A magazine run by the Chinese Government has revealed the existence of a network of secret detention centres or “black jails” in Beijing where inmates are often beaten or tortured, the Daily Telegraph reports.
Until now, the Chinese Communist Party have strenuously denied running black jails, despite a growing number of testimonies and evidence from former inmates. However, a report in Liaowang, a magazine which is written for elite Government officials and published by the official …

Veronica Lario, the wife of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who is seeking a legal separation from her husband, has asked for maintenance of more than £3.2 million a month, the Guardian reports.
The billionaire prime minister made a counter offer of €200,000 on the understanding that it could be increased to €300,000 in special circumstances. Sources close to Berlusconi said that he had already given her €60 to €70 million.
Berlusconi is ready to let his …

A couple from Virginia crashed on Tuesday the White House state dinner, the Secret Service that is supposed to protect the President of the United States, are investigating, how the uninvited people could breach security at what’s supposed to be the most guarded place on Earth.
The Secret Service are now investigating their own security procedures after determining that the socialite couple, Michaele and Tareq Salahi, managed to slip into the White House dinner …

According to a German news report, Formula One team Mercedes GP have given Michael Schumacher a blank contract – so that the seven time world champion could pick his own job and salary at the team.
German portal express.de says that the blank contract means Schumacher can decide himself, what he wants to do for Mercedes. According to the report, Schumacher can pick anything from a race driver to team adviser.
Michael Schumacher is the most successful …

The number of people leaving the country hit a record high last year – driven by Eastern European workers returning home; but the number of new arrivals rose, with more than half a million people coming in, the Daily Mail reports.
The number of non-Britons leaving the country has risen by 50% from 169,000 in 2007 to 255,000 last year, and arrivals from Eastern Europe were down by nearly a quarter in the year to March …

About 310 people have been forced to leave their homes after a fire broke out in Peckham, south London, the BBC reports.
More than 180 firefighters have been tackling the fire which engulfed a construction site in Carisbrooke Gardens in Peckham at about 4:30am. It spread to two blocks of maisonettes and a destroyed a pub. The blaze is now under control.
Ten people, including two police officers, have received hospital treatment for minor injuries.
All the residents …

Bulgarian Government scientists claim that aliens from outer space are already among us on Earth, and they have already been in contact with them, the Daily Telegraph reports.
Work on deciphering a complex set of symbols sent to them is underway, scientists from the country’s Space Research Institute said. They claim that aliens are currently answering 30 questions posed to them.
Lachezar Filipov, deputy director of the Space Research Institute of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, confirmed …

A teenager who subjected an 11-year-old girl to a horrific sexual attack has escaped a prison sentence in a ruling branded pathetic by the victim’s family, the Daily Mail reports.
The 15-year-old boy sexually assaulted the youngster as she was playing near her home. He attempted to rape the schoolgirl – leaving the victim frightened and deeply traumatised.
However, after admitting his crime, the teenager was handed a 12-month referral order – meaning his punishment includes reporting …

Belgium’s new Prime Minister Yves Leterme has previously called his country “an accident of history” – which is probably the most accurate character of this central European country.
Leterme is nothing new to Belgium, as he was the Prime Minister already before his successor Herman van Rompuy. But as van Rompuy was elected European Union’s first President, Belgian King Albert II recalled the 49-year-old former leader to head the Government.
Although Leterme has a French-speaking father, he …

A third of children and young people in London Borough of Lambeth live in poverty, South London Press reports.
Almost 34 per cent of under-16s in Lambeth live in households with an income from welfare benefits of just over £14,000 a year.
Lambeth, which is the 19th most deprived borough in England, has the seventh highest level of child poverty in London, according to the report.
More teenagers between 15- and 17-years-old fall pregnant in the borough than …

The Hamas terrorist organisation is once again planning to reject a nearly-completed deal for the release of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit and hundreds of Arab terrorists, Arutz 7 reports.
The rejection was leaked by a senior Hamas source who participated in a meeting of the terrorist leadership in Damascus on Tuesday. The source said the organisation’s leadership had resolved to reject Israel’s demand to change a list of prisoners Hamas had submitted as part of …

Conservative leader David Cameron’s new guru Philip Blond will today promise that Britain’s broken societies can be rebuilt by restoring community values, the Daily Telegraph reports.
Known as the “Red Tory”, Blond will be watched by Cameron as he unveils his radical theories for healing troubled neighbourhoods at the launch of his new think tank, ResPublica.
The former theology lecturer’s views have created a stir in Tory circles, due to his rejection of Thatcherism and the primacy …

Widespread child sexual abuse by Catholic priests in Dublin was covered up for decades by senior clerics, the Daily Telegraph reports.
Four Archbishops, including Cardinal Desmond Connell, will be named in a report over their mishandling of hundreds of allegations, including not reporting crimes to the police. The senior clerics’ motive was to protect the church above defenceless children.
The Dublin Archdiocese Commission are the third inquiry in the last four years to rock the Catholic Church …

The price of gold soared above 1,195 US dollars (£722) an ounce for first time in history today, following a purchase of IMF gold by Sri Lanka’s central bank, AFP reports.
Gold hit 1,195.13 dollars per ounce at around 4:00am GMT on the London Bullion Market, extending its record-breaking run.
The precious metal has won support in recent weeks from inflationary fears, the weak US currency and increasing moves by central banks to diversify assets into gold.
The …

Tens of thousands of civil servants may be relocated out of London in a drastic bid to cut public spending, the Daily Mail reports.
A leaked report has revealed the Government will review the possibility of moving all civil servants not directly required for ministerial support out of the capital to less expensive regional offices.
There are currently 132,000 civil servants and 90,000 employees of “arm’s-length bodies” based in London and the south-east.
Other radical moves contained in …

Chief Inspector of Constabulary, Denis O’Connor said that policing has lost its way amid the “noise and clutter” of Government targets, initiatives and new laws, the Daily Telegraph reports.
O’Connor said that forces have “drifted away” from the basics of front-line policing and serving the public. He accused ministers, local authorities and police chiefs of “too many knee jerk reactions” to the problems of law and order.
“The principles of policing get drowned out in the noise,” …