Egypt: 'Dozens Killed' As Rallies Turn Violent

At least 70 people have been killed when security forces attacked a protest by supporters of deposed President Mohamed Morsi in Cairo, according to the Muslim Brotherhood.

"They are not shooting to wound, they are shooting to kill," said Muslim Brotherhood spokesman Gehad El-Haddad said, adding that demonstrators had been hit by gunshot in the head and chest.

The violence broke as rival rallies were held across Egypt for and against the overthrow of Mr Morsi, who is under investigation for murder.

Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians heeded a call by army chief General Abdel Fattah al Sisi to take to the streets, while the Muslim Brotherhood mounted counter-demonstrations in Cairo.

Protesters set off flares in a mass protest in support of the army in Cairo

There were heavy exchanges of gunfire in the early hours of Saturday between security forces and supporters of Mr Morsi.

The MENA state news agency, quoting an unnamed security official, reported that nine people had been killed in the violence and at least 200 wounded.

A spokeswoman for the pro-Morsi camp said eight Brotherhood supporters had died in a clash near the Cairo vigil alone, and another said rooftop snipers had opened fire.

An Apache helicopter flies over Tahrir Square during the protests

Earlier it was reported that five people had died in Egypt's second city of Alexandria, where hundreds of people fought pitched battles, with birdshot fired and men on rooftops throwing stones at crowds below.

Several of those killed were stabbed, hospital officials said, and at least one was shot in the head.

The investigation into Mr Morsi over his 2011 escape from jail has signalled a clear escalation in the military's confrontation with the deposed leader and his Islamist movement.

Protesters stand on power lines near Cairo's presidential palace

MENA said Mr Morsi, who has been held at an undisclosed military facility since his overthrow, had been ordered detained for 15 days pending the inquiry.

Egypt's army-installed interior minister, Mohamed Ibrahim, said month-old Cairo vigils by Mr Morsi's supporters would be "brought to an end, soon and in a legal manner".

An army official said the military had given the party a Saturday deadline to end its resistance and join a military-set roadmap to fresh elections.

Lasers are pointed at an army helicopter near the palace

But the Brotherhood says it wants nothing to do with the army's transition plan and called its own crowds out for counter-demonstrations in a "day to remove the coup".

Mr Morsi has been in military detention at an undisclosed location since he was overthrown.

UN leader Ban Ki-moon has called on the military to free Mr Morsi and other Islamic Brotherhood leaders, said deputy UN spokesman Eduardo del Buey.

15.00 | 0 komentar | Read More

Michael Cope Held For Murder Of Linzi Ashton

Wanted man Michael Cope has been arrested in Manchester on suspicion of murdering his ex-girlfriend Linzi Ashton.

A statement released by Greater Manchester Police, said: "A man has been arrested following the death of Linzi Ashton, who was killed last month in Salford.

"At about 11.55pm on Friday 26 July 2013, police were called to an address on Larch Road in Leigh following a report a wanted man was at the address.

"Armed officers attended and a 28-year-old man handed himself in to police and was arrested on suspicion of murder. He remains in police custody for questioning".

Police released this CCTV image of Cope at a supermarket

It is believed Cope contacted police himself to hand himself in after nearly a month on the run.

Linzi, a mother-of-two, was found dead at her home on Westbourne Road, Winton by relatives shortly before 6pm on Saturday 29 June 2013.

Ms Ashton made separate complaints to Greater Manchester Police in April and May that Cope had raped and beaten her.

A Home Office post mortem concluded she died as a result of pressure to the neck and multiple injuries.

Cope had a brief "acrimonious" relationship with Miss Ashton, 25, who had two daughters, Destiny, seven, and Daisy, two.

As part of the manhunt, police searched more than 30 addresses and two men have been charged, one with perverting the course of justice and the other with assisting an offender.

Cope, who is from Salford, had been known to make visits in and around the town centre of Leigh. 

More follows...

14.59 | 0 komentar | Read More

Spain Train Crash: Dozens Killed And Injured

The number of people dead after a train derailed in one of Spain's worst rail disasters has reportedly risen as high as 77.

Many more are said to be critically injured and Spanish media reported emergency services were attempting to rescue several people still trapped inside carriages.

A British national was among those injured, the Foreign Office has confirmed.

Casualties were pulled from the carriages

Lines of bodies covered with blankets were seen at the side of the tracks.

The crash happened as the train carrying 218 passengers plus crew approached Santiago de Compostela, a popular pilgrimage city in the northwestern region of Galicia.

Survivors said the train flipped over 'several times'

Several of the 13 carriages rolled over, with one carriage torn open and flames and smoke seen rising from the scene.

It has been described as an accident, but it will stir memories of the 2004 Madrid train bombing, which killed nearly 200 people.

One passenger, Ricardo Montesco, told Cadena Ser radio station: "It was going so quickly ... It seems that on a curve the train started to twist and the wagons piled up one on top of the other.

It is Spain's deadliest train accident since 1972

"A lot of people were squashed on the bottom.

"We tried to squeeze out of the bottom of the wagons to get out and we realised the train was burning ... I was in the second wagon and there was fire ... I saw corpses."

Officials said they believed the crash was an accident

A witness told the station they heard an explosion before seeing the derailed train. Another witness told the Radio Galega station: "There are many people dead here, my God."

The train belonging to the state-owned Renfe company was travelling from Madrid to the port city of Ferrol.

It derailed on high-speed tracks at about 8.40pm local time - 7.40pm UK time - on a bend a short distance from a scheduled stop in the city.

The train was travelling from Madrid to the port city of Ferrol

Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who is due to visit the scene later, called an emergency meeting with ministers and said: "I want to express my affection and solitarity with the victims of the terrible train accident in Santiago."

The crash happened the day before the city's main festival paying tribute to St James, one of Jesus' 12 disciples. His shrine is the destination of the El Camino de Santiago pilgrimage, which has been followed by Christians since the Middle Ages.

15.00 | 0 komentar | Read More

Wonga: Archibishop Aims To End Payday Lenders

Payday lender Wonga is facing a fight for survival after the Archbishop of Canterbury insisted he wants to "compete" it out of existence.

The Most Rev Justin Welby wants to force it out of business by expanding the Church of England's credit union plans.

Mr Welby said he had delivered the message to Errol Damelin, chief executive of Wonga, one of Britain's best-known payday lenders, during a "very good conversation".

"I've met the head of Wonga and we had a very good conversation and I said to him quite bluntly 'we're not in the business of trying to legislate you out of existence, we're trying to compete you out of existence'," he told Total Politics magazine.

"He's a businessman, he took that well."

Wonga founder Errol Damelin

The Archbishop's remarks come after he launched a new credit union for clergy and church staff earlier this month at the General Synod in York.

Mr Welby, who has served on the parliamentary Banking Standards Commission, has said he plans to expand the reach of credit unions as part of a long-term campaign to boost competition in the banking sector.

There are also plans to encourage church members with relevant skills to volunteer at credit unions.

The Government announced an investment of £38m in credit unions in April to help them offer an alternative option to payday lenders.

The entire payday lending industry, worth £2bn, was referred last month for a full-blown investigation by the Competition Commission after the trading watchdog uncovered "deep-rooted" problems with the industry.

Wonga said in March that it welcomed any attempt to encourage responsible lending and that it had been "instrumental" in helping to raise industry standards.

Mr Damelin said: "The Archbishop is clearly an exceptional individual and someone who understands the power of innovation.

"There is mutual respect, some differing opinions and a meeting of minds on many big issues.

"On the competition point, we always welcome fresh approaches that give people a fuller set of alternatives to solve their financial challenges. I'm all for better consumer choice."

15.00 | 0 komentar | Read More

Royal Baby: Duchess Of Cambridge In Labour

Place In History For New Royal Baby

Updated: 8:30am UK, Monday 22 July 2013

By Alastair Bruce, Sky News Royal Commentator

For the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and for all of us, the wait is nearly over and, for the first time ever, the United Kingdom awaits the birth of a child that will take its guaranteed place in the order of succession to the throne as a future sovereign.

Hitherto, the gender of the baby was significant. A baby princess would have raised a muffled hooray because the subsequent birth of a prince would have displaced her claim in his favour. Not any more.

The Succession to the Crown Act, which was passed through Parliament in the closing months of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee last year, ended this ancient practice of favouring men over women.

Interestingly, this legislation, which is to be passed by all 16 nations over which the British monarch is head of state, is not retrospective.

This means that the order of succession that existed before October 2012 remains unaltered. It only affects those born after the Act.

So, the Queen's sons Prince Andrew, Prince Edward and their children still take precedence over their elder sister, Princess Anne.

This detail, which will test the concentration of most royal genealogists trying to plot the order of succession in the future, presumably saves the Crown from claims to the throne from the descendants of people like Queen Victoria's eldest child, who was female and also called Victoria.

She was parcelled off to marry the future king of Prussia and became mother of the infamous Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany.

Arguably, his heirs might have claimed to be Britain's rightful monarch.

Not for the Duke of Cambridge then the anguish of Henry VIII, who feared the end of his insecure new Tudor dynasty when successive wives only bore him princesses.

Instead, Prince William knows that the child his wife delivers will be welcomed by a nation that rightly shapes the monarchy through Parliament to meet the needs of a changing world.

But tradition will play out in the manner of the royal birth's announcement.

Despite the thicket of journalists that camp opposite the Lindo Wing of St Mary's Hospital in London's Paddington, the weight, gender and time of birth of this future monarch will be communicated through a "Notice of Birth".

This document stands ready for the key details to be filled in before a member of the royal household will convey it to the Privy Purse Door of Buckingham Palace.

Waiting there will be a frame. Once securely framed a footman will place it on an easel by the railings for the world to know.

At the same time the Army will bring out the saluting guns to fire a salute.

This child will not be born a boy or girl, as would be the case for any other birth, but either a prince or princess. This is a royal difference and was only enabled recently.

The Queen stepped in to change the rule established by George V in 1917, which restricted princely rank and the prefix of Royal Highness to the grandchildren of a sovereign and no further.

Because the Duke of Cambridge is in the direct line, the Queen has decided that his children will be given the title of prince or princess.

The title of the child will therefore be His (or Her) Royal Highness Prince (or Princess) [first name] of Cambridge.

There has only been one occasion before when a monarch has lived to see the great grandchild who would ultimately inherit the throne.

This was when the future Edward VIII was born during the reign of Queen Victoria.

This nation marks its passing history through the reigns of kings and queens.

One day, that story may be identified through the reign of this coming baby.

No wonder there is such interest and perhaps this makes it the more understandable that the palace has taken trouble to remind us that this is a very private moment for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

14.59 | 0 komentar | Read More

Royal Baby Will Take A Place In History

By Alastair Bruce, Sky News Royal Commentator

For the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and for all of us, the wait is nearly over and, for the first time ever, the United Kingdom awaits the birth of a child that will take its guaranteed place in the order of succession to the throne as a future sovereign.

Hitherto, the gender of the baby was significant. A baby princess would have raised a muffled hooray because the subsequent birth of a prince would have displaced her claim in his favour. Not any more.

The Succession to the Crown Act, which was passed through Parliament in the closing months of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee last year, ended this ancient practice of favouring men over women.

Interestingly, this legislation, which is to be passed by all 16 nations over which the British monarch is head of state, is not retrospective.

This means that the order of succession that existed before October 2012 remains unaltered. It only affects those born after the Act.

The sex of the baby will be announced on an easel at Buckingham Palace

So, the Queen's sons Prince Andrew, Prince Edward and their children still take precedence over their elder sister, Princess Anne.

This detail, which will test the concentration of most royal genealogists trying to plot the order of succession in the future, presumably saves the Crown from claims to the throne from the descendants of people like Queen Victoria's eldest child, who was female and also called Victoria.

She was parcelled off to marry the future king of Prussia and became mother of the infamous Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany.

Queen Victoria was last to see birth of great grandchild to inherit throne

Arguably, his heirs might have claimed to be Britain's rightful monarch.

Not for the Duke of Cambridge then the anguish of Henry VIII, who feared the end of his insecure new Tudor dynasty when successive wives only bore him princesses.

Instead, Prince William knows that the child his wife delivers will be welcomed by a nation that rightly shapes the monarchy through Parliament to meet the needs of a changing world.

But tradition will play out in the manner of the royal birth's announcement.

Despite the thicket of journalists that camp opposite the Lindo Wing of St Mary's Hospital in London's Paddington, the weight, gender and time of birth of this future monarch will be communicated through a "Notice of Birth".

This document stands ready for the key details to be filled in before a member of the royal household will convey it to the Privy Purse Door of Buckingham Palace.

Waiting there will be a frame. Once securely framed a footman will place it on an easel by the railings for the world to know.

At the same time the Army will bring out the saluting guns to fire a salute.

This child will not be born a boy or girl, as would be the case for any other birth, but either a prince or princess. This is a royal difference and was only enabled recently.

The Queen stepped in to change the rule established by George V in 1917, which restricted princely rank and the prefix of Royal Highness to the grandchildren of a sovereign and no further.

Because the Duke of Cambridge is in the direct line, the Queen has decided that his children will be given the title of prince or princess.

The title of the child will therefore be His (or Her) Royal Highness Prince (or Princess) [first name] of Cambridge.

There has only been one occasion before when a monarch has lived to see the great grandchild who would ultimately inherit the throne.

This was when the future Edward VIII was born during the reign of Queen Victoria.

This nation marks its passing history through the reigns of kings and queens.

One day, that story may be identified through the reign of this coming baby.

No wonder there is such interest and perhaps this makes it the more understandable that the palace has taken trouble to remind us that this is a very private moment for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

14.59 | 0 komentar | Read More

Mosque Blasts Suspect Held Over OAP's Murder

One of two Ukrainian men being held in connection to bomb attacks near three mosques in the West Midlands has been arrested over the murder of a 75-year-old man.

West Midlands Police say the 25-year-old terror suspect was arrested in relation to "a further act of terrorism".

A police spokesman said: "This arrest is in connection with the murder of Mohammed Saleem in Small Heath, Birmingham on Monday April 29."

The stabbing death of Mr Saleem, a highly-regarded and well-known figure in the local community, was described by detectives at the time as a "despicable" attack on a defenceless pensioner.

A joint family statement read during a press conference at West Midlands Police headquarters on May 2 described Mr Saleem as "a much-loved and respected community member".

The statement read: "We can't express our feelings of sadness and devastation.

"It's hard to accept that our beloved father and grandfather has been taken from us in such a brutal way."

Debris from a device was found close to a mosque in Wolverhampton

On Saturday, counter-terrorism officers were granted extra time to question the Ukrainian nationals in connection with the explosions.

A sitting of Westminster Magistrates' Court granted officers up to seven days to question the men, who were initially detained on suspicion of being involved in the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism.

Following the men's arrest, the "seat of an explosion and debris" were found on a roundabout near the Wolverhampton Central Mosque.

Police believe the debris came from a device that exploded on the city's Fiveways roundabout at about 9.15am on June 28.

The remnants of a home-made explosive device were found outside a mosque in Walsall on Saturday June 22, and another device, containing nails, exploded near a mosque in Binfield Road, Tipton, on July 12.

No one was injured by any of the explosions.

Another device containing nails exploded near a mosque in Tipton

Speaking after police were granted further time to question the two suspects, Assistant Chief Consatble Marcus Beale said: "We continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding the three explosions and are appealing to anyone who may have seen anything suspicious around these dates to contact us.

"We do not underestimate the impact this will have on communities across the West Midlands.

"The support of all communities has been fantastic with wider faith communities coming together to show solidarity.

"I would appeal to people, if you have the smallest piece of information that my help the investigation then please contact us on 101 at the earliest opportunity."

14.59 | 0 komentar | Read More

Child Porn Web Searches 'Must Be Blocked'

Websites will be told to block certain search terms and warn people when they try to view illegal content, as part of a crackdown on child abuse images.

David Cameron will use a major speech to tell companies they have a "moral duty" to protect youngsters.

The Prime Minister will call on websites including Google, Bing and Yahoo! to adopt a blacklist of words and phrases drawn up by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (Ceop) within months.

He will also recommend splash screens that tell people they could lose "their job, their family, even access to their children" by viewing indecent images online.

David Cameron says internet companies have a "moral duty" to act

The pages could redirect people to the charity Stop It Now's website in an effort to help change people's behaviour.

"There are some searches which are so abhorrent and where there can be no doubt whatsoever about the sick and malevolent intent of the searcher that there should be no search results returned at all," Mr Cameron will say.

"I have a very clear message for Google, Bing, Yahoo! and the rest. You have a duty to act on this - and it is a moral duty.

"You are not separate from our society, you are part of our society, and you must play a responsible role in it.

"This is quite simply about obliterating this disgusting material from the net - and we will do whatever it takes."

The Prime Minister is expected to warn companies that "legislative options" could be used to force them to comply if they have not made progress on a blacklist before October.

Mr Cameron will also urge firms to hold hackathons - events which allow software experts to collaborate on projects - to produce results.

Pressure to prevent people accessing indecent images of children has increased following two high-profile murder trials.

Mark Bridger, who killed April Jones, and Stuart Hazell, the man convicted of Tia Sharp's murder, were both found to have accessed offensive images, including some of children.

Experts argued there was a clear link between their obsessions and their actions.

Last month, the four main UK internet service providers agreed to donate an extra £1m to the Internet Watch Foundation to help its work with Ceop.

In 2012, the Government abandoned proposals for an "opt-in" system that would have forced users to contact their internet service provider in order to gain access to adult content.

14.59 | 0 komentar | Read More