Man Charged With Murder Of Beheaded Woman

A 25-year-old man has been charged with the murder of 82-year-old Palmira Silva who was beheaded in north London.

Nicholas Salvador, of Gilda Avenue, Enfield, north London, is due to appear at Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court later today, Scotland Yard said.

He faces a further charge of assault on a police officer.

Salvador had been taken to hospital and remained under police guard before being questioned by officers and charged.

Ms Silva was found collapsed in a back garden in Nightingale Road, Edmonton on Thursday before being pronounced dead at the scene.

The house in the busy street where Ms Silva's body was found became the scene of a major police operation after officers were called to the area.

Metropolitan Police officers said after the operation that there were no signs of a link to terrorism.

Tributes have been paid to the elderly woman of Italian descent who ran a nearby cafe.

Dilek Solma, 19, who works next door, said: "I'm so upset. She was a very smiley lady, always had a smile on her face, and loved the community."

Another shop worker Raj Thangavelselvaraj, 50, said: "She was a nice lady, she was a good lady to everyone. It's very sad."

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Ukraine Ceasefire Holds With Pro-Russian Rebels

Fighting is reported to have subsided in eastern Ukraine after the government agreed a ceasefire with pro-Russian rebels.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko confirmed on his Twitter account that a peace plan had been signed, while pro-Russian rebels also announced the news on the social media site.

There were initial reports of shelling in the rebel stronghold of Donetsk moments after the deal came into force at 4pm UK time, but the area later fell quiet.

The deal was reached after talks between Ukraine and pro-Russian rebels in the Belarussian capital, Minsk. Officials from Russia and the OSCE security watchdog also participated.

The deal saw an agreement on the release of prisoners on both sides, the delivery of humanitarian aid and the withdrawal of heavy weapons. 

Nato leaders say they hope the truce will foster a lasting peace deal

Speaking at a Nato summit in Wales, Mr Poroshenko said Kiev was also ready to grant a significant decentralisation of power and economic freedom to the turbulent east.

It is hoped the deal will go some way towards ending the five-month conflict that, according to the UN, has killed more than 2,600 people.

"Human life is the highest value and we must do everything possible and impossible to end the bloodshed and the suffering," Mr Poroshenko said.

A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, said Russia was hopeful the ceasefire would be "thoroughly implemented" and that all sides would continue talks to reach a "full settlement of the Ukraine crisis."

The West has accused Russia of sending troops and tanks to participate in the conflict, something Moscow has consistently denied. 

A man repairs the damage to a building caused by shelling in Donetsk

Despite the deal European leaders agreed to hit Russia with a fresh round of sanctions, including credit restrictions on Russian companies and export bans.

Further Russian officials were issued travel bans and asset freezes.

Speaking after the summit, Prime Minister David Cameron indicated the sanctions might be lifted if the ceasefire leads to a more durable peace deal.

However US President Barack Obama admitted there was a degree of pessimism about the chances of lasting peace.

He said he was "hopeful, but based on past experience also sceptical that the separatists will follow through and the Russians will stop violating Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity".

David Cameron said sanctions would stand despite the truce

Sky's Katie Stallard, who is on eastern city limits of Mariupol, said soldiers from both sides remained in position and it was difficult to see the ceasefire holding "long term".

"No one has much faith in the ceasefire here," she said.

"There is scepticism about the timing. President Putin has come up with the peace plan right at the point European leaders were preparing to finalise tougher sanctions on Russia.

"What this also doesn't resolve is that we're hearing from the self-proclaimed prime minister of the Lugansk People's Republic, who is saying that this ceasefire doesn't address the status of their 'republic' and they do not abandon their plans to separate from Ukraine."

Meanwhile, Nato announced plans to create a "Spearhead" rapid response force to counter Russian aggression in Ukraine.

But Moscow said joint military exercises planned by Kiev and Nato in Ukraine - and announced along with the Spearhead force - could undermine peace moves.

Russia's foreign ministry said military exercises - planned for September 16-26 - would cause "increased tensions, threaten the tentative progress in the peace process in Ukraine and contribute to the aggravation of a split in the Ukraine society".

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Police Chief Warns Cuts Raise Risk Of Terror

Police Asking Victims To 'Investigate Own Crimes'

Updated: 2:49pm UK, Thursday 04 September 2014

Hard-pressed police forces are "encouraging" victims of high-volume crimes to carry out their own investigations, a policing watchdog has warned.

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) said the "emerging trend" was identified in an investigation into 43 forces in England and Wales.

In a report summarising its findings, HMIC said its inspectors had witnessed call-handlers asking victims of offences like vehicle crime and "burglaries of properties other than dwellings" to assess the likelihood of the crime being solved.

It said some forces asked victims whether there was any CCTV footage of the area, any potential fingerprint evidence and whether the victim knew if there were any witnesses to the crime. 

In some cases victims were asked to interview their neighbours and to search for their property on second-hand sales websites.

"HMIC finds this expectation by these forces that the victim should investigate his own crime both surprising and a matter of material concern," the report said.

"The police have been given powers and resources to investigate crime by the public, and there should be no expectation on the part of it."

Teacher Louise Kimpton told Sky News she was surprised by the response when she called police after her car was stolen from outside her home near Rochdale in July.

"The police came round and they explained that unfortunately they only had very few officers on the beat in the area so it was highly unlikely they'd find the car" she said.

"They said they would try their best but obviously if we could look round as well that would help.

"My husband and his friend drove around and eventually they found the car."

She said they contacted police and within days received a letter saying that their case was closed.

Inspector of Constabulary Roger Baker, who led the inspection, said overall police forces have "done a good job in tackling crime and anti-social behaviour".

However he said the emerging trend suggested many officers have essentially "given up" on investigating high-volume crimes.

"It's more a mindset, that we no longer deal with these things," he said.

"Effectively what's happened is a number of crimes are on the verge of being decriminalised.

"So it's not the fault of the individual staff, it's a mindset thing that's crept in to policing to say 'we've almost given up'."

The report, named 'Core Business: an inspection into crime prevention, police attendance and the use of police time,' investigated a number of aspects of modern policing, including response to calls, quality of investigation and the use of technology.

Among its findings, HMIC said some forces were losing track of suspects and wanted persons as their systems for actively pursuing them were not up to scratch.

It also identified a policing "postcode lottery", saying attendance rates at crime scenes varied widely between police forces.

In the year to November 30, 2013, for example, 100% of crimes in Cleveland were attended by a police officer. In Warkwickshire, however, that figure stood at just 39%.

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Man Shot Dead By Police In Knife Incident

Police have shot dead a man who was threatening a woman with a knife at a house in London, Scotland Yard said.

The incident happened at a property in Islington and it is understood the man and the woman knew each other.

A statement from the Metropolitan Police said the woman was unharmed and is being treated for shock.

The man was treated at the scene in Shepperton Road but died on the way to hospital.

Police had sent a negotiator to the scene at 11.19pm on Thursday following reports the man had broken into a house.

Rosa Whiteread, 28, a primary school teacher who lives in the street, said: "I was asleep and I heard shouting - it woke me up. It must have been around 12.30 at night.

"I looked out of the window and I saw lots of police, there must have been around a dozen of them. I asked them what was going on, but they said they couldn't tell me.

"I'm not sure if the police were armed, but I saw a police dog. It's shocking."

Another neighbour, who asked not to be named, said: "I heard lots of shots - three or four. Like a bonfire. I've never heard anything like it before. It was really scary.

"There were a lot of police with guns. It was very scary. The people who lived there moved in around a year ago - I thought the man was her son."

Neil Basu, Specialist Crime and Operations officer with the Metropolitan Police, said: "Initial reports were that a man had broken into the house and officers were faced with a man threatening a woman with a knife.

"Police negotiators and the London Ambulance Service were call called to the scene. The man was shot by police and treated at the scene but pronounced dead en-route to hospital.

"The woman is unharmed but in shock. We believe the man and women were known to each other but we cannot confirm the nature of that relationship. The man is a 40-year-old black man who was born in Islington.

"In the last 24 hours we have seen a number of high-profile incidents. Those kind of incidents are very rare indeed and London continues to be a safe city."

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IS Leader's Top Aide 'Killed In Iraq Airstrike'

ISIS Leader Is Jihad's 'Rising Star'

Updated: 8:49am UK, Thursday 12 June 2014

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, commander of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) controls large parts of eastern Syria and western Iraq.

But despite his power - and a $10m (£5.9m) US reward for information leading to his capture - little is known about a man who for his own survival has shunned the spotlight.

Fighters from ISIS and its rivals have praised Baghdadi as a strategist driven by an unbending determination to fight for and establish a hardline Islamic state.

He has succeeded in exploiting turmoil in Syria and Iraq's weak central authority after the US military withdrawal to carve out his powerbase.

He has also proved ruthless in eliminating opponents to further his ambition of creating an Islamist state.

According to the US reward notice, which depicts a round-faced, brown-eyed man with closely cropped beard and short dark hair, Baghdadi was born in the Iraqi town of Samarra in 1971.

He is said to be the only prominent al Qaeda leader not to pledge allegiance to Ayman al-Zawahiri after Osama bin Laden's death three years ago.

He split with Zawahri after falling out with al Qaeda's Nusra Front in Syria, whose leader Abu Mohammad al Golani rejected an edict to merge his forces under Baghdadi's command.

While Baghdadi's supporters believe an Islamic state would revive the glories of Islam, they say Zawahiri feared that by drawing jihadi fighters together in one place it would make it easier for the West to defeat them.

His fighters counter that Baghdadi has plenty of hidden surprises for his enemies.

"He has capabilities that he keeps secret until the right time," one ISIS supporter said.

Ignoring Zawahiri's calls to leave Syria to the Nusra Front, Baghdadi expanded operations across northern and eastern Syria in 2012 and 2013, sometimes battling Bashar al Assad's forces but more often pushing out other rebel fighters.

Baghdadi's fighters now control the city of Raqqa - Syria's only provincial capital completely beyond Assad's control - and have imposed strict Islamic law.

In neighbouring Deir al-Zor province ISIS has waged a six-week offensive against rival rebels in which 600 fighters have been killed, seizing oilfields and towns on the northeast bank of the Euphrates, 60 miles (100 km) from the Iraqi border.

There is also video evidence of ISIS in the Syrian town of Azaz, with territory they controlled marked by graffiti on the walls and a flying flag.

Video also appeared on a social media website in January purported to show the northern Syrian town of Manbij after it was captured from rival insurgents by fighters from ISIS.

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Nato Leaders To Unveil Tough Russia Sanctions

By Alistair Bunkall, Defence Correspondent

Tough new measures designed to halt Russian aggression in Ukraine will be unveiled on the second and final day of the Nato summit in Wales.

The United States and European Union are due to announce a new round of co-ordinated economic sanctions against Russia, US and British government sources have reported.

These are set to include restrictions on some of the country's all-important energy firms and travel restrictions.

But it comes amid reports of further fighting to the east of the port of Mariupol in eastern Ukraine, hours before Ukrainian, Russian and European envoys are expected to back a peace plan and a ceasefire.

Mayor of Mariupol, Yuri Khotlubey, told Ukraine's 112 TV channel: "Our artillery has come and is being deployed against the (pro-Russian) rebels."

Nato says thousands of Russian troops are in Ukraine

Sky News' Kate Stallard, who is on eastern city limits of Mariupol, said: "We are hearing heavy shelling, which sounds like it's closer to the city now.

"We can also see smoke rising to the north of the city and there are reports of further shelling to the north and to the west. It would seem that there is something of a push from at least two directions on to the city.

"This is happening several hours ahead of what would be a ceasefire, which in itself may be why this is happening. It's not unusual to see a concerted push in the run up to a ceasefire as both sides try to consolidate their ground."

A commander of a Ukrainian volunteer militia based in Mariupol told Reuters news agency: "We were under fire all night but we are still keeping the rebels at bay. They are facing us with tanks and artillery."

Western leaders accuse Russia of sending thousands of troops into the east of the country.

Speaking on the sidelines of the summit on Thursday, deputy White House national security adviser Ben Rhodes said Russia would pay a price for its actions.

Nato wants Iraq to request military training support

""The key point is that Russia must continue to face costs for its own escalation.

"If Russia escalates, we can escalate our pressure."

Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has warned that Russia's incursion poses the most serious security threat to Europe since the Cold War, although Moscow has consistently denied direct military involvement.

Nato is also expected to finalise plans for a Rapid Reaction Force that can deploy to Eastern Europe on 48 hours notice.

This will include pre-positioning logistic and planning support in Baltic countries, and the provision vital equipment.

Nato insists this does not breach a 1997 agreement not to create permanent bases near the Russian border.

The announcements will come a day after British Prime Minister David Cameron, US President Barack Obama and other senior Nato leaders met Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

Mr Poroshenko has announced plans to order a ceasefire, provided a peace plan is agreed during separate talks in Minsk, attended by representatives from Ukraine, Russia and pro-Russian rebel forces. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin has also expressed hopes a truce will come into force later, two days after he unveiled his own seven-point peace plan.

Alongside Ukraine, Nato leaders will use the final day of the summit to discuss the threat posed by Islamic State extremists in Iraq and Syria.

The alliance leaders met for a formal dinner at Cardiff Castle last night.

Mr Obama is trying to bring together a coalition of nations and it is becoming increasingly likely the UK will authorise airstrikes against IS in northern Iraq.

But for any operation to be effective, it needs the support and involvement of countries in the region.

Nato is encouraging Iraq to request training support for its military although it will not go further and involve itself in a combat mission.

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Al Qaeda Launches New Militant Branch In Asia

India has ordered several states to be on increased alert after al Qaeda chief Ayman al Zawahiri launched a new branch of the militant Islamist group in Asia.

A video posted on jihadist forums features the 63-year-old saying the new force would "crush the artificial borders" dividing Muslim populations in the Indian subcontinent.

Al Qaeda is active in Afghanistan and Pakistan, where its surviving leadership is thought to be hiding, but Qedat al Jihad would operate in India, Bangladesh and Burma - also known as Myanmar.

Zawahiri said: "This entity was not established today, but is the fruit of a blessed effort of more than two years to gather the mujahedeen in the Indian subcontinent into a single entity."

He called on Muslims "to wage jihad against its enemies, to liberate its land, to restore its sovereignty and to revive its caliphate".

Since the death of Osama bin Laden in May 2011, al Qaeda has been eclipsed by its own offshoots in Africa and the Arabian Peninsula and now by the Islamic State fighting in Iraq and Syria.

Qedat al Jihad will be led by senior Pakistani militant Asim Umar.

The 55-minute video features Zawahiri and Umar, along with a new group spokesman identified as Usama Mahmoud.

It was produced by al Qaeda's As Sahan Media Foundation and has been widely distributed, according to the US-based SITE terrorism monitoring group.

Zawahiri said the regions of Assam, Gujarat and Kashmir, which all have large Muslim populations, would be targets for the new organisation.

The 2008 Mumbai terror attacks saw 166 people killed

"In the wake of this al Qaeda video, we will be on a higher alert,"  S.K. Nanda, the senior bureaucrat in the home department of Gujarat, said.

"We will work closely with the central government to tackle any threat posed to the state."

Gujarat is also the home state of India's new prime minister Narendra Modi, a Hindu nationalist criticised over riots in 2002 that left hundreds of Muslims dead.

Kashmir has an active armed insurgency against Indian rule and there have been terrorist attacks in other areas - including the 2008 Mumbai attacks which saw 166 people killed.

Zawahiri remains America's most wanted fugitive. The State Department "Rewards for Justice" programme has a $25m bounty on his head.

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Calais Migrants Caught On Video Rushing Ferry

The mayor of Calais has threatened to shut the port after 100 migrants tried to storm their way onto a ferry to Britain.

Police and port security were overwhelmed as the group forced open a gate and climbed over security fences before running towards the docks.

Ramps to the ferries had to be raised to prevent the men boarding the ships as a larger group of 150 migrants gathered outside the dock entrance.

The men were chased through the port by police and security

Video showed the group being chased through the port by police as lorry drivers looked on.

Ferry companies declared the port invasion a "huge intrusion" and ferry company P&O, who had a ferry at the quayside at the time, confirmed it closed all its ship's doors.

Lorry driver Mark Salt, who shot the video, said: "I checked into P&O for the crossing heard a lot of other truckers banging their horns by the border agency check point.

Ferry companies raised their ramps to prevent the men boarding the ships

"Then about 80-100 immigrants came into view heading straight for the ramps where a ship was about to dock. P&O staff, port workers and border agency security attempted to coral these guys away from the ramps."

The ship's crew reportedly turned their fire hoses on the men to prevent them boarding the ship. The ferry was delayed for about 45 minutes while it was searched by police and the crew.

Calais mayor Natacha Bouchart said she could block the port after meeting French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve.

Ferry companies using the port declared the invasion a 'huge intrusion'

"It would be illegal," Ms Bouchart admitted, "but today I want to make a strong gesture towards the British.

"The aim is to shut all the squats in Calais to control the influx so there are fewer migrants arriving in the town."

Ms Bouchart has criticised the British government for demanding security be increased at the port in Calais, but not offering a sufficient contribution towards the 10 million euro (£8m) annual cost.

Around 1,200 migrants live in makeshift camps in the town and make regular attempts to cross the channel by hiding in lorries bound for Britain.

Police attempts to clear the camps have led to violent confrontations with the men who mostly come from East African countries such as Somalia and Eritrea.

Ms Bouchart and Mr Cazeneuve have discussed opening a day centre for immigrants in the town and a night shelter for the women and children.

A Red Cross centre in nearby Sangatte was opened for migrants in 1999 but was closed in 2002 after it became overcrowded.

:: Did you see the attempt to board the ferry? Email news@sky.com

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PM: UK Will Not Pay For British IS Hostage

Nato Plans 'Spearhead' Force To Face Russia

Updated: 12:53pm UK, Tuesday 02 September 2014

Nato is set to create a high-readiness force and stockpile military equipment in Eastern Europe as a bulwark against potential Russian aggression, the alliance's chief has said.

Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the proposed new force could be comprised of several thousand troops contributed to on a rotating basis by the 28 Nato countries.

Backed by air and naval assets, he said the unit would be a spearhead that could be deployed at very short notice to help Nato members defend themselves against any threat, including from Russia.

Nato leaders are to consider the plans at a summit this week in Wales that is likely to be dominated by how the US-led alliance should respond to the Russian-backed separatist uprising in eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine is not a member of Nato, but its UK ambassador told Sky News he backed the move and appealed for Ukraine's allies to step up sanctions and provide military help now.

Andrii Kuzmenko said: "What is important for Ukraine is to provide the means for our defence ... including armaments."

The move could provoke Russia, whose foreign minister warned on Monday that Ukrainian forces must pull back from areas where they can harm civilians.

Sergei Lavrov spoke amid reports that Ukrainian forces had been ordered to pull back from Luhansk airport in the face of an onslaught from Russian tanks - the latest claim of direct Russian involvement in the fighting.

Ukrainian Defence Minister Valeriy Geletey said Russian units were moving into other towns in the region, including the largest city of the Donetsk region.

"The information that Russian troops are there has been confirmed," he said.

"We are fighting Russia and it is Russia which is deciding what will happen in Donbass," he told Ukraine's Inter channel, referring to the informal name of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions.

Mr Lavrov again denied that Russian troops were in Ukraine and said he hoped talks taking place in the Belarussian capital Minsk would focus on agreeing an immediate, unconditional ceasefire.

Speaking in the east Siberian city of Yakutsk on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Europe of ignoring the Ukrainian army "directly targeting its fire on residential areas".

He said he hoped "common sense will prevail" and that Russia and the West would not harm each other with further sanctions.

Speaking in the House of Commons, David Cameron said Russia appeared to be trying to force Ukraine "to give up its democratic choices at the barrel of a gun".

The PM said the presence of Russian soldiers on Ukrainian soil was "completely unjustified and unacceptable".

A rights group that works to expose Russian army abuses claims up to 15,000 soldiers have been sent to Ukraine by Moscow in the last two months, and several hundred may have died in combat.

Valentina Melnikova, head of the Committee of Soldiers' Mothers, a prominent organisation representing the families of military servicemen, said that some 7,000-8,000 Russian troops are believed to be in Ukraine at present.

"Military commanders are conducting a secret special operation," said Ms Melnikova, who is a member of the defence ministry's public council.

Meanwhile, a Ukrainian military spokesman said a rescue operation was continuing for two seamen missing in the Azov Sea after pro-Russian separatists attacked a Ukrainian navy vessel for the first time.

Eight other seamen survived the attack and were being treated for wounds and burns after the vessel was hit by artillery from the shore.

Separatists in the region claimed responsibility for the attack on social media.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said the events of the past few days showed Russia had launched a "direct and open aggression" against Ukraine.

Leading American senators have called for the US to send weapons to help Ukraine defend itself against what they called a "Russian invasion".

Democrat Robert Mendez, who runs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told CNN: "We should provide the Ukrainians with the type of defensive weapons that will impose a cost upon Putin for further aggression."

The call was echoed by former Republican presidential candidate John McCain, who told CBS's Face The Nation that Mr Putin was "an old KGB colonel that wants to restore the Russian empire".

Earlier, the European Union gave Russia a week to scale back its intervention in Ukraine, warning of further sanctions.

China opposes additional sanctions against Russia and has urged world leaders to find a political solution to the crisis.

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IS Beheading: British Hostage Will Be Next

An Islamic State militant in a video which purports to show the beheading of US journalist Steven Sotloff has warned that a British hostage will be next.

The 31-year-old, from Florida, is seen dressed in an orange jumpsuit in the video - titled A Second Message To America.

Mr Sotloff, who had worked for Time and Foreign Policy magazines, was forced to read out a statement before he was killed.

The US and UK have both said the video showing Mr Sotloff's murder is authentic.

The murder is thought to have been carried out by the same British militant

The American freelancer had appeared in a previous video showing the murder of fellow journalist James Foley, in which a masked militant with an English accent threatened him with death unless the US stopped airstrikes targeting IS in Iraq.

The militant is thought to be the same man who murdered Mr Sotloff, according to the US terror video monitoring agency Site.

He then warns that a British hostage - who is shown kneeling at knifepoint - will be targeted next.

"I'm back, Obama, and I'm back because of your arrogant foreign policy towards the Islamic State ... despite our serious warnings."

Sky's Foreign Affairs Editor Sam Kiley watched the video and said: "The killer is holding an identical knife, standing just behind and to the left of Mr Sotloff.

Mr Sotloff worked as a freelance journalist in the Middle East

"He is also armed with a shoulder holster identical to the one that carried a pistol on his last video, just prior to the murder of James Foley.

"He has got exactly the same accent... but it is clear that the voice has been somehow treated or adjusted.

"There is some kind of disguising mechanism that has been put to use to try to further hide his identity in addition to the black mask that reveals only his eyes."

White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said: "The intelligence community will work as quickly as possible to determine its authenticity.

Journalist James Foley was murdered in a video two weeks ago

"If the video is genuine we are sickened by this brutal act, taking the life of another innocent American citizen. Our hearts go out to the Sotloff family."

She would not be drawn on whether current events meant the US was at war with IS, formerly known as ISIS and ISIL, which has claimed territory across Syria and Iraq.

Hours after the video emerged, President Barack Obama authorised a State Department request for 350 extra US military troops to be stationed in Iraq.

The White House said the troops would "protect our diplomatic facilities and personnel in Baghdad".

Mr Sotloff's mother Shirley begged the militants to spare his life

"The President has made clear his commitment to doing whatever is required to provide the necessary security for US personnel and facilities around the world," a White House statement said.

British Prime Minister David Cameron, chaired a meeting of the Government's emergency committee Cobra on Wednesday morning.

Speaking after the meeting, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond reiterated that an attempt to rescue hostages held by IS militants had failed.

He said the video appeared to feature the same killer as that in the murder of Mr Foley.

In reference to the British hostage who appears in the footage, he said: "It can't allow us to change our overall strategy... we have to deal with IS on the basis of the wider threat that they pose to the British public.

"I can assure you that we will look at every possible option to protect this person. We will look very carefully at the options open to us."

Mr Sotloff's relatives said they were aware of "this horrific tragedy" and were "grieving privately".

Nato leaders are set to attend a summit in Newport, Wales, on Thursday.

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Sotloff Family Grieving After Hostage 'Killed'

The family of US hostage Steven Sotloff have seen a video which purportedly shows him being beheaded by an Islamic State fighter, and are grieving privately.

Barak Barfi, a family spokesman, also said authorities have not established its authenticity.

He said: "The family knows of this horrific tragedy and is grieving privately. There will be no public comment from the family during this difficult time."

Mr Sotloff, 31, was a freelance journalist for Time and Foreign Policy magazines who went missing in Syria.

He was apparently killed by IS in revenge for US airstrikes on the Islamist militant group in Iraq.

Mr Sotloff has reportedly been killed by Islamic State

His reported death comes two weeks after the release of a video showing the killing of fellow US citizen James Foley and Mr Sotloff being threatened with death.

That led to Mr Sotloff's mother Shirley pleading for her son's life.

A friend of both hostages, Matthew Van Dyke, told Sky News it was time for the US to consider paying ransoms to secure the release of hostages.

IS had reportedly demanded £80m for Mr Foley's release.

But the US - unlike several European countries that have given millions to the terror group to spare their citizens - refused to pay.

Mr Van Dyke told Sky News he hoped the apparent killing was a "wake-up call to Americans", adding: "This is a serious threat".

Shirley Sotloff had pleaded for her son's life

He went on: "They are executing Americans and videotaping it and we need to do something about that. The US administration needs to get serious about the problem."

Mr Van Dyke said there were more Americans being held by IS and "we need to bring them home".

He said authorities should "re-examine the policy of paying ransoms for prisoner exchanges to at least get these people home and then take on IS and kill them before they get to spend the money."

Mr Van Dyke said the news of Mr Sotloff's reported death was "horrible", adding: "I've lost two friends in two weeks."

He said Mr Sotloff was a "brilliant journalist, hard working and dedicated".

"He knew the dangers but he knew the story needed to be told."

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Russia And Ukraine Agree 'Permanent Ceasefire'

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukraine counterpart Petro Poroshenko have agreed a ceasefire to end the conflict in Ukraine, says Poroshenko's press office.

"Mutual understanding was achieved concerning the steps which will enable the establishment of peace," the statement said, after Poroshenko and President Putin spoke by telephone.

Despite the announcement a deal had been reached, a spokesman for Putin declared the deal was not technically a ceasefire as Russia was not party to the Ukraine conflict.

Putin and Poroshenko were unable to agree when they met last week

But Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying the leaders' views "overlap to a considerable degree".

"The heads of state exchanged opinions about what needs to be done first in order to bring an end to the bloodletting in the southeast of the country as soon as possible," said Mr Peskov.

News of the 'ceasefire' was greeted with an immediate relief rally on the markets - the main Russian stock exchange, the Micex, rising 4%.

The rouble also clawed back 1.3% against the US dollar, having fallen to record lows at the height of the crisis. Airline and banking stocks also rose in London.

The news came as Russia announced it was to hold major military exercises in September of the forces responsible for its long-range nuclear capability. The drills will involve more than 4,000 servicemen and 400 technical units. 

Meanwhile, world leaders have begun arriving in the UK ahead of a two-day Nato summit in Wales where the Ukraine crisis will be at the top of the agenda. 

Speaking at Downing Street ahead of the summit, David Cameron condemned the ongoing violence.

The conflict will be at the top of the agenda at the Nato summit in Wales

"What's happening in the Ukraine right now is disgraceful and completely unacceptable," the Prime Minister told an audience of international delegates in London on Tuesday night.

Putin and Poroshenko met last week in Minsk but made no progress towards resolving the conflict which has intensified in recent weeks as the West and Kiev accused Russia of deploying troops in Ukraine.

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond recently warned that Nato must show it still has the political will to fight back in the event of a Russian attack on any member states.

Mr Hammond said: "For Nato to maintain its credibility in the future, we have to demonstrate that we maintain the political will to act to defend ourselves and our interests.

"We have to be clear that we have not lost the appetite to intervene when our interests or our obligations require us to do so.

Despite the claims, Russia has repeatedly denied its soldiers were sent into eastern Ukraine.

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Chinese War On Terror May Breed Extremists

By Mark Stone, Asia Correspondent in Xinjiang Province, China

Sky News has obtained rare access to China's Xinjiang Province to investigate reports Muslims are being targeted and oppressed by the government.

China's leaders say foreign Islamist extremists, perhaps with links to IS and al Qaeda, are infiltrating its population, responsible for growing unrest in the region.

Since December, a series of bloody bomb and knife attacks have killed more than a hundred people across China.

There are reports of authorities targeting and oppressing Muslims

Urumqi, a city on the old Silk Road with a population of three million, is the provincial capital and a place on edge right now.

Soldiers stand guard outside the city's great mosque. Armoured police vehicles are parked in the shadows.

Oil and gas rich, the far-western province of Xinjiang is home to the Uighur people, China's Muslim minority. The province was once almost all theirs.

These days, they share it with the Han Chinese, the country's dominant ethnic group; the people who would be globally recognisable as Chinese.

Xinjiang is home to the Uighur people, China's Muslim minority

In recent years, relations between the Uighurs and the Han have become increasingly difficult.

Ancient Uighur homes have been destroyed. Uighur culture has been diluted and their freedom to practise Islam has been restricted.

In May, two 4x4 vehicles drove up a busy market street in a Han Chinese district of Urumqi. It was early morning and Gongyuan Street was crowded with shoppers.

Explosives were thrown from the vehicles as they passed up the street. Forty-three died and more than 90 were injured.

Today, the same street is almost deserted. We meet Mr Sun, a retired Han Chinese teacher.

He saw it all happen and we ask him who did it. "Minorities," he says. He leans forward and whispers: "Muslims."

The Uighur heartland lies under 200 miles from Afghanistan and Pakistan

Our taxi driver, also Han Chinese, goes further. Echoing the government line, he says the attack was the work of religious fanatics infiltrating the south.

"From Kashgar," he says. "It's only those who are uncultured who cause problems.

"People who were not educated, who live in the south. They are brainwashed by terrorists."

The Chinese government says it is facing an unprecedented threat from Islamist extremism.

They say foreign extremists are infiltrating the Uighur population and radicalising them.

Ancient Uighur homes have been destroyed... ...and replaced by tower blocks

However, Uighurs in exile, human rights organisations and the US government doubt that Islamist extremism is to blame.

They believe the Communist Party is blaming external forces as a way of dealing with internal unrest.

The tactics used to counter the violence are exacerbating the problem, they say.

Kashgar is further west from Urumqi; closer to Baghdad than it is to Beijing.

It is the Uighur heartland and lies just under 200 miles from the Afghan and Pakistani borders.

10 million Uighurs live in China's far-western Xinjiang Province

At the city's centre, the Id Kah mosque is the country's largest. In July, the Imam was murdered here; stabbed and clubbed to death.

"He deserved to die," a Uighur shopkeeper tells me quietly. He does not want to be identified. All Uighurs fear government reprisals if caught talking to foreigners.

The shopkeeper tells me that the Imam was a stooge of the Chinese government and condoning a series of restrictions for Uighurs in the region.

The restrictions are spelt out on a sign in a neighbouring street. With pictures, it states that beards are banned for young men and veils are banned for women.

Other policies include preventing Muslims from fasting at Ramadan.

"You understand what this sign means?" a young Uighur man says. "There's no freedom for us here."

The message was the same from the other Uighurs we spoke to. If you pressure and restrict people, they will fight back.

There are signs all around that this Chinese "war on terror" is intensifying. As it does, the resentment will only increase.

If religious extremists are among the Uighur population, and we saw no evidence of it, their efforts to recruit and to rally will only be made easier.

For the Chinese government, Islamist extremism could become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

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Rare Visit To Town At Centre Of Massacre Claims

Avoiding The Chinese Authorities

Updated: 1:55am UK, Tuesday 02 September 2014

By Mark Stone, Asia Correspondent in Xinjiang Province, China

Reporting anything sensitive in China requires planning, a bit of stealth and some luck thrown in too.

China's far western province of Xinjiang is one of those areas (like Tibet and Tiananmen Square) where the country's Communist government is particularly sensitive.

Foreign journalists are not banned from visiting Xinjiang, it's just that we can't report freely when we get there.

The Chinese government is obsessed with controlling the message. Its state-run media is the perfect tool, loyally conveying the government-endorsed line.

And so the idea of foreign journalists wandering around in a region which China considers to be the frontline in its "war on terror" is not something they are willing to allow.

They do not want scrutiny of the tactics they deploy to deal with those they believe to be Islamist extremists.

The team at Sky's bureau in Beijing had tried for months to get permission for a fully sanctioned trip to the region.

The Chinese government has pumped huge investment into the resource-rich province. They claim to have transformed the lives of millions - both indigenous Uighur Muslims and the Han Chinese who have moved here over the past few decades.

We wanted to see that investment: the new high-speed rail line, the new hospitals, schools, universities.

We also wanted to examine the suggestions that the Chinese government is eroding the culture and religion of the Uighurs, perhaps fuelling unrest.

Our trip was initially given a tentative green light. But then, a week before we were due to travel, they U-turned: the trip was off.

No explanation was given. We decided to come anyway.

Colleagues of mine from other media organisations have been here recently. Most have been detained and some have had their images and video deleted.

So it's necessary to stay one step ahead of the authorities. Flights are booked at the last minute, different hotels night to night, check in late, check out early. We use small tourist-style cameras.

I'll admit, it's easy to get overly paranoid. Do the authorities really care that much about what we're doing? It turns out they do.

In Kashgar we tried to check into one hotel but were turned away. The staff noticed our journalist visas in our passports.

"You can't stay here," the receptionist said. "You must stay in the hotel down the road: it's the hotel for journalists."

After a few days of moving every day, complacency set in: we stayed two nights in the same place. It was a mistake.

On the second day, we had a call. "This is reception. The Kashgar police are downstairs to see you. Please come down."

We had a chat with two men. What were we reporting on? Did we have permission?

We showed them the paperwork for our original pitch for the rejected trip. It seemed to work.

The police took photos of us and then left, but not before admitting that they'd been trying to track us down for three days.

A constant worry is the prospect of having our footage deleted or destroyed. In 2012, a German TV crew was on an assignment in another part of China.

They left their hotel room for dinner. When they returned, the reporter's tablet computer and smartphone had been dunked in water. They were still wet and their contents destroyed.

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'Huge Leap In The Dark': Boris Island Rejected

Boris Johnson's proposal for a new four-runway airport to be built in the Thames Estuary has been rejected by the Airports Commission.

The grounding of an airport in Kent leaves three options for expanding airport capacity: two additional runway plans at Heathrow and one at Gatwick.

These are being considered by the Airports Commission, which was established by the Government to recommend the best option for expansion, and will issue its final report after next year's election.

How a Thames Estuary airport would have looked. Pic: Foster and Partners

Mr Johnson, who is against a third runway at Heathrow, spoke of his disappointment ahead of the decision, which was widely expected.

The London Mayor said: "In one myopic stroke the Airports Commission has set the debate back by half a century and consigned their work to the long list of vertically filed reports on aviation expansion that are gathering dust on a shelf in Whitehall.

"Gatwick is not a long term solution and Howard Davies must explain to the people of London how he can possibly envisage that an expansion of Heathrow, which would create unbelievable levels of noise, blight and pollution, is a better idea than a new airport to the east of London that he himself admits is visionary, and which would create the jobs and growth this country needs to remain competitive.

One of the proposals for a third runway at Heathrow

"It remains the only credible solution, any process that fails to include it renders itself pretty much irrelevant, and I'm absolutely certain that it is the option that will eventually be chosen."

Sir Howard Davies, head of the Airports Commission, told Sky News: "This would be a huge leap in the dark and we simply don't think it's a practical scheme."

He added there were "a lot" of reasons to rule the idea out.

Boris Johnson attends a rally against Heathrow expansion

"We think that it is too expensive; we don't believe that a future government would be prepared to spend the public money, between £30bn and £60bn that would be necessary to even the smaller version of his airport up and running," he said.

"We think that is too risky, the logistical problems of moving an airport 70 miles and of doing so in an environmentally extremely sensitive area are, we think, awe-inspiring and we're not entirely sure in fact it's the right model for London to think of one huge airport in a very diverse market where we think that competing airports produce a better solution."

The Heathrow and Gatwick options had been shortlisted by the commission last year, with Sir Howard announcing that further studies would be made on the estuary plan with a decision towards the end of 2014.

Sir Howard Davies said he didn't think Boris Island was 'practical'

The issue of airports is a thorny one for Mr Johnson, who is trying to become the Conservative candidate for Uxbridge and South Ruislip at the election.

That constituency borders Heathrow and contains many people who depend on it for their livelihood.

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Sky Poll: Young Not Engaged In Politics

By Faisal Islam, Political Editor

Almost half of young people in Britain are not engaged in politics, feel their voices are not heard and do not believe that politicians are addressing their needs, a Sky News poll has found.

The Survation poll was commissioned as part of the launch of Stand Up Be Counted, a brand new digital platform designed by Sky News to give young people a voice.

The survey appears to show widespread apathy and indifference towards politics among those aged 24 and below.

Click here to visit the Stand Up Be Counted site

Some of those who have shared their views on the Stand Up Be Counted site

Forty-nine percent of 16-24 year olds questioned know neither the name nor party of their local MP, the survey found.

And 47% said none of party leaders David Cameron, Nick Clegg, Ed Miliband or Nigel Farage best exemplify the qualities they want in their political leaders.

(L-R) Ed Miliband, David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Nigel Farage

For example, of those questioned, more than a quarter (26%) said they were not engaged with politics and had no interest in becoming more involved.

Seventeen percent said they were not engaged in politics but would like to become more so.

Just 8% said they were fully engaged with the political process.

In total 39% expressed an interest in becoming more engaged in politics while 50% said they had no interest in becoming more engaged.

The poll also showed the frustration and lack of faith many young people have in politics.

Asked if they felt their voices were heard in society, 44% said they were not listened to despite trying to express concerns or beliefs.

Forty-two percent said they did not try to make themselves heard. And just 12% felt that they were being listened to.

Forty-five percent of those questioned said they had "not very much" confidence that politicians would address the issues that matter most.

And only 31% said they trusted government to address their needs and concerns.

The three attributes named by those polled as most desirable in politicians were honesty, being in touch with ordinary people and the ability to make tough decisions.

Asked to reveal the first word that comes to mind when thinking of politics 9% said "lies" or "liars", 8% said "boring" and 7% referred to "corruption".

MPs have faced recent criticism for rowdy displays at the weekly Prime Minister's Questions sessions.

And 53% of those questioned said they would be more likely to listen to politicians if they behaved better at PMQs. Forty-three percent said it showed politicians displaying passion.

The poll also shows that mainstream media is viewed with suspicion by young people.

Eight out of 10 of those surveyed said they did not believe that traditional media (newspapers, radio and TV) portrayed them accurately.

Instead social media such as Facebook and Twitter are more trusted to accurately reflect their views and concerns according to 46%.

:: Survation polled 1,004 16-24 year olds on behalf of Sky News between August 21 and 26, 2014.

:: Stand Up website: www.skynews.com/standupbecounted

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Captured IS Suicide Bomber Reveals Threat

By Stuart Ramsay, Chief Correspondent

A wing of Sulaymaniah's military hospital has been sealed off and 24-hour security has been posted at the door of a ward.

Inside lies an injured young man; a very special patient and prisoner.

He is 23-year-old Horr Jaffer, from Chechnya, and he is an Islamic State (IS) suicide bomber.

His capture has been a secret until now.

Sky News is the first to get access to this man who was caught in the southern Kurdish town of Jalula after his bomb part exploded.

He had been attempting to destroy a Kurd checkpoint by driving a bomb-laden car into their midst.

The 23-year-old militant killed four people in his bomb attack

Four people died and many others were injured, but he was captured attempting to escape.

Under questioning he admits that he joined IS in Syria after his father, mother and six family members were killed there.

He says they had moved from Chechnya to Pakistan before going to Syria.

The Kurds believe his father and brothers were to all intents and purposes professional jihadists; moving to countries where they could ply their trade. That trade is killing people.

"I want to be a martyr. I decided after they killed my family," he says in barely audible Russian.

"They didn't tell me anything about what I was doing or where I was. I just had to press the button."

The killer claims that Syria is filling with foreign fighters; a constant stream from all over the world.

"There are nations from all over the world there. There is British amongst them. They are from Asian countries, Europe and America. From everywhere," he told me.

He says that they used to talk together and mix together but didn't understand a lot of what was said.

Spending an hour with him it was striking how little he knew about what IS is doing across swathes of Syria. He denied any knowledge of the creation of a caliphate by IS for example.

He struck me as a rather stupid boy, upset by the loss of his family and totally open to indoctrination by his IS handlers.

He was just the guy prepared to die and kill others with him and it seems there are lots like him.

When asked if he regretted what had happened he broke down.

Britain is growing increasingly concerned about the threat from IS

Arching his back in pain and misery, saying he just wanted to live a normal life that he did not mean to do what he did.

It is hard not to be moved by his anguish. Hard but not impossible. He is a killer.

Like many western governments and security services, Britain is growing increasingly concerned about both IS and the numbers of young men being radicalised and coming to Syria and Iraq.

Out here the Kurds say they are right to be concerned.

"It is almost like super-terrorism and this is the frontline," Bafle Talabani, the British-born founder of the Kurds' elite Counter Terrorism Group, told me in the grounds of his father's house, which happens to be the Presidential Palace.

"It is more aggressive, more merciless more brutal. This is the front of the war on terror," he says.

"If we don't stop this here they will come for the West, for England, for Europe or the United States. They need to be stopped."

Bafle Talabani says IS represents a super-terrorism and needs to be stopped

IS, he believes, is the most dangerous single entity in the world today.

He is urging western governments to allow the Kurds to buy their own weapons or supply them.

"The special forces have good equipment. The peshmergas' weapons go back to the Iran-Iraq war. They are fighting against good weapons and a well-organised outfit with lots of money," he says.

With so many willing jihadists available IS is unlikely to miss this single bomber.

When he is treated and well, he will go to prison and rot there for the rest of his life.

He will be denied martyrdom. The Kurds want the foreign fighters to know that.

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Ashya's Parents 'Begged' To See Sick Son

Ashya King's parents have arrived at court for an extradition hearing for taking him from hospital without medical consent.

Brett King, 51, and his wife Naghmeh, 45, from Portsmouth, were transported from Velez-Malaga to Madrid on Monday morning to face the extradition hearing.

They were arrested in Spain on Saturday after taking their five-year-old son, who has a brain tumour, out of Southampton General Hospital to seek specialist cancer treatment abroad.

Ashya's grandmother Patricia King called on authorities to step in and stop the hearing.

Ashya King, pictured with father Brett, needs treatment for a brain tumour

She told Sky News: "They've treated them like murderers, putting handcuffs on them and everything. There's no human rights for our family at all, it's disgusting.

"They should be held up for cruelty to a five-year-old boy who's dying of a brain tumour.

"He's there in the hospital, he doesn't know anybody, there's police guarding him, he can't speak, he doesn't understand Spanish.

"My daughter-in-law and my son have begged to see him but they've been refused.

"What we want is somebody in authority to stop this going any further."

She said that Ashya's only hope was to be allowed to get treatment abroad, adding "he will die in hospital because they can't give him any more treatment".

Ashya's brother Naveed, 20, has posted a video blog claiming the family had stocked up on the food and syringes that the boy needed ahead of their journey and had bought him a brand new wheelchair costing up to £1,600.

He said his brother was "obviously happy, he wasn't in any way in any danger and he was not neglected at all".

Brother Naveed King has defended his family's actions

Since the Kings' arrest, Ashya's siblings are not thought to have been able to visit him in hospital.

Patricia King earlier said her son was selling his holiday home in Spain to pay for proton beam therapy, which costs an average of £100,000 per person.

Sky News sources said British police have arrived in Spain to question Ashya's parents.

Janice Atkinson, UKIP South East MEP, said: "This little boy needs his mother at this time. He is five years old, probably doesn't speak Spanish, and will be lying in a hospital bed in distress.

"I call on the Home Secretary to contact the Spanish authorities so that Ashya's parents are released immediately. Then she should ask the assistant chief constable of Hampshire why he 'made no apology for the police being proactive' to find Ashya."

On Sunday, Hampshire Constabulary Assistant Chief Constable Chris Shead defended the force's actions in pursuing the family.

The little boy, who had surgery for a brain tumour last week, is thought to be in a stable condition at the Materno-Infantil hospital in Malaga.

His six brothers and sisters are also thought to still be in the city.

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Muslim Leaders Issue Fatwa Against IS Britons

Muslim leaders have reportedly issued a fatwa condemning Britons who fight for extremists in Iraq and Syria.

The fatwa, which The Sunday Times newspaper said had been issued by imams, is the strongest denunciation yet by the Muslim community of UK citizens who join militants of the self-proclaimed Islamic State, formerly known as ISIL and ISIS.

It comes as former Liberal Democrat leader Paddy Ashdown accused Conservative ministers of "kneejerk" responses to the terrorism threat from extremists - and the US carried out airstrikes against IS fighters near Amerli in northern Iraq.

Air drops were also made to civilians in the area, as the Iraqi army evacuated people from the besieged town as Iraqi and Kurdish forces closed in on IS fighters.

A number of Britons are known to have joined Islamic State militants

The UK Government has raised the terror threat to Britain from "substantial" to "severe", although Home Secretary Theresa May said there was no evidence to suggest an attack was "imminent".

Issued by a learned Muslim scholar, a fatwa is an edict that may concern any aspect of Islamic life.

Technically it cannot be revoked and dies only with the person it is imposed on.

The Sunday Times reported six senior Islamic scholars have endorsed the fatwa, describing Britons allied to Islamic State cells as "heretics".

According to the newspaper, the fatwa says Muslims have a "moral obligation" to help those in war-torn Syria and Iraq, but that they should do so "without betraying their own societies".

Lord Ashdown said the terror threat should be countered 'without panic'

The term fatwa rose to prominence in the West in 1989 after the author Salman Rushdie was forced into hiding after having a "death fatwa" issued against him.

It was imposed by Ayatollah Khomeni, then Supreme Leader of Iran, who said Rushdie's book, The Satanic Verses, had "insulted" Islam.

Meanwhile, Lord Ashdown has argued in an article for The Observer that the current terror threat to the UK is one "one we have faced before and one we know how to deal with - effectively, without panic and without a whole new range of executive powers which could endanger our liberties".

"Indeed, when it comes to facing threats, it was surely far more difficult to cope with IRA terrorists slipping across the Irish Sea than it is to stop jihadis returning from Iraq," he wrote.

He said Prime Minister David Cameron had initially seemed to be keen to avoid a rushed response.

But he argued Tory ministers had recently "indulged in a spasm of kneejerking which would have made even St Vitus feel concerned".

"And Labour, frightened as always when it comes to liberty and security, capitulates to the demand."

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Ashya's Parents Held After Missing Boy Found

The parents of Ashya King, who was taken out of hospital against medical advice, have been arrested after being found with their son in Spain.

Police say officers in the Malaga area pulled over the family's car at 9pm UK time and found the five-year-old and his parents inside.

The boy from Portsmouth, who underwent "extensive surgery" during an operation on his brain tumour seven days ago, has been taken to hospital.

Assistant Chief Constable Chris Shead of Hampshire Constabulary said his parents, Brett King, 51, and Naghemeh King, 45, were in custody after being arrested on a European arrest warrant.

"We don't have many details on Ashya's condition at this point in time but what we do know is that he was showing no visible signs of distress," he said.

"There are no winners in this situation. I've said all along that this must be a terribly distressing time for Ashya's family and I stand by that now."

An international search was launched after Ashya was taken on Thursday

He added that it was too soon to say when Ashya would come back to the UK but said Southampton General Hospital had been contacted so they can liaise with doctors taking care of him in Spain.

"Ashya's brothers and sisters were not in the vehicle," he said.

"We have located them. They're all okay, they're fine. They are actually in a hotel about 10 miles away."

He said a team of Hampshire police officers would now be travelling to Spain to continue the investigation.

It came as footage emerged on video-sharing website YouTube in which Ashya's father, a Jehovah's Witness, insists they had taken him from hospital to seek a cancer treatment not available on the NHS.

French media had picked up the story after Ashya was taken from hospital

"We were much disturbed today to find that his face is all over the internet and newspapers and we've been labelled as kidnappers, putting his life at risk, neglect," he says.

"There's been a lot of talk about this machine. As you see, it's all plugged in. We've got loads of these feeds here, we've got iron supplements and we've got Calpol.

"As you can see, there's nothing wrong with him. He's very happy actually, since we took him out of hospital. He's been smiling a lot more, he's been very much interacting with us.

"But I just wanted to say very quickly why we took him out of the hospital.

"The surgeon did a wonderful job on his head that took out the brain tumour, completely they reckon. But straight away afterwards he went into what's called posterior fossa syndrome, which means very limited moving or talking or doing anything."

Ashya is now being cared for in a Spanish hospital

He said he had spoken to specialists after Ashya's surgery and had requested proton beam treatment, which was not available on the NHS.

"Proton beam is so much better for children with brain cancer," he said.

"We pleaded with them for proton beam treatment. They looked at me straight in the face and said with his cancer - which is called medulloblastoma - it would have no benefit whatsoever.

"I went straight back to my room and looked it up and the American sites and French sites and Switzerland sites where they have proton beam said the opposite, it would be very beneficial for him."

Mr King also urged police to call off "this ridiculous chase".

"We're not neglecting our son, he's in perfectly good health," he said.

Jehovah's Witnesses refuse blood transfusions on religious grounds but are open to other medical procedures.

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EU Gives Russia Ultimatum Over Ukraine Crisis

Russia could be facing a fresh wave of EU sanctions within a week 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 news conference in Brussels, where EU leaders met to discuss the crisis.

"There is a very high risk not only for peace and stability for Ukraine but for the whole peace and stability of Europe," he said.

After meeting his European counterparts, Mr Poroshenko warned that efforts to end violence with pro-Russian rebels were close to a "point of no return" and that failure could lead to "full-scale war".

European leaders have ordered officials to make urgent preparations for a toughening of measures, likely to target senior Kremlin figures as well as the defence, energy and financial sectors.

Satellite imagery reportedly shows Russian military vehicles inside Ukraine

Prime Minister David Cameron said the EU summit had taken "important steps" and the European Commission would present firm proposals for tougher sanctions within a week.

"It is totally unacceptable that there are Russian soldiers on Ukrainian soil. We have now set out a timetable for further sanctions that could be ... significant steps," Mr Cameron said.

"It's a deeply serious situation and we have to show real resolve, real resilience in demonstrating to Russia that if she carries on in this way the relationship we have between Europe and Russia, Britain and Russia, America and Russia will be radically different in the future."

Outgoing EU Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso insisted it was not too late to find a political solution, but he added: "We are in a very serious, I would say, dramatic situation ... where we can reach the point of no return.

"If the escalation of the conflict continues, this point can come."

He added: "Russia should not underestimate the European Union's will and resolve to stand by its principles and values."

This image shows trucks and armoured vehicles near the Russia border

Meanwhile, 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."

It comes after a mutual exchange of captured soldiers between Ukraine and Russia on Sunday.

A group of 10 Russian paratroopers and 63 Ukrainian soldiers were returned after "very difficult negotiations", according to the Russian RIA news agency.

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.

President Barack Obama has said the satellite pictures made it "plain" that Russia had "deliberately and repeatedly violated the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine".

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