Rooney begins long road to redemption

"In the city where Alex Ferguson grew up, the Manchester United manager will now be hoping he has seen his star striker born again.

Wayne Rooney made his first start for United in two months but, with all that has gone on in that time, documented fanatically on the tabloid front pages, it feels like a lot longer ago.

The days when he was a post-World Cup pariah, let alone scoring for fun and winning every individual award going, seem like moments in the career of a different player altogether.

After returning from his Oregon boot camp/sponsor marketing opportunity trimmed down and refreshed, he got the moment he visualised would send him on the road to redemption when he scored the winning penalty against Rangers three minutes from time.

United's newly lean, mean, set-piece scoring machine celebrated ecstatically after firing home the spot-kick, which ensured United's progression from Champions League Group C.

He may have had a mixed reception upon his return to action at Old Trafford last weekend, but at least he can count on one fan's affection. A pitch invader ran on to the Ibrox turf and leapt on the prostrate Rooney, locking him in an unbreakable embrace not seen on the field of play since Terry Phelan held on to Ray Houghton for dear life at the Giants Stadium in 1994.

It is, of course, going to take a lot more than a mediocre performance and one conversion from 12 yards to win over the majority of the United faithful.

The expression of his desire to leave the club will not be easily forgotten, not least for the way it highlighted the very real problems the club can expect to have in competing financially with their rivals as long as the Glazers are in charge.

At least Rooney is aware enough to reference the fact that he has plenty of work to do if he is going to win back the hearts and minds of United's fans.

"Not all the fans are going to want to be singing my name all the time and I fully accept that," he said. "But I have to go out and prove to the fans I am here to stay and I want to work.

"Only I can say how I feel, and I know 100 per cent it was nothing to do with money."
In purely footballing terms, a return of just two goals from eight games so far this season - both penalties - is a poor one.

Rooney now has three matches against teams in the bottom half of the table - Blackburn, West Ham and Blackpool - before a trio of fixtures versus top opposition, in Valencia, Arsenal and Chelsea give way to the Christmas period. 

Once he has got through those games, we will know a lot more about the effect of Rooney's hiatus."

Premier League - Papers: Why Wilkins was axed

"Former Chelsea assistant manager Ray Wilkins was given his marching orders at Stamford Bridge following a blazing row with the club's top brass, according to this morning's papers.

The Daily Express reports that the former England midfielder argued during the summer with Roman Abramovich, and had a further furious bust-up with chief executive Ron Gourlay just two weeks before he was told his contract was not being renewed.

Apparently, the row with Gourlay came over the use of substitutes; Wilkins is now suing Chelsea for unfair dismissal.

The Champions League victories by Tottenham and Manchester United take up plenty of column inches in this morning's papers - and if all you'd seen were the back pages you'd have thought that Wayne Rooney had taken on Rangers all by himself and still won 10-0

"GeROOnimo," blasts the back page headline in the Daily Mirror, while by The Sun's inside headline is "Och aye the Roo - Life's sweet as Wayne sinks Scots". All good fun - though not exactly representative of a tight match in which United failed to impress and were rescued by the, admittedly, excellent Rooney spot kick.
Spurs, meanwhile, were impressive in beating a weakened Werder Bremen, and the papers heap praise on them. "Everyone will fear us now," claims the Daily Express, with the Daily Mirror claiming that, "Spurs are on their way to Wembley." Presumably, they're not referring to a potential FA Cup semi-final against one of their London neighbours.

Elsewhere, Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce has apparently been told by the club's new owners to make his side play more entertaining football, according to The Sun.

Venky's chairwoman Anuradha Desai seems unaware that her request is a bit like asking the Pope to be a bit less religious, or suggesting to Ferrari engineers that they think about fuel economy a bit more. Then again, she did betray her knowledge of football by saying that Blackburn

"should go up in the rankings"

 - but, in the century which saw McDonalds start selling salads, anything can happen.

Desai - and Allardyce - will both be full of Christmas cheer if the top transfer rumour of the day comes off: former Blackburn striker Roque Santa Cruz could be on his way back to Ewood Park for £4 million in January, according to The Sun. That's £13m less than the sum they sold him to Manchester City for under two years ago.

Chelsea's young star Daniel Sturridge could be set for a surprise loan move to Swansea, according to the Daily Mirror.

The Swans had originally asked about an emergency loan earlier this week, but Brendan Rodgers is apparently now looking for a longer loan deal, as of January.

And finally, the Daily Record reports that the Scottish refereeing saga is set for a few twists today: the paper reports that refs will vote not to back down on their strike threat - but also claim that the Dutch FA have agreed to provide all the officials required to enable this weekend's fixtures to go ahead."

Pupils 'taught to carry out Sharia punishments'

"Pupils at Islamic schools across the country are being taught to chop off a criminal's hand and that Jews are conspiring to take over the world, a BBC investigation claimed on Monday.

"Up to 5,000 pupils aged between six and 18 are being taught Sharia law punishments using "weekend-school" text-books which claim those who do not believe in Islam will be subjected to "hellfire" in death, the Panorama programme said.

A text book for 15-year-olds advises: "For thieves their hands will be cut off for a first offence, and their foot for a subsequent offence."

"The specified punishment of the thief is cutting off his right hand at the wrist. Then it is cauterised to prevent him from bleeding to death," it added.

Young pupils are warned that the punishment for engaging in homosexual acts is death by stoning, burning with fire or throwing off a cliff and that the "main goal" of the Jews is to "have control over the world and its resources."

The schools are part of the

"Saudi Students Clubs and Schools in the UK and Ireland"

 organisation. The BBC investigation claimed that one school in London is owned by the Saudi government.

Education Minister Michael Gove told the BBC programme: "I have no desire or wish to intervene in the decisions that the Saudi government makes in its own education system.

"But I'm clear that we cannot have anti-Semitic material of any kind being used in English schools. Ofsted (Britain's education watchdog) will be reporting to me shortly.""

Potter breaks UK box office records

"The latest 'Harry Potter' film demolished UK box office records over the weekend.

'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' took an estimated £18.3 million, easily beating the previous most successful box office opening - 'Quantum of Solace's £15.4 million in 2008.

The penultimate chapter in the highest-grossing series of all time enjoyed huge success in the US as well, taking an estimated $125 million.

President of Warner Bros Entertainment UK Josh Berger said, "The opening of the film has become an extraordinary worldwide event.

"These remarkable box office numbers are a testament to the talents of the filmmakers, cast and to the vision of J.K. Rowling."

And with the final part slated for release next July, it wouldn't be surprise if the teen wizard bowed out with another record-breaking box office bang."

Kabul 'safe as London or Glasgow'

"Nato's top civilian representative in Afghanistan has claimed that the war-torn country's capital is safer for children than London, Glasgow or New York.

Senior Civilian Representative for Nato in Afghanistan, Mark Sedwill, said despite the danger of unexploded bombs, Kabul was less dangerous than some of its counterparts in the West.

He told CBBC Newsround: "Here and in Kabul and the other big cities (in Afghanistan) actually there are very few of those bombs. The children are probably safer here than they would be in London, New York or Glasgow or many other cities."

He continued: "Most children can go about their lives in safety. It's a very family orientated society. So it is a little bit like a city of villages."

Kabul has born the brunt of the long-running war and although the security situation there has improved of late it is still deemed a dangerous place to live.

Sohrad, a 16 year old student told Newsround:

"Because of explosions happening in the city it is frightening when we come to school. We are afraid of explosions in the school."

Manija an 11-year-old girl, also from Kabul, said:

"When there are explosions I get sad because people are dying but the next day when they are living a normal life and celebrating I get happy."

A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said Mr Sedwill was "wrong" to include Glasgow in his comments. He said: "Of course we can understand that it's very important to reassure children in Afghanistan about their safety but I think Mr Sedwill has got it wrong here. This comparison will simply lead people in Glasgow, London and New York to pull out the statistics showing how very wrong he is and his, very important, the message to the people of Afghanistan will be lost."

Justin Forsyth, chief executive of Save the Children, said: "It is wrong and misleading to say that children in Kabul are safer than those living in Glasgow, London or New York. Afghanistan is the worst place on earth to be born a child - one in four children living there will die before they reach the age of five.

"We should be listening to what children in Afghanistan are saying. Last year was the deadliest for children since late 2001, with more than a thousand killed because of the conflict. But it's not just about the bombs. A staggering 850 children die every day, many from easily preventable diseases such as diarrhoea or pneumonia, or because they are malnourished.""

'Deathly Hallows' leaked onto web

"Warner Bros are fuming after the opening 36 minutes of the latest Harry Potter movie was leaked onto the internet.

The opening half an hour of 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1' was uploaded onto a file sharing website on Tuesday night. It's believed the quality is of a high standard.

In a statement, Warner Bros said the first 36 minutes were "stolen and illegally posted on the internet. This constitutes a serious breach of copyright violation and theft of Warner Bros. property.

"We are working actively to restrict and/or remove copies that may be available. Also, we are vigorously investigating this matter and will prosecute those involved to the full extent of the law."

It's not the first time a high quality version of a new film has been leaked onto the internet before its big screen release.

Bosses of last year's 'Wolverine' movie were up in arms after a studio quality version was uploaded weeks before it opened.

Despite the leak, industry experts are predicting the penultimate chapter in the hugely successful film series will have its biggest opening weekend yet, and is highly likely to join that exclusive box office group - the $1 Billion club.

Other 'members' include 'The Dark Knight', 'Toy Story 3', 'Titanic' and 'Avatar'."

Children see 'Saw 3D' by mistake

"Families taking their children to see animated hit 'Megamind' in a US cinema were given a nasty shock when 'Saw 3D' was accidentally screened instead.
A theatre in Massachusetts unfortunately played the brutal horror film instead of the animated adventure, leaving kids screaming at the screen. The children were told to cover their eyes as cinema bosses tried to correct their mistake.

It took several minutes before the right film was shown, and so the children would have seen graphic images of a man with his foot cut off, and a woman killed by a buzz saw.
 
An upset father told WHDH of his traumatised son, "He came and slept with us and we thought we had gotten past that years ago. He said that he had a few nightmares."

Free tickets were handed out by red-faced cinema employees as compensation."