Lockdown To Combat Ebola In Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone will impose a four-day countrywide lockdown as part of efforts to halt the spread of the deadly ebola virus.

Ben Kargbo, a presidential adviser on the country's ebola task force, said citizens will not be allowed to leave their homes between September 18 and 21.

This will allow health workers to identify cases in the early stages of the illness which has killed more than 2,000 people since March.

Mr Kargbo told the Reuters news agency: "The aggressive approach is necessary to deal with the spread of ebola once and for all."

According to United Nations figures, Sierra Leone has recorded 491 of the total suspected, probable and confirmed deaths.

Mr Kargbo said 21,000 people would be recruited to enforce the lockdown.

Thousands of police and soldiers have already been deployed to enforce the quarantining of towns in the country's worst-hit areas near the border with Guinea.

But an aid worker in the capital, Freetown, told Sky News a lockdown alone is not enough.

A poster in Ivory Coast warns of the risk of ebola

Augustine Allieu, from Plan International, said improving education, hygiene and facilities are also necessary.

He said: "It's not absolutely the best option, but it is definitely one of those that needs to support all of these things that I have mentioned in terms of containing the spread."

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation has said a vaccine for health workers could be available by November, with testing of two candidate vaccines under way.

An American doctor who came down with the virus while working in a Liberian maternity ward is "sick but stable", officials said on Friday.

There is currently no cure or vaccine for the virus

Rick Sacra, 51, has arrived at the Nebraska Medical Center where he is being treated.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has set a goal of stopping the outbreak within six to nine months.

Mr Ban said the "next few weeks will be crucial" to step up international efforts and called on countries to contribute to a $600m (£367m) appeal for supplies to west Africa.

The UN has stepped up its campaign after the international medical group Medecins Sans Frontieres declared that the world was "losing the battle" to contain ebola.

Ebola is contracted through contact with an infected person's bodily fluids and there is currently no cure or vaccine.

Symptoms of the virus appear as a sudden onset of fever, headache, sore throat, intense weakness and muscle pain.

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Obama Bumps Stonehenge Off His 'Bucket List'

Even presidents can play tourist ... Barack Obama has ended a busy two-day Nato summit in Wales with an impromptu stroll through Stonehenge.

While other world leaders may have headed straight for the airport, the US President took a small detour for a spot of sightseeing.

"How cool is this?" he commented as he was taken on a guided tour through the ancient Wiltshire monument.

He told reporters it was always something he had wanted to see, and now he had "knocked it off the bucket list".

The ancient site got the thumbs up from the US President

"It's spectacular. It's spectacular. It's a special place," he said.

But it wasn't just the President who had a day to remember. 

A local family, who were walking through a nearby field of sheep, also aren't likely to forget his visit in a hurry.

Mr Obama made his way over to the excited family of five and proceeded to spend a few minutes chatting and posing for photos.

Smile! A stunned family poses with Mr Obama at Stonehenge Pic: @BeesRun

As she saw him approaching, mother Janice Raffle took to Twitter to say: "I can see president Obama! Any messages?"

She then posted a picture of the whole family with the President.

Mrs Raffle, who does charity runs to highlight the declining bee population, has since received a number of donations. 

Stonehenge, which was built in three phases between 3000 BC and 1600 BC, is a Unesco World Heritage site.

Archaeologists believe it was built as a temple, although to which gods, and exactly how it was used, is unclear.

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Ashya Set For Specialist Treatment In Prague

The lawyer for Ashya King's parents says the five-year-old boy may be taken from Malaga to Prague by Monday for specialist cancer treatment.

It comes after a British judge ruled the youngster could be transported to the Czech capital to have proton beam radiotherapy - a technique not available to him on the NHS.

Family lawyer Juan Isidro Fernandez Diaz said the brain tumour patient could fly there as early as tonight, Sunday, or Monday at the latest.

And the boy will stay at a children's hospital near the Proton Therapy Centre (PTC) which carries out the treatment, he added.

Sky sources say Ashya was unlikely to arrive in Prague before Monday evening.

Doctors there will not make any final decision about when to begin Ashya's treatment until after a meeting to review his case on Monday morning.

Ashya pictured with his parents in a Malaga hospital

The boy is currently being treated in a medical centre in Malaga after Brett and Naghmeh King removed him from a Southampton hospital over a week ago without doctors' consent.

Mr Diaz said the child was "in a perfect condition to travel" and was playing with his family and his toys.

He said the parents were "really happy" with the judge's decision and the British court has been "really nice with us".

The couple had been detained in Spain under a European arrest warrant issued by UK authorities before it was withdrawn following a public outcry and the pair were released.

The Kings want Ashya to have proton beam radiotherapy at the PTC and the judge Mr Justice Baker approved their request on Friday.

Centre spokeswoman Iva Ta'ounová said: "All necessary preparations are currently being made by the Prague proton centre to ensure that all is ready in anticipation of the arrival of Ashya King and his family from Malaga hospital, Spain.

The family's lawyer Juan Isidro Fernandez Diaz speaks to reporters

"This standard preparation procedure can take up to 10 days but in the case of Ashya King an expert panel of physicians have agreed to discuss the transportation details and additional treatment needed according to Ashya's current health condition on Monday 8th September at 8am.

"PTC has again requested information from Malaga Hospital, in order to be made up-to-date on Ashya's current health condition, so that it can be discussed with them directly on Monday.

"PTC is aware that the boy's parents wish desperately for him to transported to Prague, however first all administrative and legal requirements must be fulfilled."

A lawyer representing bosses at Southampton General Hospital told the judge that doctors aimed to provide chemotherapy but not proton beam.

Vikram Sachdeva said such treatment could not be provided in Britain.

The judge said he had been told specialists at the PTC had considered a treatment plan.

And he said he had seen evidence of the treatment planned, evidence of plans to fly Ashya to Prague and evidence that Mr and Mrs King could afford the cost of treatment and transport.

The judge said he would cease to have responsibility for Ashya once the youngster arrived at the Czech hospital.

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Three People Arrested Over New Forest Murder

Three people have been arrested in connection with the murder of a mother-of-five in the New Forest.

Pennie Davis, 47, was tending her two horses in a paddock off Hatchet Lane, near Beaulieu, when she was killed.

She suffered multiple stab wounds and her husband Pete found her body on Tuesday afternoon.

Police have said they have arrested one person on suspicion of murder, one for perverting the course of justice, and another for assisting an offender.

A forensic tent covers the spot where Mrs Davis' body was found

All remain in police custody, and Mrs Davis' family has been informed.

Police have continued to increase patrols in the area to offer reassurance to residents.

Officers hunting her killer believe the murder weapon was a bladed item, possibly a knife, and was probably discarded close to the scene.

Mrs Davis, from Blackfield, worked in a supermarket and was recently married.

Her husband, their children and her parents visited the paddock on Friday morning and left flowers with messages from each member of the family.

Mr Davis' message said: "Angel, all my love, always and forever Pete."

One of her daughters left a note saying: "Dearest mum, you were a goddess. I swear I'll make you proud.

"I like to think you're sitting there, watching on a cloud. You had so much more to give. You had so much more to do. But now I'll be your legacy. I'll do it all for you."

:: Anyone with information is asked to contact the Operation Biscotti investigation team in confidence on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

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Reports: Ukraine And Rebels Agree Ceasefire

The Ukrainian government has agreed a ceasefire with pro-Russian rebels in the east of the country.

Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko confirmed on his Twitter account that a peace plan had been signed, while pro-Russian rebels also announced the news on the social media site.

They said the deal was due to come into force at 4pm UK time.

Talks have been taking place between Ukraine and pro-Russian rebels in the Belarussian capital, Minsk. Representatives of Russia and the OSCE security watchdog are also at the discussions.

Separately, Ukraine's Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said in a televised cabinet meeting in Kiev that the peace plan must include three key elements - a ceasefire, the withdrawal of "Russian forces and Russian bandits and terrorists" and the restoration of Ukraine's state border with Russia.

It came after Sky's Katie Stallard, who is on eastern city limits of Mariupol, eastern Ukraine, reported continued fighting.

"We are hearing heavy shelling, which sounds like it's closer to the city now," she said.

"We can also see smoke rising to the north of the city and there are reports of further shelling to the north and to the west. It would seem that there is something of a push from at least two directions on to the city.

Meanwhile, Nato announced plans to create a 'Spearhead' rapid-response force to counter Russian aggression in Ukraine.

More follows...

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Beheading Suspect Under Guard In Hospital

A man suspected of beheading a grandmother after killing a pet cat is in hospital under police guard.

Officers are waiting to question the 25-year-old, who allegedly wandered through back gardens with a machete, screaming and shouting, before he was arrested.

Palmira Silva, 82, was found collapsed in a garden in Edmonton, north London on Thursday before being pronounced dead at the scene.

Officers are also investigating an attempted attack on two people at another house in the same road before Ms Silva was killed.

Tributes have been paid to the elderly woman of Italian descent who ran a nearby cafe.

A police tent was put up at the scene of the attack

Dilek Solma, 19, who works next door, said: "I'm so upset. She was a very smiley lady, always had a smile on her face, and loved the community."

Another shop worker Raj Thangavelselvaraj, 50, said: "She was a nice lady, she was a good lady to everyone. It's very sad."

Police carried out a dramatic evacuation operation to save neighbours and an armed team tasered the knifeman as he struggled with officers, leaving one with a broken wrist.

Restaurant worker Freda Odame, 30, said: "I heard shouting and banging and I opened my curtains and saw a guy holding a knife in a back garden a few doors along. He was screaming. I could see he seemed aggressive. He looked a bit frantic."

She added: "I was shaking and I just shut the curtains. I was worried he might see me. Then the police knocked on the door and said 'You've got to get out, you've got to get out'."

Ahmed Yusuf, 19, said: "At first there were two police cars, then all of a sudden there were 20. The police said to drop everything. I said 'What's going on?' and they said 'there's a guy jumping over gardens'."

Police forensic teams look for evidence

Another resident described seeing a man brandishing a machete and shouting about cats.

The witness, who did not want to be named, said he also saw a headless cat as he watched the drama from his window.

The man said: "There was a scream so I went to the windows and saw a guy with a machete with blood dripping from it. We saw a cat on the floor without a head. He was standing in the garden and walking up and down shouting about cats."

The knifeman then appeared in the witness's garden and began swiping at plants, he said.

He went on: "He started cutting roses. We were just trying to call the police."

Metropolitan Police commander Simon Letchford said police were trying to establish the attacker's motive, but there are no signs of a link to terrorism.

He said officers smashed house windows to get people out after the man had been "cornered" in a house.

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Ukraine: Nato To Form Rapid Response Force

Nato will create a 'Spearhead' rapid-response force to counter Russian aggression in Ukraine, it has been announced.

Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen revealed the plan on the second and final day of the Nato summit in Newport, Wales, where new sanctions against Moscow are also due to be unveiled.

"This decision sends a clear message: Nato protects all allies at all times," he said.

"And it sends a clear message to any potential aggressor: Should you even think of attacking one ally, you will be facing the whole alliance."

Chuck Hagel, Barack Obama, David Cameron and Anders Fogh Rasmussen

Amid reports of further fighting to the east of the port of Mariupol in eastern Ukraine, Mr Rasmussen said the Spearhead force would also establish a "command-and-control" presence in the east of allied territories.

"(Spearhead will be) a very high-readiness force able to deploy at very short notice," he said.

"This Spearhead will include several thousand land troops ready to deploy within a few days, with air, sea and special forces support."

Western leaders accuse Russia of sending thousands of troops into the east of Ukraine.

Nato leaders during the round-table discussion

Leaders at the summit continued talks on the crisis after watching a fly-past by British fighter jets and the Red Arrows aerobatic team.

But Sky News' Katie Stallard, who is on the eastern city limits of Mariupol, in eastern Ukraine, said "deep, loud explosions" continued to be heard.

"That show of strength from Nato over South Wales does nothing whatsoever to reassure people here, who are watching shells landing, now about five kilometres east of their city," she said.

"You have to understand how terrifying this is for people who are living in this city. I don't think they will have any faith whatsoever in any of the political sentiment that's being expressed by European leaders today.

"We are hearing heavy shelling, which sounds like it's closer to the city now."

Mr Rasmussen said alliance countries would contribute troops on a rotational basis to the high-readiness force.

There were no final decisions on where the forces would be based, but he said Poland, Romania and the Baltics have all indicated a willingness to host the facilities.

Prime Minister David Cameron said the UK was willing to contribute 3,500 personnel to the rapid response force.

He said its headquarters could be in Poland, with forward units in the easternmost Nato member countries and equipment stockpiled there in advance.

"We must be able to act more swiftly," he said.

Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama and Mr Cameron have continued to press their Nato counterparts to join a coalition of nations to combat militants from the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.

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Hostage David Haines' Family Under Police Guard

The Croatian family of David Haines, the British hostage held by Islamic State, are receiving 24 hour police protection, Sky sources say.

Mr Haines, who has a wife and four-year-old daughter in Zagreb, was threatened with death in the recently released video of the beheading of US journalist Steven Sotloff.

The aid worker was taken from a refugee camp close to the Syrian border with Turkey in March 2013.

The 44-year-old has worked for aid agencies in some of the world's worst trouble spots, including Libya and South Sudan.

He also has a teenage daughter in Scotland from a previous marriage.

US Secretary of State John Kerry, meanwhile, announced the formation of a "core coalition" to tackle IS militants, who have seized control of much of northern Iraq and Syria. 

Speaking at the Nato summit in Newport, he urged the United Kingdom, France and Australia, as well as other nations, to provide the air power, intelligence, weapons and equipment to go after the group inside Iraq.

And Iraqi officials said an airstrike had killed a senior aide of IS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi. 

Steven Sotloff was the second US journalist beheaded in an IS video

Prime Minister David Cameron on Thursday ruled out paying a ransom to the militants for Mr Haines' release, describing such payments as "utterly self-defeating".

He acknowledged it was a "desperately difficult situation" and said he was personally overseeing efforts to bring the aid worker home safely.

Mr Haines' Croatian wife earlier told The Daily Telegraph: "He's everything to us. He's our life. He's a fantastic man and father.

"Nobody can understand how we are feeling. My daughter keeps asking about him every day. She hasn't seen her father for a year and a half. She has gone through so much. She sees me crying all the time," Dragana Prodanovic Haines said at the family's home near Zagreb.

The ACTED charity which employs Mr Haines said it was "deeply shocked" by the images of the aid worker being threatened.

"The threats on David Haines' life are intolerable," it added.

Muslim religious leaders across Scotland are using Friday prayers to call for the release of all hostages held by IS.

A joint statement from the Muslim Council of Scotland, Islamic Society of Britain and Glasgow Central Mosque, said: "We send our heartfelt sympathies to the families of those who have been killed at the murderous hands of IS - regardless of where they are from or what their religion.

"The actions of IS are against the teachings of Islam and therefore supporting or joining such an organisation is unacceptable.

"We call for the immediate release of all hostages held by IS and pray for all of those killed, injured or harmed by extremism the world over."

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PM: UK Will Not Pay For British IS Hostage

Nato Plans 'Spearhead' Force To Face Russia

Updated: 12:53pm UK, Tuesday 02 September 2014

Nato is set to create a high-readiness force and stockpile military equipment in Eastern Europe as a bulwark against potential Russian aggression, the alliance's chief has said.

Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the proposed new force could be comprised of several thousand troops contributed to on a rotating basis by the 28 Nato countries.

Backed by air and naval assets, he said the unit would be a spearhead that could be deployed at very short notice to help Nato members defend themselves against any threat, including from Russia.

Nato leaders are to consider the plans at a summit this week in Wales that is likely to be dominated by how the US-led alliance should respond to the Russian-backed separatist uprising in eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine is not a member of Nato, but its UK ambassador told Sky News he backed the move and appealed for Ukraine's allies to step up sanctions and provide military help now.

Andrii Kuzmenko said: "What is important for Ukraine is to provide the means for our defence ... including armaments."

The move could provoke Russia, whose foreign minister warned on Monday that Ukrainian forces must pull back from areas where they can harm civilians.

Sergei Lavrov spoke amid reports that Ukrainian forces had been ordered to pull back from Luhansk airport in the face of an onslaught from Russian tanks - the latest claim of direct Russian involvement in the fighting.

Ukrainian Defence Minister Valeriy Geletey said Russian units were moving into other towns in the region, including the largest city of the Donetsk region.

"The information that Russian troops are there has been confirmed," he said.

"We are fighting Russia and it is Russia which is deciding what will happen in Donbass," he told Ukraine's Inter channel, referring to the informal name of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions.

Mr Lavrov again denied that Russian troops were in Ukraine and said he hoped talks taking place in the Belarussian capital Minsk would focus on agreeing an immediate, unconditional ceasefire.

Speaking in the east Siberian city of Yakutsk on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Europe of ignoring the Ukrainian army "directly targeting its fire on residential areas".

He said he hoped "common sense will prevail" and that Russia and the West would not harm each other with further sanctions.

Speaking in the House of Commons, David Cameron said Russia appeared to be trying to force Ukraine "to give up its democratic choices at the barrel of a gun".

The PM said the presence of Russian soldiers on Ukrainian soil was "completely unjustified and unacceptable".

A rights group that works to expose Russian army abuses claims up to 15,000 soldiers have been sent to Ukraine by Moscow in the last two months, and several hundred may have died in combat.

Valentina Melnikova, head of the Committee of Soldiers' Mothers, a prominent organisation representing the families of military servicemen, said that some 7,000-8,000 Russian troops are believed to be in Ukraine at present.

"Military commanders are conducting a secret special operation," said Ms Melnikova, who is a member of the defence ministry's public council.

Meanwhile, a Ukrainian military spokesman said a rescue operation was continuing for two seamen missing in the Azov Sea after pro-Russian separatists attacked a Ukrainian navy vessel for the first time.

Eight other seamen survived the attack and were being treated for wounds and burns after the vessel was hit by artillery from the shore.

Separatists in the region claimed responsibility for the attack on social media.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said the events of the past few days showed Russia had launched a "direct and open aggression" against Ukraine.

Leading American senators have called for the US to send weapons to help Ukraine defend itself against what they called a "Russian invasion".

Democrat Robert Mendez, who runs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told CNN: "We should provide the Ukrainians with the type of defensive weapons that will impose a cost upon Putin for further aggression."

The call was echoed by former Republican presidential candidate John McCain, who told CBS's Face The Nation that Mr Putin was "an old KGB colonel that wants to restore the Russian empire".

Earlier, the European Union gave Russia a week to scale back its intervention in Ukraine, warning of further sanctions.

China opposes additional sanctions against Russia and has urged world leaders to find a political solution to the crisis.

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Missing Teen Alice Gross' Bag Found By Police

CCTV footage of a 14-year-old girl who has been missing for a week has been released by police detectives.

Investigators have found a rucksack belonging to Alice Gross, who went missing on August 28.

The teenager left her home in Hanwell at around 1pm and was captured on CCTV an hour later on the Grand Union Canal towpath near Brentford Lock, walking towards the River Thames.

She was filmed again at 3.45pm heading back to her home.

Detective Chief Inspector Andy Chalmers, from the Metropolitan Police's Homicide and Major Crime Command, said: "A week on since Alice was last seen by her family we are becoming increasing worried about her welfare and safety as each day passes.

"Her disappearance is out of character and this investigation continues to be a priority for us.

Alice was spotted on CCTV before she vanished

"Alice has been missing for a considerable period of time and her family are desperate to have her back home where she belongs."

People who may have seen Alice on the towpath between around 1.30pm and 5.30pm, or who saw her with a purple rucksack, are being asked to come forward.

She is white, 5ft 2in tall and of slim build, with shoulder length, light brown hair.

When she was last seen she was wearing dark blue jeans, a dark green lacy cardigan and denim blue Vans shoes. She may also have had tartan-framed glasses.

In the CCTV footage, she had taken the cardigan off which she was wearing over a dark grey t-shirt.

Alice's sister Nina, 19, has set up the Facebook page Find Alice Gross.

Anyone with information should call police on 020 8358 0100 or the charity Missing People on 116000.

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