A 39-year-old man has been charged with religiously-aggravated assault after Respect MP George Galloway was attacked in London.
More follows...
A 39-year-old man has been charged with religiously-aggravated assault after Respect MP George Galloway was attacked in London.
More follows...
The Only Way Is Essex star James Argent has said he "can't apologise enough" for the worry he caused after his family reported him missing and a police manhunt was launched.
There were concerns for the reality TV star's well-being earlier because he had not been seen since 3am on Friday at his home in Woodford Green, Essex.
Argent's father later said his son had been in touch to explain his "phone was broken and he's now on his way to Blackpool".
His agent Neil Dobias also confirmed the news: "I'm not sure of any of the details but he's called home and spoken to his mum. I just know that he's safe and well."
Argent tweeted afterwards: "Hi I'm so sorry to have worried everyone. I'm fine and safe but again can't apologise enough x."
He was meant to be flying out of Gatwick on Friday morning, but he did not make his flight and did not contact his family, friends or agent, who he was supposed to be meeting.
They said it was was "unusual" and very out of character.
His agent told Sky News earlier: "James was meant to meet me at the airport yesterday morning for a work trip to Majorca but he never turned up and now we are all very concerned."
The 26-year-old, who joined the Towie cast along with his best friend Mark Wright when the series first aired in 2010, is known to frequent the Brentwood area and nightclubs in Redbridge.
Argent, who has more than 1.4 million followers on Twitter, mentioned missing his ex-girlfriend and Towie co-star Lydia Bright in a tweet on Thursday.
He wrote: "I really miss my old pal @LydiaRoseBright will you hurry up and get back from Italy ASAP! #Needy x."
Their will they/won't they relationship was the focus of the Essex-based show's last series.
The response on Twitter to concerns about Argent's whereabouts was huge this morning.
Former Towie star Sam Faiers tweeted: "We're all worried come home @RealJamesArgent."
Fans also expressed their concerns on social media, with one tweeting: "I hope @RealJamesArgent is found unharmed and well!! Xx."
Another wrote: "Omg can't believe it, hope @RealJamesArgent is okay."
Later, Towie star Gemma Collins tweeted: "Arg is ok."
Argent collected Towie's Bafta Audience Award in 2011 and completed the London Marathon in just over six hours in aid of Cancer Research in 2012.
European Union leaders are preparing to impose urgent new sanctions on Moscow after Russian tanks reportedly attacked a town near the Ukrainian border city of Luhansk.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said tanks had been used to "destroy virtually every house" in the town of Novosvitlivka.
There were now thousands of foreign troops and hundreds of foreign tanks inside Ukraine, he told a press conference in Brussels ahead of an EU summit attended by European leaders.
British Prime Minister David Cameron is set to urge European leaders to tighten sanctions on Russia amid growing concerns about Moscow's military intervention in Ukraine.
Speaking before the summit, Mr Cameron said: "We have to address the completely unacceptable situation of having Russian troops on Ukraine soil.
"Consequences must follow if that situation continues and we will be discussing that as well today."
Mr Poroshenko said: "Thousands of foreign troops and hundreds of foreign tanks are now on the territory of Ukraine.
"There is a very high risk not only for peace and stability for Ukraine but for the whole peace and stability of Europe."
In a tweet, Kiev's defence and security council said: "Direct military aggression against eastern Ukraine is continuing."
Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite called for a stepped up arms embargo on Russia.
She said: "It is the fact that Russia is in a war state against Ukraine. That means it is in a state of war against a country which would like to be closely integrated with the EU.
"Practically Russia is in a state of war against Europe."
Jose Manuel Barroso, European Commission President, told the conference the EU was ready to defend its principles in the Ukraine conflict.
He said: "Russia should not underestimate the European Union's will and resolve to stand by its principles and values."
He added the EU was ready to take "strong and clear measures", but was "keeping our doors open to a political solution".
Mr Cameron will call for closer alignment between EU sanctions and those imposed by the US and Canada.
These include measures against specific Russian firms in banking and energy sectors.
Nato released images apparently showing Russian forces on the ground in eastern Ukraine.
Government sources said separatists are believed to have heavy weaponry supplied by President Vladimir Putin.
Included in the weaponry are 100 tanks and artillery pieces, anti-tank weapons and shoulder-mounted missile launchers, the sources said.
Russia has repeatedly dismissed accusations it has sent soldiers or equipment across the border.
Barack Obama said the satellite pictures made it "plain" that Russia had "deliberately and repeatedly violated the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine".
He said: "The violence is encouraged by Russia. The separatists are trained by Russia, they are armed by Russia, they are funded by Russia."
Nato Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said: "Despite Moscow's hollow denials, it is now clear that Russian troops and equipment have illegally crossed the border into eastern and south-eastern Ukraine.
"Russian forces are engaged in direct military operations inside Ukraine."
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk has said he will ask parliament to drop the country's non-aligned status and apply to join Nato.
This has previously been dismissed as unacceptable by Russia.
Hampshire Constabulary has confirmed there is a European arrest warrant out for the parents of a seriously ill boy who is thought to have been taken to Spain.
Hampshire Police Assistance Chief Constable Chris Shead said the warrant was sought in order to give police the power to talk to the parents of five-year-old Ashya King once they are located.
He stressed the warrant should not discourage the parents from coming forward as the priority remained the health and safety of missing Ashya, who has a brain tumour.
Mr Shead confirmed the battery on Ashya's feeding mechanism "will have expired" and directly appealed to the parents not to attempt to deliver the urgent care he needs themselves.
He said Ashya's care required advanced medical training and facilities without which Ashya will start to dehydrate and his condition will deteriorate.
It is not known whether the King family has any spare batteries for the machine which administers food, the knowledge, or any way of recharging the battery.
Mr Shead reiterated that British police were working closely with Spanish authorities after receiving positive information to suggest the family has strong links to the Marbella area and that they may be travelling there.
He said there had been no further sightings of the family since their car was last spotted on Friday prompting police to expand their search into Spain.
He again urged hospitals in Spain and throughout Europe to look for someone matching the little boy's description or symptoms to see if he has been admitted.
Ashya's family took him from Southampton General Hospital, where he was receiving treatment, at around 2pm on Thursday and travelled on a ferry to Cherbourg, France, two hours later.
The little boy is in a wheelchair and is being fed through a tube. He has undergone "extensive surgery" - with his last operation seven days ago.
Police were told by the hospital that the little boy was missing at 8.35pm that day - more than six hours after he was taken by his parents - Jehovah's Witnesses Brett King, 51, and Naghemeh King, 45.
The family, from Southsea, is travelling in a grey Hyundai I800 Style CRDI registration KP60 HWK.
Interpol has sent out a missing persons alert to its 190 member countries as concerns for the boy's welfare have grown.
Ashya is likely to be in a wheelchair or buggy, cannot communicate verbally and is immobile, a police spokesman said.
University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust said Ashya was allowed to leave the ward under his parents' supervision and hospital staff raised the alarm when his absence "became a cause of concern".
Legal experts have said that it is "unlikely" that the Kings had committed an offence by taking Ashya out of hospital.
A post on Hampshire Constabulary's Facebook page said: "This is my mother's friend, she has run away in desperation because they cannot accept that there is nothing that can be done for their son and want to look for help abroad.
"Please don't judge, they are a very sweet loving family and I can only believe they are doing this because they want to help their son."
The government has raised Britain's terror threat level from substantial to severe because of the threat from militant groups in the Middle East.
A severe threat means an attack is deemed to be "highly likely", but there is no intelligence to suggest one is imminent.
At a press conference in London, David Cameron said an attack was more likely because of the increased threat from militant groups in Iraq and Syria, where Islamic State (IS) have seized large swathes of territory.
The Prime Minister added the UK was in the midst of a "generational struggle" against a "poisonous ideology" and that IS posed a "greater and deeper threat to our security than we have known before".
He said Britain's security services believed at least 500 Britons have gone to fight in Syria and potentially Iraq and he announced new legislation that would make it easier to remove passports from people who may travel abroad to fight.
Speaking before the PM's statement, Home Secretary Theresa May said: "The increase in the threat level is related to developments in Syria and Iraq where terrorist groups are planning attacks against the West.
"Some of those plots are likely to involve foreign fighters who have travelled there from the UK and Europe to take part in those conflicts. We face a real and serious threat in the UK from international terrorism.
"I would urge the public to remain vigilant and to report any suspicious activity to the police."
Police forces say they will increase their patrols in response to the raising of the terror threat, which is set by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC).
The JTAC's decision comes amid growing concern about hundreds of aspiring British jihadis travelling to Iraq and Syria and the murder of American journalist James Foley
Haras Rafiq from counter-extremist think tank the Quilliam Foundation, said that IS terrorists may want to target high-profile gatherings in the UK.
"Next week we have a very important NATO conference in Wales. It would be right to suggest that ISIS may well want to target high-profile targets like that.
"The danger is also from a wider aspect in terms of European fighters. We talk about Britain having a large number of fighters out there, but per captia Belgium is the worst offender.
"The threat is not just from Britain it's from a wider European perspective."
Sky News police analyst Graham Whetton said the raised level would trigger increased policing levels and public alertness to suspicious activity.
"Police will contact transport hubs and sports stadiums and ask them to increase their vigilance and security checks. The airports will get the same threat level increase so they will be asked to raise their awareness and alertness.
"Police cannot have eyes and ears everywhere.Officers need communities and families to bring to their attention anybody they perceive may be vulnerable or in danger of escalating towards terrorism.
"That is a key piece of the anti-terrorism jigsaw, getting people to come forward with any information they may have."
Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, the UK's most senior police officer, said Scotland Yard is ready for an influx in case large numbers of homegrown extremists return at the same time.
National Policing Lead for Counter-Terrorism, Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley, said: "We need communities and families to bring to our attention anyone they perceive may be vulnerable, a danger or escalating towards terrorism.
:: Anyone with information is urged to contact the Anti-Terrorist Hotline on 0800 789 321.
Ashya King's fight for life after being diagnosed with a brain tumour has been chronicled in a series of poignant videos filmed by his brother.
One video shows Ashya in hospital while another includes a message assuring the boy: "Everyone is praying for you. We just want to see your smile again."
The posts were uploaded to Facebook and YouTube by Ashya's brother Naveed, after the brain tumour diagnosis was made by doctors.
Speaking into the camera in a message directly to Ashya, he said: "I haven't slept. I've been awake all night worrying.
"We love you so much. We're all here for you.
"Everyone is praying for you. We just want to see your smile again. No kid at the age of five deserves to have a brain tumour.
"Let's just hope the doctors know what they're doing and they know exactly where to operate and what to take out, and they take everything out and you can be better.
"And when we look back in 10 years' time when you're 15, we can actually see that things have changed for the better.
"Just because they're bad at one point doesn't mean they'll always be bad. I love you so much. I can't wait to see you."
Police have launched a "major investigation" to find Ashya who was taken from Southampton General Hospital to France against medical advice.
In other videos - which Sky News has chosen not to show - Ashya is clearly in distress as he undergoes treatment for his condition.
On August 18 Naveed posted an update on Facebook signed "King family", saying Ashya had been "progressing slowly".
The post included several pictures, one showing Ashya with his mother, and another of a large stitched wound at the back of the boy's head and neck.
Naveed wrote: "He (Ashya) is now able to swallow (only liquid things like water and on odd occasions soft yoghurt) but not chew or move his leaps (sic).
"He can also close his eye lids but still struggles in moving his eyes to look at people or things.
"He is still unable to talk to explain how he feels or what may be hurting him on occasions.
"As a family we thank everyone who has taken their time in prayer for Ashya to get better and also by the amazing gifts he has received from those prayers!
"He is still far from being a normal child and still not out of the danger zone of where minor issues could cause severe problems for his brain, so please continue to pray for him to have the strength and to be able to recuperate quickly!"
In another YouTube video posted earlier this month, Naveed said his family had been staying in a "charity home" and he was visiting his brother twice a day in hospital.
He said Ashya was struggling to move his legs and arms or swallow food and had only recently been able to close his eyelids.
"He's progressing slowly," Naveed said.
"It still might be a couple of weeks before he can maybe move an arm or two and might be a couple of months before he can walk."
David Cameron has said the root cause of an increased terror threat to the UK is a "poisonous ideology of Islamist extremism".
The UK terror threat level was raised to severe from substantial on Friday, meaning a terrorist attack on the UK is "highly likely".
At a news conference in Downing Street, Mr Cameron said the Iraq war in 2004 was not to blame for the rise of Islamic State (IS), which has seized swathes of territory across Iraq and Syria to form an "Islamic caliphate" and carried out beheadings and mass killings.
He said: "The root cause of this threat to our security is quite clear: it is a poisonous ideology of Islamist extremism that is condemned by all faiths and by all faith leaders.
"It believes in using the most brutal forms of terrorism to force people to accept a warped world view and to live in an almost medieval state.
"It is vital we make this distinction between religion and political ideology.
"Islam is a religion observed peacefully and devotedly by millions. Islamist extremism is a poisonous political ideology supported by a minority.
"What we're facing in Iraq now with ISIL is a greater and deeper threat to our security than ever before. We have to confront this ideology at home and abroad."
It is the first time the terror threat level has been above substantial since July 2011.
Intelligence and security services believe at least 500 Britons have gone to fight in Syria and potentially Iraq.
Mr Cameron said the Government had already taken steps to counter the threat of jihadists returning to carry out attacks in the UK, but admitted there was still a need to fill "gaps in our armoury".
He said the Taliban had harboured and facilitated al Qaeda terrorism, but IS was effectively a state run by terrorists.
"We could be facing a terrorist state on the shores of the Mediterranean and bordering a Nato member," he said.
"... we are in the middle of a generational struggle against a poisonous political ideology that I believe we will be fighting for years and probably decades."
He added that the murder of US journalist James Foley was "clear evidence - not that any more is needed - that this is not some foreign conflict thousands of miles from home that we can hope to ignore".
Mr Cameron said he would make a statement to the House of Commons on Monday about new legislation to make it easier to take passports away from people who have travelled abroad to fight.
"Time is running out" for a five-year-old boy with a brain tumour who was taken from hospital by his parents, police say.
Hampshire Constabulary said "there are serious concerns" for the life of Ashya King as he needs constant medical care.
At a news conference, officers revealed that Ashya had been operated on seven days ago, and had been fed through a tube in his hospital bed.
Assistant Chief Constable Chris Shead said: "The feeding system is battery operated and that battery will run out today.
"It is vital that we find Ashya today. His health will deteriorate rapidly."
He added: "Time is running out for this little boy. We need to find him and we need to find him urgently.
"The information we have received from his medical team at Southampton General Hospital is that he must continue to be fed via a tube by someone with the relevant medical training.
"If he doesn't receive urgent medical care, or the wrong treatment is given, his condition will become life-threatening."
Ashya was taken from his ward bed at around 2pm on Thursday. CCTV images captured him being wheeled from the hospital by his father Brett King.
Mr King, 51, and his wife Naghemeh King, 45, boarded a cross-Channel ferry from Portsmouth to Cherbourg at 4pm with Ashya and six siblings.
Mr Shead said the six-and-a-half-hour gap between Ashya being taken from hospital and police being called would be looked at "further down the line".
Appealing directly to the family, Mr Shead said: "Our message to you is 'please take Ashya to the nearest hospital immediately'.
"We understand this must be an awful time for you but the most important thing is to get the proper medical care for Ashya.
"Please work with us to provide Ashya that care."
Mr Shead said he was unable to confirm whether a return ferry ticket had been booked, saying it was a line of inquiry.
The sick child is still likely to be in a wheelchair or buggy, he cannot communicate verbally and is immobile, a police spokesman said.
The family, believed to be Jehovah's Witnesses, are travelling in a grey Hyundai I800 Style CRDI, registration KP60 HWK.
They arrived in France at roughly 8pm local time on Thursday and are still thought to be in the country.
Hampshire Police are working with officers in France to activate their emergency child rescue alert procedures to locate the family.
Meanwhile, Guy Canonici, the president of the Jehovah's Witnesses in France, has told Sky News he has put over 1,000 Kingdom Halls (places of worship) on alert for the missing boy.
He said so far no one has come forward with any information.
TV channels and newspaper websites in France have urged motorists to look out for the right-hand drive English car carrying Ashya
A Southampton hospital spokesman said police have been provided with a detailed medical report on Ashya so any hospital he is taken to can provide care.
The spokesman said Ashya was a long term patient who was permitted to leave the ward under the supervision of his parents as part of his ongoing rehabilitation.
"When the length of time he had been absent became a cause of concern to staff yesterday afternoon they contacted police after a search of the site and attempts to contact the family were unsuccessful," the spokesman said.
In a video posted on YouTube last month, Naveed King said his little brother Ashya had been diagnosed with a brain tumour and was undergoing emergency surgery.
Speaking into the camera in a message directly to Ashya, he said: "I haven't slept. I've been awake all night worrying.
"We love you so much. We're all here for you. Everyone is praying for you. We just want to see your smile again.
"No kid at the age of five deserves to have a brain tumour.
"Let's just hope the doctors know what they're doing and they know exactly where to operate and what to take out, and they take everything out and you can be better."
Naveed, whose Instagram profile says he is 20, describes himself as a Jehovah's Witness on the social networking site.
Jehovah's Witnesses refuse blood transfusions on religious grounds but are open to other medical procedures.
Ashya's paternal grandmother, Patricia King, said his parents were "wonderful" and had been left beside themselves at their child's plight.
Speaking from her home in Southsea, she said of her son: "He's the most caring and wonderful father you could ever have. The kids love him."
She said she last spoke to her son "quite a while ago", adding: "He wouldn't have told me anything because he wouldn't want me to know anything in case I got involved in it all."
She said she did not know whether Ashya's illness was terminal, saying: "I knew he was seriously ill, we all knew that."
Anyone with information about Ashya's whereabouts should contact Hampshire Constabulary on 101, quoting Operation Aquilion.
Updated: 4:08pm UK, Thursday 28 August 2014
By Jon Craig, Chief Political Correspondent
Winston Churchill did it twice. So did Oswald Mosley. In 1981, 28 Labour MPs did it. And, during the 1990s, six Conservative MPs did it.
Now Douglas Carswell has become the latest MP to defect to another political party, joining UKIP and plunging the Tory high command into turmoil by resigning his seat and triggering a nightmare by-election.
Mr Carswell, a truly maverick member of the Tory awkward squad, captured Harwich from Labour in the 2005 General Election and then held the newly-drawn seat of Clacton with a healthy 12,068 majority in 2010. UKIP didn't bother standing against him.
The sting in the tail of his defection announcement alongside a grinning Nigel Farage was his by-election bombshell.
He could, after all, have sat on the Opposition benches in the Commons for nine months until the next General Election.
Recent high-profile defectors have done just that, waiting for a safe seat or a peerage from their new party. And many of them have been handsomely rewarded.
Shaun Woodward was David Cameron's predecessor as Tory MP for Witney before he defected to Labour in 1999.
He was parachuted into a safe Labour seat and eventually rewarded with a seat in the Cabinet as Northern Ireland Secretary.
Quentin Davies, a former Tory Shadow Cabinet member, was MP for the Tory stronghold of Grantham and Stamford.
He defected to Labour in 2007 just after Gordon Brown became prime minister. His reward was a peerage.
Back in 1977, Reg Prentice crossed the floor of the Commons from Labour to the Conservatives after pressure from left-wingers in his east London constituency and became a long-serving minister under Margaret Thatcher.
But none of these had the guts to do what Mr Carswell is doing and that is resign and fight a by-election. And, when nearly 30 Labour MPs joined the breakaway SDP in 1981, only one of them did.
That was Bruce Douglas-Mann in Mitcham and Mordern. And he lost to Tory Angela Rumbold.
After the 1983 General Election, the SDP was left with just six MPs, including Roy Jenkins, David Owen and a young, newly-elected 23-year-old, Charles Kennedy.
The Claction by-election, however, will be different. It's a winnable seat for UKIP, Douglas Carswell is popular locally and is probably right when he says many of his local members will defect with him.
And it's a horror story for David Cameron and the Tory high command.
William Hague pointed to UKIP's failure to win the Newark by-election earlier this summer and the Tories' comfortable victory. But this is different.
Mr Carswell is a respected imcumbent and, even if the Conservatives throw massive resources at the by-election as they did in Newark, he will be difficult to unseat.
Then there is Mr Carswell's claim that other Tory MPs are poised to join him and defect to UKIP. If they are, they're keeping it a closely guarded secret.
But then Mr Carswell kept his shock announcement the biggest political secret of the summer!
Nadine Dorries, often talked of as potential defector, told me she's staying put with the Tories. Bill Cash told Sky News Mr Carswell had made a big mistake.
Mr Cameron will be desperately hoping Mr Carswell remains a one-off. His defection is a crisis the Tory leadership didn't see coming.
It also throws the Prime Minister's Europe strategy into disarray.
He has made concession after concession to the Euro-sceptic Tory right and potential UKIP voters. And a fat lot of good it has done him.
UKIP humiliated the Conservatives in the local and European elections and now one of his MPs has jumped ship.
Mr Cameron's dilemma now is: Does he make more concessions to the Right and ramp up the anti-Europe rhetoric and make more threatening noises about leaving the EU?
If he does that, he risks losing support from wavering voters in the centre ground and letting Ed Miliband into Downing Street. And the evidence so far is that making concessions to his Euro-sceptic backbenchers does him no good.
Ed Miliband, under fire from many in his own party over his lack of policy and lacklustre personal performances, must be thinking Christmas has come early. Every time things look grim for the Labour leader, the Tories seem to shoot themselves in the foot.
And what of Boris Johnson, the Tories' king over the water and Mr Cameron's rival for the Tory crown?
As one Tory said to me: "If Boris had real balls, he'd fight Douglas Carswell in the Clacton by-election."
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt got married at a chateau in France on Saturday, a spokesman for the couple has revealed.
It was initially believed they had just been on holiday in the south of France at the weekend.
But now it has emerged that they tied the knot in a private ceremony attended by their family and friends.
The wedding took place in a small chapel at Chateau Miraval, in the village of Correns, which the couple has rented since 2008.
In advance of the non-denominational civil ceremony, Pitt, 50, and Jolie, 39, obtained a marriage licence from a local California judge.
The judge also conducted the ceremony in France.
The spokesman said the couple's children took part in the wedding with Jolie's eldest sons Maddox and Pax walking her down the aisle.
Zahara and Vivienne threw petals while Shiloh and Knox served as ring bearers.
On Thursday Pitt was photographed for the first time wearing his wedding ring as he attended an event to promote his World War Two film Fury in Dorset.
The actor wore dark sunglasses as he entered the Tank Museum in Bovington and posed for photos.
Pitt and his new wife are due to resume filming on their new project, called By The Sea, in Malta this week.
The Hollywood stars, who met on the set of Mrs And Mrs Smith in 2005, have been engaged for more than two years.
They have been reported as saying they would not marry until it became an option for all couples.
Last year, they spoke of their close relationship after Jolie, who won an Oscar for best supporting actress in Girl, Interrupted, announced in a New York Times article that she had had a preventative double mastectomy.
Pitt described Jolie's decision, made because she carried the "faulty" gene BRCA1 which sharply increases her risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer, as "absolutely heroic".
In the article, Jolie wrote: "I am fortunate to have a partner, Brad Pitt, who is so loving and supportive.
"So to anyone who has a wife or girlfriend going through this, know that you are a very important part of the transition.
"Brad was at the Pink Lotus Breast Centre, where I was treated, for every minute of the surgeries.
"We managed to find moments to laugh together. We knew this was the right thing to do for our family and that it would bring us closer. And it has."
The couple are known for their humanitarian work and were recently in the UK for the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict.
Jolie was also awarded an honorary damehood by the Queen for her charity work.
Jolie was previously married to actor Jonny Lee Miller and actor Billy Bob Thornton. Pitt was married to actress Jennifer Aniston until October 2005.
Updated: 4:08pm UK, Thursday 28 August 2014
By Jon Craig, Chief Political Correspondent
Winston Churchill did it twice. So did Oswald Mosley. In 1981, 28 Labour MPs did it. And, during the 1990s, six Conservative MPs did it.
Now Douglas Carswell has become the latest MP to defect to another political party, joining UKIP and plunging the Tory high command into turmoil by resigning his seat and triggering a nightmare by-election.
Mr Carswell, a truly maverick member of the Tory awkward squad, captured Harwich from Labour in the 2005 General Election and then held the newly-drawn seat of Clacton with a healthy 12,068 majority in 2010. UKIP didn't bother standing against him.
The sting in the tail of his defection announcement alongside a grinning Nigel Farage was his by-election bombshell.
He could, after all, have sat on the Opposition benches in the Commons for nine months until the next General Election.
Recent high-profile defectors have done just that, waiting for a safe seat or a peerage from their new party. And many of them have been handsomely rewarded.
Shaun Woodward was David Cameron's predecessor as Tory MP for Witney before he defected to Labour in 1999.
He was parachuted into a safe Labour seat and eventually rewarded with a seat in the Cabinet as Northern Ireland Secretary.
Quentin Davies, a former Tory Shadow Cabinet member, was MP for the Tory stronghold of Grantham and Stamford.
He defected to Labour in 2007 just after Gordon Brown became prime minister. His reward was a peerage.
Back in 1977, Reg Prentice crossed the floor of the Commons from Labour to the Conservatives after pressure from left-wingers in his east London constituency and became a long-serving minister under Margaret Thatcher.
But none of these had the guts to do what Mr Carswell is doing and that is resign and fight a by-election. And, when nearly 30 Labour MPs joined the breakaway SDP in 1981, only one of them did.
That was Bruce Douglas-Mann in Mitcham and Mordern. And he lost to Tory Angela Rumbold.
After the 1983 General Election, the SDP was left with just six MPs, including Roy Jenkins, David Owen and a young, newly-elected 23-year-old, Charles Kennedy.
The Claction by-election, however, will be different. It's a winnable seat for UKIP, Douglas Carswell is popular locally and is probably right when he says many of his local members will defect with him.
And it's a horror story for David Cameron and the Tory high command.
William Hague pointed to UKIP's failure to win the Newark by-election earlier this summer and the Tories' comfortable victory. But this is different.
Mr Carswell is a respected imcumbent and, even if the Conservatives throw massive resources at the by-election as they did in Newark, he will be difficult to unseat.
Then there is Mr Carswell's claim that other Tory MPs are poised to join him and defect to UKIP. If they are, they're keeping it a closely guarded secret.
But then Mr Carswell kept his shock announcement the biggest political secret of the summer!
Nadine Dorries, often talked of as potential defector, told me she's staying put with the Tories. Bill Cash told Sky News Mr Carswell had made a big mistake.
Mr Cameron will be desperately hoping Mr Carswell remains a one-off. His defection is a crisis the Tory leadership didn't see coming.
It also throws the Prime Minister's Europe strategy into disarray.
He has made concession after concession to the Euro-sceptic Tory right and potential UKIP voters. And a fat lot of good it has done him.
UKIP humiliated the Conservatives in the local and European elections and now one of his MPs has jumped ship.
Mr Cameron's dilemma now is: Does he make more concessions to the Right and ramp up the anti-Europe rhetoric and make more threatening noises about leaving the EU?
If he does that, he risks losing support from wavering voters in the centre ground and letting Ed Miliband into Downing Street. And the evidence so far is that making concessions to his Euro-sceptic backbenchers does him no good.
Ed Miliband, under fire from many in his own party over his lack of policy and lacklustre personal performances, must be thinking Christmas has come early. Every time things look grim for the Labour leader, the Tories seem to shoot themselves in the foot.
And what of Boris Johnson, the Tories' king over the water and Mr Cameron's rival for the Tory crown?
As one Tory said to me: "If Boris had real balls, he'd fight Douglas Carswell in the Clacton by-election."
IS fighters say they have "executed" 250 Syrian soldiers, as President Barack Obama prepares to hold crisis talks with his security aides.
The soldiers were captured at the weekend when the Sunni militant group seized an air base in the province of Raqqa, in northern Syria.
The Reuters news agency said a video posted on YouTube on Thursday and purportedly showing dozens of bodies was confirmed as genuine by an Islamic State fighter.
In Washington, the White House said Mr Obama was due to meet with Vice President Joe Biden and members of his National Security Council.
The meeting will take place at 4pm local time (9pm UK time) in the White House Situation Room.
The video shows the bodies of scores of men wearing nothing but their underwear lying face down.
The line of bodies appears to be dozens of metres long.
A caption written underneath says: "The 250 shabeeha taken captive by the Islamic State from Tabqa in Raqqa have been executed."
Shabeeha is the name of armed militia forces loyal to President Bashar al Assad. Tabqa is the location of the Syrian airbase that has been captured by IS in the last few days.
An Islamic State fighter in the Syrian city of Raqqa who spoke to Reuters over the internet said: "Yes we have executed them all."
Meanwhile, the United Nations says an armed group has detained 43 peacekeepers in Syria's Golan Heights. A further 81 peacekeepers are also trapped, the UN has said.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the peacekeepers were detained early on Thursday during a "period of increased fighting between armed elements and the Syrian Arab Armed Forces."
The detained peacekeepers are from the Philippines and Fiji, a UN official told Reuters.
Soon after, more UN troops were seen crossing from the Israeli-controlled side of the Golan Heights to the Syrian side. The Golan Heights straddles the disputed border between Israel and Syria.
A UN statement said negotiations were under way to release those trapped or being held.
French President Francois Hollande said opposition forces fighting IS militants in Syria and Iraq should get more Western support.
But he ruled out regarding Assad as an ally saying: "There is no choice to be made between two barbarisms."
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An American journalist held hostage in Syria for almost two years has thanked the hundreds of "brave and determined people" who helped secure his release.
In his first public remarks since touching down in the US, Peter Theo Curtis said: "I had no idea when I was in prison that so much effort was being expended on my behalf.
"Now that I have found out I am just overwhelmed with emotion."
Mr Curtis, 45, was reunited with his mother Nancy after landing back on home soil on Tuesday.
The journalist, originally from Boston, was released by al Qaeda's official wing in Syria, al Nusra Front, two days earlier after 22 months in captivity.
His voice trembling at times, Mr Curtus told reporters he was also overwhelmed that total strangers had been coming up to him and saying "we are glad you are home, welcome home, I'm glad you are back, glad you are safe."
"To all those people I say a huge thank you from the bottom of my heart," he said.
Shortly after being reunited with her son, Nancy Curtis told reporters he was "so excited to be home".
She said while she was"overwhelmed with relief," his arrival home was a "sober occasion," given recent events in Syria.
Mr Curtis' release came days after the execution of fellow journalist James Foley who was captured by al Nusra's rivals, the militant group Islamic State (IS) in 2012.
IS posted a video showing the beheading of Mr Foley, which they said was in retaliation for US airstrikes on IS positions in northern Iraq. The group also threatened to kill another American journalist in their captivity, Stephen Sotloff.
"My heart goes out to the other families who are suffering," Diane Curtis said, adding that she had written to Mr Foley's mother Diane as soon as she heard from Mr Curtis.
"We've been through so much together, and I didn't want her to hear it from the media first," she told ABC's Good Morning America programme.
Fears had risen for Mr Curtis over the last month after the FBI revealed it had received a video of him pleading for his life, saying he had just three days to live.
Qatar, whose diplomacy helped secure Curtis' release, is believed to be working to free remaining hostages in Syria.
Meanwhile the US is preparing military options in Syria, including surveillance flights, in an effort to eradicate IS.
Scottish women have been portrayed as "daft ditherers" in an "insulting" advert by the Better Together campaign, it has been claimed.
With the referendum on independence just weeks away, both sides are pushing their case to voters.
But the No campaign has managed to upset female nationalists with its latest YouTube video.
It features an actress complaining about the constant referendum coverage and being hassled to make a decision by her partner.
Better Together say the dialogue was drawn from the verbatim comments of women in focus groups and doorstep canvassing.
But Kirsty Strickland, first-time mother to six-month-old Orla, said: "The Better Together referendum broadcast was an absolute embarrassment.
"It portrayed women voters as daft ditherers who don't understand the magnitude of the decision they have to make."
Women For Independence say "the implication that a No vote is the only choice a mother should be making for her children is insulting".
A spokeswoman added: "We think it's disappointing that Better Together decided to portray Scotland's women in this way.
"The narrative suggests that women who are still making up their minds how to vote don't understand enough about the issues to arrive at an informed decision. That is not our experience.
"Women for Independence have spent the last two years listening to women, discussing what matters to them. They are thoughtful, intelligent and articulate.
"The polls show that when they do get helpful information they understand that this is our one opportunity to change their lives, and all our lives, for the better. That's why more and more are moving to voting Yes."
Launching the video yesterday, Better Together campaign director Blair McDougall said: "The words spoken in the film are taken verbatim from conversations on doorsteps with undecided women voters and from the opinion of women in dozens of focus groups around the country.
"With so many unanswered questions, more and more of us are coming to the decision that it is just too big a risk to take with our kids' future."
The child exploitation scandal in which 1,400 youngsters were abused over 16 years is not "peculiar" to Rotherham, according to a leading children's charity.
A damning report on abuse in the South Yorkshire town detailed examples of 11-year-olds being gang raped and children forced to watch violent sex abuse.
Barnardo's was called to the town by police last year to tackle the problem - but the charity says it is also working with other councils to "learn lessons from the past".
Chief executive Javed Khan told Sky News: "Barnardo's is working very closely with that council and many other councils across the country.
"We're trying to help those professionals learn lessons from the past.
"This is happening all over the country - it isn't just peculiar to Rotherham.
"It's important that they learn the lessons from the past, work with agencies like ours that have experience.
"We work with more than 2,000 children who've been sexually exploited every year. We know how to spot the signs and put it right."
The report on abuse in Rotherham, between 1997 and 2013, said authorities in the town "could and should" have done more to stop the abuse.
But officials did not listen to children trying to report it, the report said.
Council leader Roger Stone resigned after the report was published - and there have been calls for South Yorkshire's Police Commissioner to follow.
Shaun Wright was elected in 2012 - but his previous role as a councillor put him in charge of children's services between 2005 and 2010.
However, Mr Khan insists it is important the victims are not forgotten amid the "recriminations".
"I'm sure Shaun Wright is doing some deep thinking about what he did and what he could have done differently - many other people will be doing as well," he said.
"Apart from the recriminations, the important thing is that we learn the lessons about how to protect children.
"Whatever actions need to be taken, let's focus on the victims and make sure this never, ever happens again to children who need our support.
"I'm not sitting on the fence. Children were failed. But the report says children's services in Rotherham are fit for purpose now - that's what interests me.
"What we're trying to do is work with the schools, work with the police, work with the social services, so they're more aware and more able to spot the signs of children who need our support."
South Yorkshire's Police Commissioner has refused to resign over the Rotherham child sex abuse scandal - claiming he was unaware of the scale of the problem.
Shaun Wright, who was responsible for children's services at the town council for five of the 16 years in which at least 1,400 children were abused, is facing calls to stand down, including by his own Labour Party.
Mr Wright told Sky News he was "completely astonished" at the extent of the abuse revealed in a damning report, which detailed examples of 11-year-olds being gang raped and children being forced to watch violent sex abuse while being threatened they would be next.
But Professor Alexis Jay, who headed the inquiry, has cast doubt on claims people had been unaware of the problem, which had been set out "unambiguously" in a series of seminars and reports.
She also told Sky News nearly everyone in positions of authority should have done more.
Home Secretary Theresa May also piled pressure on Mr Wright to stand down, saying he "has real questions to answer".
Mr Wright was a Labour councillor for Rotherham until he was elected Police Commissioner in 2012, and was in charge of children's services from 2005 to 2010.
He told Sky News he was "completely astonished" at the abuse, and said he had been unaware of the scale of the problem.
He said: "I take my share of the responsibility. There was systemic failure. I only wish that I knew more at the time.
"If I knew then what I know now then clearly more could have been done.
"I do have regrets I wasn't more aware of the issue at the time."
He claimed information was not "escalated up" to the political level or senior managers.
Mr Wright said: "I am completely astonished by the scale of the issue that's been identified."
But pointing to a number of seminars and reports detailing the abuse, Prof Jay told Sky News: "I would be surprised if anyone could say at the end of that, they didn't know."
She said: "I do think that all of those who were in positions of power and influence in that 16 year period need to look very rigorously at their own position and whether they could have done more.
"It's my belief that almost everyone should have done more."
Calling for Mr Wright to quit, Colin Ross, the leader of the Lib Dem group on Sheffield City Council, said it is "difficult to see how local people can have confidence in him to continue as our Police and Crime Commissioner".
A Labour spokesperson said: "The report into child abuse in Rotherham was devastating in its findings. Vulnerable children were repeatedly abused and then let down.
"In the light of this report, it is appropriate that South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner Shaun Wright should step down."
The leader of Rotherham Council, Roger Stone, stepped down with immediate effect following the publication of the report.
Chief Superintendent Jason Harwin, police district commander for Rotherham, said no officers had faced disciplinary action but added: "A number of individuals that were in the service then are no longer in the service.
"Clearly we have failed on this occasion. We know that but we need to understand understand what we need to do next."
"If people have done things they shouldn't have done they should be held to account."
A lawyer who represents some of the victims has told Sky News they intend to take legal action against the authorities.
Solicitor David Greenwood said he was "appalled" by what he called a "systematic failure".
He added that some of the girls involved have displayed symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and will need "a lot of input to get their lives back on track".
Alistair Darling insists the momentum is still with the 'No' campaign despite claims by his rival that he "muffed" the arguments in Monday night's final Scottish independence TV debate.
As the first postal ballot papers were sent out ahead of the referendum on September 18, polls suggest the 'Yes' campaign leader Alex Salmond came out on top in front of the TV cameras.
A key aspect of the debate was currency - with former Chancellor Mr Darling, who is fronting the Better Together campaign, admitting no one could stop Scotland using the pound.
Mr Salmond also outlined three 'plan Bs'.
Speaking to Sky News on Tuesday, Scotland's First Minister said the 'No' campaign's "bluff had been called" over use of the pound.
"He muffed his chance," said Mr Salmond.
"We explained the currency options for Scotland - the three plan Bs, if you like.
"But we explained why the currency union between Scotland and England is what we're asking for a mandate for."
However, Mr Darling told Sky News the 'Yes' side remained "vague" on currency and had to "make up their minds".
"TV debates are important but the real debates are going on in people's homes," he said. "Increasingly, people are making up their minds and saying 'no' to the risks of independence.
"They're concerned that after three hours of prime time TV we still haven't had answers to basic questions about currency.
"The postal votes are going out and this is perhaps the biggest decision people will make in their lifetime - and he (Mr Salmond) still can't answer basic questions."
Sky's Political Editor Faisal Islam says that whether people believe Mr Salmond on currency could decide the outcome of the referendum.
"Mr Salmond views the currency debate as over and if that's right and people have heard enough, just maybe he can creep back up the vote share and reduce the 'No' lead.
"If Mr Darling is right, and currency is still impacting people on the doorstep, then surely 'No' will win."
There were also angry exchanges over North Sea oil, the NHS and welfare during the 90-minute debate, which was hosted by the BBC in front of an audience of 200 at Glasgow's Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery.
Voters have to register to cast postal ballots by September 3, meaning some could cast their votes within days.
After the debate, a Sky News poll carried out on Twitter saw more than 2,000 retweets for a Salmond win, compared to under 500 claiming Darling had topped the debate.
A Guardian/ICM poll gave the debate to Mr Salmond with 71% of the vote.
Mr Darling was widely judged to have won the first.
A poll of polls, carried out by Sky News before the debate, put 39% in favour of Scottish independence, with 50% against and another 11% undecided.
By Becky Johnson, North of England Correspondent
More than 1,400 children were sexually exploited in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013, a report has concluded.
The abuse of children, some just 11 years old, has been described as "horrific".
The report also found it is "not confined to the past but continues to this day".
Roger Stone, the leader of Rotherham council, has stepped down following the publication of the report.
"I believe it is only right that I, as leader, take responsibility on behalf of the council for the historic failings that are described so clearly in the report and it is my intention to do so," he said.
"For this reason, I have today agreed with my Labour group colleagues that I will be stepping down as leader with immediate effect."
Despite Mr Stone's resignation, chief executive Martin Kimber said no council officers will face disciplinary action as he did not have enough evidence against individuals.
"Officers in senior positions responsible for children's safeguarding services throughout the critical periods when services fell some way short of today's standards do not work for the council today," he said.
"To that extent, I have not been able to identify any issues of professional practice related to current serving officers of this council that would require me to consider use of disciplinary or capability procedures."
In the summary of her findings, independent reviewer Professor Alexis Jay said: "It is hard to describe the appalling nature of the abuse that the victims suffered.
"They were raped by multiple perpetrators, trafficked to other towns and cities in the north of England, abducted, beaten, and intimidated.
"There were examples of children who had been doused in petrol and threatened with being set alight, threatened with guns, made witness to brutally violent rapes and threatened they would be next if they told anyone.
"Girls as young as 11 were raped by large numbers of male perpetrators."
The report highlights a variety of historical and serious child protection failings and concludes the council and other agencies should have done more to protect those at risk.
In just over a third of cases victims were previously known to services in the town because of child protection and neglect.
The report says there was a series of failings including poor leadership from senior managers in child protection services and a perceived "lack of interest" in, and understanding of, grooming as a model of child abuse.
Victims were not heard or believed and there was a perception that a "macho and bullying" culture within the council prevented child sexual exploitation from being properly discussed. Professional jealousies between organisations also prevented effective action.
There was "denial" that such events could happen in Rotherham and issues of ethnicity were "played down" by senior managers. "Almost all" the perpetrators were described by victims as being of Pakinstani origin, but the authorities "wanted to play down ethnic dimensions... for fear of being thought racist."
Prof Jay found a series of reports made available to both the council and police raising serious concerns were not apparently acted on, and there had been a series of missed opportunities to understand the scale of the problem since 2002.
The spotlight first fell on Rotherham in 2010 when five men, described by a judge as "sexual predators", were given lengthy jail terms after they were found guilty of grooming teenage girls for sex.
The prosecution was the first of a series of high-profile cases in the last four years that have revealed the exploitation of young girls in towns and cities including Rochdale, Derby and Oxford.
In response to Prof Jay's report, Rotherham Council's chief executive Martin Kimber, said: "(It) does not make comfortable reading in its account of the horrific experiences of some young people in the past, and I would like to reiterate our sincere apology to those who were let down when they needed help.
"I commissioned the independent review to understand fully what went wrong, why it went wrong and to ensure that the lessons learnt in Rotherham mean these mistakes can never happen again.
"The report confirms our services have improved significantly over the last five years and are stronger today than ever before. This is important because it allows me to reassure young people and families that should anyone raise concerns we will take them seriously and provide them with the support they need."
There has been a five-fold increase in UK nationals travelling to Syria or Iraq to engage in terrorist activities, according to Scotland Yard.
Police said 69 suspected extremists have been arrested so far this year who planned to travel to Syria or fund terrorism there.
Assistant Chief Constable Mark Rowley, of the Metropolitan Police, appealed to family members of potential UK terrorists to come forward and said nearly half of would-be extremists identified as part of the Syria investigations were not previously classed as dangerous.
"The biggest growth in Syrian-related investigations has occurred in London and the West Midlands," he said.
"The growth of dangerous individuals poses challenges for policing, especially when nearly half of Syria travellers of concern were not known as terrorist risks previously.
"Hence, we appeal to the public to help identify for us aspiring terrorists - they may be about to travel abroad, have just returned or be showing signs of becoming radicalised."
Mr Rowley added that seizures of cash which people had been trying to take out of the country to fund Syria-related terror activity have also doubled.
Investigators are attempting to get hundreds of pieces of terror-related content linked to Syria removed from websites including YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.
Mr Rowley said police in the UK are trying to prevent hate crimes that could be influenced by events abroad, including anti-Semitic offences related to the Gaza conflict.
He added: "There is a lot at stake.
"In addition to the public assistance in identifying potential terrorists, we all need community and religious leaders to continue to speak out against warped narratives and we need everyone to ensure that public debate does not give oxygen to the terrorists by giving them the publicity they seek."
An estimated 500 Britons have travelled to Syria and Iraq to fight alongside extremists, half of whom are thought to be from London.
The first Briton infected with the deadly ebola virus is being treated with the experimental drug ZMapp in a London hospital.
William Pooley is being treated in an isolation unit at the Royal Free in Hampstead after being admitted on Sunday.
He had been transported to the UK on a specially-equipped RAF plane from Sierra Leone in West Africa where he caught the disease while helping ebola patients.
ZMapp has been dubbed by some as the "cure" after two aid US workers were successfully treated for ebola after taking it.
Dr Michael Jacobs, consultant and clinical lead in infectious diseases at the London hospital, said: "We have had the opportunity to give him the ZMapp treatment that I am sure you are aware of.
"It is an experimental medicine, we made that absolutely clear in our discussions with him."
He added: "What has become apparent to us is that he is clearly a rather resilient and remarkable young man."
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Updated: 2:10pm UK, Friday 25 July 2014
Mikaeel Kular's mother has pleaded guilty to killing her three-year-old son, who she subjected to repeated assaults.
Rosdeep Adekoya had been accused of murder but admitted a reduced charge of culpable homicide at the High Court in Edinburgh.
She confessed to wrapping Mikaeel's body in a duvet cover, putting it in a suitcase and driving to Dunvegan Avenue in Kirkcaldy, where she hid the case under a bush in woodland behind a house.
Mikaeel's disappearance from his Edinburgh home in January sparked a huge search involving police officers, firefighters, mountain rescue teams and the coastguard, as well as members of the public.
His body was eventually found 25 miles away in woodland in Kirkcaldy, Fife.
Adekoya had called 999 to report her son missing to police, telling officers he got out of bed and climbed on a stool to unlock the front door of his home.
But in court she admitted to beating her son to death, repeatedly punching him and causing his body to hit against a hard object or inflicting blunt injuries on his head and body between January 12 and 15.
She also pleaded guilty to attempting to defeat the ends of justice by pretending to police he had gone missing.
Advocate depute Alex Prentice told the court: "The basis for the plea tendered being accepted is that the Crown accepts that the accused had no intention to kill Mikaeel and that the assault perpetrated upon him, although severe, fell short of the wicked recklessness required for murder."
Explaining the charge of culpable homicide, Sky's James Matthews, at the High Court in Edinburgh, said: "Basically she beat up her son causing his death but she didn't mean to kill him, and that's been accepted by the prosecution authorities."
He said after killing Mikaeel, Adekoya had done the school-run taking her four other children to school before continuing on to dump his body behind a property where her sister was staying.
"Her concocted story unravelled under questioning by police, and it was when they spotted inconsistencies in her story that she broke down and told them where Mikaeel's body was," Matthews added.
Adekoya's internet history showed searches including "I find it hard to love my son", "I love all of my children except one", "Why am I so aggressive with my son" and "Get rid of bruises".
The court heard Mikaeel died on the night of Tuesday, January 14, from injuries inflicted the previous Sunday.
His mother "lost her temper" when he was repeatedly sick following a trip to a Nando's restaurant at the city's Fountain Park.
Mikaeel had more than 40 separate injuries to his body, including bruises to his back, chin and cheek, trauma to the brain, haemorrhage in the spinal cord and injuries to his arms.
Mr Prentice said: "If medical assistance had been called for, death might not have resulted."
Sentence was deferred until August 25 at the High Court in Edinburgh.
The family of a British nurse airlifted from Africa to London to be treated for ebola has thanked the medical team looking after him.
Volunteer nurse William Pooley is in the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead after contracting the virus in Sierra Leone.
He is the first confirmed British ebola case. There is no cure and outbreaks have a fatality rate as high as 90%.
A statement from his family said: "We would like to express our thanks to all involved in bringing our son back to the UK.
"We have been astounded by the speed and way which the various international and UK government agencies have worked together to get Will home.
"Will is receiving excellent care at the Royal Free Hospital and we could not ask for him to be in a better place.
"We ... ask everyone to remember those in other parts of the world suffering with ebola who do not have access to the same healthcare facilities as Will."
Mr Pooley, 29, was flown back to the UK on Sunday night for emergency treatment.
He is being treated in Hampstead because it has the only isolation ward in the country.
His bed will be surrounded by a tent with its own controlled ventilation system and the only people allowed inside are specially-trained medical staff.
A Liberian doctor who was one of three Africans to receive the experimental Ebola drug ZMapp is among the latest to have died, the country's information minister said on Monday.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Monday that protective equipment had been sent to the Democratic Republic of Congo, where two cases of ebola have been confirmed.
Japan said it had developed an anti-influenza drug which may be able to treat the virus.
It is not known if favipiravir, which trades under the name Avigan, can treat the disease, but it was designed to treat new and re-emerging influenza viruses, which have similarities to ebola.
Mr Pooley was working at a hospice in Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown, but moved to a government hospital in Kenema when he found out workers at the hospital had died.
In an interview with a blogger for freetownfashpack.com published earlier this month, he is reported to have said: "It's the easiest situation in the world to make a difference."
His friend Dr Oliver Johnson, who has been working in Freetown, said Mr Pooley was an "extraordinary guy" who knew the risks involved but was prepared to take them in order to help.
The Department of Health said he was not "seriously unwell", and health chiefs have insisted that the risk to the public from ebola is "very low".
There have so far been 2,615 confirmed cases and 1,427 deaths in the outbreak in Africa.
Ebola is contracted through contact with an infected person's bodily fluids and there is currently no cure or vaccine.
Symptoms of the virus appear as a sudden onset of fever, headache, sore throat, intense weakness and muscle pain.
Police are investigating whether the death of a teenager at a disused quarry in Fife is being linked to the 'ice bucket challenge', Sky News understands.
Cameron Lancaster, 18, disappeared under water at Prestonhill Quarry in Inverkeithing, Fife, on Sunday.
Emergency services were called just before 5pm and searched the water. His body was found at about 9pm.
Sky News understands that police are examining whether the death is linked to the online craze in which people film themselves having ice water tipped over them for charity.
The fundraising craze also requires people to nominate others to perform the stunt, after doing so themselves.
A series of celebrities and public figures have been pictured or filmed taking part over the past month.
The family of the teenager, from Burntisland, Fife, paid tribute to his "thoughtful generosity of spirit".
In a statement they said: "Cameron died in a tragic accident. His death is such a great loss.
"During his short life he touched so many people with his friendliness, kindness and thoughtful generosity of spirit.
"He will be hugely missed by his family and friends.
"The family are finding it hard to come to terms with this sudden loss and would ask for privacy at this sad time."
A police spokesman said: "Inquiries are under way to establish the full circumstances of what happened and Police Scotland's thoughts are with the family at this very difficult time."
Updated: 10:58am UK, Monday 25 August 2014
Tributes to one of the UK's best loved actors and directors have been paid from the worlds of entertainment, politics, sport and good causes.
Sir Ben Kingsley, who played the Mahatma Gandhi in Lord Attenborough's multi Oscar-winning work, said: "He placed in me an absolute trust and in turn I placed an absolute trust in him and grew to love him. I, along with millions of others whom he touched through his life and work, will miss him dearly."
Film producer Lord Puttnam said: "This is a most remarkable man who, when you string together the things he did, the things he helped, the things he salvaged, it's mind-boggling the list of decent, good things he did for Britain."
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (Bafta), of which he was President, said he was "a passionate filmmaker, a man of principle and - in contradiction of sometimes lachrymose image - possessing the kind of dogged determination that sees films get made after decades of toil.
"A titan of British cinema, to say he embodied its finest qualities is to have it backwards. British film would do well to live up to the example of industry, skill and compassion set by Richard, Lord Attenborough."
Steven Spielberg, who directed Lord Attenborough in Jurassic Park and in The Lost World: Jurassic Park, said: "He made a gift to the world with his emotional epic Gandhi and he was the perfect ringmaster to bring the dinosaurs back to life as John Hammond in Jurassic Park. He was a dear friend and I am standing in an endless line of those who completely adored him."
Former TV executive Lord Grade said: "Dickie was essentially a man who put much more in than he ever took out of the industry."
On Twitter, the Prime Minister said: "His acting in Brighton Rock was brilliant, his directing of Gandhi was stunning - Richard Attenborough was one of the greats of cinema."
Labour leader Ed Miliband said: "The death of Richard Attenborough is a sad day for the film world and the Labour movement. He and his work will be remembered."
Former prime minister Tony Blair said: "As a supporter of progressive causes ... he was way ahead of his time. Fabulously successful yet humble and utterly without arrogance of any kind; possessing enormous compassion ... and yet approachable and good fun."
A statement on the website of Chelsea Football Club, of which he was a director for 23 years and then later Life President until his death, said: "His personality was woven into the tapestry of the club over seven decades. He was a consistent force for good at the club, even in dark times.
"Few of his show business friends escaped an attempt at indoctrination at Stamford Bridge. He shared his love of the club not just with English stars such as Laurence Olivier and John Mills, but brought Hollywood's greatest to the grandstands including John Wayne and Frank Sinatra.
"The Chelsea players were amazed when he introduced Steve McQueen into the dressing room at the height of his fame. The club's indelible association with such glamour is, to a huge degree, his doing."
Ashley Tabor, executive president of Global Radio, which controls Capital FM, which Lord Attenborough helped to set up in the early 1970s, said on Twitter: "Very saddened to hear the death of Richard Attenborough. He started @CapitalOfficial and steered it through some very tough times in the early days. You will be missed, sir. My thoughts are with his family and friends. RIP."
Robert Meadowcroft, chief executive of Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, of which Lord Attenborough was a former President, said: "He had the wonderful gift of empathy and offered unwavering support for the numerous families he met in the fight against muscle-wasting conditions."
The Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, (Rada), of which Lord Attenborough was President, said on Twitter: "We are deeply saddened by the loss of our President, Lord Attenborough. He was a great man - we owe him so much."
Actor James Woods, said on Twitter: "I did a cameo in CHAPLIN just to work with this giant. What a lovely man. RIP"
Jonny Lee Miller, whose grandfather was actor Bernard Lee, who played M in the James Bond films, said: "Richard Attenborough was a true friend to my Grandfather and a kind, kind man. RIP."
Labour MP Peter Hain, said on Twitter: "Really sad news death Richard Attenborough brilliant actor film director anti apartheid @UKLabour @chelseafc stalwart lovely man &friend.
James Bond actor Roger Moore said on Twitter: "Greatly saddened to hear the great Richard Attenborough has left us. Such a wonderful and talented man."
Fellow Labour peer Lord Alan Sugar, who was also involved in top league London football at the highest level, said on Twitter: "Very sad news about Lord Richard Attenborough who died today. A real movie legend. R.I.P."
Pro-Russian separatists marched Ukrainian prisoners through Donetsk in mockery of the country's Independence Day celebrations.
The rebels also displayed wreckage of Ukrainian military vehicles on a day the country had hoped to send a defiant message to the insurgents and Moscow.
A military parade was held in Kiev to mark the country's 23-year independence from the Soviet Union.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko told a crowd of thousands the country would face a military threat "for the foreseeable future".
He also pledged $3bn (£1.8bn) to re-equip his nation's forces.
"It is clear that in the foreseeable future, unfortunately, a constant military threat will hang over Ukraine," he said.
"And we need to learn not only to live with this, but also to be always prepared to defend the independence of our country."
But the march in Kiev was ridiculed by the rebels in their stronghold of Donetsk.
They paraded dozens of captured Ukrainian soldiers in front of a jeering crowd that shouted "fascists" and "get on your knees" at the dishevelled group.
The captives were followed by dustcarts to "clean" where they had walked.
It came as fighting continued to rage in eastern Ukraine between government troops and separatist fighters.
Earlier, shelling struck a hospital building in Donetsk.
Stunned patients, being treated in nearby buildings, looked on as separatist fighters inspected the scene.
Rocket attacks on Donetsk have become common as government forces seek to drive out the rebels, causing several hundred thousand civilians to flee.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Kiev on Saturday and pushed for a new ceasefire in crisis talks with Mr Poroshenko.
During her trip, Ms Merkel called for a "bilateral ceasefire and effective border controls" to help stop four months of fighting in Ukraine.
Her visit came ahead of crucial talks on Tuesday between Mr Poroshenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin alongside top EU officials.
Tensions surged on Friday when Russia sent a convoy of trucks it said was carrying aid to the rebel-held city Luhansk in an unauthorised move Kiev described as a "direct invasion".
The West sharply rebuked Russia over the convoy, which left on Saturday, with Washington describing it as a "dangerous escalation".