Afghanistan Suicide Bomber Kills Worshippers

A suicide bomber has attacked a mosque in Afghanistan as people gathered to celebrate the Eid al Adha holiday.

Between 36 and 41 people, including at least five children, died in the attack in the town of Maymana, capital of northern Faryab province.

Top provincial officials, including the governor and the police chief, were inside the building when the bomber set off his explosives outside the packed Eid Gah mosque.

The officials were not hurt, but the dead included police officers, soldiers, intelligence agents and civilians. Dozens were wounded.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but suicide bombings are a favourite weapon of Taliban Islamists trying to topple the Western-backed government of President Hamid Karzai.

One eyewitness, Sayed Moqeed, described the bomber as appearing to be in his early teens.

"Suddenly I heard a very big explosion," he said. "Everywhere were pieces of bodies, hands and limbs. The suicide attacker was in police uniform, he looked to be around 14 or 15 years old."

Deputy Governor Abdul Satar Barez said: "The targets of the bomber were all the officials inside the mosque."

It appeared to be the deadliest suicide attack in recent months.

On September 4, 25 civilians were killed and more than 35 wounded in Nanghar province, and on September 1, 12 people were killed and 47 wounded in a suicide attack in Wardak province.

Mr Karzai strongly condemned the attack, saying that those who carried it out were "enemies of Islam and humanity."

The attack came as Mr Karzai was urging Taliban insurgents "to stop killing other Afghans".

In his Eid al Adha message to the nation, Mr Karzai called on the insurgents to "stop the destruction of our mosques, hospitals and schools".

The United Nations says that Taliban attacks account for the vast majority of civilian casualties in the 11-year war. The insurgents routinely deny that they are responsible for attacks on civilians, saying they target only foreign troops or members of the Afghan security forces.

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Syria: Deadly Car Bomb Attack In Capital

At least five people have been killed and 32 wounded in a car bombing in southern Damascus, according to Syrian state television.

The blast in the capital comes on the first day of a ceasefire brokered by UN and Arab League peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi.

The regime and the main rebel force, the Free Syrian Army, had both agreed to temporarily lay down their arms.

"The explosion of a booby-trapped car outside the Omar bin Khattab mosque in the Daf Shawk district killed and wounded dozens of people," the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The attack comes hours after three people were reported to have been killed by tank and sniper fire in the Damascus suburb of Harasta, which was apparently targeted in a violation of the temporary truce agreed to mark the four-day Muslim holiday of Eid al Adha.

The Syrian army said it had been responding to attacks by armed rebels that were in violation of the ceasefire.

"Armed terrorist groups attacked military positions, thereby clearly violating the halt to military operations agreed by the army command.

"Our valiant armed forces are responding to these violations and pursuing these groups," the military said in a statement, adding that rebel attacks had taken place against its positions in Deir Ezzor, Daraa, Idlib and in the Damascus region.

The Syrian army had said it would cease military operations from Friday to Monday for the Eid al Adha holiday, but warned it would react if "armed terrorist groups" carry out attacks or reinforce their positions, or if fighters cross into the country.

President Assad pictured at a prayer service on Friday

Rebels in a northern town close to the Turkish border also reported one of their fighters was shot dead by a sniper, and a Reuters journalist in the town heard what sounded like four rounds of tank fire.

In a statement read on state television after the truce deal, the Syrian army said it would still respond to gunfire or roadside bombs and keep rebels from bolstering their positions or getting supplies.

A Free Syrian Army commander also said rebels would retaliate if they were attacked.

On Friday morning, Syrian state television showed President Bashar al Assad attending morning prayers for the start of Eid at a mosque in Damascus.

He was pictured smiling and looking relaxed as he spoke to other worshippers, in his first television appearance for more than a month.

During prayers, Imam Walid Abdel Haq called on Syrians to "stop quarrelling because you are all brothers".

"Do you not see what has been happening for two years in the country, the destruction and death? Stop this," he said.

Protests were reported to have taken place in Raqa in the north east, where security forces fired tear gas, and in the southern Deraa province, where three people were injured as police fired live rounds to disperse demonstrators.

Activists said protests also took place in Damascus and Aleppo.

In the Idlib village of Al Habit protesters chanted against Mr Assad, saying: "Traitor, give up, you have destroyed Syria."

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Berlusconi Sentenced To Four Years In Jail

Former Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi has been sentenced to four years in prison for tax fraud connected to his television channels.

An Italian court delivered the verdict against the ex-leader and 10 others in a six-year-old tax fraud trial.

Lawyers for the 76-year-old, who was also barred from holding political office for five years, said he will lodge an appeal before November 10.

Berlusconi's age, coupled with Italy's lengthy appeals process and statute of limitations, means he is unlikely to go to prison.

If he does, he will only serve one year due to a 2006 amnesty law aimed at reducing prison overcrowding.

The verdict came two days after Berlusconi announced he will not run for premier in upcoming elections.

During the trial, prosecutors alleged the defendants were behind a scheme to purchase the rights to broadcast US movies on Berlusconi's private Mediaset television networks through a series of offshore companies, and had falsely declared the payments to avoid taxes.

Prosecutors further alleged they inflated the price for the TV rights of some 3,000 films as they re-licensed them internally to Berlusconi's networks, pocketing the difference amounting to around €250m (£200m).

Other charges of false accounting and false statements in financial reports were thrown out because the statute of limitations expired.

The court sentenced Berlusconi and his co-defendants to pay €10m (£8m) to Italian tax authorities, a statement said.

The trial began in July 2006, but was put on hold by a now-defunct immunity law that shielded Berlusconi from prosecution while he was premier until it was watered down by the constitutional court.

The trial also faced delays as Berlusconi cited conflicts with his schedule as premier.

Berlusconi has been tried numerous times for his business dealings. He has always denied wrongdoing and alleged that the cases were politically motivated.

In each case to date, he has been cleared or seen the statute of limitations expire. The statute of limitations in this case is set to expire sometime next year.

Berlusconi also is on trial in Milan on charges of paying for sex with a prostitute and trying to cover it up.

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Syria: Tank And Sniper Fire 'Kills Three'

Three people are reported to have been killed by tank and sniper fire in Syria's capital, hours after a ceasefire was agreed.

The Damascus suburb of Harasta was apparently targeted in a violation of the temporary truce agreed to mark the four-day Muslim holiday of Eid Al Adha.

Rebels in a northern town close to the Turkish border also reported one of their fighters was shot dead by a sniper, and a Reuters journalist in the town heard what sounded like four rounds of tank fire.

The ceasefire was brokered by UN and Arab League peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi. The regime and the main rebel force, the Free Syrian Army, had both agreed to temporarily lay down their arms.

In a statement read on state television after the deal, the Syrian army said it would still respond to gunfire or roadside bombs and keep rebels from bolstering their positions or getting supplies.

President Assad pictured at a prayer service on Friday

A Free Syrian Army commander also said rebels would retaliate if they were attacked.

On Friday morning, Syrian state television showed President Bashar al Assad attending morning prayers for the start of Eid at a mosque in Damascus.

He was pictured smiling and looking relaxed as he spoke to other worshippers, in his first television appearance for more than a month.

During prayers, Imam Walid Abdel Haq called on Syrians to "stop quarrelling because you are all brothers".

"Do you not see what has been happening for two years in the country, the destruction and death? Stop this," he said.

Protests were reported to have taken place in Raqa in the north east, where security forces fired tear gas, and in the southern Deraa province, where three people were injured as police fired live rounds to disperse demonstrators.

Activists said protests also took place in Damascus and Aleppo.

In the Idlib village of Al-Habit protesters chanted against Mr Assad, saying: "Traitor, give up, you have destroyed Syria."

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Hurricane Sandy: US Braces After 11 Die In Cuba

Hurricane Sandy has killed 11 people in Cuba and is now expected to batter the east coast of the US – after lashing the Bahamas.

Cuban state media announced that a four-month-old boy, who was crushed when his home collapsed, was among the dead as the east of the island was hit.

Sandy is moving towards the US

It reported nine deaths in the Santiago province in eastern Cuba, and two deaths in the Guantanamo area, bordering the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay. The oldest victim was 84.

Cuban authorities said most of the fatalities occurred when homes fell down, but the cause of some was still being investigated.

A total of 21 people have now died across the Caribbean as a result of the storm.

A satellite image of Sandy over the Bahamas

Hurricane Sandy has now made landfall in the Bahamas and, as it heads towards the US, predictions are mounting that it could bring destruction to the mainland far worse than last year's Hurricane Irene.

As the Category Two storm made its way towards the east coast, disaster experts and meteorologists warned that coastal states from the mid-Atlantic through to New England could be hit with dangerous winds and heavy rains.

Some forecasters even say Sandy could become a multi-billion-dollar disaster, though it is still too early to tell if its power and trajectory will bring about that worst-case scenario.

A power line is brought down in Santiago de Cuba

Hurricane Irene struck in August 2011, causing some $4.3bn (£2.7bn) in losses as unexpectedly heavy flooding hit from New Jersey to Vermont.

There are also concerns that Sandy could join with a winter storm already on course to hit New England and New York City next week.

Should the two storms merge, they could form what some are terming – in a nod to the upcoming Halloween holiday – a "Frankenstorm".

Residents try to save a fridge from their house in Santiago de Cuba

"When that occurs there can be a bit of a synergy, sort of a one plus one equals three effect," said Michael Kistler, a product manager at RMS, one of the main firms used by the insurance industry to model potential disaster exposure.

The White House on Thursday urged residents on the east coast to monitor weather reports and to heed any warnings from local officials in the days ahead.

Deerfield beach in Florida is closed as winds pick up

It could possibly bring tropical storm conditions along the south eastern Florida coast, the Upper Keys and Florida Bay by Friday morning.

The storm tore down power lines and trees and damaged homes as it pounded Jamaica – crushing one man to death - before heading for Cuba and the Bahamas.

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British Oil Executive Gunned Down In Brussels

A British oil executive - named by Sky sources as Nicholas Mockford - has been shot dead in Brussels.

The killing took place on October 14 but Belgian investigators have only just revealed information about his death.

Mr Mockford, who worked for ExxonMobil,  was gunned down as he left a restaurant with his wife.

The Foreign Office said: "We can confirm the death of a British national in Brussels on October 14 and we are providing consular assistance."

Police said the businessman was shot three times as he left an Italian restaurant in Neder-Over-Heembeek, a suburb of the Belgian capital.

It happened at around 10pm as he walked with his wife Mary from the Da Marcello restaurant on Rue de Beyseghem to their car, which was parked nearby.

The attack took place in the Neder-Over-Heembeek area of Brussels

Mrs Mockford was violently attacked and struck several times on her face as one of the attackers tried to grab her handbag.

A second attacker opened fire on the 60-year-old oil executive, who later died of his injuries.

He was shot three times, once as he lay on the floor, and his wife Mary was left beaten and covered in blood, cradling her husband and shouting for help. He died on the way to hospital.

Witnesses say they saw the couple walk across the street to their Lexus 4x4 car before shots were fired.

It is understood that the two men were carrying motorcycle helmets and they initially fled on foot before taking a ring road on a "two-wheeled vehicle".

Shortly after the events, a white van passed Rue de Beyseghem and came across the victims.

Investigators have been questioning the driver of this vehicle.

The Daily Telegraph said police in Belgium were considering all possible motives for the shooting, including a carjacking, although Mr Mockford's car was not stolen.

The Belgian prosecutor's office said last night that there was a "judicial instruction" from Martine Quintin, the investigating judge, that meant they could give no "explanation" and no detail about the killing, which a spokesman said was "usual in such a serious murder investigation", the newspaper reported.

However, Chief Inspector Wim Van Leifferenge said the killing had been reported by media in the country since it happened.

Mr Van Leifferenge said no-one had been arrested and those responsible were still on the run.

Mr Mockford is understood to have worked for ExxonMobil since the 1970s and was head of marketing for interim technologies for ExxonMobil Chemicals, Europe, promoting new types of greener fuel.

Brought up in Leicestershire, he had moved abroad from Chichester some years ago, living in Belgium and Singapore.

He was married to his Belgian wife for 15 years and has three grown-up children living in Britain from his first marriage, according to the Telegraph.

A family member, who asked not to be named, told the newspaper they thought he had been killed in a professional hit.

The relation said: "We are all confused about what has happened. Nick was a genuinely lovely, clean-cut, mild-mannered, family man."

He added: "He was shot so calmly and so quickly, it smacks horribly of a professional hit, but we can't fathom why. He isn't the type to cave in to blackmail and it just doesn't compute."

A spokesman for ExxonMobil said: "Mr Mockford, a British national, was a department manager at our office close to Brussels, but we have no indication that the incident was work related.

"Our thoughts are with his family, friends and colleagues and we are supporting them as best we can at this very difficult time."

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Hurricane Sandy Hits Cuba After Jamaica

Hurricane Sandy tore down power lines and trees as it pounded Jamaica, before heading for Cuba and the Bahamas.

The storm had developed from a Category One to Category Two hurricane when it made landfall just west of Santiago de Cuba with maximum sustained winds of 114mph.

The US National Hurricane Centre (NHC) in Miami said Sandy was moving north-northeast at 15mph and was expected to keep its hurricane strength as it moved through the Bahamas.

"It is a big storm and it's going to grow in size after it leaves Cuba," said Michael Brennan, a hurricane forecaster at the NHC.  

Storm clouds gathered over Cuba as Sandy approached

In Jamaica, schools and businesses were closed and authorities moved residents in low-lying, flood-prone areas into shelters amid steady rain and fierce winds.

Residents reported widespread power outages, flooded streets and some severely damaged homes.

One man was crushed to death by stones that fell from a hillside as he tried to get into his house in a rural village near Kingston, according to a police official.

Earlier on Wednesday, a woman in Haiti was swept away by a rushing river she was trying to cross.

Widespread flooding was reported across Jamaica

Cruise ships changed their itineraries to avoid the storm, which made landfall five miles east of the capital and airports were closed.

Curfews were imposed on 80 communities in an attempt to prevent the looting which has followed previous storms.

Many people refused to evacuate their homes because they were fearful their possessions would be stolen.

Officers said suspected looters shot and wounded a police official as he led a group through a volatile section of West Kingston called Craig Town.

In some southern towns on Jamaica, a few crocodiles were caught in rushing floodwaters that carried them out of the mangrove thickets, into housing districts, local residents reported.

One large crocodile reportedly took up temporary residence in a family's front yard in the city of Portmore.

Sandy dumped heavy rain on Jamaica and Cuba

Sandy was expected to dump a total of 6in to 12in of rain as it made its way across parts of Jamaica, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and eastern Cuba.

The 18th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season was expected to pass to the west of the US naval base at Cuba's Guantanamo Bay, where pre-trial hearings were being held for a suspect in the deadly 2000 attack on the destroyer USS Cole off Yemen.

The 15,500 people living on the US base, along with the 166 prisoners held there, have been warned to be ready for the storm.

Sandy could possibly bring tropical storm conditions along the southeastern Florida coast, the Upper Keys and Florida Bay by Friday morning.

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Obama 'Bubble' Confident On Home Straight

US President Barack Obama has launched an unprecedented campaign blitz through eight states in 39 hours in his bid to secure a second term in the White House.

Mr Obama is travelling more than 6,000 miles across four time zones in what he has described as a "marathon extravaganza" to encourage voters to the polls.

The President is neck-and-neck with Republican challenger Mitt Romney with 12 days to go until election day.

His trip includes swing states Iowa, Colorado, Nevada, Florida, Ohio and Virginia and he held a conference call with 9,000 undecided voters from aboard the presidential jet Air Force One.

Both campaigns have now unleashed what they call their "ground game" of knocking on doors and calling undecided voters in swing states.

Sky News joined the Obama campaign "bubble" for his sweep across the country and discovered a mood of confidence.

Senior advisors believe he has regained the momentum after a sticky patch after the first televised debate. They say he has a "clear path" towards securing the 270 electoral college votes he needs.

Mr Obama's advisors believe he has regained the momentum

Obama campaign advisor David Plouffe told reporters: "We win the election if it were held today.

"Our view is that in all the battleground states we've contested, every single one of them, we have a credible pathway to 50%."

The campaign believes the key is keeping the pressure on people who voted for Mr Obama in 2008 to come out and do it again.

In Iowa, 3,500 people packed into Mississippi Valley Fairground to stand under autumnal leaves and hear the President.

He told them: "This is where it all began four years ago, on your front porches, in your backyards. This is where the movement for change began. And Iowa, you will once again choose the path ahead.

"We can't afford to go back to what got us into this mess. We've got to stick with policies that are getting out of this mess."

Supporter Heather Khoury said: "I think he's moving us forward, I don't think think that is just his spiel. I think some of the things he promised Congress didn't allow him to do so it shouldn't all be blamed on him."

Randall Dreese said: "I really don't see how the United States as a whole could survive four years of Mitt Romney."

Obama recorded an interview with late night comedy host Jay Leno

In Denver, 16,000 braved the chill to listen to a shirt-sleeved Mr Obama lambast his rival's plans and repeat his now familiar "Romnesia" campaign gag.

Buses were waiting to ferry people to early voting stations nearby. The campaign is now focused on energising its core and looking to find every wavering voter.

Mr Obama, who spent the night aboard Air Force One, also stopped off in Los Angeles to record an interview with late night comedy host Jay Leno.

He mocked controversial tycoon and "birther" Donald Trump, who earlier offered to give $5m to charity if Mr Obama released his college and passport records.

The President joked that their disagreement dates back to when he and Trump were growing up Kenya.

"We had constant run-ins on the soccer field. He wasn't very good and resented it. When we finally moved to America I thought it would be over," he said.

Mr Obama will make detour to his home city of Chicago today to cast his own early vote before completing his trip.

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Malala Shooting: Police Name Prime Suspect

Police have named the prime suspect in connection with the shooting of Malala Yousafzai, the teenage activist who spoke out against the Taliban.

Detectives are attempting to track down 23-year-old Atta Ullah Khan, a chemistry student from the Swat district where Malala was attacked.

Khan's mother, brother, and fiancee have been arrested, as well as six other men.

The suspect's relatives are not accused of involvement, a senior police official is reported to have said.

Malala is being treated at a hospital in Birmingham

Alam Zeb, the principal at Jahanzeb College where Khan is studying for a physics degree, said Khan had given school officials three or four dates of birth.

He condemned the attack and said he was surprised to hear that a former student may have been involved.

The 15-year-old girl became a symbol of courage after being shot in the head by the Taliban earlier this month for demanding education for girls.

She is now being treated in Britain, at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham.

The teenager is a high-profile campaigner against the Taliban

The hospital has said she continues to make steady progress and is in a stable condition after she was admitted a week ago following initial treatment in Pakistan.

She had been able to stand with help for the first time in hospital and was "communicating very freely", according to Dr Dave Rosser, medical director of the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust.

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Man Killed By Shark As Friend Watches Helpless

A California surfer has been killed by a shark off a beach at the Vandenberg Air Force Base.

The attack was reported by another surfer on Tuesday morning off the coast of Surf Beach in Lompoc, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department said in a statement.

Francisco Javier Solorio Jr "had a friend who he was surfing with who saw the shark bite or hit the man," said Sheriff's Sgt Mark A Williams.

"His friend ended up swimming over and pulling him from the water where he received first aid."

Another surfer called for help but the male victim was pronounced dead by paramedics at the scene.

He was reportedly bitten on the upper torso

The Air Force said only that the 39-year-old was not affiliated with the base, which allows public access to some of its beaches.

The type of shark involved and other details are under investigation.

There were no shark warning signs posted at Surf Beach on Tuesday, said Lt. Erik Raney, adding that beaches do not typically post such notices unless the location had a recent shark sighting.

It was the latest shark attack fatality at Surf Beach, about 150 miles northwest of Los Angeles.

In October 2010, Lucas Ransom, a 19-year-old student at the University of California, Santa Barbara, died when a shark nearly severed his leg as he body-boarded.

Hundreds of miles south near the coast of San Diego, a 15ft great white shark is believed to have killed triathlete David Martin in 2008.

Fatal shark attacks are rare. There is an average of 65 incidents around the world every year, which typically result in two or three deaths, according to the Pew Environment Group.

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