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Ex-Public Schoolboy Joins Fight Against IS

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 11 Februari 2015 | 23.21

A former public schoolboy who has joined the fight against Islamic State militants has told Sky News he is prepared to die for the cause.

Macer Gifford gave up a job in the City to sign up with Kurdish fighters battling IS in northern Syria.

He said: "People seem to be utterly crippled by fear of the Islamic State, their use of social media, the brutal executions they're putting online. It's driving people into inaction. Sometimes you have to say 'enough is enough'."

Mr Gifford, who is from Oxford and was a Young Conservative, left Britain in December to join the Kurdish People's Protection Units, known as the YPG.

The 28-year-old has since posted photos to his social media accounts posing with heavy weapons and vehicle-mounted machine guns.

He says he will stay until IS has been defeated - and describes conditions on the front line as very much like those during the First World War.

"There are entrenched positions, highly-defended positions," he said. "So, for the past three-and-a-half weeks I've been staring at the Islamic State more than I've been fighting them."

Mr Gifford says he hopes his presence will help show Kurdish fighters that they have not been forgotten.

"I'm shining a light on what's going on out here. I'm showing the Kurds that they're not alone, that people in the West do support them and that they're willing to come out and help them in any way they can."

He says he is prepared to die for his cause, adding: "I believe in freedom. I believe in democracy. I'm willing to put my life on the line to go out and fight."

And he insists that his situation is different from that of young Britons who travel to Syria and end up part of the Islamic State.

"There's a huge difference... young Brits are going there without a clue who they're joining and it's only when they get there that they figure out, 'oh my God, some of the people around me are taking the wrong route.'"

Mr Gifford is not the first Briton to join Kurdish troops. Former soldiers Jamie Read and James Hughes went to Syria and fought alongside Kurdish forces in Kobani in December, after IS filmed the brutal killing of British and American aid workers.


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Former Rapper Added To US Terror Watchlist

A German rapper has been added to America's terrorist watchlist because of his alleged links to Islamic State.

The US says Denis Cuspert, known by the stage name Deso Dogg, has appeared in numerous IS recruitment videos, including one in which he held the severed head of a man apparently executed for opposing the group.

The 39-year-old began performing in Berlin around 2002 and appeared in self-produced music videos, including one called Wilkommen In Meiner Welt (Welcome To My World) in which he is flanked by fighting dogs and raps "welcome to my world full of hate and blood".

Cuspert achieved modest success and toured briefly with hip-hop star DMX in 2005.

Reports in German media say he began associating with extremists in 2010, converted to Islam, and pledged his allegiance to IS, also known as ISIL.

The US State Department says Cuspert now goes by the name of Abu Talha al Almani.

He is said to be "emblematic of the type of foreign recruit ISIL seeks for its ranks - individuals who have engaged in criminal activity in their home countries who then travel to Iraq and Syria to commit far worse crimes against the people of those countries".

In a statement released on its website, the State Department describes Cuspert as a "willing pitchman for ISIL atrocities" who "appears to serve as an ISIL recruiter with special emphasis on recruiting German speakers to ISIL".

Cuspert has reportedly renounced his life as a musician, describing himself as a "sinner surrounded by music, drugs, alcohol and women".

There had been a number of recent unconfirmed reports that Cuspert had been killed in Syria but the decision to designate him a global terrorist indicates that the US believes he is still alive.


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Over 300 Migrants Missing In Mediterranean

More than 300 migrants are feared drowned after their overcrowded dinghies sank in the Mediterranean on the way to Europe.

The victims are among migrants mainly from sub-Saharan Africa who had left Libya at the weekend in four small boats, the UN refugee agency said.

"This is a tragedy on an enormous scale and a stark reminder that more lives could be lost if those seeking safety are left at the mercy of the sea," UNHCR Europe director Vincent Cochetel said.

Details emerged after nine survivors out of a group of more than 200 packed into two dinghies were rescued by the Italian coastguard and taken to the island of Lampedusa.

"Nine were saved after four days at sea. The other 203 were swallowed by the waves," a UNHCR spokeswoman reported on Twitter.

The agency later said information gathered from the Italian coastguard and the survivors in Lampedusa suggested over 300 people were missing.

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said the surviving migrants from the latest disaster spoke French, so probably came from west Africa.

"Because of the bad weather conditions, the two dinghies collapsed and the people fell at sea. Many drowned," said the IOM spokesman in Italy Flavio Di Giacomo.

Its spokesman in Geneva Joel Millman told AFP that information was coming in about another stricken boat and warned that the overall toll may reach as many as 350.

The tragedy is the latest in a whole series involving migrants trying to get to Europe from north Africa.

In the last year alone, several thousand people died on what the UN described as the most dangerous route in the world.


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EastEnders Star 'Hurled Race Abuse' At Warden

EastEnders actress Linda Henry hurled racial abuse at a community warden after telling her "Do you know who I am? I'm Shirley", a court has heard.

The 55-year-old, who plays Shirley Carter in the soap, is said to have launched the tirade after being reprimanded for dropping a cigarette butt outside a Jamie Oliver restaurant in Greenwich, south London, last September.

Thea Viney, prosecuting, told Bexley Magistrates' Court that a black female warden and her black male colleague approached Henry and her partner after seeing them smoking in Nelson Road.

She added that when the Greenwich Town Council wardens challenged the actress, who has been charged under her married name Valiris, she told them they had no "photographic evidence".

Ms Viney said: "(She) told her that throwing litter was a zero-tolerance offence in Greenwich Borough and the Crown say that Ms Valiris responded by saying 'do you know who I am? I'm Shirley'."

The court heard that, having previously refused to hand over any personal details, Henry gave the warden limited information, including what the officer suspected to be a fake postcode.

Henry is then said to have told her alleged victim: "Who do you think you are? Go away, f*** off, n*****."

Henry denies one count of using threatening or abusive words that were likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress, and that the alleged offence was said to have been racially aggravated.

The actress, of Kelvington Road, southeast London, was supported at court by her former EastEnders co-star Cheryl Fergison, who played Heather Trott.

Henry, who has played feisty barmaid Shirley since 2006, is also known for her role as Yvonne Atkins in the drama Bad Girls between 1999 and 2003.


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Costa Concordia Captain Expects To Learn Fate

By Jonathan Samuels in Grosseto

The captain of the stricken Costa Concordia has told his trial "a part of me died" on the night of the disaster - as judges retire to consider their verdicts.

Francesco Schettino wept in court as he addressed three judges who could decide his fate at 6pm this evening (7pm local time).

He claimed the blame for the disaster that killed 32 people lay with his employer Costa Cruises and said the media had portrayed him unfairly.

He said: "In this court a lot of words have been said to destroy my dignity. I have spent the last three years in a media meat grinder.

"It is difficult to call what I have been living through a life.

"All the responsibility has been loaded on to me with no respect for the truth or for the memory of the victims.

"I want to say that on 16 January a part of me died."

He was unable to finish his statement, breaking into loud sobs before declaring "basta" (enough) and slumping back into his seat.

Schettino is charged with manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and leaving the liner ahead of some of the passengers when it hit rocks and capsized off the island of Giglio in 2012.

The trial has heard there is a "tsunami" of evidence against the cruise ship's former commander, as prosecutors called for him to be sent to prison for 26 years.

Ian Donoff and his wife were among the 37 British passengers and crew on board during the chaotic and delayed night time evacuation.

Mr Donoff told Sky News: "We said our prayers together and we said it was so unfair that we were married only 11 days and this would be happening to us.

"Everything passes through your mind and I said 'I don't think we're going to get out of here'."

Lawyers spent Wednesday morning summing up the case in court in Grosseto, Tuscany, where the trial began in July 2013.

Lead defence lawyer Domenico Pepe said his client was "the victim of a legal and media circus", who had suffered a lot of pain since the disaster.

On Tuesday, prosecutor Stefano Pizza called the captain's conduct "reprehensible" and said: "It was a Titanic affair that merits adequate punishment."

He said: "There is a tsunami of evidence against Francesco Schettino but he has admitted to nothing.

"It would be easier for a lawyer to fly than to defend Schettino."

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  1. Gallery: Italian Cruise Ship Runs Aground Off West Coast Of Italy

    Rescuers on inflatable boats are seen next to the Costa Concordia cruise ship that ran aground off the west coast of Italy

The cruise ship suffered a lengthy underwater gash after hitting a submerged rock and foundered just yards from shore on the island of Giglio

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    American Sniper's Alleged Killer On Trial

    By Greg Milam, US Correspondent, Stephenville

    A former US Marine goes on trial in Texas today charged with killing the real life American Sniper.

    Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, credited as the most deadly sniper in US military history, was shot dead at a gun range in February 2013.

    His friend Chad Littlefield was also shot dead during the attack.

    The two men had taken former Marine corporal Eddie Ray Routh to the range as part of his treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

    Routh does not deny shooting the men, but is expected to plead not guilty to murder by reason of insanity.

    The movie adaptation of Kyle's autobiography American Sniper is now the highest-grossing war movie of all time.

    Both the film and Bradley Cooper, who plays Kyle, have been nominated for Oscars.

    The movie has attracted controversy with claims it glorifies violence in its telling of Kyle's 160 confirmed "kills" during four tours in Iraq.

    But in Kyle's home town of Midlothian, where his widow Taya and two children still live, they dismiss the criticism.

    Dennis DeWeerde, who runs the barbecue restaurant where Kyle regularly ate Sunday lunch, told Sky News: "Chris truly was a hero and you could sit and talk to him about things that happened overseas and he really was genuine in saying he was more worried about the people he didn't save.

    "I don't know how else to describe him but for what he was, a true American hero."

    The trial will take place in the small town of Stephenville.

    Until now the town was most famous for being the "Cowboy Capital of the World".

    Stephenville has been swamped by media from around the world who are covering the trial.

    The jury has been told to ignore the film - currently playing at the town's cinema, four miles from the court - and focus on the evidence.

    Several potential jurors were released after saying they had already made up their minds.

    Routh's lawyers had asked for a delay in proceedings, or for the trial to be moved, because of the attention surrounding the movie.

    And military veterans' organisations have questioned their use of PTSD as his defence.

    Cliff Sosamon, president of the North Texas Military Association, said: "Just because you have post-traumatic stress, it doesn't give you the right or the excuse to do those kind of things.

    "If that was the case you'd have veterans running wild all over the place, and that's not the case at all."

    The trial is expected to last two weeks.

    Prosecutors have decided not to seek the death penalty so, if found guilty, Routh would face life in prison.

    If he is found not guilty by reason of insanity, he would most likely be sent to a psychiatric hospital.


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    Report: NHS Whistleblowers Considered Suicide

    NHS staff who raised the the alarm over poor patient care were driven to the brink of suicide, a major review into the treatment of whistleblowers has found.

    The report's author, Sir Robert Francis QC, said he repeatedly heard horrific stories of workers' lives being destroyed because workers had tried to do the right thing for people in their care.

    He said the health service must undergo a "major change of culture", warning that: "Failure to speak up can cost lives."

    Action has been urged at "every level of the NHS" to make staff raising their concerns the norm.

    Sir Robert's proposals include:

    :: Action at every level of the NHS to make raising concerns part of every member of staff's normal working life

    :: Freedom to Speak Up Guardian in every NHS Trust - a named person to give independent support to whistleblowers and hold board to account if it fails to focus on the patient safety issue.

    :: A National Independent Officer to support the Guardians an intervene when cases go wrong.

    :: A support scheme to help good NHS staff who are without work after raising concerns to get another job.

    :: Sets out 20 Principles and Actions which aim to create the right conditions for staff to speak up. 

    Some 600 staff spoke to the review team, with another 19,000 responding to an online survey.

    Many staff said they did not speak up because they felt their concerns would not be listened to, while others feared victimisation.

    The report said student nurses and doctors believed the problem to be "endemic" within the health service.

    Sir Robert wrote: "I heard shocking accounts of the way some people have been treated when they have been brave enough to speak up.

    "I witnessed at first hand their distress and the strain on them and, in some cases, their families.

    "I heard about the pressures it can place on other members of a team, on managers, and in some cases the person about whom a concern is raised.

    "Though rare, I was told of suicidal thoughts and even suicide attempts."

    Sir Robert wrote: "The genuine pain and distress felt by contributors in having to relive their experiences was every bit as serious as the suffering I witnessed by patients and families who gave evidence to the Mid Staffordshire inquiries."

    Announcing the raft of measures, Sir Robert stressed that a change in culture was more important than regulation in bringing about the much-needed change.

    "What I heard during the course of the review from staff, employers, regulators and unions and others leaves me in no doubt that there's a serious problem in the National Health Service," he told reporters.

    "Taking into account all the evidence obtained by the review, I have come to the conclusion there must be a change of culture.

    "No amount of legal or regulatory change will make it easier for staff to raise issues that worry them unless there is a culture which encourages and supports them to do so."

    He added: "Too often, honestly-expressed anxieties have met with hostility and breakdown of working relationships.

    "Worse still, some people suffer life-changing events, they lose their jobs, their careers and even their health."

    Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt ordered the review last June after Sir Robert led two inquiries into failures at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, which the QC said had shown the "appalling consequences for patients when there is a 'closed ranks' culture".

    Mr Hunt said he was accepting all Sir Robert's proposals "in principle".

    He told MPs: "The message must go out today that we are calling time on bullying, intimidation and victimisation which have no place in the NHS."

    The Government would also fast-track a new law protect whistleblowers against discrimination.


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    Cameron Challenged Over HSBC Swiss Accounts

    David Cameron has been challenged to reveal whether he discussed tax evasion at HSBC with Lord Green, the bank's former boss who was subsequently appointed a Tory minister.

    There were fierce clashes at Prime Minister's Questions amid revelations that wealthy donors to political parties were among those who legally held accounts with HSBC's private Swiss bank.

    Ed Miliband said Mr Cameron was a "dodgy prime minister" who is "up to his neck" in the HSBC tax avoidance scandal - but the PM hit back, claiming his rival had relied on trade union cash to win the Labour leadership.

    Mr Miliband claimed that the Prime Minister must have talked to Lord Green about HSBC as a coalition minister issued a press release in 2011 referring to the investigation into HSBC's Geneva account holders.

    The Opposition leader said: "Do you expect us to believe that in Stephen Green's three years as a minister you never had a conversation with him about what was happening at HSBC?"

    Mr Cameron said the Tories had a far better record than Labour on tax avoidance - introducing measures to stop hedge funds dodging levies, make foreigners pay stamp duty and tax all bank profits.

    Labour MP Sharon Hodgson asked Mr Cameron directly whether he had conversations about HSBC tax avoidance with Lord Green, adding: "If not, why not?"

    The Prime Minister said "every proper process was followed" when Lord Green was made a minister in 2011.

    He said: "I consulted the Cabinet Secretary, I consulted the director for propriety and ethics, and of course the House of Lords appointments commission now looks at someone's individual tax affairs before giving them a peerage.

    "I made the appointment, it was welcomed by Labour, and three years later they were still holding meetings with him."

    Mr Cameron pointed out that Lord Green was the head of Labour prime minister Gordon Brown's business advisory council and was invited on a trade mission by the party in 2013 - three years after the HSBC revelations first surfaced.

    The party leaders also clashed over donors, with Mr Miliband claiming that seven Tory donors who had given £5m to the Conservatives were linked to the scandal, which involved the banking giant's Swiss arm.

    But the Prime Minister pointed out that Labour donor Lord Paul was also caught up in the revelations.

    During PMQs in the Commons, Mr Miliband said: "You took the money, you gave a job to the head of HSBC and you let the tax avoiders get away with it.

    "There's something rotten at the heart of the Conservative Party and it's you."

    Mr Cameron replied: "For 13 years they sat in the Treasury, they did nothing about tax transparency, nothing about tax dodging, nothing about tax avoidance.

    "This government has been tougher than any previous government.

    "That's why they are desperate, that's why they are losing."


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    Sky News And Sky Sports Launch On Snapchat App

    By Tom Cheshire, Technology Correspondent

    Snapchat has launched the first UK and Ireland-specific channels for its Discover service.

    Sky News and Sky Sports will feature on the platform, publishing an edition each afternoon with stories specifically created for the app.

    Around five to 10 stories will feature in each edition, curated by editors at both companies. The edition disappears after 24 hours.

    Snapchat Discover launched in the US and globally at the end of January.

    Some 11 publishers, including Vice, the Daily Mail and National Geographic, featured on the platform.

    At the launch, Snapchat said the new service was "not social media... we count on editors and artists, not clicks and shares, to determine what's important".

    Snapchat chief executive Evan Spiegel said: "We are huge fans of Sky News and Sky Sports and are grateful for the opportunity to partner with their outstanding team."

    Snapchat is one of a new wave of messaging apps that have gained popularity, along with WhatsApp, Line and Kik.

    Moving from messaging between users to publishing content to them is a shift for Snapchat and could offer a new revenue stream, with adverts served up next to publishers' editions.

    Snapchat does not share its number of monthly users, but Techcrunch reported in December that it had around 200 million.

    For news organisations, Snapchat offers access to a much younger demographic than even Facebook or Twitter do.

    John McAndrew, Director of News Output for Sky News, said: "Our partnership with Snapchat is very exciting. We can reach a whole new audience hungry for news in a concise and creative form on a platform they already enjoy."

    To access Discover, users swipe left from the home screen and from the Stories screen.

    All the daily editions are then available at a tap. Each story starts with a 10-second headline, and users can swipe down for a longer form take on that story.


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    Man Arrested After Murder Of Three Students

    By Sky News US Team

    A man has been arrested following the fatal shootings of three university students in North Carolina.

    Craig Stephen Hicks, 46, is charged with three counts of first-degree murder after the killings in Chapel Hill on Tuesday afternoon.

    The victims, all members of the same family, were Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, his wife Yusor Abu-Salha, 21, and her sister, Razan Abu-Salha, 19, of Raleigh.

    Chapel Hill Police Department said in a statement on Wednesday morning the incident may have stemmed from an argument over parking.

    Police Lt Joshua Mecimore said: "Our preliminary investigation indicates that the crime was motivated by an ongoing neighbour dispute over parking.

    "Hicks is co-operating with investigators."

    But the Muslim faith of the victims stirred alarm among the US Islamic community.

    On a Facebook page that appears to be Hicks', he described himself as an atheist and made posts condemning religion.

    The Council on American-Islamic Relations urged police to address "speculation of a possible bias motive" in the case. 

    Spokesman Nihad Awad cited "the past anti-religion statements of the alleged perpetrator, the religious attire of two of the victims, and the rising anti-Muslim rhetoric in American society".

    Although police have not described it as a hate crime, the hashtag #MuslimLivesMatter began trending nationally early on Wednesday.

    Mr Barakat was a dental student at the University of North Carolina and volunteered with a charity providing emergency dental care to children in Palestine.

    His wife listed herself on Facebook as a student at North Carolina State University, where her sister was also enrolled.

    Hicks, who reportedly turned himself in after the shooting, was expected to appear in court on Wednesday morning.


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