Egypt Protests: US Citizen Among Three Dead

Violent clashes across the Egyptian cities of Alexandria and Port Said have left three people dead and more than 70 others injured.

Two people were killed in Alexandria. One of them was an American citizen, the US State Department confirmed.

He has been identified as Andrew Pochter, 21, from Maryland, who was a student at Kenyon College in Ohio.

He had been working as an intern at Amideast, an American non-profit organisation, a statement from the college said.

Mr Pochter died from a stab wound to the chest after violence erupted between supporters and opponents of President Mohamed Morsi.

A protester hurls a rock towards riot police in Alexandria

General Amin Ezzeddin, a senior Alexandria security official, said the American was using a mobile phone camera near an office of Mr Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood in the city's Sidi Gaber neighbourhood when it was being attacked by protesters.

He was rushed to a military hospital, where he died.

A second victim was shot dead during clashes in the city, while a third person died as protests also turned violent in Port Said.

The deaths come as leading clerics warned of "civil war" in Egypt after violence in the last week has left several dead and hundreds wounded.

They backed Mr Morsi's offer to talk to opposition groups ahead of mass protests scheduled for Sunday.

A supporter of Mr Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo

State news agency MENA said 70 people had been injured.

TV footage showed protesters running from the scene as gunshots were heard.

The offices of the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the political arm of Mr Morsi's party, were also set on fire during the confrontations.

A Brotherhood member was also killed overnight in an attack on a party office at Zagazig, in the heavily populated Nile Delta, where much of the recent violence has been concentrated.

Mr Morsi's movement said five supporters in all had died this week - three in Mansura and two in Zagazig.

Anti-government protesters start a fire outside an FJP office in Alexandria

The unrest is seen by many as a prelude to mass anti-Morsi protests planned for Sunday - marking his first year in office.

The June 30 protest was called by Tamarod, a grassroots movement which says it has more than 15 million signatures for a petition demanding Mr Morsi's resignation and a snap election.

It alleges that Mr Morsi reneged on his promise to be a president for all Egyptians and has failed to deliver on the uprising's aspirations for freedom and social justice.

The president himself warned in a televised speech on Wednesday that the growing polarisation threatens to "paralyse" Egypt.

The army, which oversaw the transition from former president Mubarak's autocratic rule but has been on the sidelines since Mr Morsi's election, warned it would intervene if violence erupts.

It has brought in reinforcements to key cities, security officials said.

In an updated travel warning, the State Department cautioned US citizens "to defer non-essential travel to Egypt at this time due to the continuing possibility of political and social unrest".

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Western US Set To Swelter In Record Heatwave

A dangerous heatwave is set to scorch the western United States, with record temperatures possible in parts of the country.

Baking sun will see California's notoriously hot Death Valley reach as high as 54C (129F), not far off the world-record high of 57C (134F) recorded there exactly a century ago.

A series of safety precautions are being put in place, with temporary cooling stations being set up for the homeless and elderly as airlines monitor the soaring temperatures to ensure it remains safe to fly.

In Las Vegas and Phoenix - where tigers at the city's zoo are being fed frozen fish snacks - the strong high-pressure system settling over the region is expected to see the mercury hit up to 48C (118F).

Temperatures are expected to be only slightly lower in Utah - marketed as having "the greatest snow on Earth" - parts of Wyoming and Idaho.

And cities in Washington state, which is better known for cool, rainy weather, should get into the mid-30s early next week.

A tourist protects herself from the sun on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

In Albuquerque, New Mexico, the mercury hit 41C (105F) on Thursday afternoon, the hottest it has been in the state's most populous city in 19 years.

National Weather Service meteorologist Mark O'Malley said: "This is the hottest time of the year but the temperatures that we'll be looking at for Friday through Sunday, they'll be toward the top.

"We'll be at or above record levels in the Phoenix area and throughout a lot of the southwestern United States. It's going to be baking hot across much of the entire west."

Scientists say that the jet stream, the river of air that dictates weather patterns, has been more erratic in the past few years.

It is responsible for weather systems getting stuck, like the current heatwave. Scientists disagree on whether global warming is the cause of the jet stream's behaviour.

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Barack Obama To Meet Nelson Mandela's Family

Barack Obama and his wife Michelle will hold a private meeting with the family of Nelson Mandela during their trip to South Africa, the White House has confirmed.

However the US President and First Lady will not see the 94-year-old former South African leader, who is critically ill in hospital.

"Out of deference to Nelson Mandela's peace and comfort and the family's wishes, they will not be visiting the hospital," the White House added in a statement.

Mr Obama has arrived in Pretoria as part of a three-nation Africa tour and will first attend bilateral talks with South Africa's president Jacob Zuma.

Earlier, Mr Obama told reporters in Senegal that he "did not need a photo op" with the anti-apartheid icon and would not be pushing for a visit with him.

Mr Mandela is critically ill in hospital

"I think the main message we'll want to deliver, if not directly to him, but to his family, is simply profound gratitude for his leadership," Mr Obama said.

The prospect of a public encounter between the first black presidents of South Africa and the US had been eagerly awaited for years, but has now been scuppered by Mr Mandela's failing health.

Since starting his Africa tour on Thursday, Mr Obama has paid fulsome tribute to the man globally admired as a symbol of struggle against injustice and of racial reconciliation for the way he led South Africa out of centuries of white-minority rule.

The president has called Mr Mandela a "personal hero" and is due to make a tour on Sunday of Robben Island, the former prison where the anti-apartheid leader passed 18 of the 27 years he spent in jail.

It comes after Mr Mandela's ex-wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela said the former South African president's condition has shown "great improvement" over recent days.

Speaking outside the Pretoria hospital on Friday where the 94-year-old is being treated for a recurring lung infection, she said he remained "unwell".

She said: "It becomes very difficult to understand the seeming impatience and statements like: 'It is time for the family to let go'.

"And statements like: 'We are praying for the family not to pull the tubes'.

"Those are insensitive statements that none of you would want made about your parents and grandparents."

Mr Mandela, South Africa's first black president, was taken to hospital three weeks ago with recurrent lung problems.

He turns 95 next month.

On the eve of Mr Obama's visit, Mr Mandela was said to be in a critical condition, but had stabilised since a scare forced Mr Zuma to cancel a trip to neighbouring Mozambique.

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Boston Marathon Suspect Indicted Over Deaths

Prosecutors say the two brothers suspected of detonating bombs at the Boston Marathon went on the run afterwards armed with explosives and knives.

The new details came after surviving suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was indicted on charges of killing four people.

A grand jury returned a 30-count indictment against the surviving suspect in the April bombings, which included using weapons of mass destruction to kill and car-jacking.

Tsarnaev, 19, faces the death penalty or life imprisonment on 17 of the counts.

Three people were killed and more than 260 were wounded in the bombings at the finish line of the marathon.

Authorities said each brother placed a backpack containing a shrapnel-packed pressure cooker bomb near the marathon finish line.

District attorney Carmen Ortiz said Dzhokhar and older brother Tamerlan chatted on the phone between detonating their home-made bombs.

She added that days later, when their images were being circulated by the media, they armed themselves with five improvised explosive devices (IED's), an automatic handgun, a machete, and a hunting knife.

They then went to MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, she said, where a police officer was shot in the head at close range.

Afterwards, they allegedly hijacked a Mercedes by pointing a gun at the driver and threatening to kill him.

They told the driver they wanted to go to Manhattan, but in Watertown the motorist managed to raise the alarm.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed in the ensuing shootout with police, in which some of the IED's were allegedly used.

Dzhokhar was later captured hiding in a boat. According to the indictment, he wrote messages on the inside of the boat that said, among other things, "The US Government is killing our innocent civilians" and "We Muslims are one body you hurt one you hurt us all".

The Tsarnaev brothers had roots in the turbulent Russian regions of Dagestan and Chechnya, which have become recruiting grounds for Islamic extremists. They had been living in the United States for about a decade.

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Obama's Homage To Mandela On Africa Tour

Barack Obama flies to South Africa today hoping to pay homage to the legacy of his critically-ill hero, Nelson Mandela.

Mr Mandela's poor health means the two men are not expected to have a long-anticipated meeting for the cameras.

South Africa's first black president - who turns 95 next month - was taken to hospital three weeks ago with recurrent lung problems.

On the eve of Mr Obama's visit, Mr Mandela was said to be in a critical condition, but had stabilised since a scare forced President Jacob Zuma to cancel a trip to neighbouring Mozambique.

"He is much better today," said Mr Zuma after seeing Mr Mandela late on Thursday for the second time in less than 24 hours.

Yet South Africans, including Mr Mandela's family, remain braced for the worst.

Mandela pictures are hung up at a prayer meeting at a Cape Town school

"I won't lie. It doesn't look good," daughter Makaziwe Mandela said. She added that "if we speak to him he responds and tries to open his eyes - he's still there".

"Anything is imminent, but I want to emphasise again that it is only God who knows when the time to go is," she told local radio.

Mr Obama, who is currently on a three-nation Africa tour, has led a chorus of support for the man he has dubbed a "hero for the world".

"The President will be speaking to the legacy of Nelson Mandela and that will be a significant part of our time in South Africa," said deputy national security advisor Ben Rhodes.

"The President will treasure any opportunity he has to celebrate that legacy."

Mr Obama has described Mr Mandela as "a hero for the world"

The US President's tour of Africa could yet be upended by sudden developments in Madiba's condition.

The White House says it is in the hands of the Mandela family and the South African authorities on any aspect of the visit.

"We will obviously be very deferential to the developments that take place and the wishes of the family and the South African government," Mr Rhodes said.

A visit by Mr Obama to Mr Mandela's former jail cell on Robben Island, off Cape Town, on Sunday would now take on extra "profundity", he added.

Mr Obama also visited the site in 2006 when he was the senator for Illinois.

Speaking in Senegal on the first leg of his long-awaited Africa trip, Mr Obama described Mandela as "a personal hero."

"I think he is a hero for the world, and if and when he passes from this place, one thing I think we all know is that his legacy is one that will linger on throughout the ages," he said.

Mr Obama landed in the Senegalese capital of Dakar on Wednesday night for the first leg of his three-country visit.

On his first day he visited the Senegalese island of Goree, from which Africans were shipped across the Atlantic into slavery.

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Russia Meteor Shock 'Went Twice Around Earth'

The shockwaves from the meteor which exploded over Russia in February travelled twice around the Earth, according to scientists.

More than 1,000 people were injured when the 10,000 ton object - larger than a double-decker bus - burnt up in the skies above Chelyabinsk in Siberia.

The tremors from the meteor were recorded at 20 'infrasonic' monitoring stations, which are designed to detect nuclear weapon tests, across the world.

Writing in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, scientists said it was the first time the stations had detected "multiple arrivals involving waves that travelled twice round the globe".

Skies lit up as the meteor burned up over Chelyabinsk

"It generated infrasound returns, after circling the globe, at distances up to (approximately) 85,000 km, and was detected at 20 infrasonic stations of the global International Monitoring System (IMS)," said researchers.

The explosive energy of the blast is estimated to be equivalent to 460 kilotons of TNT. The force of the Hiroshima bomb dropped during the Second World War was about 16 kilotons.

"This extraordinary event is, together with the 1908 Tunguska fireball, among the most energetic events ever instrumentally recorded," scientists concluded.

The 1908 event, which occurred over a more remote area of Siberia, decimated tens of millions of trees over hundreds of square miles.

The meteor's force was detected by nuclear test monitoring stations

A far larger comet or meteor, in the region of 100 metres, is thought to have been responsible.

The Chelyabinsk meteor blazed across Russian skies on February 15 this year and saw a number of people injured by flying glass after windows were blown in.

Witnesses in the city, which has a population of more than one million, described feeling a pressure wave and hearing explosions overhead as the object hurtled towards Earth.

The meteor entered the Earth's atmosphere at 33,000mph (54,000kph) - 15 times the speed of a rifle bullet, according to the Russian Academy of Sciences.

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Australia: PM Gillard Forced Out By Rudd

Julia Gillard has stepped down as Australia's first female prime minister after losing a party leadership fight with Kevin Rudd.

Mr Rudd has been sworn in as the country's new leader with just months until a general election after he won a Labor Party ballot by 57 votes to 45.

The defeated leader made no comment to reporters as she left the voting chamber flanked by supporters, but she later congratulated Mr Rudd and confirmed an earlier pledge that she would quit politics after the elections if she lost the ballot.

She said it had been a "humbling" privilege to have been prime minister, adding: "I thank the Australian Labor Party for that privilege and I thank the Australian people for their support."

Mr Rudd, who had made a string of unsuccessful attempts at winning back the reins since being ousted by Ms Gillard in a similar 2010 showdown, praised Ms Gillard's achievements in power and called her a "remarkable reformer".

But he said "negative, destructive personal politics" had dishonoured parliament and had done nothing good for the country. "In fact it's been holding our country back," he said. "All this must stop."

Welsh-born Ms Gillard called the party ballot earlier amid reports that her bitter rival's supporters were gearing up for a fresh leadership challenge.

Opposition leader Tony Abbott

Opinion polls had shown that the party could face huge losses in the September elections, but that Mr Rudd would be the more popular leader.

The power struggles between Ms Gillard and Mr Rudd had been well documented over the past three years.

In March, she managed to retain the leadership of the party after she was urged to hold a ballot. Mr Rudd admitted at the time he did not have enough support to defeat her.

During a similar battle in 2012, a video emerged of the Mandarin-speaking former diplomat Mr Rudd slamming his fist in an expletive-ridden tirade about a Chinese interpreter. Ms Gillard's office was forced to deny leaking the footage.

As Ms Gillard called the latest ballot with just hours of notice, she appeared frustrated over the petition for a vote that was circulating within the party.

She said: "Call me old-fashioned, but the way in which these things are normally done is a challenger approaches the leader of the Labor Party and asks them to call a ballot for the leadership, who shake hands and then a ballot is held.

"That hasn't happened but in these circumstances I do think it is in the best interests of the nation and in the best interests of the Labor Party for this matter to be resolved ... "

Mr Rudd, who first swept to power in 2007, had said Labor was facing a "catastrophic defeat" at the next election unless there was "change".

The 55-year-old has promised tighter control of public spending, a speedier return to surplus budgets, and stronger economic growth.

He said he would resume the job "with humility, with honour and with an important sense of energy and purpose".

The blow to Ms Gillard has surprised people in her native Wales as well as her adopted homeland.

Born in Barry, in the Vale of Glamorgan, in 1961, she lived there before her family emigrated to Australia when she was a girl.

Vale of Glamorgan county councillor Ian Johnson said she remained popular, adding: "She has done a fantastic job and broken a glass ceiling in politics.

"Regardless of what you think about her politics she's been an inspiration - not just in Australia but also back here in Wales."

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Mandela: South African President Cancels Trip

President Jacob Zuma has cancelled a trip to Mozambique, as the goverment says Nelson Mandela's condition "remains critical".

Mr Zuma decided to stay in South Africa after visiting Mr Mandela in hospital where he "found him to be still in a critical condition", according to a statement from the President's office.

The announcement comes after sources confirmed to Sky News that Mr Mandela was no longer able to breathe unassisted.

The 94-year-old anti-apartheid leader was taken to a Pretoria hospital with a recurring lung infection on June 8, where he has now been treated for 19 days.

The cancellation of the trip to Mozambique, which was scheduled for today, is the first time Mr Zuma has scrapped a public engagement during that time.

People bring get well messages to Mr Mandela

Stuart Ramsay, Sky News' Chief Correspondent, who is in South Africa, said: "Nelson Mandela's tribal leaders have been told to prepare for the death of the former president, who remains in hospital unable to breathe without support.

"The advice comes after meetings with the family over the past two days.

"Senior tribal leaders - including Mr Mandela's tribal heir, grandson Mandla Mandela - were expected to visit the hospital for further talks with family members.

"In the Eastern Cape, where Mr Mandela will be buried, a member of the tribal authority confirmed that the clan had been told that he is extremely ill and although it is against Xhosa tradition to even discuss the death of a living person, they should prepare for the worst."

The statement from the president's office said that Mr Zuma was briefed on Mr Mandela's condition by the doctors treating him.

The Obama family arrives in Senegal on their Africa tour on Wednesday

Speaking earlier in the week Mr Zuma said: "We must support him and support his family.

"We must demonstrate our love and appreciation for his leadership during the struggle for liberation and in our first few years of freedom and democracy by living out his legacy and promoting unity, non-racialism, non-sexism and prosperity in our country."

US President Barack Obama arrived in Senegal on Wednesday to begin his first significant tour of Africa, during which he had planned to visit South Africa.

Michelle Obama and her daughters met Mr Mandela during a trip in 2011

The White House has said that it will defer to Mandela's family over whether the President would visit his political hero in hospital.

However, South Africa's foreign minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said that a meeting with the former South African leader would be impossible.

The two men met in 2005 when Mr Obama was a newly elected senator and  the former South African president was in Washington and have spoken by telephone since.

They have not met in person since then, although Michelle Obama met with Mr Mandela during a trip in 2011.

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Brazil Protesters Clash With Police Near Stadium

Brazil: Inequality Cause Of Tension

Updated: 9:26am UK, Monday 24 June 2013

By Jason Farrell, Sky Correspondent in Rio de Janeiro

Some 40,000 people live in the Favela Dos Prazeres; just one of a thousand slums in Rio that cling to the hillsides looking down on the yachts and hotels of the iconic city.

Those who want to build a house here simply get some bricks and cement them on top of someone else's shack.

Then they attach bulbs to a web of wires that tap free electricity from the grid. The cables drape over a maze of narrow passageways that weave down a steep hillside of precarious structures, some held up by narrow concrete stilts that are prone to give way in mudslides during the heavy rains.

Below, in downtown Rio, the latest monument to Brazil's wealth for the people of Prazeres to admire is the Maracana Stadium. It has had a billion dollar revamp for the Confederation Cup and World Cup and, as with Brazil's wealth, those perched in shantytowns have the perfect view but are completely cut off from it.

"The amount spent on the stadium has caused a lot of concern," says Fabio Vinelli, a former director of Flamengo Football club. He has been working on projects in Prazeres and had hoped the World Cup bring some investment to the neighbouring favela.

"People in this favela love the game but the World Cup has brought them nothing, " he said, "The legacy of the cup should be education, training and jobs, but all they have is a new stadium that no one here can afford to go to."

Brazil is the world's seventh largest economy but it has one of the most unbalanced social divides and this lies at the heart of many of the protests across the South American country in recent weeks.

The richest 1% (2 million people) own 13% of the nation's wealth, about the same as poorest 50% (80 million people). To many, the billions spent on World Cup stadiums and Olympic projects is just another reminder of the country's inequality.

Alexandre Lopes Silva, a community leader, said: "The legacy of the World Cup is a joke. Personally, I find it a disgrace. The state are pocketing millions and the poor see no benefit. Look at the kids paying football barefoot - at least give them a pair of trainers."

British consultant Mike Halligan runs security for Manchester United and his company Controlled Solutions Group has been trying to encourage work training projects in the favelas for the World Cup.

He said: "If FIFA want to promote football in places like Brazil, they should be willing to provide greater assistance to help create a legacy.

"People in Brazil would be less focused on the expense of the World Cup if Fifa were contributing. They should do it because they walk away with all the money from the TV rights."

A recent survey by Ernst and Young predicted that 3.6 million jobs would be created by the World Cup and the 2016 Olympics in Brazil with 0.4% added to GDP. But the fifth of Brazil's population who live in poverty have yet to see how this will help them.

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Australia: Gillard Faces Challenge From Rudd

Australian prime minister Julia Gillard is holding a vote on her leadership, with party rival Kevin Rudd confirming he would be challenging the embattled leader.

Ms Gillard moved to end uncertainty over her job in response to reports that Mr Rudd's supporters were gearing up for a challenge ahead of September elections.

The ballot in the Labor Party is being held behind closed doors.

Mr Rudd was ousted as prime minister by Ms Gillard in 2010. He previously had ruled out a leadership bid unless he was assured of the overwhelming support of his colleagues.

Opinion polls have shown that the party could face huge losses in the September elections, but that Mr Rudd would be a more popular leader than Ms Gillard.

Australian opposition leader Tony Abbott

Ms Gillard said earlier: "I wouldn't be putting myself forward unless I had a degree of confidence about the support of my parliamentary colleagues."

She appeared to express frustration over a petition that reportedly was circulating within the party to call for the leadership ballot.

"Call me old-fashioned, but the way in which these things are normally done is a challenger approaches the leader of the Labor Party and asks them to call a ballot for the leadership, who shake hands and then a ballot is held," she said.

"That hasn't happened but in these circumstances I do think it is in the best interests of the nation and in the best interests of the Labor Party for this matter to be resolved ... "

Mr Rudd said: "The truth is many, many MPs have requested me for a long time to contest the leadership of the party because of the parlous circumstances we now face.

"We are on course for a catastrophic defeat unless there is change."

He said he wanted to do "what I can" to prevent opposition leader Tony Abbott - the favourite - from becoming prime minister.

Both Ms Gillard and Mr Rudd have agreed that whoever loses the vote should quit Parliament at the election.

He has promised tighter control of public spending, a speedier return to surplus budgets, and stronger economic growth if he wins office.

However, a victory for Mr Rudd could trigger an earlier election if he cannot attract the level of support from independent politicians and from the minor Greens party that Ms Gillard managed.

Mr Rudd had been a popular prime minister who started sliding in the polls when Ms Gillard, his then deputy, challenged him to a leadership ballot three years ago.

He did not contest the ballot when he became aware of the level of her support, so she was unopposed when she became the first female prime minister in Australia's history.

Weeks later she led her party to a narrow election victory and formed an unpopular minority government with the support of independents and a legislator from the Greens.

In March, Ms Gillard retained the leadership of the party just hours after she was urged to hold a ballot and Mr Rudd admitted he did not have enough support to defeat her. Mr Rudd also lost a bid for the leadership in 2012.

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China: US Factory Boss Describes 'Insane' Dispute

By Mark Stone, Asia Correspondent in Qiaozi, China

An American businessman who has been held hostage in his Chinese factory for six days over an industrial dispute has described his situation as "absolutely insane".

Chip Starnes spoke to Sky News through a barred window from his medical supply plant on the outskirts of Beijing.

He said: "I keep telling myself that I am in a movie or a book.

"But it's playing out live. It's real and it's surreal."

Workers at the plant have been blocking exits around the clock and initially deprived him of sleep by shining bright lights on his office.

According to Chinese Union officials, Mr Starnes, 42, has failed to pay wages for two months, and staff at the factory fear the business is about to close without any promise of severance packages.

Sky's Mark Stone talks to Chip Starnes through a window in the factory

Mr Starnes denied the workers' allegations of unpaid wages and put it down to a "miscommunication".

He said: "The issue is this. People who already had jobs also wanted to be paid severance."

Mr Starnes explained that he is downsizing the factory and moving some work to a cheaper labour market in India.

"We were downsizing it. That was no secret." he explained.

He said that the workers knew about these plans and that those who will be made redundant would receive severance packages.

But he said that even those workers who were not being laid off were demanding a pay-off.

"Having to pay to rebuild confidence in them for a job that they already have. It just doesn't add up." he told Sky News.

Workers block journalists from entering the compound in Qiaozi

Looking relatively relaxed through the bars of his office window, Mr Starnes said that his treatment was now "fine".

He said: "The first few nights were very, very hectic. Since then, no. They are making me wait it out; wear me down.

"For the past three days, no issues at all but I am still not allowed to leave.

"It is classified as a civil dispute. This is how they can hold you up until you come to some sort of common bond."

Mr Starnes, who manages the Florida-based firm Speciality Medical Supplies, said the dispute was disappointing but that he was keen to resolve it internally.

One worker, Gao Ping, speaking to reporters on Tuesday said she wanted to quit because she had not been paid for two months.

Chu Lixiang, a local union official representing the workers, said they were demanding the portion of their salaries yet to be paid and a "reasonable" level of compensation before leaving their jobs.

The dispute is over unpaid wages and fears of factory closure

Similar disputes have happened at other businesses in China after a history of workers sometimes being unprotected when factories close.

There is increasing evidence of a trend of foreign-owned factories across China closing as workers demanded ever higher salaries.

Foreign companies are re-locating their operations to cheaper markets in South-East Asia.

Last month, Sky News visited a clothing factory in Burma. The factory, owned by Japanese firm Famoso, was once located in China.

That company is closing its three factories near Shanghai and Ningbo and moving their entire operation to Burma.

Experts acknowledge that the trend is a worry for the Chinese market but say that China is still more attractive than other Asian markets because of its better infrastructure and domestic sales market.

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Texas Abortion Bill Annulled After Protests

There have been dramatic scenes in Texas after a bill that threatened to close every abortion clinic in the state was overturned just hours after it was passed.

The law was initially approved by the Republican-controlled senate after a day of extraordinary scenes during which Democrats were accused of attempting to filibuster the bill by embarking on a marathon speech to run the debate out of time.

But Texas Lieutenant Governor David Dewhust has now reversed his decision after acknowledging Republicans missed the deadline to pass the vote after protesters reportedly shouted them down during the final 15 minutes before the vote deadline.

Democrat Wendy Davis was accused of attempting to filibuster the bill

Republicans insisted they had started voting before the midnight deadline and passed the bill in time. But computer records of the voting were checked and revealed they were out of time.

The new law would have banned abortion procedures after 20 weeks of pregnancy and demanded that clinics upgrade their facilities and be reclassified as 'ambulatory surgical centres'.

The bill also demanded doctors performing abortions must be granted the right to admit patients to their clinic first by a hospital within 30 miles of the premises.

Opponents claimed the surgical-centre requirement alone would shut down 37 of Texas' 42 abortion clinics currently in operation.

Speaking before the vote, Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, said: "If this passes, abortion would be virtually banned in the state of Texas, and many women could be forced to resort to dangerous and unsafe measures."

During the debate women's rights supporters had screamed protests from the public gallery while in the hall outside the Senate chamber, hundreds more protesters wearing orange T-shirts queued for a seat.

In dramatic scenes Democrat Wendy Davis was accused of filibustering after she began speaking against the bill at 11:18am and was only halted at 10:03pm, less than two hours before the midnight deadline, after three complaints from Republicans

Senate rules dictate speakers must stay on topic and remain standing without physical support or breaks for meals or to use the bathroom.

Women's rights protesters watched proceedings from the public gallery

Republicans first claimed Ms Davis was guilty of a technical error, before later protesting she was being assisted with a back brace.

Governor Dewhust eventually halted the speech after determining Ms Davis had strayed off topic when she talked about a sonogram bill passed in 2011.

Democrats immediately appealed the move to silence Ms Davis, which set off a heated debate over parliamentary rules.

As news of the reversed vote spread, jubilant campaigners took to Twitter to celebrate.

Texas is one of several states that has been taking aim at the landmark Wade v Roe Supreme Court decision in 1973 that made abortion legal and which set off a debate across America that continues today.

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Snowden's Arrival In Moscow Strains Relations

Whistleblower Edward Snowden is set to leave Moscow later for Cuba - the next step on his journey to evade US justice as he seeks asylum in Ecuador.

Washington has urged Russia to do it can to expel the former CIA intelligence analyst and send him to the US before he gets the chance to take the expected flight to Havana.

Snowden, who was allowed to leave Hong Kong on Sunday, is wanted on spying charges in the US, which is trying to extradite him.

The Aeroflot airline said he registered for the Havana flight using his US passport, which American officials say has been revoked  as part of an effort to prosecute him for revealing highly classified government secrets.

The US state department said Mr Snowden should not be allowed to travel any further as an international manhunt for him is launched, and his departure from the Chinese territory is threatening to strain the diplomatic relations between the US and Russia and Beijing.

The US said it was disappointed by Hong Kong's "troubling" failure to arrest the analyst, who was hiding there after apparently leaking information about monitoring by the National Security Agency to The Guardian and The Washington Post.

And there is growing anger in America over Russia's decision to allow him access to the country.

Mr Snowden's route since leaving Hawaii and his possible next destinations

US Senator Charles Schumer said Russian President Vladimir Putin probably knew of and approved Mr Snowden's flight to Russia, and predicted "serious consequences" for a US-Russian relationship already strained over Syria and human rights issues.

Mr Schumer told CNN: "Putin always seems almost eager to stick a finger in the eye of the United States - whether it is Syria, Iran and now of course with Snowden."

He said he also saw "the hand of Beijing" in Hong Kong's decision to let Mr Snowden leave.

China said on Sunday it was "gravely concerned" by Mr Snowden's claim that US spies had hacked Chinese IT targets, particularly as the Obama administration has painted the US as a victim of Chinese government computer hacking.

The debacle is a major embarrassment for President Barack Obama, who has been trying to reset ties with Russia and build a partnership with China.

A twitter picture of Mr Snowden's plane in Moscow. Credit @Russian_Market

Senate intelligence committee chairwoman Dianne Feinstein said: "I want to get him caught and brought back for trial. I think the chase is on and we'll see what happens."

Ecuador, which has been sheltering Julian Assange, the founder of the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, at its London embassy for the past year, once again took centre stage in the international diplomatic saga.

Ecuadorean foreign minister Ricardo Patino said the country was "analysing" his request for asylum, which "has to do with freedom of expression and with the security of citizens around the world".

Venezuela, Cuba and Ecuador are all members of the ALBA bloc, an alliance of leftist governments in Latin America that pride themselves on their "anti-imperialist" credentials.

Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon, the legal director of WikiLeaks, who is assisting Mr Snowden and is a lawyer for Mr Assange, said: "The WikiLeaks legal team and I are interested in preserving Mr Snowden's rights and protecting him as a person.

"What is being done to Mr Snowden and to Mr Julian Assange - for making or facilitating disclosures in the public interest - is an assault against the people."

The manhunt for Edward Snowden has prompted protests

WikiLeaks said he was being accompanied by Sarah Harrison, whom it described as a UK citizen, journalist and legal researcher.

Mr Snowden claimed the NSA has been keeping details of millions of phone calls by Americans and monitoring the use by foreigners of internet sites including Google, Facebook and Yahoo.

He left Hong Kong after the White House asked the autonomous Chinese territory to extradite him. He had earlier been charged in the US with espionage.

The Hong Kong government said although the US had sought his extradition, the request did not fully comply with requirements and he was therefore free to leave.

A US Department of Justice spokesperson said: "The US is disappointed and disagrees with the determination by Hong Kong authorities not to honour the US request for the arrest of the fugitive.

"The request for the fugitive's arrest for purposes of his extradition complied with all of the requirements of the US-Hong Kong Surrender Agreement.

"At no point, in all of our discussions through Friday, did the authorities in Hong Kong raise any issues regarding the sufficiency of the US's provisional arrest request.

"In light of this, we find their decision to be particularly troubling."

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Five-Year-Old Girl Shoots Herself In The Head

A five-year-old girl accidentally shot herself dead after her mother left her at home and went shopping, police have said.

Officers responded to reports of gun shots around 10.50am on Sunday morning in New Orleans and found the girl in a bedroom.

She was suffering from a gunshot wound to the head and was rushed to hospital.

The youngster was put on life support for several hours but was later pronounced dead.

A spokesman for the New Orleans police department said: "A preliminary investigation indicates the child was home alone and had somehow come into contact with .38 revolver and accidentally shot herself in the head."

The girl was discovered injured by her mother on her return to their home in North Galvez Street in the 7th Ward.

A neighbour told the New Orleans newspaper The Advocate she came out screaming: "Lord help me, my child is dying."

Another neighbour told The Advocate the mother called him over as he was cleaning his shoes on the porch and he saw the girl gasping for air.

He told the paper: "I seen it. She was next to a pillow, on her back, a hole in her head.

"I ain't touch her. I just look at her. I said, 'Who shot your daughter?' She said, 'I don't know'."

According to The Advocate, a third neighbour, ex-marine Charles Pelton, heard the gun go off. "It was one shot, small calibre," he told the newspaper.

The street where the shooting took place

The girl's mother, 28-year-old Laderika Smith, was arrested and police initially said they would be charging her with second-degree murder.

It was not initially clear who owned the gun, although a man who lives at the property told the Advocate he was keeping it for someone else.

Police have yet to release the name of the dead five-year-old, with relatives still to be informed of her death.

The youngster's cousin, Danielle Carter, told the Advocate: "I'm a strong person. It's a lot to deal with. Kids don't ask for this. Kids don't deserve this."

A post mortem was due to take place on Monday morning.

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Nelson Mandela's Condition Becomes Critical

Nelson Mandela remains in a critical condition in hospital, South Africa's President Jacob Zuma said.

Mr Zuma and ANC deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa visited Mr Mandela in hospital on Sunday evening after the former president's health deteriorated.

They were briefed by Mr Mandela's medical team and told the 94-year-old's condition had become critical over the past 24 hours".

Mr Zuma said in a statement: "The doctors are doing everything possible to get his condition to improve and are ensuring that Madiba is well-looked after and is comfortable. He is in good hands."

Mr Zuma visited Mr Mandela in hospital in Pretoria this evening

The pair also met Mr Mandela's wife, Graca Machel, who has been by her husband's bedside since he was taken ill.

On Monday, Mr Zuma told a news conference in Johannesburg that he had no further updates on Mr Mandela's condition.

Mr Mandela has suffered repeated bouts of illness in recent months and has been admitted to hospital four times since December.

The anti-apartheid leader has been in intensive care since he was last admitted to hospital on June 8 for a recurring lung infection.

Children have been sending "get well soon" messages to Mr Mandela

Mr Zuma appealed to South Africans and to the world to pray for Mr Mandela, his family and the medical team attending him.

In Sunday's statement, Mr Zuma also discussed the government's acknowledgement a day earlier that an ambulance carrying Mr Mandela to the hospital two weeks ago had broken down.

"There were seven doctors in the convoy who were in full control of the situation throughout the period. He had expert medical care," Mr Zuma said.

"The fully equipped military ICU ambulance had a full complement of specialist medical staff including intensive care specialists and ICU nurses.

"The doctors also dismissed the media reports that Madiba suffered cardiac arrest. There is no truth at all in that report."

Mr Mandela is seen by many around the world as a symbol of reconciliation.

He played a leading role in steering South Africa from the apartheid era to democracy, becoming the country's first black president in all-race elections in 1994.

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Syria: 'Friends' Agree Urgent Rebel Support

Western and Arab countries opposed to Syrian President Bashar al Assad have agreed to give urgent military support to rebels fighting for his overthrow.

Ministers from the 11 main countries which form the Friends of Syria group agreed "to provide urgently all the necessary material and equipment to the opposition on the ground".

They also condemned "the intervention of Hizbollah militias and fighters from Iran and Iraq," demanding that they withdraw immediately.

Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague a the meeting in Doha

The support will be channelled through a Western-backed rebel military command, the ministers agreed during talks in Doha.

Guerrillas from Lebanon's Shiite pro-Iranian Hizbollah organisation spearheaded the recapture of the strategic border town of Qusair from mainly Sunni Muslim rebels two weeks ago.

Hizbollah and Shiite Iraqi gunmen have also been fighting around the shrine of Sayyid Zainab, south of Damascus, while Iranian military commanders are believed to be advising Mr Assad's officers on their counter-offensives against the rebels.

The ministers said the growing sectarian nature of the conflict and the foreign interventions "threaten the unity of Syria (and) broaden the conflict" across the region.

They also expressed strong concern at the increasing presence of "terrorist elements" and growing radicalisation in Syria.

Ministers from Britain, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United States attended the talks in Doha.

Speaking at the meeting, US Secretary of State John Kerry said the support for the rebels would help change the balance on the battlefield, where regime forces have scored recent victories.

Mr Kerry expressed concern about Iran and Hizbollah fighters in Syria.

"That is a very, very dangerous development. Hizbollah is a proxy for Iran ... Hizbollah in addition to that is a terrorist organisation."

Mr Kerry blamed Hizbollah and Mr Assad with thwarting efforts to diffuse sectarian rebels and to negotiate a settlement.

The two-year-long civil war in Syria has so far left 93,000 people dead.

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Gunmen Kill Tourists In Pakistan

Gunmen have killed nine foreign tourists after storming a hotel in a remote area of northern Pakistan, say police.

"Unknown people entered a hotel where foreign tourists were staying last night and opened fire," said Ali Sher, a senior police officer in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan province.

The gunmen fled after the attack.

Five Ukrainians, three Chinese, a Russian and their guide were killed in the attack near the base camp for the snow-covered Nanga Parbat mountain, a popular destination for trekkers, officials said.

There has been no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

A senior government official said a large number of security personnel had been sent to the area.

"Since the area is very remote with no roads or transport, their bodies will have to be retrieved by helicopter," the official said.

Gilgit-Baltistan province - famous for its natural beauty -  had been considered one of the more secure areas of Pakistan but in recent years has witnessed a spate of attacks by militants targeting members of Pakistan's Shi'ite minority.

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Whistleblower Snowden Leaves Hong Kong

The whistleblower Edward Snowden, who leaked details about US snooping, has left Hong Kong for Russia.

His departure was revealed on the website of the Hong Kong newspaper the South China Morning Post, which said that Russia was not thought to be his intended final destination.

His departure now been confirmed by the Hong Kong government.

It is thought that the eventual destination could end up being Iceland or Ecuador.

He is understood to have left on the Russian airline Aeroflot flight SU213.

The paper said it left Hong Kong around 11am local time (4am UK time) and was due to arrive in Moscow around 5.15pm local time (1pm UK time). It is believed to be currently in the air.

The White House had asked Hong Kong to extradite him, after he was charged in the US with espionage.

The website of the South China Morning Post said: "US whistleblower Edward Snowden has left Hong Kong on an Aeroflot flight to Moscow, credible sources have confirmed to the South China Morning Post.

"Moscow will not be his final destination."

An Icelandic newspaper reported four days ago that Snowden had asked Iceland for political asylum.

The Hong Kong government has said that although the US had sought his extradition, the request did not fully comply with requirements.

A statement issued by the Government said: "Mr Edward Snowden left Hong Kong today (June 23) on his own accord for a third country through a lawful and normal channel.

"The US Government earlier on made a request to the HKSAR Government for the issue of a provisional warrant of arrest against Mr Snowden.

"Since the documents provided by the US Government did not fully comply with the legal requirements under Hong Kong law, the HKSAR Government has requested the US Government to provide additional information so that the Department of Justice could consider whether the US Government's request can meet the relevant legal conditions.

"As the HKSAR Government has yet to have sufficient information to process the request for provisional warrant of arrest, there is no legal basis to restrict Mr Snowden from leaving Hong Kong.

"The HKSAR Government has already informed the US Government of Mr Snowden's departure.

"Meanwhile, the HKSAR Government has formally written to the US Government requesting clarification on earlier reports about the hacking of computer systems in Hong Kong by US government agencies.

"The HKSAR Government will continue to follow up on the matter so as to protect the legal rights of the people of Hong Kong."

Edward Snowden was revealed earlier this month to have been the man who leaked to the Guardian and Washington Post newspapers information about monitoring by America's National Security Agency.

Snowden told the Guardian the National Security Agency has been keeping details of millions of phone calls by Americans and monitoring the use by foreigners of internet sites including Google, Facebook and Yahoo.

The Russian President's office said it has not been given any information about Mr Snowden's imminent arrival.

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