Fireworks Injure 28 At Independence Day Event

Malfunctioning fireworks are being blamed for a blast that injured 28 people at a 4th of July celebration northwest of Los Angeles.

Around 20 people had to be taken to hospital late on Thursday night with minor to serious injuries after the explosion at the Simi Valley park in California.

Videos posted online show a series of large unexpected blasts on or near the ground.

One man watching the scene is heard saying: "That wasn't supposed to happen."

A man is treated for head injuries after the blast. Pic: CBS News

A wooden platform holding the live pyrotechnics tipped over. Authorities estimate people were 900ft (275m) away from where the fireworks were being launched.

Witnesses described how large rockets, that were meant to shoot and explode high in the sky, were flying horizontally into the crowd before detonating.

"We saw at least two or three fireworks go sideways, horizontally and explode," said JT Alpaugh, a KABC-TV reporter who was watching the display with his family.

"And then it seemed like the barrage of fireworks started exploding at the base of the park, right near the soccer field at ground level. Now obviously fireworks are designed to go up 200ft in the air and explode. And we realised immediately that something was terribly, terribly wrong."

Witnesses described how the fireworks flew into the crowd. Pic: CBS News

Four of the injured spectators are said to have serious wounds consistent with shrapnel injuries.

One police officer who ran into the crowd when the blasts occurred had shrapnel tear through his leather belt and his clothing. He has minor injuries to his back

"There was an accidental detonation of a professional fireworks show that resulted in the cancellation of the show," Police Commander John Parks told the Ventura County Star.

At least four of the 28 victims were seriously hurt. Pic: CBS News

The annual city-run Fireworks Extravaganza usually attracts thousands of Independence Day revellers.

The display field was evacuated and cordoned off. The Ventura County fire department's bomb squad was called in to deactivate the remaining fireworks.

Meanwhile, a worker at a fireworks show in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, was injured when a shell exploded prematurely.

The explosion at the Cherry Grove Pier caused the show to end after just six minutes, and left a hole in the pier.

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Freak Meeting Reunites Twins After 41 Years

By Victoria Wei and Sabrina Zeng, in Beijing

Twin brothers, separated as babies, have been reunited after more than 40 years following a chance encounter in China's Sichuan province.

In late June, a friend of Chengdu resident Zeng Yong, 41, said he had met a man in the city of Neijiang, 200km away, whom he claimed was identical to Mr Zeng.

Mr Zeng, a hotelier, travelled to Neijiang, home to close to four million people, to see the man for himself.

Amazingly, on meeting Liu Yonggang, a junior manager at the city's bus company, he realised he was his long-lost twin brother.

Due to their parents' poverty, the pair had been put up for adoption in 1972 when only a few months old. They were taken by different families.

Since being reunited, the brothers have tracked down their estranged 74-year-old mother.

After being reunited, the twins tracked down their mother.

She was living in Jianning, having remarried after the death of the boys' father a decade earlier.

The twins' story has proved popular on China's Sina Weibo social media website.

One user commented: "People nowadays can't understand the helplessness of parents in that era of poverty.

"Keeping children at home meant leaving them to die of starvation … I hope they are both happy."

Another said: "Brothers reunited. Words can't express it. 41 years apart, how sad. I wish them all the happiness."

Mr Liu's colleagues at the bus company have organised a party to celebrate the reunion and welcome the new family members to Neijiang.

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Hong Kong: Feng Shui Will Forger Jailed

A "shameless" fortune teller has been jailed for forging the will of an heiress he said had been his lover so he could get his hands on her $13bn (£8.7bn) estate.

Bartender-turned-feng shui master Tony Chan had claimed to be the sole beneficiary of Nina Wang's assets, which she inherited after the kidnapping and disappearance of her property mogul husband.

Ms Wang, once Asia's richest woman, died of cancer in 2007 aged 69, triggering a bitter public feud over her fortune.

In 2010, a court ruled the will in Chan's possession was fake and he was charged by police.

After more than 20 hours of deliberation, a jury in Hong Kong found him guilty of forging the document.

Nina Wang was once Asia's richest woman

Sentencing the 53-year-old to 12 years, judge Andrew Macrae described his conduct as "shameless and wicked as well as borne of unparalleled greed".

"You are no doubt a clever, and no doubt beguiling charlatan," the judge said, describing his actions as "cruel and egregious".

Chan lowered his head into his hands when the sentence was read out and smiled as he left the dock.

The case has been in the headlines in Hong Kong for years, with Chan often cast as a fraudster who duped Ms Wang by promising to find her kidnapped husband and cure her of cancer.

Much of the case revolved around Chan's claims that he and Ms Wang were lovers and that she promised to leave him everything. 

But the court heard that Chan was a grasping chancer who, despite earning US$385m (£257m) for his feng shui services from Ms Wang, was not content and wanted to take over her entire business empire and fortune.

Her husband Teddy, who started the Chinachem Group property empire, was abducted in 1990 and declared legally dead in 1999. His body has never been found.

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Egypt Coup: Three Killed In Cairo Gun Battle

At least three people have reportedly been shot dead after Egyptian troops opened fire in a stand-off with demonstrators.

Violence erupted as supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi marched on the Cairo headquarters of the Republican Guard chanting "down with military rule".

Thousands of people streamed towards the barracks after a Muslim Brotherhood rally at the city's Rabea al Adaweya mosque.

Protesters carry away an injured man in Cairo

Shots were fired as protesters hung pictures of Mr Morsi on a barbed wire barrier around the military complex, although a spokesman for the Egyptian army said troops were using only blank rounds.

Soldiers were pelted with stones and responded by firing tear gas into the crowd.

Sky's Middle East correspondent Sam Kiley, who is in Cairo, saw several people injured in one army savlo and said live rounds had "certainly" been used.

The army says soldiers fired blank rounds and tear gas

"I've seen one spent bullet from an automatic weapon," he said. "There were shotguns in use."

He spoke to one man whose clothes were apparently stained with the blood of a victim and said the atmosphere as "tense", with the headquarters likely to become a "magnet" for supporters of Mr Morsi.

The clashes came after the United Nations' human rights chief expressed concern at the arrest of key members of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood.

A supporter of Mohamed Morsi holds a poster of the ousted president

Navi Pillay said there should be "no more violence, no arbitrary detention, no illegal acts of retribution" following the military intervention that forced Mr Morsi from office.

He is believed to have been placed under house arrest since Egypt's top judge, Adli Mansour, was sworn in as interim president.

At least four of his aides and advisers are also being held.

Mohamed Morsi is said to be under house arrest

Elsewhere, the Egyptian army positioned its tanks and troops outside the presidential palace in Cairo, blocking access to protesters. There have been smaller-scale clashes way from Cairo, with protesters taking on police in Alexandria.

It came after the Muslim Brotherhood and its allies called for protesters to take to the streets on the Muslim day of prayer for what it described as a "Friday of Rage".

Egyptians are braced for more violence, although Muslim Brotherhood officials have urged their followers to keep their protests peaceful.

Sky's Andrew Wilson, in Cairo, said: "Everyone's trying to read the signals and figure out what's most likely to happen next, and they're hoping for some sort of resolution.

"One thing we will not see this time round, as we might have seen during some parts of the original Arab Spring, is two sides clashing.

"The protesters in Tahrir Square - this so-called coalition or rebellion - all agreed on one point and one point only. They wanted Mr Morsi out and they've won. They have no interest whatsoever in getting involved in clashes in the streets.

"Two-and-a-half years ago, it was pro-Hosni Mubarak supporters fighting with anti-Mubarak campaigners, clashing with the army in the middle.

"The army has delivered what half the population wants and now only has the job of policing the other half."

Meanwhile, Ms Pillay called on authorities to investigate the "appalling" rise in sexual violence against women.

It comes after a number of women told Human Rights Watch they had been assaulted in Tahrir Square.

The charity said some women had been beaten with metal chairs, chains and sticks, while others were attacked with knives.

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Pope Clears John Paul II For Sainthood

Pope Francis has cleared John Paul II for sainthood, approving a second miracle attributed to his intercession, the Vatican says.

John Paul was extremely popular during much of his 27-year-papacy. 

He died in 2005 at age 84.

The canonisation ceremony is expected to take place before the end of the year, possibly in December.

Two miracles are required for sainthood.

A view of St Peter's Square during John Paul's funeral

The first miracle to be approved by the Vatican came just six months after John Paul's death, when French nun Sister Marie Simon-Pierre inexplicably recovered from Parkinson's disease after praying for the late pontiff's "intercession".

There have been suggestions that Sister Marie did not actually have Parkinson's.

The Vatican spokesman said the second miracle concerned a Costa Rican woman.

The Spanish Catholic newspaper La Razon said she suffered from a brain aneurysm that was inexplicably cured on May 1, 2011 - the day of John Paul's beatification.

La Razon reported that the woman had been given only a month to live after doctors found she had the aneurysm. But her family said that after they prayed to John Paul, the aneurysm disappeared.

Pope Francis approved the second miracle attributed to John Paul

The newspaper quoted her doctor, Dr Alejandro Vargas, as saying: "I can't explain it based on science."

For a healing to be officially certified as a miracle, the occurrence must be permanent, instantaneous and have no scientific explanation.

The Vatican put John Paul on a fast-track to sainthood just weeks after his death on April 2, 2005, dispensing with the traditional five-year waiting period.

Calls for the beloved pontiff to become a saint erupted at his funeral, where many mourners shouted "Santo Subito!" ("Sainthood Now!").

But some Vatican observers have voiced concerns that the process has been too quick.

The Pope with the Queen in 2000

The last years of John Paul's papacy have been marred by a clerical sex abuse scandal, and critics said he failed to address other problems such as dysfunctional governance at the Vatican.

As one of the longest-serving popes, the Polish-born John Paul travelled far and wide, often greeted by massive crowds as he championed peace, denounced human rights abuses and deplored the decadence of the modern world.

Pope John XIII was dubbed the 'good pope'

He eschewed the pomp that surrounded his predecessors to seek contact with ordinary people, and is credited by many with helping to topple Communism in Eastern Europe. In 1981, he survived an assassination attempt in St Peter's Square.

But he also alienated many Catholics with staunchly conservative views on social matters.

Pope Francis also decided to make the late pontiff John XXIII a saint even though the Vatican has not confirmed a second miracle attributed to his intercession.

The Vatican said Francis had the power to "dispense" with the normal saint-making procedures to canonise him on his own merit, without a miracle.

John XXIII, who led the Roman Catholic Church between 1958 and 1963, was dubbed the "good pope" and enacted sweeping reforms to modernise the Vatican.

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Ecuador Finds Bug In Its London Embassy

Ecuador has found a hidden microphone inside its London embassy where the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is living.

Foreign minister Ricardo Patino, speaking in his home country, said he would disclose on Wednesday who controls the device.

Mr Patino said the microphone was found in the office of the Ecuadorean ambassador to the United Kingdom, Ana Alban.

It was discovered when Mr Patino visited the embassy on June 16 to meet Mr Assange, who has been hiding out there for a year.

The WikiLeaks boss works in a different room within the building.             

Ecuador's foreign minister Ricardo Patino in Quito this week

The Foreign Office in London declined to comment immediately on the allegation and David Cameron's spokesman said he did not comment on security issues.

Mr Assange has been living at the embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden to face allegations by two women of sexual assault and rape, which he denies.

He fears that if sent to Sweden he could be extradited from there to the US to face potential charges over the release of thousands of confidential documents.                           

"We regret to inform you that in our embassy in London we have found a hidden microphone," Patino told a news conference in Quito on Tuesday.             

Julian Assange at the embassy in June

"I didn't denounce this at the time because we didn't want the theme of our visit to London to be confused with this matter.             

"Furthermore, we first wanted to ascertain with precision what could be the origin of this interception device in the office of our ambassador.            

"We are sorry to say so, but this is another instance of a loss of ethics at the international level in relations between governments."             

Ecuador's protection of Mr Assange has strained relations with Britain.

Mr Patino met Foreign Secretary William Hague on June 17 to discuss the situation but officials said afterwards no substantive progress had been made.              

WikiLeaks used its Twitter account to condemn the hidden microphone.            

"Bugging of Ecuador's London embassy and the blockading of Morales' jet shows that imperial arrogance is the gift that keeps on giving," the anti-secrecy group said.

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Egypt Sex Attacks Reach 'Horrific' Levels

Almost 100 women have been sexually assaulted in Cairo's Tahrir Square in just four days, according to Human Rights Watch.

The charity described the attacks as "rampant" and said they highlight the "failure of the government and all political parties to face up to the violence that women in Egypt experience on a daily basis".

Some of the 91 women assaulted were reportedly beaten with metal chains, chairs and sticks, while others were attacked with knives.

Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, said: "These are serious crimes that are holding women back from participating fully in the public life of Egypt at a critical point in the country's development."

The assaults come amid escalating protests in the square around the first anniversary of President Mohamed Morsi's election.

He faces mounting pressure to resign, as well as an army deadline to resolve the country's political crisis that could lead to military intervention.

Some say the attacks are staged by thugs who are abusing a lack of security and are confident of escaping prosecution.

Others claim they are organised to scare women into not joining anti-government protests.

Human Rights Watch cited figures from a hotline for victims of sexual assault and Nazra for Feminist Studies, a women's rights group.

The watchdog called on Egyptian officials and political leaders to "condemn and take immediate steps to address the horrific levels of sexual violence" in the square.

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Mandela Family Remains 'Must Be Exhumed'

By Robert Nisbet, Sky News Correspondent

Nelson Mandela's eldest grandson has lost his appeal against a court order to return the remains of three relatives to a graveyard where the former president was raised.

Mandla Mandela, who is the chief of the Mvezo Traditional Council, had exhumed the bodies of his father and two other children of the ailing icon without seeking permission from other relatives.

He put the remains in three graves near a visitor centre and complex he is building in the Eastern Cape where Nelson Mandela was born.

The relatives argue he moved the bodies to establish a family cemetery at the development - which could eventually include the grave of Nelson Mandela - in order to attract paying tourists.

After Judge Lusindiso Pakade made the ruling, one of the lawyers for the Mandela family was heard saying outside court: "The hearse is on the way."

Mandela's daughter Makaziwe (L), grandson Ndaba and granddaughter Ndileka

The court has said Mandla, the chief of the clan and Mandela's official heir, must exhume the bodies by 3pm, or a sheriff would be sent to Qunu to carry out the task.

The grandson's legal team launched an immediate appeal, saying the chief did not have enough time to explain his side of the story to the court and called for a mediator to be appointed, to avoid unwanted publicity.

Mandela's eldest daughter Makaziwe Mandela, her nephew Ndaba Mandela, and niece Ndileka Mandela were in court to observe proceedings.

The graves are those of Mandela's eldest son, Mandla Mandela's father, Makgatho Mandela, who died in 2005; Mandela's first daughter Makaziwe Mandela, who died as an infant in 1948; and Mandela's second son Madiba Thembekile, who died in a car accident in 1969.

The family dispute comes as the 94-year-old anti-apartheid leader remains critically ill in a Pretoria hospital.  

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US Drone Strike Kills 18 In Pakistan

By Neville Lazarus, Asia Producer

A US drone has killed at least 18 people in northwest Pakistan after a compound and vehicle near a bazaar were targeted.

Reports suggest the strike in Miranshah, in North Waziristan, targeted a senior Haqqani network leader. There is no confirmation whether the leader was killed in the attack.

The Haqqani network is one of the most dangerous organisations based in the tribal regions of Pakistan.

They have been responsible for most of the attacks in Kabul and on Western forces in Afghanistan. The network pledges its allegiance to the Afghan Taliban chief Mullaha Omar and is alleged to be protected by Pakistan's intelligence service, the ISI.

The strike is one of the worst since the new government, led by cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan's party the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, took over after the general elections in May.

Mr Khan has been a long time vocal critic of America's policy of drone strikes in the region.

He has raised the issue at every forum calling them illegal and a contributing factor to the recruitment of more terrorists.

Drone strikes are hugely unpopular in Pakistan and were a major election issue. Mr Khan has accused the federal government of towing the American line and permitting these strikes.

Imran Khan addressing supporters in May

The United States uses unmanned drones to hunt al Qaeda operatives in Pakistan's tribal region bordering Afghanistan.

The US considers these attacks an extremely useful tool in war against terror.

US President Barack Obama has come under intense criticism for authorising the strikes, which have killed a number of civilians, including women and children.

According to the Bureau of Investigative journalism, an independent think tank based in the UK, there have been 370 drone attacks in Pakistan since 2004.

Of this number, 319 attacks have been under President Obama's presidency. During George W Bush's tenure from 2004 till 2009 there were only 52 such strikes.

Mr Obama has made it clear that the US will continue its policy.

Speaking at the National Defence University in Washington DC earlier this year, he made an impassioned defence of the US targeted killing programme, insisting that it was both effective and legal.

But he admitted that this may not be enough. He conceded that civilians have died and for himself and "those in my chain of command, these deaths will haunt us as long as we live".

Under his administration new rules have been put in place for such lethal strikes. But questions of its legality will arise every time collateral damage takes place.

Mr Khan's party, which is the second largest opposition party, has tabled a resolution in the national parliament stating that the strikes violate Pakistan's sovereignty and integrity and also violate international laws and treaties.

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Egypt's Morsi Fights On As Army Deadline Passes

Why Egyptian Army Backs The People

Updated: 1:45pm UK, Wednesday 03 July 2013

By Sam Kiley, Middle East Correspondent, in Cairo

Egypt's Supreme Council for the Armed Forces (Scarf) has pirouetted through a revolution and successive crises.

With extraordinary agility, the military sloughed off its history of dictatorship and took on a new costume of defender of the State and its people in 2011.

It has now locked horns with the Arab world's most populous nation's democratically-elected president, again in the name of the people.

Could there be other motives for his new found champion of Egypt's industrial workers.

The Scarf's chairman, General Abdul Fatah al Sisi, British and American trained, gave the president 48 hours to end an uprising against his first year in office, or ...

The rest is unclear. But leaks to local and international media indicate that a coup has been planned.

The threat is new. The complaints are not.

In December last year and in the following February, the general called on the government to acknowledge the will of the people.

Then, as now, large sections of society are angered by attacks on the media and the Islamisation of the new constitution.

On June 15, many were horrified when President Mohamed Morsi called on Egyptians to join a 'Holy War' against President Bashar al Assad of Syria - seemingly putting Egypt's weight behind a Syrian jihad.

His party, the Muslim Brotherhood, was banned by the military in 1954.

Its members suffered decades of persecution, imprisonment, exile, torture and death but emerged as the most well-organised element of the 2011 revolution - and won political power as a result.

This has been anathema to the military which see themselves in the Nasserite tradition of modernising Arabs.

But there may also be less high-minded reasons for the military to be backing 'the people' against the president.

The armed forces control vast amounts of the Egyptian economy. Its investments and holdings include hotels, fridge factories, mineral water bottling, car manufacturing. Its agricultural operations make it the country's biggest food supplier.

Officially it acknowledges generating $198m (£130m) a year. The true scale is probably several times that figure.

Now Egypt's economy is on its knees. It has been bailed out by Qatar but remains dangerous vulnerable to debt default.

Two years of instability has been bad for the economy and the military's assets inside that economy.

Law and order has been collapsing - the Sinai is now a largely military zone where Egypt's army has been sent to fight Islamists.

Towns like Port Said have been largely abandoned by the police.

Religious tensions have risen between Muslims and Egypt's 10 million Christians.

So the economy continues to decline.

The military may well want to head off a further collapse of central power and seize it in the 'interests of the nation'.

But such a move might not be bad for its business, either.

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Snowden Changes His Mind On Asylum In Russia

Fugitive Edward Snowden has withdrawn his request for political asylum in Russia after Moscow told him he would have to stop leaking US intelligence reports.

The news comes after it emerged that the 30-year-old, who faces espionage charges in America, has asked for asylum in 21 countries, including 13 in Europe.

They include Poland, which has turned him down, while officials in Germany, Norway, Austria and Switzerland said he cannot apply for asylum from abroad.

Among the other countries approached are Bolivia, Brazil, Cuba, Finland, Ireland the Netherlands, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and India, which has also said 'no'.

Mr Snowden's about-turn on Russia apparently followed comments by President Vladimir Putin that he was welcome to stay in the country as long he stopped "harming our American partners".

Cuba's Raul Castro and Bolivia's Evo Morales are both being asked for help

The former intelligence analyst, who is holed up the transit area at Moscow airport, has received a more encouraging response from Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro.

He said on Tuesday that Caracas had not yet received an asylum request from him and would make a decision only when it did.

But he voiced sympathy with Mr Snowden's actions and described him as a champion of human rights.

"He deserves the world's protection. He has not asked us for it yet. When he does we will give our answer," Mr Maduro said during a visit to Moscow.

President Obama: Fierce criticism

"We think this young person has done something very important for humanity, has done a favour to humanity, has spoken great truths to deconstruct a world that … is controlled by an imperialist American elite."

In contrast, Ecuador has said it is not considering Mr Snowden's asylum request and never intended to facilitate his flight from Hong Kong, to Moscow on June 23.

President Rafael Correa told The Guardian newspaper the whistle blower was Russia's responsibility and would have to reach Ecuadorean territory before the country would consider granting him asylum.

Mr Correa, speaking at the presidential palace in Quito, insisted his government had not intended to give Mr Snowden a temporary travel pass. "It was a mistake on our part," he said.

His comments came after the American wrote him a letter, praising Ecuador's "bravery" in considering his request for political asylum.

Mr Snowden has, meanwhile, accused US Presdent Barack Obama of denying him the right to asylum and of putting political pressure on countries he has approached.

In a statement published on the WikiLeaks website, he said Mr Obama was practising the "old, bad tools of political aggression".

"On Thursday, President Obama declared before the world that he would not permit any diplomatic "wheeling and dealing" over my case.

"Yet now it is being reported that after promising not to do so, the President ordered his Vice President to pressure the leaders of nations from which I have requested protection to deny my asylum petitions.

"This kind of deception from a world leader is not justice, and neither is the extralegal penalty of exile. These are the old, bad tools of political aggression. Their purpose is to frighten, not me, but those who would come after me."

Mr Snowden said the White House was "using citizenship as a weapon" and had denied him the right to seek asylum by revoking his passport, "leaving me a stateless person" and stopping him from "exercising a basic human right... the right to seek asylum".

He added: "In the end the Obama administration is not afraid of whistleblowers like me, Bradley Manning or Thomas Drake.

"We are stateless, imprisoned, or powerless. No, the Obama administration is afraid of you. It is afraid of an informed, angry public demanding the constitutional government it was promised - and it should be."

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Bond And Bueller Cars To Be Auctioned Off

Two famous movie cars are going up for sale - the Ferrari from classic 80s movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off and James Bond's submersible Lotus.

The Bond car, which appeared in The Spy Who Loved Me, goes under the hammer in London in September and the Bueller car at Pebble Beach, California, in August.

Auctioneers say the famous Lotus Esprit was the only one made for the film and cost about £65,000 when built, the equivalent of £330,000 today.

Known as 'Wet Nellie' on the set of the 1977 film, the propeller vehicle laid 'undiscovered' in a Long Island storage unit for 10 years.

A local couple unexpectedly found themselves owner of the iconic motor after they won a blind auction for the contents of the unit.

The fully-functioning Lotus was originally built by Perry Oceanographic in Florida and was piloted by a retired US Navy Seal.

Matthew Broderick took the 'Ferrari' for a spin in Ferris Bueller's Day Off

The Ferris Bueller car, which gets wrecked at the end of the 1986 film, is depicted as a Ferrari 250 GT California.

However, film-makers actually used three replicas built by California company Modena Design and Development.

With 500 horsepower though, its new owner will certainly get supercar performance.

Modena co-founder Neil Glassmoyer said the company built the replicas in four weeks.

"Two were interchangeably used as hero and stunt cars and one was a rolling fibreglass shell that was used in the destruction scene," he said.

"This car was actually intended for the stunt work, but both saw action, and both wound up with broken front suspension bolts because the big jump scene took nine takes between the two cars."

Glassmoyer said director John Hughes was also considering a Porsche Turbo for the film but eventually chose the iconic red sportscar.

The car goes up for sale on August 17 but will have to go some way to beat the prices achieved by authentic Ferrari classics.

In 2010, DJ Chris Evans paid £12m for a 1963 Ferrari 250 GTO.

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Marine Le Pen: Far-Right Leader Loses Immunity

The European Parliament has lifted French National Front leader Marine Le Pen's criminal and civil immunity, opening the way for race hate charges.

Prosecutors in Lyon in central France are investigating Ms Le Pen for alleged incitement to racial hatred over remarks she made during a speech in 2010.

She likened the sight of Muslims praying in the street to Nazi occupation during World War Two.

The populist far-right leader, who was first elected to the European Parliament in 2004, said ahead of the decision that she was a "dissident" and had invoked her right to freedom of expression.

Ms Le Pen said she was confident she would win any trial.

In the speech, she denounced the holding of Muslim prayers in the streets of France - where a dearth of mosques has forced many to pray outside.

"For those who like to talk about World War Two, to talk about occupation, we could talk about, for once, the occupation of our territory," she said.

"There are no armoured vehicles, no soldiers, but it is an occupation all the same and it weighs on people."

Ms Le Pen won 18% of the vote in the first round of France's presidential election in April 2012, her party's highest-ever score.

The European Parliament's judicial committee last month voted with an overwhelming majority in favour of lifting her immunity.

French politicians abstained to avoid any accusation of a political settling of scores.

As with many national parliaments, members of the European Parliament enjoy immunity from criminal and civil liability for opinions expressed as part of their duties, unless the chamber votes to lift the immunity.

Immunity has been revoked dozens of times for MEPs in the past.

Ms Le Pen's father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, had his European Parliament immunity revoked in 1998 when he said that Nazi gas chambers were "a detail" in the history of World War Two.

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Russian Spy Couple Sentenced By German Court

A German court has jailed a married couple convicted of spying for Russia.

Andreas and Heidrun Anschlag - known only by the fake names on the Austrian passports they used to enter Germany - were sentenced to six-and-a-half years and five-and-a-half years respectively.

The pair, thought to be in their 40s or 50s, were arrested in October 2011 and charged with spying for more than 20 years.

They were planted in the former West Germany in 1988 by the Soviet Union's KGB and later worked for its successor the SVR.

The couple, posing as middle class Austrian citizens who were born and grew up in South America, had obtained and passed on Nato and EU political and military secrets to the Russians.                  

"Like wheels in a clockwork, for better or worse, they were dependent on each other for the success of the mission," said presiding judge Sabine Roggenbrod.

The house in Marburg where the couple last lived

Andreas Anschlag studied engineering and worked in the car industry while Heidrun was a housewife.

Even their daughter had no idea about their double lives, according to reports.

The couple left the documents in "dead-letter boxes", such as under certain trees, from where they were picked up by employees of the Russian consulate general in Bonn.

They communicated with Russia via short-wave radio, text messages sent on a satellite phone and hidden messages in comments in YouTube videos under agreed names, the court heard.

The defendants, whose alias surname means "attack" in German, had refused to confirm any details about their identity, but their defence lawyer said they had Russian citizenship.

"The court could not uncover your true identities," Roggenbrod told the two accused. "We don't know where you were born or your real names."

But she stressed: "The court is convinced that the accused knew right until the end exactly which master they served and for what purpose."

A Dutch court in April sentenced a Dutch diplomat to 12 years in prison for delivering confidential EU and Nato documents to Russian agents.

The Anschlags allegedly compiled the information he gathered and sent it on to Russia's intelligence agency.

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Lebedev Found Guilty Over TV Chat Show Brawl

Media magnate Alexander Lebedev has been found guilty of battery over a brawl on a TV chat show in his native Russia.

The financial backer of Britain's Independent and Evening Standard newspapers was sentenced by a court in Moscow to 150 hours of community service, avoiding a prison term.

He had claimed the case against him was politically motivated, depicting the trial as President Vladimir Putin's revenge on him for criticising the government.

Last week, the opposition surprisingly dropped the main charge against Lebedev, of "hooliganism motivated by political hatred", which carried the threat of several years in prison.

Instead, they asked for his movements to be restricted for 21 months and for him to be banned from large public gatherings.

Alexander Lebedev has been convicted of assault over the TV punch up

Speaking after sentencing, Lebedev's lawyer, Genry Reznik, said his client was "ashamed" of the verdict, which his team would appeal.

Lebedev, a former London-based KGB agent, punched property tycoon Sergei Polonsky on a Russian political chat show in September 2011, knocking him to the floor.

He claimed he was protecting himself and that the subsequent charge of hooliganism was disproportionate. 

Last week, Mr Polonsky called for Lebedev - who is estimated to be worth more than £700m - to be forgiven.

Lebedev is rare among oligarchs in speaking out against the Kremlin since the imprisonment of oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who was arrested in 2003 after falling out with Mr Putin. Khodorkovsky's Yukos oil company was broken up and sold off, mainly into state hands.

Lebedev, who co-owns a campaigning Russian newspaper critical of Putin, also portrayed the case as part of a broader crackdown on the opposition since the former KGB spy returned to the presidency in May 2011 following protests.

Mr Polonsky spent three months in jail in Cambodia this year for allegedly attacking the crew of a boat after a dispute erupted during a New Year's Eve outing.

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