Category: news

Carlos Tevez guides Manchester City to a comfortable win against Wigan at a rain-soaked DW Stadium.

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A train company has been branded a “disgrace” by union chiefs after it emerged some of its new fleet will have no toilets on board.

Southern Railways opted to forgo the facilities on its latest trains running on the Portsmouth to Brighton service.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers’ union (RMT) called the decision “unacceptable” because of the one-and-a-half-hour-long journey.

The firm said it was not unusual and other trains did not have toilets.

RMT general secretary Bob Crow called the move “unacceptable” and said it run the risk of turning carriages into “stinking cattle trucks” creating appalling conditions for passengers and staff.

“The route has always had toilets on board in the past,” he said.

“This is the main connection between two major cities on the South coast.

“One and a half hours without any toilet facilities on board is unacceptable.”

He said RMT was already set to ballot members of Southern Railways for industrial action after cuts to security led to an increase in assaults on staff.

A Southern Railways spokeswoman said its new fleet of trains was to increase passenger capacity.

The Department for Transport said there were no rules on whether or not toilets should be available on trains.

“We expect rail companies to provide a good service,” he added.

“However, it is not for the Government to micromanage the industry.”

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Islamist insurgents seize control of two radio stations in the Somali capital Mogadishu.

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The bodies of three members of Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission (IEC) kidnapped during voting on Saturday have been found, the IEC chairman has announced.

Fazl Ahmad Manawi said the bodies were found in northern Balkh province.

They were kidnapped during a parliamentary election which Taliban militants had vowed to disrupt.

The announcement means that at least 17 people were killed on election day in about 445 violent incidents.

Announcing the death of his colleagues, Mr Manawi said: “Unfortunately three IEC workers who were abducted yesterday in the Chemtal district of Balkh province were killed and we found their bodies today”

He said about 29 other election workers had been wounded in incidents on Saturday, according to preliminary reports.

A spokesman for Nato’s Isaf said the level of violence on polling day had been similar to last year’s presidential election, during which 479 violent incidents were recorded.

International officials have hailed the bravery of voters who turned out in defiance of the Taliban threat.

More than 2,500 candidates are vying for 249 seats in the lower house of parliament, or Wolesi Jirga.

Turnout has been put at 40%.

Preliminary results are to be announced on 22 September, with the final results due on 31 October.

However, there were many reports of fraud that may raise questions about the results.

The Free and Fair Election Foundation of Afghanistan, a monitoring group, said it had found “extensive irregularities” and urged the IEC “to ensure the integrity of the rest of the electoral process”.

The foundation’s Nader Nadery told the BBC it was to be welcomed that more people had voted than expected and that casualties from attacks were lower than anticipated.

But he said there were many problems with the indelible ink used to stop multiple voting, with proxy votes, interference by local power brokers and with a large amount of intimidation.

The BBC’s Lyse Doucet in Kabul said that among the incidents of fraud were the arrest of 26 people with fake identity cards in Helmand province and officials stuffing ballot boxes at one closed polling station in eastern Wardak province.

The Taliban had earlier warned voters to boycott the poll and “stick to jihad”.

The outcome is not expected to change the make-up of the government, although President Hamid Karzai’s credibility may be damaged if his preferred candidates are defeated, or if vote-rigging is suspected, correspondents say.

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The Pope will beatify Cardinal Newman at an open-air service in Birmingham

The Pope will beatify 19th Century theologian Cardinal Newman in an open-air Mass on the final day of his four-day state visit to the UK.

The event, in Birmingham, will be the first beatification by the Pope himself.

After the Mass in Cofton Park, the Pope will meet men studying for the priesthood, before returning to Rome.

PM David Cameron will thank the Pope for challenging the UK to “sit up and think”.

Some 1,200 coaches will bring more than 60,000 people to the Mass, although the numbers expected are lower than the original estimates.

BBC correspondent James Robbins said John Henry Newman will be presented as a hero, a man of conscience and a model for Catholics to emulate – but he also predicted a tide of unbelief in British society.

His beatification sets him firmly on the road to sainthood, our correspondent added.

During the trip, Pope Benedict has spoken out about what he called the “marginalisation” of Christianity and the march of “aggressive secularism”.

But speaking in Birmingham, Mr Cameron will tell Benedict: “Faith is part of the fabric of our country.

“It always has been and it always will be.”

Mr Cameron will say that people did not have to share a faith to see the value of the “searching questions” that the Pope had posed about “society and how we treat ourselves and each other”.

“You have really challenged the whole country to sit up and think, and that can only be a good thing,” he will say.

“Because I believe we can all share in your message of working for the common good… and that we all have a social obligation to each other, to our families and our communities.”

The Pope will pay a visit the Catholic Seminary of Oscott, which struggles to find sufficient recruits to train as future priests.

And he will end his state visit with an address to the Bishops of England, Scotland and Wales, when he is expected to refer again to the abuse of children – an issue which has run through his trip to Britain.

Speaking on Saturday during a Mass at Westminster Cathedral, Pope Benedict expressed his “deep sorrow” for the “unspeakable crimes” of child abuse within the Catholic Church.

The pontiff also held a private 30-minute meeting at the Vatican ambassador’s home in Wimbledon with five abuse survivors, three of whom were from Yorkshire, one from London and another from Scotland.

The Pope then conducted a prayer vigil with thousands of people in Hyde Park.

The Pope asked the congregation to show concern for victims of child abuse

Other engagements on the third day of the first state visit by a pope included a meeting with Mr Cameron, his deputy Nick Clegg and acting Labour leader Harriet Harman. The former prime minister Tony Blair, a convert to Catholicism, attended the Mass at Westminster.

During Saturday afternoon a march and rally organised by Protest the Pope – an umbrella campaign group opposed to the Pope’s visit – took place in central London.

Meanwhile, six men who were being held in connection with an alleged threat to the Pope’s visit were released without charge.

Sources at Scotland Yard told the BBC that detectives who had interviewed the men believed there was “no credible threat” .

The street cleaners were arrested on Friday after being overheard in the works canteen apparently plotting an attack.

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About 54,000 people are expected to take part in the 2010 Great North Run

Up to 54,000 runners are preparing to take part in the 30th Great North Run in the North East.

The 13.1-mile race will start in Newcastle and finish in South Shields later.

The runners will be given their starting signal by Geordie TV double act Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly.

Ethiopian runner Haile Gebrselassie – widely regarded as the world’s greatest-ever long distance runner – is one of those taking part.

Train operator East Coast is running extra services from stations in Yorkshire and County Durham to Newcastle before the race.

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A Japanese court extends the detention of a Chinese ship’s captain held after a collision near disputed islands, in a case which has stoked tensions.

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Spitfires and Hurricanes will form part of the Battle of Britain flypast

Senior members of the Royal Family will join RAF veterans for the annual commemoration of the Battle of Britain.

This year’s service at Westminster Abbey marks the 70th anniversary of the air campaign, which helped prevent a German invasion of Britain.

Prince Charles, the Duchess of Cornwall and Prince William will attend the service before joining RAF veterans at a private reception.

There will then be a parade by serving members of the RAF, and a fly-past.

The Westminster Abbey service will be attended by veterans of the Battle of Britain and their families and members of the Ministry of Defence.

As well commemorating the achievements of those who fought in the 1940s, this year’s Battle of Britain service will celebrate the work of the men and women currently serving in the Royal Air Force.

The Prince of Wales is patron of the Battle of Britain Fighter Association, and his son, Prince William, has just graduated as an RAF helicopter pilot.

Other commemorations for the 70th anniversary have been held this year, including on 20 August to mark the date when then Prime Minister Winston Churchill spoke of the service personnel: “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few”.

The Battle of Britain began on 10 July 1940 and ended on 31 October when, despite the German advantage, the Luftwaffe were pushed back by the determination and preparedness of the RAF.

More than 2,900 British, Commonwealth and Allied aircrew took part.

Over 23,000 civilians were killed during the World War II battle, the first major one to be fought entirely in the air.

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At least 18 people have been killed in two large, near-simultaneous explosions in Baghdad, officials say.

The blasts hit the Al-Bunuk neighbourhood of north Baghdad and the residential district of Mansur, in the west of the Iraqi capital.

More than 40 people were wounded in the blasts, Reuters news agency reports, quoting police and ministry officials.

The Mansur blast was in front of a mobile phone company office.

But it was not clear if the office was the target. The site is also close to a popular restaurant.

Violence has increased in Iraq in recent months, with most of the attacks targeting Iraqi soldiers and police.

July and August recorded two of the highest death tolls since 2008, according to government figures.

It follows elections in March which produced no clear winner and created mounting uncertainty. Politicians have failed to reach agreement on a new government.

The US military withdrew thousands of its soldiers in August and declared an official end to combat operations, though 50,000 soldiers remain in the country ready to support the Iraqi army.

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Danny Alexander believes some trade unions are “spoiling for a fight” over planned cuts

The government does not want to pick a fight with the public sector as it cuts spending, a senior Lib Dem minister is to tell his party conference.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, will say he does not want to “take on” nurses, teachers and police over cuts, but “take them with us”.

Meanwhile, leader and deputy PM Nick Clegg has said he was impressed by the prime minister’s “flexibility”.

He told the Observer that decisions are taken jointly by him and David Cameron.

Amid concerns the party has been relegated to the role of junior partner in the coalition, Mr Clegg said of Mr Cameron: “He hasn’t been dogmatic. He hasn’t been doctrinaire.

“I think this government definitely has the capacity to be a great, great reforming government.”

He also told the newspaper he was wrong to call Mr Cameron a “fake” and a “con” during the election campaign.

The Lib Dems are meeting in Liverpool amid unease among some MPs and party members about their support for a £40bn reduction in public spending by 2015.

While the next few years will be “very tough”, Mr Alexander will say union opposition to budget cuts is wrong for the country.

Unions have pledged to resist what they say will be “savage” cutbacks.

As number two in the Treasury, Mr Alexander is responsible for negotiations with other ministers about the scale of departmental spending cuts due to be announced next month. Most departments have been asked to plan for cuts of between 25% and 40% over four years.

On the first full day of the Lib Dem conference, Mr Alexander will acknowledge concerns about the impact this will have on jobs and public services, but will make a plea to workers to recognise the need to take action to cut government borrowing to aid the recovery.

“I know that the next few years will be tough, very tough for some,” he will say.

“But I also believe that the changes we make – empowering you, trusting you, listening to you – will make the public services a more rewarding place to work.”

He will seek to counter the arguments of trade union leaders who vowed a co-ordinated campaign of industrial action last week and called for an alternative approach to support jobs.

“I know there are a minority in the trade unions who will deliberately misrepresent what this government stands for because they are spoiling for a fight,” he will add.

“Please don’t allow their political motivations to push you into doing the wrong thing for the country. We do not want to take you on. We want to take you with us.”

In a newspaper interview on Saturday, Mr Alexander hinted that cuts in welfare bills could be more far-reaching than already indicated.

Earlier this month, Chancellor George Osborne signalled he wanted to shave an extra £4bn from the welfare bill – on top of £11bn cuts made in June’s emergency Budget.

Telling the Scotsman that the coalition needed to look “searchingly” at welfare, Mr Alexander said a final figure had not been decided but it might not be limited to £4bn.

With spending cuts looming, Mr Clegg has acknowledged that the leadership could be in for a “rough ride” at the conference.

He told the Observer that the coalition can only work if his party accepts it is a full and willing participant that jointly “owns the government”.

The alternative, he said, was to operate in an atmosphere of “poison” as a competing faction “constantly trying to put little trophies on the mantelpiece to show we are winning victories”.

“In fact the truth is much more radical than that. All the big decisions are jointly taken by David Cameron and myself… that is why I didn’t want to have a department, why I am a hop and a skip from his office,” he told the Observer.

But Labour leadership contender Ed Miliband said Mr Clegg would be “punished” at the ballot box for aligning himself with the Conservatives.

“What the Lib Dems have supported in government bears little relation to what they promised before the election and no wonder people are feeling let down,” he said.

“Nick Clegg has taken the Lib Dems in a direction they may never recover from.”

An opinion poll published on Saturday suggested that more than half of people who voted Lib Dem at May’s election believed the party had “sold out” by joining a Conservative-led coalition.

According to a Sunday Mirror and Independent on Sunday poll, 40% of people who supported the Lib Dems would not have done so if they had known what the result would be.

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Batsman Ian Bell is drafted into the England squad for the remaining two one-day internationals with Pakistan.

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Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson warns his players to cut out the errors as they prepare for Sunday’s clash with Liverpool.

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A major police operation was launched in Glasgow city centre after reports that members of the far-right Scottish Defence League were gathering.

About 12 police vehicles attended the scene in George Square and the Strathclyde Police helicopter was hovering overhead.

Police said one person had been arrested over a breach of the peace.

The operation began at about 1730 BST, close to the Millennium Hotel in the city centre.

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The final will take place at Croke Park on Sunday

Thousands of Down GAA fans are making last minute preparations as excitement builds ahead of this weekend’s All-Ireland senior football final clash with Cork in Dublin.

Tickets are at a premium for the game at Croke Park as Down aim for a sixth Sam Maguire trophy.

This will be the first time the two teams have met in the final.

For Cork, Sunday’s game will represent their third final in four years. They last won the trophy in 1990.

Down have reached the final on five other occasions since the first All-Ireland Championship in 1887.

They have won won the cup in each final appearance, with their last victory coming in 1994.

Comedian and presenter, Patrick Kielty, is to travel from London to be among the Down fans at Sunday’s final.

He joked that “fly-by-night supporters” should be able to get tickets for the sporting showpiece.

“When you are watching the game in Downpatrick and I’ve got your seat be grateful that you have given it up for me,” he added.

Ross Carr, who played for Down in their All-Ireland title wins of 1991 and 1994, said he was “pretty confident” the county would triumph on Sunday as well.

His son Aidan is one of four Down panel members whose fathers have won All-Ireland medals.

“I’m not just a supporter, I’m a terrified parent hoping that Aidan gets some part in the game,” Ross added.

“It is very hard to be an impartial parent.

“We have tried to keep Aidan’s spirits up all week and tried to keep a low-profile.

“If he wants to talk about the game we talk about it, and if he doesn’t we don’t bother – we have plenty of other wars within the house to fight!

“But it’s been great, 16 years have passed, and I suppose at the start of 2010 no-one in their right mind would have thought we would be participating in an All-Ireland final.”

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Ryan McManus has previous convictions for violent offences

A man with a history of violence has escaped from police custody while being treated at a hospital in Salford.

Ryan McManus, 21, had his spleen removed last week, shortly after being arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit robbery on 10 September.

Greater Manchester Police said he escaped from Salford Royal Hospital shortly after midday on Saturday.

They said Mr McManus, from Broughton in Greater Manchester, should not be approached by the public.

Officers said Mr McManus has previous convictions for violent offences.

They said his previous offences involved violence against the public and the police.

Mr McManus was due to stay in hospital for daily injections to prevent injection, for pain relief and to monitor any complications.

Assistant Chief Constable Ian Hopkins said: “Ryan’s welfare is our top priority, he has just been through major surgery and needs the care of medical professionals to recover.

“We are extremely worried about the risks he is posing to his own health by going on the run.

“We understand from doctors as well that he has a lung complication which they need to treat and he was due to undergo further tests on Monday, so our primary aim at the moment is to get Ryan back so that he can receive medical treatment.

“If you have seen him or know where is, please do not approach him but call us immediately.”

The circumstances surrounding Mr McManus’s arrest on 10 September have been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

Police said he was arrested in connection with planning a robbery in Blackley. Two other people have been charged and remanded in custody.

They said Mr McManus, of Great Cheetham Street in Broughton, was now also wanted for escaping from lawful custody after leaving the hospital, where he was last seen at 1210 BST.

He is described as being 5ft 7ins tall, slim, with a shaved head and blue eyes and has a scar on his chin and scars on his back from the spleen surgery. He was wearing a grey vest, grey shorts and navy blue trainers.

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