BAE Announces 1,775 Shipyard Job Losses

Defence giant BAE Systems has announced that 1,775 jobs are to go across its three shipyards.

In addition, the firm will end an 800-year-old tradition of shipbuilding at Portsmouth with 940 jobs to go there by the second half of 2014, reducing the 1,200 workforce to just 260.

A further 835 are going to go at Scotstoun and Govan shipyards in Glasgow, Rosyth, and Filton, near Bristol.

The cuts are part of a maritime defence review, which BAE systems launched 18 months ago.

Portsmouth dockyard has a rich historical heritage of shipbuilding

A statement from BAE said: "(The) company proposes to consolidate its shipbuilding operations in Glasgow with investments in facilities to create a world-class capability, positioning it to deliver an affordable Type 26 programme for the Royal Navy.

"Under these proposals, shipbuilding operations at Portsmouth will cease in the second half of 2014."

Confirming the announcement in a statement to the House of Commons the Defence Secretary, Philip Hammond, said that the losses were "regrettable but inevitable".

He said that the shipyards would have been unable to sustain such a large workforce once the £6.2bn project to build the Royal Navy's largest ever aircraft carriers came to an end.

Falklands troops return home to Portsmouth

The decision has taken on significant political prominence with the Scottish referendum looming in 2014 and warnings any closure of one of the Scottish yards rather than Portsmouth would have handed First Minister Alex Salmond "a victory on a plate".

It has led to claims that Portsmouth jobs have been sacrificed to save the BAE shipyards at Govan and Scotstoun.

Mike Hancock, independent MP for Portsmouth South, said: "I think personally it is a real tragedy for them as individuals and for us as a community in Portsmouth.

"To lose close to 1,000 jobs in this way is a bitter blow. There has to be some element of cynicism being brought into play here to suggest this is simply being done to suit the financial situation at BAE and the Scottish referendum must have played some part, albeit maybe a small part.

The front section of the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth at Portsmouth

"I think people would be foolish not to think that that was something in the background." 

Ending shipbuilding at Portsmouth would mean the UK would lose the ability to build its own warships if Scotland is granted independence in 2014.

Gerald Vernon-Jackson, leader of Portsmouth Council, said: "I condemn the decision to shut down the last remaining shipyard in England with the capability to build advanced surface warships.

"This decision is bad for Portsmouth, with the loss of many highly skilled jobs, but it's also bad for the defence of the UK and for the Royal Navy.

Type 26 warships will be built in Glasgow

"The remaining yards with the capability to build advanced warships are in Scotland, and the referendum on Scottish independence is less than one year away. Ministers have put the defence of the UK and the future of the navy at real risk."

Asked about the decision, the Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "This is a Government that always takes decisions based on the national interest.

Mr Hammond has announced BAE will build three Offshore Patrol Vehicles

"This decision was taken with a view of how we have the best-equipped, best-maintained Royal Navy. That is the basis on which it was taken."

Mr Hammond also announced that the Ministry of Defence would be giving BAE the contract to build three Offshore Patrol Vehicles to bridge the gap between the aircraft carrier project ending and the beginning of work on the new Type 26 warship in 2016.

This, he said, was to avoid having shipyards being paid to lay idle, with workers losing valuable skills.

He said that Portsmouth dockyard would continue to do repair and maintenance work.

Unite national officer for shipbuilding Ian Waddell said: "This is a very worrying time for the workforces and their families as the work on the two carriers comes to a conclusion.

"Unite will be working very hard to retain the maximum number of jobs at both Portsmouth and in Scotland.

"It is a huge blow to Britain's manufacturing and industrial base, with many highly skilled workers faced with losing their jobs."

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Dublin Police Identify Mystery Street Woman

Police have identified a woman who was found wandering the centre of Dublin nearly a month ago - just hours after releasing a photograph of her.

Officers said that with the assistance of the public they were now "following a definite line of enquiry" and were "liaising closely with the Australian Police and the Health Service Executive to finalise the matter".

The woman, who was thought to be as young as 14 and from eastern Europe, is now understood to be an Australian aged 19-20 who appears to have travelled voluntarily, according to Sky sources.

"Police no longer believe there was any criminal involvement in the case of the girl found on O'Connell Street," a source said.

They hope to reunite her with her family soon, but for now she remains in the care of the HSE.

She was found in a dazed state in the Irish capital on October 10, but has yet to speak to the police.

It was thought the woman, now thought to be Australian, was eastern Europe

Interpol had been called in to try to identify the woman.

The woman, 5ft 6in tall, of slim build, with long blonde hair, was found wearing a purple hooded top, tight dark coloured jeans, flat black shoes and a grey woollen jumper.

It is believed her clothes were bought in major retailers in Ireland, but detectives could not determine when they were purchased.

The woman also has a brace, but paediatric orthodontists contacted in Ireland were unable to shed any light on her identity through their records.

A major investigation was launched into the circumstances surrounding the discovery of the woman.

The probe has so far involved more than 2,000 man hours and more than 115 lines of enquiry.

These include door-to-door enquires, vehicle and pedestrian checks in the area where the woman was discovered, and the seizure and viewing of CCTV from the city centre.

Police also showed her picture to specialised child interviewers throughout the country.

Officers sought High Court approval to release the picture of the woman, who is under an interim care order, after their early enquiries drew a blank.

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Anonymous Protest: Russell Brand Joins March

Comedian Russell Brand joined hundreds of masked Anonymous protesters in central London as part of a worldwide demonstration against austerity cuts.

Fireworks were reportedly thrown towards Buckingham Palace and a fire was started next to the nearby Victoria Memorial, while some of those present clashed with police.

Glass bottles were flung at officers during the disorder and 11 people were arrested, nine for public order offences and two for criminal damage.

Police in riot gear tried to shepherd the crowd, who also gathered in Parliament Square as part of the pre-arranged Anonymous Million Mask March.

A number of similar demonstrations took place in cities in Japan, Australia, and New Zealand in opposition to austerity cuts, corruption and an increase in state surveillance.

Brand was pictured alongside fellow protesters in London, wearing one of the trademark masks adopted by hacktivist group Anonymous.

He later wrote on his Twitter page: "Whatever party they claim to represent in the day, at night they show their true colours and all go to the same party #MillionMaskMarch."

An image of George Osborne burns on Westminster Bridge

Brand's comments follow an appearance on Newsnight and a guest editorship of the New Statesman in which he called for a "total revolution of consciousness and our entire social, political and economic system".

Others involved in the London demonstration accused the police of heavy-handed tactics.

Ceylan Hassan, 24, a university graduate, said: "They started shouting move back, move back, but we had nowhere to go. The police started pushing us, screaming 'move back, move back'.

"There was a fire on the right hand side of the monument and people started throwing things."

Protesters were moved back away from Buckingham Palace as the atmosphere grew tense.

Some of those involved in the march were seen ripping barriers from the side of the road.

Sean Roesner, 21, a self-employed computer programmer at the protest, said: "We turned up and the protest was at Buckingham Palace. When we arrived people were firing fireworks at the palace.

"It was funny. I didn't have any but I would have fired some if I had.

"I joined Anonymous because I was arrested under the Computer Misuse Act. I spent eight months on police bail last year and had done nothing wrong.

"We are here to stand up for what we believe in, to make the world a better place."

Mr Roesner said his friend had been among a group of people encircled by the police on The Mall.

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Helicopter Suicide: Passenger Leaps To Death

A man has died after plunging 750ft into the sea from a hired helicopter in an apparent planned suicide.

Passenger Gregory McFadden jumped to his death during a 30-minute tour of the coastline in Orange County, California.

Horrified witnesses watched as Mr McFadden fell into the sea near Balboa Pier at Newport Beach before lifeguards pulled him from the water and tried in vain to resuscitate him. 

Helicopter pilot Chuck Street told how his son Corbin, 25, desperately tried to stop his passenger from leaping to his death.

He told KCAL9: "During the flight he kept asking to go higher and higher ... 'can you fly right here along the shore?'

The man plunged to his death near Balboa Pier at Newport Beach

"My son was starting to get suspicious. When they got towards the Balboa Pier, he started to take his seatbelt off and he started to open the door.

"My son said, 'what are you doing, what are you doing?'

Mr Street said Corbin reached out and tried to grab his passenger, while continuing to fly the aircraft.

He said: "The guy started to kinda struggle. The aircraft kinda pitched up. My son had his hand on his shirt, his shirt ripped. And then the guy just went out the door."

The helicopter involved in the incident

A Huntington Beach police helicopter found the victim in the water and directed lifeguards and the Orange County Sheriff's Department Harbor Patrol personnel to the scene.

The Federal Aviation Administration reported that the passenger opened the helicopter door and jumped.

Mr Street said police found a suicide note on Mr McFadden, who was confirmed dead in hospital.

James Politano was among dozens of people who saw what happened.

Chuck Street said his son tried to stop the man from jumping

He said: "I saw the door open. I thought it was a bird. Halfway from the helicopter, the legs opened. (I thought), 'Oh, it's a human being!' 

Mr McFadden's brother told KCAL9 by phone that his brother was a loner who struggled with mental illness, a severe throat disease and depression. 

The helicopter, which was ordered to land at John Wayne Airport after the incident, was registered to Emerald City Aircraft Leasing Inc. in Port Orchard, Wash.

The death is being investigated as a possible suicide.

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Curtis Warren Ordered To Repay Millions

A drugs baron has been ordered to pay back almost £200m within a month after what is believed to be Europe's largest confiscation order.

Curtis "Cocky" Warren, one of Europe's most notorious drug dealers, is serving a 13-year sentence for plotting to smuggle cannabis with a street value of £1m into Jersey and is due for release from Belmarsh prison in January.

The 50-year-old former Liverpool nightclub bouncer has been warned he must hand over the money within 28 days or face a further 10 years behind bars.

A statement from the State of Jersey's Law Officers' Department read: "The Royal Court of Jersey has today ordered that £198m be confiscated from Curtis Warren. It is believed to be one of the largest ever confiscation orders made in the British Isles and Europe.

"The confiscation proceedings are the result of several years of extensive investigation into the criminal career and financial affairs of one of Europe's most notorious organised criminals."

Prosecutors allege Warren was laundering £10m to £15m a week from smuggling drugs.

Warren arriving at court in 2009

The case primarily featured evidence related to cocaine trafficking between 1991 and 1996 which "generated huge sums of monies", the department said.

The shipments ranged from 500 kilos to multiple tonnes and gained "huge" profits, with a two-ton shipment of cocaine able to sell on the UK market for £40m wholesale, it said.

Warren became the first criminal to be the subject of a High Court move to protect the public last month.

Designed to prevent reoffending, it will impose restrictions on Warren's access to mobile phones and telephone kiosks as well as limitations on bank accounts.

Serious Crime Prevention Orders are normally made at Crown Court following a conviction but Warren was convicted in 2009 in Jersey, which is outside the jurisdiction of England and Wales.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) said Warren coordinated a global drugs empire from his cell at Jersey's La Moye prison while awaiting trial between 2007 and 2009, where he was alleged to have used several illicit mobile phones to contact a network of associates in an attempt to continue his drug trafficking empire.

Some 35,000 calls across 41 countries between March 2008 and October 2009 involving Warren's mobile phones were analysed during the investigation.

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Stuart Hall In Court On 15 Rape Charges

Stuart Hall has appeared in court charged with 15 offences of rape relating to two girls.

The 83-year-old veteran broadcaster also faces a charge of indecent assault.

During the brief hearing at Preston magistrates court Hall was asked to identify himself and replied, "I beg your pardon?" as he appeared to struggle to hear the proceedings.

He then gave his name as James Stuart Hall and his address as Prestbury Road, Wilmslow.

Hall listened as the charges were outlined. No pleas were entered.

The charges relate to two girls aged 11 or 12 and 16 at the time.

Hall is alleged to have committed seven counts of rape against one girl between 1976 and 1978 in Manchester, when she was aged between 14 and 16.

He is also accused of eight counts of rape and one count of indecent assault against a second girl, who was aged between 11 or 12 and 15 at the time.

These offences are said to have taken place between 1976 and 1981 at various locations in Greater Manchester and Cheshire.

Hall is currently serving a 30-month jail term after he admitted sexually abusing 13 victims, one as young as nine, over a period of nearly 20 years.

The latest set of charges came to light after the case earlier this year and are not related to it.

Hall was remanded in custody until November 29 for a further hearing at Preston Crown Court.

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Star Wars 'Audition Call' Put Out By Disney

Open auditions have been announced for a film that is widely believed to be the next Star Wars.

The Disney invitation describes a "nationwide search for lead roles for a Walt Disney Pictures film".

Disney announced three new Star Wars films in October 2012 when it purchased George Lucas' Lucasfilm company for $4.05bn (£2.7bn).

The audition notice, put out by the Twitter account @UKopencall, says it is looking to fill two roles.

"Rachel" is described as "street smart and strong" and "always a survivor, never a victim"; while "Thomas" has "grown up without a father's influence" but is "smart, capable and shows courage when it is needed".

The advert demands candidates be good looking and athletic - over 16 for the female role or over 18 for the male role.

Auditions start on November 9 in Bristol before visiting Manchester, Glasgow, Dublin and London.

Star Wars: Episode VII will be made by Emmy-award-winning director JJ Abrams next year and the three icons of the original Star Wars movies - Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher - are expected to make a comeback.

The film will be made in Britain and is due for a 2015 release.

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Kercher Murder: Sollecito In Emotional Plea

By Tom Kington, in Florence

Raffaele Sollecito has denied murdering Meredith Kercher and begged for his life back, in a dramatic court room appeal to an Italian jury.

Speaking six years after the British student was killed in the Italian city of Perugia, 29-year-old Sollecito made the emotional plea to the appeal trial in Florence.

He appealed to the jury "as an Italian, like you, to have a life".

"Because I don't have a real life," he said, before thanking the jury while appearing close to tears.

During his 15-minute speech, which gripped the jurors after a morning of complex DNA results that often left them looking lost, Sollecito described his brief romance with co-defendant Amanda Knox as a "little fairytale".

He said the relationship was shattered when the pair were accused of fatally stabbing Ms Kercher in the house she shared with Knox, pushing the defendants into a "nightmare beyond imagination".

Meredith Kercher was found with stab wounds to the neck in 2007

"I have been described as a ruthless killer but I am nothing of the sort," he said, during a softly spoken and occasionally rambling speech.

The trial is the latest in a drawn out legal process that saw Knox, 26, and Sollecito convicted and jailed in Perugia in 2009, before being released after four years when they were cleared on appeal in 2011, only for that verdict to be overturned by Italy's supreme court this year.

While Knox has refused to travel from her home in Seattle to appear in court for the new appeal, Sollecito returned from a holiday in the Dominican Republic to appear at the fresh appeal, flanked by his father.

Sollecito said he was "proud" to come from a "good Italian family" which had taught him strong values and had never had legal problems.

"I have always been honest, but I have been called an assassin," he said.

He claimed he had been a reserved student at Perugia, had not been an "obsessive partier" and did not drink.

In an apparent reference to the now infamous photos of him kissing Knox at the crime scene, he apologised, telling the jury "I didn't take the situation seriously at the start".

From being one week away from obtaining his degree, he was plunged into six months in isolation followed by a spell in a maximum security jail, he said, adding: "I don't recommend it to anyone in the world. All my life was cancelled."

Sollecito apologised over this picture of he and Knox and kissing

Speaking without notes, Sollecito condemned the "hallucinatory persecution" he faced, complaining that police had believed a footprint found at the house was his before changing their mind eight months later.

Sollecito said he had never known Rudy Guede, the local drifter who was convicted for his role in the murder.

"I would not have had a minimal interest in committing this atrocious act against a 20-year-old," he said.

Sollecito has faced suspicions that he was preparing to flee Italy after he took a holiday in the Dominican Republic, which does not have an extradition treaty with Italy.

But his father said his decision to fly in for the hearing showed he had no plan to escape Italian justice.

Sollecito complained that he had been hounded by photographers.

"I need to defend myself in the media for the most banal thing," he said.

"I have tried to stay out of the limelight. And today I am here before you to get to know you and tell you the truth of this matter."

Sollecito's speech followed an explanation by two Italian police officers of the results of a test on a DNA trace carried out on a knife found at his flat, which prosecutors have argued is the murder weapon.

Amanda Knox has refused to appear at the appeal

The officers said the results allowed the police to "support, in an extremely significant manner, the hypothesis that genetic material of Amanda Marie Knox is present" in the trace.

An earlier police report decided that a separate trace could contain Ms Kercher's DNA, which was used to suggest that the knife was the murder weapon.

But that test was challenged as unreliable by a second analysis carried out during the first appeal.

The latest result on the separate trace has been seized by lawyers representing Knox and Sollecito as proof that the knife was used by Knox and Knox only in Sollecito's kitchen.

Carlo Dalla Vedova, a lawyer representing Knox, said: "This is just a kitchen knife."

But Francesco Maresca, a lawyer representing the Kercher family, said he was sticking by the initial report that found a trace of Ms Kercher's DNA on the blade.

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Call Of Duty: Ghosts Tops $1bn On First Day

The latest Call of Duty video game made more than $1bn (£621m) from its first day on sale, its publisher has confirmed.

Call of Duty: Ghosts went on sale worldwide on Tuesday and its debut eclipsed that of Grand Theft Auto V, which raked in $800m (£496m) on its first day in September.

At the time, the game beat the record for single-day games sales held by the last Call of Duty game, Black Ops II, which made $500m (£310m) in November 2012.

Fans queued overnight at hundreds of stores across the UK, which were open at midnight for the release of the 10th Call of Duty instalment.

The $1bn figure represented sales to retail store, which may not reflect consumer purchases, according to publisher Activision.

The last Call of Duty game made $500m in first day sales

Eric Hirshberg, chief executive of Activision, said the game "has delivered yet another epic thrill ride in the campaign, and what I think is our best multiplayer game yet".

The company claimed the series was "the largest console franchise of this generation".

The latest military shooter series is set in a desolate US, devastated by a satellite-guided "kinetic" weapon strike on San Diego.

Ghosts can be played on PS3, Xbox 360, Nintendo's Wii U and Windows computers, and will also be available on other consoles in future.

The game is also compatible with smartphones and tablet computers.

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Dog Attack: Girl Was Killed By Bulldog

Dangerous Dogs: The Victims

Updated: 3:11pm UK, Wednesday 06 November 2013

Some 17 people have now been killed by dogs in the UK since 2005. Here is a list of the cases...

October 2013: Lexi Branson, 4, killed in Mountsorrel, Leicestershire by a bulldog - not a banned breed.

May 2013: Clifford Clarke, 79, was outside his home in Clubmoor, Liverpool. Breed of the dog, belonging to a neighbour, was believed to have been a bull masitff crossed with either a Presa Canario or a bandog.

March 2013: Jade Lomas-Anderson, 14, from Wigan, Greater Manchester. Attacked by four or five dogs at a friend's house. Two were believed to have been bull mastiffs, two were Staffordshire bull terriers.

November 2012: Harry Harper, eight days old, from Ketley, Shropshire. Attacked by a Jack Russell in his cot.

October 2012: Gloria Knowles, 71, from Morden, south London. Suffered a heart attack when savaged by her daughter's dogs when she went to feed them. Two were Bordeaux bulldogs, two were American bulldogs and one was a mongrel.

January 2012: Leslie Trotman, 83, of Brentford, west London. He was in his garden when a neighbour's Pitbull-type dog escaped and attacked him.

December 2010: Barbara Williams, 52, Wallington, Surrey. Attacked by a Belgian mastiff in a garden.

April 2010: Zumer Ahmed, 18 months, from Crawley, West Sussex. Killed when her uncle's American bulldog got into the house.

November 2009: John Paul Massey, aged four, from Wavertree, Liverpool. Killed at home by his uncle's pitbull-type dog.

May 2009: Andrew Walker, 21, Blackpool, Lancashire. Bitten more than 50 times by his flatmate's two Alsatians.

February 2009: Jaden Mack, three months old, from Caerphilly, South Wales. Stafforshire bull terrier and Jack Russell attacked him on a table at home after his grandmother fell asleep.

January 2009: Stephen Hudspeth, 33, Bishop Auckland, County Durham. Attacked by a Staffordshire bull terrier and died days later from blood poisoning.

January 2008: James Redhill, 78, Plaistow, east London. His own pet Rottweiler attacked him in the street.

December 2007: Archie-Lee Hirst, one year old, from Wakefield, West Yorkshire. Attacked by a Rottweiler at his grandparents' home.

January 2007: Ellie Lawrenson, five years old, St Helens, Merseyside, Attacked at her grandmother's home by her uncle's Pitbull-type dog.

September 2006: Cadey-Lee Deacon, five months, from Leicester. Taken from her Moses basket by two Rottweilers in the living area of her grandparents' pub.

November 2005: Liam Eames, one year old, from Leeds. Attacked at home by the family's American bulldog.

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