Teenager stabbed to death in Peckham

A 17-year-old boy has been stabbed to death in a street attack.

Abdirahman Mohamed was killed on Southampton Way in Peckham, south London, just after 23:00 BST on Friday, close to the Tesco Express store.

Despite efforts to keep him alive he was pronounced dead at the scene. No-one has been arrested and police are appealing for witnesses.

Abdirahman, from Camberwell, is the eighth teenager to be stabbed to death in London so far this year.

Det Ch Insp Diane Tudway said: "Abdirahman's family are utterly devastated and cannot understand why he has been taken from them in what is such a senseless act of violence.

"The motive at this time is unclear and we are retaining an open mind as to why Abdirahman was stabbed."

BBC NEWS

                   Weather warnings explained

BBC Weather carries National Severe Weather Warnings which are issued by the Met Office. These warning triangles appear in our national and local weather broadcasts when extreme weather conditions are forecast.

The warnings are colour-coded, with the colours reflecting the likely impact of the predicted weather.

A yellow warning is the lowest level, rising in severity through amber to red for the most severe weather.

You would probably see a red triangle used two or three times a year, whereas yellow triangles could appear several times in the space of a week.

Forecasters need to look at two things when issuing a weather warning. How severe will the weather be and how confident are they that it will happen? Plug this into a grid and you come up with the level of warning. Let's have a look at a couple of examples.

Light snow, confident forecast

In this scenario, there is a confident forecast of light snow showers so it is very likely that snow will fall, but the amounts of snow are expected to be small so the impact should be fairly low.

A yellow warning is issued, which would only go up to amber if the forecast changed to heavier snow.Heavy snow, high level of uncertainty

In an alternative scenario, a weather front pushing in from the west is expected to produce rain, but there is a risk of this turning to heavy snow at some point as it meets colder air.

The potential impact of the snow is fairly high, but there is also a high degree of uncertainty in the forecast so initially a yellow warning is issued. This could move up to amber nearer the time as confidence in the forecast increased.

So whenever you see the warning triangles appearing on our broadcasts it is worth not just taking an extra interest in the forecast, but also looking out for updates as the warning level could change

BBC NEWS

        In pictures: London Bridge attack

 Images from the scene of the major police operation in central London..

 

 The surrounding area was closed to the public

 

Manchester attack: Chloe Rutherford and Liam Curry confirmed dead 

A teenage couple killed in the Manchester Arena explosion "adored each other", their families have said.

"Inseparable" Chloe Rutherford, 17, and Liam Curry, 19, from South Shields were among 22 victims killed in Monday's suicide bomb attack.

The pair were described as "perfect in every way for each other" by their relatives in a joint family tribute released through police.

"They wanted to be together forever and now they are", it added.

The statement, posted on Facebook, said the couple "lived to go to new places together and explore different cities".

Chloe described herself as "ditzy", her family said, while Liam "would do anything for [her], including dealing with Chloe's demands for chocolate".

Mr Curry's father Andrew died suddenly in March.

The Union flag above the town hall in South Shields is flying at half mast as a mark of respect for the pair and the other 20 victims of Monday's attack.

The leader of South Tyneside Council, Iain Malcolm, said the whole area was "feeling the loss and sharing the pain" with the families of the couple.

He said: "Liam not so long ago undertook a 260 mile cycle ride to Paris for the Bobby Robson Foundation. Chloe was a talented actress who appeared on the stage at the Theatre Royal in Newcastle.

"This was a young couple who were doing nothing but enjoying their life and enjoying each other's company and it's just desperately, desperately sad for South Tyneside and particularly for their families.

"Chloe and Liam had so much to look forward to and were simply enjoying life at a pop concert.

"We are absolutely devastated by the tragic injuries and loss of innocent young lives in such a callous and cowardly attack."

Mr Curry, a former pupil of Gateshead College, was studying for a degree in sport and exercise science at Northumbria University.

The university, college and Mr Curry's former school, St Wilfred's RC college in South Shields, separately paid tribute to him as a conscientious student and a "fine young man".

He was very well liked and would be missed, they said.

Marsden Cricket Club, where Mr Curry was a member, said: "Liam has been part of the club from the age of just six and we have all seen him develop into an incredibly strong and mature young man, supporting his family through the loss of his father Andy earlier this year.

"He was developing into a fine cricketer and coach and was undoubtedly going to be part of our first team for many years to come.

"Chloe, like Liam, was an incredibly strong person. Quiet but not shy, she was a pleasure to be with around the club."

Miss Rutherford's employer, Westoe Travel in South Shields, described her as "part of the family"

A spokesman said: "This is something we will never be able to understand. When you watch these events on television you never expect them to impact on those around you.

"As a small family business, Chloe was part of our family, working part-time as she completed her college studies before starting full-time with us on 26 June to begin her travel apprenticeship.

"We loved her friendly happy personality and she was a great asset and had a great future ahead in the travel industry, which she was really looking forward to.

"Liam would meet her from work and they were a perfect loving couple.

"The families have lost two beautiful young people who were a credit to them and our thoughts and prayers go to both families at this terrible time."

Staff at cancer charity the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, for whom Liam Curry had fundraised, said they were "devastated".

"Liam was an outstanding young man and a great credit to his family," a statement said.

"At 14, he began fundraising for us after his granddad, Jack Allen, was diagnosed with cancer and he proudly completed a Coast to Coast cycle ride.

"Cruelly, his dad, Andrew Curry, was also diagnosed with cancer and died in March this year."

Image copyright Sir Bobby Robson Foundation

 

 The foundation's statement said Liam had continued to fundraise during his father's illness, doing a 260 mile sponsored cycle ride from Calais to Paris and a Great North Run.
"No words can adequately convey feelings at a time like this," it said.
Northumberland County Council has opened a book of condolence for all victims of the attack.









BBC NEWS

      Opioid crisis: The letter that started it all 

Canadian researchers have traced the origins of the opioid crisis to one letter published almost 40 years ago.

The letter, which said opioids were not addictive, was published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) in 1980.

Dr David Juurlink says the journal's prestige helped fuel the misguided belief that opioids were safe.

His research found that the letter was cited more than 600 times, usually to argue that opioids were not addictive.

On Wednesday, the NEJM published Dr Juurlink's rebuttal to the 1980 letter, along with his team's analysis of the number of times the letter was cited by other researchers.

"I think it's fair to say that this letter went quite a long way," Dr Juurlink, who is head of clinical pharmacology and toxicology at Toronto's Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre.

The original letter, titled "Addiction Rare in Patients Treated with Narcotics", was just a paragraph long. The lone evidence cited was an anecdote that out of 11,882 hospitalised patients were treated with narcotics, only four patients with no history of addiction became addicted.

This paragraph should have triggered a host of red flags, says Dr Juurlink.

The letter only described the effects on hospitalised patients, not on patients who had chronic pain and would need to take painkillers regularly. It also only described the effects of narcotics that are no longer used today - and yet it was cited by many as proof that modern drugs such as OxyContin were safe outside of the hospital setting.

"I don't think it mattered that it didn't say much, what mattered was its title and its publication, and those two things went a long way," Dr Juurlink said.

It is now widely accepted by medical researchers that opioids are highly addictive, he said. In 2016, the British Medical Journal urged doctors to limit opioid prescriptions in order to combat the overdose crisis in the US and other parts of the world.

• Nine die in Vancouver in 24 hours from fentanyl opioid overdose
• Smack in the suburbs

In 2007, the makers of OxyContin pleaded guilty in federal court to "misbranding" by falsely claiming OxyContin was less addictive and less subject to abuse than other pain medications.

• OxyContin maker settles Canadian class action for C$20m

This week, Ohio became the second state after Mississippi to sue opioid manufacturers for unleashing "a health care crisis that has had far-reaching financial, social, and deadly consequences".

The letter's author, Dr Hershel Jick, says he never intended for the article to justify widespread opioid use, and has testified for the government about how these drugs are marketed.

"I'm essentially mortified that that letter to the editor was used as an excuse to do what these drug companies did," Jick told The Associated Press. "They used this letter to spread the word that these drugs were not very addictive."

Dr Juurlink believes that the misinformation that resulted after the letter's publication would not happen today. Back then, he said, if you wanted to read the original letter, you would need to go to a library. Many of the people who cited the 1980 letter were just plain "sloppy" he said and didn't do their diligence.

Now, it's easy to read the original 1980 letter online, as well as Dr Juurlink's rebuttal.

"It would be taken apart overnight on Twitter", he said.

There is now an editor's note on the original letter in the NEJM: "For reasons of public health, readers should be aware that this letter has been 'heavily and uncritically cited' as evidence that addiction is rare with opioid therapy."

BBC NEWS

     Seven stars who refused to be body shamed

 

Stories about "body shaming" are nothing new - but more and more celebrities are starting to fight back against the trend.

Earlier this week, actress Chloe Moretz said she was "appalled and angry" over the marketing for her new animated Snow White film.

A poster for Red Shoes & The 7 Dwarfs showed a tall woman next to a shorter, heavier version of herself.

The caption read: "What if Snow White was no longer beautiful and the 7 dwarfs not so short?"

After plus-size model Tess Holliday tweeted a photo of the poster, Moretz apologised to her fans and said she hadn't approved the marketing.

The film's producers withdrew the ad campaign.

And last week, Modern Family actress Sarah Hyland took to social media after suggestions she looked anorexic in a recent photo.

Here are seven other stars who hit back after criticism over the way they look.

---

1. Lady Gaga

 

Lady Gaga came in for criticism after she wore a crop top during her performance at this year's Super Bowl.

More than 100 million people watched the legendary half-time show worldwide, but some made cruel remarks about her stomach and said she "wasn't fit enough".

The singer took to Instagram to respond with an empowering message to her fans.

"I heard my body is a topic of conversation so I wanted to say, I'm proud of my body and you should be proud of yours too," she said.

"I could give you a million reasons why you don't need to cater to anyone or anything to succeed. Be you, and be relentlessly you."

2. Amy Schumer 

 

 

The comedian and actress has memorably taken on body shamers on more than one occasion.

When the advert for her film Trainwreck was released in 2015, one critic referred to her as a new member of director Judd Apatow's "Funny-Chubby Community".

Posting a photo of herself almost naked on Twitter, Schumer wrote: "I am a size 6 and have no plans of changing. This is it. Stay on or get off. Kisses!"

There was more to come.

At the end of 2016, she responded to social media "fat shamers" who questioned whether she was an appropriate choice to play Barbie in a forthcoming film.

Alongside a photo of herself in a swimsuit, she said she was honoured to be considered to play "an important and evolving icon".

"Is it fat shaming if you know you're not fat and have zero shame in your game?" she asked.

"I don't think so. I am strong and proud of how I live my life and say what I mean and fight for what I believe in and I have a blast doing it with the people I love.

"Where's the shame? It's not there. It's an illusion. When I look in the mirror I know who I am."

(Schumer has since left the Barbie project over a scheduling conflict.)

---

3. Meghan Trainor 

 in 2016, the singer made her record label take down the new video for her Me Too single after she noticed she'd been digitally altered.

Or to use her words, "they photoshopped the crap out of me".

Trainor took to Snapchat to tell her fans: "I'm so sick of it, and I'm over it, so I took it down until they fix it."

She added: "My waist is not that teeny, I had a bomb waist that night. I don't know why they didn't like my waist, but I didn't approve that video, and it went out for the world, so I'm embarrassed..."

A day later, the video reappeared with Trainor restored to her rightful size.

---

4. Lena Dunham

 

In March this year, the star and creator of HBO's Girls responded to criticism about her recent weight loss.

Dunham had attracted headlines about her dramatic new look. But in a lengthy Instagram post which referred to her struggle to control her endometriosis, she said: "My weight loss isn't a triumph and it also isn't some sign I've finally given in to the voices of trolls."

The actress said she had made it clear over the years that she didn't care what anyone else felt about her body.

"I've gone on red carpets in couture as a size 14. I've done sex scenes days after surgery, mottled with scars. I've accepted that my body is an ever changing organism, not a fixed entity - what goes up must come down and vice versa."

---

5. Jennifer Lawrence

 

Back in 2013, Jennifer Lawrence said she thought "it should be illegal to call someone fat on TV" after red carpet criticism of her own figure.

Speaking to US host Barbara Walters, The Hunger Games star said she was worried about how the media's attitude affected young people.

"The media needs to take responsibility for the effect that it has on our younger generation, on these girls who are watching these television shows, and picking up how to talk and how to be cool," Lawrence said.

She added: "I mean, if we're regulating cigarettes and sex and cuss words, because of the effect they have on our younger generation, why aren't we regulating things like calling people fat?"

The actress, who won an Oscar for her performance in Silver Linings Playbook, had previously spoken out against gossip magazines and TV shows which criticise the way women look.

She told the December 2012 issue of Elle magazine that "in Hollywood, I'm obese. I'm considered a fat actress".

---

6. Kate Winslet

 

The Titanic star and Oscar-winning actress has spoken on occasions about how she was bullied at school and called "Blubber".

"I was even told that I 'might be lucky with my acting, if I was happy to settle for the fat girl parts'," she said during a speech this year for the WE charity at London's Wembley Arena.

"I felt that I wasn't enough, I wasn't good enough. I didn't look right... and all because I didn't fit into someone else's idea of 'perfect.' I didn't have the perfect body."

The star said her love of acting meant she was always auditioning for roles - however small.

"I would often get cast as the crocodile, or the scarecrow, or the dark fairy, I was even a dancing frog once. But it didn't matter. I still loved it... I wanted to be great and I was determined to keep learning."

Kate, who made her film debut aged 17 in 1994's Heavenly Creatures, shot to global stardom three years later as Rose in James Cameron's blockbuster Titanic.

She said: "The most unlikely candidate, Kate from the sandwich shop in Reading, [was] suddenly acting in one of the biggest movies ever made!"

---

7. Vin Diesel

 

It's not just women who get criticised for how they look.

Vin Diesel found that out in 2015 after the publication of unflattering pap shots of him shirtless in Miami. Some comments on social media referred to his "dad bod".

The Fast and Furious star responded by posting a photo on Instagram which showed off his muscular physique.

He said one journalist, during an interview for his film The Last Witch Hunter, had even asked to see the "dad bod".

"Haha," Diesel wrote. "I am wondering if I should show the picture... Body shaming is always wrong!"

BBC NEWS

Dutch families win right to test DNA of sperm bank doctor 

A Dutch court has approved a request by families seeking DNA tests on the belongings of a late fertility clinic doctor accused of using his own sperm in dozens of cases.

Jan Karbaat is suspected of fathering about 60 children at the centre he ran in Bijdorp, near Rotterdam.

Tests will now be conducted on items seized from his home after his death in April, at the age of 89.

A lawyer for his family said there was no evidence to support the claims.

Physical resemblance

Jan Karbaat called himself "a pioneer in the field of fertilisation".

His clinic was closed in 2009 amid reports that he had allegedly falsified data, analyses and donor descriptions and exceeded the permitted number of six children per donor.

At a court hearing last month, a lawyer for the 22 parents and children said that the suspected cases included a client's child who had brown eyes when the sperm donor was supposedly blue-eyed and a client's son who physically resembled the doctor.

The DNA profile will remain sealed until the children can show there is cause to believe he is their father, the BBC's Anna Holligan, who was at the district court in Rotterdam, reports.

Eventually, if the DNA profile matches, the children, most of them born in the 1980s, hope to sue the doctor, possibly on the grounds that they should not exist, our correspondent adds.

Joey, who believes Jan Karbaat may be his father, told the BBC: "It means everything to me... We hope to get the answers."

The Karbaat family's lawyer argued against any DNA tests taking place. While alive, the doctor himself refused such tests.

However, last month, Jan Karbaat's son donated his DNA for tests, which showed that the doctor could be the father of 19 children, born though IVF, AFP news agency reports.

It is not clear whether the 19 are among those involved in the court case.

BBC NEWS