Sir Jock Stirrup, the Chief of the Defence Staff, said that British forces would be fighting the Taleban in Afghanistan until at least 2014, by which date the Afghan National Army would ‘be able to take the lead on security across the country’.
Sir Jock Stirrup, the Chief of the Defence Staff, said that British forces would be fighting the Taleban in Afghanistan until at least 2014, by which date the Afghan National Army would ‘be able to take the lead on security across the country’. In a ComRes opinion poll, 63 per cent said they wanted British troops withdrawn as soon as possible. Sections of the press criticised Mr Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, for orthographic errors in a letter of condolence to the mother of a soldier killed in Afghanistan. During a G20 conference in St Andrews, Mr Brown had proposed a universal tax on banking transactions. But Mr Timothy Geithner, the United States Treasury Secretary, said that this was ‘not something we’re prepared to support’. Unemployment in Britain for those between 16 and 24 rose to 943,000, a rate of 19.8 per cent. Suitable sites for 10 new nuclear power stations were announced by Mr Ed Miliband, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change. Three would be in Cumbria, at Braystones, Sellafield and Kirksanton, and others at Heysham, Hartlepool, Sizewell, Bradwell, Hinkley Point, Oldbury, and Wylfa, Anglesey; but Dungeness would not see a new nuclear plant because of risks from coastal erosion. The first might be in operation by 2018, under new planning regulations curtailing public inquiries.
Professor Sir Ian Kennedy, the head of the new Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, let it be known that he had ‘no obligation’ to follow the plan for reforming MPs’ expenses published last week by Sir Christopher Kelly, the chairman of the Committee for Standards in Public Life. The Home Office announced that those arrested for a minor offence, but not convicted, will have their DNA profiles kept for up to six years, but those suspected of serious sex or violent offences will also have DNA kept for six years, instead of the planned 12. Postal strikes were called off until the New Year. A married couple from south Wales shared half of a EuroMillions lottery prize of £91 million with a small syndicate from Liverpool. Britain was swept by a craze for battery-powered hamsters, selling at £10 each in five variants going by the names of Mr Squiggles, Patches, Chunk, Pipsqueak and Num Nums; the manufacturers expect to sell 12 million worldwide by Christmas.
Major Nidal Malik Hasan, a US army psychiatrist, was said by witnesses to have opened fire, killing 13 and wounding 31, at the Fort Hood military base in Texas. Colleagues later remembered that he had told them that non-Muslims were infidels who should have boiling oil poured down their throat, but fellow psychiatrists had not noticed anything untoward. President Barack Obama of the United States had his healthcare Reform Bill approved by the House of Representatives by a majority of five, but it faced no easy reception in the Senate. Mr Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the Palestinian Authority, said he would not seek re-election in January. Mr Obama met Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, who then flew for talks in Paris. During a conference in Egypt, Mr Wen Jiabao, the Chinese premier, announced loans of £6 billion to Africa, in addition to £16 billion of investment in the continent made by China up to the end of 2008. China accused the Dalai Lama of ‘activities that undermine the relations between China and other countries’ by speaking to 30,000 people at the Tawang monastery near the Indian border with Tibet. China executed nine men, eight Uighurs and a Han, convicted of taking part in ethnic rioting in Xinjiang. South Korean papers reported that Kim Jong-il, the leader of North Korea, who does not much care for air travel, has six private trains set aside for his use.
Tourists were able to find plenty of chunks of the Berlin Wall still available for sale on the 20th anniversary of its breaching on November 9. The German goalkeeper Robert Enk died after jumping in front of a train. In the race to become the first president of the European Council, Mr Herman Van Rompuy, the Prime Minister of Belgium, was judged to be in the lead from Mr Jan Peter Balkenende, the Prime Minister of the Netherlands. ‘Friends’ of Mr David Miliband, the British Foreign Secretary, let it be known that he was not standing for the post of EU High Representative. The European Court of Auditors declined to give the European Commission’s accounts a clean bill of health for the 15th year in a row. Claude Lévi-Strauss, the anthropologist, died, aged 100. The makers of Maclaren pushchairs recalled a million strollers in the United States (but not Britain) after a dozen children had their fingertips amputated in their hinges. CSH
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