Survivor Found Two Days After Kenya Massacre

Tony Blair Criticises Cameron Over Europe

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 07 April 2015 | 18.25

Tony Blair has warned David Cameron's promise of an EU referendum is an "unacceptable gamble" with Britain's future.

The former Labour prime minister also told Sky News the current party leader Ed Miliband had his "100%" support, and said he had showed "real leadership" in resisting calls to back an in/out vote.

Speaking in his former constituency of Sedgefield, Mr Blair claimed the PM did not believe the UK should quit Europe, but had committed to a referendum in 2017 as a "sop" to the right wing of his party and UKIP.

But he warned the vote would be a "huge distraction", risking economic chaos and threatening the UK's national interest.

It would also put EU "exit" on the agenda for the first time.

And he had sharp words for UKIP, arguing its brand of nationalism as "ugly".

In his speech Mr Blair said: "I believe passionately that leaving Europe would leave Britain diminished in the world, do significant damage to our economy and, less obviously but just as important to our future, would go against the very qualities and ambitions that mark us out still as a great global nation.

"Think of the chaos produced by the possibility never mind the reality of Britain quitting Europe.

"Jobs that are secure suddenly insecure; investment decisions postponed or cancelled; a pall of unpredictability hanging over the British economy."

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He added: "And the oddest thing of all about David Cameron's position? The PM doesn't really believe we should leave Europe; not even the Europe as it is today.

"This was a concession to party, a manoeuvre to access some of the UKIP vote, a sop to the rampant anti-Europe feeling of parts of the media.

"This issue, touching as it does the country's future, is too important to be traded like this."

In a broadside against UKIP, Mr Blair said: "National pride is a great thing. Nationalism, as a political cause in the hands of parties like UKIP, is almost always ugly and, despite being wrapped in the garb on high-sounding phrases, can never disguise its essentially mean spirit."

And praising Mr Miliband's stance, Mr Blair said: "Labour and its leader took a brave decision when they decided not to yield to pressure but instead to make the principled and intelligent case for Britain in Europe.

"In doing so, in my view, they showed they understand Britain's future and its destiny better than those prepared to trade policy for political advantage.

"That is one very good reason, amongst many others, for voting Labour on May 7."

Asked afterwards about his relationship with Mr Miliband, Mr Blair told Sky News: "I support him 100% to lead our party to victory at the election."

However, he went on to point out there had "always been disagreement" within Labour hinting at behind-the-scenes differences over the direction Mr Miliband was taking the party in.

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Labour Attacks Tory Record On GP Opening Hours

By Niall Paterson, Sky News Correspondent

Labour has claimed that almost 600 fewer GP surgeries are currently open during evenings and weekends compared to the last parliament.

Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham says coalition policies on health are forcing people to queue lengthy periods to access a GP, with many visiting accident and emergency instead.

The Conservatives dispute the claim, which comes one month before voters go to the polls, and insist out-of-hours access to doctors is being extended.

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The row comes as it was revealed accident and emergency waiting times at hospitals in England are the longest they have been since records began in 2004.

New figures show just 91.8% of patients were seen within four hours in the three-month period to March, against a target of 95%.

On GP opening, Mr Burnham said Labour introduced an extended hours scheme which in 2009 funded 77% of surgeries to open their doors on evenings and weekends.

He said the coalition has cut funding from £3.01 per patient to £1.90 per patient, meaning that by 2013/14 only 72% of surgeries were offering extended hours.

Labour says its figures were sourced from a parliamentary question and are up to date.

Mr Burnham said: "Today, across the country, people will face the frustration of joining a queue to see their GP - in some places the lines will go out of the surgery door.

"After five years of David Cameron, patients at hundreds of surgeries can no longer get a GP appointment when they need one."

But Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said Labour's figures are "wrong", and pointed to the Prime Minister's Challenge Fund as evidence the Conservatives have boosted access to GPs.

Mr Hunt said the scheme covered 1,100 practices and helped 7.5 million patients see GPs out of normal hours.

He said: "We are extending this scheme to cover over 1,400 additional practices, helping 10 million extra people by this time next year.

"The next Conservative government will deliver a truly seven-day NHS, putting right a problem which began with Labour's disastrous 2004 GP contract.

"You can only have a strong NHS if you have a strong economy.

"Ed Miliband as prime minister - propped up by Alex Salmond and the SNP - would wreck the economy, risking the funding our NHS needs. Patients would pay the price."

Speaking on Sky News, Home Secretary Theresa May also disputed the opposition figures and argued it was Labour which changed the GPs' contract in 2004 that meant doctors were no longer required to provide out-of-hours services.

She said: "I've not seen people queuing out of the door of a GP's surgery.

"It's a bit rich to make these sort of claims now when actually the change in the GPs' contract was made by a Labour government."

The dispute comes a month before voters head to the ballot box and as the Prime Minister warns about the potential "disaster of an Ed Miliband government".

Mr Cameron has embarked on a four-country tour of the United Kingdom, with events being held in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

He is set to push his message that the Conservatives have led an economic revival in Britain.

He will also appeal for potential UKIP voters to "come home" to the Conservatives in order to avoid a Labour election win.

Speaking ahead of today's campaign visits, Mr Cameron said: "We have one month to save our economy from the disaster of an Ed Miliband government."

"We have one month to save Britain from his mountain of debt; one month to save Britain from his punitive taxes."

He added that the Labour leader was pursuing policies which are "anti-business and anti-aspiration".

During campaigning over the Easter weekend, Labour accused the Conservatives of plotting a secret tax cut for millionaires after the General Election.

Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls predicted a Tory-led government would hike VAT - something Mr Cameron has ruled out - and slash the top rate of income tax for earnings over £150,000.

Meanwhile the Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has set out proposals to raise the threshold at which people start paying income tax to £11,000 next year, with a promise of a further rise to £12,500 by 2020.

The income tax cut will be funded by increasing tax on shareholders' dividend payments, Mr Clegg said.

He claimed the Tory plans for tax cuts would be paid for by deep cuts to public services.

Mr Clegg said the Conservatives were "desperate" to claim credit for raising the personal tax threshold.

"The problem is making life a little easier for working people has never been David Cameron's and George Osborne's priority and it isn't now," he said.

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No Further Police Action After Clarkson Attack

North Yorkshire Police has said there will be no further action against Jeremy Clarkson after he attacked a Top Gear producer last month.

Oisin Tymon, who was left with a split lip after the fight at a hotel, said last week that he did not wish to press charges against his former colleague.

He had to drive himself to hospital after the row in which he also received a torrent of verbal abuse.

Clarkson reported the 4 March incident to the BBC five days later and was suspended by the broadcaster on 10 March before it announced his contract would not be renewed.

The force spoke to people who witnessed what the BBC called a "fracas" and has now completed its "routine enquiries".

It said: "Now that all the interviews are complete, we have properly established that there is no need for further police action."

It emerged last week that Clarkson will appear on stage with his former Top Gear colleagues, Richard Hammond and James May, later this year to fulfil a series of gigs planned before he left the BBC.

The gigs will be stripped of all BBC branding and content, and billed as Clarkson, Hammond and May Live.

That means the shows, which will take in venues as far afield as Australia, Norway, South Africa and the UK, will not be able to use clips from the show or feature The Stig.

The move is likely to spark rumours the three men intend to team up to continue their careers together after Clarkson's exit from the corporation, but sources close to the tour say it is just a matter of fulfilling commitments to the fans.

The future of the show's other two presenters - Hammond and May - is unclear, with both men's Top Gear contracts having run out.

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Thousands 'Might Die' In Superbug Outbreak

Written By Unknown on Senin, 06 April 2015 | 18.25

Up to 80,000 people may die if there is an outbreak of a major drug-resistant infection, according to a Government forecast.

A report produced for the Cabinet Office warns that if a new superbug develops, as many as 200,000 people might be infected by a bacterial blood infection.

The National Risk Register of Civil Emergencies report, which aims to assess the threat level from emergencies, is produced annually to help the Government decide on policy.

The report says that over the next two decades the number of infections complicated by superbugs is expected to rise significantly.

It warns that routine medical treatments could become "high-risk" because of the growing resistance to antibiotics.

The report states: "An increasingly serious issue is the development and spread of AMR (antimicrobial resistance), which occurs when drugs are no longer effective in treating infections caused by micro-organisms.

"Without effective antibiotics, even minor surgery and routine operations could become high-risk procedures, leading to increased duration of illness and ultimately premature mortality.

"Much of modern medicine (for example, organ transplantation, bowel surgery and some cancer treatments) may become unsafe due to the risk of infection.

"In addition, influenza pandemics would become more serious without effective treatments."

The assessment adds: "The numbers of infections complicated by AMR are expected to increase markedly over the next 20 years.

"If a widespread outbreak were to occur, we could expect around 200,000 people to be affected by a bacterial blood infection that could not be treated effectively with existing drugs, and around 80,000 of these people might die.

"High numbers of deaths could also be expected from other forms of antimicrobial resistant infection."

Politicians and scientists have previously warned of the need to find a cure for infections that have become resistant to drugs.

Prime Minister David Cameron has stated that it is a "very real and worrying threat" which could result in medicine being sent "back into the dark ages".

Professor Dame Sally Davies, chief medical officer for England, said last year: "The world simply cannot afford not to take action to tackle the alarming rise in resistance to antibiotics and other antimicrobial drugs we are witnessing at the moment."

In 2013, the Government produced a five-year Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy, which aims to tackle the threat from AMR.

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'Radical' Pension Changes Come Into Force

By Poppy Trowbridge, Consumer Affairs Correspondent

Major changes to pension rules come into effect today which will allow savers to have more control over their money when they retire.

People aged over 55 are now able to cash in their pensions and spend them as they wish.

The changes were announced by Chancellor George Osborne in his Autumn Statement and were expanded in last month's Budget.

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Retirees are no longer required to use their pension pot to buy an annuity when they retire.

They can now take their pot in one go, or use it like a bank account to withdraw money in slices.

The changes will apply to the 320,000 people who retire each year with a defined contribution (DC) pension.

Around 540,000 people will be able to take control of their savings from today, according to estimates from the Government.

And from next year, as many as six million pensioners who already have an annuity will be allowed to sell them for cash.

Critics of the new system say savers will be tempted to go on a spending spree, leaving the state to pick up the tab later on.

But Pensions Minister Steve Webb told Sky News: "We're not going to have two million people making decisions this week or this month.

"We certainly think there will be many thousands of people who have planned very carefully and put the capacity in place.

"But I think lots of people, although they in theory could use these new freedoms, in fact if you're in your late 50s and still working, you may go on saving into a pension for many years to come."

Government advisor and pension expert Ros Altmann said: "This is a radical departure from the past. I would trust people with their own money.

"Now it's up to the industry to offer better products and more choice."

The freedoms come at a price: those who choose to tap their defined contribution pension pots for cash should be aware of income tax thresholds.

Some 25% of a person's savings can be taken tax free. Any extra that is withdrawn is liable for income tax at 40% if the total exceeds £42,386 when added to annual income.

The revenues from this could raise an extra £1bn for the Treasury, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

The Government's free, impartial, Pension Wise service has been established to offer guidance to everyone eligible for the freedoms.

Pensions minister Steve Webb said: "It is right that people should have the power to make their own decisions about how they spend their own money after decades of careful saving - ending the effective obligation to buy an annuity will give people back control of their financial affairs."

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Tories 'Plan Secret Tax Cut For Millionaires'

Labour has accused the Conservatives of plotting a secret tax cut for millionaires after the General Election, as political parties launched a battle over economic statistics.

Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls predicted a Conservative government would hike VAT - something David Cameron has ruled out - and slash the top rate of income tax for earnings over £150,000 from 45p to 40p.

The allegation was among a series of claims and counter claims as Labour, the Conservatives and the Lib Dems all claimed their rival parties would make people worse off.

Mr Balls said: "We know that is their secret plan - another big tax cut for millionaires.

"How can it be fair when families here in Leeds and across the country are struggling and £1,100 a year worse-off?

"How can it be fair to have a tax cut for the very richest when our NHS is in crisis and going backwards?

"How can this be fair when we need to get the deficit down and the Tories are now planning deeper cuts in the next three years than the last five?"

While Chancellor George Osborne has said there are "no plans" for a cut to the 45p rate of tax, he refused to rule it out definitively four times on Sky News.

But Tory Treasury minister David Gauke hit back by claiming Labour has a secret plan to boost revenues by dragging more workers into the 40p higher rate of income tax and increasing national insurance contributions.

"Ed Balls and Ed Miliband must set out the details of their secret plan for £3,028 of tax rises on every working family - the British people have a right to know what these tax hikes are.

"The choice at this election is clear. Lower taxes under David Cameron. Or higher taxes under Ed Miliband and the SNP."

Prime Minister David Cameron will later claim 94% of working families are better off after tax and welfare changes this financial year.

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According to the leader of the Conservatives, Treasury statistics show working households will on average benefit by £200 a year, and pensioner households by £180.

Mr Cameron is expected to say: "Today is a big day for our country. It's 'money-back Monday' - a day when, quite simply, hardworking taxpayers get to keep more of their own cash.

"A whole host of changes to our tax, benefits, pensions and savings systems come into effect today.

"And, as a result - a result of action we Conservatives have taken - our country becomes a better and fairer place to live.

"(A place) where those who put in, get out; where hard work is rewarded; and people are trusted."

While the Conservatives are highlighting figures that indicate people are better off, Labour claim the opposite.

Meanwhile, Lib Dem Chief Secretary Danny Alexander, has shared embarrassing details of a meeting from 2012.

Speaking to The Independent, Mr Alexander said: "The Tories' priority at the time was the top rate of tax.

"I remember one meeting with a group of senior Conservatives and one of them - I'm not going to say who - said: 'Listen, you take care of the workers and we'll take care of the bosses'."

Easter Monday also marks an overhaul of the pensions system, when for the first time pensioners will be able to cash in their savings rather than buy an annuity.

Liberal Democrat Pensions Minister Steve Webb said: "As a Liberal I believe people should have the freedom to do what they want with the money they have saved up throughout their working lives.

"Our pension reforms will mean millions more people will have a better retirement."

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Official's Son Among Kenya Massacre Gunmen

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 05 April 2015 | 18.25

Kenya has begun three days of mourning for the 148 people killed in the university massacre as one of the four gunmen is identified.

Students who survived the attack by militant group al Shabaab have been reunited with their families.

One survivor, Cynthia Cheroitich, 19, told how she hid from gunmen by covering herself with clothes in a wardrobe.

She was found by security forces two days after the attack at Garissa University College, as medical staff carried out the grim task of dealing with victims' bodies.

Another 19-year-old student, Daniel Machache, smeared blood over his body and pretended he was dead to survive the slaughter.

Survivors were taken on government buses to the Nyayo National Stadium, which has been turned into a disaster centre.

Many relatives at the stadium desperately tried to trace their loved ones and find out if they were dead, injured or simply missing.

Thursday's attack, in the northeastern town of Garissa, close to the Somalia border, left 142 students, three police officers and three soldiers dead.

Four gunmen strapped with explosives stormed the campus and singled out non-Muslim students to be murdered.

The interior ministry identified one of the terrorists as Abdirahim Abdullahi, the son of a Kenyan government official.

"The father had reported to security agents that his son had disappeared from home ... and was helping the police try to trace his son by the time the Garissa terror attack happened," a spokesman said.

The government has defended its response to the one-day siege as it emerged Kenyan special forces were not deployed to the university for at least seven hours.

"This is negligence on a scale that borders on the criminal," Kenya's popular Nation newspaper wrote in its editorial on Sunday.

It emphasised how survivors said "the gunmen, who killed scores of students with obvious relish, took their time".

Some journalists based in Nairobi drove 225 miles to Garissa and arrived before special forces, who flew there.

Kenyans are dedicating Easter Sunday prayer services to the victims, marking the first of three days of national mourning.

President Uhuru Kenyatta said the militants would face justice for the "mindless slaughter" and vowed to retaliate in the "severest way".

On Saturday, Somalia-based terror group al Shabaab warned of a "long, gruesome war" unless Kenya withdraws its troops from Somalia.

Hours after the warning, crowds gathered in Garissa as police paraded the gunmen's bodies in the back of a pick-up truck.

Officers said it was to see whether anyone could identify the terrorists, who were piled up face down in the vehicle.

Some onlookers threw stones at the bodies as they passed.

In Nairobi's ethnic Somali district, demonstrators took to the streets protesting against al Shabaab and calling for unity in the country.

Five people have been arrested over the attack, including three "coordinators" captured as they fled towards Somalia.

The suspected mastermind, Mohamed Mohamud, a former teacher in Garissa, is still on the run.

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Sturgeon: Help Me Lock Cameron Out Of No 10

Scottish National Party leader Nicola Sturgeon has offered Ed Miliband a new deal to help him take power and "lock David Cameron out of Downing Street".

Writing in the Observer, Ms Sturgeon challenged him to take his party into an anti-austerity alliance with the SNP - despite Mr Miliband ruling out any formal coalition.

Her words come a day after claims – strenuously denied by the SNP leader – that she had told the French ambassador she wanted Mr Cameron to stay as prime minister.

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According to a leaked memo about the February meeting, she allegedly said Mr Miliband was not "prime minister material".

But Ms Sturgeon has reinforced her earlier offer to the Labour leader, telling him: "If together our parties have the parliamentary numbers required after 7 May, and regardless of which is the biggest party, will he and Labour join with us in locking David Cameron out of Downing Street?"

The SNP leader also uses the article to repeat denials that the memo claims are "100% untrue – having been comprehensively rejected by both the French ambassador and consul general".

A coalition government seems a likely result after next month's election, with the result seemingly on a knife-edge and no one party looking like getting an overall majority.

The Conservatives have seized on the prospect of a Labour-SNP coalition with posters showing Mr Miliband in the pocket of Ms Sturgeon.

The Labour leader has insisted "there will be no SNP ministers in any government I lead" - but crucially has not vetoed a looser arrangement that would see the party offering voting support to shore up Labour.

The SNP is glowing from a big boost in popularity in the wake of last year's independence referendum and - ironically - is expected to rob Labour of many of its Scottish MPs.

Ms Sturgeon was also seen by many as the best performer in the leaders' TV debate.

With just over four weeks to go, latest opinion polls put the Tories and Labour virtually level-pegging.

:: Track how the major parties are faring in the latest opinion polls with the Sky News poll of polls, which averages all the latest polls to get the overall picture.

Opinium research for The Observer has the Conservatives down one point on 33%, the same score as Labour (unchanged).

UKIP was up one point on 14%; Liberal Democrats down one on 7%, Greens unchanged on 7% and the SNP were up one on 4%.

A YouGov poll for the Sunday Times has the Conservatives overturning a four-point Labour advantage to now lead 34% to 33%.

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Osborne Refuses To Rule Out Top-Rate Tax Cut

Chancellor George Osborne has repeatedly refused to rule out a tax cut for Britain's highest earners if the Conservatives win the election.

Mr Osborne told Sky News' Murnaghan programme his party had "no plans" to further reduce the top rate of tax and insisted it was not a priority.

But Labour pointed out these were same words he used on VAT before the last election, which the Government then raised.

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Mr Osborne said: "You can judge us by what we say we want to do.

"And what we want to do is increase the tax-free personal allowance to £12,500 so people full-time on the minimum wage don't have to pay income tax and millions are better off.

"And when it comes to higher rate taxpayers our priority is increasing the threshold at which you pay that higher rate, the 40p rate, to £50,000.

"Those are our big tax commitments for the coming parliament."

But pressed again over the top rate of income tax, he said: "If that was our priority or our plan we would have made it part of our plan and made it one of our priorities.

"I am telling you what our priority is. We have made a big tax-cutting priority and that's what we are absolutely 100% focused on delivering and achieving.

"Not because it's a nice thing to have but because its central to our economic plan and making work pay."

But Labour's Chris Leslie said this was the same argument previously used by Mr Osborne over VAT, which he had then increased in office.

Mr Leslie said: "That's the same formula he had before the last General Election when he said we have no plans on VAT and of course they did it.

"Their priority is always about helping the very richest in society."

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Survivor Found Two Days After Kenya Massacre

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 04 April 2015 | 18.25

Survivor Found Two Days After Kenya Massacre

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A survivor of the Kenya university massacre which saw 148 people killed has been found two days after the attack.

Kenyan medical staff are reported to have found Cynthia Cheroitich during the grim task of dealing with the bodies of those killed by members of Somalia-based terror group al Shabaab.

The 19-year-old said from her hospital bed that she hid in a large cupboard, covering herself with clothes, refusing to emerge when some of her classmates came out of hiding at the demands of the gunmen from the al Shabaab group.

She said she drank lotion to stave off thirst and hunger.

She said she didn't believe that rescuers urging her to come out of her hiding place were there to help, suspecting at first that they were militants.

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Gallery: Graphic Images From Kenya Massacre

This man was captured at the scene by Kenyan authorities

Mohamed Mohamud has been named as the mastermind behind the attack

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Some users may find the next picture distressing

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It was only when Kenyan security forces had one of her teachers appeal to her that she did she come out, she said.

Cheroitich, a Christian, said: "I was just praying to my God."

Meanwhile, more details have emerged of those arrested or sought over the attack.

Police named militant Islamist Mohamed Mohamud, a quietly-spoken former teacher, as the alleged mastermind of the massacre in Garissa.

The alleged al Shabaab member, a Kenyan of Somali origin, is also wanted in connection with a string of recent cross-border killings and massacres in Kenya's northeastern border region.

While Mohamud, thought to be in his late-50s, did not take part physically in the Garissa attack, survivors described the attackers as men like him: speaking Kenya's Swahili language well, with some suggesting they may have been Kenyan too.

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Gallery: A Look At The History Of Somali Terrorist Group Al Shabaab

Al Shabaab ("the Youth") emerged from a group called the Union of Islamic Courts which controlled Mogadishu before being forced out by Ethiopian troops in 2006

The group has been banned by both the US and UK but has 7000-9000 fighters, many of them foreign, and it is thought to have close ties with al Qaeda

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Kenyan police have arrested five men in connection with the university massacre and four gunmen were killed on Thursday at the end of the day-long siege.

The name of the three suspected organisers were not given, but the two arrested on campus included university security guard Osman Ali Dagane and Tanzanian Rashid Charles Mberesero found hiding in the university's ceiling with hand grenades.

The attack at the university, which is near the border with Somalia, left 148 dead, including 142 students, three police officers and three soldiers, and was Kenya's deadliest attack since the 1998 bombing of the US embassy in Nairobi.

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Tony Blair Criticises Cameron Over Europe

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 07 April 2015 | 18.25

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