Burma: British Family Of Four Survived Crash

A British family of four was aboard an aircraft packed with tourists which crash-landed in Burma on Christmas Day.

The Foreign Office has confirmed it provided assistance to the family and that they have now left hospital following treatment for minor injuries.

Two people died and 11 were injured when the Air Bagan plane, carrying more than 60 passengers, crashed two miles short of the runway at Heho Airport.

Details of the crash remain unclear, however the airline and officials have blamed heavy fog for the aircraft's crash into a rice paddy field.

The ageing Fokker 100 jet was carrying Christmas tourists from Rangoon to Heho Airport, via Mandalay. The airport is the main gateway to the popular tourist destination Inle Lake.

Survivors of the Christmas Day crash-landing have told of their terror as the plane struck the ground.

The plane crashed in thick fog about two miles short of the runway

"We felt the first bump, then a few big bumps and then (started) sliding very fast," said Anna Bartsch, a 31-year-old Australian advertising executive.

"In my window I saw the flames, and it was hot and we knew straight away we didn't have much time to get out. We didn't know then that the wings had come off," she said.

Air Bagan says the plane's black box will be sent to Singapore for analysis.

The airline has said "the plane hit electrical cables about a mile from Heho Airport as it descended and landed in rice fields".

All fatalities were Burmese citizens, including a man riding a motorcycle where the plane came down, and a tour guide aboard the plane.

The accident has raised concerns about the safety standards of Burma's overburdened airlines, as foreign visitors flock to the country as it emerges from a half-century of military rule.

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Firefighter Ambush Shooting: Killer Left Note

The gunman who ambushed two firefighters as they approached his burning house left a note saying he wanted to torch the neighbourhood and "do what I like doing best, killing people".

Gerald Pickering, police chief in Webster, New York state, said 62-year-old William Spengler armed himself with three weapons and set his house on fire to lure emergency services into a death trap.

Spengler killed two volunteer firefighters - Mike Chiapperini, 43, and 19-year-old Tomasz Kaczowka - and shot two others before taking his own life in the small town on Monday morning.

Police believe human remains found in the burnt-out home are those of the gunman's 67-year-old sister, Cheryl, who has been missing since the blaze. The remains will be examined before identity is confirmed.

The full contents of the two-page, typed note - which police said does not reveal a motive - have not been published, but Mr Pickering said it clearly shows the killer's "intent".

Victims: Michael Chapperini (left) and Tomasz Kaczowka

One of the guns used was a semi-automatic Bushmaster rifle, the same type of gun used in the December 14 school massacre in Newtown, Connecticut. Mr Pickering said Spengler was "equipped to go to war".

Mr Chiapperini's full-time job was as a public information officer with the Webster police department. He was named firefighter of the year for 2012.

Mr Kaczowka worked as an emergency call dispatcher and Mr Pickering described him as "a tremendous young man".

The two injured volunteer firefighters, Joseph Hofstetter and Theodore Scardino, remain in hospital. They are said to be awake and alert and are expected to recover despite suffering "significant" injuries.

Webster is northwest of New York City

Spengler was released from prison in 1998 after serving 17 years for beating his 92-year-old grandmother to death with a hammer in 1980.

Authorities have said he lived a quiet life and had done nothing to bring himself to police attention since his parole.

Spengler's mother Arline, who had lived with her two children, died in October, leaving Spengler on his own with his sister whom he "couldn't stand", according to neighbour Roger Vercruysse.

Spengler "stayed on one side of the house and [Cheryl] stayed on the other," Mr Vercruysse said.

Dozens of people turned out on Monday night for an impromptu vigil to mourn the firefighters, leaving bouquets and messages of condolence at the local fire station.

One man left a crate of beer, the local newspaper told Sky News.

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Weather: Landslide Alert Amid Floods And Rain

A landslide warning has been issued by the Met Office, as continued heavy downpours sparked fears of unstable cliff faces.

Boxing Day walkers were urged to take extra care in "dangerous conditions" with flooding set to worsen across parts of England and Wales today.

The Met Office has issued the warning following advice from the British Geological Survey.

Forecasters said coastal areas in southwest England are in particular danger of collapsing cliff edges, but stressed that all areas with heavy rain are at risk.

Helston in Cornwall has been badly affected by floods

A spokesman for the Met Office said: "We have had such heavy and persistent rain fall over the last few days and weeks and that there is a danger of landslides and rockfall along the coast, even on coastal paths.

"We are advising Boxing Day walkers in the southwest of England to take particular care in these dangerous conditions, especially those not familiar with the area.

"Do not get too close to the cliff edge or walk under the cliff face along the beach and remember that coastal paths could be impacted too."

Many coastal paths have been closed over the last few weeks along the South West and train services have been disrupted by small coastal landslides.

Charlotte Blackman was killed in a landslide during the summer

There have been several landslide tragedies involving walkers in recent years. Last summer, Charlotte Blackman was buried by rocks while walking with her family on the Dorset coast.

Weather experts said up to 15mm of rain fell across southwest England and south Wales, with up to 20mm expected again today.

Sky weather presenter Sarah Pennock said there would be more heavy rainfall over some areas of the UK.

She said: "The main event today is a band of rain already spreading into southwestern Ireland and Scotland.

"This will dump up to an inch in places, will fall on already saturated ground and will exacerbate the risk of further flooding."

The Environment Agency has 120 flood warnings in place, which urge residents to take immediate action against expected flooding.

A further 228 less severe flood alerts have been issued across most of England and Wales.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency has removed all its warnings, with lighter showers expected only through the southwest of the country.

Around 470 properties have flooded since Wednesday, while Floodline revealed it has received 18,000 calls during the recent wet weather.

The worst affected areas have been southwest England and stretches along the south coast from Cornwall to Kent, along with Wales and northern Scotland.

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New TV Campaign As Men's Cancer Risk Hits 50%

A TV advertising campaign has been launched as research reveals that half of all men will get cancer.

Cancer Research UK has released figures showing that diagnosis of men with the disease is increasing - but more are also surviving.

The charity used Boxing Day to launch a TV campaign highlighting how research can save lives and featuring stories from survivors.

New figures suggest that by 2027, 50 men out of every 100 are likely to be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lifetime.

That compares to 44 out of every 100 in 2010.

Women's lifetime cancer risk is also increasing and is predicted to rise from 40 to 44 out of every 100 women by 2027.

However, the charity says that cancer survival has doubled in the last 40 years thanks to detection techniques and improved treatments.

Age is the biggest risk factor for cancer and the increase in risk is largely due to more people living longer.

The cancers set to increase most in the next 15 years include prostate, bowel and melanoma, Cancer Research UK says.

Prostate cancer remains a continuing challenge. Cases of the disease are rising but it is not yet possible to distinguish which prostate cancers will be life-threatening.

Professor Malcolm Mason, Cancer Research UK's prostate cancer expert, said: "Prostate cancer needs research. We have many questions and research is key to providing answers about the disease.

"As our population ages, growing numbers of men will be diagnosed with the disease.

"Over the last 40 years prostate cancer incidence rates in Great Britain have tripled, and three-quarters of cases are diagnosed in men aged over 65 years."

One example of useful research by Cancer Research UK scientists is work indicating that a protein called MSMB may help identify men at greater risk of prostate cancer.

The researchers showed that this protein seems more accurately linked to prostate cancer than the marker currently tested for - the prostate specific antigen (PSA).

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Boxing Day Sales: Bargain Hunters Hit Shops

Britain's shops look set for a bumper Boxing Day of profits as bargain hunters go on a predicted £3bn spending spree at the sales.

People queued overnight in London's Oxford Street in preparation for stores opening this morning, with thousands pouring through the doors from as early as 6am.

Selfridges bosses said they took £1.5m at the tills in the first hour of opening and stores across the West End expect some £50m of takings in one day.

Sue West, Selfridges director of operations, said handbags and menswear were among the items flying off the shelves.

She said: "Online sales have been great but year on year people still want to experience the Boxing Day sales."

Manchester's Trafford Centre has been enjoying what is thought to be the biggest Boxing Day in its history - with police drafted in to help manage the crowds.

Hundreds of shoppers poured through the doors when Selfridges opened

The centre's Gordon McKinnon said: "Many retailers have kept stock levels much tighter this year, so the sales will not be stretching on into January."

Queues began to form at Kent's Bluewater at 1am on Boxing Day, with around 3,000 waiting for the doors to open at 7am.

Up to 7.1 million shoppers are expected to hit the shops at some stage, with one in 10 venturing out for a deal before 9am, according to research from Green Flag.

According to MoneySupermarket.com, shoppers in the UK are set to spend a total of £2.9bn.

A poll for the website found almost four million Britons (8%) planned to head to the high street on Boxing Day in addition to more than five million (10%) who will be searching online.

Queues formed outside some shops from as early as 1am.

However, figures from one survey, by comparison website Pricerunner, suggested that almost half (47%) of those questioned were not planning on buying anything in the post-Christmas sales.

A strike by London tube drivers about bank holiday pay does not seem to have had too much impact on the sales.

Extra buses were laid on for those travelling to the West End, as well as the Westfield shopping centres in Stratford, east London, and White City, west London, Transport for London said.

Jason Tyrrell from the New West End Company told Sky News: "We were prepared for this strike and had coaches for staff. The shoppers are out in force, but I hope both sides get round the table and sort it out."

Stores reported an influx of shoppers from abroad

Online retailers tried to stay one step ahead of the competition by offering heavy discounts on Christmas Day with Amazon's UK website seeing a 263% rise in sales over the last five years.

Analyst Experian predicted that Christmas 2012 would be the "biggest and busiest ever" for online retailers in the UK, with visits to retail websites expected to reach 126 million today, up 31% on 2011 and consumers predicted to spend £472.5m online.

But there was more gloom for the high street in the run-up to Christmas with shoppers preferring to buy presents online, according to Business recovery group Begbies Traynor.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said high street spending was "acceptable but not exceptional" this festive period - blaming it on poor accessibility to high streets and weak consumer demand rather than online shopping.

Richard Dodd of BRC said: "There are a lot of myths around online retail - 10% of overall retailing over the year comes from online shopping and actually it presents lots of opportunities for the retail sector."

A Begbies Traynor report said almost 140 high street firms were in a critical condition in the fourth quarter, meaning they are on the brink of collapse, while more than 13,700 were in "significant" distress - up 35% during the three months to December 17.

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China Opens World's Longest High-Speed Railway

By Mark Stone, China Correspondent, in Beijing

The world's longest high speed rail route has opened in China, covering a distance of 1,427 miles (2,298km).

The first passenger train departed from Beijing in the north for Guangzhou on the country's southern coast at 9am local time, with another leaving an hour later.

The line carries new bullet-style trains at speeds of up to 220mph (350kph) and reduces the travel time from 22 hours to just eight hours.

There are 35 stops along the route in major cities spanning the length of the country including Shijiazhuang, capital of the northern Hebei Province; Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan; Wuhan, the capital of the central Hubei Province; and Changsha, in Hunan Province.

The high-speed passenger service is under way

The building cost has not been revealed, but it was built in a fraction of the time it has taken to build the Crossrail system in London, which spans a distance - through new tunnels - of 13 miles (21km) and is not due for completion until 2017, and the new UK High Speed Two (HS2), which is still awaiting the construction green light.

But China does not have the planning regulations required for UK projects and there is not as much concern about the environmental considerations.

China currently has 5,350 miles (8,600km) of operating high-speed railway, more than any other nation in the world.

The plan is to extend the rail network to a staggering 9,950 miles (16,000km) of track by 2015.

The improved and expanded services have lured people away from the growing number of domestic airlines in China.

The line runs from Beijing in the north to Guangzhou in the south

With the Chinese airline industry increasingly suffering from chronic delays because of congested airspace and bad weather, the train is seen by many as a more reliable and cheaper alternative.

In a statement, China's ministry of railways said: "This service marks a significant milestone of our high-speed rail construction.

"It will ease pressure on the rail transport between Beijing and Guangzhou, especially during the peak Chinese New Year holiday."

The new line will compete with the first domestic route used by the Airbus superjumbo, the A380.

China Southern Airlines has operated the double decker A380 between Beijing and Guangzhou for the past year.

The cost of a ticket is higher, but the journey time is just three hours.

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Woman Found Murdered On Christmas Day

A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a 37-year-old woman was found dead at home on Christmas Day.

Officers were called to a property in Maes Yr Ysgol, Carmarthen, west Wales, at 10.50am on Tuesday.

"A 28-year-old local male was arrested at the location on suspicion of murder," a police spokesman said.

"A 37-year-old female was found deceased at the address and police have launched an investigation.

"The community are continuing to support the investigation and Dyfed-Powys Police would like to thank them for their assistance.

"Any member of the public who may have information that could assist this inquiry should contact police on 101."

Police would like to hear from anyone who was in the area between 5pm on Christmas Eve and 11am on Christmas Day.

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M6 Car Crash: Police Appeal For Information

Police are appealing for information about a Christmas Day crash on the M6 which killed three people, including two brothers aged four and 10.

The third victim of the accident, involving a red Ford Focus, on a busy stretch of the motorway in Staffordshire was a 32-year-old woman.

The boys' mother, who was believed to have been driving the car, and another female passenger were taken to University Hospital North Staffordshire for treatment but have now been discharged.

Staffordshire Police said the crash happened on the northbound carriageway of the M6 near junction 15 at around 11.25am.

Chief Superintendent Martin Evans said: "Colleagues from the emergency services have worked seamlessly throughout the day in these very sad and exceptionally difficult circumstances.

"Unfortunately the outcome is extremely tragic and our thoughts are with the family of those who have died."

The motorway was closed in both directions following the accident but reopened after several hours.

The accident occurred on the M6 between junctions 14 and 15

A West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) spokesman said: "Crews arrived to find a single vehicle that had crashed and overturned.

"Two children and an adult that were travelling in the vehicle suffered serious injuries.

"Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of ambulance crews, nothing could be done to save the two boys and one woman, and they were confirmed dead at the scene.

The crash is being investigated by the Central Motorway Police Group and anyone with any information is urged to contact the Collision Investigation Unit on 01785 234094.

In a separate accident on the M6, four adults and three young children were injured on the southbound carriageway, near Corley Services, at around 7pm on Christmas Day.

A WMAS spokesman said two cars were substantially damaged and it was fortunate nobody was more seriously injured.

Earlier on Christmas Day, Ann Mary Goodrich, 57, and her husband Paul John Goodrich, 56, from Hampshire, died following the collision on the B3349 Odiham Road at Heckfield Heath, near Basingstoke.

A 29-year-old man from Farnborough, believed to be the driver of the other vehicle involved, received medical attention at the scene before being taken to hospital with serious injuries.

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Kickboxer Lee Aldhouse Charged With Murder

A British kickboxer could face the death penalty in Thailand after being charged with murdering an ex-US Marine at a popular holiday resort.

Lee Aldhouse, originally from Birmingham, told media crews he was being mistreated as he was taken to court in Phuket in the south of the country.

Prosecutor Chiengsan Panya said Aldhouse could be facing execution or a lengthy jail sentence.

He told the court: "The prosecutor has decided to proceed with charges against the suspect.

Lee Aldhouse competed in kickboxing fights in Phuket

"According to the law article 288, the suspect can be executed, or serve life in prison, or be imprisoned for 15 years and 20 years."

The 29-year-old is accused of stabbing to death 23-year old Dashawn Longfellow after an argument in a bar on August 14, 2010.

Police launched a manhunt for Aldhouse following the murder and he was arrested four days later at London's Heathrow Airport.

He was flown to Thailand from the UK earlier this month in the first-ever extradition of a criminal suspect from Britain to Thailand.

Victim Dashawn Longfellow had served in Iraq and Afghanistan

Local media said Aldhouse had been living for several years in Phuket and was a semi-professional kickboxer who fought under the nickname 'Pitbull', while Mr Longfellow had also been studying the sport

The victim's mother said her son served in Iraq and Afghanistan, where he was injured when a roadside bomb exploded under his truck.

He was awarded the Purple Heart for his injury.

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Japan: PM Shinzo Abe Lays Out His Priorities

Japan's new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been laying out his priorities after his election victory was rubber-stamped by parliament.

The veteran named the cabinet he hopes will help him push through the economic revitalization of the country's depressed economy.

His appointment marks an end to three years of liberal administrations and restores power to the conservative, pro-business party that has run Japan for most of the post-World War II era.

Abe, who was PM in 2006-7 before resigning for health reasons, has promised to restore growth to an economy that has struggled for 20 years.

His administration also faces souring relations with China and a debate over whether Japan should wean itself off nuclear energy after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami caused a meltdown at the Fukushima atomic power plant.

Abe posed for pictures with his new cabinet

Abe, 58, told reporters before Wednesday's parliamentary vote: "I feel as fresh as the clear sky today."

His new Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga declared the country's new leaders a "crisis breakthrough cabinet".

He said: "Disaster reconstructon and economic recovery are our first and foremost tasks."

Abe is expected to push for a 2% inflation target to combat dropping prices and a boost of as much as 10tn yen (£74bn) to public works spending.

In foreign policy, Abe has stressed his desire to make Japan a bigger player on the world stage, a stance that has resonated with many voters who are concerned that their nation is taking a back seat economically and diplomatically to China.

The new PM looked relaxed as he arrived at his official residence

He has said he will support a reinterpretation of Japan's pacifist post-war constitution to loosen the reins on the military, stand up to Beijing over an ongoing territorial dispute and strengthen Tokyo's security alliance with Washington.

His new Cabinet will feature another former prime minister, Taro Aso, as finance minister.

Heading the foreign ministry is Fumio Kishida, an expert on the southern island of Okinawa, where many residents angry over crime and overcrowding want a big reduction in the number of US troops they host - now at about 20,000.

The new defence minister is Itsunori Onodera, who was in Abe's previous administration.

Abe has already named a roster of top party executives that includes two women - more than in previous Liberal Democratic Party administrations - and is younger than earlier ones, with three of the four in their fifties.

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