Northern Ireland Clashes: Four Officers Injured

Four police officers have been injured after more than 30 petrol bombs as well as other missiles were hurled at them in another night of Union flag demonstrations in Northern Ireland.

The most serious disorder was witnessed in Carrickfergus and the Rathcoole area of Newtownabbey, both on the northern outskirts of Belfast.

A bus was also set on fire during the disorder. Police deployed water cannon in an attempt to restore calm.

Two people were arrested, police said.

A small viable pipe bomb device was found on the Westlink dual carriageway in Belfast but it was unclear whether it was linked to the loyalist disorder.

There were widespread demonstrations across Northern Ireland on Friday night in co-ordinated action dubbed Operation Standstill by organisers. Police said most of the protests were peaceful.

Many roads were blocked off between 6pm and 8pm as loyalist protesters again took to the streets to voice their opposition to Belfast City Council's decision to limit the number of days the Union flag flies at City Hall.

Rugby fans travelling to Ravenhill in east Belfast for Ulster's crunch Heineken Cup game against Glasgow faced major disruption due to the pickets.

Protesters carry the Union flag in Newtownabbey

But the city centre was not as empty as might have been expected after an online campaign urged people to defy the protests.

They were urged instead to stage an "Operation sit-in" in cafes, pubs and restaurants to give businesses hit by the six-week campaign of street action a much-needed boost to trade.

Restaurateur Michael Deane told Sky News that the crisis has cost his business dearly but refused to give up.

"I think Belfast is a fabulous city. I've invested everything I have in this city," he said.

"Whether I would come to visit Belfast, looking from outside what you see on the television, no I probably wouldn't but let's hope this all goes away very quickly and people can see the Belfast that we saw last year because it's a fabulous city."

And while loyalists called people onto the streets to protest, young church leaders called them to prayer instead.

Andrew Masters, from the Christian organisation called What Now? told Sky News: "We're asking people to pray at 11:11 every day and for two real simple prayers, that peace would come and hope would come and that things that have been lost - the finance, the business, the hope - would be returned."

Around 70 police officers have been injured and more than 100 people arrested in six weeks of trouble since Belfast City Council limited the number of days the Union flag flies over Belfast City Hall.

More than 100 people have been arrested during weeks of trouble

A Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) spokesman said: "Police will continue to pursue a vigorous evidence gathering operation to bring those involved in the violence to justice."

The Democratic Unionist Party and Progressive Unionist Party have both submitted challenges in Belfast council over the decision to restrict the flying of the flag.

They claim the move contravened its equality policy.

A Belfast City Council spokeswoman said: "The decision to introduce the policy of flying the Union flag at City Hall was taken democratically by elected members at the monthly meeting of Belfast City Council on December 3.

"The council has taken legal advice throughout this process and the decision is in keeping with the outcome of the equality impact assessment that was undertaken in line with the advice of the Equality Commission.

"The designated days agreed are in keeping with those notified by the UK Government's Department of Culture, Media and Sport."

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Two Stabbed To Death In Birmingham City Centre

A man is being questioned on suspicion of stabbing two men to death in Birmingham city centre last night.

The men, who are believed to be in their 40s, were attacked just before 6pm.

One victim is thought to have been stabbed outside a Sainsbury's store in Martineau Place, while the other was found slumped near a Boots store in Union Street with fatal injuries.

Officers administered first aid on both men, but both were pronounced dead at the scene.

A man was arrested in New Street near the Odeon Cinema minutes after the stabbings.

Inspector David Keen said: "Two men have suffered fatal injuries - these have been inflicted in the heart of the city at a busy time when workers and shoppers would be heading home.

"There are potentially hundreds of witnesses, either people who saw the stabbings or the offender leaving the scene, and I'd urge people to get in touch immediately - they could have vital information.

"A large police presence was quickly on the scene and a man was arrested swiftly."

Forensics and search experts cordoned off several scenes in and around Union Street to preserve evidence.

A spokeswoman for West Midlands Ambulance Service said: "Crews arrived to find two men who had been stabbed and were being given excellent first aid by police officers and passers-by.

"Both men went into cardiac arrest. Crews and the team of medics administered advanced life support to both men but sadly, despite the best efforts, nothing could be done to save them and they were confirmed dead on scene."

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101.

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Jimmy Savile 'Abused Dying Hospice Patients'

By Martin Brunt, Crime Correspondent

Jimmy Savile sexually abused dying hospice patients, detectives are expected to reveal.

The late TV star also used the cover of his charity work to attack victims at many hospitals around the country, according to a dossier to be published by Scotland Yard.

It marks the end of the police investigation into allegations against Savile alone.

Prosecutors are also expected to offer an explanation over why Savile was never charged after some complaints were investigated during his life.

In the 10-week inquiry launched in October, after a TV documentary exposed Savile as a predatory and prolific paedophile, 450 people claimed they were his victims.

Detectives had already revealed that they have formally recorded 31 rape allegations and a total of 199 crimes, mostly of sex abuse, across 17 police force areas.

Peter Saunders, of the National Association for People Abused in Childhood, said: "Savile is one of the worst offenders in history.

"I'd put him alongside killers such ad Fred West, Harold Shipman and the Moors Murderers, because he killed his victims' spirit and soul.

"Everywhere he went was an opportunity to commit his vile crimes against the most vulnerable victims in the most inappropriate places, hospitals, hospices, schools and children's homes."

The inquiry in Savile's crimes was launched in October

He added: "Although Savile will never face justice, the police investigation has allowed people to speak up where they didn't before and free themselves of their burden."

It is thought that a Department of Health investigation into Savile's abuse at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Leeds General Infirmary and Broadmoor - where he was a volunteer worker and allowed unprecedented access - will be expanded because of allegations from many other health establishments.

Broadmoor patient Steven George said: "For those who had gone while he was still living to the police they must be absolutely furious and there were I understand quite a few, I experienced the same almost cynical laughter when I tried to report him when he was alive and I hated that.

"But I would keep on reporting and I think victims need to come forward."

Scotland Yard has closed the part of Operation Yewtree that investigated claims of crimes committed by Savile alone, but continues to examine allegations of Savile offending with others, and suspects with no connection with him.

:: Watch live coverage from 10am on Sky News (Sky channel 501, Virgin Media 602, Freesat 202, Freeview 82).

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California School Gunman 'Planned Attack'

A 16-year-old who walked into a rural California high school and shot one student and fired at others had planned the attack, officials have said.

The victim is in a critical but stable condition, and the suspect, whose pockets were stuffed with ammunition, is still being interrogated following the shooting on Thursday at Taft Union High School.

Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood said that the suspect, a pupil at the school, had used a shotgun which belonged to his brother and went to bed on Wednesday night with a plan to shoot two fellow students.

Surveillance video shows the alleged shooter trying to conceal the gun as he nervously entered the school, about 120 miles north of Los Angeles, through a side entrance.

He shot one teenager and tried to shoot a second student but missed. A teacher also suffered a minor pellet wound to the head.

When the shots were fired, teacher Ryan Heber tried to get the more than two dozen students out a back door and engaged the shooter in conversation to distract him.

Campus supervisor Kim Lee Fields responded to a call of shots fired and also began talking to the teen.

Sheriff Youngblood said: "They talked him into putting that shotgun down. He in fact told the teacher, 'I don't want to shoot you,' and named the person that he wanted to shoot.

"The heroics of these two people goes without saying: to stand there and face someone who has a shotgun, who's already discharged it and shot a student, that speaks volumes for these two young men, and what they may have prevented.

"They could have just as easily ...tried to get out of the classroom and left students, and they didn't.

"They knew not to let him leave the classroom with that shotgun."

The suspect was arrested about 20 minutes after the shooting and the victim with serious injuries was airlifted to hospital in nearby Bakersfield.

Local news media reported receiving phone calls from people who were hidden in closets inside the school.

Former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords with husband Mark Kelly

The attack prompted US Vice President Joe Biden to pledge that he would make recommendations on gun control to President Barack Obama in the next five days.

Mr Biden has been meeting groups ranging from victims of gun violence to members of America's powerful gun lobby as the country considers its response to the Newtown school massacre, which left 26 people dead.

"I have committed to him I will have his recommendations to him by Tuesday," Mr Biden said on Thursday, ahead of a meeting with sportsman and hunting organisations.

Mr Biden said the recommendations would be ideas gleaned from the various groups he has been meeting with in recent weeks. 

He hinted that his ideas could include new restrictions on high capacity ammunition magazines and more comprehensive background checks for gun buyers.

The Vice President also talked with representatives from the National Rifle Association, which opposes reforms like the reinstatement of an assault weapons ban - and has called for armed guards in all US schools.

Adam Lanza and his mother, Nancy Lanza

After the meeting, NRA officials said the discussion was more about demonising the Second Amendment than about keeping students safe and that they "will not allow law-abiding gun owners to be blamed for the acts of criminals and madmen".

Mr Biden and other White House officials have also met mental health advocates to try to figure out how to make it harder for disturbed people to get firearms.

On Wednesday Mr Biden said Mr Obama may take executive action intended to prevent gun attacks.

Mr Biden's involvement in this task force comes in response to the December massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, where 20 children and six staff members were killed by a 20-year-old gunman. 

Adam Lanza walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14 after killing his mother, Nancy Lanza, at her home. He later killed himself.

He had taken his mother's guns, including a rifle which fires 20 to 30 rounds at a fast pace.

The AR-15 style rifle Lanza used is America's most popular rifle. It is also the weapon most commonly used in mass shootings in the US and is the same as the one used by the gunman in the cinema shooting in Aurora, Colorado.

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Bushfires: Firefighters Race To Beat Heatwave

Firefighters in Australia are racing against the clock to bring the remaining bushfires under control before another heatwave hits parts of the country.

Forecasters are warning more hot weather is on the way this weekend, bringing the risk of more infernos.

Fires have been raging across Australia for nearly a week and while many have been contained, over 100 are still burning and about a dozen remain out of control in the country's most populous state, New South Wales.

A cooler weather front that brought some relief on Wednesday continued in many parts on Thursday, but temperatures are set to soar once again to well over 40 degrees Celsius on Friday, piling pressure on the emergency services.

Thousands of sheep have been killed by the fires

NSW Rural Fire Service commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said crews were working flat out to do all they could before the heat returned.

"It's about focusing on getting as much contained and consolidated as we can ahead of a return to hotter and dryer conditions dominating much of NSW over the coming days," he told ABC television.

"We're looking at temperatures across much of NSW into low-to-mid 40s and extending into the high 40s on Saturday.

"The only reprieve, if you can call it that, is that we are not expecting significant wind strengths to build.

A firefighter extinguishes one of the bushfires

"But it is almost academic. With such hot, dry and dominant (weather) movement from the northwest, even a moderate breeze is going to be problematic and risky for communities and firefighters over the weekend."

The blazes have burned more than 350,000 hectares (865,000 acres) of land in New South Wales alone, and while more than 100 homes were razed in Tasmania state last weekend, only a handful have been destroyed around the country since then.

No deaths have been reported.

The biggest impact has been on farmers, with vast amounts of pasture, crops and animal feed lost, as well as thousands of head of stock and agricultural infrastructure such as sheds and outbuildings.

In Yass Shire, one of the worst hit areas to the west of Canberra, a fire has so far burnt out 16,000 hectares and killed 10,000 sheep.

As well as New South Wales, fires continue to burn in the states of Victoria, Tasmania and Queensland.

Wildfires are a fact of life in arid Australia, where 173 people died in the 2009 Black Saturday firestorm, the nation's worst natural disaster of modern times.

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Tesco Sees Sales Up 1.8% Over Festive Period

Supermarket giant Tesco has seen UK like-for-like sales in the six weeks to January 5 rise by 1.8%.

It was the strongest rate of growth for Britain's biggest supermarket chain in three years.

Online food sales saw growth of 18% in the period, with more than 500,000 food orders placed in the week before Christmas.

Chief executive Philip Clarke said: "I am pleased with our performance over the important Christmas and New Year period in the UK, which reflects the progress we are making in improving our offer for customers."

The festive period has been exceedingly competitive for Britain's supermarket chain, and while discounter Aldi reported sales up 30% in the run-up to Christmas, Morrisons declined by 2.5%.

Morrisons weakness over the period was partially blamed on a lack of convenience stores but especially on a lack of online options.

Tesco also confirmed that Chris Bush was being appointed as UK managing director.

Mr Bush has been an employee of the firm for more than 30 years.

Mr Clarke has temporarily led both the whole Tesco group and UK business for nine months.

More follows...

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Belfast City Hall Set To Raise Union Flag

By David Blevins, Ireland Correspondent

The Union Flag is being raised on Belfast City Hall today to mark the birthday of the Duchess of Cambridge, but it is unclear whether it will it help or hinder efforts to resolve the crisis over the emblem in Northern Ireland.

Five weeks have passed since the city's council voted to restrict the flying of the Union Flag to 17 designated days, such as royal birthdays, but tension surrounding the issue has continued unabated.

The east of the city witnessed disturbances for a sixth consecutive night - albeit on a reduced scale - but there is no such thing as an acceptable level of violence as far as the First Minister is concerned.

Peter Robinson told Sky News: "Many people have already distanced themselves from the protests because of the violence.

"When I hear those who purport to lead the protest talk about the Police Service of Northern Ireland as 'terrorists' or 'Nazis', they are not using the language of unionism, they are using the language of republicanism."

Tensions over the flag have sparked a series of disturbances in Belfast

Loyalists will welcome the fact that the Duchess's birthday is being marked in the traditional fashion, but they recognise that the return of the flag is only temporary - so far short of what they demand.

On one hand, it is about the flag - a potent symbol of their Britishness - but it is also about demographics. Protestants no longer hold sway in Belfast and some working class unionists have lost faith in politics.

Peter Robinson and Mike Nesbitt, the leaders of the two largest unionist parties, invited disaffected Protestants to raise their concerns through a forum, but protesters have already dismissed the effort.

The First Minister added: "Here is a mechanism whereby you can channel your frustration, where you can indicate the kind of things you want in your area, and political leaders will be listening.

"Now, if you offer a political alternative and people don't take it, then very clearly those are people who are against the process and against democracy."

The crisis has caused enormous damage to the image of Northern Ireland, scheduled to host the G8 Summit of world leaders in June, and a temporary hoisting of the flag is not going to resolve it anytime soon.

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