Sabrina Moss: Three Guilty Of Kilburn Murder

Three men have been found guilty of murdering a nursery teacher as she celebrated her 24th birthday.

Sabrina Moss was gunned down near a fast food restaurant in Kilburn, north London, in an attack by two hooded men armed with a machine gun and a shotgun.

The mother-of-one was shot in the heart and died in hospital from her injuries.

She and friend Sabrina Gachette were both caught in the crossfire of a "deep-seated" bloody drugs turf war as they sheltered from the rain with a group of 15 others under a shop awning by the Woody Grill, in the early hours of August 24, last year.

A forensic officer at the scene of the shooting in Kilburn last summer

Jurors at the Old Bailey in central London heard they were not the intended targets and were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Miss Gachette, who was hit in the back by more than 50 gunshot pellets, survived to give evidence during the 10-week trial.

The 25-year-old, who almost a year on, still has a few pellets lodged in her body, said: "There was no warning. I thought someone had thrown a brick at me. Then because of the explosion I thought it was a firework.

"Sabrina was in front of me and that was when I heard her say she had been shot in her heart. That is the last thing I remember hearing her say."

Sabrina Gachette survived the shooting and gave evidence during the trial

Jurors on Monday found drug dealers Hassan Hussain, 29, of Willesden; Yasin James, 20, of Wembley and Martell Warren, 23, of Kensall Green, all from London, guilty of Miss Moss's murder and the attempted murder of Miss Gachette.

Their intended targets were members of the South Kilburn Gang - and Miss Moss, who was dressed in a bright red dress and high heels - would have stood out from the crowd like a beacon in the night, jurors were told.

Nevertheless, Hussain discharged the Mac 10 "spray and pray" machine gun six times and James fired both barrels of the shotgun at near point blank range before fleeing the scene in a car driven by Warren.

Jurors heard Warren was a convicted drug dealer and a member of the Kensal Green Boys or Bloods, known as the KGB, while Hussain had a previous conviction for grievous bodily harm and was jailed for five years for stabbing his ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend six times.

Police officers lay down floral tributes from members of the public

The trio were also found guilty of the attempted murder of Mahad Ahmed and Edson Da'Silva, possession of a Mac 10 machine gun with intent to endanger life, and possession of a shotgun with intent to endanger life.

In addition, along with a fourth defendant - Simon Baptiste, 29, from Cricklewood, north London - they were found guilty of conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm between August 22 and August 25 last year.

Miss Gachette, who had known Miss Moss for 13 years, said afterwards:  "She was just fun-loving. She was always up for a good time. She had time for everyone. There was not a bad bone in her body at all."

She added: "Justice has not only been served for us as victims, it has been done for the community - there are violent people off the streets."

Hussain, James and Warren will be sentenced on September 12.

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Israel Blows Up Homes Of Teen Murder Suspects

Israeli forces have demolished the homes of two Palestinians accused of abducting and killing three Israeli teenagers in June.

Hussam Qawasmeh and Amar Abu Eisha's houses in the West Bank were blown up before dawn on Monday.

Police say there were 250 policemen and dozens of Israeli soldiers at the scene.

The home of a third suspect, Marwan Qawasmeh, was sealed off, the military said.

Last month, houses in the West Bank linked to Marwan Qawasmeh and Amer Abu Eisheh were also blown up.

Israel destroyed the home of Hussam Qawasmeh before dawn

Israel said the demolitions were in accordance with procedures used to deal with militants suspected of major crimes.

All three are suspected of murdering Eyal Yifrach, 19, Gilad Shaar and Naftali Frenkel, both 16, who went missing on June 12.

Israel launched a major operation in the West Bank in order to locate the teenagers - one of whom, Naftali, had American citizenship.

Their bodies were discovered by soldiers beneath a pile of rocks on June 30.

Israel has held Hamas responsible, but the militant political group has denied any involvement.

Hussam Kawasma has been in Israeli custody since July. The other two suspects remain at large.

(L-R) Gilad Shaar, Naftali Frenkel, Eyal Yifrach were murdered in June

The deaths of the Israeli teens and the subsequent murder of 16-year-old Palestinian Mohammed Abu Khadair heightened tensions in the lead-up to the current conflict in Gaza.

Negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians over the month-long war continued on Monday as the end of a five-day truce nears.

Both sides have until 10pm (UK time) to conclude a deal before the ceasefire was due to expire.

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators in the Egypt-mediated talks appeared to be hardening their positions, with the Gaza blockade remaining the key stumbling block.

The mother of Arab teen Mohammed holds a photo of her son

Norwegian foreign minister Boerge Brende said Norway and Egypt were planning to co-host a conference in Cairo to discuss the reconstruction of Gaza once there was an agreement in the ceasefire talks.

The Gaza conflict has killed more than 1,900 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians, according to Palestinian and UN officials.

Israel said it lost 64 soldiers in combat. Three Israeli civilians have been killed.

Meanwhile, the UN has helped three couples wed in Gaza on Sunday as protests broke out in Israel at the wedding of a Muslim man and a Jewish-born woman who converted to Islam.

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Weddings Reflect Tensions In Israel and Gaza

A series of weddings in Israel and Gaza have reflected the tensions and hardships in the region.

In Israel, four far-right protesters were arrested at the wedding of a Jewish-born woman who converted to Islam and an Arab Muslim man.

Three homeless Gazan brides were married and given gifts by the UN

Several hundred protesters demonstrated outside the reception hall in Rishon LeZion, as groom Mahmoud Mansour, 26, married Morel Malka, 23.

Mr Mansour had sought a court order to try to stop the protest from taking place but failed - and Israeli President Reuven Rivlin condemned the demonstrations.

Supporters of the far-right Jewish Lehava group, who oppose the intermarriage of Arab Muslims and Jews, were granted permission to picket the wedding.

A man is arrested by police at a protest outside the wedding in Israel

They were told not to come within 200 metres of the wedding hall, but four protesters were arrested for failing to follow police instructions, Israel's Ynet News website said.

A counter-demonstration of left-wing protesters was also staged in support of the couple's marriage, attended by 500 guests.

Several hundred police were deployed to keep the two sets of demonstrators apart.

One of the weddings in Gaza

"We live in true coexistence, and I don't really care what people say," Mr Mansour told Israel's Channel 2 ahead of the wedding.

Meanwhile in Gaza, three brides, who lost their homes in the conflict, were married to their grooms in joint ceremonies in the southern town of Rafah.

Organised by the United Nations, the weddings took place at a school which has been used as a shelter for people displaced by the conflict with Israel.

The far-right protesters outside the wedding in Israel

The UN paid for the celebrations and gave each couple presents, including a mattress and clothes.

A five-day ceasefire in the region was due to expire on Monday night.

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Julian Assange Will Leave Embassy 'Soon'

What Has Julian Assange's WikiLeaks Achieved?

Updated: 1:22pm UK, Monday 18 August 2014

By Tom Cheshire, Technology Correspondent

Four years ago, WikiLeaks was the future of whistleblowing and perhaps even journalism - a new era in transparency and accountability.

The Afghanistan and Iraq war logs, supplied by Chelsea Manning and published by WikiLeaks, dominated the news.

US Vice President Joe Biden called the website's founder Julian Assange "a terrorist".

Even before Mr Assange sought refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, WikiLeaks had grown quiet, though, offering fewer agenda-setting scoops and, instead, more esoteric revelations.

'Trade in Services Agreement - Financial Services Annex', anyone?

It still aimed for large-scale leaks, but it disappointed.

Last year, it released 1.7 million diplomatic and intelligence papers. From the 1970s.

WikiLeaks' Twitter feed - thought to be run by Mr Assange - also became unhinged.

It ranted when The Guardian chose Malala Yousafzai as its person of the year to suit the newspaper's "pro-war" agenda.

It also said that the attacks on the US embassy in Benghazi were justified by UK's police presence outside the Ecuadorian embassy. 

In the meantime, another whistleblower has found more notoriety - and had more impact - than Mr Assange ever did.

Edward Snowden may also be holed up under the protection of a foreign government, but he continues to shape the news agenda.

Like Mr Assange, he also worked with mainstream media organisations like The Guardian and the New York Times. 

If WikiLeaks was about "exploiting the scale, reach and immunity afforded by the network of the internet", as Charlie Beckett has written, Mr Snowden went either one step forwards or backwards.

Backwards, because he worked with newspapers, just like an old-fashioned whistleblower.

Forwards, because thanks to his technical prowess, he was able to make off with millions of documents - information on the network scale - and, thanks to a pretty savvy manipulation of modern communications tools, he continues to influence events remotely.

Essentially, he played the same role as Chelsea Manning, but has managed to control the story a lot better.

Mr Snowden didn't need WikiLeaks to help with any of that, which must aggrieve Mr Assange. 

Even if Mr Assange does leave the embassy, it probably won't mean the rejuvenation of WikiLeaks. The story has moved on and it hasn't.

But its influence is still considerable.

Every news organisation now has their own take on WikiLeaks' dead drop boxes for electronic documents.

And the power of gathering vast troves of information, then using sophisticated search and tagging techniques to comb them, has become part of journalism. 

While Mr Assange spent two years watching box sets of The Twilight Zone and The West Wing, others have been getting on with WikiLeaks' stated aim: "To bring important news and information to the public."

And they've been using the techniques pioneered by WikiLeaks to do it.

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Cats' Heads In Bin Bag 'May Be Race Attack'

The dumping of a bin bag of cats' heads found in a Manchester street could have been "racially motivated".

The bag was discovered by a passer-by in a street off Manchester's "Curry Mile", near Wilmslow Road - an area with many Asian restaurants. 

A Manchester City Council spokesman said the dumping could have been "maliciously" or "racially motivated", and local businesses were not to blame.

There were believed to have been around four or five heads in the bin bag.

James Robinson, 34, described the moment he discovered the heads after stumbling on the bag while out for a bite to eat in the area.

The Metrolink engineer told the Manchester Evening News: "I was going out for some food and walking down the side street when I saw a black bin bag filled with something that looked suspicious.

"When I opened it I couldn't believe my eyes. There were about five cats' heads in there. I can't get over the shock of it."

On its Facebook page, the council said: "This is obviously an incredibly distressing and sickening incident which we are now looking into.

"But this is the first incident of its kind we have come across.

"At this stage we have no way of knowing how these animal parts came to be where they were discovered but we will be contacting the RSPCA as this is clearly an extreme example of animal cruelty."

Cathy Hyde, RSPCA chief inspector, said: "This sounds like a very distressing incident, especially for the people who found the remains.

"Thankfully reports like this are extremely rare and we will liaise with the local authority to look into this further."

Ms Hyde appealed for anyone with information to call the appeal line on 0300 123 8018 and to leave a message.

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Cameron: 'We Are Not Going To War In Iraq'

David Cameron has insisted that Britain will not be getting involved in a war in Iraq to fight "monstrous" jihadists.

He spoke out after reports Britain had briefly sent some ground troops to Irbil, to prepare the way for a rescue mission to help displaced Yazidi people.

His comments came amid reports that Kurdish troops have retaken large parts of the strategic Mosul Dam from Islamic militants.

The UK is considering arming peshmerga troops fighting IS extremists

Peshmerga fighters have been battling Islamic State fighters, with the aid of US airstrikes, after the dam was seized by the militants 10 days ago.

The Islamic State group denied they had lost control of the dam and there were reports of fierce fighting on the southern side of the facility.

At least 170 bombs have been dismantled around the dam but many more remain, said army spokesman Lt Gen Qassim al-Moussawi.

 Army spokesmna Arr AAA Al-Moussawi said forces had "hoisted the Iraqi flag over" the dam, which holds great strategic value, supplying water and electricity to much of the country.

A US airstrike against an IS position near Mosul Dam

This morning, Mr Cameron made a strongly worded statement amid confusion over the UK's involvement in Iraq after a series of media interviews by senior ministers. 

He said: "I want to be absolutely clear to you and to families watching at home. Britain is not going to get involved in another war in Iraq.

"We are not going to be putting boots on the ground. We are not going to be sending in the British Army."

Mr Cameron has previously conceded that Britain's role will go beyond humanitarian aid and involve limited action to prevent violence spreading to British streets.

Michael Fallon says Britain's involvement could last 'weeks and months'

But he said: "So we are helping the Kurds, we are working with the Iraqi government to make sure it is more representative of the whole country.

"We do want to have, and we do have, a fully worked through strategy for helping allies to deal with this monstrous organisation, IS."

Mr Cameron appeared on television after Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said the UK's Iraq mission would likely last "weeks and months".

Mr Fallon was addressing British troops in Cyprus as it emerged that UK soldiers have been back on the ground in Iraq for the first time since 2009.

Sheikh Khalah Sheikh Alyas: 'IS killed our young people'

The soldiers, from the 2nd Battalion Yorkshire regiment, were briefly sent to Irbil, the capital of Iraq's Kurdistan region, to prepare the way for a Yazidi rescue mission.

It is understood the rescue operation would involve Chinook helicopters and the ground troops remained in the country for only 24 hours.

Sky News Political Correspondent Anushka Asthana said the UK's position on Iraq was "a little confusing" after various newspaper and TV interviews by the PM and Mr Fallon.

Asthana said some had interpreted the PM's commitment to providing more than humanitarian aid in Iraq as meaning there would be military action.

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said discussions with the Kurdish regional government were focusing on what weapons to supply Kurdish troops.

Islamic State militants have so far killed dozens of Kurdish peshmerga fighters and captured 170 of them, a Twitter site that supports the group said on Monday.

Kurdish officials will take part in negotiations on forming a new Iraqi government, according to the outgoing foreign minister Hoshiyar Zebari.

It paves the way for improved ties between Kurds and the central administration.

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Teen Shooting Unrest: National Guard Called In

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon has ordered the National Guard to Ferguson amid rising tensions over the shooting death by police of an unarmed black teenager.

Mr Nixon said the National Guard would "help restore peace and order" to the St Louis town after days of protests over the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown. 

In the latest violence on Sunday night, police fired tear gas at demonstrators as gunfire was heard.

The announcement by Mr Nixon came as a preliminary private autopsy found that Mr Brown was shot at least six times including twice in the head, according to the New York Times.

The post-mortem examination was carried out by Michael Baden, a former New York City chief medical examiner, at the request of Mr Brown's family.

Michael Brown was killed on August 9

Dr Baden said one of the bullets entered the top of Mr Brown's skull, suggesting that his head was bent forward when he suffered a fatal injury.

Mr Brown was shot four times in the right arm and all the bullets were fired into his front, he told the New York Times.

Attorney General Eric Holder has ordered a federal medical examiner to perform another autopsy.

As night fell in Ferguson, a peaceful protest quickly deteriorated into further violence - more than a week after Mr Brown's killing on August 9.

Some protesters have defied the curfew

Some protesters carried signs protesting against police brutality. Some had their hands up in the air, while others threw Molotov cocktails at police officers.

Authorities said they were responding to reports of gunfire, looting and vandalism.

The Missouri Highway Patrol also said it used tear gas to disperse "aggressors" who were trying to infiltrate a law enforcement command post, and that armoured vehicles were deployed to ensure public safety.

Captain Ron Johnson said there were "acts of violence that appear to not have been spontaneous, but premeditated attacks designed to damage property, hurt people, and provoke a response".

Police used tear gas on protesters

A man was shot and critically wounded in the area, but not by police, and someone also shot at a police car, authorities said.

Seven people were arrested for failing to disperse.

Officials announced another five-hour curfew for the second night running which started at midnight local time (6am UK time). But much of the violence started before the curfew.

Authorities said they plan to decide on a day-by-day basis whether to extend the curfew, first imposed on Saturday night by Mr Nixon in an effort to quell the demonstrations.

Seven people were arrested for failing to disperse

Mr Nixon meanwhile sharply criticised the town's police for releasing CCTV video which they say shows Mr Brown stealing cigars from a store and shoving an employee.

"I think it had an incendiary effect," he told CBS' Face The Nation on Sunday morning.

He said police "clearly are attempting to besmirch a victim of a shooting".

Minutes after the alleged robbery, Mr Brown had the encounter with an officer who police say stopped the teenager for jaywalking.

Mr Brown was unarmed and it has been claimed he was trying to surrender before he was shot dead by white police officer Darren Wilson, 28.

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Westminster 'Can't Stop Scotland Keeping Pound'

Westminster cannot stop Scotland using the pound if it were to split from the rest of the UK, says Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond.

Scotland's Government insists it will keep the pound in a formal currency union with the remainder of the UK - despite it being ruled out by all UK parties.

The SNP is coming under sustained pressure to reveal what its "Plan B" on currency would be.

The Scottish Government's Fiscal Commission proposed a range of alternatives to using the pound - including a new independent currency, joining the euro and the informal use the pound using a process called "sterlingisation".

But Mr Salmond has told Sky News: "The other Westminster parties can't stop Scotland using the pound, using sterling.

"What they could do is deny us access to the Bank of England, to the financial assets of the country.

"The reason they won't do that of course is that if they took all the assets they would end up with all the liabilities - that's all the ginormous debt that the likes of George Osborne and Alistair Darling built up and they aren't going to do that because that would be the equivalent of giving every Scot a present of a thousand pounds a year."

But Shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander, launching the latest stage of the Better Together campaign in Glasgow, said people wanted answers from the First Minister on the currency.

Polling shows the No campaign still has a clear majority

He said: "We know that the capital would be Edinburgh, we know that the flag would be the saltire but we don't know what the currency would be.

"Burying his head in the sand at this point is a bit like digging a hole that is deeper for him in the coming days."

With a month to go before vote, a new poll has indicated support for an independent Scotland is growing.

Research by YouGov shows that 38% would vote Yes to independence - the highest level since the pollster started recording.

But the No campaign still has a clear majority, with 51% intending to vote to keep Scotland in the UK.

Those who say they are undecided has fallen to just 11%.

The poll came as the National Australia Bank (NAB) - the owner of Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks - became the latest business to warn of the risks it faces from Scottish independence.

NAB said a Yes vote could bring "significant additional costs" and that it had made contingency plans should Scotland split from the UK.

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Dad Faces Court Over Teen Daughter's Drug Death

A man has appeared in court charged with the manslaughter of his teenage daughter after he allegedly supplied the girl with MDMA.

Chloe Wilkes, 17, died after she fell ill at her home in Ashford, Kent, on July 27.

Her father Jason Wilkes, 44, is accused of manslaughter and supplying a class A drug.

He was remanded in custody on Monday after appearing at Canterbury Crown Court for a preliminary hearing.

He is expected to enter a plea during his next hearing on November 3.

An inquest into Chloe's death was opened earlier this month.

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Monster Alligator Caught By Family In Alabama

A family in Alabama is celebrating the catch of a lifetime - a 15ft (4.5m) alligator weighing more than 1,000 pounds (450kg).

The alligator was caught by Mandy and John Stokes, Mrs Stokes' brother-in-law Kevin Jenkins and his children, 16-year-old Savannah and 14-year-old Parker.

It took hours to reel the alligator. Pic: Sharon Steinmann/Al.com

The huge creature was pulled from the water by the keen hunters in south Alabama at the weekend during the state's alligator-hunting season, according to local reports.

It is the largest ever legally killed by an Alabama hunter.

Weighing it posed a challenge. Pic: Sharon Steinmann/Al.com

It took the relatives hours to reel the catch in; the alligator was first hooked on Friday night and it was finally pulled in on Saturday morning.

"When I saw the size of the foot on this one, I knew it was a good one," Mrs Stokes told Al.com

It is the largest ever caught in Alabama. Pic: Sharon Steinmann/Al.com

Weighing the animal was not easy - the first attempt reportedly destroyed a winch assembly used to hoist most average alligators.

Alabama Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries biologists then used a digger to lift the animal and weigh it.

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