Abandoned Migrant Ship Reaches Italian Port

Homes Lost As Australia Battles Bushfires

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 04 Januari 2015 | 15.00

Thousands of Australians have fled their homes after strong winds and high temperatures made one of the worst bushfires in decades impossible to bring under control.

More than 30 homes are feared to have been destroyed by the blazes in Adelaide Hills, with struggling firefighters warning it could be days before the flames are brought to manageable levels.

Hundreds more properties are at risk and residents of 19 communities have been asked to evacuate.

The state's Country Fire Service said the fires, which broke out Friday in the Mount Lofty Ranges east of Adelaide, were continuing to burn in all directions, threatening lives.

But a cool weather change on Sunday is expected to help them work to contain the blazes ahead of a forecast rise in temperatures again on Wednesday.

"I can confirm that 12 homes have been destroyed and it's feared that a further 20 homes have also been lost," South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill said.

"However, the conditions for firefighting have improved. The weather is cooler and the weather conditions will permit aerial firefighting.

"This is important because it is forecasted that we will have worsening weather conditions on Wednesday so it's critical that we make headway on reducing the active edges of this fire front."

More than 11,000 hectares (27,200 acres) have been burnt in the area.

No serious injuries have been reported so far, but around 20 firefighters have been treated for minor injuries, mainly smoke inhalation.

Hundreds of firefighters from the neighbouring states of Victoria and New South Wales are teaming up with their South Australian counterparts, taking the total number of crew battling the blazes to more than 800.

State officials said these were the worst fire conditions they had seen for 30 years.

In 1983, the bushfires of Ash Wednesday killed more than 70 people in South Australia and Victoria, and destroyed thousands of homes and buildings.

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India: Men Held As Student Reports Gang Rape

Three men accused of kidnapping and gang-raping a Japanese student in India are in custody after a court appearance.

They are among a group of five men held so far over the attack on the 23-year-old woman in eastern Bihar state.

She reported that she was staying in a budget hotel in Kolkata city in November when three men who spoke Japanese befriended her and took her to a seaside resort in West Bengal.

Police said she claimed they had robbed her and later raped her with two other men.

The wife of one of the accused men dismissed the claims and told reporters the student had stayed at their house for a week.

It has further raised the spotlight on the issue of rape in the country, with officials facing pressure to act.

Millions of Indians took to the streets in 2012 after a medical student was gang-raped and killed in New Delhi to demand action.

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AirAsia Crash Plane's Engine May Have Iced Up

Weather was the "triggering factor" in the fatal AirAsia plane crash, according to Indonesia's meteorological agency BMKG.

Flight QZ8501 came down during a storm en route from Indonesia's second city Surabaya to Singapore, and its flight data recorders have yet to be recovered.

But an initial report on the BMKG website suggests the weather played a major role in the disaster after the plane appeared to fly into storm clouds.

"Based on the available data received on the location of the aircraft's last contact, the weather was the triggering factor behind the accident," the report said.

"The most probable weather phenomenon was icing which can cause engine damage due to a cooling process."

Before take-off, the pilot had asked to fly at a higher altitude to avoid the storm, but permission was denied because of the number of planes above him on the busy route.

In his last communication, Captain Iriyanto, an experienced former air force pilot, said he wanted to change course to avoid the storm system.

Soon after all contact was lost, about 40 minutes after the Airbus A320-200 had taken off.

Five major parts of the jet have been found in the sea off Borneo, raising hopes the remaining bodies and the crucial "black box" recorders would soon be located.

It is thought one of the pieces of debris may be the "suspected tail". So far 30 bodies have been recovered and brought ashore.

High seas have hampered the relief operation, but divers were preparing to go down to the wreckage on Sunday as the weather improved.

"The waves are calmer, only one to two metres (three to seven feet) high," search and rescue official S B Supriyadi told AFP, adding 95 divers were on standby on various ships.

"We'll be concentrating on the underwater search. We want to speed up the evacuation of bodies which might be stuck inside the plane," he said.

The Indonesian government says the aircraft had not been unauthorised to fly when it crashed and has promised to investigate.

AirAsia, which has now been suspended from flying the Surabaya-Singapore route, declined to comment, although it said it would "fully co-operate" with any inquiry.

Of the 162 passengers and crew on board, 155 were Indonesian and three South Korean. The other four were from Singapore, Malaysia, Britain and France - co-pilot Remi Plesel.

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Sony Hack: US Slaps New Sanctions On N Korea

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 03 Januari 2015 | 14.59

By Sky News US Team

US President Barack Obama has authorised fresh sanctions against North Korea as the "first aspect of our response" to the Sony hack.

The measures target three North Korean entities, including a government intelligence agency and a North Korean arms dealer, the Obama administration said.

The US is also imposing sanctions on 10 individuals who work for those entities or the North Korean government.

President Obama said he had ordered the sanctions because of "the provocative, destabilising and repressive actions and policies of the Government of North Korea, including its destructive, coercive cyber-related actions during November and December 2014".

In a letter informing congressional leaders of his executive order, he added the activities "constitute a continuing threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States".

"The order is not targeted at the people of North Korea, but rather is aimed at the Government of North Korea and its activities that threaten the United States and others," Mr Obama added.

The US has blamed North Korea for a devastating cyber attack on Sony Pictures that leaked a trove of embarrassing emails and other internal communications, as well as unreleased films.

Pyongyang denied involvement, but has excoriated a comedy by Sony about a CIA plot to kill North Korea's leader.

Sony Pictures initially called off release of the film, The Interview, citing threats of terror attacks against US cinemas.

Mr Obama criticised Sony's decision at the time, and the picture was released last month in movie theatres and online.

The White House declined to comment last week on whether the US was behind a nearly 10-hour shutdown of North Korean websites last week.

Washington already has tough sanctions in place against North Korea over its nuclear programme.

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Abandoned Migrant Ship Reaches Italian Port

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A dramatic rescue mission to bring an abandoned cargo ship carrying hundreds of migrants under control has been carried out by the Italian Air Force.

Six coastguard officers were airlifted aboard the ship after stormy seas made it impossible to reach the runaway vessel by boat.

They took control of the Sierra-Leone-flagged ship, the Ezadeen, which was abandoned by people traffickers as it headed towards the southern tip of Italy.

It is the second ship of its kind to be abandoned at sea in several days.

Rescue pilot Francesco Pastore told Sky News: "The mission was very difficult due to the conditions."

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Gallery: An Italian Coast Guard Patrol Plane Spotted The Vessel

The Ezadeen cargo ship was stopped by Italian authorities after smugglers sent it speeding toward the coast in rough seas with nobody at the helm

The Sierra Leone-flagged vessel was towed to the Italian port of Corigliano after coastguard officials were lowered onto the ship by helicopter to secure it.

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Around 450 migrants were on board the ship, which apparently set sail from Turkey

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The 197ft-long ship was rescued floating around 40 miles off Capo di Leuca

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Most of the migrants were believed to be from war-ravaged Syria, Italian Coast Guard Commander Filippo Marini said

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The ship was towed by an Icelandic Coast Guard ship to Italy and arrived at the port of Corigliano hours later.

The 197ft-long ship, which was carrying pregnant women and children, mostly thought to be fleeing Syria, was rescued floating around 40 miles off Capo di Leuca.

Coastguard Commander Filippo Marini said one of the migrants on board was able to operate the ship's radio and pleaded for help saying: "We're without crew, we're heading toward the Italian coast and we have no one to steer."

Before losing power, the ship had been moving at a brisk seven knots and had been spotted by a coastguard plane 80 miles offshore shortly after nightfall on Thursday.

The coastguard asked for assistance from Icelandic patrol boat Tyr, which was in the area on a mission with Frontex, the European Union's border agency.

The Tyr was able to draw alongside the runaway ship, but initially the weather conditions made boarding impossible.

The drama comes two days after Italian sailors intercepted an unmanned freighter carrying more than 700 mostly Syrian migrants that had been heading for the rocks in Italy's Puglia region.

The Moldovan-registered Blue Sky M cargo ship got to within five miles of a disaster before six navy officers were lowered on to the ship by helicopter and succeeded in bringing it under control.

The vessel's human cargo included 60 children and two pregnant women, one of whom gave birth on board, according to the Italian Red Cross.

Many of the migrants on the ship were treated for hypothermia and broken limbs.

More than 170,000 people have been rescued by Italy in the last 14 months and it is estimated that hundreds, possibly thousands, have perished trying to make the crossing.

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Written By Unknown on Kamis, 01 Januari 2015 | 15.00

Thirty-five people have been killed in a stampede at a New Year's event in Shanghai, city officials have said.

A statement from the Shanghai government confirmed another 43 people were injured in the chaos.

The stampede happened at the city's riverfront Bund area, which is usually jammed with spectators for major events, at 11.35pm (local time), according to the Xinhua news agency.

Photographs on Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter, show one person doing chest compressions on a shirtless individual, while other people lay on the ground nearby.

Another image shows the area ringed by police.

It was not immediately clear what triggered the stampede, but state media and a witness said the incident was caused when people tried picking up fake money thrown from a building.

A man who brought one of the injured to a local hospital for treatment said fake money had been thrown down from a bar above the street as part of a New Year's celebration.

People rushed to pick up the money, triggering the stampede, said the man, who declined to be identified.

Angry family members clashed with security guards at a hospital where some of the victims were taken.

Authorities had shown some concern about crowd control in the days leading up to New Year's Eve.

They had cancelled an annual 3D laser show on the Bund that last year attracted around 300,000 people.

The historic riverfront strip runs along an area of narrow streets surrounded by restored old buildings, shops and tourist attractions.

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Ferry Fire: 98 People Still Unaccounted For

Ninety-eight people remain unaccounted for following the fire on a Greek ferry in the Adriatic Sea, an Italian official says.

At least 13 people died in the disaster, including two tugboat sailors trying to secure the ship.

It is not clear if the people unaccounted for ever boarded the Norman Atlantic ferry, if they were rescued or if they died in the fire or the sea.

It took two days to rescue around 400 people from the ship - but the exact number of survivors is still not known.

As the search for bodies continues, Italian authorities have expressed concern about the accuracy of the passenger manifest which has left them unclear about how many people were aboard.

Dramatic footage has also emerged of the view from the deck as the fire took hold on Sunday.

It shows thick smoke billowing up from the deck and bursts of flames as a helicopter hovers overhead.

Among the survivors are four Britons, including showjumper Nick Channing-Williams, who was with his Greek fiancee Regina Theofilli.

Mr Channing-Williams told Sky News he was woken at about 5am on Sunday by a fire alarm.

He said: "By the time we got out on deck the flames were huge. A lot of the cars were on fire. It was actually just very scary to be honest."

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Gallery: More Than 100 People Saved From Vessel Near Corfu

A firefighter carries a child from the "Spirit of Piraeus" cargo container ship as they arrive at Bari harbour, after the car ferry Norman Atlantic caught fire in waters off Greece

Passengers evacuated from the burning ferry Norman Atlantic arrive aboard the Singapore-flagged cargo container ship

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Al Jazeera Journalists' Appeal Hearing Ends

An appeal hearing for three Al Jazeera journalists jailed in Egypt has ended just minutes after it began.

The appeal judge is now considering the application and is expected to make a decision shortly.

Canadian-Egyptian Mohammed Fahmy, Australian Peter Greste and Egyptian Baher Mohammed have been held since December 2013.

Prosecutors are reportedly seeking a retrial.

During the appeal hearing at Egypt's Court of Cassation lawyers also requested that the three journalists be granted bail and that is being considered by the judge.

Sky News Middle East Correspondent Sherine Tadros said: "At least that would mean they would not be in jail while waiting for a retrial, which could take months."

Tadros added: "Everyone is struggling to understand why these three journalists, who did nothing wrong, have been jailed on terrorism charges."

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Putin Critic Alexei Navalny Arrested At Rally

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 31 Desember 2014 | 14.59

Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny has been detained by police after tweeting he was breaking his house arrest to join a protest.

The opposition activist - who ran for mayor of Moscow in 2013 - had been convicted of fraud alongside his brother Oleg earlier on Tuesday.

Although Alexei Navalny received a three-and-a-half-year suspended sentence, Oleg Navalny, a father-of-two who has no role in the opposition movement, was jailed for the same period.

Navalny said on Twitter that he planned to join protesters in Moscow and posted a picture of himself on what appeared to be a metro train.

"I may be under house arrest, but today I really want to be with you. That's why I am going too," he wrote.

The blogger's supporters called for a mass protest near the Kremlin, with at least 18,000 pledging on Facebook to attend.

Moscow officials warned that "all unsanctioned actions will be prevented by the security forces".

TV footage showed several thousand anti-Kremlin demonstrators gathered in the dark near Red Square and ringed by police or soldiers with riot shields.

Navalny was taken into custody as he approached the rally, but he tweeted urging others to stay and protest.

"I was detained, but they won't be able to detain everyone," he wrote.

He was then driven home and prevented from leaving his apartment again.

The protesters who gathered on the square chanted: "We are the power!" and "You won't be able to jail us all!"

About 100 other people were arrested but the rally was allowed to continue for two hours before it was broken up by security forces.

The verdict in the brothers' case was scheduled for next month, but was abruptly moved forward to the day before New Year's Eve, the main holiday in Russia, leading to speculation that authorities wanted to head off planned protests.

The trial - which saw the pair accused of stealing 30 million roubles, around $500,000 (£372,000) at the current exchange rate, from two firms - was viewed by many critics as part of a campaign to stifle dissent.

Alexei Navalny reacted angrily to the jailing of his brother, shouting out: "Aren't you ashamed of what you're doing? You want to punish me even harder?"

He briefly entered the metal cage that his brother was put into after the verdict and appeared to be holding back tears.

The European Union said the verdict appeared to be "politically motivated" but called for protesters to show restraint.

The US State Department said it was a "disturbing development designed to punish and deter political activism".

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Popular Posts Today

Homes Lost As Australia Battles Bushfires

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 04 Januari 2015 | 15.00

India: Men Held As Student Reports Gang Rape

AirAsia Crash Plane's Engine May Have Iced Up

Sony Hack: US Slaps New Sanctions On N Korea

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 03 Januari 2015 | 14.59

Abandoned Migrant Ship Reaches Italian Port

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'Big Objects Found' In AirAsia Plane Search

35 Killed In New Year's Stampede In China

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 01 Januari 2015 | 15.00

Ferry Fire: 98 People Still Unaccounted For

Al Jazeera Journalists' Appeal Hearing Ends

Putin Critic Alexei Navalny Arrested At Rally

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 31 Desember 2014 | 14.59

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