MEREDITH: KNOX TO FIGHT EXTRADITION
Amanda Knox said she will only be extradited to Italy “kicking and screaming”, after judges reinstated her murder conviction for the death of British student Meredith Kercher.
Knox, who stayed in her native America for the trial, was sentenced to 28 years and six months and her former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito jailed for 25 years.
It is not clear whether Knox, 26, will be expected to return to Italy to serve her jail term, but in a pre-recorded interview for BBC’s Newsnight, she said: “I’m not willingly going back, no.”
REGIONS BRACED FOR MORE FLOOD WOES
Communities across Somerset face fresh misery this weekend as they brace themselves for yet more rain and potential flooding.
A combination of rain, high tides and strong winds means there is a “strong risk” of flooding in coastal areas.
The Environment Agency (EA) has flood warnings in place across the whole of England and Wales, while the Met Office has issued its own warnings of heavy rain and high winds of up to 60mph for many southern and western areas until tomorrow.
NO SIGN OF LIVING STANDARD RECOVERY
Living standards are unlikely to have recovered to their pre-crash levels by the time of next year’s general election, a leading economic think tank has warned.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said that while the fall in household incomes has now probably come to a halt, living standards are still “dramatically” down on what they were before the global financial crisis hit in 2008.
In its latest analysis, the IFS said families on low incomes could turn out to be the biggest losers of the recession years, with the prospect of fresh cuts to benefits and tax credits adding to the squeeze on living standards for the least well off.
DEWANI EXTRADITION CASE RULING DUE
Honeymoon murder suspect Shrien Dewani finds out the result today of his latest legal bid to block his extradition to South Africa until he is fit to stand trial.
Dewani, from Bristol, is fighting removal from the UK to face proceedings over wife Anni’s death until he has recovered from mental health problems, including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
A panel of three judges, headed by the Lord Chief Justice Lord Thomas, will announce a decision in his case which follows a hearing at the High Court in London last year.
GENDER GAP AS UNI APPLICATIONS RISE
Rising numbers of would-be students have submitted applications to go to university this year, but men are still far less likely to apply than women, official figures show.
Young men are becoming a disadvantaged group when it comes to studying for a degree and urgent attention needs to be paid to the problem, according to Ucas.
Within the next decade, the gulf between the numbers of men and women going into higher education could eclipse the gap between the numbers of rich and poor students studying at university, Ucas chief executive Mary Curnock Cook suggested.
LABOUR ’WOULD BORROW £166BN MORE’
Labour would be able to borrow £166 billion more than the coalition is planning under Ed Balls’s new tax and spending rules, the Liberal Democrats have claimed.
A Treasury analysis of the shadow chancellor’s fiscal rule, released by Lib Dem Treasury Chief Secretary Danny Alexander, suggested a Labour government would still be borrowing billions when the public finances would be back in balance under coalition plans.
But Labour said it was based on “made up numbers plucked out of the air”.
’POSTCODE LOTTERY’ FOR RAPE CASES
A postcode lottery in the way rape cases are handled by police has been highlighted by figures showing wide variations between forces across England and Wales, it is claimed.
Differences in the rate of recorded rapes, charges or cautions for the offence and records later declassified as a “no-crime” incident have raised fears of a “culture of disbelief” among some of the 43 forces covered by the data.
Among key contrasts, Northamptonshire Police had the highest rate of recorded rape at 34.8 per 100,000 adults in the year to March 2013, while Durham Police had the lowest at 9.8 per 100,000 adults. The average is 22 rapes recorded per 100,000 adults.
MADELEINE: ’YARD TEAM SEEKS SEARCH’
British police searching for missing Madeleine McCann want their Portuguese counterparts to search the homes and examine the bank accounts of three former employees of the resort where she vanished, it is reported.
Detectives from both countries are running their own investigations and a team from Scotland Yard made the request during meetings with Policia Judiciaria after flying to Portugal this week.
Police are keen to investigate the trio, who are believed to have been working at the Ocean Club complex in Praia da Luz where the McCanns were staying in 2007, the Daily Mirror said.
ACTRESS MILLER SET TO GIVE EVIDENCE
The actress Sienna Miller will give evidence in the hacking trial today.
Miller is due to speak via video link from the United States for up to two hours, the Old Bailey jury has been told.
The Layer Cake star was the subject of a story allegedly produced with help from the “dark arts” of hacking at the News of the World in 2006.
WARNING OVER GOVERNMENT FORECASTS
The taxpayer is losing large sums of money because Government forecasts for the impact of policies are faulty or too optimistic, auditors have warned.
Predictions are too often based on “unrealistic assumptions driven by policy agendas”, leading to cost overruns, delays and poor implementation.
Examples highlighted by the National Audit Office (NAO) included:
:: Communities and Local Government being forced to add £80 million to the budget for its mortgage rescue scheme after being flooded with applications from struggling homeowners.
