Hollie Gazzard: Ex Admits Killing Hairdresser

The former boyfriend of a hairdresser who was stabbed to death while working at a salon has pleaded guilty to her murder.

Asher Maslin, 22, admitted killing Hollie Gazzard at a Bristol Crown Court hearing on Friday.

He spoke only to confirm his name and enter a plea.

Miss Gazzard, 20, was killed as she worked at Fringe Benefits and La Bella Beauty salon in Gloucester on February 18.

A post-mortem examination found she died from multiple stab wounds.

Miss Gazzard had used her Twitter account to express her frustration with a relationship with an ex-boyfriend.

Miss Gazzard was stabbed several times at the salon where she worked

She wrote: "Why are people so selfish?! If a person isn't happy within the relationship why try and make them stay?!"

Since her death, Miss Gazzard's family has set up a charitable trust in her memory which sponsors training for young hairdressers and contributes to campaigns against domestic violence.

In April, hundreds of people took part in a walk from Gloucester to Cheltenham to raise money for the trust.

In a statement, they said: "She was full of life and we are very proud of her.

"The world has lost a treasure, she was so loved by all her family and friends and the brightest star in their lives has now gone out."

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is investigating contact between Miss Gazzard and Gloucestershire Police in the lead up to her death.

Judge Neil Ford QC, the Recorder of Bristol, remanded Maslin in custody.

He said: "Your sentencing will take place on a date to be fixed in the relative near future.

"You appreciate that the only sentence that can be imposed is one - imprisonment for life."

Detective Chief Inspector Steve Bean said: "Hollie was a popular and much-loved young woman and the tragic and very public nature of her death has affected a great many people across the community.

"Special tribute must be paid to Hollie's family, who have shown immense strength, patience and dignity in incredibly challenging circumstances."

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North Korea Detains US Tourist 'Over Bible'

Does Kim Jong-Un 'Makeover' Have Sinister Side?

Updated: 3:17pm UK, Friday 30 May 2014

North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un's new look could be part of a ruse to help him develop a nuclear arsenal, Sky News has been told.

A series of images showing the despot laughing and smiling - often dressed in a straw hat with his jacket loose - have been released by the usually secretive state this month.

They were taken during visits to hospitals, children's centres and construction sites - and Leeds University lecturer Adam Cathcart, a leading commentator on North Korea, thinks the motives are clear.

"It's showing that maybe he's a bit of a reformer," Mr Cathcart told Sky News.

"They're trying to seduce the people who are willing to be convinced that maybe this generation is different. This buys them time to build their nuclear programme.

"It buys them time if there's less pressure from the West, and we're less likely to impose sanctions.

"Their real goal is to be seen as a de facto nuclear state."

North Korea has carried out three nuclear tests since 2006, eliciting a series of sanctions from the West.

In April US President Barack Obama issued a warning against a mooted fourth test.

Mr Cathcart believes the regime monitors closely its global perception - as illustrated when two officials confronted a London hairdresser over a poster of Mr Kim with the caption "Bad hair day?"

"They are sensitive to public opinion in the West," he said.

"They're reading what we're reading - they'll be reading this article on Sky News."

Mr Kim, 31, is modelling himself on his grandfather, Kim Il-sung, who ruled between 1945 and 1994 and is "unassailable" in North Korea, according to Mr Cathcart.

"The straw hat is harking back to the days of his grandfather, a period of nostalgia. Kim Il-sung died in 1994 before the famine kicked in and so was not as tainted by that.

"Kim Jong-Un has studied the way his grandfather acts, his mannerisms and the way he laughs - that's all deliberate."

As well as being seen across the world, images of Mr Kim appearing as a modern, amiable leader are designed to send an image to Koreans both north and south of the border, according to Mr Cathcart.

"It's the old story of a socialist government showing it is going in the right direction - especially as they have so many strikes against them with the killing of his uncle and all the sanctions.

"The office of Propaganda and Agitation are constantly trying to connect him to a new, prosperous image.

"You have to also recognise there are rumours about his health emanating from South Korea - it's part of an information war between the two countries.

"He has to be seen to be healthy, because what would happen if he wasn't around? Is his baby daughter going to take over?"

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IMF Sees Housing Market Threat To Recovery

Osborne Should Heed IMF House Market Warning

Updated: 11:57am UK, Friday 06 June 2014

By Ed Conway, Economics Editor

What would you like first: the good news or the bad?

Well, if you're George Osborne, the good news is that the long battle with the International Monetary Fund - the one that began last year when chief economist Olivier Blanchard told Sky News the Chancellor was "playing with fire" on economic policy - is over.

We knew as much in Washington earlier this spring, when Blanchard acknowledged that the Fund's forecasts for Britain had been overly pessimistic.

But today the saga has come to its end, with the Fund also giving the Chancellor's fiscal plans (those precise plans Blanchard had criticised) a ringing endorsement.

"The planned fiscal adjustment this year is appropriate," the IMF says in its annual survey of the UK economy - the so-called Article IV report.

This is a shift from last year, when the Article IV recommended that the Chancellor bring forward spending plans to try to boost the economy. So cause for celebration at the Treasury?

Not altogether, for there is also some bad news. The criticisms of the Treasury's tax-and-spend plans may have dissolved away, but they have been replaced with concerns of another variety: about the housing market.

Such concerns are hardly new: the European Commission already recommended earlier this week that the Government take action to prevent a housing bubble.

However, the Fund is a touch more authoritative - and more specific. Its suggestions are as follows: The Bank of England should leave interest rates on hold for the time being; it should impose limits on how much mortgage companies can lend homebuyers in relation to their incomes; it should also consider outright caps on loan-to-income levels and loan-to-value ratios.

On top of this, the Government should "consider whether [Help to Buy] should be modified or even remains necessary for the full three years of the policy. And as the volume of high-LTV transactions rises, the FPC will need to evaluate if the program is contributing to financial risks."

Like the Commission (and, well, every economist out there), it suggests that Britain needs to build more homes. However, there are no silver bullets in this enterprise, and it acknowledges that all of the above "can only be temporary palliatives to an underlying problem."

The best it can suggest is that the Government reconsider "unnecessary constraints on brownfield and greenfield developments; tax policies that discourage the most economically-efficient use of property; and underdeveloped rental markets with relatively short lease terms."

Some might see the final point as a note of support for the rental reforms recently suggested by Ed Miliband. The problem for politicians of every stripe is that the housing market's structural problems are no secret: but mending them will take many years.

Reforms to the planning system have been desperately needed for decades, but only now are they being implemented; changes to green belt regulations are an economist's dream but a local politician's nightmare – so are unlikely to be implemented before the election, if at all.

However, it is clear that the Chancellor would be foolhardy to ignore the tone of the IMF's report. For there is a growing risk of a housing bubble, and with it the political risk that George Osborne could be remembered not as the austerity Chancellor who got it right, but the man who generated yet another housing market bust.

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Relatives 'Got Cards From Murdered Couple'

By Lisa Dowd, Midlands Correspondent

Relatives of a couple who were shot dead and buried in their back garden received Christmas cards supposedly from them after their deaths, a court has heard.

The bodies of William and Patricia Wycherley lay undiscovered for 15 years at their home in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, until a tip-off led police to the house.

Their debt-ridden daughter, Susan Edwards, and her husband Christopher, are accused of murdering the couple in May 1998 and stealing £245,000 in pension payments and benefits, up until their arrest last year.

Other relatives were unaware of the deaths.

Vivian Steenson, a niece of Mr Wycherley, told Nottingham Crown Court she had received correspondence from "Uncle Bill" before and after his death, that was supposedly from him, including a Christmas card in 2007.

A statement was read to the jury from another niece of Mr Wycherley, Christine Harford, who described getting a call from Mrs Steenson to ask if she'd "seen the news" about the couple's deaths.

She said Mrs Steenson said: "Maybe it was a suicide pact and I remember saying that didn't explain all the Christmas cards my mum had received."

Peter Joyce QC had earlier told the court that in 2011 Mrs Edwards sent a Christmas card to relatives saying her father was "having his second youth" and her parents were travelling in Ireland.

Susan Edwards and her husband Christopher deny murder

She stated that "I cannot really keep up with where he is planning to settle!" and "it is really good to see them with such zest".

A statement was read out saying Hilary Rose, another relative, recalled receiving a card from Susan Edwards saying her father was touring Ireland and "was going to travel until he died".

Ms Rose said her mother had received a Christmas card signed "Bill and Pat".

"She told me she'd been trying to call Bill but it kept ringing and ringing, she was concerned, she asked my husband to check on them in Mansfield but he was working in London and didn't have time," she stated.

The court has been told Mrs Edwards admits killing her mother due to "severe provocation".

In her account, her mother had already killed her father and an argument developed whereby Patricia Wycherley told her daughter she knew that she had been abused by her father.

She said her mother also claimed to have had a sexual relationship with Christopher Edwards in the early 1990s.

The prosecution does not accept the account.

Dafydd Enoch QC, defence counsel for Christopher Edwards, asked Mrs Steenson about how William Wycherley had reacted when his daughter married Mr Edwards.

Mrs Steenson said he had been "irrationally jealous".

The Edwards deny murder, but admit burying the couple.

The trial continues.

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D-Day: Sacrifice Of Troops 'Must Be Honoured'

French President Francois Hollande has said nations owed it to the sacrifice of those who took part in the D-Day landings to build "a fairer world".

Paying tribute to the courage of troops 70 years ago, he said their spirit will always be felt on the Normandy beaches, where they came ashore.

The Duchess of Cambridge attended a tea party with British veterans

And Mr Hollande said the appreciation of France to the liberating forces "will never die".

He was speaking at the main ceremony at Sword Beach in Ouistreham, to commemorate the 70th anniversary of history's biggest amphibious invasion.

Veterans, politicians and members of the Royal Family including the Queen had gathered in Normandy to mark the events of June 6, 1944.

The D-Day operation, involving 150,000 Allied troops, changed the course of the Second World War.

Normandy veteran Ken Scott, 98, remembers his fallen comrades War veterans arrive for the service at Bayeux Cathedral

Mr Hollande said: "We have to be faithful to their sacrifice to build in their name, and the name of future generations, a fairer world and a more human world."

He also said freedom is a fight, and continued to be threatened around the world.

"There are always men and women who have to get up and defend freedom," he said.

Soldiers landing on Juno Beach in Bernieres-sur-Mer on June 6, 1944

The same courage shown by the troops on D-Day must now be shown in defeating the "ills" of the modern world, including terrorism, and crimes against humanity.

He said:  "It's up to us to have the same vision, the same courage, to be just as bright and have the same determination as those who came to these beaches 70 years ago."

Earlier, David Cameron had also called for leaders to set aside their differences on the "incredibly moving" anniversary of the landings.

The events of D-Day "show the importance of standing up together ... for freedom and security", he said.

The Queen joined world leaders to mark the 70th anniversary Mr Obama applauds US veterans during the ceremony in Colleville-sur-Mer

Described by wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill as "undoubtedly the most complicated and difficult (operation) that has ever taken place", D-Day proved to be a pivotal moment of the Second World War.

It marked the start of an 80-day campaign to liberate Normandy, that involved three million troops and cost some 250,000 lives.

Services marking their sacrifice were held at beaches and war cemeteries across the region.

In Colleville-sur-Mer, Barack Obama joined Mr Hollande for a service at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, where more than 9,000 soldiers are buried.

"These men waged war so that we might know peace, they sacrificed so that we may be free, they fought in hope of a day that we would no longer need to fight and we are grateful to them," the US President said.

Cemeteries along the French coast are a focal point for the commemorations

In nearby Bayeux, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh visited the Commonwealth War Graves cemetery, where 4,144 soldiers, 338 of them unidentified, are buried.

Further along the coast in Arromanches, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge attended a tea party with British veterans.

The Normandy Veterans' Association had also organised a day of events. This anniversary will be the group's last as it plans to disband later this year.

Commemorations began at midnight when Mr Cameron attended a memorial at Pegasus Bridge, the first strategic landmark to be captured.

American veterans gathered at dawn on Omaha Beach, where a statue of two soldiers was unveiled.

The Queen is to attend a State Banquet hosted by Mr Hollande at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Friday evening.

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Ukraine: Leaders Talk Ceasefire At D-Day Event

Ukraine's President-elect Petro Poroshenko has met his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for informal talks on the sidelines of the D-Day commemorations in France.

French President Francois Hollande told a war veteran at the ceremony that world leaders had wanted to use the 70th anniversary commemorations to bring the two men together to discuss the Ukraine crisis.

An official in Mr Hollande's office said the two leaders discussed how Russia could recognise the Ukrainian elections and a possible ceasefire.

Their brief interaction, which some reports said was as short as one minute while others said lasted 15 minutes, took place after world leaders gathered for a group photograph.

The two men spoke for up to 15 minutes, according to some observers

Mr Hollande, responding to a question about Mr Putin during a conversation with the war veteran, described the meeting as "friendly".

He said: "Yes we talked to him and with President Poroshenko, we made Ukraine and Russia talk."

After the photo, Petro Poroshenko, Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel remained outside as they talked.

No plans have been announced for a formal meeting between the two men despite a week of intense diplomacy aimed at resolving the crisis in Ukraine.

The talk is the first meeting between the two leaders since Mr Poroshenko was elected.

Mr Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a statement that he and Mr Poroshenko had called for a "soonest end to bloodshed in southeastern Ukraine and combat action by both parties, the Ukrainian armed forces and supporters of the federalisation of Ukraine".

US President Barack Obama also spoke to Mr Putin at the commemoration ceremonies, marking their first face-to-face conversation since the crisis began in Ukraine.

The White House said the conversation was informal and lasted around 15 minutes as the leaders ate lunch inside a chateau.

"President Obama made clear that de-escalation depends upon Russia recognising President-elect Poroshenko as the legitimate leader of Ukraine, ceasing support for separatists in eastern Ukraine, and stopping the provision of arms and material across the border," said US deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes.

"If Russia does take this opportunity to recognise and work with the new government in Kiev, President Obama indicated that there could be openings to reduce tensions," added Mr Rhodes.

Mr Putin also held meetings with Prime Minister David Cameron, Mrs Merkel and French president Francois Hollande this week to discuss sanctions imposed on Russia after it annexed the Crimean peninsula.

It comes after 15 pro-Russian rebels were killed at a border crossing on Thursday.

Anton Herashchenko, an aide to the Ukrainian interior minister, said guards clashed with armed men who approached the border in trucks from the Russian side of the border close to the village of Marynivka.

Five Ukrainian soldiers were also injured during the clashes. Parts of the border in eastern Ukraine were closed after the incident.

Officials have claimed more than 200 people have died in fighting between Ukraine government troops and pro-Russian rebels in recent weeks.

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D-Day Veteran's Great Escape From Care Home

An 89-year-old Royal Navy veteran has turned up in Normandy for the D-Day commemorations after ignoring a travel ban imposed by his care home.

Police were called to the man's nursing home in Hove, Sussex, on Thursday night when staff realised he had gone out at 10.30am and had not been seen since.

The man has since been named on social media as Bernard Jordan, a former mayor of Hove, and his carehome has tweeted a photo of him.

The pensioner 'went AWOL' wearing his war medals covered by a grey jacket and secretly boarded a coach to France.

Mr Jordan with a picture of when he was mayor (Pic: Gracewell Healthcare)

Police initially searched the Hove area, speaking to bus and taxi companies and checking local hospitals in case something had happened to him.

Then, at 10.30pm on Thursday - 12 hours after he was last seen - a younger veteran called to say he had met the pensioner on a coach on the way to France.

He said the pair were sitting in a hotel in Ouistreham, Normandy, where world leaders have been mingling with veterans to mark the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings.

Mr Jordan is said to be safe and well.

A Sussex Police spokesman said: "We have spoken to the veteran who called the home today and are satisfied that the pensioner is fine and that his friends are going to ensure he gets back to Hove safely over the next couple of days, after the D-Day celebrations finish."

Chief Superintendent tweeted: "Love this - 89-year-old veteran reported missing to us by care home who said he can't go to Normandy for D-day remembrance. We've found him there!"

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Baby Poisoning: Dad Says Child 'Was Suffering'

The father of a baby who died after contracting an infection from a suspected contaminated drip says he hopes his death will prevent other babies dying.

Nine-day-old Yousef Al-Kharboush, who was born eight weeks premature, passed away on Sunday while being treated at St Thomas' Hospital in London.

With three new cases, 21 babies have now been struck down with blood poisoning in neonatal intensive care units in 10 hospitals.

It is believed an intravenous fluid supplied by the London-based pharmaceutical firm ITH Pharma is to blame.

All the babies were given a fluid called parenteral nutrition, which is supposed to deliver a variety of nutrients intravenously when a baby is unable to eat on its own.

Speaking at a pre-inquest review at Southwark Coroner's Court, Yousef's father Raaid Sakkijha said: "My son has just died. I don't want more children to.

Yousef died at St Thomas' Hospital in London

"If you looked at Yousef, he was dying because of this product. He was suffering. He died because of this."

He added: "The hospital was very helpful. It was just an unlucky incident.

"I was hoping to hear this product would be completely stopped from production until they make sure that... no other babies are being contaminated.

"I won't have a baby in the next nine months but I hope other people who have babies will be safe."

Consultant neonatologist Dr Karen Turnock, from St Thomas' Hospital, said Yousef became "increasing unstable" before his death and tests showed evidence of the bacterium known as bacillus cereus.

ITH Pharma has said the suspected contamination has been traced to a "sourced" single raw material ingredient.

It is understood all of the other babies are responding to treatment with antibiotics.

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Madeleine McCann Police Search New Area

British police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in Portugal have been looking at a new patch of scrubland close to where she went missing.

Police were seen inspecting a flat area of ground at the other end of the area they have been studying over the past week.

Yellow tape has been placed in various parts of scrubland in Praia da Luz on the Algarve, to highlight areas of interest to police.

Officers could be seen examining the grass-covered, uneven ground inside one marked-out area.

The search is in its fifth day - police had previously been focusing on a hole which had been covered in undergrowth.

A police officer checks soil samples

Forensics officers sifted through soil in large sieves inside a white tent set up to cover the hole, which was thought to have been used as a children's den.

An item of clothing, believed to be a man's sock, was removed from the scene but was thought to have been ruled out of the investigation.

Madeleine's parents said on Thursday they were "encouraged" by the progress made as police search for clues about what happened to their daughter after she disappeared from the resort in May 2007 at the age of three.

Writing on the Find Madeleine Campaign Facebook page, Kate and Gerry McCann thanked their followers for the support they had received.

"We are being kept updated on the ongoing work in Portugal and are encouraged by the progress," the message said.

"Thank you for continuing to stand by us and supporting our efforts to get Madeleine home."

Police officers clear an area of wasteland during the search

The land, which is a few minutes' walk from the Ocean Club resort apartment where Madeleine and her family were staying, has been searched before.

Two other areas are also expected to be searched by investigators.

The operation is likely to go into a second week after British police applied to the judiciary to spend an extra seven days there.

It is not clear whether they will work over the weekend and nothing is expected to be carried out on Tuesday as it is a public holiday.

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New Hope For Ferret Owners Over New York Ban

Campaigners calling for ferret ownership to be legalised in New York have been given a boost as the city's mayor says he is considering lifting a longstanding ban.

New York residents have been banned from owning ferrets since they were outlawed by former mayor Rudolph Giuliani 15 years ago on the grounds they are considered wild and dangerous animals under the city's health code.

He famously once told one ferret fancier that their "excessive concern with little weasels is a sickness".

Now, after years of lobbying, campaigners appear to be making headway.

Ferret owners say the creatures are safe

Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration has said there could a hearing on ferret ownership by the end of the year.

Underground ferret owners hope they will now finally be able to come out of hiding.

Sheilla Sumayang, who had a ferret in Brooklyn until it died in 2011, said the ban meant even trips to the vet were difficult.

"Every time I brought him to the veterinarian I had to cover his little carrying case so people would think he was a cat," she said.

She plans to adopt two new ferrets if the restriction is lifted.

Although ferret ownership is generally legal across the United States, bans also exist in California and Hawaii.

The US health department says there have been documented cases of "vicious, unprovoked attacks on humans".

But campaigners say ferrets are perfectly safe and only attack when they are starved or abused.

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