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Eoin Morgan hits an unbeaten century as England beat Pakistan to win a one-day series marred by allegations of spot- and match-fixing.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Asthma is caused by both genetic and environmental factors A large international study has revealed several genetic variants which are linked to people with asthma.
In all, more than 500,000 tests were performed on the genes of 10,000 children and adults with the condition, and 16,000 non-asthmatics.
The Imperial College-led research, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, could point to new targets for drugs.
Experts said gene testing could not predict who would get the condition.
One in seven children in the UK suffers from asthma, which causes the airways to become irritated and narrow, making it harder for them to breathe.
The reasons why people develop the disease are not yet fully clear, although scientists suspect a roughly equal mixture of genetic susceptibility and environmental factors.
The latest genetic variants discovered by the international research appeared in more than a third of children with asthma.
However, the gene with the strongest impact on children did not affect people who developed asthma in adulthood, suggesting that the two versions of asthma may differ biologically.
Some of the genes identified are involved in the body’s system for telling the immune system about damage to the lining of the airways, while others appear to control how quickly the airways heal.
“This unique study helps us to understand in much more detail how the genetic side of things works”
Leanne Metcalf Asthma UK
Professor William Cookson, from Imperial College London, who co-ordinated the research, said: “Asthma is a complex disease in which many different parts of the immune system can become activated.
“Our study now highlights targets for effective asthma therapies and suggests that therapies against these targets will be of use to large numbers of asthmatics in the population.”
However, parents have been warned that although genes make a contribution to asthma development, there is no way to use a genetic test to predict the condition.
Leanne Metcalf, from Asthma UK, said: “This unique study helps us to understand in much more detail how the genetic side of things works.
“Importantly, it has also shown that genetic testing does not help to predict who is susceptible to developing asthma, meaning that early diagnosis and intervention, and effective treatment for everyone who is affected by asthma, are even more vital.
“However the most exciting part is that these results will now help to ensure that scientists are able to focus their research on the most influential targets for asthma, with the important long-term aim of preventing a condition which is responsible for the deaths of three people every day.”
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
A construction team has discovered a 24-foot long whale skeleton at the San Diego Zoo in California.
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Two women and three children were unconscious when they were rescued from the flat A 27-year-old man has been charged with the murder of a 19-month-old girl who died in a fire at a south London flat.
Siariah Letan was one of five family members rescued on Saturday from the first-floor flat in Arnould Avenue, Camberwell, but she later died.
Richard Curtis Kwayke, of Andover Road, Twickenham, will appear at Tower Bridge Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.
Mr Kwayke has also been charged with the attempted murder of the four other family members.
The 27-year-old has also been charged with arson and arson with intent to endanger life.
Josephine Nicolas, 46, of Wilmcote House, Paddington, was charged with perverting the course of justice and will appear at the same court on Thursday.
Another woman, 28, who was arrested in south London on Saturday night, has been bailed to return to a south London police station at a future date, pending further inquiries.
A 19-year-old man arrested in the Paddington area on Tuesday night remains in custody at a south London police station.
A post-mortem examination on Siariah Letan gave the cause of death as carbon monoxide poisoning from breathing in smoke.
Others rescued by firefighters were Violet Brenda Ricketts, 45; Shakira Jackson, 11; Ellisha Letang, 23; and four-year-old Cameron Letang.
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Channel 4 is airing its latest reality television offering, following the end of Big Brother. Will Gompertz looks at what ‘Seven Days’, set in London’s Notting Hill, has to offer.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
A 27-year-old man is charged with the murder of a 19-month-old girl who died in a fire at a south London flat.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Israel’s military broke international law and displayed “unacceptable” brutality in a raid on a Gaza aid flotilla, a UN human rights report concludes.
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Doubts remain over whether Scotland’s athletes will travel to the Commonwealth Games in India.
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The leadership contest is between Basil McCrea and Tom Elliott The Ulster Unionist Party is meeting on Wednesday to select a new leader.
It follows the resignation of Sir Reg Empey after the party’s disastrous showing in the general election in May.
There are two contenders for the leader’s post – Lagan Valley MLA Basil McCrea and Tom Elliott who represents Fermanagh and South Tyrone.
The selection meeting will take place at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast.
Many of the party’s senior figures, including all but one of its MLAs have declared their backing for Mr Elliot but Mr McCrea is hoping that he will secure enough votes from rank and file members.
One of the first tasks for the new leader will be healing any rifts within the UUP.
They will also have to set about winning back voters from the DUP and attracting unionists who no longer vote at all.
In the past decade, the UUP has gone from having 10 MPs to none.
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Mrs Jamil was a presenter with Asian radio station Awaz FM The neighbour of a radio presenter found dead in her Glasgow home has told a murder trial how she was positioned “as if she was in a coffin”.
Maureen Tripovic told the High Court in Glasgow she rushed into Nasim Jamil’s flat when the dead woman’s daughter banged on her door screaming for help.
Ms Tripovic was giving evidence at the trial of 29-year-old Khalid Sarwar.
He denies murdering the 54-year-old Asian radio presenter by repeatedly striking her on the head and body.
Ms Tripovic told the court that Mrs Jamil’s daughter Nazia Jamil, 36, came to her door in Byres Road at about 1945 GMT on 9 December 2009.
“When I looked at her and seen all the blood and her eyes were opened, I knew she was away”
Maureen Tripovic Witness
Choking back tears, she said: “She was screaming, she was banging on the door with her hands screaming for me, shouting ‘Maureen, come please’, she just would not stop screaming my name.
“It’s indescribable the pain that I heard from her and I knew there was something wrong.”
Supermarket cashier Miss Tripovic, 46, rushed into her neighbour’s flat, where she found Ms Jamil standing in a “bowing position” screaming “my mum, my mum”.
She said: “I ran into the kitchen and I seen her mum lying there. When I looked at her and seen all the blood and her eyes were opened, I knew she was away.
“Her head was at the washing machine and there was a dragging mark down the washing machine as if she had been pulled.
“She looked as if she was placed. Her arms down her sides, her legs together. She looked as if she was in a coffin and her eyes were open.”
Other neighbours then arrived on the scene and one lifted Mrs Jamil’s hand slightly to check whether she had a pulse.
Ms Tripovic said she struggled with the victim’s daughter to prevent her going back into the kitchen until police and paramedics arrived.
Ms Tripovic was later shown a crime scene photograph taken by police which showed Mrs Jamil’s head close to the fridge freezer, her left arm stretched out and her right arm tucked behind her head.
This was different from the position which she had earlier described in evidence.
Mrs Jamil’s body was found at her flat in Byres Road When asked by defence QC, Donald Findlay, if anyone had done anything to Mrs Jamil’s body “that could have resulted in such a clear difference in her position”, she replied: “No”.
She told the court she saw no-one move the body and said that after a 999 call was made a police officer guarded the door and let no-one in.
Mrs Jamil was a presenter on Asian radio station Awaz FM.
Mr Sarwar is accused of repeatedly striking her on the head and body with a hammer, screwdriver, knife or similar instruments, repeatedly striking her on the head with a bottle and piece of glass and murdering her.
He is also accused of stealing a light bulb, two telephones, keys, gloves, a watch, a bracelet, a necklace, a pair of earrings, clothing, three knives, a bank card, an umbrella, a handbag and its contents and money.
He faces a third charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Mr Sarwar denies all the charges and has lodged a special defence of incrimination.
The trial before Lord Brodie continues.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
The S-300 would have boosted Iran’s air defences A top Russian general has confirmed that a sale of S-300 air defence missiles to Iran will not go ahead because of UN sanctions.
Gen Nikolai Makarov, head of the general staff, told reporters the missiles were “definitely” subject to new sanctions introduced in June.
At the time, Russia’s foreign minister said the S-300 deal was not affected.
Possession of S-300 systems would enhance Iran’s defence of its nuclear facilities against attack from the air.
“The decision has been taken not to supply S-300 [systems] to Iran,” Gen Makarov said at Ramenskoye airport outside Moscow.
“They are definitely subject to sanctions.”
Asked if Russia had torn up its contract with Iran, he replied: “We’ll see. That will depend on how Iran behaves.”
Back in June Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that a fourth round of sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council on Iran over its nuclear programme would not affect the S-300 contract.
However, shortly afterwards, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was quoted by French media as saying the sale had been suspended.
There has long been speculation that Israel may attempt to bomb Iranian facilities to prevent Iran acquiring nuclear weapons.
Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons, insisting that its programme is purely civilian.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Chris Moyles claims he has not been paid for two months during an early morning rant on his BBC Radio One breakfast show.
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England lose early wickets after choosing to bat in the decisive fifth one-day international against Pakistan.
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Mr Cable says British companies are being “destroyed” by corporate short-termism Vince Cable is to launch an outspoken attack on City greed and self-interest later as he seeks to soothe Lib Dem concerns about the coalition.
The business secretary will tell his party’s conference that “murky” corporate practices threaten UK firms and “capitalism kills competition”.
He will announce a consultation into issues such as executive pay and the role of directors in takeover battles.
Employers group the CBI said Mr Cable’s remarks were “odd” and “emotional”.
They come amid renewed warnings from senior Lib Dem figures, including Mr Cable, about clamping down on excessive bank bonuses.
Even before he delivers Wednesday’s speech, Mr Cable has responded to criticism levelled at him after excerpts were released in advance.
BBC political editor Nick Robinson said Mr Cable had told a fringe meeting at the Lib Dem conference on Tuesday that the speech had been wrongly “interpreted as an outburst of Marxism” and that he had needed “to go round explaining that that’s not what I meant”.
He added that Mr Cable said he had used phrases such as “I am shining a harsh light into the murky world of corporate behaviour” only to enliven the debate.
With deep spending cuts looming, the Lib Dem leadership has been under pressure to spell out how the least well-off will be protected and the wealthiest made to pay their fair share during the four-year process of reducing the deficit.
On the closing day of the party conference in Liverpool, Mr Cable will say he is prepared to intervene to tackle short-termism and “irrational” behaviour in the City when it damages the wider economy.
“Capitalism takes no prisoners and kills competition where it can”
Vince Cable Business Secretary
He will announce a wide-ranging consultation on executive pay, the role of directors and investors during takeover battles, and how shareholder influence over corporate decisions could be increased, saying the owners of businesses must act “responsibly”.
“The government’s agenda is not one of laissez-faire,” he will insist.
“Markets are often irrational or rigged, so I am shining a harsh light into the murky world of corporate behaviour.
“Why should good companies be destroyed by short-term investors looking for a speculative killing, while their accomplices in the City make fat fees?
“Why do directors forget their wider duties when a fat cheque is waved before them? Capitalism takes no prisoners and kills competition where it can.”
Rules regarding takeovers of British firms and the role of shareholders and managers are being reviewed amid concerns – sparked by last year’s takeover of confectionary firm Cadbury – that British firms are too vulnerable and can be swallowed up without guarantees about jobs and investment.
“Intriguingly Downing Street officials have let it be known they did know in advance what Cable was due to say and were happy with it”
In his speech, Mr Cable will also make a robust defence of the Lib Dems’ support for spending cuts, saying the public are aware of the difficult financial situation and “sympathetic” to the coalition’s argument that urgent action to reduce spending is necessary.
The proposed cuts are “bound to hurt”, he will say, stressing that “strong disinfectant stings”.
Mr Cable’s attack on the banks is likely to alarm Conservatives concerned that the City continues to be demonised for its role in the financial crisis at a time when it must play a vital role in sustaining the recovery.
The CBI’s director general Richard Lambert said Mr Cable was right to call for shareholders to act in the wider public interest, but he added: “It’s odd that he thinks it sensible to use such emotional language.
“The case for corporate takeovers is that they allow control of poorly run businesses to pass into more efficient hands. Mr Cable has harsh things to say about the capitalist system: it will be interesting to hear his ideas for an alternative.”
On Tuesday night Lord Turner, the chairman of City watchdog the Financial Services Authority, entered the debate about possible reform of the City, saying that while bank bonuses had contributed to the financial crisis, they had not been its main cause.
He said there was a need to “move beyond the demonisation of overpaid traders”, and instead pointed to financial regulation which had failed to recognise and address the dangers in the financial system.
Earlier Mr Cable had suggested a tax on bankers’ pay and profits could be introduced if banks continued to pay huge bonuses to their staff, suggesting that a combination of tax, regulation and transparency could be designed to curb banks’ behaviour.
Earlier in the week the Lib Dems promised a “ruthless” crackdown on tax evaders, saying their behaviour at a time of austerity was “morally indefensible”.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Workers clean up after Hurricane Igor battered Canada’s Newfoundland and Labrador province causing flooding and power outages.
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