Iraq Hangings 'Obscene', Says United Nations

The United Nations has condemned the "obscene" execution of 42 people in Iraq this week, saying the country's justice system is too flawed to use the death penalty.

Iraq's justice ministry claimed those hanged on Wednesday and Thursday had been convicted of terrorism charges.

But Rupert Colville, the UN human rights spokesman, said the country was not in a position to carry out executions.

"The justice system in Iraq is too seriously flawed to warrant even a limited application of the death penalty, let alone dozens of executions at a time," said Mr Colville.

"Large-scale executions of the sort that have been carried out on a number of occasions over the past two years in Iraq are not only obscene and inhuman, they are most probably in contravention of international law."

Iraq also executed 23 people during two days in September, 20 of them convicted on "terrorism" charges, with Justice Minister Hassan al Shammari claiming their actions had led to civilian deaths.

The UN spokesman did not go into specific cases but said concerns remained over the use of torture to extract confessions, as well as flawed court hearings.

It now wants Iraq to stop the executions and commute the sentences of the hundreds of other people believed to be on death row.

The number of people being executed in Iraq has risen from 18 in 2010 to 67 in 2011, 123 in 2012 and 140 so far this year, Mr Colville said.

At least 5,740 civilians have been killed in violence in Iraq from January to September this year, according to UN figures.

It represents the worst violence in the country since 2008, when the country was emerging from civil war.

Sectarian attacks and suicide bombings by al Qaeda Sunni Islamists have become a regular occurrence.

In one attack last week, bombers drove a truck packed with explosive into a school playground, killing 12 students and their headmaster.

The UN human rights spokesman added: "In our view, the claim that using the death penalty can help deter terrorism is clearly exposed as a fallacy, given the soaring casualty rate in Iraq, which has occurred over roughly the same period as the dramatic and shocking increase in the use of the death penalty."

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Lampedusa: 27 Migrants Dead In Latest Sinking

At least 27 people are said to have died and 221 people saved after a migrant boat capsized in the Mediterranean off the Italian island of Lampedusa.

Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat revealed the number of casualties, three of them children, while the Italian navy said it had rescued 221 from the water during a joint Italian-Maltese operation.

Coastguard spokesman Marco Di Milla said they received a satellite phone call from the boat that was in distress and were able to locate it based on the satellite coordinates.

The Italian navy and Maltese armed forces rescued survivors

A Maltese aircraft was sent up and reported that the boat had capsized and that "numerous" people were in the water.

The aircraft dropped a life raft, and a patrol boat soon arrived at the scene, according to a statement from the Maltese armed forces.

Helicopters airlifted the injured to Lampedusa Hospital where a large medical team treated them as soon as they arrived.

Hospital director Pietro Bertolo told journalists: "They are wet and very scared, but they are doing well."

Around 221 people were pulled from the water

He said that among the migrants was a "little boy, around two years, who is very beautiful" with his "young" mother.

"They are soaking wet, we are changing them ... the father is still at the scene of the accident and is on a rescue boat," he added.

The incident comes just over a week after a boat carrying African asylum seekers caught fire and sank off Lampedusa, killing up to 350 people.

It is the second migrant vessel to sink off Lampedusa in just over a week

The deaths have prompted renewed calls for the European Union to do more to better patrol the southern Mediterranean and prevent such tragedies - and for countries like Libya to crack down on smuggling operations.

"We cannot allow the Mediterranean to become a cemetery," Mr Muscat told a news conference in Valletta, the Maltese capital.

Residents of the remote southern Italian island have long complained that they have been left alone to deal with the thousands of migrants who come ashore each year from Africa and the Middle East.

Up to 350 people died after another boat caught fire and sank last week

Some 30,000 migrants have flocked to Italy so far this year. An estimated 17,000 to 20,000 have died while crossing the Mediterranean during the past 20 years on overcrowded fishing boats or rubber dinghies, seeking a better life in Europe.

Eritrea, Somalia and Syria are the main countries of origin and the majority of arrivals are on Lampedusa, Italy's southernmost point which is closer to north Africa than to the Italian mainland.

During a visit to Lampedusa this week, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso promised Italy some 30 million euros (£25.5m) in EU funds to better care for newly arrived migrants.

Italian officials pledged to put the issue on the agenda of an upcoming EU summit and on the EU agenda next year, when Italy and Greece hold the EU presidencies.

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Cyclone Phailin: Thousands Flee In East India

More than 250,000 villagers have fled their homes as a huge cyclone gathers strength and heads towards India's east coast.

Cyclone Phailin - which is already so large it has nearly filled the Bay of Bengal - is expected to be the fiercest storm to hit India since a devastating cyclone killed 10,000 people 14 years ago.

Large waves have already been pounding beaches in the state of Andhra Pradesh before the storm is due to hit.

Villagers along the coast were evacuated to schools in the north of the state and in neighbouring Odisha, while panic buying drove up food prices.

Authorities have been evacuating villagers along the coast to government-run shelters and schools in three districts of Andhra Pradesh state and five districts of Orissa state.

People in the coastal village of Podampata watch as waves gather force

But many villagers said they had not been told to evacuate, and others were refusing to leave their homes.

"Of course I'm scared, but where will I move with my family?" said Kuramayya, 38, a fisherman from the village of Bandharuvanipeta, while 12ft waves crashed behind him. "We can't leave our boats behind."

Satellite images showed Phailin some 310 miles (500km) off the coast and likely to make landfall tonight (3pm-6pm UK time), with widespread flooding expected.

Some forecasters likened its size and intensity to hurricane Katrina, which devastated the US Gulf coast and New Orleans in 2005.

The Indian Meteorological Department said Phailin would hit between Kalingapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and the port of Paradip in Odisha state and predicted storm surges 10ft above normal tides.

The storm is due to hit Andhra Pradesh and Odisha Pic: Tropical Storm Risk

It described it as a "very severe cyclonic storm" with winds of 130-135 mph but resisted upgrading it to a stronger "super cyclone".

However, London-based storm tracking experts Tropical Storm Risk said Phailin was a super cyclone and placed it in the most powerful Category 5 of storms.

That was the same strength of storm that battered Odisha in 1999, killing thousands.

"Phailin will be no less than the 1999 super cyclone," said Odisha state's Special Relief Commissioner Pradeep Kumar Mohapatra.

He said half a million people were expected to move to shelters in the state.

Indian authorities warned of extensive damage to crops and buildings, and disruption to power, water and rail services.

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Foxconn Admits Student Intern Labour Breach

An Asian company that assembles products for Apple and Sony has admitted breaching labour laws with its interns.

Taiwan's Foxconn revealed that students worked night shifts and overtime in violation of company policy in its Chinese facility.

"In the case of recent allegations regarding the internship programme at our Yantai campus, we have conducted an internal investigation," the company said in a statement issued late on Thursday.

"And have determined that there have been a few instances where our policies pertaining to overtime and night shift work were not enforced."

The statement came after Chinese media reported that an information engineering university in the city of Xian allegedly forced students to join the Foxconn internship programme in Shandong province in order to graduate.

The Oriental Morning Post quoted some students as saying they were assigned to assembly lines to make Sony's PlayStation games consoles instead of doing any work relating to their course and were sometimes forced to work 11 hours a day.

When some students wanted to drop out, they were told they would lose their internship credits and would be unable to get their diplomas, the report said.

Foxconn said it had taken immediate action "to bring that campus into full compliance with our code and policies".

The company said it would reinforce its policy of no overtime and no night shifts for student interns, and would remind interns of their right to end their participation in the programme at any time.

Foxconn, the trade name for Taiwan-based Hon Hai Precision Industry Company, is the world's largest contract electronics maker.

It assembles products for Apple, Sony and Nokia, among others, in huge plants in China where it employs more than one million workers.

The company has come under the spotlight in recent years after suicides and unrest among workers at its Chinese plants.

In 2010, at least 13 Foxconn employees in China died in apparent suicides, which activists blamed on tough working conditions, prompting calls for better treatment of staff.

Although Foxconn denied the accusations, it raised wages by nearly 70% at its China plants in 2010.

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'White Widow' Lewthwaite 'Key' In Al Shabaab

By Alex Crawford, Special Correspondent, In Kenya

Sky News has obtained a Kenyan intelligence report which for the first time shows the reach of the al Shabaab terror network - which carried out the Nairobi shopping mall attack - and the extent of British involvement within the group.

It suggests that Samantha Lewthwaite - the British woman known as the 'White Widow' because she was married to one of the 7/7 London bombers - is an important figure in the terror outfit, plotting multiple bomb attacks across Kenya.

Sky has also been given access to a personal diary of hers which gives a fascinating insight into her mind, where she talks about her ambitions for her children and her love for her husband.

The intelligence report, which is 35 pages long, gives a detailed breakdown of how the network is operating throughout Africa with recruits and cells working in a huge range of countries including Somalia, Uganda, Burundi, Zambia, Tanzania, Mali and South Africa as well as further afield in Yemen and Pakistan.

The report says Lewthwaite is a 'logistician' in a six-person terror cell

But what seems clear is that the group's stronghold and focus is in Kenya with major operational bases in the capital Nairobi and Mombasa.

The report is highly damaging for the Kenyan authorities as it also shows there were clear warnings up to eight months ago that a "Mumbai-style attack" was being planned in Nairobi on the Westgate shopping mall.

It goes on to identify 29-year-old Lewthwaite as a "logistician" within a six-person terror cell which the Kenyans believe was co-ordinated by Abdulkadir Mohamed Abdulkadir, whose alias is Ikrima.

Ikrima is a Kenyan who the authorities believe has been elevated to al Shabaab management.

He was the target of the US Navy Seals' mission last weekend which set out to "capture or kill" him from the Somalian port town of Barawe.

She is implicated in the Nairobi shopping centre attack in September

The mission was aborted when the Seals encountered tougher resistance than expected when they landed.

The other members of the terror cell Ikrima was co-ordinating include Fahmi Jamal Salim, who is apparently the cell leader and who the intelligence agencies believe is now married to Lewthwaite.

Other members are said to be Jermaine Grant, who is currently on trial in Mombasa on terror charges which he denies.

The report details how the group was plotting multiple attacks targeting the Kenyan parliament buildings, UN offices in Nairobi, restaurants and a string of assassinations focusing on senior politicians within Kenya.

Londoner Jermaine Grant is also believed to be part of the same group

Kenyan intelligence believes Lewthwaite was living in an exclusive villa in the Shanzu area of Mombasa when the attacks were being planned.

A police raid on a nearby apartment rented by Grant - which led to his arrest - then prompted a subsequent raid on the upmarket villa where Lewthwaite was living with her children.

But the mother-of-four was not there. The police say they found a stash of ammunition there as well as a laptop and excerpts of a diary or journal which Lewthwaite had begun writing.

Lewthwaite's husband Jermaine Lindsay (L) on a dry run for the 7/7 attacks

The journal appears to be the start of a book which Lewthwaite was working on entitled I Want To Be A Mujahid (Islamic military fighter).

It outlines questions she was going to pose to interviewees as well as gives an insight into her love for her husband and reveals a little about how she is bringing up her children.

She writes with pride about how two of her children want to emulate their father - Jermaine Lindsay, who was one of the London 7/7 bombers in the Tube and bus attacks in 2005 which killed more than 50 people.

She recounts how her husband had asked her children what they wanted to be when they got older.

Lewthwaite writes: "Both had many answers but both agreed to one of wanting to be a mujahid."

Extracts from Lewthwaite's diary recovered by police

She goes on to express her commitment and desire to be a good Muslim and how blessed she believes she is to have been married to a shaheed (martyr) in reference to her suicide-bomber partner.

We managed to persuade one of Kenya's most controversial religious scholars to sit down with us and talk about his views - which have led to him being accused by the UN of recruiting al Shabaab fighters and raising funds for the outfit.

Sheikh Abubakar Shariff, who is also known as Makaburi, told us the accusations against him were all "b*******".

Interpol recently issued a 'Red Notice' for Lewthwaite's arrest

He accused the Kenyan government of waging a religious war and allowing the persecution of Muslims who he believes are all being targeted and labelled as terrorists in the wake of the Westgate mall attack.

"Because of the failings of our Government and our military and police in stopping the attack, we, as Muslims, are all being targeted now," he told me.

Makaburi who is also accused by the Kenyan authorities of inciting violence and of encouraging young men to take up jihad (or Holy war) in Somalia, denied he was a member of al Shabaab but said: "I am a Muslim. I speak truthfully. I might have association with al Shabaab without me knowing they are from al Shabaab.

"I cannot say no, I don't know al Shabaab. Maybe one of my friends is a member of al Shabaab without me knowing. But do I have, what you call it, ties with al Shabaab? No, I don't."

He went on to say under his interpretation of the Koran, the Westgate attack was justified because of all the wrongs being meted out to Muslims by the West, the Kenyan Defence Force (who are fighting al Shabaab in Somalia), Ethiopians and other military in "Somalia, Guantanamo Bay, Iraq and all over the world every day".

There is little chance the woman being hunted by Interpol is still in Mombasa, but what the intelligence report indicates is it is now a major hub as well as gateway to terrorism for those bent on violence.

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Nobel Peace Prize Goes To Weapons Watchdog

A global chemical weapons watchdog based in the Hague has won this year's Nobel Peace Prize.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has handed the award to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) "for its extensive efforts to eliminate chemical weapons."

The OPCW was founded in 1997 to implement the Chemical Weapons Convention signed on January 13, 1993.

Its work is currently in the spotlight, as it is supervising the dismantling of Syria's chemical arsenal and facilities under the terms of a UN Security Council resolution.

A team of around 30 OPCW arms experts and UN logistics and security personnel are on the ground in Syria and have started to destroy weapons production facilities.

Footage of their work has been shown on Syrian television.

Inspectors at a chemical weapons facility in Syria

The OPCW said on Tuesday it was sending a second wave of inspectors to bolster the disarmament mission in the war-ravaged nation.

Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl who was shot by the Taliban, was among those tipped to lift the peace prize.

Had the 16-year-old won, she would have become the youngest-ever Nobel laureate.

On Thursday she was named as the winner of the EU's Sakharov prize, which is considered Europe's top human rights accolade.

Previous Nobel peace prize laureates include Nelson Mandela, US President Barack Obama, the Dalai Lama and Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

In 2012 the prize was awarded to the European Union in recognition of its contribution to peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe.

More follows...

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US Suspends Millions In Aid To Egypt Military

The United States is suspending the handover of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of aid and support to Egypt's military.

The US government said it was "recalibrating" its $1.3bn (£0.8bn) annual aid to Egypt, putting on hold the delivery of large military systems and withholding some of its cash assistance.

"Large-scale military systems and cash assistance to the government," would be frozen, a spokesman said, "pending credible progress toward an inclusive, democratically elected civilian government through free and fair elections."

In recent weeks the country has been hit by intensifying violence, which follows the toppling of elected president Mohamed Morsi.

Hundreds have been killed during demonstrations, the vast majority of whom were supporters of Morsi.

The move by the US raises expectations that the Obama administration will describe Morsi's ousting as a coup. 

Under US law it is illegal to fund a regime that has taken power as a result of a military coup.

Many have claimed the overthrow of Morsi was a coup because it appeared to have taken place with the support of Egypt's powerful military.

It also involved the removal of a democratically elected leader, and his replacement with a non-elected ruler whose appointment was announced by the military.

Egypt's military has been funded with aid since the Camp David Accord in 1978, which was seen as a crucial move in the promotion of peace in the Middle East.

The amount it receives is second only to the amount received by Israel, which was also a signatory to the accord.

Egypt uses much of its aid to order US-made defence equipment such as Apache helicopters and F-16 warplanes.

The spokesman did not say exactly how much of the aid would be suspended, but among the shipments delayed would be one for a number of MA-1 Abrams tanks and Apache attack helicopters placed on order four years ago.

Egypt will still receive crucial spare parts for certain military equipment and training for the country's armed forces will continue, officials said.

The US will also continue to provide aid that helps "secure Egypt's borders" and bolsters "counterterrorism" and "security in the Sinai."

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Lynne Spalding Found Dead In Hospital Stairwell

A British patient who disappeared from her room at San Francisco's main public hospital more than two weeks ago has been found dead in a stairwell at the building.

Lynne Spalding, 57, was admitted to San Francisco General Hospital for a urinary tract infection on September 19.

The mother-of-two was reported missing from her room there two days later.

A flyer used in the search for Ms Spalding. Pic: Find Lynne

Ms Spalding's relatives and friends spent days scouring the streets of San Francisco with flyers and set up a Facebook page to help find her.

But a member of the hospital's engineering staff found Ms Spalding's body on Tuesday - 17 days after she vanished - while conducting a routine check.

Authorities are continuing to investigate how the marketing and tourism executive, who was originally from Peterlee, County Durham, got there and what caused her death.

The hospital's chief medical officer Todd May said: "What happened at our hospital is horrible.

"We are here to take care of patients, to heal them, to keep them safe. This has shaken us to our core. Our staff is devastated."

Nurses were checking on her every 15 minutes, and she disappeared in the brief time between those visits, Mr May said.

The last time she was seen - about 10.15am on September 21 - she was in a "fair condition", the hospital said.

But friends said Ms Spalding was very thin, frail and on medication that could have made her confused when she disappeared.

Police inspect an outside stairwell at the hospital

The San Francisco Sheriff's Department provides security at the hospital.

Assistant Sheriff Paul Miyamoto said it was not yet known how long Ms Spalding had been in the exterior stairwell.

The rarely used stairwell is a fire exit that has an alarm on it, is locked from the outside and exits onto hospital grounds.

"All of us are committed to learning what happened and ensuring it never happens again," Mr Miyamoto said.

David Perry, who is acting as a spokesman for Ms Spalding's family, has told Sky News that relatives and friends are "horrified, dismayed and frustrated".

"For 17 days Lynne's body was there unfound in the very hospital where she'd gone for treatment," he said.

Mr Perry said officials have a lot of explaining to do as to why Ms Spalding "died alone, in the stairwell, at one of the finest medical institutions" in the US.

"There are a number of questions for San Francisco General Hospital and the San Francisco Sheriff's Department," he told Sky News.

About 100,000 patients pass through the hospital every year

"The San Francisco Sheriff's Department oversees searches and security at the hospital, and we were assured that a search had been done.

"If they searched for her 17 days ago, it wasn't a very good search because her dead body was discovered there."

But Mr Perry praised the work carried out by the San Francisco Police Department, which was responsible for searching outside the hospital.

Ms Spalding had lived in the city for more than two decades and had two grown-up children, a 19-year-old son and 23-year-old daughter, who both live in the US.

Mr Perry said Ms Spalding's children are "stunned".

He added: "She had dozens of friends. She was well known and well liked. She was a consummate professional."

The Sheriff's Department is conducting an internal investigation of its security measures at the hospital.

The Foreign Office said it was providing consular assistance to Ms Spalding's family.

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Libya PM Ali Zeidan Kidnapped At Gunpoint

Libya's Prime Minister Ali Zeidan is reportedly in "good health and being treated well" after he was kidnapped by gunmen at a luxury Tripoli hotel where he lives.

Mr Zeidan is being held at the interior ministry's anti-crime department, said an official there, after being seized by up to 150 armed men who arrived at the Corinthia Hotel in pick-up trucks.

Witnesses said a large group of them entered the building, some stayed in reception while others headed to the 21st floor where Mr Zeidan was staying.

The gunmen scuffled with the prime minister's guards before they seized him and led him out at around 5.15am (local time), said the witnesses, adding he offered no resistance while he was being led away.

Two of his guards were also taken. The security pair were beaten up but later released, another official said.

The government had said the PM was taken to an unknown location after being kidnapped by former rebels.

Mr Zeidan's abduction reflected the weakness of the government, which is virtually held hostage by powerful militias, many of which are made up of Islamic militants.

A group of ex-rebels said it had 'arrested' Mr Zeidan after US Secretary of State John Kerry confirmed Libya's role in the US capture of alleged al Qaeda leader Abu Anas al Libi.

Mr Zeidan pictured with Prime Minister David Cameron

A spokesman for the group, known as the Operations Room of Libya's Revolutionaries, said: "His arrest comes after ... (Kerry) said the Libyan government was aware of the operation."

The militia group, which had been hired by the government to provide security in the city, said it had seized Mr Zeidan "on the prosecutor's orders".

The premier "was arrested under the Libyan penal code... on the instructions of the public prosecutor", it said, adding he was detained for "crimes and offences prejudicial to the state" and its security.

Sky's Foreign Affairs Editor Tim Marshall said: "If this claim is true, it would appear that the prime minister of Libya has been detained by a faction that answers nominally to part of his own government."

Foreign Secretary William Hague said he condemned the abduction of the PM and called for his immediate release.

The former rebel group appeared to post a warning of its intentions on Facebook on Monday.

It said it "holds everyone who is involved in co-operating with foreign intelligence" responsible for the "kidnap" of al Libi and "will pursue them and bring them to justice".

Two years after a revolution toppled Libya's Muammar Gaddafi, the fragile central government has been struggling to contain tribal militias and groups of former rebels who spearheaded the uprising.

Al Qaeda suspect Abu Anas al Libi was seized by the US last Saturday

Marshall said: "The prime minister of Libya's jurisdiction runs about to the end of his hotel corridor and then stops because there is no real government, certainly in the sense that we understand it.

"It is a lawless place that is falling apart into different factions, tribes, regions, areas and groups. The fact this man has been detained does not alter the trajectory of Libya's spiral into chaos.

"What is very important about the fact that the PM can be taken from his hotel by armed men is symbolic of how bad things have got."

There has been anger among militant groups over the US special forces operation on Saturday that seized al Libi, whose family met Mr Zeidan hours before the PM's abduction.

Several groups accused the government of colluding in or allowing the weekend raid, though the government denied having any prior knowledge of the operation.

Al Libi is suspected of being involved in the twin bombings of US embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in 1998.

At the weekend, he was taken off the street in Tripoli and whisked away to a US warship in the Mediterranean.

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Fed Reserve: Yellen Secures Obama Nomination

The male domination of central banking is set to be blown away as a woman is nominated for the most powerful monetary policy position in the world.

President Barack Obama will formally nominate Federal Reserve vice chair Janet Yellen to succeed Ben Bernanke as chairman of the US central bank on Wednesday.

It would make Ms Yellen not only the first woman to head the Fed, but a central bank anywhere in the world.

Mr Bernanke will serve until his term ends on January 31, completing a remarkable eight-year tenure in which he helped pull the US economy out of the worst financial crisis and recession since the 1930s.

Under Mr Bernanke's leadership, the Fed created extraordinary programmes after the financial crisis of 2008 that are credited with helping save the US banking system.

Larry Summers quit the Fed Chair race

The Fed lent money to banks after credit markets froze, cut its key short-term interest rate to near zero and bought trillions in bonds to reduce long-term borrowing rates.

Ms Yellen, 67, emerged as the leading candidate after Larry Summers, a former Treasury secretary who Mr Obama was thought to favour, withdrew from consideration last month in the face of rising opposition.

A close ally of the current chairman, Ms Yellen is seen as a so-called dove as she has been a key architect of the Fed's efforts to keep interest rates near record lows.

The White House announcement comes amid a confrontation between Mr Obama and congressional Republicans, particularly those in the House, over the partial government shutdown and the looming breach of the nation's $16.7trn borrowing limit.

Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, said that the administration probably decided to go ahead with the announcement to send a signal of policy stability to financial markets, where investors are growing increasingly nervous over the partial shutdown and what they perceive as the much bigger threat of a default on Treasury debt.

He said: "Markets are very unsettled and they are likely to become even more unsettled in coming days.

Ben Bernanke's term ends in January 2014

"Providing some clarity around who will be the next Fed chairman should help at least at the margin."

As vice chair since 2010, Ms Yellen has helped manage both the Fed's traditional tool of short-term rates and the unconventional programmes it launched to help sustain the economy after the financial crisis.

These include the Fed's monthly bond purchases and its guidance to investors about the likely direction of rates.

Senator Tim Johnson, a Democrat who heads the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, which must approve Ms Yellen's nomination, said he would work with the panel's members to advance her confirmation quickly.

"She has a depth of experience that is second to none, and I have no doubt she will be an excellent Federal Reserve chairman," Mr Johnson said.

Sen Chuck Schumer, a Democratic committee member, called her "an excellent choice" and predicted she would be confirmed by a wide margin.

Mr Obama's choice of Ms Yellen coincides with a key turning point for the Fed. Within the next several months, it is expected to start slowing the pace of its Treasury and mortgage bond purchases if the economy strengthens.

While economists saw Mr Obama's choice of Ms Yellen as a strong signal of continuity at the Fed, analysts said the difficult job of unwinding all of the Fed's support without causing major financial market upheavals would fall to her.

Ms Yellen has long been considered a logical candidate for the chairmanship in part because of her expertise as an economist, her years as a top bank regulator and her experience in helping manage the Fed's polices.

Her understanding of the financial system is widely respected: Before the crisis struck, she was among a minority of top economists who had warned correctly that subprime mortgages posed a severe threat.

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UK Tibetan Monk 'Stabbed To Death' In China

By Mark Stone, China Correspondent in Beijing

A Tibetan Monk with British citizenship has been "assassinated" in the Chinese city of Chengdu.

Choje Akong Tulku Rinpoche, 73, was well known within the Buddhist community.

The founder of the first Buddhist monastery in Britain, he was killed in a residential district of the western Chinese city on Tuesday, according to a statement by local police.

It claimed the monk was with his nephew and a driver when they were involved in a dispute over money.

All three were stabbed to death. The perpetrators, also said to be Tibetan, have been arrested.

"Following a verbal dispute between the two sides, the three suspects stabbed the three victims to death with knives they were carrying," the police statement read.

"They went to the victims home to negotiate at 11am on the day of the case. The two parties had a verbal quarrel and fight. Three suspects then stabbed the three victims.

"After the arrest, the three suspects confessed the killing of the three victims. This criminal case is undergoing investigation at the moment."

Akong founded the Samye Ling Monastery on the banks of the River Esk in Scotland in 1967.

His younger brother is the abbot of the monastery and released a statement on its website.

"To all dear friends of Samye Ling and Choje Akong Tulku Rinpoche, I am very, very sorry to inform you all that tragically, my brother Choje Akong Rinpoche, my nephew and one monk who was travelling with them, were all assassinated in Chengdu," it read.

"Rinpoche's body has been taken to hospital where a post mortem will be carried out. That is all the news I have so far. If I receive further news I will let you know."

Sky News understands that UK consular officials, likely to be based at the British consulate in Chongqing, are currently trying to establish the facts of the case in Chengdu.

The British Foreign Office in London has confirmed the death of a British national but has not identified the victim.

According to the victim's brother in Scotland, Abbot Lama Yeshe Rinpoche, the Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader, has been informed of Akong's death. He is understood to have known the victim.

Akong was born in 1940 and fled to India following the Chinese occupation of Tibet.

In 1980 he founded ROKPA International, described on its website as a humanitarian aid organisation.

Part of his role in the organisation was to expand humanitarian visits to Tibetan areas of China and Nepal.

It is not clear if he was on such a visit when he was killed.

In order to sustain his humanitarian work, Akong managed to maintain unusually stable relations with the Chinese government.

He is credited for seeing the opportunities presented by China's 'open-door policy' of the 1990s. This allowed him to visit China freely.

In 1992, he was a key figure in choosing the person who could succeed the Dalai Lama.

With the agreement of Beijing, Akong brought Apo Gaga, then seven years old, from a remote village to the Tsurphu Monastery near Lhasa where he was installed as the 17th Karmapa Lama - the second most important figure in Tibetan Buddism after the Dalai Lama.

The Kamapa Lama later fled Tibet for India amid concerns that Beijing was using him for their own political gain.

In June 2011, British Home Secretary Theresa May honoured Akong for his role in the contribution that refugees have made to British society in the 60 years since the UN Refugee Convention was formed.

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Malala: Brit Doctor's Role In Saving Her Life

By Ian Woods, Senior News Correspondent

The remarkable story of how a Birmingham children's doctor helped save the life of the world's most famous child campaigner is only now being told - at the insistence of her patient.

One year ago today, Fiona Reynolds was visiting Pakistan with several colleagues to advise on transplant surgery when she saw TV reports about how 15-year-old Malala Yousafzai had been shot by the Taliban for publicly promoting education for girls.

Pakistani officials asked Dr Reynolds to visit the hospital in Peshawar where Malala was being treated.

"She was very ill. She was close to death," Dr Reynolds told Sky News.

"In Peshawar her father had been told by the Pakistani doctors, before I arrived, to pray for her and he took it to mean she was dying and he started to make preparations for her funeral."

Malala is writing about her ordeal in a new book

The initial surgery on Malala was a success, but poor intensive care facilities meant she would probably suffer brain damage - or even die.

"When I reviewed Malala I thought there was a good chance she could survive," Dr Reynolds said.

"But the quality of intensive care was compromising her survival and her ability to get through it without brain damage."

Dr Reynolds helped supervise as Malala was flown by the army from Peshawar to Rawalpindi, and then helped treat her in the critical hours after she arrived.

"By Friday evening it was obvious she was getting better. The threat of the infection passed," Dr Reynolds said.

"The facilities for rehabilitation were not well developed. My opinion was if you want the best outcome for her send her overseas for rehabilitation."

She recommended she be taken to Birmingham.

Malala was shot on a school bus in the Swat Valley

"They wanted me to compare various hospitals around the world and I wasn't able to do that," Dr Reynolds said.

"But what I was able to tell them was that everything I thought she would need was available in Birmingham."

Despite her key role in saving Malala's life, Dr Reynolds' identity was kept secret for security reasons.

Even Dr Reynolds' friends and colleagues knew nothing of her involvement until Malala insisted that her story be told.

But the doctor is not keen to share the spotlight, even turning down a chance to rub shoulders with some of Malala's famous admirers.

"I was invited to dinner with Angelina Jolie because of her role with the UN, but it was my husband's birthday so I said no," she said.

"All of this world of celebrity and what she does is really important, but I have a job to do here and it's not my world. I don't want to deal with all that celebrity."

Malala was moved to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham

She has only agreed to discuss Malala publicly because the schoolgirl encouraged her to.

"I met Malala as a doctor and I'm bound by an oath not to talk about her," Dr Reynolds said.

"She asked everyone to be named in her book, and I didn't want to be named, but Malala said the book had to be the truth.

"She wants her real story to be out there."

Dr Reynolds has plenty of her praise for her former patient, who is tipped to be named as the youngest ever winner of the Nobel Peace Prize later this week.

"She understands international politics in a way many adults don't. She's brought the world's attention to very important issues," Dr Reynolds said.

"I'm biased. I think she deserves the Nobel Peace Prize - but it's up to the committee to decide."

Malala has written a book about her ordeal and ongoing campaign work called I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up For Education And Was Shot By The Taliban.

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Brazil Teachers' Pay Protest Turns Violent

Clashes erupted in Rio de Janeiro as thousands of people gathered for a march in support of striking teachers.

The march began peacefully on the Brazilian city's main avenue, but chaos broke out once night fell.   

A small group of protesters threw fireworks, grenades, tear gas and smashed a gate at City Hall, where legislation was recently passed changing public teachers' pay and working hours.

Masked demonstrators also torched a bus, broke into banks, and tried to break open and set alight cashpoints.

Some protesters also pulled furniture out of banks to use as barricades as they squared off with police.

Chaos broke out once the protesters reached city hall

The police responded with tear gas to break up the crowds.

Protesting teachers were joined by students, civil groups, leftists and anarchist groups, some of whom are known for their violent demonstrations.

Teachers have been on strike for almost two months demanding better pay.

They said 50,000 people marched to support them before the violence broke out, but police would only confirm 10,000.

Brazil's security situation is an ongoing challenge ahead of it hosting the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games. 

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Syria Inspectors 'Face Unprecedented Danger'

UN inspectors face a year-long mission of unprecedented danger in trying to destroy Syria's chemical weapons arsenal, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has warned.

And as Mr Ban set out a blueprint for the most dangerous disarmament operation ever staged, rebels launched a major offensive.

The assault in northwest Syria highlighted the looming threats to inspectors from the joint United Nations and Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) mission.

In a letter to the Security Council, Mr Ban said the experts "will seek to conduct an operation the likes of which, quite simply, have never been tried before".

It normally takes years to complete the destruction of a country's chemical weapons arsenal.

Mr Ban highlighted the threat to the experts and Syrian civilians

Mr Ban said: "The joint mission will be expected to support, monitor and verify the destruction of a complex chemical weapons programme involving multiple sites spread over a country engulfed in violent conflict.

"The timelines associated with this destruction phase would be ambitious under the most peaceful and benign of circumstances."

The 11-page letter was Mr Ban's required response to the resolution adopted unanimously by the Security Council on September 27, ordering Syria's chemical weapons stockpile be secured and destroyed.

After months of diplomatic sparring, Russia and the United States agreed to work together to disarm Syria after a toxic gas attack near Damascus on August 21 in which hundreds died.

Mr Ban said an advance team of 35 personnel from the OPCW and UN have already arrived in Damascus.

On Sunday, Syrians - under the supervision of the OPCW and supported by the UN - began to destroy the weapons.

Gas canisters in Syria's chemical arsenal

They used "cutting torches and angle grinders to destroy or disable a range of materials, including missile warheads, aerial bombs and mixing and filling equipment," Mr Ban said.

"I welcome this historic step, and urge all parties to do their part to ensure that this encouraging progress is maintained and indeed accelerated," he said.

Mr Ban highlighted the threat to the experts and Syrian civilians from the sarin, mustard gas and other chemical weapons which will have to be moved amid ongoing fighting across the country.

The experts will have to work in "dangerous and volatile" conditions, particularly in urban areas such as Damascus, Homs and Aleppo, the UN leader said.

"Heavy artillery, air strikes, mortar barrages and the indiscriminate shelling of civilians areas are commonplace, and battle lines shift quickly," he added.

UN weapons inspectors at the site of the August 21 attack

Two mortars landed near the Damascus hotel the team is using just before they arrived last week.

Mr Ban added that roadside bombs "have detonated in close proximity" to the inspectors.

"My two highest priorities are the elimination of the Syrian chemical weapons programme and the safety and security of joint mission personnel who have volunteered to perform this vital but dangerous task," he said.

Under a timetable drawn up by Russia and the US, the experts have until the end of June to supervise the transport and destruction of the chemicals.

The Syrian government remains responsible for the actual destruction of the weapons, however.

Western countries blame President Bashar al Assad's forces for the August 21 chemical attack near Damascus which the United States says left more than 1,400 dead. The Syrian government and Russia accuse the opposition of having carried out the attack.

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Malaria Vaccine 'Could Be Widespread By 2015'

By Thomas Moore, Health and Science Correspondent

The world's first malaria vaccine could be in widespread use within two years following "significant" results from an ongoing clinical trial.

Researchers reported at a malaria conference in Durban, South Africa, that the jab continues to protect a substantial proportion of babies and young children 18 months after vaccination.

The mosquito-borne disease kills around 660,000 people every year, most of them children in Sub-Saharan Africa.

British pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), which makes the vaccine, said it would apply for a licence from the European Medicines Agency next year.

If the vaccine - code-named RTS,S - is confirmed to be safe and effective, the World Health Organisation has indicated that it will support use of the vaccine as soon as 2015.

A South Sudanese man with his daughter, who is being treated for malaria

GSK has vowed to sell the vaccine at cost price plus 5%, which it said would fund further research into tropical diseases.

The new results are from a study of 15,000 babies and children in seven African countries.

They show the vaccine is far from perfect, but still offers significant protection.

Eighteen months after a three-dose vaccination programme, young children were 46% less likely to suffer clinical malaria.

For every 1,000 children vaccinated, 21 cases of severe malaria were prevented, according to the results.

The vaccine was less effective in babies. Infants who had the jabs when they were just a few weeks old were 27% less likely to suffer from malaria.

Scientists will now investigate whether a booster dose can increase protection in the longer term.

Halidou Tinto, one of the study's principal investigators, said the vaccine had "the potential to have a significant public health impact".

"Many millions of malaria cases fill the wards of our hospitals," Dr Tinto said.

"Progress is being made with bed nets and other measures, but we need more tools to battle this terrible disease."

British pharmaceutical company GSK makes the vaccine

GSK chief executive Sir Andrew Witty said: "While we have seen some decline in vaccine efficacy over time, the sheer number of children affected by malaria means that the number of cases of the disease the vaccine can help prevent is impressive.

"These data support our decision to submit a regulatory application for the vaccine candidate which, if successful, would bring us a step closer to having an additional tool to fight this deadly disease."

The development of the jab has been jointly funded by GSK and Bill and Melinda Gates through the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative.

Professor Eleanor Riley from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said if the vaccine is cheap enough it has huge potential.

"It would be great if the vaccine had 80-90% efficacy," she told Sky News.

"But it has taken us 15 years to get this far with this vaccine.

"The question is: can we wait another 15 years before we roll out a vaccine that is going to save lives?"

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Theresa May Faces Questions Over Terror Suspect

Home Secretary Theresa May is to be questioned by MPs over why one of the world's most wanted al Qaeda terror suspects - captured by US Navy SEALs - was given asylum in Britain.

Anas al Libi, who was seized at the weekend in the Libyan capital Tripoli, arrived in Britain in the mid-1990s and lived in Manchester after being granted political asylum, according to reports.

The 49-year-old was later accused by the US of involvement in the 1998 American embassy bombings in east Africa which killed more than 220 people.

Al Libi, also known as Nazih Abdul Hamed al Ruqai, was arrested by the Metropolitan Police the following year but was released and later fled Britain.

Detectives are believed to have found an al Qaeda manual at his home which advised Osama bin Laden's followers on how to execute terror plots.

Theresa May will come under pressure to answer the concerns next Tuesday

Keith Vaz, chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, said the case would be raised with Mrs May when she appears before MPs.

In a statement, the Labour MP said: "This case raises serious questions about the motives behind asylum and national security decisions in the UK.

"It is not the first time that someone, who has been brought to the attention of the authorities and released, has gone on to be linked to further terrorist activity.

"I will be raising these concerns with the Home Secretary when she appears before the committee on the 15th October."

Al Libi was placed on the FBI's Most Wanted list after the embassy bombings and there was a $5m (£3.1m) bounty on his head.

US prosecutors claimed the computer expert aided the attacks in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi by carrying out research and taking photographs of the embassy in Nairobi in 1993.

The US suspects al Libi of being an al Qaeda leader

His family have denied he was ever a member of al Qaeda but was part of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, an Islamic militant group opposed to Muammar Gaddafi.

Many of the organisation's members were forced to flee the country, and al Libi is believed to have spent time in Sudan in the 1990s before moving to Britain.

His son, Abdullah al Ruqai, said his father had hired a lawyer and was trying to clear his name in connection to the 1998 embassy attacks.

"My father is not objecting to be tried but he should be tried in Libya in front of a Libyan court," he said.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State John Kerry has said the capture of al Libi was "appropriate and legal" after officials in Tripoli demanded answers as to why he was taken away.

Libya's government insisted the raids had no official authorisation and a source close to al Libi claimed he was "kidnapped" while returning from dawn prayers.

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Egypt: Dozens Dead After Pro-Morsi Protests

At least 50 people have been killed in Egypt in clashes between security forces and supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi.

The figure, from a health ministry official, comes as Morsi supporters protested in several cities during army celebrations to mark the anniversary of the 1973 Arab-Israeli war.

Hundreds of people are also reported to have been wounded.

Journalist Bel Trew, in Cairo, told Sky News the military had been expecting the unrest and described seeing "chaotic side street clashes with lots of gunfire and tear gas".

She added: "There's quite a lot of anger here toward the Morsi supporters by local residents and those who wanted to go to the streets to celebrate their military on this day that Egyptians regard as one of the most proud moments of their history.

"What we're looking at is rival protests on the streets together."

A heavy security presence with tanks and armoured vehicles gathered in Cairo to try to deter the protesters, said Trew.

Supporters of Mr Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood movement had tried to get close to Tahrir Square, the focal point of pro-army demonstrations since the coup in June.

Protesters in Cairo

But security forces guarded entrances to the square, frisking people arriving for the celebrations.

Mr Morsi, who became Egypt's first democratically elected president, was removed from office in July.

Since then, the military-backed government of General Abdel Fatah al Sisi has cracked down on members of the Brotherhood.

Hundreds of Mr Morsi's supporters were allegedly killed in August as protest camps were cleared, while the government said around 100 members of the security forces also died.

Away from the main squares, Cairo's streets were largely deserted on Sunday, a public holiday to commemorate the October War, known as the Yom Kippur War in Israel.

The conflict is remembered proudly by the Egyptian army because it caught Israel by surprise and led to the recovery of the Sinai Peninsula in a 1979 peace treaty.

Supporters of the Army regime waved flags as warplanes flew over Cairo in a show of force and patriotic songs boomed out from loudspeakers.

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Egypt: 'Gunmen Kill Five Soldiers On Patrol'

Gunmen have killed five Egyptian soldiers in an attack on an army patrol near the city of Ismailia, security officials said.

The attack took place north of the city, where suspected militants have repeatedly targeted security forces in recent weeks, the officials said.

Meanwhile officials said a massive explosion had hit a security headquarters in a southern Sinai town.

More follows ...

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Kenya Mall Massacre Gunmen Are Named

Four of the gunmen involved in the Kenya mall attack have been named, as police say the number who took part is fewer than first thought.

A Kenyan military spokesman gave their names as Abu Baara al Sudani, Omar Nabhan, Khatab al Kene and a man known only as Umayr.

The men all died in the attack that began on September 21, say officials.

Al Qaeda-linked Somali-based militant group al Shabaab said it carried out the gun and grenade assault in retaliation for Kenya's military operations inside Somalia.

Al Sudani, from Sudan, was the leader of the group inside the mall and had been trained by al Qaeda, said Kenyan military spokesman Major Emmanuel Chirchir.

Abu Baara al Sudani is said to have been the group's leader

He was described as "an experienced fighter and sharpshooter".

Nabhan, a Kenyan of Arab origin, was born in Mombasa and travelled to Somalia with his uncle at the age of 16, said the spokesman.

The third attacker, al Kene, is said to be Somali from the capital Mogadishu, and is linked to al Shabaab Islamist militants, Maj Chirchir said.

Omar Nabhan was born in Kenya and travelled to Somalia as a teenager

The other names of the fourth attacker, Umayr, as well as his nationality and history were "not yet identified", he said.

Al Kene and Umayr are known members of al Hijra, a Kenyan extremist group affiliated with al Shabaab, according to Matt Bryden, former head of the United Nations Monitoring Group on Somalia.

At least 67 people were killed in September's assault on Nairobi's Westgate shopping centre.

New video has also emerged showing the four named gunmen during the siege.

Khattab al Kene is being linked with an al Shabaab-affiliated group

It shows the attackers walking through a storeroom in the mall and searching other adjacent rooms. 

It is understood that the CCTV pictures captured the gunmen mid-way through the assault - as many of the victims remained terrified and trapped inside the mall.

Kenya's government initially said 10 to 15 attackers were involved in the assault, but police now believe no more than six people took part.

Umayr's nationality and history have not yet been identified

"From what we have now that is coming out of the investigation, the number of attackers was between four to six," police chief David Kimaiyo told Kenyan television station KTN.

"None of them managed to escape from the building after the attack," he said.

Mr Kimaiyo also confirmed that wanted British "White Widow" Samantha Lewthwaite - reported to have been one of the attackers - was not involved.

He said: "On Samantha we have also established that she was not part of the attackers in the building. There was no woman."

Al Shabaab has promised more attacks inside Kenya unless the country's troops are withdrawn, but Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has vowed to continue the military mission inside Somalia despite the mall attack.

Some of the mall complex collapsed during the three-day siege

Mr Kenyatta ordered a commission of inquiry into the attack. The Red Cross says a further 39 people are still unaccounted for.

Meanwhile, Somali al Shabaab militants have claimed foreign forces raided one of its bases in the early hours of Saturday and attacked a house.

Forces landed on the beach at Barawe -110 miles south of Mogadishu - and a gunfight ensued, a spokesman for al Shabaab's military operations, told the Reuters news agency.

Sky's correspondent Alex Crawford said she had spoken to a "high-level source" in Somalia who said he believed it was carried out by American forces.

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Al Qaeda: US Captures Wanted Libyan Leader

US forces have captured an al Qaeda leader in Libya linked to the 1998 American Embassy bombings in east Africa and wanted by the FBI for more than a decade.

A Pentagon spokesman identified the suspect as Nazih Abdul-Hamed al Ruqai, known by his alias Anas al Libi, who has been on America's most wanted terrorists list since it was introduced after the September 11 attacks.

His capture represents a significant blow to what remains of the core al Qaeda terror network, once led by Osama bin Laden.

US Secretary of State John Kerry, in Bali for an economic summit, spoke about the Libya operation and Saturday's aborted raid to capture an al Shabaab leader in Somalia, and said terrorists "can run but they can't hide".

Al Libi had a $5m FBI bounty on his head

"We hope that this makes clear that the USA will never stop in the effort to hold those accountable who conduct acts of terror," he said.

Family members said gunmen in a three-car convoy seized al Libi outside his home in the Libyan capital Tripoli.

His brother Nabih said the 49-year-old was parking on Saturday after dawn prayers, when three vehicles encircled his vehicle. The gunmen smashed his car window and seized his weapon before grabbing him and fleeing.

Al Libi's wife saw the kidnapping from her window and described the abductors as foreign-looking armed "commandos", he said.

The US embassy in Nairobi was attacked in 1998

US officials said there were no American casualties in the operation.

Al Libi, who had a $5m (£3.1m) FBI bounty on his head, was charged by a US federal court for his alleged role in the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya, that killed more than 220 people.

He is believed to have returned to Libya during the 2011 civil war that led to the toppling and killing of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.

The alleged al Qaeda computer specialist studied electronic and nuclear engineering at Tripoli University, and was anti-Gaddafi.

Al Libi is thought to have spent time in Sudan, where bin Laden was based

He is believed to have spent time in Sudan, where bin Laden was based in the early 1990s.

After bin Laden was forced to leave Sudan, al Libi turned up in Britain in 1995 where he was granted political asylum under unclear circumstances and lived in Manchester.

He was arrested by the Metropolitan Police in 1999, but was released because of lack of evidence and later fled the UK.

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Al Shabaab: US Forces Abort Somalia Terror Raid

US special forces have aborted a mission to capture an al Shabaab leader in Somalia after coming under heavy attack.

Their target was Mukhtar Abu Zubeyr, also known as Ahmed Godane, who claimed responsibility for last month's Nairobi shopping mall massacre that killed at least 67 people, according to a Somali intelligence official.

A Navy SEAL team staged a pre-dawn raid on a house in the southern town of Barawa after swimming ashore before the al Qaeda-linked militants rose for morning prayers.

Reinforcements arrived at the house and SEAL Team Six, the same unit that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011, encountered fiercer resistance than expected, a senior US military source told The Associated Press.

Al Shabaab released photos of US gear it says was left behind in the raid

After a 15 to 20-minute firefight, the unit leader decided to abort the mission and they swam away, the source said.

US Secretary of State John Kerry, in Bali for an economic summit, spoke about the failed US operation, and said terrorists "can run but they can't hide".

A Pentagon spokesman confirmed that US military personnel had been involved in a counter-terrorism operation against a known al Shabaab terrorist in Somalia, but did not provide details.

He said there were no US casualties in the raid.

A GPS device apparently used by the SEAL team

Al Shabaab later posted pictures on the internet of what it said was US military gear left behind in the raid, including bullets, a GPS device and a smoke grenade.

Within hours of the attack, the US Army's Delta Force carried out a raid in Libya, and captured an al Qaeda leader wanted for the 1998 bombings of the US Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed more than 220 people.

The aborted Somalia operation came 20 years after the famous "Black Hawk Down" battle in Mogadishu, in which a mission to capture Somali warlords went wrong when militia forces shot down two US helicopters and killed 18 American soldiers.

Residents in Barawa, a seaside town some 150 miles south of Mogadishu, said they woke up to the sound of heavy gunfire.

One of the gunmen in the Kenyan shopping centre attack

The SEAL team killed a guard and battled their way inside a two-storey beachside house, where al Shabaab fighters reportedly lived, before being driven back.

A US official said the mission was aimed at capturing a "high-value target" while trying to avoid civilian casualties.

A Barawa resident called Mohamed Bile said militants closed down the town in the hours after the raid, and were carrying out house-to-house searches to find evidence that a spy had tipped off the US.

"We woke up to find al Shabaab fighters had sealed off the area and their hospital is also inaccessible," he told The Associated Press by phone. "The town is in a tense mood."

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