political news

Thousands of people have taken part in a 10km run in Leeds set up by the late charity fundraiser Jane Tomlinson.

World marathon record holder Paula Radcliffe, who is seven months pregnant, was among about 10,000 people who set off from Millennium Square.

The event was run for the first time in June 2007, three months before Mrs Tomlinson died from cancer.

Radcliffe, 36, said she was overjoyed to be asked to take part by Mrs Tomlinson's widower Mike.

Fund-raising legacy

She said: "It's just brilliant what he's done since [Mrs Tomlinson's death], in continuing what she started with all the sponsorship raising and it's excellent to see so many people here today."

Radcliffe, who was recently made a patron of Mrs Tomlinson's charity, set the current world record for the women's marathon in London in 2003.

She jogged at Sunday's event because of her advanced pregnancy. Her second child is due in September.

She said: "Obviously my training's scaled back quite a lot, it's probably about a third of what it would normally be now but I'm still getting out and running every day.

"It's good for me... and it's good for the baby too.

"It's not hard running at the moment, it's just enjoying it."

Speaking before the race, Mr Tomlinson said it was "wonderful" to see the event get larger each year.

he said: "The atmosphere is electric. To see Paula here is a real privilege.

"Hopefully we can continue to get it bigger and bigger every year, it was always the aim.

"The point of getting it bigger is that we raise more money, that's the whole point of it."

Mrs Tomlinson raised £1.85m through a series of challenges as she fought her illness.

The fund-raising efforts have continued since her death and more than £3m has been raised to date by the Jane Tomlinson Appeal

The family set up the Leeds 10K to stand as her fund-raising legacy.

Twenty thousand people have joined a march through Israel calling for the release of captured soldier Gilad Shalit, organisers say.

Sgt Shalit was captured by Palestinian gunmen four years ago.

The demonstrators are halfway through their 12-day march across the country, which will end outside the home of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Mr Netanyahu has offered to free 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, but not pay "any price" to the soldier's Hamas captors.

Mr Netanyahu made the announcement in a bid to ease mounting pressure from the Israeli public for a prisoner swap.

But the move may have backfired, as 20,000 people joined the march on Friday, organisers said.

"It could be that the prime minister's statement affected people and made them decide to take part," Shimshon Liebman, the head of the free Shalit campaign, told the AFP news agency.

Sgt Shalit's parents and supporters are marching to Jerusalem, where they plan to camp outside Mr Netanyahu's official residence. They have vowed not to return home without their son, who is now 23.

He was taken captive four years ago during a cross-border raid by militants from the Gaza Strip.

Noam Shalit, the soldier's father, has criticised Mr Netanyahu's speech.

"We regret that after four years, in which Gilad has been rotting in the dark basements of Hamas, all Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has managed to do is to recycle the press conference of his predecessor," he said in Rupin in northern Israel.

Talks on a prison swap deal between Israel and Hamas, via a German mediator, collapsed late last year.

The two sides failed to agree on a list of prisoners, as Hamas wants several people freed who Israel says have "blood on their hands".

They are also at odds about where the prisoners will be released. Israel wants to send released prisoners to the Gaza Strip, from which few Palestinians can travel, or have them deported from the region. Hamas wants those from the West Bank to return home.

In response to Mr Netanyahu's speech, Hamas said it had not received any new offer from Israel over Sgt Shalit.