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The wife of academic Matthew Hedges, convicted of spying in the UAE, says she spoke to him last night and he is "not well".

There are signs Foreign Office staff may be close to resolving the case of UK academic Matthew Hedges, convicted of spying in the United Arab Emirates.

The UAE's ambassador in London is due to issue a statement at 10:00 GMT, amid speculation he will talk about progress in the 31-year-old's situation. On Thursday, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said he had "constructive" talks with his opposite number in the UAE.

Image source, EPA/Daniela Tejada

Mr Hedges, of Durham University, was jailed for life but denies spying.

BBC diplomatic correspondent Paul Adams tweeted that things were "looking a bit more positive" for Mr Hedges, with Foreign Office sources suggesting there had been an "olive branch" from the Emirati foreign minister.

Here's more on the crash involving multiple vehicles which has closed the A1 southbound near the Angel of the North.

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Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley has demanded an audience with MPs as he promises to save the struggling British high street.

Mr Ashley accused politicians and landlords of not doing enough.

In August, Sports Direct, which was founded by Mr Ashley, bought House of Fraser out of administration

"Since we acquired House of Fraser, we've been working around the clock to save as many stores and jobs as possible," Mr Ashley said in a statement.

"I believe politicians and landlords should be doing more to save our struggling high streets, so I intend to make the most of this opportunity to make a real difference."

The meeting of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee will take place on 5 December as part of an inquiry into the future of the high street.

Image source, Getty Images

The chair of the European Consortium for Political Research, Kris Deschouwer, has said in a statement the association is "deeply shocked" at Matthew Hedges' life sentence.

He said: "The ECPR is deeply shocked and concerned by the news that Matthew Hedges, a political scientist from Durham University, has been sentenced to life in prison in the United Arab Emirates after being found guilty of allegedly 'spying on behalf of the UK government'.

"The ECPR is very worried about this obvious violation of the right to conduct academic research and enquiry free from undue interference, especially when it concerns a political scientist from one of its member institutions (the University of Durham), and we therefore call on the government of the UAE to release Matthew Hedges immediately and to respect fully the principle of academic freedom."

Image source, Daniela Tejada

Local Democracy Reporting Service
Daniel Holland

More than 1,600 people have signed a petition calling on Newcastle City Council to abandon plans to close a "vital" tip in fears it will lead to a new spate of fly-tipping in the city.

Budget cut documents published earlier this month revealed that the Brunswick Household Waste and Recycling Centre is earmarked for the closure in 2020/21.

Image source, NCJ Media

Save Newcastle Wildlife's Rachel Locke, who launched the petition says if Brunswick HWRC closes, fly-tipping will become an even bigger problem across the city and cost more to clean up.

The council have said there are no immediate plans to close the site. Local authority bosses added that no decision on the tip's future would be made during the current budget process, as it will come in year two of a three-year plan to slash £60m.

Durham Police say the 17-month-old girl remains in a "critical condition" in hospital.

And here's the video of Ms Tejada's statement:

Daniela Tejada has spoken after meeting Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt.

She said:

Image source, PA

BBC Tees

Sir Richard Dalton, the former British ambassador to Iran, told Gary Philipson “Prima facie he (Matthew hedges) has not been treated fairly, he was held without charge, without access to lawyers, the hearing was apparently five minutes, he did not have legal representation, there was no cross examination to look at the evidence, so I do not believe he has been treated within proper standards of due process

“It’s obvious the UAE are prepared to look at it in the context of the wider relations with an ally,a commercial partner and a friendly country, namely the UK, and that is encouraging.

“It’s always difficult to intervene in the judicial process of another country.

“You can push in the sense of making life hard for the ministers and other rulers of the country by badgering them and pointing out the damage they’re going to cause with relations from the UK, you can also point out the damage the big publicity creates to the UAE image in other countries."

Daniela Tejada spoke to the BBC after returning from seeing Matthew Hedges sentenced in the UAE.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Debris and litter could be left clogging the River Tyne after a third council pulled the plug on funding a 30-year-old clean up project.

Gateshead Council said it was removing its £17,000 per year towards Clean Tyne Partnership from 2019.

Image source, NCJ Media

Newcastle and South Tyneside Councils have also recently halted funding.

The Port of Tyne, which oversees the project, said it would now struggle to remove almost 400 tonnes of debris every year from the river.

Three people have been arrested after a 17-month-old baby suffered serious injuries in Seaham.

Police were called by ambulance crews yesterday morning at 10:10 after an incident involving the baby girl in the Dawdon area.

She was taken via air ambulance to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle where she remains in a critical condition.

The three people, a 25-year-old woman, and 18-year-old man and a 20-year-old man, were held suspicion of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and remain in custody.

Durham Labour MP Roberta Blackman-Woods has expressed her shock after Durham academic Matthew Hedges was handed life in prison for spyig in the UAE.

Ms Blackman-Woods has been involved with the case since July.

She said: "We knew the Foreign Office were making representations on Matthew's behalf, including the Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who actually personally made representations to the Emirates, so we were really stunned and shocked at this outcome.

"I don't think anyone expected a life sentence or this outcome from the trial at all," she said in an interview with BBC Tees.

Image source, Getty Images

When asked about whether the government had done enough, she said: "From what I have witnessed myself, I know that the Foreign Office were doing what they could to put pressure on the UAE.

"From what his wife is saying it doesn't appear as though that legal representation was good enough and it doesn't look at the moment as though he had a fair trial in any way at all.

"I think it's important that we try and keep some sort of dialogue going with the Emirates because that will ultimately be the way of ensuring that Matthew gets a fair appeal and he gets released and is back home as soon as possible," she added.

Ms Blackman-Woods also admitted to being worried about the future of the appeal.

"I'm still quite anxious because I think until we get a lot more information we don't really know what we are dealing with and all we can do is press the government and the Foreign Office to discuss Matthew's situation with their counterparts in the UAE and come up with a plan to get Matthew home."

BBC Newcastle

Residents from a village in Gateshead are raising money to buy their local pub.

Ye Olde Crosse in Ryton closed back in January and now campaigners are trying to raise over £300,000 to set up a 'Community Pub'.

It'll run day to day like a normal pub and all profits will be reinvested back into the business

Image source, Press Association

The UAE government has denied claims the jailed Durham academic Matthew Hedges had no access to a translator and signed a confession he could not read.

Abdulla Al Naqbi, from the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also said, external he has received "medical and psychological care" throughout his detention.

He added: "Compelling and powerful evidence was presented in court.

"That included information extracted from his personal electronic devices by expert forensic analysis techniques; evidence provided by UAE intelligence Agencies; witness testaments and Mr Hedges own confession."

Hedges, 31, has always denied any wrongdoing and says he was in the country to research his PhD at Durham University.

Image source, Daniela Tejada