Angelina Jolie Receives Damehood From The Queen

The Queen has presented Angelina Jolie with an honorary damehood during a private audience at Buckingham Palace.

The Oscar-winning actress was recognised in the Diplomatic Service and Overseas Birthday 2014 Honours list and received the honorary damehood (DCMG) for services to UK foreign policy and the campaign to end war-zone sexual violence.

After the presentation, her husband Brad Pitt and their six children were presented to the Queen.

The award was first announced in June as Jolie co-chaired the End Sexual Violence in Conflict (ESVC) global summit in London with then foreign secretary William Hague.

At the time she said of the honour: "To receive an honour related to foreign policy means a great deal to me, as it is what I wish to dedicate my working life to.

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1. Gallery: Hollywood's Golden Couple - Pitt And Jolie

   Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt got married at a chateau in the south of France

2. Special UN envoy Jolie and Pitt attend the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict in London on June 13, 2014

3. Jolie and Pitt attend the Bafta Awards at The Royal Opera House on February 16, 2014

4. The couple, accompanied by their children, arrive at Haneda International Airport in Tokyo in July 2013

5. Jolie poses with Pitt at the world premiere of his film World War Z in London in June 2013

6. Attending the Cinema For Peace Gala ceremony at the Konzerthaus Am Gendarmenmarkt at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival in February 2012

7. Jolie and Pitt with the actor's parents, Bill and Jane Pitt, at the after party for the premiere of In The Land Of Blood And Honey in December 2011 in New York

8. The look of love - at the world premiere of The Tourist at the Ziegfeld Theatre in December 2010 in New York

9. The couple visit refugees in the village of Medjedja, near the eastern Bosnian town of Visegrad, 70km (43 miles) east of Sarajevo in April 2010

10. At a screening of the Quentin Tarantino film Inglourious Basterds in May 2009

11. The stars at the Critics' Choice Awards in January 2009

12. Signing autographs at The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button premiere in Berlin in January 2009

13. Jolie and Pitt arrive at the screening of Kung Fu Panda in Cannes in May 2008

14. At the Screen Actors Guild awards in January 2008

15. Attending the premiere of God Grew Tired Of Us in January 2007 in Los Angeles

16. Pitt and Jolie arrive at the Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton in January 2007

17. Jolie holds daughter Zahara as Pitt carries son Maddox during a stroll on the seafront promenade at the historic Gateway of India outside their hotel in Mumbai in November 2006

18. The stars ride on a scooter on a busy street in central Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam in November 2006

19. Jolie and Pitt leave Hotel Belvedere in Davos in January 2006 while attending the World Economic Forum

"Working on the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative and with survivors of rape is an honour in itself."

The Tomb Raider and Maleficent star's work as a committed humanitarian runs parallel to her career as a leading actress who has been a huge box office draw for more than a decade.

US Secretary of State John Kerry praised her humanitarian efforts after news of the award in June, describing her as as a "fierce and fearless advocate'' and he said her dedication to campaigning could overtake her successful film career as her lasting legacy.

Video: June: Jolie Hosts War Rape Summit

Jolie is also special envoy of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

The leading lady joins the ranks of many acting greats who have received damehoods, including Diana Rigg, Judi Dench, Julie Andrews, Angela Lansbury, Helen Mirren and Maggie Smith.

The 39-year-old star has previously won an Academy Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards, and was named Hollywood's highest-paid actress by Forbes in 2009, 2011, and 2013.

Video: May 2014: Jolie On World 'Horrors'

The actress will not be able to call herself a Dame as she is an American citizen but can use the initials of the award after her name.

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Malala 'Honoured' To Get Nobel Peace Prize

Schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai has said she is "honoured" after winning the Nobel Peace Prize for the championing of girls' rights.

The Pakistani schoolgirl said a teacher told her she had won the prize while in a chemistry lesson at school.

And she she said she completed the rest of her school day after learning she had won the accolade.

"When I found I had won the Nobel Peace Prize I decided I would not leave my school, rather I would finish my school time," she said.

"I went to the physics lessons, I learned. I went to the English lesson. I considered it like a normal day.

Video: Malala Shares Nobel Peace Prize

"I was really happy with the response of my teachers and my fellow students. They were all saying they were proud."

The teenager said it was "quite difficult" to express her feelings but she felt "really honoured".

She added: "I felt more powerful and more courageous because this award is not just a piece of metal or a medal you wear or an award you keep in your room.

"This is encouragement for me to go forward."

Malala came to prominence after surviving an assassination attempt in October 2012 when her calls for equal rights angered militants in her homeland of Pakistan.

Video: 12 July 2013: Malala Addresses UN

She said that her dream at the time she was shot was to become a doctor, but that now she had decided to become "a politician, a good politician".

The 17-year-old activist was jointly awarded the peace prize with Indian children's rights activist Kailash Satyarthi for her "heroic struggle" in favour of girls' access to education.

Speaking after finishing the school day at Edgbaston High School for Girls in Birmingham, she said: "My message to children all around the world is that they should stand up for their rights."

Explaining why she had campaigned against extremism despite the risks, she said: "At that time I stood up for my rights and I said 'I will speak up'. I did not wait for someone else.

"I had really two options, one was not to speak and wait to be killed, and the second was to speak up and then be killed.

Video: 18 October 2013: Malala Meets Queen

"And I chose the second one because at that time there was terrorism, women were not allowed to go outside of their houses, girls' education was totally banned, people were killed.

"At that time I needed to raise my voice because I wanted to go back to school. I was also one of those girls who could not get education.

"I wanted to learn and be who I can be in my future."

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Alice's Body Wrapped In Bag And Weighted Down

The inquest into murdered Alice Gross has heard the teenager's body was wrapped in a bag and weighted down in a river by logs.

Alice's mother Rosalind Hodgkiss attended the formal opening of the inquest, which also heard the 14-year-old was identified by dental records.

The inquiry at the West London Coroner's Court heard the cause of Alice's death remained unknown and further tests were ongoing.

Alice's mum attended the brief hearing

Coroner's officer John Chadwick told the court: "On September 30, as a result of a search of the River Brent, the body of Alice Gross was found by London Fire Brigade divers.

"The deceased was found submerged, wrapped in a bag and had been weighted down. Alice was pronounced life extinct at 22.45pm."

Video: 'You Have To Be Incredibly Careful'

The coroner signed forms to allow Alice's body to be released to her family.

The hearing lasted only a few minutes and was adjourned until 29 January.

Alice went missing from her home in Hanwell, west London, on 28 August.

Video: Alice: Body Found In Suspect Hunt

Just over a month later, her body was found hidden on the bed of the River Brent.

The Metropolitan Police's Deputy Commissioner, Craig Mackey, has defended the amount of time it took to find her body, saying it was a "colossal" investigation.

The body of the prime suspect, Arnis Zalkalns, was found in Boston Manor Park - a mile from where Alice's body was recovered - on October 4.

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1. Gallery: Parents 'Devastated' At Alice Death

   A post-mortem into the death of Alice Gross has proved inconclusive

2. The schoolgirl's body was found in a river in west London on October 1

3. A cordon had been put in place after the discovery of human remains in the River Brent

4. Forensic officers at the scene

5. Alice's father has changed his Facebook profile picture from a campaign poster to a field of wild flowers

6. Alice's family had made a heartfelt plea for the safe return of the missing teenager

7. Scotland Yard released new images of Alice as police staged a reconstruction of her last-known movements

8. The teenager disappeared on 28 August

9. Police received more than 1,000 calls from the public in response to appeals

10. Alice pictured with sister Nina

11. The 14-year-old had been missing for five weeks

12. Police had carried out a fingertip search around Alice's home in Hanwell, west London. This image shows officers searching the area on September 22

13. The hunt for the 14-year-old had been the biggest search operation since the 7/7 bombings in 2005

14. A dinghy was brought in to help in the search

15. Here, on September 18, forensics officers are seen in the garden of builder Arnis Zalkalns

16. Zalkalns, a Latvian national, was named as the main suspect by police after he, too, went missing from his home in Boston Manor Road, which runs between Hanwell and Brentford

17. September 8: a police diver enters the Grand Union Canal to search for the missing schoolgirl

18. September 7: Police search the River Brent, near Hanwell

19. A missing persons flyer is attached to a lamppost in central London

22. Alice was seen on CCTV at Brentford Lock

23. Arnis Zalkalns was seen on CCTV in the same area

The Latvian vanished from his flat in Ealing a week after Alice is thought to have been abducted and murdered while walking home along a canal towpath.

Zalkalns was filmed cycling along the same route behind Alice on the day she went missing.

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Funeral 'Party' Celebrates Hannah's Life

By Emma Birchley, East of England Correspondent

The funeral of a young woman murdered on the Thai island of Koh Tao has been held in the Norfolk village where she grew up.

Mourners listened via speakers in the churchyard as family and close friends said goodbye to Hannah Witheridge inside Hemsby's packed St Mary the Virgin Church.

The 23-year-old student was backpacking when she was killed along with David Miller, who was 24 and from Jersey.

Mourners watched silently as Hannah's coffin was carried into church

Their bodies were found on the beach in the early hours of 15 September.

On a sunny, cloudless morning, the horse-drawn hearse pulled by four white horses with purple plumes arrived at the church followed by Hannah's close family and friends.

Video: Suspects In Murder Reconstruction

The white coffin, covered with bright purple flowers, was carried into the church as mourners watched silently.

Hannah's parents were determined that it would be a "party" to celebrate her life and songs were performed including Cyndi Lauper's Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, Little Things by One Direction and She's So Lovely by Scouting For Girls.

Tributes were paid by her father Tony, sisters Tania and Laura and brother Paul.

Hannah, described by her parents as "a fun, vibrant and beautiful young woman" was training to be a speech and language therapist.

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1. Gallery: Thai Murders Accused At Crime Scene

   Two workers from Burma (wearing helmets and handcuffs), suspected of killing two British tourists on the island of Koh Tao last month, stand near Thai police officers where the bodies of the tourists were found

2. The pair have admitted to killing David Miller and Hannah Witheridge on the island in southern Thailand

3. Actors were used in the staging of the reconstruction

4. One of the suspects wields a mock weapon

5. The case has threatened to further damage the country's already bruised tourism sector

6. The victims' bodies were discovered on a beach on the island of Koh Tao, or Turtle Island, on 15 September, close to where they were staying. Continue through for more pictures

They have described the last three weeks as "unbearably difficult", made harder they said by "unnecessary and senseless" photographs of the crime scene circulating on the internet.

Two Burmese migrant workers, both aged 21, are charged with murder, rape and robbery.

They allegedly admitted the killings, but are now said to have retracted their confessions with reports that they were "beaten out of them".

After the service, Hannah's coffin was carried from the church for a private burial accompanied by clapping and cheering as requested by her family.

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Kim Jong-Un Missing Due To 'Pulled Tendon'

Kim Jong-Un has missed celebrations of the anniversary of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party, with one source suggesting he hurt himself taking part in a military drill.

Mr Kim has not been seen in public for over a month, leading to reports he was suffering from broken ankles, gout or diabetes.

His disappearance from public life - the longest since he came to power in 2011 - even sparked rumours he had been forced from power in a coup.

North Korean state media, which usually slavishly follows the leader's ever move on official visits, did not list Mr Kim among officials who made the annual pilgrimage to the mausoleum in Pyongyang housing the remains of his father and grandfather.

Instead, a floral tribute with his name on it was presented to the two statues of Kim Jong-Il and Kim Il-Sung in the Kumsusan Palace mausoleum.

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1. Gallery: Kim Jong-Un Inspecting Things

   Before recently disappearing from public view North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un was making regular public appearances across the country

2. The state media followed him as he enjoyed visits to factories, military installations and construction sites. Continue through for more pictures

Reuters news agency quoted a source inside North Korea saying Mr Kim was still in firm control of his government, but had hurt his leg taking part in a military drill.

"He ordered all the generals to take part in drills and he took part too. They were crawling and running and rolling around, and he pulled a tendon," the source said on condition of anonymity.

"He injured his ankle and knee around late August or early September while drilling because he is overweight.

Video: 8 July 2014: Kim Seems Unbalanced

"He limped around in the beginning, but the injury worsened." 

State television said last month that Mr Kim had an "uncomfortable physical condition". He was seen walking with a limp and appeared more overweight than usual.

North Korea strictly controls information about its government, so much of what happens in Pyongyang remains unknown by outsiders as well as North Koreans.

Video: Inside North Korea: Full Programme

But South Korea said Mr Kim appeared to remain in control of key affairs.

"It seems that Kim Jong-Un's rule is in normal operation," Unification Ministry spokesman Lim Byeong-cheol was quoted by the Yonhap news agency as saying.

"With regard to his specific health conditions, our government has no information to confirm yet."

Video: The Defectors: A Special Programme

Mr Lim noted that a high-level North Korean delegation conveyed a greetings message to South Korean President Park Geun-hye during a surprise visit to South Korea last week.

Meanwhile, the North fired into the South after a group of activists sent up balloons carrying anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets.

The South Korean military returned fire across the border, according to the Yonhap news agency.

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Ebola Hospital Staff Throw Gloves At Spain PM

Angry staff have been filmed throwing medical gloves and shouting "go away" at the Spanish prime minister after his visit to a hospital where a nurse has ebola.

Teresa Romero, 44, caught the deadly disease while treating a missionary there. He had flown to Madrid after becoming infected in West Africa and later died.

Questions have been raised about safety measures at Carlos III hospital where Mrs Romero is in a stable but serious condition.

Teresa Romero is in a serious but stable condition in hospital

There have been complaints from medical staff that they did not receive the appropriate training.

Nurses' union representative Paloma Panillas said nursing staff "don't trust this situation".

Video: Ebola Crisis: On The Front Line

Health officials revealed Mrs Romero had twice entered the missionary's room - once to change an incontinence pad and then to retrieve items after he had died.

She then accidentally touched her face while still wearing gloves used during the clean up.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who was leaving in his convoy when the medical staff shouted at him, said it was extremely unlikely the disease would spread in Spain.

Speaking outside the hospital, the leader said: "Our first priority is Teresa Romero - she is the only person that we know has the illness."

Video: How Can The UK Stop Ebola?

Mr Rajoy said he had set up a committee headed by the deputy prime minister to handle the crisis.

Seven more people have been admitted to the hospital in relation to Mrs Romero's case - taking the total number under observation or being treated to 14.

The new admissions included two hairdressers who had given her a beauty treatment before she was diagnosed and hospital staff who had treated her after she was admitted on Monday.

All went voluntarily to be monitored for signs of the disease, although none of the 14, including her husband, has so far tested positive for the disease except Ms Romero.

Video: How Doctors Should Deal With Ebola

She said she did not tell doctors she had been in contact with the virus and only found out she had the disease after reading the news online.

The nurse is the first person known to have caught the disease outside of West Africa in the current outbreak, which has killed thousands of people.

Meanwhile, a British man who died in Macedonia after suffering symptoms similar to ebola has been named as Colin Jaffray, according to Sky sources.

Public Health England said it was "unlikely" the death was caused by the virus.

Video: Ebola 'Could Become Next AIDS'

Prime Minister David Cameron has defended the decision to introduce enhanced screening for ebola at Heathrow and Gatwick airports and the Eurostar rail terminals, saying it was taken on "medical advice".

Questions have been raised about the checks with a Gatwick spokesman saying the airport had not been given any instructions about how the screening should be carried out.

The move has also been criticised by health experts, with one describing it as a "complete waste of time".

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'We're After You': UKIP Claims First Elected MP

UKIP leader Nigel Farage has warned David Cameron and Ed Miliband "we're after you" after the party claimed its first elected MP by winning 12,404 votes in the Clacton by-election.

Elsewhere, the party slashed Labour's majority in Heywood and Middleton to just 617 votes, which Mr Farage hailed an "absolutely astonishing" result.

Former Conservative MP Douglas Carswell won a landslide victory in Clacton, Essex, by securing 21,113 of the 35,386 votes cast.

UKIP also forced a recount in Heywood and Middleton, where Labour's Liz McInnes narrowly defeated UKIP's John Bickley.

Mr Farage said the results showed UKIP was now "a truly national party - indeed we are the only party that can challenge in solid Tory and Labour areas".

Video: No Complacency From Labour

He went on: "I've no doubt we'll hear, 'it's just a protest vote'. It's nothing of the kind. People from across the spectrum are saying. 'we've had enough of career politics'. They want to have a proper voice in Westminster.

"From today with Douglas Carswell they have got one, and in a few weeks time I believe they will have another in the shape of Mark Reckless, with another by-election coming up in Rochester and Strood.

"What we saw last night was the biggest and best night in UKIP's history

Video: 'UKIP Vote Risks Labour Government'

"We will now take the people's army of UKIP to the Rochester and Strood, and we will give that absolutely everything we have got."

Mr Farage earlier told Sky's Faisal Islam the strong UKIP result showed the Eurosceptic party was "ripping lumps out of the old Labour vote in the north of England".

Asked if he had a message for both Mr Cameron, who turned 48 yesterday, and Mr Miliband, he replied, "we're after you", adding: "Happy Birthday to David Cameron, and Ed Miliband, you have underestimated us."

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1. Gallery: UKIP Surge In By-Election Results

   UKIP has its first elected MP after Douglas Carswell took almost 60% of the vote in the Clacton by-election.

2. Mr Carswell won the seat with a majority of 12,404 over the Tory candidate Giles Watling.

3. Liz McInnes won the seat for Labour in the Heywood and Middleton contest, but its majority of almost 6,000 in 2010 was slashed to just 617 votes.

4. On a turnout of just 36%, Ms McInnes won with 11,633 votes, defeating UKIP's John Bickley on 11,016.

5. Ed Miliband's party's majority had been almost 6,000 in 2010, but a UKIP surge saw a 17.65% swing to Nigel Farage's party.

6. A triumphant Mr Carswell said "there is nothing that we cannot achieve" after winning Clacton.

7. UKIP's first elected MP to Parliament forced the election after defecting from the Tories.

8. Mr Carswell was the favourite to win, but there were still nerves on the night.

9. Mr Carswell took almost 60% of the vote.

10. Mr Farage said: "Congratulations Douglas Carswell, a brave and honourable man who has a just reward."

11. Ms McInnes won with 11,633 votes in Heywood and Middleton, defeating Mr Bickley on 11,016.

12. Despite UKIP's loss in the Lancashire constituency, Mr Bickley told Sky News "the Labour vote had collapsed".

13. Mr Farage went on to tell Sky News: "We are ripping lumps out of the old Labour vote in the north of England. The truth of what has happened in the North today is that if you are anywhere north of Birmingham, if you vote Conservative you get Labour."

14. He added: "And the reason we haven't won up there, despite a fantastic campaign, is that too many people have stuck with the Conservatives, not recognising that UKIP is now the challenger to Labour in every urban seat in the north of England."

15. Turnout in Clacton was 51.2%, while in Heywood and Middleton it was just 36%.

Mr Cameron said UKIP's success in Clacton and better-than-expected showing in Heywood and Middleton both spoke to a "wider truth" that a vote for UKIP risked a Labour government.

"If you vote UKIP you are in danger of getting a Labour government with Ed Miliband as Prime Minister, Ed Balls as Chancellor, and you'll get no action on immigration, no European referendum, and most importantly you won't get a continuation of the plan that's delivering success for our economy and security for our people," the Prime Minister said.

"That is the wider lesson of last night and we have several months to demonstrate that only a Conservative government can give people the stability and security that we all want to see."

Video: UKIP Finally Makes The Breakthrough

Mr Miliband, who would not be drawn on the nail-biting recount at Heywood and Middleton, said: "There won't be a shred of complacency from us as we reach out to all of those voters who didn't vote Labour and those who didn't vote at all."

He said the 2015 election was a "fight against disillusionment and despair about politics" which he was determined to win.

Mr Carswell, who triggered the Clacton by-election when he defected from the Tories, said UKIP's success revealed a "profound change in British politics".

Video: What Does UKIP's Win Mean For 2015?

Ms McInnes, who gained 11,633 votes in Heywood and Middleton where voter turnout fell to just 36%, said the by-election result was a win for the NHS.

Analysts said Labour's vote was damaged by the low turnout. Voter turnout was higher in Clacton, where 51.2% of voters cast their ballot.

Sky's Jon Craig said the dramatic decline of Labour's majority in Heywood would trigger further debate about Ed Miliband's leadership.

Video: Inside The UKIP Party's Party

Concerns over the result have been raised by some Labour MPs, with one branding the vote "awful" and "terrible" and a member of the shadow cabinet describing it as "very worrying".

Sky's Joey Jones said one senior MP had warned Monday's gathering of the Parliamentary Labour Party "could be an absolute bloodbath". 

Voters in Heywood cast their ballot for a new MP following the death of Labour's Jim Dobbin last month, who held the seat from 1997 and was returned in 2010 with a significant majority.

Video: Interview: Labour MP

UKIP's next target is Rochester and Strood, where defector Mr Reckless is hoping to return to Parliament following his defection.

The by-election there is expected to take place early next month.

:: Watch full coverage and reaction throughout the day on Sky News - available on skynews.com, Sky News for iPad and on Sky 501, Virgin Media 602, Freesat 202 and Freeview 132.

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Gambaccini: No Charges After Sex Crime Arrest

Broadcaster Paul Gambaccini will face no further action after being arrested under sex crime investigation Operation Yewtree.

The 65-year-old had maintained his innocence since he was held on October 29 last year.

He was arrested on the same day as another man, now aged 75, over alleged sex offences during a two-year period in the early 1980s.

Baljit Ubhey, the Chief Crown Prosecutor of CPS London, said: "Having carefully reviewed this case, we have decided that there is insufficient evidence to prosecute in relation to allegations of sexual offences made by two males believed to be aged between 14 and 15 at the time of the alleged offending.

"Each allegation was considered on its own merits and we have concluded that the available evidence does not offer a realistic prospect of conviction for any of the alleged offences.

"The complainants have been informed and we will be writing to them to more fully explain our decision and offer a meeting should they wish to discuss the matter in more detail."

At the time of his arrest, Gambaccini released a statement to say: "On Monday night, October 28, I attended an excellent production of the Kander and Ebb musical, The Scottsboro Boys, at the Young Vic theatre.

"It concerned a group of black men in Alabama in the 1930s who were falsely accused of sexual offences. Within hours, I was arrested by Operation Yewtree.

"Nothing had changed, except this time there was no music."

After the announcement, Gambaccini's friends and colleagues expressed their relief.

Broadcaster Liz Kershaw said: "Delighted to hear my friend, mentor, music encyclopaedia and perfect gentleman #PaulGambaccini is a 'free man' after a whole year on bail."

Gambaccini and the second man were the 15th and 16th people to be arrested under Operation Yewtree, the national inquiry sparked by allegations against Jimmy Savile.

Ten people, including Jim Davidson and Freddie Starr, have been told they will face no further action after being questioned as part of the investigation.

Three have been convicted - performer Rolf Harris, PR expert Max Clifford and DJ Dave Lee Travis.

Former pop star Gary Glitter and ex-radio DJ Chris Denning are due to face trial.

Driver David Smith was charged but died before court proceedings could take place, and another man, aged 73, remains on bail after he was arrested in April.

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UKIP Near-Miss Will Send Biggest Shock Waves

By Jon Craig, Chief Political Correspondent

As I left the count with UKIP's deputy leader Paul Nuttall after a nail-biting night at Heywood and Middleton, he said to me: "I need a pint of Guinness!"

The Guinness and the foaming pints of bitter favoured by the UKIP leader Nigel Farage will taste especially good today after a storming by-election victory in Clacton, and a photo-finish in the safe Labour seat of Heywood and Middleton.

Douglas Carswell's comfortable victory by 12,404 votes in Clacton was predictable, but is still an ominous warning to David Cameron and the Conservatives of the damage UKIP can potentially inflict on the Tories in next year's General Election.

But Labour's near-defeat in Heywood and Middleton, clinging on by just 617 votes after a recount demanded by UKIP, has already sent shock waves through the Labour high command and will reignite the criticism of Ed Miliband's leadership inside his party.

Bad tactics, bad strategy, bad leadership, his accusers will claim.

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1. Gallery: The UKIP History In Pictures

   1993: UKIP is founded by Alan Sked in response to the Maastricht Treaty, which set out the modern day EU and paved the way for the Euro. He left the party in 1997 saying it had become a "racist party for the far-right". He is now the leader of New Deal, which has been called UKIP of the Left.

2. 1999: The party takes its first three seats in the European Parliament, under the leadership of the millionaire businessman Michael Holmes. Nigel Farage is one of those MEPs.

3. 2000: Michael Holmes resigns and Jeffrey Titford takes over as leader of UKIP. He leads the party to field 420 candidates at the 2001 General Election and secure 1.5% of the vote.

4. 2002: Former Conservative Roger Knapman takes over at the helm.

5. 2004: The party wins 12 seats at the European Elections, among the UKIP MEPs is the chat show host Robert Kilroy Silk.

6. 2005: Growing speculation Robert Kilroy Silk will take on the leadership comes to nothing and he announces he is leaving the party, calling it a "joke", setting up his own party, Veritas.

7. 2006: In a radio interview David Cameron calls UKIP members "fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists, mostly". It's the same year Nigel Farage is elected leader with 45% of the votes. Mr Farage drives an armoured vehicle to the Conservative Party Conference demanding an apology.

8. 2009: UKIP wins 13 seats at the European Elections but Mr Farage steps down as leader so he can concentrate on preparing for the General Election.

9. 2010: Nigel Farage decides to oppose House of Commons Speaker John Bercow in Buckingham - not the done thing. He fails to win the seat and goes on to reject the party's manifesto as "486 pages of drivel".

10. 2011: Ed Miliband hits the campaign trail at the Barnsley by-election (pictured) but UKIP candidate comes second to Labour, indicating the party presents a challenge to both Left and Right.

11. February 2013: Diane James wins UKIP's highest by-election showing with 27.8% of the vote at Eastleigh. The Liberal Democrats hold the seat.

12. September 2013: MEP Godfrey Bloom quits the party after provoking a row when he called women party activists, who didn't clean behind their fridges, "sluts". It came shortly after he made a reference to "bongo-bongo land".

13. May 2014: UKIP becomes the first party other than Labour or the Conservatives in more than a century to win the majority share of the vote in a UK election at the local and European elections. Mr Farage claims he delivered the "earthquake" he promised.

14. August 2014: Conservative MP Douglas Carswell announces he is defecting to UKIP triggering a by-election in Clacton.

15. September 2014: Conservative MP Mark Reckless follows Mr Carswell and defects to UKIP on the eve of the Tory party conference, triggering a by-election in Rochester and Strood.

16. October 2014: Nigel Farage announces he has parked his tanks on Labour's lawns as he joins the campaign trail in Heywood and Middleton, where a by-election is triggered by the death of the Labour MP Jim Dobbin, on the same day as the Clacton vote.

Until now, Labour has complacently assumed that UKIP could unseat Conservative MPs but merely eat into Labour majorities in its safe seats in the north of England. That assumption has now been shattered by the Heywood and Middleton result.

Make no mistake, Labour got a horrendous fright in this former northern stronghold. At the beginning of the night, senior Labour figures were confident of victory and expected to win with a comfortable majority, with UKIP in second place.

But after it was revealed that the turnout was just 36% and not in the mid-40s, as they expected, I watched as the colour drained from the faces of the Labour campaign team.

Video: Speech: Douglas Carswell MP

They stared at the bundles on the tables in the centre of the room and saw that they were virtually identical in size.

As UKIP successfully called for a recount, Mr Nuttall declared that the margin between the two parties was 620 votes. He turned out to be almost spot on.

Last week, I went to Clacton on the day Prime Minister David Cameron paid a brief visit and inspected the sea defences being built to protect the coastline against storm damage.

Video: Ed Miliband's Highs And Lows

But in a seaside constituency with an elderly electorate, the UKIP storm was always going to blow the Tories away.

Interviewed by Anna Botting on Sky News after his victory, Mr Carswell was gracious enough to admit that Heywood and Middleton was the more significant result.

After Clacton, though, the second UKIP defector, Mark Reckless, looks well placed to hold his Rochester and Strood seat in his by-election.

Video: Interview: Labour MP

But Mr Cameron's Tory conference gag: "Go to bed with Nigel Farage and wake up with Ed Miliband", looks mistaken now.

That's because these two by-elections, held on the Prime Minister's birthday, have shown that UKIP is capable of damaging Labour as well as the Conservatives.

The lesson for Labour is that just talking about the NHS, as its Heywood and Middleton candidate Liz McInnes did, isn't enough. Voters want to hear about the economy and immigration too.

Video: Interview: Nigel Farage MEP

The lesson for the Conservatives is that trying to out-UKIP UKIP doesn't do any good. Why vote for a party copying UKIP policies when you can vote for the real thing?

The beer and Guinness enjoyed by Mr Farage and Mr Nuttall will certainly taste better than ever now.

But Mr Cameron and Mr Miliband will need a stiff drink after these two results. And their by-election hangover will last seven months, all the way to the General Election in May 2015.

00.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Airstrikes Missing IS Front Line, Say Fighters

By Sherine Tadros, Middle East Correspondent

We met Abu Ibrahim, a Free Syrian Army (FSA) Commander, and his two friends in a coffee shop in Urfa, Southern Turkey.

They had just returned from the Syrian border town of Kobane, where he told us the FSA had joined forces with Kurdish militias to fight the group calling themselves Islamic State (IS).

It was an uneasy alliance with the Kurds, Abu Ibrahim told us, but they had little choice - they had to unite against their common enemy and help defend the town.

Abu Ibrahim says he left Kobane to help carry injured fighters to hospitals in Turkey.

He and his two friends - an activist and a fighter - say they plan to smuggle back in to Kobane imminently.

Video: Airstrikes Target IS In Border Town

They are all originally from Eastern Syria but were forced out of their towns by IS militants. 

They made it to Kobane a few weeks ago but admit they are now running out of ammunition.

"Turkey needs to open the border for us to get ammunition, because now we are trapped between Turkey and IS.

"I was smuggled into Turkey illegally and I will go back the same way."

He continued: "If things stay the same way, frankly we'll have no other option but to fight with knives.

"There's no way to bring in weapons ... we would rather die than leave our land."

Abu Ibrahim also says IS has around 5,000 fighters in Kobane right now and admits his forces and the Kurds are less than half of that.

Abu El Majed has been fighting in Kobane against IS for months and says they are not only outnumbered but also outgunned.

"We have RPGs, machine guns, light weapons like Kalishnikovs ... and that's what we're using against IS who have tanks, canons, heavy weapons," he explained.

For the past few days, US- led airstrikes have focused on hitting the outskirts of Kobane, but the fighters say the strikes are having almost no effect because they're not targeting the IS front line.

Video: First RAF Airstrikes Against IS

Abu Jarrah is an FSA activist who says he watched the coalition strikes from a hilltop.

"I could see IS positions clearly, they had their flags raised, they weren't hiding.

"But the jets would hit a kilometre or two away from the target," he told us, throwing his hands up in disbelief

For these men and thousands like them from the FSA, Kobane is the last hope. 

They've been driven out of towns from Eastern Syria all the way to the Turkish border.

If they lose this battle with IS, they'll have nowhere else to go.

"I'm prepared to fight until the last drop of my blood. I know if I am killed in Kobane, that's it. I can't live in Turkey. So we will fight with everything we have," said Abu Majed.

But that may not be enough. 

US and Arab air power in Syria is not stopping the advance of the militants, while those fighting IS on the ground are being defeated and slowly driven out of their own country.  

00.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Ebola Nurse Touched Her Face With Glove

The Spanish nurse being treated for ebola says she touched her face with a tainted protective glove after helping treat a man dying from the virus.

Theresa Romero, 40, is in quarantine in a Madrid hospital but told doctors she believes she made the mistake after cleaning up after the man.

Heath officials said she had twice entered the room of Spanish missionary Manuel Garcia Viejo - once to change his incontinence pad and then to retrieve items after he had died.

Mrs Romero is the first person to contract the virus outside Africa.

She earlier told El Mundo she had no idea how she was infected and that she had followed all precautions.

Teresa Ramos says she followed all the safety procedures

Another three people are also quarantined at the Carlos III hospital, including the woman's husband - who had made a video appeal for authorities not to destroy the couple's dog Excalibur.

But according to unconfirmed reports the animal was euthanised at the veterinary hospital at Madrid's Complutense University on Wednesday.

Video: Bodies Pile Up After Ebola Strike

Some 50 other people - who either had contact with Mrs Romero or treated one of the two missionaries who died at the hospital - are also being monitored.

Spanish leader Mariano Rajoy has called for calm and promised "transparency" over the scare, which has raised questions over whether strict safety rules were properly followed.

As West Africa struggles to cope with a spiralling infection rate, burial teams in Sierra Leone have reportedly gone on strike.

The workers, who arguably have one of the world's most dangerous jobs, complain they have not been paid.

The situation is "very embarrassing", said health ministry spokesman Sidie Yahya Tunis.

He promised that money was available for the workers.

Video: Suiting Up In An Ebola Hotspot

"We haven't been paid for two weeks, so we need our money right now," said one angry worker.

"We don't even care if dead bodies have been littered all over the city - all we want is our money. We've been stigmatised in our communities, so let the government pay us our money."

Sky's Alex Crawford saw first-hand the extreme precautions burial teams in the region have to take as they retrieve corpses.

She said teams in neighbouring Liberia - the worst affected country with more than 2,000 deaths - were overwhelmed, with "not enough hours in the day for them to track down the dead".

Any temporary halt in collection only adds to the risk of further infection because the virus can stay on the bodies, said Sky's Health Correspondent Thomas Moore.

Six hundred people have died from the virus in Sierra Leone, according to the World Health Organisation, and more than 3,400 in total.

Video: Online Appeal To Save Ebola Dog

The virus has swept through Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Nigeria, with the World Bank saying the financial impact could hit $32.6bn (£20bn) by the end of the year

In Britain, David Cameron chaired an emergency meeting as four hospitals stand by to handle any UK cases.

The US has ordered security agents at airports and other entry ports to screen arriving travellers for signs of the disease.

Texas ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan - the first to be diagnosed with the disease in the US - died at the Texas Presbyterian Hospital on Wednesday, officials said.

The UN, meanwhile, has said one of its medical officials in Liberia has tested positive for ebola and is receiving treatment.

The unnamed official is the second member of their mission to contract the virus - the other died on 25 September.

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Ebola Outbreak: How Much Is Britain At Risk?

By Thomas Moore, Health And Science Correspondent

As a Spanish nurse becomes the first person outside West Africa to be infected with ebola, here we answer some of your questions.

Now the virus is in Europe, should I panic?

No. The infection of the Spanish nurse is almost certainly a one-off.

Health workers have to go through a strict de-robing procedure to prevent the virus being transferred from their protective gowns onto their skin.

If clothes are removed in the wrong order, if any shortcut is taken on handwashing, or if any sweat is wiped away from the eyes, there can be contamination.

It does not mean the virus is on the loose in Europe. The nurse's contacts have been traced and those deemed to be at high risk have been quarantined as a precaution.

The general population in the UK - or Spain, for that matter - is at no greater risk of ebola today than it was a week ago.

Nurse Teresa Ramos has ebola in Spain

Why bring infected health workers back from Africa at all?

British doctors and nurses are already treating ebola patients in West Africa.

Video: Ebola: School Blocks Charity Mum

Many more will be on their way within weeks, answering the humanitarian call to help countries that have been overwhelmed by the disease.

So far just one - Will Pooley - has been infected and brought back for treatment at London's Royal Free Hospital.

He would not have been able to get the best medical care in Sierra Leone, so the Government repatriated him with strict - and successful - quarantine controls.

But the International Development Secretary Justine Greening has acknowledged on Sky News there is a risk in transferring patients and a hospital is being built with UK money in Sierra Leone.

It will have 12 beds set aside for infected healthcare workers.

What about travellers - shouldn't we screen them?

Video: Bodies Pile Up After Ebola Strike

Public Health England says there is no reason to check arriving air passengers for ebola symptoms. That's in line with advice from the World Health Organisation.

Firstly, it would duplicate the screening of people departing on flights from the affected countries in West Africa.

Secondly, British Airways has suspended direct flights between the UK and Sierra Leone and Liberia.

So passengers from the region would have to change planes in Paris, Brussels, or many other capitals.

Tens of thousands of passengers would have to be checked every day, causing long delays.

Thirdly, temperature scans only detect people with symptoms.

Video: Suiting Up In An Ebola Hotspot

A Liberian passenger treated in hospital in the US was healthy when he travelled and only developed symptoms several days later. Checks on arrival wouldn't have picked him up.

He has now died in a Dallas hospital.

So is the NHS prepared?

GPs have been sent a symptom checklist by Public Health England.

Anybody with a fever, who has recently returned from one of the affected countries in West Africa, will be rapidly risk-assessed.

If there is a high chance that their symptoms are due to ebola - rather than malaria or any other tropical disease - they will be quarantined at the Royal Free Hospital in London.

Video: UK Ebola Risk 'Remains Low'

What if we get lots of ebola cases?

The specialist unit at the Royal Free has two beds.

But other NHS hospitals are on standby.

The Royal Liverpool, Royal Victoria in Newcastle and Royal Hallamshire in Sheffield are next in line to receive patients.

And any hospital with an infectious diseases unit could be adapted with quarantine canopies around beds to safely care for patients.

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US Fighter Jet Crashes In Lincolnshire

A US fighter pilot has ejected to safety as his military jet crashed in a Lincolnshire field.

The F-15 jet - worth in the region of $30m (£18m) - hit the ground near Broadgate, in Weston Hills, at about 3.30pm.

Police advised people to avoid the area over fears about hazardous fumes from the burning aircraft.

The incident involved a US F-15 fighter like this one

A spokesman for USAF's 48 Fighter Wing based at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk confirmed one of its F-15s was involved in the incident during a training exercise.

He added: "The pilot ejected and is safe." 

He was the only person on the jet.

A Lincolnshire Police spokesman said: "The pilot appears to have escaped with very minor injury and has left the scene by helicopter.

"The plane has come down in an isolated rural area and no premises have been affected."

The area was sealed off.

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The Apocalyptic Prophecy Fuelling IS Militants

An ancient prophecy that sees an "infidel horde" in a monumental battle with an Islamic army in the Syrian town of Dabiq has apparently been seized upon by IS fundamentalists.

The Sunni Muslim tale dates back more than 1,300 years and tells of the "horde" flying 80 banners before an Islamic triumph that triggers the end of days.

It has become a fundamental part of the philosophy that drives Islamic State militants.

Dabiq, the Islamic State magazine

Having captured Dabiq in August, the town's symbolic significance far outweighs its relatively minor strategic importance to the group, compared with cities it controls such as Raqqa in Syria and Mosul in Iraq.

But as the militants come under heavy bombardment from the air by the US and allies seeking to halt their march, Dabiq is increasingly becoming a rallying call.

Video: Sam Kiley On The Battle For Kobani

Shadi Hamid, a fellow at the Brookings Institute, said: "It raises morale.

"It is fair to assume that the vast majority of (IS) fighters believe in this type of talk."

The prophecy itself was made by the Prophet Mohammed, according to his companion Abu Hurayrah's report, or hadith.

Abu Hurayrah is described as the most prolific narrator of hadith - accounts of the Prophet Mohammed's deeds, teachings and sayings - in Sunni Islam, adding to the importance of the prophecy in the eyes of IS.

Video: Where Does IS Get Its Money?

Among IS supporters on social media, Dabiq has become a byword for a struggle against the West, with the US-led coalition portrayed as modern-day Crusaders. IS has even named its official magazine Dabiq.

One Twitter user in Tunisia recently wrote: "The lions of Islam have raised the banner of the Caliphate in Dabiq. Now they await the arrival of the Crusader army."

The prophecy has been passed down in different versions, but in all cases it features a great battle between a Muslim army and the forces of non-believers.

IS supporters have been interpreting a series of recent events as further evidence of its truth.

Video: Is Town 'About To Fall' To IS?

The US-led coalition's members now number more than 60 countries, with many watching closely in anticipation of when the prophecy's "80 banners" are reached.

Comments by US General Martin Dempsey on the possible need for ground forces have also been seized on by some as a signal, with supporters on Twitter using the hashtag: "It is Dabiq, by God."

In reference to the prophecy, one user simply posted: "When you despair of your air power, you will find us waiting in Dabiq."

Anjem Choudary, a radical British Islamist preacher who has expressed support for IS, said he did not believe Muslims sought to make the foretold battle a reality.

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1. Gallery: The Moment RAF Jet Attacks IS Truck

   The RAF carried out its first airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Iraq on 1 October, 2014 (All pictures: MoD)

2. Tornados destroyed a heavy weapon position, which was attacking Kurdish forces, and an armed pick-up truck (pictured). The red circle shows the path of the missile fired at the vehicle

3. The strikes were the first since MPs voted to support aerial raids in Iraq last Friday

4. The targets were in the northwest of Iraq

5. The moment the truck, which had a mounted machine gun, was destroyed by a Brimstone missile

6. A plume of smoke rose above the area

7. The strike was successful, according to an initial assessment, said Defence Secretary Michael Fallon

8. The Tornados safely returned to their base at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus after the sortie

9. Six of the GR4 fighter jets are based on the island in the Mediterranean

10. The aircraft began their combat missions on Saturday

"It could happen now; it could happen in the future," he said.

"I don't think any Muslim strives to bring it about."

But many IS supporters are convinced of the prophecy's validity, with one writing on Twitter: "Dabiq will happen for certain.

"The US and its allies will descend on Syria once they see that the air campaign has failed. That is a promise by God and his Messenger."

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Clegg Admits Lib Dems Tainted By Government

Nick Clegg has said his party has been tainted by time in Government, as he pledged never to make a tuition fees-style "mistake" again.

In his final conference speech before the General Election, the Liberal Democrat leader admitted he was no longer the "untainted ... fresh-faced outsider" who rode into the coalition on the back of "Cleggmania" in 2010.

Mr Clegg accused the Conservatives of lurching right and Labour of lurching left to combat the threat of UKIP, claiming the middle ground for his party ahead of the vote in May.

Nick Clegg's speech: word cloud

He thanked Ed Miliband for forgetting to mention the deficit in his speech at the Labour party conference, and he thanked the Chancellor George Osborne for announcing he would take away benefits from working age poor - making the party's job easier.

Mr Clegg said the Liberal Democrats were the only party to stand for "decent British values" and against the politics of "blame and grievance and fear" on offer from the other parties and he would "keep hammering away at the system every single day".

Video: Clegg: The Politics Of Blame

And he said he had debated with Nigel Farage on the European Union because someone had to stand up for "liberal Britain".

The Deputy Prime Minister listed all of the Lib Dems' triumphs while in Government, including increasing the personal tax allowance - effectively awarding tax cuts to millions - free childcare, better parental leave, gay marriage and the pupil premium for disadvantaged children.

He said he would not stand by and see the Tories claiming the credit for all the Liberal Democrats had done, telling activists: "David Cameron, you can copy our ideas but you will never imitate our values."

Video: Nick Clegg On Terror Threat

Mr Clegg vowed to increase the personal tax free allowance to £11,000 by 2016 and £12,500 by 2020.

He accused the Conservatives of plagiarising Liberal Democrat policy with Mr Cameron's conference pledge increase the amount people can earn without being taxed to £12,500 by 2020, which would mean a tax cut for 30 million people. 

Increasing the personal allowance was part of the Liberal Democrats' manifesto pledge in 2010 but in the televised leaders debates Mr Cameron told Mr Clegg his plans were unaffordable.

Video: Clegg Invokes The Pub Landlord

Mr Clegg disclosed a conversation with Mr Osborne in which the Chancellor told him: "I don't want to deliver a Liberal Democrat budget"

In his speech, Mr Clegg also hit back at Home Secretary Theresa May for "playing on people's fears simply to try and get your own way".

In her speech to the Tory conference last week, Mrs May accused the Lib Dems of putting children's lives at risk by opposing measures that would allow intelligence agencies access to all phone, internet and email records.

Video: Clegg: Tories Stole Our Tax Policy

Mr Clegg said: "Your Communications Data Bill was disproportionate, disempowering - we blocked it once and we'd do it again.

"There are times when the state needs to keep its nose out of our lives, to give us the freedom to make the most of our lives."

He also had a rebuke for Mr Cameron over his attitude to environmental policies telling party activists: "It's not green c*** to us" as he made a manifesto pledge to five new green laws.

Video: Full Interview: Deputy PM's Wife

The Prime Minister was reported last year to have said: "We've got to get rid of all this green c***."

Mr Clegg also promised the vow on the devolution of powers to Scotland promised by the three party leaders would not be broken.

He paid tribute to the two Britons killed by Islamic State terrorists, saying their deaths had provided British forces in Iraq with a "clear, single objective".

Video: Sky News By-Election Special

He also announced there would be national waiting times for mental health patients and, like Mr Cameron and Mr Miliband, he pledged to increase spending on the like DNHS.

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DJ 'Raped Teenager After Pop Fame Promise'

A DJ accused of raping a 15-year-old with Jimmy Savile attacked another teenager who responded to his magazine advert looking for "the next teenage pop sensation", a court has been told.

Former Radio Caroline DJ Ray Teret, 72, raped the 17-year-old after giving her "the promise of the dream" of fame and fortune, Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court heard.

However, the defendant did not find the budding singer "a jot of work", the jury was told.

Teret, then aged in his mid-50s, was said to have impressed the girl when he took her to his house in the mid-1990s and showed her a Porsche car, gold and platinum discs and photographs on the walls of him with celebrities.

Prosecutor Tim Evans said Teret went on to tell the youngster "there were lots of things potentially happening career-wise" and she needed to be in the "bright lights of Manchester".

It led to "a big send-off" from her family as Teret collected her and drove her to his flat where he raped her after she had red wine for the first time and became drunk, the court heard.

The alleged victim was said to have gone "into a bit of a lockdown" as she submitted rather than consented to sex, jurors were told.

William Harper, 65, is also on trial with Teret

Teret then gave her £40 to buy a new dress, said Mr Evans.

Only "the promise of the dream" persuaded her to stay as Teret continued his abuse, he added.

Mr Evans said: "She got to the stage where she protested and his answer to that was telling, you may think.

"He would say that she was too attractive, her fault then, and more significantly that he couldn't do things for her without it happening.

"Could he make it any clearer to this 17-year-old girl who had not got the fame promised, that sex was the price for the fame she wanted?"

He went on: "And the fame and fortune promised? Teret didn't find her a jot of work. Was providing her with work ever what he was truly interested in?"

Teret, of Altrincham, Greater Manchester, denies 18 rapes, two other serious sexual assaults, one attempted rape, 11 indecent assaults and two counts of indecency with a child.

The historical offences dating back to 1962 are in relation to 17 different girls.

Two other men are also on trial with Teret.

Alan Ledger, 62, from Altrincham, denies a serious sexual assault, two indecent assaults and one count of indecency with a child.

William Harper, 65, of Stretford, denies one count of attempted rape.

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School Blocks Charity Worker Over Ebola Fears

A school visit by a charity worker in Greater Manchester has been cancelled because some parents were reportedly worried their children would be infected by ebola.

Miriam Mason-Sesay and her nine-year-old son, Kofi - who was due to study at St Simon's Catholic Primary School in Stockport - are from Sierra Leone.

They have been screened, are healthy and have been given unrestricted movement in the UK.

Kofi came with his mother from Sierra Leone on Thursday

The school tried to reassure parents that they posed no risk but a number of parents were insistent the visit should not go ahead.

In a statement, headteacher Elizabeth Inman said: "A significant number of parents have been in touch with me to express their fears.

"Ebola cannot be spread as some parents have suggested.

"There are many parents who believe that the visit should have gone ahead and that we are contributing to misunderstandings by cancelling it.

The charity worker has been living in Sierra Leone since 2000

"The misguided hysteria emerging is extremely disappointing, distracting us from our core purpose of educating your children and is not an environment that I would wish a visitor to experience."

Speaking to Sky News, Ms Mason-Sesay said she and Kofi had come from Sierra Leone on Thursday evening for fund-raising purposes - something she does every March and October for the charity, EducAid, which was started by her brother and a friend who set up schools for children out there.

The charity worker, who has been in the West African country since 2000, said she and her son had not had any contact with anyone with ebola while in Sierra Leone - or anyone who had been in contact with someone who had had it.

"Absolutely not," she insisted. "That's the trouble really. There have been 600 deaths but we're talking about a population of six million, it's less than 0.1%. It's not hiding behind every bush.

"It's a very nasty disease but you have to go looking to get it. You have to be a health worker or a care worker for somebody who is seriously ill.

"It's disappointing that people would think I would endanger their children in that way and be going round other schools if I were a genuine risk."

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Texas Ebola Patient Thomas Eric Duncan Dies

By Sky News US Team

The first man diagnosed with ebola in the US has died amid calls for countries to "step up" their response to the outbreak.

Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, where Thomas Eric Duncan was being treated, said he "succumbed to an insidious disease, ebola. He fought courageously in this battle."

The Liberian national picked up the virus in his country before flying to Texas, where he fell ill and was admitted to the Dallas hospital.

As news of Mr Duncan's death was released, Secretary of State John Kerry was making an urgent appeal for nations to "step up" their response to the outbreak.

Mr Duncan caught the disease in Liberia

Speaking alongside British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, Mr Kerry said more money, equipment and personnel are needed now.

He said it is essential for airlines to keep flying to West Africa and for borders to remain open to allow for the movement of assistance and medical staff.

Video: Bodies Pile Up After Ebola Strike

The White House meanwhile confirmed that passengers from West Africa would have their temperatures taken upon arrival at five major US airports.

The screening - at JFK in New York, Newark Liberty International in New Jersey, Washington Dulles, Chicago's O'Hare and Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta - is expected to begin as early as this weekend.

Mr Duncan's fiancee, Louise Troh, paid tribute to him as a "wonderful man" in a statement.

"His suffering is over," she said. "My family is in deep sadness and grief, but we leave him in the hands of God."

Video: Suiting Up In An Ebola Hotspot

His family said they had visited him on Tuesday at the hospital, but declined to view him via video link because his condition was too "disturbing".

Mr Duncan's nephew, Josephus Weeks, said he and his mother had been unable to sleep after seeing Mr Duncan's face over video during a previous visit.

He was being treated with an experimental drug and had been on a breathing machine while receiving kidney dialysis.

US authorities are monitoring about 50 people who came into contact with him.

Video: 56 Being Checked For Ebola In Spain

Mr Duncan arrived in Texas on 20 September and went to the Dallas hospital emergency room on 24 September after falling ill, but was sent home with antibiotics.

By 27 September, his condition had worsened and an ambulance took him back to the hospital, where he was placed in isolation.

Meanwhile, US doctor Kent Brantly, who survived ebola, has donated blood to an NBC cameraman who is fighting the disease at a Nebraska hospital, the broadcaster said.

In Spain, a nurse is in quarantine after she apparently touched her face with a glove tainted with the virus while treating a missionary who had contracted the disease. She is the first person to contract the disease outside Africa.

Video: Online Appeal To Save Ebola Dog

There is no approved treatment for ebola and no vaccine against the virus.

The current outbreak in West Africa is the deadliest in history, and has already killed nearly 3,500 people.

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Airstrikes Target IS Fighters In Border Town

Two new airstrikes have reportedly been carried out against Islamic State (IS) targets around the Syrian border town of Kobani.

Thick black smoke could be seen billowing into the air from a hill on the eastern side of the town, according to the AFP news agency.

A second strike, a few hours later, sent a cloud of smoke above the northeastern side of the city.

They were the first airstrikes since a flurry of attacks yesterday, which some sources said had helped Kurdish fighters of the People's Protection Units (YPG) push back the IS militants.

Idris Nahsen, a Kurdish official from Kobani, said the airstrikes had been helpful.

"The situation has changed since Tuesday," he said. "YPG forces have pushed back IS forces."

Video: IS Footage Shows Kobani Onslaught

It comes after at least 12 people were killed during pro-Kurdish demonstrations in Turkey, with protesters claiming the country is not doing enough in the fight against Islamic State jihadists.

According to reports, five people have been killed in Diyarbakir, the largest town in Turkey's majority-Kurdish southeast region.

Several other deaths were recorded in other southeastern towns, including three in Mardin, two in Siirt, one in Batman and another in Mus.

Police have also used tear gas and water cannon to disperse angry protests in Istanbul and Ankara.

Video: Turkey Turns Water Cannon On Kurds

Turkish Interior Minister Efkan Ala accused the pro-Kurdish protesters of "betraying their own country".

"Violence will be met with violence," he said.

"This irrational attitude should immediately be abandoned and (the protesters) should withdraw from the streets."

The demonstrations called by the main pro-Kurdish party, the People's Democratic Party (HDP), stem from claims that Ankara is failing to intervene militarily against IS jihadists fighting for Kobani.

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1. Gallery: Assad's Forces Seize Area From Islamists

   Forces of Syria's President Bashar al Assad carry a Syrian flag as they head towards a spot where a flag of the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front is positioned on a hillside in Zor al-Mahruqa village

2. Assad's forces said they had regained control of the area and its surrounding hills, in the Hama countryside

3. The flag of the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front is burnt on the hill

5. The Syrian national flag is erected

6. Assad forces inspect military equipment, which they said were left behind by rebel fighters in Zor al-Mahruqa village

7. An abandoned base where caves were dug by rebel fighters in Zor al-Mahruqa village

10. Assad forces inspect an underground base where caves were dug by rebel fighters in the nearby al-Hareeqa village

12. A Polish army member hods the German flag in front of an Eurofighter aircraft during a visit of new NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg of Norway (not pictured) at Lask air base

13. NATO will stand by member state Turkey if it comes under attack as a result of the fighting in neighboring Syria, alliance Secretary-General Stoltenberg said

Some 400 people are believed to have been killed in the town and thousands displaced during weeks of fighting.

US, Saudi Arabian and United Arab Emirates jets had previously launched five attacks against targets south of the city.

In a statement, US Central Command said four armed vehicles, anti-aircraft artillery, a tank and a militant unit were hit during the strikes.

Reports suggest the fighting has become less intense following the coalition attacks.

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1. Gallery: IS Attacks Town Near Turkish Border

   Turkish army tanks take up position on the Turkish-Syrian border near the southeastern town of Suruc in Sanliurfa Province

2. Kurdish fighters vowed not to abandon their increasingly desperate efforts to defend the Syrian border town of Kobani from Islamic State militants pressing in from three sides and pounding them with heavy artillery

3. Despite the heavy fighting, which has seen mortars rain down on residential areas in Kobani and stray fire hit Turkish territory, a Reuters reporter saw around 30 people cross over from Turkey, apparently to help with defence of the town

4. An IS fighter walks near a black flag belonging to the Islamic State near Kobani

14. Kurdish refugees from Kobani sit in front of their tents in a camp in the southeastern town of Suruc

15. Islamic State is trying to seize Kobani, which is predominantly Kurdish, and has ramped up its offensive in recent days despite being targeted by US-led coalition airstrikes aimed at halting its progress

16. Turkish Kurds look at Kobani as they stand on top of a house near Mursitpinar border crossing. Continue through for more pictures

Reporter Jenan Moussa, positioned just 500m over the border in Turkey, told Sky News: "I can still hear shooting and shelling but (it is) nothing compared to Monday.

"I heard and I saw three airstrikes. One on the western side and two on the eastern."

Meanwhile, officials in Baghdad say IS militants have downed an Iraqi military helicopter near the refinery town of Beiji, killing the two pilots on board.

A military aviation official said the militants used a shoulder-fired missile to take down the Bell 407 helicopter north of Beiji on Wednesday. The town is home to Iraq's largest oil refinery and is located about about 130 miles north of Baghdad.

It comes after Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan warned Kobani was "about to fall".

Canada has also now agreed to join the coalition of forces carrying out airstrikes against IS in Iraq.

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UK Soldiers Deployed To Ebola Epicentre

British troops are to be deployed to Sierra Leone on a mission to help fight the spiralling ebola outbreak in West Africa.

Up to 700 soldiers from the Royal Scots Borders 1st Battalion, based in Holywood, Northern Ireland, will eventually be stationed near the capital Freetown.

Around 40 troops have already arrived in the country, said the Ministry of Defence, and more are flying out soon.

Commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Matt Munro said: "This is a challenge unlike any, but the point is that we are very well prepared.

"This kind of operation represents, I think, the future for parts of the British Army.

Video: Ebola: School Blocks Charity Mum

"We deployed in the first instance to Sierra Leone at very short notice, not knowing how long my people were likely to be there."

He added that the soldiers were at a very low risk of contracting the virus.

The Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship Argus will also sail and moor off the country's coast and could be used to evacuate any British casualties if needed.

Three Merlin helicopters will be onboard to fly doctors and personnel to hard-to-reach areas.

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Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said: "The ebola outbreak in West Africa is already a global threat to public health and it's vital that the UK remains at the forefront of responding to the epidemic.

"We are stepping up significantly the UK's contribution and leadership in work to tackle the outbreak, on land, in the air and at sea.

"At the heart of the package is the commitment to provide more than 750 personnel to help with the establishment of ebola treatment centres and an ebola training academy."

Sky's Deputy Political Editor Joey Jones added: "At this stage it's all about trying to make sure that you can set up the proper infrastructure, the proper health services in some of those hard to reach areas.

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"There's no plan for some sort of evacuation or anything like that."

It comes after David Cameron chaired a lunchtime meeting of the emergency COBRA committee.

Four major hospitals in the UK - London's Royal Free Hospital and three others in Sheffield, Newcastle and Liverpool, are on standby to deal with any outbreak in the UK.

The hospitals already have infectious disease units and have been lined up to provide "surge capacity" if the virus spreads to Britain.

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Experts have said the UK is the third most likely country outside Africa to report an ebola case, with the World Health Organisation (WHO) warning that sporadic cases in Europe are "unavoidable".

Texas ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan - the first to be diagnosed with the disease in the US - died at the Texas Presbyterian Hospital on Wednesday, officials said.

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