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Death row prisoner released after nearly three decades
A US prison inmate who spent nearly thirty years on death row has been released after new evidence exonerated him.
Glenn Ford, 64, from Louisiana, was convicted of first-degree murder by an all-white jury in the 1983 robbery and murder of Isadore Rozeman, a 56-year-old watchmaker, who was found shot dead in his jewellery shop.
"My minds going in all kinds of directions, but it feel good," Ford told NBC 6 News after his release.
Fors, who was sentenced to die by electrocution, filed multiple appeals, most of which were denied.
Last week prosecutors filed a motion to vacate Ford's conviction and sentence, saying that in late 2013 "credible evidence" came to their attention "supporting a finding that Ford was neither present at, nor a participant in, the robbery and murder of Isadore Rozeman."
Govt: 'Revenge evictions are rare'
"Revenge evictions", where a tenant is forcibly removed because they have asked the landlord to fix a problem with the property, are "rare" according to the Government.
Despite Shelter and YouGov's poll showing an estimated 200,000 renters faced a "revenge eviction" last year, Housing Minister Kris Hopkins said:
– Kris HopkinsToday's YouGov poll clearly shows that 'revenge evictions' are rare, while the recent English Housing Survey showed the vast majority of tenants satisfied with the service their landlords provide.
But all tenants have a right to expect a decent service for the rents they pay and it is clearly unacceptable that anyone should hold back from requesting repairs, out of fear of being evicted.
We're determined to root out the rogue landlords who are behind this behaviour, and have provided guidance and over £6.5 million to councils to tackle them.
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Chinese teachers flown in to improve maths in England
Chinese maths teachers are to be flown to England in a bid to boost the country's standards in the subject.
Up to 60 English-speaking teachers will take part in a new exchange programme that will also see English maths teachers working in schools in China, the Department for Education said.
Ministers have previously said that England can learn from Asian nations which have topped international league tables in key subjects.
Recent international tests put Shanghai, along with a number of other Asian nations, at the top for maths skills.
'Tackle least reputable lenders,' payday body says
The Consumer Finance Association, which represents major payday lenders, said its members would co-operate with strict new regulations by the Financial Conduct Authority but urged the City regulator to tackle practices of the "least reputable lenders".
Read: Payday firms must treat borrowers with 'sensitivity'
– Russell Hamblin-Boone, chief executive of the Consumer Finance AssociationWe support action to tackle poor practice and, of course, the best-known lenders will cooperate with another in a long series of reviews, but we urge the FCA to use its proposed price cap on credit to tackle excessive default fees and charges which are used by the least reputable lenders to profit from customers who are already in dire straits.
CFA members offer a range of help for customers in financial difficulty including freezing interest and charges to prevent a short-term loan becoming a long-term debt.
Mental health cuts are 'putting lives at risk'
The Government has betrayed a pledge on cuts to NHS funding for mental health services, putting lives at risk, experts and doctors have said.
NHS England and the health regulator Monitor have effectively cut funding for mental health services by 20% more than hospital trusts, experts from bodies including the Royal College of Psychiatrists, the Mental Health Foundation and Rethink Mental Illness, wrote in a letter to the Guardian.
Read: Mental health units 'heading for Mid Staffs scandal'
The cut "completely contravenes the Government's promise to put mental and physical healthcare on an equal footing", it says.
Calling on NHS England and Monitor to "resolve this issue swiftly," the letter says the move will cost more in the long run, due to more people reaching crisis point, extra admissions to A&E, and more people needing hospital care.
'One quarter' of tenants put up with leaking roof
Some 25% of private rent tenants have lived with a leaking roof because they fear the repercussions if they ask their landlord to fix it, research from a housing charity has found.
A poll from Shelter also revealed:
- More than two-fifths (41%) of renters said they have experienced mould in their homes in the past year.
- A further 16% have had electrical hazards.
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'One in 50' private tenants faced 'revenge eviction'
One in 50 tenants who rents from a private landlord in England was evicted or served with a notice in the last year because they complained about a problem in their home, research suggests.
Read: Brits 'stuck in the rent trap'
An estimated 213,000 people across England faced losing their rented accommodation because they approached their landlord, letting agent or local council about getting a problem fixed, according to a survey by housing charity Shelter.
The YouGov poll, which questioned more than 4,500 private renters, suggested many more renters were too scared of losing their home to complain at all.
Shelter said a family living in Norfolk had been handed an eviction notice three weeks after reporting damp and mould to their landlord.
Another family from Lancashire complained about a leaking roof, and were then told by their landlord it "wasn't worth his while", before being served with an eviction notice.
Payday firms must treat borrowers with 'sensitivity'
The City regulator said struggling borrowers should be treated "with sensitivity" by payday firms and said that it expects that around one quarter of lenders will decide they cannot meet its higher consumer protection standards and leave the market when it takes over next month.
"There will be no place in an FCA-regulated consumer credit market for payday lenders that only care about making a fast buck," said Martin Wheatley, Financial Conduct Authority chief executive.
Read: Inquiry into how payday lenders treat borrowers
The FCA will examine the culture of each payday firm and it will want to see how they communicate, how they propose to help people regain control of their debt, and how sympathetic they are to each borrower's situation.
It is expected to work with lenders to find ways for them to share more up-to-date information about borrowers, to prevent them from handing out loans which turn out to be unaffordable.
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Read the full storyVietnam 'scaling back search for missing jet'
Vietnam is scaling back the search in Vietnamese waters for a Malaysian Airlines jetliner missing for four days, a senior Vietnamese official said.
Read: Air chief denies saying jet detected near Malacca Strait
"We still have plans to search with a few flights today, while other activities are suspended," Deputy Transport Minister Pham Quy Tieu, who heads the Vietnam search, told reporters. Tieu said searches by ships were being suspended.
He said Vietnam had asked Malaysian authorities for information about reports that the plane, carrying 239 passengers and crew, had changed direction after its last known contact on Saturday but it had yet to receive any response.
Meanwhile, China will add two planes to the search, the country's civil aviation chief said.
