Screams As 35 Sick Migrants Found In Container

A dead man was among 35 immigrants found in a container at Tilbury Docks after crew were alerted by "banging and screaming".

Police have launched a "homicide" investigation after the man was discovered with 34 sick children and adults hiding in a container on a P&O ferry.

Police at the scene in Tilbury Docks

At least seven of those treated at three different hospitals with "significant health problems" were children.

At a press conference at Tilbury Docks, Essex Chief Superintendent Trevor Roe said the man's death was being treated as a crime.

He described those found in the container as "victims" of a "people trafficking" crime and said they were found after crews heard "banging and screaming".

"Staff at the port very quickly breached the container and found the 35 people within," Mr Roe said.

"Unfortunately one person was deceased and therefore this has now become a homicide investigation," he added.   

Seven ambulances were sent to the scene. Eighteen patients were taken to Basildon Hospital, nine to London Whitechapel Hospital and seven to Southend Hospital.

Some of the immigrants - believed to be of Indian origin - were suffering from severe dehydration and hypothermia.

Basildon Hospital is responding to a "major incident"

Those taken to Basildon - 11 adults and seven children - have now been deemed medically fit to be discharged, the hospital said.

Police say they will be taken, along with the others, once recovered, to a detention centre in Tilbury Docks, under immigration laws.

The alarm was raised after the container arrived on a ship from Zeebrugge in Belgium and was being unloaded at 7.35am.

Natalie Hardy, from P&O Ferries, said the container was on board the Norstream, a commercial vessel.

The suspected immigrants were found at Tilbury Docks

She said the ship was scheduled to leave Zeebrugge last night at 10pm and arrive at Tilbury today at 6am.

It was carrying 64 containers, 72 trailers and five lorries and drivers.

Ms Hardy said: "They (port authorities) found 35 clandestines on a container in the ferry.

"They had been in there overnight, because the ship was an overnight freight ferry.

"This morning when they went to unload containers there was a noise heard, a banging. One unfortunately was dead and others were taken to hospital."

A spokeswoman for Public Health England said it was not involved in the response to, investigation of or anything to do with the incident at Tilbury Docks.

She said: "If it was ebola, health care professionals are so alert at the moment to signs and symptoms that should there have been anyone who was showing symptoms we would have been notified immediately.

"I think we can be confident that we are not dealing with that."

Police are dealing with the incident alongside staff from Port of Tilbury, UK Border Force and the East of England Ambulance Service, the spokesman said.

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Iraq: 'Secret' Surveillance Flights Revealed

The UK has been secretly flying its most advanced surveillance aircraft over northern Iraq during the humanitarian crisis there, the Defence Secretary has revealed.

The Rivet Joint intelligence gathering aircraft has been deployed to boost a team of Tornado jets gathering intelligence as Kurdish forces battle against Islamist militants in the region.

Information picked up by British forces is being fed back to the Iraqi government, Kurdish fighters and US forces in the region as they try to stem the tide of the Islamic State (IS) advance.

Revealing the move at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said: "We will continue the humanitarian mission here and we will continue to make sure we will do everything we can to assist with the refugee problem which is wider than the Sinjar mountains."

Michael Fallon speaking to British troops at the RAF Akrotiri base

He added: "I can confirm today we have deployed Rivet Joint, our very latest surveillance aircraft, the successor to Nimrod, to give us a much better picture, more intelligence and analysis of what is happening on the ground which will help the Iraqi government, the Kurdish forces and the Americans."

The Rivet Joint aircraft has carried out a number of flights over the past few weeks, helping to pinpoint the locations of displaced people and IS fighters.

It provides real-time intelligence by intercepting electromagnetic signals, which can be combined with images gathered by Tornado jets to provide a fuller picture of the situation on the ground. 

Mr Fallon was visiting the Cyprus base for the RAF's Iraq aid drop operation.

He spent time with the teams packing and dispatching the aid bundles and told the Army and RAF personnel involved: "This mission isn't over yet."

Sky News Correspondent Tom Parmenter, at RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus said the Rivet Joint aircraft was like a "listening post in the sky".

Half a million people are believed to be displaced in Iraq's Dahuk region

He said: "It's an aircraft that goes up packed full of kit and analysis equipment to make sure the intelligence is as strong as it can be in terms of what they are gathering and how they are analysing it in this region and then feeding it back to the decision makers in Washington and London."

RAF Tornado jets have been flying missions over vast areas in northern Iraq, aided by larger Voyager planes that help them refuel at 300mph. 

Britain has also been delivering aid to help families fleeing the militants - the latest supplies of vital cooking equipment, needed by people forced to leave their homes suddenly.

Two Airbus flights landed in Irbil on Saturday morning with nearly 8,000 sets of cutlery, cooking pots, plates, frying pans, cups and wooden spoons.

The supplies will mean almost 40,000 people, who currently have to queue at makeshift canteens, will be able to cook for themselves and feed their families, the Department for International Development said.

There are approximately half a million displaced people in northern Iraq's Dahuk region - many of them arriving at refugee camps after travelling for days without food and water in temperatures of up to 50C.

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Missouri Shooting: Robbery Claims Spark Unrest

Looters have attacked a shop that police claimed was robbed by a black teenager shortly before he was shot dead by a white police officer in Missouri.

Michael Brown's death last Saturday has sparked a series of protests from locals who say the youth was unarmed and trying to surrender when the officer opened fire.

The release of CCTV footage of an individual police said they believed was the 18-year-old walking out of the convenience store with a box of cigars and assaulting the owner further increased tensions in the city of Ferguson.

A group of peaceful protesters shouted at the looters to stop what they were doing and blocked the front of the shop to protect it.

Riot police clear demonstrators from a street in Ferguson

Others in the crowd threw rocks at police, according to Missouri State Highway Patrol Capt Ron Johnson, who added that one officer was hurt.

According to Capt Johnson, police then backed off, hoping to ease the tension and no arrests were made.

"We had to evaluate the security of the officers there and also the rioters," Johnson said.

Sky's Greg Milam, in Ferguson, says workmen on Saturday morning boarded up shops damaged in the latest disorder.

He says impromptu barbecue stations have been set up to feed those who have led the protests for a week now.

Police released video they believe showed Mr Brown robbing a local shop

Passing cars honked their support for the hardy few who stood with a Stop The Violence placard in the rain.

The local Target department store has sold out of ponchos and rain jackets.

Days of violent protests exploded in Ferguson after Mr Brown was shot, and armed police responded with tear gas and rubber bullets.

After the police accused Mr Brown of robbery, the teen's cousin Eric Davis said whatever happened in the store did not justify police shooting him while he had his hands up.

"Whatever took place there had nothing to do with an individual getting down on his hands and knees, raising his hands in the air saying 'don't shoot'," he said at an emotional news conference.

Message of rememberance for Michael Brown scrawled in Ferguson

"This is a universal call for 'I surrender' and I can hear my cousin's voice right now as I speak saying, 'don't shoot', yet still the officer shot him and that is wrong."

Police also revealed the name of the officer involved in the shooting, after pressure from Mr Brown's family.

Darren Wilson, 28, who has six years' service and no disciplinary record, was described by colleagues as a "gentle, quiet man" and "an excellent officer".

It is understood he stopped Mr Brown for jaywalking before opening fire and had no knowledge the teen was a robbery suspect.

Officer Wilson has been on administrative leave following the incident.

On Friday night, civil rights leader Reverend Jesse Jackson linked arms with protesters as they marched to the site where Brown was killed.

The protests in Ferguson reflect a long-simmering anger from a majority black community towards an almost exclusively white police force.

"This ain't a new situation, it's been going on for years," said one protester.

The US Justice Department says FBI agents have conducted several interviews with witnesses as part of an ongoing civil-rights investigation into the death.

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Bill Gates Soaked In Ice Bucket Challenge

Multi-billionaire Bill Gates has dunked himself in ice water after being challenged by Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg.

The Microsoft pioneer took the Ice Bucket Challenge to raise awareness for ALS, also known as Lou Gherig's disease, or motor neurone disease.

The video - posted on his gatesnotes blog - shows Mr Gates watching Mr Zuckerberg nominate him and then rigging up an elaborate tipping mechanism to out-do the Facebook boss.

Gates rigs up a special dunking contraption Pic: thegatesnotes/YouTube

The 58-year-old sketches out a plan, appears to weld the structure before pulling the cord and unleashing the icy water over his head - as the camera captures it all in slow motion.

Gates is worth an estimated $80.2bn (£48bn), according to Forbes, and is well known for his philanthropy through the charitable foundation he runs with his wife.

The billionaire gets the inevitable soaking. Pic: thegatesnotes/YouTube

The Microsoft co-founder nominates other famous entrepreneurs to take a dip in the 90-second clip, saying: "I'm going to challenge three more people - Elon Musk (of SpaceX and Tesla electric cars); Ryan Seacrest (American Idol host); and Chris Sanderson (curator of the TED conferences).

"You have 24 hours - good luck!"

Gates nominees include Elon Musk

The challenge sees people tipping ice water over themselves to raise awareness of ALS - and if a nominee does not take up the challenge within a day they must make a donation.

Charities have reported a massive surge in donations after the campaign went rival, with celebrities such as Justin Timberlake and US talk show host Jimmy Fallon also getting in on the act.

In the UK, Macmillan Cancer Support is also using the Ice Bucket Challenge to raise awareness and donations. 

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Woman Held After Baby Suffocates In Oldham

A woman has been arrested on suspicion of causing the death of a baby of "barely three weeks old" by lying on the child.

The 55-year-old woman is being questioned over the death of a child by "overlaying" - a term used when a baby is believed to have been suffocated when somebody lies on them while asleep.

Police were called after paramedics found the baby was "unresponsive" at an address in Lychgate Court, Oldham.

The infant was taken to the Royal Oldham Hospital but was pronounced dead some time later.

Detective inspector Dave Moores, said: "This is an absolutely tragic case in which a baby who is barely three weeks old has died.

"Any death of a baby is always extremely upsetting and keenly felt by family members and even the wider community.

"An investigation is under way and we are committed to identifying how and why this baby died.

"We also have officers supporting family members at what is clearly a very distressing time for them."

The arrested woman, who is understood to be related to the child, remains in custody.

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Boris 'Would Win 2015 Target Seat For Tories'

More than half of voters in an area seen as a prime target for Boris Johnson would vote for him if he stood there in 2015, a poll has found.

A survey in the Uxbridge and South Ruislip constituency suggests the London Mayor could add 10% to the Conservative party's share of the vote if he stood there.

The poll of 1,000 people in the seat being vacated by former deputy chief whip John Randall was carried out by prominent Tory donor Lord Ashcroft.

Mr Randall held the seat with a 11,216 majority in 2010, making in an attractive option that would allow Mr Johnson to capitalise on his popularity with Londoners.

Mr Johnson could challenge Theresa May and George Osborne to succeed the PM

The former MP for Henley has remained tight-lipped about his preference for a seat since announcing that "in all probability" he would try to find somewhere to stand in next year's General Election.

The deadline for would-be candidates to submit their application to the local party is August 28.

When asked who they planned to vote for, 42% of those in the west London constituency said Conservative, 28% Labour and 19% UKIP.

But when offered Mr Johnson as their candidate, the Tory vote rose to 52%, with Labour and UKIP dropping to 23% and 16% respectively.

Tory donor Lord Ashcroft said Mr Johnson had a "unique ability both to galvanise Tories and appeal to supporters of other parties".

The assertion was backed up by 53% of those polled agreeing that Mr Johnson was "different to most politicians, and in a good way".

Only 7% said he was different "but in a bad way".

Mr Johnson has vowed to combine the jobs of MP and Mayor for the last year of his term at London's City Hall if returned to the Commons - but a third of those who backed him in the poll said they would like to see him quit his current post if elected.

Since his announcement earlier his month, Mr Johnson has been installed as favourite to succeed David Cameron as party leader if the Tories fail to win the election or the PM steps down.

He remains behind David Cameron in terms of who would make the best prime minister by 36% to 33% - but well ahead of Ed Miliband on 19% and Nick Clegg on 10%.

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Cervical Cancer Victim 'Too Young' To Test

A 26-year-old woman who died from cervical cancer after being told she was too young for a smear test is inspiring a campaign to lower the age for cancer checks.

Dawn Weston's devastated husband has told Sky News his then fiance complained of severe back pain in 2013 which she initially put down to standing on her feet all day as a hairdresser.

It was only after she came home in tears one afternoon that Dan insisted she see her GP, who said she was too young for a cervical cancer test as she was under 25.

Mr Weston said: "She was a hairdresser, so she spent a lot of time standing on her feet all day which a lot of the time contributes to back problems.

"But it is commonly known that doctors will not take the smear because the labs don't bother to do the test if women are under 25."

Dan and Dawn Weston arranged their wedding in five weeks

It took weeks of repeated visits to her doctor before Dawn was finally tested and told she had terminal cancer.

The couple were desperate to marry before it was too late and planned their dream wedding in five weeks, marrying three days before she began chemotherapy treatment.

"Dawn wanted to get married before she started chemotherapy and to feel herself; just to walk down the aisle, really," said Mr Weston.

Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women under the age of 35. In the UK, 2,900 women a year are diagnosed - that is eight women a day.

Dan's mother Marie said women under 25 should be should be allowed the test and also should have the option of being vaccinated.

Marie Weston: 'Women under 25 should be given a chance'

"There are an awful lot of people that are diagnosed with this type of cancer who are under 25," she said.

"I think they should just be given a chance. People who are younger, around 19, they have the option of having the injection so they are probably relatively safe.

"But we have still got this age group of women between 19 and 25 that are too old for an injection and too young for a smear test. Where does that leave them?"

A Department of Health spokesperson said: "This is a very tragic case. The issue has been debated in Parliament, but the best independent evidence still shows that routine screening of women under 25 does more harm than good.

"Instead we now vaccinate girls with the HPV vaccine which protects against 70% of cervical cancers.

"Women with symptoms of cervical cancer, like unusual bleeding, are advised to see a doctor straight away for tests to investigate their symptoms. We have given doctors' advice on what to do when younger people come to them with cervical cancer symptoms and we expect them to follow it." 

Donors can give money to Dawn's campaign for St Wilfred's Hospice, where she spent her final moments last week, through her Just Giving page.

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Islamic Fighters 'Kill 400 And Take Families'

Al Maliki's Successor Faces Old Problems

Updated: 6:29pm UK, Friday 15 August 2014

By Andrew Wilson, Sky News Presenter, in Irbil, Iraq

The disaster in the Sinjar mountains turns out to be less of a public relations nightmare for Western leaders than first feared.

A few thousand destitute Yazidi people don't carry anything like the clout of tens of thousands.

The UNHCR operators on the ground had figured this out days ago. Their job is numbers and they know that in a brutal world, the problem isn't Sinjar anymore, it's the displacement of those that were there and are now here looking for long-term shelter from the Kurdish Regional Government and maybe even homes in Europe and America.

So what about the spread of this Islamic caliphate across Northern Iraq and Syria?

Well, as far as its leaders-in-waiting are concerned, it's going pretty well.

It's ominous dark shade on the Middle Eastern map is now one colour from Aleppo to Diyala on Iraq's eastern border. 

And, to date, that progress has been largely unchallenged.

Reports of executions and crucifixions have played a part; even the Taliban back in 2001 could not generate the kind of terror that precedes Islamic State (IS) fighters wherever they go.

But IS are picking their enemies strategically as well.

Few tears were shed in Washington when the extremists turned on President Assad, and as for Baghdad, it took so long for the West to declare mission accomplished and pull out that going back in now would be unthinkably embarrassing.

Better to find another old friend to blame, this time the stubbornly sectarian Nouri al Maliki.

It is all his fault that disgruntled Sunnis allowed the IS to swoop down in their armed pickups and help themselves to all the American weapons lying abandoned in the sand.

If only he had built a more unified Iraq with loyal officers and disciplined troops, says the West, failing to mention 2003 when a cadre of professional Iraqi generals stood ready to deploy their well-trained forces for the post-Saddam rebuild only to be shunned by the American occupiers who knew better. 

So now the successor is embraced. Haider al Abadi seems a decent man, more of a consensus builder than a bully.

He is still a Shia, of course, same party as Mr Maliki, in fact, and you wouldn't want his job for all the gold in Saddam's palace.

He will need three phones; for Washington, Tehran and Brussels, and they will all be on his case to fix - in no particular order - the Islamic Caliphate; Sunni minority rights; an army that's just given all its weapons to the other side; Shia aspirations for a greater Iraq joined by holy sites to Iran and, of course, tens of thousands of displaced Yazidis.

It's difficult, if not suicidal, to be a consensus politician in the Middle East.

Think Sadat, Rabin, or even Mahmoud Abbas sitting quietly in Ramallah with "Israeli traitor" daubed on the walls near his house.

Sadly, in this part of the world, where the borders were drawn by foreigners a long time ago, the time-honoured formula, still espoused by Assad, Sisi, the Royal families of Saudi Arabia and Qatar, is more simple: build a power base and crush your enemies.

Nouri al Maliki was on the way, but didn't make it.

And this time, no more boots on the ground.

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Kiev And Moscow Agree On Ukraine Aid Convoy

Kiev and Moscow have reached agreement on the passage of a Russian aid convoy into eastern Ukraine, according to the Red Cross.

Ukraine's government had been concerned the convoy of about 280 white trucks could be a 'Trojan horse', allowing Russia to set up a permanent presence in rebel-held territory.

But Russia "guaranteed" the US that no military personnel were in the vehicles, which have been stuck near the border for the past few days.

Moscow says the trucks are carrying water, food and medicine for people displaced by fighting in eastern Ukraine.

Red Cross officials - who have been examining the contents of the trucks - said they need security guarantees from both sides before the convoy can start moving into Ukraine.

US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said he spoke with his Russia counterpart Sergey Shoygo on Friday night and requested clarification on the convoy.

It came after Russia denied it had sent a separate armed convoy into Ukrainian territory that Kiev claims it partially destroyed.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said his forces had destroyed "much" of the Russian column, adding: "We won't tolerate any invasion."

Officials in Kiev said they tracked the vehicles, including armoured personnel carriers, from the border and then attacked with artillery.

The claim was partially verified by journalists from The Guardian and Daily Telegraph newspapers who said they saw around 23 Russian military vehicles crossing the border near the town of Donetsk on Thursday night.

The US later said it was not able to confirm whether Kiev's forces had attacked the convoy, but said Russia had no right to send vehicles into Ukraine.

Moscow's Defence Ministry dismissed Kiev's claim that it had sent a convoy into Ukraine as "some kind of fantasy".

The European Union said it would consider any Russian incursion as "a blatant violation of international law".

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin is due to meet his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Berlin on Sunday to discuss the crisis.

More follows...

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Migrants 'Risked Being Trapped For Days'

More than 30 migrants found in a container at Tilbury Docks could have been locked inside for days had the crew not heard their screams, a border policing expert told Sky News.

Tony Smith, director of Borderpol, said containers were often left at the dockside for long periods before being opened. 

 "These people were locked in, with no real idea when that container would have been opened.," he said.

"Were it not for an intervention at Tilbury, where they were heard inside, then they could have been in there for some days, just left on the dockside."

One person died and 34 others, including at least seven children, were discovered dehydrated and with hypothermia in the container at the Essex docks.

Mr Smith, whose organisation brings together intelligence on border issues, said he was certain the would-be migrants were put into the container by a crime gang.

"Let's be under no illusion, this is international organised crime," he said. 

"There are people involved in this business - they have no regard whatsoever for borders, they have no concern for the health and safety and welfare of their cargo, their human cargo - it's a miserable business."

Police have launched a 'homicide' investigation

Mr Smith said the route out of Zeebrugge was an unusual one for immigrants to take because they would need to be locked into the hard-sided containers.

"Usually most of the resources in the border forces are concentrated in Calais and northern France because the opportunist illegal immigrant, or would-be illegal immigrant, will seek to board a lorry there, a soft-sided vehicle," he said.

"We do target containers for commodities - drugs, illegal substances, but it's unusual for humans to get on board containers.

"It's important to emphasise the dangers of doing that because these containers are sealed units."

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