Two Dead After 100-Car Pile-Up In Texas

Two people died and up to 100 were hurt when at least 100 vehicles collided on a Texas highway in dense fog.

The Thanksgiving holiday morning crash left trucks twisted on top of each other and authorities rushing to pull survivors from the wreckage.

Twelve of those injured were in a critical condition, officials said.

Firefighters used cutting equipment to free some drivers. Photo: KBMT12

The pile-up happened on the on Interstate 10 about 80 miles (128km) east of Houston.

"It is catastrophic," said Jefferson County Sheriff's Office Deputy Rod Carroll. "I've got cars on top of cars."

It wasn't immediately clear how the pile-up began, but Mr Carroll said the fog was so thick that officers didn't immediately realise they were dealing with multiple accidents.

The pile-up came on the busiest travel day of the year. Photo: KBMT12

I-10's eastbound lanes were expected to remain closed for most of Thursday.

Texas Department of Public Safety trooper Stephanie Davis told KFDM that two people in an SUV died after the crash. She said at least 100 cars and trucks were involved in the accident.

Mr Carroll said uninjured drivers tried to help as authorities sorted through the wreckage.

"It's just people helping people," Mr Carroll said. "The foremost thing in this holiday season is how other travellers were helping us when we were overwhelmed, sitting and holding, putting pressure on people that were injured."

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Egypt's President Faces 'New Pharaoh' Jibe

Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi has assumed sweeping new powers, drawing criticism that he is seeking to become a "new pharaoh".

The new powers are a blow to the pro-democracy movement that ousted Hosni Mubarak and they raise questions about the gains made in last year's uprising.

Opposition forces denounced the declaration as a "coup" and called for nationwide protests on Friday.

"The president can issue any decision or measure to protect the revolution," according to a decree read out on television by presidential spokesman Yasser Ali.

"The constitutional declarations, decisions and laws issued by the president are final and not subject to appeal."

"This is a coup against legitimacy... We are calling on all Egyptians to protest in all of Egypt's squares on Friday," said Sameh Ashour, head of the Lawyers syndicate.

Mohamed ElBaradei (centre) says the powers are a blow to the revolution

They accused Mr Morsi, an Islamist, of "monopolising all three branches of government" and of overseeing "the total execution of the independence of the judiciary".

Nobel laureate and former UN atomic energy agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei had earlier lashed out at the declaration, which would effectively put the president above judicial oversight.

"Morsi today usurped all state powers and appointed himself Egypt's new pharaoh. A major blow to the revolution that could have dire consequences," Mr ElBaradei wrote on his Twitter account.

The head of the influential Judge's Club, Ahmed al-Zind, told a press conference that the judges would hold an emergency meeting on Saturday to decide on their next step, promising "actions, not words".

Mr Morsi also sacked prosecutor general Abdel Meguid Mahmud, whom he failed to oust last month amid strong misgivings among the president's supporters about the failure to secure convictions of more members of the old regime.

He appointed Talaat Ibrahim Abdallah to replace Mr Mahmud and, within minutes of the announcement, the new prosecutor was shown on television being sworn in.

Mr Abdullah later issued a brief statement on state television, pledging to "work day and night to achieve the goals of the revolution".

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EU Budget: Leaders Say Deal Is Unlikely

EU leaders could fail to reach a deal on Europe's budget as they enter a second day of negotiations.

France and Germany's leaders are already saying a deal is unlikely after a crucial budget summit in Brussels.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters: "I believe that the positions are still very far apart.

"We'll meet again at noon and then our president will know what still preoccupies us.

"I think that … we will advance a little, but doubt that we will achieve a result."

French President Francois Hollande also said that some countries needed to "contribute more".

Prime Minister David Cameron has demanded billions in pay and pension cuts from the EU's civil service and presented EU heads with a paper setting out how Brussels could slash at least 6bn euro (£4.8bn) off its staff costs.

His measures include upping retirement ages, lowering pensions and trimming lavish salaries.

But Downing Street also said after the first day that there was "a long way to go" before EU leaders could agree a long-term budget.

Sky's political editor Adam Boulton, who is in Brussels, said that the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, came up with fresh proposals on Thursday night and sent leaders away to deliberate before reconvening this afternoon.

He added: "Angela Merkel, who is the biggest contributor to the budget, is already saying that she doesn't think that there will be final agreement reached here.

"Europe on these negotiations likes to go down to the deadline and this is not quite the deadline moment."

He added that Mr Van Rompuy appears to be "resisting the pressure" from nations that want to see more money spent by the EU.

"He's sticking by his headline total of below a trillion euros and that is good news for David Cameron," he added.

A pre-summit compromise is already on offer - a seven-year budget "envelope" of 973bn euro (£785bn) for 2014/2020, a cut of nearly 5bn euro (£3.8bn) compared with the 2007/2013 ceiling.

The move was seen in Downing Street as being in the right direction - although the "cut" is in a spending ceiling which officials say has not been reached.

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Man Arrested Over New York Shopkeeper Slayings

Police in New York have arrested a low-end clothing dealer they suspect in the murders of three city shopkeepers of Middle Eastern descent.

New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly says 63-year-old Staten Island resident Salvatore Perrone was arrested on Wednesday on murder charges in the Brooklyn shooting deaths.

Police said Perrone had tried to sell clothing to the shopkeepers.

Police recovered a bag containing a sawn-off rifle believed to have been used in the killings. Officers said the balding Perrone appeared on surveillance footage carrying the bag moments after the most recent shooting last Friday.

The other killings happened in July and August. All three shopkeepers were alone in stores that had no video cameras.

It is unclear if Perrone has obtained a lawyer.

The most recent killing claimed Rahmatollah Vahidipour, a Jewish man from Iran. He was shot three times in the head and chest at his She She Boutique.

After the latest killing, detectives matched the spent .22 calibre cases to the fatal shootings of two other shopkeepers.

On July 6, Mohamed Gebeli, 65, a Muslim Egyptian immigrant was found shot in the back of his shop, Valentino Fashion Inc.

On August 6, Isaac Kadare, 59, also Egyptian but Jewish, was shot in the head in his store, Amazing 99 Cent Deal.

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Gaza: Israel And Hamas Ceasefire Holding

Egypt Holds Key For Peace Process

Updated: 11:31pm UK, Wednesday 21 November 2012

By Sam Kiley, Middle East Correspondent

The cycle of violence that has gripped the Israelis and the Palestinians for more than 60 years is often bloody, horrific and for many in the outside world, interminably boring.

A common reaction is to say "a plague on both their houses".

That would be fine, but people - living, loving, breathing, laughing people with children - live in those houses.

If a basic humanity was not enough to prompt interest and efforts to end the violent illness caused by occupation, terror and religious hatred, a more compelling case can be made for seeing peace on the Gaza Strip.

If Israel's ground invasion had gone ahead, as many in Benyamin Netanyahu's Cabinet and the Israeli Knesset had argued it should, the foundations of regional peace risked being shaken loose.

This is a new danger.

It follows the uprisings in the Islamic world that swept Mohammed Morsi to power in Egypt and have threatened the throne in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

Both countries have peace treaties with Israel.

Both are heavily influenced by the Muslim Brotherhood, which in Egypt controls the presidency and which in Jordan has called for the abdication of Abdullah II and fomented street protests against his rule.

Hamas to a great extent is a "child" of the Brotherhood.

This gave Egypt's new president, a member of the Brotherhood, enormous influence over Hamas.

His predecessor, Hosni Mubarak, was seen as little more than an American puppet.

America is seen on the Arab street as part of a Zionist conspiracy in which Israel's interests come above all others – especially when it comes to the Palestinians.

Mubarak treated the Palestinians with something approaching contempt.

Hamas' links to the Muslim Brotherhood lumped them into an opposition movement he wanted to jail not empathise with.

The influence that Morsi has over Hamas has meant that he had to be taken seriously as the chief negotiating partner in ending the latest bout of violence - especially by Israel.

That he was sympathetic to the Hamas cause, and will hold Israel to its commitments, helped Hamas to climb down from a defiant militarism which, if the Israeli invasion had gone ahead, could have been suicidal.

Egypt's new leadership has emerged as a maturing force in the region.

There may now be great hopes that Egypt will be able to reinvigorate the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

After all, if it doesn't then the cycle of violence will return.

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Suicide Bomber Kills 23 Near Pakistan Capital

A suicide bomber has killed at least 23 people in an attack on a Shi'ite Muslim procession in Pakistan.

Police say they tried to stop and search the attacker as he attempted to join the march in Rawalpindi, near Islamabad, but he ran past them and detonated the explosives.

The bomber was also carrying grenades, some of which exploded.

At least 62 people were wounded in the attack, at midnight, including six police officers.

Earlier on Wednesday two bombs went off within minutes outside a Shi'ite mosque in the southern city of Karachi, killing at least one person and wounding several others.

The Pakistani Taliban has said it was responsible for both attacks.

"We carried out the attacks in Rawalpindi and Karachi because the Shi'ite community is engaged in defiling the Prophet," spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said.

The bombings came as Shi'ites observe the holy month of Muharram.

On Saturday, they will observe the holiest day of the month, Ashoura.

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Australia: Cops Seize £154m Worth Of Drugs

A cocaine and methamphetamine haul worth £154m has been seized by police in Australia following a sting operation.

The drugs, which were shipped from China in a consignment of heavy machinery, were discovered after a "complex and protracted" two-year investigation.

Police said they conducted a series of raids on five locations in Sydney over the weekend and recovered 235kg of methamphetamine and 115kg of cocaine stashed in a steam roller.

Two men, a 33-year-old American and a Canadian aged 34, were arrested.

The drugs were found stashed in a steam roller

"At one location police recovered the road roller as well as 13 sports bags inside it," said Australian federal police assistant commissioner David Sharpe.

"In the bags we recovered 350kg of controlled substances."

The Canadian was remanded in custody when he appeared in court yesterday charged with a range of offences related to the importation of drugs.

The American suspect is due in court later today on similar charges.

"We will allege that these are two significant figures in the syndicate and our inquiries are continuing in China, Canada as well as our investigations continuing in Australia," Mr Sharpe added.

"But let me tell you, these are significant players in an international crime syndicate that has targeted Australia."

The bust was the second major success for Australian police in a week.

They seized more than 200kg of cocaine from a yacht that washed up on a deserted island in the South Pacific with a badly decomposed body on board.

That case involved police in Tonga, the Cook Islands, Australia and the US Drug Enforcement Administration.

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Mumbai Terrorist Mohammed Kasab Is Executed

The sole surviving Mumbai terrorist attacker has been executed after the Indian president rejected his mercy plea.

Mohammed Kasab was one of 10 gunmen who laid siege to the city in 2008. The attacks lasted nearly three days and killed 166 people.

Kasab was sentenced to death in May 2010 after he was found guilty of a string of charges.

These included waging war against India, murder and terrorist acts.

Pakistan-born Kasab was hanged at Yerwada prison in Pune, hours after India's President Pranab Mukherjee turned down a last-ditch mercy plea.

"This is a tribute to all innocent people and police officers who lost their lives in this heinous attack on our nation," said RR Patil, the home minister for the state of Maharashtra, where Mumbai is located.

It was the first time a capital sentence had been carried out in India since 2004.

India accuses Pakistan-based militants of organising the attacks, saying Islamabad is failing to act against those behind the raids.

Pakistan denies involvement and says it is prosecuting seven suspected militants for their role.

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Gaza: Ceasefire Delayed As Shelling Continues

A ceasefire between the Israelis and the Palestinians in Gaza has been delayed – but a diplomatic push is under way to try to stop the fighting.

On Tuesday night, Hamas official Ayman Taha said an Egyptian-brokered truce had been finalised and would take effect from 10pm.

But a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the announcement was premature.

The United States has now stepped in, with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meeting Mr Netanyahu in Jerusalem.

A rocket fired from Gaza hit an apartment building near Tel Aviv

Mrs Clinton has vowed to work on a truce between the two sides.

She said: "In the days ahead, the United States will work with our partners here in Israel and across the region toward an outcome that bolsters security for the people of Israel, improves conditions for the people of Gaza and moves toward a comprehensive peace for all people of the region."

Israel intensified its bombardment of Gaza on Tuesday night, with airstrikes just 10 minutes apart.

Artillery shells and missiles were also fired from gunboats.

Parachute flares illuminate the Gaza Strip for an artillery barrage

One Israeli airstrike hit the seventh floor of a media building in Gaza City.

The Israel Defence Forces tweeted a warning to all foreign journalists operating in Gaza to stay away from Hamas militants just minutes later.

Some 138 rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel. The Iron Dome system intercepted 53 rockets which were headed for built-up areas, but 14 got through.

One hit an apartment building in the town of Rishon Letsion, near Tel Aviv. Six people were injured in the attack.

A spokesman for Mr Netanyahu said the ceasefire announcement was premature

Rockets were also aimed at Jerusalem, where residents took to underground bomb shelters. However, none fell on the city.

Israel launched the offensive one week ago in an attempt to end months of rocket attacks out of the Hamas-run territory, which lies on Israel's southern flank.

After assassinating Hamas' military chief, it has carried out a campaign of airstrikes, targeting rocket launchers, storage sites and wanted militants.

The campaign has killed more than 130 Palestinians, including 20 on Tuesday, and wounded hundreds of others.

Five Israelis have been killed by rocket fire, including a soldier and a civilian contractor.

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Oz Collar Bomb Attacker Paul Peters Jailed

An investment banker who attached a fake bomb around the neck of a schoolgirl in an attempt to extort money from her wealthy family has been jailed for at least 10 years.

Paul Peters, 52, who was extradited from the US to Australia in September last year with the help of the FBI, pleaded guilty to aggravated breaking and entering, and detaining the teenager for advantage.

The father-of-three broke into the Pulver family home in Sydney, Australia, in August 2011 and strapped a device to 18-year-old Madeleine's neck. Attached was a note claiming it was a bomb.

A Sydney court heard he was suffering psychiatric problems after his marriage broke down and he lost custody of his children, with the judge saying he appeared to think he was an "avenging character" in a novel he was writing.

Police, bomb squad and other emergency services descended on the scene and Miss Pulver endured a horrifying 10-hour ordeal with experts working into the night to remove the device, only later establishing it was an elaborate hoax.

Miss Pulver was in court to watch Judge Peter Zahra jail Peters for a maximum of 13 and a half years. She said she was "pleased with today's outcome and that I can now look to a future without Paul Peters' name linked to mine".

"I realise it is going to take quite some time to come to terms with what happened, but today was important because now the legal process is over," she told reporters outside court.

Madeleine Pulver now suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder

"For me it was never about the sentencing but to know that he will not re-offend, and it was good to hear the judge acknowledge the trauma that he has put my family and me through."

The judge, who said Peters would be eligible for parole in 10 years, described his bizarre crime as "heinous" and a "deliberate act of extortion" which had terrified Miss Pulver, now aged 19, who was home on her own studying for exams.

"The offender entered a house armed and disguised. He found the young girl on her own and vulnerable," Mr Zahra said.

"At the time of placing the device he had prepared around the neck of the victim he would have appreciated the enormity of what he was doing and the terrible effect and consequence of his conduct upon the victim," he added.

Mr Zahra said Peters "would have been aware that after he left the victim she would have experienced considerable trauma before it was determined that the device did not contain explosives".

"The terror instilled can only be described as unimaginable," he added.

Mr Zahra said Miss Pulver had been in fear of her life for a "substantial period" and now struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression.

Prosecutors had described the case as an act of "urban terrorism" fuelled by financial greed.

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