Belfast: Bomb Found Under Car Of Ex-Police Officer

A former police officer in Northern Ireland has found a bomb under his car as he left home to take his 12-year-old daughter to school.

The device was discovered when the man checked under the vehicle outside his house in east Belfast on Friday morning.

Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Chief Superintendent Nigel Grimshaw said: "I can confirm the police this morning, as a result of dealing with an ongoing security incident in the Tullycarnet area, have now recovered a viable explosive device.

"That device was discovered below a car belonging to a former police officer.

"I am very thankful to report to you that nobody has been hurt.

"But clearly yet again we are dealing with a situation where somebody could have been killed or maimed or very seriously injured as a result of a very, very reckless act in what is a residential area with lots of people going about their normal daily business on a Friday morning."

Army bomb disposal experts who made the device safe said it had all the hallmarks of being the work of dissident republicans.

The discovery came two weeks after letter bombs were sent to senior police officers, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Theresa Villiers and the Public Prosecution Service.

The PSNI said the bomb was a reminder that the threat level in Northern Ireland remained severe.

Dissident republicans have killed two police officers, two soldiers and a prison officer in the last five years.

In 2011, constable Ronan Kerr was killed when a booby trap bomb detonated under his car outside his house in Omagh, Co Tyrone.

There have also been a number of other failed car bomb attempts on security force members.

00.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Buried Alive: Man Freed From Brazil Grave

A man found buried alive in a Brazilian cemetery has been freed after a passer-by reportedly saw the earth moving and heard calls for help.

Brazil's Record TV says the discovery was made by a woman visiting a relative's grave in the Ferraz de Vasconcelos area of Sao Paulo.

Video footage shows emergency services scraping dirt from the man's body, which is still buried up to the chest, before hauling him out of the grave.

Record TV says the man has suffered from psychiatric problems according to his nephew.

How the man ended up buried is unclear, but one theory is that he may have been attacked and dumped in the grave.

Sao Paulo State Health Service confirmed the man was admitted to hospital and saw a doctor and psychiatrist.

It says his injuries were relatively minor and he was released from hospital the same day.

00.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Super Typhoon Haiyan Hits The Philippines

At least four people have been killed after one of the most powerful typhoons ever recorded hit the Philippines.

The victims of Super Typhoon Haiyan are reported to include a mother and child who drowned in South Cotabato, and a boy who was struck by lightning in Zamboanga City.

A fourth person was killed by a falling tree, according to the AP news agency.

Residents of Cebu City shelter from the storm's powerful winds

However, the number of confirmed deaths is expected to rise as emergency workers reach the worst affected areas, many of which remain cut off.

Minnie Portales, a spokesman for the aid agency World Vision, said: "As we wait for early reports from some of the hardest-hit provinces, we fear for the worst. This could be very bad."

Anna Lindenfors, Save the Children's director for the Philippines, added: "We expect the level of destruction caused by Typhoon Haiyan to be extensive and devastating, and sadly we fear that many lives will be lost."

Waves up to six metres high have been reported as a result of high winds

Some 750,000 people living in villages in Haiyan's path were ordered to leave their homes amid fears the storm damage could be the worst in the Philippines' history.

Many of them are refugees whose homes were reduced to rubble when a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck Bohol last month.

The typhoon, which is now careering across the South China Sea towards Vietnam, packed sustained winds of 195mph and gusts of up to 235mph, according to the US Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Centre in Hawaii.

Buildings in Ormoc City were damaged by the storm. Pic: Ritchel M. Deleon

On land, differing reports from meteorologists put the wind speeds at between 145mph and 170mph.

Jeff Masters, a former hurricane meteorologist who is a director at the private firm Weather Underground, warned there would be "catastrophic damage".

"There aren't too many buildings constructed that can withstand that kind of wind," he said. "The wind damage should be the most extreme in the Philippines' history."

Children sheltered in emergency accommodation in Cebu. Picture: Red Cross

The 300-mile-wide cyclone, known locally as Yolanda, whipped up waves that reached six metres high and threatened to inundate low lying areas.

Local journalist Mike Cohen told Sky News there were already reports of some landslides and a "very strong storm surge" entering coastal towns and villages.

Up to 12 million people live in areas affected by the typhoon, including the tourist districts of Leyte Island and Borocay Island.

A closer look reveals the eye of the storm over the Philippines

President Benigno Aquino III, who had threatened to use guns to force people living in high-risk areas to leave, put dozens of military planes, helicopters and ships on standby.

"No typhoon can bring Filipinos to their knees if we'll be united," he added.

Some meteorologists have claimed Haiyan is the strongest severe tropical storm ever to make landfall.

A map showing the path and predicted path of Typhoon Haiyan

According to the Reuters and AP news agencies, the record is currently held by 1969 storm Hurricane Camillie, which had winds of up to 190mph.

Meteorologists fear the storm could intensify further as it approaches the Vietnamese coast, where it is expected to make landfall on Sunday morning.

Haiyan is the 24th tropical storm to hit the Philippines this year.

Last year, Typhoon Bopha, which had maximum sustained winds of 175mph, killed 1,100 people in the country.

00.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Prince Jokes To Double Amputee: 'Put Wheels On'

Prince Philip joked with a double amputee soldier that he should put wheels on his prosthetic limbs "to get around more easily".

Trooper Cayle Royce, who lost both legs in a bomb blast in Afghanistan last year, met the Duke of Edinburgh during a royal visit in London.

The prince and the Queen were opening the new headquarters of the armed forces charity SSAFA, formerly known as the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen Families Association.

Trooper Royce, 27 said it was an honour to meet the Duke. The South African with the Light Dragoons, who now lives in Dartmouth, said: "He's my hero. He's just a great person."

Asked why he was laughing with the Duke, he said: "He told me I should lose the feet and put some wheels on my prosthetics.

"He said it will be easier to get around."

Trooper Cayle, who sets off to row across the Atlantic next month, also met the Queen as she officially opened the HQ.

The soldier said he spoke to her about how his Row2Recovery challenge has been supported by a grant from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry's charitable organisation, The Royal Foundation.

Having been patron of SSAFA for 60 years, the Queen was given a medal to mark the occasion.

General Sir Kevin O'Donoghue, SSAFA's chairman, joked as he presented it to her: "See it as a variation of a Long Service and Good Conduct Medal."

The Queen, who was greeted by her cousin, Prince Michael of Kent, who is the charity's president, also unveiled a plaque at Queen Elizabeth House, St Dunstan's Hill.

After meeting various charity beneficiaries, volunteers and staff, she was given a posy by six-year-old Harley Inns, whose brother, Rifleman Martin Kinggett, was killed in Afghanistan in 2010.

Rifleman Kinggett, from 4th Battalion The Rifles, died of a gunshot wound while giving covering fire for an injured colleague.

00.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Injury Claim Mum Of 13 Faces Jail Over Fraud

Barbara Fari, who exaggerated an injury to claim £750,000 compensation, has been given a three-month jail sentence.

The sentence given at London's High Court has been deferred pending any appeal being brought.

But High Court judge Mr Justice Spencer stayed the term - half of which Fari would have to serve before her automatic release - pending any appeal.

If an appeal is not lodged by November 29, discontinued or dismissed, she will have to go to jail.

Lawyers for Homes for Haringey told the judge that Fari, who is 60 on Saturday, lied about how badly she was hurt when she tripped on uneven paving and twisted her right knee in May 2008.

The organisation, which manages council housing in the north London borough, admitted liability and offered her £7,500.

However, she instead chose to pursue a massive claim which was only struck out by a judge in October 2012 after covert video evidence revealed a huge difference between how she presented at medical examinations and when she was out and about near her home in Hornsey.

Last week, Mr Justice Spencer ruled that Fari and her husband, Piper, were both in contempt of court.

Fari was found to have presented a "grossly false" picture of her continuing symptoms to doctors and in legal documents and her husband was found to be complicit in the charade.

Fari's husband received a two-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months.

Sentencing the couple, the judge said: "The courts have made it very clear that those who make false claims and are caught out must expect to go to prison.

"There is no other way to underline the gravity of such conduct and deter those who may be tempted to make such claims, no other way to improve the administration of justice."

 

00.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Pearline Walton: Body Found In 1993 Identified

Forensic experts have said remains found by a hunter in a Wisconsin field are those of a Minneapolis woman who went missing 20 years ago.

The DNA lab at the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) identified the remains found in Polk County as Pearline Walton.

Polk County Sheriff Pete Johnson said: "We now know who she is, which is a very important step for the investigation into the circumstances surrounding her death."

Ms Walton, from Minneapolis, was 22 when she went missing in the summer of 1993.

Her remains were found by a deer hunter in a field near a county road in Dresser, a village in Wisconsin near the Minnesota border, in November 1993, according to the newspaper Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Investigators now hope to talk with people who knew Ms Walton or were with her when she disappeared.

The discovery has shocked some family members.

"I thought she was out here running around doing her thing. I didn't think she was dead," her sister Wilmeta Walton, 48, told the Star Tribune.

She said they did not report her missing at the time because Ms Walton often vanished for months.

Ms Walton is the first person identified through a new state effort to match missing people with dozens of unidentified remains.

 BCA's DNA lab director Catherine Knutson said: "Like Pearline, many of these people were discovered decades ago when DNA testing was not available.

"Due to advancements in DNA technology, we can do more now."

In Ms Walton's case, the experts pulverised a sample of her remains into a powder, hydrated in a tiny vial and run through a computer, revealing the DNA.

Then that was matched with a DNA sample provided by her family.

Ms Knutson said that since May the BCA has received DNA samples of almost 40 family members of missing people, and that testing is already underway.

00.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Iran Nuclear Deal 'Utterly Rejected' By Israel

Israel's prime minister has dismissed an agreement expected to be made between world powers and Iran over its nuclear programme as a "bad deal".

Six world powers - the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany - are working on a deal to cap some of Iran's atomic programme in exchange for limited relief from economic sanctions.

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said the six countries and Iran could agree a "road map" to end the differences over the programme at the talks in Geneva, Switzerland.

He told reporters he did not wish to prejudge the outcome but said Iran should be allowed to have a peaceful nuclear programme under the watch of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Sergei Lavrov is hoping for a "concrete result"

UN nuclear agency chief Yukiya Amano will hold talks with senior Iranian officials in Tehran on Monday with the aim of "strengthening dialogue and cooperation," the agency said on Friday.

But Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu - who last year drew a red line across a cartoon bomb to illustrate the point at which Iran will have amassed enough uranium to fuel one nuclear bomb - said his country "utterly rejects" the deal being forged.

"I understand the Iranians are walking around very satisfied in Geneva as well they should because they got everything and paid nothing," he said.

"They wanted relief of sanctions after years of gruelling sanctions, they got that. They paid nothing because they are not reducing in any way their nuclear enrichment capability.

Iran's president denies his country wants to make nuclear weapons

"So Iran got the deal of the century and the international community got a bad deal.

"This is a very bad deal and Israel utterly rejects it. Israel is not obliged by this agreement and Israel will do everything it needs to do to defend itself and defend the security of its people."

US Secretary of State John Kerry denied an agreement had already been reached when he arrived in Geneva for the Iran talks, saying there were still "gaps to close".

Earlier a spokesman for Mr Kerry said he was going to Switzerland "to help narrow differences in negotiations".

William Hague has previously set great store on a deal with Iran

Foreign Secretary William Hague and the foreign ministers of France and Germany are also attending the discussions, further raising hopes a deal could be imminent.

If an agreement is reached, it would only be the start of a long process to reduce Iran's potential nuclear threat, with no guarantee of ultimate success.

But even a limited accord would mark a breakthrough after nearly a decade of mostly inconclusive talks focused on limiting, if not eliminating, Iranian atomic programmes.

The talks are primarily focused on the size and output of Iran's enrichment programme, which can create both reactor fuel and weapons-grade material suitable for a nuclear bomb.

Iran insists it is pursuing only nuclear energy, medical treatments and research, but the US and its allies fear that Iran could turn this material into the fissile core of nuclear warheads.

Iran's new president, Hassan Rouhani, has indicated he could cut back on the nuclear programme in exchange for an easing of sanctions.

00.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Arsonist Who Killed Paedophile Gets 10 Years

By Lisa Dowd, Midlands Correspondent

A man who started a fire that trapped and killed a convicted paedophile in his own home has been jailed for 10 years.

Andrew Heath, 52, died in a firebomb attack on his flat in Worcester in the early hours of December 14, 2011.

At the time, police investigating the blaze in the Warndon area of the city treated it as a possible vigilante attack.

Daniel Martin, 25, was arrested after officers offered a £20,000 reward for information.

During the investigation West Mercia Police revealed Heath had five convictions for gross indecency and indecent assault on boys aged between 14 and 17.

The attacks happened between 1984 and 1999 in Leicester and Birmingham. He served four prison sentences.

Birmingham Crown Court heard that in 2001, Heath moved to the flat in Worcester and became known as "the fag man" because of his habit of giving cigarettes to teenagers to "befriend" them.

Police said they had no records of any offences or complaints against Heath after he moved to Worcester.

The scene of the arson attack

Last year, the senior investigating officer in the case, Detective Chief Inspector Paul Williamson said: "Whatever Heath did in his past, he died in a terrible way and his family have been left in limbo not knowing what happened to him.

"This includes his parents Les and Helen, who are in their 80s. They still grieve for their son and deserve to know who killed him and why."

In a statement after sentencing Heath's sister Leia Charleson said it was "some comfort" to the family that Martin had now been dealt with.

But she added it was too late for her mother and father who had died recently, five months apart.

She said her brother's death had a "devastating" effect on their parents' health and "neither was able to come to terms with what had happened".

The court was told that Martin had moved wheelie bins to the front door of Mr Heath's maisonette and set them on fire.

Heath was woken by a fire alarm and alerted a couple living below by stamping on the floor.

When fire crews arrived they found him dead, slumped against a radiator. He had been overcome by fumes and his body was burned.

Earlier this year, Martin pleaded guilty to Heath's manslaughter.

He denied murder on the grounds of lack of intent, which was accepted by the prosecution.

The court heard Martin had wanted to "frighten" Heath, who was described as a "predatory paedophile", but the fire took hold with "speed and ferocity".

It took just minutes for the flat to turn into an "inferno".

Martin had known Heath for several years and owed him money.

00.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Danny Wake: Appeal For Hit-And-Run Driver

The family of a three-year-old boy killed in a hit-and-run in Darlington has appealed for the driver to hand themself in.

Danny Wake was walking along Neasham Road in Darlington with his mother, brother and another child when he was struck by a vehicle on Monday.

"Our family want to appeal to the person who did this or who knows who did this to find it in their hearts to come forward so we can find the answers we need," the Wake family said in a statement.

"Imagine if this was your little boy and how you'd be feeling, with this in mind please contact police urgently."

The family were returning from the shops, where they had picked up a catalogue so that Danny could choose his Christmas presents.

CCTV was released showing the moments before Danny was killed

"Instead of looking forward to planning our Christmas as a family we are now facing the devastating task of planning Danny's funeral," the family added.

"We desperately need to know how and why this happened."

Danny's family described him as a "loving and caring little boy" who was always laughing and smiling.

Police arrested a 24-year-old man on Monday on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving. He has since been released without charge.

Police are appealing for witnesses to the incident which happened at a junction.

:: Anyone with information should contact Durham Constabulary on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

00.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Royal Marine Guilty Of Murdering Afghan Fighter

The Events That Led To A Murder

Updated: 3:16pm UK, Friday 08 November 2013

By Alistair Bunkall, Sky News Defence Correspondent

The events that led up to the murder of the injured insurgent in Helmand province were filmed on a helmet-camera belonging to Marine B.

The footage begins as the Marine's were nearing the end of a routine patrol. An Apache helicopter is heard flying nearby. It then fires 139 rounds at suspected insurgents.

The patrol was then asked to go and perform a tactical battlefield assessment - essentially look for injured or dead bodies.

They found one Afghan lying in the middle of a field. He was badly wounded in the chest and legs. An AK-47 was found with him.

At this point Marine B is some 40 yards from the wounded Afghan, having taken up a position to scan the field for the enemy. His camera records Marine A, a 39 year old Sergeant, and Marine C searching and assessing the Afghan.

Having established he had no other weapons or explosives on him, Marine A then instructs his colleagues to drag the man to the edge off the field. This, he claimed, was so that they weren't sat out in the open where they would be easy targets. He wanted to treat the insurgent in safety Marine A claimed. The prosecution disagreed, arguing that it was a deliberate attempt to find cover, out of the sight of the Apache and a long range surveillance camera in Camp Bastion, know as a PGSS, that might have been monitoring their activity.

Once in a clearing on the edge of the field, Marine A is heard on the video asking if anyone wants to give the Afghan first aid.

"Anybody want to do first aid on this idiot?" he asks.

"No" reply a number of Marines.

"I'll put one in his head, if you want," offers Marine C.

Laughter is heard before Marine A decides:

"No, not in his head, 'cause that'll be f****** obvious."

Marine A is also seen speaking on the radio, updating his base on the status of the Afghan.

He claims he was preparing a '9-liner', the process of calling in medical evacuation, so called because of the nine lines of checks that must be completed before a helicopter is allowed to deploy. A pink 9-liner form can be seen in his hand at one point.

In addition to the video, the events were recorded in a journal kept by Marine C. This was also used in evidence.

"Now we were in cover, I was ready and waiting to pop him with a 9mm, one in the heart should do it, but I waited out for the nod from Marine A, ... and although for one minute I thought we were actually going to treat and casivac him, Marine A squashed it and sent it up that he'd snuffed it while we treated him," he writes.

"So there I was, pistol drawn, waiting for Marine A to get off the net so I could pop this little w***** and be done with it; when Marine A came back over, and thinned me out, to take up arcs with the others." 

"As I walked off..., Marine A popped him one himself!  I felt mugged off, but job done; little f*** was dead at the end of the day."

The video clearly shows Marine A lean towards the Afghan who is lying supine on the ground. He levels his 9mm pistol at the man's chest and fire a shot at virtual point blank range.

Dr Nicholas Hunt, a Pathologist who gave expert witness at the trial, explained what happened next in his view:

"The hands. Particularly the right hand comes up to the area to which the weapon has been discharged – that's the first thing I noted," he told the court.

"The legs are also seen to move quite significantly. His head has started to move and his breathing becomes very obviously laboured, much more rapid than it has been before and much deeper breaths."

"He was still alive at the point he was shot. After that his breathing far less obvious – it becomes shallower and the gap between breaths increases."

Marine A's defence was that he believed the Afghan man was already dead when he shot him.

"I saw no signs of life from him, so yes I believed he'd passed,"he told Bulford Military Court.

When asked why he'd shot a man he believed was dead, Marine A replied:

" Stupid, lack of self-control. Poor judgement on my part."

"I was very surprised the amount he did move. I believed he was dead. I'd not seen any move,ent for a few minutes. He suddenly became very animated once I'd shot him."

On the video Marine A is heard admitting he'd just broken the Geneva Convention but insists he was referring to the fact he'd shot a dead body rather an injured man.

Under cross-examination, Marine A was asked what was done to check if the man had died.

"Did anyone check the man's pulse?"

"No," Marine A answered.

"Did anyone check the man's breathing?"

"Not that I saw."

"Did anyone check the man's eyes?"

"Not that I'm aware of."

Marine B argued that he was giving the insurgent first aid but  admitted it was cursory. Marine C said that he'd started walking away from the area and had his back turned when the shot was fired. He also claimed that his diary was a form of therapy and not always accurate.

The Marines were arrested in October last year. Under cross-examination during the trial Marine B admitted misleading the investigation.

"Was there a plan to cover it up?" he was asked by Dave Perry QC for the prosecution.

"We were protecting him, yes," Marine B replied. "In my opinion he had shot an alive, injured insurgent."

Mr Perry asked: "We saw on the video you suggesting a cover story to the patrol. What was the cover story to be?"

"It was just protecting Marine A. It meant to say it was a warning shot," was Marine B's answer.

00.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Dog Attack: Girl Was Killed By Bulldog

Dangerous Dogs: The Victims

Updated: 3:11pm UK, Wednesday 06 November 2013

Some 17 people have now been killed by dogs in the UK since 2005. Here is a list of the cases...

October 2013: Lexi Branson, 4, killed in Mountsorrel, Leicestershire by a bulldog - not a banned breed.

May 2013: Clifford Clarke, 79, was outside his home in Clubmoor, Liverpool. Breed of the dog, belonging to a neighbour, was believed to have been a bull masitff crossed with either a Presa Canario or a bandog.

March 2013: Jade Lomas-Anderson, 14, from Wigan, Greater Manchester. Attacked by four or five dogs at a friend's house. Two were believed to have been bull mastiffs, two were Staffordshire bull terriers.

November 2012: Harry Harper, eight days old, from Ketley, Shropshire. Attacked by a Jack Russell in his cot.

October 2012: Gloria Knowles, 71, from Morden, south London. Suffered a heart attack when savaged by her daughter's dogs when she went to feed them. Two were Bordeaux bulldogs, two were American bulldogs and one was a mongrel.

January 2012: Leslie Trotman, 83, of Brentford, west London. He was in his garden when a neighbour's Pitbull-type dog escaped and attacked him.

December 2010: Barbara Williams, 52, Wallington, Surrey. Attacked by a Belgian mastiff in a garden.

April 2010: Zumer Ahmed, 18 months, from Crawley, West Sussex. Killed when her uncle's American bulldog got into the house.

November 2009: John Paul Massey, aged four, from Wavertree, Liverpool. Killed at home by his uncle's pitbull-type dog.

May 2009: Andrew Walker, 21, Blackpool, Lancashire. Bitten more than 50 times by his flatmate's two Alsatians.

February 2009: Jaden Mack, three months old, from Caerphilly, South Wales. Stafforshire bull terrier and Jack Russell attacked him on a table at home after his grandmother fell asleep.

January 2009: Stephen Hudspeth, 33, Bishop Auckland, County Durham. Attacked by a Staffordshire bull terrier and died days later from blood poisoning.

January 2008: James Redhill, 78, Plaistow, east London. His own pet Rottweiler attacked him in the street.

December 2007: Archie-Lee Hirst, one year old, from Wakefield, West Yorkshire. Attacked by a Rottweiler at his grandparents' home.

January 2007: Ellie Lawrenson, five years old, St Helens, Merseyside, Attacked at her grandmother's home by her uncle's Pitbull-type dog.

September 2006: Cadey-Lee Deacon, five months, from Leicester. Taken from her Moses basket by two Rottweilers in the living area of her grandparents' pub.

November 2005: Liam Eames, one year old, from Leeds. Attacked at home by the family's American bulldog.

00.27 | 0 komentar | Read More

BAE Announces 1,775 Shipyard Job Losses

Defence giant BAE Systems has announced that 1,775 jobs are to go across its three shipyards.

In addition, the firm will end an 800-year-old tradition of shipbuilding at Portsmouth with 940 jobs to go there by the second half of 2014, reducing the 1,200 workforce to just 260.

A further 835 are going to go at Scotstoun and Govan shipyards in Glasgow, Rosyth, and Filton, near Bristol.

The cuts are part of a maritime defence review, which BAE systems launched 18 months ago.

Portsmouth dockyard has a rich historical heritage of shipbuilding

A statement from BAE said: "(The) company proposes to consolidate its shipbuilding operations in Glasgow with investments in facilities to create a world-class capability, positioning it to deliver an affordable Type 26 programme for the Royal Navy.

"Under these proposals, shipbuilding operations at Portsmouth will cease in the second half of 2014."

Confirming the announcement in a statement to the House of Commons the Defence Secretary, Philip Hammond, said that the losses were "regrettable but inevitable".

He said that the shipyards would have been unable to sustain such a large workforce once the £6.2bn project to build the Royal Navy's largest ever aircraft carriers came to an end.

Falklands troops return home to Portsmouth

The decision has taken on significant political prominence with the Scottish referendum looming in 2014 and warnings any closure of one of the Scottish yards rather than Portsmouth would have handed First Minister Alex Salmond "a victory on a plate".

It has led to claims that Portsmouth jobs have been sacrificed to save the BAE shipyards at Govan and Scotstoun.

Mike Hancock, independent MP for Portsmouth South, said: "I think personally it is a real tragedy for them as individuals and for us as a community in Portsmouth.

"To lose close to 1,000 jobs in this way is a bitter blow. There has to be some element of cynicism being brought into play here to suggest this is simply being done to suit the financial situation at BAE and the Scottish referendum must have played some part, albeit maybe a small part.

The front section of the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth at Portsmouth

"I think people would be foolish not to think that that was something in the background." 

Ending shipbuilding at Portsmouth would mean the UK would lose the ability to build its own warships if Scotland is granted independence in 2014.

Gerald Vernon-Jackson, leader of Portsmouth Council, said: "I condemn the decision to shut down the last remaining shipyard in England with the capability to build advanced surface warships.

"This decision is bad for Portsmouth, with the loss of many highly skilled jobs, but it's also bad for the defence of the UK and for the Royal Navy.

Type 26 warships will be built in Glasgow

"The remaining yards with the capability to build advanced warships are in Scotland, and the referendum on Scottish independence is less than one year away. Ministers have put the defence of the UK and the future of the navy at real risk."

Asked about the decision, the Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "This is a Government that always takes decisions based on the national interest.

Mr Hammond has announced BAE will build three Offshore Patrol Vehicles

"This decision was taken with a view of how we have the best-equipped, best-maintained Royal Navy. That is the basis on which it was taken."

Mr Hammond also announced that the Ministry of Defence would be giving BAE the contract to build three Offshore Patrol Vehicles to bridge the gap between the aircraft carrier project ending and the beginning of work on the new Type 26 warship in 2016.

This, he said, was to avoid having shipyards being paid to lay idle, with workers losing valuable skills.

He said that Portsmouth dockyard would continue to do repair and maintenance work.

Unite national officer for shipbuilding Ian Waddell said: "This is a very worrying time for the workforces and their families as the work on the two carriers comes to a conclusion.

"Unite will be working very hard to retain the maximum number of jobs at both Portsmouth and in Scotland.

"It is a huge blow to Britain's manufacturing and industrial base, with many highly skilled workers faced with losing their jobs."

00.27 | 0 komentar | Read More

Kercher Murder: Sollecito In Emotional Plea

By Tom Kington, in Florence

Raffaele Sollecito has denied murdering Meredith Kercher and begged for his life back, in a dramatic court room appeal to an Italian jury.

Speaking six years after the British student was killed in the Italian city of Perugia, 29-year-old Sollecito made the emotional plea to the appeal trial in Florence.

He appealed to the jury "as an Italian, like you, to have a life".

"Because I don't have a real life," he said, before thanking the jury while appearing close to tears.

During his 15-minute speech, which gripped the jurors after a morning of complex DNA results that often left them looking lost, Sollecito described his brief romance with co-defendant Amanda Knox as a "little fairytale".

He said the relationship was shattered when the pair were accused of fatally stabbing Ms Kercher in the house she shared with Knox, pushing the defendants into a "nightmare beyond imagination".

Meredith Kercher was found with stab wounds to the neck in 2007

"I have been described as a ruthless killer but I am nothing of the sort," he said, during a softly spoken and occasionally rambling speech.

The trial is the latest in a drawn out legal process that saw Knox, 26, and Sollecito convicted and jailed in Perugia in 2009, before being released after four years when they were cleared on appeal in 2011, only for that verdict to be overturned by Italy's supreme court this year.

While Knox has refused to travel from her home in Seattle to appear in court for the new appeal, Sollecito returned from a holiday in the Dominican Republic to appear at the fresh appeal, flanked by his father.

Sollecito said he was "proud" to come from a "good Italian family" which had taught him strong values and had never had legal problems.

"I have always been honest, but I have been called an assassin," he said.

He claimed he had been a reserved student at Perugia, had not been an "obsessive partier" and did not drink.

In an apparent reference to the now infamous photos of him kissing Knox at the crime scene, he apologised, telling the jury "I didn't take the situation seriously at the start".

From being one week away from obtaining his degree, he was plunged into six months in isolation followed by a spell in a maximum security jail, he said, adding: "I don't recommend it to anyone in the world. All my life was cancelled."

Sollecito apologised over this picture of he and Knox and kissing

Speaking without notes, Sollecito condemned the "hallucinatory persecution" he faced, complaining that police had believed a footprint found at the house was his before changing their mind eight months later.

Sollecito said he had never known Rudy Guede, the local drifter who was convicted for his role in the murder.

"I would not have had a minimal interest in committing this atrocious act against a 20-year-old," he said.

Sollecito has faced suspicions that he was preparing to flee Italy after he took a holiday in the Dominican Republic, which does not have an extradition treaty with Italy.

But his father said his decision to fly in for the hearing showed he had no plan to escape Italian justice.

Sollecito complained that he had been hounded by photographers.

"I need to defend myself in the media for the most banal thing," he said.

"I have tried to stay out of the limelight. And today I am here before you to get to know you and tell you the truth of this matter."

Sollecito's speech followed an explanation by two Italian police officers of the results of a test on a DNA trace carried out on a knife found at his flat, which prosecutors have argued is the murder weapon.

Amanda Knox has refused to appear at the appeal

The officers said the results allowed the police to "support, in an extremely significant manner, the hypothesis that genetic material of Amanda Marie Knox is present" in the trace.

An earlier police report decided that a separate trace could contain Ms Kercher's DNA, which was used to suggest that the knife was the murder weapon.

But that test was challenged as unreliable by a second analysis carried out during the first appeal.

The latest result on the separate trace has been seized by lawyers representing Knox and Sollecito as proof that the knife was used by Knox and Knox only in Sollecito's kitchen.

Carlo Dalla Vedova, a lawyer representing Knox, said: "This is just a kitchen knife."

But Francesco Maresca, a lawyer representing the Kercher family, said he was sticking by the initial report that found a trace of Ms Kercher's DNA on the blade.

00.27 | 0 komentar | Read More

Helicopter Suicide: Passenger Leaps To Death

A man has died after plunging 750ft into the sea from a hired helicopter in an apparent planned suicide.

Passenger Gregory McFadden jumped to his death during a 30-minute tour of the coastline in Orange County, California.

Horrified witnesses watched as Mr McFadden fell into the sea near Balboa Pier at Newport Beach before lifeguards pulled him from the water and tried in vain to resuscitate him. 

Helicopter pilot Chuck Street told how his son Corbin, 25, desperately tried to stop his passenger from leaping to his death.

He told KCAL9: "During the flight he kept asking to go higher and higher ... 'can you fly right here along the shore?'

The man plunged to his death near Balboa Pier at Newport Beach

"My son was starting to get suspicious. When they got towards the Balboa Pier, he started to take his seatbelt off and he started to open the door.

"My son said, 'what are you doing, what are you doing?'

Mr Street said Corbin reached out and tried to grab his passenger, while continuing to fly the aircraft.

He said: "The guy started to kinda struggle. The aircraft kinda pitched up. My son had his hand on his shirt, his shirt ripped. And then the guy just went out the door."

The helicopter involved in the incident

A Huntington Beach police helicopter found the victim in the water and directed lifeguards and the Orange County Sheriff's Department Harbor Patrol personnel to the scene.

The Federal Aviation Administration reported that the passenger opened the helicopter door and jumped.

Mr Street said police found a suicide note on Mr McFadden, who was confirmed dead in hospital.

James Politano was among dozens of people who saw what happened.

Chuck Street said his son tried to stop the man from jumping

He said: "I saw the door open. I thought it was a bird. Halfway from the helicopter, the legs opened. (I thought), 'Oh, it's a human being!' 

Mr McFadden's brother told KCAL9 by phone that his brother was a loner who struggled with mental illness, a severe throat disease and depression. 

The helicopter, which was ordered to land at John Wayne Airport after the incident, was registered to Emerald City Aircraft Leasing Inc. in Port Orchard, Wash.

The death is being investigated as a possible suicide.

00.27 | 0 komentar | Read More

Curtis Warren Ordered To Repay Millions

A drugs baron has been ordered to pay back almost £200m within a month after what is believed to be Europe's largest confiscation order.

Curtis "Cocky" Warren, one of Europe's most notorious drug dealers, is serving a 13-year sentence for plotting to smuggle cannabis with a street value of £1m into Jersey and is due for release from Belmarsh prison in January.

The 50-year-old former Liverpool nightclub bouncer has been warned he must hand over the money within 28 days or face a further 10 years behind bars.

A statement from the State of Jersey's Law Officers' Department read: "The Royal Court of Jersey has today ordered that £198m be confiscated from Curtis Warren. It is believed to be one of the largest ever confiscation orders made in the British Isles and Europe.

"The confiscation proceedings are the result of several years of extensive investigation into the criminal career and financial affairs of one of Europe's most notorious organised criminals."

Prosecutors allege Warren was laundering £10m to £15m a week from smuggling drugs.

Warren arriving at court in 2009

The case primarily featured evidence related to cocaine trafficking between 1991 and 1996 which "generated huge sums of monies", the department said.

The shipments ranged from 500 kilos to multiple tonnes and gained "huge" profits, with a two-ton shipment of cocaine able to sell on the UK market for £40m wholesale, it said.

Warren became the first criminal to be the subject of a High Court move to protect the public last month.

Designed to prevent reoffending, it will impose restrictions on Warren's access to mobile phones and telephone kiosks as well as limitations on bank accounts.

Serious Crime Prevention Orders are normally made at Crown Court following a conviction but Warren was convicted in 2009 in Jersey, which is outside the jurisdiction of England and Wales.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) said Warren coordinated a global drugs empire from his cell at Jersey's La Moye prison while awaiting trial between 2007 and 2009, where he was alleged to have used several illicit mobile phones to contact a network of associates in an attempt to continue his drug trafficking empire.

Some 35,000 calls across 41 countries between March 2008 and October 2009 involving Warren's mobile phones were analysed during the investigation.

00.27 | 0 komentar | Read More

Stuart Hall In Court On 15 Rape Charges

Stuart Hall has appeared in court charged with 15 offences of rape relating to two girls.

The 83-year-old veteran broadcaster also faces a charge of indecent assault.

During the brief hearing at Preston magistrates court Hall was asked to identify himself and replied, "I beg your pardon?" as he appeared to struggle to hear the proceedings.

He then gave his name as James Stuart Hall and his address as Prestbury Road, Wilmslow.

Hall listened as the charges were outlined. No pleas were entered.

The charges relate to two girls aged 11 or 12 and 16 at the time.

Hall is alleged to have committed seven counts of rape against one girl between 1976 and 1978 in Manchester, when she was aged between 14 and 16.

He is also accused of eight counts of rape and one count of indecent assault against a second girl, who was aged between 11 or 12 and 15 at the time.

These offences are said to have taken place between 1976 and 1981 at various locations in Greater Manchester and Cheshire.

Hall is currently serving a 30-month jail term after he admitted sexually abusing 13 victims, one as young as nine, over a period of nearly 20 years.

The latest set of charges came to light after the case earlier this year and are not related to it.

Hall was remanded in custody until November 29 for a further hearing at Preston Crown Court.

00.27 | 0 komentar | Read More

Star Wars 'Audition Call' Put Out By Disney

Open auditions have been announced for a film that is widely believed to be the next Star Wars.

The Disney invitation describes a "nationwide search for lead roles for a Walt Disney Pictures film".

Disney announced three new Star Wars films in October 2012 when it purchased George Lucas' Lucasfilm company for $4.05bn (£2.7bn).

The audition notice, put out by the Twitter account @UKopencall, says it is looking to fill two roles.

"Rachel" is described as "street smart and strong" and "always a survivor, never a victim"; while "Thomas" has "grown up without a father's influence" but is "smart, capable and shows courage when it is needed".

The advert demands candidates be good looking and athletic - over 16 for the female role or over 18 for the male role.

Auditions start on November 9 in Bristol before visiting Manchester, Glasgow, Dublin and London.

Star Wars: Episode VII will be made by Emmy-award-winning director JJ Abrams next year and the three icons of the original Star Wars movies - Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher - are expected to make a comeback.

The film will be made in Britain and is due for a 2015 release.

00.27 | 0 komentar | Read More

Call Of Duty: Ghosts Tops $1bn On First Day

The latest Call of Duty video game made more than $1bn (£621m) from its first day on sale, its publisher has confirmed.

Call of Duty: Ghosts went on sale worldwide on Tuesday and its debut eclipsed that of Grand Theft Auto V, which raked in $800m (£496m) on its first day in September.

At the time, the game beat the record for single-day games sales held by the last Call of Duty game, Black Ops II, which made $500m (£310m) in November 2012.

Fans queued overnight at hundreds of stores across the UK, which were open at midnight for the release of the 10th Call of Duty instalment.

The $1bn figure represented sales to retail store, which may not reflect consumer purchases, according to publisher Activision.

Eric Hirshberg, chief executive of Activision, said the game "has delivered yet another epic thrill ride in the campaign, and what I think is our best multiplayer game yet".

The last Call of Duty game made $500m in first day sales

The company claimed the series was "the largest console franchise of this generation".

The latest military shooter series is set in a desolate US, devastated by a satellite-guided "kinetic" weapon strike on San Diego.

Ghosts can be played on PS3, Xbox 360, Nintendo's Wii U and Windows computers, and will also be available on other consoles in future.

The game is also compatible with smartphones and tablet computers.

Many reviewers agreed that the game did not take the franchise in a new direction or break from the old format. 

The Computer and Video Games website said: "There is an overwhelming sense of familiarity one gets from playing Call of Duty: Ghosts and that's probably because an iteration of this series drops every year without truly reinventing the wheel."

00.27 | 0 komentar | Read More

Mosley: Google Told To Block Sex Act Images

A French court has ordered Google to block its search engine from providing links to images of Max Mosley engaging in sexual acts.

Google had strongly opposed Mr Mosley's request, arguing that it would set a dangerous legal precedent for censorship of the internet.

The landmark ruling relates to nine widely circulated images taken from a video showing the former Formula One boss during a sadomasochist orgy. 

The video was filmed by the now defunct News of the World.

In 2008, the 72-year-old sued the newspaper for £60,000 after the pictures were published under the headline: 'Formula One boss has sick Nazi orgy with five hookers'.

Mr Mosley has acknowledged the orgy, but says the story was an "outrageous" invasion of privacy and the Nazi allegation was damaging and "completely untrue".

When he appeared at the Leveson Inquiry into press ethics, he discussed his battle to remove from the internet false and libellous claims about the story.

More follows...

00.27 | 0 komentar | Read More

Yasser Arafat 'Was Murdered With Polonium'

Timeline: Yasser Arafat

Updated: 9:52am UK, Tuesday 27 November 2012

Here are some of the key dates in Mr Arafat's life.

:: February 4, 1969 Mr Arafat, the fifth child of a Palestinian merchant, takes over the PLO chairmanship. He transforms it into a force that makes the Palestinian cause known worldwide.

:: June 6, 1982 Israel invades Lebanon to crush the PLO, forcing Mr Arafat and loyalists to flee Beirut.

:: October 1, 1985 Mr Arafat narrowly escapes death in an Israeli air raid on the PLO's Tunisian headquarters.

:: April 16, 1988 Khalil al Wazir, Mr Arafat's military commander, is assassinated in Tunis. Israel is blamed.

:: December 12, 1988 Mr Arafat accepts Israel's right to exist and renounces terrorism. Nearly two years later, Iraq invades Kuwait, Mr Arafat supports Saddam Hussein and the PLO is isolated.

:: November 1991 Mr Arafat marries his 28-year-old secretary, Suha Tawil. Their daughter Zahwa is born in 1995.

:: April 7, 1992 Mr Arafat is rescued after a plane crash lands in the Libyan desert during a sandstorm.

:: September 13, 1993 Israel and the PLO sign an accord on Palestinian autonomy in Oslo, Norway, giving Mr Arafat control of most of the Gaza Strip and about a quarter of the West Bank. He shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin on the White House lawn. The two later share the Nobel Peace Prize with Israeli foreign minister Shimon Peres.

:: July 1, 1994 Returning from exile, Mr Arafat sets foot on Palestinian soil for the first time in 26 years.

:: September 28, 2000 Israel's then opposition leader Ariel Sharon visits a Jerusalem shrine holy to Jews and Muslims, leading to clashes that escalate into a Palestinian uprising.

:: December 3, 2001 After three suicide bombings, Israel destroys Mr Arafat's helicopters in Gaza City, confining him to the West Bank town of Ramallah.

:: March 2002 Israel declares Mr Arafat an "enemy" two days after a Palestinian suicide bomber kills 29 people at a Passover holiday meal, prompting an Israeli incursion into the West Bank.

:: June 24, 2002 President George W Bush calls on Palestinians to replace Mr Arafat as leader. A year later, his deputy Mahmoud Abbas becomes the first Palestinian prime minister in a move pushed for by the US and Israel to sideline Mr Arafat.

:: June 4, 2003 At the first major Israeli-Palestinian summit without Mr Arafat, Mr Sharon and Mr Bush launch "road map" peace plan, which aims to end fighting and create Palestinian state by 2005.

:: October 21, 2003 Mr Arafat is diagnosed with gallstones. Nearly a year to the day later, he collapses and is flown to hospital in France with a serious, undisclosed illness.

:: November 9, 2004 A French medical team acknowledges that Mr Arafat has been in a coma for a week. He dies two days later at the age of 75.

00.27 | 0 komentar | Read More