Japan: Family Killed As Car Is Buried In Snow

Four members of a family have been killed after their car was buried in a snowstorm in the main northern Japanese island of Hokkaido.

Four other deaths linked to the weekend's snowfall have been reported.

Kazuyo Miyashita and her three children died at a hospital on Saturday night of carbon-monoxide poisoning after their vehicle got buried in the snow.

Her daughters were 17 and 14, and her son was 11.

The snowstorm hit during the weekend, burying vehicles

Separately, a 23-year-old woman froze to death after leaving her car, which was stuck in the snow.

The Kyodo news service said a 53-year-old man had died after getting buried in the snow, although his nine-year-old daughter found with him was recovering.

Two other men collapsed in the snow in another part of Hokkaido and were confirmed dead.

Several vehicles were stranded and buried under snow in the island in northern Japan.

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India: Twelve Children Die In School Bus Crash

At least 12 children have been killed after their school bus collided with a truck carrying bricks in northern India.

The crash, which also killed the driver, happened on the outskirts of Jalandhar, a city nearly 250 miles (400km) north of the capital Delhi.

Police officer Harmeet Singh said seven children died at the scene and another five died from their injuries in hospital.

It has been reported the impact of the accident was so bad the roof of the minibus was torn off and the vehicle was virtually reduced to a heap of metal.

The truck was also very badly damaged

Police are looking for the truck driver, who fled after the accident.

India has the world's deadliest roads, with more than 110,000 people killed every year. Most crashes are blamed on reckless driving, poorly maintained roads and ageing vehicles.

The children's bags and shoes near the scene

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Pope Photo Burnt: Church Launches Probe

By Nick Pisa, Sky News Reporter

Church chiefs have launched an investigation after an Italian priest set fire to a photograph of former Pope Benedict XVI in front of dozens of stunned worshippers.

Father Andrea Maggi, 67, ignited the picture during a sermon, saying that Benedict had "abandoned" the Catholic Church.

He then went on to compare him to Costa Concordia captain Francesco Schettino, who has been accused of fleeing his post and leaving passengers on the stranded cruise ship.

Father Andrea, a priest for more than 40 years, told the packed service at Santo Stefano church in Castelvittorio near Imperia: "I'm doing this because he has not been a Pope, he has abandoned us. A shepherd never leaves his flock."

Parishioners including children, looked on amazed as the picture of Benedict, who resigned last week after eight years as Pontiff was enveloped in flames before the priest let it drop to the ground and burn itself out.

Father Andrea is unrepentant, and said: "I'd said that I would burn his picture the day he left and that's what I did. I'm glad what I did has caused such an outcry - I don't have maize in my head. We are not in a communist state.

"I'm not interested in his reasons for leaving. The job of Pope is for life. He should not have left. He's behaved just like (Francesco) Schettino. Where is the proof of his faith?

"The Pope said this was the year of faith and he then leaves his post as head of the church."

Bishop Alberto Maria Careggio, of the diocese, said: "This was an abominable action. I'm mortified by the actions of Father Andrea who in the past has always been a very generous and sensible priest. I'm arranging a meeting with him as soon as possible."

Benedict said he made the shock decision - the first time a Pope has resigned in 600 years - because he "felt tired".

However by stepping down he has angered many Catholics and some senior Church chiefs as the job is for life.

The priest compared Pope Benedict to Captain Francesco Schettino

Locals in his parish, which nestles in a picturesque medieval hilltop village, have described him as "very strict and ultra orthodox".

Before the incident Father Maggi, who has been a priest there for five years, had been complaining bitterly about Benedict's decision.

Gianstefano Orengo, mayor of Castel Vittorio, who witnessed the incident, said: "Certainly everyone knew Father Andrea was upset and angry at Benedict's announcement.

"It was a shocking thing to see. I know it may be a difficult time for him but it was still a serious thing to do."

He pulled out a picture of the Pope and then used a nearby candle to ignite it as he started his sermon.

"It lasted a minute or so and he then said Benedict had acted in a similar fashion to (Francesco) Schettino who left his post when the Costa Concordia struck rocks and with passengers still needed to be saved.

"People were shocked and started complaining and several including myself left the service.  There was no justification at all for it even if there are mitigating circumstances."

Meanwhile cardinals in Rome have begun their discussions ahead of setting a date for the start of the conclave which will elect the next Pope, with the selection process expected to begin in the Vatican's Sistine Chapel next week.

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Al Qaeda Casts Doubt On Mr Marlboro's 'Death'

By Lisa Holland, Foreign Affairs Correspondent

Al Qaeda in west Africa has reportedly cast doubt on whether one of the world's most wanted men is dead.

Soldiers from Chad fighting Islamists in Mali had claimed to have killed Mokhtar Belmokhtar – said to be the mastermind behind the recent Algerian hostage crisis.

But a member of Aqim (al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb) told a private Mauritanian news agency it denied claims he had been killed, saying Belmokhtar "is in the Gao region, waging the fight against the enemy".

The spokesman usually writes for jihadist websites, which are often recognised as official mouthpieces of al Qaeda.

Added to this Edouard Guillaud, the head of France's joint chiefs of staff, said he was "extremely cautious" about reports of Belmokhtar's death.

Belmokhtar, nicknamed Mr Marlboro because of his involvement in cigarette smuggling, was born in Algeria in 1972 and claimed he gained combat experience in Afghanistan before returning to his home nation.

The one-eyed gangster had also been dubbed "The Uncatchable" by French intelligence after being linked to a series of kidnappings of foreigners in north Africa over the past decade.

Malian troops in Gao

One of the world's most wanted terrorists, he had claimed responsibility for the strike on the In Amenas gas plant in which more than 60 people were killed after troops stormed the complex on January 19.

In a statement read out on Chadian television, armed forces spokesman General Zacharia Gobongue said: "Chadian armed forces operating in northern Mali completely destroyed a terrorist base … The toll included several dead terrorists, including their leader Mokhtar Belmokhtar."

But Edouard Guillaud said al Qaeda's senior field commander in the Sahara Abdelhamid Abou Zeid had 'probably' been killed in Mali. 

He said: "It is probable but only probable. We don't have any certainty for the moment but it would be good news."

Mr Guillaud said that Abou Zeid's death could not be confirmed because his body had not been recovered.

Abou Zeid is regarded as one of Aqim's most ruthless operators responsible for the kidnapping of more than 20 Western hostages since 2008.

He is believed to have killed the British hostage Edwin Dyer in 2009 and 78-year-old Frenchman Michael Germaneau in 2010.

After a seven-week campaign French, Chadian and Malian troops have pushed back al Qaeda-linked fighters who had threatened to take control of Mali back to their mountain and desert hideouts.

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Baby Born After New York Hit-And-Run Dies

A baby delivered by doctors after his parents were killed in a hit-and-run car crash in New York has died, a community spokesman has confirmed.

Nachman and Raizy Glauber, both 21, died in the crash in Brooklyn but their baby initially survived after doctors performed an emergency caesarean section on the mother.

However, Isaac Abraham, a spokesman for the family's Orthodox Jewish community, said the child died on Monday morning.

Police are searching for the driver and passenger of a BMW who fled the scene on foot.

"This guy's a coward and he should pay his price," said Mr Abraham, adding that the community wants a murder prosecution.

The registered owner of the BMW, who was not in the car at the time of the crash, has been charged with insurance fraud.

Raizy and Nachman Glauber pictured on their wedding day

Many of the Glaubers' fellow Orthodox Jews attended the couple's funeral, which was held hours after their deaths. Jewish law calls for the burial of the dead as soon as possible.

Mr Glauber was described as "the sweetest, most charming human being, always with a smile on his face".

His cousin, Sara Glauber, added of the couple: "If one had to go, the other had to go too because they really were one soul."

The hit-and-run happened in the Williamsburg neighbourhood of Brooklyn, as the couple made their way to a local hospital in a cab.

Mrs Glauber, who was seven months pregnant, was sitting in the back of the car. Her body was thrown from the vehicle and landed under a parked lorry, according to witnesses.

Her husband was trapped in the vehicle and emergency workers had to cut the roof off to free him from the wreckage.

The cab driver was treated for minor injuries at a local hospital and released.

Hundreds attended the couple's funerals on Sunday

The Glaubers were married about a year ago and had started a life together in Williamsburg, relatives said. He was studying at a rabbinical college nearby.

At their funeral, men in black hats gathered around the coffins in the middle of the street, while women in bright headscarves stood on the pavement, in accordance with the Orthodox Jewish tradition of separating the sexes at religious services.

A man could be heard sobbing as he spoke through a loudspeaker, while Yitzchok Silberstein, Mrs Glauber's father, said: "I will never forget you, my daughter."

Brooklyn is home to the largest community of ultra-Orthodox Jews outside Israel, with more than 250,000 living in the New York borough.

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Mokhtar Belmokhtar: Gas Terror Chief 'Killed'

Belmokhtar: Profile Of Mr Marlboro

Updated: 12:54am UK, Sunday 03 March 2013

By Sam Kiley, Middle East Correspondent

He was known as Mr Marlboro because of his cigarette smuggling. The French intelligence service called him "The Uncatchable".

Born in central Algeria in 1972, Mokhtar Belmokhtar grew obsessed with Jihadi ideology in his teens. At 19 he volunteered to fight alongside the mujahedeen in Afghanistan.

He missed most of the fighting there as the Soviets withdrew as he arrived but he did encounter senior members of what was to become al Qaeda - receiving training in a Jalalabad base.

In the early 1990s he returned to Algeria to join Islamic militant groups. He served them as a quartermaster - rapidly rose to dominate operations in the south of the country during the Algerian civil war.

Described by the then head of France's Territorial Surveillance Directorate (Direction de la surveillance du territoire – DST) as Algeria's link to al Qaeda, Belmokhtar maintained strong links to the movement's core in Pakistan.

But he was a vital element in the expansion of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). A franchise of the Jihadi movement AQIM was seen as the poorly performing franchise during the last decade. 

But Belmokhtar forged links with Tuareg rebels in the south Sahara from Mali to Niger and into Mauritania.

He rapidly expanded a criminal empire to fund his political and military operations from smuggling cigarettes, diamonds, drugs and people into Europe.

He further stuffed his war chest with funds from hostage taking operations. In 2003 he was implicated in the kidnapping of 32 Europeans in the Sahara.

In 2008, he took control of negotiations for the release of two Austrian hostages. And in 2009 took control of two Canadians kidnapped in Mali and released by him for allegedly £3m and freedom for several of his associates from Malian jails.

Robert Fowler was a UN special envoy in Mali when he was kidnapped and then handed on to Belmokhtar.

He described the man who has now projected himself on to the world stage from the relative obscurity of the Saharan wastes.

"He is very cold. Very business-like. I was afraid for my life all the time. I was afraid for my life when I woke up in the morning and when I went to sleep at night. He is a very serious player," Mr Fowler told ABC News in the US.

Belmokhtar's movement got a huge boost from the collapse of the Libyan regime of Muammar Gaddafi.

The Tuareg fighters he had employed from Niger, Mali and Chad, fled his service carrying with them vast stockpiles of heavy weapons and bringing many years of combat experience.

This influx of new weapons and fighters allowed for al Qaeda-related groups to capture much of northern Mali and establish closer links between groups from Mauritania to Somalia and into the Arabian Peninsula.

Some intelligence agencies believe that Belmokhtar fell out with the AQIM leader in the north of Africa, Abdulmalek Droukel.

But al Qaeda is a franchise. Its strength lies in fragmentation. A devolved series of groups are harder to infiltrate or destroy than one large organisation.

Al Qaeda expert Aaron Zelin describes this as "controlled fragmentation".

French intelligence services had been trying to kill or capture Belmokhtar for more than a decade. They believed that he had the capacity to mobilise French citizens with their roots in North Africa for terror operations inside Europe.

After France launched its war against Islamists in Mali, many of whom are connected to Belmokhtar, his organisation which calls itself "The Masked Ones", vowed to continue attacks against western targets in Africa and beyond.

Belmokhtar's attack in Algeria meant his name was heard more widely as his movement posed a strategic threat to Europe's energy supplies.

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World Cup 2022 Could Be Moved To Winter, Fifa

A senior Fifa official has admitted for the first time that the 2022 World Cup in Qatar could be moved to winter.

The finals were awarded by the world governing body in 2010 and are due to be held in the summer months when the temperature can reach more than 40 degrees Celsius.

European football boss Michel Platini has repeatedly said the competition needs to be held in winter, when the average is a far less intense 17 degrees.

Now Fifa's general secretary Jerome Valcke has become the first senior official to say the event could be moved if strong medical advice is received to support it.

Fifa general secretary Jerome Valcke said the finals could be moved

Speaking at the meeting of the International Football Association Board - which governs the laws of football - he said: "Maybe the Fifa Exco (executive committee) will say based on medical reports or whatever: 'We really have to look at playing the World Cup not in summer but in winter'."

Qatar's winning bid caused a major stir in world football with critics arguing it would be impossible to freeze football leagues for a World Cup in December or January.

However, Mr Valcke believes that the timeframe for any decision could be extended to 2015.

"I am not saying that the case is closed but what I'm saying is as long as we have not fixed the international calendar all alternatives are open," he said.

"I can tell you there is no working group within Fifa thinking and working on what it means to move the World Cup from summer to winter for the time being.

"The international calendar has been agreed for 2015 to 2018, meaning that we kept open all potential for the period 2019 to 2022. We have time."

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Assad Hits Out At UK Government In Interview

Syrian President Bashar al Assad has heavily criticised the British government, calling it "shallow and immature".

In an interview with The Sunday Times, he dismissed any suggestion that Britain could help to resolve the conflict saying: "We do not expect an arsonist to be a firefighter."

He said Britain was not trusted by many in the Middle East, saying its has been viewed as "unconstructive" in the region for centuries.

"There's no contact between Syria and Britain for a long time.

"You cannot separate the role from the credibility, and you cannot separate the credibility from the history of that country.

"To be frank, Britain has played famously in our region (an) unconstructive role in different issues, for decades, some say for centuries."

He added: "How can we expect to ask Britain to play a role while it's determined to militarise the problem?

"How can you ask them to play a role in making the situation better, more stable, how can we expect them to make the violence less when they want to send the military supply to the terrorist?

"I think they are working against us, and they are working against the interests of the UK itself.

"This Government is acting in a naïve, confused, and unrealistic manner. If they want to play a role they have to change this, they have to act in a more reasonable and responsible way."

But Foreign Secretary William Hague said the interview was "one of the most delusional" by a modern leader.

"This is a man presiding over this slaughter, and the message to him is that we, Britain, are the people sending food and shelter and blankets to the people driven from their homes and families in his name.

"We are the people sending medical supplies to try to look after people injured and abused by the soldiers working for this man, President Assad.

"And Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN envoy, who's a soft-spoken diplomat, said this week that Assad thinks and is told by his inner circle, that all this is an international conspiracy, not the actual rebellion and revolt of his own people.

"So I think this will go down as one of the most delusional interviews that any national leader has given in modern times."

He also confirmed more direct assistance would be given to the Syrian opposition.

Earlier this week the Syrian Government said it is ready for talks with its armed opponents.

However, Syrian rebel leader Selim Idris said there could be no negotiations unless Mr Assad stepped down and leaders of the army and security forces were put on the trial.

The UN estimates that around 70,000 people have been killed since fighting began in Syria almost two years ago.

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UK Explorer: Green Campaigning Has Failed

By Tom Rayner in Ushuaia, Argentina

One of Britain's leading polar explorers has told Sky News that decades of campaign efforts to get people engaged with climate change have failed.

Robert Swan, who was the first man to walk to both the North and South poles, was speaking in Argentina on the eve of the launch of his latest expedition to Antarctica - one which he hopes will help turn the tide of public apathy towards green issues.

He said: "People are really sick and tired of seeing pictures of another glacier melting, another forest dying.

"This whole approach of the doomsday scenario is not working because people switch off and they think - 'well we can't do anything'.

"It's not working, this whole showing endless pictures saying there is a problem, I think anyone in the real world knows there's a problem, what we've got to do now is say, how can we inspire people?"

Mr Swan will be leading a group of 80 young people from 28 countries across the world to the Antarctic Peninsula.

His mission is to impress upon them the importance of maintaining the current international legal frameworks that protect the frozen continent from mining and drilling for energy resources.

Mr Swan hopes the expedition members will take plans of action back to their own countries after seeing Antarctica for themselves.

"We've got 80 people coming together to get a really good story that they can take back with them. They can go to Antarctica, come back, and then inspire people with ideas about change and solutions, not doomsday scenarios."

Made up of high-flyers from industry, business, banking, politics, NGOs and education, the expedition is comprised of young people from across the Middle East, Asia, Europe, Africa and America.

Some have had travel paid for by their companies or organisations, others have personally raised money through private sponsorship to pay for a place on the expedition.

The group, described as 'decision-makers of the future', will travel from the most southerly city in the world, the Argentinian port of Ushuaia, across the notoriously stormy sea channel known as Drake's passage, and then finally onwards to the Antarctic Peninsula.

Mr Swan's campaign is known as 2041 - a reference to the year when the international community could begin to re-evaluate the international treaty and environmental protocols which currently ban all exploitation of Antarctica's natural resources.

The continent, which is governed by an international treaty and not owned by any one state, is known to have significant reserves of minerals such as iron ore and coal, and scientists believe there are likely to be oil and natural gas reserves too, although they have not yet been identified.

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Porn: Mayor Pulls Plug On X-Rated Web Surfing

By Nick Pisa, Sky News Reporter

A fed-up Italian mayor has pulled the plug on the internet in council offices after discovering employees spent the working day trawling porn sites.

Narcisio Buffoni, 60, was furious when he discovered that several of his staff were using their work stations to watch the hardcore websites, some for as long as six hours a day.

Mr Buffoni of Montignoso, near Massa Carrara, has now ordered that all computers have web access denied, with connections limited to the council's internal system only.

Mr Buffoni said: "All I am prepared to say is that there has been an improper use of the internet within the council offices - that's why there is no access to the web.

"I am not prepared to go into the details of what the sites visited were, other than to say they were not work related and not ethical. It was restricted to a limited amount of staff, not all 74 employees.''

According to reports in the Italian media some of the employees would clock on at 8am and then spend as long as six hours surfing pornographic websites, only stopping when the town hall building closed for lunch.

As the wi-fi was also non-encrypted and had no password, locals would also gather outside the building to log on and surf the web.

Mr Buffoni, who has been in office for two years, has decided that he will take no disciplinary action against the council employees involved.

The case does no favours for the traditional view of many of Italian local government employees who have long had a reputation for laziness and being work shy - with numerous attempts by central government in Rome to try and clean up their act.

In 2008 the then public administration minister Renato Brunetta launched a clampdown which claimed to have halved the number of sick days claimed by public employees by 50%, although the initiative is said to only have had a short-term effect.

Among incidents uncovered at the time were a council worker who punched his time-card, then went boar hunting - only to get found out when he got shot in the leg and had to be rushed to hospital.

Another who went on sick leave was actually discovered to have been on a long vacation in Kenya, claiming that the sun would help speed up her recovery from a sprained back.

More recently the mayor of the southern Italian town of Bari took to exposing lazy employees by posting pictures of them on his Facebook site below the question: "Why are these people not working?"

But the slacking is not just limited to Italians - an investigation at the Vatican once revealed how dozens of civil employees there would also clock in and then leave to go out shopping or spend the day with friends and families when they should have been at their desks.

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