Chokehold Ruling Touches Off New York Protests

LAPD Investigate Bill Cosby Sex Assault Claims

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 06 Desember 2014 | 16.08

By Greg Milam, US Correspondent

Police in the US have begun an investigation into claims the comedian Bill Cosby molested a woman when she was 15 years old.

The investigation was opened after Judy Huth, who is suing Cosby for sexual battery, met Los Angeles police detectives for 90 minutes.

LAPD officer Jane Kim confirmed the department had opened its investigation after the meeting.

Ms Huth's civil suit claims Cosby forced her to perform a sex act on him in a bedroom of the Playboy Mansion in LA in 1974.

His lawyers have dismissed the claim as "patently false".

Celebrity women's rights lawyer Gloria Allred said Ms Huth met two special victim unit detectives on Friday, three days after her lawsuit was filed.

"We are going to provide any and all evidence that she has," Ms Allred said.

Police did not give any additional details about the investigation.

Cosby's lawyer, Martin Singer, has accused Ms Huth and another lawyer of extortion and said she attempted to sell her story to a tabloid newspaper a decade earlier.

Mr Singer's filing states the other lawyer, Marc Strecker, first demanded $100,000 for Ms Huth to remain silent, then raised the demand to $250,000 as more women came forward accusing Cosby of sexual misconduct.

Cosby, 77, has been accused by more than 15 women in recent weeks of sexual misconduct, ranging from incidents of groping to incidents of drugging and raping.

He has never been charged with a crime, and his lawyers have denied many of the allegations, calling them discredited and defamatory.

On Thursday, Los Angeles police chief Charlie Beck said the force would be willing to investigate sexual abuse allegations against Cosby if someone files a complaint.

He said: "We don't turn people away because things are out of statute. You come to us, especially with a sexual allegation, and we will work with you.

"The remedies may be limited but it's important to recognise that in many cases going through the process for a victim is very therapeutic so we address these things seriously and it's not just because it's Mr Cosby."

Cosby has yet to respond himself to the allegations but has cancelled a number of public appearances in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, vandals have daubed the word "rapist" on the star dedicated to Cosby on Hollywood's Walk of Fame.

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Gallery: A Profile Of Bill Cosby

Bill Cosby was born in Philadelphia in 1937, one of four children

He followed his father into the US Navy before securing an athletics scholarship to Temple University in Philadelphia

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Britain Beefs Up Military Might In Bahrain

Britain is to build a new military base in Bahrain in a landmark deal which will enable the UK send more and larger warships to bolster security in the Gulf, amid the growing threat from Islamic State.

The move signals a marked expansion of the Royal Navy presence in the region.

The UK already has four minehunters permanently based at the Mina Salman Port, but the plans will see the existing facilities improved and extended.

These will provide a forward operating base, with a place to plan, store equipment for naval operations, and accommodate personnel.

While the deal is understood to have been in the pipeline for around two years, the rapid gains made by the IS extremist group and resulting instability, underlines its strategic importance.

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond signed the agreement with Bahrain's foreign minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed al Khalifa.

Mr Hammond said: "This will guarantee the presence of the Royal Navy in Bahrain well into the future.

"The expansion of Britain's footprint builds upon our 30-year track record of Gulf patrols and is just one example of our growing partnership with Gulf partners to tackle shared strategic and regional threats."

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said: "This new base is a permanent expansion of the Royal Navy's footprint and will enable Britain to send more and larger ships to reinforce stability in the Gulf.

"We will now be based again in the Gulf for the long term."

Sheikh Khalid said: "It reaffirms our joint determination to maintain regional security and stability in the face of challenging circumstances, and gives further strength to our multifaceted partnership.

"Bahrain looks forward to the early implementation of today's arrangement and to continuing to work with the UK and other partners to address threats to regional security."

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US Hostage 'Killed' In Failed Rescue Attempt

US hostage Luke Somers - who was born in Britain - has been killed in a failed rescue attempt in Yemen, according to his sister.

Lucy Somers told the Associated Press she had learned of her brother's death from FBI agents.

"We ask that all of Luke's family members be allowed to mourn in peace," Ms Somers reportedly said.

However, Yemen's defence ministry said it had freed a US hostage during an armed operation in which 10 al Qaida militants were killed.

Mr Somers was abducted by al Qaida last September in the capital, Sana'a.

Militants released a video this week threatening to kill him if their demands were not met.

The 33-year-old appeared in the footage saying he feared for his life.

This week, the Pentagon confirmed it launched an earlier raid to rescue him - but that it failed.

They claimed the mission - approved by President Barack Obama and carried out by joint US-Yemen forces - led to the rescue of several hostages but that Mr Somers was not present at the location.

Reports of his death today came just hours after his sister released a YouTube video asking his captors to show mercy.

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Scots Cut Drink-Drive Limit North Of Border

Written By Unknown on Jumat, 05 Desember 2014 | 16.08

By James Matthews, Scotland Correspondent

Scotland has lowered its drink-driving limit.

The legal alcohol limit has been reduced from 80mg of alcohol to 50mg in every 100ml of blood.

It equates, roughly, to a reduction in permissible alcohol from two pints of standard-strength beer to one pint, or from one-and-a-half glasses of wine to one glass.

However, the way in which a person processes alcohol varies according to the individual and a range of circumstances.

Therefore, people travelling in Scotland are being urged not to drink any alcohol at all before getting behind the wheel.

Scotland's Justice Secretary Michael Matheson told Sky News: "It's very important that we take action to improve safety on our roads.

"We know that alcohol is a factor in one in 10 of road traffic deaths in Scotland, and by reducing the limit we can make sure we get the message to people that drink-driving is unacceptable."

The limit reduction brings Scotland into line with most EU countries.

There are proposals in Northern Ireland to follow suit, but there is no such thirst for change south of the Scottish border.

Asked whether this might cause cross-border confusion for motorists, Mr Matheson replied: "People have a responsibility as drivers to make themselves aware of the regulations and rules of the country in which they're driving.

"We have different laws in Scotland over a range of different matters so it's important that anyone visiting Scotland is made aware of that."

There has been an information campaign to alert drivers to the change, using public information films and roadside signs.

The limit is not being reduced to zero because some people have alcohol in their system because of some medicines and even mouthwash.

The lowering of the limit has been broadly endorsed by road safety campaigners and motorists' groups, although the Institute of Advanced Motorists has given a qualified welcome.

It would have preferred a sliding scale of punishments, in line with the practice on the continent.

Spokesman Neil Greig told Sky News: "We've got two main concerns.

"The first one is that if the police are catching people at this lower limit, then some of the people who actually cause crashes, who are two or three times the limit, they might be getting away with it.

"The second concern is that, in Europe, there are actually sliding penalties.

"It's like a speeding ticket at the lower limit.

"We don't have that in Scotland, we've got these stringent penalties and we might start to see a fall in support as people start to realise how important these penalties are and how difficult it's going to be, even if you are caught at the lower limit."

Road safety organisation Brake welcomed the reduction, but called for a limit of just 20mg to be introduced.

Deputy chief executive Julie Townsend said: "We are calling on the UK Government to take action on drink-driving.

"We have the highest drink-drive limit in Europe, sending out the dreadful message that a drink or two before driving is acceptable. The evidence shows that a tough approach helps prevent casualties."

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Rail Travellers Face 2.2% New Year Price Hike

Commuters face another rail price rise at the beginning of next year with fares being increased by an average of 2.2% from 2 January.

The increase, announced by rail industry body the Rail Delivery Group, means that more rail travellers will be paying £5,000 for their season tickets than ever before.

Although the average rise is the lowest average rise for five years, the rise for regulated fares, including season tickets, will be up to 2.5%.

South East travellers commuting from Canterbury East to London, for example, will have to pay more than £40 extra in 2015 than they did for this year's season ticket as the price rises from £4,960 to more than £5,000.

Other travellers will soon be joining the ranks of those already paying £4,000 a year for their annual return commute to work with the season ticket from West Malling in Kent to London, for example, going beyond £4,000 for the first time.

One of the longest commutes is from Cheltenham Spa in Gloucestershire to London - those on this route will see their annual tickets up from £9,468 to £9,704 - a 2.49% rise.

While the January 2015 increase is limited to a maximum of 2.5%, unregulated fares, such as off-peak leisure tickets, can go up by as much as the train companies decide.

Rail Delivery Group director general Michael Roberts said: "Money from fares goes towards running and maintaining the railway.

"This benefits not just passengers and businesses but communities across the country, by improving journeys, creating employment and helping to boost the economy.

"Over the next five years, Network Rail is spending on average £27m a day on a better railway, alongside commitments made by train companies to improve services. That will mean more seats, better stations and improved journeys."

But Manuel Cortes, leader of the TSSA rail union, said it was time to stop the "annual persecution of passengers".

"We have seen fares jump by as much as 245% on key routes since privatisation 20 years ago," he said.

"It is now cheaper for a family of four to fly to Iceland to see Father Christmas - £224 - than it is for one person to buy an any-time walk on return rail fare from London to Manchester - £321."

Mick Cash, general secretary of the RMT transport union, said: "The scandal of Britain's great rail fares rip off is that today's hike is far outstripping average pay increases and it will once again hit those at the sharp end of the austerity clampdown the hardest.

"After two decades of privatisation the British people pay some of the highest fares in Europe to travel on clapped-out, understaffed and overcrowded services while the private train companies are laughing all the way to the bank.

"Today's fares announcement just fuels that scandal.

"We say fares should be cut and not staff, and public ownership would allow us to do just that. "

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UK Slavery Exposed: I Didn't Want To Die

By Afua Hirsch, Social Affairs and Education Editor

A woman forced to have sex with up to nine men a day while being held captive has revealed the horror of modern slavery in Britain - as the Home Secretary vowed to combat the issue.

Speaking exclusively to Sky News on the eve of a major international anti-slavery conference, Theresa May said more must be done to bring the perpetrators of people-trafficking and modern-day slavery to justice

"There haven't been sufficient prosecutions for trafficking in the past," she said.

"Partly I think that's because of complex legislation, legislation that is in different acts of parliament.

"One of the key things we are doing is clarifying the legislation, bringing it into this single bill."

The Government's modern slavery bill is one of the issues being discussed at an international conference in London, intended to increase cooperation in tackling human trafficking.

And Sky News met one former sex slave who was trapped in a house in west London for five years.

Known as "Blessing", she paid a woman £4,000 to travel from Nigeria to the UK on the promise of a job in nursing.

She and 10 other women made the journey by ship, arriving at Tilbury Docks in Essex before being transferred to the house in Ealing that would be her prison for the next five years.

Ruled by her "agent" - known to the girls as Mama G - those kept in the house were guarded by security men, day and night.

"When our customers came, I would hear Mama G start describing us: the sizes of our breasts, the size of our private parts, how tall we are," Blessing said.

"She would then call your room number and say you have customer ... "

When she tried to question why she was there, Mama G would beat her and burn her legs and chest with an iron - while security guards would warn her of the consequences if she tried to leave.

"They will tell you if you dare do anything, they will shoot you," she said.

"I didn't want to die."

She and six others eventually escaped when a door was left open and the group ran to Ealing Broadway Tube Station and jumped the barriers before boarding a train.

"We just made up our minds: 'If we are going to die, let us die'," she said.

"I came into this country to come and look for a better life. I'm a well brought up woman from a good home. I'm married. I've got my children. I never thought 'I'm going to do prostitution'. It's shameful for me."

Blessing is now being cared for in a safe house run by charity The Medialle Trust.

But critics of the Government's modern slavery bill say not enough is being done to support survivors of trafficking.

Government figures say 2,744 people were trafficked to the UK last year, of which 41%, or 1,128, are known to have been trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

The Metropolitan Police told Sky News that they rely on members of the public to help identify victims of trafficking, and that in some cases men who paid for sex with prostitutes were so alarmed at the apparent slavery of some that they themselves alerted the police.

Phil Brewer, who leads the Met's Trafficking and Kidnap Unit, said: "One of the biggest problems that we have is that [trafficking] is hidden. It's a hidden crime just because of the way these offences are committed.

"We really don't know the size of the issue."

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Body Found In Search For Missing Mum And Baby

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 04 Desember 2014 | 16.08

The body of a woman has been found by police searching for a missing mother and her newborn daughter.

The body was found in Avon Gorge and police have said the family of Charlotte Bevan has been informed.

A police spokesman said: "The police helicopter remains in the area to assist the continuing searches by police officers on the ground."

Formal identification will take place later.

The 30-year-old left Bristol Maternity Hospital between 8.30pm and 9pm on Tuesday night with her four-day-old baby girl, Zarnee Teanna.

CCTV footage showed her wearing hospital slippers and with her baby in her arms wrapped only in blankets.

The baby's father Pascal Malbrouck told a news conference on Wednesday that he was very concerned about her as she had suffered from mental health problems.

:: Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 08457 90 90 90 or email jo@samaritans.org mailto:jo@samaritans.org

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Chokehold Ruling Touches Off New York Protests

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By Sky News US Team

Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of New York after a grand jury cleared a police officer in the chokehold death of Eric Garner, an unarmed black man.

Many of the protesters chanted "I can't breathe", the last words spoken by Mr Garner on July 17.

Protests at locations throughout Manhattan were mostly peaceful but disrupted traffic into the early hours of Thursday.

About 30 people were arrested but police appeared to show restraint and avoided confrontation.

At Grand Central Terminal, about 35 to 45 people lay on the floor in a "die-in" protest as the evening rush hour got underway.

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Gallery: Protests After Chokehold Jury Decision

Activists demand justice for the death of Eric Garner, staging a 'die-in' during rush hour at Grand Central Terminal

About 40 people took part in the 'die-in' protest

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Many chanted 'I can't breathe', the last words spoken by Mr Garner before his chokehold death

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Protesters block traffic in New York after the verdict

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The protest began after a grand jury cleared a police officer in the chokehold death of Mr Garner. Here is a protest in St Louis, Missouri

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In Times Square, a crowd of at least 200 people chanted, "No indictment is denial. We want a public trial."

About 400 protesters marched through midtown Manhattan, tying up traffic and heading from Times Square to Rockefeller Center, where the annual tree-lighting ceremony was held on Wednesday night.

Police presence was heavy as hundreds of protesters stood behind rows of police barricades, but the annual tradition went on without a hitch.

Officer Daniel Pantaleo was captured on video using the banned hold on Mr Garner, who was resisting arrest in Staten Island on suspicion of selling loose, untaxed cigarettes.

The grand jury decision follows a similar ruling in Missouri not to indict a white police officer for shooting dead unarmed black teenager Michael Brown. That ruling led to sometimes violent protests in Ferguson and across the country.

"We should hope for justice and be surprised every time it doesn't happen," said a protester in New York, Meredith Reitman, a 40-year-old white woman from Queens.

Mr Garner's mother, Gwen Carr, said the decision was "breaking my heart, just pulling me apart".

"I don't know what video they were looking at. Evidently it wasn't the same one that the rest of the world was looking at," she added.

"How can we put our trust in the justice system when they fail us like this?"

Officer Pantaleo, 29, said he did not intend to perform a chokehold - which was banned by the Police Department in 1993 - but was performing a takedown move.

He said in a statement it was "never my intention to harm anyone and I feel very bad about the death of Mr Garner", sending his condolences to the family.

But Mr Garner's 43-year-old's widow said she did not accept the apology.

"He's still working, he's still getting a paycheck, he's still feeding his kids and my husband is six feet under and I'm looking for a way to feed my kids now," said Esaw Garner.

"Who's going to play Santa Claus for my grandkids this year? Who's going to do that now?"

Barack Obama said the grand jury decision emphasised the need to strengthen trust and accountability between the community and law enforcement.

"When anybody in this country is not being treated equally under the law, that's a problem. And it's my job as president to help solve it," the US President said.

The US Justice Department will conduct a federal investigation into Mr Garner's death.

Rights campaigner Reverend Al Sharpton called on the federal government to intervene in police cases, and denounced what he said was "police brutality".

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Written By Unknown on Rabu, 03 Desember 2014 | 16.08

By Darren McCaffrey, Sky Political Reporter

Around a billion pounds of investment for small and medium sized businesses, relief on petrol prices and changes to business rates to help the High Street are among measures to be announced later in the Autumn Statement.

Plans to make stamp duty more progressive, easing the bill for people buying at the bottom end of the market but with possible heavier charges on more expensive homes, could also be unveiled by George Osborne later in what has been described as the "Government's last big economic event".

The Chancellor will say: "Our long-term economic plan is working. I say: we stay the course. We stay the course to prosperity.

"We support people who want to work hard and get on. And it is for their sakes that we resolve to stay on course to prosperity."

But Labour will accuse him of breaking his promises on the economy, claiming his missed pledge to balance the books and policies favouring the rich have left working people £1,600-a-year worse off under the Coalition.

The Treasury and the Bank of England have agreed to extend the Funding For Lending (FLS) scheme by another year to January 2016 - underwriting loans specifically for smaller firms.

Mr Osborne is also allocating an extra £400m to expand the state-owned British Business Bank's venture capital programme.

And it will be handed funding to guarantee up to £500m of new lending in 2015-16.

The Chancellor is also expected to scrap the Fair Fuel Stabiliser, which would have seen petrol prices increase by 1p next March.

Air Passenger Duty on children's flights is also due to be abolished, which could reduce the cost of long haul flights by hundreds of pounds for families.

And there could be help for the High Street, with a review of business rates and how it is calculated due to be completed by early 2016. Rising rates have in part been blamed for hitting traditional town centre shops.

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Gallery: See How The UK's Economy Is Doing

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Search For Missing Mother And Baby

Police are urgently hunting for a mother and her newborn baby daughter who have gone missing from a maternity hospital.

Charlotte Bevan left Bristol Maternity Hospital between 8.30pm and 9pm last night with her four-day-old baby girl, Zarnee Teanna.

The 30-year-old did not have a coat or shoes, and is believed to have been wearing hospital slippers.

Her baby was wrapped only in blankets.

A friend has described her disappearance as "out of character". Writing on Avon and Somerset Police's Facebook page, Isaac Jack McCardle described searching for them night.

"I know her and her partner. This is out of character," he wrote.

"I was out on the streets with a friend for over three hours and searched almost every road, park, alleyway etc in the area as well as high streets and found nothing."

He added: "I really hope they are both safe and are all reunited soon. I do feel out of respect people should stop jumping to conclusions. They are a happy couple."

Ms Bevan is described as white, around 5ft 8in tall and of average build with dark wavy hair.

An Avon and Somerset Police spokesman has appealed for anyone who sees them to call 999 immediately.

"We are concerned for both Charlotte's welfare and that of her baby, and are urging Charlotte to let us know that she and her baby are alright," the spokesman said.

"Officers have been searching the city centre throughout the night and appeals have been put out to bus drivers and taxi drivers and those travelling into work on early shifts this morning to lookout for Charlotte and her daughter."

It is believed Ms Bevan was wearing a long black top and black trousers when she disappeared from the hospital on Southwell Street.

The spokesman added Ms Bevan "may appear confused and worried".

"Her baby is inappropriately wrapped for the cold weather in a blue and white striped and coloured blankets," he said.

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Osborne Pledges More An 'Autumn Restatement'

So far it has been more of the Autumn Restatement than anything else - with the big headline numbers on road building and flood defences already known.

A third of the extra £2bn for the NHS already exists. Even the headline measures of what the tabloids will call a "White Van Man" Budget, on fuel duty and air passenger duty for children, are small fry.

Approving the principle of devolving corporation tax to Northern Ireland is a significant step in the context of the Democratic Unionist Party's possible parliamentary bargaining power.

The Scottish government, too, has shown its concerns.

And watch out for the impact of the Welfare Cap.

A series of fascinating discussions have gone on between the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) and the Department for Work and Pensions.

Essentially the OBR will judge whether capped welfare (excluding pensions) can be kept under £119.5bn next year.

The big picture will be a fiscal announcement with no net giveaways - basically fiscally neutral - but perhaps even a small symbolic takeaway.

That is because, as we know, the cupboard remains bare even after four years of deficit reduction.

So the main story will be the big macroeconomic numbers.

There will be a lot to boast about, from the best growth figures in the G7 to the extraordinary jobs numbers.

But given that, the deficit numbers and poor tax receipts cancel any hope for proper pre-election goodies.

Nigel Lawson's pre-election income tax cut of 2p in the pound was never going to be repeated, except as a vague conditional Conservative Conference aspiration.

For there is a nagging doubt at the heart of the Conservatives. After a year of recovery and a rapid rise in the feel good factor (measured by consumer confidence) and rises in house prices, Conservative poll ratings have remained stubbornly anchored in the low 30s. The feel good factor is missing in action.

That rise in consumer confidence flattened out in the summer and is now dipping slightly. Black clouds are emerging from the continent.

More than that, the Miliband economic narrative on "cost of living crisis" remains strong, even if not all those who believe it will vote Labour.

Economic pessimists are fuelling UKIP's surge up the polls.

The sight of the Chancellor and Prime Minister apparently crowing about macroeconomic success has not been a vote winner in these circumstances.

It did not work in a thoroughly normal constituency such as Rochester and Strood.

So yes, the aim of this Autumn Statement will be to get the argument away from Europe and immigration and on to the economy.

But Mr Osborne will also try to modulate the boasts. The argument to be made will be a relative one.

People might not feel it everywhere, but a corner has been turned, and if they don't feel good, at least they might feel less bad than they would under "an untested Opposition with no economic plan".

That is more "feel better" than necessarily "feel good".

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Heroin Misery Of The Trainspotting Generation

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 02 Desember 2014 | 16.08

By Nick Martin, Sky News Correspondent

The number of adults seeking treatment for heroin and crack cocaine addiction in England has more than doubled in 10 years, new figures have revealed.

While the total number of heroin and crack cocaine addicts has fallen below 300,000 for the first time since estimates began, there is a generation still hooked - the so-called Trainspotting Generation.

The disaffected, heroin-addicted young people immortalised in Irvine Welsh's bestselling novel are getting older.

More than a third of the total population of adults in treatment centres are aged 40 or over, according to Public Health England.

Many started using heroin in the epidemics of the 1980s and 1990s when good-quality, cheap opiate flooded the inner cities.

But as they enter old age there are warnings that dwindling health and dependence on heroin could place an increased burden on the National Health Service.

Louise Ford, deputy manager at the Smithfield Detox Centre in Manchester, told Sky News: "For many people of this age group there is a sense of 'now or never' in finally getting the treatment they need.

"For the over-40s it could be redundancy, bereavement or failing health that finally prompts them to come in for help. The treatment is not easy and many relapse."

For those who have not sought treatment, life is a cycle of "scoring" heroin and finding the money to pay for it.

Homeless Paul, 42, has been taking heroin since he was 17 years old.

His partner Jill, 39, was introduced to the drug at the age of 14. They take heroin in the back streets of Manchester's city centre.

He said: "I had a good life, what you'd call an average life, a car, a flat. I got laid off last year. I had never been out of work before.

"Now I wake up, go and score, go and take it, go and find a pitch and start raising money again to score again and that goes on and on.

"If I don't get help now I'll still be doing this into my 50s and 60s and I don't want that. Heroin just makes you feel bad when you don't have it. It doesn't make you feel good anymore."

But there is hope in the form of recovered addicts like Steve Cundell, who first dabbled in heroin so that he could come down from ecstasy fuelled raves in the 1980s.

He went from experimenting to dealing in a matter of weeks.

He said: "I thought it wouldn't grip me but it did and very, very fast.

"I decided the best way to get my supply was to start dealing in it. My every waking hour was consumed by heroin.

"It used to play on my mind so much that I was getting older and older and I had not achieved anything - that I was going to wake up one day 65 or 70 years old still on heroin."

Mr Cundell is now a peer mentor on a rehabilitation course run by Turning Point and tries to help others.

He added: "I like to think I have something to give back and it helps my recovery - because I'm not out of the woods yet."

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Flooding Fund: Â£2.3bn To Protect 300,000 Homes

Flooding Fund: £2.3bn To Protect 300,000 Homes

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More than 1,400 projects will receive a share of £2.3bn to protect against flooding for 300,000 homes.

But environmental group Friends of the Earth has suggested that figure is not high enough and there is still a £500m shortfall in the flood defences budget in the next parliament.

The spending includes major investment in areas including the Humber Estuary, with £80m set to be spent, and £196m for the Thames Estuary.

Ministers will also commit to spending £15.5m on flood defences in Somerset in the next six years - including £4.2m on the Somerset Levels which were hit badly by flooding last winter.

The Government has come under fire over funding for flood defences.

Danny Alexander MP, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said: "We all saw the destruction and heartache caused by flooding last year and that is why this investment is vital to build up Britain's defences for the future.

"The projects we are announcing today will protect some of the country's most at risk locations ensuring that we will be as prepared as possible for future severe weather."

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Gallery: Somerset Flooding - Before & After

Before: a farm in West Yeo, near Bridgewater on the Somerset Levels. Pic: Bing maps

After: The flooded farmland in West Yeo

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Before: The village of Moorland near Bridgewater on the Somerset Levels. Pic: Bing maps

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After: Flooded properties in Moorland

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Before: Walton-On-Thames, Surrey

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But he admitted it was not new money, telling Sky News: "This is an autumn statement that's not a giveaway, where everything that we are doing is paid for.

"These capital allocations on the flood defences the roads...we set that out last year and that's a choice we have made within the amount of money we have available."

Officials said the six-year programme, announced ahead of the Autumn Statement on Wednesday, would help prevent more than £30bn of economic damage.

Other projects which stand to benefit include more than £17m going to Tonbridge, Yalding and surrounding communities in Kent; £73m for a barrier at Boston, Lincolnshire; £42m for the Oxford western conveyance scheme and £47m for coastal defences in Rossall, Lancashire.

Friends of the Earth (FOE) said documents from regional flood and coastal committees showed there were £1.6bn of viable projects that were not getting the go-ahead.

FOE Campaigner Guy Shrubsole said: "A year after Britain's wettest winter ever, the Chancellor's leaked flood defence plans simply don't hold water.

"Faced with rising sea levels, the Government needs to be investing far more in flood defences to protect households and prevent climate change from the outset."

Shadow environment secretary Maria Eagle said: "Communities at risk of flooding won't buy Government spin on what is simply a re-announcement of capital funding confirmed a year ago.

"This is not new money - at the beginning of this Parliament David Cameron cut the flood protection budget by over £100m a year. As a result we are playing catch up on flood defences."

:: Watch Sky News for the Chancellor's Autumn Statement live on Wednesday, 3 December, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 132 and Freesat channel 202.

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Written By Unknown on Senin, 01 Desember 2014 | 16.08

Britain is slowly getting back on its feet, but the recovery is still doing little to heal the public finances.

In the space of a year, the jobless rate in the UK has reduced rapidly, from 7.6% a year ago, to just 6% now.

Unemployment is back to pre-crisis levels and more people in work should mean more taxes and national insurance flowing to the Exchequer.

The Chancellor had certainly been counting on that cash to reduce shortfall between its resources, and its spending commitments.

Even the Government's accountants had predicted a 7% rise in income tax receipts for this year.

Yet the current tally shows they are only up about 0.4%.

Still, the tax year isn't over yet and the Office For Budget Responsibility expects tax receipts to be what they call "end-loaded" in 2014-15.

That is partly due to the shifting tax band brackets and a glut of self-assessment payments they expect to pour in after the deadline in January.

However, over the past year alone, factors such as weaker-than-expected wage growth, lower-than-expected residential property transactions and lower oil and gas revenues make it unlikely that either the Chancellor's or his accountants' expectations will be met.

Especially if you then factor in the lasting effects of the past six years.

Over the course of the financial crisis many highly paid jobs, like banking, have been lost and not yet replaced.

Meanwhile, the newly created jobs have been low paid and more workers are classed as "self-employed" - with both these groups paying less tax.

You will have noticed your tax free allowance has risen - to £10,500.

And with wage growth virtually stagnant, fewer workers are moving into higher tax brackets.

That all eats into the Chancellor's take.

This leaves the Treasury with far less revenue than predicted - and forced to make cuts and borrow more.

That's just what we expect George Osborne to do in the Autumn Statement on 3 December.

:: Watch Sky News for the Chancellor's Autumn Statement live on Wednesday, 3 December, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 132 and Freesat channel 202.

16.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

Ebola Fears As Infection Deadline Missed

A World Health Organisation deadline to halt the deadly Ebola outbreak in West Africa has only been met by Guinea, according to latest figures.

In October, the organisation launched its plan to isolate 70% of those infected and safely bury 70% of the victims in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone by 1 December.

But in Liberia, only 23% of cases are isolated and 26% of the needed burial teams are in place.

In Sierra Leone, around 40% of cases are isolated and 27% of burial teams are operational.

The Ebola outbreak was first reported in Guinea in March, and has spiralled out of control since a public health emergency was declared in August.

Dr Bruce Aylward, who is directing the WHO response to Ebola, said: "If we don't do it in 60 days and we take 90 days - number one, a lot more people will die that shouldn't; and number two, we will need that much more capacity on the ground to be able to manage the caseload."

The number of cases in Liberia and Guinea has declined or stabilised in the last few weeks, but the area around Sierra Leone's capital Freetown has seen a surge in cases.

Anthony Banbury, who is heading the UN response to the outbreak, said: "There are still going to be many people who catch the disease and many people who die from it."

The disease has infected more than 16,000 people, with nearly 7,000 people dying, according to WHO figures.

Last month, the US announced it was scaling back the size and number of Ebola clinics it had promised to build in Liberia.

The WHO aimed to isolate all Ebola patients and provide safe burials for all victims by 1 January.

16.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

England's Road Network To Get Â£15bn Investment

More than 80 new road schemes have been unveiled as part of a £15bn Government drive on English motorway and trunk routes in the next five years.

The schemes include a tunnel at the notorious bottleneck on the A303 at Stonehenge, as well as £1.5bn on extra lanes on some motorways.

Improvements to M25 junctions, the A27 in Sussex, approaches to Liverpool and the A1 in the North East are also part of the Road Investment Strategy, which was revealed ahead of the Autumn Statement on Wednesday.

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said the schemes were "the biggest, boldest and most far-reaching roads programme for decades".

The projects include:

:: South West - £2bn dual carriageway for entire A303 and A358, including a tunnel at Stonehenge.

:: North East - £290m dual carriageway on A1 to Ellingham.

:: North West and Yorkshire - M62 from Manchester to Leeds will have lanes increased, and increased capacity on trans-Pennine routes between Manchester and Sheffield.

:: North West - links to Port of Liverpool improved.

:: South East - £350m improvement to A27 to tackle congestion at Arundel, Worthing and Lewes.

:: East - £300m to put in dual carriageway sections on A47 and improved connections to A1 and A11.

:: London and South East - A third of junctions on M25 to be improved.

:: Midlands - Improvements to M42 east of Birmingham, and improved connections to Birmingham airport, National Exhibition Centre, Enterprise Zone and High Speed 2 interchange station.

There would also be £100m of funding to improve cycling provision at 200 key locations, and a £300m environmental fund to combat carbon emission and reduce noise pollution.

Mr McLoughlin said: "Roads are key to our nation's prosperity. For too long they have suffered from under-investment.

"Better roads allow us to travel freely, creating jobs and opportunities, benefiting hardworking families across the country."

Labour dismissed the plan as a "re-announcement".

"The Government has 'announced' plans for road investment at least three times since 2013 and no additional money has been announced," said shadow transport secretary Michael Dugher.

"Ministers will be judged not on what they promise to deliver in the next Parliament, but on what they have actually delivered in this one - and the truth is barely a shovel has been used in anger on our nation's highways over the last four-and-a-half years."

There has also been an accusation that two-thirds of the improvements will come in Tory or Lib Dem areas.

However, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg denied the locations had been selected for "short-term political reasons" and pointed to plans across Labour strongholds in the Pennines.

He told Sky News: "You don't make decisions like this based on a political map, you make these decisions based on the economic map and the geographic layout of our county to make sure that all parts of our country are properly linked.

"Many of these projects have been spoken about for years."

Motoring groups welcomed the proposals.

AA president Edmund King said: "We can no longer ignore the inadequate resources going into the mainstay of the UK transport system - our roads - which carry 86% of passenger journeys and more than 90% of freight.

"At long last the Government has recognised that we need a long-term coherent plan for our roads."

While welcoming the road plans, the RAC said the number of road users would leap from 36 million to 43 million over the next 20 years if current trends persist.

Its director, Professor Stephen Glaister, said the country faced "massive challenges in unclogging our urban areas".

Meanwhile, Mr Clegg reiterated a Government pledge not to increase fuel duty ahead of the Autumn Statement.

"We've been clear we're not going to put up fuel duty because we know filling up your car or van with fuel is one of the most expensive parts of a household budget," he said.

:: Watch Sky News for the Chancellor's Autumn Statement live on Wednesday, 3 December, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 132 and Freesat channel 202.

16.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

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