Music School Helping Soweto Children At Risk

By Alex Crawford, Special Correspondent

A South African music school set up by a British woman to help the poorest children in Soweto is in danger of closing down because of lack of funds.

Buskaid, a charity, has helped thousands of poor children discover classically focused music in the former township.

Some have gone on to win scholarships at some of Britain's finest music institutions, such as the Royal Academy of Music.

A British viola player named Rosemary Nalden started Buskaid in the 90s. Its aim was to give disadvantaged young people in Soweto a better life through music.

Cecilia Manyama is now one of their leading lights. She has been at the school for 12 years and is now one of their leading violin players and singers.

For Cecilia, it meant a way out of poverty and a glimpse of a life she could only dream of before. She played to international audiences and now has a solid job playing in the Buskaid Ensemble and teaching other young students.

Life is still tough for many in the former South Africa township

Ms Nalden said: "I want to show them they can actually have a life through music, that they can earn a living as well as enjoy it."

Soweto has come a long way from the apartheid years when racial segregation meant the township was a by-word for poverty and crime.

But life is still tough for youngsters in a country where one in four South Africans is out of work. Pule Lekarapa was headed for a life of crime before Buskaid took him on.

He said: "I have no idea where I would be without Buskaid. I would be doing something terrible, that's for certain."

Instead though, at the relatively old age of 16 he turned up on the doorstep of Buskaid wanting to learn a musical instrument.

He now plays and teaches the double bass.

He added: "I love it, I really do and I am so grateful to Rosemary for giving me this chance to do this and have this life."

It gives the young people a purpose, a focus and a direction which they would not otherwise have.

The charity gives people a chance of a better life through music

We followed 10-year-old Solly home to his house around the corner from the Academy, which is in Deipkloof.

"He's here day in and day out," said Ms Nalden. "[He's] absolutely fanatical about his playing and determined to do something with his life."

Solly walks past groups of children skipping on the street or sitting on doorsteps, his violin case firmly in his hand.

He is going home to practise after spending most of the day at the Academy. His grandmother looks on proudly as he puts the violin through its paces.

But Solly's future and that of Buskaid is seriously under threat  because of lack of funds.

Ms Nalden said: "In a nutshell, we risk going under before the end of next year unless someone or people come forward to help us."

The charity not only pays for the children to receive lessons and the upkeep of the music school but it also funds two or three students to travel to England every year to study music.

And that involves even paying the £18,000 tuition fees if they feel the student is talented enough.

In a country with startling statistics like more than 70% of black South African children live in low-income households, Buskaid has been their hope, a chance of a future.

And that, Ms Nalden, insists, has got to be worth fighting for.

:: Find out more about Buskaid and make a donation

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Winter Storm Kills Eight And Disrupts Travel

A winter storm has killed eight people and caused travel misery as it sweeps across the United States.

The powerful weather system, which dumped more than half a metre of snow in parts of Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, Illinois and Missouri earlier this week, has been moving steadily eastwards towards New England, where it is expected to arrive on Saturday.

More than 30cm of rain are likely in northeastern states, with several feet of snow set to fall over higher ground.

Driving conditions were so dangerous, the National Weather Service urged people to travel only in an emergency.

"Strong winds will cause blowing and drifting, causing near blizzard conditions," it warned.

A woman shovels snow from a sidewalk in Baraboo, Wisconsin

Earlier this week in Iowa, a 25-vehicle crash on a major highway left two people dead and seven injured. Emergency crews brought food and water to motorists left stranded in the cars.

In neighbouring Wisconsin, two people died when their car slid into a lorry, while an ambulance transporting a woman in labour became stranded in snow. A second ambulance sent to help was also caught out by the weather, so a third was dispatched behind a snowplough to get the woman to hospital.

Further west in Utah, a woman whose car got stuck on an isolated road died of exposure after walking to find help, while in Nebraska and Kansas, three people were killed in separate crashes.

On Friday - the busiest travel day of the year - skies were clear in Chicago, where 270,000 people were expected to pass through airports.

However, high winds in New York and San Francisco grounded nearly 500 flights.

Meanwhile, another storm is raging in northern California and Oregon. The National Weather Service said heavy snow is possible as far west as Montana, Wyoming and Colorado by Christmas Eve.

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India: Tear Gas Fired At Gang Rape Protesters

Indian police fired tear gas and water cannon at protesters who were demanding justice and safety for women following the brutal gang rape of a student on a bus.

Thousands of demonstrators in New Delhi surged towards the president's palace chanting "we want justice" and carrying banners reading "hang them now".

Clashes between the protesters and riot police erupted when a group tried to break through barricades and some started throwing stones.

The police responded by opening fire on the crowds with gas and water, and using batons to try to control the masses.

It is the sixth day of protests in the wake of the attack on the 23-year-old physiotherapy student and her 28-year-old male companion by six drunk men on a bus.

They took it in turns to rape her and attack her with an iron rod, causing serious intestinal injuries, before throwing her off the bus.

The men claimed it was her punishment for being out in the evening with a man.

The woman is still battling for her life in a New Delhi hospital but her story has sparked massive demonstrations in a country where rape is the fastest rising crime.

There have been six days of protests since the brutal rape of a student

The number of rape cases in New Delhi alone has risen 17% from 2011 to 661 this year, according to government figures.

Ravi Shankar Prasad, spokesman for the main national opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, said New Delhi "is becoming the rape capital" of India.

He urged the prime minister, Manmohan Singh, "to please respond to the deep sense of pain, agony and concern of the young people".

Experts say a combination of abusive sexual behaviour and a scant fear of the law because of the woefully low conviction rate, encourage such attacks in the city, which has a population of 19 million.

The government has appealed for calm and has said it will press for life sentences for the woman's six attackers, pay her medical bills and improve policing.

Junior home minister R.P.N. Singh told India's CNN-IBN television network: "The government is trying to do whatever it can to take measures and make sure that women are safe in the country."

Doctors at the hospital where the woman is being treated said in a statement she is in a critical but stable condition and had been removed from a ventilator.

Five suspects were arrested soon after the attack, which happened on Sunday, and a sixth was taken into custody on Friday.

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Pope Pardons Butler Jailed In Vatican Leaks

Pope Benedict XVI has granted a Christmas pardon to his former butler, who was convicted and jailed in the VatiLeaks scandal.

The Pope visited Paolo Gabriele in the Vatican police barracks in the morning to tell him personally of the pardon, the Vatican said.

Gabriele, a 46-year-old father of three, was subsequently freed and has returned to his family.

The Holy See said it "intends to offer him the possibility to serenely restart his life together with his family", though the man would no longer live or work at the Vatican.

The Vatican spokesman described the Pontiff's meeting with his former butler as "intense" and "personal".

Gabriele was at the centre of one of the gravest Vatican security breaches in recent times.

He was arrested on May 23 after Vatican police found heaps of papal documents in his Vatican City apartment.

On October 6 he was convicted by a Vatican tribunal of stealing the Pope's private papers and leaking sensitive documents that alleged corruption in the Holy See.

The start of the trial in a Vatican courtroom in September

He had been serving his 18-month sentence in the Vatican police barracks.

Gabriele told investigators he had given the documents to a journalist because he thought that exposing the "evil and corruption" in the Vatican would put the church back on the right track.

The scandal bore the hallmarks of a Dan Brown novel, exposing intrigue, power struggle and allegations of corruption inside the frescoed Vatican walls.

It turned into a major embarrassment for Benedict's pontificate and came to be known in the media as "VatiLeaks".

The Pope also pardoned a second Vatican employee, Claudio Sciarpelletti, who was convicted of aiding Gabriele.

The papal pardon had been expected.

In 1981, the late Pope John Paul II famously pardoned Turkish hitman Ali Agca, who tried to kill him in St Peter's Square. The two later met in prison.

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Sandy Hook Survivors: Date For New School Term

The survivors from Sandy Hook Elementary are to return to school immediately after the New Year's holiday.

Nearly 600 students from kindergarten to the fourth grade will start attending the former Chalk Hill Middle School in neighbouring Monroe, Connecticut, on January 3, Danbury's The News-Times reports.

Sandy Hook in Newtown has been closed indefinitely after last Friday's shooting that left 20 children and six adults dead.

The surviving students - aged five to 10 - will be given classrooms at Chalk Hill equipped with desks, chairs and other items from  Sandy Hook.

Their families will be allowed to inspect Chalk Hill on January 2, according to The News-Times.

Officials have been working around the clock to prepare the old middle school, which is seven miles (11 km) south of Sandy Hook.

Volunteers helped fire marshals and building inspectors get the building compliant with state safety codes. The school - built in the 1960s - has been mainly used as a parks and recreation facility since closing its doors to students in 2011.

Sandy Hook Elementary has been closed indefinitely

Representatives from both the Newtown and Monroe school districts hope to make the transition to the new school as seamless as possible for the young students.

A retired former principal from Sandy Hook Elementary, Donna Page, has agreed to reprise her role once the students start at Chalk Hill, her husband told the Hartford Courant.

Meanwhile, funerals for the victims continued on Thursday as five more children were laid to rest, along with teacher Anne Marie Murphy.

A memorial service was also held for teacher Lauren Rousseau.

In Washington, Vice President Joe Biden reiterated on Thursday the White House's commitment to taking action to prevent future gun violence in the US, saying something has to get done "even if we could only save one life".

Barack Obama has commissioned Mr Biden to oversee a panel tasked with creating proposals to curb gun violence. Mr Biden met with cabinet officials on Thursday, including Attorney General Eric Holder and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

The massacre's far-reaching impact was underscored by an Associated Press poll conducted this week that named the mass shooting as 2012's top news story.

The annual survey of editors and news directors ranked the US election second and Superstorm Sandy third.

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Nancy Lanza: Private Funeral For Killer's Mum

A private funeral has been held for the woman whose son shot her dead at their Connecticut home and then drove to an elementary school and killed 20 children.

Kingston police Chief Donald Briggs said around 25 family members attended the ceremony at an undisclosed location in the town, where Ms Lanza once lived.

She was killed in her bed by her 20-year-old son, Adam Lanza, at their home in Newtown last week.

Adam Lanza then drove to Sandy Hook Elementary School, where he killed 20 children and six school employees before shooting himself.

The Newtown massacre is the second-worst shooting in US history after the 2007 Virginia Tech rampage, which left 33 people dead.

Lanza used an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle owned by his mother during his rampage - which has led to fresh calls for more restrictive gun laws.

President Barack Obama commissioned a panel to create proposals designed to curb gun violence in the US.

It comes as the National Rifle Association (NRA) was set to stage a news conference on Friday at a hotel opposite the White House in Washington DC.

Support has grown for a ban on assault weapons

NRA chief executive Wayne LaPierre and President David Keene will then appear on separate Sunday television talk shows for their first interviews since the murders last Friday.

The group kept quiet in the days after the shootings, but broke its silence on Tuesday to say it wanted to contribute to the gun control debate.

A school district in Boise, Idaho, cancelled planned assemblies at a number of its 50 schools after receiving threats that "something bad" would happen on Friday.

Authorities in Phoenix also arrested a 16-year-old girl on Thursday after she made threats on YouTube to kill herself and other students at a suburban high school.

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Argentinian Woman To Wed Twin Sister's Killer

An Argentinian woman is to marry the man convicted of killing her twin sister - but her mother is determined to stop the wedding.

Edith Casas's fiancee Victor Cingolani is serving a 13-year sentence for murdering his girlfriend Johana Casas.

The 19-year-old model's body was found with two gunshot wounds in 2010.

Her sister and her killer were granted permission to wed in a registry office but will hold the service in a prison in Pico Truncado, Santa Cruz, later amid intense media interest.

Ms Casas, 22, said her husband-to-be is innocent and described him as somebody "who would not hurt a fly".

However, her mother, Marcelina Orellana, has vowed to do everything she can to prevent the marriage going ahead.

"We know this will be hard because she is an adult, but we will go to court to try to have her examined by a psychiatrist," she said.

"As far as we are concerned, she does not know what she is doing."

Ms Casas has accused her mother of abandoning her and her sister, and said: "She cannot say I need a psychiatrist because I am fully aware of what I am doing."

Cingolani, who insists he is not guilty of the murder, added: "I loved Johana, but I love Edith. I have a beautiful bride and I am going to marry her."

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Apocalypse? Not Now, As World Survives

An ancient prediction that the world would end this morning has failed to come true.

As the clock counted down to - and then passed - 11.11am, people around the world used the moment as an excuse for a party.

December 21 marks the end of the 5,125-year Mayan calendar, which some said represents the end of the world.

But the claim was dismissed by everyone from Nasa and the US government to the Vatican.

The tiny French village of Bugarach drew global attention

People who paid just under £1,000 to take refuge in the underground bunker of former Soviet dictator Josef Stalin now stand to qualify for a 50% refund.

In the tiny French village of Bugarach in the Pyrenees, UFO watchers were left disappointed when aliens said to inhabit a jagged mountain failed to board a spacecraft and flee the Earth.

In Serbia, the place to be was Mount Rtanj, a pyramid-shaped peak, where local legend has it that the mountain once swallowed an evil sorcerer who will be released on doomsday in a ball of fire.

The end is nigh! How some were counting down the seconds

Old coal mineshafts were opened up as safe rooms for the dozens who arrived early.

Sirince, a small Turkish village known for its wines, was also being touted as a safe haven, thought to be because it is close to an area where the Virgin Mary is believed to have lived her final days.

In China, the authorities have been detaining more than 500 members of a fringe Christian group, Almighty God, who got into trouble after spreading rumours about the world's impending end, with leaflets, CDs, books and other material all seized.

A man in China made tsunami-proof survival pods

Closer to home, hundreds of people converged on Stonehenge for an End of the World party that coincided with the winter solstice.

In London, themed events included a Last Supper club.

Many scientists and historians argue that the Mayans had a cyclical sense of time, so that the end of a calendar simply signifies the end of one period and the beginning of another.

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Knife Attacks: Pupils Taught To Combat Threat

Chinese schools are teaching young students how to fight off knife-wielding attackers following a string of stabbings aimed at children.

Twenty-seven people have been killed and more than 80 injured since March in a spate of knife attacks that have alarmed the public.

The most recent school attack, on Friday, saw Min Yongjun stab and slash 22 students at a primary school in the central Chinese province of Henan. 

No-one died in Friday's violence but the official news agency Xinhua said eight of the children were taken to hospital for surgery for facial wounds.

The previous day, a man wielding a knife injured 15 students and a teacher at a primary school in southern China.

One of the children hurt in Friday's attack talks to her mum on the phone

And on Sunday, a man injured six women with a cleaver in southern China before killing himself by jumping from a building.

With much of the violence taking place on school grounds, there have long been calls for stronger protection for students.

The deaths of children strike an especially deep chord in a country where most urban families are allowed to have only one child, said Yang Dongping, an education expert at the Beijing Institute of Technology.

The attacks also fuelled concerns about the social malaise underneath China's rapid economic growth, as some attackers - usually young men - had recently lost jobs or felt left out of the country's economic boom.

There are also calls for the government to offer more psychological consultations across the country.

Earlier this week police released surveillance footage of Friday's school attack showing the attacker pursuing a group of children through a school gate.

Students stand behind a policeman as they learn to defend themselves

Panicked children stream out of the school gates to escape Min, before adults appear holding straw brooms and chase him out.

Authorities said that Min, 36, had been "influenced by rumours of the end of the world", which some people believe is due to occur on December 21, in line with supposed Mayan prophecies.

The attack happened on the same day that 20 children were shot dead at a US primary school in Connecticut.

Chinese social media users complained that while the US massacre received ample coverage, the Henan attack barely registered with official state media.

"The headlines are still dominated by the American attack, I haven't seen reports about the attack in Henan which happened on the same day," wrote one user of Sina Weibo - a website similar to Twitter.

"Aren't Chinese children's lives also important? It's a tragedy."

Another user said: "On the same day as the US shooting, 22 children were slashed at the school in Henan, but mainstream media were virtually mute on this. Are the lives of Chinese children worthless to them?"

According to instructions obtained by the China Digital Times - a website following social and political developments in China and run by the University of California -  the government's central propaganda department told Chinese media to play down the Henan attack.

It quoted officials as telling media not to put the news on the front page or lure readers to it, and not to produce reports or comment on it other than those provided by Xinhua.

Criticism of official media coverage follows the installation last month of a new Communist Party chief, Xi Jinping, who has told the media not to shy away from focusing on genuine news.

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India Elections: Modi Inches Closer To Top Job

By Alex Rossi, India Correspondent

Early election results in the Indian state of Gujarat suggest the controversial Hindu nationalist leader Narendra Modi will win a fourth successive term by a landslide - sealing his status as a frontrunner in the 2014 national polls.

According to the latest polling data, Mr Modi's BJP party is on course for an overwhelming victory.

He has won at least 60 seats and should win a further 56 in the 182-seat assembly.

The massive win will only enhance Mr Modi's standing as a potential future prime minister of the country - he has long been tipped for the top job.

The next national elections are due by 2014.

Mr Modi addresses his supporters during an election rally in Dokar

But Mr Modi is seen as an extremely divisive figure in a country with a sizeable minority non-Hindu population.

He was chief minister during the Hindu-Muslim riots in Gujarat in 2002 in which more than a 1,000 people were killed - most of them were Muslims.

Mr Modi stands accused of not doing enough to stop the unrest.

It is a charge though that he vehemently denies and this election result will be a huge boost for him and his party.

It is also a sign that he is a real contender for the top office.

Internationally, there are signs of acceptance as well.

In October, the British Government decided to end a 10-year diplomatic boycott of Mr Modi.

After the 2002 violence, the UK, the US and some European nations imposed a travel ban on Mr Modi.

But that has now been lifted by Britain - much to the anger of many Indian human rights campaigners.

The UK has been accused of cosying up to Mr Modi because of the possibility that he may one day lead India.

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Russia's Vladimir Putin: I'm Not Authoritarian

Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied he runs an authoritarian system, saying he has had plenty of chances to change the constitution but never has.

In his first major news conference of his third term as president, he said: "I cannot call this system authoritarian, I cannot agree with this.

"If I considered a totalitarian or authoritarian system preferable, I would simply have changed the constitution, it was easy enough to do, it doesn't even require any sort of national vote," Mr Putin said.

Critics, including in the United States and Europe, have accused him of trying to smother dissent by pushing through laws that they say can be used to stifle opponents.

During the broadcast, Mr Putin also backed tough legislation pending that would make it illegal for Americans to adopt Russian children in retaliation for a US human rights law.

The highly-controversial draft legislation would end around 1,000 adoptions a year and comes as a reminder of the rapid deterioration in Russia-US relations since Mr Putin's election in March.

The Kremlin

The bill also includes a clause that bans any Russian non-government organisations involved in politics that receives funding from the US.

The State Duma lower house of parliament is due to vote on the bill in its final reading on Friday, before it passes to the upper chamber and then for the president's signature.

Sitting behind a large desk in front of 1,200 journalists in a Moscow conference centre, Mr Putin remained calm, rarely smiled and was still going after three hours.

Covering a wide range of topics, the president went on to say he would offer French movie star Gerard Depardieu a Russian passport to resolve his tax row, calling him a friend.

"If Gerard really wants to have a residency permit in Russia or a Russian passport, we can consider this issue resolved positively," he said.

The website of Le Monde newspaper quoted Depardieu on Tuesday as telling friends that "Putin has already sent me a passport".

Actor Gerard Depardieu

Mr Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded to the report that "most likely he was joking".

Mr Putin also dismissed talk that he is suffering from health problems, saying such speculation served the interests of his political opponents.

"This is only beneficial for political opponents who are trying to question the legitimacy and the effectiveness of the authorities," he told the news conference.

The president was seen limping at a September Asia-Pacific summit and Russian government sources said he was suffering from back trouble.

Meanwhile, a Russian prosecutor has requested that oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky's jail sentence for multibillion-pound theft and money laundering be reduced by almost two years.

Mr Khodorkovsky is serving 13 years in a prison near the Arctic circle after a Russian court convicted him in 2010 in a case that Kremlin critics have described as politically motivated.

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US Shooting Spurs Bulletproof Backpack Sales

Sales of bulletproof backpacks have soared in the days after the shootings of 20 young children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut.

One company, Amendment II, sells Avengers and Little Mermaid-themed bags for boys and girls respectively, with integrated protective armour inserts.

"Sewn into the rear of the pack, you can always be confident that the armour hasn't been accidentally left at home and that you or your child are protected in case of the unthinkable," the company promises.

Other companies have also seized the moment to push sales. Prices range from $150 (£92) to almost $500 (£308).

BulletBlocker claims to have sold around 40 per day since last Friday's massacre.

The makers say bulletproof panels inside the bags could save lives

"Light, easy to use, it is as big as a book," says Elmar Uy, vice president at the New Hampshire company.

"We don't guarantee anything. It is just peace of mind, security for parents."

Devin Standard says his company, Black Dragon Tactical, has been selling 30 "ballistic panels" a day.

"The question is: is your life worth $229? Most people, when they think about this, they say, 'Yes,'" Mr Standard said.

"If you have a car, you have car insurance. If you have a house, you have home insurance. It (the bulletproof panel) is always there, just in case you are at the wrong place one day."

The reaction to the Connecticut school shooting can also be seen at gun stores and self-defence retailers across the nation.

A spike in gun sales is common after a mass shooting, but the latest rampage generated record sales in some states, particularly of assault weapons similar to the AR-15 rifle the gunman used at Sandy Hook.

Semi-automatic rifles are out of stock at many gun stores

Aaron Byrd, co-owner of Patriot Shooting Sports in Youngsville, North Carolina, sold out of the rifle and the high-capacity magazines that go with it.

"Things have been crazy the past couple of days. A lot of people have been coming in looking to purchase semi-automatic rifles," he said.

"They're worried that the government's going to ban semi-automatic rifles and high-capacity magazines, so they've been coming in looking for those."

Colorado set a single-day record for gun background check requests the day after the shootings, while Nevada saw more checks in the two days that followed than any other weekend this year.

Records were also set in Tennessee, California and Virginia, among others.

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South Korea's Knife-Edge Vote For A President

By Mark Stone, Asia Correspondent

Polls have closed in the South Korean presidential election with the result hanging on a knife-edge.

Voters have chosen between the centre-right candidate for the ruling Saenuri Party, Park Geun-Hye and her centre-left Democratic United Party rival Moon Jae-In.

It is understood that more than 70% of the eligible population braved temperatures of well below zero to vote and exit polls suggest the race is too close to call.

According to the Associated Press, an exit poll jointly sponsored by TV stations KBS, MBC and SBS showed conservative candidate Ms Park won 50.1% of the vote, compared to Mr Moon's 48.9%.

The leadership of North Korea still remains a problem for South Korea

The stations said, however, that the gap was within the plus-or-minus 0.8% margin of error.

A telephone survey by the YTN television network said Mr Moon got between 49.7 and 53.3%, while Ms Park received between 46.1 and 49.9%.

If Ms Park, 60, wins she will become the first female president of a nation which is still heavily dominated by men.

A victory for her will, analysts believe, shatter a national 'glass ceiling' and be seen as a massive step forward for women's rights.

Mr Moon when he was a special forces trooper

She is the daughter of General Park Chung-Hee, the former South Korean dictator whose autocratic rule over the country lasted for 18 years before he was assassinated by his own spy chief in 1979. Despite his dictatorship, he is widely credited for pulling South Korea out of poverty and turning it into the economic and technological success that it is today.

Mr Moon is a former human rights lawyer who was once jailed for his opposition to Park's fathers rule. He is the son of North Korean refugees who fled to the south during the Korean War.

Whoever wins the election will be faced with a belligerent North Korea, a slowing economy and rising welfare costs.

On North Korea, both candidates have a desire for further engagement though Ms Park's approach is more cautious. Mr Moon has promised to resume aid to the country without preconditions.

A British diplomat in Seoul described to Sky News the difference between the two approaches on North Korea as: 'Stick then large carrot from Park; large carrot then small stick from Moon.'

Relations between the north and the south are tense. The two are still technically at war. The border between the two - the 38th parallel - is the most fortified and heavily mined border in the world.

The relationship worsened with the shooting by North Korea of a tourist from the South in 2008, the sinking of a South Korean warship - an incident which North Korea says it had nothing to do with - and the shelling of a South Korean island in 2010.

Ms Park, 60, speaks to supporters of the Saenuri Party

Although North Korea will be a pressing issue for whoever wins, it has not played heavily in the campaigning despite the successful launch of a three-stage rocket by the North last week.

"It has been very much side-lined," Brendan Howe, a professor of International Relations based in Seoul told Sky News.

"Both sides want engagement but neither side is putting it at the forefront of their campaign. It has not a massive issue in the election."

An equally pressing issue is the widening gap between rich and poor in South Korea and the dominance of family-owned conglomerates like Samsung and Hyundai.

Wooing the crucial centralist voters has resulted in significant overlap between the two candidates policies.

They have both talked about 'economic democratisation' - reducing the social disparities that have come with rapid economic growth.

The new president will be one of a number of new leaders in the region. Japan has recently voted in right-wing candidate Shinzo Abe and China's new communist leadership, with their opaque direction, will take office in March.

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US Benghazi Report Slams 'Inadequate' Security

An inquiry into the September 11 attack in Libya that killed the US ambassador and three other Americans has said security arrangements were "grossly inadequate".

The independent panel blamed systematic management and leadership failures at the State Department for the attack on the mission in Benghazi.

The report singled out the Bureau of Diplomatic Security and the Bureau of Near East Affairs for criticism.

It said there appeared to have been a lack of co-operation and confusion over protection at the mission in a country that had been left relatively lawless after the revolution that toppled Muammar Gaddafi.

The report found the number of Diplomatic Security staff in Benghazi before and on the day of the attack "was inadequate despite repeated requests ... for additional staffing".

Despite those failures, the Accountability Review Board said no individual officials ignored or violated their duties and recommended no immediate disciplinary action.

But it also said poor performance by senior managers should be grounds for disciplinary recommendations in the future.

Christopher Steven's murder was the first of a US ambassador since 1988

The two most senior members of the panel - Retired Ambassador Thomas Pickering and a former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, Admiral Mike Mullen - are set to testify behind closed doors before the House and Senate foreign affairs on Wednesday.

Their testimony will set the stage for open hearings the next day with Deputy Secretary of State William Burns, who is in charge of policy, and Deputy Secretary of State Thomas Nides, who is in charge of management.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was to have appeared at Thursday's hearing but cancelled after fainting and sustaining a concussion last week while recovering from a stomach virus that dehydrated her.

The report appeared to break little new ground about the timeline of the Benghazi attack, during which Libyan Ambassador Christopher Stevens, information specialist Sean Smith and former Navy Seals Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods were killed.

But it confirmed that, contrary to initial accounts, there was no protest outside the consulate and said responsibility for the incident rested entirely with the terrorists who attacked the mission.

In the immediate aftermath, administration officials linked the attack to the spreading protests over an anti-Islamic film made in the US that had begun in Cairo, Egypt, earlier that day.

The review board found there had been no immediate, specific tactical warning of a potential attack on the 11th anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks.

However, the report said there had been several incidents of concern in the run-up to the attack that should have set off warning bells.

The report made 29 recommendations to improve embassy security, particularly at high-threat posts.

Mrs Clinton said she accepted all the recommendations.

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US Shooting: Doubts Over Lanza Asperger's Claim

By Brian Donathan, Sky News Online

A psychologist has told Sky News the actions of mass killer Adam Lanza were not consistent with someone who has Asperger's syndrome.

The gunman's parents reportedly informed friends and divorce mediators that their son had that form of autism.

But Dr Beth Weiner said Friday's shooting that left 20 children and six adults dead inside Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut sounded more like the act of "an individual with an anti-social personality disorder".

She said: "If you bump into someone with Asperger's in the hallway, they might not process it correctly and they might lash out, but they don't plan out something in a premeditated way."

No evidence has been found to suggest Lanza, 20, was taking medication for mental illness, and authorities are still trying to determine whether he was ever formally diagnosed with any mental health disorder.

The massacre, in which Lanza's own mother Nancy was also shot and killed by him, has left a community in mourning and people around the world searching for answers on how similar acts can be prevented in the future.

Dr Weiner, a clinical psychologist and the director of the psychology and therapy master's degree programme at Long Island University-Hudson in West Chester, New York, said "early intervention is key".

The mother of victim Jessica Rekos is comforted at the child's funeral

She said: "Kids have to be targeted early, and the front line people are the school personnel," adding that schools are "overloaded" and cannot be blamed when these types of incidents occur.

"Their hands are tied. They can't do the kind of emotional assessments that some of these kids need," she went on.

What is needed, Dr Weiner said, is a closer relationship between school personnel and outside clinicians - people who are trained in treating clients with mental health disorders.

"We're talking about having more security guards at schools ... maybe we need to look at how we can bring in more mental health professionals into the schools systems on a consulting basis," she said.

Dr Weiner also said people have to start overcoming the stigma that is attached to mental illness, which often keeps parents from pursuing the help their child needs.

"It's not the same when it comes to mental illness," she said. "Parents are not going to be as quick to check off the box that asks whether their child has behavioural problems."

The psychologist said she hopes the Newtown shooting would help people realise the need to be more proactive when it comes to treating children and adults with mental illness.

"In this day and age we're still putting labels, we're still calling people crazy as opposed to asking what can we do for them so they are not shut away from their peers," she said.

"Sometimes that isolation can breed dangerous thinking."

:: Watch USA: The Gun Debate on Sky News on Wednesday at 8:30pm.

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School Shooting: Obama Wants New Gun Policies

Barack Obama is tasking Joe Biden to head up a new government panel to formulate fresh policies to deal with gun violence, following last Friday's school shooting.

The president will formally outline the role of the vice president - a longtime gun control advocate - at the White House on Wednesday.

The panel will explore possible new gun legislation to rein in the sale of assault rifles and high-capacity magazines, but will also look at mental health policies and violence in popular culture.

The president has vowed to use "whatever power this office holds" to safeguard the nation's children after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut.

Twenty children and six adults were killed by 20-year-old Adam Lanza, who earlier shot dead his mother Nancy at the home they shared, and then killed himself at the school as police closed in.

Adam Lanza killed his mother before shooting dead 20 children and six staff

The massacre has re-ignited the debate over gun control in the US, with some calling for a clampdown on firearms.

President Barack Obama backs a new bill to reintroduce a ban on assault weapons that expired in 2004.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said Mr Obama is "actively supportive" of an attempt by Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein to write the bill early next year.

The president has also telephoned pro-gun senator Joe Manchin, who has shifted his position on firearms laws since Friday's carnage in Connecticut.

Mr Manchin, along with fellow democrat Mark Warner, who have so-called "A" ratings from the National Rifle Association, said the Newtown massacre has convinced them the time for reform has come.

West Virginia's Senator Manchin told MSNBC it was time to "move beyond rhetoric" on gun control. He said: "I don't know anyone in the sporting or hunting arena that goes out with an assault rifle. It's common sense."

Senator Warner said "the status quo isn't acceptable" and in a later interview called for "rational gun control".

The NRA has broken its silence over the Sandy Hook school massacre, saying its members were "shocked, saddened and heartbroken by the news of the horrific and senseless murders".

The group also said it wanted to give families time to mourn before making its first public statement.

It pledged "to help to make sure this never happens again" and has scheduled a news conference for Friday.

On Monday, 75 activists demonstrated outside the NRA's headquarters in Washington DC.

They chanted: "Shame on the NRA," and demanded the organisation drop its hardline stance and make way for new gun control laws.

Protesters outside the NRA's headquarters in Washington DC

"More than anyone else, the NRA is responsible for the more than 12,000 people murdered by guns every year in this country," said Josh Nelson, the campaign manager for the progressive Credo Action group that organised the protest.

"We call on the NRA's lobbyists to stand down and allow Congress to pass common-sense gun laws."

:: Watch USA: The Gun Debate on Sky News on Wednesday at 8.30pm.

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Jalal Talabani: Iraqi President Has Stroke

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani is fighting for his life after suffering a stroke, an official has said.

Mr Talabani is being treated at a hospital in Baghdad but may be flown to another country for treatment, said Prime Minister's spokesman Ali al Moussawi.

Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki is visiting the president at the hospital in the Iraqi capital.

Mr Talabani, 79, a veteran of the Kurdish guerrilla movement, is Iraq's first president from the ethnic group.

He has struggled with his health in recent years. He was treated for exhaustion in Jordan in 2007 and underwent heart surgery in the US in 2008.

Mr Talabani has lived through decades of conflict with the central government and other Kurdish groups, including a period in exile, before the fall of Saddam Hussein.

He assumed the largely ceremonial presidency in the years after the 2003 invasion, and has often used the role to mediate between sectarian and ethnic groups.

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Pakistan: Polio Vaccination Workers Shot Dead

Gunmen on motorbikes have shot dead four women giving polio vaccinations in Pakistan.

The attacks were carried out in three different areas of Karachi, the country's biggest city.

The women - all Pakistanis - were killed on the second day of a three-day nationwide drive against the disease, which is endemic in Pakistan.

The health minister for Sindh province said he had ordered a halt to all polio vaccinations in Karachi following the shootings.

Police said another polio worker was shot dead there on Monday, although the circumstances of his death only became clear later.

Karachi is on the coast of southern Pakistan

Senior police officer Shahid Hayat blamed the killings on "militants who issued a fatwa against polio vaccination in the past".

Pakistan is one of only three countries where polio, a highly-infectious and crippling disease, remains endemic, along with neighbouring Afghanistan and Nigeria.

But efforts to tackle the problem have been hampered over the years by suspicion over vaccination drives.

Warlord Hafiz Gul Bahadur and the Pakistani Taliban banned polio vaccinations in the country's tribal northwest, where polio is a particular problem, last June.

They claim the anti-polio campaign is a cover for spying activities by the West.

Officials say the ban is putting the health of 240,000 children in North and South Waziristan at risk.

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Fiji: Cyclone Evan Leaves Trail Of Destruction

Tropical Cyclone Evan has left a swathe of destruction across Fiji, destroying homes, flooding rivers and stranding thousands of tourists.

The storm hammered the Pacific nation for more than 12 hours.

But, despite the damage, officials reported no fatalities as the storm headed out to sea on Tuesday morning and was downgraded a notch to category three.

Neighbouring Samoa had no advance notice when Evan pummelled it late last week and officials there said the official death toll had risen to five, with up to 10 people still missing.

Fears that Evan would rival the deadly force of Cyclone Kina, which killed 23 people when it swept through Fiji in 1993, proved unfounded, largely due to extensive planning as the storm advanced.

However, Fijians face a long road to recovery on an island where entire houses have been blown away.

Scene in the village of Sanasana, east of Natadola Bay

Almost 8,500 people had sheltered in evacuation centres and thousands of tourists, many of whom were relocated from other islands for their own safety, rode out the storm on main island Viti Levu's resorts.

"Everyone was hunkered down, the winds were so strong last night (Monday) you couldn't even open your doors, it was over 200km per hour (125 mph)," said Marc Hinton, a New Zealander visiting Fiji.

Western parts of Viti Levu saw the most destruction, as Evan tore through the area overnight.

The Fiji Times have described the township of Lautoka in Viti Levu as a "war zone".

"The destruction this cyclone has caused is beyond words. Not one house has been spared here," Lautoka resident Melaia Waisele said.

Samoa's Disaster Management Office (DMO) said almost 5,000 people were still in evacuation centres and power remained off in much of the country.

DMO spokeswoman Filomena Nelson said the damage caused by the storm, estimated by the government to cost $130m (£80m), was more extensive than when a tsunami hit the country in 2009, killing 143 people.

"While the cost in lives has been less, the destruction is greater than the tsunami because it's affected a far larger area," she said.

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Samsung Drops Apple Lawsuits In Europe

Samsung has dropped its European patent lawsuits against Apple, as the bitter rivals' ongoing legal saga continues.

The announcement by the Seoul-based company comes shortly after a US judge rejected Apple's call to ban the sale of several Samsung smartphone models.

A company statement said: "Samsung remains committed to licensing our technologies on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms, and we strongly believe it is better when companies compete fairly in the marketplace, rather than in court.

"In this spirit, Samsung has decided to withdraw our injunction requests against Apple on the basis of our standard essential patents pending in European courts, in the interest of protecting consumer choice."

More follows...

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Afghan Landmine Blast Kills 10 Young Girls

By Mustafa Kazemi, in Kabul

Ten young girls have been killed by a landmine explosion in eastern Afghanistan, officials say.

The children were collecting firewood when one of them accidentally struck the mine with an axe, according to Chapahar district governor Mohammad Seddiq Dawlatzai.

The victims were aged nine to 13. Two other girls were critically injured and are being treated in hospital.

"An old mine left over from the time of the jihad (against Soviet troops in the 1980s) exploded, killing 10 girls and wounding two others," Mr Dawlatzai said.

Afghan villagers pray over the graves of the victims

However police chief General Abdullah Stanikzai said Taliban insurgents were to blame.

Since 1989, when the Soviets withdrew after a 10-year military occupation, nearly 700,000 mines and more than 15m other explosives left over from decades of war have been destroyed, according to UN figures.

But despite international clearance efforts, more than three decades of war have left Afghanistan one of the most heavily-mined countries in the world.

The explosives were laid during three recent conflicts: the 1980s war against the Russians, the 1990s civil war, and during fighting between the Northern Alliance and the Taliban before they were ousted from power in 2001.

Afghanistan is one of the most heavily-mined countries in the world

The Taliban also plant bombs, or improvised explosive devices, to target Afghan and Nato troops but these regularly kill civilians.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has repeatedly appealed to the insurgents as well as the Nato-led forces in Afghanistan to avoid civilian casualties.

In the first six months of 2012, 1,145 Afghan civilians were killed and around 2,000 wounded, mostly by roadside bombs.

A car bomb explosion injured several people in Kabul

Women and children account for about 30% of this year's casualties.

Meanwhile there are reports that one person has been killed and at least 30 injured in a blast in the capital Kabul.

It happened outside the compound of US military contractor Contrack. Afghan police say the attacker drove a car packed with explosives into the compound's wall.

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Japan: New PM Shinzo Abe Fires China Warning

By Mark Stone, Asia correspondent

Japan's new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has issued an early warning to China, just hours after a landslide victory for his right-wing Liberal Democratic Party.

Speaking at his first news conference, Mr Abe reiterated Tokyo's claim of sovereignty over a group of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea which is contested by Beijing.

"China is challenging the fact that [the islands] are Japan's inherent territory," Mr Abe said.

"Our objective is to stop the challenge. We don't intend to worsen relations between Japan and China," he said.

The election result represents a dramatic lurch to the right for Japan.

The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) led by Yoshihiko Noda suffered a significant defeat, winning just 57 seats - down from 230 in the last election.

Mr Abe's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) won 294 seats, up from 118.

When combined with the New Komeito Party, its junior coalition partner, the LDP now has a two-thirds majority in the 480-seat lower house, enough to override the upper house in which no party has overall control.

PM Yoshihiko Noda resigned after his landslide election defeat

Mr Abe, 58 - who has already served as Prime Minister for a year between 2006 and 2007 - is seen as having a hawkish foreign policy and a radical economic agenda.

He characterised the win as more of a protest vote against the DPJ than a strong endorsement of his party.

"I think the results do not mean we have regained the public's trust 100%. Rather, they reflect 'no votes' to the DPJ's politics that stalled everything the past three years," he said.

"Now we are facing the test of how we can live up to the public's expectations, and we have to answer that question."

The win by his LDP Party is widely expected to produce a government with a hardline stance on the ongoing territorial dispute with China.

Japan bought the Senkaku islands from a private owner - and sparked a row

Mr Abe has said he wants Japan to play a bigger role in global security. He has pledged to change the country's pacifist constitution signed after World War Two.

A new right-leaning government combined with changes to the constitution and growing nationalist movement within Japan could significantly increase tensions in East Asia.

"We must strengthen our alliance with the US and also improve relations with China, with a strong determination that is no change in the fact the Senkaku islands are our territory," Mr Abe said after the victory.

China and Japan, who have a historically hostile relationship, both claim the group of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea. Beijing calls them the Diaoyu Islands and Tokyo refers to them as the Senkaku Islands.

China's claim had been dormant until the Japanese Government bought the islands from an individual who owned them earlier this year.

The sovereignty dispute has prompted mass protests in China

Last week, Japan scrambled fighter jets to the skies above the islands after a Chinese surveillance plane was spotted in air-space deemed by Tokyo to be Japanese.

Fixing Japan's economy will be the biggest domestic challenge for the incoming government. Mr Abe's policy is for 'unlimited' monetary easing and big spending on public projects.

Japan could be about to enter its fourth recession since 2000 and has a public debt twice the size of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Some of Japan's most famous companies like Sony and Sharp are struggling in the face of competition from rivals in China and South Korea.

Their woes are compounded by a strong yen, which has forced the price of their products in foreign markets up considerably.

Mr Abe's party also has a pro-nuclear energy policy despite last year's disaster at the Fukushima nuclear power station.

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Shooting: Lanza's Mum 'Prepared For Worst'

The mother of the Connecticut gunman, who was the first of his 27 victims and was killed with a rifle she owned, was "prepared for the worst", according to people who knew her.

Adam Lanza's aunt said Nancy Lanza had a survivalist mentality and was worried about protecting her home if the US economy nosedived.

She is reported to have been stockpiling food in the large home she shared with her 20-year-old son in Newtown, Connecticut.

Nancy Lanza, 52, who friends said kept her private life private, owned and registered the two handguns and rifle her son used in Friday's shooting.

The weapons were among half a dozen firearms legally registered to her, authorities said.

The divorced mother-of-two was found dead in her pyjamas in bed after being shot four times in the head with the rifle.

After leaving the house, the gunman then went to Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown with the weapons he took from her.

He got inside by breaking a window and began blasting his way through the building and murdering 20 children, all aged six or seven, and six women.

Nancy Lanza was the first victim before 26 others were shot

Investigators said Nancy Lanza had visited shooting ranges several times and that her son also went to a range.

Ginger Colburn, a spokeswoman for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, said it was still not clear whether Nancy Lanza brought her son to the range or whether he ever fired a weapon there.

Adam Lanza's aunt Marsha Lanza told the Chicago Sun-Times that Nancy Lanza wanted guns for protection.

"She prepared for the worst," Marsha Lanza told the newspaper. "I didn't know that they (the guns) would be used on her."

She also told CBS: "Last time we visited with her in person, yeah, we talked about prepping and 'are you ready for what can happen down the line when the economy collapses?'

"I didn't actually see them (guns), we just talked. I knew she had three."

Lanza in his high school yearbook

Dan Holmes, who got to know Nancy Lanza while doing landscaping work for her, told The Washington Post: "Guns were her hobby. She told me she liked the single-mindedness of shooting."

Mr Holmes said Nancy Lanza never invited him in. She would pay him in the yard and the landscaper never saw Adam.

"I would ring the bell on the front door, and she would come out the side and meet me," he said. "It was a little weird. It's stranger now thinking back on what happened."

One law enforcement officer said Adam Lanza had been diagnosed with Asperger's, a mild form of autism characterised by social awkwardness.

The gunman has been described as "socially awkward", "shy", "a nerd" and "super smart".

As a teenager he would scuttle from class to class, pressing himself against walls and clutching a black briefcase "like an eight-year-old with a teddy bear".

The car Lanza drove to school for his gun rampage is towed away

Marsha Lanza could not confirm reports that Adam Lanza had Asperger's or any other learning disability.

But she said his mother had disputes with the local school district and eventually ended up educating Adam Lanza at home.

"(Nancy) had issues with school ... She battled with the school district. I'm not 100 per cent certain if it was behaviour, learning disabilities, I really don't know. But he was very, very bright. He was smart."

Education officials said they had found no link between Nancy Lanza and Sandy Hook school, contrary to news reports that said she was a teacher there.

Investigators said they believe Adam Lanza attended the school many years ago, but they had no explanation for why he went there on Friday.

Neighbour Rhonda Cullens said she knew Nancy Lanza from get-togethers she hosted where they played Bunco, a dice game. She said her neighbour had enjoyed gardening.

"She was a very nice lady," Ms Cullens said. "She was just like all the rest of us in the neighbourhood, just a regular person."

Louise Tambascio, who became a shopping and dining companion of Nancy Lanza said: "Her family life was her family life when we were together. She kept it private. That was her own thing."

Marsha Lanza described Nancy Lanza as a good mother. "If he had needed consulting, she would have gotten it," she said. "Nancy wasn't one to deny reality."

But friends and neighbours said Nancy Lanza never spoke about the difficulties of raising her son.

Mostly she noted how clever he was and that she hoped, even with his problems, that he would find a way to succeed.

Court records show Nancy Lanza and her ex-husband, Peter Lanza, were divorced in 2009. He lives in Stamford and is a tax director at General Electric.

When the couple divorced, he left their spacious home to Nancy Lanza and told her she would never have to work another day in her life, said Marsha Lanza.

The split was not acrimonious and Adam Lanza spent time with both his mother and father, she said.

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Jacintha Saldanha: Nurse's Funeral In India

Hundreds of mourners have paid their respects to the nurse who was found dead after taking a royal hoax call in a small town in India.

The funeral for mother-of-two Jacintha Saldanha, 46, was held in the Catholic parish church Our Lady of Health in Shirva, near Mangalore.

"She was a respected member of the community here," said Sky's Alex Rossi, who was in Shirva.

"When you speak to people amongst those crowds, they will tell you that she was extremely well-liked."

Ms Saldanha was found hanged in her living quarters on December 7 at London's King Edward VII's Hospital, where the Duchess of Cambridge was being treated for pregnancy sickness.

Ms Saldanha with her husband Benedict

Three days earlier, Ms Saldanha had transferred a phone call from two Australian DJs, believing they were the Queen and Prince of Wales, to a nursing colleague who described in detail the condition of the Duchess.

Ms Saldanha's husband  Benedict Barboza and their two teenage children Junal and Lisha arrived in India on Sunday with her body from the UK, where the family moved about 12 years ago.

Mr Barboza held a press conference just five minutes after he laid the body of his wife to rest in the cemetery behind the church.

He said it would take him a long time to grieve and he would stay in Shirva over Christmas with the rest of his family before returning home to the UK.

The funeral took place in Shirva, where Ms Saldanha's husband was born

Sky's Alex Rossi said: "He looked absolutely exhausted throughout. He was tearful."

Before arriving in India, the family attended a memorial mass in Westminster Cathedral on Saturday. They paid an emotional tribute to a "kind-hearted, generous and well-respected woman".

Mr Barboza said: "My wife, you were the light in my darkness, who always showed me the way forward.

"From the day we met, you always stood by me in times of hardship and happiness. I feel a part of me has been ripped out."

Ms Saldanha's family paid an emotional tribute to her in London

Ms Saldanha's 14-year-old daughter said: "We will miss your laughter, the loving memories and the good times we had together. The house is an empty dwelling without your presence.

"We are shattered and there's an unfillable void in our lives."

Her son, 16, said: "Our mother, kind hearted, generous and a well-respected woman in both of our lives. You were the core of the family who kept us together."

Memorial services were also held at the hospital where Ms Saldanha worked and in Bristol where her husband and children live.

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US Shooting: Victims Were Shot Multiple Times

US Shooting: Deadliest Massacres

Updated: 12:23pm UK, Saturday 15 December 2012

The shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, is among the deadliest in modern US history.

Adam Lanza, 20, killed his mother before opening fire in the elementary school killing 20 children and six adults. He then turned the gun on himself.

It is the worst school shooting in America's history and second only to the Virginia Tech massacre in terms of the country's deadliest ever attacks.

Both attacks make up a grim history of mass murders using firearms in the US.

:: Aurora, Colorado, July 20, 2012:

A masked gunman burst in on the Century 16 cinema during a midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises throwing tear gas before opening fire.

He killed 12 and injured 58. James Eagan Holmes, 24, is the sole suspect and was arrested at the scene. He will appear in court in January.

:: Fort Hood, Killeen, Texas, November 5, 2009:

A 42-year-old US Army Major, serving as a psychiatrist, opened fire inside the US military base killing 13 and wounding 29 in an attack deemed an act of terrorism. Hasan was shot and captured and is paralysed from the waist down.

Before the killing he had been in touch with the late al Qaeda recruiter Anwar al Awlaki to ask whether he would be considered a martyr if he died shooting US soldiers.

:: Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, April 16, 2007:

Seung-Hui Cho, 23, killed 32 and injured 17 in America's deadliest shooting. He launched two separate attacks at the campus two hours apart before killing himself.

Cho had a history of mental illness and was in therapy through his school years.

:: Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania, October 2, 2006:

Charles Carl Roberts shot dead five and injured five in an attack at an Amish school. The 32-year-old dish washer at a local restaurant then killed himself.

He was driven by anger at God over the death of his premature daughter.

:: Red Lake Indian Reservation, March 21, 2005:

Sixteen-year-old Jeffrey Weise killed his grandfather and grandfather's companion before opening fire at Red Lake High School. He killed nine and injured seven, then took his own life.

He blamed years of school bullying for the attack.

:: Forth Worth, Sept 25, 1999:

Unemployed white supremacist Larry Gene Ashbrook opened fire on the congregation of Wedgwood Baptist Church, killing seven and wounding seven. He then turned the gun on himself.

Ashbrook, 47, was a member of a group that advocated killing minorities.

:: Atlanta, July 29, 1999:

Mark Orrin Barton, a trader, opened fire in two investment offices killing nine and wounding 12. He killed himself after a six-hour police manhunt.

The 44-year-old had been upset by big financial losses.

:: Columbine High School, Colorado, April 20, 1999:

Students Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, opened fire on schoolmates after bombs they had planted in the cafeteria failed to go off. They killed 13 and injured 21 before killing themselves.

The students were motivated by their anger at society. Harris had a history of depression.

:: McDonald's, San Ysidro, California, July 18 1984:

Welder James Huberty walked into a McDonald's and opened fire killing 21 people and wounding 19 before being shot by a police sniper.

The 51-year-old thought society was about to collapse. When asked where he was going as he left the house for the killing, he told his wife: "hunting humans".

:: University of Texas, Austin, August 1, 1966:

Engineering student Charles Joseph Whitman, 25, opened fire on students from the 28th floor of the main campus building. He killed 13 and wounded 32 before being shot dead by a police marksman. He also killed his wife and mother.

In a note he said he was suffering irrational thoughts and wanted to relieve his wife and mother from suffering but offered no explanation for the university attack.

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Victoria Soto Shot Dead After Saving Pupils

Gunman's Family Release Statements

Updated: 4:22am UK, Sunday 16 December 2012

The father of and uncle of dead gunman Adam Lanza have released statements, as America comes to terms with its most deadly school massacre.

Peter Lanza, who has been interviewed by police, said: "Our hearts go out to the families and friends who lost loved ones and to all those who were injured.

"Our family is grieving along with all those who have been affected by this enormous tragedy. No words can truly express how heartbroken we are.

Mr Lanza, who is an executive with General Electric, added: "We are in a state of disbelief and trying to find whatever answers we can. We too are asking why.

"We have cooperated fully with law enforcement and will continue to do so.

"Like so many of you, we are saddened, but struggling to make sense of what has transpired."

Meanwhile, Ms Lanza's brother has also released a statement for the families struggling to cope in the aftermath of the shooting spree.

James Champion, an ex-policeman who lives in Kingston in New Hampshire, said: "On behalf of Nancy's mother and siblings, we reach out to the community of Newtown to express our heartfelt sorrow for the incomprehensible loss of innocence that has affected so many."

According to the New York Times, Mr Champion confirmed that FBI agents questioned family members about Adam Lanza on Friday night.

Mr Champion declined to reveal what the FBI was told about his nephew, or if the gunman suffered from developmental disorders or mental illness.

He added that his sister had not working recently however she was previously a stockbroker.

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Japan Election: Ex-PM Set For Return To Power

By Mark Stone, Asia Correspondent

Japan has made a political lurch to the right with exit polls in the country's general election indicating a strong win for the right-wing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

Exit polls by several local TV broadcasters suggest the conservative-leaning LDP, led by Shinzo Abe, has won nearly 300 out of the 480 seats in the country's lower house.

The result means Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's Democratic Party will be ousted after just three years in power.

Mr Abe, 58 - who has already served as Prime Minister for a year between 2006 and 2007 - is seen as having a hawkish foreign policy and a radical economic agenda.

The win by his LDP Party is widely expected to produce a government with a hardline stance to tackle the ongoing territorial dispute with China.

Mr Abe has said he wants Japan to play a bigger role in global security. He has pledged to change the country's pacifist constitution signed after World War Two.

A new right-leaning government combined with changes to the constitution and growing nationalist movement within Japan could significantly increase tensions in East Asia.

China and Japan, who have a historically hostile relationship, both claim a group of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea. Beijing calls them the Diaoyu Islands and Tokyo refers to them as the Senkaku Islands.

China's claim had been dormant until the Japanese Government bought the islands from an individual who owned them earlier this year.

Last week, Japan scrambled fighter jets to the skies above the islands after a Chinese surveillance plane was spotted in air-space deemed by Tokyo to be Japanese.

Fixing Japan's economy will be the biggest domestic challenge for the incoming government. Mr Abe's policy is for 'unlimited' monetary easing and big spending on public projects.

Japan is could be about to enter its fourth recession since 2000 and has a public debt twice the size of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Some of Japan's most famous brands like Sony and Sharp are struggling in the face of competition from rivals in China and South Korea. Their woes are compounded by a strong yen which has forced the price of their products in foreign markets up considerably.

Mr Abe's party also has a pro-nuclear energy policy despite last year's disaster at the Fukushima nuclear power station.

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British Boy Dies In US School Shooting

A British-born boy has been named as one of the victims of the worst school shooting in America's history, Sky News has learned.

Dylan Hockley, 6, was shot dead by a gunman at an elementary school in Connecticut.

He was born in Hampshire to a British father and American mother.

The family are understood to have recently moved to Connecticut, and their former neighbours in the UK described them as a "very beautiful family".

Two women like candles in Newtown in memory of the victims

Maria Sweet, 81, said: "I love that little boy so much. He was very, very good. He used to come to see me and call me all the time."

Mike Wimbridge added: "You just can't believe it, a young family move back to America ... for a better life for the children, then to be taken like this, I'm lost for words."

Twenty children and seven adults, including the gunman's mother, died before Adam Lanza, 20, turned a gun on himself at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown.

It has been confirmed that US President Barack Obama will attend a memorial service in Newtown later today, and will speak at an interfaith vigil for families of the victims.

Until recently the Hockley family lived at this house in Hampshire

Meanwhile, a father has paid an emotional tribute to his murdered six-year-old daughter, after police released the names of the gunman's 27 victims.

Robbie Parker said his final conversation with Emilie was in Portuguese, the language he was helping to teach her.

"She told me 'good morning' and asked how I was doing, and I said that I was doing well," he told reporters.

"She said that she loved me, and I gave her a kiss and I was out the door."

A woman and child pray outside a church in the town

Headteacher Dawn Hochsprung and school psychologist Mary Sherlach both died as they tried to confront the gunman.

The pair were in a meeting with therapist Diane Day on Friday, when the gunman began shooting at 9.30am.

On hearing the shots, they both jumped out of their seats and ran out of the room.

"They didn't think twice about confronting or seeing what was going on," Ms Day said.

Ms Hochsprung is also believed to have switched on a loudspeaker system in the school to alert students and staff to the danger.

"She was just an amazing woman ... the kids loved her. It's a huge loss for our school and our town," said assistant librarian Maryanne Jacobs.

Fourth-grade teacher Theodore Varga said: "You could hear the hysteria that was going on.

"Whoever did that saved a lot of people. Everyone in the school was listening to the terror that was transpiring."

Another hero was said to be first-grade teacher Vicki Leigh Soto, 27, described by police as someone who "put herself between the kids and the gunman's bullets".

Her body was found huddled with the students in a classroom closet, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Youth soccer coach David Flook, originally from Northampton, England, told Sky News of the turmoil his town is now in.

"Everybody is absolutely devastated. People don't know what they can do," he said.

He described Newtown as the "least dangerous place on earth".

He added: "It was the perfect town."

The father of gunman Adam Lanza released a statement on Saturday night. He said: "Our hearts go out to the families and friends who lost loved ones and to all those who were injured.

"We are in a state of disbelief and trying to find whatever answers we can. We too are asking why."

On Saturday, police released a list of all the victims of Lanza: Charlotte Bacon, age 6, Daniel Barden, 7, Olivia Engel, 6, Josephine Gay, 7, Ana M Marquez-Greene, 6, Dylan Hockley, 6, Madeleine F Hsu, 6, Catherine V Hubbard, 6, Chase Kowalski , 7, Jesse Lewis, 6, James Mattioli, 6, Grace McDonnell, 7, Emilie Parker, 6, Jack Pinto, 6, Noah Pozner, 6, Caroline Previdi, 6, Jessica Rekos, 6, Avielle Richman, 6, Benjamin Wheeler, 6, Allison N Wyatt, 6, Rachel Davino, 29, Dawn Hochsprung, 47, Nancy Lanza, 52, Anne Marie Murphy, 52, Lauren Rousseau, 30, Mary Sherlach, 56, and Victoria Soto, 27.

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