Twitter Admits Failing Rape Threat Women

Twitter has broken its silence over a growing row about abuse on the social media site, telling Sky News it has failed women who have faced rape threats.

Twitter's head of safety, Del Harvey, said: "I think that any time that someone feels we weren't responsive, or weren't reactive or we didn't care then, yes, we failed in that instance and we need to do better.

"And that's something that we have definitely had highlighted in terms of the need to educate people about what we've done and to get feedback on what we need to do better."

A series of rape and death threats were made against feminist campaigner, Caroline Criado-Perez, and the MP Stella Creasy, in recent days.

Twitter was criticised for not taking stronger and swifter action against the abusive messages. It insisted it took the issue seriously.

Ms Criado-Perez was sent sickening abuse nearly every minute for 48 hours

The allegations were reported to the police and an investigation was launched into the string of messages sent to Ms Criado-Perez after she headed a successful campaign for a female figure to appear on UK banknotes, and the Labour MP for Walthamstow.

A 25-year-old man was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of harassment of the two women and earlier in the week police questioned and released on bail a 21-year-old man in connection with messages sent to Ms Criado-Perez.

Speaking to Sky News from San Francisco, Ms Harvey revealed that Twitter had spoken to police about abuse claims.

She also said "automated and manual systems" were already in place to prevent abuse and Twitter was now working on a further solution that will allow users to tap on a tweet and report it as abusive. Tweeters will then be asked to answer a series of questions about the abuse they have reported.

Ms Creasy called for Twitter to take stronger action against online abuse

The 'report abuse' button, already available on its latest iPhone app, will be extended to other platforms.

Her comments came as Ms Criado-Perez, who has criticised the microblogging site's security policies, described how the online attack left her feeling "under siege" and terrified in her own home.

Ms Criado-Perez, 29, also said Twitter needs to "get a grip" on security, as it emerged bosses were likely to face a grilling from MPs.

She said the social network was ill-equipped to handle episodes of sustained abuse and needed to work more closely with police.

Ms Criado-Perez met Twitter directors on Monday night along with Ms Creasy, who received a similar torrent of abusive messages after she offered support to the freelance journalist.

"This will have been a wake-up call for Twitter," Ms Criado-Perez said.

"It will hopefully have led them to realise that they are not equipped to deal with this kind of thing properly."

The campaigner said the police also needed to "step up".

Twitter bosses look set to face questions from MPs when the Culture, Media and Sport Committee examines issues surrounding child protection in the autumn.

Committee chair John Whittingdale said: "I would have thought it very possible that the committee might want, in the course of our inquiry, to talk to Twitter."

He added: "It isn't that the law needs to be changed; the question is how you identify people and how you prevent them (from abusing others online).

"That is the big question and it is one we would wish to explore with internet companies to determine whether they are doing as much as they can or whether they should do more. I think that's a very live issue."

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Walthamstow Rape: Police Hunt Three Men

Police are looking for three men after a 12-year-old girl was "brutally" raped in London.

The girl was lured to a garage area in Walthamstow, east London, where she was pinned down and raped by two of the men, who are thought to be aged between 17 and 19.

The suspects left the area after the girl managed to call a friend who came to the scene and took her away.

Scotland Yard said the girl met the three men between 12.15am and 12.30am on July 27.

Detective Inspector Simon Ellershaw, who is leading the investigation, said: "This was a very nasty attack on a vulnerable girl just 12 years old by a group of older males who engaged her in conversation before leading her to a secluded area.

"She was pinned down and two of the males then brutally raped her."

The first of the three men was dark-skinned and of mixed race, with a diamond stud in his left ear and a London accent. He told the girl his name was Mo and that he was 17.

He had big brown eyes, short hair, was very skinny and wore a black puffa-style jacket with a hood, black chinos, black trainers and a grey/black t-shirt.

The second was described as black and very tall with big lips. His hair was partly shaven and he wore black trousers with a red and blue shirt.

The third, who did not rape the girl, was black and had a moustache. He wore a blue hooded top and a red and blue cap, and told her his name was Miles.

The attack happened in an area at the end of Hibbert Road, near Theydon Street.

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 0208 217 7408 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

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NHS Ward Ratings A 'Patient-Led Revolution'

The first results of a system allowing patients to rate the hospital ward or department they have been treated in are to be published later.

Hundreds of thousands of patients took part in the NHS Friends and Family Test during April, May and June 2013.

They were asked for their views after staying in hospital overnight or visiting an A&E department.

It is the first time a national health service has published a single measure of patient satisfaction for every hospital.

They all answered one simple question. "How likely are you to recommend our ward/A&E department to your friends and family if they needed similar care or treatment?"

Tim Kelsey, NHS England's National Director for Patients and Information, said:  "At the heart of the tragedy of Mid Staffordshire was one simple lesson: the NHS has got to do better at listening to patients and doing something about what they say.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt: 'This is an historic moment for the NHS'

"This is a radical response, a potential game changer. It creates a direct conversation and gives NHS staff the opportunity to respond quickly to what they are being told.

"We hope to encourage a patient-led revolution in healthcare, driven by the transparency, better information and public participation in design of services."

The test was announced by David Cameron in January 2012 with the aim of giving patients a stronger voice when deciding whether their care is good enough.

Hospitals will be able to take swift action to make any necessary improvements and NHS England will publish monthly updates to ensure regular feedback about what patients think of services.

NHS England plans to extend the test to maternity services in October and to GP practices and mental health services by the end of December 2014, with other services following by 2015.

NHS Trusts will also invite patients to provide more information so they can understand more deeply what they are being told.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: "This is an historic moment for the NHS - we will eventually know what patients think about almost every ward, at every hospital, across the county.

"This simple test will throw a spotlight on both good and poor care, and sends a clear signal to every NHS organisation that patients must come first every time."

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Barclays H1 Profit £3.59bn Amid £5.8bn Issue

Barclays has reported a 17% drop in half-year adjusted profit of £3.59bn, as it announced a £5.8bn capital-raising rights issue.

It said adjusted income decreased 3% to £15bn, in the six months to June 30.

Barclays said a payment protection insurance (PPI) mis-selling provision of £1.3bn had been made and £650m had been put aside for provisions in relation to interest rate swaps.

The total mis-selling bill for the bank, which had been criticised previously for its aggressive corporate culture, now stands at £5.5bn.

The lender, which was hit last year by the Libor rate-rigging crisis, said it would seek a capital boost in order to meet capital requirements laid down by the Bank of England (BoE).

Past problems continue to haunt Barclays and its cash-call comes after the BoE last month told it to increase its leverage ratio - a measure of equity to assets - to reduce its risk.

Barclays was criticised for its ethics under former CEO Bob Diamond (c)

The rights issue will be for one new ordinary share for every four existing ordinary shares held and priced the issue at 185p per new ordinary share.

Barclays said: "This represents a discount of approximately 40.1% to the closing price on the London Stock Exchange of 309.05p per ordinary share on 29 July 2013 ... and a discount of approximately 34.9% to the theoretical ex-rights price based on the closing price."

The bank said its fundraising was a "bold but balanced plan" which would see it meet regulator demands by June next year.

It stressed it would not impact on its aims to boost lending to households and businesses.

However, shares fell around 5% in early trading as the rights issue was far higher than expected and as Barclays admitted its plans will put back some of the financial targets under its overhaul, dubbed Project Transform.

The bank will also issue £2bn of bonds that are turned into shares or wiped out if the bank gets into trouble.

Chief executive Antony Jenkins said the capital-raising plan enabled the bank to keep growth in its planned level of lending.

"I am certain the decisive and prompt action we are taking will leave Barclays stronger," Mr Jenkins said.

:: The bank said an estimated £42bn of Funding for Lending (FLS) capital was made to UK households and businesses in the six-month period.

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