Fergie confirms Rooney wants out

Time to move on? ... Wayne Rooney with Sir Alex Ferguson. Source: Jon Super / AAP

Wayne Rooney took some of the gloss off Alex Ferguson's Old Trafford farewell party after the United manager confirmed the striker has asked to leave the club for the second time in three years.

Ferguson, who retires at the end of the season, dropped Rooney for the 2-1 win over Swansea City in his final home game, and said the England international had not been in the right frame of mind to play.

		P	W	D	L	GD	Pts
1	Man United	37	28	4	5	43	88
2	Man City	36	22	9	5	31	75
3	Chelsea	37	21	9	7	35	72
4	Tottenham	37	20	9	8	19	69
5	Arsenal	36	19	10	7	31	67
6	Everton	37	16	15	6	16	63
7	Liverpool	37	15	13	9	27	58
8	West Brom	37	14	6	17	-4	48
9	Swansea	37	11	13	13	-1	46
10	West Ham	37	11	10	16	-10	43
11	Stoke	37	9	14	14	-11	41
12	Norwich	37	9	14	14	-18	41
13	Newcastle	37	11	8	18	-22	41
14	Southampton	37	9	13	15	-11	40
15	Fulham	37	10	10	17	-13	40
16	Aston Villa	37	10	10	17	-22	40
17	Sunderland	37	9	12	16	-12	39
18	Wigan	36	9	8	19	-23	35
19	Reading	36	6	10	20	-26	28
20	QPR	37	4	13	20	-29	25

"I don't think Wayne was keen to play because he's asked for a transfer and he wants to think it through in his mind. I think that's a good idea,'' said Ferguson.

"We're not going to let him go. I think maybe he's a little bit frustrated that he's been taken off once or twice in the last few weeks.''

Asked to confirm that Rooney had submitted a transfer request, Ferguson said: "Yes, he's asked, yeah.''

"We have refused it. I think he should go away and think it over again. He wasn't happy about being taken off a few times this season, but a Wayne Rooney in top form wouldn't be taken off.''

Asked if Rooney would stay at the club, Ferguson said: "It's not my decision now.''

Rooney, 27, first asked to leave United in 2010, when he accused the club of failing to match his ambitions, only to change his mind and sign a new five-year contract.

Although he was not included in United's match-day squad, he took part in the post-match celebrations after the squad were presented with the Premier League trophy and was also seen to share a brief on-pitch embrace with Ferguson.

Speculation about his future was sparked after he was left out of the United starting XI for the crucial Champions League last 16 home game against Real Madrid in March, with England teammate Danny Welbeck playing in his place.

He has also been obliged to play in an unfamiliar midfield role in recent weeks, due to top scorer Robin van Persie's status as the club's number-one striker.

Rumours that Rooney had asked to leave the club again first emerged shortly after Ferguson announced last week that he was leaving Old Trafford after a record-breaking 26-and-a-half-year spell in which he has won 38 trophies.

Ferguson's successor, David Moyes, gave Rooney his professional debut at the age of 16 when he was at Everton.

Rooney joined United in a $A41.81 million transfer two years later and although Moyes sued him over remarks that appeared in the player's autobiography in 2006, the pair later reconciled.

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Lamps wants Jose back at Chelsea

Backing ... Frank Lampard wants the Special One back managing at Stamford Bridge. Source: Sang Tan / AAP

Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard welcomed speculation linking former manager Jose Mourinho with a return to Stamford Bridge and said it would be a positive move for the club.

Lampard was one of Mourinho's key players during the Portuguese coach's three-year spell at Chelsea, which came to an abrupt end in September 2007 when the manager left the club.

With Chelsea interim manager Rafael Benitez due to leave at the end of the season, Mourinho has been strongly linked with a return from Real Madrid, and Lampard says he would welcome the sight of his old mentor back at the club.

"I think it would be a great thing for the club," the England midfielder said.

"He is a successful manager and he would be a great thing for any club.

"It's hard to comment with the season still ongoing and with the manager not here or chosen yet. It would be easy to speculate.

"I have seen speculation before and a completely different manager walks through the door, so you never know on that front. But he is certainly one of the greatest if not the greatest manager in world football."

Lampard's own future remains unclear, as his contract is due to expire at the end of the Barclays Premier League season and the 34-year-old is yet to agree a new deal.

"I've always said that I wanted to spend all of my career here, so I think everyone knows that," Lampard said.

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NO AMERICAN BURIAL? Boston Bomber's Mom Wants Body Back in Russia

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An employee at the funeral home trying to find a burial site for the body of Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev tells Fox News that his mother has expressed interest in sending it back to Russia, as cemeteries are refusing to accept the remains.

Joseph Gliniecki, of Graham Putnam & Mahoney Funeral Parlors, said Monday that the funeral home is “exploring that as an option" and would have to file necessary paperwork with the Russian Embassy in the U.S.

He said the decision on the body will be up to the family, but added that the mother would like to send it back to Russia for burial “if at all possible.”

"Everyone wants him sent back to Russia," said Peter Stefan, the director of the home, according to NBC News.

Stefan pledged to ask the city of Cambridge to allow him to be buried in a city-owned cemetery because the brothers lived in Cambridge for the last decade.

But Cambridge City Manager Robert Healy said he is urging Tsarnaev's family not to make the request.

"The difficult and stressful efforts of the citizens of the City of Cambridge to return to a peaceful life would be adversely impacted by the turmoil, protests and widespread media presence at such an interment," Healy said in a statement Sunday.

Stefan said he hasn't been able to find a cemetery in Massachusetts willing to accept the remains of Tamerlan, who was killed following a gunbattle with police four days after the bombings. He said if Cambridge turns him down, he will seek help from state officials. Stefan said Monday that he is looking outside of Massachusetts and does not think Russia will take the body.

The Tsarnaev brothers are accused of carrying out the Boston bombings using pressure cookers packed with explosives, nails, ball bearings and metal shards. The attack killed three people and injured more than 260 others near the marathon's finish line.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was captured and remains in a prison hospital. He has been charged with using a weapon of mass destruction and faces a potential death sentence if convicted.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev's uncle, Ruslan Tsarni, of Montgomery Village, Md., and three of his friends met with Stefan on Sunday to wash and shroud Tsarnaev's body according to Muslim tradition.

Tsarni told reporters that he is arranging for Tsarnaev's burial because religion and tradition call for his nephew to be buried. He would like him buried in Massachusetts because he's lived in the state for the last decade, he said.

"I'm dealing with logistics. A dead person must be buried," he said.

He said he was grateful to Stefan for agreeing to arrange the burial and to his friends for accompanying him to Massachusetts to aid with the funeral.

"These are my friends who feel for me ... as I do understand no one wants to associate their names with such evil events," he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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FDA wants more info on inhaled migraine drug

Published April 16, 2013

Associated Press

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Allergan Inc. said Tuesday that the Food and Drug Administration isn't ready to approve its inhaled migraine treatment Levadex.

Allergan said the FDA is concerned about elements of the manufacturing process for Levadex. The company said it is already responding to those concerns because the FDA had identified them in previous discussions. In March 2012, the FDA said it could not approve Levadex until the concerns related to manufacturing and other issues were addressed.

Allergan has since bought a company that was involved in the manufacturing process, and it also plans to make some minor changes to the product label.

The company is working to address all of the FDA's concerns and said the agency will next take action by year-end.

Allergan said the FDA's decision does not affect its annual revenue guidance because it had only expected minimal sales of Levadex this year even if it had been approved on time.

Levadex is intended to treat migraine headaches in adults. Allergan acquired the drug candidate in March when it bought MAP Pharmaceuticals for $958 million. The companies had agreed to collaborate on the drug in 2011. 

Allergan makes Botox, which is most famously used for removing wrinkles on the forehead, but is also approved to treat migraines and other conditions. The company said it hopes to use Levadex as a complementary treatment for migraines.

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$300M IN SCRAP METAL:Navy Wants Answers After Minesweeper Hits Reef

The commanding officer and three crewmembers aboard a U.S. Navy minesweeper have been relived of their duties amid an investigation into how the $300 million ship got stuck on a reef near the Philippines and had to be scuttled.

The USS Guardian became stuck on a reef in the Tubbataha National Marine Park, a World Heritage Site in the Sulu Sea some 400 miles southeast of Manila in January.

The Navy said in a statement that the officer and crewmembers were relieved because the ship's grounding did not comply with its navigation procedures and accountability standards.

Last week, the Navy chopped the ship up into sections and removed it, turning a $300 million ship into scrap metal.

“We're paid to make sure that both the crew and that ship comes through harm’s way alright,” said Joe Sestak, a former Democrat Congressman from Pennsylvania and retired three-star admiral. “A mistake was made here.”

On Sunday, workers removed the last major part of the ship, and experts there are now assessing possible damage to the reef. Meanwhile, Navy investigators want to know what went wrong on Jan. 17. Initially the ship sustained minor damage, but before it could be towed off the reef, waves pushed the hull further onto the coral.

The guardian is one of only eight sweepers in the U.S. fleet. So far, the Navy blames faulty navigational maps for causing the ship to run aground. Its captain, Mark Rice, took command of the ship just three months before the accident.

The doomed ship's parts are being transported to a Navy facility in Sasebo, Japan, to determine which ones can be reused and which will be junked, Philippine coast guard Commodore Enrico Efren Evangelista said.

An initial estimate showed about 4,780 square yards of coral reef were damaged by the ship grounding, according to Tubbataha park superintendent Angelique Songco. The U.S. could be facing a fine of more than $2 million.

Asked if the Philippine government would press charges against U.S. Navy officials, Philippine Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr., a spokesman for President Benigno Aquino III, did not reply directly, but said, "There must be accountability and we will enforce our existing laws."

The warship's removal closes an embarrassing episode as Washington reasserts its presence in Asia amid China's rise. The Navy and the U.S. ambassador to Manila, Harry Thomas, have both apologized for the grounding and promised to cooperate with America's longtime Asian ally.

"As we have stated in the past, we regret this incident and the United States is prepared to pay compensation for the damage to the reef," the U.S. Embassy said in a statement, adding that it was cooperating with a Philippine government investigation of the incident.

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FOREIGN RELATIONS: Dennis Rodman: Kim Jong Un Wants Obama to Call

Former NBA star and provocateur Dennis Rodman delivered a message Sunday from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to President Obama: Call me.

Rodman, who has made headlines for several days as a result of his trip to North Korea with the Harlem Globetrotters, told ABC’s “This Week” that the 28-year-old leader “doesn’t want to do war.”

Rodman is the highest-profile American to meet Kim since he took power in December 2011 after his father's death.

He did the interview in the network’s New York studio dressed in sunglasses and a sports coat emblazoned with images of U.S. dollar bills.

The trip took place amid strained ties between the United States and North Korea over that country’s recent underground nuclear test.

The State Department on Friday distanced itself from Rodman's visit.

Rodman also defended the suggestion that he’s putting out propaganda and attempted to explain why he earlier called Kim "an awesome guy,” despite widespread reports about the country’s imprisoning citizens and other human rights violations.

“I don’t condone that,” Rodman said. “He’s not his father. He’s not his grandfather.”

Rodman said when Kim said he loved basketball, he said: "Obama loves basketball. Let's start there" as a way to warm up relations between the countries.

The State Department also has criticized North Korea for "wining and dining" Rodman while its own people go hungry.

Rodman said he was aware of North Korea's human rights record, which the State Department has characterized as one of the worst in the world, but said he wasn't apologizing for Kim.

Basketball is popular in North Korea, and an exhibition game Thursday with two Americans playing on each team alongside North Koreans ended in a 110-110 tie. Following the game Kim threw an "epic feast" for the group, plying them with food and drinks and making round after round of toasts.

Rodman said he planned to go back to North Korea to "find out more what's really going on."

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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