Russia has launched a withering attack on Britain’s foreign policy on the eve of the first visit to Moscow by a British Foreign Secretary in more than five years, the Daily Telegraph reports.
Russian ambassador to London, Yuri Fedotov, hit out as Foreign Secretary David Miliband was due to arrive in the country on Sunday for what is expected to be a tense trip.
Fedotov criticised Britain for adopting “anti-Russian measures” and he said that there was …

The Government’s drug czar who claimed that ecstasy and LSD were less dangerous than alcohol, has been sacked, the Daily Mail reports.
Professor David Nutt had called for a new “index of harm” to warn the public about the relative dangers of various substances. He said alcohol should rank fifth, behind only cocaine, heroin, barbiturates and methadone, while tobacco should rank ninth, ahead of cannabis, LSD and Ecstasy.
Nutt has also courted controversy in the past – by …

Conservative leader David Cameron demanded that Foreign Secretary David Miliband retract his recent attacks on the Conservatives’ European allies who he accuses of being anti-Semitic, the Daily Telegraph reports.
The row over Michal Kaminski, the MEP who leads the Tories’ new grouping in the European Parliament, began a month ago when Miliband used his speech to Labour Conference to accuse the Pole of having an “anti-Semitic, neo-Nazi past”.
During weeks of increasingly angry exchanges, Miliband has repeatedly …

The autumn heatwave that we have been experiencing is nearing an end, ITN reports.
The warmest areas have felt temperatures of 20°C and that has led to it being one of the hottest ends to October on record.
But there is a warning that will change after Saturday. The Met Office are predicting rain and strong winds coming in from Scotland and spreading from the west across England, leading to a dreary start to next week.
Although some …

French President Nicolas Sarkozy dealt a heavy blow to ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair’s hopes of becoming European Union president by withdrawing support for his candidacy, the Daily Telegraph reports.
The French move, at an EU summit in Brussels, confirmed Foreign Secretary David Miliband as the British politician with the best chance of getting one of the new European jobs that will be created with the passing of the Lisbon Treaty later this month.
Miliband’s prospects were further strengthened …

Famous British actor Sir Christopher Lee was knighted by the Prince of Wales today, the Daily Telegraph reports.
The prolific actor famed for his spine-chilling roles as Count Dracula and other dark characters said he would always be grateful to the studio that made his name.
87-year-old Lee, who was knighted by Prince Charles at a Buckingham Palace investiture ceremony, has appeared in more than 250 films and television productions and was honoured for services to drama …

Williams’ team boss Frank Williams officially confirmed that his team will switch to Cosworth engines next year, autosport.com reports.
“We’ve finished our contract with Toyota and we’ve moved on to a British engine manufacturer Cosworth with whom we have won many world championships in the past,” Williams said. ”They are 50 miles away from Williams which is very convenient. Besides we also like our independence. We will be not under the influence, not that Toyota ever bossed …

The world’s largest cruise liner began its maiden voyage to Florida today, gliding out from a shipyard in Finland with an amphitheater, basketball courts and an ice rink on board, the AP reports.
The 16-deck Oasis of the Seas spans 1,200 feet from bow to stern, and its 2,700 cabins can accommodate 6,300 passengers and 2,100 crew.
Commissioned by Royal Caribbean International, the ship cost £894 million and took two and a half years to build at …

Russian President Dmitri Medvedev surprisingly said today that there is no excuse for the crimes and repressions that Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin was responsible for.
Many Russians have cherished Stalin as a great leader and often neglected the fact that the dictator was also a murderer of tens of millions of people. However, President Medvedev said today in his blog in a surprisingly sensible statement that there is no excuse for such repressions Stalin committed.
“I believe that …

A Conservative government would press ahead with plans to privatise Royal Mail and the party believe there would be more bidders if the striking Communication Workers Union is defeated, the Daily Mail reports.
The Tories are keen to sell off the entire service, rather than just the 30 per cent stake that Business Secretary Lord Mandelson wants to off-load.
Today workers who redirect mail were brought out by the union, which is fighting proposed changes to jobs, …

San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge has been closed since Tuesday when three pieces of steel from the bridge fell onto its roadway.
The pieces that fell, which include a cross beam, came from a section that was repaired during Labour Day weekend (the beginning of September), when crews worked almost around the clock to fix a crack, CNN reports.
Transportation officials said yesterday that there was a slight chance of the bridge reopening for Friday’s morning commute, but …

Local Government Association (LGA) warned that Britain needs to do more to prepare for winter – or risk grinding to a halt again, the Daily Mail reports.
Last February saw wide swathes of the country come to a complete halt as road-gritters and train companies failed to keep the transport networks open. As a result, millions of people were left stranded, causing havoc for emergency services and costing the economy millions of pounds as workers found themselves …

Former French President Jacques Chirac has been ordered to stand trial for corruption in a case which has shed light on sleaze allegations from his time as Mayor of Paris, The Times reports.
In an unprecedented move, an investigating magistrate said that 76-year-old Chirac should be tried over a so-called ghost jobs scandal dating from the 1980s and 1990s. The decision will not only tarnish the reputation of the man who ruled France for 12 years, but …

Former Home Secretary Jacqui Smith admitted yesterday that she was disgraced in the row over her expense claims, the Daily Mail reports.
She blamed her own wrong judgment for the scandal, sparked by her designation of a room in her sister’s house in London as her main home. This meant she was able to claim expenses on her family home in her constituency of Redditch, Worcestershire by saying it was her second home.
A parliamentary probe found she …

Every home in Britain has at least 30 spiders crawling around and there are more than 750 million spiders in the UK, the Daily Telegraph reports.
Favourable breeding conditions over the autumn mean that spiders and daddy longlegs have thrived this year.
The most common species, being recorded by nine out of ten of participants, was the garden cross spider. In Nottingham 150 of the spiders were recorded in one garden and in Lancashire a new world …

An Estonian bus driver and trade union activist embezzled 33,3 million Estonian kroons (£1.912m) from the country’s revenue and customs service in half a year, and no one knows where this money is, newspaper Postimees reports.
Court sentenced Vadim Shamrai to three years in prison this week. However, he is apparently unable to pay back the embezzled funds, as all he has are two used vehicles – a BMW and a Mercedes, that are worth certainly …