Category: news

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson refuses to discuss Wayne Rooney’s off-field problems or the hostile reception he might face at Everton on Saturday.

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US President Barack Obama has issued a plea for religious tolerance, amid the continuing row over a small church’s plan to burn copies of the Koran.

Terry Jones, the church’s pastor, has put his plans on hold but they have sparked international outrage.

Mr Obama told reporters at the White House: “We have to make sure we don’t start turning on each other.”

He repeated his fears the burning would endanger the lives of US troops and his hopes it would not take place.

“We are all Americans that stand together against those that would do us harm,” said Mr Obama.

“It is absolutely important now for the overwhelming majority of American people to hang on to that thing that is best in us – that is our belief in religious tolerance, our clarity about who our enemies are.”

Mr Obama’s comments came after Mr Jones said he was suspending his plans to stage International Burn a Koran Day on Saturday, the anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks on New York.

Mr Jones said he made the decision after the group behind a controversial Islamic cultural centre due to be built near Ground Zero agreed to relocate it.

The group has denied making such a deal with Mr Jones.

Mr Obama also denied that his administration’s intervention in the affair had elevated it to greater prominence.

“In the age of the internet it is something that can cause us profound damage around the world, so we’ve got to take it seriously,” he said.

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England compound Pakistan’s off-field problems with a deserved 24-run win to take a 1-0 lead in the five-game one-day series.

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In Italy the town of Antrani on the Amalfi coast has been hit by flash flooding and mudslides.

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Any further cuts to frontline fire and rescue staff in Scotland would pose a danger to the public and fire crews, union chiefs have warned.

The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) said it was concerned about looming cuts to public services and their impact in Scotland.

It claimed the fire service had already suffered significant reductions in frontline provision.

And the union warned the service could not withstand further cuts.

According to the FBU Scotland, some 1,134 full-time professionals have been lost from the service since 2006, while at the same time there had been a rise in fire fatalities.

As of March this year, Scotland had 7,650 employed uniformed staff and an additional 473 volunteers.

The union said further scrutiny had shown a reduction of 24.7% of full-time firefighters over the past four years, while the number of backroom staff had increased by 74%.

It also claimed almost 10% of retained duty system personnel – who provide fire and rescue cover in more rural areas – had been lost since 2006.

FBU Scottish secretary John Duffy said: “People are still losing their property, being injured or dying in fires and having less firefighters spread further apart is not helping that.

“Having less still can only make things worse. We have already seen services stripped to the bone, so going beyond where we are now will be dangerous both to the public and to our crews.

“Priority must be given to defending the provision of emergency response.”

Earlier this week, the union representing Scotland’s police officers called for a summit to discuss planned spending cuts to the country’s eight forces.

The Scottish Police Federation (SPF) warned the projected 9% drop in the policing budget was equivalent to losing 2,808 officers and called for the main parties to attend a special meeting before the next budget was fixed.

The Scottish government is due to publish its budget in November.

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As many as 40,000 front-line police jobs will be at risk across England and Wales if the government’s 25% cuts go ahead, the Police Federation has said.

The body, which represents English and Welsh police officers, said such a staffing reduction would make policing as it is now “unsustainable”.

The Police Federation said it was inevitable crime would go up.

Its warning came after one force, the Hampshire Constabulary, said it planned to cut 20% of its workforce.

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President Barack Obama is holding a press conference in the Rose Garden.

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Thousands of protesters have held anti-American rallies in provinces across Afghanistan over plans by a US church to burn copies of the Koran.

Demonstrators burned a US flag and chanted “Death to the Christians”.

Rallies were held in the north-eastern provinces of Kunar, Badakhshan and Nangarhar; Parwan, just north of the capital Kabul; and southern Nimruz.

President Hamid Karzai said the Florida church’s plan – now on hold – had been an insult Islam’s followers.

Many of Friday’s protests were held after worshippers emerged from mosques, following Eid prayers marking the end of Ramadan.

In Badakhshan province alone, a crowd estimated by a governor’s spokesman to number 10,000 poured on to the streets chanting anti-US slogans, reports news agency Reuters.

Terry Jones, pastor of the previously little-known Dove World Outreach Center in the US state of Florida, announced on Thursday that he was putting on hold his plan for an “International Burn a Koran Day”.

In an Eid message, President Karzai said: “We have heard that in the US, a pastor has decided to insult Korans. Now although we have heard that they are not doing this, we tell them they should not even think of it.”

“By burning the Koran they cannot harm it. The Koran is in the hearts and minds of one-and-a-half billion people. Insulting the Koran is an insult to nations.”

The US military commander in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus, warned earlier this week that the stunt would endanger lives, while President Barack Obama said it would be a “recruitment bonanza” for al-Qaeda.

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New Zealand has delayed plans to lift no-go zones in quake-hit Christchurch after major aftershocks were felt.

Christchurch’s mayor had hoped to reopen the city centre following last weekend’s 7.1-magnitude earthquake but new tremors halted the plan.

“We’re erring on the side of caution,” Mayor Bob Parker told local media.

The city has been under a state of emergency since Saturday’s quake, the total cost of which is estimated at NZ$4bn (US$2.7bn; £1.8bn).

The Treasury’s figure is almost double initial estimates, after the government agreed to pay a subsidy to quake-hit businesses to allow them to continue to pay wages.

Some 100,000 houses were damaged, with 500 buildings to be demolished.

Exclusion zones enforced by the police and military were expected to be removed at 0500 on Friday (1700 Thursday GMT).

But Mayor Parker said they would remain in place following the tremors. More than 100 aftershocks have rocked the area since Saturday.

“We’ve lost nobody in this event and the controllers and everybody else working here want it to stay that way,” he told Radio New Zealand

Mr Parker said the no-go zones would be scaled back over the next few days.

“We’ve got to send a message that the majority of the city is open for business and people are in some ways getting back to their lives,” he said.

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The British Museum settles a dispute with Iran’s national museum over the loan of ancient Persian treasure the Cyrus Cylinder.

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A rocket fired from the Gaza Strip explodes in Israel, hours after Israeli air raids against Hamas targets in the Palestinian territory.

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A Polish man convicted of battering and strangling a vulnerable young woman in County Antrim is to appeal the guilty verdict.

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A major police incident involving firearms officers has resulted in one of Glasgow’s busiest roads being closed to traffic and pedestrians.

Strathclyde Police were called to an incident at a flat in Dumbarton Road at 0730 BST.

A man is thought to have barricaded himself inside and trained negotiators are on the scene.

Dumbarton Road has been closed between Crow Road and Apsley Street. It is not known when restrictions will be lifted.

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Financial austerity will not be allowed to detract from Plaid Cymru’s ambition to change Wales, leader Ieuan Wyn Jones will tell his party.

At the party’s conference in Aberystwyth later, Mr Jones will pledge to do everything in his power to protect Wales from UK government cuts.

He will add that a Plaid administration would make tough funding decisions, but not at the expense of change.

“Our ambition will outlast their austerity,” he will tell the party.

It is understood the Plaid leader will tell delegates that in the first term of a new Welsh parliament his party would radically improve the nation’s economy, education and health services.

“Our message,” he will say, “will be that for the sake of Wales, Plaid will continue to be impatient for change.

“We didn’t come into being to manage Wales – Plaid exists to change Wales. It may be enough for Labour, but for Plaid putting up with things as they are just doesn’t feel right.”

When he speaks at Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Mr Jones will outline his vision of a modern left-of-centre party making sure that the less well off are “properly cared for.”

He will warn that decisions on government spending commitments will be made according to their value to society and the importance of their outcomes.

“My message to you today is that while we intend to fight with every ounce of energy we have to defend Wales’ budget,” he will say.

“Neither will we allow the London government’s axe to break our spirit or our ambition for our nation and her people.

“After all, our work has only just begun.”

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Hampshire Constabulary plans to axe 1,400 posts – 20% of its workforce – including police officers.

Forces are facing government cuts of 25%, with Hampshire reducing its budget by £70m (25%) over the next four years.

The job losses will see redundancies, positions left unfilled, redeployments and voluntary redundancies.

Staff and unions will discuss the plans which will go to the police authority. The police federation said it was a return to the “dark days of policing”.

The force, which employs about 6,700 staff, also plans to share and sell buildings and increase collaboration with other forces, especially Thames Valley.

Chief Constable Alex Marshall said: “I know all our staff join the constabulary to do the best job they can and that the changes ahead will be difficult for everyone.

“This uncertainty is unsettling and there is a human story and personal consequence every time someone leaves.”

No details have been released on the specific number of officers, police community support officers (PCSOs) and staff who face the axe.

Chief Constable Marshall added: “The funding will be similar to what we received in 1997.

“We managed then and, despite the new responsibilities placed upon us in the intervening 13 years, we will manage now.”

The plan would see the force restructured with locally-based PCSOs, police officers, special constables and police staff working to a local policing area based around council boundaries.

John Apter, chair of Hampshire Police Federation, said: “The staff, both officers and staff, have known for several weeks things look very bleak for the future.

“We have been saying that the dark days of policing will come and I am afraid that they have arrived.

“These cuts will have a massive impact on policing, especially on visibility.”

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