Category: news

Thousands of Eurostar passengers have had to change their travel plans because of industrial action on Belgium’s rail network.

Eurostar said no trains would operate from London to Brussels during the 24-hour strike from 2100 BST on Sunday.

The operator said a “very limited” replacement coach service would run between Lille and Brussels.

Eurostar will run a revised service between the UK and Lille, but trains to Paris will operate as normal.

Sunday’s last departure from London to Brussels was brought forward from 1934 BST to 1727 BST to avoid the dispute. On Monday, the 1934 BST from London is due to run as scheduled.

Eurostar said that the industrial action meant it was unlikely there would be any high-speed rail connections from Brussels to destinations in France, the Netherlands and Germany.

The operator said in a statement: “A very limited coach service will operate between Lille and Brussels and we expect heavy demand for these coaches and journey times will be significantly longer (by approximately two hours).

“We would therefore recommend that customers planning to travel between Belgium and the UK during this time postpone their journeys if possible.”

The company said that customers could exchange their tickets free of charge within 60 days for a journey in the next 120 days.

Eurostar usually runs 20 trains to Brussels on weekdays, each with a capacity of 750 passengers.

Meanwhile, German rail operator Deutsche Bahn said it had held its first test of a high-speed train carrying passengers through the Channel Tunnel.

Currently only Eurostar is allowed to operate on the route but the German firm is keen to widen competition.

Deutsche Bahn said it hoped to run services to Frankfurt and Cologne within the next three years.

At no time should you endanger yourself or others, take any unnecessary risks or infringe any laws. In most cases a selection of your comments will be published, displaying your name as you provide it and location unless you state otherwise. But your contact details will never be published.

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

Millions of children are at risk of neglect because of a parent’s drinking, and yet the problem is not being taken seriously, say charities.

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

The US military has assembled a 120-member team to prepare for the expected publication of some 400,000 Iraq war documents on the Wikileaks website.

The documents are thought to concern battle activity, Iraqi security forces and civilian casualties.

The Pentagon said it wants the documents back to avoid potentially damaging information being released.

The timing is unclear but it would dwarf Wikileaks’ July publication of more than 70,000 Afghan war files.

Pentagon spokesman Col Dave Lapan said the team was reviewing the files on the Iraq war to discover what the possible impact of the Wikileaks release could be.

Col Lapan said the files were from an Iraq-based database that contained “significant acts, unit-level reporting, tactical reports, things of that nature”.

He said the Pentagon did not know the timing of the leak but they were preparing for it to be as early as Monday or Tuesday.

Other sources said it may come later in the month.

Col Lapan said the files should be returned to the Pentagon because “we don’t believe Wikileaks or others have the expertise needed. It’s not as simple as just taking out names. There are other things and documents that aren’t names that are also potentially damaging.”

Wikileaks’ release in July of thousands of documents on the war in Afghanistan prompted US military officials to warn that the whistleblower website might cause the deaths of US soldiers and Afghan civilians because some of the documents contained the names of locals who had helped coalition forces.

But US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said in a letter to the head of the Senate Armed Services Committee that the leak had not revealed any “sensitive intelligence sources or methods”.

There have been fears that such leaks could damage US intelligence sharing with other nations as well as intelligence sharing between US agencies.

The investigation into the Afghan leak has focused on Bradley Manning, a US army intelligence analyst who is in custody and has been charged with leaking a classified video of a US helicopter attack in Iraq in 2007 in which a dozen people were killed.

The Wikileaks website is currently offline “undergoing scheduled maintenance”. Founder Julian Assange is being investigated in Sweden over an alleged sex crime.

He denies the charge and says the the allegations are part of a smear campaign by opponents of his whistle-blowing website.

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

A boy has been injured in a suspected shooting in the Radford Road area of Nottingham.

Police were called to the scene, near Hyson Green, just after midnight on Sunday.

The 16-year-old victim was taken to hospital for treatment and has since been discharged.

A number of roads in the area, between the junctions of Gregory Boulevard and Palin Street/Claypole Road, were cordoned off.

Nottinghamshire Police have appealed for anyone with information about the incident, which happened at about 0045 BST, to contact them.

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

A 26-year-old man has been arrested after a car ploughed into a crowd outside a nightclub in Greater Manchester.

Police said 23 people were injured, two seriously, when a car was driven at door staff outside the Dali Bar in Rochdale at 0210 BST on Sunday.

The vehicle, a Saab, went along the pavement for up to 200 yards before being driven away.

Officers are searching for another 26-year-old man from the Rochdale area.

Detective Chief Inspector Lynne Vernon said: “We are continuing to follow some excellent leads in our efforts to locate a second man and I would urge him to hand himself in.

“The person we are looking for knows we want to speak to him and so will a number of others – so if anyone knows where he is they should call us.”

Greater Manchester Police said the two men in the car were thought to have been refused entry to the bar, but returned and drove the vehicle at the club building at 0210 BST on Sunday.

The Saab was found abandoned about two hours later.

At no time should you endanger yourself or others, take any unnecessary risks or infringe any laws. In most cases a selection of your comments will be published, displaying your name as you provide it and location unless you state otherwise. But your contact details will never be published.

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

Thousands of people in the Philippines have fled from their homes ahead of a powerful storm, Super-Typhoon Megi, which is expected to reach the north of the country early on Monday.

Megi, which has winds of up to more than 200km/h (125mph), is then forecast to move towards the South China Sea.

It is the strongest storm the Philippines has faced this year.

In 2006, a storm with winds of 155km/h triggered mudslides, burying villages and killing about 1,000 people.

The northern provinces of Cagayan and Isabela are on the highest storm alert.

Officials are warning of heavy rain and high winds that could damage buildings, power supplies and agriculture.

Emergency services have been stocking up on food and medicines, says the BBC’s Kate McGeown in the capital, Manila.

Government forecasters say waves off the east coast could be greater than 14m (46ft). They have warned against travel to the region.

Thousands of soldiers and officers are on standby.

Trucks, rescue boats and food packs have been pre-positioned near vulnerable areas, said Benito Ramos, a senior disaster-response official.

“This is like preparing for war,” he told the Associated Press. “We know the past lessons and we’re aiming for zero casualties.”

Schools in the north will be closed on Monday.

Farmers were being urged to harvest as many of their crops as possible before the typhoon hit, our correspondent says.

The area in the storm’s path is one of the country’s main rice-growing regions.

In July, President Benigno Aquino sacked the head of the weather bureau after he failed to predict a typhoon which unexpectedly changed course and hit Manila, killing more than 100 people.

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

Manchester United winger Ryan Giggs faces a spell on the sidelines after suffering a recurrence of a hamstring injury in the 2-2 against West Brom on Saturday.

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

About a dozen of the 33 Chilean miners rescued after more than two months underground have made an emotional return to the San Jose mine.

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

The first Anglican vicar to take up the Pope’s offer of conversion to Catholicism over the issue of women bishops has said there is nothing left to fight for.

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

Scotland’s First Minister, Alex Salmond, has warned people to be ready for the most ferocious cuts they have witnessed.

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

Robbie Williams has topped the UK album chart for the ninth time with his second greatest hits compilation, In And Out Of Consciousness.

The double album went straight in at number one, making Tinie Tempah’s Disc-overy drop one place to two.

Sir Cliff Richard also made a return to the album chart with his swing record Bold As Brass a new entry at three.

Meanwhile Cee Lo Green held on to the the top spot in the singles chart for a second week with Forget You.

Bruno Mars moved back up the chart two places from last week’s number four with Just The Way You Are.

The highest new entry was dance tune Barbra Streisand by DJ collaboration Duck Sauce.

And X Factor winner Joe McElderry’s Ambition – his first release since his winner’s song last year – entered the chart at six.

Thanks to a rendition by contestant Aiden Grimshaw on the reality show last week, Mad World by Michael Andrews featuring Gary Jules jumped up the chart 40 places to 26.

There were three other new entries in the top 10 of the album chart – Electronic music act Magnetic Man went in at five with their self titled album while Scottish band Belle and Sebastian came in at eight with Write About Love.

American rockers Alter Bridge entered the chart one place behind at nine with AB 111.

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

There is concern in India that a historic stretch of Shimla, a former British hill station, could be unstable owing to unplanned building work.

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

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s first lady leads thousands of women on a march against sexual violence.

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

Manchester City move second in the table after Carlos Tevez scores twice to help his side overcome Blackpool.

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

UK banks have been given until November to back to a code of practice that they will meet their tax obligations.

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