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Mutating Ebola Could Become More Contagious

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 29 Januari 2015 | 20.48

By Thomas Moore, Health and Science Correspondent

Scientists have confirmed that the Ebola virus is mutating - and could become more contagious.

Researchers at the Institute Pasteur in France say they have detected substantial changes to the genetic code of the virus.

Although they don't yet know what effect that will have on the epidemic, they fear the virus could spread from person to person more easily.

In previous Ebola outbreaks, the virus has only infected a few dozen people and died out within weeks.

But the current prolonged epidemic has given the virus time to pass through many more generations, in many more people, giving it greater opportunity to evolve.

Scientists say it is highly unlikely that the mutations will lead to the Ebola becoming airborne.

But the virus - originally from fruit bats - could become better adapted to living in humans.

Scientists say some people may even carry the virus without showing symptoms, leading it to spread more rapidly.

The changes to the virus could also result in resistance to drug treatments - and reduce the effectiveness of vaccines currently being developed.

The latest figures from the World Health Organisation show 22,000 people have been infected by the virus and 8,800 have died.

But the infection rate in recent weeks is just one sixth of what it was in October.

UN Ebola coordinator David Nabarro said: "The number of cases is decreasing week by week and getting to zero in many places.

"But we still see occasional flare-ups. The epidemic is not contained yet."

New results show that a vaccine tested on volunteers in Oxford successfully triggers an immune response, but at a lower level than had been hoped for.

Scientists are now studying the effect of a booster dose in the hope that it will give better protection.

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'Thundersnow' Storms As Icy Blast Hits UK

Parts of England are being battered by "thundersnow" storms as the winter weather continues to bite across Britain.

Met Office forecaster Simon Partridge said: "We have got snow falling in a number of areas in the North and West, including thunderstorms.

"There is thundersnow to the north of Manchester - these are normal thunderstorms but with snow rather than rain."

More than 200 schools in Northern Ireland, Scotland and northern England are closed today and mobile phone operator EE advised customers of coverage problems in Ayrshire, West Yorkshire and Tyne and Wear due to the weather.

Main roads in Durham, Yorkshire and north Wales are among those closed because of the weather and more than a dozen rail services between Manchester and York have been cancelled, as northern England is hit by the storms this morning.

Phil Verster, route managing director for Network Rail, advised train passengers to check before they travel.

Flights to and from Manchester Airport have been suspended this morning, although the airport re-opened around 1.30pm. Passengers are advised to come to the airport as normal but to check with their airline.

A Manchester Airport spokesperson said: "We have currently suspended all departures and arrivals for a short period of time, whilst we are in the process of clearing both runways of snow so we can resume operations as quickly as possible."

Sky News forecaster Isobel Lang said today would see frequent snow showers in Scotland, Northern Ireland, northern parts of Ireland and in northern England.

She added: "The strong winds will blow the snow around, making driving dangerous.

"During this evening and tonight the showers will ease, it will turn slightly less cold, with the showers turning more to sleet or rain later. It may still be icy."

Cold blasts from Greenland and Iceland will cause temperatures to drop to around 2-3C (36-37F) in the North and 4-5C (39-41F) in the South. It will become slightly milder by Friday, reaching 7C (45F) in the South.

The Met Office has issued an amber "be prepared" warning for snow, which covers huge parts of Britain from Liverpool Bay to the Humber to the western side of the Welsh mountains.

Up to 15cm (6in) of snow is expected to fall in parts of the North tonight and there is also snow expected during the morning rush hour in the Northwest, on the M6 north of Cheshire, Scotland and Greater London.

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Gallery: UK Freezes As More Snow Sweeps In

Britain's winter has brought a thick covering of snow and dangerous driving conditions to parts of the country. Here snow covers graves at St Joseph's Church in west Belfast

Terminal One at Manchester Airport covered in a blanket of snow which has closed the airport

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MH370 Loss An 'Accident' - All On Board 'Dead'

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Malaysia has officially declared the loss of flight MH370 was an accident and all on board are dead.

The announcement was in accordance with civil aviation rules, said Malaysia's aviation director-general Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, adding that the announcement ends the search for the aircraft and would help families of those on board to apply for compensation.

"It is with the heaviest heart and deepest sorrow that we officially declare Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 an accident," said Mr Azharuddin in a broadcast on Malaysian television.

"We officially declare Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 an accident and that all 239 of the passengers and crew onboard are presumed to have lost their lives," he added.

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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

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

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

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

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

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International Civil Aviation rules state the definition of the term "accident" includes "the aircraft is missing" and an aircraft is considered to be missing when the official search has been terminated and no wreckage has been found.

Mr Azharuddin said international search teams had spared no expense in their search for the plane, that every credible lead had been pursued, and all available data that tracked the plane to a corner of the southern Indian Ocean had been reviewed.

But Sarah Bajc, whose partner Philip Wood was on board the plane, rejected the announcement.

"I think they are lying," she said. "It could very well be that the plane crashed. But there is no evidence, and until there is evidence we just can't believe them," she said referring to the Malaysian government and airline.

"It is impossible to bring any closure until we have proof," she added.

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Gallery: Missing Passengers Of Flight MH370

Click through for the gallery

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.

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A government news conference scheduled in Putrajaya today was cancelled after some of the victims' relatives arrived unannounced.

Some families have accused the Malaysian government and Malaysia Airlines of a chaotic response to the plane's initial diversion, which allowed it to disappear, and a subsequent cover-up; charges Kuala Lumpur and the airline strenuously deny.

Flight MH370 vanished on Saturday, 8 March, 2014, during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in China and no trace of the plane, passengers or crew has been found despite extensive searches.

Malaysian authorities say satellite data suggests the plane inexplicably detoured from its agreed route likely due to "deliberate" action on board.

But no firm evidence has been uncovered, despite an ongoing Australian-led search of the supposed crash region - the most expensive search and rescue operation in history.

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Written By Unknown on Selasa, 27 Januari 2015 | 20.48

The family of murdered Alice Gross have said there are still "serious unanswered questions" about her Latvian killer - as police announced the schoolgirl was probably killed before she was even reported missing.

Police have also concluded they would have had enough evidence to charge builder Arnis Zalkalns with her abduction and murder had he not committed suicide.

Alice's body was found more than a month after she was last seen, walking along a towpath in west London on 28 August last year.

Police began searching the Grand Union Canal for the 14-year-old on August 29, but investigators have now decided she was probably already dead by the time the hunt began.

Zalkans was found hanged in Boston Manor Park, not far from the murder scene, on 4 October, four weeks after he was reported missing.

The 41-year-old had previously served seven years in jail in his home country for murdering his wife Rudite.

The labourer, who worked at a building site in Isleworth, west London, is believed to have come to the UK in 2007, but authorities are thought to have had no record of his murder conviction.

Alice's family said their daughter believed in the European Union's principle of free movement but said they would be working with the campaign group Liberty to raise important questions.

"Although we now have certain information about how Alice died, we are still left with a number of serious unanswered questions about what the authorities knew or should have known about the man who is believed to have killed our daughter when he came to the UK," they said in a statement.

"Alice believed in the free movement of people and so do we.

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Gallery: Alice Gross: Police Evidence And Scene Gallery

Where Alice's body was found

The same scene during the day

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Sky: Labour Biggest Party In Hung Parliament

Labour will be the largest party in a hung parliament after May's General Election, according to a Sky News projection based on the latest poll of polls.

According to Sky's figures, which look at the national figures and those just for Scotland, Labour will fall short of an overall majority by 44 seats, with 282 seats.

The projections suggest the Tories will win 270 seats, the SNP 53, Lib Dems 20 and UKIP two, other parties will represent 23 seats.

The Green Party, UKIP and the Scottish National Party are all vying to lure voters away from the traditional two-party system and if the numbers are correct, the SNP could hold the key to any coalition.

It comes with just 100 days until the General Election, as Britain's two largest parties - Labour and the Conservatives - launch new policies in a bid to lure voters.

In an interview with Sky News, David Cameron said he was worried about the future of the country, warning that if Labour was to get the keys to Number 10 in May it would "wreck" the economy.

He insisted the Tories could win an outright majority but said the next 100 days would be a "tough fight".

And he insisted his tax cut promises could be funded by the Conservatives' continued careful management of the economy.

He said: "I am worried about the future of our country if we end up with an unstable, left-wing government that starts to borrow and spend and wreck the economic progress that we have made. Of course I worry about that.

"But, we have 100 days to go to make this argument and I think people can now see, increasingly, our country getting stronger day by day.

"We have not finished the job, there are still many challenges left for us to meet but we are on the right track and when you are on the right track that's exactly the wrong time to turn backwards."

Mr Cameron has promised a renewed squeeze on benefits "within the first few days" of Government if the Tories are re-elected on 7 May.

The Prime Minister plans to reduce the annual cap on welfare payments from £26,000 to £23,000 - with the £135m saved going towards funding for three million apprenticeships by the end of the decade.

The Tories plan a £30bn adjustment in the first two years of government - £5bn from tax evasion, £13bn from cuts across Whitehall departments and £12bn off the welfare bill.

Mr Cameron said this would help to bankroll the tax cuts promised, including increasing the amount at which people start to pay income tax to £12,500 - lifting a million people out of tax.

He added that he was happy for the televised leaders' debates to go ahead but was keen Northern Ireland parties should be included and the showdowns should not "take the life out of" the election campaign.

:: Sky looks at the 150 seats that could play a deciding role in May's General Election. Click here for the link to the In The Margins console.

Meanwhile, Labour is outlining its 10-year plan for the National Health Service, which includes a pledge to improve the care that terminally ill, frail and elderly people receive at home.

The announcement of 5,000 new "homecare workers" is part of a wider policy to invest an extra £2.5bn in the NHS, with a view to recruiting 20,000 more nurses and 8,000 additional GPs.

In a speech later this morning Ed Miliband will say: He will claim: "One of the country's most precious institutions faces its most perilous moments in a generation. The future of our NHS is at stake in this general election."

Speaking on Sky News, shadow health secretary Andy Burnham said Labour was not thinking about cutting deals with the SNP to form a coalition in the event the party did not secure a majority.

"My focus is on winning a majority for Labour," he said.

He added that he was not putting his energy into "deal-making" but into making sure the coalition cuts and privatisation in the NHS did not continue.

"The NHS matters more to me than anything and I think it's in a very dangerous position today," he added.

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Spy Litvinenko Poisoned 'Not Once But Twice'

Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko may have been poisoned with radioactive polonium twice, a public inquiry has heard.

Counsel to the inquiry Robin Tam QC said scientific evidence suggests a partially successful attempt to kill Mr Litvinenko was made at a meeting two weeks earlier than the encounter widely-believed to have caused his death.

Mr Tam also told the inquiry traces of radioactive chemical polonium were found in "large numbers of places across London" at the time of Mr Litvinenko's death.

"Many thousands of members of the public, including British residents and visitors from overseas, might have been at risk from radioactivity," he said.

Sir Robert Owen opened a hearing into the British citizen's death by recounting some of the key events he will consider - saying they raised issues of the "utmost gravity," including state-sponsored assassination.

Mr Litvinenko, 43, died in hospital nearly three weeks after drinking tea laced with radioactive polonium-210 while meeting two Russian men - one a former KGB officer - at the Millennium Hotel in London's Grosvenor Square.

Former KGB bodyguard Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitri Kovtun have been identified as the prime suspects in the killing, but both deny any involvement and remain in Russia, the inquiry heard.

As the inquiry got under way, Mr Litvinenko's widow Marina told Sky News she wants closure for her and her son Anatoly and also wants to put an end to the conspiracy theories surrounding the crime.

Sir Robert said a "prima facie case" as to the culpability of the Russian state in Mr Litvinenko's death had been established by sensitive evidence.

He said both Mr Lugovoi and Mr Kovtun have been invited to give evidence via video link from Russia, adding it was an "invitation I hope will be accepted".

Mr Tam said many theories have been put forward about what happened to Mr Litvinenko, including that he was killed but also that he accidentally poisoned himself when handling the radioactive substance as part of a smuggling deal.

It has also been suggested that Mr Litvinenko committed suicide, Mr Tam said.

Giving the background to the case, Sir Robert said Home Secretary Theresa May wrote to him in July 2013 informing him that the Government had decided not to hold an inquiry at that time.

He said: "Her decision was challenged in a claim brought on behalf of Marina and Anatoly Litvinenko (his wife and son) and was quashed in a judgment of the divisional court dated February 11 2014.

"In short, I will carry out a full and independent inquiry into the circumstances of the death of Alexander Litvinenko."

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100 Days, 10 Things That Will Happen

A General Election campaign is a time for politicians to get out, meet people, accidentally insult them, become a man of the people, become a man very much not of the people - the possibilities are endless. Sky News looks at what to expect in the days ahead.

1) There will be a Facebook f-bomb - or a Twitter one. Social media means politicians can communicate more directly with the public. Oh dear. (Emily Thornberry, white van tweet).

2) Roads will be a thing. The road, the parties tell us, is either going in the right direction, going nowhere, approaching a junction or not a good place to do a u-turn. "The road" will definitely do "other stuff" before 7 May. It may have its own Twitter account.

3) There will be a Mrs Duffy (Gordon Brown called her a "bigoted woman" in 2010). There is always "a member of the public" that will overnight assume celebrity status/ become a household name/ qualify for next CBB house on the back of a campaign appearance.

4) T-shirts will happen. Last time: "I agree with Nick" This time: "I agree with Nic" (ola Sturgeon) "I agree with Nige" "I agree with no one", "I don't care".

5) Nigel Farage will be seen in a pub, with a pint, and a fag.

6) Leaders will be pictured eating. There will be comparisons. There will be a winner. NB avoid sauce, avoid spaghetti, avoid anything thicker than a cracker. Don't dribble.

7) In his desperate search to win back the student/youth vote Nick Clegg will be interviewed lying in bed between Zoella (Sugg) and Alfie (Deyes) in a simultaneous live-stream broadcast on both their blogs/vlogs.

8) Russell Brand. That is all.

9) George Osborne will not miss a high-viz, hard hat opportunity. He is building the economy right? "Stupid".

10) A "Kipper" will come a cropper - a UKIP candidate will say something bad and probably be removed from the party but it will have no effect on popularity

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Ukraine: 500 Miners Trapped After Shell Blast

Written By Unknown on Senin, 26 Januari 2015 | 20.49

Almost 500 miners are trapped underground after a shell hit an electric substation near the site in war-torn east Ukraine.

Emergency services were alerted when Donetsk's Zasyadko coal mine, one of eastern Europe's largest, lost all power in the blast.

It comes just over a fortnight since a similar incident briefly trapped 300 miners on January 11.

A Donetsk region emergencies ministry official said: "When the power went out, there were 496 miners underground. Right now, we are making preparations to bring them to safety."

Another ministry official was quoted by a pro-rebel website as saying the lives of the miners are not in danger and that the first evacuation had already begun.

An unnamed separatist "defence ministry" official in Donetsk said 110 miners had been brought back to the ground in the first minutes after the power outage.

It comes as it emerged seven Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in clashes with pro-Russian rebels in the eastern conflict zone over the past 24 hours.

The war between pro-Russian militants and government forces in eastern Ukraine has claimed nearly 5,100 lives since it began nine months ago.

Rebel stronghold Donetsk has seen fighting intensify in recent weeks after a brief lull and the daily casualty figure is again returning to levels last seen at the height of the war in August.

Leaders of the pro-Russian rebels withdrew from peace talks with the Western-backed government in Kiev last week and pledged to seize new territory that could expand their reach over most of Ukraine's industrial east.

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Harrowing Stories From Rape Capital Of World

By Alex Crawford in Minova, Democratic Republic of Congo

The room is crowded with women, all of whom have been raped. If that's not horrifying enough, many of the women have been raped multiple times and are pregnant as a result.

Their terrifying stores of torture and terror are not even unusual. If the Democratic Republic of Congo is the rape capital of the world, then Minova is its nerve centre - and the raping is still going on.

The town is most notorious for the mass rape of hundreds of women by Congolese soldiers in November 2012.

An investigation by the United Nations found the soldiers raped at least 97 women and 33 girls (some as young as six).

The locals insist the true figure is far higher - and more alarmingly, that the rapes are still continuing.

The assaults are not confined to Congolese soldiers but also the rebel militias as well as the vigilante groups set up to 'protect' the population.

The Sky camera crew is at a shelter set up for rape victims by a woman called Rebecca Masika (known as Ma Masika).

She has two children as a result of rape and knows the trauma and isolation of being a victim.

"If you look at my face, you can see the scar, it's a mark of rape and I have them all over my body," she says. "I had to help these women because I've been raped too.

"They made me watch them cut my husband's body into pieces, then they raped me on his dead body."

One of the young girls in the room looks heavily pregnant and has a visible weeping sore on her right ankle.

Anuarite is 16 years old - barely out of childhood herself. The rebel militia who raped her did so several times during the four months she was held captive.

She has terrible internal injuries too - and cries as she recounts her horrific story to us. Her birth won't be easy.

She says: "They took us into the bush and those who refused to sleep with them, they forced, by stabbing us with knives. They killed many girls.

"Some of them were shot with bullets in the vagina."

All these stories are uncomfortable hearing. We hear how the rapists - again in uniform - have even attacked the very house where Ma Masika has built the refuge.

All these women have been left homeless after being cast out by their families and their communities.

And the refuge is crowded out with children - all the result of rape.

It is heartbreakingly tragic. There's a whole generation of rape babies - and little interest from the outside world coupled with mass inertia as to how to make it all stop.

Congo's civil war may be two decades old but the violence is creating fresh victims every day.

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Greece's Syriza Forms Anti-Bailout Coalition

Greece's left-wing Syriza party has formed an anti-austerity coalition government, just hours after sweeping to victory in Sunday's national election.

Party leader Alexis Tsipras struck a coalition deal with the right-wing Nationalist Independent Greeks party which, like Syriza, opposes Greece's tough international bailout deal.

"From this moment there is a government in the country," Nationalist Independent Greeks leader Panos Kammenos said after talks with Mr Tsipras at Syriza's headquarters in Athens.

"The Independent Greeks give a vote of confidence in Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. There is an agreement in principle."

Syriza won 149 seats in the 300-seat parliament, just two seats short of an overall majority.

It had a 8.5-point lead over the ruling conservative New Democracy party of outgoing Prime Minister Antonis Samaras.

Mr Tsipras will be sworn in later this afternoon.

The unusual pairing of parties from opposite ends of the political spectrum, but with a shared drive to reverse painful austerity measures, raises the prospect of a stand-off with European creditors and economic powerhouse, Germany.

In his victory speech Mr Tsipras vowed Greece would abandon the "catastrophic austerity" measures imposed under the EU-IMF deal.

He has also promised to renegotiate the repayment terms of Greece's €240bn (£176bn) international bailout.

"Greece leaves behinds catastrophic austerity, it leaves behind fear and authoritarianism, it leaves behind five years of humiliation and anguish," Mr Tsipras told thousands of supporters in Athens.

But a spokesman for the German Chancellor said Angela Merkel still expects Greece to stand by its commitments to international creditors.

The head of the Eurogroup, made up of eurozone's 19 finance ministers, Jereon Dijsselbloem, also fired a warning shot at the new government, saying Greece's eurozone membership depended on it complying with its agreements.

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Gallery: Tsipras' Surprising First Post-Election Tweet

Syriza party leader Alexis Tsipras' first tweet after sweeping to victory in Greece's general election was somewhat unexpected

His first victory tweet was to British actor and comedian Hugh Laurie for this message of congratulations

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Greek Singer Demis Roussos Dies Aged 68

Greek singer Demis Roussos, who became popular in the 1960s and 1970s, has died in an Athens hospital at the age of 68.

The Egyptian-born singer had been in the private hospital with an undisclosed illness for some time.

Roussos sold around 60 million records worldwide and saw success when he joined the progressive rock band Aphrodite's Child in 1967.

He had solo hits with Forever And Ever, Mr Reason and Goodbye My Love, Goodbye.

Artemios "Demis" Ventouris Roussos was born and raised in Alexandria, Egypt before his parents moved to Greece during the Suez Crisis.

He began his music career aged 17 with a band called The Idols where he met his future Aphrodite's Child bandmates.

Roussos is the subject of an argument between two characters in Mike Leigh's TV play Abigail's Party.

He made one of his earliest appearances on English-language TV on the Basil Brush Show.

The star struggled with his weight for a long time and co-wrote a book about obesity.

He recorded and toured until 2009, when his last album came out.

One of his last public appearances was in the Athens in 2013, when he received a French Legion of Honour medal for his life's work.

But it was his glowering face on 1970s and 1980s album covers that provided the most enduring image of the singer: a theatrical figure with unusual outfits, a flowing dark beard and long hair thinning on top.

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No Kiss, He Just Vanished - Auschwitz Survivor

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 25 Januari 2015 | 20.48

By Samantha Simmonds, Sky News Presenter

Seventy-five years ago in 1939 when the Nazis invaded Poland, Renee Salt was just 10 years old. Now 85, she is able to look back and reflect on how, miraculously, she survived when so many others perished.

Renee's first experience of the Nazis was when they rolled into her home town of Zdunska Vola - throwing her and her family out of their home and appropriating all of their belongings. They were left with nothing and nowhere to go.

All of the Jewish people in town were forced into a ghetto - no one was allowed in or out and they weren't allowed to communicate with the outside world. They struggled to survive on starvation rations, with no sanitation and little access to any medicine.

The Nazis put up gallows in the communal outside space and regularly chose Jewish men at random to hang - leaving their bodies there for days - for all to see.

During the summer of 1942 everyone in the ghetto was rounded up for what Renee soon realised was a "selection". It was a process she was to go through numerous times.

The Nazis were choosing who would live and who would die - separating out the old, infirm and the young. She says the screams and cries were like nothing she had heard before as people begged for their children to be saved.

Renee's mother hid her two daughters underneath her coat but an SS officer grabbed Renee's eight-year-old sister and marched her away - this is the last memory Renee has of her sibling.

The selection process lasted for days and although Renee was a child, somehow she was spared. But out of 30,000 Jewish people in the ghetto only 1,200 were allowed to live.

They were sent in cattle transports to the Lodz Ghetto. They were forced to stand for the overnight journey, crammed in so tightly more than 100 people suffocated.

Every day, more and more Polish Jews arrived in the ghetto from across the country. They were regularly beaten by SS officers and many died from the cold, starvation or illness. Within two weeks of arriving at the ghetto, Renee's grandmother was taken away and killed.

In 1944, the Nazis told everyone in the ghetto they were being offered the opportunity to be relocated to somewhere they could work and be well-fed and looked after. Even though they didn't believe the Nazis, Renee's family had little choice

They were sent to Auschwitz Birkenau, the largest of the concentration camps. As soon as the train pulled up Renee says her father jumped down and with that he was gone.

No goodbye, no kiss, he simply vanished into thin air - an event she clearly still struggles to recall without breaking down.

Renee and her mother went through another selection process. They were sent to the left. Everyone who was sent to the right went straight to the gas chambers. She said the screaming from the gas chambers lasted for more than 15 minutes. In total more than a million Jews were murdered at Auschwitz.

Renee and her mother spent several weeks at the camp. They were then moved to Hamburg and eventually to another camp - Bergen Belsen. She describes the long walk of many miles from the train station to that camp - every step of the way she says was littered with dead bodies along the side of the road - prisoners who had collapsed and died en route.

As she walked through the gates of Bergen Belsen she told me of seeing a scene from hell; walking skeletons and bodies piled so high she couldn't see over the top. The camp was in chaos, the end of the war was clearly coming but Renee didn't think she would live to see it.

As she watched an allied tank approaching the gates she passed out. Several days later after coming round she found herself lying in a clean bed being washed and fed by German doctors and nurses who were ordered to look after their former prisoners.

Tragically, her mother died 12 days after the camp was liberated.

Renee says every day of those six years were spent living in fear. She never knew when there would be a selection or when a random act of evil would be inflicted upon her and her loved ones.

She says she has tried to make sense of what happened to her but simply cannot. These, she told me, were educated people who derived so much pleasure out of what they did.

After the liberation with nothing more than the clothes on her back, Renee made her way back to her home town in Poland. There she found an aunt who was one of the only members of her large extended family to survive.

They eventually moved to Paris where Renee met her husband - a British soldier who had in fact been one of those who had liberated Bergen Belsen. They were both so traumatised by their experiences they never talked about them, not with each other or to their children.

Twenty years ago when Renee was 65 she was persuaded she should do so, so that others could hear a first-hand account of the horrors of the Holocaust.

Although now old and frail and with memories still so terribly vivid, she continues to tell her story to schoolchildren. She says it is her duty and will carry on doing so as long as she can.

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Woman At Centre Of IS Prisoner Swap Demand

By Mark Stone, Asia Correspondent

Islamic State militants have said they will release the remaining Japanese hostage Kenji Goto if a prisoner called Sajida al Rishawi is released from jail in Jordan.

But who is she and why does IS want her free?

On the evening of 9 November 2005, explosions ripped through three hotels in the Jordanian capital, Amman.

At the Day's Inn hotel, a bomber detonated an explosive belt killing three people. Down the road at the Grand Hyatt, a second bomber detonated his belt. Nine people died.

At the Radisson SAS Hotel, the final two suicide bombers prepared their devices. The couple, a husband and wife team, walked into the hotel ballroom where newlyweds were celebrating their marriage with 900 guests.

Ali Hussein Ali al Shamari detonated his device. It killed him and 37 others. His wife tried to detonate her belt, but it failed to go off. She escaped but was later arrested. Her name is Sajida al Rishawi.

She has spent the past 10 years, forgotten, in a Jordanian prison cell. Suddenly she is a focus again.

In his audio statement, Japanese hostage Mr Goto read out the demand from his IS captors:

"I would like to stress how easy it is to save my life, you bring them their sister from the Jordanian regime and I will be released immediately. Me for her."

Al Rishawi, an Iraqi national in her 40s, is more than just a symbolic 'sister' of the Islamic State. There is a thread linking her to the terrorist group and it goes back over a decade.

The thread begins in Ramadi, a town in a region west of Baghdad where the group known as Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) was formed.

The leader of AQI was Abu Musab al Zarqawi, a man personally responsible for a series of bombings and beheadings at the height of the Iraqi insurgency in the mid-2000s.

Al Zarqawi's 'right-hand man', according to the Jordanian deputy prime minister, was a man called Mubarak Atrous al Rishawi. He was the brother of Sajida al Rishawi.

Al Zarqawi and Mubarak Atrous al Rishawi were both killed by US forces in Iraq, but their group lived on.

It adapted and amalgamated with other groups.

By 2006 it had morphed into the Islamic State in Iraq (ISI) and eventually, after expanding into Syria as well as Iraq, it became the self-styled 'Islamic State' under the leadership of Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, a graduate of al Zarqawi's brutality.

King Abdullah of Jordan, who proudly announced the capture of Sajida al Rishawi after her failed bombing attempt in 2005, has spoken in the last 24 hours to the Japanese Prime Minister.

The two men will be discussing al Rishawi: can she be traded? Will she be released?

Following her arrest, she made a TV confession of her attempted bombing.

She explained how she and her husband spread out in the ballroom in order to kill as many people as possible: "There were women, men and children" she said.

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Father Overwhelmed By Japanese Hostage 'Death'

The father of the Japanese hostage apparently killed by Islamic State has said he is overwhelmed by grief.

Shoichi Yukawa said he still had hope "deep in my heart that this is not true" and added that if he were reunited with his son he would give him a "big hug".

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe slammed "an outrageous and unforgivable act" after a video reportedly showing an image of captive Kenji Goto holding a picture of a beheaded Haruna Yukawa was posted online.

The clip also purportedly contained the voice of journalist Mr Goto, 47, claiming the 42-year-old private military company operator had been killed.

Mr Abe said the video, which also includes a demand for a prisoner exchange for Mr Goto, appears to be authentic.

The jihadist group Islamic State (IS) had threatened to kill the captives unless a $200m (£133m) ransom was paid to secure their release.

The 72-hour deadline set by the Islamist militants expired on Friday.

However, in the new video they have called for the release of Sajida al Rishawi, an Iraqi woman sentenced to death in Jordan for her part in the Amman bombings in 2005 that killed 60 people.

Mr Abe insisted Tokyo would not bow to terrorism and said his government would spare no effort to secure the release of the remaining captive.

But he reiterated that Japan would not give in to terrorism.

Barack Obama condemned the "brutal murder" and said the United states would stand "shoulder to shoulder" with Japan.

He called Mr Abe to offer his condolences and called for the immediate release of Mr Goto.

In the video, Mr Goto spoke in English, blaming Mr Abe for Mr Yukawa's death, and told his wife and family not to give up on him.

A Japanese news agency reported the video of Mr Goto had also been emailed to the wife of one of the hostages.

The hostages had appeared in videos wearing the same orange jumpsuits as those worn by captives in previous IS videos.

The mother of Mr Goto has pleaded with militants to spare her son's life.

Junko Ishido said he is a friend of Islam who devoted his life to helping children in war zones.

Mr Yukawa was seized by militants in August, after he went to Syria in what he described as a plan to launch a security company.

Mr Goto, a veteran war correspondent, went into Syria in late October seeking to secure Mr Yukawa's release, according to friends and business associates.

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Farage Fights Back After MEP Defects To Tories

The Conservative Party chairman has dismissed Nigel Farage's claims against a UKIP defector as "absolute desperate stuff".

Amjad Bashir announced on Saturday he had defected to the Conservative Party, with David Cameron saying he was "absolutely delighted" with the decision

But Mr Farage told Sky News the "Establishment" had been threatened by UKIP's success and that he was expecting "102 days of endless negativity" ahead of the General Election.

He has claimed UKIP's MEPs had been "begging" him to get rid of Mr Bashir because of a number of serious irregularities against him - which he denies - and said the party was was about to suspend him.

Speaking on the BBC Andrew Marr Show, he said he was "surprised" the Tories had accepted the MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber given UKIP were about to suspend him because of the allegations of a "grave nature".

The UKIP leader claimed there were questions over money in Brussels, the apparent employment of illegal immigrants at his restaurant, alleged interference with candidate selection process and apparent links to political extremists from Pakistan.

However, Grant Shapps told Sky's Dermot Murnaghan the Conservatives had done "due diligence" on Mr Bashir's background and had been in talks with him for some time.

And he dismissed the comments made by Mr Farage as "absolute desperate stuff from UKIP".

It comes as one of Mr Farage's most senior aides sparked controversy by claiming Britain has "hundreds of thousands of bigots" and saying UKIP was proud to stand up for them.

Matthew Richardson, the party's secretary, has dismissed his comments as "lighthearted harmless banter in the pub".

Mr Farage told Andrew Marr it was an attempt by the political establishment and their "friends in the media" to damage UKIP and echoed Mr Richardson's comments that it had been just pub talk.

As he attempted to limit the damage from the weekend's stories, Mr Farage promised to fund the NHS with the money Britain would save from leaving the European Union, pledging £3bn extra a year - more than Labour's pledge.

Explaining his reasons for quitting UKIP, Mr Bashir told The Sunday Telegraph that the party had become one of "ruthless self-interest" and was "pretty amateur".

He added: "The issues raised in my notice of suspension are historic and well known to the party. Indeed, on one of them, Nigel Farage has publicly defended me over it."

The defection is a boost for the Prime Minister, who saw two of his own MPs defect to UKIP last year and comes as a ICM Wisdom Index poll showed a significant drop off in UKIP support in the last month and a Tory boost.

He said: "I'm absolutely delighted that Amjad has decided to leave UKIP and join the Conservative Party."

Mr Farage claimed UKIP could win around three or four seats in May and said the party was not just taking seats from the Tories.

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