Policeman Saves Choking Motorist In Video

A New York City policeman came to the rescue of a female motorist who was choking on a lozenge while driving.

Officer Gregory Zakoscielny noticed the 49-year-old woman was having difficulty breathing and holding her throat as her car - with warning lights on - had stopped in the right hand lane.

He told the driver to step out of the vehicle and then performed the Heimlich manoeuvre on her which dislodged the lozenge blocking her airway.

She appeared okay afterwards and the whole incident was caught on the officer's on-board camera.

The officer was carrying out speed control on the Bronx highway when he saw the Ford Taurus come to a halt.

He pulled up behind the car, got out and noticed she was in difficulty.

He said to the woman: "Step out, step out of the car", adding: "Are you choking? You choking?"

He then carried out the choking procedure and the video ends with the officer calling for an ambulance to the scene as he waves another vehicle to pass.

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IS Releases Gruesome Full-Length Film

Freed Islamic State Hostages Return To Turkey

Updated: 3:51pm UK, Saturday 20 September 2014

Dozens of Turkish hostages seized by Islamic State militants in Iraq have been freed in what Turkey's president described as a secret rescue operation.

The 49 hostages - including diplomatic staff, special forces soldiers and children - were taken from the Turkish consulate in Mosul in Iraq on June 11 after the city was overrun by IS fighters.

Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said they were released after a "pre-planned operation" involving the country's intelligence services.

"After intense efforts that lasted days and weeks, in the early hours, our citizens were handed over to us and we brought them back to our country," he said.

The release of the hostages came as a full-length propaganda film produced by IS emerged.

It was not immediately clear what Turkey had done to secure the return of the hostages, but independent broadcaster NTV said no ransom was paid and there were no clashes with insurgents during the operation.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: "I thank the Prime Minister and his colleagues for the pre-planned, carefully calculated and secretly conducted operation throughout the night.

"MIT (the Turkish intelligence agency) has followed the situation very sensitively and patiently since the beginning and, as a result, conducted a successful rescue operation."

Police formed a cordon outside the airport in the southern Turkish city of Sanliurfa as the hostages arrived in buses with curtains drawn.

The Prime Minister, who cut short an official trip to Azerbaijan to travel to Sanliurfa, hugged the hostages before boarding a plane with them to the capital, Ankara.

Mr Davutoglu did not provide further details on the circumstances of the release, but said it was carried out through "MIT's own methods".

Hostages quizzed by journalists as they got off the plane said they could not go into detail as to the nature of their ordeal, but a couple of them hinted at ill treatment and death threats.

Alptekin Esirgun told the state-run Anadolou Agency that militants held a gun to Consul General Ozturk Yilmaz's head and tried to force him to make a statement.

Mr Yilmaz thanked Turkish officials involved in his release but did not give details about their captivity or how they were freed.

He refused to take more questions, saying: "I haven't seen my family for 102 days. All I want to do is to go home with them."

Seizure of the hostages put Turkey in a difficult position as a summit of 30 countries met in Paris last week to co-ordinate their response to IS.

The nations agreed to "support the Iraqi government by any means necessary - including military assistance".

Turkey resisted joining the coalition and the United States was careful not to push Ankara too hard as it worked to free the hostages.

The hostage release comes as Turkey opened up its border to thousands of Kurds fleeing clashes with IS in neighbouring Syria.

Under tight security, the refugees, mostly women and children, crossed to the Turkish side of the border in the southeastern village of Dikmetas.

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Miliband: More Important Things Than Devo Max

Ed Miliband has side-stepped the issue of constitutional change, saying the issue matters - but is not the priority for most voters.

Prime Minister David Cameron says all parts of the UK should have more powers after the independence referendum in Scotland, but Mr Miliband says the process is being rushed.

His comments come after former prime minister Gordon Brown said he was "utterly convinced" powers for Scotland would be delivered following the No vote.

But speaking ahead of the Labour Party conference in Manchester, Mr Miliband said: "The last few months have been about keeping our country together. The next eight months will be about how we can change our country together.

"Right across Britain, people are yearning for change. Constitutional change matters.

Scots voted to remain part of the UK by 55% to 45%

"But we all know something else matters even more. Our country doesn't work for everyday working people and only works for a privileged few at the top. And we've got to change it."

It followed the earlier speech by Mr Brown, whose intervention in the campaign has been credited with helping to secure a No vote, and who insisted the timetable for devolution he set out two weeks ago was on track.

A resolution on more powers will be signed by him and the three main party leaders in the House of Commons on Monday, he told a news conference in Dunfermline, Scotland.

The civil service is already working on the plans, which will be published "by the end of October," he added.

He said the timetable was a "way of bringing people together" and "this is time for Scotland to unite".

David Cameron is to sign the new powers proposals on Monday

"These are men who have been promise makers and they will not be promise breakers. I will ensure that as a promise keeper that these promises that have been made will be upheld.

"We will lock in today the promises that have been made and why the timetable we set out will be delivered."

He said the laws that will form the Scotland Bill, and eventually the Scotland Act, will be ready by Burns Day (January 25).

Mr Brown also praised Scotland First Minister Alex Salmond, who dramatically quit on Friday night after the country turned out in record numbers to reject a break from the UK by 55% to 45%.

Mr Salmond was a "fierce and formidable opponent" but people owed him a "debt of gratitude" for what he had done for Scotland, he said.

The outcome of the referendum vote saw 2,001,926 opting for the No camp, with 1,617,989 voting Yes to independence.

The Yes campaign won majorities in four areas, including Dundee and Glasgow.

Six people were arrested in Glasgow city centre on Friday night as police separated rival union and independence supporters.

Hundreds of people crowded into George Square, with a chorus of Rule Britannia countered by the Scottish anthem, Flower of Scotland.

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Body In Suitcase: Man 'Confesses To Killing'

An American man has confessed to killing his girlfriend's mother, whose body was found in a suitcase in Bali, police have said.

Tommy Schaefer, 21, said he carried out the crime after an argument with victim Sheila von Wiese Mack, officers added.

Schaefer's partner, Heather Mack, 19, claimed she watched him kill her mother and then helped stuff the body into the case, said the police chief in Bali's capital Denpasar.

The couple were arrested on the island on August 13, a day after the 62-year-old victim was discovered in the boot of a taxi at the St Regis hotel where the three had been staying.

Colonel Djoko Heru Utomo said: "Schaefer confessed to killing von Wiese-Mack during police interrogation. He was hurt and offended by the victim's words in an argument with him. That is the motive for the murder."

He said Ms Mack, who is three months' pregnant, admitted her involvement during a separate interrogation.

The suitcase which contained the victim's body

The pair are in custody in Bali while police investigate and could face the death penalty if found guilty of premeditated murder.

Police say they have interviewed dozens of witnesses, including the taxi driver and hotel employees, and some had reported an argument among the three over who should pay for the rooms.

Security camera video showed the victim having an argument with Schaefer in the hotel reception.

Police have said the couple hired the taxi and placed the suitcase inside the boot.

They then told the driver they were going to check out of the hotel and would return.

After they did not show up, hotel security guards who found blood on the suitcase suggested the driver take the vehicle to the police station. That was when officers opened the case and discovered the body.

Col Utomo said the pair were accompanied by their Indonesian and US lawyers during the interrogations.

The pair are yet to be charged with any crime because, under the Indonesian legal system, suspects are not formally charged until they appear in court at the start of a trial.

A trial will only begin once police have completed their investigations and passed the evidence to prosecutors. The victim and the suspects are all from the Chicago area.

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Freed Islamic State Hostages Return To Turkey

Dozens of Turkish hostages seized by Islamic State militants in Iraq have been freed in what Turkey's president described as a secret rescue operation.

The 49 hostages - including diplomatic staff, special forces soldiers and children - were taken from the Turkish consulate in Mosul in Iraq on June 11 after the city was overrun by IS fighters.

Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said they were released after a "pre-planned operation" involving the country's intelligence services.

"After intense efforts that lasted days and weeks, in the early hours, our citizens were handed over to us and we brought them back to our country," he said.

One the freed hostages is reunited with their family

The release of the hostages came as a full-length propaganda film produced by IS emerged.

It was not immediately clear what Turkey had done to secure the return of the hostages, but independent broadcaster NTV said no ransom was paid and there were no clashes with insurgents during the operation.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: "I thank the Prime Minister and his colleagues for the pre-planned, carefully calculated and secretly conducted operation throughout the night.

"MIT (the Turkish intelligence agency) has followed the situation very sensitively and patiently since the beginning and, as a result, conducted a successful rescue operation."

The PM (R) kisses Turkish consul-general Ozturk Yilmaz after his release

Police formed a cordon outside the airport in the southern Turkish city of Sanliurfa as the hostages arrived in buses with curtains drawn.

The Prime Minister, who cut short an official trip to Azerbaijan to travel to Sanliurfa, hugged the hostages before boarding a plane with them to the capital, Ankara.

Mr Davutoglu did not provide further details on the circumstances of the release, but said it was carried out through "MIT's own methods".

Hostages quizzed by journalists as they got off the plane said they could not go into detail as to the nature of their ordeal, but a couple of them hinted at ill treatment and death threats.

Mr Davutoglu (L) with the freed captives in Ankara

Alptekin Esirgun told the state-run Anadolou Agency that militants held a gun to Consul General Ozturk Yilmaz's head and tried to force him to make a statement.

Mr Yilmaz thanked Turkish officials involved in his release but did not give details about their captivity or how they were freed.

He refused to take more questions, saying: "I haven't seen my family for 102 days. All I want to do is to go home with them."

Seizure of the hostages put Turkey in a difficult position as a summit of 30 countries met in Paris last week to co-ordinate their response to IS.

The hostages were taken in Mosul and returned to Sanliurfa

The nations agreed to "support the Iraqi government by any means necessary - including military assistance".

Turkey resisted joining the coalition and the United States was careful not to push Ankara too hard as it worked to free the hostages.

The hostage release comes as Turkey opened up its border to thousands of Kurds fleeing clashes with IS in neighbouring Syria.

Under tight security, the refugees, mostly women and children, crossed to the Turkish side of the border in the southeastern village of Dikmetas.

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Jets Intercept Six Russian Planes Off US Coast

Two American fighter jets were scrambled after six Russian military planes approached the US coastline, officials said.

The F-22 jets intercepted the aircraft about 55 miles from the Alaskan coast on Wednesday evening, according to a spokesman for the North American Aerospace Defence Command (Norad).

The Russian planes were identified as two IL-78 refuelling tankers, two Mig-31 fighter jets and two Bear long-range bombers, said Lieutenant Colonel Michael Jazdyk.

They looped south and returned to their base in Russia after the Alaskan-based jets were scrambled.

On Thursday morning, two Canadian CF-18 fighter jets intercepted two Russian long-range bombers about 40 miles off the Canadian coastline in the Beaufort Sea.

File photo of Russian Bear bomber aircraft

In both cases, the Russian planes entered the Air Defence Identification Zone, which extends about 200 miles from the coastline.

They did not enter sovereign airspace of the United States or Canada.

Mr Jazdyk said the fighter jets were scrambled "basically to let those aircraft know that we see them, and in case of a threat, to let them know we are there to protect our sovereign airspace".

The US and Russia are increasingly at odds over the conflict in Ukraine, where Russian-backed separatists have been fighting for control of parts of the former Soviet state.

In the past five years, jets under Norad's command have intercepted more than 50 Russian bombers approaching North American airspace.

"We do not see these flights as a threat," said John Cornelio, another spokesman for Norad, which is a binational American and Canadian command responsible for air defence in North America.

Also this week, British fighter jets were scrambled to intercept two Russian planes flying through international airspace.

The Typhoon jets were sent to identify the planes, which turned out to be Russian military Bears.

A statement released by the RAF said the aircraft did not enter UK airspace.

The statement said the launch was the first time a Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) had been issued from RAF Lossiemouth since the Moray base took on the role of defending the UK's northern airspace.

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Woman's Road-Rage Attack Caught On CCTV

CCTV footage of a woman's vicious road-rage attack has been released by police, who are appealing for witnesses.

The victim of the assault is seen walking along Wellington Road in Birmingham's Perry Barr when her attacker grabs her around the neck and hurls her into a table outside a grocery store.

She is then pulled to her feet before being thrown to the ground once again, as bystanders look on.

Police say the victim had earlier asked the other woman to move the VW Tournan she was in as it was blocking her vehicle, only for her attacker to verbally abuse her in response.

Following the assault, officers say the woman spotted the victim making a note of her vehicle registration and attacked her again.

The woman being sought by police is described as white, in her early 20s, with long brown hair tied back in a ponytail, and wearing a black vest top and grey tracksuit bottoms.

The 44-year-old victim suffered a head injury and bruising following the assault, which took place at around 1pm on July 30.

PC Geraldine Sprigg, from West Midlands Police, said: "This was an unprovoked and violent attack on a woman who had asked the driver to move her car, which was blocking the road.

"The assault took place in the middle of the day and we are asking for anyone who saw the incident or who recognises the woman driver to contact us. The woman assaulted suffered pain and discomfort following the attack and may have lost consciousness for a short time."

Anyone with information is asked to call police at Birmingham West and Central on 101 or Crimestoppers, confidentially, on 0800 555111.

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Thai Murders: Hannah DNA Matches Asian Men

DNA taken from the body of murdered British tourist Hannah Witheridge matches that of two Asian men, Thai police say.

Officers also said they do not know if the killer is still on the island of Koh Tao, where she and David Miller, 24, were found murdered.

Sky News has obtained video of Ms Witheridge filmed in the hours before she was killed.

In the exclusive footage, she is seen on CCTV walking between bars with a group of friends.

Ms Witheridge, 23, from Great Yarmouth, suffered severe head wounds and Mr Miller died from blows to the head and drowning, post-mortem examinations showed.

Their bodies were found in a rocky area of Sairee beach on Monday.

A garden hoe with Ms Witheridge's blood on it was discovered nearby, and investigators are searching for a blunt metal object used on Mr Miller.

Sky's Jonathan Samuels, on Koh Tao (Turtle Island), said: "Today the head of Thailand's police flew to the island by helicopter - really a sense of how seriously now the Thai authorities are taking this investigation.

"He confirmed that two men's DNA that was found on Hannah's body have been analysed and he has confirmed those two samples are from two Asian men.

"Of course they have no idea at the moment, as far as we understand, who these two men may be.

"They have questioned many people on the island, but so far they tell us they have no firm suspects."

Ms Witheridge is seen leaving a bar with friends

DNA on a cigarette butt has been matched to semen found on Ms Witheridge, and officers say the cigarette was smoked by more than one person.

Police Colonel Kissana said officers have still not come up with the exact number of suspects, and confirmed they are looking for both male and female suspects.

He said reports that the FBI are involved in the investigation were incorrect, but confirmed they have British assistance.

A cash reward worth about £4,000 is being offered for information that leads to the arrest of the killers, he added.

Meanwhile, two British brothers who were questioned by police have been told they are free to return home to Jersey.

Christopher and James Ware, childhood friends of Mr Miller, were spoken to by officers but were never detained or named as suspects.

A group of Burmese migrants who were interviewed by police after bloodstains were found on their clothes have also been eliminated from police inquiries.

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Alice Gross Police Search Is Largest Since 7/7

By Tom Parmenter, Sky Correspondent

The search for missing teenager Alice Gross is now the biggest deployment of Metropolitan Police search assets since the 7/7 terror attacks in London.

The 14-year-old from Hanwell, west London, has been missing for 24 days and police continue to make new appeals for information.

Detectives revealed this week they are also searching for Latvian national Arnis Zalkans, 41, who disappeared from his home in nearby Ealing on September 3 - a week after Alice disappeared.

The 41-year-old was jailed in his native country in the late 1990s for murdering his wife and burying her in a forest following a dispute about her sexuality.

It has also emerged Zalkalns was arrested in London on suspicion of indecent assault on a 14-year-old girl in 2009, but was never charged.

Search teams, including dogs and divers, have been deployed across west London looking for Alice, and police say the search area is being widened.

Police are also hunting for Arnis Zalkalns who disappeared at the same time

Detective Superintendent Carl Mehta, said: "I would like to thank the local community who have shown great support to the search effort and police investigation so far.

"Our officers are working through the weekend - carrying on those searches. We will not stop our hunt for Alice. Whilst we have already seized many hundreds of hours of CCTV we still need the public's help.

"If you are a shop owner, have CCTV at your home, or were out filming in the areas of Ealing and Hanwell and have footage from the afternoon of Thursday 28 August when Alice was last seen, and right up to the 3 September when Arnis Zalkalns was last seen, then please get in touch with us.

"Save the footage, call into our incident room on 020 8358 0100, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111."

Some 630 officers from eight police forces have been involved in the hunt. They have searched 25sq km of open land and 5.5km of canals and rivers.

Former Met Police search adviser Keith Farquharson was involved in the operation after the 7/7 attacks.

He told Sky News: "There will be a whole team of officers following up leads, interviewing people, interviewing witnesses to glean that information that will lead to the actual whereabouts of Alice.

"That will be fed down to the search teams to give them a good idea and point them in the right direction."

Mr Farquharson explained that the police teams will continue to pursue new leads and will not be deterred by the length of time since Alice disappeared.

Zalkalns was seen on CCTV cycling along a path by the Grand Union Canal

"Never say never - it will always depend on that one snippet of information that could lead to the breakthrough in the case."

On Friday night, police searched a former home of Zalkalns in Hanwell.

The owner of the house, Radoslav Andric, said he last saw Zalkalns at the rental property two days before Alice went missing on August 28.

Mr Andric said the Latvian builder moved out more than a year ago, but had returned to see friends.

Police have recovered the suspect's red Trek bicycle from the property.

Forensic officers have also searched Zalkalns' semi-detached house in Ealing, where armed officers have been seen standing guard.

Zalkalns has not accessed his bank account or used his mobile phone since September 3, nor has he returned home to his partner and young child.

He was seen on CCTV footage cycling along a path by the Grand Union Canal 15 minutes after the last sighting of Alice.

Detectives believe he is likely to have seen Alice as they were both going north along the canal towpath.

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Jude Law Reveals His Hopes For Global Peace

Jude Law has told Sky News that he wants "as many people as possible" across the globe to "unite for peace".

On Sunday, a concert in Democratic Republic of Congo will kick off a campaign to end violence in the region, where millions have died over many years of conflict.

Special Correspondent Alex Crawford spoke to the British actor about his hopes and aspirations for the Peace One Day project, set up in 1999 by actor-turned-filmmaker Jeremy Gilley.

Peace One Day's efforts were rewarded in 2001 when member states of the United Nations adopted the first ever annual day of global ceasefire and non-violence on September 21.

Speaking to Crawford, Law said: "If we hope to have a sustainable peace plan globally, we have to start with one day.

"At the moment the idea is to have this day celebrated by as many people as possible, for it to be self-sustaining, and then let's look at peace for two days. At the moment we are still working towards one day."

The actor visited a UN camp outside the eastern city of Goma on Saturday, which houses some of the millions of people displaced by the fighting.

When asked by Crawford for his first impression of the scene that greeted him, he said: "Overwhelming."

Law spent time with some of the children at the camp's school, and told them: "I feel very positive for you because I think you all have a great deal to offer.

"The reason I've come and the reason all these people with cameras are here is because we want to tell the world about the positive story and the positive people like yourself and all the children here, around the world."

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