French police have arrested two suspected terror group ETA members, including a senior political leader of the Basque separatist group, Aitor Elizaran Aguilar, the BBC reports.
Elizaran is a joint political chief of the group. He was arrested with another senior member, Oihana San Vicente, in the north-western seaside town of Carnac.
ETA are responsible for more than 820 deaths during their 41-year terror campaign for an independent Basque homeland. Spain and France have been working closely to crack down …

A special audit committee submitted their election fraud findings after a lengthy investigation today, and a Western official familiar with them said they appeared likely to show that President Hamid Karzai had won about 48 per cent of the vote, the New York Times reports.
The findings could force a runoff vote with Karzai’s top challenger Abdullah Abdullah, but it was unclear whether Karzai would accept the findings.
The auditors did not immediately publicize their conclusions, which …

Britain’s motorists are about to be hit with a new breed of high-tech sneaky speed cameras – nicknamed the “supertraps”, the latest generation of speed cameras do not flash, can cover multiple lanes at once and tell the difference between speeding lorries and over-the-limit cars, the Daily Mail reports.
The new devices won’t be easy to spot, either. They look like nothing more than steel posts by the roadside, which means many drivers may not even …

Astronomers found 32 new planets outside our solar system, adding evidence to the theory that the universe has many places where life could develop, the AP reports.
Scientists using telescopes by the European Southern Observatory telescopes didn’t find any planets quite the size of Earth or any that seemed habitable or even unusual, but their announcement increased the number of planets discovered outside the solar system to more than 400.
Six of the newly found planets are …

68 per cent – 484 people who responded to the latest Empire Chronicles poll predicted that Brawn GP’s Jenson Button is going to be crowned as this year’s Formula One world champion – which yesterday came true.
29% or 204 people thought that Button’s team mate, Brazilian Rubens Barrichello becomes the champion, and only three per cent – 22 people – thought German Red Bull pilot Sebastian Vettel was to be crowned champion.
Altogether, 710 people responded …

Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai is refusing to accept the result of a UN-led probe into vote-rigging in the country’s presidential election and a senior aide said today that the crisis had reached a “deadlock”, The Times reports.
Mohammad Moin Marastyal, an Afghan MP and leading member of Karzai’s campaign team, said that the UN-backed Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) had twisted the facts in a deliberate attempt to trigger a run-off vote.
“Effort has been made to lower …

Government’s own crime czar Louise Casey charged yesterday that Prime Minister Gordon Brown is not doing enough to stop the scourge of the yob culture, the Daily Mail reports.
Casey accused the Government of letting people down by not getting tough on anti-social behaviour. The outspoken adviser said that unless police and councils got a grip on the problem it would simply be passed on from one generation to the next.
Casey went on to criticise Brown’s decision two …

Last year’s Formula One world champion, Briton Lewis Hamilton hailed Jenson Button’s impressive form throughout the Formula One season which culminated in the Brawn GP driver being crowned world champion at the Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday, the Daily Telegraph reports.
Hamilton, who finished a remarkable third from 17th on the grid, was gracious in acknowledging Button’s form this season. ”Big congratulations to Jenson and his family – he has done a terrific job and he deserves …

“The Simpsons” celebrate their 20 years on television screens as the longest-running American sitcom, animated programme and also the longest-running American prime-time scripted entertainment programme.
“You know, it’s really weird,” Simpsons creator and series executive producer Matt Groening told the AP. “I mean, I thought the show would be successful, but the fact that we’re still standing here some 20 years later and talking about it is very peculiar. But very happy.”
And “The Simpsons” fans should …

Schools are being ordered to close on Muslim, Hindu and Sikh holy days despite objections from teachers, the Daily Mail reports.
The directive by two London councils means the schools must shut for the annual celebrations of Eid-Ul-Fitr, Diwali and Guru Nanak’s birthday in addition to the traditional Christian holidays of Christmas and Easter. The policy even affects schools with only a small number of Muslim, Hindu or Sikh pupils.
Headteachers have complained about the enforced holidays, arguing …

Government officials have drawn up secret plans to tax electricity consumers to subsidise the construction of the UK’s first new nuclear reactors for more than 20 years, the Guardian reports.
The planned levy on household bills would add £44 to an annual electricity bill of £500 and contradicts repeated promises by ministers that the nuclear industry would no longer benefit from public subsidies. There is mounting pressure on the power industry to show they can keep …

According to a study by the Centre for Policy Studies, national debt is rising £700,000 every minute and is almost three times the figure admitted by the Government, the Daily Mail reports.
The true level of debt is £2,200billion or £36,000 for every man, woman and child in Britain, according to the study. This is nearly treble the official £805billion figure used by the Treasury and equal to a staggering 157 per cent of national output.
Alistair Darling …

Six-month jail terms are being slashed to six weeks and 28-day sentences are being waived by prison governors desperate to ease record levels of overcrowding, The Times reports.
Judges and magistrates are infuriated that sentences passed in courts are being unilaterally cut by governors using early release schemes and prison regulations. The growing concern on the bench is that the actions of prison governors will undermine public faith in the criminal justice system.
The Times was present …

British Brawn GP pilot Jenson Button won his maiden world championship title yesterday in Brazil, hugely due to his excellent, “worthy of a world champion” drive after he started on 14th position and finished as 5th.
His main competitor for the title, team mate Rubens Barrichello started on pole position yesterday, and had he kept his lead until the end, Button wouldn’t have won the title yesterday – as Barrichello would have had 81 points and …

Prime Minister Gordon Brown warned of a “catastrophe” for the planet if action to tackle “climate change” is not agreed at forthcoming UN talks on global warming, the Daily Telegraph reports.
Brown, speaking to representatives of 17 countries at the Major Economies Forum, convened as part of efforts to secure a deal at the UN Summit in Copenhagen in December, warned of the economic, human and ecological impact of a failure to cut the emissions driving …

Three million immigrants have come to Britain since Labour came to power in 1997, 2.3 million of them came over the past eight years.
The findings were slipped out without notice last month and only revealed yesterday after academics discovered them and reported them to an immigration think-tank, the Daily Mail reports. The figures dwarf ministers’ past admissions of migrant numbers and bear out the forecasts of critics who warned that immigration was running dangerously out of …