Facebook To Remove Adverts From Adult Pages

Facebook will stop advertisements appearing on pages containing sexual or violent content after a number of companies suspended their campaigns.

Marks and Spencer and BSkyB, the parent company of Sky News, were among those to pull their adverts from the social networking site because of concerns about placement.

It led Facebook to announce a tightening of its review process, preventing promotions from appearing on pages and groups which contain offensive content.

"Our goal is to both preserve the freedoms of sharing on Facebook but also protect people and brands from certain types of content," a spokesman said in a blog post.

"We know that marketers work hard to promote their brands and we take their objectives seriously.

"While we already have rigorous review and removal policies for content against our terms, we recognise we need to do more to prevent situations where ads are displayed alongside controversial pages and groups."

In the first three months of the year, 85% of Facebook's revenue came from advertising - up 43% on the same quarter in 2012.

Advertisers paid a total of $1.25bn (£820m) to promote their products and services to the website's reported 665 million daily active users.

The company is paid around 3% more per advert than it was 12 months ago.

Facebook said its advertising review process will be manual at first but an automated system is expected to launch within weeks.

The spokesman added: "Like any digital platform, we're not going to be perfect but we will be much better.

"We'll continue to work aggressively on this issue with advertisers.

"We're confident the immediate steps we're taking will result in a significantly improved approach to preventing these instances from occurring, and we're committed to making this process work for everyone who uses Facebook."

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Afghanistan: Taliban Talks 'A Decade Overdue'

The top British officer in Afghanistan has said talks with the Taliban have come a decade too late after efforts to negotiate with the insurgents faltered.

General Nick Carter told The Guardian newspaper that it would have been more successful to approach the Taliban in 2002 after they were ousted from power.

The deputy commander of the Nato-led coalition said: "Back in 2002, the Taliban were on the run.

"I think that at that stage, if we had been very prescient, we might have spotted that a final political solution to what started in 2001, from our perspective, would have involved getting all Afghans to sit at the table and talk about their future."

He added that the problems since then have essentially been political problems, which "are only ever solved by people talking to each other".

The US and Afghanistan are still waiting to hear from the Taliban about opening peace talks, but remain willing to go ahead with negotiations despite a stir the militant group caused in opening a new office in Qatar.

The opening of the Taliban office in Doha

Afghan President Hamid Karzai had to shut down the process after Taliban spokesmen presented the office as a de-facto embassy for a government-in-exile.

As the US and UK prepare to pull their troops from Afghanistan next year, Gen Carter said the Kabul government may have to accept it may only have shaky control over some remote areas of the country for some years.

Afghan forces would also need Western military and financial support for several years after Western combat troops head home, he said.

However, he insisted Afghan forces were strong enough to be taking over control from Nato, a move he believed would eventually bring the Taliban to the negotiating table.

"What the opponents of the Afghan government now realise is they are likely to be up against capable Afghan security forces who are going to be here in perpetuity and therefore that old adage that 'We have the clocks but the Taliban have the time', has now been reversed," he told the newspaper.

US soldiers in Afghanistan

"They are now up against security forces who have the time, and they are also Afghan forces ... for those reasons I think that there is every chance people will realise that talking is the answer to this problem," added Gen Carter, who previously served as the top Nato officer in southern Afghanistan, the Taliban's birthplace.

The comments came as Britain was set to mark the fifth annual Armed Forces Day - recognising the relationship between the military and the public.

Ahead of the spending review, announced earlier this week, Gen Carter said the Treasury rather than the military would be to blame if Britain's defence was weakened by cuts.

He said: "At the end of the day our politicians need to decide what they want the Army to do.

"If they determine that the Army is going to do less, it's reasonable for them to reduce it still further."

He added: "We are bound as military people to point out the risks during the course of this to our political masters and ultimately it's down to them to look themselves in the mirror each morning and determine whether or not those risks are manageable."

The review revealed no Army, RAF or personnel would lose their jobs and the equipment budget would be protected.

The budget cut of 1.9% in 2015 would be achieved through civilian job losses in the Ministry of Defence, changes to the way the department buys and commissions big items and by outsourcing the purchasing of non-military goods.

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Crown Post Office Staff Stage Strike Action

By Emma Birchley, East of England Correspondent

Post Office workers have gone on strike over plans to close 70 state-owned branches and a dispute over pay.

The closing Crown branches - which are currently directly managed by Post Office Ltd - would be franchised and put within retailers such as WH Smith, which has already happened in some towns.

Debbie Spiteri, who works at the Dagenham branch in Essex, has been employed by the Post Office for 32 years and said she thought she had a job for life.

"I thought I would be here until I retired in my 60s, but now it looks like I may be made redundant, looking for another job and at my age I didn't want to be doing that," she said.

"I feel sorry for the local people. A lot are elderly and if they have to go somewhere else, they won't. They won't go into a shop to do their business because to them they want the personal touch."

The Post Office insists staff will be transferred to a new employer or offered voluntary redundancy, but the Communication Workers Union predicts 800 jobs will be lost.

Roger Gale, general manager of the Post Office's Crown and WH Smith network, said the changes are needed.

"It's absolutely not a programme of closing post offices," he said.

"We want to retain post office services on the high street but we have to do it in a way that doesn't lose tax-payers' money.

"What we're trying to do is get the Crown Network to a point where it breaks even. It currently loses £37m a year of tax-payers' money and what we're trying to do is to remove that loss."

The 373 Crown offices, which are usually the larger ones, represent just 3% of the total post office network.

But the CWU says its staff deal with a fifth of all customers and handle 40% of financial transactions involving things like banking and credit cards.

Clive Tickner, the CWU's representative for the Dagenham area, questions the timing as the Post Office launches its new current account.

"Ironically, if they close down Crown offices there will be less outlets to transact the current account so I'm very, very concerned that they are eroding away at the Post Office so that there will be nothing left in a few years' time," he said.

There is also concern about the impact on the high street.

Deborah Satchell works at Heathway Dry Cleaners in Dagenham.

She said: "It will affect the local shops because people will go elsewhere to do what they have got to do and it will take the business away from the local community."

The strikes are the seventh round of action in the current dispute and will only affect the Crown branches.

Staff are also calling for a pay rise of 3.5% for 2012/13 and a further rise this financial year, but the Post Office says that is not possible when it is making losses.

Instead, it is offering a series of cash payments totalling up to £3,400 before April 2015.

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Austrian Alps Fall Kills British Climber

A British climber has died in the Austrian Alps after losing his balance and plunging around 200 metres (650ft) down a slope.

Police said the 42-year-old man, who has not been named, was hiking with a companion in the Tyrol region in western Austria on Friday.

Neither was an experienced climber, according to police.

The Foreign Office confirmed it was communicating with the Austrian authorities.

A spokeswoman said: "We can confirm the death of a British national in Austria. We are providing consular assistance to the family." 

The official tourism website for the area said it is popular with novice hikers and seasoned climbers, with a rating system that includes "easy" hiking trails, moderate mountain footpaths and "extreme" Alpine routes.

The latest tragedy comes just over a month after a British skier died when he fell down the north face of the Aiguille du Midi mountain in the French Alps.

The man was with another skier when they were caught in a storm while descending the challenging Vallee Blanche near Chamonix.

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EDL Leader Robinson Arrested Amid Tribute Bid

Two English Defence League leaders have been arrested in London as they attempted to march to Woolwich, where Drummer Lee Rigby was killed in May.

Tommy Robinson shouted, "You are enforcing Sharia law", at officers who held him on suspicion of obstructing police as he tried to enter the London borough of Tower Hamlets.

The EDL had previously announced plans to walk through part of the capital before gathering outside Woolwich Barracks, near where Drummer Rigby was hacked to death in broad daylight.

But the Metropolitan Police put conditions on the march which demanded that it ended at Old Palace Yard, opposite the House of Lords.

As well as planning to lay flowers in memory of Drummer Rigby, Mr Robinson and EDL co-leader Kevin Carroll, who was also arrested, were walking to raise money for a young girl fighting cancer.

Sky Correspondent Tom Parmenter said: "They'd walked six miles when they were arrested outside Aldgate East underground station.

"Police had been tracking the walk across London and had regularly spoken to them about their route.

"The EDL leaders had been warned not to go past a large mosque in east London or enter the borough of Tower Hamlets.

"As they approached the boundary of the borough they were warned again by officers who told them they may be arrested."

Mr Robinson and Mr Carroll repeatedly asked if they would actually be arrested before another man approached the pair and assaulted Mr Carroll. 

Mr Robinson is led into a police van

Parmenter said: "As police officers tried to deal with the situation the EDL leaders continued to walk forward and then a senior policewoman placed the pair under arrest."

The pair, who were wearing T-shirts bearing the words "support our troops", were led into a police van in handcuffs while complaining about their treatment. They were taken to Wandsworth prison, in southwest London, and two other men were arrested over the assault.

At the start of the walk in Hyde Park, Mr Robinson had said: "There's two of us doing a charity walk.

"They're (police) saying it (Tower Hamlets) is a Muslim area but to me there is no Muslim area, there are just areas of my capital city that if I have to walk from A to B then you have to walk through."

"Obviously I don't want to get arrested and I don't want to get in trouble so we'll cross that bridge when we get to it." 

Scotland Yard said the conditions were imposed because of fears the march and the gathering would result in "serious public disorder" and it had warned that a breach would lead to arrest.

The Met said it had attempted to work with the EDL to facilitate the march and gathering and offered them two alternative routes that avoided the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is home to the East London Mosque.

In a statement posted on the EDL's Twitter feed, the group said: "Tommy Robinson & Kev Caroll arrested for obstructing the police and carted off."

The statement claimed "negotiations" for their release were taking place and that the pair still hoped to walk to Woolwich to lay flowers.

Mr Robinson earlier replied to a tweet asking him what weather he was expecting for Saturday: "ill be in a cell by lunch time so won't matter. Ha ha"

The EDL campaigns against what it says is the spread of radical Islam, but it has been accused of Islamophobia and previous rallies have ended in clashes with anti-fascist groups.

Earlier this week, two American political activists who founded an anti-Muslim group were banned by the Home Secretary from entering the UK following reports they were to attend this weekend's march.

Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer, who set up Stop Islamisation of America and run the website Jihad Watch, have been forbidden from entering the country on the grounds their presence would "not be conducive to the public good".

The police also banned the British National Party from marching from Woolwich Barracks earlier in June and ordered it to move its protest to Westminster.

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Constable's The Hay Wain Attacked: Man Charged

A man has been charged with criminal damage after Constable's masterpiece The Hay Wain was attacked by a protester at London's National Gallery.

Paul Douglas Manning, 57, was arrested on Friday at the gallery after somebody glued a four-inch photograph of a young boy to The Hay Wain.

Manning, of Kirkstone Road, Sheffield, has since been charged by the Metropolitan Police and he was remanded on bail after appearing at Westminster Magistrates Court. He will next appear at Southwark Crown Court on July 12.

No lasting damage was done to the 1821 painting in room 34, a gallery spokeswoman said.

"Conservation staff were on the scene very rapidly and the painting was removed for treatment," she said.

"No damage to Constable's original paint occurred and there is no lasting damage to the painting."

The incident happened as Fathers4Justice said it was abandoning its five-year "attempted engagement with the political establishment" and called on fathers to take "independent weekly direct action" in the spirit of the Suffragettes 100 years ago.

The Hay Wain is one of the country's most recognisable works of art.

It shows an idyllic rural scene with a cart - the eponymous hay wain - in the river Stour in Suffolk.

The National Gallery spokeswoman said it would investigate the security breach but praised "the prompt action and quick thinking" of staff who intervened.

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Moors Murderer: I Killed Four More People

Previously unpublished letters show Moors murderer Ian Brady claimed to have killed four more people.

Brady writes that he had murdered others (Pictures: The Daily Telegraph)

The letters, which emerged as his bid to be transferred from a maximum security hospital to prison failed, show that he confessed to killing two men in his native Glasgow and a man and woman in Manchester.

Brady described the other murders as "happenings" and says his male victim in Manchester was killed "on the waste ground behind the station" and the other was a "woman in the canal".

One of his Glasgow victims was killed "above" Loch Long, at the mouth of the Clyde, Brady wrote.

The letters, which have been published in The Daily Telegraph, were written to journalist Brendan Pittaway in the 1980s.

On Friday Brady lost his £250,000 legal bid to be transferred to a jail after a week-long public hearing, meaning the child killer will remain at Ashworth Hospital on Merseyside on the grounds that he is mentally insane.

Brady says his other killings were 'happenings'

The tribunal was the first time Brady has been seen in public since the 1980s, when he was taken back to Saddleworth Moor in the search for the bodies of two of his victims.

Brady and his partner, Myra Hindley, were convicted of luring children and teenagers to their deaths, with their victims sexually tortured before being buried on Saddleworth Moor. Hindley died in hospital in 2002 at the age of 60, still a prisoner.

The brother of victim Keith Bennett, whose body was never found, has said Brady was "nothing more than a serial killer of children, a paedophile, a coward and a self-pitying liar".

Alan Bennett wrote: "I have to say now that I am glad Brady did have his say, he tied his own defence team in knots, never gave a definitive answer under cross-examination and went on to show anybody interested that he is nothing more than a self-pitying liar."

In Brady's letters he says Bennett's body was buried in Yorkshire, rather than the Moors as originally thought.

Here Brady asks journalist Brendan Pittaway to keep letters confidential

Responding to Brady's claims about the other murders, Martin Bottomley, head of Greater Manchester Police's Cold Case Review Unit, said: "In the 1980s, Brady 'confessed' to a number of other unrelated murders. All these claims were thoroughly investigated at that time and found to be completely unsubstantiated.

"GMP has been investigating Brady's horrendous crimes and their aftermath for over 40 years now.

"A week hardly goes by when we do not receive some information which purports to lead us to Keith's burial site.

"All of these claims are investigated and it remains our aim to find Keith for the sake of his surviving family members.

"Only one person knows where Keith is buried and he refuses to disclose that information, preferring to taunt Keith's loved ones."

Brendan Pittaway told Sky News Brady's state of mind in the letters was obvious.

"When he was more controlled and talking about subjects he wasn't so angry about, his writing was rational, the sentences were shorter," he said.

"When he was talking about Hindley and the authorities who he detested ... his language would be peppered with references to cranks and conspiracies."

Brady told the tribunal his killings were 'recreational'

The decision on Brady's appeal was given by the three-man panel headed by Judge Robert Atherton, who heard the tribunal at Ashworth Hospital.

Reasons for the decision will be given at a later date because of the length of the material the panel needs to consider.

After the ruling, Dr David Fearnley, medical director at Ashworth, said the judgement was "consistent with the expert opinions of our clinicians".

Brady - who claims to have been on a hunger strike since 1999 - told the hearing he was merely "a petty criminal" and described his crimes as "recreational killings".

Brady, pictured in 1966

His legal application challenged the order made under the Mental Health Act when he was transferred from prison to Ashworth in 1985, when he was diagnosed as being a paranoid schizophrenic.

Brady's legal team argued that, despite his severe personality disorder, he is not mentally ill.

He suggested that, if he is allowed to go back to a jail, he would be "free to end his own life" by starving himself to death.

Brady has the right to challenge the decision, which would require a further hearing at an Upper Tribunal.

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Lions Tour: Australia Win Levels Series

Australia beat the British and Irish Lions 16-15 to level the three-Test series in a titanic second Test in Melbourne on Saturday.

The Wallabies scored the clinching converted try four minutes from the end and survived a penalty kick after the full-time siren from Lions fullback Leigh Halfpenny.

Halfpenny slotted five penalties but missed one from the halfway mark with time expired that would have given the Lions victory.

The Lions dramatically beat Australia 23-21 in the first test in Brisbane last week but the Wallabies overcame a raft of injuries to their backline thanks to a late converted try from Adam Ashley-Cooper and three penalties from Christian Leali'ifano.

"There's still a test series up for grabs, by no means is it over," said Lions captain Sam Warburton.

He added: "It sets it up for a great finale."

The third test, which will be a series decider, will take place in Sydney next Saturday.

The Lions are the favourites to win and if they do, it will be their first Test series triumph since they toppled South Africa 16 years ago.

:: Watch the final test between Australia and the British and Irish Lions on Sky Sports 1HD from 10am on Saturday July 6.

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Armed Forces Day Sees Parades And Fly-Pasts

By Alistair Bunkall, Defence Correspondent

Events are taking place across the country to mark the fifth annual Armed Forces Day.

In the host city of Nottingham, a volley of gunshots known as a "feu du joie" began a day of celebrations, which included a tri-service parade with more than 600 Armed Services personnel, veterans and cadets from the city's castle to Old Market Square, watched by the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester.

The Red Arrows, RAF Typhoon jets and aircraft from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight performed a fly-past for the crowds, while the Royal Navy and Royal Marines put on a display on the River Trent.

Thousands of well-wishers and veterans lined the streets to watch, waving flags and cheering as they enjoyed the parade and the flypast.

A Drumhead Service, usually conducted in the field during armed conflicts, was held in the square - allowing those gathered to reflect on the Armed Forces past and present.

Members of the Armed Forces parade through Nottingham city centre

Among those taking part in the parade today was Lt Sam Vause, from the 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment, who spent four months in Afghanistan this year training other soldiers.

Lt Vause, 25, from Derby, said: "It's been a magnificent day and a great honour to take part in the Armed Forces day national event in the Mercian's home county.

"It was a truly humbling experience to see the people of Nottingham come out and show their support for the Armed Forces on such a large scale."

Speaking ahead of today's events, Prime Minister David Cameron, said: "Armed Forces Day is about reminding the British people that every day there are extraordinary men and women all over the world, and indeed right here at home, who risk their lives for our safety and security."

Meanwhile, more than 300 events were held in towns across the UK.

Meanwhile, more than 300 events were held in towns across the UK to celebrate Armed Forces Day. Events were also held in Puerto Pollensa, Spain, and Ornasions, France.

Chief of the General Staff General Sir Peter Wall attended the Armed Forces Day event at the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich today.

And the BT tower in London was also lit up, displaying the message 'Armed Forces Day Show Your Support'.

The parade route was lined with thousands of well-wishers

The RAF Falcons Parachute Display Team also took part, while stalls showcased the military through the ages and a number of bands, including the Military Wives, performed on a stage on Victoria Embankment.

Armed Forces Day was first held in 2009 at Chatham's Historic Dockyard. Cardiff was the host city in 2010, Edinburgh in 2011 and Plymouth last year.

It is intended to recognise the relationship between the military and the public.

Today's celebrations mark the end of a week of events that started with the national raising of the Armed Forces Day flag on Monday.

It flew above buildings around the UK including Downing Street, the Tower of London and BT Tower.

On Wednesday reservists were encouraged to wear their military uniforms to work.

Today's event is taking place in the same week that the Chancellor confirmed that no more Armed Forces personnel would lose their jobs as a result of the latest Spending Review.

As part of the process Danny Alexander, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, had commented on the idea that the Army had more horses than tanks.

The Defence Secretary Philip Hammond hit back at him in an interview with The House magazine.

He said: "Of course the Army has more horses than it has tanks.

"I would say that the ceremonial role that the Army plays - which is a tiny, tiny part of their overall activity - is very important to internal morale, military morale.

"But also, of course, it generates billions of pounds of return for the UK in terms of international reputation, tourist revenue, greetings card sales.

"If you were looking at it as an investment in UK PLC, it's a very worthwhile investment."

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Cameron Visits British Troops In Afghanistan

By Joey Jones, Deputy Political Editor

David Cameron has travelled to Afghanistan to pay tribute to the work of British troops on Armed Forces Day.

The Prime Minister made an unannounced visit to Camp Bastion in Helmand Province where he met troops on the front line, dined with them in their living quarters and took control of a bomb disposal robot.

He also met Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai in the capital Kabul amid faltering efforts to engage the Taliban in a political process of reconciliation.

Mr Cameron's trip to Afghanistan followed comments made by General Nick Carter, a senior British Army officer and deputy commander of the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf).

Gen Carter told The Guardian there may have been opportunities to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table more than a decade ago.

Mr Cameron was shown some of the latest surveillance equipment

"The problems that we have been encountering over the period since then are essentially political problems, and political problems are only ever solved by people talking to each other," he said.

Speaking in Lashkar Gah, Mr Cameron told Sky News: "I think you can argue about whether the settlement we put in place after 2001 could have been better arranged.

"But at the same time I know that you cannot bank on that, which is why we have built up the Afghan army, built up the Afghan police, supported the Afghan government so that after our troops have left ... this country shouldn't be a haven for terrorists."

Mr Cameron, who has now moved on to Pakistan for talks with President Asif Ali Zardari, also told soldiers about plans for a permanent memorial to those who have lost their lives in Afghanistan since 2001.

The monument for the 444 British personnel killed in the conflict will be built at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire and will be funded by fines paid by banks following the Libor scandal.

The Prime Minister joined British troops for a meal at Camp Bastion

Meanwhile, a senior British military source suggested that Nato forces would need to assist the Afghans for up to five years after the combat role ends in 2014.

The British military have committed to running an academy for Afghan officers but the source suggested that Nato could also be required to help with close air support, casualty evacuation and logistics.

A senior No 10 source said it will be for the National Security Council to decide what the UK's ongoing role would be but added: "We have done our fair share."

"The Prime Minister has been clear that we have paid a heavy price and already given a lot," he said.

"Our combat troops will leave at the end of next year.

"The only military commitments we have made beyond 2014 are to part-run the officer academy and to provide financial support to sustain Afghan forces. We have not been asked to do anything more.

"The Prime Minister's view is that we have done our fair share and it will now be for other Isaf partners to carry the main burden."

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