Iran Nuclear Talks: Hague Arrives In Geneva

Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague has arrived for talks in Geneva amid hopes an historic deal may be signed on Iran's nuclear programme.

Mr Hague joined counterparts including US Secretary of State John Kerry and foreign ministers from Russia, France and Germany, and the presence of senior ministers has raised expectations that an agreement could be close.

He told reporters: "They remain very difficult negotiations, I think it's important to stress that. We're not here because things are necessarily finished, we're here because they're difficult and they remain difficult.

John Kerry arrives in Geneva earlier

"There are narrow gaps but they are important gaps. It's very important that any agreement is thorough, that it is detailed, that it is comprehensive, and that it is a deal in which we can all - the whole world - have confidence that it can work and it will be observed."

Iran warned it would not bow to "excessive demands" as talks aimed at curbing Tehran's nuclear ambitions entered a fourth day.

The arrival of Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov had heightened speculation that Mr Kerry would also attend.

Mr Kerry's goal is to "help narrow differences and move closer to an agreement," a State Department spokeswoman said.

Mr Lavrov joined the talks as negotiators said there had been some progress on the third day of meetings and the White House said the US remained "hopeful" that agreement could be reached.

This third meeting since President Hassan Rouhani's election in June is seen as the biggest hope in years to resolve the decade-old stand-off over Iran's nuclear programme.

Failure might mean Iran resuming the expansion of its atomic activities, while Washington and others could toughen already painful sanctions and the possibility of Israeli military action would draw nearer.

At the last gathering, foreign ministers including Mr Kerry flew to Geneva but three days of talks failed and they went home empty-handed.

Iran's Foreign Minister said talks were 'progressing well' on Friday

Sky's Foreign Affairs Editor Tim Marshall, in Geneva, said: "They've spent the last 12 days talking to each other via the phone at political director level and I think they've got so close.

"They're burning political capital here, the foreign ministers. If they come in again and leave empty handed again, they've burned a lot of capital and the voices that say 'what is the point of this' will grow ever louder.

"And I think if they don't get a deal, you might see extra sanctions coming from the US Congress next week and that will scupper the whole deal."

According to a draft proposal hammered out on November 9, the US, Britain, China, France, Russia, and Germany - the so-called P5+1 nations - want Iran to freeze key parts of its nuclear programme for six months.

In return Iran would get minor and, Western officials insist, "reversible" sanctions relief, including unlocking several billion dollars in oil revenues and easing trade restrictions on precious metals and aircraft parts.

This hoped-for "first phase" deal would build trust and ease tensions while negotiators push on for a final accord that ends once and for all fears that Tehran will get an atomic bomb.

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China Claims Airspace Over Disputed Islands

China has laid claim to a block of airspace over islands in the East China Sea which are at the heart of a dispute with Japan.

The Xinhua news agency published a map and co-ordinates of the area it called "the East China Sea Air Defence Zone", as well as rules for aircraft in the area, which covers most of the sea.

It reported that China has threatened "defensive emergency measures" against aircraft which do not comply with new identification rules.

Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun said the establishment of the zone was aimed at "safeguarding state sovereignty, territorial land and air security, and maintaining flight order".

Japan says it owns the islands and the Foreign Ministry has lodged a strong protest against the new zone, Kyodo news agency reported. 

Ties between the Asian powers have been strained for months by the row over the islands, called the Diaoyu in China and the Senkaku in Japan, which are believed to be surrounded by energy-rich waters.

Patrol ships from both countries have been shadowing each other near the islets, raising fears that a confrontation could develop into a clash.

There have also been several incidents involving military aircraft flying close to each other.

In October, Chinese military aircraft flew near Japan for three days in a row.

Japan scrambled fighter jets each time in response.

The Chinese rules mean aircraft have to report flight plans to China's Foreign Ministry or civil aviation administration, maintain radio contact and reply promptly to identification inquiries, keep radar transponders turned on and bear clear markings of their nationality and registration.

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Head Injury 'Uncovers Teen's Musical Gift'

A tone-deaf teenager who spent weeks in hospital with concussion injuries has since discovered the ability to play 13 musical instruments.

Lachlan Connors, 19, from Denver, tried to learn to play the piano before his injuries, but found he had no aptitude for music.

"He really had no talent," his mother Elsie Hamilton told CBS4.

"I would say: 'Can't you hear what's next?' (while Lachlan played) something like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and he said: 'No'."

Lachlan was a keen sportsman. He loved to play lacrosse, and hoped to play professionally one day.

Lachlan spent several weeks in hospital with concussion (Pic: CBS4)

However, a series of concussion injuries on the field led to seizures and eventually hospital.

"I fell backwards and hit the back of my head on the ground. I remember getting up and feeling really dazed. I didn't really understand something bad had happened," Lachlan said.

In subsequent matches he suffered further blows to the head. He started to have epileptic seizures and hallucinations, and eventually spent several weeks in hospital.

When he was released, doctors told Lachlan he could no longer play contact sports. However, he soon discovered he could play music easily by ear.

Lachlan has the ability to play 13 musical instruments by ear (Pic: CBS4)

He can now play as many as 13 instruments, including the guitar, the piano, the bagpipes, the mandolin and the accordion.

"I honestly think something got rewired and something just changed. Thank God it did," Lachlan told CBS4.

Lachlan's doctors said the concussion injuries may have stimulated a previously unused part of his brain.

"This was not a small injury for him," said Dr Spyridon Papadopoulos.

"The thought is that this was a talent that was laying latent in his brain and was somehow uncovered by his brain rewiring after the injury."

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Shark Kills Surfer In Western Australia

By Jonathan Samuels, Australia Correspondent

A 35-year-old man has been killed by a shark while surfing in Western Australia.

Beaches have been closed in the area near Gracetown, 167 miles (270km) south of Perth, after the man's body was pulled from the sea on Saturday morning.

Eyewitnesses described how the man's arm was missing and there was no sign of life when he was dragged to shore.

Officers from the Department of Fisheries have issued an "imminent threat danger" and have been sent to the area to attempt to catch the shark.

The attack happened at an area known as the Lefthanders surf break.

Surfer Tom Jones told the ABC he was at nearby Big Rock beach at the time of the attack and knows of the victim.

"Cop cars rolled up at Lefties and we thought (it was) definitely another shark attack," he said.

The attack happened near Gracetown in southwest Australia

He added: "I know of him and he was pretty young to die."

The man's body was airlifted from the beach. It is reported he was surfing alone at the time.

Gracetown has now been the site of three fatal shark attacks in the past 10 years. It is the tenth fatal attack in western Australia in nine years.

Surfer Bradley Smith was taken by a great white at a beach near the town in 2004 and another surfer, Nicholas Edwards, was killed by a shark at nearby South Point.

More recently, diver Greg Pickering was bitten on the face and body by a five-metre great white shark while diving off the coast of Esperance, also in western Australia.

Saturday's attack came as some of the world's finest chefs, including Heston Blumenthal, gather in the region for a gourmet tourism extravaganza.

The Australian Associated Press reported that Mr Blumenthal was surfing in waters near the site of the attack on Friday.

The dead surfer has not yet been identified.

Australia is now the world's deadliest country in terms of shark attacks.

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Latvia Supermarket Collapse 'Was Murder'

Rescuers are still searching for 10 people who may have been killed in the collapse of a supermarket which Latvia's president has described as "murder".

Fifty-two deaths have been confirmed after the roof of the Maxima store caved in in the capital Riga on Thursday.

President Andris Berzins said: "This case must be treated as the murder of many unprotected people."

He called for the disaster to be "investigated at maximum speed", adding: "This is a case where we need to say clearly that an enormous number of defenceless people were killed, and that's how we should proceed."

The rescue operation has been dangerous for firefighters

Some 40 people were wounded, including 13 firefighters, and 23 people remained in hospital as of Saturday afternoon.

It was the worst accident in the Baltic country since it regained independence in 1991. The government has declared three days of mourning and thousands of floral tributes and candles have been placed at the scene.

Laila Rieksta-Riekstina, head of the state's child welfare department, told Latvia Radio that 16 children lost parents in the accident. Three of them lost both parents.

Antons Ryakhin said "about 100 people" had been inside the building with him.

The 19-year-old said: "I was queuing at the cash desk when the roof suddenly caved in. It all happened within a few seconds.

At least 52 people were killed

"It was dark but still light enough to see the exit. I ran out. The doors were open, but a lot of rubble fell in front of them - I think that's why some people couldn't get through."

The rescue operation has been hampered by the risk of further collapses.

Preliminary reports indicate the roof caved in due to either faulty construction or building activities on the roof, where workers were creating a garden area and children's playground for a new high-rise residential building adjacent to the supermarket.

Pictures show that a large amount of building materials, including bags of soil, were left in areas of the roof that, according to Riga city officials, could have been vulnerable to heavy loads.

The police investigation could take several weeks to complete.

The central government, Riga's city council and the Maxima retailer have promised compensation to victims, while charities are also raising cash.

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Egypt: 10 Soldiers Killed In Car Bomb Attack

At least 10 Egyptian soldiers have been killed and 35 wounded in a car bomb attack in Sinai.

A suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into one of two buses carrying off-duty soldiers between Rafah and el-Arish, the regional capital of North Sinai, where security forces are battling Islamists.

The blast was one of the deadliest attacks in the Sinai since al Qaeda-inspired militants began stepping up assaults following the army's ousting of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.

Although no group has claimed responsibility, suicide car bombings are a signature method used by militant groups linked to or inspired by al Qaeda. 

Sky News' Middle East producer Tom Rayner said: "This area has seen unrest for some time, but that unrest, lawlessness and insurgency the army are trying to fight has increased in intensity since the coup against former president Morsi in July.

"What we've seen since then is an increase in attacks against soldiers at checkpoints in the Sinai, but also in Egypt itself there have been repeated attacks on army checkpoints.

Supporters and opponents of the military regime clash in Tahrir Square

"The anger is based around the fact they are trying to control this area where there are tunnels going into Gaza. This will be a serious omen for the Egyptian army in their attempts to control insurgency in the north of the Sinai."

The attack came after one person was killed and dozens more injured during clashes between opponents and supporters of Egypt's military-backed regime in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Tuesday.

Police backed by armoured vehicles used tear gas and fired shots to drive protesters out the square after they gathered to mark the anniversary of the 2011 demonstrations against the military which took power after Hosni Mubarak was overthrown.

More than 40 protesters were killed in fighting with security forces during protests which lasted several days.

Activists deface a monument dedicated to the protesters killed in 2011

Tuesday's rally was aimed against people the protesters felt had "betrayed" the revolution - Mubarak loyalists, the military council that ruled for 17 months after his fall and the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood which won subsequent elections but was ousted by the military in July.

The military handed power to Mr Morsi in June 2012, after he won the country's first free election, but overthrew him a year later following mass protests demanding his resignation.

Some protesters threw rocks and fireworks but left the square shortly after the security forces moved in.

Hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood members have been killed in clashes since Mr Morsi was removed from power.

Thousands more have been arrested and the group has been outlawed.

The new military-backed government of General Abdel Fatah al Sisi is pushing ahead with a transition plan, aiming for presidential and parliamentary elections early next year.

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Greenpeace Protest: Britons Released On Bail

Three Britons have been freed on bail after they were arrested following attempts by Greenpeace to occupy an oil platform in the Arctic.

Activist Alexandra Harris was the first to be given the news at a court in St Petersburg after spending two months in custody following the protest at the Prirazlomnaya platform in September.

Journalist Keiron Bryan was released about an hour later and a second British activist Anthony Perrett was told he could go free just before 3.30pm UK time.

Journalist Kieron Bryan shows his relief at the news

It is not immediately clear what will happen next, but it is understood that it is unlikely any of the group will be allowed to leave Russia.

All still face charges relating to the initial protest, during which the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise engaged in a non-violent attempt to disrupt Arctic drilling activities by a Russian oil company.

Mr Perrett was given the news as the first of the so-called Arctic 30 - 28 activists and two journalists who were arrested by Russia two months ago - walked free from jail.

British activist Iain Rogers was denied bail at a hearing in October

As she heard the news, Ms Harris skipped for joy and said: "This has been the hardest experience of my life. I'm really happy. It's not over yet but there's light at the end of the tunnel.

"It's nice the Russians made the right decision. I love my parents and look forward to speaking to them soon."

Ms Harris' father Chris said: "We're incredibly proud of how she has conducted herself throughout this ordeal.

Russian special forces arrested the protesters at gunpoint in September

"I can see when she came into court she was smiling and happy as she'd heard the news the others had been granted bail, but as the hearing progressed she became emotional.

"I think she'll make her own mind up what she does in life. She's always been passionate about the Arctic and we're proud of her.

After his release Mr Bryan said: "This has been really difficult and it has been made a lot easier hearing how much support I have in the UK. To my family, 'I love you and I hope to see you soon'."

The ship's Captain, Pete Wilcox, was also freed on bail

Speaking of his detention, he said: "I had a couple of phone calls with my girlfriend and that's it. It's the worst possible isolation.

"The conditions were terrible in Murmansk. I think we're very lucky in the UK. Things were better in St Petersburg because they decorated my cell and made it look nice."

Mr Bryan said the moment of his arrest when Russian special forces abseiled onto the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise was like something out of a Hollywood movie.

Anthony Perrett before he learned that his bail application was successful

"They didn't declare who they were they just pointed their guns at us and took over the ship. I had no idea it was going to carry on like this. If I knew that was the beginning of this nightmare I would have behaved differently."

The group were initially charged with piracy but are now accused of hooliganism, which carries a maximum jail term of seven years.

Greenpeace spokeswoman Birgitte Lesanner said she was "proud" of the protesters, including six Britons, and said their resilience had been "amazing".

Ms Harris' father said her family were overjoyed at news of her release

Earlier, as she was led into the courtroom by police, Ms Harris told supporters she felt "trapped inside a political game".

Speaking from inside a metal cage, she told Sky News correspondent Katie Stallard: "I will not dishonour Greenpeace or my country by trying to flee Russia or the investigation."

Ms Harris, whose bail was set at two million rubles (£38,098), said she was nervous and that the past two months had been "horrible".

"When I talk about the last two months, it's hard not to get emotional," she said.

"The conditions (in prison) at first were awful and the food was disgusting.

"They're better now but it's still prison. I'm still trapped, I can't speak to anyone (and I'm) cut off from the world. It's no better."

All 30 people aboard the Arctic Sunrise were detained after the protest in September. Six of them were British.

A fourth Briton, Iain Rogers, the Arctic Sunrise engineer, was refused bail at a hearing in October.

Russian courts have granted bail this week to a total of 17 of the detainees and hearings are scheduled for another 12.

Brazilian Ana Paula Alminhana Maciel was the first to leave detention, walking out of a St Petersburg pre-trial jail holding a sign reading "Save The Arctic."

However, Australian activist Colin Russell was denied bail at an earlier hearing and will be kept in detention until February.

:: Watch Sky News for live coverage of the hearing.

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Iran Nuclear Talks With West Resume In Geneva

PM's Key Call To Iran President

Updated: 12:02am UK, Wednesday 20 November 2013

David Cameron has become the first British Prime Minister to call an Iranian president in more than a decade.

The Prime Minister spoke to Hassan Rouhani by telephone on Tuesday afternoon ahead of negotiations over Tehran's nuclear ambitions in Geneva this week.

A Downing Street spokesman said: "The two leaders discussed the bilateral relationship between Britain and Iran welcoming the steps taken since President Rouhani took office, including the appointment of non-resident Charges d'Affaires last week.

"They agreed to continue efforts to improve the relationship on a step by step and reciprocal basis.

"On Iran's nuclear programme, both leaders agreed that significant progress had been made in the recent Geneva negotiations and that it was important to seize the opportunity presented by the further round of talks which get under way on Wednesday.

"The Prime Minister underlined the necessity of Iran comprehensively addressing the concerns of the international community about their nuclear programme, including the need for greater transparency."

Dr Rouhani also gave details of the phone call on his Twitter feed, saying they discussed "way to create a positive atmosphere to address concerns on both sides on the nuclear issue".

Three days of high-level talks between representatives from Iran and the P5+1 group of nations earlier this month failed to achieve a breakthrough.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said Iran had been unable to accept a deal "at that particular moment", but Tehran blamed divisions between Western powers.

Some reports suggested France had wanted to place restrictions on the heavy-water reactor being built at Arak.

Iran stresses that its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes only, and has warned world powers against making "excessive demands" when trying to negotiate a deal.

In September, US president Barack Obama spoke with Mr Rouhani, the first such top-level conversation in more than 30 years.

Mr Obama said it was a "unique opportunity" to make progress with Iran's new leadership.

On the eve of next round of Geneva talks, the President urged Congress against imposing news sanctions on Iran during the negotiations.

He said such measures "would be most effective as a robust response, should Iran not accept the P5+1 proposal, or should Iran fail to follow through on its commitments," according to White House spokesman Jay Carney.

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Indonesia Halts Relations With Australia

Indonesia has frozen military co-operation with Australia amid claims its neighbour tried to eavesdrop on the mobile phone conversations of top Indonesian officials.

The announcement by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono marks the lowest point in relations between the pair in 14 years.

It follows increasingly tense exchanges between the countries since Tony Abbott became Australian Prime Minister in September.

Australian officials have yet to comment.

"It's clear that this is a logical step Indonesia must take," said Mr Yudhoyono.

He repeated his demands for an official explanation from Australia over media reports, quoting documents leaked by former US National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, that its spy agencies tried to tap his mobile phone and those of his wife and senior officials.

Indonesia had previously cooperated with Australia's border control force

Some analysts said the allegations that the snooping involved his wife, Ani Bambang Yudhoyono, may have fuelled Indonesian anger in the latest upset in often prickly relations.

The very public display of anger comes ahead of Indonesia's general and presidential elections next year, with the president's ruling party slipping badly in recent opinion polls.

Among the measures Indonesia will take is a suspension of military co-operation and intelligence exchanges, including over the politically charged issue of asylum seekers, which has long been a thorn in relations.

An Indonesian military spokesman said these would take effect from the beginning of next year.

Mr Abbott has been pressing Jakarta over the issue of boat people who frequently head to Australia via Indonesia.

Mr Yudhoyono said he wanted to return to good relations with Australia once the issue of phone-tapping had been resolved.

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South Africa Building Site Collapse Traps Dozens

As many as 50 people are still thought to be trapped under a collapsed roof at a building site in South Africa.

One person is known to have died when the shopping centre, which was under construction, caved in.

At least 26 people have so far been pulled from the rubble in Tongaat, some 25 miles from Durban, police spokeswoman Mandy Govender said.

"Most of those still trapped inside the building were construction workers," she said.

Emergency paramedics at the scene used sniffer dogs and specialist equipment to find survivors under the vast broken plinth of concrete and reinforcement mesh.

"An estimated 50 are underneath the rubble," said paramedic Neil Powell at the scene.

The paramedic said most of the injuries were "broken bones, multi-fractures and crush injuries ... some are in severe condition, others are mild".

It is not known what caused the collapse. Pic: Crisis Medical.

The cause of the roof collapse has not been established.

Tongaat is around 25 miles (40kms) north of the Indian Ocean city of Durban.

Cheap labour means it is not unusual to see hundreds of construction workers toiling away at a site in South Africa.

Sky News' Correspondent Alex Crawford said the building did not have planning permission.

"This is a site, according to the local people, the community leaders, that was not actually meant to go ahead. 

"...They're now saying they had serious doubts about this right from the start.

"They felt the building was going up far too quickly, it was too unsteady, they were never allowed to see the detailed plans.

"And certainly, according to the minister of health for KwaZulu-Natal, they believed they had taken legal action to show that the building did not have the required planning permission to go ahead."

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Paris Shootings: Police 'Have Gunman's DNA'

French police have said they have the DNA of a gunman suspected of carrying out shootings at two media organisations and a bank.

A massive manhunt is under way in Paris, a day after the shooter critically wounded a photographer at the offices of major daily newspaper Liberation.

Sky's Europe Correspondent Robert Nisbet, in Paris, said: "We're still not entirely sure how they (police) managed to get the DNA. 

"We think that it may be because he touched an object inside the car where he took that hostage to drive from the outskirts, the town of Puteaux, into the centre of Paris, the Champs-Elysees where he then melted into the crowd and the metro system."

A CCTV image of the gun-wielding intruder at BFMTV

After fleeing the newspaper's offices in the east of Paris, the gunman is believed to have crossed over to the western edge of the city, where he fired several shots outside the main office of the Societe Generale bank. No one was hurt.

He then reportedly hijacked a car driven by a priest and forced him to drop him off close to the Champs-Elysees in the centre of the city.

Le Parisien newspaper earlier reported that the suspected shooter was arrested in the seventh arrondissement of the city, but prosecutors on the case swiftly denied this.

The photographer, who was arriving for his first day of freelance work at the newspaper, suffered wounds to his chest and stomach in the shooting on Monday.

Police also believe the gunman was behind an incident on Friday in which staff members at news television station BFMTV were threatened by a gun-wielding intruder.

Paris is on high alert after the shootings

In that incident, the gunman emptied several cartridges on the floor, while warning a senior editor: "Next time, I will not miss you."

Investigators have so far been unable to identify the gunman - described as white and aged between 35 and 45 - and branded as a "real danger" by Interior Minister Manuel Valls.

Investigators have issued a new photograph of the suspect taken by a CCTV on Monday in Paris' central Concorde Metro station, near the Champs-Elysees.

Liberation executive Nicolas Demorand said the photographer was "still critical", although he was "in a slightly better state".

The newspaper devoted four pages to the unprecedented attack and an employee described the moment the gunman walked in.

"The guy pulled out a gun from his bag and fired twice at the first person he saw," the staff member said.

"It lasted no more than 10 seconds, and anyone of us could have been hit. The shooter said nothing and left immediately."

France's President Francois Hollande warned that the gunman "could still kill tomorrow or at any time".

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Sardinia: Deadly Floods After 'Apocalyptic' Storm

At least 16 people have been killed after heavy thunderstorms triggered flash flooding on the Italian holiday island of Sardinia.

Up to 40cm of rain fell in just 24 hours, causing river levels to rise to as high as three metres.

The torrent of water swept away cars, submerged homes and caused bridges to collapse.

Italian prime minister Enrico Letta declared a national emergency amid fears the number of confirmed deaths could rise.

Streets were inundated with water as up to 40cm of rain fell in 24 hours

Rescue workers struggled to reach an isolated, mountainous area around Nuoro, where people scrambled onto roofs and climbed up trees to escape the rising waters.

Further north in Olbia, where thousands of residents have been evacuated, firefighters were called out more than 600 times, La Repubblica reported.

The city's mayor Gianni Giovanelli said the city had been destroyed by the "apocalyptic" storm.

Among the victims were an entire family of four Brazilian immigrants who drowned in their basement flat in the town of Arzachena.

Many bridges collapsed as heavy rain caused river levels to rise

In Dorgali, a policeman helping to escort an ambulance was killed when his car sank near a collapsed bridge, L'Unione Sarda reported.

Three people died when their van was crushed by a road bridge in Gallura, the newspaper added.

Sky News weather presenter Nazaneen Ghaffar said further heavy downpours are expected across the Mediterranean over the coming days.

"There should be a brief respite of drier conditions during the middle of the week before conditions turn more unsettled again into the weekend, with further heavy rain and thunderstorms leading to the chance of flash flooding," she said.

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Iranian Embassy Blasts Kill 23 In Beirut

Two explosions at the Iranian Embassy in Beirut have killed 23 people and injured 146, Lebanon's health minister has said.

Ali Hassan Khalil said the number of victims, which include the embassy's cultural attache, was not final and could rise further.

Lebanese officials say security footage showed a suicide bomber and car bomb were behind the blasts in the neighbourhood of Janah, in the south of the Lebanese capital.

The area is a stronghold of the militant Hizbollah group, which is a main ally of President Bashar al Assad in neighbouring Syria's civil war. It is unclear if the blasts are related to that conflict.

State television in Syria said: "The Syrian government firmly condemns the terrorist attack carried out near the Iranian embassy in Beirut."

The front of the embassy was badly damaged in the blast

Iran accused Israel of being responsible for the attacks.

The bombings were "an inhuman crime and spiteful act done by Zionists and their mercenaries," ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said in remarks reported by the official IRNA news agency.

Al Qaeda-linked group the Abdullah Azzam Brigades has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The neighbourhood has been hit by several blasts in recent months that have killed and wounded scores.

Shi'ite Iran has been bankrolling Mr Assad's fight against the mainly Sunni rebels and has given military support.

Southern Beirut is known as a Hizbollah stronghold and has been hit by at least three other explosions this year.

Those attacks were blamed on groups linked to the rebels, believed to be in retaliation for its involvement in Syria's civil war.

Hizbollah fighters have been supporting Mr Assad's forces in several strategic battles across Syria, a move that has also increased sectarian tension in the two countries.

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Syria: Ex-German Footballer Killed In Air Raid

A former Germany youth international who quit football to become a Jihadist has been killed in Syria.

Burak Karan played alongside stars like Sami Khedira and Kevin-Prince Boateng for two of Germany's youth sides.

According to his brother Mustafa, he died on October 11 when the Syrian air force dropped a bomb on a village near the Turkish border.

An image of Karan clutching a Kalashnikov assault rifle has appeared in tributes to him on social networking sites.

Mustapha told the German newspaper Das Bild that his brother, who was 26, "didn't want to fight".

Image of Burak taken from YouTube video

When civil war erupted in Syria in 2011, he said he began to raise funds to buy medical supplies for victims of the fighting.

"But when some of the supplies didn't turn up he decided to leave with his wife and two sons and organise distribution himself near the Turkish border."

Karan made five appearances for the German under-16 team and played twice for the under-17s.

Mustafa said: "Burak said money and career were not important things to him.

"Instead he searched the internet constantly for videos of war zones. He was desperate, full of compassion for the victims."

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New Gibraltar Row: Ambassador Summoned

The Foreign Office has summoned the Spanish Ambassador after a ship entered Gibraltar territorial waters and refuses to leave.

More follows...

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Nasa's Maven Mission To Mars Set For Launch

Nasa is preparing to launch its new mission to Mars to study the Red Planet's upper atmosphere.

The rocket carrying Maven is ready for launch

The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution spacecraft, also known as Maven, has been readied on the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral in Florida.

The robotic explorer is due to blast off later on a 10-month journey to Mars, where it will go into orbit and study the atmosphere to try to understand how the planet morphed from warm and wet to cold and dry.

The satellite, which is equipped with instruments to study the Martian atmospheric climate change over the planet's history, is set to be carried into space by an Atlas V rocket.

A two-hour launch window from 11:28am to 1.28pm local time (4.28pm to 6.28pm UK time) has been set.

Michael Meyer, lead Mars scientist at Nasa, said "It's only a little over 50 years ago that we first sent a planetary probe into space to move from just myth and fable to actually observation and measurements.

Curiosity rover has been on Mars since 2011

"We now have evidence with other measurements showing that there was water flowing on the surface of Mars. The environment at one point in time on Mars was able to support microbial life.

"But, you look at Mars today, it's cold, it's dry. We want to know what happened."

When Maven reaches Mars next September, it will join three functioning spacecraft, two US and one European.

Technicians work on Maven at the Kennedy Space Center

Indian orbiter Mangalyaan will also be arriving at about the same time to study the atmosphere, but will go a step further, seeking out methane, a possible indicator of life.

Nasa's Curiosity rover has been exploring the surface of the planet since August 2011 and has made several discoveries to support the theory that Mars was once able to support life.

These include pebbles providing evidence that a stream once flowed on the planet, and more recently, Martian dust, dirt and soil suggesting a "substantial" amount of water on Mars.

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Typhoon Haiyan: Video Shows Home Swept Away

Huge waves can be seen crashing into and washing away a house in amateur footage from one of the typhoon-hit areas of the Philippines.

Shot from the top floor of a boarding house in Hernani as a storm surge hit, the video released by an aid organisation shows the home disappear after being completely engulfed by water.

The footage emerged as the United Nations warned that some Philippine islands may have not been reached 10 days since the disaster struck, claiming more than 3,900 lives.

Millions have been displaced by the disaster

Nickson Gensis, from the Plan International development organisation, filmed the video from the building he and five others were staying in a few hundred metres from the sea.

"Five were praying and I was filming," he said.

"Three of our group were male and we all wore trunks so that we could swim if we needed to. We were so scared. But I thought, 'If I die, so be it'.

"It was like a huge tsunami but the water receded quickly afterwards."

With thousands dead and hundreds of thousands of homes destroyed, Philippine president Benigno Aquino visited the town of Palo, just south of worst-hit Tacloban city, where engineers have salvaged generators from a flooded IT park to light up the streets and town hall again.

A survivor surveys the devastation in a part of Tacloban

"One is tempted to despair, but the minute I despair, then everybody, it cascades down and everybody gets hampered in their efforts," he said.

Authorities in the country, the US military and international agencies face a mounting humanitarian crisis, with the number of people displaced by the catastrophe estimated at four million.

Bernard Kerblat, UN High Commissioner for Refugees representative for the Philippines, said the agency was still facing co-ordination problems.

"As of now, personally, I am not so sure that we've reached every single portion of the territory where people are in need of aid," he said.

"And, in fact, I wouldn't be surprised that unfortunately that there might still be, as I'm speaking to you, day 11 of this disaster, there might be still very isolated islands."

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Tornadoes Sweeping Across US Midwest Kill Six

At least six people have died as powerful tornadoes carved a path of destruction across the US Midwest.

Entire neighbourhoods were flattened within seconds as the twisters, triggered by a "very dangerous" and fast-moving weather system, touched down in as many as 10 states.

Forecasters said the extreme weather - which destroyed homes, uprooted trees and flipped cars upside down - could affect more than 50 million people.

The devastation left behind by a tornado in Washington, Illinois

According to the National Weather Service, more than 60 tornadoes struck, unleashing 80mph winds and hail stones up to two inches in diameter.

Illinois was struck the hardest. At least six were killed and dozens more injured, but with communications difficult and many roads impassable, it remained unclear how many people might be hurt.

At one hospital in Peoria, Illinois, doctors were treating at least 24 casualties, some of whom had head injuries and broken bones.

The storm moved toward the east coast, causing major damage in Illinois

Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin were buffered by the storm, which weakened as it tracked east towards Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland and New Jersey.

Washington, a town of 16,000 in Illinois, appeared to have the most severe damage. 

Anthony Khoury, who saw a twister rip through Washington, told Sky News: "Most of my neighbourhood is completely destroyed, everything has been demolished.

"Families have lost their homes, people don't have anywhere to sleep and the electricity has gone."

Michael Perdun, a fellow Washington resident, said: "I stepped outside and I heard it coming.

Entire communities were flattened in seconds

"My daughter was already in the basement, so I ran downstairs and grabbed her, crouched in the laundry room.

"All of a sudden I could see daylight up the stairway and my house was gone."

Jeff Leeman, who was in his backyard with his son when a tornado struck Pekin, Illnois, added: "In a matter of seconds ... it was right on top of us.

"We hustled in the house and before we knew it, it was gone. It was that fast."

Two people, an 80-year-old man and his 78-year-old sister, were killed in Washington County; three were killed in Massac County, near the Kentucky border; and the sixth victim was reported in Tazewell County.

A car crushed by a fallen tree in Pekin, Illinois

The tornadoes brought down phone lines, caused thousands of power failures and left debris strewn across roads.

The severe weather also caused the cancellation of many flights, while the Baltimore Ravens' game against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field was temporarily suspended in the first quarter due to lightning in the area.

Meteorologist Matt Friedlein said such powerful storms rarely occur so late in the year because the climate is usually too cold.

However, temperatures had been forecast to climb to as high as 26C (78F), he said, which is warm enough to produce severe weather when coupled with strong winter winds.

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Russia Crash Plane Was 'Vertical' On Impact

Russia's transport minister says a plane that crashed at Kazan airport, killing everybody on board including a British woman, was "vertical" when it hit the runway and exploded.

Forty-four passengers and six crew members were killed when the Boeing 737-500 airliner crashed on Sunday evening.

The Tatarstan Airlines flight from Moscow was trying to abort its landing in order to make a second approach when it struck the runway and exploded.

Transport minister Maxim Sokolov said the plane appeared to fall out of the sky.

The site of the crash

"The plane simply fell. It went vertically into the ground. After the plane hit the ground there was an explosion," he was quoted as saying by the state RIA Novosti news agency in Kazan.

Mr Sokolov cited security footage that shows the plane at its point of impact.

British woman Donna Bull, an A-levels programme manager at Bellerbys College in Cambridge, was killed in the crash, along with her Moscow-based colleague, Yana Baranova. The pair were heading to Kazan for a 10-day marketing trip.

Donna Bull was on a marketing trip

The UK Foreign Office confirmed the death and said it was providing consular assistance.

Ms Bull was described by her employer as a "very popular and well-respected member of staff".

Also among the dead was the son of the leader of the Tatarstan region, Irek Minnikhanov, and the head of Russia's FSB security service in Tatarstan, Alexander Antonov.

The plane took off from Moscow's Domodedovo airport at 6.25pm local time and crashed just over an hour later.

According to eyewitnesses, the Boeing lost altitude quickly and its fuel tank exploded on impact.

There were high winds and cloudy skies over the airport in central Russia at the time of the crash.

Boeing officials at the Dubai Airshow declined to comment on the crash.

The flight was operated by the regional Tatarstan airline, according to a spokeswoman from Russia's Emergencies Ministry.

A man reacts at Kazan airport to news of the crash

Kazan, which is 500 miles east of Moscow, is the capital of the oil-rich region of Tatarstan.

A new runway was built at the airport ahead of the World Student Games, held in the city earlier this year.

A spokesman for state aviation oversight agency Rosaviatsia said authorities would search for the flight recorders.

Russia and the former Soviet republics combined had one of the world's worst air traffic safety records in 2011, with a total accident rate almost three times the world average, according to the International Air Transport Association.

Flowers and a teddy bear are left near a fence of Kazan airport

IATA said last year that global airline safety had improved, but accident rates had risen in Russia and the ex-Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States.

In April 2012, at least 31 people were killed when a Russian passenger plane crashed shortly after take-off in Siberia.

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Paris Shootings: Attack At Liberation Paper

A manhunt is under way in Paris after two separate shootings, including one at a newspaper that left a man fighting for his life.

A photographer's assistant was seriously injured at the offices of the Liberation newspaper before another shooting about two hours later outside the headquarters of Societe Generale bank.

In a third incident, a man was taken hostage close to the bank and forced to drive to the Champs-Elysees before being released.

There are also unconfirmed reports that the suspect may be carrying grenades.

The hostage was released on the Champs-Elysees

Police said descriptions of the car-jacker matched that of the gunman. Shotgun cartridges found after both attacks also match up.

Officers are guarding media offices across Paris and are investigating a link with an incident on Friday when a man with a shotgun threatened journalists at a French news channel.

The victim at the Liberation newspaper was shot in the chest and arm, according to police union spokesman Christophe Crepin.

The shooter reportedly entered the lobby of the building wearing a bulletproof vest just before 10.15am, fired several shots with a pump-action shotgun and then fled.

Police stand guard outside the Liberation newspaper office

Liberation said the 27-year-old victim is in a critical condition at the city's Pitie-Salpetriere hospital.

No one was injured at the bank shooting, according to a Societe Generale spokesperson.

Police confirmed three shots were fired outside the building, which is located about six miles (10km) from the newspaper's office.

Sky News' Robert Nisbet said shortly after the bank shooting, a man called police and said he had been taken hostage in the nearby town of Puteaux.

The second shooting was outside the Societe Generale headquarters

"He was told he should drive to the Champs-Elysees - right in the centre of Paris," said Nisbet.

The shootings come three days after a man stormed into the Paris headquarters of news channel BFMTV brandishing a shotgun and warned a senior editor: "Next time, I will not miss you."

Police are investigating a link with that incident and comparing CCTV footage.

Freelance journalist Peter Allen, who is on the Champs-Elysees, said there is an "eerie silence on the streets" and that people in the area have been told to stay inside.

France's Interior Minister Manuel Valls speaks to media after the attack

"The hunt is on for this man," said Allen. "He has been described as between 40 and 45 years old, stout, shaven headed, wearing a cap and jeans.

"Rather disturbing reports say he is actually brandishing hand grenades as well as a shotgun.

"No one has seen him for a while and there are reports that he disappeared down into the Metro system - specifically line one - a hugely popular line full of tourists at all times of the day."

French President Francois Hollande said in a statement he had ordered authorities to "mobilise all means to clarify the circumstances of these acts and arrest the perpetrator or perpetrators".

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Antibiotics Warning: Resistance 'Growing'

By Enda Brady, Sky News Reporter

The world faces "unimaginable setbacks" unless it tackles the growing threat of resistance to antibiotics, according to an international group of experts.

The latest research by the 26-strong group predicts major problems unless governments work together immediately.

Antibiotic resistance happens when bacteria evolve mechanisms to withstand the drugs which are used to fight infection.

Lead author Professor Otto Cars, of Uppsala University in Sweden, said: "The causes of antibiotic resistance are complex and include human behaviour at many levels of society.

"The consequences affect everybody in the world.

"Within just a few years, we might be faced with unimaginable setbacks - medically, socially, and economically - unless real and unprecedented global co-ordinated actions to transform the way antibiotics are regulated and developed are taken immediately."

In the UK, research is focusing on how plant chemicals keep insects at bay

In September, the UK Government announced plans for a five-year strategy to tackle the problem, setting aside £4.5m.

Recent decades have seen vast increases in the use of antibiotics across medicine and agriculture, but the scientists argue that without adequate regulatory controls and better patient awareness, the huge global surge in antibiotic resistance will continue.

They say the problem is compounded by a desperate shortage of new drugs to treat multi-drug resistant bacterial infections.

Prof Cars added: "Antibiotic resistance is a complex ecological problem which doesn't just affect people, but is also intimately connected with agriculture and the environment.

"We need to move on from 'blaming and shaming' among the many stakeholders who have all contributed to the problem, towards concrete political action and commitment to address this threat.

Prof Laura Piddick says more funding is needed to develop new treatments

"Consumers and providers of antibiotics alike need to be empowered to tackle antibiotic resistance, as well as ensuring that those in need benefit from affordable, effective antibiotics."

One of the British scientists who helped compile the report said that alarm bells have been ringing - and ignored - for many years.

"For a long time there has been a sense of crying wolf over this," said Professor Laura Piddock, from the University of Birmingham.

"Science has been telling us about this problem for years. We need more academic research and funding. New treatments have been hampered by a lack of funding. It has always been viewed that this is something that the pharmaceutical industry should do."

At the John Innes Centre in Norwich scientists are going back to nature for the answers, studying how plants like eucalyptus trees produce chemicals to keep insects at bay.

"Plants have a distinct disadvantage in that they can't move out of the way of predators," Tony Maxwell, the centre's head of biological chemistry, told Sky News.

"And they have no end of predators, large and small animals, insects and bacteria. They have to produce a whole array of chemicals to defend themselves. What we are trying to work out is how we can use those chemicals for our own usage in antibiotics."

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Mandela's Granddaughter: My Battle Of Survival

By Alex Crawford, Special Correspondent

Nelson Mandela's granddaughter Zoleka has told Sky News how her grandparents inspired her in her battle to beat breast cancer.

Her interview with Sky comes as a leading South African newspaper reported her grandfather could no longer speak because of all the "tubes that are in his mouth to clear (the fluid off) his lungs".

The South African Sunday Independent splashed the news across its front page this morning following an interview with Mandela's second wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. 

The former South African president is considered to be medically stable by doctors although still critical and is being cared for at a 24-hour medical unit set up at his home in Houghton, a suburb of Johannesburg.

When Hope Whispers was published last week

The newspaper reports that Mr Mandela now communicates using facial gestures.

"He can't actually articulate anything," the newspaper reported Mr Mandela's ex-wife as saying.

The news coincides with the publication of a book by Zoleka in which she charts her painful journey with breast cancer, but also goes into startling detail about her drink, drug and sex addiction and touches on her childhood sexual abuse.

She stops short of explaining who was responsible for the sex abuse or how it happened.

"That's a story for another book," she told me when we met.

"It's still too painful."

The life of 33-year-old Zoleka has been anything but staid.

Her book, When Hope Whispers, begins with the words: "By the time I was born, on 9 April 1980, my mother (Zindzi Mandela) knew how to strip and assemble an AK-47 in exactly 38 seconds.

"She was 20 years old, trained in guerrilla warfare and already a full-fledged member of Umkhonto we Sizwe (the armed wing of the African National Congress)."

Her family's fight against South Africa's apartheid laws, which discriminated between different skin colours, dominated their lives and left a personal legacy which they are still coping with.

For Zoleka that meant a descent into drink and drug addiction and multiple sexual partners - but also the loss of two children; one was killed in a car accident, the other died after being born prematurely. And now, it has meant coping with breast cancer.

Zoleka said when she was first diagnosed she refused treatment for three months.

"I think I was in denial," she said.

She feared the chemotherapy and surgery would mean she would be unable to be a healthy mother to her surviving son.

Nelson Mandela can no longer speak, according to a newspaper report

It is a decision she regrets and the aim of the book, she says, is to provide some hope and inspiration to others coping with addictions, loss of children or a potentially terminal disease.

She detailed her chemotherapy in video blogs and pictures too. They show her hair being shorn and a sobbing Zoleka speaking about the pain of being bald. "I feel so ugly," she says.

She was persuaded by her medical team to save her eggs so she could possibly try for a family in the future but talks movingly about how heartbreaking it was for her to come to terms with the fact that with a double bilateral mastectomy, she would never be able to breastfeed again, should she become pregnant.

And she pays tribute to her grandparents. Her grandmother Winnie was by her side through much of her cancer treatment.

"Having the name I have, means there is a certain responsibility that I can't run away from," she said.

"And one of the things I learned from my grandparents is that everyone has the power to make a difference in other people's lives, no matter how difficult their own circumstances, and that's what I'm trying to do."

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Kurt Caselli: Motocross Star Dies After Crash

Motocross star Kurt Caselli has died after crashing during a race in Mexico.

The 30-year-old was leading the 833-mile off-road Baja 1000 race when he reportedly hit a small animal and crashed.

He later died as a result of severe head trauma.

Roger Norman, the president of race organiser Score International, said: "Our desert racing family has lost a very special person in Kurt.

"Kurt was a superb racer and this is a tragedy that affects us all.

Caselli pictured in action in January this year

"We extend our deepest condolences, thoughts and prayers to the Caselli family.

"Their loss is immeasurable and we grieve with them."

Caselli's team KTM Racing said in a statement that traces were discovered on the remains of his bike "that indicate he had collided with some small animal, which apparently caused the crash".

The statement added: "We are hugely shocked and saddened to hear of the death of Kurt Caselli.

"A huge loss to his family, team and to our sport. Kurt was a wonderful competitor and an all round top guy."

The crash happened on Friday, and there were initial reports that a booby trap was responsible for the crash.

Caselli was a decorated American racer who won the 2011, 2012 and 2013 American Motorcyclist Association National Hare and Hound National Championships.

He was also named the 2007 AMA Sportsman of the Year and won several races at the association's International Six Days Enduro competitions.

He had just started to compete in international races and in June he won the Desafio Ruta 40 Rally in Argentina - only his second career international race.

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Typhoon Haiyan: HMS Daring Arrives To Help

British warship HMS Daring has arrived in the Typhoon Haiyan disaster zone, as the president of the Philippines visited devastated areas.

The Type 45 destroyer and her crew docked at the island of Cebu ready to provide humanitarian assistance, the Department for International Aid and Development said.

It has spent the last three days carrying out reconnaissance work in and around the southeast Asian nation, using a helicopter to survey 48 islands, including areas which have not yet been reached by international relief teams.

The Lynx helicopter will now be used to fly shelter kits, food and medical supplies to those remote areas.

Members of a 12-strong medical team from the UK, which arrived in the Philippines earlier this week, will also be flown to different areas to treat injured victims of the typhoon.

The Lynx helicopter is on board HMS Daring

HMS Daring Commander Angus Essenhigh told Sky News: "We're very much looking forward to getting into the fight tomorrow and delivering some of the aid where it's most needed."

Sky's Defence Correspondent Alistair Bunkall, on board the warship, said: "They will no doubt be the first outsiders to reach some of these devastated areas since typhoon struck."

The typhoon - said to be the strongest ever to make landfall - slammed into the Philippines on November 7, killing thousands of people.

The typhoon hit the country on November 7

President Benigno Aquino, caught off guard by the scale of the disaster and criticised by some for the sometimes chaotic response, has been visiting affected areas.

Not for the first time, he sought to deflect blame for the problems onto local authorities whose preparations he said had fallen short.

Mr Aquino delivers a speech in Guiuan

In Guiuan, a hard-hit coastal town in eastern Samar province, he praised the city mayor for conducting a proper evacuation that had limited deaths to less than 100, saying that was a contrast to other towns.

"In other places, I prefer not to talk about it. As your president, I am not allowed to get angry even if I am already upset," he said.

"I'll just suffer through it with an acidic stomach."

Mr Aquino spoke of his appreciation for the volunteers, and also promised his nation that those who have been affected will receive continued support.

"Your government will not be remiss in providing everything, everything, everything that you will need," he said.

While aid packages have begun to reach more remote areas, much of it carried by helicopters brought by the USS George Washington aircraft carrier, the United Nations said people were still going hungry in some mountainous provinces.

It said information about several provinces in the west of the Visayas region remained "limited", with 60% of people in towns in the northeast part of Capiz province needing food support.

Victims run to an aid helicopter in a mountainous area west of Tacloban

More than a week after Typhoon killed at least 3,633 people, the UN has doubled its estimate of homeless to nearly two million.

There are still 1,179 people missing, according to national figures.

A number of Britons are missing following the disaster, Foreign Secretary William Hague confirmed on Saturday.

Among those feared dead is Colin Bembridge, 61, from Grimsby, who was staying with his partner Maybelle, 35, and their three-year-old daughter Victoria near Tacloban when the storm hit.

British Prime Minister David Cameron pledged an additional £30m on Saturday for international aid agencies working in the country. It brings the total amount pledged by the British Government to £50m

The amount the British public has donated to the Disasters Emergency Committee's (DEC) typhoon appeal has reached 35m. 

Sunday mass still went ahead in adestroyed cathedral in Palo

Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious is also being sent to replace HMS Daring.

The aid effort continues as the DEC appeal charities warned leaders meeting at UN climate talks in Warsaw that the disaster offers a glimpse of the future if urgent action is not taken.

Aid agencies including Christian Aid, Cafod, Care International, Oxfam and Tearfund said ministers meeting in the Polish capital must act urgently because climate change is likely to make such extreme weather events more common in future.

Climate models forecast that typhoons could become more powerful and that weather-related events around the world will be more extreme and frequent, they warned.

Delegates from 195 countries are taking part in the annual UN climate talks, which are taking place until November 22.

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