Australia: PM Gillard Forced Out By Rudd

Julia Gillard has stepped down as Australia's first female prime minister after losing a party leadership fight with Kevin Rudd.

Mr Rudd has been sworn in as the country's new leader with just months until a general election after he won a Labor Party ballot by 57 votes to 45.

The defeated leader made no comment to reporters as she left the voting chamber flanked by supporters, but she later congratulated Mr Rudd and confirmed an earlier pledge that she would quit politics after the elections if she lost the ballot.

She said it had been a "humbling" privilege to have been prime minister, adding: "I thank the Australian Labor Party for that privilege and I thank the Australian people for their support."

Mr Rudd, who had made a string of unsuccessful attempts at winning back the reins since being ousted by Ms Gillard in a similar 2010 showdown, praised Ms Gillard's achievements in power and called her a "remarkable reformer".

But he said "negative, destructive personal politics" had dishonoured parliament and had done nothing good for the country. "In fact it's been holding our country back," he said. "All this must stop."

Welsh-born Ms Gillard called the party ballot earlier amid reports that her bitter rival's supporters were gearing up for a fresh leadership challenge.

Opposition leader Tony Abbott

Opinion polls had shown that the party could face huge losses in the September elections, but that Mr Rudd would be the more popular leader.

The power struggles between Ms Gillard and Mr Rudd had been well documented over the past three years.

In March, she managed to retain the leadership of the party after she was urged to hold a ballot. Mr Rudd admitted at the time he did not have enough support to defeat her.

During a similar battle in 2012, a video emerged of the Mandarin-speaking former diplomat Mr Rudd slamming his fist in an expletive-ridden tirade about a Chinese interpreter. Ms Gillard's office was forced to deny leaking the footage.

As Ms Gillard called the latest ballot with just hours of notice, she appeared frustrated over the petition for a vote that was circulating within the party.

She said: "Call me old-fashioned, but the way in which these things are normally done is a challenger approaches the leader of the Labor Party and asks them to call a ballot for the leadership, who shake hands and then a ballot is held.

"That hasn't happened but in these circumstances I do think it is in the best interests of the nation and in the best interests of the Labor Party for this matter to be resolved ... "

Mr Rudd, who first swept to power in 2007, had said Labor was facing a "catastrophic defeat" at the next election unless there was "change".

The 55-year-old has promised tighter control of public spending, a speedier return to surplus budgets, and stronger economic growth.

He said he would resume the job "with humility, with honour and with an important sense of energy and purpose".

The blow to Ms Gillard has surprised people in her native Wales as well as her adopted homeland.

Born in Barry, in the Vale of Glamorgan, in 1961, she lived there before her family emigrated to Australia when she was a girl.

Vale of Glamorgan county councillor Ian Johnson said she remained popular, adding: "She has done a fantastic job and broken a glass ceiling in politics.

"Regardless of what you think about her politics she's been an inspiration - not just in Australia but also back here in Wales."

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Mandela: South African President Cancels Trip

President Jacob Zuma has cancelled a trip to Mozambique, as the goverment says Nelson Mandela's condition "remains critical".

Mr Zuma decided to stay in South Africa after visiting Mr Mandela in hospital where he "found him to be still in a critical condition", according to a statement from the President's office.

The announcement comes after sources confirmed to Sky News that Mr Mandela was no longer able to breathe unassisted.

The 94-year-old anti-apartheid leader was taken to a Pretoria hospital with a recurring lung infection on June 8, where he has now been treated for 19 days.

The cancellation of the trip to Mozambique, which was scheduled for today, is the first time Mr Zuma has scrapped a public engagement during that time.

People bring get well messages to Mr Mandela

Stuart Ramsay, Sky News' Chief Correspondent, who is in South Africa, said: "Nelson Mandela's tribal leaders have been told to prepare for the death of the former president, who remains in hospital unable to breathe without support.

"The advice comes after meetings with the family over the past two days.

"Senior tribal leaders - including Mr Mandela's tribal heir, grandson Mandla Mandela - were expected to visit the hospital for further talks with family members.

"In the Eastern Cape, where Mr Mandela will be buried, a member of the tribal authority confirmed that the clan had been told that he is extremely ill and although it is against Xhosa tradition to even discuss the death of a living person, they should prepare for the worst."

The statement from the president's office said that Mr Zuma was briefed on Mr Mandela's condition by the doctors treating him.

The Obama family arrives in Senegal on their Africa tour on Wednesday

Speaking earlier in the week Mr Zuma said: "We must support him and support his family.

"We must demonstrate our love and appreciation for his leadership during the struggle for liberation and in our first few years of freedom and democracy by living out his legacy and promoting unity, non-racialism, non-sexism and prosperity in our country."

US President Barack Obama arrived in Senegal on Wednesday to begin his first significant tour of Africa, during which he had planned to visit South Africa.

Michelle Obama and her daughters met Mr Mandela during a trip in 2011

The White House has said that it will defer to Mandela's family over whether the President would visit his political hero in hospital.

However, South Africa's foreign minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said that a meeting with the former South African leader would be impossible.

The two men met in 2005 when Mr Obama was a newly elected senator and  the former South African president was in Washington and have spoken by telephone since.

They have not met in person since then, although Michelle Obama met with Mr Mandela during a trip in 2011.

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Brazil Protesters Clash With Police Near Stadium

By Jason Farrell, Sky News Correspondent, In Brazil

Brazilian protesters have clashed with police outside the stadium where Brazil's football team played Uruguay in the semi-final of the Confederation Cup.

An estimated 50,000 anti-government demonstrators marched towards the Mineirao Stadium in Belo Horizonte.

Police set up a ring of steel in a mile radius around the stadium and defended their barricades with tear gas and rubber bullets.

A dense fog of acrid gas enveloped the protesters as they responded by lobbing gas canisters and rocks back at police and several large fires were ignited close to the police line.

The wave of protests that have hit Brazil began over a hike in transport fares but it has evolved into anger at high taxes, poor public services, government corruption and spending on the World Cup.

The protesters are complaining about government corruption

On Tuesday Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff met with protest leaders and State Governors. She promised reforms including £17bn of investment for the transport system.

Lower Congress also voted to drop a controversial measure that would have made in more difficult to prosecute officials. On top of this congress approved a bill earmarking oil revenues for improving education and health care.

But protesters remain unconvinced. Student demonstrator Rodrigo Xavaier told Sky News, "I don't believe the government, they can't be trusted. Until they deliver we will keep protesting."

Student Andre Crescencio added: "I don't agree with violence. I don't think this is something that should be happening in Brazil but unless we do this they won't hear us. The government's trying to pretend that everything is ok, but Brazil is still a third world country and we have a lot of problems."

Demonstrator Claudia Rubio said: "They are trying to put make up on Brazil and selling it as a country of pretty ladies and samba, but people are dying in the streets and all they care about is the World Cup."

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Syria: 'Friends' Agree Urgent Rebel Support

Western and Arab countries opposed to Syrian President Bashar al Assad have agreed to give urgent military support to rebels fighting for his overthrow.

Ministers from the 11 main countries which form the Friends of Syria group agreed "to provide urgently all the necessary material and equipment to the opposition on the ground".

They also condemned "the intervention of Hizbollah militias and fighters from Iran and Iraq," demanding that they withdraw immediately.

Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague a the meeting in Doha

The support will be channelled through a Western-backed rebel military command, the ministers agreed during talks in Doha.

Guerrillas from Lebanon's Shiite pro-Iranian Hizbollah organisation spearheaded the recapture of the strategic border town of Qusair from mainly Sunni Muslim rebels two weeks ago.

Hizbollah and Shiite Iraqi gunmen have also been fighting around the shrine of Sayyid Zainab, south of Damascus, while Iranian military commanders are believed to be advising Mr Assad's officers on their counter-offensives against the rebels.

The ministers said the growing sectarian nature of the conflict and the foreign interventions "threaten the unity of Syria (and) broaden the conflict" across the region.

They also expressed strong concern at the increasing presence of "terrorist elements" and growing radicalisation in Syria.

Ministers from Britain, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United States attended the talks in Doha.

Speaking at the meeting, US Secretary of State John Kerry said the support for the rebels would help change the balance on the battlefield, where regime forces have scored recent victories.

Mr Kerry expressed concern about Iran and Hizbollah fighters in Syria.

"That is a very, very dangerous development. Hizbollah is a proxy for Iran ... Hizbollah in addition to that is a terrorist organisation."

Mr Kerry blamed Hizbollah and Mr Assad with thwarting efforts to diffuse sectarian rebels and to negotiate a settlement.

The two-year-long civil war in Syria has so far left 93,000 people dead.

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Gunmen Kill Tourists In Pakistan

Gunmen have killed nine foreign tourists after storming a hotel in a remote area of northern Pakistan, say police.

"Unknown people entered a hotel where foreign tourists were staying last night and opened fire," said Ali Sher, a senior police officer in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan province.

The gunmen fled after the attack.

Five Ukrainians, three Chinese, a Russian and their guide were killed in the attack near the base camp for the snow-covered Nanga Parbat mountain, a popular destination for trekkers, officials said.

There has been no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

A senior government official said a large number of security personnel had been sent to the area.

"Since the area is very remote with no roads or transport, their bodies will have to be retrieved by helicopter," the official said.

Gilgit-Baltistan province - famous for its natural beauty -  had been considered one of the more secure areas of Pakistan but in recent years has witnessed a spate of attacks by militants targeting members of Pakistan's Shi'ite minority.

More follows...

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Whistleblower Snowden 'Has Left For Russia'

The whistleblower Edward Snowden, who leaked details about US snooping, has left Hong Kong for Russia, according to reports.

His departure was revealed in the Hong Kong newspaper the South China Morning Post.

More follows...

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