LONDON - British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said "very serious mistakes" were made over a sex scandal that has rocked his Liberal Democrat party ahead of a crucial by-election. Clegg repeated his insistence that he was unaware of allegations of sexual harassment by several female party workers against former party chief executive Chris Rennard until they emerged last week. But he conceded that rumours about the behaviour of Rennard - who strongly denies groping the women - had been "in the background" of the peer's resignation due to ill health in 2009. AFP
LONDON - The inquiry into the death of a former Russian spy poisoned in London with radioactive tea will close its hearings to the press and public when it reviews files Britain says contain sensitive information. The judge leading the probe issued the decision after lawyers for the Home Office asked for a so-called public immunity certificate, or PII, over information about Alexander Litvinenko, a critic of the Kremlin who lived in London and died in November of 2006. Bloomberg