Bodies In Garden Couple Jailed For Life

A killer couple who murdered the wife's parents before burying the bodies in their garden and stealing £245,000 of their money have been jailed for life.

Susan Edwards, 56, and her husband Christopher Edwards, 57, were sentenced today after being found guilty after trial last week.

They shot dead William and Patricia Wycherley at the elderly couple's former home in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, in 1998.

The hole in the garden

Sentencing the pair at Nottingham Crown Court today, Mrs Justice Kathryn Thirlwall told them they would both serve a minimum of 25 years behind bars.

The court heard that the debt-ridden couple shot their victims at their home on the May bank holiday.

They then buried their victims in a metre-deep hole in their own back garden.

For the next 15 years, the couple kept up the elaborate hoax that Mr Wycherley, 85, and his 63-year-old wife were alive.

In the mean time they claimed their benefits, pension, and even sold their home before a tip-off led police to the graves in October last year.

More follows...

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'Great White' Shark Leaves Boat Owner Stunned

The owner of a boat was left "stunned" when a large shark got a little too close for comfort and even started biting the engine.

Steve Clark said the fish, believed to be a Great White, circled the 35ft vessel, swam alongside and went under before coming back several times.

The shark, which was filmed by one of the people on board, even made off with the chum food bag that is used to attract fish.

"Uh-oh, he's going to take our chum bag. He's going to take our chum bag!" a man can be heard saying in a video, which has gone viral on social media.

In the footage, some people were being warned to "get back" after the predator - thought to be around 16ft - was spotted off the coast of the South Jersey shore.

The creature was pictured trying to bite the vessel

There were also passengers on board at the time.

Mr Clark told CBS News: "It was awesome. It wasn't scary, cause we're used to sharks.

"It swam down the length of the boat and I happened to see it first.

The incident happened off the coast of South Jersey

"Obviously, I was a little bit stunned. I didn't say anything to anybody, I was looking at it, trying to process the information, cause it was quite a big fish."

"The boat's 10ft wide. It (the shark) was sticking way out of both sides of the boat. The kids were on each side looking at the shark."

The vessel then left the scene when the predator started nibbling at the engine.

An expert said it was possible Great Whites were swimming that close to the coast but they normally remain far away enough that they were not a danger to swimmers on the beach.

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Iraq: 'More Than 1,500' British Jihad Recruits

Timeline: How The Iraq Crisis Unfolded

Updated: 10:23am UK, Monday 23 June 2014

A look back at the main events in the Iraq crisis, which has seen Sunni insurgents from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terror group move to within 50 miles of the capital Baghdad.

December 2011: US troops complete their withdrawal after the 2003 invasion which led to the removal of Saddam Hussein.

August 2013: More than 70 people are killed in attacks at the end of Ramadan. ISIS claim responsibility.

January 2-4, 2014: ISIS declares itself in control of the western city of Fallujah and parts of Ramadi following clashes sparked by the clearing of a Sunni-Arab protest camp.

February: al Qaeda formally disowns ISIS, which was at one time an affiliate, because of its extreme methods.

April: Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki wins the most seats in a general election.

June 10: ISIS seizes all of Nineveh province in the north, including the capital Mosul - Iraq's second city. Mr Maliki asks parliament to declare a state of emergency.

June 11: The militants launch a wave of attacks further south, taking Tikrit and freeing hundreds of prisoners in Baiji. An assault on Samarra, 70 miles (110km) north of Baghdad, is repelled by security forces.

June 12: Iraq's air force strikes fighters' positions near Mosul and Tikrit.

US President Barack Obama says he is looking at "all the options" to help the government, which fails to secure authorisation for a state of emergency.

The army abandons its bases in Kirkuk, leaving Kurdish Peshmerga troops to take control.

June 13: A top Shia cleric issues a call to arms, telling the population to take up arms and defend their country.

Mr Maliki claims government forces have started to clear cities of "terrorists" and implements an emergency plan to protect Baghdad.

President Obama rules out sending back troops to fight ISIS.

The rebels move into the towns of Saadiyah and Jalawla in eastern province of Diyala.

June 14: Iran offers to work with the US to tackle the crisis, as Britain pledges an initial £3m in emergency aid to help refugees fleeing the violence.

The Iraqi army's fightback continues, with forces retaking the towns of Ishaqi, al-Mutasim and Duluiyah in Salaheddin province.

Troops also regain much of Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's home town.

US aircraft carrier USS George HW Bush is ordered to the Persian Gulf.

June 15: Photos emerge appearing to show an ISIS massacre of 1,700 captured government soldiers. Baghdad says number is exaggerated.

Reports say militants have overrun Tal Afar, the largest town in Nineveh province.

A bombing in central Baghdad leaves 15 people dead and dozens injured.

Former PM Tony Blair tells Sky News that critics who believe the violence is the result of the 2003 invasion are "profoundly mistaken".

June 16: Video footage purporting to show an ISIS fighter questioning and killing unarmed Iraqi soldiers draws condemnation.

ISIS takes control of Tal Afar and the al Adhim area of Diyala province.

US Secretary of State John Kerry says Washington is "open to discussions with Iran".

June 17: Britain announces it is reopening its Iranian embassy, with William Hague saying the "circumstances are right" as the West looks to improve relations to help tackle the crisis in Iraq.

Iraq's Shia leaders accuse Saudi Arabia of promoting "genocide" by backing Sunni militants.

June 18: Iraq's foreign minister asks the US to carry out airstrikes to help reverse the sweeping gains of Islamist militants in the country.

David Cameron warns that if Britain does not intervene in the Middle East crisis then terrorists will "hit the UK at home".

Insurgents are seen parading through the city of Baiji with captured vehicles after reports they have taken over three-quarters of Iraq's biggest oil refinery.

ISIS charts its brutality and tactics in annual reports called al-Naba - The Report, it emerges.

June 19: Iraqi authorities say government forces have retaken the Baiji oil refinery after fierce fighting.

Barck Obama says US troops will not return to combat in Iraq, but he would be prepared to take "targeted action".

The president also announces additional equipment and up to 300 additional military advisers could be provided to help fight the ISIS insurgency.

June 20: Iraq's senior Shia religious authority Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani calls for a new government for the country as it struggles to stop Sunni militants.

Barack Obama piles further pressure on Iraq's PM Nouri al Maliki, saying he needs to take urgent steps to heal the sectarian rift in the country, but stopping short of demanding he quit.

A video of British jihadists urging Western Muslims to join ISIS in Iraq and Syria emerges on social media.

June 21: The family of Naseer Muthana, 20, who appears in the ISIS recruitment video and younger brother Aseel, 17, who followed him to fight in the region say they are "devastated". 

The men's father Ahmed Muthana tells Sky News he believes his son Nasser was radicalised in a mosque in the United Kingdom.

In Iraq, dozens of Iraqi troops are killed as ISIS militants seize the crucial Qaim crossing into Syria.

A Shia preacher loyal to anti-US cleric Moqtada al Sadr warns that the 300 US military advisers en route to Iraq will be attacked.

June 22: Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei comes out in opposition of US intervention in neighbouring Iraq.

President Barack Obama warns ISIS could grow in power, destabilise the region and pose a threat to the US.

The mother of one of two Britons filmed in a militants' video calling for Western Muslims to fight in Syria and Iraq, Reyaad Khan, pleads for him to come home in an emotional Sky News interview.

A former head of counter-terrorism at MI6 tells Sky's Murnaghan programme up to 300 Islamist fighters from Iraq and Syria may have returned to the UK and it would be "impossible" to keep track of all of them.

June 23: Barack Obama warns ISIS could pose a threat to the US, hours after the Islamist militants make dramatic gains by capturing four towns in western Iraq.

US Secretary of State John Kerry arrives in Baghdad for talks with Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki.

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Jogger Found Dead After 'Sliding Off Cliff'

A "promising" graduate student missing for more than a week has been found dead in India after reportedly sliding several hundred feet off a cliff.

Kaitlin Goldstein, 28, had gone for a morning run on June 14 when she apparently slipped on loose rock and fell.

The American's body was discovered on Saturday in a ravine below a mountain trail in the remote northern region of Ladakh, where she had been jogging.

The search had involved local police, the Intelligence Bureau of India, the American Embassy in New Delhi, the US State Department and the FBI.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) hired a private security firm based in Mumbai and her parents also went to the country to look for her.

There had been concerns among family members that she may have been kidnapped because of high-profile gang rapes in India.

Ms Goldstein, a competitive runner known as Kate, was working on a doctorate in architecture at the MIT in Cambridge

She arrived in India on June 7 to take part in a workshop on energy and development on the campus of the Students' Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh, near the city of Leh.

The workshop was organised by the MIT-affiliated Dalai Lama Center for Ethics and Transformative Values and the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology in Abu Dhabi.

She had been scheduled to stay after the workshop and help install solar panels at a nearby Buddhist monastery, MIT officials said.

MIT president L Rafael Reif sent an email to the members of the MIT community on Sunday telling them Ms Goldstein had died and that counselling services were available on campus.

He said: "She was passionately interested in energy solutions for the developing world, a subject she was exploring in a remote region of northern India at the time of her death.

"The death of someone so young and promising is a terrible loss. We should all take time to reach out to those around us."

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US Offers Iraq 'Intense And Sustained' Support

Timeline: How The Iraq Crisis Unfolded

Updated: 10:23am UK, Monday 23 June 2014

A look back at the main events in the Iraq crisis, which has seen Sunni insurgents from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terror group move to within 50 miles of the capital Baghdad.

December 2011: US troops complete their withdrawal after the 2003 invasion which led to the removal of Saddam Hussein.

August 2013: More than 70 people are killed in attacks at the end of Ramadan. ISIS claim responsibility.

January 2-4, 2014: ISIS declares itself in control of the western city of Fallujah and parts of Ramadi following clashes sparked by the clearing of a Sunni-Arab protest camp.

February: al Qaeda formally disowns ISIS, which was at one time an affiliate, because of its extreme methods.

April: Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki wins the most seats in a general election.

June 10: ISIS seizes all of Nineveh province in the north, including the capital Mosul - Iraq's second city. Mr Maliki asks parliament to declare a state of emergency.

June 11: The militants launch a wave of attacks further south, taking Tikrit and freeing hundreds of prisoners in Baiji. An assault on Samarra, 70 miles (110km) north of Baghdad, is repelled by security forces.

June 12: Iraq's air force strikes fighters' positions near Mosul and Tikrit.

US President Barack Obama says he is looking at "all the options" to help the government, which fails to secure authorisation for a state of emergency.

The army abandons its bases in Kirkuk, leaving Kurdish Peshmerga troops to take control.

June 13: A top Shia cleric issues a call to arms, telling the population to take up arms and defend their country.

Mr Maliki claims government forces have started to clear cities of "terrorists" and implements an emergency plan to protect Baghdad.

President Obama rules out sending back troops to fight ISIS.

The rebels move into the towns of Saadiyah and Jalawla in eastern province of Diyala.

June 14: Iran offers to work with the US to tackle the crisis, as Britain pledges an initial £3m in emergency aid to help refugees fleeing the violence.

The Iraqi army's fightback continues, with forces retaking the towns of Ishaqi, al-Mutasim and Duluiyah in Salaheddin province.

Troops also regain much of Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's home town.

US aircraft carrier USS George HW Bush is ordered to the Persian Gulf.

June 15: Photos emerge appearing to show an ISIS massacre of 1,700 captured government soldiers. Baghdad says number is exaggerated.

Reports say militants have overrun Tal Afar, the largest town in Nineveh province.

A bombing in central Baghdad leaves 15 people dead and dozens injured.

Former PM Tony Blair tells Sky News that critics who believe the violence is the result of the 2003 invasion are "profoundly mistaken".

June 16: Video footage purporting to show an ISIS fighter questioning and killing unarmed Iraqi soldiers draws condemnation.

ISIS takes control of Tal Afar and the al Adhim area of Diyala province.

US Secretary of State John Kerry says Washington is "open to discussions with Iran".

June 17: Britain announces it is reopening its Iranian embassy, with William Hague saying the "circumstances are right" as the West looks to improve relations to help tackle the crisis in Iraq.

Iraq's Shia leaders accuse Saudi Arabia of promoting "genocide" by backing Sunni militants.

June 18: Iraq's foreign minister asks the US to carry out airstrikes to help reverse the sweeping gains of Islamist militants in the country.

David Cameron warns that if Britain does not intervene in the Middle East crisis then terrorists will "hit the UK at home".

Insurgents are seen parading through the city of Baiji with captured vehicles after reports they have taken over three-quarters of Iraq's biggest oil refinery.

ISIS charts its brutality and tactics in annual reports called al-Naba - The Report, it emerges.

June 19: Iraqi authorities say government forces have retaken the Baiji oil refinery after fierce fighting.

Barck Obama says US troops will not return to combat in Iraq, but he would be prepared to take "targeted action".

The president also announces additional equipment and up to 300 additional military advisers could be provided to help fight the ISIS insurgency.

June 20: Iraq's senior Shia religious authority Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani calls for a new government for the country as it struggles to stop Sunni militants.

Barack Obama piles further pressure on Iraq's PM Nouri al Maliki, saying he needs to take urgent steps to heal the sectarian rift in the country, but stopping short of demanding he quit.

A video of British jihadists urging Western Muslims to join ISIS in Iraq and Syria emerges on social media.

June 21: The family of Naseer Muthana, 20, who appears in the ISIS recruitment video and younger brother Aseel, 17, who followed him to fight in the region say they are "devastated". 

The men's father Ahmed Muthana tells Sky News he believes his son Nasser was radicalised in a mosque in the United Kingdom.

In Iraq, dozens of Iraqi troops are killed as ISIS militants seize the crucial Qaim crossing into Syria.

A Shia preacher loyal to anti-US cleric Moqtada al Sadr warns that the 300 US military advisers en route to Iraq will be attacked.

June 22: Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei comes out in opposition of US intervention in neighbouring Iraq.

President Barack Obama warns ISIS could grow in power, destabilise the region and pose a threat to the US.

The mother of one of two Britons filmed in a militants' video calling for Western Muslims to fight in Syria and Iraq, Reyaad Khan, pleads for him to come home in an emotional Sky News interview.

A former head of counter-terrorism at MI6 tells Sky's Murnaghan programme up to 300 Islamist fighters from Iraq and Syria may have returned to the UK and it would be "impossible" to keep track of all of them.

June 23: Barack Obama warns ISIS could pose a threat to the US, hours after the Islamist militants make dramatic gains by capturing four towns in western Iraq.

US Secretary of State John Kerry arrives in Baghdad for talks with Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki.

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SOS Message App Hidden Inside Phone Calculator

An app which hides a secret panic alarm inside a calculator has been released by Amnesty International.

It is designed to help activists in trouble by sending out a discreet SOS message along with their current location.

The emergency message is triggered by pressing the 1 button five times within the calculator app.

Three pre-selected emergency contacts then receive the message along with a Google Maps link to the location it was sent from.

The app looks just like calculator software

If there is no time to activate the calculator, a message can also be sent out by pressing the phone's power button five times.

The app, called Panic Button, is available for Android phones and has already been tested in 17 countries.

It is aimed at journalists and activists living and working in war-torn countries and under repressive regimes, where urgent help may be needed at a moment's notice.

When the app is first opened it gives the user a checklist of steps to take to remain safe.

According to the app's developers, future versions will include an option to shut down social media accounts if an alert is triggered.

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Leicester House Fire: Pair Guilty Of Murder

Two men have been found guilty of murdering a mother and her three children in a bungled revenge attack in Leicester.

Shehnila Taufiq, 47, her 19-year-old daughter Zainab, and sons Bilal, 17, and Jamal, 15, all died when a fire engulfed their house in Wood Hill, Leicester, in the early hours of September 13 last year.

Kemo Porter, 19, and Tristan Richards, 22, were found guilty of their murders at Nottingham Crown Court.

Shaun Carter, 24, was found not guilty of four counts of murder but guilty of four counts of manslaughter.

Prosecutors had said the blaze was a "retribution process" for the fatal stabbing of Antoin Akpom, 20, hours earlier, but that the killers attacked the wrong house.

Shehnila's husband and the children's father, Dr Muhammad Taufiq

Nathaniel Mullings, 19, Jackson Powell, 20, Aaron Webb, 20, Aaron Jeffers, 21 and a 17-year-old who cannot be named for legal reasons were cleared of murder but convicted of manslaughter.

As the verdict for the 17-year-old was read out there were tears from the public gallery and cries of "he's only a baby!".

During the two-month trial, the jury heard football coach Mr Akpom had been stabbed in the back in a confrontation involving two 19-year-olds on September 12.

Richard Latham QC, prosecuting, said the defendants were friends of Mr Akpom and they mistakenly targeted the Taufiqs' house, in the belief it was home to one of those involved in the confrontation.

The prosecutor said: "They simply got the wrong house - a tragedy."

The judge Mr Justice John Griffith Williams said he would hear mitigation tomorrow afternoon before sentencing on Wednesday morning.

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Sudan's Meriam Ibrahim 'Freed' From Prison

A woman sentenced to death after being accused of converting from Islam to Christianity has been released from prison, according to her lawyer.

The case of Meriam Ibrahim, who is married to a Christian American, triggered an international outcry. She gave birth to a baby daughter, Maya, while in prison.

"Meriam was released just about an hour ago," Mohanad Mustafa told AFP.

Ms Ibrahim was convicted last month of apostasy and adultery and claimed she had always been a Christian, having been raised by her Ethiopian mother while her Muslim father had left when she was young.

The 27-year-old married Daniel Wani in 2011 and has refused to renounce her faith.

Daniel Wani with their son Martin

But a court in Khartoum insisted she was a Muslim, and in Sudan such interfaith marriage is forbidden.

She was sentenced to 100 lashes for adultery and to hang for apostasy.

Her death sentence was suspended for two years so she could nurse Maya. Ms Ibrahim also has a young son called Martin, who was also living in prison with her.

"The appeal court ordered the release of Meriam Yahya and the cancellation of the (previous) court ruling," Sudan's SUNA news agency said.

Mr Mustafa said Ms Ibrahim had been sent "to an unknown house to stay at for her protection and security".

"Her family had been threatened before and we are worried that someone might try to harm her," he said.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister David Cameron joined international condemnation of the mother's plight, saying he was "absolutely appalled" by the case.

Mr Cameron said: "The way she is being treated is barbaric and has no place in today's world."

Sudan introduced Islamic Shariah law in the early 1980s under the rule of autocrat Jaafar Nimeiri, a move that contributed to the resumption of an insurgency in the mostly animist and Christian south of Sudan.

The south seceded in 2011 to become the world's newest nation, South Sudan.

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Al Jazeera Journalists Jailed For Seven Years

Three Al Jazeera journalists have each been jailed for seven years in Egypt after being found guilty of aiding terrorism.

Australian Peter Greste, Canadian-Egyptian national Mohammed Fahmy and Egyptian Baher Mohamed watched from cages as they were convicted of spreading false news and supporting the Muslim Brotherhood.

Mr Mohamed received an additional three years on a separate charge involving possession of weapons.

The case has provoked outrage from freedom of speech activists, who say it was politicised, while David Cameron was said by Downing Street to be "completely appalled" by the verdict.

Peter Greste was one of 14 defendants sentenced

The families of the men - who had denied all the allegations against them in Cairo - collapsed in tears as the sentences were read out.

Greste, a former BBC correspondent, had been in Egypt on a relief posting for just two weeks when the group was detained in December.

His brother Andrew, who will visit him tomorrow, told Australia's ABC 730 show he was "gutted" but that "we're not going to give up the fight".

Fahmy's brother Adel said: "This is not a system. This is not a country. They've ruined our lives. It shows everything that's wrong with the system: it's corrupt. This country is corrupt through and through."

Mohammed Fahmy gives evidence in court in May

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said she was "shocked and deeply dismayed" by the outcome and would ask the Egyptian government to intervene. 

Her UK counterpart, William Hague, said he would also ask Cairo to review the case "as a matter of urgency".

Sky News and the BBC were among the media organisations to call for the trio's release prior to the verdict.

Sky's Middle East Correspondent, Sherine Tadros, who was in court, said: "Anyone who watched this trial has seen a complete farce. There was no evidence presented linking these journalists to a 'terrorist organisation' or the Muslim Brotherhood.

A protest in Lebanon against the detention of journalists in Egypt

"What we've seen time and time again these past few months is a judiciary that is less interested in justice than in exacting revenge."

Another 11 defendants were sentenced in absentia to 10 years, including Al Jazeera's British journalist Sue Turton.

"We really believed the judge would recognise these were politically motivated charges," she said.

"We don't understand what it is they're accusing us of. They're trying to stop anyone having an opinion that doesn't tally with the government's narrative.

Peter Greste had been in Egypt for just two weeks

"I don't want to think about, now they're back in their prison cells, how they're coping with what happened today."

Fellow Brit Dominic Kane was also among those to receive a 10-year sentence in absentia.

The Muslim Brotherhood has been protesting against the government since the army toppled Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July. The Egyptians labelled it a "terrorist organisation" in December.

The Gulf state of Qatar, which funds Al Jazeera, backs the Muslim Brotherhood.

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Google Glass Launches In UK: Yours For £1,000

By Joe Tidy, Sky News Reporter

Search engine giant Google has launched its wearable gadget Glass in the UK.

The company's Explorer Programme is now allowing any UK resident over the age of 18 to purchase Glass online - but it is still described as being in the prototype phase.

A limited invite-only programme has been running in the US since 2012, followed by a general launch in May.

Google is asking Glass users for their feedback on the functionality of the £1,000 device.

The company has not released any sales figures so far, but it is estimated there are as many as 300,000 users of the futuristic-looking glasses in the US.

Glass is a lightweight frame with a display that rests above the right eye allowing users to search the internet with voice control and watch videos, read emails and other activities.

Head of Glass Ivy Ross, said: "Technology is at its best when it fits seamlessly into our lives and lets us get on with whatever we're doing.

"Our goal for Glass is exactly that - to make it easier to bring people the technology they rely on without drawing them out of the moment."

Along with the launch of the UK Explorer Programme, new applications are being released, including astronomy app Star Chart and fitness game Zombies Run.

Sky News is already available on Glass through the WatchUp app.

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