World's First Three-Parent Baby May Be British

By Frazer Maude, Sky News Reporter

Britain may become the first country in the world to allow babies with three genetic parents to be born.

A landmark decision by the Department of Health has opened the door to controversial treatments for inherited diseases that use donated DNA from a second donor mother.

The Department of Health has announced that the Government intends to publish draft regulations later this year in a public consultation about the IVF-based techniques to eradicate Mitochondrial Diseases.

The new regulations to fertility law allowing the procedures will be issued for consultation and then debated in Parliament.

Should MPs find the regulations ethically acceptable, the first patients could be treated within months.

It is envisaged that between five and 10 three-parent babies would be born in Britain each year.

The aim of the IVF treatments is to stamp out serious Mitochondrial Diseases which can be passed from a mother to her children.

Mitochondria replacement involves transferring nuclear genetic material from a mother's egg or embryo into a donor egg or embryo that has had its nuclear DNA removed.

This would allow a woman carrying Mitochondrial Diseases to have healthy children.

Around one in 200 babies are born each year in the UK with defects in the mitochondria, rod-like bodies that supply cells with energy.

One in 6,500 is seriously affected and can suffer potentially life-threatening diseases including a form of muscular dystrophy.

Chief Medical Officer Professor Dame Sally Davies said: "Mitochondrial Disease, including heart disease, liver disease, loss of muscle co-ordination and other serious conditions like muscular dystrophy, can have a devastating impact on the people who inherit it.

"People who have it live with debilitating illness, and women who are affected face passing it on to their children. It's only right that we look to introduce this life-saving treatment as soon as we can."

Allowing the currently illegal techniques would mark a turning point. At present only unadulterated sperm and eggs can be used for assisted reproduction treatments.

Professor Doug Turnbull, one of the leaders of the research project based at Newcastle University, said: "I am delighted that the Government is moving forward with publishing draft regulations this year and a final version for debate in Parliament next year."

One of those affected with Mitochondrial Disease is Nicola Parker.

Ms Parker did not know she had Mitochondrial Myopathy, a condition which reduces her energy levels and restricts her movement, until she had already passed it on to her daughter.

She told Sky News: "No parent would ever want to pass on an illness to their child, so this work should be applauded. It means my daughter could now have the chance of being a mother herself one day, without having to take the risk of this genetic condition being passed on again."

But some people think the techniques are ethically questionable.

The ethical issue is that the techniques will result in a tiny trace of DNA from the donor egg's mitochondria remaining, effectively creating a baby with three genetic parents.

Josephine Quintavalle, founder of the group Comment on Reproductive Ethics (CORE), thinks the creation of children with genetic material from more than two people is incompatible with both human dignity and international law.

"We're obviously outraged, but it's not just my outrage and the outrage of many people in the United Kingdom - it's worldwide.

"People just mustn't sit back comfortably and think this is a great idea; we're going to cure disease and get better.

"It's crossing a line that many, many experts in ethics and genetics and scientists generally are very concerned about worldwide."

Dame Sally said: "There are clearly some sensitive issues here, but it's clear there is general support to allow these treatments subject to strict safeguards. So what we're going to do is move forward."

The researchers at Newcastle University say they need to carry out more tests on human eggs in order to make sure the techniques are proven and safe.

In order to speed up that process they are asking potential donors in the North East to contact them.

Details can be found at www.ncl.ac.uk/eggdonate.

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Muslim Leaders To Condemn Street Grooming

Religious leaders at around 500 mosques across the UK will deliver sermons to hundreds of thousands of Muslims condemning street grooming by gangs.

The campaign organised by Together Against Grooming (Tag), a not-for-profit community organisation set up to tackle the issue, will see imams and other leaders address their congregations.

The campaign will highlight how the Koran condemns all forms of sexual indecency.

Sermons will also focus on the responsibility placed on Muslims to ensure they do all they can to safeguard children and vulnerable people in their communities.

The move comes after five members of a seven-man sadistic paedophile ring found guilty of grooming vulnerable underage girls were given life sentences at the Old Bailey.

Two other defendants were both jailed for seven years.

Seven men were convicted of grooming underage girls in Oxford

Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, the faith and communities minister, said: "As Muslims we are commanded to be just and fair. To shun evil, wrongdoing and all forms of indecent and immoral behaviour.

"(These are) words from a powerful sermon being read out (in) mosques today, condemning the evil that is child grooming and challenging communities to act."

Tag spokesman Ansar Ali said his group had been "horrified" by the Oxford case and said Muslims feel "a natural responsibility to condemn and tackle this crime".

"Sexual grooming and child abuse afflicts all sections of society and is perpetrated by people of all ethnic groups," he said.

"The Koran and traditions of our Prophet exhort us to act against evil and injustice, and create just societies.

"This is the start of what will be a nationwide project in which we seek to work with others to eradicate this practice from all communities."

Friday is a religious day for Muslims and consists of the Jummah Salah - or midday prayer - a particularly significant part of the Islamic week which sees hundreds of thousands of Muslims up and down the country visiting their local mosques to hear the Khutbah, or sermon.

The Tag campaign has been backed by leading Muslim organisations such as Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), the Mosque and Imams National Advisory Board (MINAB), the Islamic Society of Britain (ISB) and independent mosques.

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Mandela: South African President Cancels Trip

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

Mr Zuma decided to stay in South Africa 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.

The cancellation of the trip to Mozambique, which was scheduled for today, is the first time Mr Zuma has scrapped a public engagement during that time.

People bring get well messages to Mr Mandela

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.

"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.

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

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

"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.

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

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

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

A £100bn package aimed at kick-starting economic growth will be unveiled later, with roads, railways, construction and energy all set for major cash boosts.

The Government will promise to pour money into extra infrastructure spending by 2020, just 24 hours after confirming details of another £11.5bn in Whitehall cuts.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander will outline the plans, which will include cash for new roads, train services, science facilities and nuclear power-stations.

Tax breaks and fast-tracked permits for shale gas exploration will also be offered, just as new data suggests Britain has higher reserves of the energy source.

Exploiting the natural resource is controversial because critics say the process can cause earthquakes, pollute water supplies, blight the countryside and hit house prices.

But ministers believe it could boost tax revenues, create jobs, reduce energy imports and cut household bills.

Tax breaks and fast-tracked permits for fracking will be offered

Mr Alexander is expected to tell MPs the Treasury will start consulting on the tax break and publish detailed planning guidance with the next three weeks.

Protection will be offered to communities affected, with each receiving at least £100,000 in benefits for each well and no less than 1% of overall revenues.

The investment package is due to begin in 2015, with £50bn spent on capital projects that year, but critics have questioned when construction will actually start.

And there is already embarrassment after the Government was forced to admit the cost of one of the most high-profile projects has soared.

The HS2 high-speed rail line is now set to cost nearly £10bn more than was originally allocated, which will raise doubts about other forecasts.

About £3bn will be spent on affordable housing projects

Labour called the announcement a "con", claiming £50bn would mean a 1.7% cut in real terms and that 80% of major infrastructure projects had yet to begin.

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

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

Appearing on ITV's Daybreak, he added: "They should do an immediate boost for housing and transport this year and next. George Osborne talks about capital spending but he's not actually acting."

About £3bn of the money is earmarked for affordable housing. Mayor of London Boris Johnson will also receive around £9bn in extra finance over the coming years.

In his spending review on Wednesday, Chancellor George Osborne said: "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."

The coalition has admitted HS2 is set to cost billions more than forecast

Nick Prior, head of government and infrastructure at Deloitte, told Sky News the high numbers being announced were "encouraging" but questioned the detail.

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

"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?"

CBI director general John Cridland added: "While the Government talks a good game on infrastructure, we've seen too little delivery on the ground so far.

"It is critical we see a real pipeline of projects announced, so investors know what schemes are going ahead, where and when."

The coalition's economic strategy has come under intense pressure as Britain's recovery from the financial crisis and recession continues to be sluggish.

Mr Osborne insists the country is now "moving out of intensive care and from rescue to recovery" but poor growth has forced him to extend drastic austerity measures beyond the next election.

His latest raft of cuts includes a new hit on public sector pay, a cap on welfare spending, forcing the jobless to wait a week before claiming benefits and stripping some ex-pats of the winter fuel allowance.

Government departments face further budget reductions of up to 10% in 2015/16, with only the NHS, schools, overseas aid fully ring-fenced.

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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 in May that she had had a double mastectomy 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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Snowden: China's Papers Attack US Stance

Snowden Affair: The Who And The Why

Updated: 5:06pm UK, Monday 24 June 2013

By Tim Marshall, Foreign Affairs Editor

A look at the different players in the Edward Snowden controversy as the whistleblower tries to evade US justice.

China

There's no hard evidence that China has played a role in this affair but it's difficult to argue against the idea.

Beijing had a man and had a problem. The problem was that hanging on to Mr Snowden could damage its relationship with Washington DC which is its biggest foreign policy challenge.

If it had done, a long-running dispute over the issue would mean that relationship would be complicated.

Now it doesn't have a man, it doesn't have problem, and has been able to poke the US in the eye without leaving much of a fingerprint.

It can also claim the somewhat dubious moral high ground, arguing that Mr Snowden's revelations proved that the Americans, who have long complained about Chinese hacking, was in fact spying on China.

China may have granted Hong Kong more autonomy than most of its regions, but foreign policy remains in Beijing's hands.

And it is almost certain China and Hong Kong liaised to smooth the path of Mr Snowden out of their jurisdiction.

Hong Kong

The only quandary for the Hong Kong authorities was how to keep up appearances.

This was a legal matter which quickly turned into a geo political struggle.

It had to preserve its dignity and the rule of law, but also make sure that what Beijing wanted, Beijing got.

Hence the repeated response to the Americans that the case was 'under review' and that more paperwork was needed.

In fact, very little paperwork was required, not even a valid passport. Mr Snowden travelled out of Hong Kong with a revoked passport.

Russia

The Kremlin says it is 'unaware' of any contact with the Russian authorities and Mr Snowden.

However, the idea that Aeroflot would allow a former American spy, whose name was making global headlines, onto one of their flights bound for Moscow, on a revoked passport, without a Russian visa, does not tally with the way the world works.

That Ecuador may have given him a 'travel document' is just part of the pretence.

Moscow is also busy poking Washington DC in the eye, whilst maintaining a modicum of 'not me guv'.

Mr Snowden did not leave Moscow's airport, thus allowing the pretence of him not passing through a border.

Cuba

If Mr Snowden was passing through Cuba, it does not present Havana with a dilemma.

A transit trip would not sour Washington-Havana relations any more than they already are.

Were he to stay there, that would be a different matter. He was checked in for a flight from Moscow to Havana, had a seat, but the plane left, apparently without him.

Venezuela

Hugo Chavez may be gone but the spirit of his 'Bolivarian Revolution' lives on.

Just last month the successor to Chavez, President Nicolas Maduro, referred to Barack Obama as 'the grand chief of devils'. 

Venezuela is part of the Bolivarian Alliance which includes Cuba, and Bolivia, the country named after the 18th century revolutionary Simon Bolivar.

Members tend to be 'anti-imperialist' and take a delight in tweaking the nose of the US and its perceived global arrogance.

Venezuela can handle the heat of allowing Snowden to transit through its territory; after all, despite the rhetoric between Caracas and Washington DC, the US buys 900,000 barrels of Venezuelan oil every day.

Ecuador

Ecuador is also in the Bolivarian Alliance and President Rafael Correa has impeccable 'anti-imperialist' credentials having granted Wikileaks founder Julian Assange asylum in his country and refuge in the London embassy until Mr Assange can get there.

So far Ecuador is assessing Mr Snowden's asylum request.

As he is an American citizen this case if even more sensitive than the Assange affair, and Ecuador, a poverty stricken country has fewer cards to play than Venezuela.

The signs are it will stay within the spirit of the Bolivarian bloc, and keep quiet about its own trampling over the basic tenets of free speech.

The US

Fail.

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Lawrence 'Smear Plot': Cameron Wants Inquiry

The Prime Minister David Cameron has said he wants an immediate investigation into claims the Met Police carried out an operation to "smear" the family of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence.

The claims emerged in an interview with a former undercover police officer.

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.

Downing Street said Mr Cameron was "deeply concerned" about the allegations and wants them looked into.

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

Doreen Lawrence said the revelation 'tops' everything she knows

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

"The Met must balance the genuine public interest in these matters with its duty to protect officers and former officers who have been deployed undercover, often in difficult and dangerous circumstances," a spokesman said.

"At some point it will fall upon this generation of police leaders to account for the activities of our predecessors, but for the moment we must focus on getting to the truth."

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.

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.

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

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.

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 is threatening to strain the diplomatic relations between the US and Russia and China.

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

The US said it was disappointed by Hong Kong's "troubling" failure to arrest the ex-CIA analyst, who was hiding there after apparently leaking information about monitoring by the National Security Agency to The Guardian and The Washington Post.

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

US Senator Charles Schumer said Russian President Vladimir Putin probably knew of and approved Mr Snowden's flight to Russia, and predicted "serious consequences" for a US-Russian relationship already strained over Syria and human rights issues.

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."

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

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

China said on Sunday it was "gravely concerned" by Mr Snowden's claim 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 any further as an international manhunt for him is launched.

But Russia's Itar-Tass news agency said a ticket has been bought in his name for a flight from Moscow to Havana in Cuba, and Mr Snowden would then fly on from there.

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

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

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

Ecuadorean 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 Baltasar Garzon, the legal director of WikiLeaks, who is assisting Mr Snowden and is a 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.

"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."

The manhunt for Edward Snowden has prompted protests

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

Mr Snowden 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.

He 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 said although the US had sought his extradition, the request did not fully comply with requirements and he was therefore 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."

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Suspicious Item Found At Walsall Mosque

Homes near to a mosque in Walsall are being evacuated following the discovery of a suspicious item, West Midlands Police say.

Army bomb disposal experts are currently at the scene and have this morning ordered the evacuation of around 39 homes in the immediate vicinity of the mosque.

The measure is precautionary while a further examination of the item is undertaken.

Police were called to the Rutter Street address at around 10.45pm last night following the discovery in the grounds of the building.

The item was then brought inside the building by a member of the public, police said.

The area has been cordoned off.

"People in the affected area and who are unable to make alternative arrangements are being taken to Walsall Town Hall where they will be cared for," a police statement said.

Meanwhile, local officers remain at the scene and are talking to residents to keep them up-to-date with the incident and offer reassurance.

More follows...

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Whistleblower Snowden 'Has Left For Russia'

The whistleblower Edward Snowden, who leaked details about US snooping, has left Hong Kong for Russia, according to reports.

His departure was revealed in the Hong Kong newspaper the South China Morning Post.

More follows...

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