Lifeboat Crew Races Rising Tide To Save Girl

A nine-year-old girl who became trapped between giant rocks on a beach during a rising tide has been rescued by a lifeboat crew.

The youngster's foot got stuck in the boulders at the seaside resort of Aberaeron in Ceredigion, Wales.

"I was playing hide and seek and I slipped," she told rescuers. "I can only move my toes."

Rescuers race against a rising tide to set the girl free (Pic: RNLI)

Newquay RNLI lifeboat crew were called to the scene at 5pm on Thursday - just as the tide was starting to come in.

The schoolgirl was set free by 17-year-old RNLI volunteer Tom Evans, the youngest member of the team, on his first rescue.

The nine-year-old is eventually pulled out (Pic: RNLI)

He removed his jacket and helmet and managed to slip into a tight space down between the rocks and under the water to cut her wellington boots.

The girl was then lifted out from between the rocks to safety.

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Teenager Admits Killing Teacher Ann Maguire

By Mike McCarthy, North of England Correspondent

A 16-year-old has admitted killing teacher Ann Maguire in a classroom stabbing.

The teenager is accused of murdering the 61-year-old Spanish teacher at the Corpus Christi College in Leeds in April this year.

Prosecuting barrister Paul Greaney QC told a hearing at Leeds Crown Court that the boy didn't admit murder but said: "It did amount to an admission of manslaughter."

No formal plea was entered but defence barrister Richard Wright QC said the boy had "accepted responsibility for unlawful killing".

Ann Maguire was the first teacher to be fatally stabbed in a British school

The schoolboy, who cannot legally be identified because of his age, appeared via video link from an undisclosed location.

He wore blue trousers and a red T-shirt and responded clearly to confirm details of his identity and that he understood what was happening. 

Members of Mrs Maguire's family sat in the public gallery for the 10-minute hearing.

A note left among the tributes to Ann Maguire by a pupil

The teacher had worked at Corpus Christi College at Halton Moor for more than 40 years and was just weeks away from retirement when she died. 

It is the first time a teacher has been stabbed to death in a British classroom.

The public was warned at the hearing not to risk contempt of court by commenting on the case through online blogging or social media.

Flowers laid outside Corpus Christi Catholic College in April

Others have been jailed over recent months for doing so, Judge Peter Collier QC said.

The boy was remanded in custody until the next hearing on September 26. 

Psychiatric reports will now be prepared before the trial, which is due to start on November 3.

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Vanessa-Mae's Olympic Skiing Qualifier 'Fixed'

Four ski officials have been accused of rigging the results of a race which helped classical violinist Vanessa-Mae secure her place at the Winter Olympics in Sochi.

The famous musician-turned-athlete made her Olympic debut in February, competing for Thailand as Vanessa Vanakorn, using the surname of her Thai father.

The celebrity went on to finish 67th and last in the giant slalom.

To earn the points to qualify for the Games she took part in several official races including one in Slovenia.

The Slovenian Ski Association said on Friday it found clear breaches of International Ski Federation (FIS) rules including irregularities concerning times and rankings - and evidence indicating the races it hosted in January were "fixed at the behest of Thai ski officials to meet her qualifying criteria for Sochi".

The musician performing at a concert last year

SSA director Jurij Zurej said: "The starting list included a person who did not even compete, a racer who fell was registered as finishing high in the standings.

"In addition, the dates of the competitions did not match the actual date when the races were held.

"Based on those findings, we have decided that the four persons responsible for that race will not be able to work in the name of the SSA for a period of four years, and we have sent a sample of the findings to the public prosecutor."

He stressed there was "absolutely no proof any athlete including Vanessa was (knowingly) involved in any activities that would breach any of our rules or those of FIS".

The 35-year-old, who was born in Singapore and raised in Britain, said after the Games: "The Olympics is like the greatest show on earth and to just share the same snow, to be able to slide down the same snow that the elite skiers carve down is just an honour and a privilege."

The star, who has sold more than 10 million albums worldwide, took a year off from her music career to prepare for Sochi and reportedly left her violin at home during the Games to concentrate on skiing.

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Bull Run: Trampled Briton Left Vomiting Blood

A British man was left vomiting blood after suffing serious injuries when he was trampled during the world-famous bull run in Spain.

Tom Hadfield suffered four fractured ribs and a punctured lung after he was mown down by an animal during the encierro, or running of the bulls, in Pamplona's San Fermin festival.

Speaking from his bed in Hospital De Navarro in the city, where he has been recovering since the accident on Tuesday, Mr Hadfield said: "I've never experienced pain like this before. It's agony.

"I think a few of them trampled me. It's a miracle they didn't crush my skull or break my back."

"Afterwards I got up and carried on running for a bit. Then I started to get dizzy and found somewhere safe to keel over.

"Next thing I know I'm vomiting blood on the street and there is a big crowd around me.

Many people are injured in the controversial event each year

"Then I passed out and woke up in the ambulance. Pretty scary. I thought I was paralysed."

Mr Hadfield, who lives and works in Nottingham, but is originally from Dunmow, Essex, travelled to Spain on Monday with friends so they could take part in the bull run before heading to a music festival on the outskirts of Bilbao.

He said he was likely to be in hospital for the rest of this week before flying home and returning to work.

"I did it (the run) last year and it was without doubt the best feeling I've ever had in my life," he said.

"Hemingway said the best feeling in life was to be shot at and missed.

"I guess I just thought I was invincible but now I realise I'm not."

The encierro, or the running of the bulls, is the highlight of the San Fermin street festival in Pamplona.

Many people are injured in the runnings each year, while 15 people are believed to have died since record-keeping began in 1910.

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Brit Tourist Loses Fingertips On Disney Ride

A British tourist has lost the tips of two fingers on a log flume ride at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom in Florida.

The man lost the tips of his right hand's ring and little fingers on the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction on Thursday morning, fire officials said.

The unnamed tourist, whose condition has not been disclosed, was taken to hospital.

Bo Jones, of the Reedy Creek Fire Department, told Sky News it is possible the thrill-seeker did not keep his hand inside the ride.

"We received a call from a Disney cast member informing us that a guest had been injured, so we responded and he was treated at a local hospital. It was a non-emergency situation," he said.

"He was around 57 years old. What the medic told me is was he was saying, 'I had my hand on the side of the boat and I shouldn't have. It was all my fault.'"

Magic Kingdom officials stopped the ride for safety checks before reopening it later on Thursday.

Disney could not immediately be reached for comment.

The decades-old attraction was the inspiration for the hugely popular Pirates of the Caribbean film series, starring Johnny Depp and Keira Knightley.

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Glee Star's Boyfriend Found Dead In Hotel Room

The boyfriend of Glee actress Becca Tobin has been found dead in a hotel room, just days before the first anniversary of actor Cory Monteith's death.

TMZ reported that Matt Bendik, 35, was found by a hotel maid in Philadelphia on Thursday afternoon. 

Tobin, who plays Kitty Wilde in the hit show, is believed to have been out with her boyfriend and friends on Wednesday night.

Police described the death "sudden" but said there was no reason to believe foul play was involved.

Cory Monteith died a year ago

It is thought the couple were in the city on business. Mr Bendik ran a number of nightclubs in Los Angeles and around the country

Monteith, who played Finn Hudson in the series, died from a combination of heroin and alcohol in a Vancouver hotel room on July 13, 2013.

His girlfriend Lea Michele is also in the series and has spoken publicly about her devastation at his death and her struggle to move on with her life.

Tobin joined the musical comedy about a group of aspiring singers at high school in its fourth season.

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Internet Trolls Pose Like Teen Rape Victim

A 16-year-old girl who says she was drugged and raped at a party has been mocked on the internet by people posing how she appeared in pictures and video of the attack.

The online abuse started after the girl, named only as Jada, told KHOU 11 News that she only realised she had been assaulted when images of her semi-naked, unconscious body started appearing on social media. 

In the interview, the teenager said she had waived her right to anonymity because she wanted justice.

"There's no point in hiding," she said. "Everybody has already seen my face and body, but that's not what I am and who I am."

She added: "I'm just angry."

However, shortly afterwards Twitter and Vine users started posting videos and photos of people replicating the image of her after the alleged rape.

In a second interview with KHOU, Jada said: "My friends are getting harassed, I'm getting harassed. We can't go out or nothing. It's very embarrassing."

Social media users condemned the meme. Pic: Twitter

The teenager said she was at a house party with a friend and was given a drink by the 16-year-old boy hosting the event, which she believes was spiked with a drug.

She said she passed out and had no idea what had followed until she saw the images of herself online.

Houston Police are investigating the alleged attack, while the online abuse mimicking her has been condemned by social media users as "sickening" and "disgusting".

One girl tweeted: "Living in a generation that turns a serious crime such as rape into a joke just for laughs. You can laugh your way into hell."

Another wrote on Twitter: "Mocking a rape victim and making internet memes of her rape is not funny at all."

One said: "This ... thing is sickening... Rape haunts a person for ever(sic). Those who mock are uneducated, selfish, attention seeking idiots."

Jada's mother, who did not want to be named, told KHOU: "No one's daughter deserved this. No human being deserved this."

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Motor Racing On UK's Streets A Big Step Closer

Councils are to be given powers to stage motor races on public roads, it has been revealed.

Downing Street said legislation would be introduced this year to allow speed limits to be lifted and competitive events held.

Such races - including the Birmingham Superprix between 1986 and 1990 - have previously required specific permission from parliament.

David Cameron hailed the decision as he opened the new Williams F1 engineering facility in Oxfordshire.

"We're going to change the rules so that local councils are able to make decisions, so you don't have to have a private member's bill through parliament," he said.

The Birmingham Superprix in 1988

"We think (this will be) great news British motorsport. More races, more events, more money coming into our country and more success for this extraordinary industry."

The change, which follows a consultation earlier this year, brings the prospect of a Monaco-style Grand Prix on the streets of London closer.

Legislation will be added to the Deregulation Bill in the autumn, and could be in force before the general election next year.

The Prime Minister's spokesman said local authorities would have to consult with local people and ensure all necessary safety precautions were in place.

Thousands of people turned up watch the second city's street-circuit race

"We have seen in recent years a great number of successful sporting events here in the UK, of various sizes," the spokesman said.

"Alongside that I think this country has a long tradition ... of engineering excellence, particularly in motor sport."

It comes after the country hosted the first three stages of the Tour de France this month, which attracted around six million spectators and is estimated to contributed more than £100m to the economy,

Martin Hone, the organiser of the original Birmingham Superprix, had previously called on the city's leaders to show "political will" to secure the event's return.

"I still have the energy and vitality and would love to do it," he told the Birmingham Mail.

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Hamas: Israel's Main Airport Will Be Targeted

A Complex Web Of Friends And Enemies

Updated: 5:06pm UK, Friday 11 July 2014

By Sam Kiley, Foreign Affairs Editor

Rockets fired from Lebanon into Israel at dawn. The opening of a new front for Israel already engaged in an escalating air campaign in the Gaza Strip? No.

Neither the Israelis nor Hezbollah, which has an arsenal of 100,000 rockets and controls southern Lebanon, are that stupid.

The missile attack on Israel's north was an attempt by Sunni militants to spark a confrontation between Hezbollah and Israel that both know would be a zero sum.

Why would Sunnis, in all probability descendants of Palestinian refugees from what is now Israel, want to do that?

It's Hezbollah, a Shia movement, after all, that has been a major conduit of experts, funding and modern rockets to Hamas, a Sunni organisation, in Gaza. Hamas and Hezbollah are allies.

But only when it comes to fighting Israel.

In Syria, Hamas has condemned the Assad regime, which like Hezbollah is backed by Iran.

Sunnis of Palestinian descent are among volunteers who have joined rebel groups fighting Damascus, while Hezbollah has sent thousands of its best fighters to the frontlines to defend the regime of Bashar al Assad.

There is a logic at work here.

If Sunni groups in south Lebanon can sucker the Israelis into a war with Hezbollah they could enjoy the double whammy of reduced pressure on Gaza, and the use of Israel's devastating air power against Hezbollah, the Sunni's enemies in Syria.

No better example of an attempt to kill two birds with one stone.

It won't happen because both Hezbollah and Israel, foes who have the greatest respect for one another, saw through the plot some time back. It's not the first time it has been tried.

But it does signal just how the Middle East's tectonic plates of conflict have shifted and can overlap.

The explosion of sectarian Muslim war between Sunni and Shia in Syria, which has spread into Iraq and has destabilised Lebanon, has become the defining clash in a new age of chaos.

Rival regional powers Saudi Arabia and Iran use proxies to vie for influence and control.

The Saudis have become increasingly nervous of the spread of a Shia crescent from Tehran through Baghdad to Damascus and south Lebanon.

But Tehran has also used enemy forces to bolster the positions of its allies.

According to intelligence sources Muhsin al Fadhli, once a senior al Qaeda figure based in Iraq has taken up an operational roles inside Syria - at the instigation of the Iranian government.

Why would Tehran release someone to fight a key client an ally in Damascus?

Because radical groups like the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) have fought harder against fellow rebel groups than they have against the Assad regime.

Tehran has split the rebels.

But now ISIS threatens Iran's client government in Baghdad showing that an enemy's enemy may be a friend from time to time, but will remain an enemy.

This may be complicated but there is no excuse for stupidity in the Middle East. Failure to comprehend this can be fatal.

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World Cup Ticket Scam Suspect 'Not Fugitive'

A British man accused of running a World Cup ticket touting operation is not a "fugitive", according to his company.

Brazilian police said on Thursday they considered Ray Whelan to be "on the run" after he left his Rio de Janeiro hotel.

However, his employer, Match Services, believes Mr Whelan's movements within Brazil were not restricted under the terms of his arrest.

Mr Whelan, a director of the company, a subsidiary of the Byrom Group which owns Fifa's ticket and hospitality rights, is suspected of supplying tickets to a touting gang working at the World Cup.

A statement said: "Match must emphasise its understanding that the terms of Ray Whelan's previous release did not restrict Ray Whelan's movements, provided he stayed within Brazil.

CCTV footage is said to show Mr Whelan leaving his luxury hotel

"We do not believe that the term 'fugitive' is appropriate under the circumstances as he is presently with his lawyer."

CCTV footage of Mr Whelan shows he did not rush from his hotel, added the company.

Mr Whelan, was first arrested on Monday on the basis of telephone taps in which he was heard discussing $25,000 (£14,500) cash deals for ticket packages with Lamine Fofana, an Algerian suspected of being the conduit for hundreds of tickets.

Mr Whelan was released on bail on Tuesday morning but on Thursday a judge approved an arrest warrant, a precursor to his being formally charged.

Under the order he was to be taken into custody along with 10 other suspects.

Officers went to his hotel, the upmarket Copacabana Palace, but found he had left by a staff entrance an hour earlier, at around 3pm local time.

Police said in a statement: "Teams from the 18 Precinct (Flag Square), coordinated by the delegate Fabio Barucke, were at the Copacabana Palace Hotel on the afternoon of Thursday, to comply with probation warrant issued by the court against Raymond Whelan. According to the delegate, the English fled out the back door of the hotel and is now considered a fugitive."

More follows...

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