India: Victims Urge New Laws For Acid Attacks

By Alex Rossi, Asia Correspondent

Human rights groups in India say changes to the rape laws do not go far enough to deal with the dramatic rise in acid attacks on women.

New legislation has been passed following the gang rape of a student in Delhi in 2012 which has increased the punishment for acid attacks - but campaigners say the horrific nature of the crime means it needs its own specific legislation.

Ms Mukherjee as she looked before the attack

Over the last decade the number of women being targeted with chemicals has grown.

Hydrochloric, sulphuric and nitric acid can be bought at any hardware store without any questions asked.

The chemicals are frequently used by men to attack women - leaving them with the most terrible, life-changing injuries.

Sonali Mukherjee, 27, had acid thrown in her face by a spurned suitor.

She lost her sight and most of her skin and says she has now been rejected by society because of her injuries.

Incredibly her attacker has still not been brought to justice nine years after the crime was committed.

"After this attack everything is destroyed. My life is completely changed. I become blind. I could not see, I could not eat, I could not walk. I feel very pained.

Assem Trivedi says the sale of acid in India should be regulated

"I feel very depressed - my ambition is destroyed, my hope is destroyed, my everything is destroyed."

Campaign group Stop Acid Attacks accuses the government of ignoring the growing trend of chemical assaults despite widespread calls for greater protection of women.

Activist Assem Trivedi says as well as the regulation of the sale of acid, new laws need to be urgently framed which deal specifically with the crime.

Police and protesters clash after a seven-year-old girl was raped in Delhi

"If I chuck acid on her face I am destroying her whole life. I am giving her lifetime injuries so I think we should not deal with acid attacks as we deal with any other physical assault case. It is completely different because it is so much worse."

The gang-rape and murder of a student in Delhi in 2012 and the protests which followed have provoked soul searching on the way women are treated in India.

A recent UN report claimed India is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be born a woman. Sexual assaults, dowry, honour killings, acid attacks and female infanticide - because of a preference for sons - are common crimes females face on a daily basis.

In Delhi, four rape cases a day have been reported since the start of 2013

Ms Mukherjee is now looked after by her father and says whatever the government does it will not be enough without major cultural changes and a great deal of education.

"I don't know the future of women in India. Nobody here is safe; women in villages and towns and even in the capital city, they are not safe - God save us."

Unless there is greater equality between the sexes, she says women will always be victims in India.

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North Korea: Nuclear Arsenal 'Will Be Increased'

North Korea has vowed to strengthen its nuclear capability, keeping up a defiant tone a day after warning it was in a "state of war" with South Korea.

Pyongyang also said it would never abandon its atomic weapons in exchange for aid, describing them as a "national treasure".

The central committee of the ruling Workers' Party, chaired by leader Kim Jong-Un, decided at a meeting that the country's nuclear arsenal "should be expanded and beefed up qualitatively and quantitatively until the denuclearisation of the world is realised", the official KCNA news agency reported.

Tensions have risen sharply since the United Nations tightened sanctions in response to the North's nuclear and missile tests. Joint US-South Korean military drills south of the border also angered Pyongyang.

On Saturday, the North declared it was in a "state of war" with the South and warned Seoul and Washington that any provocation would swiftly escalate into an all-out nuclear conflict.

Mr Kim presided over a the party's central committee meeting

During their meeting, members of the committee also decided to develop a light water reactor as part of a civilian nuclear power industry to ease electricity shortages, KCNA said.

The North in 2010 disclosed the existence of a uranium enrichment facility and a light water reactor, purportedly to generate power.

Experts said it could easily be reconfigured to make fuel for nuclear weapons, supplementing the existing plutonium weapons programme.

In April 2009, the North formally abandoned six-party talks which offered it economic and security benefits in return for denuclearisation.

Join US-South Korean military drills have angered Pyongyang

On Sunday it reiterated that its atomic weapons were not a bargaining chip.

"They are a treasure of a reunified country which can never be traded with billions of dollars," KCNA quoted the committee as saying.

The meeting vowed to push for nuclear development and boost both agriculture and living standards.

The committee also said it wanted to develop space science and technology, including the launching of more advanced satellites, including communications satellites.

Pyongyang says its long-range rocket launches are aimed at putting satellites into orbit for peaceful purposes. The United States and other nations say the real purpose is to test banned ballistic missile technology.

As tensions have escalated in recent weeks, Washington has maintained a notably assertive stance, flying its nuclear-capable B-52s and B-2 stealth bombers over the South.

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North Korea: Nuclear Arsenal 'Will Be Increased'

North Korea has vowed to strengthen its nuclear capability, keeping up a defiant tone a day after warning it was in a "state of war" with South Korea.

Pyongyang also said it would never abandon its atomic weapons in exchange for aid, describing them as a "national treasure".

The central committee of the ruling Workers' Party, chaired by leader Kim Jong-Un, decided at a meeting that the country's nuclear arsenal "should be expanded and beefed up qualitatively and quantitatively until the denuclearisation of the world is realised", the official KCNA news agency reported.

Tensions have risen sharply since the United Nations tightened sanctions in response to the North's nuclear and missile tests. Joint US-South Korean military drills south of the border also angered Pyongyang.

On Saturday, the North declared it was in a "state of war" with the South and warned Seoul and Washington that any provocation would swiftly escalate into an all-out nuclear conflict.

Mr Kim presided over a the party's central committee meeting

During their meeting, members of the committee also decided to develop a light water reactor as part of a civilian nuclear power industry to ease electricity shortages, KCNA said.

The North in 2010 disclosed the existence of a uranium enrichment facility and a light water reactor, purportedly to generate power.

Experts said it could easily be reconfigured to make fuel for nuclear weapons, supplementing the existing plutonium weapons programme.

In April 2009, the North formally abandoned six-party talks which offered it economic and security benefits in return for denuclearisation.

Join US-South Korean military drills have angered Pyongyang

On Sunday it reiterated that its atomic weapons were not a bargaining chip.

"They are a treasure of a reunified country which can never be traded with billions of dollars," KCNA quoted the committee as saying.

The meeting vowed to push for nuclear development and boost both agriculture and living standards.

The committee also said it wanted to develop space science and technology, including the launching of more advanced satellites, including communications satellites.

Pyongyang says its long-range rocket launches are aimed at putting satellites into orbit for peaceful purposes. The United States and other nations say the real purpose is to test banned ballistic missile technology.

As tensions have escalated in recent weeks, Washington has maintained a notably assertive stance, flying its nuclear-capable B-52s and B-2 stealth bombers over the South.

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India: Victims Urge New Laws For Acid Attacks

By Alex Rossi, Asia Correspondent

Human rights groups in India say changes to the rape laws do not go far enough to deal with the dramatic rise in acid attacks on women.

New legislation has been passed following the gang rape of a student in Delhi in 2012 which has increased the punishment for acid attacks - but campaigners say the horrific nature of the crime means it needs its own specific legislation.

Ms Mukherjee as she looked before the attack

Over the last decade the number of women being targeted with chemicals has grown.

Hydrochloric, sulphuric and nitric acid can be bought at any hardware store without any questions asked.

The chemicals are frequently used by men to attack women - leaving them with the most terrible, life-changing injuries.

Sonali Mukherjee, 27, had acid thrown in her face by a spurned suitor.

She lost her sight and most of her skin and says she has now been rejected by society because of her injuries.

Incredibly her attacker has still not been brought to justice nine years after the crime was committed.

"After this attack everything is destroyed. My life is completely changed. I become blind. I could not see, I could not eat, I could not walk. I feel very pained.

Assem Trivedi says the sale of acid in India should be regulated

"I feel very depressed - my ambition is destroyed, my hope is destroyed, my everything is destroyed."

Campaign group Stop Acid Attacks accuses the government of ignoring the growing trend of chemical assaults despite widespread calls for greater protection of women.

Activist Assem Trivedi says as well as the regulation of the sale of acid, new laws need to be urgently framed which deal specifically with the crime.

Police and protesters clash after a seven-year-old girl was raped in Delhi

"If I chuck acid on her face I am destroying her whole life. I am giving her lifetime injuries so I think we should not deal with acid attacks as we deal with any other physical assault case. It is completely different because it is so much worse."

The gang-rape and murder of a student in Delhi in 2012 and the protests which followed have provoked soul searching on the way women are treated in India.

A recent UN report claimed India is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be born a woman. Sexual assaults, dowry, honour killings, acid attacks and female infanticide - because of a preference for sons - are common crimes females face on a daily basis.

In Delhi, four rape cases a day have been reported since the start of 2013

Ms Mukherjee is now looked after by her father and says whatever the government does it will not be enough without major cultural changes and a great deal of education.

"I don't know the future of women in India. Nobody here is safe; women in villages and towns and even in the capital city, they are not safe - God save us."

Unless there is greater equality between the sexes, she says women will always be victims in India.

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Three Killed In 95-Vehicle Interstate Pile-Up

Three people have been killed and 25 injured after 95 vehicles were involved in collisions on a foggy US highway.

Police said the vehicles were caught in 17 separate crashes along the mountainous Interstate 77 near the Virginia-North Carolina border.

Traffic in the area was backed up for around eight miles (12.9km) after a series of collisions began at around 1.15pm on Sunday in the southbound lanes close to Fancy Gap Mountain, southwest Virginia.

The crashes occurred during heavy fog on a mountainous stretch of road

Message boards along the interstate warned drivers of severe fog in the area.

Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corrine Geller said the crashes happened mostly because drivers were going too fast.

The motorway was closed in both directions as emergency vehicles accessed the southbound lanes.

Glen Sage, of the American Red Cross in the nearby town of Galax, said: "This mountain is notorious for fog banks.

"They have advance signs warning people. But the problem is, people are seeing well and suddenly they're in a fog bank."

Several vehicles caught fire in the pile-up.

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Three Killed In 95-Vehicle Interstate Pile-Up

Three people have been killed and 25 injured after 95 vehicles were involved in collisions on a foggy US highway.

Police said the vehicles were caught in 17 separate crashes along the mountainous Interstate 77 near the Virginia-North Carolina border.

Traffic in the area was backed up for around eight miles (12.9km) after a series of collisions began at around 1.15pm on Sunday in the southbound lanes close to Fancy Gap Mountain, southwest Virginia.

The crashes occurred during heavy fog on a mountainous stretch of road

Message boards along the interstate warned drivers of severe fog in the area.

Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corrine Geller said the crashes happened mostly because drivers were going too fast.

The motorway was closed in both directions as emergency vehicles accessed the southbound lanes.

Glen Sage, of the American Red Cross in the nearby town of Galax, said: "This mountain is notorious for fog banks.

"They have advance signs warning people. But the problem is, people are seeing well and suddenly they're in a fog bank."

Several vehicles caught fire in the pile-up.

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Colville Schoolboys 'Plotted Rape And Murder'

A US judge has ruled that two boys, aged 10 and 11, will stand trial on charges of planning to rape and murder a classmate.

The schoolboys had a handwritten plan listing seven steps leading up to the killing of a female classmate, according to Stevens County Prosecutor Tim Rasmussen.

That list was submitted as evidence at their mental capacity hearing on Friday.

The judge decided that the pair understood the nature and consequences of their actions and would stand trial in juvenile court.

Under Washington state law, children aged eight to 12 are typically presumed not to have the mental capacity to form an intention to commit a crime. Juvenile court is usually reserved for defendants between ages 12 and 18.

According to court documents, one of the boys wanted the girl dead because "she's rude and always made fun of me and my friends," the documents said.

The boys are said to have boarded a school bus on February 7 with a knife, a semi-automatic pistol and ammunition in a backpack on their way to Fort Colville Elementary School.

The younger boy is believed to have taken the gun, originally belonging to his grandfather, from his older brother's room.

They were arrested after another child saw one of the boys playing with the knife on the bus and told a school employee.

One of the suspects later said he would kill the student who told school officials about the weapons, prosecutors said.

The boys are also alleged to have targeted other children in Colville, a town about 215 miles (345 km) east of Seattle in Washington state.

They have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit murder, witness tampering and juvenile possession of a firearm.

Mr Rasmussen said: "There are very few prosecutions of a crime of this magnitude with boys of this age."

Both a defence psychiatrist and a state psychologist have said they present a danger to the community.

The boys have been expelled from the school district indefinitely. A status hearing is set for April 8.

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Shroud Of Turin On Display For TV Special

The Shroud of Turin has gone on display for a special television appearance in Italy, as new research disputes claims that the linen is a medieval fake.

Pope Francis sent a video message to the event at Turin's cathedral, but made no claim that the image on the shroud of a man with wounds similar to those suffered by Christ was really that of Jesus.

Many experts stand by carbon-dating of scraps of the cloth that date it to the 13th or 14th century.

However, some have suggested the dating results might have been skewed by contamination and have called for a larger sample to be analysed.

New research purports to date the linen - which some say was Jesus Christ's burial cloth - to around the time of his death.

A bishop prays in front of the shroud in Turin

The Vatican has tiptoed around just what the cloth is, calling it a powerful symbol of Christ's suffering while making no claim to its authenticity.

"This disfigured face resembles all those faces of men and women marred by a life which does not respect their dignity, by war and violence which afflict the weakest," Pope Francis said in his video address.

"The face in the shroud conveys a great peace. This tortured body expresses a sovereign majesty.

"It lets a pure and calm energy shine through and it seems to say to us: 'Trust and don't to lose hope. The power of the Lord defeats all'."

The 14-foot-long and 3.5-foot-wide cloth is kept in a bullet-proof, climate-controlled case in Turin's cathedral, but is only rarely open to the public.

The authenticity of the shroud is the subject of debate

The last time was in 2010 when more than two million people lined up to pray before the shroud.

The latest display coincided with Holy Saturday, when Catholics mark the period between - according to Christian faith - Jesus's crucifixion on Good Friday and his resurrection on Easter Sunday.

The display also coincided with the release of a book based on new scientific tests on the shroud that researchers say date the cloth to the 1st century.

The research in The Mystery Of The Shroud, by Giulio Fanti of the University of Padua, and journalist Saverio Gaeta, is based on chemical and mechanical tests on fibres of material extracted for the carbon-dating research.

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Russia: Homeless Battling Brutal Cold Spring

By Katie Stallard, Moscow Correspondent

Russia celebrated Maslenitsa, the traditional end of winter festival, a fortnight ago - but the weather does not seem to have taken the hint.

Large stretches of the Moscow river remain frozen, the streets are still packed with ice and snow.

The state weather service says the country is experiencing its coldest March for more than half a century.

Last week, temperatures dropped to -25C overnight.

The unusually cold spring is having serious consequences for the capital's homeless.

Sky News joined a mobile field kitchen run by a charity handing out food near one of Moscow's busiest stations.

The crowd began to gather just before 5pm, standing to one side of the busy pavement as the capital's rush hour hurried home.

Several people asked us to promise our footage would not be shown on Russian television as they were too ashamed for their families to see them.

Volunteers from the Just Help charity arrived to hand out small pots of pasta from the back of a van, with a couple of slices of bread and a hot drink.

It wasn't much, but for many of those gathered it was the only hot food they would eat all day, and a brief respite from the relentless cold.

One of the men, Yuri, told us: "When you are out in the cold 24 hours a day your whole body is cold all the time, you feel like you are freezing.

"Cold weather makes it much worse, you are losing your health. That's why I am trying to eat something hot once a day, trying to take care of myself."

Another man, Augustin, who had both hands amputated, sobbed as he told us: "I had a bladder infection and frostbitten feet, I even got into the hospital because of it, they gave me a surgery.

Homeless people queue at the mobile field kitchen run by Just Help

"My legs were really badly damaged, but the doctor managed to save them. This doctor is the best."

The charity is run by Dr Elizaveta Glinka, but everybody here knows her as 'Dr Liza'.

As she handed out warm socks and medical supplies from an ambulance, she told Sky News: "Many more of them [the homeless] die when spring comes.

"In winter they understand that it's dangerous and are more alert. In March and April, they die from road accidents and from cold as they start sleeping outside.

"Around 30 homeless people freeze every month - those are official statistics. When it gets warmer and the snow piles melt, there will be many bodies found."

A young man called Sasha told us he had been on the streets since he was eight years old and offered to show us how he survived the cold.

He took us to the railway station where he explained that sometimes he slept in the doorways, but often he would just ride around on the metro.

A single ticket is valid all day on the Moscow underground as long as you don't leave the station.

One route, he told us, takes three hours and let's you get some sleep.

Sasha said: "It's very cold in winter, I often get ill. It's much harder to find food. I have to sleep in railway stations and on the metro, but of course the metro is closed at night.

"Winter is a very hard season."

With that he headed off back down to the underground - disappearing into the crowds to take the trains in circles until the stations close.

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Ice Floe Rescue: 220 Saved In Latvia

More than 220 people who were left drifting at sea after large sections of ice broke away from a shore off Latvia have been saved in a massive rescue operation.

The Latvian State Fire and Rescue Service launched boats, ships and helicopters in a three-hour operation to bring people safely back to land.

Emergency teams launch rescue boats

The ice had drifted in strong winds about two and a half miles from the shore by the end of the operation in the Gulf of Riga.

Around 180 people, mostly fishermen were rescued from a floe off the town of Vakarbulli, while another 43 people were taken off the ice near the seaside resort of Jurmala.

One of the rescued men disembarked

Viktorija Sembele, a spokeswoman for the State Fire and Rescue Service, said only one person had needed medical treatment.

She said helicopters had carried up to 20 people at a time off the ice floes.

Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics used his Facebook page to congratulate the emergency services and army for their "high level of professionalism".

Rescue operations involving people stranded on ice floes occur regularly in the Baltic states, particularly with ice fishermen who often stray far from the shore.

On Thursday authorities had begun warning of a thaw amid high winds - a combination that creates ice floes and pushes them offshore.

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