They trio have until July 20 to reverse steps they took to hide millions in international property assets from the former Anglo Irish Bank.
Ex-billionaire Quinn, son Sean and nephew Peter Darragh Quinn avoided a prison term yesterday for contempt of court after stashing away a €500million property portfolio from the lender.
They had tried to shift holdings in Ukraine and Russia into shelf companies and conceal them from the rebranded zombie bank.
But they could still find themselves locked up if they don't comply with court orders.
In a damning judgment, High Court Judge Elizabeth Dunne said the men had been blatantly dishonest when questioned on the stand.
Yesterday she warned them to disclose ALL assets here and worldwide and ordered a receiver to be appointed to review their holdings apart from family homes and joint accounts.
The men must resign from the board of directors or any executive or managerial position within the Quinn International Property Group.
And they must also reverse any steps taken to transfer assets out of the Quinn Group.
Judge Dunne added: "I find it disappointing, at even this late stage, there seems to be no acknowledgment of the wrongdoing that has been done by the respondents."
And she declared she would not "sit idly by" if assets were stripped a second time.
Quinn owes Irish Bank Resolution Corporation €2.8billion after running up losses through secret stock investments in Anglo. The court will reassess the Quinns' level of co-operation with IBRC at a later date.
A Northern Ireland man is one of a team of scientists who have made a groundbreaking discovery about tornadoes on the surface of the sun.
Dr Eamon Scullion from County Antrim, and a team at the University of Oslo have solved an important piece of a long-standing puzzle in astrophysics.
It involves magnetic tornadoes which swirl at speeds of 1,100 km per hour on the surface of the sun.
There are as many as 12,000 of these at any time.
They contribute to heating the sun's outer atmosphere.
"It is generally believed that the large magnetic arcades in the solar atmosphere, which are anchored to the bubbling sun surface, can transport outwards the energy required for heating," Dr Scullion said.
"We have discovered an alternative but widespread way of transporting enough energy for atmospheric heating due to relentless twisting of the magnetic arcades at their footpoints."
The team made their finding after studying extremely high resolution observations from the Swedish Solar telescope at La Palma in the Canary Islands.
They also studied data from the Nasa Solar Dynamics Observatory. Putting the information together, they were able to establish the significance of the tornadoes.
The other scientists involved included Dr Oskar Steiner, Dr Luck Rouppe van der Voot and Dr Sven Wedemeyer-Bohm.
"This discovery will change the face of modern day solar and stellar physics research," Dr Scullion said.
He is originally from the village of Loughguile and began his career at St Louis Grammar School, Ballymena, following by Queen's, Belfast, the University of Glasgow and University of Sheffield.
He is currently doing research at the University of Oslo in Norway.
Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell declared a state of emergency and authorized the National Guard to assist with clearing trees and directing traffic. McDonnell (R) said the storm triggered Virginia's largest non-hurricane power outage in history and forced the closure of 250 secondary and rural roads because of fallen trees.
"This is a very dangerous situation for Virginia,'' McDonnell said, urging residents to check on elderly neighbors and those without electricity. "Recovery will be difficult,'' he said. "It's going to be days before power is fully restored in the commonwealth."
Two fatalities were reported in the Springfield area of Fairfax County. A falling tree struck a car at Old Keene Mill Road and Bauer Drive, killing the male driver, said Officer Don Gotthardt, a Fairfax County police spokesman. A 90-year-old woman, lying in bed, was killed when a tree fell on her house, authorities said.
A fallen tree also apparently killed a 71-year-old woman in her bed in in Silver Spring, Montgomery County police said. In Anne Arundel County, a 25-year-old Edgewater man was killed when a tree fell on his car as he was driving on Harwood Road.
In Northwest Washington, a person after touching a live electrical wire, said Pepco authorities, who urged people to be cautious around the many down lines.
In addition to the five local fatalities, four deaths were reported elsewhere in Virginia — two each in Albemarle and Bedford counties. Meanwhile, four people were rescued and one person still missing after boat swamped and capsized last night off Chesapeake Beach in Calvert County, Maryland State Police said.
"We had a very historic event last night," Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) told reporters on a late-morning conference call. He predicted "a very uncomfortable day ahead for a whole lot of Marylanders."
Metrobus riders faced delays Saturday morning on more than two dozen routes as drivers attempted to navigate around downed trees, downed power lines and large pools of standing water, said Metro spokesman Dan Stessel.
Metrorail service, meanwhile, opened on time Saturday, but five stations were still operating on back-up power — Forest Glen, Takoma, Twinbrook, College Park and Clarendon. Court House station lost power and Metro deployed shuttle buses on the Orange line between Clarendon and Rosslyn.
Crews worked to replace a section of track near Twinbrook after a metal pole from a tent used by a nearby car dealership hit a section of electrified rail just before 11 p.m. leaving a gash.
But the main course is obviously the tablet — a stock Google experience with a price point clearly meant to put a hurt on Amazon's Kindle Fire, and sway potential buyers of Apple's lower-end iPad 2. Android as a tablet platform has stumbled thus far — can Google finally begin to make an impact in an increasingly crowded market? Read on for my full review to find out.
Hardware and design
For a $200 tablet, the Asus-made Nexus 7 is impressively built and styled. Like most other tablets, what you mainly see is a glossy, black-bezeled display. In this case, that display is ringed by a matte silver band which looks like metal, but is a rigid plastic. Around back, the device is covered in a soft-touch, dimpled material which has the feel of taut leather. Amusingly, Android design chief Matias Duarte told me that the idea was to mimic "Steve McQueen style" driving gloves — and the effect is definitely there.
On the bottom ridge of the device is a Micro USB port and on the right side (in portrait mode) you'll find the volume rocker and sleep / power button. On the left edge, there are surface "pogo plug" connectors for a dock, and on the front of the Nexus there's a small camera embedded in the upper bezel.
The tablet weighs 0.74 pounds (compared with the Kindle Fire's 0.9 pounds), is 0.41 inches thick (the new iPad is 0.37 inches), and measures 7.8 inches by 4.7 inches up and across, respectively.
It feels good to hold in your hands. That soft backing strikes me as decidedly different than other tablets in its class, and seems far more smudge resistant than something like the Fire. The bezel on the front looks a bit too large for the screen size, though when reading a book I found the extra real estate helpful because I had something to grip (in fact, Duarte told me that the design was intentional, not a victim of cheap parts). There are a few very minor build issues, like the fact that the display can give a little and cause the LCD to ripple if you really press hard against the screen, but most users will never press hard enough to notice.
In all, I'm impressed by what Asus and Google have done with the Nexus 7. It's a classy, well-made product from a design standpoint. It may not be the most original, thinnest, or lightest tablet on the market, but it's certainly a respectable and refined entrant to the race. Bottom line — this is a much better feeling and looking tablet than anything else in its price range.
To many it always seemed more than a little weird, the whirlwind romance of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes with its very public, very emphatic proclamations of love.
Now, after nearly six years of marriage, Holmes is divorcing Cruise. She filed citing "irreconcilable differences" and seeking sole legal custody and "primary residential custody" of 6-year-old Suri.
Internet sites have been running hot with theories. Holmes reportedly tried to file anonymously but her name got out.
There's already wild speculation, especially over Holmes' request for sole custody, with some commentators wondering about the part Cruise's belief in Scientology played.
Website TMZ said sources claimed Holmes filed primarily over Cruise's fierce ties to Scientology, fearing that Tom would drag Suri into the church.
"Our sources say ... Katie has never been fully committed to Scientology, even though she has had ties with the church. We're told the couple had been arguing over Suri, that she's now of the age where Scientology becomes a significant part of her life.
Sources familiar with the split tell us Katie is filing for sole legal custody ... specifically because she does not want Tom to control decisions relating to religion."
Meanwhile, Cruise's representative Amanda Lundberg said he was "deeply saddened and is concentrating on his three children".
Holmes' attorney, Jonathan Wolfe, made a similar plea: "This is a personal and private matter for Katie and her family. Katie's primary concern remains, as it always has been, her daughter's best interest."
The Tomkat duo's bond puzzled many, despite Cruise's famously euphoric couch-jumping on The Oprah Winfrey Show and Holmes' starry-eyed confession that she'd had a crush on the Top Gun star when she was a girl. Cruise turns 50 on Tuesday, Holmes is 33.
They'd kiss passionately for photographers on red carpets and were all-too happy to share the romantic details of their engagement: He popped the question at the Eiffel Tower in Paris early one morning in June 2005. And the November 2006 wedding was a fairy-tale, A-list extravaganza at a 15th-century Italian castle before a Scientology minister.
Critics claim it always felt like they were trying so hard to prove they were in love.
"I can't be cool. I can't be laidback," Cruise said during his Oprah appearance. "Something happened and I want to celebrate it."
Cruise has two children with Nicole Kidman. The actor was also previously married to Mimi Rogers. This was Holmes' first marriage.
Cruise showed up alone at recent premieres of the musical film Rock of Ages, in which he's earning strong reviews for his performance as an Axl Rose-style lead singer. Holmes also was absent this month when Cruise received the Friars Club Entertainment Icon Award. Kelly Lynch, editor of the pop-culture website Socialite Life, said she was surprised by the split because she figured that, no matter what, Cruise and Holmes would always try to maintain the meticulously crafted image that they were the perfect couple.
"Despite some of my reservations about the relationship, I thought they were happy to kind of swim along as man and wife, despite reports in every sort of magazine that they weren't getting along, that Katie is trapped in the marriage," Lynch said. "But I never truly believed that they were truly in love. It felt very arranged."
The couple, who have not been seen together since February, are estimated to be worth about US$275 million ($343m) combined.
Cruise is currently in Iceland filming sci-fi movie Oblivion, while Holmes has remained in New York.
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German lawmakers and a democracy group filed suits challenging the country's participation in Europe's fiscal pact and the permanent bailout fund after parliament approved the measures late yesterday. The group "Europe Needs More Democracy" filed a complaint at the Karlsruhe-based Federal Constitutional Court on behalf of about 12,000 people who signed up via the Internet, it said on its website after the bills were passed. Peter Gauweiler, a lawmaker from the Bavarian sister party of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats, also filed a petition with the court, he said on his website.
Opposition Left Party lawmakers also filed a complaint, spokesman Michael Schlick said by phone today.
The plaintiffs claim that the ESM and the fiscal pact undermine the principle of democratic rule and intrude on the powers of German lawmakers. The new instruments overstep the limits the German constitution sets for European integration. The new rules should only take effect if approved by a referendum, the documents contend.
Germany's parliament approved the laws last night. The measures won two-thirds majorities in both the lower and upper chambers, the Bundestag and Bundesrat, in sessions that stretched until nearly midnight.
Put on Hold
The two measures now await the signature of German President Joachim Gauck, who said June 21 that he would withhold passage pending potential lawsuits to challenge the new laws, as requested by the Karlsruhe court.
The suits also ask the judges to put both laws on hold while they consider their actions.
The plaintiffs rely on a September top court ruling which, while clearing Germany's participation in the European Financial Stability Facility temporary bailout fund, said parliament must keep control over "elementary budgetary decisions." Parliament may not relinquish its budget autonomy by "surrendering" to mechanisms that could lead to unpredictable burdens, the judges said at the time.
The court at the time cleared the EFSF because currency union rules didn't allow the assumption of liability for financial decisions by other states, "including direct or indirect communitization of government debt."
Germany's top court has limited Merkel's discretion in EU bailout policies in at least three rulings. On June 19, the court said the constitution requires the government to have parliament participate in matters of European Union integration, which also covers the ESM.
The judges in February limited the powers of a parliamentary committee set up to approve emergency actions by the EFSF, saying more lawmakers need to be involved.
PUBLISHED: 07:33 EST, 30 June 2012 | UPDATED: 07:33 EST, 30 June 2012
A man has appeared in court today charged with the murder of a heavily pregnant woman and the killing of her unborn baby girl.
Tony McLernon, 23, is accused of killing 20-year-old Eystna Blunnie, who was found fatally injured in a street in Harlow, Essex in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
He was also charged with child destruction after it emerged that Ms Blunnie from Harlow was heavily pregnant at the time of her death.
Essex Police said McLernon appeared before magistrates in Chelmsford and was remanded in custody to appear at Chelmsford Crown Court on Tuesday.
Brutal: The body of pregnant Eystna Blunnie, pictured, was found dying on the side of a road in Harlow
Ms Blunnie from Harlow, Essex, was found with severe head and facial injuries on a busy road less than a quarter of a mile from her family home.
She was taken to Princess Alexandra hospital in Harlow at 3am on Wednesday but died of multiple head and facial injuries.
When she died, her profile picture on Facebook featured a recent ultrasound scan. She told friends she 'could not wait' to be a mother and added: 'Only 17 days and counting.'
Ms Blunnie's parents Kevin and Susan described her attack, near to Howard Way, Harlow, in the early hours of Wednesday morning as 'horrific'.
Distraught: People lay flowers on the side of a main road Howard Way, Harlow near to where Eystna Blunnie and her unborn baby were brutally beaten to death
Grief: Two friends console each other beside tributes to the college student who was due to give birth
They said: 'We hope that you will understand that we have suffered a tragic loss to our family. Our daughter and granddaughter have been taken from us in such a tragic and horrific way.
'We can't begin to explain how we feel. Eystna was a wonderful and loving daughter who was looking forward to the birth of her first child. Sadly this will no longer be.
'We hope that everyone will understand the sadness in our hearts and let us mourn our sadness of the passing of our loved ones.'
Friends paid tribute to Miss Blunnie leaving flowers on a park bench near the patch of grass where Miss Blunnie was found.
Tragic: More friends of Eystna Blunnie, lay floral tributes at the scene. They have also written messages of condolence on Facebook
One friend, Chloe Hickman, 20, wrote: 'It's a terrible and wicked thing to happen to such a lovely, bubbly girl.
'Eystna was such a popular and positive person and was due to be induced at the weekend. She was really looking forward to becoming a mum.'
Family friend Sally Bugg, 57, said: 'She was bundle of joy and was so looking forward to being a mum.
'We saw her during the Jubilee and she was cuddling her baby bump and smiling from ear to ear. It's absolutely heart-breaking what has happened.'
Shocking: A mourner reads some of the touching messages left at the spot where Miss Blunnie was found
One of Eystna's close friends Charlotte Bird wrote on Facebook: 'Hates that I'm gonna go bed tonight and not sleep a wink but all I will be thinking bout are my 2 Beautiful darling Angels tonight who are at peace and now out of trouble sleep tight princesses.'
When Eystna was five months pregnant she told friends online she was hoping to give birth to a boy, but the brave expectant mother was preparing for life as a single mother.
Describing herself on her profile page Eystna said: 'I'm 20yrs old 21yrs old this year and going to be a mummy soon can't wait.'
An Essex Police spokesman said: 'Estyna was heavily pregnant at the time of her death. She was due to give birth to a baby girl in the next few days.'
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PUBLISHED: 12:20 EST, 29 June 2012 | UPDATED: 07:51 EST, 30 June 2012
Detectives were today questioning five suspects in connection with the murder of a man who was stabbed at a busy shopping centre just yards from the Olympic Park.
The 24-year-old victim, who is yet to be named, was knifed after a fight broke out between a large group of males at Westfield in Stratford, east London, yesterday afternoon.
Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.
Tragic: Forensic officers attends the scene at Westfield in Stratford, east London, after a man was stabbed to death
Injured: Scotland Yard said two other males suffered minor injuries during the attack, which happened in a busy area of the shopping centre called The Street
Scotland Yard said two other males suffered minor injuries during the attack, which happened in a busy area of the shopping centre called The Street.
Five men, aged between 20 and 23, have been arrested in connection with the death and are being held in custody.
Detectives have appealed for shoppers or anyone who witnessed the incident to come forward with information.
Acting Detective Chief Inspector Andy Kelly said: 'We believe that shoppers at the centre may have filmed or photographed some part of the incident on their mobile phones.
Twitpic: A member of the public Tweeted this picture of the cordoned off area at Westfield Shopping Centre
Another shopper, @sloughbadboy, posted this picture of Westfield in Stratford closed off to the public
'We encourage them to come forward and share this potentially vital material with us.'
Police said a post-mortem examination on the victim, who is from Stratford, will be arranged. His next of kin have been informed.
A force spokesman said: 'Police were called at 4.24pm on Friday June 29 to reports of a fight involving a large group of males in The Street on the ground floor of Westfield, Stratford.
'Officers and London Ambulance Service attended the scene. A man suffering stab wounds, believed aged in his 20s, was pronounced dead at the scene.
'We understand two other males suffered minor injuries.'
London Ambulance ?service added: 'We were called just before 4.25pm to reports of a stabbing at Westfield in Stratford and sent two ambulance crews, a responder in a car, an officer and London's Air Ambulance to the scene.
Police said a post-mortem examination on the victim, who is from Stratford, will be arranged. His next of kin have been informed.
Shock: Members of the public took to Twitter to express their shock at what happened at the popular shopping centre, which only opened in September last year
'Sadly, despite extensive efforts to resuscitate him, the patient was pronounced dead at the scene.
'We were also called to Stratford underground station and sent two further ambulance crews and another responder in a car.
'Two male patients were treated at the scene, one of them for stab wounds and a second for minor injuries, and both have been taken to hospital.'
Members of the public took to Twitter to express their shock at what happened at the popular shopping centre, which only opened in September last year.
Popular: Westfield in Stratford City near the Olympic park in East London opened in September 2011
One user JennaRoseMoore posted a picture of the cordoned off area within the shopping centre and wrote: 'Somethin goin down in Westfield, Popo and cordens. Can't even get to Nandos without an interview!'
Another Twitter user, Sinner @KenishaParamore, wrote: 'Somebody got stabbed to death in Westfield -_- that's what happens when you bring good things to East London. #hatelondon #iwanttomove'.
Price Angelou ?@NovelistPrice wrote: 'R.I.P to the young man who got stabbed to death today at Stratford Westfield. It's a sad world we live in.'
A spokesman from the shopping centre said: 'Westfield can confirm an incident occurred this afternoon at Westfield Stratford City.
'Westfield is working closely with the police and emergency services, however as this is a police matter we cannot provide any further details at this stage.'
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An urgent independent review into the inter-bank lending rate is to be set up by the Government next week following the interest rigging scandal.
The review will consider the future operation of the Libor rate and the possibility of introducing criminal sanctions, a Treasury source said.
Bob Diamond, the chief executive of Barclays - the first bank to be exposed in the scandal - has been summoned to appear before the Treasury Select Committee next Wednesday.
Prime Minister David Cameron said issues like whether bank bosses would be questioned under oath would have to be "carefully considered".
Bank of England governor Sir Mervyn King has demanded a 'change in culture'
He said: "There's no need to make a snap judgement, but I think it's very important above all that the government takes all of the actions necessary – holding bankers accountable, making sure they pay their taxes, making sure there's proper transparency, making sure the criminal law can go wherever it needs to to uncover wrongdoing, all of those things need to happen.
"On the issue of inquiries...let's think this through, let's get this right, that's what I'm determined to do and that's what we will do."
The inquiry announcement comes as Ed Miliband called for a full-scale public inquiry into banking culture and practices as the City was rocked by two major scandals in the space of a week.
The Labour leader said the industry was plagued by an "institutional corruption" that could only be eradicated by introducing a tough new code of conduct and jail sentences for immoral bankers who abuse the system.
His comments were echoed by Bank of England Governor Sir Mervyn King who demanded a "real change in culture" as Britain's lenders were left reeling following a week blighted by controversy.
Mr Miliband pushed for a 12-month probe to "find out what is going on in the dark corners of the banks" after the FSA uncovered "serious failings" in the sale of complex financial products to small businesses, just days after the rate-rigging affair emerged at Barclays.
Barclays chief executive Bob Diamond is under pressure to resign
Chancellor George Osborne has confirmed that HSBC, RBS, Citigroup and UBS are also under investigation.
In an interview with The Times, Mr Miliband said: "There hasn't been a proper reckoning for what happened in the banking crisis. The bankers told us - it's all fine, we've cleaned everything up. But I'm afraid that doesn't hold water anymore."
Calling for a systemic look at the customs and practices of the industry, he added: "We've got to have an open, independent inquiry with hearings to find out what is going on in the dark corners of the banks.
"Some of it clearly was illegal, but it goes well beyond that.
"There is a problem with how people operate. This isn't just about regulation, it's also about culture and ethics."
Mr Miliband said the inquiry - set up with cross-party support - would be asked to draw up a bankers' code of conduct going beyond the "narrow" professional standards enforced by the Financial Services Authority (FSA).
RBS boss Stephen Hester waived his 2012 bonus
Calling for the worst offenders to receive prison sentences, he added: "It should be about probity, honesty, integrity. Bankers should be struck off if they do the wrong thing...this is not a victimless crime."
Sky's Business Correspondent Alistair Bunkall says: "The government is under pressure to announce a Leveson-style independent inquiry.
"Instead they've gone for an independent review into the particular sector of banking that has been affected by this scandal: the LIBOR rate.
"The advantage of this will be speed and cost. Both the Prime Minister and Governor of the Bank of England say they know what is wrong and what needs to be fixed.
A full-scale independent inquiry would be lengthy, but it would be transparent and in-depth, and that would help satisfy an angry public."
Sir Mervyn said he believed a Leveson-style inquiry was not needed, but slammed conduct in the industry.
He said: "From excessive levels of compensation, to shoddy treatment of customers, to a deceitful manipulation of one of the most important interest rates and now news of yet another mis-selling scandal we can see we need a real change in the culture of the industry."
He added that hard-working bank staff have been "let down" and that banks now needed "leadership of an unusually high order".
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) revealed earlier that Barclays, HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group had agreed to pay compensation to customers who were mis-sold interest-rate hedging products.
Some 28,000 of the products have been sold since 2001 and may have been offered as protection - or to act as a hedge - against a rise in interest rates without the customer fully grasping the downside risks.
The findings come after Barclays was fined £290m by UK and US regulators for manipulating the rate at which banks lend to each other, and echoes the costly payment protection insurance (PPI) mis-selling scandal that emerged last year.
Banks are facing the threat of a criminal investigation over fixing the interbank lending figures that affect millions of homeowners and small firms.
The Treasury has started to look at strengthening criminal sanctions for those responsible for market abuse after the FSA exposed the dealings at Barclays on Wednesday.
Serious Fraud Office investigators are in talks with the regulator over the scandal, while pressure is mounting on Barclays chief executive Mr Diamond to stand down.
Mr Miliband described the Barclays fiasco as "the unacceptable face of capitalism," and called on Mr Diamond to step down.
David Cameron had said the Barclays' chief executive had "questions to answer", but Mr Diamond, who was head of the bank's investment arm at the time of the allegations, reportedly told a meeting of analysts at US bank Morgan Stanley that he would not resign.
The American banker, who waived his bonus for 2012 in light of the claims, has agreed to appear in front of the Treasury Select Committee to account for his bank's actions.
HSBC and taxpayer-backed RBS are among several other lenders being investigated by the City watchdog for trying to influence the Libor and Euribor interbank lending rates to boost their profits.
Meanwhile, RBS boss Stephen Hester waived his 2012 annual bonus following the IT fiasco that caused major problems for thousands of NatWest customers.
PUBLISHED: 12:28 EST, 30 June 2012 | UPDATED: 12:30 EST, 30 June 2012
Flaming June did not arrive this year and instead the month proved a wet wash-out across Britain.
Storms, hailstones as big as golf balls and families forced to evacuate their flooded homes were all scenes which unfolded due to June's unseasonably wet weather.
Since records began in 1910, the wettest June recorded was in 2007 when there were heavy floods in the north of the country.
Previously, the second wettest June was in 1912 and the Met Office said that we have already far surpassed the amount of rain that fell in that month.
Riding the wave: A wave of flood water hits a police 4X4 as it struggles to drive through flooded streets in Gateshead
Hail: The ground looks like it is covered in snow in Queniborough, Leicestershire, following a storm earlier this week
On Friday, the Environment Agency confirmed that the period from April to June had been the wettest since records began.
And it doesn't look like the start of July will be much better as Chris Burton, of forecasters Meteogroup, said: 'Next week looks unsettled again with lots of wet weather around.'
The torrential rain and fierce storms have been put down to a weather phenomenon known as the Spanish plume, forecasters said.
The pattern occurs when warm, moist air sweeping up from the south is lifted by a cold weather front from the west bringing prolonged and exceptionally intense downpours.
A flash thunderstorm in Newcastle-upon-Tyne this week turned the roads into rivers
Many homeowners were forced to remove ruined furniture from their homes after flash floods
Water, water everywhere: June 2012 looks set to be one of the wettest on record
Paul Knightley, senior forecaster at MeteoGroup, said: 'It is a pattern that when it sets up in the correct fashion will produce spectacular thunder storms.'
The Spanish plume was behind three rare 'super cell' thunderstorms that swept across the Midlands this week bringing hailstones the size of golf balls in some areas.
The Godiva Festival due to take place in Coventry's War Memorial Park over the weekend that was expected to attract more than 100,000 revelers has been cancelled due to the heavy rain.
Elsewhere, swathes of the Midlands were hit by intense downpours, with some parts receiving almost an inch of rain in just an hour - a third of the average rainfall for the whole month of June.
A store owner in Durham tries to put his livelihood back together after heavy rainfall caused severe flooding
Despite the huge downpours across the country, some of the more determined were still keen to go about their daily routines as normal
Remarkably for June, North Tyneside Council said it dealt with more than 200 flood-related incidents in the borough and that at least eight schools were closed due to flooding or water damage following the afternoon deluge.
The figures for this month's rainfall will not be released until June 2nd, but it is anticipated that rainfall will be amongst the highest ever for the month.
Yesterday it was announced by the Met Office that 130.1mm of rainfall had fallen in the month - just 6.0 mm off the record for June 2007.
It has already been confirmed that this month has been the wettest June in Wales on record.
186.3mm of rain fell in the country beating the previous highest amount of rainfall for June - 183.1mm - which had been set in 1998.
A landslip on the East Coast Main Line in Scremerston, near Berwick, caused chaos for travelers
Many rail passengers had their journeys disrupted due to adverse weather conditions more typical of other times in the year
As well as having to put up with a higher than average amount of rain, people looking forward to enjoying the sun have also been disappointed this month.
With just 104.2 hours of sunshine for June so far, sunshine hours are just 62% of the long term average expected in the summer month.
Unsurprisingly, too, temperatures have been below average, with a mean temperature of 11.9c - 0.7c below average for June.
As well as the Spanish Plume, one of the main factors behind the dull weather so far this month has been the position of the jet stream, which has been much further south than usual.
This has led to low pressure systems ending up close to the UK for almost the whole month.
Despite the mostly dreadful weather this month, however, June appeared to end with a spell of more typical conditions for the month.
Yesterday saw a patch of hot and humid air pushed up into the country from Spain, which led to warm and muggy conditions.
The temperature in St James's Park in central London even reached 28.4c.
Typically, the sunshine did not last in many parts of the country, though, and there were thunderstorms across the UK.
Northern Ireland and Scotland were worst affected by the sudden downpours and a staggering 1,000 lightning strokes hit the UK during a five minute period yesterday.
Google Inc., trying to match its success in smartphones, stepped up its challenge to Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. in the $66.4 billion tablet market with the Nexus 7, a $199 device that sports a slim 7-inch screen.
The tablet will feature the latest version of the Android operating system, called Jelly Bean, the company said at its Google I/O developers conference Wednesday in San Francisco.
The Nexus 7 tablet, to be available in July, is being made in partnership with Taiwan's Asustek Computer Inc. It has a front-facing camera and runs on a Tegra 3 processor from Nvidia Corp., Google said today. The Jelly Bean version of Android provides faster speeds and other advances, including improvements to voice-based search.
Android tablets are already available from companies such as Samsung Electronics Co., HTC Corp. and Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc., which Google acquired last month for $12.5 billion. Amazon.com's 7-inch-display Kindle Fire tablet also runs on Google's operating system while featuring many of its own services, music and book sales.
The Nexus tablet should help Google compete with the Kindle Fire, given its price and size, said Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at Gartner Inc.
"They've definitely upped the game," he said. "Google felt they needed to build a device to show how Android should be delivered on the tablet."
A convicted murderer who escaped from prison has been recaptured, the Metropolitan police have announced.
John Massey, 64, scaled the walls of Pentonville prison in London on Wednesday but was arrested by police in Faversham in Kent on Friday.
A police spokesman said Massey was arrested at a house by detectives from the Metropolitan police specialist crime and operations command in an intelligence-led operation. He has been taken into custody at a north London police station. A second man was also arrested on suspicion of aiding and abetting an absconder.
It was Massey's third escape or breach of conditions of liberty in the 36 years since he was sentenced to life for a pub murder in Clapton, east London.
Massey was released on parole in June 2007 after spending the last 18 months of his life sentence in an open prison in Derbyshire preparing for freedom, it is understood. Under his parole terms, he was ordered to live in a bail hostel in Streatham, south London, under a curfew. After several months, he broke his curfew to spend a number of days living with his dying father.
He was recalled to prison but decategorised after two-and-a-half years before being sent to Ford open jail in West Sussex. Massey reportedly walked out of the prison after hearing news that his sister was gravely ill. He was rearrested 10 months later and taken to Pentonville before his latest escape.
The Prison Service said it was still investigating the circumstances of Massey's escape and "would press for the heaviest penalties for those who escape or attempt to escape".
Banking Royal Bank of Scotland's chief executive has pledged to waive his bonus this year after a computer systems failure left millions of customers at the UK bank and its subsidiary, Ulster Bank, without access to their accounts.
The promise has made Stephen Hester the second chief of a large UK bank to forgo his bonus this week after Bob Diamond came out with a similar move in conjunction with Barclays' admission that it had attempted to rig a benchmark interest rate.
"I think it's inappropriate for me to have a bonus this year. We have let our customers down," Mr Hester told the BBC yesterday.
RBS has struggled to resolve a backlog of tens of millions of transactions after a failed software update disrupted the bank's processing systems more than a week ago.
"That may have arisen from old systems and things that were before my time, but I think we could reasonably be expected to have improved things since then and clearly we didn't improve them enough, so it wouldn't cross my mind to have a bonus this year," Mr Hester said. – (Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2012)
Andy Murray takes on former grand slam finalist Marcos Baghdatis as he hopes to make it through to the next round of Wimbledon.
The Scot goes into the round three match the only Brit left in the tournament, after 20-year-old Heather Watson was knocked out on Thursday.
Murray will also feel the heat knowing his former coach Miles Maclagan, who now coaches Cypriot Baghdatis, is in the opposite camp.
Rafael Nadal's shock Wimbledon exit may have buoyed fans' hopes, but will also serve to ramp up the pressure on the 25-year-old.
Little-known Czech Lukas Rosol caused one of the biggest upsets in tennis history on Thursday when he dumped out the two-time Wimbledon champion in the second round.
The shock result saw bookmakers slash odds on Murray to win from 10/1 to 11/2.
Maclagan, who worked with Murray between 2007 and 2010, has been coaching Baghdatis since last summer.
Of the Nadal result, he said: "It affects Andy a lot. His job will be to stay thinking about the next match. The pressure increases for him because everyone's looking to see if he's going to play (Roger) Federer or (Novak) Djokovic in the final now."
Murray said he did not think have his former coach in the opposing camp would have any bearing on the match. He received another boost on Thursday when potential opponent Milos Raonic was beaten by America's Sam Querrey.
The British number one revealed he avoids watching replays of his games, and also tries to steer clear of lucky routines, although he does avoid wearing new socks.
The Government is facing mounting calls for an inquiry into banking culture and practices after a fresh mis-selling scandal capped a nightmare week for the industry.
Bank of England Governor Sir Mervyn King launched a scathing attack on the banking industry and demanded a "real change in culture" as Britain's lenders became embroiled in more controversy.
Opposition leader Ed Miliband pushed for a probe to "shine a light" on the industry after the FSA uncovered "serious failings" in the sale of complex financial products to small businesses, just days after the rate-rigging affair emerged at Barclays.
Taxpayer-backed Royal Bank of Scotland also confirmed it was being investigated for manipulating the rates at which banks lend to each other, known as Libor.
Meanwhile, RBS boss Stephen Hester waived his 2012 annual bonus following the IT fiasco that caused major problems for thousands of NatWest customers.
Sir Mervyn said he believed a Leveson-style inquiry was not needed, but slammed conduct in the industry. He said: "From excessive levels of compensation, to shoddy treatment of customers, to a deceitful manipulation of one of the most important interest rates and now news of yet another mis-selling scandal we can see we need a real change in the culture of the industry."
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) revealed earlier that Barclays, HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group had agreed to pay compensation to customers who were mis-sold interest-rate hedging products. Some 28,000 of the products have been sold since 2001 and may have been offered as protection - or to act as a hedge against a rise in interest rates without the customer fully grasping the downside risks.
The findings come after Barclays was fined 290 million by UK and US regulators for manipulating the rate at which banks lend to each other, and echoes the costly payment protection insurance (PPI) mis-selling scandal that emerged last year.
The Treasury has started to look at strengthening criminal sanctions for those responsible for market abuse after the FSA exposed the dealings at Barclays on Wednesday. Serious Fraud Office investigators are in talks with the regulator over the scandal, while pressure is mounting on Barclays chief executive Bob Diamond to stand down.
Asked whether Mr Diamond remained the right person to run Barclays, Prime Minister David Cameron said: "I can't say that. As I say, he has got questions to answer." He added: "People are rightly angry about the behaviour of the banks and so am I."
President-elect Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood pre-empted the military's choreographed swearing-in ceremony by taking his oath of office a day early in a televised speech to tens of thousands of supporters in Tahrir Square on Friday.
But his rousing tribute to Egyptian sovereignty may be overshadowed by a promise likely to complicate relations with the United States: to work for the release of the Egyptian-born Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, jailed for plotting to bomb a series of New York City landmarks.
The comments appeared to come almost offhandedly in the context of a pledge to free Egyptian civilians imprisoned after military trials during the transition after the ouster of Hosni Mubarak.
"I see signs for Omar Abdel Rahman and detainees' pictures," he said, referring to placards held by the crowd. "It is my duty and I will make all efforts to have them free, including Omar Abdel Rahman."
The Muslim Brotherhood moved quickly to try to shift the focus of Morsi's pledge, saying in a statement on its website that the goal was a potential humanitarian extradition to Egypt and that there was no attempt to question Abdel Rahman's 1995 convictions for plotting terrorism against targets in the United States or Egypt.
The comments could deepen existing U.S. suspicions of Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood, an 84-year-old Islamist group with a long history of opposition to the policies of both the United States and Israel.
Abdel Rahman is serving a life sentence at the Butner Federal Correctional Institution in North Carolina. He was also convicted of plotting to kill Mubarak during a planned visit to New York in 1993 that never materialized, and was widely suspected - but never convicted - of involvement in the 1993 car bombing of the World Trade Center.
Signs calling for his release are always on display at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo and at almost every major gathering in Tahrir Square. Morsi's pledge to seek Abdel Rahman's release is likely to play well with the Egyptians who still resent the perception that Mubarak was a lackey to Washington.
The cash was spent on property, staff, travel, clothing and other expenses for the Prince, the Duchess of Cornwall, Princes William and Harry, and the Duchess of Cambridge.
Public funding for Clarence House climbed 11 per cent to £2.19m in 2011-12, an increase of £232,000 on the previous year, mostly due to the Prince and his immediate family undertaking more foreign tours, at the request of the Government.
However publication of the figures in the Annual Review raised concern about the level of spending by the family amid austerity for many members of the public during the recession.
A breakdown of staff numbers showed that Clarence House and Prince Charles's country home in Gloucestershire, Highgrove, employed the equivalent of 135 staff, including 19 gardeners and estate workers, eight press officers, 10 housekeepers, three chauffeurs, two valets and a butler.
Overall, in the year to 31 March, the Prince's income from his ancestral royal estate, the Duchy of Cornwall, rose 3 per cent to £18.2m. Of that, £12m went on official expenditure – including outfits and dresses for engagements – £4.4m on tax, and £2.6m on unofficial expenditure (the Prince's private spending) which was not broken down. Defending the rise in public support, Clarence House said: "The increase was due to several factors, including, more overseas visits by the Prince and the Duchess, more overseas visits by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and by Prince Harry, longer distances travelled during those visits, and the inclusion in the latest financial year of part of the costs of a spring tour in 2011 to Portugal, Spain and Morocco."
During 2011-12, Charles and Camilla toured Scandinavia, South Africa and Tanzania; Charles visited Kuwait and Qatar; William and Kate embarked on their first tour as a married couple last summer to Canada; and Harry visited the Caribbean.
The annual report said the Prince and the Duchess helped raise, directly or indirectly, £131m for charity. It said Charles's 16 charities "represent, as a group, the largest multi-cause charitable enterprise in the UK".
Pay for most staff had been frozen last year, Clarence House said, adding that the arrival of the Duchess of Cambridge – whose wedding to William was partly funded by his father's private income – resulted in only "marginal" costs. A palace aide described the household as "one of the hardest-working operations in the country".
Graham Smith, chief executive of the campaign group Republic, was unimpressed. He said: "At a time when the country is facing sweeping cuts to public spending, Charles Windsor wilfully helps himself to whatever travel funds he wants or feel he needs. This 'something-for-nothing' culture in the Royal Household must end.
"Where the Government requests a royal makes an official trip the costs must be met directly by the relevant department. All other royal travel should be paid for by the Royal Family."
Where it all goes...
Charles's (and Camilla, Harry, William and Kate's) 135 staff:
Principal private secretary 1
Private secretary 1
Equerry 1
Administrators 21.8*
Charity administrators 5.3
Treasurers 13.2
Correspondence clerks 3.6
Archivists 3
Press officers 8
Travel managers 4
Personnel officers 8
Receptionist 1
Personal assistants 2
Housekeepers 10.8
Household assistants 5.4
Gardeners 19.4
Chefs/kitchen porters 5.3
Orderlies – 5.3
Chauffeurs – 3
Butlers 1.3
Valets and dressers 2.5
Staff for William, Kate and Harry 9
*Full-time equivalents.
Source: Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall Annual Review
Without agreement among the major powers on how to form a transitional government for Syria, Assad's regime which is Iran's closest ally would be emboldened to try to remain in power indefinitely — and that would also complicate the U.S. aim of preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.
At talks Friday night, top U.S. and Russian diplomats remained deadlocked over the negotiating text to agree on guidelines and principles for "a Syria-led transition."
Hopes have centered on persuading Russia, which is Syria's most important ally, protector and supplier of arms, to agree to a plan that would end the Assad family dynasty that has ruled Syria for more than four decades. But the Russians want Syria alone to be the master of its fate, at a time when Assad's regime and the opposition are increasingly bitterly polarized.
"Ultimately, we want to stop the bloodshed in Syria. If that comes through political dialogue, we are willing to do that," said Khalid Saleh, a spokesman for the Syrian National Council, a coalition of Syrian opposition groups in Istanbul, Turkey. "We are not willing to negotiate (with) Mr. Assad and those who have murdered Syrians. We are not going to negotiate unless they leave Syria."
The negotiating text for the multinational conference calls for establishing a transitional government of national unity, with full executive powers, that could include members of Assad's government and the opposition and other groups. It would oversee the drafting of a new constitution and elections.
But the text that would serve as the framework for Annan's peace efforts also would "exclude from government those whose continued presence and participation would undermine the credibility of the transition and jeopardize stability and reconciliation."
Foreign ministers from all five of the permanent, veto-wielding members of the U.N. Security Council — Britain, China, France, Russia and the U.S. — converged at the U.N.'s European headquarters in the sprawling Palais des Nations overlooking Lake Geneva and Mont Blanc. Russia and China have twice use their council veto to shield Syria from U.N. sanctions.
For his "Action Group on Syria," U.N.-Arab League envoy Annan also invited Turkey, the U.N. secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, the European Union and Iraq, Kuwait and Qatar as heads of three groups within the League of Arab States.
Major regional players Iran and Saudi Arabia were not invited. The Russians objected to the Saudis, who support the Syrian opposition. The U.S. objected to the Islamic Republic, which supports Assad's regime.
Much of the work remains to be hammered out by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who met for an hour in St. Petersburg before sharing dinner Friday before Clinton left Russia. Lavrov predicted the meeting had a "good chance" of finding a way forward, despite the grim conditions on the ground.
Russia insists that outsiders cannot order a political solution for Syria, while the U.S. is adamant that Assad should not be allowed to remain in power at the top of the transitional government.
But Clinton said Thursday in Riga, Latvia, that all participants in the Geneva meeting, including Russia, were on board with the transition plan. She told reporters that the invitations made clear that representatives "were coming on the basis of (Annan's) transition plan."
The uprising in Syria since March of last year has killed some 14,000 people and Syria has shot down a Turkish warplane. Turkey has responded by setting up anti-aircraft guns on its border with Syria. On Friday, Syrian troops shelled a suburb of Damascus, killing an estimated 125 civilians and 60 soldiers.
The United Nations says the violence in Syria has worsened since a cease-fire deal in April and the bloodshed appears to be taking on dangerous sectarian overtones, with growing numbers of Syrians targeted on account of their religion. The increasing militarization of both sides in the conflict has Syria heading toward civil war.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
ROGER Federer avoided following Rafael Nadal out of Wimbledon by coming from two sets down last night to beat Julien Benneteau.
Second seed Nadal's exit to unheralded Czech Lukas Rosol on Thursday night was one of the greatest grand slam shocks in recent memory.
Although a loss for Federer against the French 29th seed would not have been as great a surprise, it would still been a remarkable upset.
Six-time champion Federer last failed to reach the fourth round of a grand slam in 2004.
There was trouble against Benneteau when he fell two sets behind, spurning three set points in the process, but he found his rhythm and eventually dragged himself back from the brink.
He was helped by Benneteau visibly wilting as the match went on. A one-time quarter-finalist at Roland Garros, he rather rolled over in the third set and, despite taking the fourth to a tie-break, meekly conceded the fifth as well, with Federer winning 4-6 6-7 (7/3) 6-2 7-6 (8/6) 6-1.
"It was a tough match, it was brutal and I had a bit of luck on my side," Federer said.
"I knew it would be a difficult match and he played amazing.
"When I was down, I tried to stay calm. People can freak out, people are worried for you, you don't have many lives left. You try to take it point by point."
It had looked as though five sets would not be needed when Benneteau pulled ahead, taking the opener when he broke in the ninth – Federer netting a backhand.
The Swiss responded by taking his opponent's serve at the start of the second but uncharacteristically failed to cement the break, losing his own serve in the very next game.
Displaying a brilliant range of winners on both sides, Benneteau was creating the better chances and he had break opportunities in both the seventh and ninth games, Federer getting himself out of trouble with his serve.
The Frenchman was the next to rely on his serve to swerve danger, seeing off three set points in the 12th game and, no doubt buoyed by his escape, rushed to a tie-break win, never looking back after Federer's long forehand offered up a mini break on the first point.
Out of keeping with the match at that point, the third set was a brisk affair, Federer breaking twice early on to take it, but the fourth returned to form, with both men holding through to a tie-break.
Benneteau did have to save three break points in the fifth game but was untroubled apart from that and, at 30-15 on Federer's serve in 12th, had half an opening. Victory, in theory, was two points away.
He could not seize the chance, however, and after saving one set point in the breaker he netted on the next and the match was levelled.
That was the green light Federer needed to reach the finish line first, breaking to love in the fourth game of the decider with a forehand around the net and again in the next Benneteau service game to see it out.
Wimbledon was still coming to terms with Rafael Nadal's shock second-round exit.
The second-seeded Spaniard, a finalist in the last five years he has played, was dumped out by Lukas Rosol, blowing the men's draw wide open.
His defeat to the world number 100 ranks as one of the biggest SW19 shocks in living memory – highlighted by the fact that it remained the hot topic yesterday.
Straight after defending men's champion Novak Djokovic had seen off Radek Stepanek in four sets in round three, he was asked not about his game but the Spaniard.
"You cannot take anyone for granted," Djokovic said.
"You just say congratulations. It serves as an example for everybody that anything is possible in this sport."
When not talking about Nadal's premature exit, Djokovic was responding to suggestions that Great Britain's Andy Murray now has a better chance of winning the tournament with his half of the draw looking easier without the 11-time grand slam winner.
"It really depends. It's not about four players, this is a draw of 128 players," Serbian Djokovic added.
"You can't underestimate any opponent. You have to go slowly and I'm sure Andy is aware of that."
29 June 2012Last updated at 22:15 ETBy Ian YoungsEntertainment reporter, BBC News
Seminal rock band The Stone Roses have returned to their home town of Manchester for the first of three gigs in which they will play to a total of 220,000 people in Heaton Park.
To the right of me, eight blokes embrace as if they are about to go into a rugby scrum. They start bouncing up and down in unison - one bouncing on my toes - and break formation only to raise their arms and sing along.
To my left, a girl on her boyfriend's shoulders holds both arms aloft, looks to the heavens and shouts "Yes!" before spending the next 12 bars with her palms against her cheeks in a state of tearful reverie.
In front, a guy holds a fat cigar between two fingers as he waves an outstretched arm.
This is a moment to be savoured.
This is the first major UK gig by the Stone Roses' original line-up for 22 years.
The band's 1989 debut album is one of the greatest ever recorded and, while they never achieved full commercial superstardom the first time around, their legend has grown in their absence and the 220,000 tickets for these three gigs sold out in 68 minutes.
The Stone Roses are not universally adored, but those who love them really, really love them.
To those fans, they are more than just another band. As well as having made an album that reached parts that other bands could not reach, they encapsulate an era of freedom and optimism that has long since been replaced by mortgages, kids and mid-life crises.
"It's a buzz. Plus it's a reminder of very happy time in the '90s," says one fan, 37-year-old Nick Hopewell from Derby. "It was all about the people and the vibe back then. Things may be a little bit more tame these days."
With an average age of around 40, the crowd, like the band, were here to recapture those glory days.
Some reunited their own old gangs of mates and dug out their floppy hats for the occasion, while others took children who were fed the Roses' music along with their Farley's Rusks and are now old enough to claim them as idols of their own.
And few song intros can transport you to another place as swiftly as the opening of the first track I Wanna Be Adored.
First Mani's bass brings its dramatic rumble, then John Squire's guitar kicks in before drummer Reni takes up his magisterial groove.
And before singer Ian Brown has sung a note, the crowd are already singing along - singing "na na na" to the guitar line - and are delivered from under these cloudy skies in this suburban Manchester park to a more euphoric plane.
Brown, a restless presence, prowls the length of the stage and back, and has lost none of the cheeky messiah complex that makes him so compelling.
"As you can see, we've still got it," he assures the crowd early on. Luckily, during the first few songs, the crowd is singing too loudly to be able to tell whether he has gained the ability to sing in tune.
Squire, bathed in dry ice with a studiously cool expression and ruffled black hair, appears every inch the archetypal guitar god - and you get the impression he knows it.
Mani, meanwhile, whose potent basslines underpin the band's best songs, seems to wear a slightly strained expression, as if he is high on Immodium rather than the ecstasy that is associated with their baggy heyday.
And Reni, the enigmatic but inspired drummer, thankfully appears to be enjoying himself under his floppy hat and false dreadlocks.
Each member contributes something different but utterly crucial to their magic. When they are good, they are glorious. It is musical greatness to the power of four.
But the Stone Roses can also sound awfully ordinary at times.
Wayward vocals
After five or six songs, the energy levels in the crowd start to drop dangerously and the band move into a mid-set lull.
It becomes clear that Brown's vocals are still rather wayward and the sound from the PA, which is being blown about like the dry ice, does not help.
The band only had one great album plus a few more stand-out tracks - but eke out two hours to give the fans value for their £60 tickets.
The atmosphere picks up again with Fools Gold, Waterfall and Love Spreads, and the crowd rediscovers its voice in the home straight with Made of Stone, This Is The One, She Bangs The Drums and the finale I Am The Resurrection.
As the fans around me scream the lines "I am the resurrection and I am the light", the words take on a new meaning - not just for the revived band, but also for the punters who are reclaiming a bit of a life that they had left behind.
Ed Miliband has called for a full-scale public inquiry into banking culture and practices after the City was rocked by two major scandals in the space of a week.
The Labour leader said the industry was plagued by an "institutional corruption" that could only be eradicated by introducing a tough new code of conduct and jail sentences for immoral bankers who abuse the system.
His comments were echoed by Bank of England Governor Sir Mervyn King who demanded a "real change in culture" as Britain's lenders were left reeling following a week blighted by controversy.
Mr Miliband pushed for a 12-month probe to "find out what is going on in the dark corners of the banks" after the FSA uncovered "serious failings" in the sale of complex financial products to small businesses, just days after the rate-rigging affair emerged at Barclays.
Bank of England governor Sir Mervyn King has demanded a 'change in culture'
Taxpayer-backed Royal Bank of Scotland also confirmed it was being investigated for manipulating the rates at which banks lend to each other, known as Libor.
In an interview with The Times, Mr Miliband said: "There hasn't been a proper reckoning for what happened in the banking crisis. The bankers told us - it's all fine, we've cleaned everything up. But I'm afraid that doesn't hold water anymore."
Calling for a systemic look at the customs and practices of the industry, he added: "We've got to have an open, independent inquiry with hearings to find out what is going on in the dark corners of the banks.
"Some of it clearly was illegal, but it goes well beyond that.
"There is a problem with how people operate. This isn't just about regulation, it's also about culture and ethics."
Mr Miliband said the inquiry - set up with cross-party support - would be asked to draw up a bankers' code of conduct going beyond the "narrow" professional standards enforced by the Financial Services Authority (FSA).
Barclays chief executive Bob Diamond is under pressure to resign
Calling for the worst offenders to receive prison sentences, he added: "It should be about probity, honesty, integrity. Bankers should be struck off if they do the wrong thing...this is not a victimless crime."
Sir Mervyn said he believed a Leveson-style inquiry was not needed, but slammed conduct in the industry.
He said: "From excessive levels of compensation, to shoddy treatment of customers, to a deceitful manipulation of one of the most important interest rates and now news of yet another mis-selling scandal we can see we need a real change in the culture of the industry."
He added that hard-working bank staff have been "let down" and that banks now needed "leadership of an unusually high order".
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) revealed earlier that Barclays, HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group had agreed to pay compensation to customers who were mis-sold interest-rate hedging products.
Some 28,000 of the products have been sold since 2001 and may have been offered as protection - or to act as a hedge - against a rise in interest rates without the customer fully grasping the downside risks.
RBS boss Stephen Hester waived his 2012 bonus
The findings come after Barclays was fined £290m by UK and US regulators for manipulating the rate at which banks lend to each other, and echoes the costly payment protection insurance (PPI) mis-selling scandal that emerged last year.
Banks are facing the threat of a criminal investigation over fixing the interbank lending figures that affect millions of homeowners and small firms.
The Treasury has started to look at strengthening criminal sanctions for those responsible for market abuse after the FSA exposed the dealings at Barclays on Wednesday.
Serious Fraud Office investigators are in talks with the regulator over the scandal, while pressure is mounting on Barclays chief executive Bob Diamond to stand down.
Mr Miliband described the Barclays fiasco as "the unacceptable face of capitalism," and called on Mr Diamond to step down.
David Cameron had said the Barclay's chief executive had "questions to answer", but Mr Diamond, who was head of the bank's investment arm at the time of the allegations, reportedly told a meeting of analysts at US bank Morgan Stanley that he would not resign.
The American banker, who waived his bonus for 2012 in light of the claims, has agreed to appear in front of the Treasury Select Committee to account for his bank's actions.
HSBC and taxpayer-backed RBS are among several other lenders being investigated by the City watchdog for trying to influence the Libor and Euribor interbank lending rates to boost their profits.
Meanwhile, RBS boss Stephen Hester waived his 2012 annual bonus following the IT fiasco that caused major problems for thousands of NatWest customers.
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