A series of leaks to newspapers about the arguments over whether to bring in an identity card scheme triggered a furious argument between David Blunkett and the Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott. Mr Prescott suspected that the Home Secretary was doing the leaking, to which Mr Blunkett furiously countered that he found the leaks personally embarrassing - with the worst example, in his view, being a confidential document that fell into the hands of The Independent on Sunday.

A U.S. soldier was sentenced to three years in prison for killing a severely wounded Iraqi teenager, the military said today, while insurgents staged attacks in several cities, killing at least 10 Iraqis, including three police colonels, two Shiite clerics and a judge. Six American soldiers also were wounded in separate attacks in northern Iraq. Staff Sgt. Johnny M. Horne Jr., 30, of Wilson, N.C., pleaded guilty on Friday to one count of unpremeditated murder and one count of soliciting another soldier to commit unpremeditated murder.