A baby girl was mauled to death by a dog that neighbours had allegedly warned was dangerous.

Ava-Jayne Corless, who was just 11 months old, suffered horrific injuries when the American pitbull terrier attacked her while she slept.

Her mother, Chloe King, 20, and boyfriend Lee Wright, 26, heard the commotion and rushed upstairs to rescue her from the jaws of the beast.

Paramedics were called and took Ava-Jayne to hospital where doctors were unable to save her life.

Miss King and Mr Wright were questioned on suspicion of manslaughter and child neglect, and were today released on bail.

Lancashire Police said: 'The two people arrested in connection with the death of Ava-Jayne Corless at Blackburn have both been released on bail pending further inquiries.'

A police spokesman said last night that the animal was banned under the Dangerous Dogs Act of 1991.

Event Time
2014-02-18 09:27:13 UTC
2014-02-18 05:27:13 UTC-04:00 at epicenter
2014-02-18 10:27:13 UTC+01:00 system time

Location
14.651°N 58.948°W depth=16.9km (10.5mi)

Nearby Cities
170km (106mi) NNE of Bathsheba, Barbados
186km (116mi) NNE of Bridgetown, Barbados
210km (130mi) E of Le Francois, Martinique
211km (131mi) E of Riviere-Pilote, Martinique
214km (133mi) E of Le Robert, Martinique

Scientific Data

Three houses have been evacuated amid fears they could collapse after a 7-metres-wide (25ft) sinkhole opened up in a street.

Police cleared the properties on Magdalen's Close in Ripon, North Yorkshire, at 5.40pm after receiving reports the huge sinkhole had appeared.

A North Yorkshire police spokesman said: "The affected property and two houses nearby have been evacuated and a cordon has been put in place to protect members of the public. At this stage no injuries have been reported."

Snow-choked roads cut off thousands on Tuesday as parts of Japan struggled to dig out from its second storm in a week, with the death toll rising to at least 23.

Train services were suspended in some areas after the Valentine's Day storm dumped more than a meter of snow in parts of central Japan and blanketed the capital with record snow for the second weekend in a row, snarling airline traffic and slowing production at some Japanese automakers.

Heavy snowfall in many parts of Himachal Pradesh on Sunday has bring down temperatures and affected the normal life.

The state capital Shimla which experienced the coldest night at minus 2.4 degrees Celsius and key tourist resort of Manali were cut off from rest of the state due to heavy snowfall.

People remained without milk, bread, vegetables and other commodities and there was no supply of newspapers in the morning.

The roof of a resort auditorium collapsed during a welcoming ceremony for South Korean university freshmen, killing nine and likely trapping about 10, officials said Tuesday.

The dead included seven students and an adult; officials weren't sure yet if the ninth victim was a student. About 80 people were sent to hospitals with minor injuries, according to officials at the state-run National Emergency Management Agency who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak to the media.

The UK has been battered by strong winds and lashed by heavy rain in a series of ferocious storms that have barrelled across the Atlantic.

The storms, which began in October last year, have forced many from their homes and are set to make the 2013-14 winter the wettest on record. More than 5,000 homes and businesses have been flooded and many rivers in southern England have reached their highest ever recorded levels.

• Sinkholes seen in Kent, South-East London and Hemel Hempstead
• One in High Wycombe engulfed a car as it was parked in the driveway
• Expert believes sinkholes are appearing five times their normal rate
• Forecast heavy rain could mean more holes appear around the country

On Saturday, a huge sinkhole opened up at the side of a house in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire. Swallowing up half of the front lawn, it was 35ft wide and 20ft deep.

Last week, a hole as deep as a double-decker bus is high suddenly opened up in the back-garden of a house in South-East London, almost swallowing a child's trampoline as the ground collapsed without warning.

Had the poor owner's daughter been rushing out to play on the trampoline, she could have very easily have been seriously injured or even killed.


Two weeks ago, there was a similarly narrow escape for a family living in High Wycombe, when, overnight, a deep hole appeared without warning in the driveway just next to the house.

This time the adult daughter's car did end up buried at the bottom of the hole, thankfully, while there was no one in it.

And in Kent last week, motorists hoping to use the M2 were left fuming by the motorway's temporary closure, after a substantial hole - 15ft deep - suddenly appeared in the central reservation. Again, no one was hurt but had the hole opened up just a few yards away, it is obvious what a different story it could so easily have been.

All of these holes are what the public call sinkholes and now, after weeks of heavy rain, they seem to be appearing with ever greater regularity. Hard statistics are difficult to find - not least because sinkholes that appear on farmland often go unreported - but having studied them for 35 years, I'd estimate that sinkholes are currently appearing at four-to-five times their normal rate.

A shocking 65 per cent of forest elephants have been illegally killed for their ivory in between 2002 and 2013 new data from the field in Central Africa shows. Many organisations collaborated in the study, which was coordinated by WCS, and covered 80 sites, in five countries, over the twelve years of data collection.

"These new numbers showing the continuing decline of the African forest elephant are the exact reason why there is a sense of urgency at the United for Wildlife trafficking symposium in London this week," said Dr. John Robinson, WCS Chief Conservation Officer and Executive Vice President of Conservation and Science. "The solutions we are discussing in London this week and the commitments we are making cannot fail or the African forest elephant will blink out in our lifetime. United for Wildlife, which is headed by The Duke of Cambridge, is determined to work together to turn back these numbers."

Conservationists gathered at the United for Wildlife symposium - "International Wildlife Trafficking: Solutions to a Global Crisis" are discussing ways to protect wildlife and combat trade.

Said WCS's Dr. Fiona Maisels, one of the researchers releasing the new numbers and a co-author of the landmark paper: "At least a couple of hundred thousand forest elephants were lost between 2002-2013 to the tune of at least sixty a day, or one every twenty minutes, day and night. By the time you eat breakfast, another elephant has been slaughtered to produce trinkets for the ivory market."

The results show that the relatively small nation of Gabon has the majority (almost 60 percent) of the remaining forest elephants, while historically, the enormous Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) would have held the largest number of forest elephants. "The current number and distribution of elephants is mind-boggling when compared to what it should be," said WCS's Dr. Samantha Strindberg, one of the co-authors. "About 95 percent of the forests of DRC are almost empty of elephants."

Homes in Croxley Green had to be evacuated after a 20ft deep sinkhole emerged in the back garden of one of the properties.

Police were called to the house in Dugdales at around 6pm yesterday after the hole, which is approximately 5ft by 5ft wide, was discovered.

As the sinkhole was close to the property, a house and three flats, in the cul de sac were evacuated.

Residents were not allowed back into their homes this morning.