Morsi Faces Trial Over Egypt Prison Break

Egypt's ex-president Mohamed Morsi will stand trial for a prison break during the 2011 uprising against dictator Hosni Mubarak.

The deposed former leader and 132 others, including members of the Palestinian group Hamas and Lebanon's Hizbollah, face charges including killing policemen.

The case relates to a mass prison break during the protests against ex-president Hosni Mubarak.

Several Hamas and Hizbollah members were in jail and escaped during the unrest.

Almost 70 of the defendants are members of the Palestinian and Lebanese militant groups, who will be tried in absentia.

Protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square in July 2011

It marks the third set of charges brought against Mr Morsi since he was ousted by the army in July following major demonstrations against his rule.

He also faces trial along with 35 other Muslim Brotherhood leaders over allegations he conspired with foreigners to carry out terrorism in his country.

The investigating judge did not name any members of Hizbollah or Hamas in the latest charges.

Mr Morsi is already standing trial for inciting violence during protests outside the presidential palace a year ago when he was still in office.

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Billionaire Feared Dead In Helicopter Crash

A Chinese billionaire and his young son are among four people feared dead after the helicopter from which they were viewing his newly-purchased French chateau crashed into a river.

Lam Kok, the 46-year-old head of the Hong Kong-based Brilliant group, had just bought Chateau de la Riviere, a major Bordeaux vineyard.

The accident happened at the end of a festive day marking Thursday's sale of one of the region's oldest wine estates reportedly worth 30m euros (£25m).

He and his 12-year-old son were on the helicopter piloted by James Gregoire, the former owner, when the accident happened on Friday. An interpreter was also a passenger.

Rescuers search the Dordogne river for the victims of the helicopter crash

Emergency workers pulled a still-unidentified body from inside the helicopter after finding the wreckage in the Dordogne river, said local officials.

A large search operation was called off just before midnight with the helicopter's other three occupants still missing. The search is due to resume.

Lam Kok's wife had pulled out of the aerial tour at the last minute, saying she was "scared of helicopters", said a photographer at the event.

After a press conference, an introduction to the staff and dinner, Mr Gregoire was taking his buyer on a short tour of the 65-hectare (160-acre) vineyards and surrounding grounds.

When they did not return after 20 minutes, employees at the vineyard contacted emergency services.

A major search operation was launched using emergency helicopters, inflatable boats, rescue divers and around 100 officers on foot.

Lam Kok and his wife pose among the vines hours before the crash

Emergency workers managed to locate the wreckage in the river after police received a call from a witness who had seen the helicopter go down.

A previous owner of the Chateau de la Riviere, Jean Leprince, was killed in a plane crash in 2002.

Mr Gregoire bought the property, the largest in Bordeaux's Fronsac wine-producing region, the following year.

Earlier on Friday, the vineyard's managing director, Xavier Buffo, said during a press conference the sale marked the largest Chinese investment in Bordeaux property to date.

Hong Kong-based Brilliant, which specialises in rare teas and luxury hotels in China, had said it wanted to turn the chateau into a high class tea and wine tasting centre with a hotel nearby.

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China's Rover Sends Back Lunar Panorama Image

China has released a panoramic picture of its Jade Rabbit rover's landing area on the moon, one week after the country's first probe landed without a hitch.

The moon buggy, nicknamed "Jade Rabbit", rolled onto the surface from an unmanned spacecraft.

Chinese officials said the rover, officially named Chang'e 3, has started its scientific operation in search of natural resources.

The chief designer of the Chang'e 3 probing system, Liu Enhai, speaking on China's state television CCTV, said: "The entire picture was pieced together with 60 photos taken three times from three angles: zero degrees, 15 degrees down from horizon and 30 degrees.

"The purpose of shooting from three angles is to (capture) from one side to the other in order to see farther."

The probe landed earlier this month

It is the first "soft landing" of a probe on the moon for 37 years following the US and former Soviet Union.

A soft landing does not damage the craft and the equipment it takes.

China said last week that it aims to launch the next generation of unmanned moon probe in 2017 with the key aim of collecting and bringing back lunar samples.

Advancing China's space programme has been a priority for the leadership, with President Xi Jinping calling for China to establish itself as a space power.

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South Sudan: Gunfire Hits US Military Aircraft

At least one US military aircraft has been fired at during an evacuation mission in South Sudan, leaving four personnel injured.

One individual is said to be in a critical condition.

The US military confirmed four people had been wounded when the aircraft was hit by gunfire. Earlier reports said two aircraft had come under fire.

South Sudan has blamed the attack on renegade troops.

Officials said the aircraft was heading to an evacuation site in Bor, the capital of the state of Jonglei and the scene of some of the country's worst violence in the past week.

After being fired at it reportedly turned around and headed to Kampala in Uganda. From there the wounded service personnel were flown to Nairobi, Kenya for medical treatment.

Men displaced by the fighting in South Sudan

Fighting broke out in the South Sudanese capital Juba between rival army factions last Sunday and has since spread to other regions, claiming at least 500 lives.

Kenya said on Saturday it was sending troops to South Sudan to evacuate some 1,600 citizens. Many are trapped in Bor, which has been taken by rebels.

President Uhuru Kenyatta has "ordered the KDF (Kenya Defence Force) to commence immediate evacuation of the 1,600 Kenyans stranded in South Sudan", a spokesman said in a statement.

"Despite the relative calm in Juba, a number of other South Sudan towns have come under fire," he added, saying that Kenyans "are mainly in the town of Bor".

People being evacuated to Uganda in a RAF C17 plane

Others, in the towns of Rumbek, Ayod, and Panyabol "will also be airlifted to safety."

"The president has also ordered the immediate delivery of food, water and medicine to South Sudan (to help) tackle the emergency," the spokesman added.

"The delivery of these emergency supplies started this morning. Kenyan military aircraft are delivering consignments to South Sudan."

Kenya, which hosted the peace talks that ended the 1983-2005 civil war in Sudan, and which paved the way for South Sudan's independence two years ago, is also supporting efforts to end the latest crisis.

On Friday Uganda deployed troops to South Sudan to boost security and help its people escape safely.

A number of other nations including Britain have sent in emergency flights to evacuate their citizens.

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Lockerbie 25th Anniversary: Victims Remembered

Relatives of those killed in the Lockerbie bombing have gathered in the Scottish town for a special memorial service to mark the 25th anniversary of the atrocity.

Pan Am flight 103 was on its way from London to New York when it exploded above Lockerbie, in southern Scotland, on the evening of December 21 1988, killing 270 people - everyone on board and 11 on the ground.

Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond and Lord Wallace, Advocate General for Scotland, are attending a service at Dryfesdale Cemetery, to be followed by a 30-minute wreath-laying ceremony.

Families and friends attend a memorial service at Dryfesdale Cemetery

Mr Salmond said: "As the community of Lockerbie marks the milestone, memorial events will be held in Westminster Abbey, Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia and at Syracuse University which lost 35 students in the bombing.

"But, inevitably, a focus of the day will be on the memorial in Lockerbie and it is there that I will pay my respects and condolences on behalf of the people of Scotland."

Later, simultaneous remembrance services in Lockerbie and Arlington National Cemetery in the US - where most of the victims were from - will get under way from 6.30pm (1.30pm EST in the US).

Relatives will read the names of the victims and hold a minute's silence at 7.03pm (2.03pm EST in the US) marking exactly a quarter of a century since the tragedy.

Westminster Abbey in London will also hold a service for the victims, from 21 countries, which will begin at 6.45pm and will include readings and a moment of silence.

British Prime Minister David Cameron described the bombing as "one of the worst aviation disasters in history and the deadliest act of terrorism" ever committed in the UK.

Eleven people were killed on the ground in Lockerbie

He said: "Though 25 years have passed, memories of the 243 passengers, 16 crew and 11 Lockerbie residents who lost their lives on that terrible night have not dimmed.

"Over the last quarter of a century much attention has been focused on the perpetrators of the atrocity. Today our thoughts turn to its victims and to those whose lives have been touched and changed by what happened at Lockerbie that night.

"To families, friends, neighbours, loved ones, and all those caught up in the painful process of recovery, let us say to them: our admiration for you is unconditional. For the fortitude and resilience you have shown. For your determination never to give up. You have shown that terrorist acts cannot crush the human spirit. That is why terrorism will never prevail.

"And even in the darkest moments of grief, it is possible to glimpse the flickering flame of hope."

Dr Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora died in the disaster, told Sky News: "Anniversaries aren't in a sense that big a deal for the families of victims because we have to live with the lovely memories of those that we lost all that time ago, every day of every year. Bereavement in itself is sometimes a life sentence."

Graham Herbert, former rector at Lockerbie Academy which lost three students in the atrocity, said the market town "has always tried to move forward".

Abdelbaset al Megrahi was the only person to be convicted of the bombing

He told Sky News: "I know today there will be a lot of closed doors. A lot of people will not go out of their houses. The memories are just too bitter, there are still open wounds there.

"There are quite a lot of American families in the town today. Each year it just comes back to them, they are not allowed to heal. They want to commemorate, they want to be here where their loved ones fell, but it's hard, it's tough."

Libyan Abdelbaset al Megrahi was found guilty of the bombing in January 2001 and given a life sentence.

He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2008, leading to a decision to free him under compassionate release rules.

Scotland's Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill took that decision on August 20 the following year, sparking a row among politicians on both sides of the Atlantic.

Megrahi died in Tripoli, Libya in May last year. His family is considering lodging a fresh appeal to clear his name.

British relatives of victims who believe he was wrongfully convicted of the bombing are also planning another appeal against the conviction when they meet with lawyers in the new year.

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Tuscany Hit By Mafia Toxic Waste Dumping

The Mafia has expanded its multi-billion pound toxic waste disposal racket to middle-class holiday hotspot Tuscany, a top prosecutor has warned.

Franco Roberti said that after flooding their Naples backyard with poisonous materials, the Camorra syndicate is now polluting one of the country's most famous tourist regions, as well as moving beyond Italy to eastern Europe.

The discovery of poisoned farmlands around Naples prompted street protests

Mr Roberti, Italy's national anti-Mafia prosecutor, said investigators have uncovered Camorra toxic waste-dumping in the Prato area just 10 miles (17km) north of Florence, the capital of Tuscany.

He said Italy is also investigating a trail of waste being shipped to countries in eastern Europe, although he would not reveal which ones because the probe is ongoing.

Franco Roberti warned the toxic waste trade has spread to Tuscany

Until recently, the toxic waste - mostly from industries in northern Italy - had been dumped in Naples and the surrounding area.

Investigators recently discovered that farmlands around Naples are contaminated with dangerous levels of arsenic, lead and other harmful materials.

The revelations prompted tens of thousands of people to march through the city's streets last month.

Mr Roberti said the southern territory where the Camorra holds sway "is a little saturated", pushing the mob into new areas.

Increasingly close ties between the Naples-based gangsters and Chinese organised crime make the Prato area a logical choice for new dumping grounds.

The Camorra has a long-running and profitable relationship with Chinese mobsters, who use the Prato area as a base for the manufacturing and illicit sale of fake designer clothing.

Mr Roberti said the Camorra has no need to shop around for customers among the factories, processing plants and hospitals of northern Italy.

Rows over the waste business have led to rubbish piling up in Naples

After two decades in the racket, the Camorra are the go-to people for anyone who wants toxic waste to disappear for a fraction of the cost of what it takes to do it legally.

Past probes have found that the Camorra and their Chinese contacts have schemed together in the lucrative waste racket.

A 2005 operation code-named Marco Polo, carried out by Carabinieri paramilitary police, resulted in the confiscation in Naples' port of 20 containers loaded with toxic waste and hospital refuse ready for shipping to China and Hong Kong.

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Russia: Khodorkovsky Freed After Putin Pardon

Mikhail Khodorkovsky has reportedly arrived in Germany after being pardoned by Russian president Vladimir Putin and freed from a Russian prison camp.

The former oil tycoon was released within an hour of the Kremlin publishing a decree and boarded a flight to Berlin, where his ill mother is being treated.

Mr Putin surprised journalists at the end of his annual end-of-year news conference on Thursday by announcing that he was planning to pardon Mr Khodorkovsky, who had been in jail for 10 years.

"Guided by humanitarian principles, I decree that Mikhail Borisovich Khodorkovsky ... should be pardoned and freed from any further punishment in the form of imprisonment," his decreee said.

Mr Putin meets Mr Khodorkovsky at the Kremlin in May 2001

"This decree comes into force from the day of its signing."

Mr Khodorkovsky, the former Yukos oil tycoon, has been in prison since 2003 after being convicted in two trials on charges including fraud and embezzlement.

Human rights groups criticised both trials and have said they considered the 50-year-old a political prisoner.

The circumstances surrounding the pardon remained unclear.

Mr Khodorkovsky has been held at a prison camp in Segezha, northwest Russia

Mr Khodorkovsky, once the richest man in Russia, previously said he would not request one because he would be seen to be admitting guilt.

However, the newspaper Kommersant reported that he changed his mind after a meeting with Russian security services, who raised the possibility of a third trial and warned him that his mother's health was deteriorating.

"This conversation, which was conducted without lawyers, forced Mr Khodorkovsky to turn to the president," the article said.

Mr Khodorkovsky gained considerable political influence under President Boris Yeltsin in the 1990s as one of the so-called "oligarchs" who surrounded the ailing leader.

Pussy Riot's Maria Altokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova are set to be freed

However, when Mr Putin became president in 2000, their influence quickly faded.

Economic and political analysts said the announcement was an attempt by Russia to improve its human rights record and international image ahead of the Winter Olympics in February.

Meanwhile, a Kremlin-backed bill is set to end the ordeal of a group of Greenpeace activists who were arrested near an Arctic oil rig in September, and allow two Pussy Riot protesters to be freed.

The amnesty laws would allow investigators to drop charges against the 30 activists, including six Britons who have not been allowed to return home.

Protesters Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina, who were jailed for two years after a demonstration in a Moscow cathedral, would be released early.

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Uganda To Punish Homosexuals With Life In Jail

Uganda has passed an anti-homosexuality bill that could see anyone found guilty jailed for life.

Draft legislation drawn up in 2010 had called for the death penalty for anyone who engaged in a homosexual act for a second time, as well as for gay sex where one partner is a minor or has HIV.

The proposal was condemned as "odious" by US President Barack Obama and was dropped from the final version of the bill.

The law must be approved by Ugandan president Yoweri Mugisha before it can take effect.

Homosexuality had already been illegal in Uganda but David Bahati, the politician behind the bill, said tougher laws were needed because gay people from Western countries threatened to destroy Ugandan families.

"This is victory for Uganda. I am glad the parliament has voted against evil," he said.

"Because we are a God-fearing nation, we value life in a holistic way.

"It is because of those values that members of parliament passed this bill regardless of what the outside world thinks."

The new bill, which also criminalises the public promotion of homosexuality, was criticised by Frank Mugisha, the Ugandan gay activist.

"I am officially illegal," he said after the vote.

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Madagascar: Bubonic Plague Kills Dozens

Thirty-two people have died of bubonic plague in the African island state of Madagascar.

The disease - also known as Black Death - wiped out a third of Europe's population in the Middle Ages.

Some 84 suspected cases of bubonic plague - 60 of them thought to be pneumonic or pulmonary plague, a more virulent strain of the disease - have been reported in five of the island's 112 districts over the past month.

Pneumonic plague is caused by the same bacteria that occur in bubonic plague.

However, while bubonic plague is usually transmitted by bites from rat-borne fleas and can be treated with antibiotics, pneumonic plague can be inhaled and transmitted between humans without involvement of animals or fleas.

It has a very high fatality rate, experts say, and can kill within 24 hours.

Madagascar last year reported 60 deaths from bubonic plague.

Poor hygiene and declining living standards as a result of a protracted political crisis since a coup in 2009 are cited as the primary causes of the spread of the disease.

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Syria Chemical Arms: UK To Help In Destruction

Britain is to be involved in the international effort to destroy Bashar al Assad's illegal chemical weapons stockpile.

Under an international agreement brokered to avoid US military strikes on the Damascus regime, Syria's most dangerous chemical weapons have to be out of the country by a December 31 deadline.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: "The international mission to destroy Syria's chemical weapons programme is essential to ensure that Assad can never again use these horrific weapons to murder his own people.

"The UK along with the US, Russia, China, Denmark, Norway and Finland will be playing its part in this mission over the coming weeks and months."

UN inspectors visiting the country

The UK has agreed to destroy 150 tonnes of two industrial-grade chemicals - which do not contain explosives - from the Syrian stockpile.

They will be shipped to a UK port before being transferred to a commercial site where they will be incinerated, said a FCO statement.

The government stressed that "these are chemicals, not chemical weapons".

Bashar al Assad insists chemical weapons were not used against civilians

It said: "The chemicals, known as 'B precursors', are used in the pharmaceutical industry and are handled similarly to many other chemicals that are routinely manufactured, transported and destroyed in the UK.

"The chemicals only become highly toxic when mixed with an 'A precursor' to make a nerve agent. To eliminate this risk, the A and B precursors will be removed from Syria separately."

A Royal Navy vessel will also help Danish and Norweigian cargo ships in international waters during the removal of the entire chemical stockpile from Syria by sea.

"The UK is also providing specialist equipment to the US to assist with the hydrolysis of the most sensitive chemicals before their final destruction. These 'large access devices' will be used to move the chemicals between their storage units and the hydrolysis equipment," said the FCO.

Mr Assad has admitted his forces hold chemical weapons, and has vowed to surrender them to international experts, but insists his forces did not target civilians.

Last week, UN inspectors said chemical weapons were "probably used" five times in the Syrian conflict between March and late August in the districts of Ghouta, Khan Al Asal, Jobar, Saraqueb and Ashrafieh Sahnaya.

However, the report does not attribute blame for the attacks, as this was beyond the mandate given to the team by the UN Security Council.

An initial report in September said there was "clear and convincing evidence" that rockets containing the nerve agent sarin were used in an attack on August 21 which killed hundreds of people.

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Brits Evacuated From South Sudan Amid Fighting

World's Newest Country May Not Last

Updated: 12:55pm UK, Thursday 19 December 2013

By Tim Marshall, Foreign Affairs Editor

The world's newest country may not last the decade if the violence seen in South Sudan this week escalates.

Up to 500 people have died in days of fighting in the capital Juba and thousands, including foreign oil workers, are sheltering in or outside UN compounds. 

Amid talk of a possible coup attempt 10 senior politicians, including former cabinet ministers have been arrested and a night-time curfew imposed.

The authorities deny that the violence is on tribal lines, but the evidence suggests otherwise.

South Sudan, an oil-rich country, became independent from Sudan in 2011 following a long guerrilla war but has yet to knit itself into a unified nation.

During the war years the main ethnic groups in southern Sudan, the Dinka and the Nuer, each formed militias to fight the Sudanese army. Now the South Sudanese army is made up of units which are still divided on tribal lines.

President Salva Kiir Mayardit is a Dinka. In July he dismissed the vice president, Riek Machar, who is  Nuer, after Mr Machar announced he would compete for the presidency in the 2015 elections.

The fighting appears to have started after a Dinka unit was deployed at the presidential guard barracks which is dominated by soldiers who are Nuer. The Dinka came out on top, tensions rose throughout the capital, and the fighting spread. 

Although the city is reported to be calmer today there have been incidents of inter-ethnic violence outside of the capital.

The UK has sent an aircraft to Juba to evacuate some of the estimated 500 Britons in the country and has temporarily withdrawn some staff and dependants from its embassy.

Other countries are taking similar measures but the airport is still open and some commercial flights are operating.

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The World's Newest Country May Not Last

The world's newest country may not last the decade if the violence seen in South Sudan this week escalates.

Up to 500 people have died in days of fighting in the capital Juba and thousands, including foreign oil workers, are sheltering in or outside UN compounds. 

Amid talk of a possible coup attempt 10 senior politicians, including former cabinet ministers have been arrested and a night-time curfew imposed.

The authorities deny that the violence is on tribal lines, but the evidence suggests otherwise.

South Sudan, an oil-rich country, became independent from Sudan in 2011 following a long guerrilla war but has yet to knit itself into a unified nation.

During the war years the main ethnic groups in southern Sudan, the Dinka and the Nuer, each formed militias to fight the Sudanese army. Now the South Sudanese army is made up of units which are still divided on tribal lines.

President Salva Kiir Mayardit is a Dinka. In July he dismissed the vice president, Riek Machar, who is  Nuer, after Mr Machar announced he would compete for the presidency in the 2015 elections.

The fighting appears to have started after a Dinka unit was deployed at the presidential guard barracks which is dominated by soldiers who are Nuer. The Dinka came out on top, tensions rose throughout the capital, and the fighting spread. 

Although the city is reported to be calmer today there have been incidents of inter-ethnic violence outside of the capital.

The UK has sent an aircraft to Juba to evacuate some of the estimated 500 Britons in the country and has temporarily withdrawn some staff and dependants from its embassy.

Other countries are taking similar measures but the airport is still open and some commercial flights are operating.

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Putin To Pardon Jailed Tycoon Khodorkovsky

Russian president Vladimir Putin has said he will pardon jailed oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

The former head of Yukos Oil was arrested in 2003 and imprisoned for nine years after being convicted of fraud.

In 2010 he was put on trial again, while still serving his original sentence, and found guilty of money laundering and embezzlement. He and his business partner, Platon Lebedev, were jailed for another seven years.

Both trials have been criticised and Khodorkovsky has often been described by human rights groups as a prisoner of conscience.

Mr Putin's opponents have accused him of having the tycoon jailed to prevent him going into politics.

The president said the ex-tycoon had been through 'serious punishment'

At his annual end-of-year news conference, Mr Putin said Khodorkovsky had asked him for a pardon.

He said: "He has been in jail already more than 10 years, this is a serious punishment.

"He cites humanitarian reasons. His mother is ill. I decided that with these circumstances in mind, it is necessary to take a decision, and in the near future a decree pardoning him will be signed."

However, Khodorkovsky's main lawyer, Vadim Klyuvgant, denied that his client had requested a pardon.

Khodorkovsky, 50, grew rich during the 1990s in the economic chaos following the fall of the Soviet Union and rose to political prominence as one of the so-called "oligarchs" who surrounded president Boris Yeltsin.

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Seattle Gunman Wrestled By Bus Passengers

Footage has emerged of a dramatic confrontation aboard a bus between a gun-wielding robber and the passengers who overpowered him.

The passenger managed to knock down the suspect and he was held down until police arrived and arrested him.

The suspect, 19-year-old Trevonnte Brown, has been charged with robbery offences.

The CCTV footage from the bus, dated November 25, has just been released.

The suspect was held down until police arrived

It shows Brown, a black hood over his head, approaching a passenger.

But as the man sees the gun, he reacts quickly, grabbing the weapon from the suspect's hand and punching him, as other passengers join in.

The man was hailed a hero by fellow passengers.

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Woolwich Murder: Muslim Leader Warns Of 'War'

Killers Were 'No Immediate Threat'

Updated: 2:22pm UK, Thursday 19 December 2013

By Martin Brunt, Crime Correspondent

Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale were "known" to MI5 before they killed Fusilier Lee Rigby in Woolwich but were considered to be of no immediate threat to anyone.

In the language of the intelligence agencies, that means the Security Service was aware of their Islamic extremist views and their association with others but had no evidence they were planning any attack.

Was that the right judgement, or should MI5 have kept a closer eye on them and, if it had, could it have prevented Fusilier Rigby's death?

Whitehall sources said both men had come to MI5's attention in various investigations over several years, two among several thousand known Islamic extremists.

One source said: "It is not surprising that someone who does something like this should have come to our notice before, given the range of our investigations."

The source suggested the agency does not believe it should have given the two killers a greater priority, based on what it knew about them at the time, nor does it argue it would have done more with greater resources.

In another favourite spook phrase, the pair were "on the radar, but not under the microscope".

MI5 accepts there will be lessons to learn from the way it dealt with them.

It is known that in Kenya in 2010, Adebolajo was arrested, appeared in court and deported over his plan to travel to neighbouring Somalia and join the terror group al Shabaab.

One British newspaper report said Adebolajo was able to return to Kenya last year, despite its government warning the UK he was a "dangerous radical". It was reported he may have used a false passport.

He is thought to have joined the UK-based extremist group al Muhajiroun in 2003, several years before it was banned and its leader thrown out of Britain.

Adebolajo appeared at the group's demonstrations and was arrested during scuffles outside the Old Bailey in 2006.

According to a close friend, MI5 was doing more than just monitoring Adebolajo. It asked him to work for the agency six months before the Woolwich killing.

Abu Nusaybah told BBC's Newsnight that Adebolajo was stopped and questioned on his return from a trip to Kenya, and later followed and approached at home by MI5.

Mr Nusaybah said: "He was basically being harassed. His wording was, 'they are bugging me, they won't leave me alone'.

"Initially, they wanted to ask him if he knew certain individuals. But after him saying that he didn't know these individuals, what he said was they asked him if he would be interested in working for them.

"He was explicit in that he refused to work for them, but he did confirm he didn't know the individuals."

Straight after the interview, Mr Nusaybah was arrested by counter-terror police as he left the TV studios. He is to stand trial next year on terrorism charges unrelated to Woolwich.

Adebolajo's brother Jeremiah has claimed the foreign intelligence agency MI6 tried to recruit him and urged him to help "turn" Michael to work for MI5.

It will be up to parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee to assess whether MI5's judgement of Adebolajo and Adebolawe was correct.

The committee of MPs is investigating the role of various agencies before the Woolwich attack and is expected to report early next year.

Its chairman Sir Malcolm Rifkind said soon after Drummer Rigby's death: "I don't think MI5 is in the dock. I think that would be very unfair."

MI5 has had a huge budget increase in the past decade, with the number of staff almost doubled, the opening of regional bases and the concentration of 90% of its resources on fighting international terrorism.

It was mildly criticised for poor record-keeping and police liaison by the ISC after the 7/7 London bombings of 2005, but escaped any censure.

The committee concluded that although the 7/7 ringleader Mohammad Sidique Khan was on its radar, the agency couldn't have been expected to identify him as a bomb plotter. 

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Russia Will Free Arctic 30 And Pussy Riot

The Arctic 30 Greenpeace activists and jailed members of Pussy Riot are set to be freed under new amnesty laws.

The State Duma voted 446-0 in favour of the Kremlin-backed bill.

It will allow investigators to drop charges against the 30 activists from Greenpeace's ship Arctic Sunrise detained in Russia's Arctic in September.

The activists, who include six Britons, were arrested after Russian authorities boarded their vessel following attempts by some of them to board an offshore oil platform.

They have been on bail but the 26 non-Russians among them were not allowed to go home.

The six British Greenpeace activists who were arrested in Russia

Greenpeace said a last-minute amendment to the amnesty bill meant Russia would almost certainly end legal proceedings against activists who faced jail terms of up to seven years if convicted over the protest.

Arctic Sunrise's American captain Peter Willcox was quoted by Greenpeace as saying: "I might soon be going home to my family, but I should never have been charged and jailed in the first place.

"We sailed north to bear witness to a profound environmental threat but our ship was stormed by masked men wielding knives and guns ... We were never the criminals here."

Lawyers said the amnesty, which could come into force this week, would also lead to the early release of Pussy Riot members Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina.

Their two-year sentences over an anti-Putin protest in a cathedral have been criticised in the West as excessive.

Protesters climb the Prirazlomnaya oil platform

Officials in Krasnoyarsk and Nizhny Novgorod, where the two women are currently held, have promised to free them "right away and without bureaucratic delay, probably tomorrow", Ms Tolokonnikova's husband Pyotr Verzilov wrote on his Twitter blog.

The pair's sentences run out in early March next year.

The lower house of parliament passed the amnesty, which President Vladimir Putin proposed to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the passage of Russia's post-Soviet constitution.

The move has been largely viewed as the Kremlin's attempt to soothe criticism of Russia's human rights records ahead of the Winter Olympics in Sochi next year.

The amnesty affects a range of categories like mothers with dependents, minors and the elderly. However, it also specifically mentions the charge of hooliganism as well as the charge of participating in mass riots.

Pussy Riot's "punk prayer" protest at Christ The Saviour Cathedral, Moscow

It does not require approval by the upper chamber of parliament and will come into effect when it is published, probably on Thursday.

The foreign crew from Arctic Sunrise will then request to leave, and still hope to be home by Christmas, said Greenpeace spokesman Ben Stewart.

"There is certainly a chance, but until they actually leave Russia everything is speculation," he said.

All were arrested after the ship was boarded by Russian special forces in September and were first held under arrest in a jail in northern Murmansk, where the ship remains in Russian control.

The Britons have been named as Alexandra Harris, Kieron Bryan, Anthony Perrett, Phil Ball, Frank Hewetson and Iain Rogers.

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07.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Saudi Activists Defy Threats On Social Media

By Zein Ja'Far, in Abu Dhabi

Activists in Saudi Arabia, who are turning to social media to campaign for reforms in the country, face the threat of intimidation, arrest or imprisonment, according to a new report.

With protests banned in the country, and authorities cracking down on internal dissent, human rights campaigners are finding new ways to spread their messages online and out of sight from the authorities.

A Human Rights Watch report has highlighted the work of 11 Saudi activists campaigning for various issues ranging from women's rights to religious tolerance and greater political participation.

All of them have faced intimidation, arrest or imprisonment despite pursuing peaceful means. 

Saudi women are challenging a driving ban in their country

The kingdom's interior ministry and security forces have tried to quash protests in the country, but it has not stopped people taking to the streets in various cities calling for the release of political prisoners, greater gender equality and to demonstrate against sectarianism.

Twitter campaigns highlighting issues previously seen as taboo, such as poor living conditions or calling for better pay, have proven incredibly popular.

One of the most visible campaigns of 2013 has been the push to overturn the driving ban against women.

Despite threats of arrest, and even the possibility of force being used against them, the Women2Drive initiative received thousands of messages of support on Twitter and Facebook, with videos of the drivers uploaded moments after they were filmed. 

Adam Coogle, Middle East researcher at Human Rights Watch and author of the report, said: "Authorities think by arresting the most prominent activists for their social media activism, and their human rights activism in general, that they can intimidate everybody else into silence.

A Facebook campaign to allow women to drive

"But really the cat is out of the bag. People are talking on social networks now, they're expressing their views, and there's really nothing the Saudi authorities are going to be able to do to shut this thing down."

For many human rights campaigners in Saudi Arabia, online activism is the safest platform they have to push for reforms.

Human rights lawyer Waleed Abu El Khair was recently arrested for hosting a gathering of pro-democracy campaigners at his home.

In 2011 he was charged by authorities for providing legal assistance to other activists and the interior ministry has imposed a travel ban on him.

He told Sky News that at his last meeting with police they pressured him to stop his online activities.

"They said to us maybe we lose the control on the new media but we will never lose control in reality. That is why they blocked our accounts ... because they don't want anyone to say the true story, they just want one story which is said by the government.

Women activists are filmed in the back of a police vehicle

"Before I went to court they said to me clearly, stop everything, close your account and we will stop punishing you … but if you continue we will punish you."

Despite winning a seat on the UN's Human Rights Council last month, Saudi Arabia has continued to target anyone threatening the status quo.

An activist was recently sentenced to four years in jail and 300 lashes after he called for a constitutional monarchy, while new anti-terror laws have been introduced to criminalise acts which "disturb public order" and "defame the reputation of the state".

But Saudi Arabia is a young, and increasingly cyber-savvy society with some of the most active social media users in the world.

If the Government remains unwilling to introduce substantial reforms it is likely activists will take their demands off the streets and online, where there will be a substantial audience waiting for them.

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Italy Migrants Face 'Appalling' Treatment

The European Union has condemned the "appalling conditions" of Italian migrant centres after video emerged of apparent mistreatment on the island of Lampedusa.

Italy's Rai 2 TV broadcast secret footage shot inside a detention centre showing naked inmates being sprayed down with water after an alleged scabies outbreak.

The man who shot the mobile phone footage, reportedly an unnamed Syrian refugee, said men and women are regularly sprayed down. 

EU Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem on Wednesday promised to take action if various detention centres are not improved.

"We have already started investigations into the appalling conditions in many Italian detention centres, including Lampedusa," she said on Twitter.

"The EU is committed to assist Italy in receiving migrants, but it has to be done in decent conditions."

Coffins laid out of those killed in the October sinking

Lampedusa made headlines in October after a migrant ship sank en route to the island, killing more than 300 people.

The overloaded boat was carrying hundreds of African asylum seekers from Libya and sank after a fire was started.

A second boat capsized in the same week in the Canal of Sicily, killing at least 27 people.

More than 13,000 people have tried to reach Lampedusa this year, more than double the population of the island.

Ms Malmstroem said: "We will not hesitate to launch an infringement procedure to make sure EU standards and obligations are fully respected."

A refugee is pulled out of the water by a coast guard

Earlier this month, the EU published a list of proposals aimed at tackling human trafficking and avoiding further boating disasters.

The proposals include increased border surveillance, boosting EU assistance to member states facing the biggest influx of migrants, improving the fight against human trafficking and opening more legal channels to reach Europe - including resettling more refugees in the EU.

They will be discussed in an upcoming EU leaders' summit later this week.

Up to 20,000 migrants have died at sea trying to reach Europe in the past 20 years, according to immigration charities.

However, tackling the complex issue is tricky at a time when Europe is in economic stagnation.

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Paul Walker Porsche Crash Down To 'Speed Alone'

The Porsche Carrera GT that crashed killing Fast & Furious actor Paul Walker had no mechanical problems, according to investigators.

A police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the car lost control due to "speed, and speed alone".

The investigation also ruled out debris in road as causing the car in which Walker was a passenger to smash into a street light and a tree.

The actor and driver, his friend and financial adviser Roger Rodas, were both killed in the accident on November 30.

Scene of the crash in Santa Clarita, California

Investigators have refused to set a firm speed at which they think the car was travelling until Porsche engineers come to California next month to extract information from on-board data collectors.

According the reports in the US, three black boxes have been recovered from the vehicle.

One will be able to tell the last speed recorded and whether the airbags were deployed and the other two will give information on the throttle and engine readings.

Tributes are left at an unofficial memorial for the star

As a result of 40-year-old Walker's death, Universal Pictures has announced it is putting the filming of Fast & Furious 7 on hold indefinitely.

More than half the movie has reportedly been made and it was slated for release on July 11, 2014.

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Monaco's Royal Family Welcomes New Baby Boy

Monaco's royal family has welcomed a new addition as Princess Caroline's eldest daughter, Charlotte Casiraghi, has given birth to a son.

The baby, born on Tuesday evening at Monaco's Princess Grace hospital, has been named Raphael.

He is the first child for unmarried Charlotte and the second for her Franco-Moroccan partner Gad Elmaleh.

Charlotte, 27, is the granddaughter of the late Prince Rainier III and Princess Grace, the former Hollywood star Grace Kelly, whose fairytale 1956 wedding helped turn Monaco into a hub for the world's rich and famous.

Her uncle, Albert II, is the current Monaco monarch and her mother Caroline is second in line to the throne.

The first time mum is not a princess however her glamour and keen interest in horse riding has earned her a role as a face of Gucci's riding collection.

Although there has been speculation, there has been no diamond ring announcement by the couple.

Elmaleh, 42, is a hugely popular comedian and actor who has a 12-year-old son, Noe, with French actress Anne Brochet.

In a recent interview with People Magazine, the comedian said that Charlotte had all the qualities required for her new role.

"She will be the best in the world because she is generous and very loving. She has all the gifts for being a mother. She's precious and very loving and kind."

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Bitcoin Value Slumps Amid China Restrictions

The virtual currency Bitcoin has dramatically fallen in value after China's biggest trading platform banned deposits in yuan.

BTC China said the action follows new regulations from Beijing, which keeps a tight grip on the yuan and enforces capital controls, which the e-currency threatens to upend.

At its peak, Bitcoin traded at $1,250 (£764) but on Wednesday one Bitcoin was listed for sale for as little as $636 (£389).

Bitcoin was invented after the global financial crisis by a mysterious computer guru and can be stored either virtually or on a user's hard drive.

The e-money offers a largely anonymous payment system, which China's central bank, the People's Bank of China, warned can be used for illegal activities.

Two weeks ago it ordered financial institutions against providing Bitcoin-related services and products.

The central bank reportedly banned domestic third-party payment companies from providing clearing services for virtual currency trading platforms earlier this week.

Analysts worry the new restrictions will all but destroy Bitcoin trading in China.

"If the channel for depositing yuan in the platforms was completely cut off, all domestic exchanges would be invalid," James Gong, a digital currency expert and member of the US-based Bitcoin Foundation, told AFP.

"Bitcoin trading might be forced underground or shift to overseas markets," he said.

BTC China posted an apology on its website for the new ban on deposits, calling the measure "temporary".

"Due to new government regulations, BTC China will temporarily suspend CNY (yuan) deposits.

"Rest assured that BTC China will continue to operate normally. We deeply apologise for any inconvenience."

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South Sudan: Hundreds Killed In Army Clashes

Hundreds of people have been killed in clashes between rival army factions in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.

Gunfire was ringing out into the early hours of Wednesday morning, according to a reporter on the scene.

"There are people walking in the city this morning, but it would be premature to say things are back to normal," he said.

A tank patrols a street in Juba

The government under President Salva Kiir has ordered the airport to reopen, although regional airlines said they are waiting for security guaranties before allowing flights bound for Juba to take off.

"We are waiting for confirmation that the airport is safe," a Kenya Airways official said. "For the moment it is 50-50".

The US has ordered non-essential embassy staff out of the country, the world's youngest nation, amid fears of a descent into wider ethnic violence.

President Salva Kiir (L) and Riek Machar

The fighting appears to be taking place along ethnic lines, UN Security Council president Gerard Araud, France's UN ambassador, told the 15-member council.

Mr Kiir has accused troops loyal to former vice-president Riek Machar - who was sacked in July - of staging a coup attempt in the oil-rich but deeply impoverished nation.

Mr Kiir is an ethnic Dinka while Mr Machar is a Nuer.

Riek Machar remains "on the run", say government officials

Mr Machar has meanwhile denied any attempt to topple the president, instead accusing the president of using the violence as a pretext to purge any challengers.

"What took place in Juba was a misunderstanding between presidential guards within their division, it was not a coup attempt," he told the Paris-based Sudan Tribune website, in his first public remarks since the fighting started.

"Kiir wanted to use the alleged coup attempt in order to get rid of us."

A child is treated in a Juba hospital

UN leader Ban Ki-moon spoke with Mr Kiir on Tuesday and urged him to offer "dialogue" with the opposition. Mr Ban also spoke with the president of neighbouring Uganda, Yoweri Musseveni, about the unrest.

The Security Council meeting was called at the request of the US, which has ordered non-essential diplomatic staff out of South Sudan.

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Saudi Activists Defy Threats On Social Media

By Zein Ja'Far, in Abu Dhabi

Activists in Saudi Arabia, who are turning to social media to campaign for reforms in the country, face the threat of intimidation, arrest or imprisonment, according to a new report.

With protests banned in the country, and authorities cracking down on internal dissent, human rights campaigners are finding new ways to spread their messages online and out of sight from the authorities.

A Human Rights Watch report has highlighted the work of 11 Saudi activists campaigning for various issues ranging from women's rights to religious tolerance and greater political participation.

All of them have faced intimidation, arrest or imprisonment despite pursuing peaceful means. 

Saudi women are challenging a driving ban in their country

The kingdom's interior ministry and security forces have tried to quash protests in the country, but it has not stopped people taking to the streets in various cities calling for the release of political prisoners, greater gender equality and to demonstrate against sectarianism.

Twitter campaigns highlighting issues previously seen as taboo, such as poor living conditions or calling for better pay, have proven incredibly popular.

One of the most visible campaigns of 2013 has been the push to overturn the driving ban against women.

Despite threats of arrest, and even the possibility of force being used against them, the Women2Drive initiative received thousands of messages of support on Twitter and Facebook, with videos of the drivers uploaded moments after they were filmed. 

Adam Coogle, Middle East researcher at Human Rights Watch and author of the report, said: "Authorities think by arresting the most prominent activists for their social media activism, and their human rights activism in general, that they can intimidate everybody else into silence.

A Facebook campaign to allow women to drive

"But really the cat is out of the bag. People are talking on social networks now, they're expressing their views, and there's really nothing the Saudi authorities are going to be able to do to shut this thing down."

For many human rights campaigners in Saudi Arabia, online activism is the safest platform they have to push for reforms.

Human rights lawyer Waleed Abu El Khair was recently arrested for hosting a gathering of pro-democracy campaigners at his home.

In 2011 he was charged by authorities for providing legal assistance to other activists and the interior ministry has imposed a travel ban on him.

He told Sky News that at his last meeting with police they pressured him to stop his online activities.

"They said to us maybe we lose the control on the new media but we will never lose control in reality. That is why they blocked our accounts ... because they don't want anyone to say the true story, they just want one story which is said by the government.

Women activists are filmed in the back of a police vehicle

"Before I went to court they said to me clearly, stop everything, close your account and we will stop punishing you … but if you continue we will punish you."

Despite winning a seat on the UN's Human Rights Council last month, Saudi Arabia has continued to target anyone threatening the status quo.

An activist was recently sentenced to four years in jail and 300 lashes after he called for a constitutional monarchy, while new anti-terror laws have been introduced to criminalise acts which "disturb public order" and "defame the reputation of the state".

But Saudi Arabia is a young, and increasingly cyber-savvy society with some of the most active social media users in the world.

If the Government remains unwilling to introduce substantial reforms it is likely activists will take their demands off the streets and online, where there will be a substantial audience waiting for them.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

22.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

Italy Migrants Face 'Appalling' Treatment

The European Union has condemned the "appalling conditions" of Italian migrant centres after video emerged of apparent mistreatment on the island of Lampedusa.

Italy's Rai 2 TV broadcast secret footage shot inside a detention centre showing naked inmates being sprayed down with water after an alleged scabies outbreak.

The man who shot the mobile phone footage, reportedly an unnamed Syrian refugee, said men and women are regularly sprayed down. 

EU Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem on Wednesday promised to take action if various detention centres are not improved.

"We have already started investigations into the appalling conditions in many Italian detention centres, including Lampedusa," she said on Twitter.

"The EU is committed to assist Italy in receiving migrants, but it has to be done in decent conditions."

Coffins laid out of those killed in the October sinking

Lampedusa made headlines in October after a migrant ship sank en route to the island, killing more than 300 people.

The overloaded boat was carrying hundreds of African asylum seekers from Libya and sank after a fire was started.

A second boat capsized in the same week in the Canal of Sicily, killing at least 27 people.

More than 13,000 people have tried to reach Lampedusa this year, more than double the population of the island.

Ms Malmstroem said: "We will not hesitate to launch an infringement procedure to make sure EU standards and obligations are fully respected."

A refugee is pulled out of the water by a coast guard

Earlier this month, the EU published a list of proposals aimed at tackling human trafficking and avoiding further boating disasters.

The proposals include increased border surveillance, boosting EU assistance to member states facing the biggest influx of migrants, improving the fight against human trafficking and opening more legal channels to reach Europe - including resettling more refugees in the EU.

They will be discussed in an upcoming EU leaders' summit later this week.

Up to 20,000 migrants have died at sea trying to reach Europe in the past 20 years, according to immigration charities.

However, tackling the complex issue is tricky at a time when Europe is in economic stagnation.

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Russia Will Free Arctic 30 And Pussy Riot

The Arctic 30 Greenpeace activists and jailed members of Pussy Riot are set to be freed under new amnesty laws.

The State Duma voted 446-0 in favour of the Kremlin-backed bill.

It will allow investigators to drop charges against the 30 activists from Greenpeace's ship Arctic Sunrise detained in Russia's Arctic in September.

The activists, who include six Britons, were arrested after Russian authorities boarded their vessel following attempts by some of them to board an offshore oil platform.

They have been on bail but the 26 non-Russians among them were not allowed to go home.

The six British Greenpeace activists who were arrested in Russia

Greenpeace said a last-minute amendment to the amnesty bill meant Russia would almost certainly end legal proceedings against activists who faced jail terms of up to seven years if convicted over the protest.

Arctic Sunrise's American captain Peter Willcox was quoted by Greenpeace as saying: "I might soon be going home to my family, but I should never have been charged and jailed in the first place.

"We sailed north to bear witness to a profound environmental threat but our ship was stormed by masked men wielding knives and guns ... We were never the criminals here."

Lawyers said the amnesty, which could come into force this week, would also lead to the early release of Pussy Riot members Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina.

Their two-year sentences over an anti-Putin protest in a cathedral have been criticised in the West as excessive.

Protesters climb the Prirazlomnaya oil platform

Officials in Krasnoyarsk and Nizhny Novgorod, where the two women are currently held, have promised to free them "right away and without bureaucratic delay, probably tomorrow", Ms Tolokonnikova's husband Pyotr Verzilov wrote on his Twitter blog.

The pair's sentences run out in early March next year.

The lower house of parliament passed the amnesty, which President Vladimir Putin proposed to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the passage of Russia's post-Soviet constitution.

The move has been largely viewed as the Kremlin's attempt to soothe criticism of Russia's human rights records ahead of the Winter Olympics in Sochi next year.

The amnesty affects a range of categories like mothers with dependents, minors and the elderly. However, it also specifically mentions the charge of hooliganism as well as the charge of participating in mass riots.

Pussy Riot's "punk prayer" protest at Christ The Saviour Cathedral, Moscow

It does not require approval by the upper chamber of parliament and will come into effect when it is published, probably on Thursday.

The foreign crew from Arctic Sunrise will then request to leave, and still hope to be home by Christmas, said Greenpeace spokesman Ben Stewart.

"There is certainly a chance, but until they actually leave Russia everything is speculation," he said.

All were arrested after the ship was boarded by Russian special forces in September and were first held under arrest in a jail in northern Murmansk, where the ship remains in Russian control.

The Britons have been named as Alexandra Harris, Kieron Bryan, Anthony Perrett, Phil Ball, Frank Hewetson and Iain Rogers.

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N Korea Marks Anniversary Of Kim Jong-Il Death

North Korea's political and military elite have publicly pledged their loyalty to Kim Jong-Un during a large memorial in Pyongyang to mark the second anniversary of the death of his father.

The public display of support came only days after the execution of the young leader's uncle, Jang Song Thaek, considered the second most powerful man in the secretive state.

The ousting of Jang overlaps with a propaganda drive that has tied the younger Kim to his father's legacy in the weeks leading up to the anniversary.

Official television footage showed Kim Jong-Un sitting centre stage beneath a huge red mural of a flag emblazoned with a picture of his smiling father Kim Jong-Il.

A noticeable absentee on the stage was his paternal aunt Kim Kyung Hui, Kim Jong-Il's sister and Jang's wife.

She and Jang had been the "Pyongyang power couple" considered to be the real force behind the North Korean leadership.

Mr Kim, who is believed to be about 30, took over when his father died suddenly in December 2011.

In a relatively short period of time he has followed his father's programme by ordering the North's third nuclear test and successfully launching a long-range rocket in the face of increasingly tight UN sanctions.

His first two years in power have also been marked by construction, with a flagship project being the Masik Pass ski resort near Wonsan, on North Korea's east coast.

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Syria: Missing UK Doctor 'Dies In Detention'

The Foreign Office is investigating reports that British doctor Abbas Khan has died in custody in Syria.

Dr Khan, 32, an orthopaedic surgeon from Streatham, south London, had been held in Syria for more than a year.

He was seized by government troops in the rebel-held city of Aleppo after he entered the country with a visa on a humanitarian mission.

A statement from the Foreign Office said: "We are extremely concerned by reports that Dr Khan has died in detention in Syria and are urgently seeking confirmation from the Syrian authorities.

"If these tragic reports are true, responsibility for Dr Khan's death lies with them and we will be pressing for answers about what happened.

"We have consistently sought consular access to Dr Khan and information on his detention, directly and through the Russians, Czechs and others.

"In November, minister Hugh Robertson wrote making clear our concerns about his welfare and treatment, stressing that the regime's failure to provide any information that would indicate Dr Khan's continued detention is legitimate meant his position should be reviewed immediately.

"These requests have consistently been ignored.

Dr Khan with his son. Pic: FreeAbbasKhan/Facebook

"All UK consular services in Syria were suspended some time ago and we continue to advise against all travel to Syria."

Dr Khan's brother, Afroze, told the BBC: "My brother was going to be released at the end of the week. We were given assurance by the Syrian government.

"My brother knew that. He was ready to come back home. He was happy and looking forward to being released."

He added that the family was angry at the Foreign Office for "dragging their feet" for more than a year.

A message on the Free Dr Abbas Khan Twitter feed said his life was "taken meaninglessly".

It added: "He was the best brother I could ever asked for and I know no one with a purer heart than him. His release was due to be this week."

A statement issued by Bradford West MP George Galloway said the MP "had been negotiating for months with the Syrian government over the release of Dr Khan and was due to fly out this week to bring him home".

Mr Galloway said: "I think we will have to wait for clarification on how exactly he died but this is heartbreaking and devastating news for his family who have been working so hard for so long to secure his release, particularly because his freedom had been agreed and he was due to return with me in the next few days.

"My sincere condolences go out to his family whose pain is unbearable."

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India: US Embassy Barriers Removed Over Spat

India has launched a series of reprisals against US officials in retaliation for the arrest and alleged heavy-handed treatment of an Indian diplomat in New York.

The government ordered the return of identity cards for US consular officials that speed up travel into and through India.

Import clearances for the US embassy will also be stopped, while New Delhi police used two trucks and bulldozers to remove concrete security barricades from in front of the US embassy.

ID cards for US consular officials have also been seized

Politicians in India, including the leaders of the two main political parties and the national security adviser, refused to meet a delegation of US politicians earlier this week.

Devyani Khobragade, India's deputy consul general in New York was arrested while dropping her daughter at school last week, for allegedly underpaying her nanny and committing visa fraud to get her into the US.

She was also allegedly handcuffed during her arrest,  strip-searched and "confined with drug addicts" before being released on $250,000 bail and surrendering her passport. She has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Devyani Khobragade is India's deputy consul general in New York

National security adviser Shivshankar Menon branded the treatment "barbaric".

Foreign minister Salman Khurshid said the arrest was "completely unacceptable".

He added: "We have put in motion what we believe would be effective ways of addressing the issue but also (put) in motion such steps that need to be taken to protect her dignity."

But US State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said that diplomatic security staff had followed standard procedures during the arrest and then handed her over to US Marshals.

Indian TV reported the foreign ministry was considering checking the salaries paid by US embassy staff to domestic helpers and the withdrawal of certain privileges for some US diplomats and their families.

A statement issued by the public attorney for the Southern District of New York claimed Ms Khobragade had agreed with her nanny to pay just over a third of the $9.75 US law minimum rate.

India summoned the US ambassador on Friday to protest at the arrest.

Ms Khobragade faces a maximum of 15 years in jail if convicted on both counts.

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Six US Servicemen Killed In Helicopter Crash

Six US service members have been killed in a helicopter crash in southern Afghanistan, according to officials.

One person on board the aircraft was injured, but survived the crash in the southern Zabul province.

A statement issued by the Nato international military coalition said the crash was under investigation and stressed there was no insurgent activity in the area at the time.

The helicopter is thought to have developed engine trouble.

Mohammad Jan Rasoolyar, deputy governor of Zabul, said the helicopter came down in the remote Shajau district.

This year, 109 members of the US military have died in Afghanistan, from a total of 139 in the coalition.

The death toll has dropped significantly since the coalition handed over responsibility for security to Afghan forces last summer. Coalition troops are now training and assisting their Afghan counterparts.

More follows...

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Russia And Ukraine Sign Deal Despite Protests

Russian President Vladimir Putin has slashed the cost of gas sold to Ukraine and agreed to buy billions of government bonds.

The deal comes amid massive protests in the Ukraine over the government rejecting closer ties with the European Union in favour of a renewed alliance with Russia.

Mr Putin agreed the deal after talks in Moscow with his Ukrainian counterpart, Viktor Yanukovych.

Protesters have been camped on Kiev's main square for nearly a month angry at the prospect of being drawn back under the influence of its powerful neighbour.

Opposition leaders had warned Mr Yanukovich not to bother coming back to Ukraine if he "sells out" to Russia.

The deal sees Russian state-controlled gas monopoly Gazprom cutting the price of gas deliveries to $268 (£165) per 1,000 cubic metres from $400 (£246) per 1,000 cubic metres.

Mr Putin also said Russia has decided to invest $15bn ($9.2bn) in Ukraine's government bonds.

More follows...

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NSA Considers Edward Snowden Amnesty Deal

The US National Security Agency is considering offering an amnesty to Edward Snowden if he agrees to stop leaking top secret documents, a top agency official has said.

The fugitive intelligence analyst - currently in Moscow - has been charged with espionage by US authorities for divulging reams of secret files, which have been published by news organisations across the globe. 

Mr Snowden has insisted he spilled the secrets to expose the NSA's far-reaching surveillance and spark public debate.

Rick Ledgett, who heads the NSA taskforce in charge of assessing the Snowden leaks, told CBS News' 60 Minutes that he would be open to the possibility of a deal.

He said: "My personal view is, yes, it's worth having a conversation about." 

Mr Snowden is thought to have access to around 1.5 million NSA files

But NSA chief General Keith Alexander has rejected the possibility of an amnesty.

He told the programme: "This is analogous to a hostage-taker taking 50 people hostage, shooting 10 and then say 'You give me full amnesty and I'll let the other 40 go'."

Gen Alexander also said suggestions that the agency was routinely eavesdropping on the phone calls of Americans were false.

He said: "NSA can only target the communications of a US person with a probable cause finding under specific court order," he said, referring to the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

"Today, we have less than 60 authorisations on specific persons to do that."

NSA chief General Keith Alexander says there will be no deal

Mr Ledgett warned that Mr Snowden effectively stole the "keys to the kingdom" when he took more than 1.5 million of the agency's files.

He said of particular concern was Mr Snowden's theft of around 31,000 documents the NSA official described as an "exhaustive list of the requirements that have been levied against the National Security Agency".

He said: "What that gives is, what topics we're interested in, where our gaps are. Additional information about US capabilities and US gaps is provided as part of that."

He said the information could potentially offer a rival nation a "roadmap of what we know, what we don't know, and give them, implicitly, a way to protect their information from the US intelligence community's view. It is the keys to the kingdom."

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China's Illegal Detention Of Christian Pastor

By Mark Stone, China Correspondent, in Henan Province

A Chinese Christian pastor and 23 members of his congregation have been held at an unknown location illegally and without access to lawyers since mid-November.

The case of Pastor Zhang Shaojie is evidence that in parts of China the violent suppression and unlawful arrests of the faithful by local government officials continues.

China's poor record on religious tolerance has been showing signs of improvement in recent years.

The Communist government had pledged to improve the rights of religious groups but this case suggests challenges remain.

Our research led us first to a small town on the border of Hebei and Henan Provinces.

We arrived at 1am to meet the daughter of Pastor Shaojie. Her name is Zhang Yunyun and she is a mother on the run.

We meet her in the hotel room she is hiding in for the night with her 11-month-old daughter Jessie.

Yunyun is on the run because she fears the arrest of her father could lead to her own detention.

She has received repeated threats on the phone from officials. One caller threatened to "wipe out her family" if she talks to reporters. But she is undeterred.

It is nearly a month since she last saw her father. Speaking in whispers, she explains what happened.

The pastor's daughter Zhang Yunyun and her 11-month-old daughter Jessie

"My father went to work (in the church) as usual, it was a Saturday.

"Suddenly a dozen police came, they forcefully took my father away.

"There was no paperwork at all, they just took him away. we haven't seen him since."

We look at photographs she took of the government men who turned up at the church on November 16.

"Government," she says, pointing at a group of plain-clothed men. They look threatening.

She describes how they tied up her father and took him away with some of his parishioners.

She selects another photograph and points to some of those who have disappeared.

"Her, her, him, her," she says. In all, 24 people were taken away.

This is a case that pits a Christian community, which had been growing in numbers and influence, against a local government that has seized the land bought for a new church.

Our conversation with Yunyun wakes Jessie, who begins to cry. It is time for us to leave.

A man defends himself with makeshift barricades

She shows us the location of her church on a map. It is in a town 20 minutes' drive away, over the border in Henan Province.

We arrive at Nanle County Church at dawn. It is a rundown building in centre of the town. The front door is closed but a side door is ajar. We go inside.

It does not resemble a European Christian church. It looks more like a theatre: 600 or so seats and a large stage with a pulpit in its centre.

This is where Pastor Zhang and his worshipers were dragged from a month ago.

There are two types of church in China: some are sanctioned and authorised by the state and others are not.

Nanle County Church is sanctioned and so, in theory, its worshippers should face no problems from the authorities.

As we are looking around, some of the parishioners emerge from a side room. They recall the day of the arrests.

"Pastor Zhang was negotiating with our local government here. Suddenly a dozen people arrived, and they took Pastor Zhang away," one woman says.

"We did some charity work, perhaps some of that was too much? They always discriminate towards religions."

"We are very worried about my dad," another says.

"My mother was arrested here too, at the church. No arrest warrant, no evidence, just arrested."

I ask whether it is hard to practise their religion in China.

"I think it's really unsafe here and there's no freedom. Whenever we come to services there are always restrictions."

The parishioners then receive a phone call. It is from one of a group of lawyers who have taken up the case and who have just arrived at the prosecutor's office across town.

We drive over to meet them. For 10 minutes we chat to them about the case.

A child seen inside the Nanle County Church in China

"Christianity in the Chinese system does not have any real standing," one lawyer explains.

The lead attorney for the detained Christians is Xia Jun. "Our rights as lawyers to meet our client have been blocked," he says.

"I've been in Nanle for more than 20 days, I'm representing Pastor Zhang Shaojie. We went to the detention centre to see him five times, but all been denied.

"Four times I went to the Public Security Bureau to report about it, all been rejected. Then I was followed, every day. I drive around the roundabout three times, the car following me drove three times too."

They explain the complexity of the case. It combines a number of themes: intolerance of religious groups, land-grabs for financial gain, and rampant local corruption by officials who operate above their own laws.

"The key problem is the power of officials in our country. They behave like uncaged monsters ... out to harm us all. For them, the law doesn't exist," Mr Xia says.

Moments later we all discover what he means. A coach pulls up next to us. We assume those who disembark are more Christian supporters, but they're not. They are just the opposite.

In a split second, our civilised chat with the lawyers turns into a melee of chaos. The coach-load of women backed by some men attack the lawyers, the Christians and us.

One of the lawyers is beaten and kicked in front of us. Our camera is then pulled from the Sky News cameraman's shoulder and damaged.

We retreat inside the prosecutor's office, which turns out to be deserted. One of the lawyers puts a chair leg through the door to stop the mob from entering the building. It doesn't work.

The mob move into the lobby and we retreat with the lawyer and one of the Christians into another room: a dead end.

The lawyer barricades us all inside the small room using a sofa, a chair, a desk and a drawer to wedge the door handle. Inches away on the other side of the door the determined mob are trying to get to us.

"Who are they? I ask.

"They are paid and backed by the local government. They come and go as required. All this is organised behind the scenes by the government," Mr Xia explains.

Xie Jun, the lawyer for Pastor Zhang Shaojie

The same group had attacked him the previous day.

We watched through the barred window as another lawyer, stuck outside, is struck on the head with a small rock.

"This case is for pure religious causes," Mr Xia says.

"More than 20 people were arrested. Pastor Zhang Shaojie and most of them are church staff: the core leaders of the church.

"When they are arrested, all the activities like worshiping and services, can't take place as normal."

For four hours, the local government rent-a-mob did their best to get inside. We watched a police car pull up outside and then drive away again.

The violent spectacle is a demonstration of a determined intolerance of religion incited by a corrupt local government.

The lawyers tell us that they believe the government seized the church land because it can be used for their own lucrative construction projects.

We call the Chinese Foreign Ministry in Beijing, who "handle" foreign reporters in China, to explain the situation.

Eventually, the same authorities who refuse to tell anyone why they are holding Pastor Zhang and his congregation escort us out of the building and out of the town.

They have given us safe passage out but continue to intimidate the Christians within their town.

"I miss my father very much," Zhang Yunyun had told me the previous night. It is exactly a month since she last saw him.

I ask if she thinks he will be home for Christmas.

She pauses: "I don't think so."

She and her baby daughter Jessie remain on the run, in hiding and frightened.

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