Fire Kills Boys Who Wanted To Stay With Gran

Three boys who spent Christmas night with their grandmother because they did not want her to be alone were killed in a fire at her house.

The blaze ripped through the home in the town of Washington Court House, Ohio, at 4am on Friday morning, killing Terry Harris, 60, and three of her grandchildren.

Braylon Harris, nine, 11-year-old Broderick and 14-year-old Kenyon had wanted to stay with Mrs Harris because they were concerned about her.

Mrs Harris lived on her own in the single-storey, ranch-style house while her children lived two houses away.

Fayette County Sheriff Vernon Stanforth said: "They didn't want their grandma to be by herself on Christmas night; that's why they spent the night there.

"The children just adored their grandmother.

"The grandma was close to the front door. The other children were behind her and so we're just assuming that she was by the front door, that she was trying to corral the children to help them get out."

He told CBS News in Cleveland: "To lose three children and a grandparent, it's devastating to the family. The fact that it's the holidays makes it even worse for the community."

He said he had known the family for some time. The oldest boy is understood to have wrestled competitively.

"They're a very close-knit family. They were good boys," he said.

A prayer vigil was held for the family in the town on Friday night.

It took firefighters several hours to find the bodies as the site remained very hot and unstable for some time.

Fayette County coroner Dr Dennis Mesker said the badly burned bodies had been turned over to the Montgomery County coroner's office to allow the identities to be confirmed and post mortem examinations to be carried out.

An investigation is under way to determine the cause of the fire. Counselling services were being made available for classmates of the children who had died.

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North Korea Accuses US Over Internet Blackouts

North Korea has blasted the US President following the release of The Interview, which features a fictional plot to kill its leader Kim Jong-Un.

In a statement, the reclusive nation's National Defence Commission (NDC) described the president as a "monkey inhabiting a tropical forest".

The statement, carried by the official Korean Central News Agency, accused Mr Obama of encouraging the release of the film, and threatened the United States with "inescapable deadly blows".

It also blamed the US for shutting down its Internet earlier this week, something the United States has denied.

Kim Jong-Un at a military event in a picture released on Christmas Day

The Interview was first screened on Christmas Day after Mr Obama and a number of high-profile Hollywood figures slammed Sony Pictures for pulling the film.

Sony had cancelled the film's release following a cyber attack and threats of violence against cinemas that chose to screen it. 

Video: Sony Hack Timeline

Mr Obama accused North Korea of being responsible, warning that the US would respond "in a place and time and manner that we choose".

Pyongyang denied any involvement in the attack.

It went on to suffer internet blackouts, triggering speculation the US had launched a retaliatory attack.

"Obama always goes reckless in words and deeds like a monkey in a tropical forest," the NDC statement said.

Video: The Interview: Official Trailer

"If the US persists in American-style arrogant, high-handed and gangster-like arbitrary practices despite (North Korea's) repeated warnings, the US should bear in mind that its failed political affairs will face inescapable deadly blows."

The statement once again condemned The Interview, which stars Seth Rogen and James Franco, as "a movie for agitating terrorism".

Former British ambassador to North Korea John Everard told Sky News Pyongyang's latest statement was likely to have been well "calculated".

"This is the second statement that the North Koreans have released on this subject in a few days," he said.

Video: The Interview Opens In US Cinemas

"In their first statement on the 21st of December they took great care not to insult President Obama

"Clearly they have calculated there is nothing to be gained from trying to be nice to him." 

The Interview took in a million dollars after its limited release on Christmas Day when it  was screened in some 300 largely independent theatres.

It was also released online for rental or purchase.

Video: Sky News Special: The Defectors

It is not the first time North Korea has resorted to crude insults to slam foreign leaders.

Earlier this year it called US Secretary of State John Kerry a wolf with a "hideous" lantern jaw and described South Korean President Park Geun-hye as a prostitute.

In May, it published a dispatch saying Obama had the "shape of a monkey".

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Ukraine: New Round Of Prisoner Swaps Expected

Ukrainian authorities and pro-Russian separatists are set to complete a prisoner swap which has already seen the release of almost 370 people.

Ukraine expects another four soldiers to be freed in the coming hours, Svyatoslav Tsegolko, a spokesman for Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said.

The number of separatists earmarked for release has not been confirmed.

The swap will complete a two-day mass prisoner exchange which forms part of a 12-point peace plan aimed at ending fighting which has claimed the lives of more than 4,700 people.

The swap was supervised by heavily-armed soldiers

Ukraine handed over a total of 222 prisoners on Friday in exchange for 146 soldiers.

The swap, which took place in an area of no man's land north of the eastern rebel stronghold of Donetsk, was supervised by heavily-armed soldiers.

Video: 2 Dec: Rockets Fired Over Donetsk

They were later met by President Poroshenko. 

"As a president and as an ordinary citizen my heart is full with joy," he said.

Although hundreds of captives have been released over the past few months, it was the largest single exchange since the conflict in eastern Ukraine erupted in April.

Announcing the swap on Facebook, Mr Tsegolko said Ukraine's security service, the SBU, expected the remaining four soldiers "to be able to celebrate New Year ... with their families".

The peace plan, agreed by both sides in September, also included a ceasefire which has since seen numerous violations. 

According to the United Nations, 1,300 people have died since the implementation of the deal. Nevertheless, fighting is reported to have decreased significantly throughout December.

Video: Sept: Trapped Between Battle Lines

Peace talks attended by envoys for Ukraine, Russia, the separatists and European security watchdog the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in the Belarussian capital Minsk ended without resolution on Wednesday.

The talks had been aimed at paving the way for the signing of a comprehensive peace accord on Friday, although the only deal reached was on the least contentious of four agenda points - the prisoner swap.

Ukraine has since suspended all bus and rail links to Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in March, citing security concerns.

The rebel uprising in eastern Ukraine began shortly after Crimea's annexation, and followed the overthrow of Ukraine's Moscow-backed president Viktor Yanukovych. 

It is not known exactly how many prisoners are still held by the two sides.

However, Ukraine said this month that about 600 of its nationals were in rebel hands.

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Malaysia Floods: 160,000 Flee Their Homes

More than 160,000 people have been forced to flee Malaysia's worst flooding in decades, local media has reported.

According to The New Straits Times, the number of people forced to evacuate was up from 100,000 just a day earlier.

Rescue teams are struggling to reach the worst-affected areas in the northeast of the country, where at least five people have lost their lives.

Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has admitted that rescue efforts have been hampered by power outages and roads being washed away by the floods.

At least five people have been killed in the flooding

"I admit the situation is challenging to the rescue workers and we are trying our best to make sure that the food arrives to the victims depending on the flood situation," the Star newspaper quoted him saying.

Prime Minister Najib Razak travelled to the worst-hit state of Kelatan on Saturday, a day after cutting short his holiday in Hawaii. 

He also pledged a further 500m ringgit (£91.9m) in support for flood victims, significantly boosting the government's initial 50 million ringgit offer.

However, that has done little to ease public anger over the Government's perceived slow response to the crisis.

The Prime Minister (r) has been criticised for his absence

The Prime Minister became the focus of criticism after pictures emerged of him playing golf in Hawaii with US President Barack Obama during the storms.

Forecasters have warned that the worst is not yet over for the northeastern states of Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang.

Northeastern Malaysia is regularly hit by flooding during the annual monsoon, although this year torrential rains have been unusually bad.

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Thousands Gather For Shot Officer's Funeral

Thousands of police have been gathering in New York for the funeral of an officer who was shot dead with his partner.

Rafael Ramos was sitting in a patrol car with colleague Wenjian Liu on December 20 when they were both shot and killed by 28-year-old Ismaaiyl Brinsley.

Brinsley, who claimed he was avenging the killing of black people by police, then shot himself dead moments later.

Hundreds of officers dressed in blue uniforms have been seen standing outside the Christ Tabernacle Church in the New York City suburb of Queens.

Vice President Joe Biden has already spoken and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio is among those expected to speak.

Mr Biden, who drew applause when he claimed the New York Police Department was the finest in the world, said the killings had "touched the soul of an entire nation."

When the Ramos family arrived, his eldest son - wearing his father's New York Police Department jacket - was hugged by a police officer.

Funeral plans for his partner, Officer Wenjian Liu, have yet to be announced.

The execution-style killing was so swift, according to the city's police commissioner, that the officers may never have seen their assailant.

Mr Ramos, 40, had been on the force for two years and was raising two teenage sons with his wife, Maritza.

It follows Mayor de Blasio and thousands more officers gathering outside the church for Officer Ramos' wake last night.

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