Rugby Football Union: 'Ref-Cam' To Be Trialled

The Rugby Football Union (RFU) will trial a "ref-cam" for the first time later today during the Championship tie between Newcastle Falcons and London Scottish.

Match official Matt Carley will have a camera attached to his shirt to show television viewers close-ups of the on-field action.

Referees at televised matches are already connected to microphones which help broadcast the dialogue between players and officials.

In both union and league rugby codes, cameras are also located in the dressing rooms.

RFU official Ed Morrison has backed the camera's use on the field

However, this is the first time a camera has been used in this way.

Ed Morrison, the RFU's head of elite referee development, said he was impressed by the quality of the footage in a training ground trial.

"I was gobsmacked really by the quality of the footage that came from it," he said.

"The quality of the filming from this one little camera that was worn on the chest of the referee blew me away really.

The camera will give viewers a brand new aspect on matches

"From that point on I thought: 'There's something in this for us.'"

However former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher said football should not follow suit.

"I don't want the general public to listen in to conversations between referees and players on the field," he said.

"There's a lot of interaction, there's a lot of man management, you'd be fascinated how much players talk to referees and referees talk to players.

"That's a way of dealing with them, it's a very effective tool that the referee uses to keep control of the matches."

20.14 | 0 komentar | Read More

Hospital's £400,000 Payout Over Care Failings

A hospital has apologised and paid out more than £400,000 for 38 cases of failings in patient care.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said he was "disgusted and appalled" at the accounts of suffering and neglect at Redditch's Alexandra Hospital.

Health bosses are now writing to all of the families involved to apologise, after legal action exposed years of bad practice.

Claims ranged from nurses taunting patients to leaving an elderly woman unwashed for 11 weeks.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said he was 'disgusted and appalled'

In one case, a man had starvation recorded as the cause of his death after being treated at the hospital for two months.

Many of the families are to receive compensation for cases that their lawyer described as "appalling".

In total the hospital has paid out £410,000 in 38 separate cases, five to people who survived, the rest to those whose relatives died.

The hospital did not admit liability but agreed to apologise fully to the families.

A spokesman for Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust said the hospital has massively improved.

"Whilst the Trust has accepted that certain aspects of the care afforded to some patients fell below the standard that they were entitled to expect, all of the cases cited are several years old, in many incidences, more than a decade old.

"This Trust now has the sixth best standard hospital mortality index (SHMI) in the Midlands and East Strategic Health area based on 2012/13 figures which put the figure at 97 - which is below the national average.

"A number of very serious allegations made by the families of deceased patients are not borne out by the medical records.

"Nevertheless, the Trust accepts that, the care afforded to some patients, some years ago - between 2002 and 2009 - fell below the requisite standard and has apologised for the shortcomings."

Mr Hunt said the Government was acting to ensure failings in care were detected more quickly.

20.14 | 0 komentar | Read More

Sally Bercow's Twitter Account Hacked Again

Sally Bercow's Twitter account has been hacked for the second time in two months.

The controversial wife of the Speaker of the House of Commons had signed off to her followers for Christmas.

However, hours later her account had been hacked and a stream of offensive, sexually explicit messages posted.

The hacker, who struck at 2.20am, criticised the strength of her password in the first post tweeting: "Berkow [sic] password got it. So ******* obvio0us she is a bint."

Mrs Bercow had bid her followers goodbye for the Christmas break saying: "kids break up today & I'm aiming 4 an old-fashioned, twitter-free Xmas. Yes, really".

Her Twitter account was taken down hours after the hack attack, although it was not clear whether it was removed by the hacker, the social networking site or Mrs Bercow herself.

Sally Bercow arrives to take part in Celebrity Big Brother

Mrs Bercow, who has courted notoriety by posing naked but for a strategically placed bedsheet and appearing on Celebrity Big Brother, was previously hacked in November.

It followed a series of gaffes she had made on the social networking site, including breaching a court order by naming a schoolgirl and linking Lord McAlpine to the flawed Newsnight programme about child abuse.

She had been advised by both her lawyers and her husband not to continue to use Twitter and posted a message saying: "Looking at tweets but (sadly) can't reply (#lawyerswhippedmyass #asdidMrB). So text/email/DM if you're a mate. Hope 2 b back soon.xx"

Days later she was hacked by a user who called her a "stupid woman" and again criticised how easy it was to crack her password.

She closed down her account immediately after but returned to the social networking site just over a week later.

20.14 | 0 komentar | Read More

Flood Warnings Amid More Travel Misery

Scores of flood warnings are in place across the country after days of heavy rainfall, as homeowners, businesses and travellers suffer more disruption.

Around 160 flood warnings issued for England and Wales, along with 31 in Scotland, which means flooding is expected and immediate action is required.

There are also more than 300 alerts where flooding is possible, and one severe warning remains active at Helston in Cornwall - meaning there is a danger to life.

Further heavy downpours are predicted during the day. In the Stonehaven area of Aberdeenshire, dozens of homes are being evacuated due to "significant flooding".

Many residents in the South West of England face Christmas with floodwater in their homes, and communities across the UK are on alert.

Cornwall has been particularly badly hit, including the town of Lostwithiel where residents looked on helplessly overnight as flood water lapped at the sandbags protecting their homes.

But water levels have now been dropping there.

Flooding in Stonehaven. Aberdeenshire, (Pic: COLINTHIRD1969)

For train passengers, the chances of getting home for Christmas could be hampered by the effects of the heavy downpours.

Those unable to travel on Saturday because of cancelled services will put further pressure on the network as they reschedule their journeys.

Dozens of routes have been affected by heavy rain in recent days, and flooding was so bad in the South West that First Great Western advised passengers not to travel west of Taunton unless their journeys were essential.

Several train operators struggled to provide replacement buses due to flooded roads and a lack of available vehicles.

Most of the flood warnings are in the South West, Midlands and the Anglian region.

A woman is rescued from flood water in Umberleigh, Devon

There will be some heavy rain in Scotland today, while England, Wales and Ireland will have drier conditions during the day.

However, it will turn wet later, with outbreaks of rain moving into the south-west of England and then heading north.

Sky News weather presenter Nazaneen Ghaffar said: "Tonight outbreaks of rain will move into the south-west of England and then spread to all of the south, including southern Wales by midnight.

"The rain will continuing spreading further north into the rest of Wales, central England, the Midlands, the Republic of Ireland and as far north as Yorkshire and Lancashire.

"Some of the rain will be heavy, especially for south-west England and southern Wales."

In Looe, Cornwall, heavy rain caused two landslides which cut off the nearby the village of Hannafore.

In Umberleigh, Devon, a police helicopter helped in the search and rescue of a woman who had been swept away from her vehicle during flooding in the area.

She was found clinging to branches of a tree on the banks of the swollen River Taw.

Her husband and son were rescued by passers-by while the woman had tried to clamber to safety onto the top of the car but was swept away.

She managed to grab hold of a branch and clung on while a police helicopter hovered overhead. Robin Goodlad, the RNLI's incident commander said the rescue had been an "heroic" effort.

20.14 | 0 komentar | Read More

Boat Capsizes: Search For Missing Person

One person is missing and two people have been recovered from the water in Poole Harbour after a small boat capsized.

More follows...

20.14 | 0 komentar | Read More

Retailers Geared Up For 'Busiest Day'

By Tadhg Enright, Business Correspondent

As the last full shopping day before Christmas Eve, today is expected to be the busiest day of the year on high streets and in shopping centres.

The British Retail Consortium expects between £4bn and £5bn to be spent throughout this weekend.

Researchers at the credit card company, Visa, have forecast sales to peak this afternoon between 2pm and 3pm.

At Brent Cross Shopping Centre in north London, management think today could be their busiest on record and extra security and traffic staff have been deployed to help customers.

Centre manager Tom Nathan told Sky News: "Everything shows us that when Christmas is on a Tuesday and the schools only broke up yesterday that today is going to be enormous because people haven't had the chance to go and do their full Christmas shop.

"So combine that with buying the turkey - and today is the start of the big turkey run - and today is going to be a huge one I think."

But the Local Government Association said confidence on the high street remained low.

Its annual Christmas survey found that 84% of town centre managers said confidence among shoppers had either not improved or worsened compared with this time last year.

It also suggested that the particularly cold and wet start to the winter could also be taking its toll on the number of shoppers visiting town centres.

Sales at Brent Cross Shopping Centre could be the busiest yet

Normally the busiest day of the year is December 23 - the last day before Christmas Eve - but this year that falls on a Sunday when trading hours for bigger shops are restricted by law to just six hours.

Big name retailers including John Lewis, Morrisons and Marks & Spencer failed in a bid to convince the Government to relax the restrictions on Sunday trading tomorrow.

M&S has responded by opening more than 100 of its stores at 12.01am on Christmas Eve morning to help shoppers get their Christmas essentials in time.

An M&S spokesman said: "We know that the days leading up to Christmas are some of the most hectic for our customers.

"Due to Sunday trading rules, we can only open for six hours on one of the busiest days of the year.

"We hope that these early bird hours on Monday will ease the pressure and give busy shoppers a bit more time to pick up Christmas food orders or last minute presents."

Waitrose, part of John Lewis, will also extend Christmas Eve trading hours in two thirds of its supermarkets by opening an hour earlier at 7am and closing an hour later at 6pm.

Sky News visited one of its four regional distribution centres at its head office in Bracknell, Berkshire, and saw staff working to deliver twice the normal volume of food to its stores.

They will be working 24 hours a day between now and 6am on Christmas Eve to ensure Waitrose shelves remain stocked.

But management are disappointed for them and their customers that trading will be curtailed on December 23 which is usually their most important shopping day.

Waitrose supply chain director David Jones told Sky News: "If you can imagine what you'd normally take in trading over 14 hours and shrinking that into six hours, it's quite challenging as you walk around the supermarket.

"You're trying to get people through checkouts and we would have loved to have had the opportunity to trade for a longer time."

Mr Jones will be taking time out from his executive duties to man the tills in his local branch over Christmas.

20.14 | 0 komentar | Read More

Domestic Abuse Charities May Not Cope At Xmas

By Isabel Webster, West of England Correspondent

Cuts to domestic abuse charities are "putting victims at risk" as organisations warn they are expecting more cases than ever during the festive period.

The Association of Chief Police Officers reports a much higher volume of 999 calls from women over the Christmas holiday.

Gwent Police Chief Constable Carmel Napier said: "Normal life is not going on. The children aren't at school. People aren't at work.

"The expectation of a good time adds pressure and alcohol can be an aggravating factor.

"This combination of factors seems to cause a combustion of tensions that are already there."

According to the charity Refuge, one in four women in England and Wales experience domestic abuse in their lifetime and two women a week die.

Carol, a mother-of-four from Bristol, managed to escape her abusive relationship with the help of the grassroots charity, Survive.

Over several years her partner physically and mentally abused her, sometimes in front of her young children.

"The first night anything happened he just took his belt off and started whipping me. I was so shocked as I'd never seen him violent before," Carol said.

"He hit me with his mobile phone, so hard it left an imprint on my chest. He said he was going to kill me and threatened to throw me out the window - picking me up by my throat. He said he was going to rip my head off.

"But the worst part was the mental abuse. I had to walk behind him, I was timed if I went out to pick up the kids and had to ask permission to leave the room to go to the loo.

"I thought if I just did what I was told, if I was better, I could make it right for everyone, but I was never going to win."

Survive chief exec Anna Smith says charity is under increasing pressure

Carol is now safe and rebuilding her life, but the effect on her and her children remains.

Breaking down in tears, she sobbed: "If I'd known what I know now - what a bad effect it would have on my kids I would have got out sooner.

"I tried to protect them physically but you can't protect someone mentally from what they hear, what they see."

Carol maintains that Survive is the one good thing that came out of her ordeal.

But the charity, which supports women in South Gloucestershire and Bristol, is under growing pressure.

It has seen a 76% increase in high risk cases in the last year.

Over the Christmas period it estimates it will have to turn away 15% of the women and their families who need emergency refuge.

Chief Executive Anna Smith said: "We've been cut, yet we're seeing more women and children than ever.

"I am seriously concerned about it. Vulnerable people won't necessarily be able to get access to the help that they need this Christmas."

20.14 | 0 komentar | Read More

Weather: Heavy Rain Sparks Christmas Misery

Families preparing for Christmas have been hit by floods and travel chaos as heavy rain batters Britain.

The south west of England has been particularly badly affected by the downpours and four severe flood warnings for Devon and Cornwall are now in place.

Conditions are so bad that train passengers in the south west and in Wales have been told not to travel unless it is essential.

Some residents in Helston, Cornwall, were evacuated overnight after river levels rose and the Environment Agency warned that widespread flooding was "imminent".

There are fears about the River Cober in the town with more rain expected later on Saturday, raising fears some families may not be back home for Christmas.

Cornwall Council spokeswoman Trisha Hewitt said: "There is expected to be 30mm of rainfall during a six hour period from 5pm.

"As this is falling on saturated ground, this could cause further flooding."

Floods in Helston, Cornwall, led to homes being evacuated

Across the county, more than 100 homes have been affected so far.

The River Fowey is also subject to a severe flood warning, with another two for the River Caen in Braunton, Devon.

Braunton, which is in north Devon, has already been effectively cut off after the river burst its banks.

Liz Spear, chairman of Braunton Parish Council, said a river was running through the centre of the town.

:: Click for travel and weather updates on the Sky News live blog

:: Click here for all the latest from Sky News weather

:: Click here for the latest Environment Agency warnings

There are a further 101 flood warnings across the country, where flooding is expected, and another 301 alerts where it is considered possible.

Flood-hit streets in York

The water has already led to major issues on road and train networks, spelling trouble for Britons travelling this weekend.

First Great Western urged passengers to avoid any journeys west of Taunton because of flooding and landslips and its Plymouth to Taunton service has been cancelled.

People were being transported by road but this replacement service has also been hampered by the amount of water.

Services between Par and Newquay and Exeter St Davids and Barnstaple have also been suspended.

In South Wales, signal problems are causing major disruption with no services currently between Newport and Cardiff Central. Flooding at Neath is also affecting Swansea services.

Near Brighton, a major signalling problem caused by a fire yesterday that affected electrical cables and railside signalling equipment at Preston Park has sparked problems.

Diversions are in place, with trains between Brighton and Gatwick airport travelling half-hourly and buses laid on for some passengers.

There are also signalling problems affecting some Cross Country and London Midland routes in and around Birmingham.

Flooding near Rhoose Cardiff International Airport is causing disruption on Arriva Trains Wales.

A man wading through Braunton, Devon

And there remain problems on all London Midland routes because of driver shortages that have been an issue since October.

Replacement bus services are also in place between Bedford and Bletchley because of a lack of crew and in Liskeard and Looe in Cornwall due to flooding.

A landslip has caused rail problems in the Glazebrook area near Warrington, affecting some First TransPennine Express services and links to Manchester.

On the roads, the A38 from Bodmin towards Exeter is currently closed because of flooding. The northbound exit slip road on the A19 in Cleveland at the junction with the A139 is also shut.

There are also delays on the A27 eastbound between B2144 and A285 near Chichester because of flooding.

Mike Williams, from the Environment Agency, said: "This is the last weekend before Christmas, so it will be particularly busy with people travelling through the region.

"We would urge people to take extra care when planning their journeys and we aware of the risk of flooding.

"Our teams have been out around the clock to minimise the risks and prepare for flooding.

"People need to keep up to date with the weather forecast and remain prepared for flooding in their area and stay away from dangerous flood water or attempting to drive through it."

Rain is affecting much of the UK (Pictures: Met Office)

Britons attempting to get to Heathrow have also been hit by changes to the Heathrow Express service, which on Friday forced thousands of passengers onto the Underground.

Trains are running normally on Saturday but are due to start later on Sunday and will then not run at all on Christmas Day and Boxing Day because of engineering work.

British Airways alone is set to handle nearly 31,000 passengers on Christmas Day as an estimated four million Britons travel abroad for the rest of the holidays.

There was some good news after two main line rail strikes that threatened to cause travel chaos over the Christmas period were called off.

But the train drivers' union Aslef is still striking on Boxing Day in a move that will hit the Underground and has already forced the cancellation of the Arsenal-West Ham United football match.

The other main train problem for the festive period is likely to be engineering work on the West Coast Line.

There are no direct services from London Euston to Milton Keynes, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool or Glasgow on December 23 and 24.

Direct services resume on December 27 but with two of the four lines closed up to and including New Year's Eve.

:: SEND US YOUR WEATHER PICTURES - Email news@sky.com or use Twitter @skynews

20.14 | 0 komentar | Read More

A Middleton Christmas For Kate And William

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are to spend Christmas Day privately with the Middleton family, St James' Palace has announced.

Kate and William will break with tradition by not celebrating with the Queen and the rest of the royal family in Sandringham.

The decision will help the couple avoid the public eye and allow Kate to rest as she continues to battle acute morning sickness.

But it will come as a disappointment to royal fans who traditionally turn out to see the family attend church on Christmas morning.

Kate at BBC Sports Personality Of The Year

Last year, Kate and William were a huge draw as they made the walk from Sandringham up to St Mary Magdalene Church for the first time as man and wife.

Staying in Berkshire also means that the Duchess of Cambridge will be within closer reach of King Edward VII hospital in London where she was treated for hyperemesis gravidarum.

The move was made with the approval of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh and the couple will visit Sandringham at some point over the holiday.

Prince Harry will also not be at Sandringham this year because he is still serving in Afghanistan.

Kate, 30, is now believed to be close to the end of her first trimester after being forced to go public with her pregnancy early due to her illness.

She spent several days in hospital at the start of December after becoming sick during another weekend with her parents.

Since then, she has been resting at Kensington Palace in central London and cancelled all her scheduled appearances.

The Duchess did manage to recover enough to present the BBC Sports Personality Of The Year Award to Bradley Wiggins last Sunday.

And she was also seen going to the wider royal Christmas celebrations at Buckingham Palace earlier this week.

Experts have warned that she could continue to suffer with severe sickness throughout the pregnancy.

Kate was a big hit in Sandringham on Christmas Day last year

Kate's sister Pippa has given an insight into her Middleton family's festive plans.

Writing in the latest edition of The Spectator magazine, she said Christmas in Bucklebury was likely to be "blissfully calm".

"Home is, happily, where I'll be this year," she said. "The Middletons' Christmas should be blissfully calm. We're good at keeping each other's spirits up."

And she revealed that her father Michael liked to surprise the family by appearing in fancy dress.

"He buys a new costume each year and typically gets a bit carried away - a couple of Christmases ago, he appeared in an inflatable sumo outfit," she wrote.

20.14 | 0 komentar | Read More

Royal Prank Call: CPS To Consider Charges

Police investigating the royal hospital prank call have handed a file to lawyers for them to consider bringing charges.

The Crown Prosecution Service will now consider the police evidence to see if criminal offences have been committed and whether charges should be brought over the call to the hospital where the Duchess of Cambridge was being treated.

A nurse working at the King Edward VII Hospital, where the Duchess was being treated for severe morning sickness, killed herself after being duped by the hoax call from two Australian radio presenters.

Jacintha Saldanha, 46, transferred the call from the DJs pretending to be the Queen and Prince Charles to the ward where the Duchess was being treated. Another nurse gave them details of her condition.

Jacintha Saldanha and her husband Ben Barboza

Ms Saldanha, a mother-of-two, was found dead in nurses accommodation just three days later on December 7. She had hanged herself.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will now consider whether any potential offences may have been committed, Scotland Yard said.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "Following the death of Jacintha Saldanha, officers have liaised with the CPS as to whether any criminal offences had been committed in relation to the hoax call made to King Edward VII Hospital in the early hours of Tuesday December 4.

"On Wednesday December 19, officers submitted a file to the CPS for them to consider whether any potential offences may have been committed by making the hoax call."

About 2,000 people turned out for the funeral of Ms Saldanha earlier this week in the small Indian town of Shirva, near Mangalore, where her husband Ben Barboza was born.

Mr Barboza and the couple's two children, Lisha, 14, and Junal, 16, have said that her death has left them "shattered" and her loss has left an "unfillable void."

The Australian DJs Michael Christian and Mel Greig have had death threats

Ms Saldanha left three notes, the opening of an inquest into her death has heard. It has been reported that one was critical of the hospital and its treatment of her.

However, officials at the hospital have insisted that they offered her a great deal of support during the fall-out from the hoax and did not criticise her or discipline her.

In a letter to the MP Keith Vaz, who has been supporting the family, John Lofthouse, the Chief Executive of King Edward VII Hospital, said: "Jacintha was reassured on a number of occasions by senior management that no blame was attached to her actions and that there were no disciplinary issues involved, because she had been the victim of a cruel trick."

Following the death of Ms Saldanha, the two DJ's Mel Greig and Michael Christian and other staff at the radio station 2DayFM received death threats.

As many as a dozen staff were moved to safe houses while executives at the broadcaster were given bodyguards.

Miss Greig and Mr Christian gave a television interview apologising to Ms Saldanha's family and saying they too were shattered.

They said their prank had prompted "a tragic turn of events no-one could have predicted or expected".

20.14 | 0 komentar | Read More