Maduro Sworn In As Venezuela's President

Venezuela Says Farewell To Chavez

Updated: 6:16am UK, Saturday 09 March 2013

A state funeral has taken place for Venezuela's left-wing president Hugo Chavez at a military academy where his body has been lying in state since Wednesday.

Most Latin American leaders attended the service, including Chilean president Sebastian Pinera and Cuba's Raul Castro, as well as Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus.

Mr Ahmadinejad and Mr Lukashenko sat next to each other, reportedly wiping away tears as a band played one of Mr Chavez's favourite sentimental songs.

The Iranian leader earlier said: "It is a great pain for us because we have lost a friend. I feel like I have lost myself, but I am sure that he still lives.

"Chavez will never die. His spirit and soul live on in each of our hearts."

Venezuelan conductor and Los Angeles Philharmonic maestro Gustavo Dudamel led an orchestra's rendition of the national anthem to open the ceremony.

Mr Chavez's political heir, vice president Nicolas Maduro, placed a replica of the golden sword of South American independence hero Simon Bolivar on his mentor's wooden coffin as more than 30 heads of state applauded. 

Several Latin American leaders, including Mr Castro, were invited to stand around the coffin, which was closed and covered in the yellow, blue and red colours of Venezuela, in an honour guard.

Gregory Meeks, a New York Democrat congressman, and ex-congressman William Delahunt, a Democrat from Massachusetts, represented the United States, which Mr Chavez often portrayed as a great global evil even as he sent the country billions of dollars in oil each year.

Hollywood actor Sean Penn was also among those who attended the funeral.

An estimated two million people have filed past Mr Chavez's coffin to say goodbye to the man worshipped by the country's poor, who he championed.

He was dressed in olive green military fatigues, a black tie and the iconic red beret that became a symbol of his 14-year socialist rule.

People blew kisses, made the sign of the cross or gave military salutes as they walked by, with just seconds to see him. Outside the academy, the line to see the body stretched for more than a mile.

His mother, Elena Frias, was pictured weeping ahead of the funeral in the capital Caracas.

Mr Chavez, a former paratrooper who died on Tuesday aged 58 after a long battle with cancer, had not been seen in public since a fourth round of surgery in Cuba in December last year.

He will lie in state for another week to allow everybody to see him, and he will then be embalmed "like Ho Chi Minh, Lenin and Mao" and kept in a glass coffin "for eternity," Mr Maduro said.

His remains will be displayed at the Museum of the Revolution, close to the Presidential Palace where he ruled, so that "his people will always have him", Mr Maduro said.

Mr Chavez used the former military barracks to plot a failed coup against President Carlos Andres Perez in 1992. His arrest turned him into a hero, leading to his 1998 election victory.

Mr Maduro suggested that Mr Chavez may one day be moved elsewhere, a nod to popular pressure for him to be taken to the national pantheon to lie alongside Simon Bolivar.

In a country divided by Mr Chavez's populist style, opinions of his legacy vary, with opposition supporters in better-off areas angry at the high murder and inflation rate.

Under Mr Chavez, Venezuela's oil wealth underwrote the Castro brothers' communist rule in Cuba, and he repeatedly courted confrontation with Washington by cosying up to anti-western governments in Russia, Syria and Iran.

General Jose Ornella, who said he was with Mr Chavez in his final moments, said he had suffered a massive heart attack.

"He couldn't speak but he said it with his lips, 'I don't want to die. Please don't let me die,' because he loved his country, he sacrificed himself for his country."

Although Mr Maduro is acting president, elections are expected to be called within 30 days.

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Kenya's Presidential Race 'Won By Kenyatta'

Kenya's electoral commission says voting results indicate Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta has won the presidential election.

Mr Kenyatta, who faces international charges of crimes against humanity, won the poll with a slim margin of 50.03% of the vote - just enough to avoid a run-off.

He secured the victory over his main rival, Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who got 43.28% of the votes cast.

The first round win, which has yet to be officially confirmed by Kenya's Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, saw Mr Kenyatta breaking the 50% barrier by just 4,099 votes out of 12.3 million cast.

Mr Odinga will launch a legal challenge if Mr Kenyatta is officially declared president, according to an adviser.

Mr Kenyatta faces charges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for his alleged role in directing some of Kenya's 2007 post-election violence.

Polling stations were guarded closely by Kenyan paramilitaries

More than 1,000 people were killed and up to 600,000 forced from their homes as a result of the disputed poll, where members of two rival tribes both claimed victory.

Ahead of the latest election results, the US and several other European countries warned of "consequences" if Mr Kenyatta, the son of Kenya's founding father, becomes president.

Britain, which ruled Kenya up until the early 1960s, said it would have only essential contact with the Kenyan government.

Mr Kenyatta's ICC trial is set to begin in July and could take years, meaning that if he is sworn in as president he may have to rule Kenya from The Hague in the Netherlands for much of his five-year term.

Another option is, as president, to decide not to attend the trial. But that decision would trigger an international arrest warrant and spark even more damaging effects for Kenya's standing with the West.

Mr Kenyatta has promised to report to The Hague, even if he is sworn in.

There were fears going into the election that the violence that rocked Kenya five years ago would return.

A separatist group launched attacks on Monday that ended in the deaths of 19 people, but the vote and its aftermath has otherwise been mostly peaceful.

Security forces in riot gear took to the streets in the capital Nairobi on Friday ahead of the election results being announced.

A formal announcement on the results is expected later today.

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Port Said Riot: 21 Fans Sentenced To Death

An Egyptian court has upheld death sentences on 21 Port Said football fans for their role in a stadium riot last year.

Some 74 people were killed and around 1,000 injured at the end of a match between Cairo's Al Ahly and Al Masry, the local side, on February 1, 2012.

Spectators were crushed when panicked fans tried to get out the stadium after a pitch invasion by Port Said supporters.

In a live televised ruling, judge Sobhi Abdel-Maguid sitting at a Cairo court confirmed "the death penalty by hanging".

The city's former security chief, Major General Essam Samak, was jailed for 15 years along with another nine defendants.

A further five people were also sentenced to life imprisonment for the riot, while 28 others were acquitted.

The rest of the 73 defendants involved received shorter prison sentences.

The death sentences - originally handed down in January - have provoked deadly clashes in Port Said and Cairo.

The riot - the worst case of football violence in the country and the deadliest worldwide since 1996 - erupted after the home team Al Masry beat Egypt's top club Al Ahly in the league fixture.

Subsequent protests have sparked fresh concerns about Egypt's stability.

President Mohamed Mursi's government is struggling to halt the slide in law and order, hampered by a strike by some protesting police.

At least eight people have been killed in Port Said this week, including three police officers.

More follows...

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Hugo Chavez: World Leaders To Attend Funeral

Hugo Chavez: A Revolutionary's Life

Updated: 9:14am UK, Wednesday 06 March 2013

Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias was born on July 28, 1954, in the rural town of Sabaneta in western Venezuela. He was the son of schoolteachers and the second of six brothers.

He was raised by his grandmother in a home with a dirt floor, mud walls and a roof made of palm fronds. As a boy he was a fine baseball player and hoped he might one day play in the US major leagues.

But when he joined the military aged 17 the young soldier immersed himself in the history of 19th century independence leader Simon Bolivar and other Venezuelan heroes who had overthrown the Spanish rule.

His political ideas began to take shape and the baseball dream was forgotten - although he remained a lifelong fan of the game.

Chavez first burst into public view in 1992 as a paratrooper commander leading a military rebellion that brought tanks to the presidential palace.

When the coup collapsed, Chavez was allowed to make a televised statement in which he declared his movement had failed "for now". The speech, and those two defiant words, launched his career, sealing his defiant image into the memory of Venezuelans.

Two years later, he and other coup leaders were released from prison, and President Rafael Caldera dropped the charges against them.

After establishing a new political party, Chavez ran for president in 1998, pledging to clean up Venezuela's entrenched corruption and shatter its traditional two-party system. At the age of 44, he became the country's youngest president, winning 56% of the vote.

Soon after he took office on February 2, 1999, Chavez and his United Socialist Party of Venezuela party pushed through a new constitution, which included lengthening presidential terms from five years to six and changing the country's name to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

By 2000, his increasingly confrontational style and close ties to Cuba disenchanted many of the middle-class supporters who voted for him, and the following years saw bold attempts by opponents to dislodge him from power.

In 2002, he survived a short-lived coup, which began after large anti-Chavez street protests ended in shootings and bloodshed. Dissident military officers detained the president and announced he had resigned. But within two days, he returned to power with the help of military loyalists amid massive protests by his supporters.

Emerging a stronger president, he went on to defeat an opposition-led strike that paralysed the country's oil industry and fired thousands of state oil company employees.

The coup also turned Chavez more decidedly against the US government, which had recognised the provisional leader who briefly replaced him. He created political and trade alliances that excluded the US and strengthened ties to Iran and Syria - largely, it seemed, due to their shared antagonism toward the US.

After easily winning re-election in 2006, Chavez began calling for a "multi-polar world" free of US domination. He boosted oil shipments to China, set up joint factories with Iran to produce tractors and cars, and sealed arms deals with Russia for assault rifles, helicopters and fighter jets. He focused on building alliances throughout Latin America and injected new energy into the region's left. Allies were elected in Bolivia, Ecuador, Argentina and other countries.

All the while, Chavez emphasised that it was necessary to prepare for any potential conflict with the "empire", his term for the US.

Running a revolution ultimately left little time for a personal life. His second marriage, to journalist Marisabel Rodriguez, deteriorated in the early years of his presidency, and they divorced in 2004. In addition to their one daughter, Rosines, Chavez had three children from his first marriage, which ended before he ran for office. His daughters Maria and Rosa often appeared at his side at official events and during his trips. He had one son, Hugo Rafael Chavez.

After he was diagnosed with cancer in June 2011, he acknowledged that he had recklessly neglected his health. He had taken to staying up late and drinking as many as 40 cups of coffee a day.

Even as he appeared with head shaved while undergoing chemotherapy, he never revealed the type of cancer he had or precisely where tumours were removed from his pelvic region.

Chavez exerted himself for one final election campaign in 2012 after saying tests showed he was cancer-free, and defeated younger challenger Henrique Capriles. With another six-year term in hand, he promised to keep pressing for revolutionary changes.

But two months later, he went to Cuba for cancer-related surgery for the fourth time, blowing a kiss to his country as he boarded the plane.

After a 10-week absence, the government announced that Chavez had returned to Venezuela and was being treated at a military hospital in Caracas. He was never seen again in public. He died aged 58.

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Amnesty: North Korea Prison Camps 'Expanding'

By Mark Stone, Asia Correspondent

North Korea is expanding its existing prison camps and "blurring the lines between the camps and the surrounding population", according to Amnesty International.

The organisation has collated satellite images which it says show extensive work on existing camps and the construction of perimeter fences, suggesting villages adjacent to some camps have been swallowed up within a wider zone.

"We expected to find a new prison camp," Frank Jannuzi, deputy executive director of Amnesty USA, said.

"What we found is in some ways even more worrisome. The creation of a security perimeter with controlled access points and guard towers beyond what appears to be the formal boundaries of Camp 14 blurs the line between more than 100,000 people who suffer in North Korea's Kwan-li-so system and the neighbouring civilian population."

Amnesty has released five images. The first shows an overview of the Ch'oma-Bong valley, 70km to the north-east of the capital Pyongyang.

A satellite image showing North Korea's Ch'oma-Bong valley

According to the human rights organisation, a 20km perimeter fence has been built encircling the wider valley and joining it to the existing prison camp. Amnesty has marked the fence on the satellite image with a blue line for clarity.

"Analysts found that from 2006 to February 2013, North Korea constructed 20km of perimeter around the Ch'oma-Bong valley ... and its inhabitants, new controlled access points and a number of probable guard towers," the group said.

"Analysts also found construction of new buildings that appear to house workers, likely associated with an expansion of mining activity in the region."

A second image shows the same area but at a slightly different scale. At the south-west corner of the image is Camp 14, also known as the Kaechon internment camp.

Amnesty International has highlighted, in red, what it claims are 20 newly established "probable guard posts" which are dotted along the perimeter fence.

"The activity points to a tightening in the control of movement of the local population adjacent to Camp 14, thus muddying the line between those detained in the political prison camp and the valley's inhabitants," Amnesty said.

"This raises fears for the population within the perimeter the current conditions faced by them and the North Korean government's future intentions for the valley and those that live there."

Amnesty International says these photos show an increase in housing

Two more images show 'before and after' photographs of two specific areas of a camp. They both show significant building work.

The existence of North Korean prison and hard labour camps has been well documented over several decades.

The North Korean government, led by the young and unpredictable Kim Jong-Un, denies the existence of the camps. Sky News has contacted sources within the government for comment but our emails have met with no reply.

Conditions inside the prison camps are said to be horrific and testimony from the few who have escaped from the camps is shocking.

Former detainees describe "three generations of punishment". The person who committed the political 'crime' is locked up along with his or her entire family. The subsequent two generations of children are then born and also imprisoned in the camp.

Extreme torture is said to be widely used against the prisoners, who are forced to work on the land like slaves. As many as 200,000 North Koreans are said to be held in these camps with no prospect of release.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un

Kim Jong-Un, who is just 28 years old, has publicly stated that his first three priorities of government are to strengthen the military. He is, according to observers, entirely ignoring a growing number of his people who are suffering the effects of extreme poverty.

In December, North Korea successfully launched a satellite into orbit. In February, it tested an underground nuclear device. It has made no secret of its desire to combine these two developing technologies to create a nuclear weapon.

The nuclear test prompted international condemnation and a meeting of the United Nations Security Council which is expected to announce further sanctions on Pyongyang later today.

The influence of China remains key. Beijing is, historically, Pyongyang's only real ally. Through trade across the border the two countries share, China effectively props North Korea up.

Diplomatic sources in Beijing have told Sky News they are encouraged by the fact the latest resolution appears to have been drawn up together by the US and China, suggesting encouraging cooperation between Washington and Beijing.

The United Nations has been trying to gain access to the region for years. In November, the UN Special Rapporteur for North Korea, Marzuki Darusman, expressed his disappointment that North Korea's new leader had not allowed his team any access.

"Despite my repeated requests, I have not been granted access to the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea (DPRK)," he said.

"I regret that a fresh approach has not been forthcoming under new leadership of the DPRK.

"There is no sign of improvement of the human rights situation ... I continue to be concerned about the human rights and humanitarian situation in the country."

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

India Rape: Girl Kidnapped And Attacked

By Alex Rossi, Asia Correspondent

A three-year-old girl is in hospital recovering from serious injuries after she was kidnapped and gang raped in southern India.

The girl is currently under observation in intensive care.

She was sleeping beside her mother on a pavement in Tirur, in Kerala, when she was kidnapped on Monday night.

The family - whose members are homeless - only noticed she was missing on Tuesday morning.

The girl was found unconscious by students on their way to school.

One of the students told a local newspaper that: "She had a high fever and she had ants crawling all over her body."

Doctors at the hospital where the girl is being treated say it will take her months to recover.

The attack took place in Tirur, in Kerala, southern India

Despite outrage in India over the Delhi gang rape in December, many more cases of rape are being reported across the country.

The government is now trying to introduce tougher anti-rape laws.

In Delhi, four rape cases a day have been reported since the beginning of this year, according to police figures. The average for 2012 was two rapes a day.

Campaigners believe the rise is partly the result of more women coming forward to report crimes of sexual violence.

The gang rape and murder of the Delhi student has provoked a national debate and shattered what was once a taboo subject - violence against women.

Nonetheless, women are increasingly scared to travel alone at night in the capital.

The city's only taxi service for women - which uses only women drivers - has told Sky News they have been inundated with calls.

Driver Kushi Prajapati says: "After the Delhi gang rape we've been busy day and night. Women feel very unsafe and they use our taxi service for safety reasons."

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Bolshoi Acid Attack: Dancer Paid Perpetrator

A leading dancer has admitted ordering an attack on the Bolshoi ballet chief, but said he did not mean for him to be splashed with acid.

Police say Bolshoi soloist Pavel Dmitrichenko paid 50,000 rubles (£1,080) for artistic director Sergei Filin to be attacked.

Mr Filin suffered severe burns to his eyes and face when a jar of sulphuric acid was thrown at him as he returned home on January 17.  

Dmitrichenko has faced a Moscow district court, where a judge decided to keep him in custody until April 18 - the end of the initial investigation period.

The 29-year-old dancer's two co-defendants, Yuri Zarutsky and Andrei Lipatov, are also in court.

Dmitrichenko told the court he had complained about Mr Filin to Zarutsky, who offered to "beat him up".

Mr Filin after leaving hospital, right, and before the acid attack

"It's not true that I ordered him to throw acid at Filin," Dmitrichenko said.

He says did not mean for it to cause such bodily harm.

Dmitrichenko, who was arrested on Tuesday, has also been shown in a police video confessing to planning the attack but "not on the scale" that it turned out.

And getaway driver Lipatov insists he just drove to where he was told and had no idea of what Zarutsky was planning.

Police have said the crime was motivated by Dmitrichenko's hostile personal relationship with Mr Filin.

The Russian press has said the Bolshoi chief refused to give Dmitrichenko's ballerina girlfriend Anzhelina Vorontsova top roles.

Dmitrichenko is reported to have been particularly riled that Vorontsova was not allowed to dance the main Odette-Odile role in Swan Lake, the dream of any ballerina.

Dmitrichenko as Ivan the Terrible

"The main motive was enmity towards Filin, who according to the suspect, had a negative attitude towards his partner," a police source told the Izvestia newspaper.

"Dmitrichenko said that Filin was thwarting Vorontsova's artistic career and did not give her the main roles."

Mr Filin, 42, was left battling to save his eyesight and prevent permanent facial disfigurement from the attack.

He is now undergoing a long rehabilitation in Germany.

Mr Filin's wife Maria told the Komsomolskaya Pravda daily that her husband had suspicions about Dmitrichenko but believed that a "much wider" circle of people were involved.

"Not just the three who they arrested. We hope the security forces unearth those who are implicated in this," she said.

Some staff at the Bolshoi Theatre have suggested that Dmitrichenko's actions are impossible to comprehend given his own career was on the up after he took the title role in the ballet Ivan the Terrible.

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Hugo Chavez Dies: Election In Four Weeks

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has died at the age of 58 after losing his battle with cancer.

Vice President Nicolas Maduro fought back tears as he announced the death in a national television broadcast.

He said Mr Chavez, who had been in power for 14 years, died at 4.25pm local time "after battling a tough illness for nearly two years".

Amid fears of unrest, Mr Maduro also said the army and police had been deployed "to accompany and protect our people and guarantee the peace".

Hundreds of Venezuelans poured into the streets of the capital Caracas, with many crying, hugging each other, or shouting slogans of support.

Clusters of women with tears streaming down their faces clung to each other and wept near the Miraflores presidential palace. Some wore T-shirts with slogans that read: "Go forward commander!"

Nearby, men pumped their arms in the air while shouting: "Long live Chavez! Long live Chavismo!"

Foreign Minister Elias Jaua declared seven days of national mourning and said a wake for Mr Chavez would be held until Friday, when his official funeral will take place.

He said Mr Maduro would take over the presidency until fresh elections can take place in around 30 days.

Emotional vice president Nicolas Maduro announced the death on national TV

Ideological allies across Latin America lined up to salute former paratrooper Mr Chavez, a standard bearer of the region's "anti-imperialist" left.

Cuba has declared three days of national mourning, with the government saying Mr Chavez had "stood by Fidel Castro like a true son".

Bolivia's socialist President Evo Morales said he was "crushed", while Argentinian Vice President Amado Boudou said "all of Latin America" was in mourning.

President Barack Obama responded by expressing hopes for improved relations with the oil-rich state, voicing American "support for the Venezuelan people and its interest in developing a constructive relationship with the Venezuelan government".

He added: "As Venezuela begins a new chapter in its history, the United States remains committed to policies that promote democratic principles, the rule of law, and respect for human rights."

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said he was "saddened" by the death of a leader who had left a "lasting impression on the country and more widely".

Mr Chavez had been receiving cancer treatment in Cuba on and off since June 2011 - when he was first diagnosed with the illness.

Some Venezuelans in the US say they are glad the 'dictatorship' has ended

The announcement of his death came just hours after Mr Maduro announced the government had expelled two US diplomats from the country.

He had said Mr Chavez's illness had been induced by foul play by "the historical enemies of our homeland".

People have been gathering outside the military hospital where Mr Chavez died. Soldiers in riot gear stood shoulder to shoulder guarding the complex.

"I feel such big pain I can't even speak," said Yamilina Barrios, a 39-year-old office worker weeping at a street corner. "He was the best thing the country had ... I adore him. Let's hope the country calms down and we can continue the tasks he left us."

The government announced late on Monday that Mr Chavez's condition was "very delicate" due to a "new, severe" respiratory infection.

Mr Chavez had not been seen in public or heard since undergoing a fourth round of surgery in Cuba on December 11.

The government said he returned home on February 18, and had been confined to Caracas' military hospital ever since.

During his time in power, Mr Chavez routinely challenged the status quo at home and internationally.

Mr Chavez with daughters Rosa Virginia, right, and Maria

The fiery populist leader declared a socialist revolution in Venezuela, crusaded against US influence, championed a leftist revival across Latin America, and over time, gradually placed all state institutions under his personal control.

His death sets up a snap presidential election after his illness prevented him from taking the oath of office when he was re-elected last year.

Under the constitution, the head of Congress, Diosdado Cabello, would assume the interim presidency.

However, Mr Maduro is Mr Chavez's self-anointed successor and has been holding the reins since the president's health worsened.

The man Mr Chavez defeated in October's presidential elections, Miranda state Governor Henrique Capriles, is expected to represent the opposition in any new national polls.

He called for unity and offered his condolences to Mr Chavez's family and supporters.

Venezuela's defence minister pledged the military would remain loyal to the constitution in the wake of Mr Chavez's death.

Sky's Dominic Waghorn said Mr Chavez "used a mixture of brute force, persuasion, passion and charisma to keep himself in power".

"Such was the adoration and devotion that mainly the poor in Venezuela felt for him that he was seen as this almost sort of religious figure, and his loss now leaves a huge void in Venezuelan politics.

"A lot of people say he is irreplaceable."

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Hugo Chavez: A Master Of The Spotlight

Venezuelan Leader Hugo Chavez Dies

Updated: 7:30am UK, Wednesday 06 March 2013

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has died at the age of 58 after losing his battle with cancer.

Vice President Nicolas Maduro fought back tears as he announced the death in a national television broadcast.

He said Mr Chavez, who had been in power for 14 years, died at 4.25pm local time "after battling a tough illness for nearly two years".

Amid fears of unrest, Mr Maduro also said the army and police had been deployed "to accompany and protect our people and guarantee the peace".

Hundreds of Venezuelans poured into the streets of the capital Caracas, with many crying, hugging each other, or shouting slogans of support.

Clusters of women with tears streaming down their faces clung to each other and wept near the Miraflores presidential palace. Some wore T-shirts with slogans that read: "Go forward commander!"

Nearby, men pumped their arms in the air while shouting: "Long live Chavez! Long live Chavismo!"

Foreign Minister Elias Jaua declared seven days of national mourning and said a wake for Mr Chavez would be held until Friday, when his official funeral will take place.

He said Mr Maduro would take over the presidency until fresh elections can take place in around 30 days.

Ideological allies across Latin America lined up to salute former paratrooper Mr Chavez, a standard bearer of the region's "anti-imperialist" left.

Cuba has declared three days of national mourning, with the government saying Mr Chavez had "stood by Fidel Castro like a true son".

Bolivia's socialist President Evo Morales said he was "crushed", while Argentinian Vice President Amado Boudou said "all of Latin America" was in mourning.

President Barack Obama responded by expressing hopes for improved relations with the oil-rich state, voicing American "support for the Venezuelan people and its interest in developing a constructive relationship with the Venezuelan government".

He added: "As Venezuela begins a new chapter in its history, the United States remains committed to policies that promote democratic principles, the rule of law, and respect for human rights."

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said he was "saddened" by the death of a leader who had left a "lasting impression on the country and more widely".

Mr Chavez had been receiving cancer treatment in Cuba on and off since June 2011 - when he was first diagnosed with the illness.

The announcement of his death came just hours after Mr Maduro announced the government had expelled two US diplomats from the country.

He had said Mr Chavez's illness had been induced by foul play by "the historical enemies of our homeland".

People have been gathering outside the military hospital where Mr Chavez died. Soldiers in riot gear stood shoulder to shoulder guarding the complex.

"I feel such big pain I can't even speak," said Yamilina Barrios, a 39-year-old office worker weeping at a street corner. "He was the best thing the country had ... I adore him. Let's hope the country calms down and we can continue the tasks he left us."

The government announced late on Monday that Mr Chavez's condition was "very delicate" due to a "new, severe" respiratory infection.

Mr Chavez had not been seen in public or heard since undergoing a fourth round of surgery in Cuba on December 11.

The government said he returned home on February 18, and had been confined to Caracas' military hospital ever since.

During his time in power, Mr Chavez routinely challenged the status quo at home and internationally.

The fiery populist leader declared a socialist revolution in Venezuela, crusaded against US influence, championed a leftist revival across Latin America, and over time, gradually placed all state institutions under his personal control.

His death sets up a snap presidential election after his illness prevented him from taking the oath of office when he was re-elected last year.

Under the constitution, the head of Congress, Diosdado Cabello, would assume the interim presidency.

However, Mr Maduro is Mr Chavez's self-anointed successor and has been holding the reins since the president's health worsened.

The man Mr Chavez defeated in October's presidential elections, Miranda state Governor Henrique Capriles, is expected to represent the opposition in any new national polls.

He called for unity and offered his condolences to Mr Chavez's family and supporters.

Venezuela's defence minister pledged the military would remain loyal to the constitution in the wake of Mr Chavez's death.

Sky's Dominic Waghorn said Mr Chavez "used a mixture of brute force, persuasion, passion and charisma to keep himself in power".

"Such was the adoration and devotion that mainly the poor in Venezuela felt for him that he was seen as this almost sort of religious figure, and his loss now leaves a huge void in Venezuelan politics.

"A lot of people say he is irreplaceable."

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Bolshoi Acid Attack: Mastermind's Confession

A ballet star at the Bolshoi Theatre has confessed to being the mastermind of an attack on the theatre's ballet chief, according to police.

Moscow police said Pavel Dmitrichenko, who has been suspected of planning the attack, had now admitted being behind it.

Sergei Filin, the artistic director of the Bolshoi ballet, suffered severe burns to his eyes and face on January 17 when an attacker threw sulphuric acid in his face as Mr Filin returned home late at night.

Mr Filin after leaving hospital, right, and before the acid attack

The 42-year-old former dancer is undergoing treatment in Germany.

Along with Dmitrichenko, police have also detained another man who confessed to perpetrating the attack.

Dmitrichenko has danced several major parts in recent years, including Ivan the Terrible in the ballet of the same name.

On Tuesday, Russia's interior ministry confirmed that they had arrested Dmitrichenko and two other men, named as driver Andrei Lipatov and 35-year-old Yury Zarutsky.

Mr Filin was attacked outside his Moscow apartment

Last month, the ballet postponed its production of Stravinsky's The Rite Of Spring and in January, leading ballerina Svetlana Lunkina fled to Canada after receiving unconnected threats.

The case has focused attention on the bitter rivalries within the ballet world.

The Bolshoi has been plagued by intrigue and infighting that has led to the departure of several artistic directors over the past few years.

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Syrian Soldiers In Iraq Killed In Ambush

At least 42 Syrian soldiers and a number of Iraqis have been killed after they were attacked by unidentified gunmen

The Syrians had sought refuge in northern Iraq during clashes with rebels close to the border earlier in the week.

Iraqi authorities moved them from Nineveh province to the capital Baghdad, but were transporting them back to the Syrian border through Anbar province when the attack took place.

Armed men attacked the convoy from two sides with mortar rounds, automatic weapons and mines, according to Lieutenant Colonel Mohammed Khalaf al-Dulaimi of the Iraqi border protection forces.

Eight Syrians and four Iraqis were also wounded, and three vehicles in the convoy destroyed, he added.

Ali Mussawi, a spokesman for Iraqi prime minister Nuri al Maliki, said: "This confirms our fears of the attempt of some to move the conflict to Iraq, but we will face these attempts by all sides with all of our power."

The attack came as opposition activists claimed the rebels had pushed government troops from most of the northern city of Raqqa, setting off celebrations in a central square where scores of cheering protesters tore down a bronze statue of President Bashar Assad's late father.

Britain is to provide greater assistance to the rebels

Photographs showed a burning guard post, men ripping down a poster of Assad and the fallen statue, while video footage posted on the internet purportedly showed an abandoned prison in the centre of the city.

Iraq's government, which is dominated by Shia Muslims like Syria's principal backer Iran, has so far not backed calls for President Assad to stand down but has called for both sides to end the violence.

Anbar province is dominated by Sunni Muslims, who also make up the majority of the rebels fighting Assad's soldiers.

However, the Syrian National Council has accused Baghdad of giving "political and intelligence support to the Syrian regime".

The United Nations estimates that more than 70,000 people have been killed and one million have fled their homes because of the conflict in Syria.

Foreign Office Minister Hugo Swire has defended the decision to provide "technical assistance and non-lethal equipment" to the opposition after being summoned to the Commons to be questioned on whether greater support would aid terrorists.

"The longer the situation goes on, the greater the danger extremism takes hold, the greater the danger of destabilising neighbouring countries and the greater the extreme humanitarian distress involved," he said.

"We must do more to try and help save lives in Syria. That is why we led the way in agreeing an amendment to the EU sanctions regime to ensure that the possibility of further assistance is not closed off."

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Baby Death Hit-And-Run Suspect Named

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.

Julio Acevedo (New York Police Department)

Police are searching for the suspected driver, 44-year-old Julio Acevedo. The authorities claim he was travelling in a BMW at 60mph (97 kph) when he collided with a car hired to take the couple to hospital.

"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.

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, said of the couple: "If one had to go, the other had to go too because they really were one soul."

The accident occurred in Brooklyn

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. More than 250,000 live in the New York borough.

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Woman Dies After Nurse Refuses To Perform CPR

A retirement home in California has defended a nurse who refused pleas by an emergency call operator to perform CPR on an elderly woman who later died.

At the beginning of the call, the nurse - who did not give her full name - asked for paramedics to come and help the woman, who had collapsed in the home's dining room and was barely breathing.

In a tape of the conversation, dispatcher Tracey Halvorson is heard pleading for the nurse to perform CPR, and after several refusals asks her to find a resident, a gardener or anyone not employed by the home to get on the phone, take her instructions and help the woman.

"Is there anybody that's willing to help this lady and not let her die," Ms Halvorson says on the 911 recording released by the Bakersfield Fire Department.

"Not at this time," said the nurse, who added that the home's rules prevented her from giving medical help to the woman, who has been named in reports as Lorraine Bayless, 87.

Glenwood Gardens in Bakersfield, California

"Can we flag someone down in the street and get them to help this lady?" Ms Halvorson went on.

"Can we flag a stranger down? I bet a stranger would help her."

Ms Bayless was later declared dead at Mercy Southwest Hospital, officials said.

The executive director of Glenwood Gardens, Jeffrey Toomer, defended the nurse's actions, saying she had followed policy.

He said in a statement: "In the event of a health emergency at this independent living community our practice is to immediately call emergency medical personnel for assistance and to wait with the individual needing attention until such personnel arrives.

"That is the protocol we followed."

Mr Toomer offered condolences to the woman's family and said a "thorough internal review" of the incident would be conducted.

He told KGET-TV that residents are informed of the policy and agree to it when they move in.

He said the policy does not apply at the adjacent assisted living and skilled nursing facilities.

Police in Bakersfield are investigating whether there was any criminal wrongdoing.

CPR, or cardiopulmonary resuscitation, is a first-aid technique involving chest compressions and sometimes rescue breaths that can be used if a person is not breathing properly or if their heart has stopped.

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

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.

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

HIV Baby: Doctors Say Infected Girl 'Cured'

A baby girl born with HIV has been cured after very early treatment with standard drug therapy, researchers say.

The child, from Mississippi in the US, is now two-and-a-half years old and has been off HIV drugs for about a year with no signs of infection.

More testing needs to be done to see if the treatment would have the same effect on other children.

But the case could change the way high-risk babies are treated and possibly lead to a cure for children with HIV, which causes Aids.

"This is a proof of concept that HIV can be potentially curable in infants," said Dr Deborah Persaud, a virologist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

She presented the findings at the conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Atlanta.

If the baby stays healthy, it would be only the second reported case of a person who has recovered from HIV after that of Timothy Ray Brown, known as "Berlin patient", in 2007.

Timothy Ray Brown became the first person to have recovered from HIV

His HIV infection was completely eradicated through an elaborate treatment for leukaemia that involved the destruction of his immune system and a stem cell transplant from a donor with a rare genetic mutation that resists HIV infection.

The treatment used for the baby girl was, however, very different as it involved the use of a cocktail of widely available drugs already used to treat HIV infection in infants.

The girl was born in a rural hospital to a woman who had just tested positive for HIV infection.

Because her mother had not received any prenatal HIV treatment, doctors knew the child was born at high risk of being infected.

So they transferred the baby to the University of Mississippi Medical Centre in Jackson, where she was put on a cocktail of three standard HIV-fighting drugs when she was just 30 hours old - even before lab tests came back confirming her infection.

After starting on treatment under the care of Dr Hannah Gay, a paediatric HIV specialist, the baby's immune system responded and tests showed levels of the virus were diminishing until it was undetectable 29 days after birth.

The latest case offers promising clues in HIV research, scientists say

The baby received regular treatment for 18 months, but then stopped coming to appointments for a period of about 10 months, when her mother said she was not given any treatment.

When the child came back under the care of Dr Gay, she ordered standard blood tests to see how the child was faring before resuming antiviral therapy.

The first blood test did not turn up any detectable levels of HIV. Neither did the second.

And tests for HIV-specific antibodies - the standard clinical indicator of HIV infection - also remained negative.

"At that point, I knew I was dealing with a very unusual case," Dr Gay said.

Further, more sophisticated blood tests followed, and there was no detectable virus in the child's blood.

The doctors advised that she not be given antiretroviral therapy. Instead, she will be monitored.

Dr Rowena Johnston, vice president and director of research for the Foundation for Aids Research, which helped fund the study, said it is "imperative that we learn more about a newborn's immune system, how it differs from an adult's and what factors made it possible for the child to be cured".

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

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

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

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.

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

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.

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

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."

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.

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More