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A group of Morris dancers say they are "disappointed and frustrated" after performances were cancelled because they wear traditional black make-up.

Kent's Motley "Border" Morris Men follow a tradition which originated in the Welsh borders, where faces were blackened using burnt corks.

Chantry Primary School in Gravesend is one of three event organisers which have cancelled perfomances this year.

The school said it had to weigh up any potential offence to its community.

The Motley Morris Men's Squire, Pete Hargreaves, said it was clear from its website that the dancers wear black make-up.

"It is the third event this year that we have had cancelled," he said.

"We get to the point where everything is set up and then they suddenly realise that we are a black-face Border group.

"They say people might be offended without investigating why we dance with black faces."

Danced for money

The group was formed in 1981, but said this was the first year bookings had been cancelled.

Blackened faces are believed to have been used originally as a disguise by Morris men who danced for money and did not want to be recognised.

Morris dancer Jim Snelling said: "I understand the school's concern but it is a shame they didn't take the opportunity to find out or ask us along to have a discussion about this fairly important part of our culture."

Head teacher of Chantry Primary, Hazel King, said it apologised for any inconvenience caused to the Morris Men.

"We organised the event to bring a diverse and fragile community together," she said.

"To celebrate all cultures we booked a Morris troupe, having failed to recognise the possible significance for our community of their tradition to perform with blackened faces.

"We found ourselves in a difficult position of weighing up any potential offence versus not wishing to compromise the Morris dancers' tradition."

Susan Boyle will perform in Edinburgh later as part of the Britain's Got Talent tour.

Her publicist, Nicola Philips, said Boyle - runner-up in ITV1's talent show - would be going ahead with the performance at the Edinburgh Playhouse.

The West Lothian singer pulled out of two concerts in Manchester on Sunday.

However, she performed in Glasgow on Monday, alongside the other nine finalists and last year's winner, George Sampson, to a standing ovation.

The singer was treated for exhaustion at The Priory in London after the TV show.

She is set to perform renditions of I Dreamed A Dream from Les Miserables and Memory from Cats when she goes on stage at about 2100 BST.

The US government has said it was "deeply concerned" by the arrest in Vietnam of activist lawyer Le Cong Dinh and has called for his release.

The Paris-based group, Reporters Without Borders, also called for his immediate release, noting his work in defending bloggers and activists.

Mr Dinh was arrested on 13 June on charges of "distributing propaganda against the state".

Officials said he was arrested over his defence of pro-democracy activists.

They also said he was arrested over his use of the internet to express his views.

"Vietnam's arrest of Mr Dinh contradicts the government's own commitment to internationally-accepted standards of human rights and to the rule of law"

The police said they will charge Mr Dinh with article 88 of Vietnam's criminal code for distributing anti-government materials.

Mr Dinh, 41, one of Vietnam's most respected lawyers, has defended a number of pro-democracy activists in the past.

Mining complaint

"Mr Dinh is a well-respected member of the Vietnamese and international legal communities, and a former Fulbright scholar," US State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said.

"No individual should be arrested for expressing the right to free speech, and no lawyer should be punished because of the individuals they choose to counsel," he said.

Mr Kelly said the arrest contradicts the Vietnamese government's "own commitment to internationally-accepted standards of human rights and to the rule of law".

He urged the Vietnamese government to release Mr Dinh immediately and unconditionally, as well as all other prisoners in detention for peacefully expressing their views.

Reporters Without Borders noted that Mr Dinh had defended several bloggers and free-speech activists, and faces a long prison sentence for his articles and commentaries in the Vietnamese press and online.

The Paris-based press freedom group reported several sources saying that his arrest could be linked to a complaint filed by several Vietnamese lawyers against the government about the granting of a bauxite mine concession to a Chinese company, a case which has caused an outcry in Vietnam.

"We fear that this arrest is aimed at punishing a respected man who promotes the cause of the rule of law in Vietnam," Reporters Without Borders said.

Le Cong Dinh has defended lawyers Nguyen Van Dai and Le Thi Cong Nhan, and the renowned blogger Dieu Cay.

A ?5m funding package could be made available to help secure the future of English language news on ITV Wales, says communications regulator Ofcom.

Its director in Wales Rhodri Williams said the BBC could be made to share part of the TV licence fee under government plans to be announced later.

The Digital Britain report will suggest ways to help commercial broadcasters cope with the impact of the internet.

It is also expected to include plans to bring broadband to the whole of the UK.

Last week a Welsh assembly committee said an independent commission funded by ?25m worth of public money was needed to safeguard ITV Wales.

The communities and culture committee said cuts on the channel in recent years were "deeply troubling".

'Survive'

But it was critical of plans for a pilot news project by Welsh language broadcaster S4C.

Ofcom director Mr Williams said it cost ITV Wales ?5m a year to produce its news programmes.

He added: "The ?5m figure is the cost of the current arrangement, but what I am confident of what the report will include is provision to maintain that service.

"I expect there will be an intervention, but I don't know where the money will come from and how it will be delivered, but sharing the TV licence fee with the BBC's commercial rivals is one option that has been mooted.

"The key here is not where the money comes from, the key is plurality in English news in Wales and other parts of the UK.

"What we said to government was, do you want these programmes to survive or do you want the market to decide"

In October 2008, Minister for Communications Lord Carter began work on a plan aimed at securing the UK's place at the head of the new media age.

Among 22 specific actions announced in his interim report in January was a commitment to establishing a universal broadband service for every home and business by 2012.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said fast internet was now "an essential service, as indispensable as electricity, gas and water".