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Tribute to Alps skiing death boy

Written By Unknown on Senin, 13 April 2015 | 15.36

Carwyn Scott-Howell
Carwyn was on holiday with his family

The family of a seven-year-old boy who fell to his death on a skiing holiday in the French Alps on Friday have described him as a "daring, outgoing, determined little boy".

Carwyn Scott-Howell was on holiday with family when police say he fell 160ft (49m) after straying off piste.

In a statement his family said he was a "very competent skier and snowboarder".

His family said they were skiing together when Carwyn's sister "lost her ski on a jump" and Carwyn skied ahead.

The accident happened in Flaine, 38 miles north west of Chamonix.

In their statement released through the Foreign Office, the family described Carwyn as an "adorable, caring person" who learned to ski from the age of three.

The statement went on to explain how the family became separated on their last run of the day on Friday afternoon.

It said: "The family were all enjoying their last ski run over the small jumps and bumps at the side of the slope together, when Carwyn's sister lost her ski on a jump and at this point Carwyn skied ahead.

"The family cannot explain their feeling of utter devastation with a vast void in their hearts.

"The family would like to thank all their friends and family for their support at this time and the vast help from the British Consulate."

Flaine
The Foreign Office said the accident happened in Flaine, 38 miles north west of Chamonix

Police chief Patrick Poirot, head of the mountain rescue division in the nearby town of Annecy, said yesterday that police believed the boy did not know where to go after losing his parents and skied in the wrong direction.

He said: "He left the marked ski slope and probably skied to the top of a cliff.

"He then stopped, removed his skis, walked a little way and then fell."

The family have a farm in the small village of Talybont-on-Usk in the Brecon Beacons, where Carwyn's parents Ceri and Rhys run an award-winning produce business and rent holiday cottages.

Liam Fitzpatrick, an independent county councillor for the village, said the community was "in absolute shock".

"He was seven years old, it's horrendous. A tragic, tragic accident," he said.

"We just can't comprehend it.

"It's a small village and everyone knows each other, especially his parents who are well-known because of their business.

"There will be massive support here for them when they come back. The community will be ready to assist in any way it possible can.

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"It's impossible to know what they are going through at the moment."


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Man held over Syrian preacher murder

Abdul Hadi Arwani
Abdul Hadi Arwani was found with gunshot wounds in a car in Wembley

A man has been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to murder a Syrian-born preacher found shot dead in a car in north-west London.

Abdul Hadi Arwani, 48, from west London, was found dead on Tuesday in Wembley.

The Syrian-born British national was believed to be a critic of President Bashar al-Assad.

The Metropolitan Police said a 46-year-old man was arrested in Brent in north-west London on Sunday night.

The Met said he was being held in custody at a central London police station.

Counter-terrorism detectives have been carrying out the investigation into the death of the former imam, a father of six.

Mr Arwani was born in Syria and is believed to have attended protests against the Assad regime outside the Syrian embassy in London in 2012.

He had claimed he had been forced to flee Syria in 1982 because the country's regime sentenced him to death for photographing damage in his home city of Hama following government suppression of a rebellion.

Greenhill Road/The Paddocks
Police were called to The Paddocks, in Wembley, north-west London, on Tuesday morning

Mr Arwani was a preacher at the An Noor mosque in Acton, west London, from 2005 to 2011.

He was found with bullet injuries to his chest in a parked car at the junction of Greenhill and The Paddocks on Tuesday at about 11:15 BST.

Police have said they want to speak to anyone who may have seen Mr Arwani or his car, a dark coloured Volkswagen Passat, that day or on Sunday 5 April.

Officers from the Counter Terrorism Command have discovered Mr Arwani had driven on the Sunday morning near where his body would later be found and parked in Havenwood, where he remained for a short while.

A post-mortem examination found the cause of death to be gunshot wounds. An inquest is due to be opened and adjourned at Barnet Coroner's Court in the coming days.

An Noor mosque in Acton, west London
Abdul Hadi Arwani was a preacher at the An Noor mosque in Acton, west London, until 2011

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'Syria-bound' Waheed Ahmed to return

Waheed Ahmed
Waheed Ahmed being led into Antalya coach station

A Labour councillor's son, held in Turkey on suspicion of trying to enter Syria illegally is expected to return to the UK.

Waheed Ahmed has been detained along with eight other Britons in Hatay near the Syrian border since Wednesday, 1 April.

Footage released on Sunday shows him being put on a coach to Antalya, which is 509 miles west of Hatay.

The group of nine from Rochdale included five adults and four children.

His father, Rochdale Labour councillor Shakil Ahmed, said he "wanted his son to come home as soon as possible".

Simon Danczuk, the MP for Rochdale in the last Parliament, has confirmed after speaking to the Foreign Office that Mr Ahmed is being deported back to Britain.

Waheed Ahmed
Waheed Ahmed walking out of Antakya police station in Hatay, Turkey

In footage released by Reuters, Mr Ahmed is seen leaving a police station in Hatay.

He is then filmed getting on a coach to Antalya from where it is believed he will fly to the UK.

Map of Antakya Antalya
Antakya bus station
Waheed Ahmed is filmed getting on a coach at Antakya bus station

Greater Manchester Police and the North West Counter Terrorism Unit have launched an investigation to establish why the group apparently tried to enter Syria.

All nine would be sent back to the UK "in due course", police said.

Assistant Chief Constable Ian Wiggett has said that the primary concern was the "safety and welfare" of the children, and efforts were being made to ensure a "full safeguarding strategy" was in place upon their return.

Police have been searching his family home in Rochdale.

Search of Shakil Ahmed's house in Rochdale
Police have been searching Waheed Ahmed's family home in Rochdale

His father said he had thought his son was on holiday.

In a statement Councillor Shakil Ahmed said: "My son is a good Muslim and his loyalties belong to Britain, so I don't understand what he's doing there.

"If I thought for a second that he was in danger of being radicalised, I would have reported him to the authorities.

"He's studying a degree in politics and sociology at Manchester University and has a good future ahead of him."


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Arrest over takeaway 'murder plot'

Tipu Sultan
Tipu Sultan died at the takeaway in South Shields run by his family

A man has been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to murder by police probing the killing of a man near a takeaway.

Tipu Sultan, 32, was found with a single gunshot wound on Tuesday at the back of the Herbs n Spice Kitchen, where he worked in South Shields.

Police said they arrested a 35-year-old Newcastle man on Sunday afternoon.

Earlier, officers searched areas including a golf course, along a route which they think a motorbike seen leaving the area may have followed.

Mr Sultan was shot at close range, in what police believe was a planned killing. He was treated by paramedics but died at the scene.

His family have run the restaurant in Lake Avenue for more than a decade.

Two men riding a large red high-powered motorbike were seen leaving the area immediately after the shooting.

Detectives said several areas had been searched on Sunday along the route the bike is thought to have travelled, including Whitburn Golf Club.

Footage taken from a CCTV camera showed the bike heading along Lizard Lane towards the course at 21:55 BST on Tuesday.

Det Ch Insp John Bent of Northumbria Police said the force had received a "very positive" response to an appeal for information from the public, and was following up several calls.

"We'd still appeal for anyone who thinks they may have information about the motorbike or the two men to come forward and speak to officers," he said.


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Labour pledges 'no extra borrowing'

Labour says it will guarantee that each of its policies will be fully funded and require no additional borrowing, as it launches its manifesto on Monday.

Leader Ed Miliband will rule out a "shopping list of spending policies" and promise a Labour government would cut the deficit every year.

The Conservatives would go on a "reckless spending spree", he will say.

Tory Treasury Minister David Gauke said Mr Miliband had "no plan to clear the deficit" and would have to borrow more.

In other election news:

  • The Liberal Democrats are launching a "five-point plan", aimed at consumers and commuters, with proposals such as to end above-inflation rail fare rises and force energy firms to allow customers to change supplier within 24 hours
  • Labour says its spending cuts will apply to Scotland but may be offset by other measures to raise more money
  • One hundred small business owners, some of which used to support Labour, have written a letter to the Sun saying they intend to vote Tory
  • Labour has opened up a three-point lead over the Conservatives, according to the latest YouGov poll which puts Ed Miliband's party on 36%

The first page of Labour's manifesto, Mr Miliband will say, "sets out a vow to protect our nation's finances; a clear commitment that every policy... is paid for without a single penny of extra borrowing".

Mr Miliband will add: "In recent days you have seen the Conservatives throwing spending promises around with no idea of where the money is coming from, promises which are unfunded, unfair and unbelievable."

With political parties under increasing pressure to explain how they will fund their pledges, the Institute for Fiscal Studies complained on Sunday that they were making "lots of promises" without producing much detail on how to deliver them.

But Labour is hoping to position itself as "the party of responsibility" for the public finances. It is aiming for a budget surplus in current spending "as soon as possible in the next parliament".

Policy guide: Economy

This issue includes the wider economy and deficit reduction but also employment and the role of business.

Its manifesto - being unveiled in Manchester - commits a Labour government to what it calls a "budget responsibility lock".

This would "guarantee" that every policy is paid for without additional borrowing and would, in future, require all the major parties to have their tax and spending plans audited by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility before a general election.

The manifesto sets out Labour's pre-announced policy pledges, including:

  • A £2.5bn fund for the NHS paid for largely by a mansion tax on properties valued at over £2m
  • Twenty-five hours of childcare for working parents of three and four-year olds, paid for by increasing the banking levy by £800m
  • Freezing gas and electricity bills until 2017, so they can only fall not rise
  • Banning zero-hour contracts and raising the minimum wage to £8
  • Scrapping winter fuel payments for the richest pensioners, capping child benefit rises and cutting ministers' pay by five per cent
  • A 50p tax rate on incomes over £150,000 a year and abolishing non-dom status

Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls told the BBC that people had had a "hard few years" and Labour had to show it could offer people a "better future" while also making "unequivocal" promises to cut the deficit every year.

"The Institute for Fiscal Studies has said we have been the most careful of the parties," he told BBC Breakfast. "We are not making any unfunded commitments. We are only spending money where we can identify where it will come from."

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Analysis by political editor Nick Robinson

Labour are already briefing that reassurance about the party's greatest perceived weakness - their seriousness about tackling the deficit - will feature on page one.

The prominence they're giving to their promise to be prudent is new. The detail which we have so far been told about is not.

So, today I'll be looking to see what eye-catching, vote-attracting, focus-group-tested pledges the party will add to its retail offer.

Much more importantly than the promises and the slogans, though, will be seeing whether Ed Miliband's manifesto paints a picture of the radical change he wants to produce in this country.

He and his allies have always seen himself as being in the mould of an Attlee or a Thatcher. If so, today's manifesto should tell us a lot more about what the next five years of a Miliband-led Britain could be like. Read Nick's blog in full.

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Labour, Mr Balls added, would "do what it takes" to support the NHS but would not make any promises which it could not meet.

He contrasted Labour's approach with the Conservatives, who he claimed were "treating the British people with contempt by saying they can magic the money up" for £8bn in extra funding for the NHS in England "without saying where it will come from".

Both the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have pledged to eliminate the current deficit by 2017/18.

However, while Labour promises to reduce the deficit during every year of the coming parliament, the party offers no deadline, saying it would commit to achieving a budget surplus "as soon as possible" between 2015 and 2020.

And Treasury Minister Mr Gauke pointed to polls suggesting Labour could have to rely on a deal with the Scottish National Party - which is campaigning to end austerity - in order to form a government.

He said: "Everybody knows the SNP will call the tune and force even more borrowing, even more debt and even more taxes on a weak Ed Miliband government. Britain's hard-working taxpayers will pay the price for the economic chaos."

Subscribe to the BBC Election 2015 newsletter to get a round-up of the day's campaign news sent to your inbox every weekday afternoon.


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Holidaymakers conned out of £2.2m

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 12 April 2015 | 15.36

Holiday generic
Holidaymakers have been urged to be cautious when booking holidays over the internet

British holidaymakers were conned out of £2.2m last year through internet-based scams, a report has shown.

Criminal groups have targeted online booking firms in order to swindle money from unsuspecting customers.

Many only discover they have been duped when they arrive at their accommodation and find no booking has been made.

The majority of those who had been defrauded paid by methods such as bank transfer or cash with no means of getting their money back.

'High emotional impact'

Travel association ABTA, police and the government's Get Safe Online service have joined forces to urge potential fraud victims to exercise caution when booking a holiday over the internet following the report from the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau.

The report reveals there were 1,569 cases of holiday booking fraud reported to the police's ActionFraud team last year, with one person losing £62,000 in a scam relating to a bogus timeshare scheme.

A third of victims said the fraud had a substantial impact on their health as well as their financial wellbeing and 167 victims said the impact of the crime was so severe they needed medical treatment.

Mark Tanzer, ABTA chief executive, said: "Holiday fraud is a particularly distressing form of fraud as the loss to the victim is not just financial but it can also have a high emotional impact.

"Many victims are unable to get away on a long-awaited holiday or visit to loved ones and the financial loss is accompanied by a personal loss."

Vigilance needed

Those most commonly targeted are aged 30-49, with spikes of reported fraud in the summer months and in December.

Only a small proportion of those who were defrauded paid by credit or debit card, where some form of redress is available.

The most common types relate to fake plane tickets, hacking accounts, bogus adverts online, and websites.

Sports and religious trips have often been particularly targeted because of the limited availability of accommodation and tickets and consequent higher prices, according to the study.

In 2014 the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and World Cup in Brazil were targeted, with numerous people having paid for non-existent accommodation or tickets.

In another case, a family travelled for five hours for a week-long break in Cornwall - at a cost of £1,500 - only to find the website had been hacked and the bank details altered, meaning they were unable to use the accommodation or retrieve the money.

Detective Chief Superintendent Dave Clark, the City of London Police head of economic crime, said: "The nature and scale of holiday fraud means police action alone can only be part of the solution to this problem.

"Online shoppers must be vigilant and conduct all the necessary checks before booking a break to ensure the conmen are kept at bay."

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Were you conned by a scammer when you booked your holiday? Email with your stories.

If you would be happy to speak further to a BBC journalist, please include a contact telephone number.

Read our terms and conditions.


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Labour plans abuse case review power

Library image of young girl sitting on a staircase, covering her face
Labour said the proposals would first apply to rape and child sexual exploitation case

Labour has said it would give victims of sexual offences the right to challenge decisions by police not to prosecute suspects.

The plans would allow victims to ask for a case to be reviewed when police identified a suspect but did not pass a file to the Crown Prosecution Service.

The policy would begin with rape and child sexual exploitation cases.

Labour's shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said it was time to "put victims in the driving seat".

The CPS already has a right to review scheme in place, where victims can request a review of their case if it is dropped by prosecutors before reaching the courtroom.

Labour said it intended to extend this to decisions by the police.

Ms Cooper said: "Rape and child sexual exploitation are vile crimes that ruin lives and destroy families.

"Too often victims and survivors aren't listened to and aren't heard, especially children.

"And although reports to the police have gone up, arrests and prosecutions have gone down.

"But right now if the police decide not to pursue a crime, there is little more victims or their families can do. That's not good enough.

"We'll change the law so that if the police decide to drop a case after a suspect has been identified, victims will have a new right to challenge their decision.

"It's time to change the culture, stop these awful crimes being hidden away and put victims in the driving seat."

Law and order

Labour

Main pledges

  • Scrap police and crime commissioners and invest in frontline policing
  • New commissioner on domestic and sexual abuse
  • Establish a victims' law
  • Bring back control orders to combat extremism and revive the Prevent strategy

Labour said that of 16,300 complaints of rape made to the police in England and Wales in 2012-13, 5,400 were passed to the CPS.

The party said a decision to drop a case when a suspect had been identified would follow the process used by the CPS, of local resolution followed by independent review.

Under the plans, the decision to drop the case would be first be checked by a prosecutor who has not been involved with the case previously.

Labour said it would ensure victims were provided with a clear and detailed explanation of the decision and the local resolution would normally be completed within 10 days of the receipt of a request for review.

If the victim were not satisfied with the local resolution, the decision would be independently reviewed by another prosecutor.

Former Thames Valley Chief Constable and head of the National Policing Improvement Agency, Peter Neyroud, said: "It is critical that victims have a right to review decisions all the way from the duty to record and allegation, through to decisions on whether to pursue a prosecution.

"Not only does this put the spotlight of accountability on the police, but it also gives the victim an important additional opportunity to influence their case and understand the decisions.

"Sometimes this will encourage a fresh angle to the case; sometimes there will be no new avenues. But there should always be a full and frank explanation of the steps taken to bring an offender to justice and the rationale for police decision."


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Store workers 'claim £11bn benefits'

Supermarket worker

Supermarket workers paid the national minimum wage are forced to claim state benefits totalling £11bn a year, according to a charity.

Citizens UK said the employers of five million workers in the UK were being "subsidised" by the taxpayer.

The minimum wage is £6.50 an hour for people over 21, while the living wage calculated by the Living Wage Foundation is £7.85 (£9.15 in London).

The British Retail Consortium said most supermarkets paid above minimum wage.

According to Citizens UK, which organises community campaigns, most of those earning less than the living wage are employed in the retail sector.

The charity said this meant most supermarket staff needed in-work benefits - which it argued meant taxpayers were "subsidising private companies by almost £11bn per annum".

The British Retail Consortium said that most supermarkets paid well above the national minimum wage.

When all extra earnings were considered, hourly pay was around £8.40, it added.

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Clegg to set out Lib Dem deficit plan

Nick Clegg

Nick Clegg is to spell out Lib Dem plans to eliminate the deficit by 2017/18, insisting there is "light at the end of the tunnel" .

His party would cut less than the Tories and borrow less than Labour, he will say.

Lib Dem economic plans have "a heart as well as a brain," he will say.

It comes as the Tories announce plans to cut inheritance tax on family homes and Labour says it would ramp up fines on tax avoiders.

The Lib Dems say they would get rid of the deficit through raising taxes by an additional £12bn, cutting public spending by £12bn and cutting welfare by £3bn.

Mr Clegg will challenge the other parties to spell out in similar detail how they would balance the nation's books.

He will acknowledge that the two years following 7 May's general election will not be easy.

But he will claim that Lib Dems are the only party offering a "balanced" programme to pay down the remaining deficit, while still finding money to raise income tax thresholds to £11,000 and invest in the NHS.

The Lib Dem deficit-reduction plans include:

  • Removing winter fuel payments and free TV licences from wealthy pensioners, saving £125m
  • Keeping the 1% cap on working-age benefit rises for the next two years, raising £160m
  • Abolishing tax breaks for workers who give up employment rights, to raise £200m
  • Placing new restrictions on capital gains tax worth £700m
  • Aligning dividend tax rates with income tax for higher and top rate taxpayers, bringing in £1.2bn

Mr Clegg will say: "We have a plan to build a stronger economy and a fairer society, which means we will cut less than the Conservatives and borrow less than Labour.

"It's a plan to protect our economy and invest in our schools, hospitals and public services ... a plan with a heart as well as a brain."

He will add: "I can't promise you the next two years will be easy. Your hard work and sacrifice has turned our economy around, but there is still a job to finish.

"But, with the Liberal Democrats, there is light at the end of the tunnel and the only way to continue the balanced approach that the coalition has taken is to put Liberal Democrats in government again."


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Tory plan to cut inheritance tax

David Cameron

A Conservative government would end inheritance tax on family homes worth up to £1m, David Cameron is to announce.

It means more owners of homes in the UK would be able to pass them on to their children without paying tax.

The policy is likely to be at the centre of the Tory election manifesto, which will be launched next week.

Labour said the Tories had promised such a move before the last election and did not deliver.

The £1bn cost of the Conservative policy will be paid for by reducing tax relief on the pension contributions of people earning more than £150,000, says the party.

In other election news:

  • Labour has been setting out plans to raise an extra £7.5bn a year through closing tax loopholes and imposing bigger fines on tax avoiders
  • Labour has also announced proposals to give victims of sexual offences the right to challenge decisions by police not to prosecute suspects
  • The Lib Dems are to set out their plans to eliminate the deficit by 2017/18, through raising taxes by an additional £12bn, cutting public spending by £12bn and cutting welfare by £3bn
  • The latest BBC poll of polls has Labour on 34%, the Conservatives on 33%, UKIP on 14%, the Lib Dems on 8% and the Greens on 5%

At present, inheritance tax is payable at 40% on the value of an estate in excess of the tax-free allowance of £325,000 per person. Married couples and civil partners can pass the allowance on to each other.

If the Conservatives win the general election on 7 May, parents will each be offered a further £175,000 "family home allowance" to enable them to pass property on to children tax-free after their death.

The new "family home allowance" will be transferable on the death of one spouse and can be added to the existing £325,000 inheritance tax threshold.

The total will be transferable on the death of one spouse and added to the other spouse's allowance, to bring the tax-free total up to £1m.

The full amount would be transferable even if one member of a married couple has died before the policy comes into effect, the Conservatives say, and so would benefit existing widows and widowers.

For properties worth more than £2m, the new allowance would be gradually reduced so that those with homes worth more than £2.35m would not benefit at all.

The new allowance would come into effect in April 2017 and be available to married couples and civil partners, even if one of them has died before that date.

In a speech on Sunday, Mr Cameron will say: "That wish to pass something on is about the most basic, human and natural instinct there is. And that's why for a long, long time I have wanted to act on inheritance.

"We've already done some important things. With the Conservatives, people can pass on their ISAs - and they'll be able to pass on their pension pot tax-free.

"And I can tell you today that the next Conservative government would go much further. We will take the family home out of inheritance tax.

"That home that you have worked and saved for belongs to you and your family.

"You should be able to pass it onto your children. And with the Conservatives, the tax man will not get his hands on it."

Chancellor George Osborne told the Mail on Sunday that people who wanted to pass on their family home should be "supported" and not "penalised".

But shadow treasury secretary Chris Leslie, for Labour, said the policy was the latest "panicky promise" from the Conservatives.

He said: "The Tories made a promise on inheritance tax before the last election and they broke it.

"At a time when our NHS is in crisis and most working people are paying more under the Tories, it cannot be a priority to spend £1bn on a policy which the Treasury says would not apply to 90% of estates."

Liberal Democrat Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander said the Conservatives had "the wrong priorities".

He added: "It is extraordinary that the Tories will go into great detail on a policy that will cut tax for a small number of estates, but steadfastly refuse to give any detail at all on the massive cuts to public services that they desire.

"To make this promise with such a huge black hole at the heart of their plans is a sign of desperation from a Tory Party that knows it can't win the election."


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