25 May 2012 Last updated at 08:19 ET Cannabis cakes made by Newcastle schoolboy All Saints College has expelled one boy and suspended four others A 14-year-old who make cakes containing cannabis in a school cookery lesson has been expelled. The pupil at All Saints College in Newcastle shared the brownies with four other boys in his year nine class. Once alerted to what had happened the school called the police and paramedics and the five were taken to hospital for checks and discharged the same day. One boy was arrested and later bailed. He has now been expelled and the other four suspended. A sixth boy was also taken to hospital, but found not to have eaten any of the cakes. The school said ... Continue reading →
Adam Smith, former special adviser to the culture secretary Jeremy Hunt, told the Leveson inquiry that his department would not have been surprised at the amount of contact he had with News Corp. Photograph: Lefteris Pitarakis/AP Jeremy Hunt's former special adviser Adam Smith has told the Leveson inquiry the amount of his contact with News Corporation lobbyist Frédéric Michel could not have come as a surprise to anyone else in the government department.Smith, who sent 257 text messages to Michel during the course of News Corp's BSkyB bid in 2010 and 2011, said senior figures in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, including Hunt, were all "generally aware" of his activities.The former special adviser, who resigned last month after the degree of his contact ... Continue reading →
3.52pm: Hello everyone. Today's live blog is back with me after Catherine and Henry's sterling work - and again, it'll be on the truncated side unfortunately. Weekend working hours, sad to say.Be that as it may, Cannes 2012 has been going off like a rocket all day, and in Peter's eyes at least, we have the first solid Palm d'Or contender, in Michael Haneke's Amour, which screened this morning.Here's Peter's five star review.And here's some more reactions on the thing called Twitter:Haneke's AMOUR is as tender, beautiful and uncompromising as you've heard. Here's @AskDebruge's #Cannes review: bit.ly/KnPol7— Justin Chang (@JustinCChang) May 20, 2012Michael Haneke's AMOUR has been the best film in competition so far. Tender, compassionate and desperately sad. Chapeaux #cannes— Charlotte Higgins (@chiggi) May ... Continue reading →
The Olympic sailor Ben Ainslie said he would find a special place at home for his torch, but others are cashing in. Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty Images They were intended to be keepsakes of a once-in-a-lifetime moment, but instead could turn out be a nice little earner. Several Olympic torches and official uniforms have been listed for sale on eBay, with one attracting bids of more than £150,000 – although it was unclear whether that had been artificially inflated by fake bids.A second was listed at £70,000 and another at £9,100. London 2012 organisers have said they are powerless to stop torchbearers selling the items at a profit on internet auction sites.Two of the three torches were listed by runners who had yet to take part ... Continue reading →
Abdelbaset al-Megrahi in 1992. Photograph: Manoocher Deghati/AFP/Getty Images Relatives of the US victims of the Lockerbie bombing spoke of their belief that the man convicted of the 1988 atrocity had been reunited with his Libyan compatriot Muammar Gaddafi."I know exactly where he [Megrahi] is, and I know it is quite hot. I'm sure he and Gaddafi are reunited again," said Carole Johnson, who lost her daughter Beth Ann in the 1988 attack.The reaction in the US was in contrast to many in Scotland who believe that Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, who died three years after being released from jail on compassionate grounds, was merely the fall guy in the terrorist plot.Speaking from her home in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, Johnson said the death of Megrahi provided no closure to ... Continue reading →
Ken Clarke said a Greek default would have serious consequences, including in Britain. Photograph: Dave Thompson/PA Greece will face a disastrous future in which it will default on its debts and may be forced to leave the euro if it votes for "cranky extremists" in next month's general election, Ken Clarke has warned.In one of the starkest warnings by a British cabinet minister of the dangers posed by the Greek crisis, the justice secretary also said Britain was "heavily exposed" to banks in the eurozone.Earlier Ed Balls warned of a "catastrophe" for Britain and the eurozone unless Germany allowed a relaxation of the tough austerity programme."Somebody has got to persuade Germany that this is a catastrophe for Britain, Europe and the world and that Germany ... Continue reading →
Abdelbaset al-Megrahi being escorted by security officers in Tripoli, 1992. Photograph: Manoocher Deghati/AFP/Getty Images Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the Libyan convicted of the Lockerbie bombing and released from prison in Scotland amid a storm of international controversy in August 2009, has died aged 60 of cancer. He protested his innocence to the end. His death is likely to leave unresolved many doubts about the case with which he will always be associated: the murder of 270 people on board Pan Am flight 103 and on the ground in the Scottish Lowland town on 21 December 1988.Megrahi was born in Tripoli into the Magarha tribe, one of Libya's largest, a few months after the country's independence. Following the collapse of Italian rule during the second world war, it ... Continue reading →
David Cameron, Barack Obama, Angela Merkel, José Manuel Barroso, François Hollande and others watch the Champions League final during the G8 summit at Camp David. Photograph: Pete Souza/EPA Watching Chelsea's triumph in the Champions League final with the other guests at the G8 meeting in Camp David, David Cameron revealed himself to be fervent supporter of west London's boys in blue. Meanwhile, as Cameron thrusts his fists toward the skies, Angela Merkel slumps in disappointment and José Manuel Barroso tensely grips the leather furniture, new French leader François Hollande looks like he couldn't care less.Or perhaps you see it differently. What might have really been going through the G8 leaders minds' as Didier Drogba converted that decisive penalty?• Follow Comment is free on Twitter @commentisfree Continue reading →