Ukraine Activist 'Crucified And Had Ear Cut Off'

A Ukrainian activist who went missing during anti-government protests has stumbled into a village near Kiev saying he was beaten and tortured.

Dmytro Bulatov, 35, told Ukraine's Channel 5 television: "They crucified me, they nailed down my hands. They cut off my ear, they cut my face. There isn't a spot on my body that hasn't been beaten."

Mr Bulatov, a member of Automaidan, a group of car owners that has taken part in the protests against President Viktor Yanukovich, was reported missing on January 22.

In the television interview his face and clothes were seen covered in clotted blood, his hands were swollen and bore the marks of nails.

Protesters in central Kiev after clashes with riot police

He is among several activists whose disappearances have increased tensions the country.

One of the activists, Yuriy Verbytsky, was found dead in a forest while another, Igor Lutsenko, survived a severe beating and was hospitalised.

Opposition leader Vitali Klitschko, who visited Mr Bulatov in hospital, said: "What was done to Dmytro was an act to frighten all citizens who are being active now."

The UN's human rights office has called on Ukraine to launch an independent investigation into deaths, kidnappings and torture during the weeks of political unrest.

An anti-government protester at the site of clashes in Kiev

Rupert Coville, spokesman for the UN high commissioner for human rights, said the issue "should be promptly, thoroughly and independently investigated".

The UN statement came as Russia's outspoken Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin tweeted that US Secretary of State John Kerry's planned meeting with Mr Klitschko was a "circus".

The talks on Saturday are also expected to include Ukraine's pro-opposition popstar Ruslana.

Russian Deputy PM Dmitry Rogozin ridiculed US talks with the opposition

Mr Rogozin suggested: "It's also necessary to involve Verka-Serdyuchka in the talks," referring to a Ukrainian drag queen popstar.

"Her/his authoritative opinion should be heard by the White House and taken into account!"

Meanwhile, President Viktor Yanukovych, 63, who sparked protests when he backed out of an agreement to deepen ties with the European Union in November, has taken sick leave.

Mr Yanukovych decided the ex-Soviet republic should strengthen ties with Russia.

The embattled leader, who has an acute respiratory illness and high fever, has already lost his prime minister Mykola Azarov, who resigned on Tuesday.

Ukraine's armed forces today urged the president to take "urgent steps" to ease the crisis, entering the fray on a political level for the first time.

"Servicemen and employees of Ukraine's armed forces ... have called on the commander-in-chief (Mr Yanokovych) to take urgent steps within the limits of existing legislation with a view to stabilising the situation in the country and reaching consent in society," the defence ministry said in a statement.

They "noted that a further escalation of the confrontation threatens the country's territorial integrity," the statement added.

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Moira Anderson Murder: Cold Case Breakthrough

By Jane Chilton, Scotland Correspondent

One of Scotland's longest unsolved child murders has taken a significant step closer to being solved.

The Cold Case Unit within the Scottish Crown Office, which has been investigating the disappearance of 11-year-old Moira Anderson in 1957, has issued a statement claiming main suspect Alexander Gartshore would be indicted for her murder if he were alive today.

The bus driver was a convicted paedophile who was always the key suspect in the disappearance of Moira, but he was never charged. He died in 2006.

Gartshore's daughter, Sandra Brown, who campaigned for the evidence against her father to be reviewed, claims her father abused many children and believes Moira was not the only girl to meet an unpleasant fate at his hands.

Suspected murderer Alexander Gartshore died in 2006

She suspects he was part of a paedophile ring operating in the central belt of Scotland.

Moir disappeared after leaving her grandmother's house in Coatbridge in 1957. Her body has never been found.

It is widely believed she was abducted and murdered.

Scotland's senior law officer, Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland QC, said: "I welcome the statement issued by the Cold Case Unit.

Sandra Brown, Gartshore's daughter, claims her father abused many children

"This will hopefully bring closure to the family of Moira Anderson who have had to wait more than half a century for answers.

"I would like to pay tribute to the campaigners who refused to allow the memory of Moira Anderson to become forgotten.

"I would like to pay tribute to the prosecutors in the Cold Case Unit and the officers of Police Scotland who worked so hard on the case.

"It is important that unsolved homicides are not allowed to become a forgotten file gathering dust on a shelf.

"The work of the Cold Case Unit will ensure that this does not happen."

A grave was exhumed last year in Lanarkshire

He added: "Indicting someone for a crime is not the equivalent of finding someone guilty.

"The trial process is the only place in which guilt or innocence can be determined.

"We are not saying that the suspect is guilty, only that there is sufficient credible and reliable evidence to indict him and there would be a reasonable prospect of conviction had he still been alive."

In January last year, a grave in Old Monkland Cemetery in Lanarkshire was exhumed, following claims that Moira's body had been concealed there. But investigations proved inconclusive.

The whereabouts of Moira's body is still a mystery.

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Weather: Rain And High Tides Are 'Risk To Life'

Heavy rain, large waves and strong winds are expected to create a "significant risk to life", as parts of Britain are hit by another band of severe weather.

A "high risk" warning was issued for Gloucestershire, where the Environment Agency said "extraordinary measures" may be taken on Saturday to keep back tidal and river floods.

A spring tide and stormy seas whipped up by gusts of more than 60mph pose a threat to communities on Atlantic coasts, with severe flood warnings - issued only when there is a danger to life - in force along the coasts of Cornwall and north Devon.

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Tewkesbury, on the banks of the River Severn, was flooded in December

Further warnings are in place along the length of the River Severn amid fears it could burst its banks.

Flood barriers were erected at Frankwell in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, and temporary defences are set to be installed at Bewdley, Worcestershire.

The Environment Agency warned against all non-essential travel amid fears drivers could become stranded, while Gloucestershire Police urged people to stay away from river banks.

England and Wales are covered by flood warnings and alerts

In the Republic of Ireland, Munster, Leinster, Connacht, Donegal, Monaghan and Cavan were told to prepare for possible flooding, while communities in west Wales and along the south coast from Dorset to Kent were also put on alert.

Hundreds of university students in Aberystwyth were told to leave accommodation on the town's seafront amid fears high tides could hit the town for the second time in a month.

As well as wind and rain, the Met Office warned of snow for Northern Ireland and parts of western Scotland, as well as icy stretches on roads across much of the UK.

As heavy rain fell in the South, snow swept across parts of the North

Wintry weather swept across northern areas on Friday, closing the Lake District's exposed Kirkstone Pass and causing hazardous driving conditions elsewhere.

The latest forecasts will be met with trepidation in flood-stricken communities in Somerset, where the military is on standby to help with the relief effort.

On Tuesday, Prince Charles will meet people who remain cut off by water after the wettest January on record.

Residents in the village of Muchelney, Somerset, have been cut off

Some residents have criticised the Government and the Environment Agency for what they say is a lack of action to prevent the floods.

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Somerset Abandoned 40 Years Ago, Says Eavis

Glastonbury Festival organiser Michael Eavis has hit out at the government for "abandoning" dredging of Somerset rivers 40 years ago.

"The EA decided to abandon the dredging for the sake of the river bank and they sold the wonderful dredging machines for scrap," said the dairy farmer.

"Can you believe it? That was 40 years ago. This (flooding) is the result of that decision."

He said it only used to be that the area flooded every 20 years. "There is flooding every year now; it's a serious disaster, a serious problem. It's impossible to live there and run the whole dairy industry.

"We've been campaigning for years to get this sorted out. Finally, I think the Prime Minister is going to deal with it and get the money to do the job, but it's taken a long time to get there."

He said the EA needs "to drain, to get the machines back we used to have or something similar, to dredge the three rivers that go to Burnham-on-Sea so we can get the water out to the sea as fast as possible".

The Somerset Levels have seen weeks of flooding this winter

He said the mud at his famous music festival was a different matter. "Mud is totally different to 10 feet of water - the sun comes out and in three weeks its all gone.

Mr Eavis, who farms at Pilton, on the edge of the Somerset Levels, spoke out after its was announced that Prince Charles will visit flood-stricken communities in the South West.

The Prince will meet emergency services involved in the relief effort and residents who remain trapped in villages cut off by water after the wettest January on record.

The visit, on Tuesday, had been planned in advance of the floods for Charles to learn how communities coped with similar problems in 2012.

In the village of Stoke St Gregory, he will host a reception for residents, farmers and emergency service workers who have been affected by the flooding on the Somerset Levels.

Emergency workers help people leave the cut-off village of Muchelney

He is likely to receive a warmer reception than Environment Secretary Owen Paterson who received a hostile reaction from locals when he visited on Monday.

Residents said they were living in "Third World" conditions - with "overflowing" septic tanks and water in their homes.

Military personnel are currently on standby to move in to flood-hit Somerset, with further heavy rain and high tides due to hit parts of the UK in the next 48 hours.

An amber severe weather warning has been issued by the Met Office for southwest England on Friday, parts of which have been flooded for more than a month.

The public has been warned of significant disruption from flooding across the Somerset Levels.

Glastonbury Festival's mud dries out in three weeks, says Michael Eavis

Pat Flaherty, deputy chief executive of Somerset County Council, said: "With potential for high winds and high tides and more rain... falling on an already soaked catchment we have potential for further flooding over the weekend.

"And with that, ongoing flooding for a number of weeks to come.

"We're still working very closely with the military who remain in Somerset, planning with us and we also have the resilience of knowing that their equipment and personnel are ready to be mobilised should we require them."

The Ministry of Defence has tweeted that personnel involved in helping with Somerset floods are drawn from all three services, with the majority from Taunton-based 40 Commando Royal Marines.

In addition to vehicle crews, up to 100 military personnel are on stand-by for duties likely to include sandbag filling and loading.

The Red Cross has also sent its 7.5-ton Unimog, an emergency supply vehicle capable of driving through deep floodwater.

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Cameron Told EU Treaty Revision 'Not A Priority'

By Anushka Asthana, Political Correspondent

French President Francois Hollande has told David Cameron renegotiating the EU treaty is not a priority for France.

The French president made his views known at a joint news conference with the British Prime Minister at RAF Brize Norton.

Mr Cameron needs support if he wants to secure his promise to roll back EU red tape by renegotiating Britain's relationship with Europe.

He plans to hold a referendum on EU membership in 2017 if the Conservatives win the next General Election. He has been under intense pressure from Eurosceptic backbenchers.

Mr Cameron and Mr Hollande at RAF Brize Norton, near Oxford

Mr Hollande refused to be drawn on whether he thought Mr Cameron stood a realistic chance of renegotiating Europe's founding treaty, but replied: "France would like the UK to remain within the European Union.

"France would like to have a more efficient Europe which can attain the objectives which we consider to be essential - growth, employment, energy, and of course, the capacity to bring in the techniques for tomorrow and to protect our population."

He said he felt the Eurozone needed to be "better co-ordinated and integrated", but added: "We feel revising the treaty is not a priority for the time being".

Differences over Europe surfaced after a UK-France summit which saw agreements to extend defence co-operation.

Mr Cameron said Britain's relationship with France was "as close and as important as ever".

"We are both similar sized countries with similar sized armed forces and similar ambitions," said the British Prime Minister, during a joint news conference at RAF Brize Norton, near Oxford.

"We both see the link between our domestic prosperity and being active payers on the global stage."

Mr Hollande is greeted by the PM

Mr Cameron, who afterwards took the French president to a pub in his Oxfordshire constituency, was still expected to address the thorny issue over the informal lunch.

But sources close to the French president have said it was "very, very unlikely" he would agree to treaty changes under that timetable.

Mr Hollande knows that he will be under pressure in 2017 as he faces French elections.

Sources close to the president chose the eve of the summit to attack Britain's hopes to repatriate powers from the EU. They warned UK demands were unreasonable and could be damaging.

British officials played down the rift, insisting it was positive the French were now talking about when reform took place, and not if.

A source said he was expecting an "entente tres cordiale" - with deepening ties in a number of industries.

He said the fact the summit was taking place on the centenary of the First World War would be a reminder of the UK and France's historic ties.

The Prime Minister would use the lunch discussion to argue for a "flexibility and the importance of competitiveness" in Europe.

He insisted that Mr Cameron was "optimistic", saying questions were once around whether there was a need for treaty change.

Mrs Cameron will not meet Mr Hollande, who split from Valerie Trierweiler

There was now a growing acceptance that would be required, he said. "Each country will bring to the table it's own perspectives and we will bring ours."

The discussion threatened to overshadow the Anglo-French summit in which the two countries also signed up to deeper cooperation between their civil nuclear and space industries.

Mr Cameron announced a two-year £120m feasibility study into a joint programme to build a new armed drone, and revealed the countries planned to work together on a £10m project for an unmanned counter-mine craft.

Britain will offer more logistical support for the French military mission in the war-torn Central African Republic, and troops will hold a joint training exercise later in the year.

The UK will also try out the French VBCI tank with a view to possibly purchasing it for the Army.

Other agreements included the £500m joint purchase of anti-ship missiles, there will also be discussions on the possibility of a joint expeditionary force and about civil nuclear industries after a deal in which French giant EDF will build a new power station at Hinkley Point in Somerset. Mr Cameron wants British SME's to be involved in the industry's supply chain.

Mr Cameron will also be meeting Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk later

Despite holding the summit close to his Oxfordshire home, Mr Cameron did not invite his wife, Samantha.

It was perhaps considered best after Mr Hollande ended a seven-year relationship with Valerie Trierweiler following reports of an affair with actress Julie Gayet, which the French president has not denied.

Mr Hollande refused to respond to questions from a reporter at who asked him if he thought his private life had made France an "international joke", and if the alleged affair was ongoing.

After the lunch, Mr Cameron returned to Brize Norton for a second bilateral with the Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who is in Britain as part of a concerted effort to get European leaders to take action to end the crisis in neighbouring Ukraine.

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Hacking Reporter 'Listened To Moss Voicemails'

By Tom Parmenter, Sky News Correspondent

A self-confessed hacker has told a court he listened to a voicemail left on Kate Moss's phone from actor Daniel Craig and allegedly heard him say: "I love you, I love you, I love you."

Dan Evans, a former tabloid reporter, was being cross-examined at the Old Bailey where he has been giving evidence in the hacking trial.

Evans admitted that he listened to Ms Moss's voicemails after hacking her phone while he worked at the Sunday Mirror.

The Mirror Group has always denied illegal hacking.

Evans has previously pleaded guilty to phone hacking

Evans, who is a prosecution witness, has already told the trial that while he was at the News Of The World (NOTW) he intercepted voicemails between the actors Daniel Craig and Sienna Miller.

Ms Miller is due to give evidence via video link from the US this afternoon.

Evans's account of his hacking has been challenged throughout his cross-examination.

Brooks and Coulson deny the allegations against them

He denied that he could have mixed up the Kate Moss and Sienna Miller accounts, saying they were "two completely separate events".

In court he admitted fiddling his expenses while working at the NOTW, saying it was "part of the culture at the paper but I don't see what it's got to do with hacking phones".

He also said he regularly abused alcohol and cocaine to help him deal with the pressures of his job.

Evans confirmed: "Yeah, I was a recreational drug user."

Evans has already admitted conspiracy to hack phones at the Sunday Mirror between February 2003 and January 2005, and the same offence at the News of the World between April 2004 and June 2010.

He also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office between January 2008 and June 2010, and perverting the course of justice by giving a false statement in High Court proceedings.

The seven defendants, including former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks and former NOTW Editor Andy Coulson, deny the charges they face.

The trial continues.

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EU In-Out Referendum Bill Killed Off By Peers

By Jon Craig, Chief Political Correspondent

Tory plans to pass a law providing for a 2017 referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union have been killed off in the House of Lords.

After two significant defeats inflicted by Labour, Lib Dem and crossbench peers in the Lords, peers voted by 180 to 130, a majority of 50, to end the debate of the EU (Referendum) Bill at committee stage in the Lords.

That means there is now not enough time for the Bill to get through all its stages in the Lords and the Commons in time to become law and so it has died a death.

Senior Downing Street sources said David Cameron would attempt to re-introduce the Bill in the next session of Parliament in a bid to get it on the statute book before the next election.

But it is likely to be blocked in the Lords again.

After the Bill collapsed in the Lords, the Prime Minister tweeted: "As Labour and the Lib Dems have killed the Wharton Bill, the one way to guarantee a referendum is to vote Conservative at the General Election."

Tory James Wharton, the backbench MP (Stockton South) who brought forward the legislation as a Private Member's Bill, blamed Labour and Liberal Democrat peers as well.

Mr Wharton said: "Labour and the Lib Dems have conspired in the House of Lords to kill this important piece of legislation, doing the bidding of their political masters in the Commons.

"It's now clearer than it has ever been that it's only the Conservatives who will give people a choice on this important issue.

"I think many people will be disappointed by what has happened today."

Mr Cameron blamed Labour and Lib Dems for the defeat

The Tory chief whip in the Lords, Baroness Anelay, blamed Labour.

"Labour killed the Bill," she said.

"It's proved by the fact that is what their chief whip (Lord Bassam of Brighton) and deputy chief whip (Lord Tunnicliffe) who were the tellers on the motion (to end proceedings). I am disappointed."

Earlier, peers made further changes to the Bill when they voted through changes which would force the Government to provide a full assessment before any proposed referendum in 2017 of what Britain's relationship with Europe would look like if the country withdrew from the EU.

It was a further setback and comes after the Lords last week voted to change the wording of the question that would be put to voters.

This vote, after more than an hour of debate in the Bill's committee stage, was on an amendment brought forward by crossbench peer and former Cabinet Secretary Lord Turnbull to compel the government of the day to lay down before the electorate what it thinks will happen in the event of withdrawal from the EU.

Before the Bill fell in the Lords, speaking at a news conference with French President Francois Hollande, Mr Cameron said "whether the bill succeeds or fails" it made "no difference to the pledge I am making on this in-out referendum".

But Labour peer Lord Anderson of Swansea, who opposed the bill, said Mr Cameron's gamble in promising an in-out referendum would not pay off because Eurosceptic Conservative MPs would always want more.

"And they will ask for more rather like the penguins in the penguin house, they will swallow it down and demand more," said the peer.

"The trouble is that this government may be inclined to give it to them."

He accused Mr Cameron of being in "office but not in power" and losing authority and influence with the UK's EU "allies".

He accused the Prime Minister of "insulting" Mr Hollande "by saying in effect that the French economy, which is probably true, is substantially worse than our own, but it's not a way of influencing people and making friends."

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Kercher Killer Sollecito Held Near Border

Knox 'Will Be Extradited To Italy By US'

Updated: 11:30am UK, Friday 31 January 2014

America will have little choice but to extradite Amanda Knox if Italy requests it, according to legal experts.

Knox says she will only go back to Italy "kicking and screaming" after an Italian court ruled she should not have been cleared.

But expectations that America will not extradite Knox to serve a 28-year sentence are unfounded, according to lawyers.

Gemma Lindfield, a UK barrister, specialising in extradition, told Sky News: "There's a valid extradition treaty between the US and Italy.

"The countries made that agreement in good faith and there's no reason why the Italians would not submit a request.

"The US would be obliged to arrest her on the extradition request and there would then be proceedings in the US."

Ms Lindfield said it was likely that Knox would vigorously fight the request in the US courts, most likely on the grounds of double jeopardy, passage of time or fairness.

"It would, however, be very difficult for a US court to sit in judgement of the Italian legal system and its fairness," Ms Lindfield, based at 7 Bedford Row chambers, said.

"I would also find it hard to conceive that they could refuse the request on the grounds of double jeopardy.

"In fact, I cannot see any reason why she would not be extradited."

Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz agreed that American judges will have little choice but to grant Italy's request.

"The United States seeks extradition of more people than any country in the world," Mr Dershowitz

"We're trying to get NSA leaker Edward Snowden back and we're not going to extradite someone convicted of murder?" he told NBC News.

The professor said he doubted that even double jeopardy - where someone cannot be tried twice for the same offence - will protect Knox.

This is because she was initially found guilty and her acquittal was heard at an intermediate appeals level.

"If that happened in the US, it wouldn't be double jeopardy," he said.

Knox, risks immediate arrest if she leaves America, and could be seized if she sets foot in the EU.

Experts have said it is unlikely that Italy would request Knox's extradition before the verdict is made "final" by the Supreme Court of Cassation.

It is unclear when that will be.

If extradition does occur it is likely to take several years. The judge in the latest hearing made no requests for limits on Knox's movements.

Any extradition request would be routed to the US Department of Justice's Office of International Affairs (OIA) for consideration.

Justice Department lawyers would then evaluate the petition for "legal sufficiency" before deciding whether to seek an extradition certificate.

If they did, Knox's extradition would be heard before a federal judge, probably in Seattle.

But Mary Fan, a former federal prosecutor who teaches at the University of Washington Law School in Seattle, said any decision was "a matter of both law and politics".

"It's not a retrial of the case, and it's not a retrial of another country's justice system," she told the Seattle Times.

Ms Fan said federal lawyers may find it difficult to refuse an extradition request because of "reciprocity" concerns.

"Someday, the US might seek extradition of someone convicted of a serious crime, such as murder, from Italy," she said.

"So, it's reciprocity that's the major consideration. Not just in this case, but in future cases. That's something that the State Department has to consider."

While it could be years before any extradition hearing is completed in Knox's case, Sollecito could find himself behind bars much sooner.

However, under Italian law, he will not be locked up until his appeal avenues are exhausted.

In the meantime he has had his travel documents confiscated.

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William Roache Sex Trial 'Infected' By Savile

Coronation Street actor William Roache has been the victim of an investigation "infected" by the Jimmy Savile case, a court has heard.

Louise Blackwell QC said the case against her 81-year-old client was "nonsense" as she summed up her defence for the jury.

She added that "there are so many deeply and worrying inconsistencies in their (the victims') stories".

The trial has heard from five women over the past three weeks who claim Roache sexually assaulted them when they were 16 or under.

The alleged offences took place between 1967 and 1972 at Granada Studios in Manchester, in his car or at properties he owned.

The actor denies all charges, claiming he has no knowledge of any of the women he is supposed to have assaulted.

"Jimmy Savile is like an elephant in the room," Miss Blackwell said. "You can't ignore it.

"Jimmy Savile has affected, in fact, infected this trial and investigation of these offences.

Louise Blackwell QC summed up the case for the defence on Friday

"We submit to you everything you have seen in this case, that in the post-Jimmy Savile crisis of conscience, when someone makes an allegation against a celebrity, that a fair investigation does not take place.

"In the post-Jimmy Savile era, once someone makes an allegation, it's got to go to court, no sense will prevail, it has to go to court."

Roache, from Wilmslow, Cheshire, denies two counts of rape and four counts of indecent assault.

Miss Blackwell revisited the evidence of each prosecution witness to highlight "contradictions and inconsistencies".

The first woman to come forward was unsure whether she was 14 or 15 when she lost her virginity during an alleged assault by Roache.

"You never breathed a word, even to your best friend at school?" Miss Blackwell said to the jury.

"How many women would not remember exactly how old they were when they lost their virginity?

"We submit to you that's the sort of thing that happens in a young woman's life that she has real clarity about.

"It's not just the first experience of sex, but it was horrid and you were raped.

"We say, it's just not possible you don't know how old you were.

"It totally lacks sense and credibility."

Miss Blackwell reminded jurors the same woman claimed she was raped for a second time by Roache.

"Does this all have the ring of truth to you?" Miss Blackwell asked the jury.

"You would not put yourself in that situation. It is, we submit, absolutely unbelievable."

The jury has heard glowing testimonies from some of Roache's co-stars on Coronation Street.

Miss Blackwell continued: "What the prosecution say is that for some weird reason between 1965 and 1972, for no discernible reason, Mr Roache departed from his usual character and behaviour and became a young woman-snatcher, a risk-taker, taking people into toilets.

"Then as soon as this madness is visited upon him, it passes.

"It's nonsense, it just doesn't happen in the real world.

"An expression, ladies and gentlemen: a leopard doesn't change its spots.

The co-stars who came to court to defend their colleague

"How do you hide that and completely stop it for the next 42 years from 1972? Well, you don't."

She added: "Where has this risk-taking libido gone to? Well, it's never been there.

"There's not a shred of evidence anywhere else in Mr Roache's life that he was this risk-taking predator."

The jury has now been sent home and will return on Monday to hear the judge's summing up before considering their verdict.

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Amanda Knox Weeps And Vows To 'Fight Till End'

Amanda Knox wept on television as she vowed to fight her latest conviction for the murder of Meredith Kercher "to the very end".

Knox broke down several times in the TV interview and said: "This really has hit me like a train."

She made it clear she would never voluntarily return to Italy to serve the 28-and-a-half year sentence handed down by a court in Florence. 

Knox was in her hometown of Seattle when she learned her conviction for killing the 21-year-old British student had been reinstated by judges.

Amande Knox broke down as she was interviewed on abc's Good Morning America

She spoke to ABC's Good Morning America after Miss Kercher's brother said Knox should be extradited to Italy by the US.

Legal experts say there is no reason why the US should refuse Italy's request - meaning Knox could be jailed in Italy.

Knox's ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito was also found guilty after judges ruled the pair should not have been cleared on appeal in 2011.

Knox is consoled by interviewer Robin Roberts

She sobbed as she described hearing the news live via an internet link to an Italian TV network. 

"My first reaction was 'no' - this is wrong and I'm going to do everything I can to prove that it is.

"But it was only on my way here that I got my first cry."

Exchange student Miss Kercher lived with Knox

Knox, 26, said she had contacted the chaplain at her former jail and he had reminded her that "people still believe in me".

Asked if she was prepared for any extradition she replied: "I'm not."

She added: "I will never go willingly back to the place. I'm going to fight this until the very end. It's not right, and it's not fair.

"This really has hit me like a train, I did not expect this to happen. I really expected so much better from the Italian justice system. They found me innocent before - how can they say this is guilt beyond reasonable doubt?"

Asked what she would say to the Kercher family she said: "I have sent them a letter - it's in the mail.

"I just want them to know I really understand that this has been incredibly difficult - that they too have been on this never-ending thing and when the case has been messed up this much then a verdict is no consolation."

Members of Ms Kercher's family were in court

Lyle Kercher, Meredith's brother, said: "If somebody's found guilty and convicted of a murder - if an extradition law exists between those two countries - I don't see why they (the US) wouldn't.

"It would set a difficult precedent if a country such as the US didn't choose to go along with laws they themselves uphold when extraditing convicted criminals from other countries."

Sollecito, who was not in court for the verdict but had attended lengthy hearings earlier in the day, was sentenced to 25 years.

Sollecito is in Italy but was not in court for the verdict

The 29-year-old has been held by Italian police after being stopped near the country's border with Austria on Friday morning.

Lawyers for Knox and Sollecito have said they intend to appeal to Italy's highest court and a long legal battle for Knox's extradition is expected.

Miss Kercher's sister Stephanie told reporters she would not read a letter Knox wrote to her until the appeals process is exhausted.

"I am told there was a letter - I have not physically seen it ... I don't have a need to read it at the moment."

She also said she did not want to meet Knox, who reportedly has tried to make contact with the Kercher family.

"It's not something we would want to do at the moment - and I can't say we ever will. Regardless of a guilty or not guilty verdict, a lot has happened over this amount of time."

Lyle Kercher told Sky News he could never forgive those responsible for his sister's death.

"I think you'd have to be a very strong-willed - arguably religious - person to find that forgiveness," he said. "I think it is so easily forgotten what happened to Meredith.

Amanda Knox leaves her Seattle home after the verdict was announced

"When I read reports even now, I find myself skimming past the paragraphs that refer to what actually happened to her because it is so horrific."

Knox and Sollecito were charged in 2007 after Miss Kercher's semi-naked body was found with her throat cut in the bedroom of the house she shared with Knox in the central Italian city of Perugia.

The Leeds University student from Coulsdon, Surrey, had been sexually assaulted.

Two years after the pair were found guilty at their original trial in 2009 - and handed jail terms totalling more than 50 years - the verdicts were overturned and both walked free from court, with Knox returning to the US and going on to sign a book deal.

The verdicts being delivered in Florence

Their acquittals in 2011 came after a damning 100-page report outlined a catalogue of errors and breaches of procedure that had been made in collecting evidence.

The third trial began last September in Florence.

After nearly 12 hours of deliberations on Thursday, the court upheld the 2009 convictions.

In an interview recorded before the latest verdict, Knox said the court's decision meant she was now technically a fugitive. 

"I'm definitely not going back (to Italy) willingly," she said. "They'll have to catch me and pull me back kicking and screaming."

Speaking to The Guardian, Ms Knox said her memory of what happened on the night the murder was clear.

Amanda Knox prepares for the interview

"I knew what I did that night," she said. "I very clearly remembered what I did that night. That I was with Rafael, we had dinner, we did what we always normally do when we're all the things we do when we're together.

"But they started questioning me about that, making me doubt what I was telling them. I kept telling them, 'look, I don't know what time I was doing things. 

"All I can tell you is I left my house, me and Rafael went to his house, we were hanging out, listening to music, I read some Harry Potter ... I remember reading emails, we talked, we had dinner; that's what we did."

Though Knox has remained in the US, she emailed the court to protest her innocence in a statement read out by her lawyer in which she insisted she ''was not a monster".

Drug dealer Rudy Guede was sentenced to 16 years over Miss Kercher's murder. Investigators said he did not act alone.

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