Madeleine McCann Cops Hunt Resort Workers

British police investigating Madeleine McCann's disappearance have asked their Portuguese counterparts to search the homes and bank accounts of three suspects.

A Scotland Yard team led by Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood made the request during meetings about new leads in the case with senior members of Portugal's Policia Judiciaria earlier this week.

Investigators believe the trio were workers at the Ocean Club complex in Praia da Luz, where the McCann family were staying in 2007 and were behind a string of burglaries in the weeks before Madeleine, then three, went missing.

Former Ocean Club worker Nelson Rodrigues, told Sky News Crime Correspondent Martin Brunt that employees at the complex would have had the perfect opportunity to snatch a child.

Nelson Rodrigues speaks to Sky's Martin Brunt

He said: "Yes, you could suspect (them). The workers there know the shifts and the hours when people are at home or not at home.

"It's waiters, barmen, people from maintenance, reception, the cleaners - it's a lot of staff."

In May 2007, when the McCanns were holidaying in the Algarve, there were some 160 people working at the family resort.

There were around 160 workers at the Ocean Club when Madeleine vanished

One expat apartment owner told Sky News that he had property stolen about a month before Madeleine disappeared and that others had been targeted.

He said there was no sign of forced entry at his property and he suspected that the thieves might have had access to a key.

The man spoke to British police 18 months ago - suggesting that their renewed probe has been focused on Ocean Club employees almost since it began.

British Police visited Faro, near Praia da Luz where the McCanns stayed

Paul Luckman, editor of the expat Portugal News, has been following the latest developments in  the case.

He told Sky News: "It's alleged that they could be employees of Ocean Club, which puts a whole new light on it and that they're not, as we've supposed until now, a little group of opportunist burglars going round stealing passports and wallets whenever there was a window open.

"There are suggestions that this is slightly different."

Kate and Gerry McCann have been 'buoyed' by progress in the investigation

Earlier this month, Sky News reported that police were hunting the three men whose phones were "red hot" after Madeleine vanished.

Mobile phone records show that the men made numerous calls to each other in the hours after Kate and Gerry McCann discovered their daughter had disappeared from her room.

Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry are said to be "buoyed" by signs of progress in the effort to find out what happened to their daughter.

But it is unclear whether Portuguese authorities will respond positively to the latest request for help from the British investigation team.

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Amanda Knox Guilty Again Over Kercher Murder

Amanda Knox and her ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito have again been found guilty of murdering British student Meredith Kercher after an Italian court ruled the pair should not have been cleared.

Knox, who was in her hometown of Seattle when she learned her conviction had been reinstated, has been sentenced to 28 years and six months.

The 26-year-old said she was "frightened and saddened" by the ruling.

Sollecito, 29, who was not in court for the verdict but had attended lengthy hearings in the morning, was sentenced to 25 years.

Their lawyers have said they intend to appeal to Italy's highest court and a long legal battle for Knox's extradition is now expected.

Miss Kercher's sister Stephanie and brother Lyle were both at the Nuovo Palazzo di Giustizia courthouse in Florence to hear the outcome of the third trial in the case.

Members of Ms Kercher's family were in court

Speaking outside the court, Mr Kercher told Sky News he could never forgive those responsible for his sister's death.

"I think you'd have to be a very strong-willed - arguably religious - person to find that forgiveness," he said.

"I think it is so easily forgotten what happened to Meredith.

"When I read reports even now, I find myself skimming past the paragraphs that refer to what actually happened to her because it is so horrific."

Knox and Sollecito were charged in 2007 after Miss Kercher's semi-naked body was found with her throat cut in the bedroom of the house she shared with Knox in the central Italian city of Perugia.

Exchange student Miss Kercher lived with Knox

The 21-year-old Leeds University student from Coulsdon, Surrey, had been sexually assaulted.

Two years after the pair were found guilty at their original trial in 2009 - and handed jail terms totalling more than 50 years - the verdicts were overturned and both walked free from court, with Knox returning to the US and going on to sign a book deal.

Their acquittals in 2011 came after a damning 100 page report outlined a catalogue of errors and breaches of procedure that had been made in collecting evidence.

The third trial began last September in Florence.

The verdicts are delivered

After nearly 12 hours of deliberations on Thursday, the court upheld the 2009 convictions.

Knox, who claimed she could not attend the retrial because she could not afford to travel to Italy, said after the latest ruling: "I am frightened and saddened by this unjust verdict.

"Having been found innocent before, I expected better from the Italian justice system.

Sollecito is in Italy but was not in court for the verdict

"The evidence and accusatory theory do not justify a verdict of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

"Rather, nothing has changed. There has always been a marked lack of evidence. My family and I have suffered greatly from this wrongful persecution."

She said in a pre-recorded interview for BBC's Newsnight that the verdict meant she was now technically a fugitive. would only be extradited "kicking and screaming".

"I'm definitely not going back (to Italy) willingly," she said. "They'll have to catch me and pull me back kicking and screaming."

Speaking to The Guardian, Ms Knox said her memory of what happened on the night the murder was clear.

"I knew what I did that night," she said. "I very clearly remembered what I did that night. That I was with Rafael, we had dinner, we did what we always normally do when we're all the things we do when we're together.

"But they started questioning me about that, making me doubt what I was telling them. I kept telling them, 'look, I don't know what time I was doing things. 

"All I can tell you is I left my house, me and Rafael went to his house, we were hanging out, listening to music, I read some Harry Potter ... I remember reading emails, we talked, we had dinner; that's what we did."

Though Knox has remained in the US, she emailed the court to protest her innocence in a statement read out by her lawyer in which she insisted she ''was not a monster".

Speaking outside the court, Knox's lawyer, Luciano Ghirga, said she will launch an appeal against the decision.

He added: "For those that, like me, are convinced that Amanda is innocent, it is a very difficult time.

"We have to respect the verdict but we will challenge them. We're very sad at the moment."

Sollecito's lawyer Luca Maori said: "There isn't a shred of proof."

Drug dealer Rudy Guede was sentenced to 16 years over Miss Kercher's murder. Investigators said he did not act alone.

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GDP Figures Expected To Show Strong UK Growth

Official figures are expected to show the best pace of growth since before the global financial crisis - indicating that Britain's economic fightback is continuing.

Economists predict that data from the Office for National Statistics will show a fourth consecutive quarter of gross domestic product (GDP) growth in 2013.

The rate of economic expansion may be shown to have slowed to 0.7% from 0.8% the previous quarter - but that would still mean overall growth of 1.9% in 2013, up from 0.3% the previous year.

That figure would amount to the fastest growth since 3.4% in 2007 - before the worldwide economy went into meltdown.

:: Watch the GDP results announcement live on Sky News at 9.30am on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

The GDP update is expected to give a boost to Chancellor George Osborne - just a year after the UK was gripped by fears of a "triple dip" recession.

It comes after the International Monetary Fund set aside its warnings about Britain "playing with fire" with its austerity policies and again upgraded its forecast for UK growth.

GDP growth of 0.5% in the first quarter of 2013 was followed by 0.8% in the second and third quarters of the year.

Some experts believe the latest figures will come in just under the 0.9% forecast by the Bank of England for the fourth quarter.

A good Christmas for retailers is not predicted to boost growth by much as the festive 2.6% sales increase came after a weak October and November.

Chancellor George Osborne is hoping for further vindication of his policies

The manufacturing sector slowed in November, while construction slumped by 4%, despite Government schemes such as Help to Buy.

Labour's shadow chancellor Ed Balls said claims that the UK economy is surging ahead are "cloud cuckoo land".

He told BBC2's Newsnight that three years of economic "flatlining" on Mr Osborne's watch had left the UK lagging behing France, which has recovered to its pre-crisis peak.

He said: "Do you really think up and down the country at the moment when most people are seeing their living standards fall and in most parts of the country there isn't new business investment coming through, do you think that is an economy that is doing really, really well? That is cloud cuckoo land."  

The IMF predicts the UK economy will grow by 2.4% in 2014 - matching the independent Office for Budget Responsibility's forecast.

The Bank of England most recently estimated 2014 growth at 2.8%.

Investec economist Philip Shaw expects a 0.7% GDP growth figure for the fourth quarter of 2013, but said this should not be seen as a disappointment even though it would be a slight slowing from the third quarter.

He said: "There is no evidence whatsoever that the recovery is petering out."

He said a slightly lower figure could ease fears that policymakers may be persuaded to lift interest rates this year.

Experts at Capital Economics and Scotiabank both predicted growth of 0.8%.

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Royal Estate: Overspend Leaves £50m Repair Bill

By Rachel Younger, Sky News Correspondent

Financial mismanagement within the Royal household is putting the future of some of our finest buildings at risk, according to the parliamentary watchdog responsible for scrutinising the Royal finances.

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) believes over a third of the Royal estate, which includes both Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, is in disrepair and has put the cost of fixing it at around £50m.

Margaret Hodge MP, who chairs the committee, told Sky News: "Forty per cent of it needs something doing to it.

"The boilers at Buckingham Palace haven't been replaced for 60 years. Windsor Castle has problems with the bedrooms and the Royal Picture Gallery has buckets to catch the water coming through."

It is the first time that Parliament has scrutinised the Sovereign Grant given to the Queen to support her public duties.

Since the Civil List was abolished in 2013, the Royal household has been given a percentage of revenue from the Crown Estate and is meant to be more accountable to the taxpayer.

But the committee has criticised the household for spending over its means.

In 2012/13 it received £31m from the taxpayer, but spent £33.3m, raiding its reserves.

That has left a contingency of only £1m - a historic low - with no plan drawn up to pay for the backlog of repairs.

Windsor Castle needs repairs to its bedrooms

The report demands that the household "must get a much firmer grip on how it plans to address its maintenance backlog", adding "it has not even costed the repair work".

It also calls on the Palace to do more with less.

In a financial climate where many public institutions have had to make dramatic cuts the Royal household has only managed to reduce its expenditure by 5% in the last six years.

The committee believes there is scope to generate more income and reduce costs - possibly by opening Buckingham Palace to the public for more than just one month a year.

A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said: "The Royal household was charged by the PAC in 2009 to generate more income to supplement the funding it receives from Government.

"This has been done successfully. In 2012-13 the household generated £11.6m in comparison with £6.7m in 2007-8. Work on income generation continues.

"A significant financial priority for the Royal household is to reduce the backlog in essential maintenance across the occupied Royal palaces.

"Recent examples of work include the renewal of a lead roof over the royal library at Windsor and the removal of asbestos from the basement of Buckingham Palace."

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UK Set To Freeze Amid Fears Of More Floods

Motorists and flood-hit communities have been warned of ice, sleet and snow as well as further downpours, as temperatures are expected to plummet.

A Met Office severe weather warning for icy conditions is in place across most of the UK, while some parts of the country have been told to brace for snow.

The Met Office's weather warning for UK

The chief forecaster said on its website: "A colder, westerly, air stream will follow Sunday's frontal band bringing heavy wintry showers and wet surfaces to many areas during Sunday evening and night.

"Clear skies between showers are expected to allow temperatures to fall to or just below freezing at times resulting in a risk of icy stretches forming on untreated surfaces.

"Some areas of the United Kingdom will also see a covering of snow. Snow amounts will generally be small, mostly accumulating on vegetation, however more persistent and heavy show is expected over the higher ground of western and central Highland and the southern Grampians."

The warning was issued for Sunday evening up until 10am today.

Fourteen serious flood warnings are in place for parts of the South East and South West, with the Environment Agency telling people in affected areas to take immediate action.

The Environment Agency's flood alerts

The Somerset Levels, which run south from the Mendip Hills to the Blackdown Hills, are particularly vulnerable, as further heavy rain falls on already saturated ground.

There is also potential for further river flooding across the South West and southern counties including parts of Wiltshire, Dorset, Hampshire, West Sussex, West Berkshire and Surrey into next week.

The Environment Agency is running more than 60 pumps around the clock to drain an estimated 65 million cubic metres of floodwater from the Levels.

Police pass a submerged car, as a local resident uses the temporary pontoon

A temporary pontoon has been erected near the village of Langport to allow residents to get to their homes and a boat service is ferrying people to and from work and school.

Environment Secretary Owen Paterson is expected to visit Somerset today to speak to the communities affected.

As well as the flood alerts, parts of Scotland have been told to brace for strong winds gusting up to 80mph.

Snow fell over the Northern Pennines

On Sunday, light snow flurries affected parts of northern England, including in Cumbria, where snow ploughs were used to clear sections of the A66.

Twitter user Grant Kavanagh saw 'strange weather' in Knaphill, Surrey

A "mini tornado" was reported in parts of the Midlands and southern Britain, where trees were brought down, power supplies knocked out and outbuildings damaged.

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Lloyds Banking Group 'Sorry' Over IT Glitch

Lloyds Banking Group has apologised after customers were unable to withdraw money from cashpoints or pay for goods with their debit cards.

The group - made up of Lloyds, Halifax, Bank of Scotland and TSB - has 30 million UK account holders, and became aware of the difficulties on Sunday afternoon.

It later said the problems - which lasted for several hours and were blamed on a "server failing" - had been fixed.

A spokeswoman said: "We apologise that earlier today, between 3pm and 6pm, some customers were unable to complete their debit card transactions.

"Although the majority of transactions were unaffected, we are very sorry for the inconvenience that this will have caused.

"At the same time, some customers encountered problems at approximately half of our 7,000 ATMs.

"This was resolved by 7.30pm, and all of our ATMs are now working."

Online and telephone banking were unaffected by these issues, and customers were still able to withdraw cash from other ATMs.

TSB admits problems with its ATMs

Customers earlier used Twitter and other social media to vent their anger at the failure, which has left many stranded without cash.

TSB customer Nicky Kate said: "Really embarrassed to get my card declined while out shopping, never had any problems with lloyds then they changed my account."

Hannah Smith tweeted: "I am a TSB customer with a Lloyds card still (like everyone else). And I've been embarrassed three times today re: card declined."

Another customer, Julia Abbott, ‏said: "Lloyds bank atm and card service down. 20 mins on hold to be told this. Nothing even on website. Shoddy lloyds. ... shoddy."

Another Twitter user wrote: "This problem is also affecting Halifax debit cards as I found out trying to pay for lunch with my wife!"

And Jane Lucy Jones tweeted Halifax, saying: "Why can't I get any money out of any cashpoints, what is going on?

TSB - which has more than 630 branches across England, Scotland and Wales - said it "unreservedly apologised" for the problem.

Its chief executive Paul Pester had said in a tweet: "My apologies to TSB customers having problems with their cards.

"I'm working hard with my team now to try to fix the problems."

Lloyds customer services said the problem affected debit cards and not credit cards.

The glitch is the latest technology meltdown for the UK's high street banks.

Last month, all of RBS and NatWest's systems went down for three hours on one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

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