Litvinenko Post-Mortem 'Most Dangerous Ever'

Secret 'Unnatural Sex' File Names Top Diplomat

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 31 Januari 2015 | 00.48

By Tom Parmenter, Sky News Correspondent

A top British diplomat was the focus of a secret government file about his "unnatural" sexual behaviour, Sky News can reveal.

The file, which has just been released to the National Archives, names the late Sir Peter Hayman as the subject of the file prepared for then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

It has now been transferred to the archives in Kew, south west London, under the title "PREM 19/588 SECURITY. Sir Peter Hayman: allegations against former public official of unnatural sexual proclivities; security aspects".

Sir Peter died in 1992 but during his career worked as a diplomat including as High Commissioner to Canada. He also worked for intelligence service MI6.

He was named as an abuser of children by the MP Geoffrey Dickens in the 1980s and also had links to the controversial Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE).

The existence of the file in the National Archives catalogues was highlighted by Dr Chris Murphy, a lecturer at Salford University, who alerted Sky News.

Dr Murphy said he was pleased at the decision to release the file.

He told Sky News: "I'm surprised - albeit pleasantly so - to see a decision to withhold a file under Section 3(4) of the Public Records Act reversed like this.

"In my experience, this is quite unusual, and I think it has to make us wonder about the decision to withhold it in the first place."

The file has been retained on grounds of national security and held by officials at the Cabinet Office, the department responsible for the smooth running of government.

Following the Sky News report the matter was raised in the House Of Commons, where MPs called for it to be made public.

MP John Mann, who campaigns on the issue of child abuse, said: "All of these files that have been classified need to be opened up.

"This one is of great importance. There could well be some very significant information in it and it needs to be looked at."

Peter Wanless, chief executive of the NSPCC - who was commissioned last year by the Home Office to examine Government files that may be relevant to the abuse inquiries - told Sky News that to the best of his knowledge he did not see this specific file during his inquiries.

Tom Watson MP said on Friday: "Without Sky News revealing the existence of this document, it wouldn't have been made available for public scrutiny.

"What else was known about Hayman and his associates?"

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Pensioner, 78, Gets Tax Bill... For Â£4.7bn!

By Lisa Dowd, Midlands Correspondent

A pensioner who received an unpaid bill of more than £4.7bn says the tax man must have mistaken him for tycoon Richard Branson.

Doug Yeomans, 78, from Shardlow, Derbyshire, said the letter from HM Revenue and Customs ordered that a direct debit of almost £950m a month would be taken out of his account for the next five months to pay off the debt.

The father-of-two told Sky News: "I was a bit shocked when I saw the amount, I'm used to hundreds not billions.

"They probably got me mixed up with the Chancellor of the Exchequer or Richard Branson, I don't know".

The former builder said he found the demand for £4,742,354,255 waiting for him in a letter at the weekend.

He said: "I could manage the £255 if I sold my Peugeot 206 and I'll have to cut down on my shopping at ASDA.

"It's such a ridiculous figure I wasn't too worried, I don't know where they got their figures from.

When Mr Yeomans got through to the Revenue they admitted having made a mistake.

"You can get an interview with the Pope easier than getting through to them," he said.

A spokesperson for HMRC said they were very sorry for the error.

"We don't talk about individual cases but when we make mistakes we aim to put them right fast and apologise."

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Ice Warnings Before A Weekend Of Snow

Perilous sheets of ice and layers of frozen snow on roads are making driving conditions dangerous across much of Britain today.

Forecasters are warning that after yesterday's "thundersnow" storms, more sleet and snow showers could strike around the country and low temperatures are likely to plummet further across the weekend.

A Level 3, or severe weather warning, has been issued across the North and West of England stretching from Friday evening until next Thursday.

"This weather could increase the health risks to vulnerable patients and disrupt the delivery of services," a statement on the Met Office website warned.

Some 23cm (9in) of snow fell in some areas on Thursday and a fresh wave of the white stuff is expected tomorrow and Sunday as an Arctic blast sweeps in.

Sky weather presenter Jo Wheeler said: "As evening approaches showers will become more widespread across Scotland and Ireland, before spreading into northern England and Wales.

"Overnight, those showers will spread southeastwards, turning to snow away from Wales, northwestern England and the South West.

"Early showers in the South East and across East Anglia on Saturday may also fall as snow giving a light dusting in places.

"For Scotland and Northern Ireland, the snow level will be dropping through the day, with showers increasingly turning to snow at lower levels.

"Temperatures will reach 6C at best, although many parts will be colder."

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Gallery: UK Freezes As More Snow Sweeps In

Britain's winter has brought a thick covering of snow and dangerous driving conditions to parts of the country. Here snow covers graves at St Joseph's Church in west Belfast

A horse stands against in a snow-covered field in Belfast

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Ukraine: Daily Struggle On Conflict's Front Line

By Katie Stallard, Moscow Correspondent, in Donetsk

As the fighting in eastern Ukraine intensifies, humanitarian conditions in the region are deteriorating.

Sky News filmed families in the rebel-controlled capital of Donetsk, as it was revealed the European Union has extended its first set of sanctions against the separatists and Russia, which has been accused of aiding the rebellion.

Some of the families in Donetsk have been living in underground shelters since July, too frightened to let their children play outside or go to school.

Two hundred people, including more than 50 children, are living in the basement of an arts centre in the city's western suburb - afraid to allow the children above ground for more than a few minutes at a time.

One eight-year-old girl said she could not remember when she last played outside.

"If they go out it's only for five minutes maximum," her mother, Vika Makeeva, told us.

"To get fresh air and come back."

They said the school had been shelled and it had no basement shelter so the children had not been since December.

UNICEF has provided them with hygiene kits, and individuals have donated food and toys for the children.

"They started to shell us from the Ukrainian side," Luba, one of the mothers, said.

"I took the child when he was asleep in his blanket, put him on a bike and we went to a shelter in the children's hospital, but it was really damp, with frogs, and then we came here."

Many of the residents have homes, but they are too frightened to return.

We went with one lady to check on her flat - she told us their block was shelled four days ago, and their roof destroyed.

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Gallery: Ukrainian Army's New Conscripts

Conscripts attend a ceremony marking their enrolment in the Ukrainian army in Kiev

Relatives react as they attend the ceremony. Ukraine's parliament voted to refresh its front-line forces and resume partial conscription after a top security official warned Russian forces backing rebels had sharply increased military activity in the country's east. Continue through for more images

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Boris Slams Jihadi 'Losers' In Scathing Attack

By Jon Craig, Chief Political Correspondent

Boris Johnson is set to trigger a new controversy with an outspoken outburst - even by his standards - on the character and personality of jihadist bombers.

Citing an MI5 report into Muslim extremism, London's Mayor told The Sun newspaper: "If you look at all the psychological profiling about bombers, they typically will look at porn. They are literally w***ers. Severe onanists.

"They are tortured. They will be very badly adjusted in their relations with women, and that is a symptom of their feeling of being failures and that the world is against them.

"They are rejected by women, they are not making it with girls, and so they turn to other forms of spiritual comfort - which of course is no comfort."

He later told Sky News: "Certainly, the young men who get involved in this kind of thing do have a lot of problems in their lives.

"There's no question that they lack self-esteem and that they lack boundaries and that they feel like losers.

"We need to address it in all sorts of ways."

He added: "I don't think there's anything remotely controversial about what I have said."

It is not the first time Mr Johnson has launched an outspoken attack on jihadi terrorists.

Last year he said hoped the terrorist known as "Jihadi John" would be killed in a bomb attack.

In his Daily Telegraph column in August he said Britain must take on Islamic State (IS) and "try to close it down now".

Mr Johnson warned that doing nothing would mean a "tide of terror will eventually lap at our own front door".

But his inflammatory remarks in The Sun may reinforce the view of those Conservatives who believe Mr Johnson lacks the gravitas to be party leader and Prime Minister.

And Mr Johnson could also face accusations from radical Muslims and other ethnic groups of Islamophobia and racism.

The mayor, who is poised to return to the Commons in May in the safe Tory seat of Uxbridge and South Ruislip, told The Sun: "I fervently think we need to de-mystify this lot.

"The type of people who are likely to get involved in ISIS or get radicalised are the same sorts of people who are vulnerable to getting dragged into drug gangs or other types of criminal activity.

"They are just young men in desperate need of self-esteem who do not have a particular mission in life, who feel that they are losers and this thing makes them feel strong and feel like winners."

Mr Johnson backed the Muslim Cabinet minister Sajid Javid - seen by some Tory rivals as an opponent to the Mayor for the Conservative Party leadership - after the Culture Secretary said it was "absolutely right" to say Muslim communities carry a "special burden" to tackle terror.

The Mayor said: "I want to hear a proper angry Islamic theological denunciation of what is going wrong.

"We won't succeed if Western politicians just go around bashing and blaming Islam; that is hopeless.

"This problem can only be addressed if Muslim authorities and clerics find a powerful and compelling way of setting up an alternative narrative for young people that makes this seem irrelevant."

Pointing out his own great grandfather was a Turkish Muslim, the Mayor added: "I often hear voices from the Muslim intelligentsia who are very quick to accuse people of Islamophobia.

"But they are not explaining how it can be that this one religion seems to be leading people astray in so many cases.

"They are not being persuasive in the right way with these people. I am not yet hearing it in the way that we need to hear it."

But Mussurut Zia, general secretary of the Muslim Women's Network UK, branded the Mayor's comments as "irresponsible".

She told Sky News: "I feel they are going to lead to a greater divide.

"He has a responsibility to all his constituents, not just the readers' of The Sun."

Chris Doyle from the Council for Arab-British Understanding said: "He's using very agricultural language.

"It therefore risks trivialising and sensationalising very serious discussions and debates."

Speaking on a visit to Portsmouth, Chancellor George Osborne said Mr Johnson was known for his "colourful language".

He added the Mayor was "right not to be nice about these people".

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Burglars Who 'Savagely' Beat Lecturer Jailed

Four Polish burglars who "savagely" beat a senior lecturer during a raid on his house in Wimbledon have been jailed.

Paul Kohler was left almost unrecognisable after the attack, suffering a fractured eye socket, a fracture to his left jawbone, a broken nose and bruising.

The 55-year-old was attacked by four burglars after they burst into his home in south London on 11 August last year.

His wife, Samantha MacArthur, was also threatened during the attack, while one of his daughters, 24-year-old Eloise, was upstairs with her boyfriend, Geraint, at the time. They were able to hide and call the police.

Pawel Honc, 24, of no fixed address, and Mariusz Tomaszewski, 32, of Mitcham, south London, were both sentenced to 19 years in prison.

They had admitted grievous bodily harm with intent and aggravated burglary.

Oskar Pawlowicz, 30, of Mitcham, and Dawid Tychon, 29, of no fixed address, were both jailed for 13 years after pleading guilty to aggravated burglary.

None showed any reaction as they were sentenced at Kingston Crown Court.

Judge Susan Tapping said the four men had targeted Mr Kohler's house either because they thought they would find items of "significant value" to steal, or because they had mistakenly chosen the wrong address to collect a debt.

She said they had all been under the influence of drink or drugs at the time.

Following the sentencing, Mr Kohler hugged his wife and daughters and smiled.

Yesterday, in a witness statement ahead of the sentencing, he said the attack had nothing to do with the men's nationality or status as immigrants and everything to do with their "mindless thuggery".

However, the academic, who is head of law at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, said he wanted to hear from them exactly why they had targeted him.

Judge Tapping said: "This explanation would help them all but your mitigation did not help at all or was at odds with what others had said.

"Without this explanation he understandably questions the true value of any remorse expressed."

The attack, which lasted five minutes, began at around 10pm when Mr Kohler answered the door. The four men - wearing scarves to hide their identities and blue latex gloves - burst into the house.

The court heard that Tychon shouted: "Where's the money?" and Mr Kohler replied, screaming: "You've got the wrong address."

He was then knocked to the floor while one of the other burglars, Honc, sat on him and repeatedly punched him in the face.

Another kicked him in the head. Meanwhile, Tychon threatened him by holding a wooden door over his head.

Two of the burglars then went upstairs and threatened Ms MacArthur while covering her face.

The group stole two laptops, two mobile phones and jewellery worth around £2,000, all of which were later recovered.

The court heard that all the defendants - apart from Honc - have long criminal records in Poland, with a total of 32 convictions between them.

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Deadly Shell Strike As Ukrainians Queue For Aid

At least six people have been killed after shells hit a cultural centre and a trolleybus in the Ukrainian city of Donetsk.

People had been queuing for aid outside the building in the centre of the city when two artillery shells struck, witnesses said.

Sky's Katie Stallard, reporting from the scene in Donetsk, said: "We have seen five bodies at this location.

"We saw the bodies of two middle-aged women and two men on the ground. Another man was killed in a car a very short distance away.

"We are told he was trying to manoeuvre the car away as the shell came in, but he was killed as he sat in the driver's seat."

Pictures from outside the cultural centre showed vehicles punctured by shrapnel and with their windows blown out. The tops of nearby trees had been blown off by the force of the blast.

The victims appeared to be dressed in civilian clothing.

The sixth victim was seen by a Reuters cameraman near the damaged trolleybus elsewhere in the city.

It was not immediately clear if the shells were fired by government troops or pro-Russian separatists.

A battle was also taking place around Debaltseve, a key government-held town of 25,000 people that straddles a railway connecting the two rebel centres of Luhansk and Donetsk.

The separatists claimed to have almost encircled the town, telling Ukrainian troops through Russian state TV: "Surrender and you will live".

The past week has seen some of the heaviest fighting in eastern Ukraine since a ceasefire was agreed five months ago.

Conditions in Donetsk have been deteriorating as the violence has ramped up, with hundreds of people taking shelter in an arts centre too afraid to let their children play outside or go to school.

More than 5,000 have died since the pro-Russian separatists declared their own "People's Republics" in the region last April.

The rebels said peace talks due to take place in the Belarussian capital, Minsk, on Friday, had been called off after Kiev failed to send any representatives.

Meanwhile, NATO has announced it will deploy small units in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Bulgaria and Romania to help co-ordinate military exercises and set up command and control in response to Russia's action in Ukraine.

The forward units are expected to comprise only a few dozen troops, with Norway, Germany and the Netherlands expected to contribute.

Moscow has accused the European Union of adopting a "one-side reading" of the conflict and warned against further sanctions.

And Russia's military chief said on Friday that the country's strong nuclear arsenal would continue to ensure its military superiority over the West.

Armed forces chief General Valery Gerasimov said the military would receive more than 50 new intercontinental ballistic missiles this year.

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Police Hunting Missing Mum Find Body In Lake

Police searching for mother-of-four Samantha Henderson have found a body in a lake.

The 25-year-old has not been seen for more than a week after leaving Corfe Castle Primary School in Dorset on 21 January.

Police launched a major missing person inquiry and her boyfriend, Dominic Isom, 27, has been charged with her murder.

Dorset Police said a body, believed to be that of Ms Henderson, was discovered in a lake at Ham Common in Poole at around 1pm.

Ms Henderson has children aged six, four, two and one.

Detective Inspector Neil Devoto, who is leading the inquiry, said: "Family liaison officers have updated Samantha's family with today's development.

"Clearly, this is a very difficult time for the whole family and they have requested privacy. Her children are being cared for by relatives.

"I am still keen to hear from anyone who saw Samantha's blue Peugeot 307 estate car with the registration HV04 ZFM being driven in the Lake Pier and South Haven Close areas between 3pm on 21 January and 5pm on 23 January to contact me in confidence.

"I am urging anyone who saw anything suspicious in this area between the relevant times to get in touch."

The Dorset coroner has also been informed of the discovery and formal identification is yet to take place.

Isom, of Halves Cottages, Corfe Castle, appeared at Winchester Crown Court on Friday where he denied Ms Henderson's murder.

He will face trial later this year.

The charge alleges he murdered her on 21 January.

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Etan Patz: Murder Trial Over Boy Missing In 1979

By Sky News US Team

A man has gone on trial in New York accused of murdering a child whose disappearance in 1979 helped spark a national missing children's movement.

Pedro Hernandez, 53, is charged with kidnapping and killing Etan Patz, who was one of the first missing US youngsters to feature on the side of a milk carton.

Etan's parents helped push for legislation that created a nationwide framework for such cases.

The new laws established a hotline and made it easier for agencies to share information about youngsters who disappeared.

And the anniversary of his disappearance in 1983 became National Missing Children's Day.

Six-year-old Etan was walking from his house to his Manhattan school bus stop alone for the first time on 25 May, 1979, when he disappeared.

It led to a widespread search but his body has never been found and his family had him legally declared dead in 2001.

At the time Etan went missing, Hernandez was a teenager working in a shop in the child's neighbourhood.

He was not a suspect until 2012 and was arrested following a tip-off.

Police announced he had confessed in May of that year - but he has since recanted his confession and pleaded not guilty to the charges.

In his reported recorded confessions, Hernandez recounted offering a soft drink to entice the boy into the convenience store basement and choking him.

He said he put the boy, who was still alive, into a plastic bag, boxed up the bag and left it on a street.

Hernandez's defence team maintains his confessions are the false imaginings of a man who has an IQ in the lowest 2% of the population and has problems distinguishing reality from fiction.

Prosecutors call the confessions credible and NY Supreme Court Justice Maxwell Wiley ruled they could be used at trial.

The decision followed a weeks-long hearing on whether Hernandez was properly advised of his rights to stay silent and mentally capable of understanding them.

Hernandez has taken anti-psychotic medication for years and has been diagnosed with schizotypal personality disorder, which includes the characteristics of social isolation and odd beliefs.

The defence also wants jurors to consider long-time suspect Jose Ramos, a convicted Pennsylvania child molester.

A civil court declared Ramos responsible for Etan's death after he rebuffed questioning, but he was never criminally charged and has denied involvement.

Ramos has refused to testify at Hernandez's trial, saying he would invoke his rights against self-incrimination, but some evidence about the investigation into Ramos will be allowed.

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Suge Knight Held For Murder Over Hit-And-Run

Rap mogul Marion "Suge" Knight has been arrested on a murder charge after being named as a suspect in a fatal hit-and-run in southern Los Angeles.

Two men were hit by a red truck belonging to Knight in the car park of a fast-food restaurant in Compton after an argument apparently broke out.

A 55-year-old man died in hospital and a 51-year-old man was injured.

Sergeant Diane Hecht of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's information office said Knight was arrested at around 3am on Friday and is being held on $2m (£1.3m) bail.

Sgt Hecht said Knight is being questioned by homicide detectives at the West Hollywood sheriff's station.

Earlier Knight's lawyer James Blatt said the Death Row Records founder "was in the process of being physically assaulted by two men and in an effort to escape he unfortunately hit two (other) individuals".

He added: "He was in his car trying to escape."

Mr Blatt said he was "confident that once the investigation is completed, he will be totally exonerated".

Celebrity news website TMZ reported Knight had got into a fight with two men on the set of the film Straight Outta Compton - also starring Ice Cube and Dr Dre.

Los Angeles County sheriff's Lieutenant John Corina told reporters : "Looks like he drove backwards and struck the victims and drove forwards and struck them again.

"The people we talked to say it looked like it was an intentional act."

The empty truck was found in a car park in west Los Angeles some hours later.

Death Row Records, which Knight launched with Dr Dre in the early 1990s, helped launch stars such as Snoop Dogg and Tupac Shakur.

However, the label collapsed in 1996 when Knight was jailed for probation violations.

He ended up in jail again, this time for 10 months, in 2003, after allegedly getting into a fight outside a Hollywood nightclub.

Last August, he was shot six times inside a Los Angeles nightclub.

In November, he pleaded not guilty to a robbery charge filed over an incident in which a celebrity photographer accused him of stealing her camera in Beverly Hills. Because of prior convictions, he could face up to 30 years in prison.

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Murder Victim's Family Loses Court Battle

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 29 Januari 2015 | 00.28

A family has lost its Supreme Court bid for the right to sue police for negligence over the death of a young mother.

Joanna Michael was killed by her ex-boyfriend who was in "a mad fit of jealous rage" despite dialling 999 twice.

"Individual and systemic failures" by police in Cardiff meant the emergency services arrived too late to save the 25-year-old's life.

Her family asked the highest court in the land to overturn an appeal court ruling from 2012 that the police have an "immunity" from being sued for negligence under common law for the actions of officers during "the investigation or suppression of crime".

However, the justices decided by a 5-2 majority that the ruling was correct and dismissed the family's appeal.

Nicholas Bowen QC, appearing for Ms Michael's family, told the court the case was "desperately important".

"There is a need for a heightened accountability of the police in the light of recent scandals and investigations which have had a very serious detrimental effect on public and political confidence in police services."

He also described to the court how Ms Michaels was killed by ex-boyfriend Cyron Williams in August 2009.

The court heard Williams broke into her home "in a mad fit of jealous rage after he discovered she was in a new relationship some weeks after they had finished seeing each other".

He is now serving life with a 20-year tariff, meaning he will be behind bars until at least 2030.

Ms Michaels made her first call at 2.29am on August 5 and told Gwent Police operator that Williams had turned up at her house and found her with someone else.

He had bitten her ear, taken the other man away in his car, and told her he would return to kill her.

The call went through to Gwent - "the wrong police force" instead of South Wales police - and was wrongly graded less seriously than it should have been.

A further 999 call was received by Gwent Police from Ms Michael at 2.43am and she could be heard screaming before the line went dead.

When police officers arrived they found Ms Michael had been stabbed 72 times.

Police claimed immunity from being sued by relying on the 1989 case of Hill v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire, the "Yorkshire Ripper" case.

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Tearful Gary Glitter Breaks Down In Sex Trial

Gary Glitter has sobbed in court while facing questions over videos he watched showing men having sex with children.

Weeping uncontrollably in the witness box, the 70-year-old said he had been in a bad place in his life, and was struggling financially, with alcohol and with drugs.

"God knows, I've paid," he told the court.

"I lost my own dignity, and I am so sorry. I am very sorry.

"I am sorry today and every day of my life ever since. I am sorry to my fans."

:: Follow live updates from the trial

Standing trial under his real name, Paul Gadd, Glitter faces 10 charges over sex offences on three girls, allegedly committed between 1975 and 1980.

He has previously admitted possessing sexual images of children after content was discovered on a laptop he had given to PC World for servicing in 1997.

John Price QC, prosecuting, told Glitter that lots of people had career problems but that they "don't all download child porn".

Glitter said he was downloading all sorts of pornography at the time, but was asked why he decided to look at content featuring children.

"I don't why, I suppose it was just curiosity," he said.

Earlier, one of his alleged victims had claimed he was wearing platform shoes when he assaulted her in his dressing room.

But he insisted he had begun wearing cowboy boots on stage by the time of the alleged offence and had stopped wearing platform heels because of the energetic nature of his act and the damage they had done to his ankles.

The singer, from Marylebone in central London, denies all the charges against him.

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Landmark Civil Rights-Era Convictions Voided

By Sky News US Team

A South Carolina judge has voided the convictions of nine black men who were jailed for ordering lunch at an all-white counter more than five decades ago.

"We cannot rewrite history, but we can right history," Judge Mark Hayes said as he made Wednesday's ruling.

The so-called Friendship Nine were convicted of trespassing and breach of peace after their arrest in February 1961 for ordering lunch at McCrory's variety store in Rock Hill, where African-Americans were banned.

The protesters, eight of whom were students at the town's Friendship Junior College, refused to pay a $100 fine, and were sentenced to 30 days of hard labour in a chain gang.

Their act of civil disobedience in the segregated Deep South town inspired other activists to adopt their "jail not bail" approach.

The nine were themselves prompted to take action by a similar sit-in a year earlier at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina.

A prosecutor expressed his "heartfelt apologies" to the men - eight of whom were in court to see justice finally done on Wednesday.

The students were WT Massey, Willie McCleod, Robert McCullough, Clarence Graham, James Wells, David Williamson, John Gaines and Mack Workman.

The ninth protester was Thomas Gaither, an activist with the Congress of Racial Equality.

McCullough, who was described as the group's leader, died in 2006 at age 64.

In 2009, a white man named Elwin Wilson, who tried to pull one of the Friendship Nine off a stool during their protest, met some of them at the same counter.

He apologised and they forgave him.

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Tesco Closures: Is Your Local Store To Go?

Tesco has revealed the locations of the 43 stores it is planning to close, placing 2,000 jobs at risk.

The supermarket chain, which has suffered a string of problems including falling sales and a £263m profits overstatement, announced the closures last month as it moved to save costs.

It has now confirmed the impact of the decision, with seven superstores and six Homeplus outlets among the sites to be shut.

The majority were either Express or Metro convenience operations.

Chief Executive Dave Lewis, who is currently running the UK business, said: "In January I announced that our performance as a business has fallen significantly short of where we would want it to be and that to protect the future of the business in the UK we would close 43 unprofitable stores.

"The decision to close the stores has been exceptionally difficult to take. I recognise it will affect many hard-working colleagues, our customers and local communities.

"Our priority is to explain what this announcement means for our colleagues and wherever possible, offer them alternative roles with Tesco.

"We will continue to serve our customers through other local stores and our dotcom service."

In addition to the shutting of shops, the group also previously announced it would shelve plans for 49 new UK stores.

They included its £22m Chatteris store in Cambridgeshire which had been earmarked to open its doors to customers two months ago.

Tesco has not been alone in efforts to save costs.

A supermarket price war - mostly driven by the challenge from hard discount chains Aldi and Lidl - has taken its toll on other major supermarket companies.

Sainsbury's has cut jobs while Morrisons' chief executive Dalton Philips paid the price for a woeful Christmas when his departure from the business was confirmed earlier this month.

:: Tesco Superstore Closures

Bedlington, Chatham, Connswater and Cregagh Road in Belfast, Doncaster, Kirkcaldy and Wrexham Dodds Lane.

:: Tesco Homeplus Closures

Bristol Cribbs Causeway, Chelmsford, Chester, Edinburgh, Southampton and Staines.

:: Tesco Metro Closures

Bicester, Bootle, Caerphilly, Crossgates, Devizes, Grangemouth, Mexborough, Morecambe, Ormskirk, Runcorn, Smethwick and Woodseats.

:: Tesco Express Closures

Bearwood; Belvedere; Church Street, Ballymena; Heaton Chapel; Heybridge, Essex; Houghton Regis; Liverpool Kensington; Longbridge Road, Barking; Northfield, Birmingham; Raymouth Lane, Worksop; Sheffield Manor; South Tottenham High Road; Tredegar; Troon; Walsall Wood; Wealdstone; Whitley Bay; and York Road, Hartlepool.

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Stocks Slide As Greece Rows Back On Austerity

Greek stocks are nose-diving for a third day as the country's new prime minister sets a collision course with creditors by overturning spending cuts imposed under its bailout programme.

Investors have reacted with horror to the election of Alexis Tsipras, with Greek stocks on course for their worst week ever in the wake of his Syriza party's win in Sunday's poll.

Banking stocks have been hammered over growing worries about default as Mr Tsipras prepares for his first meeting with eurozone officials later this week.

The PM told the first meeting of his cabinet that the coalition government would deliver "radical" change by not backing down on its anti-austerity path.

He said that while he did not wish to antagonise creditors, the Greek people had demanded a new focus and he would not seek to build up "unrealistic surpluses" to service Greece's massive public debt - funds that are a condition of its €240bn (£179bn) rescue.

Mr Tsipras announced that pensions for low-paid public sector workers would rise and some job cuts would be reversed as part of his efforts to grow employment, with more than 25% of Greeks currently out of work.

"Our priority is also a new negotiation with our partners, seeking to reach a fair, viable and mutually beneficial solution so that the country exits the vicious circle of excessive debt and recession," he said.

Almost two-thirds of young people in Greece are without work and 32% of children are living below the poverty line according to recent estimates.

The country's international lenders have maintained they will not let the country off the hook but indicated they may be prepared to give Greece more time to pay back its loans.

It raises the prospect of showdown talks, with Germany particularly anxious that other eurozone nations are not encouraged to deviate from austerity and place the single-currency at greater risk.

Greece is yet to get its hands on a final €7.2bn (£5.4bn) - agreed in principle with the EU, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund - cash which is conditional on further reform.

Demands that Greece raises more funds were dealt a further blow when Mr Tsipras confirmed the planned sale of a 30% stake in Public Power Corporation of Greece - the country's biggest utility - had been halted.

Uncertainty over the outcome of the creditor negotiations since the election has sparked three days of sharp losses in top Greek stocks - with some banks losing half their value.

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Gallery: Alexis Tsipras Celebrates Victory For His Anti-Austerity Party

A young child supporting anti-austerity party Syriza takes part in celebrations after the first exit polls in Athens

Syriza supporters await the final result of the Greek election at the party tent

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Fan Splashes Out Â£18k On Star Wars Figure

A Star Wars superfan has sold a rare Boba Fett figure which he bought for £1.50 35 years ago for £18,000.

Craig Stevens was ecstatic when the auction price reached £15,000 for the toy he has kept pristine since 1980.

The anonymous UK buyer, who bid over the internet, must also pay a 20% commission to the auction house Vectis in Thornaby, Teesside.

Mr Stevens, 45, from Croydon, said after the sale: "I'm amazed at the price, that was absolutely perfect.

"I hope it will go to a good collector who will look after it and cherish it like I have."

He said he and his wife plan to put the money towards a new house.

Mr Stevens was selling 85 figures from his collection and the extremely rare Boba Fett, the bounty hunter from Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, was the pick of the sale.

It is one of only four or five still in such pristine condition, the former chairman of the UK Star Wars fan club believed.

The sale has received bids from around the world.

Before the auction Mr Stevens said: "This Boba Fett is in the original packaging in the UK, it is in factory fresh condition, so I am looking at £10,000-plus for this one figure alone.

"He is a very popular character, he had about three minutes of screen time and became a huge cult figure.

"It was only available in this packaging for a year."

Sold under the UK's Palitoy brand, the packaging is unpunched, meaning the card had not been pierced to allow it to be displayed on a peg in a shop.

"Unpunched shows it has never been sold and it is factory fresh," Mr Stevens said.

The toy would have retailed for £1.50 in 1980 when it was released.

Mr Stevens still has 10,000 items in his collection of Star Wars memorabilia.

He said: "I was one of the children who queued up to see Star Wars when it was first released in 1977 and it had a tremendous effect on me.

"I began collecting everything that I could get my hands on connected to Star Wars and I have kept going right up to the present day."

Valuer Kathy Taylor said the figures came from the "golden age" of Star Wars films, and rarely if ever came to market.

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Jordan 'Ready' To Exchange Militant For Pilot

Jordan's information minister has said his country is willing to hand over an Iraqi would-be-suicide bomber if a Jordanian pilot captured by Islamic State is released.

In an announcement on state television, Mohammad al Momani said: "Jordan is ready to release prisoner Sajida al Rishawi if the Jordanian pilot Lieutenant Muath al Kasaesbeh was released and his life spared."

The pilot's father, Safi al Kaseasbeh, had earlier implored the Jordanian government "to meet the demands" of Islamic State.

"All people must know, from the head of the regime to everybody else, that the safety of Muath means the stability of Jordan, and the death of Muath means chaos in Jordan," he said.

Bassam al Manasseer, chairman of Jordan's foreign affairs committee, announced earlier that negotiations with Islamic State were taking place through religious and tribal leaders in Iraq.

The news comes as the mother of Japanese hostage Kenji Goto also being held by Islamic State made a tearful appeal to Japan's Prime Minister to help save her son.

Junko Ishido said she had begged Shinzo Abe to "Please save Kenji" and to work with the Jordanian government to secure his release.

IS warned in a video that journalist Mr Goto and Mr al Kaseasbeh would be killed within 24 hours if its demands were not met.

The video shows Mr Goto in an orange jumpsuit holding a picture of Mr al Kaseasbeh, along with an audio message of him pleading for his life.

The group said the hostages' lives would be spared if Jordan releases Sajida al Rishawi, an Iraqi woman sentenced to death for her involvement in a 2005 terrorist attack that killed 60 people.

It comes after IS apparently murdered another Japanese prisoner, Haruna Yukawa - an act condemned by Japan's government.

Mr Goto was captured in Syria in October, apparently while trying to rescue Yukawa, 42, who was taken hostage last summer.

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Gallery: The Hostages Released After Deals Were Made With Terrorists

March 2007: Italian-Swiss journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo was released by the Taliban in exchange for the release of five prisoners

April 2008: A ransom of $1.2m was allegedly paid to Somali pirates by the Spanish government to secure the release of 26 trawlermen

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Litvinenko Post-Mortem 'Most Dangerous Ever'

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A pathologist for Alexander Litvinenko's post-mortem has said it was one of the most dangerous examinations ever undertaken.

Dr Benjamin Swift said the former Russian agent's body represented a considerable contamination hazard to the hospital where the examination was carried out after he was poisoned by polonium-210 in November 2006.

Those involved in the examination had needed to wear two white protective suits with hoods fed with filtered air, he said.

Giving evidence to the inquiry into Mr Litvinenko's death, Dr Swift said: "It was probably the most dangerous post-mortem that's ever been conducted."

Fellow pathologist Dr Nathaniel Carey said that Mr Litvinenko, who lost all his hair before his death, showed signs of multi-organ failure as a result of acute radiation poisoning.

"It appears Mr Litvinenko ingested a large quantity of polonium-210 largely if not wholly by oral ingestion, rather than by inhalation," he said.

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Gallery: Police Photo Evidence From Litvinenko Inquiry

The teapot from the Millennium Hotel which was allegedly used to poison Mr Litvinenko as he met two Russian men in July 2006 - it has been illustrated to show levels of ionising radiation, measured in counts per second (CPS), with the highest levels coloured purple

A police photograph of the same teapot, with a scale rule next to it

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Forensic markings left by police on a chair at the Pine Bar at the Millennium Hotel, indicating radiation hotspots from polonium 210 used in the poisoning of Russian exile Alexander Litvinenko

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Computer-generated image of the Pine Bar, with two chairs coloured purple to indicate exceedingly high radiation levels detected

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A computer image of the Pine Bar plan layout where Mr Litvinenko met the two contacts, showing the two high-radiation chairs

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"The calculated amount absorbed was in far excess of known survivability limits."

Asked if there was anything in Mr Litvinenko's clinical history inconsistent with acute radiation syndrome, Dr Cary said: "No. In effect, the polonium-210 detected is the smoking gun in the case. It shows you what happened."

Ben Emmerson QC, representing Mr Litvinenko's widow Marina, told the inquiry that murder suspect Andrei Lugovoi gave a television interview to the Echo of Moscow on Tuesday night in response to the opening day of proceedings.

In the interview Mr Lugovoi claims the proceedings were resurrected after being suspended due to the exclusion of secret material, in response to the Ukrainian conflict.

Reading a translation of Mr Lugovoi's interview, Mr Emmerson said: "When the situation in Ukraine kicked off and the UK geographical interest... they had decided to dust off the moth balls and commence proceedings."

Mr Lugovoi said he "couldn't care less about what's happening" in Britain in response to the start of the inquiry, Mr Emmerson added.

Images released as part of the inquiry have laid bare the high levels of radiation found in the hotel rooms of his suspected killers.

They also reveal "very high" radiation in the locations where they met Mr Litvinenko, including on the teapot which was allegedly used to poison him in London's Millennium Hotel.

The inquiry heard Mr Litvinenko explicitly implicated Russian President Vladimir Putin in his killing in the days leading up to his death.

In an impassioned opening statement, Mr Emmerson said Mr Putin's connection to the killing would be unveiled.

The controversy generated by Mr Litvinenko's killing plunged Anglo-Russian relations to a post-Cold War low.

As ties improved though, Britain rejected holding an inquiry in 2013, but changed its mind last July, although it said the political Ukrainian situation was not a factor.

The inquiry continues.

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