US Helicopter Crash Site 'A Hazard' To Public

A US military helicopter crash site poses a risk to the public because of ammunition scattered across the area, police have said.

Norfolk Police Chief Superintendent Bob Scully said debris from the crash - which killed four crew members - is spread across an area of difficult terrain "the size of a football pitch" in Cley Next the Sea.

He said a cordon will remain in place for most of the day while investigators carry out a full examination and work to preserve evidence.

He said: "The crashed aircraft did contain ammunition. This is not of any great significance - it is bullets, if you will - but it is scattered across the area.

"The site is a hazard to members of the public and people who would normally visit for birdwatching and other nature activities."

The helicopter was based at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk

The Pave Hawk helicopter - based at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk - was taking part in a low-flying exercise when it came down at around 7pm on Tuesday.

Mr Scully said the coroner is carrying out a daylight assessment of the area and will then arrange for the victims' bodies to be removed from the site.

The investigation will then be passed over to the Air Accidents Investigation Branch and its counterparts in the US, he said.

Emergency services worked at the scene throughout the night with the help of military personnel and volunteers.

A second helicopter from RAF Lakenheath was also in the area at the time of the crash and set down on the marshes to try to assist.

Police have cordoned off the scene of the crash

Mr Scully refused to speculate on whether the second helicopter had any involvement in the incident but said that, as it was nearby at the time, it made sense that it went to help.

Residents told of hearing a "heavy and very unusual" sound overhead as the helicopter - which specialises in recovering troops from war zones - plummeted into marshland at the Norfolk Wildlife Trust Cley Marshes Nature Reserve.

The Pave Hawk - a derivative of the more famous Black Hawk - gets its name from the PAVE acronym standing for Precision Avionics Vectoring Equipment.

The helicopter is used for combat search and rescue, mainly to recover downed aircrew or other isolated personnel.

It usually has a four-man crew and can carry up to 12 troops.

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Schumacher Accident Slopes 'Marked Correctly'

Prosecutors investigating Michael Schumacher's skiing accident have examined footage from a helmet he was wearing at the time.

Albertville prosecutor Patrick Quincy said film from the helmet camera was very clear and would be examined by a police expert in mountaineering.

Investigators also said they had established that signage on the slopes was in accordance with regulations, but the area where Schumacher fell was "virgin territory" so was not marked and could be dangerous.

Mr Quincy said the probe would take time to establish whether the area where he was skiing could be classed as an "official piste" in French law.

He said Schumacher was "obviously a very good skier" but had not been able to slow himself down in the rocky area of the slope where he fell.

Describing the sequence of events after the former F1 driver went off-piste, he said: "At one point his skis touch a rock, he loses balance and falls forward and his head hits a rock which is 3.5 metres below.

Investigators have visited the scene of the accident in Meribel

"The rock he hit is eight metres from the edge of the piste and Mr Schumacher on the ground, inanimate, is nine metres from the edge of the piste. That's the information we have with regard to the inquiry."

Early viewings of the helmet camera footage appear to confirm this sequence of events, he added.

The inquiry has not yet been able to confirm reports that Schumacher was going to the aid of a family member when he fell or the speed at which he was travelling, Mr Quincy said. 

Police chief Stephane Bozon said Schumacher's speed increased when he entered the steeper off-piste section and he had tried to slow down but had difficulty because of the nature of the slope.

Mr Quincy said investigators have also spoken to emergency services and doctors and visited the scene of the accident.

The Albertville prosecutor's office carries out around 50 investigations into serious skiing and climbing accidents every year, he added.

Prosecutors said Mr Schumacher's wife Corinna had been 'very cooperative'

Schumacher was skiing in the French resort Meribel when he fell and struck his head on a rock.

The fall left him in a critical condition and he has been in a medically induced coma since December 29.

On Monday, a source said he had made a "slight improvement" but remained in a stable but critical condition.

There was initially speculation that Schumacher was travelling up to 100kph (60mph) when he crashed, after it was revealed his helmet had split on impact.

But subsequent reports suggested he was travelling at a "leisurely pace" of up to 20kph (12mph).

A camera reportedly attached to Schumacher's helmet is being examined in the hope it will reveal more about the circumstances of his accident.

Schumacher, known affectionately as 'Schumi' by fans, is the most successful F1 driver in history, racking up a record 91 race wins.

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Fifa Moves 2022 Qatar World Cup To Winter

The football World Cup will not be played in Qatar during the summer in 2022, Fifa secretary general Jerome Valcke has said.

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Dennis Rodman: I Love My Friend Kim Jong-Un

By Mark Stone, Asia Correspondent in Beijing

US basketball star Dennis Rodman has told Sky News he "loves" the North Korean leader and claims that "when the time comes" he will discuss human rights with Kim Jong-Un.

Mr Rodman was speaking at Beijing airport as he departed for his latest trip to the secretive country.

He is travelling to Pyongyang with a group of 11 American basketball players for a match marking Mr Kim's birthday on Wednesday.

He said: "The only thing we are doing right now, as you can see right now, is all the NBA players here to play a game right now.

"And that's the one thing we're trying to do right now."

It is almost universally accepted that North Korea has the worst human rights record in the world.

As many as 200,000 political prisoners are locked up in labour camps around the country. Escapees have said that torture is routine.

Kim Jong-Un recently had his uncle (L) executed

Asked whether he would bring up the subject of labour camps, Mr Rodman said it was not his job.

Given that he is the only American with such unprecedented access to Mr Kim, Sky News put it to him that it was his responsibility to raise the issue.

"That's not my job," he said. "The only thing I am doing right now, I am only doing one thing: this game is for his birthday. It's for his birthday.

"And I hope that if this opens doors and we can actually talk about certain things, then we can do certain things, but I am not going to sit there and go in and say 'hey guy, you're doing the wrong thing'.

"That's not the right thing to do. He's my friend first. He's my friend. I don't give a ****. I tell the world: he's my ******* friend, I love him."

Under the North Korean regime's "three generations of punishment" system, individuals found guilty of a crime are sent to the labour camps with their entire family.

The subsequent two generations of that family are then born in the camp and live their lives locked up inside.

Mr Rodman was asked if he was aware of the 200,000 or so political prisoners in North Korea.

He replied: "Are you aware that lots of people in America is locked up like that too?"

Mr Rodman's unlikely friendship with Mr Kim dates back to February last year when he accompanied the US documentary maker Vice to North Korea with the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team.

The Paddy Power promotional image for the event

Sky News understands that Mr Rodman initially believed he was going to meet the South Korean pop star Psy.

He even tweeted that he might bump into the star behind the hit song Gangnam Style.

For reasons which are yet to become clear, Mr Rodman and Mr Kim became friends.

Sky News has seen unpublished photographs of Mr Rodman riding one of Mr Kim's horses last summer at the North Korean leader's ranch outside Pyongyang.

Mr Kim does not speak English and Mr Rodman does not speak Korean.

Their conversations are conducted through North Korean interpreters.

This latest trip was due to be sponsored by the Irish bookmaker Paddy Power.

However, on Christmas Eve, the bookmaker claimed it had pulled its participation.

"Given changed circumstances, Paddy Power has decided to withdraw its association with the Dennis Rodman basketball initiative in North Korea," the company said in a statement.

However, Sky News understands that the bookmaker is still providing private funding for the trip, which it catch-phrased "Hoops not Nukes".

North Korean analysts are split over whether engagement with North Korea by an unusual and eccentric American is an unpalatable publicity stunt or an opportunity for future dialogue.

Dr Daniel Pinkston, North East Asia deputy project director at International Crisis Group, was supportive of the relationship when the Paddy Power event was announced.

"The last few years have been difficult for North Korea watchers seeking new policy prescriptions for dealing with Pyongyang," Dr Pinkston said in a statement on Paddy Power's website in September.

"Thanks to the support of Paddy Power, Rodman's visit had opened a window of opportunity to bring change to North Korea."

In December, Shin Dong-Hyuk, the only person born in a North Korean prison camp known to have escaped to the West, wrote an open letter to Mr Rodman calling on him to engage with Mr Kim.

"I am writing to you, Mr Rodman, because, more than anything else, I want Kim Jong-Un to hear the cries of his people," he wrote.

"Maybe you could use your friendship and your time together to help him understand that he has the power to close the camps and rebuild the country's economy so everyone can afford to eat."

As Mr Rodman left Beijing airport on this latest trip, he left that possibility open.

"When the time comes when I do that I am going to sit down and talk to all the people around the world, when the time comes, I am going to tell you everything that happens.

"But right now I want these guys to go over there and put on a good show for his birthday.

"We will talk about political stuff and anything about refugee camps."

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Storms: UK Braced For More Flooding And Chaos

A violent storm brewing in the Atlantic has brought more flooding and travel chaos as Britain returned to work after the Christmas holidays.

Forecasters warned gusts of up to 70mph will hit western coasts, while officials around the country urged people to remain vigilant and to stay away from high-risk areas with high waves crashing on to land.

A rock fall in Porthcothan Bay, Cornwall

As winds whipped up rough seas in the Atlantic, there were fears of further coastal flooding with 10-metre-high waves potentially striking southwest England, Wales and western Scotland.

Aberystwyth seafront - including 600 rooms of the university's student halls of residence facing the beach - was evacuated before the high tide as more strong winds approached.

A severe flood warning is in place near Bournemouth

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The Met Office has issued a yellow warning - meaning "be aware" - for heavy rain, along with hail and thunder, in southern and western parts of Scotland, across Northern Ireland, north Wales, northwest and northeast England and the South.

Up to 40mm of rain could fall in higher ground.

Harry Martin went missing in the storms

With the ground saturated already following recent storms, the Environment Agency (EA) has issued one severe flood warning - near Bournemouth, Dorset - and more than 320 flood warnings and alerts covering every region in England and Wales.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency has 32 flood warnings and alerts in place.

Environment Secretary was in Maidenhead to inspect the town's flood defences and reiterated the Government's commitment to expand schemes to protect homes and businesses.

He said: "It is absolutely awful being flooded and I really do offer my real sympathies to those that have been flooded. It is really shocking for young families and terribly disruptive for businesses.

"I can reassure those people we are determined to carry on long-term flood schemes. We will be spending £2.3bn in the course of this parliament. We have an even more ambitious programme going up to 2020, and over time, we will protect over 165,000 properties during this period and a further 300,000 up to 2020."

This is the latest storm front to hit Britain

The EA has urged communities in Dorset and Oxfordshire to prepare for "significant flooding" in the lower reaches of the Thames, Dorset Stour and Frome rivers.

More flooding is expected on the Somerset Levels and rivers in the South East, including the Severn, remain "very high" after recent rainfall.

The EA said some 220 properties have been flooded so far, miles of coastline battered and roads and fields across the country left under water.

Environment Secretary Owen Paterson inspects flood defences in Maidenhead

The severe weather has already taken its toll on the transport network and more disruption is expected for commuters with roads closed and trains delayed or cancelled in areas.

First Great Western warned passengers there was a risk to services in Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Wiltshire and Dorset.

Southern Railway services between Horsham and Dorking in Surrey will be out of action until early February after a landslip in Ockley.

And with hail providing an additional hazard, driving conditions are expected to be difficult too with the RAC expecting Monday to be one of the busiest days of the year for breakdowns, with 11,000 call-outs expected.

The scene where the man on his mobility scooter fell into the river

Residents in Wales are bracing themselves for more flooding and damage after the worst storms in 15 years battered the coastline on Friday.

Sky News weather producer Jo Robinson said: "As the UK returns to work after the Christmas and New Year holidays, some travel disruption is likely on Britain's roads and railways.

"Also, there's likely to be more flooding, with coastal areas at greatest risk as winds gust up to 70mph in the West.

A yellow warning has been issued for the whole of west Britain

"The storm system out in the Atlantic has whipped up the sea creating a large swell which is heading towards us early on Monday morning, so that combined with strong winds could cause flooding at high tide.

"The spring tides are past their peak now, but the high-tide waters are still likely to cause concern."

The weather conditions that brought misery over the festive period continued to prove treacherous at the weekend - with a 47-year-old man becoming the third person to die in the storms.

Tewkesbury is underwater due to floods again

The unnamed victim died when his mobility scooter fell into the swollen River Thames at Osney Lock, Oxford, at 6.30pm on Saturday.

A search is continuing for missing 18-year-old student Harry Martin, who was last seen leaving his home in Newton Ferrers, near Plymouth, on Thursday afternoon to take photos of the storms.

A 27-year-old man from Surrey was found on Porthleven Sands beach in Cornwall after he was swept out to sea on New Year's Eve night and a woman died after being rescued from the sea in Croyde Bay, north Devon.

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Angela Merkel Injured In Skiing Accident

The German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been injured during a cross-country skiing accident in Switzerland.

Steffen Seibert, a spokesman for Mrs Merkel, said the Chancellor suffered a fractured pelvis and must rest as much as possible over the coming weeks.

Mrs Merkel has been forced to cancel a number of meetings over the next three weeks due to the injury.

She will work from home during this period, Mr Seibert said.

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Cameron's Pledge To Guarantee State Pensions

David Cameron has fired the starting gun for the next general election by promising a cash boost to taxpayers and the elderly.

In an interview with the Sunday Times, the Conservative leader has pledged to raise pensions by a minimum of 2.5% each year up to 2020.

He also said he wanted to cut the top rate of income tax.

The Prime Minister pledged to continue guaranteed rises in the basic state pension by retaining the "triple lock" system if the Conservatives win the 2015 general election.

Mr Cameron also sought to reassure older voters that their pay-outs would continue to rise in line with the higher of inflation, wages or 2.5% at least until 2020.

Pensioners are facing a post-election squeeze on benefits such as winter fuel payments, bus passes, TV licences and prescriptions as MPs try to provide for an ageing population.

But Mr Cameron insisted that pensions would not be hit by continued austerity measures.

"A Conservative government will offer pensioners a more secure future by pledging today that we will carry on using the triple lock after the next election to protect the basic state pension," he said.

"We can only afford to do this because we are taking difficult decisions to cut the deficit and get spending under control as part of our long-term economic plan.

"I want to do everything we can to help people who have worked hard and done the right thing."

Alex Salmond wants to hold a TV debate with Mr Cameron

The basic state pension will be around £440 a year higher from April than if it had been increased in line with average earnings since 2011-12, Downing Street said.

Mr Cameron has already indicated that the state pension would be the only spending exempt from a new cap on overall welfare spending.

The Sunday Times interview comes as a poll carried out by Lord Ashcroft reveals more than a third of people who voted Conservative in the last General Election say they would not vote for the party in the next election.

The former Tory Party deputy chairman's findings revealed around half of the 'defectors' had switched allegiance to the UK Independence Party (UKIP), with a fifth aligning themselves with Labour or the Lib Dems and a third undecided.

Mr Cameron has also come under renewed pressure to commit to a head-to-head TV debate with Alex Salmond over the referendum on Scottish independence.

The PM has steadfastly refused Mr Salmond's challenge but an SNP poll found over three-fifths of people in Scotland and over half of people in the rest of the UK want to see a public debate.

In a new letter to Number 10, Mr Salmond told Mr Cameron that his New Year plea to Scots to stay in the UK undermined this argument.

Labour leader Ed Miliband has pledged action to close a legal loophole used to exploit cheap foreign labour if his party wins in 2015.

Writing in The Independent on Sunday, he said he wanted to address "understandable" public fears over lifting work restrictions on Bulgarians and Romanians, conceding some UK nationals "lose out" as a result of new arrivals.

Mr Miliband said the key was ending the country's "chronic dependency on low-skill, low-wage labour".

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Weather: Risk Of Flooding As More Rain Arrives

The UK is bracing for more storms, high tides and gale-force winds on Sunday as communities already hit by a trail of devastation begin to assess the damage.

More than 200 homes have been flooded along the west of the UK from Cornwall to Scotland, with miles of coastline battered and roads left under water.

Prime Minister David Cameron has praised the "great work" of emergency services and the Environment Agency (EA) in responding to flooding.

The Met Office has issued yellow warnings for rain in the south of England and snow in the north of England and southern Scotland.

People brave high tides on a beach in Brighton

Up to 40mm of rain could fall on higher ground on Sunday and there are more warnings of flooding and travel disruption.

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The EA warned that the south and west coasts of England and the Severn estuary still remain at risk of coastal flooding into next week.

The damage on the sea front in Aberystwyth

Communities along the North East, including Whitby and South Shields, could also see flooding as well as parts of the south coast including Portsmouth.

It comes as searches resumed in south Devon for missing 18-year-old university student Harry Martin, who was last seen leaving his home in Newton Ferrers, near Plymouth, on Thursday to take photographs of the weather.

Two people have already died in the storms. A 27-year-old man from Surrey was found on Porthleven Sands beach in Cornwall after he was swept out to sea on New Year's Eve.

The Thames Flood Barrier has been closed again

And a woman died after being rescued from the sea in Croyde Bay, north Devon.

There are currently 75 flood warnings and 220 flood alerts in place in England and Wales.

The government has come under criticism for planning to cut the number of jobs in the Environment Agency, which has the responsibility for flood protection.

David Cameron has told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show: "You are going to see record levels of spending on flood defences. We've guaranteed that, right out into 2020, so they can really plan right out into the future.

"Local authorities have had to make difficult decisions. The Environment Agency does have to make sure it controls its budgets carefully but we are making sure they invest in the front line."

The bad weather has caused widespread damage in coastal areas, including the sea front in Aberystwyth, west Wales, and damaged rail lines in north Wales.

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Polar Vortex To Plunge US Temperatures to -60C

Windchills of nearly -60C (-70F) are threatening to turn states in the north and northwest US into an icy deep freeze.

A phenomena described as a polar vortex is set to suck super-chilled air from the Arctic into North and South Dakota, the Great Lakes states and New England, sending temperatures plunging.

Washington DC has already seen its coldest temperatures for 20 years and several Mid Western states have recorded their lowest mercury readings for more than a decade.

Weather Bell meteorologist Ryan Maue described current weather conditions as a once in a generation event.

"If you're under 40 (years old), you've not seen this stuff before," he said.

But with much of the north east of the country already under thick snow and well below zero, a newly emerging weather system is threatening to cause further misery.

Scituate, Massachusetts, is among the places to have seen blizzards

The 'polar vortex' is an anti-clockwise rotating pool of cold, dense air that forms close to the North Pole, but typically hangs over Canada.

Meteorologists say that unusually, this year, it is heading south and moving towards the north and eastern United States.

Fargo in North Dakota is expected to dip to -31C (-25F), International Falls, Minnesota will fall to -35C (-31F) and Indianapolis, Indiana and Chicago, Illinois, will reach -26C (-15F).

Forecasters say that at those temperatures exposed skin can get frostbitten in minutes and hypothermia can quickly set in as wind chills may reach 50, 60 or even 70 below zero F (45.5,  51 or even 56.7 below zero C).

Parts of northeastern New England have already dropped into the negatives with some places hitting -35C (-30F) in Vermont and -38C (-36F) in Maine.

TV pictures from some of the worst affected areas have been reminiscent of images from an Antarctic or Arctic winter.

People enjoy Ipanema beach in Rio de Janeiro during a heatwave in Brazil

At least 16 deaths have been blamed on a snow storm that swept across the eastern half of the US at the end of last week.

Only a few thousand people have been left without power in the US despite heavy snowfalls, but in Canada, which has seen unusually heavy snow in a country used to cold winters, nearly 90,000 are without power in Newfoundland.

Temperatures were also expected to plummet to -35C in northwestern Ontario and Environment Canada issued a special weather statement on Saturday night for much of southern Ontario, warning of heavy snowfalls.

Meanwhile, in Brazil, soaring temperatures in Rio de Janeiro set off fire sprinklers in shopping malls as the thermometer topped 40C (102F).

Thousands headed to the beach as temperatures rose to more than 50C in the sunshine.

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Phil Everly, Half Of Pioneer Rock Duo, Dies

Phil Everly - who with his brother, Don, made up the revered US rock and country duo - has died aged 74.

He passed away in the Los Angeles suburb of Burbank following complications from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, his wife, Patti, told the LA Times.

His wife told the newspaper that the disease was contracted through a lifetime of smoking and that the family was "absolutely heartbroken".

The Everly Brothers, with their high, close-harmony singing, had 19 top 40 hits during their heyday between 1957 and 1962.

Their songs include Bye Bye Love, All I Have To Do Is Dream, Cathy's Clown, and Wake Up Little Susie.

They profoundly influenced 1960s-era groups and singer-songwriters ranging from Beatles John Lennon and Paul McCartney, who early in their careers called themselves the Foreverly Brothers, to Simon and Garfunkel, the Byrds, the Hollies and the Beach Boys.

"Perhaps even more powerfully than Elvis Presley, the Everly Brothers melded country with the emerging sound of Fifties rock & roll," Rolling Stone magazine said in placing the brothers at No.33 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists.

Tributes have poured in for the youngest of the duo.

Rock and country singer-songwriter Charlie Daniels tweeted: "Rest in peace Phil Everly. You guys brought us a lot of pleasure back in the day."

Linda Ronstadt, who recorded one of the biggest hits of her career in 1975 with her interpretation of the Everlys' When Will I Be Loved, said: "They had that sibling sound. The information of your DNA is carried in your voice, and you can get a sound (with family) that you never get with someone who's not blood-related to you.

"And they were both such good singers -- they were one of the foundations, one of the cornerstones of the new rock 'n' roll sound."

Phil in London in 1974

Don was born in 1937 in Brownie, Kentucky, to Ike and Margaret Everly, who were folk and country music singers.

Phil was born to the couple on January 19, 1939, in Chicago where the Everlys moved to from Brownie when Ike grew tired of working in coal mines.

The brothers began singing country music in 1945 on their family's radio show in Shenandoah, Iowa.

Their career breakthrough came when they moved to Nashville in the mid-1950s and signed a recording contract with New York-based Cadence Records.

In all, their career spanned five decades, although they performed separately from 1973 to 1983 after a dramatic onstage break-up during a concert in California.

Phil threw his guitar down and walked off, prompting Don to tell the crowd: "The Everly Brothers died 10 years ago."

During their breakup, they pursued solo singing careers with little fanfare. Phil also appeared in the Clint Eastwood movie Every Which Way But Loose.

After their decade-long estrangement, the brothers reunited in 1983 - "sealing it with a hug," Phil said at the time.

They were inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in 1986, the same year they had a hit pop-country record, Born Yesterday.

Speaking in an interview in 1986, Don said the duo were successful because "we never followed trends".

He added: "We did what we liked and followed our instincts. Rock 'n' roll did survive, and we were right about that. Country did survive, and we were right about that. You can mix the two but people said we couldn't."

Phil is survived by Don, wife Patti, mother Margaret, sons Jason and Chris, and two granddaughters.

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