The junior Treasury Minister Kitty Ussher resigned tonight from the Government over disclosures that her accountant had advised her in a letter over ways to avoid paying capital gains tax, the Times reports.
She insisted just last night that she had not abused the parliamentary allowance system, so the accountant’s letter on her expenses file represented a big embarrassment for her.

Kitty Usher. Photo from parliament.uk

She said in a statement that she resigned because she did …

According to some sources in the terrorist group Hamas, former US President Jimmy Carter passed a message to the group from the Obama administration.
The contents of the purported message are not known, and the sources didn’t say if it was an oral or written message, WorldNetDaily reports.
Hamas’ chief political adviser Ahmed Yousef didn’t confirm or deny the existance of this message, but the said in an interview with WorldNetDaily that Carter is the “right person” …

Some people have a lot to learn from the Republican Senator John Ensign.
He admitted yesterday that he had an extra-marital affair. Today, according to AFP, he resigned his post as Policy Committee Chairman.
“He’s accepted responsibility for his actions and apologized to his family and constituents. He offered, and I accepted, his resignation as chairman of the Policy Committee,” Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said, according to the report.
See. A man resigns his top post …

This is how far the police state has evolved: police are making unjustified searches of people to provide “racial balance” to stop and search statistics.
Lord Carlile, the independent reviewer of anti-terrorism laws, said he knew of cases where suspects were stopped by officers even though there was no evidence against them, the Daily Telegraph reports.
Lord Carlile said that the police were wasting money by carrying out “self-evidently unmerited searches” which were an invasion of civil …

At least 100,000 demonstrators marched silently through the streets of Tehran tonight in a direct challenge to the authority of Iran’s clerical regime, the Times reports.
According to witnesses, the protesters, both young and old and many accompanied by children, marched through central Tehran Haft-e Tir square towards Vali Asr square in the heart of the city.
The rally was called by the defeated presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi to protest against the …

London Deputy Mayor for Government and External Relations, Ian Clement used a City Hall credit card to upgrade economy class flights to business class, and also to pay for meals and groceries.
Clement used the credit card to buy business class travel on two BA flights to China for the Beijing Olympics, the Daily Mail reports. He did so only weeks after Mayor Boris Johnson, his boss, insisted he was going to fly in economy class.

Deputy …

New York Daily News writes in its today’s editorial that in his speech on Sunday, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu envisioned two people, side by side in amity and mutual respect, but in return he was branded an obstacle to peace.
In return for envisioning “two people … side by side in amity and mutual respect,” Netanyahu was branded, in far too many corners, as an obstacle to peace for placing what were called “conditions” on …

The Conservatives denied today’s report by the Times and affirmed that they would not back former Prime Minister Tony Blair as a candidate for the president of the European Union.
Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague said that the Tories are not in favour of a president of the European Union at all, according to Reuters. “That story is absolutely without foundation,” he said. “It does not represent in any way the thinking of the Conservative leadership.”

Shadow …

Seach teams have found over 400 pieces of debris from Air France flight 447, but it’s still unknown why the plane crashed into the Atlantic ocean.
However, the head of the French air accident investigatin agency BEA, Paul-Louis Arslanian told AP that there is a “little more optimism” about the investigation. Still, it’s premature to say what happened to the plane, he added.

Piece of debris from Air France flight AF447 that crashed into the Atlantic. Image …

Being a smoker myself, I am not very fond of smoking bans and crushing my liberty to smoke, especially when I am myself capable of taking care of not hurting the others by that. But here’s a ban I actually lean to support – smoking ban in cars, if the ban is introduced within reason.
See, the campaigners claim that youngsters are being exposed to second-hand smoke, caused by adults enjoying cigarettes while driving. Which youngsters …

This is one of the consequences of 12 years of Labour: 2.26 million Britons without a job – the worst figure since the end of 1996 (and Labour came to power in 1997).
In three months to April, the jobless total increased by a mighty 232,000 people, the Telegraph reports. The number of people claiming jobseeker’s allowance increased by 39,300 in May to 1.54 million, the highest total since the summer of 1997.
According to the report, …

US President Barack Obama killed a fly during the interview with CNBC’s John Hartwood, showing quite impressive hand-eye coordination.
After killing the fly, he said: “That was pretty impressive, wasn’t it? I got the sucker.”
According to the Telegraph, the fly distracted him when he was about to respond to a question from the interviewer.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, an elite military force answering to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said through the state news service that Iranian websites and bloggers must remove any materials that “create tension”, or face legal action.
Only yesterday Iran’s authorities announced that foreign journalists are barred from working from outside their offices. Now, according to the AP, International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said that several dozen noted figures, associated with Iran’s reformist movement, have …

An Iranian blogger, a participant in the ongoing demonstrations and protests, wrote down his experiences. He describes his first-hand observations from the massive demonstration in Tehran, which took place on Monday.
According to Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz, this dispatch was sent to relatives with an explicit request to disseminate it to as wide audience as possible, thus circumventing the draconian censorship imposed by Iranian authorities on journalists, particularly foreign correspondents.
The name of the writer is not disclosed …

Members of the terrorist group Hamas are helping the Iranian authorities to crush street protests in support of the presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, two protesters told the Jerusalem Post yesterday.
Hamas formally welcomed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s victory. The terrorist group receives weapons and funding from Iran, and its members have often received training there, the Post says.
A young protester told the newspaper that “Palestinian forces” are taking part in the riots. “The most important thing …

A Tory millionaire, MP for Northampton South, Brian Binley claimed more than £50,000 of taxpayers’ money to rent a flat from his own company, the Daily Mail reports.
He pocketed £1,500 a month for more than three years even after he was told the claims were not allowed, the newspaper says. According to the report, he appealed to Commons Speaker Michael Martin, who failed to act to curb the payments until April this year.
Altogether he pocketed …