Khodorkovsky: 'Russia Heading For Revolution'

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Updated: 12:24pm UK, Friday 25 October 2013

Считаете ли Вы, что против Вас готовятся новые обвинения? Считаете ли Вы, что будете освобождены в срок?

За 10 лет я убедился - в моем деле нет ничего невозможного.

Во время второго процесса прокурор в московском суде доказывал, что я украл всю нефть, добытую моей компанией, а представитель министерства юстиции в то же время в ЕСПЧ утверждал обратное: нефть честно продана, но за нее недоплачены налоги.

Однако наш Верховный суд согласился с обоими взаимоисключающими утверждениями.

Какова Ваша ежедневная жизнь в колонии? Надежда Толоконникова недавно сказала, что по ее мнению условия ее содержания близки к пытке, и описала изоляцию и отчуждение от других заключенных. Не могли бы Вы описать свою камеру и бытовые условия? Как Вы общаетесь с семьей и внешним миром?

Я и мои товарищи по несчастью слышали, что женские колонии страшнее мужских, но не знали, что настолько. В женских колониях 16-часовой подневольный труд, выстаивание на морозе за недовыполнение нормы, запрет ходить в туалет или мыться хотя бы раз в неделю вызывает в мужской колонии немедленный и жестокий бунт. Такое бывает, но сравнительно редко, 2-3 раза в год на всю страну.

Мне, к счастью, с подобным столкнуться не довелось, хотя и здесь жизнь - не сахар. Главное, с чем тяжело смириться, - множество бессмысленных правил (например, теплую одежду одевают и снимают не по погоде, а по решению начальства) и полная зависимость от настроения этого самого начальства.

Я опишу свой день.

У нас 8-часовой рабочий день, плюс проверки, плюс немного времени для чтения, написания бумаг или встреч с адвокатом.

У нас барачное содержание, по 100-150 человек в бараке; спальные помещения по 2 кв.м на человека; в бараках тепло, что очень важно. В колонии ночью тихо, только горит свет, и раз в два часа в помещении ходит инспектор. Но мне это не мешает.

Трансляцию телевидения или радио ведет администрация, так что я смотрю только новости (естественно, госканалы). Ограничений в доступе к книгам и письменным принадлежностям нет, кроме одного - не более 10 книг, что, конечно, очень мешает. Нет никаких ограничений в отправлении и получении писем. Мне позволены звонки в течение 15 минут один раз в неделю.

Одежду выдают и стирают. Здесь проблем нет. Туалет общий, но чистый. Душ раз в неделю.

Следы мяса в пище вижу регулярно; свежие овощи - иногда в тюремном ларьке. Продуктовые посылки - один раз в два месяца, 20 кг. Я прошу орехи, сухофрукты, кофе. За 10 лет есть опыт сохранения здоровья. Днем есть час, когда можно на улице заниматься спортом.

С родными мне разрешено один раз в три месяца проводить по три дня в комнате свиданий и один раз в два месяца 4 часа через стекло и по телефону.

Тюрьма очень сильно уравнивает - когда я попал в тюрьму, я многое потерял. Многие прибыли со столь малым, что почти не заметили разницы. Она уравнивает забавным способом. Мой столь длительный срок повысил товарищеское отношение со стороны других заключенных. Я не просто отбываю срок, я отбываю неопределенный срок по капризу властей.

Что Вы думаете о задержании активистов «Greenpeace»? Удивлены ли Вы тем, что власти теперь похоже подвергают иностранных граждан тому же обращению, что и российских активистов?

Как минимум в краткосрочной перспективе с ними будут обращаться так же, как и с россиянами, в надежде отпугнуть остальных. Потом, я думаю, они будут освобождены.

Владимир Путин очень четко обозначил свою позицию, как внутренне, так и на международном уровне - он будет пытаться (давить), а те, кто не согласен, - должны сопротивляться. Если россияне смирились - он «закручивает гайки», если возмутились - проверяет на прочность, а затем, где надо, «отвинчивает». Иностранцы смирились - почему он должен вести себя иначе? Мир прозрачен, его «не поймут».

Где, по Вашему, окажется страна, если она продолжит двигаться в этом направлении под руководством Путина? Может ли произойти революция или экономический коллапс? Как Вы видите будущее для России?

Россия уже погрузилась в застой. Темпы экономического роста для данного этапа развития - слишком низкие. Инфраструктура (дороги, коммунальные сети) не развивается. Образование и наука, по крайней мере, стоят на месте.

В современном мире это означает постепенное отставание, на фоне быстро растущей Азии. А они - наши соседи.

Причины очевидны: несменяемая, бесконтрольная власть теряет гибкость, стареет, разрушается коррупцией. Кадровые, социальные лифты замерли для всех, кроме узкого круга приближенных и уникальных лизоблюдов.

Страна теряет устойчивость перед неизбежными кризисами. Оппозиция, настроенная на эволюционное развитие, постепенно замещается радикалами.

Возможны два варианта:

(1) реформы сверху, когда Путин постепенно введет реальную политическую конкуренцию и разделение властей. На это надежды мало, хотя массовый протест способен слегка подтолкнуть систему в этом направлении; или

(2) реформы снизу - на фоне того или иного кризиса, когда тот же массовый мирный протест может привести к власти демократическую оппозицию.

Риск в том, что во втором случае очень возможен переход в революционный режим, который в России чреват возрождением авторитаризма, просто с иными персонами.

Задача всех неравнодушных и ответственных граждан России - на мой взгляд - не допустить такого развития событий.

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Al Qaeda-Linked Syrian Rebel Leader 'Killed'

The leader of the powerful Syrian rebel group the al Nusra Front has been killed, according to Syrian state-run TV.

According to the one-line report, Abu Mohammad al Golani was killed in the coastal province of Latakia.

It did not say when or give further details.

However the rebel group said in a statement on Saturday that its leader was in good health.

"What was claimed by one channel alone, regarding what it claimed was the killing of the emir of al Nusra Front, was a lie," said the group.

The extremist front has become one of the most effective among the rebel groups fighting President Bashar Assad's forces.

The al Nusra Front played a key part in the Battle of Aleppo

However, it has links to al Qaeda and is classed by the US, the UK and the UN as a terrorist organisation.

If al Golani's death is confirmed it will be a significant blow to rebels, who consider the group to be the "special forces" of the battle against the regime.

The group, whose goal is to overthrow Mr Assad and establish an Islamist state under Sharia law, announced its creation in January 2012 and were key players in the Battle of Aleppo.

But they have an uneasy alliance with the National Coalition for Opposition Forces and many rebel groups consider them to be too extreme.

Al Nusra is opposed to western intervention in the nearly three-year-long Syrian civil war and many members consider the US to be an enemy of Islam.

The news of al Golani's death came as a car bomb outside a mosque in Damascus killed at least 40, including seven children.

Dozens of people were wounded in the car bombing in the rebel-controlled town of Suq Wadi Barada, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Anti-regime activists blamed the attack on government forces, while state news agency SANA said "the car exploded while the terrorists were packing it with explosives".

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US Spy Agency Site Crashes Amid Attack Claims

The website for America's National Security Agency has gone down, fuelling speculation that it might have been attacked by hackers.

The public-facing site for the intelligence agency, which has been under fire after whistleblower Edward Snowden released secret documents about it, suddenly went down on Friday afternoon - and is still unavailable.

Several Twitter accounts that purportedly belong to people loosely associated with the hacking movement Anonymous have suggested they are responsible, but the claims are unverified.

An NSA spokesperson denied the claims, saying they were "not true."

"NSA.gov was not accessible for several hours tonight because of an internal error that occurred during a scheduled update. The issue will be resolved this evening," the spokesperson said.

"Claims that the outage was caused by a distributed denial of service attack are not true."

Twitter users @AnonymousOwn3r and @TruthIzSexy implied that a DDoS (distributed denial-of-service) attack - a method of over-loading a website with too much traffic - may have been waged as an act of protest against the NSA.

Other Anonymous-affiliated accounts referred to the website crash.

Tweets from AnonyOps read: "Aww don't panic about http://nsa.gov being down. They have a backup copy of the internet.

"The #NSA is lawless and believes rules don't apply to them. Time for a total reboot."

An0nPun1shm3nt wrote: "Dear National Security Agency #NSA, Lesson #1 : If you spy on us, we are coming for you!"

The outage comes a day after former NSA director Michael Hayden was overheard speaking in an off-the-record conversation with a journalist, allegedly criticising the Obama administration over recent revelations leaked by Mr Snowden that the NSA had monitored the phone calls of at least 35 world leaders.

But Mr Hayden later told the Washington Post that he had not been disparaging about Mr Obama or his administration.

He said: "I didn't criticise the President. I actually said these are very difficult issues. I said I had political guidance, too, that limited the things that I did when I was director of the NSA. Now that political guidance (for current officials) is going to be more robust. It wasn't a criticism."

Meanwhile, a rally to protest the NSA's surveillance programmes is due to take place in Washington DC later today.

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FBI Probing Russian 'Spy Recruitment Centre'

The FBI is probing possible espionage at a Russian cultural exchange institute in Washington - a claim Moscow has denied.

The FBI is looking into whether Yuriy Zaytsev, the head of the government-run Russian Centre for Science and Culture, tried to recruit young Americans as intelligence assets, according to US officials cited by the AP news agency and other reports.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said it was "bewildered" by the reports and said the "fabrications they contained had nothing to do with the reality".

It demanded that the US government "unequivocally and publicly disavow the ill-intended attempts to cast a shadow on the activities of the Russian Centre for Science and Culture".

Mr Zaytsev dismissed the accusations as an attempt to hurt ties between Moscow and Washington.

"It's a shame that echoes of the Cold War are heard in Russian-American relations from time to time," the Russia news agency Itar-Tass quoted him as saying.

Anna Chapman was among Russian agents exposed in the US in 2010

The American magazine Mother Jones, which first reported the story, said the centre run by Mr Zaytsev had footed the bill for about 130 Americans to visit Russia.

The centre offers language lessons and cultural activities. The magazine said Mr Zaytsev or his associates had built files on participants, including one who had been an adviser to a US state governor.

The magazine said FBI agents have been interviewing Americans who participated in the programme.

US-Russian ties have been strained recently over differences on Syria, Moscow's decision to give refuge to former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden and the Kremlin's crackdown on the opposition and rights activists.

A flurry of spy cases has added to the tension.

In May, Russian security services arrested a US diplomat who they say was caught red-handed while trying to court a spy. He left the country a few days later.

In 2010, the FBI busted a ring of sleeper agents for Russia that it had been following for years in the United States.

All 10, including the now well-known Anna Chapman, pleaded guilty and were returned in a swap.

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Angela Merkel Hits Back In US Phone Tap Row

US Spying And The Moral High Ground

Updated: 6:47am UK, Friday 25 October 2013

By Tim Marshall, Foreign Affairs Editor

All nations spy, but not all nations claim they have liberal values and transparent government.

For those that do, it is a little embarrassing to be caught spying on your friends and military allies.

To be caught listening in on the private phone calls of the head of government of an ally is to be embarrassed on a different level.

Hence we see the presence of the US Ambassador to Berlin at the German foreign ministry.

Mr John B Emerson was called in to see foreign minister Guido Westerwelle for a touch of "clarification" on remarks made by the White House on Wednesday night.

This follows a call to Chancellor Angela Merkel's office by the Der Spiegel newspaper.

It asked a question which was probably based on some of Edward Snowden's files, to which it has access: "Has the US been tapping the mobile phone of the Chancellor?"

Der Spiegel says Germany's Federal Intelligence Service had enough information for Mrs Merkel to phone Barack Obama and ask the same question.

The Chancellery was confident enough to make public the call.

Within an hour, White House spokesman Jay Carney came up with an answer: "The  President assured the Chancellor that the United States is not monitoring, and will not monitor, the communications of the Chancellor."

Sadly, at the time of writing, the White House press corps did not appear to have asked the obvious question which arises from such a slippery answer: "OK - is not, and will not monitor, but has it monitored?"

President Obama has now found himself on the receiving end of phone calls from several indignant presidents.

The leaders of Brazil, Mexico, France, and Germany have all made it clear they take a dim view of activities of the American intelligence agencies in their own countries.

Brazil's President, Dilma Rouseff, even went so far as to cancel a state visit to Washington DC.

The US administration is now asking itself how much damage all of this is causing.

Some officials argue that spy storms come and go, but relationships survive.

Others agree about survival but say the relationships will be weakened and that America's standing in the world is damaged in the long term.

It is well known that Russia spies on Britain, which spies on China, which spies on America, which spies on … well, everyone it now appears.

Spying on enemies is obvious, and spying on trade partners is tolerated even if measures are taken to prevent it.

Spying on allies is frowned upon even if most countries do it while taking counter measures.

The French are well known to have been trying to steal everyone's business secrets for decades, and very good they are it too.

The golden rule is: don't get caught and don't embarrass us in public and remember, when it comes to allies, there are limits.

If the French and Americans wanted to know their respective positions ahead of a crucial UN Security Council vote, which was in the balance, they might use a variety of measures to find out.

If some of those measures were, perhaps, questionable and became public, it would be embarrassing but, behind the scenes, both sides would shrug their shoulders.

However, listening into the private calls of a head of government of a key ally is crossing a line - it is personal, a question of trust in a personal relationship, and it is impossible to justify in public.

Therefore, if the claims are true, the Americans have a stark choice.

In their democracy, with its open government, and liberal values, what has the greater value? The information you get from spying on friends at the highest levels or the moral standing you have among those friends and global public opinion?

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China Court Rejects Bo Xilai Appeal

A court in eastern China has rejected an appeal by ousted senior politician Bo Xilai and upheld his life sentence on charges of bribery, corruption and abuse of power.

In an announcement carried on its Weibo microblog, the official Xinhua news agency said that the high court in the eastern province of Shandong, where Bo was originally tried, had rejected his appeal. It gave no further details.

Once a rising star in China's leadership circles, Bo was jailed for life in September after a dramatic fall from grace that shook the ruling Communist Party.

His career was stopped short last year by a murder scandal in which his wife, Gu Kailai, was convicted of poisoning a British businessman, Neil Heywood, who had been a family friend.

The ruling is the latest development in one of China's most politically charged trials in decades.

But it comes as no surprise, with many political analysts saying such an outcome was predetermined by Communist Party leaders keen to put Bo away long enough to prevent him from making a comeback.

Bo Xilai's trial took place in the eastern city of Jinan last month

President Xi Jinping, who took office in March, will have wanted the Bo affair settled because the next few weeks are critical for his government.

At a closed-door party plenum next month, Xi will push for more economic reforms and he needs unstinting support from the party's elite 200-member Central Committee.

Bo, 64, who was Communist Party chief of the southwestern metropolis of Chongqing, mounted an unexpectedly fiery defence during his trial, denouncing testimony against him by his wife as the ravings of a mad woman hoping to have her own sentence reduced.

He repeatedly said that he was not guilty of any of the charges, although he admitted making some bad decisions and shaming his country by his handling of former Chongqing police chief, Wang Lijun, who first told Bo that Gu had probably murdered Mr Heywood.

Wang, who fled to the US consulate in the nearby city of Chengdu in February last year after confronting Bo with evidence that Gu was involved in the murder, was also jailed last year for covering up the crime.

Bo's wife Gu Kailai was found guilty of killing Briton Neil Heywood

According to Chinese law, Bo will not be able to lodge any further formal appeals, and while he can submit a "petition" to China's supreme court it is not required to take further action.

Sky's China correspondent Mark Stone said: "It is possibly the full stop that everyone has been waiting for at the end of this very long, protracted saga.

"This was a man who was once tipped for the very, very top of the Chinese government. He was to be, possibly one of the seven men on what's known as the standing committee of the politburo - the men who run the country, but his fall from grace was dramatic."

Bo cultivated a following through his populist, quasi-Maoist policies.

His policies in Chongqing won him supporters across China, but his openly ambitious approach also alienated other top party leaders, who saw it as harking back to a bygone era of strongman rule.

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Syria Rebel Attacks Cuts Power Across Country

An attack by Syrian rebels outside Damascus has caused a power cut across the country, the electricity minister has claimed.

The "large-scale operation" targeted a gas pipeline that feeds a power station in the south of the country leaving vast swathes of the country without electricity.

Power cuts were reported in the capital, as well as Aleppo in the north, and Homs in the centre of Syria.

A huge blaze could be seen near Damascus International Airport, which is located near to the affected power station.

It is the second attack on the power system in a month. In September a similar outage was caused after a high voltage power line was sabotaged.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director, Rami Abdel Rahman, said: "It is likely this was a large-scale operation planned well in advance."

Syria's electricity minister Emad Khamis said: "A terrorist attack on a gas pipeline that feeds a power station in the south has led to a power outage in the provinces, and work to repair it is in progress."

Foreign ministers hold talks on Syria in London on Tuesday

Meanwhile, rebels shelled two of the capital's main square, killing five people and wounding 22.

A car bomb hit a checkpoint in a western suburb of Damascus causing multiple casualties to troops.

The chemical weapons watchdog said that Bashar Assad's regime was expected to hand over a detailed plan for the destruction of its chemical arsenal in the next 24 hours, days ahead of the UN deadline.

The regime has already handed over an inventory of its chemicals, weapons and facilities, and a joint UN-Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons team has been in Syria since the start of the month inspecting and destroying them.

The team has now checked 18 of 23 declared sites in Syria, destroying production equipment at almost all of them.

However, prospects of a peace conference to try to end the conflict, which has been raging for nearly three years and cost more than 100,000 lives, remain distant.

The UN is attempting to broker talks in Geneva next month, however the Syrian opposition is refusing to attend unless regime change is on the table.

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Marikana Massacre: 'Damning' Evidence Emerges

By Alex Crawford, Special Correspondent

The Marikana Miners Support group has called for South African police to be prosecuted after apparently unearthing new evidence which disputes the authorities' version of what happened on the day more than 30 striking miners were shot dead by police.

The evidence was uncovered by a film-maker - who is also a member of the campaign group - while he was doing research for a documentary on the incident at the Lonmin mine in August 2012.

It appears to throw more doubt on the police claim that they acted in self-defence when they opened fire on striking miners.

As well as the 34 miners killed, nearly 80 others were left wounded.

The footage has been submitted to the Commission of Inquiry which is continuing into just what went wrong at Marikana.

Film-maker Rehad Desai called it "damning" evidence which showed - in his opinion - that the police had not only engineered the situation which led to the miners being shot, but had then lied repeatedly to the South African public and the inquiry to cover up their actions.

New video shows a miners' leader (circled) who was shot dead minutes later

The footage is shot from what Mr Desai called a "fourth" angle that was mostly unseen and unexamined.

It depicts a large group of the miners being led away from the hillock, or koppie as it is known in South Africa, where they had been demonstrating.

They are filmed walking away slowly, apparently passively and quietly, as they are shepherded by their leaders towards the informal settlement where many of them lived.

The footage, which is shown in the order which it was filmed and apparently has an embedded time code showing what time it was recorded, then shows increased activity among the police.

They are seen moving armoured police vehicles to block the miners' path and forming a barrier between them and the informal settlement.

The footage shows police with guns drawn, apparently before trouble started

The miners are corralled down a relatively narrow path alongside police vehicles and in the direction of a waiting line of armed police.

As they pass a row of police trucks, one policeman can be seen to the left of the picture shooting birdshot into the crowd of passing miners.

Other police then follow suit. The miners, who are already cowering with some crouching over, then start to panic.

One can be seen turning towards the police who are side-on to the crowd and firing his handgun directly at the police.

There is some smoke seen which is thought to be tear gas. Miners start running away from the gas and the shooting coming at them from the side.

Film-maker Rehad Desai says the new evidence is 'damning

They run directly towards the line-up of police and within seconds, a cacophony of noise is heard as the police open fire with live ammunition.

The latest allegations follow a statement by the Commission a few weeks ago that it had managed to obtain documents which the police had previously said did not exist.

The Commission also managed to get access to police computer hard drives.

At the time, it issued a statement saying: "We have obtained documents which in our opinion demonstrate that the (police) version of the events at Marikana ... is in material respects not the truth."

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Migrant Crisis: 'UN Should Police Libyan Ports'

By Stuart Ramsay, Chief Correspondent

The Maltese Prime Minister has accused Northern European leaders of "hypocrisy" over the handling of immigration into Europe.

Joseph Muscat says a United Nations force should police Libyan ports to stem the tide of illegal immigrants if richer countries refuse to help frontline states.

Speaking before today's European Council meeting, Mr Muscat promised to be less co-operative on important Euro issues like bailouts if countries like Malta do not get more assistance.

Not far from the Maltese leader's office, a young Somali man shivers on the deck of a patrol boat as it enters the Grand Harbour of Valetta.

A refugee from North Africa in a Maltese detention centre for migrants

He and the others huddle together on the front and rear decks - over 120 of them.

They look scared and still worried, although in real terms they are safe now.

Fourteen hours earlier they were plucked from heavy Mediterranean seas by a United States warship, the USS San Antonio, then transferred to the Maltese armed forces.

They are herded ashore by masked and suited sailors, tagged and guided onto police buses before being driven to their new home - a detention centre where they will likely stay for the next 18 months.

Many in the centre have travelled thousands of miles from Africa

They are not prisoners, but holding centres are prisons in every sense.

High barbed wire walls keep the inmates inside. They sleep in large dormitories and they plan their moves to get an interview with a potential host nation that could offer them asylum.

As the latest inmates arrive there is a buzz of anticipation and the noise level rockets. The young men are sent to find their new accommodation. Many look terrified.

They have travelled thousands of miles from Somalia, risked their lives on unseaworthy boats, spent every penny they have and are now locked up in a huge noisy barracks. Arrival day is not a good day for Malta's new inhabitants.

Joseph Muscat: 'Europe is tackling the problem with tools of the past'

"We want freedom not this b*******," a young man whispers into my ear.

"We are escaping murder and we are treated like convicts. Nobody is happy about this, but nobody will say anything, they don't want to get sent back to Somalia," he said before disappearing into the throng.

The Maltese guards and the government accept it is not the best place in the world, but say they get little help from the outside world and the problem is not only not new, it is getting worse.

And still the international community does little to stop the stream of migrants crossing the Mediterranean.

This migrating human crisis now crosses Africa and the Middle East. Syrians are the latest nationality to join Nigerians, Somalis, Ethiopians and a host of others trying to get to Europe.

The boats usually come from Libya. A criminal network guides these people to the sea and on to Europe, although the chances of making it are often no better than 50/50.

The chaos of Libya means there is no law enforcement, so Europe's protection is down to Malta, Italy and Spain.

The centre holds migrants from Nigeria, Somalia and Ethiopia

Malta's minuscule military has tens of thousands of miles of sea to patrol. Simply put, it can't manage.

The prime minister wants a UN force to control Libya's ports and is demanding, along with other Mediterranean nations, that richer northern nations such as the UK do more, pay more and take more responsibility.

Mr Muscat will tell European leaders that countries receiving their aid money must find ways to screen people wanting to migrate.

He says that illegal immigrants who do not pass muster for legitimate immigration should be repatriated by Europe working as a united body.

"Europe is trying to tackle a problem with tools of the past. It's like trying to send an e-mail on a fax machine," he told Sky News in the magnificent surroundings of the PM's official castle built to protect Europe centuries ago.

"It is a European problem and global problem."

More migrants arrive in Malta every week

Accusing Europe of "hypocrisy" over the immigration issue, he says European leaders will "talk" and do nothing.

"It is all wrong. I turn down applications on a technicality. But if they get on a boat and come here illegally they stay and make it to Europe. They are making people act like criminals," he said.

"We could have said 'tough luck' when they wanted money for the bailouts. But we did the right thing. We need solidarity now."

The truth is that in Europe, where more than 270,000 people claimed asylum last year, governments do not like the whole immigration issue one bit.

Politically, it could cost an election, so they dodge it - or at least dodge giving an easy welcome to anyone, even if they are legitimate asylum seekers rather than benefit fraudsters.

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'White Widow' Lewthwaite's Ode To Bin Laden

By Alex Crawford, Special Correspondent

The British terror suspect sought by police following the Nairobi shopping mall massacre wrote a poem in praise of Osama bin Laden in which she warned that al Qaeda is "stronger and fiercer" than ever, Sky News can reveal.

Samantha Lewthwaite - known as the "White Widow" - pledged to continue the fight to bring terror to the West and suggested she was prepared to be a martyr for the Islamic cause.

In the 34-line Ode To Osama, which was found by police on a computer in her Kenyan home, Lewthwaite said her love for the mastermind of the September 11 attacks "is like no other".

She lamented his death in 2011 at the hands of American special forces and called on Muslims to follow his example.

Investigators found an "Ode to Osama" on Lewthwaite's computer

"Us we are left to continue what you started," she wrote.

"To seek the victory until we are martyred. To instill (sic) terror into kuffar (non-Muslims) …Your life an example of how we should be.

"Oh Muslims listen to our beloved sheik's words, Let not his struggle and efforts go unheard, Revive what he started and strive to success, Then maybe we can be raised with the best."

The British suspect rented an apartment overlooking the Junction mall

Lewthwaite was married to July 7 bomber Jermaine Lindsay and lived with him in Buckinghamshire before the 2005 attacks. They had two children together.

Last year it emerged she had left Britain for East Africa and had been linked to the al Qaeda terror group al Shabaab.

Despite her sorrow at bin Laden's death, she warned the West - and US President Barack Obama - that the jihad was not over.

Sky News gained access to a flat directly below the one Lewthwaite rented

"As for our enemies our words will be less," she wrote.

"You picked the wrong army to contest. Al Qaeda are stronger and fiercer than ever. Their (sic) was no victory for you Mr Obama The honour is his on martyred Osama!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

As part of an investigation, Sky News has discovered that Lewthwaite, who is being hunted by Interpol in the aftermath of the Westgate Shopping Mall massacre, lived in a flat in the Kenyan capital overlooking a different shopping centre  for seven months in 2011.

Sky's Alex Crawford spoke to a block supervisor, who recognised Lewthwaite

She used her South African alias Natalie Faye Webb while she rented the apartment with her four children.

Sky News sources who are involved in the hunt for her have said this was one of three addresses she acquired in the capital.

It is the first time she has been specifically placed in the city where last month's attack, which left at least 67 people dead, took place.

Lewthwaite rented the apartment using her known alias, Natalie Faye Webb

Detectives examining the hard drive of a computer left at her house in Mombasa found several self-portraits of Lewthwaite, including one where she posed with two of her children.

They also discovered evidence which led them to an apartment block in Nairobi overlooking the Junction shopping mall, which British and Kenyan intelligence believe was a potential target for the al Shabaab terror group with which Lewthwaite has been linked.

She lived there with her four children and despite having no apparent income paid 60,000 shillings (nearly £500) a month for the three-bedroom flat.

The clean-up at the site of the Westgate mall attacks is ongoing

A man from the apartment block said she used to go shopping at the nearby mall - popular just like Westgate with wealthy expats - for up to four hours at a time.

Police also traced a flash drive back to her which showed the British woman who married a suicide bomber had spent eight years researching chemicals, explosive ingredients and how to make bombs.

One document she downloaded is entitled the Mujahideen explosives handbook.

The examination of her hard drive showed she had also Googled a significant number of dieting and fitness sites, including websites with workout routines to help you lose weight and makeover sites which demonstrated how to have hair like the singer Taylor Swift.

Out of nearly 2,000 files found, a vast number were about health and body image, and she had downloaded documents about getting started in bodybuilding and visited one site about self-defence.

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Syrian Refugee Rescue Caught On Film

By Stuart Ramsay, Chief Correspondent

Illegal immigrants are dying in the Mediterranean in record numbers because criminal gangs know that rich northern European countries such as the UK are too scared to address the issue of international migration because of domestic politics.

As European leaders meet this week to discuss demands for help from frontline countries like Malta, Sky News has obtained exclusive pictures of the moment hundreds of Syrians are left swimming for their lives over a hundred miles from shore.

Hundreds of refugees were tipped into the sea when their boat sank

Mediterranean countries say the whole European Union has to do more and must ignore local politics to help genuine refugees.

There is nothing more scary that being in heavy waters in a rubber dinghy when you are fleeing a war-torn country and you are already completely exhausted.

For refugees and illegal migrants that is normal. Life is basically terrible.

Malta, Spain and Italy are trying to deal with this daily problem.

Survivors scrambled onto life rafts thrown to them by the Maltese navy

The system is not perfect and to be frank they are not being as vigilant as they could be because they cannot really cope with what is going on.

This is a huge international problem that has been going on for years - but nobody so far has done anything significant to stop it.

Sky News obtained a remarkable series of videos from the Maltese government that show for the first time an entire rescue.

The migrants' boat has been shot at by Libyan gunmen who are traffickers and have not been paid off.

Young children were among those pulled from the water

Within hours the boat either capsizes or sinks, with Syrian migrants dumped into the sea.

By chance a Maltese spotter plane sees them and a rescue mission, lasting more than 20 hours, begins.

This man does not know if his two children survived

The spotter plane drops a life raft that gives the survivors a point to aim for. They swim in their dozens to try to find something to hold onto.

It will take over an hour of treading water before the rescue boats arrive. Many people die in this time.

Patrol boats and launch vessels pick the survivors from the sea. This is a joint venture between the Maltese and the Italian navy.

Men, women and children are transferred from the rubber boats to the safety of the patrol vessels.

Among them, a little girl and her father clutching one another survived. Her twin sister has died; her mother, his pregnant wife, perished trying to save the girl.

They know nothing of this as they stand on the rescue ship deck being dried. As with all these disasters many families are split forever in the rescue.

On shore the Syrian migrants wait in a detention centre for news of family members who have simply disappeared. A man cries in anguish and writes on a shoe box: "Where are my two children?"

A translator says he does not know if they are dead or not.

A doctor represents the people in an emotional appeal for more information. I speak to him quietly. I ask why a paediatrician is here, risking this dreadful trip.

"We have no choice, Stuart, you know that," he says. "It is too dangerous in Syria so I decided to take my family to somewhere safe.

"But this has been terrible. Worse than I ever imagined."

I ask if he would do it again.

"Yes," he says. "There is no choice."

These are not work-shy foreigners looking for benefits. These are refugees.

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Australian PM Hits Out At UN Amid New Infernos

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has denied that devastating bushfires in Australia are linked to climate change as firefighters continue to battle flames.

Mr Abbott accused the United Nations climate chief Christiana Figueres of "talking through her hat" after she said there was "absolutely" a connection between bushfires and rising temperatures.

Mr Abbott told an Australian radio station: "These fires are certainly not a function of climate change - they're just a function of life in Australia."

At least 65 fires have spread across the state of New South Wales (NSW) with 18 of them uncontained as warnings were issued for people to leave their homes or be extra vigilant.

Fire crews have been working flat-out for a week to contain the blazes

In Springwood, where more than 100 homes were lost last week, one inferno has been upgraded to the highest "emergency" level.

NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said: "On days like today minutes really matter, with the focus again on the Blue Mountains region west of Sydney, a popular tourist area home to 75,000 people where three huge infernos have been burning for days."

Fires also broke out at Minmi near Newcastle, north of Sydney, which was deemed an "emergency" as it closed the main freeway that links the two cities and sparked traffic chaos.

"If you are in Minmi, follow your survival plan. If your plan is to leave, leave now," the fire service said.

Another blaze at Colo, northwest of Sydney, was burning aggressively with water-bombing aircraft attempting to bring it under control, although the high winds were hampering the effort.

So far more than 120,000 hectares (296,500 acres) of land has been burned across the state and more than 200 homes destroyed.

But only one person has died as residents heed advice to either flee or head to evacuation centres.

Temperatures were in the mid-30C range on Wednesday. The heat, combined with low humidity and expected winds of up to 100km (62 miles) per hour, has led to conditions described as "as bad as it gets" by the fire service.

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Syria: Ministers Meet Ahead Of Peace Talks

By Tim Marshall, Foreign Affairs Editor

The Friends of Syria group is meeting in London in a bid to keep next month's proposed Syria peace conference on track.

William Hague and counterparts from 10 other countries will discuss how to support the Syrian opposition ahead of the conference due to take place in Geneva.

Failure to agree a united front could jeopardise the chances of the conference, scheduled for Switzerland on November 23, even taking place.

The conference, Geneva II, is intended to build on last year's Geneva agreement in which most parties to the conflict, including Russia, signed-up to a rough road map intended to lead to peace.

Representatives of the opposition Syrian National Coalition are also expected to attend.

But one of the most prominent factions within the coalition, the Syrian National Council, has said it has no faith in negotiations with Bashar al Assad's regime and won't be part of the Geneva process.

Mr Hague hopes to unite the Coalition but Mr Assad has cast doubt on talks

Some of the Arab countries are also concerned about the prospects for success next month. One Arab diplomat told Sky News: "It is unclear who will attend and it is unclear what the agenda is." 

Invitations for Geneva will be issued by the United Nations and it has yet to say if the Iranians will be invited. 

Nor is it clear if the Assad government will attend as it wants more clarity on how London, Paris, and Washington interpret the first Geneva agreement. That calls for a "transitional government".

Mr Assad has cast doubt on the conference, brokered by the US and Russia, telling Lebanon's al Mayadeen TV that "the factors that would help in holding it are not in place if we want it to succeed".

He added: "Who are the groups that will participate? What is their relation with the Syrian people? Do they represent the Syrian people or they represent the country that made them?"

The Western powers say that means one in which Mr Assad has no future. However, Russia  and the Syrian government point out that it says "by mutual consent".

Add to these problems that most of the opposition forces inside Syria no longer pay any attention to the Council, and that those forces will not go to Geneva, and the prospects for peace are dim.

Foreign Secretary Mr Hague said the meeting was to "discuss preparations for the Geneva Conference, support for the Syrian National Coalition, and our efforts to achieve a political settlement to this tragic conflict".

Today's conference is to try and iron out some of those problems, then work on making Geneva II a success.

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Dublin: 'Abused Child' Found Wandering Streets

Police fear a teenager who was found wandering the streets of Dublin may be the victim of sex trafficking after she drew them pictures of herself apparently being raped.

Interpol has been called in to try to identify the girl, who could be as young as 14.

She was found in a dazed state on O'Connell Street about 10 days ago and is yet to speak to officers.

However, she has reportedly drawn several pictures which apparently show her being raped, with one illustrating men around a bed handing over cash.

Plans are in place to move the girl from a Dublin hospital to a more secure location where she can also receive psychological treatment.

The Irish Health Service Executive (HSE) has secured a temporary care order for the girl, but police are considering getting permission from the courts to release her photo to try to identify her.

The girl is white, aged between 14 and 16 years, and is said to look Eastern European. She was dressed normally when she was found in daylight hours.

"We do not know who the child is because she has being unable to communicate with anybody," said an unidentified source.

"We have no child fitting her description reported to us in this country so we believe she came here from another country.

"Her welfare is our priority at the moment."

The Immigrant Council of Ireland said while the circumstances of this case were yet to be established, the trafficking of children was a reality in the country.

In 2012, some 23 of the 48 trafficking victims identified were children and most were sexually exploited.

Nusha Yonkova, an anti-trafficking co-ordinator, said: "The figures should alarm us all and underlines the need for urgent political action both nationally and at EU level.

"This week the European Parliament will hear that over 270,000 victims are trafficked for sexual exploitation in the EU each year with 'Mafia-type' criminal networks pocketing €25bn (£21bn).

"It is estimated that up to €250m (£212m) of that is from Ireland.

"Together, with the 68 Irish organisations which make up the Turn Off The Red Light Campaign, we believe the best way to end this evil trade is to target demand, in other words the buyers of sex."

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'White Widow' Lewthwaite's Ode To Bin Laden

By Alex Crawford, Special Correspondent

The British terror suspect sought by police following the Nairobi shopping mall massacre wrote a poem in praise of Osama bin Laden in which she warned that al Qaeda is "stronger and fiercer" than ever, Sky News can reveal.

Samantha Lewthwaite - known as the "White Widow" - pledged to continue the fight to bring terror to the West and suggested she was prepared to be a martyr for the Islamic cause.

In the 34-line Ode To Osama, which was found by police on a computer in her Kenyan home, Lewthwaite said her love for the mastermind of the September 11 attacks "is like no other".

She lamented his death in 2011 at the hands of American special forces and called on Muslims to follow his example.

Investigators found an "Ode to Osama" on Lewthwaite's computer

"Us we are left to continue what you started," she wrote.

"To seek the victory until we are martyred. To instill (sic) terror into kuffar (non-Muslims) …Your life an example of how we should be.

"Oh Muslims listen to our beloved sheik's words, Let not his struggle and efforts go unheard, Revive what he started and strive to success, Then maybe we can be raised with the best."

The British suspect rented an apartment overlooking the Junction mall

Lewthwaite was married to July 7 bomber Jermaine Lindsay and lived with him in Buckinghamshire before the 2005 attacks. They had two children together.

Last year it emerged she had left Britain for East Africa and had been linked to the al Qaeda terror group al Shabaab.

Despite her sorrow at bin Laden's death, she warned the West - and US President Barack Obama - that the jihad was not over.

Sky News gained access to a flat directly below the one Lewthwaite rented

"As for our enemies our words will be less," she wrote.

"You picked the wrong army to contest. Al Qaeda are stronger and fiercer than ever. Their (sic) was no victory for you Mr Obama The honour is his on martyred Osama!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

As part of an investigation, Sky News has discovered that Lewthwaite, who is being hunted by Interpol in the aftermath of the Westgate Shopping Mall massacre, lived in a flat in the Kenyan capital overlooking a different shopping centre  for seven months in 2011.

Sky's Alex Crawford spoke to a block supervisor, who recognised Lewthwaite

She used her South African alias Natalie Faye Webb while she rented the apartment with her four children.

Sky News sources who are involved in the hunt for her have said this was one of three addresses she acquired in the capital.

It is the first time she has been specifically placed in the city where last month's attack, which left at least 67 people dead, took place.

Lewthwaite rented the apartment using her known alias, Natalie Faye Webb

Detectives examining the hard drive of a computer left at her house in Mombasa found several self-portraits of Lewthwaite, including one where she posed with two of her children.

They also discovered evidence which led them to an apartment block in Nairobi overlooking the Junction shopping mall, which British and Kenyan intelligence believe was a potential target for the al Shabaab terror group with which Lewthwaite has been linked.

She lived there with her four children and despite having no apparent income paid 60,000 shillings (nearly £500) a month for the three-bedroom flat.

The clean-up at the site of the Westgate mall attacks is ongoing

A man from the apartment block said she used to go shopping at the nearby mall - popular just like Westgate with wealthy expats - for up to four hours at a time.

Police also traced a flash drive back to her which showed the British woman who married a suicide bomber had spent eight years researching chemicals, explosive ingredients and how to make bombs.

One document she downloaded is entitled the Mujahideen explosives handbook.

The examination of her hard drive showed she had also Googled a significant number of dieting and fitness sites, including websites with workout routines to help you lose weight and makeover sites which demonstrated how to have hair like the singer Taylor Swift.

Out of nearly 2,000 files found, a vast number were about health and body image, and she had downloaded documents about getting started in bodybuilding and visited one site about self-defence.

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Cairo Church Gun Attack: Girl, 8, Shot Dead

Three people, including an eight-year-old child, have been killed in a drive-by shooting at a wedding outside a church in Cairo.

Masked gunmen on motorbikes shot randomly at guests as they left the Coptic Christian church in the Waraa neighbourhood, in the north of the capital, on Sunday night.

Eyewitness Maged Hindy said: "There was a lot of traffic outside the church when a motorbike and a car approached the crowd outside the church. The car stopped and the gunmen on motorcycles started shooting and ran away."

The interior ministry confirmed that the eight-year-old girl, as well as a woman and a man were killed. It said nine others were wounded in the attack.

The church's priest, Father Dawoud, said: "What is happening is targeting all of Egypt and not only the Christians. This is enough, the people are getting sick and tired of this."

A wedding was taking place at the church when the gunmen attacked

The attack was the first such assault targeting Christians in Cairo since the military coup that ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected president, on July 3.

Islamists accuse Coptic Christians of backing the coup that toppled Mr Morsi, who belongs to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Rights groups say that Copts, native Egyptian Christians who account for six to 10% of the country's 85 million people, have come under attack mainly in the central provinces of Minya and Assiut.

Earlier this month, Amnesty International said more than 200 Christian-owned properties were attacked and 43 churches seriously damaged across the country since the August 14 crackdown against Mr Morsi's supporters in Cairo.

Egypt's Copts have long complained of discrimination and marginalisation, particularly under Mr Morsi's one-year rule.

Mr Morsi is to go on trial on November 4 over deadly clashes between his supporters and opponents.

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Kenya: Troops 'Loot' Westgate Centre On CCTV

CCTV footage has emerged showing Kenyan troops appearing to loot goods as they cleared out the Westgate Shopping Mall after last month's terrorist attack.

The footage, taken on security cameras in the complex, seems to show soldiers taking boxes of mobile phones from a shop where a body lies on the ground.

Kenyan forces took four days to make safe the Westgate centre in Nairobi after it was attacked by al Shabaab militants on September 22.

Soldiers from the Kenyan Defence Force (KDF) were initially praised by the Kenyan public for the operation, in which several members of the security services were shot.

But now, since the CCTV was broadcast by a local TV station, the public in Nairobi has reacted with outrage.

Kenya's biggest-selling newspaper The Nation ran an article called "Shame of soldiers looting Westgate" under the caption "caught on camera".

Gunmen from the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab group massacred at least 67 people when they raided the upmarket Westgate mall.

Grenades were hurled at shoppers and bullets sprayed at members of the public, including children, as a "punishment" for Kenya sending troops to Somalia.

The closed-circuit television footage shows soldiers taking what appears to be unpacked mobile phone boxes from a phone store while others are in a mobile money transfer shop.

A couple of metres from the shop, a pool of spattered blood identifies the spot where a wounded man, crawling on the floor, was shot five times.

A parliamentary committee set up to probe the four-day siege found the KDF "never participated in looting".

Despite this, Kenya's press have criticised the KDF which, until now, has been considered one of Kenya's most professional institutions.

It has led to a deep sense of uneasiness among the Nairobi public.

University of Nairobi student Ndeva Vitalis said the parliamentary committee's findings were a lie.

"CCTV is the truth," he said.

One doctor, who asked not to be named, told Reuters: "The CCTV footage made me lose faith in KDF, who we all strongly supported after they crushed al Shabaab in Somalia.

"Now there is some sort of a cover-up taking place."

Emmanuel Chirchir, a spokesman for the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), said on Sunday that a news conference organised for Wednesday would deal with looting allegations.

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Australia Battles Blazes To Stop 'Mega-Fire'

Firefighters are trying to tame an enormous bushfire in southeastern Australia which could merge with other blazes to create a "mega-fire" if weather conditions worsen.

Crews have been battling fires that flared in high winds and searing heat across the state of New South Wales last week, destroying 200 homes and leaving many others damaged.

While dozens of blazes have been contained, 58 were still alight and 14 of them out of control, enveloping Sydney in a thick white smoke haze that prompted warnings for people to stay indoors and avoid exercising.

The main area of concern was near the town of Lithgow, west of Sydney, where a huge fire that has already burned nearly 155 square miles (99,000 acres) was threatening the communities of Bilpin, Bell, Clarence and Dargan.

Tea cups sit on a letterbox at a home destroyed by bushfire

Officials fear intensifying heat and winds this week could push it into another blaze at nearby Mount Victoria in the Blue Mountains and then move towards the populated areas of Katoomba and Leura.

"I don't think I've ever used the word mega-fire," said New South Wales rural fire service commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons.

"But the reality is that the modelling indicates that there's every likelihood that in the forecast weather conditions that these two fires, particularly up in the back end of the mountains, will merge at some point."

Lyndon Dunlop with his father among the ruins of his grandparents' home

The Australian military is investigating whether it was responsible for starting the blaze, northwest of Sydney.

The Australian Defence Force said its personnel were carrying out explosive ordnance training in the area on Wednesday, the day the blaze started.

Amid the worst fire disaster in the state for nearly 50 years, New South Wales declared a state of emergency on Sunday, which gives firefighters the power to forcibly evacuate people, with penalties for refusing.

Emergency Services Minister Mike Gallacher said every possible resource was being used, including firefighters being drafted in from interstate and the possibility that the military could also be deployed.

"Everything is being thrown at this, I can assure you," he said.

Sue Dunlop sits in front of her home of 41 years which was destroyed

With hundreds of people evacuated from their homes due to the encroaching flames, police have revealed they are dealing with reports of looting from victims, although the number of incidents is small.

State Premier Barry O'Farrell called looters "scumbags" and vowed to track them down.

"I'm just appalled that at these critical times, when people have been evacuated from homes or whether people have left homes because of fire dangers, that other scumbags in the community would front up and seek to rob them," he said.

Police, meanwhile, said a young boy, reportedly aged 11, was being questioned about deliberately lighting a fire on the New South Wales Central Coast last week that forced hundreds of people to flee their homes and saw the closure of Newcastle airport.

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Train Crash In Argentina Leaves 99 Injured

At least 99 people were hurt in a train crash in Argentina at the same station where a deadly accident killed dozens just last year.

Some people were seriously injured when the engine failed to stop at the end of the line causing carriages to leave the track and end up on the platform of the Once station in the capital Buenos Aires.

An eight-year-old boy was among the injured, according to the Security Secretariat.

Of the injured, five people had broken bones, but none of the wounds were life-threatening.

Local health chief Graciela Reybaud said."Ninety-nine patients have been treated at Buenos Aires hospitals due to the accident."

Security chief Sergio Berni told local television that "there are no fatalities for now" after the accident at 7.25am (11.25 BST) on Saturday.

More than 50 people died and 700 were injured in February 2012, when a train slammed into a retaining wall at the same station.

Officials said they could not immediately determine the cause of the accident, but at least one witness reported that the train appeared to have trouble braking at two previous stops.

The injured were rushed to about a dozen nearby hospitals via some 30 ambulances and two helicopters.

Passengers who emerged from the wrecked train cars described a chaotic scene of people being thrown to the floor when the train made impact.

Many passengers were trapped onboard until they could be rescued by firefighters.

One witness said shaken passengers became enraged and accosted the driver.

"People were shouting 'murderer' at him," said a man by the name of Julio who said he was a passenger in the third car.

Police in riot gear had to take control of the station after the angry crowd broke glass and threw stones in the street outside.

The driver's union said he had been detained by police. He was injured but not seriously, it said.

In addition to last February's deadly collision, there have been numerous other incidents, including a serious collision in June of this year, when a speeding commuter train slammed into another train that had stopped between stations, killing three people and injuring more than 300.

Transport Minister Florencio Randazzo said video images taken from the surveillance cameras showed drivers nodding off, on the phone or reading, sometimes with their hands off the controls altogether.

A driver seen struggling to keep his eyes open "has already been relieved of his duties," Mr Randazzo said.

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Rome: Clashes As Thousands March The Streets

Demonstrators have clashed with police in Rome as tens of thousands of people marched through the city to protest against unemployment, government cuts and construction projects they say take money away from social services.

The protesters turned over rubbish bins in front of the Economy Ministry and set several bins on fire.

Using sticks and clubs, they attacked police in riot gear. The police responded by charging the protesters and chasing them up side streets.

The demonstrators, who infiltrated a mostly peaceful protest, threw smoke bombs, eggs and bottles at the ministry and broke the window of a nearby bank.

A protester clashes with police in front of the Ministry of Finance

Police said 15 of the most violent protesters have been arrested and two policemen have been injured.

In another area along the demonstration route, police defused a large firework with a bullet inside, which they said could have caused serious damage had it gone off.

Protesters also set off smoke bombs and fireworks along the route and many planned to camp out during the night in front of the Infrastructure Ministry.

Police charged the protesters and chased them up side streets

The protest comes as Prime Minister Enrico Letta tries to hold together his coalition government and struggles to lead Italy out of its worst post-war recession.

Mr Letta's 2014 budget, unveiled on Tuesday, has become a focal point of discontent, with unions complaining about freezes on public sector salaries and what they say is an insufficient easing of the tax burden on workers.

Youth unemployment is at an all-time high in Italy of 40.1%.

Police hold shields as protesters throw flares

Organisers said at least 70,000 people joined the march that started in Piazza San Giovanni on the south side of the city and snaked its way through the city.

Many shops along the route were closed as a precaution.

The mostly young demonstrators held up banners against unemployment, lack of affordable housing and the planned TAV high-speed train link to France.

Opponents of the project say that as well as environmental concerns, the money to build the high-speed train should be used to help the poor and unemployed.

The demonstrators threw smoke bombs, eggs and bottles

Matteo, a 20-year-old student from the eastern Marche region, who declined to give his surname, said: "This protest is to demand basic rights: a job paying a wage, and housing.

"All the most downtrodden people are here to protest, unemployed people, students, immigrants, workers without job security."

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Mystery Blonde Girl 'Was Well Looked After'

A relative of a Roma Gypsy couple accused of abducting a girl found in their care said the child was given to them and that she was well looked after.

The youngster, known as Maria and aged about four, was found living in squalid conditions in a Roma camp near the central Greek town of Farsala on Wednesday.

She was with people who were pretending to be her parents, but DNA tests later proved they were not.

Kostas said the child was very loved

The couple, a 39-year-old man and a 40-year-old woman, were arrested and charged with abducting a minor.

But a man calling himself Kostas, the brother of the 39-year-old male, said Maria was very loved and cared for.

"We got this girl in a very nice way. We raised her. We got her. She was given to us and we raised her," he said.

"She had problems with her eyes. We took her to the doctor, we took her everywhere.

"We didn't take her to sell her. We loved her so much, with so much passion."

A Roma woman walks next to the house where the girl lived

Giorgos Tsakiris, the general secretary of the Roma association in Farsala, said the girl had a good life with the people who were raising her.

"I can tell you better than her other siblings, the biological ones," Mr Tsakiris said.

"She spent her days very well and that is why the little girl loves them and what they say about abductions is not true."

The girl is being looked after by The Smile of the Child charity

An international search is now under way to find Maria's real family.

Authorities say they have received enquiries from all over the world, including the UK.

The girl, who is now being looked after by The Smile of the Child charity, was found when police raided the camp in search of drugs and weapons.

A police officer became suspicious when he noticed Maria bore no likeness to her supposed family.

Members of the Roma community where the girl was found living

Further investigations into the couple raised even more suspicions.

Authorities allege the mother claimed to have given birth to six children in less than 10 months, while 10 of the 14 children the couple registered as their own are unaccounted for.

Maria's discovery has given hope to the family of Ben Needham, a British boy who disappeared from outside his grandparent's farmhouse on the Greek island of Kos in 1991.

Ben's sister Leighanna, 20, told Sky News: "Obviously, it's been a strong belief of myself and all my family that Ben was taken by gypsies for child trafficking or illegal adoptions and this case just shows that they can be found.

A poster released in the search for Maria's real parents

She added: "I believe that the camp the little girl was found in was looked at (during the investigation into her brother's disappearance).

"But 22 years ago, the Greek police were scared of the gypsies and pretty much point-blank refused to go into the camps ... so our inquiries into these camps never fully got covered."

Ben Needham disappeared in Greece

Ms Needham said the same technology could help find her long-lost brother.

"I think that would be a brilliant thing to get our DNA out there, even if it's not actually Ben but any siblings or any children maybe of Ben (that are found) then that could hopefully lead us to him," she said.

Maria's discovery has also buoyed the hopes of missing Madeleine McCann's parents.

Clarence Mitchell, a spokesman for her parents Kate and Gerry McCann, said: "They have always maintained that until there is evidence to prove otherwise missing children can still be out there waiting to be found."

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