Wayne Rooney becomes father to baby boy

England footballer Wayne Rooney has become a father after his wife Colleen gave birth to a baby boy.

According to the couple's spokesman, Kai Wayne Rooney was born at 14:20 GMT at Liverpool Women's Hospital on Monday.

'Mother and baby are both absolutely fine,' the spokesman was quoted by the Press Association news agency as saying.

'Wayne and Coleen are thrilled with the wonderful addition to their family life.'

After his wife was admitted to hospital, Rooney, 23, missed Manchester United training on Monday ahead of the Old Trafford side's Champions League clash with CSKA Moscow and is a near certainty to miss the game itself.

Lineker leads Robson tributes

Gary Lineker has led a series of emotional tributes to Sir Bobby Robson at a memorial service for the former England manager in Durham.

The ex-England striker called Sir Bobby 'the single most enthusiastic and passionate man in football' during his reading at Durham Cathedral.

Sir Bobby, who managed Newcastle United, Ipswich Town and Barcelona among other sides in a glittering career, died on July 31st at the age of 76 after a long battle against prostate cancer.

And the service in the north east was attended by an array of famous faces from the world of football, including former players Paul Gascoigne, Alan Shearer, Bryan Robson and Stuart Pearce.

Several former England managers, including Terry Venables and Sven Goran Eriksson, were also in attendance alongside current boss Fabio Capello.

In his address, Lineker called Sir Bobby 'gentlemanly, dignified and diplomatic', adding: 'Bobby was not just a brilliant leader of men that brought the absolute best out of his players.

'He made you feel good about yourself and good about the game.

'He loved the game and the game loved him. He was a lion of a man, no, make that three lions.

'Sir Bobby Robson we will miss you but we will never forget you.'

One of the other main speakers at the service was Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, who said meeting Sir Bobby was 'one of the privileges of my life'.

'I am lucky to have met him and to have been enthused by him,' Sir Alex continued.

'He influenced me then and he will always influence me.'

A moving service ended with a rendition of Nessun Dorma, the TV theme tune for coverage of Italia 90 - the World Cup where Sir Bobby led an unfancied England side to the semi-finals.

This achievement was one of many that coloured Sir Bobby's long and distinguished career.

He led Ipswich Town to victory in both the FA Cup and the Uefa Cup and managed with great success on the continent with Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven and Barcelona.

Transatlantic bomb plot 'made in Pakistan'

By Matthew Champion.

Two of the three men yesterday convicted of plotting what would have been Britain's worst-ever terrorist atrocity had strong links to al-Qaida cells in Pakistan, it has emerged.

Abdullah Ahmed Ali and Assad Sarwar made several trips to Pakistan in the years preceding their 2006 arrest on suspicion of planning to smuggle liquid explosives on to seven passenger jets and blow them up over the Atlantic.

Evidence presented in court and indications from senior police figures show that al-Qaida operatives in Pakistan provided key knowledge for the plot.

'A large part of this plan was invented in Pakistan,' a source told the Guardian.

Metropolitan police deputy assistant commissioner John McDowall discusses the case:


Yesterday Scotland Yard released a host of materials related to the conviction of Ali, Sarwar and Tanvir Hussain, who were all convicted of conspiring to activate bombs disguised as drinks, including coded emails sent between the would-be bombers and Pakistan.

Many of the back-and-forth emails were sent with the subject line 'How are you babes' in order to avoid detection by the security services.

It is understood that the man referred to as 'Paps' or 'Papa' in the exchanges is British-Pakistani terror suspect Rashid Rauf. The suspected terrorist was arrested in Pakistan the day before Scotland Yard swooped on the men convicted yesterday at Woolwich crown court.

He later escaped from Pakistan custody but it believed to have died in a US air-strike in 2008.

According to reports, it was on American insistence - the US having been informed of the potential plot by British intelligence services - that Rauf was arrested, forcing Scotland Yard's hand.

The claims have been denied on both sides of the Atlantic.

It is estimated that the seven bombs, which were to be smuggled inside cabins within soft drink bottles and activated by detonators inside disposable cameras, would have killed more people than the September 11th 2001 attacks.

Ali, 28, from Walthamstow; Sarwar, 29, from High Wycombe; and Hussain, 28, from Leyton, will be sentenced on Monday.

NHS failures let 'most dangerous patient' kill twice

By Matthew Champion.

The NHS has apologised to the families of two men killed by a schizophrenic cannibal after reports exposed 'shortcomings' in allowing him to return to society.

Peter Bryan killed twice after being let out of a secure unit in 2002 as a care in the community outpatient.

NHS London, which oversees health services in the capital, said Bryan's unique mental illness 'enabled him to appear as though he was acting in a normal manner while being seriously unwell'.

The 39-year-old from east London, described by one psychiatrist as 'probably the most dangerous man he had ever assessed', was sent to Rampton in Nottinghamshire in 2002 for the murder of 20-year-old shop assistant Nisha Sheth in 1993.

In 2002 he was allowed to return to the outside world as an outpatient with his own flat and front door key. But after an allegation of sexual assault he killed his friend Brian Cherry, later frying and eating parts of the 45-year-old's brain when he dismembered his body.

Weeks after being sent to Broadmoor secure psychiatric hospital he attacked and killed fellow patient Richard Loudwell, 59.

Bryan later pleaded guilty to killing both men on grounds of diminished responsibility.

Two reports from NHS London into the care and treatment afforded him by east London NHS foundation trust and west London mental health trust exposed a catalogue of errors.

The first report into the death of Mr Cherry criticised inexperienced staff being given the responsibility of handling patients such as Bryan. But it adds the caveat that the horrific events that followed his release 'could not have been predicted'.

A second report criticised a lack of supervision given to both Bryan and Mr Loudwell at the time of the latter's death.

Professor Trish Morris-Thompson, chief nurse at NHS London, said: 'These reports were commissioned in 2005 and investigated two tragic separate incidents by the same person. Following their publication we accept that there were shortcomings in the care and treatment of [Bryan] and [Mr Loudwell] and apologise to the families of those involved for the distress that this has caused.

'East London NHS foundation trust has agreed a joint action plan with Newham primary care trust and its local authority.

'This will be followed up and overseen by Newham PCT and Monitor. In addition west London mental health NHS trust has also produced an action plan which we will need to approve and subsequently monitor. However, it must be said due to the long and time-consuming inquiry process a substantial amount of work has already taken place.'