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| Phone-hacking: Tom Watson calls for statement from David Cameron The former Labour minister has written to the PM after the latest allegations against Andy CoulsonThe former Labour minister, Tom Watson, has written to David Cameron, calling on the prime minister to make a statement in parliament about the latest allegations against his media adviser Andy Coulson relating to the News of the World phone-hacking affair.Watson, the Labour MP for West Bromwich East, said the new allegations made against Coulson – to be aired in an edition of Channel 4's Dispatches tonight – were "new, far-reaching and warrant investigation".The C4 programme will include a claim by an unnamed source, which the programme describes as a senior journalist who worked alongside Coulson, that the former News of the World editor had personally listened to the intercepted voicemail messages of public figures when he edited the News International paper.Coulson has always denied knowing about any illegal activity by journalists who worked for him at the paper. He resigned as News of the World editor in January 2007 after the paper's royal editor, Clive Goodman, was jailed for intercepting the voicemail messages of three members of the royal household.Watson, who has led calls for an inquiry to be re-opened into the phone-hacking affair, said "parliament and public would expect nothing less" than the allegations to be investigated.He added that if similar claims had been made against a government minister they would be "forced to stand down immediately while an investigation is carried out"."You will be aware of the culture, media and sport select committee's Press Standards, Privacy and Libel report of February 2010 in which Mr Andy Coulson, your communications director, told MPs that he had no recollection of incidences where phone hacking took place whilst he was editor of the News of the World," Watson said in his letter to the prime minister today. "New allegations made today to Channel 4's Dispatches programme, by a former senior executive of News International, however, claim that Mr Coulson did in fact know about hacking, and that he listened to tapes of intercepted voicemail messages. These allegations are new, far-reaching and warrant investigation. "The report to be broadcast on the Dispatches programme casts doubt on the accuracy of the oral evidence provided to the culture, media and sport select committee on 21 July 2009 by Mr Coulson in which he said: 'I was, as you know, editor of the News of the World for four years from January 2003 until January 2007. During that time I never condoned the use of phone hacking and nor do I have any recollection of incidences where phone hacking took place.' "Accordingly, I think it is necessary for you to make a statement in parliament on this matter next week. If a government minister were to be the subject of similar allegations, they would be forced to stand down immediately while an investigation is carried out. We are now at the point where I firmly believe you should consider a similar course of action with regards to Mr Coulson's conduct."I am sure you would agree misleading a parliamentary committee of the House of Commons is a very serious matter, and therefore these allegations need to be investigated. Parliament and the public would expect nothing less from you."I look forward to hearing from you, at the earliest opportunity, in response to the points that I have raised."The unidentified former executive from the News of the World told Dispatches, on Channel 4 at 8pm tonight, that Coulson knew his reporters were using intercepted voicemail and was personally involved."Sometimes, they would say: 'We've got a recording' and Andy would say: 'OK, bring it into my office and play it to me' or 'Bring me, email me a transcript of it'," the journalist said.Watson has previously written to the Metropolitan chief commissioner, Sir Paul Stephenson, accusing the force of bringing democracy into disrepute over its "continued mishandling" of the phone-hacking investigation."Your conduct of this matter is being scrutinised all over the world," said Watson. "So far, it is bringing shame – as has News International – on our country."• To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000.• If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".News of the World phone-hacking scandalAndy CoulsonTom WatsonNews of the WorldNewspapers & magazinesDavid CameronNational newspapersJames RobinsonJohn Plunkettguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Remains are of murder case woman Police confirm that human remains found in a suitcase are that of Sylwia Ciapcinska, who went missing in Staffordshire in July. bbc.co.uk |
T rex was a cannibal, teeth marks on Tyrannosaurus bones suggest Telltale marks on T rex bones were probably made by others of its own kind as they scavenged for foodThe discovery of giant tooth marks in Tyrannosaurus rex bones has led fossil hunters to declare that the king of the dinosaurs was a cannibal. The lumbering beast was at the top of the food chain in North America 65 million years ago, but until now there has been little evidence to suggest it ate its own kind.Researchers at Yale University were searching dinosaur fossil collections in another study when they saw deep gouge marks in T rex bones. When the creatures were alive, the only large predators that occupied the region were other T rex. "These are bite marks from large carnivores and if you look at what other large carnivores were around back then, the T rex is the only one that was out there," said Nick Longrich, a postdoctoral researcher who led the study.Longrich and his colleagues examined fossilised bones in eight museum collections, including the American Museum of Natural History in New York and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh. Four Tyrannosaurus bones showed the distinctive bite marks left by a hungry T rex. The grooves, a few centimetres long, match the familiar "puncture and pull" marks seen on the bones of other animals which fell victim to T rex. The tooth-marked remains included three bones from feet, including two toes, and one puny arm bone.Longrich said there was a slim chance that the bite marks were battle scars. But some of the bones had been bitten at both ends, or in places that would be obscured by sockets in the living animal. One adult toe bone had several small bite marks. "It seems unlikely that a small Tyrannosaurus would be allowed to repeatedly bite a much larger individual several times on a single toe," the authors wrote in the journal PLoS ONE."You have to picture T rex standing still while another one dines on its toe and that's pretty unrealistic," Longrich told the Guardian.The tooth marks suggest T rex scavenged on the carcasses of their own species rather than killing them for food. That the beasts snacked on meagre foot and arm bones suggested the best meat on the carcasses had already been picked off.Only one other dinosaur species, the six-metre-long Majungatholus, which lived in Madagascar between 84m and 70m year ago, is known to have been a cannibal, but Longrich believes the practice may have been more common than previously thought. Closer examination of fossil bones could turn up more evidence that other species also preyed on one another, he said."These animals were some of the largest terrestrial carnivores of all time, and the way they approached eating was fundamentally different from modern species," Longrich added. "There's a big mystery around what and how they ate, and this research helps to uncover one piece of the puzzle."DinosaursFossilsZoologyIan Sampleguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Charlatans drummer's brain tumour care Jon Brookes, drummer with indie band The Charlatans, said he was on the "long road" of cancer treatment after being diagnosed with a brain tumour. bbc.co.uk |
WikiLeaks founder gives news conference in London Julian Assange claims the leaking of hundreds of thousands of top secret US military documents was done in the public interest. telegraph.co.uk |