Italy: Baggage Handlers In Airport Bust

Italian police have arrested 29 baggage handlers from Rome's Leonardo da Vinci airport after an investigation into the theft of valuable objects from passengers' luggage.

Those arrested are accused of stealing items, including cameras and mobile phones, from passengers' bags.

The arrests took place after hidden cameras were installed in plane cargo holds to capture footage of the alleged thefts.

Images from the cameras released by Italian authorities show baggage handlers rifling through people's possessions and stealing a number of items, including cash.

Police captured footage of the alleged thefts on hidden cameras

Italian national carrier Alitalia said it cooperated with police at Rome's Leonardo da Vinci airport and in Lamezia Terme, where the investigation began in 2011 and spread to a half-dozen airports across the country.

Lamezia Terme airport deputy police chief Ferruccio Martucci said investigators were stumped as to where the loot was being stolen and theorised that the only place where handlers could be assured of secrecy was in the cargo holds.

He said police installed temperature and pressure-resistant cameras in the holds and identified the thieves.

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Protests Over Boston Bomb Suspect's Burial

A funeral home director is struggling to find a cemetery to bury Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev following protests.

Dozens of protesters have gathered outside the funeral home since the 26-year-old's body was released by the state medical examiner on Thursday.

"My problem here is trying to find a gravesite. A lot of people don't want to do it. They don't want to be involved with this.

"I keep bringing up the point of Lee Harvey Oswald, Timothy McVeigh or Ted Bundy. Somebody had to do those, too," said Peter Stefan, of Graham Putnam and Mahoney Funeral Parlours in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Tsarnaev died from gunshot wounds and blunt trauma to his head and torso, according to his death certificate revealed by Mr Stefan.

He died after a gunfight with authorities on April 19, four days after the bombing which killed three people.

Azamat Tazhayakov (L) and Dias Kadyrbayev have been charged

Police have said that Tsarnaev, an ethnic Chechen from Russia who came to the US about a decade ago, ran out of ammunition during the gunfight before his younger brother Dzhokhar dragged his body under a vehicle while fleeing.

Tsarnaev's family was making arrangements for his funeral as investigators searched woods near the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth campus, which 19-year-old Dzhokhar attended.

Robel Phillipos has also been charged with making false statements

US officials said Dzhokhar had told interrogators he and his brother initially considered detonating their bombs on July 4.

Boston police say they plan to review security procedures for the Independence Day Boston Pops concert and fireworks display, which draws a crowd of more than 500,000 and is broadcast to a national TV audience.

Authorities will also look at security for large events held in other cities, including the New Year's Eve celebration in New York City's Times Square.

Dzhokhar, who was found hiding in a tarpaulin-covered boat in Watertown, faces a charge of using a weapon of mass destruction to kill.

Three of his college classmates were arrested on Wednesday, accused of helping after the bombing to remove a laptop and backpack from his dormitory room before the FBI searched it.

Three people were killed after bombs were set off at the Boston Marathon

The April 15 bombing, which used pressure cookers packed with explosives, nails, ball bearings and metal shards, killed three people and injured more than 260 others near the marathon's finishing line.

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Bank Holiday Monday Weather 'Best For Years'

Britain is expected to bask in one of the best May bank holiday Mondays in years, with temperatures set to reach 21C in some parts.

But forecasters have warned that the overall forecast for the weekend is not as good as it was with cloudy skies and even some rain at various points over the weekend.

Earlier, some had been predicting the hottest days of the year so far taking place over the weekend, but that has now been scaled back.

Sky weather presenter Isobel Lang said: "The early spring Bank Holiday can be rather cool and mixed, as we have seen in recent years.

"This year looks to be a pretty good one with many places set to be fine and dry with Monday looking the warmest of the days.

"After cloudier skies with showers at first on Saturday, it should brighten up well for most in the afternoon with just northwest Scotland staying damp. It'll feel quite cool in the breeze.

"Sunday will feel warmer again with lighter winds and cloud breaking to give some sunny periods. Western Scotland should see some rain again.

"For Bank Holiday Monday, apart from rain in the North West again, most places should be fine with warm sunshine developing.

"Highs of around 21C are likely in the South East and nearer 17C in the North West."

This Monday is predicted to be one of the best May Bank Holidays for years

This year's expected sunny Bank Holiday will be a big improvement on last year, which saw rain and a temperature high of just 16C at Exeter Airport.

The warmest Bank Holiday Monday in recent years was in 2008 when London reached 23C and even the coldest part of Scotland got up to 14C, with much of the country seeing sunshine.

This year looks similar for England, Wales, central Scotland and Northern Ireland with temperatures ranging into the mid and high teens across most areas with plenty of sun.

The recent warm weather and earlier good forecasts have led to a wave of optimism, with people around the country planning barbecues and other events.

Supermarkets and other stores have reported large quantities of barbecue foods being sold and also increased sales of items like nail varnish.

The fine weather, however, is not good news for hay fever sufferers, who the Met Office said are likely to struggle through the weekend, with high levels of pollen expected across England.

Norfolk saw blue skies and fine weather last week

The pollen count will increase as temperatures heat up and the worst conditions are expected on Sunday and Monday, according to forecasters.

Alexander Burkill, of the Met Office, said tree pollen would be more significant than grass pollen until the middle of May.

He said the tree pollen count will be high towards the end of the weekend, adding: "Today we've got a fair bit of cloud and the rain coming down, so it's going to go down to moderate.

"On to Sunday and Monday in places, especially across England and especially in the south east, you're looking that it could get up to high."

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To Kill A Mockingbird Author In Copyright Feud

The author of To Kill A Mockingbird is suing her literary agent's son-in-law for allegedly taking advantage of her declining hearing and eyesight to secure the book's copyright.

Harper Lee has launched legal action in a federal court in Manhattan to re-secure the copyright and seek unspecified damages from Samuel Pinkus and the companies he apparently created.

She alleges Mr Pinkus failed to properly protect the copyright of the book after his father-in-law Eugene Winick became ill a decade ago.

Mr Winick had represented Ms Lee as a literary agent since the book was published in 1960 through the firm McIntosh and Otis.

The 87-year-old author claims Mr Pinkus took advantage of her declining health seven years ago to get her to assign the book's copyright to him and a company he controlled.

She has no memory of agreeing to relinquish her rights or signing any transfer agreement, according to court papers.

Ms Lee, who lives in Monroeville, Alabama, has asked the court to reassign any rights owned by Mr Pinkus and pay any royalties he has received since 2007 to her.

"The transfer of ownership of an author's copyright to her agent is incompatible with her agent's duty of loyalty; it is a gross example of self-dealing," the lawsuit says.

Mr Pinkus did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

To Kill A Mockingbird, the only novel MS Lee ever published, tells the story of two children growing up in a small southern US town.

It addresses racial injustice, as the children's lawyer father is selected to defend a black man accused of raping a white woman. The man is convicted despite his innocence.

The book won the Pulitzer for fiction and is widely studied in schools. The film version won three Academy Awards.

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Solar Plane Completes First Leg Of US Flight

The first-ever manned plane that can fly by day or night on solar power has completed the first leg of its US cross-country journey.

Solar Impulse, piloted by Swiss adventurer Bertrand Piccard, touched down at the Sky Harbour International Airport in Phoenix, Arizona, at 7.30am GMT after an 18-hour flight from California.

The plane has previously flown from Europe to Africa, but its creators said this was the first cross-continent flight.

"I'm happy to be here, happy to have landed in Phoenix. It's a little bit like being in a dream," Mr Piccard told reporters after landing, adding he still had three-quarters of his battery power left.

Solar Impulse landing in Phoenix

Before the flight he said: "All the big pioneers of the 20th century have tried to fly coast to coast across America.

"So now today we're trying to do this, but on solar power with no fuel with the first airplane that is able to fly day and night just on solar power."

The plane, which has a slim body and four electric engines attached to an enormous wingspan, flew quietly at an average speed of about 30mph (49km/h).

Energy provided by 12,000 solar cells powered the plane's propellers.

Bertrand Piccard before take-off

The project aims to showcase what can be accomplished without fossil fuels, and has set its "ultimate goal" as an around-the-world flight in 2015.

"What we look for is to have a new milestone in this very exciting history of aviation that can attract interest of the people, of the political world, of the media and show that with renewable energies and clean technology for energy efficiency, we can achieve impossible things," Mr Piccard said.

The plane can fly at night by reaching a high elevation of 27,000ft (8,230m) and then gently gliding downward, using almost no power through the night until the sun comes up to begin recharging the aircraft's solar cells.

Other stops in the US are planned for Dallas, Texas, and the US capital Washington, before wrapping up in New York in early July.

Solar Impulse was launched in 2003.

The slim plane is particularly sensitive to turbulence and has no room for passengers.

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David Cameron Told To 'Reconnect With Voters'

The Conservatives must "break the impression of being privileged and out of touch" if they are to stand a chance of winning the next general election, former leadership contender David Davis has warned.

Speaking after the party suffered heavy losses to the UK Independence Party in the local council elections, the MP for Haltemprice and Howden said David Cameron should stop surrounding himself with fellow Old Etonians and show he understood the concerns of ordinary people.

He issued the same warning in 2005 during a Sky Tory leadership debate when he said it was paramount voters understood that the Conservatives were "not a privileged elite interested only in ourselves", but "that actually we're on their side".

With the Tories losing 340 councillors and the control of 10 councils, some Tory right-wingers have called on the Prime Minister to firm up his commitment to holding a referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union to counter the appeal of UKIP.

Local county council election results

However, Mr Davis said the priority for Mr Cameron - who recently appointed Old Etonian Jo Johnson to head the No 10 policy unit - was to reconnect with voters who thought the Conservatives lived in a different world to them.

"The fact is that if we want to win the next election, we have to break this impression of being privileged and out of touch," he said in an article for The Daily Telegraph.

"The British public are neither snobs nor inverted snobs, but they do expect the Government to understand their problems and do something about it.

"That means more straight talking and fewer focus groups; more conventional Tory policies, not because they are Tory, but because they work; less pandering to metropolitan interest groups; and please, please, no more Old Etonian advisers."

Home Secretary Theresa May, who has been touted as a possible future Tory leader, refused to be drawn on the argument, and insisted the party was focused on "bringing people back to voting Conservative".

David Davis (L) lost the contest to become Tory leader to David Cameron (R)

She told Sky News: "The Government has shown that it understands some of the problems that hard-working people are facing - the efforts we've taken to helping local councils freeze their council tax, hold down fuel duties, two million people have been taken out of paying income tax, and an income tax cut for 24 million people.

"There are other areas we know the task is a sizeable one - controlling welfare and immigration. We are already on the right track in dealing with these issues."

She added: "What we will be doing over the next couple of years is working hard to bring people back to voting Conservative - showing them what we are doing in those areas ... and how the choice in the next election will be Conservatives who will control welfare and immigration and deal with the deficit, and the same old Labour Party who will just ask for more spending, more borrowing, more debt."

Former Tory councillor Rory Love, who contested the Folkestone South seat for the first time and finished second with 989 votes behind UKIP's Robert Neaves who polled 1,006 votes, dismissed the row as "nonsense".

"This isn't about Old Etonians, about public schools ... if you want to get into that sort of nonsense, Nigel Farage, I understand is a public schoolboy.

"The issue is about the policies, about how we can better demonstrate to the public that what we are doing is the very thing ... they asked us to do ... and that is to look again at our relationship with the European Union, the effects of mass immigration from eastern Europe ... that's what we need to concentrate on."

UKIP leader Nigel Farage said the elections marked a 'game-changer'

UKIP's gains of 131 councillors in the council elections were dubbed a "game changer" by leader Nigel Farage.

While Labour made gains - picking up 268 councillors and taking control of two councils - analysts said they fell short of the numbers needed to show that Ed Miliband was on course for Downing Street.

For the Liberal Democrats it was another grim set of results with the loss of 110 councillors while crashing to a humiliating seventh place in the South Shields parliamentary by-election, just ahead of the Monster Raving Loony Party.

Mr Cameron pledged to work really hard to win back voters who abandoned the Conservatives for the UKIP, promising action to turn round the economy, cut immigration and sort out the welfare system.

Having previously derided UKIP as "fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists", the Prime Minister adopted a softer approach, promising to show "respect" for those who voted for them.

Mr Miliband insisted that Labour had made "good gains" but acknowledged there was "more work to do".

"These elections show many people have lost trust in David Cameron's ability to change Britain. But our task is to win the trust of the people we haven't yet persuaded that Labour can make the difference," he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said the Lib Dems' poor showing reflected their journey from "a party of protest to a party of government".

"I have always said it is understandable why it is that people might be attracted to the simple answers that the UK Independence Party is offering to deal with this country's complex problems," he said.

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Baby Delivered From Injured Car Crash Mother

A heavily pregnant woman whose baby had to be delivered by emergency caesarean section after a car crash is fighting for her life, police have said.

The 29-year-old mother suffered head and chest injuries in the accident at is undergoing surgery.

Police said the woman's baby, who was delivered in hospital during an emergency operation following the crash, continues to make "good progress".

Several other people were seriously injured following the collision in Manchester on Friday night and a 19-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the incident.

Police Sergeant Danny Byrne from the Serious Collision Investigation Unit said: "This is a horrific set of circumstances in which several members of a family, including a woman who was nine months pregnant, and a pedestrian have been badly injured.

"The woman's baby was delivered by emergency C-section at hospital and although he is making good progress, unfortunately his mother remains in a critical condition.

"We are carrying out a full investigation to establish the exact circumstances leading up to this incident and are keen to hear from anyone that saw the 51-plate silver Volkswagen Golf driving along Great Ancoats Street prior to this collision, or in the nearby area, to contact us."

Officers said the collision happened at the junction of Great Ancoats Street and Redhill Street at around 10.45pm.

At the time of the collision, a black cab carrying three passengers was turning from Great Ancoats Street into Redhill Street.

A silver VW Golf, which was travelling along Great Ancoats Street, undertook another vehicle and collided with the taxi as it turned, police said.

The collision caused the taxi to spin on to the footpath and hit a pedestrian, trapping him between the taxi and the railings.

The 29-year-old man suffered serious injuries to his legs, pelvis and hips.

The three passengers in the rear of the taxi were all seriously injured.

A 23-year-old man suffered chest injuries and is in a serious condition and a 31-year-old woman suffered a suspected fractured shoulder and facial injuries.

The driver of the taxi suffered minor injuries to his legs.

The driver of the Golf, a 19-year-old man, was not injured during the collision.

He was arrested at the scene on suspicion of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and other driving offences. He remains in police custody for questioning.

:: Anyone with information is asked to directly contact officers at the Serious Collision Investigation Unit on 0161 856 4741.

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Widow: NHS 111 Helpine Failed Dying Husband

The widow of a cancer patient, whose husband died last week, has told Sky News how she spent almost an hour waiting on the new NHS 111 non-emergency phoneline trying to get him help.

Kim Green, of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, said much of their final hours together were spent on the telephone trying to arrange - unsuccessfully - for a nurse to come and administer his drugs.

Mrs Green said: "The horrible thing is, I should have been sat next to him holding his hand, reassuring him help was on the way, and I couldn't because I was on the phone frantically for the best part of an hour trying to get somebody to help him, but I couldn't.

"It's just awful, absolutely awful. I don't know whether that made his anxiety levels worse or not, I don't know, but it certainly didn't help him."

She said while she did not blame the system for her husband Jonathan's death, her last moments with him would have been more peaceful.

A spokesman for the NHS 111 service in Buckinghamshire said: "This is a very sad case and our sympathy goes out to the family.

"We take the responsibility for the safety and well-being of our patients extremely seriously.

"When a concern such as this is raised about the NHS 111 service we undertake an incident review involving experienced clinical staff. This allows us to identify clear actions so that lessons can be learned and acted on quickly and thoroughly.

Mrs Green believes the NHS 111 non-emergency helpline failed her husband

"We would urge the family to contact us directly so that we can discuss this case further with them."

The deaths of three people are under investigation in connection with the 111 non-emergency phone line, according to a report.

The general practitioners trade magazine Pulse reported that at least 22 possible "serious untoward incidents" (or SUIs) related to NHS 111 have been reported since the launch of the service.

These include three where a patient died, the magazine has claimed.

Two of the deaths occurred in the East Midlands, and one in the West Midlands.

The deaths reportedly include the case of a 47-year-old who died from a suspected overdose.

That death occurred after relatives contacted NHS 111 requesting mental health assistance, Pulse reported. 

A further 19 possible SUIs have been recorded by providers or commissioners, the magazine added.

Rolled out across most of the country last month, the NHS 111 service is for people urgently seeking medical help or advice but who are not in a life-threatening situation.

The service was introduced to replace NHS Direct in England and is meant to ease pressure on emergency 999 call centres.

NHS England said it could not verify the data reported in Pulse, however, it issued a statement in response to the magazine's report.

"The safety of patients must be our paramount concern and NHS England will keep a careful eye on the situation to ensure NHS 111 provides not only a good service to the public, but one which is also safe," the statement read.

Earlier this week, it announced a review of the 111 service.

A probe has been launched into the 111 service

But Clare Gerada, chairwoman of the Royal College of General Practitioners, raised concerns about the free-to-call advice line.

"It is extremely worrying that there is still so much uncertainty around the delivery and reliability of the advice provided by NHS 111 in some areas.

"We are also concerned that patients are losing confidence in the new service before it is even fully up and running.

"We call on NHS England to provide more reassurance about its effectiveness and ability to deliver the necessary standards of care for all patients using the service, right across England."

Mrs Pooja Virk from Hornchurch, Essex, contacted Sky News after her nephew was taken ill recently. His ears ached, he had a high temperature and was feeling breathless.

She said: "I called my doctors and got the answer message to call 111.

"I explained his symptoms and the lady on the other end said 'oh take him to the chemist, not life threatening symptoms'."

When she got to the pharmacy she says the pharmacist laughed at the advice she had been given and said he needed to get urgent medical help.

Mrs Virk took him to a local hospital. She said: "They checked him straight away and said you are so lucky you brought him in on time he is suffering from an asthma attack.

"If you had left it any longer you would have been rushing in an ambulance with him!"

She added: "Soon there is going to be a very bad public clash with the NHS if it's not sorted."

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Syria: Hundreds Of Families Flee 'Massacres'

Israel Confirms Syria Airstrike

Updated: 9:46am UK, Saturday 04 May 2013

Israeli officials have confirmed its air force carried out an airstrike allegedly targeting a shipment of advanced missiles in Syria.

The officials said the target was not chemical weapons, but of "game changing" arms bound for the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

The strike took place overnight on Thursday into Friday, just as Israel was flying many warplanes over Lebanon.

The US earlier said it did not believe Israeli warplanes entered Syrian airspace to conduct the strikes.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly warned in recent weeks that his country would be prepared to take military action if chemical weapons or other arms were to reach Hezbollah.

Earlier this month, Israel admitted carrying out a January airstrike on a weapons convoy believed to be carrying anti-aircraft equipment in Syria thought to be en route to Hezbollah.

The confirmation of the strike came hours after Barack Obama refused to rule out options in dealing with the crisis in Syria but said he did not foresee sending in US ground troops.

Speaking during a visit to Costa Rica, the US President said: "As a general rule, I don't rule things out as commander-in-chief because circumstances change and you want to make sure that I always have the full power of the United States at our disposal to meet American national security interests.

"Having said that, I do not foresee a scenario in which boots on the ground in Syria, American boots on the ground in Syria, would not only be good for America but also would be good for Syria."

Mr Obama said there was evidence that chemical weapons had been used in Syria, but that "we don't know when, where or how they were used".

But if "strong evidence" is found of such weapons being used by the regime of President Bashar al Assad, then "that is a game changer for us" because "there is a possibility that it lands in the hands of organisations like Hezbollah", Mr Obama said.

Mr Obama said if use of chemical weapons in Syria is confirmed, the US will present that evidence to the international community, because it concerns the entire world.

But he called for caution to avoid unintended consequences, saying: It's important for us to do it right."

Meanwhile, warnings of a new "large-scale massacre" in Syria have emerged following reports Mr Assad's troops bombarded Sunni areas near the city of Bania.

The opposition National Coalition accused the regime of "war crimes and genocide", citing witness reports of civilians being stabbed to death.

"The Coalition calls on the Arab League and the United Nations to act rapidly to save the civilians of Baida, Banias and other villages across Syria," it said in a statement.

"Several sources in the village say at least 50 people were killed in summary executions and shelling in Baida village,"Rami Abdel Rahman, of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP news agency.

Syria's official Sana news agency said troops killed "terrorists" and seized arms in an operation targeting rebels.

Regular forces were supported by pro-regime "shabiha" militiamen, said the Observatory, which relies on a network of sources on the ground for its information.

The Banias region is predominantly Alawite, an offshoot of Shia Islam and the sect of Mr Assad, while the insurgents battling to topple his regime are mainly Sunni Muslims.

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Belgium: Two Die In 'Toxic Train' Crash Fire

Two people have died and 14 others have been injured after a train carrying highly toxic chemicals derailed in Belgium, causing a major fire.

The blaze erupted and spread along a drainage ditch

The accident and blaze prompted authorities to evacuate nearly 300 people from their homes.

Jan Briers, governor of eastern Flanders near the city of Ghent, gave the death toll to the Belga news.

Some of the victims were people living well away from the scene of the accident. Interior Minister Joelle Milquet blamed toxic fumes from the highly flammable liquid chemicals.

Once daylight arrived the extent of damage could be seen

The accident happened at around 2am local time, between the towns of Schellebelle and Wetteren, on the Belgian railway network.

Six of the train's 13 cars derailed and two were thrown on to their side by the force of derailment. The blaze led to a series of explosions in the railway cars.

Fire then spread over hundreds of yards, prompting authorities to evacuate residents living more than 500 yards from the site of the accident.

The train crash, near Ghent, occurred near a set of track crossing points

But Ms Milquet said toxic fumes reached much further through the drainage system.

"There is a problem of poisoning linked to the smoke," she said.

"But there is also another reaction, since some of the chemical product went into the drains and caused a kind of chemical reaction with gases that are toxic and escaped into certain streets beyond the perimeter that had already been evacuated due to the fire."

Smoke and fumes were subdued by spraying water across the scene

Firefighters decided to let the cars burn out in a controlled manner as water could have released further toxic chemicals.

The causes of the accident remained unclear. The cars derailed as the train changed tracks and observers said it might have been travelling too fast.

The train came from the Netherlands and was bound for Ghent's seaport, Gent-Zeehaven.

Officials said the tracks would be shut for days

Train services were disrupted and problems were expected for several days, with buses laid on to transport passengers.

Two similar accidents involving trains carrying tanks of toxic products occurred in Belgium in May 2012.

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