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Wrexham manager Dean Saunders gives a vivid account of the effect the club’s financial problems is having on his players.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
The Highways Agency said it hoped to reopen the M1 by 0500 BST on Monday Parts of the fire-damaged M1 into London may now not reopen fully until Monday, the Highways Agency has said.
The seven-mile stretch of road between junctions one and four was closed both ways after a scrapyard fire on Friday.
One lane of the northbound motorway was reopened on Saturday evening. Officials said the southbound section would stay shut “until it is safe to be reopened”.
The closure comes as thousands of fans head to the capital for the London Marathon and a FA Cup semi-final.
The fire, at a scrapyard under the M1, also caused some nearby railway lines to be suspended.
A Highways Agency spokesman said urgent repairs were needed before the motorway could be fully reopened.
He said officials hoped to have the road open again by 0500 BST on Monday.
The spokesman added: “The viaduct does need to be reinforced before it can carry the weight of traffic and we are putting in supports so we can reopen the road as soon as possible.
“At the same time we are continuing our investigations to determine what remedial work needs to be carried out.”
On Saturday, the motorway closure led to delays on the A1, A40 and A406 as motorists took alternative routes, AA Roadwatch said.
The closure coincided with one of the biggest weekends in London’s sporting calendar.
About 36,000 runners are expected to take part in the marathon later, with thousands of supporters due to line the route of the race.
Thousands of fans are also expected at the 90,000-capacity Wembley Stadium for the FA Cup semi-final between Bolton Wanderers and Stoke City.
About 40 firefighters were called to tackle the blaze, which broke out at a scrapyard site close to Scratchwood Services and Ellesmere Avenue in Mill Hill early on Friday.
A number of gas cylinders were involved and a hazard zone was set up in case they exploded.
About 50 people living in properties near the scrapyard were temporarily moved.
Motorists have been advised to check the Highways Agency website for the latest traffic information.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
The prime minister said Andrew Lansley was doing an excellent job Prime Minister David Cameron has said he takes “absolute responsibility” for a shake-up of the NHS in England.
He said Health Secretary Andrew Lansley was doing “an excellent job” but the government was considering “real changes” to the plans.
Last week a nurses’ union delivered an overwhelming vote of no confidence in Mr Lansley’s management of the plans.
The proposals would give control of much of the NHS budget to GPs and encourage private sector competition.
The government says it is taking advantage of a natural “pause” in the progress of the Health and Social Care Bill through Parliament to hold a listening exercise with health care groups to improve the plans and build more support behind them.
Mr Cameron denied this was a “PR exercise”, adding: “We are looking at proper and substantive changes because we want to get this right.”
He told Sky’s Murnaghan programme he had a personal commitment to the NHS and wanted it to succeed – but it had to be modernised and improved, owing to challenges such as an ageing population.
He said there were some “key elements” to the reforms – making sure hospitals were more independent, keeping foundation trusts, paying by results, giving GPs a “lead role” in commissioning care, and getting politicians to “stand back” from the health service.
“I’ve been involved in designing these changes way back into opposition with Andrew Lansley”
David Cameron
But he added: “There will be some real changes, some real improvements.”
Asked if Mr Lansley’s job was safe, the prime minister said he was “doing an excellent job”.
He added it was “much more important to get this right than to stick to your original timetable in every way”.
Mr Cameron acknowledged it was unusual to stop and discuss a government bill when it had already made substantial progress through Parliament – but said governments should not “plough on” if they could stop and got people “back on board”.
As Conservative leader, he had been involved in drawing up the blueprint for the NHS for some time, he said: “I’ve been involved in designing these changes way back into opposition with Andrew Lansley. I take absolute responsibility with him for all of the changes we are making.”
Critics of the plans, including the Royal College of Nursing which delivered last week’s no confidence vote, have warned the changes could undermine the NHS.
Lib Dem activists have also aired their concerns, voting against the restructuring at their spring conference.
Lib Dem MP Norman Lamb has said the pace of changes is “very risky” and that warned that he could quit as Nick Clegg’s aide if some changes are not made.
Labour leader Ed Miliband has said the plans should be “junked”, arguing that the more people heard about them, the less they liked them.
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The Gulf of Mexico oil spill will cost BP tens of millions of dollars Some of BP’s largest shareholders are calling for the oil giant to sell off up to half of its assets as part of a radical restructuring, a report says.
BP has already sold assets worth $24bn (£14.7bn) under plans to divest $30bn by the end of 2011 in order to pay for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
But some of the firm’s top 10 investors want the company to sell another $30bn worth of assets, the Sunday Times said.
BP said it was “comfortable” with its current level of fundraising.
“The $30bn will cover the costs of the Gulf of Mexico clean-up and the compensation fund,” a company spokesman said.
BP chief Bob Dudley said in July that the company would emerge from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill crisis “a smaller and wiser company”.
One investor quoted in the Sunday Times said: “Recent asset sales show that there are lots of buyers for these assets out there and it’s a fantastic opportunity to wind up half the company.
“It’s about shrinking to a size where gross investment makes a meaningful difference to bottom line.”
The report also said that some investors had raised fresh concerns about the performance of BP’s chairman, Carl-Henric Svanberg.
But BP said: “He received just over 92% of the vote in being re-elected as chairman for another year. Considering the year BP had in 2010, that is strong support from shareholders.”
Mr Svanberg was re-elected at last week’s annual general meeting, at which the company faced angry demonstrations from US fishermen, as well as UK trade unionists and environmentalists.
BP also remains locked in conflict with its Russian partners in joint venture TNK-BP over its planned $16bn (£10bn) share swap with Russia’s state-owned oil firm Rosneft.
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Emmanuel Mutai and Mary Keitany complete a Kenyan double as they win the men’s and women’s races at the London Marathon.
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Victoria Meek and her two daughters were stabbed in their flat in Norwich A man has been charged with the attempted murder of a woman and her two children in Norwich.
Victoria Meek, 23, and her daughters aged three and six were found with stab wounds at their home in Mill Close on Tuesday.
Isaac Williams, 28, of College Road, Norwich, was arrested in Great Yarmouth on Tuesday and remains in police custody.
He is due to appear before Norwich magistrates on Monday.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
The BBC’s Michael Voss in Havana says Raul Castro realises “they made real mistakes out of idealism”
Cuban President Raul Castro has said top political positions should be limited to two five-year terms, and promised “systematic rejuvenation” of the government.
President Castro was speaking at the start of the first congress of Cuba’s ruling Communist Party in 14 years.
He said the party leadership was in need of renewal and should subject itself to severe self-criticism.
The term limits proposal is unprecedented under Cuban Communism.
Raul Castro, 79, took over from his brother Fidel in 2008. Between them they have ruled Cuba for 52 years.
Mr Castro acknowledged that “the confidence of the majority of Cubans had been tested, with regard to the party and the revolution”.
He said Cubans would have to overcome a “mentality of inertia” and said the only thing that could threaten the revolution was “our inability to rectify errors”.
Much of President Castro’s speech focused on his plans to reduce the role of the state in the economy and encourage private enterprise.
He said it would take at least five years to update Cuba’s economic model.
Free education and healthcare would still be guaranteed, but mass subsidies of basic goods would be removed and social spending would be “rationalised”.
President Castro said 200,000 people had already registered as self-employed since the changes were announced last October, doubling the number of Cubans working for themselves.
But he insisted the socialist character of Cuba would be “irreversible” and accumulation of property would not be allowed.
The Communist Party Congress was preceded by a one of the largest military parades Cuba has seen in years, marking the 50th anniversary of the failed Bay of Pigs invasion by US-backed exile groups.
Troops and armoured vehicles paraded through Havana’s Revolution Square, followed by hundreds of thousands of civilians waving flags and chanting slogans.
The parade and Congress also celebrate 50 years since Fidel Castro proclaimed that his was a socialist revolution.
In 1961, Cuban exile groups armed and trained by the American CIA came ashore at the Bay of Pigs, 100 miles (160 km) southeast of Havana, in an attempt to overthrow him.
But after 72 hours of combat the invasion was defeated, in what Cuba celebrates as the “first great defeat for US imperialism in Latin America”.
Raul Castro, who is a general, donned military fatigues for the parade. There was no sign of his brother, ex-President Fidel Castro, who is now 84 years old.
The four-day party congress is expected to see 1,000 delegates back all or part of a package of nearly 300 reforms.
It will also elect a new 100-member Central Committee and 19-member Politburo and 10-member Secretariat.
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Prince Harry has been promoted by the Army to the rank of captain after completing five years’ service, it is announced.
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Archbishop Vincent Nichols wants more “practical solutions” to back up the Big Society idea The leader of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales has criticised David Cameron’s Big Society initiative, saying it has “no teeth”.
Archbishop Vincent Nichols has backed the prime minister’s call for more voluntary and community involvement.
He added the idea could also allow the government to “wash its hands” over spending cuts.
Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude said the government was ready to launch more “tools” to help the Big Society.
These included the Big Society Bank and the training of 5,000 community organisers.
“The effects of the cuts are becoming real and there’s real pressure about what will happen on the ground”
The Most Reverend Vincent Nichols Archbishop of Westminster
Archbishop Nichols, the Archbishop of Westminster, told the Sunday Telegraph: “It is all very well to deliver speeches about the need for greater voluntary activity, but there needs to be some practical solutions.
“At the moment the Big Society is lacking a cutting edge. It has no teeth.”
“We’re now at a very critical point, with the philosophy of the Big Society getting clearer, but on the other hand the effects of the cuts are becoming real and there’s real pressure about what will happen on the ground.”
Archbishop Nichols said the government could not simply “cut expenditure, wash its hands of expenditure and expect that the slack will be taken up by greater voluntary activity”.
He added: “Devolving greater power to local authorities should not be used as a cloak for masking central cuts.
“It is not sufficient for the government, in its localism programme, simply to step back from social need and say this is a local issue.”
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Forensic scientists are working to identify the dead The Mexican navy says it has captured the main suspect in the murder of 145 people whose bodies were found in mass graves in the northern state of Tamaulipas earlier this month.
Omar Martin Estrada – known as El Kilo – is accused of being the local leader of the Zetas drug cartel in San Fernando, where the bodies were found.
A $1.2m (£735,000) reward had been offered for his arrest.
Most of the victims are thought to have been abducted from buses.
Mr Estrada is also accused of being involved in the murder of 72 Central and South American migrants whose bodies were found in the same area last year.
Five other suspects were also arrested.
Security forces had already arrested at least 16 suspected members of the Zetas in connection with the mass graves.
They have also been questioning 16 local police officers accused of protecting the criminals.
Most of the victims are thought to have been abducted from long-distance buses travelling north to the US border.
The motive for the murders is unclear, but there is speculation the cartel gunmen may have killed men who refused to join their ranks.
San Fernando near the US border is one of the deadliest spots in Mexico’s drugs war, says the BBC’s Julian Miglierini in Mexico City.
It is thought that the Zetas and their former allies, the Gulf cartel, have been fighting for control of the area because it is a route for smuggling drugs into the US, our correspondent adds.
Forensic scientists have been working to identify the bodies, some of which have been taken to Mexico City.
Hundreds of people whose relatives have gone missing have gone to see if they can identify their family members among the dead.
The Mexican government says around 35,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence since President Felipe Calderon began deploying troops to fight the cartels in December 2006.
More than 5,000 people have been reported missing, according to Mexico’s human rights commission.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Storm clouds passed over the small town of Kiefer, Oklahoma, on Thursday night Severe storms have left at least nine people dead and destroyed school buildings and dozens of homes in the US states of Arkansas and Oklahoma.
A tornado swept through the small town of Tushka, Oklahoma, killing two elderly sisters and injuring at least 25 people, officials said.
In Garland County, Arkansas, lightning knocked a tree into a house, killing a man and his baby daughter.
And a six-year-old boy was killed by a falling tree in Bald Knob, Arkansas.
Tushka Public School Principal Matt Simpson said the tornado had destroyed five school buildings, the Associated Press news agency reported.
In rural St Francis County, strong storm winds flipped over a mobile home, killing a woman inside it and injuring her husband.
A mother and her eight-year-old son were killed in Little Rock, Arkansas when a tree fell on a home, and outside the city in Pulaski County a tree fell on a vehicle, killing a man inside, a police official said.
The National Weather Service said at least 10 tornados struck the central and southern plains regions of the US on Thursday, and warned of tornados and powerful thunderstorms over the southern US states on Friday.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
The 100-year-old secrets of Captain Scott’s Antarctic home
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
By Brigitt Hauck
With the big day nearing for Prince William and Kate Middleton, the internet is abuzz with royal wedding stories. As a confessed wedding obsessive, I’ll be keeping up with what’s being talked about. This week’s round-up includes Kate’s face in an unlikely place, an engagement ring that doesn’t quite fit, and the royal family’s fondness for German cars.
With only two weeks until the couple says “I do”, the royal wedding craze has reached an unprecedented level of hysteria.
Kate Middleton joins the ranks of Elvis Presley and the Virgin Mary – a silhouette of her face has been spotted in the most unlikely place, says the Daily Telegraph.
“An image of Catherine Middleton has been found on a jelly bean in Taunton. It is mango-flavoured. The law in this matter is that only the most famous are seen. So, in this jelly-bean moment, Prince William’s fiancée has reached a new level of fame.”
And so have “jelly bean-watchers” Wesley Hosie and Jessica White, who plan to sell their rare find on eBay for £500. Hosie describes the moment of discovery to the Telegraph:
“She [Kate Middleton] was literally lying there staring back at me.”
The bride-to-be has also been to the jewellers to get her iconic engagement ring resized, says the Sun.
“Willowy Kate is having the ring made smaller because she is terrified it will fall off as she marries William. Kate, who seems to be slimming for her big day, has reluctantly accepted the dazzling sapphire and diamond band is too big for her size H finger.
“She has asked Crown jewellers G Collins and Sons to attach two tiny platinum beads, dubbed ‘speed bumps’, to the inside of the bottom of the ring. That will make it a size I, one notch up from Kate’s finger width to ensure it remains comfortable.”
Could it be just as comfortable as the future princess’s silver Audi A3?
The Times speculates that Audi’s head of public relations Jon Zammet has received an invitation to the nuptials because “the entire royal family appears to be obsessed by the purveyors of Vorsprung Durch Technik [Audi]”. It’s a preference that, like a sapphire ring encircled with diamonds, dates back to the days of Diana.
“Since 1994, when Princess Diana first ran around Chelsea in a turquoise Audi cabriolet, the German car company has become a favourite of the British establishment.”
As well Kate’s Audi, the Prince of Wales owns a flotilla of the luxury German cars. Prince Harry has one. So does Prince William. Even the Queen owns one.
“The Royal Family is understood to benefit from a favourable VIP leasing arrangement that, according to some, could give them as much as 60% discount. Perhaps it is because Audi has spent tens of thousands of pounds getting close to the Royals. The company makes ‘considerable donations’ to the Princes’ charitable foundations, including hosting the annual Audi Polo Challenge, the proceeds of which go to charities chosen by Prince William.”
But the cars are not freebies – that would be too sensitive, marketing experts tell the Times.
“A Clarence House source said that ‘of course’ Charles paid for their cars, but would not discuss the terms.”
Prince Charles does, of course, own two Jaguars used for state occasions. One of which will ferry Kate Middleton to Westminster Abbey in just two short weeks. Can’t. Wait.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Christine Gilbert faced tough questioning from MPs on the quality of child protection inspections England’s education and children’s services regulator Ofsted is too big to function effectively and should be split in two, MPs argue.
The Commons Education Committee is calling for it to be divided into separate inspectorates for education and children’s care.
Ofsted broadened its remit to cover children’s services when the Department for Education did the same in 2007.
Ofsted said any re-structuring was a matter for the government.
The government said it would consider the findings and respond in due course.
The committee reported in 2010 that the growth of Ofsted’s responsibilities was causing it to “become an unwieldy and unco-ordinated body”.
But this latest report goes further and says having a single inspectorate has not worked well enough to “merit its continuation”.
Ofsted Chief Inspector Christine Gilbert faced criticism in 2008 about inspections of children’s services in Haringey, where 17-month-old Baby Peter died after abuse.
The boy had been visited 60 times by the authorities, including child protection staff, in the eight months before his death in August 2007.
Ms Gilbert faced a barrage of questions from the same Commons committee on the standard of child protection inspections carried out by her inspectors.
This latest report argues that Ofsted has lost “elements of specialism” that were in predecessor bodies, particularly in the area of children’s services and care.
It adds that different inspection regimes are needed for the different sectors Ofsted covers.
“In order to focus greater attention on children’s services and care, and to ensure inspection is respected by its customers, we recommend that the government splits Ofsted into two inspectorates,” it says.
A newly formed Inspectorate for Education should be responsible for the inspection of education and skills, including nurseries, schools and colleges, adult education prison learning and teacher training.
A new Inspectorate for Children’s Care should focus entirely on children’s services and care, including children’s homes, adoption services, childminders and Cafcass, the children and family court advisory service, it adds.
And the inspectorates should ensure that they have experienced practitioners who command the respect of social workers and childcare professionals, it says.
This would improve the credibility and quality of inspection teams, the report says.
It also says too few inspectors have recent or relevant experience of the types of settings they inspect.
A sizeable percentage of the inspectorate workforce “should be experts drawn from their fields”, it says.
In some regions, where inspections are contracted out to private firms or trusts, only 10% of their schools workforce are serving professionals.
This should be rapidly increased and more demanding targets need to be set, it says.
Ms Gilbert said there were many constructive recommendations in the report which she would consider.
She added: “The question of who inspects is much less important than the quality of inspection and the impact it has on raising standards and improving people’s lives.
“Ofsted is proud of the work it’s done across the whole of its remit since it took on its present brief in 2007.
“Any proposal for further reorganisation needs to be very carefully considered and is ultimately a matter for the government.”
Nansi Ellis, head of education policy at the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said the report did not go far enough.
“It presents compelling evidence that Ofsted’s school inspections should end. We too believe that a supportive local accountability system focussed on improvement rather than professional humiliation is what is needed,” she said.
Association of School and College Leaders general secretary Brian Lightman said education and children’s services had very different needs and priorities.
“Separating inspection of education and children’s services into two divisions linked by good lines of communication is the right move and will help to ensure appropriate expertise in each area,” he said.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
The Highways Agency said it hoped to reopen the M1 by 0500 BST on Monday Parts of the fire-damaged M1 into London may now not reopen fully until Monday, the Highways Agency has said.
The seven-mile stretch of road between junctions one and four was closed both ways after a scrapyard fire on Friday.
One lane of the northbound motorway was reopened on Saturday evening. Officials said the southbound section would stay shut “until it is safe to be reopened”.
The closure comes as thousands of fans head to the capital for the London Marathon and a FA Cup semi-final.
The fire, at a scrapyard under the M1, also caused some nearby railway lines to be suspended.
A Highways Agency spokesman said urgent repairs were needed before the motorway could be fully reopened.
He said officials hoped to have the road open again by 0500 BST on Monday.
The spokesman added: “The viaduct does need to be reinforced before it can carry the weight of traffic and we are putting in supports so we can reopen the road as soon as possible.
“At the same time we are continuing our investigations to determine what remedial work needs to be carried out.”
On Saturday, the motorway closure led to delays on the A1, A40 and A406 as motorists took alternative routes, AA Roadwatch said.
The closure coincided with one of the biggest weekends in London’s sporting calendar.
About 36,000 runners are expected to take part in the marathon later, with thousands of supporters due to line the route of the race.
Thousands of fans are also expected at the 90,000-capacity Wembley Stadium for the FA Cup semi-final between Bolton Wanderers and Stoke City.
About 40 firefighters were called to tackle the blaze, which broke out at a scrapyard site close to Scratchwood Services and Ellesmere Avenue in Mill Hill early on Friday.
A number of gas cylinders were involved and a hazard zone was set up in case they exploded.
About 50 people living in properties near the scrapyard were temporarily moved.
Motorists have been advised to check the Highways Agency website for the latest traffic information.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.