Allegations Of Harris' Shocking Web Searches

Details of Rolf Harris' alleged web searches for sexual images of young girls have been revealed - but prosecutors say the convicted paedophile will not go on trial over the claims.

The 84-year-old had 33 sexual photographs of children in a much larger collection of thousands of adult pornographic images, it was claimed.

But Harris' legal team told judge Mr Justice Sweeney the models in the photos were over 18, according to their identity documents provided by website bosses in the Ukraine.

They also maintained the entertainer accidentally accessed the images when he clicked on links from mainstream porn sites.

Harris was found guilty on Monday of 12 counts of indecent assault between 1968 and 1986 and was jailed on Friday for five years and nine months.

One of his four victims was seven or eight year old, and the rest were teenagers aged between 14 and 19.

Prosecutor Sasha Wass QC said: "In the light of the 12 unanimous convictions on the counts that Mr Harris faced, the Crown Prosecution Service has decided it is no longer in the public interest to proceed with a trial on these four charges."

Prosecutors claimed he had looked at a website called "teeny tiny girlfriends" and accessed a picture of a girl who was "extremely young in appearance".

Harris also allegedly clicked on other words including "youngest teen porn", "my little nieces" and "young teen girls".

Expert opinion gathered by both sides disagreed over whether the images were of underage girls, with the prosecution claiming one was of a child under 13.

This was denied by the defence, which maintained that all the models were adults and that the word "teen" could refer to someone of 18 or 19 years of age.

As the counts were debated during legal argument, Ms Wass said: " If it was an accident, it appears to be an accident he had a number of times."

Both sides agreed he had clicked on "young teen galleries" and "Russian virgins" while looking at porn.

Prosecutors alleged he deleted the images because he knew they were illegal, but again the defence denied this.

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Queen Names UK's Newest And Biggest Warship

UK's New Aircraft Carrier: Facts And Figures

Updated: 8:58am UK, Friday 04 July 2014

As the Queen officially names the newest and most powerful warship ever built for the Royal Navy, Sky News looks at the numbers behind HMS Queen Elizabeth:

:: The design of the Queen Elizabeth Class began in 1999 and 28 million hours have been spent developing and building the ships.

:: The vessels are assembled in Britain's biggest dock by the country's largest crane.

:: Employees are given handheld indoor navigation devices to help them find their way around the ships, such is their scale and complexity.

:: The six-metre-high take-off ramp is officially called the "ski jump".

:: The fog horn is 162 decibels and can be heard from more than two miles away.

:: The vessels have their own bakery, which can produce 1,000 loaves of bread per day, as well as treats including scones, doughnuts and eclairs.

:: A typical deployment would sail with 66,000 sausages, 28,800 rashers of bacon, 64,800 eggs and 12,000 tins of beans.

:: Each of the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers is made up of 17 million parts.

:: Some 250,000 litres of 'battleship grey' paint is used to apply seven coats over an area the size of Hyde Park.

:: There are more than 250,000km of electrical cable, 8,000km of fibre optic cable and 360km of pipes inside each of the ships.

:: The Queen Elizabeth Class have their own dentist, pharmacy, surgery and operating theatre.

:: The crew can wind down in the onboard fitness suite and cinema. The vessels are also kitted out with a police office and cells.

:: The ships' long-range radar can track up to 1,000 contacts in a 250-mile radius.

:: The onboard 3D radar can track a tennis ball travelling at three times the speed of sound.

:: The aircraft carriers can convert sea water into more than 500 tons of drinking water each day, which is for both the crew and providing humanitarian relief.

:: Each of the ships has 17 decks and 15 lifts for aircraft, munitions and crew.

:: The flight deck is 70 metres wide and 280 metres long, which is enough space for three football pitches.

:: The ships have floor-to-ceiling (or deck-to-deck) windows designed to withstand a major impact, each of which requires windscreen wipers up to 2.4 metres long.

:: The vessels generate 80MW of power in their propellers, equivalent to 50 high speed trains.

:: Each ship has two propellers weighing 33 tons each - collectively heavier than an entire Royal Navy patrol boat.

:: The first HMS Queen Elizabeth was completed 100 years before the launch of the new one.

:: Designing, building and delivering the latest ships has involved more than 800 apprentices.

:: The aircraft carriers can operate on 679 personnel and accommodate up to 1,600 people.

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Costa Concordia: Eerie New Video From Wreck

Italian police have released startling new video showing the interior of the sunken liner Costa Concordia.

The eerie footage shot by police divers shows broken metalwork, staircases, corridors, possessions and furniture.

Its release comes as salvage experts prepare to tow the liner away to be broken up.

The Costa Concordia hit a reef off the island of Giglio in January 2012 and capsized.

What appears to be a help desk for passengers

Some 32 of the 4,200 people on board were killed and the captain, Francesco Schettino, is on trial on charges including manslaughter.

Last September engineers righted the 114,500-tonne vessel and have been attaching huge tanks to the sides to float it off the reef.

Once it is ready it will be taken to operator Costa Crociere's home port of Genoa, a five-day trip, to be dismantled for scrap.

Relaxation area with sofa, table and stools

Environmental campaign group Greenpeace staged a protest against that decision in its own ship, the Rainbow Warrior.

It argues the work should be done somewhere closer as there could still be hazardous liquids or contaminants inside the wreckage.

"We want all the dismantling... to happen publicly and in the light of day and, above all, choosing the solutions with the fewest environmental risks," said a Greenpeace spokesman.

Further details of the Concordia removal operation, the largest of its kind in maritime history, are expected in the next few days.

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Rolf Harris Jailed For More Than Five Years

Shamed entertainer Rolf Harris has been sentenced to five years and nine months behind bars for a string of sex attacks against young girls.

The 84-year-old, convicted on Monday of 12 counts of indecent assault between 1968 and 1986, was flanked by guards in the dock as the punishment was handed down.

One of his four victims was seven or eight years old, and the others, including the best friend of Harris' daughter Bindi, were teenagers aged between 14 and 19.

The judge at Southwark Crown Court Mr Justice Sweeney told the disgraced performer: "You have shown no remorse for your crimes at all.

"Your reputation lies in ruins, you have been stripped of your honours, but you have no one to blame but yourself.

"You took advantage of the trust placed in you because of your celebrity status to commit the offences."

Harris' daughter Bindi (L). His wife Alwen not in court due to ill-health

During the seven-week trial, prosecutor Sasha Wass described Harris as a ''sinister pervert''.

She claimed he had a ''dark side'' and was a ''Jekyll and Hyde character''.

The main complainant was Bindi's best friend, to whom seven of the 12 counts related.

The woman, now aged 49, said she had been "traumatised" by the years of abuse she suffered at the hands of Harris.

She said: "The attacks that happened have made me feel dirty, grubby and disgusting. The whole sordid saga has traumatised me."

Another victim, Australian Tonya Lee - who waived her right to anonymity - said her assault by Harris in a London pub during a visit to England was a "turning point" in her life that she has never recovered from.

She said: "I have never felt safe since, I live in a constant state of anxiety."

A third victim, indecently assaulted by him as she went to get his autograph at a Portsmouth community centre when she was seven or eight, said Harris' assault took away her childhood.

She added the incident left her angry and confused, adding: "I became an angry child, unable to express myself and unable to trust men."

Harris earlier left his riverside home on a boat

A fourth victim, who was assaulted when she was a teenager as Harris took part in a celebrity game show in Cambridge in the 1970s, said he took advantage of her, making her feel ashamed.

She said: "He treated me like a toy that he had played with for his own pleasure."

Harris had arrived at court accompanied by Bindi, and made his way inside the building without commenting to reporters.

In the dock, he had a small, multi-coloured suitcase on a chair behind him.

His wife, Alwen, was not in court as she was apparently unwell.

Harris' lawyer Sonia Woodley told the court that despite his convictions he had led an " upright life" for the last 20 years, and had done "much good".

Harris had earlier left his riverside home in Bray, Berkshire by boat as he made his way to London to hear his fate.

Since his conviction Harris has been stripped of his Bafta fellowship, lost an honorary degree from the University of East London and also faces losing his CBE.

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Saudi Arabia 'Deploys Troops To Iraq Border'

Red-Bearded Chechen Fighter Is Face Of ISIS

Updated: 10:15am UK, Thursday 03 July 2014

A red-bearded Chechen fighter with a deep hatred of Americans has emerged as the public face of al Qaeda splinter group ISIS.

Omar al Shishani - which means Omar the Chechen - has appeared on the group's recent propaganda videos and may have been promoted to overall military chief.

He is among hundreds of Chechens who are considered some of the toughest and most ruthless jihadi fighters in Syria and Iraq.

In a video released by the group over the weekend, al Shishani is shown standing in front of black masked militants declaring the elimination of the Iraq-Syria border.

Up until recently, the 28-year-old has been considered the group's military commander in Syria, leading an offensive towards the Iraq border.

But he may now have risen to become overall military chief, a post left vacant after the death of Iraqi militant Abu Abdul Rahman al Bilawi al Anbari.

Al Shishani, whose real name is Tarkhan Batirashvili, is an ethnic Chechen from the Caucasus nation of Georgia, specifically from the Pankisi Valley.

The area is a centre of Georgia's Chechen community and once a stronghold for militants.

Former comrades say he was raised by a Christian father and Muslim mother, who died of cancer. 

With a deep hatred for the Kremlin, he played a role in the 2008 Russia-Georgia War, spying on Russian tanks and relaying their positions back to Georgian artillery.

He is described by those who knew him before ISIS as a sober and respected person who did not show signs of religious extremism.

Reports suggest he rose to the rank of sergeant in the Georgian army, but was discharged after contracting tuberculosis in 2010.

He later spent 16 months in a Georgian prison after being charged for possessing illegal weapons.

It was during his time in jail that al Shishani apparently developed a deep hatred of Americans as "the enemies of Allah and the enemies of Islam".

"I promised God that if I come out of prison alive, I'll go fight jihad for the sake of God," he told a jihadist website.

As soon as he was released in 2010, al Shishani  left for Turkey and later surfaced in Syria in 2013.

There, he led the al Qaeda-inspired "Army of Emigrants and Partisans", a group including many fighters from the former Soviet Union.

A meeting was soon organised with ISIS overall chief Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, an Iraqi, in which al Shishani pledged loyalty to him, say reports.

He first showed his battlefield prowess in August 2013, when his fighters proved pivotal in taking the Syrian military's Managh air base in the north of the country.

His high profile contrasts sharply with al Baghdadi, who remains deep in hiding and has hardly ever been photographed. 

Al Shishani's father described his son as "a man with no job, no prospects - so he took the wrong path".

That path appears to have taken him to the upper echelons of the most formidable jihadist organisation in the world.

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Colchester Murder: Police Issue E-Fit Of Suspect

Detectives investigating the murder of a Saudi Arabian student have released an e-fit image of a man they would like to speak to.

Nahid Almanea was knifed 16 times and left to die on the Salary Brook Trail in Colchester, Essex, at around 10.40am on June 17.

The force said the man in the e-fit was seen running up Hewes Close, away from the Salary Brook Trail at 10.56am.

He is described as white, aged between 18 and 25, of medium build and with dark hair.

He was wearing a long-sleeve plain hooded top that is described as "London bus red" and dark trousers.

Ms Almanea was caught on CCTV on the day of the attack

Ms Almanea, 31, has been described as an "exceptional" English language programme student at the University of Essex who was aiming to study at PhD level.

Essex Police say there are similarities to the killing of James Attfield, 33, who was stabbed 102 times on his arms, hands, back, neck and head, in a park in the town on March 29.

Officers do not know if the pair were murdered by the same person but they are keeping an "open mind".

Police at the scene of Ms Almanea's murder

Chief Inspector Richard Phillibrown, Colchester district commander, said: "We have received excellent support throughout this investigation from the whole community.

"We appreciate their patience whilst the forensic searches continue. We would also urge anyone with information, no matter how small you might think, to contact us."

Anyone who can help is asked to contact the force on 01245 282103 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Crimestoppers has offered a reward of £10,000 for information that would lead to the arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible for Ms Almanea's murder.

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Two Plebgate Libel Cases 'To Be Dropped'

The two plebgate libel cases are close to being abandoned, Sky News can reveal.

Andrew Mitchell is suing The Sun newspaper which printed the original claims that the Tory MP used the term "plebs" during a dispute at the gates of Downing Street in 2012.

And the policeman at the centre of the row, PC Toby Rowland is seeking libel damages from the former chief whip, repeating his claim Mr Mitchell used the word after being blocked from cycling out of the street through the main gate.

The dispute centres on an altercation at the gates of Downing Street

But Sky's Crime Correspondent Martin Brunt has discovered there has been a confidential process of mediation between the two sides, and that they are now close to mutually ending their legal action.

The MP has always maintained he never used the word "pleb", but admits swearing during the altercation.

Mr Mitchell ended up resigning over the row.

PC Keith Wallis was jailed for lying about the Plebgate affair

He has always claimed the Police Federation used the incident to take revenge for police cuts and had orchestrated a "stitch-up".

Several police officers and one civilian relative of a police officer have been arrested for offences arising out of the case.

PC Keith Wallis ended up being jailed for lying about witnessing the exchange, and at least three others have been dismissed from the police.

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US Warns Of Terror Threat To Ugandan Airport

US authorities have warned of a "specific threat" to Entebbe Airport in Uganda later today.

The US embassy in Kampala said Ugandan police had informed them that intelligence sources believe there could be an attack by an unknown terrorist group.

In a statement the embassy said the threat was apparently aimed for "today, July 3rd, between the hours of 2100-2300".

It added: "Individuals planning travel through the airport this evening may want to review their plans in light of this information."

Although the embassy did not name any group, al Qaeda-linked Shebab insurgents have claimed recent attacks in Kenya and Djibouti, and at home in Somalia.

Shebab militants

Ugandan Army spokesman Paddy Ankunda said troops had been deployed at the airport and in the capital, some 35km (20 miles) from Entebbe.

"People must be vigilant in the face of this threat, report any suspicious individuals seen in their areas," he said, calling on people to "stay calm and alert."

Homeland security chief Jeh Johnson

The Ugandan alert comes after security at British airports was increased following warnings from the US that terrorists are developing bombs that can be smuggled on to planes without detection.

US Homeland Security chief Jeh Johnson said he had asked officials to "implement enhanced security measures in the coming days at certain overseas airports with direct flights to the United States".

A statement issued by the US Department for Homeland Security said: "We are sharing recent and relevant information with our foreign allies and consulting the aviation industry.

"These communications are an important part of our commitment to providing our security partners with situational awareness about the current environment and protecting the travelling public."

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said the additional security was not expected to cause "significant" disruption to flights.

He told Sky News: "There will be extra security checks but they will be made in the course of events people already go through and I hope there will not be significant delays."

Armed police patrol Heathrow airport

But British aviation security expert Philip Baum said heightened security will inevitably mean longer queues and increased waiting times to board flights at UK airports.

"It will mean (more) random searches, secondary searches and an increase in the number of passengers asked to remove shoes and possibly all passengers being asked to remove shoes if they're going on certain flights," he said.

US officials said their general security warning followed intelligence reports that Islamist groups in Yemen and Syria had joined forces to prepare an attack on the US.

Al Nusra Front militants

Bomb-makers from al Nusra Front, al Qaeda's affiliate in Syria, and Yemen-based al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) are believed to be working together to develop the new devices.

According to ABC News, they are trying to build non-metallic bombs that could evade metal detectors.

In consequence security enhancements are likely to include greater scrutiny of US-bound passengers' electronics and footwear and installation of additional bomb-detection machines.

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Clashes Erupt As Teen Found Dead In Jerusalem

Palestinian protesters have clashed with police in Israel after the discovery of the body of an Arab teenager who is suspected to have been killed in retribution for the deaths of three Israeli youths.

Sky News' Middle East Correspondent Sherine Tadros said violence erupted in the Arab suburb of Shuafat in Jerusalem after news of the discovery spread.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for calm on all sides as video footage showed protesters throwing rocks at police who responded with tear gas and rubber bullets.

Special forces have been sent in and all roads in the area have been closed.

The body is believed to be that of Palestinian teenager Mohammed Abu Khudair, 16, who was reported missing in the early hours of the morning.

Violence started after reports a Palestinian youth was abducted

Witnesses said they saw him being forced into a vehicle outside a supermarket in the Shuafat area.

Israeli police are yet to formally the identity of the body, which was found in the Jerusalem Forest in West Jerusalem.

Israel's Ynet website reported that it was charred and showed signs of violence.

Palestinian news reports have blamed Israeli settlers for the abduction.

One Israeli security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said officials suspect the youth was killed in retribution for the deaths of three Israeli teenagers whose bodies were found in the West Bank on Monday.

Police are investigating whether the body was that of the missing teen

Israel has accused the Palestinian militant group Hamas of abducting and killing Gilad Shaar, 16, Eyal Yifrach, 19, and Naftali Frenkel, 16.

They went missing while hitchhiking home from the Jewish seminaries where they studied near Hebron.

Naftali Frenkel's family has spoken out against acts of retribution.

His uncle, Yisahi Frenkel, said: "If the Arab youth was murdered because of nationalistic motives then this is a horrible and horrendous act.

The three Israeli teens were buried on Tuesday

"There is no difference between (Arab) blood and (Jewish) blood. Murder is murder. There is no forgiveness or justification for any murder."

Prime Minister Netanyahu has issued a statement urging all sides "not to take the law into their own hands".

Overnight police in Jerusalem arrested 47 Israelis overnight who attended a hardline "anti-Arab" protest in the city. Chants of "death to Arabs" were heard among the several hundred protesters.

Mr Netanyahu had earlier pledged to find those responsible for the Israeli youths' deaths.

Speaking to reporters, he said: "Whoever was involved in the kidnapping and the murder will bear the consequences. We will neither rest nor slow down until we reach the last of them and it does not matter where they will try to hide."

Jewish youths mourn next to the graves of the three boys

Mr Netanyahu also warned Israel's response would include stepping up military activity in Hamas-controlled Gaza if rocket fire from the territory continues.

"The Israeli Defence Force has been active in recent days against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip, and here as well we are still active," he said.

"If need be, we will expand the operation as much as is needed."

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Ebola Outbreak: State Of Emergency 'Needed'

By Thomas Moore, Health and Science Correspondent

The doctor who first identified the deadly Ebola virus has warned the outbreak in West Africa is now so bad that a "state of emergency" should be declared.

Professor Peter Piot told Sky News that the disease, which kills up to 90% of patients, now affects such a wide area that it will be "difficult" to bring under control - and it will spread further without "very, very strict vigilance."

Prof Piot, now Director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, helped to bring to an end to the first known outbreak of Ebola in Zaire in 1976.

There have since been more than 20 outbreaks in Central and West Africa. But the current epidemic affecting Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone was "unprecedented" he said.

Professor Peter Piot: 'A local problem is now a regional crisis'

The virus causes a high fever, organ failure and severe bleeding. Contact with any bodily fluid can transmit the virus. There is no treatment.

Prof Piot said: "We have waited too long. In cases like Ebola it is better to be accused of overacting than underestimating the situation.

"It is far more difficult to contain an epidemic that involves quarantine of people, isolation of patients and tracing their contacts when it has reached big urban populations.

More than 400 people have been killed across three countries

"This has turned from a local problem to a regional crisis.

"Even countries that are not yet affected by Ebola may become affected. Mobility of people including patients and sometimes cadavers is high across borders and I think it's time for declaring a state of emergency."

Professor Piot said the World Health Organisation must engage with community leaders to explain to local populations the importance of isolating victims in hospital to prevent further transmission of the virus.

He said burial practices in which the infected body is washed by unprotected relatives must also cease.

"In theory Ebola is very easy to stop with gloves, soap, isolating patients, and not reusing needles and syringes," he said. "But in practice it is about people and their beliefs.

"If you think that someone dies of witchcraft or that western medicine is at the origin, that is something that must be overcome."

Professor Piot also urged medical authorities to try using anti-viral drugs to treat patients. Tests on infected monkeys have suggested the drugs work to some extent against Ebola.

Professor Piopt suggests using anti-viral drugs to treat Ebola

"This is the time to try them," he said.

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Africa Battles To Stop Deadly Spread Of Ebola

By Alex Crawford, Special Correspondent, In Liberia

The worst Ebola outbreak ever is spreading and will almost certainly extend across West Africa unless there is cross-country co-operation and urgent international assistance.

The porous borders between Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone has meant the disease is not being contained and now risks spreading even further.

Health workers at the epicentre, where the borders of the three countries meet, have made an urgent appeal through Sky News for immediate international help to try to control the virus.

The latest outbreak has spread to three countries

Philip Azumah, the Foya district health officer, said: "We need help now, or the virus will spread and kill more people."

It is difficult to determine exactly how many people have already died from the disease given the cross-border contamination and lack of accounting.

But it is already clear there are many more deaths than any previous outbreak.

Aid organisation Doctors Without Borders has already said it is the largest outbreak on record, with the highest number of deaths.

Across the three countries, more than 400 have died in this latest outbreak, with no sign of the disease being halted.

And for the first time the disease has spread to highly populated areas including cities such as Guinea's capital, Conakry.

At one of the high-risk infection centres set up in Foya, in Liberia, the medics insisted we, like them, took extreme precautions.

This included wearing two layers of protective head-to-toe clothing featuring one waterproof all-in-one outfit, face and head masks, double gloves, thick plastic aprons, sturdy goggles and rubber boots.

Among the victims was a nurse who contracted Ebola after caring for a person who later died from the virus.

Nurse Elizabeth Smith was lying on a bed next to another nurse who had contracted Ebola from the same patient they had both treated.

But Ms Smith was significantly weaker than her co-worker. She did not raise her head as we entered and her bed was soaked in blood.

Neither woman had realised they were treating a patient with Ebola, so had taken none of the precautions their colleagues were now taking.

Two of them sprayed Ms Smith with disinfectant, down her legs, her feet, her hands and arms as they stood arms-length away in their head-to-toe protective clothing and visors. Gingerly, they took her arms and helped her to her feet, before escorting her down the tent corridor to the high-risk area.

Elizabeth Smith was too weak to raise her head

Here, every patient is a confirmed Ebola case and the odds are that 90% of them will die.

The frightening deadliness of Ebola, plus the ignorance around it and the lack of a cure, has thrown the medical staff in this area into a panic.

Francis Forndia, administrator for Foya-Borma Hospital, where medical staff have died after treating victims, told us his workers simply fled after nurses began dying.

"It is hard to get them to return, but we have managed to persuade some to come back by explaining to them how needed they are," he said.

Mr Azumah is co-ordinating the health battle against Ebola in this area. He tells me the first recent outbreak in Liberia was in March, when an infected woman travelled to Foya from Guinea.

She died two days after being admitted to the sole and tiny hospital in Foya. By the time of her death, she had infected eleven people in hospital alone.

Two of them were nurses who went on to die. The remaining nine somehow managed to survive.

Officials say cultural traditions have helped spread the virus

Then Liberia went a solid three weeks without an incident and believed they were clear - until the end of May.

This time, a woman from Sierra Leone, probably out of fear, gave misleading information about where she had come from.

She told investigators she was local, which was true, but did not mention she had in fact spent some time in an infected area of Sierra Leone.

This time the consequences were much more widespread. She had infected a stream of people, six of whom died.

They are still trying to trace all those she may have been in contact with.

There have since been other outbreaks in Voinjamma and the Liberian capital, Monrovia, while Guinea and Sierra Leone continue to register deaths, too.

Mr Azumah said: "In our culture, it is the habit to wash the dead body, look after it for a week in the home, kiss and touch it, even eat meals with the dead body - and we believe this has led to the virus spreading.

"Also people are keeping the illnesses and deaths secret if they suspect Ebola."

By alerting the authorities to possible Ebola, people risk being ostracised by their communities.

There is even a fear among these poverty stricken communities that the visiting health workers are spreading the virus.

But what seems significant is that, in Liberia at least, one of the poorest countries in the world, they are largely coping with this virulent disease on their own - with very little outside help evident.

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Ex-Home Secretary 'Acted On Paedophile Claims'

Former Home Secretary Leon Brittan says he asked officials to "look carefully" at a dossier he received in the 1980s alleging paedophile activity in Westminster.

But he says the issue was not raised with him subsequently.

The Tory peer issued a statement after Labour MP Simon Danczuk insisted he should "share his knowledge" about the file prepared by then-MP Geoffrey Dickens, and handed to him in the 1980s.

According to Mr Danczuk, who has investigated claims of abuse by ex-MP Cyril Smith, it contained information about the "Paedophile Information Exchange (Pie), about paedophiles operating a network within and around Westminster".

An independent review found information was dealt with properly

In a statement, Mr Brittan said: "During my time as Home Secretary (1983 to 1985), Geoff Dickens MP arranged to see me at the Home Office. I invariably agreed to see any MP who requested a meeting with me.

"As I recall, he came to my room at the Home Office with a substantial bundle of papers.

"As is normal practice, my Private Secretary would have been present at the meeting.

"I told Mr Dickens that I would ensure that the papers were looked at carefully by the Home Office and acted on as necessary.

"Following the meeting, I asked my officials to look carefully at the material contained in the papers provided and report back to me if they considered that any action needed to be taken by the Home Office.

"In addition I asked my officials to consider a referral to another Government Department, such as the Attorney General's Department, if that was appropriate.

"This was the normal procedure for handling material presented to the Home Secretary.

"I do not recall being contacted further about these matters by Home Office officials or by Mr Dickens or by anyone else."

The Home Office commissioned an independent review last year into what information it received about organised child sex abuse between 1979 and 1999.

A spokesman said: "The review concluded the Home Office acted appropriately, referring information received during this period to the relevant authorities."

It also disclosed material received from Mr Dickens in November 1983 and January 1984 had not been retained.

However, a letter was sent from Lord Brittan to Mr Dickens on March 20, 1984 explaining what had been done in relation to the files.

According to an extract in the review report, the then-home secretary wrote: "You drew my attention to a number of allegations concerning paedophilia when you called here on November 23 and in subsequent letters.

"I am now able to tell you that, in general terms, the view of the Director of Public Prosecutions is that two of the letters you forwarded could form the basis for enquiries by the police and they are now being passed to the appropriate authorities.

"In other cases there either seems to be inadequate evidence to pursue prosecution, for example the lady who wrote about PIE1 advertising but did not secure any example of the material complained of, or they have already been dealt with in some way by the courts or the police."

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Dying Reeva's Screams 'As Loud As A Plane'

It is possible Reeva Steenkamp's screams on the night she was shot and killed by Oscar Pistorius were as loud as a plane's engine, a court has heard.

State Prosecutor Gerrie Nel questioned acoustic expert Ivan Lin on the sounds heard on Valentine's Day last year when the athlete's girlfriend was killed.

When asked if he would put Ms Steenkamp's screams at 120 dB, Mr Lin said: "120 means extremely loud, you can almost hear it 100 metres away. It is a very slight possibility, but it is possible."

Sky Correspondent Emma Hurd said: "Mr Nel is trying to make the point that Reeva Steenkamp would have screamed loudly because she was 'screaming for her life'."

After quizzing Mr Lin about some of the technical details in report, Mr Nel contended that, without exception, everybody heard a woman's screams on that night.

He said: "Four state witnesses all heard screams by a woman. That must be reliable even for a scientist."

Pistorius hugs a well-wisher in court

Pistorius's defence team have previously said the screams came from him, as he was upset that he had killed Ms Steenkamp.

Next to give evidence was Peet van Zyl, Pistorius's manager.

Mr van Zyl, who has worked with the athlete since 2006, told the court Pistorius had a "heightened sense of awareness".

Reeva's mother June Steenkamp arrives at court

This led to him always parking his car in open spaces with plenty of lighting, sitting close to the door in restaurants and locking his hotel room door when he was travelling. 

Mr van Zyl recalled an incident on an plane when Pistorius removed his prostheses because of severe blisters on his stumps.

"At some stage one of the legs fell over and when an air hostess tried to pick it up politely, Oscar Pistorius had felt someone close and (he) was startled," Mr van Zyl said.

State Prosecutor Gerrie Nel questions a witness in court

"He grabbed his leg from her."

Large parts of the trial have focused on Pistorius's relationship with Ms Steenkamp, which had started around three months before her death.

Mr van Zyl said their relationship was "loving and caring" and they were always calling each other pet names.

Pistorius planned to take her to an Andrea Bocelli concert in Italy, Mr van Zyl told the court.

Pistorius had a "heightened sense of awareness", the court heard

It was revealed that Pistorius was moved from a room he was sharing with another athlete at the 2012 Olympics because, Mr Nel said, Pistorius was constantly on the phone arguing.

Mr van Zyl said he heard there was an issue between the pair, but was not aware why they did not get on.

Before the court adjourned for the day, Mr van Zyl was asked if he thought Pistorius was paranoid. He replied he was not qualified to offer an opinion.

Reeva Steenkamp and Pistorius had been dating for around three months

The trial has resumed after an adjournment for a month of psychiatric tests, which found Pistorius was not mentally ill at the time of Ms Steenkamp's death and that he is fit to stand trial.

Pistorius denies murdering Ms Steenkamp, claiming he mistook her for an intruder in his home.

The trial continues.

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Madeleine: Search Dogs Return To Portugal

Madeleine: Key Events Timeline

Updated: 8:10pm UK, Monday 30 June 2014

Here is a timeline of the key events since Madeleine McCann's disappearance.

2007

:: May 3 - Kate and Gerry McCann leave their three children asleep in their holiday apartment in Praia da Luz while they dine with friends at a nearby tapas restaurant.

Jane Tanner, one of the friends eating with the McCanns, later reports seeing a man carrying a child away earlier that night.

:: May 5 - Portuguese police reveal they believe Madeleine was abducted but is still alive and in Portugal, and say they have a sketch of a suspect.

:: May 14 - Detectives take Anglo-Portuguese man Robert Murat in for questioning and make him an "arguido", or official suspect.

:: May 25 - Detectives release a description of the man reported by Jane Tanner three weeks earlier after pressure from the McCanns, their legal team and the British Government.

:: May 30 - Mr and Mrs McCann meet the Pope in Rome in the first of a series of trips around Europe and beyond to highlight the search for their daughter.

:: August 6 - A Portuguese newspaper reports that British sniffer dogs have found traces of blood on a wall in the McCanns' holiday apartment.

:: August 11 - Exactly 100 days after Madeleine disappeared, investigating officers publicly acknowledge for the first time that she could be dead.

:: September 7 - During further questioning of Mr and Mrs McCann, detectives make them both "arguidos" in their daughter's disappearance.

:: September 9 - The McCanns fly back to England with their two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie.

:: October 2 - Goncalo Amaral, the detective in charge of the inquiry, is removed from the case after criticising the British police in a Portuguese newspaper interview.

:: October 25 - The McCanns release a new artist's impression drawn by an FBI-trained expert showing the man described by Jane Tanner.

2008

:: March 19 - Mr and Mrs McCann accept £550,000 libel damages and front-page apologies from Express Newspapers over allegations they were responsible for Madeleine's death.

:: April 7 - Three Portuguese detectives, led by Paulo Rebelo, fly to Britain to re-interview the seven friends on holiday with the McCanns when Madeleine vanished.

:: July 17 - Mr Murat receives £600,000 in libel damages from four newspaper groups over "seriously defamatory" articles connecting him with the child's disappearance.

:: July 21 - The Portuguese authorities shelve their investigation and lift the "arguido" status of the McCanns and Mr Murat.

:: August 4 - Thousands of pages of evidence from the Portuguese police files in the exhaustive investigation into Madeleine's disappearance are made public.

2009

:: January 13 - Mr McCann returns to Portugal for the first time since coming back to the UK without his daughter.

:: March 24 - The McCanns launch a localised new appeal for information focused on the area in the Algarve where Madeleine disappeared.

:: April 4 - Mr McCann goes back to Portugal to help film a reconstruction of the events on the night his daughter vanished.

:: April 22 - The McCanns fly to the US to record an interview with chat show host Oprah Winfrey to mark two years since Madeleine's disappearance.

:: June 14 - Dying paedophile Raymond Hewlett says he was in the Algarve when Madeleine disappeared and has an alibi - but has no plans to reveal it.

:: August 6 - Detectives say they are hunting a "Victoria Beckham lookalike" with an Australian or New Zealand accent, reportedly seen in Barcelona three days after the little girl went missing.

2010

:: Feb 18 -  Kate and Gerry McCann say they are "pleased and relieved" at a judge's decision to uphold a ban on a book by former detective Goncalo Amaral.

:: Mar 3 -  A newly-released file from Portugese police on possible sightings is called "gold dust" and could lead to a breakthrough, says a spokesman for the McCanns.

:: May 1 - Kate McCann reveals she had thoughts about being "wiped out" in a motorway crash to end the pain of losing Madeleine - but vows never to give up.

:: November 10 - Madeleine's parents launch an online petition to help force a UK and Portuguese joint review of all evidence in the case.

:: November 15 -  The McCanns sign a deal to write a book about their daughter's disappearance.

2011

:: May 13 - The Prime Minister David Cameron asks London's Metropolitan Police to help investigate the case.

:: November 23 - Kate and Gerry McCann appear at the Leveson Inquiry into media ethics.

They tell how media pressure affected their family life and accuse newspaper editors of hampering the search for their missing daughter.

Kate McCann says she felt "violated" when her diary was published without her permission.

:: December 5 - Scotland Yard detectives spend time in Barcelona as part of their re-examination of the case.

2012

:: March 9 - Portuguese police in Oporto launch a review of the original investigation.

:: April 26 - Scotland Yard says Madeleine McCann may still be alive and release an artist's impression of what she may look like as a nine-year-old.

:: July 6 - British detectives examine a claim that the little girl's body is buried near the apartment from where she vanished. It comes after a self-styled investigator sends police radar scans he claims show a burial site.

2013

:: February 11 - Gerry McCann calls for politicians to implement the conclusions of the Leveson Inquiry in full, backed by legislation.

:: February 13 - Police say the results of DNA tests on a girl in New Zealand who was mistaken for Madeleine reveal that she is not the missing British girl.

:: February 21 - Retired solicitor Tony Bennett who published claims that Madeleine McCann's parents caused her death is given a suspended jail sentence.

:: May 2 - Madeleine McCann's parents tell Sky News a police review into their daughter's disappearance is making "excellent progress" as they mark the sixth anniversary since she went missing.

:: May 17 - Scotland Yard say they have identified a number of "people of interest" they want to speak to. It believes it has found enough evidence to reopen the case but the Portuguese authorities are still resistant. 

:: June 15 - The Home Office agrees to fund a full-scale investigation by the Metropolitan Police.

:: October 13 - UK detectives reviewing the case say key details in the timeline of her disappearance have "significantly changed".

:: October 14 - A fresh appeal is launched in a bid to find a suspect detectives say is of "vital importance", with two new separate e-fits - thought to be of the same man seen on the night Madeleine went missing - released by police.

:: October 17 - Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood, who is leading the Scotland Yard team, Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley, and Mr and Mrs McCann meet officers in Lisbon to be briefed on the Portuguese case.

:: October 23 - Britain's most senior police officer Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe defends the way the Portuguese dealt with the initial investigation into Madeleine's disappearance, saying it would have been "very difficult" to immediately know if they were dealing with a serious crime.

:: October 24 - Detectives in Portugal reopen the investigation into Madeleine McCann's disappearance after an internal review uncovers new lines of inquiry and witnesses who were never questioned during the original Portuguese investigation.

2014

:: January 3 - A family source says Kate and Gerry McCann have been denied permission to give evidence at a Portuguese libel trial over a book about the case by former local police chief Goncalo Amaral.

:: January 13 - British police investigate three burglars who were in the area when Madeleine disappeared, and whose phones were apparently "red hot" after she went missing. A letter is sent to Portuguese police asking for help to track them down.

:: January 29 - Scotland Yard officers, including the detective leading the case, fly to Portugal to meet police there and discuss the latest developments.

:: March 19 - Officers from Operation Grange launch a search for a man who sexually assaulted five British girls in the Algarve between 2004 and 2006.

:: April 23 - Detectives identify five new cases where a lone intruder abused young British girls in holiday apartments in the Algarve.

:: May 1 - Kate and Gerry McCann give an interview to Sky News where they are desperate to find out what happened to Madeleine, even if it is the "worst case scenario" as they back calls for a Child Rescue Alert service similar to the Amber Alert system in the US.

:: May 6 - Scotland Yard plans to dig for evidence in three locations in Praia da Luz are approved, with officers set to use ground penetrating radar.

:: May 8 - British Officers reportedly use a military helicopter to photograph potential excavation sites and hold a four-hour meeting with Portuguese colleagues to agree a timetable for new searches.

:: May 22 - Met Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley says the investigation will enter a "substantial phase of operational activity" in Portugal in the coming weeks. 

:: June 2 - Portuguese police seal off an area of scrubland to the west of Praia da Luz as they prepare to examine the potential excavation site.

:: June 11 - Police begin to search an area between Praia da Luz and the town of Lagos behind a water treatment plant. The search of the scrubland site was later wound down.

:: June 30 - The British team return to Portugal and plan to speak to a key witness and several suspects the following day.

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Rolf Harris: 12 Women Seeking Compensation

The Fall Of One Of Britain's Best-Loved Stars

Updated: 6:09pm UK, Monday 30 June 2014

By Nick Pisa, Sky News Reporter

Despite being born in Australia, Rolf Harris' lengthy career in show business, spanning almost six decades, has ensured he is one of Britain's best-known and, until now, best-loved stars.

From his humble beginnings as a swimming champion in his native Western Australia, he moved to London in 1952 after deciding to abandon a teaching career and study art instead.

Within weeks he was singing in ex-pat clubs and two years after stepping off a liner, he signed a contract with the BBC which marked the start of a lengthy association with the broadcaster.

Artist, singer-songwriter and TV star, his legendary career earned him an MBE, OBE and CBE and Australian honours as well.

He was given a BAFTA fellowship, painted a portrait of the Queen and has met other members of the royal family countless times.

Harris also made numerous TV commercials and appeared at Glastonbury six times - opening the event in 2010 - and singing in front of a crowd of almost 100,000.

Countless generations of children and adults know him through iconic programmes from the 70s, 80s and 90s, such as The Rolf Harris Show, Rolf Harris Cartoon Time, Animal Hospital and Rolf On Art.

His wife of 56 years, Alwen, and daughter Bindi, 49, supported him in court throughout the seven-week trial, although only Bindi was called to give evidence in the case.

She described how she wanted to ''stab herself with forks'' after discovering Harris had been having a relationship with her best friend, who was the subject of seven of the charges.

In his 2001 autobiography, titled after his catchphrase "Can You Tell What It Is Yet", there is a telling passage in which he explained his feelings about his family.

He wrote: ''Alwen and Bindi have to come first. It has only been in the last five years that I have realised this. Late, but better than never.''

Telling, because it was in 1997 Harris wrote to the father of Bindi's best friend to tell him of the affair he had been having with his daughter when his own daughter found out.

He also wrote of how, as his career took off in the 60s, he found himself ogling women in backstage dressing rooms set aside for dancers he worked with.

Harris wrote: ''I tried not to watch - or be seen watching - but it wasn't easy, I spent most of my time reading the same page of a book 14 times realising I was holding it upside down.''

It's also clear he had a difficult relationship with his daughter and wife - blaming himself for not being with them as he devoted his time to his career - leaving them a painful second.

In the early 1960s as his career hit the big time, Alwen visited Australia with him and it later emerged she had contemplated suicide, Harris only finding out about it 30 years later when he found her diary.

Harris described how ''the words struck me like hammer blows'' adding that he ''felt terrible and I kicked myself for my selfishness''.

His awards and honours count for nothing and he will now swap his luxury Thames-side home in Berkshire for the cold harsh surroundings of a prison cell, as a convicted sex offender.

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Heathrow Sorry For T5 Baggage Fiasco

By Siobhan Robbins, Sky Reporter

Bosses at Heathrow have said they cannot confirm when passengers still waiting for bags, stranded after a computer glitch, will receive them.

The issues began at Terminal 5 last week and affected thousands of departing British Airways passengers.

Some had to fly without their luggage after the problems meant bags had to be manually processed, which takes a lot longer.

Speaking to Sky News on his first day as chief executive of Heathrow, John Holland-Kaye apologised to customers and said the issues had now been resolved.

However, he could not confirm when customers would receive their belongings, saying: "I can't give an exact time scale for that, we should have put all of the bags into the system here at Heathrow today that are remaining.

Pic: Navjot Gill

"It will then take a few days for British Airways to manage the process of getting them back into the hands of passengers.

"The best advice would be to contact British Airways to see how we can best do that.

"I would like apologise once again to any passengers who have been affected by this.

"We need to do better and as chief executive, starting today, it's my determination we should do".

Coleen Rooney was among those affected by the IT issues, which lasted from June 26 to 29.

The wife of England and Manchester United footballer Wayne took to Twitter to vent her frustration, writing: "Feel sick ... just received my 4 cases 2 days late from BA Heathrow to Las Vegas. Opened them all and they have been completely ransacked."

British Airways said it had been in touch with Mrs Rooney to apologise and confirmed it had launched an investigation.

In a statement regarding the delays, a spokesperson from the airline said: "We have been working round the clock to reunite customers with their bags since the airport's baggage system in Terminal 5 first started experiencing IT faults last Thursday morning."

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Radical Islamic Preacher Seeks Asylum In UK

The family of Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammad are applying for his asylum in the UK after claiming he had been tortured in Lebanon.

They say the radical preacher has suffered systematic torture while in custody at a maximum security prison.

The family say he should be allowed back into Britain on "humanitarian grounds" as his health has deteriorated and he is no longer able to walk.

Mohammad left the UK in 2005 and was barred from returning

The cleric caused outrage in the wake of the 2005 London bombings after saying he would not inform police if he knew Muslims were planning attacks.

He left the UK in 2005 and was told he would not be allowed to return.

But the cleric's son, Mohammad Bakri, told Sky News: "I'm here on the humanitarian basis. At the end of the day, many people find what he says distasteful, and he quotes things from the Islamic perspective.

"But I think unless you know the character, himself, like my father - I grew up with him - so therefore I understand the tactics that he uses to attract the media in order to pass the message of Islam.

"You may find that distasteful, but at the end of the day he has not committed any crimes in the UK."

Sky's Home Affairs Correspondent Mark White said the family's claims have not been independently verified.

"The families of Omar Bakri Mohammad say that he has been transferred to a maximum security prison ... in Lebanon," he said.

"They also say that he has been systematically tortured during his time in that maximum security prison.

Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammad's daughter and son

"We have no independent verification of this, but the family insists that he is in very poor health.

"They claim that he is actually close to death and they're seeking an urgent appeal now to the UK authorities to have him returned to the UK under asylum."

Mohammad holds Syrian and Lebanese citizenship and lived in Britain for 20 years, where he headed the now-disbanded radical Islamist group al Muhajiroun.

He was among 54 people sentenced in Lebanon in November 2010 in trials of militants who fought deadly clashes with the Lebanese army in 2007.

He was convicted of belonging to an armed group that aimed to carry out terrorist acts and plots to kill Lebanese soldiers.

The preacher speaks in London alongside Abu Hamza in 1999

A Home Office spokesperson said: "An individual must be physically present in the UK in order to make a claim for asylum.

"Omar Bakri Mohammad was permanently excluded from the UK in 2005 on the grounds that his presence is not conducive to the public good.

"As Omar Bakri Mohammad is excluded from the UK, he will be unable to make a claim for asylum."

Conservative Party chairman Grant Shapps told Sky News: "People will have their own opinions, but there are proper processes in place to deal with these things."

Asked whether those processes meant that people had to be in the country to claim asylum, Mr Shapps added: "Those are the processes, that's right."

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Iraqi Troops Strike Back In Tikrit Offensive

Thousands of Iraqi troops backed by tanks, warplanes and helicopter gunships have launched their biggest counteroffensive yet against ISIS militants in Tikrit.

There have been conflicting reports as to just how much headway the Iraqi military has made in its advance on Tikrit - the home town of Saddam Hussein which fell to the insurgents on June 11.

Following two weeks of demoralising defeats, the military has claimed to have regained control of the northern city - but the rebels have insisted they are still in charge.

A provincial official contacted by AP told the news agency that the insurgents retained control of most of the city, and fighting is concentrated in the northern neighbourhood of Qadissiyah.

As the "large military operation" started, Staff Lieutenant General Sabah Fatlawi warned the insurgents they had two choices: "flee or be killed".

An Iraqi army soldier moves on Tikrit

Witnesses reported heavy clashes as troops moved in from the west.

Troops in helicopters landed at a strategically located university campus, with sporadic clashes reported throughout the day.

Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki's security spokesman said warplanes were targeting insurgents there.

Lieutenant General Qassem Atta said security forces were also now in full control of a key road from Baghdad to Samarra, between the capital and Tikrit.

He said there was coordination with the US, which has deployed special operations forces to Iraq, over "studying important targets", without elaborating.

Iraqi forces advance on Tikrit from the direction of Samarra in the south

Also on Sunday, fighters backed by the Kurdish Peshmerga force were advancing on the village of Basheer, south of Kirkuk, which was taken over by militants during their offensive.

Sky's Senior Correspondent Michelle Clifford, who is in Baghdad, said if the recapture of Tikrit is true, "it would not only be a strategic but a symbolically significant victory".

"The government is desperate to portray this as a victory because of the humiliating capitulation by the Iraqi forces in the early days of the insurgency," she added.

Meanwhile, British Foreign Secretary William Hague has called on Iraq's political leaders to form a "more inclusive government", as the new parliament prepares to convene on Tuesday.

"It isn't for us and it wouldn't help anybody for us to pronounce on who should be the Prime Minister of Iraq," he told the BBC's Andrew Marr show.

Special operations forces hunting down ISIS militants

"But there has been a failure in recent years to bring together Iraqi leaders and people out of their sectarian divisions.

"No one has succeeded in doing that in Iraq in the last eight years or so."

World leaders have insisted on a political settlement among Iraq's Shia Arab, Sunni Arab and Kurdish communities.

Top Shia cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al Sistani has also called for unity in Iraq.

Tikrit fell to the insurgents on June 11

Mr al Maliki, who has publicly focused on a military response to the crisis, has acknowledged that political measures are also necessary.

On Saturday, Russia's deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said in Damascus: "Russia will not remain passive to the attempts by some groups to spread terrorism in the region.

"The situation is very dangerous in Iraq and the foundations of the Iraqi state are under threat."

Baghdad has agreed to buy more than a dozen Sukhoi warplanes from Russia and Belarus in a deal that could be worth up to $500m (£295m).

Iraqi state TV quoted Lt Gen Atta as saying Sukhoi jets had arrived, without specifying how many.

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GPs Who Miss Cancer 'To Be Named And Shamed'

GPs who repeatedly fail to spot signs of cancer in their patients could be named and shamed.

Surgeries will be marked out with a red flag on an NHS website for patients if they are deemed to be missing too many cases.

Doctors will also be red-flagged if patients have to make repeated visits before being referred for tests, according to the Mail on Sunday.

Practices will be given a green rating on the NHS Choices site if they have quick referral times for patients who show possible signs of having the disease.

Jeremy Hunt says surgeries could "do much better" with cancer diagnosis

But GPs have hit out at the plan, with one labelling it "very unhelpful" and saying it would be counter-productive.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said tough action must be taken to bring standards at surgeries with poor cancer referral rates into line with those with highest standards.

"We need to do much better," he told the newspaper.

"Cancer diagnosis levels around the country vary significantly and we must do much more to improve both the level of diagnosis and to bring those GP practices with poor referral rates up to the standards of the best."

A survey of 70,000 patients showed that one in 10 cancer sufferers had to see their GP at least five times before being referred to hospital to be diagnosed.

More than a quarter had seen their GP at least three times before being sent to a specialist.

Dr Monah Mansoori told Sky News: "I think we're going to end up having a system where GPs will start to refer defensively, they're just going to refer anything that's vaguely, possibly going to be a cancer because they don't want to be black marked and put on this list.

"It's very unhelpful, it's going to make people not confident in their GPs and more of them will end up at A&E and this is the problem they are supposedly trying to prevent and I think there's another issue, they haven't really said what they're going to do after they've put this black mark on GP's practices that perhaps aren't performing as well."

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Newlyweds Tied Up And Killed By Bride's Family

A 17-year-old girl and her husband have been tied up and had their throats slit shortly after they married for love, according to police.

Muafia Bibi and her partner Sajjad Ahmed, 30, were killed in a village which is part of Daska town in Punjab province, police officer Asghar Ali said.

He added that the girl's grandfather, parents and two uncles are accused of killing them with a butcher's knife, and that all five have been apprehended.

The couple married earlier this month and Mr Ali said the family had lured them home by saying they accepted the marriage.

The family said they had been embarrassed by the marriage of their daughter to a man from a less important tribe, police were quoted as saying.

District police chief Gohar Nafees said they admitted killing the couple in the name of honour.

Cultural traditions in many areas of Pakistan mean that killing a woman whose behaviour is seen as immodest is widely accepted.

A woman marrying a man of her own choice is considered an unacceptable insult to many families.

According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, some 869 so-called "honour killings" were reported in the media last year.

The true figure is probably much higher since many cases are not reported.

Under Pakistani law, the woman's family are able to forgive the killer even if they are convicted.

Many families nominate a member to do the killing and then formally forgive the killer.

In May, Farzana Iqbal, who was three months pregnant, was stoned to death outside a court in the eastern city of Lahore by family members for marrying the man of her choice.

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