British News & Issues

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...

"The US Embassy in Bern submitted the formal extradition request to the Federal Office of Justice on 22 October 2009, within the deadline of 40 days stipulated under the bilateral extradition treaty," the Swiss Federal Office of Justice said in a statement. The request would be forwarded to the canton of Zurich, where Polanski was detained upon his arrival on September 26 to collect an award at the city's film festival....

Shadow Chancellor George Osborne claimed that "Gordon Brown’s recession plan has not worked," after the economy unexpectedly shrank 0.2pc in three months to September. Economists had expected the economy to have seen its first growth since the start of last year. Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, hit back and stuck to his forecast that the economy will be growing again by the end of the year. “We’ve always said that we remain...

A man leapt from the dock of a court and escaped custody just minutes after being convicted of rape, police said today. Byron Toner, 26, had been found guilty of repeatedly assaulting a 19-year-old woman during a five-hour attack. His two-week trial at Liverpool Crown Court was told he left his victim with 58 injuries, including a broken jaw. Toner, of Culme Road, West Derby, Liverpool, was remanded in custody by Judge Adrian Lyon following the guilty verdict yesterday afternoon. But as a security guard...

Civil servants are being obsessed time off during their working day - to join in a tug-of-war contest, live was revealed today.Home connection officials can exploit for five hours off work to take part in the department's "Winter Games" to act as held next month, according to a leaked email.It invites masculine and female staff for games of "mixed" tug-of-war besides non-contact rugby in the middle of the working day.Outrage over the event was compounded by revelations that the official running it, Ashley Robinson, is responsible...

Lawyers acting for the sacked Haringey children's boss Sharon Shoesmith have demanded that Ofsted release key documents that would shed light on claims that it deliberately "manipulated" performance data in the wake of the Baby Peter furore.The Guardian revealed on Saturday that a whistleblower had claimed an official report on Haringey children's services was secretly downgraded from "good" to "inadequate" – prompting a call by Barry Sheerman,...

Jacqui Smith, the former home secretary, is expected to apologise to the Commons today after being criticised by a committee of MPs for using the second home allowance to fund her family home.In a report, the Commons standards and privileges committee said Smith had been in breach of the rules between 2004 and 2009 because she claimed that a house in London she shared with her sister was her main home.This meant she could use the parliamentary...

Tributes from the world of pop music and beyond have poured in for the Boyzone singer Stephen Gately, who died in Majorca yesterday.Gately, who was 33, died at his holiday home in Port Andratx, where he was staying with his civil partner, Andrew Cowles. Spanish police said there were "no signs of suspicious circumstances".Gately joined Boyzone in 1993 after answering an advert in Dublin to audition for Ireland's first boyband. The band...

Foreign secretary David Miliband today accuses the Tories of putting Britain's relations with the world's leading powers at serious risk by allying the Conservative party to far-right European politicians with neo-Nazi and antisemitic links.Writing in today's Observer, Miliband expresses astonishment that William Hague, his Conservative opposite number, can describe as a "good friend" a Polish politician who reiterated last week his opposition...