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BBC news 2013-03-12

BBC News with Marion Marshall

The former British cabinet minister Chris Huhne and his ex-wife Vicky Pryce have been sentenced to eight months in prison for perverting the course of justice. Ten years ago Ms Pryce accepted a speeding penalty on behalf of her husband so he could avoid a driving ban. Mr Huhne stepped down as energy secretary last year after the allegations emerged following the breakdown of their marriage. Rob Watson reports.

It’s been dubbed a case of revenge that spectacularly backfired. Furious two years ago that her husband had decided to leave her for another woman Vicky Pryce wanted revenge. She executed it by revealing she had once taken the penalty points for a minor speeding offence when in fact her then husband had been driving. Chris Huhne’s political career is now in ruins and Vicky Pryce’s character has been picked apart by newspapers endlessly fascinated by a drama driven by powerful emotions and family breakup.

The Indian Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde has described the death of an alleged rapist in prison as a major security lapse. Ram Singh was the driver of a bus on which a 23-year-old student was brutally attacked last December. From Delhi, here’s Andrew North.

Ram Singh was the main suspect in the case that’s still sending tremors through India. He’d been due back in court today with four other men accused of raping and murdering the physiotherapy student last December. But early this morning the 34-year-old was found dead in his cell in a Delhi jail. Prison authorities said he’d used thread from his sleeping mat to hang himself while his cellmates were asleep. But Mr Singh’s lawyer, V K Anand, says he doesn’t believe the government’s account. “That’s due to foul play one way or another”, he said. It’s a claim echoed by his parents, who’d seen him a few days ago.

A United Nations report says it’s possible that the baby son of a BBC journalist in Gaza may have been killed by a misfired Palestinian rocket during last November’s war there. The officer of the UNHCR said its conclusions were based on a visit to the site the following month, though they did not carry out a forensic examination. The conclusion contradicts reports by human rights groups at the time that said it was an Israeli airstrike that caused the death of the boy.

More than 50 people in the Libyan capital Tripoli have died after drinking tainted alcohol. It’s illegal either to produce or consume alcohol in Libya. Rana Jawad reports from Tripoli.

This is the most serious incident of its kind here, according to medical sources. The alcohol in question is a cheap local brew known as Bokha to Libyans and is illicitly distilled from various fruits like figs, dates or grapes. But industrial alcohols like methanol is(are) sometimes used to increase the potency of the drink. With over 300 admissions for alcohol poisoning over the weekend, the death toll may rise.

World News from the BBC

North Korea has been accused of systematic crimes against humanity at the United Nations amid signs of growing international pressure over its human rights record. The UN investigator for North Korea, Marzuki Darusman, cited nine areas of concern including torture, depriving the population of food and the use of vast prison camps. The US and its allies are pushing for the establishment of an international commission of inquiry to investigate North Korea.

The governing Fidesz party in Hungary has pushed through an amendment to the constitution despite international appeals to delay the move. Critics see it as another attempt by the Prime Minister Viktor Orban to concentrate power in his own hands. Nick Thorpe reports.

This is the fourth amendment to Hungary’s new basic law since it came into force just 14 months ago, a fact which helps underpin criticism that the new constitution was both hurried and flawed. The lengthy amendment overturns earlier constitutional court rulings and limits the court’s right in future to challenge laws passed by parliament. The government majority say this was necessary to make a clean break with the previous constitution. Critics at home and abroad say it dismantles the architecture of democracy established since the fall of communism.

The United States has expelled two Venezuelan diplomats in retaliation for the expulsion of two US military officials from Caracas last week. At the time Venezuela’s vice president accused the Americans of attempting to destabilise his country. The two countries haven’t had ambassadors in their respective capitals since 2010.

A law banning the sale of large-sized containers of sugary drinks in New York City has been overturned a day before it was due to come into effect. The regulation had been challenged by drinks manufacturers and other industry groups. The city authorities said they would appeal. They say the law is needed to fight high levels of obesity.

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