Anti-terror police units deployed on London's streets

Anti-terrorism police patrol units are hitting the streets of London in an attempt to spot people carrying out "hostile reconnaissance" and other criminal activity.

Lambeth and Wandsworth will be the first areas to see the new patrol units of uniformed and undercover officers from today, and are due to be extended to other boroughs in the coming months.

Scotland Yard stressed the move was "not in response to a specific threat".

 Operation Servator, as it is known, is a tactic of policing already used by other forces including City of London and British Transport Police.

It "is based on extensive research into the psychology of criminals and what undermines their activities", the Metropolitan Police said.

Other units will also be available, including the dogs and boat units and the territorial support unit riot police.

Image Caption:Metropolitan Police boats with anti-terrorism officers will also be available. File pic

Sophie Linden, London's deputy mayor for policing and crime, said keeping Londoners safe was London Mayor Sadiq Khan's "top priority".

She said: "We know our emergency services do a great job every single day protecting our city. However we cannot be complacent, which is why it is good to see the Met rolling out Project Servator to help deter and detect crime in our city's busiest areas.

"This tactic was endorsed by Lord Harris in his review of London's preparedness for a terror attack, commissioned by the mayor.

"I urge Londoners to remain alert and report anything suspicious to the police as they work to keep us all safe."

City of London Police introduced Servator tactics in February 2014, using undercover teams, CCTV and number plate recognition technology to add to the 1990s "ring of steel" in place around the Square Mile.

Fidel Castro's legacy in Africa

"Many of Africa's leaders today started out as activists, many of our ruling parties started out as liberation movements. And when they were liberation movements, when they were activists, Castro quite literally came to their help" - South African journalist Lynsey Chutel

Francois Fillon defeats Alain Juppe in French presidential primary

Francois Fillon has won France's Republican presidential primary, after his opponent Alain Juppe conceded defeat.

Mr Fillon had won 67% of votes and Mr Juppe was on 33%, according to results from about 90% of polling stations.

The pair, both former prime ministers, were vying to become the centre-right Les Republicains party candidate in the election.

Speaking after his victory, Mr Fillon, 62, said: "I must now convince the whole country our project is the only one that can lift us up.

"My approach has been understood: France can't bear its decline.

"It wants truth and it wants action.

"I will take up an unusual challenge for France - tell the truth and completely change its software."

In Paris, 71-year-old Mr Juppe congratulated Mr Fillon on the "large victory", adding: "I finish this campaign as I began it - as a free man who did not compromise what he is or what he thinks".

He called for unity and calm after a campaign during which he had accused Mr Fillon of pandering to anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim feeling.

Mr Fillon is now likely to face a spring showdown with far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen, who will be seeking to build on that same anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim and anti-establishment feeling.

Ms Le Pen has also promised to lower the retirement age and guarantee France's welfare safety net.

A Harris Interactive poll published on Sunday night showed Mr Fillon would beat Ms Le Pen by 67% to 33%.

The victory for Mr Fillon, who is married to a Welsh woman, comes against a national unemployment rate of 10%, weak economic growth, worries about immigration and globalisation and concern about the future of a costly but valued welfare state.

In response, Mr Fillon has proposed spending cuts, increasing sales tax, scrapping a tax on the wealthy, fewer restrictions on the working week and raising the retirement age to 65.

He also wants to limit the adoption rights of gay couples, push for closer ties with Russia and focus on tackling Islamic extremism and reducing immigration to France "to a minimum".

Mr Juppe had promoted a more liberal stance with respect for religious freedom and ethnic diversity, attacking the "brutality" of his rival's manifesto.

Mr Fillon, whose wife Penelope Clarke is British, was the prime minister from 2007 to 2012 under President Nicolas Sarkozy, who was eliminated in the primary's first round a week ago and now is supporting him.

Mr Juppe was prime minister from 1995 to 1997 under President Jacques Chirac.

In the first round of primary voting on 20 November, Mr Fillon won 44.1% of the votes, Mr Juppe 28.6% and Mr Sarkozy 20.7%.

A second round was held because no candidate secured a majority.

All French citizens over 18 - whether they are members of the Republicans party or not - can vote in the primary if they pay €2 (£1.70) in fees and sign a pledge stating they "share the republican values of the right and the centre".

Socialist Party candidates now have to announce their intention to run before 15 December and their first primary is held on 22 January.

If no candidate gains more than 50%, there is a second round a week later.

The general election is set for 23 April, with a possible second round of voting on 7 May.

The current Socialist President Francois Hollande is expected to announce in the coming weeks whether he will stand for re-election.

His deep unpopularity has undermined the position of the country's Left and there have been calls for his prime minister Manuel Valls to contest the party's primary.

May under pressure on rights of EU citizens in UK

Theresa May will today come under pressure to guarantee the rights of over 800,000 Poles living in the UK.

The Prime Minister will meet with her Polish counterpart Beata Szydlo in Downing Street to discuss Brexit and defence as she prepares to trigger formal negotiations to leave the European Union at the end of March next year.

Mrs May, speaking ahead of the summit, said she was determined to ensure that Brexit "will not weaken our relationship" as she spoke of a "new chapter" in UK-Polish relations.

"Today's meeting puts beyond doubt the common ground we share, the importance we attach to our bilateral relationship and the benefits it brings.

"We share a clear commitment to take our cooperation to the next level and to firmly establish the UK and Poland as resolute and strategic allies in Europe."

However, the Prime Minister is not expected to offer any guarantees on the rights of Polish citizens currently living in the UK - although government sources told Sky News she is hopeful of securing a deal covering reciprocal rights as part of Brexit negotiations.

Mrs May has refused to guarantee the rights of EU citizens living in the UK in the wake of the Brexit vote, insisting that the Government must not "reveal its hand" ahead of Brexit negotiations, which will begin when she triggers Article 50 before the end of March.

The UK-Poland summit will bring together the prime ministers of the respective countries as well as senior cabinet ministers, including defence and foreign secretaries.

The Government will also launch a new civil society forum that will meet annually to "deepen ties" between the two nations.

Meanwhile, Michel Barnier, the European Union's Brexit negotiator, is also digging in his heels over any quick deal, insisting last week there would be "no negotiation without notification", adding: "My work is now focused on the EU27 (the remaining EU member states)."

The issue is creating growing tensions in the EU member states and in the UK as millions of UK-based EU citizens and Britons in the EU fret about their status.

There are an estimated 3.3 million EU nationals living in the UK while about 1.2 million British citizens live in the EU.

This weekend, 80 MPs wrote to Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, urging him to get on with striking a deal on reciprocal rights as tensions grow between the UK and Brussels.

"We are extremely concerned that members of the Commission - particularly Commissioner Barnier - seem worryingly indifferent to securing reciprocal rights for our and your resident citizens," the MPs said as they accused the EU's chief negotiator of preventing discussions on the matter between member states.

"People are not bargaining chips. Human beings are not to be traded 'tit for tat' in a political playground.

"People must come before institutions and adherence to process, European or otherwise.

"No European's expatriate's livelihood and family should be held hostage in this way, whether from the UK or the EU27."

Michael Tomlinson, the author of the letter, MP for mid-Dorset and mid-Poole and the vice chairman of the European Research Group, told Sky News that he would like Mr Tusk to formally put the issue on the agenda at the next European Council meeting in mid-December.

Fidel Castro: Dodging exploding seashells, poison pens and ex-lovers

The exploding cigar plot to assassinate Fidel Castro is well known - but what about the other reported 637 plots against his life?

The outlandish projects included exploding seashells, a poisoned diving suit and poison pills hidden in face cream, according to a former bodyguard who wrote a book on the subject and a TV documentary.

The CIA and US-based Cuban exiles spent nearly half a century conspiring to do away with a leader whose country had the same effect on the US as "the full moon has on werewolves", according to former US Havana diplomat Wayne Smith.

The Cuban leader himself once remarked: "If surviving assassination attempts were an Olympic event, I would win the gold medal."

A hero and a tyrant - obituary

A revolutionary at home and abroad

However most of the ideas were never put into practice, former bodyguard Fabian Escalante said. 

Documents released during the administration of President Bill Clinton showed that the CIA at one point began researching Caribbean molluscs.

The plan was to pack a particularly spectacular one full of explosives to attract Castro, a keen diver, and to detonate it when he picked it up.

Another scuba-related idea was to create a diving suit infected with fungus that would cause a debilitating disease. Both plans were dropped.

Decades earlier in 1975, the US Senate Church Commission revealed details of at least eight plots on Castro's life, using devices which, the commission report said, "strain the imagination".

One plot using underworld figures twice progressed to the point of sending poison pills to Cuba and dispatching teams to "do the deed", it said.

At almost the exact moment that President Kennedy - who had authorised the failed Bay of Pigs invasion to overthrow Castro in 1961 - was assassinated, a CIA operative was apparently handing a poison pen equipped with a very fine needle to a Cuban agent.

The agent however was disappointed and asked for something "more sophisticated", the report said.

One of Castro's former lovers, Marita Lorenz, was also recruited. She was given poison pills to put in Castro's drink.

But Castro found out about the attempt and is said to have handed her his gun to use instead.

"You can't kill me. Nobody can kill me," he said, Ms Lorenz told the New York Daily News. "And he kind of smiled and chewed on his cigar. I felt deflated. He was so sure of me. He just grabbed me. We made love."

The most recent known attempt on Castro's life was in 2000, when a plan was hatched to put a large quantity of explosives under a podium he was due to speak on in Panama. The plot was foiled by Castro's security team.

Four men, including veteran Cuban exile and CIA agent Luis Posada, were jailed but later pardoned.

There were also plots to make Castro, also known as "The Beard", an object of ridicule rather than kill him.

One was to sprinkle thallium salt on Castro's shoes during as overseas trip in the hope that his famous beard would fall out. But it was foiled when Castro cancelled the visit.

Another involved spraying an aerosol of LSD close to him as he was about to make a TV broadcast in the hope that he would become hysterical on air.

Castro took myriad precautions to evade would-be assassins. But in 1979 as he flew to New York to address the UN he could not resist a bit of grandstanding.

Asked by journalists on the plane whether he wore a bulletproof vest, he pulled open his shirt and exposed his chest. 

"I have a moral vest," he said.

Fashion designer's son burns £5m of punk memorabilia in protest

The son of Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren and fashion designer Dame Vivienne Westwood has set fire to millions of pounds worth of punk memorabilia, saying punk "has become another marketing tool".

Joe Corre torched a chest containing clothes, posters and other items belonging to him on a boat on the River Thames in London's Chelsea.

There were also effigies of politicians including former prime minister David Cameron and current PM Theresa May loaded with fireworks.

Dame Vivienne was among those gathered on the bank to watch as the memorabilia - said to be worth £5m - burnt and fireworks rose into the sky.

A fire service boat helped to extinguish the flames.

Corre, who founded lingerie company Agent Provocateur, told the crowd: "Punk was never, never meant to be nostalgic - and you can't learn how to be one at a Museum of London workshop. 

"Punk has become another marketing tool to sell you something you don't need. 

"The illusion of an alternative choice. Conformity in another uniform."

He had previously said he was angered by Punk London - a year of events looking back at 40 years of punk heritage.

The plans include talks, films and gigs, supported by partners including the Mayor of London, British Library and the British Film Institute.

Corre had said he wanted to highlight "the hypocrisy at the core of this hijacking of 40 years of Anarchy in the UK". 

He also warned of the dangers of climate change, with a banner on the boat reading: "Extinction! Your future".

Dame Vivienne called for more people to adopt green energy, saying: "This is the first step towards a free world. 

"It's the most important thing you could ever do in your life."

One of the Sex Pistols, bassist Glen Matlock, told Sky News he was unimpressed with Joe Corre's protest.

"I want to paraphrase Monty Python," he said, "in that he's not a saviour he's a naughty boy, and I think Joe is not the anti-Christ, I think he's a nincompoop." 

Ed Miliband goads Theresa May over 'his' executive pay crackdown

Former Labour leader Ed Miliband has goaded Theresa May's Government over its plans to curb excessive corporate pay.

Forcing firms to reveal the pay gap between CEOs and average workers and measures to give workers a say on the earnings of bosses are among initiatives set to be unveiled by ministers.

The Prime Minister promised to tackle corporate greed when she came into power in July and a green paper which will be published on Tuesday includes proposals to:

:: Force companies to publish pay ratios that show the difference in earnings between the chief executive and an average employee

:: Improve the effectiveness of pay committees and the extent to which they must consult shareholders and the wider company on pay

:: Introduce binding votes on executive pay packages

As part of proposals to reform remuneration committees, the Government is also considering whether employees' representatives should be given an advisory role.

Mr Miliband responded to the proposals by appearing to make an ironic statement on Twitter about the policy, which some have pointed out has similarities to one he had put forward in 2012.

He tweeted: "More Marxist anti-business ideas. These Tories...." with a link to an article in the Sunday Telegraph about the Government's plans.

Mr Miliband was accused of creating an "anti-business culture" by then-chancellor George Osborne after Labour said it would force a vote on bonuses due to be paid to bosses at state-owned and part-nationalised firms, including RBS and Network Rail.

The opposition's ex-leader told an audience at Sheffield University at the time: "Tackling excessive executive pay and bonuses is not an end in itself but a necessary first step towards a bigger change in our economy in which people get fair rewards for their contribution at every level of society."

Work and Pensions Secretary Damian Green told Sky News that the Government proposals were "slightly different" from Mr Miliband's.

It is the second former Labour policy which the Government has been accused of copying, after Philip Hammond unveiled plans in the Autumn Statement to crack down on letting agency fees - something Labour proposed in 2015.

Government officials believe employees' representatives could explain to remuneration committees the impact on the wider workforce of high levels of remuneration for top executives.

Pay for the CEOs of FTSE 100 companies increased from an average of £1m in 1998 to £4.3m in 2015, far outstripping the growth in average pay.

A No 10 source said: "The UK has led the world in corporate governance, but our strong reputation can only be maintained if government and business regularly reviews and upgrades our governance.

"Good governance helps companies take better decisions, for their own long-term benefit and the economy overall - ensuring public trust in British business and making sure the UK is the best place in the world to do business."

It comes as a report backed by Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane cautioned against binding votes of remuneration for chief executives and public pay ratio figures. 

The report acknowledged that reform is necessary, but insisted: "Good CEOs remain good value".

During her first speech to a CBI conference last week, Mrs May appeared to water down plans to put workers on company boards.

Despite making the pledge during her campaign to become prime minister, Mrs May insisted the measure would not be about forcing companies to put workers on boards but about firms finding a "model that works for everyone."