still trying to bring under control

A UNION has raised its concerns about the potential "break-up" of ferry routes to the Northern Isles. The RMT fears operators will be able to cherry-pick more lucrative services under a forthcoming Scottish Government tendering process.Ministers want to remove the Pentland Firth crossing from the existing single package, run by NorthLink Ferries,ADVERTISEMENT which also operates between Orkney, Shetland and Aberdeen.RMT general secretary Bob Crow said his members were notified of the plan before an expected announcement by government agency Transport Scotland.He said: "This proposal is a kick in the teeth for both staff and the communities who rely on the northern ferries operations. "It flies in the face of public opinion which is wholly against the break-up and exploitation of these lifeline services."We will fight this stitch-up by the Scottish Government which would open the door to cherry-picking and profiteering rather than seeing the Scottish ferries as the essential integrated public service that they are."

Jobs will be threatened and communities thrown into turmoil if this ill-conceived decision isn't reversed."NorthLink Ferries' six-year contract runs out in June. The company runs ferry services between Aberdeen, Kirkwall and Lerwick and between Scrabster and Stromness.Transport Scotland said the proposal to tender in two lots was explored in a consultation last year.Around three-quarters of the 388 respondents were in favour of maintaining the single package.In an analysis of the responses earlier this year, concerns were raised that operators would prefer to run more profitable routes at the expense of other services.A Transport Scotland spokesman said: "As part of the ferries review, we are considering the different ways in which ferry services can be delivered."One such option is to remove some routes from the current single bundle and tender them separately. One of the routes considered is that across the Pentland Firth.

The (Northern Isles] tender will be divided into two lots, allowing bidders to tender for each of the routes separately."JAPANESE Prime Minister Naoto Kan yesterday took his campaign against nuclear energy in Japan to Hiroshima where, 66 years ago, the world's first atomic bomb attack took place. It marks a change of tack in a country which until now has avoided linking its fast growing, and now discredited, nuclear power industry to its trauma as the only country to have suffered an atom bomb strike.Kan, speaking at an anniversary ceremoADVERTISEMENTny for victims of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, repeated that the world's worst nuclear crisis in 25 years at Fukushima after a March earthquake, convinced him Japan should end its dependence on nuclear power.The damage from the quake and subsequent tsunami at the nuclear plant, which the authorities are still trying to bring under control, has led to widespread calls for an end to reliance on nuclear power in the quake-prone country."

I will deeply reflect on nuclear power's 'myth of safety', investigate thoroughly the causes of the accident and take fundamental measures to secure safety, as well as reduce the dependence on nuclear power plants and aim for a society that does not depend on them," Kan said.Kazumi Matsui, Hiroshima's mayor and the son of an atomic bomb survivor, also pressed Tokyo to act after the Fukushima crisis traumatised the public."The Japanese government should sincerely accept this reality and review its energy policy quickly," he said.It was the first time in decades that any Hiroshima mayor had questioned Japan's policy of developing nuclear energy during the annual ceremony, in which tens of thousands observed a minute of silence as the peace bell tolled.Matsui said it was heartbreaking to see the devastation on the north-east coast after the quake on 11 March, and how it resembled what was left of Hiroshima after the bombing.A United States warplane dropped the atomic bomb, nicknamed "Little Boy", on the city on 6 August, 1945, in the closing days of the Second World War.

www.coachoutletbuy.net www.coachoutletstore1941.net www.coachoutletebay.com

It was unclear if their

ALMOST 300,000 people have been evacuated from China's eastern coast and more than 200 flights have been cancelled as the country braces itself for what could be its worst typhoon in years. Thousands of ships have been called back to port ahead of Typhoon Muifa's arrival. The powerful tropical storm has already battered the Philippines, Taiwan and Japan and is due to hit eastern China today, packing winds of up to 100mph.Officials iADVERTISEMENTn Zhejiang province ordered 206,664 people to leave their homes in coastal areas. A further 80,400 residents were evacuated from Fujian province.Muifa is expected to make landfall in either northern Zhejiang or southern Jiangsu and skim the coast as it heads to the north of the country.China's commercial hub of Shanghai, which has a population of 23 million, lies in Muifa's expected path, but it is unclear whether the city will take a direct hit from the storm.

Torrential rain has already been forecast for the city.Shanghai's municipal government has warned residents only to go outdoors if absolutely necessary and said Typhoon Muifa would probably be the worst storm to hit the city since Typhoon Matsa in 2005. Matsa killed 19 people in China, including five in Shanghai, and caused massive damage.Shanghai's two airports are prepared for major flight delays and numerous cultural activities were called off this weekend, including a beach music festival.Shanghai Airport cancelled 75 flights, Hangzhou cancelled 140 flights and Air China cancelled all inbound and outbound flights.China's National Marine Environmental Forecasting Centre issued a red alert for waves up to 33ft-high in the East China Sea.More than ten fishing boats with about 200 people on board were reported missing off China's east coast yesterday. It was unclear if their disappearance was directly related to the typhoon.Last week, Typhoon Muifa killed four people in the Philippines even though it did not make landfall.

The storm caused power cuts and injuries as it passed by Japan's southern island of Okinawa on Friday.It was reported the typhoon had caused 27 injuries on Okinawa and power was out to more than 60,000 homes. The centre of the storm was offshore, but high winds and heavy rain were forecast until yesterday.Separately, it was reported that more than 4,700 homes in a province of North Korea were destroyed or damaged by extensive flooding spawned by torrential rains in late July, according to a Red Cross report.The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies also said that more than 28,000 people were affected by the 25-27 July rains in South Hwanghae province in the country's southwest.The report gave no independent estimate of how many people died, but cited a death toll of 26.

www.coachoutletbuy.net coach outlet coach outlet

who disagree with homosexual

A SENIOR SNP figure has lambasted what he describes as "small, mean, angry bigots" who discriminate against gay people, and hit out at fellow Nationalist politicians who have stated their opposition to the legalisation of same-sex marriage. Writing in Scotland on Sunday today, MEP Alyn Smith insists that no church or individual would be forced to approve of or perform gay weddings if the SNP Government decides to legalise same-sex marriage.Smith, who is gay, says there should be rooADVERTISEMENTm in society for people with all views on the subject. He adds: "But I don't respect, and I won't tolerate, discrimination and neither does our society. Our society has collectively decided that we are an egalitarian and respectful bunch, that everyone is equal before our democratically agreed law and that everyone will respect the legal rights of others. What is in the small, mean, angry heads of bigots is a matter for them. I never asked for their approval, but I demand equality."His comments follow the tabling of a parliamentary motion by SNP MSP John Mason which stated that "no person or organisation should be forced to be involved or to approve of same-sex marriage".

The motion is backed by three other SNP MSPs - Bill Walker, Dave Thompson and Richard Lyle.Smith claims the motion "lacks any idea of respect at all". The claim that people would be forced to approve of same-sex marriage was "odd", he added.Last week, MP Pete Wishart described it as a "nasty little anti-gay motion", saying he was disappointed" by his fellow SNP members.However, the signatories say the distinction between marriage and civil partnerships should remain. Walker said last week: "There are relationships called civil partnerships that can be between a man and a man or a woman and a woman, but it is my view that a marriage can only be between a man and a woman."The Catholic Church has claimed that opponents to gay marriage are being "bullied into silence".Parliamentary officer John Deighan said: "John Mason has offended the libertarians by daring to stand up for freedom of speech for those who disagree with homosexual relationships." THE father of a teenager who died with a friend when their car plunged into a Highland loch is to fulfil the journey she had planned by going on a 5,000-mile motorcycle charity ride around the coast of Britain.

John Bryden's daughter Kirsty, below, died when her car came off the A830 between Mallaig and Fort William and plunged into Loch Eilt last September. Emergency workers managed to get Kirsty, 19, and Roddy MacInnes, 21, out of the submerged vehicle, but both died.Last month Kirsty's parents launched the Kirsty Bryden Memorial Trust to raise money for sick children. Before she died, Kirsty had planned to ride around Britain on a yellow motorcycle for charity - and now her father, a police officer, will embark on the journey in her memory on Friday to raise money for the trust.A spokesman for the trust said: "After reflecting on Kirsty's life, John has decided to honour his daughter and her devotion in helping sick and terminally ill children and her dogmatic determination to raise money for 'her kids'."John is setting off from the family home at Lochailort to make the trip on his daughter's bike - big fat bloke on wee bike should be quite a sight." For further details, you can visit .

www.coachoutletbuy.net coach outlet online coach outlet store online

The camels are totally burned

LIBYAN rebels yesterday said they had launched a major push toward the coastal oil town of Brega, but are advancing slowly because troops loyal to Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi have mined approaches to the town. Fighting on the eastern front of the civil war, which has ebbed backwards and forwards over past months, has been bogged down for weeks on the fringes of Brega, southwest of the rebel stronghold of Benghazi."There's a big movement on all fronts aADVERTISEMENTround Brega, we are attacking from three sides," said rebel spokesman Mohammad Zawawi.He said rebel forces were in sight of a residential area of Brega and believed they could take the town."It could be very soon, but we don't want to lose anybody so we're moving slowly but surely," he said. Libyan rebels also say that their forces are trying to capture the key coastal town of Zawiyah before heading on to the Libyan capital, Tripoli.

The rebels hope to reach Tripoli before the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.Earlier, the rebel commander said his forces had unconfirmed reports that a Nato airstrike had destroyed a caravan of camels carrying weapons from neighbouring Chad.Abdullah Aitha, who commands rebels fighting in the south-eastern Kufra region, said the caravan was made up of hundreds of camels and was carrying heavy-calibre machine guns, mortars and ammunition.He said the airstrike came last night in a desert 62 miles from the Chad border as the caravan was heading for the city of Sebha, 400 miles south of Tripoli.Sebha is a key Gaddafi stronghold deep in the country's south-western deserts from where the Libyan leader draws many of his troops."The camels are totally burned and the weapons are all destroyed," Mr Aitha said.On Friday, a rebel commander said his forces had also received unconfirmed reports that Gaddafi's youngest son had been killed in a Nato air strike on the western town of Zlitan.Mohammed al-Rijali in the rebel's de facto capital of Benghazi said Khamis Gaddafi was among 32 troops killed in the Nato strike on a government operations centre in the town of Zlitan.But in Tripoli, deputy foreign minister Khaled Kaim said Khamis was alive and had spoken to Libyan government officials to confirm he had not been killed."He is OK and alive, and they (reports of his death] are just lies," Kaim said.

He said the rebels spread reports of Khamis's death to "distract attention" from the killing, late last month, of rebel military chief General Abdel Fattah Younes, Libya's former interior minister.The rebel leadership has insisted Younes's assassination was the work of the Gaddafi regime, but several witnesses have said he was killed by fellow rebels. The killing has fuelled concerns about unity within the rebel movement nearly six months after the revolt began.

www.coachoutletbuy.net coach outlet store online coach outlet online