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Stosur ends Aussie drought with US Open title Djokovic beats Nadal to win maiden US Open

Sam Stosur became the first Australian woman in 38 years to win the US Open when she upset American Serena Williams 6-2 6-3 on Sunday in an ill-tempered final.

Stosur played the match of her life to defeat the most formidable player of her generation and capture her first grand slam title, spoiling American hopes of a homebred champion on the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

"I had one of my best days and I'm very fortunate that I had it on this stage in New York," Stosur said during an on-court interview.

"Ever since I started playing it was a dream of mine to be here one day. I don't really know what to say. Serena, you are a fantastic player, great champion and have done wonders for our sport."

Williams, bidding for a

Samantha Stosur of Australia celebrates with the championship trophy alongside Serena Williams who poses with the second place trophy after their Women's Singles Final.

fourth US Open crown, failed to reproduce her best after sailing to the final without dropping a set and let her frustrations boil over.

Throughout the second set she repeatedly argued with the chair umpire in a petulant

Morgan to will miss India tour

England batsman Eoin Morgan is set to undergo shoulder surgery and will miss the upcoming one-day international tour of India, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said. The Dublin-born left-hander saw a specialist on Friday about the injury to his right shoulder and will now have an operation next week, which will rule him out of all cricket for around three months. England, who are currently playing a fivematch one-day series against India at home, are due to play a series of return fixtures including five ODIs and one Twenty20 starting in October.

“We have managed the injury to date with a conserva-

tive program but Eoin has now reached the stage where surgery is most appropriate progression of his treatment,” ECB medical officer Nick Peirce said in a statement.

display that rekindled memories of her ungracious exit from the 2009 US Open.

"If you ever see me walking down the hall, look the other way because you're out of control," Williams said.

While Williams berated

the official, Stosur remained a model of composure. The 27-year-old dominated the match from the outset and fully deserved her win, played in front of a raucous Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd.

Stosur, one of the fittest and biggest-hitting players in the women's game, put Williams under pressure from the outset with some thunderbolt returns that pinned the American behind the baseline and attacked her backhand, forcing her to make errors.

Stosur broke Williams's serve twice in the first set, which she wrapped up in 31 minutes, then three times in the second while losing her own serve once.

"She played really well, she's a great player," Williams said. "I tried my hardest but she kept hitting winners and there was nothing I could do."

Nike to sponsor Tendulkar’s specially designed shoes Batting legend Sachin Tendulkar will return to India with specially designed shoes to protect his injured toe, it is learnt. Tendulkar’s specially designed shoes – for protection of his injured toe – will be sponsored by Nike, revealed Tendulkar’s new podiatrist Anne Marrie O’Connor. According to sources close to the batting genius, Tendulkar was scheduled to see a podiatrist in London. Dr James Calder, a UK-based orthopedic surgeon, who examined him o, is believed to have referred his case to O’Connor. O’Connor

is one of the leading sports podiatrists in the UK, providing podiatry and gait analysis to many top athletes. She uses video technology to analyse running and walking patterns and prescribes orthotics (foot protection).

Speaking exclusively over telephone from London, O’Connor told this scribe: “I have examined Tendulkar’s injured toe. He came with team’s physio Ashish Kaushik. I am proud to treat him and will prepare specially designed shoes for his injured toe. It will be sponsored by Nike.”

Novak Djokovic kisses the trophy as he celebrates defeating Rafael Nadal.

Serbia's Novak Djokovic outplayed Spain's Rafa Nadal to win the US Open final 6-2 6-4 6-7 6-1 at Flushing Meadows and show why he really is the hottest player in the game right now.

The world number one produced a masterful display of tactics and precision then regained his composure after failing to serve out the match in the third set to seal victory after four hours and 10 minutes.

The win provided Djokovic with his first US Open title after he had twice

been beaten in the final, in cluding last year's decide against Nadal, and his third grand slam this year afte having won the Australian Open and Wimbledon.

"It really sounds unreal It's an incredible feeling, Djokovic said.

"I've had an amazing yea and it keeps going. Every time I play Rafa, it's a big challenge. I want to congrat ulate him on a great tourna ment again and I wish tha we have many more tough matches in the upcoming years."

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Dar named best umpire for the third consecutive year

Pakistani umpire and former cricketer Aleem Dar of Pakistan shares a joke with the media after being voted ICC Umpire of the Year.

Pakistan umpire Aleem Dar has won the David Shepherd trophy for the Umpire of the Year for the third consecutive year at the ICC Awards ceremony in London. He beat competition from Steve Davis, Ian Gould and fivetime winner Simon Taufel.

Dar, 43, officiated in five Tests and 13 ODIs during the voting period - August 11, 2010 to August 3, 2011 - including the World Cup final between India and Sri Lanka.

Widely regarded for his umpiring standards, Dar was voted to the award by the 10 Full Member captains as well as the eight-man elite panel of match referees.

"It's a great honour and I'm thankful to everyone at the ICC and also my colleagues on the Elite Panel of ICC umpires along with the Pakistan Cricket Board," Dar said. "I'd like to also thank all my family for all their support since I'm away nearly

eight months of the year umpiring."

Dar accepted his award from ICC Hall of Fame 2011 inductee Alan Davidson and said: "It's a great honour and I'm thankful to everyone at the ICC and also my colleagues on the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires along with the Pakistan Cricket Board. I'd like to also thank all my family for all their support since I'm away nearly eight months of the year umpiring."

Dar beat off strong competition from his colleagues on the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires Steve Davis, Ian Gould and five-time ICC Umpire of the Year Simon Taufel.

Dar, who made his international debut as an umpire in 2000, joined the Emirates Elite Panel in 2004. In the voting period of these awards, Dar stood in five Tests and 13 ODIs.

Pakistan to play England in UAE next year

Pakistan will play England in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) early next year in a series of Test and one-day matches. Dubai will host two Test matches while a third will be played in Abu Dhabi.

Both cities will also host four one-day internationals and three Twenty20 games between the two countries in January and February. The series begins in Dubai with a Test match on Jan 17 and ends on Feb 27 when Abu Dhabi hosts the third Twenty20 game. Pakistan has not hosted any major international cricket team since gunmen attacked the Sri Lanka team bus in Lahore in 2009 that killed six police officials

and a van driver. Pakistan will also play their Test and ODI series against Sri Lanka in UAE next month.

PAKISTAN V ENGLAND Jan 17-21: First Test in Dubai Jan 25-29: Second Test Abu Dhabi Feb 3-7: Third Test in Dubai Feb 13: First ODI in Abu Dhabi Feb 15: Second ODI in Abu Dhabi Feb 18: Third ODI in Dubai Feb 21: Fourth ODI in Dubai Feb 23: First Twenty20 in Dubai Feb 25: Second Twnety20 in Dubai Feb 27: Third Twenty20 in Abu Dhabi

90pc of PCB decisions are wrong

Former Pakistan Test captain Javed Miandad has slammed the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), claiming that 90 percent of the decisions taken by the board were erroneous.

Miandad, who is employed as the PCB director cricket affairs since 2008 on a lucrative package, said after closely observing the working of the board, he was convinced that majority of the decisions

ing the functioning of the PCB, I am disappointed and feel that 90 percent decisions taken by the board are wrong and are spoiling the sport in the country,” Miandad was quoted as saying.

“I am not part of the PCB planning only because I require power and freedom to work since I have given 35 years to Pakistan cricket and earned a good name,” said

Trott named ICC cricketer of the year

England batsman Jonathan Trott was named International Cricket Council (ICC) cricketer of the year on Monday for his achievements during 2011 when he compiled 1,042 runs at an average of 65.12 in 12 tests.

Trott, 30, struck four centuries and three half-centuries. In addition, he played 24 one-day internationals, hitting 1,064 runs at an average of 48.36 with two centuries and nine 50s.

In that period, England retained the Ashes in Australia and won test series against Sri Lanka, India and Pakistan.

"It's fantastic to be part of a successful team and I never envisaged winning this award and it's a brilliant feeling to be recognised," Trott told an awards ceremony in London.

Trott's team mate Alastair Cook was named test cricketer of the year after compiling 1,302 test runs in the review period at an average of 51.74, including six centuries and four-half centuries.

The left-handed opening batsman's highest score of 235 not out in the first test in Brisbane helped his team to-

Alastair Cook (L) of England with the ICC Test Cricketer of The Year Award and Jonathan Trott of England with the ICC Cricketer of The Year Award pose during the LG ICC Awards 2011 at The Grosvenor House Hotel. wards their first away Ashes series since the 1986-7 season.

"It was truly a great year," Cook said. "The award is

about the rest of the team, not just me."

Netherlands all-rounder Ryan ten Doeschate won the

Associate and Affiliate player of the year award for the second time in a row after scoring centuries against England and Ireland at this year's World Cup. West Indies leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo was named emerging player of the year after capturing 21 test wickets at an average of 35.42. He also took 19 one-day wickets at an average of 21.57.

New Zealand fast bowler Tim Southee won the Twenty20 international performance of the year for taking five for 18 against Pakistan.

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was awarded the ICC spirit of cricket award after agreeing to allow England batsman Ian Bell to continue batting after he had been run out in the second test at Trent Bridge this year.

Bell left his crease and headed for the pavilion after mistakenly thinking he had hit the ball over the boundary off the last ball before tea. Instead it was still in play, the bails were removed and Bell was correctly given out.

During the interval and after a request from the England team, Dhoni withdrew the appeal.

India beat Pakistan to win Asian Trophy

India defeated Pakistan 4-2 after penalty shootout in the final of the Asian Men’s Champions Trophy Hockey Tournament in Ordos, China on Sunday. The match ended in a goalless draw and then headed into the extra time, where too the two archrivals failed to score a goal.

Finally, the result was decided in penalty shootout, where India won 4-2. India remained unbeaten in the tournament. Rajpal Singh, Danish Mujtaba, Yuvraj Walmiki and Sarvanjit Singh scored for India in the penalty shootout while Muhammad Rizwan and Waseem Ahmed sounded the board for Pakistan after both the sides were locked goalless in the normal and extra time.

India started the shootout on a wrong note when Pakistan goalkeeper Imran Shah saved the shot from Gurwinder Singh Chandi. Sreejesh then came to the fore with a save off Haseem Abdul Khan. It was then Mujtaba’s turn and he neatly sent the ball past Shah to give India 1-0 lead.

Pakistan equalised when Rizwan scored but Indian captain Rajpal slotted the ball home to give his side 2-1 up.

Then came the crucial save by Sreejesh as he stopped Shafqat Rasool from scoring, advancing and taking the shot on the pads. Yuvraj made it 3-1 and the Pakistan veteran Waseem cut the scores to 3-2 but Sarvanjit’s conversion past Shah ensured India ran out champions.

Earlier in the match, both India and Pakistan had ample

South Korea's Cho So-Hyun (R) avoids a tackle by Australia's Elise Kelon-knight during their Asian women's football qualifier for the 2012 London Olympic Games in Jinan, China's Shandong province. South Korea beat Australia 2-1.

Spain, Italy book their places in Euro 2012

Defending champions Spain and fellow European giants Italy secured their places at Euro 2012. Spain eased to a 6-0 win at home to minnows Liechtenstein to make it six wins out of six while Italy left it late to gain a 1-0 home win over an unimpressive Slovenia, Gianpaulo Pazzini coming on as a substitute to score with five minutes remaining in front of a pitiful crowd of just 18,000. Italy coach Cesar Prandelli put the victory down to courage.

“It was the victory of courage. We dominated in midfield but couldn’t break through and that’s why I went to three forwards (in the second half),” said Prandelli, who has restored some pride to the side after their dismal first round exit at the World Cup finals.

by right so far joining co-hosts Ukraine and Poland. The somewhat controversially world number one ranked team Holland, beaten by Spain in last year’s World Cup final, are all but certain to join them as they beat Finland 2-0 away to make it eight wins from eight qualifiers and need a point from their two remaining matches.

One of those is against the only team that can catch them Sweden, who beat woeful San Marino 5-0 leaving the losers pointless and having conceded 46 goals in their nine matches. England too took a giant step towards the finals with a somewhat fortuitous 1-0 win over Wales at Wembley, Ashley Young’s early goal proving just enough, though, veteran Welsh striker Robert Earn-

19 Kim Kardashian wants her own makeup line

Elizabeth Taylor’s jewellery is shown at Christie’s, in New York. Christie’s auction house is selling her complete jewellery collection in New York on December 13-14.

Elizabeth Taylor's storied jewellery up for auction Actress Elizabeth Taylor's world-renowned collection of jewellery will be auctioned off in December at a two-day sale that is expected to realise more than $30 million (18.7 million pounds), Christie's said.

The December 13-14 sale will follow a global threemonth tour that will also include Taylor's couture, fine art and memorabilia, and will be the first of a series of auctions from the estate of the legendary film star who died in March.

Some 269 diamonds, pearls, rubies, rings, necklaces and even a tiara will be sold, with several of the most

valuable, and storied pieces tied to Taylor's lengthy and complicated relationship with Richard Burton, whom she married twice and divorced twice.

"This is without a doubt the greatest private collection of jewellery ever assembled in one place," said Christie's Americas chairman and president Marc Porter.

The collection includes everything "from her most jaw-dropping diamonds, gems and one-of-a-kind historic jewels to ... never-before-seen keepsakes," he said.

Leading the December 13 gala evening sale of 89 top lots is Taylor's iconic, 33.19-

carat white diamond ring, a 1968 gift from Burton who purchased it at auction for $300,000.

The trustees of Taylor's estate have renamed it The Elizabeth Taylor Diamond, and it is estimated to fetch $2.5 million to $3.5 million.

But prices for items from the collections of other famous people ranging from Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Marilyn Monroe to the Duke and Duchess of Windsor have soared to many times their pre-sale estimates.

Taylor's fame, as well as her eye for quality are expected to drive interest, and boost prices.

Reese eyeing Brad Pitt’s $14m pad Brangelina may have a buyer! On August 28, Reese Witherspoon walked through Brad Pitt’s Malibu abode.

Currently listed on the market for $14 million, the beachfront property features a pool and a tennis court. “She seemed interested in it,” says a witness of the home Pitt purchased in 2005 for $8 million. (He and Angelina Jolie now share it, along with houses in France, New Orleans and Italy.)

“She hasn’t made an offer yet,” a source tells the new issue of Us Weekly (out now). “The house is still on the market.” One pal who

may have wanted details about the visit? Jennifer Aniston, who lunched with the Water for Elephants actress, 35 (she guest-starred as Rachel’s sister on Friends

in 2000), at Beverly Hills’ Polo Lounge the next day.

Says a witness, “Reese and Jen sat next to each other and held court with three other girls.”

Winslet hates nude scenes Actress Kate Winslet thinks flashing flesh in front of a camera is a bizarre and unethical thing to do.

The Oscar-winning actress who has given nude scenes in “Titanic” and “Mildred Pierce” says she hates nude scenes, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

“I hate it! Listen, make no mistake, I just get on it. If you complain about it or procrastinate it`s not going to go away. It`s a profoundly bizarre thing to do,” she said.

“As actors you talk about it all the time. You can literally be tangled in sheets, and you turn to the other actor and say, `What are we doing?` `Dear Mum, at work today I had so-and-so`s left nut sack pressed against my cheek`.

It`s sort of unethical if you think about it in those terms,” she added

She has two hit reality shows, a clothing line, a signature fragrance and countless other endorsement deals, but what Kim Kardashian really wants is an eponymous cosmetics line. “I would love to have my own range of makeup; I think about that all the time,” she says in the October issue of Cosmopolitan UK. “I would be so involved and I know exactly what I would want to do. I’m not the kind of person to just put my name to something.”

Unlike the new Kardashian Kollection for Sears, which was co-created with her sisters Kourtney and Khloe, Kim’s dream makeup range would be all her own.

“I love glamming up! My sister Kourtney hates doing her hair and make-up, but I love the whole process; it’s like a transformation and I feel much more glamorous afterwards,” the 30-year-old newlywed said. She also revealed that her biggest beauty advice is to wear sunscreen. “I haven’t always been strict on that, but it’s something I’ve started thinking about more.”

Russian film ‘Faust’ takes top prize in Venice Russian director Alexander Sokurov's "Faust," loosely based on Goethe's classic German text, won the Golden Lion for best picture at the Venice film festival.

The best director Silver Lion went to Chinese film maker Shangjun Cai for "People Mountain People Sea." Italian immigration movie "Terraferma," directed by Emanuele Crialese, picked up the special jury award.

As expected, Irish actor Michael Fassbender won the best actor prize for his acclaimed performance in "Shame," Steve McQueen's tale of a sex-obsessed young professional living in New York.

Fassbender, seen as one of the rising stars in independent cinema, also appeared in another Venice competition entry this year, David Cronenberg's "A Dangerous Method."

Best actress went to China's Deanie Ip for her protrayal of an ageing maid in Ann Hui's "Tao Jie" (A Simple Life).

The first female kora virtuoso, Sona Jobarteh, performed at the ninth London Africa Music Festival at Bloomsbury Theatre. Jobarteh was supported by her 4 year old son and a 7 piece band.

Everything’s okay

Recuperating from an uncommon nerve disorder, man of the moment Salman Khan held a press conference in London. The actor was speaking to the media for the first time post the success of his latest release ‘Bodyguard’, Zee News reports.

Salman spoke about his surgery for which had gone to US and said, “They were looking for something else, but they found an aneurysm. There was a

problem from the spine.

Everything is okay, but right now I`m tired because of the flight and the surgery.” Salman expressed his joy on the recent success at the Box Office, which has also broken records overseas. “It`s good. It makes me feel the opposite of when it`s a disaster. Me and Kareena, all our films together have been a disaster – ‘Kyon Ki’, ‘Main Aurr Mrs Khanna’ - so we took it as a challenge to make this film a hit. The reason it`s a hit? Because you guys watched it,” said Khan smilingly.

When asked whose Bodyguard would he like to be in real life, Salman cockily replied “Katrina Kaif.”

The once lovers are scheduled to start shooting for Yash Raj’s film ‘Ek Tha Tiger’ in a few months. It would be the first time that Salman Khan would be working in Yash Raj banner.

Salman is No. 1 Box Office star

In Bollywood, every actor tries his best to reach the top of the ladder and become number one, but according to Aamir Khan, who himself is credited with blockbuster hits like `Ghajini` and `3 Idiots`, Salman Khan is presently the number one box office star, Zee News reports.

“According to me Salman is ahead of me. In the manner in which his film `Bodyguard` has got an opening, it has broken all records and today according to me, if there is anyone who is the

number one box office star then that is Salman,” said Aamir.

“He has proved with this film that he is ahead of all of us. I am very happy that his film is doing well. My good wishes are with him,” Aamir told reporters here at the music launch of the film `Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster`,” he added.

“Few days back I even had a chat with him on phone because he is in America. I`m glad that his health is also much better now.

20

Mel Gibson film about Jewish hero draws criticism

Shahid buys home for mum

Shahid Kapoor recently bought his mother Neelima Azim her dream home - a 3 BHK flat in Versova. The actress has now shifted out of her rented apartment at Yari Road and moved into her new home.

Says a source, "Neelima was living in a rented apartment with her son Ishaan, and had her sights set on an apartment close to Shahid's home. She mentioned wanting to purchase the place to her star son and he decided to surprise her by buying it for her. Neelima was stunned when her beta handed her the keys to the house. She was overcome with emotion."

Neelima confirms, "I am very proud of Shahid and touched by his gesture. It's the most beautiful thing anyone has ever done for me. It's my dream house and I've been wanting it for years.

It is wonderful the way Shahid has been taking care of his younger brother and me. He has been taking care of all our personal expenditures and is a devoted son."

Even though the star son and actress mother have had differences in the past, things seem to be fine between them now.

In fact, Shahid even spoke lovingly of Neelima on a recent chat show.

Kate Hudson teams up with pal for jewellery line

Kate Hudson is the latest celebrity to add jewellery designing to her glittering resume. The ‘Almost Famous’ star has collaborated with her long-time friend and coowner of jewellery brand Chrome Hearts, Laurie Lynn

Stark, to launch a jewellery line called CH+KH. The 32-year-old new mom recently opened up to Elle magazine about how she and Stark decided to create the line during a joint family vacation.

A film about a Jewish hero being produced by Mel Gibson, the actor who went on a public anti-Semitic tirade in 2006, drew sharp criticism on Friday from Jewish leaders who felt it was a slap in their faces.

Gibson's company, Icon Productions, is developing the movie about Judah Maccabee in collaboration with the Time Warner Inc-owned Warner Bros studio, but his involvement could include directing as plans move forward.

But participation by Gibson in the film that is expected to bring to life the warrior who is associated with the celebration of

Hanukkah is a problem for some Jewish leaders.

"As a hero of the Jewish people and a universal hero in the struggle for religious liberty, Judah Maccabee deserves better," Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, said in a statement.

Rabbi Marvin Hier of Los Angeles' Simon Wiesenthal Centre called Gibson's involvement, "simply an insult to Jews."

A Warner Bros. spokesman said the film is still in early stages and a script has not been completed. No decision has been made about who would star in the film, he said.

Beckham is his own barber!

Leila Lopes from Angola was Tuesday crowned Miss Universe 2011 at a gala ceremony in Brazil, Zee News reports.

Ukraine`s Olesya Stefanko was the first runnerup while Brazil`s Priscila Machado was the second runner-up. India`s Vasuki Sunkavalli failed to make it to the final 16.

Last year`s winner Mexico`s Jimena Navarrete, crowned Lopes, dressed in an off-shoulder cream coloured embellished gown.

This is the first time contestants from 89 countries participated in this beauty pageant, surpassing the previous record of 86 participants.

The Miss Congeniality award went to Montenegro`s Nikolina Loncar, Sweden`s Ronnia Fornstedt won `Miss Photogenic` and the trophy for the best National Costume went to Panama`s Sheldry Saez.

Live performances by Brazilian singers Claudia Leitte and Bebel Gilberto jazzed up the event.

The studio spokesman declined to comment on the criticism, and a representative for Gibson did not comment beyond confirming the Hollywood star's participation.

Judah Maccabee was the son of a Jewish priest who in the 2nd century B.C. led a guerrilla revolt in Judea against armies of the Seleucid Empire. The historical figure, whose last name in Hebrew translates as "The Hammer," is revered by many Jews.

Hanukkah commemorates his triumphs.

In the past, the AntiDefamation League also accused Gibson of evoking age-old stereotypes about

Angola’s Lopes is Miss Universe 2011

Soccer ace David Beckham has revealed that he never pays too much attention to his hairstyles and often cuts his hair himself.

"People try to read too much into it. Over the years they've said I've spent £2,000 on a hairstyle, which I've never done. Either a friend has cut it or I do it myself.

Sometimes, I wake up and I'm bored of it, I want to shave it off.

It literally is a spur of the moment decision. And I don't think of anything apart from whether I am happy with it," Contactmusic quoted him as saying.

"I'm getting older so I can't pull off the Mohawk or the ponytail anymore. The way I've got it at the moment, my wife likes it, my kids like it, so I'm happy with it. But that could all change in the morning." he said.

National Film Awards jury’s new plans for Oscars

Ex-Miss Manchester Louise Cliffe joins Big Brother housemates

A former Miss Manchester has joined the contestants entering the Big Brother house for the latest series.

Louise Cliffe, 25, who took the Miss Manchester title in 2006 wearing an £8 dress, is joined by a Harry Potter extra, a teenage female wrestler and a vegan holistic healer along with a trainee psychiatrist and a Tory entrepreneur in the reality show.

Middleton-born Louise was a legal secretary before she became a model and has also worked as an actress appearing in the 2009 US horror film Wrong Turn 3.

Show bosses have aimed

Jews in his 2004 film "The Passion of the Christ," which made over $600 million at worldwide box offices and was celebrated by many Christians.

for a lower age profile as the series begins on Channel 5, with none of the contestants older than 30.

Seven men and seven women went in to the purpose-built house, to be sealed off from the world potentially for weeks.

Each is aiming to make their mark and enjoy their few weeks in the spotlight with the hope of riches and fame, but with the danger of ridicule.

Channel 5 took over from Channel 4 which dropped the show last year after broadcasting it since its launch in 2000.

Bodyguard’ rakes in $1.4 m in US Salman Khan`s latest Bollywood blockbuster “Bodyguard” has scored a gigantic opening in North America, raking in an astounding $1.4 million over its six-day debut period, Zee News reports. In less than one week, the Reliance Entertainment release has already surpassed the entire lifetime gross of his recent blockbuster hit “Dabangg” and has beaten the combined totals for his films “Ready” and “Wanted”.

Playing in 88 theatres across the US and Canada, the weekend collection for “Bodyguard” included $863,531 over the Friday-to-Sunday period and $1,051,132 across the Friday-to-Monday Labour Day holiday period.

The jury for the feature film category at the 58th National Film Awards has recommended that movie that wins the top award should be India’s official entry at the Oscars every year, reported the website Spice Zee. “When the full jury of feature film in National Film Awards headed by JP Dutta presented their report to the honourable minister this year (Union Minister of Information & Broadcasting Ambika Soni), they told the minister that Malayalam feature film ‘Adaminte Makan Abu’, which has won the best feature film award, should be India’s official entry to the Oscar this year,” Bhupendra Kainthola, director (Indian Panorama & National Film Awards), said.

21 ‘Batmanning’ the latest Internet craze

A man walks among some 300 tents, each for four people, in the ‘Wiesn camp’ at the Olympic Horse Stadium in Munich.

Young supernova dazzles scientists

California astronomers have ound the closest, brightest supernova of its kind in 25 years, catching the glimmer of a tiny self-destructing star a mere 21 million light years rom Earth and soon visible o amateur skywatchers.

The discovery, announced on Thursday, was made in what was believed to be the irst hours of the rare cosmic explosion using a special telescope at the Palomar Observatory near San Diego and powerful supercomputers at a government laboratory in Berkeley.

The detection so early of a supernova so near has created a worldwide stir among astronomers, who are clamoring to observe it with every

telescope at their disposal, including the giant Hubble Space Telescope.

Scientists behind the discovery at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California at Berkeley say the extraordinary phenomenon labeled by the rather obscure

designation PTF 11kly - will likely become the most-studied supernova in history.

Supernovae of this type, classified as a “Type 1a” event, occur when a superdense white dwarf star, about the size of Earth but containing somewhat more mass than our own sun, explodes like a gargantuan thermonuclear bomb.

The blast hurls matter in all directions at nearly onetenth the speed of light - matter that ultimately will form the building blocks of other stars and planets.

Such events, accounting for about one in five of all supernovae, are also used by scientists in measuring the expansion of the universe.

Women are forever worried about finances

A new survey has revealed that 30 per cent of women spend most of their ime lying awake at night due o financial worries, while 35 per cent of men are kept awake by "nothing".

The Manilla.com study ooked at the habits of 1000 average wage-earning women and men in the US The second most common reason for women lying awake at night, at 18 per cent, was put down to "to-do lists" and work stress.

The study showed, for the irst time, that household chores remained mainly the responsibility of working women.

The new survey also revealed that women are more acutely affected by being disorganised than men.

"73 per cent of women say

they are frustrated by disorganization, compared to just 59 per cent of men," the Daily Mail quoted Manilla.com as saying.

"When organized, 50 per

cent of women say they feel relaxed and 40 per cent say they feel happy. That compares to 41 per cent and 37 per cent of men respectively," it added.

Hanging upside down whilst only supported by your feet does not sound like everybody’s idea of fun, but “Batmanning” is the latest stunt to sweep the Internet.

The “sport” is inspired by planking, in which people are photographed lying face down in unusual places, The Telegraph reports.

A group of young men, calling themselves the Batman Boilers, are now looking to surpass the popularity of planking with this latest activity.

A video showcasing their attempts has gone viral and has attracted close to 150,000 views in just over a week.

Other daredevils are posting their efforts online, with one man playing the Batman theme tune on a guitar while performing the stunt and a whole host of failures, highlighting the potential dangers of the activity.

Scientists find gene that controls chronic pain British scientists have identified a gene responsible for regulating chronic pain, called HCN2, and say their discovery should help drug researchers in their search for more effective, targeted painkilling medicines.

Scientists from Cambridge University said that if drugs could be designed to block the protein produced by the gene, they could treat a type of pain known as neuropathic pain, which is linked to nerve damage and often very difficult to control with currently available drugs.

"Individuals suffering from neuropathic pain often have little or no respite because of the lack of effective medications," said Peter McNaughton of Cambridge's pharmacology department, who led the study.

"Our research lays the groundwork for the development of new drugs to treat chronic pain by blocking HCN2."

Pain is an enormous health burden worldwide, estimated to cost more than 200 billion euros (174 billion pounds) a year in Europe and around $150 billion (94 billion pounds) a year in the United States.

Weight Watchers works, scientific study finds

Overweight patients told by their doctors to go to Weight Watchers lose around twice as much weight as people receiving standard weight loss care over 12 months, according to the findings of a study published.

In the first randomised controlled trial -- considered the gold standard of scientific analysis -- to directly compare a commercial weightloss programme with standard care by family doctors, Weight Watchers was found to be more than twice as effective.

More people stuck to the Weight Watchers diet, they lost more weight and fat mass, and also shaved more off their waist measurements than those assigned to standard care.

Susan Jebb of Britain's Medical Research Council (MRC) Human Nutrition Research Unit, who led the

study, said the results showed Weight Watchers is "a robus intervention that is generalis able to other economically de veloped countries."

"This kind of research i important so that we can identify clinically effective in terventions to treat obesity, she said.

The study, published in the Lancet medical journal comes in the wake of research last month which said obesity is a global epidemic that i fast replacing tobacco as the single most important pre ventable cause of costly chronic diseases like hear disease, diabetes and cancer.

Worldwide, around 1.5 billion adults are overweigh and another 0.5 billion are obese, with 170 million chil dren classified as overweigh or obese. Obesity takes up be tween 2 to 6 percent o healthcare costs in many countries.

4 habits that ruin your sleep

Facebooking into the Wee Hours: The brightness of your computer screen stimulates the brain, Yahoo News reports. Plus, it’s difficult for your mind to stop fretting about your digital to-do list, even once you’ve logged off—and that hightech lifestyle could be making your sick. Avoid late-night surfing and shut down your computer. Give yourself time to wind down without any electronics.

Counting Sheep: When you just can’t fall asleep, it’s useless to stay in bed. If you’ve been trying to fall asleep for more than 30 minutes, the National Sleep Foundation suggests doing something mundane, like balancing a checkbook, reading or watching TV. An activity that demands marginal brainpower will lull your

mind. Before you know it, you’ll be crawling back into bed genuinely tired.

Bringing Books to Bed: Reading before bed is a bad habit for many. Problem is, your body has likely adapted to that routine—it won’t go to sleep until you’ve logged a couple chapters. Retreat to a comfy couch or window nook instead for your literary fix.

The bed should be off limits for anything other than sleep or sex.

Exercising Late at Night: Daytime workouts will keep you invigorated for hours.

That’s why you don’t want to exercise within three hours of hitting the sack. Intense physical activity raises your body temperature and pumps your energy level— both interrupt a calm transition into sleep.

Google TV to launch in Europe next year Google Inc will launch its TV service in Europe early next year, Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt said, despite teething problems that had led some observers to question how committed the company would remain to the project.

Google TV, which allows viewers to mix Web and television content on a TV screen via a browser, was launched in the

United States in October but received mixed reviews and was swiftly blocked by three of the top US broadcast networks.

Large parts of the television industry, like the news and telecoms industries, view Google with suspicion and accuse it of stealing their advertising revenues without contributing to the costs of making programmes.

Schmidt sought to allay the fears of Britain's broadcasting elite in a speech to the Edinburgh television festival, the first time a non-TV executive had been invited to give the keynote MacTaggart lecture at Britain's premier industry event.

"Some in the US feared we aimed to compete with broadcasters or content creators. Actually our intent is the

opposite," he told an audience who quickly warmed to his friendly style and liberal com pliments to the quality of British television.

"We seek to support the con tent industry by providing an open platform for the next gen eration of TV to evolve, the same way Android is an open platform for the next generation of mobile," he said.

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New £120m scheme plan for Coseley

Dr Indarjit Singh, Britain's first turbaned Sikh to sit in the House of Lords, poses for pictures outside the Houses of Parliament in central London. Dr Singh, who was born in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, will sit in the House of Lords as an independent and will be known as Baron Singh of Wimbledon.

Up to 1,300 new jobs, 200 homes and a supermarket could be created in the Black Country as part of a £120million scheme unveiled today.

Under the proposals a 66acre site in Coseley would be redeveloped. New business units would be built to house existing and new firms, while a community hall and fullsize football pitch would also be created on the site.

It also includes three industrial estates stretching between Birmingham New Road and Sedgley Road West.

MPs to debate riots and Hillsborough

MPs are to debate two e-petitions which have gathered the support of more than 100,000 people.

The first debate, on 13 October, will consider calls to remove benefits from people found guilty of taking part in this summer’s riots.

The second debate, four days later, is on a petition demanding the full release of documents relating to the 1989 Hillsborough Stadium disaster.

The government introduced the e-petitions website this summer.

Any petitions gaining the support of more than 100,000 people can be considered for a full debate, if an MP suggests it to the backbench business committee, which controls about 35 days a year of parliamentary time.

At Tuesday’s committee meeting, Conservative MP Gavin Barwell proposed a wider debate on the government’s response to the riots, after a petition calling

for those involved to lose entitlement to benefits gathered more than 244,000 signatures.

Liverpool Walton MP Steve Rotherham suggested the petition calling for the release of cabinet papers on the 1989 Hillsborough disaster, in which 96 Liverpool Football Club fans died.

The government announced last week that MPs could get more time to debate issues raised on the e-petitions website.

London Tube driversto get Jerzy Buzek EDL bonus during Olympics condemns attack on MEP

Train drivers on London’s Underground rail network will pocket an extra 500 pounds for working during next summer’s Olympics as the city attempts to get sports fans to stadiums on time.

Organisers are relying on the Underground, already overcrowded and with a history of strikes, to ferry spectators to the Olympic venues in the heart of the city and at the Olympic Park in the east of the capital.

Getting people to take the Tube is vital if the tens of thousands of athletes, officials and journalists are to secure a smooth ride on London’s traditionally logjammed roads and the city is not to ground to a halt.

Politicians have branded London as the “public transport Games.”

London Underground said on Tuesday that drivers working between the Olympics and Paralympics will receive the one-off payment, in addition to overtime.

It said it was in recognition of a change in the terms and conditions of working contracts, which could re-

Sajad’s home

quire drivers to work longer than eight hours. The Underground will also stay open one hour later than usual.

The deal, which comes after six months of talks, is separate from ongoing discussions over pay.

“LU is committed to ensuring that the train service we provide contributes to the successful operation of the Games and I am pleased that we and the unions have been able to engage in constructive dialogue to reach this agreement,” LU’s Managing Director Mike Brown said in a statement.

The President of the European Parliament issued a statement supporting North West Conservative MEP, Sajjad Karim, after his house was besieged by members of the far-Right English Defence League.

President Jerzy Buzek said the attack on Mr Karim's house in Lancashire, while he and his wife and family were inside, amounted to an attack on democracy and freedom of speech.

Police were called to the house near Burnley when a group of more than 30 EDL activists marched on it brandishing placards with antiMuslim slogans.

Mr Buzek told the parliament sitting in Strasbourg: "I wish to strongly condemn the violence used on the 2nd of July against our colleague MEP Sajjad Karim in the UK. "His private house was attacked by about 30 members of an extremist organisation who entered his property carrying anti-Muslim placards and shouting.

23

The £15k benefit thief who said he couldn’t walk while working as a pipe fitter

A fraudster illegally claimed £15,000 in benefits by claiming he claiming he couldn’t walk – while working as a full-time labourer.

Martin Devlin, 44, of Worsley Grove, Levenshulme, was working as a pipe fitter while claiming disability benefits for more than three years.

Manchester magistrates sentenced him to 150 hours unpaid work, and ordered him to pay £250 legal costs.

Devlin pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to three charges of making a false rep-

resentation to claim disability living allowance, housing benefit and council tax benefit.

The court heard how Devlin had submitted false evidence to a medical tribunal saying he was unable to walk – when in fact he was well enough to work a full week as a labourer.

Paul Darnborough, prosecuting, told the court that Devlin had been falsely claiming benefits – totalling £15,843 – from December 2007 to January 2011.

The benefits were paid to disabled people to try to bring their standard of living up to those of able-bodied people.

Such benefits were ‘the hallmark of a civilised society’, Mr Darnborough said, adding: “It should be paid to those who need it, not to those who falsely claim.”

Steve Binafeigha, representing Devlin, said that his client was sorry for what he had done and that he was already repaying the money he had falsely claimed – to the tune of £85 per week.

Devlin was currently working and would not be able to keep up the repayments if he were sent to jail, Mr Binafeigha said.

Heaviest girl ever born in Britain

A first-time mother is delighted to discover that her daughter is Britain's biggest baby girl - at a staggering 12lb 9oz, a newspaper reports.

Farrah, the newborn daughter of Karen Gallacher, 36, is twice the weight of an average baby.

Her huge size is even more of a shock given that Karen stands only 5ft 2in tall.

Farrah has already outgrown her newborn nappies, and at one month old is wearing clothes suitable for a threemonth-old child.

At birth she measured nearly 25 inches, five inches bigger than a normal baby.

Karen said: 'Neither me or Robert were big babies so Farrah's arrival was a complete shock.

'She is very special but we didn't even realise that she was Britain's biggest baby girl until Robert's family looked it up on the internet. I never imagined

people would be this interested.

'Everything's been turned upside down since she arrived. I usually keep the house neat and tidy but there's stuff everywhere now that she's here.' Proud Karen and Robert, 48, have already given the super tot the biggest bedroom in their detached home in Inverness, Scotland.

Farrah was delivered by caesarean section on August 9 - four days before her due date - at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness.

Doctors tried to induce Karen three times before finally performing the caesarean.

Karen said: 'They took me into the hospital on August 6, because they knew she was going to be a big baby - but obviously not this big.

'After trying to induce me three times there was no movement so I had to have a caesarean.

British Blues Awards honour for McGregor

Amanda Knox ‘hopeful’ after blow to prosecution

An American student jailed for the murder of her English housemate hopes to win an appeal against her conviction after an Italian judge rejected prosecution calls for a second review of crucial evidence that two experts have undermined, her family said.

Amanda Knox, 24, is appealing against her conviction for the 2007 killing of language student Meredith Kercher at their rented house in the Italian town of Perugia, central Italy.

Appeal court judge Claudio Pratillo Hellmann turned down a prosecution request to review forensic evidence used to convict Knox after an independent report found it to be unreliable.

"They have no case, there is no case left and I am very hopeful that by the end of the month we will get to bring Amanda home," her father Curt Knox told CNN outside court.

His daughter is "happy and hopeful" that she will be

released from prison soon, he said in comments reported by Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper.

One of the two prosecutors opposing Knox's bid to overturn her conviction was quoted by the Daily Mail newspaper as saying that there was an "ill wind blowing in this case."

Prosecutor Manuela Comodi said she could envisage Knox and her former Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, also convicted of Kercher's murder, being cleared by the appeal court.

"The judge and his assistant are clearly against us. I can see both Knox and Sollecito being freed which will be a shame as they are both involved," Comodi was quoted as saying in the Daily Mail.

Knox and Sollecito and Ivorian Rudy Guede were jailed in 2009 after what judges concluded was a frenzied sex game that spiralled out of control.

Students pose during the 7th annual convocation of Sarhad University at Convention Center, Islamabad.

Government turns to parents to help mend failing schools

The beginning of the school year in Britain has seen the controversial introduction of "free schools" set up by parents, volunteers and charities.

Backers hope the new schools -- funded by the taxpayer but free to set their own curriculum and schedules -- will raise the failing standards of Britain's state education system, seen as one of the key factors behind the riots which rocked London, Manchester and other English cities last month.

Academics and teaching unions say the 24 new schools are an ideological pet project of Prime Minister David Cameron's centre-right Conservative party, too few in number to have any meaningful effect and the wrong solution to Britain's educational divide between state and private schools.

Ministers say the mixture of new primary and secondary schools, based on models in Sweden and the United States, will deliver a shot in the arm to complacent state schools nearby, forcing them to raise their game or face losing pupils and even closure.

"Those who support free schools are on the side of parents, charities and committed teachers who are trying to make things better," Cameron said in a speech at one of the new schools in eastern England on Friday. "(They are)...On the side of the choice, freedom and competition that will really drive up standards," he added, calling for a return to old-fashioned discipline in schools.

Britain's education system is confusing and fragmented.

Elite and expensive private schools, such as Rugby, Harrow and Eton where Cameron was educated, can claim to offer one of the finest educations in the world, but at a cost of up to 30,000 pounds a year.

At the other end of the scale one in five teenagers leave state schools at 16 without a basic grasp of reading or mathematics.

The schools, a key Conservative manifesto pledge in last year's national election, will be free of control from local education authorities and able to set their own curriculum, length of school day and term dates.

Many have been set up in

temporary accommodation or quickly converted buildings to reduce the cost and time of establishing them, but as a result will lack the broader facilities enjoyed by most other statefunded schools.

The two dozen schools were selected by government officials from more than 320 applications, and like the rest of the state system will offer a free education to pupils.

Representing Britain's multicultural society, they include two Jewish faith schools, a Hindu school and a Sikh school, as well as the most high profile entrant, a school founded on traditional lines in west London where all pupils will learn Latin.

Rising levels of youth unemployment and poor levels of educational achievement have been cited as a contributing cause to a wave of riots and looting blamed on a "feral underclass" that raged through London and other cities in England. By allowing parents or charities to open schools in deprived areas poorly served by local schools Cameron hopes to curtail a cycle of low ambition and achievement.

Bradford singer and guitarist Chantel McGregor has been voted Young Artist of the Year in the British Blues Awards.

The accolade is a significant step forward in the career of the 25-year-old singer-songwriter from Wyke, who gigged with bands from the age of ten and later graduated from Leeds College of Music with first class honours.

It coincides with the release of a compilation album from Universal Records, 100 Years of the Blues, on which Chantel appears with legends such as Robert Johnson, John Lee Hooker, Eric Clapton, Cream, Free, The Rolling Stones, ZZ Top, Fleetwood Mac, Bonnie Raitt and B B King.

She said: “My song, Help Me, is the longest, at six minutes 54 seconds. It’s from my album Like No Other.

It’s pretty special. To be on an album with such amazing players is crazy.”

Woman dies in Walsall house fire A woman has died in a fire at a house in the West Midlands that is thought to have been started by a cigarette.

The ambulance service was called to the semi-detached house in Greenwood Road, Walsall, at about 15:15 BST on Monday.

A firefighter gave the woman CPR before ambulance crews took over but she was later pronounced dead in hospital.

The cause was described by the fire service as suspected careless disposal of smoking materials. A bedroom was severely damaged in the fire.

24

Premier Asian wedding show

Premier Asian Wedding Show will take place on Sunday 20th November 2011 in Manchester at the iconic and grand Midland Hotel. The venues stunning 3 banqueting suites will be converted into a wedding planning wonderland which will feature a rich variety of leading wedding suppliers from the region and beyond.

Whether brides and grooms are looking to cherry pick suppliers to add the finishing touches to their wedding or starting afresh- they will meet all the designers and suppliers on the same

day, a to z of wedding services all under one roof to find every exquisite detail to make their wedding day unique.

Peter Shrigley, of The Midland Hotels says "We're delighted to have the Premier Asian Wedding Show taking place at the hotel, allowing us to welcome visitors and exhibitors to the hotel, which can cater to the needs of the Asian community".

Exclusive to this exhibition will be the inspirational sessions, giving bride and grooms the opportunity to glean the pearls of wisdom from some of the most talented people in the industry, who will be giving invaluable tips and advice and answering questions on key aspects of wedding planning. A Bride and Groom fashion extravaganza featuring UK, Pakistan and India’s leading designers with a launch pad for a couple of designers, who are showcasing ready to wear fashion unveiling the latest trends and next year trends.

A performance stage will be set with wedding perfomers with surprise celebrity appearances from the Asian and mainstream industry. With the north – west regions British Asian population at 450,000, the wedding show is in response to an ever increasing demand for specialist wedding suppliers in the region.

Event Director of the Premier Asian Wedding Show Manchester, Ahmer Iqbal sums this event which represents inspiration, innovation and unsurpassed, perf ection!

Olympics mall New Fire may have to Authority boss settle for silver appointed A less-affluent catchment area, stronger competition and more congested roads mean Europe's biggest urban shopping centre, which opens in east London next week, may struggle to match the success of its sister mall in the west of the city.

Few analysts doubt Westfield Stratford will pull in millions of Britons over the coming weeks, despite a gloomy economic backdrop, as shoppers flock to explore its 300 retail outlets and 50 cafes and restaurants in the run-up to Christmas.

The 1.45-billion pound project should also get a big boost next summer from the neighbouring Olympic Games.

Australian developer Westfield reckons about 70 percent of the Games' estimated 10 million visitors will pass through its 1.9-millionsquare-foot (177,000 square metre) temple of shopping.

Over the longer term, Westfield Stratford should also benefit from the global trend towards "destination" malls, which offer dining and leisure facilities alongside shops, allowing families to spend the day in one location.

Greater Manchester has a new fire chief – after former boss Fred Walker quit in a row over his expenses.

David Acton, leader of the Labour opposition on Trafford council, was chosen to replace Coun Walker as chairman of the Greater Manchester Fire Authority at a meeting yesterday. He said he would concentrate on protecting the service from the impact of swingeing government budget cuts.

Coun Walker, a Labour councillor in Wigan, found himself at the centre of a huge political row after the M.E.N. revealed how he claimed for more than £20,000 of travel expenses in one go.

It emerged he had racked up a huge bill for scores of train trips to London costing up to £345 each.

He announced his resignation after coming under pressure from Labour leaders across Greater Manchester.

Coun Acton was elected unopposed as his successor by fellow members of the authority.

He said: “I am honoured to have been elected to the chair.

Five years on and still no justice for shot schoolboy

Rochdale Fire Station members stand for 1 minute silence to mark the 10th anniversary of 9/11 victims.

Passengers ‘scream’ during aborted landing

Scared passengers “screamed” as a pilot tried to land a plane at Leeds-Bradford airport in strong winds, those on board the flight said.

The pilot of the Thomas Cook flight later landed safely at Manchester after aborting the Leeds landing on Monday.

Passenger Layla Marks

said: “The plane kept dropping and going from side-toside. The pilot did very well.”

Tim Cheal, from Thomas Cook, said: “Passenger safety is what we are fundamentally trained for.”

Ms Marks, from Otley, who was on flight TCX8049 from Gran Canaria with her 10-month-old son, said

she was “quite scared” as she was told by staff to keep a “tight grip” on her child.

“We bounced once and I knew we’d have to take off again,” she said. “Towards the end there was screaming and some people were crying and you could really feel the tense atmosphere.”

The fifth anniversary of the unsolved murder of schoolboy Jessie James is being marked with a memorial service at the place where he partied with pals on the night of his death.

Family and friends of the Manchester Academy pupil – just 15 when he was gunned down in a park – will gather at the West Indian Centre, at Westwood Street, Moss Side from 8pm tonight.

On September 9, 2006, Jessie, of Greame Street, Moss Side, cycled with a group of friends to a party at the West Indian Centre. There, they bought fizzy drinks and chatted on the car park before cycling to another event on Caythorpe Street. The route took the group through Broadfield Park, where a gunman was lurking in the bushes.

25 Insurers applaud Parents of Shafilea Ahmed appear in court via video link parents of teenager ban on victim The Shafilea Ahmed - whose body was found in a river referral fees eight years ago - have ap-

The Hindu community ladies on the way towards Rama Pir Mandir by foot to attend Rama Pir Mela celebrations in Tando Allahyar, Sindh, Pakistan.

Figures show National Insurance relief is not being used

Tens of millions of pounds in National Insurance relief allocated to Greater Manchester is going unused, figures showed.

The government is being urged to plough the cash into fresh schemes with the potential to create thousands of jobs.

The Treasury has set aside £940m nationally for a scheme to give start-up businesses an NI payment holiday for up to10 employees in the first year of their existence. But figures have revealed just 2,892 companies across the UK have been approved for the scheme, at a

cost of only £5m.

The Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce estimates that, at that rate, there will be an underspend of £30m in the region when the programme comes to an end in 2013. It is urging the government not to let any unused funds go to waste and has put forward a number of suggestion for how it could be reallocated.

They include creating an extra round of the Regional Growth Fund, which aims to give grants to more mature firms that have the potential to expand and create jobs.

The government said it would ban lawyers paying fees to people who refer accident victims to them, earning plaudits from insurers that say the practice has encouraged spurious claims and forced them to charge customers more.

"The 'no-win, no-fee' system is pushing us into a compensation culture in which middle men make a tidy profit which the rest of us end up paying through higher insurance premiums and prices," Justice Minister Jonathan Djanogly said in a statement announcing the ban.Insurers said the ban would temper a sharp rise in frivolous personal injury claims that prompted the industry to lift motor premiums by a third in the year to March as they attempted to recoup their losses.

"This is an important step in curbing the compensation culture which has been instrumental in inflating motor insurance premiums," said Paul Evans, CEO of French insurer Axa's UK division.

Analysts say that while other insurers also collect referral fees, Admiral alone stands to lose more from the ban than it will gain in reduced injury claims.

peared at Manchester Crown Court charged with her murder.

Iftikhar Ahmed, 51, and mum Farzana, 48, both of Liverpool Road, Warrington, appeared via video link from prison accused of the 17-yearold.

No application for bail was made and they were remanded into custody to appear at the same court next Thursday.

Shafilea's remains were found by the River Kent in Cumbria five months after she disappeared from home in Great Sankey in Warrington in 2003.

Music festival to be held a tribute to murdered Lancaster

A music festival is to be held in memory of murdered Sophie Lancaster.

Twenty-year-old Sophie, from Rossendale, was beaten to death in 2007 when thugs turned on her and her boyfriend because they were dressed as goths. Ryan Herbert and Brendan Harris were later convicted for her murder.

A charitable foundation set up in Sophie’s name to promote tolerance has attracted support worldwide.

Now three friends hope to help with the Sophie Festival

past for looking different.

“The foundation is a really good cause. It’s something we feel very passionate about and people should know more about it. We also want to raise as much money as possible.” The Sophie Festival will take place on November 19 at venues across Ashton including the town hall and the Guzzling Goose pub.

More than 30 bands have already signed up including Candid Iniquity, Yakavetta, My Wooden Pillow and Luke’s band Awaker.

JK Rowling among hacking inquiry “core” figures

Mersey Banks cross-river constituency proposed Merseyside could lose two parliamentary seats under proposals put forward by the Boundary Commission for England.

A new cross-river Mersey Banks constituency would be created around Bromborough and Eastham in the south and areas of Halton north of the river.

Liverpool MPs Luciana Berger and Maria Eagle could face a battle over a single seat as the constituency areas for south Liverpool are changed.

In Wirral, the number of seats would be cut from four to three. The commission said that while it had “reservations” about proposing a cross-river constituency, it “allowed for the most satisfactory distribution of constituencies across the whole area”.

The changes are part of government plans to reduce the number of MPs by 50 to 600 by the next general election.

New rules specify that constituencies must have electorates no smaller than 72,810 and no larger than 80,473.

This has led to a reduction in the number of seats across Merseyside and Cheshire.

Proposals for a cross-river constituency between Liverpool and Birkenhead were rejected, instead both Birkenhead and Wallasey seats remain, with slightly redrawn boundaries, while many parts of the current Wirral South and Wirral West constituencies would be contained in a new Hoylake and Neston constituency.

in Ashton under Lyne.

Scot Reedy, Sven Sandal and Luke Michniewski were inspired after meeting Sophie’s mum Sylvia at Derbyshire heavy metal festival Bloodstock. The trio run Metalheart promotions which organises gigs for up-and-coming bands.

Scot, from Hyde, said: “I had met Sophie in the past through different groups of friends and what happened to her was disgusting. We are from alternative lifestyles, we have all been picked on in the

The Night Carnival at the Thames Festival culminated in a spectacular parade through the City of London, celebrating the capital's cultural diversity, with national shows, community groups, professional dancers and musicians.

Expenses peers released early from jail

Two former Conservative peers jailed for fiddling parliamentary expenses have been released early from prison, a prison office source said on Monday.

Lord Hanningfield and Lord Taylor of Warwick were among a handful of parliamentarians to be convicted over the 2009 expenses scandal, which outraged taxpayers.

Lord Hanningfield, 70, was jailed for nine months in July after falsely claiming for nearly 14,000 pounds in parliamentary allowances between 2006 and 2009. The claims were made for overnight stays in London when he was not in the capital.

At his trial Hanningfield said he felt entitled to the allowances as he needed to go to

his home in Essex to look after his dog.

Lord Taylor of Warwick, 58, was sentenced to 12 months in May for making 11,277 pounds worth of claims for false travel and accommodation costs.

Both former Conservative peers have been released on Home Detention Curfew (HDC), or 'tagging', available under certain circumstances to prisoners who are considered to pose minimal threat to the public.

"Home Detention Curfew is available to low risk prisoners serving sentences of more than 3 months and less than 4 years, who are deemed appropriate for early release," a Prison Service spokesman said in a statement.

“Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling and actor Hugh Grant will be among more than 50 “core participants” at a public inquiry into press standards set up after the phone-hacking scandal that has engulfed Rupert Murdoch’s British newspaper arm.

They were among a list of politicians, celebrities and sportsmen who applied for the status and were included on a list announced on Wednesday by Brian Leveson, the senior judge who is heading the judicial inquiry.

All say they have either had their phones hacked or have suffered misreporting or unwarranted press intrusion into their private lives.

As core participants, they have a right to legal representation and to ask for questions to be put to witnesses, and can also submit closing submissions to the head of the inquiry.

News International, the British arm of Murdoch’s News Corp which is at the centre of the phone-hacking allegations, was also granted core participant status.

The inquiry was set up by Prime Minister David Cameron in July in the wake of the furore surrounding phone hacking allegations at the News of the World newspaper.

News International shut the paper down amid an outcry over claims journalists on the paper had paid investigators to hack into the voicemails of murder victims.

Among those named as core participants are former minister Tessa Jowell, former England soccer player Paul Gascoigne, actress Sienna Miller and the parents of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler.

London’s Metropolitan Police force and media groups Northern and Shell Network, Associated Newspapers, and Guardian News and Media, which along with News International publish nearly all Britain’s national papers, are also on the list.

An application by Rebekah Brooks, the former chief executive of News International and one of those to be arrested by police investigating the hacking allegations, was turned down.

Part one of Leveson’s inquiry will focus on the relationship between the press and the public, and the relationship between media organisations, the police and politicians.

26

Unions plan mass strikes over pension reform Millions of public sector workers plan strikes and rallies nationwide in November over public-sector pensions, union leaders said on Wednesday, adding to pressure on a government struggling with rising unemployment and weak growth.

Unions are locked in a bitter row with the Conservative-led coalition over controversial plans to raise public-sector pension contributions as spending cuts bite. The dispute mirrors those in continental Euro-

First dog grooming boutique opens in Germany A new boutique dog wash station in Germany enables pet owners to give their pooch a personal pampering comparable to that offered at the best luxury spas, reports the website Metro. The selfservice ‘Dog an der Koe’ has been installed in Leipzig, and its warm water, shampoo and hairdryer services have already proved a hit with canines - and their owners.

Two-year-old Labrador Mara appeared to thoroughly enjoy her spa treatment, perhaps a little too much, having attempted to eat some shampoo off her nose mid shower.

pean nations where governments are trying to rein in spending.

Brendan Barber, leader of the Trade Union Congress, said that November 30 would see the biggest union action in a generation.

“Today’s meeting also agreed, however, given the failure of the government to engage properly in the negotiations, to step up the campaign and to hold a first day of action on Wednesday 30 November.

“The intention will be to take the call for pensions jus-

tice for both public and private sector workers to every corner of the land on that day in the biggest trade union mobilisation in a generation,” he said after the TUC’s annual meeting.

The stoppages would come a day after the government’s autumn financial statement, updating the country on the state of the economy. Figures published on Wednesday showed unemployment rose at its fastest rate in two years, fanning fears over an economy that is scarcely growing.

Riot-hit Tottenham mourns police shooting victim

Around 1,500 mourners gathered at a church in north London to mourn Mark Duggan, whose fatal shooting by police sparked rioting and looting that spread across the capital and to other English cities.

Tributes to Duggan, 29, from his family, and songs and hymns were relayed by speaker to those standing calmly outside the New Testament Church of God. In a rousing closing prayer, Pastor Nims Obunge called for Duggan's death to be a turning point for troubled Tottenham.

"We pray for peace. There

has been too much blood," he said. "It took the death of Mark to show that there was something wrong. We pray that his death will not be in vain," he said.

"May his children be able to say that on the day we buried my father there was a future for my community."

The atmosphere was calm in a normally busy suburban street which was cordoned off by police.

However, anger still simmered over the killing which is being investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

Twelve statues returned 17-year campaign

The Saints have come marching back in to the world-famous Gorton Monastery after a 17-year campaign.

The 12 six-foot tall figures were removed in the early 1990s by a developer looking to turn the building into flats.

They were installed when the monastery was built and spent 133 years looking down on the aisles from plinths. But they were spotted on an auction list at Sotheby’s in 1994 by local historian Janet Wallwork.

Manchester council stepped in to buy the historic figures for £25,000 after Gorton MP Gerald Kaufman negotiated their withdrawal from the auction.

After a short period on display at Manchester Town Hall, the works have been kept in storage in the city centre ever since. But now the renovated monastery has finally brought them home.

Mrs Wallwork said: “It’s absolutely fantastic to see them back after all this time.”

The statues, which are of the 12 Franciscan saints, will be on public show on special viewing days in the coming months as bosses raise funds to have the statues renovated and reinstalled on 30ft high plinths in the monastery.

The Duke and Duchess of Devonshire view the sculpture Legend by Damien Hirst in the gardens of their home Chatsworth House in Derbyshire.

St Andrews student sentenced for Israel flag racism

A student at St Andrews University who was found guilty of a racist breach of the peace after he insulted the Israeli flag has been given community service.

Paul Donnachie, 19, has been sentenced to 150 hours for putting his hands down his trousers before rubbing them on Jewish student Chanan Reitblat’s flag.

Donnachie also accused Mr Reitblat of being a terrorist during the incident at the halls of residence in March.

Donnachie was also or-

dered to pay Mr Reitblat £300 in compensation.

The student was earlier expelled from St Andrews University. Outside the court Donnachie stood with proPalestinian campaigners who had defaced Israeli flags with red paint.

Cupar Sheriff Court had earlier heard evidence from Mr Reitblat, a chemistry student on a one-term exchange from the Jewish Yeshiva University in New York, who said he felt “violated and devastated” by the incident.

27

Jobless rise stokes growth fears Britain’s unemployment rate rose at its fastest pace in two years in the three months to July and one of its biggest retailers saw a large fall in firsthalf profit, underlining the fraught economic outlook and raising pressure on the government to act to boost growth.

Official figures showed record public sector job losses fuelled the rise. The main opposition Labour Party accused the government of choking growth through deep spending cuts aimed at wiping out a record peacetime budget deficit.

The coalition government brushed aside calls to change its austerity drive but said it would support dozens of major infrastructure projects to support growth.

Shoppers peruse the newly opened Westfield Stratford City shopping centre in London. The new Westfield mall is the largest urban shopping centre in Europe covering 1.9million sq ft, it contains over 300 shops, 70 restaurants, a bowling alley, a 17-screen cinema, three hotels and the UK's largest casino.

London icon Tower 42 on sale for £290 million

London’s iconic Tower 42 was put up for sale for 290 million pounds, the latest in a wave of deals for prime office blocks in the capital’s financial heartland.

Owners Blackrock and LaSalle Investment Management will sell the 600-feet-tall building, previously known as the Nat West tower, alongside five other commercial buildings in the City financial district, they said on Wednesday.

“With limited supply and increasing demand exerting upward pressure on rents in the City market, investors can anticipate strong returns and considerable long term growth potential,” said Jeff

Morton, managing director at Blackrock.

The sale of the tower — one of the tallest in London and which is 95 percent let — reflects an initial yield of about 6.9 percent, Blackrock and LaSalle said in a statement.

Owners of the best property in the City are increasingly looking to sell as values have risen over the past 25 months and potentially choppy economic times lay ahead, property brokers said.

Last week, German fund KanAm put a one billion pounds folio of four properties up for sale, including the London base of Deutsche Bank.

Small business overheads ‘not lean enough’ Nearly half of Britain’s small business owners believe they could cut costs if they had more time to find and negotiate the best deals.

According to research by business saving advisor Make It Cheaper, small firms on average dedicate less than two and a half hours a week to cost management— with 28% spending less than an hour a week examining overheads.

This is despite two thirds of 750 business owners polled describing their cost base as

‘lean.’

Of those who responded to the researchers, 41% claimed they didn’t have enough time to shop around for good deals and over a third did not regularly switch business suppliers.

Furthermore, almost half (49%) have lost track of their energy contract renewal period, with 61% of business owners conceding that they find it easier to focus on selling their own goods or services than trying to reduce their outgoings.

London's hotspot property PM seeks advice on temporary prices to double

Property prices in some central London hotspots are set to more than double by 2016, driven up by a mix of factors including volatile financial markets and major new transport projects such as Crossrail, according to a report from estate agency Knight Frank.

Domestic and overseas buyers have flocked to the London residential market in recent years as they look for a safe place to park their money.

"It's really seen as safe haven for global money. We ran some figures showing how prime property is doing in terms of asset classes ... it beat the FTSE 100 tracker over the last 10 years by quite a long margin," said Grainne Gilmore, Knight Frank's head of UK residential research.

"It certainly gives gold a

run for its money," she added.

Meanwhile the Crossrail development, Europe's largest infrastructure project, will link Heathrow west of London to the east of the city through huge new tunnels to be run under the city.

"Crossrail is a massive theme going through this ... it's going to change a lot of things. If you live in Barbican or Farringdon (adjacent to the City financial district) you're going to be able to get to directly to three airports within minutes," she said.

As a result prices in this area and the City are set to rise 118 percent by the end of 2015, second only to the Vauxhall area in south London, where prices are forecast to jump 140 percent thanks to the redevelopment of Battersea Power Station.

worker laws

David Cameron is seeking confidential legal advice from outside Whitehall in an effort to make a decision on the new Agency Workers Directive, a news paper reported.

The new law, which is due to give agency employees who have been employed for at least 12 weeks the same rights as full-time workers to pay, holiday and maternity leave, could cost British businesses £2 billion a year.

Fears that this could disrupt the UK’s economic recovery, along with the belief that business secretary, Vince Cable, plans to add extra regulations to the directive, have caused Cameron to seek advice from expert on EU law, Martin Howe QC, reports newspaper.

28

Iraq prisoner death ‘great stain’ on British army: inquiry

British soldiers beat to death an Iraqi civilian in an act of unjustified violence that left a "very great stain" on Britain's armed forces, an inquiry concluded.

Former judge William Gage, who led the three-year investigation, said senior officers should have done more to prevent the 2003 death of hotel worker Baha Mousa and attacks by British troops on nine other detainees in Iraq.

The inquiry blamed a "corporate failure" at the Defence Ministry for letting soldiers use methods banned by parliament in 1972, including the hooding of prisoners, forcing them to stand in stressful positions and depriving them of sleep.

Mousa, 26, was repeatedly kicked and punched over a 36-hour period while being held in a squalid deten-

tion block on a British military base in the southern city of Basra.

Hooded and handcuffed in the fierce heat, the fatherof-two suffered 93 visible injuries, including a broken nose, broken ribs and bruising all over his body, the inquiry found.

Britain was the main ally of the United States in the invasion that toppled Iraq's Saddam Hussein. Abuse of Iraqi prisoners by US soldiers, particularly at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib jail, drew protests from around the world.

One British soldier, Corporal Donald Payne, boasted to colleagues of conducting a "choir" by beating Mousa and other prisoners so that they cried out in sequence, the inquiry heard. Another soldier said that on the morning after their arrest the detainees

The mother and son of Baha Mousa, an Iraqi hotel receptionist who was kicked and beaten to death whilst in British Army custody, hold pictures of him at their house in Basra.

looked as if they had been in a car crash.

"The events ... were indeed a very great stain on the reputation of the army," Gage said in a statement. "They constituted an appalling

episode of serious, gratuitous violence on civilians."

Prime Minister David Cameron said the violence was "shocking and appalling" and must never happen again.

Thousands mourn crashed Russian hockey team

The Green Acres caravan site is pictured in Leighton Buzzard, north of London, on September 12. British police raided a travellers' site Sunday to rescue 24 men they said had been held as slaves and forced to live in squalor, some for up to 15 years. More than 200 officers from Bedfordshire Police entered the Green Acres caravan site and arrested four men and one woman, all residents on the site, on suspicion of slavery offences.

Blair wants new Middle East peace drive A Palestinian bid for greater recognition at the United Nations this month would be a cry of frustration, Middle East envoy Tony Blair said, calling for a new campaign to get Israeli-Palestinian peace talks back on track.

The Palestinians have vowed to upgrade their U.N. status, either by seeking full United Nations membership for a Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip and West Bank or recognition as a "non-member state."

Washington fears the move could create a new obstacle to flagging US efforts to revive Middle East peace talks, which broke down last year following a row over Jewish settlements in occupied territory that Palestinians want for a state.

"I totally understand the frustrations the Palestinians have. We are all frustrated in this situation. We want to see progress towards peace, towards the two-state solution," Blair said.

Turk PM champions recognition of Palestinian state

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Edogan told a meeting of Arab League foreign ministers in Cairo that the recognition of a Palestinian state was “not an option but an obligation”.

In a speech that will buttress his image as a regional leader, Erdogan also condemned Israel’s stance, saying the “aggressiveness” of its policies “threaten the future of the Israeli people”.

“The recognition of a Palestinian state is the only right way. It’s not an option, but an obligation. God willing, by the end of this month, we will have the opportunity to see Palestine in a very different status at the United Nations,” Erdogan said. “It’s time to raise the Palest inian flag at the United Nations. Let’s raise the Palestinian flag and let that flag be the symbol of peace and justice in the Middle East. Let’s contribute to securing well deserved peace and stability in the Middle East.”

Arab states will push for a fully-fledged Palestinian state

at the United Nations next week. The Palestinians decided to seek United Nations recognition of statehood after years of negotiations with Israel failed to deliver the independent state they want to establish in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem — areas occupied

by Israel in the 1967 Middle East War. Erdogan, who has seen his popularity rise in the Arab world for his position against Israel, said the Israeli government’s policies were an “obstacle to peace”.

Turkey has downgraded its ties with former friend Israel over the 2010 killing by Israeli commandos of nine Turkish activists on a Turkish aid flotilla bound for Gaza.

“Israel will break away from solitude only when it acts as a reasonable, responsible, serious and normal state,” Erdogan said.

“While Israel is trying to secure its legitimacy in our region on one hand, it is taking irresponsible steps which unsettle its legitimacy on the other,” Erdogan said.

A mournful crowd filled the hockey arena in the Russian city of Yaroslavl to pay their last respects to the local team who perished in a plane crash that killed 43 people last week.

Three-time Russian champions Lokomotiv were leaving the local airport about 300 kilometres north of Moscow Wednesday when their Yak42 plane failed to gain altitude after take-off and went down in a small river killing almost everyone on board.

An endless stream of people flowed into Lokomotiv’s home arena in Yaroslavl, laying flowers along the row of coffins set up on the rink with the player’s photos.

The square in front of the arena was completely full of people waiting patiently under umbrellas in the rain to get inside. Athletes from other Russian teams, hockey officials, and thousands of fans were sitting in the spectator seats and wiping away tears during the hours-long ceremony.

200 dead after ferry capsizes off Tanzania Nearly 200 people drowned when an overloaded ferry capsized off east Africa as it sailed from Zanzibar to Pemba island, police said, Tanzania's worst maritime disaster in at least 15 years.

Fishing boats, tour operators and diving instructors spent the night scouring the sea off the coast of Tanzania looking for survivors, many clinging to strewn cargo. One photo showed two men and a child floating on a mattress, clinging to a fridge.

Zanzibar police spokesman Mohamed Mhina said 192 bodies had been recovered and 606 passengers rescued from the Indian Ocean so far.

China blasts West’s anti-terror ‘double standards’

China’s state media accused Western countries of “double standards” in their fight against terrorism, ahead of the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

The comment piece by the official Xinhua news agency blamed Washington in particular for turning a “blind eye” to the damage caused by extremists in Russia’s Chechnya and in China’s own farwestern region of Xinjiang.

Nearly 10 years after 9/11, Xinhua said the fight against terror was “far from over”, with terrorists changing tactics and increasing “collaboration with separatists and religious extremists”.

“A bigger challenge to the world’s anti-terror effort, though, is a lack of a common standard,” the comment said.

“In particular, the United States and its Western allies have repeatedly used double standards on anti-terror issues, which have obstructed the progress of the global effort.” Xinhua pointed to the United States’ refusal in 2009 to extradite back to China

members of its mainly Muslim Uighur minority held at US military prison camp Guantanamo Bay — who were cleared of wrongdoing — as an example of double standards.

The United States refused to repatriate the Uighurs on the basis they would face almost certain persecution.

Uighurs populate the Xinjiang region, which has experienced several outbreaks of ethnic violence in recent years — much of which Beijing has blamed on extremism, separatism and terrorism.

But some experts doubt that terrorist cells operate there, and say the violence stems more from long-standing resentment against the government among Uighurs in the region.

Xinhua also accused Western countries of using counter-terrorism as a “cheap excuse” to intervene in other nations’ internal affairs.

“Obviously, such a double standard can only harm the global anti-terror effort,” it said.

29 The Queen goes Manchester City chief executive Garry Cook resigns over email row greenhydroelectric turbines arrive at

The Mayor of London Boris Johnson (C) poses for photographs with author Toby Young (L) and Headteacher Thomas Packer (immediately behind) and pupils at the opening of the West London Free School. The free school, one of the first semi-independent taxpayer-funded schools set up by groups of teachers and parents, is an 11-18 secondary school. It will teach a classical liberal syllabus, with latin compulsory to age 14 with its stated aim to be a 'grammar school for all', MP Harold Wilson's original definition of a comprehensive school.

Government to give £1m towards Manchester riots clear-up costs

Manchester will receive up to £1m from the government to help the city repair the damage caused by last month's riots.

Council bosses are also set to pledge £100,000 to ensure the city's long-term recovery.

They say the one-off cash injections will go a long way to offsetting the threat of bigger long-term costs such as job losses if businesses were left to fail on the back of the violence.

The M.E.N revealed this week how the region is facing a £10m bill for policing the riots in Manchester and Salford.

A report - by chief executive Sir Howard Bernstein – is due to go before the council's executive committee next week and reveals startling fiures from the night of mahyem (see panel) Council leader, Sir Richard Leese, said: "After the unprecedented disturbances, it was vital that local and national government acted quickly to offer support to businesses which had been affected, both directly through

theft and damage and indirectly through loss of trade. “ I raised the need for additional support with the secretary of state for communities and we welcomed the positive reaction from the government in making funds available.

“As well as the I Love MCR campaign, which acted as a focal point for civic pride and helped businesses bounce back, we have been able to work with partner agencies including Cityco, Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce and Greater Manchester Police to offer a comprehensive package of support. This includes potential business rates relief for affected businesses, whatever their size, and scope for grants and loans to help small and medium-sized enterprises return to normal.

"We believe these one-off costs will go a long way towards avoiding bigger longerterm costs which would have arisen, including job losses, if businesses weren't given a helping hand."

120 object to Manchester inner ring road plans

More than 120 people have objected to proposed changes to Manchester’s inner ringroad as part of a £800m masterplan that would transform the city centre.

Earlier this week the M.E.N. revealed images of the Co-op’s plans to create a new city centre district called ‘NOMA’.

The development aims to ‘open up’ a 20-acre plot near Victoria Station, with a mix of hotels, office blocks, apartments and shops. As part of the plans, the inner ring-road – which runs through Ancoats – will be re-routed further north through a residential area. But 121 people have written to the council asking them to reconsider the proposals, the M.E.N.

has learned.

The revamp of the city’s northern gateway is expected to take around 15 years to complete. The ring-road will be moved to take traffic down a redeveloped Angel Street close to Angel Meadow park and apartment blocks.

Residents say the designs will disrupt a peaceful area of the city centre, by causing air and noise pollution.

They also fear the streets near to Angel Street will be used as rat-runs. Cathy Brooks, from the Stop the Ring Road campaign, said: “The park is an unknown treasure in Manchester and it seems completely unnecessary to bring the road through this way.

Manchester City chief executive Garry Cook has resigned.

The club released a statement this afternoon confirming the gaffe-prone CEO had offered his resignation to the board following the email scandal surrounding Nedum Onuoha’s cancer-stricken mother.

City Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said: “Garry has made a remarkable contribution to Manchester City Football Club over the past three years. “His judgement in this matter should in no way lead to his accomplishments being overlooked.

“On every level, the club is unrecognisable from the organisation which he inherited and our staff and supporter services, community outreach and commercial activity have seen unparalleled growth under his direction with yet more projects to be realised on the horizon.”

Cook has been under pressure over an offensive

Windsor Castle

email was sent to Onuoha's mother and agent, Dr Anthonia, mocking her illness.

Cook denied sending the message, claiming his email account was hacked into.

City began a board-led inquiry and today announced: "As a result, the Club can confirm that there is foundation to Dr Onuoha’s allegations and the Chairman has written to apologise to Dr Onuoha for any distress caused.

"Following the findings of the review, Chief Executive Officer Garry Cook has offered his resignation, which has been accepted with regret by the Board."

The Queen has taken delivery of two giant hydroelectric turbines that will help meet the Royal Family’s attempts to power Windsor Castle using economic sustainable energy.

The 40-tonne Archimedes’ screws were put in place on Wednesday by crane at Romney Weir on the River Thames, just a few miles from her favourite royal residence.

The turbines are made in a factory in Holland at a cost £700,000. It is estimated that, together with other equipment, they will cost a further £1 million to install. It is estimated the turbines will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 790,000 kilos per year. In 2009 plans to “power” the castle by renewable energy were halted but now Royal advisers believe the time is right embrace renewable energy.

30

Hogan-Howe named new London police chief

Family members of World Trade Center attack victim Manika Narula, a 22-year-old Cantor Fitzgerald employee from Kings Park, New York, hug and cry during ceremonies.

US Ambassador Louis Susman and British Prime Minister David Cameron lay wreathes as they attend the tenth anniversary ceremony of victims of the attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York at the September 11 memorial garden in Grosvenor Square near to the US Embassy in London.

Prince Charlesmeets friends and family of victims of the attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York.

With tears and emotions, Americans mark 9/11 Americans on Sunday remembered the horror of September 11, 2001, and the nearly 3,000 people who died in the hijacked plane attacks as authorities worked to ensure the emotional 10th anniversary was peaceful.

President Barack Obama and his predecessor and political foe George W Bush stood together at Ground Zero in New York for the main ceremony at the site of the destroyed Twin Towers. Obama was then due to pay homage at 9/11’s other crash sites in Pennsylvania and at the Pentagon.

With federal officials warning of a new terrorism scare, New York was on lockdown and security in other major cities was also tight, with Obama calling for a “heightened state of vigilance and preparedness.”

The ceremony began in New York with a procession of bagpipers and singing of the national anthem, before pausing for the first of six moments of silence marking the times when the four hijacked airplanes hit their targets and the two towers came down. The sky over New York was clear, recalling the brilliant backdrop to the horrific surprise attack on the World Trade Centre, where 2,753 of the day’s 2,977 victims died in the subsequent inferno of collapsing skyscrapers.

As every year since September 11, 2001, relatives of the dead took turns reading out the names, a heartbreaking litany accompanied by virtuoso cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Readers fought to keep emotions in check as they pronounced loved ones’ names. “I’ve stopped crying but I haven’t stopped missing my dad. He was awesome,” a young man said.

Reflecting a growing sense that it is time to turn a corner from 9/11, the Ground Zero ritual this time was accompanied by signs of optimism.

The government named Bernard Hogan-Howe as the new commissioner of London's Metropolitan Police on Monday, giving him the job a year before the capital hosts the Olympic Games and a month after the worst riots in the city in years.

The 53-year-old, who has a tough, no-nonsense reputation, replaces Paul Stephenson who resigned in July over the phone-hacking scandal that has embroiled the British newspaper arm of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp media empire.

Hogan-Howe, who is now effectively Britain's most senior police officer as head of the country's largest force, had been installed as the acting deputy commissioner following Stephenson's resignation.

"It is my intention to build on public trust and lead a service that criminals will fear and staff will be proud to work for," he told

reporters.

Hogan-Howe made his name as chief constable of Merseyside Police in northern England from 2004 to 2009 where he promoted a tough stance against gangs and gun crime, with crime falling by a third and a 26 percent reduction in anti-social behaviour.

He was chosen for the 250,000 pound a year job ahead of the current acting chief, Tim Godwin, and two other top officers.

As commissioner, he will oversee a force of more than 31,000 officers, 90 horses and 170 dogs along with almost 8,000 community and volunteer officers.

Last year, the force was criticised for its handling of protests by students, while it was convicted in 2007 of breaking health and safety laws after armed officers shot dead an innocent Brazilian electrician mistaken as a suicide bomber.

Bernard Hogan-Howe and Mayor of London, Boris Johnson address the media outside New Scotland Yard.

31

Fox urges defence contractors to look overseas

Britain's arms manufacturers must look to tailor products for overseas markets to protect jobs and profits at a time of spending cuts at home, Defence Secretary Liam Fox said on Tuesday.

"For too long export potential has been ignored when initiating projects for the UK's own use: that needs to change," Fox said in a speech at a major arms fair in London.

"The best way to sustain UK defence and security jobs in the long term is to widen the customer base through enhanced defence exports."

Fox was speaking at the Defence & Security Equipment international (DSEi) trade fair, one of the world's largest military shows, which has attracted thousands of arms dealers from around the world.

Britain's defence industry employs almost 110,000 people and had a turnover of more than 22 billion pounds last year, according to figures from trade group ADS, with exports contributing 9.5 billion -- some 43 percent of turnover.

However, defence spending in Britain and other Western powers is being cut at a time of economic crisis. The planned end of military operations in Afghanistan is likely to prove another headache for arms companies.

The British government plans to reduce defence spending by 8 percent by 2015, while the United States is cutting at least $350 billion (221 billion pounds) from previous project

A soldier displays new technology at The Defence and Security Exhibition.

A man is arrested after protesting at the entrance to the DSEi Arms Fair being held at ExCel Centre in London. spending.

Saudi Arabia has traditionally been Britain's largest defence export market, but sales to India are seen expanding rapidly.

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Monday called on the U.S. and European nations to do more to open up their defence markets.

Obama picks more females, minorities for judges President Barack Obama is moving at a historic pace to try to diversify the nation’s federal judiciary: Nearly three of every four people he has gotten confirmed to the federal bench are women or minorities.

He is the first president who hasn’t selected a majority of white males for lifetime judgeships.

More than 70 percent of Obama’s confirmed judicial nominees during his first two years were “non-traditional,” or nominees who were not white males.

That far exceeds the percentages in the two-term administrations of Bill Clinton (48.1 percent) and George W. Bush (32.9 percent), according to Sheldon Goldman, author of the authoritative book “Picking Federal Judges.”

“It is an absolutely remarkable diversity achievement,” said Goldman, a political science professor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, who is only counting judges once, even if they fit more than one category.

The White House recently has been touting its efforts to diversify the federal bench during Obama’s tenure, now approaching three years in office.

Strike threats over pensions a ‘mistake’ Striking over public-sector pension reforms in the middle of government talks is wrong and would be an admission of "failure", opposition Labour Party leader Ed Miliband warned trade unions on Tuesday, prompting jeers from some unionists.

Addressing a meeting of union leaders at the Trades Union Congress (TUC) conference in London, Miliband said he understood why unions were so angry over increases in pension contributions and public-sector cuts but said talks must be given a chance.

"Of course the right to industrial action will be necessary, as a last resort," Miliband said on the second day of an annual meeting that draws together 58 unions representing almost 6.5 million workers -- a quarter of the British workforce.

"But in truth, strikes are always the consequence of failure. Failure on all sides.

Failure we cannot afford as a nation," he told unions who provide 80 percent of the Labour Party's funding and who helped him win leadership of the party last year.

There were a few jeers and shouts of "shame" from some union leaders and activists. In a question-and-answer session that followed his speech Miliband faced at

times hostile questions from delegates.

Dave Prentis head of Unison, Britain's second largest union with 1.4 million members, said he would have expected Miliband to "give his full backing to our fight for a decent pensions deal."

Mark Serwotka, the leader of the Public and Commercial Services Union, the biggest civil service union whose members walked out in June called Miliband's comments "a slap in the face" for unions and public sector workers.

Miliband's wide-ranging speech touched on corporate greed, bankers' pay and spending cuts. He attacked the Conservative-led coalition government's policies but also made clear that some cuts had to be made to tackle the deficit.

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Cameron and Miliband clash over rise in

Trott named ICC cricketer of the year England batsman Jonathan Trott was named International Cricket Council (ICC) cricketer of the year on Monday for his achievements during 2011 when he compiled 1,042 runs at an average of 65.12 in 12 tests. page 18

Americans mark 9/11 Americans on Sunday remembered the horror of September 11, 2001, and the nearly 3,000 people who died in the hijacked plane attacks as authorities worked to ensure the emotional 10th anniversary was peaceful. page 30

UK UNEMPLOYMENT P

rime Minister David Cameron and Ed Miliband have clashed in the Commons over the rise in UK unemployment.

The Labour leader said the government's plan for new jobs in the private sector to replace those lost as a result of public sector cuts was not working.

The PM said the figures were "disappointing", but insisted there was "not one ounce of complacency" among ministers about the issue.

Unemployment rose by 80,000 in the three months to July, to 2.51 million.

That is the largest increase in nearly two years, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said, with youth unemployment, in particular, rising sharply, by 78,000 to 973,000.

Mr Miliband said the prime minister and his government had become "the byword for complacency in this country on unemployment".

He said women's unemployment was at its highest level since 1988, and that for every two jobs being cut in the public sector less than one was being created in the private sector.

This, he argued, was proof that the government must change course - and if Mr Cameron chose not to, proof that "for him, unemployment is a price worth paying".

The prime minister insisted the government was taking action, by creating 300,000 new apprenticeships and rolling out its Work Programme.

He said: "These unemployment figures are disappointing, I don't want to hide from that... but this government will do everything it can to help those people back into work."

Mr Cameron said that despite the bad news on jobs, the need to reduce the UK's budget deficit remained as great as ever.

"On a day when France and Germany are meeting to stop Greece going bankrupt, he [Mr Miliband] must be the only person in the world who thinks you spend more to get out of a debt crisis."

The PM also accused Mr

Miliband of "inconsistency" after the Labour leader told the TUC congress on Tuesday that "you cannot spend your way to a new economy".

Mr Cameron said private sector employment had increased by 500,000 since the general election and there were 300,000 more people in work now than a year ago.

But Labour later accused him of giving incorrect fig-

ures, insisting the actual numbers were much lower.

Shadow chancellor Ed Balls said "The issue is if you go back a year there was a central proposition made by George Osborne as chancellor which was that if you cut public sector employment, if you cut the deficit faster, that will boost confidence and lead to more private sector jobs.