Lampedusa Boat Victims 'Raped And Tortured'

Italian police have arrested a Somali man accused of raping and torturing asylum seekers fleeing Libya on a boat which sank off the island of Lampedusa last month killing more than 365 migrants.

Mouhamud Elmi Muhidin, 34, faces charges of kidnapping, sexual assault, people trafficking and criminal association with the goal of aiding illegal immigration after he was identified by survivors.

Some 130 Eritreans were assaulted in Libay according to police

Some 130 migrants from Eritrea told police they were held for ransom at a detention centre in the Libyan desert by people traffickers from Somalia, Libya and Sudan.

A 17-year-old Eritrean girl interviewed by police said: "They forced us to watch our men being tortured with various methods including batons, electric shocks to the feet; whoever rebelled was tied up."

The migrants were forced to pay up to $3,500 (£2,180) for their freedom and their onward journey to the Libyan coast and a boat that due to take them to Italy.

Those who survived the crossing are held at detention centres in Italy

"The women who could not pay were assaulted," the girl said.                 

She also described in her own sexual assault, claiming Muhidin was one of three men who raped her.

"They threw me on the ground, held me down and poured fuel on my head. It burnt my hair, then my face, then my eyes.

"Then the three of them raped me without protection. After a quarter of an hour I was beaten and taken back to the house."

Muhidin was arrested on Lampedusa after he was spotted by some of the survivors on the island. He has now been flown to Sicily where he faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted.

Police also held this Tunisian man suspected of driving one of the boats

Investigators say he arrived on the island last week and had been staying in the local migrant centre, pretending to be one of the refugees.

"He was one of the leaders of the trafficking organisation," a police spokeswoman said, adding that he may have come to Italy to look for criminal contacts.

Italian authorities have vowed to crack down on the people trafficking rings that have been behind the influx of more than 35,000 asylum seekers so far this year to the country's coasts.

Most of them come from Eritrea, Somalia and Syria and Italy has asked for the European Union to step up assistance in dealing with the arrivals and countering the criminal networks behind them.

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Super Typhoon Haiyan: 'At Least 100 Dead'

At least 100 people may have died in the Philippines from the impact of super typhoon Haiyan, according to government officials.

An aviation officer in the central city of Tacloban reported bodies lying in the streets, said Captain John Andrews, deputy director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines.

Captain Andrews said the Tacloban airport manager had radioed the head office in Manila to report "100-plus dead, lying on the streets, with 100 plus injured".

The death toll is expected to rise (pic: Lowell Estepa Coron)

"This report was relayed to us by our station manager so it is considered very reliable information," he told ABS-CBN television.

"According to the station manager the airport is completely ruined."

Tacloban is the capital of Leyte, a large island of about two million people that was hit by Haiyan on Friday morning when the storm was at its strongest, knocking out all its communication facilities.

Families who survived the onslaught wait for relief supplies from the army

Local television GMA network reported that storm surges had hit Tacloban and nearby Palo town on its east coast.

Its reporter said he counted at least 31 bodies, including 20 at the Palo church. Philippine authorities are now rushing rescuers and communication equipment to the island.

Volunteers in Manila pack relief goods for devastated provinces

Five other people have been confirmed killed elsewhere in the central Philippines and as emergency workers reach the worst affected areas, many which remain cut off, the death toll is expected to rise.

Minnie Portales, a spokesman for the aid agency World Vision, said: "As we wait for early reports from some of the hardest-hit provinces, we fear for the worst. This could be very bad."

The typhoon is believed to be the strongest ever to have made landfall

Anna Lindenfors, Save the Children's director for the Philippines, added: "We expect the level of destruction caused by Typhoon Haiyan to be extensive and devastating, and sadly we fear that many lives will be lost."

Haiyan, now thought to be the strongest storm ever to hit land, was barrelling out of the Philippines after having flattened houses, triggered landslides and floods and knocked out power and communications across a number of islands.

The category five storm whipped-up winds of 195mph and waves as high as 5 metres as well as brought down power lines, knocked out communications, caused landslides and left streets flooded.

Haiyan could now pick up speed again as it sweeps towards Vietnam

Hundreds of thousands of people had to be evacuated and thousands more fled their homes as Haiyan tore apart buildings.

The previous strongest tropical cylcone, Hurricane Camille, brought 190mph winds to the Gulf of Mexico in 1969.

Meteorologists say Haiyan could pick up strength again as it sweeps across the South China Sea toward Vietnam.

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Iran Nuclear Talks Stretch Into Third Day

Talks between the world's leading foreign ministers on Iran's nuclear programme are to stretch into an unscheduled third day after they ended on Friday with major "unresolved" issues remaining.

US Secretary of State John Kerry, who cut short a Middle East tour to attend the talks in Geneva, Switzerland, struck a note of caution after a five-hour meeting drew to a close last night.

"There is not an agreement at this point," Mr Kerry told reporters. "There are still some very important issues on the table that are unresolved."

A senior State Department official said: "Over the course of the evening, we continued to make progress as we worked to the narrow the gaps. There is more work to do."

Iran's deputy foreign minister Abbas Araqchi also stressed: "It was productive but still we have lots of work to do."

Six world powers - the US, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany - are working on a deal to cap some of Iran's atomic programme in exchange for limited relief from economic sanctions.

On Friday, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov raised hopes after he said the six countries and Iran could agree a "road map" to end the differences over the programme at the talks.

Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (centre) is at the talks

He told reporters he did not wish to prejudge the outcome but said Iran should be allowed to have a peaceful nuclear programme under the watch of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

But as delegates began to arrive for the third day of talks France's Laurent Fabius cautioned there was no certainty a deal would be done.

"As I speak to you, I can not say there is any certainty that we can conclude," he told on France Inter radio.

Unlike previous encounters between Iran and Western powers in the past decade, all sides have remained quiet about details of the negotiations, without the criticism and mutual allegations of a lack of seriousness that have been typical of such meetings in the past.

Diplomats involved in the talks say this is a sign of how serious all sides are.

If some sort of agreement is reached, it would be a breakthrough after a decade of negotiations between Iran and the six world powers.

A potential deal could see Tehran freeze its nuclear efforts for as long as six months in exchange for some relief from the sanctions that have battered its economy.

But Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday that his country "utterly rejects" a deal being forged, adding that "Israel will do everything it needs to do to defend itself and defend the security of its people".

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Syrian Refugees 'Could Spread Polio To Europe'

Refugees fleeing the civil war in Syria could cause an outbreak of polio in Europe, two German infection experts have warned.

Writing in The Lancet medical journal they say the polio vaccine used in Europe is not effective enough to withstand transmission of the virus, amid fears it may have been carried to neighbouring countries by refugees living in unsanitary conditions ideal for the transmission of disease.

The inactivated polio vaccine (IPC), which is injected, usually forms part of a combined diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough and polio jab.

IPC provides protection from infection but it does not prevent the spread of the virus.

Syrian refugees cross the border into northern Iraq

Professor Martin Eichner from the University of Tubingen, and Dr Stefan Brockmann from the Department of Infection Control in Reutlingen point out that because only one in 200 polio infections cause symptoms, the virus could be circulating for nearly a year before a single case occurs. By this time, hundreds of individuals may be carrying the virus.

Prof Eichner and Dr Brockmann wrote: "Routine screening of sewage for polio virus has not been done in most European countries. But this intensified surveillance measure should be considered for settlements with large numbers of Syrian refugees.

"Vaccinating only Syrian refugees - as has been recommended by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control - must be judged as insufficient; more comprehensive measures should be taken into consideration," they wrote.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has confirmed an outbreak of at least 10 cases of polio in Syria, where vaccination coverage has dramatically decreased because of the civil war.

On Wednesday, the WHO increased the number of people it said must be vaccinated to 20 million as part of a vaccination campaign that will target children in Syria, Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories.

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Super Typhoon Haiyan Hits The Philippines

Four people have been killed after Super Typhoon Haiyan, one of the most powerful typhoons ever recorded in the world, hit the Philippines.

The victims are reported to be a mother and child who drowned in South Cotabato, and a boy who was struck by lightning in Zamboanga City.

A fourth was killed by a falling tree although the death toll is expected to rise as the worst affected areas after currently cut off.

Communications have been cut and roads blocked by fallen trees

Three quaters of a million people were ordered to leave their homes in villages in Haiyan's path amid fears the storm damage could be the worst in the Philippines' history.

President Benigno Aquino III threatened to force people living in high-risk areas, including 100 coastal communities, to move at gun point in a desperate bid to save lives.

War-like preparations were swung into place with three C-130 air force cargo planes and 32 military helicopters and planes on standby, along with 20 navy ships.

Those who did not leave have begun the clear-up operation

"No typhoon can bring Filipinos to their knees if we'll be united," Mr Aquino said in a televised address.

The US Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Centre in Hawaii said Haiyan's maximum sustained winds were 195mph (314kmph), with gusts up to 235mph (379kmph).

Residents of Legazpi city in Albay province, south of Manila

Some meteorologists have claimed it is the strongest severe tropical storm to make landfall. The previous record holder, according to Reuters and AP, was Hurricane Camillie in 1969 which had winds up to 190mph.

Local journalist Mike Cohen told Sky News: "We're seeing a lot of strong winds but not a lot of rain.

Nearly 200 flights have been suspended at Ninoy Aquino airport

"There are already reports of some landslides and very strong storm surge entering towns and villages in the path of the storm.

"Trees are falling and there is lots of damage reported across the region."

Children sheltering in Cebu. Picture: Red Cross

The typhoon is believed to have made land fall on the northern tip of Cebu Province, about 400 miles south east of the capital Manila.

Up to 12million people live in the affected areas, including the tourist districts of Leyte Island and Borocay Island.

The calm before the storm: Fisherman's outrigger anchored off Manila bay

According to Mr Cohen, power has been cut to the worst-affected areas, mainly as a preventative measure to avoid electrocution, but this was making communications difficult.

Jeff Masters, a former hurricane meteorologist who is a director at the private firm Weather Underground, warned residents to prepare for "catastrophic damage".

A closer look reveals the eye of the storm over the Philippines

He said: "195mph winds; there aren't too many buildings constructed that can withstand that kind of wind. The wind damage should be the most extreme in Philippines' history."

The strength of the wind made it one of the four most powerful typhoons ever recorded in the world, and the most powerful to have made landfall, he added.

But other meteorologists forecast lower readings, saying the storm's speed at landfall had sustained winds at 145mph (234kmph) with gusts of 170mph ( 275kmph).

Haiyan is expected to sweep through the Philippines' central region before moving toward the South China Sea over the weekend, heading towards Vietnam.

The head of the government's main disaster response agency in the capital Manila said people are still being moved from communities prone to landslides and flooding.

These include residents of Bohol, many of whom are still living in tents after being made homeless following an earthquake last month.

But there is hope that, as Haiyan is a fast-moving storm, flooding from heavy rain - which usually causes the most deaths from typhoons in the Philippines - may not be as bad.

Haiyan is the 24th tropical storm to hit the Philippines this year.

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Taliban Leader Fazlullah Vows Revenge Attacks

The Pakistani Taliban has promised a wave of revenge attacks against the government a day after naming Mullah Fazlullah as its new leader.

Fazlullah, the man behind the attack on teenage activist Malala Yousafzai, was chosen after the US killed the group's previous chief, Hakimullah Mehsud, in a drone strike.

The group said its offensive "will target security forces, government installations, political leaders and police".

"We have a plan," said Asmatullah Shaheen, head of the Taliban's leadership council.

"But I want to make one thing clear. We will not target civilians, bazaars or public places. People do not need to be afraid."

Shaheen said the Taliban's main target included army and government installations in Punjab province, the political stronghold of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud was killed last week

The Taliban statement condemned the Pakistani government, calling it a "slave of America" and claiming it has "full information" about US drone attacks in the group's tribal heartland.

Pakistan publicly condemns the strikes as a breach of its sovereignty but in private the government is said to broadly support them.

The Taliban's new leader was quickly chosen by the shura, the group's leadership council, and named on Thursday.

Fazlullah served as the Pakistani Taliban's leader in the northwest Swat Valley and rose to prominence in radio broadcasts demanding the imposition of a harsh brand of Islam, earning him the nickname "Mullah Radio".

His election came after Mehsud was killed entering his compound in a village in North Waziristan on November 1.

Mehsud and his allies had been tentatively open to the idea of ceasefire talks with the government, but Fazlullah strongly opposes any negotiations.

No meaningful talks have taken place between the Taliban and the government since Mr Sharif was elected prime minister in May.

Fazlullah now looks to have moved even further from that possibility, signalling a new period of uncertainty and violence in the country.

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Kerry's $75m Bid To Boost Middle East Talks

US Secretary of State John Kerry has pledged an extra $75m ($46m) in aid to help Palestinians, as he arrived in the Middle East to join peace talks.

Designed to boost Palestinian public support for the faltering negotiations, the additional cash is intended to create jobs and improve roads, schools and other infrastructure.

The announcement came as Mr Kerry met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of attempts to overcome the host of problems hindering the talks.

"I am very confident of our ability to work through them," he told reporters as he opened the meeting in a Jerusalem hotel.

Palestinian protesters during a demonstration as Kerry visited Bethlehem

"That is why I am here. This can be achieved with good faith and a serious effort on both sides."

He also urged both Mr Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who he met later in the day, to make "real compromises and hard decisions."

Senior Palestinians say an Israeli plan announced last week for 3,500 more settler homes in the occupied West Bank represents a major obstacle in the negotiations.

But Mr Netanyahu claimed the Palestinians' behaviour posed a greater threat to the discussions.

"I am concerned about the progress because I see the Palestinians continuing with incitement, continuing to create artificial crises, continuing to avoid, run away from the historic decisions that are needed to make a genuine peace," he said.

Mr Kerry also met Mahmoud Abbas

He said he hoped Mr Kerry's discussions in Jerusalem and with Mr Abbas "will help steer (the negotiations) back to a place where we could achieve the historical peace that we seek."

Speaking after meeting Mr Abbas, Mr Kerry reaffirmed the US' view of the settlements as "illegitimate".

Meanwhile, Palestinians held demonstrations in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, holding banners demanding an end to the settlements and criticising 'Israeli occupation and apartheid'.

On the sidelines of the peace talks, Israel has released half of the 104 Palestinian prisoners it pledged to free under a US-brokered deal to draw Mr Abbas back to negotiations that Palestinians abandoned in 2010 over settlement building.

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Yasser Arafat: Tests 'Support' Polonium Claims

Timeline: Yasser Arafat

Updated: 9:52am UK, Tuesday 27 November 2012

Here are some of the key dates in Mr Arafat's life.

:: February 4, 1969 Mr Arafat, the fifth child of a Palestinian merchant, takes over the PLO chairmanship. He transforms it into a force that makes the Palestinian cause known worldwide.

:: June 6, 1982 Israel invades Lebanon to crush the PLO, forcing Mr Arafat and loyalists to flee Beirut.

:: October 1, 1985 Mr Arafat narrowly escapes death in an Israeli air raid on the PLO's Tunisian headquarters.

:: April 16, 1988 Khalil al Wazir, Mr Arafat's military commander, is assassinated in Tunis. Israel is blamed.

:: December 12, 1988 Mr Arafat accepts Israel's right to exist and renounces terrorism. Nearly two years later, Iraq invades Kuwait, Mr Arafat supports Saddam Hussein and the PLO is isolated.

:: November 1991 Mr Arafat marries his 28-year-old secretary, Suha Tawil. Their daughter Zahwa is born in 1995.

:: April 7, 1992 Mr Arafat is rescued after a plane crash lands in the Libyan desert during a sandstorm.

:: September 13, 1993 Israel and the PLO sign an accord on Palestinian autonomy in Oslo, Norway, giving Mr Arafat control of most of the Gaza Strip and about a quarter of the West Bank. He shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin on the White House lawn. The two later share the Nobel Peace Prize with Israeli foreign minister Shimon Peres.

:: July 1, 1994 Returning from exile, Mr Arafat sets foot on Palestinian soil for the first time in 26 years.

:: September 28, 2000 Israel's then opposition leader Ariel Sharon visits a Jerusalem shrine holy to Jews and Muslims, leading to clashes that escalate into a Palestinian uprising.

:: December 3, 2001 After three suicide bombings, Israel destroys Mr Arafat's helicopters in Gaza City, confining him to the West Bank town of Ramallah.

:: March 2002 Israel declares Mr Arafat an "enemy" two days after a Palestinian suicide bomber kills 29 people at a Passover holiday meal, prompting an Israeli incursion into the West Bank.

:: June 24, 2002 President George W Bush calls on Palestinians to replace Mr Arafat as leader. A year later, his deputy Mahmoud Abbas becomes the first Palestinian prime minister in a move pushed for by the US and Israel to sideline Mr Arafat.

:: June 4, 2003 At the first major Israeli-Palestinian summit without Mr Arafat, Mr Sharon and Mr Bush launch "road map" peace plan, which aims to end fighting and create Palestinian state by 2005.

:: October 21, 2003 Mr Arafat is diagnosed with gallstones. Nearly a year to the day later, he collapses and is flown to hospital in France with a serious, undisclosed illness.

:: November 9, 2004 A French medical team acknowledges that Mr Arafat has been in a coma for a week. He dies two days later at the age of 75.

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Twitter IPO: Shares Hit Stock Exchange At $26

Twitter has set a price of $26 (£16) for its public stock offering and can begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

The price values the San Francisco-based micro blogging site at $14.1bn (£8.8bn), based on its outstanding stock and options, Reuters reported.

It is offering 70 million shares in the Initial Public Offering (IPO), with an option to buy another 10.5 million.

Twitter had originally set a price range of $17 (£10.57) to $20 (£12.44), but raised the range on Monday signalling an enthusiastic response from prospective investors.

A statement from the company read: "We've priced our initial public offering of 70,000,000 shares of our common stock at a price to the public of $26 (£16) per share.

"In addition we've guaranteed the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 10,500,000 additional shares of common stock.

"Our shares are expected to begin trading on the NYSE on November 7 under the symbol TWTR."

Analysts said they expected shares in the company to experience a small rise during the first day of trading.

Investor enthusiasm for Twitter, which boasts 230 million users, is strong even though the micro-blogging site has never turned a profit.

Despite this, Securities and Exchange Commission chairwoman Mary Jo White suggested technology companies with large numbers of users will not always translate them into big profits.

"In the absence of a clear description, it can be hard not to think that these big numbers will inevitably translate into big profits for the company.

"But the connection may not necessarily be there. What if only a fraction of those users are paying customers?

"What does that mean for future financial results? What if the bulk of the growth in the number of users is in an area where the company has not yet figured out how to turn those users into paying customers?

"What does that then say about the meaning of user growth rates?"

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Ariel Castro Victim Strung Up 'Like A Fish'

One of the three women held captive in a Cleveland man's home for nearly a decade has described being strung up "like a fish" in a TV interview.

Michelle Knight told the Dr Phil talk show she was punished after picking a lock in an attempt to escape and had her mouth taped up to prevent her from shouting for help.

She told TV host Phil McGraw: "I was tied up like a fish, an ornament on the wall. That's the only way I can describe it."

Ms Knight described how her kidnapper, Ariel Castro, used an orange extension cord to tie her neck, hands and feet before she was hung up.

During the show, she discussed the physical, mental and sexual abuse and torture she endured while in captivity, including spending weeks in chains.

She was kidnapped in August 2002 when she was 20 years old.

The three women managed to escape from the Cleveland house in May

Ms Knight, Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus escaped from Castro's house on May 6, 2012, when Ms Berry managed to get through a door and call for help.

Two of the women are planning to collaborate with a Pulitzer Prize-winning team of reporters for a book about their ordeal.

Castro, 53, pleaded guilty to kidnapping the three women, imprisoning them in his Cleveland home and repeatedly raping and beating them. He was sentenced to life in prison.

A month into his sentence, Castro was found dead in his cell. His death was initially ruled a suicide, but a prison report indicated he may have died accidentally as a result of auto-erotic asphyxiation.

Ms Knight was the only victim to appear at Castro's sentencing.

She told him: "You took 11 years of my life away, but I've got my life back. I spent 11 years in hell. Now your hell is just beginning."

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Norway Bus Stabbings Leave Three Dead

A man has been arrested on suspicion of stabbing three people to death and hijacking a bus in Norway.

The suspect - thought to have been a passenger on the vehicle - is said to have attacked two passengers and the bus driver on Monday, just after 5.30pm.

Two men and a woman are understood to have died in the incident on Route 53, between Lake Tyin and the village of Ovre Ardal in Sogn and Fjordane county, western Norway.

Motorists who saw what was happening and attempted to help were threatened, local media reported.

One witness told Norway's TV2 that a man was walking around the inside of the bus with a knife.

Police said the suspect was not an ethnic Norwegian but could not give details on where he was from. The motive was not immediately clear, he said.

A map showing the location of Tyin, near where the attack happened

Emergency services were originally told a bus accident had occurred and rescuers from the fire department were the first to arrive on the scene.

Police were called soon after and ordered people nearby to stay inside their cars and lock their doors.

Until they declared the scene safe, they were unsure whether the man was acting alone.

The suspect, described as a man in his 50s, was at first held by firefighters but later arrested when officers arrived at the scene.

Oslo police had feared it was a terrorist incident and prepared to send an anti-terror unit to the scene aboard army helicopters.

They called off the deployment after receiving reports that the suspect had been arrested.

Local mayor Arild Ingar Lægreid told Bergensavisen website: "It is cruel that such things can happen. I'm shocked.

"The most important thing now is to take care of the families, and we do the best we can."

The bus, operated by Jotunheimen and Valdres, was heading east at the time of the attacks.

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India Rocket Blasts Off On Mission To Mars

India has blasted off on its first mission to Mars as it bids to become the only Asian nation to reach the Red Planet.

The rocket carrying the unmanned probe took off at 9.08am GMT from the Sriharikota spaceport off the southeast coast.

Ahead of launch, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said everything was "progressing well" and that the weather was "normal".

The Mars Orbiter Mission, known as Mangalyaan, was announced 15 months ago by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, shortly after a Chinese probe flopped when it failed to leave Earth's atmosphere.

The timing led to speculation that India was seeking to make a point to its militarily and economically superior neighbour, despite denials from ISRO.

The probe is about the size of a small car

"We are in competition with ourselves in the areas that we have charted for ourselves," ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan said last week.

"Each country has its own priorities."

The gold-coloured probe, which weighs 1,350kg, is about the size of a small car and is being carried by a 350-tonne rocket much smaller than American or Russian equivalents.

Lacking the power to fly directly, it will orbit Earth for nearly a month, building up the necessary velocity to break free from its gravitational pull.

Scientists prepared the probe at a facility in Bangalore

Only then will it begin the second stage of its nine month journey which will test India's scientists to the full.

The project comes in at just 4.5bn rupees (£45.5m) but India has still been criticised over the cost. The country still has millions of people living in poverty.

UK financial aid to India, worth about £200m, is currently being phased out and will end by 2015.

More than half of all Mars projects have failed, including China's in 2011 and Japan's in 2003. Only the US, Russia and the European Union have successfully reached the planet.

Nasa, which will launch its own probe to study Mars on November 18, is helping ISRO with communications. Two ships stationed in the Pacific will also assist with monitoring.

India has had some success with space missions and sent its Chandrayaan probe to the moon in November 2008.

However, it lost contact with the probe the following year.

Reaching the Red Planet is considered a far tougher challenge as its orbit means its distance from Earth varies between 31 and 249 million miles.

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Pakistan Reviews US Ties After Taliban Death

Pakistan is reviewing its relationship with the United States following the killing of the Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud in a US drone strike.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is expected to chair a meeting of his top security advisers on Monday to discuss the next steps.

Mehsud, who had a $5m (£3.1m) US bounty on his head, was killed on Friday in the northwestern Pakistani militant stronghold of North Waziristan, near the Afghan border.

Pakistani Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar responded to the killing by accusing the US of "scuttling" attempts to get the Taliban to take part in peace talks.

He said "every aspect" of co-operation with Washington would be reviewed in the wake of the attack.

"The murder of Hakimullah is the murder of all efforts at peace. Americans said they support our efforts at peace. Is this support?"

The US State Department has not confirmed the killing, but a spokesman said: "The United States and Pakistan continue to have a vital, shared strategic interest in ending extremist violence so as to build a more prosperous, stable and peaceful region."

Some politicians have demanded that US military supply lines into Afghanistan be blocked in response to the attack.

Pakistan is the main route for supplies for US troops in the landlocked country, for everything from food and drinking water to fuel.

Khan Said is suggested as a possible future leader of the Pakistani Taliban

The closure of the routes could be a serious disruption as US and other Western forces prepare to withdraw from Afghanistan by the end of next year.

Relations between the US and Pakistan have been seriously strained several times over recent years, including in 2011, when US forces killed Osama bin Laden in a raid that Pakistan said violated its sovereignty.

On Saturday, several militant commanders said 38-year-old Khan Said, who is also known as Sajna, had been chosen as the new leader of the Pakistani Taliban.

But Shahidullah Shahid, the main spokesman for the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), said a permanent replacement had not been chosen yet.

"Asmatullah Shaheen Bhittani, the head of the supreme shura, has has been appointed as temporary head of the TTP," Mr Shahid told the AFP news agency, adding that prayers for Mehsud were still going on.

Alongside Said and Bhittani, names suggested as a permanent leader include Mullah Fazlullah, the commander from the Swat Valley, whose men shot and wounded schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai last year.

Said is seen as a relative moderate and if he becomes leader, talks with the government might eventually get going, said Imtiaz Gul, the head of the Islamabad-based Centre for Research and Security Studies think-tank.

But if Fazlullah was chosen, there would be little hope of compromise, he warned.

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Egypt's Mohammed Morsi Goes On Trial

Egypt's first democratically-elected president has arrived at court to face charges that could carry the death penalty

Some 20,000 police officers have been deployed to maintain order as Mohamed Morsi goes on trial accused of inciting the deaths of protesters outside the presidential palace in December 2012.

Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood supporters accuse the army-installed government of fabricating the charges and have called for anti-military protests, raising fears of new clashes.

On the eve of the trial, gunmen shot dead two policemen and injured a third near Ismailia on the west bank of the Suez Canal, security sources said.

Morsi, who has been held by the army at a secret location since he was ousted on July 3, was flown to the police academy in east Cairo where the trial is being held.

The 14 other defendants being tried alongside him were driven there during the curfew, Cairo security chief Osama al Soghayar said.

The trial is being seen as a test for Egypt's new authorities, who have come under fire from human rights groups for their heavy-handed approach in dealing with dissent.

Morsi supporters have been staging regular protests in Cairo

"They should present Mohamed Morsi in court and grant him a fair trial, including the right to challenge the evidence against him in court," Amnesty International's Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui said in a statement.

"Failing to do so would further call into question the motives behind his trial."

But analysts believe the political nature of the trial will drive its outcome.

Shadi Hamid from the Brookings Doha Center said: "This is first and foremost a political trial and an important one. There is zero chance of it being free and fair.

"The trial is a clear reminder of a polarised Egyptian society at this moment of time."

Egypt's foreign ministry spokesman Badr Abdelatty told reporters over the weekend that Morsi will be "tried before a judge according to Egyptian penal code".

"Nothing extraordinary, nothing exceptional. He will have rights to have a free and fair trial," he said.

Morsi's stormy rule came to an abrupt end in a military overthrow after millions took to the streets to demand his resignation.

According to relatives and the few officials who were given access to him since his detention, Morsi remains defiant.

Unlike his predecessor Mubarak, on trial facing similar charges, he will not cooperate with the court, said the Islamist Anti-Coup Alliance.

The deposed president "does not recognise the authority of the court," it said in a statement.

His lawyers will attend the hearing only as observers, it added.

During a six-hour visit to Cairo on Sunday, US Secretary of State John Kerry urged Egyptians to ensure a return to a democratically-elected government.

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Ryanair Moves To Fully Allocated Seating

Ryanair has announced a plan to move to fully allocated seating on all of its flights.

The budget carrier said the new system will be in force from February 1.

The move comes after numerous customer complaints about the frenzied rush by passengers to secure the best seats.

The company said in a statement: "This return to allocated seating is Ryanair's response to the enormous demand from our customers in recent weeks via Ryanair's 'Tell MOL' customer feedback initiative.

"Ryanair's decision to launch fully allocated seating is also part of the airline's commitment to listen to its customers."

The announcement comes as the company revealed a profit rise of just 1% to £510m, in the six months to September 30.

Two months after Ryanair issued its first profit warning in a decade, the Ireland-based firm has now cut its profit forecast further for the financial year ending in March, to £423m and £440m.

It had previously estimated the full-year profit at £487m.

Ryanair, Europe's largest carrier by seats sold, said traffic rose 2% to 49 million passengers in the period, but said intense competition was pushing down winter fares by around 10%.

Shares in Ryanair were down more than 11% in early Monday trading, as investors fled from airline stocks.

Easyjet and IAG, the parent company of BA, were also down as a result.

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New Pakistan Taliban Leader After Drone Strike

The Pakistani Taliban's number two commander has been promoted to leader after its previous chief Hakimullah Mehsud was killed in a US drone strike.

Khan Said, also known as Sajna, now heads the militant group following a meeting of the supreme ruling council, according to security officials.

However, some commanders were reportedly unhappy with the choice and wanted more talks.

The move comes as the fallout from the strike continues to grow, with Pakistan summoning the American ambassador to register a protest.

Pakistan's interior minister Chaudhry Nisar accused the US of "scuttling" attempts to get the Taliban to take part in peace talks.

He said "every aspect" of co-operation with Washington would be reviewed in the wake of the attack.

"The murder of Hakimullah is the murder of all efforts at peace," said interior minister Chaudhry Nisar. "Americans said they support our efforts at peace. Is this support?"

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

Khan Said is believed to have masterminded an attack on a jail in northwest Pakistan in 2012 that freed nearly 400 prisoners, as well as an assault on a Pakistani air force base in the same year.

Previous leader Mehsud had a $5m (£3.1m) US government bounty on his head and was one of Pakistan's most wanted men.

He has been buried after being killed on Friday along with four associates when a drone targeted his car in a compound in the country's North Waziristan tribal district.

The Pakistani Taliban has vowed revenge for the killing, with spokesman Azam Tariq saying: "Every drop of Hakimullah's blood will turn into a suicide bomber.

"America and their friends shouldn't be happy because we will take revenge for our martyr's blood."

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.

The government reacted angrily to Mehsud's killing, with information minister Pervez Rashid saying: "The US has tried to attack the peace talks with this drone but we will not let them fail."

A Pakistani Taliban fighter said Mehsud's body was "damaged but recognisable". His bodyguard and driver were also killed.

The US offered the $5m bounty after he appeared in a video with a Jordanian suicide bomber who killed seven CIA employees at a base in Afghanistan in 2009.

Mehsud, said to be aged in his mid-30s, 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.

His killing is the latest in a series of setbacks for the militant group.

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

The group, known as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), is an umbrella organisation founded in December 2007 following a deadly military raid on the radical Red Mosque in Islamabad.

The TTP officially swears allegiance to Mullah Omar, the leader of the Afghan Taliban, who ruled Kabul from 1996-2001, but the two groups are separate, with independent command structures.

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EBay: Nazi Holocaust Memorabilia Removed

Auction site eBay has apologised after Nazi Holocaust memorabilia, including clothes worn by concentration camp victims, were traded online.

Journalists claim to have found several items for sale, including a complete Auschwitz uniform worn by a Polish baker who died in the camp.

The Auschwitz uniform had reportedly been priced at £11,300 by the seller, a Ukrainian man in Canada, named as Viktor Kempf.

Survivors liberated from Auschwitz in 1945

He had apparently sold similar clothing for $18,000 (£11,491) last year.

It was claimed Mr Kempf had been criticised in the past for selling such items, but did so to "document" them and to fund history book projects.

Mr Kempf was quoted as saying: "I don't want people to think I'm just doing it for the money. These periods in history are horrific, nobody should ever forget them."

How Mr Kempf described the items on eBay

EBay has offered to donate £25,000 to charity after the items were discovered and admitted they breached the terms of use.

The online retailer said: "We are very sorry these items have been listed on eBay and we are removing them.

"We don't allow listings of this nature, and dedicate thousands of staff to policing our site and use the latest technology to detect items that shouldn't be for sale.

Schindler's list failed to sell on eBay when offered for sale for £3m

"We very much regret that we didn't live up to our own standards. We have made a donation to charity to reflect our concern."

Other items found on eBay, by journalists at the Mail On Sunday, included shoes and a toothbrush said to have belonged to concentration camp victims.

There were also yellow Star of David armbands used by the Nazis to identify Jews for persecution.

An original copy of Schindler's list of Jews saved from the Holocaust by Oskar Schindler went unsold on eBay in July.

The 14-page typewritten list - bearing the names of 801 men - originated from the German industrialist's right-hand man Itzhak Stern, and had a steep opening bid of $3m (£1.96m).

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LA Airport Gunman May Face Death Penalty

The suspected gunman in the deadly shooting at Los Angeles International Airport has been charged with murder - and could face the death penalty.

Authorities arrested Paul Ciancia, 23, after Friday's attack, which left security officer Gerardo Hernandez dead and five others wounded.

As well as murder, Ciancia was also charged with commission of violence at an international airport.

Suspected gunman Paul Ciancia

A note allegedly found in the suspect's bag said that he wanted to kill at least one transport officer with his AR-15 semi-automatic rifle and didn't care which one. 

"Black, white, yellow, brown, I don't discriminate," the note read, according to a paraphrase by a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation. 

The suspect's screed also mentioned "fiat currency" and "NWO," possible references to the New World Order, a conspiracy theory that foresees a one-world government.

Terminal 3, the area where the shooting happened, reopened on Saturday.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) planned to review its security policies in the wake of the shooting.

The attack caused major disruption to travellers

Administrator John Pistole did not say if that meant arming officers.

A few more details emerged about Ciancia, who was described as reserved and solitary.

Former classmates barely remember him, and could say little about the young man who moved from New Jersey to Los Angeles less than two years ago.

"He kept to himself and ate lunch alone a lot," a former classmate, David Hamilton, told the Los Angeles Times.

"I really don't remember any one person who was close to him .... In four years, I never heard a word out of his mouth."

A police officer at Los Angeles airport

Ciancia, who was shot four times by airport police, remained in hospital on Saturday, but there was no word on his condition.

He was wounded in the mouth and the leg, authorities said.

On Friday, Ciancia's father called police in New Jersey, worried about his son after the young man sent texts to his family that suggested he might be in trouble.

Ten minutes earlier, police said a suspect walked into the airport, pulled a rifle from a bag and began firing.

When searched by police, the attacker had five 30-round magazines, and the bag contained "hundreds of rounds in 20-round boxes," a law enforcement official said.

Mr Hernandez, 39, was the first TSA official in the agency's 12-year history to be killed in the line of duty.

Allen Cummings, the police chief in the small town where Ciancia grew up, said the texts the suspect's family had received did not mention suicide or hurting others.

The attack at the nation's third-busiest airport caused hundreds flights to be delayed and cancellations nationwide.

Leon Saryan had just passed through security when he gunfire. He fled and as he was cowering in a corner, the shooter approached.

"He looked at me and asked 'TSA?'. I shook my head no, and he continued on down toward the gate. He had his gun at the ready and, but for the grace of God, I am here to tell about it," said Mr Saryan.

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