They were the world's oldest living conjoined twins at the time of their death in 2003 aged 53.

Snatched from their Russian mother following their birth, Masha and Dasha Krivoshlyopova were subjected to a variety of cruel medical 'experiments' by Stalin's Soviet medical authorities. 

The girls shared a blood system but had separate nervous systems - so were seen as ideal subjects for research. 

Treated as medical guinea pigs they were burnt, frozen, starved, electrocuted, kept forcibly awake and injected with radioactive and other toxic substances in the name of 'science'.

The twins were institutionalised for much of their lives but their horrific story has now been revealed in full for the first time by journalist Juliet Butler.

Ms Butler befriended Masha and Dasha and said despite sharing the same genetics, horrific childhood and all of their lives the same lower body - the sisters had wildly different personalities. 

One was a cruel, domineering 'psychopath' who was 'emotionally abusive' to her caring, empath sister who remained gentle and kind and longed for a normal life. 'Dasha was in an emotionally abusive relationship - similar to the situation some people find themselves in with a partner. 

'But while those people have a chance to leave, Dasha physically couldn't.

'Masha denied Dasha everything she ever longed for – a chance of love, a relationship with their mother, a job and even what she wanted most: a separate body.' 

Ms Butler, who has written a novel based on their lives, The Less You Know The Sounder You Sleep, has provided fascinating insights into the tragic pair that reignite the nature versus nurture debate. Used as guinea pigs 

Almost immediately after the twins were born on January 1950 by caesarean section, they snatched from their mother Yekaterina - who was told her babies had died shortly after birth.

Dasha and Masha were taken away to, a medical institute in the Moscow region, the Academy of Medical Sciences Pediatric Institute, to be used as medical guinea pigs.

The girls shared a blood system but had separate nervous systems - so were seen as ideal subjects for research.

A thug who beat a shopkeeper with a wine bottle and stabbed in him the face nearly killing him is facing years in prison.

Trevor Sinclair, 51, nearly killed Srikanth Mailvaganam when he refused to sell him rum on credit, wrestling him to the floor and bludgeoning him over the head five times.

The shocking attack was caught on CCTV at the Stockwell Convenience Store in Brixton, on July 15 last year. 

Mr Mailvaganam was working behind the till at the store when Sinclair approached the counter with two soft drinks, asking for rum on credit.

Sinclair was turned away but came back minutes later, with a kitchen knife in his trousers, asking again for a bottle of rum.

After being refused again, Sinclair threw a large bottle of water at Mr Mailvaganam, shouting 'I will kill you'. Judge Sarah Munro, QC, remanded him in custody ahead of sentence on September 14.

Prosecutor Louise Oakley said: 'On Friday 15 July 2016, at approximately 11:42, Srikanth Mailvaganam was working behind the till serving customers.

'The defendant entered the store and selected two soft drinks from a fridge.

'He then approached the till and asked for credit to purchase not only these two soft drinks but also a bottle of rum as he did not have any money.

'When his request was declined he became angry and left the store threatening to return.'

As Mr Mailvaganam was serving customers the defendant, a regular user of the store, entered on two separate occasions within a few minutes of each other.

Ms Oakley said: 'On the second occasion, the defendant had a kitchen knife in the waistband of his trousers. 'Without warning, he attacked Mr Mailvaganam and, whilst on the floor, he struck him about the head and face with a bottle and the kitchen knife, causing him what the Crown describe as life-changing injuries to his face and head.

'It is the Crown's case is that by his words and actions, the defendant intended to kill his victim.

'Unfortunately the defendant was the bigger and stronger man, and eventually, using his entire body weight, he was able to climb on top of his victim and pin him down.'

Witnesses called police to scene, where an officer tasered the attacker after seeing him towering over his victim with a knife.

Sinclair was taken to Brixton Police Station, where he refused to answer any questions by police.

Mr Mailvaganam, who had worked in his brother's convenience store on Stockwell Road for up to six years, knew Sinclair as he regularly asked for credit in the store.

CCTV footage of the incident showed Sinclair repeatedly batter his victim with the wine bottle until it smashed.

Sinclair, from Brixton, denied but was convicted of attempted murder. He had admitted the lesser alternative of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Facebook is launching a new platform that will allow users of the social network to access shows and clips created specifically for the site.

Watch is aimed at allowing the social network to take on web rivals You tube as well as more traditional TV.

It will feature a wide range of programming, from live sports matches and safari expeditions, to a reality show about a day in the life of a social media star.

The redesigned video tab will initially be available to a limited group in the US but will be expanded to all users. Facebook launched its the Video tab in April last year and rumours have been flying that the Menlo Park firm was working on a new TV service.

It was reported in May that Facebook had signed deals with millennial-focused news and entertainment creators Vox Media, BuzzFeed, ATTN, Group Nine Media and others to produce shows, both scripted and unscripted. US users who are selected for the trial will be able to create 'watchlists', see what their friends are watching, and communicate with other people interested in the same videos.

There will be sections such as 'Most Talked About', which highlights shows that spark conversation, and 'What's Making People Laugh'.

Some of the shows will be funded by the social network, particularly if they are 'community-orientated'.

In a post on his own Facebook page, founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said: 'Watching a show doesn't have to be passive. It can be a chance to share an experience and bring people together who care about the same things.

'That's why today we're launching the Watch tab in Facebook - a place where you can discover shows your friends are watching and follow your favorite shows and creators so you don't miss any episodes.

'You'll be able to chat and connect with people during an episode, and join groups with people who like the same shows afterwards to build community.'

Watch will be available on mobile, on desktop and laptop, and via the firm's TV apps.

Three people have been treated for minor injuries after an 'unidentified substance' was delivered in an envelope to a sushi restaurant in London Borough Market.

The Metropolitan Police said the incident is not being treated as terror-related 'at this early stage'.

Officers were called to Feng Sushi at 1.38pm on Thursday and no arrests have been made.

London Fire Brigade said firefighters using protective equipment were inside the building after they were called to assist police with a 'chemical incident'. 'A community warden then told me that a white powder had been received,' Mr Dawson added.

'I asked him for where he heard that and he couldn't say.

'Police on the scene didn't confirm anything. And Borough Market security said "some kind of corrosive material attack or incident".' 

The property in Stoney Street - one of the locations targeted by the London Bridge terrorists in June - was evacuated and a crime scene put in place.

London Ambulance Service said three people were treated at the scene and 'no one was taken to hospital'. 

She wanted to follow in the footsteps of her high-flying barrister father and was on the brink of starting a law degree that would have opened up a world of opportunities.

But instead Emily Bowen is beginning a prison sentence this week after a rivalry with another teenager from her orchestra led to a sickening acid attack at their school.

Bowen was jailed on Monday for putting drain cleaner in the viola case of love rival Molly Young, who was scarred for life when she went to get her instrument in the music room at Knox Academy, in Haddington, East Lothian.

It can be reported today that Bowen later wrote a fake poison pen letter in a bid to justify her shocking actions. 

The calculating move by Bowen took place six weeks after she had poured One Shot drain cleaner - containing 91 per cent sulphuric acid - into Molly's viola case. The corrosive liquid poured out of the case and onto 18-year-old Molly's legs as she took the instrument down from a shelf in the classroom. 

The girls, described as 'talented musicians', had fallen out when Miss Young began seeing Bowen's former boyfriend. Bowen was jailed for 21 months for the 'wicked' incident - which took place in September last year - at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Monday.

The court had previously been told that the 18-year-old had penned the poisonous letter to herself and signed it with her victim's name. 

Fiscal depute Aidan Higgins said: 'On November 10 last year Emily Bowen prepared a letter which appeared to come from Molly Young in which she talked of Emily Bowen to kill herself.

'Subsequently Emily Bowen admitted it was she who was the author of the letter. Bowen, from Haddington, is the daughter of Andrew Bowen QC and a family friend revealed the teenager wanted to follow in her father's legal footsteps as she was due to study law at Aberdeen University.

But those career dreams are now over for the acid attacker as she will spend the next 21 months behind bars instead.

The friend said: 'Emily had been accepted to Aberdeen University to take a law degree. She is a very intelligent girl and she would have sailed through any degree she wanted to do.

'She has always looked up to her father Andy and I think it was a dream of hers to follow him in his profession.'

Mr Bowen sat beside his daughter in the dock when she pleaded guilty to recklessly and culpably pouring sulphuric acid into Molly Young's viola case during a court hearing in June.

Mr Bowen has in the past worked for the United Nations in a legal capacity in the Gaza Strip, Kosovo and the West Bank. 

Sheriff Michael O'Grady QC described the attack as 'utterly wicked', telling Emily: 'In the period leading up to these events you actually researched this topic.

An 'infatuated' prison officer has been jailed for exchanging more than 850 text messages with an inmate at a young offenders institution.

Chelsea Blackwell, 27, made around 115 calls to Emmanuel Callender-Scott, an inmate at Aylesbury Young Offenders Institution, some of which lasted more than two hours.

She even tried to call him five times after his phone was seized in a cell search.

Blackwell, of Bootle, Merseyside, was handed an eight-month jail term today after admitting misconduct in a public office.

Callender-Scott, 22, was previously jailed for seven years for wounding with intent after he stabbed a cyclist and a Russian tourist on London's Regent's Canal.

The court heard that, in additional to the text messages and phone calls, four letters were seized from the prisoner's cell and a couple from Blackwell's home address.

Blackwell switched to using a second, 'dirty phone' mid-way through their relationship, the court heard. 'All these were seized and then at beginning of August Miss Blackwell's accommodation was searched and there was found some further letters and two mobile phones and the subsequent investigation really centres on those items.'

Tests carried out on the letters found in Callender-Scott's cell revealed Blackwell's fingerprints while a handwriting expert determined she had written them.

Although they were not read out to the court, Mr Mandel said: 'The language used is that of an infatuated person.'

Phone records between the pair's phones revealed more than 850 separate contacts made in the space of less than four weeks including calls more than two hours in length. 

'There were attempts to contact or make calls to the prisoner's number after the phone was seized from him so she was completely unaware of what had happened in terms of his cell being searched,' Mr Mandel continued.

'Some of the texts make it really clear that she was infatuated with this prisoner and contacted him and he contacted her often on a very frequent basis. The court heard that Blackwell had registered a 'conflict of interest' and was moved from A wing, where Callender-Scott was housed, to E wing, although she did go back and visit her old wing from time to time.

Defending barrister, John Lamb, told the court that Blackwell had since been fired from her job in the prison service and was now working at a dog kennels. 

The judge said: 'It's accepted that the offence consisted of communication only. There is no suggestion that you had taken anything into the prison for Mr Callender-Scott.

A British hostage who was held hostage by Al-Qaeda for six years has revealed he has converted to Islam and sees 'many good things' in the religion.

Stephen McGown, 42, was snatched from a hostel in the historic trading city of Timbuktu in northern Mali in 2011 alongside Swede Johan Gustafsson and Dutchman Sjaak Rijke.

Speaking today, just 10 days after his release, he said he had been well treated but was distraught to have not been freed before his mother died.

He said he had been converted to Islam in the Sahara desert and added he was determined to be positive after his ordeal. 'I see a lot of good in Islam. It has opened my eyes. It's taken me away from capitalism.' 

He revealed he feared for his life three times during his time in captivity, but stopped after his conversion.  He said his captors were unaware he held joint UK citizenship. 

'I don't believe they knew my nationality. It would have been first prize for them if I was British…they kidnapped me just because I was non-Muslim. McGown, 42, flanked by his wife Catherine and father Malcolm, explained how he was sometimes held in handcuffs and chains at night with two other hostages.

'I did my best to see the best in a bad situation,' McGown said, looking in good health and smiling regularly despite recently suffering from a severe fever and meningitis.

'I didn't want to come out an angry person and be a bigger burden on my family,' he added.

'Sometimes you are miserable and you want to fight everyone (but) I did not want to become a mess. I want to come home a better person.'

He paid tribute to his mother who died in May, saying she was 'an amazing lady and I can imagine the difficulties she went through.'

He said he built a simple hut of grass and sticks to survive the cold desert nights when he often had only one blanket, adding that he feared for his life three times in the first three months after he was captured in 2011.