Online Giant Amazon Launches Fresh Food Offer

Amazon has launched fresh food deliveries in the UK in the latest threat to Britain's embattled major supermarket chains.

The long-anticipated move will see AmazonFresh products made available in parts of London to members of the online retailer's Prime subscription service - for additional charges.

It sees the US giant take on a crowded grocery sector where major players Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons are already engaged in a fierce price war as they try to face down the threat from discounters Aldi and Lidl.

Specialist delivery firm Ocado is also part of the battle.

They are competing over a market that is expected to nearly double in size to £17bn by 2020.

Amazon's offer includes fresh and frozen products from Morrisons, after it struck a wholesale deal with the supermarket earlier this year, as well as products from major brands such as Coca-Cola, Kellogg's, Danone, Warburtons and Walkers.

Ajay Kavan, vice president of AmazonFresh, said: "We are launching with a comprehensive offer in a limited area and will take our time to hone and improve our service."

The launch comes a day after Sainsbury's reported falling sales in its latest financial quarter, although it said online sales were up 8% as it introduced a new app.

Sainsbury's has already moved to square up to Amazon in the wider retail space as it looks to complete a £1.4bn takeover of Argos owner Home Retail Group.

Amazon launched a fresh food offering in the US in 2007 and has offered some food and drink items to British customers since 2010.

Members of Amazon Prime in the UK pay an annual subscription of £79.

They can sign up for a 30-day trial of AmazonFresh and will then pay £6.99 per month for the service, with unlimited deliveries for orders of above £40.

Flood-Prone Areas Facing 'Unacceptable Risk'

Government ministers are under attack from MPs who believe they are failing to address the threat of further floods.

The warning comes in a report which claims that flood defences are getting worse because of a lack of investment and that the country is still without a proper plan for dealing with future damage.

A cross-party group of MPs also accuses the Government of leaving vulnerable communities at the mercy of a short-term approach to climate change.

Sue Procter lost £50,000 worth of stock from her Lancashire garden centre

The parliamentary Environmental Audit committee says there is a lack of long-term planning with spending on defences fluctuating from year-to-year.

Its chairwoman Mary Creagh said: "Flooding is the greatest risk that the UK faces from climate change. 

"Our committee was concerned to see that the Government approach to funding is stop-start.

"That leads to inefficient flood defences, it means that the state of the flood defences we already have can fall into disrepair and that presents an unacceptable risk for flood-prone communities.

"For people living in flood risk areas this is a matter of life and limb."

The committee says the Government is reacting to events rather than preparing for them properly - and believes local authorities are not receiving the support they need to help soften the impact of flooding.

The findings have been supported by property and business owners affected by the winter floods that resulted in a £1.3bn bill.

Sue Procter, who lost £50,000 worth of stock from her garden centre at Read near Clitheroe in Lancashire, told Sky News: "I stood there and thought we are finished. I've no more money to put into this place, everything was in."

Mrs Procter said she had been offered a £9,000 grant towards flood defences on the river running alongside her business but had also received a building quote of £20,000 which she could not afford to pay.

She says short-term Government fixes are no longer the answer.

"They (the Government) should have a long-term plan.

"It is no good showing up when everybody is flooded and we are all in need ... because further down the line we have not got anything.

"We can't even get insurance."

Peter Box, environment spokesman for the Local Government Association, said that councils were doing all they could to protect communities and reduce the risks of flooding.

A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: "Our six-year capital investment programme for flood defences will bring an end to year-on-year fluctuations in spending so communities can have certainty in future funding.

"Our National Flood Resilience Review will be published shortly, delivering immediate actions to better-protect communities ahead of this winter.

"This will be followed by our 25-year environment plan later this year setting out a new approach to managing our rivers across whole catchments, keeping homes, businesses and infrastructure safer from flooding."

Al-Shabab claims killing 43 soldiers at Ethiopian base

Somali rebel group al-Shabab said it has killed 43 soldiers in an attack on a base of Ethiopian troops serving with the African Union's AMISOM force in the Horn of Africa nation.

"Our fighters stormed the Halgan base of AMISOM ... We killed 43 AU soldiers from Ethiopia in the fighting," al-Shabab's military operations spokesperson Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab told Reuters news agency after Thursday's attack, adding "several" of its fighters had also been killed without giving a figure.

"It was a huge blast. It destroyed the gate and parts of the base," he added.

The base at Halgan town lies in a region of central Somalia about 300km north of the capital Mogadishu.

An AMISOM spokesperson had no immediate comment.

Residents said they heard a huge explosion at the base and a heavy exchange of gunfire shortly before dawn.

Residents said they heard a huge explosion at the base and a heavy exchange of gunfire shortly before dawn.

The group often launches gun and bomb attacks on officials, Somali security forces and AMISOM in an effort to topple the Western-backed government and impose its own strict interpretation of Islam on Somalia.

In January, Kenyan troops serving with AMISOM suffered heavy losses when al-Shabab made a dawn raid on their camp in El Adde, near the Kenyan border. Al-Shabab said it killed more than 100 soldiers but Kenya gave no exact casualty figure.

Massive Sinkhole Shuts Busy Canadian Street

A large sinkhole has shut down part of the Canadian capital, Ottawa.

A number of buildings were evacuated and traffic diverted after the massive hole opened up in a busy area of downtown Ottawa, just a few streets from the Canadian parliament.

There are no reports of injuries or missing people, however, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation showed footage of a van parked on the side of the road falling into the hole.

Officials said buildings, including a shopping centre and a book shop, remain closed after the smell of gas was reported.

Witness Tom Herlihy said: "I heard the initial rush of air as the gas line erupted and started shooting the high pressure gas into the air ... then immediately thereafter we heard the police sirens and the fire trucks and even Hydro (Hydro Electricity) showing up to clear the area."

All leaks have since been contained.

Water, which could be seen gushing inside the sinkhole at one point, has also been shut off, while power remains out in the area.

The road collapse occurred at Rideau Street and Sussex Drive, which has been under construction for Ottawa's new light-rail transit (LRT) system.

City officials say it is too early to say if the work was related to the sinkhole's appearance

"It's premature at this point to make the connection to LRT, although that could very well be the possibility," Mayor Jim Watson told a news conference.

It is the second sinkhole to open up in downtown Ottawa in as many years.

Sheeran Sued For 'Copying' X Factor Winner's Song

Singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran is facing a $20m (£13.8m) lawsuit for allegedly copying a song released by X Factor winner Matt Cardle.

The songwriters behind Cardle's 2011 single Amazing claim Sheeran "exploited" their work on a "breathtaking scale" for his 2015 hit Photograph.

The copyright infringement lawsuit, filed in California by Martin Harrington and Thomas Leonard, alleges Photograph has the same musical composition as Amazing, which in some instances amounts to "note-for-note copying".

Photograph has sold more than 3.5 million copies worldwide and features prominently in romantic drama movie Me Before You, which was released last week, according to the lawsuit. It has also had a whopping 208 million YouTube views.

Amazing, on the other hand, reached No 84 in the UK charts and had just one million YouTube hits.

Mr Harrington and Mr Leonard are seeking a jury trial, damages in excess of $20m and royalties from the song.

Other named defendants include Snow Patrol's Johnny McDaid, credited as a co-writer of Photograph, units of Sony/ATV Music Publishing, Warner Music Group and its subsidiary, Atlantic Recording Corporation.

According to the lawsuit, Photograph shares 39 identical notes with Amazing.

 It also points to a similarity of "words, vocal style, vocal melody, melody, and rhythm".

The complaint reads: "... Sheeran and McDaid, the credited writers of the international hit song Photograph, among others, copied, and exploited, without authorisation or credit, the work of other active, professional songwriters, on a breathtaking scale, unabashedly taking credit for the work of these songwriters by claiming it to be their own.

"This copying is, in many instances, verbatim, note-for-note copying, makes up nearly one half of Photograph, and raises this case to the unusual level of strikingly similar copying.

"While Sheeran, McDaid, and the other Defendants received career-defining accolades, awards, and a fortune for Photograph, the true writers of much of Photograph received nothing..."

Grammy-winning Sheeran, 25 is one of the UK's top-selling artists. He has written and co-written tracks for artists such as One Direction, Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber.

The lawsuit comes after the family of late soul singer Marvin Gaye won a $7.4m copyright infringement lawsuit against Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams over their hit song Blurred Lines.

Libyan Soldiers Battle To Retake City From IS

Libyan forces have advanced deep inside the coastal city of Sirte - the stronghold of Islamic State's local affiliate, an army spokesman has said.

Soldiers loyal to the country's UN-brokered government of national accord are believed to be just three miles from the city centre.

They have already seized a major bridge in Sirte which extremists have used for hanging the bodies of their enemies, as well as at least two military camps.

However, fighting on Wednesday has killed at least six Libyan soldiers and wounded 30 more, according to local hospitals.

Sirte is strategically important to Islamic State, as it is the only city the self-styled caliphate holds outside of Syria and Iraq.

The Libyan forces in Sirte have reportedly encountered little resistance from IS fighters in recent days, but roadside bombs have been a threat.

Their advance has been supported by warplanes which have bombed IS positions and booby-trapped trucks left behind by the terror group's fighters.

An anonymous official has said soldiers are now planning to close in on the organisation's headquarters.

Islamic State has also encountered growing resistance in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, as well as the provinces of Aleppo and Raqqa in northern Syria.

The government of national accord is backed by Western powers who believe it has the best chance of defeating IS in Libya

Poll: Scots Would Reject Independence Again

A new opinion poll has found that a majority of Scots would reject Scottish independence, even if the UK votes to leave the European Union.

TNS surveyed over 18s with regard to the scenario of Britain leaving the EU, prompting another referendum on Scottish independence. 

The research found that 48% would vote 'No' to independence, 38% would vote 'Yes' and 14% didn't know.  

If the 'don’t knows' were removed, the poll would stand at 56% 'No' against 44% 'Yes' - almost identical to the 2014 referendum which returned a result of 55% versus 45%. 

Under 18s were not included in the survey. 

In the Scottish independence referendum, in September 2014, 16 and 17-year-olds were able to vote.

The research also found more than half of Scottish adults - 51% - back staying in the European Union, up 3% since the last similar TNS survey in April.

There was no change in the number saying they will vote to leave at 21%, while 29% said they did not know (down 2%).

If the ‘don’t knows’ are removed, the survey suggests 71% will vote to remain and 29% to leave.

The survey found that 71% of Scots said they were "certain to vote".   

Tom Costley, head of TNS Scotland said: "The level of support for the EU in Scotland has shown little change over the last few months and it looks likely that Scotland will vote to remain on 23 June.

"There is still the potential for a high turnout, suggesting that the Scottish public can see the importance of this decision. 

"The SNP has said that a UK vote to leave the EU could trigger a new referendum on Independence.

"However, on the basis of this latest poll it would appear that appetite for such a move is mostly limited to those who back independence rather than being shared by the public as a whole. 

"There is also little evidence that opinion towards independence has shifted significantly since September 2014, with support for a Yes vote, even in these circumstances, well below the 60% level that First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has indicated she would be looking for before calling another vote." 

In the survey, people were also asked whether or not they thought there should be a new independence referendum in the event of a Brexit. 

In these circumstances, 43% backed a new referendum, 46% did not and 10% didn’t know. 

The highest support for a new referendum was among Yes voters (87%), compared to only 13% amongst No voters.