News in brief

Tories let big tax dodgers off

HM revenue & Customs last week published a list of nine businesses and traders who have avoided tax.

They owed less than £1 million in tax between them.

Big corporations that avoid billions in tax were mysteriously absent.

Manning in jail for 1,000 days

Bradley Manning spent his 1,000th day in prison without trial last week.

The US soldier exposed war crimes through the website WikiLeaks. There was a hearing to consider his release as Socialist Worker went to press.

Go to bradleymanning.org

BP on trial over Deepwater spill

Oil giant BP stands accused of putting profits before safety in a trial over liability for the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

The US’s biggest environmental disaster saw millions of gallons of oil pumped into the Gulf of Mexico after an oil rig explosion killed 11 workers.

Poverty hits school lunches

The economic crisis is affecting children’s meals according to a new survey.

It says lunch boxes now contain more junk food and less fruit—and many children don’t get enough to eat.

Nearly half of school workers said the quality of packed lunches has dropped since the recession began.