Putin Condemned For Marking Victory In Crimea

Hague's Whirlwind Diplomatic Tour Of Europe

Updated: 12:47am UK, Saturday 10 May 2014

By Tim Marshall, Diplomatic Editor

When you travel with the Foreign Office, you travel at speed.

Foreign Secretary William Hague lives his working life in blocks of time allocated according to timetables, worked out by staff, who liaise with their counterparts around the world.

For his trip around Eastern Europe they had arranged 21 meetings in four countries over four days.

To achieve that they had chartered a 13-seat charter jet. It's expensive, but the RAF planes sometimes used by government officials were unavailable or didn't have the range required.

The view was that if they travelled on scheduled flights they couldn't make all the meetings.

On board were the Foreign Secretary, several advisors, his private secretary, security men, and a two-person Sky News team including cameraman Pete Milnes.

We were inside what is called "The Bubble".

On Monday the first call was to Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, where we were met by various government officials and whisked into town in an eight-vehicle convoy, with lights flashing and sirens blaring.

The trip was about signalling to the countries he visited, but also to Russia. The message was that the UK will support Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia.

Britain sent a similar but stronger message to the Baltic States and Russia when it flew four fighter jets to Lithuania last month, but they are Nato members. On this tour he only had political and economic weapons at his disposal.

For the Moldova leg he had penned an article for a leading newspaper and acknowledged to Sky News that is was written for two audiences.

"You have to get through to the publics of the countries you visit, but you also know that the Russians are reading it ... Moscow needs to understand that there is a long-term price for violating the sovereignty of other nations," he said.

After a series of meetings, Mr Hague was back in his vehicle and preparing to return to the airport.

At this point it is essential all 13 of us, and the 30-odd pieces of kit and luggage, are all ready to move because the only people the convoy will wait for is the Foreign Secretary and his security detail.

After each meeting there is a flurry of activity with people throwing bags into cars, which occasionally might even be moving.

We get back to the plane and head for Vienna.

On board the protocol is that on the rare occasions a reporter is travelling with the Foreign Secretary he or she sits at the back, thus allowing the diplomats to spend the flight time working and talking privately.

Their area is for the duration of the flight their private office. Occasionally the Foreign Secretary will come back for a chat.

This is usually a mixture of everyday pleasantries, light humour over an incident which may have occurred at the previous location, and genuine insights into aims and strategies of HMG.

At dusk we land in Vienna and are two-thirds of the way through a 15-hour day.

In the Austrian capital the following morning Mr Hague attends the Council of Europe meeting on the Ukraine crisis.

The Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is present, but there is no meeting of minds.

Back at the airport the Foreign Secretary meets the acting Ukrainian Foreign Minister who is hitching a lift to Ukraine.

Mr Hague jokes: "We've thrown someone off to make room." He then takes the rare opportunity to spend the 90-minute flight to Kiev for a proper and private conversation with his opposite number.

When we arrive there is moment of light comedy.

The Minister, Andrii Deshchytsia, gets off first, followed immediately by Mr Hague, before the Ukrainian turns around, and as protocol demands, shakes hands with Mr Hague and welcomes him to his country.

The Bubble moves into Kiev where the Ukrainian Acting Prime Minister is in his own bubble which is running five minutes late.

For the first time in two days things slow down. We wait in a huge meeting room with the UK diplomats chatting to each other in a relaxed manner before the Prime Minister arrives and its back to business.

The following day the convoy passes the Ukrainian revolution The Maidan where most of the fighting during the winter took place. It's a reminder of just how serious the trip is.

Back on the plane I ask the Foreign Secretary what his favourite part of the job is and he replies: "It's knowing that we are not dealing with trivial stuff here. This matters, and it matters what we do."

On to Georgia, a country where a lot of people have long names, which for a native English speaker can present difficulties.

I ask Mr Hague if he ever forgets anyone's name.

"No, but then I've usually got people's names written down and I have a team of people to help me.

"If you are unsure, then the first thing you do when you land is ask the ambassador to take you through names and pronunciations."

Tbilisi is an attractive city with excellent wine and food, but Mr Hague can't concentrate on the architecture due to work, and says he's learned over the years not to enjoy the food too much.

Most meetings involve at least coffee and biscuits, and more usually a meal at which the host will pile up every local delicacy as a way of showing off their country's food.

Towards the end of day four we end up back in London after a five-hour flight. During the flight, the Foreign Secretary was slightly more relaxed for the first time.

He was still working but his mind was now clear of the 21 meetings. As we approached RAF Northolt the focus was returning.

On the tarmac, under grey skies, he greeted an air force officer with the words: "What have you done with the weather while we were away."

The sunshine of the previous weekend had given way to a chilly breeze, but in Ukraine the temperature was rising.

I worked out that most of us had, by Thursday afternoon, worked for about 55 hours so far this week.

I was now out of The Bubble and so drove home. The Foreign Secretary got into another car, in another convoy, and headed for the Foreign Office.

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Kidnapped Schoolgirls 'In At Least Four Groups'

Intelligence sources have told Sky News they believe they know where some of the schoolgirls kidnapped in Nigeria are.

The sources believe they have been split into at least four different groups, complicating the search to find the girls almost four weeks after they were taken by militants from Boko Haram.

British and American officials are using advanced eavesdropping equipment to scan the Sambisa forest where the schoolgirls are thought to be, Sky News understands.

The burnt-out school where the girls were taken from last month

Sky's Special Correspondent Alex Crawford, who is in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, said if the intelligence is true it would be "much more difficult to mount simultaneous raids" to rescue them.

"The whole thing is fraught with danger," she added.

It has been claimed Nigerian security forces failed to respond to warnings about Boko Haram's planned abduction of the 276 girls from a boarding school in Chibok in the northern Borno state on April 14.

There are reports some of the girls have already been sold

Amnesty International said it had verified reports from several credible sources who claimed the military was aware of the impending attack close to four hours before it took place.

The Nigerian government has rejected the findings as "unfounded".

The leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, has threatened to sell the girls "on the market", amid reports some have already been trafficked to neighbouring Chad and Cameroon.

Parents of the kidnapped schoolgirls

But Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said he believes the girls are still in the country.

A British team of experts sent to "advise and support" the rescue operation touched down in Abuja earlier on Friday.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office says Britain's aim is not only to find the girls but to eradicate Boko Haram.

The girls were taken from a boarding school in the north of Nigeria

Prime Minister David Cameron has told Sky News the abduction is "a ghastly situation, an act of pure evil".

The Islamist militant group's five-year insurgency has left at least 1,500 dead this year alone.

Its name is said to figuratively mean "Western education is forbidden".

Michelle Obama tweeted a photo of herself supporting the girls on Thursday

US first lady Michelle Obama is to speak out against the kidnappings later today when she gives the weekly presidential address instead of her husband, the White House has said.

Earlier this week, she expressed solidarity with the kidnap victims, tweeting a photograph of herself holding a placard bearing the slogan #BringBackOurGirls.

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Kidnapped Nigerian Schoolgirls Tell Of Escape

Schoolgirls who escaped from the Islamist militant group Boko Haram in Nigeria have told of their harrowing ordeal as the search for those still held captive continues.

One described being shot at as she ran from the gunmen when she was sent to fetch water.

Another spoke of how she and a friend jumped from a moving lorry as it slowed down, despite the threat of being killed, and spent a night in the bush before making their way to safety.

The schoolgirls gave their accounts to the distraught mothers of those still being held hostage.

One girl was shot at as she fled while another jumped from a lorry

"They took us away in a convoy of lorries," one of them said.

"We travelled through the night before reaching the final destination in the forest.

"The following day we were sent to fetch water. That was when we seized the opportunity and bolted.

"Even when they were shooting at us, we took the chance and God helped us arrive in Chibok two days later."

The other girl added: "They threatened to shoot anyone who tried to escape. As the vehicle slowed down along the road I jumped down with my friend.

"We spent the night in the bush and trekked back to Chibok the next day."

The girls' accounts came as it was reported the kidnapped girls had been split into four groups, complicating the search to find them and making any potential rescue more difficult.

The UK has sent a group of experts to offer advice and logistical support in the hunt for the 276 missing girls, who were kidnapped from a boarding school in the northern village of Chibok almost four weeks ago.

Air and satellite surveillance is to be extended to the neighbouring countries of Cameroon, Chad and Niger amid fears the girls may be trafficked across the border to be sold as slaves by their captors.

The leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, has threatened to sell the girls "on the market".

Their kidnap triggered international condemnation and led to a high-profile campaign calling for their release.

Prime Minister David Cameron told Sky News the abduction is "a ghastly situation, an act of pure evil".

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Brazil World Cup Stadium Worker Electrocuted

An eighth construction worker has been killed while building one of Brazil's World Cup stadiums.

Muhammed-Ali Maciel Afonso was installing communications equipment at the Arena Pantanal in the western city of Cuiaba when he was electrocuted.

The 32-year-old's death, which caused building work to be halted temporarily, is the latest setback in rushed preparations for the tournament.

The Arena Pantanal in Cuiaba, western Brazil, holds 40,000 people

Several stadiums have been delayed, often by telecoms work, as organisers struggle to get wi-fi and mobile phone networks up and running.

A number of key transportation projects have been abandoned altogether.

Four times as many workers have now been killed in preparations for the competition than in South Africa four years ago.

Fifa secretary general Jerome Valcke and Brazilian sports minister Aldo Rebelo both sent their condolences to Mr Afonso's family, as well as his colleagues at Etel Engenharia.

Many of Brazil's World Cup stadiums are still not finished

The Arena Pantanal held a test match last month but the venue is one of the most-delayed of the tournament, with seating and wiring yet to be finished.

A fire in October caused structural damage, although that has since been repaired.

Four group stage matches will be played in the stadium, one of a dozen built by Brazil especially for the World Cup, which gets under way on June 12.

Critics warn the 40,000-seat venue could be one of the tournament's biggest white elephants, given that Cuiaba's biggest football team normally plays in front of crowds of just 2,000.

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North Korea Calls Obama 'A Black Monkey'

North Korea's state media has described US President Barack Obama as a "black monkey" in a commentary condemned as one of the regime's most racist yet.

Korea Central News Agency (KCNA), which is the mouthpiece of the government in Pyongyang, made the attack in one of two pieces that was aimed at Mr Obama and South Korean president Park Geun-hye.

Both pieces were only in Korean and were not translated into English by the news agency.

One of them was translated by Josh Stanton, who blogs regularly about the North's human rights violations.

He said, in comments about Mr Obama's visit to South Korea made on May 2, KCNA wrote: "Park made waste water-like reckless remarks ... after inviting her American master reminiscent of a wicked black monkey to visit South Korea."

The articles described South Korea's president as an "old prostitute"

Other attacks in the commentary, according to the Washington Post, described Mr Obama as being "a crossbreed with unclear blood" and like someone who "has the figure of a monkey while the human race has evolved through millions of years".

It also called Mr Obama a "clown," a "dirty fellow" and somebody who "does not even have the basic appearances of a human being".

The US government broke from its usual practice of ignoring the communist country's rhetoric.

National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said: "While the North Korean Government-controlled media are distinguished by their histrionics, these comments are particularly ugly and disrespectful."

Bellicose rhetoric is common from Kim Jong-Un's regime

In a second piece about Mr Obama, the news agency quoted a series of North Korean workers.

A North Korean monitoring site, NK News, translated one of them as saying: "How Obama looks like makes me disgusted.

"As I watch him more closely, I realise that he looks like an African native monkey with a black face, gaunt grey eyes, hollowed out nostrils, plump mouth and hairy rough ears," the workers was quoted as saying.

He continued: "He acts just like a monkey with a red bum irrationally eating everything - not only from the floor but also from trees here and there.

Obama visited South Korea last week

"Africa's national zoo will be the perfect place for Obama to live (by) licking bread crumbs thrown by visitors."

The second article also featured attacks on the South Korean president, describing her as an "old prostitute".

It is not the first time North Korean media has used such language when talking about the South Korean leader.

Frank Feinstein, who runs the North Korean propaganda monitoring service KCNA Watch, told NK News: "There is no similar instance of this sort of language in the recent KCNA history."

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Ukraine: Putin Set To Make First Visit To Crimea

Russian President Vladimir Putin could today make his first visit to Crimea since Moscow's annexation of the peninsula from Ukraine.

He is expected to attend an event in Sevastopol to mark the Soviet victory over the Nazis in World War Two - which comes three days ahead of a referendum in eastern Ukraine.

A similar Victory Day parade - marking 69 years since Nazi Germany surrendered its forces - took place in Moscow's Red Square on Friday morning.

About 11,000 servicemen are taking part in the annual event, which began with troops marching to the sound of brass bands as Mr Putin watched from the stands, flanked by veterans.

Mr Putin joined veterans at the annual Victory Day parade in Moscow

"This is a holiday when all-conquering patriotic force triumphs, when we all feel especially strongly what it means to be true to the Motherland and how important it is to be able to stand up for its interests," he told troops to shouts of "Hurrah!"

Some 150 military vehicles and 70 combat aircraft also took part in the show.

Mr Putin's planned trip to Crimea was reported by Russian dailies Kommersant and Gazeta.ru and is being seen as a move to bolster public support amid simmering tensions in Ukraine.

Around 11,000 troops are taking part in the Victory Day parade

The visit "is on the agenda, the issue has to be confirmed with the Kremlin administration," a high-ranking source in the defence ministry told Kommersant.

Mr Putin could travel with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in a rare joint trip after overseeing the Red Square parade, the reports said.

Pro-Russians in eastern Ukraine are pressing ahead with plans to hold referendums on Sunday, despite calls from the Kremlin to postpone them.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu (right) salutes during the event

There are fears the vote in the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk could spark further violence between Ukrainian troops and separatists.

Militants have already seized government buildings in about a dozen cities in the east of the country.

Mr Putin wants the vote postponed so talks can take place with the Kiev government.

However, many in the east say the referendum is the only way to prevent war against what rebels and Moscow call the "fascist" politicians in the capital.

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Nigeria: Experts Join Hunt For Kidnapped Girls

Military and intelligence experts from around the world are on their way to Nigeria to help in the search for hundreds of abducted schoolgirls.

The UK, France, China and the US are among the countries lending their support.

Britain is sending a small team of advisers - possibly including some military officers - to help with planning and coordination. However, they will not take part in operations on the ground.

The US is flying out a group including experts in intelligence, law enforcement and hostage negotiations, with fewer than 10 military troops going.

Michelle Obama has joined the social media campaign to free the girls

Prime Minister David Cameron told Parliament the kidnapping was "an act of pure evil".

"There are extreme Islamists around our world who are against education, against progress, against equality and we must fight them and take them on wherever they are," he said.

The 276 girls were abducted from a boarding school in the village of Chibok in Borno state, north Nigeria, on April 14.

Islamist group Boko Haram claimed responsibility and its leader, Abubakar Shekau, has threatened to sell the girls "on the market".

Many people in Nigeria are angry at the government's response

Some of the group have already reportedly been trafficked to neighbouring Chad and Cameroon.

A further 11 girls, aged 12 to 15, were taken from the northeastern village of Warabe on Sunday.

The search is focussed around the huge Sambisa Forest - the 'hideout' of Boko Haram which extends to some 60,000 square kilometres - three times the size of Wales.

Boko Haram is also thought to be behind the killing of up to 300 people reported to have been killed on Monday in the northeastern Nigerian town of Gamboru Ngala.

A witness told the AFP agency that fighters in armoured trucks and motorcycles overran the town, leaving it "littered" with bodies.

A social media campaign to raise awareness of the kidnapping has ramped up in recent days, with the Twitter hashtag #BringBackOurGirls being promoted by the likes of US First Lady Michelle Obama.

Malala Yousafzai, the schoolgirl who survived being shot by the Taliban for promoting girls' education, has also spoken out over the kidnapping.

Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for the abduction

Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan has been heavily criticised inside the country for not doing more to find the girls, and not recruiting help earlier.

The government has now put up a 50m Nigerian naira (£182,000) reward for information leading to the location and rescue of the female students.

Sky News Special Correspondent Alex Crawford, in the Nigerian capital Abuja, said the situation is likely to be a key concern for politicians at the World Economic Forum, currently being held in the city.

The girls were taken three weeks ago in the village of Chibok

"It's very poor advertising for Nigeria. This international outcry, the fact it's taken so long for the Nigerians to react is not going to play well.

"There's going to be a lot of whispering and diplomatic chat behind the scenes to try to galvanise them into action.

"Of course, there is a great deal of anxiety and anger right here in Nigeria against the government and what's perceived to be their sluggish response."

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'Huge Explosion' Destroys Hotel In Syria

A huge explosion has destroyed a hotel being used by the military in the northern city of Aleppo, according to reports.

Bashar al Assad's troops had made the hotel, which is believed to be called the Charlton, their base, state media and activists said.

Several other buildings were reported to be damaged in the explosion in the old neighbourhood area of Syria's largest city.

Rebels belonging to the Islamic Front group planted a huge amount of explosives in a tunnel they dug below the hotel, according to Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

They are believed to have detonated the explosives remotely.

Aleppo is divided into rebel-held and government areas after the rebels launched an offensive there in 2010.

More follows...

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Pistorius Trial Hears About Reeva's Last Meal

An anaesthetist has cast doubt on prosecution claims that Oscar Pistorius had a late-night argument with Reeva Steenkamp before he shot her.

Professor Christina Lundgren - who has a PhD in deaths due to anaesthesia - explained why she was qualified to give expert evidence on gastric emptying and its use to determine the time of death.

State Pathologist Gert Saayman has previously testified that food found in Ms Steenkamp's stomach had been eaten no more than two hours before she was shot dead at 3am on February 14, 2013.

His evidence challenged Pistorius' claim that she ate early the previous evening and suggested she was awake when a neighbour said she heard what sounded like a woman arguing in the house where Pistorius shot her.

But Prof Lundgren said the prosecution case that Ms Steenkamp's stomach should have been empty if Pistorius was telling the truth was "purely speculative".

She explained that before surgery patients are typically told not to eat for six hours to ensure their stomachs are empty.

But she said that some ingredients in a chicken stir-fry Ms Steenkamp ate could take longer to digest.

Gastric emptying could also be delayed in pre-menopausal women and by sleep, eating disorders or some medications such as anti-depressants and slimming drugs, Prof Lundgren told the court. 

Pistorius is accused of murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, but he claims he shot her by accident.

More follows...

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Nigerian Girl 'Ran And Ran' To Escape Kidnap

A Nigerian girl who staged a remarkable escape when gunmen took her and more than 200 others hostage has described how she was told: "Don't worry, we're soldiers. Nothing is going to happen to you."

The 16-year-old was snatched from her boarding school in Chibok by members of the Islamic group Boko Haram. She was herded into a pick-up truck and driven away but fled when one of the vehicles in the convoy broke down.

She and her friends jumped down from the truck and darted into a nearby forest to hide when the stranded car behind them suddenly started up, illuminating the road ahead.

"We ran and ran, so fast," said the girl. "That's how I saved myself. I had no time to be scared. I was just running."

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau is wanted by Nigerian police

Some of the children clung to low-hanging branches as the kidnappers' convoy sped off into the night.

When the girls eventually made their way back to the road, they were met by a man on a bicycle who accompanied them back to the village.

The teenager described the end of her ordeal as an emotional experience.

"I'm the only girl in my family, so I hold a special place and everyone was so happy," she said. "But that didn't last long."

Remembering the siege on April 14, the girl said she knew the men were not who they claimed to be when they started shouting: "Allahu Akhbar (God is great)."

The girls were taken from the village of Chibok in northeast Nigeria

She said there were too many attackers to count, adding that she and her friends had no choice but to sit and watch as their classrooms were set alight before they were herded onto three trucks.

The kidnapping has been condemned by both the UK and the US, who have offered to help find the girls.

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau appeared in a video alongside two militants brandishing AK-47s saying: "I abducted your girls. I will sell them in the market, by Allah.

"Allah has instructed me to sell them. They are his property and I will carry out his instructions."

The kidnappers are thought to be hiding out in a remote area on the Nigeria-Cameroon border.

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Thailand PM Yingluck Shinawatra Dismissed

Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has been dismissed from office after the country's constitutional court ruled she was guilty of abusing her power.

According to the court ruled, by transferring a senior civil servant in 2011 to another position, Ms Yingluck was carrying out a "hidden agenda" that would benefit her politically powerful family.

Therefore, the court ruled, the act violated the constitution - a claim the PM has denied.

"The judges unanimously rule that Yingluck abused her prime minister status and interfered in transferring (Thawil Pliensri) for her own benefit," said court president Charoon Intachan in a televised ruling.

May Day protests took place last week against the government

"Therefore her prime minister status has ended ... Yingluck can no longer stay in her position acting as caretaker prime minister."

Several cabinet ministers who endorsed the decision to transfer the security chief will also be stripped of their status.

The ruling means Ms Yingluck and nine members of her current caretaker Cabinet must step down from office.

Anti-government protests have been taking place in Bangkok for months

Thailand's first female prime minister has been in power for more than two years but there has been considerable opposition to her position because of her brother, former PM Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a military coup in 2006.

Despite becoming skilled at fighting off political opponents, Ms Yingluck has spent recent months facing mass political demonstrations in the capital, Bangkok, with the Thai people calling for her to step down.

She came under strong criticism for her government's reaction to the flooding of 2011, which threatened to overwhelm Bangkok and ruin the economy.

The new PM of the caretaker government has been named as Niwattumrong Boonsongpaisan.

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Hague 'Frustrated' By Speed Of Nigeria Rescue

Nigerian Kidnaps: What Can Really Be Done?

Updated: 2:46pm UK, Tuesday 06 May 2014

By Sam Kiley, Foreign Affairs Editor

The temptation to "do something" is almost overwhelming. Some 270 school girls abducted, many already raped, dragged into the bush and now threatened with being sold into slavery.

Of course the "do something" instinct comes to the fore.

In fact it's only really become an international cry since the leader of Boko Haram, which means Western education is sinful, delivered a 57-minute diatribe in Hausa, Arabic and English, threatening the girls with slavery this week.

Inside Nigeria, the government has been under growing pressure to "do something".

Dr Sakyimah Akilu, a presidential adviser and spokeswoman on national security, told Sky News that it was true that there was a general impression that the Nigerian government had failed to react to the mass abductions.

"The truth is that we are pursuing every lead we have had. But you have to understand that they have been taken into the Sambisa forest and perhaps into the mountains in Cameroon - there are many places to hide," she said.

This fatalism may explain why the Nigerian administration of Goodluck Jonathan appears to have been flat footed in hunting down the radical Islamist group which is now threatening the girls with a most un-Islamic torment.

William Hague said: "Using girls as the spoils of war and the spoils of terrorism is disgusting and immoral. It should show everybody across the world that they should not give any support for such a vile organisation …

"Britain is offering assistance, but of course the primary responsibility will rest with the Nigerians, and I hope they will do what is necessary to reunite these girls with their families."

The British Foreign Secretary is vague on what that "assistance" could be.

In all likelihood, it would take the form of Special Force advice on how to track the girls. Perhaps some help, too, with surveillance.

But both would be limited. More of a gesture than anything else.

Special Forces from South Africa, Britain, the United States and other Western nations have been on the trail of the similarly horrible Lord's Resistance Army in the Central African Republic for decades.

Their analysis has been that while they could probably kill the leadership of the LRA, a capture operation would be almost impossible.

A similar military analysis would emerge on Boko Haram - finding and saving the missing girls would be almost impossible - slaughtering elements of Boko Haram would not.

But killing won't solve the problem.

The sad truth is that Nigeria's missing children are likely to stay that way.

Efforts to negotiate a peace deal with Boko Haram's leader Abdulbakar Shekau over the last four years - while 4,000 Nigerians died - have come to nought.

Now he has the attention of the whole world, he won't want to give up on the limelight the missing girls have given him.

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Diver Dies In Search For Ferry Disaster Victims

A civilian diver involved in searches for dozens of missing people in the South Korean ferry disaster has died.

The 53-year old was pulled to the surface by fellow divers after losing consciousness at the site where the Sewol sank on April 16.

He died later in hospital.

At least 260 people have been confirmed dead and government and civilian divers are still trying to find the remaining bodies.

So far, 19 people have been arrested in the investigation, 15 of them crew members accused of abandoning passengers.

An executive with ties to the shipping company Chonghaejin was also arrested on suspicion of malpractice related to company finances.

Only 174 of the 476 recorded passengers survived, including 22 of the 29 crew members.

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Boko Haram 'To Sell' Abducted Nigerian Girls

The kidnapping of more than 200 Nigerian girls is an "outrage" according to the United States, which has promised help to try to find them.

The pledge came after the children's Islamist kidnapper reportedly vowed to sell them.

In a video obtained by the AFP news agency, Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau described the students as "slaves," adding: "I abducted your girls. I will sell them in the market, by Allah."

At least 276 youngsters were seized from their school in the village of Chibok, in Borno state, north Nigeria, by militants on April 14.

Nigerian police said 53 managed to escape shortly after the attack, but at least 223 are still missing. Relatives suggest that figure could be considerably higher.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said: "We view what has happened in Nigeria as an outrage and a terrible tragedy.

The girls were abducted from Borno state three weeks ago

"The President has been briefed, several times, and his national security team continues to monitor the situation there closely.

"The State Department has been in regular touch with the Nigerian government about what we might do to support its efforts to find and free these young women."

Reports previously said some of the missing girls have already been sold as brides across Nigeria's border with Chad and Cameroon for as little as £7 ($12).

It is not clear whether the video was recorded before or after those reports.

Relatives have held a series of protests to pressure Nigerian authorities

The video was the first time Boko Haram - regarded by the US as a terrorist organisation - has admitted carrying out the abduction.

The group, whose name means 'Western education is sinful', regularly attacks civilian targets.

However, the brazenness of the school attack has shocked Nigerians accustomed to atrocities in the five-year conflict with the insurgents.

A group called Bring Back Our Girls, comprising relatives of the missing students, have staged regular protests across Nigeria calling for the government and military to do more to find the girls.

First Lady and President of Nigeria Patience and Goodluck Jonathan

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said: "We promise that anywhere the girls are, we'll surely get them out."

He said he had asked the US, Britain, France and China for help to counter Boko Haram and dismissed claims his government was negotiating with the group.

It came amid claims that protest leader Naomi Mutah Nyadar was arrested after holding a meeting with Nigeria's First Lady, Patience Jonathan, at the presidential palace. 

Fellow protester Hadiza Bala Usman said Ms Nyadar was arrested "at the request of the first lady" after falsely identifying herself as one of the mothers of the girls.

Another, Lawan Abana, said Ms Nyadar was in fact representing mothers who could not make it to the meeting in Nigeria's capital Abuja and had never claimed otherwise.

Protester Saratu Angus Ndirpaya added that Patience Jonathan had abused the women gathered at the presidential palace and expressed doubts there was any kidnapping. She also allegedly accused them of belonging to Boko Haram.

The first lady's office has issued a statement denying the allegations.

Ms Nyadar has since reportedly been released.

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China Station Stabbing Rampage Leaves Six Hurt

A knife-wielding gang left six people wounded in a stabbing rampage at a Chinese railway station - the country's latest in a series of mass attacks.

Reports say up to four people launched the assault in Guangzhou, southern China.

No reason has been given for the stabbings, but fears over militancy have grown in China after a car burst into flames on the edge of Beijing's Tiananmen Square in October and 29 people were stabbed to death in March in Kunming.

The government blamed militants from the far-western region of Xinjiang for both those attacks.

Guangzhou police said officers "arrived quickly on the scene" after the stabbings began on Tuesday and shot one of the attackers.

"After verbal warnings were ineffective, police fired, hitting one male suspect holding a knife and subdued him," the force said in an online statement.

People look on as officers investigate the scene of the attack

Police did not identify the attackers and it was not clear if the number of wounded included the assailants.

State-run newspaper the Nanfang Daily said police had captured a suspect who fled from the scene after the attack.

The Guangzhou Journal newspaper reported the attackers carried half-metre (20-inch) knives, wore white clothes, including white hats, and launched their assault as passengers were leaving the station.

Some other reports on Chinese media outlets said there were four attackers in total.

Photos circulated online in state media showed police cordoning off an empty plaza, with an ambulance parked nearby and spots of blood on the ground.

Chinese officials blamed religious extremists for a bomb and knife attack at a train station in Urumqi, regional capital of Xinjiang, last Wednesday that killed one bystander and wounded 79.

The government called the attackers "terrorists", a term it uses to describe Islamist militants and separatists in Xinjiang who have waged a sometimes violent campaign for an independent East Turkestan state.

In March, another hacking attack that left 33 people injured at a train station in southwest China was blamed on separatists in the country's far west.

Exiles and many rights groups say the real cause of the unrest in Xinjiang is China's heavy-handed policies, including curbs on Islam and the culture and language of the Muslim Uighur people.

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Kenya: Three Killed In Nairobi Bus Bombings

At least three people have been killed and 60 others hurt after bomb attacks against two buses in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.

The vehicles were being driven along a busy highway when the homemade explosive devices went off.

Some reports said the devices had been placed on the buses, while other reports said they were grenades which had been thrown at the vehicles.

The blasts happened in the Thika Road area, close to the city centre, and the scene was quickly sealed off, witnesses said.

TV pictures showed a large red passenger bus with a large hole ripped out of its side, and a green bus with its roof and sided buckled by an explosion.

It comes a day after two explosions rocked the port city of Mombasa, killing four people.

A second bus was also targeted in Nairobi

They died after attackers threw a grenade at passengers at a busy bus station in Mwembe Tayari, near the city centre.

A second blast went off outside a luxury hotel after the device was found on a beach - but no-one was killed.

At the bus terminal, victims were sprawled in a pool of blood and the road was littered with shattered glass from a bus.

"I didn't see who threw the object, but I heard a loud explosion before I fell to the ground. I then felt my legs go numb," Halima Sidi, 26, who works at a local supermarket, told Reuters at a hospital as nurses bandaged her wounded legs.

Mombasa and Nairobi were hit by attacks over the weekend

Mombasa county commissioner Nelson Marwa said: "What happened is a grenade was thrown at passengers.

"The attackers were riding on a motorbike, and lobbed the grenade at the crowd of people at the bus terminus."

An unattended bag was found on the beach, which was abandoned at the gate of the hotel after it was found to contain what turned out to be an explosive device, which then went off.

Hotelier Mohammed Hersi told Sky News there had been no injuries and all the guests were safe.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the latest attacks.

But Kenya has blamed similar assaults on al Qaeda-linked Somali group al Shabaab, which killed at least 67 people at the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi in September.

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Nigeria's Leader Pledges To Find Kidnapped Girls

Nigeria's president has vowed to ensure the release of 276 schoolgirls abducted by suspected Islamists.

Goodluck Jonathan has been under fire for his handling of the armed attack in the town of Chibok in the northeastern Borno state - and for not speaking about the mass abduction earlier.

In a live radio and television broadcast, he said: "We promise that anywhere the girls are, we will surely get them out."

The attack happened in Nigeria's northeastern Borno state

He also pleaded for the parents of the missing girls and their local communities to co-operate with the rescue efforts during what he described as a "trying" and "painful" time.

The president also revealed he had asked President Barack Obama for US help to counter the activities of the Islamic terror group Boko Haram.

He said he had also approached other countries - including France, Britain and China for assistance.

Nigerians were "justified" in their anger over the government's perceived response, he said, but assured families the girls' "disappearance" would not be another global "mystery".

And he dismissed claims his government was negotiating with Boko Haram.

But parents of the abducted girls held an emotional rally in the capital Abuja and said he had not done enough to rescue their loved ones since gunmen - believed to be Boko Haram extremists - stormed the girls' boarding school on April 14.

"They've been promising us that these girls would be found, but up until today, up until this moment I'm talking, nothing has been done," said one mother, Martha Yarama Ndirpaya.

The 16 to 18-year-olds were forced from their dormitories on to trucks and driven away by their captors.

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Oscar Pistorius Trial: Athlete's Call For Help

The first person Oscar Pistorius called after shooting his girlfriend has told a court about the moment the distressed athlete phoned for help.

Johan Stander, who worked on the luxury estate where the 27-year-old lived, also spoke about the moment he arrived at his neighbour's house to find him "broken", "screaming" and carrying Reeva Steenkamp's body down the stairs.

Recalling the phone call in the early hours of Valentine's Day last year, Mr Stander told the court: "He said, 'Please, please, please come to my house, please. I shot Reeva. I thought she was an intruder. Please, please come quick.'"

Mr Stander, who used to look after the sprinter's dogs when he was competing overseas, went on to speak about what he found at the house three minutes later.

Ms Steenkamp was shot dead on February 14, 2013. Pic: Stimulii

"The door was slightly open and my daughter, who was slightly in front of me, pushed the door open," he said.

"We saw Pistorius coming down the stairs with Reeva in his arms. I could see she had a head wound.

"When he saw us, there was relief on his face. He was crying, really crying. He was in pain. He asked us to help him. He wanted us to put Reeva in a car and take her to hospital.

"We tried to calm him down. He was broken. He was screaming, crying, praying."

Mr Stander, the first witness to be called following the trial's two-week break, said Pistorius "begged" Ms Steenkamp to "stay with him" and was "committed" to saving her.

Mr Stander said he found Pistorius carrying his girlfriend down the stairs

"He prayed to God to keep her alive," he said.

The witness, a former administrator at the Silver Woods estate, Pretoria, also told the court Pistorius would ask to be kept abreast of local crimes when he returned from his travels.

In one incident, he said, thieves broke through a fence and used a ladder to gain access to a house - a scenario the athlete has previously said he was concerned about.

A woman was tied up by intruders during another break-in, he added.

Pistorius' legal team are set to call ballistics, audio and psychological experts over the coming days, as the trial enters what is likely to prove a critical phase.

Sky's Special Correspondent Alex Crawford, in Pretoria, said: "The defence has got to counter several prosecution claims - not least that there was a pause between shots which, crucially, would have given Ms Steenkamp time to shout out in anguish before the fatal head shot."

Pistorius admits shooting his partner but denies a charge of premeditated murder, claiming he mistook her for an intruder.

The trial continues.

More follows...

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Landslide Buries Village: Rescuers Lose Hope

Rescue teams have abandoned the search for survivors after a landslide buried a hillside village in northern Afghanistan, killing at least 350 people under a tide of rock and mud.

Local people and emergency workers using shovels tried in vain to find victims trapped under the massive landslide that engulfed Aab Bareek village in Badakhshan province.

There are fears of further landslides in the area

Officials said that the final death toll could rise as high as 500 after Friday's disaster, updating earlier information that 2,500 people were feared dead.

"Based on our reports, 300 houses are under the debris," Badakhshan governor Shah Waliullah Adeeb said at the scene.

"We cannot continue the search and rescue operation anymore, as the houses are under metres of mud. We will offer prayers for the victims and make the area a mass grave."

Thousands of people have been displaced

The tragedy came after heavy rain earlier in the week.

The community in Badakhshan province which borders Tajikistan in the country's northeast, has been buried in more than 300ft of mud (100 metres).

Gul Mohammad Bedar, the deputy governor of Badakhshan, said: "The first figure (of 2,500 feared dead) that we announced was obtained from local people, not from our technical team.

"We think the death toll will not rise beyond 500."

Local people and dozens of police officers equipped with only basic digging tools began searching for survivors from first light on Saturday.

But it quickly became apparent there was no hope of finding anyone.

Afghan National Army troops in Kabul load supplies for survivors

The United Nations says the focus is now on the thousands of people who have been displaced by the disaster.

A memorial service was planned, and the site is expected to be designated as a mass grave, according to UN spokesman Ari Gaitanis.

He added the survivors need water, medical support, counselling, food and emergency shelter.

British charities are mobilising teams to help with the rescue effort. Save the Children sent five ambulances to the scene and are planning to distribute blankets and give medical assistance.

Other charities are monitoring the situation and stand ready to provide assistance if necessary.

The US and the Nato-led coalition in Afghanistan have offered to send help

There are also fears that another section of the mountainside could collapse, threatening the homeless and hundreds of rescue workers.

The Afghan military flew rescue teams to the search area on Saturday because the remote mountain region is served by only narrow, poor roads that have been damaged by more than a week of heavy rain.

Nato-led coalition troops are ready to assist, but have not yet been asked for help by the Afghan government.

US President Barack Obama has also offered to send help.

Seasonal rains and spring snow melt have brought destruction to large parts of northern Afghanistan, killing more than 100 people.

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Ukraine Observers Freed Amid New Offensive

Military observers kept prisoner in Ukraine for more than a week have been released as bloody clashes in the country show no sign of letting up.

The seven observers and their five assistants, from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, were seized in Slavyansk on April 25.

The separatists had previously accused the observers of being "Nato spies" and said they were to be used as human shields.

Colonel Axel Schneider, the head of the observers, said the group had shown "strength" and that the captivity was "unforgettable for us".

Scuffles broke out outside the burned building in Odessa on Saturday

The last two nights had been "really tough", he said.

Mark Etherington, deputy chief monitor of the OSCE special monitoring mission to Ukraine, said: "The hostages, we think, were treated adequately. There were some exceptions there."

He added: "The important question now is how the detainees who remain in Slovyansk and elsewhere are treated."

Two of the observers pictured while they were being held in Slavyansk

Mr Etherington said dozens more hostages could still be held.

His comments were echoed by Foreign Secretary William Hague who called for the release of all hostages held by illegal armed groups.

The release of the observers comes as Ukraine launched a dawn military operation against separatists in the east of the country.

Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said troops had seized control of a television tower in Kramatorsk, near the rebel stronghold of Slavyansk.

Police are guarding the charred trade union building in Odessa

The violence comes hours after 31 people died after a building in Odessa was set on fire during clashes between protesters.

Police said some people inside the trade union building were overcome by smoke and others were killed jumping from windows as they tried to escape.

Pro-Russian and pro-Kiev activists fought running battles as the southern city saw some of its worst violence since President Victor Yanukovych was ousted in February.

The Interior Ministry said a total of 42 people had died.

A protester throws a petrol bomb at the building during Friday's clashes

Moscow said it was "outraged" and denounced the "criminal irresponsibility" of the pro-Western authorities in Kiev.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has asked his US counterpart John Kerry to press Ukraine to halt its military operation in the east of the country.

At an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council, the UK accused Moscow of "breathtaking" hypocrisy over the latest clashes.

People wait for rescue on an upper-storey ledge during the fire

The UK's ambassador to the UN, Sir Mark Lyall Grant, said Russia had "funded, equipped and directed" some of those involved in the insurgency.

The European Union has urged "utmost restraint" in the Ukraine conflict.

"Many" pro-Russian separatists were also said to have been killed on Friday as the Ukrainian army took control of checkpoints around Slavyansk.

Two Ukrainian soldiers were also killed as two helicopters were shot down in the city, acting president Oleksandr Turchynov said.

The Ukrainian Security Service said one was shot down with a surface-to-air missile, adding that the sophisticated weapon undermined Russia's claims that Slavyansk was simply under the control of armed locals.

Russia has tens of thousands of troops near Ukraine's border, and Kiev claims its neighbouring country is preparing to invade and that it is stoking the unrest in the east.

Moscow denies the allegations, but has warned Russia would respond to attacks on Russian citizens or interests in the east, where insurgents have seized government buildings in around a dozen cities.

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Mombasa Hit By Bus And Beach Resort Blasts

At least three people have been killed and several others injured in twin bomb blasts in Mombasa, Kenya, officials say.

One blast happened at a busy bus station in Mwembe Tayari, near the city centre, when a grenade was thrown into a crowded minibus killing at least three people, and wounding more than 20.

At the bus terminus, victims were sprawled in a pool of blood and the road was littered with shattered glass from a bus.

"I didn't see who threw the object, but I heard a loud explosion before I fell to the ground. I then felt my legs go numb," Halima Sidi, 26, who works at a local supermarket, told Reuters at a hospital as nurses bandaged her wounded legs.

Mombasa county commissioner Nelson Marwa said: "What happened is a grenade was thrown at passengers.

The bombings happened at a bus station and the Reef Hotel

"The attackers were riding on a motorbike, and lobbed the grenade at the crowd of people at the bus terminus."

Another explosion occurred at a well-known beach resort hotel, the Reef Hotel, in the Nyali area of the city, although no casualties have been reported.

An unattended bag had been found on the beach, which was abandoned at the gate of the hotel after it was found to contain what turned out to be an explosive device, which subsequently went off.

One of the bombing victims is put on a stretcher. Pic: Daily Nation

Hotelier Mohammed Hersi told Sky News there had been no injuries and all the guests were safe.

A police official said: "We had two incidents. One at the bus station where three people have lost their lives. In the second incident that occurred near a hotel in Nyali there were no casualties."

While no one has immediately claimed responsibility for the blasts, Kenya has been targeted in the past by gun and grenade attacks in Mombasa and central Nairobi, which the government has blamed on the al Qaeda-linked Somali group al Shabaab.

Blood stains are visible on the side of a bus at one of the blast sites

Last year, a terrorist attack on a shopping mall in Nairobi left at least 67 people dead.

Sky's Foreign Affairs Editor Sam Kiley said the bombings bore the hallmarks of an attack by Islamic militants.

He said: "This could be seen as a counter-attack by radical al Qaeda-related groups against the body politic and the economy of Kenya by targeting an environment where tourists are likely to be."

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