Shock Fate Of India's 'Stolen' Slum Children

By Alex Rossi, Asia Correspondent

Shocking new crime figures have revealed as many as 50,000 children are going missing from the streets of India every year.

Campaigners claim the youngsters are often 'stolen' by criminal gangs to fuel a growing black market in child labour and prostitution.

For the parents of the victims the not knowing what has happened to their son or daughter is often the hardest part.

Kunwar Pal is overcome with grief. His 12-year-old son Ravi went out for a bike ride two years ago but never returned.

He said: "My life revolved around my son but since he disappeared I have lost everything including my happiness and my job."

It is the poorest families who are most at risk from the growing problem.

Children from the slums are easily snatched from the streets as their parents are often both working and struggling to make ends meet.

One of the worst affected areas is New Delhi.

According to recent crime data, as many as 20 children go missing in the capital every day and at least five of them are never traced.

The police say their job as investigators is made much more difficult because poorer parents often do not even have a photograph of their missing child.

They have now launched a scheme using theatre to try and educate children about the dangers of stranger danger.

They are also taking portraits of children in the areas the human traffickers target, so if the worst does happen, the parents at least have a photographic record of the child they can show detectives.

But many parents with missing children say the police are simply not doing enough.

Tajwar Sultana says her granddaughter, who was three when she vanished in 2009, is just another statistic for the police to ignore.

The family were at a wedding party when their little girl was taken.

She said: "Her mother is in a terrible state. Our situation is worse than death."

There are now demands for tougher punishments for the human traffickers who prey on India's children.

But activists fear as the police struggle with the enormity of the challenge the problem of India's 'stolen' sons and daughters will continue to get worse.

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Pope To Name First Native American Saint

A woman who survived smallpox as a child and died at just 24 is to become the first Native American saint.

Kateri Tekakwitha was born in 1656 and is known as Lily of the Mohawks.

She lived in an area that is now on the border between the United States and Canada and is worshipped by believers in native religions as well as Catholics.

Tekakwitha, who had an Algonquin mother and a Mohawk father, was converted by Jesuit missionaries as a child.

A wooden statue of Tekakwitha at St Peter's Chapel in Fonda, New York

After surviving smallpox and being orphaned, she earned a following for her spiritualism before dying at 24.

She will be canonised in St Peter's Basilica on Sunday at a lavish ceremony that follows her beatification in 1980 by Pope John Paul II.

At least 1,500 Canadian pilgrims - many of them American Indians - are expected to attend.

Pope Benedict will name six other new saints including a French missionary to Madagascar, a Philippine martyred at the age of 17, a German migrant to the United States who took care of lepers and a Spanish nun who campaigned for women's rights.

Tekakwitha will be canonised by Pope Benedict on Sunday

Vatican watchers said the choice to name these particular saints now was linked to the Roman Catholic Church's efforts to highlight the need for a "new evangelisation" as church pews in Europe and the United States empty out.

The new canonisations will bring to 44 the number of saints named by the pope since the start of his pontificate in 2005.

Catholic saints must have two miracles to their names which have to be certified by the Vatican in a years-long procedure.

The canonisations come amid a synod of 262 bishops from around the world.

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Iran: Deaths As Bus Overturns 'At High Speed'

At least 21 people have been killed after a bus packed with students overturned in southwestern Iran, according to the country's state radio.

The driver lost control because the vehicle was going at high speed in wet conditions, senior police official Colonel Mohammad Reza Mehmandar was quoted as saying.

Some 23 other people were hurt in the accident and have been taken to hospital for treatment.

The crash happened on the Izeh-Lordegan road, about 300 miles southwest of the capital Tehran.

Iran has one of the worst road safety records in the world, with more than 400,000 accidents and about 20,000 deaths every year.

The high death tolls are blamed on high speed, unsafe vehicles, widespread disregard of traffic laws and inadequate emergency services.

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Fort Hood Suspect 'Can Be Forcibly Shaved'

An Army appeals court has ruled the Fort Hood shooting suspect can have his facial hair forcibly shaved off before his trial.

The US Army Court of Criminal Appeals upheld the military trial judge's decision to order Major Nidal Hasan to appear in court clean shaven or be forcibly shaved.

It also ruled that Colonel Gregory Gross, the judge, correctly ruled the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act does not give Hasan the right to have a beard while in uniform at trial.

Hasan has said the beard is an expression of his Muslim faith. His lawyers will appeal the ruling.

The 42-year-old faces the death penalty if convicted of the 2009 attack that killed 13 and wounded more than two dozen others on the Texas Army post.

The Army has specific guidelines on forced shaving.

A team of five military police officers restrains the inmate "with the reasonable force necessary", and a medical professional is on hand in case of injuries.

The shaving must be done with electric clippers and must be videoed, according to Army rules.

Hasan would not be the first military defendant to be shaved against their will.

It has been done to five inmates since 2005, including one man who was forcibly shaved twice, according to the Army's Office of the Chief of Staff.

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Boy Scouts Of America Publish Sex Abuse Files

Confidential papers showing US scout leaders covered up alleged sexual abuse inflicted on their young members have been published.

The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) has released decades worth of so-called "perversion files", showing how a range of authorities - from police to church pastors - quietly allowed scoutmasters and others accused of molesting children to go free.

In many instances - more than a third, according to the Scouts' own count - police were not told about the reports of abuse. And even when they were, sometimes local law enforcement did nothing, seeking to protect the reputation of scouting.

The Oregon Supreme Court ordered the papers, dating from 1959 to 1985 - and a handful from later years - to be released, despite objections played out in a lengthy legal battle from the Scouts.

The boxes of newly released files containing allegations of sexual abuse

The 14,500 pages of confidential files, including handwritten notes, reveal details of alleged abuses by more than 1,200 scout leaders and other adults.

Officially called the Boy Scouts Ineligible Volunteer Files, some of the papers had been released previously, but others were made public for the first time.

In one case from the files, a distraught mother walked into a Louisiana sheriff's office in 1965 and said a 31-year-old scoutmaster had raped one of her sons and molested two others.

Six days later, the scoutmaster sat down in front of a microphone in the same station and confessed. He admitted to raping a 17-year-old boy on a camping trip and sexually molesting two other boys. The victims corroborated his confession.

Seven days later, the decision was made not to pursue charges against him.

A boy scout statue outside the organisation's American HQ

The man "was asked to leave the parish, and if he was caught around or near any boy or youth organisation, he would be sent to state prison immediately", a scouting executive wrote to national headquarters. "We are indeed sorry that scouting was involved."

The lawyers who unveiled the files said BSA had not done enough to root out paedophiles using the youth movement to prey on minors.

"What these files represent is ... the pain and the anguish of thousands of scouts," said lawyer Paul Mones, while presenting details of the files at a press conference in the northwestern US city of Portland.

Mr Mones said the files "demonstrate the depth and breadth of the BSA's vast knowledge about the threats to scouts by scoutmasters and adult leaders who used their authority ... to sexually molest generations of boys".

The lawyers highlighted a 2010 court case, in which an assistant scoutmaster in a Mormon Church-sponsored troop sexually molested a boy in the 1980s.

A Boy Scouts of America handbook

The abuser involved had previously confessed to molesting 17 other boys in the troop, but was allowed to return to scouting within a few months and then found a new victim.

Responding to the release, BSA national leader Wayne Perry reiterated an apology to the victims.

He said: "There have been instances where people misused their positions ... to abuse children, and in certain cases, our response to these incidents and our efforts to protect youth were plainly insufficient, inappropriate or wrong.

"Where those involved in scouting failed to protect, or worse, inflicted harm on children, we extend our deepest and sincere apologies to victims and their families."

In a statement on its website, BSA also said it has improved its procedures to ensure safety, including now requiring background checks and formal training of its leaders.

The uniform worn by Boy Scouts of America

But Mr Mones said the organisation, founded as part of the international Scouting Movement in 1910, has not done enough.

The BSA has "made some improvements, but we think there's more still to be done," said the lawyer, noting that on average each abuser typically molested between five and 25 scouts.

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North Korea 'Threatens To Strike South'

North Korea has threatened to open fire on South Korea if anti-Pyongyang leaflets are dropped over its territory.

Human rights activists plan to send giant balloons containing 200,000 leaflets criticising North Korea's government over the country on Monday morning.

Inside the leaflets will be 1,000 $1 notes - highly prized by the impoverished people of the north.

North Korea said if the leaflets were dropped, a "merciless military strike by the Western Front will be put into practice without warning", according to state news agency KCNA.

It said it would target a tourist area in the border city of Paju a few miles from the demilitarised zone that separates the two countries.

"The KPA (Korean People's Army) never makes any empty talk," KCNA quoted military commanders as saying.

North Korea shelled a South Korean island almost two years ago, causing civilian deaths. And in 2010, the North was widely blamed for sinking a South Korean naval ship, although it denied responsibility.

The group planning the leafleting, Fighters for a Free North Korea, said they had no intention of calling it off.

"We had similar threats last year and they did not stop us before and this is not going to stop us this time," said Pak Sang-hak, a North Korean exile who defected to the South 12  years ago.

The threat came a day after South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak made a surprise visit to an island close to the disputed maritime border that was shelled.

There have been widespread concerns in the South that Pyongyang may try to instigate a military clash that would temporarily destabilise the Korean peninsula in the run up to the presidential election in December.

Kim Yong-Hyun, a professor at Dongguk University, said: "I think this is a bluff. I don't think they mean to actually target and shell the area.

"It could be an indirect reaction to what President Lee said (on Thursday) and the North is also seeking to drive wedges between conservatives and liberals ahead of the presidential poll," Kim said.

On Wednesday, South Korea announced an annual, large-scale military exercise aimed at countering threats from North Korea.

The week-long Hoguk exercise beginning on October 25 will involve 240,000 army, navy, air force and marine corps personnel, with 500 US soldiers also taking part.

Some 28,500 US military personnel are stationed in the South, a legacy of the Korean War that ended with a ceasefire but not a peace treaty, leaving the two Koreas still technically at war.

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Flavor Flav Held Over Assault With Deadly Weapon

Reality TV star and former rapper Flavor Flav has been arrested after allegedly arguing with his fiancee and threatening to attack her teenage son with a knife.

The 53-year-old hip-hop icon, whose legal name is William Jonathan Drayton Jr, was taken into custody in the early hours of Wednesday morning from his home in Las Vegas, according to local police.

Officers did not report that anyone was injured.

Drayton faces a felony assault with a deadly weapon charge, carrying a possible penalty of up to six years in prison, and a misdemeanor battery-domestic violence charge, that could get him six months in a county jail.

He was being held on $23,000 (£14,000) bail at Clark County jail pending an initial court appearance on Thursday. It was not immediately clear if he had a lawyer.

Drayton, whose public persona includes wearing a big clock on his chest, was an original member of the politically and socially militant rap group Public Enemy in the 1980s and '90s.

In recent years he has starred in several reality TV series and lent his name and recipes to short-lived chicken and soul food restaurants in Clinton, Iowa, and Las Vegas.

He has a criminal history that includes arrests and convictions on traffic infractions, a month in jail for assaulting his then-girlfriend in 1991, and three months in prison for shooting at a neighbour in New York in 1993.

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China GDP: Economic Growth Slows To 7.4%

Global shares are driven higher by China's economic figures, despite it growing at its slowest pace since the start of 2009.

The country's economy grew 7.4%  between July and September, according to official statistics, compared with 7.6% growth in the previous quarter.

"This is within expectations, the economy is showing signs of stabilising and that is good news," Hong Kong-based Credit Suisse economist Dong Tao said.

"We think that with rebounding property markets, stabilising export orders, resuming consumption, we probably have seen the bottom of the economy.

"The economy can bounce back quickly."

The figures reassured investors, with Asian stock markets rising overnight.

Japan's Nikkei hit a three-week high, rising 2%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.6%.

In London, the FTSE rose 0.2% and Germany Dax increased by 0.14% in early trading.

But while these GDP figures would be cause for celebration in recession-hit economies like the UK, it marks the seventh consecutive quarter of slowing growth in China, as its main export markets, Europe and the US, continue to battle economic problems.

Beijing has attempted to boost growth this year by cutting interest rates twice in quick succession and slashing banks' capital requirements to encourage lending, but with little success.

It has also shifted its focus to quality growth, rather than quantity, and lowered its target to 7.5% growth in 2012, compared with the 8% target of recent years.

Other data released alongside GDP showed industrial output grew by 9.2% in September compared with the same month last year, and retail sales were up 14.2%.

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New York Fed 'Bomber' Is A Bank Manager's Son

FBI Terror Stings Key To Security

Updated: 5:53am UK, Thursday 18 October 2012

By Hannah Thomas-Peter, New York Correspondent

The FBI sting operation against Quazi Mohammad Nafis reads like something out of a James Bond plot, but it is not uncommon for the federal police to trap suspected terrorists in this way.

Just eight months ago a man of Moroccan descent was arrested on his way to the US Capitol in Washington DC.

He thought he was going on a suicide attack and the undercover FBI agents assisting him were al Qaeda associates.

In November 2011, the NYPD carried out a similar sting on 27-year-old Jose Pimentel.

The police said he was an al Qaeda sympathiser inspired by the radical and now dead US-born cleric Anwar al Awlaki.

Pimentel thought he was wrapped up in a secret plot to bomb police and post office targets.

And in December 2010, a man from Baltimore was trapped in another fake scheme - this time to detonate a car bomb at a US armed forces recruitment centre in Maryland.

The FBI is constantly monitoring people of interest and people they believe to pose a real threat to the US.

Sting operations are always very carefully controlled, and in New York, usually also involve NYPD counter-terror specialists.

One of the reasons for using stings is that large amounts of evidence can be collected by the agents involved, allowing for a higher chance of successful prosecution if the case gets to trial.

In this city such operations are almost always overseen by what is known as the New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, or JTTF.

The NY JTTF is an FBI-led umbrella group encompassing more than 50 different agencies and 500 investigators.

It is a busy place to work.

Since 9/11 there have been 15 foiled plots against New York, including ones targeting the Brooklyn Bridge and the New York Stock Exchange.

To combat the ongoing threat of an attack, and in part to make the public feel safe as they move around Manhattan, over 1,000 NYPD officers are assigned specifically to counter-terror duties every day.

Following the Nafis operation, NYPD Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said: "Al Qaeda operatives and those they have inspired have tried time and again to make New York City their killing field.

"After 11 years without a successful attack, it's understandable if the public becomes complacent, but that's a luxury law enforcement can't afford."

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Passenger Jets Help To Rescue Missing Sailor

By Jonathan Samuels, Australia Correspondent

Passengers and crew on two commercial jets have helped locate a missing yachtsman off Australia by looking through the windows with binoculars.

An Air Canada plane and an Air New Zealand aircraft swooped down to 4,000ft to assist rescuers in the search for the solo yachtsman who had activated his emergency beacon.

His remote location was out of helicopter range, so rescuers asked the planes' pilots to get involved as they were flying over the yacht's GPS position.

The crew on each plane asked passengers to tell them if they had binoculars in their hand luggage so they could be used to help in the search.

The Air Canada pilot Captain Andrew Robertson said once he determined he had enough fuel to land the plane safely in Sydney after diverting to search for the yacht, he swooped down to 5,000ft and reduced speed while the crew peered out.

"As we got to about two to three miles of this yacht, the first officer said 'there it is, I see it'. I was amazed.

"We didn't know if we were looking for a sunken boat or one that was still floating."

Captain Robertson circled around once more at 3,700ft for a closer look to see if anyone was on board.

It was then they saw the yachtsman.

Captain Robertson said the search was the first of his aviation career.

"A lot of passengers said it was very exciting to be involved in a search like this," he said.

According to Sydney's Daily Telegraph, one passenger wrote on Facebook: "15 hour flight ends up being 17 hours as we descended to 4,000ft to locate a capsized yacht for search and rescue.

"Amazing, and slightly off putting, to see what a Boeing 777 aircraft can do when not on autopilot and flying/circling low over the ocean."

Air Canada spokesman Peter Fitzpatrick said the crew and a number of passengers on board flight AC033 to Sydney from Vancouver spotted the boat and advised authorities of its location.

He said the yachtsman was subsequently rescued. He said the airline commends the crew and passengers.

"The pilots immediately determined they had sufficient fuel to undertake this, and headed out to the remote area which was over fairly rough seas," he explained.

"After apprising the customers on board that we would assist as we were the only aircraft in the immediate vicinity, all on board became involved in the search efforts," Mr Fitzpatrick said.

"The crew borrowed binoculars from customers and also engaged those sitting on the right hand side of the aircraft to help look.

"As our aircraft flew over the area at 4,000ft, a reflection from a mirror shining upwards was spotted and the crew saw the yacht in question, de-masted with a person standing - which was confirmed by a number of passengers."

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa) said the 44-year-old sailor had now been picked up 270 nautical miles out to sea.

He is said to be in good spirits and uninjured after drifting for 16 hours.

Speaking about the involvement of the passenger jets, a spokesperson from the Amsa said: "It's not a regular occurrence, but that's because incidents are (usually) much closer to shore.

"Amsa thanks the captains and crews of the Air Canada and Air New Zealand aircraft for their assistance in the search and rescue operation, and their passengers for their patience."

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US Presidential Race: Obama And Romney Clash

President Barack Obama and his Republican rival Mitt Romney have clashed over both foreign and domestic policy in a feisty live TV presidential debate.

One of the standout moments in the second of three head-to-heads between the candidates came when the pair sparred over last month's attack on a US diplomatic mission in Libya.

The President accused his White House contender of playing politics with national security while Mr Romney hit back by accusing Mr Obama of going on a fundraising tour on the day after the deadly September 11 assault on the Benghazi consulate, and declaring his Middle East policy was "unravelling".

In a television debate that was deemed much more lively and aggressive than the first one, Mr Romney said the President's team either did not know all the details - or did not tell the truth - about the death of four Americans there immediately after the attacks.

Mr Obama admitted for the first time that responsibility for what happened at the consulate in Libya stopped with him and no one else.

But at one point, former Massachusetts governor Mr Romney appeared to get his facts wrong about Mr Obama's handling of the attack and how soon afterwards he described it as an act of terrorism.

In a fierce exchange, Mr Obama called upon transcripts to prove Mr Romney was incorrect and expressed outrage at the Republican's implication that he used the attack to his political advantage.

"The suggestion that anybody on my team, whether it's a secretary of state, our UN ambassador, anybody on my team, would play politics or mislead when we've lost four of our own, Governor, is offensive," Mr Obama said wagging his finger at his opponent across the stage.

Mr Obama was fighting to reverse a slide in the polls

With three weeks to go until the US election, Mr Obama fought to reverse a dramatic slide in the polls that has given Mr Romney a lead for the first time in over a year.

They took questions from 80 undecided voters at a town hall-style forum on New York's Long Island.

The tension between the pair was obvious almost from the start when they clashed over domestic oil production.

During a discussion about immigration, Mr Obama and Mr Romney were side-tracked and ended up making digs at each other over their respective financial arrangements.

In another animated moment, Mr Romney was asked by one voter how he differed from fellow Republican George Bush. The White House hopeful responded by saying he took an alternative stance on energy policy, China and deficits.

But the President said his biggest difference was that his Republican rival is more extreme on social issues than Mr Bush, who left office deeply unpopular.

Mr Romney said that he would govern under different conditions that would allow him to make North America energy independent from Arab and Venezuelan oil.

He also claimed he would crack down on China's currency manipulation and cut the deficit by increasing trade.

The President concluded the debate by bringing up Mr Romney's now notorious 47% remark. The Republican had to apologise earlier in the month after he was secretly filmed making disparaging comments about nearly half of Americans who do not pay income taxes.

The debate, watched by millions, was won by Mr Obama, according to an instant CBS poll at the end.

The final face-off between the candidates before the November 6 election will be held next Monday in Florida.

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Apple Supplier Foxconn Employs 14-Year-Olds

A company which makes products for tech giants Apple and Sony has admitted hiring children as young as 14 to work on its assembly lines in China.

Foxconn, which builds gadgets including the iPhone and iPad, said it employed the underage workers as part of an internship programme at a factory in eastern Shandong province.

In a statement, the company said: "This is not only a violation of China's labour law, it is also a violation of Foxconn policy.

"Immediate steps have been taken to return the interns in question to their educational institutions.

"We have found no evidence of similar violations in any of our other campuses in China but we will not hesitate to take immediate action in any campus if any violations are discovered."

Foxconn is the world's biggest contract manufacturer

Foxconn employs 1.2m people in China, around three per cent of whom are interns.

Geoffrey Crothall, a spokesman for China Labour Bulletin, described them as a "cheap and convenient source of labour" that some vocational schools are happy to provide, as it helps boost their revenues.

"The enterprises tend to be factories that need more hands on the production line," he said. "There is no real training or apprenticeship involved here."

The discovery of underage workers is a fresh blow for Foxconn, just weeks after a brawl involving nearly 2,000 employees at one of its plants brought production to a halt.

The violence took four hours to bring under control

Earlier this year, the Fair Labour Association found some staff were forced to work more than 60 hours a week, and sometimes for more than 11 days in a row.

In 2010, 13 workers committed suicide amid claims that Foxconn ran military-style prodution line on which employees were told to work overtime for low wages.

The company denied the claims but promised to hire more counsellors and set up employee groups to watch for signs of emotional stress among staff.

Earlier this year, Apple chief executive Tim Cook visited Foxconn's Zhengzhou Technology Park, which employs an estimated 120,000 people in the northern province of Hebei.

The company's late founder Steve Jobs once claimed the company was "not a sweatshop".

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US Presidential Race: Second Debate 'Critical'

By Greg Milam, US Correspondent

Barack Obama and Mitt Romney go head-to-head in their second televised debate tonight - and the president knows it could be critical to his hopes of a second term in the White House.

Mr Obama's lacklustre performance in the first debate two weeks ago has led to him slipping in the opinion polls both nationally and in key battleground states.

Mr Romney has enjoyed a 'bounce' in his popularity from that performance and has the air of a man reinvigorated with three weeks to go until polling day.

The two will go head-to-head on stage at Hofstra University on New York's Long Island for the second of three live prime-time clashes.

This debate will take the form of a 'town hall', with the candidates facing questions from members of the audience, voters selected from the nearby Nassau County.

Experts say the format might hamper Mr Obama's attempts to go on the offensive, after admitting he was "too polite" in the first debate.

The pair shake hands during the first TV debate

Debate coach Brett O'Donnell, who worked with John McCain in 2008 and Mr Romney during this year's primaries, said: "This is the one debate that belongs to the people.

"You can't have this sort of all-out slugfest at a town hall debate."

The Obama camp hopes that addressing voters face-to-face will play on his perceived strength, according to pollsters, as a man who understands the problems of real Americans.

It is clear the debates are having a real-time impact on the election with early voting already taking place in many states.

Those who know the inner workings of the Obama White House say it has led to an increased focus on avoiding the mistakes of the first debate.

Corey Ealons, a former Obama communications official, said: "We know that's not President Barack Obama when he's at his best.

First Lady Michelle Obama has already cast her vote

"So if he's awake, aware, present and calls Governor Romney on the facts when he has the chance to, I know he'll have a really good performance."

This debate also gives Mr Romney the chance to overcome a persistent weakness in the campaign: the suspicion among some voters that he's too wealthy to relate to the middle class and the poor.

Some good news for the Obama campaign has come with the release of the latest fundraising figures for the two candidates.

Mr Romney and his allies raised $170.5m (£106m) in September, short of the record-breaking $181m (£113m) raised by the Obama camp in the same month.

It is the second successive month that Mr Obama has out-raised Mr Romney after the Republican candidate had enjoyed a financial lead for much of the year.

This election is expected to be the most expensive in history.

The president has also received some unsurprising backing: First Lady Michelle Obama cast an absentee ballot on Monday.

She tweeted: "Hey, @BarackObama, I just dropped my absentee ballot in the mail -- I couldn't wait for Election Day! Love you! --mo."

The president tweeted back: "I'm following @MichelleObama's example and voting early, on October 25. If your state has early voting, join me ... --bo."

The first couple add their initials to tweets when they, rather than campaign workers, have composed them.

:: You can watch the debate live on Sky News and the Sky News website starting at 2am BST on Wednesday, October 17

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Benghazi Attack: Clinton Takes Heat Off Obama

Hillary Clinton has said she is "responsible" for the security of the country's diplomatic staff around the world after criticism of the handling of a deadly attack on a consulate in Libya.

The US ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, was killed along with another diplomat and two security personnel when armed men broke into the US mission compound in Benghazi.

Republicans have used the issue to criticise President Barack Obama's government - particularly after it emerged that requests for additional security at the consulate had been turned down by the State Department.

But Mrs Clinton's remarks, during a visit to Peru, could take the heat off Mr Obama as he prepares to face a grilling on the Benghazi attack during the second televised presidential debate.

"I'm in charge of the State Department's 60,000-plus people all over the world," Clinton said in an interview with CNN.

"The President and the Vice President wouldn't be knowledgeable about specific decisions that are made by security professionals. They're the ones who weigh all of the threats and the risks and the needs and make a considered decision."

Christopher Stevens, right, died in the attack

Vice President Joe Biden said during last week's debate with republican challenger Mitt Romney's running mate Paul Ryan that the White House had not been told about the request for more security.

Mrs Clinton has launched an internal investigation into whether there were any security failures in Benghazi, while the FBI and Libyan authorities have launched criminal investigations into the killings.

The Obama administration has also been criticised for its original assertion that the assault on the mission appeared to be linked to protests against a film mocking Islam that had been produced in the US.

But it quickly became clear that it was more likely a planned attack by Islamist militants.

Mrs Clinton said the shifting explanations for the attack were simply a consequence of "the fog of war".

"Remember, this was an attack that went on for hours," she said in another interview with Fox News. "There had to be a lot of sorting out ... Everyone said, here's what we know, subject to change."

In a joint statement, Republican senators led by John McCain said Clinton's acceptance of responsibility "is a laudable gesture especially when the White House is trying to avoid any responsibility whatsoever".

"The security of Americans serving our nation everywhere in the world is ultimately the job of the commander-in-chief. The buck stops there," it added.

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Karadzic Denies Atrocities At War Crimes Trial

Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic has told a UN war crimes court he should have been rewarded for trying to stop the conflict in Yugoslavia rather than put on trial.

On the first day of his defence in The Hague, Karadzic said: "Instead of being accused for the events in our civil war I should have been rewarded for all the good things I have done.

"Namely, that I did everything in my human power to avoid the war, that I succeeded in reducing the suffering of all civilians, that the number of victims in our war was three to four times less than the numbers reported in public.

"I proclaimed numerous unilateral ceasefires and military containments and I stopped our army many times when they were close to victory."

Brought to court after his arrest on a Belgrade bus in 2008, the 67-year-old, is charged with masterminding the murder of nearly 8,000 Muslim men and boys by forces loyal to him in the eastern Bosnian enclave of Srebrenica in July 1995.

The massacre, when Bosnian Serb troops under the command of wartime general Ratko Mladic overran Dutch UN peacekeepers, was the worst atrocity committed on European soil since World War Two.

Over the space of a few days, thousands were systematically executed and dumped into mass graves in the area.

The remains of people thought to have been killed during the Bosnian war

Prosecutors say Karadzic, former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic and Mladic acted together to "cleanse" Bosnian Muslims and Croats from Bosnia's Serb-claimed territories after the collapse of Yugoslavia in 1991.

Milosevic died midway through his own trial for genocide and war crimes in March 2006.

But Karadzic told the court that he never considered the possibility that there could be mass atrocities aimed at either displacing or wiping out the Bosnian Muslim and Croat populations.

"Neither I nor anyone I know could ever think there could be a genocide againt any people we consider to be the same as us - Serbs, although of a different confession," he said. 

Karadzic is also charged over his alleged role in the siege of the Bosnian capital Sarajevo between May 1992 and November 1995 in which 10,000 people died under terrifying sniper and artillery fire.

Like Mladic, he has also been charged for his alleged role in taking hostage UN observers and peacekeepers to use them as human shields during a Nato bombing campaign against Bosnian Serb targets in May and June 1995.

Karadzic, who represented the Bosnian Serbs at talks aimed at ending the civil war, told the court "many incidents happened while I was abroad attending negotiations or meetings".

After being indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in 1995, he spent 13 years on the run before being arrested in 2008 in Belgrade where he practised as a doctor of alternative medicine.

Karadzic was indicted in 1995 but was not arrested for 13 years

In his opening statement, he described himself as a "physician, a psychiatrist, a psychotherapist, group analyst and a literary man" as he began to read his statement to the court.

His trial began in October 2009 and prosecutors put their case against him between April 2010 and May this year.

Judges dropped one genocide count in June, saying there was not enough evidence to substantiate the charge for killings by Bosnian Serb forces in Bosnian towns from March to December 1992.

Genocide, the gravest crime in international humanitarian law, is the hardest to prove.

Karadzic has planned a four-hour statement to open his defence, followed by the testimony of Russian colonel Andrei Demurenko, the UN chief of staff in Sarajevo from January to December 1995.

Wives and relatives of victims were looking on from the public gallery as he addressed the court.

Karadzic, who has been allocated 300 hours for his defence, has said he will call 300 witnesses to testify on his behalf.

The names include Greek President Carolos Papoulias, who was Athens' foreign minister during the Bosnian war.

Karadzic has said Mr Papoulias' testimony could prove his innocence for the infamous shelling of Sarajevo's Markale market on February 5, 1994, in which 67 people died.

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