Egypt: Soldiers Enter Protesters' Mosque Refuge

Key Events In Egypt Since 2011

Updated: 12:32pm UK, Thursday 15 August 2013

January 25 - February 11, 2011 - Egyptians stage nationwide demonstrations against nearly 30 years of President Hosni Mubarak's rule. Hundreds of protesters are killed as Mubarak and his allies try to crush the uprising.

February 11 - Mubarak steps down and the military takes over. The military dissolves parliament and suspends the constitution, meeting two key demands of protesters.

November 28, 2011 - February 15, 2012 - Egypt holds multistage, weeks-long parliamentary elections.

In the lawmaking lower house, the Muslim Brotherhood wins nearly half the seats, and ultraconservative Salafis take another quarter.

The remainder goes to liberal, independent and secular politicians. In the largely powerless upper house, Islamists take nearly 90% of the seats.

May 23 - 24, 2012 - The first round of voting in presidential elections has a field of 13 candidates.

The Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi and Ahmed Shafiq, the last prime minister under Mubarak, emerge as the top two finishers, to face each other in a run-off.

June 14 - The Supreme Constitutional Court orders the dissolving of the lower house of parliament.

June 16 - 17 - Egyptians vote in the presidential run-off between Morsi and Shafiq. Morsi wins with 51.7% of the vote.

June 30 - Morsi takes his oath of office.

November 19 - Members of liberal parties and representatives of Egypt's churches withdraw from the 100-member assembly writing the constitution, protesting attempts by Islamists to impose their will.

November 22 - Morsi unilaterally decrees greater powers for himself, giving his decisions immunity from judicial review and barring the courts from dissolving the constituent assembly and the upper house of parliament. The move sparks days of protests.

November 30  - Islamists in the constituent assembly rush to complete the draft of the constitution. Morsi sets a December 15 date for a referendum.

December 4 - More than 100,000 protesters march on the presidential palace, demanding the cancellation of the referendum and the writing of a new constitution. The next day, Islamists attack an anti-Morsi sit-in, sparking street battles that leave at least 10 dead.

December 15, December 22 - In the two-round referendum, Egyptians approve the constitution, with 63.8% voting in favour. Turnout is low.

January 25, 2013 - Hundreds of thousands hold protests against Morsi on the two-year anniversary of the start of the revolt against Mubarak, and clashes erupt in many places.

February - March 2013 - Protests rage in Port Said and other cities for weeks, with dozens more dying in clashes.

April 7 - A Muslim mob attacks the main cathedral of the Coptic Orthodox Church as Christians hold a funeral and protest there over four Christians killed in sectarian violence the day before. Pope Tawadros II publicly blames Morsi for failing to protect the building.

June 23 - A mob beats to death four Egyptian Shi'ites in a village on the outskirts of Cairo.

June 30 - Millions of Egyptians demonstrate on Morsi's first anniversary in office, calling on him to step down. Eight people are killed in clashes outside the Muslim Brotherhood's Cairo headquarters.

July 1 - Huge demonstrations continue, and Egypt's powerful military gives the president and the opposition 48 hours to resolve their disputes, or it will impose its own solution.

July 2 - Military officials disclose main details of the army's plan if no agreement is reached: replacing Morsi with an interim administration, cancelling the Islamist-based constitution and calling elections in a year. Morsi delivers a late-night speech in which he pledges to defend his legitimacy and vows not to step down.

July 3 - Egypt's military chief announces that Morsi has been deposed, to be replaced by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Constitutional Court until new presidential elections. No time frame is given.

Muslim Brotherhood leaders are arrested. Tens of thousands of Morsi supporters remain camped out in two mass sit-ins in Cairo's streets.

July 4 - Supreme Constitutional Court Chief Justice Adly Mansour is sworn in as Egypt's interim president.

July 5 - Mansour dissolves the Islamist-dominated upper house of parliament as Morsi's supporters stage mass protests demanding his return. Clashes between pro and anti-Morsi groups in Cairo and Alexandria, and violence elsewhere leave at least 36 dead. A Brotherhood strongman, deputy head Khairat el-Shater, is arrested.

July 8 - Egyptian soldiers open fire on pro-Morsi demonstrators in front of a military base in Cairo, killing more than 50. Each side blames the other for starting the clash near the larger of the two sit-ins, near east Cairo's Rabaah al-Adawiya mosque.

Mansour puts forward a time line for amending the constitution and electing a new president and parliament by mid-February. The Brotherhood refuses to participate in the process.

July 9 - Mansour appoints economist Hazem el-Beblawi as prime minister and opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei as vice president. A military announcement backs up the appointments.

July 26 - Millions pour onto the streets of Egypt after a call by the country's military chief for protesters to give him a mandate to stop "potential terrorism" by supporters of Morsi. Five people are killed in clashes.

Prosecutors announce Morsi is under investigation for a host of allegations including murder and conspiracy with the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

July 27  - Security forces and armed men in civilian clothes clash with Morsi supporters outside the larger of the two major sit-ins in Cairo, killing at least 80 people.

July 30 - The EU's top diplomat Catherine Ashton holds a two-hour meeting with detained Morsi at an undisclosed location. She is one of a number of international envoys, including US Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham, to visit Egypt to attempt to resolve the crisis.

August 7  - Egypt's presidency says that diplomatic efforts to peacefully resolve the standoff between the country's military-backed interim leadership and the Muslim Brotherhood have failed.

August 11 - Egyptian security forces announce that they will besiege the two sit-ins within 24 hours to bar people from entering.

August 12 - Authorities postpone plans to take action against the camps, saying they want to avoid bloodshed after Morsi supporters reinforce the sit-ins with thousands more protesters.

August 14 - Riot police clear two sprawling encampments of supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi, sparking running street battles that kill hundreds of people.

The presidency declares a month-long state of emergency across the nation as Vice President Mohamed ElBaradei resigns in protest over the assaults.

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Shark Attack: 'Hero' Teacher Saves Tourist

A PE teacher has been hailed a hero after rescuing a German holidaymaker who lost her arm in a shark attack in Hawaii.

Rick Moore, 57, jumped into the water and swam to help the 20-year-old woman moments after she was attacked while snorkelling off Palauea Beach on Maui island.

"As soon as we stand on the beach, we hear this blood-curdling scream," said Mr Moore, who teaches at Creekside High School in Irvine, California.

"We look out and there was blood everywhere in the white water around her.

"About 10ft from her, I saw her floating on her back, with no arm. It was completely severed from her body."

He pulled her remaining arm around his neck and swam 100 yards through strong currents to get her to the beach.

"It dawned on me, I was in danger now," he added.

"The shark is around me and she's bleeding. I start praying out loud, 'God, God protect us.' She said, 'I'm dying. I know I'm going to die.'"

The beach was closed for 24 hours while lifeguards searched for the shark

The US teacher, who is also a pastor, went on: "I started crying out to God and I got this burst of strength. I swam toward the shore."

The woman was starting to lose consciousness, as Mr Moore's friend Nicholas Grisaffi, 61, helped him pull her from the water.

They lay her limp body on a kayak and used it as a stretcher to carry her from the beach.

The woman's three friends stood watching in shock as Mr Moore performed CPR.

"Pretty much everybody was out of control except me and Rick," said Mr Grisaffi, a teacher from Laguna Beach, California.

"If we're not there, she's not saved. Nobody did a thing. They just stood there in shock, watching the blood and everything."

Emergency services arrived and the woman was taken to Maui Memorial Medical Center.

Joshua Craddock, a 23-year-old from London, praised Mr Moore's bravery.

The woman was attacked while snorkelling in murky water on Maui island

"He was pretty heroic and selfless to dive in the water when by this stage she was surrounded by a pool of blood which we could see from the shore," he added.

The two teachers have visited the woman in hospital and said she was in a stable condition.

"I just can't get the screaming out of my head," Mr Grisaffi said. "I won't take risks of going too far out any more."

The beach was closed for 24 hours while lifeguards searched for the shark.

It was not clear what type of shark attacked the woman, whose name has not been released.

It was the seventh shark attack in Hawaiian waters this year, and the fourth on Maui, according to the US state's official figures.

There were 11 shark attacks in Hawaii last year. The last fatal attack was in 2004.

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Philippines: 300 Feared Dead After Ferry Crash

A ferry with over 800 passengers and crew on board has sunk after colliding with a cargo ship near the Philippine city of Cebu.

The coastguard said the MV Thomas Aquinas listed after hitting the Sulpicio Express Seven Cargo vessel and the captain gave the order to abandon ship.

Life rafts around the cargo ship that collided with the ferry

At least 24 people, including some children, were confirmed dead, 572 were rescued and 274 were still unaccounted for, the coastguard said.

The ferry took just 30 minutes to sink after the collision on Friday evening close to the shore as the ferry was leaving the city of Cebu for Manila.

Hundreds of passengers jumped into the ocean as the ship began sinking, said survivors. Many were asleep at the time of the collision.

A man is pulled to safety by Navy rescuerers

Jerwin Agudong said he and other passengers leapt overboard after the ferry began taking on water and the crew distributed life jackets.

He told radio station DZBB that some people were trapped and he saw bodies in the water.

Life rafts deployed by the ferry after the collision

"It seems some were not able to get out. I pity the children. We saw dead bodies on the side, and some being rescued," he said.

"One of the persons who jumped with us hit his head on metal. He is shaking and he is bloodied."

According to news reports, an 11-month-old baby was among those saved.

An injured survivor is taken to hospital

Danny Palmero, a former fisherman, said he was with friends who responded to the ferry's distress call and rescued seven people on their motorized outrigger canoe.

"I saw many flares being shot," he said. "As a former nautical student, I knew it was a distress signal."

Rachel Capuno, a security officer for the ferry's owners 2Go, told Cebu radio station DYSS that the vessel was sailing into port when it collided head-on with the cargo ship.

Some of the rescued passengers

"The impact was very strong," she said, adding the ferry sank within 30 minutes of the collision.

Accidents at sea are common in the Philippine archipelago because of frequent storms, badly maintained boats and weak enforcement of safety regulations.

In 1987, the ferry Dona Paz sank after colliding with a fuel tanker in the Philippines, killing 4,341 people in the world's worst peacetime maritime disaster.

The ferry sank after hitting the cargo ship near Cebu

In 2008, the ferry MV Princess of the Stars capsized during a typhoon, killing nearly 800 people.

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Peru Drugs: Melissa Reid Reunited With Father

The father of a British woman being held on suspicion of drug-smuggling in Peru has had an emotional reunion with his daughter.

William Reid told Melissa Reid, who turns 20 today, to "be strong" and vowed to bring her home after flying to the capital Lima.

Ms Reid, from Kirkintilloch in East Dunbartonshire, and Michaella McCollum Connolly, 20, from Dungannon, Co Tyrone, are suspected of trying to leave the country with £1.5m worth of cocaine in their luggage.

They were detained while trying to board a flight from the Peruvian capital to Spain last week.

The pair both deny the accusations, and say they are victims of a violent gang who coerced them into carrying the drugs.

Lawyer Peter Madden, who is representing Ms McCollum Connolly, is expected to arrive in Peru later on Friday.

As he left Belfast for Lima he said she would deny any allegations if charged, but warned that legal proceedings could be lengthy.

He said: "She is saying she has done nothing wrong, that she is innocent and that as far as any offences are concerned, if she is charged she will be denying it."

According to the Daily Mail, during their meeting at the Dirando police station,  Ms Reid told her father: "They made me do it."

She told him that while she worked on the Mediterranean island of Ibiza she was introduced to a British man who eventually forced her into meeting a gang of Colombian gangsters, who put a gun to her head.

She told her father the gang forced her to fly to Peru, saying: "I wanted to tell the air hostesses or anyone in the airports, but the men said they would know if we had spoken to anyone, that they were watching all the time.

"It was a choice between doing what I was told and getting it over and done with and hopefully getting back to Spain or trying to escape and being killed."

Ms Reid said she fears evidence in Peru has been contaminated by police because they did not wear gloves as they handled the food bags in which the drugs are said to have been stored, according the newspaper.

When she was told to return to her cell, her father told her: "We will do everything we can to get you out of here. We will work something out."

Police are waiting for a translator before officially questioning the two women, which is expected to happen in the next few days.

They may be held pre-charge for up to 30 days and could then spend up to three years in prison before a trial.

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Egypt: Call For 'March Of Anger' As UN Meets

Key Events In Egypt Since 2011

Updated: 12:32pm UK, Thursday 15 August 2013

January 25 - February 11, 2011 - Egyptians stage nationwide demonstrations against nearly 30 years of President Hosni Mubarak's rule. Hundreds of protesters are killed as Mubarak and his allies try to crush the uprising.

February 11 - Mubarak steps down and the military takes over. The military dissolves parliament and suspends the constitution, meeting two key demands of protesters.

November 28, 2011 - February 15, 2012 - Egypt holds multistage, weeks-long parliamentary elections.

In the lawmaking lower house, the Muslim Brotherhood wins nearly half the seats, and ultraconservative Salafis take another quarter.

The remainder goes to liberal, independent and secular politicians. In the largely powerless upper house, Islamists take nearly 90% of the seats.

May 23 - 24, 2012 - The first round of voting in presidential elections has a field of 13 candidates.

The Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi and Ahmed Shafiq, the last prime minister under Mubarak, emerge as the top two finishers, to face each other in a run-off.

June 14 - The Supreme Constitutional Court orders the dissolving of the lower house of parliament.

June 16 - 17 - Egyptians vote in the presidential run-off between Morsi and Shafiq. Morsi wins with 51.7% of the vote.

June 30 - Morsi takes his oath of office.

November 19 - Members of liberal parties and representatives of Egypt's churches withdraw from the 100-member assembly writing the constitution, protesting attempts by Islamists to impose their will.

November 22 - Morsi unilaterally decrees greater powers for himself, giving his decisions immunity from judicial review and barring the courts from dissolving the constituent assembly and the upper house of parliament. The move sparks days of protests.

November 30  - Islamists in the constituent assembly rush to complete the draft of the constitution. Morsi sets a December 15 date for a referendum.

December 4 - More than 100,000 protesters march on the presidential palace, demanding the cancellation of the referendum and the writing of a new constitution. The next day, Islamists attack an anti-Morsi sit-in, sparking street battles that leave at least 10 dead.

December 15, December 22 - In the two-round referendum, Egyptians approve the constitution, with 63.8% voting in favour. Turnout is low.

January 25, 2013 - Hundreds of thousands hold protests against Morsi on the two-year anniversary of the start of the revolt against Mubarak, and clashes erupt in many places.

February - March 2013 - Protests rage in Port Said and other cities for weeks, with dozens more dying in clashes.

April 7 - A Muslim mob attacks the main cathedral of the Coptic Orthodox Church as Christians hold a funeral and protest there over four Christians killed in sectarian violence the day before. Pope Tawadros II publicly blames Morsi for failing to protect the building.

June 23 - A mob beats to death four Egyptian Shi'ites in a village on the outskirts of Cairo.

June 30 - Millions of Egyptians demonstrate on Morsi's first anniversary in office, calling on him to step down. Eight people are killed in clashes outside the Muslim Brotherhood's Cairo headquarters.

July 1 - Huge demonstrations continue, and Egypt's powerful military gives the president and the opposition 48 hours to resolve their disputes, or it will impose its own solution.

July 2 - Military officials disclose main details of the army's plan if no agreement is reached: replacing Morsi with an interim administration, cancelling the Islamist-based constitution and calling elections in a year. Morsi delivers a late-night speech in which he pledges to defend his legitimacy and vows not to step down.

July 3 - Egypt's military chief announces that Morsi has been deposed, to be replaced by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Constitutional Court until new presidential elections. No time frame is given.

Muslim Brotherhood leaders are arrested. Tens of thousands of Morsi supporters remain camped out in two mass sit-ins in Cairo's streets.

July 4 - Supreme Constitutional Court Chief Justice Adly Mansour is sworn in as Egypt's interim president.

July 5 - Mansour dissolves the Islamist-dominated upper house of parliament as Morsi's supporters stage mass protests demanding his return. Clashes between pro and anti-Morsi groups in Cairo and Alexandria, and violence elsewhere leave at least 36 dead. A Brotherhood strongman, deputy head Khairat el-Shater, is arrested.

July 8 - Egyptian soldiers open fire on pro-Morsi demonstrators in front of a military base in Cairo, killing more than 50. Each side blames the other for starting the clash near the larger of the two sit-ins, near east Cairo's Rabaah al-Adawiya mosque.

Mansour puts forward a time line for amending the constitution and electing a new president and parliament by mid-February. The Brotherhood refuses to participate in the process.

July 9 - Mansour appoints economist Hazem el-Beblawi as prime minister and opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei as vice president. A military announcement backs up the appointments.

July 26 - Millions pour onto the streets of Egypt after a call by the country's military chief for protesters to give him a mandate to stop "potential terrorism" by supporters of Morsi. Five people are killed in clashes.

Prosecutors announce Morsi is under investigation for a host of allegations including murder and conspiracy with the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

July 27  - Security forces and armed men in civilian clothes clash with Morsi supporters outside the larger of the two major sit-ins in Cairo, killing at least 80 people.

July 30 - The EU's top diplomat Catherine Ashton holds a two-hour meeting with detained Morsi at an undisclosed location. She is one of a number of international envoys, including US Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham, to visit Egypt to attempt to resolve the crisis.

August 7  - Egypt's presidency says that diplomatic efforts to peacefully resolve the standoff between the country's military-backed interim leadership and the Muslim Brotherhood have failed.

August 11 - Egyptian security forces announce that they will besiege the two sit-ins within 24 hours to bar people from entering.

August 12 - Authorities postpone plans to take action against the camps, saying they want to avoid bloodshed after Morsi supporters reinforce the sit-ins with thousands more protesters.

August 14 - Riot police clear two sprawling encampments of supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi, sparking running street battles that kill hundreds of people.

The presidency declares a month-long state of emergency across the nation as Vice President Mohamed ElBaradei resigns in protest over the assaults.

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New Zealand Struck By Series Of Strong Quakes

A series of strong earthquakes has hit New Zealand, sending people scrambling for cover and causing the capital, Wellington, to shake "like jelly".

The first tremor, a 6.5-magnitude, struck at 2.31pm local time in the Cook Strait, around 58 miles (94 km) west of Wellington at a depth of six miles (10km), the US Geological Survey said.

It was followed by several aftershocks measuring up to 5.7 and was felt from Christchurch in the South Island to Auckland in the North Island.

Authorities said there were no initial reports of injuries or major damage to buildings, and no tsunami warnings have been issued.

The quake caused a violent jolt in Wellington.

"Lots of aftershocks. 'Beehive' wobbling around like a jelly, but all OK," economic development minister Steven Joyce tweeted, referring to New Zealand's distinctive parliament building.

Resident Juli Ryan tweeted: "That was pretty wild, I was sitting in my parked car watching buildings shake like leaves."

There were reports of power cuts to areas of the South Island, and Wellington's airport was briefly closed to check the runway for damage.

Train services were also stopped in case railway tracks had buckled in the quake, but there were no reports of significant damage.

Lifts were out of action in some office buildings and, as the aftershocks continued, many businesses sent their workers home early, causing large traffic jams in the capital.

A quake of a similar strength in the same area three weeks ago broke water mains, smashed windows and downed power lines.

New Zealand is part of the so-called Pacific 'Ring of Fire' that has regular seismic activity - around 5,000 tremors a year.

A massive earthquake in the city of Christchurch in 2011 killed 185 people and destroyed much of the city's downtown.

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Tributes For Sky Cameraman Killed In Cairo

The Chief Executive of BSkyB has paid tribute to Sky News cameraman Mick Deane, who was shot dead while covering unrest on the streets of Egypt.

Jeremy Darroch expressed his "deepest sympathy" to the 61-year-old's family, adding that the cameraman's death is a reminder of "the bravery and commitment that journalists often show each and every day."

"Like everyone at Sky I was extremely saddened to hear that our colleague Mick Deane had been killed covering the unrest in Cairo," Mr Darroch said.

"Our deepest sympathy and thoughts go to Mick's family in obviously what is a very, very difficult time. We'll be doing whatever we can to help them and Mick's colleagues in the Sky News team.

"Sky News and other news organisations throughout the world play a vital role in bringing information and insight to us all, and in showing the truth in events that occur throughout the world.

"But the tragic events and Mick's death I think also remind us that this is often dangerous work, and of the bravery and commitment that journalists show often each and every day in their search for the truth."

Mick Dean has been described as an inspiring mentor

The married father of two was part of a Sky News team covering the ongoing violence in Cairo. The rest of the news team was unhurt.

Mr Deane had worked for Sky for 15 years, based in Washington and then Jerusalem.

The Head of Sky News, John Ryley, described Mr Deane as the very best of cameramen, a brilliant journalist and an inspiring mentor to many.

"Mick Deane was a really lovely, lovely guy. He was great fun to work with; he was an astonishingly good cameraman who took some brilliant pictures.

"But he also had a first class editorial brain. He had brilliant ideas. He was also good fun after the job was done. He was laid back, and I'm really going to miss him, like lots of people here."

Sky's Foreign Affairs Editor Tim Marshall called Mr Deane "a friend, brave as a lion but what a heart... what a human being".

He added: "Micky was humorous in a dry way, he was wise and when you're on the road with small teams, people like that are diamonds to be with.

"Our hearts go out to his family. He died doing what he'd done so brilliantly for decades."

 Prime Minister David Cameron said: "I want to say how sorry I am about the death of Mick Deane.

"It is an incredibly brave and important job he was doing. It is essential that cameramen are in places like Egypt because otherwise none of us would know what is happening.

"But obviously our thoughts should be with his family and friends at this very, very difficult time for them."

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Bradley Manning: I Hurt The United States

Bradley Manning has told a court martial he is sorry for his actions and admits he hurt the US by passing classified documents to WikiLeaks.

He told a military judge at his sentencing hearing at Fort Meade: "I'm sorry that my actions have hurt people and have hurt the United States."

The soldier made the apology during an unsworn statement, which means he cannot be cross-examined by prosecutors.

Manning faces up to 90 years in prison for leaking the information while working as an intelligence analyst in Iraq in 2010.

The 25-year-old said he understood what he was doing and the decisions he made.

Bradley Manning supporters outside the court

However, he said he did not believe at the time that leaking the information would cause harm.

Earlier, an Army psychologist testified, saying Manning's private struggle with his gender identity in a hostile workplace put incredible pressure on him.

Manning eventually came out to Captain Michael Worsley and emailed the therapist a photo of himself wearing a wig of long, blonde hair and lipstick.

The photo was attached to a letter titled "My problem", in which Manning describes his personal issues and his hope that a military career would "get rid of it".

During his testimony Cpt Worsley said the soldier had little to no support base.

This photo of Manning dressed as a woman was produced in court

He said: "You put him in that kind of hyper-masculine environment, if you will, with little support and few coping skills, the pressure would have been difficult to say the least. It would have been incredible."

Manning's lawyers contend that the soldier showed clear signs of deteriorating mental health that should have prevented commanders from sending him to a warzone to handle classified information.

Cpt Worsley also described some military leaders as lax at best and obstructionist at worst when it came to tending to troop mental health.

He said some in Manning's brigade "had difficulty understanding" recommendations the doctor would make regarding the needs of some soldiers.

"I questioned why they would want to leave somebody in a position with the issue they had," Cpt Worsley said of troubled soldiers.

Manning faces up to 90 years in prison

Navy Captain David Moulton, a psychiatrist who spent 21 hours interviewing Manning after his arrest, testified as a defence witness that Manning's gender identity disorder combined with narcissistic personality traits, post-adolescent idealism and his lack of friends in Iraq caused him to reasonably conclude he could change the world by leaking classified information.

"He became very enthralled with this idea that the things that he was finding were injustices that he felt he morally needed to right," said Cpt Moulton.

He said Manning was struggling to balance his desire to right wrongs with his sense of duty to complete his Army tasks and his fear of losing education benefits and the opportunity to attend college.

Cpt Moulton said: "His decision-making capacity was influenced by the stress of his situation for sure.

"He was under severe emotional stress at the time of the alleged offences."

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Egypt's Brotherhood Defiant After '421 Killed'

The Muslim Brotherhood has pledged to "bring down Egypt's military coup" using peaceful means - as the number of people killed in clashes reportedly rose to 421.

The group, which backs ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, made the statement as a month-long state of emergency was declared in the country.

It followed violence that was sparked when security forces stormed the Cairo protest camps supporting Mr Morsi

Brotherhood spokesman Gehad El Haddad wrote on his Twitter page: "We will always be non-violent and peaceful. We remain strong, defiant and resolved.

"We will push (forward) until we bring down this military coup."

Egypt's health ministry said the number of dead had reached 421 - which the interior ministry has said includes 43 police officers. Hundreds more have been injured. The Muslim Brotherhood claims more than 2,500 died.

Sky cameraman Mick Deane was killed in the violence

Those killed included Sky cameraman Mick Deane, who was part of our team covering the unrest. He was shot on Wednesday morning.

The clashes spread from the capital to other parts of the country, including the Mediterranean city of Alexandria. A curfew from 7pm to 6am was declared in Cairo and 13 other provinces.

Hazem Al Beblawi, Egypt's Prime Minister, said he remained committed to the democratic process under a civilian state.

But he justified the use of force saying that Morsi loyalists had been sowing chaos around the country, "terrorising citizens, attacking public and private property".

"The state had to intervene to restore security and peace for Egyptians," he said. "No democratic country would impose an emergency state unless it is absolutely necessary."

The US was among a number of countries to have condemned the violence.

US Secretary of State John Kerry called the events "deplorable".

"Violence will not create a roadmap for Egypt's future. Violence only impedes the transition," he said.

He added that the promise of the 2011 revolution has not yet been fully realised.

Egypt's vice president, Mohamed ElBaradei, announced his resignation following the violence.

"It has become too difficult to continue bearing responsibility for decisions I do not agree with and whose consequences I fear," he said.

Sky's Middle East Correspondent Sam Kiley was reporting earlier from inside the Rabaa al Adawiya camp.

Describing the fighting he said: "I have covered many wars and this is as severe a battlefield as I have witnessed, with the exception of scenes in Rwanda.

"There are dozens and dozens of people who have been shot in the head, neck and upper body."

The unrest spread beyond the capital, as supporters of Mr Morsi clashed with police in the Nile Delta cities of Minya and Assiut, as police stations, government buildings and churches were attacked or set ablaze.

In Alexandria, tear gas canisters rained down on a pro-Morsi march in the Sharq neighbourhood, amid repeated bursts of automatic gunfire.

Residents armed with clubs came out of their homes and shops to help the police, detaining Morsi supporters and handing them over to officers at the Sharq police station.

Morsi supporters, carrying Egyptian flags and pictures of the deposed leader, then clashed with his opponents on a road carpeted with rocks.

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'Whitey' Bulger: Victims' Families Want Peace

By Amanda Walker, US Correspondent

Bulger was born in 1929 in Boston's 'Southie' neighbourhood - an area he went on to dominate.

He was first arrested at the age of 14 when a life of crime and violence was born.

Over the years local folklore portrayed him as a Robin Hood-style figure - dedicated to protecting the area's streets and their residents.

In court a very different picture was painted - the prosecution called Bulger "one of the most vicious, violent and calculating criminals ever to walk the streets of Boston".

They said he made millions of dollars from drug trafficking and extortion of drug dealers, bookmakers and local businesses - committing multiple murders along the way.

Patricia Donahue, along with her three sons, has attended every day of the seven-week trial. She believes Bulger murdered her husband, a family man with no criminal record, because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

In 1982 Michael Donahue was leaving the Pier 4 restaurant in the then-notorious waterfront area with his friend and former gang member, Edward Halleran, who had asked him for a lift home. The prosecution claimed Bulger opened fire on their car, killing them both. Halleran was his target but Donahue lost his life

Patricia said: "How can anybody do the things that he's done?

"The people that he's hurt ... The people that he's killed ... I don't understand that. My children come from a family where there was no violence so now all of a sudden I have to tell them that not only was he killed but he was shot to death."

Bulger lived his later years in Santa Monica

Fueling the anger of Patricia and other families, Bulger chose not to testify during the trial but his defence team said he vigorously denied two things; being an informant, or "rat", and killing two women.

People close to the trial said for Bulger it was all about legacy and making sure he was remembered as a "good" bad guy.

He opted to live out his days quietly, hiding from law enforcement in laid back Santa Monica.

But the modest apartment he shared with his wife soon gave up the dark secrets of his past.

Guns, fake IDs and over $800,000 in cash were found hidden in the walls of his small apartment. The jury raised a question over what should be done with that money.

Steve Davis is the brother of Debra Davis, one of the women Bulger was accused of killing.

"He goes away (but) we're still scarred with this," he said.

"You know, these people gonna forget his name three months from now. 'Whitey who? What trial?' But the victims' families, we're scarred. We got to serve a life sentence on this."

Boston author Kevin Cullen has written extensively on the case. He says the FBI giving Bulger immunity is what allowed him to commit his crimes over such a long period.

"What separates him from a John Dillinger or an Al Capone or a John Gotti is that he had the nation's premier law enforcement agency, the FBI, actively assisting him," he said.

"So in some respects, he tops all those guys. He was able to get the FBI to help him kill people.

"The FBI didn't just look the other way because he was their informant. They actively assisted in targeting people. They told him who might be talking about him, who might turn him in to other authorities. And he went out and killed these people."

A 1953 mugshot shows a square-jawed Bulger in the vigour of defiant youth, with lawless decades stretched out ahead of him.

His last photograph in custody, taken two years ago, shows a white-haired bearded old man, with countless vicious crimes behind him, still challenging the camera.

Hollywood stars are clamouring to turn the years that span the two into a movie. But for his victims and their families, this is a reality that has haunted them for decades.

Now they are ready for some peace.

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Peru Drugs Bust: Pair Appear In Police Video

A video has emerged of a British and an Irish woman speaking to police shortly after they were arrested on suspicion of cocaine-smuggling in Peru.

The footage shows the two women answering questions shortly after they were held at an airport near the capital, Lima, last week.

Melissa Reid, 19, and Michaela McCollum, 20, protested their innocence after police found 11kg (24.2lbs) of cocaine worth £1.5 million pounds in their luggage.

The police footage also shows an officer examining a row of food bags, in which the drug was allegedly hidden.

Police have accused the two of acting as "drug mules" to carry the contraband back to Europe.

An official weighs and tests the drugs allegedly carried by the two women

Reid, from Lenzie near Glasgow, told officers: "I was forced to take these bags in my luggage."

Asked if she knew the bags contained drugs, Reid replied: "I did not know that."

The pair both confirmed they had travelled to the South American country from Spain.

They had apparently spent several weeks living in Ibiza, where Belfast-born McCollum had reportedly been looking for work as a nightclub dancer and hostess.

Michaella McCollum

Reid had posted dozens of Facebook photos, however her profile had not been updated since late July.

The apparent disappearance had sparked an online campaign, backed by a number of Irish sports stars, to establish McCollum's whereabouts.

Peruvian police said the two had been held and their luggage examined after a sniffer dog detected drugs at the Air Europa check-in counter.

They were believed to have been planning to travel to Madrid and then to the Mediterranean island of Majorca.

Reid was allegedly carrying 18 foil packets containing 5.78kg of cocaine while McCollum was accused of carrying 5.81kg of the drug in 16 bags.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: "We can confirm the arrest of a British national in Peru on August 7. We are providing consular assistance."

Coca leaf is grown in remote areas of Peru for cocaine production

It is understood that McCollum is travelling on an Irish passport.

Drug experts say Peru has almost certainly supplanted Colombia as the world's leading cocaine-producing country and the trade is used to fund a violent leftist insurgency.

:: On Monday, two bodies of suspected Shining Path rebel leaders were taken to Lima for DNA testing, after the pair died in a shootout with security forces a day earlier.

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Dalai Lama's Website Hacked In 'Spying Attack'

The Chinese-language website of Tibet's exiled spiritual leader has been attacked with a virus that gives hackers control over visitors' computers.

Kurt Baumgartner, a researcher at security firm Kapersky, said people should stay away from the Chinese version of the Central Tibetan Administration site until the bug is fixed.

On his blog, he said the so-called "water holing"technique had been used where hackers infect a site that is frequently visited by people whose computers they want to control.

That compromised site automatically seeks to infect the PCs of all visitors, downloading malicious software that the hackers can use to take control of their computers in what may be an attempt to spy on human rights' activists.

Tibet.net is the official site of the exiled government and it covers the parliament, cabinet, administrative departments, and public offices.

Tashi Phuntsok, a spokesman for the exiled Tibetan government, said: "Our office cannot access the website and we are trying to figure out what kind of virus is responsible for the problem."

"We are a prominent target for attacks by Chinese hackers."

The Dalai Lama addresses devotees in Dharamshala

It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the latest attack, but Mr Baumgartner said there was evidence to suggest the same hackers were responsible for previous breaches on the site, as well as attacks on other groups that focus on human rights in Asia.

"They have been trying repeatedly to find vulnerabilities in the site," said the security expert, who believes the malicious code works by exploiting a bug in Oracle's Java software.

Oracle has not yet commented on the claims.

The Dalai Lama fled Tibet following a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959. He later founded the government-in-exile in Dharamshala after being offered refuge by India.

China sees the spiritual leader as a "separatist" who incites violence in Tibet, while the Dalai Lama insists his focus is a peaceful campaign for greater autonomy for his homeland.

The cyber attack is the latest to involve human rights groups in greater China.

Human rights groups and other NGOs focused on China were hit by denial of service attacks that disrupted their websites during a spate of attacks blamed on China in 2010 and 2011.

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Egypt's Police To Clear Pro-Morsi Camps

Egyptian police are expected to clear protest camps supporting the country's ousted president in Cairo within 24 hours.

In a move which could trigger more violence and bloodshed, security and government sources said action against the sit-ins could start by daybreak on Monday.

The camps are the main flashpoints in the confrontation between the army, which toppled Mohamed Morsi last month, and supporters who demand his reinstatement.

Western and Arab mediators and some members of the Egyptian government have been trying to persuade the army to avoid using force to disperse the protesters, who at times can number as many as tens of thousands.

But Army chief General Abdel Fattah al Sisi, who toppled Mr Morsi, has come under pressure from hardline military officers to move against the protesters, security sources say.

Almost 300 people have been killed in political violence since the overthrow, including dozens of supporters shot dead by security forces in two incidents.

Thousands of people want Mr Morsi reinstated

Any further violence would almost certainly deepen Egypt's political crisis and keep the government from dealing with vital issues such as the fragile economy.

"State security troops will be deployed around the sit-ins by dawn as a start of procedures that will eventually lead to a dispersal," said a senior security source, adding that the first step will be to surround the camps.

Another security source said the decision to take action, just after celebrations following the holy month of Ramadan, came after a meeting between the interior minister and his aides.

Mr Morsi's supporters, mainly from his Muslim Brotherhood, have turned the camps into something resembling fortresses.

Sandbags and piles of big rocks have been set up all over.

Guards with sticks wear motorcycle helmets in anticipation of a raid that would require security forces to crack down in a heavily congested area that includes children.

Egyptian authorities have warned the protesters to leave the camps or face the consequences.

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Peace Talks: Israel To Free Palestinian Inmates

Israeli Swap Soldier Shalit Returns Home

Updated: 10:48pm UK, Tuesday 18 October 2011

Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit has returned home after being freed as part of a prisoner swap deal with Palestine.

Sergeant Shalit, 25, was met by huge crowds lining the streets in the village of Mitzpe Hila in northern Israel.

He had earlier been flown to Tel Nof air base by helicopter where he was met by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his family.

The soldier was freed after more than five years in captivity in the Gaza Strip in an exchange which will see 1,027 Palestinian prisoners in total also released.

Hundreds of those being freed under the deal with Hamas were serving life sentences for killing Israelis.

Sgt Shalit was greeted by a national outpouring of emotion in his home country, echoed by jubilant scenes in Gaza and the West Bank as their nationals returned.

As Palestine released the young soldier and he was flown home, Israel simultaneously released 477 Palestinian prisoners.

A military statement said the solder was in good health but witnesses said he felt nauseous and weak and had needed oxygen when he landed.

Mr Netanyahu told the soldier's parents as he waited with them: "I brought your boy home."

He insisted he felt the paid of relatives of Israelis killed by Palestinians and admitted the price of Sgt Shalit's release had been high. "It is a difficult day," he said.

:: Read the updates from the Sky News team as they happened

The freed soldier, appearing on Egyptian television, said he hoped his release would lead to peace between Israel and Palestine.

"You can't imagine how I felt when I heard I was going home," he said. "I received this news a week ago and I felt then that this would be my last chance to be free.

"They were long years. But I always thought the day would come when I finally get out of captivity. Of course I miss my family very much. I also miss my friends.

"I hope this deal will lead to peace between Palestinians and Israelis and that it will support cooperation between both sides."

However, there was little sign from either side that the deal could be the starting point of a new dialogue.

Tens of thousands of people at a rally in Gaza for freed prisoners urged fighters to capture more soldiers to help free other Palestinians still being held.

Crowds awaiting them at a West Bank checkpoint hurled rocks at Israeli soldiers, who responded with tear gas.

Mr Netanyahu warned the former prisoners they would be "taking their life into their own hands" if they "returned to terror".

Sgt Shalit was only 19 when he was captured by three Gaza-based militant groups in a deadly cross-border raid on June 25, 2006.

Three days after he was snatched, Israel launched a huge military operation against Gaza to try to secure his release. It lasted five months and left more than 400 Palestinians dead.

But the operation was unsuccessful and in June 2007 Hamas seized power in Gaza, holding the young soldier at a secret location until now.

Egypt helped broker the deal between Israel and Hamas that allowed him to finally be freed.

Israeli officials have acknowledged it will be painful for the bereaved relatives but said it was the best agreement that could be reached.

Under its terms, 450 male and 27 female prisoners have been released, with a second batch, whose names have yet to be decided, to follow in the coming two months.

Among the freed Palestinians are Walid Anjas, who received 36 life sentences over a 2002 attack on a Jerusalem bar that killed 11 Israelis, and Nasr Yateyma, who was convicted of planning the 2002 Passover bombing which killed 29.

Others were involved in kidnapping and killing Israeli soldiers.

Sgt Shalit's father Noam described the last five years as a "long, hard struggle" after the family returned home with the solder.

"Today we can say that we have gone through a rebirth of our son," he said.

But he admitted that even for his own family, the deal struck with Hamas for his release "is not easy".

He said his son was "feeling well" but had some minor injuries and would not come out to speak himself.

On the other side of the divide in Gaza, a national holiday was declared and flag-waving young men drove through the streets.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh embraced the freed prisoners as they piled out of buses.

Other former prisoners also received a heroes' welcome in Ramallah, the headquarters of Abbas's West Bank-based Palestinian Authority.

"This is the greatest joy for the Palestinian people," said Azzia al-Qawasmeh, who was waiting for her son Amer, who she said had been in prison for 24 years.

Meanwhile, international efforts to revive peace talks have failed to bring both sides together for a meeting due in Jerusalem on October 26.

Envoys from the Quartet of mediators - the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations - will instead hold separate meetings with each party.

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Balcony Fall: Couple Rescued In China

A man and his girlfriend have been saved by neighbours after they fell off a balcony in China.

The young man was talking to his girlfriend when she slipped and fell from the fifth-floor balcony of a block of flats in Harbin, in Heilongjiang Province.

The man caught her, but was almost pulled out of the window.

Quick-thinking neighbours grabbed hold of the pair and held on until firefighters arrived.

"The doors to the rooms were on the other side of the building, so we had to climb three storeys using a ladder and a tent provided by a local resident," a firefighter said at the scene.

"Then I stood on the third floor window and pushed her back up."

After a 20-minute rescue effort, the couple were lifted to safety.

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Idaho: Teenager Rescued After Suspect Killed

US Abductor 'May Have Explosives'

Updated: 5:28pm UK, Saturday 10 August 2013

The car of a man suspected of killing a woman and her son, and then abducting her 16-year-old daughter, has been found in Idaho.

San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore said horseback riders reported seeing two people matching the description of the suspect and girl in the Cascade area 70 miles northeast of Boise on Wednesday.

Investigators have said an "unusual infatuation" with the teenager might have driven suspect James Lee DiMaggio, 40, to flee with Hannah Anderson from his burned-out home on the California-Mexico border.

"That is kind of a working theory, that it may be something of a motivator," San Diego County Sheriff's Captain Duncan Fraser said. "It's definitely something that we're looking at."

Evidence found in the rubble of the home lead police to believe DiMaggio may have explosives and might abandon his blue Nissan Versa after rigging it to explode.

"In the event that someone comes across the car, they need to use caution," Captain Fraser warned.

On Sunday night, authorities found the body of 44-year-old Christina Anderson when they extinguished flames at DiMaggio's rural home. A child's body was also discovered as they sifted through rubble in Boulevard, a tiny town 65 miles east of San Diego.

The body was identified several days later as eight-year-old Ethan Anderson.

DiMaggio allegedly told Hannah a couple of months ago he had a crush on her and would date her if they were the same age. 

A 15-year-old friend, Marissa Chavez, witnessed the remarks when DiMaggio was driving them home from a gymnastics competition.

"She was a little creeped out by it. She didn't want to be alone with him," she said.

DiMaggio is wanted on suspicion of murder and arson in a search that began in California and quickly spread to Oregon, Washington, Nevada, British Columbia and Mexico's Baja California state.

A possible sighting was reported in northeast California near Alturas on Wednesday afternoon, followed by another about 50 miles along the same road near Lakeview, in south-central Oregon.

Captain Fraser, whose office has had hundreds of leads on DiMaggio's whereabouts, said the Oregon tip appeared "very credible". "We're taking it very seriously," he said.

DiMaggio, a telecommunications technician, was said to have been like an uncle to Hannah and Ethan Anderson and had been close to both of their parents for years.

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Syria Airstrikes Leave More Than 30 Dead

More than 30 people have reportedly been killed in Syrian government air strikes in Latakia province and the northern city of Raqa.

Seven children were among at least 13 civilians who died in an air raid on Raqa, the only provincial capital in rebel hands, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group.

It said the raid was apparently aimed at positions of the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) which largely controls the city.

ISIS has been the dominant force in the city since its capture by rebels in March.

Residents have held several protests against the policies of ISIS which follows an extremist line of Islam, according to the Observatory.

Government forces attack Raqa, the only provincial capital in rebel hands

An Italian Jesuit priest and activist, Paolo Dall'Oglio, who hoped to negotiate with ISIS in Raqa, went missing in the city at the start of August.

In the coastal Latakia province of northwest Syria, at least 20 people were killed in several air strikes on the Sunni rebel town of Salma, the Observatory said.

At least six of those killed were Syrian rebel fighters while four were foreign volunteers, said Rami Abdel Rahman, who heads the Observatory.

Latakia province is a stronghold of the Alawite minority of Syrian President Bashar al Assad, apart from rebel-held pockets.

Islamist rebel forces have captured about 10 Alawite villages in Jabal al-Akrad, a mountainous area of the province.

The army has hit back, sparking fierce fighting that has left dozens dead on both sides.

Smoke rises in the town of Salma

Rebels have kidnapped a leading Alawite cleric, Sheikh Badreddine Ghazal, said the Observatory, which relies on a network of activists on the ground and medics for its information.

In Damascus, a car bomb ripped through the Shaghur district of the capital late on Saturday, wounding several people, three of them children.

In Aleppo province, further east, government troops stormed a village overnight, killing 12 people, the Observatory said.

Al-Nusra Front jihadists and other rebel fighters in the eastern city of Deir Ezzor seized control of the offices of Syria's ruling Baath party in the Howeika district, sparking regime bombardment, the Observatory said.

More than 100,000 people have been killed in the past 29 months of conflict.

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India: Child Slaves Rescued After Police Raids

By Neville Lazarus, Sky News Asia Producer

India has the dubious distinction of having the largest number of child labourers under the age of 14.

These children are trafficked from the poorest parts of the country. All promised a better life in the bright lights of growing cities.

Some parents are paid just 3,000 Indian Rupees (less than £35 ) and a promise of more money later to part with their children. Traffickers quickly move them to the bigger cities and sell them to contractors. 

Mr Satyarthi: 'The products come from the sweat and blood of the children'

Once in the clutches of a contractor, these children are put to work in almost inhuman conditions. They neither get their promised wages nor see their parents for years on end.

Kailash Satyarthi, of Bachpan Bachao Andolan, a child campaign group, estimates the number of child labourers in India could be around 50 million; close to 80 % of Britain's population. Though the government maintains the figures are far less.

"Children are largely employed in the garment industry and a large number make products that are exported to the western world," he said.

"The cheap products are sold on the high streets of London, Paris and New York, and when people buy these cheap products they in turn are responsible for the perpetuation of slavery. These cheap products are made from the sweat and blood of these child slaves"

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Delhi is a hub and transit point for child trafficking. Sweatshops dot the capital.

Campaigners tell us it is very difficult to stop this practice unless there is a sustained and concerted effort from not only the authorities, but consumers themselves.

Police raids are not the solution and raids are complicated to initiate. It involves multiple departments of the government and also the police. In a number of instances the employers are tipped off before an impending raid because of corruption.

Employers say they prefer hiring children as they're easier to deal with

In this particular raid Sky News went on, activists had information of over 100 children employed in a three-storey building, but only found 31. The owner had been tipped-off and the children were made to disappear.

One of the children rescued is Rehman, who is just 13-years-old. He was brought to Delhi by a relative three months ago from his impoverished village in Bihar.

For the last three months he has been working from nine in the morning till after midnight, with breaks only for meals. He told me he worked with 30 children doing embroidery in one of the rooms in the building.

It is where they eat, sleep and work - it was their world. He was only allowed out on a Saturday for a few hours which he spent playing cricket in in the street.

He tells me he was too afraid to run away.

The children get a medical check before being returned to their parents

"Where would I run and who would I run to?" he said. "I have no money since I never got paid." Now he just wants to return to his mother.

Child labour is very real in many parts of India. The campaign groups say contractors prefer children as it is easier to deal with them. Once they are away from their guardians they eventually become bonded labourers and become almost free for their employers.

Rehman and his 30 friends are free now. They undergo a medical check and will be comforted by activists. The Government is responsible for uniting them with their families and enrolling them in schools. 

But in many cases poverty drives them back into the clutches of contractors. 

The raided sweatshop is sealed by the authorities and the employer is charged.

As for the traffickers, they have enough of a supply chain in the poverty-stricken villages of India. The cheap work force in sweatshops is soon replaced.

Products need to be manufactured for the insatiable demand of customers and for profits. It's win-win for everyone - except the children.

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