Apple iPhone: Fights As Homeless Hired To Queue

'Shortage' Of Apple's New iPhone 5S

Updated: 2:15am UK, Saturday 21 September 2013

The new iPhone models have gone on sale, with eager shoppers - many of whom had camped out - flooding into Apple's flagship stores.

But hundreds of people took to Twitter to say that many stores had ran out of the new devices, while Apple's online store pushed back its dispatch date for new phones to October, without giving any specific dates.

Technology fans in Japan were among the first to get the top-of-the-range iPhone 5S, as well as the new 'budget' version, the 5C.

Apple stores in the UK also opened early, at 8am, with estimates of 1,500 people outside one London store.

Staff at many of the shops had worked through the night to prepare for launch.

Devotees of the technology company started queuing at London's Regent Street branch on Monday, with Westminster Council forcing some to take down temporary shelters.

Gad Harari, 17, from north London, told Sky News he had been offered hundreds of pounds for his place at the head of the queue.

Some Apple fans outside a Tokyo store took things even further - reportedly beginning their wait a full 10 days before today's launch.

"I am super happy," said the first customer to buy a 5S at the Tokyo store.

"The first thing I want to do is to try out the finger print recognition function, that is what I looked for the most."

The premium 5S device, said to be twice as fast as its predecessor, sets itself apart from competitors with its Touch ID feature, which allows users to unlock their phone with the touch of a finger.

However, UK phone networks reportedly have very low stock levels of the new handsets, particularly the 5S.

On Twitter, @RealSandyPitt wrote: "iPhone 5S gold-coloured version sold out during the morning at Regent Street in London."

Meanwhile @Gromlus wrote: "Oh wow the iPhone 5S got sold out in two hours here at Arndale in Manchester."

Technology analysts also have reservations about the brightly-coloured plastic 5C model.

Seen as an attempt to gain a bigger foothold in markets such as China, it has been criticised as "nowhere near" cheap enough to gain significant market share in the country.

In the UK, 5S prices start at £549, while the cheaper 5C phone costs from £469. A 64 gigabyte model comes in at a hefty £709.

In comparison, the flagship model from rival HTC costs £484 and Samsung's top-of-the-line Galaxy S4 is around £420.

Apple will be hoping the updated devices give it new momentum in the worldwide smartphone market, which is increasingly dominated by cheaper handsets running the Android operating system - particularly those by market leader Samsung.

Today's launch may also provide a distraction from criticisms of new operating system iOS 7.

Many users reported problems downloading the update when it launched earlier this week and several security flaws have also been exposed.

One flaw allows someone to access photos and videos, even when a iPhone or iPad has been locked. The media can then be deleted or shared.

Another glitch in iOS 7 allows a potential thief to bypass the Find my iPhone feature by putting the device in airplane mode to stop it communicating its location.

Apple is expected to fix the issues in a future update.

The new iPhones go on sale today in the US, Australia, China, Canada, France, Germany, Singapore and UK. Other countries will follow.

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Super Typhoon Usagi: Winds Could Reach 180mph

Communities in southeast Asia have been warned a super typhoon bearing down on the region could potentially be "very destructive".

Usagi, the most powerful cyclone of 2013 so far, could unleash gusts of 180mph, as well as torrential rain and tidal surges, on the Philippines and Taiwan.

A boy clings to rocks in Manila Bay in rough seas brought by Usagi

Thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes and ferry services cancelled, while the Red Cross has begun stockpiling first aid kits and food packs.

In Taiwan, more than 1,600 soldiers have been deployed to areas most at risk of flooding and a further 24,000 remain on standby.

Dark clouds loom over Navotas City in the Philippines as Usagi passes by

A spokesman for the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration warned damage could be "very heavy".

"The situation is potentially very destructive to communities," he said. "All travel and outdoor activities should be cancelled."

A man uses a makeshift raft to paddle through waves in Manila Bay

Usagi, which is more than 1,000km (620 miles) in diameter, was upgraded to a super typhoon as it roared towards the Luzon Strait dividing the Philippines and Taiwan.

The cyclone's northeast quadrant, which usually packs the strongest winds, is expected to clip Taiwan's southern tip as it moves westwards.

Super typhoon Usagi is moving westwards towards the Vietnamese coast

In China, 23,000 fishing boats have already taken shelter in Fujian province, after the country's meteorological authority upgraded its typhoon warning to orange, the second highest level.

The storm is expected to weaken as it moves towards Hong Kong, although officials  warned the weather would "deteriorate significantly, with strengthening winds and rough seas".

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Plane Diverts To Stansted: Pair Arrested

Two men have been arrested after a plane was forced to make an emergency landing at Stansted Airport.

The Sri Lankan Airlines A330 Airbus, which was carrying 267 passengers and crew, was due to land at Heathrow but was diverted to the Essex airport just after 7.30pm on Friday.

Police officers boarded the plane, which had departed from Colombo, and arrested the pair on suspicion of endangering an aircraft.

However, Essex Police said their investigation was a criminal matter rather than a terrorism inquiry.

Both arrested men, aged 49 and 57, are British nationals, the force said.

The 49-year-old is being treated for a medical condition, not an injury, in hospital.

Essex Police added: "The 49-year-old is currently receiving medical treatment in hospital and the other is in custody at Harlow police station.

"They will be interviewed by detectives. The incident is being treated as a criminal investigation."

All of the passengers on board the aircraft left safely and have since travelled to Heathrow by coach.

A spokesman for Stansted confirmed the airport remained open, with all flights arriving and departing as normal.

In May this year, two men were arrested on board a plane from Pakistan carrying 297 passengers that was intercepted and diverted to Stansted by RAF typhoon jets.

Police later said the incident in May was being treated as criminal rather than terrorism-related.

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Taliban's Mullah Baradar Released From Custody

By Neville Lazarus, Sky News Asia Producer

The most senior leader of the Taliban in Afghanistan has been released from custody in Pakistan to help the struggling Afghan peace process.

According to a Sky News source, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who is second to Taliban chief Mullah Omar, will have to remain in the country, although he is free to move around any city.

He will be provided with high security, although the source claimed this is a way for authorities to keep him under watch.

Before his release, preparations had been made for Baradar to be taken to Qatar or Saudi Arabia where he could actively work on the peace process.

But the source said Pakistan objected to such a move because it wants to remain pivotal and influential in any future peace talks between Hamid Karzai's Afghan government, the Taliban and western powers.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has pushed for Mr Baradar's release

Sartaj Aziz, advisor on foreign affairs and national security to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, said: "Handing over the key Taliban commander to Afghanistan will sabotage the purpose behind the decision of releasing him."

Pakistan authorities have resisted immense pressure for his release since his arrest in Karachi in February 2010.

Many believe the arrest was made to stop him negotiating with the Afghan government and cutting Pakistan out of the talks.

His arrest infuriated Mr Karzai, who last month reiterated demands for his release when he travelled to Pakistan for talks with Mr Sharif.

Baradar, 55, was born in the southern province of Uruzgan and fought the Soviet forces in the late 1980s.

He co-founded the Taliban and became a trusted friend of Omar, rising to become his top military strategist.

After the fall of the Taliban, he fled to Pakistan and became the most senior leader in the organisation's Quetta Shura branch after Omar.

He is credited with bringing together all factions of the Taliban under one umbrella and commands great respect and influence in the movement both in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Even before his detention, he had reached out to the Karzai government and steps to begin peace talks had been taken.

Baradar is the first Taliban prisoner released under the mechanism agreed by the two sides at the Chequers summit in the UK earlier this year.

Pakistan has released at least 33 Taliban inmates over the last year at the request of the Afghan government.

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US 'Almost Blew Up Atomic Bomb Over Itself'

The US Air Force almost detonated a huge atomic bomb over North Carolina in 1961, a newly declassified document has revealed.

Two hydrogen bombs were accidentally dropped over the city of Goldsboro just two days after President John F Kennedy's inauguration, when the B-52 plane carrying them broke up in mid-air.

And a report obtained by investigative journalist Eric Schlosser under freedom of information laws showed one of the devices began to detonate - but that a single switch prevented disaster.

Had the switch failed - as the other three safety mechanisms had - millions of lives across Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York City would have been at risk.

The bomb was 260 times more powerful than the one dropped on Hiroshima

US government scientist Parker F Jones' report was published for the first time in The Guardian newspaper, which said the bomb was 260 times more powerful than the one that devastated Hiroshima in 1945.

Mr Jones said in the report: "It would have been bad news in spades.

"The MK 39 Mod 2 bomb did not possess adequate safety for the airborne alert role in the B-52.

"One simple, dynamo-technology, low voltage switch stood between the United States and a major catastrophe."

John F Kennedy's inauguration took place two days before the accident

The accident happened at the height of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union.

While the US government has previously acknowledged the accident, the 1969 document is the first confirmation of how close the country came to nuclear catastrophe on that day.

Mr Schlosser said: "The US government has consistently tried to withhold information from the American people in order to prevent questions being asked about our nuclear weapons policy.

"We were told there was no possibility of these weapons accidentally detonating, yet here's one that very nearly did."

Mr Jones jokingly titled the report Goldsboro Revisited, Or: How I Learned To Mistrust The H-Bomb, a reference to Stanley Kubrick's classic 1964 film about nuclear armageddon, Dr Strangelove Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb.

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Labour Pledge To Tackle 'Cost Of Living Crisis'

Labour leader Ed Miliband has declared he will fight to tackle what he described as Britain's "cost of living crisis", as he set out his party's plans to help struggling households.

Taking to the streets of Brighton on the eve of his party's conference, he said if in power Labour would strengthen the national minimum wage and provide "childcare for parents who need it".

He also confirmed his promise to abolish the "bedroom tax" cut to housing benefit, and pledged an "economy that works for working people".

Mr Miliband addresses the crowd in Brighton

Mr Miliband accused David Cameron's Government of only standing up for the "privileged few", and promised those gathered for his street rally "a government that fights for you".

Addressing the crowd from a small platform, he said it was "wrong that millions of people in our country are going out to work unable to afford to bring up their families".

He attacked the Government for failing to take steps to help people struggling to cope with rising prices.

"Right across the country, from all walks of life, people are facing this cost of living crisis," he said.

"Living standards falling month after month after month. Gas and electric bills, train fares, petrol prices, the weekly food shop and a Prime Minister who refuses to act.

"Why does he refuse to act? He refuses to act because of who he stands for, he stands for just a privileged few at the top."

He went on: "The way a country succeeds is not just with a few at the top it's with what I call the forgotten wealth creators.

"The people who put in the hours, who do the work, who do two jobs, who do the shifts.

"They are the people we should be supporting in this country.

"That's how we tackle the cost of living crisis, that's how we have an economy that works for working people again in our country."

Labour is proposing to give the parents of primary school children guaranteed access to childcare between 8am to 6pm under its plans to help working families.

The initiative, which Labour is expected to say can he be paid for through existing central government funds, is one of several cost of living issues which are to be the focus of its conference.

Other policy pledges include strengthening the minimum wage in specific sectors such as retail and catering, as well as fresh action to crack down on energy bills.

Mr McBride (far left) with Gordon Brown

Mr Miliband has appointed Alan Buckle, deputy chairman at accountants KPMG, to investigate how the role and powers of the Low Pay Commission could be extended to strengthen the minimum wage.

Mr Buckle will consult widely with employers and employee groups on ways to restore the value of the minimum wage so that it catches up with where it was in 2010.

He will also look at which particular sectors can afford to pay more.

Earlier, Mr Miliband, took a stroll along Brighton seafront with his wife Justine and children Daniel and Samuel.

Sky's Sophy Ridge, in Brighton, said: "I think this all does feed into the image that Ed Miliband wants to project of himself - somebody who's a family man, someone who's sticking up for hard-working people and the cost of living - particularly trying to appeal to female voters, who have become really crucial in the next election."

The conference comes as Mr Miliband has been forced to deny any involvement in attempts to smear opponents amid claims that "damaging" emails could have been sent by him to one of the key figures in a plot to attack senior Tories.

The potential link between Mr Miliband and Derek Draper, who was behind a proposed Labour-supporting political gossip website, is among the latest allegations in a memoir from Gordon Brown's former spin doctor.

The drip-feed of claims from Damian McBride threatens to overshadow the Labour Party conference despite Mr Miliband's efforts to seize the initiative by announcing he would scrap the "bedroom tax" if he wins the 2015 General Election.

In the latest extracts from Mr McBride's memoir Power Trip, being serialised in the Daily Mail, the former member of the Brown inner circle suggests Mr Miliband could "have problems" if any emails to Mr Draper became public.

Labour sources denied that Mr Miliband had any involvement in the proposed Red Rag website, which ultimately brought about the downfall of Mr McBride.

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Syria Completes Chemical Weapon List Handover

Syria has completed the handover of its chemical arsenal inventory, the world's chemical weapons watchdog says.

Confirmation of the handover came ahead of the Saturday deadline issued to Syrian president Bashar al Assad's regime in a US-Russian disarmament plan.

The Hague-based Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said in an email: "OPCW has confirmed that it has received the expected disclosure from the Syrian government regarding its chemical weapons programme.

"The Technical Secretariat is currently reviewing the information received."

It came as the chief of staff for Russian President Vladimir Putin said the country could abandon support for the Assad regime if it learnt Syria was not committed to handing over its chemical weapons.

Sergei Ivanov reiterated Russia's longstanding opposition to Western military intervention in Syria, saying such action would only aid militants linked to al Qaeda.

Around 1,400 people were killed in the chemical attack on August 21

"In the event of external military interference the opposition ... would entirely lose interest in negotiations, considering that the US would bomb the regime to its foundations as in Libya, giving them an easy path to victory," he said.

Mr Ivanov made the comments reported by Russian media to a Stockholm conference organised by the British-based International Institute for Strategic Studies.

He said Russia expected to know the whereabouts of all the Assad regime's chemical weapons within a week, although it would take two to three months to decide how long would be required to destroy them.

"I'm talking theoretically and hypothetically, but if we became sure that Assad is cheating, we could change our position," he said.

United Nations inspectors released a report this week saying there was "clear and convincing evidence" that chemical weapons were used in an attack in Damascus on August 21. It said 1,400 people were killed in the attack.

The attack prompted an international diplomatic crisis over Syria, with US airstrikes appearing likely before a plan to prevent military action was put forward by Russia.

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UKIP's Farage: 'Sluts' Remark A Distraction

UKIP leader Nigel Farage has admitted MEP Godfrey Bloom's description of women as "sluts" has distracted from his party conference's key messages.

Mr Bloom's had the party whip removed amid a storm of controversy over comments he made at a fringe event in London designed to promote the advancement of women in politics.

The MEP, who previously claimed taxpayers' money was being wasted on aid sent to "Bongo Bongo Land", attracted fresh publicity when he hit a TV reporter over the head with a UKIP brochure while being questioned about his latest remarks.

It had been suggested Mr Bloom could be kicked out of the party, but Nigel Farage told Sky News that voters appreciated politicians' candour.

Godfrey Bloom had the party whip removed over his comments

"In the main, most Ukip voters like the fact that we are plain spoken, not afraid to say things that other people through political correctness are scared to talk about," he said.

"So our voters like that, but there is a line beyond which we can't go if we start being offensive to people.

"I don't think that people will say that because of the behaviour of one man on one day at a conference, they're not going to vote Ukip.

"But what it did do was distract from our main messages. I do not want to be a party of control freaks, where everyone's hemmed in... but we have to have some limits."

Mr Bloom faced calls for his resignation over his comments. After two female UKIP members joked they did not clean behind the fridge, Mr Bloom admits he quipped: "This place is full of sluts."

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Sentence Due In Bo Xilai Trial In China

By Mark Stone, China Correspondent in Jinang

The verdict in one of China's most publicised and politically sensitive trials in decades is expected in the next few hours.

Shortly after 10am local time (0300GMT), at a court in the city of Jinan, disgraced Communist Party politician Bo Xilai will discover his fate.

The moment should mark the end of a protracted legal and political saga which began with the murder of a British businessman and caused political ripples right to the heart of China's Communist leadership.

The five day trial of Mr Bo, 64, for alleged bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power ended last month at Jinan's Intermediate People's Court.

With unprecedented openness and moments of genuine suspense, it was a Chinese trial like no other before it. It surprised the Chinese public and academics.

Bo Xilai with wife Gu Kailai, who he dismissed as "crazy"

Influential academic Yao Zhongqui told Sky News: "Before the trial started, we thought it would be like all those before it; just procedural, because that's how China's judicial system works.

"So after the trial started, everybody was surprised. All the court records seemed to be released, we could see the defendant performing and defending himself; all of it was surprising.

"It didn't look like a Chinese court case," added Mr Yao, who runs the Beijing-based Unirule Institute of Economics.

Through televised highlights and minute-by-minute microblog updates from the court, the Chinese public was able to follow Mr Bo's robust self-defence and disdainful cross-examination of witnesses. 

Performing with the charisma and trademark flair which has set him apart in Chinese politics, he laughed-off the central accusation against him that he had illegally obtained 26.8 million yuan (£2.73m).

He said money did not interest him, claiming, rather unusually, that even his underwear was 50-years-old.

In one of the most dramatic moments of the trial, Mr Bo dismissed the two star witnesses against him - his wife, and his former chief of police - as "crazy" and a "liar" respectively.

The sensational trial grabbed the attention of China's media

In reference to some of the bribery allegations, he complained that "not even the worst TV script writers could come up with such plots".

At times though, the trial itself resembled a soap opera, with Mr Bo revealing a complicated love triangle between himself, his wife Gu Kailai, and Wang Lijun, his former police chief.

The prosecution produced documentary and anecdotal evidence which it claimed showed the Bo family to be extremely wealthy with bulging bank accounts, access to private jets and a villa near Cannes in France.

Stories emerged in court regarding the antics of Bo Guagua, the son of Bo and Gu Kailai.

The young Bo, who studied at Harrow, Oxford and Harvard had, according to the prosecution, jetted across Europe and Africa and been allowed to enjoy a playboy lifestyle which went against all Communist Party principles.

Mr Bo's supporters protested his innocence outside court during his trial

Many of the trips and other financial deals were, the prosecution claimed, the result of Bo Xilai's corrupt dealings with businessmen.

Mr Bo had, it is claimed, abused his various positions of power over decades. He had instigated corrupt deals with numerous business associates with whom his relationship should never have been financial.

For almost two decades, from 1985, Bo Xilai had climbed up the Communist Party ladder from mayor of the north-eastern port city of Dalian, to governor of Liaoning Province.

He served as the Chinese government's Commerce Minister and wowed many foreign counterparts with his relaxed domineer, modern and apparently capitalist outlook and his political drive.

At one point, it was almost certain he would be chosen as one of the seven men on the Standing Committee of the Politburo who run the country.

However, his career came to a spectacular halt four and a half years after he became Communist Party Secretary in the central Chinese city of Chongqing.

Bo Guagua, son of Bo Xilai, was accused of enjoying a 'playboy' lifestyle

The fall from grace was swift and almost inevitable after his wife was accused of the murder of a friend and business associate of the Bo family, a Briton called Neil Heywood.

In a dramatic sequence of events over the winter of 2011-2012, the conspiracy began to unravel.

Mr Bo's chief of police in Chongqing, Wang Lijun, left his post and fled to a US consulate. Mr Wang asked for political asylum and told the Americans that Bo's wife had poisoned Mr Heywood.

His asylum request was rejected but the lurid claim could not be ignored. The fact Mr Wang had chosen to tell the Americans and not his own superiors was an acute embarrassment for the Communist Party. Within months, Wang and Gu were tried, convicted and jailed.

The Chinese government is presenting Mr Bo's trial as the downfall of a corrupt crook.

However, it is widely seen as being far more a political purge of a man who posed a threat to the current leadership of President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang.

With his charisma, leftist politics and revival of Maoist ideals, Bo Xilai appealed to a significant section of Chinese society.

Yao Zhongqui explained: "Bo Xilai has a large influence among the public. A trial that was clearly unfair would probably have been counterproductive. It would only increase Bo Xilai's popularity." 

"However, a fair trial is more likely to make Mr Bo's supporters accept the result. I think this is an important reason for the openness of the trial." he said.

In removing Bo Xilai, the Chinese leadership has conveniently achieved several goals: they have shown themselves to be tough on corruption, they have proved that 'open' justice is possible in China, and they have removed a rival.

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Shopping Mall Shooting: Death Toll Rises To 30

At least 30 people have reportedly been killed and 60 wounded in a suspected terrorist attack on a shopping mall in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.

Gunmen opened fire and detonated grenades inside the Westgate centre, a mall popular with expatriates.

Police chief Benson Kibue described the incident as a terrorist attack, telling the AP news agency up to 10 men exchanged gunfire with police.

A spokesman for Kenya's Ministry of Interior added: "It is a possibility that it is an attack by terrorists, so we are treating the matter very seriously."

An injured woman is carried to an ambulance inside a shopping trolley

At least 30 people were killed in attack, according to a Kenyan Red Cross official who spoke to AP.

Police sources said they had wounded and detained one of the suspects and hoped that the situation "would soon be under control". 

Suspects had been "pinned down", a security source added.

Hundreds of shoppers were caught up in the attack

Earlier, Abbas Guled, a spokesman for the charity, said: "The casualties are many and that's only what we have on the outside. Inside there are even more casualties and shooting is still going on."

Staff at a supermarket and a jewellery store were among a number of people taken hostage by the attackers, according to Nairobi-based journalist Abdi Osman Adan.

He told Sky News witnesses reported seeing the attackers "firing at any police officers who tried to approach the building".

An injured woman is helped to safety

Security forces were still trying to rescue those trapped inside the mall hours after the start of the siege, going from shop to shop to evacuate shoppers and staff.

Graphic photographs taken at the scene showed people with serious injuries being treated at a makeshift hospital inside a food court.

Other images showed injured people being carried out of the mall in shopping trolleys, as well as upturned tables and chairs from where people had fled the shooting.

Shoppers flee the centre which is situated in an affluent area of Nairobi

Elijah Kamua, who witnessed the attack, said the gunmen asked Muslims to stand up and leave and that non-Muslims would be targeted.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, although the Somali militant group al Shabaab had previously threatened to attack the mall.

Satpal Singh, who was in a cafe when the attackers struck, said he ran downstairs and was shot near the main exit of the mall.

The shooting happened in Kenya's capital city Nairobi

"A Somali guy shot at me," he said. "He was carrying a rifle, an AK-47."

The US State Department has reported that American citizens have been injured in the attack.

A witness, who gave only his first name, Jay, added: "They were not speaking Swahili. They spoke something that seemed like Arabic or Somali."

An armed security officer searchs the centre for the gunmen

In a message posted on Twitter, Kenya Police urged the public "to remain calm" and not to speculate about the attack.

"We urge you to stay away (from the mall)," they added.

Westgate is situated in western Nairobi and is popular with both foreigners and rich Kenyans.

According to the centre's website, it is the city's "premier shopping mall" and offers a "serene and safe enviornment away from the city centre hubbub".

It has more than 80 stores and features a waterfall with tropical gardens.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Twitter that he was: "in close touch with Kenyan authorities about the attack in Nairobi, our urgent priority is the welfare of UK nationals."

A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: "We are looking into whether any British nationals have been caught up in the incident and are ready to provide consular assistance.

"We are advising British nationals to avoid the area."

More follows...

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