Music School Helping Soweto Children At Risk

By Alex Crawford, Special Correspondent

A South African music school set up by a British woman to help the poorest children in Soweto is in danger of closing down because of lack of funds.

Buskaid, a charity, has helped thousands of poor children discover classically focused music in the former township.

Some have gone on to win scholarships at some of Britain's finest music institutions, such as the Royal Academy of Music.

A British viola player named Rosemary Nalden started Buskaid in the 90s. Its aim was to give disadvantaged young people in Soweto a better life through music.

Cecilia Manyama is now one of their leading lights. She has been at the school for 12 years and is now one of their leading violin players and singers.

For Cecilia, it meant a way out of poverty and a glimpse of a life she could only dream of before. She played to international audiences and now has a solid job playing in the Buskaid Ensemble and teaching other young students.

Life is still tough for many in the former South Africa township

Ms Nalden said: "I want to show them they can actually have a life through music, that they can earn a living as well as enjoy it."

Soweto has come a long way from the apartheid years when racial segregation meant the township was a by-word for poverty and crime.

But life is still tough for youngsters in a country where one in four South Africans is out of work. Pule Lekarapa was headed for a life of crime before Buskaid took him on.

He said: "I have no idea where I would be without Buskaid. I would be doing something terrible, that's for certain."

Instead though, at the relatively old age of 16 he turned up on the doorstep of Buskaid wanting to learn a musical instrument.

He now plays and teaches the double bass.

He added: "I love it, I really do and I am so grateful to Rosemary for giving me this chance to do this and have this life."

It gives the young people a purpose, a focus and a direction which they would not otherwise have.

The charity gives people a chance of a better life through music

We followed 10-year-old Solly home to his house around the corner from the Academy, which is in Deipkloof.

"He's here day in and day out," said Ms Nalden. "[He's] absolutely fanatical about his playing and determined to do something with his life."

Solly walks past groups of children skipping on the street or sitting on doorsteps, his violin case firmly in his hand.

He is going home to practise after spending most of the day at the Academy. His grandmother looks on proudly as he puts the violin through its paces.

But Solly's future and that of Buskaid is seriously under threat  because of lack of funds.

Ms Nalden said: "In a nutshell, we risk going under before the end of next year unless someone or people come forward to help us."

The charity not only pays for the children to receive lessons and the upkeep of the music school but it also funds two or three students to travel to England every year to study music.

And that involves even paying the £18,000 tuition fees if they feel the student is talented enough.

In a country with startling statistics like more than 70% of black South African children live in low-income households, Buskaid has been their hope, a chance of a future.

And that, Ms Nalden, insists, has got to be worth fighting for.

:: Find out more about Buskaid and make a donation

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India: Tear Gas Fired At Gang Rape Protesters

Indian police fired tear gas and water cannon at protesters who were demanding justice and safety for women following the brutal gang rape of a student on a bus.

Thousands of demonstrators in New Delhi surged towards the president's palace chanting "we want justice" and carrying banners reading "hang them now".

Clashes between the protesters and riot police erupted when a group tried to break through barricades and some started throwing stones.

The police responded by opening fire on the crowds with gas and water, and using batons to try to control the masses.

It is the sixth day of protests in the wake of the attack on the 23-year-old physiotherapy student and her 28-year-old male companion by six drunk men on a bus.

They took it in turns to rape her and attack her with an iron rod, causing serious intestinal injuries, before throwing her off the bus.

The men claimed it was her punishment for being out in the evening with a man.

The woman is still battling for her life in a New Delhi hospital but her story has sparked massive demonstrations in a country where rape is the fastest rising crime.

There have been six days of protests since the brutal rape of a student

The number of rape cases in New Delhi alone has risen 17% from 2011 to 661 this year, according to government figures.

Ravi Shankar Prasad, spokesman for the main national opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, said New Delhi "is becoming the rape capital" of India.

He urged the prime minister, Manmohan Singh, "to please respond to the deep sense of pain, agony and concern of the young people".

Experts say a combination of abusive sexual behaviour and a scant fear of the law because of the woefully low conviction rate, encourage such attacks in the city, which has a population of 19 million.

The government has appealed for calm and has said it will press for life sentences for the woman's six attackers, pay her medical bills and improve policing.

Junior home minister R.P.N. Singh told India's CNN-IBN television network: "The government is trying to do whatever it can to take measures and make sure that women are safe in the country."

Doctors at the hospital where the woman is being treated said in a statement she is in a critical but stable condition and had been removed from a ventilator.

Five suspects were arrested soon after the attack, which happened on Sunday, and a sixth was taken into custody on Friday.

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Vatican Leaks: Pope Pardons Jailed Butler

Pope Benedict XVI has granted a Christmas pardon to his former butler, who was convicted and jailed in the VatiLeaks scandal.

The Pope visited Paolo Gabriele in the Vatican police barracks to tell him personally of the pardon, the Vatican said.

Gabriele, a 46-year-old father of three, was subsequently freed and has returned to his family.

The Holy See said it "intends to offer him the possibility to serenely restart his life together with his family", but added the man would no longer live or work at the Vatican.

The Vatican spokesman described the Pontiff's meeting with his former butler as "intense" and "personal".

Gabriele was at the centre of one of the gravest Vatican security breaches in recent times.

The scandal bore all the hallmarks of a Dan Brown novel, exposing intrigue, power struggle and allegations of corruption inside the frescoed Vatican walls.

Gabriele was at the Pope's service for years

Gabriele was arrested on May 23 after Vatican police found heaps of papal documents in his Vatican City apartment.

On October 6 he was convicted by a Vatican tribunal of stealing the Pope's private papers and leaking sensitive documents that alleged corruption in the Holy See.

He had been serving his 18-month sentence in the Vatican police barracks.

Gabriele told investigators he had given the documents to a journalist because he thought that exposing the "evil and corruption" in the Vatican would put the Roman Catholic Church back on the right track.

The start of the trial in a Vatican courtroom in September

The scandal turned into a major embarrassment for Benedict's pontificate and came to be known in the media as "VatiLeaks".

The Pope also pardoned a second Vatican employee, Claudio Sciarpelletti, who was convicted of aiding Gabriele.

The papal pardon had been expected.

In 1981, the late Pope John Paul II famously pardoned Turkish hitman Ali Agca, who tried to kill him in St Peter's Square. The Pope later met Agca in prison.

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Egypt: Polls Open In Vote On New Constitution

Egyptians have begun voting in the second and final phase of a referendum on an Islamist-backed constitution.

Supporters of President Mohamed Morsi say the constitution is vital to restoring stability and moving the country towards democracy two years after Hosni Mubarak was overthrown in a popular uprising.

Critics say the document is divisive as it favours Mr Morsi's Islamist allies and ignores the rights of Christians and women.

Egypt has been in turmoil for about four weeks, with protests over the president's powers and the draft constitution.

The latest street violence took place on Friday, when supporters and opponents of the president clashed in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria.

Dozens were hurt.

The vote is taking place in 17 of Egypt's 27 provinces with about 25 million eligible voters.

Cars and buses were set ablaze in the clashes in Alexandria

The first phase on December 15 produced a "yes" majority of about 56% with a turnout of some 32%, according to unofficial results.

The opposition has alleged abuses, and called for a re-vote of the first stage.

But the committee overseeing the referendum said their investigation had turned up no major irregularities.

Polling stations close at 7 pm (1700 GMT) but, with long queues forming at some stations, voting could be extended, as it was last week.

Unofficial tallies are likely to emerge within hours of the close, but the referendum committee may not declare an official result for the two rounds until Monday, after hearing appeals.

If the constitution is adopted, a parliamentary election will be held in about two months.

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Winter Storm Kills Eight And Disrupts Travel

A winter storm has killed eight people and caused travel misery as it sweeps across the United States.

The powerful weather system, which dumped more than half a metre of snow in parts of Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, Illinois and Missouri earlier this week, has been moving steadily eastwards towards New England, where it is expected to arrive on Saturday.

More than 30cm of rain are likely in northeastern states, with several feet of snow set to fall over higher ground.

Driving conditions were so dangerous, the National Weather Service urged people to travel only in an emergency.

"Strong winds will cause blowing and drifting, causing near blizzard conditions," it warned.

A woman shovels snow from a sidewalk in Baraboo, Wisconsin

Earlier this week in Iowa, a 25-vehicle crash on a major highway left two people dead and seven injured. Emergency crews brought food and water to motorists left stranded in the cars.

In neighbouring Wisconsin, two people died when their car slid into a lorry, while an ambulance transporting a woman in labour became stranded in snow. A second ambulance sent to help was also caught out by the weather, so a third was dispatched behind a snowplough to get the woman to hospital.

Further west in Utah, a woman whose car got stuck on an isolated road died of exposure after walking to find help, while in Nebraska and Kansas, three people were killed in separate crashes.

On Friday - the busiest travel day of the year - skies were clear in Chicago, where 270,000 people were expected to pass through airports.

However, high winds in New York and San Francisco grounded nearly 500 flights.

Meanwhile, another storm is raging in northern California and Oregon. The National Weather Service said heavy snow is possible as far west as Montana, Wyoming and Colorado by Christmas Eve.

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Apocalypse? Not Now, As World Survives

An ancient prediction that the world would end this morning has failed to come true.

As the clock counted down to - and then passed - 11.11am, people around the world used the moment as an excuse for a party.

December 21 marks the end of the 5,125-year Mayan calendar, which some said represents the end of the world.

But the claim was dismissed by everyone from Nasa and the US government to the Vatican.

The tiny French village of Bugarach drew global attention

People who paid just under £1,000 to take refuge in the underground bunker of former Soviet dictator Josef Stalin now stand to qualify for a 50% refund.

In the tiny French village of Bugarach in the Pyrenees, UFO watchers were left disappointed when aliens said to inhabit a jagged mountain failed to board a spacecraft and flee the Earth.

In Serbia, the place to be was Mount Rtanj, a pyramid-shaped peak, where local legend has it that the mountain once swallowed an evil sorcerer who will be released on doomsday in a ball of fire.

The end is nigh! How some were counting down the seconds

Old coal mineshafts were opened up as safe rooms for the dozens who arrived early.

Sirince, a small Turkish village known for its wines, was also being touted as a safe haven, thought to be because it is close to an area where the Virgin Mary is believed to have lived her final days.

In China, the authorities have been detaining more than 500 members of a fringe Christian group, Almighty God, who got into trouble after spreading rumours about the world's impending end, with leaflets, CDs, books and other material all seized.

A man in China made tsunami-proof survival pods

Closer to home, hundreds of people converged on Stonehenge for an End of the World party that coincided with the winter solstice.

In London, themed events included a Last Supper club.

Many scientists and historians argue that the Mayans had a cyclical sense of time, so that the end of a calendar simply signifies the end of one period and the beginning of another.

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Malala Urges School Name U-Turn After Attack

Malala Yousufzai, a 15-year-old girl shot in the head by the Taliban, has urged a college to reverse its decision to rename it after her.

The move by Pakistan's Saidu Sharif Degree College was in tribute to the young activist who risked her life defending women's rights and has become an icon of youth resistance.

Her request came after the school was attacked by the Taliban and later student protests.

Pupils have boycotted the college and torn down pictures of Malala, fearing the new name will bring further attacks and puts their lives at risk.

Swat District Officer Kamran Rehman Khan told Dawn.com: "The protesters were not against Malala.

Malala is recuperating at The Queen Elizabeth hospital in Birmingham

"But they feared that naming of the college could pose a serious security threat to them as well as their institution."

Malala called Mr Khan from the UK, where she is being treated with critical wounds, asking him to change the college's name in light of the recent events.

The activist, who openly promoted education for girls and criticised the Taliban, was shot in the head and neck in October.

She is being looked after at Queen Elizabeth Hospital In Birmingham.

A spokeswoman told Sky News her condition was "stable and comfortable" as she awaits further surgery. It is not yet known when she will be released.

The teenager's case won worldwide recognition for the struggle for women's rights in Pakistan.

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School Shooting Petitions: Obama Vows To Act

Barack Obama has acknowledged the outpouring of support for stricter gun laws after last Friday's deadly school shooting in Connecticut.

In a new video, the president responds to the "We the People" public petition section on the White House website. 

Nearly 200,000 people have urged the Obama administration to address gun control in one petition, and others related to gun violence have amassed more than 400,000 signatures.

"In the days since the heartbreaking tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, hundreds of thousands of you, from all 50 states, signed petitions asking us to take serious steps to address the epidemic of gun violence in this country," Mr Obama said.

"We hear you," he reassured the petitioners.

"I will do everything in my power as president to advance these efforts because if there's even one thing we can do as a country to protect our children, we have a responsibility to try."

Mr Obama joined a moment's silence on Friday morning at 9.30am ET (2.30pm GMT) marking exactly one week since the shooting that killed 20 children and six adults at the Sandy Hook elementary school.

Churches in Newtown and elsewhere rang their bells once for each of the massacre's victims, and many people paused and stood in driving rain to mark the moment.

Protesters take their gun law campaign to the NRA HQ in Washington

The National Rifle Association (NRA), the country's foremost gun lobby, was also planning a news conference on Friday at 11am ET (4pm GMT).

The president has challenged the NRA to "do some self-reflection" and join a broad effort to reduce gun violence.

The organisation said on Tuesday it would offer "meaningful contributions to help make sure this never happens again".

Mr Obama has begun laying the groundwork for a push to tighten gun laws, address mental health needs and re-examine the glamorisation of guns and violence.

Vice President Joe Biden is leading a working group of administration officials and outside advisers to offer recommendations by January.

The group is considering reinstating a ban on military-style assault weapons, which expired in 2004, closing loopholes that allow gun buyers to avoid background checks and restricting high-capacity magazines.

Gun-control measures have faced strong opposition from politicians in Congress for the past decade but Mr Obama has suggested he intends to make it a key part of his agenda next year.

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Obama To Pick John Kerry As Secretary Of State

President Barack Obama will nominate Massachusetts Senator John Kerry to succeed Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, a senior administration official has said.

Mr Kerry's nomination marks Mr Obama's first move in a sweeping overhaul of his national security team heading into his second term as president.

The Democratic senator is expected to be easily approved for the cabinet post by his longtime congressional colleagues.

Mr Kerry leapt to the front of Mr Obama's list for the State Department job after UN Ambassador Susan Rice withdrew her name from consideration last week.

She faced harsh criticism from congressional Republicans for her initial accounting of the deadly September attack on Americans in Benghazi, Libya.

Mr Obama vigorously defended Ms Rice, a close friend and longtime adviser, but Republican senators dug in, threatening to hold up her nomination if the president tapped her for the post.

The official who disclosed Mr Kerry's nomination requested anonymity because the president has not announced it yet.

Mr Kerry came to prominence during his failed presidential campaign in 2004 against George W Bush.

John Kerry would take over from Hillary Clinton

He now serves as the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

But the 69-year-old has long sought the nation's top diplomatic post.

Mr Obama considered him for the job after the 2008 election, before later picking Hillary Clinton in a surprise move.

Since then, Obama has dispatched Mr Kerry around the world to tamp down diplomatic disputes in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

He was also part of the president's debate preparations team during the 2012 election, playing the role of Republican challenger Mitt Romney in mock debates.

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Russian Plans To Ban US Adoptions Slammed

Russian government plans to ban Americans from adopting Russian children have been criticised at home and abroad.

A bill, passed with a huge majority, is thought to be a response to a new US law punishing Russians who are accused of human rights violations.

In Moscow, the State Duma lower chamber voted 420 to seven in favour of the adoption bill, which will go to the Senate for approval from President Vladimir Putin next week.

At a news conference, Mr Putin hinted he would sign the law once the Senate votes.

However, some top government officials, including the foreign and education ministers, have spoken out against the bill.

The law also enables Moscow to impose visa bans and asset freezes on US citizens who violate the rights of Russians abroad.

Mr Putin said the US human rights law was poisoning ties with Washington

US adoption agencies have expressed deep concern with the potential law.

Richard Klarberg is president of the Council on Accreditation, which represents about 200 US adoption agencies.

He said. "It's unfortunate that the Russian government is contemplating punishing children who would benefit from having safe and loving homes here in the United States because of unrelated (human rights) legislation here."

Many American prospective parents have already met Russian orphans they hope to adopt.

Families in the process of adopting "are very concerned they won't be able to bring their children home," added Anya Rutherford, director of the Russia programme at Christian World Adoption.

Kimberly and Christopher, who refused to give their surname, are a couple from West Virginia in the process of adopting a Russian boy and have spoken of their distress.

"We do not understand what the children have to do with any of this... they are being used as pawns in a political game, and that is very sad", they said.

At least 45,112 Russian children have been adopted by American families since 1999, including 962 last year.

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Oz Customs Staff Held Over Drug Smuggling

By Jonathan Samuels, Australia Correspondent

An alleged major drug smuggling operation involving a network of customs officials has been uncovered at Australia's biggest airport.

Eight people have been arrested - with more expected - after police swooped on Sydney Airport following a two-year corruption probe.

It is claimed that large quantities of drugs were smuggled through the airport in backpacks and suitcases, with corrupt officials using their knowledge of security systems to allow the narcotics to pass through the international terminal undetected.

Australian Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare said one customs officer, one quarantine officer and two members of the public were arrested this week.

The other four were arrested in August and October.

"There is no place for corruption in our law enforcement agencies," he said. "Where it exists we have to weed it out."

Local media reported that customs officers at Sydney Airport had allegedly been working with organised crime figures to import drugs.

Up to 20 officials are suspected of being involved in either serious misconduct or corrupt dealings, ranging from criminal association to leaking information, drug trafficking and bribery.

They are suspected of importing pseudoephedrine, cocaine, steroids and possibly even weapons.

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Tony Negus said alleged couriers were sent overseas to collect drugs before returning through customs with the help of people in trusted positions.

It is understood more arrests are possible.

Mr Clare said the majority of law enforcement officers were good, honest, hard-working people.

"But we can't be naive," he said, adding there would always be people who would be tempted.

"There will always be the risk that our law enforcement officers could end up working for the crooks."

Mr Clare said the thousands of customs officers heading to work on Thursday morning would be disgusted by the reports of corruption.

"My message to them is this: you can expect more stings, you can expect more arrests and you can expect more reform," he said. "If you're corrupt we'll hunt you down and lock you up."

The Australian Government will now establish a Customs Reform Board to provide advice and recommendations to ministers on how to bolster integrity in the agency.

Australian Customs and Border Protection Service acting chief, Michael Pezzullo, said his job now was to drive further integrity reforms.

"I'm not so naive as to think that criminal elements will not attempt to penetrate this service, its systems and its staff," he said. "We're going to root out these cells."

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Russia's Vladimir Putin: I'm Not Authoritarian

Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied he runs an authoritarian system, saying he has had plenty of chances to change the constitution but never has.

In his first major news conference of his third term as president, he said: "I cannot call this system authoritarian, I cannot agree with this.

"If I considered a totalitarian or authoritarian system preferable, I would simply have changed the constitution, it was easy enough to do, it doesn't even require any sort of national vote," Mr Putin said.

Critics, including in the United States and Europe, have accused him of trying to smother dissent by pushing through laws that they say can be used to stifle opponents.

Earlier Russian investigators said prominent opposition activist Alexei Navalny had been charged with fraud and money laundering.

Mr Navalny, who made his name exposing rampant corruption in state-controlled companies, spearheaded a series of street rallies in Moscow that drew up to 100,000 people and followed last December's fraud-tainted parliamentary vote.

The Kremlin

He said the charges are a reprisal for his efforts to mobilise opposition to Mr Putin

During the broadcast, Mr Putin also backed tough legislation pending that would make it illegal for Americans to adopt Russian children in retaliation for a US human rights law.

The highly-controversial draft legislation would end around 1,000 adoptions a year and comes as a reminder of the rapid deterioration in Russia-US relations since Mr Putin's election in March.

The bill also includes a clause that bans any Russian non-government organisations involved in politics that receives funding from the US.

The State Duma lower house of parliament is due to vote on the bill in its final reading on Friday, before it passes to the upper chamber and then for the president's signature.

Sitting behind a large desk in front of 1,200 journalists in a Moscow conference centre, Mr Putin remained calm, rarely smiled and was still going after three hours.

Actor Gerard Depardieu

Covering a wide range of topics, the president went on to say he would offer French movie star Gerard Depardieu a Russian passport to resolve his tax row, calling him a friend.

"If Gerard really wants to have a residency permit in Russia or a Russian passport, we can consider this issue resolved positively," he said.

The website of Le Monde newspaper quoted Depardieu on Tuesday as telling friends that "Putin has already sent me a passport".

Mr Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded to the report that "most likely he was joking".

Mr Putin also dismissed talk that he is suffering from health problems, saying such speculation served the interests of his political opponents.

"This is only beneficial for political opponents who are trying to question the legitimacy and the effectiveness of the authorities," he told the news conference.

The president was seen limping at a September Asia-Pacific summit and Russian government sources said he was suffering from back trouble.

Meanwhile, a Russian prosecutor has requested that oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky's jail sentence for multibillion-pound theft and money laundering be reduced by almost two years.

Mr Khodorkovsky is serving 13 years in a prison near the Arctic circle after a Russian court convicted him in 2010 in a case that Kremlin critics have described as politically motivated.

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US Shooting Spurs Bulletproof Backpack Sales

Sales of bulletproof backpacks have soared in the days after the shootings of 20 young children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut.

One company, Amendment II, sells Avengers and Little Mermaid-themed bags for boys and girls respectively, with integrated protective armour inserts.

"Sewn into the rear of the pack, you can always be confident that the armour hasn't been accidentally left at home and that you or your child are protected in case of the unthinkable," the company promises.

Other companies have also seized the moment to push sales. Prices range from $150 (£92) to almost $500 (£308).

BulletBlocker claims to have sold around 40 per day since last Friday's massacre.

The makers say bulletproof panels inside the bags could save lives

"Light, easy to use, it is as big as a book," says Elmar Uy, vice president at the New Hampshire company.

"We don't guarantee anything. It is just peace of mind, security for parents."

Devin Standard says his company, Black Dragon Tactical, has been selling 30 "ballistic panels" a day.

"The question is: is your life worth $229? Most people, when they think about this, they say, 'Yes,'" Mr Standard said.

"If you have a car, you have car insurance. If you have a house, you have home insurance. It (the bulletproof panel) is always there, just in case you are at the wrong place one day."

The reaction to the Connecticut school shooting can also be seen at gun stores and self-defence retailers across the nation.

A spike in gun sales is common after a mass shooting, but the latest rampage generated record sales in some states, particularly of assault weapons similar to the AR-15 rifle the gunman used at Sandy Hook.

Semi-automatic rifles are out of stock at many gun stores

Aaron Byrd, co-owner of Patriot Shooting Sports in Youngsville, North Carolina, sold out of the rifle and the high-capacity magazines that go with it.

"Things have been crazy the past couple of days. A lot of people have been coming in looking to purchase semi-automatic rifles," he said.

"They're worried that the government's going to ban semi-automatic rifles and high-capacity magazines, so they've been coming in looking for those."

Colorado set a single-day record for gun background check requests the day after the shootings, while Nevada saw more checks in the two days that followed than any other weekend this year.

Records were also set in Tennessee, California and Virginia, among others.

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Deadly Snakes Hatch In Oz Toddler's Wardrobe

By Jonathan Samuels, Australia Correspondent

An Australian mother has found a box of deadly snakes in her three-year-old son's wardrobe.

Donna Sim, from Townsville in the state of Queensland, gave her toddler a plastic container when he was playing in the garden a few weeks ago.

Kyle Cummings put some eggs he had found inside the box and left it in the warm confines of his wardrobe.

But, when Ms Sim opened the wardrobe this week she got the fright of her life, seeing seven baby snakes writhing around inside.

The reptiles, later identified to be eastern brown snakes, are regarded as the world's second deadliest species behind the inland taipan.

Fortunately, Kyle had clamped the lid of the container down firmly, and the snakes had not yet grown large enough to push it off and escape.

"I was pretty shocked, particularly because I don't like snakes," Ms Sim told the Townsville Bulletin newspaper.

The snakes were handed over to wildlife carers in Townsville.

North Queensland Wildlife Care reptile co-ordinator Trish Prendergast, who released the seven eastern browns, said: "This little boy was extremely lucky he didn't get bitten."

Ms Prendergast said it was illegal to interfere with protected wildlife but the mum and her family would not face any charges.

The reptile co-ordinator said eastern browns were "born killers" and even as babies have enough venom to kill people, although their fangs are very small when they are young.

"If he'd opened the container he might not be here today." she said.

"He's always out in the yard, he always loves playing out there," Kyle's older sister Shannon told the paper.

"He's a real country boy. He was a bit sorry to see them go. He wanted to keep them."

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Hollande Recognises French Brutality In Algeria

French President Francois Hollande has acknowledged the brutality of France's occupation of Algeria, but stopped short of an apology.

In a speech at the Palais des Nations in Algiers on the second and final day of his landmark visit to the former French colony, he accepted the "unjust" and "brutal" nature of France's colonial history in the North African country.

He also recognised the "massacres" by the French during the seven-year war that led to Algerian independence in 1962.

Mr Hollande and Mr Bouteflika get down to business

It is the deep scars of the 1954-1962 conflict, in which hundreds of thousands of people died, that Mr Hollande has been seeking to remedy on his first state visit since his election in May.

Ties between the two countries have been fraught with tension since the Algerian War.

As the North African nation celebrates 50 years of independence from France, Mr Hollande believes it is time for a "new era".

Having already made clear on Wednesday that he was not on a visit to "repent or apologise" for France's colonial past in Algeria, he told the country's parliamentarians on Thursday: "History, even when it is tragic, even when it is painful for our two countries, must be told.

"For 132 years, Algeria was subjected to a profoundly unjust and brutal system.

Mr Hollande addresses the Algerian parliament

"I recognise here the suffering that colonisation has inflicted on the Algerian people."

Mr Hollande notably listed the sites of three massacres, including one at Setif where seven years ago current Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika compared French methods to those used by Nazi Germany and asked France to make a "gesture ... to erase this black stain".

The two leaders have agreed to relaunch relations with a new pact between the two nations, bolstered by economic, trade, cultural, agricultural and defence ties.

Mr Hollande, who brought with him senior executives from some of France's top firms, announced French carmaker Renault had agreed to build a factory in Algeria to produce some 75,000 cars a year.

A new start must "be supported by a base", Mr Hollande said, and "this base is truth".

"Nothing is built in secretiveness, forgetting, denial," he added.

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US Shooting: Doubts Over Lanza Asperger's Claim

By Brian Donathan, Sky News Online

A psychologist has told Sky News the actions of mass killer Adam Lanza were not consistent with someone who has Asperger's syndrome.

The gunman's parents reportedly informed friends and divorce mediators that their son had that form of autism.

But Dr Beth Weiner said Friday's shooting that left 20 children and six adults dead inside Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut sounded more like the act of "an individual with an anti-social personality disorder".

She said: "If you bump into someone with Asperger's in the hallway, they might not process it correctly and they might lash out, but they don't plan out something in a premeditated way."

No evidence has been found to suggest Lanza, 20, was taking medication for mental illness, and authorities are still trying to determine whether he was ever formally diagnosed with any mental health disorder.

The massacre, in which Lanza's own mother Nancy was also shot and killed by him, has left a community in mourning and people around the world searching for answers on how similar acts can be prevented in the future.

Dr Weiner, a clinical psychologist and the director of the psychology and therapy master's degree programme at Long Island University-Hudson in West Chester, New York, said "early intervention is key".

The mother of victim Jessica Rekos is comforted at the child's funeral

She said: "Kids have to be targeted early, and the front line people are the school personnel," adding that schools are "overloaded" and cannot be blamed when these types of incidents occur.

"Their hands are tied. They can't do the kind of emotional assessments that some of these kids need," she went on.

What is needed, Dr Weiner said, is a closer relationship between school personnel and outside clinicians - people who are trained in treating clients with mental health disorders.

"We're talking about having more security guards at schools ... maybe we need to look at how we can bring in more mental health professionals into the schools systems on a consulting basis," she said.

Dr Weiner also said people have to start overcoming the stigma that is attached to mental illness, which often keeps parents from pursuing the help their child needs.

"It's not the same when it comes to mental illness," she said. "Parents are not going to be as quick to check off the box that asks whether their child has behavioural problems."

The psychologist said she hopes the Newtown shooting would help people realise the need to be more proactive when it comes to treating children and adults with mental illness.

"In this day and age we're still putting labels, we're still calling people crazy as opposed to asking what can we do for them so they are not shut away from their peers," she said.

"Sometimes that isolation can breed dangerous thinking."

:: Watch USA: The Gun Debate on Sky News on Wednesday at 8:30pm.

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Crocodile Jumps Into Swimmer's Face

A tourist swimming in a river in Australia has had a shock after a crocodile leapt onto him, slapping him in the face in the process.

The reptile had been sunning itself on a rock in a national park in the Northern Territory but then seemed to want to cool off.

The animal launched itself directly at Swedish tourist Felix Andersson, hitting him in the face before landing in the water.

Mr Andersson and his friend Ulrik Bergsland quickly swam away laughing and were not hurt in the incident.

In fact the pair were so unfazed they carried on swimming in the lagoon.

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School Shooting: Obama Wants New Gun Policies

Barack Obama is tasking Joe Biden to head up a new government panel to formulate fresh policies to deal with gun violence, following last Friday's school shooting.

The president will formally outline the role of the vice president - a longtime gun control advocate - at the White House on Wednesday.

The panel will explore possible new gun legislation to rein in the sale of assault rifles and high-capacity magazines, but will also look at mental health policies and violence in popular culture.

The president has vowed to use "whatever power this office holds" to safeguard the nation's children after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut.

Twenty children and six adults were killed by 20-year-old Adam Lanza, who earlier shot dead his mother Nancy at the home they shared, and then killed himself at the school as police closed in.

Adam Lanza killed his mother before shooting dead 20 children and six staff

The massacre has re-ignited the debate over gun control in the US, with some calling for a clampdown on firearms.

President Barack Obama backs a new bill to reintroduce a ban on assault weapons that expired in 2004.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said Mr Obama is "actively supportive" of an attempt by Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein to write the bill early next year.

The president has also telephoned pro-gun senator Joe Manchin, who has shifted his position on firearms laws since Friday's carnage in Connecticut.

Mr Manchin, along with fellow democrat Mark Warner, who have so-called "A" ratings from the National Rifle Association, said the Newtown massacre has convinced them the time for reform has come.

West Virginia's Senator Manchin told MSNBC it was time to "move beyond rhetoric" on gun control. He said: "I don't know anyone in the sporting or hunting arena that goes out with an assault rifle. It's common sense."

Senator Warner said "the status quo isn't acceptable" and in a later interview called for "rational gun control".

The NRA has broken its silence over the Sandy Hook school massacre, saying its members were "shocked, saddened and heartbroken by the news of the horrific and senseless murders".

The group also said it wanted to give families time to mourn before making its first public statement.

It pledged "to help to make sure this never happens again" and has scheduled a news conference for Friday.

On Monday, 75 activists demonstrated outside the NRA's headquarters in Washington DC.

They chanted: "Shame on the NRA," and demanded the organisation drop its hardline stance and make way for new gun control laws.

Protesters outside the NRA's headquarters in Washington DC

"More than anyone else, the NRA is responsible for the more than 12,000 people murdered by guns every year in this country," said Josh Nelson, the campaign manager for the progressive Credo Action group that organised the protest.

"We call on the NRA's lobbyists to stand down and allow Congress to pass common-sense gun laws."

:: Watch USA: The Gun Debate on Sky News on Wednesday at 8.30pm.

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Delhi Bus Gang Rape Sparks Angry Protests

Police have fired water cannon to disperse protesters angry over the gang rape of a 23-year-old woman on a bus in New Delhi.

Demonstrators outside New Delhi's Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit's official residence tried to tear down steel barricades after chanting "we want equal rights for women".

There has been an outpouring of anger across the country since the brutal attack that left the student and her male companion in intensive care.

Police are still searching for two of the six men who were on the off-duty school bus when it picked up the pair. Four, including the bus driver, have already been arrested.

The woman was abused for 40 minutes while her companion was fought off with a metal rod. The attackers then pushed the couple off the vehicle.

"Women are told that if they go out late at night, they will be raped," A female protester from Delhi University said.

National crime records show that 228,650 of the total 256,329 violent crimes recorded last year were aimed against women and rape cases more than doubled between 1990 and 2008.

Delhi police commissioner Neeraj Kumar says rape laws need to be rethought.

Sunday night's attack was the latest in a series of particularly brutal attacks in the capital.

Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh joined his ruling Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi in condemning the rape as "heinous".

New Delhi's police chief has demanded the death penalty for the rapists, a crime that currently carries a maximum punishment of 10 years in prison.

"We will seek the most severe punishment of life imprisonment for the culprits and we will send a proposal to the government for the death sentence for rapists," New Delhi police commissioner Neeraj Kumar told reporters.

Some politicians including Sushma Swaraj, leader of the main opposition BJP party, also called for rapists to be hanged.

New Delhi's Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde announced in parliament that there would be an immediate crackdown on tinted curtains and heavy glass in buses and has ordered increased police patrols on the streets.

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South Korea Votes In First Woman Leader

By Mark Stone, Asia Correspondent

Conservative politician Park Geun-hye has become South Korea's first female president, after narrowly beating her liberal opponent.

Moon Jae-in conceded on Wednesday night to the daughter of late dictator Park Chung-hee, several hours after polls closed in the close fought race.

Her victory came despite analysts' speculation that high voter turnout would favour Mr Moon.

Mr Moon is the son of North Korean refugees and a former human rights lawyer while she is the daughter of a former dictator.

It is understood that more than 70% of the eligible population braved temperatures of well below zero to vote.

The leadership of North Korea still remains a problem for South Korea

Initial predictions during the counting phase were of a race too close to call.

Ms Park is the first female president of a nation which is still heavily dominated by men.

According to analysts, her victory is likely to shatter a national 'glass ceiling' and will be seen as a massive step forward for women's rights.

Ms Park's rival Moon Jae-in was once a special forces soldier

She is the daughter of General Park Chung-hee, the former South Korean dictator whose autocratic rule over the country lasted for 18 years before he was assassinated by his own spy chief in 1979.

Despite his dictatorship, he is widely credited for pulling South Korea out of poverty and turning it into the economic and technological success that it is today.

Pundits said Ms Park's vote was boosted by a conservative base of older voters with fond memories of South Korea's rise from poverty.

Mr Moon was once jailed for his opposition to Ms Park's father's rule - he is the son of North Korean refugees who fled to the south during the Korean War.

Ms Park's challenges are numerous: she is faced with a belligerent North Korea, a slowing economy and rising welfare costs.

On North Korea, both candidates had a desire for further engagement though Ms Park's approach is more cautious. Mr Moon had promised to resume aid to the country without preconditions.

A British diplomat in Seoul described to Sky News the difference between the two approaches on North Korea as: 'Stick then large carrot from Park; large carrot then small stick from Moon.'

Ms Park, 60, has wide support with women voters in South Korea

Relations between the North and the South are tense. The two are still technically at war. The border between the two - the 38th parallel - is the most fortified and heavily mined border in the world.

The relationship worsened with the shooting by North Korea of a tourist from the South in 2008, the sinking of a South Korean warship; an incident which North Korea says it had nothing to do with and the shelling of a South Korean island in 2010.

Although North Korea remains a pressing issue for Ms Park, it did not play heavily in the campaigning despite the successful launch of a three-stage rocket by the North last week.

"It has been very much sidelined," Brendan Howe, a professor of International Relations based in Seoul told Sky News.

"Both sides want engagement but neither side put it at the forefront of their campaign. It has not a massive issue in the election." he said.

An equally pressing issue for Ms Park is the widening gap between rich and poor in South Korea and the dominance of family-owned conglomerates like Samsung and Hyundai.

Wooing the crucial centralist voters resulted in significant overlap between the two candidates' policies during campaigning. They had both talked about 'economic democratisation' - reducing the social disparities that have come with rapid economic growth.

Ms Park is now one of a number of new leaders in the region. Japan has recently voted in right-wing candidate Shinzo Abe and China's new communist leadership, with their opaque direction, will take office in March.

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Hazing Death: Two Dozen Students Face Charges

Nearly two dozen students at Northern Illinois University are facing charges after a new fraternity member died in a suspected alcohol-fuelled initiation ceremony.

Arrest warrants were issued on Monday for 22 members of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity in DeKalb. 

Five members are charged with felony hazing connected to the apparent student ritual. The others are facing misdemeanour charges.

There was no reaction from the fraternity to the development.

First year student David Bogenberger was found unresponsive at the fraternity house in November.

The local coroner ruled the 19-year-old died from cardiac arrhythmia, with alcohol intoxication as a contributing cause.

The coroner said the student's blood-alcohol level was about five times the legal limit for driving.

Northern Illinois University has temporarily removed the fraternity as a recognised student organisation.

The Bogenberger family have released a statement asking college and fraternity officials to help bring an end to potentially deadly "hazing and initiation rituals".

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Jalal Talabani: Iraqi President Has Stroke

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani is fighting for his life after suffering a stroke, an official has said.

Mr Talabani is being treated at a hospital in Baghdad but may be flown to another country for treatment, said Prime Minister's spokesman Ali al Moussawi.

Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki is visiting the president at the hospital in the Iraqi capital.

Mr Talabani, 79, a veteran of the Kurdish guerrilla movement, is Iraq's first president from the ethnic group.

He has struggled with his health in recent years. He was treated for exhaustion in Jordan in 2007 and underwent heart surgery in the US in 2008.

Mr Talabani has lived through decades of conflict with the central government and other Kurdish groups, including a period in exile, before the fall of Saddam Hussein.

He assumed the largely ceremonial presidency in the years after the 2003 invasion, and has often used the role to mediate between sectarian and ethnic groups.

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Pakistan: Polio Vaccination Workers Shot Dead

Gunmen on motorbikes have shot dead four women giving polio vaccinations in Pakistan.

The attacks were carried out in three different areas of Karachi, the country's biggest city.

The women - all Pakistanis - were killed on the second day of a three-day nationwide drive against the disease, which is endemic in Pakistan.

The health minister for Sindh province said he had ordered a halt to all polio vaccinations in Karachi following the shootings.

Police said another polio worker was shot dead there on Monday, although the circumstances of his death only became clear later.

Karachi is on the coast of southern Pakistan

Senior police officer Shahid Hayat blamed the killings on "militants who issued a fatwa against polio vaccination in the past".

Pakistan is one of only three countries where polio, a highly-infectious and crippling disease, remains endemic, along with neighbouring Afghanistan and Nigeria.

But efforts to tackle the problem have been hampered over the years by suspicion over vaccination drives.

Warlord Hafiz Gul Bahadur and the Pakistani Taliban banned polio vaccinations in the country's tribal northwest, where polio is a particular problem, last June.

They claim the anti-polio campaign is a cover for spying activities by the West.

Officials say the ban is putting the health of 240,000 children in North and South Waziristan at risk.

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Fiji: Cyclone Evan Leaves Trail Of Destruction

Tropical Cyclone Evan has left a swathe of destruction across Fiji, destroying homes, flooding rivers and stranding thousands of tourists.

The storm hammered the Pacific nation for more than 12 hours.

But, despite the damage, officials reported no fatalities as the storm headed out to sea on Tuesday morning and was downgraded a notch to category three.

Neighbouring Samoa had no advance notice when Evan pummelled it late last week and officials there said the official death toll had risen to five, with up to 10 people still missing.

Fears that Evan would rival the deadly force of Cyclone Kina, which killed 23 people when it swept through Fiji in 1993, proved unfounded, largely due to extensive planning as the storm advanced.

However, Fijians face a long road to recovery on an island where entire houses have been blown away.

Scene in the village of Sanasana, east of Natadola Bay

Almost 8,500 people had sheltered in evacuation centres and thousands of tourists, many of whom were relocated from other islands for their own safety, rode out the storm on main island Viti Levu's resorts.

"Everyone was hunkered down, the winds were so strong last night (Monday) you couldn't even open your doors, it was over 200km per hour (125 mph)," said Marc Hinton, a New Zealander visiting Fiji.

Western parts of Viti Levu saw the most destruction, as Evan tore through the area overnight.

The Fiji Times have described the township of Lautoka in Viti Levu as a "war zone".

"The destruction this cyclone has caused is beyond words. Not one house has been spared here," Lautoka resident Melaia Waisele said.

Samoa's Disaster Management Office (DMO) said almost 5,000 people were still in evacuation centres and power remained off in much of the country.

DMO spokeswoman Filomena Nelson said the damage caused by the storm, estimated by the government to cost $130m (£80m), was more extensive than when a tsunami hit the country in 2009, killing 143 people.

"While the cost in lives has been less, the destruction is greater than the tsunami because it's affected a far larger area," she said.

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Samsung Drops Attempts To Ban Apple Products

Samsung has withdrawn lawsuits which seek to ban the sale of Apple products in Europe, although the companies' legal battle over copyright continues.

A statement by the South Korean company said it strongly believed companies should compete in the marketplace, not in court.

"Samsung remains committed to licencing our technologies on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms," it said. 

"In this spirit, Samsung has decided to withdraw our injunction requests against Apple on the basis of our standard essential patents pending in European courts, in the interest of protecting consumer choice."

The announcement came shortly after a US judge rejected Apple's call to ban the sale of several Samsung smartphone models in the US.

Apple applied for the ban after a jury found in its favour in August, saying the Seoul-based firm had illegally used Apple technology.

District Judge Lucy Koh's decision is part of a series of rulings that she is releasing over several weeks to address the many legal issues that were raised in the case.

Apple was awarded $1.05bn (£648m) in damages after jurors found Samsung had copied critical features of the iPhone and iPad.

Samsung was found to have copied features of the iPad and iPhone

It had urged the judge to permanently ban the US sales of eight Samsung smartphone models, while also seeking to add millions more to the award.

"The phones at issue in this case contain a broad range of features, only a small fraction of which are covered by Apple's patents," Judge Koh wrote in her ruling.

"Though Apple does have some interest in retaining certain features as exclusive to Apple, it does not follow that entire products must be forever banned from the market because they incorporate, among their myriad features, a few narrow protected functions."

Earlier this month, she appeared ready to trim the $1.05bn in damages that had been awarded by the jury, but gave no indication as to how much.

Adding to the legal tangle, Apple filed a second lawsuit earlier this year, alleging that Samsung's newer products are unfairly using Apple's technology.

That trial is scheduled to go ahead in 2014. The two companies are also locked in legal battles in several other countries.

Earlier this year, Apple lawyer Harold McElhinny claimed Samsung "willfully" made a business decision to copy Apple's iPad and iPhone.

He called the jury's $1.05bn award a "slap on the wrist".

Samsung lawyer Charles Verhoeven argued Apple was trying to tie up Samsung in courts around the world rather than competing with it in the marketplace.

Samsung also claimed it had been deprived of a fair trial as the California courthouse is located just 12 miles from Apple's headquarters in Cupertino.

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Pakistan: Deadly Car Bomb Blast At Market

At least 17 people have been killed and more than 40 others hurt after a car bombing in a crowded market in Pakistan, officials have said.

The device went off next to the women's waiting area of a bus stop in Jamrud town in the troubled northwest tribal region near the Afghan border.

Among the dead were five boys and two women, said a doctor.

The bus stop is located near the office of one of the top political officials in the Khyber tribal area but it is not clear if that was the target. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing.

The explosives were packed in a small, white car that was parked in the middle of the road, blocking traffic, said Shireen Afridi, who was nearby buying a phone card when the bomb exploded.

"There was fire in which children burned, women burned, poor Afghan people burned, and it caused a lot of destruction," said Mr Afridi.

Khyber is home to various Islamist militant groups, including the Pakistani Taliban, which have waged a bloody insurgency against the government for the past few years.

Meanwhile, Taliban militants fired rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons at an army convoy in northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, killing three soldiers and wounding three others, an official said.

The soldiers were escorting a polio vaccination team outside the town of Lakki Marwat when the attack occurred, said Wazir Khan, a local resident.

A Pakistani Taliban spokesman in the South Waziristan tribal area, Asim Mehsud, claimed responsibility.

"These polio drops are a deadly American campaign to poison us," he said.

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Afghan Landmine Blast Kills 10 Young Girls

By Mustafa Kazemi, in Kabul

Ten young girls have been killed by a landmine explosion in eastern Afghanistan.

The children were collecting firewood when one of them accidentally struck the mine with an axe, according to Chapahar district governor Mohammad Seddiq Dawlatzai.

The victims were aged nine to 13. Two other girls were critically injured and are being treated in hospital.

"An old mine left over from the time of the jihad (against Soviet troops in the 1980s) exploded, killing 10 girls and wounding two others," Mr Dawlatzai said.

Afghan villagers pray over the graves of the victims

However police chief General Abdullah Stanikzai said Taliban insurgents were to blame.

Since 1989, when the Soviets withdrew after a 10-year military occupation, nearly 700,000 mines and more than 15m other explosives left over from decades of war have been destroyed, according to UN figures.

But despite international clearance efforts, more than three decades of war have left Afghanistan one of the most heavily-mined countries in the world.

The explosives were laid during three recent conflicts: the 1980s war against the Russians, the 1990s civil war, and during fighting between the Northern Alliance and the Taliban before they were ousted from power in 2001.

Afghanistan is one of the most heavily-mined countries in the world

The Taliban also plant bombs, or improvised explosive devices, to target Afghan and Nato troops but these regularly kill civilians.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has repeatedly appealed to the insurgents as well as the Nato-led forces in Afghanistan to avoid civilian casualties.

In the first six months of 2012, 1,145 Afghan civilians were killed and around 2,000 wounded, mostly by roadside bombs.

A car bomb explosion injured several people in Kabul

Women and children account for about 30% of this year's casualties.

Meanwhile one person has been killed and at least 30 injured in a blast in the capital Kabul.

It happened outside the compound of US military contractor Contrack. Afghan police say the attacker drove a car packed with explosives into the compound's wall.

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Shooting: Lanza's Mum 'Prepared For Worst'

The mother of the Connecticut gunman, who was the first of his 27 victims and was killed with a rifle she owned, was "prepared for the worst", according to people who knew her.

Adam Lanza's aunt said Nancy Lanza had a survivalist mentality and was worried about protecting her home if the US economy nosedived.

She is reported to have been stockpiling food in the large home she shared with her 20-year-old son in Newtown, Connecticut.

Nancy Lanza, 52, who friends said kept her private life private, owned and registered the two handguns and rifle her son used in Friday's shooting.

The weapons were among half a dozen firearms legally registered to her, authorities said.

The divorced mother-of-two was found dead in her pyjamas in bed after being shot four times in the head with the rifle.

After leaving the house, the gunman then went to Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown with the weapons he took from her.

He got inside by breaking a window and began blasting his way through the building and murdering 20 children, all aged six or seven, and six women.

Nancy Lanza was the first victim before 26 others were shot

Investigators said Nancy Lanza had visited shooting ranges several times and that her son also went to a range.

Ginger Colburn, a spokeswoman for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, said it was still not clear whether Nancy Lanza brought her son to the range or whether he ever fired a weapon there.

Adam Lanza's aunt Marsha Lanza told the Chicago Sun-Times that Nancy Lanza wanted guns for protection.

"She prepared for the worst," Marsha Lanza told the newspaper. "I didn't know that they (the guns) would be used on her."

She also told CBS: "Last time we visited with her in person, yeah, we talked about prepping and 'are you ready for what can happen down the line when the economy collapses?'

"I didn't actually see them (guns), we just talked. I knew she had three."

Lanza in his high school yearbook

Dan Holmes, who got to know Nancy Lanza while doing landscaping work for her, told The Washington Post: "Guns were her hobby. She told me she liked the single-mindedness of shooting."

Mr Holmes said Nancy Lanza never invited him in. She would pay him in the yard and the landscaper never saw Adam.

"I would ring the bell on the front door, and she would come out the side and meet me," he said. "It was a little weird. It's stranger now thinking back on what happened."

One law enforcement officer said Adam Lanza had been diagnosed with Asperger's, a mild form of autism characterised by social awkwardness.

The gunman has been described as "socially awkward", "shy", "a nerd" and "super smart".

As a teenager he would scuttle from class to class, pressing himself against walls and clutching a black briefcase "like an eight-year-old with a teddy bear".

The car Lanza drove to school for his gun rampage is towed away

Marsha Lanza could not confirm reports that Adam Lanza had Asperger's or any other learning disability.

But she said his mother had disputes with the local school district and eventually ended up educating Adam Lanza at home.

"(Nancy) had issues with school ... She battled with the school district. I'm not 100 per cent certain if it was behaviour, learning disabilities, I really don't know. But he was very, very bright. He was smart."

Education officials said they had found no link between Nancy Lanza and Sandy Hook school, contrary to news reports that said she was a teacher there.

Investigators said they believe Adam Lanza attended the school many years ago, but they had no explanation for why he went there on Friday.

Neighbour Rhonda Cullens said she knew Nancy Lanza from get-togethers she hosted where they played Bunco, a dice game. She said her neighbour had enjoyed gardening.

"She was a very nice lady," Ms Cullens said. "She was just like all the rest of us in the neighbourhood, just a regular person."

Louise Tambascio, who became a shopping and dining companion of Nancy Lanza said: "Her family life was her family life when we were together. She kept it private. That was her own thing."

Marsha Lanza described Nancy Lanza as a good mother. "If he had needed consulting, she would have gotten it," she said. "Nancy wasn't one to deny reality."

But friends and neighbours said Nancy Lanza never spoke about the difficulties of raising her son.

Mostly she noted how clever he was and that she hoped, even with his problems, that he would find a way to succeed.

Court records show Nancy Lanza and her ex-husband, Peter Lanza, were divorced in 2009. He lives in Stamford and is a tax director at General Electric.

When the couple divorced, he left their spacious home to Nancy Lanza and told her she would never have to work another day in her life, said Marsha Lanza.

The split was not acrimonious and Adam Lanza spent time with both his mother and father, she said.

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US Shooting: Obama Visits Newtown In Mourning

Barack Obama has told the families of the 26 people killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School that mass shooting tragedies "must end".

Speaking at a vigil in memory of the victims, the US president told an emotional audience: "Newtown, you are not alone."

He struggled to maintain his composure - and there was audible sobbing throughout the packed hall - as he read the first names of each of the 20 children killed in America's worst school shooting.

Mr Obama said: "God has called them home. For those of us who remain, let us find the strength to carry on and make our country worthy of their memory."

The president also promised to use the power of his office to safeguard Americans from further massacres, telling mourners that the country is "not doing enough" to protect its children.

"These tragedies have to end, and to end them we must change," he said.

The was audible sobbing throughout the service

"We, as a nation, are left with hard questions."

Mr Obama paid tribute to the six adults who lost their lives when 20-year-old Adam Lanza went on a rampage through the school armed with an assault rifle.

He said: "We know when danger arrived the school staff did not flinch. They responded as we all hope we might respond in such terrifying circumstances. With courage and with love, giving their lives to protect the children in their care."

"I come to offer the love and cares of the nation. I'm very mindful that mere words cannot match the depths of your sorrow.

"I can only hope it helps for you to know you're not alone in your grief - our world too has been torn apart ... we have wept with you."

Mr Obama struggled to maintain his composure

Mr Obama's visit comes as the town braces itself for the first funerals for victims of Friday's shooting.

Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy told the audience Mr Obama had said the day of the shootings had been the most difficult of his presidency so far.

Mr Obama also met emergency service workers who were among the first on the scene, minutes after the shooting started.

Kevin Paturzo, 25, said: "Just him coming to this town is much appreciated.

"It's a small community, everybody knows everybody around here. Him coming out here, reaching out to the families is deeply respected, but it's going to take a lot of grieving."

At a packed St Rose Catholic Church, the priest's announcements included news that the Christmas pageant rehearsal would go on as planned, but without six-year-old Olivia Engel, who died before she could play the role of an angel.

Shortly before Mr Obama was due to arrive, worshippers at the church close to the school were evacuated after a reported bomb threat.

Armed police were sent but it was quickly decided that there was no danger to the public.

Makeshift memorials have appeared around the town, the largest of which sits at the end of Dickenson Drive where Sandy Hook Elementary stands.

Lanza's motive remains unclear. He killed his mother before heading to the school and committed suicide as police closed in.

Authorities said on Sunday that Lanza was carrying hundreds of rounds of deadly ammunition, enough to kill just about every student in the school if given time.

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'Man With Rifle': Town's Schools In Lockdown

Police are investigating a report of a suspicious man who may be armed in Ridgefield, Connecticut, about 20 miles from the Newtown school massacre scene.

The man was reportedly seen with a rifle near an elementary school and train station in Ridgefield, and all schools in the town are in lockdown as a result.

Ridgefield Superintendent Deborah Low has released a statement saying: "Due to a report of a possibly suspicious person in the Branchville train station area, all schools have been put into lockdown.

"Branchville Elementary buses have been diverted to East Ridge Middle School and Branchville Elementary School students are in the auditorium."

A town official said a motorist travelling on Route 7 told police he saw a man with a rifle.

There is an increased police presence in the area.

Meanwhile, police are continuing to investigate Friday's shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, where gunman Adam Lanza killed 20 children and six adults.

He also shot dead his mother earlier at the home they shared.

Police have revealed that two adults were injured and survived the school massacre.

In Newtown, Adam Lanza killed 27 people before turning the gun on himself

Officers are working 24 hours a day on the case and are planning to interview "many witnesses".

Police have vowed to analyse all evidence, including every single round of ammunition.

They also warned that anyone giving authorities information that was intended to mislead investigators could be prosecuted.

Barack Obama told the families of the 26 people killed at Sandy Hook that mass shooting tragedies "must end".

Speaking at a vigil in memory of the victims, the US president told an emotional audience: "Newtown, you are not alone."

He struggled to maintain his composure - and there was audible sobbing throughout the packed hall - as he read the first names of each of the 20 children killed in America's worst school shooting.

Mr Obama's visit comes as the town braces itself for the first funerals for victims of Friday's shooting.

More follows...

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Victoria Soto Shot Dead After Saving Pupils

Gunman's Family Release Statements

Updated: 4:22am UK, Sunday 16 December 2012

The father of and uncle of dead gunman Adam Lanza have released statements, as America comes to terms with its most deadly school massacre.

Peter Lanza, who has been interviewed by police, said: "Our hearts go out to the families and friends who lost loved ones and to all those who were injured.

"Our family is grieving along with all those who have been affected by this enormous tragedy. No words can truly express how heartbroken we are.

Mr Lanza, who is an executive with General Electric, added: "We are in a state of disbelief and trying to find whatever answers we can. We too are asking why.

"We have cooperated fully with law enforcement and will continue to do so.

"Like so many of you, we are saddened, but struggling to make sense of what has transpired."

Meanwhile, Ms Lanza's brother has also released a statement for the families struggling to cope in the aftermath of the shooting spree.

James Champion, an ex-policeman who lives in Kingston in New Hampshire, said: "On behalf of Nancy's mother and siblings, we reach out to the community of Newtown to express our heartfelt sorrow for the incomprehensible loss of innocence that has affected so many."

According to the New York Times, Mr Champion confirmed that FBI agents questioned family members about Adam Lanza on Friday night.

Mr Champion declined to reveal what the FBI was told about his nephew, or if the gunman suffered from developmental disorders or mental illness.

He added that his sister had not working recently however she was previously a stockbroker.

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Japan Election: Ex-PM Set For Return To Power

By Mark Stone, Asia Correspondent

Japan has made a political lurch to the right with exit polls in the country's general election indicating a strong win for the right-wing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

Exit polls by several local TV broadcasters suggest the conservative-leaning LDP, led by Shinzo Abe, has won nearly 300 out of the 480 seats in the country's lower house.

The result means Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's Democratic Party will be ousted after just three years in power.

Mr Abe, 58 - who has already served as Prime Minister for a year between 2006 and 2007 - is seen as having a hawkish foreign policy and a radical economic agenda.

The win by his LDP Party is widely expected to produce a government with a hardline stance to tackle the ongoing territorial dispute with China.

Mr Abe has said he wants Japan to play a bigger role in global security. He has pledged to change the country's pacifist constitution signed after World War Two.

A new right-leaning government combined with changes to the constitution and growing nationalist movement within Japan could significantly increase tensions in East Asia.

China and Japan, who have a historically hostile relationship, both claim a group of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea. Beijing calls them the Diaoyu Islands and Tokyo refers to them as the Senkaku Islands.

China's claim had been dormant until the Japanese Government bought the islands from an individual who owned them earlier this year.

Last week, Japan scrambled fighter jets to the skies above the islands after a Chinese surveillance plane was spotted in air-space deemed by Tokyo to be Japanese.

Fixing Japan's economy will be the biggest domestic challenge for the incoming government. Mr Abe's policy is for 'unlimited' monetary easing and big spending on public projects.

Japan could be about to enter its fourth recession since 2000 and has a public debt twice the size of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Some of Japan's most famous brands like Sony and Sharp are struggling in the face of competition from rivals in China and South Korea. Their woes are compounded by a strong yen, which has forced the price of their products in foreign markets up considerably.

Mr Abe's party also has a pro-nuclear energy policy despite last year's disaster at the Fukushima nuclear power station.

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Egypt Constitution: Islamists Claim First Win

Islamists backing a new constitution for Egypt have claimed victory in an initial phase of a two-stage referendum.

But the opposition has alleged polling violations and said it would await the final results due in a week's time.

The two sides' positions drew out the deep uncertainty and division seen in Egypt over the past three weeks, a period marked by mass protests and deadly clashes.

A small majority of 56.5% voted for the draft charter put to half of Egypt's 51 million voters on Saturday, according to the Freedom and Justice Party, the political branch of President Mohamed Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood.

Mr Morsi casts his vote

Egyptian media reported roughly the same figure, which fell short of the landslide the Brotherhood had been hoping for to quiet the restive opposition.

But the opposition National Salvation Front coalition said in a statement that it "will not recognise any unofficial result," and will wait for the formal tally after next Saturday's second round of voting.

Mr Morsi and his backers say the constitution is vital to move Egypt's democratic transition forward.

But opponents say the basic law is too Islamist and tramples on minority rights, including those of Christians who make up 10% of the population.

Violence between the charter's supporters and opponents flared in Egypt's two largest cities, Cairo and Alexandria, before and after the referendum.

Demonstrations erupted when Mr Morsi awarded himself extra powers on November 22 and then fast-tracked the constitution through an assembly dominated by his Islamist allies.

Violence erupted in Alexandria over the vote

However, the vote passed off calmly, with long queues in Cairo and several other places, although unofficial tallies indicated turnout was around one-third of the 26 million people eligible to vote this time.

The vote was staggered because many of the judges needed to oversee polling staged a boycott in protest.

International watchdogs, the UN human rights chief, the US and the EU have all expressed reservations about the draft because of loopholes that could be used to weaken human rights.

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US Shooting: Gunman Blasted Way Into School

The gunman in America's worst school shooting blasted his way through a locked glass door, climbed through and carried out the deadly massacre, the Connecticut governor says.

Adam Lanza, 20, opened fire inside Sandy Hook Elementary School on Friday morning, killing 26 people, including 20 children.

"He shot his way into the school. The school was locked. He used a weapon to open up the glass, and then walked in," Governor Dan Malloy told ABC programme This Week.

Lanza fired "a number of rounds", Mr Malloy said.

Police had said Lanza forced his way into the school, but it was not clear he did it by shooting his way in.

"He discharged to make an opening and then went through it, went to the first classroom, as you know, went to the second classroom," Mr Malloy said.

Authorities say Lanza first killed his mother before driving to the school, opening fire in two classrooms and then taking his own life.

Mr Malloy revealed that the gunman committed suicide when he heard first responders coming.

Mr Malloy said the first call for help from the school came from someone who was wounded but survived, and that first responders were swift.

"But, you know, this - this sick fellow, you know, clearly mentally ill, killed his mother, proceeded to go on and kill a great number of people," Mr Malloy said.

British-born Dylan Hockley, 6, was among the victims of the massacre.

More follows...

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British Boy Dies In US School Shooting

A British-born boy has been named as one of the victims of the worst school shooting in America's history, Sky News has learned.

Dylan Hockley, 6, was shot dead by a gunman at an elementary school in Connecticut.

He was born in Hampshire to a British father and American mother.

The family are understood to have recently moved to Connecticut, and their former neighbours in the UK described them as a "very beautiful family".

Two women like candles in Newtown in memory of the victims

Maria Sweet, 81, said: "I love that little boy so much. He was very, very good. He used to come to see me and call me all the time."

Mike Wimbridge added: "You just can't believe it, a young family move back to America ... for a better life for the children, then to be taken like this, I'm lost for words."

Twenty children and seven adults, including the gunman's mother, died before Adam Lanza, 20, turned a gun on himself at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown.

It has been confirmed that US President Barack Obama will attend a memorial service in Newtown later today, and will speak at an interfaith vigil for families of the victims.

Until recently the Hockley family lived at this house in Hampshire

Meanwhile, a father has paid an emotional tribute to his murdered six-year-old daughter, after police released the names of the gunman's 27 victims.

Robbie Parker said his final conversation with Emilie was in Portuguese, the language he was helping to teach her.

"She told me 'good morning' and asked how I was doing, and I said that I was doing well," he told reporters.

"She said that she loved me, and I gave her a kiss and I was out the door."

A woman and child pray outside a church in the town

Headteacher Dawn Hochsprung and school psychologist Mary Sherlach both died as they tried to confront the gunman.

The pair were in a meeting with therapist Diane Day on Friday, when the gunman began shooting at 9.30am.

On hearing the shots, they both jumped out of their seats and ran out of the room.

"They didn't think twice about confronting or seeing what was going on," Ms Day said.

Ms Hochsprung is also believed to have switched on a loudspeaker system in the school to alert students and staff to the danger.

"She was just an amazing woman ... the kids loved her. It's a huge loss for our school and our town," said assistant librarian Maryanne Jacobs.

Fourth-grade teacher Theodore Varga said: "You could hear the hysteria that was going on.

"Whoever did that saved a lot of people. Everyone in the school was listening to the terror that was transpiring."

Another hero was said to be first-grade teacher Vicki Leigh Soto, 27, described by police as someone who "put herself between the kids and the gunman's bullets".

Her body was found huddled with the students in a classroom closet, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Youth soccer coach David Flook, originally from Northampton, England, told Sky News of the turmoil his town is now in.

"Everybody is absolutely devastated. People don't know what they can do," he said.

He described Newtown as the "least dangerous place on earth".

He added: "It was the perfect town."

The father of gunman Adam Lanza released a statement on Saturday night. He said: "Our hearts go out to the families and friends who lost loved ones and to all those who were injured.

"We are in a state of disbelief and trying to find whatever answers we can. We too are asking why."

On Saturday, police released a list of all the victims of Lanza: Charlotte Bacon, age 6, Daniel Barden, 7, Olivia Engel, 6, Josephine Gay, 7, Ana M Marquez-Greene, 6, Dylan Hockley, 6, Madeleine F Hsu, 6, Catherine V Hubbard, 6, Chase Kowalski , 7, Jesse Lewis, 6, James Mattioli, 6, Grace McDonnell, 7, Emilie Parker, 6, Jack Pinto, 6, Noah Pozner, 6, Caroline Previdi, 6, Jessica Rekos, 6, Avielle Richman, 6, Benjamin Wheeler, 6, Allison N Wyatt, 6, Rachel Davino, 29, Dawn Hochsprung, 47, Nancy Lanza, 52, Anne Marie Murphy, 52, Lauren Rousseau, 30, Mary Sherlach, 56, and Victoria Soto, 27.

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