West Bank Settlement Plan Blow To Peace Hopes

By Dominic Waghorn, US Correspondent

Palestinians say the two-state solution to the Middle East conflict is at death's door after Israel announced it is reviving plans to build on occupied land in a controversial area of East Jerusalem.

William Hague called on Israel to reverse the plan, saying the move undermined Israel's international reputation and created doubts about its commitment to achieving peace.

The British Foreign Secretary said he was "extremely concerned" at the plans to create 3,000 new homes, warning it would make the two-state solution "difficult to achieve".

The US government also criticised Israel for the move.

"This administration - like previous administrations - has been very clear with Israel that these activities set back the cause of a negotiated peace," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in Washington.

E1 is the only large area of empty land left between East Jerusalem and the West Bank, sandwiched between Israeli settlements.

Reviving plans to build a settlement there could be fatal for the peace process, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad told Sky News in Washington.

"It would kill it. This would be the last nail in the coffin of the peace process a process that fulfils that which has been and has become a matter of international consensus. The two-state solution to this conflict. It simply cannot happen if E1 is implemented."

Palestinians say they cannot sign any peace deal that does not have at least a part of Jerusalem as their capital, for religious and political reasons.

An Israeli settlement on E1 would make a land corridor between that capital and the rest of a Palestinian state impossible.

That makes building on E1 a very different proposition to other Israeli settlement plans. For that reason former US President George Bush made then Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon promise not to build on E1 and put construction plans there on ice.

Danny Seidemann, from Jerusalem NGO Ir Amim, told Sky News: "E1 is the fatal heart attack of the two-state solution.

"If E1 is built there is no possibility of a contiguous viable Palestinian state and no possibility of connecting East Jerusalem and its hinterland on the West Bank."

An Israeli government spokesman told Sky News those plans are now being unfrozen.

"Planning is now going ahead," he said.

No decision to build has yet been taken but extensive plans are known to already exist.

Israel is responding to a vote in the United Nations General Assembly to recognise Palestine as a non-member state. Some 138 countries voted in favour of the move, only eight supported Israel in opposing it.

Israel has also said it will build 3,000 new units in existing settlements.

Under all interpretations of international law, Israel's settlements on occupied land are illegal.

Israel agreed to freeze settlement construction under the Roadmap For Peace plan in 2002, but has failed to comply with that commitment.

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UK Eyes Oz's Tough Anti-Smoking Laws

By Jonathan Samuels, Australia Correspondent

The British Government is considering following Australia's lead by stripping all branding and logos from tobacco packaging.

From today, Australia becomes the first country in the world to put all tobacco products in standardised packs which are a drab olive colour and have the manufacturer's brand in a simple uniform font.

The packs are covered in graphic health warnings portraying dying cancer sufferers, diseased feet and ill babies.

The law bans the use of logos, brand imagery, symbols, other images, colours and promotional text.

Australia's plain packaging laws are a potential watershed for the global industry, which serves one billion regular smokers, according to World Health Organisation statistics.

Australia's government says the aim is to deter young people from smoking by stripping the habit of glamour.

It is relying on studies showing that if people have not started smoking by the age of 26, there is a 99% chance they will never take it up.

The potential hitch, experts say, is the popularity of social media amongst the very demographic the plan is targeting.

After a series of Australian laws banning TV advertising and sports sponsorship and requiring most sellers to hide cigarettes from view, online is the final frontier for tobacco marketing.

"If you are a tobacco marketer and you've only got this small window left to promote your products, online is the compelling place for you to be in," said Becky Freeman, a public health researcher at Sydney University.

Australia has become the first country to introduce plain cigarette packs

The tobacco industry recently lost a High Court bid to have the legislation stopped.

Scott McIntyre of British American Tobacco Australia, the maker of Winfield cigarettes, says the new packs are easier to fake and will boost black market trade, leading to cheaper, more accessible cigarettes.

"There will be serious unintended consequences from the legislation," he said. "Counterfeiters from China and Indonesia will bring lots more of these products down to sell on the streets of Australia."

The industry has shifted its focus to potential copycat legislation elsewhere. Ukraine, Honduras and the Dominican Republic have filed complaints with the World Trade Organisation, funded by the tobacco industry, claiming the laws unfairly restrict trade, although their trade with Australia is minimal.

Many smokers in Australia say the new packs won't change their habit. "As a 14-year veteran smoker the packets make no difference to me," one man told Sky News.

Another smoker said she may be more inclined to keep the packet, with its gruesome health warnings, hidden from view, but that it wouldn't stop her smoking.

Earlier this year, the British Government launched a consultation on plans to introduce similar standardised packaging. Information generated by the consultation, which closed in August, is still being analysed by health officials.

Dr Harpal Kumar, Cancer Research UK's chief executive, said: "The Australian Government is to be applauded. Today marks the day when tobacco companies are further stymied in their efforts to recruit Australian children into a lethal addiction.

A UK Department of Health spokesman said: "We have received many thousands of responses to the tobacco packaging consultation. We are currently in the process of carefully collating and analysing all the responses received.

"The Government has an open mind on this issue and any decisions to take further action will be taken only after full consideration of the consultation responses, evidence and other relevant information."

Australia aims to cut the number of people smoking from 15% of the population to just 10% in six years' time.

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Chinese Home In Middle Of Road Is Torn Down

A home that was left standing in the middle of a busy new road in China after its owners refused to leave has been demolished.

The couple living there, duck farmer Luo Baogen and his wife, were the lone holdouts from a neighbourhood that had been demolished to make way for the road.

Builders built it despite their stubbornness and their home ended up being surrounded by asphalt with motorists having to navigate around it.

The five-storey building was bulldozed on Saturday after the pair finally accepted compensation of 260,000 yuan (£25,000), officials said.

Luo Baogen, 67, points to his now-demolished home

Pictures of their home became an internet sensation in recent weeks and the building was a symbol of resistance by homeowners against officials accused of offering residents unfair compensation to move out.

Officials said Mr Luo, tired of the media attention, had consented to the deal voluntarily.

"Luo Baogen received dozens of people from the media every day and his house stands in the centre of the road. So he decided to demolish the house," Xiazhangyang village chief Chen Xuecai said.

Property has helped drive China's growth in recent decades, but it has also raised objections from homeowners who have been forced out to make way for new constructions.

Once complete, the highway through Xiazhangyang village, on China's eastern coast, will lead to Wenling railway station, which is served by the country's super-fast bullet trains.

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North Korea Unveils New Rocket Launch Plan

By Mark Stone, Asia Correspondent, in Beijing

North Korea says it is to launch a long-range rocket later this month.

The launch, planned for between between December 10 and December 22, has significantly increased already strained tensions with South Korea ahead of its presidential election later this month.

South Korea's Foreign Ministry reacted swiftly to the news saying that it had "grave concern" and that Pyongyang could face severe repercussions from the international community.

North Korea tried in April to launch a long-range rocket but it broke apart shortly after lift off. It crash landed in the Yellow Sea 60 seconds after it was launched.

Critics believe leader Kim Jong-un is flexing his military muscles

The country's space agency, the Korean Committee for Space Technology said that it had studied the mistakes made in the April launch and had improved the rocket.

"Scientists and technicians of the DPRK analysed the mistakes that were made during the previous April launch and deepened the work of improving the reliability and precision of the satellite and carrier rocket, thereby rounding off the preparations for launch," it said.

Pyongyang claimed that the much-hyped failed April launch was intended to put a polar-orbiting earth observation satellite into orbit.

However, the US, South Korea and the UN all insisted it was a disguised ballistic missile test using a three-stage variant of the Taepodong-2 inter-continental ballistic missile.

The April test put a halt to the latest international effort to engage with North Korea, with the US calling off plans to deliver badly needed food assistance.

Saturday's announcement confirmed more than a week of speculation that a new launch was imminent.

Satellite imagery, released by DigitalGlobe, showed a marked increase in activity at a North Korean launch site.

Comparisons with earlier satellite imagery of the Sohae Satellite Launch Station near the Chinese border showed an increased number of people, trucks and other equipment.

"Given the observed level of activity... a new tent, trucks, people and numerous portable fuel/oxidizer tanks, should North Korea desire, it could possibly conduct its fifth satellite launch event during the next three weeks." DigitalGlobe said in a statement last week accompanying its image.

Reports also emerged from Japan and the US suggesting their intelligence analysts were also concerned about an increase in activity.

On Thursday, the UN Security Council had cautioned Pyongyang against going ahead with another launch, saying it would be "extremely inadvisable".

South Korea has reacted with anger to the latest launch plan, saying the "so-called rocket launch" is a long-range missile that violates a UN ban.

Voters in South Korea go to the polls on December 19. The neck-and-neck contest is between the ruling conservative party candidate Park Geun-hye, daughter of former South Korean leader Park Chung-hee and her Democratic Union Party rival, Moon Jae-in.

The policies they are expected to adopt in relation to North Korea differ markedly. Democratic candidate Mr Moon is expected to adopt a "carrot & stick" approach. Ms Park's stance is more "stick then carrot".

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Chimpanzee Attack: Victim Gets $4m Settlement

A woman who was blinded, lost both hands and underwent a face transplant after being mauled by a chimpanzee has agreed a $4m (£2.5m) settlement.

Attack victim Charla Nash's family had filed a lawsuit seeking $50m (£31.2m) in damages from chimp owner Sandra Herold, who died in 2010.

Ms Nash was attacked outside Ms Herold's home in Stamford, Connecticut in February 2009.

"The case is resolved," said Brenden Leydon, the lawyer representing Ms Herold's estate. "I think it was a fair compromise on all sides."

Ms Nash, 57, now lives in a nursing home outside of Boston.

She had gone to Ms Herold's on the day of the attack to help lure the 200lb (91kg) chimpanzee, Travis, back into her home.

But the animal went berserk and ripped off Ms Nash's nose, lips, eyelids and hands before being shot dead by a police officer.

A month after the mauling, Ms Nash's family sued Ms Herold for alleged negligence and recklessness.

The lawsuit alleged Ms Herold knew Travis was dangerous, but failed to confine him to a secure area and allowed him to roam her property.

Travis had previously bitten another woman's hand and tried to drag her into a car in 1996. Two years later he had bitten a man's thumb.

In 2003, he escaped from Ms Herold's home and roamed around the town for hours before being captured, according to the court papers.

The family is trying to sue the state for $150m (£93m), but is awaiting permission from the state claims commissioner.

Ms Nash also wants to sue the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, which she holds responsible for not seizing the animal before the attack despite a state biologist's warning it was dangerous.

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Palestinian Status Upgraded After UN Vote

The UN General Assembly has voted overwhelmingly in favour of upgrading the Palestinians' status to a non-member observer state, defying the wishes of Israel and the US.

It marks a major diplomatic triumph for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who had met fierce opposition from the US and Israel over the vote.

The resolution was approved by a vote of 138-9, with 41 abstentions. It gives the Palestinian Authority the same status as the Vatican and enables it to join UN agencies, sign international treaties and access bodies such as the International Criminal Court (ICC).

A Palestinian flag was quickly unfurled on the floor of the General Assembly, behind the Palestinian delegation.

Thousands of Palestinians who had gathered in the West Bank city of Ramallah celebrated the news by firing shots into the air, embracing each other and chanting "God is greatest".

In his speech to the General Assembly before the vote, Mr Abbas said the assembly was "being asked ... to issue the birth certificate of Palestine".

His speech angered the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Mr Abbas celebrates the result of the vote

"The world watched a defamatory and venomous speech that was full of mendacious propaganda against the IDF (army) and the citizens of Israel," he said in a statement.

Mr Netanyahu said the UN move violated past agreements between Israel and the Palestinians and that Israel would act accordingly, without elaborating what steps it might take.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton dubbed the vote as "unfortunate and counterproductive", saying it would "place further obstacles in the path to peace".

She said: "Only through direct negotiations between the parties can the Palestinians and Israelis achieve the peace that both deserve: two states for two people, with a sovereign, viable and independent Palestine living side-by-side in peace and security with a Jewish and democratic Israel."

The UK abstained in the vote after Foreign Secretary William Hague said he could only back the move if the Palestinians gave a commitment to an immediate and unconditional return to the negotiating table with Israel.

He said he respected the decision but added: "We continue to believe that the prospects for a swift return to negotiations on a two state solution - the only way to create a Palestinian state on the ground - would be greater ... if President (Mahmoud) Abbas had been able to give the assurances we suggested, and without which we were unable to vote in favour of the resolution."

The vote had been certain to succeed, with most of the member states sympathetic to the Palestinians.

Several key countries, including France, this week announced they would support the move to elevate the status of the Palestinians.

Some countries fear the Palestinians' new access to the ICC could become a springboard for pursuing Israel for alleged war crimes or its ongoing settlement building on war-won land.

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New York Good Cop Explains Act Of Kindness

It was meant to be a private gesture, but the New York policeman who bought a homeless man a $100 (£62) pair of boots has won international and official praise.

Officer Larry DePrimo appeared before throngs of reporters and cameras on Thursday after being awarded a pair of cufflinks by his boss, NYPD Commisioner Ray Kelly.

The 25-year-old explained that he had been inspired by his grandfather to buy the anonymous barefoot man a pair of shoes, after encountering him during his beat near Times Square on a cold evening in early November.   

"He told me when I was much younger, 'If you are going to do something, do it 100%. And do it, or don't do it at all,'" Officer DePrimo said.

"I didn't really think anything of it at the time," he added. "What sticks out in my mind is he was such a kind gentleman that I had to help him. I wanted to."

Larry DePrimo's family home in Suffolk County, where the officer lives in a basement apartment, was also besieged by satellite trucks and journalists.    

And both he and the tourist who secretly snapped the photo - a civilian police worker from Arizona - were doing the rounds of US breakfast TV shows on Friday.

Jennifer Foster posted the image to the NYPD's Facebook Page and kicked off the internet phenomenon which has seen millions viewing the story and thousands of 'likes' and positive comments.

Officer Larry DePrimo pictured in 2011 on the NYPD Facebook page

But amid all the praise, there has been inevitable cynicism and some concern for the unidentified man at the centre of the modern-day fairytale of New York. 

"I walked by this man in Union Square Wednesday, November 21," wrote Melissa Gallaher-Smith. "And he was again barefoot. I remember very clearly because his pants were also hiked up and his feet were very large."

Several others reported seeing the same man - always without shoes. One told how she had bought a pair for him on a previous occasion, leading to speculation among others that he may be working some kind of scam.

Homeless charities also waded in, praising Officer DePrimo's actions but pointing out it is not in line with the NYPD's usual treatment of vagrants.

Patrick Markee, from the Coalition for the Homeless told the LA Times that successive New York mayors had sought to clean the city's streets of rough sleepers.

"It was a really moving photo and a moving story," he said, "and a stark contrast to a mayor who has largely ignored the homeless crisis that has spiralled out of control on his watch."

Whatever the truth of the situation, others argue, it does not detract from the young officer's caring and inspirational gesture.

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Napoleon: Coded Document Up For Auction

A document containing Napoleon's coded secret order to blow up the Kremlin is going up for auction in France.

The single line of numeric code - dated October 20, 1812, and signed "Nap" in the emperor's hand - told Paris of his desperate attempt to win victory against the Russians.

It reads: "At three o'clock in the morning, on the 22nd I am going to blow up the Kremlin.

"My cavalry is in tatters, many horses are dying."

By the time authorities in France received the letter three days later, the Russian czar's seat of power was in flames and the diminished French army was in retreat.

Napoleon bemoaned the loss of his cavalry in the coded document

The Napoleon code, used only for top-secret letters when the French emperor was far from home, aimed to stop enemies from intercepting French army orders.

It was regularly changed to prevent it from being cracked.

Jean-Christophe Chataignier, of Fontainebleau Auction House where the document will go under the hammer on Sunday, said it was unique.

He said: "Not only is it all in code, but it's the first time we see this different Napoleon.

"He went into Moscow in 1812 at the height of his power. He returned profoundly weakened.

"In Moscow, the Russians had fled days before and burnt down the city. There was no victory for Napoleon, nor were there any provisions for his starving, dying army.

"When he wrote this letter, he thinks he will be victorious."

Napoleon's "Grand Army" - 600,000 men - entered Russia in June 1812 but was woefully unprepared for the harsh weather and Russian tactic of scorching ceded ground.

In September this year, the Kremlin held huge celebrations 200 years after Russia's victory over Napoleon, including a re-enactment of the Battle of Borodino - one of the most damaging clashes for Napoleon's troops.

The document, which is accompanied by a second decoded sheet, is estimated to sell for up to £12,200.

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Afghan Girl's Throat Slit Over Refusal To Wed

A 15-year-old girl in Afghanistan has been murdered after her family refused a marriage proposal.

The teenager had her throat slit as she was carrying water from a river to her village home in the northern Kunduz province on Wednesday.

Two men have now been arrested over the attack.

Police said one of suspects had earlier proposed to the girl but the offer had been rejected by her family.

A police spokesman added: "The two men attacked her and slit her throat with a knife.

"They were arrested and are in police custody."

Extreme violence against women and girls remains a major problem in the conservative Muslim nation more than a decade after US-led troops brought down the notoriously brutal Taliban Islamist regime.

Figures from Oxfam show 87% of Afghan women have experienced physical, sexual or psychological violence or forced marriage.

Last month a 20-year-old woman was beheaded by her husband's family in the western province of Herat after she refused to become a prostitute, police said. Four people were arrested over the brutal killing.

And in September, five people were arrested over the public flogging of a 16-year-old girl for allegedly having an affair.

The girl was whipped 100 times in front of village elders and family members in the central Ghazni province. Her alleged boyfriend was fined.

Unmarried girls are often confined to the home and forbidden from maintaining any contact with men outside the immediate family.

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Tornado Hits Huge Steel Factory In Italy

A freak tornado has smashed into Europe's largest steel plant in the Italian city of Taranto, leaving one person missing and dozens injured.

Video footage shows the storm rolling in off the sea and tearing through the port city before hitting the huge IVLA site.

It brought down a chimney stack and caused significant damage to buildings at the factory's docks.

A total of 38 people - including 20 staff at the plant - are reported to be injured and divers have been searching for a worker who is unaccounted for after a dockside crane collapsed.

Three other people on the crane were rescued.

One worker is unaccounted for

The sudden storm filled the sky with grey swirls of cloud that ripped across the harbour.

It is the latest blow to IVLA, which has become one of the most pressing issues confronting the government of Prime Minister Mario Monti.

Workers stormed the plant on Tuesday to protest about a planned closure announced on Monday. Managers have been attempting to address health concerns amid reports of an elevated incidence of cancer in the area.

The government wants to save the factory, which employs around 20,000 people in a region of high unemployment, saying its closure would have devastating effects on the wider economy.

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China's 'Carrier Style' Takes On Gangnam

By Mark Stone, Beijing correspondent

Internet users across China have begun an unlikely craze inspired by the launch of fighter jets from the country's first aircraft carrier.

In what has quickly become known as 'Carrier Style', a cross-section of Chinese society have filmed themselves imitating the move made by the aircraft carrier's ground crew as the jets took off.

Footage of the historic launch of jets from the Liaoning were played repeatedly on Chinese state television at the weekend allowing viewers to get a close look of the ground crew's 'Top Gun' style pose.

Viewers have combined the pose with dance moves from Gangnam Style, the record breaking hit from South Korean singer Psy.

The move has been uploaded by firemen, policemen, businessmen, athletes and students.

"The successful taking off and landing of the jet on the aircraft carrier is very exciting to our entire nation, it has also encouraged our firefighters," said Hu Yang, a firemen in Chengdu.

"Doing this is to enrich our cultural life and is an entertainment for our spare time". 

According to postings on the Chinese version of Twitter, the gesture is seen as "powerful and confident as well as amusing".

Jets were first launched from The Liaoning last week

In just a day, more than eight million people had followed links to people adopting the move.

But there is a serious side to the craze. It is a gift for the Chinese government which many believe is trying to project its military might well beyond its borders.

The launch of the country's first aircraft carrier in September and the launch of aircraft from it at the weekend are hugely symbolic developments. The videos have resulted in plenty of people talking about it.

"Although the gesture has often been seen in movies, I couldn't restrain my excitement the first time I saw it used to instruct a fighter jet to land and take off from China's first aircraft carrier," Han Lu, chief editor of a leading car website told the China Daily newspaper.

The Chinese Communist Party insists  the aircraft carrier will be used only for training and that its military policy remains defensive in nature.

However, China is locked in a series of diplomatic disputes with most of its neighbours over territory in the East China Sea and the South China Sea.

A craze like 'Carrier Style' could act as a perfect boost for nationalist sentiment.

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Romania: £18m Hacking Gang Smashed By Police

A gang of computer hackers in Romania has been arrested after allegedly stealing the personal details of 500,000 Australian credit card users in the biggest identity heist in the country's history.

The data was used to create false identities to enable 30,000 counterfeit transactions in Europe, Hong Kong, Australia and the United States amounting to more than $30m (£18.7m).

The investigation - codenamed Operation Lino - began in June 2011 when the Australian Federal Police (AFP) received a referral from an Australian financial institution relating to suspicious credit card transactions.

The AFP traced the operation to Romania where they worked with local police to identify the location of the gang who had apparently hacked into 100 small businesses in Australia to snatch the data.

The operation came to an end after armed police raided premises in Romania using explosives to blast open the front door. Inside they found significant amounts of cash, weapons and networked computer equipment.

AFP Cyber Crime Operations Commander, Glen McEwen, said the arrests were the result of significant cooperation between law enforcement and the financial industry. 

"This is the largest data breach investigation ever undertaken by Australian law enforcement," he said.

"Without the cooperation of 13 other countries, along with Australia's banking and finance sector, we would not have been able to track these illegal transactions to the criminal network in Romania.

"Today's successful outcome is a culmination of 17 months of hard work with these partners, but policing is only one part of the solution to stop data compromises.

"Credit cards should be kept in a secure place, cashpoints should be checked for unusual attachments and personal details and PINs should be protected."

Australian financial institutions have reimbursed the financial losses of cardholders.

Abacus Australian Mutuals CEO Louise Petschler said the arrests demonstrate that cybercrime is a global enterprise.

"It underlines how a coordinated approach by law enforcement agencies, financial institutions, merchants and consumers can help fight card fraud," she said.

"We all have a role to play to ensure credit card transactions are safe and secure."

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Egypt: Major Protest Against President Morsi

More than 200,000 people packed Cairo's Tahrir Square to protest against Egypt's president Mohamed Morsi's new 'pharoah' powers.

They accused the Islamist leader of seeking to impose a new era of autocracy after he issued a decree that expanded his powers and barred court challenges to his decisions.

The demonstration in the iconic plaza was as large as some of the protests during last year's uprising that drove ex-president Hosni Mubarak from power.

The same chants aimed against Mr Mubarak have now been directed towards the country's first freely-elected leader.

Police fired tear gas at stone-throwing youths in streets near the protest and there were clashes between Mr Morsi's opponents and supporters in a city north of Cairo.

Mr Morsi, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, faces the biggest challenge in his five months in office.

Protesters in Tahrir Square

"The people want to bring down the regime," protesters in Tahrir Square chanted, echoing slogans used in the 2011 revolt.

"We don't want a dictatorship again. The Mubarak regime was a dictatorship. We had a revolution to have justice and freedom," said 32-year-old Ahmed Husseini in Cairo.

Protesters also demonstrated in Alexandria, Suez, Minya and other Nile Delta cities.

A 52-year-old demonstrator died after inhaling teargas in Cairo, the second protester death since Mr Morsi issued his decree last week.

The president's administration has defended the decree as an attempt to speed up reforms and complete a democratic transformation.

But opponents say Mr Morsi is behaving like a modern-day pharaoh, a jibe that was levelled at Mr Mubarak.

Mr Morsi's move also provoked a rebellion by judges and has hit confidence in an economy struggling after two years of turmoil.

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Alligators Found Guarding Washington Pot Crop

Detectives called to a Washington home after reports of a shooting discovered 15 marijuana plants being guarded by alligators.

The reptiles were kept in a room with the plants and hissed at detectives who opened the door, according to a Thurston County Sheriff spokesman.

"This was a fairly atypical event," Lieutenant Greg Elwin said.

Police said that standing among the plants and reptiles was an adult entertainer with a floor-to-ceiling brass stripper pole beside her.

"We see brass poles from time to time, but there were alligators," Lt Elwin said.

"They were there for protection for the marijuana grow area. They were just crawling around on the floor."

One detective compared the scene to a Hollywood movie, officers told the Seattle Times.

The 1.5-metre long alligators were placed in a bath and given pieces of raw chicken by police, before being removed from the Olympia property.

Darren Shore, 41, who lives at the house, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after telling detectives he had fired at the car in self-defence, fearing it would run him over.

A 30-year-old man suffering from gunshot wounds to the arm and back was treated at a nearby hospital for minor wounds.

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Syria: Deadly Car Bomb Blasts Rock Damascus

At least 50 people have been killed after two suspected car bombs exploded in the Syrian capital Damascus, according to UK-based opposition activists.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights added that more than 120 people were wounded in the blasts occurred early in the morning in the eastern district of Jaramana.

Addounia television broadcast footage of firefighters hosing down two vehicles. Debris from damaged buildings had crushed other cars in the area.

State TV blamed "terrorists" for the bombings - a phrase its uses to refer to the rebels battling to force the regime of President Bashar al Assad from power.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

The bombs went off in a car park lot between two commercial buildings. They were detonated within five minutes of one another as groups of labourers and employees were arriving to work.

The Jaramana district is mostly home to Christians and Druze

After the first explosion, people rushed to the site to help the injured before the second bomb went off, said Ismail Zlaiaa.

"It is an area packed with rush-hour passengers," he said. "God will not forgive the criminal perpetrators."

The explosions happened as the opposition coalition was due to meet in Cairo to discuss forming a transitional government.

"The objective is to name the prime minister for a transitional government, or at least have a list of candidates ahead of the Friends of Syria meeting," said Suhair al Atassi, one of the coalition's two vice presidents.

Countries friendly to the rebels are also meeting in the Egyptian capital over the coming days.

Meanwhile, a UN committee condemned "gross violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms" by both the Syrian regime and government-controlled militias.

The resolution urges Syrian authorities to immediately release all detainees and calls for a prompt independent international investigation into abuses and violations of international law with a view to bringing to justice those responsible for war crimes, crimes against humanity and other crimes.

It makes no mention of opposition forces but does express "grave concern at the escalation of violence" in the country.

The resolution is almost certain to be adopted by the 193-member General Assembly next month, however will not be legally binding.

More than 40,000 people are estimated to have died since the uprising against Assad's regime began 20 months ago.

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Anti-Islam Film: Court Passes Death Sentence

A court in Egypt has sentenced to death seven Christians in absentia for taking part in an anti-Islam film released on the web.

The film was released in September and has prompted violent protests in many Muslim countries.

"The seven accused persons were convicted of insulting the Islamic religion through participating in producing and offering a movie that insults Islam and its prophet," Judge Saif al-Nasr Soliman said.

The low-budget video, produced privately in California, was considered insulting to the Prophet Mohammad and triggered anti-US protests and attacks on Western embassies around the Muslim world.

The video - Innocence Of Muslims - was made by Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, also known as Sam Bacile, who is believed to be a Coptic Christian from Egypt.

He now lives in the US.

The release of the film led to riots and protests throughout the Muslim world.

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Eurozone And IMF Reach Greece Debt Deal

Eurozone finance ministers and the International Monetary Fund have reached an agreement on Greek debt, which paves the way for the release of much-needed loans.

After nearly 10 hours of talks, it was agreed that the country's public debt should fall to 124% of GDP in 2020 through a package of extra debt cutting measures.

The deal emerged in Brussels after a meeting of finance ministers from the 17 eurozone countries, the European Central Bank and the IMF on how to make Greek debt sustainable - their third meeting on the issue in as many weeks.

"It's going very slow, but we have financing and a Debt Sustainability Analysis. We've filled the financing gap until the end of programme in 2014," one official said, adding that talks on the details of the debt cutting measures with the IMF were still ongoing.

The deal is a breakthrough towards releasing the next tranche of loans, totalling 44bn euros (£35bn).

It comes after Greece's aid package was suspended in the summer over concerns it was not meeting the conditions of its bailout programme.

The Greek finance minister Yannis Stournaras said earlier that Athens had fulfilled its part of the deal by enacting tough austerity measures and economic reforms, and it was now up to the lenders to do their part.

The IMF has said Greece's debt as a proportion of GDP must be cut to around 120% by 2020, from a forecast 190% next year, for it to be manageable in the long-term.

It was not immediately clear how the debt would be reduced from its currently forecast level of 144% in 2020 to the target, but it is expected to involve a series of measures including the lowering of interest rate on loans to Greece.

Last week Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras criticised the failure to deliver bailout funds to Athens after 12 hours of emergency talks among the eurozone finance ministers and representatives of the troika of lenders had ended without agreement.

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Arafat Poisoning Probe: Remains Tested

Timeline: Yasser Arafat

Updated: 9:52am UK, Tuesday 27 November 2012

Here are some of the key dates in Mr Arafat's life.

:: February 4, 1969 Mr Arafat, the fifth child of a Palestinian merchant, takes over the PLO chairmanship. He transforms it into a force that makes the Palestinian cause known worldwide.

:: June 6, 1982 Israel invades Lebanon to crush the PLO, forcing Mr Arafat and loyalists to flee Beirut.

:: October 1, 1985 Mr Arafat narrowly escapes death in an Israeli air raid on the PLO's Tunisian headquarters.

:: April 16, 1988 Khalil al Wazir, Mr Arafat's military commander, is assassinated in Tunis. Israel is blamed.

:: December 12, 1988 Mr Arafat accepts Israel's right to exist and renounces terrorism. Nearly two years later, Iraq invades Kuwait, Mr Arafat supports Saddam Hussein and the PLO is isolated.

:: November 1991 Mr Arafat marries his 28-year-old secretary, Suha Tawil. Their daughter Zahwa is born in 1995.

:: April 7, 1992 Mr Arafat is rescued after a plane crash lands in the Libyan desert during a sandstorm.

:: September 13, 1993 Israel and the PLO sign an accord on Palestinian autonomy in Oslo, Norway, giving Mr Arafat control of most of the Gaza Strip and about a quarter of the West Bank. He shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin on the White House lawn. The two later share the Nobel Peace Prize with Israeli foreign minister Shimon Peres.

:: July 1, 1994 Returning from exile, Mr Arafat sets foot on Palestinian soil for the first time in 26 years.

:: September 28, 2000 Israel's then opposition leader Ariel Sharon visits a Jerusalem shrine holy to Jews and Muslims, leading to clashes that escalate into a Palestinian uprising.

:: December 3, 2001 After three suicide bombings, Israel destroys Mr Arafat's helicopters in Gaza City, confining him to the West Bank town of Ramallah.

:: March 2002 Israel declares Mr Arafat an "enemy" two days after a Palestinian suicide bomber kills 29 people at a Passover holiday meal, prompting an Israeli incursion into the West Bank.

:: June 24, 2002 President George W Bush calls on Palestinians to replace Mr Arafat as leader. A year later, his deputy Mahmoud Abbas becomes the first Palestinian prime minister in a move pushed for by the US and Israel to sideline Mr Arafat.

:: June 4, 2003 At the first major Israeli-Palestinian summit without Mr Arafat, Mr Sharon and Mr Bush launch "road map" peace plan, which aims to end fighting and create Palestinian state by 2005.

:: October 21, 2003 Mr Arafat is diagnosed with gallstones. Nearly a year to the day later, he collapses and is flown to hospital in France with a serious, undisclosed illness.

:: November 9, 2004 A French medical team acknowledges that Mr Arafat has been in a coma for a week. He dies two days later at the age of 75.

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Mexico: Beauty Queen Dies In Gang Gunfight

A Mexican beauty queen has been killed in a gunfight between soldiers and a suspected gang she was travelling with.

Authorities suspect that 22-year-old Maria Susana Flores Gamez, who was the Woman of Sinaloa 2012, was part of the gang and may have fired a gun in Saturday's violence.

An AK-47 assault rifle was found next to her body in the group's car.

"She was in the criminal group that clashed with army service members," Sinaloa state prosecutor Marco Antonio Higuera Gomez told a news conference.

He said a forensics test was positive for gunshot residue on her body, suggesting she fired a weapon.

Two men and two women, including Ms Gamez, and a soldier died in the gun battle in the municipality of Mocorito.

The army seized seven AK-47s, a grenade launcher, two grenades, a 40mm-calibre rifle, a handgun and around 1,000 cartridges.

Mexican media say the woman, who participated in the Miss Oriental Tourism pageant in China in May, was travelling with her boyfriend, a suspected hitman, when the shootout erupted. The boyfriend also died.

The armed group is linked to Orso Ivan Gastelum, the suspected leader of a group of hitmen working for the powerful Sinaloa drug cartel.

Families and friends held a funeral in the state capital of Culiacan on Sunday, covering Ms Gamez in a veil amid a heavy military presence.

On its Facebook page, the organisers of the Nuestra Belleza Sinaloa pageant voiced their "deepest condolences" for the death of Ms Gamez, who was a "charming and happy young woman with a great future".

Ms Gamez is not the first state beauty queen to be embroiled in a gang-related incident.

In December 2008, Laura Zuniga, the winner of the Nuestra Belleza Sinaloa pageant that year, was arrested in the western state of Jalisco along with seven suspected Juarez cartel members.

More than 60,000 people have died in drug-related violence across Mexico since President Felipe Calderon, whose six-year term ends on Saturday, launched a military offensive against cartels in 2006.

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Organ Transplant Pioneer Joseph Murray Dies

The doctor who won a Nobel Prize for performing the first ever successful organ transplant has died at the age of 93.

Dr Joseph Murray died on Monday after suffering a stroke last week, at the same Boston hospital where he performed the landmark kidney transplant on twins Ronald and Richard Herrick on December 23, 1954.

Dr Murray put his interest in the emerging science of transplants down to the three years he spent on the surgical ward of an army hospital in Pennsylvania during the Second World War.

Surgeons there would often treat severely burned soldiers with skin grafts from dead bodies as a temporary measure.

"The slow rejection of the foreign skin grafts fascinated me. How could the host distinguish another person's skin from his own?" Dr Murray would later write in an autobiographical essay published by the Nobel committee.

Dr Murray learned that the chief plastic surgeon, Colonel James Brown, had earlier carried out a skin graft on identical twins in which the recipient's body had accepted the foreign tissue rather than instinctively attacking it.

"This was the impetus to my study of organ transplantation," he later wrote.

The prospect of transplanting organs from one living patient to another was controversial from the beginning, with critics viewing it as a violation of nature that endangered both the donor and the recipient.

Surgeons carrying out a kidney transplant

But the public started coming around to the procedure after Dr Murray's historic operation in 1954, when he transplanted a kidney from Ronald Herrick to his identical twin brother Richard, extending his life by eight years.

In those eight years, Richard Herrick married his post-operative nurse, had two children and toasted his brother for "the extra drink". His twin died in 2010.

Dr Murray helped to develop the drug Imuran in the 1960s, which suppressed the immune system to allow patients to accept transplants from unrelated donors.

He won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1990, sharing the honour with E Donnall Thomas, who pioneered bone marrow transplants; their discoveries have been used to cure or provide a decent life for tens of thousands of severely ill patients.

Dr Murray later focused on plastic surgery, specifically the repair of facial defects in children.

"My life as a surgeon-scientist, combining humanity and science, has been fantastically rewarding," he wrote in the Nobel essay.

"In our daily patients we witness human nature in the raw - fear, despair, courage, understanding, hope, resignation, heroism. If alert, we can detect new problems to solve, new paths to investigate."

The doctor is survived by his wife, three sons, three daughters and 18 grandchildren.

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Brit Killed In South Africa Farm Robbery

A British man who went to South Africa to run a nature reserve has been killed in a robbery at his farm, police say.

Christopher Preece had gone outside to check why the power was cut at the property when three men attacked him with machetes, according to officers.

The 54-year-old victim bled to death after the attack near Ficksburg, a town near the border with Lesotho, on Saturday night.

His wife, 56, was seriously wounded in the assault and is now being treated in hospital.

Captain Phumelelo Dhlamini of the South African Police Service said the robbers stole about $350 (£220) and a mobile phone.

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Confidential Confetti: 'Police Papers Used'

Officers are investigating after hundreds of shredded police documents were apparently used as confetti during Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade in New York.

The paper strips are believed to have contained social security numbers, bank account details, workers' ID numbers as well as a police report about a pipe bomb.

Authorities were alerted by parade-goer Ethan Finkelstein and Nassau County Police is looking into the matter after the confetti appeared to come from that force.

Mr Finkelstein said: "There were thousands of pieces of white confetti paper all around us.

"We just picked up a handful and started going through it and we noticed there were more social security numbers, more addresses and phone numbers."

There were also thought to be mentions of former presidential challenger Mitt Romney's motorcade visible.

This was seen as probably a reference to his appearance at Hofstra University for a presidential debate in October.

Ethan Finkelstein discovered the shredded information

Mr Finkelstein, 18, said he was watching the parade at 65th Street and Central Park West last Thursday when he and a friend noticed a strip of confetti stuck onto her coat.

"It landed on her shoulder," he told PIX11 News, "and it says 'SSN' and it's written like a social security number, and we're like, 'That's really bizarre'.

"There are phone numbers, addresses, more social security numbers, licence plate numbers and then we find all these incident reports from police."

One confetti strip reportedly indicated that it was from an arrest record, and other strips offered more detail.

"This is really shocking," Mr Finkelstein said. "It says, 'At 4:30am a pipe bomb was thrown at a house in the Kings Grant area."

Nassau County Police's Inspector Kenneth Lack said: "The department is very concerned about this situation. We will be conducting an investigation into this matter as well as reviewing our procedures for the disposing of sensitive documents."

Parade sponsor Macy's said it uses "commercially manufactured, multicolour confetti, not shredded paper".

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Gas Worker's Blunder Caused Strip Club Blast

An explosion which flattened a Massachusetts strip club, injuring 21 people, was caused by a worker accidentally piercing a pipe.

The blast was caused by a gas worker who accidentally punctured a pipeline

The blast levelled the Scores Gentlemen's Club on Friday evening, and blew out the windows of dozens more buildings up to three blocks away.

Eighteen people were hurt. Most of the injured were part of a group of gas workers, firefighters and police officers who ducked for cover behind a lorry just before the blast.

Officials said it was a miracle no one was killed.             

State Fire Marshal Stephen Coan confirmed the explosion was caused by "human error".

He said a Columbia Gas company worker had been responding to reports of a gas leak when he damaged the underground pipe with a metal probe.

The explosion damaged buildings in a three-block radius

A flood of gas then built up in a building that housed the strip club, and a spark triggered the blast, Mr Coan said.

Investigators say the employee was following incorrect markings that indicated the location of the gas supply.

Columbia's president said the employee followed the correct procedures.

"You drive the hole to determine if there is any gas outside," Steve Bryant said. "He stepped over two feet and it turned out to be exactly the amount that the service was offset from the valve, which is a very unusual circumstance."

Preliminary reports show that the blast damaged 42 nearby buildings and 115 residential units.

The injured were mostly gas workers, police officers and firefighters

Three buildings were immediately condemned, while 24 others will need additional inspections by structural engineers to determine whether they are safe.

The building that housed the Scores Gentleman's Club was completely destroyed and a children's day care centre next door was heavily damaged.

Several buildings were evacuated after the gas pipe was ruptured.

Springfield Fire Commissioner Joseph Conant has praised the actions of firefighters.

"The firefighters did an excellent job evacuating the area which certainly prevented additional civilian injuries and saved many lives," he said.

Columbia Gas said it planned to open a claims centre for residents and businesses affected by the explosion.

Company officials have been co-operating with investigators and have determined there are no more gas leaks in the area.

Springfield, which is 90 miles (145km) west of Boston and has about 150,000 residents, is the largest city in western Massachusetts.

The city is still recovering from a tornado that caused extensive damage in June 2011.

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Australia Apologises For Military Sex Abuse

The Australian government has made an apology to military personnel who were sexually abused or otherwise mistreated during their service.

Defence Minister Stephen Smith made the apology in Parliament on behalf of the government following hundreds of claims of rape and sexual assault from members of the armed forces, past and present.

An inquiry into the allegations - which span six decades – has also begun and a compensation fund set up.

Mr Smith said: "Young men and women have suffered treatment which no member of our defence force or our community generally should experience."

The apology is the latest step in a two-year effort to reform the culture of the Australian military and make it more accepting of women.

The minister added: "Young men and women have endured sexual, physical or mental abuse from their colleagues which are not acceptable and do not reflect the values of a modern, diverse, tolerant, Australian society."

He acknowledged claims that officers had abused their positions of trust through their own behaviour or by turning a blind eye to the actions of others.

Australian Defence Minister Stephen Smith apologised in Parliament

Mr Smith also announced that retired judge Len Roberts-Smith had been appointed to examine allegations of abuse from more than 1,000 people dating back to the 1950s.

The earliest case relates to the alleged abuse of a 13-year-old navy trainee in 1951, while the most recent relates to events in 2011.

A preliminary review of these allegations by a law firm found that 750 were "plausible," Mr Smith said.

The three-month inquiry could result in compensation of up to 50,000 Australian dollars (£33,000) for each victim and the alleged perpetrators being referred to criminal authorities for prosecution.

Mr Smith warned that some of the perpetrators could still be serving in the military.

Australian Defence Force (ADF) Chief Lieutenant General David Hurley also apologised to victims and pledged to cooperate with the inquiry.

He said: "The number, nature, and range of allegations demonstrates that some members of the ADF have failed to understand the responsibility that rank imposes; that rank is a privilege and not a licence for domineering, belittling or predatory behaviour."

The government began its inquiries last year after a young woman alleged that a fellow cadet had secretly filmed a sexual encounter between the pair and broadcast it to their colleagues at the Australian military officer training academy.

That, and the attention the government focused on it, provoked a flurry of complaints of sexual misconduct over the decades.

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Egypt Judges Condemn President's 'Attack'

Egyptian judges have condemned a decree granting President Mohamed Morsi sweeping new powers, as angry protesters clashed with police for a second day.

A handful of rock-throwing activists battled riot police in the streets near Tahrir Square, where several thousand protesters massed on Friday to demonstrate against the decree, which effectively prevents Mr Morsi's decisions from being challenged.

The move also removed powers from the judiciary and allows the president to take any measures to protect national security.

The Supreme Judicial Council, the country's highest judicial authority, said the decree was an "unprecedented attack" on their independence, the state news agency reported.

Judges in the coastal city of Alexandria said all work at courts and prosecution offices would be suspended until the measures were reversed.

Some protesters are staging a sit-in in Tahrir Square

A number of opposition parties have called for an open-ended sit-in with the aim of "toppling" the decree, which has also drawn criticism from the US, the UN and the European Union.

A mass protest has also been called for Tuesday.

"We are facing a historic moment in which we either complete our revolution or we abandon it to become prey for a group that has put its narrow party interests above the national interest," the liberal Dustour Party said in a statement.

Mr Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood party also called its supporters out onto the streets of Cairo on Tuesday for a counter-demonstration to show support for the move.

On Friday, the president addressed his supporters at a rally outside the presidential palace, telling them he would press forward and that he was on the path to "freedom and democracy".

He said that the new powers were designed to stop "weevils" from the regime of ousted former president Hosni Mubarak blocking progress.

The decree reflects the concerns in the Muslim Brotherhood-led government that sections of the judiciary remain unreformed following the overthrown of Mubarak.

"It aims to sideline Morsi's enemies in the judiciary and ultimately to impose and head off any legal challenges to the constitution," said Elijah Zarwan, a Fellow with The European Council on Foreign Relations.

"We are in a situation now where both sides are escalating and it's getting harder and harder to see how either side can gracefully climb down."

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More Than 100 Die In Bangladesh Factory Fire

At least 112 people have been killed in a fire which tore through a clothes factory in Bangladesh, an official has said.

The blaze broke out in the seven-storey building operated by Tazreen Fashions on the outskirts of the capital, Dhaka, late on Saturday.

By this morning, firefighters had recovered 100 bodies, fire department operations director Mohammad Mahbub said.

Mr Mahbub said another 12 people, who had suffered injuries after jumping from the building to escape the fire, later died at several hospitals.

The death toll could rise as the search for victims is continuing, he added.

Army soldiers and border guards had been deployed to help police keep the situation under control as thousands of anxious relatives of the factory workers gathered at the scene.

It is not yet known what caused the blaze.

Firefighters at the scene of the blaze

Bangladesh has some 4,000 clothes factories, many without proper safety measures.

The country annually earns about $20bn from exports of garment products, mainly to the US and Europe.

Meanwhile, in Bangladesh's southeastern port city of Chittagong, military rescue teams were drafted in to help when a flyover collapsed just shortly before the factory fire.

"So far 13 dead bodies have been recovered," sub-inspector Mohammad Alauddin said.

The number of missing could not immediately be confirmed but police constable Shakakhawat Hossain said that dozens could be trapped under the debris.

Mr Hossain said about 20 people were injured, including some during clashes between police and an angry crowd that attacked the site offices of the construction company after the flyover collapse.

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Catalonia Holds Vote That Could Reshape Spain

Polls have opened in Spain's wealthy region of Catalonia for an election that could determine whether it eventually breaks away from the rest of the country.

The region must choose a new assembly, after a campaign dominated by the issue of independence from Spain and financial woes.

Opinion polls show that most voters will cast ballots for pro-independence parties, with Catalan President Artur Mas expected to win re-election.

Mr Mas has advocated independence despite strong resistance from Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who has been fighting deep recession in his country.

"I hope to be the last president of a Catalonia that the Spanish state is trying to destroy," Mr Mas told a recent campaign rally for his conservative Convergence and Union Party.

"The next one will not depend on the Spanish state and they will no longer be able to destroy it," he told supporters, who chanted back to him: "Independence! Independence!"

If the vote today goes his way, he has promised to call a referendum on statehood within four years.

Like the Basque Country, Catalonia - a northeastern region of 7.5 million people - has its own language and sees itself as different from the rest of Spain.

Until recently, Catalans were content just pushing for greater autonomy, and stopped short of seeking independence.

But Spain's economic woes, including a 25% unemployment rate, and tough austerity measures imposed by Madrid have added to the Catalans' discontent and persuaded many they would be better off on their own.

Catalonia has a significant weight in Spain's economy, accounting for one-fifth of its total output, and a greater share of its exports.

It features one of the world's greatest football teams, FC Barcelona, which contributes many players to Spain's World Cup winning national squad.

However, the region has also suffered from Europe's financial crisis and has a 44bn euro debt.

In the voting for the regional assembly, called by Mr Mas two years ahead of schedule, 135 seats are up for grabs, with Mr Mas' alliance expected to take 60-64, according to recent surveys.

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Dangling Truck Hangs From Overpass After Crash

A man crashed through a railing of an overpass in the United States and was stuck dangling over a busy motorway for an hour.

The smash occurred on the Southwest Danny Road overpass over Highway 217 in Beaverton, in Oregon, on Saturday.

The 38-year-old driver was rescued by firefighters and taken to hospital for treatment, and was reported to have escaped the crash with no serious injuries.

Emergency crews secured the truck from falling with a fire engine, and used another to bring the motorist to safety.

Part of the busy stretch of road was closed for several hours in both directions until the stranded vehicle was removed with a large crane.

According to reports, the driver was charged with drinking and driving.

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