Future Of Fashion: Technology On The Catwalk

By Tom Cheshire, Technology Correspondent

One thing never goes out of fashion: talking about wearable technology at London Fashion Week.

The jamboree shows up twice a year and technology is always at the forefront - whether it's Burberry live streaming their shows, or exotic LED dresses. Problem is that wearable technology has never been very wearable, nor very technological.

Is this year any different?

Well, perhaps we're seeing wearable technology disappear, finally.

Lauren Bowker is the founder of The Unseen, a label that uses advanced materials to visualise 'unseen' things like digital data. This fashion week, she's debuting a jacket that changes colour based on your brainwaves.

A dress designed by CuteCircuit using tech-centric threads

The piece itself is closer to a sculpture than anything else, and very subtle. I wore the EEG headset and watched as the jacket slowly dappled according to my (apparently very relaxed) thoughts.

For Lauren, wearable technology gets in the way: "We're really focused on trying to break out of this wearable tech buzzword and show people a new creative alternative to the stuff they have around them - to re-inspire people into thinking that technology and science can be a part of your life without disconnecting you from how you would naturally interact with a human.

Video: Apple Enters Wearable Tech Market

"We're not necessarily interested in implementing wires and lights and going down the wearable computing route. We're interested in translating data through a much more organic way, so using natural processes and craft processes but hacking into them with very modern pigments and very modern concoctions."

As outlandish as the jacket is, it's a proving ground for mass-market appeal: the Unseen is now working with Selfridge's on a range of products for everyone.

The same goes for CuteCircuit, the Shoreditch-based start up that's been making tech-centric threads for 11 years.

Video: Wearable Tech Data Worries

Co-founder Francesca Rosella also believes that technology will become a lot more seamless.

"Everything we have to carry with us today, like little boxes and camera and gadgets and watches are going to disappear. And all the technology we need is going to be embedded into our garments. Unless people start going around naked, we're definitely going to have wearable technology on our bodies."

Apple has pitched its watch, due out in April, as much a fashion product as a technological one.

Video: Wearable Tech: Hit Or Miss?

A friend of Apple design chief Jonathan Ive was quoted in a recent New Yorker piece saying: "Jon's always wanted to do luxury."(On the other side of the catwalk, Tommy Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren both now carry tech products in their lines).

Then again, Google Glass failed at the same trick. Google tried to position its face computer - a fairly advanced piece of technology - as a lifestyle brand, but no one was buying it. 

Glass was technology that wasn't really wearable, and it failed. Those that can collapse the distinction between the two will succeed.

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PM: Schools Must Fight 'Appalling' Teen IS Trend

David Cameron has told schools, colleges and universities they must play a role in stopping teenagers travelling to Syria to fight alongside Islamic State terrorists.

The Prime Minister's comments were made amid questions over how three schoolgirls from East London were able to leave their homes and travel to Turkey without being stopped.

Shamima Begum, 15, Kadiza Sultana, 16 and a third 15-year-old girl, who has not been named, were last seen on Tuesday morning as they left their homes in East London, telling their families they would be out for the day.

Shamima Begum tweeted a friend understood to have previously fled to Syria

It has emerged they were questioned just two months ago after one of their classmates, also 15, travelled to Syria and yet they were still able to board a Turkish Airlines flight at Gatwick which landed at Istanbul on Tuesday evening.

The Prime Minister said their disappearance was "deeply concerning," stressing that authorities would do "everything we can to help these girls."

Video: 'It Is Deeply Concerning'

However he said their case proves the fight against Islamist extremist terror is "not just one that we can wage by the police and border control."

"It needs every school, every university, every college, every community to recognise they have a role to play," he said.

"We all have a role to play in stopping people from having their minds poisoned by this appalling death cult."

The Metropolitan Police disclosed the three girls were questioned by officers in December as part of a "routine inquiry". According to The Times none of the three was subsequently monitored by counterterrorism police. 

It was only when their families raised the alarm that authorities discovered the girls had fled the country.

Sky News has also uncovered a tweet sent from Shamima Begum's Twitter account two days earlier, asking a friend already in Syria to follow her so they can start messaging privately.

The friend is understood to be a former private school pupil from Glasgow who travelled to Syria to marry a fighter.

Video: 'Got To Be A Collective Effort'

In a statement the Metropolitan Police said they found "nothing" in December to indicate the girls were likely to flee.

IT said: "There was nothing to suggest at the time that the girls themselves were at risk and indeed their disappearance has come as a great surprise, not least to their own families."

Turkish Airlines reportedly did not notify authorities that the girls had boarded the flight to Turkey - a known stop for would-be jihadists travelling to Syria.

Questions have now been raised over how the girls - who attended the Bethnal Green Academy school and were described as "straight-A students" - were able to leave the UK so easily.

Former Metropolitan Police border control officer Chris Hobbs told Sky News that checks for people departing from UK airports made it a "walk in the park for jihadis and girls like this" to leave.

"At the moment you go through security, you get on the plane, you might be checked by a private security guard," he said.

"Unless you're very unlucky you won't pass under the eyes of anyone from UK law enforcement.

Video: Schoolgirls Run Away To Syria

"If you're on a watch list then you will ping the system. If you're not on the radar then the odds are you will get on the plane without too many problems."

The number of Westerners who have travelled to Iraq and Syria to join IS is thought to be about 3,000, including as many as 550 women, according to the London-based Institute for Strategic Dialogue.

Police have issued the following descriptions of the girls.

:: Shamima Begum, 15

Shamima is around 5ft 7in tall and was wearing black, thick-rimmed glasses, a black hijab, a light brown and black leopard-print scarf, a dark red jumper, black trousers and jacket.

She was carrying a dark blue cylindrical holdall with white straps. She is a British national of Bangladeshi heritage and speaks English with a London accent. She also speaks Bengali.

:: Kadiza Sultana, 16

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1. Gallery: Schoolgirls May Have Gone To Syria

   Scotland Yard are trying to trace three teenage girls from the same East London school who are believed to have run off to Syria

CCTV captured images of the girls at Gatwick Airport

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PM Pledges £300m In Fight To Defeat Dementia

More than £300m is to be spent over the next five years on research, medical trials and training to tackle dementia, the Prime Minister has announced.

David Cameron plans to set up an international dementia institute in England in a bid to make the UK a world leader for research and medical trials.

A separate multimillion-pound fund will be launched to help establish an international investment scheme to discover new drugs and treatments that could slow down the onset of dementia or even deliver a cure.

Some 1.3 million NHS workers, from surgeons to hospital porters, will be given training in how to give those with dementia the best possible standards of care.

Businesses and public services will be encouraged to offer greater understanding and support for people with the condition.

Video: Oct: Dementia Plan A 'Travesty'

And a further three million volunteers are to be recruited to train as "dementia friends" to help care for sufferers. 

Mr Cameron said: "Dementia is one of the greatest challenges of our lifetime, and I am proud that we are leading the world in fighting it.

"Because of the growing strength of our economy, we can invest in research and drug development, as well as public understanding, so we defeat this terrible condition and offer more hope and dignity for those who suffer.

"That way, we can help make Britain a country that offers security in retirement for all."

Video: 2014: Dementia Care Plan Revealed

Other pledges include having the majority of people in England living in "dementia friendly communities" by making shops, transport and other public places more accessible to people with the condition.

And initial dementia assessments by GPs will take place in an average of six weeks and will be followed by better onward support.

There are around 850,000 people living with dementia in the UK, with the number expected to hit a million within the next 10 years.

Jeremy Hughes, chief executive of the Alzheimer's Society, said: "Dementia Friends is truly changing attitudes and capturing the public's attention.

Video: June: Dementia: Threat To Humanity

"Together we are transforming lives today and reaching out for preventative treatments and a cure tomorrow.

"This Government has rightly prioritised dementia.

"We would all acknowledge the work that remains to be done, but the PM deserves credit for the phenomenal achievement in getting dementia on the national and global agenda and this has resulted in significant progress."

Mr Cameron visited High Wycombe on Saturday to meet people with dementia, and dementia friends.

Video: Sept: Cost Of Dementia Care Soars

He said: "What today's announcement is about is a very simple but bold ambition, and that is to make the United Kingdom the best place on the planet in terms of researching into dementia, in terms of diagnosing people with dementia and then in terms of treating, helping and caring for them.

"Not just hospitals and care homes, but the whole of our country making dementia friendly communities."

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Firefighters Battle Industrial Blaze In Erith

Almost 100 firefighters have battled to get a blaze inside a block of industrial units under control.

The smoke and fire from the blaze in Erith, South East London, could be seen from miles away.

More than 50 people called emergency services to report the fire, which happened at around 2am in Yarnton Way.

Firefighters battled the blaze for three hours Pic: London Fire Brigade

A storage warehouse was completely destroyed, and the blaze also affected two adjacent units.

While no homes were affected, the London Fire Brigade advised people living near the scene to close their doors and windows due to large volumes of smoke.

Station Manager Norman Perry said: "Fire crews worked hard to bring this under control. 

The cause has yet to be determined. Pic: George Bash

"The blaze was in an industrial area and we managed to stop it spreading to any residential homes.

"We are likely to be at the scene throughout the morning damping down pockets of fire."

Firefighters at the scene of the blaze

The fire was under control by 5.40am.

The cause has yet to be determined.

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Super Tide And Strong Winds Brew Up Flood Risk

"Super tides", 50mph winds and large waves are threatening to combine to bring flooding misery for coastal communities in England this weekend.

The warning comes as many in the South East woke up to a covering of snow on Saturday, with forecasters predicting further blizzards for northern areas.

The biggest flood risk is in the southwest, with five "immediate action required" warnings issued by the Environment Agency (EA), mainly for the Somerset coast; and five for the northwest.

Two warnings are also in place around the Wye Estuary in the Midlands. There are also dozens of lower-level amber flood alerts - meaning flooding is possible.

Most of the serious warnings are in southwest England. Pic: EA

"It's possible we could see some large waves and spray and urge people to take care near coastal paths and promenades and not to drive through flood water," said the EA's flood risk manager, Jonathan Day.

The spring "super tides" occur regularly when the gravitational pull of the sun and moon combine.

But the pull of the planets is also at an 18-year peak, making the tides slightly bigger this year, according to the EA.

Surfers on the River Severn made the best of the tidal boost, riding the incoming bore wave on Saturday morning.

Southeast England also saw a dusting of snow on Saturday morning

Crowds gathered on the banks to watch the phenomenon, which at its peak can reach 13mph and three metres in height.

Saturday's wave is one of several large surges expected in February and March.

Meanwhile, heavy snow is also set to add to a turbulent mix of weekend weather, causing travel problems in Pennine areas and the Highlands.

A woman on a paddle board prepares for the Severn bore surge

Parts of southeast England have already had snow this weekend, with rural areas of East Sussex, Surrey and Kent seeing some picture postcard scenes.

The Met Office said freezing temperatures on Saturday night would see more wintry showers sweeping in in the morning.

"The whole of the country will experience strong winds and severe gales over the course of tomorrow, meaning it will be a wet and windy day for many - and a snowy and windy day for northern parts," said Met Office forecaster Simon Partridge.

"Winter is not over just yet."

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Music Teacher Jailed for Sex Attacks On Girls

By Martin Brunt, Crime Correspondent

A top musician and conductor has been jailed for 11 years for sex assaults on his teenage students.

Philip Pickett used soundproofed music practice rooms to rape and indecently assault pupils who idolised him.

When one victim's parents complained to the prestigious Guildhall School of Music and Drama, its principal took months to reply, took no action and suggested the girl take lessons elsewhere.

Pickett was allowed to continue his celebrated career as a leading authority on baroque music, touring abroad and playing concerts with some of the world's top performers.

Pickett was arrested two years ago over assaults in the '70s and '80s

He became a musical director at London's Globe theatre on the South Bank and founded the New London Consort ensemble.

The 64-year-old was finally arrested when one victim reported him to police two years ago in the wake of publicity around the Jimmy Savile scandal.

Video: Rapist Musician Speaks On Camera

He denied a string of charges from the 1970s and '80s involving sex attacks against young female students.

Pickett, one of the world's leading woodwind instrumentalists, was convicted of two rapes and two indecent assaults on three pupils. He was cleared of six alleged attacks on four others.

Judge Charles Wide described his crimes as "terrible".

"You were their teacher," he said.

"To a degree they were in awe of you, especially the schoolgirls.

"There is the location of the offences, the practice rooms of the Guildhall School of Music, soundproofed and dark. Even if they had shouted they could not have been heard."

One victim, who was 16 at the time, told the Old Bailey jury that during a music lesson in 1978 he demanded she take off her top "to work on your breathing" and then molested her. At her next lesson he raped her.

She did not report him at the time, but told her mother she did not want any more lessons.

In 1984, another victim told her parents of an assault and they wrote to the school asking for an explanation.

But the then principal John Hosier took months to reply and eventually told them he had received no other complaints, advising their daughter to find lessons at another school.

Mr Hosier, who is now dead, wrote to Pickett saying he was frustrated that the tutor had not contacted him to discuss the allegation, according to documents discovered by the City of London police.

Video: Det Supt Maria Woodall On Pickett

Det Supt Maria Woodall said: "Philip Pickett used his position of authority as an accomplished professor to abuse young talented women who were vulnerable due to their age and the fact they were pupils of his.

"He knew how difficult it would be for them to report his crimes to the school or to the police.

"His access to young women over such a period of time means there could be more victims who have yet to come forward.

"I would urge these people to contact the City of London Police."

Among former students of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama are Beatles producer Sir George Martin, the flautist Sir James Galway and the opera singer Bryn Terfel.

The school said in a statement: "Although these events took place several decades ago, this does not diminish our utter shock that a professional music teacher could abuse the trust placed in him by the school and its students.

"The Guildhall School wholeheartedly welcomes the verdicts. Justice has been done and our thoughts are with the victims of these dreadful crimes.

"The Guildhall School takes the duty of care of its students extremely seriously. Robust safeguarding procedures are in place at the school to ensure safe learning environments for all students and these measures are regularly reviewed."

Pickett lived with his wife in the pretty Cotswold village of Lyneham near Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire.

He tried to delay his sentence so he could attend music festivals abroad.

He was jailed last week, but a reporting ban was imposed until today when the Crown Prosecution Service decided to drop more charges against him.

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Man Hunted After Pummelling Dog In CCTV

A man is being hunted by animal protection officers after he was caught on CCTV punching his dog hard at least four times.

RSPCA inspectors said the animal showed "clear signs of fear" and they were "very concerned" for its welfare.

Footage released by the organisation showed the dog wandering loose before apparently sitting placidly by a kerb.

The man can be seen on the video reaching down to put a lead on its collar before he carried out the attack.

Inspectors do not know the dog's breed, but they believe it is a bull-type with white markings on the front leg and chest.

The attack happened in Jex Road, Norwich, at about 1.30pm on 9 February.

Laura Sayer, from the RSPCA, said: "You can clearly see the dog being punched in the head with some considerable force, several times.

"The dog shows clear signs of fear and we are very concerned about his or her welfare."

Anyone with information should contact the RSPCA on 0300 123 8018.

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Man Charged With Murdering Six-Month-Old Boy

A man has been charged with the murder of a baby boy.

The 26-year-old is due to appear at Hendon Magistrates' Court in north London today.

A post-mortem examination on the six-month-old infant, who died on 26 January, found that a head injury was the cause of death.

The child was not responsive when police and paramedics were called to a property in Tottenham, north London, on 23 January.

The baby was first taken to North Middlesex Hospital before being transferred to Great Ormond Street Hospital.

Police arrested a 30-year-old woman on suspicion of grievous bodily harm, but she has since been released with no further action.

Identities of the people involved are not being released by police.

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Bodycam Captures 'Vicious' Attack On Officer

Footage has emerged of a "disgusting and vicious" attack on a woman police officer which was captured on her body camera.

Sergeant Kerry Lawrence's head was repeatedly banged on the ground by a handcuffed suspect during the assault in Basingstoke, Hampshire.

It happened in the early hours of 6 July last year when she was responding to a report of a burglary in progress.

The video released by her force showed her attacker, Craig Radbourne, apparently drunk, in handcuffs and protesting in a squad car before he lashes out.

Craig Radbourne launches his assault on the officer

An unknown man is then heard calling the emergency services, saying: "We need police, ambulance, everything. Your officer is down, she's on the floor."

The man tried to reassure the officer and she appealed on her radio for colleagues to "hurry up". Back-up is heard arriving minutes later.

Radbourne, 25, of Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire, pleaded guilty to a charge of assault causing actual bodily harm.

He was sentenced at Winchester Crown Court to three years in prison.

The video was described by Judge Susan Evans QC as "nothing short of sickening" and she added the officer was fortunate not to be more seriously hurt.

A police mugshot of Radbourne, whose attack was described as 'disgusting'

She is now back at work on full duties.

A Hampshire police spokeswoman said: "Radbourne was arrested by the officer on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly. He had been placed in handcuffs and into a police car before additional units arrived.

"However, before officers arrived, Radbourne managed to strike out at Sgt Lawrence, viciously attacking her and banging her head on the ground several times.

"He was subsequently re-arrested by other officers nearby and taken into police custody."

Chief Inspector Simon Dodds said: "This was a disgusting attack on a member of my team, who works tirelessly to serve her community."

Simon Hayes, police and crime commissioner for Hampshire, criticised the sentence as being lenient.

He said: "I am disappointed that Mr Radbourne has only been sentenced to three years in prison for the extremely violent assault against Sgt Kerry Lawrence. I would hope that he is made to serve the full sentence."

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Police Hunt Fans Over Racist Station Chants

A gang of men, believed to be Chelsea fans, are being hunted by police after being heard shouting racist chants at St Pancras station.

The men were returning from Paris by train on Wednesday, the day after the club played Paris St Germain in the French capital.

The incident happened at the central London station at around 8pm, and was reported by a member of the public who was "disgusted" by their behaviour, the British Transport Police (BTP) said.

It comes after police released images of three men - believed to be Chelsea fans - who they want to speak to in connection with a separate incident on the Paris Metro on Tuesday.

The three men police want to speak to

A group of fans were captured on video stopping a black man boarding a train and chanting: "We're racist, we're racist, and that's the way we like it."

Speaking about the incident at St Pancras station, Superintendent Gill Murray of the BTP said: "The men shouted as they walked through the station having alighted from the train a short time earlier.

Video: Victim: Metro Incident Was Racist

"If you travelled on the train from Paris or were at the station and have information which can assist our investigation I would urge you to get in touch as a matter of urgency."

The club has suspended five people from Stamford Bridge, the club's stadium, while it investigates the incident on the Paris Metro.

Chelsea said it has received "substantial information" following an appeal for witnesses and an investigation was ongoing.

The club has reiterated its vow to ban for life anyone proved to have been involved, and is helping police in the UK and France.

Manager Jose Mourinho has said the club is "ashamed" of the supporters, and said he would welcome the victim - Souleymane Sylla - to a future home game.

Video: 'We Don't Want Them At Our Club'

Paris-born Mr Sylla, 33, has said he thinks the fans who abused him should be jailed.

In a coincidence, Chelsea's home match against Burnley on Saturday is the club's designated annual "Game for Equality".

The matchday programme denounced the Paris abuse over several pages, including in a column by captain John Terry.

Terry was banned for four matches in 2012 after being found guilty of racially abusing then Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand.

He wrote: "This club stands against all forms of discrimination.

Video: Chelsea Manager 'Ashamed'

"Football is a sport for everyone, that is one of the main reasons why we love it."

Club chairman Bruce Buck wrote: "We are all appalled at what we saw and the club would like to apologise unreservedly to Mr Souleymane S for the behaviour of a group of individuals and their unforgivable actions towards him.

He added: "The people involved in that incident in Paris do not represent Chelsea Football Club, they do not stand for the values of this club and they have no place at this club.

"This has been echoed loud and clear by the vast majority of Chelsea supporters."

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