Lord Carey Attacks David Cameron On Religion

Former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey has launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister David Cameron.

In an article for the Daily Mail, Lord Carey says many Christians doubt the PM's "sincerity" when he pledges to protect their religious freedoms and accuses ministers of "aiding and abetting" discrimination against believers.

He points to Government plans to legalise gay marriage as evidence of an "aggressive secularist and relativist approach" and argues that Mr Cameron has fed Christian "anxieties" more than "any other recent political leader".

Lord Carey also says a new poll suggesting that more than two-thirds of Christians feel they are now part of a "persecuted minority" shows the Government must do more to demonstrate its commitment to stand up for faith.

The ComRes poll commissioned by the Coalition for Marriage also found more than half of Christians who backed the Conservatives in 2010 say they will "definitely not" vote for the party in 2015.

Lord Carey expresses alarm about Labour MP Chris Bryant's campaign to turn the 700-year-old Parliamentary chapel of St Mary Undercroft into a multi-faith prayer room so that gay couples can get married there.

Lord Carey slammed Chris Bryant's campaign for gay marriages in Parliament

But he also directly calls into question the Prime Minister's actions, saying: "I like David Cameron and believe he is genuinely sincere in his desire to make Britain a generous nation where we care for one another and where people of faith may exercise their beliefs fully.

"But it was a bit rich to hear that the Prime Minister has told religious leaders that they should 'stand up and oppose aggressive secularisation' when it seems that his Government is aiding and abetting this aggression every step of the way.

"At his pre-Easter Downing Street reception for faith leaders, he said that he supported Christians' right to practise their faith. Yet many Christians doubt his sincerity.

"According to a new ComRes poll more than two thirds of Christians feel that they are part of a 'persecuted minority'. Their fears may be exaggerated because few in the UK are actually persecuted, but the Prime Minister has done more than any other recent political leader to feed these anxieties.

"He seems to have forgotten in spite of his oft-repeated support for the right of Christians to wear the cross, that lawyers acting for the coalition argued only months ago in the Strasbourg court that those sacked for wearing a cross against their employer's wishes should simply get another job."

The new poll suggests continuing resentment over legalising same-sex unions, even though there is special protection for the Church of England in the law, and Lord Carey's successor Justin Welby has softened the Church's stance on the issue.

Two thirds of those polled said they believed allowing same sex unions was an attempt to make the Conservative Party look trendy.

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has vowed to protect religion

The poll comes after a series of controversial cases between Christians and employers over their rights to express their faith in the workplace.

Recent cases include Adrian Smith, a Trafford housing manager who says he was demoted and had his pay docked 40% after questioning the Government's plans for same sex marriage and Reverend Brian Ross who was sacked as the Chaplain of Strathclyde Police, apparently because his support for traditional marriage did not fit with the force's equality and diversity policies.

In another case, graphic designer Jamie Haxby is suing a hotel after claiming he was turned down for a job because he is a Christian.

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles insists that unlike New Labour 'we do do God' and has agreed freedom of religion has been undermined.

He has vowed to change the law if necessary to stop people being taken to task for wearing a cross or a rosary, and says council should not try to ban prayers before meetings.

But the march of secularism means Britain will no longer be a Christian country within just 20 years, according to official research by the House of Commons library.

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North Korea Says 'We Are At War With South'

North Korea says it has entered a "state of war" with South Korea and will deal with "all matters" accordingly.

"As of now, inter-Korea relations enter a state of war and all matters between the two Koreas will be handled according to wartime protocol," the North said in a statement broadcast by the official Korean Central News Agency.

"The long-standing situation of the Korean peninsula being neither at peace nor at war is finally over."

The statement also warned that any military provocation near the North-South land or sea border would result "in a full-scale conflict and a nuclear war".

The two Koreas have always technically remained at war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty.

Earlier this month, the North said it was ripping up the armistice and other bilateral peace pacts signed with the South in protest against South Korea-US joint military exercises.

The South Korean Defence Ministry spokesman, Kim Min-seok, said: "North Korea's continuing threats against South Korea such as saying it is 'entering a state of war' are never acceptable since it is harming peace and stability on the Korean peninsula.

"Our recent military exercises such as 'Key Resolve and Foal Eagle' and the U.S. strategic bombers' deployment on the peninsula were defensive in nature against North Korea's possible provocations."

The ministry also said "no particular troop movement" had been observed along the border.

North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Un

The US said it was taking the new threat "seriously" but said it was following a familiar pattern.

"We've seen reports of a new and unconstructive statement from North Korea. We take these threats seriously and remain in close contact with our South Korean allies," said Caitlin Hayden, spokeswoman for the National Security Council.

Most analysts still believe this will remain a rhetorical rather than a physical battle, but the situation has now become so volatile that any slight miscalculation carries the potential for rapid escalation.

Sky's Asia Correspondent Mark Stone said: "It is more rhetoric by North Korea until they actually do something. Wars tend to begin with bangs not announcements on state news agencies, so this is Mr Kim pushing the rhetoric up another level.

"The problem is, he hasn't got any more levels to go to after this other than actual war - that is the big worry and the big unknown. Does his belligerence have a limit or not?

"The assumption, and hope, is that he will stop at the eleventh hour but what if he doesn't? That is why the Americans, the South Koreans, the Japanese and, more quietly, the Chinese too are all taking it very seriously."

Sources in Pyongyang say life continues as normal in the city.

There are signs of civil construction with thousands of workers. Many of them are conscripts, and if war was imminent, then Kim would have called them up and they would not be busy building apartment blocks and hotels.

The US has used B-2 bombers as a 'deterrence' measure in the region

Yesterday, both China and Russia asked for all sides to co-operate to prevent the situation worsening, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov voicing particular concern.

"We can simply see the situation getting out of control, it would spiral down into a vicious circle," Mr Lavrov told journalists.

His warning came after the North's leader Kim Jong-Un ordered missile units to prepare to strike US mainland and military bases, vowing to "settle accounts" after US stealth bombers flew over the South.

US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel stressed that Washington would not be cowed by Pyongyang's threats and stood ready to respond to "any eventuality".

The standoff has its roots in the North's successful long-range rocket launch in December and the third nuclear test it carried out in February.

Both events drew UN sanctions that incensed Pyongyang, which then switched the focus of its anger to the annual joint South Korea-US military drills.

As tensions escalated, Washington has maintained a notably assertive stance, publicising its use of nuclear-capable B-52s and B-2 stealth bombers.

The long-distance deployment of both sets of aircraft were intended as a clear signal of US commitment to defending the South against any act of aggression.

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North Korea Rockets 'Ready To Hit US Bases'

North Korea's leader has told rocket units to be on standby for an attack on US bases, according to state media.

The country's KCNA news agency said Kim Jong-Un had signed off on the order to train sights on American bases in South Korea and the Pacific after a midnight meeting with top generals.

The move was followed by reports of increased activity at North Korea's mid to long-range missile sites, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency.

It comes after two American stealth bombers flew over South Korea in a show of force to Pyongyang, following an escalation of rhetoric from the North's young leader.

The US uses B-2 bombers as a 'deterrence' measure in the region

The two nuclear-capable B-2 planes flew a 13,000-mile round trip from an air base in Missouri, dropping a dummy bomb on a target range in the South.

The planes were taking part in a joint South Korea-US military exercise that has inflamed tensions with Pyongyang, which earlier this month threatened to unleash an "all-out war" backed by nuclear weapons.

"This .... demonstrates the United States' ability to conduct long range, precision strikes quickly and at will," the US military said in a statement.

"The B-2 bomber is an important element of America's enduring and robust extended deterrence capability in the Asia-Pacific region."

KCNA reported that Mr Kim had "judged the time has come to settle accounts with the US imperialists in view of the prevailing situation".

The agency said: "He finally signed the plan on technical preparations of strategic rockets of the KPA, ordering them to be on standby for fire so that they may strike any time the US mainland, its military bases in the operational theatres in the Pacific, including Hawaii and Guam, and those in South Korea."

Following their leader's call to arms, thousands of North Koreans turned out for a mass rally in the main square in the capital.

Chanting "Death to the US imperialists" and "Sweep away the US aggressors," soldiers and students marched through Kim Il-Sung Square during the 90-minute rally.

The US has denied its military exercise was provocative but said it was "committed to a pathway to peace" and "prepared to deal with any eventuality" in the region.

Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel and General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the B-2 bombers were a message intended more for allies than Pyongyang.

"The North Koreans have to understand that what they're doing is very dangerous," Mr Hagel said.

"I don't think we're doing anything extraordinary or provocative or out of the ... orbit of what nations do to protect their own interests."

The US, he added, must make it clear to South Korea, Japan and other allies in the region that "these provocations by the North are taken by us very seriously, and we'll respond to that".

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Girl Found Abandoned In Pram: Hunt For Parents

Police are appealing for help in tracing the parents of a young child who was found abandoned in a pram in Carlisle.

The little girl was discovered after police were called to a disturbance in Warwick Road at around 11pm on Thursday.

They were contacted by the inhabitants of a house who told them someone had rang their doorbell repeatedly.

When officers arrived they found the pram with the girl, believed to around three years old, inside.

There was no trace of her parents, who are being urged to contact detectives immediately.

The child, who has been taken into temporary care, is said to be well.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Cumbria Police on 101.

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North Korea: US Stealth Bombers Fly Over South

North Korea Plays A Dangerous Game

Updated: 12:59pm UK, Tuesday 26 March 2013

By Lisa Holland, Foreign Affairs Correspondent

The United States and South Korea have just signed a new military plan that would provide for a joint military response in case of North Korean provocations.

The real question now is what either side judges to be a 'provocation'.

The problem may come with North Korea's interpretation of the behaviour of America and South Korea.

Any movement made by the US - be it reinforcing its missile defences or conducting joint drills with South Korea - could be interpreted as a provocation.

This could be exploited and framed by North Korea as being an aggressive move, which to some extent is true.

America would argue it's about protecting its strategic interests. But so too would North Korea.

South Korea and the United States are still holding joint military drills until the end of April, and in light of this military activity, North Korea wants to flex its muscles too.

It wants to send the world a message that it is also a military power.

The pictures released by the North Korean leadership are for a domestic and international audience.

Sending the message of a state of "readiness", North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un wants to reinforce the idea that the country is strong in light of a potential US or South Korean aggression.

His ruling regime is still quite young, and though North Korea has had a string of successes recently with its rocket launches, his military credentials are very slim and he is unproven as a military leader.

The outside world may want to dismiss North Korea as up to its usual bluster - posturing and threatening the countries it perceives as its enemies.

It's taken its rhetoric a step further by ordering its rocket and long-range artillery units to be combat ready.

For the country's young leader it's all about strength.

It's what keeps people - especially dictators - in power. But it is also a dangerous game.

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Nelson Mandela: Zuma Asks World To Pray

The former president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, has been taken back to hospital suffering from a lung infection.

President Jacob Zuma confirmed that the 94-year-old was readmitted just before midnight on Wednesday and said: " We appeal to the people of South Africa and the world to pray for our beloved Madiba and his family and to keep them in their thoughts.

"We have full confidence in the medical team and know that they will do everything possible to ensure recovery."

Mr Mandela's spokesman Mac Maharaj told Sky News that the former president was "conscious".

He said: "At the moment doctors are saying it is a recurrence of an old lung infection. It is a matter of concern ... He was admitted around midnight last night.

The most recent picture of Mr Mandela taken on Feb 2.

"They are doing everything they can to keep him comfortable and happy."

Mr Mandela spent 18 days in hospital in December, where he was treated for a lung infection and gallstones.

He was discharged on December 27, however, doctors warned he was "not yet fully recovered" and he continued to receive medical treatment at his Johannesburg home, including being given extra oxygen.

Mr Mandela has had recurring lung problems since contracting tuberculosis during his 27 years in prison under the apartheid regime.

Mr Mandela at his Johannesburg home seen on his granddaughters' TV show

The Nobel Peace Laureate spent a night in hospital on March 9 for what was described as a scheduled medical check-up.

However, Sky's Alex Crawford said that it was now understood that the visit was required for further treatment of the lung infection and that on that occasion he is believed to have had his lungs drained.

She said that there were now significant concerns over his health and added: "The time of his hospitalisation certainly suggests they were alarmed at his deterioration."

In February, Mr Mandela's granddaughters showed the first picture of him to be seen in more than seven months as they promoted a reality television series in which they star.

He was seen with his great grandson, Zen, sitting on his lap at his Johannesburg home.

Earlier this month, George Bizos, the human rights lawyer who represented Mr Mandela at his treason trial, said that he was suffering memory lapses and sometimes forgot his fellow anti-apartheid activists were dead.

In an interview he told Eyewitness News: "Unfortunately he sometimes forgets that one or two of them had passed on and has a blank face when you tell him that Walter Sisulu and some others are no longer with us."

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Dog Attack: Tributes To Jade Lomas-Anderson

Tributes have been paid to a 14-year-old girl who is thought to have been killed by a pack of "aggressive and out-of-control" dogs.

Jade Lomas-Anderson's body was discovered with wounds consistent with a dog attack at a house shortly after 2pm on Tuesday, following reports she was unconscious.

It is thought the teenager was visiting the property in Chaucer Grove, Atherton, near Wigan, and was alone with the four dogs - two bull mastiffs and two Staffordshire bull terriers.

Jade was described as "shy" by friends (Pic: Facebook tribute page)

The animals were later shot by police marksmen and a fifth was contained.

A post-mortem examination was due to take place on Tuesday night. The dogs' remains will also be examined as part of the investigation, police said.

A Greater Manchester Police (GMP) spokesman said: "Officers attended and found the body of a 14-year-old girl.

Two of the dogs were Staffordshire bull terriers similar to this one

"They were confronted by a number of dogs that were aggressive and out-of-control."

Superintendent Mark Kenny said: "First and foremost, our thoughts are with the family of the girl who has tragically lost her life. Specialist officers are offering them every support.

"While our inquiries to find out what happened are ongoing, this girl's injuries are consistent with her having been attacked by dogs.

"I understand this is an extremely distressing incident for all concerned, including the community, and we will work hard to establish the full circumstances that led to this tragedy."

Friends paid tribute to the "quiet" and "timid" teenager, who is thought to have returned to the property from the shops with a meat pie when she was attacked.

Locals said Jade was visiting the property to see a friend, Kimberley Concannon, 16, who lives there with her twin Catrina and mother Beverley Concannon.

A policeman stands guard outside the house in Atherton, near Wigan

Youngsters who knew Jade said they had spoken to Kimberley's twin sister, Catrina, who was not at the property when the dog attack happened.

One 15-year-old said of Jade: "She goes to my school in the year below.

"She's shy, quite timid, if you didn't know her you wouldn't recognise her around and about. It's horrible what's happened.

It is believed Jade was attacked by four dogs (Pic: Facebook tribute page)

"She picks her little sister up Sienna from school, every day and walks past my house.

"She had a pie in her hand and has gone to bite it, she moved the pie and the dog's gone for her throat and then they have all gone for her."

Another friend said the dogs at the house were large and aggressive animals.

Jade had reportedly gone to visit a friend (Pic: Facebook tribute page)

"Every time you walk past the house they would be barking and barking and going mad," she said. "You would jump out of your skin."

Jade was a pupil at Fred Longworth High School in Tyldesley, which closed for the Easter break last Friday.

A message on the school's Twitter feed said: "This afternoon we sadly lost one of our students, Jade Anderson. Our thoughts are with her parents and family."

More than 4,500 people joined a Facebook group created to pay tribute to Jade, including the aunt of a four-year-old boy who was killed by a banned breed of dog.

John-Paul Massey died at his grandmother's house in Liverpool after suffering "massive injuries" inflicted by a pitbull.

Tricia Massey wrote on Jade's page: "Such a tragic thing to happen. I know what your poor family must be going through and how they are feeling, I lost my four-year-old nephew three years ago.

"He was killed by a dangerous dog in Liverpool. Something needs to be done about these aggressive animals.

"Sleep tight Jade, I'm sure my John-Paul will look after you."

Natasha Hunt posted: "RIP my beautiful baby girl! Don't know what I'm going do without you!

"Love you loads, you will never be forgotten, you will always be in my heart."

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Energy Bill Hikes 'Cut By Efficiency Schemes'

A new report claims government policies helping to insulate homes and promoting the installation of more energy efficient boilers are reducing the rise in gas and electricity bills.

Savings generated from energy efficiency policies are already having an impact and will increase over the next decade, the report from the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has said.

Household dual fuel bills are estimated to be on average 5%, or £64, lower now than they would be without these policies, it adds.

By 2020, average household energy bills will have risen by 6% in real terms but will be 11% or £166 lower than without the policies.

Nearly half of the average household dual fuel energy bill, £598, is made up of fossil fuel prices, with the second largest cost attributed to networks costs or transport or distribution of energy.

The report showed 85% of the rise in household bills between 2010 and 2012 was from wholesale energy costs and network costs.

Household energy consumption has been on a downward trend since 2005 partly because of the energy efficiency measures.

The freezing weather has raised concerns about gas supplies

Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey said: "Global gas price hikes are squeezing households. They are beyond any Government's control and, by all serious predictions, are likely to continue rising.

"We are doing all we can to offset these global energy price rises, and while we have more to do, this new study shows our policies are putting a cushion between global prices and the bills we all pay."

Steve Radley, policy director at EEF, the manufacturers' organisation, said: "This is a  wake-up call. Policies are already adding 30% to business electricity prices, and this will rise to 50% by 2020 and 70% by 2030.

"Measures to shield the most energy-intensive industries from a portion of the costs will make a difference but, unless we get a grip on spiralling policy costs, steeply rising electricity prices for the rest of the sector risk making the UK an increasingly unattractive location for industrial investment and undermining efforts to rebalance the economy."

Caroline Flint, shadow energy and climate change secretary, said: "The Government's underhand attempt to mask the real impact of its policies on families' energy bills is shameful. At a time when hard-pressed families and pensioners are seeing their incomes squeezed, only this out-of-touch Government could expect people to fork out thousands of pounds on new TVs, fridge freezers and washing machines.

"Instead of cooking the books to trick people into thinking their energy bills will be lower, ministers should get behind Labour's plans to overhaul the energy market and deliver fair prices for the public."

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Girl Dies As 'Buggy Blown Into Road' In Croydon

A three-year-old girl has died after her buggy was blown into the path of a van, according to reports.

The child, named in reports as Olivia Uffindell, died in hospital shortly after the collision in Wellesley Road, Croydon, south London.

Witnesses said the child's mother, named as Louise Uffindell, 29, left the pushchair on the pavement outside her home to fetch something from inside when it was blown into the road and struck by a Mercedes Sprinter van.

Olivia's grandmother Debbie McClatchie described her as "such a lovely girl".

"She had a great character. She was my only grandchild, very chatty, very friendly, very funny, very clever," she said. 

"I don't know how we are going to live without her."

Police were called by the London Ambulance Service shortly before 9am on Monday.

The girl was taken to St George's Hospital where she was pronounced dead at 10.03am.

The 36-year-old driver of the van, who stopped at the scene, was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and bailed until May.

A post-mortem examination will be carried out, Scotland Yard said.

Police are appealing for witnesses and officers from the Road Death Investigation Unit are investigating.

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North Korea Rocket Strike Threat Targets US

By Mark Stone, Asia Correspondent

North Korea has put its military on a 'battle-ready' status with strategic rocket units ordered to prepare for possible strikes against the US mainland, Hawaii and Guam according to the country's state media.

North Korea threatens a missile attack on Guam, Hawaii and the US mainland

"The Korea People's Army top command declares that all artillery troops including strategic rocket units and long-range artillery units are to be placed under class-A combat readiness," the Korean Central News Agency said.

North Korea has previously threatened a nuclear attack on the US

The announcement came as images were released showing a new round of military exercises by the isolated state.

The still photographs show what appears to be sea-borne assault using hovercraft and an artillery drill using multiple rocket launchers.

It's not thought to have the technology to hit the US with an atomic weapon

North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, is pictured visiting troops and watching the exercise from a vantage point above the unidentified beach on the country's east coast.

The photographs, released by KCNA, are accompanied by language which matches weeks of rhetoric.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is photographed visiting troops

According to the news agency, Kim Jong Un "stressed the need to destroy and wipe away any enemy who lands on their coast through strong firepower and ordered the soldiers of the heroic Korean People's Army to display their mettle in the great war against the enemies".

"Crazy like wild wolves threatened with fire, send all of them to the bottom of the sea," Kim is quoted as saying.

Rockets and long-range artillery have been ordered to be combat ready

The exercise and the photographs of it are a clear response to a series of month long exercises taking place across the border in South Korea involving American and South Korean troops and naval forces.

It has been an uneasy few months on the Korean peninsula with rhetoric and threatening language at a level not seen for several years.

Order was issued in a statement from the North's military "supreme command"

The increased tension comes as Seoul marks the third anniversary of the sinking of a South Korean warship. On March 26, 2010, the Cheonan was torpedoed by the North Korean military with the loss of 46 sailors.

In December, North Korea launched a satellite into orbit in the tip of a rocket. Their claim then was that this was all part of Pyongyang's legitimate right to pursue a space programme.

The fresh threat marks the latest fiery rhetoric from Pyongyang

Few countries bought that claim, believing instead that it represented the latest move in North Korea's development of a ballistic missile programme.

The rocket launch was followed in February by an underground nuclear test and a sharp escalation in tension.

The warning follows joint military drills by the US and South Korean forces

Faced with unprecedented UN sanctions, backed by his historical ally China, Kim Jong Un admitted that the rocket launch and nuclear test were indeed all part of his ideological desire to destroy America and her allies.

The annulment of the armistice agreement with South Korea and repeated threats to attack the South over the past three weeks have, so far, been exposed as nothing more than bluff and bluster.

US military bases in the Pacific are in range of its medium-range missiles

However, with unattributed cyberattacks in Seoul, repositioned missile defence systems on America's west coast and the presence of US B-52 bombers in the skies above the Korean peninsula, there's no doubt minds across the region and beyond are very focused on a fragile peace and an unpredictable regime.

The South says it has seen no signs of an imminent military action

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Immigration: Cameron Says No Job, No Benefits

David Cameron is set to announce tough new measures to curb immigrants' access to housing and benefits, in an attempt to tackle the "something-for-nothing" welfare culture.

The Prime Minister will use a keynote speech today to warn those coming to the country that Britain will no longer be taking a "soft touch" approach to immigration.

From next year, arrivals from the European Union will be stripped of jobseekers' benefits after six months unless they can prove they have been actively looking for a job and stand a "genuine chance" of finding one.

Immigrant families will also be kept off council house waiting lists for up to five years.

Local authorities will have to introduce minimum residency times of between two and five years for joining waiting lists - or justify why they are not.

Mr Cameron is likely to cite figures in his speech showing that nearly one in 10 new social lettings go to foreign nationals. The proportion has risen from 6.5% in 2007-08 to 9% in 2011-12.

Immigrants will be kept off council housing waiting lists for five years

The Government is also pledging to beef up the "range and depth" of questions in the habitual residence test, which checks that people meet residence requirements for housing and income-related benefits.

Mr Cameron will also target illegal immigration - doubling the maximum fine for companies that employ illegal workers to £20,000.

He will also signal action against so-called "health tourism" that could mean non-EU nationals have to prove they hold insurance before getting care.

Mr Cameron is expected to say in his speech: "While I have always believed in the benefits of immigration I have also always believed that immigration has to be properly controlled.

"As I have long argued, under the last government this simply wasn't the case. Immigration was far too high and badly out of control. Net migration needs to come down radically from hundreds of thousands a year to just tens of thousands.

Immigrants must prove they have a 'genuine chance' of getting a job

"And as we bring net migration down so we must also make sure that Britain continues to benefit from it.

"That means ensuring that those who do come here are the brightest and the best the people we really need with the skills and entrepreneurial talent to create the British jobs and growth that will help us to win in the global race."

In his spring conference address over the weekend, UKIP leader Nigel Farage claimed his willingness to talk about immigration was one of the main reasons for the party's surge in popularity.

Concerns have also been rising over an influx from Bulgaria and Romania when movement restrictions are loosened at the end of this year.

The increasing political focus on the issue was emphasised last week when Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg ditched the Liberal Democrats' policy of offering an amnesty to illegal immigrants who have been in the country for more than 10 years.

Immigrants to the UK take part in a Citizenship Ceremony

He admitted the move would risk "undermining public confidence".

In his speech, Mr Cameron is also due to say: "Ending the something-for-nothing culture needs to apply to immigration as well as welfare.

"We're going to give migrants from the European Economic Area a very clear message. Just like British citizens, there is no absolute right to unemployment benefit."

Insisting the NHS must be able to reclaim money from people who are not eligible for treatment, Mr Cameron is to say: "We should be clear that what we have is a free National Health Service, not a free International Health Service."

It comes as the Home Affairs Select Committee founds the UK Border Agency's progress in dealing with asylum backlogs is "far too slow".

Committee chair Keith Vaz MP said: "No sooner is one backlog closed, than four more are discovered. At this rate it will take 24 years to clear the backlog which still stands at the size of the population of Iceland."

The number of UKBA backlog cases fell by 1% quarter-on-quarter, the committee said, despite 96,000 cases closed.

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Cyprus Bailout Deal Wins Eurozone Approval

Cyprus has secured a 10bn euro (£8.5bn) bailout, saving the country from a banking system collapse and bankruptcy.

In return for the rescue funds, Cyprus must restructure its banking sector under an EU-IMF plan approved by eurozone ministers earlier today.

The country's second-largest bank, Popular Bank of Cyprus, known as Laiki, will effectively be shut down and split into a "good bank" and a "bad bank".

Deposits below 100,000 euros (£85,509) in Laiki will be safeguarded and transferred to the Bank of Cyprus, the so-called "good bank".

Christine Lagarde and the German finance minister at the Eurogroup

Deposits above 100,000 euros, which under EU law are not insured, will be frozen and will be used to resolve debt. It is not yet clear how severe the losses will be for these depositors.

The move will yield 4.2bn euros (£3.6bn) overall - the bulk of the 5.8bn euros (£4.9bn) Cyprus needed to raise as part of the bailout conditions.

The deal emerged hours before a deadline to avert a collapse of the banking system, which could have forced Cyprus to exit the euro.

It followed fraught negotiations between Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and the troika of creditors - the International Monetary Fund, European Commission and European Central Bank.

Banks have been closed this past week

"We've put an end to the uncertainty that has affected Cyprus and the euro area over the past week," said Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who chairs the meetings of the 17-nation eurozone's finance ministers.

"We believe that this will form a lasting, durable and fully financed solution," said Christine Lagarde, chief of the IMF.

After the eurozone's finance ministers' approval, several national parliaments, such as Germany's, must also approve the bailout deal, which might take another few weeks. EU officials said they expect the whole programme to be approved by mid-April.

Cyprus' finance minister Michalis Sarris said: "It's not that we won a battle, but we really have avoided a disastrous exit from the eurozone. A long period of uncertainty and insecurity surrounding the Cyprus economy has ended."

Cyprus' outsized banking sector was crippled by exposure to crisis-hit Greece.

In a vote on Tuesday, the country's 56-seat parliament dismissed a levy on depositors as "bank robbery".

The country's finance minister Michael Sarris then spent three fruitless days in Moscow trying to win help from Russia, whose citizens have billions of euros at stake.

Cypriots were outraged by the original proposal and have been queuing at cash machines ever since bank doors were closed last weekend on the orders of the government.

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Berezovsky Death: Chemical Experts Called In

Boris Berezovsky: A Profile

Updated: 10:23pm UK, Saturday 23 March 2013

Boris Berezovsky was once one of Russia's most powerful kingmakers, a member of the influential group of Russian tycoons referred to as the "oligarchs".

Born in Moscow in 1946, the son of a civil engineer, he gained a doctorate in applied mathematics, before becoming one of a number of Russian businessmen who took advantage of Perestroika.

He made his money founding the car company LogoVAZ in 1989, selling local Russian cars and importing Mercedes.

As his wealth grew so too did his sphere of influence and in 1993 he entered the Kremlin's inner circle, eventually earning the nickname Rasputin, after the mystic adviser to the Romanovs.

By the mid-1990s Mr Berezovsky owned a stake in the oil company Sibneft and had a majority share in Russia's main television channel, ORT.

In 1997 Forbes estimated his wealth was $3bn.

At Davos in 1996 he joined forces with other businessmen who had flourished in the ruins of the Soviet Union and they formed a pact, known as the "Davos Pact" in which they agreed to bank roll Boris Yeltsin for his second presidential run.

Together with members of Mr Yeltsin's family, like his daughter Tatyana Yumasheva, and like-minded politicians, like Anatoly Chubais, Yegor Gaidar and Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov, they effectively ran Russia during Mr Yetsin's second term as his health faltered.

When it was clear a successor was needed, it is said that it was Mr Berezovsky who hand-picked the ex-KGB head, Vladimir Putin.

He may have made him king but Mr Putin soon made it clear that he was not to be anyone's puppet and shortly after he became President the two men fell out.

Mr Berezovsky resigned from the Duma and set himself up in opposition then left the country on business. He never returned.

In November 2000, while travelling, he was summoned for economic crimes but he did not respond and set up home in London. He was granted asylum in the UK in 2003.

Mr Berezovsky vowed that he would bring Mr Putin down, but after a series of assassination attempts, he also lived in fear for his life.

According to Alexander Litvinenko, the former Russian FSB agent who was assassinated in London in 2006, a Russian agent was preparing a hit on Mr Berezovsky in September 2003.

Mr Litvinenko had also claimed in 1998 when he was an FSB agent that he himself had been ordered to kill Mr Berezovsky.

In 2007, Scotland Yard said it had foiled a plot to assassinate Mr Berezovsky in the UK. The alleged hitman, a Chechen national, was arrested in London and deported to Russia.

Mr Berezovsky also survived an assassination attempt in Russia in 1994 when a car bomb exploded, wounding him and decapitating his driver.

And as Mr Berezovsky's power faded in his self-imposed exile, so did his wealth.

According to the Sunday Times Rich List by 2011, his net worth was only about $900m (£591m).

Mr Berezovsky's stake in Sibneft eventually led to a court battle with Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich, which is estimated to have cost him £100m, and speculation about his financial well-being.

In 2012, he lost the High Court case in which he accused his fellow oligarch of breach of trust, breach of contract and claimed Mr Abramovich "intimidated" him into selling shares in Sibneft for a "mere $1.3bn" (£800m) - "a fraction of their true worth".

In July 2011 his ex-wife Galina Beshanrova, 53, won the biggest divorce settlement in history, said to be worth hundreds of millions of pounds.

Mr Berezovsky ran up further legal bills of more than £250,000 later in 2012 fighting a case against his former lover, Elena Gorbunova.

Ms Gorbunova, who had two children with Mr Berezovsky, complained that she had not been given millions promised by him.

On Wednesday, Mr Berezovsky sold Red Lenin, an Andy Warhol screen print, for £133,875 at Christie's auction house, prompting more speculation about his financial situation.

Demoralised by the Abramovich case, the Kremlin claims that Mr Berezovsky, the kingmaker, was a broken man in the days before he died.

He had written, Mr Putin's spokesman claimed, to beg forgiveness and to finally return to Russia.

He never did.

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Snow And Ice: Man Dies Trying To Get Home

The freezing weather is thought to have led to the death of a 27-year-old man who was trying to get home after a night out with friends.

The man's body was discovered in deep snow by a farmer yesterday afternoon, but the emergency services struggled to get to the area because of the poor weather conditions.

Lancashire Police said the death was not being treated as suspicious.

Chief Inspector Derry Crorken said: "Early indications suggest that it appears to be a very tragic incident where a young man has been out with friends and has become caught up in the weather last night on his journey home.

"The snow and ice has been severe in the area with many roads not passable. I would urge people to take precautions and only go out if it is necessary.

"If you do go out, then make sure friends and family know where you are and that you have suitable clothing on and your phone with you."

The man's death comes as police said the body of a hill walker had been found in the Scottish Highlands following a mountain rescue search.

The 57-year-old man was found yesterday in the Streap area, near Fort William, in the West Highlands, which is still under heavy wintry conditions.

Police said it was not yet possible to say whether the walker's death was related to the poor weather.

Snow and ice are causing treacherous driving conditions in many places

On Friday, police in Looe, Cornwall, found a body in a block of flats that had been flattened by a landslide thought to have been triggered by torrential rain.

Northern Ireland Electricity said 29,000 homes were still waiting to be reconnected - and it could be days before they all have power. About 1,000 homes in Northern Ireland were also without water last night.

In Scotland, about 5,000 homes in Kintyre are without power, with a further 1,500 homes in the north and west of Arran also without supply.

Meanwhile the snow and ice is expected to cause continued problems on the nation's transport network.

The Met Office still has yellow "be aware" weather alerts in place sweeping from southeast England up to southern Scotland, covering Northern Ireland and northeast Wales.

Up to an inch of snow has fallen across eastern Scotland and central parts of England, the Midlands, East Anglia and Lincolnshire overnight. Another inch will build up in the same areas throughout the day, spreading to east Wales and northern England.

The Met Office also warned of a risk of ice, saying: "Lying snow in many areas will melt on roads and pavements by day, refreezing by night to give icy patches.

"Also, snow blowing off fields in strong to gale force winds will affect some roads, especially over high ground."

Sky News weather forecaster Isobel Lang said the snow would become "less of a concern after today" but added: "The risk of more unsettled conditions with rain and further snow increases towards the Easter weekend."

Bookmaker Ladbrokes has cut the odds of snow at Easter to 4/5 after taking a flurry of bets in the past 48 hours. If it does snow, it would be the first white Easter in five years.

Forecasters have predicted it could be the coldest March in 50 years. In 1962, average temperatures for the month were 2.8C (37F).

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