UK's Surcharge Row: Your Questions Answered

What is the European Commission asking for from the UK?

Britain has been told it has to pay an extra £1.7bn (€2.1bn) towards the European Union budget.

This is being called a one-off bill which would add about a fifth to the UK's annual net contribution of £8.6bn.

Why the increase?

The extra money is being demanded because the UK economy is doing better relative to the sluggish eurozone.

Contributions are based on each member's VAT receipts and national income, and the adjustment takes into account the fluctuating size of economies.

The gross national incomes of the UK, France and Germany since 1995

Do any other countries have to pay more?

The Netherlands has been asked to stump up an extra €642m into the EU budget.

Video: Britain Will Not Pay £1.7bn 'Bill'

Do any countries have to pay less?

France is set to get a rebate of €1bn and Germany is due to receive a €779m rebate as they have been overpaying.

When does the UK have to pay the extra money?

Britain will have to make the top up payment by 1 December. Refusal to pay could result in legal action by the EU for "infraction".

However, the maximum fine for the UK would be €225m (£177m) a year - much less than the cost of the surcharge.

Why is the UK government angered by the extra demand?

David Cameron called the £1.7bn bill "completely unacceptable" at a meeting in Brussels and said he would not pay it by 1 December.

The surcharge was branded "outrageous" by Eurosceptic MPs in his Conservative Party.

And it will pile more pressure on the Prime Minister as he fights to defend the seat of Rochester and Strood from UKIP in a by-election on November 20.

What does UKIP think?

Leader Nigel Farage said: "David Cameron once claimed that he had reduced the EU budget - but the UK contribution went up - and now, quite incredibly, our contribution goes up a second time. It's just outrageous.

Video: Farage: EU Surcharge 'Outrageous'

"The EU is like a thirsty vampire feasting on UK taxpayers' blood. We need to protect the innocent victims, who are us."

Maybe the UK should pay the extra money?

Lecturer Isabelle Hertner said she was in favour of the surcharge. She told Sky News: "It is fair because for many years Britain had a rebate that was negotiated by ex-PM Margaret Thatcher and paid less into the EU budget than it should have paid.

"Whereas Germany and France paid as much as it should have paid, so in a way this is a give-and-take relationship. Sometimes you pay in more, sometimes less.

"For me this is fair and it was a rule that was agreed by the British government and other EU governments in the past."

What does the European Commission say?

Patrizio Fiorilli, an EC spokesman, said the request for more funds "reflects an increase in wealth".

He said: "Just as in Britain you pay more to the Inland Revenue if your earnings go up."

The EC also said the EU budget was about €144bn in 2013 - which it claimed was very small compared to the sum of the 28 EU countries' national budgets (over €6,400bn).

It added that total government expenditure by the 28 EU countries is almost 50 times the EU budget.

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Five Experimental Ebola Vaccines Set For Trial

Trials of a possible Ebola vaccine could begin in West Africa in December with the vaccine more widely available in the first half of next year.

World Health Organisation (WHO) assistant director general Marie-Paule Kieny said: "Before the end of first half of 2015...we could have available a few hundred thousand doses. That could be 200,000 - it could be less or could be more."

She was speaking after WHO held talks about potential vaccines with health experts, officials from Ebola-affected nations and pharmaceutical firms.

There is currently no proven vaccine against the deadly virus and drug companies have previously avoided investing too heavily in a cure because outbreaks before this year's had been small.

West Africa's Ebola outbreak began in March and has killed more than 4,900 people, most of them in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, according to the WHO.

Video: Ebola: Busting The Myths

It believes that up to 1.4 million people could have been affected by 2015 and there are also fears the virus may be used as a weapon of bio-terrorism.

Two leading vaccine contenders are already in trials, with another five to begin trials next year.

US firm Johnson & Johnson have already said they aim to produce at least one million doses of their vaccine next year and UK-based GlaxoSmithKiline is also working on a vaccine called ChAd3.

Video: Ebola Crisis: On The Front Line

GSK's chief executive Sir Andrew Witty said earlier that this week's meeting of health experts should discuss ways to make sure all drug companies worked together to get the vaccine out.

Video: Ebola Tales: The Orphans

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PM Reeling Over Yet Another Ambush

Last week David Cameron was ambushed by Ed Miliband at Prime Minister's Questions when he wanted to talk about falling unemployment.

This week the Prime Minister has been ambushed by Jose Manuel Barroso in Brussels just when he wanted to talk about encouraging figures on economic growth.

No wonder he was so furious on both occasions. He wants to trumpet the good news on the economy. But it keeps being drowned out by embarrassing political rows.

In PMQs last week it was welfare minister Lord Freud's comments that some disabled people were "not worth" the full minimum wage that caught the PM off guard.

Ed Miliband ambushed Mr Cameron at Prime Minister's Questions

In Brussels, at what he thought would be a mundane summit talking about ebola and climate change, Mr Cameron was whacked between the eyes by a demand for an extra £1.7bn from Britain to the EU.

So once again good news on the economy has been overshadowed and once again he's under attack, not just from Labour this time, but also from his foes in the purple peril, UKIP.

Video: Britain 'Will Not Accept' EU Bill

What probably made the PM even angrier was that he'd already arranged to return from Brussels after the summit via Rochester and Strood, where the Tories' bare-knuckle by-election scrap with UKIP takes place on November 20.

Mr Cameron stamped his feet at his Brussels news conference and said he won't pay the extra cash by the December 1 deadline set by the EU.

He has two objections: 1. It's too much, and, 2. He says the way it has suddenly been demanded at such short notice is unacceptable.

He may get away with not paying it by December 1, but it's difficult to see how he can avoid paying up eventually.

Video: EC Chief Defends £1.7bn Surcharge

We're in the EU club, bound by its rules and treaties and the other members - the influential ones, that is, France and Germany, who are both getting a rebate - have no desire to change the rules.

But should Mr Cameron have seen this coming? And is he correct when he said at his news conference, "the first I saw of it was yesterday, Thursday"?

Danny Alexander, the Lib Dem Treasury Chief Secretary, says he was informed "over the past couple of days".

But Labour's new shadow Europe minister Pat McFadden - a shrewd and inspired appointment by Ed Miliband - is not satisfied, claiming the Office for National Statistics published a report five months ago about growth figures and said they would be used in the calculation of Britain's contribution to the EU budget.

Video: Chancellor Reacts To Sudden EU Bill

"Did the Government delay making news public about this expected revision to the UK's EU contribution because of fears about how it would play out for the Conservative Party," he asks.

In other words, did the PM want to hush up the EU cash grab until after the Rochester and Strood by-election?

A dangerous game, if he did. And one that could leave Mr Cameron vulnerable to further ambushes by his opponents both at Westminster and in Europe in the weeks ahead.

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Woman Planning To End Her Life Rebukes Critic

By Sky News US Team

A 29-year-old woman with terminal brain cancer who plans to end her life next month has hit out at a palliative care expert who said she was being exploited by an advocacy group.

After being diagnosed this year with an aggressive tumour, Brittany Maynard relocated with her husband to Oregon, which has a death-with-dignity law.

Ms Maynard, who plans to end her life on 1 November with lethal drugs before the cancer kills her, has been campaigning for expanded assisted dying laws in the US.

She plans to end her life with her husband, Dan Diaz, by her side

Dr Ira Byock, of the Providence Institute for Human Caring, said Ms Maynard is "being exploited" by an advocacy group, Compassion & Choices, and now feels compelled to die based on public expectations.

But the dying woman said the claim is "utterly false", denying she now feels pressure to end her life because of all the publicity.

The couple on their wedding day in September 2012

"I DO NOT, this is MY choice, I am not that weak," she wrote in a statement on the website of Compassion & Choices, an end-of-life non-profit organisation.  

"The day is my choice, I have the right to change my mind at any time, it is my right.

"I am very confident about this."

Dr Ira Byock has written books about palliative care

Ms Maynard and her husband have relocated from their home in the San Francisco Bay area because California is not one of the five US states - Oregon, Washington, Montana, Vermont and New Mexico - that can help terminally ill people to die. 

She has said next month she will take a pill provided by doctors that will allow her to die painlessly as she is surrounded by her 42-year-old husband, Dan Diaz, and loved ones.

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Briton Dies During Bangkok Cosmetic Surgery

A British woman has died while having cosmetic surgery in Thailand, according to officials.

The English woman, who has not been named but is aged in her 20s, died while under anaesthesia during a procedure at a clinic in Bangkok.

Police were called to the scene at around 11pm on Thursday and said the woman had stopped breathing after receiving the anaesthetic.

Lieutenant Chaleang Inthip said the woman was undergoing a corrective procedure after visiting the clinic for surgery on 14 October. 

She was reported to have been unhappy with the initial results and was having corrective work to her tailbone area.

She was found with a three-inch stitched incision on her lower back.

It is understood Sompob Sansiri, the doctor who performed the surgery, did not have the correct certification.

The doctor has been arrested and charged with causing death by reckless endangerment, a charge which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years' jail.

The clinic's owner, Dr Somphop Saensiri, 51, is being questioned by police.
 The clinic has been closed for 60 days.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We were informed of the death of a British national in Thailand on the 23 October. We stand ready to provide consular assistance."

Consultant plastic surgeon Michael Cadier, president of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, said: "This tragic case highlights how, if lured by the prospect of what is essentially 'cheap surgery', patients can be left vulnerable.

"Standards for healthcare may vary, and patients frequently undergo 'consultations' with company representatives who have no medical background and are, therefore, not being given the appropriate knowledge in order to give informed consent."

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Eleven Held After 'Vulnerable' Woman Raped

Eleven people, including a 12-year-old boy and 15-year-old girl, have been arrested over the rape of a "vulnerable" woman in her own home.

Police are appealing for information following the serious sexual assault in the Anfield area of Liverpool.

The victim was taken to hospital after the attack and was described as being in a distressed state.

Detectives believe the 43-year-old woman had been sexually assaulted by a group of males.

The suspects include a 12-year-old boy and three 13-year-old boys.

The other males who were held were three aged 15, and individuals aged 16, 18 and 19.

All 10 males, who come from the Anfield, Walton, Everton and Old Swan areas, and the 15-year-old girl have all been released on bail pending further enquiries.

Paramedics had called police after they went to a property in Ullswater Street and reported a woman had been subjected to a sexual offence at 4.20pm on 24 September.

Detective Superintendent Tim Keelan, said: "The victim has been distressed by her ordeal and is being supported by specialist officers.

"This was an appalling attack on a woman in her own home and we would urge anyone who has information, which could help us bring those responsible to justice, to come forward.

"It is possible that some of those who were in the flat on the day may have talked to people, including friends or family, about what happened and if they have we would urge them to contact us."

Anyone with information should contact the specialist Unity team on 0151 777 1382, or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

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Search For 'Sub' Ends But Mystery Continues

Sweden's military has suggested for the first time that more than one mystery vessel could have been operating in its waters - as it called off an extensive hunt.

The search for a suspected foreign submarine in the Stockholm archipelago was sparked after sightings of a "man-made object" last Friday and several photos of it emerged.

Later, there were hundreds of reports from members of the public who thought they saw "something" in waters near the capital Stockholm.

The Swedish hunt involved battleships, minesweepers and helicopters as well as more than 200 troops as the military called the alleged incursion "unacceptable".

The mystery vessel. Pic: Expressen.se

Rear Admiral Anders Grenstad said: "Our assessment is that there was at least one (vessel)", adding it had now probably left.

He went on: "It's the assessment of the defence forces that probably foreign underwater activity has taken place in Stockholm's inner archipelago."

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1. Gallery: Accidents And Disasters Since 2000

   In August 2000, the Russian Navy's Kursk submarine sank in the Barents Sea during a training exercise following an on-board explosion. All 118 crewmen were killed

2. In February 2001, American submarine USS Greenville collided with a Japanese fishing vessel, the Ehime Maru (pictured) off the coast of Honolulu, Hawaii. The ship sunk and nine of the 35 aboard died

3. The Royal Navy's HMS Trafalgar ran aground off the Scottish Coast in November 2002. No one was seriously hurt but around £5m worth of damage was caused when the 5,200-tonne vessel hit the rocks

4. In August 2003, a Russian K-159, similar to this one, was being towed for scrapping when it sank in the Barents Sea. One person was rescued, nine died

5. An explosion on British sub HMS Tireless killed two men in March 2007. The blast was caused by a malfunctioning air-purification system while the vessel was under the ice in the Arctic

6. The HMS Astute ran aground in October 2010 during sea trials near the Isle of Skye. The sub's rudder became stuck on a shingle bank

There have been fears the vessel could have been Russian - although the Swedes have not blamed Moscow directly.

Russia has denied it was the source of the suspicious underwater activity, blaming a Dutch submarine for triggering the hunt, a claim rejected by the Netherlands.

Analysts said the vessel or vessels - if they were Russian - would fit into a broader pattern of growing Russian activity in the Baltic.

"(It) may become a game changer of the security in the whole Baltic Sea region," Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics tweeted about the suspected submarine in Sweden.

Rear Admiral Grenstad said: "I don't want to comment on what Russia says. I have not pointed fingers at any nation."

He said it could be ruled out that a large conventional submarine had been active in the archipelago, whose 30,000 islands, islets and rocks make the area notoriously hard to patrol - but he did not elaborate.

The Swedish defence forces started officially scaling back the search on Wednesday, claiming some ships had already returned to port.

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Ashya King Parents Still Fear UK Authorities

By David Bowden, Senior News Correspondent

The parents of cancer patient Ashya King say they will not return to the UK because they still fear the authorities may take their son away from them.

Speaking exclusively to Sky News in Prague, Brett and Naghmeh King said they plan to continue Ashya's treatment in Spain and will not return to Britain until they are satisfied it is "safe" to do so.

The couple sparked a Europe-wide search when they took him out of a Southampton hospital without medical consent.

Ashya attended a party at the therapy centre with his parents this week

Ashya, who was being treated for a brain tumour, has been well enough to play with toys as his treatment at a state-of-the-art therapy centre in the Czech Republic comes to an end today.

The five-year-old's father told Sky: "At the moment we don't feel 100% safe, I suppose you would call it, contemplating being in England until perhaps they do this investigation into how everything was conducted for us.

Video: Ashya Can 'Play With Toys'

"Once that has been established then we can think about going back to England.

"But for the time being we have been in contact with a doctor in Spain so we are continuing with treatment in Spain instead of England." 

Asked why they were reluctant to return to Britain, Mr King said: "Because there is so much still at stake.

"We wouldn't want to lose Ashya. It would probably never happen but just having that small risk that you don't have to do anything wrong to have your children taken away and (be) thrown in prison..."

Mrs King said she hoped as Ashya's condition improves, people would understand why the couple decided to go against the advice of doctors in Britain.

Video: Ashya's Parents Speak Of Relief

She told Sky: "Ashya's really, really well and the whole world, or England, can see as good parents we've tried our hardest to help him, to make sure he has the best treatment."

Ashya has completed the last of his 30 sessions of proton beam irradiation at the Proton Therapy Center (PTC) in the Czech capital, six weeks after starting treatment.

Staff at the clinic say he is making good progress and is even well enough to have attended a special end-of-treatment party with his family and medics at the centre.

PTC director Iva Tatounova told Sky News Ashya had not been affected by side effects from his treatment, which can include headaches and vomiting.

She said: "He was able to slowly but surely recover and since he's been undergoing rehabilitation and occupational therapy he is now able to move his limbs and play with his toys and react to his surroundings. 

Video: Inside The Proton Beam Centre

Ashya's parents took him from Southampton General Hospital in August without telling his doctors after an operation to remove his tumour.

The family, including all of Ashya's six brothers and sisters, then went to Spain with a view to selling their apartment there to fund the proton treatment.

Hospital officials in Southampton alerted police, fearing Ashya's life was in danger without proper medical care.

Mr and Mrs King were arrested in Spain and Ashya was cared for in a Spanish clinic.

The parents were later released and reunited with Ashya and flew by air ambulance to Prague for the treatment, which is not widely available in the UK.

Video: Ashya: 'It Could Happen Again'

Ashya's case gained massive international media attention and charities raised tens of thousands of pounds to fund the approximately £65,000 cost of the proton treatment.

In the end the NHS agreed that it would fund the therapy, after having initially refused, which is why the Kings felt they had to take Ashya to Prague on their own.

A leading cancer specialist from Spain, Dr Hernan Cortes-Funes has already visited the PTC in Prague to meet the Kings and get up to speed on Ashya's treatment so far.

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Texas Nurse 'Blessed' To Be Cured Of Ebola

By Sky News US Team

The US nurse diagnosed with Ebola after treating an infected man at a Dallas hospital has said she "feels fortunate and blessed to be standing here today", as she was declared free of the virus.

Nina Pham, who was released on Friday from a federal hospital near Washington DC, said she is eager to go home and be reunited with her dog, Bentley, which is still in quarantine.

Her discharge comes as New York authorities seek to quell fears among the city's 8.4 million residents after a doctor there tested positive for Ebola.

Ms Pham, 26, arrived last week at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.

She thanked the healthcare team and fellow Ebola survivor Dr Kent Brantly, who became infected in Liberia, for donating plasma to her.

Video: New York Ebola Fears

Ms Pham, who is due to meet President Barack Obama imminently, did not take any experimental drugs, officials said.

She was flown to the Maryland facility from Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas.

Her colleague, Amber Vinson, no longer has the virus in her blood, Emory Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, said on Friday.

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1. Gallery: Craig Spencer: A Timeline In Images

   On 12 October Doctor Craig Spencer ends his work in Guinea. Pic: Facebook.

2. He arrives at New York' John F Kennedy International Airport, via Brussels, on 17 October

3. On 22 October Dr Spencer travels on the A and L subway lines, according to the New York Times

4. That night he goes bowling with friends to the Gutter in Williamsburg, Brooklyn

5. On 23 October he develops ebola symptoms in the morning and is taken to hospital by ambulance. Pic: New York Post

6. He is kept at an isolation ward at Manhattan's Bellevue Hospital

7. His apartment in Harlem is cordoned off, two of his friends and his fiancee are quarantined

Both became infected with Ebola while treating a Liberian man who died in Dallas of the virus on 8 October.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said there was "no reason for New Yorkers to change their daily routine in any way" amid the city's first case of Ebola. 

Dr Craig Spencer was rushed to hospital with fever and gastrointestinal symptoms on Thursday, a week after returning from treating Ebola patients in Guinea with charity Doctors Without Borders.

Video: New York Reacts To First Ebola Case

The 33-year-old tested positive for the disease, which has killed nearly 4,900 people in West Africa, at Manhattan's Bellevue Hospital Center.

Dr Spencer was placed in isolation in intensive care, where he was in a stable condition on Friday. His fiancee has also been quarantined.

The medic, who reported feeling sluggish from Tuesday, is the first Ebola case in the US outside Texas.

Video: Mayor Says No Ebola Risk To Public

Officials in New York said he had been monitoring himself for signs of the disease and called Doctors Without Borders on Thursday when his temperature rose to 100.3 degrees (37.9C).

In the days before falling ill Dr Spencer went on a three-mile jog, was at the High Line park, rode the subway and on Wednesday night took a taxi to a Brooklyn bowling alley, which has closed as a precaution.

On Friday, dozens of journalists camped outside Dr Spencer's West Harlem apartment building, which has been sealed off.

Video: Ebola-Themed Decor Draws Criticism

The city's health commissioner said the probability of Dr Spencer's subway rides posing a risk was "close to nil".

Republican politicians, meanwhile, led calls for a mandatory quarantine of health workers returning from Ebola-infected areas.

Politicians also made fresh calls on Friday for the US administration to impose a travel ban from West Africa.

Video: Ebola: Tragedy Of Liberia's Orphans

Four American aid workers, including three doctors, have been cured in the US of Ebola after being infected in Africa. All recovered.

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Cameron: I Won't Pay £1.7bn EU Bill On Time

The president of the European Commission has defended the £1.7bn surcharge imposed on Britain after David Cameron insisted the money will not be paid by December 1.

The increase would add almost a fifth to the UK's annual contribution of £8.6bn.

The Prime Minster, who has called an emergency meeting with EU finance chiefs, told a news conference in Brussels: "This is completely unacceptable.

"It is an unacceptable way for this organisation to work to suddenly present a bill like this for such a vast sum of money, with so little time to pay it and it's an unacceptable way to treat one of the biggest contributors to the European Union.

"Of course in an organisation like this, if your economy grows a little faster or ... slower, there are adjustments. Sometimes you pay a little bit more, sometimes you play a little bit less.

Video: EC Chief Defends £1.7bn Surcharge

"I'm not paying that bill on the 1st of December and if people think I am, they've got another thing coming. It is not going to happen.

"As an important contributor to this organisation, we are not suddenly going to get out our chequebook and write a cheque for 2bn euros. It is not happening."

Outgoing Commission  president Jose Manuel Barroso insisted Brussels was only following the procedures created by member states to balance the EU's books each year.

Video: PM Stands Firm On EU Surcharge

Mr Barroso told reporters the figure of £1.7bn had been calculated by the independent Eurostat organisation using statistics provided the 28 member states.

"Of course, I understand the concerns it has raised in London, but any person that wants to look with objectivity and honesty at the rules that were approved by the member states has to accept that sometimes these decisions happen," he said.

Asked how the Commission would respond if Mr Cameron made good on his threat to withhold payment, Mr Barroso replied: "I can't now speculate on non-payment."

Video: Farage: EU Surcharge 'Outrageous'

Earlier Commission spokesperson Patrizio Fiorilli said the surcharge was fair because it was like personal taxation - the more a person earns, the more they have to pay.

Mr Fiorilli said: "Britain's contribution reflects an increase in wealth, just as in Britain you pay more to the Inland Revenue if your earnings go up."

The demand is the result of improvements to Britain's economy since 1995.

Video: George Osborne - The Full Interview

Preliminary figures seen by the Financial Times suggest Britain is facing the largest adjustment in the amount it must pay compared to other members states.

The Netherlands is being asked for an extra £509m, but by contrast France is due to receive a rebate of £0.8bn, Germany £618m, and Poland £250m.

Britain's surcharge is due for payment on 1 December - just days after the Rochester and Strood by-election, which hangs on a knife edge with anti-EU UKIP threatening to wrest the seat from the Tories.

Video: What Does EU Surcharge Mean For PM?

Several Conservative MEPs have spoken out against the surcharge, saying Britain is being punished for its success.

UKIP leader Nigel Farage told Sky News: "It just leaves Mr Cameron in a hopeless condition, because don't forget, one of his big claims was he'd cut the EU budget."

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Canada: Police Hunt Gunmen After Soldier Killed

A soldier has been shot and killed at a war memorial in Ottawa as police hunt for up to three gunmen after one was reportedly shot dead inside the parliament building.

Police told the AFP news agency that possibly up to three shooters were feared to be on the roof of the building, which is in lockdown.

It is unclear whether the suspect who was killed acted alone, and police have said they are actively looking for one or more suspects.

Shots have been reported at three separate locations in Ottawa

The soldier was guarding the nearby National War Memorial when he was shot and wounded. He was treated at the scene but died of his wounds, according to an official quoted by AFP.

"Condolences to family of the soldier killed and prayers for the parliamentary guard wounded. Canada will not be terrorized or intimidated," employment minister Jason Kenney wrote on Twitter.

Video: Video: Shots In Canada Parliament

Shots were also fired near the Rideau Centre Mall less than a mile away, police said.

Armed forces bases across the country are being closed to the public in the aftermath of the shooting, CBC TV reported.

Peter Henderson, from Ottawa news service The Wire Report, was one of the first people on the scene.

Speaking to Sky News before it was confirmed the soldier had died, he said: "It was deserted because people had ran away. 

Video: Soldier Killed In Ottawa Shooting

"I ran up, looked around to make sure there was no one with a gun coming at me; ran into the middle and saw a young man, clearly a soldier.

"He had been shot multiple times and there was other members of the Canadian forces and bystanders who had rushed to his aid and had begun CPR.

"He was not moving. [The injuries] were as severe as they could possibly have been."

Mr Henderson spoke to one witness who saw the gunman carefully take aim.

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1. Gallery: Pictures: Shots Fired At Canada Parliament

   Canadian police have surrounded the parliament in Ottawa after a soldier was shot while guarding a nearby monument.

"He said the man came around the corner, walked up, put a rifle on his shoulder, took aim and clearly made a targeted shooting of one of the two members of the honour guard," he said.

A construction worker at the parliament told the Reuters news agency he heard a gunshot, and then saw a man dressed in black with a scarf over his face running towards the building with a gun.

Another witness said more than 30 shots were fired inside.

Witness Marc-Andre Viau said he saw a man run into a caucus meeting at the parliament, chased by police who yelled "take cover."

Video: Ottawa Shoppers Led To Safety

This was followed by "10, 15, maybe 20 shots," possibly from an automatic weapon, he said.

MP John McKay told reporters: "I literally had just taken off my jacket to go into caucus. I hear this 'pop, pop, pop,' possibly 10 shots, (I) don't really know."

Video footage posted by the Global and Mail newspaper showed police crouching for cover as they advanced along a stone hallway, with loud gunfire echoing among the gothic columns.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is safe and has left Parliament Hill.

Video: Police Evacuate Ottawa Post Office

Some people fled parliament by climbing down scaffolding erected for renovations, witnesses told the Canadian Press news agency.

Police have warned people in Ottawa to stay away from windows and roofs.

The shooting comes two days after an Islamic convert ran down two Canadian soldiers near Montreal, killing one of them.

Authorities had raised the security threat level from low to medium after that incident.

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Canada On Alert After Two Attacks In Days

A second attack on a Canadian soldier in three days came after the government raised the country's terror alert level.

The alert level was raised on Tuesday to medium after a man, one of 90 suspected militants being tracked by police, ran over two soldiers in Quebec.

One of the soldiers died as a result of his injuries and the suspected attacker, identified as Martin Couture Roulea, 25, was shot and killed.

On Wednesday, Canada's parliament was placed into lockdown after a soldier guarding a nearby war memorial was shot and wounded. He later died in hospital.

Witnesses said more than 30 shots were fired inside the building, and one suspected gunman was shot dead.

Video: Video: Shots In Canada Parliament

Although the attacker, or attackers, in Ottawa have not been identified, Roulea was described as a "radicalised" individual who had his passport taken away because he wanted to travel to either Syria or Iraq.

Earlier this month, Canada announced its intention to join the US coalition carrying out military operations against Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria.

Professor Anthony Glees, security and intelligence expert from the University of Buckingham, said he thought the attacks stemmed directly from that decision.

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1. Gallery: Pictures: Shots Fired At Canada Parliament

   Canadian police have surrounded the parliament in Ottawa after a soldier was shot while guarding a nearby monument.

"It shows that people are determined to use terrorism to get the Canadians – who have in the past sometimes been a bit wobbly – to think about their support for airstrikes," he said.

The Canadian government has said it was aware of more than 130 Canadians overseas who are "suspected of terrorism-related activities".

Earlier this month, NBC News reported that Canadian authorities had thwarted an Islamic State-inspired plot to carry out an attack in a public place in the country.

Video: Police Evacuate Ottawa Post Office

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said threats were "very, very real", but did not confirm the claim.

On Tuesday, speaking about the attack in Quebec Mr Harper told the Canadian Parliament: "This was a despicable act of violence that strikes against not just this soldier and his colleagues but frankly against our very values as a civilised democracy."

A poll last week by Abacus Data found the majority of responders supported the decision to join the fight against IS.

Video: Oct 21: Canadian Soldiers Attacked

Police stations in Ottawa were closed to the public after the latest attack and Canadian armed forces bases across the country were being shut down, according to CBC TV.

US and Canadian air defenses were also placed on heightened alert, according to a US defense official.

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'Numbers' Jail Gang Behind Pistorius Threat

As Oscar Pistorius starts a five-year sentence at Pretoria's Central Prison the Olympian will need to urgently study the lore and laws of South Africa's numbers gangs.

More than a century old, the gangs - the 26s, 27s and 28s, dominate South Africa's prison system with a mixture of arcane mythology, sexual intimidation and sometimes extreme violence.

Pistorius, serving his sentence for the manslaughter of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, will quickly have to learn how to navigate through the darkest corners of jailhouse anthropology.

His life may depend on it.

According to his lawyers he has already had a death threat from the 'general' of the 26s, who is reported to be a murderer serving a 33-year sentence.

Video: Pistorius Trial: The Sentence

He told a South African news agency that if Pistorius is given special treatment then he will die.

This may have been part of the plea for leniency. But it's also a real danger.

Pistorius will most likely remain in a segregated part of the prison which also accommodates the mass killer of the apartheid regime, Eugene de Kock.

If not, he may have to seek the protection of the 28s or 27s from the threat made by the leader of the 26s.

All three gangs have their roots in the story of how Po, a deity of some kind, met Nongoloza and Kilikijan in the late 19th Century as both men were heading to work in the white-owned gold mines of the Vaal Reef.

Video: Pistorius Leaves Court For Prison

Po advised against it and encouraged both men to form highway gangs.

Kilikijan worked by day, with seven members. Nongoloza and his eight followers owned the night.

The two fell out over Nongoloza's predilection for sex with other men.

The clash in a Durban prison, legend has it, over six men that Nongoloza wanted to take as 'wives', produced, in around 1907, the 26s who take a mediating role.

Today the numbers gangs are made up of mixed race members from the Cape.

Video: Friends 'Felt Reeva's Light Today'

Most speak Afrikaans but Funagalore, the language of the mines, is the 'official'  lingua franca of the numbers.

Their interests extend far beyond the prison walls.

The 28s are the root of the 'American' - an organised crime syndicate on the Cape Flats; the 26s were formed by the Staggie brothers from the Hard Livings gang.

All run prostitution, drug dealing and protection rackets worth millions every year.

Pistorius would have trouble joining the 27s. They're the most violent group.

Video: Pistorius Sentencing Highlights

So that would leave the 28s. They run kitchen work. But the 28s' hierarchy is tough to climb.

Membership of its top tier, the Gold Line, requires initiates to stab a prison warden.

This is the 'male line' in a gang that celebrates same-sex relationships.

The foot soldiers for the Gold Line are known as the Third Division. They are the gang's muscle, sworn off sex, they may not have contact with the Silver Line, the gang's majority.

Probationers must always show they are available for sex by revealing part of their chest; while seen as sex slaves they are pampered and protected – as "wyfies".

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Why Attack Canada? It's About Getting Attention

By Sam Kiley, Foreign Affairs Editor

Why poor sleepy Ottawa, capital of inoffensive quintessentially nice old Canada? Why the murder of two soldiers in a few days? Why the parliament building?

It's all about getting attention.

Attention of this kind will inevitably mean that Canada will have to change the way it does life.

Until now public places like Parliament Hill had remained just that - places where the public were safe, that were open and peaceful.

That's all changed now.

Video: Video: Shots In Canada Parliament

Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal and other great cities in Canada will now begin to adopt the fortressing techniques that already seal the White House and the Houses of Parliament in Westminster into a bubble of steel and concrete.

Canada's military, which is involved as part of the American-led coalition currently bombing Islamic State targets in Iraq, went into lockdown as the news of the murder of the ceremonial guard on the capital's National War Memorial spread.

Terror attacks are intended to live up to their name. They're intended to have strategic effect - the effect of engendering fear.

And since al Qaeda came on the scene in earnest they're intended to boost recruitment to the Salafi cause of establishing an Islamist caliphate across the whole planet.

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1. Gallery: Pictures: Shots Fired At Canada Parliament

   Canadian police have surrounded the parliament in Ottawa after a soldier was shot while guarding a nearby monument.

Canadian troops fought in Afghanistan but somehow managed to almost entirely escape the attacks and threats which other countries in the West endured for also taking part in the now heavily discredited campaign known as the War On Terror.

Whoever is behind the Ottawa attack noted this - and from their own perspective aimed to sweep Canada into a brotherhood of slightly paranoid nations.

These days terror groups are encouraged to stay small, ideally just operating as individuals. They're instructed by al Qaeda and Islamic State in how to establish small cells, stay away from communications that can expose them before they strike.

Their aim is not, in the short or medium term, to gain outright victory. It is, rather, to provoke, maintain and expand conflict even if, like a suicide bomber, they may actually lose entirely.

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Lynda Bellingham's Xmas Wish In Last Interview

Lynda Bellingham revealed her plans for Christmas in her final TV interview before her death at the weekend.

The actress, who said she was "obsessed" with Christmas, had hoped for one more festive season after choosing to end her cancer treatment.

In the interview for Loose Women - a show for which she had been a regular panellist for a number of years - she assured her friends and colleagues all would be "fine" and said she longed to be remembered for her honesty.

Bellingham died in the arms of her husband Michael Pattemore at the age of 66 after her cancer spread from her colon to other parts of her body.

Speaking to Janet Street-Porter and Coleen Nolan on Loose Women, she said: "We're going to go to the hotel and have the meal but just my little bit of control - we're going home for pudding and presents. It's exciting.

"My only problem is getting the presents - my sister Jean has been absolutely amazing and I keep sending him (Michael) out for bizarre things."

Bellingham with Street Porter and Nolan. Pic: ITV

Bellingham told of her desire for a real Christmas tree, although her husband was not a fan.

"He's spent years trying to put me off a real tree and we're very lucky as we live in a converted psychiatric hospital which has got a really tall ceiling. All I've ever wanted is a real tree," she said.

Video: Lynda Bellingham: 'Oxo Mum' Dies

"'No, don't make me sweep up the pine needles, oh my goodness'," she joked, mimicking Pattemore.

"Hey I'm getting one, I'm getting a real tree. He'll just have to struggle out of the window with it afterwards, that's fine."

Bellingham received a standing ovation as she entered the studio and went on to say how she wished to be remembered: "Just as an honest person. Honesty.

"We've been through this as Loose Women - you can't do Loose Women unless you're honest.

"You can't hide anything, it really is honest when we answer questions. That's why I felt I could write about it and people would trust."

Video: Lynda Bellingham In Classic Oxo Ad

Reflecting on the past year, she said: "What's been so wonderful this year is that I've learnt so much from people. You know when you get so cynical in life - they say yet again you're not right for this part.

"You learn so much and the biggest thing - as you know I'm not very confrontational, I'm a bit of a weed, of course I've become a bit grumpy - it's amazing to be able to say things to people. It's taken me 66 years to find any dignity."

Bellingham said she had never taken the view that her illness was "not fair".

"To be honest we have no right to live forever. You know how I love a survey - a survey says you can live until you're 80, yes lovely, but it's not a given. Somebody else decides when you pop off the twig," she said.

Nolan cried at the end of the interview, but Bellingham consoled her, saying: "Don't cry. It's going to be fine, it will be fine - don't worry."

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Malaysia '99.9% Sure' Of Finding MH370

By Jonathan Samuels, Australia Correspondent

Malaysia's defence minister has told Sky News he is "99.9% sure" the sonar technology being used in the hunt for missing flight MH370 will find the doomed jet.

Hishammuddin Hussein officially launched the Malaysian contracted vessel GO Phoenix and its underwater probe at Fremantle Port in Perth on Wednesday.

He told Sky News: "This is cutting-edge technology. That's my personal view based on experts' opinion - 99.9% sure (sonar devices can find it).

"But the ocean is huge so it depends on narrowing the search area and that's the challenge."

Mr Hishammuddin said there was no timeline for the search

The probe, which can go to depths of nearly four miles (6.4km) and cover up to 75 sq miles (194 sq km) per day, is being used in the search area 1,200 miles off the coast of Western Australia.

GO Phoenix is one of three ships being used in the search. Sky News was allowed on board as it was resupplied and refuelled in Fremantle.

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1. Gallery: MH370: Timeline Of False Hopes

   March 8: At 9am, an hour after flight MH370 is reported missing, rumours spread online that it has landed safely in China

2. March 8: Search planes spot two oil slicks in the South China Sea but tests show the fuel is not from an aircraft

3. March 9: Vietnam search plane spots mystery objects in the South China Sea but they turn out to be unrelated to MH370

4. March 10: A moss-covered piece of floating sea debris is mistaken for a yellow life raft

5. March 11: Two MH370 passengers travelling with stolen passports are identified as illegal immigrants from Iran and are no longer suspected of terrorist activity

6. March 12: Images released of three floating white objects close to MH370's last known location but searchers find nothing

7. March 19: PM Tony Abbot announces Australian search teams have spotted two large items in the southern Indian Ocean. They were never found

8. March 22: Objects tangled with a wooden pallet are mistaken for safety straps but turn out to be seaweed

9. March 23: 122 items are picked up via a French satellite but search planes are unable to locate any of them

10. March 27: Thai satellite detects about 300 floating objects in the Indian Ocean but they cannot be identified as coming from MH370

11. March 28: Search area moves 1,100km northeast as analysis suggests plane used up fuel more quickly than expected

12. March 30: FBI investigations into a flight simulator found at the home of one of the pilots reveal 'nothing sinister'

13. April 1: Contrary to previous suggestions, final cockpit communications from the two pilots appear to be entirely routine

14. April 2: Personal and psychological analysis of all 239 passengers and crew reveals no clues to the disappearance

15. April 4: Experts dismiss plan to locate the plane's black box using a 'pinger detector' as a 'desperate move' with little chance of success

16. May 29: US Navy claims a series of pings detected by Bluefin-21 are unlikely to have any connection to the missing plane and may well have come from the search ship itself

Mr Hishammuddin said there was no timeline for the search, but if there was he would leave it up to the experts to advise.

He said Malaysia has never strayed from its focus to find the plane despite numerous obstacles and setbacks.

"All that could have been done to find the plane at this point has been done," Mr Hishammuddin said.

"This is it, the next phase. The search goes on."

Video: June 8: 'Convinced Of A Cover-Up'

One of the crew operating the sonar probe explained how good the resolution is on images received by it.

Project leader Evan Tanner said: "It can identify objects roughly 10cm in size - the same size as a soda can. It will spot that from a kilometre away. It's impressive technology."

Mr Hishammuddin acknowledged the pain still felt by the families and friends of those on board MH370.

He said: "They remain in our thoughts and also in our prayers.

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1. Gallery: Missing Passengers Of Flight MH370

   Stuntman Ju Kun, 35, was travelling to Beijing to see his two young children before starting work on the new Netflix and Weinstein Company series Marco Polo in Malaysia.

2. Muktesh Mukherjee and Bai Xiaomo were heading home to Beijing after a beach holiday in Vietnam.

3. Yue Wenchao, 26, is originally from inner Mongolia but had moved to the UK to study a postgraduate course at the University of Hull Business School.

4. Bob and Cathy Lawton of Springfield Lakes, Australia, are parents to three daughters, as well as doting grandparents.

5. Hu Xiaoning, 34, was travelling home to Beijing with his three-year-old daughter Hu Siwan.

6. French students Hadrien Wattrelos, 17, and Zhao Yan, 18, were heading for school in Beijing.

7. Paul Weeks, a mechanical engineer, left his wedding ring and watch at home when he headed to Mongolia for a work trip.

"We must continue to hope because sometimes hope is all we have.

"We will find MH370."

The GO Phoenix is expected to depart from Fremantle on Thursday to join the search operation off southwestern Australia.

MH370 disappeared with 239 people on board during its March 8 flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

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Apple Warns Users Over Chinese iCloud Attack

Apple has acknowledged the iCloud security threat for the first time, posting a new security warning for users of its online service.

In a post on its support site the technology giant said: "We're aware of intermittent organised network attacks using insecure certificates to obtain user information, and we take this very seriously.

"If users get an invalid certificate warning in their browser while visiting www.icloud.com, they should pay attention to the warning and not proceed."

Attempts to log in to Apple's iCloud service in China have seen users directed to a spoof website which may be harvesting passwords.

iCloud users are being asked to be vigilant

Web connections to the login page are blocked and a dummy site that looks virtually identical is presented instead.

Those using Chrome and Firefox browsers are automatically notified that they are no longer on Apple's website, but users of Chinese browser Qihoo will see no indication of the issue.

Apple said its servers have not been compromised in any way.

Since details of the attacks first emerged, some internet activists have claimed that China is behind them.

However, Hua Chunying, a spokesman for China's foreign ministry, said the government was "resolutely opposed" to hacking.

State-owned internet provider China Telecom added that the accusation was "untrue and unfounded".

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GPs To Pocket £55 For Dementia Diagnosis

Plans to pay GPs a £55 bonus when they make a dementia diagnosis have been condemned as an "ethical travesty".

NHS England confirmed family doctors would receive the cash under a new scheme to ensure sufferers are identified early and given tailored care.

But Dr Iona Heath, ex-president of the Royal College of GPs, told the medical magazine Pulse: "I think the proposal is an intellectual and ethical travesty."

Health experts believe that just under half of the people living with dementia are not being diagnosed.

Under the scheme, GPs will get the cash for every additional dementia diagnosis they make over the next six months.

Video: Sept: Cost Of Dementia Care Soars

Dr Martin McShane, NHS England national director for long-term conditions, said: "Dementia can be devastating both for individuals and their families.

"We know that more needs to be done across the health service to ensure that people living with dementia are identified so that they can get the tailored care and support they need.

"This additional investment is part of a drive to ensure this."

Health chiefs have identified a gap of about 90,000 patients, an average of 12 per practice, who could benefit from a more timely diagnosis.

However, the Patients Association say the scheme is "a distortion of good medical practice".

Chief executive Katherine Murphy said: "We know GPs receive incentive payments to find all sorts of conditions, such as high cholesterol, raised blood pressure and diabetes - but this seems a step too far. It is putting a bounty on the head of certain patients.

"Good GPs will be diagnosing their dementia patients already. This seems to be rewarding poor GPs.

"There is an issue of people presenting late with dementia to doctors, but this is not the right way to go about tackling that.

"If people were given hope that something could be done, that would be the greatest incentive for coming early."

Dr Matthew Norton, Head of Policy at Alzheimer's Research UK said: "For people with dementia, a diagnosis can help them to make sense of the symptoms they are experiencing, as well as opening the door to vital support and treatments.

"The ability to offer a timely diagnosis is important, but it's also critical for people to have access to the services they need once a diagnosis has been given."

"Diagnosing dementia can be a challenge, particularly as the symptoms can overlap with other health conditions, and research is crucial to improve diagnosis methods."

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Police: Serial Killer Was 'Not On Our Radar'

Police have defended their conduct in the case of a man who has confessed to killing seven women, amid fears there may be more victims.

Darren Vann is due in court charged with strangling one woman in Hammond, with more charges expected after he directed them to the bodies of six more women in nearby Gary.

Court records from 2004 show he was jailed for a year after grabbing a woman in a chokehold, dousing her with petrol and threatening to set her on fire.

He was convicted of raping a woman in Texas in 2009 and had only just been released from jail when he moved back to Indiana last year.

Vann also registered as a sex offender in Indiana and police made a routine check in September to make sure he lived at the address he provided.

But Gary Police Chief Larry McKinley told a news conference: "He was not on our radar at all."

He added that Vann was never suspected of taking part in murders in the days or months before his arrest at the weekend.

Vann has confessed to killing seven women including Afrikka Hardy

Texas and Indiana authorities have been searching through cold-case files and missing person reports to determine if there are more victims.

Family and friends of victims said police should have known the 43-year-old was a threat and taken reports of women disappearing more seriously.

Victim Teaira Batey's family filed a missing person report in late January nearly three weeks after she disappeared.

Her mother, Gloria Cullom, said she had repeatedly attempted to report the matter to police in Gary.

She said: "I'm trying to find out, 'Have you heard anything. Do you have any information for me?' Nobody ever called me back."

But Mr McKinley defended the actions of police.

"We take every report seriously," he said.

Vann appeared to keep a low profile and stay on the right side of the law after serving his prison sentence.

But Edward Matlock, his former stepson, said Vann would talk to himself while staring into the distance.

He said his mother and Vann lived in an area of Austin known for prostitution and drugs, and Vann would sometimes go walking around late at night.

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Government Failing To Deport Foreign Criminals

By Tom Parmenter, Sky News Correspondent

The Government has come under fire from victims of crime for failing to deport hundreds of foreign criminals.

A damning report by the National Audit Office (NAO) revealed 760 foreign national offenders awaiting deportation have absconded and 395 of those have been missing for more than four years.

Some 58 of these offenders are described as "high harm" and present a serious danger to people or property.

David Cameron admitted "the buck stops with me" during Prime Minister's Questions, but he also appealed for support from the other parties over what he called the "obstacles" of human rights legislation.

"We've deported 22,000 foreign national offenders since I've become Prime Minister," he said.

Video: How Police Stop Foreign Criminals

"The report is very clear that since 2013 for the first time we've got a proper cross-government strategy to deal with this."

Home Secretary Theresa May told MPs she is acting to end the abuse of the legal process.

She said: "As the report makes clear, this is a problem that has beset successive governments. It falls to this government to tackle the problems of the past.

"Quite simply, the Home Office did not prioritise the removal of foreign national offenders before 2005."

The report reveals the case of a foreign national whose UK visa had expired, yet authorities took no action over 14 years to remove him.

Even when the Government first began extradition proceedings in 2007 when he was convicted of a string of sex offences, he launched a series of appeals that delayed proceedings for another seven years.

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1. Gallery: Britain's Most Wanted Fugitives

   Dritan Rexhepi is wanted over the deaths of two men in Albania. He's also accused of carrying out a burglary in Belgium, where the home occupants were tied up and threatened at knife point.

2. Pawel Chmielorz was convicted of a string of violent offences in Poland, which resulted in his victims sustaining serious head injuries. He should be serving two-and-a-half years in prison.

3. Robert Grygoruk is wanted for 24 offences including possession of a handgun, producing and supplying amphetamine, supplying 5kg of cannabis, fraud and burglary.

4. Evaldas Rabikauskas is wanted for questioning over allegations he raped an intoxicated girl at a house in Lithuania in 2007. He is believed to have links to Hertfordshire.

5. Ioan Cretu, 36, is wanted for murder alleged to have been committed in Romania in 2005. It is thought he may have links to London, particularly the Waterloo area.

6. Dariusz Glowacki is wanted on suspicion of child rape in Poland. Police say he may be responsible for two other sex attacks and has links to the Acton and Slough areas.

7. Constantin Niciu is wanted in connection with the abduction of two men who apparently refused to take part in a human trafficking operation. They were tied up and beaten with a plank of wood.

8. Costin Stoica is alleged to have been in the company of others who sprayed a woman in the face with a noxious substance before stealing her handbag in Romania in 2002.

9. Krzysztof Zakrewski is alleged to have robbed and beaten a man with an accomplice in Poland in 1992.

10. Serhat Aslan is wanted in connection with the fatal stabbing of a 19-year-old man in Turkey in 2004 following an argument.

11. Michal Smolen is wanted for questioning over an assault alleged to have taken place in Poland in 2009.

It is estimated that public bodies spent £850m in 2013/14 managing and removing foreign national offenders, working out at around £70,000 per offender.

Meanwhile, the number of foreign prisoners has risen 4% from 10,231 to 10,649 since 2006, the NAO said.

The number of those removed has fallen to 5,097 from a peak of 5,613 in 2008/09.

The time it takes to deport an overseas criminal has been revealed to be 319 days.

This comes despite a 10-fold increase in the number of Home Office staff working on foreign national offenders (FNOs), from 100 to more than 900.

Amyas Morse, of the NAO, said: "It is no easy matter to manage foreign national offenders in the UK and to deport those who have completed their sentences.

Video: Romanian Police Fighting UK Crime

"However, too little progress has been made, despite the increased resources and effort devoted to this problem."

Conservative MP Philip Hollobone has long raised concerns about the number of foreigners in UK prisons and failures to deport them.

He said: "Most people will be staggered that despite increasing its staffing for deportations from 100 to 900, the Home Office is not actually deporting any more FNOs than it was before.

"My view is that if you are a foreign national who commits a crime in the UK, you should be caught, convicted and sentenced with your sentence served back in your own country at the expense of your fellow nationals."

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