Category: news

The crew of a Devon-based warship have saved the lives of 23 seamen whose cargo ship was caught in a tropical cyclone off Somalia.

HMS Chatham, which is conducting Nato anti-piracy operations off east Africa, responded to a mayday call from MV Dubai Moon which was listing heavily.

The frigate raced to the stricken ship, MV Dubai Moon, launched its Lynx helicopter and winched the crew off.

The cargo ship’s master said the crew owed their lives to the Royal Navy.

Grounding fears

The drama unfolded early on Thursday when crew on the bridge of HMS Chatham, which is based in Devonport, Plymouth, received a distress call from the master of MV Dubai Moon, Capt Hassan Madar.

He reported that his vessel was caught in a tropical storm – which later evolved into a cyclone – and was struggling to make headway in extremely rough seas and high winds.

The ship, which was transporting vehicles, was drifting towards an island and there were fears that it could run aground.

As concerns mounted Capt Madar and HMS Chatham’s commanding officer, Commander Simon Huntington, maintained contact throughout the night to try to work out the best way to save the merchant ship.

Weather conditions improved on Friday and the crew of HMS Chatham were able to winch the crew off the cargo vessel in an operation which took three hours. The ship later sank.

‘Challenging’ conditions

Capt Hassan Madar said: "Normally we operate close to the coast but we had to go far out to sea to avoid pirates.

"That meant we could not find shelter from the storm.

"If we had not been rescued by the Royal Navy and Nato we would have died with my ship.

"They were the only people to respond to our distress call; we owe them our lives."

Commander Huntington added: "This rescue was conducted in the most challenging sea conditions imaginable… the tropical cyclone tested the ship and everyone on board."

HMS Chatham has been involved in a number of rescue operations while carrying out operations in the Gulf.

In February crew airlifted a Filipino sailor with suspected appendicitis to hospital after he fell in on an oil tanker in the Middle East.

A week before it had dispatched Royal Marines to help 21 Yemeni fishermen spotted adrift in the middle of a shipping zone after their vessel had run out of fuel.

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

William Hague has arrived in Afghanistan on his first visit to the country as UK foreign secretary.

He flew into Kabul ahead of talks with political and military leaders in the Afghan capital.

He is heading a senior ministerial delegation also consisting of Defence Secretary Liam Fox and International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell.

Dr Fox told the Times newspaper he wanted British forces to return from Afghanistan "as soon as possible".

Interviewed by journalists on their RAF flight into Kabul the ministers indicated they were not planning any significant changes to UK policy on Afghanistan.

Dr Fox said the sacrifices of British troops remained essential.

"When I got this job the very first question I asked myself was ‘do we have to be in Afghanistan, do our troops have to take these costs of life and limb?’ And my answer is still ‘yes’."

However, in an earlier interview with the Times, Dr Fox said the number of UK troops serving in Afghanistan was now "at the limit of numbers".

And he confirmed ministers would be examining whether Afghans could manage their own security by 2014, as suggested by General Stanley McChrystal, the US commander of the international forces in Afghanistan.

Dr Fox said he would be talking to those training Afghan forces to see whether their training could be speeded up.

He stressed that the UK could not act as a "global policeman" in Afghanistan, adding that "national security is the focus now".

Mr Hague said the three ministers were travelling together to make sure they had "a properly coherent British approach to Afghanistan".

He added: "We are taking stock as a new government, we want to see how things are working, we want to hear the military advice, we want to talk to the Afghan government themselves, we want to discuss the detail with the United States.

"The question is how to support the efforts of the Afghan government and our Nato partners, not whether to support them."

‘Promoting livelihoods’

Mr Mitchell said it was "absolutely crucial" to create a functioning state in Afghanistan.

"We need to ensure that we help the Afghan people to build a functioning state," he said.

"That’s about providing basic education and healthcare facilities, but it’s also about ensuring there are opportunities for promoting livelihoods so that people have jobs."

The three Conservative ministers will meet senior Afghan politicians, including President Hamid Karzai, and General McChrystal.

The Ministry of Defence has announced that about 8,000 British troops based in Helmand province are to come under the operational command of the US.

The move is part of a restructuring of Nato forces, with command and control in southern Afghanistan split into two.

And the ministerial visit also comes shortly after a British marine from 40 Commando Royal Marines was killed in an explosion near Patrol Base Almas, in Sangin, on Friday morning.

He died while on a joint foot patrol with the Afghan National Army to reassure and improve the security to the local population and his death takes the total number of British service personnel killed in Afghanistan to 286.

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CARDIFFPossessionBlackpool 50%Cardiff 50%Attempts on targetBlackpool 0Cardiff 0Attempts off targetBlackpool 0Cardiff 0CornersBlackpool 0Cardiff 0FoulsBlackpool 0Cardiff 0

Coca Cola Championship play-off final Venue: Wembley Stadium Date: Saturday, 22 May Kick-off: 1500 BSTCoverage: BBC Sport website, BBC Radio 5 live, BBC local radio & highlights on The Football League Show. Live on Sky Sports 1

TEAM NEWS

Blackpool have no new injury concerns ahead of the Championship play-off final at Wembley.

Tangerines boss Ian Holloway is expected to name an unchanged line-up for the sixth consecutive match.

Cardiff City centre-back Anthony Gerrard, who has missed the last three matches with a calf injury, has been passed fit for the big game.

Top scorer Peter Whittingham is also likely to get the all-clear to play following a groin strain.

MATCH PREVIEW

Billed as the richest match in club football, an estimated £90m is at stake in the winner-takes-all Championship play-off final, which will propel one of these sides into the big time.

We`re happy to be the underdogs. We have been all season, and maybe that brings the best out in us

For Blackpool, who started the season among the favourites for relegation and have not been in the top flight since 1971, promotion would be an amazing achievement. It would also see them go from the bottom division to the Premier League in the space of nine years.

And it would be a crowning moment for boss Ian Holloway, who tasted play-off agony at Cardiff’s hands while QPR boss in 2003.

City’s extra-time victory at the Millennium Stadium that day took them into the second tier for the first time in 18 years. Now they are looking to go a step further and compete in the top division for the first time since 1962.

Manager Dave Jones is hoping to repeat his 2003 play-off triumph, when he took Wolves up. His position at Cardiff was in doubt after their capitulation resulted in them being nudged out of the top six on the final day of last season. One year on, he could be about to seal his place in the club’s folklore.

Two years ago, Holloway presided over relegation with Leicester and has had to rebuild his reputation since Blackpool appointed him last summer. His pre-season claim that the Seasiders could seriously challenge for promotion seemed to many to be over-ambitious, but he has been proved right.

While Blackpool have defied the odds to get this far, Cardiff have defied serious off-the-field problems. Their financial future has been uncertain all season, but they now have a chance to hit the jackpot and emphatically wipe out their debts.

MATCH FACTS

Head-to-head

• Blackpool have won 31 and Cardiff 14 of the 64 previous matches between these clubs.

• Three of the last four meetings have been 1-1 draws, including both this season’s fixtures.

• Cardiff are unbeaten in seven matches against Blackpool, winning four and drawing three since losing to them in October 2002.

Blackpool

• Blackpool have won 11, drawn three and lost two of the club’s 16 previous matches in the play-offs.

• They are hoping to become the third club to win promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs after finishing the regular season in sixth place, and the first since West Ham did so in 2005.

• Top scorer Charlie Adam is set to make his 200th appearance in English and Scottish club football, and a goal would be the 50th of his career.

• Ian Evatt is set to make his 300th club career start.

Cardiff

• Cardiff have lost only two of their last 13 matches.

• They have been involved in nine previous play-off games, winning four, losing four and drawing one.

• The Bluebirds are hoping to become only the third side – and the first since Charlton 12 years ago – to win promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs after finishing the regular season in fourth place. Leicester also did it in 1995.

• Between them, striker Michael Chopra and the Championship’s top scorer Peter Whittingham have netted 45 of Cardiff’s 89 goals this season.

• Goalkeeper David Marshall is set to make his 50th appearance for Cardiff.

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Andre Marriner

Assistant referees: Dave Bryan & Adam Watts

Fourth official: Mike Jones

MOST RECENT MEETING

Cardiff scorer: Hudson 9.

Blackpool scorer: Adam 46.

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A body recovered from Larne Lough is believed to be that of Graeme Nixon who has been missing for a fortnight.

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About 160 people are feared dead as a passenger plane crashes near the Indian city of Mangalore after flying from Dubai.

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More than 74,000 South African football fans attend the first match at Soccer City – venue for the World Cup final.

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Afghan police say they have seized a cache of hundreds of rockets hidden on the outskirts of the capital Kabul.

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

The crew of a Devon-based warship have saved the lives of 23 seamen whose cargo ship was caught in a tropical cyclone off Somalia.

HMS Chatham, which is conducting Nato anti-piracy operations off east Africa, responded to a mayday call from MV Dubai Moon which was listing heavily.

The frigate raced to the stricken ship, MV Dubai Moon, launched its Lynx helicopter and winched the crew off.

The cargo ship’s master said the crew owed their lives to the Royal Navy.

Grounding fears

The drama unfolded early on Thursday when crew on the bridge of HMS Chatham, which is based in Devonport, Plymouth, received a distress call from the master of MV Dubai Moon, Capt Hassan Madar.

He reported that his vessel was caught in a tropical storm – which later evolved into a cyclone – and was struggling to make headway in extremely rough seas and high winds.

The ship, which was transporting vehicles, was drifting towards an island and there were fears that it could run aground.

As concerns mounted Capt Madar and HMS Chatham’s commanding officer, Commander Simon Huntington, maintained contact throughout the night to try to work out the best way to save the merchant ship.

Weather conditions improved on Friday and the crew of HMS Chatham were able to winch the crew off the cargo vessel in an operation which took three hours. The ship later sank.

‘Challenging’ conditions

Capt Hassan Madar said: "Normally we operate close to the coast but we had to go far out to sea to avoid pirates.

"That meant we could not find shelter from the storm.

"If we had not been rescued by the Royal Navy and Nato we would have died with my ship.

"They were the only people to respond to our distress call; we owe them our lives."

Commander Huntington added: "This rescue was conducted in the most challenging sea conditions imaginable… the tropical cyclone tested the ship and everyone on board."

HMS Chatham has been involved in a number of rescue operations while carrying out operations in the Gulf.

In February crew airlifted a Filipino sailor with suspected appendicitis to hospital after he fell in on an oil tanker in the Middle East.

A week before it had dispatched Royal Marines to help 21 Yemeni fishermen spotted adrift in the middle of a shipping zone after their vessel had run out of fuel.

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

Family, friends and teachers of a teenager, who was killed earlier this month, gather for a memorial service at his school.

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The union representing British Airways cabin crew accuses airline bosses of a “petty, vindictive” attitude ahead of talks to avert strikes.

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Two of the candidates attempting to become the next Labour leader have criticised the decision to invade Iraq.

Ed Balls, the former children’s secretary, told the Daily Telegraph the war was "wrong" and "a mistake".

And in an interview with the Guardian former energy secretary Ed Miliband said the way the decision to go to war was taken "led to a catastrophic loss of trust in Labour".

The result of Labour’s leadership contest will be known on 25 September.

The other candidates for leadership are Diane Abbott, Andy Burnham, John McDonnell and Ed Miliband’s brother, David, who was an MP at the time of the invasion of Iraq and voted for it.

Mr Balls said that, based on the information made available, "we shouldn’t have prosecuted the war".

He added: "We shouldn’t have changed our argument from international law to regime change in a non-transparent way. It was an error for which we as a country paid a heavy price, and for which many people paid with their lives.

"Saddam Hussein was a horrible man, and I am pleased he is no longer running Iraq. But the war was wrong."

Ed Milliband, the former energy and climate change secretary, said the basis for going to war was Saddam Hussein’s potential possession of weapons of mass destruction.

"Therefore that is why I felt the weapons inspectors should have been given more time to find out whether he had those weapons, and Hans Blix – the head of the UN weapons inspectorate – was saying that he wanted to be given more time," Mr Miliband said.

"The combination of not giving the weapons inspectors more time, and then the weapons not being found, I think for a lot of people it led to a catastrophic loss of trust for us, and we do need to draw a line under it."

Mr Miliband, who was not an MP at the time of the invasion of Iraq, said because the basis for the war "turned out not to be correct", the decision to prosecute it was "a big loss of trust for us".

He added: "What I am not saying is that the war was undertaken for the wrong motives but what I am very clear about is what my position was at the time and the way I look at it in retrospect."

The BBC’s Mike Sergeant said the race to ditch the baggage of the Blair/Brown years was moving on apace for Labour’s leadership contenders.

"For Labour members, the invasion of Iraq in 2003 remains one of the least popular decisions," our correspondent said.

Speaking in March at the Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq war, David Miliband said: "I voted for the war because I think that the defiance by Saddam of the UN was itself a danger to international peace and security and the authority of the UN had to be upheld."

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A plane crashes on landing near India’s southern city of Mangalore with 166 people on board, with reports of seven survivors.

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A 13-year-old American, Jordan Romero, becomes the youngest person to scale Mount Everest, his family says.

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Two women are threatened and tied up during a kidnap and robbery in Newtownabbey on Friday.

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Britain’s most successful gymnast has been presented with an MBE after her career at the top of the sport.

Beth Tweddle, 25, of Cheshire, has her sights set on 2012 Olympic glory after winning a number of gold medals in recent years.

The Prince of Wales presented the award to her in an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace on Friday.

He wished her well for the London Olympics during an event described as "surreal" by the gymnast.

Tweddle, who lives in Bunbury but trains in Liverpool, successfully defended her European titles in the uneven bars and floor events at the European Artistic Gymnastics Championships earlier in May.

She is also the 2009 Floor World Champion after coming top in the event at the 02 Arena in London in 2009.

Speaking after the ceremony, Tweddle said she was delighted to receive an award outside gymnastics – but was nervous about the ceremony.

"It’s been totally surreal to get an MBE," she said.

"I didn’t really believe it at first, I waited for the letter telling me I was coming to the palace before I did.

"I was surprisingly quite nervous before the ceremony – I was worried about tripping up when I walked in. Everyone kept saying to me ‘you are not going to cartwheel in’.

"I train to win gymnastic medals but away from gymnastics the MBE is a massive honour."

Tweddle’s career began when her father took her to a local gymnastics club to burn off excess energy when she was a hyperactive seven-year-old.

Her career has progressed steadily over the years and her first major honour was an uneven bars title at the 2002 Commonwealth Games.

She made her Olympic debut in 2004 and achieved a European gold at her favoured event in 2006, the year she also became World Champion.

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