Brit Killed On Costas: Friend Tells Of Shock

A friend of millionaire businessman Andrew Bush, who was found shot dead at his home on Spain's Costa del Sol, has said he is "trying to comprehend" his death.

Mr Bush, 48, originally from Bristol, was found lying in a pool of blood with two gunshot wounds to his head at around 3am on Saturday.

Police are looking for Mr Bush's ex-girlfriend, named as Mayka Kukucova, who is thought to have left the property in the businessman's Hummer.

Friend Paul Orchard, who had also been Mr Bush's personal trainer, said he was "devastated".

"It will take me a long time to come to terms with this," he said.

"I've been his personal trainer since last September but I knew him for longer than that.

"We struck a good rapport and I only spoke to him on Friday evening, we were going to meet next week.

Estepona is on the Costa del Sol

"When I was first told, I questioned whether it was true and I kept on saying it can't be. Now I feel just a little bit empty, almost like I'm trying to put pieces together.

"I'm trying to comprehend that it's happened.

"My thoughts go to him and his family. He'll be greatly missed."

Firefighters and police discovered Mr Bush's body after forcing their way into the beachside villa in Estepona where he lived.

The company director's girlfriend alerted police with an emergency call after the attack.

The pair are said to have been ambushed by Kukucova.

The house is a village between the resorts of Estepona and Marbella

She is thought to have been lying in wait for them inside the five-bedroom house.

Mr Bush and his current girlfriend, who is reported to be British, had just returned to their home from a trip abroad.

The suspected killer is still on the run after escaping from the scene in the dead man's Hummer vehicle.

A source close to the investigation said: "It is being treated as murder and police are hunting the dead man's ex on suspicion of committing this crime.

"They are probing the possibility she may have let herself into the property while the occupant was away and waited for several days for him to return."

The businessman's body has been taken to Malaga for a post-mortem examination.

Mr Bush owned a number of businesses in Bristol including a jewellery shop, according to reports.

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Hackers Put Child Abuse Images On Computers

Hacking attacks which lodge child abuse images and malware on a computer user's hard drive are on the rise, it has been warned.

In its annual report, the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) said there has been a significant increase in the number of legitimate websites being compromised.

First, the hackers infiltrate a site before planting the child abuse images and malware in folders on a hidden URL.

The folders are then inadvertently accessed by unsuspecting web surfers through a redirect link on a legitimate adult site.

When the link is clicked, the files are downloaded to the user's computer.

It is thought the abuse images are bundled with the malware to discourage people from trying to get their computers repaired.

A spokesman for the IWF said people "panic" and are "fearful of reprisals".

The report added: "The majority of the hacked websites are either UK-hosted or are those of UK small businesses."

As a result, the number of pages found to be hosting child sex abuse images in the UK increased to 92 in 2013, from 73 in 2012.

Overall, the charity identified 13,182 web pages containing child sex abuse images in 2013 worldwide, following reports to its hotline.

It said more than 80% of the images were of victims aged 10 and under.

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Max Clifford Trial: Pauline Quirke Evidence

By Nick Pisa, Sky News Reporter, Southwark Crown Court

Birds of a Feather star Pauline Quirke has described publicist Max Clifford as an "honest and decent man" as the trial enters its closing stages.

Clifford, who turned 71 at the weekend, is accused of indecently assaulting a string of women in his car and his office, some after saying he could get them roles in the entertainment world.

However, Ms Quirke told Southwark Crown Court that the PR guru was nothing like the description that jurors have heard and she told how they worked together to raise funds for charity.

The actress who has also starred in Emmerdale and Broadchurch said that her friendship with him "grew from their connection" to the Rhys Daniels Trust which was set up in the 1990s to help a boy of the same name with Batten's Disease.

Ms Quirke said: "We went to each other's houses and we went out for dinner to restaurants. He came when I was on tour for two years with Birds of a Feather.

"The word integrity comes to mind when I think of Max - he's very down to Earth and normal considering the business that we are both involved in.

"He's a decent, decent man, honest and decent."

When asked by his defence barrister Richard Horwell QC if she had ever seen him "acting inappropriately with women" she replied: "We've been to balls with lots of women, people drinking and I've never seen him doing anything like that.

"I've never seen him behave in any way, shape or form like that."

Ms Quirke added that Clifford had helped raise money for the Trust by bringing stars to a celebrity screening of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and as a result they became "good friends".

As she left court, Clifford, who was dressed in a white open shirt and blue suit, winked and smiled at her.

Earlier, Sky Sports anchor Clare Thomlinson, who worked for Clifford in the early 1990s for six months said she had "no reason to doubt his integrity and honesty", adding that she had left his office on "amicable terms".

She said: "Max had an old school charm, he would open the door for you and ask how you would get home from a late function."

Ms Thomlinson, who was at the centre of sexual harassment claims from disgraced former commentators Richard Keys and Andy Gray, told the court the experience had made her want to testify in the case.

She said: "I have been the victim of sexual harassment at work and I would not be giving evidence in front of a court if I had believed Max was capable of that sort of behaviour."

Clifford, of Hersham, Surrey, denies 11 counts of indecent assault against seven women between 1966 and 1984. His defence is expected to finish on Tuesday when the case continues.

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Asda Plans 12,000 New Jobs Over Five Years

By George! Why Asda Jobs Fit UK Recovery

Updated: 3:34pm UK, Monday 07 April 2014

By Poppy Trowbridge, Consumer Affairs Correspondent

It is not every day a company, albeit a major employer, confirms plans to create 12,000 jobs in the UK.

That's clearly a significant amount of badly needed new work.

But as unemployment across the UK is coming off uncomfortable highs hit during the recession, some economists and many politicians are concerned that the jobs being created are the wrong kind: temporary, badly paid, with little security.

Despite the UK's reputation for the wrong kind of snow, the wrong kind of rain etc these jobs, for the most part, are the right kind.

The 12,000 positions represent full-time roles. So, even if split by part-timers, the number of jobs simply multiplies.

The job creation has already begun in the North of England, the company having opened 14 new stores already in 2014, and will pick up pace significantly in the two years to 2018 as Asda makes its presence felt in London and the South East.

While the majority will be shop floor spots, Asda's plan to expand with superstores, supermarkets and 'click and collect' locations will require a variety of skilled back office staff, managers, accountants and logistics personnel.

Asda does not offer zero-hours contracts, which means employees can bank on a certain income stream, even if not top of the range.

So, the 12,000 promised spots look somewhat more secure, dispersed across the country, and come with the promise of accelerated creation.

That counts for quality these days.

And if Asda delivers on these promises, we should not turn our noses up at it.

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London Hotel Hammer Attack: Three Women Hurt

A manhunt is under way after a vicious hammer attack on three female tourists staying at a leading London hotel.

All three women, in their 30s, suffered serious head injuries and one is understood to be in a medically induced coma, fighting for her life.

The first victim is said to be in a critical condition, the second serious but stable and the third stable.

All three were on a family holiday from the United Arab Emirates and were sharing a room with three children at the Cumberland Hotel near Oxford Street in central London.

A lone male suspect entered the room and was disturbed by one of the women which resulted in the three adults being attacked by the intruder.

Police were called to the 1,000-room hotel at 1.50am on Sunday.

Detective Superintendent Carl Mehta said the family had been doing some shopping during the few days they had been in the capital.

It is unclear whether the women knew their attacker or whether it was a bungled robbery attempt.

A detailed forensic examination of the scene is taking place while police review both CCTV from within the hotel as well as the surrounding streets. Hotel staff and other guests are also being questioned.

No arrests have been made and Mr Mehta appealed for witnesses "who saw what happened or either saw somebody loitering around the hotel, outside or within, or who might have seen somebody leaving the hotel, perhaps hurriedly or covered in blood".

He said officers were keeping an open mind, but early indications were that "theft would appear to have been the motive".

Homicide and major crime officers are investigating the incident, the officer added.

A hotel spokesman said: "It's an ongoing investigation and we are helping police with their inquiries in order to get this sorted as soon as possible."

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Women May Get Right To Fight On Front Line

The British Army is "seriously considering" lifting its ban on women serving in combat roles in line with other countries such as the US, the Chief of the General Staff has said.

General Sir Peter Wall told The Sunday Times he wanted to show women that the army was "open to" women and an equal opportunities employer.

The Ministry of Defence, which under European Law must review the policy every eight years, said there would another review "before 2018".

The last statutory review in 2010 raised concerns that putting women and men together in small units for months at a time could undermine "team cohesion", but said women would be able to meet physical and psychological demands.

Women currently are allowed to serve on the frontline with the artillery and as medics, engineers, intelligence officers and fighters pilots but not in close combat roles.

UK Army women are currently not allowed to serve in close combat roles

Last year, the US lifted its own ban on women fighting on the frontline, joining other countries including Germany, Canada, France and Israel.

Sir Peter told the newspaper: "We've got to take a view on that fairly soon.

"We're in a minority of armies now in that respect. It's definitely something that we need to be considering seriously but we need to go about this with great care, especially with all the other changes going on."

He said: "We have always said that we will look at the evidence and base our decision on what impact it will have on operational capability.

"This isn't just about getting more females into the 30% of roles that are combat trades but getting more of them into the Army per se.

"Women need to see they have equal opportunities right throughout the organisation.

"Allowing them to be combat troops would make us look more normal to society but there will always be people who say the close battle is no place for female soldiers."

Women could soon be fighting alongside men

In 2011, the Government announced that women would be allowed to go to sea with their male counterparts on the Royal Navy's Submarine Service for the first time in its 110-year history.

An MoD spokesman said: "The vast majority of roles in the Armed Forces are open to women and hundreds are currently serving their country with distinction in Afghanistan.

"They are fundamental to the operational effectiveness of the UK's Armed Forces, bringing talent and skills across the board.

"A 2010 review into women serving in combat roles concluded there should be no change to the existing policy and another review will take place before 2018."

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Kate To Fulfil Ambition On Tour Down Under

By Paul Harrison, Royal Correspondent

The Duchess of Cambridge will realise a lifelong ambition when she arrives in New Zealand on Monday.

According to the New Zealand High Commissioner to London, Sir Lockwood Smith, right at the top of Kate's 'bucket list' is a visit to the Southern Hemisphere realm.

"I met the Duchess of Cambridge at a garden party at Buckingham Palace when she was pregnant with Prince George," he said.

"I said to her that I'd love her to come to New Zealand and she said: 'Well, there's a little matter I have to deal with first of course but I have to say coming to New Zealand is top of my bucket list.' And now she's finally making the trip."

Not only has Kate never visited New Zealand and Australia but it will be a first for son Prince George, who will likely one day be King of the two nations.

The tour will largely mirror that of the Prince and Princess of Wales' visit Down Under in 1983, when a nine-month-old Prince William conducted his first public crawl about.

Prince George, who is now eight months old, will arrive in Wellington, New Zealand after travelling long-haul for more that 24 hours.

To minimise the disruption to their son, William and Kate have decided to operate a hub tour in both countries, allowing them to return most evenings to be with George in Wellington and Sydney.

Kate and William travel to New Zealand and Australia with Prince George

Excitement surrounding the royal party's arrival in Wellington for the start of the three-week tour is muted at best, although one local told Sky News: "We don't like to shout about it, and although the flags aren't out, we are quietly excited."

Two women who found it hard to conceal their excitement, however, are the owners of Wellington jewellery business Tory & Ko, who have been commissioned to design three pairs of earrings and one necklace for Kate for her stay in New Zealand.

"It's a complete honour and we are really blown away," Kirstin O'Brien told Sky News.

"She is the most perfect person to wear our jewellery because she is beautiful, sophisticated and she has that lovely accessibility about her," 

The Cambridge family will first visit the North Island, before heading to the South Island where they will spend a night away from Prince George.

All three, accompanied by their entourage including Prince George's newly appointed nanny, Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo, will later travel to Sydney, Australia, for the second leg of their three week tour.

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Spanish Police Hunt Ex-Lover After Brit Killed

Police are hunting for a woman suspected of shooting dead a British businessman at his home on Spain's Costa del Sol.

The wealthy jeweller, named locally as Andrew Bush, was found lying in a pool of blood with two gunshot wounds to his head at around 3am on Saturday morning.

Firefighters and police discovered the businessman's body after forcing their way into the beachside villa where he lived.

The businessman's girlfriend alerted police with an emergency call after the attack, which happened in a village between the resorts of Estepona and Marbella.

The pair are said to have been ambushed by a woman, who police suspect may be the man's ex-girlfriend.

She is thought to have been lying in wait for them inside the five-bedroom house.

Mr Bush, originally from Bristol, and his current girlfriend were returning to their home from a trip abroad together at the time.

The house is a village between the resorts of Estepona and Marbella

The unnamed girlfriend, who is said to be British, told investigators she saw the attacker flee and then called the emergency services after becoming locked out.

Early on Sunday, the killer was still on the run after escaping from the scene in her alleged victim's Hummer car.

Police are yet to officially name the victim, but he was identified locally as 48-year-old company director Mr Bush.

An Audi car believed to have been used by the attacker was taken away, along with a Porsche and Ferrari thought to be owned by the victim.

A gun found nearby was also taken away.

It has emerged Mr Bush's killer may have been inside the house for several days after letting herself into the villa with a set of keys she had kept.

Estepona is on the Costa del Sol

Detectives sealed off the villa, owned by a Spanish couple, on Saturday ahead of its examination by police forensic experts on Monday.

A source close to the investigation said: "It is being treated as murder and police are hunting the dead man's ex on suspicion of committing this crime.

"They are probing the possibility she may have let herself into the property while the occupant was away and waited for several days for him to return."

The businessman's body has been taken to Malaga for a post-mortem examination.

A family relative is believed to be en route to southern Spain.

The victim's terracotta-coloured villa lies in a quiet residential street in an area called Cancelada, between San Pedro and Estepona.

A National Police spokesman confirmed an investigation was underway but said he was not authorised to give out any more information.

A spokesman for the local emergency services said: "We received a call at 2.10am on Saturday morning from the partner of the dead man because she could not gain access to the property.

"Firefighters managed to get in and found the man lying dead inside with a gunshot wound to his head. Police are now investigating."

A spokesman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: "We are aware of the death of a British national in Estepona, Malaga, on 5 April.

"We are in touch with local authorities and are providing consular assistance to the family."

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Food Waste 'Is Morally Repugnant', Say Lords

The scale of food waste, which sees 15 million tonnes of food dumped each year in the UK and at least 90 million tonnes across the EU, has been branded "morally repugnant" by a House of Lords committee.

The Lords EU Committee said supermarkets should abolish "buy one get one free" offers and not cancel orders of food from farmers after the produce has been grown, a practice which leads to edible food being ploughed back into the fields. 

They also suggested that more unused food sold by retailers should be donated to food banks, rather than sent for composting or landfill as is often the case at present.

In a report, the committee said EU efforts to reduce food waste were "fragmented and untargeted" and called for the new European Commission to publish a five-year strategy within six months of taking office later this year.

Committee chairwoman Baroness Scott said: "Food waste in the EU and the UK is clearly a huge issue. Not only is it morally repugnant, but it has serious economic and environmental implications.

The committee says taking action against food waste cannot be delayed

"The fact that 90 million tonnes of food is wasted across the EU each year shows the extent of the problem and explains why we are calling for urgent action.

"Globally, consumers in industrialised nations waste up to 222 million tons of food a year, which is equivalent to nearly the entire level of net food production of Sub-Saharan Africa.

"We cannot allow the complexity of the issues around defining and monitoring food waste to delay action any further.

"We are calling on the new European Commission, which will be appointed in November this year, to publish a five-year strategy for reducing food waste across the EU, and to do so within six months of taking office."

The report found that the carbon footprint of worldwide food waste is equivalent to twice the global greenhouse gas emissions of all road transportation in the US.

Lady Scott added: "We were shocked at the extent of food waste in the EU. Especially given the current economic challenges the EU faces, it is an absolutely shocking waste of resources.

"Some efforts are already being made, which is very positive, but much more can be done, and so we are calling on the EU, the Government, businesses and consumers to make sure it is."

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Tories Back Miller Despite Resignation Calls

The Conservative Party chairman has told Sky News that Culture Secretary Maria Miller should be "allowed to get on with her job", despite calls for her to resign.

A new poll suggests most voters think she should be sacked over the way she dealt with an investigation into her expenses.

But asked if she had his 100% support, Grant Shapps told the Murnaghan show: "Yes, she does. Maria Miller is a very, very hard-working minister.

Mrs Miller making her apology in Parliament on Thursday

"She has accepted fully the recommendations of the committee without reservation, and she should be able to get on with her job, and the Prime Minister has said that's what he wants her to do."

Pressed on whether she had his personal support, Mr Shapps replied: "Well, listen, I don't put her in the post ... She is somebody who, let's face it, has worked on a lot of tricky sensitive issues ... Leveson being one of them. So she has a portfolio which has happened to have been particularly complicated.

The messages on the Department's Twitter feed

"Yes, she has gone through a complete process. She has done exactly what the committee asked her to do... And the Prime Minister has been clear that he is then satisfied with that and so, of course, I am satisfied with it as well."

Prime Minister David Cameron has been criticised for standing by Mrs Miller and is under pressure from Labour to show leadership.

But the Survation poll for the Mail on Sunday found 75% of the public think Mr Cameron was wrong to support her, compared with 14% who backed his decision to stand by her.

Some 78% of those surveyed said Mrs Miller should forfeit her Cabinet post as Culture Secretary.

Mrs Miller's second home in London for which she wrongly claimed for

And 66% said she should lose powers over press regulation while 68% said she should be "sacked" as an MP - something which is not currently possible, as the Government is yet to introduce the power of recall promised in the 2010 Coalition Agreement.

The Culture Secretary has paid back £5,800 of expenses she had wrongly claimed for a second home and made the brief apology in Parliament for her "unhelpful" attitude towards the investigation.

But she remains under pressure after it emerged the 10-member standards committee overruled the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards' findings that she should return £45,000.

David Mellor, who resigned from John Major's Cabinet amid a scandal in 1992, told the Murnaghan show: "I don't think it matters whether she resigns or not.

"She won't be missed if she goes and she won't be noticed if she stays.

Mr Cameron has been criticised over his handling of the affair

"What this is all about is first of all the judgement of David Cameron, and secondly the integrity of the British Parliament."

Meanwhile, there was further embarrassment for Mrs Miller when a string of mocking messages was sent out on the Twitter feed of her own Department for Culture, Media and Sport on Saturday evening.

The first bogus tweet from the @DCMS account said: "Seriously though guys which one of us hasn't embezzled and cheated the taxpayer?? #FreeMariaMiller"

The next one, posted a minute later, said: "@Maria--MillerMP is like a modern day Robin Hood, she robs the poor to help the rich".

And the third tweet said: "Is Maria @Maria--MillerMP guilty? We will let the public decide".

A spokeswoman from the DCMS said the department had "absolutely no idea" who was responsible.

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