DLT Sentenced For Groping TV Personality

Disgraced DJ Dave Lee Travis has left court after being given a three-month suspended sentence for indecently assaulting a TV personality.

Speaking to reporters outside, the former Radio 1 star said he was "mortified" and "really disappointed" over his conviction this week and criticised his prosecution.

He said the judge accepted that prosecutors had failed to prove their case that he was a "sexual predator".

Travis said: "I was worried if the prosecution threw enough mud at me, some of it might stick", adding it was "of little comfort that I was acquitted of so many others (alleged offences)".

He said of those people closest to him: "We all know the truth and I'm grateful for that."

Travis, who became a household name in the 1970s, was found guilty on Tuesday of indecently assaulting a woman in 1995.

He was sentenced to three months in prison, suspended for two years.

Travis pictured with his wife Marianne

The incident took place behind the scenes at The Mrs Merton Show, a programme which the victim had been working on as a researcher.

The DJ had squeezed her breasts for 10-15 seconds after cornering her in a corridor of a BBC studio.

The victim had been smoking in the corridor when he commented on her "poor little lungs" before groping her.

Sentencing the 69-year-old man at London's Southwark Crown Court, Judge Leonard said: "It was an intentional and unpleasant sexual assault.

"You took advantage of a young woman in a vulnerable position whose job it was to look after you that day."

In the dock, Travis briefly looked down and then said: "Thank you, your honour".

Marianne, his wife of more than 40 years, hugged a friend in the public gallery after the judge delivered his sentence.

In a statement read out ahead of his sentencing, the victim said: "I was subjected to an unprovoked and terrifying physical assault at my place of work.

The DJ became a household name in the 1970s

"I was too paralysed with fear to confront my assailant."

Before sentencing, journalist Camilla Long said Travis had "bashed" on the dock glass and "screamed" at her to move from the seats behind him in the public gallery to the press seats, as she was making him "uncomfortable".

Ms Long, who in 2012 wrote an article in which she claimed Travis had groped her during an interview, told Sky News the incident in court on Friday was "incredibly intimidating".

This week, Travis was found not guilty on a second indecent assault charge and the jury was discharged after it was unable to agree a verdict on a count of sexual assault.

He faced a retrial after jurors failed to reach verdicts on those two charges earlier this year.

He was cleared of 12 counts of indecent assault at his original trial in February.

The broadcaster, of Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, was first arrested in October 2012 under Operation Yewtree, Scotland Yard's investigation into historic sexual abuse in the wake of allegations against the late DJ Jimmy Savile.

Judge Leonard said Travis' offence was of a "different order of magnitude" to other more serious convictions under Operation Yewtree.

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Dreamliner Makes Emergency Landing In Glasgow

A Dreamliner operated by Polish airline LOT has made an emergency landing in Glasgow after an alert from the fire protection system in the baggage hold.

The Boeing 787 was flying from Chicago to Warsaw with 248 people on board when the captain requested the emergency landing.

LOT spokeswoman Barbara Pijanowsk-Kuras said the emergency landing was required according to safety procedures after the crew received a warning from the firefighting system.

News reports said the pilot had reported a smell of smoke in the cabin.

The plane, which landed safely at 11.35am, was met by airport emergency services and checked by firefighters. It was deemed safe before it taxied to a stand.

The passengers have since disembarked, while the aircraft is "under technical review", a statement by the airline said. 

The airport remains open, and LOT said it was considering using another aircraft to bring the passengers to Warsaw.

The plane was carrying 248 people. Pic: @AndrewWork

The 787 has been plagued by problems.

Last year, the model was grounded around the world for three months while the battery systems were checked after a few of the aircraft developed problems that led to the appearance of smoke.

The battery appeared to overheat, reaching temperatures capable of melting rock.

Boeing redesigned the battery, charger and containment system to ensure battery fires would not put the aircraft at risk. Since then, the aircraft have experienced a series of minor glitches, including a fault with an air pressure sensor and the brake system.

Boeing insists the Dreamliner is operating safely.

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Child In Newcastle Pond Tragedy Named

A three-year-old boy who died after falling into a pond in Newcastle has been named as Callum Greenwood.

The little boy was found 10 minutes after he was reported missing on Thursday evening but was later pronounced dead at the Royal Victoria Infirmary.

A neighbour who saw emergency services' frantic efforts to save Callum said he realised at once something terrible had happened.

Plasterer Paul Taylor, 37, who lives next door, said: "I'd been out to get an Indian and when I came back there was a massive police search on.

Next-door neighbours Emma and Paul Taylor

"They had closed off the road and the ambulance was there.

"I saw somebody in a blanket being carried into the ambulance.

"I thought obviously something terrible had happened but I didn't know what."

He added: "It's hard to believe this has happened to someone of that age."

His partner, Emma Taylor, 38, said: "We could see people crying and screaming. A woman was hysterical.

"When we saw someone being bundled into the ambulance, we still didn't know.

"The people next door are very private. We have since heard the boy was their daughter's child, who had come for a visit."

Two Police Community Support Officers were seen standing outside the large detached property in Elswick Road where the little boy was last seen.

Northumbria Police's Superintendent Mick Paterson said on Thursday night: "This is an incredibly tragic incident and our thoughts are with the family at this difficult time.

"They are understandably absolutely devastated and officers with specialist training are providing them with support."

A report is being prepared for the coroner.

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Missing Alice: 150 Calls After Reconstruction

A reconstruction of Alice Gross' last-known steps before her disappearance has led to 150 calls with information, police say.

The fresh leads come after an "area of interest" in a west London park brought no clues to the whereabouts of the missing 14-year-old.

Parts of Elthorne Park near her home in Hanwell had been cordoned off overnight by investigators who were scouring through disturbed earth which runs beside the canal towpath where Alice was last seen.

Part of Elthorne Park in west London was searched

"A full assessment has now been carried out, which has determined this area is not of relevance to the investigation into Alice's disappearance," a Scotland Yard spokesman said.

A white tent had been erected at the scene, and officers in diving gear had been searching a boggy area next to the river.

On Thursday, police staged a reconstruction which showed the high school student "power walking" on a towpath alongside the Grand Union Canal.

CCTV cameras overlooking the path captured her movements at 4.26pm on 28 August. She has not been seen since.

A reconstruction on Thursday brought scores of responses

Arnis Zalkalns, a convicted murder who is being treated as the prime suspect, cycled along the same towpath 15 minutes later.

Alice's mother, Rosalind Hodgkiss, has said: "Every morning, as Alice's disappearance grows longer and longer, brings new agony, new anguish."

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UKIP Caused Political Earthquake, Says Farage

UKIP Steps Up Bid To Build Four-Party Politics

Updated: 7:29am UK, Friday 26 September 2014

By Jon Craig, Chief Political Correspondent

Nigel Farage and UKIP are attempting to step up from a party of protest to genuine contenders in four-party politics.

After the European elections in May, they could legitimately claim to have done that, having topped the poll with 27.5% of the vote.

It was the first time since the 1906 general election that any party other than Labour or the Conservatives had come top in a national poll.

Now UKIP is bidding to win its first seat in a parliamentary election, when Douglas Carswell attempts to hold his Clacton seat in a by-election on 9 October triggered by his shock defection from the Conservatives. UKIP is also challenging Labour in another by-election on the same day in Heywood & Middleton.

But while Mr Carswell stands a good chance of turning his 12,068 Tory majority in 2010 into a comfortable win for his new party in Clacton, realistically UKIP will win no more than a handful of seats at next year's general election.

The party had hoped its conference this weekend would be a springboard to victory in the two by-elections next month and then a major breakthrough in next year's general election.

But suddenly, Parliament has been recalled to debate going to war and, with no MPs, UKIP has no influence on that decision and its conference is in danger of looking like a sideshow.

It was all very different after the European elections, UKIP's 27.5% of the vote gave the party 23 MEPs. Labour was second with 25.4% and 18 MEPs and the Conservatives third with 23.94% and also 18 MEPs.

The Greens polled 7.87% with three MEPs, while the Liberal Democrats slumped to 6.87%, winning just one MEP. On that showing, it wasn't so much four-party politics as three, with UKIP replacing the Lib Dems as the third party.

But that was the European elections. Parliamentary by-elections are different and the general election different again. Making a breakthrough is harder, as UKIP has already found.

UKIP's task has been made harder by the fact that many of the 18 by-elections since the 2010 general election have been in fairly safe Labour seats. And while UKIP has come second in five, Labour has held them all comfortably, with one spectacular exception.

But in Bradford West, Labour's shock defeat wasn't at the hands of a flamboyant beer-drinking party leader, but an equally flamboyant teetotal firebrand, George Galloway, who stormed to victory by 10,000 votes.

UKIP came second in Barnsley Central, Middlesbrough, Rotherham, South Shields, and Wythenshaw & Sale East.

It came third in Corby and Croydon North, but fourth in Oldham East & Saddleworth, Leicester South, Feltham & Heston and Manchester Central and fifth in Bradford West and Cardiff South & Penarth.

By far UKIP's best result was in Eastleigh, where in the seat previously held by the disgraced Cabinet minister Chris Huhne, Mr Farage's party fell just 1,771 votes short of defeating the Lib Dems.

While UKIP's Diane James was a strong candidate, Mr Farage faced claims that if he had stood he might have won. Not so, he insisted.

In the most recent by-election, in Newark, a monumental Tory effort saw the Conservatives see off the UKIP threat with a comfortable majority of nearly 7,500.

Now the UKIP leader has opted to fight Thanet South, where the Tory majority is 7,617 and a one-term Tory MP, Laura Sandys, is standing down at the general election. Mr Farage is tipped to win. But how many seats will his party win in 2015?

That may depend on whether any more Conservative MPs follow Mr Carswell into the arms of UKIP. And that could depend on how well he does in his by-election next month. Another question: will Mr Carswell hold Clacton in the general election?

Provocatively, UKIP is holding its party conference at Doncaster racecourse, in Ed Miliband's constituency. Mr Farage claims his party takes votes off Labour and Conservatives in equal numbers.

But the evidence of the by-elections so far in this Parliament suggests UKIP will damage the Conservatives more in the general election, handing victory to Labour in some marginals and merely eating into Labour's majority in its safe seats.

The European elections may have given us four-party politics. But unless UKIP springs a surprise and wins more than a handful of seats at Westminster, we won't see four-party politics after the general election.

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Father Who Bit Baby Jailed For Her Murder

A father who bit, beat, punched and shook his small baby daughter has been jailed for at least 22 years.

Aurimas Medvedevas, a 23-year-old from Lithuania, was sentenced at the Old Bailey for killing two-month-old Aukse.

It happened on September 5 last year, the day Aukse's mother - agency worker Dzesika Urbikaite - went back to work for the first time since giving birth.

Ms Urbikaite, 22, returned to their Peterborough home that night to find her daughter dead in her cot. She wept in court as Medvedevas was sentenced.

Medvedevas, of Clifton Avenue, Peterborough, had denied murder.

But on the third day of his trial he changed his plea to guilty in light of the overwhelming evidence against him.

Judge Timothy Pontius said the brutality of the attack on a defenceless baby almost defied belief.

He described the bite marks on her head as "particularly shocking".

The judge said the baby's hours of suffering before her eventual death "demonstrated a callousness that is as incredible as it is inhuman".

"The murder of any human being is always a tragedy, the murder of a defenceless child of any age, the more so," he said.

"The murder of a helpless infant only a few weeks old in circumstances of brutality which almost defy belief is an appalling crime beyond comprehension.

"The responsibility - his alone - for so horrific a crime will, I imagine, weigh heavily upon his conscience for the rest of his life. So it should."

Defence lawyer Sallie Bennett-Jenkins QC said Medvedevas had shown "heartfelt" remorse for what he had done to his baby.

"The horror of having realised that his child was badly hurt will never leave this young man. What he does recall is holding her," she said.

"He recalls she died in his arms and afterwards he was terrified as to the hurt he had inflicted on her and his girlfriend who he loved very much. He was in a state of utter terror and hurt."

She said that at the time of the murder Medvedevas was struggling to find work and financial "matters were really at quite a desperate state".

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Alice: Parents' Anguish Over Missing Daughter

The parents of missing schoolgirl Alice Gross have told Sky News of their anguish as they made a plea for her safe return.

The appeal came as police stage a reconstruction of her last-known movements four weeks after she disappeared.

Alice, 14, was seen on CCTV on August 28 walking alongside the Grand Union Canal in west London back towards her home in Hanwell and has not been seen since.

Police have staged a reconstruction to try and jog people's memory

Her parents, Rosalind Hodgkiss and Jose Gross, have urged people to help find their daughter.

Ms Hodgkiss, who is a teacher, said: "The longer Alice has been missing the more worried and concerned that we feel and obviously the greater the anguish that we feel.

"We are looking forward to being back as a family again.

"The house feels very empty without her."

She added: "Alice is a very lively, funny girl. She's quirky.

"We are really looking forward to the sound of her voice, seeing her smile, just her presence."

Mr Gross, 60, said of his daughter, a keen musician: "Her singing was a really big part of the sounds in our house."

It is the biggest search by the Met since the 7/7 bomb attacks in London

Alice had suffered from anorexia, but Mr Gross said: "There's nothing specific we can think of that would have made her want to run away."

Her father also highlighted the "extraordinary" level of support they had received from the public, which had been "uplifting".

Yellow ribbons are in evidence all over the area of west London where the family live, along with posters highlighting the teenager's disappearance.

Mr Gross said: "It's makes a really massive difference to us both in the sense of feeling supported but also that the word is getting out there, making people more aware."

Scotland Yard hope the reconstruction of Alice's last-known movements, which began with her leaving her home at 1pm before walking along Brentford Lock, will help jog people's memory of the afternoon of August 28.

The lead investigating officer, Detective Superintendent Carl Mehta, told Sky News police were anxious to know what happened to Alice after 4.26pm that day.

Alice's parents' say the house feels empty without her

He said people may remember her distinctive 'power' walk - very fast with swinging arms.

Police also wanted to trace Alice's iPhone, which had a cracked cover and "scribbling" on the back of it, as well as information about the teenager's rucksack, found on September 2.

Around 600 officers from eight forces are involved in the investigation, making it the biggest search undertaken by the Metropolitan Police since the 7/7 transport bomb attacks in London in 2005.

Prime suspect, 41-year-old builder Arnis Zalkalns - a convicted murderer who served seven years in a Latvian jail for killing his wife - was spotted on CCTV cycling along the same path as Alice on the day she vanished.

He has not been seen since September 3 and has not accessed his bank account or used his mobile phone.

Officers have been sent to his native Latvia in an effort to trace him.

A reward of up to £20,000 is being offered for anyone who has information that leads detectives to find Alice.

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Anjem Choudary: Preacher Held In Terror Arrests

Nine men have been arrested in London on suspicion of being members of a terrorist organisation and encouraging terrorism.

Radical preacher Anjem Choudary, 47, was reportedly among those held by officers from the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command (SO15) on Thursday.

The men, aged between 22 and 51, have been taken to police stations in central London and remain in custody on suspicion of being members of a proscribed organisation or supporting a proscribed organisation.

Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammad

The organisation is believed to be Al Muhajiroun, the Press Association reported. The group was set up by Choudary and Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammad, who was told he could not return to the UK after the 7/7 bombings. Al Muhajiroun was banned in 2010.

A number of residential, business or community properties - 11 in east London, one in west London, one in northwest London, five in south London and one in Stoke-on-Trent - are also being searched as part of the investigation.

A statement from the Met Police said: "These arrests and searches are part of an ongoing investigation into Islamist related terrorism and are not in response to any immediate public safety risk."

This week, Choudary was reported to have said he had no sympathy for aid worker Alan Henning, who has been captured by the Islamic State (IS) in Syria.

He reportedly said: "In the Koran it is not allowed for you to feel sorry for non Muslims. I don't feel sorry for him."

Choudary reportedly said he had no sympathy for hostage Alan Henning

Last month, the Government 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.

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Stolen Digger Leads Police On Three-Hour Chase

A 22-year-old man has been arrested after a three-hour pursuit of a 44-tonne digger.

Leicestershire Police said the man called them in the early hours of the morning to say he had stolen the bulldozer.

A helicopter was drafted in to help and officers managed to stop the yellow-and-black machine on the A511 around Coalville, near Leicester, at 7am.

The force, which tweeted an image of the pursuit, said: "Police were called at 3.14am today by a man who claimed to have stolen a 44-tonne digger from the Coalville area."

No-one was hurt in the incident.

Earlier, a spokesman for the National Police Air Service Birmingham-based helicopter said: "Just assisted our Leicestershire colleagues bring the pursuit of a stolen 44-tonne wheeled bulldozer to a safe end in Coalville!"

The 22-year-old remains in police custody.

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Cabinet Discusses Military Strikes Against IS

Airstrikes Could Happen Minutes After Vote

Updated: 2:41pm UK, Thursday 25 September 2014

By Alistair Bunkall, Defence Correspondent

In theory, British airstrikes on Iraq could start within minutes of parliamentary approval, should it be given, on Friday night.

Realistically, if RAF Tornados are given the order, they will be in the skies in the very early hours of Saturday morning, at the earliest.

They will deploy in pairs, taking off over Akrotiri Bay and climbing northeast over the Mediterranean and towards the Turkish coast.

The butterflies of anticipation will be churning away inside, they will be aware of the television cameras at the end of the runway, they will know that within a few hours, as dawn breaks, they will be headline news.

Hugging the Turkish border with Syria at 25,000 feet, the jets will meet an RAF Voyager refuelling aircraft en route, before dropping down into northern Iraq.

Flying at 400mph (643kph), they will reach the theatre of operations within a short time.

What happens next is a decision for US Centcom, which is co-ordinating the overall operation.

The jets might fit into a holding pattern to perform an "x-cas" role, the military acronym for "emergency close air support".

Because this isn't a traditional conflict against a rogue state, there will be fewer major installations to destroy.

The coalition wants to destroy Islamic State, they don't want to destroy Iraq. Instead it will be dynamic, hitting the rats as they pop their heads out of the ground.

The Tornados, one of the best ground-attack aircraft in the world, will be fully loaded with the equipment specific to the task they've been given.

A Litening III pod will be attached underneath. This gives the crew the ability to examine the immediate area and then laser-designate the target.

The final decision to fire will be down to the pilot himself.

The payload will probably be four Paveway bombs and two Brimstone missiles.

Paveways can be programmed by the crew to explode just before it hits the target, or on impact or with a small delay so it can bury into a building.

The Brimstone locks on to its target the moment it is fired. It is a "fire-and-forget" weapon, meaning that it can be used in all weathers and at distance from the target.

Designed especially for armoured vehicles or similar, a small warhead explodes first to soften up the armour before a larger warhead detonates creating more destruction.

For the British, this will be a twin-pronged operation: from sea and air. A Royal Naval submarine is also moving into position.

Her exact identity and location is top secret but she's most likely in the eastern Mediterranean.

She carries Tomahawk cruise missiles - TLAMS - which have a range of about 1,000 miles (1,600km).

Guided by GPS, these are effective against static objects: buildings, military installations, weapons dumps and oil refineries.

The submarine can also watch live images from a camera on the TLAM as it flies over the battlefield and strikes its target.

Job done, the crew will turn for home. Landing back in Cyprus, the news will just be breaking.

Within hours, footage recorded on board the aircraft will be released to the media to be broadcast and analysed on 24-hour news channels around the world.

As the crews eat some food and get some sleep, another team will be getting ready for their mission, ready to fly at a moment's notice. 

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MPs Sob At 'Keep Your Mitts Off My NHS' Speech

A 91-year-old Second World War veteran has upstaged Ed Miliband at the Labour Party conference with a passionate and tear-jerking speech on the health service.

Harry Smith moved audience members to tears as he made a passionate case for the NHS and warned David Cameron: "Keep your mitts off my NHS."

Mr Smith received a number of standing ovations as he detailed his life in a "barbarous, bleak and uncivilised" Barnsley slum where he listened to the screams of a woman dying of cancer because she could not afford the medicine to dull the pain.

Mr Miliband admits he forgot to mention the deficit

His eight-minute speech came after a poorly received 66-minute keynote by the Labour leader on Tuesday, which was roundly condemned after it emerged he forgot to mention the deficit.

Political pundits were hailing Mr Smith's speech as a lesson to Mr Miliband in delivery, saying he had managed to make a powerful case for the NHS in a way the leader had failed to.

Shadow health secretary Andy Burnham with Harry Smith

Steve Hawkes, deputy political editor, of the Sun, tweeted: "91 year-old Harry Smith shows Ed Miliband how to do it - rousing speech (from autocue) that gets delegates on their feet."

Another Twitter user, Robert Bennett, wrote: "Harry Smith 91 years didn't forget any of his speech."

Tears rolling down the cheek of one Labour delegate

While another, Mark Robinson, tweeted: "Such a contrast between Harry Smith's speech and Ed Miliband's."

Labour politicians, including the shadow health secretary Andy Burnham, wept openly as he described how his sister had to be buried in a paupers' pit after dying of tuberculosis at the age of 10.

He said the family watched as she faded away, unable to help because they "just didn't have the dosh to keep her comfortable".

Another conference member wipes her eyes

Mr Smith said that eventually she was sent to die in a workhouse infirmary because her mother could no longer care for her.

Mr Smith told the conference: "In my heart, I can still feel my mum and dad's desperation as they were trying to keep our family safe and healthy in the slum we called home.

"Common disease controlled our neighbourhood and snuffed out life like a cold breath on a warm candlelit flame."

He said he was born in 1923 to a life that was nothing like an episode of Downton Abbey, where hospitals and doctors were for the privileged few.

But he said while his heart was with the children of his generation who did not make it, it was also with the people of the present who were struggling because of welfare cuts and austerity measures.

He finished: "Today we must be vigilant. We must never ever let the NHS free from our grasp because if we do, your future will be my past.

"My life is your history and we should keep it that way.

"So say it loud and say in clear in this hall and across this country, Mr Cameron, keep your mitts my NHS."

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Freed Abu Qatada 'Will Not Be Returning To UK'

Timeline: Qatada Legal Battle

Updated: 10:35am UK, Wednesday 24 September 2014

Abu Qatada challenged and ultimately thwarted every attempt by the Government to detain and deport him for many years.

Here is a timeline of the legal battle.

1993: Abu Qatada claims asylum when he arrives in Britain on a forged passport.

1994: Allowed to stay in Britain.

1995: Issues a "fatwa" justifying the killing of converts from Islam, their wives and children in Algeria.

1998: Applies for indefinite leave to remain in Britain.

1999: April - Convicted in his absence on terror charges in Jordan and sentenced to life imprisonment.

October - Speaks in London advocating the killing of Jews and praising attacks on Americans.

2001: February - Arrested by anti-terror police over involvement in a plot to bomb Strasbourg Christmas market. Officers find him with £170,000 in cash, including £805 in an envelope marked "For the mujahedin in Chechnya".

December - Becomes one of Britain's most wanted men after going on the run from his home in west London.

2002: Arrested by police in a council house in south London and detained in Belmarsh high-security jail.

2005: Freed on conditional bail and placed on a control order but arrested again in August under immigration rules as the Government seeks to deport him to Jordan.

2008: April: Court of Appeal rules deportation would breach his human rights because evidence used against him in Jordan might have been obtained through torture.

May - Granted bail by the immigration tribunal but told he must stay inside for 22 hours a day.

June - Released from Long Lartin jail in Worcestershire and moves into a four-bedroom house in west London.

November - He is rearrested after the Home Office tells an immigration hearing of fears he plans to abscond.

December - Qatada's bail is revoked by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac) after hearing secret evidence that the risk of him absconding has increased.

2009: Five Law Lords unanimously back the Government's policy of removing terror suspects from Britain on the basis of assurances from foreign governments and it is ruled he can be deported to Jordan to face a retrial on the terror charges.

He is awarded 2,800 euro (£2,500) compensation by the European Court of Human Rights after the judges rule that his detention without trial in the UK under anti-terrorism powers breached his human rights.

2012: January - European judges rule he can be sent to Jordan with diplomatic assurances but not while "there remains a real risk that evidence obtained by torture will be used against him".

February - He is released on strict bail conditions.

April - Rearrested as the Government prepares to deport him after Jordan gives assurances it will "bend over backwards" to ensure he receives a fair trial.

March - Qatada's legal team loses its bid to have the case heard by the Europe's human rights judges, clearing the way for deportation proceedings to continue.

May and August - Siac rejects Qatada's applications for bail.

October - Siac holds appeal hearing.

November - His appeal is granted and he is granted bail.

December - Qatada is moved to a larger residence in the greater London area.

2013: March 9 - It emerges Qatada has been arrested for allegedly breaching his bail conditions. He is ordered to stay in custody and sent to Belmarsh.

March 21 - Police reveal the cleric is being investigated over extremist material.

March 27 - Home Secretary Theresa May loses her appeal over Siac's decision to allow Qatada to stay in the UK. The Home Office vows to appeal.

April 17 - The Home Office formally announces that it is seeking leave from the Court of Appeal to take the case to the Supreme Court.

April 22 - The Court of Appeal refuses permission to go to the Supreme Court, forcing the Home Office to appeal directly to the highest court in the land.

April 23 - Theresa May tells MPs she has signed a new treaty with Jordan that should pave the way to deportation, but warns it might take "many months".

May 10 - Qatada's barrister says he will go back to Jordan voluntarily if the treaty on the use of evidence obtained by torture, guaranteeing he will not be tortured, is ratified by the Jordanian parliament.

May 20 - Qatada is refused bail by the Special Immigrations Appeals Commission after "jihadist material" is found on a computer memory stick.

July 2 - The new treaty between Jordan and Britain is fully ratified, sparking claims Qatada could be on a plane within days.

July 3 - A Jordanian government official tells AFP the cleric is due back on Sunday.

July 7 - Flown from RAF Northolt to Jordan

December 10: Pleads not guilty to terrorism charges at a state security court in the Jordanian capital, Amman.

2014: June 26 - Acquitted of conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism over 1998 bomb plots allegations.

September 24 - Acquitted over plot to target Western tourists over the New Year in Jordan in 2000.

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iPods Save 750 Lives During Hospital Trials

By Lisa Dowd, Sky Correspondent

The lives of more than 750 patients have been saved at two hospitals after nurses started using iPods instead of paper charts to record patients' vital signs.

Research published in the British Medical Journal found that in one year the number of deaths at Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth fell by 397 following the introduction of the new system.

At University Hospital Coventry 372 fewer patients died. The system has been trialled at the West Midlands hospital since 2007.

The special software automatically calculates if a patient is deteriorating and sends out alerts.

Staff have found the system is cutting down mistakes and saving time.

Nurse Amy-Dawn Lees uses an iPod to record a patient's blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen levels and temperature, as well as tapping in how a patient is feeling.

"The old paper charts were very, very difficult to decipher; the crosses, the arrows, written on the chart by the previous nurse. You can't actually distinguish exactly where the cross is," said Ms Lees.

"On the new electronic charts everything is colour-coded, you are able to see the previous observations in more detail, more accurately and obviously able to see whether your patient is the same, better or worse."

Handheld devices have replaced paper charts at two hospitals

Data from each iPod goes into a central computer system, which doctors, nurses and managers can access.

Patients across all wards are given a score of between 0 and 21.

"We have patients in today with high scores varying from 6, where we're starting to be concerned, to 11, which is the sickest patient we have," said Dr Duncan Watson, Clinical Director of Critical Care at University Hospital.

Doctors and nurses are also alerted to patients' needs by colour codes. Red signifies patients who need the most attention.

"It's radically changed things for us," added Dr Watson.

"It has decreased the mortality rates for the hospital, we are able to identify 10 patients a week and prevent them coming into the intensive care units, we can decrease their length of stay and the patients actually do better as they don't get as sick and we identify them quicker."

The system is expensive, according to Dr Watson - but it has the potential to save money long-term.

More importantly, across the two hospitals death rates have fallen by 15%.

Most hospital trusts still use a paper system, but University Hospital is now almost paper-free.

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Ed Miliband Forgets To Mention The Deficit

Ed Miliband is facing criticism after he forgot to mention the deficit during his 66-minute speech to the Labour Party conference.

In his last party conference speech before the General Election, the Labour leader set out his intention to put the NHS at the heart of the party's plan for the next 10 years.

However, speaking without notes, he left out entirely a passage on reducing the country's £75bn deficit.

The Labour leader told Sky News: "I cannot simply memorise a whole speech ..."

Ed Miliband's speech has been widely criticised

He said: "There was a bit I didn't deliver that was pre-prepared."

But he insisted that the whole speech was effectively about the economy.

He added: "I could have done it with autocue but I think what people want is somebody who will come and talk to them directly."

But he said he did not consider the speech had been a failure because he had delivered a message full of substance.

The Labour faithful clap Mr Miliband out

George Osborne tweeted immediately after the speech, which was overshadowed halfway through by Barack Obama's press conference on airstrikes in Syria and Iraq, to point out the omission.

A pre-prepared version of Mr Miliband's speech briefed to journalists and posted on Labour.org.uk on Tuesday afternoon contained a section on reducing Britain's deficit, however it was left out of his delivery.

He was also criticised by Conservative MP Harry Smith, who said: "Ed Miliband has let the cat out of the bag – he has no plan to deal with the deficit and no plan for the economy."

A Labour source explained it had been a slip and told Sky News: "This was a long speech and some things changed in delivery. He made clear no plans for additional borrowing."

Conservative Party chairman Grant Shapps said Mr Miliband "failed to offer any serious plan to grow the economy".

He added: "Labour simply don't have a long-term economic plan to secure a better future for Britain. Our country, our children and our grandchildren would be worse off under Ed Miliband's weak leadership."

Shadow chancellor Ed Balls had made reducing the deficit the centrepiece of his speech on Monday.

Speaking without notes, Mr Miliband outlined his six national goals:

:: To reward people for hard work - raising the national minimum wage to half the number of people on low pay

:: To tackle the cost of living crisis and make sure wages increased with economic growth, breaking up banks and taking power from Whitehall

:: Britain to create a million jobs in green industries - helping to tackle global climate change

:: Making sure as many school leavers go on to apprenticeships as go to university. Companies who employ foreign workers will be expected to offer apprenticeships too, and those who want Government contracts will need to provide apprenticeships

:: Making the dream of home-ownership a reality by building more homes and making sure 400,000 first-time buyers a year get on property ladder

:: Save the NHS - provide a "truly 21st century health service" using the proceeds of a mansion tax on homes above £2m and a tax on tobacco firms

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Alice: Not Enough Evidence For Arrest Warrant

There is not enough evidence to issue a European Arrest Warrant for Arnis Zalkalns, the prime suspect in the disappearance of Alice Gross, the Met Police has said.

If the Latvian has returned to his home country he would also be able to stay there as a free man, the force admitted.

A reconstruction of the last-known movements of the teenager will take place on Thursday - four weeks after the 14-year-old went missing.

Police divers found a knife in the River Brent

Detectives are hoping it could throw up vital clues from anyone who saw her walking alongside the Grand Union Canal in west London.

Convicted killer Zalkalns disappeared at the start of the month and UK police are in Latvia trying to track him down.

Searches have taken place in miles of canals

Police and divers are also continuing to search through the River Brent near Ealing Hospital after a knife - currently undergoing forensic testing - was found in the area earlier this week.

The search is the biggest since the 7/7 bombings in London, with 600 officers pursuing more than 700 lines of enquiry, and more than 1,000 people having been spoken to.

The whereabouts of Arnis Zalkalns are unknown

Thursday's reconstruction will see a police cadet walk the canal-side route that Alice took on August 28 in the hope witnesses could remember a small, but potentially important detail.

CCTV recorded the teenager as she made her way back to her home in the Hanwell area of west London, and also filmed Zalkalns cycling past the same spot 15 minutes later.

The labourer was seen on CCTV 15 minutes after Alice passed the same spot

Detectives believe he is likely to have seen Alice as they were both going north along the towpath.

The Latvian has not entered his homeland by plane but could have made his way there by road.

Zalkalns, who served seven years in prison for killing his wife and burying her in a forest after a dispute about her sexuality, has not been seen since September 3 and has not used his phone or bank account.

Alice was last seen on August 28

The labourer was also arrested on suspicion of indecently assaulting a 14-year-old girl in the UK in 2009, but no further action was taken.

Scotland Yard, meanwhile, has said it is reviewing the early stages of the investigation after coming under fire for being too slow to ask Latvian authorities for help.

A reward of up to £20,000 is being offered for anyone who has information that leads detectives to find Alice.

Zalkalns is white, 5ft 10ins and stocky, with dark brown hair that he normally wears tied in a ponytail.

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Miliband Sets Six Goals For Britain's Future

Ed Miliband set out six national goals for the decade as he attempted to show voters he has what it takes to be Prime Minister.

In his last Labour Party Conference speech before the General Election, Mr Miliband said the country must look to build a new future "together" because it could not afford "another five years of David Cameron".

The Labour leader put saving the NHS at the heart of his 10-year plan saying that a mansion tax on properties over £2m and taxes on the tobacco firms would be used to pay for it.

He said the country needed to change because it "does not work" and talked about breaking up the big banks, halving the number of Britons on low pay and tackling the cost of living.

Overshadowed by Barack Obama's speech on airstrikes at the White House

Mr Miliband talked about a host of people he had met (Josephine, Colin, Gareth, Elizabeth) travelling around Britain trying to get a picture of the country's problems and had a "duty" to them to deliver a better future.

In a speech which was overshadowed halfway through by Barack Obama's White House press conference on airstrikes in Syria and Iraq, he said: "You know this country does not work. My answer is we can build a better future for you and your family and this speech is about Labour's plan to do it - Labour's plan for Britain's future."

Speaking without notes Mr Miliband outlined his six national goals: 

:: To reward people for hard work - raising the national wage to half the number of people on low pay

:: To tackle the cost of living crisis and make sure wages increased with economic growth, breaking up banks and taking power from Whitehall

:: Britain to create a million jobs in green industries - helping to tackle global climate change

:: Making sure as many school leavers go on to apprenticeships as go to university - companies who employ foreign workers will be expected to offer apprenticeships too, and those who want Government contracts will need to provide apprenticeships

:: Making the home-ownership dream a reality by building more homes and making sure 400,000 first-time buyers a year getting on property ladder

:: Save the NHS - provide a "truly 21st health service" using the proceeds of a mansion tax on homes above £2m and tax on tobacco firms to pay for it.

Sky's Political Editor Faisal Islam said Mr Miliband and Labour appeared to have decided they could win an election on an agenda that the "Government can help solve your problems".

He said the speech could be summed up in three words: "core vote strategy" and Labour may have decided it could win an election on Liberal Democrat switchers and core Labour voters rather than trying to win over Conservative ones.

Mr Miliband opened his speech by urging Mr Cameron to seek a United Nations Security Council resolution to "counter the threat" of Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria.

Ed Miliband kisses his wife at the end of his speech

He said the threats they had made against the British hostage Alan Henning, who is from Manchester where the conference was being held, mean action had to be taken.

Mr Miliband told the conference: "Alan Henning is simply an aid worker trying to make life better for victims of conflict. It should tell us all we need to know about Isil and their murderous ways that they take a decent British man like Alan Henning hostage."

He said Britain should not turn its back on the world, outlining a foreign policy which would see a Labour Government committed to finding a two-state solution for the Israelis and Palestinians.

The Labour leader also stressed the country should not walk away from the European Union and thanked former Labour prime minister Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling for helping to deliver a no vote in the Scottish referendum.

In a pledge to Scotland he said: "This Labour party will show you over the coming years that you made the right choice, because we are better together.

"All political leaders, all of us in this hall have a responsibility to try to explain why 45% of people voted yes - 45% wanted to break up our country."

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Alice Gross Search: Forensic Tests On Knife

Forensic tests are being carried out on a knife found during the search for missing teenager Alice Gross.

The investigation into her disappearance is focusing on the River Brent and its banks near Ealing Hospital in west London, where the knife was found.

The search for 14-year-old Alice, who went missing after leaving her home in nearby Hanwell on August 28, is the biggest operation of its kind since the 7/7 bombings in 2005.

Arnis Zalkalns with police in Latvia. Pic: The Sun

Scotland Yard said: "The knife will be taken away for analysis but it is too early to say if it's connected."

Police have also released a new picture of prime suspect Arnis Zalkalns, taken with Latvian police after his wife was murdered in his home country.

The force has come under fire for taking four days to ask Latvian authorities for help in finding Zalkalns, who served seven years in prison for the killing of his wife, Rudite Zalkalns.

The knife was found in the River Brent, in west London

He went missing six days after Alice was last seen walking alongside the Grand Union Canal, not far from her home.

Zalkalns has not accessed his bank account or used his mobile phone since September 3, nor has he returned home to his partner and young child.

His passport was left at his house and police in Latvia have confirmed he has not entered the country by plane.

They said it is possible he could have got in undetected if he travelled by car or coach.

Zalkalns went missing days after Alice was last seen walking by a canal

Zalkalns was seen on CCTV footage cycling along a path by the Grand Union Canal 15 minutes after the last sighting of Alice.

Detectives believe he is likely to have seen Alice as they were both going north along the canal towpath.

A reward of up to £20,000 is being offered for anyone who has information that leads detectives to find Alice.

Zalkalns is white, 5ft 10ins and stocky, with dark brown hair that he normally wears tied in a pony tail.

Police have said that he "potentially poses a risk to the public" and have asked anyone who sees him not to approach him and to dial 999.

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Syria Airstrikes: PM In Talks Over UK Role

US And Arab Allies Attack IS Targets In Syria

Updated: 3:02pm UK, Tuesday 23 September 2014

The US and five Arab countries have been carrying out airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria for the first time.

Fighter jets, bombers and drones as well as 47 Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from two US ships in the northern Persian Gulf and the Red Sea were deployed in the aerial raids.

At least 70 IS fighters are said to have been killed in dozens of attacks, which also targeted al Qaeda veterans.

The strikes form part of the expanded military campaign against IS insurgents that was authorised two weeks ago by President Barack Obama. He is due to meet foreign leaders at the UN General Assembly later.

US Central Command said Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Bahrain and Qatar had either taken part in or supported the Syria raids although their exact roles were unclear.

The strikes did not involve the UK but Prime Minister David Cameron supported them and will discuss at the UN what contribution Britain can make, according to Downing Street.

Damascus said Washington informed Syria's UN envoy before launching the bombings against the Sunni insurgent group which have grabbed swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq.

The US also carried out eight aerial raids on its own west of Aleppo against al Qaeda veterans - known as the Khorasan group - who were thought to be planning an "imminent attack" against US and Western interests.

The US military said it had destroyed or damaged multiple IS targets around the militant stronghold of Raqqa as well as Deir al Zor, Hasakah and the border town of Albu Kamal.

It said targets included IS fighters, training compounds, headquarters and command and control facilities, storage facilities, a finance centre, supply trucks and armed vehicles.

Residents in Raqqa said last week that IS was moving underground after Mr Obama signalled on September 11 that air attacks on its forces could be expanded from Iraq to Syria.

The group had evacuated buildings it was using as offices, redeployed its heavy weaponry, and moved fighters' families out of the city, the residents said.

The strikes follow a summit of world leaders in Paris where agreement was reached to form a broad coalition to counter the advance of IS in Syria and to provide military aid to Iraq to fight the extremist network.

Military leaders have said about two thirds of the estimated 31,000 IS militants are in Syria.

Photographs taken in Raqqa showed wreckage of what IS fighters said was a drone that had been shot down.

Pieces of the wreckage, including what appeared to be part of a propellor, were shown loaded into the back of a van.

International efforts to combat the group have taken on an added urgency after the beheading of US journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and British aid worker David Haines, and the threat to kill UK hostage Alan Henning.

Meanwhile, a second propaganda video of another British hostage John Cantlie has been released by IS.

Speaking to the camera and seemingly under duress, he addresses the coalition of states targeting the group, though it is not clear when the video was filmed.

"Everyone now is getting involved," he said. "Denmark and France have sent air power, Britain is arming the Kurds, Iran is sending troops and contractors are being sought in Iraq.

"Even Bashar al Assad, until earlier this year the most hated and villainised tyrant in the Arab world, is being approached for permission to go into Syria.

"It's all quite a circus. Not since Vietnam have we witnessed such a potential mess in the making."

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Hillsborough: Fan Tells Of Friend's Ordeal

By Mike McCarthy, North of England Correspondent

A Liverpool football supporter has described the moment he tried to save his friend from being crushed during the Hillsborough disaster.

David Cruice told the Hillsborough inquests that his friend became trapped against a crush barrier as the tragedy unfolded in Pen 3 at the stadium's Leppings Lane end during the 1989 FA Cup semi-final.

Speaking via a videolink from Miami, Mr Cruice said his friend - named only as Andrew - became bent forward "at 90 degrees" over a crush barrier.

He said: "He looked round at me and his face was very, very red. His eyes were sort of very wide and there was significant distress and panic on his face."

The witness described how he tried in vain to pull his friend away from the barrier. He said he feared that, if he could not free him, his friend would die.

The police have been accused of not reacting fast enough

He said: "I was screaming or shouting for the people behind Andrew to help me get him off the barrier. I will always remember the sight. 

"Given how much pressure there was and what Andrew was going through, all the people around him were experiencing the same thing - just an unbelievable pressure - it seemed all these hands came over him from behind him and started pulling him back from the barrier as best they could.

"Even given the distress that people were in themselves, they were still doing everything they could to help others."

Mr Cruice said that, in the panic, he was unable to hold on to his friend's hand and suffered crushing injuries himself. He told the inquests jury the police seemed to be under the impression that people could simply move backwards to ease the pressure on fans at the front of the pen.

He said: "People were screaming at them to open the gates. They were shouting: 'People are dying in here!'"

The Liverpool fan said he returned to the point where he had last seen Andrew once the pressure started to ease and found him supporting himself against the crush barrier.

Mr Cruice told the Warrington hearing that the policing of the match in was disorganised compared with the previous year's FA cup semi-final at Hillsborough.

The hearing has heard that 96 Liverpool fans died at the match against Nottingham Forest following crushing in the central pens at Sheffield Wednesday's ground.

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Dave Lee Travis Found Guilty Of Indecent Assault

Former Radio 1 presenter Dave Lee Travis has been found guilty of one count of indecent assault.

The ex-Top Of The Pops presenter was cleared of another count of indecent assault, and the jury was undecided on a count of sexual assault.

The 69-year-old DJ stared straight ahead with a stony expression as the verdicts were read out at London's Southwark Crown Court.

Judge Anthony Leonard QC warned him he was looking at "all options" for sentencing.

Travis was convicted of groping a woman working on the Mrs Merton Show

Travis, from Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, was convicted of groping a woman working on the Mrs Merton Show on January 17, 1995.

Prosecutors claimed he approached her as she stood smoking in the corridor and put his hands on her chest for at least 10-15 seconds until she ran away.

She spoke to police about the allegation following Travis' first indecent assault trial earlier this year.

Prosecutor Teresa Hay said the Crown would not be seeking a retrial on the count of sexual assault which the jury was hung on, and a formal verdict of not guilty was entered.

The jury forewoman said they had found Travis guilty of indecent assault by a majority of 10-2.

They returned their verdicts after 19 hours and 15 minutes of deliberations.

During the trial, prosecutors claimed Travis was an "opportunist" who acted as if he had the "perfect right" to grope young women.

Travis, who appeared in court under his real name David Griffin, faced a retrial after jurors failed to reach verdicts on two of the charges in February.

He was first arrested in 2012 under Operation Yewtree, Scotland Yard's investigation into historical sexual abuse in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal.

The allegations against him dated back to the 1990s when he was starring in panto, while the most recent was said to have happened during an interview with a journalist at his home in 2008.

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Human Leg Found: Body May Be Missing Man's

A body found by officers searching the area where a human leg was found behind a Conservative Club in Greater Manchester could be that of a missing 31-year-old.

The body was discovered on land behind Healey Conservative Club in Whitworth, near Rochdale, shortly before 2.45pm on Sunday.

Officers said that although a formal identification had not yet taken place, police believe there is a "strong possibility" that the body is that of Heath Nield.

The find was made near Healey Conservative Club

Mr Nield went missing from his home in Rochdale Road, Bacup, in July.

Lancashire Police say it appears to have been there for some time and is badly decomposed.

There is no indication of the sex or age of the body.

Formal identification of the body is yet to take place

A police statement said: "Mr Nield's family have been made aware of the latest development."

Further forensic tests will take place to confirm the identity of the body.

The Conservative Club declined to comment.

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Alice Gross: Canal Searched In Hunt For Teen

Police have asked officials in Latvia for the case file of Arnis Zalkalns, the prime suspect in the disappearance of teenager Alice Gross, as they search a canal close to where she was last seen.

The hunt for the 14-year-old, who went missing in west London on August 28, is the biggest search operation since the 7/7 bombings in 2005.

Search teams are wading through Hanwell canal, using a dinghy and a search dog, and carefully combing surrounding land.

Zalkalns, a Latvian national, has been named as the main suspect by police after he, too, went missing from his home, in Ealing on September 3.

Zalkalns was spotted on CCTV cycling along a path by the Grand Union Canal

Sky's Crime Correspondent Martin Brunt says police have denied they linked the builder with the case only after a reporter made the connection.

He said: "The Yard are also saying that it has known about this suspect, had an interest in him, Mr Zalkalns, for perhaps a couple of weeks and they have had some formal discussions with the Latvian authorities."

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "We are maintaining a close and productive relationship with the Latvian authorities in relation to this investigation. We are not going to elaborate on the nature of information sharing with Latvian authorities."

It has emerged that the 41-year-old was jailed in his native country in the late 1990s for murdering his wife and burying her in a forest after a dispute about her sexuality.

Police in the garden of builder Arnis Zalkalns

He was also arrested in London five years ago on suspicion of indecent assault on a 14-year-old girl, but was never charged.

Zalkalns' ex-girlfriend has told The Daily Telegraph he was accused of drugging and molesting the girl.

Search teams, including dogs and divers, have been deployed across west London looking for Alice, who is from Hanwell.

Some 630 officers from eight police forces have been involved.

Police load a bike into a van during the search for Alice

They have searched 25 square kilometres (9.6 square miles) of open land and 5.5km of canals and rivers.

Scotland Yard insist they have no evidence to suggest that Alice, who suffers from anorexia, has come to harm.

On Friday, police recovered a bicycle belonging to Zalkalns after searching one of his former homes in Hanwell.

Zalkalns has not accessed his bank account or used his mobile phone since September 3, nor has he returned home to his partner and young child.

Police say they have no evidence to suggest Alice has come to harm

His passport was left at his house and police in Latvia have confirmed he has not entered the country by plane.

They have however acknowledged it is possible he could have got in undetected if he travelled by car or coach.

Zalkalns was seen on CCTV footage cycling along a path by the Grand Union Canal 15 minutes after the last sighting of Alice.

Detectives believe he is likely to have seen Alice as they were both going north along the canal towpath.

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Major Incident Declared After School Bus Crash

A major incident has been declared after a school bus and a car were involved in a crash in Drumquin, Co Tyrone.

More than 50 people, mostly children, have been injured after the collision on Omagh Road, but Sky News understands none of them are seriously injured.

The bus and the car ended up on their sides in a field.

Northern Ireland Ambulance Service spokesman John McPoland said: "Fifty-two people were treated at the scene but none of their injuries were serious. The vast majority were checked as a precaution because of their age.

The bus was travelling to a secondary school. Pic: Ulster Herald

"Six people have slightly more than minor injuries. This would include children who banged their heads off the bus windows but no one went through any windows."

A total of 48 people have been taken to the South West Acute Hospital and Altnagelvin Hospital.

Omagh Road has been closed between Segully Road and Drumrawan Road.

The bus was travelling from Castlederg to a secondary school in Omagh.

The majority of those injured were children. Pic: Ulster Herald

The crash happened in Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness' Stormont constituency.

He has tweeted: "Relieved to hear there are no serious injuries to pupils & adults in this morning's bus & car accident on Drumquin-Omagh Rd #bestwishestoall."

Sinn Fein councillor Frankie Donnelly, who represents West Tyrone, said the crash "had the potential to be a major disaster".

He said: "This is obviously a traumatic incident for everyone involved, including the parents, so I would like to thank the emergency services for their swift response to the accident that ensured everyone was treated quickly and professionally."

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Balls: 'We Have Learnt From Our Mistakes'

Ed Balls insisted Labour had learned from its mistakes as he set out plans that would see politicians' pay cut, a bank levy to pay for free childcare and a child-benefit freeze.

In an attempt to show the party could be trusted with the economy, the shadow chancellor said he would not "duck" the tough decisions and hinted at fresh welfare cuts.

He said he believed in tax cuts for the "millions not the millionaires", pushing forward a 50p income tax rate for those earning more than £150,000.

And he said any extra money would be pumped into the NHS, which Labour would have to save from the Tories again when it returned to power after the 2015 election.

Mr Balls says a cap in child benefit rises will save £400m

In a speech to the Labour Party Conference in Manchester, Mr Balls hit out at the "unfair, out-of-touch and failing Tory Government", pledging to raise the minimum wage and scrap the so-called bedroom tax.

However, he earned groans from delegates when he said the benefits cap would remain as he laid out precisely how a Labour government would "balance the books".

New free schools would be blocked in areas where there was an excess of pupil places, police and crime commissioners would be scrapped and the controversial "shares for rights" scheme, which allows workers to give up some rights such as unfair dismissal in return for shares, ditched.

He also took the opportunity to thank Alistair Darling, Jim Murphy and a host of other Labour names for their efforts on the Scottish Referendum campaign trail - but, crucially, failed to namecheck Gordon Brown.

Mr Brown gave what commentators called the "speech of his political life" in the dying days of the campaign, which has been credited with providing a significant boost to the Better Together campaign.

The shadow chancellor presented a 1% cap on rises for the first two years of a Labour government, which would raise £400m, as one of the "tough decisions" needed to deal with the deficit if the party takes power next year.

But he attempted to show that politicians were expected to shoulder their share of the £75bn deficit burden by announcing a 5% cut in ministerial salaries - taking £7,125 off the Prime Minister's annual wage and £6,728 from Cabinet ministers.

A 5% cut in ministerial salaries is also on the cards

Mr Balls insisted: "We are tough enough to make the difficult decisions. We won't spend money we can't afford."

He apologised for the party's past mistakes, including over immigration. He indicated they would put it right with tougher rules on immigrants claiming benefits and on bank regulation.

However, he said: "It's the oldest truth in the book - you can never, ever trust the Tories with the NHS.

"We don't just need to learn from our mistakes, we also need to put right mistakes this Government is making."

He pledged Labour would not "walk away from Europe" and said the party had learned from its past and mistakes.

Sky's Deputy Political Editor Joey Jones said Mr Balls was "wheeling out a whole sheaf of policies that have been announced over past months/years."

The speech earned Mr Balls a pat on the back from Ed Miliband. During the speech, Mr Balls praised him as a fine leader and "the next prime minister of the UK".

The leader of the Unite union, Len McCluskey, said freezing child benefit was not the "cleverest tactic" as he disclosed the union had yet to decide what it would contribute to the party's election war chest.

He told BBC Radio 4: "We want our party to go into the election not with one arm tied behind its back because the Tories' coffers are spilling over with money from the super rich and the corporate elite.

"We want it to be an even fight but we haven't spoken about the specific numbers."

The party also has plans to raise the minimum wage to £8 an hour, and introduce a jobs guarantee for young people and the long-term unemployed funded by a tax on bank bonuses and limiting pensions tax relief for the highest earners.

Treasury Exchequer Secretary Priti Patel poured scorn on Mr Balls' plan for the economy, claiming Labour would put the deficit up, not down.

The Children's Society said Labour's plans to freeze child benefit would leave the average family more than £400 a year worse off by 2017 and urged the shadow chancellor to reconsider.

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Judge Allows Majority Verdict In DLT Trial

Jurors in the trial of former Radio 1 presenter Dave Lee Travis have been told that a majority verdict of 10-2 will be accepted.

The ex-Top of the Pops host faces two counts of indecently assaulting a woman, and one of sexual assault - all of which he denies.

But despite three days of deliberations at Southwark Crown Court, the jury have been unable to reach a unanimous decision.

Anthony Leonard QC gave the panel of six men and six women permission to return a majority verdict, where at least ten of them agree.

However, he urged: "Try and reach a verdict on which you all agree."

Travis was found not guilty of 12 indecent assault charges in February

The 69-year-old DJ, appearing in court under his real name, David Griffin, is being retried on two of the counts after a jury was unable to reach a verdict during an earlier trial in February.

Meanwhile, the third count of indecent assault relates to a new accusation from another complainant, which allegedly took place on 17 January, 1995.

As the judge summed up the evidence, he urged the panel to disregard accusations made about other celebrities in light of the Jimmy Savile affair.

Mr Leonard also warned the group to "not allow themselves to become overawed or deflated by the interest this case has attracted".

He stressed: "The fact that the defendant is a well-known media personality does not change the rules of this case."

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22 Dogs Killed In Mystery Kennel Blaze

An investigation is under way after 22 dogs died in their cages in a fire in east Yorkshire.

Firefighters said the blaze "totally destroyed" a wooden kennel at a dog breeder's home in Graingers Road, Hornsea.

The owners, who are thought to breed Staffordshire bull terriers, returned to their home on Saturday night to find it alight with the dogs inside.

One family member had to be restrained by firefighters as he tried to save the animals, The Times reported.

The cause of the fire is not yet known, said a spokeswoman for Humberside Fire and Rescue Service.

One neighbour told the Hull Daily Mail: "It is terrible. I could see smoke and flames from my house and saw four fire engines rushing to the scene."

Another resident said: "There has been a lot of people walking down the road and looking at the damage caused by the fire.

"It is a wooden home so when it caught fire it burned down in minutes."

It comes a week after 53 dogs died in a fire at Manchester Dogs Home.

People donated more than £1.2m to the home after the suspected arson attack.

A 15-year-old boy arrested on suspicion of starting the blaze has been released on bail.

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Miliband Sets Out Plan For £8 Minimum Wage

Labour leader Ed Miliband has pledged to raise the national minimum wage to at least £8 an hour if he becomes Prime Minister.

The minimum wage is due to rise from £6.31 an hour to £6.50 on October 1, but Mr Miliband plans to add £1.50 an hour on to that by 2020.

His increase would add around £60 a week, or £3,000 a year, to the pay packets of workers currently on the minimum wage.

And he said the rise would save the taxpayer "hundreds of millions of pounds" in welfare payments.

One in five UK workers - more than five million people - are categorised as being on low pay, defined as wages of less than £7.71 an hour.

Speaking to the Sunday Mirror, Mr Miliband said: "Too many working people have made big sacrifices but in this recovery they're not seeing the rewards for their hard work because, under the Tories' failing plan, the recovery is benefiting a privileged few far more than most families.

"One in five of the men and women employed in Britain today do the hours, make their contribution, but find themselves on low pay.

"But if you work hard, you should be able to bring up your family with dignity."

A Burger King worker was the inspiration for Labour's latest policy

Mr Miliband added: "This week Labour's Plan for Britain's Future will show how we can change and how we can become a country that rewards hard work once again. Because Labour is the party of hard work, fairly paid."

The announcement came on the eve of Labour's annual conference in Manchester - the last before next year's general election.

Mr Miliband said he was inspired to bring in the hike after meeting a woman who worked in Burger King.

He said: "She had worked there for six years and I think she was number two there, but was paid just above the minimum wage.

"She said, 'It's incredibly hard for me. I live three miles away. I can't afford a car and there aren't many buses. I often have to take a taxi. That's where my wages go.'"

Mr Miliband added: "It's just so ­grindingly hard, and it's time we stood up for people doing these hours."

The planned increase, which would affect around 1.4 million jobs, would be introduced in annual stages by the Low Pay Commission before October 2019.

The promised rate is said to be similar to that in force in Australia and EU countries such as Belgium and Germany, but still lower than in France and New Zealand.

Mr Miliband told the BBC's Andrew Marr show: "I can assure you, it doesn't cost money, it saves money. It saves hundreds of millions of pounds in getting the welfare bill down."

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Briton's Body Found After Mexico Hurricane

The body of a British woman who went missing while travelling on a yacht off the coast of Mexico has been found.

The Foreign Office confirmed one Briton had died after a search operation was launched earlier this week for couple Paul Whitehouse and Simone Wood in the aftermath of Hurricane Odile.

The pair, from London and Wolverhampton, were reported missing on Friday after their yacht overturned in the Gulf of California, also known as the Sea of Cortez.

Mr Whitehouse is still missing. Pic: Facebook

The couple are thought to have been living in La Paz, Mexico, for a year.

Mr Whitehouse, who is believed to be a scuba instructor, is reportedly still missing.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "We can confirm the death of a British national, reported missing along with another British national earlier this week off the coast of Mexico.

The hurricane affected power and water supplies

"The Embassy is working with the local authorities and consular staff are providing assistance to both families at this very difficult time."

Hurricane Odile left a trail of destruction when it hit the Baja California Peninsula last Sunday.

Three other people have been confirmed dead following the storm - two Korean citizens and a German man who reportedly died from a heart attack.

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Salmond: 'No' Voters 'Tricked' By Westminster

Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond has said No voters in the referendum were "tricked" by a late promise of more devolved powers for Scotland - and the "writing is on the wall for Westminster".

People who voted against independence are "angry and hurt" that the three main party leaders' promises for extra powers for Scotland are now being "reneged on", he said.

He told Sky's Murnaghan programme that within 24 hours of Friday's No victory there was already disagreement between Prime Minister David Cameron and Labour leader Ed Miliband on the timetable for devolution.

The "logjam" was caused by Mr Cameron saying it should go in tandem with constitutional reform in England, including barring Scottish MPs from voting on solely English matters, while Mr Miliband disagreed, Mr Salmond said.

He questioned why they had not already thought of that when they signed former prime minister Gordon Brown's timetable for the transfer of more powers to Scotland.

There were clashes in Glasgow on Friday night between Yes and No voters

Mr Salmond, who announced he was standing down as Scottish First Minister after voters rejected independence by 55% to 45%, said if the "Westminster gang" think Scots will accept the delay "they've got another thing coming".

The majority of voters under 55 backed independence, while most people over 55 voted against it, so the "destination is pretty certain" for Scotland, he said.

He said it was these No voters who are feeling most angry by Westminster's broken promises and fear they may have "impeded progress for the next generation".

The so-called West Lothian question about the voting rights of Scottish and English MPs has been met with wariness from Labour, which has most of Scotland's 59 seats.

"David Cameron doesn't think he can carry his own backbenchers, never mind the threat from UKIP, unless he links Scottish progress to changes in England," Mr Salmond said.

"Ed Miliband doesn't want to do that because Labour would lose their majority over English business in the House of Commons. That is the logjam the Westminster leaders got themselves into.

Voters in Scotland voted against independence by 55% to 45%

"There is a big issue there, but shouldn't they have thought of that before they made a solemn vow and pledge to the Scottish people."

Speaking on Murnaghan, Labour Deputy Leader Harriet Harman accused Mr Cameron of "slipping and sliding" on his promises for extra powers for Scotland.

Asked about the issue of ensuring English votes for English laws, she said the matter "must be sorted out" but "it's got to be done properly".

A Downing Street spokesman earlier said: "The three pro-Union parties have made commitments on further powers for the Scottish Parliament and we have set out a clear timetable to do this.

"Lord Smith of Kelvin has agreed to oversee the process to take forward the devolution commitments with powers over tax, spending and welfare all agreed by November and draft legislation published by January.

"This Government has delivered on devolution and we will do so again in the next Parliament."

Earlier, politicians from opposing sides of the referendum campaign went to a special church service at St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh aimed at healing their divisions.

On Monday, Mr Cameron will host a summit at Chequers to discuss his plans for "English votes for English laws" with senior Tories, including some of the loudest critics of his decision to back Mr Brown's power transfer timetable.

The meeting is being widely seen as a bid to head off potential backbench rebellion on constitutional reform.

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Thai Murders: 'Beautiful Hannah' Brought Home

The family of a British backpacker murdered in Thailand say they have brought their "beautiful Hannah" back to the UK.

It is nearly a week since the bodies of Hannah Witheridge, 23, and fellow Brit David Miller, 24, were found on a beach in Koh Tao, also known as Turtle Island.

In their first statement since the deaths, Ms Witheridge's family said they travelled to Bangkok on Tuesday.

"The main purpose of our trip was to bring our beloved Hannah home and to obtain information on the investigation," they said.

"We can confirm that we have now returned to the UK with our beautiful Hannah.

The Britons were murdered on Koh Tao

"As a family we feel enormous relief to have Hannah back at home where she belongs.

"We continue to work closely with officers to assist in the investigation and bring those responsible to justice.

"Our family is broken and require time to grieve in private - as do Hannah's many friends."

Ms Witheridge, from Great Yarmouth, suffered severe head wounds and Mr Miller, from Jersey, died from blows to the head and drowning, post-mortem examinations showed.

A garden hoe with Ms Witheridge's blood on it was discovered nearby, and investigators are searching for a blunt metal object used on Mr Miller.

Ms Witheridge was caught on CCTV in the hours before her death

Earlier, police hunting the killer told Sky News "sexual jealousy" may be the motive for the killings.

Sky's Jonathan Samuels, who is on the island, said officers have asked police in the UK to speak to British friends of the travellers to find out about their interactions in the days leading up to the murders.

He said: "They are also investigating rumours that they may have had a row with a Thai man in a bar."

Police Colonel Kissana Phathanacharoen said: "We have asked the Met Police to go back and ask their friends if they can help with any further information."

He added: "We still believe sexual jealously is at the heart of this crime.

Police are also examining CCTV footage of David Miller

"We are aware of reports they may have been involved in a row in a bar with a Thai man and we are currently investigating."

Police previously said DNA taken from the body of Ms Witheridge matches that of two Asian men.

Officers also said they do not know if the killer is still on Koh Tao, where she and Mr Miller were found murdered.

Sky News has obtained exclusive CCTV video of Ms Witheridge in the hours before she was killed, walking between bars with a group of friends.

Samuels said there had been criticism of the police investigation, with "the finger pointed at different people every day".

A message of support to the friends and families of the two victims

But the chief police officer has given assurances they are taking the investigation seriously.

A cash reward worth about £4,000 is being offered for information.

Two British brothers who were questioned by police were told they were free to return home to Jersey.

Christopher and James Ware, childhood friends of Mr Miller, were spoken to by officers but were never detained or named as suspects.

A group of Burmese migrants who were interviewed by police after bloodstains were found on their clothes have also been eliminated from police inquiries.

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