Egypt Anniversary: Mass Demonstrations Expected

Mass demonstrations are expected across Egypt today a year to the day since Mohamed Morsi came to power.

In Cairo, thousands of people gathered on Tahrir Square, the seat of the uprising of 2011. Others gathered outside the presidential palace several miles away, which was under heavy guard.

Liberal leaders say nearly half the voting population - 22 million people - have signed a petition calling for change.

But Mr Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood and militant allies pledge to defend what they say is the legitimate order.

Several people have been killed and hundreds wounded in days of street fighting across the country.

Yesterday, an American student who was killed during violent clashes in the southern city of Alexandria, was identified as Andrew Pochter, 21, from Maryland.

Andrew Pochter was killed in Alexandria

Mr Morsi calls opponents bad losers backed by "thugs" from the rule of Hosni Mubarak.

He is banking on the "Tamarud - Rebel!" coalition fizzling out, as other challenges in the streets have done since he took power a year ago today.

An economic crisis deepened by unrest and political deadlock may spur many less partisan Egyptians to join the rallies, due to start in the afternoon in Cairo.

But many, too, are weary of turmoil and are sceptical that the opposition's demand to reset the rules of the new democracy is better than soldiering on.

Recent days have seen intense street fighting

US President Barack Obama called on Egyptians to focus on dialogue. His ambassador to Egypt has angered the opposition by suggesting protests are not helping the economy.

Liberal leaders, fractious and defeated in a series of ballots last year, hope that by putting millions on the streets they can force Mr Morsi to relent.

Religious authorities have warned of "civil war".

The army has said it will step in if violence gets out of control but insists it will respect the "will of the people".

Mr Morsi, who on Saturday met the head of the military he appointed last year, interprets that to mean army support for election results.

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Meat From Diseased Cattle Sold By Defra

Meat from diseased cattle, slaughtered after testing positive for bovine tuberculosis (bTB), is being sold for human consumption by Defra, the food and farming ministry has said.

The raw meat, from around 28,000 diseased animals a year, is banned by most supermarkets and burger chains, The Sunday Times reported.

Tesco, for example, rejects it because of "public-health concerns surrounding the issue of bTB and its risk to consumers".

But it is being sold to some caterers and food processors, and finding its way into schools, hospitals and the military, or being processed into products such as pies and pasties, the newspaper said.

A Defra spokeswoman said: "All meat from cattle slaughtered due to bovine TB must undergo rigorous food safety checks before it can be passed fit for consumption.

"The Food Standards Agency has confirmed there are no known cases where TB has been transmitted through eating meat and the risk of infection from eating meat, even if raw or undercooked, remains extremely low."

The meat is sold with no warning to processors or consumers that it comes from bTB infected cattle.

Asked whether the public should know whether or not the meat they are buying originated from an infected cow, a spokeswoman for the Food Standards Agency said: "The public do not need to know anything more about that meat other than it is fit for human consumption."

If an inspection of a carcass reveals tuberculous lesions in more than one organ or region it is declared unfit for human consumption and destroyed, she explained.

But if only the lymph nodes in one organ or part of the carcass is infected, then that area is removed and the rest is considered safe to enter the food chain.

She added: "Cooking this meat would be an additional safety step, but we would emphasise the risk even before cooking is very low."

The Sunday Times reported that Defra's reassurances contrasted with experts' warnings who have said rising levels of bTB in cattle are becoming a serious threat to human health.

Such claims have been used to justify a cull of tens of thousands of badgers which, are said by some, to help spread the disease between cattle.

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Mandela: South African President Cancels Trip

President Jacob Zuma has cancelled his trip to Mozambique, as the goverment says Nelson Mandela's condition "remains critical".

Mr Zuma cancelled his trip, which had been scheduled for today, after visiting Mr Mandela in hospital where he "found him to be still in a critical condition", according to a statement from the President's office.

The announcement comes after sources confirmed to Sky News that Mr Mandela was no longer able to breathe unassisted.

The 94-year-old anti-apartheid leader was taken to a Pretoria hospital with a recurring lung infection on June 8, where he has now been treated for 19 days.

Stuart Ramsay, Sky News' Chief Correspondent, who is in South Africa, said: "Nelson Mandela's tribal leaders have been told to prepare for the death of the former president, who remains in hospital unable to breathe without support.

People bring get well messages to Mr Mandela

"The advice comes after meetings with the family over the past two days.

"Senior tribal leaders - including Mr Mandela's tribal heir, grandson Mandla Mandela - were expected to visit the hospital for further talks with family members.

"In the Eastern Cape, where Mr Mandela will be buried, a member of the tribal authority confirmed that the clan had been told that he is extremely ill and although it is against Xhosa tradition to even discuss the death of a living person, they should prepare for the worst."

The statement from the President's office said that Mr Zuma was briefed on Mr Mandela's condition by the doctors treating him.

Speaking earlier in the week Mr Zuma said: "We must support him and support his family.

The Obama family arrives in Senegal on their Africa tour on Wednesday

"We must demonstrate our love and appreciation for his leadership during the struggle for liberation and in our first few years of freedom and democracy by living out his legacy and promoting unity, non-racialism, non-sexism and prosperity in our country."

US President Barack Obama arrived in Senegal on Wednesday to begin his first significant tour of Africa during which he had planned to visit South Africa.

The White House has said that it will defer to Mandela's family over whether the President would visit his political hero in hospital.

Michelle Obama and her daughters met Mr Mandela during a trip in 2011

However, South Africa's foreign minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said that a meeting with the former South African leader would be impossible.

The two men met in 2005 when Mr Obama was a newly elected senator and  the former South African president was in Washington and have spoken by telephone since.

They have not met in person since then, although Michelle Obama met with Mr Mandela during a trip in 2011.

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Hundreds Of Billions To Boost British Economy

By Poppy Trowbridge, Business and Economics Correspondent

The Government has promised hundreds of billions of pounds in extra infrastructure spending by the year 2020 to boost the British economy.

The investment is due to begin as soon as 2015 with £50bn spent on capital projects that year.

Announcing the plans as part of his spending review, Chancellor George Osborne said on Wednesday: "From roads to railways, bridges to broadband, science to schools: it will amount to over £300bn pounds of capital spending guaranteed to the end of this decade.

"Today we raise our national game."

At the same time, the government is also slashing a further £11.5bn of costs across Whitehall from 2015.

Nick Prior, head of government and infrastructure at Deloitte told Sky News: "They've announced some high level numbers today and that's encouraging.

"If it is more than rhetoric, it could be quite powerful, it could really be a driver for the UK economy.

"We wait to see if that's going to be incremental investment in infrastructure and real capital spend. Or is it just going to be a rehash of previous statements?"

Since the financial collapse, years of cuts and austerity have been exacerbated by the lack of economic growth.

Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls was critical: "There is no point in boasting about infrastructure investment in five or seven years' time, we need action now."

He added that infrastructure investment in the first three months of 2013 is down by 50%.

On Thursday, Danny Alexander, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, will announce around £100bn in specific infrastructure projects.

About £3bn of the spending announced on Wednesday is earmarked for affordable housing.

The plans will also see the London mayor Boris Johnson get about £9bn of extra finance over the next several years.

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Spending Review: Osborne To Cut Budgets

By Jon Craig, Chief Political Correspondent

George Osborne will today take the axe to public spending and claim the Government's tough policy of cuts is leading to economic recovery.

The Chancellor will announce his spending review, setting out limits for 2015/16 and slicing £11.5bn off the budgets of Whitehall departments, an average of eight per cent.

But he is also expected to pledge billions of pounds of more investment in major big infrastructure projects to boost growth over the years up to 2020.

Echoing his Mansion House speech last week, the Chancellor is expected to tell MPs: "Britain is moving from rescue to recovery. But while the British economy is leaving intensive care; now we need to secure that recovery...

"We're saving money on welfare and waste to invest in the roads and railways, schooling and science our economy needs to succeed in the future.

"I know that times are still not easy for families. But we have a clear economic plan. We've stuck to it. It is working. And I'm determined to go on delivering it.

"Now, together, we're moving Britain from rescue to recovery, let's build an economy that works for everyone."

Following the murder of Drummer Lee Rigby outside Woolwich barracks, the Chancellor will confirm a boost in spending on the fight against terrorism.

Earlier this month, after agreeing Theresa May's Home Office budget, Treasury Chief Secretary Danny Alexander said: "Counter-terrorism policing is a crucial part of our national security and I took no convincing of the need to protect this area.

"Given recent events in Woolwich, we cannot compromise on our national security."

Tory MPs will be anxiously awaiting news of where spending cuts in the Ministry of Defence budget will fall, following the Chancellor's pledge at the weekend that they will not involve further cuts in manpower levels.

But Conservative MPs will welcome Mr Osborne revealing how he intends to implement a proposed cap on previously uncontrolled parts of the public finances, such as welfare, debt interest and payments to the EU.

The Chancellor tweeted this image as he was finishing off his speech

The cap on so-called "annually managed expenditure" was floated by Mr Osborne in his Budget in March, when he said he would impose a limit on a "significant proportion" of AME, which is made up of elements of public spending which can go up and down due to factors beyond the Government's control.

The Treasury has signalled that the state pension will not be affected by any cap, and Mr Osborne has said it will not impact on the "automatic stabilisers" which come into effect in a downturn, suggesting that unemployment benefits could also be excluded.

Mr Osborne reached agreement at the weekend with Vince Cable over the level of cuts at his Business Department - the last Whitehall ministry to finalise its settlement.

All areas of departmental current spending will be asked to tighten their belts except the NHS, schools and overseas aid, which are protected by a "ringfence".

Attention will, however, be focused on whether departments like defence or the Foreign Office have succeeded in reassigning elements of their activities to the health or international development budgets.

Mr Osborne said at the weekend that there would be a cut in numbers of civilian workers at the Ministry of Defence, as well as renegotiation of major contracts with suppliers to save money.

Cuts will take place in the defence budget

But he insisted there would be no cuts in numbers of sailors, soldiers or airmen and no reduction in the UK's military capability,

Speaking during Treasury Questions in the Commons yesterday, Mr Osborne said: "Everyone knows that Britain needs to live within its means and tomorrow I will set out the next phase of the economic plan to move Britain from rescue to recovery.

"But I can confirm that I will be offering real protection for our National Health Service and to our schools. These are vital public services, they are an investment in our economic future and they are all about doing what we need to do to win that economic race."

Mr Balls taunted the Chancellor: "The fact is that you promised to get the deficit down and it is rising. How can you still say we are all in it together, when for everyone else living standards are falling and the economy has flat-lined for three years?

"Isn't this economic failure the reason why you will not balance the books in 2015 and why tomorrow you are coming back to the House to ask for more cuts in public services, because you are unfair, out-of-touch and now revealed as totally incompetent?"

But Mr Osborne replied: "Getting a lesson from you in how to balance the books is like getting a lesson from Dracula in how to look after a blood bank."

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RSPCA: Pets Abandoned Amid Financial Squeeze

The UK's reputation as a nation of animal lovers has been dented by new figures that show an "alarming" increase in the number of pets being abandoned.

More than 37,000 animals were dumped across England and Wales in the past year, a rise of 9,000 or 34% from the previous year, according to the RSPCA.

The charity received a call asking for help every 30 seconds.

Financial problems are cited as one of the reasons people are getting rid of their pets, according to the welfare organisation.

There has been a 34% rise in animals being dumped

Dogs fare the worst, particularly in the summer when owners don't want to pay for them to be looked after while they are away on holiday.

Others would rather spend their money on holidays and summer "treats" rather than pay for veterinary care for newborns or ill animals.

The organisation has released a list of the most unusual places animals have been found.

A dog was found in a duffel bag, chinchillas were discovered in a cage in a cemetery, while rabbits were rescued from a plant pot.

Dogs fare the worst

RSPCA deputy chief inspector Ben Strangwood said: "It's bad enough when we find a box of kittens wrapped in blankets on our doorstep with a note but now people are deliberately dumping their animals in out of the way places - like bins, skips or on waste ground - and leaving them to die.

"The shocking fact is that even in a nation of animal lovers, there are thousands of people out there who don't care about their pets at all. In fact, some literally treat them like rubbish."

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Afghanistan: Explosions And Gunfire At Palace

Taliban gunmen have attacked the presidential palace and other buildings in the Afghan capital Kabul.

The assault, in the central Shash Darak district, took place at around 6.30am local time.

Targets also included the CIA's Afghan headquarters.

An Afghan official said five attackers had been killed along with two Afghan guards.

The attack began on the building's east gate as reporters gathered ahead of a media event with President Hamid Karzai.

Afghan military on patrol following the attack

It was not immediately clear whether Mr Karzai was inside the building at the time of the assault.

Schoolchildren walking to classes nearby were also caught in the exchanges.

The Taliban said it carried out the attack in a text message to Kabul reporters from spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.

"Today at 6.30am a number of suicide bombers attacked the presidential palace, defence ministry and the Ariana Hotel," he said.

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Breast Cancer Drugs To Be Offered To 500,000

By Thomas Moore, Health Correspondent

Half a million women with a family risk of breast cancer are to be offered drugs to prevent the disease, in a ground-breaking move by the NHS watchdog.

The drugs, which cost as little as £25 a year, can reduce the risk of the cancer by a third, potentially saving thousands of lives.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) says women with several close relatives who have developed breast cancer should be offered five years of preventative treatment with the drugs tamoxifen or raloxifene.

It will make England and Wales the first countries in Europe to offer breast cancer drugs to healthy women.

Professor Gareth Evans, a consultant in clinical genetics at St Mary's Hospital in Manchester who helped develop the new NHS guidelines, said: "This is a major breakthrough for women.

"This treatment is not just cost-effective, but cost saving to the NHS.

"More importantly for women, they don't have to go through the stress and trauma of a diagnosis, radiotherapy and potentially chemotherapy."

He said that preventing "four or five" breast cancers will result in one life being saved.

Around 50,000 women and 400 men develop breast cancer in the UK each year.

Angelina Jolie recently had a double mastectomy

Currently those with a family risk of the disease are offered either more intensive screening, or surgery to remove their breasts.

Actress Angelina Jolie recently opted for surgery because of her inherited risk.

But the new guidelines offer women a middle way.

Dr Caitlin Palframan, from the charity Breakthrough Breast Cancer, said the guidelines were a "game-changer".

"We think more women will have more options to reduce their risk, which ultimately means we will prevent more breast cancer cases," she said.

The guidelines also call for more women with relatives who have developed the disease to be tested for faulty BRCA genes.

Charlotte Pittuck inherited the BRCA2 gene and several of her relatives have had breast cancer.

She was given an 85% chance of developing cancer and will have her breasts removed next week.

"While some would say it is a drastic measure, I feel it is my only option," she said.

"I want to be around to see my children grow up. And if I had the diagnosis I would have had to have this operation anyway."

Breast cancer prevention has been thrown into the spotlight after Jolie revealed she had a double mastectomy in May because she was at high risk of developing the disease.

Testing had showed she carried the genes that increase the likelihood of developing breast and ovarian cancers.

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Plot To 'Smear' Family Of Stephen Lawrence

An ex-undercover police officer claims he was part of an operation to "smear" the family of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence.

Peter Francis said he was told to find "dirt" that could be used against members of the Lawrence family, shortly after the 18-year-old was killed in a racist attack in April 1993, the Guardian reported.

He was also asked to target the friend who witnessed the murder and campaigners angry at the failure to bring his killers to justice, the newspaper said.

Mr Lawrence's mother, Doreen, told the Guardian that there was no justification for efforts to discredit her family following her son's murder.

Scotland Yard said it recognised the seriousness of the allegations and shared the concerns of the Lawrence family.

The claims have surfaced as a result of a joint investigation into undercover policing by the Guardian and Channel 4's Dispatches programme, to be broadcast this evening.

Doreen Lawrence says the revelation 'tops' everything she knows

Mr Francis, who reportedly posed as an anti-racist activist in the mid-1990s, said he came under "huge and constant pressure" to "hunt for disinformation" to undermine those arguing for a better investigation into the murder.

He told the Guardian: "I had to get any information on what was happening in the Stephen Lawrence campaign.

"They wanted the campaign to stop. It was felt it was going to turn into an elephant.

"Throughout my deployment there was almost constant pressure on me personally to find out anything I could that would discredit these campaigns."

Mr Lawrence, an aspiring architect, was stabbed to death by a group of up to six white youths in an unprovoked racist attack as he waited at a bus stop in Eltham, southeast London.

The teenager's death sparked a change in how race crimes are investigated

In January 2012, Gary Dobson and David Norris were found guilty of being involved in the attack and sentenced to life  imprisonment, after a forensic review of the case found significant new scientific evidence on clothing seized from their homes following the murder.

Responding to Mr Francis's claims, Mrs Lawrence told the Guardian: "Out of all the things I've found out over the years, this certainly has topped it."

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper described Mr Francis's claims as "shocking and appalling" and called for Home Secretary Theresa May to seek a faster investigation into his specific allegations.

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Snowden's Arrival In Moscow Strains Relations

The departure of whistleblower Edward Snowden from Hong Kong to Moscow threatens to strain diplomatic relations between the US and Russia and China.

The former US spy agency contractor sought asylum in Ecuador after leaving the Chinese territory on Sunday morning - scuppering Washington's efforts to extradite him on espionage charges.

The US has already said it is "disappointed" by Hong Kong's "troubling" failure to arrest the ex-CIA analyst, who has been hiding there for two weeks.

And there's growing anger in America over Russia's decision to allow him access to the country.

US Senator Charles Schumer charged that Russian President Vladimir Putin likely knew and approved of Mr Snowden's flight to Russia and predicted "serious consequences" for a US-Russian relationship already fraught over Syria and human rights.

Mr Schumer told CNN: "Putin always seems almost eager to stick a finger in the eye of the United States - whether it is Syria, Iran and now of course with Snowden."

Mr Snowden's route since leaving Hawaii and his possible next destinations

He also saw "the hand of Beijing" in Hong Kong's decision to let Mr Snowden leave.

China said on Sunday it was "gravely concerned" over new claims by Mr Snowden that US spies had hacked Chinese IT targets, particularly as the Obama administration has painted the US as a victim of Chinese government computer hacking.

The debacle is a major embarrassment for President Barack Obama, who has been trying to reset ties with Russia and build a partnership with China.

The US State Department said Mr Snowden should not be allowed to travel further as an international manhunt for him is launched.

Russia's Itar-Tass news agency said there is a flight ticket in his name from Moscow to Havana, Cuba today and that he will then fly on from there.

But the chief of Cuba's International Press Center, Gustavo Machin, said he had no such information.

A twitter picture of Mr Snowden's plane in Moscow. Credit @Russian_Market

The US has revoked Mr Snowden's passport, and says the "chase is on" to catch him.

Senate intelligence committee chairwoman Dianne Feinstein said: "I want to get him caught and brought back for trial. I think the chase is on and we'll see what happens."

Ecuador, which has been sheltering the founder of the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, at its London embassy for the past year, once again took centre stage in the international diplomatic saga.

Ecuador's foreign minister Ricardo Patino said the country was "analysing" his request for asylum, which "has to do with freedom of expression and with the security of citizens around the world".

Venezuela, Cuba and Ecuador are all members of the ALBA bloc, an alliance of leftist governments in Latin America that pride themselves on their "anti-imperialist" credentials.

Spanish Judge Mr Baltasar Garzon, legal director of Wikileaks, who is assisting Mr Snowden and lawyer for Mr Assange said: "The WikiLeaks legal team and I are interested in preserving Mr Snowden's rights and protecting him as a person.

A still picture of Sarah Harrison taken from a video put out by WikiLeaks

"What is being done to Mr Snowden and to Mr Julian Assange - for making or facilitating disclosures in the public interest - is an assault against the people".

WikiLeaks said he was being accompanied by Sarah Harrison, described by them as a UK citizen, journalist and legal researcher.

Mr Snowden left Hong Kong after The White House asked the autonomous Chinese territory to extradite him. He had earlier been charged in the US with espionage.

The Hong Kong government has said that although the US had sought his extradition, the request did not fully comply with requirements. It said that as a result, he was free to leave.

A US Department of Justice spokesperson said: "The US is disappointed and disagrees with the determination by Hong Kong authorities not to honour the US request for the arrest of the fugitive.

"The request for the fugitive's arrest for purposes of his extradition complied with all of the requirements of the US-Hong Kong Surrender Agreement.

"At no point, in all of our discussions through Friday, did the authorities in Hong Kong raise any issues regarding the sufficiency of the US's provisional arrest request.

"In light of this, we find their decision to be particularly troubling."

Mr Snowden was revealed earlier this month to have been the man who leaked to the Guardian and Washington Post newspapers information about monitoring by America's National Security Agency.

He claimed the NSA has been keeping details of millions of phone calls by Americans and monitoring the use by foreigners of internet sites including Google, Facebook and Yahoo.

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Burnham And Lansley Face Hospitals Claims

Former health secretary Andy Burnham has denied pressuring the NHS watchdog to tone down criticism of hospitals during his time in the job.

Mr Burnham has faced questions about whether he influenced hospitals' watchdog the Care Quality Commission (CQC) at the time it gave Morecambe Bay NHS Trust a clean bill of health, despite deaths of mothers and babies.

Labour's shadow health secretary insisted he did not cover up any problems at England's hospitals in the run-up to the 2010 General Election and was in fact "actively working to identify them".

An open letter from David Morris, the Conservative MP for Morecambe and Lunesdale, asked Mr Burnham: "How much 'pressure' did you put on the CQC to 'tone down' its criticism of hospitals?

"You were the Labour Secretary of State for Health, when the first whitewash inspection of the Morecambe Bay NHS trust occurred in the spring of 2010. This was a crucial pre-election season for you."

He also accused the former Labour government of having "twin cultures of secrecy and putting targets before patients".

Mr Burnham's reply denied any hospital problems were swept under the carpet.

"When I was appointed in June 2009, one of my first decisions was to appoint Robert Francis QC to conduct an independent inquiry into what went wrong at Stafford," said Mr Burnham.

Joshua Titcombe's father wrote to Mr Lansley three years ago

"Separately, the Department raised concerns with me about the effectiveness of CQC and I began taking steps to deal with it.

"In late 2009, when problems emerged unexpectedly at Basildon and Thurrock Hospital, it became clear to me that an in-depth look at all hospitals in England was needed so that all problems could be flushed out, action taken and reassurance given to the public," writes Mr Burnham.

He adds that "far from covering up any problems at hospitals in the pre-election period, I hope you can now see how was actively working to identify them."

David Morris has also asked Mr Burnham to make public any emails, texts and letters in which the CQC was discussed and detail conversations he had with Cynthia Bower, the former head of the CQC, before the hospital was given a clean bill of health.

His comments come as it emerged that another former health secretary, the Conservative's Andrew Lansley, was warned about baby deaths at Furness General Hospital three years ago.

Mr Lansley received a letter from James Titcombe, whose son Joshua died aged just nine days at the hospital, raising concerns over inaction by the CQC.

"Despite all of these regulatory bodies, Joshua's death was preceded by the preventable deaths of other babies, yet no action was taken in time to make a different (sic) to our son," wrote Mr Titcombe.

Ex-CQC chief executive Cynthia Bower denies there was any cover up

He continues, "...there seems to be a gap in that the CQC can not investigate individual events and the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman do not assess complaints to their office against principles of patient safety".

Mr Titcombe told Sky News he believes the CQC may have been under pressure from senior health officials not to uncover another big hospital scandal.

The reply to his letter from the Department of Health said it was unable to comment on individual cases.

Former bosses of hospitals' watchdog CQC have been accused of covering up a report which criticised their original inspection of the Morecambe Bay NHS Trust. They deny the claims.

The CQC gave the trust a clean bill of health in 2010 despite the deaths of up to 16 babies.

James Titcombe and other families who lost babies at the hospital are now calling for a police investigation and an independent inquiry to establish who knew about the alleged cover-up.

:: Andy Burnham will appear on Murnaghan on Sky News from 10am on Sunday June 23.

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Gunmen Kill Tourists In Pakistan

Gunmen have killed nine foreign tourists after storming a hotel in a remote area of northern Pakistan, say police.

"Unknown people entered a hotel where foreign tourists were staying last night and opened fire," said Ali Sher, a senior police officer in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan province.

The gunmen fled after the attack.

Five Ukrainians, three Chinese, a Russian and their guide were killed in the attack near the base camp for the snow-covered Nanga Parbat mountain, a popular destination for trekkers, officials said.

There has been no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

A senior government official said a large number of security personnel had been sent to the area.

"Since the area is very remote with no roads or transport, their bodies will have to be retrieved by helicopter," the official said.

Gilgit-Baltistan province - famous for its natural beauty -  had been considered one of the more secure areas of Pakistan but in recent years has witnessed a spate of attacks by militants targeting members of Pakistan's Shi'ite minority.

More follows...

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Brazil Protests: President Promises Reforms

Brazil's President has promised to improve public services but says any further violence will not be tolerated in a speech to the nation rocked by mass protests.

During a TV broadcast Dilma Rousseff appealed for unity and said the government knew there were many things "we can do quicker and better".

"I am the president of all Brazil. Of those who support the demonstration and those who do not."

Dilma Rousseff has condemned the violence by 'a minority'

Reaching out to those who feel the government should direct more money to public services rather than on hosting major sporting events, she insisted that "football and sport are symbols of peace and peaceful coexistence".

But she added she would not stand by if demonstrations turned violent, as has been the case in several cities hit by cases of looting and attacks on public buildings including the foreign ministry and several government offices.

"The government cannot stand by as people attack public property ... and bring chaos to our streets," she stressed.

President Rousseff supports peaceful protest

"We need to inject oxygen into our political system, and make it more transparent and resistant to the tough challenges facing a countries marked by extreme disparity between rich and poor."

But she insisted that "we cannot put up with violence".

"People have a right to criticise," added Ms Rousseff saying she would staunchly defend that right.

She added: "We need to oxygenate our political system ... and make it more transparent."

Ms Rousseff, a former Marxist rebel who fought against Brazil's 1964-85 military regime and was imprisoned for three years, pointedly referred to sacrifices her generation made to free the nation from dictatorship.

Her comments came after nearly one million demonstrators took to the streets on Friday across the country to denounce alleged corruption, poor public services and billions of dollars spent preparing for next year's World Cup soccer tournament and the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.

Ms Rousseff had cancelled a trip overseas because of the unrest, but stayed away from the public eye for most of the week.

Nearly a million protesters took to the streets on Friday

But critics of Ms Rousseff and her government have accused them of paying "lip service".

Carlos Cardozo, a 62-year-old financial consultant who joined Friday's protest in Rio, said he thought the unrest could cost Ms Rousseff next year's elections.

"Her paying lip service by saying she's in favour of the protests is not helping her cause," Mr Cardozo said. "People want to see real action, real decisions, and it's not this government that's capable of delivering."

At least one protester was killed in Sao Paulo on Thursday night when a motorist - apparently enraged about being unable to drive along a street - rammed his car into a crowd of demonstrators.

Unconfirmed news reports also said a 54-year-old cleaning woman had died on Friday after inhaling tear gas.

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Edward Snowden Charged With Espionage

Edward Snowden, the whistleblower who revealed secret government spying programmes, has been charged with espionage by US authorities.

A provisional arrest warrant has been issued and Hong Kong authorities have been asked to detain him.

US prosecutors have filed a criminal complaint, charging Mr Snowden with three offences including unauthorised communication of national defence information, which comes under the Espionage Act, and theft of government property.

He is also charged with willful communication of classified communications intelligence information to an unauthorised person.

All three crimes listed carry a maximum 10-year prison penalty.

The former CIA technician, who has worked for America's National Security Agency (NSA), leaked details of American telephone and internet surveillance programmes.

Court papers list three offences including theft of government property

He revealed the existence of a surveillance system called Prism that was set up by the NSA to track the use of the internet directly from ISP servers.

The NSA and FBI have said that the secret programme provided "critical leads" in preventing "dozens of terrorist events" - although some terror experts dispute the claims.

President Obama has also said the programmes were carried out with "systems of checks and balances" and overseen by the courts and the US Congress.

The Prism revelations sparked outcry in the UK when The Guardian reported that the GCHQ eavesdropping agency had been accessing information about British citizens through Prism.

Mr Snowden fled to Hong Kong on May 20 after copying the last set of documents he intended to disclose at the NSA's office in Hawaii.

Protests in support of Mr Snowden have taken place in Hong Kong

Sky News Asia correspondent Mark Stone said the move marks the official start of government attempts to bring him back to the US.

"We are yet to hear from the Hong Kong police and authorities on whether or not they will act on the request by the Americans to arrest Edward Snowden.

"It's my understanding that they know exactly where he is. The Americans haven't yet asked for his extradition, they have simply asked the authorities to arrest him."

There are reports a private plane is on standby to take Mr Snowden from Hong Kong to Iceland, where he hopes to get asylum.

The latest documents from Mr Snowden claim to show that British spies have secretly accessed fibre-optic cables carrying emails, Facebook messages and other communications.

The Guardian reports that GCHQ can analyse data from the network of cables that carry global phone calls and internet traffic under an operation codenamed Tempora.

It claims that communications between innocent people are being processed, as well as those from people marked out as security threats.

The NSA programme helped to prevent terror attacks, say US spy chiefs

"It's not just a US problem," Mr Snowden told The Guardian.

"The UK has a huge dog in this fight. They (GCHQ) are worse than the US."

Mr Snowden worked for the NSA as an employee of various outside contractors, including Dell and Booz Allen Hamilton.

"I can't in good conscience allow the US government to destroy privacy, internet freedom and basic liberties for people around the world with this massive surveillance machine they're secretly building," Mr Snowden previously told The Guardian.

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Baby Deaths Cover-Up: Ex-CQC Boss Named

The former boss of the Care Quality Commission is among those allegedly involved in a cover-up of the health regulator's failure to investigate a spate of baby deaths.

Ex-CQC chief executive Cynthia Bower was present during a discussion about deleting an internal review which criticised the CQC's inspections of University Hospitals of Morcambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust, where a number of mothers and babies had died.

Ms Bower has insisted she "gave no instruction to delete" the report and "would have countermanded" such an instruction.

But she admitted that as the watchdog's boss at the time: "The buck stops with me."

Ms Bower's then deputy Jill Finney and media manager Anna Jefferson were also present when the issue of deleting the report was discussed, a CQC spokesman said after the regulator backtracked on a decision to hide the names of those involved.

Louise Dineley, the author of the review, told independent investigators that Ms Finney had ordered the deletion, and Ms Bower and Ms Jefferson had "verbally agreed".

Ms Finney said allegations that she was involved in a cover-up were untrue. She said she had provided a copy of the internal review to the independent Grant Thornton review team "at the outset".

Her current employer, internet firm Nominet, has sacked her as chief commercial officer because of "increasing public scrutiny" over her former role.

Ms Jefferson, who is still employed by the CQC, said she was "devastated" to be implicated in the scandal. "I would never have conspired to cover up anything," she said.

Concerns were raised after Josh Titcombe died at Furness General Hospital

Their names had initially been redacted from the report, published on Wednesday, following legal advice to the CQC.

However, the regulator's current head, David Behan, said a decision was then made to identify them "in the public interest".

There had been mounting pressure for those involved to be identified and he said it was wrong to have withheld the names.

He told Sky News: "A decision which reviewed the involvement of the organisation ... should have been made in an open and transparent way.

"We failed some people who had trust in our judgement. I think it's absolutely essential that we begin to restore public and political confidence in the CQC."

The independent report suggested that CQC bosses were so concerned about protecting the watchdog's reputation that they ordered the internal review to be deleted because it showed their original inspection was flawed.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said he was "very pleased" the individuals had now been named.

He said: "It's a sign that the NHS is changing.

"There has been a history of cover-ups for many years but there has to be accountability within the NHS for people's actions when something goes wrong.

"It's to the credit of the new management of the CQC that they got an independent report and did not run away from this problem."

Concerns were first raised about the trust in 2008, but in 2010 the CQC gave the trust, which serves 365,000 people in south Cumbria and north Lancashire, a clean bill of health.

Joshua Titcombe died in 2008 aged just nine days old in Furness General Hospital after staff failed to spot and treat an infection.

His father has previously described news of the cover-up as "shocking".

Ms Bower has resigned from her current post as non-executive trustee of the Skills For Health body after being implicated in the scandal.

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Clashes In Brazil As One Million March

By Jason Farrell, Sky Correspondent In Rio de Janeiro

Almost a million protesters have taken to the streets in cities across Brazil to denounce poor public services, government corruption and overspending on the World Cup.

Some protests turned to mayhem. In the capital Brasilia, riot police fired tear gas and rubber bullets on demonstrators while they stormed a government building.

Clashes have also taken place in the Amazon jungle city of Belem, in Porto Alegre in the south, in the university town Campinas north of Sao Paulo and in the northeastern Brazilian city of Salvador.

A man confronts riot police in Rio

The biggest of the demonstrations was in Rio de Janeiro. More than 300,000 protesters marched towards the Maracana football stadium where many clashed with the police.

It began with a carnival atmosphere. Demonstrators were draped in flags or with stripes of Brazil's national green, yellow and blue painted onto their faces.

They gathered in front of the domed Candelaria church in downtown Rio and chanted slogans: "We welcome the World Cup but we want health and we want safety."

Riot police have struggled to maintain order

Law student Wallace Tarenta told Sky News: "I have come here because we need more money for hospitals and teachers and security - not more stadiums for the cup."

Protester Jorge Vieira added: "Brazil is a strong country, we have good natural resources and a strong government - but nothing goes to the people."

Several city leaders have already accepted the protesters' demands to revoke an increase in bus and subway fares.

But anger has now turned to the lack of investment in public services and the comparative high expenditure on next year's football World Cup.

Protesters in Sao Paolo

On the face of it, Brazil has it all: a growing economy, a World Cup and the 2016 Olympics to look forward to.

But protesters say a corrupt government is damaging the lives of working people while squandering money on showcase stadiums.

With riots breaking out in cities across the country the world is now watching Brazil and wondering how it will cope with the pressures of hosting two of the world's biggest sporting events.

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Poor Children Are Being 'Failed By Schools'

Disadvantaged children are being failed by the education system, according to the chief inspector of schools.

In a speech later today, Sir Michael Wilshaw will warn that there is an "invisible minority" of disadvantaged children living in "leafy suburbs, market towns or seaside resorts" who are being let down by their schools.

He believes an army of top teachers employed by the government is necessary, used to target schools that are failing.

"The quality of education is the most important issue facing Britain today," he will say.

Sir Michael Wilshaw says some schools are "coasting"

"In the long term, our success as a nation - our prosperity, our security, our society - depends on how well we raise and educate our young people across the social spectrum."

In the last 20 to 30 years, standards in schools in major cities such as London, Birmingham, Greater Manchester, Liverpool and Leicester have been transformed, and problems of under-achievement have shifted to deprived coastal towns and rural areas of the country, especially in the East and South East of England, Sir Michael will argue.

There are also a significant number of poorer children in reasonably rich areas such as Kettering, Wokingham, Norwich and Newbury, who are being failed by their schools.

"Today, many of the disadvantaged children performing least well in school can be found in leafy suburbs, market towns or seaside resorts," he is expected to say.

"Often they are spread thinly, as an 'invisible minority' across areas that are relatively affluent.

"These poor, unseen children can be found in mediocre schools the length and breadth of our country. They are labelled, buried in lower sets, consigned as often as not to indifferent teaching. They coast through education until - at the earliest opportunity - they sever their ties with it."

He will urge the consideration of a "National Teaching Service", with teachers employed directly by the government who can be sent to struggling schools.

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Sopranos Star James Gandolfini Dies Aged 51

Actor James Gandolfini has died of a suspected heart attack while on holiday in Italy at the age of 51.

The star was best known for his Emmy-winning portrayal of a New Jersey mob boss called Tony in television series The Sopranos.

The show's creator David Chase said he was one of the greatest actors of all time.

"He was a genius. Anyone who saw him even in the smallest of his performances knows that.

"He is one of the greatest actors of this or any time. A great deal of genius resided in those sad eyes."

The Sopranos cast accept an Emmy at the 2007 awards

TV network HBO, which was behind the hit series, described him as a "special man" and a "great talent".

"We're all in shock and feeling immeasurable sadness at the loss of a beloved member of our family," a statement said.

"He was a special man, a great talent, but more importantly a gentle and loving person who treated everyone - no matter their title or position - with equal respect."

Since The Sopranos ended in 2007, Gandolfini has appeared in a number of big-screen roles, including thriller Zero Dark Thirty and the comedy The Incredible Burt Wonderstone.

Gandolfini also shared a Broadway stage in 2009 with Jeff Daniels, Hope Davis and Marcia Gay Harden in a celebrated production of God Of Carnage, where he earned a Tony Award nomination for best actor. He also was in On The Waterfront with David Morse.

At the time of his death, he had been working on a new HBO series titled Criminal Justice.

"It is with immense sorrow that we report our client James Gandolfini passed away today while on holiday in Rome, Italy," said his managers in a statement.

"Our hearts are shattered and we will miss him deeply. He and his family were part of our family for many years and we are all grieving."

In a December 2012 interview, Gandolfini said he gravitated to acting as a release to get rid of anger.

"I don't know what exactly I was angry about," he said. "I try to avoid certain things and certain kinds of violence at this point.

"I'm getting older, too. I don't want to be beating people up as much. I don't want to be beating women up and those kinds of things that much any more."

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Bankers Should Face Jail Terms, Report Says

A new criminal offence punishing bankers for "reckless misconduct" while running their institutions is the centrepiece of proposals unveiled by a group of MPs and peers aimed at reforming the industry.

The Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards (PCBS), which was set up after last summer's Libor-manipulation scandal led to Barclays being fined £290m, said in its final report that all areas of British banking required urgent change.

Citing "a profound loss of trust born of profound lapses in banking standards", the commission said a string of measures were needed to repair the industry's reputation.

In its 553-page report called Changing Banking For Good, the PCBS argued that individual accountability among senior bankers was lamentable, that industry pay schemes required a radical overhaul, and that executives should face a new sanctions regime that would dish out appropriate penalties, replacing a system that "looked good but achieved little".

It also said, as expected, that the Treasury's strategy for managing its 82% stake in Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) was not working adequately and that options, including analysis of a break-up of the bank, should be conducted in the coming months.

The commission's hard-hitting recommendations underline the scale of public anger that so few British bank executives have faced punishment over the crisis that led to hundreds of billions of pounds of public money being put at risk to rescue them.

Only a small handful of senior bankers have been sanctioned by regulators for their roles prior to the bailouts of 2007 and 2008, while relatively few have been hit in the pocket despite mis-selling scandals such as the one involving payment protection insurance.

Andrew Tyrie, the Conservative MP who chaired the commission, said that senior bankers had hidden "behind an accountability firewall" but warned that governments and regulators had also been culpable for the decline in standards.

Among the concrete measures recommended by the PCBS are:

:: The introduction of a new criminal offence for reckless misconduct that would carry a custodial sentence.

:: Bankers' pay should be deferred for up to 10 years and should be more closely aligned to the safety and soundness of a firm.

:: Regulators should gain powers to cancel the pay and pensions of executives at banks which require taxpayer support.

:: UK Financial Investments, the body responsible for managing taxpayers' stakes in Lloyds and RBS, should be scrapped.

:: New senior persons and licencing regimes to ensure that regulators can take tougher action against bankers whose actions damage their employer's reputation or finances.

:: Reforms aimed at bolstering competition in retail banking, including, as Sky News revealed this month, a review of the costs and benefits of full current account portability.

Parts of the banking industry, whose main lobbying group the British Bankers' Association refused to respond on camera to the report, are expected to argue that some of the proposed reforms would undermine the City's international competitiveness.

Measures to defer pay for up to a decade would go further than any other major banking centre, but the PCBS argued that it was essential to do so if the industry's culture was to be genuinely reformed.

"The scale of remuneration in banking, the way it has been set and the form in which it has been paid have all incentivised misconduct and excessive risk taking. The rewards for fleeting, often illusory, success have been huge, while the penalties for failure have been much smaller, or non-existent," it said.

"Many bankers were on to a one-way bet. Unlike unlimited liability partnerships, they had little or no skin in the game."

The Government is expected to consult on the PCBS recommendations that would require legislative change.

In a statement, the Treasury welcomed the commission's report, saying there were "many recommendations in it which will help the government's plan to create a stronger and safer banking system".

"The Government publicly welcomes the commission's recommendations on increased personal responsibility especially at a senior level, increased professional judgement by regulators and better functioning markets.

"We will now get on with a swift response and will report before the summer recess."

In his annual Mansion House speech on Wednesday night, George Osborne is likely to back the commission's call for a review of the options for the Government's stake in RBS, according to Treasury aides.

Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, also welcomed the report, backing calls for banks to relinquish ownership of the payments system and for a new approvals regime for bank staff.

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NHS Watchdog In 'Hospital Scandal Cover-Up'

Senior officials at an NHS watchdog have been accused of a cover-up after destroying their own report into a hospital maternity unit at the centre of a care scandal.

An independent investigation has found the Care Quality Commission failed to properly inspect University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust, where the deaths of up to 16 babies are being investigated by the police.

Concerns were first raised in 2008, but in 2010 the CQC gave the trust, which serves 365,000 people in South Cumbria and North Lancashire, a clean bill of health.

Wednesday's report suggests that CQC bosses were so concerned about protecting the watchdog's reputation that they ordered an internal review to be deleted because it showed that their original inspection was flawed.

The new report details one official saying that he was told by a senior manager in March last year to destroy his review because it would expose the regulator to public criticism.

Furness General Hospital in Cumbria

It says: "He informed us that he was instructed by a member of senior management at CQC to 'delete' the report of his findings.

"We think that the information contained in the report was sufficiently important that the deliberate failure to provide it could properly be characterised as a 'cover-up'."

James Titcombe, whose baby son Joshua (pictured) died at just nine-days-old in Furness General Hospital in 2008 after staff failed to spot and treat an infection, described the report as "shocking".

"It embodies everything that is wrong with the culture in the NHS. It's something that's been rotten really about the system.

Westmorland General Hospital, where Morecambe Bay NHS Trust is based

"We need it to change. We need that culture to change. Patient safety should be the number one priority, and organisations that work within regulation need to be aligned with that principle."

Responding to the report's findings, the regulator said: "We let people down, and we apologise for that.

"This report reveals just how poor the Care Quality Commission's (CQC) oversight of University Hospitals Morecambe Bay (UHMB) was in 2010.

"This is not the way things should have happened. It is not the way things will happen in the future. We will use the report to inform the changes we are making to improve the way we work and the way we are run."

It insisted there was "no evidence of a systematic cover-up" and promised "more thorough inspections".

CQC chairman David Prior said: "The publication draws a line in the sand for us. What happened in the past was wholly unacceptable. The report confirms our view that at a senior level the organisation was dysfunctional. The board and the senior executive team have been radically changed."

Shadow health minister Jamie Reed said: "First, we need to know who took the decision to delete this report, who else was party to the decision and what the justification was for so doing.

"Second, urgent clarity is needed on whether the CQC had any contact with the Department of Health about this matter and if so, what was the nature of that contact."

The CQC, which faces at least 30 civil negligence claims, is to be subject to a public inquiry.

:: Sky News wants to build a comprehensive picture of the nation's maternity services. Over the next few months, Sky News will work with new mothers from across the UK in a digital project called Postcode Delivery, engaging with families, charities, health workers and policymakers. For more information click here.

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Saatchi Cautioned For Assault Of Nigella Lawson

Advertising guru Charles Saatchi has been cautioned by police for assaulting his wife Nigella Lawson at a restaurant.

The 70-year-old voluntarily attended a central London police station and accepted the caution after photographs emerged showing his hand around Lawson's neck.

The pair were pictured having an argument on the terrace of a restaurant on June 9.

Lawson, 53, the daughter of former chancellor Lord Lawson, was reportedly seen weeping following the episode outside Scott's in Mayfair, central London.

Speaking to the London Evening Standard on Monday, Saatchi said: "About a week ago, we were sitting outside a restaurant having an intense debate about the children, and I held Nigella's neck repeatedly while attempting to emphasise my point.

"There was no grip, it was a playful tiff.

"The pictures are horrific but give a far more drastic and violent impression of what took place. Nigella's tears were because we both hate arguing, not because she had been hurt.

"We had made up by the time we were home. The paparazzi were congregated outside our house after the story broke yesterday morning, so I told Nigella to take the kids off till the dust settled."

Lawson's spokesperson has said that there won't be any comment on Saatchi's explanation but did confirm that she "isn't at the family home."

Police confirmed that they had not received a complaint of assault from Lawson or anyone else.

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World Cup Protests: Violent Clashes In Brazil

More than 100,000 people have marched through cities across Brazil to protest over rising public transport prices and the cost of staging the 2014 football World Cup.

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Sao Paolo, while youths clashed with police in central Rio.

Police used tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets to disperse small groups of masked youths who started a fire near Rio's state legislative assembly attempting to break into the building.

In Porto Alegre, some protesters set a bus on fire and threw rocks at empty commuter trains.

Students protest outside the National Congress building in Brasilia

Elsewhere, there were peaceful protests through the capital Brasilia, on Monday, where more than 200 youths briefly occupied the roof of the National Congress and some 5,000 later formed a human chain around the building.

Protests also were reported in Curitiba, Belem, Salvador and Belo Horizonte.

"This is a communal cry saying, 'We're not satisfied,'" said Maria Claudia Cardoso, in Sao Paolo.

A fire near Rio's state legislative assembly

"We're massacred by the government's taxes, yet when we leave home in the morning to go to work, we don't know if we'll make it home alive because of the violence.

"We don't have good schools for our kids. Our hospitals are in awful shape. Corruption is rife. These protests will make history and wake our politicians up to the fact that we're not taking it anymore."

Sandra Amalfe added: "We need better education, hospitals and security - not billions spent on the World Cup."

A protester against Brazil's hosting of the World Cup

The protests follow the opening games of the Confederations Cup over the weekend, just one month before a papal visit, a year before the World Cup and three years ahead of the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

In a brief statement, President Dilma Rousseff, who faces re-election next year and whose popularity rating recently dipped for the first time in her presidency, acknowledged the protests, saying: "Peaceful demonstrations are legitimate and part of democracy. It is natural for young people to demonstrate."

The unrest, which began last week after the announcement of increased bus fares, has rapidly spread to other cities with demonstrators focusing their anger not just on the transport fares but also on the £9.5bn the government is allocating for the Confederations Cup and the World Cup.

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