A prominent US abortion doctor has been shot dead at a church in Wichita, in his home state of Kansas.
Dr Tiller, one of the few US doctors who performed so-called late-term abortions, had been vilified by some anti-abortionists.
His clinic had often been the site of demonstrations, and he was shot and wounded by an assailant 16 years ago.
Around seven million people in the UK are involved in illegal downloads, costing the economy tens of billions of pounds, government advisers say.
Researchers found 1.3m people using one file-sharing network on one weekday and estimated that over a year they had free access to material worth £12bn.
The fact that so much on the internet is free only added to the confusion, it said.
A Tory MP has agreed to repay £20,000 in tax and mortgage payments, much of which was claimed from public funds towards staff quarters in his home.
Having discussed his claims with the Tories' internal scrutiny panel on expenses, Sir John said he had agreed to repay an estimated £20,000 in claims he said were, with hindsight, "inappropriate".
Another key element in this deal is that it is two “excellent” authorities working closely with IBM and its contractor, Mouchel Parkman.
Hundreds of computer experts are trying to fix glitches in Somerset County Council's £30 million computer system, which is still yet to be used.
The expensive system, called SAP and planned to be used across a myriad of council departments, was originally supposed to be fully operational at Somerset County Council on February 1.
But that date was soon changed to April 1, then June 1, but with days to go, council staff have now been told that the date has been delayed again – with no new date has yet being given for its completion.
Now hundreds of IBM experts have been drafted in to try to get the fiercely controversial scheme up and running.
Just park a couple of facts for a moment, which you may not agree with but are factual.
The first is that MPs have always been encouraged, by whatever means possible, to draw down their ACA allowance in full. This is because it was upped in place of an appropriate pay rise.
The rules surrounding the ACA were deliberately sloppy in order to maximise the opportunity that MPs had to draw.
This was always felt to be the safest political method to remunerate MPs, rather than face the media backlash of a pay rise.
Parliament is in chaos. The public are angry. The Telegraph has upped its circulation.
There are 650 members of Parliament. In any walk of life, in whatever profession, you will find people who are dishonest. It will always be thus as long as we are all human!
The Telegraph are uncovering a few cases of fraud, but not enough, so they are more than slightly embellishing some of the stories. I write as a case in point.
Enter the Barclay brothers, the billionaire owners of The Daily Telegraph.
Rumour is that they are fiercely Euro sceptic and do not feel that either of the main parties are Euro sceptic enough. They have set upon a deliberate course to destabilise Parliament, with the hope that the winners will be UKIP and BNP.
A quick online check of the Barclay brothers and their antics on the Island of Sark is enough to give this part of the rumour credence.
Another rumour is that the disc was never acquired and sold by an amateur, but it was in fact a long term undercover operation run by the Telegraph for some considerable time, carefully planned and executed; and that the stories of the naive disc nabber ringing the news desk in an attempt to sell the stolen information are entirely the work of gossip and fiction.
These rumours do have some credibility given that this has all erupted during the European Election Campaign and turn out is expected to be high with protest votes, courtesy of the Daily Telegraph, or should I say the Barclay brothers.
Now, if this is all a power game executed by the BBs, how would they do that?
It is a fact that these men are no fools and are in fact self-made billionaires.
I would imagine and believe that if any of this is true, they know the British psyche well enough to whip up a mood of public anger, hence the long running revelations in the DT.
Where do I get this from? Well, at heart I am just a cheeky scouser. I like to go into the rooms of the faceless and nameless in Parliament, sit on their desk and ask pertinent questions like: who are you? What do you do? I've made friends with one or two. One in particular I am very fond of. He is a mine of very astute information; and whilst in his office yesterday, we chunnered over the 'what is this all about?' question.
He reckons this is all a power game. That the British public are being worked like puppets by two very powerful men. Whipped up into a frenzy to achieve exactly what they want.
His very poignant words to me were “if any of this conjecture is true, Parliament will become full of racists, fantasists, and has-been celebrities. We will be rendered impotent and may never again regain the authority to withstand the pressure, opinion and whims of the overtly wealthy.â€
Scary stuff
A Tory MP has apologised for a BBC interview in which he said critics of his expenses claims were simply "jealous" of his country house.
In an interview with Radio 4's The World At One on Wednesday, Mr Steen suggested his critics were envious because he lived in a large house that resembled Royal residence Balmoral, and had trees in the grounds that needed lopping.
During the interview, the 69-year-old former barrister claimed ministers had "mucked up the system" by introducing the Freedom of Information Act. He added: "What right does the public have to interfere with my private life? None."
Labour has held on to a council seat in the Salford constituency of Communities Secretary Hazel Blears, despite her involvement in the expenses row.
Any Labour MP found to have "defied the rules" with their expenses claims will not be allowed to stand at the next general election, says Gordon Brown..
Being Chief Exec is not a `non-job` and anyone doing it properly will be one of the best in their field as they will be head of the local civil service and in charge of the day to day management of the Council with the Leader etc providing policy and strategy.
I personally am not prepared to become poorer at this stage of my career.And it's no fucking wonder too. He is joint top of the table (with all the other troughers claiming the maximum amount) for Additional Costs Allowance - £23,083 - as well as joint second on the "Incidental Expenses Provision" (whatever that is) - £30,374. He also, perhaps unsurprisingly, paid his wife to write his appalling website out of his £10,015 communications allowance (see the note at the bottom of the site. I wonder what her bill was?
An escaped mental patient with severe learning difficulties, Squirrel Nutkin, and The Demon Headmaster, earlierMembers of the Cabinet are facing tough questions after full details of their expenses claims were published by the Daily Telegraph.
They include a claim for £6,500 made by Gordon Brown to pay his brother for a cleaner for his Westminster flat.
Justice Secretary Jack Straw received a 50% discount on the council tax on his second home, but claimed the full sum.
Deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman said no resignations were likely as all claims were within the rules.
Ministers say public support for ID cards is high
Mr Brown told a press conference in Glasgow that the measure had been "the right decision to make. It was the right decision for investment, and it was the right decision for the future of our pension system, and it was the right decision for the future of our economy."Snot-Gobbler on the removal of pension tax credits
As delegates shouted "Give us our money", she insisted the Government had made the right decision.Jackboots refusing to backdate the Police's 2.5% payrise
