Jayden Parkinson: Police Launch Murder Inquiry

Police investigating the disappearance of teenager Jayden Parkinson now believe she was murdered.

Jayden, 17, from Oxford, was last seen leaving Didcot Parkway train station at 4.27pm on December 3 - and did not return home that evening as planned.

In a news conference this afternoon, Detective Chief Superintendent Andy Murray revealed that police have upgraded the case to a murder investigation and are looking for a man who was seen in an open field near Upton on December 9 at 2am.

"The father in me would like to think that Jayden is still out there, but I'm afraid the detective in me leads me to conclude that Jayden may well have been murdered," said Mr Murray. 

The man spotted in Upton was carrying a large suitcase in the rural area and notably struggling to "manage" the heavy case.

"This man was having difficulty wheeling that suitcase," said Mr Murray.

He said the same man was seen in Didcot around 30 minutes later with the same suitcase, and police are appealing for sightings of the man or the case. 

The man is described as a white male in his early 20s, with short dark hair and of medium to slim build. 

The case was approximately 3ft long and 2ft wide, likely a pale blue colour, and had an extendable handle and wheels, said Mr Murray. 

Police said a recycling bin has been recovered as part of the investigation from the former Crown Pub in Queensway in Didcot. 

An address in Abbott Road, Didcot, is also cordoned off by police while a search is carried out on the property.

Thames Valley Police are currently holding two people - a 22-year-old man and 17-year-old boy - in relation to the case.

Police said earlier this week that the 22-year-old was in a relationship with Jayden. 

Jayden was living with her mother in Didcot until November this year, when she found herself homeless.

The teenager relocated to an Oxford service called One Foot Forward, which offers assisted and supported accommodation for young people.

Police said Jayden has made no financial transactions, or accessed the internet or her phone since she went missing 12 days ago.

A team of 50 detectives are currently assisting with the case and specialist teams will be scouring the Upton area for the next week.

Anyone with information has been urged to contact Thames Valley Police on 101 and quote URN 542 10/12, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

00.57 | 0 komentar | Read More

Iran Claims 'MI6 Spy' On Trial After Capture

Iran says it has arrested a "spy" accused of working for the British secret intelligence service.

A court official said the man had confessed to his alleged crimes and was on trial.

He was detained in the town of Kerman in southeast Iran after authorities spent months tracking him down, the semi-official ISNA news agency said.

The suspect is accused of meeting four British intelligence operatives and giving them information.

Dadkhoda Salari, head of the Kerman revolutionary court, said: "Through the efforts of Iranian security forces, an MI6 spy has been arrested.

"He has met British intelligence officers in person 11 times, both inside the country and abroad, and provided them with intelligence."

It has not been suggested the alleged spy is a Briton, and Tehran has a history of announcing the arrest of people it claims are spying without releasing more details.

But the news is potentially embarrassing at a time when diplomatic relations between the UK and Iran had been improving after a two-year freeze.

On Friday, Iran's new envoy to Britain, Hassan Habibollah-Zadeh, held talks in London on his first visit since his appointment in November.

And a British diplomat, non-resident charge d'affaires Ajay Sharma, said he had "detailed and constructive discussions" about the UK's relationship with Iran during talks earlier this month.

He visited the site of the UK's embassy in the Iranian capital to assess the damage caused when it was ransacked by a mob in 2011, an incident which prompted the Government to pull its staff out of the country.

The thaw in relations between Tehran and the international community has also seen a deal reached over its nuclear programme.

Responding to the reported arrest a Foreign Office spokesman said: "We don't comment on intelligence matters."

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

00.57 | 0 komentar | Read More

Double-Murder Probe Launched As Bodies Found

A double-murder inquiry has been launched following the deaths of a man and a woman in a house in Belfast.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said the incident in the Ravenhill area in the south east of the city is thought to be domestic-related.

Police said the suspect may have been in a relationship with one of the victims but don't consider they are a threat to the wider public.

Police said they did not want the identities of the middle-aged victims to become public at this stage as not all of their next of kin had been informed of what had happened.

The incident in the Ravenhill area is thought to be domestic-related

Officers found their bodies in the living room of the flat in the Ravenhill Court area yesterday afternoon.

They had been alerted by a member of the public who noticed the front door of the property had been badly damaged.

Detective Chief Inspector Una Jennings, senior investigating officer with the PSNI, said: "We are treating this at the moment as a suspected domestic homicide."

She appealed to whoever was responsible to come forward.

The detective added: "I would describe it as a domestic incident, we believe that the perpetrator of this crime may well have been in a relationship with one or other of the victims."

She said the exact causes of death would not be confirmed until post-mortem examinations were carried out in the coming days.

Asked if the perpetrator posed a danger to the wider public, Ms Jennings said: "We don't consider they pose a risk to the public at this time."

Detectives have appealed for anyone who noticed anything suspicious in the Ravenhill Court area between 3pm on Wednesday and 3pm yesterday to contact them.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

00.57 | 0 komentar | Read More

Mandela Funeral: Mourners Angry At Procession

Tribal Traditions At Mandela Burial

Updated: 11:05am UK, Saturday 14 December 2013

By Alex Crawford, Special Correspondent, in Qunu

He is Qunu's most famous son and the return of Nelson Mandela's body to his ancestral homeland is not just for sentimental reasons - it is part of Xhosa tradition that those who pass away are returned to the soil from where they came.

This weekend sees a stark shift in tempo, organisation and ceremony as the state funeral meshes with the centuries-old traditions of Mr Mandela's countrymen and women in the rural Eastern Cape.

"We feel very represented by Nelson Mandela," Mandisi Tshaka, a young Xhosa man, resplendent in his traditional robes and big beaded necklace, told me.

"Everyone in the world knows the Xhosa tribe because of him and we're saluting him."

The South African government has announced the former president's state funeral is a "first for the country" and means full military ceremonial honours will be laid on and led by the armed forces.

There will be 21-gun salutes and a fly-over by the South African Air Force.

But there is a strong importance being put on performing the Xhosa rites as Mr Mandela is laid to rest.

There will be a ritual slaughtering of an ox in the early hours before receiving his body at Mthatha airport in the Eastern Cape.

The AbaThembu king, Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo, is expected to lead a group of traditional leaders as well as Mandela elders in welcoming him home to the village of Qunu, where he spent much of his childhood.

Xhosa custom dictates a welcome ritual is performed to ensure the ancestors are informed of the arrival of Mr Mandela's remains.

Mr Mandela will be called on by his praise name Dlibhunga and the AbaThembu king will shout this three times as he greets the body when he arrives home.

Despite the pomp and ceremony of the state funeral, there will be equal, if not more, importance put on the traditional Xhosa burial rituals to ensure the man they call Madiba has an easy transition into the afterworld.

The Xhosa king, Zwelonke Sigcau, told Sky News: "The Xhosa people believe Nelson Mandela is not leaving us. It is just his body which is going into the ground. His spirit will remain."

In the African culture many believe a dead person's spirit lives on beyond death and joins other ancestors who guide, help and protect the living.

It is a belief which greatly helps alleviate the pain felt by the loss of a loved one - and Mr Mandela may assume even greater importance amongst his people because of his exalted status as a spiritual ancestor now.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

00.57 | 0 komentar | Read More

Egypt Sees First Snow Storm In Years

A winter storm has brought snow to Cairo for the first time in decades and has blanketed parts of the Middle East.

Bad weather closed two of the country's Mediterranean ports and two ports on the Red Sea as "several" in inches fell in the Sinai Desert and elsewhere.

Ali Abdelazim, an official at Egypt's meteorological centre, said it was "the first time in very many years" since the last snowfall in the suburbs of Cairo.

Precipitation of any kind is rare in Egypt so the rare sight of snow has been much talked about on social networking sites such as Twitter.

In Syria's contested northern city of Aleppo, soldiers and rebels took a break from fighting as the temperatures on the deserted streets hovered around zero.

"All the fighters are cold and hiding," the activist who uses the pseudonym Abu Raed said.

A man walks through the snow in Jerusalem

The cold weather was part of a storm, dubbed Alexa, which has been pounding much of Lebanon and parts of northern Syria since Wednesday, pushing temperatures below zero in mountainous areas and dumping snow and heavy rains.

The snow has heaped another layer of misery on the already grim existence of many of the more than two million Syrians who have fled the civil war raging in their homeland.

In Lebanon, snow fell on northern and eastern regions where tens of thousands of Syrian refugees are staying, many of them in flimsy plastic tents.

Up to 13cm (5in) have fallen in refugee camps in Lebanon with 8cm (3in) in the wartorn Syrian city of Homs.

Jerusalem was left blanketed by up to 50cm (20in) of snow, forcing police to block access to and from the city as the army was called in to help restore power to more than 35,000 homes.

The city's heaviest snowstorm for 50 years forced Israeli authorities to lift a ban on public transport on the Jewish Sabbath - Saturday.

The unusually large fall allowed children to build snowmen but left elderly residents shivering.

John Kerry and Benjamin Netanyahu look out at snow-covered city Jerusalem

The weather even featured in talks between visiting US Secretary of State John Kerry and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Mr Kerry, a former Massachusetts senator, said the snow in Jerusalem made him feel "at home".

"I have heard of making guests welcome and feeling at home. This is about as far as I've ever seen anything go ... giving me a New England snowstorm."

In the West Bank and Gaza, UN relief teams offered emergency services to the worst-hit communities.

In Gaza, which was experiencing its first snow in a decade, more than 500 people were evacuated from their homes, according to Hamas spokesman Ihab Ghussein.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

00.57 | 0 komentar | Read More

Driver Shot By Cops After Car Chase And Crash

A driver has been shot by police after an hour-long high-speed car chase ended with a crash into another vehicle.

Television footage showed the man getting out of his silver Corvette and then clutching his stomach and falling to the ground after officers opened fire.

Pictures also showed emergency services treating the suspect on the pavement before he was taken into an ambulance.

It is not known what his condition was.

The collision took place as the Corvette driver tried to cross a junction in central Los Angeles and appeared to have struck a Nissan Maxima from behind.

Police say the driver of the other car ran out of his vehicle after the smash but was later taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

The chase and shooting were both reportedly broadcast live by KTLA-TV.

The pursuit began in Cudahy and involved three separate police agencies - the LA County Sheriff's Department, California Highway Patrol and the LAPD.

LA police officer Rosario Herrera said: "It was in our jurisdiction and it just happened that the officers were in the area.

"We did go into tailing mode and then we went into pursuit."

Lt. Josh Barton of the LA County Sheriff's Department said the pursuit started at 9.30pm, when deputies attempted to pull the driver over on suspicion of drink driving and reckless driving.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

00.57 | 0 komentar | Read More

Belfast Bomb: Attackers 'Stoop To New Low'

A bomb attack in Belfast city centre is a "new low" for dissident republicans opposed to the peace process, the Northern Ireland Secretary has said.

Theresa Villiers described the blast in the bustling Cathedral Quarter as a "despicable attack that could have put lives at risk and injured many people".

"It's particularly callous to carry out this sort of attack at a time when people are starting their festive celebrations or maybe finishing their Christmas shopping," she told Sky News.

"An attack at this time of year is stooping to a new low."

The attack was described as 'an attempt to kill or injure innocent people'

Christmas partygoers were evacuated when the device exploded just before 7pm on Friday evening, although there were no reports of any injuries.

The bomb, which had been placed inside a holdall, consisted of explosives and flammable liquid, police said.

A warning call was made to a newspaper but the device was left about 150 metres away from the location named.

Chief Superintendent Alan McCrum, of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, said: "This was an attack on the people of Belfast going about their normal lives on a busy night for socialising in the city.

The security threat level in Northern Ireland remains at severe

"Those who carried out this attack have nothing to offer except disruption and destruction."

Stormont's Justice Minister David Ford said the blast was an "attempt to kill or injure innocent people".

"The people carrying out these attacks have set out no reason and explained no cause for their acts of senseless violence," he said.

"Their only aim seems to be to injure and disrupt. They ignore the strength of public support for normality and peace, especially at this Christmas season."

Hundreds of people were evacuated. Pic: Mark Ashbridge

First Minister Peter Robinson said the bomb was "the work of a mindless minority who are intent on taking the heart out of the city", while his deputy, Martin McGuinness, said the attackers had shown "complete disregard for life".

Security measures have been ramped up in Belfast on one of the busiest shopping weekends of the year.

The threat level remains at severe and police urged local residents to remain vigilant and to report any suspicious behaviour.

The blast comes less than three weeks after a bus driver was forced by masked dissidents to drive a car bomb to a shopping centre that faces a police station.

The 60kg (132lb) device only partially exploded and no-one was injured.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

00.57 | 0 komentar | Read More

China's Moon Rover 'Jade Rabbit' Lands Safely

An unmanned spacecraft carrying China's first lunar rover called "Jade Rabbit' has safely landed on the surface of the Moon, according to state television.

It is the first "soft landing" of a probe there for 37 years and China is only the third country to complete such a feat after the US and former Soviet Union.

Beijing has now taken a big step towards becoming a global player in space.

Scientists burst into applause as a computer-generated image representing the Chang'e 3 spacecraft carrying the solar-powered buggy was seen touching down on the Moon's surface via screens in Beijing.

The craft's camera broadcast images of the surface before it reportedly came down in the Sinus Iridum, or the Bay of Rainbows.

It had hovered for several minutes seeking an appropriate place to land.

Simulation of how the rover was expected to leave the spacecraft

A soft landing does not damage the craft and the equipment it takes.

In 2007, China put another lunar probe in orbit around the Moon, which then carried out a controlled crash on to its surface.

The rover is expected to separate from the lander and then carry out a three-month scientific exploration of the surface, in which it will look for natural resources.

The vehicle will be remotely controlled by Chinese control centres with support from tracking and transmission stations operated by the European Space Agency.

It was launched into space onboard a rocket on December 1 from southern China.

The name Jade Rabbit or "Yutu" was chosen in an online poll of 3.4 million voters indicating just how important this mission is to the Chinese public.

It is the next step in China's ambitious plans to land astronauts on the surface by around 2025.

The rocket carrying the rover blasted off on December 1

As well as space enthusiasts, many private space companies were expected to watch the landing closely.

Teams taking part in the Google Lunar XPRIZE are competing for $30m (£18m) to become the first private organisation to send pictures back from the Moon by 2015.

Alexandra Hall, director of Lunar XPRIZE, told Sky News: "The space community is a truly global endeavour and although there are politics involved, there are many engineers and scientists around the world feeling for those guys and girls in mission control in China right now.

"It is actually quite difficult to land successfully on another planetary body so I think there is definitely a sympathy with the tension that is probably quite high in that control room."

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

00.57 | 0 komentar | Read More

Worker Dies In Fall At World Cup Stadium

A construction worker has died after falling from the Manaus stadium in Brazil which will host one of England's opening games.

Marcleudo de Melo Ferreira, 22, died in a hospital after falling nearly 35 meters (115 ft) after a cable broke.

The Brazilian firm building the Amazon stadium in Manaus said in a statement that Mr Ferreira worked for a company that had been contracted to build the arena's cover and an internal investigation of the incident would be conducted.

Preparations for the World Cup have also been plagued by delays, accidents and public anger over government waste that contributed to nationwide street protests last year.

Workers have already been killed at three of Brazil's 12 World Cup stadiums including Manaus and Brasilia. Most recently in Sao Paulo two people died in November after a crane collapsed in the arena due to host the opening game in June 2014.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

More follows...

00.57 | 0 komentar | Read More

Mandela Funeral: Tutu 'Heartbroken At Snub'

Desmond Tutu is said to be "heartbroken" after he was apparently left off the guest list for the funeral of his close friend Nelson Mandela.

The 82-year-old retired archbishop said he received "no indication" he had been invited to the burial service.

He worked closely with the former South African president in his long struggle against apartheid and welcomed Mr Mandela into his home after his fellow campaigner's release from jail.

"Much as I would have loved to attend the service to say a final farewell to someone I loved and treasured, it would have been disrespectful to Tata to gatecrash what was billed as a private family funeral," he said.

Contradicting President Jacob Zuma's claim that he was "definitely" on the guest list, Mr Tutu added: "Had I or my office been informed that I would be be welcome, there is no way on Earth that I would have missed it."

The apparent exclusion of the Nobel Peace Prize winner has led to speculation he is being punished for vocal criticism of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party.

Don Mullan, who travelled from Ireland to South Africa as Mr Tutu's photographer, told Sky News the veteran campaigner is "grieving very, very much" and deserved to be at the event.

"The world needs Desmond Tutu to be here to say goodbye to his old friend," he said.

"This is about Madiba, it's about South Africa and it's about two very important peacemakers saying farewell to each other."

Mr Mullan, who said he will refuse to attend the service in protest against the apparent omission of Mr Tutu, said there was "great confusion" but also "great sadness" at his absence.

"Mr Tutu was the one who kept the flame of freedom alive when Mr Mandela and other campaigners were in prison or in exile," he said.

"He is the one Mr Mandela spent his first night of freedom with and the one he and Graca Machel asked to assist at their wedding."

Zelda la Grange, a former private secretary to Mr Mandela, said South Africa's first black president was "very fond" of the man he affectionately called "The Arch".

"Madiba really adored him," she said. "He respected him, he loved him - there was a very close relationship."

Mr Mandela will be buried in his childhood home of Qutu following South Africa's first state funeral.

Thousands of people lined the streets of Mthatha, as his body was driven towards its final resting place.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

00.57 | 0 komentar | Read More