Pakistan Taliban Leader Killed By US Drone

The head of the Pakistani Taliban has been killed in a US drone strike, according to US and Pakistani officials.

A senior US intelligence official confirmed the strike, adding that the US had received positive confirmation that Hakimullah Mehsud had been killed.

A Pakistani Taliban fighter said Mehsud's body was "damaged but recognisable" in what appeared to be the first eyewitness account of the killing.

The death was also confirmed by a senior Taliban commander, who said: "We confirm with great sorrow that our esteemed leader was martyred in a drone attack".

The strike - carried out in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region - also killed four other suspected militants, according to Pakistani intelligence officials.

Mehsud (c) seen with other Taliban militants in a video from October 2009

Mehsud, who was believed to be aged in his mid-30s, was one of Pakistan's most wanted men. He has been reported dead several times before.

The US offered $5m (£3.1m) for Mehsud's capture after he appeared in a video with a Jordanian suicide bomber who killed seven CIA employees at a base in Afghanistan in 2009.

Mehsud was also believed to be behind a failed car bombing in New York's Times Square in 2010, as well as brazen attacks inside Pakistan.

The US National Counterterrorism Centre describes Mehsud as "the self-proclaimed emir of the Pakistani Taliban". 

The CIA and the White House declined to comment on the death.

The killing is the latest in a series of setbacks for the Pakistani Taliban.

A drone strike killed Mehsud's number two in May and one of his most trusted lieutenants was captured in Afghanistan last month.

The death comes at a politically sensitive time and follows months of debate over potential peace talks between the Taliban and the new government of Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who swept to a landslide victory in May elections.

Pakistan's government has been trying to cut a peace deal with the militants to end years of fighting that has killed thousands of Pakistani civilians and security forces.

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Bin Laden: US Businessman Seeks $25m Reward

A businessman who claims he tipped-off the FBI about the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden's secret compound is seeking a reward of $25m (£15.6m).

Tom Lee claims he knew where bin Laden was hiding (pic: Mlive)

Gem dealer Tom Lee, 63, claims that in 2003 a Pakistani intelligence agent, from a family he had known for decades, told him bin Laden was in Peshawar in Pakistan, not Afghanistan.

The man allegedly described how he had been sent on a mission by Pakistani intelligence services to relocate bin Laden and his family to a small compound in Bilal, Abbottabad.

A letter sent by Mr Lee's lawyers to FBI director James Comey in August claims Mr Lee subsequently shared this information with FBI agents.

But despite "numerous attempts" to claim his reward after bin Laden's death in 2011 he received no response.

"Mr Lee precisely identified the whereabouts of the most notorious terrorist of our era," said the letter.

"A man responsible for the World Trade Center attacks, the most devastating act of terror committed on American soil, and numerous other assaults on Americans."

US Navy Seals during the raid on bin Laden's hideout in 2011

Mr Lee told The Grand Rapids Press in an email on Friday that he did not understand why the government waited to act for eight years.

"It disturbs me, and it should disturb every American, that I told them exactly where bin Laden was in 2003, and they let him live another eight years," he said in the email.

Mr Lee, who became Lord of Stanbury Manor in England in 1997 after purchasing the title, claims to have provided the FBI with intelligence before, and said the lack of action surprised him.

Mr Lee allegedly told the FBI about the compound in 2003

"For 20 years I was used to the government acting immediately on my intelligence," he said.

During their hunt for bin Laden, US authorities offered the reward to anyone who supplied information that led to bin Laden's capture or conviction.

The FBI has so far refused to comment.

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

LA Airport Attack: 'Gunman Sent Suicide Text'

A man suspected of carrying out a deadly attack at Los Angeles International Airport sent a suicidal text message to his sibling, police have said.

The alleged gunman shot his way past a screening checkpoint, killing a security officer and wounding three other people before being injured in a shoot-out and taken into custody, authorities said.

The suspect has been identified as 23-year-old Paul Ciancia, who police have said appeared to have a grudge against security services.

His father, who has the same name, called his local police chief around the time of the shooting to report his son had sent the text and he needed to find him, police said.

The elder Paul Ciancia, from Pennsville, New Jersey, telephoned Allen Cummings, telling him one of his children had received the message from the younger Ciancia "in reference to him taking his own life".

At the time, the 23-year-old man was carrying out his shooting using a semi-automatic rifle, authorities said.

The attack caused major disruption to travellers

A motive was not clear, but Ciancia was wearing military fatigues and carrying a bag containing a handwritten note that said he "wanted to kill TSA (Transport Security Administration) and pigs," according to a law enforcement official.

The official said the rant referred to how Ciancia believed his constitutional rights were being violated by TSA searches and that he was upset at former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

Ciancia, who managed to enter the secure area of Terminal 3, was reportedly shot in the mouth and leg by two airport police officers.

After getting the call from the suspect's father, Mr Cummings contacted LA police, who sent a patrol car to Ciancia's apartment.

He said: "Basically, there were two roommates there. They said, 'We saw him yesterday and he was fine.'"

A police officer at Los Angeles airport

Mr Cummings said his police department had never had dealings with the younger Ciancia.

Neighbour Josh Pagan, 17, said: "He was never weird toward me. He never gave me any weird vibes."

He added that in the 10 years he has lived across the street from the Ciancia family "they've been nothing but nice to us."

The airport attack disrupted more than 700 flights across the US. One witness at LAX, Brian Keech, said he heard "about a dozen gunshots" from inside the security gate.

Travellers described a chaotic scene as security staff evacuated terminals and rushed them outside to the tarmac.

The man who died was named as 39-year-old Gerardo I. Hernandez - the first TSA officer killed in the line of duty in the 12-year history of the agency, founded in the aftermath of 9/11.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti praised the response of officers and said: "There were more than 100 more rounds that could have literally killed everybody in that terminal today. Were it not for their actions, it could have been a lot more damage."

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Israel Warplanes Strike Syrian Missile Site

Israeli warplanes have attacked a military target inside Syria, according to US officials.

A security official said that attack occurred in the port city of Latakia and the target was a shipment of Russian-made surface-to-surface SA-125 missiles.

Dubai-based Al Arabiya television said on its website: "Israel was behind a series of explosions that rocked a Syrian air base in the northern Latakia province.

"The bombing targeted a shipment of surface-to-air missiles that was headed for Hezbollah in Lebanon."

The explosions are said to have taken place on Wednesday, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

In May, Israel carried out two air strikes inside Syria, claiming it had targeted Iranian weapons caches destined for the Lebanon militant group.

It comes after Syria destroyed or rendered inoperable all of its declared chemical weapons production and mixing facilities, the international chemical weapons watchdog said on Thursday.

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said its teams had inspected 21 of 23 chemical weapons sites across the country.

The remaining two were too dangerous to reach for inspectors, but equipment had already been moved from the sites.

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Tijuana Drug Smuggling Super Tunnel Found

A drug smuggling "super tunnel" has been discovered by US officials linking Tijuana in Mexico to San Diego.

The tunnel had an electric rail system

It is one of the most sophisticated secret passages ever found along the US-Mexico border and "would have cost millions of dollars to complete".

Authorities seized 8.5 tonnes of marijuana and 327lbs of cocaine during the raid. Three men were also arrested.

The tunnel, linking warehouses in Tijuana and San Diego's Otay Mesa industrial area, was equipped with lighting, ventilation and an electric rail system.

It was discovered after weeks of surveillance

"They've worked very hard over a year, maybe two years to build a tunnel of this sophistication. It's taken hundreds of thousands of man hours and millions of dollars to complete," said Bill Sherman of the Drugs Enforcement Administration (DEA).

Federal agents had the San Diego warehouse under surveillance after being tipped off by an informant who told them operators bought drills and other construction equipment in August and September.

"This complex underground passageway zig-zags for about a third of a mile under the border at a depth of approximately 35ft on average," said Derek Benner of US Immigration and Customs .

Authorities seized 8.5 tonnes of marijuana and 327lbs

"The passageway is four feet in height, it's approximately three feet wide."                 

US Attorney Laura Duffy described the tunnel as sophisticated and said they were probably built by engineers and architects.

"They are hi-tech, they include railways, push carts, ventilation systems, and hydraulically-controlled steel doors," she said.

Federal agents were tipped off by an informant

The tunnel is the eighth major passage discovered in San Diego since 2006, a period during which Mexico's Sinaloa cartel has solidified its hold on the prized smuggling corridor.

Some of the largest tunnels have been discovered after central Mexico's marijuana harvest in October, which presents drug cartels with a challenge of how to quickly get their product to consumers.

In November 2011, authorities found a 1,800ft tunnel that resulted in seizures of 32 tonnes of marijuana on both sides of the border, with 26 tonnes found on the US side - one of the largest seizures in US history.

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Kansas Bus Plunges From Bridge Into Creek

Ten children and a school bus driver have been rescued in Kansas after the bus they were travelling in plunged into creek swollen by heavy rain.

As the bus lay on its side half-submerged, the children climbed through a roof hatch to await rescue, officials say.

Emergency personnel reached the bus and put the children and driver in life jackets before putting them on a boat two by two and pulling them to dry ground.

The accident happened outside Douglass, a town of about 1,700 residents southeast of Wichita.

The 60-year-old driver was taken to a hospital to be checked for hypothermia.

Butler County Sheriff Kelly Herzet said all of the children were eventually turned over to their parents.

She said the older children, who were 13, helped get the younger ones as they awaited rescue.

Some sections of roads in the area were still covered by water from recent heavy rain.

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Tiananmen Square 'Terror Attack' Arrests

Five people have been arrested over a fatal car crash in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, as Chinese police described it as a terrorist attack for the first time.

The incident took place directly underneath the iconic portrait of Chairman Mao, which hangs on the Tiananmen Gate at the north end of the square, and represents one of the country's most symbolic locations.

The 4x4 vehicle left the main highway that crosses the square and veered into a crowd of tourists queuing to visit the Forbidden City, before bursting into flames.

The three occupants of the car were killed, while two tourists - one Chinese and one Filipino - also died, and at least 38 people were injured.

Initially, Chinese authorities said the incident was a car crash, but they have now said it was "a violent terrorist attack which was carefully planned, organised and premeditated".

Five people were killed in what authorities are now calling a terror attack

Police said knives, iron rods, fuel and a flag imprinted with religious slogans were found in the vehicle.

The authorities said that the three people in the car were from the same family - a man, named as Usmen Hasan, his wife and mother.

It is claimed they set light to the petrol inside the car causing it to catch fire.

The names released for the dead and the five suspects suggest they are members of the Muslim Uighur people of the western Xinjiang province.

The car also had a licence plate identifying it as being from that region.

The Uighurs have accused the Chinese government of violently eroding their religion and their culture.

They consider themselves to be culturally and ethnically much closer to the central Asian nations than to China and claim their ethnic identity is being diluted by the co-ordinated mass migrations of Han Chinese, the country's majority ethnic group, into the province.

Screens were put up to hide the area while a clean-up was carried out

The Chinese central government in Beijing, more than 2,000 miles to the east, has long claimed the Uighurs are waging a campaign of violence in an effort to secure themselves an independent state.

Incidents of violent clashes between Chinese state security forces and Uighurs in Xinjiang are common.

However, facts are extremely hard to verify independently because foreign journalists are restricted from reporting in the region.

At the time, no mention of Monday's crash was made on state television.

Chinese language newspapers reported simply that there was an accident in Tiananmen Square, although the English language state-run newspapers included the suggestion that there may be links to the Uighur people of Xinjiang Province.

As authorities stepped up security in Xinjiang, Dilxat Raxit, a spokesman for the main exiled Uighur group, the World Uyghur Congress, warned against believing China's side of the story.

"Beijing has always made these kind of accusations, but they refuse to make public the reasoning behind them," he said.

"They will not make the story behind the accusations transparent."

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Niger Migrants Die After Sahara Breakdown

The bodies of 87 migrants have been found in the desert in Niger, all having died of thirst after their vehicles broke down and they went in search of water.

The seven men, 32 women and 48 children were discovered a few miles from the border with Algeria, where they were believed to be heading.

The bodies of another five women and girls were found earlier.

All are said to have died earlier this month after setting out in late September.

Almoustapha Alhacen, from the local aid organisation Aghir In'man, said: "The corpses were decomposed; it was horrible.

"We found them in different locations in a 20km (12 mile) radius and in small groups, often under trees. Sometimes a mother and children, but some lone children, too."

He said the bodies were buried according to Muslim rites "as and when they were found".

Nigerien officials said on Monday that dozens of migrants, most of them women and children, had died of thirst in the Sahara desert earlier this month.

Niger has been hit by a series of food crises. Pic: File

They were in two vehicles which broke down, one about 50 miles (80km) from Arlit in northern Niger from where they had set off, the other about 100 miles (160km) from the city.

"The first vehicle broke down. The second returned to Arlit to get a spare part after getting all the migrants it was carrying to alight, but it too broke down," said a security source.

"We think that the migrants were in the desert for seven days and on the fifth day they began to leave the broken down vehicle in search of a well."

The source said 21 people had survived. They included a man who walked to Arlit and a woman who was saved by a driver who came across her in the desert and took her back to Arlit.

Nineteen others reached the Algerian city of Tamanrasset but were sent back to Niger, the source added.

Niger is one of the world's poorest countries and has been hit by a series of food crises.

The UN's Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates that at least 30,000 economic migrants passed through Agadez, northern Niger's largest city, between March and August of this year.

Libya, rather than Algeria, is generally the favoured country of transit for west Africans making the journey across the continent, many aiming to travel on to Europe. 

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Syria's Chemical Weapons Equipment 'Destroyed'

Syria has destroyed all its declared chemical weapons production facilities, the international chemical weapons watchdog says.

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said in a document - seen by the Reuters news agency - that teams had inspected 21 out of 23 chemical weapons sites across the country.

The other two were too dangerous to inspect but the chemical equipment had already been moved to other sites which had been inspected, it said.

"The OPCW is satisfied it has verified, and seen destroyed, all declared critical production/mixing/filling equipment from all 23 sites," the document said.

Under a Russian-American brokered deal, Damascus agreed to destroy all its chemical weapons after Washington threatened to use force in response to the killing of hundreds of people in a sarin attack on the outskirts of Damascus on August 21.

The United States and its allies blamed President Bashar al Assad's forces for the attack and several earlier incidents. The Syrian president has rejected the charge, blaming rebel brigades.

Under the disarmament timetable, Syria was due to render unusable all production and chemical weapons filling facilities by November 1 - a target it has now met.

By mid-2014 it must have destroyed its entire stockpile of chemical weapons.

More follows...

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Israel Releases More Prisoners In Peace Deal

Israel has freed 26 Palestinian prisoners as part of a deal that helped launch the current US-brokered peace talks.

Palestinian president greeted the freed prisoners in Ramallah

They are the second batch of 104 convicts who are set to be released - an element of the agreement that has angered many Israelis who view them as terrorists responsible for Israeli deaths.

In an apparent attempt to offset negative domestic reaction, Israeli army radio reported plans for an expansion of controversial settlements in east Jerusalem shortly after the releases took place.

Large crowds gathered near the Ofer prison ahead of the release

A group of 21 prisoners from the West Bank left Ofer prison, near Jerusalem, shortly after 1am (11pm UK time) and the other five crossed moments later into the Gaza Strip.

The West Bank inmates left Ofer in two minibuses with blacked-out windows and drove the short distance to the Beitunia crossing, where they were greeted with cheers and fireworks.

Right-wing Israelis protested near the jail, burning Palestinian scarves

They then drove to nearby Ramallah where they were welcomed at an official ceremony headed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who said talks would not bear fruit unless some 5,000 Palestinians held by Israel go free.

"There will be no agreement if so much as one Palestinian prisoner remains behind bars," Mr Abbas told thousands of cheering Palestinians gathered outside his headquarters in the West Bank city.

One of the first men to be released could barely contain his joy

Speaking before the army radio's report, Mr Abbas reiterated the Palestinians' denial that the prisoner release was part of an agreement to allow Israel more settlement building.

He said: "There are some living among us who say that we have a deal (to release prisoners) in exchange for settlement building, and I say to them 'be silent'."

Another freed prisoner greets his father after many years behind bars

The five freed Gazans were met by hundreds of relatives and wellwishers as they entered the Strip through the Erez crossing from Israel.

Last week, an Israeli official claimed an expansion of large settlements, including in east Jerusalem "in the coming months", was part of "understandings" reached with both the Palestinians and Washington.

Some Israelis are disgusted at the release of men they consider terrorists

The latest army radio report said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Interior Minister Gideon Saar had agreed to build 1,500 new homes in the east Jerusalem settlement of Ramat Shlomo.

All 26 newly-released prisoners were convicted of killing Israelis, with most of the attacks occurring before the 1993 Oslo Accords, which granted the Palestinians limited self-rule, but failed to usher in an independent state.

Palestinians started celebrating hours before the 26 men were released

Mr Netanyahu agreed to release 104 prisoners in stages as part of the resumption of talks after three years in late July. A first tranche of 26 was freed on August 13.

Israel announced plans for more than 2,000 new settler homes in tandem with the August prisoner release, enraging the Palestinians.

The talks are held under a US-imposed media blackout, but a senior Palestinian official said Israel had adopted a hardline stance and negotiations had so far produced "no tangible progress".

A boy plays with a duck at the home of one of the prisoners who was freed

"The current Israeli negotiating position is the worst in more than 20 years," Yasser Abed Rabbo, a top official with the Palestine Liberation Organisation, said in a statement.

"They want security first, and that the borders of the state of Palestine should be set out according to Israeli security needs that never end, and that will undermine the possibility of establishing a sovereign Palestinian state."

A boy kisses a photo of his grandfather ahead of his release after 30 years

Although Israel is engaged in direct peace talks with the Palestinians the prisoners' release has sparked tensions within Mr Netanyahu's coalition.

"The decision to release the prisoners is one of the most difficult I've had to make," he told his right-wing Likud party on Monday.

"It is unjust because these terrorists are being released before completing their sentence. My heart is with the families of the victims."

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Drone Kills Al Shabaab Bombmaker Ali Abdi

By Tim Marshall, Foreign Affairs Editor

The man said to be the master bombmaker for the al Shabaab terrorist group has been killed by a drone strike in southern Somalia.

A car carrying Ibrahim Ali Abdi, also known as Anta Anta, was hit by three missiles as it travelled along a road near the town of Jilib on Monday.

Somali intelligence sources, quoted by news agencies, said Ali Abdi was the group's explosives expert and specialised in making suicide vests and car bombs.

A witness to the attack, Hassan Nur, told Reuters he saw a drone above the Suzuki vehicle in which at least two men were travelling.

"I saw a big crash and then saw a drone disappearing far into the sky ... many al Shabaab men came to the scene," he said.

Al Shabaab was behind the September massacre on a Kenyan shopping centre

"Many cars were driving ahead of me, but the drone targeted this Suzuki."

An unnamed American official told the LA Times the strike was carried out by the US Army, but this has not been officially confirmed.

The US is known to operate drones from bases in Djibouti and southern Ethiopia.

The air strike follows a pattern of pressure bearing down on al Shabaab, which has been driven from Somalia's main towns by a combination of African Union forces and clandestine American operations. 

Al Shabaab hit back with the recent attack on a Nairobi shopping mall, but appears unable to regain any ground inside Somalia. 

The loss of its chief bombmaker is a blow to the group as it will take time to train other men up to the deadly standard of Ali Abdi.

It comes less than a fortnight since the group claimed responsibility for a suicide bomb attack near a military base in the city of Beledweyne, around 210 miles north of Somalian capital Mogadishu, which killed at least 13 people.

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

India: Bus Crash Kills At Least 40 People

At least 40 people, including children, have been killed after a bus crashed into an oil tanker and burst into flames in southern India.

It is being reported that many victims, who were apparently asleep at the time of the collision, were trapped inside and were burned alive in the inferno.

The vehicle, which was carrying around 44 passengers, was travelling from Bangalore city to Hyderabad when the crash happened, around 800 miles from the Indian capital, New Delhi.

The bus hit the tanker on Kothakota flyover in Mahbubnagar district, police said.

Authorities were questioning the survivors to get further details.

The driver was among those who managed to escape through a window, according to a district official.

Road accidents are common in India, where roads are often in poor repair.

The country has the highest annual road death toll in the world, according to the World Health Organisation, with police figures showing more than 110,000 people are killed every year.

Transport officials blame a large number of accidents in the country on reckless driving and untrained drivers.

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

US Admits Intelligence 'Needs Constraints'

The White House has admitted it needs to consider "constraints" on how it gathers intelligence after reports the US spied on more than 60 million phone calls in Spain and 46 million in Italy in one month alone.

Spain's El Mundo, citing documents provided by the former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, said the agency monitored the phone calls from December 10, 2012, until January 8, 2013.

The monitoring did not appear to track the content of calls but their duration and where they took place, according to Spanish and Italian media reports.

The new claims come a week after Le Monde reported similar allegations of US spying in France, and German magazine Der Spiegel said Washington tapped Chancellor Angela Merkel's mobile phone.

White House spokesman Jay Carney did not address the allegations directly but appeared to make an attempt to appease the European countries.

"With new capabilities, we recognise that there needs to be additional constraints on how we gather and use intelligence," he said.

The NSA allegedly listened in on Angela Merkel's phone calls

While stressing that US spies must focus "above all" on threats to the American people, his words seemed to offer some recognition to the view that US espionage activities overstepped the mark.

"We need to ensure that we are collecting information not just because we can, but because we should, because we need it for our security," Mr Carney said.

Spain's government has so far said it was not aware its citizens had been spied on by the NSA, and Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has said he is looking for more information.

Spain's European secretary of state and the US ambassador in Spain are scheduled to meet later.

A report in Bild am Sonntag said that Barack Obama knew three years ago that his intelligence service was eavesdropping on Ms Merkel's phone.

However, the NSA denied Mr Obama had been informed about the operation by the NSA chief in 2010, according to the Bild am Sonntag.

The US President spoke last week with the leaders of France and Germany in an effort to defuse the row.

John Kerry (L) met with Italy PM Enrico Letta (R) last week in Rome

But Ms Merkel is sending intelligence officials to Washington to seek clarification.

The row exploded months ago when revelations by Snowden exposed the scope of the US government's spying operations.

It has deepened in recent weeks when details have emerged on the alleged snooping in foreign countries and US allies.

Washington officials have defended the surveillance programmes, part of US anti-terrorism efforts.

The chairman of the House of Representatives intelligence committee, Mike Rogers, said much of the public information on them was misguided.

"They are seeing three or four pieces of a thousand-piece puzzle and trying to come to a conclusion," he said.

Another official, Congressman Peter King, chairman of the House subcommittee on counter-terrorism and intelligence, said: "The President should stop apologising, stop being defensive."

"The reality is the NSA has saved thousands of lives, not just in the United States but also in France and Germany and throughout Europe," he said.

"We're not doing this for the fun of it.

"This is to gather valuable intelligence which helps not just us but also helps the Europeans."

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Storm Sweeps Europe After Battering Britain

Some 10 people have died in Germany, France, the Netherlands and Scandinavia after a fatal storm that struck Britain swept eastwards to northern Europe.

A Danish man was killed near Copenhagen by a collapsing wall, a woman was killed by falling trees in Amsterdam and a 47-year-old woman was found dead after being swept out to sea during a cliff walk on Belle Ile in France.

At least seven people died in Germany with falling trees killing several drivers. One man also drowned and a 66-year-old woman died when a wall collapsed on her, German media reported.

Thirteen floor high scaffolding comes down in Merksem, Antwerpen

Hurricane-strength winds cut power supplies and forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights and train journeys across the continent.

Southern Sweden was hit by torrential rain, and winds up to 84mph (136kph) blew down trees, blocking roads and bringing down power lines, leaving around than 50,000 homes without electricity.

As evening fell there were no reports of injuries in Sweden but widespread reports of property damage.

An uprooted tree falls on a houseboat in Amsterdam

All passenger trains remained halted in southern Sweden until the storm passed.

Heavy winds also swept across the low-lying Netherlands, shutting down all train traffic to Amsterdam and ripping several houseboats off their moorings.

Winds of more than 93mph (150kph) were recorded on one of the islands off the northern Dutch coast.

A ferry carrying 1,000 people from Newcastle was unable to dock in the port of Ijmuiden in northern Netherlands and returned to sea, RTL television said.

Fifty flights at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport were cancelled and Rotterdam Port, Europe's busiest, said incoming and outgoing vessels were delayed.

In Belle Ile, an island off France's northwestern Brittany coast, high winds generated waves of five to six metres, local authorities said.

Winds topping 100kph struck the north and northwest of the country felling trees, whipping up seas and cutting power supplies to around 75,000 homes, according to the ERDF electricity distribution company.

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Tiananmen Square Car Blaze: Police Hunt Suspects

By Mark Stone, China Correspondent

Chinese police are investigating whether an incident in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in which a jeep burst into flames, killing five people, might have been an attack by Muslim separatists from the western Xinjiang province.

No official details have been released but a document, circulated online and purported to be from the Chinese police, names two suspects and claims that the authorities are searching for several vehicles, all with Xinjiang number plates.

The document is addressed to all Beijing hotels and is described as a "notice of arrangement of the immediate search of suspect vehicles".

In Chinese, it reads: "On 28 October, 2013, our city had a major case.

"The suspects are Yusupu Aiheputi (male, registered residence address 2-3-27-1 Pishan Farm, Pishan County, Xinjiang province) and Yusupu Wumaierniyazi (male, registered residence address Unit 1 Sangejiao Village, Lukeqin Town, Shanshan County, Xinjiang province).

The crash took place directly below an iconic portrait of Chairman Mao

"The suspected vehicles are light coloured Sports Utility Vehicles, number plates: XinA45559, XinA82Q53, XinC96063 and XinBM7831."

The document adds: "To prevent suspected personnel and vehicles from continuing their crime, we are now asking all accommodation providers to immediately search all guests, parking vehicles and cars driven by former guests from October 1.

"If any discovery is made of the suspects or vehicles, please report to the security team's action and management branch."

The incident in Tiananmen Square took place directly underneath the iconic portrait of Chairman Mao, which hangs on the Tiananmen Gate at the north end of the square and represents one of the most symbolic locations in China.

The 4x4 vehicle left the main highway which crosses the square and veered into a crowd of tourists queuing to visit the Forbidden City.

Tiananmen Square was open on Tuesday but was heavily policed

The three occupants of the car died inside. Two tourists - one Chinese and one Filipino - were also killed and 37 people were injured.

Initially, Chinese authorities said the incident was a car crash. The scene was cleared up quickly and the square reopened to traffic and tourists within a few hours.

Foreign journalists were asked not to film the aftermath. Sky News staff were detained for 20 minutes and forced to delete all their footage.

Government censors spent the day deleting the theories and photographs from China's increasingly vocal social media forums.

There was no mention of the incident on China's main national evening news on state television.

Chinese language newspapers have reported simply that there was an accident in Tiananmen Square, although the English language state-run newspapers have included the suggestion that there may be links to the Uighur people of Xinjiang Province.

Screens were erected to hide the scene of the crash

Almost half the population of Xinjiang province, in the China's far west, are Muslim Uighurs, who accuse the Chinese government of violently eroding their religion and their culture.

They consider themselves to be culturally and ethnically much closer to the central Asian nations than to China and claim their ethnic identity is being diluted by the co-ordinated mass migrations of Han Chinese, the country's majority ethnic group, into the province.

The Chinese central government in Beijing, more than 2,000 miles to the east, has long claimed the Uighurs are waging a campaign of violence in an effort to secure themselves an independent state.

Incidents of violent clashes between Chinese state security forces and Uighurs in Xinjiang are common.

However, the facts are extremely hard to verify independently because foreign journalists are restricted from reporting in the region.

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Tiananmen Square: Car Crashes Into Crowd

Three people have been killed and 11 others injured after a Jeep crashed into a crowd in China's Tiananmen Square.

The vehicle burst into flames after crashing through barriers

The vehicle hit a barrier at the entrance to the Forbidden City and burst into flames.

The driver and two passengers in the vehicle were killed, while tourists and police were among those hurt.

Tthe square, which was the site of pro-democracy protests in 1989 that were brutally crushed by the authorities, was evacuated immediately after the crash.

Streets leading to the area were blocked off, with screens erected to stop people photographing the scene.

Two AFP journalists were detained close to the site when they went to report on the story.

Police put up screens to stop people taking photos of the crash

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying declined to say whether the government believed it was a terror attack. She said she did not know the specifics of the case and refused to comment further.

Sky's China Correspondent Mark Stone said local reports described it as an "accident", but he said many people would find that hard to believe given the "politically-sensitive" location.

"The location of the incident couldn't be more significant. It's right underneath the portrait of Chairman Mao on the Tiananmen Gate at the entrance to the Forbidden City. It is the most symbolic location in China," he said.

"There are three likely scenarios. One: this was a car crash which, by astonishing coincidence, took place at the most politically-sensitive place in China.

Officers blocked off roads to the square

"Or it was a form of protest; possibly a political protest against the communist leadership.

"The most probable scenario, however, is that this was an extreme form of petitioning: a family with a gripe, passed over by local authorities, take things to the extreme.

"We saw this with the airport bomber - a man who blew himself up at Beijing airport earlier this year to complain about police brutality in his province."

Two hours after the incident, Sky News drove through the square to film the aftermath.

"With the exception of a wet patch on the road, the whole area had been cleared up," Stone said.

"But in an indication of how sensitive the incident is, the Sky News vehicle was stopped by the authorities. They questioned the Sky team for 20 minutes and forced them to delete the video footage.

The square was the focus of a 1989 protest that was violently suppressed

Tiananmen Square is heavily policed to guard against political protests as occasionally happens on sensitive dates.

News of the incident first emerged on Chinese social media sites, with pictures showing the flaming wreck surrounded by police and emergency vehicles.

Chinese bloggers are speculating that the crash must have been intentional.

"Is this the 2013 Tiananmen self-immolation incident?" asked one poster. "There's still a person inside the car!"

Around 120 people have set themselves alight since February 2009 in Tibet and adjoining regions of China, in protests against Chinese oppression.

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Obama 'Aware Of Merkel Tapping Since 2010'

A German newspaper has claimed Barack Obama knew three years ago that his intelligence service was eavesdropping on Angela Merkel - contradicting reports that he had told his counterpart he did not know.

Bild am Sonntag claimed the US President allowed US intelligence to continue listening to the German Chancellor's calls, after being briefed on the operation by the National Security Agency in 2010.

It also alleged that Mr Obama personally authorised the monitoring of Mrs Merkel's mobile phone.

Germany received information last week that the US National Security Agency (NSA) had bugged Mrs Merkel's phone, prompting Berlin to summon the US ambassador - a move unprecedented in post-war relations between the close allies.

The NSA denied Mr Obama had been informed about the operation by the NSA chief in 2010, as reported by the newspaper, but the agency did not comment on whether Mr Obama knew about the bugging of Mrs Merkel's phone.

Both the White House and the German government declined to comment.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that the NSA ended the programme that involved Mrs Merkel after the operation was uncovered in an Obama administration review that began this summer.

The programme also involved as many as 35 other world leaders, some of whom were still being monitored, according to the WSJ report, which was attributed to US officials.

Activists in Washington DC staged a weekend protest over the NSA's tactics

Citing a source in Mrs Merkel's office, some German media have reported that Mr Obama apologised to the Chancellor when she called him on Wednesday, and told her that he would have stopped the bugging happening had he known about it.

But Bild am Sonntag, citing a "US intelligence worker involved in the NSA operation against Merkel", said NSA chief General Keith Alexander informed Mr Obama in person about the matter in 2010.

"Obama didn't stop the operation back then, but let it continue," the newspaper quoted the source as saying.

The NSA said, however, that Gen Alexander had never discussed any intelligence operations involving Mrs Merkel with Mr Obama.

"Alexander did not discuss with President Obama in 2010 an alleged foreign intelligence operation involving German Chancellor Merkel, nor has he ever discussed alleged operations involving Chancellor Merkel," said NSA spokeswoman Vanee Vines.

"News reports claiming otherwise are not true."

On Sunday, another German media publication, Der Spiegel magazine, claimed the US may have bugged Mrs Merkel's phone for more than 10 years.

It said the Chancellor's mobile had been listed by the NSA's Special Collection Service since 2002 and had still been on the list weeks before Mr Obama visited Berlin in June.

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Michael Jackson's Doctor Released From Jail

Conrad Murray has been released from jail two years after being convicted of causing Michael Jackson's death.

Murray, 60, left a downtown Los Angeles jail shortly after midnight local time, the sheriff's office said.

The physician was convicted in 2011 of involuntary manslaughter for Jackson's death in June 2009.

The pop superstar died after receiving a lethal dose of the anaesthetic Propofol, which Murray was giving Jackson as a sleep aid.

The doctor was sentenced to a four-year term, but a change in California law allowed his incarceration time to be significantly cut down.

The change is designed to alleviate chronic overcrowding in the state's prison system.

News of Conrad Murray's early release will likely upset the star's fans

Murray's medical licences have been suspended or revoked in three states where he had previously practised medicine.

In recent weeks, it has been reported that Murray is seeking to hire a publicist and also have his medical licences reinstated.

News of his release is likely to upset Jackson's family and the star's multitude of fans around the world.

Murray has denied that he was responsible for Jackson's death, saying he was trying to wean the singer off the drug.

He is currently appealing his conviction and his lawyer has fielded numerous big-money offers for his first post-jail television interview.

Last month the jury in a civil court case ruled that Murray had not been unfit for the job of looking after Jackson.

The jury dismissed a claim by the Jackson family that concert promoter AEG Live was negligent in hiring the doctor.

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Al Qaeda-Linked Syrian Rebel Leader 'Killed'

The leader of the powerful Syrian rebel group the al Nusra Front has been killed, according to Syrian state-run TV.

According to the one-line report, Abu Mohammad al Golani was killed in the coastal province of Latakia.

It did not say when or give further details.

However the rebel group said in a statement on Saturday that its leader was in good health.

"What was claimed by one channel alone, regarding what it claimed was the killing of the emir of al Nusra Front, was a lie," said the group.

The extremist front has become one of the most effective among the rebel groups fighting President Bashar Assad's forces.

The al Nusra Front played a key part in the Battle of Aleppo

However, it has links to al Qaeda and is classed by the US, the UK and the UN as a terrorist organisation.

If al Golani's death is confirmed it will be a significant blow to rebels, who consider the group to be the "special forces" of the battle against the regime.

The group, whose goal is to overthrow Mr Assad and establish an Islamist state under Sharia law, announced its creation in January 2012 and were key players in the Battle of Aleppo.

But they have an uneasy alliance with the National Coalition for Opposition Forces and many rebel groups consider them to be too extreme.

Al Nusra is opposed to western intervention in the nearly three-year-long Syrian civil war and many members consider the US to be an enemy of Islam.

The news of al Golani's death came as a car bomb outside a mosque in Damascus killed at least 40, including seven children.

Dozens of people were wounded in the car bombing in the rebel-controlled town of Suq Wadi Barada, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Anti-regime activists blamed the attack on government forces, while state news agency SANA said "the car exploded while the terrorists were packing it with explosives".

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Merkel's Phone 'Bugged For Decade By US'

The United States may have bugged Angela Merkel's phone for more than 10 years, it has been claimed.

Der Spiegel magazine said the German chancellor's mobile telephone had been listed by the NSA's Special Collection Service (SCS) since 2002 and was still on the list weeks before Barack Obama visited Berlin in June.

Germany's outrage over reports of bugging of Ms Merkel's phone by the NSA prompted it to summon the US ambassador for the first time in living memory.

In an SCS document cited by Der Spiegel, the agency said it had a "not legally registered spying branch" in the US embassy in Berlin, the exposure of which would lead to "grave damage for the relations of the United States to another government".

Mr Obama met with Ms Merkel in Berlin earlier this year

From there, NSA and CIA staff were tapping communication in the Berlin's government district with high-tech surveillance.

Quoting a secret document from 2010, Der Spiegel said such branches existed in about 80 locations around the world, including Paris, Madrid, Rome, Prague, Geneva and Frankfurt.

The magazine said it was not clear whether the SCS had recorded conversations or just connection data.

Mr Obama apologised to Merkel when she called him on Wednesday to seek clarification on the issue, Der Spiegel wrote, citing a source in Ms Merkel's office.

Ms Merkel's spokesman and the White House declined comment.

The rift over US surveillance activities first emerged earlier this year after reports that Washington had bugged European Union offices and had tapped half a billion phone calls, emails and text messages in Germany in a typical month.

But it appeared close to resolution after Ms Merkel's government said in August - just weeks before a parliamentary election - the United States had given sufficient assurances they were upholding German law.

Mr Obama ordered a review of US surveillance programmes after former NSA contractor Edward Snowden leaked documents that raised alarm in the United States and abroad.

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Brooklyn Stabbings: Five Dead Including A Baby

Five people - including a baby - have been stabbed to death at a house in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.

New York Police Department said on Sunday that the ages of the victims ranged from one to 20.

Police did not immediately disclose the gender of the victims, or their relationships to one another.

Authorities were alerted to a stabbing at a home on 57th Street near Ninth Avenue at around 11pm on Saturday.

New York Fire Department spokesman Jim Long said emergency crews found three people dead at the scene.

Two others were taken to hospitals - one to the Lutheran Medical Centre and another to Maimonides Medical Centre - where they were pronounced dead.

Police provided no further details and would not say if anyone was in custody.

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More