Olympic Stadium: Dismay Over Delayed Future

By Enda Brady, Sky News Correspondent

Olympic and Paralympic champions have voiced their dismay at news that the stadium may not open fully until the summer of 2016.

Four bids are still being considered as full-time tenants at the Stratford venue, but each bid will require significant and time-consuming modifications.

Dennis Hone, chief executive of the London Legacy Development Committee, revealed this week that it will not re-open until August 2015 at the earliest and probably not before August 2016.

Olympic champion Jessica Ennis told Sky News that it is important the stadium is opened to the public as soon as possible.

She said: "I've some amazing memories of the stadium, like a lot of other athletes.

"I'd love to see it opened to the public as soon as possible."

Leyton Orient FC are among four bidders to use the stadium in Stratford

Paralympic double gold medallist Hannah Cockroft said it is vital to speed up the process so that the goodwill generated by the success of London 2012 could be tapped into.

She said: "The danger is that if it's not opened fully to the public for four years then that interest will wane.

"It's an amazing venue and people want to see it, they want to be a part of it. I really hope they sort this out, they have to."

A transformation project costing nearly £300m is currently under way at the site and is expected to last up to 18 months.

The park itself will be opened to the public on July 27 next year, one year to the day the Games opened in London.

Maria Miller, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, told Sky News: "The stadium is vital for the legacy of the Games, but the important thing is to get the right tenant in."

The four bidders are West Ham United FC, Leyton Orient FC, a Formula One venture and the University College of Football Business, an academic institution owned and run by Burnley FC.

A final decision is expected in the first half of 2013, or possibly sooner.

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NHS Volunteers Help Ease Maternity Pressure

By Isabel Webster, West of England Correspondent

Volunteers are being used by the NHS at the Royal Gwent Hospital in South Wales to ease pressure on overstretched maternity wards.

Twenty so-called "maternity buddies" handle babies at the request of new mums while they sleep or shower, sit and chat to keep them company, help with meals, or even change water in flower vases.

The unpaid helpers are given basic training in confidentiality and infection control but are not permitted to carry out any clinical duties including bathing or changing new-borns' nappies.

The buddy scheme was piloted at the hospital over a six-month period and has now gone live due to its success.

Linda Hall, a mother of four and grandmother of two, finds time around her full-time job at a nursery to pop into the postnatal ward whenever she can.

"The midwives are so busy that sometimes the new mums are anxious about buzzing and asking for help. So we just come along and get them some milk or some drinks - all the things the midwives struggle to fit into their busy days."

The scheme is intended to free up the midwives so they can focus on clinical care.

The Royal College of Midwives believes there is a shortfall of around 5,000 midwives in England and Wales as a result of the birth rate exceeding the rate of midwives joining the profession by around 6%.

The NHS is looking to increase volunteers at hospitals

But the Aneurin Bevan health board in Gwent maintains that the buddy scheme is not about plugging a staffing gap.

"We're not short-staffed. We don't have any shortages of health care support workers or with midwives. There are sufficient clinical staff to be able to give that care," said Suzanna Hardacre, the senior midwifery manager at the Royal Gwent Hospital.

"Our volunteers are purely there to enhance the patient and the woman's experience while she is in hospital with us."

A recruitment drive is now underway to bolster the number of volunteers in NHS hospitals across the UK.

Many hospitals already enlist them to help patients eat their meals and the Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust says their volunteers sometimes help to make the beds.

But Beverley Lawrence Beech from the Association For The Improvement of Maternity Services warns that unskilled helpers are no substitute for trained health professionals.

"If they really want to enhance patient experiences what they should be providing is community based midwifery. But this is the first step towards removing yet more midwives," she said.

"Frilly hand-holding is no substitute for proper trained midwives who know to look out for things like postnatal depression or infections."

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Malala: Shot Pakistan Girl Thanks Supporters

The schoolgirl shot in the head by the Taliban in Pakistan has thanked people around the world for their support - as thousands called for her to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Malala Yusafzai, 15, was flown to at Birmingham for specialist treatment after she was shot a point-blank range on a school bus on October 9.

Speaking on behalf of Malala, her father Ziauddin Yusafzai said she wanted to thank well-wishers for their humbling support to help her "survive and stay strong".

"She wants me to tell everyone how grateful she is and is amazed that men, women and children from across the world are interested in her wellbeing," he said in a statement, issued by the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust.

"We deeply feel the heart-touching good wishes of the people across the world of all caste, colour and creed.

Malala with her father at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital

"I am awfully thankful to all the peace-loving well-wishers who strongly condemn the assassination attempt on Malala, who pray for her health and support the grand cause of peace, education, freedom of thought and freedom of expression."

Mr Yusafzai, his wife and their two sons flew to the UK last month to be with Malala, who is being treated in Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham. 

The schoolgirl has received thousands of gifts, cards and messages of support since arriving in Birmingham on October 15.

New pictures have also been released showing Malala sitting up reading a book and looking through cards sent to her.

Malala's statement comes as more than 60,000 people signed a petition to nominate her for the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize.

The global petition to have Malala nominated, on Change.org, was started in Canada by Tarek Fatah, a writer and broadcaster.

Malala, seen before the attack, blogged about life under the Taliban

It has already achieved support from Canada's four largest political parties and has been replicated by supporters in other countries, including France and Spain.

In the UK, Shahida Choudhary is campaigning for the Prime Minister and prominent politicians to write to the Nobel committee to recommend Malala.

Ms Choudhary said: "Malala doesn't just represent one young woman, she speaks out for all those who are denied an education purely on the basis of their gender."

This Saturday is Malala Day, a global day of action marking one month since she was shot in the head by the Taliban.

A protest in Pakistan against the attack on Malala Yousafzai

Former UK prime minister Gordon Brown declared the day in his role as UN Special Envoy for Global Education.

Malala Day also coincides with Mr Brown's trip to Pakistan to deliver a petition containing more than a million signatures to President Asif Ali Zardari, urging him to make education a reality for all Pakistani children, irrespective of gender.

Malala, who is widely known as a campaigner for girls' education in Pakistan, was attacked with two other schoolgirls travelling home from school in the Swat Valley.

The gunman who boarded the van in which she was travelling asked for her by name before firing three shots at her.

In early 2009, she wrote an anonymous blog about life under the Taliban, who had banned all girls in her area from attending school.

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Ash Dieback: Crisis Plan To Be Released

By Nick Pisa, Sky News Reporter

Ministers will hold a crisis meeting today to discuss a disease to a deadly fungal disease threatening millions of the UK's native ash trees.

Department of the Environment officials have been liaising with the Forestry Commission and other agencies to discuss the best way to contain the spread of the ash dieback disease.

Environment Secretary Owen Paterson, who is chairing the summit, convened a Cobra crisis committee to examine the latest developments and co-ordinate a plan of action.

Mr Paterson will later outline the Government's response to the crisis.

An ash sapling infected with the disease

So far more than 100 cases have been reported across the country in Sussex, Berkshire, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, Bedfordshire, Northumberland, Norfolk, Suffolk, Kent and Essex.

The fungal infection is thought to have arrived in the country on wind-borne spores blown in from mainland Europe.

It causes leaves to turn black and drop off before the crown dies back and the tree eventually dies.

Countries such as France and Belgium have been hit hard by the tree disease, but nowhere has its impact been felt harder than in Denmark - which has lost 90% of its ash trees.

It is feared the disease could have the same impact in Britain as the infamous Dutch Elm epidemic of the 1970s, which wiped out the country's elm trees.

There are an estimated 80 million ash trees in Britain - one-third of the entire tree population.

Ash dieback has been found at 115 sites in the UK

In a bid to contain the epidemic, the importation of ash trees has been banned and the planting of new ones has also been halted.

Officials have also carried out surveys on acres of forest and woodland.

Signs warning visitors to take extra precautions to stop the spread of ash dieback are already posted at several national trust sites, including Ashridge, Hertfordshire.

Ashridge has hundreds of ash trees in its 5,000 acres of woodland. The site is popular with walkers taking in the magnificent countryside - especially in the autumn.

It has also been the setting for several films, including Sleepy Hollow and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Graeme Cannon, Ashridge Estate manager, told Sky News: "'It's potentially very dangerous.

"Ashridge is here because ash trees feature very prominently in its background and they have done for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.

Some of these ash saplings in Suffolk are infected with the disease

''With ash dieback in the country we'll end up in a situation where we will be losing a lot of our trees and they are an important feature of the British landscape and woodland.

"So far we have not had any confirmed cases in Ashridge but if we do then the impact would be catastrophic.''

Mr Cannon said that several of the ash trees were more than 200 years old.

''Although it seems to be impacting younger trees, we would hate to lose those veteran ash," he said.

Infected saplings have been burned to contain the spread, but visitors to woods are also being asked to do their bit by keeping to marked paths to help reduce the spread of infected leaves.

They are also being advised to clean footwear and bike and car tyres of mud and earth when they get home.

Although the Government claims it has acted as swiftly as it could, there has been some criticism that the response has not been quick enough.

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Enniskillen Remembers Victims Of IRA Bomb

By Vicki Hawthorne, Ireland Correspondent

The town of Enniskillen in County Fermanagh will come to a standstill this morning for its own special Remembrance Day.

Twenty five years ago - on November 8, 1987 - an IRA bomb exploded as hundreds of people gathered at the town's war memorial on Remembrance Sunday.

Eleven people were killed in the explosion and 63 others were injured. A former headmaster, Ronnie Hill, never regained consciousness after the attack and died in 2000.

Stephen Gault's father Samuel was killed in the bombing and he remembers the day vividly.

He said: "I never heard the explosion, I remember getting a shove on the back and going forward into railings. I must have been knocked out for a matter of seconds because when I came round there was just an eerie, eerie silence.

"I couldn't hear anything, the only thing I could hear was a shop alarm in the distance ringing.

"A choking sensation with the dust. I couldn't breathe, I tried to move, I couldn't move. I was buried to my knees in rubble and I remember thinking 'where's my dad?'.

"And I looked across the ground and he was lying across the ground and I knew right away that he was dead."

Soldiers scour the area in the aftermath of the Provisional IRA attack

Former town councillor Sam Foster was also there that day.

He said: "Suddenly I heard this roll, an enormous roll like thunder and then there was the explosion and everything fell down around us.

"Debris, glass, people screaming, people shouting, people shrieking, people squealing. It was a terrible situation to be in."

Jim Dixon suffered serious head injuries in the attack. He has endured more than 20 operations since. He said: "Pain is my constant companion.

"Bombs are evil things and the damage that they can do is horrendous."

The bombing shocked Northern Ireland and the world. It was also seen as a turning point in the history of the country which was so jaded by decades of terrorism.

This morning relatives of those killed and people who were injured will again gather at the cenotaph in Enniskillen to mark the 25th anniversary of the bombing.

They will remember the moment the bomb exploded at 10.43am, and dignitaries will join the families in an act of remembrance during which wreaths will be laid at the war memorial.

No one has ever been convicted in connection with the IRA attack.

But a specialised group of detectives, the Historical Enquiries Team, has been reviewing such cases and a report on the bomb has been given to the Police Service of Northern Ireland to see if any new evidence can be followed up.

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Supermarkets Cut Petrol Prices By Another 2p

Three supermarket chains have cut their petrol prices again, reducing the cost of fuel by 2p at pumps across the country.

Asda was the first to announce the discount, which follows similar reductions towards the end of last month.

It will now charge 137.7p for a litre of diesel and 131.7p for unleaded petrol on its forecourts.

Sainsbury's and Tesco followed suit, saying they would also slash 2p off their prices.

Welcoming the move, the president of roadside recovery group AA, Edmund King, said: "Once again the supermarkets have led the way on fuel price reductions.

"We have said the there is scope for price cuts given wholesale price falls and welcome the move and hope all the other retailers follow."

He said that many people are cutting back on the number of car journeys they make because of the high cost of fuel.

"This reduction will go a little way towards helping families and businesses keep mobile," he added.

Asda's petrol trading director, Andy Peake, said his company was "leading the way" in reducing the price at the pump.

"Unlike other retailers, our price cuts benefit everyone across the country, meaning that no one filling up at Asda will be forced to play a postcode lottery," he said.

A Tesco spokesman said: "As Britain's biggest petrol retailer with 490 forecourts, more motorists will make savings at the pumps at Tesco than at any other fuel retailer."

And Sainsbury's head of fuel, Richard Crampton, said: "With Christmas on the horizon, we know that this can be an expensive time of year so we're delighted to announce that we will be lowering our petrol and diesel prices."

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Head Teacher Helen Mann Found Dead At School

Police are investigating the death of a head teacher whose body was found at her primary school.

Helen Mann, who was in her 40s, was pronounced dead on Monday at Sytchampton Endowed First School in Worcestershire.

Police and paramedics were called to the school, near Stourport-on-Severn, at 4.20pm.

West Mercia Police said: "Officers are investigating the death, which is being treated as unexplained but is not believed to be suspicious.

"They are compiling a report that will be passed to the Worcestershire coroner."

In a statement issued by Worcestershire County Council, a spokeswoman for the school, Stephanie Gait, said: "It is with great sadness that we confirm the passing of our head teacher, Helen Mann.

"We offer our deepest sympathy to Helen's family, friends and colleagues.

"We have taken the decision to close school today and tomorrow and are working with the local authority to provide support to staff and pupils."

Police said members of a local Safer Neighbourhoods team were liaising with the school's authorities following the death.

:: Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 08457 90 90 90 or email jo@samaritans.org

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Sellafield Nuclear Waste Storage Warning

Hazardous waste being stored in run-down buildings at Sellafield nuclear plant is posing "intolerable risks to people and the environment", a watchdog has warned.

For more than 50 years, the owners of the Cumbrian nuclear power station have failed to plan how to dispose of radioactive waste, according to a report by the National Audit Office (NAO).

The public spending watchdog said some of the older facilities have "deteriorated so much that their contents pose significant risks to people and the environment".

Operators of the nuclear power station do not know how long it will take to build storage and treatment centres for the hazardous material or how much the final bill is likely to be, the report says.

Sellafield, the UK's largest and most hazardous nuclear site, stores enough high and intermediate level radioactive waste to fill 27 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Sellafield's radioactive waste could fill 27 Olympic swiimming pools

The highest risks are posed by the ponds and silos built during the 1950s and 1960s to store fuel for early reprocessing operations and radioactive waste, according to the report.

A long-term plan to clean up the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority-owned site, which is managed by Sellafield Limited, was agreed last year after an earlier one stalled because it was "unrealistic".

Progress in 12 of the 14 major buildings and equipment projects considered "critical" for reducing risk, which range in cost from £21m to £1.3bn, failed to achieve what they were supposed to and had not provided good value for money, the NAO said.

The report found there "is still considerable uncertainty in the schedules and costs" of the projects.

Margaret Hodge, who chairs the Commons Public Accounts Committee, said: "Projects of this length and ambition are ripe for dithering and delay.

"I am dismayed to discover the clean-up of Sellafield is no different. The authority's revised plan sees critical milestones shunted back by up to seven years.

"After only 10 months of operating under the new plan, performance in 12 out of 14 major projects has been dire.

"Between May 2011 and March 2012, the seven major projects in construction accumulated delays of between two and 19 months.

"My concern is that unless the authority holds Sellafield Limited to a clear and rigorously benchmarked plan, timetables will continue to slip and costs spiral.

"It is totally unacceptable to allow today's poor management to shift the burden and expense of Sellafield to future generations of taxpayers and their families."

Around 240 of Sellafield's 1,400 buildings are nuclear facilities and so far 55 buildings on the site have been decommissioned.

Amyas Morse, head of the National Audit Office, said: "Owing to historic neglect, the authority faces a considerable challenge in taking forward decommissioning at Sellafield.

"It is good that the authority now has a more robust lifetime plan in place but it cannot say with certainty how long it will take to deal with hazardous radioactive waste at Sellafield or how much it will cost.

"Securing future value for money will depend on the authority's ability to act as an intelligent client, to benchmark proposed levels of performance and to provide better contractual incentives for making faster progress towards risk and hazard reduction."

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Missing Atiya: Mother's Plea for Information

The mother of a missing girl abducted by her father says she prays her "little bundle of joy" is safe and well, after being taken to Pakistan without her knowledge.

Gemma Wilkinson, 32, from Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, said not knowing five-year-old Atiya is even alive is an "absolute nightmare" as she appealed for information on her whereabouts.

Atiya vanished in November 2009 after going to stay with her father, Razwan Ali Anjum.

The former insurance salesman said he was taking Atiya to Southport. Instead he took her to Lahore, Pakistan, and told Ms Wilkinson that she was "never going to see Atiya again", courts have heard.

Anjum was handed a fourth consecutive jail term by a High Court judge in April after he refused to reveal where his daughter was.

Mr Justice Moor imposed a 12-month prison sentence after he found him in contempt of a High Court order instructing him to disclose her whereabouts. He said Anjum, who is in his late 20s, would not be eligible for release until he had served at least six months.

'It's been an absolute nightmare,' says Atiya's mother

Judges have previously imposed jail terms of two years, 12 months and another 12 months in the hope that Anjum would provide information. They have re-jailed Anjum as each sentence neared its end.

Ms Wilkinson, a former charity worker, took legal action in an attempt to force Anjum to reveal the crucial details.

Anjum, who represented himself at the latest court hearing, indicated that Atiya was in Pakistan or Iran but said he did not know her exact whereabouts.

Mr Justice Moor said: "I am certain that he is in contempt. It is absolutely absurd for him to suggest that he does not know the whereabouts of his daughter and he cannot contact her. I am certain he is lying."

Speaking ahead of Atiya's sixth birthday on Wednesday, Ms Wilkinson said: "It's been an absolute nightmare. As to her whereabouts we know nothing. We've had no contact. I'm worrying every day, every single day. Everything is affected by it. When I close my eyes I see her.

"I say goodnight to her every night before bed. I pray she's okay. We don't have any proof that she's okay, there is no proof she is still alive. It's been discussed that she could have been sold, but I don't want to believe it.

How missing girl Atiya Anjum-Wilkinson might look at 4-5 years of age.

"She was so funny. She was a little bundle of joy. She loved her lip gloss and handbags - as soon as she got hold of my makeup bag, everything in it was hers. We just want her home."

Her "on-off" relationship with Anjum ended in 2008.

"He's enjoying playing his controlling mind games. It's just sick. Razwan is refusing to say where she is, who she's with and he won't say anything other than 'she's in Iran'."

Detective Constable Emma Constantine, of Greater Manchester Police's Child Protection Unit, said: "As far as we know, Razwan has had no contact with Atiya himself. He's never received any letters or photographs of Atiya, so there's no way that he knows how she is."

Detective Superintendent Phil Owen added: "We're working with a range of international agencies in order to find out who may be harbouring her, but it presents its challenges and problems and hopefully this is now the time to tug at heart-strings and generate information from the public.

Mr Owen argued Anjum "will convince himself that she's looked after" but that he couldn't know that.

Anyone with information should phone police on 101, the Foreign Commonwealth Office on 020 7008 0878 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

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Derby House Fire: Man Charged With Murder

A 45-year-old man has been charged with the murder of six siblings who died as a result of a house fire in Derby in May.

Paul Mosley, of Derby, is accused of murdering Jade Philpott, 10, and her brothers John, nine, Jack, eight, Jesse, six, Jayden, five, and 13-year-old Duwayne, Derbyshire Police said.

He will appear before Derby Magistrates Court later.

Another man, 49, arrested earlier on Monday, has been released without charge.

The children died after the blaze engulfed their home in Victory Road in the Allenton area of the city on May 11.

Their parents, Mick Philpott, 55, and his 31-year-old wife Mairead, have also been charged with their murders.

They are next due in court for a plea and case management hearing at Nottingham Crown Court on Thursday.

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NI Prison Officer Murder: Two Men Released

Two men being held in connection with the murder of prison officer David Black have been released without charge.

The 55-year-old was shot on Thursday during a high-speed ambush on a motorway, as he drove to work at Maghaberry prison near Lisburn.

High profile republican Colin Duffy, 44, and a second man aged 29 were detained in Lurgan, County Armagh, just miles from where Mr Black was targeted.

A police service spokeswoman said the pair had been released unconditionally. A third man arrested is still being questioned in County Leitrim.

Politicians on all sides condemned the murder of the prison officer, who was planning to retire next year after more than 30 years of service.

US secretary of state Hillary Clinton strongly condemned the murder as senseless and applauded the efforts of police to bring the perpetrators to justice.

"There is no justification for this outrageous and cowardly act," she said.

"I offer my sincere condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of officer Black, who had a long and distinguished record of service.

"The United States remains resolute in support of the people of Northern Ireland, who have condemned violence and embraced the path to peace and reconciliation."

Mr Black's funeral will take place on Tuesday at Molesworth Presbyterian Church in Cookstown, a church which Mr Black had attended regularly.

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Delicate Diplomacy On Cameron Gulf Arms Tour

David Cameron is starting a three-day tour of the Gulf and Middle East today in a bid to cement major UK arms sales and bolster relations with allies in the region.

The Prime Minister will personally spearhead a push to persuade the United Arab Emirates to buy 60 of BAE's Typhoon jets over French rivals in a deal reported to be worth upwards of £3bn.

On Tuesday, he will travel to Saudi Arabia - Britain's biggest trading partner in the region - which is also considering adding to its fleet of aircraft.

Downing Street said the visit - Mr Cameron's second to each country as premier - was part of a wider effort to build a "reinvigorated partnership" between Britain and the region's leaders.

Reinforced military ties are seen as crucial amid continued fears over Iran's nuclear ambitions and the threat Tehran could seek to badly disrupt oil supplies by blocking the Straits of Hormuz.

Mr Cameron will fly first to a military airbase near Dubai where a number of RAF Typhoons are stationed to promote the aircraft to military and political figures from the UAE.

He will also hold talks with the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Prime Minister of the UAE on the potential for a joint work on the next generation of military aerospace equipment.

The Government hopes to secure deals for 100 Typhoons to be sold to the region in the coming year - worth at least £6bn to British firms.

Mr Cameron faces a tough balancing act however as he attempts to secure billions in investment from the oil-rich states while addressing concerns about the human rights records of their regimes.

The Arab Spring has led to an increased focus on largely autocratic rule in many states, including crackdowns on pro-democracy and other protest movements.

The Government has been criticised for failing to condemn abuses and accused of continuing to sell military equipment with insufficient guarantees it would not be used in repression.

But Saudi officials reacted angrily to an "insulting" inquiry into it by the Commons foreign affairs committee, warning it would be "re-evaluating" relations.

"We want to work together with the Gulf countries towards a future that is rich in prosperity, strong in defence and open in its handling and pursuit of political and economic reform," Downing Street said ahead of the visit.

On Wednesday, Mr Cameron will make a short visit to the Middle East before flying home for talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at Downing Street ahead of the crunch EU budget summit.

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