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By GREG RISLING 2010-09-03T17:50:19Z LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt has testified he took a $60 million loan against the value of the land around Dodger Stadium to pay mortgages on his estranged wife's six homes....

Plans to build an Islamic centre near Ground Zero in New York have triggered a debate across the US about the limits of religious tolerance.

Plans to build an Islamic centre near Ground Zero in New York have triggered a debate across the US about the limits of religious tolerance.

The curriculum at Further Education and Training (FET) colleges need to change in order to contribute to the country's new economic path.

By MATTHEW LEE 2010-09-03T17:46:50Z WASHINGTON (AP) -- Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is trying to inject some urgency into Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, warning that the negotiations may be "the last chance for a very long time" for an agreement....

Workers in Medeber here in the capital who are engaged in the manufacturing and modification of various housing utensils and construction materials say that they are striving to upgrade their innovative and creative skills.

This year's Summer Work Program was effective thanks to the showering of good pattern of rains, stated Mr. Fitwi Woldegergis, head of the Program in the Education Ministry.

By VERONIKA OLEKSYN 2010-09-03T17:42:19Z VIENNA (AP) -- The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency has asked Israel to consider signing up to the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, according to a report made public Friday, in a boost to Arab-led pressure on the Jewish state to join the pact....

By MATT SEDENSKY 2010-09-03T17:41:44Z MIAMI (AP) -- For decades, the mission at Miami Jewish Home and Hospital was simply to care for the old....

Labour leadership candidate Ed Balls says he has handled sustained attacks from the Times and Mail newspapers

Ed Balls claimed today that he was the only candidate in the Labour leadership contest who has proved that he can withstand sustained criticism from the Tories and their allies in the press.

In an interview with the LabourList website, the shadow education secretary said he had been singled out for particular attack by the right because he was prepared to argue strongly for policies that the Conservatives did not support.

"David Cameron has gone for me much more than the other candidates," he said. He also claimed Tory papers had given him "a much harder time" than any of his four rivals in the contest.

In a separate interview with the Guardian, he said that before the election his support for education policies opposed by the right had worried Gordon Brown, who was more reluctant to pick a fight on these issues.

Speaking to LabourList, Balls said his performance against Michael Gove – which has included Gove, the education secretary, having to apologise to parliament after Balls highlighted mistakes in a list of school building cuts – showed that he had the capacity to "win the intellectual argument against the coalition policies".

He went on: "The reason the Daily Mail calls me 'an extreme leftwing socialist zealot' is because they don't like the fact that I make the case against some of the things the Conservatives support."

He had taken "far more hits than any other candidate, by a factor probably of a hundred, in terms of anonymous briefings to the newspapers", he said. "I can say the Tories and the papers have tried to knock me down and they've failed. The others haven't been tested yet in that arena."

In an interview with the Guardian's John Harris, for the Weekend magazine, Balls said that when he was in government he clashed with those in No 10 who responded to his proposals by saying they were "worried about editorials in the Times".

Balls said: "When the evidence came up of gross, widespread abuse of the admissions code by faith schools, I went out and spoke about that publicly, and I withstood three weeks of massive attacks from the Times and the Mail. And Gordon kept saying to me, 'Why have you done this?' And I said, 'Because it's right, and I'd have no self-respect if I didn't do it.' I could tell you 10 different things like that."

• Ed Balls
• Labour party leadership
• Labour
• Conservatives
• Daily Mail
• Associated Newspapers
• The Times
• Newspapers

Andrew Sparrow
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Credit card rules relaxed to end financial hardship as MPs prepare to report Ipsa to privileges committee

The expenses watchdog today staged a climbdown in its bitter battle with MPs when it announced they will be allowed to use credit cards to pay more of their expenses, in an acknowledgement that some have been left in dire financial straits by the new regime.

The announcement came as dozens of MPs are preparing to report the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) to the privileges committee when parliament returns on Monday.

In a statement, the head of Ipsa acknowledged that devising the expenses regime, introduced to clean up the system which led to last year's scandal, had not been easy and said changes offered a "sensible, pragmatic evolution".

Ipsa will now pay directly to landlords of MPs' rented properties, and for items valued above £200, such as computers. Credit cards that are currently allocated to pay for travel will also be used for council tax and utility bills from November.

MPs have complained that the new system forced them to pay out thousands of pounds to set up their new offices and that the slow reimbursement process left them under intolerable financial strain. Ipsa claimed its staff had been abused by some MPs.

On 26 August Sir John Stanley, the Conservative MP for Tonbridge, emailed all MPs asking for support in applying for a precedence motion in the house to refer Ipsa to the standards and privileges committee on the basis that it is interfering with members' privilege to do their job free from obstruction.

Such a motion takes priority over all other parliamentary business and would have forced a debate in the Commons, throwing Monday's timetable into disarray.

It is not clear whether the reforms announced today are enough to satisfy the MPs behind the move. A spokesman for Ipsa denied that it made the changes to placate angry MPs.

Andrew McDonald, Ipsa's interim chief executive, said: "Following the creation of Ipsa last year, we have had to work with great speed to set the rules and establish robust means to implement them.

"It has not been easy or straightforward, but we are meeting that challenge. We have learned a great deal along the way. We want to use that experience to make the process easier for MPs and to deliver efficiency savings for the taxpayer, while maintaining the scrutiny of MPs' expenses which was called for by the public."

Denis MacShane, the Labour MP for Rotherham, who has been a critic of the new system, said: "Ipsa has made a significant step to meeting MPs' concerns and with some more tweaks and discussion perhaps this war can be laid to rest so we can declare a truce."

Tom Harris, the Labour MP for Glasgow South, said: "It's very welcome but I don't feel grateful to Ipsa. That would be like being grateful to a mugger who stops kicking you and punches you instead."

Sir George Young, leader of the Commons, said: "I welcome Ipsa's statement. It recognises the legitimate concerns that MPs have been expressing over the last few months and provides some constructive and commonsense solutions."

• MPs' expenses
• House of Commons

Polly Curtis
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

By 2010-09-03T17:38:30Z DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- A UPS cargo plane with two crew members on board crashed shortly after takeoff Friday outside Dubai, officials said. There was no immediate word on casualties....

A cargo plane has crashed near a major motorway in Dubai, setting some cars on fire, local officials and media reports say.

A cargo aircraft belonging to the US courier UPS crashes on a major highway in Dubai, setting some cars on fire.

A cargo plane has crashed near a major motorway in Dubai, setting some cars on fire, local officials and media reports say.

By DAN PERRY 2010-09-03T17:37:49Z CERNOBBIO, Italy (AP) -- Is the global economy out of the woods? Two years after near-meltdown, with the U.S. looking sluggish, equity markets groggy and Europeans fighting a debt crisis, experts gathered in Italy offered a generally gloomy outlook - especially for the United States and much of the industrialized world....

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Talks to form a right-leaning minority Dutch government collapsed Friday when a populist anti-Islam party pulled out of talks to support the coalition.

By JENNIFER KAY 2010-09-03T17:28:37Z MIAMI (AP) -- Investigators on Friday released a scientist detained at Miami International Airport after screeners spotted a metal canister in his luggage that looked like a pipe bomb, prompting an evacuation, a senior law enforcement official said....

By BOB SALSBERG 2010-09-03T17:27:19Z CHATHAM, Mass. (AP) -- A weakening Hurricane Earl swiped past North Carolina on Friday on its way to New England, where officials warned residents that it still packed dangerous winds that could topple trees or damage the area's picturesque gray-shingled cottages....

Senior Labour politicians urge fresh inquiries into phone hacking claims surrounding the News of the World newspaper.