Woman And Toddler Hit-And-Run CCTV Released

Police have released video of the moment a woman and toddler were sent flying in a hit-and-run in an effort to track the driver and the car.

The CCTV footage shows the 42-year-old driving instructor and her three-year-old nephew crossing the road on December 7 in Coventry.

As they reach the middle of King William Street a black Audi estate overtakes another car, which had stopped to turn into a junction, and strikes them.

The driver of the Audi is seen to slow for a moment, but then accelerates along the road as passers-by rush to help the stricken pair, left lying in the middle of the street.

Fortunately, the woman and toddler were unharmed aside from a few minor injuries.

West Midlands Police said a witness supplied a partial number plate for the Audi - EN57 - but they have been unable to trace the vehicle and believe it could be hidden in a garage.

Officers believe the car will have sustained damage on the front.

"We have taken the unusual step of releasing the images - which carries a warning for viewers - in the hope that someone will recognise the car and come forward with information so that we can trace the driver," said PC Abbi Jones.

"This could have been so much worse. At the time of the collision, the driver would not have known that the woman and child were uninjured."

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Lung Cancer Deaths In Women 'On The Rise'

Lung cancer has overtaken breast cancer as the most lethal form of the disease for women in the UK, research has shown.

Scientists predict that, by the middle of the decade, it will be the main cause of women's cancer deaths in Europe.

New figures show that the lung cancer death rate among women in the UK now stands at 21 per 100,000 women.

Lung cancer has bucked the general trend over falling cancer mortality. Since 2009, the proportion of European men dying from cancer has dropped by 6% and of women by 4%.

But deaths from lung cancer have risen by 7% among women since 2009.

This year, experts predict breast cancer to kill 88,886 women in Europe and lung cancer to kill 82,640.

Professor Carlo La Vecchia, one of the study authors from the University of Milan in Italy, said: "If these opposite trends in lung cancer rates continue, then, in 2015, lung cancer is going to become the first cause of cancer mortality in Europe.

"This is already true in the UK and Poland, the two countries with the highest rates: 21.2 and 17.5 per 100,000 women respectively."

The increased number of lung cancers among women may be due to young women taking up smoking in the late 1960s and 1970s, he said.

Among European men, lung cancer death rates have fallen 6% since 2009. However, the disease is still the main cause of male cancer death.

The study, published in the journal Annals of Oncology, looked at cancer death rates throughout the EU, focusing primarily on six countries including the UK.

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Pregnant Kate: Now Oz Mag To Show Pictures

By Jonathan Samuels, Australia Correspondent

An Australian publication has followed the lead of the Italian gossip magazine Chi and said it will publish photographs of the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge in her bikini.

The weekly magazine Woman's Day will be on sale on Monday and will feature the pictures of Kate and William's Caribbean holiday, where the Duchess was snapped wearing a blue bikini and strolling on a beach.

Editor Fiona Connolly has defended her decision to publish the prints, telling Sky News: "The photos are what our readers want to see. Kate looks beautiful, glowing and healthy."

Ms Connolly said it was her understanding that the photographs were taken by a member of the public rather than "a photographer hiding in the bushes" and, as a result, were not an invasion of the royal couple's privacy.

The editor said the pair had been mingling with others on a public beach and would have been aware that there were other holidaymakers around with cameras.

The issue will also feature pictures of Kate's sister Pippa Middleton, who was holidaying with the royals on the island of Mustique, staying in a £5.1m villa.

Ms Connolly said the photographs show Kate "fabulous, fit and glowing, out and about on a public beach".

She said British journalists and picture editors would no doubt be "frustrated" that they were not also running the pictures because of the "gentleman's agreement" between editors and the royal family about what sort of photos would be published.

Kate was on holiday in Mustique with her husband William and sister Pippa

"As a magazine that does publish photos of the royals, I am sensitive to the sort of pictures that shouldn't be published," she said, referring to the 2012 topless shots of the Duchess that appeared in various magazines.

"These are certainly not photos that they would disapprove of - they are happy."

"The last time we saw Kate looking really unwell, coming out of hospital and at a really tough time for her in her pregnancy - to see these photos where she's fit and healthy and really glowing is even more reason to celebrate."

The couple are expecting their first child in July.

In December Kate was admitted to hospital with a severe form of morning sickness, which pushed the couple to announce the pregnancy.

The news that an Australian magazine is publishing the pictures comes at a particularly sensitive time, just two months after a pair of Australian radio presenters made a prank call to King Edward VII's Hospital in London where Kate was being treated.

Pretending to be the Queen and Prince of Wales they were able to speak to a nurse about her condition. The nurse who put the call through, Jacintha Saldanha, subsequently committed suicide.

On news that Chi was publishing the photos St James's Palace issued a statement saying: "We are disappointed that photographs of the Duke and Duchess on a private holiday look likely to be published overseas.

"This is a clear breach of the couple's right to privacy."

Ms Connolly admitted the bidding for the photos between several of Australia's biggest selling weekly gossip magazines was "furious".

Last year the Royal Family launched legal action against French magazine Closer, over paparazzi pictures of Kate sunbathing in bikini bottoms on the balcony of a private chateau in the South of France.

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Phone Hacking: Journalists Held In New Probe

Six current and ex-journalists who all worked for the News Of The World have been arrested in a new police investigation into phone hacking claims.

An internal message sent to News International employees confirmed two of those detained were journalists currently working for The Sun.

The pair have been provided with lawyers.

The six arrested were three men and three women and they were being interviewed at police stations in London and Cheshire.

Scotland Yard said detectives were looking into a suspected conspiracy that took place between around 2005 and 2006.

The arrests were made as part of a new line of inquiry separate from allegations under the existing Scotland Yard investigation into phone hacking called Operation Weeting.

A number of people have been charged under Operation Weeting.

In the latest arrests, two men aged 45 and 46 were held in Wandsworth, south London, and a 39-year-old man was detained in Greenwich, south east London.

The three women arrested were a 39-year-old who was detained in Cheshire, a 33-year-old in Islington, north London, and a 40-year-old in Lambeth, south London.

Detectives plan to speak to people they believe have been victims of the suspected phone hacking.

The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: "Detectives on Operation Weeting have identified a further suspected conspiracy to intercept telephone voicemails by a number of employees who worked for the now defunct News of the World newspaper.

"This suspected conspiracy is believed to have taken place primarily during 2005 to 2006. It is separate from the alleged conspiracy already being investigated by Operation Weeting in which a number of people have been charged.

"As part of the new lines of inquiry six people were arrested this morning on suspicion of conspiracy to intercept telephone communications contrary to the Criminal Law Act 1997. All of them are journalists or former journalists."

Sunday tabloid, the News Of The World, was shut down by owner Rupert Murdoch and his family in 2011 amid hacking claims.

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Pupils Lose Legal Challenge Over GCSE Grades

Hundreds of pupils and schools who united in an unprecedented legal move over GCSE exam grades have lost their High Court challenge.

Judges ruled that teenagers hit by changes to English grade levels were treated unfairly but that exam boards and the regulator Ofqual had not acted unlawfully.

The alliance, which also included scores of local councils and teaching unions, sought a judicial review after grade boundaries were increased by 10 marks between January and June.

It accused AQA and Edexcel of an "illegitimate grade manipulation" and "statistical fix" involving Ofqual and called for the papers of around 10,000 pupils affected to be remarked.

But the claim was dismissed by Lord Justice Elias and Mrs Justice Sharp, sitting in London.

The ruling will be a relief to Education Secretary Michael Gove, who has expressed his determination to drive up school standards.

Lord Justice Elias said Ofqual had appreciated there were features that had operated unfairly and noted the regulator had proposed numerous changes to avoid future problems.

But he added: "I am satisfied that it was indeed the structure of the qualification itself which is the source of such unfairness ... and not any unlawful action by either Ofqual or the AOs (exam boards)."

The alliance had argued that pupils who sat the exam in June but missed out on a C grade had been unjustifiably "clobbered" because of a warning from the regulator about grade inflation.

Statistical predictions had indicated too many would achieve at least a C so it was decided to raise the boundaries, Clive Sheldon QC told the court.

He claimed this resulted in "conspicuous unfairness and an abuse of power" and called for the pupils to be treated in the same way as those who took the exams in January.

After the court defeat, headteacher Joan McVittie said the alliance was "bitterly disappointed" and pointed out that the judges had agreed children were treated unfairly.

"This was about the law and it wasn't about fairness. That is a hard lesson for children to learn," she said.

Russell Hobby, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: "Grading decisions were unfair and an injustice was done to many thousands of pupils.

"While boundaries have not been restored, we hope this action will demonstrate to Ofqual and the exam boards that they should not act like this again."

AQA and Pearson UK, which oversees Edexcel, admitted there were lessons to learn from the debacle and vowed to work more closely with the regulator, ministers and teachers.

Ofqual welcomed the judges' agreement that the value of GCSE English would have been "debased" had the regulator given in to the alliance's demands.

"We know some students and schools will be disappointed with this. We understand that. But it's our job to secure standards," chief regulator Glenys Stacey said.

The Department for Education said: "The judgement demonstrates that overall Ofqual got it right last year. Attention can now focus on reforming GCSEs ready for first teaching in 2015."

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Horsemeat: British Plants Raided Amid Warning

How Horsemeat Scandal Unfolded

Updated: 7:22am UK, Wednesday 13 February 2013

The horsemeat scandal has been unfolding for weeks and products have been flying off the shelves, although not in a good way. Where did it all begin?

January 16

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland says beefburgers with traces of equine DNA, including one product classed as 29% horse, are being supplied to supermarkets by Silvercrest Foods in Ireland and Dalepak Hambleton in Yorkshire, subsidiaries of the ABP Food Group.

Ten million suspect burgers are taken off the shelves, including by retailers Tesco, Lidl, Aldi, Iceland and Dunnes Stores.

A third company, Liffey meats, based in Co Cavan, Ireland, was also found to be supplying products to supermarkets with traces of horse DNA.

January 17

The ABP Food Group suspends work at its Silvercrest Foods plant in Co Monaghan, Ireland, until further notice.

Sainsbury's, Asda and the Co-op later withdrew some frozen products as a precaution but had not been found to be selling contaminated food.

January 23

Burger King, which is supplied burgers by ABP Food Group, switches to another supplier as a precautionary measure.

January 25

Waitrose removes a range of frozen burgers made by Dalepak but says its burgers have been tested and are 100% beef.

The Food Standards Agency said tests at a Dalepak plant in North Yorkshire had found no traces of meat contaminated with horse or pork DNA.

However, Aldi found traces of pig and horsemeat in samples taken from three lines of Dalepak burgers.

It withdrew Specially Selected Aberdeen Angus Quarter Pounder, Oakhurst Beef Quarter Pounders and Frozen Oakhurst Beefburgers from sale.

February 4

Production at a second meat supplier, Rangeland Foods in Co Monaghan, is suspended after 75% equine DNA is found in raw ingredients, The Department of Agriculture confirm.

February 5

Frozen meat at Freeza Meats company in Newry, Northern Ireland, is found to contain 80% horse meat, The Food Standards Agency Northern Ireland said. It is potentially linked to the Silvercrest factory in the Republic of Ireland.

Asda withdraws products supplied by Freeza Meats.

February 6

Tesco and Aldi take down frozen spaghetti and lasagne meals produced by French food supplier Comigel following concerns about its Findus beef lasagne.

The FSA reveals a second case of "gross contamination" after some Findus UK beef lasagnes were found to contain up to 100% horse meat. The products were made by French food supplier Comigel.

February 8

Aldi withdraws its Today's Special Frozen Beef Lasagne and Today's Special Frozen Spaghetti Bolognese after tests showed the products contained between 30% and 100% horsemeat.

February 12

Peter Boddy slaughterhouse in Todmorden, West Yorkshire, and meat processing plant Farmbox Meats at Llandre in Aberystwyth, West Wales, are raided and shut down, pending investigations.

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BBC And Savile's Estate Sued By Sex Victims

Jimmy Savile's estate and the BBC are being sued on behalf of 31 alleged sex abuse victims.

Solicitor Alan Collins said a writ has been issued at the High Court and the number of victims his firm Pannone is in contact with "grows on a daily basis".

He said: "The purpose of issuing the writ is to protect our clients' position and to seek management directions from the court to ensure the claims are administered as efficiently as possible.

"At this stage we are unable to expand in detail on the nature of the cases or the allegations that have been made, which range in seriousness from inappropriate behaviour to serious sexual abuse."

A BBC spokesman said: "We're unable to comment on any legal claims of this nature made against the corporation."

Savile's £4m estate has already been frozen by executors NatWest.

Another lawyer representing more than 50 of Savile's victims, Liz Dux, has previously confirmed that all of them will be pursuing civil claims for compensation.

She said that her clients would sue Savile's estate and would also pursue claims against the organisations responsible for where the alleged abuse took place.

The full scale of the late TV presenter's 54-year campaign of abuse was detailed in a joint police and NSPCC report in January.

It revealed that Savile's youngest victim was an eight-year-old boy and that he also abused seriously ill children.

There are now 214 criminal offences recorded against his name, including 34 rapes.

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Gerry McCann: Make Leveson's Proposals Law

The father of missing Madeleine McCann has told Sky News that the Government should put Lord Leveson's recommendations into law "without meddling and back-door deals".

Writing for Sky News Online, Dr Gerry McCann said: "Anything less than Leveson's full recommendations will never satisfy the victims of press abuse."

Dr McCann and his wife Kate gave evidence to Lord Justice Leveson's inquiry into press standards and ethics about their treatment by the media following the disappearance of their daughter Madeleine in May 2007.

She disappeared from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, shortly before her fourth birthday and the family has been the subject of high-profile press coverage ever since.

The McCanns were among dozens of witnesses who gave evidence to Lord Leveson in the wake of the 2011 phone-hacking scandal which ultimately led to the closure of the News Of The World Sunday tabloid.

The Leveson Report proposed that a new press regulator needed statutory underpinning if it were to be truly independent.

But Prime Minister David Cameron has argued against the need for new legislation to bring the press to heel.

The Conservatives have unveiled plans for a Royal Charter which Culture Secretary Maria Miller said would allow the principles in Lord Leveson's report to be "implemented swiftly and in a practical fashion".

She said: "I have grave concerns about a press bill and am not convinced that it is necessary on the grounds of principle, practicality or necessity."

But Dr McCann, who is active in the Hacked Off campaign, was critical of the charter proposal saying: "The Conservative party can't rewrite Leveson now."

Hacked Off earlier dismissed the Charter plan as "a surrender to press pressure" and reiterated its call for Lord Leveson's recommendations to be implemented in full.

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Weather: Snow Blanketing Parts Of UK

Parts of the UK are set to see up to six inches of snow, as drivers were warned of perilous driving conditions in some areas.

Forecasters say the latest snowfall will be followed by rain, before much of the country enjoys a period of sunshine and milder temperatures.

But Sky News weather presenter Isobel Lang urged motorists to be cautious in those areas due to suffer more wintry weather.

"There will be quite a few hours of quite nasty snow and a number of routes are likely to be affected," she said.

"It's mainly going to be in the hilly areas, where there will be between four and six inches.

"The M6 could be particularly badly hit and we're also expecting problems on the M74 in southern Scotland, the A66 in Cumbria and Pennine routes like the M62.

"The snow will be followed by outbreaks of rain in some areas and it is unlikely to settle for long in most parts.

"After that, we can actually look forward to a couple of days of sunshine, when temperatures should be fairly mild for most of us."

The Met Office has issued severe weather warnings for much of Scotland and northern England for today, advising people to be aware of snow fall.

And the Environment Agency has scores of flood alerts in place, mainly in the South East, and several serious flood warnings.

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Retailer Republic Goes Into Administration

Fashion retailer Republic has gone into administration, putting 2,500 jobs at risk.

It has already made 150 employees at the head office in Leeds redundant.

The firm, which operates 121 stores across the UK with a stronger presence in the north of the country, has appointed administrators Ernst & Young to sell the business while it continues to trade.

So-called onesies were popular at Christmas

Speaking to Sky News about the Republic redundancies, Chancellor George Osborne said: "It is always very, very sad news when a retailer goes bust and people lose jobs.

"We are going to work hard to make sure they have jobs to go to."

Republic is owned by private equity firm TPG.

The investment firm's website still promotes Republic as "one of the United Kingdom's top young adult fashion retailers".

Staff tweeted a message after the move to administration.

It said: "Sadly #Republic is now in the hands of Administrators. We did all we could but it's simply too tough out there. Thanks for your support."

On Tuesday, Sky News City Editor Mark Kleinman revealed the retailer was poised to enter administration.

But hours later it still promoted itself as a viable concern with a tweet about its all-in-one outfits.

Republic was still promoted on owner TPG's website entering administration

The tweet said: "We are indeed your one stop Onesie shop. And if you play our #RepublicRomance game you can get 10% off."

Hunter Kelly, head of corporate restructuring team at Ernst & Young, said: "Republic suffered poor trading results in the autumn, and whilst sales picked up in December there has been a sudden and rapid decline in sales in late January.

"The impact on cash flows has resulted in the business being unable to continue to operate outside of an insolvency process."

Republic began as a men's denim retailer in 1986 under the Best Jeans brand, and sells brands including Diesel, Firetrap and G-Star Raw.

Republic's demise is the latest in a string of British high street casualties in the last six months.

Music and entertainment retailer HMV, DVD rental firm Blockbuster and camera specialist Jessops have all gone into administration this year.

In October, electricals chain Comet also called in administrators.

Mr Osborne is aware of the trend in retail of increasing web-based purchases and its affect on the retail sector.

He told Sky: "I think you are seeing changes on our high street, a lot of clothing is sold online now so we are seeing changes in the way people shop in this country."

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