Cameron: EU Deal 'Just Not Good Enough'

What Now For EU Budget?

Updated: 10:16pm UK, Friday 23 November 2012

By Adam Boulton, Political Editor

The 27 EU member states did not agree a budget for the next seven years at the summit in Brussels. But David Cameron will be able to go home and tell Eurosceptic conservative backbenchers "so far, so good".

In his own words the Prime Minister "successfully defended" Britain's contributions rebate and rejected a deal which "was just not good enough".

Mr Cameron also insisted that Britain had not been isolated but was joined in its demands for lower spending by other big net contributors including Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway and Holland.

This Nordic European grouping also claims the support of the key deal-maker and biggest funder, Germany. But in her public comments Chancellor Angela Merkel was more circumspect, merely noting, as she had since arriving in Belgium, that the gap between the want-mores and the want-lesses was too big to bridge at this meeting.

She and the hapless Herman Van Rompuy, who has the thankless task of chairing these negotiations, have the same message - it is more important to get it right than to rush for a deal.

Mr Van Rompuy now has "weeks" to try to find an agreement. When EU leaders come back to the budget early next year (having put the matter to one side at the next summit in December) they will be on deadline.

If an agreement is not reached then, funding will be rolled over on an annualised basis - bad news for Britain because budgets will automatically increase, and worse news for countries such as Denmark and Holland who have not yet secured their rebates.

So doesn't that mean that all the countries who want more have to do is sit it out? Not quite. Of the 27 member states nine countries are net contributors, including all the Nordic holdouts, and around 15 are significant recipients. Ultimately all the winners are vulnerable, especially if Germany joins in so much as threatening to turn off the tap.

The leaders calling for further cuts all make the same argument - they are imposing austerity at home and it is not acceptable to their voters that the European slice of their budgets simply should be exempted from a squeeze.

The Council President, Mr Van Rompuy, and Jose Barosso his counterpart at the EU Commission probably made a mistake in refusing to table any cuts in the administration budget - pay and perks for bureaucrats. Mr Cameron contrasted this with the "difficult decisions" being imposed on the UK civil service and insisted that the EU could not live "in a parallel world".

But ultimately these are points of principle rather than matters of real significance to national budgets. The UK's government spending now runs to about one trillion euros a year - the EU is arguing about one trillion euros over seven years divided between 27 nations. Of that the "administration" budget is just 6%. Which means that when Mr Cameron talks about saving a billion euros by, for example, stopping automatic promotion of civil servants, he really is talking about a drop in a bucket.

This is perhaps why the economics professor who now is Prime Minister of Italy, Mario Monti, accused Mr Cameron of being an irrational "demagogue". Italy is now in an alliance with France supporting the claims of those who want a bigger budget in the interests of "solidarity". Both Italy and France are net contributors to the EU overall but they are also big recipients of the Common Agricultural Policy, which accounts for some 40% of EU spending.

Perhaps the most significant thing that happened at this summit was that there was no Franco-German axis. Chancellor Merkel and President Francois Hollande took opposing positions.

What's more Germany now seems concerned not to isolate the UK, because of fears that another confrontation could move Britain out of the Union altogether - ceding much greater influence inside to socialist-led France and its Mediterranean allies.

As the European Union scrambles to find a deal Germany, Britain and their North European allies would seem to have the stronger hand - following the time-honoured principle of who pays, plays - provided that their alliance holds together.

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Protests Spread Through Egypt's Cities

Opponents of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi have continued their protest in Cairo's Tahrir Square overnight over fears of a new dictatorship.

Activists are angered by the President's decision to grant himself near-absolute power, but Mr Morsi says the powers will allow him to deal with "threats to the revolution".

Hundreds of people have joined the sit-in protest in Tahrir Square, the scene of the violent clashes during the overthrow of the former president, Hosni Mubarak.

It comes after violent clashes broke out in cities across Egypt.

Protesters storm the Muslim Brotherhood's headquarters in Alexandria.

In Alexandria, Egypt's second largest city, protesters stormed the headquarters of Mr Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood party throwing chairs and books into the street and setting them on fire.

The Daily News Egypt reported injuries in cities across the country as violent clashes broke out between protesters and Mr Morsi's supporters, who according to reports on Twitter, were being bussed in to counter the dissenters.

Hundreds gathered outside the Muslim Brotherhood's offices in Port Said, pelting it with stones and attempting to storm the building.

There were reports the Muslim Brotherhood's offices in Suez and Ismailiya had also been set on fire.

Mr Morsi addressed his supporters at a rally outside the presidential palace telling them he would press forward and that he was on the path to "freedom and democracy".

Supporters and opponents of the president clash in Alexandria.

He said: "No one can stop our march forward ... I am performing my duty to please God and the nation and I take decisions after I consult with everyone." 

He said that the new powers were designed to stop "weevils" from the former Mubarak regime blocking progress. 

Under the new powers assumed by Mr Morsi, none of his laws or decrees can be cancelled, powers have been removed from the judiciary and he can take any measures necessary to safeguard national security.

The move has come as a blow to the pro-democracy movement that formed before Mubarak was ousted and they raise questions about the gains made in last year's uprising.

Opposition forces have denounced the declaration as a "coup". 

Mohamed ElBaradei (centre) says the powers are a blow to the revolution

They accused Mr Morsi, an Islamist, of "monopolising all three branches of government" and of overseeing "the total execution of the independence of the judiciary".

The United Nations Human Rights Commissioner, Navi Pillay, said that Mr Morsi's move raised serious issues.

Her spokesman, Robert Colville, told a news briefing at the UN in Geneva: "We are very concerned about the possible huge ramifications of this declaration on human rights and the rule of law in Egypt."

The EU has also issued a warning. "It is of utmost importance that democratic process be completed in accordance with the commitments undertaken by the Egyptian leadership," a spokesman for EU foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, said in a statement.

Nobel laureate and former UN atomic energy agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei had earlier lashed out at the declaration, which would effectively put the president above judicial oversight.

"Morsi usurped all state powers and appointed himself Egypt's new pharaoh. A major blow to the revolution that could have dire consequences," Mr ElBaradei wrote on his Twitter account.

The head of the influential Judge's Club, Ahmed al Zind, told a news conference that the judges would hold an emergency meeting on Saturday to decide on their next step, promising "actions, not words".

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Camacho's Life Support To End, Says Mother

Boxer Hector "Macho" Camacho will be taken off life support his mother has said after the family wrestled with the decision for days.

Camacho was declared clinically brain dead from a shooting on Tuesday in his hometown of Bayamon in Puerto Rico.

Mother Maria Matias indicated she would have doctors disconnect the machine today - but only after three of his sons arrived in Puerto Rico and had a chance to see him a last time.

"I lost my son three days ago. He's alive only because of a machine. My son is not alive. My son is only alive for the people who love him," Ms Matias said.

The former champion's mother has the final say in the matter, but his eldest son, Hector Jr, said he wants to keep his father alive.

"He's going to fight until the end. My father is a boxer," he said.

Camacho grew up mostly in Harlem and was known as the Harlem Heckler

As some relatives and friends continued to pray for a miracle, condolences kept coming in for Camacho's family and preparations began for memorials and a funeral Mass.

Governor Luis Fortuno said: "Macho' will always be remembered for his spontaneity and charisma in and out of the ring."

Governor-elect Alejandro Garcia Padilla said: "The life of Macho Camacho, like other great athletes of ours, united the country. We celebrated his triumphs in the streets and we applauded him with noble sportsmanship when he didn't prevail."

Camacho was shot as he sat in a car with a friend, 49-year-old Adrian Mojica Moreno, who was killed in the attack.

Police spokesman Alex Diaz said officers found nine small bags of cocaine in the friend's pocket and a 10th bag open inside the car.

He won super lightweight, lightweight and junior welterweight world titles

Police reported no arrests and said investigators continued to interview potential witnesses.

Captain Rafael Rosa told reporters on Friday that they are tracking down several leads, but added that very few witnesses were cooperating. He declined to say whether police had identified any suspects.

Hector Camacho Jr lamented the violence that grips Puerto Rico, a US island territory of nearly four million people that reported a record 1,117 murders last year.

"Death, jail, drugs, killings," he said. "That's what the streets are now."

Camacho's sisters have said they would like to fly his body to New York and bury him there.

Camacho battled drug and alcohol problems throughout his life

Camacho grew up mostly in Harlem, earning the nickname the "Harlem Heckler".

He won super lightweight, lightweight and junior welterweight world titles in the 1980s.

Camacho battled drug, alcohol and other problems throughout his life. He was sentenced in 2007 to seven years in prison on burglary charges, but a judge eventually suspended all but one year of the sentence and gave Camacho probation.

He wound up serving two weeks in jail, though, after violating that probation. A wife also filed domestic abuse complaints against him twice before their divorce.

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Egypt's President Faces 'New Pharaoh' Jibe

Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi has assumed sweeping new powers, drawing criticism that he is seeking to become a "new pharaoh".

The new powers are a blow to the pro-democracy movement that ousted Hosni Mubarak and they raise questions about the gains made in last year's uprising.

Opposition forces denounced the declaration as a "coup" and called for nationwide protests on Friday.

"The president can issue any decision or measure to protect the revolution," according to a decree read out on television by presidential spokesman Yasser Ali.

"The constitutional declarations, decisions and laws issued by the president are final and not subject to appeal."

"This is a coup against legitimacy... We are calling on all Egyptians to protest in all of Egypt's squares on Friday," said Sameh Ashour, head of the Lawyers syndicate.

Mohamed ElBaradei (centre) says the powers are a blow to the revolution

They accused Mr Morsi, an Islamist, of "monopolising all three branches of government" and of overseeing "the total execution of the independence of the judiciary".

Nobel laureate and former UN atomic energy agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei had earlier lashed out at the declaration, which would effectively put the president above judicial oversight.

"Morsi today usurped all state powers and appointed himself Egypt's new pharaoh. A major blow to the revolution that could have dire consequences," Mr ElBaradei wrote on his Twitter account.

The head of the influential Judge's Club, Ahmed al-Zind, told a press conference that the judges would hold an emergency meeting on Saturday to decide on their next step, promising "actions, not words".

Mr Morsi also sacked prosecutor general Abdel Meguid Mahmud, whom he failed to oust last month amid strong misgivings among the president's supporters about the failure to secure convictions of more members of the old regime.

He appointed Talaat Ibrahim Abdallah to replace Mr Mahmud and, within minutes of the announcement, the new prosecutor was shown on television being sworn in.

Mr Abdullah later issued a brief statement on state television, pledging to "work day and night to achieve the goals of the revolution".

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Two Dead After 100-Car Pile-Up In Texas

Two people died and up to 100 were hurt when at least 100 vehicles collided on a Texas highway in dense fog.

The Thanksgiving holiday morning crash left trucks twisted on top of each other and authorities rushing to pull survivors from the wreckage.

Twelve of those injured were in a critical condition, officials said.

Firefighters used cutting equipment to free some drivers. Photo: KBMT12

The pile-up happened on the on Interstate 10 about 80 miles (128km) east of Houston.

"It is catastrophic," said Jefferson County Sheriff's Office Deputy Rod Carroll. "I've got cars on top of cars."

It wasn't immediately clear how the pile-up began, but Mr Carroll said the fog was so thick that officers didn't immediately realise they were dealing with multiple accidents.

The pile-up came on the busiest travel day of the year. Photo: KBMT12

I-10's eastbound lanes were expected to remain closed for most of Thursday.

Texas Department of Public Safety trooper Stephanie Davis told KFDM that two people in an SUV died after the crash. She said at least 100 cars and trucks were involved in the accident.

Mr Carroll said uninjured drivers tried to help as authorities sorted through the wreckage.

"It's just people helping people," Mr Carroll said. "The foremost thing in this holiday season is how other travellers were helping us when we were overwhelmed, sitting and holding, putting pressure on people that were injured."

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EU Budget: Leaders Say Deal Is Unlikely

EU leaders could fail to reach a deal on Europe's budget as they enter a second day of negotiations.

France and Germany's leaders are already saying a deal is unlikely after a crucial budget summit in Brussels.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters: "I believe that the positions are still very far apart.

"We'll meet again at noon and then our president will know what still preoccupies us.

"I think that … we will advance a little, but doubt that we will achieve a result."

French President Francois Hollande also said that some countries needed to "contribute more".

Prime Minister David Cameron has demanded billions in pay and pension cuts from the EU's civil service and presented EU heads with a paper setting out how Brussels could slash at least 6bn euro (£4.8bn) off its staff costs.

His measures include upping retirement ages, lowering pensions and trimming lavish salaries.

But Downing Street also said after the first day that there was "a long way to go" before EU leaders could agree a long-term budget.

Sky's political editor Adam Boulton, who is in Brussels, said that the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, came up with fresh proposals on Thursday night and sent leaders away to deliberate before reconvening this afternoon.

He added: "Angela Merkel, who is the biggest contributor to the budget, is already saying that she doesn't think that there will be final agreement reached here.

"Europe on these negotiations likes to go down to the deadline and this is not quite the deadline moment."

He added that Mr Van Rompuy appears to be "resisting the pressure" from nations that want to see more money spent by the EU.

"He's sticking by his headline total of below a trillion euros and that is good news for David Cameron," he added.

A pre-summit compromise is already on offer - a seven-year budget "envelope" of 973bn euro (£785bn) for 2014/2020, a cut of nearly 5bn euro (£3.8bn) compared with the 2007/2013 ceiling.

The move was seen in Downing Street as being in the right direction - although the "cut" is in a spending ceiling which officials say has not been reached.

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Man Arrested Over New York Shopkeeper Slayings

Police in New York have arrested a low-end clothing dealer they suspect in the murders of three city shopkeepers of Middle Eastern descent.

New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly says 63-year-old Staten Island resident Salvatore Perrone was arrested on Wednesday on murder charges in the Brooklyn shooting deaths.

Police said Perrone had tried to sell clothing to the shopkeepers.

Police recovered a bag containing a sawn-off rifle believed to have been used in the killings. Officers said the balding Perrone appeared on surveillance footage carrying the bag moments after the most recent shooting last Friday.

The other killings happened in July and August. All three shopkeepers were alone in stores that had no video cameras.

It is unclear if Perrone has obtained a lawyer.

The most recent killing claimed Rahmatollah Vahidipour, a Jewish man from Iran. He was shot three times in the head and chest at his She She Boutique.

After the latest killing, detectives matched the spent .22 calibre cases to the fatal shootings of two other shopkeepers.

On July 6, Mohamed Gebeli, 65, a Muslim Egyptian immigrant was found shot in the back of his shop, Valentino Fashion Inc.

On August 6, Isaac Kadare, 59, also Egyptian but Jewish, was shot in the head in his store, Amazing 99 Cent Deal.

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Suicide Bomber Kills 23 Near Pakistan Capital

A suicide bomber has killed at least 23 people in an attack on a Shi'ite Muslim procession in Pakistan.

Police say they tried to stop and search the attacker as he attempted to join the march in Rawalpindi, near Islamabad, but he ran past them and detonated the explosives.

The bomber was also carrying grenades, some of which exploded.

At least 62 people were wounded in the attack, at midnight, including six police officers.

Earlier on Wednesday two bombs went off within minutes outside a Shi'ite mosque in the southern city of Karachi, killing at least one person and wounding several others.

The Pakistani Taliban has said it was responsible for both attacks.

"We carried out the attacks in Rawalpindi and Karachi because the Shi'ite community is engaged in defiling the Prophet," spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said.

The bombings came as Shi'ites observe the holy month of Muharram.

On Saturday, they will observe the holiest day of the month, Ashoura.

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Gaza: Israel And Hamas Ceasefire Holding

Egypt Holds Key For Peace Process

Updated: 11:31pm UK, Wednesday 21 November 2012

By Sam Kiley, Middle East Correspondent

The cycle of violence that has gripped the Israelis and the Palestinians for more than 60 years is often bloody, horrific and for many in the outside world, interminably boring.

A common reaction is to say "a plague on both their houses".

That would be fine, but people - living, loving, breathing, laughing people with children - live in those houses.

If a basic humanity was not enough to prompt interest and efforts to end the violent illness caused by occupation, terror and religious hatred, a more compelling case can be made for seeing peace on the Gaza Strip.

If Israel's ground invasion had gone ahead, as many in Benyamin Netanyahu's Cabinet and the Israeli Knesset had argued it should, the foundations of regional peace risked being shaken loose.

This is a new danger.

It follows the uprisings in the Islamic world that swept Mohammed Morsi to power in Egypt and have threatened the throne in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

Both countries have peace treaties with Israel.

Both are heavily influenced by the Muslim Brotherhood, which in Egypt controls the presidency and which in Jordan has called for the abdication of Abdullah II and fomented street protests against his rule.

Hamas to a great extent is a "child" of the Brotherhood.

This gave Egypt's new president, a member of the Brotherhood, enormous influence over Hamas.

His predecessor, Hosni Mubarak, was seen as little more than an American puppet.

America is seen on the Arab street as part of a Zionist conspiracy in which Israel's interests come above all others – especially when it comes to the Palestinians.

Mubarak treated the Palestinians with something approaching contempt.

Hamas' links to the Muslim Brotherhood lumped them into an opposition movement he wanted to jail not empathise with.

The influence that Morsi has over Hamas has meant that he had to be taken seriously as the chief negotiating partner in ending the latest bout of violence - especially by Israel.

That he was sympathetic to the Hamas cause, and will hold Israel to its commitments, helped Hamas to climb down from a defiant militarism which, if the Israeli invasion had gone ahead, could have been suicidal.

Egypt's new leadership has emerged as a maturing force in the region.

There may now be great hopes that Egypt will be able to reinvigorate the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

After all, if it doesn't then the cycle of violence will return.

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Australia: Cops Seize £154m Worth Of Drugs

A cocaine and methamphetamine haul worth £154m has been seized by police in Australia following a sting operation.

The drugs, which were shipped from China in a consignment of heavy machinery, were discovered after a "complex and protracted" two-year investigation.

Police said they conducted a series of raids on five locations in Sydney over the weekend and recovered 235kg of methamphetamine and 115kg of cocaine stashed in a steam roller.

Two men, a 33-year-old American and a Canadian aged 34, were arrested.

The drugs were found stashed in a steam roller

"At one location police recovered the road roller as well as 13 sports bags inside it," said Australian federal police assistant commissioner David Sharpe.

"In the bags we recovered 350kg of controlled substances."

The Canadian was remanded in custody when he appeared in court yesterday charged with a range of offences related to the importation of drugs.

The American suspect is due in court later today on similar charges.

"We will allege that these are two significant figures in the syndicate and our inquiries are continuing in China, Canada as well as our investigations continuing in Australia," Mr Sharpe added.

"But let me tell you, these are significant players in an international crime syndicate that has targeted Australia."

The bust was the second major success for Australian police in a week.

They seized more than 200kg of cocaine from a yacht that washed up on a deserted island in the South Pacific with a badly decomposed body on board.

That case involved police in Tonga, the Cook Islands, Australia and the US Drug Enforcement Administration.

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Gaza: Ceasefire Delayed As Shelling Continues

A ceasefire between the Israelis and the Palestinians in Gaza has been delayed – but a diplomatic push is under way to try to stop the fighting.

Last night Hamas official Ayman Taha said that an Egyptian-brokered truce had been finalised and would take effect from 10pm.

But a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the announcement was premature.

The United States has now stepped in, with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meeting Mr Netanyahu in Jerusalem.

A rocket fired from Gaza hit an apartment building near Tel Aviv

Mrs Clinton has vowed to work on a truce between the two sides.

She said: "In the days ahead the United States will work with our partners here in Israel and across the region toward an outcome that bolsters security for the people of Israel, improves conditions for the people of Gaza and moves toward a comprehensive peace for all people of the region."

Israel intensified its bombardment of Gaza on Tuesday night, with airstrikes just 10 minutes apart.

Artillery shells and missiles were also fired from gunboats.

Parachute flares illuminate the Gaza Strip for an artillery barrage

One Israeli airstrike hit the seventh floor of a media building in Gaza City.

The Israel Defence Forces tweeted a warning to all foreign journalists operating in Gaza to stay away from Hamas militants just minutes later.

Some 138 rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel. The Iron Dome system intercepted 53 rockets which were headed for built-up areas, however 14 got through.

One hit an apartment building in the town of Rishon Letsion near Tel Aviv. Six people were injured in the attack.

A spokesman for Mr Netanyahu said the ceasefire announcement was premature

Rockets were also aimed at Jerusalem, where residents took to underground bomb shelters. However, none fell on the city.

Israel launched the offensive one week ago in an attempt to end months of rocket attacks out of the Hamas-run territory, which lies on Israel's southern flank.

After assassinating Hamas' military chief, it has carried out a campaign of airstrikes, targeting rocket launchers, storage sites and wanted militants.

The campaign has killed more than 130 Palestinians, including 20 on Tuesday, and wounded hundreds of others.

Five Israelis have been killed by rocket fire, including a soldier and a civilian contractor.

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Mumbai Terrorist Mohammed Kasab Is Executed

The sole surviving Mumbai terrorist attacker has been executed after the Indian president rejected his mercy plea.

Mohammed Kasab was one of 10 gunmen who laid siege to the city in 2008.

The attacks lasted nearly three days and killed 166 people.

He was sentenced to death in May 2010 after he was found guilty of a string of charges.

These included waging war against India, murder and terrorist acts.

Pakistan-born Kasab was hanged on Wednesday at Yerwada prison in Pune, hours after India's president Pranab Mukherjee turned down a last-ditch mercy plea.

"This is a tribute to all innocent people and police officers who lost their lives in this heinous attack on our nation," said R.R. Patil, the home minister for the state of Maharashtra, where Mumbai is located.

It was the first time a capital sentence had been carried out in India since 2004.

India accuses Pakistan-based militants of organising the attacks, saying Islamabad is failing to act against those behind the raids.

Pakistan denies involvement and says it is prosecuting seven suspected militants for their role.

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Oz Collar Bomb Attacker Jailed For 10 Years

An investment banker who attached a fake bomb around the neck of a schoolgirl in a bid to extort money from her wealthy family has been jailed for at least 10 years.

Paul Peters, 52, who was arrested and extradited from the United States in September last year with the help of the FBI, pleaded guilty to aggravated breaking and entering, and detaining the teenager for advantage.

The father-of-three broke into the Pulver family home in Sydney, Australia, in August 2011 and strapped a device to 18-year-old Madeleine's neck. Attached was a note claiming it was a bomb.

A Sydney court heard he was suffering psychiatric problems after his marriage broke down and he lost custody of his children, with the judge saying he appeared to think he was an "avenging character" in a novel he was writing.

Police, bomb squad and other emergency services descended on the scene and Pulver endured a horrifying 10-hour ordeal with experts working into the night to remove the device, only later establishing it was an elaborate hoax.

Pulver was in court to watch Judge Peter Zahra jail Peters for a maximum 13-and-a-half years. She said she was "pleased with today's outcome and that I can now look to a future without Paul Peters' name linked to mine".

"I realise it is going to take quite some time to come to terms with what happened, but today was important because now the legal process is over," she told reporters outside court.

Madeleine Pulver now suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder

"For me it was never about the sentencing but to know that he will not re-offend, and it was good to hear the judge acknowledge the trauma that he has put my family and me through."

Zahra, who said Peters would be eligible for parole in 10 years, described his bizarre crime as "heinous" and a "deliberate act of extortion" which had terrified Pulver, now aged 19, who was home alone studying for exams.

"The offender entered a house armed and disguised. He found the young girl on her own and vulnerable," Zahra said.

"At the time of placing the device he had prepared around the neck of the victim he would have appreciated the enormity of what he was doing and the terrible effect and consequence of his conduct upon the victim," he added.

Zahra said Peters "would have been aware that after he left the victim she would have experienced considerable trauma before it was determined that the device did not contain explosives".

"The terror instilled can only be described as unimaginable," he added.

Zahra said Pulver had been in fear of her life for a "substantial period" and now struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression.

Prosecutors had described the case as an act of "urban terrorism" fuelled by financial greed.

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UN Chief In Cairo To Push For Gaza Truce

UN secretary general Ban Ki-Moon has arrived in Cairo where he will attempt to broker a ceasefire to end the Gaza-Israel conflict.

Both sides continued to trade blows across the border overnight, and thick smoke was seen rising from Gaza just after dawn.

Mr Ban will meet Egypt's influential president Mohamed Morsi and Arab League chief Nabil al Arabi to discuss a potential truce.

Egyptian officials have already held talks with an Israeli envoy and the Hamas leader-in-exile, Khaled Mashaal.

Mr Ban will also meet Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas this week.

The White House has confirmed that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would meet key officials in Jerusalem, Ramallah and Cairo.

Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama, the EU and the Russia have all appealed for the two sides to end the conflict.

Israeli strikes killed 32 Palestinians on Monday, taking the Gaza death toll to 111.

As the violence raged for a sixth day, an Israeli missile killed a senior Islamic Jihad militant in a Gaza City tower housing Palestinian and international media, the second time in as many days it had been hit.

The Israeli army said 42 rockets had struck Israel and another 19 had been intercepted by the Iron Dome defence system.

Mr Mashaal said his movement was committed to efforts to secure a truce, but insisted that Israel must lift its six-year blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Many Gaza families have fled their homes, some seeking haven in the south which has seen fewer strikes.

"My son Mohammed refuses to eat. He follows me everywhere because he's so scared and asks me every 10 minutes when we're going to die," said Umm Jihad, 37.

Monday also saw mourners flock to the funeral of nine members of one family who were killed in a weekend strike on their house in Gaza City. The bodies of the five children were pictured being carried through the streets wrapped in flags.

The violence comes ahead of the Israeli general election on January 22.

Ministers in Benjamin Netanyahu's inner circle - the Forum of Nine - were reportedly in talks over whether to agree to a ceasefire or expand the air campaign into a wider ground operation.

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Pakistan Blasphemy Case Is Quashed By Court

A Pakistan court has thrown out all charges against a Christian girl accused of blasphemy.

Rimsha Masih, 14, spent three weeks on remand in an adult prison after she was arrested in August for allegedly burning pages from the Koran.

She was released on bail in September and police have since told the courts she was not guilty and that a cleric who allegedly framed her should face trial instead.

Paul Bhatti, the only Christian member of Pakistan's federal cabinet, confirmed the case had been thrown out by the high court in the capital Islamabad.

"I welcome this order. Justice has been done and the law of the land has been upheld by the court," he said.

"It will send out a positive image of Pakistan in the international community that there is justice for all and that society has risen up for justice and tolerance."

Rimsha's lawyer Akmal Bhatti said: "The court has quashed the case, declaring Rimsha innocent."

An official medical report classified Rimsha as "uneducated" with a mental age younger than her years. Some reports have also claimed that she has Down's Syndrome.

Under Pakistan's strict blasphemy laws, burning a sacred text is punishable with life imprisonment.

Blasphemy is a very sensitive subject in Pakistan, where 97% of the 180 million population are Muslims and allegations of insulting Islam or the prophet Mohammed often prompt a furious public reaction.

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DR Congo Rebel Advance Poses 'Real Threat'

Rebel fighters in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have advanced to the outskirts of the city of Goma after pushing back UN peacekeepers and government troops.

Foreign Secretary William Hague urged British nationals to flee the eastern city after four days of fierce fighting.

The rebels have advanced closer than at any time in their eight-month uprising to Goma - the provincial capital of North Kivu, which is a centre for aid operations in the region.

The 23 March Movement (M23) rebels are said to be within two kilometres of the city and have closed in on Goma's airport.

An M23 spokesman was reported to have said his forces were ready to seize the city, which has a population of one million, if they came under attack from government troops.

According to unconfirmed sources, members of the Congolese army and local officials have already started to flee the city. However, a spokesman for the Congolese army denied the claims.

In New York, UN peacekeeping spokesman Kieran Dwyer said UN forces were supporting the Congolese army by firing artillery and rockets at the rebels.

UN peacekeeping troops have a mandate to protect Congolese civilians

"The situation in Goma is extremely tense," he said. "There is a real threat that the city could fall into the M23's hands."

The UN has about 6,700 troops in Nord Kivu province. About 1,500 of them are in Goma, where some 625 UN staff have been moved into special protection centres.

The UN Security Council called for an immediate end to hostilities and UN leader Ban Ki-moon said UN troops would remain in Goma and "continue all efforts to robustly implement its mandate to the fullest of its capabilities with regard to the protection of civilians".

More than 150 rebels and two soldiers have been killed since fighting intensified on Thursday - the most serious since July, when UN helicopters last went into action against the M23.

Mr Hague expressed "deep concern" at the worsening violence in the country and called on rebel forces to engage in talks to avoid further killings.

The fighting has left thousands of people displaced

"I call for a cessation of hostilities and for all parties to engage to resolve this crisis without further bloodshed," he said in a statement, adding: "Any British nationals in Goma should leave."

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said in a statement: "I call on the M23 to immediately stop the military offensive against the city of Goma. Any support to the M23 in violation of the sanctions regime and the arms embargo must stop."

She also expressed the EU's concern for civilians caught up in the fighting, calling on all sides to give unrestricted access to aid workers.

The M23 rebels are ethnic Tutsi former soldiers who mutinied in April after the failure of a 2009 peace deal that integrated them into the regular army.

UN experts have said Rwanda and Uganda back the rebel group, a charge fiercely denied by both countries.

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Ban Ki-moon Calls For Ceasefire In Gaza

Gaza: The Moment Media Buildings Were Hit

Updated: 9:37pm UK, Sunday 18 November 2012

By Sam Kiley, Middle East Correspondent, in Gaza City

An orange flash lingered, windows bulged pregnant, and burst – the bang came last.

It's odd the things you notice in the blink of an eye.

We had chosen to sleep on the floor in a small room in the Sky studios in downtown Gaza City for our own safety.

The previous two nights had been interrupted every few minutes with the cataclysmic detonations of air strikes near the hotel we had picked in the north of the city.

Hamas has rocket firing points not far from the hotel, a training ground, and the home of Ismail Haniye, the Hamas Prime Minister were about 500 years away.

One can only take so a few nights of the "waterbed effect" – when the shock waves of a nearby blasts seem to liquefy the mattress and its occupant flows onto the floor.

More fools us.

Mick Deane, Sky's veteran cameraman, News Editor Tom Rayner, and I convinced ourselves that the Sky Arabia studios that we were borrowing were well known to the Israeli Aid Force, and would never be targeted.

At around midnight on Saturday we might have taken a hint. A building about 100 yards away was hit twice.

Our local colleagues reacted with horror. Eight journalists were injured, one losing a leg, they were from two Arab TV Channels.

Ambulances screeched up and down the streets while we considered out options.

We had none.

It was too dangerous to leave in the middle of the night, we risked being picked off as militants by an Israeli drone.

Surely they would not hit us here, we reasoned, they have good intelligence?

We wrapped ourselves in the miraculous, dream coat-coloured polyester blankets that are ubiquitous in the Third World, and tried to catch up on missed sleep.

An hour after dawn, the first flash, the bubbling windows.

We struggled into our dirt-stiffened clothes to figure out how badly hit we were and look for any injured.

As I approached the stairwell leading to the floor above and the roof, another blast drove a wall of choking dust down at me and I spun away.

Water poured out of burst mains on the roof and cascaded down the outside of the building.

Later Israeli military officials said that a Hamas communications facility had been "surgically targeted" on the roof above us and an especially small munition used to destroy it.

Air strikes have become an everyday experience for Gazans.  Except we were luckier than many.

Gaza's trapped population has endured raids against 1,000 targets across this tiny coastal enclave. After a house was hit he death toll shot up to around 60, with some 300 wounded.

The majority, medical officials say, are civilians.

Just like the Sky News team, Gazans don't know where they can be safe.

Hamas or other militants use rocket launching sites that are tucked into residential neighbourhoods to fire at Israel.

Gaza is so densely populated it's difficult to see how the militants could find anywhere to use their weapons that did not endanger civilians. Equally, however hard Israel tries to avoid hitting the innocent, it surely has and surely will.

The only advice Israel's military give to Gazans is to try to stay away from Hamas installations and personnel.

But as we spent several hours trying to figure out how to do that, we drew a blank.

Hamas is the government here. It runs the schools and other ministries. Its security officers are on every street corner, and its guerrilla fighters experts at concealment.

Nowhere is safe.

So we are back at our hotel in the north of the city enduring the orange flashes, the bulging windows, the nauseating process of actually counting luck.

Just like everybody else.

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Obama Makes Landmark Visit To Burma

By Mark Stone, Asia Correspondent

Barack Obama has landed in Burma for a landmark visit aimed at encouraging a string of political reforms in the former pariah state.

On the second stop of his three-country tour of Asia, the US President flew into Rangoon on Monday morning.

He said he was "extending the hand of friendship" to the country, where he is meeting the country's reformist leader Thein Sein and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Tens of thousands of people, many of them waving US flags, packed the streets of Rangoon to see Mr Obama's motorcade speed through the city.

Mr Obama has become the first ever sitting US president to visit Burma, also known as Myanmar.

The visit is a key indicator that Washington believes Burmese government reforms are genuine and continuing.

The President said his historic visit marked the next step in a new chapter between the two countries.

Speaking after a private meeting with Ms Suu Kyi, Mr Obama said he had seen encouraging signs of progress in the country in the past year. Those signs, he said, include the opposition leader's release from house arrest and her election to parliament.

He said ties between the US and Burma will grow stronger if moves toward democracy continue.

Mr Obama met Thailand's Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Sunday

The US President's first stop on the tour was Thailand where he stressed the "critical" importance of the Asia-Pacific region to the future of the US over the coming century during his first foreign trip since his re-election.

Speaking at a news conference with Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, Mr Obama said: "Asia is my first foreign trip since our election in the United States, and Thailand is my first stop.

"This is no accident. As I've said many times, the United States is and always will be a Pacific nation.

"As the fastest growing region in the world, the Asia-Pacific will shape so much of our security and prosperity in the century ahead, and it is critical to creating jobs and opportunity for the American people.

"That's why I've made restoring American engagement in this region a top priority as president."

Mr Obama also met the Thai King, Bhumibol Adulyadej, who is in hospital where he has been recovering from an illness since September 2009.

Mr Obama calls himself the "Pacific President" and has pledged to focus significant attention on the Asia-Pacific region.

It is therefore no surprise that his first foreign trip is here.

People line the streets in Rangoon to greet Mr Obama

The US is seeking to counter China's increasing clout in the region. The US government has said that 60% of the US naval forces will be based in the region by 2020.

As if to underline America's commitment to the region, the US Defence Secretary is currently on his fourth trip to Asia this year.

Thailand is the US' longest standing ally in the region. The US sees it as vital in helping it pivot attention towards Asia and boost ties with the fastest growing region on the planet.

During the news conference, Mr Obama defended his decision to go to Burma.

"This is not an endorsement of the Burmese government," he said.

"This is an acknowledgement that there is a process under way inside that country that even a year and a half, two years ago, nobody foresaw."

The President's visit follows a trip by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to the country in December 2011 and a visit by British Prime Minister David Cameron in April 2011.

The US President's Asian tour will end in Cambodia, where he will attend a meeting of the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean).

The leaders of 16 southeast Asian countries will attend, as well as the Russian President Vladimir Putin, the outgoing Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, the Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, the Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

In Burma, despite the recent reforms, sectarian clashes between Muslims and Buddhists have killed more than 180 people and destroyed the homes of more than 100,000.

The government has been criticised for not having done enough to stop the violence in the coastal Rakhine State.

On Friday, Washington announced it had lifted a ban on the import of goods from the country.

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Israel Readies Forces For Gaza Border Assault

By David Bowden, Senior News Correspondent, in southern Israel

Israel is massing troops and military equipment close to the border with Gaza after hundreds of airstrikes on the Palestinian enclave failed to stop militants launching scores of rockets into the South and central areas of the country.

The government has given the go-ahead for 75,000 reservists to be put on stand by for call-up for any ground incursion into Gaza.

Israel knows that the eyes of the world are on it and that a ground war brings not only military dangers, but international and diplomatic ones too.

But the politicians are all too aware that with an election now just two months away they have to be seen to be doing something to clampdown on the missile strikes coming out of Gaza and forcing Israeli citizens to have to run to their shelters.

"We are under attack," Israeli Defence Ministry spokesman Josh Hantsman said.

"Three million Israeli citizens are now within the range of the Hamas fire, we have a responsibility and a duty to make sure the other side knows we are serious. We will consider all the options."

For now the option appears to be a show of strength and a hope that Hamas will back down and stop targeting Israel before a ground war becomes inevitable.

That means more airstrikes and more attempts to degrade Hamas's ability to hit back from Gaza.

In the mean time the diplomatic pressure carries on apace with the Tunisian foreign minister visiting political leaders in Gaza, 24 hours after the Egyptian Prime Minister did the same thing.

US President Barack Obama has been in touch with both the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu and President Morsi of Egypt - whose Muslim Brotherhood is sympathetic to Hamas - to try and mediate.

As yet there has been no breakthrough, so the very public military build-up from Israel carries on as do the airstrikes which the Israeli government hopes will mean the soldiers and their kit can be stood down as quickly as they were called up.

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Dublin Protest Over Indian Abortion Death

Thousands of people have marched in the capital of Ireland to protest the death of an Indian woman who was allegedly refused an abortion.

Sky's Vicki Hawthorne, reporting from Dublin, said more than 10,000 people had gathered for a vigil and march over the death and the country's strict abortion laws.

The death has sparked outrage in Ireland

The Indian government has also demanded a "transparent" probe into the death of Savita Halappanavar, after Irish doctors apparently rejected her requests for a termination even though she was miscarrying.

Deputy head of government Eamon Gilmore agreed to meet the Indian ambassador, Debashish Chakravarti, on Saturday.

Meanwhile, a minute's silence was held at Merrion Square by the crowd, followed by chants "never again".

Sinead Ahern from Choice Ireland told them: "We hope the people who loved Savita know how sorry we are for what happened to her."

Indian foreign minister Salman Khurshid earlier said: "I'm confident that the Irish government, with whom we are in constant touch will properly investigate this case and will strive for a system so such incidents do not happen again."

On Friday, ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said the concern over Mrs Halappanavar's death was growing in India.

India is demanding a transparent probe into the death

About 100 opposition protesters held a demonstration outside the Irish embassy on Friday - accusing authorities of committing "medical murder".

 MrMrs Halappanavar's family said the 31-year-old dentist repeatedly asked staff at University Hospital in Galway to terminate her pregnancy but doctors kept telling her "this is a Catholic country".

Abortion is illegal in Roman Catholic-dominated Ireland unless it occurs during medical intervention to save the life of the mother. There is no agreed method for determining such circumstances.

Eamon Gilmore meets the Indian ambassador to Ireland, Debashish Chakravarti

Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny described her death as a "tragedy", while two separate investigations have been announced.

Indian communist party leader Brinda Karat said Mrs Halappanavar's condition should have been treated as a "medical emergency" as she joined calls for a tough line with Ireland over the incident.

"The fact that they didn't is a crime and the Irish authorities are responsible for committing a crime of a loss of a human life and I think the Indian government must step in here," she told reporters.

Smriti Irani, president of the women's wing of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata party, was among the protesters outside the embassy and she was allowed in as part of a four-person delegation to meet the ambassador.

Mrs Halappanavar was allegedly refused an abortion

"The Irish ambassador assured us that there could be a possibility of inviting international experts to be part of the investigation and we told him that Savita's husband should also be part of it," Ms Irani said.

She added that the ambassador had acknowledged the "intense pressure" from around the world following the death.

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Gaza Conflict: Toddler Killed In Airstrike

A toddler has been killed and his two brothers wounded in the latest Israeli airstrike on Gaza, emergency services said.

The 18-month-old Palestinian boy died in a strike east of the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, spokesman Adham Abu Selmiya told the AFP news agency.

Health ministry spokesman Ashraf al Qudra said the two wounded boys, aged four and five, were "in critical condition".

The bombardment of Gaza by Israel entered a new phase overnight, with Israel shelling the Palestinian territory from the sea, as well as continuing its airstrikes.

Forty-eight Palestinians, about half of them civilians, including 13 children, have now been killed in Israel's raids, Palestinian officials said.

Rocket warning sirens sounded in Tel Aviv on Saturday for a third day

Militants in Gaza resumed firing rockets into Israel this morning, with at least one landing in Ashkelon in southern Israel.

More than 500 rockets fired from Gaza have hit Israel since the recent violence flared on Wednesday, killing three people and injuring dozens.

Two buildings housing local Arab media in Gaza were among the targets in the latest airstrikes.

Among the buildings hit was a media centre housing the offices of al Quds TV, often a voicepiece for Hamas. Three journalists were wounded.

Both buildings also contained offices used by foreign journalists, including Sky News.

Egypt's president Mohamed Morsi had suggested a ceasefire was close

"I think that this demonstrates just how dangerous and complex with aerial bombardment is," said Sky's Sam Kiley.

The airstrikes come as Egypt President  Mohamed Morsi suggested that there could be a ceasefire soon.

Two other pre-dawn attacks on houses in the Jebalya refugee camp killed one child and wounded 12 other people, medical officials said.

These attacks followed a defiant statement by Hamas military spokesman Abu Ubaida.

"This round of confrontation will not be the last against the Zionist enemy and it is only the beginning."

The masked gunman dressed in military fatigues insisted that despite Israel's blows Hamas "is still strong enough to destroy the enemy".

A plume of thick black smoke is seen rising from Gaza City

On Saturday Israeli aircraft bombed Hamas government buildings in Gaza, including the offices of Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and a police headquarters.

Israel has said it will keep schools in its southern region closed as a precaution to avoid casualties from rocket strikes, which have reached as far as Tel Aviv and Jerusalem in the past few days.

Israel unleashed its massive air campaign on Wednesday, killing a leading militant of the Hamas Islamist group that controls Gaza and rejects Israel's existence.

Israel says it is trying to stop militants in the coastal enclave from launching rockets that have plagued its southern communities for years.

The Jewish state has since launched more than 950 air strikes since Wednesday.

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