Written By Unknown on Senin, 06 April 2015 | 23.38
The warm Easter weather looks set to continue into the week.
Temperatures could reach 21C (70F) in some places, when the average UK temperature for April is 11.4C (52F) and for England is 12.4C, according to the Met Office.
Two Great White Pelicans in London's St James Park
Despite many holidaymakers expected to return from the Easter break on Monday the continued high pressure will ensure conditions in most areas will remain settled for the rest of the week.
The South and South West of England will see the best of the warm weather while in northeast Scotland it will be sunniest while northwest Scotland could see some cloud developing.
Most of Northern Ireland, particularly the east coast, will also enjoy spells of sunshine.
Sky's weather presenter Nazaneen Ghaffar said: "Most places will continue with the dry and sunny conditions - however, eastern coastal regions and Irish sea coasts may be affected by sea fog.
"It will feel warm in the sunshine today, with top temperatures of 12-18C (54-64F)."
The situation in a Palestinian refugee district of Damascus seized by Islamic State has been described as "beyond inhumane" by civil rights activists.
Yarmouk has seen increased shelling and sporadic street fighting after the militant group stormed the southern area of the city on Wednesday, marking the group's deepest foray into the capital.
Residents in Yarmouk are facing a 'dire' situation say activists
Chris Gunness, a spokesman for UNRWSA, a UN support agency for Palestinian refugees, said activists had not been able to get aid into the area since the current round of fighting began.
"That means that there is no food, there is no water and there is very little medicine. People are holed up in their houses, there are reports of aerial bombardment, and there is fighting going on in the streets.
Video:Camp Conditions "Beyond Inhumane"
"This has to stop and civilians must be evacuated. Some 18,000 people, including 3,500 children, are at risk of death or serious injury. The situation is beyond inhumane."
Yarmouk has been under siege for two years and is home to the largest Palestinian refugee community in the country.
Some civilians who were trapped in the district have managed to flee to safer areas amid continuing clashes between Palestinian armed factions and IS, and intense airstrikes by the Syrian government.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Syria's government air force has dropped several barrel bombs on the camp since Sunday.
Palestinian officials and Syrian activists said they were working with rivals from the al Qaeda affiliate in Syria, the Nusra Front.
The two groups have fought bloody battles against each other in other parts of Syria, but appear to be cooperating in the attack on Yarmouk.
Palestine Liberation Organisation officials said around 2,000 civilians were able to leave the camp at the weekend via secure roads to the Zahira district, which is under army control.
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Sky's Middle East Correspondent Sherine Tadros said: "Yarmouk is about 10km from the centre of Damascus and IS militants are reportedly in control of most of the camp.
"It's a dire situation and desperate for those people waiting for UN aid but it simply can't get in there because of the fighting.
"We've been told that more than 20 people have been killed since this latest fighting began and several instances where women have been kidnapped by IS militants."
Mr Gunness has called for a "political framework" to solve the crisis and allow aid to be delivered on the ground.
"We need a political framework which will give some kind of meaning and substance to this humanitarian work. So, we need political action and we need it urgently."
By Poppy Trowbridge, Consumer Affairs Correspondent
Major changes to pension rules come into effect today which will allow savers to have more control over their money when they retire.
People aged over 55 are now able to cash in their pensions and spend them as they wish.
The changes were announced by Chancellor George Osborne in his Autumn Statement and were expanded in last month's Budget.
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Retirees are no longer required to use their pension pot to buy an annuity when they retire.
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They can now take their pot in one go, or use it like a bank account to withdraw money in slices.
The changes will apply to the 320,000 people who retire each year with a defined contribution (DC) pension.
Around 540,000 people will be able to take control of their savings from today, according to estimates from the Government.
And from next year, as many as six million pensioners who already have an annuity will be allowed to sell them for cash.
Critics of the new system say savers will be tempted to go on a spending spree, leaving the state to pick up the tab later on.
But Pensions Minister Steve Webb told Sky News: "We're not going to have two million people making decisions this week or this month.
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"We certainly think there will be many thousands of people who have planned very carefully and put the capacity in place.
"But I think lots of people, although they in theory could use these new freedoms, in fact if you're in your late 50s and still working, you may go on saving into a pension for many years to come."
Government advisor and pension expert Ros Altmann said: "This is a radical departure from the past. I would trust people with their own money.
"Now it's up to the industry to offer better products and more choice."
The freedoms come at a price: those who choose to tap their defined contribution pension pots for cash should be aware of income tax thresholds.
Some 25% of a person's savings can be taken tax free. Any extra that is withdrawn is liable for income tax at 40% if the total exceeds £42,386 when added to annual income.
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The revenues from this could raise an extra £1bn for the Treasury, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
The Government's free, impartial, Pension Wise service has been established to offer guidance to everyone eligible for the freedoms.
Pensions minister Steve Webb said: "It is right that people should have the power to make their own decisions about how they spend their own money after decades of careful saving - ending the effective obligation to buy an annuity will give people back control of their financial affairs."
It came as SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon launched her party's plan for pensioners, listing "the kind of policies" they will pursue if they secure a significant number of seats in the General Election.
"We will maintain the 'triple lock' on pensions, we'll set the single-tier pension at £160 a week, we'll resist any further increases in the state retirement age in Scotland until we have tackled and closed the life-expectancy gap (and) we will absolutely oppose any attempt to take away the winter fuel allowance."
Two pilots have been removed from duty following an alleged fight in the cockpit.
The Air India workers have been grounded after the co-pilot reportedly struck the captain, The Times of India says.
However, the airline insists the altercation was a verbal argument rather than physical violence.
A spokesman for the airline said: "Both the pilots have been derostered. An inquiry has been ordered into this."
The Times quoted a senior commander source as saying the captain was assaulted after asking his colleague to record data - including passenger numbers on board - before take-off.
The flight from Delhi to Jaipur took place despite the row, and after landing staff were informed of the incident.
Two Australians facing a firing squad for drug smuggling have had their appeal for clemency rejected by an Indonesian court.
Andrew Chan, 31, was found guilty in 2006 along with Myuran Sukumaran, 33, of being the ringleaders of a gang which plotted to smuggle heroin out of the country.
The pair had challenged the court's decision not to hear an appeal against an earlier decision by Indonesia's President Joko Widodo's to refuse them clemency.
Tony Abbott has said he is 'revolted' by the planned executions
The attorney general's office said that the ruling handed down by a court in Jakarta left him with no further legal avenues to avoid the death penalty.
Australia has been pursuing a campaign to save the men from a firing squad, stressing they have been rehabilitated while in prison.
The pair are among 10 drug convicts due to be executed at the prison island of Nusakambangan. Others in the group include citizens of France, Brazil, the Philippines, Ghana, Nigeria and Indonesia.
The case has heightened diplomatic tensions between Australia and Indonesia with Australia's Prime Minister Tony Abbott saying he was "revolted" by the planned executions.
But President Widodo has previously warned foreign governments seeking clemency against interfering in his country's affairs.
The pair lost an appeal in February, though Indonesia's attorney general is awaiting the outcome of appeals by three remaining death-row inmates before setting a date for the executions.
A spokesman has previously said the executions will be carried out together, but they could be conducted in batches.
Indonesia has harsh penalties for drug trafficking and resumed executions in 2013 after a five-year gap.
About 15 people were injured when the roof of a New Jersey church collapsed during an Easter Sunday service.
Worshippers reported hearing a cracking sound from above moments before the debris began falling down on them inside the Korean Union United Methodist Church in Rahway.
Between 75 and 100 people were thought to be inside. Most shielded themselves by going under the benches before they were able to flee the church.
One person, a woman, was seriously hurt, though her injuries are not considered life-threatening.
About 14 other people suffered minor injuries, including a woman who got struck as she tried to protect her grandson, CBS News reported.
After reviewing the damage, Rahway Mayor Samson Steinman told CBS: "It's a miracle that nobody was killed."
It is not yet known what caused the collapse on Sunday afternoon.
Up to 80,000 people may die if there is an outbreak of a major drug-resistant infection, according to a Government forecast.
A report produced for the Cabinet Office warns that if a new superbug develops, as many as 200,000 people might be infected by a bacterial blood infection.
The National Risk Register of Civil Emergencies report, which aims to assess the threat level from emergencies, is produced annually to help the Government decide on policy.
The report says that over the next two decades the number of infections complicated by superbugs is expected to rise significantly.
It warns that routine medical treatments could become "high-risk" because of the growing resistance to antibiotics.
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The report states: "An increasingly serious issue is the development and spread of AMR (antimicrobial resistance), which occurs when drugs are no longer effective in treating infections caused by micro-organisms.
"Without effective antibiotics, even minor surgery and routine operations could become high-risk procedures, leading to increased duration of illness and ultimately premature mortality.
"Much of modern medicine (for example, organ transplantation, bowel surgery and some cancer treatments) may become unsafe due to the risk of infection.
"In addition, influenza pandemics would become more serious without effective treatments."
The assessment adds: "The numbers of infections complicated by AMR are expected to increase markedly over the next 20 years.
"If a widespread outbreak were to occur, we could expect around 200,000 people to be affected by a bacterial blood infection that could not be treated effectively with existing drugs, and around 80,000 of these people might die.
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"High numbers of deaths could also be expected from other forms of antimicrobial resistant infection."
Politicians and scientists have previously warned of the need to find a cure for infections that have become resistant to drugs.
Prime Minister David Cameron has stated that it is a "very real and worrying threat" which could result in medicine being sent "back into the dark ages".
Professor Dame Sally Davies, chief medical officer for England, said last year: "The world simply cannot afford not to take action to tackle the alarming rise in resistance to antibiotics and other antimicrobial drugs we are witnessing at the moment."
In 2013, the Government produced a five-year Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy, which aims to tackle the threat from AMR.
A man who allegedly fled Britain after two attacks on women has been caught while trying to buy a fake passport in India, police say.
Raminder Singh, 28, is accused of sexual assault, rape and attempted murder in July 2012 when he was in the UK.
One woman, aged 23, was found unconscious in Pilvig Park in Edinburgh in a pool of blood, with a broken jaw and cheekbone, and a missing tooth. The attacker had attempted to rape her.
A few days later a 27-year-old woman told police she had been subjected to a serious sexual attack and rape.
Police believe Singh was involved in both incidents and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
However, he managed to leave the country the next day and fly to India.
An extradition request was sent to the country from the UK, but Singh is thought to have changed his identity multiple times.
It is believed that in the meantime he worked at a call centre and even opened a restaurant.
A police source told Sky News that because some of his relatives worked in the Punjab police, there was not much interest in the case.
While on the run he is believed to have lived for some time with his relative Gurwinder Singh, a police inspector at Punjab Police Academy.
Local crime commissioner Ravindra Yadav told Sky News: "The Delhi Police was requested by the British High Commission to help nab the fugitive.
"The British police gave some inputs to us which we developed. We were roped in as they had confidence in us."
Singh was tracked for several months as a result.
An officer told Sky News that Singh was trapped when he was on his way to meet someone to buy a forged passport, and was held on Sunday night at the Singhu northern border of Delhi.
He has since appeared in court and the UK government will now move to have him extradited.
A judge has given a New York City woman permission to file for divorce from her elusive husband via a Facebook message.
The ruling was made by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Matthew Cooper.
The woman has been identified as a Brooklyn nurse named Ellanora Baidoo. Her husband Victor Sena Blood-Dzraku will be served with the divorce summons via a private Facebook message.
It will be repeated once a week for three consecutive weeks or until "acknowledged" by the man.
According to the Daily News, which reported the story, the couple married in 2009 in a civil ceremony.
The relationship began to unravel when the defendant reneged on his promise to a traditional Ghanaian wedding ceremony, said Ms Baidoo's lawyer, Andrew Spinnell.
Both spouses are from Ghana.
The ruling says Mr Blood-Dzraku has only been in touch with his wife via phone and Facebook.
The "last address plaintiff has for defendant is an apartment that he vacated in 2011," Judge Cooper said, according to the Daily News.
Ms Baidoo "has spoken with defendant by telephone on occasion and he has told her that he has no fixed address and no place of employment.
"He has also refused to make himself available to be served with divorce papers."
Labour has accused the Conservatives of plotting a secret tax cut for millionaires after the General Election, as political parties launched a battle over economic statistics.
Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls predicted a Conservative government would hike VAT - something David Cameron has ruled out - and slash the top rate of income tax for earnings over £150,000 from 45p to 40p.
The allegation was among a series of claims and counter claims as Labour, the Conservatives and the Lib Dems all claimed their rival parties would make people worse off.
Mr Balls said: "We know that is their secret plan - another big tax cut for millionaires.
"How can it be fair when families here in Leeds and across the country are struggling and £1,100 a year worse-off?
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"How can it be fair to have a tax cut for the very richest when our NHS is in crisis and going backwards?
"How can this be fair when we need to get the deficit down and the Tories are now planning deeper cuts in the next three years than the last five?"
Speaking in southwest London, Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg told Sky News the Conservatives had sought further tax cuts for millionaires in government but were only stopped by his party.
"I was very amused yesterday to hear George Osborne and David Cameron saying with earnest sincerity that they had no plan of giving further tax cuts to people at the top because, I tell you, they had exactly that plan in government and it was something that we said we would not go along with."
While Chancellor George Osborne has said there are "no plans" for a cut to the 45p rate of tax, he refused to rule it out definitively four times on Sky News.
But Tory Treasury minister David Gauke hit back by claiming Labour has a secret plan to boost revenues by dragging more workers into the 40p higher rate of income tax and increasing national insurance contributions.
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"Ed Balls and Ed Miliband must set out the details of their secret plan for £3,028 of tax rises on every working family - the British people have a right to know what these tax hikes are.
"The choice at this election is clear. Lower taxes under David Cameron. Or higher taxes under Ed Miliband and the SNP."
Prime Minister David Cameron will later claim 94% of working families are better off after tax and welfare changes this financial year.
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According to the leader of the Conservatives, Treasury statistics show working households will on average benefit by £200 a year, and pensioner households by £180.
Mr Cameron is expected to say: "Today is a big day for our country. It's 'money-back Monday' - a day when, quite simply, hardworking taxpayers get to keep more of their own cash.
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"A whole host of changes to our tax, benefits, pensions and savings systems come into effect today.
"And, as a result - a result of action we Conservatives have taken - our country becomes a better and fairer place to live.
"(A place) where those who put in, get out; where hard work is rewarded; and people are trusted."
While the Conservatives are highlighting figures that indicate people are better off, Labour claim the opposite.
Meanwhile, Lib Dem Chief Secretary Danny Alexander, has shared embarrassing details of a meeting from 2012.
Speaking to The Independent, Mr Alexander said: "The Tories' priority at the time was the top rate of tax.
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"I remember one meeting with a group of senior Conservatives and one of them - I'm not going to say who - said: 'Listen, you take care of the workers and we'll take care of the bosses'."
Easter Monday also marks an overhaul of the pensions system, when for the first time pensioners will be able to cash in their savings rather than buy an annuity.
Liberal Democrat Pensions Minister Steve Webb said: "As a Liberal I believe people should have the freedom to do what they want with the money they have saved up throughout their working lives.
"Our pension reforms will mean millions more people will have a better retirement."
