LONDON (Reuters) – A radical preacher accused of giving spiritual inspiration to one of the 9/11 hijackers on Monday lost a bid to be freed from the British prison where he is being held ahead of moves to deport him to Jordan to face terrorism charges.

The decision to refuse Abu Qatada bail at a special court will come as a relief to the British government which has been trying to expel the Jordanian cleric for a over decade.

The judge also said he would not be able to rule on the legality of Qatada’s deportation until November, following a two-week hearing starting on October 8.

He said he accepted concerns from Britain’s security services, detailed at the hearing, that Qatada might abscond if freed and damage their ability and that of the police to protect the public when their resources were in high demand during the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games in London this summer.

“If the appellant were to abscond then either their resources would be diverted, or finding him would be allocated a lower priority than should be the case,” the judge, Mr Justice Mitting said.

Last month the preacher, who was not present at the hearing, embarrassed the government by seeking a last-minute delay to deportation proceedings with an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, nearly 24 hours after Britain said the deadline for such a legal recourse had passed.

Even though the appeal was subsequently rejected, the confusion allowed opposition politicians to accuse interior minister Theresa May of incompetence and mock her for apparently not knowing what day it was in the week.

BASILDON, England, May 8 (Reuters) – British Prime Minister David Cameron rallied behind his coalition with the Liberal Democrats on Tuesday, hoping to revive its fortunes after big losses in local elections, but tempting the wrath of an unruly Conservative right.

Cameron and Lib Dem Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg renewed their coalition vows in a rare joint appearance at a tractor factory, pledging to see through an unpopular austerity plan and to get a shrinking economy back on track.

Voters dished out a thrashing to both the Conservative and Lib Dem parties in nationwide local council elections last week, venting their anger after Britain fell back into recession after two years of uncompromising spending cuts.

The loss of support rallied rebels on the right of Cameron’s party who blame his failure to win an outright parliamentary majority on his centrist, modernising approach and who fear his compact with Clegg will alienate right-wing voters at the 2015 election.

Speaking alongside Clegg, Cameron said the coalition was committed to “a tough task getting even tougher”, clinging to a plan of cutting Britain’s large budget deficit.

“We’re finding it more difficult to get our economy recovering,” Cameron said. “It is tough right now for families to make ends meet.

“We formed a coalition two years ago to try and deal with these problems and I believe the need for that coalition – two parties working together to solve the problems we have in our country – is as important and necessary today as it was two years ago.”

LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister David Cameron will try to calm his fractious Conservative party on Tuesday after his worst month in office by stressing his determination to fix an ailing economy in a joint appearance with the leader of his coalition partners.

Cameron will speak alongside Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg in a public rebuff to right-wing politicians in his Conservative Party who pin the blame for heavy defeats in local elections last week on his alliance with the Liberal Democrats.

A poorly presented budget, the return of the economy to recession and the loss of more than 400 seats in Thursday’s polls have convinced some Conservative lawmakers that Cameron lacks the strategy or competence to lead the party to victory in the next national election in 2015.

Cameron faces further difficulties later this week when two former allies appear at an inquiry into phone hacking.

Seeking to reassert his authority, the Conservative leader will hail the “strong coalition” formed with Clegg’s smaller Liberal Democrats two years ago, according to an advance text released by his office.

Speaking at an event in eastern England, Cameron will say he is focussed on tackling “a tough task getting even tougher”, after data last month showed Britain had fallen back into recession.

“We’ve got to sort out our debts, get real growth and change this country, so that once again it rewards people who work hard, want to get on and play by the rules. And that’s what I am here to do,” Cameron will say.

LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister David Cameron will try to calm his fractious Conservative party on Tuesday after his worst month in office by stressing his determination to fix an ailing economy in a joint appearance with the leader of his coalition partners.

Cameron will speak alongside Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg in a public rebuff to right-wing politicians in his Conservative Party who pin the blame for heavy defeats in local elections last week on his alliance with the Liberal Democrats.

A poorly presented budget, the return of the economy to recession and the loss of more than 400 seats in Thursday’s polls have convinced some Conservative lawmakers that Cameron lacks the strategy or competence to lead the party to victory in the next national election in 2015.

Cameron faces further difficulties later this week when two former allies appear at an inquiry into phone hacking.

Seeking to reassert his authority, the Conservative leader will hail the “strong coalition” formed with Clegg’s smaller Liberal Democrats two years ago, according to an advance text released by his office.

Speaking at an event in eastern England, Cameron will say he is focused on tackling “a tough task getting even tougher”, after data last month showed Britain had fallen back into recession.

“We’ve got to sort out our debts, get real growth and change this country, so that once again it rewards people who work hard, want to get on and play by the rules. And that’s what I am here to do,” Cameron will say.

LONDON (Reuters) – A newspaper embarrassed the organisers of the 2012 Olympic Games on Sunday by disclosing it had smuggled a fake bomb past two security checkpoints into the London complex housing the sporting festival’s main stadiums.

The best-selling Sun newspaper conducted the stunt on Friday, at the end of a week-long pre-Olympics military exercise that saw a warship sail up the River Thames and plans announced to put missiles on rooftops near the Games venue in east London.

The government’s Home Office department, responsible for domestic security, said it had asked the Games organisers to investigate the incident and report back urgently to interior minister Theresa May.

The paper said it had given the fake device – a plastic box containing wires and harmless Plasticine – to the driver of a mechanical digger working on the construction of the park, who then drove with it past security guards into the site.

The driver had contacted the paper because he was concerned that he was searched only when he arrived each morning, and was then able to leave and re-enter without further checks, it said.

“If I had terrorist connections I could be bringing in explosives, chemicals – anything at all,” the paper quoted him as saying, without revealing his identity.

Video published on the paper’s website showed the driver being waved past two checkpoints. He also took photos of himself with the mock explosive near the main stadium, a day before it was formally opened at a test event with a 40,000-strong crowd.

LONDON, May 6 (Reuters) – A newspaper embarrassed the organisers of the 2012 Olympic Games on Sunday by disclosing it had smuggled a fake bomb past two security checkpoints into the London complex housing the sporting festival’s main stadiums.

The best-selling Sun newspaper conducted the stunt on Friday, at the end of a week-long pre-Olympics military exercise that saw a warship sail up the River Thames and plans announced to put missiles on rooftops near the Games venue in east London.

The government’s Home Office department, responsible for domestic security, said it had asked the Games organisers to investigate the incident and report back urgently to interior minister Theresa May.

The paper said it had given the fake device – a plastic box containing wires and harmless Plasticine – to the driver of a mechanical digger working on the construction of the park, who then drove with it past security guards into the site.

The driver had contacted the paper because he was concerned that he was searched only when he arrived each morning, and was then able to leave and re-enter without further checks, it said.

“If I had terrorist connections I could be bringing in explosives, chemicals – anything at all,” the paper quoted him as saying, without revealing his identity.

Video published on the paper’s website showed the driver being waved past two checkpoints. He also took photos of himself with the mock explosive near the main stadium, a day before it was formally opened at a test event with a 40,000-strong crowd.

LONDON, May 4 (Reuters) – Boris Johnson dodged a humiliating nationwide defeat for Prime Minister David Cameron by winning London in local elections that saw voters angry at Britain’s economic woes flock to opposition Labour and a right-wing anti-European fringe party.

Maverick mayor Johnson’s silver-lining win in London was the only good news for Cameron whom local media said had been given a bloody nose by voters upset at spending cuts and Britain’s return to recession.

Even Johnson, who as one of the most popular politicians in Cameron’s own party is tipped as a possible future prime minister, saw his majority slashed, claiming victory only after a lengthy count that had put him head to head with his rival, Labour candidate Ken Livingstone.

“I will continue to fight for a good deal for Londoners, a good deal from the government that will help us deliver prosperity for everybody in this city,” Johnson, famous for his ruffled fair hair, said after the vote count at London’s City Hall, a rounded glass building on the Thames.

Johnson failed to mention the wider Conservative defeat, but his challenger, Livingstone, said that the victory could put Johnson on course to one day lead the Conservative party.

With results declared in all 181 councils being contested across the country, Labour had gained 823 new councillors while the Conservatives had lost 405 and their Liberal Democrat coalition partners were down by 336.

After preaching economic prudence, Cameron’s coalition government was damaged by a return to recession and weeks of blunders that made ministers appear out of touch with voters struggling with high unemployment, price rises and low wages.

LONDON (Reuters) – Turkish Cypriot authorities are preparing a unilateral “Plan B” for northern Cyprus should long-running talks on reunifying the divided Mediterranean island founder, according to a senior envoy for the breakaway state.

Kudret Ozersay did not elaborate what form the action might take; but Turkish media have suggested northern Cyprus might allow Greek Cypriots to reclaim property in Varosha, a seafront town seized by Turkish troops in a 1974 invasion triggered by a Greek-backed coup intended to unite the island with Greece.

Varosha, with its decaying high-rise hotels, now stands abandoned and fenced off, patrolled by Turkish troops monitoring the demarcation line with Greek Cyprus. Reclamation of buildings by Greek Cypriots who fled the fighting, or their descendants, could mark a breakthrough in relations between the two sides.

Varosha, in the north-east of the island, has generally been regarded as a potential diplomatic bargaining counter for Turkey in contacts with Greek Cypriots over the future of the island.

“(While) comprehensive settlement talks continue, I do not believe something can be done about Varosha,” Ozersay said, in a response leaving open the possibility of change in the town’s status should the talks collapse.

He said Turkish Cypriots remained willing to participate in a wide-ranging settlement with the island’s larger Greek community in the south but were ready to act alone if no way forward could be found.

Efforts to reunite the island have repeatedly failed, with the latest negotiations, launched in 2008, hitting an impasse over fraught issues such as the return of property to internally displaced islanders.

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s military has told residents of an upscale apartment development near the Olympic Park in east London it is installing a missile battery on top of a tower within their housing complex to defend the 2012 Games this summer.

The site is one of a number around the capital the army is considering as bases for surface-to-air missiles to protect the London games from an aerial attack, the Ministry of Defence said.

It is the first time such missiles have been deployed in London since the end of World War Two, shocking some residents at the Bow Quarter housing development, sited in a converted red-brick Victorian match factory.

“There was no consultation, no one knocked on the door,” Brian Whelan, a 28-year-old journalist, told Reuters. “You just wake up one morning, there’s a leaflet telling you they are going to put missiles on the roof.”

The measure was excessive and had upset his girlfriend, he said. “I can’t imagine the circumstances that would require you to fire missiles over a highly populated area.”

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond first announced the plans in November, saying Britain would follow the precedent set by previous Olympics such as the Beijing games in 2008 where surface to air missiles were stationed a kilometre south of its showpiece stadiums.

The defence ministry said in a leaflet sent to occupants on Saturday it had chosen the former water tower in the Bow Quarter complex because it offered “an excellent view of the surrounding area and the entire sky above the Olympic Park.”

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s wealthiest people saw their fortunes rise to record levels last year, according to the annual Sunday Times Rich List, at a time when most Britons’ earnings and savings were squeezed by inflation and low interest rates.

Lakshmi Mittal retained his crown as Britain’s richest man despite losing almost a quarter of his wealth over the past year following a fall in the share value of his ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaker.

The combined wealth of Britain’s 1,000 richest people swelled by almost five percent to more than 414 billion pounds, the highest recorded by the 24-year-old survey, the Sunday Times newspaper said in an advance release on Saturday.

Some 77 members of the 2012 rich list were billionaires, two more than the previous record in 2008.

Their good fortune contrasted with the economic plight of many Britons who face five years of austerity aimed at wiping out a record budget deficit as the economy struggles to recover from the 2008 financial crisis.

The three top places in the list were dominated by foreign-born magnates with a base in Britain who earned their fortunes from resource-based industries such as minerals, steel and oil.

Indian-born Mittal saw his personal worth slide by 4.8 billion pounds to 12.7 billion pounds, but that was still enough to keep him narrowly on top of the list.