David Cameron says Libyan regime is 'falling apart'

David Cameron: ''The Libyan people deserve to shape their own future''

 

David Cameron: ''The Libyan people deserve to shape their own future''

Libya Crisis

• Battle for Tripoli Live
• Watching the regime crumble
• The Gaddafi story
• Libya conflict: Q&A

David Cameron has said the regime of Col Muammar Gaddafi is "falling apart and in full retreat".

The prime minister said there would "undoubtedly be difficult days ahead", but the Libyan people were "closer to their dream of a better future".

He said the UK could be "proud" of the part it had played, but stressed the future of the country - and Col Gaddafi himself - was up to Libyans themselves.

Rebel forces have taken control of large parts of Libya's capital Tripoli.

However, the Ministry of Defence stressed that fighting was still going on in the Libyan capital and Nato operations - including those by UK forces on strategic targets controlled by the regime - were continuing.

Mr Cameron interrupted his holiday to return to London to chair an hour-long meeting of the National Security Council, attended by Defence Secretary Liam Fox and International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell among other ministers.

It is the second time his holiday plans have been disrupted this summer, having abandoned a break in Tuscany earlier this month due to the riots across England.
 
'No complacency'
The prime minister committed British forces to conduct aerial and naval missions in Libya in March, enforcing the terms of a UN mandate to protect Libyan civilians from attacks.

The decision was overwhelmingly endorsed by Parliament, and in a statement in Downing Street on Monday morning, Mr Cameron again said it was "necessary, legal and right".

Insisting that Nato's mission in Libya would continue as long as it was needed, the PM went on: "The situation in Tripoli is clearly very fluid and there is absolutely no room for complacency.

"Our task now is to do all we can to support the will of the Libyan people which is for an effective transition to a free, democratic and inclusive Libya.

 

Some civilians have cheered rebels as they advanced on Tripoli

 

"This will be and must be and should be Libyan-led and a Libyan-owned process with broad international support co-ordinated by the United Nations."

The UK, France and the US have long called for Col Gaddafi to leave power and Mr Cameron again repeated that call, urging him to "stop fighting without conditions".

He said he wanted "to see Gaddafi face justice for his crimes" but insisted that his future would be up to the Libyan people, led by the interim political authority, the National Transitional Council.

Mr Cameron said he planned to speak to the council's leader Abdul Jalil later on Monday and would stress to him "the importance of respecting human rights, avoiding reprisals, and making sure all parts of Libya can share in the country's future".

He said Libyan assets in the UK would soon be unfrozen in order to help with post-conflict reconstruction, and the UK would be offering help with medical supplies, food provision and communications and utilities services.

He also said the UK would establish a diplomatic presence in Tripoli as soon as it was safe to do so.
 
Post-conflict planning
Libya's most senior diplomat in London has said rebel forces control more than 90% of Tripoli after they appeared to meet little resistance during a rapid advance on Sunday.

The International Criminal Court has confirmed the capture of Col Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam.

 

“The best way for Libya to move forward is through a transition led and enforced by the Libyan people” - Ed Miliband, Labour leader

• Battle rages at Gaddafi compound
• Oil prices decline on Libya hopes

But fighting is continuing in a number of areas and Col Gaddafi is believed to still have thousands of armed followers in the capital. Mr Cameron said the leader's whereabouts were still unknown.

The BBC's political correspondent Ben Wright said there would be some satisfaction in Downing Street about the apparent collapse of the Gaddafi regime, given that Mr Cameron was among the most vocal supporters of foreign intervention in Libya.

However, he said No 10 would be mindful of uncertainty over how events could develop and be aware that a lot of work would be needed to stabilise the country.

Labour leader Ed Miliband welcomed developments in Libya, but also stressed the need to ensure a orderly transition "from popular revolt against Colonel Gaddafi to stable government without him".

"The best way for Libya to move forward is through a transition led and enforced by the Libyan people that learns the lessons of the past, including Iraq," he said in a statement.

"The priorities are public order, improved lives for the people of Libya and an inclusive, peaceful settlement led by the Libyan people. "
 
'Degree of humility'
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has given a speech in London about the wider Arab Spring, which has seen uprisings across the Middle East and North Africa.

He said such countries were "on the right side of history" and the UK would do all it could to help them - for example, offering practical support to create new political parties, prevent corruption, promote a plural press and register voters.

He also said countries would be given help to access to global financial markets, but only if they could prove their commitment to domestic reform.

The deputy PM said the UK should show "a degree of humility" about its failure in the past to speak out against repressive regimes like that of Col Gaddafi or President Bashar al-Assad in Syria.

"We attended to these autocrats in the name of stability, accepting their corruption and economic mismanagement as its necessary price and satisfying ourselves with false promises and cosmetic reform," he said.

"We have learned from those mistakes."

Human rights groups believe about 2,000 people have been killed by Syrian security forces in recent months, and Mr Clegg again urged President Assad to step down, calling him "as irrelevant to Syria's future as Gaddafi is to Libya's".

The Lib Dem leader added that the decision to support military intervention in Libya "was not one the UK took lightly", particularly his party and others who opposed the Iraq invasion, but the country was now "on the cusp of freedom".
BBC News

During a period that spanned six decades, the Libyan leader Gaddafi paraded on the world stage with a style so unique and unpredictable that the words "maverick" or "eccentric" scarcely do him justice.

Some #London riot sentences 'too severe' ??!

MPs and justice campaigners say some of the sentences given to those involved in the riots in England are too harsh.

On Tuesday two men were jailed for four years for using Facebook to incite riots and another was given 18 months for having a stolen TV in his car.

The former chair of the Criminal Bar Association, Paul Mendelle QC, said sentences were too long and harsh.

But Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said tougher sentences would show there were consequences to disorder.

More than 2,770 people have been arrested in connection with last week's riots in a number of English cities.
By Tuesday afternoon, 1,277 suspects had appeared in court and 64% had been remanded in custody. In 2010 the remand rate at magistrates for serious offences was 10%.

On Wednesday, the Metropolitan Police announced that it has charged 1,005 people after 1,733 arrests over the rioting that swept through the capital. The force has a target of 3,000 convictions.

The force's Acting Commissioner Tim Godwin said the investigation was "far from over".

The courts and tribunals service says legal advisers in court have been advising magistrates to "consider whether their powers of punishment are sufficient in dealing with some cases arising from the recent disorder". Magistrates are able to refer cases to crown courts which have tougher sentencing powers.

A spokeswoman from the service said magistrates were independent and did not have to take direction from their legal advisors who are themselves independent of government.
 
'Wild panic measures'
 The former chair of the Criminal Bar Association, Paul Mendelle QC, told BBC 5 live: "When people get caught up and act out of character, in a similar way, there is a danger that the courts themselves may get caught up in a different kind of collective hysteria - I'm not suggesting violence or anything like that - but in purporting to reflect the public mood actually go over the top and hand out sentences which are too long and too harsh."

  

Riot sentences

• Anderson Fernandes, 22, was warned by a judge at Manchester Magistrates' Court that he may face jail after he admitted stealing two scoops of ice cream. He will be sentenced next week.
• Nicolas Robinson, 23, of Borough, south-east London, was jailed for six months for stealing a £3.50 case of water from Lidl supermarket
• Mother-of-two Ursula Nevin, from Manchester, was jailed for five months for receiving a pair of shorts given to her after they had been looted from a city centre store.

• 2012 ambassador in riot charges

But Mr Pickles told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We need to understand that people for a while thought that this was a crime without consequence - we cannot have people being frightened in their beds, frightened in their own homes for their public safety.

"That is why these kind of exemplary sentences are necessary. I think people would be rightly alarmed if that incitement to riot got off with just a slap on the wrist."

Lord McNally, Liberal Democrat Justice Minister, said the courts must operate independently and warned "it's dangerous when politicians try to do the sentencing".

He said politicians make the laws, police do the arresting and judges do the judging and sentencing.

Cheshire men Jordan Blackshaw, 21, of Marston, and Perry Sutcliffe-Keenan, 22, of Warrington, were jailed for four years each after admitting using Facebook to incite disorder, although none actually resulted.

Defence solicitor Chris Johnson said Mr Blackshaw and his family "are somewhat shocked by the sentence and he will be appealing".

The Recorder of Chester, Judge Elgan Edwards, said he hoped the sentences would act as a deterrent to others.

Assistant Chief Constable of Cheshire Police Phil Thompson said it was "easy to understand" the sentence when you consider the impact technology had on the riots.

The Crown Prosecution Service said the offences committed carried maximum sentences of 10 years, but the four-year sentences were the lengthiest related to rioting so far.

Meanwhile a 17-year-old from Suffolk has been banned from using social networking sites for 12 months and ordered to observe a three month overnight curfew for using Facebook to encourage people to riot during last week's disorder.

Labour MP Paul Flynn wrote on his blog that the government was "throwing away sentencing rules".

 

Perry Sutcliffe-Keenan and Jordan Blackshaw were jailed at Chester Crown Court

"How can this make sense? How does it compare with other crimes? What will it do to prison numbers? This is not government. It's a series of wild panic measures seeking to claw back popularity."

Andrew Neilson, of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: "A four-year sentence would normally be associated with offences such as holding someone up at knife point, grievous bodily harm, sexual assault, and I'm not sure that the offence in question was really related to those types of offences."

He added that over-sentencing would see more appeals and that the courts and prisons would struggle to cope.
 
'Sentencing discrepancy'
Leading criminal barrister John Cooper QC said he believed the sentences were "over the top" and were likely to be overturned by the Court of Appeal.

"What we need to remember here is that there's a protocol for sentencing, and there are rules and procedures in sentencing which make them effective and make them fair.

"What we can't do, in my view, in situations like this, is suddenly throw the rule book away simply because there's a groundswell of opinion."

BBC legal correspondent Clive Coleman said what people were going to find troubling was the discrepancy in sentencing.

 

Croydon MP Gavin Barwell said his constituents wanted to see the courts get tough on rioters

He said an 18-year-old was imprisoned for one day for stealing two Burberry t-shirts while in another court, a 23-year-old man was sentenced to six months in prison for stealing £3.50 worth of water.

"There is always a discrepancy in sentencing around the country, although we try to make it as consistent as possible. I think this intense, feverish atmosphere that we've seen has magnified that somewhat," he said.

In another case, three men were jailed for up to two years in relation to the disorder in Manchester and Salford on 9 August. David Beswick, 31, Stephen Carter, 26, both from Salford, and Michael Gillespie-Doyle, 18, from Tameside, all pleaded guilty at earlier hearings.

Sitting at Manchester Crown Court, sentencing Judge Andrew Gilbart QC said: "I have no doubt at all that the principal purpose is that the courts should show that outbursts of criminal behaviour like this will be and must be met with sentences longer than they would be if the offences had been committed in isolation."

Beswick was sentenced to 18 months in prison for handling stolen goods.

Our legal correspondent said under normal circumstances Beswick would have been given a mid-range community sentence.

His friend Tony Whitaker said the punishment was disproportionate, given that he had pleaded guilty straight away.

BBC News UK 

London riots: More than 1,000 arrested over disorder

This footage shows a police raid that took place in London on Friday

England riots

• Tottenham's return to normality
• The LA model Cameron is copying
• How courts deal with rioters
• Dangers behind riot rumour mill

More than 1,000 arrests have been made and about 600 people charged over three days of rioting and looting in London.

Police said among those held was a man aged 19, in Haringey, east London, who posted a picture of himself on Twitter, posing with suspected stolen goods.

An increased police presence of 16,000 will remain on the streets throughout the weekend, the prime minister said.

The death toll from London's riots rose to two with the death of a 68-year-old man who was attacked in Ealing.

Richard Mannington Bowes, of Haven Green, Ealing, suffered head injuries and went into a coma when he was attacked on Monday night after remonstrating with some teenagers who were setting fire to two industrial bins on Spring Bridge Road.

Previously Trevor Ellis, 26, of Brixton Hill, was found shot in a car in Croydon. Police believe he was shot during a car chase on Monday night following an altercation with a group of people.

On Thursday, the Metropolitan Police said they had been granted about 100 warrants to search homes across London, and they will be executed over the coming days.
 
'Not enough police'
On Friday morning, a number of addresses were raided, while magistrates' courts sat through the night again to process those charged.

The Met said the 19-year-old man who posted a picture of himself with "a haul of suspected stolen goods" on the micro-blogging site Twitter was detained on suspicion of violent disorder and theft.

Among those charged was a 16-year-old girl accused of two counts of robbery, attempted robbery, possession of a knife, threatening violence and assault on police in Lewisham.

 

Several shops in Ealing which were attacked have opened for business

A 15-year-old girl was also charged with attempted robbery and threatening violence over the same incident. The girls were identified by officers, the Met said.

Five males, including two 17-year-olds and one 18-year-old, who were arrested on suspicion of an arson attack on the Sony distribution centre in Solar Way, Enfield, on Monday night, have been bailed until September.

The Met's Deputy Assistant Commissioner Steve Kavanagh has admitted there were not enough police to deal with the three days of rioting.

But Sir Hugh Orde, the president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, said the police's decision to change their tactics helped control the disorder.

On Friday, London Mayor Boris Johnson said the police were doing a "fantastic job" and praised them for the important arrests they have made over the past few days.

He also praised the "heroism" of firefighters who battled the fires across the capital and described the action of rioters who stopped London Fire Brigade crews from reaching the burning buildings as "demented".
 
'The best commanders'
Acting Met Police Commissioner Tim Godwin praised his officers saying he had some of the "best commanders in the world" who showed "great courage as well as restraint" during the disturbances.

Trouble first flared on Saturday in Tottenham, north London, after a peaceful protest over the fatal shooting of 29-year-old Mark Duggan in a police operation on 4 August.

By Monday night the situation had worsened with disorder spreading to Hackney, Croydon, Clapham, Camden, Lewisham, Peckham, Newham, East Ham, Enfield, Woolwich, Ealing and Colliers Wood.

Officials from the Independent Police Complaints Commission were in Tottenham on Thursday to gather more information about Mr Duggan's shooting, a week on from his death.

His family will hold a wake for him later.

Do you live in any of the areas where rioting and looting took place? How were you affected? How is the community coming together? What is the mood like where you are? Send your pictures and videos to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to 61124 (UK) or +44 7624 800 100 (International)

BBC News London 

#NEW #VIDEO: Jessie J, 'Who's Laughing Now' #nowplaying

#London riots: Increased #police numbers to remain

 

About 16,000 officers were on duty to tackle any disorder on Tuesday

England riots

• England riots Live
• In pictures: Rioting spreads
• How could police stop riots?
• What turns people into looters?

An increased police presence will remain in London "for as long as needed", Downing Street has said. The number of officers was increased from 6,000 to 16,000 on Tuesday night after widespread rioting on Monday.

In total 770 people have been arrested and 167 charged, with 81 held on a relatively calm Tuesday night.
London Mayor Boris Johnson said the "pretty frail" case for cutting police numbers had been "substantially weakened" following the riots.
 
'No complacency'
A Downing Street source told the BBC: "There's a will to continue with that level of policing for as long as is needed."

Number 10 said while there was "no complacency", police tactics in London had "clearly worked".

On Tuesday, there were some sporadic incidents in Canning Town and Eltham while in Harlesden 19 people, who were apparently preparing to go looting, were arrested.

The group of men, aged between 18 and 30, were arrested in West Ella Road, Harlesden, after "they were seen standing by two transit vans appearing to be preparing to go looting", police said.

 

“I have been rightly bashed for being on the west coast of North America when this thing kicked off” 

-Boris Johnson Mayor of London

And courts have been sitting through the night to for first appearances of people charged in connection with the riots.

Highbury Magistrates' Court and Camberwell Magistrates' Court both have been sitting since 17:00 BST on Tuesday.

In some parts of London local people took to the streets to protect their neighbourhoods from the looters.

In Southall, west London, Sikh men from the Sri Guru Singh Sabha temple gathered to protect the area.

Groups also gathered in Eltham, south-east London and their was a "reclaim the streets" march in Enfield, north London, which ended in "minor scuffles" with police.

Click to play

Southall Sikhs stand against rioters

Shops and businesses were shut down early in the capital over fears of further violence on Tuesday night.
Speaking to BBC News, the mayor said he was not "remotely complacent" about the relative calm on Tuesday, adding: "I think the police got a grip.

"We are going to keep up the pressure. People worried that last night's deployment was a one-off should not be so worried."

The mayor, who was heckled as he met residents in riot-hit Clapham Junction after returning from holiday on Tuesday, added: "I have been rightly bashed for being on the west coast of North America when this thing kicked off.

"I have to say I came back as soon as was reasonable when it was clear that this was not just a one-off thing."

 

The Reeves furniture store was destroyed after being set on fire on Monday

A man, 21, remains in police custody on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life over a fire which destroyed the family-run Reeves furniture store in Croydon on Monday.

The charred remains of the building were razed to the ground.

Police also appealed for witnesses after a man, believed to be in his mid 40s or 50s, suffered a serious head wound and is in a critical condition after being attacked in Ealing on Monday night.

Officers believe the victim, whose name has not yet been released, was attacked in Springbridge Road at 22:45 BST after he "remonstrated with a group of teenagers who [were] setting fire to two industrial bins outside the Arcadia Shopping Centre".

Missiles were hurled at paramedics and police as they tried to give first aid to the man, who fell after being assaulted.

Two people were also arrested, and later bailed, over the death of a 26-year-old man who was found with bullet wounds in a car in Warrington Road, Croydon on Monday.

Officers believe the victim was involved in a car chase and shot following an altercation with a group of about nine men.

There was also a stand-off at Feltham Young Offenders Institution, in west London, when some inmates refused to leave the gym, but the Ministry of Justice said the situation was resolved in hours.
BBC News 

Kanye West thinks people look at him 'like Hitler': Rapper takes the stage to rap and rant, drawing boos and cheers

via Andy Sheppard  /  Getty Images

Whoops, he did it again — Kanye West may have done a little rapping, but for much of his Big Chill concert in Ledbury, England set he seemed to be using the stage as a soapbox, and fans weren't liking it.

 

By MESFIN FEKADU

EASTNOR CASTLE DEER PARK, England — Kanye West says he feels like people look at him like Hitler.

The 34-year-old rapper known for his outbursts was the headline act at the Big Chill music festival Saturday night, where he ranted in the middle of his set about being misunderstood and underappreciated.
Slideshow: Kanye West 
"I walk through the hotel and I walk down the street, and people look at me like I'm (expletive) insane, like I'm Hitler," he said. "One day the light will shine through and one day people will understand everything I ever did."

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West received light boos from the crowd as a result.
 

Story: Ladies take the lead with VMA nominations
The performer also defended the music video for his song "Monster," which features cannibalism and girls hanging from their necks.

"Who saw the video before it got banned, before they took it down and before women's groups starting saying that a person that lost the most important woman in his life is now against women in some way?" asked West, referring to the 2007 death of his mother Donda West.
 

Story: Why Jay-Z And Kanye West's Sudden Feud Could Cost Best Buy And Live Nation Millions
West, who started his set roughly 30 minutes late, apologized to the crowd for his tardiness, saying he needed to make sure his performance was great.

"Michael Jordan changed so much in basketball, he took his power to make a difference. It's so much (expletive) going on in music right now and somebody has to make a (expletive) difference," he said.
 

Story: Kanye West Says He's Still Giving Us the Silent Treatment
The multiplatinum-seller is known for his outspokenness, most notably his diss toward Taylor Swift at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, where he grabbed the microphone from her as she accepted the award for best female video and said Beyonce should have won it. In 2005 he said "George Bush doesn't care about black people" during a Hurricane Katrina telethon.

At the music festival, West talked about some of his awards show drama, saying some of his sponsorships were canceled as a result.

But West closed his show on a positive note by paying tribute to Amy Winehouse.

West, who said he met the late singer a few years ago during Paris fashion week, played snippets of Winehouse's "Tears Dry On Their Own" and "Back to Black." He said it was "beautiful" to meet the performer and that she was "amazing."

Then, in Kanye fashion, he began to rant.

"Thank you for protecting your artists that are still here," he said to the crowd. "This is for McQueen, for Amy, for Michael and for all the media, can you lighten up on all your artists that are still here?" he asked, receiving a roaring cheer from the crowd and leaving the stage with his 3-man band and 20-something backup dancers.

 TODAY Celebrities
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.

Parliament recalled to tackle London riots

Click to play

UK Riots

• Live: England riots Live
• England riots: Timeline and map
• How could police stop riots?
• Timeline: Parliament recalled

Parliament is being recalled on Thursday in response to rioting in England, the prime minister has said.

The government's emergency committee Cobra met on Tuesday after rioting spread across London, with violence flaring in other major cities.

"We will do everything necessary to restore order to Britain's streets and make them safe for the law-abiding," David Cameron said in Downing Street.

More than 16,000 officers will be on London streets on Wednesday, he said.

All Metropolitan Police leave has been cancelled, with reinforcements called in from other forces, meaning three times as many officers as before will patrol London's streets on Tuesday night, Mr Cameron said.

 

David Cameron described the scenes of violence as "sickening"

Meanwhile, Scotland Yard said a 26-year-old man shot in a car during riots in Croydon has died in hospital.
Mr Cameron said at least 450 people have been arrested so far, in what he condemned as "sickening scenes of people looting, vandalising, thieving, robbing".

He told rioters: "You will feel the full force of the law. And if you are old enough to commit these crimes, you are old enough to face the punishment."

The recall of Parliament will allow MPs to "stand together in condemnation of these crimes and to stand together in determination to rebuild these communities", he said.

The prime minister returned early from his holiday in Tuscany to discuss the unrest, which first flared on Saturday after a peaceful protest in Tottenham over the fatal shooting of a man by police.
 
'Copycat crime'
London has seen a wave of "copycat criminal activity" over the past three days, the Met Police said. More than 69 people have been charged with various offences following hundreds of arrests.
Birmingham, Liverpool, Nottingham and Bristol are among the other cities where violence broke out.

 

Shops have been looted across the capital

Met Deputy Assistant Commissioner Steven Kavanagh said it was a "shocking and appalling morning for London to wake up to".

"The Met was stretched beyond belief in a way that it has never experienced before," he told BBC Breakfast.
Acting Commissioner Tim Godwin ruled out bringing in the Army to help police tackle the violence, but said: "We will be out there in ever greater numbers tonight."

In other developments:

• Three people are being questioned on suspicion of attempted murder after a police officer was injured by a car in Wembley, north-west London, while trying to stop suspected looters
• Tube stations closed during the riots have now reopened, apart from Ealing Broadway
• Part of London's Tramlink between has been suspended as a result of a fire
• Elsewhere, 100 people have been arrested in Birmingham after scores of youths smashed windows and looted shops in the shopping area
• West Midlands Police said a police station in Holyhead Road in Handsworth, Birmingham, was set alight
• Up to 200 youths with masks roamed through Toxteth in Liverpool, while Bristol police said they dealt with outbreaks of disorder involving about 150 people
• A Nottinghamshire police station was attacked in the St Ann's area and 200 tyres were set alight in the street
• Police dealt with "small pockets of disorder" in the Chapeltown area of Leeds

Monday's violence started in Hackney, north London, after a man was stopped and searched by police, who found nothing.

Groups of people there began attacking officers in Hackney at about 16:20 BST, throwing stones and a bin.
 
Police cars were wrecked by youths armed with wooden poles and metal bars, while looters smashed their way into shops before police dispersed them.

Nine other forces are supporting the Metropolitan Police, as well as the City of London Police and British Transport Police.

Some people had complained there were too few police to deal with the violence.

• The Met said Monday was "the worst" disorder in "current memory", with several fires breaking out in Croydon, including one at a sofa factory which spread to neighbouring buildings and tram lines
• Hackney MP Diane Abbott said a London-wide curfew should be considered after 200 riot officers with dogs and mounted police were needed to deal with violence there
• Looters raided shops in Stratford High Street and Clapham Junction, where police used armoured vehicles to push back more than 150 people
• A Sony warehouse in Enfield, a shopping centre in Woolwich New Road and a timber yard in East Ham were all on fire
• Police said two officers were injured when more than 100 people looted a Tesco store in Bethnal Green, while vehicles were set alight in Lewisham and Peckham
• There were reports of looting of phone shops in Woolwich High Street, in south-east London, and set a police car on fire
• Shops and restaurants were damaged in Ealing, west London
• Tuesday's Carling Cup matches at Charlton, West Ham, Crystal Palace and Bristol City have been postponed at the police's request
• England and Holland's friendly at Wembley on Wednesday was also called off has also been called off

Hackney resident Catherine Holmes said: "Our community has been hurt and damaged by causeless violence. We spoke to looters trying to get home - the only explanation they gave for their behaviour was that they had no money."
 
'War zone'
Christian Potts, 29, described Ealing as "like a war zone".

"There were about 25 to 30 masked youths on Haven Green and they just started tearing into a florist with bricks. It's a local family-run business so I can't see why they are doing this."

London's mayor Boris Johnson cut short his holiday to return to the city, while Home Secretary Theresa May did the same to meet Met chiefs.

Click to play

Clapham resident Nick Shaw escaped unhurt from his home which was set ablaze

"These have been the worst scenes of violence and disturbance on our streets for many, many years, and this sort of violence, this level of criminality, this thuggery, this looting, this theft, is completely unacceptable," Ms May told BBC Breakfast.

However, she said the authorities could deal with the situation through robust policing, good use of intelligence and with the support of local communities.

She called on anyone involved in the violence to speak to police.
The trouble follows two nights of violence over the weekend which started after police shot a man dead in Tottenham.

A peaceful protest in Tottenham on Saturday over the death of Mark Duggan, 29, was followed by violence which spread into this week.
BBC News

#AmyWinehouse funeral in #London #UK

•  
• Flowers and messages are seen outside the home of Amy Winehouse in London
• Winehouse arriving at Westminster Magistrates Court

LONDON (Reuters) - The funeral of British singer Amy Winehouse (was) being held Tuesday after an autopsy failed to pinpoint the cause of her death.

A spokesperson for the late Amy Winehouse has said a small, private funeral will be held for the five-time-Grammy Award winning UK singer who died Saturday for unknown reasons.

The spokesperson said that only friends and family would be attending the ceremony Tuesday and declined to say exactly when or where it would take place.

The family is known to be eager to prevent the notorious UK tabloid press from harassing guests arriving at or leaving the funeral.

Early indications show her music is set to dominate the British singles and albums charts this weekend, mirroring what happened in the weeks following the death of Michael Jackson.

The 27-year-old Winehouse, who had long battled drug and alcohol problems, was found dead in bed at her home in London on Saturday. Her funeral was being attended only by family and close friends, a spokesman said.

An inquest opened Monday and was adjourned until October, with police describing the death as unexplained. More tests are being carried out, with the results expected next month.

Her family was quoted in newspapers as saying they thought she died of a heart attack or seizure. Her boyfriend, Reg Traviss, denied rumors that she died in a drug-fueled haze.

"She had been full of life and so upbeat recently, exercising every day and doing yoga," he told the Sun. "This terrible thing that happened is like an accident."

Record industry body the Official Charts Company said on Tuesday that the singer's music was expected to dominate the British charts.

She is on course to have seven singles in the Top 40 and 14 in the Top 200, with the biggest selling track currently "Back To Black" followed by "Rehab," "Tears Dry On Their Own," "You Know I'm No Good" and "Valerie."

In the year following his death in June 2009 Jackson sold more records in Britain than any other artist.

As she fought drugs and alcohol, Winehouse slid from being a chirpy teenage singer to someone who could barely walk at her final concert performance in Belgrade, Serbia.

The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported Monday that material recorded before Winehouse's death could be released as a posthumous album. They cited sources who said Winehouse had recorded "a lot of material" and that her parents would have the final say on whether a new album was to be released.

Winehouse's spokesman told Reuters there was no news about the release of a third album. "I know there's material about, but no one's talked about it," he said.

(Reporting by Stephen Addison; editing by Robert Woodward)
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#AmyWinehouse Autopsy Results Inconclusive; private funeral as early as tomorrow?

The cause of Amy Winehouse's death will remain a mystery for at least another fortnight as autopsy results found Monday were inconclusive.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Metropolitan Police will investigate her death, which was given a "Section 20" postmortem, which means they have reason to believe the death was violent or suspicious. That being said, it was earlier Monday reported that police did not find any reason for suspicion.  Coroner's officer Sharon Duff told reporters Monday (today) that "the scene was investigated by police and determined non-suspicious."

Winehouse was found dead in her bed on July 23.

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   1. 

      Reuters
      Reports: No signs of drugs near Winehouse
      Sources say the singer may have been dead for as many as six hours before being found by a security guard, alone in her bed with no signs of drugs nearby.
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   5. Amy Winehouse's musical legacy will live on

The singer's family formally identified her body Monday (today) and visited mourners outside her London home to thank them for their support.

A private family service could be held as early as Tuesday, the Associated Press reports.

The inquest, as the investigation is known, is being closed until October 26th so that investigators can look into the death; toxicology test results are expected in 2-4 weeks.

On Sunday, the Mirror reported that Winehouse had been on a weeks-long bender and that friends claimed she died from a cocktail of alcohol and ecstasy; whether that is true remains to be seen. Her mother Janice, who saw Winehouse just the day before she died, said that she seemed out of it and the death seemed sadly inevitable.
Huffington Post

Paul Bergen  /  Getty Images file

An autopsy on Amy Winehouse did not establish the cause of the singer's death,

and police say they are awaiting further test results.

The 27 Club: The age that marked death for so many great musicians

From Amy Winehouse to Jimi Hendrix, there are many great musicians who had one tragic thing in common:

Dying at age 27.

As most people know by now, incredibly talented singer Amy Winehouse was found dead in her London apartment over the weekend. She joins an unfortunate club of singers who led troubled lives, some who struggled with drugs, and died at age 27.

Amy Winehouse

The so-called "27s" is part of the title of a book published a few years ago that examines the deaths of many of these young musicians and the tragic number they have in common.

Considered the greatest electric guitarist of all time and an icon of his generation, Jimi Hendrix died in London in 1970 at age 27. He was well known for boozing and drugs, though according to the London Telegraph, the autopsy on him found that he died due to choking on his own vomit but there was little alcohol in his system.

Janis Joplin

Jim Morrison

 Janis Joplin died of a heroin overdose at the same age in the same year.  Jim Morrison, at age 27, died in 1971. He would be considered a pioneer not just for his music but poetry.

Robert Johnson

An earlier guitar great, a man regarded as the one of the best blues performers of all time, Robert Johnson died in 1938 at 27. It's unclear how he died but reports have circled that a lover poisoned him.

Brian Jones

The Rolling Stones founder and guitarist Brian Jones died at 27 of what a coroner reportedly termed "misadventure" in 1969. He was a musician with many talents, playing the harmonica, sitar and marimba. Jones left the band shortly before his death. He was replaced by Mick Taylor.

Kurt Cobain

Kurt Cobain died at 27 of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head in Seattle, Washington, in 1994. The frontman for the hit making, grunge-generation defining Nirvana is the stuff of legend.

In 1995, Freaky Tah of the emerging rap group The Lost Boyz passed away at 27. He was shot in the head as he left a party in New York.

CNN Music
Post by: CNN's Ashley Fantz

Family: Winehouse's death leaves 'gaping hole': Singer's mother believes daughter's early death was 'only a matter of time'

Akira Suemori  /  AP

Amy Winehouse's family issued a statement saying they have been left bereft by her death.

 

 

One day after Amy Winehouse's tragic death, her family has issued a statement regarding the 27-year-old singer's untimely passing.VIDEO: Remembering Amy Winehouse (1983-2011)

"Our family has been left bereft by the loss of Amy, a wonderful daughter, sister, niece. She leaves a gaping hole in our lives," the Winehouse family tells Us Weekly in a statement. "We are coming together to remember her and we would appreciate some privacy and space at this terrible time."

PHOTOS: Amy and other stars who died at 27

The "You Know I'm No Good" singer is survived by her father, Mitch, her mother, Janis, and her older brother, Alex. Winehouse's father was in New York City when he learned of her death. "I'm getting on the next plane back. I'm coming home. I have to be with Amy," he reportedly said. "I can't crack up for her sake. My family needs me. I'm devastated; it's such a shock."

PHOTOS: Amy Winehouse's tumultuous life

Janis believed her daughter's death had been "only a matter of time" when they met just 24 hours earlier. "She seemed out of it," Janis said. "But her passing so suddenly still hasn't hit me."
 
Story: Singer Amy Winehouse found dead in London home

When their visit was over, Winehouse said: "I love you, mum."
 
Story: Celebrities express grief at Winehouse's death

"They are the words I will always treasure," Janis now says. "I'm glad I saw her when I did."

TODAY Music
Copyright 2011 Us Weekly

Remembering AMY < #AmyWinehouse > 1983-2011 #RIP

Amy Winehouse

1983-2011

Amy Winehouse found dead, aged 27

 Singer Amy Winehouse, 27, has been found dead at her home, the Press Association has reported.

Last month, the north Londoner pulled out of her European tour after she was jeered at her comeback gig in Serbia for appearing too drunk to perform.

For 90 minutes, she mumbled through parts of songs and at times left the stage - leaving her band to fill in.
The troubled singer had a long battle with drink and drugs which overshadowed her musical career in recent years.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman confirmed that a 27-year-old woman had died in Camden and that the cause of death was as yet unexplained.

London Ambulance Service had been called to the flat at 1554 BST and sent two ambulances but the woman died, it said.

BBC News 

Text messages 'help smokers quit' - by James Gallagher: Health reporter, BBC News

Two-thirds of UK smokers say they want to stop

Supportive text messages can double the chance of someone successfully quitting smoking, according to UK researchers.

Just over 10% of 2,900 smokers who received encouraging texts such as "you can do it" had quit after six months, but only 4.9% of a similar number who did not have the same support gave up.

The study, published in The Lancet, called for texts to be included in services to help people kick the habit.
Other scientists said a text service could be offered globally.

According to government statistics two-thirds of UK smokers say they want to stop.

This study looked at 5,800 of them. Supportive texts were sent to 2,915 of the smokers for six months. The rest received only messages thanking them for taking part.

They were sent five texts a day for the first five weeks and then three a week for the next 26 weeks.

Participants could also text back for specific advice when they had cravings or had lapsed back into smoking.

Sample text messages

"To make things easier for yourself, try having some distractions ready for cravings and think up some personal strategies to help in stressful situations"

"This is it! - QUIT DAY, throw away all your fags. TODAY is the start of being QUIT forever, you can do it!"

"Quick result! Carbon monoxide has now left your body!"

"Day4=Big day - cravings still strong? Don't worry tomorrow will be easier! Keep your mind & hands busy."

"Cravings last less than 5 minutes on average. To help distract yourself, try sipping a drink slowly until the craving is over."

"Don't feel bad or guilty if you've slipped. You've achieved a lot by stopping for a while. Slip-ups can be a normal part of the quitting process. Keep going, you can do it!"

Saliva tests for cotinine, which is made when nicotine is broken down by the body, were taken to determine if people had really given up.

After six months, 10.7% of those receiving texts had quit - double the proportion among those doing it on their own.

Dr Caroline Free, who led the txt2stop trial at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: "Text messages are a very convenient way for smokers to receive support to quit.

"People described txt2stop as being like having a friend encouraging them or an angel on their shoulder.

"It helped people resist the temptation to smoke."

The World Health Organization says nearly six million die each year because of smoking, mostly in low and middle-income countries.

Dr Derrick Bennett and Dr Jonathan Emberson, both from the University of Oxford, said text messages could be used to help people around the world.

"The lessons learned from the txt2stop trial could... not only provide a new approach to cessation in high-income and middle-income countries, but could also provide a useful starting point for implementing behavioural change in resource-poor settings."

It has also been suggested similar text messages could be used to help people modify other behaviour.
BBC News HEALTH 

Afghanistan's Karzai: US 'in peace talks with Taliban' - by Paul Wood - 18 June 2011

 

The comments came hours before an attack on a police station, for which the Taliban claimed responsibility.

The US is engaged in talks with the Taliban, Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said, in the first high-level confirmation of US involvement.

Mr Karzai said that "foreign military and especially the US itself" were involved in peace talks with the group.
Hours later, suicide bombers attacked a Kabul police station, killing two.

Earlier this month, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said there could be political talks with the Taliban by the end of this year.

The US is due to start withdrawing its 97,000 troops from Afghanistan in July.

It aims to gradually hand over all security operations to Afghan security forces by 2014.
 
Summer of fighting:
"In the course of this year, there have been peace talks with the Taliban and our own countrymen," Mr Karzai told a Kabul news conference on Saturday.

"Peace talks have started with them already and it is going well. Foreign militaries, especially the United States of America, are going ahead with these negotiations."

 

Analysis

Paul Wood BBC News, Kabul

It's always been assumed that the US is reaching out directly to the Taliban, but this is the first high-level official confirmation.

The exact identity of the Americans' negotiating partner is not known whether they are talking to a go-between or to somebody with authority.

Neither is it known what is on the table: The assumption is that these are talks about talks rather than something more substantive.

No one should expect quick results from whatever contacts may be taking place. The prediction from all sides - Nato, the Afghan government and the Taliban itself - is for another summer of hard fighting ahead, and probably many more summers after that.

He gave no details as to whether the discussions involved Taliban officials with US authorities, or a go-between.

Shortly after the announcement, at least two suicide bombers attacked a police station near the financial ministry in the Afghan capital. The Taliban has claimed responsibility.

Mohammad Ayub Salangi, Kabul's police chief, told the BBC two police officers had been killed in the attack, which was ongoing.

''A group of suicide attackers got inside police district one," he said. "We have surrounded the area.''

An interior ministry spokesman said there were four attackers, one of whom blew himself up, two of whom were killed by police, while a fourth was still fighting.

Finance ministry employees said the ministry was under lockdown.

"We can hear sporadic gunshots," one employee told the BBC. "Guards at the front of the ministry have also fired at attackers who wanted to get inside the ministry."

Meanwhile, insurgents attacked two convoys supplying Nato troops in the eastern province of Ghazni, police said: Four Afghan security guards escorting the trucks were reportedly killed by roadside bombs.
 
Sanctions list split:
The Taliban's official position regarding peace talks is that it will only negotiate once international forces leave Afghanistan, and that it will only talk to the Afghan government.

Click to play

Colonel Richard Kemp: "There is no prospect for successful peace talks with the Taliban"

Diplomats have previously spoken of preliminary talks being held by both sides in the continuing conflict.
The US has yet to comment on Mr Karzai's statement.

The UK said it supported "Afghan-led efforts to reconcile and reintegrate members of the insurgency who are prepared to renounce violence, cut links with terrorist groups, and accept the constitution".

"In view of the death of Osama Bin Laden it is time for the Taliban/insurgency to positively engage in the political process," said a statement from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Colonel Richard Kemp, a former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, said there was currently no prospect for successful peace talks with Taliban.

"The only possibility that could happen is if they as a movement are defeated and there's no prospect of that happening in the near future."

He said the objective of international forces in Afghanistan should be to encourage malleable elements of the Taliban to split away from the hard-core leadership of Mullah Mohammad Omar, thereby weakening the group.

On Friday, the UN split a sanctions blacklist for the Taliban and al-Qaeda, to encourage the Taliban to join reconciliation efforts.

Before now, both organisations have been handled by the same UN sanctions committee.

The UN Security Council said it was sending a signal to the Taliban that now is the time to join the political process.

The US Ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, said in a statement that the move sent "a clear message to the Taliban that there is a future for those who separate from al-Qaeda, renounce violence and abide by the Afghan constitution".

The Taliban ruled Afghanistan before being driven from power by US-backed forces in 2001.
It had sheltered al-Qaeda and its leader Osama Bin Laden.
BBC News