Over 2,000 Confirmed Dead In Afghan Landslide

More than 2,000 people are feared dead in a landslide in Afghanistan after part of a hill above a village collapsed.

The community, in Badakhshan province which borders Tajikistan in the country's northeast, has been buried in more than 300ft of mud (100 metres).

"More than 2,100 people from 300 families are all dead," Naweed Forotan, a spokesman for the Badakhshan provincial governor, told the Reuters news agency.

There are fears of further landslides in the area

Other officials have said the death toll is lower, in the hundreds. 

Hundreds of mud brick homes were destroyed when two landslides triggered by torrential rain hit Hobo Barik, in Argo district.

At least 100 people have been injured.

A digger works to clear the mud

The side of the mountain collapsed as villagers were trying to recover belongings and livestock following a smaller landslip a few hours earlier.

Mark Bowden, the humanitarian coordinator for Afghanistan, has told Sky News as many as 2,700 people could have been killed, with at least 4,500 people displaced.

Local people and dozens of police officers equipped with only basic digging tools began searching for survivors from first light on Saturday.

Thousands of people have been displaced

But it quickly became apparent there was no hope of finding anyone.

The United Nations says the focus is now on the thousands of people who have been displaced by the disaster.

A memorial service was planned for later on Saturday, and the site is expected to be designated as a mass grave, according to UN spokesman Ari Gaitanis.

Afghan National Army troops in Kabul load supplies for survivors

He added the survivors need water, medical support, counselling, food and emergency shelter.

British charities are mobilising teams to help with the rescue effort.

Save the Children sent five ambulances to the scene and are planning to distribute blankets and give medical assistance.

Other charities are monitoring the situation and stand ready to provide assistance if necessary.

There are also fears that another section of the mountainside could collapse, threatening the homeless and hundreds of rescue workers.

The US and the Nato-led coalition in Afghanistan have offered to send help

The Afghan military flew rescue teams to the search area on Saturday because the remote mountain region is served by only narrow, poor roads that have been damaged by more than a week of heavy rain.

Nato-led coalition troops are ready to assist, but have not yet been asked for help by the Afghan government.

US President Barack Obama has also offered to send help.

Seasonal rains and spring snow melt have brought destruction to large parts of northern Afghanistan, killing more than 100 people.

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Ukraine Observers Freed Amid New Offensive

Military observers kept prisoner in Ukraine for more than a week have been released as bloody clashes in the country show no sign of letting up.

The seven observers and their five assistants, from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, were seized in Slavyansk on April 25.

The separatists had previously accused the observers of being "Nato spies" and said they were to be used as human shields.

A prisoner-swap was thought likely, although they were set free today without any conditions.

Scuffles broke out outside the burned building in Odessa on Saturday

Colonel Axel Schneider, the head of the observers, said the group had shown "strength" and that the captivity was "unforgettable for us".

The release comes as Ukraine launched a dawn military operation against separatists in the east of the country.

Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said troops had seized control of a television tower in Kramatorsk, near the rebel stronghold of Slavyansk.

Two of the observers pictured while they were being held in Slavyansk

"We are not stopping," Mr Avakov wrote on his Facebook page. Heavy fighting is now being reported in the town, according to Ukraine's anti-terrorist centre.

The violence comes hours after 31 people died after a building in Odessa was set on fire during clashes between protesters.

Police said some people inside the trade union building were overcome by smoke and others were killed jumping from windows as they tried to escape.

Pro-Russian and pro-Kiev activists fought running battles as the southern city saw some of its worst violence since President Victor Yanukovych was ousted in February.

Police are guarding the charred trade union building in Odessa

The Interior Ministry said a total of 42 people had died.

Sky News' Katie Stallard said emotions were running high on the city's streets on Saturday as a few hundred officers guarded the charred building and people came to lay flowers.

"There is anger toward these officers. People feel they stood by yesterday; that they did very little to protect people.

"One woman told us she saw a young man and woman jump together from this building. People here witnessed something terrible last night."

A protester throws a petrol bomb at the building during Friday's clashes

Russia said it was "outraged" and denounced the "criminal irresponsibility" of the pro-Western authorities in Kiev.

Russia's foreign ministry called on Ukraine and its "Western backers to end the anarchy and take responsibility for the Ukranian people".

At an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council, the UK accused Moscow of "breathtaking" hypocrisy over the latest clashes.

People wait for rescue on an upper-storey ledge during the fire

The UK's ambassador to the UN, Sir Mark Lyall Grant, said Russia had "funded, equipped and directed" some of those involved in the insurgency.

"Many" pro-Russian separatists were also said to have been killed on Friday as the Ukrainian army took control of checkpoints around Slavyansk.

Two Ukrainian soldiers were also killed as two helicopters were shot down in the city, acting president Oleksandr Turchynov said.

The Ukrainian Security Service said one was shot down with a surface-to-air missile, adding that the sophisticated weapon undermined Russia's claims that Slavyansk was simply under the control of armed locals.

Sky News Chief Correspondent Stuart Ramsay, in Donetsk, said the Ukraine government is in a "very difficult position".

"If they want to take control of these towns they are going to have to put a lot of soldiers on the ground and bring in police from other parts of the country. If that happens it will absolutely be violent – it will only escalate further.

"Russia has made it clear that would be a reason for them to intervene to protect ethnic Russians.

"If Kiev doesn't do that, they are going to see the eastern parts of the country drift away."

Russia has tens of thousands of troops near Ukraine's border, and Kiev claims its neighbouring country is preparing to invade and that it is stoking the unrest in the east.

Moscow denies the allegations, but has warned Russia would respond to attacks on Russian citizens or interests in the east, where insurgents have seized government buildings in around a dozen cities.

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US And Germany United In Russia Warning

Germany and the US appear to have hardened their line on potential sanctions on Russia.

This is surprising and raises the stakes for what happens in the region.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Barack Obama both set a new threshold for action over Ukraine after meeting at the White House on Friday.

More severe "sectoral sanctions" have been held in reserve until now. Both leaders previously warning they could be used to punish a Russian military invasion.

But they are now threatening their use if elections in Ukraine on May 25 are disrupted.

Putin warned of "consequences" over military action

In the run up to their meeting much had been made of differences between the two allies.

German industry has been vigorously lobbying the Chancellor not to impose more severe sanctions. Germany is closer to Russia and has more trade than America, meaning it has more to lose than the US.

There have been differences of opinion on the degree to which sanctions should be ramped up. But if the two leaders are sincere in the warning issued to Russia from the White House Rose Garden those divisions have not prevented agreement on when more stringent sanctions should next be imposed.

Until now, sanctions have targeted individuals and some companies and banks. Assets have been frozen, visa bans imposed.

The White House has talked up the impact on the Russian economy. Others have pointed out it was heading in a negative direction before all this started.

But sectoral sanctions would be far more punishing, They would target entire sectors of the Russian economy - banking, mining, financial services, for instance.

It would hurt Russia, but its trading partners too.

While sceptics will question how much Mr Obama and Ms Merkel mean what they say, it is still significant that they said it.

A variety of factors may be pushing them closer.

Ukraine has launched a major offensive against pro-Russian forces

The German chancellor is reportedly furious about the continued detention of OSCE observers, some of them German, by pro-Russian separatists in Eastern Ukraine.

The US president poured scorn on Russian actions and propaganda, ridiculing the claim what is happening in Eastern Ukraine is a local protest.

Local protestors, he said, generally do not have the capacity to shoot down helicopters. The president knows recent polls show the Ukraine situation is weakening his popularity and approval ratings.

The German-US response makes escalation more likely.

It is hard to see how the May 25 elections can avoid disruption given the takeover of towns in the east of the country and the presence of shadowy militia.

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Far-Right Dutch MP Seeks Tie-In With UKIP

By Robert Nisbet, Europe Correspondent

A Dutch MP who leads a far-right party in the Netherlands has said he hopes to join forces with UKIP and Marine Le Pen's Front Nationale in the European Parliament.

Geert Wilders, founder of the Dutch Party for Freedom (PVV), told Sky News: "I hope that after the elections in May ... Mr Farage and my party ... can work together because I know one thing: if we really want to be a good advocate of all those millions of voters (who) cast their vote not against Europe but against the European Union, that they would benefit more if we were able to overstep our shadows and work together."

The 50-year-old politician is the subject of a fatwa and death threats from al Qaeda affiliates for his comments on Islam, has already proposed a deal with Ms Le Pen, who runs the Front Nationale, to unite their parties.

Both propose reigning in immigration, leaving the single currency and taking their respective countries out of the EU altogether, while continuing to access the single market.

It is an uncompromising position which appears to have chimed with many voters.

Polls in France and the Netherlands put the parties in either first or second place of those intending to vote in this month's parliamentary elections.

Front Nationale's Marine le Pen has also been approached

Ms Le Pen and Mr Wilders have also tried to convince other populist, EU critical parties around Europe to join forces including Vlaams Belang in Belgium, Finland's Finns Party and the relatively new Alternative for Germany.

All are expected to make significant gains in this year's elections, although polls across Europe suggest left-leaning pro-EU parties are expected to edge a small majority.

The same surveys suggest a move to the extremes from the centre ground after years of recession and austerity brought about by the global recession and sovereign debt crisis.

Mr Wilders has been mired in controversy again after he asked supporters at a rally in March whether they wanted "more or fewer" Moroccans in the Netherlands.

When the audience started chanting "fewer, fewer," the PVV leader said "we will take care of that".

That remark prompted several people to leave the party and 5,000 complaints to the public prosecutors accusing him of inciting racial hatred.

Mr Wilders said: "I believe that our culture which is based on Christianity and Judaism and humanism is better than the Islamic culture.

"I've nothing against the people but I have a problem with the culture. I'm not afraid of that.

"In the world today, in the Netherlands today, Europe today, you pay a very high price to say that: you get taken to court you get a fatwa, you get called a bigot and a racist. Once again it's not true."

The UKIP leader has said he is "not interested" in the offer of joining forces with Mr Wilders.

Mr Farage already chairs an anti-EU grouping in the European Parliament called the Europe of Freedom and Democracy, and it is clear he sees any association with Mr Wilders or Ms Le Pen as potentially damaging.

But the UKIP leader may face renewed pressure to strike deals with the biggest EU critical parties if he wants to make waves in Brussels and Strasbourg.

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India Election Sees Fatal Shootings In Assam

By Neville Lazarus, India Producer

Election violence has claimed the lives of at least 30 people within 24 hours in India's remote northeastern state of Assam.

The killing of Bengali-speaking Muslims by tribal separatists has caused hundreds to flee the area.

A curfew has been imposed and the Indian Army has been called in to keep the peace in the face of threatened retaliation for the killings.

This four-year-old was among those injured in the indiscriminate violence

The deadly attacks in the Baksa district are reported to have been carried out because the large Muslim population did not vote for the candidate loyal to the National Democratic Front of Bodoland - a separatist group fighting for autonomy in the northern part of the state.

In one incident, militants raided a village and fired indiscriminately at a house killing three women instantly and wounding two others.

Another attack saw 12 people shot dead near Manas National Park, where 30 thatched homes were also burnt down.

Appealing for calm, chief minister of Assam Tarun Gogoi said: "We request people not to flee their homes.

"We will do everything possible to frustrate the designs of the insurgents and apprehend them at the earliest."

Ethnic violence is not new to the area, with tensions simmering for decades between the indigenous Bodo people and the migrant Bengali-speaking Muslims from Bangladesh.

It is claimed migrant numbers have been on the rise, leading to increased competition for jobs and land.

Widespread violence in 2012 left more than 100 people dead.

And during the 1983 state elections more than 3000 people were killed in days of ethnic cleansing and violence.

Around 815 million people have registered to vote in India's general election - a number exceeding the population of Europe and a world record.

The results of the mammoth exercise, which concludes on May 12, are due on May 16.

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Ukraine In Military Assault On Slavyansk

Two Ukrainian soldiers have been killed after pro-Russian forces shot down helicopters during the first major government offensive in the east of Ukraine.

A spokeswoman for the pro-Russian militants also said one of their men was killed and another injured, according to the AP news agency.

Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov urged local residents to stay indoors during the "anti-terrorist operation" in rebel-held Slavyansk early Friday morning.

A man, said to be one of the Ukrainian helicopter crew, is taken away

Posting on Facebook, he said the city was "tightly surrounded" after government troops seized nine rebel-held road checkpoints.

"Against Ukraine's special forces, terrorists used heavy artillery, including grenade launchers and portable anti-aircraft missile launchers," Mr Avakov said.

Vyacheslav Ponomarev, the insurgency-appointed mayor of Slavyansk, said self-defence forces had shot down two helicopters and taken one person hostage.

A helicopter lands at Andreevka, just outside Slavyansk

Shoulder-launched missiles had downed the aircraft, according to the Ukrainian defence ministry.

A third helicopter, said to be carrying carrying medical staff, was also hit and one person wounded, according to the ministry.

Ukrainian officials believe the use of such heavy weaponry proves Russian forces are in the area - something repeatedly denied by Moscow.

Separatist forces were still reported to be firmly in control of Slavyansk's streets, with Ukrainian armoured vehicles restricted to the city's outskirts.

The offensive by the Ukrainian government marks the first significant military response by Kiev.

A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin said the "punitive operation" had destroyed a peace plan agreed with Western powers in Geneva last month.

"While Russia is making efforts to de-escalate and settle the conflict, the Kiev regime moved combat air forces against peaceful settlements, began a reprisal raid, essentially finishing off the last hope for the feasibility of the Geneva accords," Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.

Ukrainian troops stand guard at a checkpoint near Slavyansk

Officials have been criticised for being slow to act to stop the pro-Russian forces seizing swathes of its Donbass coal and steel belt.

The armed groups seeking union with Moscow have seized a number of government buildings in towns in eastern Ukraine.

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British Fighters Filmed In Syria 'War Crime'

By Tom Rayner, Middle East Reporter

Video has emerged implicating British fighters in Syria in an apparent war crime.

Footage uncovered by researchers at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR) shows jihadist rebels killing a prisoner, said to be a loyalist of President Bashar al Assad.

The incident is thought to have happened in the last two weeks near Raqqa in northern Syria.

The footage was posted on the Instagram account of a man believed to be from London.

The caption accompanying the video describes the prisoner as one of "Bashar [al Assad's] dogs" and says the killing was retribution for the deaths of four fellow rebels and the rape of a woman.

The ICSR monitors the social media accounts of hundreds of foreign fighters inside Syria.

Researchers say one of the executioners is a Briton seen in other videos

They believe the man that posted the video is part of a group of British fighters, known as Rayat al Tawheed, an affiliate of the Sunni jihadi movement ISIS, which controls large swathes of northern Syria.

Shiraz Maher, a senior ICSR researcher based at King's College London, said the killing of prisoners is a war crime in international law.

"It's incredibly serious," he said.

"We believe the main characters involved with Rayat al Tawheed come from London.

"We have deduced this based on our discussions with foreign fighters, our extensive record-keeping of foreign fighter activity in Syria, and our maintenance of social network maps which allows us to plot activity and associations in a visual form."

In one video a British fighter says a bullet is "the pen of the mujahid"

Although no audible English is spoken in the video itself, analysts from the ICSR believe they have identified one of the gunmen as being a British citizen.

A man is seen in the video firing shots into the body of the prisoner in the seconds after the initial bullet was fired by the main shooter.

Analysis of the gunman's physical build, wristwatch and balaclava led the ICSR to conclude he is the same man seen speaking English with a London accent in other videos posted by the group.

"We don't know if the prisoner was alive or dead when he fired, but he did partake in the execution, he did fire shots at the individual from his weapon, and we believe he is a British citizen," said ICSR researcher Joseph Carter.

On two separate videos posted on YouTube, the man identified as the gunman by the ICSR is heard berating the British Muslim community for failing to provide sufficient financial support for the jihad or the families the fighters have left behind.

The group lobbies for donations to buy more weapons and ammunition

"You know who you are, from the capital, the Midlands, up north, wherever you may be… it's a disgrace, that brothers know where these wives are, where these families are, and yet you are buying your nephew or your child a PlayStation 4 or taking them out to Nando's," he said.

The Government's counter-terrorism programme last week launched a campaign urging the families of young men planning to travel to Syria to intervene.

It is estimated that up to 400 Britons have travelled to fight or train in Syria in the last two years. 

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "This demonstrates why we have consistently called for the situation in Syria to be referred to the International Criminal Court.

"Horrific atrocities have been committed by both the Assad regime and by extremists. The international community must ensure that all those responsible are held to account.

"Our priority is to dissuade people from travelling, but any extremists should know we are prepared to take action to protect national security, and intelligence agencies and police are working to identify potential threats."

Amnesty International UK Syria campaign manager Kristyan Benedict said: "This alleged British member of the extremist group ISIS says it's 'a disgrace' other British Muslims will not join him in Syria.

"The real disgrace is people like him and other extremists brazenly committing war crimes and holding Syrians back from realising their aspirations for a Syria free from violent authoritarianism.

"The scale of unlawful killing, torture and arbitrary detention from the Syrian government side still dwarfs abuses carried out by numerous armed groups, but the Assad government certainly doesn't have a monopoly on atrocities.

"All these crimes will need to be properly investigated and the perpetrators held to account."

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North Korean Defectors' Harrowing Stories

By Mark Stone, Asia Correspondent

In a series of rare and harrowing interviews, defectors have told Sky News of their horrific lives inside North Korea and their extraordinary journeys to escape the country.

The men and women agreed to talk from their new homes in the South Korean capital, Seoul.

Their interviews form part of a special programme to be shown on Sky News this weekend.

Two of the defectors had spent time inside North Korea's notorious political prison camps.

Another was a tank commander in the secretive state's army before managing to escape.

One women describes, for the first time, the torture she endured at the hands of North Korean prison camp guards.

From her Seoul apartment, Cheon YoungSuk sobbed uncontrollably as she recalled the torture.

"With that plank, they hit me until it split into two or they won't stop hitting me. It must split into two. Then the beating stops. They hit me like that, they starved me, kicked me," she said.

Lee Soon Shil managed to escape from North to South Korea

"During the torture the hardest thing was they made me kneel on a chair. The guard had ridges on the bottom of his shoes. He would stand on my bare skin and start twisting (his feet).

"When bare skin and shoe soles are twisted with pressure it grinds the skin. That was the most hard. That was the time I shouted. It hurt too much.

"Because it hurt too much I shouted to him to grind faster. Twist faster to finish it more quickly.

"They wrapped my hair on their hand and start smashing my face on the corner of the desk.... [they are] crueller than beasts. How could a human do that to another human?"

On Thursday, diplomats addressed the United Nations saying that North Korea must act immediately to halt its "litany of abuses" and "crimes against humanity".

"We note with concern that... human rights violations and crimes against humanity continue to take place with impunity," British UN representative Karen Pierce told the Geneva forum.

Sky's Mark Stone speaks to a defector in Seoul

North Korea denies the existence of prison camps. It reacted angrily to a United Nations Human Rights Council Commission of Inquiry (COI), published in February.

The COI conducted scores of interviews with defectors all of whom told stories similar to those heard by Sky News.

The UN body concluded that "systematic, widespread and gross human rights violations have been and are being committed" by North Korea.

It said that "the gravity, scale and nature of these violations reveal a state that does not have any parallel in the contemporary world".

It described a catalogue of "unspeakable atrocities" which amounted to "crimes against humanity".

The report is currently being considered at the General Assembly of the United Nations in New York.

The detailed findings of the report were also discussed at informal meeting of the UN Security Council two weeks ago. However, two members of the council, Russia and China, both historically allied to North Korea, failed to attend.

Speaking after the informal meeting, the chairman of the Commission of Inquiry, retired Australian judge Michael Kirby, said he was disappointed that China and Russia failed to attend but still hoped that the UN would now act against North Korea.

"The time has come for effective action from the United Nations," he said.

"If ever there is to be a case for referral of a matter to the International Criminal Court, it is difficult to imagine a stronger case than has been made out in the case of North Korea.

"If this is not a case for such a referral, it is difficult to imagine what would be."

The level of abuse uncovered in North Korea, both in the UN report and the interviews conducted by Sky News has been compared to some of the abuses during the holocaust of World War Two.

Mr Kirby said that the descriptions he heard reminded him of Holocaust abuses.

He said: "I never thought that in my professional life, my life as a judge or as an officer of the United Nations, I would sit there and hear descriptions that were so similar to the descriptions of what went on in those places.

"I thought we had said as a world community, 'never again'.

"I thought that was what the charter of the United Nations was about. I thought that was why in the charter it speaks of international peace and security and the protection of universal human rights together."

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Al Qaeda Boss Orders End To Jihadist Infighting

Al Qaeda's chief has called on members of the group's Syrian affiliate, the al Nusra Front, to stop fighting with their jihadist rivals.

In an audiotape posted online, Ayman al Zawahiri ordered "all soldiers of the front immediately cease fighting" one another.

And al Nusra's leader Abu Mohammed al Jolani was told to "devote himself to combat the enemies of Islam, specifically Baathists, Shiites and their allies".

The Baath is Syria's ruling party, headed by President Bashar al Assad.

Al Nusra has been locked in fierce fighting with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) since the start of the year.

ISIL - a rebranding of al Qaeda in Iraq - has recently been accused of atrocities against rival opposition fighters.

ISIL fighters burn confiscated cigarettes in the city of Raqqa

Its leader, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, has previously been warned by al Zawahiri to restrict its activities to Iraq.

That order was repeated by al Zawahiri in Friday's message, with the ISIL chief being told to "devote himself to wounded Iraq, which needs you to redouble your efforts".

He said ISIL's presence had hindered the fighting against forces loyal to the Syrian president because it had created divisions which had proved to be "a gift to Assad".

Al Qaeda, which is intolerant of non-Sunni branches of Islam and regards liberal Muslims and other sects including Shias, Sufis to be heretics, threatened in February to break links with ISIL.

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Thousands Missing As Landslide Buries Village

As many as 2,000 people are missing after a landslide buried part of a village in Afghanistan, according to officials.

Three hundred homes in the village of Hobo Barik were buried after heavy rains caused part of a hill to collapse at around 1pm local time on Friday.

Governor Shah Waliullah Adeeb said around a third of the village had been hit by the landslide and appealed for equipment for rescue teams.

He said: "It's physically impossible right now. We don't have enough shovels, we need more machinery."

Mr Adeeb added authorities had evacuated a nearby village over fears of more landslides.

Faziluddin Hayar, police chief in Badakshan province, said seven people have been rescued and search crews were looking for more survivors.

Badakshan province is located in the Hindu Kush and Pamir mountain ranges and is one of the most remote areas in the country.

The area, which borders Tajikistan and China, has seen few attacks from insurgents following the 2001 US-led military action in the country.

It comes after severe flooding left 150 people dead and thousands affected in Jowzjan, Faryab and Sar-e-Pul provinces in the north of the country.

Avalanches are also common in the mountains of northern Afghanistan. In February 2010, more than 170 people were killed in an avalanche in Salang Pass, which connects the capital Kabul with the north of the country.

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Florida Jail Gas Blast Kills 2 And Injures 100

A gas explosion at a Florida jail has killed two people and left up to 150 inmates and corrections officers hurt.

Escambia County jail's booking facility building was almost entirely destroyed in the blast, which happened at around 11pm local time on Wednesday.

Sheriff David Morgan said not all inmates were yet accounted for, with officials waiting until the building was safe to enter. He also said it was possible some inmates had escaped.

Officials described frantic scenes following the explosion

Authorities had blocked off roads to the jail, outside which pieces of glass and brick were strewn on the ground.

County spokeswoman Kathleen Castro said at least two prisoners were killed in the explosion. Around 600 inmates were in the building at the time.

Escambia County Jail. Pic: Google street view

Ms Castro said she did not know if flooding in the area was a factor, but that the prison did suffer extensive flooding during heavy rains in the region on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The injured were taken to hospital while inmates who were unhurt were taken to jails in neighbouring counties.

Ms Castro said officials were scrambling to get people out of the building, provide medical care, and working to make sure inmates were detained and routed to other facilities.

The blast has almost completely destroyed the building

Sacred Heart Hospital and West Florida Hospital in Pensacola said the injuries they had treated were all relatively minor.

Vicki Brooks, a spokeswoman for Sacred Heart, said they treated 31 patients with mostly neck and back injuries.

Kendrick Doidge said West Florida Hospital treated 37 inmates in the emergency room and that all had been released back into the custody of the Escambia County Sheriff's Office.

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Video Shows Students Joking Before Ferry Sank

A video from the mobile phone of one of the victims of the South Korean ferry disaster has revealed students were joking about "becoming the Titanic" before the ship sank.

It shows students struggling to put on life jackets as the Sewol begins to list sharply and a member of the crew tells people "not to move" over the loudspeaker.

The footage was captured by 17-year-old Park Su-Hyeon, whose father Park Jong-Dae released it to the Associated Press news agency.

In it, an unidentified member of the crew says: "Do not move from your current location. And be prepared for a dangerous situation."

One of the students says: "Nonsense. I want to get off. I mean it."

The footage shows students remaining in their cabins as the ferry listed

Another adds: "These are the pictures we need to take as our last memories. Take a photo like this.

"Like a man against gravity."

The footage also shows some students not taking the situation seriously, as some sing the theme song of the film Titanic.

But others are beginning to panic as they try to put on life jackets and the vessel leans to one side.

One person said: "This is like Titanic."

And another adds: "Please if only I could live. Mom, Dad, I love you."

A memorial 'altar' to the school victims in Ansan

It comes after a body was recovered some distance away from the submerged vessel, sparking fears that many of those still missing will never be found.

Some 213 bodies have so far been recovered from the sunken ferry, with another 89 unaccounted for. The majority of the victims were students from one school in Ansan, south of Seoul.

A fishing boat pulled a body from the sea more than a mile away from the main recovery site near the island of Jindo.

Recovery teams put a ring of netting around the site several days ago, but there are concerns powerful currents may have pulled bodies into the open sea.

The Sewol capsized on April 16 with 476 people on board. The ship's captain Lee Joon-Seok and 14 of his crew have been arrested on suspicion of negligence and abandoning people in need.

Investigators have said a sudden sharp turn may have caused cargo on board the vessel to shift, making it list to one side before it capsized.

Prosecutors are also examining whether the ferry had stability issues caused by too much cargo being on board.

Lee has said he delayed evacuating the ferry because he was worried about passengers getting into cold water with strong currents before rescue ships were in the area.

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Oil Train In Fiery Derailment In Virginia

Hundreds of people were evacuated from their homes after an oil train derailed and caught fire near a city centre in the US state of Virginia.

A black pall of smoke drifted over central Lynchburg after Wednesday's incident involving up to 14 carriages.

Three of them ended up in the James River and some 50,000 gallons (190,000 litres) of oil were missing from the tankers, said Lynchburg officials.

But it is unclear how much spilled into the water or burned up. Health officials said the city's drinking water would not be affected.

Firefighters decided to allow the blaze on the train, which was on its way from Chicago to an undisclosed destination, to burn out.

Train company CSX said it was "responding fully, with emergency response personnel, safety and environmental experts".

There have been a number of similar accidents in the US and Canada in the past year. Forty-seven people died when a runaway oil train derailed and exploded in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, last July.

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Festivity And Fighting As World Marks May Day

Rallies have been taking place around the work to mark May Day, with some demonstrations descending into violent clashes.

To mark the day, which traditionally celebrates the coming of spring and acknowledges the world's workers, people paraded in Russia's Red Square for the first time since 1991.

Russians saw a chance for patriotism amid the ongoing crisis in Ukraine

It is seen as the latest Soviet tradition to be revived in an effort to celebrate Russian patriotism, as tensions with the country's Ukrainian neighbours continue.

May Day was a key date in the Soviet calendar, with elaborate celebrations involving ranks of marching athletes, soldiers and workers on the Moscow square.

A Buddhist monk talks to police in Phnom Penh

However, recent years have seen far less spectacular events, with marches taking place locally instead of in the country's main square.

Rallies have also taken place across Asia, including in Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Taipei and Seoul, where the annual march was expected to be a more sombre affair as South Koreans remember last month's ferry disaster.

A protester throws stones at riot police in Istanbul's main square

In Turkish capital Istanbul, police fired tear gas and water cannons at protesters as tens of thousands of people tried to defy a ban on demonstrations in the city's Taksim Square.

It came on the anniversary of clashes that sparked a nationwide protest movement.

In Cambodia, security forces armed with sticks and batons forcibly dispersed dozens of May Day protesters near Phnom Penh's Freedom Park, with several people beaten, according to a news agency photographer.

Two people at a lake in Germany watch fireworks as part of a pagan festival

The park, opened by the government in 2010 to allow people to air their grievances, was sealed off with barbed wire as the authorities tried to halt protests against long-ruling Prime Minister Hun Sen.

"We are sad that we could not mark May Day properly. Workers' rights have been thwarted," said Ath Thorn, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union.

A good-humoured protester holds up his placards in Taipei

Indonesia's workers were calling for better working condition in southeast Asia's most populous nation, although both sides were divided on how many people would attend.

In Hong Kong, union organisers said some 5,000 people were planning to join a march on government headquarters, with better working hours top of the agenda.

Morris dancers in Leicester take part in a May Day celebration

Malaysian civil society groups were expecting several thousand people at a rally in the capital, Kuala Lumpur, against government-backed price hikes.

And in Taiwan, thousands of workers were planning to march in a call for wage rises and a ban on companies hiring cheap temporary or part-time workers.

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Ukraine: Conscription Amid Violent Protests

Ukraine Mine: Militia Controls Million Weapons

Updated: 11:37pm UK, Wednesday 30 April 2014

By Stuart Ramsay, Chief Correspondent, in Ukraine

At the end of a completely anonymous road on the outskirts of the eastern Ukrainian town of Artemivsk is the village of Paraskoviyevka.

It has two claims to fame: one of the few still functioning salt mines in the region, and, more importantly, the largest cache of weapons in Europe - over a million of them and they are under the control of separatists.

Outside the gates of the mine, a cluster of tents mark the pro-Russian checkpoint guarding the entrance to this enormous supply of weapons.

The militia say they started guarding the mine in March when efforts were made to move some of the weapons. They say they will not allow anyone to get their hands on them.

But military experts and government sources in Kiev have warned that such a ready supply should not be guarded by groups who wish to separate from the country.

The storage facility was created in the 1950s by the Soviet Union.

About 150 metres below ground and stretching horizontally for kilometres the weapons age back to World War Two but in the 1990s huge numbers of Kalashnikov machine guns were stored in the facility as well.

The men guarding the store say the conditions underground are dry and perfect for storage.

They say that the armaments, particularly the newer ones, are in perfect working order.

"If anyone got in there they could arm everyone in Ukraine," a masked separatist told me.

He added: "There are rifles, machine guns, heavy weapons and millions and millions of rounds of ammunition. We are here to stop the forces of the west and anyone else for that matter from getting their hands on them.

"For certain the fascists from Kiev won't get them."

The real point of this is that there is absolutely nothing anyone can do to take control of the store from the pro-Russia group.

Soldiers at a nearby camp are powerless here; their authority has gone and do nothing to move the blockade outside the mine.

To a degree this is a perfect microcosm example of what is happening across the east of the country.

Government institutions and police stations in virtually all the main towns and cities have fallen to the pro-Russia militia.

It is an extremely well-organised takeover. Armed and masked men arrive and disarm police before moving to town halls and regional buildings.

At gunpoint, they impose their authority before civilian activists move in and start building barricades.

Asked who the enemy are, the usual reply is "Fascists from Kiev".

The truth is there isn't a fascist horde wending its way out here.

It is a myth that has been propagated by self-appointed regional leaders with the help of Russian media, whose reporting of events is watched by most people here.

And it is a cross between hysterical warnings of armageddon and comic manipulation of facts and events; comic if people were not dying as a result, which they are.

This is getting increasingly nasty and once again there is nothing anyone can do about it.

In Donestsk, where pro-Kiev supporters have staged rallies of support, people have been beaten senseless and in one instance knifed to death by pro-Russian thugs.

The police do nothing to stop the attacks happening and, worse, there is more than a suspicion that they are in cahoots with the mob.

I have seen riot police clad in full protective gear hugging men who minutes earlier were beating an old man.

The Kiev administration admits its forces in the east are not able to intervene or are failing to do their jobs.

But the police themselves say they are getting no orders or guidance from Kiev.

Even if they don't like what is going on here, and many admit they do, they have no intention of taking a beating, or worse, by stick-wielding groups and armed masked men.

From Kiev, they are warning of an imminent invasion by Russian forces and have put their troops on full alert.

But these soldiers are in truth utterly incapable of resistance to an army, or, as we have seen, even a militia.

Eastern Ukraine is drifting away and it seems there is nothing anyone can do to stop it - just like Crimea.

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Minnesota Homeowner Guilty of Teen Murders

A US homeowner who shot and killed two teenagers, calling them "vermin" after they broke into his house in Minnesota, has been convicted of their murders.

Byron Smith shot unarmed cousins Haile Kifer, 18, and Nick Brady, 17, a total of nine times as they crept into his Little Falls home on Thanksgiving Day in 2012.

The 65-year-old said it was self-defence and that he had been in fear of his life after previous burglaries in the area.

But prosecutors said Smith had plotted to kill the intruders, waiting with loaded guns in his basement and even parking his vehicle elsewhere to make the property appear unoccupied.

Smith said he lived in fear of being burgled

On Tuesday, a jury found Smith guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder.

The trial heard Smith had set up an audio-recording device and surveillance cameras to capture the intruders in the act.

In the recording that was played in court, Smith could be heard shooting Brady and saying: "You're dead." He then opened fire on a screaming Kifer.

As the audio continued to run, Smith was then heard saying: "I see them as vermin."

The killings prompted debate in the state about how much deadly force a householder may reasonably use.

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India: Burning Man Hugs Politician On TV Show

An Indian politician has suffered horrific burns after he was grabbed by a man who set himself on fire during a TV election debate.

Kamruzzama Fauji was taking part in the show in Sultanpur, in Uttar Pradesh state, when an audience member doused himself in petrol.

Crowds of people ran from the set as the man, named by police as Durgesh Kumar Singh, set himself alight before embracing Mr Fauji.

Local photographer Pankaj Kumar Gupta, whose pictures show the two men engulfed in flames, said the debate was coming to an end when the man suddenly appeared.

"People were just too shocked to know what was happening," he added.

Onlookers grabbed buckets of water to try to extinguish the flames

Mr Singh, whose motive is unknown, suffered burns to 95% of his body and is unlikely to survive, according to doctors.

Mr Fauji, the local leader of the Bahujan Samaj Party, sustained 75% burns and is in a critical condition in hospital.

Two other politicians were treated for minor injuries they suffered while trying to save the pair.

The debate was being recorded for India's state-owned Doordarshan channel.

A spokesman for the station, which is understood to have stopped filming and packed up its equipment within minutes, described the incident as "sad and shocking".

He said the debate was part of a "roadshow" held by the station, with politicians taking questions from local voters.

Parliamentary elections are being held across India until May 12, with results expected four days later.

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Syria's Assad Finds Chemical Weapons Loophole

President Bashar Assad appears to have found a loophole in an international deal designed to stop him gassing his own people.

In September last year, an alleged sarin gas attack in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta led to an agreement with the international community that was meant to see him hand over his stockpile of chemical weapons - 1,300 tons of weapons including sarin and mustard gas.

America talked of red lines and it felt like the international community was inches away from air strikes on Damascus.

The deal averted all that, with Russia persuading President Assad to co-operate to get himself off the hook.

Predictably the deadline for the deal has been missed, but officials say more than 90% of weapons have been destroyed or shipped. 

President Assad stands accused of using chemical weapons to kill

But all that comes amid new claims of chemical attacks inside Syria, with the regime accused of gassing its own people not with sarin or mustard gas but chlorine and ammonia.

The problem for weapons inspectors is that there is nothing illegal about chlorine. In fact, you will find tons of it everywhere.

And it is impossible to give up. It is an industrial chemical and was not on the banned list given to Damascus.

The offence occurs when it is used as a toxic chemical to kill or injure, which is what President Assad stands accused of - again.

Using it as a weapon is a breach of the Chemicals Weapon Convention, of which President Assad is a signatory.

Britain's foreign secretary, William Hague, says the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons must carry out a promised investigation urgently. It all feels like deja vu.

The Syrian government has promised to provide security for the OPCW inspectors due to arrive soon but chlorine is non-persistent, meaning it does not stay around for very long - which could make proving the allegations very difficult.

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IMF: Ukraine Crisis Sparks Russia 'Recession'

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned Russia is already in recession as a result of the effects of the crisis in Ukraine.

An economist working for the organisation, Antonio Spilimbergo, made the comment while confirming a huge downgrade in the IMF's growth forecast for 2014 from 1.3% to just 0.2%.

It had predicted the higher growth figure for Russia just three weeks ago.

The move was a response to heightened concerns over the effects of a flight in capital from Russia - expected by the IMF to top $100bn in 2014 alone.

A tightening of sanctions against Russian individuals and firms close to Russian president Vladimir Putin, imposed by the West in response to his annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, was also cited as a core reason for the downgrade.

The tensions surrounding the crisis in Ukraine have pushed relations between Russia and the West to their lowest since the end of the Cold War, sparking a wider flight from risk on world markets.

As the IMF amended its forecasts, Ukraine's acting leader warned his country's forces were on full combat alert in case of a Russia invasion.

Mr Spilimbergo was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying: "If we define recession as negative growth in two quarters in a row, then Russia from that point of view is experiencing recession.

"This all has a very negative effect on the investment climate. We expect that the fall in investments that already took place in 2013 will increase further this year."

Russia's economy contracted by about 0.5% in the first three months of the year compared with the previous quarter.

Standard and Poor's ratings agency on Friday downgraded Russia's ability to repay debt to BBB-, one notch above junk status, and retained its negative outlook.

Mr Spilimbergo, who acts as the IMF's mission chief to Moscow, agreed there were "considerable downside risks" and said the decision by Russia's central bank to raise interest rates last week would reduce inflation but would not be enough.

He argued the depreciation in the rouble over the past few months would put pressure on inflation and forecast consumer prices would rise more than 6% during the course of 2014.

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Ukraine On Full Combat Alert Over 'Invasion'

Ukraine's military is "on full combat alert" over a possible invasion by Russian troops massed on the border, Kiev's acting leader has said.

Interim president Oleksandr Turchynov told a ministerial meeting: "Our armed forces are on full combat alert. The threat of Russia starting a war against mainland Ukraine is real."

Ukraine's government later announced the country's armed forces would hold military exercises in central Kiev on Wednesday night.

Russia has denied it has any plans to invade eastern Ukraine after its annexation of the Crimean peninsula in March.

Ukraine's acting president Oleksander Turchinov at the cabinet meeting

Kiev, however, has accused Moscow of orchestrating an armed uprising in the industrial east by Russian-speaking separatists, who have seized government buildings in a number of towns and cities.

Ukraine's army and police appear to be making little progress in a high-profile operation to prevent the rebels expanding their grip over towns in the east.

It came as the International Monetary Fund said Russia was already in recession, while citing the effect of the ongoing crisis on investment in the country.

IMF economist Antonio Spilimbergo was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying: "If we define recession as negative growth in two quarters in a row, then Russia from that point of view is experiencing recession."

The IMF has lowered its 2014 growth forecast for Russia to 0.2% from the 1.3% figure it issued on April 8, Mr Spilimbergo added.

Russia deployed around 40,000 troops to its shared border with Ukraine in March. Moscow initially claimed they were sent for exercises but later said they were ready to respond to Kiev's military offensive against pro-Kremlin rebels.

Russian President Vladimir Putin insists he has a "right" to send his forces into Ukraine, but has not yet done so.

Kiev and the US say Russian special forces are already active in the insurgency in eastern Ukraine.

Mr  Turchynov told the cabinet meeting: "Our number one task is to prevent terrorism spreading from the Donetsk and Lugansk regions to other Ukrainian regions".

He underlined moves announced a day earlier to set up armed civilian "territorial volunteer militia" units to help beleaguered police and troops in the east.

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John Kerry Denies 'Apartheid Israel' Comment

Kerry's Double-Edged Apartheid Apology

Updated: 2:29pm UK, Tuesday 29 April 2014

By Tom Rayner, Middle East News Editor

After all the shuttle diplomacy, US Secretary of State John Kerry's unintentional slip of the tongue probably felt like a gaffe.

In the Middle East, words are weapons - and Mr Kerry left his safety catch off.

A secret recording of a closed-door meeting published by The Daily Beast captured John Kerry warning Israel could become an "apartheid state" if talks to bring about a two-state solution fail.

The response was as furious as it was predictable.

Israeli cabinet minister Yisrael Katz took to Facebook, writing: "Shame on you Kerry! There are words that mustn't be said."

Republican Senator Ted Cruz called for his immediate resignation.

Mr Kerry duly released a statement saying he should have "chosen a different word" and insisting he wished he could "rewind the tape".

But was this a full-blooded apology? Not even close to it.

In fact, like any good crisis, it provided an opportunity.

Tuesday was the deadline for the nine months of negotiations Mr Kerry had hoped would achieve a final agreement between Israelis and Palestinians.

Those talks were suspended last week but in truth they had been dead in the water weeks before.

But instead of delivering some anodyne statement about giving things more time, Mr Kerry has been able to talk more frankly than ever.

"Never have I stated, publicly or privately, that Israel is an apartheid state or that it intends to become one," he said.

However, he said that, in the long term, "a unitary, binational state cannot be the democratic Jewish state".

"Justice Minister Livni and former Prime Ministers Barak and Olmert have all invoked the spectre of apartheid to underscore the dangers of a unitary state for the future," he added.

Unshackled by the Daily Beast, Mr Kerry has been able to raise that spectre too.

The two-state solution mantra is that Israel cannot remain both "Jewish" and "democratic" if it fails to cut a deal creating an independent Palestinian state.

The reason is demographic - if the Palestinian Territories and Israel were a single state, the Jewish majority would be numerically under threat.

The only way such a state could remain "Jewish", the theory goes, is if the democratic rights of non-Jews were severely curtailed.

That may not scare those on Israel's right, such as economy minister Naftali Bennett, who say the country is entering a new "realist" era, which may involve "imperfect" solutions.

But it terrifies many in Israel's mainstream, who fear international isolation like that applied to apartheid South Africa.

Writing in Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, liberal commentator Nahum Barnea warned Mr Bennett and his ilk are controlling Netanyahu's government and "neutralising it politically".

"Israel will become an apartheid state," Mr Barnea warned, saying it will be "shunned by businesses in the world (and) come under siege politically, legally and culturally".

Mr Kerry's "apartheid" slip may have been unintentional but the timing may be fortuitous.

If he has inadvertently galvanised a more intense discussion inside Israel about the ominous dark clouds building on the horizon, he will make no apology for it.

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Ukraine: US And Nato Build-Up 'Worries' Russia

Who's Who On Latest Sanctions US And EU List

Updated: 11:00am UK, Tuesday 29 April 2014

The US has targeted seven of President Vladimir Putin's "cronies" in a new round of sanctions over the Ukraine crisis.

The Russian and Ukrainian individuals have been hit with visa bans and freezing of any US assets.

Some 17 companies were also named by the US Treasury.

Igor Sechin - President Putin's friend and head of oil giant Rosneft.

Oleg Belavencev - Mr Putin's presidential envoy to Crimea

Dmitry Kozak - Deputy prime minister of the Russian Federation, responsible for overseeing the integration of the annexed Crimea into Russia

Evgeniy Murov - Director of Russia's federal protective service

Aleksei Pushkov - A state Duma deputy

Vyacheslav Volodin - A Putin adviser

Sergei Chemezov - A Putin ally and head of Rostec, a Russian state-owned high-tech products company.

The European Union has also released a list of 15 politicians and military leaders that will be subject to asset freezes and travel bans.

The EU had already sanctioned 33 Russians and Ukrainians in protest at Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region in March.

The 15 new names are:

Dmitry Kozak

Oleg Belavencev

Oleg Savelyev - Minister for Crimean Affairs responsible for the integration of Crimea into Russia

Sergei Menyailo - Acting governor of the Ukrainian annexed city of Sevastopol

Olga Kovatidi - Member of the Russian Federation Council from Crimea

Lyudmila Shvetsova - Deputy chairman of the State Duma, responsible for initiating legislation to integrate Crimea into Russia

Sergei Neverov - Deputy chairman of the state Duma, responsible for law to integrate Crimea into Russia

Igor Sergun - Director of GRU (Main Intelligence Directorate), deputy Chief of the general staff of Russia's armed forces. He is responsible for GRU officers in Eastern  Ukraine

Valery Gerasimov - Chief of the general staff of Russia's armed forces, first deputy minister of defence, army general responsible for "massive deployment" of Russian troops along the border with Ukraine

German Prokopiv - Active leader of the Lugansk Guard who took part in the seizure of the building of the Lugansk regional office of the Security Service

Valeriy Bolotov - One of the leaders of the separatist group Army of the South-East, which occupied the building of the Security Service in the Lugansk region

Andriy Purgin - Head of the "Donetsk Republic", active organiser of separatist actions, co-ordinator of actions of the "Russian tourists" in Donetsk.

Denys Pushylin - One of the leaders of the Donetsk People's Republic. Participated in the seizure and occupation of the regional administration. Spokesman for the separatists

Tsyplakov Gennadevich - One of the leaders of "ideologically radical organisation", the People's Militia of Donbass. He took part in the seizure of state buildings in the Donetsk region

Igor Strelkov - From the main intelligence directorate of the general staff of Russia's armed forces. He was involved in incidents in Sloviansk. He is an assistant on security issues to Sergey Aksionov, self-proclaimed prime-minister of Crimea.

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South Korean President Sorry For Ferry Response

South Korea's president has apologised for her government's "insufficient" response to the ferry disaster.

While 204 people - most of them schoolchildren - have been confirmed dead, nearly 100 passengers are still missing after the Sewol sank on April 16.

President Park Geun-hye apologised at a Cabinet meeting, saying South Korea has "lost many precious lives because of the accident, and I am sorry to the public and am heavy hearted."

She insisted the government could not have prevented the accident but said: "The initial response and remedy were insufficient."

Ms Park said she was "heavy hearted"

Ms Park's apology came after her prime minister's resignation amid continuing claims by relatives that the government did not do enough in the initial stages to try to rescue their loved ones.

The government has also been widely criticised over perceived corruption and lax safety standards that may have led to the disaster.

The ferry sunk on April 16

Meanwhile, divers are continuing to work through strong currents to try to recover the remaining victims.

They are mainly using their hands to feel for remaining bodies as they make their way through dark cabins, stairwells, storage rooms, lounges and restaurants of the submerged passenger ship.

But the search is being hampered by strong currents swirling around the ferry and, once inside, divers have to deal with overturned furniture, mattresses and other debris floating in the murky, sediment-heavy waters.

Ms Park earlier visited Ansan, south of Seoul, where she paid respects at a memorial for the schoolchildren who died in the disaster.

A mourner weeps at the official memorial altar in Ansan

Of the 476 people on board the ferry, 325 were students from the same high school in Ansan. Only 75 of them were rescued.

Media reports said the president listened to angry family members of victims for 10 minutes as they shouted at her and demanded an apology.

All 15 of the surviving crew responsible for sailing the ferry remain in custody, facing charges including negligence and abandoning passengers.

Prime minister Chung Hong-won has resigned

Investigators, meanwhile, are widening their inquiries into both the cause of the ship's sinking and emergency workers' initial response to the tragedy.

Prosecutors are investigating an exchange of calls between crew members of the sunken ferry and the offices of the owner, Chonghaejin Marine.

A number of crew members on the ferry spoke by phone about seven times with the owner's offices, prosecutors said, with the first call to the owner going through just six minutes after the ferry reported a distress call to a vessel traffic services centre.

Prosecutors are looking into what was the purpose of the calls. 

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John Kerry's Double-Edged 'Apartheid' Apology

By Tom Rayner, Middle East News Editor

After all the shuttle diplomacy, US Secretary of State John Kerry's unintentional slip of the tongue probably felt like a gaffe.

In the Middle East, words are weapons - and Mr Kerry left his safety catch off.

A secret recording of a closed-door meeting published by The Daily Beast captured John Kerry warning Israel could become an "apartheid state" if talks to bring about a two-state solution fail.

The response was as furious as it was predictable.

Israeli cabinet minister Yisrael Katz took to Facebook, writing: "Shame on you Kerry! There are words that mustn't be said."

Republican Senator Ted Cruz called for his immediate resignation.

Mr Kerry with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem earlier this month

Mr Kerry duly released a statement saying he should have "chosen a different word" and insisting he wished he could "rewind the tape".

But was this a full-blooded apology? Not even close to it.

In fact, like any good crisis, it provided an opportunity.

Tuesday was the deadline for the nine months of negotiations Mr Kerry had hoped would achieve a final agreement between Israelis and Palestinians.

Those talks were suspended last week but in truth they had been dead in the water weeks before.

But instead of delivering some anodyne statement about giving things more time, Mr Kerry has been able to talk more frankly than ever.

Palestinians after Friday prayers in Jerusalem's Old City earlier in April

"Never have I stated, publicly or privately, that Israel is an apartheid state or that it intends to become one," he said.

However, he said that, in the long term, "a unitary, binational state cannot be the democratic Jewish state".

"Justice Minister Livni and former Prime Ministers Barak and Olmert have all invoked the spectre of apartheid to underscore the dangers of a unitary state for the future," he added.

Unshackled by the Daily Beast, Mr Kerry has been able to raise that spectre too.

The two-state solution mantra is that Israel cannot remain both "Jewish" and "democratic" if it fails to cut a deal creating an independent Palestinian state.

The reason is demographic - if the Palestinian Territories and Israel were a single state, the Jewish majority would be numerically under threat.

Israeli border police talking to Jewish settlers near Nablus

The only way such a state could remain "Jewish", the theory goes, is if the democratic rights of non-Jews were severely curtailed.

That may not scare those on Israel's right, such as economy minister Naftali Bennett, who say the country is entering a new "realist" era, which may involve "imperfect" solutions.

But it terrifies many in Israel's mainstream, who fear international isolation like that applied to apartheid South Africa.

Writing in Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, liberal commentator Nahum Barnea warned Mr Bennett and his ilk are controlling Netanyahu's government and "neutralising it politically".

"Israel will become an apartheid state," Mr Barnea warned, saying it will be "shunned by businesses in the world (and) come under siege politically, legally and culturally".

Mr Kerry's "apartheid" slip may have been unintentional but the timing may be fortuitous.

If he has inadvertently galvanised a more intense discussion inside Israel about the ominous dark clouds building on the horizon, he will make no apology for it.

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Plane On Fire Over Oz City Caught On Camera

A plane passenger watched in horror as he filmed one of the jet's wings on fire as he and more than 90 others flew over the city of Perth in Australia.

The flight had left Perth Airport and was heading towards Barrow Island when passengers spotted sparks flying from a left-side engine.

Below, some on the ground took pictures of the BAE 146 jet, with what looked like flames shooting from a wing and billowing smoke.  

The plane, filled with mine workers, was forced to make a U-turn and carried out a successful emergency landing at the domestic airport, with no injuries.

Plane pictured from the ground. Pic: Matt Pilat/ Community Newspaper Group

Passenger Brad McCoy posted a video of the fire taken from his seat on his Facebook page, titled: "Part of my first plane crash."

Another passenger Anthony Gelati told an Australian TV station: "All I saw is that it just got worse and worse as we were going along."

Cobham Aviation Services said one of the plane's four engines caught fire as it was climbing shortly after take off.

"When the fire was detected, the engine was shut down and the fire extinguished," the company said in a statement.

"There were no injuries among the 92 passengers or two pilots and three cabin crew."

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