Morning news headlines for January 22, 2013

Jan 22 2013 By Cheryl Mullin

British woman sentenced to death

A BRITISH woman has been sentenced to death in Indonesia for drug trafficking.

Lindsay Sandiford, originally from Redcar in Teesside, was arrested in May after police in Bali said they found 10.6lb (4.8kg) of cocaine in the lining of her suitcase.

A spokeswoman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: “We can confirm that a British national is facing the death penalty in Indonesia.”

Harry unwinds after Afghan mission

PRINCE Harry was relaxing today after finishing his 20-week tour of Afghanistan.

Harry left the war-torn country on board a regular personnel aircraft last night, and joined other UK-bound troops for post-deployment “decompression” at an undisclosed location.

Soldiers have a 24-hour stopover on their way home - usually in Cyprus - to wind down and sink their first beer after many months on active service.

Mali top of security agenda

SECURITY and defence chiefs will discuss increasing UK support for the French-led military operation in Mali today after David Cameron vowed to show “iron resolve” in tackling Islamist terrorism in the aftermath of the deadly Algerian siege

The Prime Minister will chair a meeting of the National Security Council to consider what additional surveillance and transport help can be provided to the assault on rebels in the neighbouring country on top of two RAF C-17 transport aircraft despatched last week.

Britain was “not seeking a combat role”, he insisted yesterday, but The Times reported that units from all three forces had been placed on “high readiness” to deploy.

Snow to wreak further travel chaos

DISRUPTION to airports and traffic networks is expected to continue today as another round of snow sweeps across parts of the country.

Up to 4in (10cm) is expected to fall this morning in parts of Scotland and northern England and a further 0.8in (2cm) in East Anglia, followed by around 2.4in (6cm) in southern England this evening, forecasters have predicted.

The heavy snow and frost have so far claimed the lives of seven people, including a postman who Royal Mail confirmed last night died while carrying out his rounds during the weekend’s
freezing temperatures.

Obama dances into second term

BARACK Obama danced the night away after he was sworn in for his second term as US President in front of hundreds of thousands of people.

In his inauguration address, he warned America it must make “hard choices” to reduce the cost of healthcare and the size of its financial deficit.

But later there was time to dance with his wife Michelle during the traditional night of balls that heralds the beginning of a new four-year presidential term.