British Justice Secretary Jack Straw says his decision to grant a pardon to a soccer fan convicted of attempted murder was based on another man's confession. Michael Shields, 22, was released from prison Wednesday after being pardoned for the 2005 beating of a bartender in Bulgaria during a stopover by Liverpool supporters returning from a match in Turkey. Shields was met by his parents outside the juvenile prison in Warrington and whisked away after waving to a crowd of supporters. Straw said the pardon was granted because he believes Shields was morally and technically innocent. At first he couldn't believe it after all these years and knockbacks, Shield's solicitor, John Weate, told the Times of London.

Text of report in English by state-run Vietnamese news agency VNA website Hanoi: Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Phu Trong has called for closer cooperative ties between the Vietnamese and UK parliaments, particularly in the legislative and judicial areas.

By Matthew Hickley JACK Straw wants to ban the courts from granting bail to murder suspects. The move follows the case of policeman Gary Weddell, who killed his mother-in-law and then himself while awaiting trial for murdering his wife.

JUSTICE Secretary Jack Straw is to meet MPs to discuss the recent murder of Warrington man Garry Newlove by a teenager who had been released on bail.

By Edward Heathcoat Amory Health Targets and bureaucracy are the problem. The health budget has doubled in real terms, but between 1999 and 2005, the number of nurses rose 22 per cent, the number of doctors by 28 per cent and the number of senior managers by 64 per cent.