Panama Canal: Protests Over Land Sell-Off

A 10-year-old boy has been killed during violent protests in the Panamanian port city of Colon.

The child was shot once in the stomach and died in hospital - at least six other people were treated for gunshot wounds and several others for pellet wounds, one doctor revealed.

The protesters were demonstrating over a new law allowing the sale of state-owned land in the duty-free zone next to the Panama Canal.

Anti-riot police used tear gas and fired into the air to disperse hundreds of people who burned tyres and threw objects at police in Colon's city centre and a curfew was declared on Friday afternoon.

The rioting came a few hours after the National Assembly approved legislation to allow the sale of land in the duty-free zone to private companies already leasing land there to handle the import and export of goods. President Ricardo Martinelli signed the law hours later.

Protesters say the land is already being rented and it makes no sense to sell it. They say the government should instead raise the rent and invest the money in Colon, a poor and violent city.

"We do not want the land to be sold because these are assets that belong to Colon," said Felipe Cabezas, head of the Colonense Broad Movement.

"Why sell if the country is not going through economic problems?"

The duty-free zone has about 2,000 companies that rent land and employ 30,000 people, according to authorities.

The government estimates land sales could raise $2bn (£1.2bn) over the next 20 years.

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Iran: Deaths As Bus Overturns 'At High Speed'

At least 26 people have been killed after a bus packed with students overturned in southwestern Iran, according to the country's state radio.

The driver lost control because the vehicle was going at high speed in wet conditions, senior police official Colonel Mohammad Reza Mehmandar was quoted as saying.

Some 19 other people were hurt in the accident and have been taken to hospital for treatment.

The crash happened on the Izeh-Lordegan road, about 300 miles southwest of the capital Tehran.

Iran has one of the worst road safety records in the world, with more than 400,000 accidents and about 20,000 deaths every year.

The high death tolls are blamed on high speed, unsafe vehicles, widespread disregard of traffic laws and inadequate emergency services.

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Lebanon: Protests After Beirut Bomb Blast

Protesters in Lebanon have burnt tyres and set up roadblocks amid growing anger over a car bomb that killed eight people, including one of the country's top security officials.

There are fears that the devastating attack threatens to bring Syria's civil war to Lebanon.

Lebanese troops stood guard at road junctions and official buildings in the capital, Beirut, as the Lebanese cabinet held an emergency meeting to decide on what, if any, action to take.

Prime Minister Najib Mikati later said the blast was linked to the civil war in neighbouring Syria and revealed that he had agreed to stay on as premier at President Michel Sleiman's request because of "national interest".

Among the victims of the Beirut blast was Brigadier General Wissam al Hassan, head of a Lebanese intelligence department and an opponent of Syrian President Bashar al Assad.

Politics in Lebanon and Syria are closely connected

Brig-Gen al Hassan, 47, headed an investigation over the summer that led to the arrest of former information minister Michel Samaha, one of Mr Assad's most loyal allies in Lebanon.

Mr Samaha, who is in custody, is accused of plotting a campaign of bombings and assassinations to spread sectarian violence in Lebanon at Syria's behest.

Also indicted in the August sweep was Syrian Brigadier General Ali Mamlouk, one of Mr Assad's highest aides.

Dozens were left wounded in the blast in Beirut's mainly Christian Achrafieh neighbourhood.

Lebanon's fractious politics are closely entwined with Syria's.

The countries share political and sectarian ties and rivalries, often causing events on one side of the border to have a "knock on" effect on the other.

Lebanon's opposition is an anti-Syrian bloc, while the prime minister and much of the government are pro-Syrian.

The civil war in Syria has laid bare Lebanon's sectarian tensions as well.

Many of Lebanon's Sunni Muslims have backed Syria's mainly Sunni rebels, while Shi'ite Muslims have tended to back Mr Assad.

Brig-Gen al Hassan was a Sunni whose stances were widely seen to oppose Syria and Shi'ite Hezbollah, the country's most powerful ally in Lebanon.

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Israeli Navy Boards Gaza-Bound Boat

The Israeli military says its navy boarded a boat carrying 30 pro-Palestinian activists that was trying to break the naval blockade on Gaza.

The boarding happened after the passengers' "unwillingness to co-operate" and they "ignored calls to change course", the military added.

Soldiers went on to the Finnish-flagged Estelle in the Mediterranean Sea, about 30 miles from Gaza, and it was being led to the southern Israeli port of Ashdod.

The military said the troops boarded the boat peacefully, and there was no harm to the passengers who were offered food and drinks.

When the boat arrives at the Ashdod port, the passengers will be transferred to the custody of the police and immigration authorities.

Victoria Strand, a spokeswoman for Ship to Gaza in Sweden, which sent the Estelle, said armed, masked soldiers boarded the boat and cut their communications 30 miles from Gaza.

She said activists on board told her six naval boats surrounded their vessel. "This is a demonstration of ruthlessness," Ms Strand said.

The Estelle is the latest in a series of activist-manned boats challenging Israel's blockade on Gaza, which was imposed after the militant group Hamas seized power of the territory in 2007.

The boat left Naples, Italy, on October 7 with passengers from eight countries, carrying items like cement, basketballs and musical instruments.

An Israeli military statement said: "The boarding was carried out in accordance with international law, with directives of the Israeli government and after all attempts to prevent the vessel from reaching the Gaza Strip were made, both via direct contact and through diplomatic channels, but to no avail.

"The boarding was carried out only after numerous calls to the passengers onboard; as a result of their unwillingness to co-operate and after ignoring calls to change course, the decision was made to board the vessel and lead it to the port of Ashdod."

In 2010, an Israeli naval raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla killed nine Turkish activists on board.

The incident sparked international condemnation that forced Israel to ease much of its blockade, although it maintains restrictions on key exports and imports of raw materials.

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Gaddafi's Ex-Spokesman Moussa Ibrahim Captured

Muammar Gaddafi's ex-spokesman Moussa Ibrahim has been captured - exactly a year after the death of the Libyan dictator.

Ibrahim, who was the mouthpiece of the Gaddafi regime during last year's war, was caught in the town of Tarhouna, 40 miles south of Tripoli.

"Moussa Ibrahim has been arrested by forces belonging to the Libyan government in the town of Tarhouna and he is being transferred to Tripoli to begin interrogation," a statement from the prime minister's office said.

Muammar Gaddafi was captured in Sirte a year ago

Fluent in English, Ibrahim would hold regular press conferences in the luxury Tripoli hotel where journalists stayed during last year's war.

His whereabouts have been unknown since the fall of Tripoli in August 2011 but there have been past reports of his capture.

Saturday marks one year since Gaddafi's capture and death in his hometown Sirte, after he was caught hiding in a drain pipe.

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'Collar Bomb': Teen's Attacker Behaved Oddly

An Australian businessman who chained a fake bomb to a teenager's neck was so disturbed he may not have realised why he was doing it, his ex-wife has said.

Paul Douglas Peters had been drinking heavily and exhibiting wild mood swings in the years before he broke into the home of 18-year-old Madeleine Pulver last year, Deborah Peters said.

He faces up to 20 years in prison for attacking the teenager while she was alone in her family's Sydney mansion.

It took a bomb squad 10 hours to remove the device, which contained no explosives. Madeleine was unharmed.

Peters, 51, who wore a rainbow-striped ski mask and wielded a baseball bat in the attack, left a ransom note with an email address that helped authorities track him down. He later pleaded guilty to aggravated break and enter and a serious indictable offence.

Ms Peters wept as she told a sentencing hearing how her then-husband's behaviour started to change in 2000.

"Paul started to disconnect," she told the court.

Police at the scene of the attack in Sydney

"One minute he'd be OK - the next minute he'd be upset or angry."

The mood swings coincided with his attempt to write a book, she said. The novel became a story about a villain who kidnapped someone and addicted the victim to drugs.

Peters would spend hours in the basement writing, she said, and he started to drink up to two bottles of wine and two large gin and tonics with dinner every night.

She divorced him five years ago after he refused to get help.

Early last year they tried to reconcile, but split again after his erratic behaviour returned.

Psychiatrist Bruce Westmore, for the defence, said Peters was "angry and revengeful" over his failed relationship and separation from his three daughters and may have tried to become the vengeful character in his novel.

Mr Westmore said he believes Peters suffers from depression, but was not psychotic and had an awareness of what he was doing at the time of the crime.

Since his arrest, Peters has told the psychiatrist he has no memory of the attack and described his own actions as "bizarre".

But Peters is so complex an exact diagnosis is difficult, Mr Westmore said, adding: "I've never met anyone like Mr Peters before."

Peters came face to face with his victim's father, Bill Pulver, for the first time at the hearing.

Afterwards, Mr Pulver said he still believed the attack was all about money. The hearing was adjourned until October 31.

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Fort Hood Suspect 'Can Be Forcibly Shaved'

An Army appeals court has ruled the Fort Hood shooting suspect can have his facial hair forcibly shaved off before his trial.

The US Army Court of Criminal Appeals upheld the military trial judge's decision to order Major Nidal Hasan to appear in court clean shaven or be forcibly shaved.

It also ruled that Colonel Gregory Gross, the judge, correctly ruled the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act does not give Hasan the right to have a beard while in uniform at trial.

Hasan has said the beard is an expression of his Muslim faith. His lawyers will appeal the ruling.

The 42-year-old faces the death penalty if convicted of the 2009 attack that killed 13 and wounded more than two dozen others on the Texas Army post.

The Army has specific guidelines on forced shaving.

A team of five military police officers restrains the inmate "with the reasonable force necessary", and a medical professional is on hand in case of injuries.

The shaving must be done with electric clippers and must be videoed, according to Army rules.

Hasan would not be the first military defendant to be shaved against their will.

It has been done to five inmates since 2005, including one man who was forcibly shaved twice, according to the Army's Office of the Chief of Staff.

Nearly three years after the shooting rampage at Fort Hood, many of those affected are urging the US government to declare it a terrorist attack, saying wounded soldiers and victims' relatives otherwise will not receive the same benefits as those in a combat zone.

A video expressing their frustration was released on Thursday by a group of about 160 people, including relatives of the 13 people killed and some of the wounded and their families.

"The victims are being forgotten and it's frustrating," said Kimberly Munley, one of the first two officers who arrived at the shooting scene.

The group is upset that the Defence Department has referred to the shooting as workplace violence.

They say soldiers injured or killed deserve fair benefits and Purple Heart eligibility.

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Rabobank Quits Cycling Over Armstrong Scandal

The Lance Armstrong doping scandal has prompted one of cycling's biggest sponsors to cut its ties with the sport.

Rabobank had sponsored a professional cycling team for the last 17 years, but claimed the Armstrong affair was "the straw that broke the camel's back".

The US Anti-Doping Agency last week published an investigation into the cyclist after former teammates exposed what it described as "the most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping programme that sport has ever seen".

The Dutch bank's announcement came a day after its team suspended their Spanish rider Carlos Barredo as the International Cycling Union (UCI) launched a doping case against him.

"We are no longer convinced that the international professional world of cycling can make this a clean and fair sport," bank board member Bert Bruggink said in a statement.

"We are not confident that this will change for the better in the foreseeable future.

"What the Usada showed us is that international cycle racing is not only sick but also at the highest level within cycling, including a number of the relevant authorities, including checks on the use of doping," he added.       

In a statement, UCI said it "understands the context" which led Rabobank to make the decision.

But British cyclist David Millar criticised the move, saying on Twitter: "Dear Rabobank, you were part of the problem. How dare you walk away from your young clean guys who are part of the solution. Sickening."

The Rabobank team have won 23 Tour de France stage wins since their sponsorship began in 1996, most recently by Luis Leon Sanchez in Saint-Flour in 2011.

Mr Bruggink added: "Cycling is a beautiful sport, which millions of Dutch people enjoy and a large number of those Dutch people are clients of Rabobank.

"But our decision stands: we are pulling out of professional cycling.

"It is painful. Not just for Rabobank, but especially for the enthusiasts and the cyclists who are not to blame in this."

The news comes two days after Nike terminated its contract with Armstrong, as he stood down as chairman of his Livestrong cancer-fighting charity.

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Lost US Boy Saved From Cold By Pet Puppies

A US schoolboy who got lost in the woods near his home survived a night of cold weather by cuddling his pet puppies.

Ten-year-old Kyle Camp, who has Down's Syndrome, went missing from his Alabama home for 15 hours before being found by a search party.

It is believed the youngster followed his puppies into the woods - and that rescuers were led to him by the dogs' mother.

Rosemarie Camp, Kyle's mother, said: "It was getting dark, and we were just scared, because he doesn't ever go anywhere we can't see him.

"Just realising that I just got a little tiny taste of what so many parents have been through, I'm just so fortunate."

Kyle was found on Wednesday morning after more than 100 locals formed search parties.

After spending the night in the thick woodland, he was discovered wet and without shoes or a jacket, surrounded by four of his puppies.

He was treated for minor injuries at a local hospital before returning home.

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Beirut Car Bomb: 'Eight Killed' In Explosion

At least eight people have reportedly been killed and 80 wounded by a car bomb in Lebanese capital Beirut.

The rising death toll - following the city's first such attack since 2008 - was reported by Lebanon's state-run National News Agency.

Citing civil defence figures, the agency said the blast in the mainly Christian east Beirut was only 200 yards from the headquarters of the Christian party, the Phalange.

The party is hostile to the regime of President Bashar al Assad in neighbouring Syria, which has been plunged into a civil war that has heightened tensions and divisions in Syria.

But Syrian information minister Omran al Zoabie told reporters: "We condemn this terrorist explosion and all these explosions wherever they happen. Nothing justifies them."

Michael Fish, 25, a British musician visiting Beirut, said he was in his hotel a street away when the explosion happened.

"At first I thought it was an earthquake," he said.

A wounded woman near the site of the explosion

"It shook the whole hotel for a second. I ran down and started filming on my iPhone."

AFP news agency reported that two apartment buildings had been devastated by the bombing in a narrow street off Sassine Square in Ashrafieh. One building was still on fire as Red Cross workers evacuated bloodied casualties.

Balconies were torn off by the force of the blast, windows shattered and cars crushed by falling masonry.

Phalange leader Sami al-Gemayel, a staunch opponent of Mr Assad and a member of parliament, condemned the attack.

"Let the state protect the citizens," he said.

"We will not accept any procrastination in this matter, we cannot continue like that. We have been warning for a year. Enough."

The war in Syria, which has killed 30,000 people in the past 19 months, has pitted mostly Sunni insurgents against Mr Assad, who is from the Alawite sect linked to Shi'ite Islam.

Interior minister Marwan Sharbel was also at the scene of the bombing. The previous such attack in Beirut, in January 2008, killed Lebanon's top anti-terrorism investigator and three other people.

The most high-profile car bombing since Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war took place on February 14, 2005 when a massive blast killed former premier Rafiq Hariri and 22 other people as his motorcade drove along the waterfront.

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Greek Police Clash With Austerity Protesters

Violence has broken out in the Greek capital Athens, where protesters have clashed with police during an anti-austerity demonstration.

Campaigners threw petrol bombs and rocks at police officers, who responded by firing tear gas to break up groups of troublemakers.

It comes on the day European leaders meet to discuss the future of the single currency.

Millions of Greeks have joined a general strike in a bid to convince politicians to let up on years of crippling austerity.

The 24-hour walkout, organised by the country's two biggest labour unions, is the twentieth work stoppage since a devastating debt crisis erupted in the country late 2009.

The financial crisis has since spread to other troubled economies sharing Europe's single currency.

A protest at the Greek finance ministry on Wednesday

The latest action targets a fresh batch of brutal budget cuts which Athens must take to unlock some 31 billion euros (£25.1bn) in bailout loans it needs to keep the country paying pension, state salaries and running costs.

From taxi drivers to doctors and diplomats, the strike is expected to paralyse an already suffocating economy.

Ships will remain docked throughout the day, hospitals plan to operate on skeleton staff, and dozens of domestic and international flights face cancellation as air traffic controllers agreed to join the protest.

Aircraft will be grounded - and the country isolated from the rest of the world - for three hours.

Most business and public sector activity is expected to come to a screeching halt and government offices will remain shut.

The focus will be in the capital where organisers have called on protesters to rally outside parliament, a venue of frequent, at times, violent, showdowns between demonstrators and police.

Fearing potential violence, authorities have ordered some 4,000 police to the streets to mind demonstrations planned in the capital.

Steel fences and water cannon have been propped outside parliament to shield the sprawling building.

"Just once, the government should reject [international] lenders' absurd demands," said Yannis Panagopoulos, head of the GSEE private sector union.

The Greek parliament has been a frequent venue for protests

"Agreeing to catastrophic measures means driving society to despair and the consequences as well as the protests will be indefinite."

Opinion polls show eight in 10 Greeks increasingly pessimistic, believing the country was heading down a wrong path of austerity.

Still, with the country running low on cash, the prime minister has said Greece has enough money through November.

But Athens has little leverage against lenders pushing for it to adopt 13.5 billion euro in added austerity.

Earlier this week, demands for drastic labour overhauls, including cuts in wages and severance fees, kicked up a political storm. The government's junior coalition partner threatened to walk out of government if the measures were adopted.

Under the current agreement, Greece has to adopt the cuts through 2014; to ease the pain, however, the government, wants an extra two years, until 2016.

Entangled in its worst economic crisis since World War Two, Greece has seen the recession leave a record 1.3 million people, or 25.1%, jobless.

And so unions have vowed to wage rolling strikes to pressure the government to repeal the latest new labour regulations, which include a reported 15,000 public sector sackings.

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New York Fed 'Bomber' Is Bank Manager's Son

A man arrested for allegedly trying to blow up the US Federal Reserve building in New York is the son of a bank manager, reports say.

Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis, of Bangladesh, has been charged with trying to detonate a fake device in a vehicle parked outside the Manhattan building, home to "the world's largest accumulation of gold".

In an elaborate FBI sting, agents grabbed Nafis when he made several attempts to detonate the 1,000lb device by mobile phone.

Nafis had travelled to the US with "the purpose of conducting a terrorist attack" and actively tried to make al Qaeda contacts after his arrival, authorities said.

But the family of the 21-year-old suspect insist he had never displayed any radical tendencies and said he was a devout Muslim whose arrest had come as a shock.

His father, Quazi Mohammad Ahsanullah, said: "We're stunned. Nafis is not a radical type. He says prayers five times a day, and reads the holy Koran and Hadith every day.

"I have never seen him reading any books on jihad. We don't believe that he can have committed this... He is our pride and joy."

Nafis' extended family lives in North Jatrabari, an upper middle-class neighbourhood of southeastern Dhaka. His father is a senior vice president of National Bank and his sister is a doctor.

The bank is one of the most fortified buildings in the city

Speaking from the family home, Nafis' brother-in-law Arik said they had spoken to him only hours before his arrest and even discussed a possible bride for him.

"We heard the news this morning. Everyone is crying here," Arik told AFP. "Nafis never showed any form of radicalisation when he was in Bangladesh."

Officials at North South University in Bangladesh said Nafis had struggled during his eight terms as an electrical engineering and telecommunications student and had been effectively forced to leave after disappointing exam results.

His family said he then moved to the US where he initially took up a place at Missouri Southern State University, left after a term due to cost and took a job at a New York hotel.

Authorities insisted the alleged terror plot never posed an actual risk - but that it demonstrated the value of using sting operations to neutralise young extremists eager to harm Americans.

Before trying to carry out the plot, Nafis went to a warehouse to help assemble a 453kg (1,000lb) bomb using inert material, according to the FBI.

The alleged attack targeted the Federal Reserve Bank in New York

Court documents claim he asked an undercover agent to videotape him saying: "We will not stop until we attain victory or martyrdom."

An official complaint said Nafis contacted a confidential FBI informant in July telling him he wanted to form a terror cell.

In further conversations, authorities said Nafis proposed several spots for his attack, including the New York Stock Exchange, and that in a written letter taking responsibility for the Federal Reserve job he was about to carry out, he said he wanted to "destroy America".

Nafis has appeared in court in Brooklyn charged with trying to use a weapon of mass destruction and attempting to provide material support to al Qaeda.

The bank in New York, just a short walk from the scene of the September 11 terror attacks in 2001, is one of the most fortified buildings in the city.

It is home to "the world's largest accumulation of gold", according to the bank's website.

Dozens of governments and central banks store a portion of their gold reserves in high-security vaults deep beneath the building - making it a bigger bullion depository than Fort Knox.

"Attempting to destroy a landmark building and kill or maim untold numbers of innocent bystanders is about as serious as the imagination can conjure," said Mary Galligan, acting head of the FBI's New York office. "The defendant faces appropriately severe consequences."

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Neo-Nazis' Twitter Account Blocked In Germany

New powers which allow Twitter to block accounts in certain countries have been used for the first time to hide those from a banned German neo-Nazi group.

An account belonging to the far-right Besseres Hannover, or 'Better Hannover', has been blocked in Germany, where the content of its posts is considered illegal.

The account is still available in other countries, a spokesman for Twitter confirmed.

Besseres Hannover was banned by Lower Saxony's state government last month on the grounds it was promoting Nazi ideals in an attempt to undermine German democracy.

It a letter sent to Twitter, the head of the city's police administration department asked for the group's account to be closed immediately.

Twitter introduced its "country withheld content" function last month in an effort to "respect our users' expression, while also taking into consideration applicable local laws".

On its website, the company says "the open and free exchange of information has a positive global impact", adding that "the tweets must continue to flow".

When Twitter receives a request to withhold content, it notifies affected users unless it is legally prevented from doing so.

Although tweets or accounts are not deleted, they appear greyed-out in countries where they are deemed unsuitable.

Users can challenge the ban, delete contentious tweets or deactivate their account altogether.

Besseres Hannover's Twitter account has more than 440 followers and 1,000 tweets, although the most recent is from almost a month ago.

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Rescued Yachtsman Speaks Of Fears At Sea

A yachtsman rescued by coastguards after his mast snapped and he ran out of fuel has been talking of his fears that he would not be found.

Glenn Ey was left drifting 270 miles off the southeast coast of Australia.

He was sailing from the north of Sydney when he ran into difficulties.

Commercial passenger airliners were asked to fly low over the ocean to help find him.

The yacht was seen drifting 270 miles off the coast

Air Canada and Air New Zealand planes dropped to 4,000ft to make sweeps of the area and the Air Canada plane was the first to spot him.

Mr Ey spoke of his relief. "At that point, it was absolutely wonderful, beautiful." he said. 

"They flew overhead and I thought: "That's a rescue aircraft.' And I put my head up and sure enough it was.

"It happened at midday ... until dark I was very, very concerned. You do think your number's up....there's no question about that."

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Firefighter's Kick Saves Two-Year-Old Child

Firefighters have dramatically stopped a man jumping to his death while holding a two-year-old child by kicking him through an open window back into his bedroom.

Soldiers and firefighters had rushed to a block of flats in Xining, the capital of China's Qinghai province, after a man threatened to throw himself from a window. 

The man, who at points was crying and screaming, was sat on the ledge while cradling the child.

The man was sat on a windowsill

Rescue workers quickly inflated a safety cushion at the foot of the building in case the man jumped or fell, but at the same time, two firefighters began abseiling down the building from higher windows.

When one was just a few metres above the man's head, he swung himself out from the wall before swinging back in to kick the man back into the bedroom.

Rescuers picked up the child

Rescuers who had entered through another window were there to pick up the child.

The man had reportedly had an argument with his wife.

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Australia Rewrites Dictionary Amid Gillard Row

An Australian dictionary is to update the meaning of misogyny, after the word was used by the country's prime minister in a blistering attack on her male rival.

It comes as Julia Gillard embarks on a three-day tour of India - the second day of which got off on the wrong foot when she took a tumble near Mahatma Gandhi's memorial at Rajghat.

She later told reporters she was "fine" and joked: "For men who get to wear flat shoes all day, every day - if you wear heels, they can get embedded in soft grass. When you pull your foot up, the shoe doesn't come."

Ms Gillard's attack on opposition leader Tony Abbott last week followed his attempt to move a motion to oust the House of Representatives speaker Peter Slipper, who is accused of sending crude and sexist text messages.

In a speech to parliament, Ms Gillard said: "If he wants to know what misogyny looks like in modern Australia, he doesn't need a motion in the House of Representatives; he needs a mirror."

"Misogyny, sexism - every day from this leader of this opposition," she added.

The prime minister's critics accused her of exaggeration, pointing to dictionary definitions of misogyny as a hatred of women.

It has led the Macquarie dictionary - regarded by many as the authoritative guide to the Australian meanings of words - to admit its definition is decades out of date.

Sue Butler, who edits the dictionary, said it would broaden the word's meaning to include prejudice against women.

"Since the 1980s, misogyny has come to be used as a synonym for sexism - a synonym with bite, but nevertheless with the meaning of entrenched prejudice against women rather than pathological hatred," she said.

"Perhaps as dictionary editors we should have noticed this before it was so rudely thrust in front of us as something that we'd overlooked."

Ms Butler said the decision to update the meaning of the word had prompted complaints.

Critics include Senator Fiona Nash, a member of Mr Abbott's coalition, who said: "It would seem more logical for the prime minister to refine her vocabulary than for the Macquarie dictionary to keep changing its definitions every time a politician mangles the English language."

Ms Gillard and Mr Abbott declined to comment on the move but it is not the first time they have clashed over issues of gender.

The prime minister said her rival had previously described abortion as "the easy way out" and questioned whether it was a bad thing for men to have more power than women in Australian society.

Speaking in parliament, Mr Abbott once told her: "If the prime minister wants to, politically speaking, make an honest woman of herself ..."

In Australia, the term "making an honest woman" traditionally refers to a man marrying a woman with whom he has had a sexual relationship.

Ms Gillard is the first prime minister to share the official residence with a common law partner, former hairdresser Tim Mathieson.

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US Presidential Race: Obama And Romney Clash

President Barack Obama and his Republican rival Mitt Romney have clashed over both foreign and domestic policy in a feisty live TV presidential debate.

One of the standout moments in the second of three head-to-heads between the candidates came when the pair sparred over last month's attack on a US diplomatic mission in Libya.

The President accused his White House contender of playing politics with national security while Mr Romney hit back by accusing Mr Obama of going on a fundraising tour on the day after the deadly September 11 assault on the Benghazi consulate, and declaring his Middle East policy was "unravelling".

In a television debate that was deemed much more lively and aggressive than the first one, Mr Romney said the President's team either did not know all the details - or did not tell the truth - about the death of four Americans there immediately after the attacks.

Mr Obama admitted for the first time that responsibility for what happened at the consulate in Libya stopped with him and no one else.

But at one point, former Massachusetts governor Mr Romney appeared to get his facts wrong about Mr Obama's handling of the attack and how soon afterwards he described it as an act of terrorism.

In a fierce exchange, Mr Obama called upon transcripts to prove Mr Romney was incorrect and expressed outrage at the Republican's implication that he used the attack to his political advantage.

"The suggestion that anybody on my team, whether it's a secretary of state, our UN ambassador, anybody on my team, would play politics or mislead when we've lost four of our own, Governor, is offensive," Mr Obama said wagging his finger at his opponent across the stage.

Mr Obama was fighting to reverse a slide in the polls

With three weeks to go until the US election, Mr Obama fought to reverse a dramatic slide in the polls that has given Mr Romney a lead for the first time in over a year.

They took questions from 80 undecided voters at a town hall-style forum on New York's Long Island.

The tension between the pair was obvious almost from the start when they clashed over domestic oil production.

During a discussion about immigration, Mr Obama and Mr Romney were side-tracked and ended up making digs at each other over their respective financial arrangements.

In another animated moment, Mr Romney was asked by one voter how he differed from fellow Republican George Bush. The White House hopeful responded by saying he took an alternative stance on energy policy, China and deficits.

But the President said his biggest difference was that his Republican rival is more extreme on social issues than Mr Bush, who left office deeply unpopular.

Mr Romney said that he would govern under different conditions that would allow him to make North America energy independent from Arab and Venezuelan oil.

He also claimed he would crack down on China's currency manipulation and cut the deficit by increasing trade.

The President concluded the debate by bringing up Mr Romney's now notorious 47% remark. The Republican had to apologise earlier in the month after he was secretly filmed making disparaging comments about nearly half of Americans who do not pay income taxes.

The debate, watched by millions, was won by Mr Obama, according to an instant CBS poll at the end.

Sky's US political analyst Jon-Christopher Bua said the president looked to have regained some important ground with his performance. 

"Mr Obama came out fighting for his job, throwing red meat to his base and may have given the all-important independent voters in those crucial swing states a reason to give him a second term," he said.

The final face-off between the candidates before the November 6 election will be held next Monday in Florida.

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Russian Opposition Leader Held Over 'Riot Plot'

By Amanda Walker, Moscow Correspondent

Investigators in Russia have opened a criminal case against one of the country's most prominent opposition leaders in what is widely viewed as the latest sign of a widening crackdown.

Leftist leader Sergei Udaltsov was accused of plotting mass riots in a recent documentary made by a Kremlin-friendly TV channel.

In a statement, the Investigative Committee said it will look into claims made in the NTV programme that opposition leaders worked with Georgian officials to overthrow the government. Udaltsov himself is not officially suspected of that more serious charge.

Udalstov's profile has grown since mass protests began in earnest last winter.

Investigators and armed men wearing ski masks have raided his apartment in Moscow and his lawyer told journalists that his parent's home was also searched.

NTV, which is seen by many as a propaganda arm of the Kremlin, showed what it claimed is footage of Udaltsov meeting officials from neighbouring Georgia to discuss raising $200m (£120m) to fund anti-Putin riots in Moscow.

Last month's "March of Millions" protest called for Vladimir Putin to quit

The opposition movement on Twitter has reacted strongly, with some saying his treatment is overtly political.

Some tweets drew comparisons with the practice, during Stalin's time, of bringing criminal cases based solely on newspaper articles.

Political analyst Andrei Piontkovsky said this latest episode could become worryingly significant.

"If Udaltsov is formally arrested today, it's a very important event in modern history," he said.

"The charges are completely made up - the evidence wouldn't be sufficient in any normal country with a healthy rule of law. Modern Russia is completely different.

"This move doesn't surprise me, taking in mind all the repressive laws that were implemented during last six months, like fines for participating in unauthorised demos and new laws on libel.

"Currently all opposition leaders like Alexei Navalny, Boris Nemtsov, Ilya Yashin and now Udaltsov have either been charged or are witnesses in criminal cases."

In relation to Udaltsov, the Investigative Committee said it will pursue criminal cases against citizens of Georgia and other unspecified countries.

A spokesman said: "Once their involvement in the preparation of criminal acts is established, they will be subject to criminal liability under Russian law and the norms of international law, and will be issued with international arrest warrants."

Udaltsov, who is currently being detained by police, said he has met "a great number of people" recently to discuss fundraising, but that all of his efforts and intentions are legal.

He insisted the footage presented in the documentary had been doctored, although the Investigative Committee said it had been carefully studied and was genuine.

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Serbia Racism Row: England 'Victim' Blamed

Fifa president Sepp Blatter has spoken out about racism in football after allegations of racist chanting during an England U21 game.

The 76-year-old avoided commenting directly on claims of racist chanting directed at English players during the game in Serbia on Tuesday night.

But he tweeted twice and called for discrimination to be "eradicated".

He wrote: "Saddened every time I hear about racist incidents in football.

"We must keep fighting to eradicate discrimination from our sport. Kick racism out of football."

It comes after the Serbian FA denied allegations of racist chanting during the playoff game, which England won 1-0 to go through to the European Championship finals.

Fifa president Sepp Blatter said he was "saddened" by racism in football

The Serbian FA also claimed England player Danny Rose behaved in a "vulgar" manner towards its fans. Rose was sent off after the final whistle.

In a statement on its website, the Serbian FA said: "(The) FA of Serbia absolutely refuses (sic) and denies that there were any occurrences of racism before and during the match at the stadium in Krusevac.

"Making connection between the seen incident - a fight between members of the two teams - and racism has absolutely no ground and we consider it to be a total malevolence.

"Unfortunately, after the fourth minute of the additional time and the victory goal scored by the guest team, unpleasant scenes were seen on the pitch.

"And while most of the English team players celebrated the score, their player number three, Danny Rose, behaved in inappropriate, unsportsmanlike and vulgar manner towards the supporters on the stands at the stadium in Krusevac, and for that he was shown a red card."

The Serbian FA said preliminary reports from the match officials made no mention of racism and added: "We expect that the human and sports culture of our football friends from England will win over the spread of misinformation."

Rose was controversially sent off by the referee after responding angrily to the abuse and kicking a ball into the crowd.

The English FA and Prime Minister David Cameron have called for UEFA to investigate allegations that England players were subjected to racist chants and pelted with seats, coins and stones during their European Championship play-off.

England's players were incensed by the racist abuse

In amateur footage of the scuffles that broke out following England's winning goal, monkey chants are clearly audible.

Rose told Sky Sports News: "I just expressed my emotions as soon as we scored.

"Next thing I turned round and all the Serbian players have surrounded me, pushing me, and then a brawl broke out.

"I remember getting slapped twice and then I got ushered away. That's when I kicked the ball and the referee's sent me off.

"As I was walking off there was monkey chanting - but the monkey chanting started long before I got sent off."

He added: "They have to be banned."

Downing Street said Prime Minister David Cameron was "appalled" by the scenes at the end of the match and wants Uefa to impose tough sanctions if racism is proved.

Sports minister Hugh Robertson has also written to Uefa president Michel Platini urging tough action following the "disgraceful scenes".

Captain Jordan Henderson praised his players for their reaction to the alleged racist abuse and called on Uefa to take the appropriate action.

The Football Association reported "a number of incidents of racism" to Uefa after ugly scenes marred a 1-0 win for Stuart Pearce's team in the second leg of their play-off.

FA general secretary Alex Horne said: "We call on UEFA to take the strongest possible action against the Serbian FA, their supporters and anyone found guilty of being involved in the numerous instances of violence and abuse."

Liverpool midfielder Henderson said on www.thefa.com: "There was a lot of racist abuse out there from the stands and a lot going on after the game, which is hard to take for the players."

The brawl broke out when supporters invaded the field moments after Connor Wickham's stoppage-time goal secured a 2-0 aggregate success and a place at next year's finals in Israel.

Henderson added: "The players coped with the abuse really well. It's not nice. They kept their heads and were professional.

"I thought our players were brilliant and conducted themselves very well. The players completely condemn what happened.

"There were also stones, coins and seats getting thrown at us. I didn't understand why Danny Rose was sent off at the end - I didn't see he did anything wrong, other than get abused."

A statement from the FA read: "The FA condemns both the scenes of racism and the confrontation at the final whistle during which time our players and staff were under extreme provocation.

"The FA has reported a number of incidents of racism to Uefa following the fixture.

"These were seemingly aimed at a number of black England players by the crowd. The matter is now with Uefa."

England manager Stuart Pearce said Serbia's technical director Savo Milosevic had visited the England dressing room to apologise.

"I never like to see any football matches end like that," Pearce told ESPN.

"I think there were one or two racist incidents that came on from the crowd. It's in (Uefa's) hands now.

"It's very sad, to be fair, but we're united as a team. I'm very proud of the reaction of our players."

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Nike Cancels Lance Armstrong Contract

Nike has terminated its contract with former champion cyclist Lance Armstrong as he prepares to step down as chairman of his Livestrong cancer-fighting charity.

Last week the US Anti-Doping Agency (Usada) released a massive report detailing allegations of widespread performance-enhancing drug use by Armstrong.

The document included testimony from 11 former teammates. Usada has ordered for 14 years of Armstrong's career results to be erased, including his seven Tour de France titles.

In a statement the sportswear firm said: "Due to the seemingly insurmountable evidence that Lance Armstrong participated in doping and misled Nike for more than a decade, it is with great sadness that we have terminated our contract with him.

"Nike does not condone the use of illegal performance enhancing drugs in any manner.

"Nike plans to continue support of the Livestrong initiatives created to unite, inspire and empower people affected by cancer. "

The announcement came minutes after Armstrong quit as chairman of his Livestrong cancer-fighting charity.

He said: "I have had the great honour of serving as this foundation's chairman for the last five years and its mission and success are my top priorities.

"Today therefore, to spare the foundation any negative effects as a result of controversy surrounding my cycling career, I will conclude my chairmanship."

The Lance Armstrong Foundation, commonly known as Livestrong, was founded in 1997 and has raised roughly $500m (£309m) to support cancer patients.

The group has scheduled its 15th anniversary celebration for this weekend. Armstrong will stay on the charity's board.

The cancer survivor strongly denies doping and says he stopped fighting Usada because its hearing process was unfair.

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Gold Fields Mine Threatens To Sack Strikers

One of the mining companies suffering amid the spread of industrial unrest in South Africa has issued an ultimatum to 23,500 staff to return to work or face the sack.

South African bullion producer Gold Fields, the world's fourth largest gold miner, has been among the companies facing union demands for better wages.

Disruption to output at its mines in the country has so far cost it 65,000 ounces of lost gold production worth almost £85m.

Its chief executive Nick Holland said: "The company has this morning issued an ultimatum to all striking workers ... to present to work by no later than 1400 hours Thursday 18 October 2012 or face immediate dismissal."

The warning affects two thirds of the company's workforce.

It comes as scuffles continue throughout the country - with dozens of arrests made at Samancor's chrome mine amid reports of rubber bullets being fired by police.  

Around 3,000 people were thought to be involved in the protest, which saw demonstrators clash with authorities.

The site is not far from Lonmin's Marikana platinum facility, where 44 people died in August.

Protests have also spread beyond the mining industry, with some 200,000 council workers due to stop working later this week over issues with pay.

The unrest has damaged confidence among investors and forced Standard & Poor's and Moody's to downgrade South Africa's credit rating.

About 80,000 mineworkers, representing 16% of the mining workforce, are currently striking across South Africa.

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Stolen Paintings Include Picasso And Freud

Several paintings including works by Picasso, Matisse and Monet have been stolen from a Dutch museum in one of the largest heists in years.

Police said a total of seven paintings were taken from the Kunsthal museum in Rotterdam including Pablo Picasso's Tete d'Arlequin (1971) and Henri Matisse's La Liseuse and Blanc Et Jaune (1919).

Two pieces by Claude Monet - Waterloo Bridge, London (1901) and Charing Cross Bridge, London (1901) - were also stolen.

The thieves also made off with Paul Gauguin's Femme Devant Une Fenetre Ouverte, Dite La Fiancee (1888), Meyer de Haan's Autoportrait (circa 1889 - 91) and Woman With Eyes Closed (2002) by Lucian Freud.

The heist occurred during Monday night or Tuesday morning in Rotterdam.

The total value of the seven pieces has not been revealed but is said to be "considerable", according to Mariette Maaskant from the museum.

"There was a break-in during the night and a few paintings were taken that represent a considerable sum," Rotterdam police spokeswoman Patricia Wessels confirmed.

"A major investigation is under way and forensics are at the scene."

The museum, which opened a new exhibition a few days ago to celebrate its 20th anniversary, will be shut for the rest of the day.

Investigators are now reviewing CCTV footage and appealing for witnesses who might have seen the crime, which is believed to have taken place in the early hours of the morning.

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Benghazi Attack: Clinton Takes Heat Off Obama

Hillary Clinton has said she is "responsible" for the security of the country's diplomatic staff around the world after criticism of the handling of a deadly attack on a consulate in Libya.

The US ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, was killed along with another diplomat and two security personnel when armed men broke into the US mission compound in Benghazi.

Republicans have used the issue to criticise President Barack Obama's government - particularly after it emerged that requests for additional security at the consulate had been turned down by the State Department.

But Mrs Clinton's remarks, during a visit to Peru, could take the heat off Mr Obama as he prepares to face a grilling on the Benghazi attack during the second televised presidential debate.

"I'm in charge of the State Department's 60,000-plus people all over the world," Mrs Clinton said in an interview with CNN.

"The President and the Vice President wouldn't be knowledgeable about specific decisions that are made by security professionals. They're the ones who weigh all of the threats and the risks and the needs and make a considered decision."

Christopher Stevens, right, died in the attack

Vice President Joe Biden said during last week's debate with republican challenger Mitt Romney's running mate Paul Ryan that the White House had not been told about the request for more security.

Mrs Clinton has launched an internal investigation into whether there were any security failures in Benghazi, while the FBI and Libyan authorities have launched criminal investigations into the killings.

The Obama administration has also been criticised for its original assertion that the assault on the mission appeared to be linked to protests against a film mocking Islam that had been produced in the US.

But it quickly became clear that it was more likely a planned attack by Islamist militants.

Mrs Clinton said the shifting explanations for the attack were simply a consequence of "the fog of war".

"Remember, this was an attack that went on for hours," she said in another interview with Fox News. "There had to be a lot of sorting out ... Everyone said, here's what we know, subject to change."

In a joint statement, Republican senators led by John McCain said Mrs Clinton's acceptance of responsibility "is a laudable gesture especially when the White House is trying to avoid any responsibility whatsoever".

"The security of Americans serving our nation everywhere in the world is ultimately the job of the commander-in-chief. The buck stops there," it added.

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Karadzic Denies Atrocities At War Crimes Trial

Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic has told a UN war crimes court he should have been rewarded for trying to stop the conflict in Yugoslavia rather than put on trial.

On the first day of his defence in The Hague, Karadzic said: "Instead of being accused for the events in our civil war I should have been rewarded for all the good things I have done.

"Namely, that I did everything in my human power to avoid the war, that I succeeded in reducing the suffering of all civilians, that the number of victims in our war was three to four times less than the numbers reported in public.

"I proclaimed numerous unilateral ceasefires and military containments and I stopped our army many times when they were close to victory."

Brought to court after his arrest on a Belgrade bus in 2008, the 67-year-old, is charged with masterminding the murder of nearly 8,000 Muslim men and boys by forces loyal to him in the eastern Bosnian enclave of Srebrenica in July 1995.

The massacre, when Bosnian Serb troops under the command of wartime general Ratko Mladic overran Dutch UN peacekeepers, was the worst atrocity committed on European soil since World War Two.

Over the space of a few days, thousands were systematically executed and dumped into mass graves in the area.

The remains of people thought to have been killed during the Bosnian war

Relatives of the Srebrenica victims watching proceedings on Bosnian TV reacted angrily to his speech,

Kada Hotic of the Mothers of Srebrenica association said: "He is trying to fool the world.

"He really reduced human suffering, he reduced the suffering of thousands of people by putting them in the ground. He ethnically cleansed many places."

Prosecutors say Karadzic, former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic and Mladic acted together to "cleanse" Bosnian Muslims and Croats from Bosnia's Serb-claimed territories after the collapse of Yugoslavia in 1991.

Milosevic died midway through his own trial for genocide and war crimes in March 2006.

But Karadzic told the court that he never considered the possibility that there could be mass atrocities aimed at either displacing or wiping out the Bosnian Muslim and Croat populations.

"Neither I nor anyone I know could ever think there could be a genocide againt any people we consider to be the same as us - Serbs, although of a different confession," he said. 

Karadzic is also charged over his alleged role in the siege of the Bosnian capital Sarajevo between May 1992 and November 1995 in which 10,000 people died under terrifying sniper and artillery fire.

Karadzic was indicted in 1995 but was not arrested for 13 years

But he accused Muslims of faking the circumstances of two shellings of a marketplace in the Bosnian capital, in which more than 100 people were killed.

"Sarajevo is my city, and any story that we would shell Sarajevo without any reason is untrue," he said.

Wives and relatives of victims were looking on from the public gallery as he addressed the court.

Like Mladic, Karadzic has also been charged for his alleged role in taking hostage UN observers and peacekeepers to use them as human shields during a Nato bombing campaign against Bosnian Serb targets in May and June 1995.

Karadzic, who represented the Bosnian Serbs at talks aimed at ending the civil war, told the court "many incidents happened while I was abroad attending negotiations or meetings".

After being indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in 1995, he spent 13 years on the run before being arrested in 2008 in Belgrade where he practised as a doctor of alternative medicine.

In his opening statement, he described himself as a "physician, a psychiatrist, a psychotherapist, group analyst and a literary man" as he began to read his statement to the court.

His trial began in October 2009 and prosecutors put their case against him between April 2010 and May this year.

Judges dropped one genocide count in June, saying there was not enough evidence to substantiate the charge for killings by Bosnian Serb forces in Bosnian towns from March to December 1992.

Genocide, the gravest crime in international humanitarian law, is the hardest to prove.

Karadzic, who has been allocated 300 hours for his defence, has said he will call 300 witnesses to testify on his behalf.

The names include Greek President Carolos Papoulias, who was Athens' foreign minister during the Bosnian war.

Karadzic has said Mr Papoulias' testimony could prove his innocence for the infamous shelling of Sarajevo's Markale market on February 5, 1994, in which 67 people died.

Meanwhile, the Yugoslavia war crimes tribunal began the trial of its last suspect in a separate courtroom.

Goran Hadzic, president of the self-proclaimed Republic of Serbian Krajina, is accused of the murder, torture and forcible deportation of ethnic Croats from 1992 to 1994.

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Cuba Scraps Exit Permits For Travel Overseas

Cubans wanting to travel abroad will no longer be required to secure an exit visa, the government has announced.

From January 13 next year, there will also be no requirement to present a letter of invitation.

Cubans with a valid passport and visa from the country they are visiting will also be able to spend as many as 24 months overseas, and then request an extension when that period runs out.

Currently, islanders lose residency and other rights including social security, free health care and education after 11 months.

But some restrictions are likely to remain.

Doctors, scientists, members of the military and others considered valuable parts of society currently face restrictions on travel to combat brain drain.

"The update to the migratory policy takes into account the right of the revolutionary State to defend itself from the interventionist and subversive plans of the US government and its allies," the official notice in Communist Party newspaper Granma said.

"Therefore, measures will remain to preserve the human capital created by the Revolution in the face of the theft of talent applied by the powerful."

Fidel Castro stepped down after almost half a century in power

The general travel restrictions over the last half a century have not stopped as many as 30,000 Cubans leaving the island illegally each year.

Many have ended up in the US, which is home to more than one million people of Cuban origin.

Under the "wet foot, dry foot" policy, since 1966 the US has allowed nearly all those who reach its territory to remain.  

Cuban President Raul Castro announced last year that the government was planning immigration reforms that would be introduced gradually.

The president has pressed for economic reforms over the past two years aimed at modernising Cuba's state-dominated economy while maintaining one-party rule.

Raul Castro assumed power in 2006 when his ageing brother Fidel stepped aside after ruling the island nation for nearly five decades.

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