Ukraine: Russia Approves Military Action

Russian President Vladimir Putin has got the go-ahead from parliament to use the country's military in Ukraine in a marked escalation of the crisis.

The Kremlin has already been accused of sending 6,000 troops into Crimea despite calls by Britain and the US for Moscow to back off.

Mr Putin said the use of the armed forces was needed in the southeastern region to protect its majority ethnic Russian population, and personnel of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, which is based there.

Russian soldiers are guarding buildings in Crimea it has been confirmed

In response, Ukraine's Acting President Oleksandr Turchynov has called an emergency meeting of security chiefs.

Meanwhile, pro-Russian demonstrations were held in major cities in the east and south of the country, which remain loyal to Moscow, where supporters of the new Ukrainian government in Kiev were beaten up.

Tensions continue to rise amid reports that Russian and Ukrainian troops are trying to gain control of key sites in Crimea.

The autonomous republic has a prime minister loyal to Moscow but the government in Kiev has vowed to maintain the country's territorial integrity.

Reports suggest that Russian troops are trying to occupy an anti-aircraft missile base and have taken control of airports on the peninsular.

After unrest in Kiev, tensions have shifted to the Crimea region

Ukraine's border guard service said about 300 armed men were attempting to seize its main headquarters in the port city of Sevastopol.

Russian helicopter gunships have also been seen in Ukrainian airspace.

But there were claims by Russia that gunmen from Kiev had been sent overnight to seize the offices of Crimea's interior ministry.

There was grainy footage of an unidentified armed group breaking into a building, with smoke rising and reports that people had been "wounded".

Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement: "As a result of the treacherous provocation, there are wounded.

A soldier stands next to a sign that says: "Crimea Russia"

"With decisive actions by self-defence groups, the attempt to seize the interior ministry building was averted.

"This confirms the desire of prominent political circles in Kiev to destabilise the peninsula."

The pro-Moscow Prime Minister of Crimea, Sergei Aksenov, has appealed to Russia for help in keeping the peace there.

He has confirmed service personnel from Russia's Black Sea Fleet, which is based in Sevastopol, were guarding key buildings.

In what appears to be an orchestrated move, a referendum on whether residents in Crimea want greater independence from Ukraine has been brought forward by two months to March 30.

Russia claims gunmen from Kiev tried to seize Crimea's interior ministry

Russia's Lower House of Parliament, the Duma, has called on President Vladimir Putin "to take measures to stabilise the situation in Crimea".

And in a further ratcheting up of pressure on Ukraine, Russia said it saw "no reason" to extend a previously agreed gas discount due to unpaid debts.

To add to Ukraine's financial woes, the country's finance minister said it is unlikely to receive financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund before April due to the continuing turmoil.

US President Barack Obama has warned Moscow that any military intervention in Ukraine would be "deeply destabilising".

British Foreign Secretary William Hague says he has spoken to his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov calling for a de-escalation in Crimea, and respect for Ukraine sovereignty.

People march through the Crimean city of Simferopol waving Russian flags

France and Germany have also raised concerns over developments in Ukraine.

Ukraine's Prime Minister said his country would not be drawn into a military conflict by Russian "provocations", and appealed to Moscow to halt military movements in the region.

Arseny Yatseniuk said: "It is unacceptable when armoured Russian military vehicles are out in the centre of Ukrainian towns."

Mr Obama has called on Russia to respect the independence and territory of Ukraine.

"Any violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity would be deeply destabilising," he said.

"The United States will stand with the international community in affirming that there will be costs for any military intervention in Ukraine."

Mr Hague will visit the country on Sunday and hold talks with Ukraine's new leaders.

Crimea has become a flashpoint for tensions between Russia and Ukraine after the overthrow of President Viktor Yanukovych, a Moscow ally, following months of protests which escalated into deadly violence.

Ukraine's population is divided in loyalties between Russia and the West, with much of western Ukraine advocating closer ties with the European Union while eastern and southern regions look to Russia for support.

Crimea has 2.3 million inhabitants, most of whom identify themselves as ethnic Russians and speak Russian.

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Pistorius 'In Love' With Reeva: Exclusive

Reeva Steenkamp: The Girl Behind The Name

Updated: 2:00pm UK, Friday 28 February 2014

Reeva Steenkamp was born in the South African city of Cape Town in August 1983, to horse trainer Barry Steenkamp and his second wife, June.

The family later moved to Port Elizabeth where she and her siblings grew up.

She attended St Dominic's Priory High School and, at the age of 15, entered a beauty competition organised through her local newspaper where she was spotted by the paper's then beauty editor, Barbara Robertson

"She was 15, and a young 15," Ms Robertson told Sky News.

"There was nothing sophisticated about her. She was sweet, down to earth, earthy ... just one of those girls who had the 'it' factor ... a little bit (of an) early Kate Moss."

While friends speak of an ultimate desire to marry and have a family, the young woman always expected to enjoy a career of her own.

She took a law degree in case her modelling career did not work out.

But the modelling side took off and the gauche, unsophisticated girl from Port Elizabeth moved on to Johannesburg to seek her success.

Originally a brunette, Steenkamp dyed her hair blonde and soon after broke into the glossy world of magazine modelling.

She made the cover of FHM but, said Ms Robertson, the model remained true to herself.

"The front pages made out she was this brazen blonde with boobs hanging out," she said in an interview with The Guardian.

"She was more than a model. She was Reeva. She had studied law at university. I don't think she was seeking bright lights and fame and fortune.

"She was spreading her wings. If she got noticed, what's wrong with that? It doesn't make her a celeb-seducer."

While she continued modelling and was popular on South Africa's A-list circuit, Steenkamp's legal ambitions appeared to resurface.

The future looked bright as she applied to the Bar in 2011, hoping to qualify as a legal advocate by 2013.

Her TV career also looked promising, with a part in a reality TV show Tropika Island of Treasure that looked likely to lead to further opportunities in her professional life.

In November 2012, she began going out with Oscar Pistorius and the couple were said to be deeply in love.

Three months later, Reeva Steenkamp was dead.

:: Sky News will have live coverage of the trial from Monday, with a special highlights programme at 9.30pm.

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Labour Party Backs Historic Miliband Reforms

Miliband Wins Emotional Backing On Vote Reform

Updated: 12:05pm UK, Saturday 01 March 2014

By Jon Craig, Chief Political Correspondent

Ed Miliband won the emotional backing of the widow of former Labour leader John Smith on the eve of an historic vote to bring in one member, one vote reforms.

Breaking a silence of more than two decades, Lady Smith claimed in the Guardian that the changes "complete the journey John embarked upon over 20 years ago".

She wrote: "There is a task that John began that has remained unfinished. This was the application across the Labour Party of that most democratic of principles: one member, one vote. Two decades on, Ed Miliband is on the brink of completing what John Smith started."

Also endorsing Mr Miliband's changes, former Labour leader Tony Blair said: "Ed has shown real courage and leadership on this issue.

"It is a long overdue reform that as I said before, was something I should have done myself. It puts individual people in touch with the party and is a great way of showing how Labour can reconnect with the people of Britain."

But Baroness Smith's backing is hugely significant. Her late husband, Labour leader from 1992 until his death from a heart attack in 1994, came close to being forced to resign as party leader in 1993 over his plans to reform the union link.

He wanted to introduce one member, one vote for Labour leadership elections and parliamentary selections, thus removing the union vote.

He was forced to abandon changes to the Labour leadership, and right up until the last minute it looked as if he would be defeated at Labour's 1993 conference over parliamentary selections, only winning the day by a margin of 0.2%, largely thanks to a passionate last-minute speech by John Prescott.

More than 20 years later, a special conference of unions, constituency MPs and other delegates is set to approve Mr Miliband's changes, which will have a massive impact on the historic link between Labour and the unions.

Mr Miliband put forward his proposals following controversy over Unite's involvement in the selection of a Labour candidate in Falkirk last year.

Most unions will support the reforms, but the changes will hit the number of union members affiliated to the party as well as funds.

In his speech at Labour's special conference in the Excel centre in London's Docklands, Mr Miliband heralded the reforms as more than changes to Labour's rule book, and as a once in a generation opportunity to change politics.

He told the conference that delegates should "seize" the chance to change Labour.

"More and more people are turned off from politics. It increasingly feels like a match being played while the stands are emptying. We won't turn that round by saying we're right and they're wrong. We won't do it by singing the old songs even louder. If we do we'll find ourselves shouting in an empty stadium.

"That's why we are debating much more than our internal party structures. We're debating something far bigger: how do we get people back into our politics?

"There are thousands of working people, affiliated to our party, in your constituency. But at the moment you have no way of reaching them.

"Home helps who look after the elderly, and worry about their own mums and dads. Classroom assistants who teach our sons and daughters, and have high hopes for their own kids. Construction workers who build the homes we live in, but worry about whether they can afford a home of their own.

"People who keep our shops open morning, noon and night, but are at the sharp end of the cost-of-living crisis, and the porters, nurses and all the health service workers who support the pride of Britain: our National Health Service.

"These are the working people affiliated to our party. But too often affiliated in name only, and think of all the other people, not in trade unions, whose voices we also need to hear: low-paid workers whose boss won't recognise a union, small-business owners struggling to get a loan from the bank, stay-at-home mums who ask whether anyone is going to speak up for them.

"I don't want to break the link with working people. I want to hear the voices of working people louder than ever before."

Mr Miliband said that not everyone wanted to be a member of a political party, adding that people shouldn't have to pay £45 to have a voice in Labour.

"We won't just be voting to open our doors. We'll be voting for the biggest transfer of power in the history of our party to our members and supporters. Today, in leadership elections, an MP's vote is worth 1,000 times more than each party member's.

"Twenty-one years ago John Smith set out on the journey of one member, one vote. Today we can complete that journey."

The proposed changes have already led the GMB to slash its affiliation funding to Labour, and Unite will discuss its funding arrangements next week.

General secretary Len McCluskey said he suspected only 10% of Unite's one million members affiliated to Labour would opt to stay in if they were asked now.

Unite's executive has endorsed the Collins report, but the vote was not unanimous.

It has been estimated that 400,000 Unite members do not vote Labour, a position Mr McCluskey has said is untenable.

He said Unite was "honour bound" to promote a different relationship as a result of the reforms put forward by Mr Miliband.

"We have some difficult choices to make - but it doesn't mean we could not make up any shortfall with donations."

Unions do not want to be seen to be threatening Labour's finances a year before the general election even though the reforms are expected to lead to cuts in affiliation funding.

Mr McCluskey said he welcomed any move for trade unionists to have a more direct affiliation with Labour, saying it was part of Unite's political strategy.

"We want to get more of our members engaged with Labour at grassroots level," he said.

"We see this as an opportunity and a challenge to actively talk to our members and try to persuade them to give a commitment to Labour.

"I hope we are able to persuade a number of our members to engage, but it will be an ongoing process, not just a one-off question.

"Their response will be dictated by what they perceive Labour is offering them in terms of policies, their work and their communities.

"We have a million members who pay the levy. We will have to ask them whether they are prepared to tick a box to say whether they are happy for some of their money to be given in affiliation fees to Labour."

Unite gives Labour around £3m a year in affiliations and there has been speculation that this could be reduced by up to half.

New members will be asked immediately if they want to affiliate, but there will be a five-year period for consultation with existing union members.

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Police Investigate Leytonstone Double Murder

Police are investigating a double murder after two men were found dead in a car in east London.

Police were called to a road in Leytonstone just before 1am by London Ambulance Service after reports of two injured men in the area.

Met Police officers and paramedics found the pair, believed to be in their twenties, in a vehicle and they were pronounced dead at the scene.

Scotland Yard said an incident room has been set up in Barking and officers are working to identify the victims and inform their families.

The scene at Montague Road has been cordoned off and police forensics experts have been examining an area around the vehicle, which has been covered by a tent.

Post-mortem examinations are due to take place on Saturday afternoon at Walthamstow mortuary.

There have been no arrests and the investigation is ongoing.

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Broadcaster Stuart Hall Denies 15 Rapes

By Mike McCarthy, North of England correspondent

Veteran broadcaster Stuart Hall has denied 15 counts of rape at Preston Crown Court.

Hall is alleged to have committed seven counts of rape and two indecent assaults against one girl between 1976 and 1978.

The girl was aged between 14 and 16 at the time of the alleged attacks, the court heard.

He is also accused of eight counts of rape and three indecent assaults against his second alleged victim, aged between 11 and 15 at the time.

The attacks took place between 1976 and 1981, the court heard.

The alleged offences took place at various locations in Greater Manchester and Cheshire.

The 84-year-old appeared at the court for the preliminary hearing wearing a dark suit, white shirt and tie.

He sat in the dock with his head bowed for much of the hearing, which lasted more than three hours.

The broadcaster presented the BBC show 'It's A Knockout'. He was later known for his eccentric football commentary on BBC Radio Five Live.

A trial date of May 6 has been set for Preston Crown Court.

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Oscar Pistorius: Lawyers Prepare For Showdown

Two very different versions of what happened in the moments before Oscar Pistorius' girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp died have already been heard in court.

The athlete stands trial on Monday accused of her murder in a case that will make South African history as the first to be broadcast live for millions around the world to follow.

He denies the charge, claiming he mistook Ms Steenkamp for a burglar when he shot her in the early hours of Valentine's Day, 2013.

The prosecution says Pistorius, 26, fired his gun four times into the door of a bathroom, knowing his girlfriend was inside after an argument.

Reeva Steenkamp was 'unarmed and defenceless', according to the prosecution

It is alleged she locked herself in the room after fleeing down a seven-metre passage from the bedroom at the runner's luxury home in Pretoria.

According to details outlined at previous hearings, the prosecution argues Pistorius followed her with his 9mm pistol, first putting on his prosthetic legs.

It is claimed he shot his gun four times through the door, killing an "unarmed and defenceless" woman, before the door was broken open from the outside.

The prosecution has rejected claims of mistaken identity - that Pistorius believed the person inside the bathroom was a burglar.

The defence, meanwhile, has alleged the defendant had "no intention" of killing Ms Steenkamp and was bereft at her death.

According to this version of events, Pistorius heard a noise in the early hours and thought an intruder had come through a bathroom window and was hiding there.

Defence lawyers claim he felt vulnerable and shouted for the intruder to get out and for Ms Steenkamp to call police.

It was dark and Pistorius thought Ms Steenkamp was lying on her bed, not that she was in the bathroom, lawyers have argued.

Pistorius speaks with his lawyer Kenny Oldwage at an earlier hearing

They claim Pistorius hobbled to the bathroom on his stumps and fired his gun - a 9mm pistol he kept under his bed because he had received death threats.

After the shooting, they said, he returned to his bed and saw Ms Steenkamp was not there.

It is alleged he shouted for help, broke open a door with a cricket bat and found she was alive before carrying her downstairs.

Pistorius wanted to protect Ms Steenkamp, not kill her, his lawyers claim.

Pistorius said he wanted to protect Ms Steenkamp, not kill her

The court battle will pit the wits of two of South Africa's leading lawyers and is expected to hear from 100 witnesses.

Pistorius has hired Kenny Oldwage, famous for helping acquit the man accused of killing Nelson Mandela's great-granddaughter Zenani in a drink-driving car crash.

He has also hired Barry Roux, known in court for his scarlet ties.

The trial will be one of South Africa's biggest ever legal showdowns, with Pistorius' team going up against veteran prosecutor Gerrie Nel.

Reeva Steenkamp's parents June and Barry. Pic: Channel 5

The judge will be Thokozile Matilda Masipa, a former crime reporter who became only the second black woman to be appointed to the high court in 1988.

The trial, which takes place in Pretoria, will have no jurors, since trial by jury was abolished in South Africa under apartheid in 1969.

Ms Steenkamp's mother, June, has indicated she will attend the trial.

However, her father, Barry, is expected to be at home, recovering from a near-fatal stroke, which his brother said happened while reading a newspaper report about the trial.

A layout of Pistorius' house in Pretoria, South Africa

Cameras will be able to "obtain a video and audio recording of the permitted portions" of the trial.

However, they will not be able to film the Olympic champion, defence witnesses or anyone else who objects to being on camera.

The mandatory sentence for someone convicted of premeditated murder in South Africa is life with a minimum of 25 years in prison.

:: Sky News will have live coverage of the trial from Monday, with a special highlights programme at 9.30pm.

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Triple Killer Joanne Dennehy In Jail For Life

Triple killer Joanne Dennehy will spend the rest of her life in jail after murdering three men "for fun" before dumping their bodies in ditches.

The 31-year-old was given a whole-life tariff by a judge at the Old Bailey after earlier pleading guilty to murdering three men and attempting to kill two others.

Dennehy is only the third woman to be given a whole-life tariff in England and Wales – after Rose West and Myra Hindley.

In the same court where the Woolwich murderers were sentenced this week, Mr Justice Spencer described her as a "cruel, calculating and manipulative serial killer".

The judge said her killings were premeditated and rejected her claim of remorse for the two attempted murders.

Dennehy was surrounded by nine guards in the courtroom and smiled through much of the hearing.

At one point during sentencing she swore at the judge. She could be heard laughing as she was led away.

Dennehy is the third woman to get a whole-life tariff in England and Wales

The murders took place in and around Peterborough during a 10-day period last March and April.

Lukasz Slaboszewski, 31, Kevin Lee, 48, and John Chapman, 56, all died from multiple stab wounds.

Mr Justice Spencer said Dennehy had a strange fascination for Mr Lee and killed him to satisfy her sadistic lust for blood.

The court heard how she dressed Mr Lee's body in a black sequin dress with his naked buttocks in the air.

She had stabbed him five times while he tried to defend himself.

After committing the three murders, Dennehy stabbed two dog walkers, John Rogers and Robin Bereza, who she selected at random in Hereford while on the run from police.

Her accomplice Gary Stretch, 47, was sentenced to life with a minimum of 19 years for two counts of attempted murder and three counts of preventing the lawful burial of a body.

The judge said there was a serious risk of Stretch, who is 7ft 3in tall, causing harm to the public in the future.

Dennehy's appearance in court was delayed pending a review of whole-life tariffs after the European Court of Human Rights ruled they breached human rights.

However, earlier this month the Court of Appeal told UK judges they could continue to be imposed.

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Pistorius At Gun Range: Exclusive Pictures

Oscar Pistorius Trial: Case Background

Updated: 12:49pm UK, Friday 28 February 2014

Two very different versions of what happened in the moments before Oscar Pistorius' girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp died have already been heard in court.

The athlete stands trial on Monday accused of her murder in a case that will make South African history as the first to be broadcast live for millions around the world to follow.

He denies the charge, claiming he mistook Ms Steenkamp for a burglar when he shot her in the early hours of Valentine's Day, 2013.

The prosecution says Pistorius, 26, fired his gun four times into the door of a bathroom, knowing his girlfriend was inside after an argument.

It is alleged she locked herself in the room after fleeing down a seven-metre passage from the bedroom at the runner's luxury home in Pretoria.

According to details outlined at previous hearings, the prosecution argues Pistorius followed her with his 9mm pistol, first putting on his prosthetic legs.

It is claimed he shot his gun four times through the door, killing an "unarmed and defenceless" woman, before the door was broken open from the outside.

The prosecution has rejected claims of mistaken identity - that Pistorius believed the person inside the bathroom was a burglar.

The defence, meanwhile, has alleged the defendant had "no intention" of killing Ms Steenkamp and was bereft at her death.

According to this version of events, Pistorius heard a noise in the early hours and thought an intruder had come through a bathroom window and was hiding there.

Defence lawyers claim he felt vulnerable and shouted for the intruder to get out and for Ms Steenkamp to call police.

It was dark and Pistorius thought Ms Steenkamp was lying on her bed, not that she was in the bathroom, lawyers have argued.

They claim Pistorius hobbled to the bathroom on his stumps and fired his gun - a 9mm pistol he kept under his bed because he had received death threats.

After the shooting, they said, he returned to his bed and saw Ms Steenkamp was not there.

It is alleged he shouted for help, broke open a door with a cricket bat and found she was alive before carrying her downstairs.

Pistorius wanted to protect Ms Steenkamp, not kill her, his lawyers claim.

The court battle will pit the wits of two of South Africa's leading lawyers and is expected to hear from 100 witnesses.

Pistorius has hired Kenny Oldwage, famous for helping acquit the man accused of killing Nelson Mandela's great-granddaughter Zenani in a drink-driving car crash.

He has also hired Barry Roux, known in court for his scarlet ties.

The trial will be one of South Africa's biggest ever legal showdowns, with Pistorius' team going up against veteran prosecutor Gerrie Nel.

The judge will be Thokozile Matilda Masipa, a former crime reporter who became only the second black woman to be appointed to the high court in 1988.

The trial, which takes place in Pretoria, will have no jurors, since trial by jury was abolished in South Africa under apartheid in 1969.

Ms Steenkamp's mother, June, has indicated she will attend the trial.

However, her father, Barry, is expected to be at home, recovering from a near-fatal stroke, which his brother said happened while reading a newspaper report about the trial.

Cameras will be able to "obtain a video and audio recording of the permitted portions" of the trial.

However, they will not be able to film the Olympic champion, defence witnesses or anyone else who objects to being on camera.

The mandatory sentence for someone convicted of premeditated murder in South Africa is life with a minimum of 25 years in prison.

:: Sky News will have live coverage of the trial from Monday, with a special highlights programme at 9.30pm.

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Cameron Criticised On Flood Defence Spending

The boss of the country's biggest insurance firm, Legal & General, has told Sky News he is concerned about a lack of spending on flood defences.

As the industry faces Government pressure to pay out quickly on the costs of the winter storms, Nigel Wilson also spoke out against policy on home building in flood-prone areas.

He said: "We've had a housing policy that has encouraged too much building in flood plains area. And we've been on and on about this.

"There's an issue in the UK. We're not building enough and where we're building them is in the wrong place.

"So we've got a multi-phased approach in actually increasing housing supply.

L&G is facing a multi-million pound flood bill

"The Government needs to focus much more attention on housing supply and where that supply is."

He was speaking hours after David Cameron's boast that flood defence spending will increase under his leadership was contradicted by the UK's statistics watchdog, which claimed the budget had actually been cut by £250m.

Sir Andrew Dilnot, head of the UK Statistics Authority, called on the Government to publish its real-term figures "in the public interest."

Mr Cameron claimed at Prime Minister's Questions that spending between 2011 and 2015 would be higher than in the previous four years under Labour.

The results of the wettest winter on Met Office records

But Labour leader Ed Miliband accused him of using "phoney figures".

Environment Secretary Owen Paterson went further, saying the Government is "providing more than any previous government in this spending review".

The discrepancy stems from the Government including money spent by private firms and other third parties in its figures.

Flood defence spending was £2.37bn between 2007 and 2011, according to House of Commons library figures.

The Army was called in to help tackle the rising waters

Between 2011 and 2015 it will be £2.34bn - a £247m cut in real terms.

Sir Andrew believes the House of Commons numbers are more credible than those being stated by Mr Cameron and his colleagues.

He said: "We agree with their finding that, as of January 2014, government funding for flood defences was expected to be lower in both nominal and real terms during the current spending period than during the last spending period.

"Our analysis also supports the conclusion that the statement 'over the current spending review period, more is being spent than ever before' is supported by the statistics if the comparison is made in nominal terms and includes external funding, but is not supported by the statistics if the comparison is made in real terms or if external funding is excluded."

Labour and Friends of the Earth say the cuts contributed to the damage endured across swathes of the country this winter - and the issue will be debated by MPs on Wednesday.

Mr Paterson has already apologised for "any offence" caused by his flood defence spending claims, but denied there had been any "manipulation of figures".

A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: "Figures on flood defence spending are published. The Government is spending £2.4bn on flood management and protection from coastal erosion which is more than ever before.

"The Prime Minister also recently announced £130m extra for flood defence repairs following the extreme weather."

All this comes as the Institution of Civil Engineers called on Chancellor George Osborne to use next month's  Budget to return spending on flood risk management to pre-2010 levels.

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Woolwich: Lee Rigby Murderers Being Sentenced

The two men who murdered soldier Lee Rigby are being sentenced at the Old Bailey.

Michael Adebolajo, 29, and Michael Adebowale, 22, ran the soldier down before hacking him to death in Woolwich last year.

The pair were convicted of the murder in December, but Mr Justice Sweeney delayed sentencing until after a key appeal court ruling last month that whole-life tariffs can be used by UK judges.

As sentencing began, Adebolajo refused to stand as his name was read out and Adebowale remained seated to confirm name.

Fusilier Lee Rigby was murdered last May

Victim impact statements were read out to the court, including one from Lee's widow, Rebecca Rigby.

"I was also suddenly living in the public gaze," she said.

"I couldn't go anywhere or do anything. I felt like I didn't want to go on. I saw people nudging and looking at me if i walked down the street.

"I know my son will grow up and see images of his dad that no son should have to endure and there's nothing I can do to change this."

Adebolajo's barrister, David Gottlieb, told the court: "However shocking and terrifying a crime, a whole-life term can never be justified when the full circumstances of the offence known at the time ... show that the offender is not so deprived of all human dignity that he has no possibility of atonement in the future."

He compared Adebolajo's extremist views to "alcoholism" or a severe "psychiatric" illness.

"Whatever his expressed views or wishes, he's not somebody who's incapable of change," he added.

Abbas Lakha, Adebowale's defence barrister, said his client's psychiatric condition should be taken into account in his sentencing.

He argued Adebowale played a "lesser role" in the killing and that he was a passenger in the car - which he said he did not know was going to be driven at Fusilier Rigby.

Heated protests took place outside the court, with one group heard chanting: "There's only one Lee Rigby."

During their trial, Adebowale, from Greenwich, south-east London, offered no evidence in his defence, but Adebolajo, from Romford, Essex, gave a rambling testimony during which he told the jury he loved al Qaeda.

He claimed the pair were "soldiers of Allah" and had carried out the killing as revenge for abuse of Muslims abroad.

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Mid Staffs NHS Trust To Be Dissolved, Says Hunt

The NHS trust where hundreds of patients were found to have died needlessly will be dissolved, the Health Secretary has said.

Jeremy Hunt announced Stafford and Cannock Chase Hospitals would retain 90% of patient visits but they would now be operated by neighbouring NHS trusts.

In a partial victory for campaigners supporting Stafford Hospital, Mr Hunt suggested it could keep its consultant-led maternity service depending on an NHS England review.

It was initially recommended the maternity unit should close and then that it should be downgraded to a midwife-led unit.

Up to 1,200 people were found to have died unnecessarily at Stafford Hospital between 2005 and 2008 in one of the biggest NHS scandals.

An inquiry into the number of deaths at the hospital carried out by Robert Francis QC last year found there had been "appalling and unnecessary suffering of hundreds of people".

Frank Robinson's son John died after misdiagnosis at Stafford Hospital

Patients there were found to have been left in their own faeces, given the wrong medication and were so thirsty they drank water from flower vases.

The Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust has been in administration since April and administrators had recommended to Mr Hunt that it was neither clinically nor financially viable.

In his statement Mr Hunt said: "Local people suffered too much for too long under a system which ignored appalling failures of care in their local hospital.

"They now deserve to know that same system has learned the lessons and is guaranteeing high-quality, safe services for local people. The proposals I am accepting today will provide just this."

He added: "I want Stafford to be a proper district hospital that continues to meet the needs of patients nearby, including for emergency care and births."

Stafford Hospital will now be under the control of the University Hospital of North Staffordshire and Cannock will be run by the Royal Wolverhampton Trust.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt

Sue Hawkins, of campaign group Support Stafford Hospital, said of the proposal to keep consultant-led maternity services: "Well, it's something - it's a start.

"What I would say is that you can apply equally the same argument of patient safety used to justify that re-think to paediatric care, so we would ask for the downgrade of paediatrics to be re-considered as well."

She said that because of the scrutiny in the wake of the scandal, Stafford Hospital had now become one of the safest and best in the country.

Heath union chiefs said it was vital neighbouring trusts were given the finances to deal with the new responsibilities to provide care at the hospitals.

Christina McAnea, head of health for Unison, said: "It is bitterly disappointing for the local community who have campaigned for local services and have rallied behind the hospital, as well as for staff who have worked hard to turn the trust around.

"The facts show that patient care has improved massively and the staff survey, released only yesterday, showed that 73% would now be happy with the standard of care at the hospital if a friend or relative needed treatment - higher than the 65% national average."

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Live Updates: Lee Rigby's Killers Sentenced

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3:28pm UK, Wednesday 26 February 2014

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Brooks: 'Shock, Horror' At Milly Dowler Hacking

Rebekah Brooks has spoken of her "shock and horror" over the hacking of murdered schoogirl Milly Dowler's phone.

Giving evidence at the Old Bailey where she is standing trial for conspiring to hack telephones, Brooks claimed she knew nothing about an alleged request for phone hacker Glenn Mulcaire to access the voicemails.

The former News of the World editor told the court she only became aware Milly Dowler's phone had been hacked on July 4, 2011 and her reaction was one of "shock, horror, everything".

"Just to put my reaction into any form of context," she said.

"I was told that the News of the World had asked someone to access Milly Dowler's phone while she was missing, that they had also deleted her voicemails and for a period of time because of that her parents had been given false hope and thought she was alive," she said.

"I just think anyone would think that that was pretty abhorrent, so my reaction was that. That was what I was told.

"Nobody did delete voicemails and certain parts of the police knew voicemails had been accessed," she added.

Brooks was editor of the paper between 2000 and 2003

Brooks also claimed she was unaware of a contract worth £92,000 between the News of the World and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire while she was editor and it was never drawn to her attention.

Her barrister Jonathan Laidlaw QC told the court the contract was between the now-defunct Sunday newspaper and Mulcaire's company Euro Research and Information Ltd.

The agreement which began in September 2001 consisted of weekly payments of £1,769 over a 12-month period, totalling some £92,000.

Brooks was asked if she had set eyes on the contract during that period, to which she replied "no".

Brooks denied any knowledge of Milly Dowler's phone being hacked

When asked if she had ever heard of Mulcaire's company, the former News International chief executive replied: "Their names did not ring a bell with me when I heard about them in 2006.

"Of course we used a lot of private detectives at the paper so it would not necessarily ring a bell."

The 45-year-old, from Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, denies conspiring to hack telephones, conspiring to commit misconduct in public office, and conspiring to cover up evidence to pervert the course of justice.

Wearing a dark top as she entered the witness box she said any payments over £50,000 would have required permission from the newspaper's then-managing editor Stuart Kuttner.

Mr Laidlaw asked: "In ordinary circumstances would a payment of this sort come to your attention?"

"It depends," she replied, adding: "As long as it was within the spending limit, my visibility would have been pretty low."

Brooks added that other departments used private detectives more often than she did during her time as features editor.

"Obviously at News of the World it was known they were used for all sorts of different things," she said.

"In the late mid-90s to 2003/04 there was lots of use of private detectives across Fleet Street … it was commonplace."

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Teenager Admits Killing Student After Bus Row

An 18-year-old man has admitted murdering a teenage college student, who was stabbed after a dispute on a bus.

Azeem Akhtar, who was 17 at the time, was due to stand trial next month accused of killing Azim Azam.

He changed his plea to guilty during a brief hearing at Birmingham Crown Court.

Azim, 16, was on his way to his first day at college when he was found lying in the street after getting off a bus in the Moseley area of Birmingham last September.

Azim, from Billesley, later died in hospital.

Police said the death had followed a dispute between two bus passengers who were known to each other.

Akhtar, of Glen Rise, Kings Heath, was remanded in custody and will be sentenced on March 17.

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Harman Denies Colluding With Paedophile Group

Harriet Harman has said she regretted the "existence" of a paedophile right group linked to a civil liberties group she worked for.

However, the deputy Labour leader said she had nothing to apologise for and that she neither colluded with nor supported the Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE).

She continued to insist the series of stories run by the Daily Mail over the links between the National Council for Civil Liberties (NCCL), which Ms Harman worked for, and PIE, were a politically motivated "smear".

Harriet Harman has fought back against the Daily Mail on Twitter

Ms Harman said: "I am not going to apologise because I have got nothing to apologise for.

"I very much regret that this vile organisation, PIE, ever existed and that it ever had anything to do with NCCL but it did not affect my work at NCCL. 

"They had been pushed to the margins before I actually went to NCCL and to allege that I was involved in collusion with paedophilia or apologised for paedophilia is quite wrong and is a smear."

It comes after Ms Harman issued a fierce and lengthy rebuttal of claims by the Daily Mail that she was an "apologist for paedophilia".

The claims centre around Ms Harman's employment at the NCCL, the group now known as Liberty, in the late 1970s and early 1980s and the group's links with the paedophile group, which wanted to make child sex legal.

PIE, which has now been disbanded, was founded by Tom O'Carroll, who has been described as a "sexually predatory" paedophile. He was allowed to make a speech at the council's spring conference in 1977.

Ms Harman was the NCCL legal officer from 1978 to 1982, her husband, the Labour MP, Jack Dromey, was on the group's executive committee from 1970 to 1979. 

The former health secretary, Patricia Hewitt, was NCCL's general secretary from 1974 to 1983. Ms Hewitt has yet to comment on the matter.

The Daily Mail has run a series of stories about the links between the groups over the last 10 weeks and has demanded the three Labour stalwarts apologise to the victims of child sex abuse.

Labour says the series of stories is part of an ongoing "smear" campaign

However, in a statement issued on Monday, Ms Harman maintained that by the time she joined the group, PIE were in the process of being expelled from the NCCL.

Later on Monday, she told BBC's Newsnight: "It is ironic that they are accusing me of supporting indecency in relation to children when they themselves are not above producing photographs of very young girls, titivating photographs, in bikinis.

"I stand by what I was doing at NCCL and I stand by what I have done all the way through."

On Tuesday she tweeted a picture taken from the Daily Mail of girls in bikinis saying: "When it comes to decency and sexualisation of children, would you take lessons from the Daily Mail?"

The Daily Mail responded to Ms Harman's claims with equal robustness saying the statements from both her and her husband were "full of pedantry and obfuscation".

A statement from the paper issued on Monday night said: "They have failed to utter a word of contrition or sorrow about the NCCL's closeness to the notorious Paedophile Information Exchange, an organisation that validated the activities of a monster like Jimmy Savile. Nor do they utter a word of apology to the victims of PIE."

PIE was disbanded in 1984 after a number of its activists were jailed.

The Daily Mail claims PIE "validated the activities of Jimmy Savile"

Senior Labour sources on Tuesday told Sky News the series of articles about Ms Harman, Mr Dromey and Ms Hewitt was a continuation of a "smear" campaign that began with its piece about Labour leader Ed Miliband's father Ralph in September.

The piece, titled "The man who hated Britain", gave details of a diary entry written by a 17-year-old Ralph Miliband in which he expressed frustration with the country.

The source said: "We do think there is a connection with the Ralph Miliband row. The Daily Mail is trying to have some payback. There's a pattern of behaviour here.

"They smeared by innuendo over Ralph Miliband, they are smearing by association over Harriet Harman.

"This is not the way that political debate should be conducted, that's not what the British people want to see.

"It's not a British value to conduct political debate by smear."

Mr Miliband has given Ms Harman his full backing saying: "I know she has a long and proud record of being on the right side of all of these issues."

There have also been a number of discussions around the acceptability of behaviour in the 1970s that would simply be viewed as criminal today.

Conservative MP Nadine Dorries said on Twitter on Tuesday morning: "In 70's following legalisation of homosexuality (rightly) and a decade of 'free love' organisations like PIE genuinely thought they were next."

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Ex-Guantanamo Inmate Held Over 'Syria Terror'

Former Guantanamo detainee Moazzam Begg is one of four people who have been arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences linked to the Syria conflict.

Police confirmed the 45-year-old was among three men and a woman from the West Midlands held on Tuesday morning.

Mr Begg, a British citizen, is suspected of attending a terrorist training camp and facilitating terrorism overseas.

A 36-year-old man, a woman aged 44 and her 20-year-old son were also held on suspicion of facilitating terrorism overseas.

Vehicles and electronic equipment were being removed from the suspects' homes in Hall Green, Shirley and Sparkhill.

Officers from the West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU) were carrying out searches at the three addresses.

The four suspects are being held at a police station in the West Midlands area.

A police spokeswoman said: "We can confirm that Moazzam Begg was arrested this morning.

The suspects were arrested at addresses across the West Midlands

"We are confirming this name as a result of the anticipated high public interest to accredited media."

She added naming Mr Begg does "not imply any guilt".

Earlier, Detective Superintendent Shaun Edwards from the West Midlands CTU said: "All four arrests are connected.

"They were pre-planned and intelligence led. There was no immediate risk to public safety."

Mr Begg was held by the US government at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba for nearly three years after being arrested in Pakistan in February 2002.

He was detained on suspicion of being a member of al Qaeda before being released without charge in January 2005.

Moazzam Begg was held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba for almost three years

He was allowed to return to the UK where he was arrested by police before being released without charge.

Mr Begg is now a director of Cage - which campaigns "against the War on Terror" - and has always maintained that he has never been involved in any kind of terrorist activity.

The arrests come after unrelated video and pictures emerged earlier this month of a man suspected of being Britain's first suicide bomber in Syria.

Adbul Waheed Majeed allegedly drove a truck into a jail in Aleppo and detonated a bomb on February 6.

The family of the 41-year-old, from Crawley, West Sussex, said they believed he was in Syria for humanitarian purposes.

He is among an estimated 20 Britons who are thought to have been killed in the Syrian conflict.

Ministers have reportedly been told around 250 of 400 British-based extremists who went to Syria to train and fight have returned to the UK.

Immigration Minister James Brokenshire has said the security threat posed by these individuals is a "big problem" for MI5 and the police.

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