Sea Dog Rescued From Floating Log Off NZ Coast

A dog looks like he must have been barking up the wrong tree when he was swept out to sea on a log.

The castaway canine was spotted standing on his makeshift raft by the crew of the Royal New Zealand Navy patrol vessel HMNZS Hawea in Smokehouse Bay, near Great Barrier Island, on Thursday.

A rescue mission was then authorised and a crew of four sent out to save the plucky pooch, who was found 30 miles off the coast of New Zealand's North Island.

Lieutenant Anthony Norris told the New Zealand Herald: "There was significant debris in the water and on one large log floating in the water was this poor, helpless dog.

"I would hate to think how long he was there."

There were heavy storms in the area earlier in the week and rescuers believed he may have been washed out to sea during them.

The dog has been reunited with its owners.

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Miliband 'Sorry' Over World Cup Sun Picture

By Jason Farrell, Political Correspondent

Ed Miliband has apologised to the people of Liverpool for posing with a copy of the Sun Newspaper, saying he "is sorry to those who feel offended".

The Labour leader helped promote a World Cup edition on Thursday which was being sent free to 22 million homes.

In a staged photograph, strongly criticised on Twitter, he is seen holding up the paper with the headline "This Is Our England".

David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Nigel Farage also joined the promotion.

A Labour Party spokesman said: "Ed Miliband was promoting England's bid to win the World Cup and is proud to do so.

"But he understands the anger that is felt towards The Sun over Hillsborough by many people in Merseyside and he is sorry to those who feel offended."

A Liverpool Labour councillor, Martin Cummins, has confirmed to Sky News he has resigned after the image emerged. Mr Cummins, who represents Croxteth, told the Liverpool Echo the picture had "rocked me to my core" and suggested that Mr Miliband had "listened to unwise counsel".

Mr Miliband was lampooned over images of him eating a bacon sandwich

Many in Liverpool will never forgive The Sun's reporting of the Hillsborough tragedy and comments it made about the fans' behaviour for which the paper later apologised, saying they were "inaccurate and offensive".

The blunder has raised more questions about how well Mr Miliband is being advised and comes after much lampooned images of him eating a bacon sandwich.

But critics say the larger question is whether he is out of touch with Labour voters.

The Mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson, earlier attacked the Labour leader for associating himself with the paper.

In a statement he wrote: "My city was offended and insulted by the lies and smears peddled by The S*n and their hindrance to our fight for justice is something that will never be forgotten."

"For the leader of the Labour Party to make such an offensive gesture insults not only me but every person in the city.

"This is just another example of how out of touch the politicians in their ivory towers are from the lives of ordinary people.

"It begs the question - were the comments he made after the Hillsborough panel report sincere or just sound bites?"

None of the other party leaders felt the need to apologise for their involvement in the promotion.

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Man Dies As Facebook Water Craze Sweeps France

A Facebook craze spreading across France has left a young man dead and another severely injured.

Police said a 19-year-old drowned after driving his bicycle into a river in a town in western Brittany while a friend filmed him.

Another youth suffered life-changing injuries after diving headfirst into shallow water near Calais.

The craze has seen people challenging friends to jump fully clothed into rivers and the sea and film it within 48 hours - or offer dinner at a restaurant.

A warning posted by police on Facebook said: "Don't be influenced by a stupid phenomenon of the moment."

Deputy prosecutor Igor Souchu criticised the "dramatic and stupid" game after the death in Beganne.

POlice said the man was dragged under the water by his bike

Police chief Colonel Sylvain Laniel said: "The young man drowned after being thrown into the water with his bicycle as part of a challenge.

"The victim had seen fit to tie his bike to his leg to recover, but there were six-metres deep and could not go back."

Mr Souchu added: "The victim repeatedly attempted to resurface but could not because of the weight of the bike."

The warning follows widespread concern over the global spread of the Neknomination craze - an online drinking game in which people filmed themselves downing a drink in various situations before nominating friends to do the same.

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Harrison Ford Crushed: Star Still In Hospital

Harrison Ford has been injured while filming the new Star Wars movie at Pinewood Studios and has been taken to hospital.

LucasFilm confirmed that the 71-year-old star of the first three Star Wars films broke his ankle while filming at the studio complex in Buckinghamshire. He was airlifted to hospital in Oxford for treatment.

According to some reports his ankle was crushed when the door of the Millennium Falcon fell on it.

The actor is appearing again as Han Solo in the latest episode in the Star Wars franchise, Episode VII, which is being directed by JJ Abrams and is scheduled for release in December 2015.

Disney spokesman Paul Roeder said filming would continue on schedule while Ford recovers.

A spokesman for Lucasfilm said: "Harrison Ford sustained an ankle injury during filming today on the set of Star Wars: Episode VII.

"He was taken to a local hospital and is receiving care. Shooting will continue as planned while he recuperates."

A spokesman for Thames Valley Police said: "Just after 5, officers were called to Pinewood Studios.

"A 71-year-old man was injured in an incident believed to involve a garage door.

"He was airlifted to John Radcliffe Hospital where his injuries are not thought to be life-threatening.

"The Health and Safety Executive have been informed and will look into it."

Ford's co-stars include many of those who were in the original film - Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope - including Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill.

The plot of Episode VII has been kept a secret, but Abrams said it would also feature Lord Of The Rings star Andy Serkis and 12 Years A Slave actress Lupita Nyong'o.

The plot takes place 30 years after the end of Return Of The Jedi.

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Jets Scrambled As Russian Bombers Buzz US

Two Russian bombers have flown within 50 miles of the California coast, prompting the US to send fighter jets to make visual contact with the aircraft.

The incident began when four Tu-95 Bear H long range strategic bombers and an accompanying refuelling tanker entered the so-called Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) within 200 miles of the Alaska coast, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said..

They left the ADIZ heading west after two US Air Force F-22 Raptor fighters from the Alaskan NORAD region made visual contact with them.

Five hours later, two of the Russian bombers were detected off the California coast, Major Beth Smith said.

They were visually identified by two F-15 fighters from the Continental NORAD region.

A Russian Tu-95 bomber Pic: File

The Russian aircraft never entered US airspace during what appeared to be a routine training mission.

The incident took place on Monday, but has only just been reported.

As part of its mission, NORAD - a joint Canada-US force - tracks and identifies all aircraft flying in the identification zone before they enter sovereign airspace, which extends 12 miles from the coastline.

Relations between the US and Russia have been poor since Moscow's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region and pro-Russian separatists' attempts to achieve autonomy elsewhere in the country.

Nato fighters protecting the Baltic states - Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia - were also scrambled on Thursday as Russian aircraft passed near Latvian airspace on several occasions.

The military alliance has been carrying out military drills in the region since the Ukrainian crisis developed and Russia responded on Friday by training its forces to set surface-to-air missiles in the Kaliningrad exclave to ready-to-fire positions.

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Iraqi Civilians Flee Islamist Advance

Aid agencies are preparing to cope with nearly one million Iraqis believed to have fled their homes as Islamist insurgents have seized control of parts of the country.

The mass movement of people began after fighters from an al Qaeda breakaway group, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), seized the northern city of Mosul in a surprise assault on Monday.

Since then, more civilians have fled as the militants have advanced southward toward the capital.

Unicef's Jeffrey Bates, who is near Irbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq, said the agency estimated nearly 500,000 people had crossed into the region over the past three days.

An Iraqi refugee wipes tears from her eyes

"The situation is still very fluid in that we are not able to really calculate exact numbers or even exact locations at this point.

"So a lot of energy is going into mapping out where populations have gone, how they've settled into the local communities or indeed if  they're just squatting in hospitals, or schools or fields.

"... Couple that with the 300,000 that were displaced from Anbar and you're getting up to close to a million right now."

Many people have fled to the Kurdish-controlled area of Iraq

Speaking to Sky News, Mr Bates said the Kurdish government had been quite accommodating and open to allowing the influx of the predominantly Arab displaced.

"There was a fear that the checkpoints would get clogged and people would be stranded on roads for days," he said.

"This has actually proven to not have been the case in that the Kurdish government was very able to very quickly process people and give them passes to come into Kurdistan."

Cars and trucks line up at the checkpoint to Kurdistan

Local aid workers said most people are arriving with little more than the clothes on their backs and have little money.

Save The Children said it was "working around the clock" with refugees and displaced people. It said the situation in the region was already tough after thousands of people had been displaced by the conflict in neighbouring Syria, where ISIS is also fighting.

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Daughter 'Lost It' And Shot Mum 'After Taunts'

A woman has told her trial she "lost it" and shot her mother who had claimed to have had a sexual relationship with the daughter's husband.

Susan and Christopher Edwards are accused of murdering Patricia and William Wycherley in 1998, burying them in their garden and pretending they were alive for 15 years.

Susan Edwards admits the manslaughter of her mother on the basis of provocation and the two defendants each deny two counts of murder.

Christopher Edwards

In the witness box, she said was visiting her parents without her 57-year-old husband on a May bank holiday in 1998 at their home in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, and was woken in the night by a noise.

She told the jury she went into her parents' bedroom and found her mother standing over her 85-year-old father, who was dead on the floor.

Former librarian Edwards, 56, said she picked up the gun after her mother had put it on a bed and shot Mrs Wycherley who was provoking her with relentless taunts.

Edwards said: "I knew my father was dead. I don't know how I knew, I just knew. She (her mother) started saying things to me."

According to the defendant, 63-year-old Mrs Wycherley told her she was not wanted as a child, she knew her father abused Edwards when she was growing up and she had had a sexual relationship with Christopher Edwards.

She told the jury: "I picked (the gun) up to keep it from her. She kept saying all of these things. She said she knew of my father's abuse.

Susan Edwards' father William Wycherley

"She kept saying things over and over again. I asked her 'please stop saying these things and go away. Please stop saying these things'.

"She didn't. She kept going on and on. It seemed like a long time. At some point I lost it. I shot my mother."

The Edwards are accused of raking in £245,000 by making it seem like the couple were still alive.

Their neighbours and relatives were told after their deaths that they had gone travelling or had moved to the coast for health reasons, according to prosecutors.

The prosecution claims the Edwards, who married in 1983, had been in severe financial difficulties for much of their relationship and they killed the elderly couple for the cash, claiming pension money and selling the Wycherleys' house.

The trial was adjourned until Monday after Edwards completed her evidence.

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Engineers Speed Towards 1,000mph Supercar

By Harriet Hadfield, Sky News Reporter

A British racing team's hope of breaking the 1,000mph speed barrier has come a step closer with the unveiling of their car's state-of-the art cockpit.

The Bloodhound SSC is a supersonic racing car designed to travel faster than the speed of sound.

Next year RAF fighter pilot Andy Green will attempt to break his land speed world record of 760mph - set in 1997.

Bloodhound SSC is designed to travel faster than the speed of sound

The cockpit is made-to-measure, took more than 10,000 hours to make and is designed to protect the driver from the effect of travelling at very high speed.  

Wing Commander Andy Green told Sky News: "It's going to be a fairly extreme set of physical sensations, we've got a huge amount of power in this car - 135 thrust horsepower, accelerating at over 2G, 40 mph per second - the energy that's going on over the cockpit and the noise that comes through is going to be quite hard physically for me."

The car's state-of-the-art cockpit

The £10m rocket-powered car features three engines with the combined power of 95 Formula 1 cars.

An unusual thing about this project is that all aspects of the design and the build are available online for anyone to see.

Engineer Sarah Covell explained: "Normally if you are in F1, you don't want to give away your competitive advantage, you don't want to share the drawings or the images of the cars.

RAF pilot Andy Green in the cockpit

"We are designing a one-in-a-million car. We are the only ones with a typhoon jet engine, you can't really steal the drawings so we are able to share everything we are doing."

The record attempt will take place in the South African desert around a specially-built 12 mile track.

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Iraqis Told: 'Take Up Arms And Defend Country'

How Militants Are Making Use Of Social Media

Updated: 6:12pm UK, Friday 13 June 2014

By Tom Cheshire, Technology Correspondent

Social media has long been a weapon in militant organisations' arsenal. YouTube videos and Facebook pages have proved to be powerful propaganda tools.

ISIS is evolving the technique in Iraq.

First, they have mainly been using Twitter to post images and some video. Each region ISIS is active in has its own Twitter account, delivering daily updates.

Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi, who has been following ISIS's social media tactics from Oxford University, told Sky News the Twitter strategy was "very co-ordinated".

"ISIS's social media presence is particularly apparent on Twitter," Mr Al-Tamimi said. "They all follow each other.

"Really, the Iraq accounts follow on from the Syria accounts. Whereas last year, a lot more of the visual media output of the ISIS presence was coming from Syria, now in Iraq, since the renewal of the wider insurgency, they've been keen to advertise their presence with photos - particularly on Twitter."

Why Twitter? Well, it is extremely robust. If a Twitter account is taken down, it is very easy to set up another and transfer your followers.

Twitter also makes it easy for fighters to maintain personal accounts, and that is the other new spin.

Previously, propaganda was broadcast over YouTube. Now militants are using mobile messaging platforms like Kik and question and answer sites like Ask.fm to engage others more directly.

Shariz Maher, from the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation at Kings College, London, puts it like this: "When Jihadi groups tried to recruit in the past, they would release a video. It would be very well managed. They'd be saying 'come out here', they'd use ideological reasons, 'look what the West is doing, the Koran says this'. And it was packaged in this very sophisticated way.

"Out of Syria now with these guys who are just tweeting about their experiences, they're able to relate their fellow Britons on a one-to-one level.

"They're saying, 'look, I lived in East London, I'm from Tower Hamlets. Now look at me - I'm in Syria, I've got these cool tools, an RPG, a Kalashnkiov', and for a certain type of person that's very attractive."

The wider tech story of the past year has been about the rapid rise of mobile messaging apps like Kik and Whatsapp - popular because they offer a more direct, engaging experience than Facebook or YouTube.

It seems militants have been paying close attention, too.

However, it could be getting harder for them to take the advantage - there were reports on Friday that Iraq's communications ministry has ordered social media websites and apps to be shut down.

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Dad Held On Suspicion Of Murdering Baby Son

Police have arrested a man in his 20s from Cirencester in Gloucestershire on suspicion of murdering his baby son.

Emergency services were alerted to concerns over the baby boy's health at around 1.20pm on Tuesday.

The child was taken from Cirencester to Bristol Royal Hospital for Children, but died the following day.

A Gloucestershire Police spokesman said officers were investigating "whether his injuries were non-accidental".

Officers arrested the baby's father on Friday morning. He remains in custody.

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World Cup: England Pitch 'In Poor Condition'

Images of the pitch on which England will play their first World Cup match have emerged, showing the surface looking brown and worn.

Distinct lines can be seen running across the turf between the sidelines in a picture of Manaus's Amazonia Arena taken on Tuesday - just four days before Roy Hodgson's men face Italy.

An AFP journalist at the scene of Saturday night's game, who has been able to see the grass up close, said it looked in poor condition.

The agency said the playing surface was noticeably dry and particularly bare around one of the goals, "revealing large yellowing areas of turf".

It will concern England fans and management, who have been rigorously training their team to cope with Manaus's high humidity.

When asked about the pitch at a press conference on Wednesday, striker Wayne Rooney said: "At the end of the day it's the same for us and Italy so we'll both have to deal with that."

England are due to kick off their Group D opener at 11pm UK time in a match at the tournament's most remote venue - in the middle of Brazil's hot and steamy rainforest.

The stadium was earlier praised for the progress of construction work

The rest of the stadium appeared to be fully functional, even though it was not completely finished.

Naked power cables could be seen dangling from the walls in and around the changing rooms, according to AFP.

Outside the stadium, where workers were applying a final coat of asphalt, several wrapped security doors could be seen, still waiting to be fitted.

The 46,000-capacity Amazonia Arena was specially constructed for the 2014 World Cup.

The number of England fans who will make the 1,800 mile journey from Rio de Janeiro or Sao Paulo to the game is not known, but it is expected to be several thousand.

Despite criticism of Manaus as a venue, the stadium was earlier held up as a good example, having been one of the first new stadiums in Brazil to break ground.

England have been in Rio de Janeiro since Monday and are due to fly to Manaus on Thursday where they are due to hold two part-open training sessions.

On arrival in Rio, manager Roy Hodgson told Sky Sports News the team were becoming more acclimatised as the days went by.

His comments came despite his team's goalless draw in Honduras - which has a comparable climate - last weekend.

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Black Cab Demo Causes Central London 'Gridlock'

Parts of central London have been left gridlocked after thousands of black cab drivers took industrial action at Trafalgar Square.

Up to 12,000 black cabs headed to the centre of the capital with the intent of causing traffic chaos.

Helicopter footage showed long queues of cabs across Westminster Bridge and along Whitehall to Trafalgar Square.

The traditional cabbies were protesting at Transport for London's (TfL) regulation of rival cab service Uber.

A line of black cabs pictured in Westminster

The Google-backed app allows users to order a car at the touch of a button, and the fare is calculated using GPS tracking.

But traditional cabbies say this is effectively a taxi meter, which only black cabs are legally entitled to use in the capital.

Sky's Ashish Joshi said that Trafalgar Square was "gridlocked" just before the protest officially started at 2pm.

He said: "This is technology against tradition. It's the new Battle of Trafalgar."

The protest is aimed at Transport for London and Uber

One driver with 15 years of experience told Sky News: "It's got to be a level playing field. England are playing Italy on Saturday, what if Italy turn up with 15 men against England?

"We love competition, we thrive on competition in this city, but it's got to be a fair competition."

But Uber general manager Jo Bertram has defended the company's business model, and says the number of app downloads has soared.

She said: "Londoners are voting with their fingers, tapping the app in support of new and innovative services as we see our biggest day of sign-ups in London today since launch two years ago.

Drivers in Spain took part in a similar protest

"In fact, today we're seeing an 850% increase in sign-ups compared to last Wednesday.

"Unsurprisingly, the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association, which is stuck in the dark ages, is intent on holding London to ransom and causing significant economic impact to Londoners today, estimated to be £125m."

Earlier the app goaded black cab drivers by urging them to sign up to their pre-booking app, saying it gave greater "choice for consumers".

But the cabbies dismissed it as a PR stunt.

Similar demonstrations have also taken place today in Paris, Madrid and Barcelona.

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Two Teens Killed In Sixth-Floor Balcony Fall

Two teenagers have died after falling from a balcony while "kissing" and "frolicking" on the sixth floor of a block of flats

Police, who were called just after midnight to Knights Tower, in Deptford, south London, have described the deaths of the 18-year-old man and 19-year-old woman as as "tragic accident".

Samson Oguntayo, 32, an events manager who lives in the neighbouring Cornmill House, said he and his partner Blessing had seen the couple fall.

"They were trying to have sex on the balcony, the guy was lifting the girl and putting her on the bannister, he kept on doing it," he said.

"He was putting her on there - they were going back and forth. You could see they were doing some really dangerous stuff.

Residents said they heard a loud bang

"It is not the first time we have seen people on the balcony acting up.

"At some point friends must have come outside and they got down and came back inside and then came back out again.

"This time they started doing it again. You see people on the balcony doing all sorts of things and I just felt it was one of those things and in a moment they will probably go back inside.

"The last thing I expected was to see them falling down five floors. We just screamed."

Maureen Flynn, 22, a resident of a neighbouring block, said: "I did not see them fall but I saw their friends come out on to the balcony. They were crying, they did not know what had happened.

"I had to tell them 'Your friends are dead'."

The apartments lie on the banks of the River Thames

A resident who lives in the opposite block, and who did not want to be named, said he saw a couple "frolicking" on the balcony last night.

"The occupants were inside, these two were on the balcony," he said.

"We were shutting our blinds when we saw a couple on their balcony frolicking. They were kissing and stuff, she was telling him to get off her. We then shut our balcony."

He said less than 10 minutes later he heard a "bang" and that a neighbour had witnessed the couple fall.

"She saw him lift her up and put her on the edge of the balcony," he said.

"She said she had her arms around his neck and then he was stood against her kissing her. Then she saw his legs stumble backwards - he stumbled backwards and she stumbled the other way. Then they both fell off."

Police are not treating the deaths as suspicious

Shradha Chaturvedi, 31, an auditor and resident of the second floor of Knights Tower, said: "I heard a very, very loud noise and a lady screaming initially - I heard a boom and at first I thought a firework had gone off or something.

"My husband came down and there were two other guys outside who were totally drunk. They said 'Don't go out there.' There was a woman out there who was crying."

A police spokesman said officers were not treating the deaths as suspicious.

Inspector Shaun Carre-Brown said: "This appears to be a tragic accident and our thoughts go out to the families and those that knew them.

Witness have been urged to call 101 and ask for the CID at Plumstead police station. Those wishing to remain anonymous can call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

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Army Cuts A 'Significant Risk' Govt Warned

Army cuts mean there is a "significant risk" the force will not be able to do its job properly, a damning report has warned.

The Government's plan to cut 20,000 full-time soldiers and replace them with reservists is six years behind schedule, according to the National Audit Office.

While it is on schedule to slash regular forces from 102,000 to 82,000 by 2018, it has failed to recruit the reservists, formerly known as the Territorial Army, to replace them.

The report by the Government's spending watchdog points out the shortfall in new reserves "will put pressure on regular units".

It warns the cuts will "significantly affect the Army's ability to achieve its objectives and value for money".

Defence Minister Philip Hammond has been under significant pressure over the Army 2020 project and managed to fight off rebellion in the Commons over the plans.

Under the restructuring programme, which will see the Army reduced to its lowest levels since the Napoleonic Wars, the reservist force must grow from 19,000 to 30,000 by 2018 to make up for the cut in the full-time force.

However, in the year to April just 170 more reservists had been recruited - far short of the 2,750 a year the Government must recruit to hit the target.

Defence Minister Philip Hammond

The project has now been put on the Government's list of troubled projects and only days ago it was disclosed the head of Major Projects Authority John Manzoni wrote to Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander and Cabinet Minister Francis Maude to warn Army 2020 was at risk of failing.

The NAO report said the programme of cutting regular forces and replacing them with reservists had been authorised without any feasibility tests being carried out.

The recruitment process has been plagued by IT problems, most notably with the website through which people could sign up to be in the reserves.

Margaret Hodge, chairwoman of the Commons public accounts committee, said the £1 million a month being spent to cover "incompetence" in the reservist recruitment process was "scandalous".

She said: "The Ministry of Defence focused heavily on cutting costs rather than on recruiting, training and integrating a substantially increased number of reserves, something the Army is already failing to do.

"The MoD went ahead with plans to reduce the number of regular soldiers and increase the number of reservists from 19,000 to 30,000 by 2019, without even investigating whether it was possible to do this by that time, or even whether it had 19,000 trained reservists to start with.

"Given this, it comes as no surprise to me that just one third of the reservists have been recruited in 2013-14 and the size of the Army Reserve has not increased since 2012."

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Passport Pile-Up: PM Says Backlog Is 30,000

David Cameron has admitted around 30,000 passport applications have been delayed - after the Government earlier denied a backlog.

The Prime Minister told the House of Commons there had been 300,000 more applications than normal at this time of year and that 10% of these had been delayed.

He said emergency plans were being put in place to ensure families who want to go on holiday get their passports in time.

In an angry exchange at Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons, Labour leader Ed Miliband said the Government needed to "get a grip" on the unfolding crisis.

He said the row between Theresa May and Education Secretary Michael Gove had distracted the Home Secretary from her job.

"The truth of the picture of this Government is we have the Home Secretary fighting with the Education Secretary but not paying attention to the business of government," he said.

"The truth is that is tens of thousands of people are finding that their holidays are being cancelled because they are not actually getting a passport."

Those British citizens living abroad are being hit

However, Mr Cameron said the Home Office had been on top of the situation since the beginning of the year.

Earlier on Wednesday the Government denied there had been a pile-up of applications after unions claimed a 12-year high in applications and cuts in staffing had lead to a 500,000 backlog.

Mr Cameron and Mrs May said 250 staff had been redeployed to tackle the problem, working seven days a week around the clock to make sure people got their documents.

Meanwhile, Sky has seen a letter sent to the UK Visas and Immigration Department saying 72 of their staff will start training next week on how to process passport applications with a view to being redeployed.

The increase in passport applications started in January and coincides with the closures of regional application offices across the world in an attempt to cut costs.

Applications in the Liverpool passport office

British citizens living abroad now have to apply in the UK and many of those are now reporting significant delays.

The increase has also been blamed on the number of people feeling they can now afford holidays with the economic recovery.

Pictures taken by a disillusioned worker in the Liverpool passport office show tens of thousands of applications waiting to be dealt with.

One MP said thousands of families face having their summer holiday plans ruined because documents were not being prepared in anything like the normal time.

Some families who want to make sure their documents are returned in time face paying extra for a faster service - up to £55.50 on top of the £72.50 standard fee.

Families are frantic to get their passports

Three million passports have already been issued this year, with officials processing an average of 18,000 applications a day over the last two months. 

Mike Jones, from the PCS Union said: "There are half a million applications that are waiting within the Passport Office at the moment.

"That figure is raised steeply over a number of months. The Home Office and the Passport Office used to have strategies in place for when the figure reached 150,000. They would put contingency plans in to deal with those amounts."

He told Radio 4's Today programme: "Now we have seen the figures are up to 500,000 and rising at the moment. Even all the contingencies that they are trying to put in place, we are still seeing that figure rising, so there is clearly a crisis going on within the Home Office and the Passport Office as well."

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Egypt President Sorry Over 'Worst' Sex Attack

By Sherine Tadros, Middle East Correspondent

Egypt's new president has apologised to a woman who was attacked during the celebrations to mark his inauguration at the weekend.

Abdel Fattah al Sisi visited the woman at a Cairo hospital and told her: "I have come to tell you and every Egyptian woman that I am sorry. I am apologising to every Egyptian woman."

It comes after he ordered a crackdown on sex crimes following the emergence of a video, which has been circulated on social media, showing a woman being assaulted in Cairo's Tahrir Square.

The blurry, two-minute clip, which was allegedly filmed during Sunday's inaugural festivities, shows a woman completely naked and bruised with hordes of men around as she is carried into a vehicle.

Dozens of women say they have been attacked in Tahrir Square in the past two years but many said this was the worst they had heard of.

Mr al Sisi has described sexual harassment as "unacceptable"

It has been covered widely by Egyptian media, with one newspaper demanding the perpetrators be executed.

In one of his first public statements, Mr Sisi called it an "unacceptable form of conduct, alien to the best principles of Egyptian culture".

It comes as a global summit to stop sexual violence in war zones, co-hosted by Angelina Jolie, continues in London.

On Tuesday, the actress told the summit: "We must send a message across the world that there's no disgrace in being a survivor of sexual violence. The shame is on the aggressor."

Part of the problem in Egypt has been an absence of laws protecting women against sexual harassment, allowing attackers to act with complete impunity.

Jolie co-hosted the London summit with Foreign Secretary William Hague

A decree issued last week made it a criminal act for the first time, with offenders warned they could face up to five years in prison.

Importantly, it defines harassment as including the making of obscene gestures "in any manner", recognising it does not have to be of a physical nature.

A study conducted last year by the UN showed 99.3% of Egyptian women have experienced some form of harassment, with around half (47%) claiming they are harassed daily.

It has become so prevalent and widespread in Egypt that many women have simply grown to accept it.

Men often stare and shout obscene comments at women as they walk along the street.

At times, it is seen as acceptable for women to feel shame and humiliation, as if something about how they dress or walk is to blame. 

It is an endemic problem and has become part of Egyptian culture - a dysfunctional yet accepted norm.

Farah Shash, of the Nadeem Centre for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence, said: "The culture here when it comes to sexual harassment is to blame the victim."

She said authorities in Egypt have never seen women's rights as a priority and women are reluctant to report incidents because the police are so unsympathetic.

Journalist Hania Moheeb, who was gang raped in Tahrir Square last January and is attending this week's summit, said: "The denial this society has been living in for over two decades is something that has to end."

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Phone Hacking Jury Retires To Consider Verdicts

The jury in the trial of ex-News of the World bosses accused of plotting to hack phones has retired to consider its verdicts.

Former editors Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson, along with the retired managing editor Stuart Kuttner, are accused of being part of a conspiracy from 2000 to 2006.

Coulson, 46, is also accused of two counts of conspiring with former NOTW royal editor Clive Goodman to commit misconduct in a public office by paying police officers for two royal directories.

Brooks faces the same charge over approving payments to a Sun journalist's military contact between 2004 and 2012.

The former News International chief executive is also accused of plotting with her former personal assistant Cheryl Carter, 50, to pervert the course of justice by removing seven boxes from the company archive shortly before she was arrested three years ago.

Brooks, 46, along with husband Charlie and NI director of security Mark Hanna, 51, is further charged with perverting the course of justice by hiding potential evidence from police in July 2011.

The jury of eight women and three men was sent out shortly after 3.30pm and the 11 jurors were told to "act according to your oath" by Mr Justice Saunders.

He said: "You have to reach true verdicts according to the evidence. That evidence you have heard in court. Put out of your head anything you have heard outside court."

He added: "On behalf of all of us, I think it has been a privilege to work with all of you."

Coulson, of Charing, Kent, the Brooks, of Churchill, Oxfordshire, Hanna of Buckingham, Carter of Chelmsford, Essex, Goodman of Addlestone, Surrey, and 74-year-old Kuttner, of Woodford Green, Essex, deny the charges.

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Rik Mayall: Number 1 Bid For World Cup Song

A campaign has been launched to pay tribute to dead comedian Rik Mayall by sending a World Cup song he wrote to number one.

The former Young Ones star recorded a track called Noble England in the run up to the last World Cup in South Africa in 2010.

The sudden death of Mayall, which appeared to have come after he suffered a seizure, was announced on Monday.

His wife Barbara told the Daily Mirror his body was found at their home in Barnes, southwest London, but that she would have to wait for the coroner's report before she knew any more.

Now a Facebook page has been set up to encourage people to buy Noble England as a way of marking his passing.

Jon Morter, Jason McGuire and Steevi Diamond set up the page with a link to the song's iTunes preview in a bid to get it to chart.

By Wednesday, the song's midweek position on Itunes was number 14 and number one on Amazon. The Facebook site, meanwhile, had attracted nearly 11,000 'likes'.

Jon, Jason and Steevi wrote: "Sadly on the eve of this year's World Cup we lost Rik, so a few of us thought it would be a nice idea to try and get him in the charts as a tribute to a legend.

"We are just 3 Rik fans hoping to give him a good send off!"

Noble England is one of a number of little-known tracks by the actor and comedian.

He also played a bass player in one of Channel 4's Comic Strip Presents episodes called Bad News, based on the life of a spoof heavy metal band, which came out before This Is Spinal Tap.

Several hundred of those who had registered a 'like' commented on the campaign.

Paul McMonnies wrote: "Raising a pint of Bombardier in memory of Rik - buy your copy of Noble England today!"

Another, Mic Sax, wrote: "Rik Mayall back in the charts sounds like a great send off."

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Iraq: Tikrit Seized As Militants Surge South

Militants from an al Qaeda splinter group have launched a wave of attacks south of captured Mosul a day after more than 500,000 people fled the city.

Iraqi police said Sunni rebels from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) had seized control of Tikrit and freed hundreds of prisoners, AFP news agency reported.

Security sources cited by Reuters said the militants drove more than 60 vehicles into the city, occupying local government buildings and raising ISIL's black flag.

An estimated 500,000 people have fled Mosul and the surrounding area

The city, which is the hometown of former dictator Saddam Hussein, lies roughly halfway between the capital, Baghdad, and Mosul, which was captured on Tuesday.

In northern Baghdad a suicide bomber killed at least 15 people and wounded more than 30 others after detonating explosives inside a tent where local Shi'ite tribal leaders were meeting.

Some 250 guards at Iraq's largest oil refinery in Baiji were also forced to withdraw to another town after ISIL militants sent a delegation of tribal chiefs to persuade them to pull out.

ISIL fighters wave their flag at the Sykes Picot Border. Pic: albaraka_news

Video footage also showed fighting on the outskirts of Kirkuk, close to the Kurdistan region, and there were reports of clashes further south at an entrance to the city of Samarra, which is just 70 miles (110km) north of Baghdad.

A senior official from the Shi'ite-led government said the production of crude oil in Iraq - which produces around 3.5 million barrels of oil per day - could be affected after the attack on Baiji.

In Mosul, gunmen wearing military uniforms and all-black clothing have been guarding banks and government buildings and calling over loudspeakers for government employees to return to work.

Insurgents have struck in Mosul, Baiji, Tikrit and Kirkuk

The militants also seized the Turkish consulate in the second city and reportedly kidnapped the head of the diplomatic mission and 48 staff members, according to police.

Turkey's foreign minister said Ankara will retaliate if any of its citizens are hurt.

Families have made their way into the Kurdistan region, which has its own military force, the Peshmerga.

People celebrate as ISIL fighters occupy Mosul. Pic: albaraka_news

One police officer said: "We need a whole army to drive them out of Mosul. They're like ghosts: they appear, strike and disappear in seconds."

Ninevah province governor Atheel al Nujaifi said authorities had a plan to restore security.

Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki has asked parliament to declare a state of emergency that would grant him additional powers to tackle the crisis.

People queue at a border crossing into the Kurdistan region

He also appealed for help from the international community.

Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said Baghdad will co-operate with Kurdish forces to "flush out these foreign fighters" and said Iraq's leaders have to unite to face a "mortal" threat.

Influential Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al Sadr has called for the formation of militia units to help defend religious sites.

ISIL has made serious gains in Iraq in the last year, seizing control of the city of Falluja and parts of Ramadi.

Led by Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, it was formed after a split with al Qaeda's international leader, Ayman al Zawahiri.

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Search Has Produced 'No New Madeleine Clues'

Scotland Yard says "no evidence relating to Madeleine McCann has been identified" after an eight-day search in Portugal.

But it added: "More activity has been agreed and we expect that to commence shortly."

More follows...

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