World News joined 0010

Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond launched a fierce attack on Gordon Brown over the economy, branding him a "sub prime minister".

Mr Salmond claimed the current financial turmoil was "a staggering condemnation of the state of the United Kingdom".

His remarks came in response to Mr Brown's recent claims that an independent Scotland would not have been able to bail out struggling banks.

But Mr Salmond argued that the £37 billion capital injection for three of the UK's largest banks had thrown up crucial questions about the proposed merger between Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) and Lloyds TSB. And as well as calling on the UK Government to act now to help the economy, he also demanded the merger between HBOS and Lloyds TSB be put on hold till those questions were answered.

Speaking about the merger, he said: "Before they put our money into this bail-out, we want to be sure that it is in the public interest and in the interests of jobs and decision making in Scotland."

He asked if the funding was available to both banks separately and asked: "If not, then why not?"

Mr Salmond continued: "If the future of HBOS has indeed been secured then are we not entitled to ensure that any merger is in the public interest - that the public won't end up paying for the merger, paying for lost jobs and then paying for the restriction of competition. Until these questions are satisfactorily answered then there must be no merger."

But with the current economic uncertainty continuing, Mr Salmond used much of his speech to the Scottish National Party annual conference to mount a stinging attack on the Prime Minister.

Mr Brown had claimed previously to have ended boom and bust, but Mr Salmond said that the "country that had eliminated boom and bust" was now "expected to tumble into the economic mire".

The First Minister said: "Brown's Labour bust threatens to break records - and has almost broken our banking system. Under his watch our greatest company has had to be rescued and saddled with 12% preference shares. Our oldest bank is threatened with disappearing as an independent force. And the Prime Minister thinks this is an advert for the union."

-Ananova

Small and medium-sized firms should be able to defer their VAT bills for six months to help them deal with the worsening economic situation, Tory leader David Cameron has demanded.

Mr Cameron also called on local authorities to pay small businesses within 20 days, rather than 30, for their services.

And he said banks had to treat small businesses "fairly" and "stop the march to mass insolvencies".

Writing in The Observer, Mr Cameron said: "Britain's small businesses need our help.

"We intervened to prevent the beating heart of our economy - the financial system - from collapsing. We've got to do the same for its lifeblood.

"Small and medium-sized businesses employ over 13 million people and turn over £1,440 billion a year."

Shadow chancellor George Osborne said of the VAT holiday proposal: "This is another example of the Conservatives offering practical help to save jobs and businesses during very difficult economic times.

"Along with our plans for a freeze on council tax and a cut in small business tax, this is a measure that could be implemented immediately to help cashflow and in some cases prevent companies from going to the wall. It's the kind of thing a responsible government should do."

Mr Cameron will hold a small business summit at Westminster to discuss ways of helping firms.

The Tories claim that in recent months many small businesses have had their overdrafts either withdrawn or their interest rates raised above 15%. This could see many small firms go bust as a result.

-Ananova

Defence Secretary John Hutton has signalled there will be a "fundamental change" in Britain's role in Iraq early next year as he made his first visit to Baghdad.

He held talks with Iraqi prime minister Nouri Maliki before meeting the small number of UK forces stationed in the Iraqi capital.

Afterwards, he said "significant progress" had been made in Iraq in recent months and security was improving across the country.

"We want, in the first months of next year, to see a fundamental change in our military mission in Iraq, moving towards an increased focus on military training and education as part of a broad-based bilateral partnership," he said.

"We agreed to work together intensively to put in place, by the end of this year, a formal agreement in relation to the status of UK forces in Iraq which will underpin this change."

After talks with Mr Maliki, the Defence Secretary spoke to members of the 2nd Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment and other UK service personnel based in the Baghdad Support Unit.

Most of Britain's 4,000-strong deployment to the country is in Basra, in the south of the country, where Mr Hutton is heading on Monday.

He said: "I wanted to take the opportunity to see what our people - civilian and military - are achieving out here and to get a clear sense of the UK's engagement with Iraq, both current and future. Throughout the country security and prospects are improving and I am extremely proud of what our forces have achieved - they continue to do a tremendous job."

On the Prime Minister's most recent visit to Iraq, in July, he told troops they were bringing the UK's work in the country to its conclusion.

While refusing to set a timetable for troop withdrawals, he told those at Basra Air Station: "You are now working with the Iraqi forces to train them up so that they can take over their responsibilities, so that we can complete our work here to bring Basra to

-Ananova

Gun crime figures to be released this week by the Government will massively underestimate the true scale of the problem, it was reported.

The number of firearms incidents dealt with by police forces in England and Wales annually is 60% higher than data set to be published on Thursday.

The Sunday Telegraph claimed that whereas the Home Office said there were some 9,800 offences in 2007/08, the real total was around 15,400. The latest quarterly figures will again exclude a significant number of incidents, according to the paper.

It is claimed the difference in the figures is due to the fact that the Home Office only includes cases where guns are fired, used to assault victims or brandished as a threat.

Thousands of other offences - including gun smuggling and illegal possession - will be omitted. Figures on gun crime deaths and injuries are also higher than official statistics will show.

Using data requested under the Freedom of Information Act, the paper reported that the Metropolitan Police's official total of 3,300 gun crimes in 2006/07, the most recent available, would have risen to around 5,000 if excluded categories had been counted.

The second-highest number of offences excluded from the official statistics was recorded by West Midlands Police with 404, taking the force's true annual total of gun crimes to 1,383.

Sussex Police recorded 300 excluded offences taking their total to 384 and Merseyside Police recorded 214 excluded offences, making the true number 624.

Shadow home secretary Dominic Grieve said the figures were "alarming" and called for statistics to be compiled independently of the Home Office.

He said: "These alarming new figures not only highlight the appalling state of gun crime in this country, but also remind us just how poor the Government's statistics actually are. Crime statistics must also be compiled and published independent of the Home Office and crime mapping rolled out so that people can have confidence in what they are being told about the state of crime in this country."

-Ananova

Detectives have been granted more time to question the father of a 19-year-old woman whose skeletal remains were found in woodland in a seaside town.

The 45-year-old was held on suspicion of murder on Saturday night after medical records were used to establish that the remains belonged to Victoria Couchman.

Police were granted a further 36 hours until 11.22pm on Monday to quiz him as a fingertip search continued in Redgeland Wood in the Queensway area of Hastings, East Sussex.

Children playing in the woodland, near the Wishing Tree Reservoir, found a human skull on Monday afternoon.

Further forensic searches revealed other remains, including an upper left leg, pelvic bone and tibia, which were discovered near each other and did not appear to be buried.

Sussex Police announced that a 45-year-old local man was arrested on Saturday night on suspicion of murder. Sources said the man was Ms Couchman's father.

Details of a cause of death have not been disclosed by police who before the arrest said it was important to establish how Ms Couchman ended up in the woods.

Police said on Friday that around 90% of the skeleton had been recovered and that the bones were degraded.

It was originally thought the remains had been in the woods for up to 10 years, but following further discoveries police said they think they had been there for around 18 months.

One key piece of information for police came from the disclosure that the victim's upper left leg had suffered a full break and had been pinned.

-Ananova

A 12-year-old boy has been arrested after the body of a man was found in a caravan destroyed by fire.

The man was discovered after fire crews and police were called to the blaze in Crouds Lane, Long Sutton, Somerset.

Detectives said the fire service had been called to an earlier incident where a shed was set alight in the road at 8.15pm on Friday.

Then at 11pm they were called to the second blaze, in the caravan. The body of the man was recovered from inside. He has not yet been formally identified but it is believed he is a 50-year-old local man.

A post mortem is due to be carried out and police said the death was currently being treated as suspicious.

Investigations on Saturday led to the arrest of the boy and he was released on police bail pending further inquiries.

Forensic officers were examining the area around Crouds Lane and police appealed for anyone who may have seen any suspicious activity to come forward.

-Ananova

Police have named a man who died after he was found lying on a pavement with a serious head injury.

A murder investigation was launched after Paul William Smith was discovered in Rugby, Warwickshire, at 1.20am on Saturday.

Detectives believe the 54-year-old may have been hit on the back of his head with a stone block.

Mr Smith, known as Tall Paul, was from Biart Place, Rugby, Warwickshire Police said.

He was taken to University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire where he died a short time after arrival.

A post mortem was carried out but police are awaiting the results of further tests to establish how Mr Smith died.

Detectives said Mr Smith is believed to have been walking along Clifton Road away from the town centre before he was found.

He was wearing a navy jacket and light blue jeans, police said.

Detective Inspector Roy Wheelwright, from Warwickshire Police, said yesterday: "A murder investigation has been launched this morning and a team of officers is working to establish the circumstances of the death."

-Ananova

Thanks for the news!

THE Taliban has admitted killing a British female charity worker in Afghanistan this morning.

Gayle Williams, who worked for Christian charity SERVE Afghanistan, which helps disabled children, was gunned down on the way to work in the south of the capital, Kabul.

The Taliban later claimed responsibility for the shooting, saying Ms Williams was killed because she was spreading Christianity.

But Mike Lyth, the Carlisle-based chairman of SERVEAfghanistan’s board, rejected this.

He said: “They will make any excuse. They probably saw there was a Christian organisation operating in Kabul and thought, ’this is how we can kill it’.

“We are Christians - that is what gives us the motivation to go into a dangerous and difficult country to try to help.

“But she was not involved in proselytisation.”

Afghan interior ministry spokesman Zemeri Bashary said Ms Williams was shot in the body and leg with a pistol.

Witnesses said two men on a motorbike pulled up alongside her and fired six shots before driving off.

Builder Daulad Khan said: "The two men stopped right next to her and one of them shot her with a pistol. She collapsed immediately.

"There was bloody everywhere."

Ms Williams was raced to hospital but she was pronounced dead on arrival.

Dangerous

Ms Williams had been working in Afghanistan for almost three years.

Mr Lyth added: “She was a close personal friend, it’s an absolute tragedy.

He said she was a “lovely girl”, saying: “She was the life and soul of the party, a great adventurer.

“She will be sorely missed - a great girl."

He added: “Now the Taliban have started to actually target NGO workers, both Afghan and international, it begins to be less and less tenable for groups like us to work there”.

Ms Williams had been working in Kandahar until staff decided it was too dangerous for foreigners.

Mr Lyth said: “We began to hear that foreign groups were under surveillance. We felt it wasn’t right to expose our foreigners to that sort of situation”.

He said SERVE would have to reassess whether it continues to keep its 15 international staff in Afghanistan.

Until six months ago, Ms Williams had been running a project in Kandahar city, the birthplace of the Taliban, to help disabled children.

When she moved to Kabul she continued to administer the project remotely.

The attack happened just before 8am local time in a district of Kabul called Kart-e Char which has become increasingly volatile in recent weeks.

Last night, at around 11pm, one of Afghanistan's royal family was kidnapped nearby.


The Sun

Democratic hopeful Barack Obama is making a push to encourage early voting across the US, two weeks before the 4 November presidential election.

He will hold a rally later with Hillary Clinton in Florida, one of the states allowing early voting from Monday.

Republican rival John McCain has made less of a general push for early votes, focusing instead on those voters considered less likely to turn out.

About a third of US electors in 2008 are expected to cast their vote early.

The process has grown in popularity in recent years, as people have become more familiar with it.

Early voting provisions have been expanded and restrictions on absentee ballots eased.
Registered voters can either cast their ballots in person or by mail, thus avoiding queues at polling stations on election day.

Miami voter Beba Sardina Mann said the system "just makes it a lot easier".

"I'm just going to get it out of the way early... it's too important of an election," she told the Miami Herald newspaper.

'Town criers'

Election officials in Texas were braced for a massive turnout as hundreds of polling sites opened for early voting on Monday, the Houston Chronicle reported, and had brought in extra equipment and staff.

Officials in Florida were also expecting a busy day, particularly as Mr Obama was set to campaign in the state.

The Illinois senator has been pushing early voting on a major scale, using speeches, e-mails and advertisements placed in popular video games.

Thousands of his volunteers have been mobilised in Florida. They include "town criers" riding on public buses, offering lifts to college students, and neighbourhood teams to give voters a push.

"There's too much at stake in this election to leave this responsibility to the last minute,'' said Steve Schale, Mr Obama's campaign director in Florida.

Meanwhile Mr McCain's campaign has opted to focus its efforts more selectively on supporters who do not always vote in presidential elections.

The party believes it can count on more reliable voters to get to the polls on 4 November, Rich Beeson, political director for the Republican National Committee, told the Associated Press news agency.

Powell endorsement

The Obama campaign received a boost on Sunday with the endorsement of Colin Powell, who was Secretary of State under US President George W Bush.

He said Mr Obama would be a "transformational president" whose victory would "not just electrify our country, it would electrify the world".

Mr McCain responded by saying he was not surprised by his "long-time friend's" decision.

He pointed out that other former secretaries of state had backed his own candidacy, naming Henry Kissinger, James Baker, Lawrence Eagleburger and Alexander Haig - all Republicans.

A Gallup daily tracking poll released on Sunday showed Mr Obama leading Mr McCain by 10 percentage points.

Source- BBC.News.co.uk