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[JohnCenaFan28]

A manhunt involving more than 100 police officers is under way for a group of four "dangerous" masked men who shot dead the son of a village postmaster during a robbery.

Three men, armed with a handgun and a sledgehammer, blasted 29-year-old Craig Hodson-Walker in the chest during the raid at his parents' business in Fairfield, north Worcestershire. A fourth man drove the getaway vehicle.

His father Ken was shot in the leg as the men burst into Fairfield Post Office and Stores on Stourbridge Road. He is in a stable condition in hospital following surgery, police said.

More than 100 officers will continue searching the area to catch Mr Hodson-Walker's killers. The men, who were wearing balaclavas, escaped from the scene in a silver VW Golf which was found abandoned in a nearby road.

West Mercia Constabulary said the car was stolen from Solihull on New Year's Eve and had false number plates. Detectives said it was likely that the car had been caught in rush-hour traffic near the post office and urged anyone who saw the vehicle to contact them.

Detective Superintendent Jon Groves said the robbers should not be approached. He said: "I can assure you that we are determined to bring these offenders to justice as soon as possible."

Detectives are investigating whether the incident is linked to three or four robberies that have occurred in the Bromsgrove area over the past several months.

Neighbours revealed that Mr Hodson-Walker and his father Ken had fought off burglars who raided the shop more than a year ago. The pair's brave actions meant the robbers, who were not armed, escaped empty-handed, said villager Horace Lynton.

Mr Hodson-Walker's mother, Judy, 56, said the family was "devastated" by the loss of Craig Hodson-Walker. In a statement released by police, Mrs Hodson-Walker said: "We are devastated at the death of our beautiful boy who died protecting the people that he loved.

"We would like to thank people for their kind wishes and we ask that we are left alone to grieve in peace at this difficult time."

-Nova

[JohnCenaFan28]

Two British crewmen held hostage by pirates on a hijacked oil tanker have been freed after a £2 million ransom was reported to have been paid by the ship's owners.

The Sirius Star had been held by pirates for two months after being captured 420 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia last November. Saudi owners Vela International confirmed that the vessel and crew had been released.

Chief Engineer Peter French, from County Durham, and James Grady, from Renfrewshire, were among 25 people being held on the vessel near the coastal town of Haradhere

Vela President Saleh K'aki said: "We are very relieved to know that all the crew members are safe and I am glad to say that they are all in good health and high spirits. This has been a very trying time for them and certainly for their families. We are very happy to report to their families that they will be on their way home soon.

"Throughout this ordeal, our sole objective was the safe and timely release of the crew. That has been achieved today."

No-one at Vela International was available to confirm reports that the pirates released the ship after a canister containing the cash ransom was parachuted on to the deck of the vessel.

The pirates were reported to have originally demanded £16 million.

A spokesman for the Foreign Office said that the ship was now being escorted out to sea by helicopter. "We will be providing consular assistance to the two British men on board once they reach land."

Earlier a foreign news agency reported that five of the pirates drowned with their share of the ransom after leaving the supertanker.

A Somalian pirate said that a small boat carrying eight pirates capsized taking their share of the ransom with it. Only three people survived by swimming for several hours to the shore, he said.

-Nova

[JohnCenaFan28]

A 51-year-old man has been charged with murder after a burning body was found by the side of a motorway, police said.

Irshad Wali, of Crofton Road, Plaistow, east London, was due to appear at Stratford Magistrates' Court.

The Metropolitan Police took over the investigation from Warwickshire Police following the grisly discovery of the corpse on an embankment beside the M45 near Dunchurch, Rugby, Warwickshire, on December 30.

The victim's identity will not be released until all next of kin have been informed, police said.

Warwickshire Police launched an inquiry after the body was found at 1.30pm on December 30.

The investigation transferred to the Met Police on Thursday and an incident room has opened under DCI Simon Moring.

Detectives believe the victim was from east London and he was murdered there, before his body was taken to Warwickshire by car.

The body was then dumped on the eastbound embankment of the M45 and set on fire, the Met said. A post-mortem examination found he died of head and neck injuries.

Five other men were arrested in connection with the murder at a number of addresses in east London on Thursday.

Police said a 46-year-old man has been bailed to return to an east London police station on Tuesday. The remaining four were released without charge.

-Nova

[JohnCenaFan28]

Activists were planning Britain's biggest ever pro-Palestine demonstration as attacks continued in Gaza in defiance of a United Nations resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire.

Organisers predict more than 100,000 people will join a massive march through central London on Saturday in protest at Israel's attacks on the Gaza Strip.

Celebrities including musician Brian Eno and film star Juliet Stevenson are expected to join in the procession from Hyde Park to the Israeli embassy in Kensington.

Friday's air strikes by Israel's military hit more than 30 targets in Gaza, killing at least one child, while Hamas launched a barrage of rocket attacks on two cities in the Jewish state. The fresh waves of violence came as the UN called for an independent war crimes investigation into reports that Israeli soldiers shelled a house that they knew contained more than 100 Palestinians.

Fourteen of the 15 members of the UN's security council backed a resolution to stop the conflict, with the US abstaining.

After the vote Foreign Secretary David Miliband urged the international community to "turn the words into changes on the ground".

But there was little sign of this happening as official death tolls since the conflict started on December 27 reached 777 Palestinians and 13 Israelis.

Saturday's march will include rallies at the start and end addressed by speakers including Eno, Stevenson, former London mayor Ken Livingstone and Cherie Blair's half-sister Lauren Booth.

The organisers - principally Stop the War Coalition, the British Muslim Initiative and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign - said they hoped there would be no repeat of the ugly clashes with police that marred a demonstration in London last Saturday.

More than 100 people took part in a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Newcastle. Demonstrators carried placards reading "Stop Israel's War Crimes" and "The real terrorists - The British Labour Government" gathered at Grey's Monument in the city centre to call for an end to the fighting in Gaza.

-Nova

[JohnCenaFan28]

Israeli jets and ground troops continued to hammer Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip and Islamic militants fired barrages of rockets at southern Israeli cities, defying a United Nations resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire.

Gaza residents said warplanes attacked a disused Hamas security compound in the southern town of Khan Younis, a market in Beit Lahiya, near the strip's northern border with Israel and several buildings in and around Gaza City.

Flames and smoke could be seen rising into the sky but none of the sites was in use at the time and there were no reports of casualties. By dawn, ground troops were reported seen in Gaza City's outlying neighbourhoods, a little over a mile from the seafront Shati refugee camp, but still not entering built-up areas.

The Israeli prime minister's office said that the UN call was not practical and senior Cabinet ministers decided to press on with the offensive. Israel would stop only when it succeeded in ending rocket fire from the Hamas-ruled territory, the government said. Hopes that Friday's UN Security Council resolution would end Gaza's worst fighting in decades were further tempered by dismissive remarks from Hamas, angry that it was not consulted during exhaustive diplomatic efforts at the world body.

The foreign minister in the Western-backed government of President Mahmoud Abbas, which was driven out of Gaza by the rival Hamas in 2007, accused both Israel and Hamas of "total disrespect" regarding the UN resolution. Speaking at the UN headquarters in New York, Riad Malki said the security council should perhaps levy sanctions.

Israel launched a heavy air bombardment on December 27 in response to intensified rocket fire that has disrupted life in southern Israel. A week later, ground troops moved in, with artillery and tank fire that has contributed to a surge in civilian casualties that continued yesterday on Gaza's ruined streets.

The bodies of seven members of the Salha family, said by militants to have been killed earlier in an Israeli air strike on their house were displayed, wrapped in funeral shrouds and flags. Crowds in neat rows bowed in prayer in front of their bodies.

In a hospital in Beit Lahiya, which has been hit particularly hard, doctors treated a young girl whose left arm was torn off at the shoulder. She lay on a stretcher with a terrified expression on her face. Such scenes have triggered anger throughout the Islamic world and elsewhere. There have been daily protests in the Middle East and in Europe, where there also has been a rise in anti-Semitic attacks.

In Geneva, the top UN human rights official called for an independent investigation of possible war crimes in Gaza for an incident in which Palestinians said Israeli forces shelled a house, killing 30 people. Israel's military said it was not aware of the specific incident but would not have deliberately targeted the building.

More than 20 Palestinians had been reported to have been killed on Friday, pushing the death toll for the two-week conflict to around 780, according to Gaza health officials. They said at least half of those killed were civilians. Thirteen Israelis have been killed - four of them by militant rockets, the rest in battle in Gaza.

-Nova

[JohnCenaFan28]

Gordon Brown is ready to give the go-ahead to a third runway at Heathrow Airport, according to reports.

A decision on the controversial scheme, backed by business but opposed by environmentalists and many people living in west London, is expected within the coming days.

An announcement is tipped for the middle of next week, as long as it is approved by the Cabinet on Tuesday.

It follows months of speculation about whether the expansion of Heathrow would be approved.

More than 50 Labour MPs are opposed to it and Environment Secretary Hilary Benn has voiced reservations about the impact of the development.

The Conservatives are also opposed to the third runway, preferring an improvement to rail links instead.

But there is now growing media expectations that the Prime Minister is behind the scheme, backed by Business Secretary Lord Mandelson.

According to a newspaper report, the scheme will be approved, but with legally-binding commitments on pollution and noise.

The promise of a new high-speed rail link is also possible, to placate opponents.

A Downing Street spokeswoman referred inquiries to the Department for Transport (DfT) and a DfT spokeswoman said: "There isn't a date and neither has a decision been made."

-Nova

[JohnCenaFan28]

A man shot by police in response to a domestic disturbance is in a stable condition in hospital, doctors said.

The 44-year-old West Yorkshire man, named locally as Bartholomew "Baz" Buckley, was fired at with four live rounds and a Taser, investigators said.

He was hit in the arm and body and taken to Huddersfield Royal Infirmary before being transferred to Leeds General Infirmary, where he remains in the High Dependency Unit following surgery.

An Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) investigation into the incident has begun.

A spokesman for the IPCC said West Yorkshire Police received a 999 call at 12.09am on Friday from a woman who said a man was threatening her.

Firearms officers were deployed and five entered the house. A Taser was used by the officers before they fired their guns.

Police said a sword was recovered from the property, in Whinney Hill Park, Brighouse.

IPCC Commissioner for Yorkshire and Humberside Nicholas Long said: "Our investigation will examine all aspects of this incident from the decision to deploy firearms officers to the events in the house that resulted in the man receiving his injuries. Over the weekend our investigators and other experts will continue their work to build as full a picture as possible about the incident."

Friend Lee Wharfe, 42, said he had known Mr Buckley since the 1990s. "He was very placid, very calm, and very articulate and polite as well. He wanted to turn his life around, he had lost a lot of weight; both my girlfriend and I said he was looking better than he had done in years," he said.

He and his girlfriend watched as police surrounded Mr Buckley's home in the early hours of Friday morning.He said: "We heard a lot of banging and the sound of dogs barking so we went upstairs to look. There were three or four marked police cars, two or three unmarked ones, and two police vans. I found it very strange that there were so many there over a domestic call-out."

-Nova

[JohnCenaFan28]

Lloyds TSB has agreed to pay out £230 million after helping customers skirt US sanctions on business transactions with Sudan and Iran.

The bank admitted responsibility for criminal conduct based on court documents filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia.

The Justice Department said as early as 1995, Lloyds falsified wire transfers involving countries or individuals on the US sanctions list.

The bank was accused of deliberately removing customer information so wire transfers would pass undetected through filters at US financial institutions.

-Nova

[JohnCenaFan28]

A suspected violent criminal is on the run after he was sprung from a prison van by two accomplices armed with a shotgun.

Wayne Connor, 20, was snatched as he travelled to court from Feltham Young Offenders' Institution in west London.

Police said Connor escaped when two men wearing balaclavas smashed the driver's side window and threatened the officer with the gun.

They demanded the driver, who was accompanied by a second member of staff, release Connor from the rear of the six-cell van.

Connor was due to appear at Woolwich Crown Court alongside co-defendant Jason McInerney, 21, who also escaped from custody last year, and a third man.

The trio were due to face charges of racially-aggravated assault during a burglary in West Drayton, on August 4 last year. McInerney was recaptured several days later. He is not believed to have been in the van with Connor.

The Metropolitan Police have launched a huge manhunt involving a police helicopter, specialist search teams and dog handlers. Investigators sealed off several roads and removed the prisoner van on the back of a low-loader lorry for further forensic examination.

Witnesses said Connor was driven off in a dark blue car after the ambush in Bedfont Road, near Bedfont Lake, Feltham, at about 7.30am.

Speaking at the scene, Detective Inspector Alan Holford warned the public not to approach Connor or his accomplices. He said Connor, a traveller with connections in Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire, has a history of violence.

Mr Holford said: "Mr Connor and the men with him are known to use aliases and false documents. They used violence today and have access to weapons. We also know that Mr Connor and the men with him use hotels so we are appealing to staff in hotels to keep an eye out for him."

-Nova

[JohnCenaFan28]

Opposition MPs have warned that Britain's most vulnerable children are still being failed after the Government ordered an investigation following the deaths of seven youngsters.

Ministers launched a review of Doncaster Council's children's services department in response to "very serious" issues raised by an Ofsted inspection last month.

There are also concerns that seven children have died in the area since late 2004 in cases involving abuse or neglect.

Serious case reviews have been commissioned to find out what mistakes were made in each instance, although so far only three have been completed.

Children's Minister Beverley Hughes wrote to Doncaster Council to express concerns about the Ofsted report's finding that its provision for children was "inadequate".

She said she had instructed her officials to carry out a "thorough diagnostic review" of the local authority's children's services department.

The investigation will also look at "broader corporate issues" within the council.

Ms Hughes said in her letter: "It is crucial that the root causes of these failings are fully explored and that the capacity and capability of the council and its key partners to drive improvement in these areas is fully assessed."

The Ofsted inspectors criticised the high number of child protection cases in Doncaster not allocated to social workers. They also noted there had been a "sharp fall" in the number of looked-after children assigned to a social worker.

Doncaster Mayor Martin Winter insisted that nothing was more important to him than ensuring the protection of vulnerable people in his borough. But he admitted there was "still a long way to go" and said he was fully supportive of the Government-led review.

-Nova