New Yorker Jailed For Role In Failed Bomb Plot

A Bosnia-born US citizen has been sentenced to life in prison for his role in a foiled suicide-bomb plot on New York City subways in 2009.

Adis Medunjanin, 28, was convicted this year of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction, attempting to commit an act of terrorism and other terrorism charges in a plot authorities called one of the closest calls since the 9/11 attacks.

Prosecutors had argued for a life term for Medunjanin, saying he "committed a host of heinous crimes aimed at killing and maiming his fellow American citizens in order to alter and take revenge for American foreign policy".

The trial ending in May was mostly notable because it featured the first-ever testimony from admitted homegrown terrorists about al Qaeda's determination to strike America on its home turf.

Two of Medunjanin's former high school classmates, Najibullah Zazi and Zarein Ahmedzay, testified that the three men sought terror training after falling under the influence of inflammatory recordings of US-born extremist cleric Anwar al-Awlaki.

Zazi was flown to New York after his arrest in Colorado in 2009

The government's case was built on the testimony of Zazi, Ahmedzay and two other men: a British would-be shoe bomber and a man originally from Long Island who gave al Qaeda pointers on how best to attack a Walmart store.

Zazi and Ahmedzay, who testified as part of plea deal, told jurors that the scheme unfolded after the trio travelled to Pakistan in 2008 to avenge the US invasion of Afghanistan.

While receiving terror training at outposts in the South Waziristan region of Pakistan, al Qaeda operatives encouraged the American recruits to return home for a suicide-bombing mission intended to spread panic and cripple the economy.

Among the targets considered were the New York Stock Exchange, Times Square and Grand Central Terminal, the men testified.

In a later meeting in New York, the plotters decided to strap on bombs and blow themselves up at rush hour on Manhattan subway lines because the transit system is "the heart of everything in New York City," Zazi said.

When leaving Pakistan, Zazi relocated to Colorado, where he perfected a homemade detonator in a hotel room and set out for New York City by car around the eighth anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

Zazi moved to Colorado after returning from Pakistan

The plot - financed in part by $50,000 (£31,500) in credit card charges - was abandoned after Zazi noticed that everywhere he drove in New York, a car followed.

"I think law enforcement is on us," he recalled telling Ahmedzay. Later, he said he told Medunjanin in a text message, "We are done."

Aside from Zazi and Ahmedzay, two other convicted terrorists were called as witnesses to give a rare glimpse into al Qaeda's training methods and the mindset of its leadership.

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Tornado Hits Portugal's Algarve: Eight Hurt

A tornado has hit Portugal's popular holiday hotspot the Algarve, tossing and flipping vehicles - some with people inside - and causing flooding in areas.

Hundreds of people have been left homeless, trees uprooted, balconies, roof tiles and framework ripped off, and windows shattered as the violent winds struck the region.

Eight people were injured and taken to hospital for treatment. Firefighters said most of those injured had to be pulled out of overturned vehicles.

An overturned car

Television footage showed the tornado approaching the shore from the Atlantic near the town of Lagos.

The Algarve is a popular tourism destination, although November is low season.

Tornadoes are not common in Europe, but do occur occasionally in the northwest and south of the continent.

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Abortion: India Puts Ireland Under Pressure

The Indian government has contacted the Irish government over the death of a woman who was allegedly refused an abortion.

New Delhi has demanded a "transparent" probe into the death of Savita Halappanavar after doctors in Ireland apparently rejected her requests for a termination even though she was miscarrying.

Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid said: "I'm confident that the Irish government, with whom we are in constant touch will properly investigate this case and will strive for a system so such incidents do not happen again."

On Friday, foreign ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said the concern over Mrs Halappanavar's death was growing in India.

About 100 opposition protesters held a demonstration outside the Irish embassy on Friday - accusing authorities of committing "medical murder".

India is demanding a transparent probe into the death

 MrMrs Halappanavar's family said the 31-year-old dentist repeatedly asked staff at University Hospital in Galway to terminate her pregnancy but doctors kept telling her "this is a Catholic country".

Abortion is illegal in Roman Catholic-dominated Ireland unless it occurs during medical intervention to save the life of the mother. There is no agreed method for determining such circumstances.

Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny described her death as a "tragedy", while two separate investigations have been announced.

Indian communist party leader Brinda Karat said Mrs Halappanavar's condition should have been treated as a "medical emergency" as she joined calls for a tough line with Ireland over the incident.

Mrs Halappanavar was allegedly refused an abortion

"The fact that they didn't is a crime and the Irish authorities are responsible for committing a crime of a loss of a human life and I think the Indian government must step in here," she told reporters.

Smriti Irani, president of the women's wing of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata party, was among the protesters outside the embassy and she was allowed in as part of a four-person delegation to meet the ambassador.

"The Irish ambassador assured us that there could be a possibility of inviting international experts to be part of the investigation and we told him that Savita's husband should also be part of it," Ms Irani said.

She added that the ambassador had acknowledged the "intense pressure" from around the world following the death.

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Egypt School Bus Crash Leaves Dozens Dead

Fifty people have been killed after a train collided with a bus in a city south of the Egyptian capital Cairo.

A senior security official in Assiut, near the crash site, said 48 of the dead were children, aged between four and eight years.

One woman and a man, who was the bus driver, also died, he added.

The state news agency said another 15 people were injured. A medical source said as many as 28 were injured, 27 of them children.

"They told us the barriers were open when the bus crossed the tracks and the train collided with it," doctor Mohamed Samir said, citing witness accounts.

Distraught locals search through the wreckage at the crash site

He said the bodies of many of those killed were severely mutilated, indicating the force of the crash, which took place in the city of Manfalut, near Assiut, some 190 miles south of the capital.

President Mohamed Mursi ordered his ministers to offer support to the families of those killed.

Transport Minister Mohamed Rashad has offered his resignation as has the head of the railways authority, which President Mursi was considering, state media reported.

The governor of Assiut, Yahya Keshk, has ordered an inquiry.

Egypt's roads and railways have a poor safety record.

Egyptians have complained that successive governments have failed to enforce basic safety standards, leading to a string of deadly accidents.

Earlier this month, at least three Egyptians were killed and more than 30 injured in a train crash in Fayoum, another city south of Cairo.

In July, 15 people were injured in Giza, close to the capital, when a train derailed.

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Explosion In Tel Aviv After Gaza Pounded

Sirens are sounding in Tel Aviv following an explosion, a day after a rocket crashed into the sea off the Israeli city.

The sirens sent people running for cover as TV images showed the Iron Dome anti-missile system firing on an incoming rocket, hitting it in mid-air according to the Israeli military.

The Israeli ambulance service said there were no casualties.

The armed wing of Hamas said it had fired a long-range Fajr-5 rocket at the city.

Damage to an apartment block in Ashdod caused by a rocket fired from Gaza

Earlier on Saturday, four rockets hit the southern city of Ashdod. 

Israel's military said on Twitter: "4 rockets fired from #Gaza struck Ashdod: 1 on a house, 1 on a car, 1 near a kindergarten & 1 in an open area." 

No-one was killed in the attack.

Before Saturday's rocket attacks, Israel carried out nearly 200 airstrikes on Gaza City overnight

The strikes hit targets in the territory including the Hamas Prime Minister's office, a police compound and a vast network of smuggling tunnels.

Israeli aircraft kept pounding their original targets in the airstrikes

Israeli aircraft also kept pounding their original targets, the militants' weapons storage facilities and underground rocket launching sites.

Rocket fire by Palestinian militants into Israel resumed after dawn following a relative lull overnight. 

Medics told news agency AFP that eight people died in central and southern Gaza and 30 were injured in the latest strikes.

The latest deaths raised the overall death toll in Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip to 38, as both sides continued to hurl missiles at each other. 

Tunisia's Foreign Minister (L) meets with a senior Hamas member in Rafah

Three Israelis have been killed in the recent violence. Four soldiers were also hurt in rocket fire along the southern flank of Israel's border with Gaza, the army said on Saturday.

Israel stepped up its air assault in retaliation to an unprecedented rocket strike aimed at Jerusalem.

Israel's military also called up 75,000 reservists, raising speculation of a ground invasion.

Despite the violence, Tunisia's foreign minister Rafik Abdessalem arrived in the coastal enclave early Saturday in a show of Arab solidarity, heading to a hospital to visit the wounded.

A house near Ashdod in Israel damaged by a rocket fired from Gaza

Mr Abdessalem called on the world to help stop Israel's "blatant aggression", and said the Arab League should act as it gathers for talks in Cairo.

Since the start of its operation, Israel's army says militants have fired more than 640 rockets over the border, 410 of which hit Israel, and 230 of which were intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile system.

Israeli leaders have threatened to widen Operation Pillar of Defence if the rocket fire from the Gaza Strip does not halt.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said options included the possible assassination of Hamas' Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and other top leaders.

"Every time that Hamas fires there will be a more and more severe response," he told Israel's Channel 2 TV.

US President Barack Obama has reiterated his country's support for Israel's right to defend itself against rocket attacks from militants in the Gaza Strip.

In a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Mr Obama also expressed his regret over the loss of Israeli and Palestinian civilian lives, the White House said.

The fighting in Gaza escalated on Wednesday when Israel killed Hamas's military chief in an airstrike.

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Ikea 'Regrets' Using Forced Prison Labour

Ikea says it "deeply regrets" use of forced prison labour by suppliers in communist East Germany more than two decades ago.

The Swedish furniture giant apologised after commissioning a report into claims political prisoners worked in factories making its products in the 1960s and 70s.

The company says it never condoned the use of forced labour but the report showed it failed to properly vet how its suppliers were operating.

The report concludes that Ikea managers "were aware of the possibility that political prisoners would be used in the production of Ikea products in the former GDR".

"We deeply regret that this could happen," said Jeanette Skjelmose, an Ikea manager.

"The use of political prisoners for manufacturing was at no point accepted by Ikea."

But she added: "At the time we didn't have the well-developed control system that we have today and we clearly did too little to prevent such production methods."

Ikea commissioned accountants Ernst & Young to look into claims aired by a Swedish TV documentary in June but first raised by a human rights group in 1982.

Rainer Wagner, chairman of the victims' group UOKG, said Ikea was just one of many companies that used forced prison labour in East Germany.

"Ikea is only the tip of the iceberg," he told The Associated Press in an interview earlier this week.

Wagner said he hoped that Ikea and others would consider compensating former prisoners, many of whom carry psychological and physical scars.

"Ikea has taken the lead on this, for which we are very grateful," he told a news conference in Berlin, where the report was presented.

Peter Betzel, the head of Ikea Germany, said the company would continue to support efforts to investigate the use of prisoners in East Germany in future.

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US Veterans Parade In Texas Hit By Train

Four people have been killed after a freight train hit a float during a parade honouring wounded military veterans.

The crash, which also left 16 people injured, happened on a railway crossing in the city of Midland, Texas.

City spokesman Ryan Stout said six people are being treated at Midland Memorial Hospital, including one in a critical condition.

The crash site in an industrial area was cordoned off by police as rescue crews and investigators worked at the scene.

Midland Police Chief Price Robinson told local media: "I'm standing out here now. It's hard to look at.

"It's a very tragic event, very unfortunate."

The float was one of two carrying veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, some who suffered major injuries in combat, and their partners.

Parade participants comfort each other after the crash

Some people managed to jump clear before the train hit, police said.

Witnesses described the panic as the locomotive's horn sounded.

"My daughter said, 'Momma, the train is coming!' Patricia Howle told KOSA-TV.

"People were jumping off, trying to get off that trailer and the truck was still rolling.

"People on the trailer saw the train coming and they were flying in every direction," she added. "I covered my face. I didn't want to see."

Hours after the accident, a float was still sitting near the train tracks, a white poster board on its side and about a dozen empty chairs sitting on top.

The US marked Veterans Day earlier this week, and the parade was part of an event to honour wounded veterans.

It was scheduled to end at a "Hunt for Heroes" banquet before the wounded service members were to be treated to a deer-hunting trip.

A spokesman for railway operator Union Pacific said it was not clear if the train crew had seen the float approaching the crossing but that they had been sounding their horn before the collision.

He added that the crossing gate and lights were working at the time.

National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Peter Knudson said the agency was investigating.

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Oz Football Team 'Make Request For Beckham'

By Jonathan Samuels, Australia Correspondent

Australian football club Perth Glory have reportedly asked LA Galaxy if they can talk to David Beckham about signing him on a temporary basis.

Beckham had earlier insisted he had no plans to play Down Under after media reports suggested he was considering a move there.

A spokesman for the 37-year-old midfielder told Sky Sports News: "There is always enormous interest from clubs across the world in signing David as a player.

"There are absolutely no plans to play in Australia. David is completely focused on the Major League Soccer play-offs and winning another Championship with the Galaxy."

But hours later Sky sources claimed Perth Glory had made an approach.

Chief executive, Paul Kelly, told Sky News: "There may be an opportunity for him to become available. There have been rumours around Australia for weeks about it and it came to a head today when the Australian media said it was happening.

"We put our hand up and said 'we're more than happy to speak to David Beckham's representatives' and we formally requested that through these contacts. We could only sign him as what's known as a 'guest stint' which is 10 games".

This appeared to confirm an earlier statement released by Football Federation Australia (FFA) saying they had been approached by Beckham's management about the possibility of him playing in their A-League, but that no agreement had been reached.

Football is far behind 'Aussie Rules' football as a spectator sport in Oz

Earlier media reports suggested he would play just 10 games, with several clubs hoping to attract him. It was said the move would have to be ratified by the FFA and its new chief David Gallop.

Beckham, who signed a new two-year deal with LA Galaxy last January, has previously said he will not be making any decisions on his future until their season ends in two weeks' time.

He has visited Australia a number of times with the Galaxy, playing in friendlies against Sydney FC, Newcastle Jets and Melbourne Victoria, and has never ruled out a move to the country.

During the visits he was mobbed by fans and created a huge buzz on and off the pitch. Beckham would be the biggest signing ever for the A-League' if it ever happened.

During one visit he was interviewed by former Manchester United team mate Mark Bosnich, now a Fox Sports pundit, who asked him for his thoughts on the A-League.

"The standard's similar to what it is in the US," Beckham replied. "The game's growing like it is in the US, and that's great to see.

"People all around the world are talking about (Major League Soccer and the A League) now, and that's a sign of the growth in both countries."

Football in Australia is enjoying something of a resurgence at present with recent star recruits Alessandro Del Piero and Emile Heskey drawing record crowds and television audiences.

It is the country's number one participation sport but is far behind Aussie rules football and rugby league as a spectator sport.

Beckham said earlier this year he had no intention of retiring from the game for a while. "If I continue to feel like I do right now, I'll continue to play," he said.

"I don't feel 36 years old when I'm out there. I still love training, I still love playing.

"So I want to continue until I feel differently. I love the game. Until that stops, I want to play as long as I can."

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Greek Journalist Faces Retrial Over Bank List

A journalist cleared of breaching data privacy laws after publishing the names of more than 2,000 Greeks with Swiss bank accounts will stand trial again, court officials have said.

Magazine editor Costas Vaxevanis was arrested and acquitted after printing the so-called 'Lagarde List' of possible tax evaders.

The 46-year-old insisted the list - which included prominent businessmen and politicians - was the same as the one handed to Greek authorities two years ago by France's then finance minister Christine Lagarde.

The list was initially leaked by an HSBC bank employee in Switzerland where the accounts - estimated at 1.5bn euro (£1.2bn) - were held.

Mr Vaxevanis was acquitted on November 1 but Athens' public prosecutor's office has ruled the decision was faulty and that he must be tried on the same charges again at a higher court.

Mr Vaxevanis following his arrest in October

If he is found guilty the celebrated investigative journalist could be jailed for up to two years or given a large fine.

"The prosecutor believes that the decision in favour of the journalist is legally wrong," a court official said, without giving further details.

A similar request for appeal was filed by three people whose names are on the list, he said.

The list and the saga of how it was passed from one senior official to the next and misplaced at one point without anyone apparently taking action has captured the attention of the Greeks.

In his defence, Mr Vaxevanis accused politicians of hiding the truth and protecting an "untouchable" elite. He said the first trial was politically-motivated, calling it "targeted and vengeful".

Greece has so far failed to convict any big names of tax evasion, fuelling popular disenchantment with a political class that promised to force the wealthy to share some of the pain of the debt crisis.

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Jerusalem: Hamas Claims Rocket Attack

Hamas said it has fired a long-range missile at Jerusalem - first time the holy city is thought to have been targeted by rockets fired by the Gaza militants.

The Israel Defence Forces confirmed that a rocket was fired from Gaza to an uninhabited area outside Jerusalem.

The rocket caused no damage or injuries, the Israeli army said.

Israel media reported that two rockets had landed outside Jerusalem.

The armed wing of Hamas al Qassam Brigades said on Twitter: "Al Qassam Brigades launch two M75 homemade missiles towards occupied Jerusalem."

Twenty-two Palestinians - eight of whom were militants - have now been killed in the violence. Three Israelis were killed by a rocket on Thursday.

Earlier, there was a second rocket attack by Palestinian militants on Tel Aviv in 24 hours.

Air raid sirens went off in the centre of Israel's largest city on Friday afternoon and people were forced to scramble for cover. There were no reports of any injuries and it is believed to have landed in the sea.

Israeli police detain a Palestinian during clashes in Jerusalem's Old City

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said: "We believe it landed off the shores of Tel Aviv".

A witness told AFP that the rocket landed some "some 200 metres (yards)" from the beachfront US embassy.

The attack sparked panic among beachgoers, although several people tried to swim out to the point where the rocket landed, the witness said.

It was the second day in a row that a rocket from Gaza had reached the Tel Aviv area in what Israeli networks said was the first time rockets had been fired at the city since the 1991 Gulf War, when it was hit by Iraqi Scud missiles.

On Thursday, another rocket fell in the sea and the other landed in a Tel Aviv suburb, causing no damage or casualties. Israel responded with airstrikes.

The latest rocket came as the Israeli air force continued a major bombing campaign across Gaza Strip.

Senior Israeli cabinet minister Moshe Yaalon warned that Israel was considering a ground operation in order to stamp out rocket fire.

"We are preparing all the military options, including the possibility that forces will be ready to enter Gaza in the event that the firing doesn't stop," he wrote in a series of postings on his official Twitter account.

There were fresh exchanges of fire between Israel and Hamas militants earlier on Friday despite a temporary ceasefire in place for a visit by Egypt's prime minister to Gaza.

Hisham Kandil (L) and senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh during the visit

Several sites in southern Israel have been hit by rockets fired from inside the Gaza Strip, while a Hamas source said the Israeli air force attacked a Hamas commander's house which resulted in the death of two civilians, one a child.

But Israel's military strongly denied carrying out any attack from the time Mr Kandil entered Gaza, and accused Hamas of violating the three-hour deal.

During his three-hour visit, the Egypt prime minister Hisham Kandil condemned Israeli action against Gaza as "unacceptable aggression", saying his country will intensify efforts to secure a truce in the conflict.

"This tragedy cannot pass in silence and the world should take responsibility in stopping this aggression," he said at a news conference in Gaza City's Shifa hospital after seeing some victims from an airstrike.

"Egypt will not hesitate to intensify its efforts and make sacrifices to stop this aggression and achieve a lasting truce."

His visit comes as 16,000 Israeli army reservists have been called up and heavy artillery has been seen on the Gaza border, increasing the possibility of a ground attack.

Israel has given the green light to the call-up of up to 30,000 army reservists.

Overnight the Palestinian territory suffered a heavy bombardment, with Israeli warplanes hitting targets in and around Gaza City.

"There have been 130 strikes overnight until now," Hamas interior ministry spokesman Islam Shahwan said.

He said the strikes destroyed a building belonging to the interior ministry, while there were also reports that training positions used by various Palestinian militant groups had also been hit.

The Israeli army said 11 Palestinian rockets had been fired from Gaza at Israel overnight.

Meanwhile, European Union foreign policy chief Baroness Ashton said Israel had the right to protect its people against Gaza rocket attacks but urged it to stick to a "proportionate" response.

She also voiced hopes that the Egyptian prime minister "will be able to calm the situation".

And Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague urged both Israel and the Palestinians to make efforts to halt the violence.

But Mr Hague made it clear that he believes Hamas bears the greatest responsibility for the current crisis, as well as the ability to bring it most swiftly to an end.

Mr Hague told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that there had been "a large increase" in rocket attacks on Israel from Gaza over recent weeks.

Israel's Iron Dome fires an interceptor rocket near Sderot in the south

And he added: "What Israel has done is obviously the Israeli response to that. The thing that would bring this most quickly to an end would be for Hamas to stop launching rockets at Israel.

"But of course, there are also responsibilities on Israel... Both sides have a responsibility to try to bring this to an end."

Asked whether Britain would condemn a ground offensive, Mr Hague said: "We will see what the situation is. This depends on the actions of two sides, not just one side."

The conflict has been intensifying over recent weeks, but flared up dramatically in the wake of the Israeli strikes against senior Hamas figures.

Mr Netanyahu has warned that his country is prepared to extend its operation against Hamas, sparking fears of a repeat of the ground incursion four years ago in which hundreds died.

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Rat Massacre: Galapagos Islands To Kill Millions

Ecuador is preparing to massacre more than 180 million rats as it seeks to eradicate them from the Galapagos Islands.

A helicopter will drop nearly 22 tons of specially designed poisonous bait on Pinzon Island, an uninhabited island in the archipelago 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador and the nearby Plaza Sur islet.

It is the second stage in an offensive that aims to kill all non-native rodents across the 19 islands that helped inspire Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by 2020.

Norway and black rats were introduced by whalers and buccaneers when they reached the islands in the 17th century and now feed on the eggs and young of many of the island's native species, including giant tortoises, lava lizards, snakes, hawks and iguanas.

The rats have also depleted the plants on which many natives species feed.

"It's one of the worst problems the Galapagos have. (Rats) reproduce every three months and eat everything," Juan Carlos Gonzalez, a specialist with the Nature Conservancy, said.

"This is a very expensive but totally necessary war."

The Galapagos islands are famed for their biodiversity

On Pinzon, which is just seven square miles in area, there are 10 rats for every square metre of land.

The poisoned bait is contained in light blue cubes that attract rats but are repulsive to other inhabitants of the islands.

Thirty-four hawks from Pinzon have been captured in order to protect them from eating the poisoned rodents, while 40 iguanas on Plaza Sur were also held for their own protection.

Asked whether a large number of decomposing rats would create an environmental problem, Danny Rueda, director of conservation for the Galapagos National Park Service, said the poison was specially engineered with a strong anti-coagulant that will make the rats dry up and disintegrate in less than eight days.

The Galapagos were declared protected as a Unesco Natural Heritage site in 1978. In 2007, Unesco declared them at risk due to harm from invasive species, tourism and immigration.

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China Unveils Xi Jinping As New Leader

Who Is Xi Jinping?

Updated: 7:25am UK, Thursday 15 November 2012

By Mark Stone, China Correspondent

He will lead the world's most populous nation of 1.3 billion people for the next 10 years and could be at the helm when China becomes the world's largest economy but who is Xi Jinping? And why should you care anyway?

Mr Xi is a "princeling" -  the son of one of the founding members of the Chinese Communists, Xi Zhongxun, a guerrilla commander who went on to form the party alongside Chairman Mao.

Mr Xi's father and Mao fell out. Xi Senior was tortured and placed in jail for several years.

During the Cultural Revolution - when millions of Chinese died under Mao's leadership - the Xi family were sent to live in communes as peasants along with so many others.

In recent and rare interviews Xi Jingping talks about this difficult time in his life which he refers to as a "struggle" which helped develop him into a stronger man.

Mr Xi and those around him now represent the first generation of leaders to experience first-hand the struggle of being a child through the Cultural Revolution. Many speculate that this could mould his leadership, especially in terms of how he deals with the widening gap between rich and poor in China.

After the chaos of the Cultural Revolution, Mr Xi moved back to Beijing to continue his education. He was educated into Communist Party and quickly rose through the ranks, first in Hebei Province and then in Fujian Province.

In 2000 he was made governor of Fujian Province followed by acting governor of Zhejiang in 2002. He built economies in those two provinces which have become larger than both Hong Kong and Taiwan.

He has a daughter who studies at Harvard and a wife who is more famous than he is.

Peng Liyuan is a folk singer, fluent in English and a Major-General in the People's Liberation Army. She is, by all accounts, a beautiful woman - her name even means "beautious beauty".

Ms Peng will be far more of an American-style first lady when compared with her elderly and reclusive predecessor, Hu Jintao's wife.

In public, Mr Xi also contrasts with his stiff and formal predecessor. He is a charismatic and a relaxed public speaker.

He is well travelled too, having lived in the United States for a short time as a young man. In recent years, in preparation for his rise to the very top, he's been to a number of Western capitals.

Mr Xi's inner thoughts, aspirations for his country's direction and attitude towards the West are not widely known.

A comment he made on a 2010 visit to Mexico is often used as an example of his true colours.

"Foreigners with full bellies, and nothing better to do than point fingers at China. China does not export revolution, or famine, or poverty or mess around with other countries. So what else is there to say," he said.

But his first speech to the media on Thursday as leader was more conciliatory.

"Just as China needs to learn more about the world, so does the world need to learn more about China," he said.

However, despite all that, walk down any street in Beijing and you'll find the Chinese know very little about their new leader. And in the West it would not be an embarrassment to admit to not having ever heard of the man.

The reason for this is simple. China operates what can be called a black-box system of government. It is a system closed to its subjects. It is extremely hard to see how it operates and who is pulling the levers.

The Communist Party runs or contributes to almost every facet of life in China. Its 80 million or so members make it the largest political party in the world. And yet China is so large, they represent just 6% of the country's population.

It is that 6% who have some say over who in community rises up each of the thousands of different party organisations.

With a pyramid effect fewer and fewer people endorse those who will sit above them - and that is why very few people know who Mr Xi is, what he is like, what he stands for and in what direction he will take the world's most populous nation.

Reform is the buzzword for China's next 10 years. Many had believed that following the country's economic reforms in the 1990s, political and social reform would come under Mr Hu and Mr Wen. It didn't happen.

China is now at a crossroads. Past Chinese leaders have lifted the country economically beyond all expectations; it is now the world's second wealthiest country.

But its economic explosion coupled with a downturn in exports to the West has produced a long list of explosive problems.

The wealth gap is wider than ever. Corruption is rife. The cities are the most polluted in the world. Factory production is slowing. Now mix all that in with an increasingly restive population which is more technologically connected and geographically mobile than ever: this is the China Xi Jinping must lead.

He has never really revealed whether he is just a moderniser or a genuine reformer. The direction he chooses will determine China's fate.

And remember, China's fate matters to the West.

China has holdings of more than $1trn (£631bn) of US debt. It is buying up Western companies and increasingly Western companies are investing in China.

If further reform comes, think of the opportunities which could help lift the West out of economic crisis.

But if China crashes, it could bring the rest of us down with it.

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Belize: 'Bonkers' McAfee Urged To Contact Police

The prime minister of Belize has urged software company founder John McAfee to hand himself in to the authorities for questioning in relation to the death of his neighbour.

Mr McAfee went on the run after fellow American Gregory Faull, 52, was shot on the Caribbean island where they both lived.

Belize police have said he is a "person of interest" and prime minister Dean Barrow reiterated that he is only wanted for questioning.

But Mr Barrow also expressed doubts about the 67-year-old's mental state: "I don't want to be unkind to the gentleman, but I believe he is extremely paranoid, even bonkers."

It is understood Mr McAfee, who denies killing Mr Faull, has changed his appearance by dyeing his hair, eyebrows and beard and moustache black.

"I have modified my appearance in a radical fashion," he was quoted as saying by Wired magazine on Wednesday. "I'll probably look like a murderer, unfortunately."

Mr McAfee told The Associated Press from an undisclosed location that he had differences with the dead man.

"I barely knew him, I barely spoke 10 words to him in the last three years," Mr McAfee said, speaking on a mobile phone. "Certainly he was not my favourite person and I was not his.

"He was a heavy drinker and an annoyance. But the world is full of annoyances; if we killed all of our annoyances, there would be nobody left."

A Facebook page showing pictures of John McAfee

Other expat residents of the island of Ambergris Caye have described Mr Faull, the owner of a construction business in Orlando, Florida, as peaceful and well-liked.

The dispute apparently involved several dogs that Mr McAfee kept at his beachside villa and that drew complaints from neighbours.

Mr McAfee said four of his dogs were poisoned late last week but that he did not initially suspect Mr Faull of having killed them, although he knew he did not like the animals.

"He did threaten to shoot them once or twice," Mr McAfee said, adding that his neighbour was "always angry at them".

But he said he now believes government agents or police poisoned the dogs.

Mr Faull's body was discovered by a housekeeper on Sunday. He had been shot in the head but there was no sign of a break-in.

Police raided Mr McAfee's mansion that day to question him about the murder.

Earlier in the year, police searched the property for weapons and drugs, and detained him for several hours.

Mr McAfee sold his stake in the company that is named after him in the early 1990s and moved to Belize about three years ago to reduce his tax bill.

He told The New York Times in 2009 that he had lost all but $4m (£2.5m) of his $100m (£63m) fortune in the US financial crisis.

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Gaza Violence: Hague Condemns Hamas Attacks

Foreign Secretary William Hague has said the militant group Hamas bears the "principal responsibility" for the spiralling violence between Gaza and southern Israel.

Mr Hague condemned rocket attacks on Israel from Gaza today and said he is "gravely concerned" about the escalation of tension.

Three people were killed in the Israeli town of Kiryat Malahi when a rocket hit an apartment block.

The casualties were the first since Israel's airstrikes on the Gaza Strip on Wednesday which killed Hamas' top military commander.

The Israeli army said a rocket also struck a southern suburb of Tel Aviv - by far the farthest strike by Gaza militants in recent days.

Mr Hague said Hamas should stop attacking southern Israel immediately and called on Israel to do its utmost to reduce tension and avoid civilian casualties.

"It is imperative to avoid a spiral of violence. The escalation of this conflict would be in no one's interest, particularly at a time of instability in the region," he said.

The head of Hamas' military wing Ahmed al Jaabari who was killed

Other world leaders have urged Israel to show restraint after prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened to "expand" military operations in Gaza following the killing of Ahmed al Jaabari.

He has said Israel will take whatever action necessary to protect its people.

Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi has rejected what he called Israel's aggression in Gaza, saying it threatened to destabilise the region.

Egypt's Islamist administration, which has close ties with the Hamas movement, recalled its ambassador on Wednesday in protest at the Israeli action.

US President Barack Obama and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon have both telephoned Mr Netanyahu ahead of an urgent UN Security Council meeting on the deteriorating situation.

According to the White House, Mr Obama reiterated US support for Israel's right to self-defence against rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip but urged Israel to avoid civilian casualties in the Palestinian territory.

They agreed that Hamas must stop the attacks, which have seen hundreds of rockets fired into Israel over the last five days, in order to allow tensions to ease.

Mr Ban told the Israeli PM of his expectation that "Israeli reactions are measured so as not to provoke a new cycle of bloodshed," the UN said.

A car destroyed by a rocket fired by Palestinian militants

He also expressed his concerns about "an alarming escalation of indiscriminate rocket fire from Gaza into Israel".

So far, at least 15 people, including Mr Jaabari, have been killed in more than 50 Israeli airstrikes - codenamed Operation Pillar Of Defence. Two young children were also among the dead.

The Israeli military is ready, if necessary, to send ground troops into Gaza, according to its official Twitter account. It has also been authorised to call up army reserve units.

In a televised address, Mr Netanyahu said: "If it becomes necessary, we are prepared to expand the operation.

"We will not tolerate a situation in which Israeli citizens are threatened by rocket fire."

Defence minister Ehud Barak, appearing with the prime minister, said: "We are at the beginning of the event, and not the end."

Palestinian militants said the airstrikes had opened "the gates of hell" for the Jewish state.

Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said another 55 rockets had been fired at Israel in the aftermath of the airstrike that killed Mr Jaabari.

Gaza's Hamas government welcomed the decision of Egypt, one of only two Arab countries to have a peace treaty with Israel, to pull out its envoy and urged Arab leaders to take "decisive action".

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum said: "The occupation committed a dangerous crime and crossed all the red lines, which is considered a declaration of war."

The emergency Security Council meeting came at the request of Egypt, Morocco and the Palestinians.

"Once again the international community is witness to Israel's malicious onslaught, using the most lethal military means and illegal measures against the defenceless Palestinian civilian population," the Palestinian Authority's UN envoy, Riyad Mansour, told the Council.

"A direct firm message must be sent to Israel to cease immediately its military campaign against the Palestinian people and to abide ... by its obligations under international law."

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BP Spill: Staff 'Face Manslaughter Charges'

Two BP employees are facing manslaughter charges over the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, according to reports.

The British oil giant is also said to have agreed to pay a criminal penalty amounting to billions of dollars over the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

The spill killed 11 people and set off a spill that continued for 87 days, fouling large areas of the southern coast of the US.

A source speaking to the AP news agency said BP will plead guilty to obstruction for lying to Congress about how much oil was pouring out of the ruptured well.

The impending agreement covers all of the United States' Department of Justice (DoJ) and Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) claims against BP in relation to the blowout.

Oil gushed from the Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico for weeks

The proposed settlement will not include civil claims under the Clean Water Act and other legislation, pending private civil claims and state claims for economic loss.

In a statement earlier on Thursday BP said "no final agreement has yet been reached" and that any deal would still be subject to court approvals.

The settlement was expected to dwarf the largest previous corporate criminal penalty assessed by the DoJ - the $1.2bn (£750m) fine imposed on drug-maker Pfizer in 2009.

Criticism was focused on Tony Hayward

BP has set aside $37.2bn (£23.4bn) to cover its liabilities from the incident, but the company has said the final cost is uncertain.

BP also recently announced it expects to make the final payment this year to a $20bn (£12.6bn) trust fund to cover damage from the blowout.

In March, BP announced a settlement with multiple claimants for medical and economic losses, which is estimated to cost $7.8bn (£4.9bn).

The spill exposed lax US government oversight and led to a temporary ban on deepwater drilling while officials and the oil industry studied the risks, worked to make it safer and developed better disaster plans.

BP chief executive Tony Hayward stepped down after the company's repeated gaffes, including his statement at the height of the crisis: "I'd like my life back."

BP's environmentally friendly image was tarnished, and independent fuel station owners who fly the BP flag claimed they lost business from customers who were upset over the spill.

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Top Hamas Commander Killed In Israeli Airstrike

Israeli airstrikes have hit a series of targets across Gaza City, after one killed the commander of Hamas' military wing.

The group said the assassination had "opened the gates of hell".

Two of its training facilities were among the targets of the bombings and an Israeli military spokesman said the attacks could trigger days of fighting.

Brigadier-General Yoav Mordechai told Channel 2 TV: "The days we face in the south will, in my estimation, prove protracted. The homefront must brace itself resiliently."

Hamas said Ahmed al Jaabari, who ran the organisation's armed wing, the Izz el Deen al Qassam, died along with a passenger after their car was hit by an Israeli missile.

Israel's Shin Bet domestic intelligence service confirmed it had carried out the attack, saying it had killed Jaabri because of his "decade-long terrorist activity". He has long topped Israel's most-wanted list.

It marks a dramatic resumption of Israel's policy of assassinating Palestinian militant leaders.

Jaabari becomes the most senior Hamas official to be killed since an Israeli invasion of Gaza four years ago.

Witnesses said Jaabari was travelling in a vehicle in Gaza City when the car exploded.

Crowds of people and security personnel rushed to the scene of the strike, trying to put out the fire that had engulfed the car and left it a charred shell.

Hamas police cordoned off the area around a hospital where at least one body from the strike was taken. It was draped in a white sheet, with a burned leg poking out.

Israeli officials had said in recent days that they were considering assassinating top Hamas officials following a wave of heavy rocket fire from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, triggering Israeli airstrikes.

Hamas police said three other airstrikes hit other targets in Gaza City, Khan Younis and Rafah.

More follows...

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'Kidnapping' In Los Angeles Sparks Huge Search

Hundreds of people, including police, rescue officials and volunteers, have been searching for a girl who witnesses said was attacked and abducted in a suburb of Los Angeles.

The girl, thought to be aged between 14 and 16, was seen on Monday being dragged away by a man at a leisure centre in El Sereno, east of central LA, as she was screaming and kicking.

According to witnesses, the man had also punched the girl and removed some of her clothing.

The Los Angeles Times reported that some 250 rescue workers and volunteers have combed the area around the centre, trekking through steep terrain. They were helped by helicopters and bloodhounds.

The search teams found a pair of Puma tennis shoes and leggings, but no other signs of a kidnapping, the newspaper said.

"While we have located some physical evidence that supports the abduction, we have not found any evidence that the young lady is still in the park," Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck told a news conference.

No reports for a missing person matching the girl's description have been filed.

The search was called off on Tuesday afternoon and there are no plans to resume it in the area, but police will continue investigating, news reports said.

Authorities have released a composite sketch of the man, who is believed to be between 18 and 20.

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Taser Death: Police Branded 'Thuggish'

Police who tackled and tasered a Brazilian student on LSD could face further action after a damning report on the man's death.

An Australian coroner said officers acted like schoolboys in "Lord Of The Flies" when they crash-tackled Roberto Laudisio Curti and shocked him with 50,000 volts.

New South Wales coroner Mary Jerram said she could not determine what caused the 21-year-old's death but added that it was "impossible to believe that he would have died but for the actions of police".

All of her recommendations were accepted by police, including that five officers involved be referred to an independent watchdog and there be an immediate review of the criteria for use of taser stun guns.

Police have accepted their officers were in the wrong

But Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione, who admitted the coroner's report was "quite scathing", said tasers would continue to be used.

"These weapons save lives," he said.

Officers pursued a shirtless Curti - who had become paranoid and was acting erratically after sharing an LSD tab with two friends - in the mistaken belief that he had committed an armed robbery on a Sydney convenience store.

In shocking him at least 14 times, tackling him to the ground and blasting him with pepper spray, the actions of a number of police officers were "reckless, careless, dangerous, and excessively forceful", Ms Jerram said.

"They were an abuse of police powers, in some instances even thuggish."

She said one probationary constable used his stun gun in a "wild and uncontrolled" manner on the Brazilian, who issued terrible screams and groans as police piled on top of him while he lay on a city street.

"A few of the other constables seem to have thrown themselves into a melee with an ungoverned pack mentality, like the schoolboys in 'Lord of the Flies'," she said, referring to the novel and film about boys who turn savage after being stranded on an island.

A coroner said the actions of the police were "thuggish"

Ms Jerram said many of the police had "no idea what the problem was, or what threat or crime was supposedly to be averted, or concern for the value of life".

Police said Curti had shown a "superhuman" strength as he struggled against them, but the coroner said evidence from cameras on the tasers showed he was quickly handcuffed after being thrown to the ground.

A family spokesman said further action should be taken against the police

She said one officer lay across his back, another knelt on him and others held his arms and legs as he was then repeatedly tasered by two officers while another sprayed pepper spray in his face.

Minutes later he was seen to be unresponsive and could not be revived.

Curti's family members welcomed the findings but said they would still be pushing for those responsible to be held accountable.

"Whilst nothing will ever bring Beto back, we continue to push for those responsible to face the consequences of their appalling behaviour on that night," family spokesman Michael Reynolds told journalists.

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China Set To Unveil Xi Jinping As New Leader

Runners And Riders For China's Top Jobs

Updated: 2:46pm UK, Wednesday 14 November 2012

By Mark Stone, China Correspondent

China's Communist Party is set to announce the names of the seven people who will rule the world's most populous nation.

So far the only certainties are that Xi Jinping will become president and Li Keqiang will be premier. The make up of the Standing Committee will have a bearing not just on the pace of reform within China itself but also on its relations with the outside world.

It is already clear that the frontrunners for the top jobs come from a more varied background than their predecessors.

:: Xi Jinping

Cautious Reformer

Training: Engineer

China's incoming president, 59-year-old Mr Xi has been quoted as saying the Communist Party must embrace political reform to stave off social and economic problems. His other main challenges will be maintaining China's economic growth, perhaps through boosting private business, and fighting corruption. The son of a Mao-era revolutionary, Mr Xi spent his teenage years living in a cave in Shaanxi province. He is married to folk singer Peng Liyuan, who some predict may be a more active First Lady than her predecessors and has already been involved in high profile health campaigns. His daughter is studying at Harvard under an assumed name.

:: Li Keqiang

Cautious Reformer

Training: Lawyer

Expected to take over from Wen Jiabao as premier, a role focused on economic matters, Mr Li, 57, counted political reformers among his friends at university before becoming a protégé of outgoing president Hu Jintao. The law graduate rose through the party ranks, acting as party chief in relatively poor provinces like Henan where he was criticised for his slow reaction to an HIV epidemic involving tainted blood. Mr Li speaks English and is married to an English literature professor. He is said to be keen on tennis.

:: Li Yuanchao

Reformer

Training: Mathematician

Mr Li, 62, is a 'princeling' - the son of an influential politician - who  studied in the US and is seen as being reform-minded, having courted foreign investment and advocated reform of the party. He has served as party secretary of Nanjing city and Jiangsu province and more recently as head of the department which appoints officials to key posts. At the time of the 1989 Tiananmen Square incident, Li was a student at Beijing University. He was scrutinised by the conservative Party elders for his sympathy towards the incident. His son is a student at Yale. Along with Xi and Li Kequang, he has long been considered the most secure candidate for the committee though conservative elders have raised objections.

:: Zhang Dejiang

Conservative

Training: Economist

Previously a vice-premier, Mr Zhang, 65, is a North Korea-trained economist and is seen as a conservative. His hopes of making the top tier of Chinese politics were boosted when he was promoted to replace the disgraced Bo Xilai as party boss of the south-western metropolis of Chongqing after Bo and his wife Gu Kailai were implicated in the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood.

:: Wang Qishan

Financial Reformer

Training: Academic

Mr Wang, 64, is a former academic who became a protégé of ex-president Jiang Zemin. Much of his work has been on economic projects, including a stint as governor of the China Construction Bank. Seen as being good in a crisis, he was appointed mayor of Beijing during the SARS crisis in 2003. He was described as 'bold' and as having a 'wicked sense of humour' by former US Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson.

::Yu Zhengsheng

Potential Reformer

Training: Military Engineer

Mr Yu, 67, is party boss in Shanghai, China's financial hub, a post he inherited from Xi Jinping in 2007. A former engineer specialising in designing missiles, his brother defected to the US in 1985, a political blow he managed to recover from. He has publicly branded the Cultural Revolution, in which six of his family members perished, a 'serious personal mistake' made by Mao Zedong. His age along with the controversy caused by his brother's defection may result in him missing out on a place on the Standing Committee. Some see the possible reduction in size of the committee from 9 to 7 as a convenient way of keeping Yu out of it.

:: Wang Yang

Reformer

Training: Scientist

The senior party figure in Guangdong, one of China's most prosperous regions, Mr Wang, 57, is seen as a reformer keen on more democracy within the party and more media freedom. His political career took off when, as mayor of Tongling, he was publicly praised by then Chinese leader and revolutionary veteran Deng Xiaoping. He is said to be a close ally of outgoing President Hu.

:: Zhang Gaoli

Financial Reformer

Training: Economist

Party chief of Tianjin province, Mr Zhang, 66, is an economist and statistician believed to lean towards pro-market policies. He was a champion of then-president Jiang Zemin's 'three represents' policy in 2000, which encouraged the private sector to play a greater role in China's economic development. He tends to be fairly low profile, his political career is seen as being fairly unremarkable and the public in Tianjin are said to consider him to be mundane.

:: Liu Yunshan

Conservative

Training: Academic

A former teacher, Mr Liu has served as director of the propaganda bureau since 2002. The 65-year-old spent his early career in Mongolia as a student, then working in for the state news agency as well as in Party propaganda. Since 2007 he has headed the Communist Party's propaganda department which is considered to be the Party's most influential bureaucracy. In that role he has taken significant criticism for his tight controls of the media in China. It's not clear whether he will continue in this role on the Standing Committee; there are suggestions that the Party may reduce the role of propaganda within the Standing Committee. If he does continue in the role, one of his challenges will be dealing with the internet, especially the increasing use of blogs and social media to express opposition to government policies.

:: Liu Yandong

Uncertain Position On Reform

Training: Engineer

If appointed, and it looks unlikely, Lui, 67, would be the first woman ever to sit on the Standing Committee. She has been the only woman on the 25-member Politburo and has been a loyal supporter of both outgoing president Hu Jintao and his predecessor Jiang Zemin. The daughter of a high-ranking politician, Ms Liu has worked in engineering and chemicals. She is seen as being liberal-minded.

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Anti-Austerity Strikes: Protests Grip Europe

A wave of anti-austerity anger is sweeping across Europe with general strikes in Spain and Portugal and walkouts in Greece and Italy - grounding flights, closing schools and shutting down transport.

Millions of workers are taking part in the dozens of co-ordinated protests in a so-called European Day of Action and Solidarity against spending cuts and tax hikes.

Italian media reported that six police officers were injured, including one seriously, as clashes broke out with protesters at demonstrations in Milan and Turin.

Around 20 activists allegedly beat an officer with a stick and baseball bats in Turin, while five officers were hurt during running street battles in central Milan.

In Spain - the fourth-biggest eurozone economy - activists and unions will be staging an evening rally outside the parliament in the Madrid.

Protests got underway early in Madrid and Barcelona, with protesters clashing with police as they attempted to blockade buses and cause disruption at food markets.

Spanish police used night-sticks to quell unrest on picket lines

Riot police fired rubber bullets at hundreds of protesters in Madrid's Cibeles Square and used night-sticks to quell picket line disturbances as more than 80 people were arrested.

:: Live: Follow the protests across Europe as they happen

Airlines operating in the country including Iberia, Iberia Express, Air Nostrum, Vueling, Air Europa and easyJet cut more than 600 flights including some 250 international routes.

Hospitals in Spain will fully staff emergency and surgery rooms but non-essential care will be scaled back.

Spain, where one in four workers is unemployed, is now teetering on the brink of calling for a European bailout, with Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy trying to put off a rescue that could require even more EU-mandated budget cuts.

Italy's biggest trade union CGIL called strikes in dozens of cities - and thousands of workers took to the streets calling for more safeguards for jobs and pensions and protesting against Prime Minister Mario Monti's government.

Parts of Rome were at a standstill as protesters clashed with police

Student Mario Nobile, 23, said: "Europe is waking up today - from Rome to Madrid to Athens."

Protests are also being called in 40 towns and cities across bailed-out Portugal, including Lisbon and Porto.

Portuguese airline TAP said it was grounding more than 160 flights, most of them international.

Greece, struggling to satisfy international lenders that it has cut spending sufficiently to qualify for bailout funds and to avoid default, has called a three-hour walkout and a rally in Athens.

The European Trade Union Confederation said it was the first time that it had appealed for a day of action that includes simultaneous strike action in four countries.

"By sowing austerity, we are reaping recession, rising poverty and social anxiety," its general secretary Bernadette Segol said in an online statement.

"In some countries, people's exasperation is reaching a peak. We need urgent solutions to get the economy back on track, not stifle it with austerity. Europe's leaders are wrong not to listen to the anger of the people who are taking to the streets."

Union-led rallies are also being called across France and in Poland, while high-speed Thalys rail services between Belgium and Germany have been cancelled for the day.

Just 20% of Spain's long-distance trains and a third of its commuter trains are expected to run, while Lisbon's Metro will be shut completely with only 10% of rail services in action.

Tensions have been rising in Spain since last Friday when a woman jumped from her apartment to her death as bailiffs tried to evict her from her home in the country's second apparent suicide linked to evictions.

On Monday, the country's largest banks agreed to halt repossessions for the most vulnerable for two years.

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Royal Tour: NZ Man 'Planned Manure Attack'

A man has appeared in court in New Zealand accused of planning to throw a bucket of horse manure over the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall.

Castislav Bacanov, 76, pleaded not guilty at Auckland District Court to a charge of preparing to commit a crime in a public place.

He was arrested on Monday, about 50 minutes before Charles and Camilla arrived at the quayside in Auckland to meet hundreds of well-wishers during a walkabout.

The 76-year-old was remanded on bail on condition he keep at least 500 metres away from the royal couple, who are touring New Zealand as part of the Queen's diamond jubilee events.

He is due to return to court on November 27.

Castislav Bracanov listens during court proceedings

Charles and Camilla are on a seven-day visit to the Commonwealth country, the last leg of their Pacific tour which has already taken them to Australia and Papua New Guinea.

The royal couple took a break from official duties on Tuesday and are believed to have gone walking - they are known to be keen walkers.  

The Prince will celebrate his 64th birthday on Wednesday in the New Zealand capital Wellington with some of the country's most prominent figures.

The heir to the throne shares his birthday with the country's Governor General Sir Jerry Mateparae, and Bronagh Key, wife of the Prime Minister John Key, and the trio will be joined by 64 specially chosen New Zealanders also born on November 14.

During the day, the Prince will be given a behind the scenes look at the new blockbuster movie from Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson, visiting a workshop that created special effects for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

The heir to the throne will meet Mr Jackson and be shown make-up props worn by actors including The Office star Martin Freeman, who plays Bilbo Baggins - the lead role in The Hobbit.

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Petraeus' Successor John Allen In Email Probe

Petraeus Affair Scandal: Timeline

Updated: 9:33am UK, Tuesday 13 November 2012

The end of General David Petraeus' career has raised several questions about when the affair began and who knew about it. Here is a timeline of events according to officials involved in the investigation.

:: Spring 2006 Paula Broadwell meets Gen Petraeus at Harvard University, where she is a graduate student. Petraeus is a lieutenant general working on a manual about counterinsurgency and is invited to give a speech about his experiences in Iraq.

:: January 2007 Gen Petraeus is confirmed as the commanding general of US troops in Iraq.

:: 2008 Ms Broadwell begins to study his leadership, and he invites her on a run with him and his team along Washington's Potomac River.

:: October 2008 Petraeus is named commander of US Central Command, based at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida, where Jill Kelley and her husband attend social events alongside the area's military elite.

:: June 2010 Gen Petraeus is confirmed as the new commander of the war in Afghanistan and Ms Broadwell expands her research to become an authorised biography, making multiple trips to the country and getting unprecedented access to Gen Petraeus and his staff.

:: September 2011 He is sworn in as CIA director with his wife, Holly, by his side. Mr Broadwell keeps in contact and is invited to his office for events, including a meeting with Angelina Jolie. In November of that year, the pair begin an extramarital affair, according to retired Army Colonel Steve Boylan.

:: January 2012 Ms Broadwell's biography is released and she tells her local paper, the Bismark Tribune, that he is an inspirational figure.

:: May 2012 Ms Kelley, a socialite, starts to receive harassing emails and an FBI probe begins. They later determine the email trail leads to Ms Broadwell. Emails between Gen Petraeus and Ms Broadwell suggest an affair.

:: July 2012 The affair ends, according to Col Boylan, a friend of Gen Petraeus. The FBI has concluded there was no security breach, but continues to look at whether Gen Petraeus had any involvement in emails sent to Ms Kelley.

:: October 2012 By the end of the month, Ms Broadwell and Gen Petraeus have acknowledged the affair following questioning by the FBI. He is urged to resign by Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.

:: November 8 Gen Petraeus asks Barack Obama if he can resign, on the day the president returns from election celebrations in Chicago. Mr Obama accepts the resignation a day later.

:: November 9 Ms Broadwell's husband emails guests to cancel her 40th birthday party, scheduled for that weekend.

:: November 10 Ms Broadwell's biography of Gen Petraeus jumps to 111th place on Amazon, up from 76,792nd the day before as her identity becomes known.

:: November 12 Members of Congress demand to know more details about the sequence of events and FBI agents begin searching the North Carolina home of Ms Broadwell.

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John McAfee: Anti-Virus Guru Flees After Murder

Millionaire software company founder John McAfee has gone on the run following the killing of his neighbour on an island off the coast of Belize.

The 67-year-old, who amassed a $100m (£63m) fortune developing anti-virus software, said he buried himself in the sand with a cardboard box over his head so he could breathe to evade police when they came to question him about the murder of Gregory Faull.

The head of the country's anti-organised crime brigade, Marco Vidal, said Mr McAfee was wanted for homicide.

However, in an interview with technology magazine Wired - which was apparently given while on the run in the Central American country - Mr McAfee denied killing his neighbour and claimed the Belize government had a vendetta against him.

He said he ran because he feared Mr Faull had been killed by mistake and he had been the real target of the shooting.

In the telephone interview he said: "I thought maybe they were coming for me. They mistook him for me. They got the wrong house. They killed him. It spooked me out."

He described how he had hidden from police under the sand and claimed that if the Belize police found him they would kill him.

Mr Faull, 52, a retired builder, was found dead inside his two-storey home north of San Pedro, on the island of Ambergris Caye, on Sunday morning.

There was a gunshot wound to his head and a single 9mm Luger case was found at the scene.

It is known that Mr Faull had been unhappy about Mr McAfee's dogs and had filed a formal complaint with the mayor in San Pedro last week.

Mr McAfee claimed in his communications with Wired magazine that the dogs had been poisoned on Friday. But he said he did not suspect Mr Faull, just the Belize authorities.

Last April, Belize police raided Mr McAfee's home looking for drugs and guns, but he was released without charge after being detained for a few hours.

He said: "Under no circumstances am I going to willingly talk to the police in this country. You can say I'm paranoid about it, but they will kill me, there is no question.

"They've been trying to get me for months. They want to silence me. I am not well-liked by the prime minister. I am just a thorn in everybody's side."

Mr McAfee moved to Ambergris Caye in 2008, where he had armed guards patrolling his property. He sold his stake in the software company in the 1990s, and reinvented himself as a yoga teacher.

He said he lost all but $4m of his $100m fortune in the financial crisis.

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Italy Floods: Bridge Collapse Kills Three

Severe rainfall in Italy has claimed the lives of at least three people after the car they were in fell off a collapsed bridge in Tuscany.

Severe flooding has devastated the region and neighbouring Umbria over the past two days, with rivers breaking their banks in several areas.

The trio, who have not been identified, were killed near the town of Grosseto.

It is not clear if their vehicle drove off the bridge or was caught on it when it collapsed.

Venice, pictured here on November 11, has also been hit by heavy downpours

One man died on Monday and more than 100 were forced to flee their homes and take refuge in emergency shelters.

Thousands have been left without power after the towns of Albinia and Orbetello were cut off by rising waters.

The governor of Tuscany, Enrico Rossi, has asked for help from the army to tackle the flooding.

Parts of northern Italy, including the historic city of Venice, have also been hit by heavy rain which has placed a severe strain on drainage systems and other infrastructure.

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Model Katy French's Friends Admit Drug Charges

Two friends of the top Irish model, Katy French, have admitted possessing cocaine with intent to supply on the weekend she collapsed at their home almost five years ago.

The 24-year-old socialite slipped into a coma after visiting the home of Kieron Ducie and Ann Corcoran, and died in hospital four days later.

Traces of cocaine were found in her system and a post-mortem examination revealed she suffered brain damage.

The model and socialite Katy French

Appearing at Trim District Court, Ducie, 43, and Corcoran, 31, admitted the drugs charges, which date back to December 1, 2007, when Miss French visited their Kilmessan home, in Co. Meath, days after celebrating her 24th birthday.

Her parents John and Janet and sister Jill maintained a bedside vigil as the model lay critically ill on a life support machine at Our Lady's Hospital in Navan.

Her mother and sister were in court to hear the former couple plead guilty to the charges, and left without speaking about the case.

They are expected to return when Ducie, who was dressed in a dark suit and yellow tie, and Corcoran, who wore a long dark coat, are sentenced on February 5 next year.

Judge Leonie Reynolds was told a second charge of recklessly supplying Miss French with drugs and failing to get medical assistance quickly enough had been dropped.

Miss French became a tabloid darling in the two years before her death.

She was born in Switzerland and had moved with her family to Ireland when she was a young girl, settling in Enniskerry, Co Wicklow.

Before her death she revealed she had used cocaine, branding it part of the Dublin social scene, but claimed she had quit the drug, warning others of its dangers.

The Olympic champion swimmer, Michelle de Bruin, Irish rugby star, Shane Byrne, and the singer, Chris de Burgh, were among hundreds of mourners at her funeral.

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Emirates Superjumbo Turned Back By Engine Fire

By Jonathan Samuels, Australia Correspondent

An Emirates Airlines A380 jet bound for Dubai has been forced to return to Sydney after a fire in one of its engines just minutes after take-off.

The superjumbo had reached 10,000ft and had been flying for just 20 minutes when passengers said they heard a bang and felt the double-decker aircraft "judder".

They then saw flames shooting several metres out of one of the engines.

Passenger John Fothergill of Auckland, New Zealand, said he saw a flash.

"I thought it could have been lightning but then we saw flames come out of the engine. The whole interior of the A380 lit up," he told News Limited.

"You'd have to say there were two or three metre flames. (The) explosion shook the plane, there was a bigger judder."

Passenger Ross Clarke described hearing a loud bang.

"We were told by the pilot that something had gone wrong on the starboard engine, number three engine," he told Channel Seven News.

Emirates flight attendants moved to the windows to observe and asked passengers what they had seen.

Mr Fothergill's wife, Amal Aburawi, said the attendants appeared to panic more than the passengers.

"Everyone was running left and right, no-one knowing what's happened," she said.

In a statement the airline said: "Emirates flight EK413 from Sydney to Dubai on 11 November turned back shortly after take-off due to an engine fault. Passengers are being rebooked on alternative flights."

A mid-air engine blowout in November 2010 on an A380 using Rolls Royce Trent engines prompted Australia's Qantas Airlines to ground its entire fleet of Airbus superjumbos for nearly a month.

But Emirates, the world's biggest user of A380s, uses rival GP7200 engines built by Engine Alliance, a joint venture between engine manufacturers General Electric and Pratt & Whitney.

Emirates apologised for the inconvenience to its passengers, but said the safety was "of the highest priority and will not be compromised". The A380s, worth £235m ($375m) apiece, typically carry around 525 passengers.

The A380 aircraft, manufactured in Toulouse from parts sourced across Europe, have also been affected by cracks in the wings of a small number of planes. There are 18 airlines currently using the aircraft with total orders outstanding for 262.

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Syria: Opposition Form Coalition Against Assad

Syria's divided opposition groups have struck a deal to form a new umbrella organisation which they hope will defeat President Bashar al Assad.

After four days of wrangling in Qatar, representatives of groups including rebel fighters, veteran dissidents and ethnic and religious minorities agreed to form the coalition supported by Western and Arab backers.

Muslim cleric Ahmed Moaz al Khatib, 52, a Damascus moderate who left Syria three months ago, was elected president of the coalition, with prominent dissident Riad Seif and female opposition figure Suhair al Atassi chosen as his deputies.

Mr Seif, who championed the US-backed reform proposals on which the agreement was based, said the group had signed a 12-point agreement to establish the coalition.

In a document seen by journalists, the parties have agreed "to work for the fall of the regime and of all its symbols and pillars", and ruled out any dialogue with Mr Assad's government.

They agreed to unify the fighting forces under a supreme military council and to set up a national judicial commission for rebel-held areas.

A provisional government would be formed after the coalition "gains international recognition", and a transitional government after the regime has fallen.

It remains to be seen whether the Syrian National Coalition for Opposition and Revolutionary Forces can overcome four decades of rule by President Assad's family.

But for those allies who see the coalition emulating Libya's Transitional National Council, the deal has been welcomed.

The new coalition is aiming to break a stalemate Syria's civil war

"We will strive from now on to have this new body recognised completely by all parties ... as the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people," said Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim of Qatar, a supporter of the rebels.

Turkish foreign minister Ahmed Davutoglu said there was "no excuse any more" for foreign governments not to support an opposition whose internal divisions had given many pause.

France, a vocal backer of the rebels and which once ruled Syria, hailed the deal.

"France will work with its partners to secure international recognition of this new entity as the representative of the aspirations of the Syrian people," said foreign minister Laurent Fabius.

The US had also strongly promoted the plan for the Doha meeting to unite the various factions.

Meanwhile, Israel has fired warning shots into Syria after mortar fire from fighting in the civil war-hit nation hit the UN-monitored ceasefire line between Syria and the occupied Golan Heights.

It was the first time Israel has been drawn into the unrest in the neighbouring country, and was the first Israeli fire directed at the Syrian military since the 1973 war.

It came after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his cabinet that Israel was "ready for any development" and as his defence minister warned a "tougher response" would follow.

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Venice Floods: Lagoon City Under Water

Heavy rain and strong winds have led to 70% of Venice being flooded, while some 200 people were evacuated from their homes in Tuscany because of severe weather.

Authorities said sea levels in the lagoon city reached a peak of 5ft (1.5 metres) above normal before receding slightly.

This marked the sixth-highest level since records began in 1872, Italian news agency ANSA said.

Moveable barriers that would rise from the sea bed to protect Venice from high tides have been in the works for years but will not be operational before 2014.

In Tuscany, around 200 people were evacuated from their homes because of heavy rain which caused mudslides.

Several days of relentless rainfall have caused serious flooding in Venice

The most affected region was the province of Massa and Carrara, where around 50 people were evacuated and a car was swept away by an overflowing river.

Residents have been told to avoid going into the streets and to stay in the upper floors of their homes.

In Pisa, some streets have been without electricity.

In Liguria, the region bordering Tuscany, 30 people were forced to flee their homes.

In anticipation of the floods two days ago, authorities issued warnings and planned security measures to avoid casualties after 13 people died in Tuscany and Liguria a year ago.

The bad weather is said to be heading slowly towards the centre of the country and is set to hit Rome where civil defence forces have been put on alert.

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Australia Child Sex Abuse Inquiry Launched

Australia's prime minister has announced a royal commission that will look at institutional responses to alleged child sex abuse after a series of scandals involving paedophile priests.

Julia Gillard's comments follow claims by a senior policeman that the Catholic Church in an area of New South Wales destroyed evidence and silenced investigations.

The country's leader had faced increasing pressure to establish a national inquiry after the recent allegations as well as an ongoing inquiry in Victoria state, but said the probe would be broader than just the Catholic Church.

Ms Gillard said: "There have been too many revelations of adults who have averted their eyes from this evil. I believe in these circumstances that it is appropriate for there to be a national response through a royal commission."

"This is not a royal commission targeting any one church," she told reporters.

The terms of reference have yet to be decided, but the commission will cover all religious organisations, as well as those providing state care and other not-for-profit bodies. It will also look at the response of the police.

A senior police investigator last week alleged that the Catholic Church had covered up sexual abuse of children in the Hunter Valley north of Sydney, to protect paedophiles and its own reputation.

Pope offered an apology for child sex abuse by priests in Australia in 2008

New South Wales authorities last week announced an investigation into the allegations after Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox claimed the church hindered police, alerted offenders and destroyed evidence.

But DCI Fox had urged a full-scale national inquiry, saying limiting a probe to one region was ineffective, particularly as priests alleged to have committed offences were often moved to different states.

"I've got no doubt that it's got tentacles everywhere," he said. "State boundaries aren't going to stop these sorts of predators from operating."

Cardinal George Pell, Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, has said he supports the New South Wales inquiry but added the church had worked hard to stamp out abuse.

"Critics talk as though earlier inadequacies are still prevalent," he said, saying it was unjust for anyone to suggest crimes were being - or had been - committed, without producing evidence.

Calls for a national inquiry intensified in September when the Catholic Church in Victoria revealed at least 620 children had been abused by clergy in that state since the 1930s.

The church in Australia, as in other parts of the world, has endured a long-running controversy over its response to past abuses.

When Pope Benedict XVI visited Sydney in 2008 he met victims and offered a historic apology for child sex abuse by predatory priests, saying he was "deeply sorry" and calling for those guilty of the "evil" to be punished.

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Australia: Warning As Bushfire Destroys Homes

Around 150 firefighters have been battling a bushfire in South Australia, which has destroyed at least seven homes.

The large blaze at Tulka tore through about 5,000 acres of scrubland and residents were evacuated from their homes.

The fire burned within containment lines but was yet to be brought under control.

Fire service spokesman Malim Watts said despite a change in the wind, Tulka, seven miles south of Port Lincoln, still faced a serious fire threat.

"When this fire started it took off at incredible speed. Very dangerous conditions, catastrophic conditions in fact which basically means that for that community it's a day of survival," said Mr Watts.

It was unclear what sparked the fire but it quickly gathered force due to the hot weather.

A koala is given water by a driver amid a blaze

A similar number of firefighters also battled a blaze at Humbug Scrub, north east of Adelaide, he added.

There was a lucky escape there for a koala, which was spotted by a driver and given water.

"He had a bit of a drink of water. Yeah, but he's but he's not looking too well really," the man said.

A number of other fires were also being tackled in the state.

Officials are warning of a long and difficult summer ahead for firefighters, as South Australia and most other states are anticipating hot and dry weather ahead.

"We've had a lot of rainfall, a lot of growth, a lot of vegetation and we're expecting a very busy fire season as a consequence of that," a fire official said.

Southeastern Australia was last devastated by bushfires in February 2009, when a horrific blaze swept through Victoria state, killing 173 people and destroying more than 2,000 homes.

It was Australia's worst natural disaster in modern times.

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Syria: 'Casualties After Two Large Blasts'

Two large explosions have struck the Syrian city of Deraa, causing multiple casualties, according to the state-run news agency.

The blasts were reportedly followed by clashes between regime forces and rebels fighting to topple President Bashar Assad.

Activists said dozens of members of the Syrian security forces were killed when two cars loaded with explosives drove into a military camp.

In what could have been a double suicide attack, the first car was driven into the camp and exploded, followed by the second vehicle, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Deraa was the birthplace of the Syrian uprising against Mr Assad

The blast from the second vehicle caused the casualties, it added.

Deraa, in the south of the country, was the birthplace of the Syrian uprising against Mr Assad, which erupted in March 2011.

The conflict began largely with peaceful protests against his rule but turned bloody after rebels took up arms in response to the regime's crackdown.

Activists say more than 36,000 people have died in Syria during the 19-month-long uprising.

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China To Step Up Space Ambitions In 2013

China is stepping up its ambitious space exploration programme with another manned space mission early next summer, according to its official news agency Xinhua.

The Shenzhou-10, with three crew members, is aiming for a primary launch window in June according to Niu Hongguang, deputy commander-in-chief of the manned space programme.

Mr Niu, speaking on the sidelines of China's 18th Communist Party Congress in Beijing, said officials had identified a back-up launch window for July or August.

He also revealed that one of the three astronauts would probably be a woman.

Shenzhou-9 astronauts, from left, Liu Wang, Jing Haipeng and Liu Yang

China sent its first female astronaut, Liu Yang, into space earlier this year on the Shenzhou-9 in the country's first manual space docking mission.

The docking procedure was a major milestone in the country's ambitious space programme that has a goal of building a space station by 2020.

China has said it is working towards landing a man on the moon, but has not specified a time-frame.

The last time a man landed on the moon was during the United States' 1972 Apollo 17 mission.

Beijing has said it will also attempt to land an exploratory craft on the moon for the first time in the second half of next year and transmit back a survey of the lunar surface.

China sees its space programme as a symbol of its rising global stature, growing technical expertise, and the Communist Party's success in turning around the fortunes of the once poverty-stricken nation.

The country sent its first man into space in 2003. It completed a space walk in 2008 and an unmanned docking between a module and rocket last year.

The US is not expected to test a new rocket to take people into space until 2017, and Russia has said manned missions are no longer a priority.

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'Harassing Emails Exposed' CIA Boss' Affair

The FBI investigation that led to the discovery of CIA boss David Petraeus' affair and resignation was reportedly triggered by "harassing" emails allegedly sent by 'lover' Paula Broadwell to another woman.

The receiver of the emails went to the FBI for protection and to help track down the sender, said the Washington Post.

A US official told the Associated Press the FBI's investigation began several months ago with a complaint against Ms Broadwell, who is Gen Petraeus' biographer.

That inquiry reportedly led agents to her email account, which uncovered the alleged relationship with the 60-year-old retired four-star general, who earned acclaim for his leadership of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Amid concerns the emails he exchanged with Ms Broadwell, 40, raised the possibility of a security breach, the FBI brought the matter up with Gen Petraeus directly, according to the official.

The FBI was also alerted that Ms Broadwell may have had access to his personal email account, said Fox News.

The agency then apparently determined she allegedly had emailed a number of government workers.

Paula Broadwell reportedly had an affair with General Petraeus (Pic: News)

It was at one point trying to establish whether any of the employees were being stalked, sources told Fox.

The person who complained about Ms Broadwell's purported harassing messages was not a family member nor a government official, the network added.

Gen Petraeus announced on Friday he was quitting, abruptly ending a high-profile career that might have culminated in a bid for the presidency.

He has been married for 38 years to Holly, who he met when he was a cadet at the US Military Academy at West Point.

She was the daughter of the academy superintendent. They have two children, and their son led an infantry platoon in Afghanistan.

Ms Broadwell, who is married with two young sons, has not commented on the claims.

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Israel Fires 'Warning Shots' Into Syria

Israel says its forces have fired "warning shots" into Syria after stray mortar fire from fighting in the civil war-hit nation struck the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

It was the first time Israel has been drawn into the unrest in the neighbouring country, and was the first Israeli fire directed at the Syrian military since the 1973 war.

The Israeli army said: "A mortar shell hit an IDF (Israeli Defence Force) post in the Golan Heights adjacent to the Israel-Syria border, as part of the internal conflict inside Syria.

"In response, IDF soldiers fired warning shots towards Syrian areas."

Sky's Middle East correspondent Sam Kiley said: "Sky sources tell me the warning shot was an anti-tank missile fired by Israel into Syrian territory, close to the crew that was identified as having fired this mortar round.

"So, already the Israelis are signalling that both sides should back off. They don't want another front line opening up in their ongoing conflicts, not least because in the last 24 hours there has been an escalation of violence in Gaza."

The shell overshot the Golan disengagement fence and exploded near a Jewish settlement without causing casualties, it was claimed.

There were no reports of damage or injuries inside Israel.

A string of mortar shells have struck the Golan during the 19-month long Syrian conflict between rebel fighters and forces loyal to President Bashar al Assad.

Israel's military chief, Lieutenant-General Benny Gantz, warned troops on the Golan Heights a week ago: "This is a Syrian issue that could become our issue."

The Jewish state captured the Golan from Syria in the 1967 Mid-East war.

Meanwhile, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country was "prepared to escalate" its response to Palestinian rocket fire, after one of the worst flare-ups along its border with Gaza in recent years.

The latest unrest began on Saturday evening when Gaza militants fired an anti-tank missile at an Israeli jeep along the Gaza border, injuring four soldiers, one of them severely.

Israel retaliated with air strikes, shelling and artillery fire that left six Palestinians dead and 35 injured by Sunday afternoon, and Palestinian militants fired at least 82 rockets into southern Israel.

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