Gallagher hurt after stage attack

Oasis star Noel Gallagher was admitted to hospital after being pushed over during the band’s set at the V Festival in Toronto, Canada on Sunday.

According to the band’s website, the star “fell heavily onto his monitor speakers”. He may have fractured his rib and sustained ligament damage.

The 40-year-old was playing guitar during a performance of Morning Glory when a stage invader pushed him over.

Oasis have hinted that a gig on Tuesday may be canceled as a result.

Fans have been asked to keep checking the band’s website for updates on the show, which is due to take place in London, Ontario.

Gallagher’s attacker was hauled to the ground by security guards. The guitarist’s younger brother Liam, who was singing, had to be restrained from retaliating.

The incident was captured on video by a fan in the audience and posted on the YouTube website.

Oasis left the stage immediately after the attack, but the show resumed a few minutes later.

Gallagher’s assailant was detained in police custody and will be charged with assault, according to the statement on Oasis’ website.

The festival gig came as the band prepare to complete their North American tour, which ends in New York on Friday.

Gallagher has yet to comment on the incident on the blog which he has been updating throughout the tour.

Bush backs McCain for president

President George W Bush has praised John McCain’s service and leadership in a speech to the Republican convention.

Speaking via video-link from the White House, he told delegates in St Paul, Minnesota, that Mr McCain was “a great American and the next president”.

Mr McCain is due to be nominated on Thursday as the party’s presidential candidate for November’s election.

The main talking point so far has been the news that the teenage daughter of Mr McCain’s running mate is pregnant.

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, chosen as the vice-presidential nominee last week, announced on Monday that her 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, would have the baby and marry her boyfriend.

In his eight-minute address, Mr Bush described Mr McCain as a president ready to make the tough decisions needed “in a dangerous world”.

John McCain’s life is a story of service above self President George W Bush

“John McCain’s life has prepared him to make those choices. He is ready to lead this nation,” Mr Bush said.

He also spoke of Mr McCain’s life as “a story of service above self” and emphasized the “independence and character” he showed in backing the administration’s “surge” strategy of pouring more forces into Iraq.

Former Senator Fred Thompson, who ran against Mr McCain in the party’s primaries, opened a lively speech with criticism of the Democrats and the media for their scrutiny of Mrs Palin and her family.

He also spoke of Mr McCain’s military service, his courage while a prisoner of war in Vietnam and his commitment to reform in Washington.

Mr Thompson went on to attack the Democrats and their record since taking control of Congress in the 2006 mid-term elections.

Independent Senator Joe Lieberman, a former Democrat who was Al Gore’s running mate in 2000, spoke of Mr McCain as “the best choice to bring our country together and lead our country forward”.

Gustav appeal

Most of the first day’s political events were suspended out of respect for communities affected by Hurricane Gustav.

Instead, Mr McCain’s wife, Cindy, and First Lady Laura Bush made calls to support those under threat.

Mrs Bush told delegates that such events transcended party politics and reminded people that they were Americans first.

Gustav was downgraded to a tropical storm after making landfall on Monday west of New Orleans, where hundreds of thousands of people had been evacuated.

The storm came three years after Hurricane Katrina struck, killing more than 1,800 people and resulting in huge damage to the city and its surrounding area. President Bush was strongly criticised over his handling of the crisis.

Palin talking point

The Republican Party convention is now getting down to work after the uncertainty brought on by Hurricane Gustav.

Tuesday’s events are focusing on Mr McCain, a concentrated piece of political image building with a keynote speech from Joe Lieberman, the Democrat-turned-independent senator, who has decided to support the party’s candidate, our correspondent says.

Sarah Palin’s announcement has so far overshadowed the convention

President Bush cancelled his planned opening night speech amid concerns that overt political campaigning would play badly with voters at a time of potential crisis.

But many Republicans will be glad he is not here in St Paul in person, our correspondent says, and much of this week will be about defining Mr McCain as very different to his unpopular predecessor.

Meanwhile, media attention has continued to focus on Mrs Palin, who is facing an ethics investigation in her home state and whose daughter’s pregnancy made headlines on Monday.

The Associated Press reported on Tuesday that Bristol’s boyfriend, named as 18-year-old Levi Johnston, would be joining the Palin family at the convention in Minnesota.

The AP quotes Mr Johnston’s mother, Sherry, as saying he had been put under no pressure to marry and that the pair had been planning to wed before they knew she was pregnant.

Our correspondent says Mrs Palin’s selection as vice-presidential candidate has caused great excitement among social conservatives and evangelical Christians here.

But across the broader Republican Party there seems to be some unease – she is an unknown quantity, and when she is finally brought out on to the convention stage on Wednesday, many McCain supporters will be crossing their fingers and hoping she performs, he adds.

The 72-year-old Arizona senator is expected to formally accept his candidacy in a prime-time speech on Thursday evening.

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Morgan Freeman in ‘good spirits’

Courtesy BBC

Morgan Freeman received an Oscar for Million Dollar Baby in 2005

Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman is in “good spirits” after being injured in a serious car accident near his Mississippi home.

Mr Freeman’s spokeswoman says he has a broken arm, broken elbow and minor shoulder damage.

She said the 71-year-old Dark Knight star is expected to undergo surgery and to make a good recovery.

The accident happened shortly before midnight on Sunday outside Charleston in the Mississippi Delta.

Mr Freeman’s car ran off the side of the road and overturned several times, landing upright in a ditch.

Mr Freeman – who had been driving the car – and a female passenger were airlifted to Memphis’s Regional Medical Center, about 90 miles (145km) north of where the accident occurred in Tallahatchie County.

“He is having a little bit of surgery this afternoon or tomorrow to help correct the damage,” his spokeswoman Donna Lee said. “He says he’ll be OK and is looking forward to a full recovery,” she added.

Earlier a spokesman at the hospital said the actor was in a “serious” condition.

Neither Lee nor the hospital had information about the condition of the woman, Demaris Meter of Memphis.

‘No freebies’

Both passengers had been wearing seatbelts at the time of the accident, said Mississippi Highway Patrol Sergeant Ben Williams.

FREEMAN FACTS Born 1 June 1937, in Memphis, Tennessee He spent several years in the US Air Force as a mechanic Freeman started acting in the 1960s, appearing a couple of off-Broadway shows His first credited film appearance was in 1971’s Who Says I Can’t Ride a Rainbow! Freeman starred in some of the biggest films of the 1990s, including The Shawshank Redemption, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Se7en, and Deep Impact He won an Oscar in 2005 for the film Million Dollar Baby Freeman plays Lucius Fox in this summer’s blockbuster, The Dark Knight (pictured)

“There’s no indication that either alcohol or drugs were involved,” he added. He said it was possible that the actor had fallen asleep at the wheel.

Mr Freeman was conscious and talking at the scene, he said.

There were “no other vehicles or pedestrians involved”, he added.

An investigation into the accident is currently under way.

Bill Rogers, who saw the accident happen and was first on the scene, told BBC 5 Live that driving conditions on Sunday night were difficult.

“We had a rain storm that had just passed and so the highway was wet,” he said. “We were standing in water in the ditch.”

“When he became conscious Mr Freeman began asking the same questions over and over again: ‘Was I speeding, can I lay on the ground? Is everybody okay?'” Mr Rogers added.

Clay McFerrin, editor of local newspaper the Sun-Sentinel, told the Associated Press news agency the actor later began “joking with some of the rescue workers.”

When one person tried to take a photo with a mobile phone, Mr Freeman joked, “no freebies, no freebies,” Mr McFerrin said.

Mechanic

Morgan Freeman is one of Hollywood’s best loved and busiest actors, says the BBC’s Rajesh Mirchandani in Los Angeles.