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Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson wins the League Managers Association manager of the year award.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Mr Rana, 50, is a Pakistani-born Canadian citizen Opening statements have begun in the trial of a Chicago businessman accused of helping plan the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai that left more than 160 dead.
Tahawwur Rana is accused of giving cover to a former friend, David Headley, who admitted scouting sites for the attack. He is expected to testify against Mr Rana.
The trial is likely to shed light on alleged links between militant groups and the Pakistani secret intelligence service. Mr Rana denies the 12 charges that have been levelled against him.
His lawyers say he was tricked by Headley, a longtime friend from their days at a Pakistani military school. Mr Rana was arrested in 2009, and if convicted, he faces a life sentence.
“What this case is going to be about is David Headley’s betrayal of his friend Rana, his betrayal of the US , his betrayal of all human and decent values,” Mr Rana’s lawyer Charlie Swift was quoted by the Associated Press as saying.
Mr Rana was merely “friends with a terrorist”, he said.
Prosecutors say that in 2006 Mr Rana allowed Headley to open an office of his Chicago-based immigration services firm in Mumbai, which Headley then used as cover to scout sites for the 2008 attack.
In November 2008, a group of 10 gunmen the US says were trained by militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba attacked the Taj Mahal and Oberoi hotels, a Jewish centre and a major train station, each of which Headley had scouted in advance.
More than 160 people were killed in the 2008 attacks In March 2010, Headley, a US citizen who spent much of his childhood in Pakistan, pleaded guilty to taking photographs and video of the targets. He could face up to life in prison and a $3m (£1.86m) fine.
In addition, prosecutors say Headley and Mr Rana plotted an attack, which was never carried out, on Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten.
Also charged with planning the Mumbai attack are four Pakistanis, including one said by prosecutors to be a Pakistani intelligence officer. None are in US custody.
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Syria’s foreign minister accused the EU of “colonialism” Syria has denounced sanctions imposed on President Bashar al-Assad by the European Union, saying the measures would “harm the Syrian people”.
Foreign Minister Walid Muallem accused the EU of “trying to impose their will” on Syria.
“Today, the Europeans have added a black page to their record of colonialism in the region,” he said.
EU ministers had earlier added Mr Assad and nine officials to a list affected by travel bans and asset freezes.
They had already placed restrictions on the president’s brother, four of his cousins and others in his inner circle, in response to the Syrian regime’s crackdown on pro-democracy protests.
Human rights activists say more than 850 people have been killed and thousands arrested since the operation to quell dissent began in March.
“The EU are trying to impose their will on Syrian decision-making, but history has proven Syria does not succumb to pressure”
Walid Muallem Syrian Foreign Minister
The US has also imposed sanctions on Mr Assad, with President Barack Obama last week calling on him to lead the transition to democracy or “get out of the way”.
On Monday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton again urged Mr Assad to “end the cruelty” against demonstrators, at a news conference with her British counterpart William Hague in London.
“Stop the killings, the beatings, the arrests, release all political prisoners and detainees,” Ms Clinton said.
“Begin to respond to the demands that are upon you for a process of credible and inclusive democratic change.”
But in an interview with Syrian state television, Mr Muallem said the US and EU had “no role to play” in the future of Syria.
Hillary Clinton called on Syria’s president to “stop the beatings” “They [the EU] erred when they attacked the president and when they adopted sanctions that harm the Syrian people,” he said.
“Just as the measures will hurt Syrian interests, they will also hurt European interests.
“They are trying to impose their will on Syrian decision-making, but history has proven that Syria does not succumb to pressure,” he said.
The foreign minister said Syria would respond by strengthening its relationship with Russia, China and Latin America, “to prove to the West that the world is wide and is not made up only of America and Europe”.
The 10 individuals affected by EU sanctions will not be named until Tuesday, but the council of the European Union said it condemned “in the strongest terms the ongoing repression in Syria and the unacceptable violence used by the military and security forces against peaceful protesters which have lead to hundreds of fatalities”.
On 10 May, the EU unveiled an asset freeze and visa ban on 13 leading Syrian officials, including the president’s younger brother, Maher al-Assad. He was described as “principal overseer” of the violence.
The Syrian government insists it is pursuing “armed terrorist gangs”.
At least 44 people are believed to have been shot dead during last Friday’s nationwide demonstrations. But the government said only 17 people had been killed by armed gangs at small gatherings.
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A team of storm chasers filmed the tornado as it tore through Missouri
A thunderstorm is hindering search and rescue efforts in a US city hit by a devastating tornado on Sunday.
The tornado tore through Joplin in the state of Missouri, killing at least 89 people and injuring hundreds. Officials expect the death toll to rise.
Joplin official Mark Rohr said the storm cut a path six miles (10km) long, flattening buildings and damaging a hospital that had to be evacuated.
Strong winds and hail are hitting the city, much of which is without power.
The tornado knocked down power lines and telephone services remain largely cut off.
Mississippi governor Jay Nixon has declared a state of emergency and warned that more storms are on the way.
Cities in three other Midwestern states have also been badly affected. At least one person was killed in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Last month, tornadoes and storms killed at least 350 people in Alabama and six other southern states.
Tornado sirens rang 20 minutes before the storm struck Joplin, home to about 50,000 people, cutting a gash nearly six miles long and more than half a mile (800m) wide through the city centre.
“There was a loud huffing noise, my windows started popping. I had to get downstairs, glass was flying. I opened a closet and pulled myself into it,” Jeff Lehr, a reporter for the Joplin Globe newspaper, told the Associated Press.
“Then you could hear everything go. It tore the roof off my house, everybody’s house. I came outside and there was nothing left.”
Another resident, Tom Rogers, said his house had been destroyed.
“It’s just gone,” he told the Joplin Globe. “We heard the tornado sirens for the second time. All of a sudden, everything came crashing down on us. We pulled our heads up and there was nothing.”
Much of the city’s south side is reported to have been levelled, with churches, schools, businesses and homes reduced to rubble.
March 1925: Deadliest twister in US history as so-called Tri-State Tornado kills 695 in Missouri, southern Illinois and south-west IndianaMarch 1932: Deep South tornado outbreak kills 332 people from Texas to South Carolina, with 270 dying in Alabama aloneMay 1840: The Great Natchez Tornado kills 317 people in Mississippi town, most living on flatboats on the riverApril 1974: 310 killed in 24-hour “super outbreak” of 148 tornadoes across 13 states.May 1896: Two weeks of storms kill 305 people in Missouri, Illinois and Kentucky
Nearly 100 patients at the St John Regional Medical Center in Joplin were evacuated after the hospital took a direct hit.
A resident living 45 miles (70km) away said debris from the hospital had landed in his yard, including medical supplies and X-rays.
A door-to-door search of the damaged area was to begin later on Monday morning, but progress was expected to be slow because of the thunderstorm, and the danger from downed power lines and gas leaks, which caused fires around the city overnight.
Earlier, the Red Cross opened a shelter at Missouri Southern State University in Joplin for victims, spokeswoman Joanne Muir told the BBC.
It had also sent an emergency response vehicle with some supplies such as blankets, cots, water and food to the area, she said.
US President Barack Obama – on his way to the Republic of Ireland – sent his condolences to those affected.
“Michelle and I send our deepest condolences to the families of all those who lost their lives in the tornadoes and severe weather that struck Joplin, Missouri, as well as communities across the Midwest today,” the president said in a statement.
“We commend the heroic efforts by those who have responded and who are working to help their friends and neighbours at this very difficult time.”
Governor Nixon said storms had caused extensive damage across Missouri.
“They continue to pose significant risk to lives and property,” he said in a statement.
“As a state, we are deploying every agency and resource available to keep Missouri families safe, search for the missing, provide emergency medical care, and begin to recover.” he added.
He warned that the storms were not finished.
“I urge Missourians to keep a close eye on the latest weather information and to follow the instructions and warnings of emergency personnel as these deadly storms continue to move through our state,” he said.
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Mr Hague and Mrs Clinton met ahead of President Obama’s arrival in the UK The relationship between the UK and the United States is “unique and indispensable”, Foreign Secretary William Hague has said.
In a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Mr Hague said the two countries stood side by side on issues like the Middle East peace process.
Mrs Clinton said the US and UK had “a great working relationship”.
US President Barack Obama will arrive in the UK on Monday night.
Earlier, it was announced that the UK and US were setting up a joint body, the National Security Strategy Board, to look at threats from terrorism and rogue states.
Mr Hague and Mrs Clinton held talks on Monday afternoon on a range of foreign policy matters, including the recent political unrest in countries like Libya, Syria, Sudan and Yemen.
There has been criticism in some quarters that the US is taking a back seat in the Nato-led effort to protect the Libyan population from attacks by Col Gaddafi’s forces.
But Mrs Clinton said the US continued to fly 25% of all daily sorties over Libya, while Mr Hague said no-one should “underestimate in any way the huge contribution the United States has made”.
Last week, following a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Obama said any future Palestinian state must be based on the borders that existed prior to the 1967 war.
Mr Hague has already welcomed that statement and he re-iterated that at the news conference, while stressing the urgent need for action.
“Time is running out for a two-state solution and the initiative must be seized now,” he said.
Mrs Clinton added: “Now is the time, in this period of great upheaval, there is an opportunity to come to a successful outcome.”
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Police say the cocaine was from Valle del Cauca and was destined for Mexico The Colombian security forces say they have seized a massive haul of cocaine in the port city of Cartagena.
Sniffer dogs found more than 12 tonnes of the drug hidden in a shipment of brown sugar destined for Mexico.
It is believed to belong to one of Colombia’s most powerful drug gangs, the Rastrojos.
The Colombian government recently declared criminal gangs its new enemy and promised to devote more resources to the fight against them.
Sniffer dogs checking a ship bound for Mexico alerted their handlers to the presence of drugs in the hull of the vessel.
Laboratory tests revealed a large shipment of brown sugar had been laced with cocaine.
Investigative teams are still testing the 33,450 units of 500g of sugar to determine the exact concentration of cocaine, but officials say it already amounts to more than 12 tonnes of the drug.
It is one of largest hauls of cocaine seized in Colombia over the past years.
‘New enemy’
Police said it came from the Valle del Cauca region, in the south-west of Colombia.
The area is the stronghold of the Rastrojos, a drug gang which exports large amounts of cocaine to Central America and Mexico.
In January, Defence Minister Rodrigo Rivera told Colombian news magazine Semana drug gangs were increasingly taking control of drug-trafficking networks from Colombia’s left-wing Farc guerrillas.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
A look back at past US presidential visits to the UK
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
President Obama’s agenda includes the Afghan war and policy towards changes in the Arab world US President Barack Obama is on his way to the Republic of Ireland at the start of a week-long tour of Europe.
The president will also visit the UK, France and Poland. In France he will attend a meeting of the Group of Eight (G8) major world powers.
The BBC’s North America Editor says Afghanistan will be high on the agenda, as will the upheaval in the Arab world.
Security will be tight following the US raid that killed Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan three weeks ago.
After arriving in Dublin, President Obama will meet Irish President Mary McAleese and then hold talks with Taoiseach Enda Kenny.
Later, the US leader, together with First Lady Michelle Obama, will visit the village of Moneygall, Co Offaly, which was the home of his great-great-great grandfather on his mother’s side, Falmouth Kearney.
A huge security operation has been put in place around the village.
Moneygall, which only has 300 residents, has covered its main street in stars and stripes and prepared a warm welcome for President Obama in the village pub.
Back in Dublin, President Obama will deliver an open-air speech on College Green.
On Tuesday, Mr Obama flies to London for a three-day state visit to the UK.
He and his wife will stay at Buckingham Palace as guests of the Queen.
Mr Obama will hold talks with Prime Minister David Cameron at 10 Downing Street with the Nato operation in Libya expected to be high on the agenda.
Mr Obama will also address both houses of the UK parliament at Westminster Hall.
“President Obama’s trip to Europe will be a melange of pageantry and policy, and the political equivalent of both poetry and prose”
It is rare for a foreign head of state to made such an address in Westminster Hall – usually this is reserved for British monarchs.
The White House has said the visit will be an important opportunity for Mr Obama to reaffirm the strength of the “special relationship”.
“The US and UK of course enjoy a special relationship,” said deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes.
“There is no closer ally for the US in the world than the UK. We are in absolute alignment with the British on a range of core international security interests and, of course, our deeply shared set of values that have tied us together for many decades.”
On Thursday Mr Obama heads to Deauville, France, for the G8 summit where he will meet French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan.
On Friday, the US leader travels on to Poland to discuss proposals for a US missile shield in Europe which the Poles will partly host.
BBC North America Editor Mark Mardell says President Obama hopes to press the reset button on relations with some US allies, after appearing to take the UK and the rest of Europe for granted.
Security for the tour is expected to be unprecedented, following the US raid that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan earlier this month.
In an exclusive interview with the BBC aired on Sunday, Mr Obama said he would order a similar operation if another militant leader was found in Pakistan.
The killing of Bin Laden in a Pakistani garrison town strained ties between the two allies.
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The government wants banks to lend more to firms The latest figures on how much UK banks are lending to businesses are due to be published later by the Bank of England.
They are expected to show that the five biggest banks are not meeting the lending targets set under their Project Merlin agreement with the government.
Under Merlin, Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds, HSBC and Santander have pledged to lend £190bn in 2011.
However, the BBC’s Robert Peston says banks are £2bn behind on small business lending in the first quarter of 2011.
Our business correspondent says of the £190bn for 2011, £76bn of credit should be made available to small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) this year.
However, lending in the first three months is expected to collectively total £16.8bn compared with a de facto target of £19bn – a shortfall of about 12%.
Last week, Business Secretary Vince Cable warned that the banks could face higher taxes if they did not raise their business lending.
“I expect the Treasury to issue a statement tomorrow telling the banks they must try a bit harder, if they want the government to honour its side of the Project Merlin bargain”
Robert Peston BBC business editorPeston’s blog: Pressure on banks to accelerate lending
But Robert Peston said it was unlikely the banks would be punished because they still have the rest of the year to raise lending.
The Merlin deal was agreed back in February, and the combined £190bn target compares with the £179bn the banks collectively lent in 2010.
The British Bankers’ Association has repeatedly said that its members are doing all they can to increase lending.
At the same time, business organisations such as the Federation of Small Businesses say its members are continuing to struggle to get bank loans and other credit.
Mr Cable said last week that he expected the banks to miss the lending targets, and that they would have to make up any lending shortfall over the rest of the year.
“It’s a deal with the banks,” he said.
“If the banks don’t deliver, there are options open to the government, including taxation.”
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Miss Godden-Edwards’ remains were discovered in Gloucestershire Taxi driver Christopher Halliwell has been charged with the murder of Becky Godden-Edwards.
Miss Godden-Edwards’ remains were discovered in March in Gloucestershire by police investigating the murder of missing Swindon woman Sian O’Callaghan.
Mr Halliwell, 47, of Ashbury Avenue, Swindon, has already been charged with Miss O’Callaghan’s murder.
He will appear before Worcester magistrates on Tuesday and is expected to be remanded back into custody.
Miss Godden-Edwards’ remains were discovered at Eastleach, in Gloucestershire, around 17 miles from where Miss O’Callaghan’s body was discovered.
A spokeswoman for Wiltshire Police said Mr Halliwell was charged on Monday evening.
She said: “He will be appearing, in person, before Worcester Magistrates’ Court tomorrow morning, Tuesday 24 May, where it is expected that he will be remanded back into custody.”
Miss Godden-Edwards, who would have celebrated her 29th birthday in April, was last seen by her family in Swindon about eight years ago.
Miss O’Callaghan, 22, disappeared after leaving Suju nightclub in the early hours of 19 March.
Her body was found by police five days later in a field in Uffington.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
There are fears that the ash cloud could spread to the UK and mainland Europe Shares in Europe’s biggest airlines have fallen on fears that Iceland’s latest volcanic eruption could disrupt flights across the continent.
Air France KLM, International Consolidated Airlines and Easyjet fell by almost 4%, with Lufthansa down 3.4%.
Flights in Scotland have been cancelled by a regional airline as ash from the Grimsvotn volcano continues to head towards the UK.
One year ago, Icelandic ash caused huge disruption to flights in Europe.
That was caused by the country’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano.
Loganair, based at Glasgow airport, has cancelled 36 flights as the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) warns that disruption cannot be ruled out.
Icelandic air traffic control has already created a no-fly zone around the Grimsvotn and cancelled all domestic flights. The country’s main international airport, Keflavik airport near the capital Reykjavik, has been closed.
However, the UK’s Met Office, which runs Europe’s Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre, said the latest eruption would not necessarily lead to airspace closures further afield.
Shares in Ryanair were also hit, falling 5.6%, but this was in part due to the budget airline’s warning that it faced a tough winter ahead because of rising fuel costs.
This overshadowed the group’s reported 23% rise in profit of 374m euros ($525m; £325m) for the year to March.
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The Sudanese town of Abyei, captured at the weekend by northern troops has been set on fire, with gunmen looting property, the UN says.
The town and surrounding area are claimed by both north and South Sudan, which is set to become independent in July.
The UN has urged the north to withdraw its forces from the area.
South Sudan’s secession follows decades of north-south conflict and some fear this dispute could reignite the war.
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Britain’s Andy Murray says he feels good and is happy with his form on clay as he prepares to begin his French Open bid with a first-round match against qualifier Eric Prodon.
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Around 75,000 Twitter users have named Manchester United’s Ryan Giggs A married footballer named on Twitter as having an injunction over an alleged affair with a reality TV star has been named in Parliament by Lib Dem MP John Hemming as Ryan Giggs.
Mr Hemming named him during an urgent Commons question on privacy orders.
Using parliamentary privilege to break the court order, he said it would not be practical to imprison the 75,000 Twitter users who had named the player.
Earlier the High Court again ruled that the injunction should not be lifted.
Parliamentary privilege protects MPs and peers from prosecution for statements made in the House of Commons or House of Lords.
Addressing MPs, Mr Hemming said: “Mr Speaker, with about 75,000 people having named Ryan Giggs it is obviously impracticable to imprison them all.”
In court, Mr Justice Eady rejected a fresh application by Sun publisher News Group Newspapers to discharge the privacy injunction.
The judge said: “The court’s duty remains to try and protect the claimant, and particularly his family, from intrusion and harassment so long as it can.”
Lib Dem MP John Hemming was fully protected by parliamentary privilege. Media organisations have only qualified privilege which means they do not have an absolute right to report what an MP says in Parliament.
In reality though once an MP says something in Parliament it is very difficult to stop that becoming widely known.
News organisations were torn between their duty to observe a court order and their obligation to viewers, listeners and readers.
Once some news organisations started publishing Ryan Giggs’s name, other news organisations agreed that it would be unrealistic to pretend that the injunction had any purpose or would be maintained beyond the afternoon.
On Sunday, a Scottish paper named Mr Giggs as being the footballer identified on Twitter.
The Attorney General Dominic Grieve told the Commons the prime minister had asked for a joint committee of peers and MPs to investigate the use of privacy orders.
David Cameron has written a letter to John Whittingdale, chairman of the Commons culture committee, recommending the setting up of a new body.
Mr Whittingdale told the Commons developments in this area were “moving very rapidly”.
“You virtually need to be living in an igloo not to know the identity of at least one of the premiership footballers.
“We are in danger of making the law look like an ass.”
Mr Cameron told ITV1’s Daybreak banning newspapers from naming such stars while the information was widely available on the internet was both “unsustainable” and “unfair”.
In another case brought by a separate footballer, known to the court as TSE, a High Court judge ruled on Monday that comments on Twitter about the private life of a famous person did not mean there should be no injunction preventing newspapers from publishing stories about him.
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Henry Healy has described what it was like to welcome his eighth cousin Barack Obama to his hometown of Moneygall, Ireland.
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