Queen 'Suffering From Gastroenteritis'

The Queen has cancelled an engagement in Swansea as she is suffering from the symptoms of gastroenteritis.

Buckingham Palace confirmed the Queen is unwell and will "be assessed in the coming days".

The 86-year-old monarch was due to visit Wales today to present St David's Day leeks to 3rd Battalion The Royal Welsh.

She is currently at Windsor Castle, where she is spending the weekend "as usual", the palace said in a statement.

The Queen is due to travel to Rome on March 6 to visit Italy's President Napolitano.

She last had to cancel an event - an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle - due to chronic back pain in October 2012.

She also missed a church service at Sandringham two days before Christmas last year because she was "getting over the tail end of a cold".

The Queen presented Olympic stars, including Jessica Ennis, Nicola Adams and Greg Rutherford, with honours at Buckingham Palace on Thursday.

Jessica Ennis beamed as the Queen presented her with a CBE on Thursday

A palace spokesman said the Queen's visit to Rome was still due to take place but a decision would be made after further assessment of her condition.

Meanwhile, Swansea Council said the ceremony would go ahead today as planned with the Lord Lieutenant of West Glamorgan, Byron Lewis.

A council spokesman said: "Due to minor illness, Her Majesty The Queen is unable to attend Saturday's event.

"The ceremony will continue as planned and will be carried out by the Lord Lieutenant of West Glamorgan, Mr Byron Lewis.

"The Lord Lieutenant will be met upon arrival at the Guildhall by Brigadier Philip Napier, Colonel of the Regiment.

"The parade will present arms for a royal salute and play the national anthem before the Lord Lieutenant is invited to present leeks to a representative body of the regiment.

"Following the parade, the Lord Lieutenant will attend a reception with members of the battalion and their families, before proceeding to the George Hall for lunch.

"The event will take place in and around the Brangwyn Hall and public viewing areas will be available."

Gastroenteritis is an infection of the stomach and bowel, with common symptoms including vomiting, diarrhoea and dehydration.

In England, the two most common causes of gastroenteritis in adults are the norovirus and food poisoning, according to NHS Choices.

The Queen has rarely missed events during her 61-year reign, even though she carries out more than 300 engagements a year.

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Obama Signs Order To Start Spending Cuts

President Barack Obama has signed an order authorising $85bn cuts in domestic and defence spending following the failure of efforts to strike a deal with Republicans on cutting the US deficit.

Mr Obama and Republican leaders in the House and Senate declared themselves still deadlocked after a last-minute White House meeting last night.

The two sides are at odds over the president's insistence on increasing tax revenue as part of any plan to tackle the country's $16.6trn debt.

Mr Obama signed the order which officially enacts the across-the-board reductions - known as a "sequester" in government budget language. Under the law, the president had until midnight.

The $85bn cuts apply to the remainder of the 2013 fiscal year, which ends on September 30. But the legislation that requires the spending reduction will continue slashing government spending by about $1trn more over a 10-year period.

Speaking after the White House meeting, Mr Obama said: "Let's be clear, none of this is necessary."

He blamed the deadlock on Republicans who he said refused to close tax loopholes that benefit the wealthy, adding that "the pain will be real" for the American people.

"I am not a dictator. I'm the president," Mr Obama said, warning he could not force his Republican foes to "do the right thing," or make the Secret Service barricade Republicans leaders in a room until a deal is done.

"These cuts will hurt our economy, will cost us jobs and to set it right both sides need to be able to compromise," Mr Obama added.

US Speaker of the House John Boehner walked out of the meeting

Republican John Boehner, speaker of the House of Representatives, walked out of the meeting to say there would be no compromise as long as Mr Obama insisted on higher tax revenue.

Republicans are standing fast against further increasing taxes and will not compromise on achieving debt reduction through spending cuts alone.

The opposition party is still feeling the sting from its most conservative members after agreeing at the end of 2012 to allow the expiration of Bush-era tax cuts for Americans earning $400,000 or more a year.

Friday's meeting was the first the two sides have held this year on the budget battle, and it lasted less than an hour.

The immediate impact of the cuts on the public is uncertain, but they will carve 5% from domestic agencies and 8% from the Pentagon between now and October 1.

Defence officials say they will be forced to reduce the working week of 800,000 civilian employees, scale back flight hours of warplanes and postpone some equipment maintenance.

The deployment of a second aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf has also been cancelled.

The US Navy will gradually stand down several hundred planes starting in April, the Air Force will curtail flying hours and the Army will cut back training for all units except those deploying to Afghanistan.

Several major programmes will be unaffected, including the Social Security pension programme, the Medicaid health care programme for the poor and food stamps.

Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel warned that the budget cuts will endanger the US military's ability to conduct its missions.

"This will have a major impact on training and readiness," he said. "Later this month, we intend to issue preliminary notifications to thousands of civilian employees who will be furloughed."

Mr Hagel also acknowledged that the budget cuts "will cause pain, particularly among our civilian workforce and their families".

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Eastleigh By-Election: Lib Dems Triumph

The Liberal Democrats have won a key by-election in Eastleigh, where the Tories were pushed into third place by UKIP.

Local councillor Mike Thornton held the seat vacated by disgraced Cabinet minister Chris Huhne despite a torrid week for his party.

At 1,771, the Lib Dem majority was more than half that achieved by Mr Huhne in 2010 but the victory will be seen as a major boost.

Nick Clegg promptly claimed that the party was "on track for 2015".

For David Cameron, the result is a severe blow with the Conservatives' third place coming despite major campaigning by top Tories.

UKIP's strong showing will increase tensions on the Tory backbenches, and fuel fears about a general election drubbing in 2015.

UKIP leader Nigel Farage with Diane James who came second

The eurosceptic party's candidate Diane James won 11,571 votes - an increase of almost 10,000 on the party's showing in 2010.

Mr Thornton won with 13,342, with Tory Maria Hutchings in third on 10,559.

Labour's John O'Farrell polled 4,088, more than 1,000 down on 2010, in what was also a disappointing performance for the Opposition.

Mr Thornton said in his acceptance speech that the result represented a "great night" for his party nationally.

"A strong signal of support for (leader and Deputy Prime Minister) Nick Clegg, an affirmation of our role of national interest within the coalition and a huge boost to our party's mission in government to build a stronger economy in a fairer society so that everyone can get on in life," he said.

Disappointed Tory candidate Maria Hutchings

He said it showed those who had "written off" the Lib Dems had been proved wrong, adding: "We have done it and we will do it again."

Ms James hailed her second place as "a humongous political shock" that represented a "seismic shift" in British politics.

And Mrs Hutchings appeared to be fighting back tears as she thanked opponents for a "clean campaign".

A by-election was called in the Hampshire constituency following the resignation of disgraced Lib Dem MP Chris Huhne.

The Lib Dem majority was more than halved compared to that secured by Huhne in 2010 - from 3,864 to 1,771.

But the result comes after influential Tory backbencher David Davis warned the Prime Minister that third place would represent a "crisis" for the party.

Ukip leader Nigel Farage welcomed the result, saying: "On the day I think we won it but we could not catch up with the deficit in postal votes. In a short space of time we have created a massive surge."

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South Africa: Cops Suspended After Man Tied To Van

Several police officers in South Africa have been suspended after a man was tied to a moving police van and died later in a cell.

More follows...

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Australia: Huge Meth Bust Is Record Seizure

By Jonathan Samuels, Australia Correspondent

Australian police have made their biggest ever haul of methamphetamine after seizing more than half a ton of the illegal drug - worth around £300m.

A total of 585kg of the substance - known as 'ice' or 'crystal meth' - was smuggled into Sydney hidden in shipments of chemicals from China.

Almost double the previous Australian record of 306kg, police say the quantity would have sold for 438m Australian dollars (£297m).

Three men - an Australian, a Singaporean and a Hong Kong passport holder - have been charged with attempting to possess the drug. They were all refused bail at a Sydney court - and face life sentences if convicted.

Police said methamphetamine was "the sort of drug that sends people mad"

New South Wales Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said: "There's over half a ton of hideous drugs that were taken off the streets with a street value approaching half a billion dollars - hundreds of millions of dollars.

"There are three people that have been arrested and will be prosecuted. There are more that will likely be arrested."

Police were alerted to the major drug smuggling operation by a telephone call from a member of the public.

"That one phone call was the one thread that allowed us to pull and unravel a syndicate that will be stopped forever," said Mr Scipione.

The police investigation began in September last year in response to the tip-off.

Law enforcement officers found 38 bags of the drug

Police and customs officers were directed to four suspicious shipping containers in a Sydney wharf, which had come from the port city of Shen Zhen in China.

Inside officers found the huge drugs haul, hidden amongst a shipment of chemical cleaner.

They substituted the drugs with a harmless substance then allowed the consignment to be delivered to their original address.

Australia is becoming an increasingly lucrative market for international drug networks because of the strength of the local currency and resilience of the national economy compared to other wealthy nations.

New South Wales police commissioner Andrew Scipione, said it was "very fortunate that somebody took the time to make that phone call".

"This is the sort of drug that sends people mad," he said.

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Pope Benedict XVI's Papacy Enters Final Hours

By Sally Arthy, Senior News Editor, Rome

Pope Benedict XVI's tenure as leader of the world's Catholics will draw to a close later today.

Benedict stands down as Pontiff after nearly eight years and at a time when the Church is mired in controversy.

This morning, more than 100 cardinals will say their farewells to the Pope at a gathering in the Apostolic Palace.

The Pope waves from his 'popemobile' at the end of his last weekly audience

Just before 5pm local time (4pm UK time), Benedict will leave his apartments for the last time, give his thanks to the senior staff who have been by his side during his papacy, and then make his way to the Vatican helipad.

From there he will fly to Castel Gandolfo - the Pope's retreat on the outskirts of Rome.

Then, at around 5.30pm, he will make his last brief appearance on a balcony in front of an expected crowd of around 7,000 before withdrawing from public life for good.

At 8pm the doors of the villa will close and the Swiss Guard will stand aside marking the end of Benedict's papacy.

From then on he will be known as Emeritus Pope and devote his days to prayer and meditation.

Once renovations are complete, Benedict will move to a monastery in the grounds of the Vatican.

Edward Pentin, from the Catholic Herald, said Benedict will live a monk's life and not interfere in the work of his successor.

The next Pope will be chosen by secret ballot during the conclave of eligible cardinals who will vote in the Sistine Chapel.

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Egypt Balloon Crash: Luxor Grounds Flights

An investigation is underway in Egypt after 19 people - including two Britons and a UK resident - died in a hot air balloon crash.

Amateur footage shows smoke billowing from the balloon before it falls around 1,000 feet to the ground during a sunrise flight near the ancient city of Luxor.

Luxor Governor Ezzat Saad imposed an immediate ban on all hot air balloon flights in the province as Prime Minister Hisham Qandil ordered the investigation.

Michael Rennie survived but his wife, Yvonne, died

British nationals Yvonne Rennie and Joe Bampton, and Mr Bampton's partner, Hungarian-born UK resident Suzanna Gyetvai, were named as being among those killed.

Mrs Rennie's husband Michael, 49, is in hospital after leaping from the balloon as it exploded and plunged to the ground in flames.

Witnesses said they heard a loud explosion before seeing plumes of smoke as the balloon caught fire. People were seen jumping out from "about the height of a seven-storey building".

A spokeswoman at Luxor international hospital said Mr Rennie was in a stable condition.

Victims Joe Bampton and his girlfriend Suzanna Gyetvai

Mr Bampton, 40, and Ms Gyetvai, 34, were from Clapham, south London.

Mr and Mrs Rennie, from Perth, Scotland, were described as "very nice people" who only spent the weekends together due to work commitments.

Neighbour Linda Kettles said: "They were very, very nice people who kept themselves to themselves.

"They've gone on holiday to enjoy themselves. They only get the weekends together and any break together is good for them.

"They were really looking forward to getting away. I'm totally devastated by the news. I really feel for their families."

The other tourists on board, including holidaymakers from France, Hong Kong and Japan, were all thought to have died in the explosion.

The only other survivor of the crash was the pilot, an Egyptian man, who is in hospital with burns to 60% of his body.

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