'Critical Gaps' In Breast Cancer Research

More than 180,000 women could die by 2030 unless urgent action is taken to fill critical gaps in breast cancer research, a report has warned.

The review, which coincides with the start of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, identifies 10 areas where work is most needed.

It comes as a poll of 1,000 women from across the UK found almost half (45%) do not regularly check their breasts for possible cancerous tumours.

Fewer than one in 10 (9%) felt "very confident" they would notice a change, according to the survey by Breakthrough Breast Cancer.

Eluned Hughes, the charity's head of public health, said: "It's shocking that despite being the most common cancer in the UK, nearly half of British women do not check their breasts regularly, and nearly all of them still cannot think of five common signs and symptoms of breast cancer without prompting.

"We know that early diagnosis saves lives, so it's incredibly important women know what to look for, and more, that they remember to look."

Among the gaps identified in the report is the need for a better understanding of how the disease can be prevented through diet and lifestyle, as well as further research into how genetic changes lead to cancer.

Collecting tissue samples could also help researchers understand what happens when cancer begins to spread.

Baroness Delyth Morgan, chief executive of Breast Cancer Campaign, which commissioned the report, said: "If we don't act now, by 2030 more than 1.2 million women could be living with or after a breast cancer diagnosis and around 185,000 lives could have been lost to (the disease).

"We want future mothers, daughters and wives to have their breast cancer prevented, cured or for them to outlive the disease, and hope that together we can achieve this by 2050."

Breast Cancer Campaign has formed an action plan setting out how scientists, funding organisations and the Government can work together to address the gaps.

It aims to raise £100m over the next decade to address the problems.

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Minimum Wage Rises As Rogue Firms Targeted

Employers who fail to pay the statutory minimum wage face being named and shamed from today as the latest increases come into effect.

The adult rate has risen by 12p an hour to £6.31 and by 5p to £5.03 an hour for 18 to 20-year-olds.

The minimum for 16 and 17-year-olds increased by 4p to £3.72 while the apprentice rate goes up by 3p to £2.68.

The Government estimates that 890,000 people will receive a pay rise because of the changes.

Business Secretary Vince Cable said the Low Pay Commission recommended a rate which supported low paid workers without damaging their chances of getting a job.

"As signs of an economic recovery start to emerge, we need to do more to make sure that the benefits of growth are shared fairly across the board.

"That is why in addition to their ongoing annual remit, I am asking them (the commission) to extend their expertise to help the Government and business understand how we can deal with the issue of low wages in the economy.

In particular I have asked them to look at what economic conditions would be needed to allow the national minimum wage to rise in the future by more than current conditions allow," he said.

Unions have demanded the proceeds of growth are shared with workers.

TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said: "Years of below-inflation rises mean that the UK's lowest-paid workers are now facing an historic living standards crisis.

"As the recovery takes hold we will need to see far bigger increases to the minimum wage to ensure that ordinary people and not just the super rich benefit from economic growth.

"This will need more than any one-off pre-election boost - we will need sustained stronger rises if the real value of the minimum wage is to be restored."

The Resolution Foundation think-tank said the minimum wage will be falling in real terms for the fifth year in a row despite the increase, because it is not keeping pace with rising prices.

Campaigners called for more companies and organisations to pay a so-called living wage, currently set at £7.45 an hour for the UK and £8.55 for London.

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Cambridge Hotel Fire Forces Guests To Flee

Nearly 150 guests have been evacuated from Cambridge's University Arms Hotel after a fire broke out on the premises in the early hours.

Firefighters battle the blaze at the hotel Pic: Heart Cambridgeshire

More than 60 firefighters remain at the scene tackling the blaze on the top floor of the building.

Emergency services, including a total of 12 engines from Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Hertfordshire were alerted to the blaze at the four-star hotel at around 6am.

There were no reports of any fatalities or injuries.

Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus used jets and hose reels to contain the fire, which quickly spread to the roof.

They also used thermal imaging cameras to check for hot spots to prevent the blaze from spreading any further.

A Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said the blaze had been brought under control and that the cause was still unknown at this stage.

"There will be a full investigation once the building is safe and the fire is out," he said.

Some 148 guests at the four-star hotel were evacuated Pic: Chris Newman

The hotel, situated on the city's Regent Street, is owned by Melford Capital Partners.

The historic Victorian building has accommodated numerous high-profile guests over the years from the Beatles to the Krays.

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GP Plan To Bring In Out-Of-Hours Surgeries

David Cameron has told Sky News he wants doctors' surgeries to be open for longer to ease the pressure on overstretched A&E departments.

The Prime Minister confirmed plans for a £50m trial to have surgeries open from 8am until 8pm, seven days a week.

He insisted the pilot scheme in areas across England, which is expected to cover up to half a million patients, would be properly funded.

Almost one in five patients in a recent NHS survey said inconvenient appointments were a concern, with more than 70% backing weekend and after office opening hours.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt will outline the plans at the Tory conference

The scheme, which was unveiled at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester, will offer extra cash to groups of GPs proposing the most effective ways to improve patient access.

As well as extended surgery hours, ministers hope they will pioneer more effective use of technology, such as consultations with patients via video calls, email and by telephone.

Electronic prescriptions, online appointment booking and allowing people to visit a number of different surgeries across an area are among other measures which could be introduced.

Mr Cameron told Sky: "Sometimes people using Accident & Emergency really just need to see a GP but for hard-working people it is often too difficult because you are at work, you can't get an appointment at the time that fits.

"Let's see if we can have GPs' surgeries open 12 hours a day, seven days a week so you can always get that appointment you need.

"We are starting with pilot schemes in nine regions of England. We are spending the money to help GPs achieve this. We will be able to see how it works."

He added: "I believe that will work well and then our ambition is to roll that out across the country. That is good for hard-working people but I also think it is right for our health service.

"If you look at A&E, since 2004 when the GP contract changed we see four million more people a year going to Accident & Emergency so I think we are not getting the balance right at the moment."

Mr Cameron also told Sky News that he had not given up on the idea of setting a minimum per-unit price for alcohol despite dropping the policy in the summer.

He told Sky's Political Editor Adam Boulton: "The idea of minimum unit pricing isn't going ahead now but it does have merit, so we could have another look at it."

The first GP pilot projects are due to be operating by April 2014.

Similar initiatives are already being trialled in some parts of the country, including parts of Manchester, where some surgeries will move to seven-day opening.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who will talk about the initiative in his speech to the conference, said: "We live in a 24/7 society and we need GPs to find new ways of working so they can offer appointments at times that suit hard-working people.

"Cutting-edge GP practices here in Manchester are leading the way, and we want many more patients across the country to benefit."

Professor Steve Field, Chief Inspector for General Practice, said: "This move towards seven day services is great news for patients and should be embraced by GPs.

"I want to see brilliant access to GP services for patients across the country and will be assessing this in each practice I inspect."

However, shadow health secretary Andy Burnham accused Mr Cameron and his Conservative Party of "taking the NHS backwards".

"This announcement is a major admission of failure and a U-turn of fairly epic proportions," he said.

"Patients are also finding it harder to get appointments, and turning to A&E instead, after he removed Labour's guarantee of an appointment within 48 hours."

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GTA V: Rockstar Warns Of 'Online Problems'

Grand Theft Auto V fans looking forward to the multiplayer version of the game could end up experiencing glitches and connection problems.

The UK developer of the hit game, Rockstar North, said "plenty of issues are bound to occur" and it was "working around the clock to buy and add more servers" to support Grand Theft Auto Online.

Some users - posting shortly after Tuesday's launch - said they were already having problems connecting.

Cal tweeted: "GTA V online is a waste of time at the minute. Absolute server overload!! Going to have to make do with reality."

The online game will let up 16 players team up

Tyler Deshaun ‏added: "Am I the only one that can't get online on GTA V right now?? Server is terrible."

Rockstar tweeted: "For those trying to get into GTA Online today, please bear w/ us on some day one tech connection issues that we're working to stabilize asap".

Sales of GTA V are estimated to have easily topped 10 million since its launch on September 17 - more than expected. It also broke sales records by pulling in £496m ($800m) in just 24 hours.

But the online feature could suffer as a result of its own success as gamers rush to team up with one another.

In a blog post ahead of launch, Rockstar said: "One thing we are already aware of, and are trying to alleviate as fast as we can, is the ... additional pressure on the servers due to a significantly higher number of players than we were anticipating at this point."

The game made nearly $1bn in its first day - a record for a game or film

The Edinburgh-based company will be hoping to avoid the backlash Electronic Arts received over its botched SimCity launch in March, when many gamers reported long delays logging on to the internet to play, as well as crashes.

SimCity developer Maxis later admitted it had been "dumb" not to anticipate the level of demand.

Rockstar also warned that potentially-amusing in-game "crashes, glitches, crazy bugs" would likely be discovered in the first few weeks of online GTA V.

As it noted, such teething troubles are not uncommon and it wants gamers to provide feedback so they can be ironed out.

GTA V Online will let up to 16 players team up over the internet to carry out heists or indulge in a spot of racing around the Southern California landscape. The multiplayer game narrative is set a few months before the storyline in the single-player mode.

Many players on the Rockstar blog are already posting invitations for other gamers to join their "crews".

The 18-rated guns and gangsters game - which had a £170m ($274m) budget - has been widely praised by critics and the public.

Games website IGN called it a "masterpiece", and one of the greatest video games ever made.

Edge magazine called it a "remarkable achievement" that sent a message to the rest of the industry.

However, the game has also reignited concerns among some people about video game violence and the portrayal of women.

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Teachers Stage One-Day Strike Over Pay Reform

Thousands of teachers are staging a one-day strike in a bitter dispute over pay, pensions and working conditions.

Tens of thousands of schoolchildren have been affected by the one-day walkout across four English region as schools are fully or partially closed.

The action has been organised by two of England's biggest teaching unions - the National Union of Teachers (NUT) and the NASUWT.

Schools in 49 local authorities in the East of England, the East Midlands, West Midlands and Yorkshire and Humberside are involved.

Rallies in Birmingham, Sheffield and Cambridge saw teachers take to the streets to express their anger and some carried posters calling on Education Secretary Michael Gove to go.

NASUWT general secretary Chris Keates said: "Strike action is a last resort. Teachers have been left with no choice but to demonstrate their anger and frustration in the face of their genuine concerns being dismissed and trivialised."

NASUWT general secretary Chris Keates said strike action was a last resort

NUT member Simon Debenham, who teaches at Birmingham's Heath Mount Primary School, added: "The teaching profession is being massively attacked and undermined by an Education Secretary who doesn't listen to the profession, a man who has a very blinkered vision based on his own education.

"He is trying to impose his vision on children without consultation and without listening to genuine concerns."

The first regional walkout took place in the North West on June 27, with further strikes expected to take place on October 17 in the North East, South East, South West and London.

Plans for a national one-day walkout before Christmas have also been announced by the two unions.

NUT general secretary Christine Blower said: "No teacher takes strike action lightly but the intransigence of this Education Secretary has left teachers with no choice.

"We cannot stand by and watch our profession be systematically attacked and undermined. There needs to be a change in the Government's attitude to teachers and education."

The strike came as Mr Gove was due to address the Tory party conference amid criticism of his reforms by leading academics and children's authors.

Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy and Children's Laureate Malorie Blackman are among nearly 200 people to say they are "gravely concerned" and call for the changes to be stopped.

In a letter published in The Times, they called on the Government to set up a commission to examine alternatives instead of pressing on with reforms to the curriculum and exam system.

"Competition between children through incessant testing and labelling results is a public sense of failure for the vast majority," they said.

"The drive towards ever-higher attainment in national tests leads inevitably to teaching to the test, which narrows the range of learning experiences. Harmful stress is put on young people, their parents and their teachers.

"These damaging developments must stop. If they go ahead there will be devastating consequences for children's mental health, for future opportunities and, most importantly, for the quality of childhood itself."

They describe demands on teachers as being like a "straitjacket" that will "destroy the educational richness that should be children's birthright".

The unions say they are protesting against a two-year pay freeze for teachers, proposals to make teachers work until they are aged 68, increases in pensions contributions and heavy workloads due to inspections and bureaucracy.

A Department of Education spokesman said: "It is disappointing that the NUT and NASUWT are striking over the Government's measures to allow heads to pay good teachers more."

The spokeswoman said a recent poll found that 61% of those questioned backed linking teachers' pay to performance and a majority were opposed to walkouts.

"All strikes will do is disrupt parents' lives, hold back children's education and damage the reputation of the profession," she added.

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Mummified Boy: Mum Says She Wasn't Worried

By Gerard Tubb, North of England Correspondent

A mother accused of starving her son to death has told a jury she knew he was thin, but thought he would grow out of it.

Hamzah Khan died in December 2009 aged four-and-a half, and his body lay undiscovered in Amanda Hutton's Bradford home for almost two years.

Experts say tests on his mummified remains show he had the bones of a 12 to 18-month-old baby, and his body had no muscle and almost no flesh when he died.

Amanda Hutton, giving evidence in her trial for manslaughter, said Hamzah's older brother Qaiser had been "really, really thin" until he was five.

Ms Hutton claimed Hamzah's father Aftab had been violent towards her

Asked by defending QC Stephen Meadowcroft if she was worried about Hamzah, she said: "No I wasn't, because Qaiser had been the same and he'd grown out of it. I thought he'd grow out of it."

Paul Greaney QC, prosecuting, asked her: "You had a four-and-a-half-year-old child that fitted into a baby-gro for a six to nine-month-old baby, that hadn't been eating and you didn't seek medical attention for him."

The prosecutor showed the defendant a photograph of the baby-gro Hamzah's body was found in, as he asked the question.

Hutton replied: "No I didn't."

She said Hamzah's father Aftab Khan had been violent towards her for most of their long relationship, but admitted Mr Khan told her Hamzah needed help "on occasions".

Hutton denied drinking heavily before Hamzah's death. Mr Greaney said to her: "For a substantial period before Hamzah died drinking was more important to you than his welfare."

Hutton replied: "No, that's not true."

The jury has heard that Hamzah, whose body was found only after a neighbour complained about rubbish from the house, had not been eating enough for at least two years.

Earlier the jury was told when a police officer found his remains in September 2011 the fridge contained only rotten food and ready meals five months past their sell by date.

The oven contained a takeaway container with a slice of rotted pizza in it, and the freezer could not be opened because of the depth of rubbish piled up.

Hutton has admitted child neglect, but denies manslaughter, saying Hamzah would not eat the food she gave him.

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Leicester Fire Deaths: Six Held In Custody

By Adele Robinson, Midlands Correspondent

Six people have been remanded in custody after appearing in court charged with the murders of a mother and her three children.

Aaron Webb, Jackson Powell and Nathaniel Mullings, all 19, Akeem Jeffers, 21, Shaun Carter, 24, and a 16-year-old who cannot be named for legal reasons, attended a preliminary bail hearing at Leicester Crown Court.

They are accused of murdering Shehnila Taufiq, 47, her daughter Zainab, 19, and sons Bilal, 17, and Jamil, 15, who died when their home was engulfed in flames in the Spinney Hills area of Leicester on September 13.

The defendants appeared in the dock and spoke only to confirm their names. Judge Michael Pert QC remanded them in custody to appear before Leicester Crown Court on Friday. 

Another man, Kemo Porter, 18, of Browning Street, West End, Leicester, appeared in court earlier this month charged with four counts of murder. He is also due to appear at the court on Friday.

An inquest into the deaths of Mrs Taufiq and her children, which was opened and adjourned nearly 2 weeks ago, heard that the family died as a result of smoke inhalation.

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Dave Lee Travis Charged With New Sex Offences

Broadcaster Dave Lee Travis has been charged with two further offences of indecent assault.

The allegations relate to a woman aged over 16 between January 1, 1992 and December 31, 1993, Scotland Yard said.

They are in addition to 11 counts of indecent assault and one of sexual assault the 68-year-old has already been charged with.

Travis, of Mentmore, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, has already appeared in court to face those 12 counts.

During that hearing he indicated he would be pleading not guilty to the charges.

He was released on bail on condition that he lives at his Bedfordshire home and does not contact the alleged victims.

The case was adjourned for a plea hearing on October 21. A trial date was also fixed for March 4 next year with a view to it lasting for up to five weeks.

Travis is due to appear on bail at Westminster Magistrates' Court in relation to the new charges on October 3.

He was charged when he attended a police station by prior appointment, the Metropolitan Police said.

The ex-Radio 1 DJ was first charged on August 15 as part of Operation Yewtree, the police investigation prompted by the Jimmy Savile abuse scandal.

However, the accusations against Travis have no connection to the disgraced television presenter.

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Liam Adams Found Guilty Of Raping Daughter

By David Blevins, Ireland Correspondent

Liam Adams, a younger brother of the Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams, has been found guilty of sexually abusing his daughter nearly 40 years ago.

The 58-year-old, from Bernagh Drive in Belfast, had denied all 10 charges – three of rape, three of gross indecency and four of indecent assault.

The offences were alleged to have occurred between March 1977 and March 1983 when his daughter Aine was aged between four and nine years old.

During a recorded interview, Aine Adams - who has waived her right to anonymity - told a detective that her mother and Uncle Gerry had confronted her father but he denied any wrongdoing.

Jurors heard that she and her mother reported the alleged abuse but then retracted their complaint because police seemed more interested in her father and his brother.

Aine's mother, Sarah Campbell, told her ex-husband's trial that she had learned of the alleged abuse following a disagreement with her daughter in December 1986.

Aine Adams arriving at Belfast Crown Court

She said a note found in her living room read: "Mummy, this is why I am like this. My daddy made me sleep with him."

Liam Adams said he had initially denied being confronted by his brother because he had been brought up not to talk to police about Gerry Adams.

He told the court he had been a community youth worker for 20 years and there had not been one single complaint made about him.

Aine's younger sister, Sinead Rosbotham, alleged that her father had confessed the abuse to her saying: "We will face our demons in our own time."

But Claire Smith, a daughter from his second marriage, and her younger sister, who can't be named for legal reasons, said they had never been abused.

The jury of nine men and three women at Belfast Crown Court had been told to decide the case on the evidence and not on rumour, gossip or speculation.

Bespectacled Adams, who was wearing a grey suit, cream shirt and blue tie, showed no emotion as the guilty verdicts were returned.

Remanding him in custody Judge Corinne Philpott said: "Take him down."

In a statement read out by a police officer outside the court, Ms Adams said she could finally begin to move on after a long and hard road to achieve justice.

"I do not see this verdict as a victory or a celebration as it has taken its toll and has caused hurt, heartache and anguish for all those involved.

"I can now begin my life at 40 and lay to rest the memory of the five-year-old girl who was abused," she said.

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