Savile Abuse Scandal: Helpline Calls Soar

The number of calls to a charity helpline reporting serious sex abuse of children has almost doubled following the Jimmy Savile scandal.

In June and July this year, the NSPCC received 594 calls to its 24-hour helpline that were referred to police and social services, compared with 323 in the same period last year.

John Cameron, head of the helpline, said people now seem more confident in speaking out about abuse following media coverage of Savile's posthumous unmasking as one of the UK's worst sex offenders.

More than 200 offences have been recorded against the disgraced TV presenter, who died in October 2011. Most involved children, including youngsters as young as eight.

"The number of calls we took this summer was significantly higher than last year," said Mr Cameron.

"Eight months on, we can confidently say that the Savile scandal is changing the way in which people react to abuse.

"There appears to be a clear shift and the public now seem better equipped and more confident to report their concerns.

The NSPCC received 594 calls to its helpline in June and July this year

"It's very encouraging to see that adults, including those who don't have direct responsibility for children, take action if they think a child is at risk.

"The Savile scandal has shocked the nation but has also increased public awareness of how difficult it is for children to speak out and how crucial it is for adults to report any suspicions or concerns they have straight away."

Savile was unveiled as one of Britain's most prolific sexual predators after detectives launched a national investigation into abuse claims at the end of last year.

The scandal sparked a huge police operation which has seen a number of high-profile arrests.

:: Anyone concerned about the safety of a child can contact the NSPCC by clicking here.

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Diver Dies After Boat Trip Off Suffolk Coast

An investigation has been launched after a diver died off the Suffolk coast.

The man was airlifted from the scene at 3.30pm on Friday but had already died by the time he reached hospital near Lowestoft.

Norfolk Police said a second diver was also taken to James Paget Hospital at Gorleston but was expected to be discharged.

Officers attended Hamilton Docks in Lowestoft to investigate and examine the diving boat.

Local media have reported that the man had gone down to a depth of 17 metres when he became unwell and had to make an emergency ascent.

The force said: "Initially it appears there were seven people on board the boat at the time of the incident and this was a recreational trip, rather than an industrial dive, that had set off from the town this morning.

"The diver that died is not thought to be local and, as is standard procedure, his death is currently being treated as unexplained."

Police are working with the coastguard and liaising with the Health & Safety Executive.

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Spain: British Man Held Over Father's Death

A British tourist has been arrested on suspicion of killing his father during a fight at a campsite in a Spainish beach resort.

A security guard reportedly called police to the Castell Montgri campsite in the village of Estartit after a row broke out.

Police discovered the suspect's father lying on the ground with serious head injuries and he was taken to hospital where he died later.

A police spokesman said: "Officers from the Mossos d'Esqudra have arrested a 45-year-old British man in connection with the death of his 69-year-old father.

"The arrested man is suspected of attacking his dad around 12.45am on Friday morning at a campsite in Estartit.

"The victim died after being admitted to hospital for treatment to his injuries while local police arrested his son."

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Thousands Of Pupils Hurt On Roads Near Schools

More than 1,000 children a month are being injured on roads near schools in Britain, according to new figures.

There were 85,814 child casualties on roads in a 500-metre radius around UK schools between 2006 and 2011, the equivalent of 1,190 a month, statistics from Axa Car Insurance and the research body Road Safety Analysis showed.

Some 20% of schools reported no child casualties during the period.

The figures also showed there were 557,200 vehicle collisions around schools during the six-year period, the equivalent of six collisions per school per year on average.

These collisions included any incident reported to police involving any vehicle on a local road. Some did not result in injuries.

The top area for collisions was London, which accounted for 13% of total child casualties and 22% of collisions.

Looking at cities with more than 100 schools, excluding London, Liverpool had the highest number of road injuries (deaths, serious injuries and slight injuries) around schools, followed by Nottingham, Manchester, Birmingham and Leicester.

Again excluding London, the city with the most serious incidents (deaths and serious injuries) was Nottingham, followed by Liverpool, Birmingham, Sheffield and Manchester.

Top area for collisions was London, accounting for 13% of child casualties

Taking all collisions, including non-injury ones, into account, the school area with the most collisions was Nottingham, followed by Manchester, Liverpool and Leicester.

The area with the most child injuries was Manchester, followed by Liverpool, Bradford and Oldham.

Among the lowest child casualty areas were Swansea and Cardiff.

Axa and Road Safety Analysis have now launched a local road safety index, showing which areas have the best safety records.

The figures include collisions during school holidays, and the child casualty numbers do not necessarily refer to pupils at that particular school.

Road Safety Analysis director Dan Campsall said: "Translating this wealth of data into something that is meaningful for parents, teachers and community leaders has its challenges.

"However, it is important that these groups are able to understand the immediate road risks around their local schools if they are going to work effectively to secure safer communities for children in the future.

"The data can be used to support changes in local road safety education as well as the road environment, therefore helping to further safeguard pupils across the country."

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House Prices Surge For Fourth Month In A Row

House prices rose for the fourth consecutive month in August, as Government schemes and improved mortgage lending continued to fuel the revival in the property market.

Property values rose by 3.5% compared with a year ago, taking the average price for a UK home to £170,514, according to the Nationwide building society.

This marked a slight fall on the 3.9% surge seen in July, which was the biggest annual rise for three years.

"Consumer confidence has increased significantly in recent months, thanks to further modest gains in employment and signs that the UK economy is finally gathering momentum," Nationwide chief economist Robert Gardner said.

Prices rose 0.6% between July and August, which was also marginally lower than the 0.9% monthly hike seen in July.

But Nationwide said the quarter-on-quarter change showed underlying price rises have remained robust, up 1.4% in the three months to August - the strongest pace of increase since mid-2010.

The data comes after Bank of England (BoE) governor Mark Carney warned earlier this week over the risks of another housing bubble amid fears that Government stimulus measures are stoking unsustainable price rises.

He said the BoE is "acutely aware" of the potential threats and said action will be taken to clamp down on mortgage lending if needed.

Policy measures such as Funding for Lending and Help to Buy are boosting the market as they help first-time buyers in particular on to the property ladder.

Figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders recently showed that first-time buyers accounted for 45% of house purchase loans in the second quarter - the highest since records began in 2005.

The Funding for Lending Scheme encourages banks and building societies to lend more in return for discounted loans, and has been credited with improving mortgage availability and reducing rates.

Chancellor George Osborne also launched Help to Buy in April, which allows people to buy a property with a 5% deposit, with the state lending buyers 20% of the value of a new home worth up to £600,000, interest-free for five years.

But there are concerns that these schemes will push up house prices and borrowing levels, rather than spurring on more new home construction.

Mr Gardner added: "While there have been encouraging signs that house building is starting to recover, construction is still running well below what is likely to be required to keep up with demand."

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'Low-Tech' Police Force Losing Crime Fight

Crime in London is higher because police technology is "out-of-date, ineffective and expensive to maintain", a report has claimed.

Members of the London Assembly said officers "take a step back in time" when they go to work and that Scotland Yard faces "a huge challenge" in updating its technology while facing budget cuts.

The report by the budget and performance committee said: "The Met spends a lot of money on ICT, but most of it goes on maintaining old systems, rather than investing in new technology.

"Consequently, police officers lack the technology to do their jobs as productively and effectively as they could. Crime is higher as a result."

However, the committee found that the Met, which is due to implement a new ICT strategy later in the year, understands the scale of the challenge it faces.

The helicopter team's popular Twitter account @MPSinthesky was also praised as a good example of what can be achieved with social media.

A picture tweeted by @MPSinthesky

Chairman of the budget and performance committee John Biggs said in his foreword to the report: "Tablet and smartphone technology is commonly available and relatively cheap. Yet a police officer has to radio back to base to find out simple background information about, for example, previous crime reports or information about particular suspects.

"It seems incredible that officers have this modern technology at home yet when they arrive at work they take a step back in time."

The report suggested that the force looks at using crime mapping techniques - where historic data and factors such as the weather are used to predict where crimes are likely to occur - that have successfully been trialled in Los Angeles.

Mr Biggs said: "The Met has been paying over the odds for technology for years - spending much of which has gone on maintaining a collection of out-dated and increasingly inefficient systems put together over the last 40 years. This has got to change.

"Every other person has a smartphone in their pocket and yet the Met are only just starting to look at rolling out similar tools. They should also be working on predictive crime mapping, like that used in Los Angeles, to get officers in the right place at the right time to deter criminals and reassure the public.

"At the end of the day, this kind of investment costs money and with plans to cut spending by 20% over the next three years, the mayor's office for policing and crime urgently needs to determine what resources will be available to the Met to improve its technology.

"The force simply cannot afford to get this wrong again."

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Thousands Of Hospital Patients Dying Of Thirst

Tens of thousands of patients are needlessly dying in our hospitals every year from kidney failure linked to dehydration, according to the healthcare regulator.

Between 12,000 and 42,000 deaths could be prevented every year if patients received the best possible care.

Around 100,000 cases of the condition, known as acute kidney injury, could be stopped by carrying out simple checks such as ensuring patients have enough to drink.

The condition, which kills more people every year than common cancers, can develop very quickly and occurs in people ill with conditions such as heart failure, diabetes and those suffering infections.

It can also develop after major surgery because the kidneys are deprived of normal blood flow during the procedure.

A new guideline from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) says acute kidney injury costs the NHS between £434 million and £620 million a year - more than it spends on breast, lung and skin cancer combined.

Between 262,000 and one million people admitted to hospital as an emergency will have the kidney condition, of which just under a quarter will die.

Simple checks such as making sure patients have enough to drink would help

However, in 2009 a report from the National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death (NCEPOD) found only half of all patients with acute kidney injury had received good care, dropping to a third of those who developed it while in hospital.

Dr Mark Thomas, chair of the new guideline development group and nephrologist at the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust, said: "AKI has been something of a Cinderella condition in the past both within healthcare and in the public perception, yet it kills more people than any of the common cancers.

"In the past, the care for this condition has not always been uniformly good, partly because the patients have tended to present to a range of non-specialists who may have been unfamiliar with the best prevention and treatment of the condition."

The new guideline says NHS staff should measure serum creatinine levels – a marker of kidney function - in those with existing conditions such as heart failure, liver disease, diabetes, a history of kidney problems or blood poisoning.

The condition kills more than common cancers

Patients taking common drugs such as ibuprofen, ARBs or ACE inhibitors for high blood pressure should also be monitored closely as these can have a negative impact on kidneys.

Other basic checks include measuring urine output and ensuring a patient is not dehydrated, the guideline said.

Professor Mark Baker, director of the centre for clinical practice at Nice, said: "Acute kidney injury is a huge problem for the NHS.

"This new Nice guideline aims to raise awareness among healthcare professionals to recognise and treat the condition early and focuses on prevention, recognition, treatment and timely access to specialist services for all."

Fiona Loud, director of the Kidney Alliance, said: "Acute kidney injury is something that happens really quickly. Within a few hours your condition can become life-threatening, and it is completely avoidable."

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Syria Crisis: Cameron Holds 'War Talks'

David Cameron will hold war talks at Downing Street today as military commanders draw up plans for missile strikes against Syria.

Mr Cameron will chair a meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) at 12pm after insisting the West must not "stand idly by" in the wake of Syria's suspected chemical attack.

In talks by telephone last night with US President Barack Obama, the two leaders agreed that "all the information available confirmed a chemical weapons attack had taken place", said a Downing Street spokesperson.

"They both agreed they were in no doubt that the Assad regime was responsible," added the spokesperson.

David Cameron cut short his holiday to return for the talks

United Nations weapons inspectors arrived at the site of the alleged attacks on Wednesday morning, a day after suspending their mission over safety concerns.

The inspectors came under sniper fire when they began their operation on Monday.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has reportedly said US military intervention in the crisis would be "a disaster for the region".

"The region is like a gunpowder store and the future cannot be predicted," Iran's ISNA agency quoted him as saying.

A UN weapons inspector visits wounded Syrians after the alleged gas attack

Foreign Secretary William Hague has tried to ramp up the pressure to act on "barbarous" Syria by setting out the case for action in a national newspaper comment piece.

He maintained that "global security" was at stake and that the world "cannot allow the use of chemical weapons in the 21st century to go unchallenged". 

The NSC meeting is expected to discuss the intelligence gathered by United Nations inspectors from their initial visit to Mouadamiya, the site of last week's suspected chemical weapons attack that allegedly killed more than 1,300.

General Sir Nick Houghton, chief of the defence staff, is also expected to outline a series of options for targeted attacks against Syria at the meeting .

He will tell ministers the UK could assist US forces with cruise missile strikes launched from submarines, warships and aircraft against targets such as command and control bunkers.

A child is treated after the alleged chemcial attack

Tomorrow, Parliament will be recalled for a final vote on what action should be taken.

Sky sources say a government motion is expected to call for "appropriate measures" but will not contain a timetable for action.

Speaking yesterday, Mr Cameron said action must be "proportionate, have to be legal, would have to specifically be about deterring the use of chemical weapons".

It is understood the most likely military response would be a one-off or limited guided missile strikes on Syrian military targets fired from US Navy warships.

More than 1,300 are said to have died as the result of the alleged attack

The US Navy is repositioning several vessels, including four cruise missile-carrying destroyers in the eastern Mediterranean, as well as a missile-firing submarine.

Military experts suggested a British Trafalgar class submarine might also be a potential launch platform.

Russia has started to pull its citizens out of Syria as the likelihood of military action increases. 

It flew 89 out of the country on Tuesday night and 28 more on Wednesday morning.

The country is strongly against the intervention, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov believing it would seriously destabilise the region.

A vast number of the victims were children

Mr Cameron has said any intervention in Syria would not be about the conflict itself, but preventing the use of chemical weapons by any regime.

Decisions about British involvement have not been taken, he said on Tuesday, adding Parliament was the "right place to set out all of the arguments".

"Obviously this is a developing situation, as I say, decisions have not been taken, but we shouldn't stand by when we see this massive use of chemical weapons and appalling levels of suffering," he said.

"But I would say this to people - there is never 100% certainty, there is never one piece or several pieces of intelligence that give you absolute certainty.

"But what we know is this regime has huge stocks of chemical weapons. We know they have used them on at least 10 occasions prior to this last widescale use.

"We know they have both the motive and the opportunity whereas the opposition does not have those things and the opposition's chance of having used chemical weapons in our view is vanishingly small."

The NSC includes Defence Secretary Philip Hammond, Home Secretary Theresa May and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg among its members.

Labour leader Ed Miliband yesterday indicated that his party would consider supporting international action.

But he added that support was "only on the basis that it was legal, that it was specifically limited to deterring the future use of chemical weapons, and that any actions contemplated had clear and achievable goals."

And Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said Britain would "set a very dangerous precedent indeed" if it stood back and failed to act.

While political momentum towards intervention mounts, the British public has yet to be persuaded.

A YouGov survey for The Sun revealed that nearly three-quarters of people oppose the deployment of British troops to Syria.

And a majority of 3-1 believe the Government should be bound by Parliament's vote tomorrow.

The Archbishop of Canterbury has warned MPs not to rush in their decision on whether to vote for miltary intervention in the Syria conflict.

The Most Rev Justin Welby said he feared the possible consequences of intervention saying they were "beyond description and horrible".

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Body Of Boy, 12, Recovered From The River Cam

A 12-year-old boy has died after going into the River Cam at Fen Causeway, Cambridge.

Cambridgeshire Police confirmed his body was recovered at around 3 o'clock this morning following a major search operation last night. Witnesses report seeing him enter the water yesterday evening.

Police and other emergency services began searching after reports the boy did not resurface after going into the river at Lammas Land, the Fen Causeway, on the outskirts of Cambridge at about 6pm.

Inspector Kate Scott said: "Emergency services recovered the body of the boy, who was deceased, at about 3am."

The boy was pulled from the water near Lammas Land, the Fens Causeway

According to the Cambridge News, the boy's family watched as officers, paramedics, fire crews and a police helicopter searched the water. Rescue teams were seen dredging the river.

One witness told the paper: "The police helicopter was up and the firefighters were everywhere. They were going up and down the river looking for a child.

"We heard that four boys had gone into the river but only three came out and one didn't."

A spokesman for East of England Ambulance Service said: "We received the call at 6.11pm to an incident involving a 12-year-old boy in water.

"We sent three ambulances, a rapid response vehicle and a land crew from East Anglia Air Ambulance."

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Gaddafi's Son Seeks UK Help Over 'Show Trial'

By Lisa Holland, Foreign Affairs Correspondent

The lawyer representing Colonel Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam, is urging the British Government to do all it can to prevent him facing trial in Libya and deliver him to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.

John Jones QC told Sky News he fears his client, who faces charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, will be subjected to a 'show trial' and sentenced to death.

He said: "Executing Saif Gaddafi would be a complete violation of the ICC orders so it's logical and right, and a moral and legal obligation on the UK, to intervene."

It follows a Libyan court's decision to sentence to death Colonel Gaddafi's former education minister Ahmed Ibrahim.

The ICC has also raised concerns about the ability of the Libyan authorities to hold the trial and the charges they plan to present against Saif al-Islam.

Saif al-Islam pictured after his capture

Fadi El-Abdallah, a spokesman for the court, told Sky News: "There is no legal representation for him on a national level and the operation of gathering the evidence and protecting the witnesses is not secured."

But the process of transferring Saif al-Islam from Libya to The Hague is proving to be a complex one.

He was captured by rebel fighters from the Libyan city of Zintan in November 2011 and has been held there, in solitary confinement, ever since.

The Libyan Government is struggling to exert its influence over large parts of the country and can't transfer him without the permission of Zintan's militia leaders.

John Jones, QC, says it's further evidence that Mr Gaddafi must be handed over to the ICC.

He was once tipped to lead Libya towards democracy

He said: "Libya's central authorities don't have control of his custody. That proves the point that if there's no control of is custody, if there's no rule of law in Libya, he should be tried in The Hague".

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi was once tipped by western governments to lead Libya towards democracy.

Educated at the London School of Economics and considered by many to be the country's de-facto prime minister, he refused to abandon his father when protests sprung in several Libyan cities in early 2011.

He was found by fighters from the Zintan brigade trying to cross into Niger just a month after his father Colonel Gaddafi was captured and killed.

His last public appearance was in May when he briefly appeared in court to answer separate charges of endangering national security after he was accused of providing an ICC lawyer with 'sensitive' documents.

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