The profits performance for the six months to January 22 was ahead of City

The profits performance for the six months to January 22 was ahead of City expectations of around £25.5 million and was achieved on the back of a 1 per cent increase in turnover to £406.3 million. He said the conversion process was a good learning experience that had given JD Wetherspoon extra kudos, but added: "We had hoped that people who didn't like smoking would come flocking to our pubs but they've flocked elsewhere, it seems." Mr Martin also sounded an upbeat note on licensing legislation that was introduced in November and allows pubs to open later. Although Mr Martin accepted that a smoking ban remained "the main issue for the future", he believed sales would recover over time and cited evidence from Ireland, California and New York. In addition, sales at the 49 pubs that JD Wetherspoon converted into non-smoking outlets have fallen - down 7.6 per cent in the three months to January 22 - as customers spent less at the bar and playing on fruit machines.

One analyst warned ahead of today's results that JD Wetherspoon would probably be the pubs sector's "biggest loser" under a multilateral smoking ban. The group said it would put off a total ban until the introduction of new legislation preventing smoking in the workplace, due to come into force in 2007. Announcing the move alongside a 21 per cent rise in half-year profits to £27.4 million, chairman Tim Martin said the goalposts had moved after the Government decided to bring forward a national ban by 18 months. JD Wetherspoon today scrapped plans to ban smoking in all its pubs within the next three months. After the vote, the ruling coalition fell apart and several ministers, including Mr Kalonzo and the former roads minister Raila Odinga, formed a new party.. The newspaper has run several stories detailing corruption in Kenya, including articles about how John Githongo, the former anti-corruption adviser, presented evidence of senior cabinet ministers' involvement in the Anglo Leasing scandal, in which public funds were paid to a fictional company.The government has not managed to rule effectively since it lost a key referendum on a new constitution last November. He added: "When you rattle a snake you must prepare yourself to be bitten."The US embassy said: "These acts of thuggery have no place in an open democratic society ... We call upon the government of Kenya to disavow today's actions, identify and discipline those responsible and cease efforts to intimidate the media."President Kibaki's office has complained about several stories in The Standard,.

The Internal Security Minister, John Michuki, said police must be allowed to do their job. In a statement, they said the raid followed evidence of a plot to incite ethnic hatred that would have threatened national security, and claimed Standard reporters had been paid to fabricate articles. Police confirmed the office had been raided, but denied setting fire to newspapers. This is designed to create fear among journalists and punish The Standard group which is seen as supporting the opposition".The Minister for Information, Mutahi Kagwe, insisted he knew nothing about the attack. Another squad headed to the printing presses and burnt the newspapers. Computers and transmission equipment were taken. Two days earlier, three Standard journalists were detained and charged with publishing alarmist statements.

Saturday's issue had carried stories revealing meetings between President Mwai Kibaki and a senior member of the opposition, Kalonzo Musyoka. Mr Musyoka denied any such meetings, but condemned the attacks on the newspaper. The Kenyan media still works under tough laws drafted under the regime of former president Daniel Arap Moi, but has enjoyed much greater freedom in recent years.Ezekiel Mutua, secretary general of the Kenya Union of Journalists said the raid was "the most outrageous and sinister act against the media we have seen. More than 30 men with Kalashnikov assault rifles stormed the headquarters of The Standard, and ordered its affiliate television station, KTN, off the air.

Masked gunmen believed to be working for police stormed the offices of Kenya's oldest newspaper and set fire to first editions as they rolled off the press yesterday, one of the most brutal acts of media censorship the country has seen since independence. "I've seen their little villages; they're dirt-poor, poor as field-mice."But Mr Farele, still angry, pointed towards the faraway comfort of Escravos oil facility "We want our village to be like there," he said.. But Mr Hawkins, with high blood pressure and diabetes, had been worried about his health, which may have played a large part in his release.The American celebrated his 69th birthday in captivity with a "warm Sprite", hours before his surprise release, and was looking forward to cleaning up with a hot shower and shampoo, deodorant and a razor He bore his captors no ill ill "I have no animosity toward them at all," he said. Living in "kind of a village", the hostages had been free to roam around, and spent most of the day playing cards. Mend insists it is a separate organisation from Mr Asari's Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force but is campaigning for his release.The militia leader who had invited the world's media into the swamps to advocate all oil proceeds being kept by the region also threatened oil facilities and "all-out war" on the Nigerian government. His warnings pushed pushed oil prices above the psychological $50 per barrel level. And Mr Asari's calls for the "dismemberment of Nigeria led to the secret police putting him in jail.There are also the gangs who commit the lucrative siphoning of oil from pipelines, which is sold on the black market and believed to fund the purchase of weapons.After the fighters of Mend handed over the hostages, they fired a farewell volley into the air for Mr Hawkins, circled, then, opening up the two huge outboard engines on each boat, quickly disappeared into the swamp.Mr Hawkins, with a heavy Texas drawl, said they had been treated well, eating a lot of canned foods to avoid dysentry, sardines, corned beef, and noodles.