Car Chase Woman 'Had Postnatal Depression'

Authorities are investigating what led a woman with a toddler in her car to ram into a White House barrier and lead police on a high-speed chase to Capitol Hill.

The dramatic chase, which forced a brief lockdown of the Capitol and stirred panic among tourists, ended with the woman shot dead by police.

The driver was identified by law enforcement officials as Miriam Carey, of Stamford, Connecticut, it was widely reported in the US media.

The car chase forced a lockdown of the US Capitol

She was a 34-year-old dental hygienist and the mother of a young girl, the reports said.

Hours after the chase, the FBI and other agencies conducted a search of Carey's condominium building in Stamford. 

ABC said Carey suffered from postnatal depression after the birth of her daughter.

The suspect was reportedly a dental hygienist. Pic: Facebook

"She had post-partum depression after having the baby" last August, the woman's mother, Idella Carey, told ABC.

"A few months later, she got sick. She was depressed ... She was hospitalised."

The mother said Carey had "no history of violence" and she did not know why her daughter was in Washington, DC.

Other reports suggest that she had a history of mental health issues.

A federal law enforcement official told the Associated Press that Carey was delusional and believed President Barack Obama was communicating with her.

The official, who was briefed about the investigation, spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorised to speak publicly about the ongoing probe.

The chase began shortly after 2pm on Thursday when a black Toyota Infiniti attempted to smash through a barricade close to the White House.

Video footage showed officers with guns drawn attempting to get the driver out of the vehicle.

But Carey spun the car around and sped away, knocking a law enforcement official.

The car raced up Pennsylvania Avenue toward the Capitol where Congress was in session.

A girl in the car was not hurt

Police chased and fired at the car, which came to a halt near the Capitol building, and she was shot dead.

By the end of the chase, two people were injured - a Secret Service member struck by the car outside the White House, and a Capitol Police officer whose vehicle hit a barricade during the chase.

A little girl who was in the suspect's car was not hurt. It was unclear if the child was the woman's daughter.

Officials said there appeared to be no direct link to terrorism and there was no indication that the woman was armed.

"This appears to be an isolated, singular matter," said Capitol Police Chief Kim Dine. "There is no nexus to terrorism."

Still, the high-speed chase rattled Washington two week after a gunman killed 12 people in a Navy Yard shooting.

Two law enforcement officials were injured

The House and Senate, where politicians were debating how to end a government shutdown, abruptly suspended business. 

Some politicians were told to shelter in place on the floor of the House. Outside, some tourists were frightened.

"I was just eating a hot dog over here and I heard about four or five gunshots, and then a swarm of police cars came in wailing their sirens," said Whit Dabney, a 13-year-old who was visiting Washington from Louisville, Kentucky.

People standing outside the Supreme Court across the street from Congress were hurried into the court building by authorities.

The White House was quickly locked down after the incident at Capitol Hill and the stretch of Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the compound was closed to pedestrians. Secret Service said the procedures were precautionary.

Police are trying to understand the motives behind Carey's gesture.

At her condo in Stamford, dozens of neighbours were forced to wait outside, as a bomb squad stood by.

Resident Eric Bredow, a banker, said police told him the suspect in the car chase was one of his neighbours.

"I see the door to my building open and the FBI bomb squad in front of it," he said.

Erin Jackson, 31, lived next door to Carey and said she doted on her young daughter, often taking the girl outside for picnics.

"She was pleasant. She was very happy with her daughter, very proud of her daughter," she said.

"I just never would have anticipated this in a million years."

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Calais Ferry: Dozens Of Syrians In Stand-Off

More than 60 Syrians who want to enter the UK are in a stand-off with French police at the Calais ferry terminal.

The group have occupied a footbridge at the terminal in northern France since Wednesday, and today police moved in to clear them.

Two of the Syrians have climbed on to the ferry terminal roof and are threatening to jump off if their demands are not met. Twenty of the group are on hunger strike, according to reports.

France has offered the migrants the right to seek asylum. But the group said they wanted to start a new life in Britain and were treated "worse than animals" in France.

Two Syrians are threatening to jump off a ferry building if police approach

Around 50 riot police moved in early this morning to try and clear the refugees from the footbridge.

But they backed off when two of them climbed on top of a nearby building and threatened to jump off if officers approached.

Denis Robin, the prefect of the Pas-de-Calais region, then went to the site and offered the Syrians, who are currently illegal immigrants, the right to asylum.

"Today, the Syrians present here are caught in a stalemate. What we can do is to offer them a status on French territory ... in other words to make a request for asylum," he told reporters.

He said each demand for asylum had "95% chances of success", adding that he was in contact with the British Embassy in Paris.

"We cannot take any decision on their access to Britain," Mr Robin said. "I am not persuading them to settle in France but trying to legalise their status."

The group hopes to make a new life in Britain

French foreign minister Laurent Fabius has pledged to fast-track the asylum applications of Syrians fleeing the civil war.

But the refugees, most of whom arrived in Calais a month ago, have been critical of their treatment.

"We thought that France was the country where human rights are respected," said Tarik, a 19-year-old engineering student from the southern Syrian city of Deraa.

"But we live outside like dogs, hunted down by the police, we see we are not welcome, how can we seek asylum here?"

He said he was convinced he would find "more humanity" in Britain and eventually bring over his mother and younger brothers currently living in Egypt.

Ali, 38, said that although President Francois Hollande had taken a strong stand against President Bashar al Assad's regime for allegedly using chemical weapons, the French were not welcoming at all.

"Why does [Mr Hollande] say one thing and the police another?" he said, adding that he had spent £8,700 (€9,500) to come to a country where the "President said 'we must help Syrians'".

"Here even animals are better treated than us," he said.

Some of the Syrians are on hunger strike

The group has written a letter to British Home Secretary Theresa May demanding to speak to an official from her department.

"We have the right to claim asylum in England, but how do we get there? There is not a legal way to cross," they wrote.

"David Cameron has pledged to 'lead the world' on aid for Syrian  refugees. The situation of the Syrians protesting in the port of Calais offers a perfect opportunity to support Syrian refugees at our borders, turning this rhetoric into action.

"Failure to do so will open the Government to accusations of hypocrisy."

A UK Border Force spokesperson told Sky News: "The responsibility for legal and illegal migration in France is the responsibility of the French authorities.

"We work very closely on matters of border security with the French authorities to maintain the integrity of the controls."

The UN refugee agency has said 17 countries, including France, have agreed to receive quotas of refugees fleeing the conflict in Syria.

France has had only 850 registered demands for asylum from Syrians since the start of this year, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said late last month.

A P&O spokesman told Sky News: "The protest is not disrupting any services out of Calais."

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China Couple Speak Of 'Forced Abortion'

By Mark Stone, Asia Correspondent

A couple have told Sky News how they were physically forced into an abortion by the Chinese authorities, three months before their child was due to be born.

At 4am last Friday, a group of 20 officials from the Shandong Province Family Planning Commission forced their way into the home of Zhou Guoqiang and his wife Liu Xinwen.

The officials kicked down the door of the family's home. Mr Zhou was held down while his wife was pulled from her bed and taken away.

Liu Xinwen, 33, was taken to the People's Hospital of Fangzi District in Weifang City where she was injected with an abortion-inducing drug.

Liu Xinwen says she was forcibly removed from her bed

Her baby, which she would later discover was a boy, died a day later in her womb. It took a further day for the foetus to be delivered.

Her husband was not told where she had been taken. It took him five hours to find her at the hospital. By then, the injection had been given.

Sky News met the couple six days later. Mr Zhou had invited us to the family's modest home in a rural corner of the province to hear their story.

We found his wife lying in the bed she had been taken from a week earlier. She was sobbing quietly.

"I miss him." she said.

An image of Liu Xinwen in hospital

"I didn't get to see him. I would be even more upset if I had seen him.

"Baby, I'm sorry. We were not meant to be. You rest in peace in heaven. We will pray for you. We hope your next life is better."  

Her heartbreak is the most brutal consequence of China's one-child policy.

The law is designed to keep the country's population in check. It prevents couples from having more than one child with a few exceptions in some rural provinces.

The policy is supposed to be enforced through financial penalties and not forced abortions. But in some provinces, over-zealous local officials, keen to keep within their birth quotas, break the law and terminate pregnancies by force.

"They don't have any humanity. They are not humans." Liu Xinwen said.

"They must have children and parents too. But they don't have any conscience. This is how China is."

Mr Zhou told how the officials held him down on the sofa while others took his wife away. In all, there were 16 male officials and four females.

We then sit down to look at photos he had taken in the hospital room. They are almost indescribably graphic.

One photograph shows Liu Xinwen lying on the bed. Beside her, on the floor, is a bucket. Inside is her aborted child.

Several other images show the foetus. It is fully formed.

Mr Zhou broke down after discussing the abortion

"His nose, ears, mouth are all there." Mr Zhou said.

"It is a child that would have lived if not for the forced abortion. It's because of their cruelty. Look, his hand is very obvious."

Mr Zhou broke down as he recalled the moment he arrived in the hospital, just minutes after the injection had been administered.

"My wife was lying in bed. I asked her: 'Have you been injected?' She said 'yes'. I asked if the baby was still moving. She said 'not much'.

"After that, I didn't want my wife to see my crying. I went outside. I cried, but only for a while because I needed to return to comfort her. She was very sad. She cried, day and night.

"Every time I heard babies' voices from other wards, I could hardly control myself. I had to go out. I have lost my child. I am speechless, words can't describe my feelings."

A footprint on the front door of the couple's home

He claimed that his wife was forced to sign papers which said she had agreed to the abortion.

When she initially refused, he said they told her that if she did not sign the papers, they would arrest her husband and she would have nothing. We have not been able to independently verify this.

The couple already have one son. Zhou Junfeng is 10. As we talk to his parents, he runs around the house playing. He is oblivious to the grief around him.

After Zhou Junfeng was born his mother underwent a state-proscribed procedure to insert a contraceptive coil into her body.

She says that this "forced sterilisation" must have failed, allowing her to fall pregnant for a second time.

The couple had the option to tell the authorities about the pregnancy the moment they discovered it, four months after conception.

They decided not to come clean because they were concerned that an abortion may be forced on them.

Mr Zhou and his son cook together

Instead, they said they planned to tell the authorities after the birth and then offer to pay the fine. This is common in parts of China and is sometimes acceptable.

Mr Zhou offered to take us to the hospital to see the room where the abortion happened.

Inside the hospital, we saw the room which is part of a fully functioning maternity ward; it is not a backstreet abortion clinic.

We found just two members of staff. One refused to comment. The other, a young nurse, was reluctant and a little startled to find a foreign TV crew in her hospital. 

"I don't know if it's forced or not. And I don't know the reason for it," she said.

"This is a maternity ward; there are many reasons for abortions. I don't know the specific reason for this case and it's not my place to care."

Sky News has approached the Shandong Health and Family Planning Commission, the central government Family Planning Commission in Beijing and the Chinese Embassy in London for a response to this case.

At midday British time, the embassy told Sky News they were looking into the case and would provide a more detailed response later.

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Striker Gary Madine Jailed For Attacks

A Championship footballer has been jailed for 18 months after he was found guilty of two separate nightclub attacks.

Sheffield Wednesday striker Gary Madine, 23, who has a previous conviction for knocking a man out in a Carlisle pub, punched Wednesday fan Daniel Beresford in the Paris Bar in Sheffield city centre in February last year, breaking his nose.

Four weeks later, he punched bricklayer and Sheffield United fan Reece Hall in the city's Viper Room club, shattering his cheekbone.

He was jailed at Leeds Crown Court after being found guilty by a jury following a week-long trial last month.

Judge Rodney Jameson QC sentenced the footballer, who will now automatically be sacked by his club, to six months for the Actual Bodily Harm (ABH) on Mr Beresford, and 12 months for the offence of Grievous Bodily Harm (GBH) against Mr Hall.

Alison Dorrell, defending Madine - known by some Wednesday fans as Goal Machine - said he had thrown away his talent due to "drink, childish behaviour and a temper problem".

"He is not an asset to his club any more," she said, and added he would struggle to re-start his career after serving a prison sentence.

Judge Jameson said the assaults occurred when the footballer "lashed out" when drunk with "little, if any, thought for the consequences".

He said: "When sober there is no reason to suppose that you would misbehave but I have to sentence you for serious offences which reflect the other side of your character.

"The side which comes out when you are in drink, which causes unprovoked violence causing serious injuries to innocent members of the public."

The judge said Madine had chosen not to "suppress" that side of his character.

However, Judge Jameson said other professional footballers had rebuilt careers after serving time in jail and there was no reason why he could not.

Madine, who used to earn £5,000 a week, was also told that he would have to pay £1,500 in compensation to Mr Beresford and £4,200 court costs.

Ms Dorrell believed this would be difficult for the defendant, who has not been paid by the club since he was convicted last month.

She said was he struggling to pay a mortgage on the house where his family lived.

More follows...

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Knox Trial: Mobster Accuses Brother Of Murder

A transgender mafia convict has accused her own brother of the murder of British student Meredith Kercher at the retrial of Amanda Knox and her Italian ex-lover.

Jailed mobster Luciano Aviello, who told the court she wanted to be referred to as "Luciano Lucia", served time in prison with Knox's co-accused Raffaele Sollecito.

It is the second time she has taken the stand, having done so already at the original trial before retracting her testimony and being charged with perjury.

But giving evidence, Aviello, who has convictions for defamation, returned to her original accusation, claiming that her brother killed Meredith in the university town of Perugia in 2007, during a random burglary.

"My brother is the guilty one, not Amanda or Sollecito," said Aviello, who is still in prison for a separate case.

The testimony has already been widely dismissed as unreliable, and lawyers questioned why the appeal court judges had decided to re-hear it.

Kercher family lawyer Francesco Maresca says DNA tests could be critical

Meredith was found in a pool of blood in the house she shared with Knox on November 2, 2007. She had been stabbed, and experts said the murder had to have been carried out by more than one person.

Ivory Coast-born drifter Rudy Guede, who like Knox and Sollecito has always denied the murder, is the only person still in prison for the crime.

Neither Knox nor Sollecito is in court, although Sollecito's lawyer Giulia Bongiorno said he would address the court at an unspecified future date.

Knox and Sollecito served four years in prison before being acquitted on appeal in 2011, but earlier this year Italy's highest court dramatically ruled there should be a fresh trial for both of them.

Knox, 26, now a University of Washington student in Seattle, has insisted she will not return to Italy saying she had been depicted as "a sex fiend" and "a young, unscrupulous liar".

The prosecution has said that the murder was the result of "an erotic game that spun out of control" - a theory the supreme court suggested was valid, and asked the retrial to examine.

The court also decided that new DNA tests on a kitchen knife, believed by prosecutors to be the murder weapon, could be carried out.

Francesco Maresca, the Kercher family lawyer, said: "The court has to draw conclusions, but we can say that if genetic traces of the defendants or the victims were to be found on the weapon, we would have certainly made a step forward."

Luca Maori, Sollecito's lawyer, explained that "he is calm and he is waiting" and had avoided the trial "because the attention has to be focused on the trial. He wants to defend himself in the trial and not from the trial".

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Police Searching For Teen Discover Body

Police searching for missing 15-year-old Chloe Kinsella, who has not been seen for six days, have found a body.

The body was recovered at Brown's Quay in the Thomondgate area of Co Limerick and has been moved to Limerick University Hospital.

Police said the body had not yet been identified, however searches for the youngster are understood to have been stood down.

Chloe Kinsella has been missing for six days

Chloe has been missing from her home in Kenyon Avenue, Kileely, Limerick for almost a week.

Specially trained bloodhounds were brought in on Friday to help with the search.

Glen Barton, from Irish Search Dogs, said: "We are using trailing bloodhounds which can trace the last steps of missing people.

"We are also using air-scenting dogs."

The Limerick Leader reported that there were emotional scenes at a community centre in the city when family, friends and volunteers who had been helping with the search effort, heard the news.

Her uncle, Matthew Franklin, told the group: "Thanks for everything you did over the past week, it was hard but we all stuck together."

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Egypt Police Fire On Tahrir Square Protesters

At least one person has been killed after Egyptian riot police clashed with protesters trying to take control of Cairo's Tahrir Square.

The protester was shot dead after both the police and civilians, supporting the military, opened fire on Muslim Brotherhood supporters.

Troops sealed off Tahrir Square with tanks and barbed wire, diverting traffic from the central plaza as thousands of Mohamed Morsi supporters marched towards it.

Protesters eventually surrounded police and army troops guarding the square, initially prompting forces to fire volleys of tear gas.

Muslim Brotherhood supporters in Cairo's Rabaa al Adawiya Square

Reuters reported that an Egyptian army vehicle had later fired live rounds in the direction of Muslim Brotherhood supporters.

Civilians also clashed with pro-Morsi supporters - firing guns and throwing rocks. There were outbreaks of violence across the city.

Medical sources said one person had died from a gunshot wound, though it was unclear how he had been shot.

Across the country, similar clashes broke out. Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood is escalating protests to coincide with commemorations of Egypt's October 6 opening strike in the 1973 war with Israel.

Protesters chanted: "Down down with the murderer!", referring to Army Chief General Abdel-Fatah el Sissi, who forced Mr Morsi out of power.

Mr Morsi - leader of the Muslim Brotherhood - was ousted after millions took to the streets in the summer demanding he step down.

Earlier in the day, at least two Egyptian soldiers were killed in an attack by suspected militants on an army convoy east of Cairo.

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Killer Mum Claims Cash After 'Voodoo' Deaths

By Sky News US Team, in New York

A mentally disturbed mother who drowned her three young children in a bathtub is going to court to ask a judge for a portion of their $350,000 (£218,000) estate.

Leatrice Brewer drowned her three children - ages one, five and six - believing she was saving them from what she saw as the deadly effects of voodoo.

After the killings she tried to commit suicide twice.

The 33-year-old New York woman was found not guilty of the murders because of mental disease or defect.

Her attorneys now say she should not be subject to laws that bar convicts from profiting from their crimes.

Nassau County Surrogate's Court Judge Edward McCarty ruled on Thursday that Brewer will be taken from an upstate psychiatric facility to testify about her request next month.

Although the case would establish a precedent in New York if Brewer succeeds, she is not expected to see any money because of the $1.2m (£747,000) cost of the psychiatric counselling and other services she has received since her arrest, attorneys said.

Brewer admitted she drowned the children in the bathtub of her apartment in New Cassel, on Long Island about 20 miles east of New York City, in February 2008.

She later placed the children's bodies on a bed and tried to kill herself by swallowing a concoction of household cleaning chemicals.

When that suicide bid failed, she jumped from her second-storey window.

Psychiatrists determined she suffered a major depressive disorder and she believed she killed the children to protect them.

Brewer is being kept at a state psychiatric hospital until doctors determine she is no longer mentally ill.

The case drew attention to Nassau County's social services agency, whose caseworkers visited Brewer's apartment two days before the killings and found no one home but neglected to schedule an immediate follow-up visit.

Two social workers were suspended over the case.

Lawsuits against the county filed by the father of Brewer's one-year-old son, Innocent Demesyeux, and five-year-old son, Michael Demesyeux, were settled for $250,000.

A lawsuit filed by the father of Brewer's six-year-old daughter, Jewell Ward, was recently settled for $100,000.

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'Mummified Boy': Hutton Jailed For 15 Years

Timeline: Hamzah Khan Case

Updated: 3:42pm UK, Thursday 03 October 2013

Here is a timeline of events leading to the death of Hamzah Khan and the discovery of his mummified body:

May 28, 1996 - Amanda Hutton and partner Aftab Khan have an argument in the street. She complained to police that Khan had hit her, giving her a black eye

March 18, 2003 - Amanda Hutton tells a police officer she was suffering from domestic violence at the hands of Aftab Khan

June 2, 2003 - Amanda Hutton complained Khan had assaulted her.

September 25, 2004 - Police investigate alleged assault of Amanda Hutton by Aftab Khan

February 24, 2005 - Amanda Hutton fails to attend appointment for hospital scan while pregnant with Hamzah

March 2005 – Second missed appointment

April 7, 2005 – Third missed appointment

June 17, 2005 - Hamzah born weighing 5lb 4oz

July 7, 2005 - The last time Hamzah is seen by any healthcare professional - a health visitor. Previously on the same day a midwife visits and records Hamzah putting on weight and "doing well."

October 2005 - Four attempts by health visitors to gain access. Door slammed on nurse on at least one occasion.

December 18, 2005 - Police called over claims of domestic violence

December 24, 2005 - Amanda Hutton's mother dies. She claims it affects her badly

February 2006 - Failed attempt to gain access by health visitor

March 14, 2006 - GP writes to Amanda Hutton because Hamzah has not been registered with them.

July 10, 2006 - Health visitor denied access.

August 12, 2006 - The Registrar of Births contacts the health visitor after unsuccessful attempts to contact Amanda Hutton about the birth of Hamzah.

The registrar subsequently contacts the health visitor to say she has seen Amanda Hutton at home, she had a "puffed up" eye and smelt of alcohol.

August 23, 2006 - Amanda Hutton goes to her GP complaining of depression.

September 2006 - Health visitor contacts social services child protection unit over "significant concerns" about non engagement with all health professionals.

September 7, 2006 - Amanda Hutton goes to GP. Records read: "Came with eldest son. Has been drinking with partner "too much". 

Has had 2 glasses of vodka a day since mother died in January (sic). Helps to numb things says that family are not aware. Feels as if has hit rock bottom. Wants to change"

September 19, 2006 - Amanda Hutton registers Hamzah with her GP. He was never seen at the practice.

November 2006 - Letter sent (unclear by whom) to children's social care to express concerns about child neglect by Amanda Hutton

November 15, 2006 - Social worker visits, could not get in, left a note.

November 23, 2006 - Social worker returns, sees Hamzah who was "well cared-for and well dressed". Amanda Hutton tells her she's lost faith in the NHS, but would seek help for Hamzah if he was ill.

November 2006 - April 2007 - Amanda Hutton "off the radar" of official health & social care records

December 13, 2006 - Domestic violence report to police

December 30, 2006 - Police called to the house after an argument, Amanda is "obstructive and reluctant to give information to police".

April 2007 - Social worker is told by health visitor that Amanda Hutton says she is willing to engage with healthcare and family centre services.

April 2007 - Hamzah misses a GP appointment for vaccinations

May 2007 - Amanda Hutton and Hamzah suspended from GP practice list with note saying: "too many failed appointments"

December 2007 - Tests on Hamza's bones and teeth after he died showed he was not eating enough food from at least this point

December 7, 2007 - 999 call made claiming domestic violence

February 26, 2008 - Complaint made to police of domestic violence

April 10, 2008 - Amanda Hutton makes tearful call to domestic violence unit.

April 17, 2008 - Amanda speaks to the PC at the domestic violence unit, says she had been drinking heavily but has now stopped.

May 5, 2008 - Complaint made to police of domestic violence

June 9, 2008 - Domestic violence unit police officer contacts health visitor asking her to make contact with Amanda Hutton.

June 13, 2008 - First multi-agency MARAC meeting organised by social services. Discusses concerns about Amanda Hutton and Hamzah because they are at risk of serious domestic violence

August 2008 - Second MARAC meeting. Amanda Hutton reported to have refused help from a domestic violence charity.

December 4, 2008 - Amanda Hutton dialled 999 alleging domestic violence.

December 09, 2008 - Aftab Khan arrested, tells police they should check on Hamzah.

December 22, 2008 - Injunction granted preventing contact by Aftab Khan

December 2008 - Amanda Hutton moves house, police arrange fitting of panic alarm and anti-arson letterbox

January 19, 2009 - Complaint made to police of domestic violence

January 2009 - Third MARAC meeting. Concerns over GP non engagement discussed.

February 17, 2009 - Domestic violence unit police officer sent on welfare visit, told can't see Hamzah because he's upstairs with a dirty nappy because it's half term

February 2009 - Girlfriend of Hamzah's brother Qaiser stays at house, says Hamzah was 'definitely underweight, like a baby" was eating only milk, bananas and half a pasty for tea and "whatever was lying around" and that he was often locked in a bedroom in the dark.

An 11-year-old girl who had been to the house told the police after his body was found that Hamzah was not fed much.

February 17, 2009 - Domestic violence unit police officer visits Amanda, she didn't see Hamzah as was playing upstairs, house was clean and tidy.

March 11, 2009 - Text from Aftab Khan to Amanda Hutton: "Don't wori its not me whose going to land u in the shit ur going to do that ur self turnd in to the biggest lyer stop drinking wat [has Hamzah] had today think about wat ur doing to everi body"

March 16, 2009 - Amanda Hutton moves house for last time, tells neighbour the move is to escape from abusive relationship.

April 21, 2009 - Police called by childcare professional who reports concerns about child neglect

April 21, 2009 - PC Marie Furness visits house, speaks to Hamzah, leaves "satisfied that he was fit, well, clean, healthy-looking." She was the last police officer to see him.

June 9, 2009 - Aftab Khan admits battery against Amanda Hutton on  December 4, 2008

September 2009 - Hamzah expected in school, but not seen

October 2009 - Amanda Hutton and Hamzah fully removed from the GP practice list.

October 14, 2009 - Amanda Hutton meets a domestic violence charity worker and says she wants to help other victims of child abuse.

December 15, 2009 - Hamzah dies aged four and a half. Tests later showed his bones were the same size as a child of 12 to 18 months.

August 10 - Nurse at the school Hamzah was expected to attend was asked about him by the health visitor. Nurse says he was not attending the nursery.

September 2010 - Hamzah had to start school by law. He was never seen.

March 16, 2011 - Anonymous tip-off to social services to report concerns about significant problems in the house.

September 05, 2011 - A police community support officer goes to house after neighbour complains about rubbish. She is suspicious about smell and flies, calls social services who tell her Amanda Hutton lives there with a child.

September 21, 2011 - Hamzah's body found mouldy and mummified in Amanda Hutton's bedroom. His body had no muscle and almost no flesh.

He was dressed in a baby grow for a six- to nine-month-old baby, which fitted him comfortably.

There were five other children, aged between five and 13, in the home at the time. The fridge was found to contain rotten food.

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Vietnam War General Vo Nguyen Giap Dies

General Vo Nguyen Giap, the architect of Vietnam's military victories over France and the US has died at the age of 102.

The general was one of Vietnam's best known 20th-century figures, ranked by historians among such military giants as Montgomery, Rommel and MacArthur.

The son of a peasant scholar, he was considered the mastermind of the historic defeat of the French in 1954 at Dien Bien Phu and the communist victory over US-backed South Vietnam 21 years later.

He died on Friday evening after spending several years in a Hanoi military hospital.

In a 2004 interview at his villa in central Hanoi, the veteran warrior insisted Vietnam's independence wars were a "victory for colonised countries all over the world".

The general (back left) with President Ho Chi Minh (second right) in 1950

He recalled that on a visit to the UN in Geneva the previous year, he was handed a book to sign.

"I wrote ... and signed Vo Nguyen Giap, General of Peace," he said.

Born in 1911 in central Vietnam, the general was a close friend of the late revered president Ho Chi Minh and was held in high esteem alongside former prime minister Pham Van Dong.

But his critics and his nemesis, the late US General William C Westmoreland, said he was effective partly because he was willing to sustain huge losses in pursuit of victory.

"Any American commander who took the same vast losses as General Giap would have been sacked overnight," General Westmoreland was quoted as saying in Pulitzer Prize-winning author Stanley Karnow's 1983 book Vietnam. A History.

General Giap meeting the then Cuban President Fidel Castro in 2003

Karnow wrote that General Westmoreland seemed to misunderstand how determined the communists under Ho Chi Minh and his general really were.

General Giap is known to have opposed several important military decisions, including the costly move in 1968 to delay the withdrawal of forces from unsustainable positions in South Vietnam during the Tet Offensive.

He held back again in 1975 on a decision by Hanoi to commit all its forces - leaving the capital unprotected - to the spring campaign which climaxed in late April with the fall of Saigon, now called Ho Chi Minh City.

Later, he opposed Hanoi's decision to maintain an occupying force in Cambodia following Vietnam's late-1978 invasion.

This, coupled with long-harboured resentment by some members of the establishment towards him, is said to have contributed to his declining political influence after the war years.

He remarried after his first wife died in a French prison in 1943. General Giap had three daughters and two sons.

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Ryanair Fined £6.7m For Labour Law Breach

Ryanair has been ordered to pay fines and damages totalling £6.7m by a French court for violating the country's labour laws.

The no-frills carrier faced several charges including registering workers employed in France as Irish employees, preventing workplace councils from functioning and preventing access to unions.

Ryanair said the majority of the financial penalties related to alleged non-payment of social insurance and state pension contributions in France for Ryanair crews.

The case centred around a facility operated by the company at Marignane, near the southern French cities of Marseille and Aix-en-Provence.

Ryanair, which plans to appeal, said it had believed it was operating there under Irish law.

In a statement released ahead of the judgment, the company said: "We will appeal any such negative ruling (and fine) on the basis that European employment and social security law clearly allows mobile workers on Irish registered aircraft, working for an Irish airline, to pay their taxes and social taxes in Ireland."

It claimed the laws it was said to have fallen foul of were specifically introduced in 2006 as state protection for the loss-making Air France and to limit competition to high fare Air France from lower cost airlines.

Another low budget carrier, EasyJet, was ordered to pay more than £1m in damages to unions representing crew for hiring 170 employees under British contracts at a Paris airport in 2010.

Prosecutors in the Ryanair cased argued there was no doubt the airline was operating in France, given that it had material and staff based permanently at Marseille and its employees lived in the area.

"We are dealing with a company whose only goal is to counter the law in defiance of the interests of workers," the prosecution argued.

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Biker In NYC Confrontation 'Paralysed'

A man involved in a group of bikers' alleged assault of a driver in Manhattan suffered spine injuries in the confrontation and is paralysed, his wife has said.

The incident in which police say the bikers assaulted the driver of a Range Rover in front of his wife and child has been caught on video.

Police have so far arrested two suspects, both from the bikers' group.

The video, taken from a rider's helmet cam, shows a large group of bikers clustering around the Range Rover in Manhattan.

There is an initial collision, then the bikers chase down the car, which at various points is blocked in traffic or surrounded by the riders.

At one point, the SUV suddenly accelerates, bouncing over at least one of the motorcycles and its rider as others scramble to get out of the way.

The chase ends when the SUV exits the highway and gets stuck in street traffic.

The video shows one biker using his helmet to smash the driver's window, another one trying to smash the window with his fists.

Police said the group then pulled the man from the SUV and beat him, although that part is not shown on the recording posted online.

The biker who may never walk again, Ed Mieses, is the one hit by the car as it sped away, his wife Dayana said.

He suffered broken legs, fractured ribs and spine injuries, according to his family.

Mr Mieses, known as Jay Meezee, is an aspiring rapper from outside Boston, and he and his wife have two teenaged children.

The six-minute video, posted online, shows the driver speed away

"There's no hope for his back," Mrs Meises told reporters outside hospital.

"They crushed his spine.They broke it in two different places, so he will be forever, forever paralysed."

"My husband got off his bike to help the guy," she said of the confrontation.

"When you look at the video you can see he (the driver of the car) is running over something.

"It's not just a motorcycle, it's a human being that was under there."

The driver of the SUV, Alexian Lien, 33, was taken to a hospital where he needed stitches for his face. His wife and two-year-old were not injured.

Police say Mr Lien had called 911 to report the bikers were driving erratically, and reported being scared for his wife and child.

He has not been charged, but police are still investigating.

Police have arrested the biker they say was involved in the initial accident, Christopher Cruz, and charged him with reckless endangerment, reckless driving, endangering the welfare of a child and menacing.

A second suspect identified as Allen Edwards is also in custody after he turned himself in.

He is believed to be the man seen on video striking the Range Rover windows with his fists, and was charged with reckless endangerment, criminal mischief and menacing.

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'Boy Planned Columbine Massacre At Ex-School'

A teenager armed with guns and explosives planned a repeat of the Columbine massacre at his former school, a court has heard.

The boy, who was 16 at the time, was found to have petrol bombs, air rifles, pistols and armour at his home.

It is alleged he planned to use them against staff and pupils at the school in Loughborough, Leicestershire.

The teenager, who has Asperger's syndrome, also named his college, a local mosque, a cinema, Loughborough University and the town's council offices as potential targets, an Old Bailey jury heard.

A Che Guevara notebook emblazoned with Nazi swastikas and English Defence League (EDL) mottos was found when his home was searched by police in February.

It included drawings showing how he would arm himself and discussed tactics to carry out The New Columbine, the court was told.

Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold murdered 12 students and one teacher at Columbine High School in Colorado in 1999 before both committing suicide in one of America's worst mass shootings.

Columbine High School

Mujahideen Poisons Handbook was also found in the defendant's home along with video and dictaphone recordings in which he discussed an attack, it was claimed.

Prosecutor Max Hill QC said the jury must consider whether the boy was a "misfit" or "something altogether more sinister and serious".

Mr Hill said the boy, now 17, claimed to be a member of an EDL branch and had a Nazi swastika on his bedroom wall along with a poster of the Joker from the Batman film, the Dark Knight.

He wrote in a letter found at his home that there were "too many Muslims in the UK and Europe" who wanted to "take over Europe and put Sharia law in place".

The defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, denies a charge of possessing items for the purpose, preparation and instigation of an act of terrorism.

These include nine partially assembled petrol bombs, a quantity of part-assembled pipe bombs, partially constructed improvised explosive devices (IEDs), a stab proof vest, a gas mask and three 0.22 air rifles, it is alleged.

The boy also denies one count of possessing a document or record containing information likely to be useful for a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism, and a further count of possessing explosives in the form of component parts of IEDs.

He and two other 17-year-olds have already pleaded guilty to two charges of possessing petrol bombs and component parts of pipe bombs for the use of explosive devices.

The trial continues.

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Mia Farrow: Son With Allen 'Possibly' Sinatra's

Actress Mia Farrow has admitted that her biological son with Woody Allen could "possibly" have been fathered by her former husband Frank Sinatra.

Vanity Fair magazine spoke to the Rosemary's Baby star and eight of her 14 adopted and biological children for its November issue.

During the interview Farrow said Sinatra was the great love of her life and added: "We never really split up."

But added that a DNA test had never been carried out on 25 year old Ronan.

Sinatra and Farrow were married for two years in the 1960s

As the claims made in the interview emerged, Ronan tweeted: "Listen, we're all *possibly* Frank Sinatra's son."

Vanity Fair's correspondent also spoke to Nancy Sinatra Jr about Ronan and she reportedly replied in an email: "He is a big part of us, and we are blessed to have him in our lives."

Farrow was married to Sinatra from 1966 to 1968 but their relationship continued afterwards, including during the early years of her relationship with the award-winning director, which began in 1980.

Ronan was five when his parents split in 1991 following Allen's much-publicised affair with 19-year-old Soon-Yi Previn, Farrow's adopted daughter from her marriage to Andre Previn.

Allen and Soon-Yi Previn have two adopted daughters

Allen, now 77, and Soon-Yi married in 1997 and have two adopted teenage daughters.

Farrow has largely given up acting and now concentrates on human rights campaigning and her role as a Unicef ambassador.

Frank Sinatra died aged 82 in 1998.

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Tom Clancy: Patriot Games Writer Dies At 66

Best-selling US author Tom Clancy, who wrote hi-tech, Cold War thrillers including The Hunt For Red October and Patriot Games, has died aged 66.

Clancy, who died in Baltimore, Maryland, was described as a "master of his craft", a "consummate author" and "one of the most visionary storytellers of our time".

A cause of death has not yet been revealed.

Clancy penned a series of military and spy thrillers including blockbuster 1984 debut The Hunt For Red October, Patriot Games, Clear And Present Danger and The Sum Of All Fears, which were all made into successful Hollywood films.

He has been called the most widely read and influential military novelist of his time, and several of his books featured hero character Jack Ryan, a CIA analyst.

Harrison Ford played Ryan in Patriot Games and Clear And Present Danger while Alec Baldwin was in the role for The Hunt For Red October, alongside Sir Sean Connery as the captain of a Soviet submarine.

Ben Affleck played Ryan in The Sum Of All Fears, and a fifth film featuring Ryan called Shadow One is due for release later this year.

Clancy, who reportedly died in hospital, was born in Baltimore on April 12, 1947.

Hollywood star Harrison Ford played Clancy's character Jack Ryan

He went to Loyola College to study physics but then switched to English, admitting later he was not clever enough for the rigours of science.

After graduating in 1969, he married wife Wanda and joined her family's insurance business, while also scribbling down ideas for a novel.

In 1979, Clancy began Patriot Games, in which he invented Jack Ryan.

In 1982, he put it aside and started working on The Hunt For Red October, based on a real incident in November 1979, in which a Soviet missile frigate called the Storozhevoy attempted to defect.

In real life, the ship did not make it, but in Clancy's book the defection was a success.

By a stroke of luck, US President Ronald Reagan got Red October as a Christmas gift and quipped at a dinner that he was losing sleep because he could not put the book down.

Clancy later said those remarks helped put him on the New York Times best-seller list.

The writer had said his dream had been simply to publish a book, hopefully a good one, so that he would be in the Library of Congress catalogue.

Sir Sean Connery was in the movie version of The Hunt For Red October

He had sold the Hunt for Red October manuscript to the first publisher he tried, the Naval Institute Press, which had never bought original fiction.

The novel led to a string of hits, both on the page and in Hollywood blockbusters, including the 1987 book Patriot Games, made into a film five years later.

Penguin Group USA's executive David Shanks, who was personally involved in the publication of every one of Clancy's books, said: "I'm deeply saddened by Tom's passing.

"He was a consummate author, creating the modern-day thriller, and was one of the most visionary storytellers of our time. I will miss him dearly and he will be missed by tens of millions of readers worldwide."

Tom Weldon, chief executive of Penguin Random House UK, said: "Tom Clancy changed readers' expectations of what a thriller could do.

"He was a master of his craft and it was our privilege to work with him.  He will be greatly missed by millions of fans in the UK and around the world."

Ivan Held, president of publisher G.P. Putnam's Sons said: "It was an honour to know Tom Clancy and to work on his fantastic books.  He was ahead of the news curve and sometimes frighteningly prescient.

"To publish a Tom Clancy book was a thrill every time. He will be missed by everyone at Putnam and Berkley, and by his fans all over the world."

Clancy even ventured into video games with the best-selling Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent.

Ubisoft Entertainment, a company that Clancy was involved with, said: "We are saddened to learn of Tom Clancy's passing and our condolences go out to his family.

"Tom Clancy was an extraordinary author with a gift for creating detailed, engrossing fictional stories that captivated audiences around the world.

"The teams at Ubisoft, especially at the Red Storm studio, are incredibly grateful to have collaborated with and learned from him, and we are humbled by the opportunity to carry on part of his legacy through our properties that bear his name."

Sandi Mendelson, who worked with Clancy early in his career, told Sky News: "Working with him was just extraordinary.

"It was the beginning of his rise in popularity ... He was incredibly professional and talented ... his writing was extraordinary, the detail, the authenticity, people got lost in his books."

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Pregnant Briton Dies At Spanish Airport

A pregnant British woman has died after fainting at an airport in northeastern Spain, officials say.

A spokeswoman for Catalonia's regional emergency health service said the woman, believed to be 20 years old, was dead by the time an ambulance arrived at Girona airport.

She had been due to travel with her family to Birmingham before she collapsed, according to a Spanish airport authority spokeswoman.

Further details about the woman's death were not immediately available.

She has not been identified.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman told Sky News: "We are aware of the death of a British national at an airport in Girona, Spain.

"We are providing consular assistance to the family at this difficult time."

The woman's body has been taken to Girona for a post-mortem examination.

Reports in Spain offered conflicting accounts on the length of time it took for medical staff to arrive at the scene.

Some said it took 25 minutes to get to the stricken woman, while others said it was closer to 15 minutes.

An emergency services spokesman said the response time for the ambulance was considered within normal standards in such situations.

Joan Muntada of the UGT workers' union said it was considering some sort of legal action against authorities over the case after the health assistance service in the airport was closed a year ago.

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Shutdown 'Impacts Army Day-To-Day Operations'

The US Army Chief of Staff has said the government shutdown is significantly harming the Army's day-to-day operations.

General Ray Odierno urged Congress to find a resolution to the funding row that led to the first government shutdown in 17 years.

"It is going to be difficult for us to do anything," Gen Odierno told Reuters in a phone interview from Germany.

"We won't be doing training like we normally would, we won't be travelling, we won't be doing the coordination necessary, only mission-essential tasks.

Gen Ray Odierno urged Congress to act quickly

''The longer it goes on, the worse it gets. Every day that goes by, we are losing manpower, we are losing capability, so in my mind it is important we get this resolved."

Intelligence officials said the shutdown also damages their ability to guard against threats.

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told Congress that roughly 70% of the civilian workforce has been furloughed, including staff from the CIA and the National Security Agency.

Mr Clapper said that each day the shutdown continues "the jeopardy increases".

The government shutdown is the nation's first in 17 years

The impasse on government funding showed little sign of abating as the shutdown entered its second day.

On Wednesday, Republican members of the House were again pushing a series of smaller spending bills aimed at reopening portions of the government.

The proposed legislation would permit the processing of veterans' claims, reopen national parks and continue pay for National Guard members.

But the White House has said reopening the government on a piecemeal basis is unacceptable and promised to veto anything other than a spending bill that funds the entire government.

Democrats on the Hill also rejected the idea, saying it was unfair to pick winners and losers as federal employees worked without a guarantee of getting paid.

The Martin Luther King Memorial is among sites affected

A White House official said President Barack Obama invited congressional leaders from both parties to meeting later on Wednesday.

The invitation comes as another financial showdown even more critical to the economy looms on the horizon.

Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew told Congress that unless lawmakers act in time, he will run out of money to pay the nation's bills by October 17.

Amid the impasse, Mr Obama scrapped parts of a planned trip to Asia. He called off stops in Malaysia and the Philippines, but still plans to travel to regional summits in Indonesia and Brunei.

The shutdown that began on Tuesday has left federal government functions in limbo from coast to coast.

Many citizens are anxious about their future

National parks such as Yellowstone and Alcatraz Island have been shuttered and government websites have gone dark.

As many as 800,000 workers are taking unpaid leave.

Some have rebelled against the shutdown - on Tuesday, a group of veterans pushed past barricades at the National World War Two Memorial to get into the site.

Fed-up Americans have taken to Facebook and Twitter to call members of Congress "stupid" or "idiots".

Some blamed Republicans while others blasted Mr Obama or Democrats "who spend our tax dollars like crack addicts".

Funding for much of the government was halted after House Republicans hitched a routine spending bill to their effort to kill or delay the healthcare law, dubbed Obamacare.

The president accused conservatives of holding the government hostage for an ideological crusade.

Republicans, particularly members of the conservative Tea Party, view the Affordable Care Act as a dangerous extension of government power.

Politicians in both parties have suggested the stand-off might last for weeks.

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Christina Edkins Killer Locked Up Indefinitely

By Lisa Dowd, Midlands Correspondent

An NHS Trust has admitted it has "lessons to learn" after a paranoid schizophrenic was detained indefinitely for killing schoolgirl Christina Edkins.

Philip Simelane stabbed the 16-year-old in a random attack on a bus during the rush hour less than three months after he was released unsupervised from prison, despite warnings over the state of his mental health.

Simelane, 23, who has a history of mental illness, was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court after admitting manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust said it was leading an external review into the case as Christina's family asked questions about Simelane's treatment.

The court heard that before the killing a specialist registrar had recommended Simelane should receive specialist in-patient treatment for his mental health issues.

It also emerged that a year before the fatal stabbing he had made death threats on a bus to two girls, who warned the authorities that he may have been mentally ill.

Mrs Justice Thirlwall said anyone hearing the facts of the case would be disturbed that Simelane was sleeping rough and receiving no treatment when he attacked Christina in Birmingham in March.

The judge said that as early as mid-2005, his own mother was "repeatedly asking for help" for her son and was desperate for assistance.

In July last year he was made the subject of a restraining order and jailed for 26 weeks for offences, including an assault on a police officer and an incident in which he threatened his mother with a knife.

Christina's family arrive at Birmingham Crown Court

But a week after his release from prison in October 2012, Simelane was jailed again for vehicle interference. 

The judge said he finally received some treatment in prison but it was limited and an investigation will try to establish why that did not apparently continue after his release in December 2012.

Brian Russell, defending, told the court he had asked Simelane before the hearing if he had anything to say to those who had been affected by the killing.

"He said 'I didn't mean to kill that girl, I am ashamed of what has happened and I wish to apologise'."

A family statement issued after the guilty plea said: "Christina was a beautiful, bright, caring girl, loved by everyone.

"The loss of a child is the worst thing that can ever happen, made even more grievous be such a senseless crime as this.

"The family are all the victims and must pay the penalty as we stand by helplessly and watch the lives of the people we love shattered like precious glass, knowing we can never put the fragile pieces back together."

Christina's great uncle, Chris Melia, told Sky News: "It's such a horrific senseless crime. I don't know how you come to terms with it. I haven't."

"He quite clearly shouldn't have been out in society, there had been enough warning signs that he was a danger.

Jason Edkins, Christina's father

"As I understand it, in October, whilst he was in prison, the appropriate mental health experts noted he should, when he was released, be in some way supervised and helped to get back into society in an acceptable manner, but it didn't happen.

"He was released on 13th December, basically with no fixed abode, and in less than three months he killed an innocent young girl in the prime of her life."

Mr Melia paid tribute to Christina as a "popular", "attractive" and "quietly confident" girl.

The Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust confirmed it was involved in Simelane's prison-based care.

In a statement, the trust said: "We would like to offer our sincere condolences to Christina's family for what was an unprovoked attack on an innocent member of the public.

"Phillip Simelane had previously been in receipt of care from a number of healthcare providers over a period of years.

"What is clear, is that there are lessons to be learned for us and others involved in the care of Phillip Simelane to prevent such a tragedy happening again in the future.

"As a trust we are currently leading an external review, commissioned by Birmingham Cross City Clinical Commissioning Group, on behalf of all the parties involved and intend to report on our findings in December 2013.

"We would not want to speculate on the outcome of this review, but we are clear that this will be an externally reviewed, thorough investigation and we will seek to learn from and fully implement these findings across the healthcare providers involved."

Christina was preparing to take her GCSEs when she died

West Midlands Police say they were called to Simelane's home in Walsall by his family 21 times. On one occasion he held a knife to his mother's stomach.

Superintendent Richard Baker said: "There doesn't appear to be any care plan since his release from prison in December 2012.

"There's currently an independent review being conducted by all agencies who had contact with Phillip Simelane during that period, not just police but probation, prison, and Birmingham and Solihull mental health team will also conduct independent reviews to understand exactly what support Simelane had in place."

He added it was "highly unlikely" that Simelane would ever be released.

Simelane, who was homeless, boarded the number 9 bus at 5am on March 7. He had been challenged by the driver for sleeping on the back seat on the top deck.

Christina got on the bus at 7.30am on the city's Broad Street, a journey she made every day. Seven minutes later, she was dead.

Without warning, and for no reason, Simelane got up and thrust a kitchen knife into her chest once. He then casually walked down the aisle, down the stairs, and briefly spoke to the driver before getting off.

There was just one other passenger upstairs, a 14-year-old boy, who only realised what had happened when Christina cried out for help. Downstairs passengers rushed to her aid, but she could not be saved.

Officers scoured the city centre for Simelane and arrested him more than four hours later.

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Cameron Vows Tories Will Build Better Britain

David Cameron has urged voters to hand him a majority at the next election so that the Tories can build a "land of opportunity".

The Prime Minister evoked Winston Churchill as he asked Britain to give the Conservatives the tools to "finish the job" of "clearing up the mess" left by Labour.

He said the economy was starting to turn the corner but warned that anyone who thought the struggle was over is "living in a fantasy land".

In a bid to adopt a more upbeat tone, his party conference speech talked of creating a better Britain and signalled he would slash taxes if he stays in power.

"We are Tories. We believe in low taxes. And believe me - we will keep on cutting the taxes of hard-working people," he declared.

But he also warned of further austerity as the Conservatives aim to pay off the deficit and then build up a surplus for the future.

Mr Cameron signalled the under-25s would have to "earn or learn" under a Tory government and would not be able to opt for a life on benefits.

The Prime Minister and his wife Samantha after his speech

But there were no other major policy announcements in his 49-minute address in Manchester, which was mostly delivered directly to the camera.

Instead, the Tory leader sought to draw clear dividing lines with Labour, accusing Ed Miliband of adopting a "crazy" anti-business agenda.

He dismissed Mr Miliband's promises to cut the cost-of-living as "all sticking plaster and quick fixes" - dubbing it "Red Ed and his Blue Peter economy".

Borrowing the slogan Mr Miliband repeated 17 times in his own speech, Mr Cameron declared: "I tell you what, Britain deserves better than that lot."

He insisted profit, wealth creation and enterprise were not "dirty, elitist words" but the driving force behind the recovery.

"It's businesses that get wages in people's pockets, food on their tables, hope for their families and success for our country," he said.

He branded Labour's plan to hike corporate tax rates for large businesses as "just about the most damaging, nonsensical, twisted economic policy you could possibly come up with".

Activists watch as the Tory leader speaks on stage

And he warned the call for more state borrowing and spending to ease what the Opposition calls a cost-of-living crisis would risk putting the UK on the same track as Greece.

He also rejected Labour accusations that the Tories represent the privileged and said he wanted a society where everyone has "the chance to make it".

Mr Cameron declared that he is "fighting heart and soul for a majority Conservative government because that is what our country needs".

But he warned Tory ambitions should not be limited to repairing the damage caused by Labour and eliminating the deficit.

"Finishing the job is about more than clearing up the mess we were left," he said. "It means building something better in its place. In place of the casino economy, one where people who work hard can actually get on.

"In place of the welfare society, one where no individual is written off. In place of the broken education system, one that gives every child the chance to rise up and succeed.

"Our economy, our society, welfare, schools, all reformed, all rebuilt - with one aim, one mission in mind: To make this country, at long last and for the first time ever, a land of opportunity for all."

His speech followed a raft of policy announcements aimed at countering Labour's claim that it is the only party that will tackle the rising cost-of-living.

The Prime Minister having a final read-through in his hotel room

Tory plans include bringing forward the Help-to-Buy scheme, the prospect of a fuel duty freeze until 2015 and a tax break for some married couples.

Mr Cameron vowed a Tory government would replace the "casino economy" and "welfare society" as well as improve the education system.

He accused Labour of failing Britain's young people and disadvantaged households by giving up and consigning them to a life on benefits.

"If you expect nothing of people, that does nothing for them. Yes, you must help people, but you help people by putting up ladders that they can climb through their own efforts," he said.

"It's this party that is fighting for all those who were written off by Labour. It's this party that's for the many, not the few. Yes - the land of despair was Labour, but the land of hope is Tory."

He also sought to position the Tories as the true defenders of the NHS, hailed the "noble" calling of social work and vowed to drive regeneration in the North of England.

"Make no mistake who's looking forward in British politics," Mr Cameron said. "We'll leave the 1970s-style socialism to others. We are the party of the future."

Activists gave the speech a standing ovation as Samantha Cameron joined her husband on stage.

The pair left the hall to Fleetwood Mac's Don't Stop (Thinking About Tomorrow), famously used by Bill Clinton as the soundtrack to his successful campaign for the US presidency in 1992.

Mr Miliband wrote on Twitter: "David Cameron's speech shows he does not know where to start in tackling the cost of living crisis facing Britain's hard-working families.

"The last thing families want is him to 'finish the job' when prices have risen faster than wages and average pay is down by almost £1,500."

Simon Walker, director general of the Institute of Directors, said: "Businesses up and down the country will welcome the Prime Minister's recognition that they are the driving force behind the economy, creating jobs and putting money in people's pockets.

"But they will be looking for him to match the sentiment with action. If tax cuts aren't dirty, let's have a few more of them. If profit isn't elitist, let's allow businesses to keep a little more of it."

John Longworth, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, added: "David Cameron has set out a clear vision, but the harder task of making it happen still lies ahead.

"The Government cannot afford to become complacent, and must focus on creating an environment that supports enterprise, and puts economic growth at its heart."

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Sickness Bug Hits 85 Passengers On Cruise Ship

A gastroenteritis-type illness has struck down scores of passengers on board a cruise ship from Belfast.

Fred Olsen Cruise Lines says 84 of its 763 guests on the Boudicca are suffering from the condition.

Having set off for the 10-day Scandinavian Cities Cruise on September 23, the vessel is due to return to Belfast on Thursday.

The Norwegian company said the ship would be arriving early to undergo an intensive cleaning and sanitisation programme.

It said in a statement to Sky News: "It is extremely unfortunate that a number of guests on board this Scandinavian cruise have experienced this illness.

"In such instances, every precaution is taken on board to ensure the swift containment of the illness, and a number of public areas, including all public toilets and the self-service buffet, are closed.

"Frequent cleaning of all areas of the ship is carried out, and any guest showing symptoms of the virus is asked to remain in their cabin, with complimentary room service and in-cabin entertainment, until they are considered to be symptom-free by the ship's doctor, before being able to join the rest of the ship.

"Fred Olsen would emphasise that, as with all its sailings from regional UK departure ports, it works closely with the relevant Local Health Authorities and Port Health Authorities to ensure the safety, health and wellbeing of all its guests and crew, which are the company's utmost priority.

"All of Fred Olsen's cruise ships meet, at all times, the highest safety, hygiene and health standards."

It added that people booked onto the Boudicca's next cruise, the 12-night Madeira and Canaries trip, had been informed of the situation.

That cruise is due to leave on Thursday and the firm said delays would be kept to a minimum.

It is the second sickness outbreak to hit a Fred Olsen cruise in weeks, after around 130 people contracted a gastroenteritis-type illness on the firm's Black Watch liner last month as it sailed from Fife to Scandinavia and the Russian city of St Petersburg.

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