Jam, Jerusalem And Prostitutes

Tens of thousands of Women's Institute members are being urged by the Government to help crack down on sleazy sex adverts in local newspapers.

But campaigners have slammed the move and say it will only drive prostitutes on to the streets - making them ten times more likely to be attacked.

In a speech to the WI, Minister for Women Harriet Harman asked its 205,000 UK members to complain to editors if they see the adverts in local newspapers.

She said many of these sex workers are trafficked into this country and forced into prostitution.

However, representatives of the UK's estimated 80,000 prostitutes say Ms Harman is grossly exaggerating the problem in order to launch an anti-immigration message - and a moral crusade.
Niki Adams, of the English Collective Of Prostitutes, told Sky News Online: "It's appalling, it's absolutely terrible (what Harriet Harman is saying).

"It's ten times safer for women to work together in a house than on the street.

"And local newspapers are one of the few ways women have to advertise. This sort of thing will force them out on to the streets - is that what the WI wants?"

She added: "The Government has fabricated the trafficking figures to make it appear worse.

"They are putting together violence and prostitution. We know the difference between consensual sex and rape.

"We don't glamorise prostitution - it's not the job most of us wanted to get into - but it's better than some jobs."

She praised a recent report by Hampshire WI, which called for the decriminalisation of brothels in the wake of the Ipswich prostitute murders.

The group interviewed sex workers in New Zealand, America, and the Netherlands and passed a resolution "urging local authorities to provide safe working spaces for the operation of brothels".

But Pat Marshall, chairman of Hampshire WI, held back on criticising Ms Harman.

"We are waiting to see what Harriet Harman has to say and will think about that in the light of our resolution," she told Sky News Online.

But a spokeswoman for the national group said members would be encouraged to look out for adverts and write letters of complaint to editors if they found them.

The Government has unveiled a number of proposed new laws in its crackdown on the sex industry.

They include rape charges for men who pay for a prostitute who has been forcibly trafficked into the country, and the naming and shaming of kerb crawlers in local newspapers.

Staff Sacked Over Glitter Email

Social workers in Scotland have been sacked for circulating an email showing Gary Glitter carrying a child in a plastic bag.

A spokeswoman for South Lanarkshire Council told Sky News Online that a total of 15 staff have so far been fired or reprimanded.

She said investigations are continuing and more heads may roll over the "inappropriate" image.

Some of those disciplined are trained social workers - responsible for protecting vulnerable children. Others are from the council's roads department.

The image - which shows convicted paedophile Glitter carrying a bag with a child's head superimposed on it - was circulated on the office network.

An inquiry was launched after a disgusted worker alerted bosses at the council.

A council spokeswoman said: "As of today a number of employees across the council have been dismissed and others have received final written warnings over the circulation of the email.

"The image is one currently circulating throughout the United Kingdom.

"The image is totally inappropriate and represents a gross misuse of council email.

"A council investigation is continuing and we are working through the disciplinary process."

She said employees may appeal any decisions.

Most of those involved are based at the council's Rutherglen office, near Glasgow.

Glitter - whose real name is Paul Gadd - served almost three years in prison in Vietnam for sex crimes involving two young girls.

The shamed former rock star was deported from the country at the end of his prison term and flew to Thailand and Hong Kong.

Last week it emerged he is to launch a legal challenge to have his name removed from the sex offenders' register.

If successful, it will allow him greater freedom to travel abroad.

Virtual Divorce Cases To Soar

Britain's first virtual divorce is just the tip of the iceberg as more people seek sex and thrills in fantasy worlds, psychologists have warned.

Sky News Online's exclusive story revealed how Amy Taylor, 28, was divorcing husband David Pollard after she caught him cheating on her in virtual reality game Second Life.

She told how she found the 40-year-old at the computer - watching his 3D character having sex with a prostitute in the game.

Because the pair, from Newquay in Cornwall, spent so much time in the virtual world, she saw the online infidelity as every bit as real as if it had happened in real life.

She cited 'unreasonable behaviour' in her court papers, and her solicitor told her it was the third divorce case involving Second Life she was dealing with.

Our story was taken up by the world's media, as pundits wondered whether it had exposed a cyber society where morality is set aside for secret, adulterous desires.

And, according to experts we contacted, Amy and David's virtual reality divorce is just the start.
"I am sure this type of divorce is going to be an increasing phenomena, there's no doubt about it," psychologist Dr Aric Sigman told Sky News Online.

"It's going to be a huge problem, especially when you consider what will happen when the Facebook generation grows up, because all they are doing is interacting with an image on screen.

"It's what they are not doing in real life that leads to these divorces. Britain is the most time-poor country in Europe, so when people are spending the few hours they have in a virtual world, it's worrying."

Professor Mark Griffiths, an expert on internet addictions, also thinks there will be more cases as more people go online.

So far, more than 15 million people have created characters in Second Life, and membership of the game is growing by 70,000 a day, and shows no sign of slowing down.

Dr Griffiths, from Nottingham Trent University, says the problem lies in the fact that the internet is a non-threatening environment where deep relationships are easy to form.

He believes the instigators of virtual reality divorce cases are more likely to be female.

"Women are stereotypically far more upset of emotional infidelity," he said. "Men are less likely to react into a depth that women do. Physical infidelity is more likely to affect them."

But what does this hold for the legal profession as more people split up for events that 'happen' in fantasy worlds?

Divorce lawyer Andrew Newbury says the court system will not have to change because even though affairs in cyber space are legally not adultery - they do constitute unreasonable behaviour.

"People are cheating in different ways, it's a new phenomenon," he said. "It may be difficult to prove, but anything that happens on the internet is recorded.

"Even if you can't prove it, someone spending much of their time on the internet is potentially neglecting their relationship.

"And hence the divorce can be granted on the grounds of unreasonable behaviour."

Britain's First Virtual Divorce Case

A woman is divorcing her husband after she caught him cheating on her in a 3D virtual world.

Amy Taylor, 28, cited unreasonable behaviour in the court papers, describing how their three-year marriage came to an end when she twice walked in on her husband pretending to have sex in an online game.

Her estranged husband is now engaged to one of the women he had an 'affair' with on Second Life - even though they have never actually met in real life.

Amy told Sky News Online how she thought she had found the love of her life when she met David Pollard in an internet chatroom in May 2003.

They swapped photos online, and after six months of emails and phone calls, she moved from London into his seaside flat in Cornwall.

The couple spent hours having fun together in Second Life - her avatar, or alter ego, in the 3D virtual world was Laura Skye, and his Dave Barmy.

But her dreams were shattered three months later when she went for an afternoon nap and woke to find the jobless 40-year-old having sex with an escort girl in the game.

"I went mad - I was so hurt. I just couldn't believe what he'd done," Amy said.

"I looked at the computer screen and could see his character having sex with a female character. It's cheating as far as I'm concerned.

"But he didn't see it as a problem, and couldn't see why I was so upset. He said I was just making a big fuss, and tried to make out it was my fault for not giving him enough attention."

She added: "We then made it up and he promised he would never do anything to hurt me again, and would never cheat on me again."

The couple got hitched at a registry office in St Austell in July 2005 - and even marked the occasion by holding a virtual wedding in Second Life.

They moved to a flat in Newquay, and carried on their virtual lives in the online world, but Amy knew something was wrong.

"I still had my suspicions, but couldn't my finger on it," she said. "He never did anything in real life, but I had my suspicions about what he was doing in Second Life."

And then the bombshell came in April this year, when she found him in a compromising position with his avatar.

"I caught him cuddling a woman on a sofa in the game. It looked really affectionate," she said.

"He turned off the computer monitor, and I turned it back on and demanded to look at his chat history.

"But he turned off the computer so the history was all deleted - and I ended up going off to his Mum and Dad's in floods of tears."

She added: "He confessed he'd been talking to this woman player in America for one or two weeks, and said our marriage was over and he didn't love me anymore, and we should never have got married."

The next day Amy went to a solicitor to file for a divorce, which is due to be finalised next week.

"The solicitor wasn't at all surprised - she said it was her second divorce case involving Second Life that week," she added.

Amy says she was down in the dumps for a while - but now has a new man in her life, who she met while playing the internet fantasy role-playing game World Of Warcraft.

New Blow For Madeleine's Parents

Kate and Gerry McCann have admitted the Portuguese police files into their daughter’s disappearance hold fewer clues than they had hoped.

They were praying the thousands of documents from the huge dossier of evidence, released in August, would contain missed clues into Madeleine’s whereabouts.

But Gerry, 40, said: "We're not halfway through but there is less information than we expected."

He also said he and Kate have expanded the support team to find the little girl, who was three when she vanished in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on May 3 2007.

The files assembled by detectives over more than 14 months include forensic reports, witness statements, police intelligence and details of hundreds of possible sightings of Madeleine reported around the world.

Also in the file is the final 58-page report written by the Portuguese public prosecutors, who ruled on July 21 that the case should be shelved.

When the eagerly-awaited dossier was handed over in the summer, Mr McCann said his family "strongly believed" Madeleine could still be found and made a fresh appeal for information from the public.

However, Gerry said it was getting harder to find the clues to unlock a “painful situation” as the days go on without her.

But the McCann family spokesman Clarence Mitchell said there was still hope. “The files do show what the police did not do, which can suggest new avenues,” he added.

Gerry also revealed the pain the family felt as they reached the 18-month milestone of their daughter's disappearance.

He said: "This week was unusual in that both Kate and I were feeling low at the same time, which is an uncommon occurrence, and we can usually rely on one of us lifting the other.”

He added: "Monday 3rd of November was 18 months since Madeleine was so cruelly taken from us.

"We do not usually put a lot of store in specific milestones - these being just another day without Madeleine.

"We continue to work very hard behind the scenes. Our support team has been expanded as we try to identify what has been done, what has not been done and what can still be done to help find Madeleine.

"As I have stated many times, someone has a key bit of information that can unlock this frustratingly difficult and painful situation."

Official Axed After 'Human Flesh Search'

A Chinese official accused of attacking an 11-year-old girl in a restaurant has been tracked down and fired following a so-called internet 'human flesh search'.

Web surfers sprung into action after the girl's ordeal was posted online with images taken from a security video at the venue in the Chinese city of Shenzhen.

The footage apparently shows the youngster running back to her family, and then a confrontation with a middle-aged man in the restaurant.

She was reportedly followed into the toilet. The man grabbed her around the neck, but she managed to break free.

Her father is seen confronting the attacker, who reacts angrily and tries to buy off the family, according to the clip on YouTube.

"Yes I did it, so what? How much do you want, just tell me. I'll give you the money," the man said.

"Do you know who I am? I am from the Ministry of Transport. I rank with the mayor of your city. So what if I grabbed the neck of a small child? You people count for ****!"

The video sparked outrage in China, where corruption among officials is rife.

And the man was soon tracked down from the grainy images and named and shamed as Lin Jiaxiang, of the Shenzhen maritime bureau.

Lin has now been sacked from his job, the Ministry of Transport party committee confirmed.

It said his "wild words and behaviour have had an extremely negative impact on society".

China's internet users have become skilled at tracking down individuals featured on websites.

A woman photographed killing a kitten with a stiletto heel was later identified as a nurse in the country.

Personal details of her love life were posted online by furious animal-lovers.

Pensioner Puts Heat On Ramsay

An 81-year-old amateur cook who specialises in microwave ready meals is putting the heat on Gordon Ramsay.

Peter Oakley's gastronomic skills may be distinctly lacking compared to those of the three-star Michelin chef, but he has proved a bigger hit on the internet.

And the Derbyshire widower even has his own culinary tip for Britain's highest paid chef - cut down on the swearing.

Last week, Ramsay posted an advert on video-sharing website YouTube looking for recruits for his new Cookalong show on Channel 4.

The next day, Oakley served up his own version, which initially attracted two times more viewers than Ramsay's.

The apron-clad OAP is seen in the clip constantly swigging from a glass of wine as he prepares a "delightful chicken casserole" in his bungalow kitchen.

With the deftest of touches, he pops the frozen, ready meal in a microwave, and stresses: "It's most important you time it right because soggy vegetables are the pits."

Oakley has become a web sensation under the user name 'Geriatric1927' (the year of his birth) after posting scores of clips on YouTube.

He told Sky News Online: "It was all a bit of fun really. I just live on my own, and I can't be bothered to cook fussy recipes. I certainly wasn't meaning to be mean.

"I just thought it'd be interesting to show how the geriatrics do it, with little thought for hygiene and everything, but If Ramsay was to invite me round and cook me one of his meals I know I'd enjoy it."

But there is one thing he believes the irascible chef could learn from him - and that is to stop turning the air blue all the time when he is cooking on TV.

"As an old person I personally don't like swearing, and don't see why there should be so much of it on TV, especially after the fuss about about Ross and Brand," he said.

"But I suppose it's just Ramsay's way. He's a very brilliant businessman, and a brilliant performer. But I suspect in real life, he doesn't swear all the time like that."

Oakley said his "cookalong the geriatric way" clip came about when he was invited to the head offices of YouTube's parent company, Google - and met the Queen.

He said: "A woman from Ramsay's cookalong programme was there, and she asked me if I would do my own version, so I did it and sent it off."

The simplicity of his meals has clearly struck a chord with internet users - and now the pensioner plans to film a guide to choosing and cooking meat at his local butcher's shop.

One viewer, who logged on as atomrose, said: "This is my kind of cooking...none of this Ramsay and Oliver rubbish. All I've got to do is learn to count - is that seven minutes in metric or imperial?"