Ashley Summers: Search For Missing Ohio Girl

Hopes have been raised for the family of another missing girl in Cleveland, Ohio, after three others were rescued from a house in the city.

Ashley Summers was 14 years old when she was reported missing in 2007 in the same neighbourhood from where two of the three women found on Monday - Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus - had vanished.

Michelle Knight, Miss Berry and Miss DeJesus were abducted separately in 2002, 2003 and 2004 when they were 20, 16 and 14 respectively.

The trio, along with a young girl believed to be Miss Berry's six-year-old daughter, were found in reportedly squalid conditions at a house in the west side of Cleveland.

The house where the three women were discovered

Three brothers, Pedro, Ariel and Onil Castro, were subsequently arrested and remain in custody pending charges.

Ashley's family is hoping the investigation into the three women allegedly held captive by the brothers will lead to information about her.

"We're hoping that it's connected, and they knew where she was," her aunt Debra Summers told CNN. "We're hoping for a miracle."

Amanda Berry (L) and Gina DeJesus

At first, authorities believed Ashley had run away from home after an argument with a relative.

However, by 2008 the FBI and law enforcement officials suspected she was possibly being held against her will and classed her as an "endangered juvenile".

The following year FBI agents suspected a possible connection between the disappearance of Miss Summers and those of Miss Berry and Miss DeJesus.

Ashley Summers FBI poster

Investigators thought all three girls had been kidnapped by the same man, then-FBI spokesman Scott Wilson said.

The names Berry, DeJesus and Ashley then came up in a Cleveland police training session in August 2010. Instructor George Kwan held up their photographs after his lecture about human trafficking.

"What do they have in common?" he said. "They are all attractive, they are all between the ages of 14 and 17, and they are all gone."

Ashley's physical appearance and the proximity of her home to the other disappearances meant investigators had to suspect the cases were linked, said FBI Agent Vicki Anderson.

And investigators continue to hold onto those suspicions as they search and gather evidence at the home in Seymore Avenue.

(L-R) Brothers Ariel Castro, Onil Castro and Pedro Castro

"We are keeping Ashley in our thoughts as we go every step of the way," Agent Anderson said.

"Whether it is something we find at the house, or someone seeing the stories remembers something, we continue our search for Ashley."

Investigators will speak to the three discovered women to see if they know anything about Miss Summers' disappearance, she added.

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Ohio Cops: Trio Held With Ropes And Chains

Three women abducted about a decade ago and held captive in a house were restrained with ropes and chains, a police chief has said.

The physical condition of Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus, rescued in Cleveland, Ohio on Monday, was "very good considering the circumstances", Michael McGrath claimed.

He said: "We have confirmation they were bound and there were chains and ropes in the hall."

Mr McGrath also said they had been allowed out of the house "very rarely", adding: "They were released out in the backyard once in a while I believe."

Police have been searching the property and said no human remains have been found at the house. Officers had reportedly been looking for "possible aborted babies". 

(L-R) Brothers Ariel Castro, Onil Castro and Pedro Castro

Sources told WKYC that as many as five pregnancies occurred in the house. They were also told their captors would beat the pregnant girls and that the babies did not survive.

Ariel Castro, 52, who owned and lived at the property, and his two brothers Pedro, 54, and Onil, 50, are now in custody after being arrested on suspicion of holding the women captive.

Gina DeJesus went missing in 2004

Police say they intend to charge the men and they could appear in court as early as today.

Mr McGrath says they "are talking" but he would not say if they have confessed.

He also told NBC he was "absolutely" sure police did everything they could to find the women over the years and he disputed claims by neighbours that officers had been called to the house before for suspicious circumstances.

It comes as Ariel Castro had apparently comforted the mother of Miss DeJesus at a candlelight vigil about a year ago.

Ariel Castro apparently comforted Gina DeJesus' mother at a vigil

He was believed to be friends with the girl's father and reportedly helped in the search for Miss DeJesus.

He handed out fliers after she vanished and performed music at a fundraiser held in her honour, it is claimed.

Pedro Castro said the search for Amanda Berry was a waste of money

Miss Knight, now 32, Miss Berry, 27, and Miss DeJesus, 23, were abducted separately in the Ohio city in 2002, 2003 and 2004 when they were 20, 16 and 14 respectively.

The three women were rescued after a frantic 911 call by Miss Berry, who escaped, led police to Castro's run-down property, where authorities say the trio had been held captive since their teens or early 20s.

Police are investigating the handling of the call, saying: "While the call-taker complied with policies and procedures which enabled a very fast response by police, we have noted some concerns which will be the focus of our review."

Officers said the concerns included "the call-taker's failure to remain on the line with Miss Berry until police arrived on scene", adding: "Please be assured that this matter will be investigated, and if necessary, appropriate corrective action taken."

It has also emerged that as police were digging for Miss Berry in an empty lot in the city in July 2012, Pedro, sitting on some steps, said: "That's a waste of money."

Amanda Berry's grandmother spoke to her on the telephone

Antony Quiros said he was at the vigil for Miss DeJesus about a year ago and saw Ariel Castro comforting her mother.

Ariel Castro was friends with the missing girl's father and helped search for her after she disappeared, said Khalid Samad, a friend of the family.

"When we went out to look for Gina, he helped pass out fliers," said Mr Samad, a community activist.

Meanwhile, Miss Berry has spoken to her family for the first time since she disappeared.

Amanda Berry, her sister, and a young girl, believed to be her daughter

Her grandmother, Fern Gentry, told her on the telephone: "I'm glad to have you back."

"I'm glad to be back," Miss Berry said.

Miss Gentry added: "I thought you were gone."

"Nope, I'm here", Miss Berry continued.

Miss Berry told her grandmother that the girl in a hospital photo was her six-year-old daughter. Police said they believe one of the suspects is the girl's father.

Miss Berry's father Johnny Berry said: "I didn't know what to say. Best thing that ever happened to me. Best feeling I've ever had."

Her cousin Crystal Milton said the news that she was alive was a real shock. "Just screaming and crying; just all kids of emotions at once," Miss Milton said.

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Genoa: Seven Dead As Ship Crashes Into Port

At least seven people have died and six are missing after a container ship smashed into a control tower at the port of Genoa.

Unconfirmed reports have suggested engine failure of the Jolly Nero ship could have been to blame for the crash after one of the pilots was quoted as saying: "Two engines seem to have failed and we lost control of the ship."

Part of the tower, in which about 14 people were present at the time of the crash, collapsed into the water.

One of the victims is thought to be a woman in her 30s, while at least two of the others are men. Six people have been reported seriously injured.

Rescuers inspect what remains of the control tower

Some of those missing are understood to have been trapped under rubble or in a lift which may have fallen into the sea.

Some rescue workers dived into the water around the port in a frantic search to find survivors while others have been using dogs trained to find people in earthquake zones to see if survivors were trapped under the rubble.

At daybreak, a mobile telephone began to ring beneath the wrecked structure raising hopes of locating people alive, but it rang off before rescue workers could find it.

Italian emergency workers found one badly injured man in the rubble of the control tower.

The man worked as a telephone operator and has been named locally as 50-year-old Maurizio Potenza.

An employee of the Genoa-based Messina Line company, which owns the vessel, said: "There was an accident when the ship was leaving the port.

The tower as it looked before the accident, and after

"It ran into the tower, but we don't know why at this point, nor how many people are hurt."

Claudio Burlando, president of the Liguria region that is home to the northwestern port city, told SKY TG 24 that the ship was being conducted by an on-board pilot and two tug boats, one in front and one behind.

"It was a manoeuvre done hundreds of times. We're all wondering what could have happened," he said.

"The weather conditions were perfect, there was no wind, there were no other ships on the move," Luigi Merlo, the head of Genoa's port authority, told reporters.

The crash happened during a shift change at the vast metal tower, which meant more people were present.

The tower bent over 45 degrees before collapsing, leaving only what looked like an emergency staircase standing.

Roberto, the port's night watch, told La Repubblica newspaper: "I heard a terrible din and rushed out of my cabin. It was an incredible sight: the control tower was leaning perilously."

The Jolly Nero weighs over 40,500 tons

The Jolly Nero is almost 200m (655ft) long, 30m (98ft) wide, and weighs over 40,500 tons.

The ship's owner, Stefano Messina, choked back tears as he said: "We are all utterly shocked. Nothing like this has ever happened before."

The Jolly Nero's captain is being questioned by police on suspicion of manslaughter.

Italians are still reeling from the Costa Concordia shipwreck off Giglio island in 2012 which left 32 people dead.

Hearings against six suspects in the cruise liner disaster began in Italy on April 15.

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Diamond Heist: Arrests Over Brussels Raid

Police have arrested 33 people suspected of being involved in a £30m diamond heist at a Brussels airport.

A large amount of cash and diamonds were recovered in the early morning raids, involving more than 200 officers across Belgium, France and Switzerland.

The raiders made off with a variety of rough and polished gems

One suspected member of the eight-man gang that allegedly staged the theft was arrested in France, while Swiss police made a eight arrests and Belgian police took 24 people into custody.

A statement from the Swiss prosecutor's office said: "A big haul was seized, of 100,000 Swiss francs (£68,000) in cash and a large quantity of diamonds, the value of which is currently being estimated.

"The arrests were made thanks to the excellent collaboration between the Brussels and Geneva authorities."

The Belgian authorities said some of the suspects detained in Belgium, aged between 30 and 50, were "well known" to police.

The heist was carried out by heavily-armed men posing as police officers who cut through the perimeter fence of Zaventem International airport around 8pm on February 18 to reach a Swiss passenger aircraft that was due to take off.

In an operation that lasted barely 10 minutes and took place without a shot being fired, the men forced open the hold of the plane and removed some 120 boxes of mainly uncut diamonds from Antwerp.

Questions were raised over the ease with which the raid was carried out

The gems were bound for India and, as they were mainly uncut, they were uncertified, making them harder to trace and easier to sell on.

At the time the raid was described by French airport security consultant Doron Levy as "incredibly audacious and well organised," adding that it was likely an inside job and the suspects "probably know their employees by name".

The heist was also described as "one of the biggest" by the Antwerp World Diamond Centre, the global dealers' syndicate.

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Ohio: Amanda Berry Home After Kidnap Ordeal

Amanda Berry, one of three women rescued from a house after being abducted about a decade ago, has returned to her sister's home.

TV aerial pictures of the back of the family property in Cleveland, Ohio, showed someone carrying a small child.

The youngster is thought to be the six-year-old daughter that Miss Berry bore during her time as a captive.

Amanda Berry (L), Gina DeJesus and the house where they were found

Her sister later came out of the house and read out a statement where she thanked the public and media for their support and also appealed for their privacy to be respected.

On Monday, Amanda Berry had raised the alarm by screaming for help and a neighbour managed to get her and her child out by kicking in a door.

Miss Berry then made a frantic call to the police and the other two women, Michelle Knight and Gina DeJesus, were later rescued.

Miss Knight, now 32, Miss Berry, 27, and Miss DeJesus, 23, were abducted separately in nearby areas of the Ohio city in 2002, 2003 and 2004 when they were 20, 16 and 14 respectively.

The owner of the home, 52-year-old former school bus driver Ariel Castro, has been detained, along with his brothers, Pedro, 54, and Onil, 50.

More follows...

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Kerry In Moscow For Crucial Syria Talks

By Katie Stallard, Moscow Correspondent

US Secretary of State John Kerry is in Moscow for crucial talks with President Putin on Syria.

Mr Kerry will first meet Vladimir Putin and then his Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov in what he has described as a "long overdue" visit to Russia, but which is being briefed by State Department officials as an attempt to shift Moscow's stance on the Assad regime.

Russia has vetoed three UN Security Council resolutions proposing sanctions on the regime and remains emphatically opposed to any suggestion of military intervention in the conflict.

A foreign ministry statement on Monday expressed concern at what Moscow said were signs that international public opinion was being prepared for the possibility of armed intervention and said it was examining reported Israeli air strikes near Damascus on May 3 and 5.

The spokesman warned that further military action in the country could destabilise the region, and drew attention to claims that Syrian rebel forces have used the nerve agent Sarin.

President Putin was re-elected a year ago

Vladimir Putin's spokesman told reporters on Monday that the president had spoken to Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu about events in Syria and the situation in the Middle East, but declined to reveal details of the call.

Mr Kerry's visit coincides with the first anniversary of President Putin's return to the Kremlin, in a year that has seen relations between the two strained on a number of fronts, not least US criticism of Russia's record on human rights.

A senior US State Department official told the AFP news agency there were signs Russia was prepared to engage in discussion over Syria but acknowledged there would be other issues on the agenda too.

The official said: "Our counterparts here have made clear they are ready to engage on Syria, but they have many issues they want to talk about."

A second official said: "It is a time to talk to the Russians to understand that, from our side, we remain committed (to a political solution) and if they are as well then we need to think about how to work operationally to make that happen.

Israel has played down reports of air attacks against Syria

"I don't know if we will get an agreement or not, but we certainly think it is worth testing and trying to find some ways forward."

Mr Kerry laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a memorial by the Kremlin wall to the fallen soviet soldiers of World War II before his meeting with President Putin.

Sergei Markov, a former United Russia member of parliament, who is vice-chancellor of Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, told Sky News this was an opportunity to improve relations between the two.

He said: "At the moment Russian-American relations are very bad, but both presidents do want to improve the situation. This is a new stage.

"The fact that the secretary of state is meeting the president is not unusual - the secretary is a messenger of the president, so it is really is a dialogue between presidents."

Unverified video purportedly showing explosions in Damascus

But he warned the chances of a breakthrough on Syria were slim.

"There are very small chances to reach a deal on Syria because there are too many contradictions in their positions.

"Russia has military interests in Syria; it has a military base there and several arms contracts. The US seems to have found the only country with which we have a good relationship in the region - there are countries with a worse democratic record in the region - why doesn't the US meddle in their internal politics?

"Russia opposes the changing of regimes by force. If the US changes the regime in Syria, they might want to do the same with Iran, and then who is next, Belarus?  Russia doesn't want this."

Mr Kerry is also set to meet civil society activists at the US ambassador's residence in Moscow on Wednesday, to hear their concerns about democratic progress in Russia - a move which is unlikely to endear him to the government.

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Cleveland Case Evokes Previous Kidnappings

The rescue of three women from a house in Cleveland, Ohio, is the latest in a series of high-profile cases involving females being held captive for several years.

Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michele Knight had apparently been at the suburban property since they vanished around a decade ago.

Amanda Berry (L) and Gina DeJesus

Jaycee Dugard was found on August 26, 2009, 18 years after she was kidnapped aged 11 in California.

She had been seized by Phillip Garrido and his wife Nancy while on her way to school in South Lake Tahoe in June 1991.

Miss Dugard was kept in a hidden backyard behind Garrido's house, and had two children with him.

She was rescued after Garrido's parole officers became suspicious. The Garridos were jailed for life.

Elizabeth Smart was rescued in 2003

Elizabeth Smart was 14 when she was taken from the bedroom of her home in Utah in June 2002 and repeatedly raped by a self-styled prophet during nine months of captivity.

Miss Smart was rescued in March 2003 less than 20 miles from her home. Her abductor, Brian David Mitchell, was jailed for life in 2011.

Austrian Natascha Kampusch was kidnapped at the age of 10 by Wolfgang Priklopil in March 1998.

He held her captive in the cellar of a house in Strasshof, just outside Vienna for eight years before she managed to escape in 2006.

Natascha Kampusch escaped her captor in 2006

Priklopil committed suicide on the night that Miss Kampusch escaped by throwing himself under a train.

Elisabeth Fritzl was imprisoned and raped over a period of 24 years by her father Josef Fritzl, who kept her in the cellar of the family home at Amstetten, 60 miles west of Vienna. She bore him seven children.

The case came to light in April 2008 when one of the children became ill and was taken to hospital.

Josef Fritzl was jailed in 2009 for life - a sentence carrying a minimum term of 15 years in Austria.

Josef Fritzl was jailed for life in 2009

He was found guilty of murder for the death of one of Elisabeth's babies, as well as incest, sequestration, grievous assault and 3,000 instances of rape.

In Italy in June 2008, Maria Monaco, 47, was set free after being locked in by her family for 18 years.

Police found her living in "horrendous hygiene conditions" in a rural home outside Santa Maria Capua Vetere, north of Naples.

She had been held since 1990 when her family learned she was pregnant and she refused to divulge the name of the father.

An unidentified nine-year-old Japanese schoolgirl was snatched in November 1990 and spent nine years trapped on the second floor of her abductor's home in Kashiwazaki, north of Tokyo.

She was freed aged 19, in January 2000, after health officials were called to the house by the man's mother.

The kidnapper was in 2003 sentenced to 14 years in prison.

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Cleveland: Women's Families 'Never Gave Up'

The story of the three women found in Seymour Street, Cleveland, on Monday began in August 2002 when Michele Knight disappeared.

Ms Knight, aged around 20 at the time, was reportedly last seen at a cousin's house near West 106th Street and Lorain Avenue, Cleveland.

The authorities thought that she had run away after losing custody of her son but her family were not convinced, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.

A few months later, in April 2003, Amanda Berry, 16, went missing. She had phoned her sister to say she had been offered a lift home from her job at Burger King at the junction of Lorain Avenue and West 110th Street.

In April 2004, 14-year-old Gina DeJesus went missing after leaving Wilbur Wright Middle School in Parkhurst Drive.

She was reportedly seen in West 105th Street which links Parkhurst Drive to Lorain Avenue.

Now, more than 10 years after the first woman disappeared they have turned up just over five miles away at 2207 Seymour Drive, Cleveland.

In the intervening years the families and friends of the three girls never gave up hope of finding them.

Amanda Berry (L) and Gina DeJesus

The search for Ms Berry and Ms DeJesus remained high profile in the local media with coverage of anniversaries and developments.

Police received tip-offs from prison inmates who claimed to know where Ms Berry was buried but all leads proved fruitless.

A childhood friend of Ms DeJesus, Kayla Rogers, told the Plain Dealer newspaper: "I've been praying, never forgot about her, ever."

Ms Berry's cousin Tasheena Mitchell told the newspaper she couldn't wait to have her in her arms.

"I'm going to hold her, and I'm going to squeeze her and I probably won't let her go," she said.

Ms Berry's mother, Louwana Miller, died in March 2006.

She had spent the previous three years looking for her daughter, whose disappearance took a toll as her health steadily deteriorated, family and friends said.

Councilwoman Dona Brady said she had spent many hours with Miller, who never gave up hope that her daughter was alive.

"She literally died of a broken heart," Ms Brady said.

Jennifer Picart, Ms Berry's friend and co-worker at Burger King, said: "I've been waiting for her to come home for a long, long time ...

"I was there, I was the last person she talked to. I felt horrible because I felt like it was my fault if I could have stopped it she would have been home."

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Somalia: Cameron Pledges Post-Conflict Support

David Cameron has warned that failure to properly support the rebuilding of Somalia will lead to "terrorism and mass migration" as he hosted an international conference on the country's future.

Almost 50 governments and global bodies including the IMF and World Bank gathered at the meeting in London to hear Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud outline his plans to stabilise the country after two decades of brutal civil war.

Opening the conference, the Prime Minster hailed the progress made in the African nation, but demanded action to ensure the momentum is maintained.

That will allow many Somalis who fled the bloodshed to the UK and elsewhere to return home, he pointed out.

A year on from the first such UK-hosted meeting of international backers, a government has been installed and more territory grabbed back from the control of al Shabaab Islamist militias.

The capital Mogadishu is starting to return to more normal life - with petrol stations, supermarkets and international flights returning for the first time since 1991 - despite continued terrorist attacks like the suicide car bomb which killed several civilians last week.

The PM arrives at the meeting with Somalian President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud

But the president faced "one of the most difficult tasks of any leader anywhere in the world", Mr Cameron said, to overcome the "huge challenges" that remained including poverty, corruption, sexual violence against women and securing wider support for the government beyond the capital.

"Despite the gains made against al Shabaab, the recent tragic and despicable attacks in Mogadishu - including one just last weekend - remind us how much work there is still to do in the fight against terrorism and extremism.

"These challenges are not just issues for Somalia. They matter to Britain - and to the whole international community.

"Why? Because when young minds are poisoned by radicalism and they go on to export terrorism and extremism, the security of the whole world is at stake.

"And to anyone who says, this isn't a priority or we can't afford to deal with it, I would say that is what we've said in the past and look where it has got us: terrorism and mass migration.

"We made that mistake not just in the Horn of Africa, but also in Afghanistan in the 1990s and we must not make it again," Mr Cameron said.

(L-R) William Hague, David Cameron and the Somalian President at the summit

Ending poverty and the lure of payment by extremists was "the best antidote to extremism", the PM told representatives.

But help had to go well beyond humanitarian aid, he said, pledging £10m of UK support for developing Somalia's armed forces, £14.5m to boost police numbers and train judges and financial support for a maritime radio system to counter piracy.

"I hope that others here will contribute too and the countries in the region will stay the course and work with Somalia while it builds up its own forces," Mr Cameron added.

At present, the country relies on the help of Ethiopian and African Union military support to combat al Shabaab.

The PM said the international community had to send a "strong signal" to world financial institutions to help Somalis deal with debt and get access to finance now it has a government recognised by the US and other key players for the first time in more than two decades.

And al Shabaab extremists who renounced violence should be able to join the political process.

Earlier Mr Cameron had talks with young members of the Somali diaspora. He said he wanted to make their country safe enough for those who wished to return and help with the rebuilding process.

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Ohio Women Found: Police Praise Amanda Berry

Three brothers have been arrested after three women who went missing separately about a decade ago in Cleveland, Ohio, were found alive in the same house.

Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michele Knight disappeared in nearby areas of the city between 2002 and 2004. Officers believe they were tied up during years of being held captive.

The three, who vanished in their teens or early 20s, were rescued after a neighbour heard Ms Berry's screaming and went to help.

"Due to Amanda's brave actions, these three women are alive today," Cleveland police chief Michael McGrath told reporters.

The suspects have been named as Ariel, Pedro and Onil Castro, who are aged 52, 54 and 50.

The property was just a few miles from where the women vanished.

A poster with images of Amanda Berry on

Police said they went to the home in 2004 for an unrelated investigation when school bus driver Ariel Castro had apparently left a child unattended on a bus, but no-one answered the door.

Officers also visited it in 2000 when Ariel Castro reported a fight in the street, but no arrests were made.

The women appeared to be in good health and have now been released from hospital after going there for checks and are back with their relatives.

Authorities said they had no intelligence the trio were in the house, and police believe a six-year-old girl also found at the property is Ms Berry's daughter.

Ariel Castro is one of three brothers arrested

FBI special agent Stephen Anthony said: "The nightmare is over. These three young ladies have provided us with the ultimate definition of survival and perseverance. The healing can now begin."

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson said there were still "several unanswered questions" about the case, and authorities stressed that as the investigation was on going, many facts could not be discussed.

Ms Berry, who was 16 at the time, disappeared on April 21, 2003, when she called her sister to say she was getting a lift home from her job at a Burger King outlet.

Ms DeJesus went missing aged 14 on her way home from school about a year after Ms Berry's disappearance.

The third woman, Ms Knight, had been missing since 2002. She is believed to have been 20 at the time.

Gina DeJesus went missing on her way home from school

The long nightmare for the trio ended when Ms Berry reached through a crack in the front door and called for help.

Neighbour Charles Ramsey heard her screaming and tried to get her out through the door, but could not pull it open.

So he kicked the bottom open and she crawled through carrying a little girl.

Another neighbour Anna Tejeda said Ms Berry was nervous and crying, and dressed in pyjamas and old sandals.

Ms Tejeda said she gave her telephone to Ms Berry, who then called police.

In a recording of the 911 call, she told the emergency dispatcher: "I'm Amanda Berry. I've been kidnapped. I've been missing for 10 years. I'm free. I'm here now."

She said she had been taken by someone - and begged officers to arrive at the home on Cleveland's west side "before he gets back".

The three women disappeared in nearby areas of the city

When police arrived, they found the two other women who were allegedly being held captive. They were also rescued.

Mr Ramsey explained how he rescued Ms Berry, saying: "I hear this girl screaming and she's going nuts.

"So I come outside and I know there's nobody supposed to be screaming next door to my house because there's no girl that lives in that house.

"When I came to the front door and looked at her she said 'My name is Amanda Berry - please get me out of this house'.

"She told the police, 'I ain't just only one, there's some more girls up in that house. So they go on up there ... and when they came out it was just astonishing."

Kayla Rogers, a childhood friend of Ms DeJesus, told The Plain Dealer newspaper: "I've been praying, never forgot about her, ever.

"This is amazing. This is a celebration. I'm so happy. I just want to see her walk out of those doors so I can hug her."

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Giulio Andreotti: Former Italian PM Dies

Giulio Andreotti, who served seven terms as Italian prime minister and was said to have had Mafia links, has died.

The 94-year-old was taken to hospital last year with heart problems stemming from a respiratory infection.

Andreotti helped draft Italy's constitution after World War II and sat in the country's parliament for 60 years. He remained a life senator.

The Christian Democrat was accused of exchanging a "kiss of honour" with the Mafia's longtime number one boss and for being involved in the murder of an Italian journalist.

He denied any wrongdoing and after long and highly-publicised court battles was cleared on both charges.

Andreotti held several cabinet positions after the Second World War before eventually becoming prime minister in 1972. His final term lasted from 1989 to 1992.

He was renown for being friends with Popes and cardinals and his figure was immediately recognisable to generations of Italians.

Rumours surrounding Andreotti came to a head in the wake of Italy's anti-corruption drive in the early 1990s when he was accused of involvement in the death of journalist Mino Pecorelli, who was killed in a mob-style hit in 1979.

Andreotti with former British prime minister Sir Edward Heath

A Mafia informer told police the journalist was targeted at Andreotti's request.

The "trial of the century" - as Italian media called it - alleged Pecorelli was killed because he had compromising information about Andreotti.

The three-year case saw the politician cleared in 1999 before being convicted on appeal in 2002 and sentenced to 24 years in prison.

A year later, a third and final judgement overturned the conviction and cleared him of the original charge.

"Some might have hoped I wouldn't get here. But here I am, thanks to God," Andreotti, then 84, said at the time of the final ruling.

In a separate case, Andreotti stood trial in Palermo on charges that he had colluded with the Mafia. He was cleared in that case, too.

Mafia insiders who gave evidence claimed he had once exchanged a "kiss of honour" with Salvatore Riina, the "boss of all bosses".

Andreotti always denied the charges and said he was a victim of mobsters intent on taking revenge for his fight against the Mafia.

Born in Rome, Andreotti became Italy's youngest interior minister at the age of 35 and went on to write numerous books, some of them best-sellers.

A practising Roman Catholic, he also wrote articles for Italian magazines and edited the monthly Catholic magazine 30 Giorni.

Il Divo, a 2008 film about his life, won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival.

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Moscow: Thousands Set To Protest Against Putin

By Katie Stallard, Moscow Correspondent

Thousands of protesters are expected to take to the streets in central Moscow on the first anniversary of a mass rally that saw hundreds arrested in violent clashes with police.

More than 600 people were arrested on May 6 2012, on the eve of Vladimir Putin's return to the Kremlin.

Protesters accuse the police of using excessive force and say any violence on their part was in self-defence. They claim the authorities were determined to clear the streets ahead of the  presidential inauguration on May 7.

At least 15 people are still being held in detention centres across Moscow awaiting trial, in many cases without charge.

Several more are under house arrest, including Left Front leader Sergei Udaltsov, who is accused of conspiring to organise mass riots.

Udaltsov is not allowed to use the telephone or internet and is barred from contact with all but his closest family and legal team.

He has tried and failed to secure permission to leave his house for a daily walk.

Their supporters claim they are political prisoners, and that authorities are reverting to Stalinist tools of repression, but President Putin has insisted recently that he sees no "elements of Stalinism" in modern Russia.

Amnesty International has expressed concerns about the weight of publicly-presented evidence against many of those detained, and says there are grounds to consider at least some of them "prisoners of conscience".

Russians march in a protest rally in May 2012

Human Rights Watch has accused President Putin of presiding over the harshest crackdown on civil society in Russia's post-soviet history since his return to the Kremlin last year.

They note the ongoing raids on non-governmental organisations (NGOs) across the country, the series of new laws being passed, and the intimidation, harassment and in a number of cases imprisonment of political activists.

Sky News spoke to the wife of one man who has been held without charge for the last eight months on suspicion of rioting during the May 6 protests.

Leonid Kovyazin was arrested in September but because he has not yet been charged he does not know the details of the case against him.

His wife insists they are not political activists and that Leonid was only at the Moscow demonstration as a journalist.

"It's clearly politically motivated," Evgeniya Tarasova said.

"What can I say about our country? People have always been put in jail for politics. Always have, always will.

"It's hard for me to evaluate this situation objectively, because I am inside this process."

President Putin has been accused of a harsh crackdown on civil society

The couple got married in prison in March in a short ceremony overseen by security guards.

She explained that by becoming his wife she gained the right to see him.

"The ceremony lasted about seven minutes, but they checked our documents for ages before that. That was the beginning of the wedding.

"When Lenya and I saw each other for the first time, the most important thing for me was that he was alive and well. This was a moment of absolute happiness for me. I think the same for him.

"I think he needs to know that there is someone by his side and I need to know that, too. It doesn't matter if it's through the walls and distances, but what can you do. He needs to feel the support from the outside world.

"We here can never understand how he feels being locked up. Whatever we say, we can't understand how it feels, we are here - we walk and breathe freely."

He will be one of those in whose name the protesters gather tonight.  If their detention was intended to serve as a warning – to keep people off the streets – it could have just the opposite effect.

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Neo-Nazi Gang Member On Trial Over Murders

The surviving member of a neo-Nazi cell blamed for a series of racist murders in Germany has gone on trial.

Thirty-eight-year-old Beate Zschaepe appeared in court in Munich charged with complicity in the murder of eight Turks, a Greek and a policewoman between 2000 and 2007.

Scuffles took place outside the court between police and protesters angry over the length of time it took for the neo-Nazi cell to be uncovered by police.

Zschaepe is also accused of involvement in at least two bombings in immigrant areas of Cologne and 15 bank robberies carried out by her accomplices Uwe Mundlos and Uwe Boenhardt.

Uwe Mundlos (L) and Uwe Boenhardt

Both men died in an apparent murder-suicide in November 2011.

She faces life imprisonment if she is convicted.

Four other men are also on trial, accused of assisting her National Socialist Underground (NSU) group, which had gone undetected for more than a decade.

Zschaepe handed herself in to police in November 2011

The chance discovery of the gang has forced Germany to acknowledge it has a more militant and dangerous neo-Nazi fringe than previously thought - and it also exposed serious intelligence failings.

The existence of the gang only came to light with the deaths of Mundlos and Boenhardt following a botched bank robbery.

In their charred caravan in Eisenach, police found the gun that was used to murder all 10 victims.

Officers also found a DVD presenting the NSU and claiming responsibility for the killings.

In it, the bodies of the murder victims are pictured while a cartoon Pink Panther tots up the number of dead.

Beate Zschaepe in court

After her companions' deaths, Zschaepe is believed to have set fire to a flat she shared with them in Zwickau and gone on the run. She handed herself in to the police four days later.

Prosecutors say the gang chose people running small businesses or shops as easy targets in an attempt to terrify migrants and hound them out of Germany.

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Controversial 3D-Printed Gun Fires Test Shots

The world's first 3D-printed handgun has been successfully fired in Texas, according to its creator Defense Distributed.

All 16 parts of the controversial gun, called the Liberator, are made from a tough, heat-resistant plastic used in products such as musical instruments, kitchen appliances and vehicle bumper bars.

Fifteen of those are made with a 3D printer while one is a non-functional metal part which can be picked up by metal detectors, making it legal under US law.

The weapon is designed to fire standard handgun rounds and even features an interchangeable barrel so that it can handle different calibre rounds.

The blueprint files are expected to be available online today for download.

Defense Distributed, a not-for-profit group based in Texas, was founded by 25-year-old University of Texas law study Cody Wilson, who took eight months to create the gun.

Mr Wilson, who test fired the gun himself, said the goal with the Liberator is to highlight how technology can render laws and governments all but irrelevant.

He told Forbes: "I recognise that this tool might be used to harm people. That's what it is - it's a gun.

"But I don't think that's a reason to not put it out there. I think that liberty in the end is a better interest."

His efforts to publish the printable blueprints online have sparked outrage in the US.

A Forbes article said: "Once the file is online, anyone will be able to download and print the gun in the privacy of their garage, legally or not, with no serial number, background check, or other regulatory hurdles."

New York congressman Steve Israel has already called for national legislation to ban 3D-printed guns.

In a statement last week he said: "Security checkpoints, background checks, and gun regulations will do little good if criminals can print plastic firearms at home and bring those firearms through metal detectors with no one the wiser.

"When I started talking about the issue of plastic firearms months ago, I was told the idea of a plastic gun is science-fiction.

"Now that this technology is proven, we need to act now to extend the ban on plastic firearms."

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Pakistan Election: Bomb Kills 14, Injures 56

A bomb attack at an election rally in Pakistan has killed 14 people and injured 56.

The device exploded in Kurram, part of the Taliban-infested tribal belt on the Afghan border.

It was targeted at the right-wing Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI), a religious party in the outgoing government coalition.

The death toll could rise further because several of the injured are in a critical condition, according to local officials.

Since April, more than 70 people have been killed in similar attacks as the Taliban tries to disrupt the campaign process.

Some candidates have been unable to appear in public and canvass for votes.

However, previous attacks have targeted moderate political parties, rather than religious groups.

The JUI has previously acted as a mediator between the authorities and the insurgents.

The bomb is understood to have been planted inside the building being used by the JUI for a rally promoting two national assembly candidates.

Officials say one candidate, Munir Orakzai, escaped unhurt while the other, Ain u Din Shakir, was slightly injured.

The general election on May 11 will be Pakistan's first democratic transition of power after a civilian government has completed a full term in office.

Calls for more security have failed to stop a wave of attacks, with the Pakistani Taliban condemning the elections as 'un-Islamic' and threatening the main parties.

Elections have been postponed in three constituencies, including Pakistan's biggest city of Karachi and the southern city of Hyderabad, where candidates have been murdered.

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Football Referee Dies After Punch From Player

A referee who was left in a coma after being punched by a teenage player during a game a week ago has died.

Ricardo Portillo, 46, of Salt Lake City, died in the hospital where he was being treated following the assault on Saturday night.

Police have accused a 17-year-old player of punching Mr Portillo after he gave him a yellow card for a foul.

Spokesman Justin Hoyal said: "The suspect was close to Portillo and punched him once in the face as a result of the call."

The teenager has been booked into juvenile detention on suspicion of aggravated assault. Mr Hoyal said authorities will consider additional charges following the referee's death.

The cause of death has not been given. An autopsy is to be carried out later.

Mr Portillo suffered swelling in his brain and had been listed as being in a critical condition at the Intermountain Medical Centre in Murray, Salt Lake City, where he was treated.

Johana Portillo, 26, said last week she had been told by witnesses that the player hit her father in the side of the head.

She said: "When he was writing down his notes, he just came out of nowhere and punched him."

The teenager was playing in goal during a junior high school match when he was cautioned for pushing an opposition player.

He began arguing with Mr Portillo before punching him in the face.

Mr Portillo asked to be held up because he felt dizzy, but then sat down and began vomiting blood.

By the time an ambulance arrived he had fallen into a coma.

His family said he had been attacked before while refereeing games. Johana said they had begged him to stop because of the risk from angry players.

She said: "It was his passion. We could not tell him no."

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Bangladesh Disaster: More Than 600 Dead

The death toll from the collapse of a textile factory complex in Bangladesh has reached more than 620 after dozens more bodies were pulled out from the wreckage.

It has been 12 days since the disaster but bodies are still being found in the rubble of the eight-storey building, part of which was constructed illegally.

Lieutenant Imran Khan, of the army control room set up to co-ordinate the recovery operation, said a further 53 bodies had been recovered on Sunday.

The Rana Plaza building - situated in Savar, an industrial suburb of the capital Dhaka - housed five clothing factories, employing a total of 3,122 staff.

It is not known how many workers were inside the complex when it collapsed. Around 2,500 survivors have been accounted for.

Hundreds of distraught relatives gathered at the site as cranes and bulldozers cut through a mountain of concrete and mangled steel.

Officials said it was becoming more difficult to identify the dead because of the level of decomposition and missing limbs.

"We've identified only a handful of them by their mobile phones that were found in their pockets or identity cards given by the factories," said Zillur Rahman Chowdhury, deputy administrator of Dhaka district.

Preliminary findings of a government probe have blamed vibrations from four giant generators on the compound's upper floors for triggering the collapse.

Protests have taken place about the poor working conditions of workers

The building's architect, Masood Reza, has said he designed the structure to house a shopping mall and offices, not factories.

Several people have been arrested over the disaster, including the building's owner Mohammed Sohel Rana, who was captured near the border with India as he tried to flee the country.

He allegedly had the approval to construct five floors but added three more illegally.

He is expected to be charged with negligence, illegal construction and forcing employees to work - which carry a maximum penalty of seven years imprisonment.

A murder complaint has been brought against him by the wife of one of the workers.

Bangladesh is the world's second-largest clothing exporter behind China. The industry accounts for 80% of the country's exports and more than 40% of its industrial workforce.

The tragedy has sparked protests about the poor working conditions of workers who toil for as little as £25 a month to produce clothing for top international brands.

The European Commissioner for Trade, Karel de Gucht, has said if conditions do not improve for workers in Bangladesh, the EU could impose punitive measures.

He told Sky News' Murnaghan programme: "We are going to make it very clear to the Bangladeshi government that they have to take immediate action, with a precise timeline ... because what is happening is not acceptable"

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'Israel Rocket Strike' On Syria Military Site

Syria says Israeli air strikes against three targets near Damascus "open the door to all possibilities".

Information Minister Omran Zoabi spoke after an emergency cabinet meeting organised to respond to the attack, believed to have targeted missiles bound for Hezbollah.

The rockets hit a military research centre in Jamraya on the outskirts of the capital in the early hours of this morning.

The building was the target of an earlier Israeli strike in January and Israeli radio has reported the latest attack has been confirmed by a senior security official.

A Western intelligence source said "stores of Fateh-110 missiles that were in transit from Iran to Hezbollah" were the target.

Video footage uploaded online by activists shows a huge ball of fire rising into the night sky.

More of the unverified footage uploaded by activists

Mr Zoabi accused Israel of working with "terrorist groups" and although he did not hint at a concrete course of action, he said it was Damascus's duty to protect the state from any "domestic or foreign attack through all available means".

Sunday's attack is the third Israeli assault this year on Syrian soil. Previous strikes on Syria by Israel have not elicited a military response from Syria or its allies Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah.

Syria's Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal al Mekdad told CNN the strike was "a declaration of war" by Israel and represented an alliance between Islamic terrorists and Israel.

Iran has condemned the Israeli attack and urged countries in the region to stand against the action, the Fars news agency reported.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not mention the strikes at a news conference, but spoke pointedly about his commitment to keeping Israel secure.

Protests in Banias at the beginning of the uprising in 2011

Meanwhile, hundreds of families are fleeing a Syrian coastal area where activists say government troops have massacred nearly 200, many of them women and children.

Opponents of Bashar al Assad's regime say that fighters loyal to the President carried out two massacres on Saturday night and on Thursday in a Sunni Muslim area driven by a policy of ethnic cleansing.

Activists posted a video online of the bodies of 10 people it said were killed in Ras al Nabaa in the city of Banias, in an overnight attack.

The activists said half of the victims were children and that the number of deaths could be as high as 60.

It comes just two days after pro-Assad militias are alleged to have killed as many as 100 Sunnis in the nearby village of Baida.

Amateur video showed a man and at least three children dead inside a room.

Syria's crisis has claimed the lives of an estimated 70,000 people

A baby had burned legs and its body was covered in blood. Next to him was a young girl whose face had been deformed after apparently being hit with sharp metal.

Other footage from activists showed entire families killed in their beds. A dead woman is seen cradling a child in her arms and two toddlers lying next to them.

The videos have not been independently verified.

The crisis in Syria, which began in March 2011 with pro-democracy protests and later turned into a civil war that has killed an estimated 70,000 people, has largely evolved along sectarian lines.

The Sunni majority forms the backbone of the rebellion, while Mr Assad's minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam, anchors the regime's security services and the military's officer corps.

Other minorities, such as Christians, largely support Mr Assad or are standing on the sidelines, fearing the regime's collapse would bring about a more Islamist rule.

It has been estimated as many as 4,000 people are fleeing from the predominantly Sunni southern parts of the Mediterranean city of Banias amid fears of further large-scale killings.

The US has condemned the attack on Thursday. State Department spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki said: "We strongly condemn atrocities against the civilian population and reinforce our solidarity with the Syrian people."

She added: "The United States is appalled by horrific reports that more than 100 people were killed May 2 in gruesome attacks on the coastal town of Bayda, Syria.

"Regime and Shabiha forces reportedly destroyed the area with mortar fire then stormed the town and executed entire families, including women and children."

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Boston Bombing: Georgia Denies Terror Training

Georgia's president has denied suggestions that one of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects was given extremist training in his country.

Reports in Russia this week had claimed that 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev attended a seminar in Georgia where students were allegedly encouraged to commit terrorist acts.

Russian newspaper Izvestia said it had seen a report which allegedly revealed the Tsnarnaev attended events in the summer of 2012, organised by Georgian and US companies.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev (L) is alleged to have had extremist training in Georgia

Mikheil Saakashvili, President of Georgia, told Sky News: "They (the Tsarnaev brothers) have never been to Georgia, although Russia is our neighbour and obviously Chechnya is a neighbouring region and people move back and forth.

Robel Phillipos has been charged with lying to investigators

"Russia has been saying this all the way through and the reason they have been saying that is that every time they want to justify their interference in our internal politics ... the simplest thing that came to their minds is that 'oh by the way they are training terrorists it's a common problem'."

Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili had earlier accused previous governments of colluding with alleged terrorists from the North Caucasus.

It comes after lawyers for a teenager charged with lying to investigations after the Boston bombing claimed he was not a flight risk and should be released from jail.

Robel Phillipos, 19, faces a detention hearing on Monday in US District Court.

He was charged last week with lying to investigators about visiting bomb suspect Dzhokar Tsarnaev's college dorm room on April 18 - three days after the bombings.

Three people were killed in two explosions at the end of the marathon

Two other friends were charged with conspiring to obstruct justice by taking a backpack with fireworks and a laptop from Tsarnaev's room.

The April 15 bombing, which used pressure cookers packed with explosives, nails, ball bearings and metal shards, killed three people and injured more than 260 others near the marathon finishing line.

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US: Five Women Killed In Limousine Blaze

Five women have been killed after the limousine they were travelling caught fire on a San Francisco Bay bridge.

California Highway Patrol officer Amelia Jack said the five victims were trapped inside the burning vehicle on the San Mateo bridge.

Four other female passengers and the male driver managed to escape. All the victims were aged in their 30s.

Four women and the driver were able to escape the burning vehicle

The group were travelling across the bridge, which links Foster City and Hayward across the bay - when smoke came from the back of the limousine.

The driver pulled over and the vehicle quickly became engulfed in flames.

The limo was travelling west-bound on the bridge when it caught fire

Three of the survivors were suffering from smoke inhalation and one had severe burns. They were rushed to hospitals.

Several lanes of the bridge were closed a around 10pm on Saturday night as officers investigated the cause of the blaze.

One lane was reopened on Sunday.

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