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.

Cardiff West MP Kevin Brennan said the people of the city were "waking up to a nightmare that's all too real".

He added: "I don't think anyone can quite believe the events that were witnessed in and around this area."

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

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Two Held After Children Killed 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.

Two people have been arrested in connection with the fire.

Fire crews recovered five people from inside the property

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.

A Welsh Ambulance Services spokeswoman said the man and baby were taken to Glan Clwyd Hospital.

The man was later transferred to Whiston Hospital, Merseyside, while the baby was transferred to Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool.

Both were said to be in a serious condition. She described the property as a house that had been converted into flats.

More follows...

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Nick Griffin: Gay Couple Tweets Investigated

BNP leader Nick Griffin has defended comments he made on Twitter about a gay couple at the centre of a landmark legal ruling.

The MEP 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 is investigating the incident and Dyfed-Powys Police said it was liaising with the force.

The 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 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!"

Mr Griffin later defended his tweets, saying he was elected to "speak out for silent majority".

"I'm not behaving like an ordinary MEP because I'm not an ordinary MEP," he told BBC Five Live.

"Millions of Christians are deeply distressed by the effective outlawing of their faith by (the court ruling).

"The Christian faith imposes on people the duty to follow their faith in their daily life."

He said the legal system had been "used and abused" to "persecute" the bed and breakfast owner.

A 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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North Korea 'Threatens To Strike South'

North Korea has threatened to open fire on South Korea if anti-Pyongyang leaflets are dropped over its territory.

Human rights activists plan to send giant balloons containing 200,000 leaflets criticising North Korea's government over the country on Monday morning.

Inside the leaflets will be 1,000 $1 notes, prized by the impoverished people of North Korea.

North Korea said that if the leaflets were dropped, a "merciless military strike by the Western Front will be put into practice without warning", according to state news agency KCNA.

It said it would target a tourist area in the border city of Paju a few miles from the demilitarised zone that separates the two countries if the launch went ahead.

"The KPA (Korean People's Army) never makes any empty talk," KCNA quoted military commanders as saying.

North Korea shelled a South Korean island almost two years ago, causing civilian deaths. And in 2010, the North was widely blamed for sinking a South Korean naval ship, although it denied responsibility.

The group planning the leafletting, Fighters for a Free North Korea, said they had no intention of calling off the event.

"We had similar threats last year and they did not stop us before and this is not going to stop us this time," said Pak Sang-hak, a North Korean exile who defected to the South 12  years ago.

The threat came a day after South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak made a surprise visit to an island close to the disputed maritime border that was shelled.

There have been widespread concerns in the South that Pyongyang may try to instigate a military clash that would temporarily destabilise the Korean peninsula in the run up to South Korea's presidential election in December.

Kim Yong-Hyun, a professor at Dongguk University, said: "I think this is a bluff. I don't think they mean to actually target and shell the area.

"It could be an indirect reaction to what President Lee said (on Thursday) and the North is also seeking to drive wedges between conservatives and liberals ahead of the presidential poll," Kim said.

On Wednesday, South Korea had announced an annual, large-scale military exercise aimed at countering threats from North Korea.

The week-long Hoguk exercise beginning on October 25 will involve 240,000 army, navy, air force and marine corps personnel, with 500 US soldiers also taking part.

Some 28,500 US military personnel are stationed in the South, a legacy of the Korean War that ended with a ceasefire but not a peace treaty, leaving the two Koreas still technically at war.

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Missing Ben Needham: New Search In Greece

British police investigating the disappearance of toddler Ben Needham are heading to Greece, reportedly to start digging up an area close to where he went missing 21 years ago.

Ben vanished on the island of Kos in July 1991 when he was 21 months old, after his mother and grandparents moved there from Sheffield.

How Ben might look in his early twenties

Despite a number of possible sightings and a range of theories about what happened to him no trace of the youngster has been found.

A team of British search experts is to begin digging up a mound of earth in an effort to find out if he may have been buried there, the Daily Mirror is reporting.

His mother, Kerry Needham, 41, told the paper: "This is an elimination process and that's how I'm dealing with it.

"It's one of the most important things to happen in 21 years."

She has previously said she believed the mound of rubble, near the family's farmhouse, was already there when Ben went missing.

The team of specialist search experts drawn from police forces across the UK is to begin searching on Friday, the paper said.

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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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Crowd Racism Mars England U21 Win Over Serbia

England's U21 side were subjected to racist chants and pelted with seats, coins and stones during their European Championship play-off in Serbia.

Danny Rose after the final whistle blew

Captain Jordan Henderson praised his players for their reaction to the alleged racist abuse and called on Uefa to take the appropriate action.

The Football Association reported "a number of incidents of racism" to Uefa after ugly scenes marred a 1-0 win for Stuart Pearce's team in the second leg of their play-off in Krusevac.

Andros Townsend separates Danny Rose (l) and Sasa Markovic of Serbia

Liverpool midfielder Henderson said on www.thefa.com: "There was a lot of racist abuse out there from the stands and a lot going on after the game, which is hard to take for the players."

Defender Danny Rose was sent off after the final whistle after apparently responding angrily to monkey taunts from the crowd.

Scuffles also broke out when supporters invaded the field moments after Connor Wickham's stoppage-time goal secured a 2-0 aggregate success and a place at next year's finals in Israel.

Connor Wickham (l) celebrates his goal Danny Rose is sent off following his angry reaction after the game

Henderson added: "The players coped with the abuse really well. It's not nice. They kept their heads and were professional.

"I thought our players were brilliant and conducted themselves very well. The players completely condemn what happened.

Nikola Ninkovic (r) of Serbia is held back as Raheem Sterling looks on

"There were also stones, coins and seats getting thrown at us. I didn't understand why Danny Rose was sent off at the end - I didn't see he did anything wrong, other than get abused."

A statement from the FA read: "The FA condemns both the scenes of racism and the confrontation at the final whistle during which time our players and staff were under extreme provocation.

Serbia's assistant coach Dejan Govedarica (c) tries to keep players apart

"The FA has reported a number of incidents of racism to Uefa following the fixture.

"These were seemingly aimed at a number of black England players by the crowd. The matter is now with Uefa."

England manager Stuart Pearce said Serbia's technical director Savo Milosevic had visited the England dressing room to apologise.

"I never like to see any football matches end like that," Pearce told ESPN.

"I think there were one or two racist incidents that came on from the crowd. It's in (Uefa's) hands now.

"It's very sad, to be fair, but we're united as a team. I'm very proud of the reaction of our players."

Marvin Sordell (R) of England shows his anger Serbia's goalkeeping coach is seen raising his fist

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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 attack and how soon afterwards he described it as an act of terrorism.

In a fierce exchange, Mr Obama called upon transcripts to prove Mr Romney 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.

Mr Obama was fighting to reverse a slide in the polls

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 pair 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 face-off between the candidates before the November 6 election will be held next Monday in Florida.

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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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Jimmy Savile: Labour Demands New Abuse Inquiry

Labour has called for the Government to set up an independent inquiry into the Jimmy Savile sex abuse allegations 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 allegations span six decades

Labour wants an independent inquiry to have the power to demand documentation and summon 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.

New BBC boss George Entwistle has announced three internal 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."

She cited the three separate 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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