Sandy: Obama To Visit Storm-Hit US East Coast

Frankenstorm: Why Is Hurricane Sandy So Big?

Updated: 3:41pm UK, Monday 29 October 2012

A number of complications have caused Hurricane Sandy to grow into a menacing monster storm which is threatening to become the biggest in US history.

Sandy, which is hundreds of miles across, is set to merge with other weather systems, unleashing a deadly punch of high wind, heavy rain, extreme tides, several days' worth of snow and potentially deadly storm surges.

On course to interact with Sandy is a wintry storm moving across the US from the west and frigid air streaming south from Canada.

New York and Long Island could see huge seawater surges of up to 11 ft (3 m) which coincide with high tides due to a full moon.

Sky News Weather producer Christopher England said these factors makes Sandy "unusually intense".

"It's a major storm that's going to hit a major place - and it will hit New York City at high tide, due to a full moon, causing a massive storm surge," he said.

England said most hurricanes that hit America's biggest city tend to make landfall further south, so they weaken before hitting the Big Apple.

"Most storms don't come from over the ocean, like Sandy is. They tend to hit land earlier, often around North Carolina, and lose their strength," England said.

"It's often the decaying remnants that hit New York - rather than the full-blooded storm.

"But Sandy has maintained its strength because it has kept its track up over the ocean."

England said another major issue making Sandy worse is the fact the air is set to be colder than usual.

"A storm's energy comes from temperature and humidity differences in the atmosphere - essentially warmer air rises and condensing water vapour adds to the energy and drives the storm," he said.

"Sandy is moving into a region with a strong flow from the Arctic, so will be coming into contact with much colder than average air causing the potential for greater temperature contrasts, and hence greater energy release and a more potent storm."

While Sandy does not yet pack the punch of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans in 2005, it could become more potent as it approaches the US coast.

And England said the storm is unlikely to change its path.

"It could change track, but it doesn't seem likely," he said.

"It's possible that the worst-case scenario will not happen - it all depends on how it comes together.

"But it certainly looks like it's going to be a big event."

Sandy killed 66 people in the Caribbean before pounding US coastal areas with rain and triggering snow falls at higher elevations.

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Sandy: New Jersey In No Mood For Politics

It was an eerie feeling driving out of New Jersey, no power, no lights - save those flashing on emergency vehicles.

A large area of the state is without electricity and will probably remain so for days. Three neighbouring towns are under water.

The drive into this flood-ravaged part of the state was equally strange. Empty roads, still being battered by winds and rain, black smoke drifting across the highway, the skyline of lower Manhattan on the horizon, without power.

The only lights we saw were on warning signs, declaring tunnels closed, one spelling out the situation here: 'State of emergency'.

Outside a New Jersey school we found scenes you do not expect to witness in America.

Military trucks were bringing in storm refugees in a steady stream, young and old clutching precious belongings and pets.

Like the Leo family from Little Ferry down the road. Grandma Adele Leo told me she had lost everything. She lives in the basement. Her 10-year old granddaughter had raised the alarm last night as the flood waters rose.

Amanda's father, Mike, said the situation had been nerve-wracking then ran out of words, the strain clearly showing. He had brought his family to safety but they now face days of uncertainty, unclear when they will be allowed to return.

A woman cries on the shoulder of an emergency responder in Little Ferry

In a converted basketball court, hundreds were preparing to spend the night - their conduct a credit to that famous New Jersey spirit. They looked tense and worried but not a voice was raised.

Police lieutenant Dwane Razzetti said most of his officers  had worked almost 48 hours but were still going.

The storm, he said, had exceeded even the worst worst case scenarios dreamed up by hydrological experts before Sandy struck.

The disaster here was caused by a levee being overwhelmed and that has not happened for almost a century.

The National Guard and emergency services used high-axel trucks and boats to ferry victims to safety. A total of 3,000 people have been evacuated

Many of the worst-affected live in trailer parks. Most have heeded the warnings and headed for better shelter.

Not Raymond Neilsen. Crime was a bigger worry, he told me, than the weather but he conceded the last 24 hours had been the worst conditions he had seen in all his 69 years.

President Barack Obama is visiting New Jersey.  He says he will not be campaigning, which is just as well. No-one we met was in the mood for politics.

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HMS Bounty Sinks: Captain Still Missing

The Coast Guard has found one of the missing crew members of the stricken HMS Bounty.

Lt Mike Patterson said crews have taken 42-year-old Claudene Christian to hospital for treatment. She is described as "unresponsive".

They are still searching for the captain of the ship Robin Walbridge, aged 63.

HMS Bounty sunk near the eye of Hurricane Sandy on Monday.

Fourteen crew members were hoisted to safety from a lifeboat. The replica tall ship has now disappeared from view, apart from the top of the mast.

Sixteen people were aboard the ship (Pic: www.tallshipbounty.org)

The captain ordered his crew to abandon the ship at about 5am on Monday morning.  They were located 160 miles from the hurricane's centre, and the vessel had lost power and started to take on water.

The US Coast Guard said the Bounty's crew had donned cold water survival suits and lifejackets before launching in two 25-man lifeboats with canopies.

The suits are designed to protect people from the cold waters for up to 15 hours.

"The first Jayhawk (helicopter) crew hoisted five people into the aircraft and a second helicopter arrived and rescued nine people," the Coast Guard said.

They were flown to Air Station Elizabeth City for medical treatment.

Rescuers faced 40mph winds and 18ft waves at the scene, which is 90 miles southeast of Hatteras in North Carolina.

Coast Guard Sector North Carolina received a call from the owner of the 180ft, three mast ship, saying she had lost communication with the vessel's crew late on Sunday evening.

It regained contact with the ship after receiving a signal from the emergency position indicating beacon registered to the Bounty.

The current Bounty was built for the 1962 movie Mutiny On The Bounty with Marlon Brando and has since appeared in Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.

The original Bounty is known for the mutiny that took place in Tahiti in 1789.

The rescued crew were flown to Air Station Elizabeth City for treatment

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Superstorm Sandy Batters US Eastern Coast

Superstorm Sandy has battered parts of the eastern United States, flooding major cities and killing at least 13 people.

The National Hurricane Centre, which reclassified the storm as 'post-tropical', said torrential rains and wind made landfall along the New Jersey coast near Atlantic City at around 8pm EDT (12am UK time).

It brought gusts of more than 85mph (135kph) and a record-breaking 13ft surge of seawater in Manhattan, submerging road and subway tunnels.

New York University hospital was forced to move patients to other hospitals after it lost power and its back-up generator broke down.

The collapsed front wall of an apartment building in New York

Among them were 20 babies from neonatal intensive care - some on respirators operating on battery power.

Firefighters in New York said one man had been killed by a falling tree, while two people were also killed when a tree fell onto a vehicle in New Jersey.

A total of 12 people were reported dead by local officials in New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and North Carolina, while in Toronto, Canada, police said a woman died after being hit by flying debris.

An explosion rocks a flooded New York power plant

Mayor Michael Bloomberg told a news conference 250,000 Manhattan homes had been left without power by the storm, with electricity knocked out to more than six million Americans.

Amateur footage captured a large explosion at a power station near the island's near East 14th Street.

Mr Bloomberg said the worst of the storm had passed and that authorities expected the tidal surge to recede by 12am EDT on Wednesday.

Rain caused by Sandy could last for days

But thousands of flights have been cancelled at airports in cities up and down the coast, causing widespread travel chaos.

British Airways axed all of its flights to and from New York, Newark, Baltimore, Washington DC, Boston and Philadelphia, and 11 of today's return flights to and from the East Coast have been cancelled.

It had been feared the surge of seawater could damage the underground electrical and communications lines in lower Manhattan that are vital to the nation's financial centre.

And the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq suspended trading for a weather event for the first time since Hurricane Gloria in 1985.

Cars in Manhattan were submerged by floodwater

Sandy, which killed 69 people in the Caribbean before making its way up the Atlantic, has seen subways, buses, trains and schools closed across a region of more than 50 million people from Washington to Boston.

As it made its way toward land, it converged with a cold-weather system that turned into a hybrid consisting not only of rain, high wind and snow.

Earlier, a US sailor on board a replica of the HMS Bounty was recovered from the sea in an "unresponsive" condition, and the captain was missing and feared dead after the tall ship went down off the Carolinas.

President Barack Obama and Republican rival Mitt Romney suspended their campaigning with just over a week to go before election day.

At the White House, Mr Obama had made a direct appeal to those at risk

"Please listen to what your state and local officials are saying," he said.

"When they tell you to evacuate, you need to evacuate. Don't delay, don't pause, don't question the instructions that are being given, because this is a powerful storm."

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Hurricane Sandy: Thousands Flee Before Storm

Authorities have ordered the evacuation of 375,000 people on the east coast of the United States ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Sandy.

New York mayor Michael Bloomberg launched the mandatory evacuation and said 72 centres had been set up around the city in schools and community centres.

The full public transport system has also been shut down and the New York Stock Exchange will only continue with electronic transactions.

Sandbags have been used to thwart flooding in low-lying areas

"This is a serious and dangerous storm," Mr Bloomberg said.

"If you don't evacuate you are not just putting your own life in danger, you are also endangering the lives of the first responders who may have to come in and rescue you."

The New York Stock Exchange announced it would close its trading floor but continue to trade electronically, despite fears from some experts that flooding could knock out the vital underground network of power, phone and high-speed Internet lines.

Officials also postponed today's reopening of the Statue of Liberty, which had been closed for a year for $30m (£22m) in renovations.

The storm is expected to start hitting the area shortly, with the worst weather continuing into Tuesday.

Police officers monitor Times Square subway station

Experts estimate it will affect up to 60 million people in the area, when it meets a winter storm and cold front. The storm surge will be boosted by storm tides from a full moon.

Parts of West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky and North Carolina could get 2ft or more of snow in places, meteorologists said.

Experts said the rare hybrid storm will cause havoc over 800 miles, from the Atlantic coast inland to the Great Lakes.

British Airways flights to and from New York's JFK airport, Newark airport in New Jersey, Baltimore airport in Maryland and Boston airport in Massachusetts, have been cancelled.

Virgin Atlantic flights to and from New York, Washington and Boston have also been halted.

Some said the huge storm was a sign

British Airways said: "We understand that customers may be disappointed, however their safety is our highest priority. We are offering the option to rebook or receive a refund to those customers whose flights are cancelled."

Virgin Atlantic warned passengers of cancelled flights not to travel to departure airports and advised travellers to check their flight status page for the latest information.

Domestic airlines also moved planes out of airports to avoid damage, and added Sunday flights out of New York and Washington ahead of today's flight cancellations.

All of New York City's state schools have been closed, and the evacuation zone includes parts of Coney Island, Manhattan Beach and other areas along the east river in Brooklyn.

Boarded up homes in the path of the storm

Stretches of the lower east side, Staten Island and Manhattan are also included in the danger zone and President Barack Obama said authorities needed to take Sandy "seriously" and advised residents to listen to state officials for guidance.

"We don't yet know where it's going to hit, where we're going to see the biggest impacts. And that's exactly why it's so important for us to respond big and respond fast as local information starts coming in," Mr Obama said.

"My main message to everybody involved is that we have to take this seriously.

"The federal government is working effectively with the state and local governments. It's going to be very important that populations in all the impacted states take this seriously, listen to your state and local elected officials."

US rail operator Amtrak began cancelling train services on Saturday night, including services between Washington and New York.

Hurricane Sandy is heading north from the Caribbean, where it has killed 65 people.

The majority of the deaths happened in Haiti and the area around the capital Port-au-Prince, which holds most of the 370,000 Haitians who are still living in flimsy shelters as a result of the devastating 2010 earthquake.

Officials in Haiti said 51 people have died there although the number is expected to rise.

The US National Hurricane Centre said that the storm has top sustained winds of 75 mph, with higher gusts. It is moving toward the northeast at 14mph, with hurricane-force winds extend up to 175 miles from the epicentre.

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Police Poised For More Savile Case Arrests

By Darren McCaffrey, Sky News Reporter

Police investigating Jimmy Savile are preparing to make fresh arrests as today marks the anniversary of his death .

Yesterday, former pop star Gary Glitter became the first high profile arrest under Scotland Yard's Operation Yewtree.

He maybe one of many; police have drawn up a detailed arrest strategy as thirty officers work through some 300 allegations of abuse.

Today marks one year since Savile's death. At the time he was saluted for his charity work and long TV career.

Gary Glitter was arrested yesterday

Now the depictions of Savile couldn't be more different, described as a predatory paedophile and one of Britain's most prolific sex offenders.

For many of Savile's victims, including his own great-niece, too many turned a blind eye for too long.

Caroline Robinson told Sky News: "The rewards they got from Jimmy Savile's name and everything else kept them in a lifestyle that they became accustomed to.

"I am sure the BBC, if they could have stopped this in the 60s when they first found out about the allegations, I would not be a victim now.

"I would not be sat here. They have wrecked my world apart. They are to blame.

"I think a vast amount of people knew at the BBC, at the NHS and the council.

"I think everybody knew who surrounded themselves with Jimmy Savile, including the family - they turned a blind eye."

Today former Court of Appeal judge Dame Janet Smith begins the first of two independent inquiries.

It will focus on whether the culture and practices at the BBC allowed Savile to carry out his abuse.

A further review will examine current sexual harassment policies at the corporation.

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Syria: Rebel Fighters Are Becoming Radicalised

By Alex Crawford, Sky News Special Correspondent

Sky has seen new evidence that the Syrian uprising is becoming more and more radicalised and being fought by Islamic fundamentalists and extremists.

The Syrian rebels have all but given up on military intervention by the West but after 18 months of grinding battle and a feeling they have been abandoned by the international community, they are making their own bombs and weapons and becoming much more self-sufficient.

There are some weapons and arms being smuggled across the borders from sympathetic Muslim neighbours.

We saw brand new rocket propelled grenade launchers with their rockets still in their plastic wrappers which had been smuggled across the Turkish border and an anti-aircraft gun which the rebels told us had come from Iraq.

But although that means that the rebels have many more weapons than they have had before, it is still small fry in comparison to the heavy weaponry, tanks and artillery employed by the regime.

What is increasingly obvious is the number of Jihad (holy war) flags and Jihad paraphernalia worn and used by the rebel fighters. The black headbands worn by many of the fighters are a symbol of Islamic fundamentalism - used by extremist groups and usually anti-Western.

The common refrain from many of the rebel fighters is that they have been forgotten by the outside world.

A cache of weapons seized by rebel fighters

A number of commanders told us they were disappointed, angry and frustrated by the lack of help from the international community.

One said: "All we get is words, not actions."

I asked him how many fighters were from outside Syria. He replied: "Most of the fighters are Syrians. I would say 90% of the fighters are Syrian. Only a few hundred in the whole of Syria are from outside the country and most of them are from sympathetic countries."

We met a Libyan medic and former rebel in his own country who said he had come to help the rebels in Syria as a fellow Muslim.

He said: "We know what it is like to suffer. I have come to help in the hospital but if I had to pick up a gun and shoot Assad soldiers, of course I would.

"The real problem here is not foreign fighters, not Al Qaeda or any other group but the regime which has done far more damage than any other group."

The rebels have been making significant gains in the north, crushing regime bases and the Assad army has been losing men as well as arms.

But the frustration by the rebels and the inaction by the international community is driving the rebels towards religious extremism.

If Assad falls, the West's lack of help may have lost them a potential ally in the Middle East and even worse, may have created an angry and resentful new enemy.

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Hurricane Sandy: 60 Million People Warned

Hurricane Sandy is expected to affect up to 60 million people in the US when it meets two other powerful winter storms.

The threat has prompted President Barack Obama to cancel campaign events to monitor the storm from the White House.

The hurricane is continuing to head north from the Caribbean - where it has killed at least 43 people - to threaten the eastern US with sheets of rain, high winds and heavy snow.

Officials warned millions in coastal areas to get out of the way.

Experts said that no matter how strong it is when it hits land, the rare hybrid, monster storm - dubbed "Frankenstorm"-  will cause havoc over 800 miles (1,300kms) from the East Coast to the Great Lakes.

"This is not a coastal threat alone," said Craig Fugate, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. "This is a very large area."

Residents have boarded up their homes in New Jersey

Sandy weakened briefly to a tropical storm early on Saturday but was soon back up to Category One hurricane strength, packing 75mph (120kph) winds about 335 miles (539km) southeast of Charleston, South Carolina, on Sunday.

Experts said the storm is most likely to hit the southern New Jersey coastline by late Monday or early Tuesday.

Governors from North Carolina, where heavy rain was expected on Sunday, to Connecticut have declared states of emergency, while Delaware has ordered mandatory evacuations of coastal communities.

Massachusetts was forecast to feel the hurricane's effects as early as Sunday evening and the peak of the storm's forces on Monday afternoon.

New York was considering shutting down the subways to avoid flooding. Mayor Michael Bloomberg warned New Yorkers of the dangers of Hurricane Sandy, but stopped short of ordering any evacuations.

"This is a dangerous storm and I think we're going to be OK but if it were to strengthen unexpectedly or change its expected path, it could do a lot of damage and you could be at risk," he said.

President Obama has cancelled some campaigning appearances

Half a dozen states have warned residents to prepare for several days of lost power.

It is feared that the presidential election could be affected by Hurricane Sandy.

The White House said the President was cancelling campaign appearances in Northern Virginia on Monday and Colorado on Tuesday so he can monitor Hurricane Sandy.

The President has directed his team to work to bring all available resources needed by state and local governments preparing for the storm, which could affect a third of the country with high winds, heavy rains and flooding.

The storm's trajectory also caused Mitt Romney to cancel an event on Virginia Beach, Virginia, on Sunday.

The category one storm could cause further late changes to the candidates' campaign schedules and any resulting flooding and power cuts could make it hard for voters to get to the polls.

A satellite image of Sandy off the US east coast

Meanwhile, airlines have told passengers to expect cancellations and have waived change fees for those who wanted to reschedule their trips.

The US National Weather Service said Sandy, after it hits the coast, is expected to merge with two winter weather systems near New York or New Jersey as it moves inland.

That combination may create a rare hybrid monster storm that could bring nearly one foot of rain, high winds and up to two feet of snow to the nation's most heavily populated corridor.

Experts said the storm could be wider and stronger than Hurricane Irene, which caused more than $15bn in damage when it struck in August 2011, and could rival the worst East Coast storm on record.

"It's looking like a very serious storm that could be historic," said Jeff Masters, meteorology director of the forecasting service Weather Underground.

James Franklin, forecast chief for the National Hurricane Center, added: "It's going to be a long-lasting event, two to three days of impact for a lot of people."

Members of a Joint Base in New Jersey prepare sandbags

Electric utilities were taking no chances, lining up extra crews and tree-trimmers.

Trees that still have their leaves could be weighed down by snow and topple onto power lines, or strong winds could knock trees and lines down.

Some observers have compared Sandy to the so-called Perfect Storm that struck off the coast of New England in 1991, but that one hit a far less populated area.

"The Perfect Storm only did $200m of damage and I'm thinking a billion" this time, the Weather Underground's Masters said.

"Yeah, it will be worse."

Earlier in the week Sandy killed more than 40 people in the Caribbean, wrecked homes and knocked down trees and power lines.

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US Child Killings: Police Search Nanny's Home

Police are searching the US home of a nanny suspected of murdering two children in her care.

Yoselyn Ortega remains in a critical condition in hospital after apparently slitting her own throat, moments after stabbing Leo Krim and his sister, six-year-old Lucia.

Police are investigating whether Ortega had sought psychiatric support in the weeks leading up to the tragedy.

Leo and Lucia were found by their distraught mother, Marina, dying of knife wounds in the bathtub of their luxurious Upper West Side apartment near Central Park.

Mrs Krim had returned to the flat with her three-year-old daughter Nessie, whom she had taken for a swimming lesson.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said the investigation has yet to reveal anything amiss in the household before the slayings.

Detectives were searching Ortega's home in Washington Heights, a working-class neighbourhood north of where she worked and near Harlem.

It emerged that Ortega had worked for the Krims as a nanny for two years and there did not appear to be any problems.

A Web journal kept by the children's mother spoke lovingly about travelling to the Dominican Republic last February to stay at the home of Ortega's sister.

"We met Josie's amazing familia!!! And the Dominican Republic is a wonderful country!!" she wrote.

Pictures posted on the blog showed the two families posing together for a happy photo, with Ortega hugging Nessie, their cheeks pressed together.

Mrs Krim's husband, Kevin Krim, a CNBC digital media executive, wrote that Ortega's family had nicknamed Nessie "Rapida y Furiosa," (or Fast and Furious), for her energy.

There are tens of thousands of nannies working in New York City, but reports of serious violence by caregivers against children are exceedingly rare.

Across the street from the building where the Krims lived, several nannies with children in pushchairs stood as if stricken, watching police officers milling around the entrance.

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Smokers Who Quit 'Live Up To A Decade Longer'

By Nick Martin, Sky News Correspondent

The largest ever study of the hazards of smoking amongst women has revealed that those who give up by middle age can extend their lives by more than a decade.

The research, published in the medical journal The Lancet today, shows that women who stop smoking before the age of 30 slash their chances of a smoke-related death by 97%.

In one of the biggest studies of its kind more than 1.3m women were recruited between 1996 and 2001.

Those who were still smokers after three years were nearly three times as likely as non-smokers to die over the next nine years, the study revealed.

Professor Sir Richard Peto from the University of Oxford, who co-wrote the report, said: "If women smoke like men, they die like men.

"But whether they are men or women, smokers who stop before reaching middle age will, on average, gain about an extra 10 years of life."

Leanne Dixon, 21, a customer service assistant from Manchester, started smoking when she was 13.

"These statistics really make me think," she told Sky News.

"I've thought about giving up for ages but never have. But it makes you think that you have to stop while you're young."

Alyson Aston and her friend Lyn Faulkner started smoking at the age of 15. Now in their 40s, they say giving up is not an option.

"It's not these statistics that make me want to give up, it's the cost," said Ms Aston.

Ms Faulkner added: "I think a lot about giving up but I don't have the willpower.

"But when you think about living an extra 10 years, it really is a long time."

Those who have had a brush with cancer have a cautionary tale to tell.

June Atherton, 66, used to smoke 60 cigarettes a day. She gave up at the age of 50 but was diagnosed with lung cancer 10 years later.

She said: "I stop young women in the street and tell them that they're killing themselves by smoking. They think I'm mad but it's an important message."

Paula Chadwick, chief executive of the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation, told Sky News: "This is important research and tells us that stopping as early as you can will prolong your life.

"More women are being diagnosed with lung cancer and we need to bring those figures down by supporting those who want to give up and making sure the young don't start."

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Trainee Teachers Face Tough New Tests

Prospective teachers will have to sit new tougher tests in English, maths and reasoning before they can start training.

The changes will see calculators banned from maths tests, and pass marks in English and maths raised.

Education Secretary Michael Gove said the "rigorous selection" of trainee teachers was key to raising school standards.

All trainee teachers currently have to pass basic skills tests in literacy and numeracy. However, until this September they were allowed unlimited resits.

Figures showed that around 98% of trainees passed the tests, potentially calling into question the level of challenge.

Candidates have already been limited to two resits for each test from this September, and the pass mark has been raised.

Now a panel of head teachers and education experts has recommended that the tests are toughened-up further.

The Government has said it will accept the panel's recommendations in full.

Education Secretary Michael Gove has backed the overhaul

Following the changes, candidates will have to achieve separate passes in English, mathematics and reasoning in order to be able to start teacher training.

Mr Gove said: "The evidence from around the world is clear - rigorous selection of trainee teachers is key to raising the quality and standing of the teaching profession.

"These changes will mean that parents can be confident that we have the best teachers coming into our classrooms.

"Above all, it will help ensure we raise standards in our schools and close the attainment gap between the rich and poor."

The panel's chairman, Sally Coates, said: "We believe that the whole selection process needs to be sufficiently rigorous to ensure that anyone who gains a place on a course of initial teacher training would be highly likely to succeed in that training, and go on to make an excellent teacher."

Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat education minister David Laws has criticised teachers for leaving children with "depressing low expectations" of what they can achieve in life.

He said too many children were led to believe that top exam grades, places at elite universities and professional careers were beyond them.

"Teachers, colleges, careers advisers have a role and a responsibility to aim for the stars and to encourage people to believe they can reach the top in education and employment," Mr Laws told The Daily Telegraph.

"That's not happening as much as it should do at the moment."

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British Oil Executive Gunned Down In Brussels

A British oil executive - named by Sky sources as Nicholas Mockford - has been shot dead in Brussels.

The killing took place on October 14 but Belgian investigators have only just revealed information about his death.

Mr Mockford - who worked for ExxonMobil - was gunned down as he left a restaurant with his wife.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We can confirm the death of a British national in Brussels on October 14 and we are providing consular assistance."

Police said the businessman was shot four times as he left an Italian restaurant in Neder-over-Heembeek, a suburb of the Belgian capital.

It happened at around 10pm as he walked with his wife Mary from the Da Marcello restaurant on Rue de Beyseghem to their car, which was parked nearby.

The attack took place in the Neder-Over-Heembeek area of Brussels

Mrs Mockford was violently attacked and struck several times on her face as one of the attackers tried to grab her handbag.

A second attacker opened fire at the 60-year-old oil executive, who later died of his injuries.

He was shot three times, once as he lay on the floor, and his wife Mary was left beaten and covered in blood, cradling her husband and shouting for help. He died on the way to hospital.

Witnesses say they saw the couple walk across the street to their Lexus car before shots were fired.

It is understood that the two men were carrying motorcycle helmets and they initially fled on foot before taking a ring road on a "two-wheeled vehicle".

Shortly after the events, a white van passed Rue de Beyseghem and came across the victims.

Investigators have been questioning the driver of this vehicle.

The Daily Telegraph said police in Belgium were considering all possible motives for the shooting, including a carjacking, although Mr Mockford's car was not stolen.

The Belgian prosecutor's office said last night that there was a "judicial instruction" from Martine Quintin, the investigating judge, that meant they could give no "explanation" and no detail about the killing, which a spokesman said was "usual in such a serious murder investigation", the Telegraph reported.

However Chief Inspector Wim Van Leifferenge said the killing had been reported by media in the country since it happened.

Mr Van Leifferenge said no-one had been arrested and those responsible were still on the run.

Mr Mockford is understood to have worked for ExxonMobil since the 1970s and was head of marketing for interim technologies for ExxonMobil Chemicals, Europe, promoting new types of greener fuel.

Brought up in Leicestershire, he had moved abroad from Chichester some years ago, living in Belgium and Singapore.

He was married to his Belgian wife for 15 years and has three grown-up children living in Britain from his first marriage, the Telegraph said.

A family member, who asked not to be named, told the newspaper they thought he had been killed in a professional hit.

The relation said: "We are all confused about what has happened. Nick was a genuinely lovely, clean-cut, mild-mannered, family man."

He added: "He was shot so calmly and so quickly, it smacks horribly of a professional hit, but we can't fathom why. He isn't the type to cave in to blackmail and it just doesn't compute."

A spokesman for ExxonMobil said: "We are shocked by the tragic death of one of our employees on Sunday, October 14 in Brussels.

"Our thoughts are with his family, friends and colleagues and we are supporting them as best we can at this very difficult time."
 

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Olympic Medals Stolen: Pair Plead For Return

Two of TeamGB's Olympic heroes had their medals stolen just hours after attending a Buckingham Palace celebration of their success.

Rower Alex Partridge and hockey team member Hannah Macleod took to social networking site Twitter to appeal for information in an attempt to find their Olympic bronze medals.

Partridge won bronze as part of the men's eight rowing team. He tweeted that his Olympic blazer had also been stolen from a club in Mayfair, central London.

Macleod wrote on the site: "My medal was also stolen at the same time. Totally devastated."

Both athletes later published a photo of a man captured on CCTV who they wished to talk to about the alleged thefts.

Partridge said: "To the chap who took my @London2012 Olympic Blazer & Medal last night The police have u on CCTV Please return it."

Macleod said she was not looking for punishment, she just wanted the medal back.

"If you picked up a Bronze Olympic medal that isn't yours pls just send anonymously back to GB hockey-Bisham Abbey," she tweeted.

Scotland Yard confirmed it was investigating reports of a stolen Olympic medal and blazer, but said it had not yet been contacted about a second stolen medal.

A Met Police spokesman said: "An Olympic medal and blazer were reported stolen from a venue in Mayfair in central London.

"It was believed the items were taken between midnight and 5am on Wednesday, October 24."

A host of Olympic and Paralympic stars had earlier been invited to the palace to mark their achievements along with the Queen, Duke of Edinburgh, Duchess of Cambridge, Prime Minister David Cameron and London 2012 chief Lord Coe.

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GDP Boosted By Olympics But Outlook Gloomy

How GDP Is Compiled Really Matters

Updated: 11:12pm UK, Wednesday 24 October 2012

By Ed Conway, Economics Editor

I've covered economics for a decade or so, but I confess that until very recently I didn't really know what GDP really is.

I mean, like most of you I knew it was the broadest and most widely-used measure of our economy's health; that it determines whether we're officially in recession or not (two or more quarters of shrinking GDP equals a recession).

I knew it was the sum of everything spent, earned or made in Britain.

What I didn't know was how it's actually put together.

I guess I vaguely assumed - and I don't think I'm entirely alone - that the Office for National Statistics had some kind of electronic hotline into British business, some privileged access to their numbers, which in turn became the Gross Domestic Product number.

Turns out I was monumentally wrong.

For it transpires that GDP - that big number we're all so focused on, the figure that tells us whether we're in a recession or booming, that can end a political career and swing an election - is actually a big, big survey.

I know this because earlier this month I spent some time in the ONS headquarters in Newport with the team who put together this most significant of all numbers.

For the first time, they allowed cameras into their offices to show how GDP really comes into being - and the genesis might well surprise you.

At this point it might be worth explaining why this matters so much: there is arguably no other number out there that can swing the financial markets quite so much, that can influence Britain's feelgood factor, that dominates the headlines and strikes fear into politicians.

And yet there are many people who question whether we can really rely on the numbers.

Some economists argue that the GDP figures in recent months have painted a far more negative picture of the UK economy than is actually the case.

Some argue that Britain never really experienced a double-dip recession - but that this reality will only ever be confirmed many years into the future when the ONS revises those initial estimates.

So how GDP is put together really matters. And it all starts with the pounds in your pockets.

For the first estimate of GDP - the one today - is created from data collected in surveys of tens of thousands of surveys from businesses around the country - whether they're manufacturers, construction firms, retailers or others.

Each month a large sample of them is asked by the ONS to tell them their turnover (how much money is going through the till), along with a few other industry-specific questions which form part of the retail sales, manufacturing output and other releases.

The turnover number is what matters from the perspective of GDP. They fill the relevant questionnaire in and post it to the ONS (they can also submit the data through an automated telephone system).

When those envelopes arrive there the questionnaires are scanned and the numbers go into the ONS' systems.

The problem is that by the time that first estimate needs to be produced, the ONS only has 44% of the relevant data (the rest arrives in dribs and drabs over the following months, hence the revisions). In particular, the ONS only has early responses for the final month of the quarter.

So there are some pretty big gaps to be filled, and the ONS has to make some estimates about what the other data will eventually say when it comes in.

It relies for this on computer models, backed up by assumptions and calculations from the ONS staff themselves. After they make these calls they meet and discuss them in so-called "balancing meetings": the statisticians ask each other whether the data are reliable and their assumptions have foundation.

During this entire period, those GDP assumptions and the ultimate figure are kept locked up (quite literally - there are safes into which they are put) such that only a dozen or so statisticians actually know the number before it comes out.

So far as anyone knows, there has never been a leak of a number as sensitive as this from the ONS. But 24 hours before the figures are published, selected ministers and officials also get a look.

The figures are revised again a month after that initial release, and then again a month later. During that period, more information has come in from quarterly surveys which measure families' and businesses' incomes, and other spending data.

As I said, GDP can be measured in terms of what we spend, what we earn and what we make - they should all add up to the same number, since what one person buys another person sells. And the extra data furnishes that initial estimate and, occasionally, contradicts it.

The ONS maintains that its record of revisions is acceptable by international standards. It points out that its surveys have far more respondents than those put together by independent competitors.

But some, most notably Kevin Daly of Goldman Sachs, argue that it has a tendency to revise the more distant history so substantially that often periods we thought at the time were slumps were actually booms.

A case in point is the early 1990s: at the time, the ONS said the UK was suffering a double-dip recession.

But by the end of the millennium it had revised its assessment: far from slumping, the UK was actually bouncing back forcefully at that point. When Norman Lamont referred to "green shoots", it turns out he was absolutely right.

Today, the GDP figures have been telling an altogether different story to the unemployment figures, which seem to suggest there never was a double-dip. Based on precedent, we are unlikely to know the definitive story for years to come.

Which implies that the ONS, and the way it puts together this most important of all numbers, will remain in the spotlight for the foreseeable future.

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Woman 'Set Herself On Fire In Staged KKK Attack'

A Louisiana woman who told police she was subjected to a racist attack in which three men set her alight and scrawled KKK on her car was lying, investigators have said.

"The wounds were self-inflicted," Kyle Hanrahan, a spokesman for the FBI's Louisiana bureau said.

Sharmeka Moffitt, 20, was seriously burned in the incident and remains in critical condition.

She called police from a park in the town of Winnsboro on Sunday night and told them three men in white hoodies doused her with a flammable liquid and ignited it.

The letters KKK, for the white supremacist organisation Ku Klux Klan, and a racial slur were scrawled on her car in what appeared to be toothpaste.

According to local media, investigators decided the burns were self-inflicted after finding Ms Moffitt's fingerprints on a cigarette lighters and lighter fluid.

Louisiana's KATC News reported her family had issued a statement saying: "Our family is devastated to learn the circumstances surrounding our daughter's injuries.

"While this was not the resolution we had expected, it is a resolution, and we appreciate the thorough investigation by the local and state police as well as federal agencies.

"We are sincerely sorry for any problems this may have caused and wish to express our appreciation for the outpouring of love, prayers and support we have received from friends, acquaintances, church organisations and government officials."

The FBI was called in to assist local authorities because the incident was initially considered a possible hate crime.

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Obesity: New Food Labelling System Planned

A new food labelling system that is consistent across all supermarkets will make it easier for shoppers to spot the healthiest foods, the government is to announce.

Labels will include information on guideline daily amounts (GDAs), be colour coded with a traffic light system and use the words "high", "medium" or "low" to inform people about how much fat, saturated fat, salt, sugar and calories are inside.

Food nutritionist Nicole Berberian told Sky News: "The main thing that you notice at the moment is that labels are different for each different supplier.

"They could be on the front, they could be on the side, they could be colour-coded, they could be randomly colour-coded, so it's very difficult to know what to look for.

"What we are trying to do is get a uniformed system, so consumers know where to look, what to look for and when they are looking they will know straight away at a glance what it means."

Health minister Anna Soubry said: "By having a consistent system we will all be able to see at a glance what is in our food. This will help us all choose healthier options and control our calorie intake.

"Obesity and poor diet cost the NHS billions of pounds every year. Making small changes to our diet can have a big impact on our health and could stop us getting serious illnesses, such as heart disease, later in life."

Obesity has more than tripled in the last 25 years and more than 60% of adults are now either obese or overweight. About 30% of children are also considered overweight or obese.

Obesity, which is a major risk factor for diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cancer and heart disease, costs the NHS an estimated £5bn each year, and costs the wider economy billions more, according to the Department of Health.

Peter Hollins, chief executive at the British Heart Foundation, said the announcement was "a quantum leap" forward for public health.

"It's now down to each and every retailer and manufacturer to step up and introduce these consistent front of pack food labels, including traffic light colours, so shoppers can make healthy food choices at a glance," he said.

The new label is expected to be in use by next summer but the design is still to be decided.

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Jimmy Savile: BBC Boss Faces MPs Over Scandal

Why Child Abuse Goes Unchallenged

Updated: 4:38am UK, Tuesday 23 October 2012

By Peter Saunders, Chief Executive, NAPAC

I founded and am now privileged to work for NAPAC, the National Association for People Abused in Childhood.

We run the UK's only national free phone support line for adult survivors. We receive letters and emails and we run support groups.

We are a small charity but we have helped thousands in the past and we face the mammoth task of trying to help the thousands coming forward as a result of the Jimmy Savile outrage.

An advertising agency has just made us a poster which in a way sums up why the abuse of our children has gone unchallenged for generation after generation.

Abuse is just too painful for many of us to talk about. Children who speak out are often labelled liars or attention seekers. Many will then keep that secret for the rest of their life.

People who witness abuse, or almost see it..."whoops, I didn't see or want to know about that" really hope it will go away and abusers are never going to admit their vile crimes. And why would they? Abusers ensure there are rarely any witnesses. So children are easily silenced.

And as the Savile allegations have shown, many of his own colleagues who "knew" what was going on kept quiet about it and said nothing.

As one major BBC Radio voice said a few weeks ago "nobody messed with Jimmy". If his colleagues recognised and were intimidated by this man, think how impossible it would have been for a child or young person to speak out?

But I think it would be dangerous to blame the BBC or the 'culture' of the day. Abuse and rape have never been acceptable and I think it is dangerous to somehow equate the alleged permissiveness of the 60's and 70's with these crimes.

The Catholic Church tried to blame their on-going crisis of abusing priests on this ("the 60's").  We must not be fooled. Most abuse occurs within families and they rarely want to confront it.

We are a society which has turned a blind eye to the awful things done to children right under our noses - apart from the occasional hysterical outburst when some "monster paedophile" snatches and murders a child.

Mercifully this is extremely rare and children have always been in more danger under their own roof than anywhere else. That's hard for anyone to stomach, surely? But Savile has got a nation stirred.

I think we are at a turning point in history. I strongly believe that society, the majority who have not suffered abuse, are starting to understand the impact of this heinous and life changing crime.

I have lost count of how many journalists I have spoken to since this Savile revelation and I truly believe they are beginning to 'get it'.

Even more so when you mention..."do you have children"? Would you have wanted Savile or any other kind of child abuser getting his (or her) hands on your child? People start to think.

They start to realise that the greatest threat to this country isn't the banks or the energy companies (okay some might argue they are too) but it is people who hurt our children.

They are sowing the seeds for millions of people to grow up feeling worthless, depressed and of course, in the rarest of cases, very capable of hurting others.

When I was starting out on the path to set up this charity 16 years ago, Sky News' were the first broadcaster to give me a voice. This was swiftly followed by the BBC.

We haven't had much of a voice in the intervening years but I trust and hope that we are now all going to work together to put an end to this curse in our midst.

Yesterday I spotted that NSPCC are recruiting a new Chief Executive. I'm going to apply. A past CEO of that huge charity once told me that he really thought it was time a survivor was put in charge! I agree.

I know I won't be offered the job but if I was one of the first things I would do would be to hold a press conference announcing my plans to suggest that NAPAC merge with NSPCC - then we'd see some serious changes to how we treat our kids!

And I would hope Sky would be right there to witness that important little bit of history. Following that event I am confident our children will be a little bit safer.

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Hacking: Mirror Papers Face Legal Claims

By David Bowden, Senior Correspondent

Newspapers belonging to Trinity Mirror are for the first time to face legal claims for phone hacking, Sky News has learned.

Until now the only company to be sued for illegally snooping on voicemail messages was News Group Newspapers, publishers of the now-defunct News Of The World.

The latest claims allege that the mobile phone messages of the former England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson, Abbie Gibson, former nanny to the Beckham children, ex-Manchester City star Garry Flitcroft and actress Shobna Gulati were all listened to by Mirror group journalists.

Lawyer Mark Lewis: 'We will show there is a smoking bullet'

There have been allegations that hacking was going on at the Mirror titles before, but the publisher of papers including the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and People has always strenuously denied any wrongdoing and there have, as yet, been no legal actions.

Now solicitor Mark Lewis has lodged claims on behalf of his clients.

Piers Morgan: 'No reason to believe (hacking) was going on'

He says that unlike the News Of The World hacking cases, where police found a list of alleged victims in a notebook belonging to private investigator Glen Mulcaire, there is no paper trail this time round.

"There might not be a documentary smoking gun, but we will show there is a smoking bullet, the consequence of the actions," said Mr Lewis.

The former editor of the Daily Mirror, Piers Morgan, wrote a number of articles alleging phone hacking was prevalent in Fleet Street, but told the Leveson Inquiry he had never sanctioned it when he was an editor.

"My own evidence is I had no reason or knowledge to believe it was going on," he told the inquiry earlier this year.

In the summer, Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers, in charge of investigating any criminal aspects of the cases, told MPs she believed there were more than a thousand victims of phone hacking.

Scores of claims have been made against the News Of The World and many of the cases have been settled already with payouts totalling millions of pounds.

The most high profile case involved the hacking of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler's phone and cost the paper £3m.

Actress Sienna Miller reportedly received £100,000 and her former boyfriend, Jude Law, is also among the many celebrities to have won a substantial payout from News Group.

Politicians including former deputy prime minister John Prescott and Respect MP George Galloway have also been paid compensation.

This latest revelation that hacking was allegedly going on at a rival newspaper group will, temporarily at least, take the spotlight off the wrongdoing at the News Of The World.

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Man Charged With Hit-And-Run Murder

A 31-year-old man will appear in court charged with the murder of a mother of three who died in a hit-and-run attack in Cardiff.

The man, whom police have not named, has also been charged with 13 counts of attempted murder and four counts of assault, as well as dangerous driving.

The charges were announced just hours after hundreds of people grieved for Karina Menzies, 31, at a church service in the city.

She was killed on Friday when she was hit by a white van outside Ely Fire Station.

Senior investigating officer Detective Superintendent Paul Hurley said: "South Wales Police has been overwhelmed by the support we have received from the community.

"We wish to express our sincere thanks to the many people who have come forward to give information, provide witness accounts, and offer both CCTV and mobile phone footage of Friday's traumatic and tragic events.

"While a man has been charged, the investigation is still very much ongoing and we still appeal for anyone with information to contact the incident room at Cardiff Central Police Station.

"Our thoughts this evening, as they have been all weekend, are with the family of Karina Menzies."

Candles were lit for the victims at a Cardiff church

The man will appear at Cardiff Magistrates' Court.

Hundreds of people gathered to share their grief at a poignant church and prayer service on Sunday.

The raw emotion in the Welsh capital was evident as 200 people visited the murder scene  to hold a minute's silence for Ms Menzies.

Reverend Jan Gould led a special service at Church of the Resurrection in Ely.

The vicar, who broke down during her morning service at the church, told a packed congregation from the pulpit: "Whether we've personally known one or more of the victims of Friday's terrible events, or whether we are here as a member of this community simply wanting to show solidarity, there can be no one who has not been profoundly affected by what has happened here this week.

"This must surely be perhaps the deepest grief we have shared as a community.

"This grief, of Karina's tragic death ... has broken the heart of our community, and the healing work that is now to be done will take a very, very long time.

"We will never be the same again as a community - for how can we not be changed after such a tragedy."

In her service this evening, Ms Gould pleaded with her congregation to respond to the events with love.

She told the 600 strong congregation: "The only way that we can move forward into the future with hope, is by responding to this suffering the same way Jesus did - with love.

"Not malice, not hatred, not revenge. Not taking the law into our own hands - that's what our justice system is for."

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BBC 'In Crisis' Over Jimmy Savile Scandal

The BBC is said to be facing "its worst crisis for 50 years", as a documentary lifts the lid on the extent to which senior managers of the corporation were aware of the Jimmy Savile abuse claims.

A special edition of Panorama reveals fresh evidence about what the BBC knew of Savile's decades of child abuse and its investigation into why Newsnight spiked its probe into the scandal, sparking allegations of a cover-up.

The BBC flagship programme, which airs tonight, examines why corporation chiefs - including the Director General - gave different explanations why Newsnight was dropped and what it was about.

Newsnight editor Peter Rippon maintains the piece - which was due to run last December - was pulled for editorial reasons, and not because the potentially damaging revelations coincided with a planned tribute to the star.

But the hour-long documentary will hear from Newsnight producer Meirion Jones and reporter Liz MacKean, who both claim they had interviewed at least four alleged victims of Savile - and confirmed with Surrey Police that they had investigated sex abuse complaints against the Jim'll Fix It star in 2007.

They say that when they told bosses the Crown Prosecution Service did not charge Savile because of insufficient evidence, they were told to end the investigation - and the show was withdrawn.

The programme also calls into question Director General George Entwistle's handling of the crisis in the days after it broke.

Questions over how Director General George Entwistle has handled the crisis

On October 5, Mr Entwistle wrote an email to all staff about the crisis the corporation found itself engulfed in, saying "the BBC Newsnight programme investigated Surrey Police's enquiry into Jimmy Savile towards the end of 2011".

But Meirion Jones sent an email reply to Mr Entwistle on the same day taking issue with his account.

He wrote: "George - one note - the investigation was into whether Jimmy Savile was a paedophile - I know because it was my investigation. We didn't know that Surrey police had investigated Jimmy Savile - no-one did - that was what we found when we investigated and interviewed his victims."

The abuse stories about Savile only fully emerged after ITV broadcast a documentary at the start of this month - sparking mayhem at the BBC over losing its scoop and leading to the cover-up allegations.

Panorama said it has failed to find evidence of a "BBC cover-up" over the Newsnight decision.

In a statement, the programme said: "Peter Rippon has always maintained the story was pulled for 'editorial reasons' and not because of a potentially embarrassing clash with planned BBC tributes to Savile over Christmas.

"Panorama has found no evidence to contradict that view."

But the BBC's veteran foreign affairs editor John Simpson said of the fallout: "This is the worst crisis that I can remember in my nearly 50 years at the BBC. I don't think the BBC has handled it terribly well.

"I mean I think it's better to just come out right at the start and say we're going to open everything up and then we're going to show everybody everything.

"All we have as an organisation is the trust of the people the people that watch us and listen to us and if we don't have that, if we start to lose that, that's very dangerous I think for the BBC."

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Tebbit: 'PM Incompetent Over Mitchell Row'

David Cameron has been criticised by Conservative grandee Lord Tebbit following Andrew Mitchell's resignation as chief whip.

He said the Prime Minister had allowed "this dog of a coalition Government" to look incompetent.

Accused of calling police officers "plebs" when they would not let him leave Downing Street on his bicycle through the main gates, Mr Mitchell finally quit his Cabinet post on Friday.

Despite the unequivocal support of Mr Cameron, Mr Mitchell admitted that the ongoing row had made his position untenable.

Writing in The Observer, Lord Tebbit said: "This dog of a coalition Government has let itself be given a bad name and now anybody can beat it.

"It has let itself be called a Government of unfeeling toffs. Past governments have had far more real Tory toffs: prime ministers Alec Douglas-Home and Harold Macmillan, or even in Thatcher's day, Whitelaw, Soames, Hailsham, Carrington, Gowrie, Joseph, Avon, Trenchard and plenty more, without incurring similar abuse."

He added: "The abiding sin of the Government is not that some ministers are rich, but that it seems unable to manage its affairs competently."

Andrew Mitchell resigned on Friday

A Cabinet minister in Margaret Thatcher's government, Lord Tebbit said Mr Cameron needed to impose "some managerial discipline not just on his colleagues but on himself".

The criticism comes amid reports that Mr Mitchell decided to step down after younger Tory MPs from the 2010 intake made clear their hostility when Parliament returned this week.

Many were dismayed that the row dragged on for so long and that Mr Mitchell - who did not attend the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham earlier this month - had not been sacked by the PM.

It has been a disastrous week for Mr Cameron following Mr Mitchell's decision to quit and reports George Osborne tried to sit in a first class train carriage with only a standard ticket - claims which have been firmly rejected by the Chancellor.

He will attempt to shore up his authority and move on from recent events in a speech next week in which he will call for a new "tough but intelligent" approach to law and order.

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Prayers For Hit-And-Run Dead And Injured

A special church service will be held today for the 14 victims of a series of hit-and-run attacks in Cardiff, which left a mother of three dead and 13 others injured.

Karina Menzies, 32, was killed after she was knocked down during one of the collisions involving a white van outside a fire station in the Ely area of the city on Friday.

Thirteen others were injured in the crashes on the streets of the Welsh capital. Two of the injured adults are in a critical condition and five children are also receiving treatment.

The service, at Church of the Resurrection on Grand Avenue, will take place from 5pm.

Meanwhile, detectives were last night granted a further 36 hours to question a 31-year-old man on suspicion of murder.

Officers are also appealing for information about a mystery car seen driving on the wrong side of the road shortly before the crashes.

Adam and Annie Lewis were walking with their daughter when they were hit

The black Renault Clio was seen on Western Avenue, not far from Cowbridge Road West, where one crash happened. There were no full registration details for the Clio but officers said it carried an 05 plate.

CCTV images show the moment a white van swerved across four lanes of traffic, mounted the kerb and crashed into Adam and Annie Lewis and their two-year-old daughter, Amelia-May.

Amelia-May's grandmother, Maureen Lewis, said the toddler was catapulted from her pushchair into the air and suffered injuries to her face. She said Annie suffered a broken leg.

Detective Superintendent Paul Hurley confirmed reports that the suspect left his vehicle and physically assaulted people between the crashes and also carried a weapon.

It is believed the weapon was a steering wheel lock.

Father Adam Lewis (top), mother Annie (right) and two-year-old Amelia-May

The officer said: "We are aware the suspect assaulted people outside his vehicle," and he added police were "looking to identify and recover" the weapon.

He said no firearm was involved and there was no suggestion anyone had been stabbed.

According to unconfirmed reports, police are also investigating whether the driver was involved in a domestic incident before the rampage.

The horrific events began when police received calls about an incident in Crossways Road in Ely at 3.30pm.

This was soon followed by other reports of hit-and-run collisions in several locations in the west of the city, including Grand Avenue, Cowbridge Road West and the Leckwith Retail Park.

Seventy officers are working on the investigation.

Floral tributes were laid at the scene where Ms Menzies was killed.

Police were called to five locations in Cardiff

Among those paying their respects was local Labour MP Kevin Brennan.

He said: "Karina was a well-liked mother who had three children. One of her children is disabled and is currently on a dream holiday in Florida."

Ely sub-postmaster Shady Taha, 29, had just served two girls aged about 10 and a woman in her mid-20s moments before one of the hit-and-runs in Grand Avenue, immediately outside a row of shops.

He said: "All of a sudden I heard a bang. I looked out and across the road one girl was on the floor and the other girl was screaming. I heard a van speed off but I did not see it."

Lynda Paterson, who lives in Cowbridge Road West, described the scene outside her house as chaotic.

The white van pictured after being stopped by police

"I was going to pick my children up from school and I could see there were police and someone was lying on the floor, on the pavement."

Other eyewitnesses said pedestrians were deliberately targeted by someone driving a white van.

The crime scenes included Ely fire station, an area near the Merrie Harrier pub in Llandough on the outskirts of Cardiff, where the suspect was arrested, and Leckwith Retail Park - next to the Cardiff City Stadium.

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Cardiff Hit-And-Runs: Tributes To Dead Mother

Tributes have been paid to a mother of three who died in a series of hit-and-run crashes in Cardiff, which also left seven children injured.

The woman was named locally as 32-year-old mother Karina Menzies, who died after she was knocked down outside a fire station in the Welsh capital.

A 31-year-old man, arrested on suspicion of murder, remains in police custody for questioning in the wake of the collisions, which occurred at five different locations in the Ely and Leckwith areas.

A total of seven children and four adults were injured in the crashes.

Friends of Miss Menzies have expressed their grief on social networking sites.

Facebook user Katy Johanna Benson wrote: "Rest in piece (sic) Karina Menzies. Sleep tight beautiful angel and may the scum responsible for this senseless, evil murder be brought to justice. Cant (sic) imagine what her family are feeling."

The drama began when South Wales Police received calls about an accident on Crossways Road in Ely at 3.30pm on Friday.

One eyewitness reported a woman being dragged along underneath the vehicle suffering terrible injuries.

Police were called to five locations in Cardiff

There were soon reports of hit-and-run collisions in several locations in the west of the city, including Grand Avenue, Cowbridge Road West and the Leckwith Retail Park.

Ely sub-postmaster Shady Taha, 29, served two girls and a young woman moments before one of the hit-and-runs in Grand Avenue, immediately outside a row of shops.

He said the two girls, aged about 10, and a woman in her mid-20s had been browsing the birthday cards in the store before buying a jar of coffee and leaving.

"All of a sudden I heard a bang. I looked out and across the road one girl was on the floor and the other girl was screaming," he said.

"I heard a van speed off but I did not see it."

Other residents said pedestrians were deliberately targeted by someone driving a van.

Ramesh Patel, who runs RM Patel Convenience Stores on Cowbridge Road West, said: "I was in the shop working at the time so I didn't actually see anything but customers have said a white van purposely drove at people.

Police examine the scene of one of the crashes

"Obviously, when someone tries to run you down deliberately that is frightening, not pleasant at all.

"I was working here in the store so I didn't see that myself but that is what most people who have come in here have said. People seem very shocked."

Superintendent Julian Williams said the suspect was arrested while driving a white Iveco transit van and was taken to Cardiff Bay police station.

"Whether the actions were deliberate or reckless is a matter for the inquiry and the person will obviously be spoken to," he added.

The injured were taken to the city's University Hospital of Wales, where the A&E department was initially shut to anyone not involved in the crashes, but has since reopened.

Dr Grahame Shortland, medical director at the hospital, said those being treated mostly had fractures and head injuries.

Cardiff NHS had appealed for blood donors in the immediate aftermath.

South Wales Police is asking anyone with any information on the collisions to contact them on 01656 655555.

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Woman And Two Children Die In House Fire

Three people have died following a fire at a property in Maes Y Groes, Prestatyn, North Wales, police have said.

A  20-year-old woman, a boy aged four and a girl aged two were pronounced dead at the scene by firefighters.

Two other people - a 23-year-old man and a 15-month-old baby - were taken to hospital after the blaze broke out last night.

A spokeswoman for North Wales Police said: "Firefighters from North Wales Fire and Rescue Service were called to a fire at a property in Maes Y Groes, Prestatyn, at 10pm on Friday.

"Two fire crews from Rhyl and a crew from Prestatyn attended the incident and firefighters wearing breathing apparatus entered the property."

The crews recovered the five people inside, she added.

A joint investigation is being carried out between North Wales Fire and Rescue Service and North Wales Police.

More follows...

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Nick Griffin: Gay Couple Tweets Investigated

Police are investigating comments allegedly made on Twitter by BNP leader Nick Griffin about a gay couple at the centre of a landmark legal ruling.

The MEP is alleged to have published the address of Michael Black and John Morgan on the social networking site and called for a demonstration to be held outside their home.

Cambridgeshire Police last night said it was investigating the incident and Dyfed-Powys Police said it was liaising with the force.

The alleged tweets, under the username @nickgriffinmep, followed Mr Black, 64, and his 59-year-old partner Mr Morgan's win against the owner of bed and breakfast accommodation who refused to let them stay in a double room because of her religious views.

The couple, from Brampton, near Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, sought damages from Susanne Wilkinson after she would not let them have the room at the Swiss Bed and Breakfast in Cookham, Berkshire, in March 2010 despite them having made a reservation and paid a deposit.

One of the complained tweets read: "So Messrs Black & Morgan, at (their address). A British Justice team will come up to Huntington & give you a...

"...bit of drama by way of reminding you that an English couple's home is their castle. Say No to heterophobia!"

Twitter users trying to access the account were subsequently told it had been suspended.

The Cambridgeshire Police spokeswoman said: "We have received a number of calls in relations to the tweets and are looking into the complaints we have received.

"Officers will also visit the men mentioned in the tweets as part of our inquiries."

One of the tweets included a home address, she confirmed.

The case at Reading County Court concluded the couple had suffered unlawful discrimination.

At the time, Mr Black, an exams consultant and writer, protested at their treatment but the owner refused to allow them to stay as it was "against her convictions".

Mrs Wilkinson, a married mother-of-four, considered that providing a double bed to the couple, who are not in a civil partnership, would involve her in promoting what she believed to be a sin, namely sexual relations outside heterosexual marriage, the court heard.

Recorder Claire Moulder found that Mr Black and Mr Morgan, a computer consultant, had been the victims of direct discrimination.

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Perversion Files: Decades of Scout Abuse Revealed

Confidential papers showing US scout leaders covered up generations of alleged sexual abuse inflicted on their young members have been published.

The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) has released decades worth of so-called "perversion files", showing how a range of authorities - from police to church pastors - quietly allowed scoutmasters and others accused of molesting children to go free.

In many instances - more than a third, according to the Scouts' own count - police were not told about the reports of abuse. And even when they were, sometimes local law enforcement did nothing, seeking to protect the reputation of Scouting.

The Oregon Supreme Court ordered the papers, dating from 1959 to 1985 – and a handful from later years -to be released, despite objections played out in a lengthy legal battle from the Boy Scouts.

The boxes of newly released files containing allegations of sexual abuse

The 14,500 pages of confidential files, including handwritten notes, reveal details of alleged abuses by more than 1,200 scout leaders and other adults.

Officially called the Boy Scouts Ineligible Volunteer Files, some of the papers had been released previously, but others were made public for the first time.

In one case from the files, a distraught mother walked into a Louisiana sheriff's office in 1965 and said a 31-year-old scoutmaster had raped one of her sons and molested two others.

Six days later, the scoutmaster sat down in front of a microphone in the same station and confessed. He admitted to raping a 17-year-old boy on a camping trip and sexually molesting two other boys. The victims corroborated his confession.

"They just occurred," the scoutmaster said.

A boy scout statue outside the organisation's American HQ

Seven days later, the decision was made not to pursue charges against him.

The man "was asked to leave the parish, and if he was caught around or near any boy or youth organisation, he would be sent to state prison immediately", a Scouting executive wrote to national headquarters. "We are indeed sorry that Scouting was involved."

The files also show Scouting volunteers serving in the military overseas molesting American children living abroad and sometimes continuing to molest after returning to the States.

The lawyers who unveiled the files said BSA had not done enough to root out paedophiles using the youth movement to prey on minors.

"What these files represent is ... the pain and the anguish of thousands of scouts," said lawyer Paul Mones, while presenting details of the files at a press conference in the northwestern US city of Portland.

A Boy Scouts of America handbook

Mr Mones said the files "demonstrate the depth and breadth of the BSA's vast knowledge about the threats to scouts by scoutmasters and adult leaders who used their authority ... to sexually molest generations of boys".

The lawyers highlighted a 2010 court case, in which an assistant scoutmaster in a Mormon Church-sponsored troop sexually molested a boy in the 1980s.

The abuser involved had previously confessed to molesting 17 other boys in the troop, but was allowed to return to scouting within a few months and then found a new victim.

Responding to the release, BSA national leader Wayne Perry reiterated an apology to the victims.

He said: "There have been instances where people misused their positions ... to abuse children, and in certain cases, our response to these incidents and our efforts to protect youth were plainly insufficient, inappropriate or wrong.

The uniform worn by Boy Scouts of America

"Where those involved in Scouting failed to protect, or worse, inflicted harm on children, we extend our deepest and sincere apologies to victims and their families."

In a statement on its website, BSA also said it has improved its procedures to ensure safety, including now requiring background checks and formal training of its leaders.

But Mr Mones said the organisation, founded as part of the international Scouting Movement in 1910, has not done enough.

The BSA have "made some improvements, but we think there's more still to be done," said the lawyer, noting that on average each abuser typically molested between five and 25 scouts.

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MP Expenses: Attempt To Block New Rent Details

The House of Commons Speaker John Bercow is trying to block the publication of details of MPs' expenses which could show if they are renting their taxpayer-funded homes to each other, it has been reported.

Mr Bercow has written to the regulator urging it not to release documents revealing the identities of MPs' landlords for security reasons, according to The Daily Telegraph.

The newspaper said disclosure would expose the extent to which MPs are taking advantage of a "loophole" which allows them to rent properties to each other.

It said the concession meant MPs could still build up property nest eggs at the taxpayer's expense, despite moves to stamp out the practice following the expenses scandal.

However Mr Bercow was said to have written to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) warning that its plan to reveal the identities of MPs' landlords had given rise to "grave concerns" about security.

The Telegraph quoted the letter as saying: "The processing of the data ...could involve causing unwarranted damage and distress. I should be grateful if you and your colleagues would reconsider such a plan."

Labour MP John Mann said the attempt to prevent the publication of the details appeared to be  a "return to the bad old days".

"If MPs are renting from past or current MPs it is right and proper the public is able to know that," he told the paper.

"There is nothing wrong with that, and there is nothing wrong in it being out there in the open. I have no problem in MPs renting it (a flat) out but the public is entitled to know that."

A spokesman for Ipsa told the Telegraph: "We are committed to transparency as is shown by our regular publication of all claims by all MPs. We have a duty to balance that against the risk of compromising security.

"We are currently going through the process of gathering all the relevant information to get that judgment right."

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New York Bank Bomb Plot Foiled In FBI Sting

FBI Terror Stings Key To Security

Updated: 5:53am UK, Thursday 18 October 2012

By Hannah Thomas-Peter, New York Correspondent

The FBI sting operation against Quazi Mohammad Nafis reads like something out of a James Bond plot, but it is not uncommon for the federal police to trap suspected terrorists in this way.

Just eight months ago a man of Moroccan descent was arrested on his way to the US Capitol in Washington DC.

He thought he was going on a suicide attack and the undercover FBI agents assisting him were al Qaeda associates.

In November 2011, the NYPD carried out a similar sting on 27-year-old Jose Pimentel.

The police said he was an al Qaeda sympathiser inspired by the radical and now dead US-born cleric Anwar al Awlaki.

Pimentel thought he was wrapped up in a secret plot to bomb police and post office targets.

And in December 2010, a man from Baltimore was trapped in another fake scheme - this time to detonate a car bomb at a US armed forces recruitment centre in Maryland.

The FBI is constantly monitoring people of interest and people they believe to pose a real threat to the US.

Sting operations are always very carefully controlled, and in New York, usually also involve NYPD counter-terror specialists.

One of the reasons for using stings is that large amounts of evidence can be collected by the agents involved, allowing for a higher chance of successful prosecution if the case gets to trial.

In this city such operations are almost always overseen by what is known as the New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, or JTTF.

The NY JTTF is an FBI-led umbrella group encompassing more than 50 different agencies and 500 investigators.

It is a busy place to work.

Since 9/11 there have been 15 foiled plots against New York, including ones targeting the Brooklyn Bridge and the New York Stock Exchange.

To combat the ongoing threat of an attack, and in part to make the public feel safe as they move around Manhattan, over 1,000 NYPD officers are assigned specifically to counter-terror duties every day.

Following the Nafis operation, NYPD Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said: "Al Qaeda operatives and those they have inspired have tried time and again to make New York City their killing field.

"After 11 years without a successful attack, it's understandable if the public becomes complacent, but that's a luxury law enforcement can't afford."

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England Fans Furious As Poland Game Rained Off

England's World Cup qualifying match against Poland has been called off after torrential rain left the pitch unplayable.

The rescheduled game in Warsaw will now be played at 4pm this afternoon.

Kick-off had been delayed by 45 minutes to allow for two pitch inspections, but referee Gianluca Rocchi finally decided to postpone the match as the playing surface remained badly waterlogged.

Officials said the retractable roof on the National Stadium - a key venue for Euro 2012 - could not be closed because the wind and rain was too intense.

England manager Roy Hodgson said he was happy with the rescheduled time. "I think it was the only decision that could be made.

"There're no other possibilities. You can't find dates at international level. The dates that are available are all taken up so you can't just suddenly decide we'll play it another time.

"What you have to do is to try to organise to get the game played as quickly as possible. We'll have to go back to the hotel. We're disappointed."

It was the first time an England match had been called off due to the weather since 1979.

England fans take down flags after the match is called off

The decision was greeted with jeers by fans who had packed the stadium - including around 2,000 England supporters.

It seemed obvious from the initial inspection, as the ball repeatedly got bogged down in massive puddles, there was no way the match could go ahead.

It is believed the England players had changed out of their kit and were ready to leave as long as half an hour before the official decision was announced.

The only real action was a pitch invasion by two fans, who skidded across the penalty areas.

They were pursued by security staff, whose comical splashing made it obvious what was to happen.

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US Presidential Race: Obama And Romney Clash

President Barack Obama and his Republican rival Mitt Romney have clashed over both foreign and domestic policy in a feisty live TV presidential debate.

One of the standout moments in the second of three head-to-heads between the candidates came when the pair sparred over last month's attack on a US diplomatic mission in Libya.

The President accused his White House contender of playing politics with national security while Mr Romney hit back by accusing Mr Obama of going on a fundraising tour on the day after the deadly September 11 assault on the Benghazi consulate, and declaring his Middle East policy was "unravelling."

In a television debate that was deemed much more lively and aggressive than the first one, Mr Romney said the President's team either did not know all the details - or did not tell the truth - about the death of four Americans there immediately after the attacks.

Mr Obama admitted for the first time that responsibility for what happened at the consulate in Libya stopped with him and no one else.

But at one point, former Massachusetts governor Mr Romney appeared to get his facts wrong about Mr Obama's handling of the shootings and how soon afterwards he described it as an act of terrorism.

In a fierce exchange, Mr Obama called upon transcripts to prove his challenger was incorrect and expressed outrage at the Republican's implication that he used the attack to his political advantage.

"The suggestion that anybody on my team, whether it's a secretary of state, our UN ambassador, anybody on my team, would play politics or mislead when we've lost four of our own, Governor, is offensive," Mr Obama said wagging his finger at his opponent across the stage.

With three weeks to go until the US election, Mr Obama fought to reverse a dramatic slide in the polls that has given Mr Romney a lead for the first time in over a year.

They took questions from 80 undecided voters at a town hall-style forum on New York's Long Island.

The tension between the two contenders was obvious almost from the start when they clashed over domestic oil production.

During a discussion about immigration, Mr Obama and Mr Romney were side-tracked and ended up making digs at each other over their respective financial arrangements.

In another animated moment, Mr Romney was asked by one voter how he differed from fellow Republican George Bush. The White House hopeful responded by saying he took an alternative stance on energy policy, China and deficits.

But the President said his biggest difference was that his Republican rival is more extreme on social issues than Mr Bush, who left office deeply unpopular.

Mr Romney said that he would govern under different conditions that would allow him to make North America energy independent from Arab and Venezuelan oil.

He also claimed he would crack down on China's currency manipulation and cut the deficit by increasing trade.

The President concluded the debate by bringing up Mr Romney's now notorious 47% remark. The Republican had to apologise earlier in the month after he was secretly filmed making disparaging comments about nearly half of Americans who do not pay income taxes.

The debate, watched by millions, was won by Mr Obama, according to an instant CBS poll at the end.

The final faceoff between the candidates before the November 6 election will be held next Monday in Florida.

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Jimmy Savile: Labour Demands New Abuse Probe

Labour has called for the Government to set up an independent inquiry into the Jimmy Savile sex abuse scandal to "do right by the victims".

On Monday, Culture Secretary Maria Miller dismissed demands for an independent inquiry, saying she was "confident" BBC chiefs were taking the claims "very seriously".

But Labour leader Ed Miliband said the BBC's internal investigations were not enough.

Speaking to ITV1's The Agenda, he said: "These are horrific allegations. In order to do right by the victims I don't think the BBC can lead their own inquiry.

"We need a broad look at all the public institutions involved - the BBC, parts of the NHS and Broadmoor. This has got to be independent."

The abuse is thought to have spanned six decades

Labour wants an independent inquiry to have the power to demand documentation and witnesses. It should look into Savile's activities at the BBC, Stoke Mandeville hospital and Broadmoor, the party said.

"I think we now have enough set of allegations and further allegations to know this is not some isolated set of incidents," Mr Miliband said.

"This seems to be a pattern of activity which spanned a number of institutions. As I say, I just think about the victims in this. This is absolutely horrific and will scar people for life. And I think for them, the BBC - good institution though it is - I don't think they can lead their own inquiry."

Prior to Labour's demand, Ms Miller told the Commons that the allegations had "wide-ranging implications for a number of public institutions" but rejected calls for an outside inquiry to restore the public's faith, warning it could hamper police investigations.

"In terms of a wider inquiry, we have a police investigation on-going at the moment," she said. "Everybody would agree that it is really important that those individuals who have been victims know that that investigation can go on unfettered and that that should be our priority at this stage."

New BBC boss George Entwistle has announced three internal investigations

She cited the three seperate internal investigations already launched by the BBC into the affair.

Commons culture committee chairman John Whittingdale said BBC director-general George Entwistle had offered to appear before the committee next week and said he was "sure" MPs would take him up on the offer.

Leeds North East MP Fabian Hamilton said his constituents, who turned out in their thousands to pay tribute to the broadcaster when he died, felt "betrayed and angry".

Police believe the DJ and television presenter's alleged catalogue of child sex abuse could have spanned six decades and included around 60 victims.

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House Fire: Motive Sought Over Family Deaths

Police say a doctor who lost his wife and four children in a suspected arson attack on their home in Essex "fought hard" to save them.

Four of the victims - Sabah Usmani, who was also a doctor, and her sons Sohaib, 13, and Rayyan, six, and 11-year-old daughter Hira - died in the blaze in Barn Mead, Harlow, in the early hours of Monday.

A third son, nine-year-old Muneeb, was rescued with his three-year-old sister Maheen. Both were taken to the town's Princess Alexandra Hospital in a critical condition, but Muneeb died later.

Maheen remains critical and has been transferred to a specialist burns unit at the Broomfield hospital in Chelmsford.

The children's father, Dr Abdul Shakoor, works at the Princess Alexandra Hospital where he is being treated for minor burns and smoke inhalation. His condition is described as stable.

Dr Shakoor apparently escaped the fire by jumping from a first-floor window and is said by police to have "fought hard to save his family in appalling conditions". He is not being treated as a suspect.

Dr Shakour and his wife Sabah Usmani

Police are working to establish a possible motive for the attack. There had been no previous problems with racism in the area, although there have been other arson attacks on cars nearby, officers said.

One possible line of enquiry is that the family were not the intended target of the attackers.

Witness reports suggest between one and four people were in the area at the time. Such sightings will form a key part of the investigation, police said.

Assistant Chief Constable Gary Beautridge said: "In the history of Essex Police, seldom has there been an incident of this gravity, in which five people, four of them children, have lost their lives.

"I would like to stress that the father of these children was in the property at the time and fought hard to save his family in appalling conditions."

Mr Beautridge said Dr Shakoor was "in severe shock". He added: "Our work with (him) to establish some of the facts of this case will, inevitably, take time because of the emotional trauma he has suffered."

A torched car was found close to the burning house

One neighbour told Sky News the doctor was in his dressing gown, screaming "get my family out" and had to be physically restrained from going inside the house.

Emergency services were called to Barn Mead at 1.48am. They found a burning car and an end-of-terrace house "engulfed" with flames coming out of the front and back doors.

Firefighters wearing breathing equipment battled "punishing" conditions inside before pulling out six people, Chief Fire Officer David Johnson, from Essex Fire and Rescue, told Sky News.

It is believed the fire started downstairs.

Mr Johnson said: "The first crews that arrived were actually confronted initially by a car that was alight so thought they were dealing with a car fire, but almost immediately became aware that there was a very developed house fire almost adjacent to where the car fire was.

"It was a very, very, hot, intense fire."

Because of its ferocity detectives are investigating whether it was started with some kind of fuel. The house has been sealed off for forensic examination.

Police have cordoned off the scene

Although the blazing Ford car found nearby was not connected with the family, it is also being treated as arson. Mr Johnson said it was highly likely the two fires were related.

Originally from Karachi, Pakistan, Dr Shakoor and his wife lived in Saudi Arabia, where their children were born, before moving to Manchester and then Harlow.

Mrs Usmani was also a doctor, although she stayed at home and cared for the children.

Parvez Hamid, 43, and Safia Anwar, 38, have known the couple since they moved to Harlow in 2011.

Their children attended the nearby Abbotsweld Primary School with some of the Shakoor children.

Mrs Anwar said: "They were a wonderful family. The children were best friends with our own.

"We would see them at (the) mosque and at the school gates. They were just such a lovely family.

Officers are asking for anyone with information to contact them

"I last saw Sabah on Friday. She seemed normal with no worries at all.

"I heard what happened from a friend who lived nearby. It has come as such a shock to us all and it is still sinking in. We are absolutely devastated."

Mr Hamid said: "Their children were so well behaved and I was always envious that mine weren't the same.

"They were hardworking parents who will be missed. The Asian community is very tight-knit in this area and we are all in shock."

Workers at the Princess Alexandra Hospital have told Sky News Dr Shakoor was a highly respected member of staff.

Chief Executive Melanie Walker said: "The hospital is deeply saddened by the tragic circumstances which have occurred."

Detective Superintendent Rob Vinson, who is leading the inquiry, said it was likely the fire was started deliberately and asked anyone with information to contact police.

He said the local community and Islamic groups could hold the answer, adding: "I fully appreciate the community will be devastated. Nobody expects such a catastrophic incident in their own neighbourhood."

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