Niagara Falls Freeze As Polar Vortex Moves North

Tourists who braved record low temperatures to visit Niagara Falls have been treated to a spectacular sight.

Water turned to ice as it plunged over the 34-metre-high American Falls - one of three waterfalls which form the popular tourist attraction on the border between the United States and Canada.

Icy chunks tumbled over the crest of the falls and long icicles were left dangling above the frozen Niagara River below.

The unusual sight came as a polar vortex that gripped the US for four days, plunging temperatures to -37C (-35F) and leaving at least 21 people dead, finally began to ease its grip.

The crippling cold, which affected more than half the US population as it spread from the Midwest to the East and South, has been pushed northwards, leaving warmer weather and calmer winds in its wake.

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Brazil: Girl Dies After Bus Fire Attack

By Karine Mayer, Senior News Editor in Rio de Janeiro

Inmates of Brazil's most notorious jail are being blamed by police after a six-year-old girl was killed by a gang who torched a packed bus.

Ana Clara Santos Souza died three days after suffering 95% burns when armed men set fire to the vehicle while passengers were still on board.

Hundreds of people attended her funeral, demanding an end to a wave of gang-led terror that has swept the region since December.

Authorities in the northeastern city of Sao Luis believe the attack was ordered by gang leaders in revenge for a crackdown on violence in Pedrinhas prison.

CCTV footage shows a man board the bus and pull a handgun from his trousers.

As he orders people out of the vehicle, other armed gang members appear in the road and train their weapons on the terrified passengers.

The bus suddenly bursts into flames with people still on board, although at least one passenger manages to jump off.

But Ana appears to fall in the footwell of the bus before scrambling off engulfed in flames, which she desperately tries to put out.

Riot police have been deployed to control violence in the Pedrinhas jail

Her family said the gang had ignored her mother's pleas for mercy.

A relative told Brazil's O Globo newspaper: "Her mother asked the criminals not to harm the children, but they showed no mercy and set fire to the girl."

Four other people - including Ana's mother and older sister - were injured as four buses were set alight and a police station targeted in a drive-by shooting in the city on January 3.

The Maranhao state government says the attacks were ordered by criminals at the notorious Pedrinhas jail, where at least 62 inmates died last year.

Officials said in a statement: "The attacks are in reaction to recent measures to curb jail violence."

Brazil, which has the world's fourth-largest prison population, has been shocked by footage of the beheading of three Pedrinhas prisoners - apparently filmed on a mobile phone by other inmates.

The gruesome film is narrated by the killers, who gleefully display their victim's heads like trophies as they stand over pools of blood.

In October Maranhao asked for government help after several outbreaks of violence between rival gangs and military police were deployed after the beheadings in December.

Eight suspects have been arrested over the violence in Sao Luis and extra troops have been deployed across the city, state security secretary Aluisio Mendes said.

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Duggan: PM Calls For Calm As Vigil Announced

David Cameron has appealed for a calm response to the inquest verdict that Mark Duggan was lawfully killed by a police marksman despite being unarmed.

The Prime Minister said he hoped people would respect the "proper judicial process" and welcomed the stance taken by Mr Duggan's aunt Carole, who said she wanted "no more violence".

Mr Cameron spoke as Mr Duggan's family confirmed plans for a vigil to be held outside Tottenham Police Station on Saturday at 2pm.

Pastor Nims Obunge - who presided over Mark Duggan's funeral - said the family want the event to be about "peace and respect".

Earlier one of the Metropolitan Police's most senior officers told Sky News the force could have shown "better transparency" in its response to the shooting.

Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley was responding to allegations that officers may have colluded when they put together their notes of the incident.

He told Sky's Crime Correspondent Martin Brunt: "We've already made some changes and I think there's more we can do.

An aerial shot shows the taxi in which Mr Duggan was travelling

"Every officer has to give their own account of what they recollect, so while they're witnesses, they're sitting down, they're making statements and they put hundreds of pages of evidence into the IPCC - it has to be their own accounts.

"Clearly, the way that was done, there's ways we could have better transparency, more clear supervision and we've put some changes in place."

Mr Duggan, whose death sparked protests that led to riots and looting across the country, was shot and killed when police stopped the taxi in which he was travelling in Tottenham, north London, in August 2011.

Following a four-month inquest, on Wednesday the jury found that although the 29-year-old had a gun in the cab, he probably threw it onto a nearby grass verge as soon as the car came to a stop.

Assistant Commissioner Rowley, who was heckled outside the Royal Courts of Justice by Mark Duggan supporters, said he had not had any response to an offer to meet Mr Duggan's family.

He told Sky: "They're angry at the verdicts, I can understand they might not want to meet me. I'd rather express our sympathy and have a conversation in private."

Tottenham MP David Lammy told Sky News there was "dismay and anger" in the community at the inquest verdicts, but that people were also "looking forward" and are planning a peaceful vigil for the weekend.

Assistant commissioner Mark Rowley was heckled as he spoke outside court

Firearms officers will trial the use of body-worn video cameras to improve public confidence in the wake of the Mr Duggan's killing, it has emerged.

Senior officers want to use the camera technology from April, to avoid the dispute and uncertainty which has dogged the Duggan investigation.

Assistant Commissioner Rowley said earlier: "There are great benefits to having these incidents on video. Look at the Lee Rigby case - everyone knows what happened.

"We don't need all these different opinions and conjecture - it's much easier to get to the facts."

The cameras are already used by some US police forces.

During his weekly LBC phone-in, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said there were "questions that need to be asked" about the handling of complaints about the police.

He said: "I was struck when I went there (Tottenham) that locals said about how when the IPCC gets involved the details aren't allowed to be publicised at the time when people need to talk to each other." 

Wednesday's verdict sparked angry scenes outside the Royal Courts of Justice, which Mr Duggan's family called "perverse", claiming he had been "executed" by the police.

Mr Duggan's aunt Carole Duggan said: "The majority of the people in this country know that Mark was executed. We are going to fight until we have no breath left in our body for Mark and his children."

Their solicitor Marcia Willis-Stewart said: "On August 4, 2011 an unarmed man was shot down in Tottenham. Today we have had what we can only call a perverse judgement.

"The jury found that he had no gun in his hand and yet he was gunned down. For us that's an unlawful killing."

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said the shooting had led to a "significant reduction in trust" between the capital's black communities and the police.

He said: "I know that we have much work to do with black Londoners to build trust and confidence in the Metropolitan Police.

"My officers do not set out to run an operation that results in someone dying. They are brave people who risk their own lives to keep the public safe."

The Independent Police Complaints Commission said it was looking at new evidence that had emerged from the inquest, and the Duggan family are now considering whether to try to get the inquest conclusion judicially reviewed.

Mr Duggan was being followed by officers who believed he planned to pick up a gun from another man, Kevin Hutchinson-Foster, and then move on to Broadwater Farm, also in Tottenham.

Hutchinson-Foster has since been found guilty of supplying a gun to Mr Duggan.

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Slave Case Family's Home Hit By 'Vigilantes'

The home of a family who treated a vulnerable man like a slave and subjected him to daily beatings has been targeted in an apparent vigilante attack.

Windows have been smashed at the bungalow in Sheffield where the Rooke family treated Craig Kinsella like a "punchbag", during a six-week campaign of violence.

The property in the Grenoside area of the city has been boarded up and a police van was parked outside, guarding the area.

David Rooke, 44, his wife Donna, 40, and son Jamie, 19, were all jailed on at Sheffield Crown Court on Tuesday by a judge who heard that Mr Kinsella, 34, was subjected to frequent attacks.

David Rooke, 44, was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in jail

The court was told that the family beat him with a range of weapons, including a pickaxe handle and crowbar, while forcing him to work 17-hour days without pay, and making him sleep in a garage with a bucket for a toilet.

Mr Kinsella,  , , who has learning difficulties, resorted to feeding himself with scraps he found in bins.

Judge Peter Kelson QC said it was "almost unbelievable" and "absolutely staggering" that this kind of thing was happening in modern society.

Donna Rooke was jailed for four months for battery

He jailed David Rooke for six-and-a-half years for false imprisonment and causing actual bodily harm.

Donna Rooke was jailed for four months for battery, and Jamie Rooke was jailed for four years for causing actual bodily harm and affray.

A South Yorkshire Police spokeswoman confirmed that officers were called to reports of windows being smashed at the property in Halifax Road at 8.45pm on Tuesday.

Jamie Rooke was jailed for four years for causing ABH and affray

She said the incident was being investigated as a case of criminal damage.

Police found Mr Kinsella in a shocking physical state after responding to reports of a man being abused outside the Rooke house on July 6 last year.

He had a broken right arm, a fractured rib, extreme bruising to his back and around his kidney, a fractured chin and cuts, as well as lumps and bruises on his head and legs.

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Schumacher Ski Accident Off 'Well-Marked' Slope

Prosecutors investigating Michael Schumacher's ski accident said examination of his helmet camera showed he had left a properly marked out trail at the time of his fall.

Albertville prosecutor Patrick Quincy said the two-minute film from the helmet camera was very clear and showed the former  Formula 1 driver lost his balance in the French resort of Meribel and struck his head on a rock.

The fall left him in a critical condition and he has been in a medically induced coma since December 29.

Investigators said they had established the signage on the slopes was in accordance with regulations, but the area where Schumacher was hurt was "virgin territory" so was not marked and could be dangerous.

"There are French standards setting rules on safety, signalling, demarcation ... The checks we have made show these standards had been respected," Mr Quincy said.

However, he said the investigation would take time to establish whether the area where he was skiing could be classed as an "official piste" in French law.

Investigators have visited the scene of the accident in Meribel

The video will now be examined by a police expert in mountaineering.

Problems with the rented skis Schumacher was wearing have also been ruled out.

Mr Quincy said Schumacher was "obviously a very good skier" but had not been able to slow himself down in the rocky area of the slope where he fell.

Describing the sequence of events after the former F1 driver went off-piste, he said: "At one point his skis touch a rock, he loses balance and falls forward and his head hits a rock which is 3.5 metres below.

"The rock he hit is eight metres from the edge of the piste and Mr Schumacher on the ground, inanimate, is nine metres from the edge of the piste. That's the information we have with regard to the inquiry."

Early viewings of the helmet camera footage appear to confirm this sequence of events.

Prosecutors said Mr Schumacher's wife Corinna had been 'very co-operative'

The inquiry has not yet been able to confirm reports that Schumacher - who was on a family holiday - was going to the aid of a relative when he fell or the speed at which he was travelling, Mr Quincy said. 

Police chief Stephane Bozon said Schumacher's speed increased when he entered the steeper off-piste section and he had tried to slow down but had difficulty because of the nature of the slope.

Mr Quincy said investigators have also spoken to emergency services and doctors and visited the scene of the accident.

The Albertville prosecutor's office carries out around 50 investigations into serious skiing and climbing accidents every year, he added.

On Monday, a source said he had made a "slight improvement" but remained in a stable but critical condition.

There was initially speculation that Schumacher was travelling up to 100kph (60mph) when he crashed, after it was revealed his helmet had split on impact.

But subsequent reports suggested he was travelling at a "leisurely pace" of up to 20kph (12mph).

Schumacher, known affectionately as 'Schumi' by fans, is the most successful F1 driver in history, racking up a record 91 race wins.

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Polar Vortex Fallout To Sweep Into UK

More heavy rain and wind is on on the way at the end of the week as the fallout from the the blast of freezing polar air battering the US hits the UK.

A weather system forming part of the record-breaking polar vortex that has affected half of America is heading across the Atlantic, warming as it comes.

The Met Office had already extended its severe weather alert until Thursday morning, warning of more floods as saturated ground and swollen rivers in the south of England and Wales may not cope with more rain.

But further heavy falls will be swept in when the US weather system reaches the UK on Friday.

People with a canoe near flood barriers in Oxford

Sky's US Correspondent Dominic Waghorn said the worst of the big freeze in America should now be over, with temperatures set to rise.

"That's good news for Americans but not necessarily for the rest of us," he said.

"Meteorologists warn that when a polar vortex breaks up it scatters its forces literally to the four winds, meaning that the extreme weather experienced here this week could be flung as far afield as Europe."

The Met Office has its lowest warning in place, forecasting "periods of heavy rain" in the south west of England and Wales on Wednesday into Thursday.

Environment Agency workers check river defence barriers

Between 30-40mm of rain is expected to fall in the wettest spots.

A Met Office spokesman said: "The public should be aware of the potential for further flooding, especially in the areas which have been affected recently.

"Given current sensitive hydrological conditions, there is a risk of further surface water flooding in Wales, and both river and surface water flooding in Cornwall, Devon and Somerset."

There are no longer any severe flood warnings in force from the Environment Agency, but there are 114 flood warnings in place across the country.

An Environment Agency map showing the alerts and warnings

A further 195 low-level flood alerts are also in force.

Paul Mustow, flood risk manager at the EA, said: "The risk of flooding continues this week, with communities in the South West and South East urged to stay safe and sign up to free flood warnings."

Seven people have died and more than 1,700 homes and businesses have been flooded in England since the beginning of the Christmas period, with around 550 properties flooded since the new year.

Some 140 properties have been flooded in Wales.

Flood defences protected 220,000 properties over the Christmas period and another 800,000 were protected during the coastal flooding in early December.

High winds over Christmas also left 250,000 homes without power, with some families waiting days for electricity to be restored.

Environment Secretary Owen Paterson said on Tuesday the Government was working closely with local councils, the insurance industry and others to ensure that people could quickly get the help they need.

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Qatar World Cup 'Will Not Be Held In Summer'

By Paul Kelso, Sport Correspondent

The 2022 World Cup will not be played in Qatar during June and July, Fifa Secretary General Jerome Valcke has said.

Speaking to French radio, Valcke ruled out holding the controversial tournament in the heat of the Gulf state's summer, when temperatures can reach 50C, saying a date between November and January 2023 would be more appropriate.

"The dates for the World Cup will not be June to July," Valcke, the second most powerful man in international football's governing body, told Radio France.

"To be honest, I think it will be held between November 15 and January 15 at the latest.

The Lusail Stadium will host the tournament's opening match and final

"If you play between November 15 and the end of December that's the time when the weather conditions are best, when you can play in temperatures equivalent to a warm spring season in Europe, averaging 25 degrees.

"That would be perfect for playing football."

Valcke's comments appear to pre-judge a consultation he is leading on the instruction of the Fifa executive committee.

Last October, Fifa President Sepp Blatter said he would consult all those affected by a dramatic change to football's traditional calendar before making a definitive decision.

Fans in Doha, Qatar, celebrate winning the right to host the World Cup

Valcke has been speaking to football authorities around the world including the Premier League in order to find a solution to a problem of Fifa's own making.

The Premier League would prefer the tournament not to be moved but will find a November tournament easier to accommodate than one played in January, when the domestic calendar is busier.

Fifa's top inspector, Harold Mayne-Nicholls, said in October that a summer tournament in Qatar would be "impossible" - even with the cooling technology proposed by organisers.

Qatar surprised many when it secured the tournament in a 2010 Fifa vote

FA chairman Greg Dyke also told Sky News that the temperatures "would be impossible for the fans".

Fifa shocked many in the football world when it awarded the World Cup to the Arab state following a vote in December 2010, where it beat the likes of the US and South Korea.

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Footballer Thomas Hitzlsperger Says He Is Gay

Former Aston Villa, West Ham and Germany footballer Thomas Hitzlsperger has announced that he is gay.

The 31-year-old, who also played for Everton and VfB Stuttgart, is the most prominent player to admit to being homosexual and the first to have appeared in the English Premier League.

He said he was speaking out in a bid to break the taboo of homosexuality in sport.

The midfielder played more than 50 times for his country

The midfielder, who ended his playing career in September due to persistent injuries, told Germany's Die Zeit newspaper that now was "a good time" for him to reveal his true sexuality.

"I'm coming out about my homosexuality because I want to move the discussion about homosexuality among professional sportspeople forwards," he said.

Hitzlsperger said he had only realised "in the past few years" that he would "prefer to live together with another man", saying the issue is otherwise taboo inside the dressing room.

"I've never been ashamed of the way I am," he said.

He conceded it had not always been easy to live with some of the comments dished out on the subject.

"Just picture 20 men sat around a table together drinking - you've just got to let the majority be, just as long as the jokes are halfway funny and the talk about homosexuality doesn't get too insulting," he said.

"In England, Germany or Italy, homosexuality is not taken seriously as an issue, at least not in the dressing room."

Former Leeds and United States winger Robbie Rogers announced he was gay last year.

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Polar Vortex: 187 Million Hit By Big Freeze

More than half the US population is under a wind chill warning as a blast of freezing Arctic air sweeps south and east across the country, bringing the coldest temperatures for decades.

The whirlpool of dense air known as the "polar vortex" has caused a number of deaths, closed schools and businesses, cancelled thousands of flights and left highly-populated cities facing colder temperatures than Siberia.

Around 187 million people could eventually feel the effects of the freezing temperatures - and Americans have been warned their skin could freeze within minutes if they go outside.

The US East Coast is preparing for the cold front moving in from the Midwest on Tuesday and areas as far south as Brownsville, Texas and central Florida are facing record low temperatures.

Temperatures were 11 to 22C (20 to 40F) below average in parts of Montana, North and South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan and Nebraska and broke records in Chicago, Oklahoma and Texas, according to the National Weather Service.

A satellite image shows the polar vortex sweeping across the US. Pic: Nasa

The US saw colder temperatures than Almaty, Kazakhstan, where it was -22C (8F), Mongolia at -23C (-8F) and Irkutsk, in Siberia, at -33C (-27F).

The National Weather Service has issued life-threatening wind chill warnings for temperatures as low as -51C (-60F) in western and central Dakota and officials in Indiana - hit by high winds and more than a foot (30cm) of snow - urged residents to stay indoors.

Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard asked schools and businesses to stay closed for another day and said: "The cold is the real killer here.

A tractor is used to clear snow from Woodward Avenue in central Detroit

"You could be dead in 10 minutes without the proper clothes."

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency, announcing that parts of the New York State Thruway in Western New York would be closed due to extreme winter weather conditions.

The weather has caused chaos for US business and industry, threatening to disrupt oil drilling and fracking and hit livestock and grain shipments across the farm belt, even in the Deep South.

Some 4,392 flights were cancelled and 3,577 delayed on Monday, according to FlightAware.com, which tracks airline activity.

Many airlines could not allow their ground crews to remain outdoors for more than 15 minutes at a time.

Birds gather on the partially frozen River Charles in Boston

There were hundreds of cancellations by airlines including United, Southwest and American at airports across the Midwest and Northeast as supplies of fuel and de-icer froze.

The weather has been blamed for a number of deaths across Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.

They included a 48-year-old Chicago man who had a heart attack while shovelling snow on Sunday and an elderly woman who was found outside her Indianapolis home early Monday.

Some states are beginning to turn their focus to recovery, with Illinois Governor Pat Quinn and Indiana Governor Mike Pence issuing disaster declarations, paving the way to request federal aid.

There were, however, some signs of things returning to normal in the affected areas.

A commuter wraps up warm in Chicago

JetBlue Airways, which stopped all scheduled flights to and from New York and Boston on Monday, plans to resume some flights on Tuesday morning.

Southwest Airlines operations in Chicago resumed on Monday night, even if it was, as a spokesman for the Texas-based airline called it, "a trickle".

The Minnesota Zoo announced it would reopen to the public on Tuesday and state lawmakers in Indiana plan to open their 2014 legislative session after a day's postponement.

Warmer temperatures - at least near or above freezing - are in store for the Midwest later in the week.

Indianapolis should reach -3C (27F) on Wednesday, and other parts of the central US could climb above freezing later in the week.

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Obese Pregnant Women 'Putting Strain On NHS'

By Thomas Moore, Health and Science Correspondent

NHS chiefs have ordered the first official survey of older and fatter women giving birth following new evidence that maternity units are under increasing pressure from complex pregnancies.

Figures obtained by Sky News show there has been a boom in pregnant women who are obese or over the age of 40.

Some units reported that the number of obese mums had more than doubled in just two years.

And NHS England revealed it will for the first time monitor the data to ensure women are receiving appropriate care.

Dr Catherine Calderwood, NHS clinical director for maternity, said: "Knowing this data is one of the most important things to improve the outcomes for these women and their babies.

"So we are investing in that with a new audit for the first time."

Sky News sent a Freedom of Information request to all maternity units in England.

Dr Catherine Calderwood, NHS clinical director for maternity

Of the 104 that replied, 67 were able to supply data on obesity between 2010/11 and 2012/13.

On average there was a 12.5% rise in women with a body mass index (BMI) over 30.

But Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust reported a rise of 192% and Derby Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said obesity had risen 177%.

Our survey also shows an upward trend in the number of older mums, with an average 7.5% rise in the number of women aged over 40 over the two years.

Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Trust has been at the forefront of one of the biggest baby booms in the country.

Our statistics show that the number of obese mums rose by 59% in two years. Women aged over 40 rose by 33%.

Nicky Griffin, maternity ward manager at the hospital, said obese women need additional care.

"It is a consideration you need to make for their safety when they are in labour," she said.

"There is a risk of deep vein thrombosis, clotting in the leg.

"We have to give medication to prevent that because bigger ladies can be less mobile."

Obese women are also more at risk of diabetes, dangerously high blood pressure and having a premature delivery. Older mums face similar risks.

:: All this week Sky News will have live coverage examining the crisis in the NHS. Watch 'A Matter Of Life And Death' on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

We also want to hear your experiences of the NHS - the good and the bad - tweet us using the hashtag #NHSlifeanddeath

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