Blackpool Murder: Burning Body Found In Alley

Two people have been arrested after the body of a 16-year-old girl was found burning in an alley in Blackpool.

Police have cordoned off the area around Kirby Road, South Shore, where the body was found, and specialist forensic officers were searching a nearby hotel.

A 22-year-old man and a 20-year-old woman were arrested nearby and are being questioned by police.

Lancashire Police said the victim was Sasha Marsden, a student at Blackpool and Fylde College who lived in the Staining area with her parents.

The senior investigating officer is Detective Superintendent Andy Murphy from the Force Major Investigation Team.

He said: "This is an incredibly difficult and complex enquiry and we are working to try and build up a picture of what happened.

Student Sasha Marsden was reportedly set alight (Pic: Facebook)

"From examining the body, it appears to us that someone has attempted to set fire to Sasha and this is a line of enquiry that we are looking into.

"This is an incredibly difficult time for the family and we are keeping them informed of our investigation. Our officers will be supporting them as they attempt to come to terms with what has happened."

A post-mortem examination was planned for Friday evening.

Carl Evans, owner of the nearby Kimber Guest House, told Sky News he spotted the fire when he walked out into his back garden on Thursday evening.

"I heard the alarms going and saw the smoke, but I thought it was just someone burning rubbish," he said.

He added that some residents had attempted to put out the flames before realising it was a body on fire.

"The lass two doors up said someone seemed to have put something out - like a mannequin - but it turned out to be the body of a 16-year-old girl."

Friends paid tribute to the victim on a Facebook page called RIP Sasha Marsden.

Jordan Silkstone wrote: "Way too young, what this town coming too.. R.I.p huni x."

Emma James wrote: "R.I.P Sasha. I didn't know you very long but you was such a good mate.

"I will miss our little facebook chats. You always knew how to cheer me up when I was down. I hope the people who did this to you get what they deserve. Miss you always beautiful. Xxx."

Anyone with information is asked to call the Major Incident Room at Blackpool on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

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Cameron Faces Revolt Over Marriage Tax Breaks

Tax breaks for married couples will not be part of next month's Budget, a senior Government source has said.

The news is likely to upset many Conservative backbenchers who have suggested the change should be included in Chancellor George Osborne's next Budget in return for their supporting plans to introduce gay marriage.

The Conservative general election manifesto pledged to introduce a marriage tax break, and the commitment was included in the coalition agreement.

It is expected that one member of a married couple or civil partnership would be allowed to transfer £750 of their tax-free personal allowance to their partner, reducing their tax bill. This would be worth around £150 a year to basic-rate taxpayers.

But the senior Government source flatly rejected the idea of a "quid pro quo" deal, and ruled out a marriage tax break featuring in the Budget.

"It won't be in the Budget but it will be in this Parliament," the source said. "This Budget obviously, with all that has happened in recent weeks and months, will be very much focused on growth in the economy".

Mr Cameron views the introduction of same-sex marriage - which is expected to split his MPs when it is put to a Commons vote next week - as the "Conservative Party delivering the promise it made".

"This is a difficult issue for some in the Conservative Party and he understands the strong feelings that people have, and of course it's a free vote," the source said.

"He is proud of the fact that it's a coalition Government with strong Conservative participation that is bringing forward a modern and progressive change.

"It is good to encourage people to come together and stay together."

David Cameron is said to have 'full confidence' in George Osborne

The source also said Mr Osborne had the "full confidence" of the Prime Minister - insisting he will still be Chancellor at the 2015 general election.

It came as some MPs are said to be circulating a letter demanding that Mr Osborne is replaced as the economy continues to falter.

"He is an extremely successful Chancellor. He is battling very difficult economic circumstances," the source said.

"George Osborne will be Chancellor at the next general election."

The issue of gay marriage is causing Conservative party members to quit in significant numbers, according to The Times.

Backbenchers insist the issue has sparked "serious unrest" among the party's rank and file and are claiming some constituencies have lost as many as 100 card-carrying Tories each.

Conservative headquarters, however, does not hold up-to-date membership records, the newspaper said.

Tory MP David Burrowes told The Times: "There's serious unrest in the grassroots. You cannot avoid the fact that the troops are unhappy. People are drifting away."

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Horse DNA: Burger King Dumps Irish Supplier

Burger King has issued full page newspaper apologies after discovering horse DNA in patties from its supplier in Ireland.

The fast food chain said sorry to customers as it confirmed it was cutting ties with Silvercrest, the food processing plant that supplied contaminated burgers to UK supermarkets.

Burger King said its own tests for equine DNA in its burgers had come back negative and that four samples from the Silvercrest plant that did test positive were from a product that did not make it into restaurants.

The Miami-based chain said the failure to deliver 100% British and Irish beef patties was a violation of contracts.

The UK newspaper ads include a statement from Diego Beamonte, Burger King Corporation's vice president for global quality, who said: "While the Food Safety Authority of Ireland has stated that this is not a food safety issue, we are deeply troubled by the findings of our investigation and apologise to our guests, who trust us to source only the highest quality 100% beef burgers.

"Our supplier has failed us and in turn we have failed you. We are committed to ensuring that this does not happen again."

The Irish authorities said that their investigations had traced filler product used in the burger processing facility to a supplier in Poland.

It contained a mixture of beef and horse offcuts.

Experts from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) yesterday told the Commons Environment Committee that they could not be sure whether the contaminated burgers were being sold for more than a year.

Aldi is the latest supermarket to suspend supplies over burger content

Bosses at the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI), who identified and publicised the controversy, or Department of Agriculture chiefs have yet to be questioned at a similar level in Dublin.

At least 10 million burgers were put into storage following the scandal. Silvercrest's parent company ABP Food Group initially said they would be destroyed.

Silvercrest had a contract to supply Burger King in the UK, Ireland and Denmark. It is understood the deals with the fast food chain and Tesco were worth in the region of £39m.

The Ballybay processing factory, closed since the scandal broke two weeks ago, employed 112 people.

Burger King said it had carried out its own internal investigation including scientific tests, inspection of the Silvercrest facility and scrutiny of traceability records over the last fortnight.

It has been using approved suppliers from Germany and Italy as a precaution since.

Burger King's apology came after Aldi suspended its contract with beefburger supplier Dalepak, having found small traces of horsemeat DNA in its products.

The supermarket withdrew three beefburger lines earlier this month after traces of pig meat and horsemeat were discovered, and launched an investigation.

"Aldi UK's customers are our absolute priority," a spokesman said. "This is why we immediately withdrew these products until such a time that we could verify that there was no risk to our customers.

"We are deeply angry and feel let down by our supplier and we are pursuing more tests until we are certain that we understand how the production line was contaminated."

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Mexico: Pemex Oil Company HQ Blast Kills 25

Twenty-five people are dead and at least 100 injured after an explosion at the headquarters of Mexican oil company Pemex.

Injured workers were seen being evacuated after the blast at the state-owned firm blew out windows and damaged three floors of the tower in Mexico City's commercial centre.

There are reports that as many as 30 people could be trapped in the debris from the explosion, which occurred in the basement of an administrative building next to the iconic 52-storey skyscraper.

Ana Vargas Palacio was distraught as she searched for her missing husband, Daniel Garcia Garcia, 36, who works in the building. She last heard from him at 1pm.

"I called his phone many times, but a young man answered and told me he found the phone in the debris," she said.

The two have an 11-year-old daughter. His mother, Gloria Garcia Castaneda, collapsed on a friend's arm, crying "My son. My son."

Television images showed people being carried out of the building on office chairs and gurneys. Most of them showed injuries likely to have been caused by falling debris.

Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, said in a Tweet that several workers were injured in the blast but no one answered at its offices.

The blast happened in a busy central district of Mexico City

There was no immediate cause given for the blast, but in an earlier Tweet, the company said it had evacuated the building because of problems with the electricity.

"It was an explosion, a shock, the lights went out and suddenly there was a lot of debris," employee Cristian Obele told Milenio television, adding that he had been injured in the leg. "Co-workers helped us get out of the building."

The tower, where several thousand people work, was evacuated. The main floor and the mezzanine of the auxiliary building, where the explosion occurred, were heavily damaged, along with windows as far as three floors up.

"Right now they're conducting a tour of the building and the area adjacent to the blast site to verify if there are any still trapped so they can be rescued immediately," Interior Ministry spokesman Eduardo Sanchez told Milenio.

"We were talking and all of sudden we heard an explosion with white smoke and glass falling from the windows," said Maria Concepcion Andrade, 42, who lives on the block of Pemex building.

"People started running from the building covered in dust. A lot of pieces were flying."

Police landed four rescue helicopters to remove the dead or injured. About a dozen tow trucks were furiously moving cars to make more landing room for the helicopters.

Streets surrounding the building were closed as evacuees wandered around, and rescue crews loaded the injured into ambulances.

"I profoundly lament the death of our fellow workers at Pemex. My condolences to their families," President Enrique Pena Nieto said via his Twitter account.

Shortly before the explosion, Operations Director Carlos Murrieta reported via Twitter that the company had reduced its accident rate in recent years. Most Pemex accidents have occurred at pipeline and refinery installations.

A fire at a pipeline metering centre in northeast Mexico near the Texas border killed 30 workers in September, the largest-single toll in at least a decade for the company.

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Brazil Club Fire: Owner Blames Whole Country

The co-owner of a Brazilian nightclub where more than 230 people died in a fire is blaming "the whole country" for the disaster, his lawyer said.

Jader Marques said his client Elissandro Spohr "regretted having ever been born" because of his grief over the inferno, but that he blamed the tragedy on "a succession of errors made by the whole country".

Police have said a country music band performing at the Kiss nightclub in Santa Maria lit a flare that ignited flammable soundproof foam in the ceiling.

Those trying to flee were further hampered by a catastrophic lack of fire alarms and sprinkler systems. The club also had only one working door and a faulty fire extinguisher.

Mr Marques said: "My client's responsibility is having trusted too much in the inspectors and in those responsible for the construction."

A woman urges changes to the law so the tragedy can not be repeated

He also claimed public officials had signed off on the club's layout.

Brazil's Health Minister Alexandre Padilha has urged survivors to be on alert for symptoms of "chemical pneumonia" after the number of people injured rose to 143 following 22 new hospital admissions for the condition.

The blaze has also claimed another life - a 21-year-old man with burns covering 70% of his body whose brother was also killed in the club.

The G1 internet portal quoted their mother Eliane Goncalves as saying: "When they went out at night, I blessed them.

"I asked myself how I would be able to sleep with both my boys out. But what could I do, follow them? God bless them."

Police have detained Spohr, the club's other co-owner and two musicians who were playing in the club when the fire broke out, and are holding them for five days as part of the investigation.

Spohr is recovering from a respiratory infection and is said to be suffering from depression in police custody at a hospital in a nearby town.

Large crowds have gathered near the nightclub's charred exterior

Mr Marques denied reports that overcrowding helped cause Sunday's tragedy, insisting there were only 600 to 700 people in the club at any one time. 

Capacity for the 615 square metre nightspot stood at less than 700, though the band's guitarist told media that the space was packed with an estimated 1,200 to 1,300 people. Police have given similar estimates.

Authorities have said that of the 143 people still in hospital, more than 70 are still in life-threateningly critical states.

The governor of Sao Paulo has responded to calls for tighter regulation by ordering more thorough inspections of venues including nightclubs, cinemas and theatres.

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GCSE Plans 'Could Harm Less Able Pupils'

By Liz Lane, Sky News Reporter

Plans to axe GCSEs in England could fail to help less able pupils and leave some subjects with discredited qualifications, MPs have warned.

The Commons Education Select Committee agrees that significant improvements are needed.

But it claims the Government has failed to prove its case for scrapping the qualification.

GCSEs will be replaced by English Baccalaureate Certificates, with teaching beginning in 2015, and the first exams in English, maths and sciences taking place in 2017.

GCSEs in history, geography and languages will be replaced by EBCs at a later date, and GCSEs are set to remain in other subjects.

Committee chair Graham Stuart warned ministers they could be being too hasty.

"Slow down a little. Don't allow educational reform, which has impact for generations to come, don't let that be driven by a political timetable."

Education secretary Michael Gove has said the changes will modernise the exam system.

But Jacques Szemalikowski, head teacher of Hampstead School in north London, is not so sure.

Mr Gove says the exam system needs modernising

"The Secretary of State says the idea of a risk is not a reason not to proceed, well I agree with that, but at the same time we need something that is coherent, that has a logic and an underpinning philisophy, in terms of making our education system compete with the best, and not back to the future."

English teacher David Robson is worried the Government could be gambling with children's futures.

"If you've got some students and everyone a year older than them have done a different qualification, where does it put those students when going into the job market? Where does it put them now in terms of preparing for the future?

"So I think it's unsettling in many ways, and obviously any year group who are going to be the first wave in any system, in a sense you're going to be the guinea pigs."

The committee said there was a "lack of coherence" about the Government's approach to reforming the curriculum, qualifications and the school accountability system.

It warned that the reforms could have a negative impact on subjects that will remain GCSEs.

It also suggested the Government should focus on improving the achievement of the "significant minority" that do not achieve five good GCSEs, rather than considering plans to introduce a Statement of Achievement for lower-attaining pupils.

A Department for Education spokeswoman said: "We have been clear that the secondary education system is in desperate need of a thorough overhaul - an objective with which the committee agrees.

"That is why we are making major changes to ensure we have world class exams that raise standards."

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Childcare Plans: Nursery Ratios To Be Relaxed

By Gamal Fahnbulleh, Sky News Reporter

Nurseries and childminders will be allowed to look after more children under Government plans aimed at reducing the burden on parents struggling to pay soaring fees.

The current ratio of one member of staff to every four two-year-olds will be increased to one carer for every six toddlers.

Nurseries will also be allowed to loosen ratios for under-twos, with one carer being allowed to look after four instead of three children.

A childminder would be able to look after two babies rather than one and four under-fives rather than three, according to the proposals.

British families spend an average of 27% of their income on childcare - the second highest proportion in the world.

But when it comes to the quality of care provided, the UK is said to be behind other European countries.

Citing the example of France, Education Minister Elizabeth Truss will argue that easing the rules on ratios can give nurseries the "headroom to pay higher salaries".

She is expected to tell an event at the Policy Exchange think-tank: "We have learned from other countries that deliver better value and better-quality childcare.

"We have looked across Europe and beyond. The aim is not to replicate another country's approach but to learn from and apply best practice."

Ministers also want youngsters to start being taught reading and maths at a younger age to reassure parents that their children are receiving a proper education.

And in return for deregulation and higher pay, Ms Truss will insist that nursery workers have tougher academic standards, including potential carers needing at least a grade C in English and maths to begin the two-year Early Years Educator Qualification.

Ms Truss said: "We want to see more of a continuum between childcare and the education system, we want to see more teachers in early years leading high quality group settings and also more people with English and maths GCSE going into early years.

"So this is about raising the quality and making sure our young children get the absolute best."

Rachel Parangi, a mother-of-two, told Sky News: "The cost of childcare is a burden, it's like a mortgage, in fact, it's more than my mortgage - so yes it is expensive.

"It's a price you have to pay for quality childcare. When you're at work you want to know that someone is looking after your children."

Shadow education secretary Stephen Twigg said the plans threatened child safety and would not reduce costs.

"This Government has created an affordability crisis by cutting support and pushing up costs for parents. Watering down quality is the wrong way to try to deal with the problem they've caused," he said.

"Experts are warning this could threaten child safety and won't reduce costs. Parents will be worried.

"With a £1,700 toddler tax for families with two children, and 401 fewer children's centres, parents are being locked into inflation-busting cost rises while the quality of childcare is undermined."

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