then two hours after killing Miss Yeates, Tabak sent a further text message to his girlfriend. The message said: "How are you? I am at Asda buying some crisis. Was bored. Can't wait to pick you up." Mr Lickley said Tabak had meant "crisps" rather than "crisis" in his text message.
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Woman killed 'with butcher's knife
A woman has been stabbed to death in a busy shopping street after a knife was stolen from a local butcher's shop.
Another woman was slashed on the hand in the attack while a third has been arrested, Scotland Yard said.
An employee at The Rose pub in Broadway, Bexleyheath, south east London, said a blade had been taken from the British Meat Market ahead of the killing.
The woman, who did not give her name, said: "I didn't see what happened but I think one of the girls stole a knife from the butcher's. A policeman told my boss that's what happened. We were really shocked. On the whole we don't get that sort of thing around here. It isn't a bad place."
Police were called to the area at around 8.30am, along with London Ambulance Service. The first victim, who was found with stab wounds, was pronounced dead at the scene at 8.41am.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: "We have recovered a knife from the scene. At this stage we are making inquiries as to where it came from."
A spokesman for London Ambulance Service said: "We were called just after 8.30am to reports of a stabbing on the Broadway, Bexleyheath.
"We sent an ambulance crew and an officer to the scene. Sadly one patient, a woman, was dead at the scene. A second patient was treated at the scene for a minor hand injury. She did not require hospital treatment."
The dead woman - who is believed to have been between 40 and 50 - has not been formally identified. Her next of kin have been informed.
Officers said it was too early to determine a motive for the killing.
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Joanna killer 'shopped after death'
A killer neighbour strangled Joanna Yeates then went shopping in Asda with her body in the boot, a court has heard.
Vincent Tabak texted his girlfriend to say he was bored just minutes after murdering the 25-year-old landscape architect, a jury was told.
He avoided police suspicion for weeks by maintaining the pretence that he was a concerned neighbour, the prosecution claims.
As the murder inquiry made international headlines, Tabak told a guest at a dinner party the killer must be a "crazy, detached person", Bristol Crown Court heard.
The 33-year-old - who has admitted manslaughter but denies murder - also sent a string of emails to his girlfriend to cover his tracks, describing the case as "creepy", Nigel Lickley, for the Crown, said.
Bespectacled Tabak, a Dutch engineer, looked on from the dock as Mr Lickley said: "He was able to mislead and manipulate others and to hide his inner feelings. He was in complete control and knew what he was doing."
CCTV footage showed him wandering the aisles at an Asda supermarket in Bedminster, Bristol, less than two hours after the killing on December 17.
Within minutes of "squeezing the life out" of Miss Yeates, Tabak was claimed to have sent his girlfriend a text message: "Miss you loads. It's boring here without you Vxx".
He then went to the 24-hour supermarket to buy rock salt - for melting ice - along with crisps and beer.
"It must be that the body of Joanna Yeates was in the boot of his car at the time of his visit to Asda," Mr Lickley said.
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Largest ever strike ballot launched
The biggest-ever union strike ballot has been launched, with more than a million public sector workers being urged to back industrial action in an increasingly bitter row with the Government over pensions.
Members of Unison, including probation officers, nurses, social workers, teaching assistants, dinner ladies and hospital cleaners, will vote over the next few weeks on whether to join a strike on November 30 which is predicted to be the biggest outbreak of industrial unrest seen in the UK.
As the timetable for Unison's ballot was revealed, the GMB union published a study showing that more than 100,000 jobs have been lost in local authorities across England since the general election, with further cuts to come.
Unison general secretary Dave Prentis said the ballot was about increased contributions, waiting longer to retire, and lower pensions, made worse by job losses and pay freezes.
"I am urging Unison members to stand up for their pension rights and vote yes for strike action, in the biggest ballot in UK history," he said. All along, we have been hoping for the best, but planning for the worst, and the worst is happening. Eight months of talks have got nowhere - government ministers are just not listening.
"Government ministers want to save £4 billion from public sector pensions, and they want our members to make up that money by paying more and working longer for a pension that will be worth less.
"This is not fair, and it is not necessary. Both the local government and the health scheme our members save into are cash-rich and financially sound - they don't need this drastic change. It is nothing more than a tax on public sector workers to help pay down the country's deficit that they did nothing to cause."
Unison members will receive their ballot papers this week, with officials expecting a big "yes" vote when the result is announced on November 3.
A spokesman for the Communities and Local Government Department said: "The cost of providing public service pensions is rising, and reform is essential if we are to more fairly protect taxpayers. This is a consultation and as such discussions on the proposals are ongoing. Instead of embarking on entirely unnecessary industrial action, Unison should instead be engaging in discussion and representing their members' interests.
"We have made clear that those on salaries under £15,000 are unaffected by these proposals, and our proposals also make clear that those who earn less will be asked to pay in less than high-earners in the scheme."
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Banks 'won't quit UK' after reforms
There is a "low probability" banks will flee from the UK after a proposed overhaul of the industry is implemented, according to the head of the Government-appointed commission behind the reforms.
Sir John Vickers, chairman of the Independent Commission on Banking (ICB), told a committee of MPs that no British banks had threatened to move abroad if the recommendations come into force.
The ICB last month revealed a raft of recommendations including ring-fencing banks' high street divisions to protect them from riskier investment arms and setting aside more cash to cushion the blow of potential losses or future financial crises.
The ICB previously estimated its reforms would cost the banking industry between £4 billion and £7 billion to implement the recommendations, which should come into effect in 2019.
Sir John told the Treasury Select Committee on Monday that banking customers - including small businesses and personal account holders - would only see costs increase by just 0.1%.
Sir John said: "I don't see a reason why they (customers) would pay a higher figure as a result of proposals of this kind."
He said most of the costs would fall outside the ringfence and if banks suggest the reforms will lead to higher costs for small businesses they should be questioned very closely.
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