British News & Issues

Afghanistan’s election commission cancelled the second round of a presidential poll today and declared President Karzai the winner after the last-minute withdrawal of his only rival. The Independent Election Commission (IEC) said the decision was made because of the cost and risk of organising the vote on Saturday, and because a one-horse race would raise doubts about the president's legitimacy. "The Independent Election Commission...

Coleen Rooney, the wife of England footballer Wayne Rooney, has given birth to a baby boy. The child, who the couple have named Kai Wayne Rooney, was born at 2.20pm at Liverpool Women’s Hospital, their spokesman said. The spokesman added: “Mother and baby are both absolutely fine. Wayne and Coleen are thrilled with the wonderful addition to their family life.” The name Kai, a variant of Kay, reportedly means "rejoice" in Finnish....

He has branded homosexuals satanic, deployed cloud–seeding fighter jets to ensure good weather on bank holidays and ordered riot police to break up anti-Kremlin demonstrations. As mayor, Yuri Luzhkov has ruled Moscow with an iron fist for the past 17 years. But with only two years of his fourth term left to serve, the populist mayor is coming under a barrage of criticism which some believe could signal the beginning of the end for...

With difficult state elections and a crucial military decision looming, President Barack Obama sat down with his wife Michelle last month to give an in-depth magazine interview about a subject that has hitherto not ranked highly on the White House political agenda — the state of the first couple’s marriage. The president used the occasion to complain that when he recently hopped aboard Air Force One to fly his wife to New York for...

Alistair Darling is preparing to plough billions more of taxpayers’ money into Royal Bank of Scotland to take the government stake in the bank from 70% to as high as 84%. A Treasury announcement this week will confirm RBS is signing up to a controversial deal to pump £270 billion of problematic loans into a state-backed insurance scheme. As part of the deal, the government will pour up to £19 billion of additional capital into...

Silvio Berlusconi today said he would not resign even if he was convicted of corruption as a new trial date was set for later this month. The Italian Prime Minister, 73, now faces two trials following the loss of his immunity from prosecution. Last month the Constitutional Court overturned a law which Mr Berlusconi pushed through Parliament shortly after being elected last year giving him immunity as long as he held high office....

Tens of thousands of postal workers have "solidly supported" a fresh strike, crippling mail deliveries across the UK in the latest motion of walkouts to hit the Royal Mail.Members of the note Workers Union braved pouring lavish to mount picket lines outside mail centres on the poll consecutive hour of industrial animation in a bitter row over jobs, pay and modernisation.A confederation official said the likewise proscription was again backed...

Captors of a 79-year-old Irish missionary kidnapped in the southern Philippines have released a video in which the priest says his abductors are demanding $2 million to release him. The video was obtained by government negotiators and broadcast on GMA television network in Manila on Saturday.It shows Rev Michael Sinnott holding a copy of the October 22 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper 11 days after his...

Shareholders with money invested in Lloyds Banking Group were asked to help fund a possible legal challenge against the bank. Investors, who mostly have shares in former LTSB, have been hit by falling share prices and a loss of dividend after the banks takeover of ailing HBOS, which dragged the new group billions into the red and forced government to take a 43% stake.Chairman of the Lloyds Action Group, Nick Shaw, told...

Nato's strategy in Afghanistan is increasing the likelihood of terrorist attacks in Britain, a Tory MP has claimed. Adam Holloway, a former Grenadier Guard, called for a new focus on reconciliation with Afghan insurgents rather than more intense fighting.The troop surge proposed by top US commander General Stanley McChrystal would only fuel the difficulties facing Nato troops, he warned.Mr Holloway, a member of the Commons...

Soldiers returning from the Afghan war zone have been given a rapturous welcome home as thousands of supporters cheered and applauded them through the streets of Liverpool. Well-wishers looked on for an hour as soldiers from the 2nd Battalion the Rifles stood at ease meeting civic and Army officials outside Liverpool's historic St George's Hall.The setting was the focal point for the Rifles' homecoming parade which moved...

The foreign secretary, David Miliband, today gave his strong backing to Tony Blair's candidacy to be the first permanent president of the European Union.But he ruled himself out of the other high-ranking post created by the Lisbon treaty, high representative for foreign affairs, saying: "I am not a candidate for that. I am not available. I have got a job that I am absolutely committed to and proud to do."Miliband said that a Blair presidency...

Welfare reforms forcing single parents to look for work or risk losing benefits are "family friendly", Work and Pensions Secretary Yvette Cooper said. Lone parents whose youngest children are aged 10 or 11 will be switched from Income Support to the tougher Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) which is paid at the same rate but requires them to attend fortnightly JobCentre interviews and show they have applied for jobs or lose benefits. Ms Cooper...

Thousands of British Airways cabin crew are to be balloted for industrial action in a row over new contracts, it has been announced. Unite said 14,000 of its members at the airline will vote on whether to launch a campaign of action in protest over the imposition of the employment contracts. Derek Simpson, the union's joint general secretary, said: "BA management's determination to impose unacceptable contractual changes on cabin crew leaves...

More than a quarter of school staff (28%) have had a false allegation made against them by a pupil, according to a survey. One in six (17%) have had a false claim made against them by a member of a pupil's family, according to the study by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL). One half (50%) of school staff said they or a colleague had had a false allegation made against them in their current school or college by a pupil or a...

A scrap dealer is being questioned over the disposal of a car linked to the murder of Surrey schoolgirl Milly Dowler. He is understood to be Nirmal Gharu, 40, of west London, who was interviewed by police on August 4 over the same matter, and was arrested at 9.30am after voluntarily attending a police station. Police believe a red Daewoo Nexia car could have been used to transport the 13-year-old's body. Amanda Dowler, who was known to family and friends as Milly, vanished while walking home from school in Walton-on-Thames on...

Shadow chancellor George Osborne has called for emergency action to ban banks from paying big cash bonuses and force them to lend the money to hard-pressed firms and families instead. He said premier Gordon Brown and Chancellor Alistair Darling's plans to ease the credit crunch and reform the banks had failed. Mr Osborne told an audience in the City: "It is time for the Government to act - and act decisively." He added: "We cannot wait for the Prime Minister's promised land of a new responsible bonus culture which looks more...

Union bosses have launched a renewed attack on the Government as crucial talks aimed at averting further postal strikes began. Dave Ward, of the Communication Workers Union (CWU), said ministers could not continue "sitting on the sidelines" as negotiations continue in the deadlocked row over jobs, pay and modernisation. Leaders of the CWU were meeting Royal Mail bosses after TUC general secretary Brendan Barber invited the two sides to hold talks. Up to 120,000 workers are set to stage a fresh round of strikes from Thursday...

A man accused of assaulting pop star Leona Lewis is not fit to attend court, a judge was told. Peter Kowalczyk, 29, was charged with striking the Bleeding Love singer during a book signing. A hearing at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court heard he has been sectioned under the Mental Health Act and is being examined by psychiatrists. After a short hearing of legal argument, District Judge Daphne Wickham adjourned the case until November...

Owen will be centre of attention on Sunday as he makes his first return to Liverpool - the club which nurtured him and for whom he scored 158 goals - as a player for their fiercest rivals. Manchester United's signing of the one-time Anfield hero raised some eyebrows in the summer but the 29 year-old repaid some of Ferguson's faith with a dramatic derby winner against Manchester City last month. Now United will be hoping...

The 64-year-old wore a white skirt and black jacket to collect the Silver Marc Aurelio Jury Award at the Auditorium Parco della Musica on Friday. A Danish movie about a gay love affair between two members of a neo-Nazi group won top honors while Meryl Streep picked up a career achievement award. The winning movie, "Brotherhood," takes a hard look at the neo-Nazi group that the leading character, Lars, joins after leaving...

President Obama will almost certainly not travel to the Copenhagen climate change summit in December and may instead use his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech to set out US environmental goals, The Times has learnt. With healthcare reform clogging his domestic agenda and no prospect of a comprehensive climate treaty in Copenhagen, Mr Obama may disappoint campaigners and foreign leaders, including Gordon Brown and Ed Miliband, who have...

The Duke implied criticism of ministers for failing to adequately to make the case for the conflict. “It all comes back to leadership. They [the soldiers] want to know the leadership is interested and concerned in their welfare. They are tremendously loyal people fighting in a campaign.” The Duke, the fourth in line to the throne who served on the front line in the Falklands War flying Royal Navy helicopters, said: “They...

A £20million, decade-long investigation overseen by the World Health Organisation (WHO) will publish evidence that heavy users face a higher risk of developing brain tumours later in life,The conclusion, while not definitive, will undermine assurances from the government that the devices are safe and is expected to put ministers under pressure to issue stronger guidance. A preliminary breakdown of the results found a “significantly...

Lord Mandelson today denied union claims that he was orchestrating the postal strike. The Business Secretary described CWU's accusations as "complete stuff and nonsense from beginning to end". Lord Mandelson spoke out as he toured the new headquarters of eaga, in Gosforth, Newcastle. He was officially opening their HQ, called Partnership House, which used to be known as the Northern Rock Tower. Refuting the union claims he said: "The CWU know that is complete stuff and nonsense from beginning to end. ...

Less than a year ago, Chancellor Alistair Darling was predicting a return to growth in the second half of this year in his Pre-Budget Report. He forecasted falling output for the first two quarters of this year, but said he then expected the economy "to start to recover" thanks to stimulus measures such as his temporary VAT cut.Mr Darling's prediction - along with those of many experts - have been blown out of the water by the extent of the recession, which has been far from the "shorter and shallower" downturn first envisaged.By...

A cross-party group of MPs today demanded an urgent review of the guidelines for newspapers and magazines with "sexually graphic" front covers. The MPs, including Tory former Home Office minister Ann Widdecombe (Maidstone and the Weald) and ex-Liberal Democrat leader Menzies Campbell (Fife NE), said the review should consider whether pornographic magazines should be concealed in bags instead of displayed on the top shelf of newsagents. They also called for the inquiry to examine whether a cinema-style...

A man who murdered his boss and tried to kill three other people "in acts of callous wickedness, cruelty and inhumanity" was sentenced to life in prison today. Russell Carter, 53, was found guilty of killing Kingsley Monk and three counts of attempted murder after a three-week trial last month. He was told today he would serve 30 years in prison before he is eligible to apply for release. Mr Monk, 45, was strangled, probably with his own tie, at Driverline 247 in New Inn, Pontypool, south Wales, last...

The Growth Enterprises Market (GEM) will open with 28 businesses selected by regulators to debut on the Shenzhen-based exchange, including China’s first listed film company. The market, which opens for trading on October 30, is aimed at nurturing small and medium-sized Chinese enterprises that have traditionally struggled to raise funds from a banking sector that favours state-controlled behemoths. Beijing, which has talked...

The study, released by a congressional advisory panel, found cases suggesting that China's elite hacker community has ties to the Beijing government, although there is little hard evidence. The commission report details a cyberattack against a US company several years ago that appeared to either originate in or come through China and was similar to other incidents also believed to be connected to the country. According to the analysis, the company noticed that over several days, data from its network was being...