Missouri Shooting: Robbery Claims Spark Unrest

Simmering Tension Amid Ferguson Robbery Claims

Updated: 9:43pm UK, Friday 15 August 2014

By Greg Milam, US Correspondent

What Ferguson, Missouri, did not need was another spark to re-ignite the flames of protest.

The decision to name Officer Darren Wilson as the man who shot Michael Brown was welcomed by the community - to accompany it by naming Mr Brown as a robbery suspect was not.

In a short and chaotic briefing, Ferguson's embattled police chief Thomas Jackson almost undid the remarkable work done by others to pull his city back from the brink.

The calm authority of Missouri Highway Patrol Captain Ron Johnson, tasked with taking control of security in an area he knows well, had defused the tinder box atmosphere.

The tear gas, rubber bullets and anger of Wednesday night was replaced by a police-free, multi-racial block party mood on Thursday.

But the release of CCTV showing a "strong-arm robbery" at a convenience store just before Mr Brown was fatally shot angered locals afresh.

They dismiss claims that the 18-year-old was the tall black man caught on video manhandling a shop clerk over a $40 box of cigars.

Minutes later he was lying dead in the middle of the street, a killing that ignited a community's long-simmering resentment.

"They have witnesses who saw what happened and they didn't say it was a robbery," said Jessica Holmes.

"They tear gassed us, why didn't they tear gas him? He still would have been alive. You had to shoot and kill him after he surrendered? That is not a robbery, that is murder."

LarRon Brooks added: "Why are they telling us about this robbery now? Because they know if they can taint him, it won't reflect badly on them. Otherwise they are going to have to tear down Ferguson police station."

Capt Johnson responded to the renewed frustration by inviting angry locals to ask questions at a news conference in a Target store car park.

He again urged calm, saying: "In our anger we must be careful not to burn down our own house."

He said the community would have to survive together long after the media attention has faded.

That majority black community still wants answers and recognition of decades of problems with its almost exclusively white police force.

Jamesha Fields, 18, recounted her recent encounter with Ofc Wilson. She claimed it happened at the QuikTrip convenience store that has since been burned to the ground in the protests.

She said the officer prevented her from washing pepper spray from her face.

"He was talking to me all nasty," Ms Fields said. "He was rude. He was saying the 'F' word. He told me to 'Shut the 'f' up and sit the 'f' down'."

She said she was shocked when she heard it was Ofc Wilson who killed Mr Brown.

At the spot where the shooting happened, locals have set up barbecues and water stations. A pastor preaches over a PA system and counsellors offer psychological support.

Two children pose for a picture at a makeshift shrine to Mr Brown, arms in the air.

"Hands up, don't shoot," reads the boy's T-shirt.

A sign of surrender, witnesses say, ignored by Ofc Wilson in shooting Mike Brown.

It is now the slogan in a movement for change.

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Russia Assures US Over 'Humanitarian Convoy'

Russia has "guaranteed" that no military personnel are on a convoy waiting at the border with Ukraine to deliver aid to the conflict-hit east of the country.

Ukraine has been concerned the convoy of about 260 white trucks could be a 'Trojan horse', which will allow Russia to set up a permanent presence in rebel-held territory.

Officials from the Red Cross have been examining the contents of the trucks on the Russian side of the border to make sure they contain nothing other than aid.

US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said he spoke with his Russia counterpart on Friday night and requested clarification on the convoy.

Russian truck drivers check their vehicles, which are said to contain aid

A statement released by the Pentagon, about the phone call between Mr Hagel and Sergey Shoygo, said: "Minister Shoygu 'guaranteed' that there were no Russian military personnel involved in the humanitarian convoy, nor was the convoy to be used as a pretext to further intervene in Ukraine.

"He acknowledged that the goods would be delivered and distributed under the International Committee of the Red Cross.

"Minister Shoygu assured Secretary Hagel that Russia was meeting Ukraine's conditions."

Russian officials allowed journalists to see the contents of some trucks

It came after Russia angrily denied it had sent a separate armed convoy into Ukrainian territory that Ukraine claims it partially destroyed.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said his forces had destroyed part of the convoy adding: "We won't tolerate any invasion."

Officials in Kiev said they tracked the vehicles, including armoured personnel carriers, from the border and then attacked with artillery.

Ukrainian guards check people suspected of crossing the border illegally

The claim was partially verfied by journalists from the Guardian and Daily Telegraph newspapers who said they saw around 23 Russian military vehicles crossing the border near the town of Donetsk on Thursday night.

Sky's Foreign Affairs Editor Sam Kiley said any attack would mark "a very serious development" in the four-month conflict, and "could be the beginnings of something much more dangerous".

The US later said it was not able to confirm whether Kiev's forces had attacked the convoy, but said Russia had no right to send vehicles into Ukraine.

White House spokesperson Caitlin Hayden said: "Russia has no right to send vehicles, persons, or cargo of any kind into Ukraine, under any pretext, without the Government of Ukraine's permission."

Moscow's Defence Ministry dismissed Kiev's claim that it had sent a convoy into Ukraine as "some kind of fantasy".

Spokesman Igor Konashenkov told Ria Novosti agency: "There was no Russian military column, which allegedly crossed Russian-Ukrainian border, not in the night, not during the day, it just doesn't exist."

The European Union said it would consider any Russian incursion as "a blatant violation of international law".

Fighting continued on Friday with 11 civilians killed and eight more wounded by shelling in the besieged stronghold of Donetsk in 24 hours.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin is due to meet his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Berlin on Sunday to discuss the crisis.

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South Koreans Flock To See Pope Francis Mass

An estimated one million people have gathered to watch Pope Francis deliver a mass in Seoul, the capital of South Korea.

During the service, the Pontiff beatified 124 people who died for their beliefs during the early days of Roman Catholicism in the country.

More than 30,000 police have been deployed for his five-day visit, including snipers on rooftops.

Aerial video footage showed a kilometre-long line of people cramming a route due to be taken by the 'Popemobile'.

Up to a million people lined the route taken by the Pope

Some had arrived up to seven hours before the event and most of the worshippers were in place with three hours to go.

The people beatified were among those who attempted to spread the religion in the 18th and 19th centuries. They were killed when they came up against resistance from the Joseon Dynasty, which opposed Western influences.

The streets leading up to Seoul's iconic Gwanghwamun Gate were packed with onlookers who had turned out to honour the founders of the Korean church.

The Pope is in the country for five days

Police declined to put a number on the size of the crowd but local media said it topped one million.

A cheer went up from those assembled when Pope Francis declared the 124 "blessed" - setting them on their way towards possible sainthood. The primary message from his lesson was that of reconciliation.

The beatification mass was taking place on the third day of his visit to South Korea.

The Pope blessed 124 Korean martyrs

It is his first tour to Asia since he became pope in March 2013.

Beatification is the first stage that a person undergoes before they can progress to being made a saint.

Local priests also took part in the mass

On Friday, the Pope had a private meeting with some of the survivors of the Sewol ferry disaster and the families of those who died.

He also gave a mass in their memory at a football stadium in Daejeon, attended by tens of thousands of people.

It is the first visit to South Korea by a pope for 25 years. More than five million of the country's inhabitants - around 10% - are members of the Roman Catholic faith.

Earlier, North Korea had test fired five short range missiles.

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Yazidis Return To Mountains On Rescue Mission

By Sherine Tadros, Middle East Correspondent

Tens of thousands of people from the ancient Yazidi community were left stranded on top of Mount Sinjar when Islamic State militants took over their towns and villages on August 2.

Among them was Azeez Hussein and his entire family.

They spent eight days on Mount Sinjar with little food or water until Azeez decided they were going to die on the mountain if they did not try to escape. 

Two days later he made it to Duhok in northern Iraq.

It took him and his wife over 20 hours of walking to flee, carrying their seven children, including their three-week-old baby girl.

Azzez Hussein is heading back to the mountain to find his parents

When we finally met him he was traumatised and kept saying he needed to go back.

His decision to leave with his children meant he could not take his elderly parents, who were still stuck on the mountain surrounded by the militants.

So we went with Azeez to the crossing point leading back to Sinjar. As we approached the bridge, we found hundreds of Yazidis queuing to get across.

Azeez's three-week-old daughter has had a traumatic start to her life

Azeez's cousins were at the front of the line, they had already been there for hours. They too were returning so they could try to bring back their parents.

All around us we heard tragic stories of loss and despair.

I asked one man why he was going back rather than waiting for the Kurdish Peshmerga forces or the Americans to rescue their families.

"Because our families will die waiting," he replied.

These Yazidis say they families would die if they waited for outside help

Another Yazidi man told us about how he saw Islamic State fighters abduct people in his village. He said they tried to convert him to Islam but he refused and escaped.

American and British representatives were also at the bridge crossing.

But Yazidis said they felt abandoned by the international community who are now indicating there is no need for a rescue mission.

"We are assessing the situation and seeing how much more we can help beyond what we have already provided," Richard Guera from the Department for International Development told us.

After five hours, the crossing finally opened. Azeez's cousins crossed the bridge but they have a difficult journey ahead.

They will need to drive through the mountains into Syria and then cross back into Iraq. From there, it is a seven-hour walk to the towns and villages where their families are trapped.

Despite the aid and arms pledged by the international community, it is being left to Yazidi fathers, brothers and sons to return to a place where they almost died escaping from, to save those nobody else will.

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Iraq Militants 'Kill Hundreds And Take Families'

More than 400 Yazidi men have been killed and their families abducted by militants in northern Iraq, local officials have said.

A senior official at the Ministry of Peshmerga in the Kurdish-controlled region of the country told Sky News women and children had been seized by the fighters from Islamic State (IS), also known as Islamic State In Iraq and Syria (ISIS), and taken to Tal Afar, near Mosul.

The men from the village of Kocho were reportedly killed over two days - 82 on Friday and another 312 on Saturday, the officials said. 

Earlier, Yazidi fighter Mohsen Tawwal told AFP by telephone that he had seen a large number of bodies after entering the village.

"We made it into a part of Kocho village, where residents were under siege, but we were too late," he said.

"There were corpses everywhere. We only managed to get two people out alive. The rest had all been killed."

Thousands of Yazidis - people from a minority sect with an ancient religion - have been forced to flee their homes by the IS advance across northern Iraq.

More follows...

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West Needs To End Dithering Over Jihadists

It's bulldozed one border and has its eyes on many more.

As it carves the world into an image of its own creation the Islamic State has shown the West's foreign policy leaders to be ostriches - determined not to see the obvious.

Now that they have plucked their heads out of the ground and shaken off the sand there are signs that the need for policy is coming dimly into focus.

A Kurd of the ethnic minority of Yazidis holds up a placard in Germany

But what could it be?

The IS has made its own agenda very clear. It intends to sweep away the artificial notions of modern states in the Middle East.

They were established in the region following a 1917 colonial agreement between Britain and France known as Sykes-Picot - after its authors.

It now controls a third of Syria and the same amount of Iraq, renaming the landscape The Islamic Caliphate.

One option for the West is to work with the Kurdish Peshmerga troops

It has its eyes on Lebanon, northern Iraq, and in the end would love to establish a new Islamic empire that recreates the golden era of Islamic influence and rule which extended into southern Europe.

Perhaps even with its capital in Constantinople (modern Istanbul).

Al Qaeda has had the same idea for decades. But it's the IS that has exploited sectarian divisions and global paralysis on how to deal with them.

Its success has grown, partly, out of dithering on Syria.

US fighter jets have already conducted strikes in Iraq

Experts warned that if the largely secular and pro-democratic early uprising against Bashar al Assad was not materially supported by the West in 2011 then radical Islamists would fill that need. They were not, and it did.

Syria rapidly collapsed into a battle between Shia and Sunni. Assad's regime supported by Shia Iran, while the Islamists were Sunni groups supported by private donors in the Gulf and Saudi Arabia.

The Islamic State (then calling itself ISIS), grew out of this conflict - seizing most of Syria oil fields and focusing on building its own strength and numbers rather than fighting Assad.

It then swung into Iraq where it's leaders had cut their teeth in the insurgency against the US-led occupation.

Shi'ite volunteers have joined the Iraqi army to fight against extremists

It added former Baathist staff officers trained under Saddam Hussein, to its ranks.

Intelligence sources and its own annual report demonstrate that it's a meticulously run organism.

It's largely encircled the Iraqi capital, Baghdad while its online propaganda now also threatens attacks in the West.

The West could leave the history of the Middle East to take its natural course, for the first time since the end of the Ottoman Empire.

The region could then face decades of convulsion while it reforms itself - probably into rival Shia and Sunni blocs - while the West works on containing the contagion of chaos.

Another option is to work through proxies, like the Kurdish Peshmerga, the hapless Iraqi army, and Syrian rebel groups, providing arms and ammunition, training and intelligence, to at least roll back IS gains.

The last, least politically popular, option is direct and sustained military intervention to try to annihilate the fastest growing Islamist franchise before its spreads globally.

It's now a choice as to what is the least bad option. The dithering days are over.

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Ebola Epidemic Is Like 'War Time' Says MSF

Ebola Cure 'A Long Way Off': Facts About Virus

Updated: 12:08am UK, Thursday 07 August 2014

A cure for the deadly ebola virus, which has killed hundreds of people in West Africa, is "a very long way off", an expert has told Sky News.

David Evans, a professor of virology at Warwick University, said ebola is the latest disease to be transmitted "very efficiently" because of international travel.

More than 670 people in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and Nigeria have fallen victim to the viral illness, which has a fatality rate of up to 90%.

Those with ebola will often be overcome by a sudden onset of fever, as well as weakness, muscle pain and headaches.

The body is then gripped by vomiting, diarrhoea, rashes, kidney and liver problems and bleeding.

The time between infection and symptoms appearing is anything from two days to three weeks.

Ebola is spread through the direct contact with the blood, organs or other bodily fluids of those infected.

The liquid that bathes the eye and semen can transmit the disease, Prof Evans said.

Horseshoe bats are believed to be the natural host of the viral disease, he said.

"These bats transmit the virus between themselves, but periodically it then ends up in probably primates or other types of bushmeat which are then hunted by villagers and the virus is then transmitted from the sick animals to humans," he said.

Transmission has also been documented through the handling of chimpanzees, gorillas and porcupines.

One of the reasons for the disease's rapid spread is a tradition at burial ceremonies for mourners to have direct contact with the body of the deceased.

"Therefore barrier methods that prevent that direct contact, including things like washing of hands and things like that provide a reasonable level of protection," he said.

Healthcare workers treating patients are particularly at risk.

Public Health England said in a risk assessment published earlier this month said that the current outbreak could increase the risk for Britons working in humanitarian and healthcare delivery.

But the threat to tourists, visitors and expatriates is still considered "very low if elementary precautions are followed".

Prof Evans said there had been "periodic outbreaks" of ebola since the first recorded instances in 1976, but this is the deadliest so far.

There were two simultaneous outbreaks in Nzara, Sudan and Yambuku, a village in the Democratic Republic of Congo located near the Ebola River.

Data from the World Health Organisation shows the previous deadliest outbreak was the one in the DRC, when 280 out of 315 people infected died.

In the same country in 1995 another outbreak claimed 254 lives, with 315 patients infected.

In 2000, there were 425 cases in Uganda and 224 people died.

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Foreign Ministers Agree To Arm Kurds In Iraq

EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels have agreed to arm Kurdish fighters battling Islamist militants in northern Iraq.

Prior to the meeting France, Germany, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands all said they were prepared to supply weapons to the Peshmerga forces.

It comes after Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond described Islamic State (IS) as a "terrible threat" and the UN designated the humanitarian situation in the country a "level three emergency".

The meeting of foreign ministers from the 28 EU nations, called by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, followed reports of thousands of Yazidi refugees stranded in the Sinjar Mountains.

Frank-Walter Steinmeier, German Foreign Minister, said: "Iraq is on the brink of a true catastrophe. A million people in Iraq are fleeing their homes.

"In northern Iraq, in the Kurdish part, Yazidis and Christians are being persecuted and slaughtered."

Defence matters are normally the responsibility of member states, so the EU approval to send weapons is rare.

But governments are also concerned that IS could attract radicals from Europe who then return to the West.

Earlier this week, the European Commission said it would increase humanitarian aid to Iraq to €17m (£13.6m).

More follows...

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Ukraine's Forces Attack Russian Armoured Convoy

Ukraine's forces say they attacked a Russian armoured convoy that crossed on to Ukrainian soil "and part of it no longer exists".

Military officials in Kiev said they tracked the vehicles, including armoured personnel carriers, from the border and then attacked with artillery.

President Petro Poroshenko discussed the incursion with British Prime Minister David Cameron and said a "considerable part of this equipment was destroyed overnight by Ukrainian artillery".

Sky's Sam Kiley said if the claims are true "it is a very serious development"  in the four-month conflict, and "could be the beginnings of something much more dangerous".

World stock markets have tumbled on the news.

Russia denied its forces had crossed into Ukraine, and accused Kiev of trying to sabotage deliveries of aid.

The Russian vehicles crossed the border near the town of Donetsk on Thursday night, according to journalists from The Guardian and Daily Telegraph.

This was later confirmed by Nato chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who said it was a "clear demonstration of continued Russian involvement in the destabilisation of eastern Ukraine".

Earlier, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said he was "very alarmed" at the Russian military incursion.

Mr Hammond has summoned the Russian ambassador to clarify the situation.

A Russian convoy of trucks carrying humanitarian aid for Ukraine

Meanwhile, the Red Cross said it is still trying to verify that an aid convoy from Russia to Ukraine is carrying nothing more than humanitarian aid.

Ukrainian border guards are checking the cargo on Russian territory near the Ukrainian settlement of Izvaryne, held by separatists.

Russian armoured vehicles outside Kamensk-Shakhtinsky in Rostov

A dozen Russian armoured trucks are waiting with the aid lorries.

Ukraine is concerned the convoy of about 260 vehicles would be used as a 'Trojan horse', allowing Russia to establish a permanent presence in the east.

In an effort to ease tensions, Russian officials allowed journalists to see the contents of trucks.

Among the supplies reporters saw were bottles of water, sacks of buckwheat and portable generators.

More follows...

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RAF Tornados Refuel In Ultimate Pit Stop

It is perhaps the ultimate pit stop - as we travel high up in Turkish airspace, the RAF Tornado fighter jets glide into position alongside us.

They connect with the fuel lines and top up their tanks at 300mph.

Two jets have latched onto the lines trailing behind a much bigger Voyager plane that we are travelling on.

It is the middle of the night and we are watching the sharp end of the UK's humanitarian efforts for displaced people in the Sinjar mountains in northern Iraq.

The Tornados are providing humanitarian relief

Without this support plane, the Tornados would not be able to cover the ground that they need to.

We can't be told exactly what and how the Tornado crews are scanning below them but their information is being shared among those nations who have decided to pitch in and help in this crisis.

The stories of torture and suffering have made this a mission where the British forces know they can make an immediate and significant contribution.

The Voyager also acts as a passenger plane

The UK focus is, for now, on humanitarian aid while the Americans have sanctioned their own air strikes on the Islamic State militants who have been terrorising minority communities in northern Iraq.

The RAF crews are working day-to-day on their mission, unsure whether it will ramp up or wind down in the next 24 hours.

Prepare For Tomorrow is part of the motto at their base at Akrotiri where we land on the southern tip of Cyprus.

The teams are still doing that but, with this particular mission, nobody quite knows what tomorrow will bring.

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Iraq: US-UK Pull Back On Yazidi Rescue Mission

A US and UK humanitarian mission to rescue thousands of people trapped in Iraq is "far less likely" to take place after it has been revealed fewer are stranded than previously feared.

US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel made the comments on Wednesday, and unnamed officials have since said that after a survey by US special forces gave an estimate of 4,500 civilians remaining on Mount Sinjar.

They said nearly half are herders and shepherds who lived there before the siege and do not want to be evacuated.

The US team spent Wednesday on the siege mountain and said circumstances were less dire than earlier feared.

A map detailing the Sinjar mountains

Kurdish Peshmerga fighters have since told Sky News there are only around 2,000 on the mountain.

Earlier, Prime Minister David Cameron said the UK's plans needed to be "flexible" for the "complicated humanitarian mission" and stressed the need to continue delivering aid to refugees.

The PM, who has resisted calls for military intervention, chaired a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee to discuss the situation further.

Members of the Yazidi sect hold a banner asking for international help

But Tory backbencher Mark Pritchard, who believes Britain should still be doing more, told Sky News: "Bread alone will not stop ISIS, it will require bullets."

He added: "They are not going to stop until they are stopped... we need to confront the enemy."

The UK has successfully completed seven aid airdrops and was sending a "small number" of RAF Chinook helicopters to the region.

Areas the Islamic State has launched offensives and wants to make one state

It has sent RAF Tornado jets equipped with sophisticated surveillance equipment to help gather intelligence.

It had previously been thought there were between 20,000 and 30,000 people trapped on Mount Sinjar after fleeing Sunni militants of the Islamic State (IS), formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

Sky News Political Correspondent Sophy Ridge said: "I am told that just like the Americans, it is now unlikely that the UK government is going to carry out a rescue mission, and that's simply because the information has changed.

Mr Cameron at a UK aid Disaster Response Centre at Kemble Airport, earlier

"Although there are fewer people on the mountain than previously thought, it doesn't mean humanitarian help is not needed elsewhere in northern Iraq."

IS fighters have threatened the ancient Yazidi religious group, many of those who were on the mountain, with death if they fail to convert to Islam.

The Pentagon said that humanitarian aid drops, airstrikes on IS fighters and the efforts of Peshmerga fighters had allowed many Yazidis to escape.

Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman, the Kurdish government's high representative to the UK, told Sky News while the new refugee figures spelled "good news", up to two million displaced civilians remained "in a dire situation" in the Kurdistan region.

Her comments came as the United Nations ramped up its assessment of the crisis to level 3 - its highest level of emergency - and condemned the "barbaric acts" of sexual violence IS fighters have reportedly inflicted on minority groups.

Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, said the Iraqi government had "received atrocious accounts on the abduction and detention of Yazidi, Christian, Turkomen and Shabak women and girls and boys, and reports of savage rapes".

"Some 1,500 Yazidis and Christians may have been forced into sexual slavery," he added.

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N Korea Fires Missiles As Pope Visits South

Pope Francis has called for peace in the war-divided Korean peninsular during a visit to the South - as the North fired five miissiles to coincide with his arrival.

Three rockets were fired as the Pope's plane approached Seoul - and there were reports of a further three, shortly after he touched down.

All of the short-range missiles landed in the sea off North Korea's east coast, hundreds of miles away from the Pontiff's plane.

Pope Francis arrives in Seoul - the first papal visit to Asia since 1999

In his first speech after landing, the Pope called for renewed efforts to forge peace in the war-divided Korean Peninsula.

He urged both sides to avoid "fruitless" criticisms and shows of force and told South Korean President Park Geun-hye that peace required forgiveness and mutual respect.

The North has tested an unprecedented number of rockets and missiles this year, including many in recent weeks.

It says the launches are in retaliation for US-South Korean military exercises scheduled to start on Monday.

South Korean troops fire heavy artillery to welcome the pontiff

Pyongyang often stages such tests when rival South Korea is in the global spotlight - as is the case with the papal visit - in what is seen as a means of grabbing attention.

The Argentine pope will spend five days in South Korea, meeting some of the country's five million Catholics on the first trip by a pontiff to Asia since 1999.

The pope leaves the plane in Seoul

But much of the attention will be on the Vatican's relations with China. It was the first time a pope had been allowed to fly over China on Asian tours. 

His predecessor, John Paul II, had to avoid Chinese airspace because of the fraught relations between Beijing and the Vatican.

Before touching down in Seoul, Pope Francis sent an unprecedented message of goodwill to China.

"Upon entering Chinese air space, I extend best wishes to your Excellency and your fellow citizens and I invoke the divine blessing of peace and well-being upon the nation," he said in a radio message to President Xi Jinping.

The Vatican has had no formal relations with China since shortly after the Communist Party took power in 1949.

The Catholic Church in China is divided into two communities.

A recently released picture of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un

The first is the "official" Church known as the "Patriotic Association" answerable to the Party; the second an underground Church that swears allegiance only to the Pope in Rome.

As the Pope touched down in Seoul, there were reports that some Chinese had been barred from travelling to a youth celebration in South Korea.

About half of more than 100 Chinese who had planned to attend the Asian Youth Day event during the papal visit were unable to attend.

Heo Young-yeop, spokesman for the Committee for the Papal Visit to Korea, told reporters this was due to "a complicated situation inside China". 

He declined to give further details, citing their safety.

Another organiser, who declined to be identified, said some of the would-be attendees had been arrested by Chinese authorities.

Beijing rejects Vatican authority over its Catholics.

China's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comments either on the Pope's goodwill message or the Chinese who were barred.

About 30 countries will be participating in Asian Youth Day, focused on the formation of a spiritual life, particularly for youth leaders. 

North Korea has turned down an invitation from the South Korean Catholic church for its Korean Catholic Association to attend a papal mass on Monday in Seoul.

The two Koreas have been divided since the 1950-53 Korean war, which left millions of families separated.

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Economy: Eurozone GDP Growth 'Breaks Down'

The 18 nations which use the euro recorded zero GDP growth as a bloc in the second quarter of 2014, with Germany's economy - Europe's biggest - contracting.

Official GDP figures showed that weakness in France and Germany - which together make up 66% of GDP output in the single currency area - choked off some improvements elsewhere including in bailed-out Portugal and in Spain.

Germany recorded a surprise 0.2% GDP dip between April and June as foreign trade and investment, particularly in the construction sector, weighed on growth.

Investor and business confidence has since taken a knock because of the crisis in Ukraine - straining relations with Russia - raising fears of an even weaker recovery because of the threat of deepening tit-for-tat sanctions.

France called on the European Central Bank (ECB) to do more to tackle the risk of deflation and bring the euro to a more competitive level as it posted zero GDP growth for the second consecutive quarter.

French President Francois Hollande's popularity has tumbled

The figures also prompted the finance minister Michel Sapin to slash his government's forecast for growth in 2014 to "around 0.5%" compared with a previous projection of 1%.

He told the daily Le Monde newspaper: "Growth has broken down, in Europe and in France.

"With zero growth in the second quarter, thereby extending the stagnation we saw in the first, our country is slowing down and will not achieve the 1% growth observers were predicting three months ago".

Analysts have warned for months that France, the second biggest economy in the eurozone, looks increasingly the weak link in a halting recovery as the government battles to push through much-needed reforms.

Unemployment hit a new record in June to a shade under 3.4 million while the forecast for France's public deficit is now predicted to be above 4% of GDP this year - missing key targets demanded of it by the EU.

The country's statistics agency blamed falling manufacturing output as a key component of its performance and cited a large number of midweek public holidays as having a particular impact on productivity.

Jitters about eurozone output were reflected in financial markets on opening - with the German DAX and the CAC 40 in Paris both losing ground amid a wider sell-off across Europe - but the major indices later turned positive on hopes of further ECB measures to combat deflation and even quantitative easing.

The performance of the 18 nations using the single currency contrasts sharply with the UK's economic recovery which continues to gather steam despite worries over falling wage packets.

Employment has reached record levels while GDP grew by 0.8% in both the first and second quarters of the year.

On Wednesday, the Bank of England raised the prospect of a delay to an expected rise in the base rate of interest over fears that increased borrowing costs and a time of stagnant wage growth would choke off the recovery.

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Student Quizzed Over Pro-Israel Facebook Post

A Malaysian teenager is being investigated by police for "liking" a pro-Israel Facebook posting.

The 17-year-old student "liked" a post that declared "I love Israel" and featured a picture of the Jewish state's flag, police said.

Abdul Rahim Hanafi, police chief in the northern state of Penang, said that the student claimed to have accidentally clicked the "like" option. 

Reports of an investigation into sedition - rebellion against authorities - have sparked outrage over perceived mounting intolerance in the Muslim-majority country.

The post was accompanied by a picture of the Israeli flag

Sedition can result in three years in jail in Malaysia. The student, who has been questioned by police, has deactivated his Facebook account.

Police are also investigating death threats against the student. He has not been publicly identified.

Malaysia has no diplomatic relations with Israel. The Jewish state's policies toward the Palestinians are fiercely criticised by Malaysian Muslims.

These sentiments have been inflamed by the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

The conflict in Gaza has left more than 2,000 people dead

The episode is the latest to stoke fears in multi-ethnic, multi-faith Malaysia of mounting intolerance under the decades-old regime dominated by majority Muslim Malays.

For example, minority Malaysian Christians have been under government pressure to stop using the Arabic word "Allah" for the Christian God in the Malay language.

Christians say they have used the word for centuries, but Muslims assert "Allah" is a sacred word for Islam only.

Osman Hussain, Penang's state director of education, said he would seek to resolve the student matter without police involvement.

"He is just a student. I will try to solve the issue peacefully," he said.

The affair has triggered harsh criticism online.

"Using the same twisted logic, all Malaysians using Facebook are also committing sedition as Facebook is founded by a Jew," said one person.

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Heavy Shelling Heard In Rebel-Held Donetsk

Heavy shelling has pounded the centre of Ukraine's separatist-held city of Donetsk, according to witnesses.

People poured out of their offices onto the stairwell of the city's main administration building after loud explosions nearby triggered an evacuation warning, reports said.

Donetsk has been surrounded for several weeks by Ukrainian forces battling pro-Russian rebels.

A resident of Donetsk after shelling in the city

The shelling follows the resignation of pro-Russian separatist leader Valery Bolotov, head of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic.

Mr Bolotov said he had been injured and could no longer continue his role. 

His resignation came as a Russian aid convoy resumed its journey toward Ukraine, taking the road leading south towards rebel-held Luhansk.

The convoy of roughly 262 vehicles had been parked at a military depot in the southern Russian city of Voronezh since late on Tuesday.

The Russain aid convoy has turned towards Luhansk

There has been confusion and disagreement over how and where the aid could be delivered to Ukraine, where government troops are battling pro-Russia separatists.

By sending the convoy south, Russia appeared intent on not abiding by a tentative agreement to deliver aid to a border checkpoint in the Kharkiv region.

It had been hoped that the convoy would arrive in the Kharkiv region, so that the Red Cross could inspect the convoy.

Instead, the route taken by the convoy leads directly toward a border crossing controlled by pro-Russian rebels in the Luhansk region.

Self-styled mayor of Luhansk, Valery Bolotov, says he has been injured

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has accused Moscow of planning a "direct invasion of Ukrainian territory under the guise of delivering humanitarian aid".

Moscow has insisted it coordinated the dispatch of the goods - including baby food, canned meat and sleeping bags - with Red Cross officials.

Red Cross spokeswoman Anastasia Isyuk said talks between the organisation, Ukraine and Russia were continuing.

But she could not confirm where the Russian convoy was headed.

Vladimir Putin says he wants to end the bloodshed in Ukraine

"The plans keep changing, the discussions are going ahead and we will not confirm for sure until we know an agreement has been reached," Ms Isyuk said in Geneva.

Luhansk, where Mr Bolotov had declared himself "mayor", has been the scene of intense fighting between Ukrainian forces and separatists.

Mr Bolotov said Igor Plotnitsky, defence minister of the Luhansk People's Republic, would take over from him.

His resignation means that both the main separatist entities, in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions of eastern Ukraine, are having leadership changes.

A Russian soldier stands guard at the Kharkiv checkpoint

On August 7, Aleksander Borodai, head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, announced he was stepping down.

Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia would do its utmost to stop the bloodshed in Ukraine.

During a visit to Crimea, Mr Putin also said that Russia should not "fence itself off from the outside world" despite a plunge in East-West relations.

As well as the shelling in Donetsk, fighting has killed at least 22 residents in the besieged rebel-held bastion of Luhansk over the past 24 hours.

Luhansk has been the scene of intense fighting

Fighting in eastern Ukraine has intensified in recent weeks, with UN officials saying there has been a spike in the number of deaths.

Some 2,086 people have died since the conflict began in mid-April, and more than half of them in the past fortnight, the UN said.

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Ukraine: Red Cross Urged To Reject Russia Convoy

By Sam Kiley, Foreign Affairs Editor

Western diplomats have made "strong representations" to the International Committee of the Red Cross to avoid getting involved in Russia's 2,000-ton humanitarian aid convoy heading for Ukraine.

According to Sky sources, the UK, US, France and others have told the ICRC that they fear the convoy will be a "Trojan Horse"  and serve as a pretext for deepening Russian involvement in eastern Ukraine.

The death toll from fighting this year has now climbed above 2,000 - with 1,000 added during the past four weeks.

Another 285,000 people have been displaced.

Russia has sent a 280-truck convoy carrying sleeping bags, grain, generators and other essential items for survival for the tens of thousands of people cut off from safe supplies by heavy fighting, especially around Lugansk and Donetsk, the two largest cities in the region.

But "humanitarian aid and intervention" served as a covering excuse for Russia's invasion of Georgia in 2008 and earlier incursions which carved South Ossetia and Abkhazia away from Georgia.

As a consequence, Ukraine said that the convoy would not be allowed to cross from Russia in Russian vehicles.

These are believed to have come from the Russian Tamaz Rifle Brigade and have been re-painted white.

If the convoy turns left, it may be heading for rebel-controlled areas

Russian troops have been accused by Nato and the Ukrainians of having fired artillery and other heavy weapons from Russian territory onto Ukrainian troops in support of pro-Russian separatist rebels.

Moscow is also known to have significant numbers of its foreign spy agency - the GRU - on the ground marshalling volunteers from Ukraine, Chechnya and even Serbia, who came into Ukraine via Russia.

"There is a strong feeling that, if the aid comes in under any organisation's flag, even the ICRC, it may get attacked by gunmen or held up and that this sort of an incident could be used by Russia to send troops into the country under the guise of humanitarian intervention," said a senior European diplomat.

A Ukrainian soldier stands guard at a border crossing

The ICRC has said there is a dire need for humanitarian assistance to tens of thousands of people.

"There are significant and immediate needs for medicine, food and clean drinking water," an ICRC official told Sky News.

"On top of that, power, fuel and, of course, human safety is in extremely short supply."

The convoy officially set off for the border crossing at Shebekino, north of Kharkiv.

It stopped on Wednesday at Voronezh, a junction town where the convoy could head on its declared track - or turn left and head due south.

If it takes that route, the West and Kiev will sound loud alarm bells and suggest that the convoy is heading for rebel-controlled border crossings into Russia and accuse Moscow of a barely disguised invasion.

The ICRC is under pressure from Moscow, and from the desperate humanitarian reality, to take control of the contents of the convoy at least at the Ukrainian border.

It has asked for more details from the Russians, who have not yet supplied them.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian prime minister reacted with undisguised rage at the Moscow convoy.

"The level of Russian cynicism knows no bounds," said Arseny Yatseniuk at a government meeting.

"First  they send tanks, Grad missiles and bandits who fire on Ukrainians and then they send water and salt."

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Detainee Release Marks China Policy Shift

By Mark Stone, Asia Correspondent

A group of North Koreans defectors has been detained on the Chinese border with Laos in the latest crackdown by authorities who repatriate North Koreans found illegally in China.

But in a rare and encouraging sign of a Chinese policy change, Sky News understands that the group are being released rather than returned to North Korea.

The ten men and women, in their 20s and 30s, and one four-year-old child, were detained along the border between Laos and China's Yunnan Province.

Sky News has spoken to the organisation responsible for facilitating their escape from North Korea.

According to a source within the organisation, the group left North Korea's Ryanggang Province at the end of July.

They crossed the country's northern border with China and then used well-established smuggling routes to travel south for thousands of miles.

The defectors travelled thousands of miles through China

They travelled first to Qingdao in China's Shandong Province before moving south to Kunming in Yunnan Province.

The group then boarded a minibus bound for the border with Laos. Chinese military detained them as they were trying to cross by foot on August 12.

News that this group's bid to escape had failed came only when some of them managed to send text messages to relatives who had already escaped to South Korea.

Hundreds of North Koreans escape every year searching for asylum and a better life in South Korea.

The only viable way out of their country is through China. The border between North and South Korea is closed and heavily fortified.

Their escape takes defectors across the northern border with China and then down to South-East Asia.

Hundreds of people escape from North Korea every year

Their goal is the South Korean embassy in Vietnam, Laos or Thailand where they will be offered the chance to apply for asylum.

However, China has a close relationship with North Korea.

Under an agreement between the two countries, any North Koreans found to be in China illegally are automatically repatriated.

Because defection from North Korea is illegal, any escapees sent back face detention in a labour camp and possible execution.

In February, a United Nations report into North Korea's human rights record made specific mention of China's repatriation policy towards defectors.

The UN body called for China to change the policy, saying that "persons who are forcibly repatriated from China are commonly subjected to torture, arbitrary detention, summary execution and other forms of sexual violence".

Recent strains in the relationship between Beijing and Pyongyang have prompted hopes that China's North Korea policy would be relaxed.

However, indications suggest a growing number are being caught and forcibly returned to North Korea.

One activist told Sky News: "We were surprised with the tighter security. We are now not sure what to do.

"Before, the Chinese turned a blind eye to the defectors."

But Sky News has been told that South Korean and Chinese diplomats have been communicating both about the broad repatriation issue and also about this specific case.

A source said that the ten adults and one child are being released and handed to South Korean authorities.

A consular official at the South Korean Embassy in Beijing told Sky News: "We would do all we can do to help (the defectors) but details cannot be shared due to security issues."

:: Watch a special programme on the plight of North Korean defectors here.

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Teen Held After Mum's Body Found In Suitcase

The half-naked body of an American tourist has been discovered in a suitcase on the Indonesian holiday island of Bali - prompting the arrest of her daughter and daughter's boyfriend.

The body of Sheila von Wiese Mack was found stuffed into the blood-smeared suitcase in the boot of a taxi in front of the five-star St Regis hotel in Nusa Dua.

The 62-year-old was found with several wounds to her head and a doctor who examined her said it appeared as if she had put up a struggle.

The boyfriend of Ms Mack's daughter, Tommy Schaefer, is led away by police

Police said the suitcase had been wrapped in a bed sheet and sealed up with tape.

Local police chief Djoko Hari Utomo told reporters that Ms Mack had been staying in the hotel with her daughter, Heather, 19, and her daughter's boyfriend, Tommy Schaefer, 21.

Both have been arrested on suspicion of murder.

Police investigations have found that Ms Mack was recorded on CCTV arguing with Mr Schaefer in the lobby of the hotel.

The argument was filmed on Monday night, the day Mr Schaefer joined his girlfriend and her mother, who had arrived together several days before.

Police examine the suitcase

Mr Utomo said that the next day the couple booked a taxi and loaded all the bags into the boot, asking the taxi driver to wait while they checked out.

When they hadn't returned after a two-hour wait, he alerted hotel security staff who found spots of blood on the suitcase and suggested the taxi driver head to a police station.

It was at the station that he suitcase was opened and the body discovered.

They were later arrested on Wednesday morning at a hotel in Bali's Kuta area, about 10km (six miles) away

Mr Utomo told AFP: "This is murder, and we will decide from our investigation whether it is premeditated or spontaneous."

Ms Mack's daughter Heather, 19, is escorted from the premises

The victim's body has been taken to the main hospital in Denpasar, the capital of Bali.

A doctor said she had several wounds to the head which appeared to have been caused by "blunt tools".

A spokesman for the US embassy in Jakarta said they were "aware of the death of an American citizen that took place in Bali and we understand that two individuals have been arrested in connection with the case". 

The St Regis Hotel is one of the most exclusive in Bali with rooms starting at $470 (£250) a night. According to its website it offers a 24-hour butler service.

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Derailed Train Carriages Plunge Into Ravine

A train carrying 200 passengers has been derailed by a landslide, causing several carriages to plunge into a ravine.

One of the carriages hanging off a steep ravine. Pic: Blick.ch

Pictures from the scene show at least one carriage in a ravine and another hanging precariously from the tracks winding through mountains in the east of Switzerland.

Rescue helicopters could also be seen hovering over the eight-carriage regional train in the heavily forested region of Graubuenden.

Scores of passengers on the carriages that managed to remain upright were evacuated to safety and could be seen at the side of the tracks, walking to the nearby town of Tiefencastel.

A number of injured passengers were airlifted to hospital, while several others were treated for shock by paramedics.

Some passengers were rescued by helicopter. Pic: Blick.ch

"Part of the train was derailed by a landslide," a spokesman for Rhaetische Bahn said, adding that he was unable to give further details immediately.

The train was travelling from the mountain resort of St Moritz to Chur when it was caught in the landslide between Tiefencastel and Solis, southeast of Zurich, at around 11.45am UK time.

Three carriages came off the tracks and plunged down the slope of the mountainous region following hours of rainfall earlier in the area.

Terrified passengers described moving to the rear of a carriage to stop it crashing over the edge.

Passengers were evacuated and walked to the nearest town. Pic: Blick.ch

One told news website 20 Minuten: "We all rushed to the back of the carriage to put all of our weight there, so that it didn't tip into the abyss."

Another eyewitness, who was travelling with his wife and granddaughter to Basel, told Swiss website Blick.ch they were sitting behind one of the carriages that plunged into the ravine.

"There was an announcement that we should move into the rear car," he said.

Afterwards, all of those on board the train were told to get off it.

"We had to walk about a kilometre ... through a tunnel. The luggage is still on the train," he added.

Reports suggested there were no fatalities, but police said several passengers were injured.

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Journalist Killed In Gaza Missile Blast

An Italian journalist was among five people killed when an unexploded missile detonated in northern Gaza.

The blast, in Beit Lahiya, happened as bomb squad officers attempted to dismantle the device on Wednesday.

Simone Camilli, 35, was killed along with a colleague and another three Palestinians.

At least six people were also wounded in the explosion - three of them critically.

Gaza's police force said the head of the bomb squad, his deputy and another officer were killed.

The deaths came as Egyptian negotiators aim to secure a further ceasefire from both sides to extend a three-day truce which is due to expire at 10pm.

No breaches of the ceasefire have been reported, but Israel said its navy had fired warning shots at a boat near Rafah as it approached the Gaza border.

More than 1,950 Palestinian people have been killed in five weeks of fighting in Gaza.

Sixty four Israeli soldiers and three civilians in Israel have also died.

Hamas has said it will not halt rocket attacks on Israel until the blockade it imposed on Gaza in 2006 is lifted.

But Israel has said it will allow the reconstruction of Gaza only if Hamas fully disarms.

Both sides have said they will resume hostilities if the talks fail.

The latest conflict is the third between Israel and Palestinian militants since Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007.

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'Miracle' Panda Triplets Born In China Zoo

A zoo in China has unveiled what are believed to be the first ever surviving panda triplets.

Staff at the Chimelong Safari Park in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou described the triple-birth as a miracle, given the panda's extremely low reproductive rate.

According to the China Conservation and Research Centre, giant panda Juxiao - whose name translates as smiling chrysanthemum - gave birth to three cubs on Tuesday, July 29.

The cubs are said to be the only panda triplets to have survived

She delivered the first cub at 1.10am and the second cub at 3.47am. The third baby was successfully delivered at 4.34am. Staff said Juxiao was too exhausted to care for the cubs, who were moved to an incubator.

They have now been returned to Juxiao and the family are being monitored by an expert team 24 hours a day.

Incubators are being used to help the panda cubs survive

In a statement, an official from the safari park said that the three were said to be the only panda triplets that have ever survived.

However, given the high mortality rates among young pandas experts tend only to class them has having "survived" once they reach six months.

Mother panda Juxiao was said to be exhausted

If all three live beyond six months, their birth and survival will be considered a true miracle.

Their sex has not been disclosed and they have not yet been named publicly.

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