Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 13 Desember 2014 | 18.25
By Alistair Bunkall, Defence Correspondent
Hundreds of British soldiers are to be sent to Iraq to help the fight against Islamic State, Sky News understands.
They will make up a training mission to assist the Iraqi Army and Kurdish Peshmerga.
The soldiers - expected to number a few hundred - will go to the region "within weeks" senior military sources have said.
The National Security Council is expected to rubber-stamp the mission when it meets on Tuesday.
Although small groups of British troops have conducted similar missions over the past few months, this will be much greater in size and on a more permanent basis.
Video:Troops Return To Iraq For IS Fight
A team of military advisors recently went to the country to scope out options.
It's believed the mission will be largely split between the capital Baghdad and Irbil in the Kurdish controlled north.
It hasn't been confirmed which regiments the troops will be drawn from.
The UK government has repeatedly insisted that any such training mission would not constitute 'boots-on-the-ground' although British Special Forces are operating in the region.
In October a dozen soldiers from The Yorkshire Regiment were dispatched to Irbil to train the Kurds to use heavy machine guns.
Video:October - Reaper Drones Footage
An advisory team has also been embedded in the Iraqi military HQ, working alongside the Americans.
A Ministry of Defence spokesman wouldn't confirm the specifics of the latest mission but did say: "The Defence Secretary announced the intention to provide further training to the Iraqi military in early November.
"No decisions on troop numbers, units or locations have been made, so this is purely speculation at this stage."
The British contribution will fit into a wider mission involving a number of nations.
Earlier this week, the most senior US Commander Lt Gen James Terry revealed that the coalition training mission would involve around 1,500 soldiers.
Video:British Troops Back In Iraq
US special operations troops have already set up a training base at the Ain al-Asad air base in Anbar Province.
Germany recently pledged around 100 soldiers to help train the Peshmerga in northern Iraq. That mission, if approved, will begin early next year.
NATO has also said it would explore options if the Iraqi government came forward with an official request.
The Alliance said that any training mission wouldn't necessarily be based in Iraq. Neighbouring Jordan has been used for similar projects.
An investigation is under way into why Britain's air traffic control system malfunctioned for the second time in two years, causing transport chaos for thousands of people.
The focus of the probe will be hardware and software connected to the flight data system, which is believed to control the flight plans of the planes. The company has ruled out a power outage as the cause, however.
Air traffic control service NATS said: "Following a technical fault with the flight data system used by air traffic controllers at Swanwick, NATS can confirm that the system has been restored to full operational capability and a thorough investigation is continuing, to identify the root cause.
"Although operational restrictions applied during the failure have been lifted, it will take time for flight operations across the UK to fully recover."
More than 300 flights were cancelled or delayed after a computer failure at NATS headquarters in Swanwick, Hampshire, on Friday afternoon.
Video:Flights Delayed In London Airspace
By Saturday morning, timetables were returning to normal, although Heathrow said 38 flights had been cancelled before 9.30am and Gatwick Airport was cancelling a handful of flights.
Friday's problems came just over a year after hundreds of flights were affected when problems arose with a telephone system at NATS in early December 2013.
There were reports passengers on some flights were unable to collect their luggage and were told that it would be sent on to them by courier.
Other airports where travellers suffered delays on Friday included Manchester, Birmingham, Stansted and Luton, but airports as far north as Aberdeen and Edinburgh were affected.
Video:November: How Busy Is UK Airspace?
Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said the disruption was unacceptable.
He said: "Disruption on this scale is simply unacceptable and I have asked NATS for a full explanation of this evening's incident. I also want to know what steps will be taken to prevent this happening again."
Experts said part of the problem was that the system is operating at full capacity and anything that goes wrong has a huge impact.
Professor Martyn Thomas, visiting professor of Software Engineering at the University of Oxford, said: "Some of NATS' computer systems are very old - the National Airspace System that performs flight data processing is software that dates from the 1960s.
Video:Air Traffic Problem Delays Flights
"Interfacing new systems to this old software can create difficulties."
Air traffic control safety expert Philip Butterworth-Hayes said: "Swanwick ... has an incredibly complicated, customised software system, where you have to upgrade things all the time. A small upgrade can cause all sorts of problems.
"The issue we have in the UK, especially in the south eastern UK, is there's very little spare capacity, because the system is running at such high rates, it only needs a small little glitch to create a large problem."
Jim Murphy MP is the new leader of the Scottish Labour Party, beating Holyrood health spokesman Neil Finlay and former Scottish Executive minister Sarah Boyack.
The East Renfrewshire MP and former Secretary Of State for Scotland had been favourite to win the race triggered by by the resignation of previous leader Johann Lamont.
Speaking after the announcement, Mr Murphy, who received 55.77% of the vote, said "Today is the fulfilment of a dream for me."
He joked that he had always dreamed of being appointed captain of a team in the east end of Glasgow.
He said becoming leader was a "remarkable honour" and "a fresh start for the Scottish Labour Party".
Ms Lamont stepped down in October, criticising the party's UK leadership for treating Scottish Labour like "a branch office of London".
Since the independence referendum, support for the Scottish Labour Party has fallen sharply in the opinion polls while the fortunes of their SNP opponents have risen.
Polls indicate that Labour could be routed in Scotland at May's General Election.
At the close of voting on Wednesday, Mr Murphy said: "I am hopeful for the future and excited about the opportunities we now have.
"The new powers coming to Scotland offer our party the chance to reintroduce ourselves to the Scottish people.
"Setting out what we would do with those new powers, like introducing a new 50p top rate of tax for those earning over £150,000 and radically devolving power to local communities across the country, means Scots can take a fresh look at what we have to offer.
"Only if we are bold and radical will we be able to seize the moment."
Written By Unknown on Jumat, 12 Desember 2014 | 18.25
By Jon Craig, Chief Political Correspondent
The former Home Office security minister Lord West - in an interview with Sky News - has categorically denied lobbying a US intelligence committee to edit its report on CIA torture.
Britain has been dragged deeper into the row over US torture allegations after the Government admitted it did ask for changes in a Senate report on the CIA's behaviour.
Details of 24 meetings since 2009 between UK politicians and diplomats and members of the committee were released following a Freedom of Information Act request.
Home Secretary Theresa May, Labour former minister Lord West and the UK's ambassador to Washington held meetings with the US politicians while they were working on their inquiry.
Lord West - the security minister in the last Labour Government - held talks with the Senate committee, but told Sky News that it was regarding a different matter - cyber security.
Video:Were British Agencies Complicit?
The Home Office declined to comment on Mrs May's meeting with the committee in July 2011.
In an abrupt U-turn by No 10, officials admitted changes had been asked for, 24 hours after denying Britain had asked for passages to be removed.
At Thursday's No 10 briefing, David Cameron's Deputy Spokeswoman confirmed British intelligence agencies discussed redactions with their US counterparts.
"My understanding is no redactions were sought to remove any suggestion that there was UK involvement in any alleged torture or rendition," she said.
Video:Brennan Admits 'Abhorrent' Actions
And then she admitted: "There was a conversation with the agencies and their US counterparts on the executive summary.
"Any redactions sought there were done on national security grounds in a way we would have done with any other report."
And yet on Wednesday, the day the CIA report was published, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman, when asked what redactions had been sought, repeatedly said: "None whatsoever, to my knowledge."
The admission comes after the head of the CIA John Brennan described the techniques used to extract information as "abhorrent".
Colin Ash-Smith has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 21 years for the murder of schoolgirl Claire Tiltman in 1993.
The milkman attacked the 16-year-old from behind as she took a short cut through an alleyway to a friend's house in Greenhithe, Kent, four days after her birthday.
She was stabbed more than 40 times in the "frenzied attack".
Sentencing Ash-Smith, judge Mr Justice Sweeney said the 46-year-old, who knew his victim from the local British Legion club, had carried out the attack because of the "feeling of power" it gave him.
Colin Ash-Smith attended Claire Tiltman's funeral
"This was a premeditated murder. Your intention was to kill. You took a knife to scene for the purpose, and Claire was vulnerable by reason of her circumstances," he said.
The 46-year-old, who was described as being obsessed with knives, chose not to attend Inner London Crown Court for the sentencing.
Two years after killing Ms Tiltman, he launched a second attack on another young woman, Charlotte Barnard, in the same town, leaving her for dead.
Claire was stabbed 40 times in an alleyway in Greenhithe
She was stabbed 14 times but survived and Ash-Smith was later jailed.
A search of his white Ford Capri also uncovered one half of a school tie which police established had been used in a rape, kidnap and attempted murder in Swanscombe on 21 December 1988.
Ash-Smith kept diaries in which he described his midnight walks looking for victims ans when asked why he carried out the attacks, he said: "I wanted to feel empowered, that I had control over someone, that I wasn't a doormat."
The schoolgirl was walking to a friend's house when she was killed
Although he denied any part in Claire's death when he was arrested, detectives continued to examine the similarities with Ash-Smith's other attacks and number of clues, including a prison confession and the fact that he attended Claire's funeral, connected him to the murder.
Claire's parents died before Ash-Smith was brought to justice and police said their deaths made officers more determined to catch him.
The judge told the court Ash-Smith escaped a "life mean life" jail term, despite there being no mitigating factors, because he had to be sentenced on the basis of the law at the time of the killing.
David Cameron says it has not been possible to reach a deal with Northern Ireland politicians over the future of Stormont.
The Prime Minister and his Irish counterpart Enda Kenny had presented a financial package and proposals to solve disputes threatening to destabilise the powersharing administration in Belfast in the early hours of Friday morning.
But they said it had not been possible to reach a deal overnight - though progress had been made and talks between political parties in Belfast are set to continue today.
Mr Cameron told reporters: "I think a deal is possible because the parties have done a lot of good work on the issues that need to be settled - the issue of how to manage parades, how to handle the past, the issue of flying flags.
"The real work that still needs to be done, I think, is to make sure the budget of the Northern Ireland executive is sustainable and works, so intensive work needs to be done between the parties on that issue and we stand ready to help - but what needs to happen is agreement."
Video:'Credible' Financial Package Needed
The Prime Minister said he had put almost £1bn of investment for Northern Ireland on the table, if agreement could be reached on certain issues.
Mr Kenny said he also believed a deal was possible and the politicians "will be able to conclude the outstanding areas of disagreement on the matters that we have discussed".
Flanked by his DUP colleagues, Northern Ireland's First Minister Peter Robinson said he did not believe the Prime Minister had been "sufficiently challenged" by local politicians on his financial proposals.
He said: "We didn't do that because we had not ourselves been able to complete agreement on other aspects on the financial issues, namely the matter of welfare reform.
Video:PM 'Not Challenged' In Budget Talks
"I think the Prime Minister would have had more give in him if he had seen that that issue was going to be resolved."
Mr Robinson said he thought proposals developed by the Government were "an improvement" on those put forward by former US diplomat Richard Haass last year.
Northern Ireland's Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness said the financial package on offer was "not credible" if Northern Ireland is to offset the impact of austerity measures.
Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams was not impressed with the outcome, tweeting: "2 Govts exiting after most amateurish ham fisted episode I have ever been involved in."
Written By Unknown on Kamis, 11 Desember 2014 | 18.25
Two British men who joined Kurdish forces fighting Islamic State in Syria have told how they were treated as terrorism suspects on their return to the UK.
Former soldiers Jamie Read, 24, and James Hughes, 26, say they were taken to separate interview rooms at Heathrow Airport and questioned about their trip for six hours.
Anti-terrorism officers took their laptops and equipment and went through their phones, they said.
Mr Read told The Sun: "I was raging. They kept asking why we went, who we were with and were we being paid? We weren't, of course."
The pair went to Syria and fought alongside Kurdish forces in Kobani after IS filmed the brutal killing of British and American aid workers.
Video:Syria Fighter's Family 'Proud'
They came home amid fears their families could be targeted by jihadist sympathisers.
Mr Hughes' family have previously spoken out in support of his decision to join the fight against the militants.
His sister Lara told Sky News: "Obviously, I am very worried about him going out in such a dangerous country.
"But we are all very proud of him.
Video:Stuart Ramsay With 'Rag Tag' Army
"He's just doing it to help others. That's very much in his nature."
His father David hit back at claims his son was a "traitor" and proposed legislation that could leave those who go to fight in Syria effectively stateless.
He said: "I believe James is the epitome of a true blue Brit in the support he is giving in Syria and trying to give the Kurds a fair chance.
"We should all be proud of the choices and actions of these guys and all the armchair critics in the media and vote-grabbing pundits in government would do well to reconsider the facts before branding people as traitors or criminals, especially when they have clearly proven themselves already as heroes."
Ray Teret, a former DJ and close friend of Jimmy Savile, has been jailed for 25 years for a string of historical sex offences.
The 73-year-old was found guilty last week of raping and indecently assaulting a total of 11 victims in the 1960s and 1970s.
Teret, who was a DJ on the pirate station Radio Caroline, performed in nightclubs and youth discos run by Savile where he used his status as a local celebrity to single out vulnerable young girls.
Sentencing him at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court, Mr Justice Baker said: "It is clear that you exploited your celebrity status to sexually abuse young girls when they were between 13 and 15 years of age.
"Those who were raped had little or no understanding what was happening to them and felt they could do little to prevent the abuse taking place."
Video:'Some Comfort' In Teret Verdict
He said Teret's "ill-judged cynicism" that his victims would not come forward was matched by his belief that the jury would not believe their accounts.
The public gallery, which contained a number of Teret's victims, erupted into applause when the sentence was passed.
One woman shouted "Yes" and another said "Monster" as he was led to the cells.
Teret shook his head in the dock after the judge completed his remarks.
His offences came to light following the publicity surrounding Savile in 2011.
1/11
Gallery: Teret Used His Status To Target Vulnerable Girls
Ray Teret, a friend of Jimmy Savile, used his status as a local celebrity to single out vulnerable girls in nightclubs and discos
Teret was a DJ on the pirate station Radio Caroline. He also worked at Piccadilly Radio in Manchester and performed in nightclubs and youth discos run by Savile
Ed Miliband is unveiling a new policy to balance Britain's books in an attempt to repair the damage to his credibility when he failed to mention the deficit in his party conference speech.
In a speech on tackling the deficit, he pledged that a Labour government would cut spending year-on-year in all Whitehall departments apart from health and international development until the deficit has been dealt with.
The move, coming just a week after George Osborne's Autumn Statement, is intended as a fightback after Mr Miliband's conference blunder and opinion polls showing Labour trailing the Conservatives on the economy.
A poll by ComRes last week suggested 43% of people think they would be better off under David Cameron and Mr Osborne, while only 32% believe they would do better under Mr Miliband and Ed Balls.
Mr Miliband accused the Conservatives of planning to return spending on public services to a share last seen in the 1930s, a time before there was a National Health Service and when young people left school at 14.
Video:Labour's Economic Pledge
"And they have finally been exposed by the Autumn Statement for what they really are: not modern compassionate Conservatives at all - but extreme and ideological, committed to a dramatic shrinking of the state and public services, no matter what the consequences," he said.
Unveiling Labour's alternative, Mr Miliband said Britain must deal with the deficit to create the strong economic foundation needed to build prosperity for working people, attract investment and fund public services.
"There is no path to growth and prosperity for working people which does not tackle the deficit.
"What we need is a balanced approach which deals with the deficit - but does so sensibly," he said.
Video:Miliband: 'There Was A Bit ...'
Mr Miliband added: "This is an essential test of credibility.
"There is huge uncertainty about the deficit because of economic circumstances and on the basis of recent experience.
"That makes it all the more important that parties do not spray around unfunded commitments they cannot keep.
In a letter to shadow cabinet colleagues, shadow chancellor Ed Balls said: "We will set out for our manifesto other priority areas of spending which will be protected.
Video:Labour Still For 'Working People'
"In the meantime you should be planning on the basis that your departmental budgets will be cut not only in 2015/16, but each year until we have achieved our promise to balance the books."
In response the Tories hit back, with Business Minister Matthew Hancock claiming: "Labour's policy is to run deficits forever - more borrowing that would add to the national debt every single year.
"That would mean more debt than hardworking taxpayers or our children could ever hope to repay.
"This risk to the economic recovery is exactly why Ed Miliband simply isn't up to the job."
Written By Unknown on Rabu, 10 Desember 2014 | 18.26
By Stuart Ramsay, Chief Correspondent, in Mexico
Sky News has gained access to an illegal prison where hitmen for Mexico's drug gangs have been jailed by vigilantes who snatched them off the streets.
High in Mexico's Sierra Madre mountains our guides are leading us to this much rumoured, but never before seen, prison.
In this part of Mexico, vigilante groups are fighting back against the drug cartels and their low-level gunmen who have terrorised small communities for decades.
The prison is their prize and a mark, they claim, of the success of their "revolution" against organised crime.
The inmates hang out of the barred windows of a converted municipal building, watched by shotgun-toting men dressed in matching green T-shirts and trousers.
Video:On Patrol With Mexico's Vigilantes
There is no proper court of law up here. The prisoners have been snatched off the streets by vigilante gangs and locked up. It is a clean-up operation as unique as it is illegal.
The Mexican government writ doesn't run here. The law of the gun does.
The supervisor agrees to let us inside the "cells".
Inside we are introduced to a group of men in their early 20s. Among them is Leonardo. He is 22, although he seems much younger. He has been in the prison for a year, he says.
Video:Hitman: Politicians Run Everything
His youthful looks hide a horrendous history of violence for the Knights Templar drug cartel.
Leonardo has killed 19 people in the past three years.
He says he tried to run away from the cartel but was tracked down and "grassed up" to the community police.
"They planted three bags of Mota (marijuana) on me and that was my problem... they used a girl to plant the drugs, and that girl they have since killed," he tells me, his head bobbing and eyes shifting nervously from side to side.
Video:'I Have Hurt Myself And Others'
"I don't want to talk about it in here. My integrity is in danger, my life is in danger," he adds.
Leonardo says he was under the control of the cartel and could do nothing to avoid their demands to carry out murders. He admits to the murders and being part of the gang.
"What's the point of lying to you? It is true they arrested me with evidence and all. When they caught me I had drugs, shotguns and other weapons."
While cartels would usually pay for hits, it seems Leonardo was exploited with shocking ruthlessness. He was told to kill or be killed himself. He did it for free.
Video:'The People Are Happy Now'
Miguel, a sort of self-styled vigilante social worker who is trying to rehabilitate the inmates, says this is not uncommon.
"Many start this way," he says.
"Then they become contaminated and it becomes natural for them to do it (kill).
"We have investigated him. His life is a life of poverty. It's a very miserable life, very, very poor. Their way of paying him was the life of another in exchange for his life."
Video:Where The Gangs Get Their Guns
The inmates are not all cartel gang members, but they have been identified as anti-social troublemakers and criminals.
Certainly this prison is unsuitable for proper rehabilitation - or proper punishment for that matter. Mixing murderers with drunks could hardly be described as sensible care-for-the-community policing.
But the vigilantes are unrepentant. Locking these men up in cells with mats on the floor and almost no recreational or exercise time is a fitting return for the fear they have brought to their communities.
They want this message to get out.
Video:In Numbers: Mexico's Drug War
Across Mexico people are beginning to ask questions of the government and are questioning its future.
But the conclusion one has to reach is that with the profits from drugs so high, the money distributed among the most powerful and influential and a financially poor population almost inured to such violence over so many years, that bringing about change is impossible - except perhaps by the vigilantes.
They have weapons. The cycle starts all over again.
:: Stuart Ramsay will be taking part in a Twitter Q&A at 10am on Wednesday. Tweet your questions to @ramsaysky.
Video:Behind The Scenes: Mexico Filming
:: You can watch an extended special report on the drugs cartels that are tearing Mexico apart, Narco State: Mexico's Drugs War, at 7.30pm on Friday, 5.30am and 4.30pm on Saturday, and 3.30am, 2.30pm and 8.30pm on Sunday.
:: Watch the report on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 132 and Freesat channel 202.
More than 17,000 people have lost power supplies and waves of 52ft have already been recorded as a "weather bomb" begins to hit the country.
Freezing winds are expected to peak on Wednesday afternoon, but the first phase of the storm and its effects are being felt.
A visual representation of the wind forecast. Pic: NullSchool.net
Engineers are working to restore supplies after power went out in the Western Isles of Scotland just before 7am this morning.
Off the coast of Orkney, a rescue operation was launched to help a Spanish fishing vessel in difficulties.
Video:Sky Man Gets Weather Bombed
The 33ft trawler, with 16 people aboard, had one of its bridge windows smashed and some equipment damaged in the stormy conditions.
The O'Genita is being escorted to safety off Westray by the Stromness lifeboat.
And 20 vehicles had to be freed after becoming stuck in icy conditions on Cairn O' Mount, a high mountain pass, in Aberdeenshire.
Video:What Is A Weather Bomb?
The extreme conditions are being caused by rapid cyclogenisis - known colloquially as a "weather bomb" - a deep low pressure system moving slowly eastwards between Scotland and Iceland.
Forecasters have issued widespread weather warnings across Britain, with major travel disruption expected as winds of up to 80mph strike some areas and huge waves hit northern coastal regions.
Waves 52ft high - measured as "phenomenal" on the Douglas Sea Scale - have been recorded off the Outer Hebrides.
Video:Waves Pound N Ireland Coast
Several ferry and train services have been cancelled in Scotland while some bridges have been closed due to high winds.
Schools and nurseries in the Western Isles have been closed.
The Met Office has issued amber "be prepared" weather alerts for western Scotland, the Highlands, Northern Ireland, Orkney and Shetland and Strathclyde regions.
Video:Huge Waves Hit Scottish Coast
Yellow weather warnings have also been issued across England's South East, South West, North East, North West, Yorkshire and Humber, as well as in northern Wales and several other areas.
Sky News Weather Presenter Nazaneen Ghaffar said: "Scotland, northern England, Northern Ireland and the north of the Republic are today experiencing very stormy conditions, with strong gusty winds and large waves, posing problems for both rush hours and ferry crossings.
"The heavy showers in the north could also produce some hail and thunder, as well as snow across hills and mountains.
Video:Met Office Tracks 'Weather Bomb'
"With the strong gusty winds, this could mean drifting and blizzard conditions as well."
More southerly areas of the UK are likely to be hit by a second storm due to roll in from the Atlantic on Thursday night.
:: Send us your pictures and videos by emailing news@sky.com, texting 84501 or tweeting @SkyNews.
Video:Phenomenal Waves In Weather Bomb
:: Full weather and travel updates at skynews.com, Sky News for iPad app, mobile devices and your local commercial radio station.
As a huge storm system - known as a "weather bomb" - batters the northern half of the UK, here are the key developments so far:
:: More than 17,000 people in the Western Isles have been left without power.
:: A Spanish fishing vessel is being escorted to safety after getting into difficulties off Orkney.
:: Some 20 vehicles had to be freed after becoming stuck in icy conditions on Cairn O' Mount, a high mountain pass, in Aberdeenshire.
:: Fifteen flood warnings and 12 flood alerts have been issued by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA).
Video:Phenomenal Waves In Weather Bomb
:: Giant waves measuring 52ft have been recorded off the Outer Hebrides.
:: The Met Office has warned of gusts of up to 80mph.
:: Many Caledonian MacBrayne ferry services, which operate in the west of Scotland, have been cancelled or disrupted, while the Argyll Ferries service between Gourock and Dunoon has been suspended.
:: There are also disruptions and cancellations on NorthLink Ferries services between Orkney, Shetland and the mainland, while P&O ferries said its Larne and Cairnryan sailings were operating with delays of up to at least two hours, with further disruption expected throughout the day.
:: Several train services have been cancelled as a safety precaution, Network Rail and train operator ScotRail announced.
:: On the roads, Police have warned that travel conditions in the worst-hit areas of Scotland could be "hazardous".
:: The Skye Bridge and Forth Road Bridge have been closed to high-sided vehicles while the Tay Bridge was only open to cars.
:: Western Isles Council has said all its schools and nurseries will be closed as police have advised the public not to travel unless it is absolutely necessary.
:: All depots, libraries, museums and sports facilities in the Western Isles will also be shut.
Written By Unknown on Selasa, 09 Desember 2014 | 18.25
Police in the West Midlands were ordered off the streets after a threat was made to kidnap and kill an officer in Birmingham, Sky News has learned.
Officers were called back to base by West Midlands Police between 10pm and midnight on Monday after an anonymous tip-off.
The force, which has declined to comment on the specifics of the threat, said officers and staff had been given an "additional safety reminder".
The threat level to police was increased to substantial two months ago
Officers were spoken to about travelling to and from work in partial uniform, as well as security at police stations.
The threat level to police across Britain was raised to substantial in October, meaning an attack is a strong possibility.
Video:Threat 'Must Have Been Credible'
Assistant Chief Constable Garry Forsyth said: "There is nothing at this time to suggest there is an increased risk to members of the public.
"We have taken the opportunity to remind all employees of the need to be vigilant.
"Our priority remains serving our communities and protecting them from harm.
"Officers remain on patrol and our staff continue to respond to calls for service as usual."
The force said it had still responded to 999 calls during the recall and that officers had been held on duty while they were given the security briefing, or advised as they started their shifts.
Information that led to the alert is still being assessed, said police, but sources told Sky the threat was "credible".
"We have spoken to police officers from the area who confirmed two facts," said Sky's Sean Dilley.
"The fact that officers have been called back to return to base, and also that they've been asked to watch out for each other when they are actually out on patrol."
The alert comes after four men were charged with terror offences in October, including allegations they carried out "hostile reconnaissance" of Shepherd's Bush police station in London.
They allegedly viewed and kept an image sent via Instagram of two Metropolitan Police officers and two Metropolitan Police community support officers.
The Shrien Dewani case has put a spotlight on a subject Britain's Asian community has struggled to address.
Homosexuality is one of the last taboos.
The subject is rarely talked about and coming out is extremely difficult in most cases, and impossible in others.
In extreme cases gay Asian men and women face violence, or even death.
'H' comes from a wealthy, middle class family from a big town in Pakistan.
While he was still at college he was outed by a member of his extended family.
Video:'They Think That You're Possessed'
The reaction was predictably violent. 'H' was given a choice: exorcism or death.
"They take a stick and they burn it on your hands and parts of your body," he said.
"And you scream. And they think the demons are leaving your body. That happened to me several times."
'H' lied to live. He said the painful exorcisms had "cured" him, but his lover refused to renounce his homosexuality.
Video:'She Cried, She Blamed Herself'
He was beaten to death by his own father. 'H' heard the screams for help.
Seeking refuge in Britain, 'H' thought attitudes here would be different.
But instead the same prejudices that exist in the subcontinent have been transferred to successive generations born and raised in this country.
Jasvir Ginday, a bank worker from Walsall, is serving a life sentence for murdering his wife, Varkha Rani.
Video:Homosexuality In Asian Community
The two were married in a lavish arranged marriage in Punjab, India. It was a marriage that Ginday had himself helped to arrange.
But on her arrival in this country Varkha Rani discovered her husband was gay.
Detective Superintendent Sab Johal investigated the murder and soon discovered Gindal was active on Birmingham's gay scene and did little to hide his sexuality.
"We know for a fact that his friends knew he was visiting the gay quarter," he said.
Video:'A Great Source Of Shame'
"He came here with his friends. So he was more than happy to be a gay man here, but yet he still played the part of somebody that was prepared to get married.
"He went to India and duped a young girl to come over here. That makes his crime even more malicious."
Some Asian parents force their gay sons and daughters into marriages in the mistaken belief that heterosexual sex will "cure" them.
Detective Sergeant Trudi Runham is one of West Midlands Police's most experienced officers dealing with the issue.
Video:Special Report: Asian And Gay
Her Team Sentinel unit has rescued gay men from forced marriages. She says the number of cases is increasing.
"Nationally 20% of referrals for forced marriages are men. And we know that some of those are gay men," she said.
But there are some signs of change.
Yatin Mistry is from an orthodox Hindu family. Telling his parents he was gay was the most difficult thing he has ever had to do.
Video:Being Gay 'Alien Notion For Asians'
"My dad's initial reaction was 'look son, I'm not happy. But I love you, you're still my son'.
"What's going to be difficult is how society is going to react and how your mum will react.
"My mum cried. She blamed herself, saying 'what have I done? I must have done something wrong'. The whole coming out process took over a year."
But now the IT analyst is planning to marry his boyfriend. And he has his parents' blessing.
Shrien Dewani has boarded a flight out of South Africa after being cleared of plotting his wife's death on their honeymoon.
The case against the 34-year-old was thrown out by Judge Jeanette Traverso, who ruled that prosecution arguments fell "far below" the level needed for a conviction for the murder of Anni Dewani.
Mr Dewani arrived at Cape Town airport with members of his family and they boarded an Emirates flight to Dubai.
It is believed they will take a connecting flight from there to Britain.
The businessman could face a civil case from Anni Dewani's family
Sky's Special Correspondent Alex Crawford said the businessman, who made no comment, looked "very well" and "very relaxed" despite the chaotic scenes as he was surrounded by dozens of photographers.
He "looked very different to the man who appeared in the dock" on Monday, Crawford added.
Video:Dewani Expected To Return To UK
"He had a full police escort, with at least half a dozen police officers around him. He refused to answer any questions. He looked extremely well," she said.
Mr Dewani, of Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol, had denied any involvement in the murder of his 28-year-old wife.
He said she was killed during a botched carjacking during their Cape Town honeymoon in November 2010.
The dismissal of the case led to angry scenes outside court as Mrs Dewani's family criticised the South African justice system.
In a statement read outside the court, the Hindocha family said: "The knowledge of not knowing is going to haunt us for the rest of our lives."
Mrs Dewani's sister Ami Denborg told Sky's Alex Crawford: "The justice system has failed us."
Video:Family 'So Sad And Disappointed'
The family say they will review the case with their lawyers to see if they can file a civil lawsuit against Mr Dewani in the UK.
Three men - Zola Tongo, Mziwamadoda Qwabe and gunman Xolile Mngeni - have already been convicted over Mrs Dewani's murder.
Qwabe is currently serving a 25-year sentence. Mngeni was serving life for firing the shot that killed Mrs Dewani, but died from a brain tumour in October.
But Judge Traverso said chief prosecution witness cab driver Tongo's claims about the murder were "riddled with contradictions" and "highly debatable".
Prosecutors claimed Dewani, who is bisexual, wanted to leave the relationship and arranged the carjacking during the couple's trip to South Africa.
But Dewani's defence team argued the case against him was weak.
Written By Unknown on Senin, 08 Desember 2014 | 18.26
An MP has said he was "fully engaged" in a Commons meeting despite admitting he spent part of it playing Candy Crush Saga.
The Sun has published pictures of Nigel Mills playing the addictive puzzle game on his iPad, during a Works and Pensions Committee meeting, of which he is a member.
The newspaper quoted a source who said they saw the Amber Valley Conservative MP playing the game for around two-and-a-half hours.
Mr Mills uses his iPad during the meeting
It added that the iPad is reportedly funded by the taxpayer.
Mr Mills told The Sun: "It was a long meeting on pension reforms, which is an important issue that I take very seriously.
"There was a bit of the meeting that I wasn't focusing on and I probably had a game or two.
"I shouldn't do it but if you check the meeting I would say I was fully engaged in asking questions that I thought were particularly important in how we get the pensions issue right. I shall try not to do it in the future."
Photos were taken of the MP playing the game
The committee met last Monday and was discussing pensions and the insurance industry ahead of the Chancellor's Autumn Statement announcement.
Candy Crush Saga is a free to download mobile game where users pay extra for more moves to improve their score.
It started on Facebook and moved on to mobile devices in 2012. Developer King.com says it is now played more than a billion times a day.
It took the South African authorities four years to get the Anni Dewani case to trial, only for a judge to throw it out after two months.
Shrien Dewani has always denied any involvement in the murder of his wife in Cape Town in 2010.
Judge Jeanette Traverso ruled that the case should be dismissed, saying there was no reasonable evidence that a court could convict the accused.
Here are some of the contributing factors behind her decision.
The credibility of Zola Tongo's and other witnesses' evidence:
Zola Tongo's evidence was not deemed reliable
Zola Tongo was the state's star witness and agreed to testify against Mr Dewani as part of a plea bargain.
The taxi driver was jailed for 18 years in 2010 for his part in the murder of Anni Dewani and claimed he was paid just over £1,000 to arrange the murder.
CCTV revealed in court showed Mr Dewani and Tongo locked in conversation at the hotel a few days before the murder.
Tongo claims Mr Dewani asked him if he knew anyone that could "have a client of his taken off the scene".
However, Judge Traverso said Tongo's evidence was "riddled with contradictions".
She said he had changed his version of events frequently when under cross-examination.
He admitted he made mistakes in relaying to police how the new bride was murdered.
Judge Traverso said his "evidence was of such a poor quality, one does not know when the lies end and when the truth begins".
She also said it soon emerged under cross-examination that witness Mziwamadoda Qwabe, who has also pleaded guilty to the murder, was a self-confessed liar.
The evidence of Monde Mblolombo, a hotel worker granted immunity from prosecution, was also discredited.
Evidence about Shrien Dewani's private life ruled inadmissible:
Evidence from Mr Dewani's private life could not be used
In a sensational admission at the beginning of the trial, Mr Dewani admitted having physical relationships with male prostitutes.
He also admitted surfing gay dating websites the day after his bride's body was found.
Veteran South African lawyer, Mannie Witz, who followed the trial, said: "The defence seized on that immediately and said 'you can't attack his character and his sexuality'. And the judge said 'I think the defence are right, I don't want to hear anything more'."
The prosecution had been relying very heavily on this evidence and it was a big blow to them when the judge told them this type of 'character evidence' was inadmissible.
In court the care home owner from Bristol claimed he was in love with the 28-year-old - despite being bisexual.
But in an interview before the trial, Anni's sister Ami Denborg said the relationship was up and down.
CCTV recorded on the night she was killed does seem to show a young couple in love.
Their picture is taken by hotel staff and later they sit with their arms draped around each other.
Shrien Dewani's side of the story:
Anish Hindocha gave a news conference last week
Mr Dewani, 34, maintained his innocence throughout the case and said he had been suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder since the murder.
The South African authorities spent a lot of time and money arranging his extradition ahead of the trial.
Anni's family claimed Mr Dewani had insisted throughout the case that he would clear his name and that his legal team had promised the court dozens of times he would give his own version of events.
The family have waited years for answers, but Mr Dewani has never been cross-examined.
Last week Anni's brother, Anish Hindocha, called a news conference on behalf of his family and begged Mr Dewani to "tell the world what happened the night she died".
Mr Hindocha said: "My message is simple: Don't let Shrien Dewani walk away without giving us, South Africa and people all over the world the full story."
Now that the case has collapsed they may never know the full facts.
There have been angry scenes outside court after the case against Shrien Dewani, who was accused of plotting to murder his wife Anni on their honeymoon, was dismissed.
Judge Jeanette Traverso said prosecution arguments had "fallen far below" the level needed to a secure conviction, paving the way for Mr Dewani's acquittal.
Mr Dewani, of Westbury-on-Trym near Bristol, denied arranging the murder, and said his 28-year-old bride, whose maiden name was Hindocha, was killed during a botched carjacking in Cape Town in November 2010.
The Hindocha family claimed after the ruling that the South African justice system has failed them. In a statement outside court, they said: "We feel really, really sad because we have not heard the full story. Shrien lived a double life."
Mr Dewani, who is now free to return to the UK, breathed a large sigh of relief as the judge cleared him.
Video:Judge Dismisses Dewani Charge
Members of the 34-year-old's family wept and embraced as he quickly left the dock. Anni's family bowed their heads as shouting was heard from the public gallery.
The state's key witness, cab driver Zola Tongo said Mr Dewani paid him to hire two men to carry out the murder.
The prosecution claimed Mr Dewani, who is bisexual, wanted to get out of the relationship.
Tongo, Mziwamadoda Qwabe and gunman Xolile Mngeni have already been convicted for their part in the murder.
Giving her ruling on an application by defence lawyer Francos van Zyl to dismiss the case, Judge Traverso said the evidence from the three men was "so improbable, with so many mistakes, lies and inconsistencies you cannot see where the lies ended and the truth begins".
She added that the only reason not to grant the application would be in the hope that Mr Dewani would implicate himself during the course of his testimony.
However, to do so would be a "manifest misdirection", Judge Traverso said.
Written By Unknown on Minggu, 07 Desember 2014 | 18.26
The Archbishop of Canterbury says he was left more shocked at the plight of poor families in the UK being forced to rely on food banks than the suffering in African refugee camps.
Hunger "stalks large parts of the country" while the scale of waste was "astonishing", said the Most Rev Justin Welby.
He made his comments ahead of the publication on Monday of a parliamentary report he has backed that sets out a series of proposals aimed at preventing people going hungry, and urges swift action by the Government and food industry.
The sharp increase in food banks has led to fierce political rows
In an article in The Mail on Sunday Archbishop Welby said, although less "serious", the situation of a family having to turn to food bank in the UK had shocked him more than terrible suffering in Africa because it was so unexpected.
Archbishop Welby wrote about his visit to a refugee camp in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the scene that he encountered.
Video:Food Banks Help One Million Britons
"It was deeply shocking but, tragically, expected," he wrote.
"A few weeks later in England, I was talking to some people - a mum, dad and one child - in a food bank.
"They were ashamed to be there. The dad talked miserably.
"He said they had each been skipping a day's meals once a week in order to have more for the child, but then they needed new tyres for the car so they could get to work at night, and just could not make ends meet.
"So they had to come to a food bank. They were treated with respect, love even, by the volunteers from local churches. But they were hungry, and ashamed to be hungry.
Video:Red Cross To Help Britain's Hungry
"I found their plight more shocking. It was less serious, but it was here."
The sharp increase in the number of food banks across the country in recent years has proved politically divisive.
Earlier this year, ministers were accused of "taking food from the mouths of children" after blocking millions of pounds of European funding agreed for British food banks.
Cash to help people suffering extreme poverty across the EU was backed in a vote at the European Parliament but the Government said food aid was better decided nationally rather than by Brussels.
Archbishop Welby has called for changes to allow food companies to pass on goods they could no longer sell.
Video:Cameron's Secret Visit To Food Bank
Under the current system it costs retailers to give away surplus food to the hungry.
A Cabinet Office spokesman said: "As a country we have enough food to go around, and we agree that it is wrong that anyone should go hungry at the same time as surplus food is going to waste.
"There is a moral argument as well as a sustainability one to ensure we make the best use of resources.
"While this report outlines important areas for consideration, we should remember that this country has been through the deepest recession in living memory, and sticking to this Government's long-term economic plan is the best way to improve living standards."
The widow of murdered aid worker David Haines has told Sky News the militants who killed her husband are cowards.
Speaking at their home in Sisak, Croatia, in her first television interview, Dragana Haines said: "They consider themselves brave, but that's not bravery.
"It's a cowardly act to behead someone who has his hands tied behind his back, who is kneeling.
"You are a coward if you are going to behead someone who is helpless. You're not even a human being.
"You must be a monster to do something like that."
Video:Widow Recalls 'Love At First Sight'
Mr Haines grew up in Scotland and served as an aircraft engineer in the RAF, but he found his calling in humanitarian work.
He met Dragana, his second wife, in post-war Yugoslavia.
He was working for a German reconstruction charity, and she was a translator for the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
They married in 2010 and settled in Croatia, where their daughter, Athea, was born.
In March 2013, he was kidnapped while working for a French aid agency in Syria.
Video:Dragana Haines: Athea Is My Purpose
"Every day was a challenge," Mrs Haines said.
"Waking up in the morning and thinking OK should I be hopeful? Will it be a day when they will call me, or he will call me and say 'OK I'm free, I'm coming back'?
"Or will it be a day when they will call me and say something bad has happened?"
In June, Islamic State released a video showing Mr Haines, and warning he would be next to be killed.
"I saw him in the video," Mrs Haines said through tears.
1/6
Gallery: Profile: David Haines
David Haines was born in Holderness, East Yorkshire in 1970. He was raised in Scotland, where his parents still live
He studied at Perth Academy. After school he worked for Royal Mail before becoming an RAF engineer
Alex Salmond, the former Scottish first minister, has announced he will stand as an MP at next May's General Election.
The ex-SNP leader will join the contest for the seat in the UK parliamentary constituency of Gordon.
The seat is currently held by Sir Malcolm Bruce, the long-serving Liberal Democrat MP who is retiring in May 2015.
Mr Salmond resigned as SNP leader and First Minister last month, having signalled his intention to do so just hours after the Yes campaign lost the independence referendum, and speculation over his political future has continued ever since.
Mr Salmond, who was previously an MP for Banff and Buchan between 1987 and 2010, set out his plans in a speech in Ellon, Aberdeenshire.
Mr Salmond told those gathered that he does not expect there to be an overall majority at the next election and that as a result, Scotland could emerge in a "commanding position".
"In the weeks since the referendum the people of Scotland have refused to give up on the hope of a better Scotland," he said.
1/5
Gallery: Alex Salmond Tries Football
Waiting for a Scottish Cabinet meeting in Rutherglen, Alex Salmond enjoyed a kickabout with Scotland's under-21 midfielder Kenny McLean.
It is unclear whether the pointy-footed Mr Salmond connected with the ball.
