Belfast Flag Violence: Police Officer Hurt

One police officer has been injured and taken to hospital during pockets of disorder in east Belfast.

It comes as a loyalist protest attended by about 2,000 people outside City Hall in the centre of Belfast passed off peacefully.

The demonstration against new restrictions on flying the Union flag at City Hall ended after about an hour with a rendition of God Save the Queen.

Up to 20 police armoured Land Rovers were lined up on either side of the building while officers in full riot gear with dogs could be seen in the courtyard.

A protest in Belfast passed off peacefully but there was violence elsewhere

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said protesters had dispersed, but there was some disorder in east Belfast and a section of the Newtownards Road was closed.

Violence erupted when councillors in Belfast voted to limit the number of days the Union flag could be flown over the City Hall to 17 days a year.

A death threat against the MP Naomi Long, whose Alliance Party tabled a compromise agreement on the issue, led to an escalation in the seriousness of the tensions.

Around 2,000 people joined the protest in Belfast city centre

Last night, eight police officers were injured and more than a dozen people arrested - including a 13-year-old boy - during clashes between loyalists and riot police.

PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Will Kerr said loyalist paramilitaries had been orchestrating some of the violence seen in the past 24 hours.

"Violence has serious and unwanted consequences for us all and we will robustly investigate all incidents," he said.

"I am urging everyone to be calm, take a step back and think about how this violence is affecting not just their own communities but the whole of Northern Ireland."

The Christmas market in Belfast city centre had been temporarily closed but later re-opened.

00.57 | 0 komentar | Read More

Drink-Driving: Crashed Car Shown To Clubbers

A dad whose daughter was killed in a drink-drive crash hopes that parking her wrecked car outside nightclubs will stop others getting behind the wheel while over the limit.

The man, who wants to remain anonymous, lost his eldest daughter in the crash near Fleet, Hampshire, last November.

The 23-year-old was four times over the drink-drive limit when her Vauxhall Corsa collided with a van on her way home from a night out. She died instantly.

Her father has now agreed to let police display her car in town centres in Hampshire and on the Isle of Wight in the hope it will encourage others not to drink and drive.

"I wanted to tell my story, her story, because I wanted people to see what devastation they can cause by making that choice," he said.

"It's a split second decision which can have far-reaching consequences.

"To anyone else who would consider getting behind the wheel after having alcohol, I plead with you as a father, as the husband of a devastated mother, as the parent of two grieving children and on behalf of the many people who knew and loved my daughter, please don't.

"You can't imagine the pain you could leave behind, either for your family or for someone else's."

The Smashed campaign will target drivers aged between 20 and 24, who accounted for nearly a quarter of drive-drink arrests last Christmas.

Interviews with some of the emergency service personnel who attended the crash, including paramedic Kate McDougall and firefighter Craig Gregory, have been released on YouTube as part of the campaign.

Sergeant Jay Hewes, of Hampshire Constabulary, said: "We don't ever want to tell another parent, partner or child, that someone they love is gone, but chances are that before the year is out, we will have to.

"If one person, regardless of their age, sits up and takes notice, this young person will have left a legacy her parents can take some comfort from and those who knew her can be proud of."

00.57 | 0 komentar | Read More

Syria: Rebel Prisoners On Their Religious War

Interviewing people who, under different circumstances, might kill you, is a strange experience.

To the soundtrack of multiple rocket launchers and small arms fire, I met six men who the Syrian authorities told us were jihadist rebel fighters captured by the army.

We were in a Ministry of Interior prison near Damascus in an area now close to the front lines.

The men, four Syrian, an Iraqi, and a Turk, said they had indeed been in the jihadist movement fighting President Assad's forces, but now renounced the armed struggle even though they continued to espouse Salafist ideology. All are awaiting court appearances.

Jamil Us Turk, Ahmed al Rabido, Hamid Hassan al Attar, Bahar al Bashah, Ali Hussein and Mahmoud al Ahab said they were happy to be interviewed and had not been badly treated.

At one point I asked the guards to leave, spoke with the men alone and checked them for obvious signs of mistreatment, which were not apparent. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International both accuse the Syrian regime of routinely torturing prisoners.

As far as I could ascertain, the men were who they said they were. The Turkish man spoke Turkish, the Iraqi had an Iraqi accent, they displayed religious knowledge of the sort taught to those with a Salafist mindset.

The captured fighters are from Turkey, Iraq and Syria

Most of the rebel militias are not radical jihadists, but in the last few months there appears to have been a sharp increase in the number of foreign fighters coming to Syria.

The Syrian authorities are keen to promote the view that they are fighting an al Qaeda type force which partially explains why, after much pushing, we were allowed rare access into the jail.

Mahmoud al Ahab, who described himself as a Palestinian Syrian, told me he was in the al Nusra Front which he said was an al Qaeda group. He had sworn an oath of allegiance to al Nursa but now felt this was a mistake.

Ahmed al Rabido, a 48-year-old Syrian, said he was a religious leader, a Mufti, in the Free Syrian Army.

"I joined because I wanted to demolish the secular state... I don't believe in this anymore because the country is being ruined," he said.

Bahar al Basah, 35, another Palestinian Syrian, told me he was influenced by the writings of Abu Qatada, the radical cleric currently under house arrest in the UK.

The men only became animated when I showed a little knowledge of Salafist ideology and brought up the works of Islamists such as the Egyptian Sayyid Qutb.

Sky's Tim Marshall interviewed the men awaiting trial

This led to a question about the future of Syria's minorities such as the Christians. Ahmed, Basah, and Hamid Hassan all agreed - Christians could only live there if they either converted, or paid the 'Jizyah' - a special tax levied on non-Muslims in previous centuries in the Middle East. If not said Bahar, they could be killed.

When asked why, the answer was, to them, quite simple - because the Prophet Mohammed said so. I was then invited to become a Muslim.

The conversation verged on the surreal. There we were talking in a quite friendly manner, with the occasional joke, about killing people because they wouldn't pay the Jizyah, which critics regard as effectively obtaining money through menaces.

The interview ended with Ahmed volunteering that eventually Muslims must reclaim Andalucia in Spain for the Islamic Caliphate.

His logic, that it was justified because Spain used to be under Islam, was somewhat undermined when he went on to say that Islam should move on to bring the UK under its control and indeed, eventually, the whole world.

Rebel fighters want an end to President Assad's regime

This was a rare first-hand glimpse into the jihadi mindset.

The men are not representative of the FSA, indeed many militia units are deeply suspicious of the jihadists' aims.

However, it appears that a lot of the best weapons are reaching the jihadist groups, and they are using these to gain influence and territory. 

Even if the rebels overthrow the government, they won't just have a problem dealing with militia from the minority groups, they will have problems with each other.

As the men left to go back to their cells, we shook hands.

Two of them were still trying to convert me, asking me, with a smile, to say the Shahada 'La ilaha il Allah' - there is no God but Allah.

Men like this scare Syria's Christians, Allawites, Shia, Druze, and Kurds, indeed they frighten many of the countries Sunnis, but the war here is now so steeped in blood that compromise seems almost impossible to achieve, and there are now people on both sides who reject compromise out of hand.

00.57 | 0 komentar | Read More

Suffolk Light Aircraft Crash: One Person Dead

One person has died after a light aircraft crashed into a tree in a Suffolk village.

Suffolk Police said the aircraft came down in Aldham, near Hadleigh, where it collided with a tree and became submerged in a pond.

At around the same time as the crash, homes in Aldham and nearby Elmsett lost power because of a fault on the 11,000-volt overhead electricity distribution network.

A spokesman for UK Power Networks said engineers were working with emergency services at the site of the plane crash to restore power "as quickly and as safely as possible", although most homes were reconnected within six hours.

Local resident Alison Gillies told Sky News she could see smoke rising from land behind her house.

"There are a huge number of emergency services in the village and our power was off for around three or four hours," she said.

Ms Gillies said it was not unusual to see light aircraft flying over Aldham as they take off from or land at Elmsett Airfield to the northwest.

Dennis Hill, who lives near the crash site, added: "The plane flew across the fields and into the tree, before falling into the pond.

"I think the pilot died on impact. There's an airfield nearby but he was way off track. It's like he was trying to land, but you've got fields and hedges in the way."

Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service said firefighters from Woodbridge, Hadleigh, Needham Market, Bury St Edmunds and Halstead, Essex, were called to the village, around eight miles from Ipswich.

Police and ambulance crews and a water rescue team were also sent to the scene.

An area around the crash site was cordoned off and the Air Accidents Investigation Branch were alerted.

00.57 | 0 komentar | Read More

Cancer Boy Court Case Delayed For A Week

By Nick Martin, Sky Correspondent

The mother of a seven-year-old boy with cancer has said she does not want him to receive potentially life-saving radiotherapy because she is worried about the side effects.

Neon Roberts underwent surgery on a brain tumour in October and as a follow-up treatment doctors recommended a course of radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

But his mother Sally Roberts said the side effects of the radiation could have a "damaging effect on his future".

Her estranged husband Ben Roberts, however, agrees with doctors who say his chances of survival would be increased if he had the treatment.

A High Court judge will rule on the matter later this month. A decision had been expected on Saturday, but a "change in the medical landscape" meant a new hearing was set for December 18 and 19.

Giving evidence to the court on Friday, Mrs Roberts said: "I wish for the best future for my son, the best quality of life. I fear radiotherapy could have damaging effects on his future."

Mrs Roberts described her son as having an "incredible sense of humour" and being "a great artist, vibrant and healthy".

She told the court that she had researched the side effects of radiotherapy and asked experts for advice.

She said she feared his IQ would be affected and that he could have a shorter life with increased chances of suffering a stroke.

Doctors said the boy's chances of surviving would be significantly reduced if he did not receive the radiotherapy and want to start the treatment next Thursday.

A doctor involved in Neon's care told the court that Ms Roberts' comments were very sensible and accepted that there could be side effects but said that without the treatment the little boy could die within a few months.

"I think it is a balance. I don't think it's a fine balance,"  said the doctor. "There is a distinct disadvantage in terms of the overall survival.

"There are side effects that occur but we must not underestimate the quality of life of patients who have these side effects."

He added: "The vast majority of parents will have concerns whether to make the decision but go with the treatment recommended."

Mr Roberts was not at the hearing because he was with Neon - but he wrote to tell the judge that he had agreed to radiotherapy because it seemed to be the"best course".

"Obviously I am concerned about side effects and slightly apprehensive about radiotherapy," said Mr Roberts' message.

"If Sally produces sufficient evidence that radiotherapy is not a necessity then I am happy to support her."

Mr Justice Bodey said the boy's condition was "the stuff of every parent's nightmare" and that he would balance the benefits of radiotherapy against the "downsides" when making his decision.

00.57 | 0 komentar | Read More

Italy's Silvio Berlusconi Says He Will Run For PM

Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has said he will run for prime minister again in a general election next year.

Speaking near the northern city of Milan, the leader of the right-wing People of Freedom party said: "I'm returning sadly to public service.

"And again, I'm doing it out of a sense of responsibility."

Mr Berlusconi, 76, stepped down in disgrace last year as Italy was on the brink of financial disaster.

His resignation paved the way for a government of unelected technocrats led by current prime minister Mario Monti.

Mr Berlusconi has since been convicted of tax fraud and now faces plunging poll numbers.

He is also on trial on charges of paying for sex with an underage prostitute - an allegation he has denied.

But the ever-combative conservative leader was not deterred. "I am running to win," he said. "The campaign is already on."

His centre-right camp has been in disarray recently, weakened by corruption scandals and infighting over who might succeed Mr Berlusconi as leader.

Karima El Mahroug is at the centre of Mr Berlusconi's sex case

Italy is to hold a general election in 2013, though the date has not been set.

Mr Berlusconi has been increasingly critical of the government's austerity measures, and this week his party pulled parliamentary support for Mr Monti's government, increasing the likelihood of a snap election.

It will be the sixth national election that Mr Berlusconi contests since he stepped into politics in the mid-1990s on the back of a business empire that includes the country's largest private broadcaster, publishing interests and a football team, AC Milan.

He has won three times and is already the longest-serving prime minister in post-war Italy.

Mr Berlusconi will be up against Pierluigi Bersani of the Democratic Party, who has just won a strong endorsement in primary votes held among centre-left voters across Italy.

Mr Bersani is widely seen as a front-runner, though Mr Berlusconi is a formidable campaigner with a history of comebacks.

00.57 | 0 komentar | Read More

Starbucks Tax Protest: Stores 'Shut Down'

Campaigners claim to have shut down a number of Starbucks' UK stores during protests over the coffee chain's tax arrangements.

Activisit group UK Uncut had planned more than 40 demonstrations across the country, "transforming" shops into refuges, creches and homeless shelters to highlight the "disproportionate" effect the coalition government's cuts to the public sector are having on women.

Pictures uploaded to its Facebook page showed campaigners holding banners and posters while others staged sit-in protests.

The demonstrations came despite an announcement from Starbucks that it expects to pay around £10m in UK corporation tax for each of the next two years.

It followed a revelation that the US-owned company has paid just £8.6m in 14 years of trading in Britain and nothing in the last three years.

Starbucks' Kris Engskov wrote an open letter to customers on Thursday

Lisa Stewart, a 30-year-old UK Uncut activist, said: "If they (the Government) made tax-dodgers like Starbucks pay, that would bring in £25bn a year. Think of all the spending cuts we could cover with that.

"Today we are standing up for the women's services we refuse to see destroyed."

Ms Stewart said the reaction from customers inside the store in London where she had campaigned had been positive, adding: "There is lots of anger out there and people realise they are being lied to."

In an open letter to customers on Thursday, Kris Engskov, managing director of Starbucks UK, said the company had begun "a process of enhancing trust with customers and the communities that we have been honoured to serve for the past 14 years".

He said the company injects nearly £300m annually into the UK economy, and will train more than 1,000 apprentices over the next two years.

00.57 | 0 komentar | Read More

Kate Prank Call: Hospital Slams Radio Station

The hospital where the nurse who was duped into helping reveal details about the Duchess of Cambridge's health worked, has condemned the prank phone call as "truly appalling".

In a letter to the Australian radio station 2day FM's parent company, Lord Glenarthur, chairman of King Edward VII's Hospital, said he wanted to "protest" against the "extremely foolish" gag.

His comments follow the apparent suicide of nurse Jacintha Saldanha, 46, who was found dead on Friday.

She had taken the hoax call from the radio station on Tuesday morning and put it through to a nurse on the Duchess of Cambridge's ward, who divulged private information about her treatment.

Lord Glenarthur said Ms Saldanha's death was "tragic beyond words".

It comes as footage emerged of her grieving family members in her home country of India.

The letter to Southern Cross Austereo said the immediate consequence of the station's "premeditated and ill-considered actions" led to the "humiliation" of Ms Saldanha and another nurse.

"I appreciate that you cannot undo the damage which has been done but I would urge you to take steps to ensure that such an incident could never be repeated," it added.

Footage has emerged of Ms Saldanha's grieving family in India

A spokesman for the private London hospital said the letter was sent on Saturday.

Ms Saldanha's devastated family were being comforted by relatives and friends at their terrace home in Southmead, Bristol.

A friend at the address said Ms Saldanha's partner Benedict Barboza, 49, and their teenage son and daughter, aged 14 and 16, were "very, very shocked and unhappy at the tragedy".

The devoted nurse and mother-of-two was pronounced dead at staff accommodation close to the hospital where the pregnant Duchess had been treated for a severe form of morning sickness.

News of her death led to a huge backlash against the two presenters, Mel Greig and Michael Christian, who pretended to be the Queen and Prince Charles during the prank on their 2day FM show.

They have now been taken off the air while the Sydney-based station has been inundated with complaints.

Michael Christian and Mel Greig have been taken off the air

Southern Cross Austereo said that, by mutual consent, the hosts would not be returning to their show until further notice.

The company's chief executive Rhys Holleran has stood by the two DJs and said they were shocked and devastated by news of Ms Saldanha's death.

He said: "This is a tragic event that could not have been reasonably foreseen and we're deeply saddened by it. I spoke to both presenters early this morning and it's fair to say they're completely shattered."

Mr Holleran said the pair had been offered counselling, adding: "These people aren't machines, they're human beings. We're all affected by this."

In a video of her relatives in India, her sister-in-law Celin D'Souza said: "I will really miss her a lot. She was a good-natured sister-in-law. I cannot forget her, she was so good."

Another sister-in law Cerolin D'Souza, added: "It would have been great if the Indian government had taken the initiative to help and do the necessary thing of getting back the body of our daughter. It is so sad. I am unsure as to what is in store."

00.57 | 0 komentar | Read More

Nelson Mandela: Ex-SA President In Hospital

Former South African president Nelson Mandela has been admitted to hospital for tests.

The country's government said Mr Mandela, 94, had been taken to hospital in Pretoria for routine tests, adding that there was no cause for alarm.

The anti-apartheid icon is known to be in frail health and has not made public appearances for a few years.

He was last taken to hospital in February after suffering from persistent abdominal pain. He was released the following day after a keyhole examination showed there was nothing seriously wrong with him.

A statement from President Jacob Zuma's office about his re-admittance to hospital in South Africa's administrative capital gave no details of the condition of the former leader.

"Mandela will receive medical attention from time to time which is consistent with his age," said Mr Zuma's office.

Hillary Clinton met Nelson Mandela at his home in August

"President Zuma assures all that Madiba is doing well and there is no cause for alarm," it added, referring to Mr Mandela by his clan name.

Mr Mandela spent 27 years in prison for his fight against white minority rule under apartheid, becoming the country's first black president in 1994 at the end of white minority rule.

He turned 94 in July and has not appeared in public since South Africa's Football World Cup final in 2010 because of his frail health.

However in the last few months he has continued to receive high-profile visitors, including former US President Bill Clinton and his wife, the US Secretary of State, Hillary.

Since retiring from public life, Mr Mandela has since spent most of his time in his ancestral home in Qunu, a village in the impoverished Eastern Cape province.

00.57 | 0 komentar | Read More

Naeem Davis: 'On Drugs, Heard Voices In Head'

A homeless man accused of pushing another man in front of an oncoming subway has reportedly said he was high on drugs and fighting voices in his head at the time of the incident.

Naeem Davis, 30, was charged with second-degree murder on Wednesday and ordered to be held without bail following the death of 58-year-old Ki Suk Han in New York City.

In an interview in prison with the New York Post, Davis said Mr Han had grabbed and threatened him, and that the voices in his head coaxed him into pushing Mr Han.

Davis said he did not mean to kill Mr Han.

"From the depths of my heart, I didn't mean to kill him", Davis said.

He said he had no time to pull Mr Han off the tracks because "it happened so fast". He also said he was "under the influence".

Davis is due back in court on December 11.

Earlier in the week, Davis told reporters he was attacked first.

Davis told reporters he was attacked first

Prosecutor James Lin told the judge at Davis' court hearing that Davis saw the train strike Mr Han before leaving the Times Square station on Monday.

"The defendant never once offered any aid to the victim as the train approached the platform and in fact, this defendant watched the train hit the victim," Mr Lin said.

But Davis' legal aid lawyer, Stephen Pokart, said his client reportedly "was involved in an incident with a man who was drunk and angry".

A witness, Leigh Weingus, told The New York Times that Mr Han appeared to be aggressive toward Davis.

"The victim kept saying 'Hey! Hey!' at the suspect, getting closer and closer to him," she said. "At first Davis appeared calm, saying 'I don't know you, you don't know me, get out of my face. '"

Mr Han's wife had said she had argued with her husband that morning and that he had been drinking.

Mr Han's death got widespread attention not only for its horrific nature, but because he was photographed a split-second before the train trapped him and seemingly no one attempted to come to his aid.

A freelance photographer for the New York Post was waiting for a train when he said he saw a man approach Mr Han at the station, get into an altercation with him and push him into the train's path.

A Post photo showed Mr Han with his head turned toward the train, his arms reaching up but unable to climb off the tracks in time.

The photographer, R. Umar Abbasi, said he was trying to alert the driver to what was going on by flashing his camera, adding that he was shocked that people nearer to the victim did not try to help.

00.57 | 0 komentar | Read More