Iran: Deaths As Bus Overturns 'At High Speed'

At least 26 people have been killed after a bus packed with students overturned in southwestern Iran, according to the country's state radio.

The driver lost control because the vehicle was going at high speed in wet conditions, senior police official Colonel Mohammad Reza Mehmandar was quoted as saying.

Some 19 other people were hurt in the accident and have been taken to hospital for treatment.

The crash happened on the Izeh-Lordegan road, about 300 miles southwest of the capital Tehran.

Iran has one of the worst road safety records in the world, with more than 400,000 accidents and about 20,000 deaths every year.

The high death tolls are blamed on high speed, unsafe vehicles, widespread disregard of traffic laws and inadequate emergency services.

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Panama Canal: Protests Over Land Sell-Off

A 10-year-old boy has been killed during violent protests in the Panamanian port city of Colon.

The child was shot once in the stomach and died in hospital - at least six other people were treated for gunshot wounds and several others for pellet wounds, one doctor revealed.

The protesters were demonstrating over a new law allowing the sale of state-owned land in the duty-free zone next to the Panama Canal.

Anti-riot police used tear gas and fired into the air to disperse hundreds of people who burned tyres and threw objects at police in Colon's city centre and a curfew was declared on Friday afternoon.

The rioting came a few hours after the National Assembly approved legislation to allow the sale of land in the duty-free zone to private companies already leasing land there to handle the import and export of goods. President Ricardo Martinelli signed the law hours later.

Protesters say the land is already being rented and it makes no sense to sell it. They say the government should instead raise the rent and invest the money in Colon, a poor and violent city.

"We do not want the land to be sold because these are assets that belong to Colon," said Felipe Cabezas, head of the Colonense Broad Movement.

"Why sell if the country is not going through economic problems?"

The duty-free zone has about 2,000 companies that rent land and employ 30,000 people, according to authorities.

The government estimates land sales could raise $2bn (£1.2bn) over the next 20 years.

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Lebanon: Protests After Beirut Bomb Blast

Protesters in Lebanon have burnt tyres and set up roadblocks amid growing anger over a car bomb that killed eight people, including one of the country's top security officials.

There are fears that the devastating attack threatens to bring Syria's civil war to Lebanon.

Lebanese troops stood guard at road junctions and official buildings in the capital, Beirut, as the Lebanese cabinet held an emergency meeting to decide on what, if any, action to take.

Prime Minister Najib Mikati later said the blast was linked to the civil war in neighbouring Syria and revealed that he had agreed to stay on as premier at President Michel Sleiman's request because of "national interest".

Among the victims of the Beirut blast was Brigadier General Wissam al Hassan, head of a Lebanese intelligence department and an opponent of Syrian President Bashar al Assad.

Politics in Lebanon and Syria are closely connected

Brig-Gen al Hassan, 47, headed an investigation over the summer that led to the arrest of former information minister Michel Samaha, one of Mr Assad's most loyal allies in Lebanon.

Mr Samaha, who is in custody, is accused of plotting a campaign of bombings and assassinations to spread sectarian violence in Lebanon at Syria's behest.

Also indicted in the August sweep was Syrian Brigadier General Ali Mamlouk, one of Mr Assad's highest aides.

Dozens were left wounded in the blast in Beirut's mainly Christian Achrafieh neighbourhood.

Lebanon's fractious politics are closely entwined with Syria's.

The countries share political and sectarian ties and rivalries, often causing events on one side of the border to have a "knock on" effect on the other.

Lebanon's opposition is an anti-Syrian bloc, while the prime minister and much of the government are pro-Syrian.

The civil war in Syria has laid bare Lebanon's sectarian tensions as well.

Many of Lebanon's Sunni Muslims have backed Syria's mainly Sunni rebels, while Shi'ite Muslims have tended to back Mr Assad.

Brig-Gen al Hassan was a Sunni whose stances were widely seen to oppose Syria and Shi'ite Hezbollah, the country's most powerful ally in Lebanon.

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Israeli Navy Boards Gaza-Bound Boat

The Israeli military says its navy has boarded a boat carrying pro-Palestinian MPs and activists that was trying to break the naval blockade on Gaza.

The boarding happened after the passengers' "unwillingness to co-operate" and they "ignored calls to change course", the military added.

Soldiers went on to the Finnish-flagged Estelle in international waters and it was being led to the southern Israeli port of Ashdod, it continued.

The military said the troops boarded the boat peacefully, and there was no harm to the passengers who were offered food and drinks.

When the boat arrives at the Ashdod port, the passengers will be transferred to the custody of the police and immigration authorities.

Victoria Strand, a spokeswoman for Ship to Gaza in Sweden, which sent the Estelle, said armed, masked soldiers boarded the boat and cut their communications 30 miles from Gaza.

She said activists on board told her six naval boats surrounded their vessel. "This is a demonstration of ruthlessness," Ms Strand said.

The Estelle is the latest in a series of activist-manned boats challenging Israel's blockade on Gaza, which was imposed after the militant group Hamas seized power of the territory in 2007.

The boat left Naples, Italy, on October 7 with about 20 people from eight countries, carrying items like cement, basketballs and musical instruments.

An Israeli military statement said: "The boarding was carried out in accordance with international law, with directives of the Israeli government and after all attempts to prevent the vessel from reaching the Gaza Strip were made, both via direct contact and through diplomatic channels, but to no avail.

"The boarding was carried out only after numerous calls to the passengers onboard; as a result of their unwillingness to co-operate and after ignoring calls to change course, the decision was made to board the vessel and lead it to the port of Ashdod."

In 2010, an Israeli naval raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla killed nine Turkish activists on board.

The incident sparked international condemnation that forced Israel to ease much of its blockade, although it maintains restrictions on key exports and imports of raw materials.

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'Collar Bomb': Teen's Attacker Behaved Oddly

An Australian businessman who chained a fake bomb to a teenager's neck was so disturbed he may not have realised why he was doing it, his ex-wife has said.

Paul Douglas Peters had been drinking heavily and exhibiting wild mood swings in the years before he broke into the home of 18-year-old Madeleine Pulver last year, Deborah Peters said.

He faces up to 20 years in prison for attacking the teenager while she was alone in her family's Sydney mansion.

It took a bomb squad 10 hours to remove the device, which contained no explosives. Madeleine was unharmed.

Peters, 51, who wore a rainbow-striped ski mask and wielded a baseball bat in the attack, left a ransom note with an email address that helped authorities track him down. He later pleaded guilty to aggravated break and enter and a serious indictable offence.

Ms Peters wept as she told a sentencing hearing how her then-husband's behaviour started to change in 2000.

"Paul started to disconnect," she told the court.

Police at the scene of the attack in Sydney

"One minute he'd be OK - the next minute he'd be upset or angry."

The mood swings coincided with his attempt to write a book, she said. The novel became a story about a villain who kidnapped someone and addicted the victim to drugs.

Peters would spend hours in the basement writing, she said, and he started to drink up to two bottles of wine and two large gin and tonics with dinner every night.

She divorced him five years ago after he refused to get help.

Early last year they tried to reconcile, but split again after his erratic behaviour returned.

Psychiatrist Bruce Westmore, for the defence, said Peters was "angry and revengeful" over his failed relationship and separation from his three daughters and may have tried to become the vengeful character in his novel.

Mr Westmore said he believes Peters suffers from depression, but was not psychotic and had an awareness of what he was doing at the time of the crime.

Since his arrest, Peters has told the psychiatrist he has no memory of the attack and described his own actions as "bizarre".

But Peters is so complex an exact diagnosis is difficult, Mr Westmore said, adding: "I've never met anyone like Mr Peters before."

Peters came face to face with his victim's father, Bill Pulver, for the first time at the hearing.

Afterwards, Mr Pulver said he still believed the attack was all about money. The hearing was adjourned until October 31.

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North Korea 'Threatens To Strike South'

North Korea has threatened to open fire on South Korea if anti-Pyongyang leaflets are dropped over its territory.

Defectors and human rights activists plan to send giant balloons containing 200,000 leaflets criticising North Korea's government over the country on Monday morning.

Inside the leaflets will be 1,000 $1 notes - highly prized by the impoverished people of the north.

North Korea said if the leaflets were dropped, a "merciless military strike by the Western Front will be put into practice without warning", according to state news agency KCNA.

It said it would target a tourist area in the border city of Paju a few miles from the demilitarised zone that separates the two countries.

"The KPA (Korean People's Army) never makes any empty talk," KCNA quoted military commanders as saying.

North Korea fired about 170 rounds of artillery on Yeonpyeong Island

In November 2010, North Korea fired about 170 rounds of artillery on Yeonpyeong Island and the surrounding waters near the Yellow Sea border, with some 90 shells landing on the island. And in 2010, the North was widely blamed for sinking a South Korean naval ship, although it denied responsibility.

The group planning the leafleting, Fighters for a Free North Korea, said they had no intention of calling it off.

"We had similar threats last year and they did not stop us before and this is not going to stop us this time," said Pak Sang-hak, a North Korean exile who defected to the South 12  years ago.

The threat came a day after South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak made a surprise visit to an island close to the disputed maritime border that was shelled.

There have been widespread concerns in the South that Pyongyang may try to instigate a military clash that would temporarily destabilise the Korean peninsula in the run up to the presidential election in December.

Kim Yong-Hyun, a professor at Dongguk University, said: "I think this is a bluff. I don't think they mean to actually target and shell the area.

"It could be an indirect reaction to what President Lee said (on Thursday) and the North is also seeking to drive wedges between conservatives and liberals ahead of the presidential poll," Kim said.

On Wednesday, South Korea announced an annual, large-scale military exercise aimed at countering threats from North Korea.

The week-long Hoguk exercise beginning on October 25 will involve 240,000 army, navy, air force and marine corps personnel, with 500 US soldiers also taking part.

Some 28,500 US military personnel are stationed in the South, a legacy of the Korean War that ended with a ceasefire but not a peace treaty, leaving the two Koreas still technically at war.

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Fort Hood Suspect 'Can Be Forcibly Shaved'

An Army appeals court has ruled the Fort Hood shooting suspect can have his facial hair forcibly shaved off before his trial.

The US Army Court of Criminal Appeals upheld the military trial judge's decision to order Major Nidal Hasan to appear in court clean shaven or be forcibly shaved.

It also ruled that Colonel Gregory Gross, the judge, correctly ruled the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act does not give Hasan the right to have a beard while in uniform at trial.

Hasan has said the beard is an expression of his Muslim faith. His lawyers will appeal the ruling.

The 42-year-old faces the death penalty if convicted of the 2009 attack that killed 13 and wounded more than two dozen others on the Texas Army post.

The Army has specific guidelines on forced shaving.

A team of five military police officers restrains the inmate "with the reasonable force necessary", and a medical professional is on hand in case of injuries.

The shaving must be done with electric clippers and must be videoed, according to Army rules.

Hasan would not be the first military defendant to be shaved against their will.

It has been done to five inmates since 2005, including one man who was forcibly shaved twice, according to the Army's Office of the Chief of Staff.

Nearly three years after the shooting rampage at Fort Hood, many of those affected are urging the US government to declare it a terrorist attack, saying wounded soldiers and victims' relatives otherwise will not receive the same benefits as those in a combat zone.

A video expressing their frustration was released on Thursday by a group of about 160 people, including relatives of the 13 people killed and some of the wounded and their families.

"The victims are being forgotten and it's frustrating," said Kimberly Munley, one of the first two officers who arrived at the shooting scene.

The group is upset that the Defence Department has referred to the shooting as workplace violence.

They say soldiers injured or killed deserve fair benefits and Purple Heart eligibility.

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Boy Scouts Of America Publish Sex Abuse Files

Confidential papers showing US scout leaders covered up alleged sexual abuse inflicted on their young members have been published.

The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) has released decades worth of so-called "perversion files", showing how a range of authorities - from police to church pastors - quietly allowed scoutmasters and others accused of molesting children to go free.

In many instances - more than a third, according to the Scouts' own count - police were not told about the reports of abuse. And even when they were, sometimes local law enforcement did nothing, seeking to protect the reputation of scouting.

The Oregon Supreme Court ordered the papers, dating from 1959 to 1985 - and a handful from later years - to be released, despite objections played out in a lengthy legal battle from the Scouts.

The boxes of newly released files containing allegations of sexual abuse

The 14,500 pages of confidential files, including handwritten notes, reveal details of alleged abuses by more than 1,200 scout leaders and other adults.

Officially called the Boy Scouts Ineligible Volunteer Files, some of the papers had been released previously, but others were made public for the first time.

In one case from the files, a distraught mother walked into a Louisiana sheriff's office in 1965 and said a 31-year-old scoutmaster had raped one of her sons and molested two others.

Six days later, the scoutmaster sat down in front of a microphone in the same station and confessed. He admitted to raping a 17-year-old boy on a camping trip and sexually molesting two other boys. The victims corroborated his confession.

Seven days later, the decision was made not to pursue charges against him.

A boy scout statue outside the organisation's American HQ

The man "was asked to leave the parish, and if he was caught around or near any boy or youth organisation, he would be sent to state prison immediately", a scouting executive wrote to national headquarters. "We are indeed sorry that scouting was involved."

The lawyers who unveiled the files said BSA had not done enough to root out paedophiles using the youth movement to prey on minors.

"What these files represent is ... the pain and the anguish of thousands of scouts," said lawyer Paul Mones, while presenting details of the files at a press conference in the northwestern US city of Portland.

Mr Mones said the files "demonstrate the depth and breadth of the BSA's vast knowledge about the threats to scouts by scoutmasters and adult leaders who used their authority ... to sexually molest generations of boys".

The lawyers highlighted a 2010 court case, in which an assistant scoutmaster in a Mormon Church-sponsored troop sexually molested a boy in the 1980s.

A Boy Scouts of America handbook

The abuser involved had previously confessed to molesting 17 other boys in the troop, but was allowed to return to scouting within a few months and then found a new victim.

Responding to the release, BSA national leader Wayne Perry reiterated an apology to the victims.

He said: "There have been instances where people misused their positions ... to abuse children, and in certain cases, our response to these incidents and our efforts to protect youth were plainly insufficient, inappropriate or wrong.

"Where those involved in scouting failed to protect, or worse, inflicted harm on children, we extend our deepest and sincere apologies to victims and their families."

In a statement on its website, BSA also said it has improved its procedures to ensure safety, including now requiring background checks and formal training of its leaders.

The uniform worn by Boy Scouts of America

But Mr Mones said the organisation, founded as part of the international Scouting Movement in 1910, has not done enough.

The BSA has "made some improvements, but we think there's more still to be done," said the lawyer, noting that on average each abuser typically molested between five and 25 scouts.

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Greek Police Clash With Austerity Protesters

Violence has broken out in the Greek capital Athens, where protesters have clashed with police during an anti-austerity demonstration.

Campaigners threw petrol bombs and rocks at police officers, who responded by firing tear gas to break up groups of troublemakers.

It comes on the day European leaders meet to discuss the future of the single currency.

Millions of Greeks have joined a general strike in a bid to convince politicians to let up on years of crippling austerity.

The 24-hour walkout, organised by the country's two biggest labour unions, is the 20th work stoppage since a devastating debt crisis erupted in the country late 2009.

The financial crisis has since spread to other troubled economies sharing Europe's single currency.

A protest at the Greek finance ministry on Wednesday

The latest action targets a fresh batch of brutal budget cuts which Athens must take to unlock some 31 billion euros in bailout loans it needs to keep the country paying pension, state salaries and running costs.

From taxi drivers to doctors and diplomats, the strike is expected to paralyse an already suffocating economy.

Ships will remain docked throughout the day, hospitals plan to operate on skeleton staff, and dozens of domestic and international flights face cancellation as air traffic controllers agreed to join the protest.

Aircraft will be grounded - and the country isolated from the rest of the world - for three hours.

Most business and public sector activity is expected to come to a screeching halt and government offices will remain shut.

The focus will be in the capital where organisers have called on protesters to rally outside parliament, a venue of frequent, at times, violent, showdowns between demonstrators and police.

Fearing potential violence, authorities have ordered some 4,000 police to the streets to mind demonstrations planned in the capital.

Steel fences and water cannon have been propped outside parliament to shield the sprawling building.

"Just once, the government should reject [international] lenders' absurd demands," said Yannis Panagopoulos, head of the GSEE private sector union.

The Greek parliament has been a frequent venue for protests

"Agreeing to catastrophic measures means driving society to despair and the consequences as well as the protests will be indefinite."

Opinion polls show 8 in 10 Greeks increasingly pessimistic, believing the country was heading down a wrong path of austerity.

Still, with the country running low on cash, the prime minister has said Greece has enough money through November.

But Athens has little leverage against lenders pushing for it to adopt 13.5 billion euro in added austerity.

Earlier this week, demands for drastic labour overhauls, including cuts in wages and severance fees, kicked up a political storm. The government's junior coalition partner threatened to walk out of government if the measures were adopted.

Under the current agreement, Greece has to adopt the cuts through 2014; to ease the pain, however, the government, wants an extra two years, until 2016.

Entangled in its worst economic crisis since World War II, Greece has seen the recession leave a record 1.3 million people, or 25.1%, jobless.

And so unions have vowed to wage rolling strikes to pressure the government to repeal the latest new labour regulations, which include a reported 15,000 public sector sackings.

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Greek Football Team's 'Brothels Kit' Banned

A football club in cash-strapped Greece thought it had found a way to keep up with the bills by signing sponsorship deals with two brothels - but it is not being allowed to wear the shirts.

Voukefalas Larissa's new kit is bright pink and emblazoned with the logos of Villa Erotica and Soula's House of History.

By contrast, their rivals turned to kebab shops, a jam factory and a cheese maker to see them through the season.

The club's president Yiannis Batziolas said: "Unfortunately, amateur football has been abandoned by practically everyone.

"This year, because of the more general financial crisis, that has affected us greatly. We were forced to seek any type of financial support for the club so that we could survive."

Although prostitution is legal in Greece and neon signs promoting brothels are commonplace, Voukefalas players are banned from wearing the shirts during games.

League organisers said the sponsorship is inappropriate for underage fans and claimed the advertisements violate "the sporting ideal".

But the team's new benefactor, Soula Alevridou, owner of Soula's House of History, said: "They advertise sports betting firms and various lottery and sports betting games. What are these? Aren't they gambling?"

The 67-year-old grandmother paid 1,000 euros (£812) for her sponsorship deal with Voukefalas, which is now appealing the ban.

The club, made up of students, a bartender, waiters and pizza delivery drivers, is not the only Greek sports team to be struggling financially.

Earlier this year, the country's Amateur Athletics Federation suspended its activities for several weeks to protest against funding cuts.

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'Child Porn Ring' Raid: Boy Rescued In Canada

A 14-year-old boy has been rescued from years of abuse amid a police investigation that targeted 21 alleged online child predators, Canadian officers have said.

Some 21 people have been arrested, and 16 of them charged so far as part of Operation Snapshot, according to Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

The charges include invitation to sexual touching, internet luring, indecent exposure and accessing and distributing child pornography.

Authorities also rescued the boy identified in some of the images who had been sexually abused over the past five years in Saskatchewan province.

His alleged abuser was a friend of the boy's family who was arrested in June and sentenced to 30 months in prison.

Detective Sergeant Darren Parisien said hundreds of thousands of images were found on more than 100 computers or hard drives and 1,000 discs.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police teamed up with half a dozen police forces in Canada's western prairies to identify suspects who possessed and distributed child abuse images across peer-to-peer file sharing networks.

A police spokesman told a nationally televised news conference: "With their activities, obviously they are using common file-sharing networks and common technology and common programs to chat and look for kids who possibly networked with other offenders.

"But none of the individuals (arrested) were directly related (to each other)."

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Rescued Yachtsman Speaks Of Fears At Sea

A yachtsman rescued by coastguards after his mast snapped and he ran out of fuel has been talking of his fears that he would not be found.

Glenn Ey was left drifting 270 miles off the southeast coast of Australia.

He was sailing from the north of Sydney when he ran into difficulties.

Commercial passenger airliners were asked to fly low over the ocean to help find him.

The yacht was seen drifting 270 miles off the coast

Air Canada and Air New Zealand planes dropped to 4,000ft to make sweeps of the area and the Air Canada plane was the first to spot him.

Mr Ey spoke of his relief. "At that point, it was absolutely wonderful, beautiful." he said. 

"They flew overhead and I thought: "That's a rescue aircraft.' And I put my head up and sure enough it was.

"It happened at midday ... until dark I was very, very concerned. You do think your number's up....there's no question about that."

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Apple Supplier Foxconn Employs 14-Year-Olds

A company which makes products for tech giants Apple and Sony has admitted hiring children as young as 14 to work on its assembly lines in China.

Foxconn, which builds gadgets including the iPhone and iPad, said it employed the underage workers as part of an internship programme at a factory in eastern Shandong province.

It issued a statement saying: "This is not only a violation of China's labour law, it is also a violation of Foxconn policy.

"Immediate steps have been taken to return the interns in question to their educational institutions.

"We have found no evidence of similar violations in any of our other campuses in China, but we will not hesitate to take immediate action in any campus if any violations are discovered."

Foxconn is the world's biggest contract manufacturer

Foxconn employs 1.2 million people in China, around 3% of whom are interns.

Geoffrey Crothall, a spokesman for China Labour Bulletin, described them as a "cheap and convenient source of labour" that some vocational schools are happy to provide, as it helps boost their revenues.

"The enterprises tend to be factories that need more hands on the production line," he said. "There is no real training or apprenticeship involved here."

The discovery of underage workers is a fresh blow for Foxconn, just weeks after a brawl involving nearly 2,000 employees at one of its plants brought production to a halt.

The violence took four hours to bring under control

Earlier this year, the Fair Labour Association found some staff were forced to work more than 60 hours a week, and sometimes for more than 11 days in a row.

In 2010, 13 workers committed suicide amid claims that Foxconn ran a military-style prodution line on which employees were told to work overtime for low wages.

The company denied the claims, but promised to hire more counsellors and set up employee groups to watch for signs of emotional stress among staff.

Earlier this year, Apple chief executive Tim Cook visited Foxconn's Zhengzhou Technology Park, which employs an estimated 120,000 people in the northern province of Hebei.

The company's late founder Steve Jobs once claimed the company was "not a sweatshop".

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Nike Cancels Lance Armstrong Contract

Nike has terminated its contract with former champion cyclist Lance Armstrong as he prepares to step down as chairman of his Livestrong cancer-fighting charity.

In a statement the sportswear firm said: "Due to the seemingly insurmountable evidence that Lance Armstrong participated in doping and misled Nike for more than a decade, it is with great sadness that we have terminated our contract with him.

"Nike does not condone the use of illegal performance enhancing drugs in any manner.

"Nike plans to continue support of the Livestrong initiatives created to unite, inspire and empower people affected by cancer. "

The announcement came minutes after Armstrong said he is preparing to quit as chairman of his Livestrong cancer-fighting charity.

He said: "I have had the great honor of serving as this foundation's chairman for the last five years and its mission and success are my top priorities.

"Today therefore, to spare the foundation any negative effects as a result of controversy surrounding my cycling career, I will conclude my chairmanship."

Last week the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) released a massive report detailing allegations of widespread performance-enhancing drug use by Armstrong and his teams.

The document included testimony from 11 former teammates. USADA has ordered for 14 years of Armstrong's career results to be erased, including his seven Tour de France titles.

The Lance Armstrong Foundation, commonly known as Livestrong, was founded in 1997 and has raised roughly $500m (£309m) to support cancer patients.

The group has scheduled its 15th anniversary celebration for this weekend. Armstrong will stay on the charity's board.

The cancer survivor strongly denies doping and says he stopped fighting USADA because its hearing process was unfair.

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US Presidential Race: Obama And Romney Clash

President Barack Obama and his Republican rival Mitt Romney have clashed over both foreign and domestic policy in a feisty live TV presidential debate.

One of the standout moments in the second of three head-to-heads between the candidates came when the pair sparred over last month's attack on a US diplomatic mission in Libya.

The President accused his White House contender of playing politics with national security while Mr Romney hit back by accusing Mr Obama of going on a fundraising tour on the day after the deadly September 11 assault on the Benghazi consulate, and declaring his Middle East policy was "unravelling".

In a television debate that was deemed much more lively and aggressive than the first one, Mr Romney said the President's team either did not know all the details - or did not tell the truth - about the death of four Americans there immediately after the attacks.

Mr Obama admitted for the first time that responsibility for what happened at the consulate in Libya stopped with him and no one else.

But at one point, former Massachusetts governor Mr Romney appeared to get his facts wrong about Mr Obama's handling of the attack and how soon afterwards he described it as an act of terrorism.

In a fierce exchange, Mr Obama called upon transcripts to prove Mr Romney was incorrect and expressed outrage at the Republican's implication that he used the attack to his political advantage.

"The suggestion that anybody on my team, whether it's a secretary of state, our UN ambassador, anybody on my team, would play politics or mislead when we've lost four of our own, Governor, is offensive," Mr Obama said wagging his finger at his opponent across the stage.

Mr Obama was fighting to reverse a slide in the polls

With three weeks to go until the US election, Mr Obama fought to reverse a dramatic slide in the polls that has given Mr Romney a lead for the first time in over a year.

They took questions from 80 undecided voters at a town hall-style forum on New York's Long Island.

The tension between the pair was obvious almost from the start when they clashed over domestic oil production.

During a discussion about immigration, Mr Obama and Mr Romney were side-tracked and ended up making digs at each other over their respective financial arrangements.

In another animated moment, Mr Romney was asked by one voter how he differed from fellow Republican George Bush. The White House hopeful responded by saying he took an alternative stance on energy policy, China and deficits.

But the President said his biggest difference was that his Republican rival is more extreme on social issues than Mr Bush, who left office deeply unpopular.

Mr Romney said that he would govern under different conditions that would allow him to make North America energy independent from Arab and Venezuelan oil.

He also claimed he would crack down on China's currency manipulation and cut the deficit by increasing trade.

The President concluded the debate by bringing up Mr Romney's now notorious 47% remark. The Republican had to apologise earlier in the month after he was secretly filmed making disparaging comments about nearly half of Americans who do not pay income taxes.

The debate, watched by millions, was won by Mr Obama, according to an instant CBS poll at the end.

Sky's US political analyst Jon-Christopher Bua said the president looked to have regained some important ground with his performance. 

"Mr Obama came out fighting for his job, throwing red meat to his base and may have given the all-important independent voters in those crucial swing states a reason to give him a second term," he said.

The final face-off between the candidates before the November 6 election will be held next Monday in Florida.

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Australia Rewrites Dictionary Amid Gillard Row

An Australian dictionary is to update the meaning of misogyny, after the word was used by the country's prime minister in a blistering attack on her male rival.

It comes as Julia Gillard embarks on a three-day tour of India - the second day of which got off on the wrong foot when she took a tumble near Mahatma Gandhi's memorial at Rajghat.

She later told reporters she was "fine" and joked: "For men who get to wear flat shoes all day, every day - if you wear heels, they can get embedded in soft grass. When you pull your foot up, the shoe doesn't come."

Ms Gillard's attack on opposition leader Tony Abbott last week followed his attempt to move a motion to oust the House of Representatives speaker Peter Slipper, who is accused of sending crude and sexist text messages.

In a speech to parliament, Ms Gillard said: "If he wants to know what misogyny looks like in modern Australia, he doesn't need a motion in the House of Representatives; he needs a mirror."

"Misogyny, sexism - every day from this leader of this opposition," she added.

The prime minister's critics accused her of exaggeration, pointing to dictionary definitions of misogyny as a hatred of women.

It has led the Macquarie dictionary - regarded by many as the authoritative guide to the Australian meanings of words - to admit its definition is decades out of date.

Sue Butler, who edits the dictionary, said it would broaden the word's meaning to include prejudice against women.

"Since the 1980s, misogyny has come to be used as a synonym for sexism - a synonym with bite, but nevertheless with the meaning of entrenched prejudice against women rather than pathological hatred," she said.

"Perhaps as dictionary editors we should have noticed this before it was so rudely thrust in front of us as something that we'd overlooked."

Ms Butler said the decision to update the meaning of the word had prompted complaints.

Critics include Senator Fiona Nash, a member of Mr Abbott's coalition, who said: "It would seem more logical for the prime minister to refine her vocabulary than for the Macquarie dictionary to keep changing its definitions every time a politician mangles the English language."

Ms Gillard and Mr Abbott declined to comment on the move but it is not the first time they have clashed over issues of gender.

The prime minister said her rival had previously described abortion as "the easy way out" and questioned whether it was a bad thing for men to have more power than women in Australian society.

Speaking in parliament, Mr Abbott once told her: "If the prime minister wants to, politically speaking, make an honest woman of herself ..."

In Australia, the term "making an honest woman" traditionally refers to a man marrying a woman with whom he has had a sexual relationship.

Ms Gillard is the first prime minister to share the official residence with a common law partner, former hairdresser Tim Mathieson.

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US Presidential Race: Second Debate 'Critical'

By Greg Milam, US Correspondent

Barack Obama and Mitt Romney go head-to-head in their second televised debate tonight - and the president knows it could be critical to his hopes of a second term in the White House.

Mr Obama's lacklustre performance in the first debate two weeks ago has led to him slipping in the opinion polls both nationally and in key battleground states.

Mr Romney has enjoyed a 'bounce' in his popularity from that performance and has the air of a man reinvigorated with three weeks to go until polling day.

The two will go head-to-head on stage at Hofstra University on New York's Long Island for the second of three live prime-time clashes.

This debate will take the form of a 'town hall', with the candidates facing questions from members of the audience, voters selected from the nearby Nassau County.

Experts say the format might hamper Mr Obama's attempts to go on the offensive, after admitting he was "too polite" in the first debate.

The pair shake hands during the first TV debate

Debate coach Brett O'Donnell, who worked with John McCain in 2008 and Mr Romney during this year's primaries, said: "This is the one debate that belongs to the people.

"You can't have this sort of all-out slugfest at a town hall debate."

The Obama camp hopes that addressing voters face-to-face will play on his perceived strength, according to pollsters, as a man who understands the problems of real Americans.

It is clear the debates are having a real-time impact on the election with early voting already taking place in many states.

Those who know the inner workings of the Obama White House say it has led to an increased focus on avoiding the mistakes of the first debate.

Corey Ealons, a former Obama communications official, said: "We know that's not President Barack Obama when he's at his best.

First Lady Michelle Obama has already cast her vote

"So if he's awake, aware, present and calls Governor Romney on the facts when he has the chance to, I know he'll have a really good performance."

This debate also gives Mr Romney the chance to overcome a persistent weakness in the campaign: the suspicion among some voters that he's too wealthy to relate to the middle class and the poor.

Some good news for the Obama campaign has come with the release of the latest fundraising figures for the two candidates.

Mr Romney and his allies raised $170.5m (£106m) in September, short of the record-breaking $181m (£113m) raised by the Obama camp in the same month.

It is the second successive month that Mr Obama has out-raised Mr Romney after the Republican candidate had enjoyed a financial lead for much of the year.

This election is expected to be the most expensive in history.

The president has also received some unsurprising backing: First Lady Michelle Obama cast an absentee ballot on Monday.

She tweeted: "Hey, @BarackObama, I just dropped my absentee ballot in the mail -- I couldn't wait for Election Day! Love you! --mo."

The president tweeted back: "I'm following @MichelleObama's example and voting early, on October 25. If your state has early voting, join me ... --bo."

The first couple add their initials to tweets when they, rather than campaign workers, have composed them.

:: You can watch the debate live on Sky News and the Sky News website starting at 2am BST on Wednesday, October 17

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Benghazi Attack: Clinton Takes Heat Off Obama

Hillary Clinton has said she is "responsible" for the security of the country's diplomatic staff around the world after criticism of the handling of a deadly attack on a consulate in Libya.

The US ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, was killed along with another diplomat and two security personnel when armed men broke into the US mission compound in Benghazi.

Republicans have used the issue to criticise President Barack Obama's government - particularly after it emerged that requests for additional security at the consulate had been turned down by the State Department.

But Mrs Clinton's remarks, during a visit to Peru, could take the heat off Mr Obama as he prepares to face a grilling on the Benghazi attack during the second televised presidential debate.

"I'm in charge of the State Department's 60,000-plus people all over the world," Mrs Clinton said in an interview with CNN.

"The President and the Vice President wouldn't be knowledgeable about specific decisions that are made by security professionals. They're the ones who weigh all of the threats and the risks and the needs and make a considered decision."

Christopher Stevens, right, died in the attack

Vice President Joe Biden said during last week's debate with republican challenger Mitt Romney's running mate Paul Ryan that the White House had not been told about the request for more security.

Mrs Clinton has launched an internal investigation into whether there were any security failures in Benghazi, while the FBI and Libyan authorities have launched criminal investigations into the killings.

The Obama administration has also been criticised for its original assertion that the assault on the mission appeared to be linked to protests against a film mocking Islam that had been produced in the US.

But it quickly became clear that it was more likely a planned attack by Islamist militants.

Mrs Clinton said the shifting explanations for the attack were simply a consequence of "the fog of war".

"Remember, this was an attack that went on for hours," she said in another interview with Fox News. "There had to be a lot of sorting out ... Everyone said, here's what we know, subject to change."

In a joint statement, Republican senators led by John McCain said Mrs Clinton's acceptance of responsibility "is a laudable gesture especially when the White House is trying to avoid any responsibility whatsoever".

"The security of Americans serving our nation everywhere in the world is ultimately the job of the commander-in-chief. The buck stops there," it added.

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Karadzic Denies Atrocities At War Crimes Trial

Key Allegations Against Karadzic

Updated: 1:47pm UK, Tuesday 16 October 2012

Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic faces 10 charges including genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity during the war in the former Yugoslavia between 1992 and 1995.

They relate to a number of key incidents in the conflict that erupted in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

:: The Srebrenica Massacre

"He participated in a JCE (joint criminal enterprise) to eliminate the Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica by killing the men and boys of Srebrenica and forcibly removing the women, young children and some elderly men from Srebrenica."

More than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were killed after Bosnian Serb forces entered the eastern town.

Tens of thousands of people were sheltering in the town, which had been declared a safe haven by the United Nations two years earlier, after fleeing surrounding villages, which had been shelled by the Bosnian Serbs.

Despite 600 Dutch troops being stationed in Srebrenica to protect the Bosnian Muslims and Nato air strikes being requested to stop the Bosnian Serb advance, the forces of General Ratko Mladic were able to easily enter the town.

In the following hours, the men and boys were separated from the women for "interrogation".

About 23,000 women and children were deported to Muslim-held territories as Bosnian Serb as many of the unarmed men and boys were killed over the next five days.

The peacekeepers handed over about 5,000 Muslims who had been sheltering at a Dutch base in exchange for 14 soldiers who were held by the Bosnian Serbs.

The massacre has been described as the worst atrocity in Europe since the Second World War.

:: The Siege Of Sarajevo

"Between April 1992 and November 1995, Karadzic, in concert with other members of a JCE, established and implemented a military strategy that used sniping and shelling to kill, maim, wound and terrorise the civilian inhabitants of Sarajevo.

"The sniping and shelling killed and wounded thousands of civilians of both sexes and all ages, including children and the elderly."

More than 10,000 people were killed during the more than three-and-a-half years of the siege of Sarajevo.

Bosnian Serb forces heavily armed with artillery were based on the heights encircling the city and residents faced the daily threat of shelling, random gun fights or snipers.

Women and children, firefighters, UN peacekeepers and soldiers were all among the victims of the snipers hiding in high rise buildings in the centre of Sarajevo.

Burials, markets and football matches were all subject to deadly attacks from the Serb gunners.

For four years, the United Nations kept the city supplied with food and medicines through an airlift, but planes were frequently fired on. Others basics reached residents through a secret tunnel dug under the airport.

Not until the Bosnian Serb positions were battered by Nato airstrikes in August 1995 was the siege effectively ended.

:: Ethnic Cleansing

"He participated in a joint criminal enterprise (JCE) to permanently remove Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats from the territories of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) claimed as Bosnian Serb territory."

Large numbers of Bosnian Mulsims and Bosnian Croats were forced to leave their homes during the conflict. More than two million people are thought to have been displaced, up to 90% of non-Serbs in some areas, it is estimated.

Refugees described how non-Serbs were disarmed as Bosnian Serb political, security, and military forces took control of towns in the east and north.

Many non-Serbs faced interrogation, torture, and imprisonment or expulsion, witnesses said.

Most ended up in overcrowded areas of the west of the counry still controlled by the Bosnian government.

:: Peacekeepers Held Hostage

"Between approximately 26 May 1995 and 19 June 1995, Bosnian Serb forces detained over 200 UN peacekeepers and military observers in various locations, including Pale, Sarajevo, Banja Luka and Goražde, and held them at various locations in Republika Srpska."

More than 200 UN peacekeepers were held by Bosnian Serb forces as Nato launched airstrikes on their positions in the last months of the war.

They reportedly warned UN commanders and Nato officials that attacks on their facilities would result in the injury, death or continued detention of the detainees. Some of the detainees were allegedly assaulted or otherwise maltreated during their captivity.

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Stolen Paintings Include Picasso And Freud

Several paintings including works by Picasso, Matisse and Monet have been stolen from a Dutch museum in one of the largest heists in years.

Police said a total of seven paintings were taken from the Kunsthal museum in Rotterdam including Pablo Picasso's Tete d'Arlequin (1905) and Henri Mattise's La Liseuse and Blanc et Jaune (1919).

Two pieces by Claude Monet - Waterloo Bridge, London (1901) and Charing Cross Bridge, London (1901) - were also stolen.

The thieves also made off with Paul Gauguin's Femme devant une fenêtre ouverte, dite la Fiancee (1888), Meyer de Haan's Autoportrait (circa 1889 - 91) and Woman with Eyes Closed (2002) by Lucian Freud.

The heist occurred during Monday night or Tuesday morning in Rotterdam.

The total value of the seven pieces has not been revealed but is said to be "considerable", according to Mariette Maaskant from the museum.

"There was a break-in during the night and a few paintings were taken that represent a considerable sum," Rotterdam police spokeswoman Patricia Wessels confirmed.

"A major investigation is under way and forensics are at the scene."

The museum, which opened a new exhibition a few days ago to celebrate its 20th anniversary, will be shut for the rest of the day.

Investigators are now reviewing CCTV footage and appealing for witnesses who might have seen the crime, which is believed to have taken place in the early hours of the morning.

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