Category: news

British Airways boss Willie Walsh says there is an “opportunity” to avert the strike, amid a row over the use of Twitter during talks.

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A helicopter pilot suffered head injuries after crash landing during a training flight at Liverpool John Lennon airport.

The light aircraft was hovering above the tarmac at the western edge of the airport when it came down on Saturday.

Emergency crews were sent to the scene but, despite his injuries, the pilot walked away from the aircraft, which suffered some minor damage.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) has been informed.

The man had been piloting the two-seater aircraft on a training flight at about midday when he got into difficulties.

Investigation due

An emergency response, including five fire engines and two ambulances, was carried out.

It is not clear how high the helicopter was before it came down, an airport spokesman said.

"The pilot walked away, but he sustained some head injuries and was taken by ambulance to hospital," he added.

His condition is not known.

The accident did not affect the airport and flights continued to operate as normal.

An investigation will be carried out into the crash.

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World leaders and communties around India pay tribute to the victims of Saturday’s plane crash in which 158 people died.

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The Duchess of York offered to sell access to ex-husband Prince Andrew, a newspaper claims.

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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.

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A train derails in a mountainous area of south-eastern China, with reports saying at least 10 people have been killed.

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There is much speculation about the likely impact of Monday’s public spending cuts announcement in the newspapers.

The Sunday Times says the £6bn in cuts and a spending review will see at least 300,000 civil servants and frontline staff eventually lose their jobs.

The paper says this will include many thousands of doctors and nurses, and police officers.

Writing in the News of the World, David Cameron says he will make sure the most vulnerable are protected from cuts.

Expenditure audit

Many of the papers welcome the half a billion pounds in savings that will come from cutting quangos.

The Sunday Express sees these cuts as a "Whitehall war on waste", and The Mail on Sunday describes them as a "bonfire of the quangos".

The Mail is among several papers to highlight an emergency audit on the previous government’s expenditure.

This included £125m a year on taxis, £320m on hotels and also £580m on office furniture.

The Independent on Sunday focuses on next month’s emergency budget.

It says banks face an £8bn tax hike, nearly three times higher than originally planned.

Tortoise security

There is also coverage of the problems many papers believe David Cameron has brought on himself by changing the membership rules of the Conservative backbench 1922 Committee.

The News of the World says the prime minister faces a no-confidence vote from within his own party because many MPs think he sold out to the Liberal Democrats.

The Sunday Telegraph says installing CCTV systems and motion sensitive alarms is the latest advice for tortoise owners.

Thefts have apparently risen by 50%, with the pets fetching up to £6,000 on the black market.

Also in the Telegraph, the cartoonist Matt has a lighter take on British Airways’s woes.

As an elderly couple spot a headline "BA loses £531m" one asks the other "Could it be in a suitcase somewhere?".

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Where basketball star Kobe Bryant speaks Chinese

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Plans to reduce public spending by £6bn include cutting the business department budget by £700m, the BBC has learned.

The government is to set out where this year’s cuts will be made this week.

But the BBC’s Carole Walker says £700m will come from Lib Dem Vince Cable’s department, while £500m is to come from trimming or axing public bodies.

Ministers say cuts must be made quickly to show Britain is serious about cutting the deficit but Labour says this could put the recovery at risk.

Universities

Ministers have insisted that front-line services will be protected, despite the cuts that will be made.

Chancellor George Osborne said on 17 May that plans for £6bn cuts would be announced this week, while setting a date for an "emergency Budget" for 22 June.

BBC political correspondent Carole Walker said savings at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills would mean "significant cuts" to regional development agencies in the south of England.

There would also be some savings on the universities budget, and reductions in administration costs.

A further £513m would be cut from quangos, with some like the QCDA – which oversees the national curriculum – due to be scrapped, she added.

Queen’s speech

The new government has already said it intends to spend less on consultancy, restrict public sector recruitment and scrap some projects such as ID cards.

But with the deficit standing at £156bn, there are far more painful cuts to come, our correspondent added.

Meanwhile, both the Sunday Telegraph and the Sunday Mirror reported that a leaked late draft of the Queen’s Speech, due to be delivered by the monarch at the state opening of Parliament on Tuesday, set out an ambitious 18-month programme of at least 21 parliamentary Bills.

The draft is also said to show that key school reforms and the scrapping of ID cards would be brought in within days.

According to the leaked draft, the Queen will announce that the government’s priority will be to "reduce the deficit and restore economic growth" and to "accelerate the reduction of the structural budget deficit", with five Bills led by the Treasury.

And the Telegraph says the main themes are "freedom, fairness and responsibility".

It is also said to include a "great repeals Bill" to get rid of Labour legislation opposed by the Tories and Lib Dems when they were in opposition.

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Efforts are being made to restart talks aimed at averting strikes by BA cabin crew, after protests disrupted Saturday’s meeting.

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Jamaican police have urged residents in parts of the capital Kingston to take down barricades set up to stop them from searching for an alleged druglord.

The government said last week it would extradite Christopher "Dudus" Coke to the US.

According to the police, criminal gangs have begun stockpiling weapons to prevent his arrest.

And his supporters have apparently blockaded the part of Kingston where he lives to stop him being arrested.

But some residents claim that the barricades are intended to protect their neighbourhood from police violence.

Police officials say they have no desire to engage in armed conflict, and will exercise restraint when they serve the arrest warrant.

Most wanted

Mr Coke, 41, is accused of being the leader of the notorious Shower Posse, which US authorities say operates an international drugs and guns network.

The gang has also been blamed for numerous murders in Jamaica and the US.

Mr Coke is thought to be hiding in Tivoli Gardens, one of Kingston’s poorest districts, which police say is controlled by his supporters.

The BBC’s Nick Davis in Kingston says they are believed to be heavily armed and ready to defend the man they call "the president".

Thousands of residents have protested against the deicision to deport him.

Change of heart

Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding said earlier this week that he was prepared to send Mr Coke to the US to face charges of drug and gun trafficking.

The decision reversed nine months of opposition to his extradition.

Mr Golding had argued that the evidence against Mr Coke was obtained illegally by intercepting mobile telephone calls.

But he changed his mind in the face of growing public discontent, and questions about his possible ties to Mr Coke.

He apologised to the nation and admitted he had mishandled the case.

Tivoli Gardens is in Mr Golding’s constituency.

The US and UK have warned travellers about possible violence and disorder in Kingston because of the situation.

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A married teacher who belongs to a breakaway Catholic faction becomes the first female priest to be ordained in Italy.

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A scheme giving thousands of householders £400 off the cost of a new boiler is due to launch in Scotland.

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Roman Catholic churchgoers are being urged to help meet a shortfall of more than £3m pounds in funding for Pope Benedict’s visit to the UK.

The Church has asked them to put at least £1m in Sunday’s collection – largely to pay for three big open air masses at which the Pope will preside.

Because this is a state visit by Pope Benedict XVI, the bulk of the cost is being borne by the UK government.

The Papal visit will cost £15m, not including extra policing and security.

The Church’s share of the cost is £7m, and with slightly less than half of it raised, congregations are being asked to contribute via the collection plate.

Most of the money will be spent on three open-air masses which the Church says could attract up to 400,000 people in total.

One of the masses will form the high point of the Pope’s visit – the beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman at Coventry Airport on 19 September.

Secularist groups have criticised the use of taxpayers’ money to fund the visit of a religious leader.

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UK ministers have stressed their commitment to redevelopment during talks with Afghan leaders in Kabul. What should be the focus?

Before the talks Defence Secretary Liam Fox argued that British troops were not in the country to fix Afghan society.

Later, Dr Fox and International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell both stressed their commitment to redevelopment.

What should be the priority in Afghanistan? Should troops put their own country’s security ahead of reconstruction? Do you live in the region?

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