Diberdayakan oleh Blogger.

Popular Posts Today

Scottish Labour Row May Cost Miliband Dearly

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 25 Oktober 2014 | 20.48

If Ed Miliband allowed himself to gloat over David Cameron being ambushed at the EU summit, and the Tories' battle with UKIP becoming even harder, he would have been foolish and even more out of touch than his critics claim he is.

Margaret Thatcher famously said that "in politics, the unexpected always happens". And the Labour leader probably wasn't expecting his party to be plunged into a civil war by the resignation of its leader in Scotland – just 24 hours after the Prime Minister was exploding in fury in Brussels.

But Johann Lamont's resignation, after what her critics claimed was a lacklustre performance in the Scottish referendum campaign, wasn't unexpected. Mr Miliband and many Scottish Labour MPs at Westminster say they knew earlier this week that it was coming.

What was unexpected was the ferocity of her onslaught on Mr Miliband and the Labour leadership in her valedictory interview in Scotland's Daily Record, triggering tartan turmoil in the party and revealing splits, rows and bitterness between Westminster and Holyrood.

She accused the Labour leadership in Westminster of treating the Scottish party as a "branch office" and branded some Westminster Labour MPs "dinosaurs… who think nothing has changed".

She complains that the party's Scottish general-secretary was ousted without her being consulted, making her position "untenable".

And, I'm told, she also wanted Eric Joyce kicked out of Parliament after his Westminster bar room brawl, rather than be allowed to remain as an MP sitting as an independent.

Many will agree that she's right about Westminster "dinosaurs". Many Scottish Labour MPs are still guilty of shocking complacency, despite Alex Salmond winning an overall majority in the Scottish Parliament in the election of 2011, just before Johann Lamont became leader.

Those same Scottish Labour MPs, although no doubt mightily relieved by the No vote in the referendum, still don't seem to grasp the real threat that the SNP poses to Labour in many of its heartlands in the 2015 General Election, based on strong Yes votes in some of those strongholds in the referendum.

Video: Lamont's 'Stinging' Labour Attack

Labour currently holds 41 of the 59 Westminster seats in Scotland. And, leaving aside the row over "English votes for English laws", it needs to hold on to those – or even make a few gains – if Ed Miliband is to have any chance of becoming Prime Minister.

Yet it's estimated that one in three Labour supporters voted Yes in the referendum. And if that haemorrhaging of support was repeated in the General Election, Labour's 41 seats would be down to about 30. That could make the difference between Labour being in Government and staying in the Opposition.

In other words, however well Labour does against the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats in English and Welsh marginals, Labour losses to the SNP could rob Mr Miliband of an overall majority, or of leading the largest party in the Commons.

So the Labour disarray, rancour and infighting unleashed by the departing Johann Lamont won't just send shock waves throughout Scotland. It threatens to change the landscape in the whole of the UK.

Video: Miliband: Debates Must Take Place

If there was any gloating by Ed Miliband at David Cameron's Euro-nightmare, it will now have been brought to an abrupt end.

And just who will succeed Johann Lamont? Anas Sarwar? Jim Murphy? Gordon Brown? The job is beginning to look like a poisoned chalice.

The one person who is gloating this weekend, despite falling short of victory in last month's referendum, is the cocky Alex Salmond, who couldn't resist pointing out that Scottish Labour is now going to have its fifth leader since he become Scotland's First Minister in 2007.


20.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Google Executive Sets New Freefall Jump Record

By Sean Dilley, Sky News Reporter

A senior Google executive has set a new record for the highest parachute jump at more than 135,000 feet (41,000 metres).

Fifty-seven-year-old Alan Eustace was lifted from an abandoned runway at an airport in New Mexico to the edge of space by a balloon filled with 35,000 cubic feet (990 cubic metres) of helium.

It broke the previous record, a 128,100 foot freefall achieved by 45-year-old Felix Baumgartner in October 2012.

Unlike the former record holder, who was 14 years his junior when he set the previous record, Google's senior vice president of knowledge chose to make his attempt in secret.

Mr Eustace spent two hours and seven minutes climbing to an altitude of 136,401 feet (41,575m or nearly 26 miles). He began his freefall at 135,890 feet.

Wearing a self-contained space suit similar to those used in the international space station, the computer scientist used an explosive device to separate himself from the balloon which elevated him.

1/8

  1. Gallery: Google Executive In Sky Dive Record Attempt

    Alan Eustace prepares to lift off. Pictures: Paragon Space Development Corporation

  2. The Helium balloon is filled at a New Mexico airport

  3. Mr Eustace is carried into the starting position

  4. Mr Eustace is carried into space

  5. Mr Eustace is protected by a pressurised suit

He descended towards the earth at speeds which peaked at more than 800mph, breaking the sound barrier and creating a sonic boom.

After landing, he said: "You could see the darkness of space and you could see the atmosphere, which I had never seen before.

"It was a wild, wild ride."

Mr Eustace has spent 34 months of secret planning and training with a team from Paragon Space Development Corporation to prepare for his four-and-a-half minute freefall.

Company CEO Grant Anderson said: "Together, Alan and the team extended human space flight to the stratosphere in an important step to solidify the safety of future human endeavours."

"This has opened up endless possibilities for humans to explore previously seldom visited parts of our atmosphere."


20.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Automatic Quarantine In US For Ebola Medics

New York and New Jersey are to begin automatically quarantining medical staff who return from areas badly affected by Ebola.

The decision by the health authorities follows former Doctors Without Borders medic Craig Spencer testing positive for the disease several days after he returned from Guinea.

The World Health Organisation says the number of Ebola deaths has risen to 4,922 and the total cases passed the 10,000 mark at 10,141, mostly in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

Dr Spencer, 33, was able to travel on the subway and go bowling before he showed the classic symptoms of the virus and had to go to hospital.

The US government said it was considering adopting the move for the whole country after it emerged that Dr Spencer had already been checked at the border and declared safe.

Video: Ebola Response: Science Not Fear

Hours after the policy was announced, a female healthcare worker who had been quarantined when she arrived from the affected region into Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey, was isolated with a fever.

She had no symptoms on arrival at the airport before being quarantined, but is now being evaluated at University Hospital, Newark.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said. "We've seen what happens... You ride a subway. You ride a bus. You could infect hundreds and hundreds of people."

Video: Cured Texas Ebola Nurse 'Blessed'

President Barack Obama praised New York City's quick reaction to its first Ebola case and said he has promised local officials any federal help they need.

He said the US must be guided by science and not fear as it responded to Ebola, insisting the disease can be beaten if people remain vigilant.

The president also sought to reassure members of the public by hugging Dallas nurse Nina Pham, who was one of the first to be treated for the virus in the US.

Video: Ebola: Busting The Myths

She had caught it while working as one of the medical staff treating a man who had earlier arrived from Liberia and who later died of the disease.

Ms Pham, 26, was declared cured on Friday, and gave a speech, thanking those who had treated her.

She said: "I feel fortunate and blessed to be standing here today."

Video: How Ebola Attacks The Human Body

Officials said she did not take any experimental drugs, but she did use blood plasma from previous survivor Dr Kent Brantly, who she also thanked.

Her colleague Amber Vinson, who caught the disease at the same time, was also declared cured, but was not yet well enough to leave hospital.

Dr Spencer remains in a stable condition in an isolation ward at Bellevue Hospital Center in New York undergoing treatment.

Video: Liberia Gripped By Ebola Virus Fear

Meanwhile, a medical worker quarantined after arriving at New Jersey airport has tested negative for the virus.

The latest case comes as the World Health Organisation announced that it expects hundreds of thousands of doses of a new Ebola vaccine to be available by early next year.


20.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Scottish Labour Leader In Shock Resignation

Ed Miliband's leadership has come under fire again with the resignation of Scottish Labour Party leader Johann Lamont, as she claimed her colleagues "do not understand the politics they are facing".

The Glasgow MSP used her exit to criticise the party's leadership across the UK, and accused Westminster of trying to manage Scotland "like a branch office of London".

She added: "Colleagues need to realise that the focus of Scottish politics is now Holyrood, not Westminster.

"There is a danger of Scottish politics being between two sets of dinosaurs… the nationalists who can't accept they were rejected by the people, and some colleagues at Westminster who think nothing has changed."

It marks another setback for Ed Miliband ahead of next year's General Election - already, a group of Scottish Labour activists are pushing for their party to enjoy complete autonomy from London.

Speculation over Ms Lamont's leadership has grown since the referendum, with one senior aide confessing Scottish Labour needed to rediscover its "sense of purpose".

Video: Labour: Scotland Is Still Our Focus

Nicola Sturgeon, due to become the First Minister in November once she replaces Alex Salmond as leader of the SNP, warned that "Scottish Labour really is in meltdown" if rumours of its tensions with Westminster were true.

Ms Lamont alluded to this in her resignation letter to Jamie Glackin, chair of the Scottish Labour Party.

She wrote: "Some, including senior members of the party, have questioned my place in this new phase. In order that we can have the real discussion about how we take Scottish Labour forward, I believe it would be best if I took myself out of the equation and stepped down as leader."

In reaction to Friday's news, a Scottish Conservative spokesman said: "Johann Lamont's resignation has shown the complete chaos at the heart of Ed Miliband's operation in the starkest possible terms.

Video: Fall-Out Over Scottish Referendum

"The man isn't fit to run a village fete, never mind the UK."

In a statement, Mr Miliband said: "Johann Lamont deserves significant credit for the successful No vote in the Scottish referendum campaign.

"She has led the Scottish Labour Party with determination."

Earlier this week, Scottish Labour was described as "going through a period of reflection" after the referendum, which saw large numbers of the party's supporters vote to leave the UK, despite the overall majority of Scots backing the union.

Video: MPs To Debate Scotland's Future

Ms Lamont, who took over as leader in December 2011, is the second Scottish party leader to resign since September's vote - and made her comments during a Daily Record interview.

The first to quit, Alex Salmond MSP, said: "The fact that Scottish Labour are now going to have their fifth leader since the SNP took office in 2007 indicates that their problems are not about personalities - they are much more deep-seated than that.

"It was always very clear that Johann Lamont was never able to be meaningfully in charge of Labour in Scotland, and that is laid bare in dramatic fashion in her resignation comments."

Gordon Brown, who is one of the favourites to succeed the mother-of-two, said: "I am sorry to hear than Johann has resigned.

Video: Gordon Brown On Devolution

"She brought determination, compassion and a down-to-earth approach to the leadership and deserves great credit for taking on the challenge after 2011.

"I wish her well in the future."

Meanwhile, Tony Blair, another former Labour Prime Minister, has had to deny rumours that he privately believes Mr Miliband will not win the next General Election.


20.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Canada Gunman's Mother 'Crying For Victims'

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 23 Oktober 2014 | 20.48

The mother of the man identified as the Ottawa gunman has said she is crying for the victims of the shooting, not her son.

In tearful telephone call, Susan Bibeau told AP she did not know what to say to those hurt in the attack carried out by her son Michael Zehaf-Bibeau.

"Can you ever explain something like this?" she said. "We are sorry."

Footage has also emerged showing Kevin Vickers walking through Canada's parliament after shooting Zehaf-Bibeau.

The sergeant-at-arms has been hailed as a hero for stopping the attacker - who had killed a soldier at Ottawa's war memorial - as he tried to storm the country's House of Commons.

Video: Footage Of The Ottawa Gunman

Earlier, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Canada will "never be intimidated" by terrorists who seek to bring "savagery" to the country's shores,

Speaking after the attack in Ottawa, Mr Harper said terrorists would find "no safe haven" in Canada.

"Let there be no misunderstanding - we will not be intimidated. Canada will never be intimidated," Mr Harper said.

"In fact, this will lead us to strengthen our resolve and redouble our efforts - and those of our national security agencies - to take all necessary steps to identify and counter threats and keep Canada safe here at home."

Canada will work with its allies to "fight against the terrorist organisations who brutalise those in other countries with the hope of bringing their savagery to our shores", he added.

Video: Shots Fired In Canada Parliament

Corporal Nathan Cirillo was guarding the National War Memorial when he was shot at point-blank range at around 10am local time on Wednesday.

Witnesses say the gunman raised his arms in triumph after the shooting, which led to a lockdown in downtown Ottawa, lasting until Wednesday night.

The attacker was identified by Canadian media as Zehaf-Bibeau, 32, who US agencies have been advised is a Canadian convert to Islam.

After firing upon Cpl Cirillo, the gunman entered Canada's nearby parliament building where he was pursued by law enforcement officers.

People fled the building, took cover, or barricaded doors as police cordoned off the streets outside.

Video: Canadian PM: The Full Statement

Officials confirmed 58-year-old Mr Vickers shot the attacker dead outside the MPs' caucus rooms.

At least three people were treated in hospital for minor injuries.

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

Mr Harper said the two terrorist attacks "are a grim reminder that Canada is not immune to the types of terror attacks we have seen elsewhere around the world".

US President Barack Obama has condemned the shootings, describing them as "outrageous".

Video: How The Ottawa Attack Unfolded

"We have to remain vigilant," Mr Obama said.

"It's very important, I think, for us to recognise that when it comes to dealing with terrorist activity, that Canada and the United States (have) to be entirely in sync."

David Cameron responded to the attack on Twitter, saying: "I'm appalled by today's attack in Ottawa.

"I offer my full support to @pmharper and the Canadian people as they deal with this incident."


20.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Canada Killer Believed 'Devil Was After Him'

The gunman who killed a soldier in Ottawa and stormed Canada's parliament had been put on a terror watch list, it has emerged.

The attacker, identified as Michael Zehaf-Bibeau by Canadian media, was considered "high risk" and had seen his passport confiscated to stop him travelling abroad to join Islamic State terrorists in Iraq or Syria.

But the 32-year-old was able to strike at the heart of his home country's capital, shooting dead Corporal Nathan Cirillo before he was himself gunned down by Sergeant-At-Arms Kevin Vickers as he launched his assault on parliament.

US sources said the killer was a convert to Islam from Quebec who grew up in Laval and Montreal and was called Michael Joseph Hall before he changed his name.

Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper reported that he was the son of Susan Bibeau, a senior civil servant with Canada's Immigration and Refugee Board, while his stepfather or adoptive father was Bulgasem Zehaf, a Libyan businessman who once owned Montreal's Cafe Tripoli.

Former neighbour Janice Purnell told CTV Zehaf-Bibeau was privately-educated and a typical teenager. She said she once called the police because he was playing loud music.

Video: How The Ottawa Attack Unfolded

Evidence has been emerging that suggests he fitted the common jihadist profile of a troubled young man who had turned to radical Islam. 

Canadian network CTV reported he had been jailed for two years for robbery and weapons possession in 2003, four years after his mother and Mr Zehaf had divorced.

Quebec court records also show that he pleaded guilty to a charge of failing to comply with a judge's order and several drug offences, including marijuana possession.

He reportedly stood trial for robbery in Vancouver in 2011 after a psychiatric assessment ruled he was fit for the judicial process.

1/7

  1. Gallery: Tributes Paid To Canadian Soldier

    Nathan Cirillo was a member of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders

  2. Hundreds of messages have been posted on a Facebook tribute page

  3. Click through for more images of Cpl Cirillo

Family friend Dave Bathurst told the CBC Zehaf-Bibeau did not appear to have extremist views, but had at times shown a disturbing side.

He said: "We were having a conversation in a kitchen, and I don't know how he worded it - he said the devil is after him."

Mr Bathurst said his friend frequently talked about the presence of Shaytan in the world - an Arabic term for devils and demons, adding: "I think he must have been mentally ill."

Bathurst last saw Zehaf-Bibeau praying in a Vancouver-area mosque six weeks ago and said that he spoke of wanting to go to the Middle East soon - although he claimed he only wanted to study Islam and Arabic.

Video: The Face Of Canada's Terror Fight

His case has parallels with that of Martin Couture-Rouleau, a 25-year-old convert who rammed his car into two soldiers in the Montreal suburb of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu on Monday - killing one of them before he was shot dead.

Rouleau also had his passport confiscated in July after he was arrested at an airport on his way to Turkey.

He was among 90 people being tracked by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) on suspicion of taking part in militant activities or planning to do so.


20.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

NHS Demands Extra £8bn In Plan To Save Services

By Thomas Moore, Health and Science Correspondent

The NHS needs an extra £8bn a year in funding and must undergo a major shake-up if it is to survive, according to a "radical" plan to safeguard services in England.

A range of measures are outlined in the report by NHS England, including a shift in resources from treating disease to preventing ill-health and a massive migration of services from hospitals into GP surgeries.

But it warns the upgrade to services will only be possible with a series of savings and an £8bn-a-year rise in government funding by 2020, to help make up a projected £30bn annual shortfall.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt told Sky News there was "massive pressure" on frontline services.

"We have nearly a million more over-65s than we had four years ago and doctors and nurses are working really hard," he said.

Video: NHS 'Can Bridge £30bn Funding Gap'

"What this report says ... is that we need to change the model of care, so that we're not just depending on hospitals.

"We need to be so much better at looking after people in the community and in their homes, using GP practices (and) catching people before they get seriously ill.

"It's not an easy process ... but if we do that, the £30bn gap that people have been talking about can be bridged, and actually we can get it right down to zero."

Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England said the country had "no choice" but to follow the plan.

"If we do it, a better NHS is possible," he said.

"If we don't the consequences for patients will be severe."

The report warns there needs to be "hard-hitting national action" on obesity, smoking and alcohol.

Video: GP: Specialist Treatment In Surgery

It wants employers to offer workers incentives to lose weight, including shopping vouchers, cash or prizes.

NHS staff will also be urged to "set a national example" with healthier lifestyles.

Local authorities should take tougher action on fast-food and alcohol outlets to improve the health of their populations.

"Put bluntly, as the nation's waistline keeps piling on the pounds, we're piling on billions of pounds in future taxes just to pay for preventable illnesses," the report says.

NHS England also wants to move more services out of hospitals, which are expensive to run.

It says GPs could group together to provide tests that have traditionally required a referral, and even employ consultants to run specialist clinics.

The NHS 111, 999 and out of hours GP services also need to be overhauled so patients know where to go for urgent care.

Video: NHS Surgery For The Obese

The report says changes to health services and a switch to disease prevention will make the NHS far more efficient.

But David Bennett, chief executive of the NHS regulator Monitor, warned there will still be an £8bn hole in the NHS budget unless the Government increases funding by 1.5% above inflation every year.

He said: "If we get the investment we need... we see no reason why it's not possible to sustain a comprehensive tax-funded NHS which is actually better for patients and an NHS which is really fit for the 21st Century."

Chris Ham, chief executive of health charity The King's Fund, said the report "throws down the gauntlet to the political parties".

"Politicians now need to explain whether and how they will find this money," he said.


20.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Tesco Profits Plunge 92% In Accounting Chaos

Tesco's chief executive has told Sky News he will not take an axe to prices in the short term to win back shoppers, after first-half profits fell 92%.

Dave Lewis was speaking after the supermarket chain revealed its latest results and the conclusions of an inquiry into an accounting scandal.

Its chairman Sir Richard Broadbent confirmed a plan to quit as the probe identified a £263m profit overstatement.

Tesco said the internal investigation by Deloitte into its procedures had found historic failures in its UK food business going back a number of years, having previously suggested the error was a one-off.

The overstatement reflected profits in previous reporting periods too, Tesco confirmed, not just in the first half of its financial year.

Its share price fell 7% when the FTSE 100 opened for business in the wake of the statement but later eased back.

Analysts said it could be explained by UK sales continuing to fall and Mr Lewis' decision not to launch an immediate discount challenge to rivals - especially hard discounters at the bottom and Waitrose at the top end, who have eaten away at its market share.

Video: Ex-Investor Wants Tesco Redress

Mr Lewis told Sky's Business Presenter Ian King: "Our promotional intensity is very high."

He said: "The critical thing is that I and 320,000 other people give great service, make sure everything's available in a really good, quality way, and then price will be part of the equation."

But he added he might think about price in a "different way" once his business review was completed.

Thursday's results statement was delayed by a month because of the investigation.

Eight senior executives have been suspended pending the outcome of the inquiry, which examined how Tesco logged suppliers' rebates and if they were reported in the correct accounting period.

Tesco said there was no evidence anyone at Tesco had sought to gain personally but the findings raise questions about the leadership of former chief executive Philip Clarke, who stepped down in the summer before the accounting issues were made public.

Tesco said his pay-off - and that of former finance chief Laurie McIlwee - was being delayed until such time as inquiries were complete.

Sir Richard said his decision to stand down reflected "the important principle of accountability."

The accounting scandal failed to overshadow the spotlight on Tesco's turnaround efforts.

Pre-tax profits fell 92% to £112m in its first six months while UK trading profit was down 55.9% to £499m.

Video: Waitrose Wins As Tesco Struggles

UK like-for-like sales were 4.6% lower - slightly better than expected.

Mr Lewis said: "We know that we have got a lot of work to do.

"We know what it is we need to do to turn the business around".

Tesco's market value - which has lost £17.6bn in the last five years - has plunged more than 50% in the past 12 months alone.


20.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

'Numbers' Jail Gang Behind Pistorius Threat

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 22 Oktober 2014 | 20.49

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

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

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

His life may depend on it.

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

Video: Pistorius Trial: The Sentence

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

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

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

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

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

Video: Pistorius Leaves Court For Prison

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

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

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

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

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

Video: Friends 'Felt Reeva's Light Today'

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

Their interests extend far beyond the prison walls.

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

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

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

Video: Pistorius Sentencing Highlights

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

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

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

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

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


20.49 | 0 komentar | Read More

Foreign Criminals Costing Taxpayers £850m

By Tom Parmenter, Sky News Correspondent

Foreign criminals are costing taxpayers £850m a year, with thousands of offenders setting up home in the UK instead of being deported.

Of the 4,200 foreign convicts living in the community, one in six - 760 - have absconded, according to a National Audit Office (NAO) report.

Among those who have absconded are 58 "high harm" individuals who have been missing since 2010, the report said.

The NAO found that despite greater resources the Home Office has made "slower than expected progress" in dealing with the problem.

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

Video: How Police Stop Foreign Criminals

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

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

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

Removal numbers have fallen to 5,097 from a peak of 5,613 in 2008/09. Meanwhile, the time it takes to deport an overseas criminal is 319 days.

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

1/11

  1. Gallery: Britain's Most Wanted Fugitives

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"The public will also be concerned that at any one time over 4,000 convicted FNOs are at large within our communities and that, of these, over 700 go missing.

Video: Romanian Police Fighting UK Crime

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

Immigration and security minister James Brokenshire MP said: "The countless appeals and re-appeals lodged by criminals attempting to cheat the system cost us all money and are an affront to British justice.

"That is why we are putting a stop to that abuse through the Immigration Act.

"New powers came into force this week to cut the number of grounds on which criminals can appeal their deportation and to end the appeals conveyor belt in the courts.

"The Immigration Act will help us deliver an immigration system that is fair to the people of this country and legitimate immigrants and tough on those who flout the rules."


20.49 | 0 komentar | Read More

Malaysia '99.9% Sure' Of Finding MH370

By Jonathan Samuels, Australia Correspondent

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

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

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

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

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

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

1/16

  1. Gallery: MH370: Timeline Of False Hopes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1/7

  1. Gallery: Missing Passengers Of Flight MH370

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"We will find MH370."

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

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


20.49 | 0 komentar | Read More

Apple Warns Users Over Chinese iCloud Attack

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


20.49 | 0 komentar | Read More

Lynda Bellingham: Loose Women Stars Pay Tribute

Written By Unknown on Senin, 20 Oktober 2014 | 20.49

Tributes have come from across the showbiz and television world for Lynda Bellingham, who has died from colon cancer aged 66.

Her former co-presenters on Loose Women were among the first to share their memories.

Denise Welch tweeted: "I loved my friend Lynda. I will miss her so much. xx".

Carol McGiffin, who was also on the ITV show, posted: "A very sad day indeed, rest in peace my friend @LyndaBellingham."

Another former Loose Women regular, Lisa Maxwell, said: "My Darling friend Lynda passed away last night. She was an inspiration to me as a wife, mother and as an actress. RIP beautiful lady."

Nadia Sawalha, who also appeared with Bellingham in the famous Oxo TV adverts, said the Loose Women team was devastated.

She told ITV's Lorraine show: "We're just all heartbroken because her last wish was that she would spend this Christmas with her family.

Video: Lynda Bellingham: 'Oxo Mum' Dies

"Anyone that knew Lynda and knew her well, knew that she was this absolute live wire.

"She would come into a room and light the place up. Everybody loved her.

"She got me my first ever job on the Oxo ads ... I played her son's girlfriend in it and then we worked together on [TV series] Second Thoughts.

"She played my sister's mum. And we all absolutely adored her."

The show's official Twitter feed posted: "Our thoughts go to #lyndabellingham's family at this incredibly sad time and to all those who's lives she touch so deeply, as she did ours."

Bellingham - familiar to millions for her 16-year role in the famous Oxo adverts - died in her husband's arms at a London hospital just a month after revealing she planned to stop chemotherapy.

1/13

  1. Gallery: Actress And Presenter Lynda Bellingham Dies

    Bellingham rehearsing a scene for one of the classic Oxo TV adverts in 1987

  2. The long-running ads featuring the squabbling family made Bellingham a familiar face to millions

  3. Pictured with on-screen husband Michael Redfern.

  4. The pair rehearsing for another Oxo advert in 1999

  5. Bellingham married three times - her first husband was film producer Greg Smith (left), who she married in 1975

  6. Taking to the floor: She appeared in Strictly Come Dancing in 2009

  7. Pictured with Strictly co-stars (left-right) Laila Rouass, Natalie Cassidy and Zoe Lucker

  8. Appearing in a photo to promote her role in the stage production of Calendar Girls

  9. Bellingham meeting the Queen at the ITV 50th Anniversary celebration alongside Nicholas Parsons and Harry Hill

  10. Bellingham was also part of the panel on Loose Women. She is pictured here in 2010 with fellow presenters Carol McGiffin, Denise Welch, Kate Thornton, Leslie Garrett and Andrea McLean

  11. With husband Michael Pattemore in April 2013 at the Laurence Olivier Awards in London

  12. The actress was made an OBE in March 2014 after a 40-year acting career which saw her appear in shows such as All Creatures Great And Small, Faith In The Future, and The Bill

Star Trek and Shaun of the Dead star Simon Pegg appeared with Bellingham early in his career, in 90s sitcom Faith in the Future.

He posted: "Lynda Bellingham, a gorgeous, brassy, funny, generous, talented human being. My first TV mother figure and a treasured friend."

One of Bellingham's most prominent roles was in the late 80s as Helen Herriot in countryside vet drama All Creatures Great and Small.

Co-star Christopher Timothy described her as funny, loyal and talented.

He added: "She was a great mum, she was a real friend and on-set she was one of the boys really."

Her partner in Strictly Come Dancing in 2009, Darren Bennett, said: "Lynda Bellingham was a courageous, talented and beautiful lady who I had the privilege of working with."

Video: Bellingham: I'm Not The Only One

Actress and Britain's Got Talent judge Amanda Holden also told her followers she was "devastated to hear the news about the beautiful Lynda Bellingham".

TV presenter Kirstie Allsopp urged other people who might be in a similar position to stay strong: "Lynda Bellingham, she was an inspiration, she so wanted to make it to Christmas, if you're working towards that, don't give up hope."

Broadcaster Chris Evans said: "Lynda Bellingham - an absolute mensch of the highest order.

"Enjoyed her company on several occasions. Outstanding spirit and company."


20.49 | 0 komentar | Read More

Lynda Bellingham: Actress And Presenter Dies

Actress Lynda Bellingham, best known for playing the mother in the Oxo television adverts, has died.

Bellingham died "peacefully in her husband's arms" at a London hospital, her agent said.

The 66-year-old had colon cancer and last month said she planned to end life-extending chemotherapy treatment.

The actress said she wanted to spend one last Christmas with her family after the disease had spread to her lungs and liver.

Her role as the mother in a squabbling family in the Oxo adverts made her familiar to millions in the 1980s.

Career highlights also included TV series All Creatures Great And Small, sitcom Faith In The Future, competing in Strictly Come Dancing, and starring in the stage production of Calendar Girls.

In her autobiography, the actress described her decision to end treatment for cancer, which she had been diagnosed with in July 2013.

1/13

  1. Gallery: Actress And Presenter Lynda Bellingham Dies

    Bellingham rehearsing a scene for one of the classic Oxo TV adverts in 1987

  2. The long-running ads featuring the squabbling family made Bellingham a familiar face to millions

  3. Pictured with on-screen husband Michael Redfern.

  4. The pair rehearsing for another Oxo advert in 1999

  5. Bellingham married three times - her first husband was film producer Greg Smith (left), who she married in 1975

  6. Taking to the floor: She appeared in Strictly Come Dancing in 2009

  7. Pictured with Strictly co-stars (left-right) Laila Rouass, Natalie Cassidy and Zoe Lucker

  8. Appearing in a photo to promote her role in the stage production of Calendar Girls

  9. Bellingham meeting the Queen at the ITV 50th Anniversary celebration alongside Nicholas Parsons and Harry Hill

  10. Bellingham was also part of the panel on Loose Women. She is pictured here in 2010 with fellow presenters Carol McGiffin, Denise Welch, Kate Thornton, Leslie Garrett and Andrea McLean

  11. With husband Michael Pattemore in April 2013 at the Laurence Olivier Awards in London

  12. The actress was made an OBE in March 2014 after a 40-year acting career which saw her appear in shows such as All Creatures Great And Small, Faith In The Future, and The Bill

"I sat down with (husband) Michael and Professor Stebbing and announced: 'The time has come to cease and desist.

"'I would love to make one more Christmas, if possible, but I want to stop taking chemo around November in order to pass away by the end of January'."

In another excerpt she wrote: "I don't want the boys or my husband to see me die a little sad old lady. I want to go out there as I am."

Speaking on ITV show Loose Women, where she was one of the presenters, she told viewers: "Grasp it all, don't be afraid, enjoy the bits you can and tell your family you love them while you have the chance."

Her pre-recorded farewell appearance on the show will go out on Wednesday.

Earlier this year, Bellingham also picked up an OBE from Buckingham Palace in recognition for her 40-year career.

Her agent, Sue Latimer, issued a statement on behalf of her family: "As an actor, writer and presenter, Lynda was a consummate professional to the very end.

"Those of us privileged to have known her personally will miss the entertaining, life enhancing, true and honest friend that blessed our lives."

Video: Bellingham: I'm Not The Only One

The family also thanked nurses "for their tremendous care and support".

Actor Simon Pegg was among those to pay tribute on Twitter - he appeared alongside the actress in 1990s show Faith In The Future.

"Lynda Bellingham, a gorgeous, brassy, funny, generous, talented human being. My first TV mother figure and a treasured friend," Pegg tweeted.

Former Loose Women star Denise Welch wrote: "I loved my friend Lynda. I will miss her so much. xx".

Carol McGiffin, who was also on the show, posted: "A very sad day indeed, rest in peace my friend @LyndaBellingham."

Bellingham was born in Montreal, Canada, but was adopted by a British couple and grew up near Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire.

She married three times and has two sons.


20.49 | 0 komentar | Read More

How Kurds The World Forgot Are Holding Off IS

By Stuart Ramsay, Chief Correspondent, in Sari Kani, Syria

Right now in Syria a desperate fight is under way against Islamic State (IS) forces that control so much of the north of the country.

In the east that fight is being carried out virtually unseen to the rest of the world by People's Protection Units (YPG) fighters, Syrian Kurds, who are doing so with almost no assistance.

They have been fighting IS for longer than any other group.

With home-made weapons and armoured cars and some old heavy guns, they fight in dusty villages, the countryside and larger towns to try and force IS back to the west of Syria.

Kobani has been surrounded for weeks by IS but there are many other towns that are under siege. From Sari Kani 100 miles or so east of Kobani the YPG have been taking back ground from IS.

They would dearly love to reach their colleagues in Kobani but, with no assistance, even they accept it will be an almost impossible mission.

Video: Travelling Through Syria

Always moving and repositioning themselves, the front line is a confused and confusing battle of attrition.

The men of the YPG and the women fighters of the Women's Protection Unit (YPJ) work together. There is no battlefield difference between the sexes. They all throw themselves into the fight. They are protecting their homeland and say to us that they can die at the front or at home, but either way they are prepared to die.

Against the odds and the better equipped IS forces, they have made ground and captured weapons. In a rear position they work on tanks captured from IS and they showed us the bodies of 20 IS jihadists they killed in a night operation.

We travelled from Iraq through Syria. The birthplace of IS is one of the most dangerous places on earth today. The YPG grip is tenuous and the vast open spaces are difficult to protect from IS incursions.

Video: Passports Reveal Turkey Link

These Syrian Kurds are hemmed in. The Turkish border lies to the north and its military considers the YPG a terrorist organisation.

To the south, east and west IS controls all the land leading to Iraq and across its border.

On the newest YPG front lines we came across a seemingly rag-tag group of fighters. But while they may look so they are in fact well trained and utterly determined.

A hill-top cemetery has become a fort. They watch across the plains and the villages that IS control. They are so close they can hear the foreign languages of the IS fighters on their walkie-talkies.

Video: Kurds Face Future Without A Home

But nobody here seems in any way frightened of IS. They laugh and joke and prepare to fight. Day in, day out.

The YPG are very canny. Their front-line positions are never static for long. Their numbers are small so they move positions and manoeuvre around the battlefield looking for signs of IS weakness. Then they attack. Both sides are doing this but one gets the sense that the Kurds are more determined.

While IS have many foreign fighters the YPG also have a small contingent. Chechens, Europeans and Americans who have decided to help fight IS.

Brian Wilson is from Ohio. A divorcee with two children, this veteran of the first Gulf War and 16 years a police sheriff in the United States decided to come here a month ago and join the fight. He was shocked that the West was doing nothing to help here.

Video: Desperate Help Needed In Kobani

"They have been holding out against DASH (IS) in this area for going on two, two and a half years," he told me on the front line.

"They are outgunned. They are brave fighters. They just need more help. If they had better technology, better weapons, they could finish IS on their own. More airstrikes would be very helpful to clear out some areas."

The YPG are fighting multiple fronts on a constant basis. Sometimes they are in cities and towns, sometimes in open countryside. But they are holding on and sometimes doing better than that.

And, as they say, they will do that to the death if necessary.


20.49 | 0 komentar | Read More

UKIP Calypso Not Racist, Says Mike Read

Former DJ Mike Read has defended his calypso song praising UKIP and Nigel Farage as "nothing remotely racist" and just a "bit of fun".

Read is hoping for chart glory with the Caribbean-infused ditty which he sings in a mock-Jamaican accent.

He told Sky News: "It's a satire and a bit of fun. It's not terribly serious. It wouldn't have sounded very good sung in a Surrey accent."

He said people criticising the song had "lost their sense of humour" and that if he had done an Australian song he would have put on an Australian accent.

The song's lyrics include: "When we take charge, and the new prime minister is Farage; we can trade with the world again, when Nigel is at Number 10."

Others point fun at incoming European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and chastise the EU for trying to "ban bent bananas and British jam".

Some bookies already have the former Radio 1 DJ at 50-1 to go straight in the charts at Number One.

In the past Read has also turned his hand to musicals, but his show about Oscar Wilde closed after one night following after a critical panning and poor ticket sales.


20.49 | 0 komentar | Read More

Siding Spring Comet To Skim Mars At 120,000mph

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 19 Oktober 2014 | 20.49

A comet the size of a small mountain will skim past Mars later, but NASA hopes its spacecraft will be able to photograph the once-in-a-million-years encounter.

The comet, known as Siding Spring (C/2013 A1), is set to hurtle past Mars at a distance of about 88,000 miles (141,600 km) - less than half the distance between Earth and our moon.

The closest pass is expected to happen Sunday at 7.27pm (6.27pm GMT).

Astronomers do not expect it will come any where near colliding with Mars, but they do hope it will be close enough to reveal clues about the origins of the solar system.

The comet is believed to have originated billions of years ago in the Oort Cloud, a distant region of space at the outskirts of the solar system.

Dan Brown from Nottingham Trent University told AFP: "Comets such as C/2013 A1 are essentially dirty, icy snowballs with rocks and dust embedded in frozen gasses.

Video: NASA Experts Detail Plan For Comet

"It is on its first run towards the centre of our solar system and its material is virtually unchanged by the rays of the sun and can give us an insight to the material composition of our early solar system 4.6 billion years ago."

The comet - which is around a mile wide - is flying through space at a speed of around 122,400mph.

NASA has manoeuvered its Mars orbiters to the far side of the planet so they won't be damaged by the comet's high-speed debris.

Even as the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Mars Odyssey and MAVEN have been repositioned to avoid hazardous dust, scientists hope they will be able to capture a trove of data about the flyby.

NASA's two rovers - Curiosity and Opportunity - will turn their cameras skyward and send back pictures of the comet's pass in the coming days, weeks and months, the US space agency said.

StarDate editor Rebecca Johnson said: "The orbiters will keep a close eye on the show.

"They'll study the comet itself, which is a small chunk of ice and rock. They'll also study the cloud of gas and dust around the comet, as well as its long tail," she said.

"And they'll measure how the gas and dust interact with the Martian atmosphere."

The comet has travelled more than one million years to make its first pass by Mars, and will not return for another million years, after it completes its next long loop around the sun.

It was discovered at Australia's Siding Spring Observatory in January 2013.

Its close encounter with Mars is not likely to be visible to sky watchers on Earth.

But the near miss is of great interest to scientists, particularly since there are so many spacecraft on and around Mars to record it.

"As it zips toward the sun, it gives scientists a chance to see a relic from the distant past - a snowball that preserves the same ingredients that gave birth to our own world," said Johnson.


20.49 | 0 komentar | Read More

Hannah Graham Police Find Human Remains

Police have found human remains they believe could be those of British University of Virginia student Hannah Graham.

Virginia State Police Chief Tim Longo and colleagues told a news conference further forensic tests would be conducted to establish if the remains are those of the 18-year-old.

The remains were found at around noon on Saturday by volunteers searching an abandoned property to the south of Charlottesville, a college town about 100 miles southwest of Washington.

Albemarle County's Police Chief Col Steve Sellers said: "Right now we have the discovery of human remains and a great deal of work ahead of us.

"We cannot and will not jump to any conclusions regarding today's discovery. I ask for the public's patience as we move forward and pursue what is now a new, ongoing death investigation."

Video: Graham Case 'Nowhere Near Over'

Police said a public search planned for Walnut Creek Park in Albemarle County on Sunday had been called off.

Jesse Leroy Matthew Jr, 32, has been charged with abduction with intent to defile Ms Graham, who has been missing since 13 September.

Thousands of volunteers had joined searches for the student, who was born in the UK but has lived in the US since she was five.

Virginia State Police have said Mr Matthew's arrest provided a "forensic link" to the 2009 unsolved murder of Morgan Harrington, a 20-year-old who also went missing from Charlottesville.

Video: CCTV Shows Missing Teen Running

The suspect was arrested on a Texas beach last month.

He is the last man to have been seen with Ms Graham before her disappearance.

Police believe Ms Graham met Mr Matthew at the Tempo Restaurant in Charlottesville.

Mr Matthew's father has insisted he is innocent and was probably simply trying to help Ms Graham.


20.49 | 0 komentar | Read More

Ched Evans Rape Inquiry Will Be Fast-Tracked

A "substantive" investigation into Ched Evans' rape conviction is expected to take place "within the next few weeks", the Criminal Cases Review Commission has said.

The disgraced footballer, who continues to protest his innocence, has had his case prioritised by the body, which examines possible miscarriages of justice.

If the review goes in Evans' favour, his conviction could potentially be overturned, as the CCRC has the authority to direct cases to the Court of Appeal.

A CCRC spokesman told Sky News: "In line with our published policy on prioritisation, and in relation to the facts of the case and the issues raised in Mr Evans' application to us ... we now expect our substantive investigation to begin within the next few weeks."

"The decision to prioritise the case simply brings forward the starting point of the investigations to decide whether or not there may be grounds for us to refer the case to the court of appeal.

Video: 'Heartbreaking' If Evans Re-Signs

"It does not in any way represent a judgment by the commission as to the merits of the case or its chances of being referred."

Evans was released from jail on Friday after serving half of a five-year sentence for raping a woman.

In an interview with the Sunday Mirror shortly before he was released, he said he was "ashamed" of his actions but insisted he is innocent of rape.

The 25-year-old striker added that cheating on his girlfriend, Natasha Massey, was "unforgivable".

"It was something that should never have happened," he said.

"I cheated on my girlfriend and had sex with this girl - but it was definitely consensual."

A statement posted on Evans' website from his family and girlfriend said he would "continue the fight to clear his name".

It added: "Chedwyn Evans maintains his absolute innocence and his family, friends and many who know the true facts of the case believe that his conviction was a gross miscarriage of justice."

Katie Russell, of charity Rape Crisis, told the Sunday Mirror the player's words were insulting to his victim.

"His protestations of innocence and sympathy only for his girlfriend are insulting, harmful and hurtful - not only to his victim, but also to the countless other victims of sexual violence out there," she said.

"He has never taken a moment's responsibility for his crime nor shown any regard for the terrible impact it has had on her."

The former Sheffield United player's release has divided opinion over whether he should be allowed to return to football.

1/11

  1. Gallery: Sports Stars Whose Careers Survived Criminal Convictions

    Former Arsenal and England captain Tony Adams was jailed for four months in 1990 for drink-driving. After admitting to an alcohol problem he set up the Sporting Chance addiction clinic

  2. Former world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson served three years in prison after being convicted of rape in 1991. He returned to professional boxing after his release

  3. In 1998 ex-footballer Vinnie Jones was convicted of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and criminal damage against a neighbour. He was also found guilty of an air rage incident in 2003

  4. American figure skating champion Tonya Harding received three years' probation for her part in an attack on Olympic rival Nancy Kerrigan in 1994. Others involved in the plot were jailed

  5. Boxer Adonis Stevenson served four years in prison for managing prostitutes, assaults and making threats before turning pro in 2006. He went on to become WBC world light-heavyweight champion

  6. In 2007 Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick served 21 months in prison for his involvement in illegal dog fighting. On his release he joined the Philadelphia Eagles and now plays for the New York Jets

  7. Former Chicago Bulls basketball star Dennis Rodman has made as many headlines off the court as on. In 2008 he was sentenced to community service, counselling and probation for domestic violence

  8. Scotland U21 international footballer Craig Thomson pleaded guilty to two counts of indecent behaviour with underage girls in 2011. He remains on the sex offenders register and now plays non-league football

  9. American basketball star Lamar Odom, married to Khloe Kardashian, received a three-year suspended sentence for drink-driving in 2013. His most recent team was the New York Knicks, but they released him in July

  10. Former Watford, Wigan and Middlesbrough footballer Marlon King, who has previously served time for drink-driving and sexual assault is currently serving 18 months for dangerous driving

  11. Forest Green Rovers striker Lee Hughes served three years in prison for causing death by dangerous driving and played for Oldham and Notts County after his release

Many Blades fans have called for Evans to be rehabilitated but more than 151,000 people have signed an online petition urging the Bramall Lane club to block his return.

Sheffield United Community Foundation patron Charlie Webster said if Evans re-signed for the club she would be "heartbroken" and "disappointed".

She told Sky News: "It would send out the wrong message to the next generation to watch Ched Evans score a goal and cheer him on as a hero."

Ms Webster also said it would "wrong" for her to stay in her role with the foundation if the club took him back.

On Saturday, Sheffield United dismissed reports that the club has offered a new contract to convicted rapist Ched Evans as "false and damaging".

The club's co-chairmen, Kevin McCabe and Jim Phipps, said they had not yet made a decision about whether to re-employ him.


20.49 | 0 komentar | Read More

Web Trolls To Face Two-Year Jail Terms

By Anushka Asthana, Political Correspondent

Internet trolls who target people with abusive material online will face up to two years in jail under Government plans being set out by the Justice Secretary.

Chris Grayling said he was determined to crack down on trolling with harsh punishments because it was leading to "absolute misery for victims".

He said the venom thrown at people over the internet would never be acceptable in real life.

Mr Grayling said it was "terrible" that the model Chloe Madeley recently received rape threats after defending controversial comments made by her mother, Judy Finnigan, about convicted rapist Ched Evans.

He said: "We already have offences in place to deal with this appalling behaviour, but we've toughened up the law to make sure these crimes can be properly investigated and those who commit the most serious offences face a longer prison sentence."

Cases are currently dealt with under the Malicious Communications Act in the magistrates courts, with a maximum sentence of six months.

Video: Trolling Victim Nicola Brookes

Now Mr Grayling is changing the law so the most serious cases can be passed on to the Crown Courts where they could result in much longer sentences.

It comes after Peter Nunn was sentenced to 18 weeks in jail after an online "campaign of hatred" against the Labour MP Stella Creasy.

In an interview with the Mail on Sunday, Mr Grayling said trolls were "cowards who are poisoning our national life".

And Ms Madeley told the paper she supported the change, describing the current laws as outdated.

They were drawn up 10 years ago before Twitter existed.

Video: Chloe Madeley Slams Internet Trolls

She said: "The current law obviously needs to be reviewed. It needs to be accepted that physical threats should not fall under the 'freedom of speech' umbrella.

"It should be seen as online terrorism and it should be illegal."

Former Metropolitan Police commissioner Lord Blair said trolling is "probably the most challenging thing facing policing over the next 10 years".

He told Sky's Murnaghan programme: "A huge amount of people's lives, especially young people's lives, is now lived on the internet.

"And if it's lived on the internet and there are criminals on the internet then police are going to have go into the internet."


20.49 | 0 komentar | Read More
techieblogger.com Techie Blogger Techie Blogger