Mob of schoolchildren kick London police officer in the head

Police are appealing for mobile phone footage after a group of up to 30 schoolchildren attacked two officers as they tried to search a suspect for a knife.

One officer was punched in the face several times, causing him to fall to the ground where the mob continued their assault, kicking him in the head. 

He was taken to hospital as a precaution after suffering serious bruising, the Metropolitan Police said.

His female colleague was punched in the jaw when she tried to rescue him. 

Several witnesses are said to have filmed the attack in New Cross, southeast London.  

It began at 4pm on 9 November when the officers, who had been on patrol in Goodwood Road near the junction with New Cross Road, saw a teenager hiding a large knife. 

As they attempted to search him, the group of schoolchildren turned on them.  

"I'm appealing to anyone who witnessed this shocking attack on two officers to come forward and speak with us, particularly anyone with mobile phone footage of the incident," Detective Sergeant Jenny White from Lewisham police said. 

"It happened at a very busy time of the day and there would have been a large number of people in the area.

"These officers go to work every day to keep the public safe and this demonstrates the dangers the police can face while carrying out these duties."

A 15-year-old boy has been bailed until mid-December after being arrested at the scene on suspicion of actual bodily harm. 

Anyone with information is asked to call Lewisham police on 020 8284 8365.

Alternatively, they can ring Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111. 

Donald Trump: Nigel Farage would 'do great job' as ambassador

Donald Trump has come out in support of Nigel Farage being appointed Britain's ambassador to the US.

The US President-elect said the interim UKIP leader would do a "great job".

Mr Trump tweeted late on Monday night: "Many people would like to see @Nigel_Farage represent Great Britain as their Ambassador to the United States. He would do a great job!"

Although Mr Farage has expressed an interest in assisting Team Trump, the politician has recently said that he doesn't think of himself as the "ambassadorial type".

The pair met just days after the billionaire beat Hillary Clinton in the presidential election - weeks after appearing on the campaign trail together in Mississippi.

Image Caption:Parallels between Trump's campaign and the Brexit vote were drawn during the US election

Following the post-victory meeting in Trump Tower, Mr Farage offered to act as Downing Street's go-between with Mr Trump - a suggestion that was turned down.

Number 10 said Mr Farage could not be the "third person" in the relationship between Theresa May and her US counterpart and insisted that the Government had "well-established" channels of communication.

Mr Farage also called for Britain's ambassador in Washington - Sir Kim Darroch - to resign because he is a "fanatical Europhile and part of the old regime" whose views would be "diametrically opposed to Trump's".

He told Sky's Adam Boulton: "I would have thought it would be more sensible to put someone there who was likely to get on with Team Trump."

Fukushima tsunami warning lifted after strong quake hits Japan

A tsunami warning has been lifted after a strong earthquake hit northeastern Japan.

The 6.9-magnitude quake struck the region of Fukushima - the same area left devastated in 2011 when a 9.0-magnitude quake triggered a tsunami and a nuclear disaster which killed 18,000 people.

Thousands of people fled to higher ground after the tremors were felt.

There were fears that 3m high tsunami waves could hit the region after the early morning earthquake, but the highest wave measured 1.4m.

Image Caption:The quake hit just off the coast. Pic: USGS

After the latest quake, the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) said the cooling system for spent nuclear fuel at its Daini nuclear plant had been briefly halted.

No damage has been reported at the company's other plants, although there have been some blackouts, a spokeswoman said.

TV pictures showed ships moving out to sea as tsunami sirens wailed.

The quake struck off the Japanese coast, 67km northeast of Iwaki city, at a depth of 11.4km, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.

Image Caption:The Fukushima plant was seriously damaged by a 9.0 quake and tsunami in 2011

An Iwaki fire department official said there was smoke or a fire at a petrochemical research centre, but that it had been extinguished.

Tokyo, 150 miles south, also felt tremors from the earthquake - which struck at 6am local time (9pm GMT).

There are so far no reports of serious damage or injuries.

The country's meteorological agency put the earthquake at 7.3 magnitude, but the reading by the USGS was later downgraded to 6.9.

Image Caption:The red and yellow areas have been warned about a tsunami

Japanese broadcaster NHK said the East Japan Railway Company had suspended some of its bullet train services.

Japan accounts for 20% of the world's earthquakes greater than 6.0 magnitude.

The 2011 disaster in Fukushima was the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl and left more than 18,000 people dead or missing.

Donald Trump to withdraw US from Trans-Pacific Partnership

Donald Trump says he will issue an executive action on his first day in office to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

In a video updating Americans on the White House transition, the President-elect described TPP as a "potential disaster for our country".

The TPP was designed to bring down tariffs and trade barriers between America and a number of Pacific Rim nations including Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Malaysia and Chile.

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Mr Trump said his administration instead intends to generate "fair, bilateral trade deals that bring jobs and industry back onto American shores".

In the clip uploaded on Facebook, the President-elect also expressed his intent to cut red tape - saying that "for every new regulation, two old regulations must be eliminated".

Sky Correspondent Greg Milam said: "Donald Trump has been very critical of what trade deals have done for American workers and the damage that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) did in the 1990s - particularly to low-income workers in the Midwest, who it turns out voted for Mr Trump in huge numbers." 

NAFTA was a trade deal which reduced tariffs between the US, Canada and Mexico - with estimates suggesting that Mexican exports to North America have doubled since it was signed.

The President-elect's announcement comes days after his meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Trump Tower in New York.

Barely an hour before Mr Trump confirmed his intent to withdraw from Trans-Pacific Partnership, Mr Abe had said TPP would be "meaningless" without the US.

Image Caption:Japanese PM Shinzo Abe has said TPP would be 'meaningless' without the US

Mr Trump's declaration is also likely to disappoint Barack Obama, who has been calling for the US to reaffirm its support for the trade deal.

The outgoing president had warned abandoning TPP would cause the US to lose an opportunity to shape the rules of global trade "in a way that reflects our values".

Also during his filmed address on Facebook, the President-elect said his White House transition team was working "very smoothly, efficiently and effectively" ahead of the handover of power on 20 January.

A number of major roles remain up for grabs in Mr Trump's administration, but he has dismissed reports in recent days that his cabinet selection process is in disarray.

Mr Trump has also reacted angrily to a Saturday Night Live skit which depicted him as overwhelmed and bumbling as he goes about choosing his top team and following up campaign promises.

Alec Baldwin, whose unflattering impression of the Republican proved a big hit with critics in the run-up to the election, has defended the sketch.

Heavy downpours and strong winds forecast in wake of Storm Angus

Britons are being urged to prepare for fresh bouts of heavy rain and strong winds this morning, with forecasters warning the weather is not expected to improve until later in the week.

The Met Office says gusts of between 50mph and 60mph could damage trees and cause further travel disruption today - with 70mph possible on higher ground.

A yellow "be aware" warning for strong winds is currently in place across parts of the South Coast and is not due to expire until 9am.

Meteorologist Alex Burkill said: "Even though the worst of the rain is clearing northwards, we have still got some pretty strong winds to deal with which will likely cause some further problems."

The latest warnings come in the wake of Storm Angus, which caused flash flooding in parts of England and Wales - submerging cars and engulfing homes. 

Image Caption:There was extensive flood damage in Stalybridge, Greater Manchester

Police have had to rescue people from their homes and cars after they were inundated with floodwater.

Officers in South Wales are due to resume searching for missing pensioner Russell Sherwood later today after poor light and treacherous conditions forced them to suspend their efforts.

A Stena Europe ferry is also going to attempt a second docking at lunchtime after the extreme weather left its crew unable to dock at Fishguard in southwest Wales yesterday.

Image Caption:Downpours in Bristol left cars submerged and caused severe disruption on the railways

Landslides, flooding on tracks and fallen trees have also forced several train lines across the UK to shut down - with some routes not expected to open until after the morning rush hour.

Exeter St Davids has been one of the worst-affected stations on the train network, with some services there suspended until 6pm while urgent work to drain flooded railways continues.

Some families have expressed frustration that measures designed to protect flood-prone areas have fallen short.

Cars on Whitchurch Lane in Bristol were submerged following Storm Angus' torrential downpours, and resident Christine Granger said: "We should not have to put up with it in this day and age. It is disheartening really." 

British PM Theresa May seeks to calm fears over Brexit

British Prime Minister Theresa May has told business leaders in the UK that while leaving the European Union creates uncertainty in the market, there will also be opportunities for "dynamic trading agreements".

Speaking on Monday at the annual Confederation of British Industry conference in London, May said that the doors would be open to doing business with "old allies" in other parts of the world.

She also said that her government would invest an extra $2.5bn in science research and development by 2020, and committed to plans of the previous government to introduce a 17 percent rate for corporate tax - the lowest in the G20.

"Today, Britain has firms and researchers leading in some of the most exciting fields of human discovery," she said.

"We need to back them and turn research strengths into commercial success."

Al Jazeera's Laurence Lee, reporting from London, said that businesses are worried about the instability caused by the lack of knowledge as to what a "Brexit" - or Britain's departure from the EU - will actually look like.

"Theresa May and the government can't and won't tell [the business leaders] because that will give away their negotiating position to the European Union," Lee said.

Parking spaces becoming larger to fit the modern car

Cars are getting too big for Britain's parking bays - amid a growing number of accidents and calls for larger parking spaces.

According to a new study, the average parking space is 4.8m long and 2.4m wide, but popular larger vehicles such as the Audi Q7 and the Mercedes-Benz GL-Class measure in at more than 5m long and just under 2m wide.

Even many smaller cars are larger than they used to be, with the latest Vauxhall Corsa now 16% bigger than it was 15 years ago, for example.

Scott Hamilton-Cooper, director of operations at Accident Exchange, which produced the study, said: "Drivers are having to squeeze increasingly large cars into spaces that generally haven't got any larger for a very long time.

"This could be contributing to the rise in car parking incidents we are seeing."

Mr Hamilton-Cooper noted that the SUVs have become very popular, outselling smaller hatchbacks, while older smaller cars are being taken off the streets.

Car-parking accidents have increased by an estimated 35% since 2014, now accounting for more than 30% of all accidents, the company said.

This means that there are around 1,859 car parking accidents every day.

They calculated that these result in an average repair bill of £2,050, meaning that parking prangs are costing Britons around £1.4bn a year.

National Car Parks (NCP), the largest private car park operator in Britain, has announced it is making many of its spaces larger.

The move has stirred anger among drivers of smaller vehicles, who resent the reduction in the number of spaces to accommodate drivers of larger cars.

An NCP spokeswoman told The Times: "We are moving towards making the bays wider as we recognise that vehicles are growing in size, especially SUVs."

She admitted that there was an "extremely fine balance" between demand for bigger spaces and the number of spaces available, particularly in very busy car parks, such as those at railway stations.