Saturday, 9 August 2014

RAIN AND HIGH WIND SET TO BATTER UK


Remnants of Hurricane Bertha to batter UK with rain and high winds
A driver was trapped in his car for more than an hour because of flooding in Cambridgeshire on Friday

High winds and heavy rain are expected to lash much of the UK as remnants of what was Hurricane Bertha reach the country early on Sunday.

The stormy weather is expected to hit southern England first, before heading north and battering Scotland on Sunday evening and into Monday.

The Met Office has issued a yellow "be aware" warning for some regions.

The Environment Agency urged holidaymakers to check flood warnings before setting off in their cars.

Hurricane Bertha hit Caribbean islands on Monday before dissipating over the central Atlantic.
Homes in Cambridgeshire were flooded after heavy rain

The storm heading towards the UK is a low-pressure system which has picked up moisture and energy left over from Bertha.

Rain had begun arriving in Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and Wales on Saturday evening ahead of the forecast storms, BBC Weather said.

Parts of the country are expected to see between half an inch and an inch of rain on Sunday.

Wind gusts of 30-40 mph are expected inland and could reach 40-50 mph in coastal areas.

The Red Cross has mobilised hundreds of volunteers who are on stand-by amid fears that people will need to be evacuated from their homes.

Flash floods

Yacht race organisers have re-routed the course of the Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race, which starts in Cowes on the Isle of Wight on Sunday, to try to avoid the worst of the bad weather.

The Royal Racing Club said it had decided to reverse the course and sail anticlockwise.

In a statement, the club said it hoped the move would "provide a more enjoyable race for all the yachts in the fleet".

Craig Woolhouse, the Environment Agency's flood risk manager, said the heavy rain on Sunday could cause flooding in some areas.
Rescue crews tried to restart cars which had stalled in the floods

He said: "On Sunday and Monday a combination of high spring tides and strong westerly winds brings a risk of large waves and spray and possible flooding to the south-west coast of England and along the Severn estuary.

"If you're travelling to or from holiday then check your flood risk before setting off and don't drive through flood waters."
More than a month's worth of rain fell in some areas

As the storm moved northwards, southern England would be left with brighter, showery weather later on Sunday, a BBC Weather spokeswoman said.

On Friday night, flash floods hit parts of eastern England, causing power cuts; a number of homes had to be evacuated.

Power cuts

In some parts of Britain, more than a month's rain fell, while the Red Cross said it was "on standby" to help anyone affected by the deluge.

Fire crews in Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire worked through the night to pump water out of homes.

Power cuts hit 1,400 properties, but most were reconnected by 02:00 BST on Saturday morning.

A spokeswoman for BBC Weather said the conditions were not atypical for the time of year, but could prove a shock coming after a lengthy spell of warm weather.

Environment minister George Eustice said: "We are working closely with the Flood Forecasting Centre, the Environment Agency, local authorities and emergency services to ensure we are prepared for any potential flooding this weekend."

The regions affected by the yellow weather warnings are: Central, Tayside & Fife, East Midlands, East of England, Grampian, Highlands & Eilean Siar, London & South East England, North East England, North West England, Northern Ireland, Orkney & Shetland, SW Scotland, Lothian Borders, South West England, Strathclyde, Wales, West Midlands, Yorkshire & Humber.

RAPIST CAUGHT BY DNA SCRAP


Peter Carroll jailed for 15 years for 1996 Norwich rape
The trial in June was told Peter Carroll fantasised about having sex with a dead or unconscious woman

A man found guilty of raping and attacking a woman 18 years ago, after being identified from a scrap of DNA, has been jailed for 15 years.

Peter Carroll, 56, choked a woman almost to death after picking her up while she was working as a prostitute in Norwich in 1996.

In June, a jury found Carroll guilty of rape and attempting to cause grievous bodily harm.

Carroll, of Aylesbury, was jailed by a judge at Norwich Crown Court.

Judge Stephen Holt said Carroll would only be considered for parole after 10 years and if given parole he would spend 10 years on licence (a five-year extension on normal parole).

DNA sampleThe victim, who was 20 at the time, was left for dead, the trial jury heard in June.

In her effort to fight off her attacker, a "small amount" of Carroll's skin became lodged under her fingernail and that was kept on file by police.

Carroll, of Barnsbury Avenue, Aylesbury, who had previously lived in Beccles, Norfolk, where he worked as a Hotpoint engineer, was arrested years later for an unrelated assault and a DNA sample was taken.

Last year police re-examining the case linked him to the 1996 offence.

Carroll had claimed he acted in self defence when the woman attacked him.

John Farmer, prosecuting, said Carroll had a "deviant sexual obsession" with the idea of having sex with a dead or unconscious woman.

He added that Carroll had been married three times and would speak openly about his use of prostitutes.

THREE YEAR OLD GIRL DIES IN BUS COLLISION


The road was closed for four hours after the accident

A three-year-old girl has died after being hit by a bus in Luton.

Mayah Shazad was struck by the bus on Dunstable Road in the town's Bury Park area at about 15:45 BST on Friday, Bedfordshire Police said.

The road was closed for more than four hours while officers investigated the scene. Police are appealing for people to come forward with any information.

Buses will not currently run along the Dunstable Road route and will use Dallow Road and Hatters Way instead.

"The girl's family are being supported by family liaison officers who are keeping them in touch with developments," said Bedfordshire Police.

"Our condolences are with them at this time."

CRISIS IN UKRAINE: ARMY CLOSES IN ON DONETSK REBELS

 Civilians have been taking refuge in bomb shelters in Donetsk

Ukrainian government forces are poised to take a key town in the east, which would divide the last two major pro-Russian rebel groups, reports say.

A rebel commander was quoted as saying Krasnyi Luch, a town between the two rebel strongholds of Luhansk and Donetsk, had been captured by the army.

Other rebels later said they would be willing to accept a ceasefire.

Some 1,500 people are believed to have died since the conflict began in April, when rebels stormed cities in the east.

The government stepped up operations to retake rebel-held areas following the election of Petro Poroshenko as president in June.

'Completely encircled'

Rebel commander Igor Girkin was quoted by Russian media as saying that Krasnyi Luch had been "captured" after Cossacks defending the town "ran away".

A small detachment of rebels, he said, was still holding out in the town, which connects the city of Donetsk with Ukraine's Luhansk region on the Russian border.

Girkin, who is also known as Strelkov, said his men in the Donetsk region were "completely encircled".

Ukrainian security spokesman Andriy Lysenko said he could not confirm that government forces had taken Krasnyi Luch.

Aleksandr Zakharchenko, the newly installed political leader of the rebels in Donetsk, was later quoted by the AP news agency as saying he would accept a ceasefire.
The Ukrainian military has been closing in on Donetsk city
People in Donetsk have been trying to secure their houses in case the conflict gets too close

Meanwhile, in the city of Luhansk, second only to Donetsk in its importance to the rebels, there are fears of a humanitarian disaster.

The city council reported on its website (in Russian) on Saturday that the city of 425,000 people had been without electricity and power for a week. Mobile phones and land lines were not working, it said.

Parts of the city were still being bombarded and most shops were shut, although bakeries and some chemist's shops remained opened, it added, quoting residents.

Western government accuse Russia or arming the rebels, a claim the government in Moscow denies.

In the latest violence, the Ukrainian government says 13 soldiers were killed on Friday.

A civilian was killed in Donetsk on Saturday when a shell hit a street in the city's Kirovskyy district, the city's official authorities reported. Shells also hit the Petrovskyy district, they added.

In other developments
The Russian navy "expelled" a US submarine from its territorial waters in the Barents Sea on Thursday, a navy source told Russian media
Russia announced it was freeing five Ukrainian officers for "humanitarian reasons", a day after announcing their arrest for suspected war crimes in Ukraine
The authorities in the Ukrainian capital Kiev dismantled protest barriers erected during the winter in the city centre
The UK and US v not to use humanitarian assistance as a pretext for sending troops into the east

FINALLY GOSPEL SINGER SINACH TIES THE KNOT

Award winning gospel singer, Osinachi Kalu popularly known as Sinach tied the knot with her boo, Joseph, a Christ Embassy pastor in Ebonyi state on Saturday, June 21.

The traditional ceremony had friends and family members in attendance.

There was also a cultural dance group that entertained the crowd, who were cheering, screaming and clapping over the wonderful dance steps.

Osinachi and Joe would be having their white wedding ceremony on the 28th of June in Lagos.

According to report, Pastor Chris Oyakhilome would be joining the couple together himself.
Sinach is an award winning songwriter, worship leader, recording artist and a key member of the LoveWorld music team of Christ Embassy. She has written over 200 songs including All things are possible, Born to win, Fire in me, More of You, No failure with God, ‘This is your Season’, which won the Song of the Year award in 2008 and many others.

Check out photos from the wedding below:



Sinach and her husband



Sinach and Pastor Joe



Sinach and her hubby standing in front of the cake



Sinach posing



Sinach and her traditional dance group





Sinach and her mom



Sinach and her sister

Wishing the couple a happy married life!

WOMAN WHO HOSTS INTERNET CHATROOMS RAPE ARRANGEMENT JAILED FOR SIX YEARS


Joanne Berry was jailed after being found guilty at Maidstone Crown Court

A woman who used internet chatrooms to try to arrange for strangers to rape a former work colleague has been jailed for six years.

Joanne Berry, 30, from Grove Park, south-east London, said she liked role-play and invited men to act out violent "rape scenarios" with her.

But instead of giving her own address she gave that of the work colleague in Kent.

A judge said Berry may have held the victim responsible for losing her job.

One man tried to barge into the victim's home, but aborted the plan when he realised they had both been set up.

'Irrational vendetta'

Berry was convicted at an earlier hearing at Maidstone Crown Court of putting a person in fear of violence, assault with the intention of committing a sexual offence, common assault and attempting to cause a person to engage in sexual activity without consent.

"That (the victim) was not in fact raped or seriously sexually assaulted is entirely fortuitous” Judge David Griffith-Jones QC

Judge David Griffith-Jones QC said Berry had developed an "irrational vendetta" against the victim who had only shown kindness towards her.

She found a chatline through which she made contact with a man known in court as "DH", who gave evidence during the trial.

Eventually Berry persuaded DH to come to "her home", knock on the door and "rape" her, but she gave him the victim's address.

The judge said her behaviour was wicked and calculating.

"That (the victim) was not in fact raped or seriously sexually assaulted is entirely fortuitous," he said.

Part of a victim impact statement was read out at court. The woman described how the ordeal had left her suffering panic attacks.

She now refuses to sit out in the garden on her own because she fears men may force their way in and she panics when someone knocks on her door.