Frankie Boyle On Hunger Strike For Prisoner

Comedian Frankie Boyle has started a week-long hunger strike to show his support for the last British detainee at Guantanamo Bay.

The 40-year-old Scot is one of several people taking part in a campaign to highlight the plight of Shaker Aamer, who has been held at the detention centre since 2002.

Writing on Twitter, he said the first few hours of his protest had not been "too bad" before joking: "Let's remember who's really suffering - my local pizza shop."

Later, he added: "Day two of hunger strike feels a bit like being drunk. Feel pretty good, but no doubt I'll wake up to find myself in bathroom eating soap."

Boyle takes over from Clive Stafford Smith, the founder of Reprieve, a charity which campaigns for the release of Guantanamo prisoners.

Writing for The Huffington Post, the lawyer, who also went without food for a week, said Aamer was "really taken aback, really grateful" for Boyle's support.

Aamer, who grew up in Saudi Arabia but is a permanent UK resident and married to a British national, was arrested in Afghanistan in 2001.

The 46-year-old has never been charged with a crime and has been abused and subjected to extended isolation while at Guantanamo Bay, according to Reprieve.

More than 110,000 people signed an online petition demanding his urgent return to the UK.

Aamer has been on hunger strike since March, along with an estimated three-quarters of the 166 men still held at the Cuban base.

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Royal Baby: The 'Great Kate Wait' Continues

The Duchess of Cambridge is thought to have returned to London from her family home fuelling speculation the arrival of the royal baby may be imminent.

The Duchess has been dividing her time between her official London residence at Kensington Palace and her parents' home in Bucklebury, Berkshire.

But Sky's Royal Correspondent Paul Harrison says it is widely believed that the Duchess and Duke of Cambridge have travelled back to London.

The Duke is with his wife because he is on annual leave from his job as a search and rescue helicopter pilot. His two-week paternity leave will begin when the baby is born.

However, it is unclear whether the couple have gone straight to the private Lindo wing of St Mary's Hospital in Paddington where Kate is due to give birth, or back to Kensington Palace to sit out the wait.

Kensington Palace confirmed the Duchess of Cambridge is due to give birth this month, but has never specified an exact due date.

The royal couple have kept their baby's due date under wraps

Only 4% of women give birth on their due date. Most women go into labour one week either side of 40 weeks and statistically women pregnant with girls have shorter pregnancies than those having boys.

Louise Silverton, of the Royal College of Midwives, told Sky News: "One would presume the Duchess of Cambridge would have had a scan early on in her pregnancy and that's a very accurate way of determining the size of the baby at that stage.

"So I suspect they know pretty much when the baby is due  -  theoretically."

Since the start of the month, the world's media have been camped outside St Mary's Hospital waiting for the Duchess to arrive.

Harrison said: "Since disappearing off the scene in mid-June the Duchess of Cambridge has maintained kept a very low profile, keeping her due date a closely-guarded secret.

"In the 'Great Kate Wait' due date debate perhaps the biggest clue lies in where the Duchess is at any one time and the thought is she is back in London."

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Female Genital Mutilation: Campaigners' Rally

By Lisa Holland, Foreign Affairs Correspondent

Campaigners against the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) will rally in Trafalgar Square later to highlight the issue of girls being taken abroad to be 'cut' during the summer holidays.

It is estimated that more than 20,000 girls as young as four are at risk of mutilation in Britain. But there is a lack of accurate recent figures.

As many as 66,000 women and girls are thought to be living with the consequences of being ritually cut in England and Wales.

That is a staggering amount considering the latest crime figures suggest only four FGM crimes were detected in the UK last year.

There has never been a prosecution even though FMG is illegal in Britain.

The issue is a taboo subject and has prompted the NSPCC to recently open a new helpline to encourage concerned children to contact them.

The problem appears to be predominantly with children being taken abroad to a parent's cultural homeland for FGM to be carried out.

We went to meet Sarian Kamara. She has four daughters and a son - but it has been a difficult journey to motherhood.

She now lives in London. But as a child in Sierra Leone at the age of 11 she was subjected to female genital mutilation - a cultural practice in which some or all of a girl's external genitals are cut away.

The NSPCC has launched a FGM helpline

She recalls how her family celebrated in her village as the practice was considered normal to mark a girl's transition from childhood to womanhood. But the grim reality was quite different. It is a way of controlling a woman's sexual desires and relationships by men.

She said: "I was lying flat on the floor. This huge woman was sitting on my chest - very big. I was so skinny. My legs were spread apart and I felt a sharp cut - I cannot even explain.

"I am still trying to find the words that would fit the kind of punishment I went through on that day as a child. Nobody should expose their children to this kind of thing.

"It is wrong - it is child abuse. As a parent we should protect our children from harm. You should not subject your child to this kind of harm."

But the desire to protect young girls is complex. 

Efua Dorkenoo is a campaigner with Equality Now with over 30 years' experience in the field. It is a very difficult crime to detect.

She said: "Screening is a very controversial issue for the UK. It's done in France and I think it's been the quick way to detect whether it's happened but in the UK politically it doesn't seem to fly and therefore we should be focusing on soft monitoring in terms of education."

That education involves trying to get the message across, particularly during the school summer holidays. 

Jane Ellison, the Conservative chairwoman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Female Genital Mutilation, said: "There's still very widespread ignorance about the fact that the law covers you when you go abroad.

"So actually one of the things we most want to do, particularly at this time of the year, is simply get across to people what the law is - that you can go to jail for 14 years if you are found to commit this on a girl."

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Woolwich Suspect 'Attack': Prison Staff Suspended

Five prison officers have been suspended following allegations that Woolwich murder suspect Michael Adebolajo was assaulted at one of Britain's top-security jails.

Adebolajo, 28, who is accused of killing soldier Lee Rigby, reportedly lost two teeth as he was being restrained at Belmarsh prison in southeast London on Wednesday.

The Prison Service has refused to comment on the detail of what happened, but the Met Police confirmed it was investigating an allegation of assault.

During an investigation of this kind, the suspension of staff is standard practice, the Ministry of Justice said.

Adebolajo is in Belmarsh Prison awaiting trial for the murder of Lee Rigby

The Prison Officers Association (POA) has denied any wrongdoing by the officers and said its members would challenge the allegations made by the prisoner.

"We are aware of an incident that took place on Wednesday July 17, which involved a prisoner being subjected to restraint using approved techniques called Control and Restraint," it said in a statement.

"Our members strenuously deny any wrongdoing and the POA will be supporting them legally and emotionally during this difficult time.

"The use of restraint is only used where necessary when dealing with incidents up and down the country."

It said it will fully co-operate with any police investigation, and expects the officers to be "fully exonerated".

The prison officers' trade union also accused the Ministry of Justice of not doing enough to avoid what they described as "sensationalist reporting" of the alleged assault.

Adebolajo is accused together with Michael Adebowale, 22, of hacking Drummer Rigby to death near Woolwich Barracks in southeast London on May 22.

The pair are due to stand trial at the Old Bailey on November 18.

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Heatwave Causing Rise In Child Sunburn Cases

Hospitals across the UK say they have seen a rise in the number of severe sunburn cases among children, as Britain continues to bask in its longest heatwave for seven years.

Of the 14 hospitals with specialist burns units contacted by Sky News, almost two-thirds said they had seen a rise in the number of admissions.

A four-week-old baby was among 10 children admitted to the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead, West Sussex.

With the hot spell expected to continue well into next week, doctors have warned that prolonged unprotected exposure to the sun could have fatal consequences.

London's Marble Arch fountains provided a respite from the hot weather

Dr David Lloyd said: "We know that children who burn their skin when they are under the age of 12 are much more likely to end up with skin cancer later on in their lives."

Matthew Breydin, 11, was admitted to Birmingham Children's Hospital last Saturday after suffering from severe sunburn during a family trip to Weston-super-Mare.

His mother Caroline said his back started to blister a few days after the outing although he applied sun cream regularly throughout the day.

"You have to make sure they are not in the sun for very long and keep them well covered all the time because the slightest bit of sun to the skin causes so much damage and there's so much pain as well," she said.

Dr Naiem Moiemen, a burns and plastics consultant surgeon at Birmingham Children's Hospital, said: "In the last week or two we've had a surge of small burns but substantial burns in children and sometimes we've see it in very, very small kids and that's really a high concern.

He said it has been unusual for sunburn cases to get this bad.

"We may have been caught by surprise and not taken the normal and sensible precautions," he said.

"We have to go out and enjoy the sun but also we have to use high sun factor cream on all areas, don't miss any part of the body that will be exposed. Hats are very important and white shirts and T-shirts that prevent sunbeams going to the skin."

A firefighter tackles a wildfire in southeast England

The heatwave is believed to have caused up to 760 premature deaths across the country.

Elderly residents are among the most vulnerable, with the British Red Cross opening two call centres in eastern England to ensure patients recently discharged from hospital are coping with the heat.

The Met Office has issued a level three health watch for the South West, the West Midlands and the North West, requiring social and healthcare services to implement specific measures to protect high-risk groups.

This has now been downgraded to level two for most of England, including Western areas, alerting social and healthcare services to be prepared.

Graham Bickler, of the Health Protection Agency, said: "There is considerable evidence that heatwaves are dangerous and can kill.

"In the 2003 heatwave there were 2,000 to 3,000 excess deaths in England. Across Europe, there were round 30,000 excess deaths."

The NHS urged people to consider staying out of the sun between 11am and 3pm, to take cool baths or showers and to drink cold drinks rather than tea, coffee or alcohol.

"Most of the information is common sense," Mr Bickler said. "It's not rocket science but it can have a dramatic effect."

Meanwhile, fire crews in London say they are dealing with twice as many grass fires this summer compared to last year.

More than 120 firefighters were called to one blaze on Wanstead Flats, near Stratford.

Elsewhere, wildfires tore through the south Wales valleys while flames devastated swathes of Tentsmuir Forest in Fife, Scotland.

Sky News weather presenter Sarah Pennock said temperatures "will be a touch cooler today for many, particularly across eastern England", although western Scotland will be hotter.

Forecasters say the mercury could climb to around 33C next week, with 35C possible in some places.

However, temperatures - which reached a 2013 high of 32.2C in London on Wednesday - are unlikely to top the high of 36.5C recorded in Surrey in July 2006.

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2012 Olympics Have Given UK A £10bn Boost

By Paul Kelso, Sports Correspondent

The UK economy has received a massive trade and investment boost from the London Olympic and Paralympic Games, according to a new report.

It says additional export sales have brought in £5.9bn, while £1.5bn has come from firms winning new contracts and £2.5bn from new foreign investment.

The latter includes the redevelopment of London's Battersea Power Station by a Malaysian consortium and projects involving the Chinese technology company Huawei.

Prime Minister David Cameron said: "This £9.9bn boost to the UK economy is a reminder to the world that, if you want the best, if you want professionalism, if you want jobs done on time and on budget then you should think British.

"With companies across the country we are harnessing the Olympic momentum and delivering the lasting business legacy of the Games that will help make Britain a winner in the global race.

"But that's not where the good news ends. The Games are also delivering a strong social legacy.

The success of UK athletes has not had a dramatic effect on participation

"Last summer, Games Makers changed the way Britain views volunteering. Since then, thousands of people have been inspired to get involved with their local sports clubs."

Business Secretary Vince Cable has rejected claims the £9.9bn figure is exaggerated.

"It has been independently audited and not been plucked out of the air," he told Sky News.

He also rejected suggestions a lot of the investment would have happened anyway, saying: "The people who've done the analysis have adopted a method of working that tries to screen that out."

Research carried out for the Government suggests that over the long term the total benefit could reach up to £41bn by 2020.

With four golds, David Weir was one of Britain's star performers

But a poll conducted exclusively for Sky News suggests a lasting legacy for sport and volunteering is proving harder to achieve.

The poll found that while more than half of respondents believe the Games delivered on their promise to "inspire a generation", the vast majority were unmoved to take up a new sport or commit to volunteering.

Asked if London 2012 had inspired them to take up a new sport or recreation activity, 88% said it had not.

Among existing participants there was also very little impact, with 80% of those asked saying the Olympics had not prompted them to do more sport.

Among volunteers there was a similar picture, with 89% of respondents saying they had not increased the amount of time they gave as a result of the Olympic example.

The Aquatics Centre may encourage the public when it opens next year

Just 6% said they had done more and 3% said they had done less.

While the results challenge the notion that the Olympics could transform behaviour, they do offer some comfort to organisers of what was otherwise a hugely successful Olympics.

Among 16 to 18-year-olds, responses were more positive, with 20% saying they had tried a new sport, 31% saying they had done more sport and 21% saying they had spent more time volunteering.

The poll also revealed mixed attitudes to the Games one year on.

Lord Coe says he believes more young people are now playing sport

Asked if the Olympics were value for the near £9bn spent on staging them, 41% of people said they were good or very good value for money, while 30% felt they were not worth the investment.

As to whether Britain should stage the Games again the poll revealed a split, with 40% in favour and the same percentage opposed to repeating the 2012 experiment.

Despite these findings, key figures in the Olympic project insist that the Games are delivering on the legacy promises.

Lord Sebastian Coe, chairman of the organising committee and now the Prime Minister's legacy ambassador, told Sky News: "I think in large part we have inspired.

"Look at waiting lists in sports clubs, they are both optimistic and challenging, but I think there are more people playing sport, and a good chunk of them are young people."

Lord Coe said his experience was that the appetite was particularly keen in schools.

"I've spent a lot of time in the last year, particularly with my legacy work in schools, in primary schools, secondary schools and even in colleges.

"And there's no doubt at all that PE teachers - and certainly teachers - that did not get sport up until the Games recognise that there is a very powerful momentum and that young people want more sport and so do their parents."

Sports minister Hugh Robertson said participation was growing, citing Sport England figures that show 1.4 million more people doing sport at least once a week than before London successfully bid for the Games.

"The legacy is undoubtedly genuine," he said. "More people are playing sport now than when we started on the Olympic journey, but this was never ever going to be one smooth uphill journey."

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Fracking Water Warning As Tax Break Announced

UK water companies have warned shale gas 'fracking' should not be allowed to compromise public health as the Chancellor unveiled plans for a "generous" tax relief regime for the industry.

Water UK policy and business adviser Dr Jim Marshall said public health should not be put at risk by attempts to cash in on the controversial energy resource.

"Provision of drinking water is a cornerstone of our public health and as such a service that cannot be compromised," he said.

"There are arguments for and against fracking and the water industry is not taking sides. If it goes ahead, we want to ensure corners are not cut and standards compromised, leaving us all counting the cost for years to come.

"We want greater clarity from the shale gas industry on what its needs related to water are really going to be and a true assessment of the impacts."

George Osborne's planned new shale gas allowance will more than halve the tax due on a proportion - which will be determined following consultation - of income from production in order to encourage exploration of the unconventional energy resource in the UK.

Supporters say fracking will reduce the UK's reliance on energy imports

The backing from the Treasury comes after a recent report from the British Geological Survey revealed there was twice as much shale gas in the north of England as previously thought. Other areas of the country could also be exploited for the gas.

Ministers believe the experience of the US, which has seen a shale gas boom, shows it could boost tax revenues, create jobs, reduce energy imports - which have reached record highs in the UK - and bring down household fuel bills.

George Osborne said: "Shale gas is a resource with huge potential to broaden the UK's energy mix. We want to create the right conditions for industry to explore and unlock that potential in a way that allows communities to share in the benefits.

"This new tax regime, which I want to make the most generous for shale in the world, will contribute to that. I want Britain to be a leader of the shale gas revolution - because it has the potential to create thousands of jobs and keep energy bills low for millions of people."

But opponents warn that the process for extracting shale gas, by fracturing rock with high-pressure liquid to release the gas, or "fracking", can cause earthquakes, pollute water supplies, blight the countryside and affect house prices.

Questions have also been raised about how much of an impact efforts to develop home-grown shale resources will have on household energy bills, and environmental campaigners warn a new "dash for gas" will undermine efforts to develop clean energy, cut emissions and create green jobs and growth.

Environmentalists warn against 'industrialising' the countryside

Greenpeace energy campaigner Lawrence Carter said: "The Chancellor is telling anyone who will listen that UK shale gas is set to be an economic miracle, yet he's had to offer the industry sweetheart tax deals just to reassure them that fracking would be profitable.

"Experts from energy regulator Ofgem to Deutsche Bank and the company in receipt of this tax break, Cuadrilla, admit that it won't reduce energy prices for consumers.

"Instead we're likely to see the industrialisation of tracts of the British countryside, gas flaring in the Home Counties and a steady stream of trucks carrying contaminated water down rural lanes."

New planning guidance on shale gas is set to be published by the Communities Department as the Government attempts to drive forward exploration.

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Wolverhampton Mosque: Explosive Device Found

Debris from an explosive device has been found close to a mosque in Wolverhampton, a police statement has said.

"The find was made late last night (Thursday 18 July) by officers and army bomb disposal experts as they searched land in and around the building on Waterloo Road," the statement said. 

"The debris, found on Fiveways roundabout, has been declared safe and further detailed forensic enquiries will be conducted at the scene throughout the day," it added. 

The mosque was evacuated on Thursday evening but has been reopened for worship following the discovery.

Information about the device, which police believe was activated on June 28, was uncovered as part of an investigation into recent attacks near mosques in Walsall and Tipton.

Two men aged 25 and 22, both of Eastern European origin, were arrested in Small Heath, Birmingham, on Thursday in connection with the blasts.

Bomb disposal experts were called to the mosque after reports of a blast

They continue to be held under the Terrorism Act on suspicion of being involved in the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism.

No one was injured in the Wolverhampton blast.  

Assistant Chief Constable Marcus Beale, who is leading the investigation, said: "Officers searching the area have found the seat of an explosion and debris on the island near the mosque.

"The investigation is being led by specialist officers and staff from our Counter Terrorism Unit who are being supported by a range of departments from across the force.

"We recognise the impact news of the latest find will have on the communities of Wolverhampton and further afield. We're working hard to complete our enquiries so that the area can be returned to normality.

"We are keen to hear from people who may have seen anyone acting suspiciously on or near to the roundabout on the night of the 27 or the morning of 28 June," said ACC Beale.

"Whether people feel the information is important or not, I would urge them to contact us so that we can assess that information."

:: Anyone with information which could assist the inquiry is urged to call police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

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Litvinenko Refusal: Russia Relations A Factor

"International relations" were a factor in the Government's decision not to hold a public inquiry into the death of poisoned spy Alexander Litvinenko, the Home Secretary has admitted.

Coroner Sir Robert Owen had requested that ministers order the inquiry because he could not consider vital secret evidence as part of a normal inquest.

However, the Government refused the request and Theresa May has now disclosed the reasons in a letter to Sir Robert.

She admitted: "It is true that international relations have been a factor in the Government's decision-making.

"An inquest managed and run by an independent coroner is more readily explainable to some of our foreign partners, and the integrity of the process more readily grasped, than an inquiry, established by the Government, under a chairman appointed by the Government, which has the power to see Government material potentially relevant to their interests, in secret.

"However this has not been a decisive factor and it if had stood alone would not have led the Government to refuse an inquiry."

Marina Litvinenko was "disappointed" by the Government's decision

Mr Litvinenko's widow Marina has said she and her legal team were "shocked and disappointed" by the Government's refusal to hold an inquiry.

In her letter, Mrs May also said the Government was anxious that Mr Litvinenko's death was properly investigated, and accepted there were "important factors" in favour of establishing an inquiry.

She wrote: "May I begin by assuring you that the Government shares your concern to make certain that the tragic death of Mr Litvinenko is properly investigated.

"Like you, the Government is anxious that as much as possible of the investigation is conducted in public, and in such a way that Mr Litvinenko's family are as closely involved in the process as is consistent with the public interest."

Mr Litvinenko, 43, was poisoned with radioactive polonium-210 while drinking tea at the Millennium Hotel in London's Grosvenor Square in 2006.

Since his death his widow and son Anatoly have battled to discover the truth about what led to his killing.

Andrei Lugovoy, ex KGB, suspected of playing a part in Litvinenko death

Mrs May told Sir Robert the inquest will be able to address key concerns.

"It is the view of the Government that, despite the serious concerns you express, an inquest will go a substantial way to addressing or allaying public concern about this incident," she said.

Any secret evidence presented during a public inquiry would have to be held in closed session and would remain private, she said.

Sir Robert, who is considering the points in Mrs May's letter, had ruled in May that he could not hear evidence linked to the alleged involvement of the Russian state in Mr Litvinenko's death, or whether his killing could have been prevented, in public.

He said that excluding key evidence on the issue of Russian involvement would cause him "grave concern".

Mr Litvinenko's family believe he was working for MI6 at the time of his death and was killed on the orders of the Kremlin.

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Alan Greaves: Church Organist Killers Jailed

Two men who attacked and killed a church organist as he walked to Midnight Mass have been sentenced to a total of 34 years in prison.

Jonathan Bowling, 22, was jailed for life and must serve a minimum term of 25 years after admitting last month that he had killed Alan Greaves, 68.

Mr Greaves died after he was found lying in the street yards from his home

Ashley Foster, also 22, had denied murder but was found guilty of manslaughter after a three-week trial. He was jailed for nine years at Sheffield Crown Court.

The pair, who were described during their trial as "virtually brothers", were caught on CCTV walking behind Mr Greaves seconds before he was smashed over the head with a pickaxe handle and another weapon which has never been found.

Fuelled by lager and Bacardi and Coke, the pair had gone in search of someone to attack after a family party. 

They found Mr Greaves, who was walking to St Saviour's Church in High Green, Sheffield, for Midnight Mass on December 24 last year to play the organ as he had done for 40 years.

Foster handed himself into police after being recognised by family and friends, but said he was a "witness" to the murder.

He and his partner Natalie Evers claimed they were frightened of Bowling.

The pickaxe handle used to batter Mr Greaves

The jury heard Foster never had a proper job, although he did casual work at a local farm.

He and Bowling had known each other since their early teens when Bowling's father was in a relationship with Foster's mother.

Mr Greaves, who was a retired social worker and dedicated community volunteer, died three days after being found lying in the street a few hundred yards from his home in High Green.

He was carrying a briefcase containing sheet music but the police found nothing had been taken from him by his attackers.

Mr Greaves with wife Maureen on their wedding day

Speaking after the sentencing, Mr Greaves' wife Maureen said she was extremely pleased with the result.

"To think Ashley's got nine years is the very best we could have got in the circumstances of the manslaughter.

"To think that Jonathan's got 25 minimum and to think he'll probably never come out, I really am wonderfully pleased with the result."

She told reporters she would not read a letter Bowling had written to her.

"To put it into my hands the days he was going to get sentenced, I didn't think it was very appropriate," she said.

"If he was going to write me a letter he should have written it a long time ago."

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