Glasgow Shopkeeper Killer Given Life Sentence

A taxi driver has been sentenced to life with a minimum term of 27 years for the murder of Glasgow shopkeeper Asad Shah.

Tanveer Ahmed, 32, travelled from Yorkshire to confront Mr Shah about clips the shopkeeper had posted online which he said "disrespected the Prophet Muhammad".

Watching a clip featuring Mr Shah on his phone as he made his way to Glasgow, Ahmed was heard in a message saying: "Listen to this guy. Something needs to be done. It needs nipped in the bud."

He pulled out a knife and stabbed the 40-year-old at his store in Glasgow's Shawlands area on 24 March.

Asad Shah moved to Scotland from Pakistan to escape persecution

Ahmed, from Bradford, had pleaded guilty to the murder last month.

James Matthews, Sky News' Scotland Correspondent, said: "Inside court, a section of the public gallery was filled by supporters of Tanveer Ahmed.

"As he was led away from the dock he faced them, raised his hand on the air, and shouted in Arabic.

"One told Sky News he said: 'Muhammad is the prophet, he is the only one.' 

"They returned the sentiment, with a collective voice, as the killer was forced down stairs into the holding cells beneath court."

Mr Shah, described as "a pillar of the community", was a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community.

The court heard that Ahmadiyyas differ from other Muslims in their belief that the Prophet Muhammad was not the final Prophet.

Tanveer Ahmed will serve a minimum of 27 years

Mr Shah and his family had moved to Scotland from Pakistan in the 1990s to escape persecution

His final Facebook update offered Easter greetings "to my beloved Christian nation".

A statement released on behalf of Mr Shah's family said: "Asad's family have lost a peaceful, kind and loving brother, son and uncle who can never be replaced.

"Most of his family have now left or are in the process of leaving Scotland, a country they came to seek safety in."

Sentencing at the High Court in Glasgow, Judge Lady Rae said the killing was an "appalling display of merciless violence".

She said Ahmed had carried out a "brutal, barbaric, horrific crime", for which he had shown no remorse.

"You seem oblivious to the fact that you have devastated a family," Lady Rae told him.

She said she accepted that the crime was not the result of prejudice against the Ahmadiyya community but that it was religiously motivated.

The murder shocked the close-knit community in south Glasgow, where several vigils were held in Mr Shah's memory.

An online fundraising page for his family raised over £100,000.

Rafiq Hayat, of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association UK, said: "Mr Shah's only crime was to spread a message of love and compassion and the whole city paid tribute to him for his kindness and care.

"No matter how brutal the crime and how evil the ideology, the people of Glasgow and the UK have made clear that we will not let hate prevail." 

'Trump Would Be Most Reckless President Ever'

Fifty Republican national security experts have signed an open letter warning that Donald Trump "would be the most reckless president" in US history.

The group, which includes the former CIA director Michael Hayden, says Mr Trump "lacks the character, values and experience" to lead the country.

The letter states: "None of us will vote for Donald Trump."

It comes as a little-known former CIA counter-terrorism officer announced he is to run for president against Mr Trump.

Evan McMullin is reportedly being put forward as a third-party conservative alternative by Republicans disillusioned with their party's candidate for November's White House election.

Like Mr Trump, the 40-year-old Mormon has never held elected office, but unlike Mr Trump he is completely unknown to American voters. 

Mr McMullin most recently served as chief policy director for the US House of Representatives' Republican Conference.

Americans deserve to see @realDonaldTrump's tax returns immediately. If he won't be transparent on this, how could we trust his presidency?

— Evan McMullin (@Evan_McMullin) May 11, 2016

He has worked in Congress since 2013, according to a LinkedIn profile.

The House Republican Conference said in a statement he is no longer employed there.

Mr McMullin previously spent 11 years as an operations officer for the Central Intelligence Agency, according to reports.

He said in a statement on his campaign Facebook page: "It's never too late to do the right thing, and America deserves much better than either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton can offer us.

"I humbly offer myself as a leader who can give millions of disaffected Americans a better choice for President.

McMullin had been a fierce critic of Mr Trump on social media, saying that opposing the businessman is about "putting principle over power".

"Authoritarians like @realDonaldTrump use promises of law & order to justify infringing on civil rights as they consolidate control by force," he posted on 21 July, according to his unverified Twitter account.

His candidacy underlines how the Never Trump diehards are still trying to derail the campaign of their own party's standard-bearer, barely three months before voting day.

Mr McMullin is seen as having zero chance of succeeding President Barack Obama in the White House.

He has already missed the deadline to get on the ballot in Texas, North Carolina, Illinois and Florida.

It seems the very best he could hope for would be to peel away a few votes from Mr Trump in a handful of states.

But his campaign could also backfire, uniting Republicans against a third-party candidate who might ultimately serve to boost Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.

Meanwhile, at a speech in Detroit, Michigan, Mr Trump was putting some flesh on his economic plans.

He said no business should pay more than 15% of income in taxes.

Mr Trump also proposed allowing parents to fully deduct the average cost of childcare from their taxable income.

He proposed, too, cutting the top rate of federal income tax to 33% from 39.6%.

Mr Trump is planning to introduce a slew of new policy proposals in the coming weeks in an effort to steady a campaign that appears to have been floundering recently.

Erdogan travels to Russia to reset relations

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan flies into Russia on Tuesday for his first meeting with counterpart Vladimir Putin since the two began healing a bitter rift over Turkey shooting down a Russian fighter jet.

Erdogan's visit to Putin's hometown of Saint Petersburg on Tuesday is also his first foreign trip since a failed coup attempt last month that sparked a purge of alleged coup supporters in the military, judiciary, civil service and education sector, and cast a shadow over Turkey'srelations with the West.

"This visit seems to me a new milestone in bilateral relations, beginning with a clean slate, and I personally, with all my heart and on behalf of the Turkish nation salute President Putin and all Russians," Erdogan said in an interview with Russian state media before the visit.

The shooting down of the Russian jet by a Turkish F-16 over the Syrian border last November saw a furious Putin slap economic sanctions on Turkey and launch a blistering war of words with Erdogan that seemed to irrevocably damage burgeoning ties.

Forest Fire Rages In Canary Islands For Six Days

A forest fire that has been burning on the Canary Island of La Palma for six days is suspected to have been started by a man who set fire to his toilet paper.

More than 11,100 acres (4,500ha) of pine forest - equal to 6% of the island - has been destroyed, causing a smoke trail that can be seen from space.

The Spanish authorities have blamed a 27-year-old German who is said to have started the blaze last Wednesday to get rid of the paper he had just used.

German radio station FFH said that Scott S, as he has been named, was a dropout who had left his homeland and had been living in caves on the island.

The station said he had admitted he started the fire.

More than 350 firefighters and a dozen helicopters have been tackling the blaze and, until Monday, had been unable to bring it under control.

The president of the Canaries, Fernando Clavijo, said: "The fire has evolved favourably in recent hours although, again, the night has proved difficult."

On Sunday, according to Bild newspaper, 500 residents of the village of Villa de Mazo had to flee at dawn as the flames approached, bring the number rendered homeless to 3,000.

After temperatures reached 36C, the Canary Islands government put the Western Islands and Gran Canaria on high alert over the risk of further fires. 

Much of La Palma is designated a biosphere as a result of the large virgin pine forests on the island, which is home to several unique species.

UK Visitor Numbers Boosted By Slump In Pound

The slump in the pound since the Brexit vote has produced an immediate boost for UK tourism with flight bookings into the country up on last year, according to a new report.

Sterling fell by about 10% against both the US dollar and the euro in the wake of the poll, making trips to Britain cheaper for international visitors.

International net bookings rose 4.3% in the 28 days to 21 July according to travel information firm ForwardKeys.

It reverses a trend in the month before the referendum when bookings were 2.8% lower.

ForwardKeys chief executive Olivier Jager said: "Brexit had an immediate, positive impact on inbound tourism to the UK, which is converting into better than anticipated arrivals."

A rise in UK visitors attracted by the cheaper pound could translate to a better summer for tourist attractions, restaurants, hotels and shops - who are already expecting to benefit from a growth in domestic "staycation" breaks as Britain's consumers tighten their belts amid Brexit uncertainty.

The ForwardKeys figures showed bookings from outside Europe up 8.6% in the four weeks after the poll, having been down 0.1% in the month before. The rise was driven by visitors from Hong Kong, the US and Canada.

Bookings from Europe were 1.8% lower, an improvement on the 6.8% decline recorded in the pre-Brexit month.

UK Visitor Numbers Boosted By Slump In Pound

The slump in the pound since the Brexit vote has produced an immediate boost for UK tourism with flight bookings into the country up on last year, according to a new report.

Sterling fell by about 10% against both the US dollar and the euro in the wake of the poll, making trips to Britain cheaper for international visitors.

International net bookings rose 4.3% in the 28 days to 21 July according to travel information firm ForwardKeys.

It reverses a trend in the month before the referendum when bookings were 2.8% lower.

ForwardKeys chief executive Olivier Jager said: "Brexit had an immediate, positive impact on inbound tourism to the UK, which is converting into better than anticipated arrivals."

A rise in UK visitors attracted by the cheaper pound could translate to a better summer for tourist attractions, restaurants, hotels and shops - who are already expecting to benefit from a growth in domestic "staycation" breaks as Britain's consumers tighten their belts amid Brexit uncertainty.

The ForwardKeys figures showed bookings from outside Europe up 8.6% in the four weeks after the poll, having been down 0.1% in the month before. The rise was driven by visitors from Hong Kong, the US and Canada.

Bookings from Europe were 1.8% lower, an improvement on the 6.8% decline recorded in the pre-Brexit month.

Ex-CIA Officer To Stand Against Donald Trump

A former CIA counter-terrorism officer is to run for president against Donald Trump.

Evan McMullin is reportedly being put forward as a third-party conservative alternative by Republicans disillusioned with their party's candidate for November's White House election.

Like Mr Trump, the 40-year-old Mormon has never held elected office. 

Mr McMullin most recently served as chief policy director for the US House of Representatives' Republican Conference.

He has worked in Congress since 2013, according to a LinkedIn profile.

The House Republican Conference said in a statement he is no longer employed there.

Mr McMullin previously spent 11 years as an operations officer for the Central Intelligence Agency, according to reports.

He said in a statement on his campaign Facebook page: "It's never too late to do the right thing, and America deserves much better than either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton can offer us.

"I humbly offer myself as a leader who can give millions of disaffected Americans a better choice for President.

Mr McMullin had been a fierce critic of Mr Trump on social media, saying that opposing the businessman is about "putting principle over power".

"Authoritarians like @realDonaldTrump use promises of law & order to justify infringing on civil rights as they consolidate control by force," he posted on 21 July, according to his unverified Twitter account.

Mr McMullin is expected to file papers with the Federal Election Commission later on Monday.

His candidacy underlines how the Never Trump diehards are still trying to derail the campaign of their own party's standard-bearer, barely three months before voting day.

If Mr McMullin does throw his hat in the ring he would stand little chance of replacing President Barack Obama in the White House.

But he could peel away crucial votes from Mr Trump in swing states, theoretically helping Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton to win the election.

The third-party candidacy could also backfire, rallying anti-establishment Republicans behind Mr Trump.