October 16, 2010, 4:43 am
![Image]( "Chile leader flies in for UK visit")
Chilean president Sebastian Pinera is flying into the UK for talks with David Cameron, fresh from greeting the last of the 33 miners to be freed after 69 days underground.
The billionaire is bringing lumps of rock from the bottom of the San Jose mine as gifts for both the Prime Minister and the Queen, who he will meet at Buckingham Palace after a last-minute invitation, The Times said.
President Pinera will visit Churchill's War Rooms on Sunday and Mr Cameron on Monday. He said he was inspired by Churchill's phrase "Blood, toil, tears and sweat" during the desperate wait for the miners' rescue.
The men were found on the day that the president's father-in-law died, with his last words to Mr Pinera being: "Don't give up. Keep working to rescue the miners."
Mr Pinera, 60, visited the mine that day at his wife's insistence and soon after his arrival the note confirming all miners were alive surfaced.
He told the newspaper: "It was a very emotional day. I will never forget that day. My father-in-law losing his life and the 33 miners recovering theirs."
He went to the mine despite advice he stay away, and said: "Many people thought the rescue was impossible and advised me not to get involved, to keep my distance. I decided to take full responsibility without any political consideration... We made a commitment to look for the miners as if they were our sons."
Mr Pinera, elected as president earlier this year, captured the world's attention this week as he stood in a pit helmet at the top of the rescue shaft, ready to greet each miner with a hug and a beaming smile as they emerged.
The Harvard-educated businessman-turned-politician told The Times he hoped Chile's international standing had been boosted by the rescue effort and that British entrepreneurs would now invest more in the country.
"Chile will now be remembered and recognised not for Pinochet but as an example of unity, leadership, courage, faith and success," he added, saying he believed God's help was "absolutely essential" in the successful rescue.
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October 16, 2010, 4:43 am
![Image]( "Richards 'targeted by government'")
Keith Richards claims he was "targeted by the British government" when he was famously put on trial for drugs offences in 1967.
The Rolling Stones guitarist and frontman Mick Jagger were both jailed after police raided Richards' country mansion to search for drugs.
In a candid new memoir, serialised by The Times, Richards said the establishment was determined to punish the controversial band.
"We'd become the focal point of a nervous Establishment," writes Richards, 67.
"There's two ways the authorities can deal with a perceived challenge. One is to absorb and the other is to nail.
"They had to leave the Beatles alone because they had already given them medals.
"We got the nail. It was more serious than I thought.
"I was in jail because I'd obviously p***** off the authorities.
"I'm a guitar player in a pop band and I'm being targeted by the British government and its vicious police force, all of which shows me how frightened they are."
After he was found guilty Richards was jailed for a year. Jagger was given three months imprisonment. Both were freed the next day pending appeal.
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October 16, 2010, 4:43 am
![Image]( "Volcanic ash cost airport £600,000")
The eruption of an Icelandic volcano that caused disruption to flights across Europe cost an airport £600,000.
East Midlands Airport said the eruption of Eyjafjallajokull in May, which sent a vast cloud of volcanic ash across European airspace grounding planes, meant it had to close for six days at a cost of £100,000 a day.
About 63,000 passengers were affected by the airport's closure. But the cost of shutting had first been estimated to be more than £1million, according to Barry Thompson, the airport's finance director.
He said: "Six months on, the financial impact that the volcanic ash cloud had on our business is now clear.
"Although this is a substantial amount, it is less than originally anticipated; due to a prediction that we would incur further associated costs or income loss."
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October 16, 2010, 4:43 am
![Image]( "Handcuff demo over climate change")
Twelve female protesters have handcuffed themselves to lorries which had been parked to deliberately block the main road leading to an oil refinery.
Demonstrators drove the vehicles to the Coryton Oil Refinery in Essex in an attempt to stop traffic getting to and from the site which they accuse of exacerbating climate change, said a spokesman for the Crude Awakening demonstration.
He said a further 500 people were travelling from London to the refinery to join the protest.
The spokesman said both lanes of the road to the UK's busiest oil depot near Stanford-le-Hope had been blocked to prevent oil tankers from leaving to deliver fuel.
One of the protesters, Terri Orchard, said: "We don't have a hope of tackling climate change if we don't find a way to start moving beyond oil. Oil companies are devastating local environments, trampling the rights of local communities, and pushing us over the edge to catastrophic climate change.
"We are here at the source of the problem, at the UK's busiest oil refinery, to stop the flow of oil to London. We're here to put a spanner in the works of the relentless flow of oil and to say no more. This place, this whole industry, must become a thing of the past."
Protesters had earlier said they planned to mass at three train stations in central London in preparation to move on to a series of targets related to the oil industry.
The demonstration, which is being supported by a number of action groups including Camp for Climate Action and Plane Stupid, is part of a global week of action against the fossil fuel industry.
A spokeswoman for Crude Awakening estimated that 500 protesters were blocking the road. She claimed that at least 50 oil tankers had been prevented from getting to and from the 589-hectare site.
Campaigners, some wearing fancy dress, have also set up another blockade obstructing the entrance to Shell Haven Oils Site further down The Manorway, she said.
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October 16, 2010, 4:43 am
![Image]( "Man arrested in farm murder probe")
A man has been arrested on suspicion of murdering a farmer who is believed to have died in a botched robbery.
Julian Gardner suffered multiple injuries after apparently disturbing crooks at isolated Bush Barn Farm in Robertsbridge, East Sussex.
A Sussex Police spokesman said: "Detectives investigating the death of 53-year-old Julian Gardner at Bush Barn Farm at Robertsbridge on Monday have arrested a man on suspicion of his murder.
"A 40-year-old man from Ashford, Kent, was arrested in Ashford at 6am today and will be taken to Eastbourne Custody Centre for questioning."
Police believe Mr Gardner may have disturbed somebody who was trying to break in to outbuildings at the farm where he ran an agricultural and car repair business.
One theory is that his compression-type injuries were sustained when he was crushed between two vehicles.
His business partner found his body on Monday morning and detectives believe the murder took place some time after 11pm the previous night.
On Thursday police began searching a pond in Sandhurst, Kent, a few miles from the farm, where a burnt-out Cherokee Jeep was found hours after the killing.
The Jeep had been in for repair at Mr Gardner's business and has been forensically examined and removed from the site.
A second 4x4, a Land Rover Defender owned by Mr Gardner, was also discovered burnt-out at a different location, at Cripps Corner, near Battle, and it too was being examined.
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October 16, 2010, 4:34 pm
![Image]( "Barrister tells of inquiry emotion")
One of the UK's most celebrated barristers, Michael Mansfield QC, has revealed the culmination of the Bloody Sunday Inquiry was the most emotional day of his career.
The leading human rights lawyer, who has been involved in some of the most famous cases in recent legal history, represented a number of families during the long-running inquiry.
Thirteen marchers were shot dead on January 30 1972 in Londonderry when British paratroopers opened fire on crowds at a civil rights demonstration.
Fourteen others were wounded, one of whom later died.
The Saville Report was heavily critical of the Army and found that soldiers fired the first shot.
Asked if the 12-year inquiry was worth it, Mr Mansfield told BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs: "If you ask any of the families, they felt, quite rightly, that the truth about what happened in 1972 when people died on the streets of Derry, shot by British military forces, had never been uncovered. It took a long time, it certainly did, but it was worth every penny because it wasn't dealing with an isolated incident.
"He had in fact, Lord Saville, a remit much broader than that, it was part of the peace process at that time looking back at what had happened in the 20 years before that, which had led to this situation where British troops were effectively occupying the streets in this way and led to the shooting.
"Now that's an enormous task, if you were a mother, or a father or a relative and you had had your relatives murdered, you would want that to be recognised."
The 69-year-old, who has been a lawyer for more than 40 years, said the end of the inquiry in which criticism was levelled at the Army was highly emotional for him.
He explained: "This was a moment that they had waited for and there was emotion welling up in all of them and for me probably, it was the most moving day of 42 years."
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October 16, 2010, 4:35 pm
![Image]( "President has rock gift for Queen")
Chilean president Sebastian Pinera is taking in the sights of London on the second day of his visit to the UK.
The billionaire flew in to Heathrow Airport on Saturday night bearing lumps of rock from the bottom of the San Jose mine where 33 miners have been freed after being trapped underground for 69 days.
Mr Pinera will meet Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday before a trip to Buckingham Palace, where he is to have an audience with the Queen - and said he intended to give each of them a piece of rock.
Sunday will be a more relaxed affair for the 60-year-old former businessman, however, as he visits the British Museum and the Churchill War Rooms, having expressed a deep admiration for the wartime leader.
Speaking shortly after his arrival, he said Chile had shown the world the meaning of "commitment, courage, faith, hope and unity".
He said of the successful rescue mission: "We did it because we were united, we did it because we were convinced, and did it because we would never leave anyone behind. And that's a very good principle for Chile and for the world.
"This has been very good news because it started as a tragedy but with the help of God and with the resolution, the commitment and the unity of the Chilean people we were able to end this story as a real blessing."
Mr Pinera, who met members of the UK's Chilean community at a central London hotel on Saturday, said it was a "great honour" to meet the Queen. He has brought "many presents" for Mr Cameron and the Queen, including a copy of the first message the miners sent to the surface, which read: "We are well in the shelter, the 33."
He admitted there was a lot to learn from the accident, however, saying: "One of the lessons is that we have to be much more careful and committed with the safety, lives, the health of our workers."
Mr Pinera, elected as president earlier this year, captured the world's attention this week as he stood in a pit helmet at the top of the rescue shaft, ready to greet each miner with a hug and a beaming smile as they emerged.
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October 16, 2010, 5:31 pm
![Image]( "Man quizzed over farmer's death")
A man is being questioned by police on suspicion of murdering a farmer believed to have died in a botched robbery.
Julian Gardner, 53, suffered multiple injuries after apparently disturbing crooks at isolated Bush Barn Farm in Robertsbridge, East Sussex.
A Sussex Police spokesman said the 40-year-old man from Ashford, Kent, was arrested in the town on Saturday and taken to a custody centre in Eastbourne to be interviewed.
Police believe Mr Gardner may have disturbed somebody who was trying to break into outbuildings at the farm where he ran an agricultural and car repair business.
One theory is that his compression-type injuries were sustained when he was crushed between two vehicles.
His business partner found his body on Monday morning and detectives believe the murder took place some time after 11pm the previous day.
On Thursday police began searching a pond in Sandhurst, Kent, a few miles from the farm, where a burned-out Cherokee Jeep was found hours after the killing. The Jeep had been in for repair at Mr Gardner's business and has been forensically examined and removed from the site.
Forensic searches were also being carried out at the farm.
A second 4x4, a Land Rover Defender owned by Mr Gardner, was also discovered burned-out at a different location, at Cripps Corner, near Battle, and it too was being examined.
Police said inquiries into Mr Gardner's background found nothing to suggest he might have been the victim of a grudge attack.
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October 16, 2010, 5:31 pm
![Image]( "Rail fares 'could leap 40% by 2015'")
Rail fares could rise by as much as 30% to 40% over the next four years as a result of changes to subsidies to be announced next week, it has been claimed.
Transport Secretary Philip Hammond is known to want to continue investment in the railways and is not ruling out fare rises to help pay for it during a time of retrenchment in public spending.
He has told train operating companies that the formula by which regulated rail fares are set may have to be changed, effectively cutting their subsidy from the public purse.
About half of fares are regulated, including popular commuter routes, season tickets and long-distance off-peak journeys - a total of about 600 million tickets a year.
They currently increase at the start of each year by the previous July's RPI inflation rate plus 1%. With RPI at 4.8% in July, that would already mean a 5.8% hike in the cost of tickets from January. Channel 4 News suggested that the formula could be increased to RPI plus 3% - or as much as RPI plus 5% on some routes.
The programme quoted an unnamed industry source as saying that this could mean fares increasing by nearly 40% by 2015. And it suggested that typical commuter season tickets between Brighton and London could increase from £3,104 a year to £4,260 by 2015 and between Swindon and London from £6,640 to £9,130.
Any increased income arising from a change in the formula would go to Government coffers, rather than to rail companies.
Official sources declined to make any comment on the scale of any possible possible change to the formula, which would be announced in Chancellor George Osborne's Comprehensive Spending Review on Wednesday.
Mr Osborne asked the Department for Transport to prepare for cuts of anywhere between 25% and 40% to its annual budget of £15.9 billion.
Unlike the NHS and international aid, transport does not enjoy protection from cuts in the CSR and pressure on the DFT budget has been increased by political decisions to rein in reductions in spending on defence and schools.
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October 16, 2010, 5:31 pm
![Image]( "Hundreds join oil refinery protest")
Hundreds of demonstrators have blockaded the road to an oil refinery and claim to have stopped 375,000 gallons of fuel from leaving the depot.
The protesters, who barricaded the road leading to the Coryton Oil Refinery near Stanford-le-Hope, Essex, said they prevented more than 50 oil tankers getting to and from the site, which they accuse of exacerbating climate change.
Police were forced to close the road after 12 female protesters handcuffed themselves to vehicles parked to deliberately block the way for fuel tankers.
Hundreds more activists travelled from London to join the Crude Awakening protest and set up another blockade close to the entrance of the Shell Haven Oils Site on the same road. A number of them clambered up man-made wooden tripods and many wore white boiler suits.
There were minor scuffles between officers and activists and Essex police described it as "a peaceful protest". A spokesman said: "There have been no incidents during the protest and no arrests have been made."
The demonstration, which was supported by a number of action groups including Camp for Climate Action and Plane Stupid, is part of a global week of action against the fossil fuel industry.
Activist Julie Allen said: "We've come here to the source of the problem, to put our bodies in the way of the relentless flow of oil to say 'no more'. If we're to have a hope of tackling climate change we need to find a way to get over oil. It won't happen overnight, but we can, and must move beyond oil."
Another demonstrator, Terri Orchard, said: "We don't have a hope of tackling climate change if we don't find a way to start moving beyond oil. Oil companies are devastating local environments, trampling the rights of local communities, and pushing us over the edge to catastrophic climate change.
"We are here at the source of the problem, at the UK's busiest oil refinery, to stop the flow of oil to London. We're here to put a spanner in the works of the relentless flow of oil and to say no more. This place, this whole industry, must become a thing of the past."
The protesters remained on the road for more than seven hours before they decided to leave, said a spokeswoman for Crude Awakening.
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October 16, 2010, 5:31 pm
![Image]( "Poll: Public puts trust in Tory duo")
David Cameron and Chancellor George Osborne enjoy a substantial advantage over their Labour counterparts in terms of public trust as they go into next week's crucial spending review, according to a new poll.
The survey finds that 45% have more trust in the Conservative pair to steer Britain's economy through the downturn, compared to 23% for Labour leader Ed Miliband and shadow chancellor Alan Johnson.
But there were signs of widespread concern about the measures to be announced by Mr Osborne on Wednesday, when he will detail cuts in public spending totalling £83 billion as he sets out how he intends to eliminate the UK's state deficit over the next four years.
Just 30% of those questioned by ComRes for the Independent on Sunday and Sunday Mirror said they expected the cuts to be "fair", against 43% who said they would not. And the same number (30%) agreed the loss of hundreds of thousands of public sector jobs was "a price worth paying to reduce the deficit", compared to 47% who said it was not.
More than half (56%) said they expected welfare cuts to hit the poorest, the elderly and the most vulnerable in society hardest, against 28% who said they would not.
Days after the Government indicated it was ready to see university tuition fees more than double to £7,000, only 35% agreed that it was fair for students to pay more, while 50% said it was not.
Mr Osborne has said that spending cuts, rather than tax rises, will bear the brunt of the effort to balance the nation's books. But a majority of those questioned for today's survey (54%) said they thought the 50% top rate of income tax for earnings over £150,000 should be increased to 60%.
Higher top-rate tax was supported far more strongly by older voters than by the young, and 57% of the high-flying AB social classes agreed with the idea of a 60p rate.
The Conservatives appear to have won a bounce in the polls from their annual conference in Birmingham earlier this month, rising 1% compared to a similar survey a fortnight ago to 40%, ahead of Labour on 34% (down two points) and Liberal Democrats on 14% (down one).
There were clear signs of dissatisfaction with Nick Clegg's party among those who backed it in the May general election. Just 57% of Lib Dem voters said they would support the party again now, while almost a quarter (24%) said they would defect to Labour and 11% to the Tories.
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October 16, 2010, 5:31 pm
![Image]( "Over 16s 'facing child benefit cut'")
David Cameron and George Osborne are putting the final touches to the most brutal public spending review in several generations amid speculation that they will scrap child benefit for over-16s.
The review, to be unveiled by the Chancellor on Wednesday, will set out how the coalition Government aims to cut £83 billion from state spending to meet its goal of eliminating Britain's record public deficit within four years.
Reports in the Sunday newspapers suggested that Mr Osborne may seek to save £2 billion by stopping the child benefit currently paid to teenagers who stay in education or training between 16 and 19 and will inflict cuts on social housing, the RAF, legal aid and the prison system.
But Whitehall insiders played down claims that Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke will be required to sell off assets worth £845 million, including prisons.
A leaked document obtained by The Observer suggested the Ministry of Justice would be one of the biggest losers of the review, forfeiting 30% of its £9 billion budget and facing cuts of £2.1 billion in legal aid, £198 million from civil and family courts and £93 million from criminal cases. But a source close to Mr Clarke said that the document was a month old and did not reflect the final settlement reached with the Treasury.
Treasury sources declined to discuss suggestions of further cuts to child benefit, following Mr Osborne's announcement earlier this month that it is to be withdrawn from parents paying higher-rate tax.
Reports suggested that radical changes could be introduced to the social housing system, ending the right to a council home for life in favour of more cost-effective shorter tenancies.
And the Department for Work and Pensions announced a new crackdown on benefit and tax credit fraud, intended to claw back some of the estimated £1.5 billion lost each year to welfare cheats.
Pressure on spending departments has been increased in the final days before the Comprehensive Spending Review by political decisions to limit the pain in the defence and education budgets. Only the NHS and international aid budgets have been protected, so additional savings have had to be found elsewhere in Whitehall.
Labour will unveil its own plans for the economy on Monday, setting out a £7 billion "push for growth" funded largely by levies on the banks. Shadow chancellor Alan Johnson will accuse the coalition Government of taking a "huge gamble with growth and jobs" by concentrating on deficit reduction to the exclusion of economic stimulus.
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October 16, 2010, 5:31 pm
![Image]( "Benefits cheats 'mugging taxpayers'")
Chancellor George Osborne has announced a crackdown on benefit cheats, comparing them to muggers robbing taxpayers of their hard-earned money.
A new drive to tackle benefit and tax credit fraud will include mobile hit squads of inspectors being sent to areas where the problem is rife, he said.
And repeat offenders could have their benefits suspended for as long as four years.
Mr Osborne has said that bringing down the welfare bill will play a crucial role in easing the impact of state spending cuts as he tries to pay down Britain's structural deficit over the coming four years.
Fraud in the benefit and tax credit system is estimated to cost the taxpayer around £1.5 billion a year.
Mr Osborne told the News of the World: "This is a fight. We are really going to go after the welfare cheats.
"Frankly, a welfare cheat is no different from someone who comes up and robs you in the street. It's your money. This money is paid through our taxes which is meant to be going to the most vulnerable in our society, not into the pockets of criminals."
The new anti-fraud drive will make use of high-tech data-tracking techniques to track the "muddy footprints" of professional cheats, said the Department for Work and Pensions.
Some 200 additional inspectors are to be recruited to a new investigation service, which will detect the patterns of fraudulent activities by looking at shared data from government offices and credit reference agencies.
Welfare reform minister Lord Freud warned that no wrongful claimant will be let off under the new measures. Minor offenders will be issued with instant fines of £50 or more, while repeat fraudsters face a three-year benefit ban under a "three-strikes-and-you're-out" rule. Investigators will also aim to seize more of the assets of those found guilty of benefit fraud.
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October 17, 2010, 12:46 am
![Image]( "Repeat cheats 'will lose benefits'")
Repeat benefit cheats will have their welfare payments halted for up to three years as part of a tough new crackdown announced by Chancellor George Osborne.
And the Chancellor said that every wrongful claim for benefits - including avoidable errors made when filling out forms - will in future be punished by a £50 fine.
Comparing the cheats to muggers robbing taxpayers of their hard-earned money, Mr Osborne said Britain "can't afford to waste any more time" in reducing a £5 billion annual bill for fraud and error in the benefit and tax credit system.
The new crackdown, to be formally launched tomorrow, will include mobile hit squads of inspectors being sent to areas where the problem is rife. A "three-strikes-and-you're-out" rule will strip repeat offenders of benefits for up to three years.
And some 200 additional inspectors are to be recruited to a new investigation service, which will detect the patterns of fraudulent activities by looking at shared data from government offices and credit reference agencies.
Investigators will also aim to seize more of the assets of those found guilty of benefit fraud.
Mr Osborne told BBC1's Andrew Marr Show that the tough new rules were "perfectly reasonable", adding: "We have a benefits system. I want it to be on a sustainable footing for the long term, but it has to go to the people who need it, because the people who pay for it demand no less."
The Chancellor has said that bringing down the welfare bill will play a crucial role in easing the impact of state spending cuts as he tries to pay down Britain's structural deficit over the coming four years.
Fraud in the benefit and tax credit system is estimated to cost the taxpayer around £1.5 billion a year, while a further £3.5 billion is accounted for by errors by officials or claimants.
Mr Osborne told the News of the World: "This is a fight. We are really going to go after the welfare cheats."
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October 17, 2010, 1:18 am
![Image]( "Car ploughs into nightclub crowd")
Fourteen people were taken to hospital after a car ploughed into a group of people outside a nightclub, police have said.
Officers are hunting the motorist and his passenger who deliberately mounted the pavement in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, in a stolen Saab.
The incident happened at 2.10am early on Sunday morning outside the Dali Bar on Packer Street, police said.
It is thought the men in the car had earlier been refused entry into the bar.
Seven men and seven women needed treatment for their injuries, none of which are believed to be life threatening.
The stolen car was later found on Albert Royds Street, around two hours later.
Detective Inspector Darren Meeks from Greater Manchester Police said the actions of the motorist were "incomprehensibly dangerous and reckless".
He added: "Fourteen people were injured as a result of this driver's actions, some of them seriously and we are doing all we can to identify who is responsible.
"I want to reassure members of the public that we are following some excellent lines of inquiry and would urge the two men in the car to hand themselves in before we come knocking at your door."
Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 0161 872 5050, or the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
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October 17, 2010, 2:47 am
![Image]( "Osborne determined on spending cuts")
Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne says he is determined to press ahead with the Government's multi-billion programme of public spending cuts, declaring: "We have to see this through".
Mr Osborne is expected to outline the most savage reductions in state spending since the Second World War when he unveils his Comprehensive Spending Review on Wednesday, slashing £83 billion from Whitehall budgets as he bids to eliminate the structural deficit within four years.
He said that the CSR would aim to squeeze welfare payments and Government waste as hard as possible, in order to preserve cash for healthcare, schools, early-years education and crucial infrastructure projects, like London's Crossrail link, the proposed Mersey Gateway road bridge and the Diamond Synchrotron scientific facility in Oxfordshire.
Mr Osborne declined to discuss press reports that he will save billions by cutting thousands of police officers and abolishing Child Benefit for 16-19 year-olds, currently paid to teenagers who stay on in education or training.
He told BBC1's Andrew Marr Show: "The priority has been to target waste and welfare, to invest in our healthcare, to have real increases in our school budgets and to invest in the things that are going to make our economy strong...
"We have got to make some tough decisions but the priority is healthcare, children's education, early years provision - particularly for some of our poorest - and the big infrastructure developments like Crossrail, Mersey Gateway, the synchrotron, broadband.
"Those things are actually going to get us out of this stronger and able to pay our way in the world."
Mr Osborne was accused of "economic masochism" by shadow chancellor Alan Johnson, who said the coalition Government was planning to cut "too deeply and too quickly" and was risking a lengthy period of stagnation with the economy "bumping along the bottom".
But the Chancellor insisted he would not shy away from the cuts he believes are necessary to avoid a crisis of confidence in Britain's economy which could drive up interest rates.
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October 17, 2010, 2:47 am
![Image]( "World Cup vote sale claims probed")
An investigation is under way into allegations that two Fifa officials offered to sell their votes to one of England's competitors in the race to host the 2018 World Cup.
The Sunday Times claimed to have caught Nigerian Amos Adamu, a Fifa executive committee member, on film as he told an undercover reporter he would guarantee his vote in exchange for £500,000.
The newspaper's reporters had posed as lobbyists for a consortium of private American companies which wanted to help secure the World Cup for the US.
The US pulled out of the race on Friday, saying it wanted to focus on bidding for the 2022 tournament. The reporters involved in the story emphasised they had no links to the bid and that the US committee's campaign had been completely above board.
At an initial meeting in London with Adamu, also president of the West African Football Union, he is said to have told the reporters that he wanted money to build four artificial football pitches in his home country.
The newspaper said a second member of the committee, Reynald Temarii, who is president of the Oceania Football Confederation, asked to be paid for his vote as well. In his case, they said he wanted the money to finance a sports academy.
Fifa has asked for all material relating to the allegations.
A spokesman said: "Fifa and the Fifa Ethics Committee have closely monitored the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 Fifa World Cups and will continue to do so.
"Fifa has already requested to receive all of the information and documents related to this matter, and is awaiting to receive this material. In any case, Fifa will immediately analyse the material available and only once this analysis has concluded will Fifa be able to decide on any potential next steps. In the meantime, Fifa is not in a position to provide any further comments on this matter."
England is one of four bids still in the running for the 2018 World Cup alongside Russia and joint bids from Belgium-Holland and Spain-Portugal.
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October 17, 2010, 2:47 am
![Image]( "Goat sacrifice 'triggered stampede'")
An argument over sacrificing goats during a Hindu festival has triggered a stampede that killed 10 people in a packed temple in northern India, officials said.
More than 40,000 people, many inebriated, had taken their goats to the Tildiha village temple in Bihar state to offer sacrifice and prayers to the goddess Durga on the last day of the Navratri festival.
As the worshippers lined up before the butcher, a scuffle broke out and some people were trampled, Banka district spokesman Gupdeshwar Kumar said.
"People were vying with each other to get their goats sacrificed first, and they had a verbal duel with the butcher," Mr Kumar said.
Four women and six men died in the stampede, and another 11 were injured, three of them critically, a Banka district police spokesman said. The injured were being treated in hospitals.
Villager Umesh Kumar, 35, said the temple was so full, "people didn't have any place to walk around ... and there was a commotion when people tried to have their goats sacrificed."
The district spokesman said some 30,000 goats were sacrificed at the temple on Saturday.
The 10-day Navratri festival honours Durga, the Mother Goddess in the Hindu religion.
The village in Banka district is about 120 miles south-east of Bihar's state capital, Patna.
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October 17, 2010, 3:52 am
![Image]( "Warning over 'skinny celebrities'")
Watching stick-thin female frames on television can have an impact on women's health, according to a new scientific paper.
Dr Aric Sigman claims that seeing women on screen who are underweight but perceived as "normal" can be harmful to girls and women.
He said a biological mechanism which makes females become unhappy when they look at images of an abundance of underweight women has been identified.
The relationship between media and body image was previously treated as a psychological or cultural debate but now it must be treated as a medical one, said Dr Sigman.
"This is a medical and profound message. It is harmful to British girls and women," he said.
Dr Sigman, who has collated research from across the globe for a paper in The Biologist, the journal of the Society of Biology, said that studies have found "strong and immediate" brain changes in confident and healthy women when they are exposed to images of thin and fat females.
He said if a researchers told the women they looked like an image of a bigger woman they found a reaction in the medial prefrontal cortex - the part of the brain associated unhappiness and sometimes self loathing.
Another study looked at a different part of the brain - the amygdala - which is associated with strong emotional reactions such as fear, threat and anxiety.
"They found it was significantly activated in healthy women when they were shown an image of themselves which was doctored to look a little bit wider," said Dr Sigman, a fellow of the Society of Biology.
"A similar reaction occurred when women were shown words on screen such as obesity or fat"
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October 17, 2010, 3:52 am
![Image]( "Planes axed for aircraft carriers")
Britain's aircraft carriers will be left without planes for a period because of cuts to the military budget in next week's spending review, Defence Secretary Liam Fox has confirmed.
Two former heads of the Royal Navy have warned that a decision to withdraw Harrier jets before the arrival of new Joint Strike Fighter F35s in 2018 would leave Britain unable to fight another Falklands War.
Dr Fox confirmed that there will be a "gap" between the phasing out of the Harriers and the US-built F35s coming into service, but insisted that this will not put the Falklands at risk.
Britain currently has sufficient basing and over-flight rights to allow it to deploy air power wherever it wants in the world, even without fixed-wing aircraft on board its carrier fleet, he told BBC1's Politics Show.
Dr Fox also acknowledged that armed forces personnel numbers would "inevitably... fall a bit" as a result of the defence settlement, which is expected to require cuts of 7-8%.
But he declined to discuss reports that the forces could lose a combined total of as many as 20,000 servicemen. Announcements on precise figures will be made in Tuesday's Strategic Defence and Security Review which follows the unveiling of a new National Security Strategy on Monday.
The Defence Secretary confirmed that Prime Minister David Cameron had been "extraordinarily helpful" in securing a more favourable settlement for the Ministry of Defence after Chancellor George Osborne's initial demand for cuts of 10-20%.
Mr Cameron intervened personally on Friday after military chiefs warned that the threatened cuts could harm Britain's mission in Afghanistan, and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton took the unusual step of voicing concern publicly about the scale of cuts.
Foreign Secretary William Hague said today he had "reassured" the US over Britain's defence spending. He told Sky News he had personally assured Mrs Clinton that Britain "will retain a wide spectrum of military capabilities... and we will be continuing to be a big contributor to Nato and to the collective defence of all Nato nations".
Chancellor George Osborne said that the decision to go ahead with building two new £5 billion aircraft carriers was the most difficult he had to take in the comprehensive spending review, but said it would have cost more to cancel the project than to keep it.
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Chilean president Sebastian Pinera is flying into the UK for talks with David Cameron, fresh from greeting the last of the 33 miners to be freed after 69 days underground.
The billionaire is bringing lumps of rock from the bottom of the San Jose mine as gifts for both the Prime Minister and the Queen, who he will meet at Buckingham Palace after a last-minute invitation, The Times said.
President Pinera will visit Churchill's War Rooms on Sunday and Mr Cameron on Monday. He said he was inspired by Churchill's phrase "Blood, toil, tears and sweat" during the desperate wait for the miners' rescue.
The men were found on the day that the president's father-in-law died, with his last words to Mr Pinera being: "Don't give up. Keep working to rescue the miners."
Mr Pinera, 60, visited the mine that day at his wife's insistence and soon after his arrival the note confirming all miners were alive surfaced.
He told the newspaper: "It was a very emotional day. I will never forget that day. My father-in-law losing his life and the 33 miners recovering theirs."
He went to the mine despite advice he stay away, and said: "Many people thought the rescue was impossible and advised me not to get involved, to keep my distance. I decided to take full responsibility without any political consideration... We made a commitment to look for the miners as if they were our sons."
Mr Pinera, elected as president earlier this year, captured the world's attention this week as he stood in a pit helmet at the top of the rescue shaft, ready to greet each miner with a hug and a beaming smile as they emerged.
The Harvard-educated businessman-turned-politician told The Times he hoped Chile's international standing had been boosted by the rescue effort and that British entrepreneurs would now invest more in the country.
"Chile will now be remembered and recognised not for Pinochet but as an example of unity, leadership, courage, faith and success," he added, saying he believed God's help was "absolutely essential" in the successful rescue.
Keith Richards claims he was "targeted by the British government" when he was famously put on trial for drugs offences in 1967.
The Rolling Stones guitarist and frontman Mick Jagger were both jailed after police raided Richards' country mansion to search for drugs.
In a candid new memoir, serialised by The Times, Richards said the establishment was determined to punish the controversial band.
"We'd become the focal point of a nervous Establishment," writes Richards, 67.
"There's two ways the authorities can deal with a perceived challenge. One is to absorb and the other is to nail.
"They had to leave the Beatles alone because they had already given them medals.
"We got the nail. It was more serious than I thought.
"I was in jail because I'd obviously p***** off the authorities.
"I'm a guitar player in a pop band and I'm being targeted by the British government and its vicious police force, all of which shows me how frightened they are."
After he was found guilty Richards was jailed for a year. Jagger was given three months imprisonment. Both were freed the next day pending appeal.
The eruption of an Icelandic volcano that caused disruption to flights across Europe cost an airport £600,000.
East Midlands Airport said the eruption of Eyjafjallajokull in May, which sent a vast cloud of volcanic ash across European airspace grounding planes, meant it had to close for six days at a cost of £100,000 a day.
About 63,000 passengers were affected by the airport's closure. But the cost of shutting had first been estimated to be more than £1million, according to Barry Thompson, the airport's finance director.
He said: "Six months on, the financial impact that the volcanic ash cloud had on our business is now clear.
"Although this is a substantial amount, it is less than originally anticipated; due to a prediction that we would incur further associated costs or income loss."
Twelve female protesters have handcuffed themselves to lorries which had been parked to deliberately block the main road leading to an oil refinery.
Demonstrators drove the vehicles to the Coryton Oil Refinery in Essex in an attempt to stop traffic getting to and from the site which they accuse of exacerbating climate change, said a spokesman for the Crude Awakening demonstration.
He said a further 500 people were travelling from London to the refinery to join the protest.
The spokesman said both lanes of the road to the UK's busiest oil depot near Stanford-le-Hope had been blocked to prevent oil tankers from leaving to deliver fuel.
One of the protesters, Terri Orchard, said: "We don't have a hope of tackling climate change if we don't find a way to start moving beyond oil. Oil companies are devastating local environments, trampling the rights of local communities, and pushing us over the edge to catastrophic climate change.
"We are here at the source of the problem, at the UK's busiest oil refinery, to stop the flow of oil to London. We're here to put a spanner in the works of the relentless flow of oil and to say no more. This place, this whole industry, must become a thing of the past."
Protesters had earlier said they planned to mass at three train stations in central London in preparation to move on to a series of targets related to the oil industry.
The demonstration, which is being supported by a number of action groups including Camp for Climate Action and Plane Stupid, is part of a global week of action against the fossil fuel industry.
A spokeswoman for Crude Awakening estimated that 500 protesters were blocking the road. She claimed that at least 50 oil tankers had been prevented from getting to and from the 589-hectare site.
Campaigners, some wearing fancy dress, have also set up another blockade obstructing the entrance to Shell Haven Oils Site further down The Manorway, she said.
A man has been arrested on suspicion of murdering a farmer who is believed to have died in a botched robbery.
Julian Gardner suffered multiple injuries after apparently disturbing crooks at isolated Bush Barn Farm in Robertsbridge, East Sussex.
A Sussex Police spokesman said: "Detectives investigating the death of 53-year-old Julian Gardner at Bush Barn Farm at Robertsbridge on Monday have arrested a man on suspicion of his murder.
"A 40-year-old man from Ashford, Kent, was arrested in Ashford at 6am today and will be taken to Eastbourne Custody Centre for questioning."
Police believe Mr Gardner may have disturbed somebody who was trying to break in to outbuildings at the farm where he ran an agricultural and car repair business.
One theory is that his compression-type injuries were sustained when he was crushed between two vehicles.
His business partner found his body on Monday morning and detectives believe the murder took place some time after 11pm the previous night.
On Thursday police began searching a pond in Sandhurst, Kent, a few miles from the farm, where a burnt-out Cherokee Jeep was found hours after the killing.
The Jeep had been in for repair at Mr Gardner's business and has been forensically examined and removed from the site.
A second 4x4, a Land Rover Defender owned by Mr Gardner, was also discovered burnt-out at a different location, at Cripps Corner, near Battle, and it too was being examined.
One of the UK's most celebrated barristers, Michael Mansfield QC, has revealed the culmination of the Bloody Sunday Inquiry was the most emotional day of his career.
The leading human rights lawyer, who has been involved in some of the most famous cases in recent legal history, represented a number of families during the long-running inquiry.
Thirteen marchers were shot dead on January 30 1972 in Londonderry when British paratroopers opened fire on crowds at a civil rights demonstration.
Fourteen others were wounded, one of whom later died.
The Saville Report was heavily critical of the Army and found that soldiers fired the first shot.
Asked if the 12-year inquiry was worth it, Mr Mansfield told BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs: "If you ask any of the families, they felt, quite rightly, that the truth about what happened in 1972 when people died on the streets of Derry, shot by British military forces, had never been uncovered. It took a long time, it certainly did, but it was worth every penny because it wasn't dealing with an isolated incident.
"He had in fact, Lord Saville, a remit much broader than that, it was part of the peace process at that time looking back at what had happened in the 20 years before that, which had led to this situation where British troops were effectively occupying the streets in this way and led to the shooting.
"Now that's an enormous task, if you were a mother, or a father or a relative and you had had your relatives murdered, you would want that to be recognised."
The 69-year-old, who has been a lawyer for more than 40 years, said the end of the inquiry in which criticism was levelled at the Army was highly emotional for him.
He explained: "This was a moment that they had waited for and there was emotion welling up in all of them and for me probably, it was the most moving day of 42 years."
Chilean president Sebastian Pinera is taking in the sights of London on the second day of his visit to the UK.
The billionaire flew in to Heathrow Airport on Saturday night bearing lumps of rock from the bottom of the San Jose mine where 33 miners have been freed after being trapped underground for 69 days.
Mr Pinera will meet Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday before a trip to Buckingham Palace, where he is to have an audience with the Queen - and said he intended to give each of them a piece of rock.
Sunday will be a more relaxed affair for the 60-year-old former businessman, however, as he visits the British Museum and the Churchill War Rooms, having expressed a deep admiration for the wartime leader.
Speaking shortly after his arrival, he said Chile had shown the world the meaning of "commitment, courage, faith, hope and unity".
He said of the successful rescue mission: "We did it because we were united, we did it because we were convinced, and did it because we would never leave anyone behind. And that's a very good principle for Chile and for the world.
"This has been very good news because it started as a tragedy but with the help of God and with the resolution, the commitment and the unity of the Chilean people we were able to end this story as a real blessing."
Mr Pinera, who met members of the UK's Chilean community at a central London hotel on Saturday, said it was a "great honour" to meet the Queen. He has brought "many presents" for Mr Cameron and the Queen, including a copy of the first message the miners sent to the surface, which read: "We are well in the shelter, the 33."
He admitted there was a lot to learn from the accident, however, saying: "One of the lessons is that we have to be much more careful and committed with the safety, lives, the health of our workers."
Mr Pinera, elected as president earlier this year, captured the world's attention this week as he stood in a pit helmet at the top of the rescue shaft, ready to greet each miner with a hug and a beaming smile as they emerged.
A man is being questioned by police on suspicion of murdering a farmer believed to have died in a botched robbery.
Julian Gardner, 53, suffered multiple injuries after apparently disturbing crooks at isolated Bush Barn Farm in Robertsbridge, East Sussex.
A Sussex Police spokesman said the 40-year-old man from Ashford, Kent, was arrested in the town on Saturday and taken to a custody centre in Eastbourne to be interviewed.
Police believe Mr Gardner may have disturbed somebody who was trying to break into outbuildings at the farm where he ran an agricultural and car repair business.
One theory is that his compression-type injuries were sustained when he was crushed between two vehicles.
His business partner found his body on Monday morning and detectives believe the murder took place some time after 11pm the previous day.
On Thursday police began searching a pond in Sandhurst, Kent, a few miles from the farm, where a burned-out Cherokee Jeep was found hours after the killing. The Jeep had been in for repair at Mr Gardner's business and has been forensically examined and removed from the site.
Forensic searches were also being carried out at the farm.
A second 4x4, a Land Rover Defender owned by Mr Gardner, was also discovered burned-out at a different location, at Cripps Corner, near Battle, and it too was being examined.
Police said inquiries into Mr Gardner's background found nothing to suggest he might have been the victim of a grudge attack.
Rail fares could rise by as much as 30% to 40% over the next four years as a result of changes to subsidies to be announced next week, it has been claimed.
Transport Secretary Philip Hammond is known to want to continue investment in the railways and is not ruling out fare rises to help pay for it during a time of retrenchment in public spending.
He has told train operating companies that the formula by which regulated rail fares are set may have to be changed, effectively cutting their subsidy from the public purse.
About half of fares are regulated, including popular commuter routes, season tickets and long-distance off-peak journeys - a total of about 600 million tickets a year.
They currently increase at the start of each year by the previous July's RPI inflation rate plus 1%. With RPI at 4.8% in July, that would already mean a 5.8% hike in the cost of tickets from January. Channel 4 News suggested that the formula could be increased to RPI plus 3% - or as much as RPI plus 5% on some routes.
The programme quoted an unnamed industry source as saying that this could mean fares increasing by nearly 40% by 2015. And it suggested that typical commuter season tickets between Brighton and London could increase from £3,104 a year to £4,260 by 2015 and between Swindon and London from £6,640 to £9,130.
Any increased income arising from a change in the formula would go to Government coffers, rather than to rail companies.
Official sources declined to make any comment on the scale of any possible possible change to the formula, which would be announced in Chancellor George Osborne's Comprehensive Spending Review on Wednesday.
Mr Osborne asked the Department for Transport to prepare for cuts of anywhere between 25% and 40% to its annual budget of £15.9 billion.
Unlike the NHS and international aid, transport does not enjoy protection from cuts in the CSR and pressure on the DFT budget has been increased by political decisions to rein in reductions in spending on defence and schools.
David Cameron and Chancellor George Osborne enjoy a substantial advantage over their Labour counterparts in terms of public trust as they go into next week's crucial spending review, according to a new poll.
The survey finds that 45% have more trust in the Conservative pair to steer Britain's economy through the downturn, compared to 23% for Labour leader Ed Miliband and shadow chancellor Alan Johnson.
But there were signs of widespread concern about the measures to be announced by Mr Osborne on Wednesday, when he will detail cuts in public spending totalling £83 billion as he sets out how he intends to eliminate the UK's state deficit over the next four years.
Just 30% of those questioned by ComRes for the Independent on Sunday and Sunday Mirror said they expected the cuts to be "fair", against 43% who said they would not. And the same number (30%) agreed the loss of hundreds of thousands of public sector jobs was "a price worth paying to reduce the deficit", compared to 47% who said it was not.
More than half (56%) said they expected welfare cuts to hit the poorest, the elderly and the most vulnerable in society hardest, against 28% who said they would not.
Days after the Government indicated it was ready to see university tuition fees more than double to £7,000, only 35% agreed that it was fair for students to pay more, while 50% said it was not.
Mr Osborne has said that spending cuts, rather than tax rises, will bear the brunt of the effort to balance the nation's books. But a majority of those questioned for today's survey (54%) said they thought the 50% top rate of income tax for earnings over £150,000 should be increased to 60%.
Higher top-rate tax was supported far more strongly by older voters than by the young, and 57% of the high-flying AB social classes agreed with the idea of a 60p rate.
The Conservatives appear to have won a bounce in the polls from their annual conference in Birmingham earlier this month, rising 1% compared to a similar survey a fortnight ago to 40%, ahead of Labour on 34% (down two points) and Liberal Democrats on 14% (down one).
There were clear signs of dissatisfaction with Nick Clegg's party among those who backed it in the May general election. Just 57% of Lib Dem voters said they would support the party again now, while almost a quarter (24%) said they would defect to Labour and 11% to the Tories.
David Cameron and George Osborne are putting the final touches to the most brutal public spending review in several generations amid speculation that they will scrap child benefit for over-16s.
The review, to be unveiled by the Chancellor on Wednesday, will set out how the coalition Government aims to cut £83 billion from state spending to meet its goal of eliminating Britain's record public deficit within four years.
Reports in the Sunday newspapers suggested that Mr Osborne may seek to save £2 billion by stopping the child benefit currently paid to teenagers who stay in education or training between 16 and 19 and will inflict cuts on social housing, the RAF, legal aid and the prison system.
But Whitehall insiders played down claims that Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke will be required to sell off assets worth £845 million, including prisons.
A leaked document obtained by The Observer suggested the Ministry of Justice would be one of the biggest losers of the review, forfeiting 30% of its £9 billion budget and facing cuts of £2.1 billion in legal aid, £198 million from civil and family courts and £93 million from criminal cases. But a source close to Mr Clarke said that the document was a month old and did not reflect the final settlement reached with the Treasury.
Treasury sources declined to discuss suggestions of further cuts to child benefit, following Mr Osborne's announcement earlier this month that it is to be withdrawn from parents paying higher-rate tax.
Reports suggested that radical changes could be introduced to the social housing system, ending the right to a council home for life in favour of more cost-effective shorter tenancies.
And the Department for Work and Pensions announced a new crackdown on benefit and tax credit fraud, intended to claw back some of the estimated £1.5 billion lost each year to welfare cheats.
Pressure on spending departments has been increased in the final days before the Comprehensive Spending Review by political decisions to limit the pain in the defence and education budgets. Only the NHS and international aid budgets have been protected, so additional savings have had to be found elsewhere in Whitehall.
Labour will unveil its own plans for the economy on Monday, setting out a £7 billion "push for growth" funded largely by levies on the banks. Shadow chancellor Alan Johnson will accuse the coalition Government of taking a "huge gamble with growth and jobs" by concentrating on deficit reduction to the exclusion of economic stimulus.
Chancellor George Osborne has announced a crackdown on benefit cheats, comparing them to muggers robbing taxpayers of their hard-earned money.
A new drive to tackle benefit and tax credit fraud will include mobile hit squads of inspectors being sent to areas where the problem is rife, he said.
And repeat offenders could have their benefits suspended for as long as four years.
Mr Osborne has said that bringing down the welfare bill will play a crucial role in easing the impact of state spending cuts as he tries to pay down Britain's structural deficit over the coming four years.
Fraud in the benefit and tax credit system is estimated to cost the taxpayer around £1.5 billion a year.
Mr Osborne told the News of the World: "This is a fight. We are really going to go after the welfare cheats.
"Frankly, a welfare cheat is no different from someone who comes up and robs you in the street. It's your money. This money is paid through our taxes which is meant to be going to the most vulnerable in our society, not into the pockets of criminals."
The new anti-fraud drive will make use of high-tech data-tracking techniques to track the "muddy footprints" of professional cheats, said the Department for Work and Pensions.
Some 200 additional inspectors are to be recruited to a new investigation service, which will detect the patterns of fraudulent activities by looking at shared data from government offices and credit reference agencies.
Welfare reform minister Lord Freud warned that no wrongful claimant will be let off under the new measures. Minor offenders will be issued with instant fines of £50 or more, while repeat fraudsters face a three-year benefit ban under a "three-strikes-and-you're-out" rule. Investigators will also aim to seize more of the assets of those found guilty of benefit fraud.
Repeat benefit cheats will have their welfare payments halted for up to three years as part of a tough new crackdown announced by Chancellor George Osborne.
And the Chancellor said that every wrongful claim for benefits - including avoidable errors made when filling out forms - will in future be punished by a £50 fine.
Comparing the cheats to muggers robbing taxpayers of their hard-earned money, Mr Osborne said Britain "can't afford to waste any more time" in reducing a £5 billion annual bill for fraud and error in the benefit and tax credit system.
The new crackdown, to be formally launched tomorrow, will include mobile hit squads of inspectors being sent to areas where the problem is rife. A "three-strikes-and-you're-out" rule will strip repeat offenders of benefits for up to three years.
And some 200 additional inspectors are to be recruited to a new investigation service, which will detect the patterns of fraudulent activities by looking at shared data from government offices and credit reference agencies.
Investigators will also aim to seize more of the assets of those found guilty of benefit fraud.
Mr Osborne told BBC1's Andrew Marr Show that the tough new rules were "perfectly reasonable", adding: "We have a benefits system. I want it to be on a sustainable footing for the long term, but it has to go to the people who need it, because the people who pay for it demand no less."
The Chancellor has said that bringing down the welfare bill will play a crucial role in easing the impact of state spending cuts as he tries to pay down Britain's structural deficit over the coming four years.
Fraud in the benefit and tax credit system is estimated to cost the taxpayer around £1.5 billion a year, while a further £3.5 billion is accounted for by errors by officials or claimants.
Mr Osborne told the News of the World: "This is a fight. We are really going to go after the welfare cheats."
Fourteen people were taken to hospital after a car ploughed into a group of people outside a nightclub, police have said.
Officers are hunting the motorist and his passenger who deliberately mounted the pavement in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, in a stolen Saab.
The incident happened at 2.10am early on Sunday morning outside the Dali Bar on Packer Street, police said.
It is thought the men in the car had earlier been refused entry into the bar.
Seven men and seven women needed treatment for their injuries, none of which are believed to be life threatening.
The stolen car was later found on Albert Royds Street, around two hours later.
Detective Inspector Darren Meeks from Greater Manchester Police said the actions of the motorist were "incomprehensibly dangerous and reckless".
He added: "Fourteen people were injured as a result of this driver's actions, some of them seriously and we are doing all we can to identify who is responsible.
"I want to reassure members of the public that we are following some excellent lines of inquiry and would urge the two men in the car to hand themselves in before we come knocking at your door."
Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 0161 872 5050, or the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne says he is determined to press ahead with the Government's multi-billion programme of public spending cuts, declaring: "We have to see this through".
Mr Osborne is expected to outline the most savage reductions in state spending since the Second World War when he unveils his Comprehensive Spending Review on Wednesday, slashing £83 billion from Whitehall budgets as he bids to eliminate the structural deficit within four years.
He said that the CSR would aim to squeeze welfare payments and Government waste as hard as possible, in order to preserve cash for healthcare, schools, early-years education and crucial infrastructure projects, like London's Crossrail link, the proposed Mersey Gateway road bridge and the Diamond Synchrotron scientific facility in Oxfordshire.
Mr Osborne declined to discuss press reports that he will save billions by cutting thousands of police officers and abolishing Child Benefit for 16-19 year-olds, currently paid to teenagers who stay on in education or training.
He told BBC1's Andrew Marr Show: "The priority has been to target waste and welfare, to invest in our healthcare, to have real increases in our school budgets and to invest in the things that are going to make our economy strong...
"We have got to make some tough decisions but the priority is healthcare, children's education, early years provision - particularly for some of our poorest - and the big infrastructure developments like Crossrail, Mersey Gateway, the synchrotron, broadband.
"Those things are actually going to get us out of this stronger and able to pay our way in the world."
Mr Osborne was accused of "economic masochism" by shadow chancellor Alan Johnson, who said the coalition Government was planning to cut "too deeply and too quickly" and was risking a lengthy period of stagnation with the economy "bumping along the bottom".
But the Chancellor insisted he would not shy away from the cuts he believes are necessary to avoid a crisis of confidence in Britain's economy which could drive up interest rates.
An investigation is under way into allegations that two Fifa officials offered to sell their votes to one of England's competitors in the race to host the 2018 World Cup.
The Sunday Times claimed to have caught Nigerian Amos Adamu, a Fifa executive committee member, on film as he told an undercover reporter he would guarantee his vote in exchange for £500,000.
The newspaper's reporters had posed as lobbyists for a consortium of private American companies which wanted to help secure the World Cup for the US.
The US pulled out of the race on Friday, saying it wanted to focus on bidding for the 2022 tournament. The reporters involved in the story emphasised they had no links to the bid and that the US committee's campaign had been completely above board.
At an initial meeting in London with Adamu, also president of the West African Football Union, he is said to have told the reporters that he wanted money to build four artificial football pitches in his home country.
The newspaper said a second member of the committee, Reynald Temarii, who is president of the Oceania Football Confederation, asked to be paid for his vote as well. In his case, they said he wanted the money to finance a sports academy.
Fifa has asked for all material relating to the allegations.
A spokesman said: "Fifa and the Fifa Ethics Committee have closely monitored the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 Fifa World Cups and will continue to do so.
"Fifa has already requested to receive all of the information and documents related to this matter, and is awaiting to receive this material. In any case, Fifa will immediately analyse the material available and only once this analysis has concluded will Fifa be able to decide on any potential next steps. In the meantime, Fifa is not in a position to provide any further comments on this matter."
England is one of four bids still in the running for the 2018 World Cup alongside Russia and joint bids from Belgium-Holland and Spain-Portugal.
An argument over sacrificing goats during a Hindu festival has triggered a stampede that killed 10 people in a packed temple in northern India, officials said.
More than 40,000 people, many inebriated, had taken their goats to the Tildiha village temple in Bihar state to offer sacrifice and prayers to the goddess Durga on the last day of the Navratri festival.
As the worshippers lined up before the butcher, a scuffle broke out and some people were trampled, Banka district spokesman Gupdeshwar Kumar said.
"People were vying with each other to get their goats sacrificed first, and they had a verbal duel with the butcher," Mr Kumar said.
Four women and six men died in the stampede, and another 11 were injured, three of them critically, a Banka district police spokesman said. The injured were being treated in hospitals.
Villager Umesh Kumar, 35, said the temple was so full, "people didn't have any place to walk around ... and there was a commotion when people tried to have their goats sacrificed."
The district spokesman said some 30,000 goats were sacrificed at the temple on Saturday.
The 10-day Navratri festival honours Durga, the Mother Goddess in the Hindu religion.
The village in Banka district is about 120 miles south-east of Bihar's state capital, Patna.
Watching stick-thin female frames on television can have an impact on women's health, according to a new scientific paper.
Dr Aric Sigman claims that seeing women on screen who are underweight but perceived as "normal" can be harmful to girls and women.
He said a biological mechanism which makes females become unhappy when they look at images of an abundance of underweight women has been identified.
The relationship between media and body image was previously treated as a psychological or cultural debate but now it must be treated as a medical one, said Dr Sigman.
"This is a medical and profound message. It is harmful to British girls and women," he said.
Dr Sigman, who has collated research from across the globe for a paper in The Biologist, the journal of the Society of Biology, said that studies have found "strong and immediate" brain changes in confident and healthy women when they are exposed to images of thin and fat females.
He said if a researchers told the women they looked like an image of a bigger woman they found a reaction in the medial prefrontal cortex - the part of the brain associated unhappiness and sometimes self loathing.
Another study looked at a different part of the brain - the amygdala - which is associated with strong emotional reactions such as fear, threat and anxiety.
"They found it was significantly activated in healthy women when they were shown an image of themselves which was doctored to look a little bit wider," said Dr Sigman, a fellow of the Society of Biology.
"A similar reaction occurred when women were shown words on screen such as obesity or fat"
Britain's aircraft carriers will be left without planes for a period because of cuts to the military budget in next week's spending review, Defence Secretary Liam Fox has confirmed.
Two former heads of the Royal Navy have warned that a decision to withdraw Harrier jets before the arrival of new Joint Strike Fighter F35s in 2018 would leave Britain unable to fight another Falklands War.
Dr Fox confirmed that there will be a "gap" between the phasing out of the Harriers and the US-built F35s coming into service, but insisted that this will not put the Falklands at risk.
Britain currently has sufficient basing and over-flight rights to allow it to deploy air power wherever it wants in the world, even without fixed-wing aircraft on board its carrier fleet, he told BBC1's Politics Show.
Dr Fox also acknowledged that armed forces personnel numbers would "inevitably... fall a bit" as a result of the defence settlement, which is expected to require cuts of 7-8%.
But he declined to discuss reports that the forces could lose a combined total of as many as 20,000 servicemen. Announcements on precise figures will be made in Tuesday's Strategic Defence and Security Review which follows the unveiling of a new National Security Strategy on Monday.
The Defence Secretary confirmed that Prime Minister David Cameron had been "extraordinarily helpful" in securing a more favourable settlement for the Ministry of Defence after Chancellor George Osborne's initial demand for cuts of 10-20%.
Mr Cameron intervened personally on Friday after military chiefs warned that the threatened cuts could harm Britain's mission in Afghanistan, and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton took the unusual step of voicing concern publicly about the scale of cuts.
Foreign Secretary William Hague said today he had "reassured" the US over Britain's defence spending. He told Sky News he had personally assured Mrs Clinton that Britain "will retain a wide spectrum of military capabilities... and we will be continuing to be a big contributor to Nato and to the collective defence of all Nato nations".
Chancellor George Osborne said that the decision to go ahead with building two new £5 billion aircraft carriers was the most difficult he had to take in the comprehensive spending review, but said it would have cost more to cancel the project than to keep it.
