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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