UK News from Times Online

UK News from Times Online

• Britain gives Pakistan £1bn to fight extremism
  Britain is doubling its aid to Pakistan to almost £500 million, reflecting concern over rising Islamic militancy in the lawless areas along the border with Afghanistan.


• Knife crime 'overtakes terrorism as top priority for Met'
  Knife crime has overtaken terrorism as the top priority for the Metropolitan Police as one of Britain’s most senior officers admitted that the fight to stop teenagers carrying weapons was not working.


• BBC foreign correspondent Sir Charles Wheeler dies
  Sir Charles Wheeler, one of the BBC’s longest serving foreign correspondents, has died aged 85.


• Gordon Brown 'disappointed' as MPs block expenses reform
  Downing Street claimed today that Gordon Brown was “disappointed” that MPs had voted to throw out proposals to overhaul their expenses after the Tories accused the Government of sabotaging the reforms.


• Emmerdale legend Clive Hornby dies after 28 years playing Jack Sugden
  Clive Hornby, the longest-serving cast member of Emmerdale, died last night aged 63.


• Farmers' fury after Hillary Benn says no to badger cull
  Hillary Benn, the Rural Affairs Secretary, is set to face a wave of protests from farmers after deciding against a widespread cull of badgers to control TB in cattle.


• Intelligence chief Alex Allan unconscious for four days
  The Government’s top intelligence adviser has been unconscious in hospital for four days after collapsing at his home.


• Leading Jewish state school is cleared in race bias case
  A leading Jewish state school was cleared yesterday of racially discriminating against the son of a convert in a ruling that shores up the whole faith school system.


• Hug-a-hoody speechwriter mugged by hoodies
  Camden The former Tory adviser behind David Cameron's controversial “hug a hoody” campaign got a bloody lip when he was punched by a hooded teenager as he tried to stop a gang stealing a moped.


• Analysis: Words of reason to cool Muslims row
  When the Archbishop of Canterbury waded into the choppy waters of Sharia this year, he caused uproar - not least, by his own subsequent admission, because of the “unclarity” of his remarks.

World News from Times Online

World News from Times Online

• Barack Obama hints at backtrack on Iraq troop withdrawal
  Blog: did McCain rough up a Sandinista?


• Victims of political violence seek refuge at US Embassy
  More than 200 victims of Zimbabwe's political violence have sought sanctuary at the US Embassy in Harare after being displaced from their homes. Breast-feeding mothers and toddlers were among the crowd huddled on the street outside the heavily fortified building, watched over by embassy guards and Zimbabwean intelligence officials.


• 'Pregnant man' Thomas Beatie gives birth to baby girl
  The pregnant man who conceived a child after a gender-reassignment operation has apparently given birth to a healthy baby girl.


• Israel Right demands wall to keep Palestinians out of Jerusalem
  Israel’s vision of Jerusalem as its “indivisible capital” came under attack yesterday as leaders reacted to Wednesday’s carnage by calling for a wall across the city’s ethnic divide.


• Analysis: winners and losers from the Ingrid Betancourt operation
  Video: Ingrid Betancourt released


• Britain gives Pakistan £1bn to fight extremism
  Britain is doubling its aid to Pakistan to almost £500 million, reflecting concern over rising Islamic militancy in the lawless areas along the border with Afghanistan.


• How the Colombian military tricked Farc and rescued Ingrid Betancourt without a shot
  Two days ago Ingrid Betancourt was chained up in the Colombian jungle with little to look forward to other than her seventh year in captivity.


• Comment: Where airlines go, panda diplomacy may follow
  Travellers could be forgiven for mixing up Air China and China Airlines. Surely these must be the same national carrier? Not so. The first is the airline that flies the flag for Beijing; the second has its headquarters in the small island of Taiwan that lies off the mainland of China.


• French students Laurent Bonomo and Gabriel Ferez may have been tortured for PIN numbers
  The two French science students found brutally murdered in a flat in southeast London may have been tortured for their PIN numbers, The Times has learnt.


• Alleged sexual assault victim writes to RFU
  The woman at the centre of a sexual assault allegation against four members of the England team in New Zealand has today revealed some details of her claims, in an attempt to correct "misinformation" in the media.

Sports News from Times Online

Sports News from Times Online

• British Grand Prix moves to Donington Park from 2010
  Bernie Ecclestone has confirmed that the British Grand Prix will move from Silverstone to Donington Park from 2010.


• Alleged sexual assault victim writes to RFU
  The woman at the centre of a sexual assault allegation against four members of the England team in New Zealand has today revealed some details of her claims, in an attempt to correct "misinformation" in the media.


• Ronaldo injury adds to Real Madrid puzzle
  Cristiano Ronaldo has been advised to have surgery on his right ankle this weekend and is expected to miss the start of the new season, a development that threatens to complicate his potential transfer from Manchester United to Real Madrid. The United medical staff have recommended the operation, but officials at Old Trafford have rejected the conspiracy theories that the move is designed to scupper the player’s hopes of a switch to Spain.


• Laura Robson moves into Wimbledon final
  Laura Robson remains on course to become the first Briton to win the Wimbledon girl's title since Annabel Croft in 1985, after a straight sets victory over Romana Tabakova.


• Window Watch: Andrei Arshavin, Gareth Barry, Stephen Hunt, Kevin Phillips
  Decent bets


• QPR sign record £7m deal with Gulf Air
  The sky's the limit for Queens Park Rangers after the Coca-Cola Championship club yesterday signed a record £7 million, three-year sponsorship deal with Gulf Air.


• Ronaldo injury adds to Real Madrid puzzle
  Cristiano Ronaldo has been advised to have surgery on his right ankle this weekend and is expected to miss the start of the new season, a development that threatens to complicate his potential transfer from Manchester United to Real Madrid. The United medical staff have recommended the operation, but officials at Old Trafford have rejected the conspiracy theories that the move is designed to scupper the player’s hopes of a switch to Spain.


• Annan win place in Scottish League
  Annan Athletic have been admitted to the Scottish Football League after winning a vote to replace Gretna. At a meeting at Hampden Park yesterday afternoon, the 29 SFL clubs voted in favour of the East of Scotland League team being invited to join the Irn-Bru Scottish League third division next season.


• Sport the loser after ICC's history revision
  Had Pyrrhus not fallen by a beldam’s hand in Argos or Julius Caesar not been knifed to death? They are not to be thought away. Time has branded them and fettered they are lodged in the room of the infinite possibilities they have ousted. But can those have been possible seeing that they never were? Or was that only possible which came to pass? — Ulysses


• Marat Safin finds niche where least expected
  When Marat Safin required three sets to defeat James Ward - the British No8 - in the first round of the Artois Championships last month, one wondered what he thought of the cabbie's son from Euston. “He's OK,” Safin said, “but this is grass - it's not proper tennis.” With that he grinned, poked out his tongue and sauntered off.

Latest Business News from Times Online

The latest business news from The Times and Sunday Times

• M&S house broker cuts profit forecast by 20%
  Shares in Marks & Spencer (M&S) slumped by 6 per cent today after Citigroup, one of the retailer's two joint brokers, cut its full-year profits forecast by 20 per cent.


• Bradford & Bingley confirms investor bailout after TPG exit
  Shares in Bradford & Bingley (B&B) today slumped to just above its rights issue price after shareholders balked at a new rescue plan following TPG's decision to pull out of a deal when Moody's, the credit rating agency, downgraded the lender's debt.


• John Lewis department store sales plunge 8.3%
  Evidence that shoppers are deserting the high street continued today as John Lewis said that sales in its department stores had fallen by the biggest amount for three years.


• UBS avoid losses through £1.5bn tax credit
  UBS, the Swiss bank battered by the mortgage crisis, today insisted it would not need to raise more funds through a rights issue after being saved from announcing further losses by clawing in SwFr3 billion (£1.5 billion) from a tax credit.


• Google Street View cars have arrived in Britain
  Google car causes chaos in Rome


• Google forced to reveal users' YouTube viewing habits
  Google has been ordered to hand over details of YouTube users' viewing habits by a judge presiding over a copyright infringement case against the site.


• Video games a boon for families feeling the pinch
  Families facing escalating household bills are turning to video games on the Nintendo Wii and PlayStation 3 for affordable fun.


• Qatari's make fresh swoop on Sainsbury's shares
  The Qatari Investment Authority (QIA) has upped its shareholding in J Sainsbury for the second time in a fortnight in a swoop that has sparked a share price rally in Britain's biggest supermarkets.


• Record oil prices top next week's G8 agenda
  Record high oil prices are set to dominate the agenda at the G8 summit which takes place in Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido on Monday and Tuesday.


• Cost-hit British Airways flies with quarter of seats empty
  British Airways flights are taking off with almost a quarter of their seats empty after higher air fares and a slowing economy led to 87,000 fewer passengers using the British flag-carrier last month.

Law News from Times Online

Law News from Times Online

• Tempus analysis: Delayed reaction
  Results season among City law firms ended today as Linklaters announced its figures. They were eagerly awaited: would it surpass Clifford Chance as the world’s biggest firm? Would it match the astonishing rise in profitability of bitter rival Freshfields?


• Linklaters follows rivals with record £1.29bn turnover
  Linklaters has followed its rivals in announcing a record turnover today, although it narrowly missed overtaking Clifford Chance as the world's biggest firm.


• Analysis: Words of reason to cool Muslims row
  When the Archbishop of Canterbury waded into the choppy waters of Sharia this year, he caused uproar - not least, by his own subsequent admission, because of the “unclarity” of his remarks.


• Internal Revenue Service asks accountancy firms to help stop tax evasion
  The United States Internal Revenue Service is calling on the world's biggest accounting firms to strengthen its campaign against tax dodgers, two days after securing the backing of a federal court to track down UBS customers suspected of evading US taxes using Swiss accounts.


• Case dismissed: Lord Chief Justice lays down law on Sharia
  Britain's most senior judge declared last night that there was no place for Sharia courts in this country and insisted that all residents were governed by the laws of England and Wales.


• Refco boss Phillip Bennett jailed for 16 years by US judge
  Phillip Bennett, the British former chief executive of Refco, was sentenced to 16 years in an American prison yesterday after pleading guilty to criminal charges over a scheme to hide the commodities broker's financial problems.


• Oligarchs to settle $4bn battle in High Court$
  A $4 billion dollar legal dispute between two Russian oligarchs will be decided in London after an English judge said that the danger of assassination and lack of a fair trial made it too risky to try the case in Russia.$


• Allen & Overy's £1billion turnover confirms London as centre of the legal world
  Britain's four largest law firms each earned more than £1 billion last year, confirming London's emergence as the centre of the global legal services market.


• In court today
  Old Bailey


• Hedge funds angry at new FSA rules on secret stakes
  Investors who secretly build stakes in listed companies using synthetic instruments will have to disclose their holdings when they exceed 3 per cent, under new rules announced yesterday.