Written By Unknown on Selasa, 03 Februari 2015 | 23.17
By David Blevins, Ireland Correspondent
Rory McIlroy has arrived in a Dublin courtroom for a £13m legal dispute that could see the world number one cross-examined by lawyers.
Fresh from winning the Dubai Desert Classic, the Northern Irish golfer is suing his former management company, Horizon Sports Media, and being countersued by them.
In a bid to prevent McIlroy's finances being made public, the judge sent both sides to arbitration last October but they failed to reach agreement.
Barring a last-minute out-of-court settlement, the case could last six weeks, with the 25-year-old in the witness box for up to 10 days.
It is expected to open with McIlroy's lawyers outlining why they believe the original contract he signed with Horizon Sports Management in 2011 was "unconscionable".
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Gallery: A Look At The Rise Of A Golf Prodigy
Born in Holywood, Northern Ireland, a young Rory McIlroy was introduced to golf by his father. He won the 2003 Ulster Boys Championship at 13 and the European Amateur title in 2006
In 2007, at the age of 17, McIlroy won the trophy for best amateur player in the 136th British Open Golf Championship at Carnoustie, Scotland
Those are the two key questions raised by the intervention of Boots acting chief executive Stefano Pessina, who warned Ed Miliband would be a "catastrophe" for Britain.
The Labour leader gave a strongly worded and very personal response at the Sky News Stand Up Be Counted event on Monday in which he attacked the business leader as a tax avoider. It was both considered and deliberate.
Mr Pessina is acting chief executive of Boots
He had two days to perfect it. Labour clearly believes that in this case the best response is to fight fire with fire, in the hope that voters will see it as a robust attack against a vested interest.
When Lord Rose, the former chief executive of Marks and Spencer and Tory peer, added to the row, they were quick to dismiss him.
Video:Ed Balls Kicks Back Over Boots
But who wins in this ugly spat?
Clearly it is bad for Labour to be seen in anyway as anti-business. Tony Blair won a series of elections on the back of a New Labour mantra in which he reached out to the top of industry.
Labour now has a new message - to take on what Mr Miliband calls the "vested interests" through state intervention in, what he argues, are uncompetitive markets.
Video:#AskTheLeaders Full Q&A: Labour
I have no doubt that this argument makes a lot of business leaders nervous. I've met people on Mr Pessina's level who have privately expressed a similar level of distaste at the Labour message.
But senior insiders in the party would argue that it was always thus. For all Tony Blair's wooing, they would point out that none of the FTSE 100 chief executives came out in support of New Labour in 1997.
And they insist they have positive policies for business too. Certainly a conversation with a CBI spokesman is telling. He was careful not to be partisan in any way, but happy to put forward opinions on party policy.
Video:Lord Rose On Labour Boots Rift
The truth is there are pros and cons with both Labour and the Tories.
The CBI has strongly welcomed corporation tax cuts, for example, but are openly critical of the Conservative policy of an immigration cap.
On the other hand, it is nervous about Labour's talk of state intervention, but "loves" Tuesday's announcement of a national infrastructure commission to make recommendations on the country's infrastructure needs.
Video:Ed Miliband's Teenage Years
So it is more complex than a black-and-white picture. One thing is clear: Labour has made a political calculation that attacking Mr Pessina as a tax avoider will help them with voters.
The answer to that question will only come from polls that have yet to be carried out.
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Video:Animal Cruelty In Abbatoir
By Hind Hassan, Sky News Reporter
Campaigners and MPs are calling for CCTV cameras at every abattoir after footage revealed extreme animal cruelty at a halal slaughterhouse.
Secretly recorded video shows sheep being kicked, thrown and punched at Bowood Lamb abattoir in Thirsk, North Yorkshire.
The filming was carried out by animal rights group Animal Aid, who smuggled cameras into the site and filmed footage over three days in December.
In the video, one of the workers stands on the neck of one animal, while another worker hacks a sheep to death - contrary to Islamic guidelines.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) says it has suspended the operating licences of four of the slaughter men and is now conducting an investigation.
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Gallery: Halal Slaughterhouse Investigation
Four slaughtermen have had their operating licences suspended after an animal rights group used hidden cameras to film the alleged mistreatment of animals at a halal slaughterhouse
Animal Aid claims the footage shows a worker hacking and sawing at animals' throats, in direct contravention of Islamic practice
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The footage is also believed to show staff taunting and frightening animals by waving knives, smacking them on the head and shouting at them. Click through to see more images.
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Conservative MP Henry Smith will call for mandatory CCTV in slaughterhouses during a House of Commons debate.
He told Sky News it would allow for "an independent assessment and so that those carrying out that role know that the system is monitored to prevent cruelty taking place".
The MP for Crawley said: "Already many abattoirs, particularly ones that supply the big supermarkets like Tesco and Waitrose, have a system of CCTV to ensure animal welfare standards are maintained.
"So what I'm asking for is that is extended across all slaughterhouses in the UK. It's not something that is very expensive or burdensome but actually could end a lot of unnecessary suffering and abuse of livestock in the food production process."
Slaughterhouses in the UK are required to stun animals before they are killed to minimise pain, but Muslim and Jewish slaughterhouses are exempt due to religious requirements.
Halal meat must be prepared in accordance with Islamic law. Like Jewish kosher meat, it requires the animal to be slaughtered and the blood drained.
Both religions dictate that it should be done with a surgically sharp knife and in one uninterrupted sweep.
Masood Butt, from The Association of Non Stun Abattoirs (ANSA), which represents the halal meat industry, said: "Islam has absolutely clear guidelines about treating animals within a slaughterhouse or outside a slaughterhouse and that is to be kind and merciful to them and respecting their care and not to cause pain or suffering to the animal unnecessarily.
"For example, Islam says you are not allowed to slaughter an animal in front of an other animal.
"You are not allowed to deprive them from food or water. You have to provide enough space for them to lie down or walk about.
"Islam has clear guidelines not to slaughter babies in front of their mother and if they have done so they are not only not following the laws of animal welfare in the UK, but they are also not following the rules in Islam."
The Muslim Council of Britain said it is appalled at reports of animal mistreatment.
A spokesman said: "Animal cruelty is wrong and criminal wherever it may occur.
"That it is being carried out in halal slaughter makes it even more incredulous. Animal welfare should be observed by all slaughterhouses.
"The findings certainly are abhorrent in Islamic practice, and the abattoir must be subject to the full force of the law."
In a statement The FSA said: "There is no excuse for treating animals in the way shown on the video and we are therefore investigating the footage with a view to prosecution."
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CCTV Footage Exposes Slaughterhouse Cruelty
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Video:Animal Cruelty In Abbatoir
By Hind Hassan, Sky News Reporter
Campaigners and MPs are calling for CCTV cameras at every abattoir after footage revealed extreme animal cruelty at a halal slaughterhouse.
Secretly recorded video shows sheep being kicked, thrown and punched at Bowood Lamb abattoir in Thirsk, North Yorkshire.
The filming was carried out by animal rights group Animal Aid, who smuggled cameras into the site and filmed footage over three days in December.
In the video, one of the workers stands on the neck of one animal, while another worker hacks a sheep to death - contrary to Islamic guidelines.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) says it has suspended the operating licences of four of the slaughter men and is now conducting an investigation.
1/8
Gallery: Halal Slaughterhouse Investigation
Four slaughtermen have had their operating licences suspended after an animal rights group used hidden cameras to film the alleged mistreatment of animals at a halal slaughterhouse
Animal Aid claims the footage shows a worker hacking and sawing at animals' throats, in direct contravention of Islamic practice
]]>
The footage is also believed to show staff taunting and frightening animals by waving knives, smacking them on the head and shouting at them. Click through to see more images.
]]>
]]>
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Conservative MP Henry Smith will call for mandatory CCTV in slaughterhouses during a House of Commons debate.
He told Sky News it would allow for "an independent assessment and so that those carrying out that role know that the system is monitored to prevent cruelty taking place".
The MP for Crawley said: "Already many abattoirs, particularly ones that supply the big supermarkets like Tesco and Waitrose, have a system of CCTV to ensure animal welfare standards are maintained.
"So what I'm asking for is that is extended across all slaughterhouses in the UK. It's not something that is very expensive or burdensome but actually could end a lot of unnecessary suffering and abuse of livestock in the food production process."
Slaughterhouses in the UK are required to stun animals before they are killed to minimise pain, but Muslim and Jewish slaughterhouses are exempt due to religious requirements.
Halal meat must be prepared in accordance with Islamic law. Like Jewish kosher meat, it requires the animal to be slaughtered and the blood drained.
Both religions dictate that it should be done with a surgically sharp knife and in one uninterrupted sweep.
Masood Butt, from The Association of Non Stun Abattoirs (ANSA), which represents the halal meat industry, said: "Islam has absolutely clear guidelines about treating animals within a slaughterhouse or outside a slaughterhouse and that is to be kind and merciful to them and respecting their care and not to cause pain or suffering to the animal unnecessarily.
"For example, Islam says you are not allowed to slaughter an animal in front of an other animal.
"You are not allowed to deprive them from food or water. You have to provide enough space for them to lie down or walk about.
"Islam has clear guidelines not to slaughter babies in front of their mother and if they have done so they are not only not following the laws of animal welfare in the UK, but they are also not following the rules in Islam."
The Muslim Council of Britain said it is appalled at reports of animal mistreatment.
A spokesman said: "Animal cruelty is wrong and criminal wherever it may occur.
"That it is being carried out in halal slaughter makes it even more incredulous. Animal welfare should be observed by all slaughterhouses.
"The findings certainly are abhorrent in Islamic practice, and the abattoir must be subject to the full force of the law."
In a statement The FSA said: "There is no excuse for treating animals in the way shown on the video and we are therefore investigating the footage with a view to prosecution."
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David Souaan (L) posed on a tank while on a trip to Syria
By Mark White, Home Affairs Correspondent
A university student who called for a black Islamic flag to be flown over Downing Street has been jailed for three-and-a-half years.
David Souaan, who attended London's Birkbeck College, had posed for numerous pictures clutching an array of weapons on an earlier trip to war-torn Syria and planned to return there and fight alongside extremist groups.
The 20-year-old Serb, on a three-year student visa to study in the UK, said none of the weapons were his and he had only allowed himself to be photographed with them to "look cool".
But, on 17 December last year, a jury at the Old Bailey took just nine hours to find the global politics and international relations student guilty of preparing for acts of terrorism.
Souaan, the son of an Orthodox Christian mother and Syrian Muslim father, grew up in Serbia but still maintained close family ties to Syria and adopted his father's religion.
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Gallery: Syria Terror Plan Student Jailed
University student David Souaan has been jailed for three-and-a-half years after being found guilty of planning to fight in Syria. Pic: Crown Prosecution Service
The 20-year-old Serb said none of the weapons were his and he had only allowed himself to be photographed with them to "look cool"
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Souaan was arrested after fellow students became concerned at his radical views on Islam and showed pictures of himself posing with guns
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The court heard how he had travelled with his father to Syria in December 2013. His defence team claimed he had gone to collect belongings from his grandfather's home.
But, during the visit, he posed for pictures wearing a balaclava and clutching AK-47 assault rifles. In another photograph, he is seen standing behind a heavy calibre gun.
When he returned to college in London early last year, he showed his collection of pictures to fellow students, boasting that he wanted to go back to Syria to fight alongside the Islamic State terror group.
Sarah Whitehouse QC, prosecuting, said fellow students became so concerned by Souaan's change in behaviour that they contacted the police.
"He called other students 'kuffar' which means 'infidel' and became more hard-line and serious if anyone mentioned anything to do with girls or alcohol," she said.
One student, James Goodfellow, told police Souaan "seemed open and proud of the images and the fact they were in combat gear and holding machine guns".
Mr Goodfellow told police that his friend had boasted that he had shot people.
Police seized his laptop and iPhone and found a mass of pictures, videos and documents revealing his extremist sympathies.
In one video, the 20-year-old is seen carrying an AK-47 assault rifle and wearing khaki trousers and a black North Face jacket as he picks his way through bombed-out streets and past burned vehicles.
Another video, too graphic to be shown in court, was described to the jury.
He had also sent Skype and text messages praising Islamic State and saying he and his younger brother were prepared to die as martyrs and he was willing to "cut the throats" of his opponents.
The court was told the student had joined a group run by radical cleric Anjem Choudary and had filmed himself at a demonstration in London shouting: "The flag of Tawheed in London, all praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Universe."
That was said to be a reference to the wish of Muslim extremists to see a black Islamic flag flying over Downing Street.
Souaan was arrested before boarding a flight home with his mother to Belgrade at the end of the summer term.
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Student Who Planned To Fight For IS Jailed
We use cookies to give you the best experience. If you do nothing we'll assume that it's ok.
David Souaan (L) posed on a tank while on a trip to Syria
By Mark White, Home Affairs Correspondent
A university student who called for a black Islamic flag to be flown over Downing Street has been jailed for three-and-a-half years.
David Souaan, who attended London's Birkbeck College, had posed for numerous pictures clutching an array of weapons on an earlier trip to war-torn Syria and planned to return there and fight alongside extremist groups.
The 20-year-old Serb, on a three-year student visa to study in the UK, said none of the weapons were his and he had only allowed himself to be photographed with them to "look cool".
But, on 17 December last year, a jury at the Old Bailey took just nine hours to find the global politics and international relations student guilty of preparing for acts of terrorism.
Souaan, the son of an Orthodox Christian mother and Syrian Muslim father, grew up in Serbia but still maintained close family ties to Syria and adopted his father's religion.
1/4
Gallery: Syria Terror Plan Student Jailed
University student David Souaan has been jailed for three-and-a-half years after being found guilty of planning to fight in Syria. Pic: Crown Prosecution Service
The 20-year-old Serb said none of the weapons were his and he had only allowed himself to be photographed with them to "look cool"
]]>
Souaan was arrested after fellow students became concerned at his radical views on Islam and showed pictures of himself posing with guns
]]>
]]>
The court heard how he had travelled with his father to Syria in December 2013. His defence team claimed he had gone to collect belongings from his grandfather's home.
But, during the visit, he posed for pictures wearing a balaclava and clutching AK-47 assault rifles. In another photograph, he is seen standing behind a heavy calibre gun.
When he returned to college in London early last year, he showed his collection of pictures to fellow students, boasting that he wanted to go back to Syria to fight alongside the Islamic State terror group.
Sarah Whitehouse QC, prosecuting, said fellow students became so concerned by Souaan's change in behaviour that they contacted the police.
"He called other students 'kuffar' which means 'infidel' and became more hard-line and serious if anyone mentioned anything to do with girls or alcohol," she said.
One student, James Goodfellow, told police Souaan "seemed open and proud of the images and the fact they were in combat gear and holding machine guns".
Mr Goodfellow told police that his friend had boasted that he had shot people.
Police seized his laptop and iPhone and found a mass of pictures, videos and documents revealing his extremist sympathies.
In one video, the 20-year-old is seen carrying an AK-47 assault rifle and wearing khaki trousers and a black North Face jacket as he picks his way through bombed-out streets and past burned vehicles.
Another video, too graphic to be shown in court, was described to the jury.
He had also sent Skype and text messages praising Islamic State and saying he and his younger brother were prepared to die as martyrs and he was willing to "cut the throats" of his opponents.
The court was told the student had joined a group run by radical cleric Anjem Choudary and had filmed himself at a demonstration in London shouting: "The flag of Tawheed in London, all praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Universe."
That was said to be a reference to the wish of Muslim extremists to see a black Islamic flag flying over Downing Street.
Souaan was arrested before boarding a flight home with his mother to Belgrade at the end of the summer term.
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Detectives investigating the death of a nine-week-old girl have appealed for help in finding a discarded suitcase.
The baby, Farah Boscolo-Gnolo, was born on 22 November last year and reported missing by her mother last week.
Her mother, Federica, has been charged with the murder of her daughter, whose body has not been found.
The 31-year-old, from Chioggia in northeast Italy, was arrested last Thursday after reporting the infant's disappearance from a hotel in the London borough of Hammersmith and Fulham.
Police now want to find a suitcase they said was thrown away in the Dawes Road area of Fulham.
The missing suitcase is a smaller version of the one pictured
Detective Chief Inspector Matt Bonner of the Homicide and Major Incident Command said: "I am appealing to the public to help us locate this suitcase that may be vital to our investigation.
"We know that it was discarded in the Dawes Road area on Tuesday, 27 January.
"It may have been concealed somewhere or simply placed in a bin or left in a street or alleyway.
"I would like to hear from anyone who thinks they have information that can assist us in locating this item.
"The suitcase we are looking for is part of a matching set and is a smaller version of the suitcase shown in the image."
Anyone who can help is urged to call police on 0208 358 0200 or phone Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
A triple murderer has lost an appeal against his whole-life prison sentence.
Arthur Hutchinson was jailed in 1984 for stabbing husband and wife Basil and Avril Laitner to death after breaking into their Sheffield home on their daughter's wedding night, then killing one of their sons.
He is the first whole-life prisoner to challenge his sentence after a controversial ruling by judges at the European Court of Human Rights in July 2013 that the tariffs breach human rights.
At the time, the Strasbourg-based court said that a sentence which forces murderers to die in jail was "inhuman and degrading" because it is not "reducible".
But in the case of Hutchinson, judges have ruled that the Secretary of State's power to review whole-life sentences is sufficient.
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Gallery: Whole-Life Prisoners
Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe was not given a whole life sentence when originally jailed for 13 murders in 1981. He was told he would serve 30 years before parole would be considered. In 2010, the High Court made the unusual step of subsequently imposing a whole-life tariff
'Crossbow cannibal' Stephen Griffiths was given a whole-life tariff after being convicted of murdering three women in Bradford, one of whom was shot with a crossbow
Former weather presenter Fred Talbot has been taken to hospital after falling into a table in court during his trial for sex offences.
The jury had been sent out for a short break when the 65-year-old collapsed on the floor.
There were gasps from the public gallery as blood was seen coming from a cut on his forehead.
Mr Talbot looked dazed as he was helped to his feet by the court clerk.
Addressing the jury, the judge said: "After you left the room, and I did, Mr Talbot leaving the witness box missed his footing and banged his head.
"He was treated to see if he could be patched up with plaster but the paramedics came and they decided because it was a head injury he really ought to have it checked out."
The defendant is accused of 10 counts of indecent assault against five underage boys between 1969 and 1982. He denies all the alleged offences.
Snow has blanketed large parts of the UK, following a night that saw temperatures drop as low as -11C (12.2F).
Even parts of London are seeing light snow falls but higher ground such as the North York Moors and Lincolnshire Wolds have been told to expect up to 10cm (4in) of snow.
The Met Office has issued weather warnings for snow and ice in much of the UK and gritters have been out in force.
The Highlands village of Dalwhinnie felt the coldest temperature overnight, with the mercury plunging to -11C and Katesbridge Co Down reached -8C.
A train station in west London gets a dusting of snow. Pic: Sharon Marris
Sky News weather forecaster Isobel Lang said that while snow falls in the southern and eastern areas of the country would only be up to 4cm (1.5in), this would still cause difficult travel conditions.
Temperatures will reach a high of around 5C, with Wales, the West Midlands and northwest England seeing the best of the dry and fine weather.
Video:Sky News UK Weather Update
Lang added: "Today will see further wintry showers across eastern and southeastern areas of England, although they will become less frequent and turn more sleety.
"During this evening and overnight there will be another widespread frost with the risk of icy patches as further wintry showers spread in across eastern England.
"Showers are unlikely to spread as far inland as last night, ice is likely to be a risk too."
Temperatures will struggle to get above 6C in parts of England, including London, according to Met Office forecaster Kirk Waite.
The trains seemed to be handling the snow well in the morning, with most running a normal service.
Signal problems meant delays for some, however, including commuters in the Bletchley area, where London Midland said there would be disruption "until further notice" and told passengers to travel only if they had to.
Manuel Cortes, of the Transport Salaried Staffs Association, blamed cuts in maintenance budgets, adding: ""The left hand does not seem to know what the right hand is doing. The only people to suffer seem to be the poor old passengers."
On the roads, it was estimated that traffic jams meant around 700 hours of delay for drivers in the morning rush hour
At 08.50am there were 7,096 separate congestion hotspots causing 699 hours of delay, according to TomTom Traffic.
There were 5,135 miles of tailbacks across the country - over 2000 miles more than the average total jam length during a winter Tuesday morning peak of 3,076 miles.
The widow of poisoned spy Alexander Litvinenko has broken down while recalling the last words he spoke to her before he died.
Marina Litvinenko has been giving evidence at the public inquiry into the death of her husband, who died nearly three weeks after drinking tea laced with polonium-210 at a London hotel in 2006.
Mrs Litvinenko said that, as she left his hospital bed the day before he died, she looked back as he "smiled so sadly".
"I just said 'don't worry, tomorrow morning, I will come back'," she said.
"He said 'I love you so much'."
Video:Litvinenko's Face As Target
She added: "It was his last words that I heard."
:: Read the latest updates from court
She said in his final days Mr Litvinenko lay mostly "speechless" with pain all over his body.
Before he was admitted to hospital, he fell ill a number of times, vomiting and complaining of "feeling weak", she told the inquiry.
At first, they had blamed a spicy chicken dinner he had eaten but it soon became clear that something else was wrong.
Mr Litvinenko, a former Russian spy who also worked for British intelligence services during his time in the UK, died on 23 November 2006, almost three weeks after drinking tea laced with polonium-210 at the Millennium Hotel in London's Grosvenor Square.
Two men - former KGB bodyguard-turned-politician Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitri Kovtun - were named as the main suspects in 2007. Both deny any involvement and remain in Russia.
Video:Litvinenko's Speech In London
Mr Litvinenko was taken to Barnet Hospital by ambulance on 3 November 2006.
Mrs Litvinenko said the 43-year-old's hair was falling out as she ran her fingers across his head and that the hospital staff realised his immune system was failing, although nobody could tell them why.
He was later moved to University College Hospital and converted to Islam just a few days before his death, so he could be buried in Chechen soil - a move that his father responded to by saying: "Doesn't matter, at least you're not communist".
Mr Litvinenko signed a statement on his death bed written for him by his friend and solicitor, in which he blamed Mr Putin for his death, his widow told the inquiry.
He had published two books - Blowing Up Russia and The Lubyanka Gang - in which he claimed Vladimir Putin had links to St Petersburg mafia and that Mr Putin and the security forces were behind the apartment bombings of 1999.
The bombings, which killed almost 300 people, were to give Mr Putin an excuse for a second Chechen war and to help him win the presidency, Mr Litvinenko said.
