Exercise To Test Britain's Readiness For Ebola

The Department of Health has said it will provide further details about ebola screenings at Heathrow and Gatwick airports and Eurostar terminals next week.

The announcement came ahead of a national exercise today to test Britain's readiness for an ebola outbreak.

Government ministers will join dozens of medical professionals for the eight-hour drill in locations across the country.

Actors will simulate symptoms of the deadly virus to test the response of emergency services, while some medical staff will wear personal protective equipment.

A simulated meeting of the Government's COBRA emergency committee will also be held, chaired by Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt.

The exercise was ordered by David Cameron as part of the UK's contingency plan against ebola, which has killed more than 4,000 people in West Africa.

Video: Hospital Staff Throw Gloves At PM

It comes after the Prime Minister was forced to defend the decision to introduce enhanced screening for the virus at major points of entry, saying it had been taken on "medical advice".

Questions have been raised about the checks, with a spokesman for Gatwick saying that the airport had not been given any instructions about how the screening should be carried out.

The move was also criticised by health experts, with one describing it as a "complete waste of time", while Labour MP Keith Vaz said the lack of precise information was "shambolic".

Video: Ebola Screening Coming To The UK

Mr Cameron said: "What we do is listen to the medical advice and we act on that advice, and that's why we are introducing the screening processes at the appropriate ports and airports.

"What we are focusing on as a country is taking action right across the board to deal with this problem at source."

The Department of Health has not revealed the locations of the national exercise, although a spokeswoman said it has been planning its response to an ebola case in the UK "for many months now".

Video: Ebola Crisis: On The Front Line

"It is vital that we test these plans in as realistic a situation as possible - with real people," she said.

As well as ministers these will include hospital staff, the ambulance service and Public Health England.

The spokeswoman added: "It is important to remember that the overall risk to the public in the UK continues to be very low.

Video: How Doctors Should Deal With Ebola

"The UK has some of the best public health protection systems in the world with well-developed and well-tested systems for managing infectious disease."

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Johnson Warns Of 'Thousands Of Terror Suspects'

London Mayor Boris Johnson has revealed that thousands of terror suspects are being spied on every day by UK security services.

He said the number of suspects in London is said to be in the "low thousands", suggesting the threat from home-grown terrorism may be far more widespread than that from Syria or Iraq.

Mr Johnson told the Daily Telegraph: "In London we're very very vigilant and very very concerned. Every day - as you saw recently, we had to raise the threat level - every day the security services are involved in thousands of operations.

"There are probably in the low thousands of people that we are monitoring in London."

Until now the main threat was thought to come from about 500 suspected jihadists who went to Syria or Iraq from the UK to join Islamic State militants.

Video: Arrests May Have Foiled Terror Plot

Speaking about IS, Mr Johnson said: "London has a particular concern, because probably of the five or six hundred that are out there, we think a third, maybe more - maybe half - come from the London area.

"If and when they come back, we have a real job to deal with them."

It comes as police chiefs also issued a warning to officers to increase vigilance in the face of a heightened terror threat for officers and five men were being held by Scotland Yard suspected of plotting a potentially "significant" attack on the UK.

Video: Nick Clegg On Terror Threat

Meanwhile, in an interview with the same newspaper, Iain Lobban, director of intelligence agency GCHQ, hinted it now took three times longer to trace terrorists online in the wake of disclosures made by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.

And he said sharing intelligence with a greater number of nations was necessary.

"It's nonsense not to share with the French. This is not Blitz Britain. We sure as hell can't lick terrorism on our own," he said.

Video: Debate: Terror And The Mid-Terms?

Video: British Girl Heads To Islamic State

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Alice Gross: Inquest To Open Into Girl's Death

An inquest into the death of Alice Gross, who was found dead in a west London river, will open later.

The teenager's body was discovered hidden under logs and foliage after a month-long police investigation and a manhunt for prime suspect Arnis Zalkalns.

Proceedings will be officially opened at West London Coroner's Court but are expected to be then be adjourned until evidence can be heard in full at a later date.

Prime suspect Arnis Zalkalns was found hanged

Alice went missing after going for a walk along the River Brent near her home in Hanwell.

She was last seen by CCTV cameras on 28 August on her way back to her house.

Video: 'You Have To Be Incredibly Careful'

Zalkalns also appeared in the video riding his bike along a canal towpath within minutes of Alice. He was reported missing a few days later and his badly decomposed body was found hanged at nearby Boston Manor Park on 4 October.

During the hunt for Alice, it emerged that Zalkalns had served jail time in his home country Latvia for murdering his wife.

Police came under massive criticism for not having this information at the start of the probe and for taking so long to find Alice's body.

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1. Gallery: Parents 'Devastated' At Alice Death

   A post-mortem into the death of Alice Gross has proved inconclusive

2. The schoolgirl's body was found in a river in west London on October 1

3. A cordon had been put in place after the discovery of human remains in the River Brent

4. Forensic officers at the scene

5. Alice's father has changed his Facebook profile picture from a campaign poster to a field of wild flowers

6. Alice's family had made a heartfelt plea for the safe return of the missing teenager

7. Scotland Yard released new images of Alice as police staged a reconstruction of her last-known movements

8. The teenager disappeared on 28 August

9. Police received more than 1,000 calls from the public in response to appeals

10. Alice pictured with sister Nina

11. The 14-year-old had been missing for five weeks

12. Police had carried out a fingertip search around Alice's home in Hanwell, west London. This image shows officers searching the area on September 22

13. The hunt for the 14-year-old had been the biggest search operation since the 7/7 bombings in 2005

14. A dinghy was brought in to help in the search

15. Here, on September 18, forensics officers are seen in the garden of builder Arnis Zalkalns

16. Zalkalns, a Latvian national, was named as the main suspect by police after he, too, went missing from his home in Boston Manor Road, which runs between Hanwell and Brentford

17. September 8: a police diver enters the Grand Union Canal to search for the missing schoolgirl

18. September 7: Police search the River Brent, near Hanwell

19. A missing persons flyer is attached to a lamppost in central London

22. Alice was seen on CCTV at Brentford Lock

23. Arnis Zalkalns was seen on CCTV in the same area

Yesterday, Scotland Yard Deputy Commissioner Craig Mackey said the investigation into Alice's murder is still "live" with at least two weeks to go before searches are complete.

It is the largest police operation carried out by British police since the aftermath of the July 7 bombings on London's transport system.

A post-mortem examination on Alice's body has not revealed what killed her and further tests are being carried out.

Video: Alice's Movements Reconstructed

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Thai Murders: 'Vibrant' Hannah Laid To Rest

The funeral of Hannah Witheridge, who was murdered on Koh Tao island, will take place today - after the two men accused of killing her reportedly retracted their confessions.

Police in Thailand say Burmese migrants Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Htun admitted murdering Miss Witheridge and another Briton David Miller, citing jealousy.

But a Burmese embassy official has been quoted in the Bangkok Post as saying the confessions had been "beaten out of them".

Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Htun during a re-enactment at the scene

"They're pleading with the Burmese government to look into the case and find out the truth," the official told the paper.

The two men are charged with murder, rape and robbery.

Video: Suspects In Murder Reconstruction

Hundreds of mourners are expected to pay their respects as Miss Witherdige is laid to rest in Hemsby, Norfolk.

Her family issued a statement earlier this week describing the 23-year-old as a fun, vibrant, beautiful young woman who will be "sorely missed by all who knew her".

They added: "She was dedicated, ambitious and would have made an amazing difference to the lives of many families through her chosen career as a speech and language therapist.

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1. Gallery: Thai Murders Accused At Crime Scene

   Two workers from Burma (wearing helmets and handcuffs), suspected of killing two British tourists on the island of Koh Tao last month, stand near Thai police officers where the bodies of the tourists were found

2. The pair have admitted to killing David Miller and Hannah Witheridge on the island in southern Thailand

3. Actors were used in the staging of the reconstruction

4. One of the suspects wields a mock weapon

5. The case has threatened to further damage the country's already bruised tourism sector

6. The victims' bodies were discovered on a beach on the island of Koh Tao, or Turtle Island, on 15 September, close to where they were staying. Continue through for more pictures

"As a family we hope that the right people are found and brought to justice."

Miss Witheridge's body was found near that of Mr Miller's on a beach on Koh Tao on September 15. They had both been violently beaten and Miss Witheridge had been raped.

A garden hoe was used to strike the pair, and Mr Miller, 24, from Jersey, is also thought to have drowned after being left on the water line.

Video: Charges Over Thailand Beach Murders

The Burmese men who stand accused of the murders were paraded in front of reporters last week in a re-enactment of the assault.

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More Time To Question UK Terror Plot Suspects

Anti-terror police have been granted five more days to question four men suspected of plotting a potentially "significant" attack on the UK.

The men - all aged 20 or 21 - were detained by officers from the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command at addresses across London as part of an investigation into Islamist terror activities.

Officers believe the raids disrupted what could have been a "significant plot", according to a Whitehall source quoted by the Press Association.

Among the alleged extremists being questioned is medical student Tarik Hassane, 21, who lives near Ladbroke Grove in west London.

He was Tasered during his arrest but did not require medical treatment.

At least one of the suspects is believed to have travelled to Syria and one line of inquiry is to establish any possible links with Islamic State (IS).

Student ID of suspect Tarik Hassane

Sky News correspondent Mark White explained: "The information that we're getting from sources suggests that this was an early disruption of what might have been a significant plot had it been allowed to come to fruition.

"There has been a change in recent months in the way that the authorities will approach these plots... the authorities no longer have the luxury of following a terror group that might be buying the ingredients for an explosive device and conspiring among themselves for many months.

"These plots can spring up so quickly that the police have to intervene at a very early stage and that might mean that, at the end of the day, they don't get enough evidence that they can put before the court.

"But that's the trade off - disrupting plots and safeguarding the public at the expense, perhaps, of a trial further down the line."

Commenting on the arrests, Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said: "It is one of a series of arrests that we have had over the last few weeks which, taken together, for me confirm that the drumbeat around terrorism has changed.

"It's a more intense drumbeat - we are having to be more interventionist and a lot of it is linked back to Syria and Iraq."

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High Street Decline Continues With Shop Closures

By Poppy Trowbridge, Consumer Affairs Correspondent

The decline of the high street has accelerated in the first half of the year, according to new figures.

Experts suggest betting shops and discount stores gained increasing footholds at the expense of traditional retailers

While the recession has hit high street businesses hard, the changes have been put down to the rise of digital commerce.

The collapse of Phones 4u has added to the overall rise in shop closures

Matthew Hopkinson, director of the Local Data Company, told Sky News: "Significant changes are continuing to take place across Britain's town centres.

"It reflects the reality that shops need to become experiential destinations.

Video: High Street Woes Means More Pop Ups

"The transaction element is between people and not on product.

"The UK leads in terms of the impact online."

Town centres saw 406 net store closures compared to 209 in the same period last year, research from accountancy firm PwC, compiled by the Local Data Company, showed.

The collapse of businesses such as Phones 4u and lingerie chain La Senza saw this rise to 964 for the year to date at the end of September - two-and-a-half times the number for the whole of 2013.

There were 953 net closures in the first half of 2012 which reflects a closure rate of about 16 shops each day.

Traditional goods retailers such as shoe and clothes shops saw a net decline of 365 in the first half while leisure chains - encompassing food, beverage and entertainment - grew outlets by a net 215.

About 80% of the UK's national output comes from services, which includes retail, hospitality and financial industries.

The figures showed the changing face of the high street with coffee outlets, banks, pound shops, charity shops and convenience stores on the rise, together with American-style eateries.

Meanwhile, video libraries were wiped out, as were many mobile phone shops.

Mark Hudson, retail leader at PwC, said: "This data shows that we are now really starting to see the full effects of the digital revolution and consequent change in customer behaviour play out on the high street.

"We're heading for a high street based around immediate consumption of food, goods and services or distress or convenience purchases."

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Ray Cole Says Morocco Jail Was 'Horrendous'

A British tourist imprisoned for being gay in Morocco has said jail there was like a "concentration camp" as he returned to the UK.

Ray Cole had an emotional reunion with his family at Gatwick Airport following his release after 20 days behind bars.

The 69-year-old was sentenced to four months in prison with his Moroccan friend Jamal Jam Wald Nass after homosexual images were found on his password-protected phone.

The pair were languishing in a Marrakesh jail until Mr Cole was granted a conditional release on Tuesday after an appeal was lodged.

Mr Cole said he was surprised and relieved to be home

Moments after being reunited with relatives at the airport, the retired magazine publisher said he was "relieved" to be back home.

He told reporters: "I did not expect this at all - I thought I was going to be transferred to a different prison. They gave me a choice of staying in Morocco another night or getting the next flight back.

"You would not believe it, it's horrendous. It's not a prison, it's a concentration camp. People are in there from the age of 10 to 80 and 90s for nothing.

"I can hardly move my arm from sleeping on the floor."

When asked about the support from his family he said: "I'm so proud of them - I could not have a better family."

The case generated huge interest on social media from supporters who asked for the Moroccan authorities to free Mr Cole, from Deal, Kent.

A petition was set up, a "Free Ray Cole" hashtag circulated on Twitter and a Facebook page demanded the release of Mr Cole, who has a minor heart condition.

He struck up a friendship with Mr Nass, who is in his 20s, on Facebook. It was on Mr Cole's second visit to Morocco to see him that they were detained at a bus stop by officers.

It is unclear what has happened to Mr Nass.

Mr Cole, who is 70 on 25 October, was four weeks into a five-week break in the north African country when the pair were held on 18 September.

Initially he was held in a cell intended for 44 men which was holding 60, forcing him to sleep on the ground and live with dangerous prisoners.

His son Adrian, 41, said the guards and prison governor had treated the family "graciously" and that his father's release had been a "massive step towards restoring my faith towards the Moroccan system".

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UKIP On Course To Bruise Labour And Tories

By Joey Jones, Deputy Political Editor

Getting a directly elected MP into Westminster for the first time, as UKIP surely will in the form of Douglas Carswell in Clacton-on-Sea, ranks as a sizeable tremor on the party's earthquake scale.

However, it lacks the one element that sows terror in the hearts of UKIP's political opponents - shock value.

The Carswell defection in the dog days of summer silly season really did have David Cameron reaching for the smelling salts, but the fact the former Tory MP will be returned on a UKIP ticket has been priced in from the moment the first opinion pollsters did the rounds of Clacton, if not before.

A Carswell triumph will be a moment of high symbolism nonetheless.

Having an MP in the Commons offers UKIP a valuable platform, and reinforces their confidence that the walls of the Palace of Westminster will eventually crumble under a relentless UKIP siege.

Before Nigel Farage and his troops get too far ahead of themselves, it should be remembered that the party's main achievement in a general election will be a negative one - putting a spanner in other politicians' hopes of comfortable re-election - while they can hope for only a handful of seats at best.

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1. Gallery: Heywood and Clacton By-Elections

   List of candidates for the Heywood and Middleton by-election

2. List of candidates for the Clacton by-election

3. Watch a by-election special on Sky News from 10pm on Thursday

Nevertheless, the extent to which the political dynamic has shifted can be measured by the fact that few Westminster politicians now have the temerity to describe a vote for UKIP as a "protest vote".

There is instead a recognition that the disenchantment with mainstream politics on which Mr Farage feeds has to be grappled with as (at the very least) a semi-permanent phenomenon.

In Thursday's other by-election in Heywood and Middleton, UKIP is set to put the frighteners on Labour without making a shattering breakthrough.

If the party polls close to 30%, that will be unsettling for Ed Miliband, who is coming under significant pressure following a lacklustre conference season.

The focus at these electoral set pieces will first and foremost be on the big winner - UKIP.

But as MPs return to Westminster after conference season the heat is likely to be on an opposition that seems able to do little more than tread water.

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Man Dies After Being Hit By Falling Masonry

A 61-year-old man has died after he was hit by bricks falling from a building during stormy conditions.

The masonry came off a building in Cliff Street, in the seaside town of Bridlington, East Yorkshire, and struck the victim and a parked vehicle on Monday afternoon.

A police spokesman said the area would remain sealed off until checks on the building are completed.

The force said it was too early to say whether the stormy weather caused the bricks to collapse.

Sky News weather producer Rebecca Yussuf said rain in the area was accompanied by gale-force winds at around the time the tragedy happened at 1pm.

She said: "Mean wind speeds reached 34mph, with gusts of 48mph."

Gusts reached up to 48mph in Bridlington at around 1pm on Monday

The first storm of the autumn swept across the country on Monday.

Gale force winds reached 84mph overnight on South Uist in the Western Isles, damaging power lines.

Northern Ireland Electricity said around 6,000 customers lost power overnight, while some 6,500 homes were hit with blackouts in the Republic, with the vast majority reconnected by the evening.

Around 2,000 homes were affected in Workington, Cumbria, with most having supply restored within an hour.

Heavy rain and strong winds are expected to move north overnight, with gusts expected to reach 70mph in the most exposed areas on Tuesday.

An elderly man trapped on an island at Marykirk on the River Esk in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, was rescued by a sled boat as heavy rain saw water levels rise rapidly.

Three anglers stranded on an island between St Cyrus and Montrose were airlifted to safety by a helicopter from RAF Boulmer.

Flood warnings were in place in Dumfries and Galloway, Dundee and Angus and Tayside, and flood alerts for Aberdeenshire and Aberdeen city, Caithness and Sutherland, Easter Ross, Speyside, Orkney and Shetland.

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Alice Gross Murder: Suspect's Body Identified

Police have formally identified a decomposed body found in west London as that of Alice Gross murder suspect Arnis Zalkalns.

A post-mortem examination of the body, which was discovered in Boston Manor Park on Saturday, has now been completed.

Scotland Yard say the body is that of the 41-year-old Latvian builder who emerged as the prime suspect in the schoolgirl's death.

The cause of death is consistent with hanging and there is no evidence of any third party involvement, police added.

Zalkalns vanished from his flat in Ealing on 4 September, a week after Alice is thought to have been abducted and murdered while walking home along a canal towpath in Hanwell.

Alice was found dead in the River Brent on Tuesday after a five-week search. Zalkalns was filmed cycling along the same route behind Alice on the day she went missing.

Alice's body was found about a mile away from Zalkalns' remains

He worked at a building site in Isleworth, west London, and is thought to have come to the UK in 2007.

Authorities have faced criticism for apparently holding no record of his conviction for bludgeoning and stabbing his wife Rudite to death in Latvia.

Video: Alice: Body Found In Suspect Hunt

During the investigation it also emerged Zalkalns was arrested in London on suspicion of indecently assaulting a 14-year-old girl in 2009, but was never charged.

A post-mortem examination on Alice was inconclusive and further tests are to be carried out to find out how she died.

Police said "significant efforts" were taken to conceal her body in the water.

Video: CCTV Footage Shows Alice Suspect

Zalkalns had not accessed his bank account or used his mobile phone since 3 September, nor had he returned home to his partner and young child in Ealing. He also left behind his passport.

Scotland Yard has said that although Zalkalns had been identified as a suspect in the murder investigation, inquiries continue to establish the full circumstances surrounding the crime.

A spokesman said: "Officers are still searching for evidence, and once again appeal to the public for any information that could assist them. Anyone with any information is asked to contact us on 020 8358 0100."

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Alice Murder: Tests On Body Found In Park

A post-mortem is due to take place today on a body believed to be that of the man wanted for the murder of 14-year-old Alice Gross.

It is understood that Arnis Zalkalns was found hanged on Saturday in woods at Boston Manor Park - a mile from where the schoolgirl's body was hidden.

The badly-decomposed body was taken by private ambulance to a mortuary in west London, and a post-mortem examination is scheduled for this afternoon at Fulham Mortuary.

The convicted killer vanished from his flat in Ealing on September 4 - a week after Alice is thought to have been abducted and murdered while walking home along a canal towpath in Hanwell.

Alice was found dead in the River Brent on Tuesday after a five-week search.

Video: Alice's Movements Reconstructed

Zalkalns, 41, was filmed cycling along the same route behind Alice on the day she vanished on 28 August.

His sister, Jolanta Daksa, told Sky News: "British police have not contacted me, or my brothers and sisters.

"Arnis' girlfriend, who is living in London, told me that they had found the remains and I told the other family members. Other details about what the police found we learned from the media.

"Now we are waiting for the results from the examination of the body and the police investigation.

"We want to know from police is it really is Arnis."

Video: Alice: Body Found In Suspect Hunt

The Latvian labourer worked at a building site in Isleworth, west London, and is thought to have come to the UK in 2007.

Authorities are facing criticism for apparently holding no record of his conviction for bludgeoning and stabbing his wife Rudite to death in Latvia.

It also emerged Zalkalns was arrested in London on suspicion of indecently assaulting a 14-year-old girl in 2009, but was never charged.

A post-mortem examination on Alice was inconclusive and further tests are to be carried out to find out how she died.

Police said "significant efforts" were taken to conceal her body in the water.

Video: CCTV Footage Shows Alice Suspect

Zalkalns had not accessed his bank account or used his mobile phone since 3 September, nor had he returned home to his partner and young child in Ealing. He also left behind his passport.

Scotland Yard has said that though Zalkalns had been identified as a suspect in the murder investigation, inquiries continue to establish the full circumstances surrounding the crime.

A spokesman said: "Officers are still searching for evidence, and once again appeal to the public for any information that could assist them. Anyone with any information is asked to contact us on 020 8358 0100."

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Anni Dewani's Father Tells Of 'Torturous' Wait

The heartbroken father of murdered bride Anni Dewani has described his four-year wait for justice as "torture".

Vinod Hindocha, 65, said: "Since that terrible day it has been a period of torture and we have missed her each and every minute of each and every day."

Mr Hindocha was speaking after flying into Cape Town, where his 28-year-old daughter was shot dead on her honeymoon in 2010.

Anni's husband Shrien, a wealthy Bristol businessman, goes on trial for her murder this morning.

A German rent boy Leopold Leisser is expected to be a key witness, who will tell the court Shrien Dewani paid him for sex in the months leading up to the shooting and told him he regretted his engagement to Anni, but was too ashamed to back out.

Mr Hindocha said: "Now that I am back here all I ask for is the full story and justice.

"I am confident that South Africa will conduct a fair and open trial of Shrien Dewani."

Dewani was extradited to Cape Town in April after losing a three-year UK court battle in which he claimed he was mentally unfit to stand trial.

After his wife's death, he told South African police the couple were carjacked at gunpoint as they took a taxi outside the city to the Gugulethu  township where Anni "wanted to see the real Africa".

He claimed he and the driver were thrown out of the vehicle before two abductors kidnapped his new wife.

Video: Murdered Bride's Family Want Truth

Her body was found in the back of the abandoned taxi the next morning.

But the driver Zola Tongo said Dewani had offered him £1,300 to arrange for his wife to be killed.

Tongo and two other local men, Xolile Mngeni and Mziwamadoda Qwabe, are already serving long jail sentences for Anni's murder.

Video: Anni Dewani's Bedroom Now A Shrine

Anni's cousin Sneha is likely to be another witness, and is expected to tell the court that Anni wanted to stop her wedding, a lavish affair in Mumbai.

Anni, who was born in Sweden, met Shrien after moving to London to stay with Sneha.

As Anni's family were preparing to leave Sweden to attend the trial her elder sister Ami, 37, told Sky News last week: "Three weeks before the wedding Anni actually threw the ring back at Shrien. She called me and said a lot of things like it wasn't working well.

Video: Sister's Shock Over Anni's Death

"I thought she was just stressed out and told her she would get over it.

"Looking back, I should have told her to break it off. If I had, maybe she would be alive today.

"It still haunts me."

Video: 'I Told Anni It Was Wedding Stress'

Unlike the murder trial of athlete Oscar Pistorius in Pretoria this year, Dewani's trial will not be televised, though cameras may be allowed in briefly to film him in the dock.

The hearing is expected to last until mid-December.

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NHS Spending On Patient Meals Hard To Swallow

By Thomas Moore, Health Correspondent

Hospitals are spending as little as £3.68 a day providing food for patients in their care, official figures show.

A Sky News analysis of recent NHS statistics shows 18 hospitals spending £5 or less on daily patient meals.

And 177 institutions - almost half of those who supplied data - spend under £9 - the equivalent of less than £3 per meal.

On average, hospitals spend £9.66 per patient per day on food, the figures show. But there are huge variations between different NHS trusts.

The lowest amount spent was £3.68 at Livingstone Community Hospital in Dartford in Kent.

Hospitals that prepare meals on site are able to make big savings

Tonbridge Cottage Hospital and Faversham Cottage Hospital, also both in Kent, spent £3.70 and £3.88 per patient per day respectively.

A spokesman for Livingstone said the costs were low because it bought food in without the need to maintain staff and kitchens to prepare it.

Video: Hospital Food Shake-Up Announced

The highest reported spending was £31 at Broadgreen Hospital in Liverpool.

However, a spokesman said average costs were higher than usual because it included staff costs and they had to cater for more patients than they ended up admitting.

The figures also show that 52 hospital do not provide fresh fruit to their patients and 16 have not had their menus checked by a dietician.

At Nottingham University Hospitals, 15% of the ingredients are organic, meat comes from local farms and every meal is cooked from scratch. Yet the food bill is still below average at £8.67 a day.

John Hughes, catering manager for Carillion which operates the kitchen, said voluntary nutritional standards on hospital meals should be mandatory.

He told Sky News: "You have somebody providing a soup and a sandwich and calling it a meal and somebody providing a four-course dinner and calling it a meal.

"I am disappointed and worried there is still no minimum standard.

"We have very high standards here. We operate to a very reasonable cost, so cost is not a barrier.

"It comes down to a political decision - do we care enough?"

In August, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt announced that for the first time hospitals will have to meet legally mandated standards and inspections will evaluate the quality of the food they serve.

Alex Jackson, from Sustain's Campaign for Better Hospital Food, said more than half of hospitals now buy in chilled ready meals.

"The data shows that where hospitals are freshly preparing and cooking food on site in their own kitchens they are able to make big savings. Those meals are also often the most popular with patients.

"So what we want the Government to do is support hospitals so they can keep cooking."

How much hospitals are spending on food was revealed as part of the publication of an enormous range of data for NHS institutions for the year 2012/13.

The figures show a wide variation in staffing, spending and procedures.

Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, medical director of NHS England, said the website "allows people to hold us to account."

"Overall, what this wealth of published data suggests is an encouraging picture," he added.

"Despite having received little increase in funding over recent years, the NHS continues to provide high quality care, often to the highest standards in the world."

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British Teacher Held Hostage In Libya Freed

A British teacher held hostage by militants in Libya has been released and reunited with his family, the Foreign Office has confirmed.

David Bolam, who worked at the International School in Benghazi, was abducted earlier this year.

His kidnapping had not been reported at the request of his family and the Foreign Office.

Although it has not been officially confirmed who his captors were, a group calling themselves the Army of Islam, a faction in Libya, released an online video of Mr Bolam dated 28 August pleading for his release.

The 53-second video showed him sitting in a room wearing a white t-shirt.

In it, he said: "My name is David Richard Bolam. I am a British citizen. I am a teacher.

"My health is good at the moment. I have been here a very long time."

He went on to plead for Britain to arrange a prisoner exchange or other diplomatic initiative to secure his release.

The Foreign Office said in a statement: "We are glad that David Bolam is safe and well after his ordeal, and that he has been reunited with his family.

"We have been supporting his family since he was taken.

"We do not comment on the detail of hostage cases. The family have asked for privacy."

There are unconfirmed reports a ransom was paid through "unofficial channels" in exchange for Mr Bolam's release.

The Foreign Office confirmed the Government has paid no money, saying: "HMG never pays ransoms. It is illegal to pay ransoms to a terrorist group."

While several Western governments have paid money to secure the release of hostages held by militants, the UK and US governments have a policy of refusing demands for ransoms.

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