Ohio Kidnap: Ariel Castro Charged By Police

Ariel Castro has been charged in Ohio with kidnap and rape after police revealed his three alleged victims had only been let out of the house twice in 10 years.

Castro, 52, was held after Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight, and Ms Berry's six-year-old daughter were freed from the house in Cleveland.

He has been charged with four counts of kidnapping and three of rape. The rape charges do not relate to the child.

Ahead of Castro's court appearance, a picture has been emerging of the life the women endured during their time in captivity.

It is believed the women were only allowed to leave the home briefly on two occasions, both times to go "into the garage in disguise", deputy police chief Ed Tomba told a news conference.

Watch Ariel Castro's court appearance live on Sky News

"They were in that home. They don't believe they've been outside of the home for the last 10 years.

"They were not in one room, but they did know each other and they did know each other was there."

He refused to comment on reports that the women had become pregnant on several occasions but lost the babies after their captor beat them.

Police also released recordings of the moment stunned medics arrived at the scene after the women escaped.

Castro's two brothers - Pedro, 54, and Onil, 50 - were detained on Monday but are not expected to be charged in connection with the kidnappings.

A police officer outside Ariel Castro's home in Cleveland

"There is nothing that leads us to believe that they were involved or had any knowledge of this," Mr Tomba said. "We found no facts to link them to the crime."

Mr Tomba refused to discuss specifics of evidence discovered in the home, although earlier city police chief Michael McGrath said the women were "bound and there were chains and ropes in the hall".

Ms Berry, Ms DeJesus, and Ms Knight were aged 16, 14 and 20 respectively when they went missing around a decade ago.

All three were rescued when Ms Berry, now 27, alerted a neighbour who helped them escape.

Ms Berry and Ms DeJesus, 23, have been welcomed back at their homes with balloons and banners, while crowds cheered as they were reunited with their families.

People embrace outside Gina DeJesus' home after she was freed

Sandra Ruiz, an aunt of Ms DeJesus, said there were "not enough words to express the joy we feel at the return of our family member, Gina".

Ms Berry's sister, Beth Serrano, thanked the public for their "support and courage over the years".

Ms Knight has yet to appear in public. The 32-year-old is understood to be in a good condition at a local hospital.

Following criticism of the police handling of the case, Mr McGrath said he was "absolutely" sure officers did everything they could to find the women.

He disputed claims from neighbours that officials had been called to the property previously when suspicions were raised.

Ariel Castro is expected to appear in court later.

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Ohio Kidnap: Rescue Recordings Released

Cleveland Police have released recordings of the moments after stunned officers arrived at a house where three women had been held captive for 10 years.

In the recordings one of the first medics arriving at the scene after Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight escaped can be heard telling colleagues in a shaking voice: "This might be for real."

The exchanges over the emergency services radio system came after Amanda Berry escaped and called 911 while alleged captor Ariel Castro was out of the house on Monday. 

An operator is initially heard calmly relaying the details of Ms Berry's call to colleagues, telling them: "I have a call taken on the phone with a female that says her name is Amanda Berry and that she has been kidnapped 10 years ago.

"She's saying that the male is Ariel Castro, 52-year-old Hispanic male that lives at 2207 Seymour, and he's been holding her here for 10 years."

Soon after - with a panicked female voice, thought to be Amanda Berry, in the background - an officer says: "Adam 23, you got a box comin'? This might be for real."

As the distraught woman starts telling her story, the same officer says: "There might be others in the house ... Georgina DeJesus might be in this house also."

The next voice audible on the recording is from one of the first officers to arrive at Castro's house.

With the sound of a woman crying clearly audible over the police radio, the breathless medic tells dispatchers: "We found 'em ... we found 'em."

The next caller from inside the house says: "We got a female called Sabrina (sic), she's got a young child with her."

As the officers move through the house and discover the scale of the crime, they discover a second adult female and radio through to say: "Make it two."

A colleague adds: "We also have a Michelle Knight in the house ...  you wanna look that up in the system ... 32-years-old."

Ariel Castro has been charged with kidnap and rape in connection with the women's imprisonment.

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Jodi Arias Would Prefer Death To Life Sentence

Timeline Of Jodi Arias Case

Updated: 9:51pm UK, Wednesday 08 May 2013

The Jodi Arias murder trial has drawn international attention for its graphic tales of sex and lies. The following is a timeline of key events in the case:

:: September 2006: Arias and Travis Alexander meet at a work convention in Las Vegas and quickly begin a stormy, long-distance relationship. Arias, a saleswoman and aspiring photographer, lives in California and visits Mr Alexander in the Phoenix suburb of Mesa. Mr Alexander, a Mormon, works as a salesman and motivational speaker.

:: November 2006: The 26-year-old Arias is baptised into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

:: June 29, 2007: Arias and Mr Alexander break up but continue to sleep together. Weeks later, Arias moves to Arizona, where she waits tables and cleans Mr Alexander's home for extra cash. She moves back to California in spring 2008.

:: May 28, 2008: A .25-calibre gun is reported stolen from the home of Arias' grandparents, where she has been staying.

:: June 4, 2008: On a road trip to Utah to see another love interest, Arias takes a detour to Arizona to visit Mr Alexander. The two have sex at his home, then take provocative photographs of each other. Arias kills Alexander during this visit.

:: June 5, 2008: Arias continues to Utah to see the other man.

:: June 9, 2008: Friends find Alexander's body in his shower and call 911. He had been shot in the head with a .25-calibre gun, and stabbed and slashed nearly 30 times.

Police find Arias' hair and bloody palm print at the scene, along with time-stamped photos in a camera discovered inside Alexander's washing machine.

:: July 9, 2008: On Arias' 28th birthday, a grand jury indicts her on first-degree murder.

:: July 15, 2008: Arias is arrested at her grandparents' home. She maintains she was not involved in the slaying, telling a detective: "I don't even hurt spiders."

:: September 5, 2008: Arias is extradited to Arizona. A public defender is later assigned to represent her.

:: September 11, 2008: Arias pleads not guilty.

:: September 2008: Arias tells various media outlets two masked intruders attacked her and killed Mr Alexander. In a jailhouse interview says: "No jury is going to convict me. I am innocent, and you can mark my words on that."

:: October 31, 2008: Prosecutors file a notice of intent to seek the death penalty.

:: August 2010: Arias admits to the killing, claiming self-defence.

:: December 10, 2012: July selection begins.

:: January 2, 2013: Opening statements begin.

:: January 8, 2013: Prosecutors show jurors bloody crime-scene photos. Arias appears shaken.

:: February 4, 2013: Arias takes the witness stand. She testifies for 18 days, telling jurors Mr Alexander was physically and emotionally abusive.

She says Mr Alexander turned violent the day of his death, forcing her to fight for her life. She says she lied about it earlier because she planned to commit suicide.

:: March 14, 2013: A defence expert testifies that Arias suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and amnesia, explaining why she cannot recall much from the day of the killing.

:: March-April 2013: Another defence witness tells jurors Arias was abused by Mr Alexander and suffered from battered woman's syndrome. Meanwhile, a prosecution expert maintains Arias has borderline personality disorder.

:: April 2, 2013: A juror is dismissed, reportedly for making biased statements. By now, the case is a tabloid and cable TV sensation, attracting spectators from around the country. Two more jurors eventually are released.

:: May 3, 2013: Closing arguments conclude, and the final 12 jurors are chosen. They begin deliberations.

:: May 8, 2013: Arias found guilty of first-degree murder.

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Rodman Asks Kim Jong-Un To Free Prisoner

By Mark Stone, Asia Correspondent

In an odd twist of international diplomacy, American basketball superstar Dennis Rodman has called for North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Un to release a US prisoner from custody.

Rodman wrote on his Twitter page: "I'm calling on the Supreme Leader of North Korea or as I call him "Kim", to do me a solid and cut Kenneth Bae loose."

Mr Bae, 44, is an American tour operator who was arrested while hosting a group of tourists in North Korea last November.

He was accused of "hostile acts" against the country after reportedly taking unauthorised photographs.

Dennis Rodman's tweeted request to Kim Jong-Un

Dennis Rodman and Kim Jong-Un formed an unlikely friendship when the basketball star toured North Korea earlier this year.

Mr Kim, who is known to be a huge basketball fan, took Rodman to a game and the two were photographed enjoying an evening banquet together.

The trip was criticised by some because Rodman appeared to be completely ignoring North Korea's human rights record by fraternising with one of the world's last remaining dictatorships.

Others said that the basketball player could instigate a subtle form of diplomacy: basketball diplomacy.

If Rodman's tweet works and Mr Bae is pardoned from his sentence of 15 years' hard labour, it would be a coup and would enable the US to avoid the prospect of sending a senior politician or former president to Pyongyang to negotiate.

In 2009, two American journalists were held in North Korea and sentenced to hard labour.

Former US President Bill Clinton travelled to Pyongyang and negotiated their release with then-leader Kim Jong-Il.

Mr Kim speaks to military commanders while at his desk on some grass

Last week, US State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said: "We call on the DPRK to release Kenneth Bae immediately on humanitarian grounds."

Tensions between Pyongyang and Washington have been extremely high over the past few months, with rhetoric on both sides at a level not seen for years.

Kenneth Bae's detention is widely seen as being politically motivated and a bargaining chip by Pyongyang in order to gain leverage over the US.

The motivation behind the recent North Korean tension is thought to be twofold. Internally, it is an attempt by the North Korean leadership to shore up its legitimacy.

Internationally, North Korea wants to be taken seriously as a nuclear state. The US has made plain their insistence that they will only talk to Pyongyang on the condition that it gives up its nuclear programme.

North Korea now appears to have pulled back from its recent rhetoric, withdrawing two medium-range missiles from their launch pads.

However, the country's news agency, KCNA, continues to release unusual images of Kim Jong-Un meeting his military commanders. In the latest, they appear to have moved Mr Kim's office outside. 

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Genoa: Three Dead As Ship Crashes Into Port

At least three people have died and several are missing after a container ship smashed into a control tower in the port of Genoa.

The incident happened at around 11pm local time

Part of the tower in which about 14 people were present at the time of the accident crashed into the water.

One of the victims was thought to be a woman in her 30s, while the other two were men.

Rescue workers dived into the water around the port in a frantic search to find around 10 people believed to be missing.

Rescuers are still searching the wreckage of the building

Six others have been reported seriously injured.

An employee of the Messina Line company, based in Genoa which owns the vessel, confirmed that "there was an accident when the ship was leaving the port".

"It ran into the tower, but we don't know why at this point, nor how many people are hurt," he said.

The port control tower before the incident

The container ship, the Italian Jolly Nero, is almost 200m (655ft) long, 30m (98ft) wide, and weighs over 40,500 tonnes.

The ship's owner, Stefano Messina, said: "We are all utterly shocked. Nothing like this has ever happened before, we are desperate."

The Jolly Nero weighs over 40,500 tonnes

New reports said the captain was being questioned by police.

The impact happened during a shift change at the tower which meant that more people were present.

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Ohio Women Found: Police Praise Amanda Berry

Three brothers have been arrested after three women who went missing separately about a decade ago in Cleveland, Ohio, were found alive in the same house.

Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight disappeared in nearby areas of the city between 2002 and 2004. Officers believe they were tied up during years of being held captive.

The three, who vanished in their teens or early 20s, were rescued after a neighbour heard Ms Berry screaming and went to help her.

Police hailed her bravery and said the women's actions were the "ultimate definition of survival and perseverance".

The suspects arrested in connection with the kidnappings have been named as Ariel, Pedro and Onil Castro, aged 52, 54 and 50.

Suspects (L-R) brothers Ariel Castro, Onil Castro and Pedro Castro

The property where the women were being held is just a few miles from where they vanished.

They appeared to be in good health and were released from hospital after being taken there for checks, later being reunited with their families.

Authorities said they had no intelligence the three women were in the house. Police believe a six-year-old girl who was with Ms Berry when she escaped is her daughter.

Forensics and FBI teams have been carrying out an extensive search of the property, where police sources quoted in the local media believe the women were repeatedly beaten and raped - and there were five pregnancies.

Ms Berry in hospital with her sister and a young girl also found with her

FBI special agent Stephen Anthony said: "The nightmare is over. These three young ladies have provided us with the ultimate definition of survival and perseverance. The healing can now begin.

"The families of these three ladies never gave up hope, and neither did law enforcement. As you can imagine, words can't describe the emotions being felt by all."

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson said there were still "several unanswered questions" about the case, and authorities stressed that as the investigation was ongoing, many facts could not be discussed.

Police revealed they went to the home in 2004 for an unrelated investigation when school bus driver Ariel Castro had apparently left a child unattended on a bus, but no-one answered the door.

Officers also visited the property in 2000 when Castro reported a fight in the street, but no arrests were made.

A poster with images of Amanda Berry

Sky's US correspondent Dominic Waghorn, at the scene, said: "Neighbours say there were some unusual things about Ariel Castro - the fact that he keeps his ground floor windows boarded up with plywood ... and he used to park his school bus here during the day just to drop in and check on something, but never explained why.

"But they say he seemed such a good man, and a good neighbour, they never suspected anything."

Elsie Cintron, who lived two doors away, told Sky News that a family member saw a naked woman crawling on her hands and knees in the back garden of the Cleveland house and a young girl was seen at the attic window.

Ms Cintron said the police were called, but no action was apparently taken. Cleveland officials, however, said they had no record of anyone calling about criminal activity at the house - but they were still combing their records.

Ms Berry, who was 16 at the time, disappeared on April 21, 2003, when she called her sister to say she was getting a lift home from her job at a Burger King outlet.

Gina DeJesus went missing on her way home from school

Ms DeJesus went missing aged 14 on her way home from school about a year after Ms Berry's disappearance.

The third woman, Ms Knight, had been missing since 2002. She is believed to have been 20 at the time.

The long nightmare for the trio ended when Ms Berry reached through a crack in the front door and called for help.

Neighbour Charles Ramsey heard her screaming and tried to get her out through the door, but could not pull it open.

So he kicked the bottom open and she crawled through carrying a little girl.

Another neighbour Anna Tejeda said Ms Berry was nervous and crying, and dressed in pyjamas and old sandals.

Balloons outside the home of Gina DeJesus

Ms Tejeda said she gave her telephone to Ms Berry, who then called police.

In a recording of the 911 call, she told the emergency dispatcher: "I'm Amanda Berry. I've been kidnapped. I've been missing for 10 years. I'm free. I'm here now."

She said she had been taken by someone - and begged officers to arrive at the home on Cleveland's west side "before he gets back".

When police arrived, they found the two other women who were allegedly being held captive. They were also rescued.

Mr Ramsey explained how he rescued Ms Berry, saying: "I hear this girl screaming and she's going nuts.

"So I come outside and I know there's nobody supposed to be screaming next door to my house because there's no girl that lives in that house.

Charles Ramsey, the neighbour who helped Amanda Berry escape

"When I came to the front door and looked at her she said 'My name is Amanda Berry - please get me out of this house'.

"She told the police, 'I ain't just only one, there's some more girls up in that house. So they go on up there ... and when they came out it was just astonishing."

Kayla Rogers, a childhood friend of Ms DeJesus, told The Plain Dealer newspaper: "I've been praying, never forgot about her, ever.

"This is amazing. This is a celebration. I'm so happy. I just want to see her walk out of those doors so I can hug her."

The rescue is the latest in a series of high-profile cases involving females being held captive for several years.

The three women disappeared in nearby areas of the city

Jaycee Dugard was found on August 26, 2009, 18 years after she was kidnapped aged 11 in California.

She had been seized by Phillip Garrido - and his wife Nancy - while on her way to school in South Lake Tahoe in June 1991, and was kept in a hidden backyard and had two children with him. The Garridos were jailed for life.

Reacting to the escape of the Cleveland trio, she said in in a statement: "These individuals need the opportunity to heal and connect back in the world. This isn't who they are. It is only what happened to them.

"The human spirit is resilient. More than ever this reaffirms we should never give up hope."

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Somalia: Optimism Endures Among The Rubble

The customers at Ahmed Jama Mohamed's restaurant in the Somali capital Mogadishu sip lattes just yards from the rubble caused by another suicide bomber.

But despite the constant physical reminder and the barbed wire surrounding the restaurant, they are stoic and mostly optimistic about what the future holds for their war-ravaged country.

Some are returning exiles, finally coming home after years of being away because of the instability and dangers of staying at home.

Sonkor Geyre left his job in Chicago to restart his career in Somalia 14 months ago.

"As soon as I got the chance, I took it and I don't regret it," he said.

He now teaches at the city's university. He's sharing a meal with another who fled the extremists to live in America - but Abdullah Jama is only visiting Mogadishu.

He won't be coming home permanently to live anytime soon.

"Al Shabaab is everywhere, there is too much corruption, there are bombs all the time and they need to sort out the governance," he said.

Yes, there are bombs still. There was another suicide bombing in the capital on Sunday which killed at least eight.

A few weeks earlier, around half a dozen gunmen stormed the capital's main court building killing another 20 people.

Somalia has elected its first permanent government for more than 20 years

But the terror incidents are far fewer than they were a year ago when there was fighting in the streets.

The 18,000 African Union troops in the country have been mostly successful in driving out al Shabaab extremists from the capital and reclaiming territory they previously held in the major cities.

But there are clearly still terror cells operating and able to mount attacks almost at will.

Nonetheless, the capital and the country appear to have renewed hope of a better future ever since the election - less than a year ago - of their first permanent government and president in more than two decades of hostilities.

World leaders are gathering in London to try to work out how best to help Somalia now. There are signs of reconstruction already in Somalia but much more needs to be done.

The security there is fragile and eminently reversible unless the Somali National Army continues to be bolstered by the thousands of international troops who also train and mentor them.

New President Hassan Sheik Mohamed has a mountain of challenges to overcome ranging from education, tackling corruption, enforcing human rights and ensuring female empowerment, but he has to first of all make sure he stays alive.

Only two days after taking office, the extremists tried to kill him. He has to stay constantly alert but exudes an air of comfortable confidence.

"Every day, every hour al Shabaab is working on trying to spill Somali blood," he told me a few days ago in the capital.

"But our security forces are also working every hour and every day to stop them - and we will."

His job this week is to convince the international donors he can actually follow through on his plans.

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Somalia: Cameron Pledges Post-Conflict Support

David Cameron is to warn that failure to properly support the rebuilding of Somalia will lead to "terrorism and mass migration" as he hosts an international conference on the country's future.

Almost 50 governments were due to attend the meeting - which the Prime Minister is co-hosting in London with Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud - alongside the IMF, World Bank and other global bodies.

Mr Cameron will hail progress in stabilising the African nation after it was ripped apart by two decades of brutal civil war, but demand action to ensure the momentum is maintained.

That will allow many Somalis who fled the bloodshed to the UK and elsewhere to return home, he will point out.

A year on from the first such UK-hosted meeting of international backers, a government has been installed and more territory grabbed back from the control of al Shabaab Islamist militias.

The capital Mogadishu is starting to return to more normal life - with petrol stations, supermarkets and international flights returning for the first time since 1991 - despite some continued terrorist attacks such as a suicide car bomb which killed several civilians last week.

A senior UK diplomat said, however, that while there had been "really significant advances on both the political and security fronts" since last year, the gains remained "very fragile".

The PM is calling for further action to stabilise the situation in Somalia

The recently-installed Somali government will present its plans to push forward in three key areas - security, justice and managing the public finances - and seek more international support.

Opening the conference, Mr Cameron will say: "Somalis make a great contribution to our country and their remittances play a valuable role in Somalia, but many would like to return and rebuild their own country.

"We need to make it safe for them to do so.

"Despite the gains made against al Shabaab, the recent tragic and despicable attacks in Mogadishu ... remind us how much work there is still to do in the fight against terrorism and extremism.

"These challenges are not just issues for Somalia. They matter to Britain - and to the whole international community.

"Why? Because when young minds are poisoned by radicalism and they go on to export terrorism and extremism, the security of the whole world is at stake.

"And to anyone who says, this isn't a priority or we can't afford to deal with it, I would say that is what we've said in the past and look where it has got us: terrorism and mass migration.

Foreign Secretary William Hague recently opened a new UK embassy in Somalia

"We made that mistake not just in the Horn of Africa, but also in Afghanistan in the 1990s and we must not make it again."

Mr Cameron will tell representatives: "We need to help Somalia develop a transparent and accountable government with an honest, accurate budget.

"Under the previous government Somalia struggled with endemic corruption.

"So I very much welcome the commitment to public accountability that President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has made and the plan he is setting out at this conference."

The Prime Minister will point to "tangible results" from British financial help to Somalia, including a 60% fall in episodes of piracy.

The UK is to provide almost £1.5m to further develop maritime security, including support to provide full radio connection along the entire coastline for the first time in 20 years.

In February, Britain announced an extra £3m in extra aid for Somalia, around half to support the new government and federal parliament and half to feed 60,000 people.

Ahead of the conference, Mr Cameron and the president are meeting young members of the Somali diaspora living in the UK.

There are very close links with Britain - with four of the 10 cabinet ministers in the new government and as many as 30 MPs said to hold British passports .

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Cleveland: Women Missing For Decade Rescued

Three women who disappeared separately about 10 years ago have been found alive in a house in Cleveland, Ohio - just a few miles from where they went missing.

Police said they thought Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michele Knight had been tied up in the property and had been there since they vanished.

The trio, who went missing in their teens or early 20s, have been taken to a hospital for checks and were being reunited with relatives.

They have also been described as being in good health after being found in a residential area just south of the city.

A poster with images of Amanda Berry on

Three brothers were arrested. One of the men, a 52-year-old, lived at the home, and the others, ages 50 and 54, lived elsewhere.

Ms Berry disappeared aged 16 on April 21, 2003, when she called her sister to say she was getting a lift home from her job at a Burger King.

Ms DeJesus went missing aged 14 on her way home from school about a year after Ms Berry.

The third woman, Ms Knight, had been missing since 2002 when she was believed to have been 20.

Cheering crowds gathered on the street near the home where the women were found.

Gina DeJesus went missing on her way home from school

The long nightmare for the trio ended when Ms Berry reached her arm through a crack in the front door and called for help.

Neighbour Charles Ramsay heard her screaming, tried to get her out through the door but could not pull it open.

So he kicked the bottom open and she crawled through "carrying a little girl".

Ms Berry went into a nearby home and called police.

In a recording of the 911 call, she told the emergency dispatcher: "I'm Amanda Berry. I've been kidnapped. I've been missing for 10 years. I'm free. I'm here now."

Ms DeJesus' father wants a change in Amber Alert rules

She said she had been taken by someone and begged for officers to arrive at the home on Cleveland's west side "before he gets back".

When police arrived, she said two other women were being held captive.

They were also rescued and police said a six-year-old also was found in the home, but the child's identity or relationship to anyone in the home was not revealed.

Police at the house where the three missing women were found

Mr Ramsay told how he rescued Ms Berry. He said: "I hear this girl screaming and she's going nuts.

"So I come outside and I know there's nobody supposed to be screaming next door to my house because there's no girl that lives in that house.

"When I came to the front door and looked at her she said: 'My name is Amanda Berry - please get me out of this house'."

Kayla Rogers, a childhood friend of Ms DeJesus told The Plain Dealer newspaper: "I've been praying, never forgot about her, ever.

"This is amazing. This is a celebration. I'm so happy. I just want to see her walk out of those doors so I can hug her."

Ms Berry's cousin Tasheena Mitchell told the newspaper: "I'm going to hold her, and I'm going to squeeze her and I probably won't let her go."

In January, a prison inmate was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison after admitting he provided a false burial tip in the disappearance of Ms Berry.

Age-progressed images of Gina DeJesus (L) and Amanda Berry

Two men arrested for questioning in the disappearance of Ms DeJesus in 2004 were released from the city jail in 2006 after officers did not find her body during a search of the men's house.

No Amber Alert was issued the day Ms DeJesus failed to return home because no one witnessed her abduction.

That angered her father, Felix DeJesus, who said in 2006 he believed the public will listen even if the alerts become routine.

"The Amber Alert should work for any missing child," he said then.

"It doesn't have to be an abduction. Whether it's an abduction or a runaway, a child needs to be found. We need to change this law."

Cleveland police said then that the alerts must be reserved for cases in which danger is imminent and the public can be of help in locating the suspect and child.

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Moscow: Thousands Set To Protest Against Putin

By Katie Stallard, Moscow Correspondent

Thousands of protesters are expected to take to the streets in central Moscow on the first anniversary of a mass rally that saw hundreds arrested in violent clashes with police.

More than 600 people were arrested on May 6 2012, on the eve of Vladimir Putin's return to the Kremlin.

Protesters accuse the police of using excessive force and say any violence on their part was in self-defence. They claim the authorities were determined to clear the streets ahead of the  presidential inauguration on May 7.

At least 15 people are still being held in detention centres across Moscow awaiting trial, in many cases without charge.

Several more are under house arrest, including Left Front leader Sergei Udaltsov, who is accused of conspiring to organise mass riots.

Udaltsov is not allowed to use the telephone or internet and is barred from contact with all but his closest family and legal team.

He has tried and failed to secure permission to leave his house for a daily walk.

Their supporters claim they are political prisoners, and that authorities are reverting to Stalinist tools of repression, but President Putin has insisted recently that he sees no "elements of Stalinism" in modern Russia.

Amnesty International has expressed concerns about the weight of publicly-presented evidence against many of those detained, and says there are grounds to consider at least some of them "prisoners of conscience".

Russians march in a protest rally in May 2012

Human Rights Watch has accused President Putin of presiding over the harshest crackdown on civil society in Russia's post-soviet history since his return to the Kremlin last year.

They note the ongoing raids on non-governmental organisations (NGOs) across the country, the series of new laws being passed, and the intimidation, harassment and in a number of cases imprisonment of political activists.

Sky News spoke to the wife of one man who has been held without charge for the last eight months on suspicion of rioting during the May 6 protests.

Leonid Kovyazin was arrested in September but because he has not yet been charged he does not know the details of the case against him.

His wife insists they are not political activists and that Leonid was only at the Moscow demonstration as a journalist.

"It's clearly politically motivated," Evgeniya Tarasova said.

"What can I say about our country? People have always been put in jail for politics. Always have, always will.

"It's hard for me to evaluate this situation objectively, because I am inside this process."

President Putin has been accused of a harsh crackdown on civil society

The couple got married in prison in March in a short ceremony overseen by security guards.

She explained that by becoming his wife she gained the right to see him.

"The ceremony lasted about seven minutes, but they checked our documents for ages before that. That was the beginning of the wedding.

"When Lenya and I saw each other for the first time, the most important thing for me was that he was alive and well. This was a moment of absolute happiness for me. I think the same for him.

"I think he needs to know that there is someone by his side and I need to know that, too. It doesn't matter if it's through the walls and distances, but what can you do. He needs to feel the support from the outside world.

"We here can never understand how he feels being locked up. Whatever we say, we can't understand how it feels, we are here - we walk and breathe freely."

He will be one of those in whose name the protesters gather tonight.  If their detention was intended to serve as a warning – to keep people off the streets – it could have just the opposite effect.

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Bride-To-Be Among Five Killed In Limo Fire

A bride-to-be was among five women who died when a limousine burst into flames as it carried her and eight of her friends to her hen party.

The car caught fire at around 10pm on Saturday on one of the busiest bridges across San Francisco Bay.

All nine of the women were nurses. Five of them were trapped but four others managed to get out after the vehicle came to a halt on the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge.

Rosita Guardiano, whose daughter survived, told the San Francisco Chronicle that the bride-to-be - named as 31-year-old Neriza Fojas - was due to be married next month.

Investigators have not established what caused the fire, although a photo taken by a witness and broadcast on KTVU-TV showed flames shooting from the back.

Four women and the driver were able to escape the burning vehicle

Aerial video shot after the incident showed about one-third of the back half of the limousine had been scorched.

The Chronicle describes how the women could not get out of the rear doors, so they tried to squeeze through the small window into the driver's compartment.

Emergency workers found the dead victims huddled under the opening.

"This is one of the most horrific things I've seen in 21 years with this office," San Mateo County's medical examiner, Robert Foucrault, said. 

"Looking at it, they were on top of each other and doing what they could to get out."

The limo was travelling westbound on the bridge when it caught fire

The driver of the white stretch limo, 46-year-old Orville Brown from San Jose, was the only person to escape unhurt.

"Four people got out, as far as what was going on inside, I don't know," California Highway Patrol officer Jeremy Lofstrom said.

Investigators are appealing for witnesses to the incident.

All five women were pronounced dead at the scene.

Mrs Guardiano said her daughter, 42-year-old Mary Grace Guardiano from Alameda, was being treated for smoke inhalation.

The three other women who escaped, Jasmine Desguia, 34, from San Jose; Nelia Arrellano, 36, from Oakland; and Amalia Loyola, 48, from San Leandro, were taken to hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation and burns. 

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Bangladesh: Deadly Clashes At Islamist Protest

At least 28 people have been killed after Bangladeshi police clashed with Islamists demanding a new blasphemy law.

Police officials said that about 200,000 people had marched to the centre of the capital Dhaka on Sunday, where fierce clashes erupted between thousands of rock-throwing protesters and security officials.

Witnesses said rioting broke out after police tried to intercept stick-wielding protesters, most travelling from remote villages, in front of the country's largest mosque. Trouble then spread to central districts of Dhaka.

"This government does not have faith in Allah. This is an atheist government, we will not allow them to live in Bangladesh. Muslims are brothers, we must protect Islam," one protester was seen chanting.

Thousands took to the street of Dhaka

Police fired rubber bullets from armoured vehicles at protesters, who went on the rampage, torching a police office, scores of vehicles and shops, attacking government offices and beating policemen.

Dozens of small bombs exploded, leaving smoke hanging in the air around the mosque.

The bodies of 11 victims, including a policeman, were taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Mozammel Haq, a police inspector based at the hospital, told the AFP news agency.

Officials at three private clinics in Dhaka confirmed that they had received the bodies of 11 other victims.

At least six others were killed in violence in Kanchpur, on the southeastern outskirts of the capital, where more than 5,000 Islamists clashed with police and border guards, prompting security forces to respond with live rounds, local police chief Abdul Matin said.

The protests were staged as the country was recovering from its worst industrial disaster, which saw at least 620 people killed when a factory building collapsed just outside the capital on April 24.

It said it staged the mass protest to push a 13-point list of demands, which also include a ban on men and women mixing freely together and the restoration of pledges to Allah in the constitution.

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Belgium: One Dies In 'Toxic Train' Crash Fire

One person has died and 17 others have been injured after a train carrying highly toxic chemicals derailed in Belgium, causing a major fire.

The blaze erupted and spread along a drainage ditch

The accident and blaze prompted authorities to evacuate nearly 300 people from their homes.

Jan Briers, governor of eastern Flanders, had earlier said there were two dead and 14 injured, but late Saturday authorities announced that 17 injured people have been hospitalised and officials were investigating the cause of one fatality.

Flammable liquid caught alight and explosions occurred

Some of the injured were people living well away from the scene of the accident. Interior Minister Joelle Milquet blamed toxic fumes from the highly flammable liquid chemicals.

The accident happened at around 2am local time, between the towns of Schellebelle and Wetteren, on the Belgian railway network.

Once daylight arrived the extent of damage could be seen

Six of the train's 13 cars derailed and two were thrown on to their side by the force of derailment. The blaze led to a series of explosions in the railway cars.

Fire then spread over hundreds of yards, prompting authorities to evacuate residents living more than 500 yards from the site of the accident.

The train crash, near Ghent, occurred near a set of track crossing points

But Ms Milquet said toxic fumes reached much further through the drainage system.

"There is a problem of poisoning linked to the smoke," she said.

"But there is also another reaction, since some of the chemical product went into the drains and caused a kind of chemical reaction with gases that are toxic and escaped into certain streets beyond the perimeter that had already been evacuated due to the fire."

Smoke and fumes were subdued by spraying water across the scene

Firefighters decided to let the cars burn out in a controlled manner as water could have released further toxic chemicals.

The causes of the accident remained unclear. The cars derailed as the train changed tracks and observers said it might have been travelling too fast.

The train came from the Netherlands and was bound for Ghent's seaport, Gent-Zeehaven.

Officials said the tracks would be shut for days

Train services were disrupted and problems were expected for several days, with buses laid on to transport passengers.

Two similar accidents involving trains carrying tanks of toxic products occurred in Belgium in May 2012.

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Palestinian TV Show To Find Would-Be President

By Sam Kiley, Middle East Correspondent In Ramallah

Palestinians have been gulping down a dose of reality - reality television with a political twist.

The hit show, called simply The President, has grown out of widespread frustration among Palestinians at their own moribund politics in the real world.

The current president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, remains in office four years after his mandate expired.

His party, Fatah, rules over the West Bank while in Gaza, Hamas, the Islamist movement labelled a terrorist organisation by many countries in the West, reigns - also years beyond the mandate it won in 2006.

The Palestinian assembly hasn't met for many months. The roster of leaders hasn't changed for decades.

Part Apprentice part X-Factor, viewers are gripped by a show in which they get to chose who should be their next president.

The show is proving a hit with Palestinian TV audiences

Enter Raed Othman, the director general of the Ma'an broadcast network.

"I thought of this programme because we have to show that the Palestinian people understand and want real democracy. We want elections - real elections. But if we cannot have them then we can do our own," he said backstage during the filming of the latest episode of his show which has whittled 1,200 potential presidents to 16.

He added:  "There are a lot of people who say we don't have leaders, so we need to prove to them that there are a lot of leaders in Palestine. We want to teach the people that democracy is possible whenever we want".

Contestants are filmed taking on tasks - being an ambassador to a European country for a day, running a major corporation, taking questions from foreign and local journalists, even how to inspect guards of honour.

They are then put through the ringer by a panel of judges, among them leading politicians like Hannan Ashrawi, a former spokeswoman for the Arab League. Viewers combine votes sent in by text message with the judges' marks in early rounds.

The show's judges include leading politicians

The winner will be chosen entirely by the public by text.

He, or she, won't be rewarded with high office, just a modest family car. But the real prize is the opportunity to break into the Palestinian political scene.

"This programme will give me the chance, me and the other competitors, my colleagues, to get inside this procedure without needing at least 20 or 30 years of step-by-step involvement in the political situation," said Baha'a al Khateeb, an adult education manager, as he prepared to step on set - a conference room in a Ramallah hotel.

He is careful not to criticise the current Palestinian leadership. Not because he fears reprisals, Palestinians enjoy freedom of speech, but because he has spent several weeks presenting himself as a unifying figure.

Baha'a al Khateeb battles for the coveted title of 'President'

Fatah and Hamas remain bitterly opposed to each other and fought a bloody civil war in Gaza in 2007.

These divisions have weakened the ability of Palestinian leaders to negotiate an end to the occupation on the West Bank and the siege of Gaza by Israel.

Mr Khateeb, like most of the contestants, favours uniting the factions, stepping up non-violent actions and civil disobedience against the Jewish State. Plus a boycott of all Israeli products by Palestinian shoppers.

There is no immediate prospect of Palestinian elections - but by using his media exposure to call for a boycott, Mr Khateeb may have found a platform which can transform an idea into a political reality.

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'Israel Rocket Strike' On Syria Military Site

Israeli missiles have struck a military research centre near the capital Damascus, setting off explosions, Syrian state television has said.

The rockets were said to have hit a military research centre in Jamraya on the outskirts of the capital in the early hours of this morning.

The building was the target of an earlier Israeli strike in January.

Israeli radio is reporting that a senior security establishment official has confirmed the strike.

A Western intelligence source said "stores of Fateh-110 missiles that were in transit from Iran to Hizbollah" were the target of the strike.

More of the unverified footage uploaded by activists

Video footage uploaded online by activists claims to show a huge ball of fire rising into the night sky.

Iran has condemned the Israeli attack and urged countries in the region to stand against the action, the Fars news agency reported.

Meanwhile, hundreds of families are fleeing a Syrian coastal area where activists say government troops have massacred nearly 200, many of whom were women and children.

The opponents of Bashar al Assad's regime say that fighters loyal to the President carried out two massacres last night and on Thursday in a Sunni Muslim area driving by a policy of ethnic cleansing.

Activists posted a video online of the bodies of 10 people it said were killed in Ras al Nabaa, in the city of Banias, in an attack overnight.

Half of them were children.

Protests in Banias at the beginning of the uprising in 2011

Activists said that the number of dead could be as high as 60.

It comes just two days after pro-Assad militias are alleged to have killed as many as 100 Sunnis in the nearby village of Baida.

Amateur video showed a man and at least three children dead inside a room.

A baby had burned legs and a body stained with blood. Next to him was a young girl whose face had been deformed after apparently being hit with sharp metal.

Other footage from activists showed entire families killed in their beds, a dead mother cradling her child in her arms, two toddlers lying next to them.

The videos have not been independently verified.

Syria's crisis has claimed the lives of an estimated 70,000 people

Syria's crisis, that began in March 2011 with pro-democracy protests and later turned into a civil war that has killed an estimated 70,000 people, has largely broken along sectarian lines.

The Sunni majority forms the backbone of the rebellion, while Mr Assad's minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam, anchors the regime's security services and the military's officer corps.

Other minorities, such as Christians, largely support Mr Assad or stand on the sidelines, worried that the regime's fall would bring about a more Islamist rule.

It has been estimated as many as 4,000 people are fleeing from the predominantly Sunni southern parts of the Mediterranean city of Banias amid fears of further large-scale killings.

The US has condemned the May 2 attack. State Department spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki said: "We strongly condemn atrocities against the civilian population and reinforce our solidarity with the Syrian people."

Her statement added: "The United States is appalled by horrific reports that more than 100 people were killed May 2 in gruesome attacks on the coastal town of Bayda, Syria.

"Regime and Shabiha forces reportedly destroyed the area with mortar fire then stormed the town and executed entire families, including women and children."

It came as Israeli officials confirmed the country's air force carried out a strike against Syria, saying it targeted a shipment of advanced missiles bound for the Lebanese militant group Hizbollah.

The violence in the coastal region shows the sectarian nature of the two-year conflict that has killed tens of thousands and sent more than a million Syrians as refugees to neighbouring countries.

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