Duncan-Bailey Search: Woman's Body Found

A body has been found by police officers investigating the death of a mother-of-two, Scotland Yard has said.

Officers believe it is that of Janelle Duncan-Bailey, 25, who has not been seen since she went missing in south London in the early hours of Wednesday.

The Metropolitan Police said a 30-year-old man was last night arrested on suspicion of her murder and remains in custody at a police station in the capital.

A Met spokesman said: "Officers attended Mayfield Crescent, Thornton Heath this afternoon following intelligence received.

Ms Duncan-Bailey pictured in the dress she was wearing when she disappeared

"The body of a woman was found in a vehicle parked there.

"While formal identification awaits, we are confident the deceased is Janelle Duncan-Bailey, 25, of Pawsons Road, Thornton Heath.

"Next of kin have been informed."

Ms Duncan-Bailey left her children - boys aged two and seven - with a friend in Bromley while she attended a family function, police said.

She left the friend's at about 4am on Wednesday to return to Thornton Heath, where at about 4.30am she visited her former partner's home.

Police were called after reports of a domestic incident and Ms Duncan-Bailey left the address with officers.

It is believed she asked to be taken to another friend's house in Limpsfield  Avenue, Thornton Heath, and she was last seen between 5am and 5.30am walking towards flats in Limpsfield Avenue.

Ms Duncan-Bailey was reported missing later that day after she failed to collect her children.

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Six Tourists Killed In Snowmobile Crash

By Nick Pisa, Sky Reporter

A mother and her daughter were among six Russians killed after their snowmobile crashed through a safety barrier and fell 300ft in the Italian Alps.

Two others were seriously injured in the late night tragedy, which police have blamed on excessive speed and icy conditions on the Mount Cermis in north east Italy.

Officials said the run is usually lit at night but it had closed early because of the icy conditions, and was shrouded in darkness when the accident happened on Friday night.

The group were on black run known as Olimpia 2, and were returning to their two separate hotels after a night out.

Members of the Italian Alpine rescue team took part in the rescue operation

Police said that some of the group were thrown from a trailer – not intended for passenger use - which was being towed by the snowmobile.

The snowmobile itself also had too many people on it.

A police spokesman added that the force of the impact threw the group from the trailer and snowmobile and into an area of rocks and thick forest.

A helicopter was called in to airlift the dead and injured from the mountain and one of those hurt was taken to the nearby hospital at Cavalese, while the other was flown to nearby Trento.

Local officials said the accident was caused by an "irresponsible act"

The dead - two women and four men - were named by police as Larissa Pshenichnaya, 51, the manager of the Sporting Hotel in Cermis and Liudmila Iudina, 48, who was killed along with her daughter Julia, 25, while her 17-year-old son Boris was seriously hurt.

The other victims were named as Irina Kravchenko, 45, Denis Kravchenko, Viacheslav Sleptsov, 52, while the other seriously injured man was are Azat Agafarov 47.

Those hurt do not have "life threatening injuries".

Police said that all of the group apart from Pshenichnaya and Agafarov were tourists from Krasnodar in southern Russia.

The group were in Italy to celebrate the Russian Orthodox Christmas on January 6 and the area is popular with Russian tourists who flock to the mountains every year.

Alcohol tests will be carried out on the two survivors.

Cermis mayor Silvano Welponer said: "I'm very sad that six people have lost their lives but at the same time this was an irresponsible act - they were on a closed black run at night, when they should not have been there. They chose to be there. It was not a mistake."

Witness Cesare Perini said: "We were coming down Olimpia 3, a run which was open and lit when all of a sudden a police snowmobile came racing up the slope with its lights flashing and siren on.

"When we got down to the bottom a policeman told us to get off the piste. The ski lift operator said the run was closing because there had been fatalities up the mountain."

In 1998, a US Marine jet, flying low on a training run from a nearby air base, accidentally sliced a ski gondola's cable on Mount Cermis, sending the cable car crashing to the ground and claiming 20 lives.

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Burnham: High-Sugar Cereals Should Be Banned

High-sugar breakfast cereals should be banned to stop children getting fat, according to the shadow health secretary Andy Burnham.

The Labour frontbencher said regulation should be introduced to cap the levels of salt, fat and sugar in food.

Mr Burnham has started garnering public and expert opinion on the subject as part of a consultation on tackling obesity.

"If we fail to act we are storing up huge problems for the country and the NHS in the long term," he said.

He is floating the idea of a 30% cap on sugar in cereals, arguing that many children's breakfast cereals are over one-third sugar by weight.

"I don't think any parent would be comfortable with their child eating something that is 40% sugar," he told The Daily Telegraph.

Last week, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development figures revealed 26.6% of British girls were obese and 22.7% of boys - double that of youngsters in France.

The coalition says voluntary deals with industry through the Responsibility Deal has cut salt, fat and sugar content in our food.

But Mr Burnham says the current voluntary approach is not working and new drastic measures are required to combat childhood obesity.

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Fashion Designer Missing As Plane Vanishes

Italian designer Vittorio Missoni, head of one of Italy's oldest fashion houses, was aboard a small plane that disappeared off the coast of Venezuela, a company spokeswoman has confirmed.

The Los Roques where the plane took off

The aircraft reportedly went missing shortly after take-off from the resort of Los Roques, a group of islands off the coast of Venezuela that is popular with tourists.

Also reported to have been on board were Mr Missoni's wife, Maurizia Castiglioni, another couple believed to be their friends, and two Venezuelan crew members.

"The Missoni family has been informed by the Venezuelan consulate that Vittorio Missoni and his wife are missing, but we don't know any more," said Maddalena Aspes, speaking on behalf of the company.

Venezuela's interior minister said the plane was expected at Simon Bolivar International Airport in Caracas and was declared missing when it failed to arrive.

It is understood that Mr Missoni, 58, and his wife had spent Christmas and New Year at Los Roques.

According to the Corriere della Sera newspaper, the pilot of the Britten Norman BN2 Islander plane was 72-year-old German Merchan.

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Girl Guides Could Drop God And Queen From Oath

The Girl Guides are considering whether to remove any mention of God or the Queen from their oath.

The voluntary organisation, which boasts more than half a million members, has launched an online consultation into changes to the pledge that Guides take when they join, known as the Promise.

Girlguiding UK said the move was necessary because an increasing number of girls and volunteers do not identify with the current oath.

In a statement the organisation said: "The Promise is guiding's beating heart - it is the core expression of values and the common standard that brings everyone in guiding together.

Girlguiding UK was established in the UK in 1942

"Over the past few years we have heard from more and more girls and leaders who struggle with the wording, particularly in interpreting what it really means to girls today.

"Girlguiding UK is committed to retaining a Promise that is in line with its original principles, but we know it is crucial that girls and young women understand and believe in the words they say."

Guides currently promise to "love my God" and "serve the Queen and country", as well as do their best, help other people and keep the Guide law.

Respondents to the consultation are asked to express their preferences for alternatives such as "do my duty to God", "be true to a higher ideal" and "serve the highest truth and love faithfully at all times".

Options mooted to replace the current mention of the Queen include "serve the Queen and my country", "engage myself with responsibility in the community I live in" and "be true to my country".

The move towards a new oath has been seen as an attempt to attract a new breed of volunteers to lead the Guides.

Last year 50,000 girls were on waiting lists to join the 102-year-old organisation because of a lack of trained leaders, according to reports.

But it also reflects a modernising leadership, with new Girlguiding UK chief executive Julie Bentley telling The Times in November that the Guides are the "ultimate feminist organisation".

Last month, the Scout Association also announced it had launched a consultation to see if members would support an alternative Scout Promise for those who feel unable to pledge a "duty to God".

The Guides' consultation, which is open to members and non-members, will close on March 3.

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Nepali Army Officer Faces Torture Charges

A Nepali army officer has been in remanded in custody charged with two counts of torture after being arrested in the UK.

Colonel Kumar Lama, 46, of St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, is accused of inflicting severe pain or suffering when he was acting in an official capacity.

The offences are said to have taken place between April 15, 2005 and May 1, 2005, and April 15, 2005 and October 31, 2005 at the Gorusinghe Army Barracks at Kapilvastu, Nepal.

The offences are alleged to have taken place as the then-government fought a decade-long Maoist insurgency.

Lama was arrested under a law which allows the prosecution of suspected torturers, even if the alleged offence has no connection to the UK.

At Westminster Magistrates Court, Judge Quentin Purdy ruled that Lama would be held in custody as there was risk he would leave the country if released.He will appear at the Old Bailey on January 24.

Lama is serving as a military observer with the UN Mission in South Sudan but had been spending Christmas in Britain when he was arrested, the court heard.

His wife and two children, aged 21 and 17, live in the UK.

The British ambassador in Kathmandu was summoned by Nepal's government in protest over the officer's arrest.

Nepal's deputy prime minister Narayankaji Shrestha said the government had demanded the immediate release of Col Lama and had instructed its embassy in London to submit a protest note to the British government.

Two diplomats from the Nepalese embassy were in court for the short hearing.

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India Gang Rape Victim's Friend Speaks Of Attack

The male friend of the Indian gang rape victim has spoken for the first time of how he tried to save her and begged her attackers to stop the "cruelty that should never be seen".

He broke his silence as New Delhi district magistrate Namrita Aggarwal confirmed that the five men charged with the victim's rape and murder will appear before her for the first time on Monday.

The victim's 28-year-old male companion said getting on to a private bus that night, because they could not find a rickshaw to take them home, was "the biggest mistake I made".

Speaking in public for the first time, he hit out at the hospital treatment his 23-year-old friend received, the police and at passers-by for failing to help after they were thrown naked from the bus following the two-and-a-half-hour ordeal.

Press gather outside the district court in New Delhi

The software firm employee said that the woman was left naked and bleeding in the street for nearly an hour before a police van arrived to help.

"What can I say? The cruelty I saw should not be seen ever. I tried to fight against the men but later I begged them again and again to leave her," he told AFP.

"I was not very confident about getting into the bus but my friend was running late, so we got into it.

"This was the biggest mistake I made and after that everything went out of control.

"The driver and the other men raped my friend and hit her in the worst possible ways in the most private parts of her body.

"I cannot tell you what I feel when I think of it. I shiver in pain," he said.

Fresh protests and prayers in the capital on Saturday

The man, who suffered a fractured leg and other injuries in the attack, recounted the savagery of the night of December 16 after he and his friend, who died from her injuries on December 29, had been to see a film in New Delhi.

He told the Hindi-language cable channel Zee News: "The occupants of the bus, which had tinted windows and curtains, had laid a trap for us. They were probably involved in crimes before also. They beat us up, hit us with an iron rod, snatched our clothes and belongings and threw us off the bus on a deserted stretch.

"The bus occupants had everything planned. Apart from the driver and the helper, others behaved like they were passengers. We even paid 20 (rupees) as fare. They then started teasing my friend and it led to a brawl. I beat three of them up but then the rest of them brought an iron rod and hit me. Before I fell unconscious, they took my friend away."

"From where we boarded the bus, they moved around for nearly two and a half hours. We were shouting, trying to make people hear us. But they switched off the lights of the bus. We tried to resist them. Even my friend fought with them, she tried to save me. She tried to dial the police control room number 100, but the accused snatched her mobile away," he said.

Police have used water cannons and tear gas to dispel protesters

The attackers also violated the victim with an iron bar, causing the immense internal damage that lead to her death, before throwing them from the bus.

The friend said: "There were a few people who had gathered round but nobody helped. Before the police came I screamed for help but the auto rickshaws, cars and others passing by did not stop."

He said when police arrived: "We kept shouting at the police, 'please give us some clothes' but they were busy deciding which police station our case should be registered at."

"It took an hour and a half for us to be taken to hospital," he added.

The police have arrested six suspects - five men and a juvenile believed to be aged 17 - who were formally charged with murder, rape and kidnapping on Thursday.

A hearse carrying the body of the 23-year-old rape victim

The case has sparked massive protests across India, where statistics show a woman is raped every 20 minutes.

Protesters have called for all rape suspects to be hanged and want a better deal for women so the streets are safer and men who rape women are put on trial.

National crime records show that 228,650 of the total 256,329 violent crimes recorded in India last year were against women and rape cases more than doubled between 1990 and 2008.

Police in Delhi have filed charges against Zee News under laws which protect the anonymity of victims of offences such as rape. In India, the criminal justice system defines rape as a crime against the state, and it the responsibility of the state to defend the victim.

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Man Arrested After Shots Fired In NI Clashes

A man has been arrested in Belfast on suspicion of attempted murder after gunshots were fired after clashes between loyalist and nationalist protesters.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) confirmed the arrest of the 38-year-old man.

He was held after a number of shots were fired in east Belfast.

Officers had earlier used water cannon amid disturbances in the Lower Newtownards Road area of the city.

The violence followed a march by loyalists who had been demonstrating against restrictions on the flying of the Union flag over City Hall.

Sky News Ireland Correspondent David Blevins said the loyalists apparently came under attack as they passed a nationalist area, following a peaceful march.

It is the third day of clashes between opposing sides in various parts of Belfast.

"There is the potential for the violence to intensify," Blevins said.

"And the gunshots from with the loyalist area is a very worrying development.

The disturbances occurred after protesters headed home

"The clashes between police and loyalists came after the officers were accused of brutality after the march."

Today's disturbances follow running battles overnight which saw petrol bombs, fireworks and ball bearings thrown at officers in riot gear, injuring nine of them.

The officers were injured from elements within a crowd of up to 300 people, in what they called "a sustained attack".

A PSNI spokesman said 18 arrests were made after the public disorder in the Castlereagh Street and Templemore Avenue areas.

Some 30 petrol bombs were thrown at police officers as they dealt with riots on Friday night.

There were also protests in the Robbs Road area of Dundonald, near Ulster Hospital, and in the O'Neill Road area of Newtonabbey, where there was reportedly an attempt to hijack a bus, plus a raid on a commercial premises by masked men.

The latest violence comes after 10 police officers were injured on Thursday during a demonstration against the decision to reduce the number of days the Union flag is flown from City Hall.

More follows...

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Aurora Hostage Stand-Off Leaves Four Dead

Four people have been killed after a gunman barricaded himself inside a house in a Denver suburb with at least three hostages, according to reports.

The suspected hostage-taker was believed to be among the dead at the home in Aurora, Colorado.

Local media reported that police used tear gas to try to get the gunman out before killing him during a shootout at about 8:30am.

Police believe the three other victims are related to the suspected hostage-taker, and were killed before police arrived at the scene.

Police Sergeant Cassidee Carlson said a fifth person escaped uninjured, but did not elaborate.

Police and SWAT teams had surrounded the home around 3am after responding to a report of gunshots being fired and determining that a man was barricaded inside. 

Officers had been negotiating with the man and several homes in the area were evacuated.

This situation comes just two days before the preliminary trial for suspected Aurora movie theatre shooter James Holmes is set to begin.

Holmes, 25, is accused of opening fire on a crowded theatre on July 20 during a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises.

Twelve people were killed and at least 58 injured. 

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Coleen Rooney Heartbroken As Sister Dies

Coleen Rooney's teenage sister Rosie McLoughlin has died at home, her family said in a statement.

The 14-year-old had a lifelong battle with a rare genetic disorder, according to a family spokesman.

Rosie McLoughlin, who had Rett syndrome, died at her home in Liverpool in the early hours of Saturday morning surrounded by her family, the spokesman said.

A statement issued on behalf of Coleen, her husband, Manchester United star Wayne, and the rest of Rosie's family, said they had been left heartbroken by the teenager's death.

The family thanked everyone at Alder Hey Hospital and Claire House Children's Hospice, including "the many doctors, consultants, nurses, helpers and friends who all worked so hard and tirelessly to help make Rosie's life better.

"She was such a strong little girl and an inspiration to us all," the statement said.

"We shall cherish forever the memories we have shared and the love she showed us each and every day of her life."

Rosie's illness inspired Coleen and her husband to help raise funds for sick, disadvantaged and disabled children.

The couple reportedly told guests at their wedding that instead of gifts they wanted donations to Claire House Children's Hospice and Alder Hey.

Rett syndrome is a neurological disorder that affects just one in 12,000 females, according to the NHS. It causes severe physical and mental disability that begins in early childhood.

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