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A dog who went missing after tornadoes hit the US state of Alabama on 27 April turned up 20 days later, finding his way home despite having sustained two broken front legs.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Sir Alex Ferguson believes the added maturity of Wayne Rooney can give Manchester United the edge over Barcelona in Saturday’s Champions League final.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Women and children were warned not to approach William Cunningham A registered sex offender has gone missing after he failed to attend a court hearing.
William Cunningham, 44, from the Newmilns area of Ayrshire, was last seen at his home on Friday 13 May.
The alarm was raised when he failed to turn up to court on Monday. However, he has been in touch with family members.
Det Insp Neil Robertson, of Strathclyde Police, said people should not approach him, especially women or children, but should contact police immediately.
Mr Cunningham was described as being Scottish, 6ft tall, of medium build, bald but with a grey/brown handlebar moustache and sideburns.
At the time he was seen he was wearing biker clothing – jeans, black boots, leather waistcoat and leather jacket, with “Bogeyman” in red writing on the back.
Det Insp Robertson said: “I would urge that anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of Mr Cunningham to contact Strathclyde Police, however, I would advise that no one approaches him, especially woman or children, but rather contact police immediately.
“I would also suggest that Mr Cunningham give himself up to police.”
It is thought that Mr Cunningham may possibly have travelled to Northern Ireland.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Two police officers had their vehicles wheel clamped as they sat inside carrying out security duties for the Queen’s recent visit to Portsmouth.
The two unmarked police vehicles were clamped during the royal visit to Gunwharf Quays on Wednesday for lunch aboard a luxury yacht.
Hampshire Constabulary said the clamping had prevented the officers from “conducting their duties”.
Gareth Andrews, 37, from Fareham, has been charged with obstructing police.
Mr Andrews, of Privett Road, is due to appear before South East Hampshire Magistrates’ Court on 3 June.
The Queen’s unannounced visit saw her have lunch on board the super yacht Leander, owned by NCP car park millionaire Sir Donald Gosling.
A police spokesman said: “The officers had not left the vehicles at the time they were clamped.”
Mr Andrews is also charged with contravening the Private Security Industry Act, by not displaying the appropriate licensing badge.
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By Hugh Pym
Mr Dale says he could change his mind about raising rates at any point The Bank of England’s chief economist has told the BBC there are “relatively hard times ahead”.
Spencer Dale said the possibilities of growth remaining feeble and inflation high were “very significant risks”.
Mr Dale, who sits on the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), has voted for interest rates to rise in recent months.
Mr Dale was on a two-and-a-half day visit to the Scottish Borders and Edinburgh.
He visited a textile factory and a timber processing plant, as well as speaking at meetings of the CBI and Chambers of Commerce.
It was part of the MPC’s regular programme of trips around the UK to gauge the state of the economy.
During the visit, he took time out to speak to the BBC.
I first asked Mr Dale about why he had voted at four successive meetings for a 0.25% increase in the Bank’s official interest rate.
He has been in a minority on the committee, with the decisions coming down in favour of holding rates at the record low of 0.5%.
He acknowledged that economic growth was subdued.
“I am not confident about the strength of the recovery, particularly in terms of the weakness we see in the household sector and the implications that may have for consumption,” he said.
But the Bank’s top economist added: “I am even more worried about inflation and the risk that we may see price pressures from the rest of the world continue to push up and the high levels of inflation we have seen in the UK persist for longer than we otherwise expect.”
So should households expect an increase in the cost of borrowing sometime this year?
“I think the level of interest rates at the moment is at an extraordinary low level – the Bank rate is at the lowest level it’s ever been,” he said.
“I understand exactly the pain that many households are feeling and have huge sympathy for them ”
Spencer Dale Bank of England chief economist
“At some point, I do expect interest rates to rise, but how quickly and how much, I really can’t say.”
Mr Dale made it clear that he was open-minded and could change his vote at future meetings of the MPC.
“I could change my view at any point in either direction – that’s the only way you can behave as a policymaker,” he told me.
“You have got to approach this job with a big dose of pragmatism and humility. We don’t know precisely what’s going on in the economy at the moment and we know even less about how the economy is going to evolve going forward.
“So all you can do I think is remain open-minded, keep challenging yourself and then vote in terms of the interest rate you think is most appropriate to get inflation back down to target.”
Households are facing an intense squeeze with average pay rises about half the annual rate of inflation.
Mr Dale argued that this was part of the rebalancing of the economy away from consumption and borrowing towards investment and export growth.
He pointed out that monetary policy could not offset this process. But he added: “I understand exactly the pain that many households are feeling and have huge sympathy for them.”
I asked him whether there was light at the end of the tunnel with some indicators still looking bleak.
“I think the next year or two will be a relatively bleak time. I think we have relatively hard times ahead,” he replied.
“But I think we are starting towards a path of sustainable recovery.
“The lower level of sterling should help to support this rebalancing of the economy and, moreover, I do expect inflation to start to fall in a year or two’s time and that will also help to reduce some of the pressures.”
But is he worried about growth remaining pretty weak?
“I am worried about growth remaining feeble and I am also worried about inflation remaining high – and if you like that’s the dilemma facing the MPC at the moment – trying to balance these two very significant risks.”
Mr Dale left the impression that the Bank of England was well aware of the conflicting pressures in the economy and that there would be challenging times ahead as policymakers decided when to make the first move on interest rates.
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HSBC is Europe’s biggest bank HSBC bosses faced shareholder anger over lacklustre returns and high executive pay, at the bank’s annual general meeting.
Chairman Douglas Flint admitted that shareholder returns had been disappointing and inadequate.
A fifth of investors refused to back the bank’s remuneration plan, marking stronger opposition over pay than that faced by other banks in the UK.
Earlier this month, HSBC revealed details of a large cost-cutting plan.
The plan, which involves a retreat from retail banking, aims to save up to $3.5bn (£2bn; 2.4bn euros).
Despite 81% of investors backing HSBC’s pay plan, many called on the bank to take a lead in moving away from “wildly excessive remuneration at board level”.
“How greedy is this board of directors?” asked private shareholder Michael Mason-Mahon.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
There have been protests in Greece against austerity plans Greek leaders meeting in Athens have failed to agree on Prime Minister George Papandreou’s new austerity plan.
Conservative leader Antonis Samaras rejected the measures, saying they would “flatten the Greek economy and destroy Greek society”.
Mr Papandreou, a Socialist, had been trying to secure cross-party agreement for further cuts.
The chairman of the eurozone finance ministers has warned the IMF may not extend further bail-out payments.
Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker said IMF rules might stop it paying because Greece could not guarantee its solvency for the next year.
Mr Papandreou’s government began a programme of privatisations on Thursday, but Mr Juncker has said the privatisation plan needs to be more ambitious.
A 12bn-euro ($17bn; £10bn) payment is due to be made to Greece on 29 June, 3.3bn euros of which should come from the IMF.
It is the fifth tranche of the 110bn-euro loan package from the EU and IMF and has not yet received final approval.
Mr Juncker said the IMF was assuming that if it decided not to make the payment, the EU would step in and make it instead, although he said that countries such as Germany, Finland and the Netherlands may oppose that.
In an interview with the Aachener Zeitung newspaper, the President of the European Central Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet, also urged Greece to ensure financial stability.
“Greece must implement the programme fully and rigorously; this is very important to correct the errors of the past,” he is reported to have said.
Under the terms of the bail-out, Greece was supposed to go to the financial markets to borrow 24bn euros in 2012.
However, as Greece has missed its deficit reduction targets, the chances of it being able to borrow money commercially next year are very small.
The IMF would like the EU to agree to make up the shortfall if necessary through a second bail-out package, but that could be unpopular among northern European taxpayers.
An IMF spokeswoman confirmed that the Fund would be unable to lend more money to Greece unless it was sure that next year’s financing gap would be filled.
“We never lend when we don’t have an assurance that there will be no gap,” said Caroline Atkinson at a briefing in Washington.
“That is how we maintain the safety of our members’ money.”
But a spokesman for Mr Juncker later said that if the EU and IMF inspectors currently in Athens could be convinced by new Greek austerity measures, there would be no problem with the next tranche of loans.
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Hillary Clinton is due to meet Pakistani leadership during her visit The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has arrived in Pakistan on a surprise visit aimed at soothing tensions between the two countries.
It’s the first such high-level visit to Pakistan since the killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden on 2 May.
Islamabad is unhappy that it had no prior knowledge of the raid on Bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad.
It comes a day after the US announced it was withdrawing some of its troops from Pakistan, at Islamabad’s request.
The Pentagon said it had received a request from the Pakistani government to reduce its presence in the country.
Relations between US and Pakistan are always complex and fragile but they are particularly volatile at the moment.
In Washington, suspicion is rife that some in Pakistan knew of Osama Bin Laden’s hiding place.
During her visit, Mrs Clinton is to meet Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, army chief General Ashfaq Kayani and Ahmad Shuja Pasha, chief of Pakistan’s powerful intelligence agency ISI.
The secretary of state is accompanied by chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen.
They are expected to demand more cooperation from Pakistan in the fight against al-Qaeda and Taliban militants.
Some in Washington believe that Pakistani intelligence works closely with violent extremist groups.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
The eight-hour adaptation will be broadcast over a week in September Kenneth Branagh is to star in an eight-hour adaptation of Vasily Grossman’s wartime epic Life And Fate for BBC Radio 4.
John Sessions and Olivier-award winner Sara Kestelman will also star in the adaptation set at the Battle of Stalingrad, during World War II.
The 1959 novel charts the fate of the Russian city.
Radio 4 will devote all of its drama strands to the adaptation over a week from 18 September.
Apart from long-running soap The Archers, every regular drama slot on the station like the Afternoon Play and Woman’s Hour drama will broadcast a part of the dramatisation.
Radio 4 will also tell the story of the author in a documentary on his work as well as readings from his front-line journalism as one of Russia’s most distinguished war correspondents.
“I’m thrilled that Radio 4’s dramatisation of Life And Fate will bring this remarkable but little known work to a wider audience,” said Gwyneth Williams, controller of Radio 4.
“The novel’s underlying message – the ability of the human spirit to endure in the face of authoritarian rule and war – is as relevant today as it was 70 years ago.”
Life and Fate has been hailed as one of the most important Russian novels of the 20th century.
Its comparison of Stalinism with Nazism was considered by Soviet authorities to be so dangerous that the manuscript was seized by the KGB.
Although Grossman was told his book would not be published for at least 200 years, the work was smuggled out of the Soviet Union on microfilm and eventually published in the West.
The Radio 4 drama will be preceded by a series of free public events to discuss the novel including a special recording of Start The Week at St Peter’s College, Oxford University, on 9 September.
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F-GZCP, the Air France jet which crashed, is seen here in an undated image The Air France jet which crashed into the Atlantic en route from Rio in 2009 stalled and fell in three and a half minutes, French investigators report.
The air accident investigations bureau (BEA) found the crew had struggled with contradictory speed readings just before the plane crashed.
A principal theory for the cause of the crash is that the jet’s speed probes iced up, resulting in faulty data.
All 228 people on board were killed in the disaster.
The BEA findings were released in an online statement in response to speculation in the media over the findings from the flight recorders, only recovered from the sea this month.
A full report into the disaster is not expected until next year.
Airbus, the maker of the A330 jet involved, said the French statement was a “significant step” in understanding the causes of the crash.
Ahead of Friday’s statement, the BEA said it wished to correct “partial and more or less contradictory information published in the media”.
It was giving “factual elements on the operation of the flight that… establish the circumstances of the accident but not the causes”.
According to the statement, the twin-engine jet’s autopilot and auto-thrust disengaged after it ran into turbulence, and the plane slowed dangerously, climbing to 38,000 ft (9,100m).
Speeds displayed on the left primary flight display were inconsistent with those on the integrated standby instrument system.
French investigators have been working on the theory that the speed sensors, known as Pitot probes, malfunctioned because of ice at high altitude.
This may have set off an unpredictable chain of events.
The flight recorders were displayed to the public before being decoded The drama began while the captain was taking a routine rest, with the two co-pilots in the cockpit, the BEA said.
Summoned to help, however, he was back in the cockpit two minutes and 48 seconds before the crash, it found.
The BEA statement found the composition of the crew had been “in accordance with the operator’s procedures”.
Flight AF 447 went down on 1 June 2009 after running into an intense high-altitude thunderstorm, four hours into a flight from Rio de Janeiro in Brazil to Paris.
Those on board came from more than 30 countries, though most were French, Brazilian or German.
The wreckage of the plane was discovered after a long search of 10,000 sq km (3,860 sq miles) of sea floor.
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A former public toilet building on the seafront at Sheringham in Norfolk has been sold for £104,000, more than twice the guide price.
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The Digital Economy Act enrolled ISPs in the fight against illegal downloads Telecoms firms BT and Talk Talk are to appeal against a High Court ruling on the controversial Digital Economy Act.
In 2010, the firms asked for a High Court review, arguing the Act broke European laws that the UK must uphold.
In April, the High Court rejected the call for a judicial review, but said the government had to look again at who pays for some of the Act’s measures.
The companies said in their appeal that the court should reconsider the anti-piracy actions required by the Act.
The original legal action was brought because BT and Talk Talk said the Digital Economy Act received “insufficient scrutiny” when it was passed into law just before the 2010 general election.
The clauses that BT and Talk Talk wanted the court to consider obliged internet service providers to co-operate with record labels and film studios that want to identify those who deal in pirated music and films online.
The legal challenge claimed this amounted to a violation of European laws on privacy and commerce. The court did not agree and the legal challenge failed to get the law overturned.
In a statement, BT and Talk Talk said they were now seeking leave to take their case to the Court of Appeal.
If granted leave to appeal, the two aim to challenge the DEA on the grounds that it stands at odds with European directives dealing with e-commerce, technical standards, authorisation and privacy.
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US President Obama says the US and France are united
The US and France are joined in their determination to “finish the job” in Libya, Barack Obama has said at the G8 summit in France.
The US president said that meeting the UN resolution could not be achieved while Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi was still in power.
Mr Obama was speaking following talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Meanwhile, G8 leaders are expected to announce a $20bn (£12bn) package to support new Arab democracies.
The leaders of Egypt and Tunisia are due to meet President Obama and other G8 and European Union leaders who are discussing how to aid their new governments, after recent uprisings.
However, it is unclear what the money would go for, or whether the figure includes money already promised for the region.
In a joint news conference, Mr Obama said both countries agreed that progress had been made in the campaign in Libya.
But, he added, “meeting the UN mandate of civilian protection cannot be accomplished when Gaddafi remains in Libya, directing his forces in acts of aggression against the Libyan people”.
“We are joined in resolve to finish the job.”
However, he did not provide further details about how they would successfully bring the campaign to a close.
Nato has been enforcing a UN resolution to protect Libyan civilians since March, following the uprising against Col Gaddafi’s rule.
Britain agreed during the G8 summit to give clearance for the use of its attack helicopters in Libya, in an effort to boost the military effort.
France, which is also deploying helicopters, has urged the US to commit more resources.
Mr Obama’s comments echo remarks he made in London with British Prime Minister David Cameron earlier this week, when he declared that there would be “no let up” in pressure against Col Gaddafi.
In that news conference, he expressed some caution, warning against setting any timetable for action and against the prospect of any decisive change in the military situation on the ground.
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Janet Brown was best known for her impersonations of Margaret Thatcher Actress and comic Janet Brown, who was best known for impersonating former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, has died aged 87.
Her agent said she died in her sleep at a nursing home in Hove, East Sussex, after a short illness.
In a career beginning in the 1930s, she gained national TV fame in the 1970s and 1980s for her impersonations on The Mike Yarwood Show.
She also played Lady Thatcher in the James Bond film For Your Eyes Only.
Over the years, the Scottish-born star worked with a number of stars including Hughie Green, Tony Hancock and George Cole.
In 1987 she wrote her autobiography, Prime Mimicker, chronicling her childhood and career as impressionist.
More recently she appeared in dramas including Midsomer Murders, Casualty and Hotel Babylon.
Her final stage role was in a production of The Country Wife at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in 2007.
“She was a delightful client and we will all miss her very much,” said agent Susan Angel.
“Her knowledge of sport was second to none. We will miss the endless discussions about football and her fellow Scot, the tennis star Andy Murray.”
The actress, who was married to Carry On actor Peter Butterworth until his death in 1979, is survived by a son, the actor Tyler Butterworth, and a grandson.
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A man is to appear in court in connection with the murder of a woman who was found dead at a house in West Lothian.
The 22-year-old victim, who has been named locally as Alami Gotip, suffered multiple stab wounds in an attack in Nigel Rise, Dedridge, Livingston.
She was found dead in the living room after the incident, which happened just before 2200 BST on Wednesday.
An 18-year-old man is due to appear at Livingston Sheriff Court.
Police are appealing for information from any witnesses who were in the street between 2000 BST and 2145 BST.
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