London Shooting: Man Charged With Murder

A man has been charged with the murder of a teenager who was shot in the chest in north London, Scotland Yard has said.

Mohammed Hussein, 19, died in Edmonton on Monday after neighbours heard shouting in the street and then gunfire about an hour later.

Paramedics fought to save him but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Natneal Tefsay, 20, from Bounds Green, north London, is charged with Mr Hussein's murder.

He will appear at Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court today.

After the shooting, a witness, who did not want to be named, said: "Earlier in the night a group of guys chased after the victim, who was in a car with a mate, and smashed a window.

"He then came back later and that's when the shooting happened.

"He was with three of his friends and I think they ran off when he was shot."

A post-mortem examination found that Mr Hussein died from a single gunshot wound to the chest.

Last night police said they had also arrested a 19-year-old man on suspicion of murder.

They are continuing to appeal for information about the shooting, which happened in Bounces Road, Edmonton, at around 9.45pm on Easter Monday.

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Grand National: Hopes For A Positive Story

On the one day the world tunes in to jump racing, the sport itself is holding its breath.

Worldwide, 600 million people watch the Grand National on the year's biggest day for betting in Britain. But all at Aintree know any further equine deaths this afternoon, to add to four in the last two Nationals, would raise serious questions about its future.

It comes after a horse died in the run up to this year's event on Friday.

They have made changes here.

Most fences now have more horse-friendly plastic inner cores.

The start has been moved 90 yards away from the noisy grandstands, in the hope of a calmer atmosphere. That also means a shorter run to the first fence, giving less time to build up foolhardy early speed.

The authorities have talked to senior jockeys, urging them not to set a breakneck pace from the start.

But as even Jamie Stier from the British Horseracing Authority acknowledged on Sky News on Friday, it is unreasonable to expect a jockey not to be wound-up at the start of "this iconic race".

It always delivers a storyline, even if last year's – the closest-ever finish – was partly buried by headlines about fatalities.

This year's story could be the first female winning jockey. Katie Walsh on Seabass – third 12 months ago – could start favourite on the horse trained by her father Ted.

So could Ted's other horse Colbert Station, in the hands of champion jockey Tony McCoy. And so could Katie's brother Ruby on On His Own, bidding for his third National victory.

And if the siblings should be fighting out the finish, it'll be dog-eat-dog with no quarter given.

There's also another possible line for the fairer sex. Much-fancied Teaforthree is trained by Rebecca Curtis, 30 years after the first success for Jenny Pitman – the only other woman to train the winner of the world's greatest steeplechase.

Teaforthree likes his own bed and is travelling today from Pembrokeshire. There hasn't been a Welsh winner since 1905.

Then again, it's only four years since Mon Mome won at 100-1. Might Tarquinius, for example, or Major Malarkey, triumph at a similar price today? Stranger things have happened – and something strange always does happen.

That's why we always watch, and that's why all will hope that all 40 horses are safely in their beds – in Wales or wherever – tonight.

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Raft Of Tax Reforms Come Into Effect In UK

Two million people could be removed from paying income tax altogether from today as a raft of reforms come into effect.

Among the changes are a rise in the personal allowance which will mean no one pays any tax until they earn more than £9,440.

The threshold for the higher rate of tax - above which people pay tax at 40% - will also drop from £34,370 to £32,010, excluding the personal allowance.

At the same time the top rate of income tax falls in 2013/14 from 50% to 45% for those whose taxable income exceeds £150,000.

And the start of the new financial year also signals a rise in basic state pension to £110.15 per week, an increase of 2.5%.

But there will be a freeze on the level of income pensioners can receive before they have to pay tax - the so-called "granny tax".

The tax allowance for people aged 65 and older is set at £10,500.

Last week, housing benefit was cut for council house tenants with more bedrooms than they need - dubbed the "bedroom tax".

Council tenants have money cut if they have more bedrooms than they need

The annual increase in tax credits and other working-age benefits will also be cut to just 1%, well below the rate of inflation.

But Labour claims UK households will be worse off.

Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls said: "The independent Institute for Fiscal Studies shows very clearly that, since 2010, the average family is £890 worse off, a one-earner family where the mum or dad stays at home with children is £3,900 worse off.

"The reason is that the increase in the personal allowance over the last couple of years was completely outweighed by higher VAT, the freeze on child benefit and the cuts to tax credits.

"Is this the day to cut taxes for millionaires, for the richest people in our society when everyone else is worse off and struggling? It's completely the wrong priorities. It suggests that David Cameron and George Osborne are completely out of touch with the realities of the lives of families in our country."

Unite union's General Secretary Len McCluskey was equally scathing about the changes. He said: "Millionaires will be raising a glass of champagne to George Osborne this weekend as he slashes the incomes of people struggling to get by to give handouts to the rich.

"This is not the way to recover our failing economy. Creating real jobs and paying decent wages, including a one pound increase on the minimum wage, will bring down the benefits bill and get people spending again."

The Prime Minister took to Twitter to highlight the increase in the personal tax allowance. He wrote: "From today 24 million people will be paying £600 less income tax than in 2010."

Mr Cameron also included a link to a new Conservative poster outlining the change with the headline "Help for Hardworking People".

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Man Dies Making Documentary About Homeless

Police are investigating the death of a young documentary maker who was sleeping rough in freezing temperatures to highlight the plight of the homeless.

Lee Halpin, 26, had planned to spend a week living on the streets in his home city of Newcastle.

He began the project on Sunday but was found dead three days later in a derelict building in the West End of the city.

How he died has not yet been confirmed but it is believed he may have died from hypothermia.

Speaking on a YouTube video the night before his week of sleeping rough began, Mr Halpin said the project was part of an application for a Channel 4 investigative journalism scheme, to give an example of fearless reporting.

He said he had spoken to a homeless charity about the rise in the number of people on the streets and the effect of changes to Britain's welfare system this month.

"I'm about to go and spend a week being homeless in the West End of Newcastle. I will sleep rough for a week, scrounge for my food, access the services that other homeless individuals use," he said.

"I will interact with as many homeless people as possible and immerse myself in that lifestyle as deeply as I can."

He concluded the video by saying he hoped it showed his willingness to get to the heart of a story.

A Channel 4 spokesperson said: "We are saddened to learn of the tragic death of this aspiring young journalist. Our thoughts are with his family."

Mr Halpin's friend of 10 years, Daniel Lake, said: "I was just talking to Lee on Saturday, having some banter talking about football and how excited he was about going out filming.

"Lee was a great guy, a character and was well known. His big things were creative writing and poetry ... He made the ultimate sacrifice trying to raise awareness about what was happening to other people."

Friends and supporters have left tributes on the Save Newcastle Libraries website, to which he was a contributor.

One said: "He was a credit to the North East and all he did was give."

Northumbria Police have arrested two men in connection with the death.

The men, aged 26 and 30, were arrested on suspicion of supplying a controlled drug and have since been bailed pending further inquiries.

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Five Arrested In Triple Murder Inquiry

Police are linking the suspected murders of two men found at the side of a country road with that of a man found stabbed to death in a ditch last weekend.

The pair were discovered by a member of the public close to the Cambridgeshire village of Thorney on Wednesday morning.

They have been named as John Chapman, 56, and Lukasz Slaboszewski, 31, both from Peterborough.

The other two bodies were found by a member of the public at Thorney Dyke

The men were found four days after Kevin Lee, 48, was discovered with stab wounds in a ditch six miles away by the A16 at Newborough, north of Peterborough.

Mr Lee was last seen at 2pm on Good Friday and reported missing at 10.40pm after his Ford Mondeo was found burnt out near a farm in Yaxley, south of Peterborough, that night. His body was found on Saturday morning.

A spokesperson for Cambridgeshire police said the men found on Wednesday were in their 30s and 50s and that their deaths were being treated as murder.

Officers have arrested a 36-year-old man who has since been charged with perverting the course of justice, and a 47-year-old man and a 30-year-old woman are also in custody after being arrested in Hereford.

Meanwhile a 32-year-old man and a 23-year-old man who were arrested in connection with the murder of Mr Lee have now been released on bail.

In a statement to the public posted on YouTube, Detective Superintendent Jeff Hill said: "This inquiry is a priority for the force and we have a large team of detectives working on it.

"There will also be extra police officers out on patrol in the areas where the bodies were discovered. These events are naturally very concerning and local people are understandably shocked by what has happened.

The body of Mr Lee was found near Newborough, six miles from Thorney

"However, the deaths are being linked and treated as part of the same isolated incident over the Easter weekend.

"I would like to stress there is no on-going risk to the public."

A statement released by Mr Lee's family said: "We are devastated by Kevin's death. He was a wonderful husband, father, loving brother and son.

"His naturally infectious personality touched everyone who knew him. He will be hugely missed by all his friends and family. We are struggling to come to terms with our tragic loss and we ask that we are left alone to grieve in private."

Cambridgeshire police investigating Mr Lee's death have confirmed they are liaising with West Mercia detectives investigating the attempted murder of two people found with stab wounds in Hereford on Tuesday.

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Leeds Children's Heart Surgery Unit To Reopen

Children's heart surgery is to resume at Leeds General Infirmary.

Operations were suspended because of claims that the unit had a death rate double the average.

After the closure, Sir Bruce Keogh, the medical director of NHS England, said: "The trust has taken a highly responsible precautionary step.

Sir Bruce Keogh said the priority must be the safety of children

"It is absolutely right not to take any risks while these matters are being looked into. The priority must be the safety of children."

However, medical bodies and doctors questioned the accuracy of the data, which they say was unverified and not fit to base such a decision on.

Maggie Boyle, chief executive of the trust, said: "I am extremely confident that this service is safe and effective and should recommence at the earliest opportunity.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said he supported the decision to restart children's heart surgery at the infirmary, though he added it should be "safe and sustainable".

Parents had criticised the timing of the unit's suspension, which came 24 hours after a High Court judge ruled that a decision to close it as part of a reorganisation of services was "legally flawed".

But they also expressed relief that the unit was to reopen.

Jon Arnold's daughter Zoe had life-saving surgery at the unit when she was three weeks old.

He said: "There's been massive support from the parents and families for the unit, and this decision confirms what we thought about the quality of care all along.

"My daughter had fantastic care at the unit.

"It was difficult to understand as a parent how they could have shut the ward so swiftly on the basis of unverified data. It left parents feeling very confused about what to believe and what was best for their child."

But Anne Keatley-Clarke, chief executive of the Children's Heart Federation, said it was right to suspend surgery until doubts about safety could be addressed.

"There are a lot of families that are very worried there about what is going to happen with their children," she said.

She added that people were frightened about raising concerns about hospitals in the area while their children were still receiving care as they feared repercussions from the Trust and on social media.

"Once the unit is reopened then a lot of the families will have a lot of questions that need to be answered about the manner in which it closed," she said.

"The main thing is that babies and families that need urgent treatment can now get it on the unit without having to be shipped across the country to any available bed space."

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HMV Rescue Saves 141 Stores And 2,500 Jobs

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

HMV's future as a high street retailer has been salvaged in a £50m deal that secures 2,500 jobs on Britain's beleaguered high streets.

Hilco, a restructuring firm, confirmed on Friday morning that it had struck an agreement with Deloitte, the administrator to HMV, to rescue the retailer.

The deal, which was revealed exclusively by Sky News on Thursday night, will keep 141 shops open, including 25 which had already been earmarked for closure by Deloitte. All nine of the Fopp-branded shops are included in the transaction.

While that represents little more than half of HMV's UK stores that were open before it called in administrators in January, it represents a more optimistic outcome for the chain than many analysts had predicted.

Hilco acquired HMV's Canadian operations two years ago, since when the performance of the business has surpassed expectations.

Paul McGowan, Hilco chief executive, said the deal had the backing of key HMV suppliers and landlords.

He said: "We hope to replicate some of the success we have had in the Canadian market with the HMV Canada business which we acquired almost two years ago and which is now trading strongly.

"The structural differences in the markets and the higher level of competition in the UK will prove additional challenges for the UK business but we believe it has a successful future ahead of it."

Mr McGowan will become chairman of HMV, with two other Hilco executives taking key roles with the retailer.

HMV had been weighed down by a mountain of debt, allied to a combination of waning consumer confidence and intense pressure from supermarkets encroaching on its entertainment retailing turf, as well as the rapid rise of low-cost digital rivals.

Hilco said it would abandon a recently-introduced practice of selling tablets and other digital devices, using the space instead for an expanded music and visual entertainment range.

Ian Topping, one of the Hilco executives who will be involved in running HMV, said: "The reaction of the British public to the administration of HMV shows a strong desire for the business to continue to trade and we hope to play a constructive part in delivering that."

Hilco also confirmed that it would seek to re-establish a presence for HMV in Ireland.

Nick Edwards, joint administrator at Deloitte, said the deal "provides a solid financial footing on which the business can be taken forward".

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Petrol Sales Crash As Consumers Choose Diesel

Petrol sales have plummeted in the last five years, according to official figures, with retailers dispensing 5.4 billion fewer litres than five years ago.

In 2007, filling stations sold a total of 22.87 billion litres of petrol, the AA motoring group said.

But the latest Government figures revealed that last year, retailers dispensed 17.43 billion litres of petrol - a fall of almost 24%.

The combined sales of both petrol and diesel also fell over the period - by 9.3% to 34.16 billion litres in 2012.

The AA said that the total decrease was equivalent to 35 days of fuel sales being lost since the start of the credit crunch.

But diesel sales increased slightly over the last five years, in part due to companies buying the fuel directly from forecourts instead of storing it in depots, the AA said.

Sales of diesel rose from 14.8 billion litres in 2007 to 16.73 billion litres last year.

The organisation's president Edmund King said the increasing popularity of diesel cars and smaller vehicles had contributed to the overall decline in fuel sales.

Car registrations rise by 5.9%, with Vauxhall's Astra among the top sellers

"However, soaring pump prices have taken a huge toll on petrol sales more recently - during the 10p-a-litre price surges last March and October, pump sales of petrol fell by up to 5%," he added.

"The trouble is that, with global economic recovery, the stock market will predict greater oil and fuel demand and push up commodity values accordingly."

The AA said non-supermarket fuel retailers had been hardest hit by the sales slip, with petrol sales down 7.7% last year compared with 2011. Supermarkets saw a 0.6% decrease over the same period.

The RAC Foundation's director Professor Stephen Glaister warned that the UK's infrastructure could not cope with an increase in diesel's popularity.

"Our ageing refineries are not geared up to cope with growing demand for diesel and you can't just flick a switch to produce more," he said.

"Already we are a net importer of diesel and, if sales of diesel-powered cars continue to surge, our reliance on foreign imports will grow, especially if the economy recovers and mileage increases."

It comes as industry statistics revealed that new car registrations rose by 5.9% in March - the thirteenth consecutive month of growth.

Volumes were their highest since 2010 when the vehicle scrappage scheme was in place, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said.

Over 394,806 cars were registered in March, with sales of the mini and SUV vehicle types growing especially strongly.

The figures take registrations over the first quarter of the year to 605,198 units - an increase of 7.4%.

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William And Kate On Two-Day Trip To Scotland

By Paul Harrison, Royal Correspondent

Prince William will make a 'Skype' video web call to two homeless Scottish people in the Netherlands when he and the Duchess of Cambridge visit Glasgow later.

William will chat on-line to Dylan Howie and Lyn Buchan who are taking part in an exchange programme run by the Glasgow-based project for rough sleepers.

"It's just amazing that I will get a chance to speak to the Duke of Cambridge. It's brilliant, I'm very excited," said Mr Howie, who first stayed at the Stopover project in 2011 when he was just 16.

"The past year has been really tough for me - but since coming to Quarriers' Stopover my life has been turned around."

The homeless pair from Glasgow are on a work experience placement in the Dutch town of Papendrecht as part of the charity's initiative run with Dutch partner Werkcenter.

The Duke has long had a keen interest in tackling homelessness and is patron of Centrepoint, a charity that has been providing support and care for rough sleepers for decades.

Kate is pregnant with the couple's first child

The two-day trip by William and Kate, who is now nearly six months pregnant, will see also see them visit Dumfries House, where they will team up with Prince Charles, and BAE systems in Barrow-in-Furness.

Today in Glasgow the couple will also tour Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome to see cyclists training, as well as watching netball, athletics and badminton demonstrations.

At the Donald Dewar Leisure Centre in Drumchapel the couple will launch a new Scottish pilot project for their foundation, which aims to inspire and train the next generation of young sports coaches.

When in Scotland William and Kate are known as the Earl and Countess of Strathearn, titles given to them by the Queen to mark their marriage.

North of the border Prince Charles is also known under a different title: the Duke of Rothesay.

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Stockton House Fire: Investigation As Two Die

An elderly couple have been killed in a house fire in Carlton near Stockton-on-Tees, emergency workers have said.

The man and woman, understood to be 90 and 88-years-old respectively, died when the fire ripped through a property on Thorpe Road. The road was closed off and an investigation is under way.

The woman is said to have been bed-bound but the man, who virtually acted as her carer, was quite active. They were well-known in the village and the man often seen by locals on his bicycle.

The house faces The Smiths Arms pub. A worker there, who declined to be named, said: "I did video it.

"It was something big, there were lots of units here. It is right opposite the pub.

"It was about 5am, just before dawn."

Cleveland Fire Brigade said: "It was a severe fire in which there were two fatalities.

"Five appliances attended, from Stockton, Thornaby and Middlesbrough Stations.

"Crews left the scene at approximately 8.45am. There will now be a joint investigation between the fire brigade and police."

Cleveland Police said the the fire was reported to them at 5.05am and their investigation was in its very early stages.

At the moment officers do not believe the fire was started under suspicious circumstances.

Pensioner Joan Richardson, who lives near the property, said the community would pull together.

She said: "Everybody is quite shocked.

"You don't expect this in a small rural village. It is a very friendly village, everybody speaks to everybody, it is a good community.

"Everbody will pull together whatever the circumstances.

"People are very caring, it's a very good young community, there is a good cross section.

"I am amazed I didn't hear it it."

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