World Cup Airport Strike Threatens Chaos In Rio

Thousands of football fans flying to Brazil for the start of the World Cup are facing a chaotic welcome, after ground staff voted to stage a 24-hour strike.

Hours before the tournament gets under way, workers at Rio de Janeiro's Galeao airport, which is expected to be one of the busiest in Brazil over the next four weeks, have declared a partial walkout in a row over pay.

Baggage handlers and check-in staff will join colleagues at the city's Santos Dumont airport - an important hub for flights to Sao Paulo, where England play Uruguay next week - in downing tools.

Rio de Janeiro's airports are busy even in a non-World Cup month

They have promised to maintain an 80% service and although fans heading to Sao Paulo will be at least be able to catch the subway after metro staff voted against taking industrial action themselves, there is potential for disruption at already-stretched terminals.

Some 2.1 million people passed through the two airports last month - an average of 68,000 people a day - with World Cup arrivals set to bolster those numbers further still.

Excitement is building in Brazil as the four-week tournament gets under way

Sky's Sports Correspondent Paul Kelso, in Rio de Janeiro, said: "This city is a hub for many supporters, including England fans heading for their team's opening game in Manaus on Saturday, and if the strike goes ahead they face disruption.

"The vote by Sao Paulo's metro workers is a significant relief for organisers, but it may not lift the considerable anxiety around the start of the tournament."

All the latest World Cup news and analysis on the Sky News catch up service

After a build-up dominated by delays to infrastructure projects, deaths at stadium construction sites and protests over spiralling costs, the World Cup kicks off in Sao Paulo later today.

The host nation face Croatia in the tournament's curtain-raiser after an opening ceremony featuring performances by the likes of Jennifer Lopez and Pitbull.

The pitch in Manaus appears dry and yellow

England's first match is on Saturday and as Roy Hodgson's players continue to acclimatise, the pitch at Manaus' Amazonia Arena where they will face Italy appears to be in poor condition.

A journalist for the AFP news agency said the playing surface was noticeably dry and particularly bare around one of the goals, "revealing large yellowing areas of turf".

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World Cup: 'Brazil Ready For The Kick-Off'

In Rio de Janeiro, the sun has been a reluctant guest at Brazil's World Cup party.

On the eve of the tournament clouds have hung stubbornly to the hills above the city all week, obscuring the statue of Christ the Redeemer.

If and when he does emerge, he may have his work cut out.

This is a World Cup and a country in need of a bit of redemption.

Brazil is a nation defined like no other by its national game.

Pele, speaking at one of his countless corporate gigs this week, said that when he first played in the World Cup no-one knew where his country was. Thanks to football, and its ultimate star, no-one can claim ignorance today.

Brazilian football legend Pele promotes the World Cup

But that does not mean the population are ready to roll over with gratitude at the first sight of a Brazuka, the official match ball.

The build-up to this tournament has been marked by unprecedented protests and disaffection. The $15bn price tag, and particularly the demands made by Fifa, have been a source of genuine public anger.

Brazil is a different country to the one that won an uncontested bid eight years ago. The economic boom has slowed and some of the self-confidence that also secured the 2016 Olympics has ebbed away.

Against that backdrop Fifa's demands, which have included overturning a law banning the sale of alcohol in stadiums to satisfy sponsor Budweiser, have seemed autocratic.

One of the many protests over the cost of staging the World Cup

President Dilma Rousseff has certainly got the message. She stayed away from the Fifa Congress this week, sending the sports minister instead, though she has called on the country to unite behind the tournament.

That remains the big question as Brazil kick-off against Croatia. It is unlikely that every stadium will be finished as planned, transport will range between tricky and impossible, and there will inevitably be other frustrations.

But if the country gets behind its team, and with them the tournament, we will be in for a treat. Organisers are confident it will.

"As a citizen I can say we are behind the World Cup," Ricardo Trade, chief executive of the organising committee told Sky News.

Sky will have all the latest news from Brazil

"The sign is we sold all the tickets. We made records. The volunteers are working with us. We have beaten all records. The teams are arriving. And we have a lot of investments that arrived with the World Cup.

"We have had investments in infrastructure, investments renewing the airports, not just for the World Cup but beyond. It's a huge legacy that we are receiving.

"We are ready to deliver the World Cup. We are not ready as a country. We need to develop more. That's another thing. But to deliver the World Cup, we are ready. "

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World Cup: Top 11 Players To Watch In Brazil

By Nick Powell, Sports Editor

Like the Grand National, the World Cup has become a great participation event in offices, clubs and schools.

Join the sweep, pick the top scorer, guess how far England will go, perhaps even have a bet.

So to help, here's a team of men who are probably not big names in your household or workplace - but might be in a month's time.

:: Thibos Courtois, goalkeeper (Belgium/Atletico Madrid)

Actually a Chelsea employee, but doing so well on loan at Atletico that his future has become a big debating point in the last few months.

If Belgium are to do as well as the bookies predict, then he is certain to have enhanced his reputation even further.

Italy's veteran keeper Gianluigi Buffon has picked him out as a man to watch - and he should know.

:: Mauricio Isla, attacking right-back (Chile/Juventus)

Older than some of his colleagues in this fabled team at the age 25 and with almost half a century of appearances for Chile behind him, he has a great chance to win more admirers of his charging runs down the right.

Chile are in the same group as Spain and Holland but do not rule out Isla helping dump one of those giants out at the first hurdle.

:: Raphael Varane, central defender (France/Real Madrid)

He has only played five times for France, but at 21 years old he is part of a badly needed new generation for the 1998 world champions.

Big and strong - not to mention fiery - he got involved in an altercation on the pitch with opposition boss Diego Costa at the end of the Champions League final, in which his Real team beat city rivals Atletico Madrid.

Jose Mourinho says he's the world's best young defender.

:: Mats Hummels, central defender (Germany/Borussia Dortmund)

If Germany go a long way in the World Cup, Hummels has the potential to be one of the stars of the tournament.

A dominant figure who can play as well as block, he also has a memorable name and a girlfriend, Cathy Fischer, who has been described as Germany's top WAG.

:: Yuto Nagatomo, left-back (Japan/Inter Milan)

Nagatomo has talked ambitiously about Japan winning the World Cup. One day, perhaps. Although they did reach the last 16 in 2010.

If they are to do it again, he will need to be at his best, both in defence and marauding down the left.

:: Juan Cuadrado, midfield (Colombia/Fiorentina)

Top scorer from midfield for Fiorentina in the Italian League with 11 goals last season, Cuadrado was converted from a right-back and is already interesting many of Europe's top clubs.

There is every chance there will be a long queue at his agent's door after the World Cup.

:: William Carvalho, midfield (Portugal/Sporting Lisbon)

You thought Angola was not the place to look for football talent?

This young man from Luanda has to force his way into Portugal's team but he is big and powerful (think Manchester City's Yaya Toure) with a future to match.

:: Paul Pogba, midfield (France/Juventus)

Still only 21, he has been in the headlines since Sir Alex Ferguson decided he was not good enough for Manchester United.

His poise belies his years. Zinedine Zidane, a World Cup winner in 1998, says his young countryman will become one of Europe's best central midfielders.

:: Ciro Immobile, striker (Italy/Borussia Dortmund)

This guy could be huge and may even be the World Cup's top goalscorer - worth a punt at around 50-1 if you like a bet.

No one got more than him in Italy last season and he has just signed for Dortmund.

Mario Balotelli is the big name in the Italians' attack ... so far.

:: Carlos Bacca, striker (Colombia/Sevilla)

Now carrying a nation's goalscoring hopes on his shoulders after injury ruled out his more illustrious colleague, Radamel Falcao, but he is up to the task.

He scored four goals towards the end of the season for his Spanish club, the Europa League winners.

And Bacca has every chance of helping Colombia progress from a group that also includes Greece, Ivory Coast and Japan - therefore boosting his own reputation.

:: Joel Campbell, striker (Costa Rica/Arsenal)

You're going to hear plenty about Joel Campbell because he is a big threat to England's hopes of progress from Group D.

Arsenal have loaned him out for the last three seasons, most recently to Greek club Olympiakos, for whom he scored against Manchester United in the Champions League.

His mum told him to read Psalm 27 - "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?" - before matches and apparently he does so.

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Egypt To Act After 'Worst Ever' Sex Assault

By Sherine Tadros, Middle East Correspondent

Egypt's new president has ordered a crackdown on sex crimes after a video emerged of a woman being assaulted in Cairo's Tahrir Square.

The blurry, two-minute clip, which was allegedly filmed during celebrations to mark Abdul Fattah al Sisi's inauguration, shows a woman completely naked and bruised with hordes of men around as she is carried into a vehicle.

Dozens of women say they have been attacked in Tahrir Square in the past two years but this is the worst many people have seen.

It has been covered widely by Egyptian media, with one newspaper demanding the perpetrators be executed.

The video, which has been circulated on social media, prompted Mr Sisi to call for sexual harassment to be confronted immediately.

Mr al Sisi has described sexual harassment as "unacceptable"

In one of his first public statements, he called it an "unacceptable form of conduct, alien to the best principles of Egyptian culture".

It comes as a global summit to stop sexual violence in war zones, co-hosted by Angelina Jolie, continues in London.

On Tuesday, the actress told the summit: "We must send a message across the world that there's no disgrace in being a survivor of sexual violence. The shame is on the aggressor."

Part of the problem in Egypt has been an absence of laws protecting women against sexual harassment, allowing attackers to act with complete impunity.

A decree issued last week made it a criminal act for the first time, with offenders warned they could face up to five years in prison.

Jolie co-hosted the London summit with Foreign Secretary William Hague

Importantly, it defines harassment as including the making of obscene gestures "in any manner", recognising it does not have to be of a physical nature.

A study conducted last year by the UN showed 99.3% of Egyptian women have experienced some form of harassment, with around half (47%) claiming they are harassed daily.

It has become so prevalent and widespread in Egypt that many women have simply grown to accept it.

Men often stare and shout obscene comments at women as they walk along the street.

At times, it is seen as acceptable for women to feel shame and humiliation, as if something about how they dress or walk is to blame. 

The video that has shocked many in Egpyt was filmed in Tahrir Square

It is an endemic problem and has become part of Egyptian culture - a dysfunctional yet accepted norm.

Farah Shash, of the Nadeem Centre for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence, said: "The culture here when it comes to sexual harassment is to blame the victim."

She said authorities in Egypt have never seen women's rights as a priority and women are reluctant to report incidents because the police are so unsympathetic.

Journalist Hania Moheeb, who was gang raped in Tahrir Square last January and is attending this week's summit, said: "I have much hope, not only in the current regime but in Egyptian women because they have changed a lot.

"They're more outspoken now and we'll fight for our rights.

"The denial this society has been living in for over two decades is something that has to end."

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Tea Party Ousts Top Republican Eric Cantor

The second most powerful Republican in the US House of Representatives has suffered a shock primary election defeat to a Tea Party outsider.

Majority Leader Eric Cantor, who has been the Representative for Virginia's 7th district since 2001, lost to challenger David Brat.

The economics professor secured victory on a wave of public anger over calls for looser immigration laws, in one of the most stunning upsets in modern American politics.

He spent just $200,000 on his campaign, compared to Mr Cantor's $1m in April and May alone.

Mr Cantor's loss was the first primary setback for a leader in Congress in recent years.

The victory is a major success for the right-wing Tea Party movement, which advocates reducing government debt through spending cuts and opposes tax increases.

Last week, Tea Party supporters forced veteran Mississippi Republican Senator Thad Cochran into a June 24 runoff.

The result has sent shockwaves through American politics, which has been been subjected to periods of paralysis as a result of increasing polarisation.

Tea Party sympathisers delayed a deal on the country's budget last year that led to the US government shutdown.

Ever since he was elected, Mr Cantor was seen as a future star, being named chief deputy whip within a year of his election and becoming the highest-ranking Jewish Republican in Washington.

Eric Cantor is the second most powerful Republican after John Boehner (L)

After John Boehner became Speaker of the House in 2009, and the most senior Republican, Mr Cantor had been seen as both a likely eventual successor and potential rival.

Analysts said the result may well mark the end of Mr Cantor's political career and aides did not respond when asked if the 51-year-old would attempt to run in November's election anyway.

With votes counted in 99% of the precincts, Mr Cantor polled 28,631, compared with 37,369 in 2012, even though the number voting in 2014 increased by more than a third.

Mr Brat, a teacher at Randolph-Macon College, a small liberal arts school north of Richmond, said: "This is a miracle from God that just happened."

Conceding, Mr Cantor said: "Obviously we came up short."

It was unclear if Mr Cantor was intending to remain in his leadership post for the duration of the year.

The result has implications for policies being discussed at national level, with current immigration legislation likely to face a tougher challenge. 

Last Saturday, Democrats picked Jack Trammell as their nominee for the general election in the 7th District. He is an associate professor of sociology at Randolph-Macon College, the same school where Mr Brat teaches.

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Mystery Surrounds Brit Backpacker Missing In Oz

By Jonathan Samuels, Australia Correspondent

A mother has flown from Scotland to Australia in a desperate attempt to find her son who has gone missing while backpacking.

Judith Ansell said her son was "distressed" when he spoke to her on the phone from Australia before he vanished two weeks ago.

Jonathan Ansell, 27, disappeared from Melbourne and is believed to have had no passport or money, and with no place to stay had been forced to sleep rough.

His mother believes he also had no mobile phone and had called her in Scotland from a payphone.

"I think he must have been calling from a phone box and didn't have any more money and it just got cut off," she told reporters in Melbourne on Tuesday.

"He said he had run out of money, and was living rough."

Mr Ansell, from Glasgow, came to Australia on a work visa in April 2013 which ran out in April 2014.

He had been working on Hamilton Island, a popular holiday resort, before heading off to travel, visiting Sydney and Byron Bay.

In February, he met up with friends in Sydney, where his Scottish bank records indicate the last use of a credit card.

Victoria Police are checking to see if he had an Australian bank account that could shed more light on his movements. They believe he may have travelled into a rural area of the state.

Mrs Ansell described her son as affable, but extremely quiet and she said he was unlikely to approach people to ask for help.

A Twitter account called @Find_Jonathan has been set up and his sister Kate has also started a campaign on Facebook urging anyone with information to come forward.

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Ukraine: Poroshenko Promises To Bring Peace

Petro Poroshenko promised the Ukrainian people he would "bring them peace" after being sworn in as the country's fifth president.

Mr Poroshenko told parliament Ukrainians would "never feel the blessing of peace and security until we resolve our relations with Russia".

He pledged an amnesty to any insurgents in the east who had "no blood on their hands" but said he would not open dialogue with "gangsters and killers".

Ukrainian officials say some 200 people have died during troubles in eastern parts of the country.

Mr Poroshenko arrives for his inauguration

And the 48-year-old tycoon - dubbed the "chocolate king" for his popular brand of sweets - stated he would not accept Russia's seizure of Crimea nor attempts to divert his pro-European course.

"Crimea will remain a part of Ukraine," said Mr Poroshenko.

"Ukraine now returns to its natural European condition that so many generations have longed for."

The inauguration was attended by US Vice President Joe Biden and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy.                 

The latter sent this message to Russia: "All neighbours ... need to respect (Ukraine's) sovereign choices, including stronger ties with the European Union and its territorial integrity."

Moscow was represented by its acting ambassador to Kiev, Mikhail Zurabov, who said the pledges "sound reassuring".

Mr Poroshenko met world leaders including Barack Obama in France this week

The Kremlin's only official response to Mr Poroshenko's comments was to call for him to act by "the principles of a democratic society" and release two Russian journalists detained in the east of the country.

Meanwhile, Russian president Vladimir Putin reportedly ordered his Federal Security Service to strengthen protection of the country's border with Ukraine to prevent people crossing illegally.

This came after talks with world leaders in France, where US President Barack Obama urged the Kremlin to cease support for separatists in eastern Ukraine - including stopping arms and materials crossing the border.

Insurgents in both Luhansk and Donetsk responded to Mr Poroshenko's pledge of an amnesty with scepticism.

"I don't believe it," said Valery Bolotov, the insurgent leader in the Luhansk region.                 

Insurgent leader Valery Bolotov

Mr Poroshenko is the first permanent successor to Russia-friendly President Viktor Yanukovych, who fled the country in February after months of street protests against him.

The new incumbent met Mr Putin at D-Day commemoration ceremonies in France on Friday and expressed his satisfaction that dialogue had begun.

Mr Putin added: "I can only welcome Mr Poroshenko's position that the bloodshed in eastern Ukraine must be stopped immediately."

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MH370 Families Offer Whistleblower Reward

What Next In Search For Missing Flight MH370?

Updated: 10:50am UK, Friday 30 May 2014

By Jonathan Samuels, Australia Correspondent

The news that teams searching for missing flight MH370 have finished combing the patch of Indian Ocean 1,000 miles off the coast of Western Australia is a huge setback.

The search focused on that area because four pings - or acoustic signals - were detected almost two months ago which were thought to have come from the plane's two flight recorders.

Nothing has been found and now it appears the noises did not come from the black box recorders at all.

It has been rumoured for some time they could have been caused by the search vessels themselves.

Now the US Navy's deputy director of ocean engineering has said much the same.

"Our best theory at this point is that (the pings were) likely some sound produced by the ship ... or within the electronics of the towed pinger locator," Michael Dean told CNN.

"Always your fear any time you put electronic equipment in the water is that if any water gets in and grounds or shorts something out, you could start producing sound."

The pings may have come from another source - sound plays strange tricks that deep in the ocean - and the US Navy has officially said the comments are "speculative".

Either way, it looks like the search is back to square one.

So now it moves to a new stage. 

All existing information and data will be re-examined and the whole of the 23,000 square mile 'southern arc' will again be in the frame.

A bathymetric survey will be carried out, essentially mapping out the sea floor.

It is work already partly underway by the crew of the Chinese ship Zhu Kezhen.

Commercial contractors will then be brought in to carry out the new deep sea search.

It's possible they won't start for a couple of months, and the job will be both long and expensive.

Australia has previously said this work could cost around £40m. It is not clear how expensive the search operation has been so far.

Scott Hamilton, managing director of US-based aerospace consultancy Leeham, said all the data will have to be re-examined "from start to finish".

However, he does not believe the search will be called off any time soon.

"I think it will be some time, perhaps years, before they completely throw in the towel," he said.

And for some, news the search has ended in the area which has been the focus so far is, in a way, welcome.

Sara Bacj, whose partner Philip Wood is among the missing passengers, told Sky News: "If they'd found the hull of the plane under the water then our loved ones would be dead for sure ... (but) most family members are not willing to accept that.

"They believe something else has happened to the plane so this is validation for them that keeping their hopes alive is not crazy."

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El-Sissi Sworn In As President Of Egypt

Egypt's former army chief Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has been sworn in as president for a four-year term.

The inauguration comes less than a year after the army ousted Mohammed Morsi, the Islamist who was the country's first freely elected leader.

El-Sissi, 59, took his oath live on television at the headquarters of the Supreme Constitutional Court in a suburb south of Cairo. 

Sunday has been declared a national holiday but tight security is in place across the Egyptian capital.

The last year has seen repeated violent clashes between the army regime and supporters of Mr Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood.

El-Sissi was named president after a landslide election victory at the end of May where he won 96.9% of the vote.

The retired field marshal ousted Mohammed Morsi following mass protests against his regime in June last year. Mr Morsi is now on trial for charges that carry the death penalty.

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, Arab royals and African leaders are among the guests at a reception being held at Cairo's presidential palace.

More follows...

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Russian Leader Joins 'Dance Of Diplomacy'

It had been as carefully choreographed as the D-Day commemorations themselves. But until he showed up there was no way of knowing if Russia's president would join the dance.

The breakthrough came when Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, deftly pirouetted Vladimir Putin and Petro Poroshenko, into meeting face to face.

This was the culmination of a plan hatched at the G7 in Brussels where the world's leaders agreed to one last attempt to persuade Mr Putin to return to the dance of diplomacy - and stop making trouble in his neighbourhood, roughing up the locals and breaking the windows in Ukraine.

A 15-minute chat between Ukraine's president-elect and Mr Putin followed the German introduction, then lunch.

French President Francois Hollande told a British veteran that he had had to use the D-Day occasion to bring the two sides of the increasingly violent Ukrainian conflict together.

Speaking in French, the British veteran asked: "Was Putin there, was he friendly?"

Mr Hollande replied: "Yes we talked to him and with President Poroshenko, we made Ukraine and Russia talk."

Mr Putin meets Petro Poroshenko and Angela Merkel in France

The veteran then asked: "Is it going to work?"

"It must work, we want this ceremony to be useful to the world. Of course we want to commemorate your fight and your voyage," the French president replied.

We also learned from the dialogue that Britain's Prince Philip had had a word with Mr Putin.

Later, the White House said President Barack Obama had also decided to engage - defrosting relations a little since February when the Russians seized the Crimea and Obama boasted the US could beat Russia in a conventional war.

The importance of the occasion and the modern role of Germany as peacemaker, while eastern Ukraine continues to suffer bloodletting, meant that this was an opportunity not to be missed.

It was a chance to engage with Mr Putin, who has been sulking about Russia's declining power for decades and reassure him that he is an important and welcome player on the international stage.

The Kremlin quickly issued a statement saying Mr Poroshenko and Mr Putin have agreed there should be a de-escalation by the Ukrainian government and "federalists" (pro-Russian militia).

This will be taken in good faith by the West and offers Mr Putin a dignified way to dial down the tension without looking put upon.

He may, though, be bluffing and gambling that none of those leaders he met in Normandy quite have the steel of their ancestors and the nerve to call him on it.

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