Asteroid To Fly Between Earth And Moon

By Joe Tidy, Sky News Reporter

Scientists say a 30m-wide (100ft) asteroid will pass between the moon and Earth later, providing spectacular views for anyone with a good telescope.

The space rock called 2014 DX110 is the length of three double-decker buses and will come within 214,745 miles (346,599km) of the planet at around 9pm UK time.

It will be moving at 33,000mph (53,108kph).

Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has been monitoring its flight and classifies it as one of a number of Apollo-class asteroids, which cross the Earth's orbit.

The Chelyabinsk asteroid which exploded over the Russian region last year was also Apollo-class.

It will be travelling at 33,000mph (artist impression of an asteroid)

Professor Tim O'Brien, from the University of Manchester's Jodrell Bank Observatory, said: "There is an incredibly tiny chance of 2014 DX110 getting closer to Earth but everything indicates that it's nothing to worry about.

"This asteroid was only spotted last month and we now know there are many more like it that are, as yet, undetected.

"The Chelyabinsk meteor event was a reminder of the damage these things can do so it's important to keep monitoring and looking for them.

"On a comforting note though, it's good to remember that there are many more smaller, and harmless objects, than large ones out there."

Scientists say the rock will be too faint to see with the naked eye but should be visible with a reasonably sized telescope.

Astronomers will also need to work out exactly where it will cross the night sky, so more experienced stargazers might have a better chance of spotting it.

The Virtual Telescope Project and Slooh will be sharing real-time images in a live, online event.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

23.16 | 0 komentar | Read More

Farage 'Not Standing Up For Britain' Says Clegg

Nigel Farage is "failing to stand up for Britain", Nick Clegg has claimed as he escalated his offensive against the UKIP leader ahead of their televised head-to-head.

The Lib Dem leader attacked Mr Farage's voting record as an MEP, accusing him of pocketing his taxpayer-funded salary but not bothering to turn up to vote on issues affecting Britain.

Speaking at the Centre for European Reform think-tank, Mr Clegg said "Nigel Farage and deputy leader Paul Nuttall rarely turn up to vote in the European Parliament, despite being happy to take their taxpayer-funded salaries.

"UKIP MEPs refuse to roll up their sleeves and get down to work. Nigel Farage hasn't tabled a single amendment to EU legislation since July 2009."

Tim Farron has warned the Lib Dem's place in Europe is under threat

He said that UKIP had failed to act on issues that would help Britain, including voting against mobile phone roaming regulations that cut costs for holidaymakers.

However, Mr Farage responded to Mr Clegg's comments by saying that his voting record, which he said was 50%, was more than twice as good as Mr Clegg's at Westminster, which he put at 22%.

"Our objective as MEPs is not to keep voting endlessly for more EU legislation and to take power away from Westminster," he told the BBC's Radio 4 Today programme.

"Our view in 15 years has been that we engage sufficiently here and we use that information to get a debate going back in the United Kingdom.

"It seems to me, given the debate we are now having on the European Union, that the UKIP policy has been pretty successful."

The Liberal Democrats are at risk of losing seats in the European Parliament in the May 22 elections - polling has given UKIP a lead over the party.

The party's president, Tim Farron, has warned the Lib Dems' "very presence in the European Parliament could be at stake", according to The Times.

"The next year will be the fight of our lives - to make sure the country knows everything that we have been doing as part of the coalition," he said.

There will be two public debates, the first on LBC radio on March 26, the second on BBC2 on April 2.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

23.16 | 0 komentar | Read More

Mikaeel Kular's Cause Of Death Revealed

By James Matthews, Scotland Correspondent

A three-year-old boy whose disappearance led to a major police search died from internal bleeding and peritonitis - inflammation of the abdomen lining.

Mikaeel Kular's body was discovered on woodland behind a house at Kirkcaldy in Fife in mid-January.

His mother Rosdeep Kular had reported him missing the day before from their home in north Edinburgh.

The 33-year-old woman has since been charged with his murder.

The discovery of Mikaeel's body followed a major investigation and an extensive day-and-night search in north Edinburgh involving police and hundreds of local people and volunteers.

Members of the public also made more than 500 calls to a dedicated phone line set up in the wake of Mikaeel's disappearance.

Mikaeel's death certificate has been released by a registrar in Kirkcaldy.

It lists the cause of death as "peritonitis and infra-abdominal haemorrhage" (pending investigation). 

Peritonitis is the inflammation of the peritoneum, the lining of the abdomen.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

23.16 | 0 komentar | Read More

No 10 'Covered Up Aide Child Abuse Pic Claims'

Prime Minister David Cameron's office has been accused of a cover-up after a senior aide was arrested over child sex abuse images allegations.

Patrick Rock resigned from his role as deputy head of Downing Street's policy unit almost three weeks ago, after officials were made aware of a potential offence.

This was revealed by the Daily Mail on Monday evening and confirmed by Number 10.

Backbench Labour MP John Mann said it was "mysterious" this had not emerged earlier.

"There has been a bodged attempt at media manipulation which is wholly unacceptable from 10 Downing Street," he said.

"Of course they should have revealed it proactively."

Mr Cameron said on Tuesday he had been "profoundly shocked" by the allegations against Mr Rock, who resigned on February 12, the day before he was arrested.

"I don't think it would be right to pre-emptively brief out a criminal investigation and that's why we did not do that.

"But as soon as questions were asked, as questions would inevitably be asked, we have given very full and straightforward answers, which is absolutely the right way to answer this.

"I've been clear right along and I was told about this issue pretty much as soon as it was discovered and I have been very clear we must handle this in an absolutely correct way and I am satisfied that is what number 10 Downing Street has done."

Mr Rock, who is not married and is from west London, was involved in drawing up the Government's policy on internet pornography filters.

The 62-year-old was brought back into Downing Street in 2011 by Mr Cameron after working with him at the Home Office under Michael Howard in the 1990s.

He is reported to have been in line for a peerage.

Mr Rock was the subject of an unrelated complaint of "inappropriate behaviour" towards a female civil servant 18 months ago.

Downing Street said this was "appropriately resolved with the consent of and in consultation with the individual who raised the issue".

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

23.16 | 0 komentar | Read More

GPs To Trial Skype And Email Appointments

By Gerard Tubb, North of England Correspondent

Experimental plans to make family doctors more accessible using Skype appointments and email consultations are due to be announced within the next few weeks.

At least 40,000 patients will be covered by pilot schemes in England designed to improve access to GPs through extending opening hours, weekend opening and better use of technology.

GPs in West Yorkshire have been using video conferencing to assess patients for the past eight years through a pioneering scheme at Airedale General Hospital.

First used with patients in prisons, more recent use with elderly people in care homes has shown it can cut the number of A&E appointments by 69% and hospital admissions by 45%.

Dr Colin Renwick, a GP from Settle in North Yorkshire, has been involved with the project since 2006 and says video conferencing could easily be extended to a patient's home.

"There's no reason why you couldn't do (that)," he said.

"A lot of what you base a diagnosis on is actually what the patient is telling you on the history, and if you're listening to the patient the actual physical hands-on examination often doesn't add a lot to what they've told you."

The pilot scheme areas are due to announced later this month, with a commitment to rapid implementation and to delivering what the government calls "tangible patient benefits".

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

23.16 | 0 komentar | Read More

Being Overweight 'Normalised', Health Chief Says

Being overweight has become "normal" and a "sugar tax" may be needed to tackle the problem, the chief medical officer for England has warned.

Professor Dame Sally Davies said the Government should intervene to tackle child and adult obesity by regulating the food and drinks industry to protect against the dangers of excess calorie consumption.

She told the House of Commons Health Select Committee: "We need to be both strong and prepared to regulate. I think that the science is going such that that we will find sugar is addictive.

"We haven't managed to get over to the public how calorie packed fruit juices are, smoothies are, colas and carbonated drinks. We need to have a big education to know one is fine, but not lots of them.

"We may need to move to some sort of sugar tax, but I hope we don't have to."

Dame Sally said being overweight has been "normalised"

A "generation" of overweight children are in danger of not living as long as their parents, Dame Sally said.

"I worry that we have re-sized a women's dress size so that a size 14 now was a size 12 when I was a student," she said.

"We have normalised being overweight.

"We have to find a new way - not of ostracising people who are obese and making them feel bad about themselves - but somehow of helping them to understand this is pathological and will cause them harm."

She also warned promoting physical education alone would not solve the problem.

In January, health experts set up the Action on Sugar campaign group, which works to reduce the amount of sugar added to food and soft drinks, and inform the public about "hidden sugars".

The group identified flavoured water, sports drinks, yoghurts, ketchup, ready meals and even bread as everyday foods that contain large amounts of sugar.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

23.16 | 0 komentar | Read More

Rich Are Richer Since Crash, Says Top Boss

The boss of Britain's biggest pension and insurance provider has told Sky News that the Bank of England's quantitative easing programme has helped the rich at the expense of the less well off.

Legal & General chief executive Nigel Wilson said: "The less well off haven't done so well with QE, we've got to fix that by investing more, creating real jobs with real wage growth here in the UK."

Mr Wilson also reiterated his call to scrap the Help To Buy home scheme.

"There's too much political uncertainty and too much regulatory uncertainty here in the UK," he told Business Presenter Joel Hills.

"We don't have a great energy policy and we don't have a great housing policy."

His comments come a fortnight before the Chancellor unveils the Budget and exactly five years since the QE programme started.

Mr Wilson's company controls around 4% of the blue chip FTSE 100 index.

He said the Government scheme to assist the housing market has only proved to add "fuel to the fire" of the UK economy.

"We are only building 110,000 to 120,000 houses per annum but we need to be building more than 200,000," he said.

"There are 4.5 million older people who want to downsize but can't, simply because we haven't built houses people can retire to."

He added: "Help To Buy has been unhelpful in our view, especially in the South East, it has driven house prices up far too much.

"The Government is doing the right thing by trying to stimulate demand in the UK but you have to stimulate supply even more."

Mr Wilson said the scheme should eventually be scrapped and help given to the private rental sector, which has been "ignored for 25 years".

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

23.16 | 0 komentar | Read More

Birmingham Puts Iconic NEC Up For Sale

Birmingham's iconic National Exhibition Centre is being put up for sale by the city council.

The sale could raise as around £300m but council leaders have denied that it is being sold off to help foot the bill of thousands of equal pay claims.

They say that the sale of the NEC Group, which also operates the LG Arena and International Convention Centre, was to help it "achieve its potential".

NEC is home to the Crufts dog show

Birmingham City Council will have to pay out around £1.1bn to thousands of women who were not paid the same as their male counterparts over a number of years.

Under the proposals the NEC, which was opened by the Queen in 1976 and hosts events including the Crufts dog show, pop concerts, motor shows and party conferences, could be made available on a 100-year lease.

Sir Albert said that the sale was tinged with sadness but added: "A key purpose of the city council investing in establishing the NEC Group more than 30 years ago was to drive economic development and regeneration.

"This has been achieved, but now the NEC Group has reached a point in its evolution where it needs to be able to adopt the financial disciplines of a private, rather than a council-owned company to  enable the next stage of strategic development."

Martin Angle, chairman of the NEC Group, said he expected the business to attract strong interest from potential buyers, including those from overseas.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

23.16 | 0 komentar | Read More

Clinton Heckled During Northern Ireland Speech

The former US president Bill Clinton has been heckled over Iraq during a speech in Northern Ireland.

Speaking about the ongoing peace process, Mr Clinton was interrupted as he spoke about how the world had been "good to some" in recent years but "rough to others and it's been rough on you the past few years".

A man from the crowd was heard to shout: "What about the Iraqis?"

As he continued his heckling, Mr Clinton responded with: "You wanna give this speech?"

The 67-year-old statesman added: "The Iraqi problem is that they don't have an inclusive government either and if they did, if they followed your lead, they would've been in better shape."

Mr Clinton was on a one-day visit that will culminate with him opening a new leadership institute at Queen's University in Belfast that has been named after him.

The steadfast supporter of the peace process in Northern Ireland was also due to meet with First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness to discuss current challenges.

His visit comes after the political crisis triggered by the collapse of the trial of the Hyde Park bombing suspect John Downey last week.

Mr Robinson threatened to resign after it was disclosed in court that Mr Downey had wrongly been sent a letter by Northern Ireland police saying he would not be arrested, despite a Metropolitan Police arrest warrant for the attack.

It transpired that 187 letters had been sent to "on-the-run" Republican paramilitaries effectively giving them immunity from arrest and therefore prosecution.

Mr Robinson claimed he had been "kept in the dark" over a secret deal between Sinn Fein and the British Government which led to the letters being sent.

He withdrew his resignation threat when David Cameron agreed to his call for an independent review.

Mr Clinton began his day by crossing a symbolic peace bridge linking the divided communities in Londonderry accompanied by the former SDLP leader and Nobel Laureate John Hume.

Mr Hume, who has known the former president for 22 years, said: "Pat and I are delighted that Bill Clinton is here in Derry, a town and its people transformed by peace and which we are all so proud of."

23.16 | 0 komentar | Read More

Warm Weather For Weekend After Floods Misery

Temperatures could peak at 17C (62.6F) this weekend as spring conditions give many people a welcome break from months of miserable weather.

Sunday is likely to be the warmest day of the year so far, with temperatures in much of southern England set to hit the mid-teens.

The average high for March is 8.9C (48F).

"This week is set to turn milder as a large area of high pressure builds giving lots of sunshine through the coming week, as well as dry weather - especially in the south," Sky News weather presenter Nazaneen Ghaffar said.

Predictably perhaps, not all areas will enjoy the pleasant conditions.

"There will still be some rain sweeping across Scotland at times and it will be chilly at night with localised frost and fog patches," she added.

England and Wales have suffered the wettest winter for 250 years

There will also be some wet weather for northern parts of the UK and Ireland.

Winter has been a weather nightmare for many, with large parts of the country hit by devastating floods, and fierce winds cutting power and disrupting travel.

Weeks of rain have made it the wettest winter for England and Wales for nearly 250 years

It has also been the wettest for the UK as a whole since records began in 1910.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

23.16 | 0 komentar | Read More