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Cannes to climax with Palme d’Or

Another Year cast: From left, Jim Broadbent, actress Lesley Manville, director Mike Leigh and actress Ruth Sheen

The prestigious Palme d’Or is to be awarded to the best film at the Cannes Film Festival as the 12-day event comes to a climax later.

Movies by British directors Mike Leigh and Ken Loach are among the favourites for honours on the French Riviera.

Other contenders include Biutiful, starring Javier Bardem and directed by Mexico’s Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu.

Edward Scissorhands director Tim Burton leads the jury that will pick a winning film from the 19 in competition.

This year’s line-up has left many critics underwhelmed, but Mike Leigh’s Another Year, starring Jim Broadbent and Lesley Manville, stood out for many.

The portrait of a happily married couple nearing retirement was described as "beautiful, mordant and curiously riveting" by The Guardian, while The Times said it was "a treasure" that showed "Leigh at his confident best".

Biutiful premiere

Leigh won the Palme d’Or for Secrets and Lies in 1996, and has become one of the UK’s most cherished film-makers with works including Vera Drake, Happy-Go-Lucky and Career Girls.

Ken Loach, another British arthouse heavyweight, is back in competition four years after winning the festival’s top accolade for The Wind that Shakes the Barley.

His new movie, Route Irish, is a revenge drama based around the deployment of private security contractors in Iraq.

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, best known for Babel and 21 Grams, is in contention with his story of a corrupt policeman who is diagnosed with terminal cancer and attempts to tie up his troubled life.

Bardem has been heavily tipped for the best actor prize for the lead role.

Another festival favourite has been Of Gods and Men by French director Xavier Beauvois, telling the true story of seven French monks who were mysteriously murdered in Algeria in 1996.

A potential dark horse for the Palme d’Or is the Thai film Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul.

It centres around a dying man who is visited by the spirit of his late wife and his missing son, who has mutated into an ape.

Another former winner in competition is Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami, who earned the Palme d’Or in 1997 with Taste of Cherry.

He has entered this year with his cryptic love story Certified Copy, starring Juliette Binoche.

Joining Tim Burton on the nine-member jury are actors Kate Beckinsale and Benicio Del Toro and director Shekhar Kapur.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Blues seal historic Euro Cup win

Cardiff Blues (6) 28Tries: Roberts, Halfpenny, B Davies Cons: Blair 2 Pens: Blair 2, HalfpennyToulon (13) 21Tries: Williams, Sourice Con: Wilkinson Pens: Wilkinson 2, May

Blues centre Jamie Roberts listens for silence from Toulon's fans after scoring the try that helped the Blues level 13-13 in the second half

Cardiff Blues created history by becoming the first Welsh team to win European silverware as they beat Toulon at Stade Velodrome, Marseille.

Their Amlin Challenge Cup win also ensured the Scarlets are in next season’s Heineken Cup.

Jamie Roberts, Leigh Halfpenny and Bradley Davies scored Blues tries, Sonny Bill Williams and Thomas Sourice going over for Toulon

Toulon’s Jonny Wilkinson departed injured in the second half.

Stade Velodrome rocked in the sun to Toulon’s traditional pre-match chant of "Pilou Pilou", a haka-esque chant taken up by the majority of the 48,990 fans who had descended on Marseille.

The noise abated little as referee Alain Rolland got the afternoon underway, with Toulon almost scoring from the start as Juan Fernandez Lobbe got a hand to reclaim the kick-off for the French side.

His fellow back-row Joe van Niekerk raced through on the right but did not spot two men in support outside him, instead looking left and the chance was gone.

Blues struggled to clear their lines but eventually broke the mini-siege to earn a penalty almost on the halfway line and in front of the posts.

Leigh Halfpenny is the Blues’ long-range specialist and the wing, accompanied by deafening whistling from the Toulon fans, sent his kick sailing between the posts.

Stung by falling behind Toulon again pinned the visitors in their own 22, with centre Williams providing an eye-catching tackle on Maama Molitika that smashed the back-row backwards.

Martyn Williams found a half-gap to move Blues upfield, but found himself isolated in the tackle and the Blues piled over the top of the ruck as they tried to come to the flanker’s aid.

Wilkinson’s kick levelled the scores, earning ear-splitting applause from the Toulon support.

But the England fly-half blotted his copybook moments later when his kick from hand rolled through the back of the in-goal area, handing Blues their best field position of the match back from where the kick was taken.

At last the likes of Xavier Rush and Roberts, two of Blues’ power-runners, were able to test the Toulon mettle within sight of the French 22.

Toulon held firm though and were soon back in the ascendant thanks to Wilkinson’s alertness.

The No 10 took a quick throw to himself from Halfpenny’s long touch-finder and spotted Fernandez Lobbe lurking on the left.

A long pass gave the Argentina flanker space and time to lope forward, but Fernandez Lobbe failed to pick the right men in support and Blues escaped again.

It was not all black and red though and a half-break from centre Casey Laulala earned Blues their second penalty chance, Ben Blair putting them into a 6-3 lead after 23 minmutes.

Wilkinson’s second kick restored parity before Toulon put together a series of lightning attacks.

Halfpenny did well to snuff out one break down his flank, but Toulon switched play swiftly to the right and it was number eight Fotunuupule Auelua who had the Blues defence scrambling.

Quick recycling switched the point of attack once more and Kiwi centre Williams cut back against the grain to go over nearly under the posts, Wilkinson converting for 13-6 as Toulon took the lead for the first time.

Halfpenny had a chance just before half-time to narrow the gap but the penalty chance from his own 10-metre line asked too much from even the wing’s powerful boot.

The Blues’ inspirational skipper and prop Gethin Jenkins failed to re-emerge for the second half, replaced by John Yapp with Martyn Williams taking the captain’s armband.

But Toulon soon lost their own star as Wilkinson was helped from the pitch.

The fly-half had just missed a difficult penalty kick and seemed to strain something in the process, collapsing in pain.

Wilkinson’s English colleague Tom May, who had also made the switch from Newcastle to Toulon, switched from centre to take over the fly-half duties.

May’s inexperience at 10 told as he failed to clear his lines and Blues capitalised to force an attacking scrum five metres from the Toulon line.

Toulon held out first one, then a second drive at their try line but the power and pace of Roberts at last broke the resistance to crash over, Blair’s conversion levelling things at 13-13.

May, taking over the place-kicking duties as well as Wilkinson’s position, inched Toulon back ahead but Blair replied for Blues to leave things deadlocked entering the final quarter.

Both sides were showing signs of tiring in the heat and the coaches made full use of their reserves to try to conjur one match-winning moment.

Crucially it was Blues who produced two within five minutes, as first Halfpenny, in the left corner, and lock Davies crashed over.

Rush had a major hand in both scores, first providing the link and a looped long pass to find his wing for a precious five points.

Then the New Zealand number eight drove from the base of a scrum to give Blues another great attacking platform.

The Welsh side surged forward and although Roberts was repelled at the first attempt, Davies battered his way between two Toulon tacklers to touch down.

Blair’s conversion gave Blues a 28-16 lead going into the last 10 minutes that would surely prove enough to claim the Amlin Cup and a first European title for a Welsh side.

Last week Toulon had forced extra time in the dying moments of their French Top 14 semi-final defeat against Clermont Auvergne.

With ex-All Black Tana Umaga on the field and skipper Van Niekerk leading from the front, Toulon hit back as replacement Sourice scored in the right corner with two minutes to go.

But crucially May missed the conversion and Toulon still needed a converted try to draw level.

Perhaps last week’s effort had taken too much out of Toulon’s collective tank and the French side were unable to repeat their heroics this time as Blues held out for a famous win.

Toulon: C Marienval; G Lovobalavu, T May, S Williams, J Sinzelle; J Wilkinson, M Henjak (capt); S Taumoepeau, P Fitzgerald, D Kubriashvili, E Lozada, R Skeate, J van Niekerk, J Fernandez Lobbe, F Auelua.Replacements: S Bruno, L Emmanuelli, T Ryan, J Suta, O Sourice, M Kefu, P Mignoni, T Umaga.

Blues: B Blair; L Halfpenny, C Laulala, J Roberts, C Czekaj; C Sweeney, R Rees; G Jenkins (capt), R Thomas, T Filise, D Jones, B Davies, M Molitika, M Williams, X Rush.Replacements: G Williams, J Yapp, S Andrews, P Tito, S Warburton, D Allinson, D Flanagan, D Hewitt.

Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland).

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Ed Miliband gets Kinnock backing

Lord Kinnock

Lord Kinnock has publicly endorsed Ed Miliband in his campaign to become the next Labour leader.

In an interview with the Observer, he describes the former energy secretary as having the electoral "X-factor" and "the capacity to inspire people".

The former Labour leader says he also rates Ed’s older brother, David – a leadership rival – "very highly".

The pair are among six people to have said they plan to stand, with a winner due to be announced on 26 September.

‘Strong values’

In the Observer interview, Lord Kinnock describes Ed Miliband as a "modern democratic socialist because he has got strong values and he is very practical" and says he has an ability to "lift" people.

He said: "Ed [Miliband] is very bright, including politically bright. He is hugely energetic. He is fluent.

"He has got the capacity to inspire people, which we need. And that marks him out as a special kind of young potential leader.

"I am certain that he is a modern democratic socialist because he has got strong values and he is very practical."

Lord Kinnock said Mr Miliband "has got the X-Factor, especially where the X is the sign you put on the voting slip at election time."

And he also said Mr Miliband’s attitude is "that it is no good wandering around with convictions unless you want to put them into practice, and that really is his motivation.

"And vitally, absolutely vitally, he is comfortable among people of every kind, young and old, men and women, inside and outside the movement.

"We really do need a leader who can reach out for the rebuilding of the Labour party, but particularly to give coherence to our thinking."

Iraq issue

Former foreign secretary David Miliband, tipped as the front runner to succeed Mr Brown, has previously urged party members not to make the Iraq war an issue in the race for the Labour leadership.

He said it was "time to move on" after two candidates – including his brother – criticised the decision to invade Iraq in 2003.

Fellow candidate, Ed Balls, has said the war was "wrong", while Ed Miliband said it had led to a "big loss of trust" in Labour.

Rival candidate John McDonnell said their "road to Damascus conversion" was far too late and opportunistic.

Neither Mr Balls, the former Children’s Secretary, or Ed Miliband were MPs when the decision to invade Iraq was made. David Miliband was an MP at the time and voted for the invasion.

The other Labour leadership candidates are former Health Secretary Andy Burnham and backbencher Diane Abbott. The result of Labour’s leadership contest will be known on 25 September.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Afghanistan deadline ‘unhelpful’

Foreign Secretary William Hague in Afghanistan

It would be "unwise" and "unhelpful" to set a firm date for withdrawal of UK troops from Afghanistan, Foreign Secretary William Hague has said.

Mr Hague said they should stay until Afghans can manage their own security, and being made to "jump through hoops" to meet a date would not help.

Three UK government ministers are in the country for talks with Afghan leaders and British military.

Their flight was diverted from Kandahar Airfield after the base was attacked.

‘Deadline helps no-one’

Asked on the BBC’s Politics Show when British soldiers would be coming home, Mr Hague said: "I don’t think it’s possible and I don’t think it’s wise to set a date.

"They should only be here for as long as we need to work towards that objective of Afghans being able to look after their own security.

"One of the things we’ve been having a lot of discussions about on this visit is how we can speed up the training of the Afghan security forces and encourage, wherever possible, Afghan forces to take responsibility themselves which they are increasingly able to do.

"But I don’t think setting a deadline helps anybody. I think so much of what we’re doing in Afghanistan, setting targets for people then to jump through hoops towards, doesn’t help them in their work."

Mr Hague is one of three Cabinet ministers from the coalition government visiting Afghanistan for talks with political and military leaders in the capital Kabul.

Mr Hague, Defence Secretary Liam Fox and International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell spent Saturday in Kabul before flying down to Camp Bastion, where most of Britain’s 10,000-strong deployment is based.

Combat bonus pledge

The three ministers had planned to fly into Kandahar Airfield on Saturday night, but were forced to divert to Camp Bastion after the massive Nato base came under rocket attack from the Taliban.

While speaking to the Politics Show, Mr Hague also reiterated the government’s pledge to to double the operational allowance – which is about £2,600 per six-month tour – for those serving in the country.

He said the full details of the bonus would be made clear after next month’s budget.

The three ministers have also been determined to show there is "not a cigarette paper" between how each sees the purpose and strategy for Britain’s involvement in Afghanistan, after it appeared there were divisions between the approaches of Dr Fox and Mr Mitchell.

Dr Fox said on Saturday troops were there for UK security not for "the education policy in a broken 13th-century country"; while Mr Mitchell emphasised the importance of creating a stable society in Afghanistan.

The three men have since insisted the two approaches go hand in hand.

On Sunday Mr Mitchell denied there was any confusion within the new UK government about policy on Afghanistan.

He told the BBC that Britain’s objective was to stop Afghanistan becoming a source of terrorism, a mission that was not only about military success, he said, but also about trying to build the basics of a functioning state.

He said: "I think the fact that all three of us are here underlining this crucial link between defence, diplomacy and development, is extremely important."

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Hague ‘vindicated’ by euro crisis

Worker at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange

Foreign Secretary William Hague has said the euro is "in crisis" but it is not in the UK’s interest for countries to pull out of the single currency.

Mr Hague said the weakness of the euro, caused by the debt crisis across Europe, "vindicated" his warnings about the currency when he was Tory leader.

But he said he took no "comfort" from the current situation and nations must work hard to reduce their deficits.

David Cameron says it is in the UK’s interest for the euro to stabilise.

Speaking in Germany on Friday, the prime minister said financial stability in the eurozone – the UK’s largest trading partner – was vital, although he said he would oppose giving any extra powers to EU institutions to try and shore up the euro.

‘Financial confidence’

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said the prospect of the debt crisis in Greece spreading across Europe has put the future of the euro at risk – although EU countries have agreed billions of pounds of rescue funding.

Mr Hague said "the language of crisis" was already present in efforts to deal with the worsening situation.

"Well, there is a crisis – of course there is a crisis," he told the BBC’s Politics Show.

"We don’t want the euro to be in crisis.

"I am a long-standing opponent of the Britain joining the euro, but we don’t want the euro to collapse or countries to pull out of it because of course that kind of crisis is very bad for Britain and affects financial confidence across the board."

During the 2001 general election campaign – when he was Conservative leader – Mr Hague warned that Labour could take the UK into the euro and there were "24 hours left" to save the pound.

All of the three largest Westminster parties have ruled out joining the euro for the foreseeable future, and Mr Hague said history had shown that it would not have been right for the UK.

"I warned all those years ago that to create a ‘one size fits all’ currency… is a dangerous thing to do economically unless you are trying to create a single economic state.

"So I suppose that’s been vindicated in many ways but I don’t take any comfort from that."

He added: "This is a difficult situation for Europe.

"We will do what we can to help, but the most crucial thing is that countries with excessive debts and deficits bring them under control."

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.