CIA Director Petraeus Quits Over Affair

CIA Director David Petraeus has resigned over an extramarital affair - which officials say was uncovered by an FBI investigation.

According to his letter of resignation, General Petraeus asked President Barack Obama on Thursday to allow him to resign, and on Friday the president accepted.

The general admitted he had shown "extremely poor judgement" in having an affair.

"Such behaviour is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organisation such as ours," he wrote.

He had only been sworn in as director of the Central Intelligence Agency on September 6, last year.

Prior to that, he was a four-star general with 37 years' service in the US Army.

His last assignments in the army were as commander of Isaf, the International Security Assistance Force, and commander of US forces in Afghanistan and in Iraq.

The resignation took Washington's intelligence and political communities by surprise, coming as a sudden end to the public career of the best-known general in recent years.

Neither Gen Petraeus nor the CIA explained why he felt he had to step down over the affair, and whether his liaison presented a purely personal problem or raised security issues in his sensitive work as spy chief.

The affair came to light as the FBI was investigating whether a computer used by the general had been compromised, the New York Times and other US media reported, citing government officials.

General Petraeus with his wife Holly

In a statement released after the resignation was announced, Mr Obama hailed the "extraordinary service" of Gen Petraeus.

"David Petraeus has provided extraordinary service to the United States for decades," Mr Obama said.

"By any measure, he was one of the outstanding general officers of his generation."

The president said the CIA's Deputy Director Michael Morell would serve as acting director.

"I am completely confident that the CIA will continue to thrive and carry out its essential mission," Mr Obama said.

Gen Petraeus has been married for 37 years to Holly, who he met when he was a cadet at the US Military Academy at West Point.

Although the president made no direct mention of Gen Petraeus' reason for resigning, he offered his thoughts and prayers to the general and his wife.

He said Mrs Petraeus has "done so much to help military families through her own work. I wish them the very best at this difficult time".

The CIA has come under fire in recent weeks in the wake of the September 11 attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that killed US ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

Critics have questioned how much the intelligence agency knew about the likelihood and nature of the attack.

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Turkey Helicopter Crash: 17 Troops Killed

Seventeen Turkish soldiers have died after their helicopter crashed in southeastern Turkey in bad weather, an official has said.

The Sikorsky aircraft came down on Herekol mountain, in the Pervari district of Siirt province, according to Siirt governor Ahmet Aydin.

The victims were members of gendarmerie special forces and there were no survivors on board, he said.

Authorities are investigating the cause of the crash which reportedly happened in thick fog.

The helicopter was transporting troops to Pervari, where the Turkish army has been involved in operations against Kurdish rebels for three days, security sources told AFP.

The military has been on Herekol mountain in an attempt to flush out militants from outlawed separatist group the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) who have hideouts there.

Since the summer, there has been an upsurge in PKK attacks in southeast Turkey, particularly in the Hakkari region.

Turkish jets and helicopters have pounded PKK positions along the border with Iraq and Iran for three days, killing 42 militants, Hakkari's governor said.

Last month, a Sikorsky crashed in southeastern Diyarbakir province after it hit power lines, killing one soldier and wounding seven.

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Babies To Be Vaccinated Against Stomach Bug

Babies are to be vaccinated against a highly infectious bug that is one of the most common causes of diarrhoea in children.

From September 2013, infants aged between two and four months will be immunised against rotavirus, which causes diarrhoea, vomiting, abdominal pain, fever and dehydration.

At present, almost every child will have had the viral infection by the age of five. It is the most common cause of gastroenteritis in young children and babies.

The Department of Health said the move will mean thousands of young children will be spared hospital stays and hundreds of thousands of GP visits.

At present, the virus causes 140,000 diarrhoea cases a year in under-fives across the UK, and leads to around 14,000 hospital stays.

Vaccination experts believe the immunisation programme will halve the number of vomiting and diarrhoea cases caused by rotavirus and there could be 70% fewer hospital stays as a result.

Children will receive the vaccine, to be given orally as two separate doses of liquid drops, as part of their routine vaccination programme.

Professor David Salisbury, director of immunisation at the DoH, said: "Rotavirus spreads very easily.

"Many people think of diarrhoea as something that all children get and that you have to put up with. But there is a way to protect children from this.

"I'd encourage all parents of young children to accept this vaccine when the programme begins next year."

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BBC Boss 'Was Unaware' Of Child Abuse Slur

Lord McAlpine: Full Statement

Updated: 10:45am UK, Friday 09 November 2012

Tory peer Lord McAlpine today described reports linking him to the North Wales child abuse allegations as "wholly false and seriously defamatory". Here is his full statement.

"Over the last several days it has become apparent to me that a number of ill-or uninformed commentators have been using blogs and other internet media outlets to accuse me of being the senior Conservative Party figure from the days of Margaret Thatcher's leadership who is guilty of sexually abusing young residents of a children's home in Wrexham, North Wales in the 1970's and 1980's.

"It has additionally become apparent to me that a number of broadcasters and newspapers have, without expressly naming me, also been alleging that a senior Conservative Party figure from that time was guilty of or suspected of being guilty of the sexual abuse of residents of this children's home.

"It is obvious that there must be a substantial number of people who saw that I had been identified in the internet publications as this guilty man and who subsequently saw or heard the broadcasts or read the newspapers in question and reasonably inferred that the allegation of guilt in those broadcasts and newspapers attached to me.

"Even though these allegations made of me by implication in the broadcast and print media, and made directly about me on the internet, are wholly false and seriously defamatory I can no longer expect the broadcast and print media to maintain their policy of defaming me only by innuendo.

"There is a media frenzy and I have to expect that an editor will soon come under pressure to risk naming me. My name and the allegations are for all practical purposes linked and in the public domain and I cannot rewind the clock.

"I therefore have decided that in order to mitigate, if only to some small extent, the damage to my reputation I must publicly tackle these slurs and set the record straight. In doing so I am by no means giving up my right to sue those who have defamed me in the recent past or who may do so in the future and I expressly reserve my rights to take all such steps as I and my solicitors consider necessary to protect my interests.

"On Tuesday, 6 November the Home Secretary, the Rt Hon Theresa May MP, made a statement in the House of Commons about the historic allegations of child abuse in the North Wales police force area.

"She explained that in 1991, North Wales Police conducted an investigation into allegations that, throughout the 1970s and 1980s, children in homes that were managed and supervised by Clwyd County Council were sexually and physically abused.

"The result of the police investigation was eight prosecutions and seven convictions of former care workers. Despite the investigation and convictions, it was widely believed, she said, that the abuse was in fact on a far greater scale, but a report produced by Clwyd Council's own inquiry was never published, because so much of its content was considered by lawyers to be defamatory.

"In 1996, the Rt Hon William Hague MP, the then Secretary of State for Wales, invited Sir Ronald Waterhouse to lead an inquiry into the abuse of children in care in the Gwynedd and Clwyd Council areas. Mrs May told the House of Commons that the Waterhouse inquiry sat for 203 days and heard evidence from more than 650 people.

"Statements made to the inquiry named more than 80 people as child abusers, many of whom were care workers or teachers. In 2000, the inquiry's report 'Lost in Care' made 72 recommendations for changes to the way in which children in care were protected by councils, social services and the police.

"Following the report's publications, 140 compensation claims were settled on behalf of the victims.

"Mrs May further said that the report found no evidence of a paedophile ring beyond the care system, which was the basis of the rumours that followed the original police investigation and, indeed, one of the allegations made in the past week.

"Last Friday, a victim of sexual abuse at one of the homes named in the report - Mr Steve Messham - alleged that the inquiry did not look at abuse outside care homes, and he renewed allegations against the police and several individuals.

"I am, as is now well known to readers of the internet and to journalists working for the print and broadcast media, one of the individuals implicated by Mr Messham.

"I have every sympathy for Mr Messham and for the many other young people who were sexually abused when they were residents of the children's home in Wrexham.

"Any abuse of children is abhorrent but the sexual abuse to which these vulnerable children were subjected in the 1970's and 1980's is particularly abhorrent.

"They had every right to expect to be protected and cared for by those who were responsible for them and it is abundantly clear that they were horribly violated. I have absolutely no sympathy for the adults who committed these crimes.

"Those who have been convicted were deservedly punished and those who have not yet been brought to justice should be as soon as possible.

"The facts are, however, that I have been to Wrexham only once. I visited the local Constituency Conservative Association in my capacity as Deputy Chairman.

"I was accompanied on this trip, at all times, by Stuart Newman, a Central Office Agent. We visited Mary Bell, a distant relative of mine and close friend of Stuart Newman.

"We did not stay the night in Wrexham. I have never been to the children's home in Wrexham, nor have I ever visited any children's home, reform school or any other institution of a similar nature.

"I have never stayed in a hotel in or near Wrexham, I did not own a Rolls Royce, have never had a 'Gold card' or 'Harrods card' and never wear after-shave, all of which have been alleged.

"I did not sexually abuse Mr Messham or any other residents of the children's home in Wrexham. Stuart Newman is now dead but my solicitors are endeavouring to locate a senior secretary who worked at Central Office at the time to see if she can remember the precise date I visited that Association.

"I fully support the decision (announced by the Home Secretary in the House of Commons on Tuesday) of the Chief Constable of North Wales, Mr Mark Polin, to invite Mr Keith Bristow, the Director General of the National Crime Agency, to assess the allegations recently received, to review the historic police investigations and to investigate any fresh allegations reported to the police into the alleged historic abuse in north Wales care homes.

"Although I live in Italy and have done so for many years and although I am in poor health, I am entirely willing to meet Mr Polin and Mr Bristow in London as soon as can be arranged so that they can eliminate me from their inquiries and so that any unwarranted suspicion can be removed from me.

"I wish to make it clear that I do not suggest that Mr Messham is malicious in making the allegations of sexual abuse about me. He is referring to a terrible period of his life in the 1970's or 1980's and what happened to him will have affected him ever since. If he does think I am the man who abused him all those years ago I can only suggest that he is mistaken and that he has identified the wrong person.

"I conclude by reminding those who have defamed me or who intend to do so that in making this statement I am by no means giving up my right to seek redress at law and repeat that I expressly reserve my rights to take all such steps as I and my solicitors consider necessary to protect my interests."

McAlpine of West Green

8 November 2012

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Lord McAlpine Denies Sex Abuse Allegations

Lord McAlpine: Full Statement

Updated: 10:45am UK, Friday 09 November 2012

Tory peer Lord McAlpine today described reports linking him to the North Wales child abuse allegations as "wholly false and seriously defamatory". Here is his full statement.

"Over the last several days it has become apparent to me that a number of ill-or uninformed commentators have been using blogs and other internet media outlets to accuse me of being the senior Conservative Party figure from the days of Margaret Thatcher's leadership who is guilty of sexually abusing young residents of a children's home in Wrexham, North Wales in the 1970's and 1980's.

"It has additionally become apparent to me that a number of broadcasters and newspapers have, without expressly naming me, also been alleging that a senior Conservative Party figure from that time was guilty of or suspected of being guilty of the sexual abuse of residents of this children's home.

"It is obvious that there must be a substantial number of people who saw that I had been identified in the internet publications as this guilty man and who subsequently saw or heard the broadcasts or read the newspapers in question and reasonably inferred that the allegation of guilt in those broadcasts and newspapers attached to me.

"Even though these allegations made of me by implication in the broadcast and print media, and made directly about me on the internet, are wholly false and seriously defamatory I can no longer expect the broadcast and print media to maintain their policy of defaming me only by innuendo.

"There is a media frenzy and I have to expect that an editor will soon come under pressure to risk naming me. My name and the allegations are for all practical purposes linked and in the public domain and I cannot rewind the clock.

"I therefore have decided that in order to mitigate, if only to some small extent, the damage to my reputation I must publicly tackle these slurs and set the record straight. In doing so I am by no means giving up my right to sue those who have defamed me in the recent past or who may do so in the future and I expressly reserve my rights to take all such steps as I and my solicitors consider necessary to protect my interests.

"On Tuesday, 6 November the Home Secretary, the Rt Hon Theresa May MP, made a statement in the House of Commons about the historic allegations of child abuse in the North Wales police force area.

"She explained that in 1991, North Wales Police conducted an investigation into allegations that, throughout the 1970s and 1980s, children in homes that were managed and supervised by Clwyd County Council were sexually and physically abused.

"The result of the police investigation was eight prosecutions and seven convictions of former care workers. Despite the investigation and convictions, it was widely believed, she said, that the abuse was in fact on a far greater scale, but a report produced by Clwyd Council's own inquiry was never published, because so much of its content was considered by lawyers to be defamatory.

"In 1996, the Rt Hon William Hague MP, the then Secretary of State for Wales, invited Sir Ronald Waterhouse to lead an inquiry into the abuse of children in care in the Gwynedd and Clwyd Council areas. Mrs May told the House of Commons that the Waterhouse inquiry sat for 203 days and heard evidence from more than 650 people.

"Statements made to the inquiry named more than 80 people as child abusers, many of whom were care workers or teachers. In 2000, the inquiry's report 'Lost in Care' made 72 recommendations for changes to the way in which children in care were protected by councils, social services and the police.

"Following the report's publications, 140 compensation claims were settled on behalf of the victims.

"Mrs May further said that the report found no evidence of a paedophile ring beyond the care system, which was the basis of the rumours that followed the original police investigation and, indeed, one of the allegations made in the past week.

"Last Friday, a victim of sexual abuse at one of the homes named in the report - Mr Steve Messham - alleged that the inquiry did not look at abuse outside care homes, and he renewed allegations against the police and several individuals.

"I am, as is now well known to readers of the internet and to journalists working for the print and broadcast media, one of the individuals implicated by Mr Messham.

"I have every sympathy for Mr Messham and for the many other young people who were sexually abused when they were residents of the children's home in Wrexham.

"Any abuse of children is abhorrent but the sexual abuse to which these vulnerable children were subjected in the 1970's and 1980's is particularly abhorrent.

"They had every right to expect to be protected and cared for by those who were responsible for them and it is abundantly clear that they were horribly violated. I have absolutely no sympathy for the adults who committed these crimes.

"Those who have been convicted were deservedly punished and those who have not yet been brought to justice should be as soon as possible.

"The facts are, however, that I have been to Wrexham only once. I visited the local Constituency Conservative Association in my capacity as Deputy Chairman.

"I was accompanied on this trip, at all times, by Stuart Newman, a Central Office Agent. We visited Mary Bell, a distant relative of mine and close friend of Stuart Newman.

"We did not stay the night in Wrexham. I have never been to the children's home in Wrexham, nor have I ever visited any children's home, reform school or any other institution of a similar nature.

"I have never stayed in a hotel in or near Wrexham, I did not own a Rolls Royce, have never had a 'Gold card' or 'Harrods card' and never wear after-shave, all of which have been alleged.

"I did not sexually abuse Mr Messham or any other residents of the children's home in Wrexham. Stuart Newman is now dead but my solicitors are endeavouring to locate a senior secretary who worked at Central Office at the time to see if she can remember the precise date I visited that Association.

"I fully support the decision (announced by the Home Secretary in the House of Commons on Tuesday) of the Chief Constable of North Wales, Mr Mark Polin, to invite Mr Keith Bristow, the Director General of the National Crime Agency, to assess the allegations recently received, to review the historic police investigations and to investigate any fresh allegations reported to the police into the alleged historic abuse in north Wales care homes.

"Although I live in Italy and have done so for many years and although I am in poor health, I am entirely willing to meet Mr Polin and Mr Bristow in London as soon as can be arranged so that they can eliminate me from their inquiries and so that any unwarranted suspicion can be removed from me.

"I wish to make it clear that I do not suggest that Mr Messham is malicious in making the allegations of sexual abuse about me. He is referring to a terrible period of his life in the 1970's or 1980's and what happened to him will have affected him ever since. If he does think I am the man who abused him all those years ago I can only suggest that he is mistaken and that he has identified the wrong person.

"I conclude by reminding those who have defamed me or who intend to do so that in making this statement I am by no means giving up my right to seek redress at law and repeat that I expressly reserve my rights to take all such steps as I and my solicitors consider necessary to protect my interests."

McAlpine of West Green

8 November 2012

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Coronation Street Star Bill Tarmey Dies

Former Coronation Street star Bill Tarmey, who played loveable rogue Jack Duckworth in the show, has died.

A spokeswoman for the soap opera said Tarmey, who featured as the long-suffering husband of Vera, died this morning in Tenerife.

The 71-year-old left the soap in 2010 after more than 30 years playing the pigeon-fancying, loveable rogue alongside Liz Dawn, who played his wife Vera.

A life-long heavy smoker, he suffered a minor heart attack following a bypass operation in 2002.

The actor's family revealed the news and said in a statement: "The family of Bill Tarmey have confirmed that he sadly passed away this morning in Tenerife. They have respectfully asked the media for privacy as they grieve for a wonderful husband, father and brother."

And the star's former colleagues issued their own statement: "The cast, crew and production team at Coronation Street are devastated to hear of Bill's death. Our thoughts and prayers are with Bill's wife and soulmate Ali and their family at this very sad time."

Antony Cotton, who plays Sean Tully in the show, paid tribute on Twitter saying: "Goodnight Bill Tarmey. You were the best. We'll miss you so much x"

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Britain To End Financial Aid To India In 2015

Britain's controversial £280m-a-year aid programme for India will end in 2015, the Government has announced.

The UK will reduce its support to the fast-developing country over the next three years, saving around £200m ahead of the cut-off.

International Development Secretary Justine Greening said programmes already under way would go ahead but nothing new would be approved.

Future British support for India will be limited to skills-sharing in areas like trade, investment and health and will be worth around £30m-a-year.

The move follows criticism that the Government is imposing drastic austerity measures at home while handing out a fortune in aid to rich, developing nations.

Popular move: Justine Greening

India has become a focus of the anger because it has its own space programme and a booming economy that is growing at 8% a year.

Indian finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said last year that the country no longer wanted or needed the grant, describing it as "a peanut in our total development expenditure".

The decision will also delight Tory MPs who have attacked Prime Minister David Cameron's commitment to spend 0.7% of national income on overseas aid.

Ms Greening said: "After reviewing the programme and holding discussions with the government of India this week, we agreed that now is the time to move to a relationship focusing on skills-sharing rather than aid.

"India is successfully developing and our own bilateral relationship has to keep up with 21st century India. It's time to recognise India's changing place in the world.

"It is of course critical that we fulfil all the commitments we have already made and that we continue with those short-term projects already under way which are an important part of the UK and government of India's development programme."

British support beyond 2015 will involve a hub of British development experts working with the Delhi government, and a programme of private sector investment.

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Child Sex Abuse Victim Recalls Horror

By Tom Parmenter, Sky Correspondent

A man who was abused in North Wales care homes has told how he was routinely taken to London and forced to take part in sex parties.

He alleges he was regularly abused as a 12-year-old boy by members of the establishment in a smart London flat. 

Michael was 10 when he was first taken into care at the former children's home called Bersham Hall near Wrexham, north Wales.

He quickly became drawn into the abusive regime at the home.

But he says it was when staff from another home called Bryn Estyn in Wrexham moved to Bersham Hall that the abuse became worse.

Now 44, Michael was one of a number of boys who would be taken down on a minibus that belonged to the home to London on a Friday evening.

He told Sky News: "I'm going to be blunt, we were taken to sex parties and we'd be traded off and displayed and we would be picked out one by one." 

He claims he was so institutionalised by his time in care that he saw the trips to London as a privilege.

He said: "To us it was great, we could drink, we could smoke we could be naughty we were in the adult world - fantastic.

"Then uncle 'whoever' would pat his knee and call you over and he'd give you another drink and he'd talk to you.

"A lot of them were quite old men, 50s or 60s, very posh. They would take us away to separate bedrooms where we were abused.

"It was how compliant you were, how nice you were towards them and looking back it was all about what they could get away with."

He has now reported allegations of rape at the parties to his local police force.

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Sandy Victims Suffer As New Storm Hits US Coast

By Nick Martin, Sky News Correspondent, in New York City

A second storm has battered the northeast coast of the United States adding to the misery felt by many after superstorm Sandy.

Heavy snow and strong winds have hit parts of New York and New Jersey, which brought down power lines and caused traffic delays.

In New Jersey, utilities reported 400,000 power outages early Thursday; 20,000 of those were new.

In New York City and Westchester, more than 70,000 customers were without power. On Long Island, more than 200,000 are affected.

However, roads in New Jersey were clear for the morning commute, and rail lines into Manhattan were running smoothly, despite snow still coming down heavily in some areas.

Police went to low-lying neighbourhoods with loudspeakers, urging residents to leave.

But New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg did not issue mandatory evacuations, and many people stayed.

"We haven't and won't order the kind of large-scale evacuation that we did in advance of Hurricane Sandy but, if you experienced significant flooding during Sandy, then you should consider taking shelter with friends and family at a safer spot or using one of the city's storm shelters," he said.

Major airlines cancelled flights in and out of the New York City area

However communities hit by superstorm Sandy are struggling amid the bad weather.

In Staten Island, one of the areas most affected, the task of clearing up debris was made more difficult and a government aid station was forced to close.

Hundreds of residents, displaced last week, had to spend Wednesday night in shelters run by state officials.

Lorraine Orobello left her home in the middle of the storm because she had run out of food.

The 54-year-old said she had been turned away from the federal food station and had turned to another aid centre for help.

She said: "It's hard. All I want is some soup or a peanut butter sandwich.

"I shouldn't be coming out in this weather but I have nothing back home - just a few tins of tuna and a small heater to keep warm.

"But I'm an American, you know, we get on with things. We'll get through this."

Major airlines cancelled at least 1,300 flights in and out of the New York City area ahead of the storm, causing a new round of disruptions that rippled across the country. Sandy last week led to more than 20,000 flight cancellations.

New York City also closed all parks, playgrounds and beaches and ordered all construction sites to be secured.

Sandy started as a hurricane and killed dozens of people in the Caribbean. At least 120 people died in the US and Canada.

Around $32m (£20m) has been raised so far to help victims after around 10,000 donations came in from across the US.

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Bradley Wiggins In Hospital After Bike Crash

Police are to speak to a van driver who was involved a crash with Tour de France winner and Olympic gold medallist Bradley Wiggins.

Wiggins, 32, was thrown from his bike in the accident at a petrol station near to his home in Lancashire on Thursday night.

The father-of-two suffered a broken rib, a dislocated finger or thumb and cuts and bruises.

He was conscious when taken by ambulance to Royal Preston Hospital and was discharged on Thursday afternoon.

A bike can be seen as police deal with the accident. Picture: The Sun

His helmet was cracked but he suffered no head injury. He was reportedly given morphine and a precautionary scan of his head.

The winner of four Olympic gold medals, including this year's men's time trial, was due to attend a number of interviews to promote his book My Time, which is published today.

An ambulance was called to the scene of the crash in Crow Orchard Road, Wrightington, shortly before 6.10pm.

Garage attendant Yasmin Smith, who went to Wiggins' aid, told Sky News: "There was a loud screeching of tyres and a rather big bang. A customer said there'd been an accident so I shot out to see a gentleman on the pavement.

Wiggins has won a total of seven Olympic medals

"He did look in a lot of pain with his ribs more than anything - he kept holding himself. His colour changed in his face and he was deteriorating within minutes with the pain.

"I didn't realise who he actually was until he got into the ambulance - I was more concerned about his health."

The driver of the white Vauxhall Astra Envoy, a local woman, was uninjured in the collision.

A broken wing mirror from her vehicle was laying on a grass verge near the exit of the petrol station.

GQ Man Of The Year: Wiggins with singer Liam Gallagher

Cycling journalist William Fotheringham, who helped Wiggins with his new autobiography, reported that Wiggins was riding a mountain bike en route to meeting a group of local cyclists near his home in Eccleston, between Preston and Wigan.

In a statement on its website, Team Sky said Wiggins was being kept in hospital for observation but the injuries he has sustained are not thought to be serious "and he is expected to make a full and speedy recovery".

Wiggins was out of action for four weeks with a broken collarbone suffered during the 2011 Tour de France.

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Essex Fatal Fire: 'House Was Burgled'

A house in Essex where a doctor and her five children died in a fire may have been burgled, police say.

Sabah Usmani and her five children died after a fire at their home in Barn Mead, Harlow, in the early hours of October 15.

Her husband, Dr Abdul Shakoor, tried unsuccessfully to save his family members from the blaze.

Detectives from the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate believe there may have been a burglary at the home after the family went to bed and before the fire was discovered.

A laptop bag containing personal papers belonging to Dr Shakoor was found abandoned near lock-up garages in Whitewaits, Harlow, on October 26 and police believe the laptop may have been stolen in the burglary.

Police said that on October 15 there were two unsuccessful attempts to break into other properties in Harlow.

Detectives are investigating if these incidents relate to the suspected burglary at the family's house.

Police and Dr Shakoor have asked members of the public with information to come forward.

Two people, a teenage boy aged 15 to 16 who was wearing a tracksuit, and a slim girl in a Burnt Mill School uniform, were seen throwing the laptop bag away near the garages in Whitewaits.

Police said: "Detectives need to speak to them urgently to find out where they found the bag (and) also appealing for information about the whereabouts of Dr Shakoor's Toshiba laptop."

The interior of the Essex house where the family died

"Dr Shakoor remembers leaving the laptop in the living room before going to bed on the evening of the fire.

"It was bought in Saudi Arabia and has a two-pin connection that was used with an adaptor.

"Officers are asking anyone who has been offered a second-hand laptop to come forward."

Police also want to speak to a group of four young men who were outside the house in the early hours of October 15.

The young men - aged between 16 and 19 - were wearing tracksuits and baseball caps. There were also two boys on bikes.

Emergency services fought to save the family during the blaze, but Sabah, a 44-year-old doctor, her daughter Hira, 12, and sons Sohaib, 11, and Rayyan, six, died at the scene.

Her son Muneeb, nine, and daughter Maheen, three, were taken to hospital in critical condition but later died.

Essex Police and the Fire and Rescue service, along with independent fire scientists, have so far been unable to identify the cause of the fire.

Detective Superintendent Rob Vinson said: "From the onset this house fire and that of the nearby car fire were investigated as suspicious incidents by a dedicated team from the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate.

"Scientists have been sifting through the remains of the fire and have confirmed that to date there is no evidence of a flammable liquid being used. It is however important to emphasise that detailed forensic testing remains ongoing.

"Behind the scenes detectives and specially trained staff have been working around the clock piecing together information and intelligence which has led us to this point.

"This remains one of the most complex cases the investigative team has ever dealt with but we remain steadfast in our approach and confident the answers lie within the local community.

"We will continue to gain intelligence and work to find answers to the questions of what happened that resulted in such a tragic loss of life."

Dr Shakoor has pleaded with members of the public with information that could help detectives to come forward.

He said: "It is impossible for me to put into words what the loss of my wife and children means to me and the devastating affect it has had on all of my family.

"In the space of just one night I have lost everything dearest to me. Today I am looking to the community once again for help in providing answers to the many questions that remain."

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Derby Fire Deaths: Parents Deny Murder

The parents of six children who died during a house fire in Derby have pleaded not guilty to six counts of murder.

Mick Philpott, 55, and his wife Mairead, 31, made the plea at Nottingham Crown Court.

Jade, 10, and brothers John, nine, Jack, eight, Jessie, six and Jayden, five, all died in the blaze on Victory Road, Allenton on May 11.

Their brother Duwayne, 13, died three days later in hospital.

Mick, wearing a St Christopher, broke down in tears and held his head in his hands as he entered his plea while Mairead, wearing a cross on a long chain around her neck, was more composed.

However, she became tearful during the hour-long hearing.

A second man, who was charged with the six murders on Monday also appeared in the dock.

Paul Mosley, 45, of Cecil Street, Derby, did not speak during the hearing and stared straight ahead.

The three were flanked by 11 prison officers in the dock, with a line of five sat behind the couple, separating them from Mosley.

All three were remanded in custody.

They will next appear at Birmingham Crown Court at 2pm on November 29.

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US Election: How Romney Lost And Obama Won

"We are not as divided as our politics suggest," newly re-elected President Barack Obama insisted as he addressed thousands of his supporters at his victory party in Chicago.

His inclusive message - white or black , straight or gay, red state or blue state "we are one United States of America" - deliberately reprised the great speech which first brought him to national, and international, prominence when he ran for the US Senate just eight years ago.

It was also a reminder of how little has changed in American politics in this election in spite of the record $6bn spent on the campaign.

Mr Obama is still the president. The Democrats still have a narrow majority in the US Senate.

The Republicans still have the majority in the House of Representatives. Democrat heartlands are still on the east and west coasts and in the north east. The Republican firewall in the southern states was not breached.

After four difficult years in the White House, there was a modest swing against Mr Obama on Tuesday night but, at around 2%, it was not enough to dislodge his hold on the electoral college.

With only Florida still to be allocated, Mr Romney won just two states off Mr Obama, Indiana and North Carolina, the latter by the smallest of margins.

President Barack Obama celebrates re-election

As Mr Romney accepted in his concession speech in Boston, this outcome means that the US has, on balance, rejected "the different direction" he and, more specifically his Republican allies, were offering the country.

In state referendums, there were votes in favour of recognising gay marriage and of the recreational use of marijuana.

And in two states carried by Mr Romney on Tuesday night - Indiana and Missouri - there was rejection for the two Republican tea-party candidates Todd Akins and Dick Mourdock who had made extreme ideological assertions about rape and abortion.

Even on voting day, prominent Republicans were asserting loudly that the predictions of the mainstream media (including me) and the opinion polls were wrong.

They believed that their supporters and independent voters were enthused for Mr Romney and that demoralised Democrats would boycott the polls.

This scenario simply did not happen. Turnout was healthy (although below 2008 and even 2004 numbers).

And, according to the exit polls, Mr Obama's support was both quantitatively and qualitatively amongst the demographic groups which put him in power - women, younger voters and ethnic minorities.

This president did not get a honeymoon at the start of his first term and he will not get one now. America is spared a transition and a lame duck session of Congress.

Which means that he and his Republican opponents in the House have until the end of the year to agree more palatable ways of dealing with the national overdraft or they will plunge off the "fiscal cliff" with severe automatic tax rises and public spending cuts kicking in.

The big question is how the now leaderless Republicans respond to this second rebuff from the voters?

There were astonishing scenes on the result shows as well-known right-wing pundits argued with each other about the coverage, and some accused Mr Romney as "a northwestern Liberal".

One-time presidential candidate Donald Trump has expressed outrage at the result and called for a march on Washington.

Donald Trump has expressed outrage at the result

Anger has also been directed at the prominent Republican Chris Christie of New Jersey, who openly congratulated Mr Obama on his response to last week's hurricane.

None of this suggests there is as yet a mood for cool, calm reflection amongst Republicans on the national political mood.

Mr Romney offered no lead on this in his concession speech. So it seems unlikely that Speaker Boehner will now "reach out" constructively to the newly-mandated president.

Mr Obama has a government team in place but some changes are inevitable.

Hillary Clinton has said she wants to step down as Secretary of State but she may stay on for some months to deal with pressing foreign policy questions: Syria, Iran and the new Chinese government due to be put in place by the Communist Party this week.

The US constitution bars Mr Obama from running for a third term, which means whether she stays or goes Mrs Clinton is now the favourite for the Democratic nomination in 2016.

Rather surprisingly the president did not thank the Clintons publicly on Tuesday night, but his aides have said the first phone call he made after Mr Romney privately threw in the towel was to Bill Clinton, who campaigned so hard for him.

Hillary Clinton is favourite for the 2016 Democratic nomination

Both David Cameron and Ed Miliband have congratulated Mr Obama on his re-election and both are genuinely pleased - and not just because of continuity and stability.

The Prime Minister is cheered because Mr Obama is the first leader in this economic slowdown to have kept his job, unlike Nicolas Sarkozy, Silvio Berlusconi and others.

Number 10 believes Mr Obama has shown you can persuade the voters that you are dealing with an economic mess which you did not create.

On the other hand, Labour leader Mr Miliband believes Mr Obama's policies are closer to his own, stressing stimulus above austerity.

So 'No Drama' Obama has become 'No Change Election' Obama. But that does not mean he plans to be 'No Legacy' Obama.

With the clock now ticking on his administration, the president says he goes back to the White House "inspired" and "hopeful" to "continue our journey forward and remind the world just why it is that we live in the greatest nation on earth".

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Republican Rape Remark Candidates Defeated

Two Republican candidates who made controversial remarks about rape and abortion during the US election campaign have both been defeated in their campaign to join the Senate.

Richard Mourdock in Indiana lost to Democrat Joe Donnelly while Congressman Todd Akin lost out to Democrat incumbent senator Claire McCaskill in Missouri.

The losses of the two candidates - and the Maine seat going to independent candidate Angus King - hit Republican chances of capturing the Senate from the Democrats.

Mr Mourdock, who is strongly anti-abortion under any circumstances, shocked both Republicans and Democrats by saying during the campaign that if a pregnancy occurred as a result of rape it was "a gift from God".

"I struggled with it myself for a long time," the would-be senator said. "But I came to realise that life is that gift from God, and I think even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something God intended to happen."

The only exception to an outright ban on abortion was if the life of the mother was at stake, he insisted.

Mr Akin was expected to win the Missouri seat until his comments in August about "legitimate rape" caused outrage.

Senator Tammy Baldwin speaking to supporters following her success

Mr Akin said on TV that he believed women's "natural" defences would prevent them getting pregnant if they really had been raped.

Politicians from his own party called for him to drop out of the election race but, while he apologised for his remarks, he refused to withdraw from the campaign.

In a tight race in Wisconsin, Democrat congresswoman Tammy Baldwin prevailed in a close race with former Governor Tommy Thompson and will become the first openly gay US senator.

In Massachusetts, Republican Scott Brown, who managed to win the Senate seat after the death of Ted Kennedy in 2009, was defeated by Democrat Elizabeth Warren.

But the results mean the newly re-elected President Barack Obama will still have to deal with a divided Congress.

The Democrats retain control of the Senate, while Republicans keep a solid control of the House of Representatives.

Before the election, the Republicans had hoped to win the Senate in which they held 47 seats to the Democrats 53. That, now, is impossible.

House Speaker John Boehner will continue to block Mr Obama's tax plans

But the Republicans are sure of keeping control of the House which has a total of 435 seats. Although the Democrats made a few gains, the Republicans still have a commanding lead.

House Speaker John Boehner, who gets to keep his job, said voters made clear there is no mandate for raising taxes.

Mr Obama has proposed imposing higher taxes on households earning over $250,000 a year.

However, control of the Senate means Democrats can protect the president's signature legislative achievement, his health care reform law, which Republicans had promised to repeal.

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Obama Tells US: 'The Best Is Yet To Come'

Barack Obama has promised that the "best is yet to come" for the US after winning another four years at the White House.

Following a bitter and costly election campaign, the president easily overcame his Republican challenger Mitt Romney - taking seven of the nine key battleground states.

Mr Romney won in North Carolina but Democrat Mr Obama swept to victory in Ohio, Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, Wisconsin, Virginia and Colorado.

With Florida the last swing state left to call, he has 303 electoral college votes to Mr Romney's 206 and is well over the crucial threshold of 270.

Obama confirmed his win on Twitter - it's now the most-retweeted tweet ever

The president was also ahead in the national popular vote, with the country-wide exit poll putting him on 50% - two points ahead of his Republican challenger.

This is despite his popularity plunging since he was swept into the White House on a wave of hope in 2008 and unemployment currently standing at 7.9%.

:: READ MORE - Live Election Updates

Jubilation grew through the night in Chicago as it became clear Mr Obama was going to be re-elected.

Once Mr Romney had conceded by phone, the president appeared on stage to rapturous cheers as Stevie Wonder's hit Signed, Sealed, Delivered played.

"In this election, you the American people reminded us that while our road has been hard, while our journey has been long, we have picked ourselves up, we have fought our way back," he said.

President Obama walks on stage with his family before his Chicago speech

"We know in our hearts that for the United States of America the best is yet to come."

The first US black president declared that he was returning to the White House "more determined and more inspired than ever ... about the future."

He also said he wanted to meet Mr Romney to discuss how they could work together.

Before appearing in person, the Democrat had told his supporters via Twitter: "This happened because of you. Thank you," and: "We're all in this together. That's how we campaigned and that's who we are. Thank you".

The Obamas and Bidens after their victory was called

In a third post, he said simply: "Four more years," and posted a picture of himself hugging his wife Michelle. This was retweeted more than half a million times - a Twitter record.

He also wrote an email, promising to "spend the rest of my presidency honouring your support, and doing what I can to finish what we started".

"Today is the clearest proof yet that, against the odds, ordinary Americans can overcome powerful interests," he said, adding: "There's a lot more work to do."

In Washington, thousands of well-wishers danced and waved flags outside the White House after the result became clear - chanting "four more years" and "USA, USA".

Crowds whooped and cried out "Obama, Obama" and gave high-fives to strangers as election fever swept across the city.

The contest had been billed as one of the tightest races for the White House in decades but ultimately, Mr Obama won comfortably.

His victory appeared to be a vindication for a campaign team that had predicted a close but winnable election - despite the pain of the deepest economic crisis since the 1930s Great Depression.

Romney supporters absorbing the result

Romney campaign staff in Boston were shocked as Democrat victories piled up and Republican supporters looked increasingly devastated as they realised their dream was over.

The candidate, who was watching the result in the city, rang Mr Obama to concede once he lost Ohio and then briefly addressed the crowds.

"This is a time of great challenges for America and I pray that the president is successful in guiding our nation," he said.

The Republican thanked his running mate Paul Ryan and his family, calling wife Ann "the love of my life" and saying "she would have been a wonderful first lady".

He added: "Paul and I have left everything on the field. We have given everything to this campaign. I so wish that I had been able to fulfil your hopes to lead the country in a different direction, but the nation chose another leader."

Mitt Romney spoke to supporters after conceding defeat

Mr Romney had earlier revealed he had written a 1,118-word victory speech and claimed he had not prepared anything in case he lost.

Until last month, the Republican was considered to have little chance of ousting Mr Obama after his campaign was damaged by a string of gaffes.

However, a lacklustre performance by the president in the first television debate turned the race on its head and Mr Romney surged back in the polls.

The incumbent was much stronger in the second and third debates, but it was not enough to derail the Romney campaign.

Better than expected employment figures last week helped bolster the Democrat and then fate also played a hand when Hurricane Sandy roared in.

The Empire State Building turns blue after Barack Obama's victory

The superstorm forced Mr Romney into the shade as campaigning was suspended and Mr Obama returned to presidential duties, but the pair was still neck-and-neck going into the final day.

Once the euphoria of another victory fades, the president will face a tough task enacting his second-term agenda, after Republicans - who thwarted him repeatedly in his first term - retained control of the House of Representatives.

Democrats kept the Senate but fell short of the 60-vote super majority needed to pass major legislation over Republican blocking tactics.

Two Republican Senate candidates, Richard Mourdock in Indiana and Todd Akin in Missouri, both lost their seats after making controversial remarks about rape during the campaign.

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April Jones: Man Sentenced For Facebook Posts

An 18-year-old man has been given a six-week suspended sentence for making offensive comments on Facebook about missing girl April Jones.

Sam Busby was arrested by police after posting grossly offensive remarks on the social networking site just days after Jones' disappearance in Machynlleth, mid-Wales, last month.

Busby has pleaded guilty to a charge of sending an indecent and offensive message.

Magistrates handed down a six-week jail term suspended for 18 months, saying they had taken into account Busby's early guilty plea and remorse.

More follows...

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Brent Cross Jewellery Shop Targeted In Raid

Four people on three motorbikes - armed with axes and bats - have raided a jewellers at a popular London shopping centre.

The suspects entered Brent Cross Shopping Centre in London shortly after 10.15am on Tuesday, fleeing with "a quantity of watches and jewellery", according to police.

They drove away in the direction of Hendon Central. The motorbikes were later found abandoned at a nearby golf course.

No injuries were reported but an elderly man at the scene was treated for shock.

A Metropolitan Police spokeswoman said: "No firearms were seen. The suspects fled the scene on the motorbikes in the direction of Hendon Central.

"The motorbikes were subsequently found abandoned a short time later at a nearby golf course."

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Obama: Key States May Swing It For President

By Greg Milam, US Correspondent

Barack Obama looks on course to secure a second term in the White House as Americans cast their votes following the most expensive and negative election campaign in history.

The president appears to have the narrowest of leads over rival Mitt Romney in a number of critical swing states.

The Republican candidate will continue campaigning on election day, as he visits Cleveland in Ohio, and Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania.

Mr Obama is spending the day in his home-town of Chicago. He has recorded a number of television and radio interviews which will air today.

US vice-president Joe Biden casts his vote in Delaware

His vice-president Joe Biden has already voted in Greenville, Delaware, saying: "It's always a kick".

When asked if he thought it was the last time he would vote for himself, he told reporters: "No, I don't think so".

Mr Biden shook hands with and hugged other voters as he waited. He urged Americans to vote "even if you have to stand in line."

Mr Obama and Mr Romney picked up five votes each in Dixville Notch

In a possible sign of a tight race ahead, the first voting on election day saw both candidates receive five votes each in the tiny town of Dixville Notch, New Hampshire.

The president wrapped up his campaign with a rally in Iowa, the state where his 2008 campaign sparked into life, and he called on Americans to give him a second chance.

"I came back to ask you to help us finish what we started because this is where our movement for change began, right here," he said.

"After all we've fought through together, we cannot give up on change now. We know what real change looks like."

:: Watch full coverage on Sky News as the results come in from 2230

The two candidates have criss-crossed a handful of swing states in recent days as they try to energise supporters and secure every last vote. Both have sounded weary and hoarse at times.

The latest 'poll of polls' by RealClearPolitics puts Mr Obama on 48.8% and Mr Romney on 48.1%.

In swing states, Mr Obama has a three-percentage point lead in Ohio and was ahead by slimmer margins in Virginia and Colorado. Mr Romney led in Florida.

The other states to watch include Iowa, Wisconsin, Nevada and Pennsylvania, where Mr Romney has poured money into a late run.

Barack Obama's final rally in Iowa

The electoral college system and the way the state polls are going suggests that Mr Obama could be headed toward re-election partly due to his lead in Ohio, according to Ipsos pollster Julia Clark.

A victory in US presidential elections relies not on a popular vote count but reaching 270 electoral college votes. They are allocated to each state based on population size.

Ms Clark said: "Obama only needs a couple of these swing states and the data suggests that he'll win one or two of them."

Mr Romney's advisers dismiss those polls and believe they have the momentum.

He said: "The same course we're on isn't going to lead to a better destination. The same course we're on is going to lead to $20bn in debt. Unless we change course, we also may be looking at another recession."

Mr Romney called on New Hampshire voters to back him

And speaking at a rally in Manchester, New Hampshire, he said: "Tomorrow is a moment to look into the future and imagine what we can do, to put that past four years behind us and build a new future.

"Walk with me. Tomorrow, we begin a new tomorrow."

The economy has been the key issue in the campaign and both candidates have been driving grassroots efforts to mobilise support.

Mr Romney told them:  "We have one job left, and that's to make sure that on election day, we make certain that everybody that's qualified to vote gets out to vote."

In the last few days, Mr Obama has been accompanied by stars including Bruce Springsteen and Jay-Z and with appearances from former president Bill Clinton.

Both campaigns have victory rallies lined up, in Chicago and at Romney HQ in Boston, and the candidates will address the nation once the results are known.

There have already been some allegations of irregularities at polling stations and if the numbers are close, recounts and absentee ballots could mean it is days before the result is known.

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Syria: Assad Could Leave, Says David Cameron

David Cameron has suggested that Syria's president Bashar al Assad could be allowed safe passage out of the country if it would guarantee an end to the nation's civil war.

In an interview with Sky News Arabia, the Prime Minister said the international community is not doing enough to stop the fighting and a "political road map" was needed to see Mr Assad leave.

Speaking in Abu Dhabi on the second day of a three-day tour of the Gulf and Middle East, he added that he was committed to work with the opposition both within and outside the country to help bring about a transition.

"I am certainly not offering (Assad) an exit plan to Britain, but if he wants to leave, he could leave, that could be arranged," Mr Cameron said.

Activists say that since Syria's unrest began in March 2011, more than 36,000 people have been killed.

Mr Cameron is on a tour of the Middle East

The conflict is now stuck in a military stalemate, which rebel fighters blame on a lack of strategic weapons, such as anti-aircraft missiles.

Appearing on Al Arabiya television about Mr Assad, Mr Cameron continued: "Of course, I would favour him facing the full force of international law and justice for what he's done."

The Prime Minister has previously called the failure of world powers to halt the Assad regime's assault on its opponents a "terrible stain" on the reputation of the deadlocked United Nations.

Syria's allies Russia and China have repeatedly blocked attempts to approve harsher sanctions in the Security Council.

Meanwhile, fighting continues a day after nearly 250 people died in the country's worst violence in weeks and rebels launched one of their deadliest attacks yet.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 247 people were killed on Monday, including 93 soldiers and pro-regime fighters, in the deadliest day in Syria since an attempt to impose a ceasefire for the October Eid al Adha Muslim holiday collapsed.

Another car bomb struck early on Tuesday, causing injuries and significant damage in the city of Mudamiya near the capital, the Observatory said.

The regime also renewed a campaign of air strikes pounding rebel positions, with fighter jets dropping at least two bombs in the heart of the town of Douma, eight miles northeast of the capital.

Syrian state television has also reported that Mohammad al Laham, brother of parliament speaker Jihad al Laham, was "assassinated by terrorists" in Damascus.

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Home Sec: New Wales Child Abuse Inquiry

The director general of the National Crime Agency will investigate historic allegations of child abuse at North Wales care homes, Home Secretary Theresa May has told the Commons.

Keith Bristow will lead investigations into new claims of sex offences carried out in the 70s and 80s, and review how previous inquiries were carried out.

The move comes after a paedophile victim alleged that a senior Conservative party figure had abused children in social care in the 70s.

The Home Secretary said North Wales Police chief constable Mark Polin asked Mr Bristow to "assess the allegations recently received, to review the historic police investigations and investigate any fresh allegations reported to police into the alleged historic abuse in North Wales care homes".

Mrs May said Serious Organised Crime Agency and Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre experts would also take part in the review.

The abuse claims centre on the Bryn Estyn boys home in Wrexham

She said Home Office funds were available if needed and added that Mr Bristow's report into the historic investigation and any fresh allegations would be complete by April.

Shealso said an independent review led by a "senior figure" would take place to see if a late-1990s inquiry by Sir Ronald Waterhouse "was properly constituted and did its job".

The Home Secretary's statement to MPs follows claims last week on the BBC's Newsnight programme that Sir Ronald's 2000 report "Lost in Care" did not name many suspected abusers because it was defamatory.

Mrs May said: "The report found no evidence of a paedophile ring beyond the care system which was the basis of the rumours that followed the original police investigation, and indeed one of the allegations that has been made in the last week.

"Last Friday, a victim of sexual abuse at one of the homes named in the report - Steve Messham - alleged that the inquiry did not look at abuse outside the care homes, and he renewed allegations against the police and several individuals.

Alleged victim Keith Gregory says there was a "cover-up" of serious abuse

"This Government is treating these allegations with the utmost seriousness. Child abuse is a hateful, abhorrent and disgusting crime, and we must not allow these allegations to go unanswered."

She said victims who came forward would be supported, adding: "Those of us in positions of authority and responsibility will not shirk our duty to support you."

Speaking on the second day of his visit to the Middle East earlier, Prime Minister David Cameron said: "These are very, very concerning allegations, they are dreadful allegations. We must get to the bottom of it as quickly as possible on behalf of the victims.

"That is why I have ordered this rapid investigation into the previous inquiry to find out whether there was something wrong with it and make sure the victims are properly listened to."

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Obama And Romney In Final White House Push

Who Will Win The Presidency?

Updated: 11:01am UK, Monday 05 November 2012

By Adam Boulton, Political Editor

In predicting who is going to be the next US president, all we have to go on are the opinion polls - the rest comes down to hunches and conscious or unconscious prejudice.

What's more, opinion polls in America are particularly unreliable. Polling just a few thousand people in a country where around 140 million are expected to vote is a risky business.

In many polls the margin of error, typically plus or minus 3%, is much bigger than the arithmetical 'lead' enjoyed by the top candidate.

There are also differences in the representative sample used by the pollsters. For example, that venerable organisation Gallup seems consistently to favour the Republicans by as much as 6% more than its rivals in national opinion polls.

As things stand, national opinion polls are mostly a dead heat, when a margin of error is allowed for.

Mr Obama's popularity declined after his poor performance in the debate on October 3 and he has not recovered his big lead since then. But Mr Romney had no "momentum" by the beginning of November.

At the weekend, the RealClearPolitics (RCP) National Poll Average stood at 47.5% for Mr Obama and 47.3% for Mr Romney.

Mr Obama is clearly not on course to do as well as he did in 2008 against John McCain when he polled 52.9% of votes cast, compared to 45.7% for the Republican.

Indeed conventional wisdom has now placed at least two of the states he won then - Indiana and North Carolina - firmly in the Republican column.

National opinion polls reflect the popular vote across the country, and winning that is not how you get to be president. You win the election by winning the vote state by state, thus stacking up the majority of the 538 electoral college votes.

It's perfectly possible to win the popular vote and lose the electoral college. That's what Al Gore did against George W Bush in 2000. And it's what some Republicans fear Mr Romney may do this time.

So to work out who is going to sleep in the White House next January, you need to follow the state polls.

Working from this data, America's leading analysts have come up with different snapshots of the state of the electoral race.

With 270 college votes needed to win, RCP allocates 201 to Mr Obama, 191 to Mr Romney and 146 votes in 11 states to play for.

Calling states on a solid and leaning basis, the Washington Post gives Mr Obama 243 electoral votes, Mr Romney 181, with 89 up for grabs in the toss up states - Ohio, Florida, Virginia, Wisconsin, Colorado, Iowa and New Hampshire.

Nate Silver at the New York Times' controversial FiveThirtyEight blog makes a different probability-based analysis of the same polling data. 

He says there is now an 85.1% chance of Mr Obama being re-elected compared to just 14.9% that Mr Romney will become the 45th POTUS.  He calculates final electoral vote share at 306.9 for Mr Obama compared to 231.1 for Mr Romney.

You get a similar result if you apply the latest state polls to the toss-up states in the Washington Post and RCP models. With two days to go these state polls do not point to a dead heat - they suggest that Mr Obama is going to be re-elected.

In the latest polls from most of the swing states - Wisconsin, Colorado, Iowa, New Hampshire, Virginia and above all Ohio - the President is ahead, not by much but consistently. He has also edged ahead in Florida, where he held his biggest rally on Sunday.

The Romney campaign shifted its focus to Pennsylvania at the weekend, in an attempt to suggest that more states than the usual suspects may be in play. But here and in Minnesota and Michigan, which the Republicans are also citing, the latest polls are also against them.

David Axelrod, Mr Obama's campaign chief, has promised to shave off his moustache if the President loses any of these three.

So why is there such confidence among Republicans that their man will win? Basically they say the opinion polls are wrong - and they point to surveys of early voting which show that Mr Obama's support amongst key voters is well down on 2008.

This argument, best articulated by George W Bush's old aide Karl Rove in the Wall St Journal, says the pollsters are over-representing democrats in their samples. On the ground they say Democrats are de-motivated to vote, while Republicans are fired up, and independents are breaking their way.

No wonder so many pundits are sitting on the fence, pointing out that this is a very close race according to the polls - with Mr Obama's edge in most circumstances in the margins of error.

Those who are making a guess, have to fall back on hunches and rules of thumb.

There are plenty of personal bellwethers to choose from.

No president since Franklin D Roosevelt has ever been re-elected with unemployment this high (although at 7.9% it is only a tenth of a per cent above the level where they have been returned).

At the start of the campaign, 25% of the electorate said the would never vote for a Mormon.

"As goes Ohio, so goes the nation" is pretty good but not infallible, but it is the case that no Republican has ever won without carrying what pundits insist on calling the Buckeye [i.e. Conker] State.

Then there are the lessons from recent history.

Incumbent presidents generally have some squatter's advantage. In modern times the only two incumbent presidents denied re-election have been George Bush senior and Jimmy Carter. But both had stronger negatives against them than Mr Obama.

Mr Bush's 1988 election pledge "read my lips no new taxes" was a demonstrable lie by 1992, while in 1980 Mr Carter was humiliated by American hostages held in Iran and a disastrous military mission to rescue them.

In contrast, Mr Obama presided over the killing of Osama bin Laden, economic indicators are at last moving in the right direction, and he's enjoyed high approval and endorsement in the past week for his handling of Hurricane Sandy.

It's also the case that the more charismatic candidate tends to win the presidency. Mr Carter outshone Gerald Ford but was put in the shade by Ronald 'Morning in America' Reagan; the reserved George Walker Bush was no match for 'Slick Willy' Clinton.

This year, by common consent, Mr Obama has the star power although Mr Romney is making the best of his buttoned-up big businessman demeanour.

Fifty-one-year-old Mr Obama is playing the man of the people: most often open-necked, shouting till he is hoarse and allowing himself the occasional blunt epithet such as "bull****er" about his opponent.

A well-preserved 65-year-old Mr Romney presents more formally as a president in waiting, he's even had his campaign plane painted to look like Air Force One. He's less inclined to dive into the crowd and typically delivers more-in-sorrow-than-in-anger pep talks about the state of Mr Obama's nation. A bit like the harangues most managers subject their employees to these days.

There is also a clear choice between the two men's visions of America - although both claim they are the man to unite the country across the political divide.

Arguing "we are all in this together" Mr Obama argues that government has a role in directing the country, the rich he says, need to contribute more.

Mr Romney champions the private sector, volunteers and individuals. He argues that lower taxes, even for the better off, will benefit all.

So who do I think will win?

I think it's unlikely that all the polls are as wrong as they would have to be for a Republican victory.

I note that the Republicans are under-performing in their ambitions for the US Congress - unlikely to take control of the Senate and set to lose a few seats in the House.

It also seems to me that the Republican Party is a house divided against itself. With powerful voices on the right such as the Tea Party pulling it a long way from the centrist ground which saw Mr Nixon, Mr Reagan and even the Bushes first elected. If Mr Romney is elected, I suspect that the internal rows are only just beginning. Swing voters don't like divided parties.

Shifts in the US population do not favour Republicans - if this was a 'whites only' election Mr Romney would be home and dry. But as the Republican Senator Linsey Graham quipped this summer: "We are not generating enough angry white guys to stay in business for the long term."

Disappointment yes, almost everywhere, but I don't detect widespread anger and contempt for Mr Obama. The mood seems more about pressing on in hard times. A mood which may well have been strengthened by the travails of Hurricane Sandy in this closing week.

So my guess is that the President will be re-elected taking Ohio and probably Florida. But it is only a guess, America has two credible leaders to take it forward.

But most of the real votes have not been cast yet in spite of early polling, and they won't be until Tuesday.

Paddy Power is already paying out on an Obama victory. If you've got a bet on, my advice is to get down to the bookies ASAP.

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Savile's Freeman Honour Set To Be Revoked

Jimmy Savile's name is set to be wiped from Scarborough's list of Freemen of the Borough.

Councillors will debate a motion to take his name from the roll of honour as a gesture of support to the 300 people he allegedly abused over six decades.

The disgraced BBC star was awarded the accolade in 2005 to celebrate his links with the North Yorkshire resort, where he owned a second home and was buried overlooking the sea a year ago.

Councillor Tom Fox, who proposed the motion, said: "This council wishes to send its heartfelt support to, and acknowledge the courage of, those who have come forward having suffered horrendous abuse at the hands of the alleged serial predatory sexual offender Sir Jimmy Savile.

"In addition, this council, in further acknowledgment of the serious predatory sexual allegations spanning over six decades, agrees that if the council had been aware of such revelations at the time of Sir Jimmy Savile's nomination for honorary freeman of the borough of Scarborough, the council would have refused it.

Savile's family have removed his headstone from a Scarborough cemetery

"It is therefore proposed that his name be removed forthwith from the honour board for freemen of the borough pending the final report from the Metropolitan Police, when this council will make a permanent decision in relation to the matters referred to in this motion."

Historically, anyone made a freeman was exempt from tolls and given special privileges.

It is still awarded to "persons of distinction and any persons who have rendered eminent services to the borough".

Scarborough has granted freeman status to 20 individuals and groups since the local government reshuffle of 1974, including playwright Sir Alan Ayckbourn, retired boxer Paul Ingle and the Yorkshire Regiment.

The motion to remove Savile's name from the honour board will be considered at a full council meeting later.

Savile's ornate triple headstone in Scarborough's Woodlands Cemetery was knocked down and sent to landfill last month at the request of his family.

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Predatory Paedophile Kidnapper Is Jailed

A predatory paedophile whose "truly horrific" abduction of a 10-year-old boy sparked mass street protests has been jailed indefinitely for public protection.

Michael Jackson tied up and repeatedly threatened to kill the terrified victim, who was held prisoner in a cupboard during a three-hour ordeal after being dragged into a flat in Oldbury, West Midlands.

Ordering Jackson, 50, to serve at least seven years before being eligible to apply for parole, Judge Martin Walsh described the kidnapping as "the stuff of every parent's nightmare".

Wolverhampton Crown Court heard that Jackson gagged and trussed-up the victim with duct tape and a rope, placed a craft knife near him, and warned him his father would be murdered.

The boy was later spotted at the window of Jackson's flat by a passer-by

The youngster, who was abducted in an isolated alleyway last November, only managed to escape from Jackson's flat in Bristnall Hall Road, Oldbury, after kicking open an airing cupboard door and raising the alarm at a window.

Passing sentence, Judge Walsh stressed that it was likely to be "very many years, if ever" before Jackson was judged to be safe to be freed from prison.

The paedophile, who was jailed in 1983 for the knife-point kidnap and indecent assault of a teenage girl, showed no emotion as the judge told him: "The facts of this case are truly horrific and are the stuff of every parent's nightmare.

"I am satisfied that had (the 10-year-old boy) not escaped, he would have been subjected to further serious sexual abuse or worse.

"He was, fortuitously, able to escape from the cupboard. When he entered the bedroom, he saw a knife, pliers and a hammer - articles he believed would be used to kill him.

"It is simply impossible to imagine the sheer terror experienced by that young child as a result of your actions."

The judge added: "I am satisfied that you pose a significant risk of serious harm to children and that an indeterminate sentence is necessary for the protection of the public."

Imposing the seven-year minimum term, the judge told Jackson: "I want to make it absolutely clear to you and the public that this does not mean that you will be released after serving this term.

"You will only be released once the parole board are satisfied that you no longer pose a significant risk of serious harm to children."

Jackson pleaded guilty in May to charges of kidnap, sexual assault, false imprisonment and kidnap with intent to commit a sexual offence in relation to the boy's disappearance.

He also admitted the abduction of a 10-year-old girl who he photographed at his flat around a month before the offences against the boy.

Opening the facts of the case, Debi Gould, prosecuting, said the boy was found after Jackson left the flat, intending to construct an alibi and return later to abuse his victim.

Miss Gould told the court: "The defendant said to (the boy), 'Don't bother screaming or you are dead - it's time to die if you make a noise'."

Jackson, who had clearly prepared for the attack in advance, put a pillow case over the boy's head and also told him he would never see his mother again.

Praising the boy for his courage and presence of mind in managing to alert a passer-by, Miss Gould said: "Nobody in this court can imagine the terror of such an experience for such a little boy."

Jackson, who was originally called Albert English, had decorated a window of his flat with Christmas foil and an image of an angel, the court heard.

During mitigation, defence counsel John Attwood said Jackson, who was unemployed and receiving disability benefits, had previously attempted suicide and received treatment under the Mental Health Act.

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Cregan Denies Murdering Two Policewomen

Dale Cregan has denied murdering policewomen Fiona Bone and Nicola Hughes in a gun and grenade attack.

Cregan, 29, of no fixed address, pleaded not guilty at Liverpool Crown Court to the murders of the Greater Manchester Police constables.

The officers were killed on the morning of September 18 as they responded to a report of a burglary in Hattersley, Greater Manchester.

Relatives of the two police officers attended today's hearing flanked by police family liaison officers.

Cregan, who appeared by videolink alongside nine co-defendants, denied another seven charges, including the murder of Mark Short, 23, on May 26 and the murder of Mr Short's father David, 46, on August 10.

He also denied four counts of attempted murder and one count of causing an explosion.

Luke Livesey, 27, from Hattersley, and Damien Gorman, 37, from Glossop, pleaded not guilty to the murder of Mark Short and three counts of attempted murder.

Anthony Wilkinson, 33, from Beswick, denied the murder of David Short, possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, attempted murder and causing an explosion with a hand grenade.

Jermaine Ward, 24, denied the murder of David Short, one count of attempted murder and an allegation of causing an explosion with a hand grenade.

They were remanded in custody until their trial at Preston Crown Court on February 4.

The remaining defendants, Matthew James, Ryan Hadfield, Leon Atkinson, Francis Dixon and Mohammed Ali, were not asked to enter their pleas at today's hearing.

James, 33, of Clayton, Hadfield, 28, from Ashton-under-Lyne, and Atkinson, 34, of Newton-le-Willows, are charged with the murder of Mark Short and three counts of attempted murder.

Dixon, 37, from the Stalybridge area, is charged with the murder of David Short, attempted murder and causing an explosion.

Ali, 23, from Chadderton, is accused of assisting an offender.

They were remanded in custody to return to Liverpool Crown Court on December 20 to enter their pleas.

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US Presidential Race Goes Down To The Wire

The US presidential campaigns of Barack Obama and Mitt Romney have entered the last two days before voting, with polls still indicating no clear winner.

After an intensive Saturday criss-crossing key battleground states, the American president is targeting Democrats in Colorado, Florida, Ohio and New Hampshire on Sunday, urging them to vote.

Meanwhile, Republican candidate Mitt Romney has decided to intensify efforts in Iowa, Ohio and then in Democrat-leaning Pennsylvania.

Both campaigns have predicted victory for Tuesday's election but the most recent poll by the Washington Post and ABC News puts the candidates even at 48% of the vote.

Mr Obama has an apparent edge in some key battleground states, including Ohio, while Mr Romney's campaign is projecting momentum, and banking on late-breaking voters to propel him to victory in the close race.

Pop singer Katy Perry was thanked by Mr Obama for her campaigning

The Republican hopeful plans to cut away briefly from the nine key battleground states that have dominated the candidates' travel itineraries.

Mr Romney, along with running mate Paul Ryan, plan an early evening rally in Morrisville, Pennsylvania in an attempt to woo disillusioned Democrats.

The key battlegrounds states in the election have been Ohio, Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, Colorado, Nevada, Wisconsin, Iowa and New Hampshire.

After rules regulating campaign funding were eased for this election, the two political parties ploughed huge amounts into primarily negative advertising against the opposition.

Americans in the key states have been hit by a blizzard of campaign ads.

The two political parties and their allied independent groups aired more than a million ads between June and the end of October, according to the Wesleyan University Media Project.

Mr Romney has continued to campaign in key areas

The advertising in 10 strategic states has cost more than $1bn (£620m).

Never before has so much money been spent on so many commercials aimed at so few voters.

Would-be voters have been bombarded with some 40% more television advertising than the number that ran in the same period in 2008 when Mr Obama defeated Republican John McCain.

But both candidates have appeared to become more fatigued in the frenzied final weekend of campaigning.

Mr Obama apologised to supporters for a hoarse voice at one speech on Saturday.

His apology came as former Democrat president Bill Clinton suffered from a similar problem and told supporters in Virginia he had "given my voice in the service of my president".

Ann Romney has been on the weekend trail with her husband

Mr Obama's strategy has included appeals to the industrial Midwest, where jobs have been saved after the federal government invested large amounts in the wake of the financial meltdown.

His Republican challenger trails the president in some polls in battleground states but retains a narrow and plausible path to the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency

Mr Romney's camp also argues that the Republican may not even be behind the incumbent.

They argue state polls are based on unrealistic assumptions of the size of the Democratic slice of the electorate and underplay Republican enthusiasm.

Mr Romney told crowds in Colorado Springs that the vote is "a moment to look into the future, and imagine what we can do to put the past four years behind us".

Mr Obama has stirred up support from cheering fans

"The door to a brighter future is there."

But both sides realise with just two days to go the result may now be beyond their control.

"The power is not with us anymore, the planning, everything we do, it doesn't matter," Mr Obama told supporters in Virginia.

"It's all up to you, it's up to the volunteers - that's how democracy is supposed to be."

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Cosy Texts Between PM And Brooks Revealed

Text messages exchanged by David Cameron and former News International boss Rebekah Brooks are likely to cause fresh embarrassment for the Prime Minister.

In one message, Mr Cameron thanked Mrs Brooks for letting him ride one of her horses, joking it was "fast, unpredictable and hard to control but fun".

In another, the journalist, who faces trial in connection with the phone-hacking scandal, praised Mr Cameron's speech to the Conservative Party conference, saying: "I cried twice."

Both of the messages, which were disclosed by The Mail On Sunday, were sent in October 2009, shortly after Mrs Brooks left her job as editor of The Sun and became chief executive of News International, which owns the paper.

The messages are apparently part of a cache of texts and emails handed to Lord Justice Leveson's inquiry into press standards.

Very few have so far been made public.

The leak sheds further light on the close relationship between Mr Cameron and Mrs Brooks, who live near each other in Oxfordshire.

Her husband, the racehorse trainer Charlie Brooks, was at Eton with the Prime Minister.

Mrs Brooks told the Leveson Inquiry earlier this year that Mr Cameron signed some of his missives to her 'LOL' - mistakenly thinking it meant 'Lots Of Love' rather than 'Laugh Out Loud'.

Questions about Mr Cameron's close links with Rupert Murdoch's media empire, and Mrs Brooks in particular, came to the fore after the phone-hacking row erupted.

Mrs Brooks at the Leveson Inquiry

In her Leveson evidence, Mrs Brooks said, at the height of the scandal in 2010, he sent a message through an intermediary urging her to "keep your head up" and expressed his regret he could not be more loyal in public.

It also emerged previously that the Conservative leader rode a police horse, Raisa, which had been lent to Mrs Brooks by the Metropolitan Police.

Lord Justice Leveson is believed to have received a large amount of correspondence from the Prime Minister, Mrs Brooks and former Downing Street communications chief Andy Coulson.

However, the inquiry's lead counsel, Robert Jay QC, has indicated that only "relevant" documents will be released.

Labour frontbencher Chris Bryant has challenged Mr Cameron to publish all the material himself, suggesting he was delaying the process because it was "too salacious and embarrassing".

Mrs Brooks and Mr Coulson, an ex-editor of the News Of The World, are among those facing trial for conspiracy to access voicemails.

In a separate case, Mrs Brooks and her husband are among a group charged with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

A Downing Street spokesman said: "The Prime Minister has always been happy to comply with whatever Lord Justice Leveson has asked of him."

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Teenager Killed In Hit-And-Run Crash In Bury

Greater Manchester Police have named the victim of a hit-and-run crash in Bury as 16-year-old Callum Hilton.

The boy, who was out with friends, was crossing Stand Lane in Radcliffe when he was hit by a silver Peugeot which did not stop, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said.

He sustained a serious head injury and was taken to hospital where he later died. His family were at his bedside, GMP said.

The car was later found abandoned near Bury town centre.

A man who lives close to the scene and witnessed the aftermath described how a neighbour, a nurse, and a passer-by battled to save the boy as he lay dying in the road.

He said: "As I was coming back home, the boy was already on the floor and there were two people offering first aid.

"One was a neighbour, a nurse who lives further up the hill and one was a guy who was driving past.

"With the boy were three friends, one was apparently his cousin but I don't know any of them.

"It was heartbreaking to watch. The lad was in a very, very bad way. The frustration of standing there as two people try to save a young kid's life was heartbreaking."

The victim suffered head injuries in the incident in Radcliffe, near Bury

He said cars were "always" speeding up and down the road, a hill leading into Radcliffe town centre.

"They used to have a mobile traffic camera further up the hill but I've not see one lately," he said.

"There was a dog run over about 100 yards up the hill about 10 minutes before this boy was run over last night.

"Last week a lady who lives down the road had her car struck. So just within this stretch of 200 yards there has been three accidents in a week.

The tragedy happened on a busy main road with regular 30mph speed limit warning signs.

Accident signs have been placed near the spot where the teenager was killed to appeal for witnesses.

Next to a lamppost with a flashing "slow down/30mph" sign, a bunch of flowers had been left in memory of the victim.

The card read "Callum xxx".

Detective Inspector Amber Waywell of GMP appealed for witnesses.

She said: "First and foremost our thoughts and sympathies are with this young boy's family following this tragedy, and a specially-trained officer has been appointed to support the family during this traumatic ordeal.

"Understandably, the family are absolutely distraught and both want and deserve answers as to what exactly happened.

"From our initial inquiries, it would appear this young boy was simply crossing the road when he collided with the silver Peugeot which did not stop at the scene.

"We later recovered this car and none of the occupants were present, so our main focus is now on finding all those who were on board.

"It has been more than 12 hours since this tragic incident and the occupants have still not come forward, so I would urge them in the strongest possible terms to make themselves known to police immediately."

Anyone with information should call GMP on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

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British Soldier Stabbed To Death In Cyprus

A British soldier has been stabbed to death during a fight with UK tourists in a Cyprus nightclub, police have said.

Cypriot police said four off-duty soldiers stationed on the island got involved in an altercation with three tourists in the early hours of Sunday morning.

One of the tourists then allegedly drew a switch blade knife and stabbed the teenage soldier, according to police spokesman Georgios Economou.

He said: "Today at around 3.30am while a group of British soldiers from Dhekelia garrison were enjoying themselves at a club in Ayia Napa they had a confrontation with three of their compatriots.

"During the confrontation one of the three drew what is believed to be a knife injuring the soldier in the chest."

He was pronounced dead on arrival at Famagusta General Hospital in nearby Paralimni.

Connie Pierce, a British military spokeswoman, said the incident took place in a part of Ayia Napa that is off limits to British soldiers because of past trouble there.

The Ministry of Defence confirmed a British soldier from the 2nd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Fusiliers was killed following a fight on the island. The dead soldier has not been identified.

Britain retains two military bases on the island after the former colony gained independence in 1960, with around 9,000 troops stationed there.

Ayia Napa is a popular resort destination for young holidaymakers, especially British tourists attracted by the nightlife.

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