Mo Mowlam to stand down

In Britain, the government has announced that the former minister for Northern Ireland, Mo Mowlam, will stand down as a member of parliament at the next election.

A spokesman for the prime minister described the move as a career decision.

Ms Mowlam played a vital role in the Northern Ireland peace agreement which was signed in 1998, but she was replaced after criticism from the Ulster Unionists, which wants to keep the links between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service