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A judge described a graffiti gang who caused £150,000 ($242,000) worth of damage in planned attacks on trains as “talented artists”, as he locked them up for a combined total of almost four years. Keiron Cummings, 21, Alex Rowe, 22, and Billy McColl, 17, targeted train and tube carriages across London in a three-year campaign described as vandalism on “an industrial scale”. The trio, who called themselves “SMT”, caused huge disruption to train services by spraying their tag onto carriages under cover of darkness. But Judge Henry Blacksell said the defendants had “got talent”, and that he would pass the...

The Church of England and Church in Wales will be banned in law from offering same-sex marriages, the government has announced. Other religious organisations will be able to "opt in" to holding ceremonies, Culture Secretary Maria Miller said. But she added that the Church of England and Church in Wales had "explicitly" stated strong opposition and would not be included. In her statement, Mrs Miller promised a "quadruple lock" to protect religious freedom, involving: No religious organisation or individual minister being compelled to marry same-sex couples or to permit this to happen on their premises Making it unlawful for religious...

'One of the last two survivors of the legendary Second World War 'Heroes of the Telemark' raid, which helped thwart Hitler's plans to build a Nazi nuclear bomb, has died aged 101. Just 31 at the time, Norwegian Birger Stromsheim was the oldest member of the team who successfully destroyed the hard water production facility at the Norsk Hydoelectric plant in Telemark, southern Norway. The raid, which is regarded as one of the most successful acts of sabotage in World War II, was also remarkable for the fact all the team managed to escape by cross country skiing 250 miles...

Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown has not uttered one word in Parliament for a year, it emerged today. Although he has kept his counsel in the House, Mr. Brown has been jet-setting around the world over the past 12 months. He has declared 28 trips abroad on the MPs’ register of interests—many of them linked to his humanitarian work. And since he left Downing Street in 2010, he has received £2 million ($3.2 million) in fees and expenses—all of which has been plowed back into his public and charitable activities. …

'For many families, The Snowman by Raymond Briggs has become as much a part of Christmas as mince pies. To mark the 30th anniversary of the film — featuring the iconic Walking In The Air flying sequence — the team behind it have made a sequel, The Snowman And The Snowdog, to be screened on Channel 4 on Christmas Eve. Here, we bring you an exclusive preview — without spoiling all the surprises — revealing the painstaking care that goes into every frame...'

LONDON — It’s the million-dollar question, and not only here in the U.K. Jacintha Saldana — one of the nurses taken in by the prank phone call to the hospital where Catherine, duchess of Cambridge, was being treated for acute morning sickness — killed herself early Friday. And we are all left scratching our heads. Why did she do it? Of course, the first thing we all wonder is about her mental stability. We’d all desperately like to believe that this hard-working mother of two, who commuted 140 miles to her day job, often working double shifts so that she...

At a recent meeting of German business and foreign-policy leaders, one participant summed up an anxiety that’s almost palpable here: “Europeans have a sense of being left alone. You Americans don’t understand how much we need you.” Europeans seem relieved that Barack Obama won reelection. (One German official wrote in an informal paper that his victory was “the best thing that could have happened to the U.S.”) But Europeans remain worried that the Obama administration’s famous “pivot” toward Asia will leave them abandoned at a time of severe internal economic and political trouble. But a big idea is taking shape...

A mother who beat her son to death for failing to learn the Koran by heart murdered him and burned his body to hide the evidence, a jury has found.Sara Ege, 33, treated her son Yaseen like a "dog," brutally beating him with a stick for failing to memorise religious texts. The seven-year-old died in July 2010 from internal injuries caused by three months of punishing beatings from his own mother. Ege accused her husband, Yousef, of being the real killer throughout her murder trial at Cardiff Crown Court. But he was cleared on Wednesday of failing to act to...

It comes after the organisation was mocked last month a ruling that led to a ban on claims that drinking water can prevent dehydration. Despite a long held belief that prunes, traditionally served with custard, are good for improving bowel function, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has ruled this is not the case. Its experts said there was "insufficient" evidence of a link between the dried plums and normal bowel function after looking at three studies of prune consumption. Sir Graham Watson MEP has now challenged an EU Commissioner to a prune-eating contest after his food safety committee ruled...

Private notice question on Syria Any use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government against its own people would be "abhorrent and universally condemned", Foreign Office Minister Baroness Warsi has said.***************************************Video att Website.

Republicans have attacked President Barack Obama’s consideration of Anna Wintour as America's next ambassador to Britain, with some claiming that the party’s Senators would move to block her appointment. Obama is believed to have placed Wintour, the editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine, on a shortlist of candidates to replace Louis Susman, who this week confirmed he was stepping down as US envoy to the Court of St. James. Conservative critics described the potential appointment of Wintour, whose only political experience is raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for Obama’s re-election campaign, as “ludicrous” and “a non-starter”. …

Hillary Clinton has called for an end to “unacceptable” violence in Northern Ireland as she visited the region amid a revival of sectarian tensions. The US Secretary of State said she was “distressed” to hear about a death threat to Naomi Long, the East Belfast MP, and the discovery of two unexploded bombs. … Mrs. Clinton landed in Belfast as part of four-day European trip, just hours after police seized an unexploded bomb from suspected Republican dissidents in Londonderry. A second device was found in a postbox. …

David Cameron has been warned that plans to let same-sex couples marry in churches will be “massacred” in the House of Lords and alienate grassroots Conservatives. Tory MPs and Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, have reacted with dismay after the Prime Minister said places of worship will be allowed to conduct same-sex weddings. The decision represents a major U-turn on the position set out in a formal Government consultation earlier this year which proposed a blanket ban. …

THE nurse who took a prank call from two Australian DJs asking about the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge has been found dead this morning. Tragic Jacintha Saldanha, 46, is believed to have committed suicide as police are not treating the death as suspicious. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were said to be “deeply saddened" by the death of Jacintha, described by the hospital as an "excellent nurse" who was "well respected and popular" with colleagues. DJs Mel Greig and Michael Christian made the prank call from Down Under, impersonating Prince Charles and the Queen to get information about Kate's...

In a sad and shocking twist, the nurse who works at the hospital where Kate Middleton was treated and who was reportedly duped by an Australian radio show has been found dead, and is suspected of killing herself. The Daily Mail reports that the nurse was found unconscious at an address near the hospital, King Edward VII Hospital in Paddington, London. She was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics. One source told the Mail that she appeared to have killed herself. In a statement from the hospital, the nurse has been named as Jacintha Saldanha. She was described as...

His Grace would like to congratulate the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on the announcement that they are expecting their first baby. Girl or boy, he or she is destined to ascend the Throne and reign over the United Kingdom (should it remain united) and the Dominions overseas. But His Grace is puzzled. Everywhere he turns he reads about a Royal baby. Even The Guardian talks of the couple 'expecting their first child', despite the Duchess being in the 'very early stages' of pregnancy. We are told that the couple 'are to be parents', and that this 'will be the...

A missionary Islamic sect has been denied permission to build a controversial mega-mosque with four times the capacity of St. Paul’s Cathedral, it was announced today. The Tablighi Jamaat group saw its plan to build the 9,000-capacity venue in West Ham, east London, rejected by members of Newham Borough Council at a planning meeting. If permission had been granted, Abbey Mills Mosque—also known as the Riverine Center—would have become one of the biggest Islamic centers in Britain and western Europe. …

Boris Johnson has condemned the government for urging eurozone countries to form closer economic links as he demanded a referendum on Britain’s relationship with the European Union. The Chancellor and Prime Minister believe it is essential that the 17 eurozone countries move towards closer union of their banking and fiscal policies. However, the Mayor of London said the Government was backing an “intellectually dishonest” and “anti-democratic” approach. …

A Christian couple facing a foster parenting ban because of their views on homosexuality were told by a court yesterday that gay rights ‘should take precedence’ over their religious beliefs. Owen and Eunice Johns heard that their values could conflict with the local authority’s duty to ‘safeguard and promote the welfare’ of those in foster care. The grandparents have already fostered 15 children and were praised by social workers as ‘kind and hospitable people’ who ‘respond sensitively’ to youngsters. ... The Pentecostal Christians, who have been carers since 1992, had applied to Derby City Council in 2007 to restart fostering...

Ann Clwyd broke down as she spoke about the final moments of Owen Roberts, who contracted pneumonia after being admitted.[Snip] She said her husband was squashed against the side of his bed, his lips dry, and cold from a fan that had been turned on for a patient in an adjacent bay. A light had been flicked on in the four-bed ward and someone shouted out “anybody for breakfast?” just moments before he died., Ms Clwyd said. She painted a picture of nurses who treated her husband with “coldness, resentment, indifference and even contempt"