Borrowers Boost: Interest Rates Tied To Jobs

The Bank of England plans to keep the base rate of interest at its record low level until unemployment falls to 7% - unlikely for another three years.

The announcement was made by new governor, Mark Carney, at his first Inflation Report news conference where he outlined sweeping changes to monetary policy in a bid to provide more clarity to the public and financial markets.

The bank said it would keep the base rate at 0.5% unless inflation threatened to spiral out of control or there was a danger to financial stability.

Policymakers said they stood ready to buy more government bonds if additional stimulus was needed and would not reverse existing purchases while unemployment was too high.

It meant there would be no scaling back on the bank's £375bn programme of quantitative easing (QE) for at least three years.

The bank expects economic recovery to accelerate

Mr Carney said unemployment falling to 7% would mean more than 750,000 UK jobs are created, which, combined with rising wages, would represent "real improvements in the lives of people across the nation".

But the Bank suggested that growth was likely to be "weak by historical standards", even though economic recovery was "taking hold."

Inflation, the report said, was forecast to stay above its 2% target until the second half of 2015 based on market rate expectations though it was now not expected to rise above 3% this year.

The forward guidance on the likely movement of bank rate - while welcome news for borrowers - means savers face more years of weak interest on their money.

A growing number of major central banks, including the US Federal Reserve, are providing so-called forward guidance to help nurse their economies back to health.

The BoE also forecast that the economy would grow by 0.6% during the current quarter - the same as between April and June, and that growth would reach an annual rate of 2.6% in two years' time.

The Chancellor welcomed the introduction of forward guidance by the Bank in a letter to Mr Carney.

George Osborne said: "Given the exceptional economic challenges continuing to face the UK economy, I agree with you that forward guidance can play a useful role in enhancing the effectiveness of monetary policy and thereby supporting the recovery."

Vicky Redwood, chief UK economist at consultancy Capital Economics, said the Bank's guidance was a "clear steer that interest rates will stay on hold until the end of 2016 or even 2017.

"Although financial markets already expected rates to stay low for a long time, this probably exceeds their expectations," she added.

But the Bank's interest rate pledge did little to boost market confidence as the FTSE 100 Index fell as much as 1% after the announcement, although the pound gained some strength.

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'Bongo Bongo Land': MEP Apologises For Jibe

A UK Independence Party politician has issued a public apology after saying Britain should not send foreign aid to "bongo bongo land".

In a statement, MEP Godfrey Bloom said he regretted any offence or embarrassment caused by the remark.

He said: "At a public speech in the West Midlands in early July I used a term which I subsequently gather under certain circumstances could be interpreted as pejorative to individuals and possibly cause offence.

"Although quite clearly no such personal usage was intended, I understand from UKIP Party Chairman Steve Crowther and leader Nigel Farage that I must not use the terminology in the future, nor will I and sincerely regret any genuine offence which might have been caused or embarrassment to my colleagues.

"My aim, successful as it appears, was to demonstrate the immorality of sending £1bn per month abroad when we are desperately short of money here."

It comes just hours after the MEP for Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire told Sky News he did not regret the words he used and insisted he had sparked a vital debate about foreign aid.

He told Sky: "Out here in Hull and Yorkshire, where we tell it like it is, they don't feel it's racist at all.

"How can you get yourself into such a state about something which doesn't even exist? There is no such country so how can anyone be offended."

He added: "It would be disingenuous of me to regret having said it having got this debate going ... If I've achieved that, I think I have done my country some good."

Mr Bloom was filmed questioning the payments in a speech in July, as well as appearing to back the return of hanging.

"How we can possibly be giving a billion pounds a month, when we're in this sort of debt, to bongo bongo land is completely beyond me," he said in the video.

UKIP leader Nigel Farage asked Godfrey Bloom not to repeat the phrase

"To buy Ray-Ban sunglasses, apartments in Paris, Ferraris and all the rest of it that goes with most of the foreign aid. F-18s for Pakistan.

"We need a new squadron of F-18s. Who's got the squadrons? Pakistan, where we send the money."

Later in the speech, Mr Bloom railed against the European Court of Human Rights for ruling that full life sentences could not be handed down.

He said: "You can torture people to death, but you jolly well can't give them a full life sentence because that's against their human rights.

"We can't hang them because we're now a member of the European Union and it's embedded in the Treaty of Rome. It's a personal thing, but I'd hang the b******s myself."

He added: "I do hope they would ask me to throw the rope over the beam because I'd be delighted to do so."

Mr Bloom denied to The Guardian, who obtained the video, that his comments were racist and declared: "What's wrong with that? I'm not a wishy-washy Tory."

But he was later asked by UKIP not to repeat the words "bongo bongo" to avoid causing offence.

Party chairman Steve Crowther said: "We are asking Godfrey not to use this phrase again as it might be considered disparaging by members from other countries.

"However, foreign aid is an extremely important debate that needs wider discussion."

Quizzed before the party's statement about what he would do if he was asked to mind his language, Mr Bloom said: "I'd say 'Righto, sorry, sorry everybody'."

But he then repeated the controversial phrase, saying: "If I've offended anyone in bongo bongo land, I shall write to the ambassador at the Court of St James's and apologise to him personally."

He insisted he was right to argue that Britain should be keeping taxpayers' money at a time of austerity - and shrugged off the prospect his language could lose him votes.

"We live in a free country. I'm a libertarian. Please don't vote for me if you don't agree with me. I wouldn't expect you to," he told BBC's Radio 4 Today programme.

"But if you're fed up with £1bn a month going abroad with no audit trail when we're cutting our police and hospitals, vote for me."

He added: "I think I'm standing up for ordinary people at the pub, the cricket club, the rugby club."

Laura Pidcock, from campaign group Show Racism The Red Card, called the comments "highly offensive" and said the intention behind them was irrelevant.

"These crude stereotypes that see Britain as a civilised place and overseas as tribal is an extremely homogenising sentiment and I think it's incredibly damaging," she said.

Shadow international development secretary Rushanara Ali added: "These are an offensive and narrow-minded set of remarks.

"The British are among the most generous in the world and recognise that Britain's commitment to international development is both morally right and key to securing our future prosperity.

"If Nigel Farage is serious about getting rid of racism and intolerance in his party, he should take action against UKIP politicians who think it's acceptable to refer to developing countries as bongo bongo land."

Mr Bloom has previously had to defend his controversial views after suggesting that no "self-respecting small businessman" would employ a "woman of child-bearing age".

In April, a leaked email from the MEP also suggested he was concerned about excessive "political correctness" among new recruits to UKIP.

And he had complained that forging UKIP's policy platform was like "herding cats" and suggested the party could buy its policies "off the shelf" from think-tanks.

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Expendable Willis Replaced By Ford For Film

Harrison Ford has reportedly joined The Expendables 3 cast, while original star Bruce Willis is out of the production, according to Sylvester Stallone.

The Rocky actor has taken to Twitter to announce the cast changes and made his feelings clear about the new line-up.

"WILLIS OUT… HARRISON FORD IN !!!! GREAT NEWS !!!!! Been waiting years for this!!!!" Stallone said to his followers.

Die Hard actor Willis appeared in the first two Expendables films, but has apparently left the successful franchise.

Harrison Ford is said to be taking on a role in the franchise

Stallone went on to vent his frustration at his former co-star, saying: "GREEDY AND LAZY …… A SURE FORMULA FOR CAREER FAILURE."

Stallone's representative reportedly confirmed to The Huffington Post that the tweet was indeed made in reference to Willis.

Directed by Patrick Hughes, The Expendables 3 is due to begin filming later this month and will be released in 2014.

Jackie Chan, Wesley Snipes, Nicolas Cage and Milla Jovovich are all part of the star-studded cast who play a band of highly skilled mercenaries.

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Britain's Longest-Serving Police Officer Retires

The country's longest-serving police officer is retiring after 47 years in the job.

PC Mick Mountain, 66, from Morden in south London, said he joined the Metropolitan Police Service after taking "the best piece of advice my Dad could have given me".

But he said the role of a modern police officer was "totally different" to when he joined, because they have to do "more or less twice the work" due to increased admin.

And PC Mountain, who for the past 18 years has been attached to the Palace of Westminster - which takes in the House of Commons and House of Lords - said crime was down only because people have "too many problems" reporting it nowadays.

Although he has had "the most fantastic career", PC Mountain expressed frustration at how advances in technology had led to officers having to spend more time ensuring information is electronically filed.

When asked if he thought more time was being spent on admin than on fighting crime, PC Mountain said: "Well I'm finding it is.

He became a policeman after a suggestion from his father

"I don't actually work in a police station obviously any longer. I work at the Palace of Westminster on security, so I don't get as much work as they do.

"From what I gather, yes it is the case, because I've tried to report crimes myself like any other citizen and it's a little more difficult than it used to be. 'Oh yes, could you call in? Or could you send us an email?'.

"I'm a policeman, I want to report it to a police officer, basically. And I think that is one of the reasons recently crime's gone down. People won't report it. Too many problems. But that's another issue."

PC Mountain also said that while people are still as violent as they were in the past, the public expects police officers to "behave in a different manner" now.

Despite the changes he has witnessed throughout his career, PC Mountain, who has arrested thousands of criminals, said: "I've had a great time."

He recalled one frightening arrest when the man, who was holding a hand grenade, threatened to pull the pin.

PC Mountain ripped the grenade from him before throwing it into open space.

Although he feared for his life, he said it is not until after that sort of scenario is over that you realise the danger you were in, and "that's what police do".

PC Mountain, who is married with two children, is looking forward to enjoying travelling more in his retirement.

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Bristol Zookeeper Suspended For 'Punching' Seal

A zookeeper has been suspended after allegedly punching a seal.

Bosses at Bristol Zoo Gardens have launched an investigation into what happened.

It has been alleged that a senior animal keeper lashed out at the South American fur seal, which belongs to the same family as sea lions, when handlers tried to weigh it and it refused to co-operate.

A source told The Sun: "The keepers were weighing the sea lions. The senior keeper had taken one off the scales and put the next sea lion on - but the junior keeper forgot to recalibrate the scales.

"As he went to take it off the sea lion then put its flipper on the scales and it is alleged the senior keeper hit it."

The zoo's head vet has examined all of the seals at the popular tourist attraction and they remain on public show in their enclosure.

A Bristol Zoo Gardens spokeswoman said: "A senior animal keeper at Bristol Zoo Gardens has been suspended pending further investigation of an alleged animal welfare incident that has recently come to light.

"As this is an ongoing investigation, Bristol Zoo is currently unable to discuss the details of the incident.

"However, the zoo has acted rapidly and comprehensively by instigating an immediate, formal and extensive investigation in line with its internal policies and legal welfare requirements.

"Michelle Barrows, head of veterinary services, has examined the seal family and all individuals are behaving normally, engaging happily and playfully with keepers and guests in their enclosure.

"The animal has been, and continues to be, on full public show.

"Bristol Zoo would like to make it very clear that it has a zero tolerance towards such behaviour and takes its commitment to the highest standards of animal welfare and conservation seriously."

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Ariel Castro's Dungeon Home Is Torn Down

One of Ariel Castro's kidnap victims said she hoped the demolition of the home in which she was held captive for more than a decade would act as a symbol of hope.

Michelle Knight, 32, watched as the house on Seymour Avenue in East Cleveland, in which she was held against her will and repeatedly raped by the 53-year-old, was razed to the ground.

Miss Knight, along with two other women who were kidnapped by Castro, Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus, endured years of cruelty and brutality behind the suburban facade.

Michelle Knight addressed the crowd of onlookers

They were kept behind locked doors and chained by their ankles.

It took about 20 minutes to tear down the property as part of a plea deal that spared Castro a possible death sentence and allowed him to be jailed for life, plus 1,000 years, instead.

Speaking at the scene, Miss Knight, who last week made a powerful and moving statement to the court sentencing Castro, said she did not want to be defined by the horrors that had gone on at the house.

She said: "Nobody was there for me when I was missing, and I want the people out there to know, including the mothers, that they can have strength, they can have hope, and their child will come back.

A crowd of onlookers cheered and clapped as the demolition began

"They will ... just have the love in God and you'll see they'll come back."

Prosecutors said Castro cried when he signed over the house deeds and mentioned his "many happy memories" there with the women.

As the house was being demolished, Cuyahoga County prosecutor Tim McGinty told the crowd: "This was one evil guy."

Giving her statement in court last week, Miss Knight told Castro: "You took 11 years of my life away and I have got it back. I spent 11 years in hell. Now you're hell is just beginning. I will overcome all this has happened, but you will face hell for eternity."

The three women, who were snatched aged 20, 16 and 14, escaped from the house on May 6 when Miss Berry and her six-year-old daughter managed to break free after removing part of the front door and calling to a neighbour for help.

The demolition and clearing of the site was expected to be completed swiftly and the building materials will be shredded to prevent rubble being sold online as so-called "murderabilia", although no one was killed at the home.

Google Earth has already blurred out a satellite image of the house, before the demolition even began.

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One Of UK's Most Wanted Captured In Restaurant

Armed police swooped on and arrested a wanted fugitive while he was dining at a restaurant in North Wales.

Police in Spain want to question Darren O'Flaherty over the murder of Dublin holidaymaker John O'Neill in the Costa del Sol in 2010.

And officers in the UK want to speak to him in relation to a 2006 knifepoint kidnap of a lorry driver in Yorkshire.

O'Flaherty, 39, from Merseyside, was arrested at around 7.15pm on Tuesday in a restaurant in Caernarfon, Gwynedd, by North Wales Police, in a joint operation with Merseyside Police.

Chief Inspector Jeff Moses, of North Wales Police, said: "This is a significant arrest following close working between ourselves and Merseyside Police.

"Due to the nature of the offences and the circumstances, it was necessary to utilise highly trained armed officers from North Wales Police to effect the arrest."

Mr O'Neill was in Coco's Bar, in the resort of Benalmadena, near Torremolinos, with friends for a wedding when he was killed in July 2010, according to the Liverpool Echo.

Witnesses said a man in the bar grew increasingly angry over having to wait to use the toilet and began kicking the cubicle door, which led to an argument.

It is understood Mr O'Neill intervened, acting as peacemaker. The man stormed out of the bar, only to return a short time later with a gun, which he used to shoot the plasterer - who had a three-year-old son and a nine-month-old daughter.

O'Flaherty was one of the suspects identified as part of Operation Captura - a campaign targeting British criminals thought to be hiding in Spain.

The operation was launched in October 2006 and, to date, 52 of the 65 people featured have been arrested.

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Kenya Airport Fire: Reopened After Huge Blaze

Kenya's main international airport has reopened after a large blaze in the arrivals area.

Inbound flights were earlier re-routed to other Kenyan airports following the fire at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi.

Eyewitnesses said the billowing smoke could be seen from miles away and stranded passengers were left standing on pavements outside the airport holding their luggage.

"It was huge, the smoke billowing, and it didn't seem to be stopping," said Barry Fisher, who had hoped to fly to Ethiopia but was turned away.

Stranded passengers are standing on the pavement outside the airport

A British passenger, Martyn Collbeck, said he was surprised that the airport wasn't shut down sooner so that emergency vehicles could respond.

"When I arrived there were one or two fire engines parked outside the international arrivals, it spread very fast," said Mr Collbeck, who had been scheduled to fly back to London on an early morning KLM flight.

"There were a couple of explosions which I think were a couple of gas canisters. I would have expected more fire engines to respond faster."

The country's largest newspaper, The Daily Nation, reported last month that Nairobi County doesn't have a single working fire engine, and that three fire engines were auctioned off in 2009 because the county hadn't paid a $1,000 (£650) repair bill.

The fire happened at an airport in Nairobi

The fire burned for four hours before it was contained.

Transport secretary Michael Kamau said: "The fire started at a very central part of the airport and this made access difficult. But we have closed the airport indefinitely as we try to contain the fire."

It is the busiest airport in East Africa, and its closure affected flights throughout the region.

The fire comes less than 48 hours after a fuel jet pump failure caused huge delays at the airport, forcing some flights to be re-routed to the airport in the coastal town of Mombasa, Uganda and Rwanda.

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CPS Suspends Lawyer From Sex Abuse Cases

A prosecutor reported to have called a teenage sex attack victim "predatory" has been suspended from working on other cases involving sexual offences.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) had already called the comment about the 13-year-old girl apparently made during a court case in London "inappropriate".

Following an outcry from children's charities and campaigners, it has now started looking at Mr Colover's overall involvement in sexual offence prosecutions.

The CPS, which has received several formal complaints, said he would not be instructed on any ongoing or future cases involving sexual offences while it investigates.

Neil Wilson, 41, was given an eight-month suspended sentence at Snaresbrook Crown Court in London on Monday after admitting sexual activity with a child.

Judge Nigel Peters also called the girl 'predatory' as he passed sentence

Mr Robert Colover reportedly told the court: "The girl is predatory in all her actions and she is sexually experienced."

Passing sentence, Judge Nigel Peters then said he had taken into account that the girl looked and behaved "a little bit older" than she was.

"The girl was predatory and was egging you on. That is no defence when dealing with children but I am prepared to impose a suspension," he said.

Wilson, now living in York, had watched the girl strip out of her school uniform at his home in Romford, Essex, before she performed a sex act on him.

Police also found images of child abuse and bestiality at his home.

He admitted two counts of making extreme pornographic images and one count of sexual activity with a child.

Judge Peters told him: "Allowing her to visit your home is something we have to clamp down on and in normal circumstances that would mean a significant term in prison."

The Office for Judicial Complaints has also received a number of complaints about his remarks and says they will be considered.

The Attorney General is already looking at the case and will decide if it should ask the Court of Appeal to consider whether the punishment was unduly lenient.

A petition started by the founder of EveryDay Victim Blaming, who is known only as Jo, calling for a review of the sentence has received 15,000 signatures. 

'Completely appalling': Caroline Criado-Perez

She wrote on the Change.org website: "I'm a survivor of childhood sexual abuse. I could have been that 13-year-old girl who the judge and prosecutor described as 'predatory'.

"I have seen first-hand how this kind of victim-blaming prevents women from coming forward and protects men who commit these crimes."

Earlier, the CPS had admitted the language used by its prosecutor was "inappropriate".

A spokesman said: "The transgressor in this case was the defendant and he bears responsibility for his criminal acts."

David Cameron said the CPS was "absolutely right". "It isn't appropriate. We need a criminal justice system that stands up properly for victims," he said.

"The victims of crime should always be at the centre of our thinking and I am pleased the CPS has made that statement.

"I am also pleased that the Attorney General has said he is personally going to look into this case."

The NSPCC warned that the case was part of a wider pattern about how child sex abuse cases are treated in the courts.

Alan Wardle, head of corporate affairs, said: "It was quite clear in the case the predator was the man who was in the dock, not a 13-year-old child, and it is quite clear that a 13-year-old child cannot be complicit in her own abuse.

"Making sure that judges and barristers in all these cases are properly trained and understand the nature of child sexual abuse and how children are groomed in these sort of cases is important."

A spokesman for Barnardo's added: "It is plain wrong to imply in any way that the experiences of sexually exploited children are something they bring on themselves."

Victim Support's chief executive Javed Khan said: "Victims of sexual abuse should be praised for their bravery in coming forward, not censured and have their credibility called into question - least of all by the prosecution.

"It is traumatic enough for anyone who is brought to court to face their abuser, but particularly so when this is a young vulnerable person. It is completely unacceptable for victims to be blamed in any way for the abuse they have suffered."

Caroline Criado-Perez, who received rape threats following her calls for Jane Austen to be the face on the £10 bank note, called the judge's decision "completely appalling".

She told Sky News: "It's really worrying that we're in the 21st century and we're still suggesting victims can be complicit in their abuse which is basically what calling a 13-year-old child a sexually predator is.

"I don't think you can ever call a child a sexual predator because they are a child. They are below the age of consent. We have laws specifically because of this kind of thing so that you can't say a child is responsible for her abuse.

"This adds to the horror that has happened to her. She has been abused and now we are blaming her for it. It's just unconscionable."

The Attorney General said a decision on whether the case is referred to the Court of Appeal will be made within 28 days.

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Obama Cancels Putin Talks Amid Snowden Row

US President Barack Obama has cancelled plans to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin next month amid heightened tensions.

The move appears to be retribution for Russia's decision to grant temporary asylum to US whistleblower Edward Snowden.

It also reflects growing US frustration with Russia on several other issues, including missile defence and human rights.

A top White House official said Mr Obama still plans to attend the G20 economic summit in St Petersburg, Russia, but has no plans to meet Mr Putin there one-on-one.

Instead of visiting the president in Moscow, the Mr Obama will add a stop in Sweden to his early September travel itinerary.

The Kremlin expressed its disappointment but said it remains ready to work with the United States on a variety of issues.

Mr Putin's foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, told reporters the move reflected the inability of the US to develop relations with Moscow on an "equal basis."

He said the invitation to Obama to visit Moscow next month still stands.

"This decision is clearly linked to the situation with former agent of U.S. special services (Edward) Snowden, which hasn't been created by us," Mr Ushakov said.

Snowden has been granted a year's asylum in Russia

White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said Russia's decision to defy the US and grant Snowden temporary asylum only worsened an already troubled relationship.

"We'll still work with Russia on issues where we can find common ground, but it was the unanimous view of the president and his national security team that a summit did not make sense in the current environment," Mr Rhodes said.

Mr Obama, who is travelling in California, said in an interview on Tuesday that he was "disappointed" by Russia's move to grant Snowden asylum for one year. But he said the move also reflected the "underlying challenges" the US faces in dealing with Moscow.

"There have been times where they slip back into Cold War thinking and a Cold War mentality," he told Jay Leno in an interview on NBC's The Tonight Show.

Snowden, 30, is wanted by the US on felony charges after leaking details of vast surveillance programmes.

He first fled from the US to Hong Kong, then made his way to Russia. He was stuck in the transit zone of a Moscow airport for more than a month before Russia granted him asylum.

US Secretary of State John Kerry and Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel are still preparing for meetings in Washington on Friday with their Russian counterparts. Snowden's status is expected to be a main topic of conversation.

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