Syria: Dramatic Images Of Destruction In Homs

Aerial photos show the destruction that fighting has wreaked on a district of Homs city as Syrian government troops take control.

All photos: AFP/Ho/Shaam News Network

The neighbourhood of Khaldiyeh had been a rebel stronghold since the start of the two-year-old conflict but has now been seized by forces loyal to President Bashar al Assad.

The images released by the opposition and which cannot be independently verified show buildings reduced to mere shells after intense clashes between the two sides.

The scene appears to be a bleak and lifeless wasteland.

Footage claiming to show ongoing battles in Khaldiyeh has also emerged.

The video uploaded online and purporting to be from the area, shows shelling across the skyline of the city which appears to hit the minaret of a local mosque.

Smoke from heavy fighting can be seen in another video as loud explosions shake the camera.

The regime's capture of the district is a setback for the rebels in the strategic central heartland, bringing President Assad's forces closer to their goal of capturing all of Syria's third largest city.

Government troops had launched a sweeping offensive to retake rebel-held areas of Homs a month ago.

In early June, regime forces captured the strategic town of Qusair in Homs province near the border with Lebanon. Troops have also taken Talkalakh, another border town in the province.

The province of Homs is Syria's largest, running from the Lebanese frontier in the west all the way to the border with Iraq and Jordan in the east.

The city holds strategic value because it serves as a crossroads: it is on the main highway from Damascus in the south to the north of the country as well as to the coastal region, which is a stronghold of President Assad's Alawite sect.

Meanwhile, at least 10 people have been killed in a mortar attack on a government-held district in Homs city, an official and opposition activists said.

Around 26 others were wounded after three mortar rounds hit the neighbourhood of Dablan before dawn.

Many living in the area had fled there to escape fighting elsewhere in the city.

Elsewhere, at least 12 rebel fighters were killed as they were taking flour from a mill on the eastern outskirts of the capital Damascus, according to opposition activists.

The rebels had only just captured the mill on the Damascus Airport road following a battle that lasted several hours, in the hope they could relieve a food shortage caused by a siege of the area by loyalist forces for the last two months.

In the northern city of Aleppo, several rebel factions including the al Qaeda-linked Jabhat al Nusra, or Nusra Front, reportedly attacked army posts in two neighbourhoods in an offensive titled "amputating infidels".

Rebel groups, who are trying to oust the president from power, apparently captured the district of Dahret Abed Rabbo and several buildings in Lairamoun there, and eight government soldiers were killed.

One hundred thousand people have been killed in Syria's two year conflict, which started with peaceful protests against Mr Assad's rule in March 2011.

Homs has strategic value

Nearly two million refugees have fled the war, which has become an increasingly sectarian conflict between the mainly Sunni Muslim rebels and supporters of Mr Assad.

Complicating the conflict has been the increasing involvement of foreign fighters from neighbouring countries and even, in small numbers, from the West.

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Face Transplant Patient Thanks Doctors

A man has thanked doctors for saving his life after having a face transplant in Poland.

The patient, identified only as Grzegorz, spoke at a news conference just three months after losing his nose, upper jaw and cheeks in an accident with a stone-cutting machine at the brick factory where he worked.

The 27-hour operation was carried out on May 15 at the Cancer Centre and Institute of Oncology in Gliwice.

"My speech isn't clear, but it's really important that it is there," Grzegorz said as he was discharged from hospital. "I know it's still a long way."

Surgeons said his recovery is proceeding surprisingly quickly, thanks to his "courage and determination".

He can see, eat, taste and speak, although his speech is hard to understand because his face muscles are still tight and require intensive physiotherapy.

The 33-year-old will also need surgery on his right eyelid, which he can't move.

During the news conference at the hospital, his eyes were hidden behind sunglasses.

Professor Adam Maciejewski, who led the operation, said Grzegorz will need to take medication for the rest of his life, but will be able to go back to work and lead a normal life.

"A period of hard work and rehabilitation is before him, but I want to thank him here today for his courage, perseverance and character," he added.

"I also thank the family who supported him."

Grzegorz's sister Barbara told reporters: "It's hard to express how happy we feel that our brother can return home."

She said her brother had a lunch of roast duck waiting for him at home.

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Egypt: Mohamed Morsi 'Well', Says EU's Ashton

Egypt's ousted president Mohamed Morsi is doing "well" and has access to information, the EU foreign policy chief has said.

Baroness Ashton said she had "friendly, open and very frank" talks with Mr Morsi, who has not been seen in public since the army coup which removed him from power on July 3.

Speaking hours after their meeting, she said she could not reveal precise details of their two-hour discussion.

"He has access to information in terms of TV and newspapers so we were able to talk about the situation and the need to move forward," said Baroness Ashton.

The EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy said she saw the facilities Mr Morsi has access to, but did not know the location.

Calling for Egypt to build a "deep democracy", she added: "All the people that I have been talking with are absolutely aware that this great country has to move forward and has to do so in an inclusive way.

"I've urged everyone to think very carefully about how you include everybody in the process."

It has not been revealed where the meeting with Mr Morsi took place but it is understood that Baroness Ashton headed there by military helicopter early on Tuesday.

The deposed president is being kept at an undisclosed location by the new regime.

Thousands massed in Cairo at the weekend in support of Mr Morsi

The meeting comes during a visit where she has also met General Abdel Fattah al Sisi, the head of the army and the man behind Mr Morsi's overthrow.

The visit follows a weekend of violence that saw 82 people killed during a pro-Morsi rally in Cairo.

Government officials have rejected witness accounts that police fired on crowds and an investigation is under way.

Baroness Ashton said she had urged all sides to "find a calm resolution to the situation on the ground".

"We've made it clear that there is no place for violence in this and that peaceful demonstration is important.

"The authorities have a huge responsibility to make sure that happens," she added.

The EU foreign affairs chief arrived in Cairo on Sunday and has also had meetings with interim vice-president Mohamed ElBaradei, interim president Adly Mansour and representatives of the Muslim Brotherhood's political wing.

The European Union is keen to mediate in what has become an increasingly violent situation.

Before arriving in Egypt, Baroness Ashton said she would press for a "fully inclusive transition process, taking in all political groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood".

Morsi supporters clashed with police in a number of Egyptian cities

During her last visit, on July 17, she unsuccessfully asked to meet Mr Morsi and urged for him to be released.

The democratically-elected former leader is being held on suspicion of crimes relating to his escape from prison during the 2011 uprising that overthrew ex-president Hosni Mubarak.

He was removed from power on the back of huge popular protests against his rule.

Mr Morsi, his Muslim Brotherhood group and its Islamist allies have rejected the military-appointed leaders who have replaced him.

The interim government is pushing ahead with a fast-track plan to return to a new democratically-elected government by early next year.

Protesters from the Anti-Coup Alliance of Islamist groups, which organised the weekend protests, has called for a "million-person march" on Tuesday.

They called on Egyptians "to go out into the streets and squares, to regain their freedom and dignity".

France's foreign minister Laurent Fabius also came out on Tuesday and called for Mr Morsi's release.

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Italy Crash: Funeral Mass Held For Victims

Families Mourn After 'Brutal' Crash

Updated: 3:18pm UK, Tuesday 30 July 2013

By Robert Nisbet, Europe Correspondent

Many of the relatives hadn't slept since they heard the news, some hugging the coffins overnight.

Wracked with grief, but numbed by shock and tiredness, they received a procession of well-wishers who fought their way through the congregation.

From the back of the sports stadium in the Monterusciello district of Pozzuoli, it looked like a melee as the priest struggled to keep order during a Mass for the victims.

He hissed and shouted "silence" into his microphone, but he couldn't hold back the tide.

The coffins were laid out before the makeshift altar in a room wide enough to hold two basketball courts. Even then, it could barely contain the dead and their families.

There was silence when the names were read out, a sad roll call which ended in applause.

Clapping is traditional here at funerals, to thank the deceased for their lives and show support for those left behind.

Federica Simeone lost her aunt Maria Carannante.

She described her as the "pillar of the family", which is large even by Italian standards.

Federica has 160 cousins and they kept in contact because of her mother's sister.

"She was known by everyone and everyone wished her well," she said.

"She was unique and I am so sorry this has happened. It's just so brutal and so tragic."

"Here at Pozzuoli, even if it's made up of different neighbourhoods like Monterusciello ... everyone knows everyone and we feel pain for all the others.

"It will have a horrible impact. It will be difficult to get back to smiling tomorrow."

We asked her what she thought of the investigation, whether mechanical failure or driver error might have been the cause.

"It doesn't interest me at all," she answered quickly.

"All that matters is that they can rest in peace. That is the truth.

"What happened, what happened to the driver, they talk about a brake problem, a burst tyre, poor road signs.

"You can't blame anyone. It happened. I just hope they can rest in peace because that is what they all deserve. My aunt and all of them."

After the service, each coffin was carried out to a waiting hearse.

Relatives were forced to give up their vigil and were prised from the wood.

Federica told us she wants her aunt to be remembered not as a number in a death count, but as a woman whose loss is devastating to her family.

That is why the 38 funerals, to be conducted across this Neapolitan suburb, will assume such a significance: to wrest the person from a grim statistic.

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Bradley Manning Trial: Verdict To Be Announced

Bradley Manning, the US soldier who risks life in prison for leaking a trove of US government secrets to WikiLeaks, will learn the verdict in his trial today.

The military judge hearing the court-martial for the former intelligence analyst is expected to announce her decision at 1pm (6pm BST).

Judge Colonel Denise Lind has to decide whether Manning is a traitor who committed espionage against his country or a whistleblower who hoped to shine a spotlight on what he felt was US government misconduct.

Manning was serving as an intelligence analyst in Iraq when he sent WikiLeaks a vast cache of secret diplomatic cables and classified military reports from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He faces 21 counts including espionage, computer fraud and theft charges, but the most serious is aiding the enemy, which carries a possible life sentence.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has called Manning a 'hero'

The verdict follows about two months of conflicting testimony and evidence at the trial in Fort Meade, Maryland.

The 25-year-old has admitted giving the anti-secrecy website some 700,000 documents, pleading guilty to 10 lesser charges, including espionage and computer fraud, which could carry a prison sentence of up to 20 years.

But he has denied that he knowingly helped enemies of the United States, most notably Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda.

He says he selected material that would not harm troops or national security.

In closing arguments, defence lawyer David Coombs said Manning was no traitor but a "young, naive and good-intentioned" citizen who wanted to encourage public debate about US foreign policy.

Prosecutors called him an anarchist hacker and traitor who indiscriminately leaked classified information he had sworn to protect.

They said bin Laden obtained copies of some of the documents WikiLeaks published before he was killed by US Navy Seals in 2011.

"He was not a troubled young soul, he was a determined soldier with the knowledge, ability and desire to harm the United States in its war effort," lead prosecutor Major Ashden Fein told the court.

"Your honour, he was not a whistleblower - he was a traitor."

The verdict could have significant implications for civil liberties.

Supporters of Bradley Manning in Fort Meade are calling for his release

Manning's supporters argue a conviction would be a huge blow for press freedoms in the US and would deter future whistleblowers from exposing government wrongdoing.

Most of the information he sent to WikiLeaks was published between April and November 2010.

The material included some 470,000 Iraq and Afghanistan battlefield reports, 250,000 State Department diplomatic cables and several battlefield video clips, including footage of a 2007 US Apache helicopter attack in Baghdad that killed at least nine men.

Manning was arrested in Baghdad in May 2010.

The sentencing phase of the trial could begin as early as Wednesday.

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