Donald Trump's nominee to the Supreme Court has slammed the President's attacks on the judiciary saying they were "disheartening and demoralising".
Judge Neil Gorsuch, who was nominated by Mr Trump to the nation's highest court last week, made his comments after the President accused the appeal court considering his immigration ban of being "so political".
Mr Trump also hit out at district court judge James Robart's original decision to block his executive order to ban residents of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the US.
He described Mr Robart as a "so-called judge" and referred to his ruling as "ridiculous".
In a series of tweets, the President said: "The opinion of this so-called judge, which essentially takes law-enforcement away from our country, is ridiculous and will be overturned!
"What is our country coming to when a judge can halt a Homeland Security travel ban and anyone, even with bad intentions, can come into US?
"Because the ban was lifted by a judge, many very bad and dangerous people may be pouring into our country. A terrible decision."
Mr Gorsuch hit out at Mr Trump during a meeting with Connecticut Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal.
Mr Blumenthal, a former state attorney general, said Mr Gorsuch described the President's comments about the judiciary as "demoralising and disheartening".
He said he had told the judge he would need to condemn Mr Trump's attacks on judicial independence publicly.
"It needs to be a strong condemnation and that kind of public condemnation is important to establish his independence," Mr Blumenthal said. "Otherwise, the American public will conclude that he is more likely to be a rubber stamp."
Mr Trump told a group of police chiefs that the ban was "done for the security of our nation".
He quoted text from immigration law that he said gave him the power to enact the order, calling it "beautifully written" and "a bad high school student would understand this".
He went on: "Courts seem to be so political and it would be so great for our justice system if they would be able to read a statement and do what's right.
"And that has to do with the security of our country, which is so important."
The President has repeatedly said people are "pouring in" since the ban was put on hold and suggested that blocking the order would be dangerous for US citizens.
On Wednesday morning he tweeted, "Big increase in traffic into our country from certain areas, while our people are far more vulnerable, as we wait for what should be EASY D!"
The administration has not provided any information to support his claims.
Meanwhile, the US Senate confirmed Jeff Sessions as Attorney General on Wednesday, despite fierce debate about his civil rights record and Democratic concern over whether he is independent from the President.
Thursday, February 9, 2017
Wednesday, February 8, 2017
NHS crisis: Public back tax rises to boost healthcare - poll
More than two-thirds of the public would back an increase in income tax if the money was dedicated to the NHS, according to a poll for Sky News.
The survey by Sky Data shows 68% would support a 1% rise in income tax if the Government guaranteed to spend it on healthcare.
The results also reveal that 64% of people believe the service provided by the NHS is getting worse - and 57% expect it to deteriorate further in future.
The NHS is currently under unprecedented pressure.
Hospitals have not met their A&E targets for several months because they have been overwhelmed by patients.
Sky News spent a day in Milton Keynes University Hospital to see how the pressure is affecting care.
The staff are doing their utmost to ensure patients get safe care. However, they concede that it is still not to the standard they would like.
Mandy Knight, head of nursing in the A&E unit, said: "We all came in to nursing to look after patients and do the best we can for them.
"But when you are in a full Emergency Department you can't always do that - because you're busy."
Hospitals across the country have seen demand for care soar in recent weeks.
Since Christmas, dozens of hospitals have declared "black alerts" - signalling the extraordinary pressure they are under.
Milton Keynes hospital has a 28-bed unit dedicated to routine surgery. But at times this winter almost half of the beds have had to be prioritised for emergency patients.
It has meant patients have had planned operations cancelled at the last minute.
Kathriona McCann, the divisional manager of surgery, said the unit has to juggle patients.
"Every one of them has their own story of why they need that surgery," she said.
"It is never easy to make those decisions. Some of them have been waiting quite a few weeks and some of them months."
Like all hospitals, Milton Keynes is being squeezed by the lack of care beds elsewhere in the system.
Georgette Newell, 86, was well enough to be discharged 12 days ago. But the rehabilitation unit she has been referred to has no space for her, so she occupies a hospital bed she does not really need.
"It must be very upsetting for people who need the bed space. I feel guilty," she said.
The survey by Sky Data shows 68% would support a 1% rise in income tax if the Government guaranteed to spend it on healthcare.
The results also reveal that 64% of people believe the service provided by the NHS is getting worse - and 57% expect it to deteriorate further in future.
The NHS is currently under unprecedented pressure.
Hospitals have not met their A&E targets for several months because they have been overwhelmed by patients.
Sky News spent a day in Milton Keynes University Hospital to see how the pressure is affecting care.
The staff are doing their utmost to ensure patients get safe care. However, they concede that it is still not to the standard they would like.
Mandy Knight, head of nursing in the A&E unit, said: "We all came in to nursing to look after patients and do the best we can for them.
"But when you are in a full Emergency Department you can't always do that - because you're busy."
Hospitals across the country have seen demand for care soar in recent weeks.
Since Christmas, dozens of hospitals have declared "black alerts" - signalling the extraordinary pressure they are under.
Milton Keynes hospital has a 28-bed unit dedicated to routine surgery. But at times this winter almost half of the beds have had to be prioritised for emergency patients.
It has meant patients have had planned operations cancelled at the last minute.
Kathriona McCann, the divisional manager of surgery, said the unit has to juggle patients.
"Every one of them has their own story of why they need that surgery," she said.
"It is never easy to make those decisions. Some of them have been waiting quite a few weeks and some of them months."
Like all hospitals, Milton Keynes is being squeezed by the lack of care beds elsewhere in the system.
Georgette Newell, 86, was well enough to be discharged 12 days ago. But the rehabilitation unit she has been referred to has no space for her, so she occupies a hospital bed she does not really need.
"It must be very upsetting for people who need the bed space. I feel guilty," she said.
Incredibly high radiation levels discovered at crippled Fukushima plant
Newly-discovered radiation levels in one of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant’s reactors are stunningly high, the Japan Times and others have reported. The space is so radioactive that even a robot couldn’t last two hours, let alone a human.
It was on March 11, 2011, that the coastal power plant in Japan’s Fukushima Prefecture was hit by a tidal wave, which not only cut off the plant’s electrical power, also took out the generators that provided its backup power. The natural disaster triggered the meltdown of three reactors at the plant.
The new readings come from inside reactor two, where the radiation levels are 530 sieverts per hour, according to Tepco, the Tokyo Electric Power Company. That’s highly radioactive— most radiation is measured in thousandths of a sievert, a unit called a millisievert.
One dental X-ray is just .01 millisievert, according to the Guardian— which also pointed out that 10 sieverts can lead to death.
BY SQUEEZING AND TWISTING, NEW ROBOT COULD KEEP HEARTS PUMPING
At the end of January, Tepco said that they had taken, from inside reaction two, “intriguing images that may be fuel debris from the March 2011 accident,” but needed to study them more. (They have provided more information of their findings in this PDF.)
The company would like to deploy a robot, but the robot would be fried before even two hours at those radiation levels, since it is designed to endure 1000 sieverts, according to the Japan Times.
The radiation levels are the highest yet measured at the devastated plant, which could take as many as four decades to fully deal with.
MEET THE 'BAT BOT': SCIENTISTS UNVEIL ROBOT THAT FLIES JUST LIKE A BAT
Not since Chernobyl suffered a catastrophic meltdown in 1986 in the former Soviet Union has the world witnessed such a serious nuclear accident— and it was only in 2016 that experts succeeded in covering Chernobyl’s site with a large protective dome to protect the concrete sarcophagus.
It was on March 11, 2011, that the coastal power plant in Japan’s Fukushima Prefecture was hit by a tidal wave, which not only cut off the plant’s electrical power, also took out the generators that provided its backup power. The natural disaster triggered the meltdown of three reactors at the plant.
The new readings come from inside reactor two, where the radiation levels are 530 sieverts per hour, according to Tepco, the Tokyo Electric Power Company. That’s highly radioactive— most radiation is measured in thousandths of a sievert, a unit called a millisievert.
One dental X-ray is just .01 millisievert, according to the Guardian— which also pointed out that 10 sieverts can lead to death.
BY SQUEEZING AND TWISTING, NEW ROBOT COULD KEEP HEARTS PUMPING
At the end of January, Tepco said that they had taken, from inside reaction two, “intriguing images that may be fuel debris from the March 2011 accident,” but needed to study them more. (They have provided more information of their findings in this PDF.)
The company would like to deploy a robot, but the robot would be fried before even two hours at those radiation levels, since it is designed to endure 1000 sieverts, according to the Japan Times.
The radiation levels are the highest yet measured at the devastated plant, which could take as many as four decades to fully deal with.
MEET THE 'BAT BOT': SCIENTISTS UNVEIL ROBOT THAT FLIES JUST LIKE A BAT
Not since Chernobyl suffered a catastrophic meltdown in 1986 in the former Soviet Union has the world witnessed such a serious nuclear accident— and it was only in 2016 that experts succeeded in covering Chernobyl’s site with a large protective dome to protect the concrete sarcophagus.
Met Office warns of temperatures 5C colder than normal
Britain will finish the week with temperatures up to five degrees colder than usual for this time of year.
The Met Office has forecast several days of cold weather, snow, sleet and frost, with the Midlands likely to be the coldest region - at -3C on Wednesday night.
Yellow warnings have been issued for ice in parts of Wales, southwest England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, while London could see snow on Wednesday night.
A spokeswoman for the Met Office said an easterly wind from Scandinavia means temperatures over the coming days will be lower than the average for the time of year.
"In London it should be 2-3C above freezing at night and over the weekend it is expected to be -1C (30.2F)," she said.
The weekend will bring widespread frost and showers across Britain, with 6cm of snow forecast in the Grampians.
Age UK has urged older people to take precautions in the cold weather to keep themselves "safe and well".
"The cold weather can be really challenging for older people, particularly those who are more vulnerable because of pre-existing health conditions or who are living in housing that is difficult and expensive to heat," said charity director Caroline Abrahams.
The Met Office has forecast several days of cold weather, snow, sleet and frost, with the Midlands likely to be the coldest region - at -3C on Wednesday night.
Yellow warnings have been issued for ice in parts of Wales, southwest England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, while London could see snow on Wednesday night.
A spokeswoman for the Met Office said an easterly wind from Scandinavia means temperatures over the coming days will be lower than the average for the time of year.
"In London it should be 2-3C above freezing at night and over the weekend it is expected to be -1C (30.2F)," she said.
The weekend will bring widespread frost and showers across Britain, with 6cm of snow forecast in the Grampians.
Age UK has urged older people to take precautions in the cold weather to keep themselves "safe and well".
"The cold weather can be really challenging for older people, particularly those who are more vulnerable because of pre-existing health conditions or who are living in housing that is difficult and expensive to heat," said charity director Caroline Abrahams.
Senate confirms Jeff Sessions as attorney general
The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Jeff Sessions as the next attorney general, following a bitter debate in the chamber that saw Republicans formally rebuke Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) for the manner in which she criticized her colleague from Alabama.
Sessions, a four-term U.S. senator, was the first senator to endorse Trump in February 2016, and his conservative, populist views have shaped many of the administration’s early policies, including on immigration.
The vote, 52-47 in favor of confirmation, ran largely down party lines. Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) was the only Democrat who supported him. Sessions voted present.
But he has repeatedly declined to say whether he would recuse himself from any investigation involving Trump associates and possible links to Russia’s interference in the presidential election, saying he would seek the recommendations of department ethics officials and “value them significantly” in making a decision.
Sessions’ confirmation leaves a vacancy that will be filled by Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley, a Republican. That term ends in 2018.
A measure of the hostility that has permeated the confirmation process for Trump’s cabinet nominees was reflected in the rare censure of Warren after she read from a letter written by the late Coretta Scott King in opposition to Sessions’ nomination to the federal bench in 1986.
“The senator has impugned the motives and conduct of our colleague from Alabama,” said Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) of Warren, before the Senate voted along party lines to bar the Massachusetts senator from speaking during the remainder of the nomination debate.
Sessions, who came of age in the Deep South during the darkest days of the civil rights movement, has struggled to reconcile the charged racial politics of his region with the changing national discourse that has lifted longstanding legal barriers for minorities. His career has long been shadowed by charges that he is racially insensitive, which doomed his bid to become a federal judge.
His supporters have pointed to his prosecution as U.S. Attorney of two Ku Klux Klan members for killing a black youth, and his co-sponsoring of legislation to honor civil rights activist Rosa Parks with the Congressional Gold Medal. To underscore the point, Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.) on Tuesday went to the floor and put on display an enlarged photograph of a “governmental award of excellence” given to Sessions in
2009 by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s Alabama chapter--an award that he said Sessions “forgot to tell us about.” The plaque was engraved with the words “for the outstanding work you do.”
Said Graham: “His biggest crime is, I think, that he’s very conservative. That to me is not a disqualifier, any more than being liberal is a disqualifier.”
McConnell on Wednesday said, “It’s been tough to watch all this good man has been put through in recent weeks. This is a well-qualified colleague with a deep reverence for the law. He believes strongly in the equal application of it to everyone.”
But Sessions’ critics point to his record on voting rights, same-sex marriage, gender equality and immigration and say they fear he will work to restrict civil rights. They point to his prosecution of voting rights activists in Alabama in the 1980s that resulted in an acquittal for all three defendants, and which was the basis of King’s letter charging him with attempting to “intimidate and frighten elderly black voters.”
He has voted at least twice against comprehensive immigration reform, which was supported by members of his own party. They note he was one of just four senators in 2015 to oppose a Senate resolution affirming that the United States “must not bar individuals from entering into the United States based on their religion.”
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the ranking member on the Judiciary Committee, said on the floor that her office had received 114,000 calls and emails regarding Sessions, with more than 98 percent opposed. She quoted from constitutents who “deeply oppose this president and this nominee” and have hit the streets in protest. One doctor, she said, “marched because of the thousands of patients I’ve seen in the community, people of color, immigrants from all over the globe, who are terrified about the loss of their rights and the dramatic explosion of racially and culturally-focused hate crimes we’re reading about.”
She questioned how Sessions would handle the government’s investigation of Russian interference in the election, which could lead to the prosecution of individuals who helped hack the Democratic party in an effort to help Trump win.
“It obviously has the potential to create embarrassment for the president and his people, and to implicate people involved in the campaign,” she said. “Can [Sessions] be independent of the White House? I do not believe he can.”
Sessions, a four-term U.S. senator, was the first senator to endorse Trump in February 2016, and his conservative, populist views have shaped many of the administration’s early policies, including on immigration.
The vote, 52-47 in favor of confirmation, ran largely down party lines. Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) was the only Democrat who supported him. Sessions voted present.
Republicans accused Democrats of seeking to undercut Trump by attempting to derail his cabinet choices. “It’s no secret that our Democrat colleagues don’t like the new president and are doing what they can to undermine the new administration,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the Judiciary Committee chairman.
He expressed disappointment in colleagues who, he said, suggested Sessions won’t be able to put aside his policy preferences and enforce the law. “This is especially troubling after he specifically committed to us during his confirmation hearing that, if he’s confirmed, he will follow the law, regardless of whether he supported the statute as a policy matter,” Grassley said.
[Republicans vote to rebuke Elizabeth Warren]
Leading Democrats have argued that Trump’s criticisms of the federal courts over his immigration order makes the need for an attorney general who will be willing to disagree with the president even more urgent.
“What we’ve seen is a president who belittles judges when they don’t agree with him,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). “What we’ve seen is a president who is willing to shake the roots of the Constitution and a fundamental premise — no religious test — that’s embodied in our Constitution within his first few weeks in office,” Schumer said. “We certainly need an attorney general who will stand up to that president …. But [Sessions] is not, if you can say one thing about him, he’s not independent of Donald Trump.”
Sessions, 70, advanced out of the judiciary committee last week after a vote along party lines. The hearing took place after then-acting Attorney General, Sally Yates, an Obama administration holdover, had ordered the department’s lawyers not to defend Trump’s immigration order on grounds that she was not convinced it was lawful. Within hours, Trump fired her.
In his confirmation hearing last month, Sessions repeatedly vowed to put the law above his personal views. He said he would abide by the Supreme Court decision underpinning abortion rights and a court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage. He said he understood that the waterboarding of terrorism suspects to elicit information is “absolutely improper and illegal” and, though he voted against it, he would uphold a law banning the government’s bulk collection of phone records.
[Trump’s pick for attorney general is shadowed by race and history]
He also declared that he would recuse himself from Justice Department probe of Hillary Clinton’s email practices or her family’s charitable foundation, mindful that his previous comments “could place my objectivity in question.”
He expressed disappointment in colleagues who, he said, suggested Sessions won’t be able to put aside his policy preferences and enforce the law. “This is especially troubling after he specifically committed to us during his confirmation hearing that, if he’s confirmed, he will follow the law, regardless of whether he supported the statute as a policy matter,” Grassley said.
[Republicans vote to rebuke Elizabeth Warren]
Leading Democrats have argued that Trump’s criticisms of the federal courts over his immigration order makes the need for an attorney general who will be willing to disagree with the president even more urgent.
“What we’ve seen is a president who belittles judges when they don’t agree with him,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). “What we’ve seen is a president who is willing to shake the roots of the Constitution and a fundamental premise — no religious test — that’s embodied in our Constitution within his first few weeks in office,” Schumer said. “We certainly need an attorney general who will stand up to that president …. But [Sessions] is not, if you can say one thing about him, he’s not independent of Donald Trump.”
Sessions, 70, advanced out of the judiciary committee last week after a vote along party lines. The hearing took place after then-acting Attorney General, Sally Yates, an Obama administration holdover, had ordered the department’s lawyers not to defend Trump’s immigration order on grounds that she was not convinced it was lawful. Within hours, Trump fired her.
In his confirmation hearing last month, Sessions repeatedly vowed to put the law above his personal views. He said he would abide by the Supreme Court decision underpinning abortion rights and a court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage. He said he understood that the waterboarding of terrorism suspects to elicit information is “absolutely improper and illegal” and, though he voted against it, he would uphold a law banning the government’s bulk collection of phone records.
[Trump’s pick for attorney general is shadowed by race and history]
He also declared that he would recuse himself from Justice Department probe of Hillary Clinton’s email practices or her family’s charitable foundation, mindful that his previous comments “could place my objectivity in question.”
But he has repeatedly declined to say whether he would recuse himself from any investigation involving Trump associates and possible links to Russia’s interference in the presidential election, saying he would seek the recommendations of department ethics officials and “value them significantly” in making a decision.
Sessions’ confirmation leaves a vacancy that will be filled by Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley, a Republican. That term ends in 2018.
A measure of the hostility that has permeated the confirmation process for Trump’s cabinet nominees was reflected in the rare censure of Warren after she read from a letter written by the late Coretta Scott King in opposition to Sessions’ nomination to the federal bench in 1986.
“The senator has impugned the motives and conduct of our colleague from Alabama,” said Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) of Warren, before the Senate voted along party lines to bar the Massachusetts senator from speaking during the remainder of the nomination debate.
Sessions, who came of age in the Deep South during the darkest days of the civil rights movement, has struggled to reconcile the charged racial politics of his region with the changing national discourse that has lifted longstanding legal barriers for minorities. His career has long been shadowed by charges that he is racially insensitive, which doomed his bid to become a federal judge.
His supporters have pointed to his prosecution as U.S. Attorney of two Ku Klux Klan members for killing a black youth, and his co-sponsoring of legislation to honor civil rights activist Rosa Parks with the Congressional Gold Medal. To underscore the point, Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.) on Tuesday went to the floor and put on display an enlarged photograph of a “governmental award of excellence” given to Sessions in
2009 by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s Alabama chapter--an award that he said Sessions “forgot to tell us about.” The plaque was engraved with the words “for the outstanding work you do.”
Said Graham: “His biggest crime is, I think, that he’s very conservative. That to me is not a disqualifier, any more than being liberal is a disqualifier.”
McConnell on Wednesday said, “It’s been tough to watch all this good man has been put through in recent weeks. This is a well-qualified colleague with a deep reverence for the law. He believes strongly in the equal application of it to everyone.”
But Sessions’ critics point to his record on voting rights, same-sex marriage, gender equality and immigration and say they fear he will work to restrict civil rights. They point to his prosecution of voting rights activists in Alabama in the 1980s that resulted in an acquittal for all three defendants, and which was the basis of King’s letter charging him with attempting to “intimidate and frighten elderly black voters.”
He has voted at least twice against comprehensive immigration reform, which was supported by members of his own party. They note he was one of just four senators in 2015 to oppose a Senate resolution affirming that the United States “must not bar individuals from entering into the United States based on their religion.”
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the ranking member on the Judiciary Committee, said on the floor that her office had received 114,000 calls and emails regarding Sessions, with more than 98 percent opposed. She quoted from constitutents who “deeply oppose this president and this nominee” and have hit the streets in protest. One doctor, she said, “marched because of the thousands of patients I’ve seen in the community, people of color, immigrants from all over the globe, who are terrified about the loss of their rights and the dramatic explosion of racially and culturally-focused hate crimes we’re reading about.”
She questioned how Sessions would handle the government’s investigation of Russian interference in the election, which could lead to the prosecution of individuals who helped hack the Democratic party in an effort to help Trump win.
“It obviously has the potential to create embarrassment for the president and his people, and to implicate people involved in the campaign,” she said. “Can [Sessions] be independent of the White House? I do not believe he can.”
Secrecy surrounding Nigerian president's health fuels rumours
Nigerians are worried about President Buhari since he asked for extended medical leave in the UK and handed over affairs of the state to the Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo. But journalism professor and Daily Trust columnist Farooq Kperogi says there is conflicting information about the state of his health, which is fueling speculation.
Socialite Tara Palmer-Tomkinson found dead aged 45
Socialite Tara Palmer-Tomkinson has been found dead aged 45 at her west London home.
The TV personality and former 'It girl' had been diagnosed with a brain tumour last January after returning from a ski trip.
She also battled drug problems in the past and suffered with an auto-immune disease that caused tiredness, joint pain and acute anaemia.
Palmer-Tomkinson, who was also a newspaper columnist, was close friends with Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall, attending their wedding in 2005.
Her father Charles was a British Olympic skier who taught the Prince of Wales.
She was also among the guests at Prince William's wedding to Kate Middleton in 2011.
Reacting to the news of her death, Prince Charles and his wife Camilla said they were "deeply saddened and our thoughts are so much with the family".
Palmer-Tomkinson was a regular on the London party scene in the 1990s and had a high-profile social life, often appearing in society and celebrity magazines.
She finished second in the jungle TV show I'm A Celebrity in 2002 and also featured in celebrity specials of Blind Date and A Place in the Sun.
In November, she revealed she was being treated for a non-malignant growth in her pituitary gland.
She expressed fears she would die after doctors told her she had the condition.
She told the Daily Mail: "I went to the doctors to talk about my latest blood test results when I got back from skiing in January.
"I said: 'What does this mean? Can you translate it?' And the doctor said: 'As I suspected, you have a brain tumour.'
"I got terribly frightened. I started thinking, 'I'm going to die, I'm going to die. I've only got a couple of weeks to live.' Stuff like that."
Police were called by the ambulance service at about 1.40pm to an address in Kensington.
They said: "A woman, aged in her 40s, was pronounced dead at the scene. Next of kin have been informed."
Officers said her death is being treated as unexplained, but they do not believe it is suspicious.
The TV personality and former 'It girl' had been diagnosed with a brain tumour last January after returning from a ski trip.
She also battled drug problems in the past and suffered with an auto-immune disease that caused tiredness, joint pain and acute anaemia.
Palmer-Tomkinson, who was also a newspaper columnist, was close friends with Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall, attending their wedding in 2005.
Her father Charles was a British Olympic skier who taught the Prince of Wales.
She was also among the guests at Prince William's wedding to Kate Middleton in 2011.
Reacting to the news of her death, Prince Charles and his wife Camilla said they were "deeply saddened and our thoughts are so much with the family".
Palmer-Tomkinson was a regular on the London party scene in the 1990s and had a high-profile social life, often appearing in society and celebrity magazines.
She finished second in the jungle TV show I'm A Celebrity in 2002 and also featured in celebrity specials of Blind Date and A Place in the Sun.
In November, she revealed she was being treated for a non-malignant growth in her pituitary gland.
She expressed fears she would die after doctors told her she had the condition.
She told the Daily Mail: "I went to the doctors to talk about my latest blood test results when I got back from skiing in January.
"I said: 'What does this mean? Can you translate it?' And the doctor said: 'As I suspected, you have a brain tumour.'
"I got terribly frightened. I started thinking, 'I'm going to die, I'm going to die. I've only got a couple of weeks to live.' Stuff like that."
Police were called by the ambulance service at about 1.40pm to an address in Kensington.
They said: "A woman, aged in her 40s, was pronounced dead at the scene. Next of kin have been informed."
Officers said her death is being treated as unexplained, but they do not believe it is suspicious.
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