Scottish Labour Row May Cost Miliband Dearly

If Ed Miliband allowed himself to gloat over David Cameron being ambushed at the EU summit, and the Tories' battle with UKIP becoming even harder, he would have been foolish and even more out of touch than his critics claim he is.

Margaret Thatcher famously said that "in politics, the unexpected always happens". And the Labour leader probably wasn't expecting his party to be plunged into a civil war by the resignation of its leader in Scotland – just 24 hours after the Prime Minister was exploding in fury in Brussels.

But Johann Lamont's resignation, after what her critics claimed was a lacklustre performance in the Scottish referendum campaign, wasn't unexpected. Mr Miliband and many Scottish Labour MPs at Westminster say they knew earlier this week that it was coming.

What was unexpected was the ferocity of her onslaught on Mr Miliband and the Labour leadership in her valedictory interview in Scotland's Daily Record, triggering tartan turmoil in the party and revealing splits, rows and bitterness between Westminster and Holyrood.

She accused the Labour leadership in Westminster of treating the Scottish party as a "branch office" and branded some Westminster Labour MPs "dinosaurs… who think nothing has changed".

She complains that the party's Scottish general-secretary was ousted without her being consulted, making her position "untenable".

And, I'm told, she also wanted Eric Joyce kicked out of Parliament after his Westminster bar room brawl, rather than be allowed to remain as an MP sitting as an independent.

Johann Lamont surprised many MPs with her critical newspaper interview

Many will agree that she's right about Westminster "dinosaurs". Many Scottish Labour MPs are still guilty of shocking complacency, despite Alex Salmond winning an overall majority in the Scottish Parliament in the election of 2011, just before Johann Lamont became leader.

Those same Scottish Labour MPs, although no doubt mightily relieved by the No vote in the referendum, still don't seem to grasp the real threat that the SNP poses to Labour in many of its heartlands in the 2015 General Election, based on strong Yes votes in some of those strongholds in the referendum.

Video: Lamont's 'Stinging' Labour Attack

Labour currently holds 41 of the 59 Westminster seats in Scotland. And, leaving aside the row over "English votes for English laws", it needs to hold on to those – or even make a few gains – if Ed Miliband is to have any chance of becoming Prime Minister.

Yet it's estimated that one in three Labour supporters voted Yes in the referendum. And if that haemorrhaging of support was repeated in the General Election, Labour's 41 seats would be down to about 30. That could make the difference between Labour being in Government and staying in the Opposition.

In other words, however well Labour does against the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats in English and Welsh marginals, Labour losses to the SNP could rob Mr Miliband of an overall majority, or of leading the largest party in the Commons.

Video: Miliband: Debates Must Take Place

So the Labour disarray, rancour and infighting unleashed by the departing Johann Lamont won't just send shock waves throughout Scotland. It threatens to change the landscape in the whole of the UK.

If there was any gloating by Ed Miliband at David Cameron's Euro-nightmare, it will now have been brought to an abrupt end.

And just who will succeed Johann Lamont? Anas Sarwar? Jim Murphy? Gordon Brown? The job is beginning to look like a poisoned chalice.

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1. Gallery: Who Will Be The Next Scottish Labour Leader?

   Some of the politicians tipped to succeed Johann Lumant: Anas Sarwar is the MP for Glasgow Central, and will assume the role of acting leader of the Scottish Labour Party until a ballot takes place

2. Kezia Dugdale became an MSP for the Lothian Region in 2011, and also writes a column for the Daily Record, the same newspaper used by Johann Lumont to criticise the Labour Party

3. Gordon Brown, the former Prime Minister, has also been tipped for the role. He returned to front-line politics by encouraging the public to vote No in the independence referendum

4. Jim Murphy had insisted he was not going to begin a leadership challenge against Johann Lumont, but all that could now change now she has resigned

5. Douglas Alexander, the MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire South, already has a meaty role in Westminster as shadow foreign secretary

6. Jenny Marra is another MSP who entered Holyrood in 2011. She is deemed to have an outside chance of becoming the Scottish Labour leader

The one person who is gloating this weekend, despite falling short of victory in last month's referendum, is the cocky Alex Salmond, who couldn't resist pointing out that Scottish Labour is now going to have its fifth leader since he become Scotland's First Minister in 2007.

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Google Executive Sets New Freefall Jump Record

By Sean Dilley, Sky News Reporter

A senior Google executive has set a new record for the highest parachute jump at more than 135,000 feet (41,000 metres).

Fifty-seven-year-old Alan Eustace was lifted from an abandoned runway at an airport in New Mexico to the edge of space by a balloon filled with 35,000 cubic feet (990 cubic metres) of helium.

It broke the previous record, a 128,100 foot freefall achieved by 45-year-old Felix Baumgartner in October 2012.

Unlike the former record holder, who was 14 years his junior when he set the previous record, Google's senior vice president of knowledge chose to make his attempt in secret.

Mr Eustace set new record. Pic: Paragon Space Development Corporation

Mr Eustace spent two hours and seven minutes climbing to an altitude of 136,401 feet (41,575m or nearly 26 miles). He began his freefall at 135,890 feet.

Wearing a self-contained space suit similar to those used in the international space station, the computer scientist used an explosive device to separate himself from the balloon which elevated him.

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1. Gallery: Google Executive In Sky Dive Record Attempt

   Alan Eustace prepares to lift off. Pictures: Paragon Space Development Corporation

2. The Helium balloon is filled at a New Mexico airport

3. Mr Eustace is carried into the starting position

5. Mr Eustace is carried into space

7. Mr Eustace is protected by a pressurised suit

He descended towards the earth at speeds which peaked at more than 800mph, breaking the sound barrier and creating a sonic boom.

After landing, he said: "You could see the darkness of space and you could see the atmosphere, which I had never seen before.

"It was a wild, wild ride."

Mr Eustace has spent 34 months of secret planning and training with a team from Paragon Space Development Corporation to prepare for his four-and-a-half minute freefall.

Company CEO Grant Anderson said: "Together, Alan and the team extended human space flight to the stratosphere in an important step to solidify the safety of future human endeavours."

"This has opened up endless possibilities for humans to explore previously seldom visited parts of our atmosphere."

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Brazil To Elect President Amid Corruption Claim

By Karine Mayer, South America News Editor

Nearly 143 million people are expected to go to the polls in Brazil's presidential election run-off on Sunday.

The conservative elite are threatening to kick the left out of power after 12 years.

Voters will choose between incumbent Dilma Rousseff of the Workers Party and Social Democratic Party rival Aecio Neves.

The latest polls give her a slight lead.

The challenges for whoever wins will be to fight inflation which is creeping up and boost the economy that has slowed down in the last couple of years.

Ms Rousseff, 66, is a former Marxist guerrilla who fought military dictatorship and was imprisoned and tortured in the 1970s.

Her 54-year-old opponent, from an aristocratic family, has been trying to shed his playboy reputation.

More than 35,000 troops have been deployed

Mr Neves is the grandson of the first president who was elected democratically in 1985 but who died before he could take office.

As the last presidential debate started on Friday, a right-wing news magazine, Veja, published a corruption claim on its front page.

Video: Brazil Chooses: Neves Or Rousseff?

Between a picture of Ms Rousseff and former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (popularly known as Lula) were the words "they knew everything."

A former executive at Petrobras testified he had accepted bribes on behalf of the energy firm to give lucrative contracts to dozens of construction companies.

And he claimed he handed over some of the cash to Lula and Ms Rousseff's Worker's party (PT) and close allies.

Ms Rousseff has been trying to appeal to the business supporters of Mr Neves, and he in turn has promised to keep the welfare plan (bolsa familia) which helps nearly three million low income families.

All Brazilians aged between 18-70 have to vote, and in the fifth largest country in the world all polling stations have 'electronic urns'.

Some urns have a long road to travel.

In the northern state of Para, in the Amazon, urns had a 30-hour boat trip down the Amazon River and were then guided by the local indigenous people to their village Waiwai.

They are carefully guarded, with over 35,000 troops joining local police across the country.

Claudio Pereira, a Brazilian military police spokesperson, said: "This weekend, Saturday and Sunday, we will have 35,000 military police officers working for the election, guarding the ballot boxes, taking care of all the voting areas, 5,418 voting centres."

They will be focused in the poorer neighbourhoods and favelas or "communities" as they are known in Rio de Janeiro.

At the end of the last debate, each candidate addressed voters for a final time.

Ms Rousseff said: "I want a Brazil that wants to grow together."

Mr Neves said: "I represent a change of values and what you're looking for, no longer a political party."

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Scottish Labour Leader In Shock Resignation

Ed Miliband's leadership has come under fire again with the resignation of Scottish Labour Party leader Johann Lamont, as she claimed her colleagues "do not understand the politics they are facing".

The Glasgow MSP used her exit to criticise the party's leadership across the UK, and accused Westminster of trying to manage Scotland "like a branch office of London".

She added: "Colleagues need to realise that the focus of Scottish politics is now Holyrood, not Westminster.

"There is a danger of Scottish politics being between two sets of dinosaurs… the nationalists who can't accept they were rejected by the people, and some colleagues at Westminster who think nothing has changed."

Ed Miliband gave credit to Ms Lamont for her role in the referendum

It marks another setback for Ed Miliband ahead of next year's General Election - already, a group of Scottish Labour activists are pushing for their party to enjoy complete autonomy from London.

Speculation over Ms Lamont's leadership has grown since the referendum, with one senior aide confessing Scottish Labour needed to rediscover its "sense of purpose".

Video: Lamont's 'Stinging' Labour Attack

Nicola Sturgeon, due to become the First Minister in November once she replaces Alex Salmond as leader of the SNP, warned that "Scottish Labour really is in meltdown" if rumours of its tensions with Westminster were true.

Ms Lamont alluded to this in her resignation letter to Jamie Glackin, chair of the Scottish Labour Party.

She wrote: "Some, including senior members of the party, have questioned my place in this new phase. In order that we can have the real discussion about how we take Scottish Labour forward, I believe it would be best if I took myself out of the equation and stepped down as leader."

Video: Labour: Scotland Is Still Our Focus

In reaction to Friday's news, a Scottish Conservative spokesman said: "Johann Lamont's resignation has shown the complete chaos at the heart of Ed Miliband's operation in the starkest possible terms.

"The man isn't fit to run a village fete, never mind the UK."

In a statement, Mr Miliband said: "Johann Lamont deserves significant credit for the successful No vote in the Scottish referendum campaign.

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1. Gallery: Who Will Be The Next Scottish Labour Leader?

   Some of the politicians tipped to succeed Johann Lumant: Anas Sarwar is the MP for Glasgow Central, and will assume the role of acting leader of the Scottish Labour Party until a ballot takes place

2. Kezia Dugdale became an MSP for the Lothian Region in 2011, and also writes a column for the Daily Record, the same newspaper used by Johann Lumont to criticise the Labour Party

3. Gordon Brown, the former Prime Minister, has also been tipped for the role. He returned to front-line politics by encouraging the public to vote No in the independence referendum

4. Jim Murphy had insisted he was not going to begin a leadership challenge against Johann Lumont, but all that could now change now she has resigned

5. Douglas Alexander, the MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire South, already has a meaty role in Westminster as shadow foreign secretary

6. Jenny Marra is another MSP who entered Holyrood in 2011. She is deemed to have an outside chance of becoming the Scottish Labour leader

"She has led the Scottish Labour Party with determination."

Earlier this week, Scottish Labour was described as "going through a period of reflection" after the referendum, which saw large numbers of the party's supporters vote to leave the UK, despite the overall majority of Scots backing the union.

Ms Lamont, who took over as leader in December 2011, is the second Scottish party leader to resign since September's vote - and made her comments during a Daily Record interview.

Video: Fall-Out Over Scottish Referendum

The first to quit, Alex Salmond MSP, said: "The fact that Scottish Labour are now going to have their fifth leader since the SNP took office in 2007 indicates that their problems are not about personalities - they are much more deep-seated than that.

"It was always very clear that Johann Lamont was never able to be meaningfully in charge of Labour in Scotland, and that is laid bare in dramatic fashion in her resignation comments."

Gordon Brown, who is one of the favourites to succeed the mother-of-two, said: "I am sorry to hear than Johann has resigned.

Video: Gordon Brown On Devolution

"She brought determination, compassion and a down-to-earth approach to the leadership and deserves great credit for taking on the challenge after 2011.

"I wish her well in the future."

Meanwhile, Tony Blair, another former Labour Prime Minister, has had to deny rumours that he privately believes Mr Miliband will not win the next General Election.

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Attacker Among Two Dead In School Shooting

By Sky News US Team

A school student who went on a shooting spree before killing himself wrote a series of chilling tweets in the months before he ran amok with a gun.

Jaylen Fryberg opened fire in a cafeteria, murdering one teenager and critically injuring three others at Marysville-Pilchuck High School in Marysville, about 35 miles north of Seattle, Washington.

The gunman was reported to be initially "quiet" before opening fire on fellow diners.

Each of the 15-year-old's victims have gunshot wounds to the head, and the two teenage boys hurt in the attack, Nate Hatch, 14, and Andrew Fryberg, 15, were cousins of the killer.

Gunman Jaylen Fryberg Pic: Facebook

The teenage girl who remains in a critical condition has been named locally as Shaylee Chuckulnaskit, whose uncle told local TV station KIRO that "he wasn't sure she'd make it".

Calvin Walker, who was in the cafeteria at the time, added: "I didn't think there was any hope of them being OK because of how close he shot them. I knew it was going to be bad."

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1. Gallery: Students Distraught After High School Shooting

   Police have said two people are dead, including an armed student, after a shooting at a high school north of Seattle

2. The attacker was named as Jaylen Fryberg

3. He had made a number of emotional posts on Twitter in recent days

4. The attacker took his own life in the incident at Marysville-Pilchuck High School in Washington state

5. Three young people are in a "very critical condition" and one other is in a serious condition

6. Witnesses said the freshman took a gun out of his backpack in a cafeteria and opened fire

7. TV footage showed students being evacuated from the school, which has about 2,500 enrolled

8. Armed police conducted room-to-room searches with guns drawn

9. A vigil was held on Friday night at a church close to the school

10. School is closed for students and teachers next week, in respect for the victims

11. One student has said that everyone is affected by the shooting in one way or another

Another student said: "At first I thought it was just someone making a really loud noise, like a bag, like a pretty loud pop, until I heard four more after that, and I saw three kids just fall from the table like they were falling to the ground dead."

Eyewitnesses have told reporters that a new teacher at the school, Megan Silberberger, tried to intervene during the shooting spree.

They claim the Social Studies tutor managed to restrain his arms, but during the struggle, the gun fired again, leaving Fryberg with a fatal wound to the neck.

The teenager left a series of posts on Twitter before his attack which painted a picture of a boy who was familiar with using weapons.

Next to an Instagram picture of him holding a hunting rifle, he wrote: "Probably the best BirthDay present ever! I just love my parents!!!!"

In August, he issued a threat to an apparent love rival, saying: "Your not gonna like what happens next."

On 18 September he wrote: "Did you forget she was my girlfriend?" and later tweeted: "Dude. She tells me everything. And now. I... hate you! Your no longer my brother."

On Tuesday, one of a series of tweets said: "It breaks me... It actually does... I know it seems like I'm sweating it off... But I'm not.. And I never will be able to."

In his last post on Thursday, Fryberg stated: "It won't last... It'll never last..."

Fryberg was crowned the school's freshman "homecoming prince" just a week ago, according to some US media.

On Friday night, a candlelit vigil was held for the victims of the school shooting in a nearby church.

The high school is going to be closed throughout next week out of respect for the injured.

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Egypt Declares Emergency After Sinai Attack

A three-month state of emergency has come into force in parts of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula after a suicide car bomb attack killed more than 30 soldiers.

The bombing on Friday was carried out by a suspected jihadist who rammed a checkpoint with his explosives-packed vehicle, security officials said.

The attack, in an agricultural area northwest of El Arish, the main town in north Sinai, killed 33 soldiers and left more over 25 injured, medics said.

A senior army official and five officers were said to be among those wounded.

State-run TV said clashes between troops and militants followed the bombing, without providing further details. 

Video: What Could Egypt Do About I.S.?

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said: "I strongly condemn today's terrorist attack in North Sinai, which has led to such a tragic loss of life. 

"We stand with the Egyptian government in their fight against terrorism. There can never be a justification for such actions.

"I will be offering my personal condolences to Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri when we meet on Monday in London and look forward to discussing practical cooperation to tackle terrorism during our talks." 

The Egyptian presidency said the three-month emergency measures would include a daily curfew from 5pm to 7am.

The decision was also taken to close the Rafah crossing into the Gaza Strip, the only route into the Palestinian territory not controlled by Israel.

Video: Egypt's 'Crime Against Humanity'

"The army and the police will take all necessary measures to tackle the dangers of terrorism and its financing, to preserve the security of the region... and protect the lives of citizens," the presidential decree said.

President Abdel Fattah al Sisi also claimed that external support had been given to the attackers.

"It is very important to know the motives behind this operation," he said.

"Let me tell you first of all that there are external motives behind this operation. External support was given to those who undertook this operation against the Egyptian army, as we've seen.

"Why? Pay attention, I'm talking to all Egyptians. This was done to break the will of Egypt and the Egyptians. This was done to break the will of the army."

Video: Middle East: Egypt

Militants also shot dead an officer and wounded two soldiers on Friday at another checkpoint south of El Arish, security officials said.

Jihadists in the peninsula have killed scores of policemen and soldiers since Islamist president Mohammed Morsi was overthrown to avenge a police crackdown on his supporters.

President Abdel Fattah al Sisi, the army chief who toppled Mr Morsi and later won elections, has pledged to eradicate the militants.

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Automatic Quarantine In US For Ebola Medics

New York, New Jersey and Illinois are to begin automatically quarantining medical staff who return from areas badly affected by Ebola.

The decision by the health authorities follows former Doctors Without Borders medic Craig Spencer testing positive for the disease several days after he returned from Guinea.

The World Health Organisation says the number of Ebola deaths has risen to 4,922 and the total cases passed the 10,000 mark at 10,141, mostly in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

Dr Spencer, 33, was able to travel on the subway and go bowling before he showed the classic symptoms of the virus and had to go to hospital.

The US government said it was considering adopting the move for the whole country after it emerged that Dr Spencer had already been checked at the border and declared safe.

Video: Ebola Response: Science Not Fear

Hours after the policy was announced, a female healthcare worker who had been quarantined when she arrived from the affected region into Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey, was isolated with a fever.

Preliminary tests have come back negative for the Ebola virus, but the woman continues to be monitored at University Hospital, Newark.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said. "We've seen what happens... You ride a subway. You ride a bus. You could infect hundreds and hundreds of people."

Video: Cured Texas Ebola Nurse 'Blessed'

President Barack Obama praised New York City's quick reaction to its first Ebola case and said he has promised local officials any federal help they need.

He said the US must be guided by science and not fear as it responded to Ebola, insisting the disease can be beaten if people remain vigilant.

The president also sought to reassure members of the public by hugging Dallas nurse Nina Pham, who was one of the first to be treated for the virus in the US.

Video: Ebola: Busting The Myths

She had caught it while working as one of the medical staff treating a man who had earlier arrived from Liberia and who later died of the disease.

Ms Pham, 26, was declared cured on Friday, and gave a speech, thanking those who had treated her.

She said: "I feel fortunate and blessed to be standing here today."

Video: How Ebola Attacks The Human Body

Officials said she did not take any experimental drugs, but she did use blood plasma from previous survivor Dr Kent Brantly, who she also thanked.

Her colleague Amber Vinson, who caught the disease at the same time, was also declared cured, but was not yet well enough to leave hospital.

Dr Spencer remains in a stable condition in an isolation ward at Bellevue Hospital in New York undergoing treatment.

Video: Liberia Gripped By Ebola Virus Fear

The latest case comes as the World Health Organisation announced that it expects hundreds of thousands of doses of a new Ebola vaccine to be available by early next year.

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Fourth Man From Portsmouth Dies In Syria

A jihadist fighter has become the fourth man from the same British city to be killed in Syria.

Mehdi Hassan, from Portsmouth, Hampshire, had travelled to the conflict-hit country with a group of four other men in October last year.

A photo of the 19-year-old's body emerged on Twitter on Friday.

His family have confirmed his death, Abdul Jalil, chairman of the Portsmouth Jami Mosque, told Sky News.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We are aware of reports of the death of a British national in Syria.

"The UK has advised for some time against all travel to Syria, where all UK consular services are suspended.

"As we do not have any representation in Syria, it is extremely difficult to get any confirmation of deaths or injuries.

"And our options for supporting British nationals there are extremely limited."

On Tuesday, it emerged a third Portsmouth man, Manunur Roshid, had been killed.

The 24-year-old was understood to have joined up with fighters from the Islamic State (IS).

Two of his companions, Ifthekar Jaman, 23, and Muhammad Humidur Rahman, 25, had already died.

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Woman Hanged In Iran Despite Retrial Campaign

A woman has been executed in Iran after being convicted of murdering a man who she claimed was trying to rape her.

Reyhaneh Jabbari, 27, was hanged in a Tehran prison despite an international campaign to stop the execution.

She was sentenced to death in 2009 for killing former intelligence agent Morteza Abdolali Sarbandi.

But Amnesty International said she had been convicted after a "deeply flawed" investigation and trial.

She apparently admitted to stabbing him in the back but said another man also in the house killed him, according to the human rights organisation.

Amnesty said her claims do not appear to have ever been properly investigated and it had called for a retrial.

A Facebook page, with more than 17,000 likes, was set up to try to save her from execution - it now says Rest In Peace.

Her execution had been put off several times, including in the last month.

Britain has said it is "concerned and saddened" by the execution.

Foreign Office minister Tobias Ellwood said there were "questions around due process" in the case and that such actions would not help Iran improve relations with the rest of the world.

Amnesty spokeswoman Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui said: "The shocking news that Reyhaneh Jabbari has been executed is deeply disappointing in the extreme.

"This is another bloody stain on Iran's human rights record.

"Tragically, this case is far from uncommon. Once again Iran has insisted on applying the death penalty despite serious concerns over the fairness of the trial."

Jabbari was hanged at dawn on Saturday for premeditated murder, the official IRNA news agency reported.

It quoted the court ruling as rejecting the attempted rape claim and saying all evidence proved Jabbari had plotted to kill the victim.

The court ruling said she stabbed him in 2007 after buying a knife two days earlier.

The execution was carried out after his family refused to pardon Jabbari or accept blood money.

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Cream Bassist Jack Bruce Dies Aged 71

Musician Jack Bruce has died from liver disease, aged 71, his family said.

The legendary bassist was most famous for his work with guitarist Eric Clapton and drummer Ginger Baker in 1960s group Cream.

Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker and Eric Clapton at London Airport in 1967

He died on Saturday at his home in Suffolk surrounded by his family, his publicist Claire Singers said.

His family said in a statement: "It is with great sadness that we, Jack's family, announce the passing of our beloved Jack: husband, father, granddad, and all round legend.

"The world of music will be a poorer place without him but he lives on in his music and forever in our hearts."

Bruce died at his home in Suffolk

Cream sold 35 million albums in just over two years before breaking up in 1968.

They were awarded the world's first ever platinum disc for their LP Wheels of Fire.

Bruce wrote and sang most of their famous songs, including I Feel Free, White Room, and the catchy guitar riff in Sunshine Of Your Love.

In 2005, Bruce reunited with Clapton and Baker for Cream's first tour in 37 years.

In May the band played four nights at London's Royal Albert Hall.

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