City news in 250 words

OVER a thousand Chinese students staged a protest outside the BBC on Saturday over the brpadcasters coverage of the situation in Tibet. Wearing t-shirts with the slogan 'I love China', the students delivered a letter to the director general, Mark Thompson asking for the voice of the Chinese community in Manchester to be heard instead if only covering the view of the Tibetan government and the Western petitions.

BRITISH AIRWAYS is suspending flights from Manchester to New York. The flights will be transferred to Gatwick because the Manchester service has reportedly been losing money for some time. The service, which stops in October, has angered Mancunian business people and politicians who have now slated the airline as 'London Airways not British Airways'.

DAME EILEEN ATKINS scooped the Best Actress award at last night's Baftas at the London Palladium. The actress, 73, won the prize for her role in Cranford, the BBC One TV series based on three novels by Knutsford-raised Elizabeth Gaskell, who later lived in Longsight. The series tells the story of Knutsford, against the backdrop of the impending arrival of the Manchester railway.

MANCHESTER UNITED secured a point in the match against Blackburn Rovers at the weekend. Boss, Sir Alex Ferguson was happy with his teams persistant attitude during the match at Ewood Park. He told MUTV: “ The tenacity and passion we showed to win the game was fantastic.We'd rather have had the three points, but we've rescued a point yet again. So that's very positive.”