Mexico Drug War Memorial Angers Relatives

A monument unveiled by the Mexican government in memory of the thousands killed during the country's vicious drug war has sparked anger among victims' relatives.

The £1.6m Mexico City structure, which includes steel panels bearing quotes from famous writers and thinkers, was dedicated during an official ceremony on Friday.

But only some rights groups recognise the monument because it does not bear a single victim's name.

Interior Secretary Miguel Angel Osorio Chong said: "Other organisations asked us for other space because they're against this one.

A relative writes on one of the steel panels in Mexico City

"What took us so long was trying to get agreement among the groups, and we failed."

The dispute arises from the fact the Mexican government has yet to fully document the drug war dead - thought to be as many as 70,000 people - despite constant pleas from the public.

Former president Felipe Calderon's government stopped counting the victims in September 2011, and Enrique Pena Nieto's new regime has only provided monthly statistics for December 2012 to February 2013.

Jose Merino, a political science professor at Mexico Autonomous Institute of Technology, said people would not accept the memorial until the government documented every case.

Mr Calderon, who at first dismissed most of the drug war dead as criminals, proposed the memorial last year after meeting with victims' families.

Many Mexicans consider the military as complicit in drug war abuses and disappearances.

The land where the memorial is located belonged to the Defence Department, but was given to a governmental body that helps victims and relatives.

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India: Survivor Found Day After Tower Collapse

Rescuers have pulled out alive an injured woman from the wreckage of a Mumbai tower block - 36 hours after it collapsed leaving as many as 72 dead and 70 injured.

She was dragged from the building on Saturday morning after rescue workers heard her voice and used camera equipment to pinpoint her location under the rubble.

A 10-month old infant was pulled from the debris on Friday.

Most of the dead and missing are migrant construction workers who were living on the site in Thane, on the outskirts of the city, with their families.

At least 17 of those killed are children.

A 10-month-old child rescued from the rubble

The building collapsed "like a pack of cards within three to four seconds," one witness said on Thursday night.

As rescue teams combed the rubble for survivors immediately after the collapse, two young children were plucked out alive to cries of "God is great".

Rescue workers with sledgehammers, gasoline-powered saws and hydraulic jacks struggled to break through the tower of rubble in their search for possible survivors. Six bulldozers were brought to the scene.

More than 20 people remained missing and three floors of the building still needed to be searched, said R S Rajesh, an official with the National Disaster Response Force who was at the scene.

A toddler is pulled out alive from the wreckage

"All the three floors are sandwiched ... so it is very difficult for us," he said, adding that rescuers were continuing to pull survivors from the wreckage.

An investigation has now been launched into what has been described as one of the worst incidents of its kind in the western Indian state of Maharashtra.

The collapse is being blamed on shoddy construction and unstable foundations.

The building was only supposed to be four storeys high but three extra levels had been illegally constructed on top and an eighth was being added when it collapsed, said police.

Rescue workers search for survivors in the rubble

Police said they have arrested the builder and his associates. They face a number of charges including manslaughter.

A local resident who gave his name as Ramlal said: "The building collapsed like a pack of cards within three to four seconds.

"Only labourers used to stay there. No rich person or well-to-do family stayed here. Only poor people stayed here."

The neighbourhood where the building collapsed was part of a belt of more than 2,000 illegal structures that had sprung up in the area in recent years, said Malvi, the town spokesman.

"Notices have been served several times for such illegal construction, sometimes notices are sent 10 times for the same building," he said.

A crowd watches the rescuers at work

GR Khairnar, a former top Mumbai official, said government officials who allowed the illegal construction should be tried along with the builders.

"There are a lot of people involved (in illegal construction) - builders, government machinery, police, municipal corporation - everybody is involved in this process," he told CNN-IBN television.

As the economy has grown, so has the appetite for property and the quick profit that comes from unauthorised construction.

In one of the worst collapses, nearly 70 people were killed when an apartment building in a congested New Delhi neighbourhood crumbled in November 2010.

That building was two floors higher than legally allowed and its foundations appeared to have been weakened by water damage.

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India: British Woman Found Dead In Kashmir

A Dutchman has been detained after a 24-year-old British woman was found murdered on a houseboat in Indian-administered Kashmir, police have confirmed.

The woman had allegedly been stabbed to death on a houseboat on Srinagar's Dal Lake, a popular tourist destination.

Kashmir Inspector General of Police Abdul Ghani Mir said the man was picked up as he tried to flee the valley with only his passport.

He said: "A 24-year-old British national was found murdered in a local houseboat this morning. A Dutch national, De Wit Richard, has been detained for investigations in this connection.

The woman's body was found at Dal Lake, a popular tourist destination

"While preliminary investigation has confirmed that the woman was murdered, we are investigating other angles. Forensic evidence is being collected.

"The Dutch national had fled from the houseboat in the night, leaving behind his belongings. He was trying to flee from the Valley, carrying only his passport. We flashed an alert for his arrest."

The man was held at Qazigund in south Kashmir's Anantag district, around 100km (62miles) from the lake where the woman's body was found.

Police and onlookers have gathered near the scene of the murder

Speaking near the murder scene, Deputy Inspector General of Police for central Kashmir Syed Afadul Mujtiba said: "There is one houseboat over here in which there were two tourists living.

"One tourist was there for about one month. She has been living here, an English tourist, and a Dutch tourist arrived two days ago, and now today in the morning the dead body of the female tourist has been found with incision wounds, sharp-edged weapon wounds, and the Dutch tourist has tried to escape.

"It appears that he has murdered this female tourist."

Sky's India correspondent Alex Rossi said: "Police say preliminary investigations have confirmed that this woman was murdered, but they are investigating other angles.

"Forensic evidence is being collected and the Dutch national is being questioned."

The Foreign Office says it is in touch with local authorities and the victim's family have been informed.

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USS Guardian: Video Of Scrap Operation Shown

By Greg Milam, US Correspondent

The US Navy has released video of the remarkable operation to scrap a $300m (£197m) warship which ran aground on a world famous coral reef in the Philippines.

It comes as the commanding officer of the USS Guardian was relieved of his duties as punishment for the episode that has embarrassed the superpower.

The minesweeper spent two months stuck on the Tubbataha Reef after the crew reportedly ignored warnings from locals that they were entering a protected area.

Lieutenant commander Mark Rice was fired over the blunder

Defence officials decided to slice the vessel into pieces and scrap it rather than try to remove it safely from its delicate perch.

It is estimated that repairs to the Unesco World Heritage Site could cost the US millions of dollars.

Lieutenant commander Mark Rice and three other Guardian crew members were disciplined after an investigation found they "did not adhere to standard US Navy navigation procedures".

An aerial view of the USS Guardian on Tubbataha Reef

They were relieved "due to their role in the grounding and a loss of confidence".

It had been claimed that errors on digital charts were to blame for the grounding.

There has been anger in the Philippines at reports that the ship's crew had dismissed concerns about hitting the reef just before they ran aground in January.

Crews spent weeks dismantling the vessel

Crews have now completed the task of chopping the 1,300-tonne ship into four pieces and carrying it away on barges.

They had feared causing further damage to the reef if they had tried to manoeuvre the ship away.

The salvage work alone is thought to have cost in excess of $50m (£33m).

Joe Sestak, a former US Navy admiral and congressman, said: "We're good custodians and we're also good neighbours. We're just good Americans.

The boat after it aground on the reef

"We made a mistake, we hurt something, like a neighbour throwing trash on somebody's lawn, we're going to repair it and fix it.

"I think that is good, it is who we are, and I think we should do that."

The US has been increasing its outreach to the Pacific region under President Barack Obama and attempting to shore up ties with allies like the Philippines.

News of the punishments handed out to the crew came as they were due to take over roles on the minesweeper which has replaced the Guardian.

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North Korea Moves Second Missile To East

By Mark Stone, on the South Korea border

North Korea has now moved two missiles to its east coast, loading them on mobile launchers, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said.

The agency cited a top government official.

"It has been confirmed that North Korea, early this week, transported two Musudan mid-range missiles by train to the east coast and loaded them on vehicles equipped with launch pads," Yonhap quoted the official as saying.

Seoul said earlier it had been seeking urgent information on the first Korean missile that had been moved to the east coast.

Intelligence officials from Washington, Tokyo and Seoul are monitoring the movement of the weapon.

The Musudan missile is a mid-range weapon, meaning it is capable of reaching South Korea and Japan and perhaps also the US territory of Guam in the Pacific Ocean.

"The range is between 3,000 to 4,000km. There are major US military forces in Guam and a fixed number of troops to deal with the Korean peninsula, so I think these facts can reduce the possible danger there," Kim Min-seok, South Korea's Defence Ministry spokesman, said.

Speaking to Sky News, a security advisor to the South Korean government said there is no doubt that Pyongyang's capability is concerning.

"The technological level of North Korean weapons has become much improved and better - especially their missile capability and their long-range artilleries," Kim Byungki said.

"It is more uncertain, it is less predictable, there are more ways for them to destabilise us and there are more ways for us to respond ... so it is more complex."

UN chief Ban Ki-moon said daily reports from Pyongyang were "really alarming and troubling" and urged North Korea to ease tensions.

"Nuclear threat is not a game, it is very serious," he said, adding that any misjudgement or miscalculation could have "very serious implications".

North Korea's young leader Kim Jong-Un has escalated his rhetoric

America says it is taking "all necessary precautions" to respond to the daily threats from the North Korean leadership.

President Barack Obama's spokesman insisted the US government was taking the threat extremely seriously.

"What we're seeing now is a familiar pattern of behaviour," Jay Carney said.

"Regrettable but familiar."

The Musudan, which is manoeuvrable on the back of a specially designed mobile launch pad, is untested but has a potential range of about 1,500-2,500 miles.

Its accuracy is unknown and most experts believe the North Koreans lack the technological ability to mount a nuclear warhead into its tip.

Musudan missiles, pictured here in 2010, are untested

Nevertheless, it can carry a significant load of conventional explosives which could cause considerable damage.

The Musudan does not have anywhere near the ability to reach the US mainland.

It is not clear whether military commanders in North Korea have been given orders to fire the weapon in anger or as a test.

However, given the level of rhetoric delivered by North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un and the number of US and South Korean military assets that are now in the region, the missile would be shot down within minutes of any launch.

The concern is that this could then lead to an uncontrollable escalation in military action by both sides.

More follows...

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India: 35 Dead As 'Illegal' Building Collapses

At least 35 people have died after a building that was being constructed illegally in Mumbai, India, collapsed.

A further 50 people were injured in the collapse in the suburb of Thane, a senior police official said.

It is believed nine children were among the dead.

The building had not been cleared for construction by local authorities.

Despite this the first four floors had homes and offices that were occupied at the time of the collapse.

Workers were adding four more floors and had finished three before the building fell.

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Madonna In Malawi To Visit Son's Orphanage

Madonna has returned to the orphanage where she adopted one of her Malawian children.

Madonna sits with adopted children David Banda (L) and Mercy James (3rd R)

The pop star was welcomed with song and dance from youngsters at the Home of Hope, where she adopted David Banda in 2006.

She said she was pleased to visit the orphanage, in the western district of Mchinji near the Zambian border.

"I'm happy that David is back to see his brothers and sisters," she said.

The star, David and Mercy join pupils at Mkoko Primary School

David, now eight, was accompanied by his sister Mercy James, also eight, and also adopted from Malawi, and Madonna's biological children, Rocco and Lourdes.

The visit saw him taken to see his former crib, which has been preserved in his memory.

It was not known if the family would also visit the Kondanani Children's Village, where Madonna adopted Mercy in 2009 after a protracted court battle.

Lourdes (L) and Mercy (R) clap hands during the school visit

Madonna and her children will visit a paediatrics hospital in Blantyre later, and another orphanage Friday.

The singer arrived in Malawi on Monday to visit projects she has helped with.

She had initially planned to build a $15m (£10m) 500-bed Raising Malawi Academy for girls, before changing plans to help fund several community schools.

Meanwhile, the singer expects to raise more than $5m (£3.3m) to support education for girls in Afghanistan, Pakistan and other countries by selling an abstract French painting she has owned for more than 20 years.

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Argentina Floods: Dozens Die As Rain Continues

At least 52 people have drowned in their homes and cars, or were electrocuted as floods swamped Buenos Aires.

Thousands have been evacuated from their homes

At least 46 died on Wednesday in and around the city of La Plata. Six deaths were reported a day earlier in Argentina's capital.

Many people climbed onto their roofs in the pouring rain after storm sewers flooded forcing water into houses.

"It started to rain really hard in the evening, and began to flood," Augustina Garcia Orsi, a 25-year-old student, said.

"I panicked. In two seconds I was up to my knees in water. It came up through the drains - I couldn't do anything."

Many claim officials have not done enough

The rains also flooded the country's largest oil refinery, causing a fire that took hours to put out.

The La Plata refinery suspended operations as a result, and Argentina's YPF oil company said an emergency team was evaluating how to get it restarted.

"Such intense rain in so little time has left many people trapped in their cars, in the streets, in some cases electrocuted," Governor Daniel Scioli said.

"We are giving priority to rescuing people who have been stuck in trees or on the roofs of their homes."

The region of Buenos Aires has been worst affected

President Cristina Fernandez visited Tolosa, a La Plata neighbourhood where she grew up and where her mother was among those evacuated.

She announced security measures to combat vandalism, help for identifying the dead, and three days of national mourning for the victims.

At least 2,500 people were evacuated from their homes to about 20 centres in the La Plata area, which is about 37 miles (60km) southeast of Argentina's capital.

The rains are expected to ease later

The flooding threatened to ruin food supplies across La Plata's metropolitan area, which has nearly one million people.

National Planning Minister Julio de Vido estimated that 280,000 people remain without power across the city and surrounding province of Buenos Aires, where most Argentines live.

"Our job is focused on restoring service, but we're going to wait until the equipment dries to guarantee the safety of the electricity workers, because we don't want any deaths," he said.

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North Korea Army: 'War Could Break Out Today'

The North Korean military says it has ratified a "merciless" attack against the United States, potentially involving a "cutting-edge" nuclear strike.

"The moment of explosion is approaching fast," the army said in a statement on state news agency KCNA.

War could break out "today or tomorrow", the statement said, quoting a spokesman for the General Staff of the Korean People's Army.

"The merciless operation of (our) revolutionary armed forces in this regard has been finally examined and ratified.

"The US had better ponder over the prevailing grave situation."

The North's rhetoric has been met by a display of US military strength

The North's Committee for Peaceful Reunification of Korea was later quoted by KCNA as threatening to withdraw its 53,000 workers from the joint industrial zone it shares with the South.

Pyongyang informed Seoul on Wednesday that it was stopping the daily movement of South Koreans to the Kaesong complex, the last real surviving point of contact between the two countries.

And the committee said: "If the South Korean puppets and conservative news media keep badmouthing (us), we will order all our workers to pull out from Kaesong."

North Korea's latest pronouncements came as Washington scrambled to reinforce its Pacific defences, preparing to move an advanced missile defence system to the island of Guam.

Mr Hagel said North Korea posed a "real and clear danger"

The land-based weapon, which is primed to shoot down short and medium-range missiles, will be sent to the US territory to defend its bases there.

The Pentagon has already sent bombers, stealth aircraft and ships.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the North had moved a mid-range Musudan missile to its east coast.

The missile is believed to have a range of 1,875 miles (3,000km) or more, which would put all of South Korea and Japan in range and possibly also the US territory of Guam in the Pacific Ocean.

North Korea is not believed to have tested these missiles, according to most independent experts.

Tensions have been soaring on the Korean peninsula since the North launched a long-range rocket in December and conducted its third nuclear test in February.

A military checkpoint linked to the Kaesong joint industrial complex

North Korea has threatened missile and nuclear strikes against the US and South Korea in response to UN sanctions and joint military drills.

US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Wednesday that North Korea's "bellicose, dangerous rhetoric" posed a "real and clear danger" to America and its allies South Korea and Japan.

"They have nuclear capacity now, they have missile delivery capacity now," he said.

"We take those threats seriously, we have to take those threats seriously.

"We are doing everything we can, working with the Chinese and others to defuse that situation on the peninsula.

"I hope the North will ratchet its very dangerous rhetoric down."

The tensions surrounding Kaesong - established in 2004 and a crucial source of hard currency for North Korea - carry enormous significance.

Neither of the Koreas has allowed previous crises to significantly affect the complex, which is the only surviving example of inter-Korean cooperation and seen as a bellwether for stability on the Korean peninsula.

China, the North's sole major ally, appealed for "calm" from all sides, repeating Beijing's oft-declared position.

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Google Privacy: EU Countries Take Action

A group of European regulators has brought legal action against Google to try and force the tech giant to overhaul its privacy practices.

Data protection authorities from France, Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain and Italy agreed on the joint action after Google failed to reverse changes it made to its policy last year.

If successful, the regulators could impose fines or restrictions on Google's operations across the entire 27-country European Union.

Last year Google merged 60 separate privacy policies from around the world into one universal procedure.

The European organisations say the new policy does not allow users to figure out which information is kept, how it is combined by Google services or how long the company retains it.

The European regulators, led by the French, have demanded specifics for anyone using Google on what is being collected and a simpler presentation.

Any fines would have a limited financial impact on Google but successful legal action could hurt its image and block its ability to collect such data until it addresses the regulators' concerns.

Proposed Europe-wide data protection legislation will take until at least 2015 to be fully implemented.

Successful legal action could hurt Google's image

Google dominates the European market for internet searches. According to one survey, 95% of searches in Europe are carried out through Google, compared with about 65% in the US.

Tensions are ramping up between privacy organisations and technology companies due to their growing ability to spin online usage data into vast profits.

This is especially the case in Europe where privacy laws tend to be strong and nearly every country has a regulatory body.

However, internet users have consistently shown a willingness to give up privacy in exchange for convenience and new online services that Google and other tech companies offer.

Google says it merged its myriad privacy policies in March 2012 for the sake of simplicity, and that the changes comply with European laws.

But Johannes Caspar, a German data protection commissioner, says the company's policies are vague - it uses the word 'may' dozens of times on a single page when describing its rights to data.

"Many users don't even know what is happening with their data and might worry that their private information is used to produce personality profiles of them," Mr Caspar said.

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Brazil: Bus Plunges Off Bridge Killing Seven

At least seven people have been killed and six hurt after a bus plunged off a bridge over one of Rio de Janeiro's busiest roads.

Rio's buses are known for being driven at high speeds

The bus landed on its roof after falling 30ft (10 metres) onto Rio's Avenida Brasil.

Sergio Simoes, who heads Rio state's civil defence department, said the dead were five men and two women. He added that the number of injured was likely to rise.

He said it was unclear how many were aboard and whether any of the passengers were children.

Emergency response teams could be seen evacuating the injured from the overturned bus as rush-hour traffic stood at a standstill, with some of those hurt evacuated by helicopter.

The cause of the accident was not immediately known, but eyewitness were reported as saying that a dispute between a passenger and the driver might have helped spark the crash.

Hundreds of onlookers gathered at the site of the accident

Buses are the main form of public transit in the city of six million people, despite their sometimes dubious safety records and often uncomfortable overcrowding levels.

Rio's buses, operated by private companies, do not have seat belts, and it is not unusual for up to several dozen people at a time to travel standing up. Drivers are also known for travelling at high speeds, even in residential neighbourhoods.

With two key metro stations closed pending the extension of Rio's subway, buses have taken on an even more crucial role in recent months and are the sole public transit option in poor neighbourhoods around the city.

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South Korea Warns Military Action An 'Option'

South Korea has said that military action is an "option" to protect its citizens in its stand off with North Korea.

The news comes as the United States has said it will "not accept" North Korea as a nuclear state, after Pyongyang raised tensions by refusing the South entry to a joint industrial complex.

The North says it will restart all nuclear facilities including its mothballed Yongbyon reactor, which is able to produce bomb-grade plutonium.

Standing firm: Kerry stated he will not accept N Korea as a nuclear state

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un insisted it was only seeking a deterrent and did not repeat recent threats to attack South Korea and the US.

But the North delayed the daily opening of its Kaesong industrial zone with South Korea on Wednesday morning, in a move that could represent a sharp escalation of tensions between the two countries.

The North had previously threatened to close the joint complex as part of a stand-off with Washington and Seoul.

"We are waiting for access from the North Korean authorities," a Unification Ministry official said.

More than an hour after the time the daily entry clearance is normally granted, the ministry said 861 South Korean workers were in the industrial complex while 179 workers awaited access.

The complex is a rare lucrative source of income for the impoverished North since it was established as a form of joint-Korean cooperation in 2002.

Sky News Asia Correspondent Mark Stone said the site was the only place where relations between the two countries existed.

"As with everything, it's hard to know whether this is more game playing or whether they plan to keep it closed for a while," he said.

"But a number of analysts who have studied the Korean problem for some time said last week that while the park remained open, the situation was not overly worrying. Now it appears to be shut."

Vehicles wait to cross the border to the Kaesong complex

Both Washington and Seoul stressed their countries' military readiness and said de-nuclearisation was the only way forward for North Korea.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said: "What Kim Jong-Un has been choosing to do is provocative, it is dangerous, reckless and the United States will not accept (North Korea) as a nuclear state."

America's deployment of advanced aircraft and warships to South Korea was a signal that "the United States will defend our allies and that we will not be subject to irrational or reckless provocation," he said.

The parading of US air and naval power with nuclear capability within view of the Korean peninsula, is as much about psychological war as real war.

South Korean trucks return after they were refused entry to the facility

The US is keen to discourage North Korea's unpredictable leader from starting a fight that could get out of control.

Mr Kerry, who will visit South Korea next week, reminded the North Koreans that "they have an option, and that option is to enter into negotiations for de-nuclearisation ... and to begin to focus on the needs of their people".

Meanwhile, China has expressed "serious concern" over the escalating situation on the Korean peninsula.

An official from China's Foreign Ministry met ambassadors from the US, North Korea and South Korea, following the closing of Kaesong.

China hopes the differences can be resolved through talks and diplomacy, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei.

South Korean soldiers in drills near the zone separating the two Koreas

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon appealed for dialogue and negotiation to resolve the crisis.

"Nuclear threats are not a game," he said.

"Aggressive rhetoric and military posturing only result in counter-actions, and fuel fear and instability."

A speech by the North's young leader, Kim Jong-Un, given on Sunday but published in full by the Korean Central News Agency on Tuesday, appeared to dampen any prospect of a direct confrontation with the US by emphasising that nuclear weapons would ensure the country's safety as a deterrent.

"Our nuclear strength is a reliable war deterrent and a guarantee to protect our sovereignty," Mr Kim said.

"It is on the basis of a strong nuclear strength that peace and prosperity can exist and so can the happiness of people's lives."

The crisis flared after Pyongyang was hit with US sanctions for conducting a third nuclear test in February, before America and South Korea staged military drills that North Korea viewed as "hostile".

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Cinema Gunman: Prosecutors Seek Death Penalty

Colorado state prosecutors have announced they are to seek the death penalty against Aurora gunman James Holmes.

The much-anticipated disclosure comes four days after prosecutors publicly rejected an offer by Holmes' attorneys that the former neuroscience graduate student would plead guilty to avoid execution.

Prosecutors had said the defence proposal was not a valid plea bargain offer, although they could still agree to a plea before the case goes to trial, which has been delayed until next February.

Arapahoe County District Attorney George Brauchler said: "It's my determination and my intention that in this case for James Eagan Holmes justice is death."

Holmes' attorneys are expected to argue he is not guilty because he was legally insane at the time of the July 20 shooting that killed 12 people and wounded 70 others.

The shooting took place during a screening of a Batman film

They balked at entering that plea last month, saying they could not make such a move until prosecutors made a formal decision on the death penalty.

Survivors and families of the victims are uncertain about what happens next.

If the case goes to trial, "all of us victims would be dragged along potentially for years", said Pierce O'Farrill, who was shot three times.

He said: "It could be 10 or 15 years before he's executed. I would be in my 40s and I'm planning to have a family, and the thought of having to look back and reliving everything at that point in my life, it would be difficult."

Investigators carefully searched Holmes' Denver apartment

Investigators say Holmes methodically stockpiled weapons and ammunition for his assault on a packed midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises, and rigged his apartment to explode and distract any police who responded.

The massacre was repeatedly cited by gun control advocates who pushed a hotly-contested package through the Colorado state Legislature last month.

The bills include a ban on the sort of high-capacity magazines that Holmes allegedly used to spray the theatre with dozens of bullets in a matter of seconds.

President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit Denver on Wednesday to highlight the legislation as part of his push for tougher gun control following December's massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

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Burma: Orphans Killed In Fire At Mosque

At least 13 young orphans have been killed after a fire ripped through their makeshift home in Burma.

Police officer Thet Lwin said the blaze in Rangoon was started by an overheated inverter "and not due to any criminal activity".

Burma has been on edge after sectarian violence between Buddhists and Muslims erupted in the central city of Meikhtila in March.

The conflict has killed dozens of people and displaced more than 10,000.

Thet said the mosque in eastern Rangoon sheltered about 75 orphans, and most escaped unharmed by running out of a door after police knocked it open.

Firefighters extinguished the blaze and the two-storey building was charred but intact.

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North Korea To Restart Nuclear Reactor

North Korea will restart all nuclear facilities including its shuttered Yongbyon reactor, the official KCNA news service has said.

It will rebuild and resume its mothballed uranium enrichment facility and the 5 MW Yongbyon reactor, which was closed in 2007 as part of international disarmament talks that have since stalled.

When it is fully running the reactor is capable of churning out one atomic bomb worth of plutonium - the most common fuel in nuclear weapons - a year.

A nuclear energy spokesman said the move was being made in line with a policy of "bolstering the nuclear armed force both in quality and quantity" as well as solving "acute" electricity shortages.

Kim Jong-Un has said the North is at war with South Korea

But the step will boost fears in Washington and among its allies about North Korea's push for nuclear-tipped missiles that can reach the US, technology it is not currently believed to have.

The North's leader Kim Jong-Un has been issuing daily war-like threats in recent weeks, including one to launch missile attacks on American targets in the region. He also claims the North is in a "state of war" with South Korea.

Pyongyang conducted its third nuclear test in February, prompting UN sanctions that have angered its leaders and led to the current tensions.

The country has since declared that making nuclear arms and a stronger economy are the nation's top priorities.

The country added the 5 MW graphite-moderated Yongbyon reactor to its nuclear complex in 1986 after seven years of construction, adding the operation is aimed at generating electricity.

It takes about 8,000 fuel rods to run the reactor. Reprocessing the spent fuel rods after a year of reactor operation could yield about seven kilogrammes of plutonium - enough to make at least one nuclear bomb, experts say.

North Korea began building a 50 MW and a 200 MW reactor in 1984, but their construction was suspended under a 1994 nuclear deal with Washington.

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Pope Francis Calls For Korea 'Reconcilliation'

Pope Francis prayed for a "political solution" in Syria and for "reconciliation" on the Korean peninsula in his first Easter Sunday message.

Thousands of people packed into St Peter's Square to see the pontiff celebrate his first Easter mass and to hear his message to the faithful.

Latin America's first pontiff also issued an appeal for hostages held by militants in Nigeria and condemned human trafficking as "the most extensive form of slavery in this 21st century".

The pope delivered his "Urbi et Orbi" blessing to Rome and the world from the same balcony of St Peter's Basilica where he made his first appearance after his momentous election to the papacy this month.

Speaking in front of some 250,000 people from around the world, Francis prayed for "dear Syria, for its people torn by conflict and for the many refugees who await help and comfort."

Thousands of pilgrims packed into St Peter's Square

He asked: "How much blood has been shed? And how much suffering must there still be before a political solution to the crisis will be found?"

"On the Korean peninsula, may disagreements be overcome and a renewed spirit of reconciliation grow," he said, a day after North Korea declared it was in a "state of war" with South Korea.

Francis also prayed for Nigeria "where great numbers of people, including children, are held hostage by terrorist groups" - an apparent reference to a French family kidnapped in Cameroon and believed held by the Nigerian group Boko Haram.

The Pope also toured St Peter's Square in his open-top 'Popemobile', kissing babies and waving to cheering crowds who held up flags from around the world, including his native Argentina.

Easter is the holiest day in the Christian calendar and celebrates the belief in Jesus Christ's death and resurrection. It is the culmination of weeks of intense prayer for Christians.

Pope Francis arrives for the mass in St Peter's Square

The Catholic Church has been struggling in the face of rising secularism, particularly in Europe where attendances at masses are falling sharply.

During his message, Francis prayed God would reach "every house and every family, especially where the suffering is greatest, in hospitals, in prisons."

On Holy Thursday, Francis celebrated an unprecedented Mass in a youth prison in Rome in which he washed the feet of 12 inmates including two girls and two Muslims - a ritual seen as a gesture of humility towards the 12 apostles attributed to Jesus.

Previous popes only ever performed the ritual with priests or Catholic laymen.

Francis took over the papacy after the resignation of Benedict XVI who stunned the world by announcing he wanted to become the first pope to leave office voluntarily in more than 700 years.

The 85-year-old admitted he no longer had the physical or mental strength to carry out his papal duties.

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North Korea: Nuclear Arsenal 'Will Be Increased'

North Korea has vowed to strengthen its nuclear capability, keeping up a defiant tone a day after warning it was in a "state of war" with South Korea.

Pyongyang also said it would never abandon its atomic weapons in exchange for aid, describing them as a "national treasure".

The central committee of the ruling Workers' Party, chaired by leader Kim Jong-Un, decided at a meeting that the country's nuclear arsenal "should be expanded and beefed up qualitatively and quantitatively until the denuclearisation of the world is realised", the official KCNA news agency reported.

Tensions have risen sharply since the United Nations tightened sanctions in response to the North's nuclear and missile tests. Joint US-South Korean military drills south of the border also angered Pyongyang.

On Saturday, the North declared it was in a "state of war" with the South and warned Seoul and Washington that any provocation would swiftly escalate into an all-out nuclear conflict.

Mr Kim presided over a the party's central committee meeting

During their meeting, members of the committee also decided to develop a light water reactor as part of a civilian nuclear power industry to ease electricity shortages, KCNA said.

The North in 2010 disclosed the existence of a uranium enrichment facility and a light water reactor, purportedly to generate power.

Experts said it could easily be reconfigured to make fuel for nuclear weapons, supplementing the existing plutonium weapons programme.

In April 2009, the North formally abandoned six-party talks which offered it economic and security benefits in return for denuclearisation.

Join US-South Korean military drills have angered Pyongyang

On Sunday it reiterated that its atomic weapons were not a bargaining chip.

"They are a treasure of a reunified country which can never be traded with billions of dollars," KCNA quoted the committee as saying.

The meeting vowed to push for nuclear development and boost both agriculture and living standards.

The committee also said it wanted to develop space science and technology, including the launching of more advanced satellites, including communications satellites.

Pyongyang says its long-range rocket launches are aimed at putting satellites into orbit for peaceful purposes. The United States and other nations say the real purpose is to test banned ballistic missile technology.

As tensions have escalated in recent weeks, Washington has maintained a notably assertive stance, flying its nuclear-capable B-52s and B-2 stealth bombers over the South.

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India: Victims Urge New Laws For Acid Attacks

By Alex Rossi, Asia Correspondent

Human rights groups in India say changes to the rape laws do not go far enough to deal with the dramatic rise in acid attacks on women.

New legislation has been passed following the gang rape of a student in Delhi in 2012 which has increased the punishment for acid attacks - but campaigners say the horrific nature of the crime means it needs its own specific legislation.

Ms Mukherjee as she looked before the attack

Over the last decade the number of women being targeted with chemicals has grown.

Hydrochloric, sulphuric and nitric acid can be bought at any hardware store without any questions asked.

The chemicals are frequently used by men to attack women - leaving them with the most terrible, life-changing injuries.

Sonali Mukherjee, 27, had acid thrown in her face by a spurned suitor.

She lost her sight and most of her skin and says she has now been rejected by society because of her injuries.

Incredibly her attacker has still not been brought to justice nine years after the crime was committed.

"After this attack everything is destroyed. My life is completely changed. I become blind. I could not see, I could not eat, I could not walk. I feel very pained.

Assem Trivedi says the sale of acid in India should be regulated

"I feel very depressed - my ambition is destroyed, my hope is destroyed, my everything is destroyed."

Campaign group Stop Acid Attacks accuses the government of ignoring the growing trend of chemical assaults despite widespread calls for greater protection of women.

Activist Assem Trivedi says as well as the regulation of the sale of acid, new laws need to be urgently framed which deal specifically with the crime.

Police and protesters clash after a seven-year-old girl was raped in Delhi

"If I chuck acid on her face I am destroying her whole life. I am giving her lifetime injuries so I think we should not deal with acid attacks as we deal with any other physical assault case. It is completely different because it is so much worse."

The gang-rape and murder of a student in Delhi in 2012 and the protests which followed have provoked soul searching on the way women are treated in India.

A recent UN report claimed India is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be born a woman. Sexual assaults, dowry, honour killings, acid attacks and female infanticide - because of a preference for sons - are common crimes females face on a daily basis.

In Delhi, four rape cases a day have been reported since the start of 2013

Ms Mukherjee is now looked after by her father and says whatever the government does it will not be enough without major cultural changes and a great deal of education.

"I don't know the future of women in India. Nobody here is safe; women in villages and towns and even in the capital city, they are not safe - God save us."

Unless there is greater equality between the sexes, she says women will always be victims in India.

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Nelson Mandela 'Breathing Without Difficulty'

Nelson Mandela is now "breathing without difficulty" after being treated for pneumonia, South Africa's president has said.

Jacob Zuma's office issued the statement after the 94-year-old had fluid drained from his chest.

It said the treatment had "resulted in him now being able to breathe without difficulty".

"He continues to respond to treatment and is comfortable," the statement added.

It comes after Mr Zuma's spokesman Mac Maharaj gave an upbeat report on Friday.

"He was in good spirits, he had a full breakfast, and the doctors report that he's making steady progress,"  he said.

"He sat up and had his breakfast in bed."

It remains unclear how long Mr Mandela will remain at the undisclosed hospital.

The former South African president's recent health troubles have triggered an outpouring of prayers, with his country coming to terms with the mortality of the revered Nobel Peace Prize winner.

Nearly 20 years after he came to power in 1994, he remains a unifying symbol in a country still riven by racial tensions and deep inequality.

It is the second time this month that he has been admitted to hospital, after spending a night for check-ups on March 9.

That followed a hospital stay of nearly three weeks in December, when Mandela was treated for another lung infection and underwent gallstone surgery.

He was diagnosed with early-stage tuberculosis in 1988 during his 27 years in prison under the apartheid regime and has long had problems with his lungs. He has also had treatment for prostate cancer and has suffered stomach ailments.

Mandela's ex-wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela told public broadcaster SABC that "Tata (father) is doing well".

"He's responding very well to treatment," said Madikizela-Mandela, who attended a Friday church service in Soweto where the congregation prayed for Mandela.

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Shroud Of Turin On Display For TV Special

The Shroud of Turin has gone on display for a special television appearance in Italy, as new research disputes claims that the linen is a medieval fake.

Pope Francis sent a video message to the event at Turin's cathedral, but made no claim that the image on the shroud of a man with wounds similar to those suffered by Christ was really that of Jesus.

Many experts stand by carbon-dating of scraps of the cloth that date it to the 13th or 14th century.

However, some have suggested the dating results might have been skewed by contamination and have called for a larger sample to be analysed.

New research purports to date the linen - which some say was Jesus Christ's burial cloth - to around the time of his death.

A bishop prays in front of the shroud in Turin

The Vatican has tiptoed around just what the cloth is, calling it a powerful symbol of Christ's suffering while making no claim to its authenticity.

"This disfigured face resembles all those faces of men and women marred by a life which does not respect their dignity, by war and violence which afflict the weakest," Pope Francis said in his video address.

"The face in the shroud conveys a great peace. This tortured body expresses a sovereign majesty.

"It lets a pure and calm energy shine through and it seems to say to us: 'Trust and don't to lose hope. The power of the Lord defeats all'."

The 14-foot-long and 3.5-foot-wide cloth is kept in a bullet-proof, climate-controlled case in Turin's cathedral, but is only rarely open to the public.

The authenticity of the shroud is the subject of debate

The last time was in 2010 when more than two million people lined up to pray before the shroud.

The latest display coincided with Holy Saturday, when Catholics mark the period between - according to Christian faith - Jesus's crucifixion on Good Friday and his resurrection on Easter Sunday.

The display also coincided with the release of a book based on new scientific tests on the shroud that researchers say date the cloth to the 1st century.

The research in The Mystery Of The Shroud, by Giulio Fanti of the University of Padua, and journalist Saverio Gaeta, is based on chemical and mechanical tests on fibres of material extracted for the carbon-dating research.

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Russia: Homeless Battling Brutal Cold Spring

By Katie Stallard, Moscow Correspondent

Russia celebrated Maslenitsa, the traditional end of winter festival, a fortnight ago - but the weather does not seem to have taken the hint.

Large stretches of the Moscow river remain frozen, the streets are still packed with ice and snow.

The state weather service says the country is experiencing its coldest March for more than half a century.

Last week, temperatures dropped to -25C overnight.

The unusually cold spring is having serious consequences for the capital's homeless.

Sky News joined a mobile field kitchen run by a charity handing out food near one of Moscow's busiest stations.

The crowd began to gather just before 5pm, standing to one side of the busy pavement as the capital's rush hour hurried home.

Several people asked us to promise our footage would not be shown on Russian television as they were too ashamed for their families to see them.

Volunteers from the Just Help charity arrived to hand out small pots of pasta from the back of a van, with a couple of slices of bread and a hot drink.

It wasn't much, but for many of those gathered it was the only hot food they would eat all day, and a brief respite from the relentless cold.

One of the men, Yuri, told us: "When you are out in the cold 24 hours a day your whole body is cold all the time, you feel like you are freezing.

"Cold weather makes it much worse, you are losing your health. That's why I am trying to eat something hot once a day, trying to take care of myself."

Another man, Augustin, who had both hands amputated, sobbed as he told us: "I had a bladder infection and frostbitten feet, I even got into the hospital because of it, they gave me a surgery.

Homeless people queue at the mobile field kitchen run by Just Help

"My legs were really badly damaged, but the doctor managed to save them. This doctor is the best."

The charity is run by Dr Elizaveta Glinka, but everybody here knows her as 'Dr Liza'.

As she handed out warm socks and medical supplies from an ambulance, she told Sky News: "Many more of them [the homeless] die when spring comes.

"In winter they understand that it's dangerous and are more alert. In March and April, they die from road accidents and from cold as they start sleeping outside.

"Around 30 homeless people freeze every month - those are official statistics. When it gets warmer and the snow piles melt, there will be many bodies found."

A young man called Sasha told us he had been on the streets since he was eight years old and offered to show us how he survived the cold.

He took us to the railway station where he explained that sometimes he slept in the doorways, but often he would just ride around on the metro.

A single ticket is valid all day on the Moscow underground as long as you don't leave the station.

One route, he told us, takes three hours and let's you get some sleep.

Sasha said: "It's very cold in winter, I often get ill. It's much harder to find food. I have to sleep in railway stations and on the metro, but of course the metro is closed at night.

"Winter is a very hard season."

With that he headed off back down to the underground - disappearing into the crowds to take the trains in circles until the stations close.

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