UK Terror Threat Level Raised To Severe

The government has raised Britain's terror threat level from substantial to severe because of the threat from militant groups in the Middle East.

A severe threat means an attack is deemed to be "highly likely", but there is no intelligence to suggest one is imminent.

At a press conference in London, David Cameron said an attack was more likely because of the increased threat from militant groups in Iraq and Syria, where Islamic State (IS) have seized large swathes of territory.

The Prime Minister added the UK was in the midst of a "generational struggle" against a "poisonous ideology" and that IS posed a "greater and deeper threat to our security than we have known before".

"We could be facing a terrorist state on the shores of the Mediterranean and bordering a Nato member," he said, adding that Britain's security services believed at least 500 Britons have gone to fight in Syria and potentially Iraq.

The PM also announced new legislation that would make it easier to remove passports from people who may travel abroad to fight, adding that the Taliban had harboured and facilitated al Qaeda terrorism, but IS was effectively a state run by terrorists.

Islamic State militants have declared a state in parts of Iraq and Syria

Meanwhile, the White House has said it does not expect to raise the US terror threat level.

Speaking before the PM's statement, Home Secretary Theresa May said: "The increase in the threat level is related to developments in Syria and Iraq where terrorist groups are planning attacks against the West.

"Some of those plots are likely to involve foreign fighters who have travelled there from the UK and Europe to take part in those conflicts. We face a real and serious threat in the UK from international terrorism.

Members of the public have been urged to remain vigilant. Pic: File

"I would urge the public to remain vigilant and to report any suspicious activity to the police."

Police forces say they will increase their patrols in response to the raising of the terror threat, which is set by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC).

The JTAC's decision comes amid growing concern about hundreds of aspiring British jihadis travelling to Iraq and Syria and the murder of American journalist James Foley

Haras Rafiq from counter-extremist think tank the Quilliam Foundation, said that IS terrorists may want to target high-profile gatherings in the UK.

Police patrols will be increased to act as a deterrent to attack. Pic: File

"Next week we have a very important Nato conference in Wales. It would be right to suggest that ISIS may well want to target high-profile targets like that.

"The danger is also from a wider aspect in terms of European fighters. We talk about Britain having a large number of fighters out there, but per captia Belgium is the worst offender.

"The threat is not just from Britain it's from a wider European perspective."

Sky News police analyst Graham Whetton said the raised level would trigger increased policing levels and public alertness to suspicious activity.

"Police will contact transport hubs and sports stadiums and ask them to increase their vigilance and security checks. The airports will get the same threat level increase so they will be asked to raise their awareness and alertness.

"Police cannot have eyes and ears everywhere. Officers need communities and families to bring to their attention anybody they perceive may be vulnerable or in danger of escalating towards terrorism.

"That is a key piece of the anti-terrorism jigsaw, getting people to come forward with any information they may have."

Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, the UK's most senior police officer, said Scotland Yard is ready for an influx in case large numbers of homegrown extremists return at the same time.

National Policing Lead for Counter-Terrorism, Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley, said: "We need communities and families to bring to our attention anyone they perceive may be vulnerable, a danger or escalating towards terrorism.

:: Anyone with information is urged to contact the Anti-Terrorist Hotline on 0800 789 321.

10.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

Missing Ashya: Fears Feeding Tube Has Run Out

The condition of a missing five-year-old boy who was taken from hospital by his parents may soon become life-threatening following reports his feeding system is likely to have run out.

Hampshire Constabulary say concern for Ashya King, who has a brain tumour, is growing "with each hour that passes."

Assistant Chief Constable Chris Shead said: "We have been told by medical experts that the battery life on the machine that administers his food is now likely to have expired.

CCTV captures Ashya being taken from the hospital in his wheelchair

"We don't know whether the King family have any spares, the knowledge, or any way of recharging the battery. 

He warned that without properly administered food, Ashya's condition will "deteriorate very quickly" and ultimately put his life at risk.

Ashya, who was operated on seven days ago, was taken from Southampton General Hospital around 2pm on Thursday. 

Interpol have joined the urgent hunt for missing Ashya

Interpol has issued a global Yellow Notice missing persons alert for the boy who police say was taken to France. 

The notice was issued at the request of UK authorities and has been circulated to all of Interpol's 190 member countries.

CCTV images captured the boy being wheeled from the hospital by his father Brett King.

Ashya needs 24-hour medical attention, say police. Pic Naveed King

Mr King, 51, and his wife Naghemeh King, 45, boarded a cross-Channel ferry from Portsmouth to Cherbourg at 4pm with Ashya and six siblings. They arrived in France at roughly 8pm local time.

The sick child is still likely to be in a wheelchair or buggy, he cannot communicate verbally and is immobile, a police spokesman said.

The family, believed to be Jehovah's Witnesses, are travelling in a grey Hyundai I800 Style CRDI, registration KP60 HWK.

The family boarded a ferry from Portsmouth to Cherbourg They arrived in France at roughly 8pm Police believe the family are still in France

Hampshire Police are working with officers in France to activate their emergency child rescue alert procedures to locate the family.

A statement issued by France's interior ministry spokesman, Pierre-Henry Brandet, said French authorities have "lots of leads."

Although Mr Shead said that, despite a good public response to widespread media coverage, police cannot be certain whether the family were still in France.

Ashya with his father in hospital. Pic: Naveed King

He also said he was unable to confirm whether the family had booked a return ferry ticket to the UK.

Guy Canonici, the president of the Jehovah's Witnesses in France, has told Sky News he has put over 1,000 Kingdom Halls (places of worship) on alert for the missing boy.

He said so far no one had come forward with any information.

Hampshire Police have launched a social media campaign to find Ashya

TV channels and newspaper websites in France have also urged motorists to look out for the right-hand drive English car carrying Ashya.

A Southampton hospital spokesman has said Ashya was a long term patient who was permitted to leave the ward under the supervision of his parents as part of his ongoing rehabilitation.

Police said a six-and-a-half-hour gap between Ashya being taken from hospital and police being called would be looked at "further down the line".

Ashya with his mother Naghemeh. Pic Naveed King

In a video posted on YouTube last month, Naveed King said his little brother Ashya had been diagnosed with a brain tumour and was undergoing emergency surgery.

Speaking into the camera in a message directly to Ashya, he said: "I haven't slept. I've been awake all night worrying.

"We love you so much. We're all here for you. Everyone is praying for you. We just want to see your smile again.

"No kid at the age of five deserves to have a brain tumour.

A car similar to the one being used by the family

Naveed, whose Instagram profile says he is 20, describes himself as a Jehovah's Witness on the social networking site.

Jehovah's Witnesses refuse blood transfusions on religious grounds but are open to other medical procedures.

Ashya's paternal grandmother, Patricia King, said his parents were "wonderful" and had been left beside themselves at their child's plight.

Speaking from her home in Southsea, she said of her son: "He's the most caring and wonderful father you could ever have. The kids love him."

Brett King is understood to have wheeled the boy out of the hospital

She said she last spoke to her son "quite a while ago", adding: "He wouldn't have told me anything because he wouldn't want me to know anything in case I got involved in it all."

She said she did not know whether Ashya's illness was terminal, saying: "I knew he was seriously ill, we all knew that."

Anyone with information about Ashya's whereabouts should contact Hampshire Constabulary on 101, quoting Operation Aquilion.

10.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

IS Fighters 'Executed' 250 Syrian Soldiers

Barack Obama is calling for a coalition of countries prepared to take military action against Islamic State (IS) militants, as a video emerged of hundreds of "executed" Syrian soldiers.

The soldiers were captured at the weekend when the Sunni militants seized an air base in the province of Raqqa, in northern Syria.

The Reuters news agency said a video posted on YouTube on Thursday that purportedly shows dozens of bodies has been confirmed as genuine by an IS fighter.

"Yes we have executed them all," he said.

US President Barack Obama said the US was working to get more countries on board in order to strike at IS.

He said: "We are going to work politically and diplomatically with folks in the region, and we're going to cobble together the kind of coalition that we need for a long-term strategy as soon as we are able to fit together the military, political and economic components of that strategy."

France has already ruled itself out. The UK has so far provided humanitarian assistance and Prime Minister David Cameron has said he does not want troops on the ground. 

Mr Obama played down the prospect of imminent US military action in Syria, saying "we don't have a strategy yet", but said it was time for Middle Eastern nations to "stop being ambivalent".

He said his top priority remained rolling back the militants' gains in Iraq.

The video appears to show the men being made to march in their underwear

It came as the US military said its fighter planes conducted five airstrikes against Islamic State targets in northern Iraq on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post reported that four of the hostages held by Islamic State in Syria, including journalist James Foley before he was beheaded, had endured waterboarding at the hands of their captors.

The latest video of IS brutality to have emerged shows the bodies of scores of men wearing nothing but their underwear lying face down.

The line of bodies appears to be dozens of metres long.

A caption written underneath says: "The 250 shabeeha taken captive by the Islamic State from Tabqa in Raqqa have been executed."

Shabeeha is the name of armed militia forces loyal to President Bashar al Assad. Tabqa is the location of the Syrian airbase captured by IS in the last few days.

The head of the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights later confirmed that Syrian soldiers had been "executed" at three different places, resulting in the deaths of at least 160.

Rami Abdel Rahman said it had happened after jihadists defeated the 1,400-strong garrison at Tabqa, of whom 200 were killed in fighting, 700 escaped and dozens of the remainder were captured as they fled.

Meanwhile, the United Nations says an armed group has detained 43 peacekeepers from the Philippines and Fiji in Syria's Golan Heights. A further 81 peacekeepers are also trapped, the UN has said.

A UN statement said negotiations were under way to release those trapped or being held.

10.04 | 0 komentar | Read More

Ukraine: Russian Troops 'Fighting With Rebels'

Ukraine and its Western allies have accused Russia of sending hundreds of troops, sophisticated weaponry and tanks across the border into the southeast of the country.

A spokesman for Ukraine's National Security Council, Colonel Andriy Lysenko, said two columns of tanks had fired at a border post, before rolling into Ukraine.

His comments backed up Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's earlier report that Russian forces had "entered" the country.

The tanks are reported to have crossed into a southern area of the Donetsk region, where the separatists have made significant gains in recent days.

A security services image purportedly shows Russian forces in Ukraine

Nato, meanwhile, released satellite imagery purportedly showing self-propelled artillery battery.

A Nato official also said at least 1,000 Russian troops had entered Ukraine with sophisticated equipment and had been in "direct contact" with Ukrainian forces, resulting in casualties.

Dutch Brigadier-General Nico Tak, head of the body's crisis management centre, said: "They are supporting separatists (and) fighting with them."

Senior separatist commander Alexander Zakharchenko has admitted that between 3,000 and 4,000 Russian fighters have fought in the rebel ranks, but said they were on "holiday" and had volunteered to join the battle.

Moscow has consistently denied arming the rebels or sending troops across the border, and said the latest claims bore "no relation to reality."

At a crisis meeting of the UN Security Council, Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin accused Kiev of "waging war against its own people."

However British Ambassador to the UN, Mark Lyall Grant, listed "overwhelming" evidence to the contrary.

"It is simply not credible for Russia and its proxies in (the eastern regions of) Donetsk and Luhansk to keep claiming that these serving members of the Russian armed forces are in Ukraine by accident or on holiday," he said.

"Nor is it credible for Russia to continue claiming to the whole world including to the Russian people that Russian soldiers are not present in Ukrainian territory."

The UN Security Council met for an emergency meeting on the conflict

In an earlier statement Prime Minister David Cameron said he was "extremely concerned" by mounting evidence that Russia is "completely disregarding the sovereignty of a neighbour.

"The international community has already warned Russia that such provocative actions would be completely unacceptable and illegal."

He called on Russia to immediately cease all military activity in Ukraine or face "further consequences."

In Washington US President Barack Obama said the images of Russian forces inside Ukraine made it clear Moscow has "deliberately and repeatedly" violated the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Stopping short of calling Russia's actions an invasion, Mr Obama said the US and its allies would look for ways to expand economic sanctions in light of Russia's "ongoing incursion."

At least 15 civilians were killed in Donetsk on Thursday

However he ruled out taking any military action to resolve the conflict.

Nato is due to hold its own emergency meeting on Friday, while German Chancellor Angela Merkel said an EU summit on Saturday would also discuss the prospect of further sanctions.

According to Kiev, Russian troops and separatist units have seized the southeastern town of Novoazovsk and have threatened to take the port city of Mariupol.

Their gains in the southeast of the country mark a new front in the conflict which has claimed more than 2,100 lives since April.

A Ukrainian serviceman exchanges fire with rebels

Ukrainian defence officials have said government forces have withdrawn from Novoazovsk "to save their lives" and regrouped in Mariupol, which they are ready to defend.

It is feared that in seizing the new southeastern front, pro-Russian forces are seeking to create a land link between Russia and Crimea, which was annexed by Moscow in March. 

Meanwhile heavy shelling continued further north in the region's eastern city of Donetsk as Kiev sought to oust separatists who have declared a 'Donetsk People's Republic.'

The city's administration said at least 15 civilians were killed in strikes on the city on Thursday.

Ukraine's Defence and Security Council has said it is to re-introduce compulsory military service this autumn, but conscripts will not serve in the east of the country.

10.04 | 0 komentar | Read More

Rotherham Victim 'Verbally Abused By Police'

A victim of the Rotherham child sex abuse scandal has told Sky News she was verbally abused when she sought help from police.

She said the violence she suffered was ignored by authorities because her attacker was Asian and they were worried about causing racial unrest in the South Yorkshire town.

The woman gave a disturbing account of how she was treated by some police officers - claiming they called her a string of derogatory names.

One even said her attacker had every right to abuse her, she said.

Her grooming began when she turned 14 and was introduced to the man through friends in Rotherham.

She said he treated her well to start with and she fell in love with him, but after a few months he became violent.

"The more time we spent together the more he started to change," she said. "He became controlling, violent ... a relationship that was domestic violence."

She said she felt so scared at times she thought about killing herself.

"I had a fear of heights and he did a lot of things to try to scare me through that," she said.

The victim claims her abuse was ignored by Rotherham officers

"He once drove us to the edge of a cliff and said he was going to kill us both. He then dragged me out of the car and said he was going to throw me off."

She added: "He once tried to throw me over a balcony, luckily two people kind of stopped him from doing that.

"I had a child with me at the time, that were only a few months, in a pushchair, and he even kicked the pushchair over."

She said during her two years of abuse, the attacks went from once a week to two or three times a week.

His brothers were grooming other young girls, she said, but unlike many child victims in Rotherham she was sexually exploited by one man.

She was 16 when she went to police, but said her complaint was ignored.

Her abuser was even granted immunity from prosecution, she claimed.

"I explained to him (the police officer) what relationship we had and he said: 'Well, what do you expect? I think he's got every right to.'

"My Dad went absolutely mental and told him to get out of the house. The police officer then apologised, and we put a formal complaint into the police about him.

Rotherham Council leader Roger Stone stood down in the wake of the report

"But just his manner of how he dealt with it - he didn't seem to care about it, he was so unprofessional."

When asked why her abuse was ignored by social workers, police and council bosses, she said: "I think it was because of the fact he was Asian.

"I don't think they wanted to start communities colliding together, and starting confrontation between communities."

She said Rotherham Council chiefs should face action for ignoring the plight of the 1,400 child victims targeted in the town.

"The people that were involved back then ... I think they need hanging," she said.

"I don't know what legal stuff can be done, but I think they all need to be in a courtroom and tell people exactly what they knew.

"I think it should be some kind of criminal offence that 1,400 girls have been allowed to be abused by professionals."

South Yorkshire Police say they have no knowledge of allegations concerning derogatory remarks made against the victim.

A spokesman said the suggestion a deal was struck with her abuser has been fully investigated and no evidence was found to support the claim.

"This case forms a part of Operation Clover looking into a series of child sexual exploitation investigations in Rotherham," he added.

10.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

Police Commissioner Resigns From Labour Party

By Mark White, Home Affairs Correspondent

South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner Shaun Wright has resigned from the Labour Party - but said he will not give up his job.

He announced his move less than an hour after Labour threatened to suspend him from the party over his perceived failings in the Rotherham child abuse scandal.

Mr Wright was a Rotherham councillor, charged with heading up the local authority's child protection services at the height of the scandal, where an estimated 1,400 children are believed to have been groomed and abused by gangs of Asian men.

On Tuesday, a highly critical report highlighted widespread failings at both Rotherham Council and South Yorkshire Police for allowing that abuse to flourish unchecked for more than 16 years.

One victim said she was abused by 'hundreds' of men

Despite calls for Mr Wright's resignation from senior politicians in his own party, the Home Secretary, child protection experts and victims, he still refuses to budge and there is little anyone can do to remove him.

"I formally tender my resignation from the Labour Party," he said in a statement late on Wednesday night.

"However, I remain committed to, and intend to remain in, my role as an Independent Police and Crime Commissioner for South Yorkshire."

Established by Home Secretary Theresa May two years ago, PCCs were specifically designed to be directly elected and free from any interference by chief constables or politicians. 

Theresa May said Mr Wright had questions to answer

They can only be kicked out by the public in PCC elections every four years.

On Wednesday, Mrs May said it was not her job to select or dismiss PCCs but suggested he should heed calls from his own party to go.

She said: "Shaun Wright obviously has had involvement in this, both in his role as a councillor and obviously he's now the police and crime commissioner.

"It's not my job as Home Secretary to hire and fire police and crime commissioners. The whole point of them is that they are elected by the people, so ultimately it is a choice for the electorate.

"But I believe his own party have called for him to resign. I believe he has real questions to answer and I think in the circumstances he should heed those calls."

Roger Stone stepped down with immediate effect

Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper added to the pressure on Mr Wright to quit his £85,000-a-year job.

She told Sky News: "We have said we think the police and crime commissioner should stand down, just as the leader of the council has done, because 1,400 children were abused and they were let down badly by the authorities."

Mr Wright has continued to insist he was not aware of the magnitude of the abuse in Rotherham.

He told Sky News: "Clearly I'm very sorry for any abuse that took place - if I could have prevented it, I would. Any right-minded human being would want to protect vulnerable children, of that I am convinced.

"All I can say is that this is a top priority for South Yorkshire Police and it will remain a top priority for South Yorkshire Police for as long as I am in this role."

Although much of the attention is focused on one man's perceived inaction in protecting Rotherham's abuse victims, the role of many others has also been called into question as the failings in the South Yorkshire town were systemic and widespread.

Roger Stone, the leader of Rotherham Council, stepped down with immediate effect following the publication of the report.

10.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

Rotherham Abuse: Pressure Grows On Police Chief

By Becky Johnson, North Of England Correspondent

Pressure is growing on South Yorkshire's Police Commissioner to resign in the wake of the Rotherham abuse scandal, after it emerged he was once a councillor with responsibility for children's services there.

A damning report has revealed more than 1,400 children were victims of abuse there between 1997 and 2013.

It detailed examples of 11-year-olds being gang raped and children being forced to watch violent sex abuse while being threatened that they would be next.

It has emerged authorities in the town "could and should" have done more to stop the abuse but did not listen to children trying to report it.

One victim said she was exploited every day between the ages of 12 and 15

In some cases victims were treated with contempt.

Shaun Wright was a Labour councillor for Rotherham until he was elected Police Commissioner in 2012, and was in charge of children's services from 2005 to 2010.

Colin Ross, the leader of the Lib Dem group on Sheffield City Council, said it is "difficult to see how local people can have confidence in him to continue as our Police and Crime Commissioner".

UKIP Yorkshire and Humber MEP Jane Collins also called on Mr Wright to go, adding: "The apologies we have heard are totally insincere and go nowhere near repairing the damage done."

Alexis Jay's highly critical report detailed "appalling" abuse

A spokesperson for Mr Wright said: "The Commissioner has previously apologised for the failure of Rotherham Council while he was in its cabinet from 2005 to 2010.

"He repeats that apology today and he fully accepts that there was more that everyone at Rotherham Council should have done to tackle this terrible crime.

"Since becoming Police and Crime Commissioner he has repeatedly publicly made tackling child sexual exploitation his number one priority."

The leader of Rotherham Council, Roger Stone, stepped down with immediate effect following the publication of the report.

Rotherham Council leader Roger Stone has left his post

The council has apologised for its failings but confirmed no staff will face disciplinary action.

South Yorkshire Police also issued an apology but it too revealed that no officers have been disciplined.

Several of the individuals named in the report are still working in child protection.

Jim Gamble, former Chief Executive of CEOP, told Sky News: "Every person particularly in a leadership role who has got it wrong whether today, yesterday, or in the years before must take responsibility for their actions.

Chief executive Martin Kimber revealed no council staff will face action

"There's a couple of things, you need to make sure; 1) that they're not in a position of authority in any other local safeguarding board, in any other organisation that works to protect children and 2) if there is evidence that individuals surpassed information that there's a criminal investigation."

A lawyer who represents some of the victims has told Sky News they intend to take legal action against the authorities.

Solicitor David Greenwood said he was "appalled" by what he called a "systematic failure".

He added that some of the girls involved have displayed symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and will need "a lot of input to get their lives back on track".

10.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

Rotherham Girl Abused By 'Hundreds' Of Men

A victim of the Rotherham child abuse scandal has told Sky News she was sexually exploited by "hundreds" of men and authorities did nothing to stop them.

The woman, now in her 20s, said she was abused every day between the ages of 12 and 15, and was sometimes raped by five men at a time.

In a harrowing interview, she said her attackers are still wandering the streets of Rotherham and have ruined the lives of countless young women.

She reported her abuse to police in April 2003, when she was 13, and again the following year, but the rapes continued, she said.

Her attackers would wait outside her home and threaten her family, and the abuse only stopped when her relatives moved her out of the UK when she was 15.

"Social care, safe-guarding, the council, the police, education, none of them did anything to try to stop this at all," she said.

"Rotherham Council have failed. You couldn't argue with the fact that there are lots of young women wandering about whose lives have been ruined ... I blame them (the authorities) as much as my perpetrators."

She returned to the UK when she was 17 and still sees her attackers walking the streets.

"It doesn't bother me that they're walking round the streets because of what they'd done to me," she said.

"It bothers me that in the last 10 years that I exited sexual exploitation, how many other people's lives have been ruined?

Rotherham Council leader Roger Stone has resigned following the scandal

"How many families have they ripped apart?  How many more people have they raped? Their world and their lives will never be the same again - and that is what's frightening."

She said her attackers were not only from Rotherham - "they'd start bringing their cousins from Bradford and Birmingham" and "all over the UK".

Her grooming started when she was 12 and began going to McDonald's restaurants and amusement arcades in Rotherham city centre on Saturday afternoons.

She and her friends met a group of schoolboys who later introduced her to older men.

"They started giving me soft drugs, alcohol, buying me cigarettes, taking me to McDonald's - just normal things ... I started to build a friendship with them," she said.

"I was very innocent. I don't come from a bad background. I come from a very loving, good background.

"I've got a supportive family ... and I thought these people were giving me things for free and I later found that they wasn't."

She added: "One of them singled me out, I made a friendship with him and I was completely innocent ... one night he took me up to the outdoor market stalls and the next thing I knew he was actually on top of me and was raping me.

"I was being pinned down by two other men. One of my friends they was making watch. She was already involved in sexual exploitation."

She added: "It disturbed me so much because I'd lost my virginity.

"He would rape me once a week every week and that's when he started to gain control over me and when I started to fear him, and not just him but everyone else within that gang.

"I'd have to have sex with his cousins or whoever wanted to have sex with me. And I very much become like an object and that's how they treated me."

She said she was beaten if she refused to have sex.

They also knew where she lived and threatened to knock on her door and tell her parents she owed them money for drugs.

The gang also threatened to "get my mum and gang-rape her and make me watch, which I wasn't going to let happen. So I kept things to myself and I also continued to go (and meet them) because of these threats."

10.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

Leaders Clash Over Currency In Scotland Debate

First Minister Alex Salmond and Better Together leader Alistair Darling have clashed on using the pound in a fiery final debate on Scottish independence.

The 90-minute debate, held in front of an audience of 200 at Glasgow's Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery, offered both men a key opportunity to appeal to voters ahead of the referendum on September 18.

North Sea oil, the National Health Service, welfare reform and Trident nuclear missile submarines at Faslane were also at the centre of the BBC-hosted face-off.

Mr Salmond ventures out from behind his rostrum to make a point

Answering questions on the currency union, Mr Salmond said: "No one can stop us using the pound sterling, it's an internationally tradeable currency.

"I'm seeking the best option for Scotland, so our prosperous economy keeps the pound sterling."

Mr Darling replied: "You are taking a huge risk if you think it is just all going to fall into place.

"I think the currency union would be bad for Scotland because our budget would have to be approved not by us, but what would then be a foreign country."

Mr Darling attacked his opponent as having "no plan B" on currency union

Both men also clashed over a "plan B" if a currency union failed, with Mr Salmond claiming he had three alternative options, including a Scottish currency, a flexible currency union and a fixed exchange rate, and also hinting at a refusal to meet debt obligations if a formal agreement could not be reached.

Mr Darling also admitted Scotland could still use sterling, even if an agreement failed.

During the debate, Mr Salmond used the tactic of walking out from behind his rostrum to answer questions put by members of the audience.

Sky News Political Editor Faisal Islam tweeted: "The first minister has gone walkies, abandoning the rostrum, whilst riffing on currency union... Sensational!"

North Sea oil was at the centre of the debate again

Mr Darling questioned North Sea oil revenue figures provided by the Yes campaign, and said: "You are promising all sorts of things on the basis of a revenue that is very volatile.

"To rely so much on something ... it is gambling our children's future which is totally unacceptable."

Both men had promised to create a fairer Scotland in their opening statements at the start of the debate.

Mr Salmond said: "We are a rich nation, a resourceful people. We can create a prosperous nations and a fairer society, a real vision for the people of Scotland.

"This is our time, it's our moment, let us do it now."

Polls put the Better Together campaign in the lead ahead of the referendum

The former Chancellor replied: "I know people want change, but they also want security on jobs, on pensions, on their children's future.

"A good line is not always a good answer, it's answers now we need."

He had questioned Mr Salmond on currency plans for an independent Scotland in the first TV debate on August 5.

Mr Salmond also targeted his opponent's links to the Westminster establishment, accusing the life-long Labour politician of being "in bed with the Tory party".

Mr Darling drew on his experience as Chancellor to warn of the risks of going it alone - including over-reliance on unpredictable oil revenues and vulnerability to economic turmoil like that of the 2008 global financial crisis.

Voters have to register to cast postal ballots by September 3, meaning some could cast their votes within days.

After the debate, a Sky News poll carried out on Twitter saw more than 2,000 retweets for a Salmond win, compared to under 500 claiming Darling had topped the debate.

A Guardian/ICM poll gave the debate to Mr Salmond with 71% of the vote.

Mr Darling was widely judged to have won the first.

A poll of polls, carried out by Sky News before the debate, put 39% in favour of Scottish independence, with 50% against and another 11% undecided.

10.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

Salmond Wins With 'Debt Is Yours' Threat

By Faisal Islam, Political Editor

Finally Alex Salmond delivered to the hype in the television debate with Alistair Darling on Scottish Independence.

The surroundings in Glasgow were grand, next door to the Commonwealth Games bowling green, but this was more of a blood sport.

The innovative ramble in to the centre of the stage. The bulldozing of plausible and legitimate concerns about his lack of currency plan.

The blitzing of Mr Darling's attempt to reuse lines from the first debate. And the clear message shouted from the rooftops: Darling is a Tory Trojan horse.

On food banks, on the bedroom tax, on Trident, and NHS "privatisation", Mr Salmond painted the leader of Better Together as an enabler of centre-right control over centre-left Scotland.

Happily for the First Minister, a rather high number in the audience seemed to share in this vitriol, launching highly personalised attacks on Mr Darling.

Voting "Yes" is the only way to protect Scotland, was Salmond's sell. Mr Salmond critiqued the No campaign's so-called "project Fear" a fortnight ago. On Monday night he doubled up on his own version, Project Feartie, perhaps.

Alistair Darling points at Mr Salmond during an exchange

The debate was brutal. Mr Darling accused by an audience member of essentially shaming Nye Bevan's legacy in creating the NHS.

He was also "accused" of privatising the Post Office (untrue). Mr Salmond jabbed his finger at Mr Darling as he blamed him for the bedroom tax (which he and the Labour party will rescind).

And he also tried to make a huge play of Darling admitting that Scotland could use the pound unilaterally (the "Panama" option). (This is true, but Scottish banks would lose access to central bank funding, so goodbye RBS HQ).

But, for me, the really big development, was the candid, transparent use of threat by Mr Salmond over currency union.

No currency union, means no share of assets, which means "the debt is yours". The First Minister said this repeatedly and clearly. This is high wire stuff with implications for the banking system.

More than that, it suggests that a yes vote will lead to a messy divorce, not an amicable split.

And that Yes vote was made a little bit more likely or rather, less unlikely. Indeed the ICM/Guardian exit poll had a thumping win for the First Minister.

We are in for an interesting few weeks.

10.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

First Briton With Ebola Virus Lands In UK

A British man who caught the ebola virus in Sierra Leone has arrived in the UK on a Royal Air Force jet.

The healthcare worker, understood to be called William, landed at RAF Northolt near Heathrow just before 9pm on board a specially equipped C17 plane.

An ambulance transporting the man to an isolation unit at the Royal Free Hospital in north London travelled there under a police escort to stop other vehicles from interrupting the journey.

The nurse is taken off the RAF jet

The hospital is home to the UK's only high-level isolation unit which has a specially-designed tent with controlled ventilation.

The only people allowed inside are specially-trained medical staff.

Dr Paul Cosford, director for health protection at Public Health England, said protective measures will be in place to avoid the virus being transmitted to staff transporting the patient and healthcare workers in the UK.

The flight from Sierra Leone took around eight hours

The man, who the Department of Health has said is not "seriously unwell", is understood to have been a volunteer at a clinic in the Kenema district of Sierra Leone.

Sky sources who have knowledge of the repatriation describe the young male nurse, who is estimated to be in his late 20s or early 30s, as a "remarkable and amazing young man".

There have so far been 2,615 confirmed cases and 1,427 deaths in the outbreak.

The ambulance carrying William is escorted to the Royal Free Hospital

Health chiefs insist the risk to the British public from ebola, which kills up to 90% of those who get it, is "very low".

Deputy chief medical officer Professor John Watson said: "We have robust, well-developed and well-tested NHS systems for managing unusual infectious diseases when they arise, supported by a wide range of experts.

"UK hospitals have a proven record of dealing with imported infectious diseases and this patient will be isolated and will receive the best care possible."

The Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead

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

Strict quarantine measures are used to stop the spread of the virus, as well as high standards of hygiene for anyone who might come into contact with sufferers.

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

10.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

Richard Attenborough: Director Dies Aged 90

Tributes have poured in for Oscar-winning director Richard Attenborough, who dominated the British film business for more than half a century.

Lord Attenborough, who won two Academy Awards for directing Gandhi in 1983, died at lunchtime on Sunday.

BAFTA described its former president as a "titan of British cinema"  who set an example of  "industry, skill and compassion" that business would do well to live up to.

2005: Lord Attenborough with his wife Sheila whom he married when he was 21

He was President of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and championed the British film business for more than 60 years as an actor, director and prolific movie-maker.

Gandhi was the highlight of his career, clinching eight Oscars, including best film. The 90-year-old was the older brother of naturalist Sir David Attenborough.

Lord 'Dickie' Attenborough was born in Cambridgeshire in 1923 and educated at Wyggeston Grammar School and Emmanuel College Cambridge.

He married the actress Sheila Sim when he was 21. His son Michael was born in 1949, followed by two daughters, Jane and Charlotte.

Richard Attenborough was a 'titan' of cinema for decades, says BAFTA

Tragedy struck on Boxing Day 2004 when his elder daughter Jane Holland, and her daughter, Lucy, and her mother-in-law, also named Jane, were killed in the south-Asian tsunami.

Prime Minister David Cameron said: "His acting in Brighton Rock was brilliant, his directing of Gandhi was stunning - Richard Attenborough was one of the greats of cinema."

Director Steven Spielberg said: "Dickie Attenborough was passionate about everything in his life -  family, friends, country and career.  

"He made a gift to the world with his emotional epic Ghandi and he was the perfect ringmaster to bring the dinosaurs back to life as John Hammond in Jurassic Park. 

With his brother, naturalist David

"He was a dear friend and I am standing in an endless line of those who completely adored him."

Baroness Royal of Blaisdon, Labour's leader in the House of Lords, said she was "proud" that the actor was a Labour peer.

"Very sad to learn of death of Richard Attenborough, a fine man in every way. Proud that he was a Labour peer," she said.

Former Cabinet minister Peter Hain also paid tribute to the "brilliant actor and film director" who he also hailed as an "anti-Apartheid, Labour and Chelsea Football Club stalwart".

In a statement on their website, Chelsea said: "Chelsea Football Club is tonight deeply saddened to learn of the passing of our Life President Lord Attenborough.

"His personality was woven into the tapestry of the club over seven decades. He will be greatly missed."

10.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

Sir Cliff Richard Quizzed By Detectives

Sir Cliff Richard has been interviewed by members of South Yorkshire Police, his spokesman said.

He voluntarily met with officers on Saturday and was not arrested or charged.

The singer's Berkshire apartment was searched by police last week as part of the investigation into an alleged sexual assault at a religious event in 1985.

Sir Cliff's Berkshire apartment was searched by police on August 14

A spokesman for Sir Cliff said: "Today Sir Cliff Richard voluntarily met with and was interviewed by members of South Yorkshire Police.

"He was not arrested or charged. He co-operated fully with officers and answered the questions put to him.

"Other than restating that this allegation is completely false and that he will continue to co-operate fully with the police, it would not be appropriate for Sir Cliff to say anything further at this time."

South Yorkshire Police said a 73-year-old man had been spoken to in relation to an allegation of a sexual nature dating back to 1985.

Police said: "The man was interviewed under caution but was not arrested. He entered South Yorkshire Police premises by arrangement."

Sir Cliff, 73, was in Portugal when the search took place on August 14.

His fans have rallied round the veteran star since the allegation became public.

They are showing their support by buying copies of his 1992 Number Seven hit I Still Believe In You with the song headed for this weekend's Top 40.

It has emerged that he has pulled out of a visit to the US Open tennis championships and turned down the freedom of his adopted Portuguese home city of Albufeira.

He also cancelled an appearance at a charity event at Canterbury Cathedral next month so it was not "overshadowed by the false allegation".

10.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

Iceland Volcano Fears: Airlines On Alert

Aviation authorities are watching for developments in Iceland, where planes are on high alert after a volcanic eruption.

The country has closed airspace directly above Bardarbunga volcano after it began erupting under the ice of Europe's largest glacier following thousands of earthquakes.

The UK's air traffic control organisation NATS and safety regulator the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) say they are ready to take action if ash is detected. 

Continued exposure to concentrated levels of volcanic ash can lead to the total failure of aircraft engines.

Yesterday, a Virgin Atlantic flight from London Heathrow to San Francisco was diverted away from the volcano as a precaution.

Bardarbunga is Iceland's biggest volcano system

But flights are now operating normally, a spokesman for the airline said.

An eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in southern Iceland four years ago produced an ash cloud that led to a week of aviation chaos.

More than 100,000 flights were cancelled.

A spokeswoman for NATS said it was "monitoring the situation" and working with other agencies, including the Met Office and Civil Aviation Authority.

NATS will help determine what impact the eruption will have on UK airspace and advise airline customers accordingly, she added.

Computers show seismic activity from Bardarbunga at Iceland's Met Office

A Met Office spokeswoman said: "We are in close contact with the Icelandic Met Office, but currently they tell us that the eruptions are sub-glacial, so no ash has made it to the surface.

"If ash does make it to the surface, we will run our model which will indicate where any ash would go, and we will inform the CAA and NATS.

"They will then make the decision on how that will affect any air flights."

Minutes before the eruption, Icelandic officials raised the aviation alert to red - the highest level.

The red alert warns that an eruption could cause "significant emission of ash into the atmosphere".

Ash billows from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in 2010

Scientists who flew over the ice cap on Saturday afternoon said they saw no visible signs of the eruption on the surface.

Iceland's Met Office said it is not clear when, or if, the eruption would melt through the ice and send steam and ash into the air.

The ice is between 330ft to 1,300ft thick.

An easyJet spokesman said the airline is preparing to put contingency plans into action, using specialist technology to detect and charter any ash created.

"EasyJet will use this and other data provided by the authorities to determine what, if any, changes it should make to its flying programme," he said.

Flybe said it was monitoring the situation and all of its flights are operating as normal.

Aviation chiefs are confident the industry is much better prepared to deal with the effects of an ash cloud than it was in 2010.

The CAA said improvements in observing and forecasting where ash is and its density have been made, and there is a new radar in Iceland to detect ash in the atmosphere.

10.03 | 0 komentar | Read More