Warning After 'Speckled Rolex' Ecstasy Death

An urgent warning about a yellow ecstasy tablet known as "speckled rolex" has been issued after a man died at a house party in Northern Ireland.

Police said the victim was confirmed dead at a house in Twinbrook, Belfast, at around 7.40pm on Friday night.

His identity has not been released.

Four other men have been taken to hospital, where their condition is said to be stable.

The death has been linked with the drug and a post-mortem examination will be carried out later on Saturday.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) is appealing for anyone in possession of tablets to dispose of them immediately.

It comes after eight deaths in Belfast and Antrim earlier this year were linked to the taking of "green rolex" tablets, according to the Belfast Telegraph.

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Smacking Children Should Be Banned, Says Tsar

Parents should be banned from smacking their children, according to the Children's Commissioner for England.

Maggie Atkinson told The Independent it was her personal view that the law gives pets and adults more rights to be protected from violence than children.

Dr Atkinson said she favours a total ban on smacking, which would see parents face criminal action for corporal punishment.

Current rules make it illegal for a parent to smack a child if it leaves a bruise, but permit a lighter smack or "reasonable chastisement".

Dr Atkinson said: "Personally, having been a teacher, and never having had an issue where I'd need to use physical punishment, I believe we should move to ban it.

"Because in law you are forbidden from striking another adult, and from physically chastising your pets, but somehow there is a loophole around the fact that you can physically chastise your child."

She added: "It's a moral issue. The morals are that, taken to its extreme, physical chastisement is actually physical abuse and I have never understood where you can draw the line between one and the other."

Dr Atkinson, who has two adult step-children, said that despite her strong feelings about the issue, her office was not planning to fight for a ban next year.

She said in the current climate such a move would be "running up a blind alley".

Her comments are likely to re-open the debate about what constitutes "reasonable" punishment of children, the newspaper said.

Tottenham MP David Lammy said early last year that legislation surrounding the smacking of children needed to be relaxed so working-class parents could instil discipline in their homes without fearing prosecution.

He claimed that Labour's 2004 decision to tighten up the smacking law was partly to blame for last summer's riots, which erupted in his north London constituency.

The former education minister said: "Many of my constituents came up to me after the riots and blamed the Labour government, saying, 'You guys stopped us being able to smack our children.'

"I have to say when this was first raised with me I was pretty disparaging. But I started to listen.

"These parents are scared to smack their children and paranoid that social workers will get involved and take their children away."

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NatWest 'Hit By Fourth Online Banking Glitch'

NatWest has been hit by a cyberattack, leaving customers unable to access online accounts.

The bank's online banking service was disrupted after it was deliberately bombarded with internet traffic.   

Twitter users tweeted to say they could not access their bank accounts to pay bills or transfer money.

@TomGilchrist wrote: "Do other banks computer systems/services go down as much as NatWest? I assume not. Time to move banks I think."

@AleexReid tweeted: "Just joined Santander. Fed up with NatWest. Another computer failure tonight. #welldone."

A NatWest spokesperson said: "Due to a surge in internet traffic deliberately directed at the NatWest website, some of our customers experienced difficulties accessing our customer web sites this evening.

"This deliberate surge of traffic is commonly known as a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack.

"We have taken the appropriate action to restore the affected web sites. At no time was there any risk to customers. We apologise for the inconvenience caused."

At the beginning of December all of RBS and NatWest's systems went down for three hours on one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

The group chief executive Ross McEwan described that glitch as "unacceptable" and added: "For decades, RBS failed to invest properly in its systems.

"We need to put our customers' needs at the centre of all we do. It will take time, but we are investing heavily in building IT systems our customers can rely on."

RBS and NatWest also came under fire in March after a "hardware fault" meant customers were unable to use their online accounts or withdraw cash for several hours.

A major computer issue in June last year saw payments go awry, wages appear to go missing and home purchases and holidays interrupted for several weeks, costing the group £175m in compensation.

This latest problem is the fourth time in 18 months RBS and NatWest customers have reported problems with the banks' services.

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Millions Stress About Finances 'Every Day'

By Poppy Trowbridge, Consumer Affairs Correspondent

In the UK, 18.1 million people feel stressed about their finances every day, according to new research seen by Sky News.

Financial worries are even greater than concerns over health, or even job security, the data from MoneySuperMarket shows.

In a poll of 2,005 British adults, 19% said it is their current financial situation which is the main cause of stress, and a further 17% say it is their future financial situation.

Only 13% say they are most stressed out by their health, and 11% by their job.

Clare Francis, editor-in-chief at MoneySupermarket, said: "Anxiety about money is on the rise for many adults.

"We've experienced a difficult economic climate in 2013, with the cost of living rising, interest rates remaining low, rents remaining high, and wages remaining the same.

"Unfortunately, I expect that the New Year will be just as tough."

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's recently upgraded their estimates for UK growth to 1.4% this year and 2.4% next year, higher than its previous 0.8% and 1.5% forecasts.

Despite this, nearly 75% of those surveyed believe their money stress will get worse next year.

According to the research, 52% of adults said they frequently or occasionally worry about the state of their finances, with women worrying more than men.

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Weather: Ireland And UK Battered By Storms

Hurricane-speed gusts and driving rain have been lashing Britain and Ireland for the second time this week, with warnings of more flooding and trouble for travellers.

Just a few days after thousands of people's Christmas travel plans were ruined, the Met Office has issued another slew of severe weather warnings.

The Bognor Regis rail route was closed after this landslip at Ockley

Hundreds of flights and train journeys have been cancelled and diverted and tens of thousands of homes and businesses are without power.

Police are warning people to take "extreme caution" when driving in the ferocious conditions, which look set to calm over the next 24 hours.

The worst of the winds are hitting Ireland, Wales, the North and western Scotland, while rain falling on already soaked ground in the South East could bring more flooding misery.

In transport, Southeastern trains said it would not be running any services until further notice, while Virgin, East Coast and Southern trains also warned of travel disruption.

There are also no trains from Manchester Piccadilly to Manchester Airport, and between London's Victoria station and Gatwick Airport.

This landslip also blocked the line on the Brighton Main Line near Redhill

Dublin Airport is not allowing aircraft to leave due to the high winds.

A tweet from the airport said: "No flight departures so far this morning due to gale force winds blowing across both runways."

And Gatwick Airport said it had "additional teams of engineers, electrical staff and volunteers at the airport to minimise the risk of disruption".

Cheshire Police said many trees had been uprooted as gales swept across the county.

"Many trees down due to strong winds. We would ask all drivers to exercise extreme caution whilst driving tonight," the force tweeted.

The storm is forecast to spread east across the UK throughout the morning, with the worst-affected areas expected to be northern England and northern parts of Wales.

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Police and fire services across both the UK and Ireland have reported road closures because of uprooted trees.

The Environment Agency map showing flood warnings and alerts in the UK

The Met Office recorded a gust of wind in Aberdaron, in West Wales, of 109mph early this morning. General wind speeds were expected to be between 60mph and 80mph.

The Environment Agency (EA) is warning of more "significant disruption" across southern England.

A spokesperson for the agency said overnight rainfall was less than expected, with around 10mm falling in the south east.

A man removes items from his home after flooding in Tonbridge

The spokesperson added: "The levels are still peaking for rivers with bigger catchment areas, such as the Stour through Canterbury and Ashford and the River Medway, which runs through Maidstone."

Around 1,200 properties have been flooded so far, according to the EA, with 50 flood warnings and 150 flood alerts in place.

The highest ever water levels were recorded downstream of the Leigh Barrier, a large storage reservoir which protects Tonbridge in Kent from flooding.

According to ESB Networks, in Ireland, some 35,000 homes and businesses are understood to be without power with engineers dealing with hundreds of individual faults.

A man paddles his canoe past a flooded property in Yalding

Met Eireann imposed red alert warnings in the south and eastern parts, with Wexford, Galway, Mayo, Clare, Cork, Kerry and Waterford experiencing the worst of the stormy weather.

AA Roadwatch described driving conditions on Ireland's country roads as "treacherous" - and advised motorists to drive with extreme care.

Northern Ireland Electricity also said it had around 3,600 customers without power.

In England and Wales, some 13,500 homes had no electricity, according to the Energy Networks Association.

A downed tree in Toys Hill, Kent

Network Rail advises that routes need to be checked and tracks will need to be cleared of any fallen trees and any damage will need repaired before train services can start.

Robin Gisby, managing director of network operations at Network Rail, said: "Passengers have had a tough week of travelling and unfortunately that is likely to continue for at least another day.

"Thousands of railway workers have worked tirelessly over the holiday period to try and repair the significant damage caused by Monday's storm and will be called on again over the next 24 hours.

High waves caused by the winds off the Sussex coast. Pic: Steve Fullerton

"As ever, safety comes first, as we ensure routes are safe for passenger services leading to a delayed start-up in some regions."

More than 43,000 people were left without power following Monday night's storm and around 1,200 properties were flooded in England.

Sky News Weather Presenter Isobel Lang said: "If you're travelling today, there will be really squally, buffeting winds everywhere, trans-Pennine routes especially, it will be really bad today."

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Northern Ireland Dealing With Daily Bomb Threat

By David Blevins, Ireland Correspondent

Fifteen years after the Good Friday Agreement, the Army's bomb disposal officers in Northern Ireland are still dealing with more than one incident a day.

The senior police officer in charge of their deployment says he cannot afford to be complacent about the "severe" threat posed by dissident republican terrorists.

Drew Harris: 'We need expert assistance dealing with these incidents'

In an exclusive interview for Sky News, Assistant Chief Constable Drew Harris said: "Undoubtedly some of the devices show a degree of sophistication.

"I'd point towards the recent vehicle-borne bomb in the centre of Belfast, but also the attempt to murder a retired police officer. Now, those were sophisticated devices.

"Other devices are rudimentary in their construction, but equally as dangerous and life-threatening and that's why we need expert assistance and advice in dealing with these incidents."

Deborah McAleese, Crime Correspondent with the Belfast Telegraph, explained: "The dissidents believe that Northern Ireland is a failed state and that the only way to eradicate it is to keep Northern Ireland in a perpetual state of emergency.

"So they would like to bring Northern Ireland back to the 1970s and 80s where you had the Army on the streets and there was open warfare between themselves and loyalist groups."

The unit known as "the bomb squad" was first deployed in the 1970s and 23 bomb disposal specialists were killed in action during "The Troubles".

321 EOD (Explosives Ordinance Disposal) is the British Army's most decorated unit in peacetime with 200 awards, many for acts of bravery in Northern Ireland.

ACC Harris added: "In the middle part of the last decade, particularly the period from 2002 to 2007, we really thought we were closing a chapter and it was shocking then, the upsurge in terrorism and the murders that were associated with that.

321 EOD has collected 200 awards for acts of bravery in Northern Ireland

"And now, just this continuing steady beat of attacks and threat that is directed towards police officers and other members of society. It is surprising, indeed shocking, and very saddening in lots of ways."

There is no indication that Northern Ireland is sliding back towards the atrocities of the past, but bomb alerts reflect continuing strife in republican ranks.

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Sales: Shoppers Ready For More Bargain Hunting

Bargain-hungry shoppers are expected to spend nearly £3bn today on the second day of the post-Christmas sales.

The amount of money spent is predicted to be more than the estimated £2.7bn spent in shops and online on Boxing Day though bad weather is having an impact in some areas.

But while a devastating loss of trade over the crucial festive season could force some local shops out of business, many high streets unaffected by the storms are expected to see a repeat of some of the frenzied scenes witnessed on Thursday as shoppers queued for hours to get the best bargains.

A total of £2.22bn was projected to have been spent in stores on Thursday, up 5.7% on last year, according to the Centre for Retail Research (CRR).

Online shoppers spent £540m - a new daily record - on Boxing Day, up 15% on last year, IMRG, the internet retailers' association, said.

Many people queued from before dawn in London

Total spending on Friday could be even higher, with shops expected to take £2.57bn - up more than 7% on last year's £2.4bn on December 27.

Online sales are expected to peak £400m.

Thousands of people hit British high streets yesterday for the traditional Boxing Day sales, with international tourists out in force and spending big.

Many keen bargain-hunters started queuing before dawn to ensure they were first in line when the shops opened.

Shoppers are predicted to spend £2.5bn in the high street on Friday

Selfridges on Oxford Street in central London saw some of the largest queues.

As 3,500 shoppers surrounded the huge shopping emporium, it was apparent the queue was made up of people from all around the world - particularly from China.

The significant presence of international shoppers was confirmed by Global Blue tax-free shopping experts.

Shoppers from Qatar spend the most on average per transaction (£1,714) followed by those from the United Arab Emirates (£1,372).

But a spokesman said Chinese shoppers are the biggest spenders overall.

They spend £1,367 on average per transaction, but are more likely to return to the tills with more goods.

Selfridges celebrated its most successful ever first hour of trade, taking over £1.9m between 9am and 10am - up 16% compared with last year.

Harrods also kicked off its winter sale and offered mugs of hot chocolate, smoked salmon canapes and blankets to keep people warm in the queue.

Department store Liberty offered designer goods at a fraction of their usual price, while both Next and Marks & Spencer boasted discounts of up to 50% on sale items.

Bluewater in Kent predicted more than 800,000 people would come through its doors between Boxing Day and New Year's Eve.

More than 1.4 million shoppers are expected to spend a total of more than £50m in London's West End today.

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Walsall Christmas Fire: Woman Is Arrested

Police have arrested a woman on suspicion of murder after a man was killed in a house fire on Christmas Day.

The man, 58, died in the blaze in South Street Gardens, Caldmore, Walsall, at around 5.30pm on Wednesday.

He is yet to be formally identified and a post-mortem examination will take place in due course.

Detective Inspector Gary Plant, who is leading the inquiry, said: "We are keen to speak to anyone with information which may help our investigation.

"The man's family are being informed and are being supported by specially trained officers at this difficult time."

The unnamed woman, who is 57 years old, was arrested shortly after the fire. She is being held in custody.

Officers have been patrolling the area surrounding South Street Gardens to offer reassurance to residents following the incident.

Police have launched a murder inquiry and urge anyone with information to contact detectives from the Force Criminal Investigation Department at Bloxwich by dialling 101 or to speak to Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

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Fox Hunts To Ride Out For Boxing Day Meets

Thousands of supporters are expected to attend Boxing Day hunts across the UK today as a poll shows 80% of people remain opposed to hunting with dogs for sport.

Some 250 hunts will ride out on the biggest day of the hunting calendar, some following an artificial scent while others are expected to hunt foxes within the law.

Groups of hunt saboteurs are also expected to be out in force, monitoring hunts they believe will try to flout the law and hunt foxes illegally.

The poll suggests opinions on hunting are the same in urban and rural areas

The survey commissioned by animal welfare organisation The League Against Cruel Sports reveals 80% of the public think hunting should not be made legal again.

In October, David Cameron said he had "some sympathies" with farmers demanding the use of packs of hounds to flush out foxes if they threatened livestock. Once driven out, the foxes could be shot.

Downing Street suggested it might introduce a government motion to amend the 2004 ban on hunting by relaxing rules that say farmers can only use two dogs to hunt.

The Prime Minister's official spokesman said he was particularly worried about hill farmers who have suffered heavy losses of livestock that is threatening their livelihoods.

Joe Duckworth, chief executive of The League Against Cruel Sports, said: "Hunting is a sickeningly cruel blood sport, which, like us, the majority of the British public do not want brought back.

"Voting for repeal would be political suicide. We need to move forward as a nation, not backwards on matters of animal welfare."

The survey, carried out by Ipsos MORI, also suggests that on the issue of legalising fox hunting, there is no difference between people living in rural areas and those in urban areas.

Gavin Grant, chief executive of the RSPCA, which also commissioned the survey, said: "As a rural dweller I have always known that opposition to hunting with dogs has never been an issue of 'town versus country'. This poll proves it once and for all.

"The message to MPs is loud and clear. Hunting wild animals with dogs is unethical, inhumane and cruel."

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Abbas Khan: Funeral For Syria-Death Doctor

The funeral of British doctor Abbas Khan - who died in custody in Syria - is due to take place in London today.

Dr Khan was on the verge of being released when his family were told of his death by what the Syrian government calls suicide - but they say it was political murder.

The 32-year-old orthopaedic surgeon, from London, was captured in November last year in the Syrian city of Aleppo after travelling from Turkey to help victims of hospital bombings.

His death was announced on December 17.

Dr Khan's mother Fatima

Dr Khan's family released a statement via their solicitor Nabeel Sheikh, announcing plans for the funeral and burial.

He said: "Dr Abbas Khan's funeral prayer will take place at midday on Boxing Day at Regent's Park Mosque, London.

"Dr Khan will then be taken to Ilford, east London, to be laid to rest. Anyone who wishes to pay their respects is welcome to attend."

The doctor's mother Fatima denied claims made by Syrian deputy foreign minister Faisal Mekdad that her son killed himself.

The PM wrote a letter to Dr Khan's family

Earlier this month, the family revealed a letter in which the doctor expressed his optimism at being released and his hopes of being home in time for Christmas.

On Sunday, David Cameron wrote a letter to Dr Khan's mother, describing her son's death as an "appalling tragedy" and calling for those responsible to be held to account.

Dr Abbas leaves behind his wife Hanna, 30, son Abdullah, six, and daughter Rurayya, seven.

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