Zimbabwe's Elections Were 'Free and Credible'

Zimbabwe's elections have been declared "free and credible" by the African Union, despite observers noting a number of practises that suggested heavy rigging.

Despite an admission by the head of the African Union mission, Olsegun Obasanjo, that his monitors noted some apparent irregularities, he said they did not constitute evidence of systematic tampering.

Officials say 89-year-old Robert Mugabe has been returned to power with a two-thirds majority.

Robert Mugabe casts his vote with wife, Grace

However, while declaring the elections to be free, the Union did not go so far as to declare them fair.

Mr Obasanjo, said: "Yes, the election is free," and he described the vote as credible unless any evidence to the contrary emerged

Significantly he asked election authorities to investigate reports that tens of thousands of eligible voters were turned away from the vote which marks an unbroken run of 33 years in power for Mr Mugabe.

Another poll monitoring group in Zimbabwe said as many as a million of the more than six million eligible voters were prevented from casting ballots.

Mr Obasanjo, a former Nigerian president, said: "If 25% were not allowed, then, yes, the election is fatally flawed."

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, Mr Mugabe's main opponent in the presidential vote, has declared the election "null and void".

Official results announced by the election commission on Friday morning showed Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF capturing 54 of the 210 parliament seats and Mr Tsvangirai's party winning 19 seats so far.

Voters queue to get into polling stations

Full results on the presidential and parliament votes have been promised by Monday.

Among the irregularities, the African Union found the electoral commission printed 8.7 million ballot papers for 6.4 million voters – 35% above the number of registered voters. This is against the international standard of 5%-10%.

The late publicity on the location of voting stations just 48 hours before stations opened also contributed to the high number of voters who were turned away because they were not at correct polling sites.

Life goes on as normal as a two-thirds majority declared for Mr Mugabe

Monitors also reported a high number of disabled, elderly or other "assisted voters" being helped to cast their ballots by polling officers who may have influenced them against their free will.

Speaking from Harare, Sky's Special Correspondent Alex Crawford said: "At the moment the people we are seeing and speaking to are all very disgruntled members of the electorate who say they were unable to vote for one reason or another.

"When they turned up at the voting stations the polling stations they were told their names were not on the voting lists that they had been registered to vote in polling stations which were many, many kilometres away so they felt that they were disenfranchised."

She said she had heard evidence of dead people's names being used to vote and of a number of procedural irregularities.

Morgan Tsvangirai declares the election 'null and void'

She said the Southern African Development Community, a regional body, "were very much holding back from saying it was a fair election. They said it was definitely free, people appeared to be able to vote and it was very peaceful but they stopped short of saying it was fair or credible."

The head of the observer mission for the Southern African Development Community described the election as "very free" and "very peaceful".

He also noted that there were some violations and a full analysis was still under way.

"The question of fairness is broad and you cannot answer it within one day," said Bernard Membe, who is also Tanzania's foreign minister.

"And so be sure that within 30 days, through our main report, the question of fairness may come."

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Zawahiri Claims US Plotted Morsi's Downfall

Al Qaeda chief Ayman al Zawahiri has accused the United States of "plotting" to overthrow Egypt's Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.

In an audio recording posted to militant Islamist forums, he said the US colluded with the Egyptian military, secularists and Christians to force out Mr Morsi.

Zawahiri, himself an Egyptian, said: "Crusaders and secularists and the Americanised army have converged ... with Gulf money and American plotting to topple Mohamed Morsi's government."

He accused Egypt's Coptic Christian minority of supporting the Islamist president's ouster to attain "a Coptic state stripped from Egypt's south".

Protests have been taking place in Egypt

They are the militant leader's first public comments on Mr Morsi's ousting.

The comments came as backers of Mr Morsi staged defiant rallies after the government ordered their protest camps to be broken up.

Supporters of Mr Morsi began to march after Friday prayers, pouring out of several Cairo mosques.

The afternoon rallies passed off peacefully, with demonstrators marching along main thoroughfares in the capital.

Mohamed Morsi was ousted in a military coup

By early evening, they held several smaller demonstrations, including by Cairo's Media Production City in the city's outskirts, where security forces fired tear gas after an alleged attempt by protesters to storm the building.

Protesters reportedly tore up the pavement to make barriers as police in armoured vehicles fired barrages of tear gas.

The marches came a day after US Secretary of State John Kerry angered Morsi loyalists by saying Egypt's military had been "restoring democracy" when it deposed the Islamist leader.

In an interview he said: "The military did not take over, to the best of our judgement - so far. To run the country, there's a civilian government. In effect, they were restoring democracy."

A spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood denounced the comments, accusing Washington of being "complicit" in the coup.

"Is it the job of the army to restore democracy?" asked Gehad al Haddad in a statement.

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Bloodhound: Russia Bars US Band For Pants Antics

American rock group Bloodhound Gang has been barred from a music festival in Russia after a band member shoved the country's flag into his underpants during a gig.

Bassist Jared Hasselhoff put the flag into the front of his pants and then pulled it out of the back during a concert in the Ukrainian city of Odessa on Wednesday.

"Don't tell Putin!" he said to the applause of the audience.

The antics were posted on YouTube.

Moscow reacted angrily by banning the band - which is famous for its sexually explicit songs - from performing at a festival in the Krasnodar Black Sea region, also known as Kuban.

The event, held on August 1-7, is expected to feature bands including The Prodigy, Guano Apes and Scooter.

Russian Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky said on Twitter said: "I spoke to the Krasnodar region authorities. Bloodhound Gang is packing their suitcases. These idiots will not perform in Kuban."

The incident happened against the background of a deepening rift in relations between Russia and the US including the furore over the US fugitive spy agency contractor Edward Snowden who was granted asylum by Moscow this week.

Bloodhound Gang, famous for their provocative songs such as "You're Pretty When I'm Drunk", "I Wish I Was Queer So I Could Get Chicks" and "Kiss Me Where It Smells Funny?" apologised, according to local press.

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Prison Massacre: 25 Police Officers Jailed

Twenty five police officers have each been sentenced to 624 years in jail for their role in Brazil's infamous Carandiru prison massacre.

A total of 111 prisoners were killed and 87 injured when police began shooting at random during a riot at the Sao Paulo jail in 1992.

The officers were found guilty of killing 52 prisoners after a week-long trial.

The verdicts were the second of four tranches of a trial involving different floors of the prison.

Twenty three officers were jailed for life in the first stage in April after more than two decades of legal delays.

They were each sentenced to 153 years in prison after being found guilty of killing 13 inmates.

Prosecutors argue that the prisoners were executed, while the defence claims the officers were acting in self-defence.

Human rights groups point out that no officers were injured in the violence.

A woman walks past grafitti outside the jail

The only person previously tried for the massacre was the police chief in charge of the operation, Colonel Ubiratan Guimaraes, who was sentenced to 632 years prison in 2001.

Guimaraes later appealed the sentence and was freed. He was found shot dead in his Sao Paulo apartment in 2006.

The prison was closed in 2002 after a series of riots across Sao Paulo, and was later demolished.

At the time of the massacre, Carandiru had 8,000 inmates and was the largest prison in Latin America.

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Pakistan Babies Given Away On TV Game Show

A game show host in Pakistan has prompted fury by giving away abandoned babies to would-be parents live on TV.

The host, Aamir Liaquat Hussain, has given away two babies so far - to cheering crowds - and is planning a third giveaway.

He insisted the babies would have been "eaten by cats or dogs" had they not been discovered by the show.

Mr Hussain is one of Pakistan's most popular talk show hosts.

Fatima is one of the babies given away on the show

During his marathon broadcasts he cooks, interviews clerics and celebrities, entertains children and hosts games.

He usually gives prizes like motorbikes, mobile phones and land deeds to audience members who answer questions about Islam.

But at the beginning of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, when television stations battle fiercely for ratings, Mr Hussain astonished viewers when he presented two families with babies.

Mr Hussain (R) is one of Pakistan's most popular TV hosts

"We were told that we had passed all the interviews and had been selected to adopt a baby," said Riaz Uddin, 40, an engineer.

"We got our baby on live TV."

The abandoned babies were rescued by the Chhipa Welfare Association, a Pakistani aid organisation.

"In a day or two, the next baby will be given away, God willing," its head, Ramzan Chhipa, said.

Baby Fatima was given to her new parents on the show

While the Chhipa teams scour the garbage dumps and other sites for discarded newborns, Mr Hussain is also appealing for babies directly.

"If any family cannot afford to bring up their newborn baby due to poverty or illness then instead of killing them, they should hand over the baby to Dr Aamir," a notice on his website reads.

The children would be given to deserving couples on air, the notice said.

Many Pakistanis expressed disgust that abandoned babies were being given away in what they see as an attempt to boost ratings.

But Mr Hussain insists the two couples were pre-screened for their suitability as parents.

The host usually gives prizes like motorbikes, mobile phones and land deeds

One of the couples said they married more than 15 years ago but have been unable to have their own child.

The host says he is right to find good homes for abandoned babies in a country without official laws of adoption.

"We are trying to create an environment in the society for those people who are needy and want to adopt babies," Mr Hussain said.

"It is not commercialisation, it is not showbiz. It is real Islam. Where are the actors? Where are the actresses? I have not seen any actors or actresses here."

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New York Woman Killed In Balcony Fall

A woman on a first date has fallen to her death after the railing on her 17th-floor apartment balcony gave way.

Jennifer Rosoff went outside for a cigarette just before 1am on Thursday when she sat or leaned against the railing while talking to her date at her New York City apartment, police said.

The man said he warned her against it but the 35-year-old advertising executive fell moments later, authorities said.

Police spoke to the man and no foul play was suspected.

Ms Rosoff landed on building scaffolding on the first floor of the building on Manhattan's Upper East Side.

She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Buildings officials took part of the broken railing to examine how it could have given way and plan to determine whether the other balconies are structurally sound.

Only the higher floor corner apartments of the building - built before World War II - have balconies.

Ms Rosoff worked at The New Yorker, Lucky Magazine and Cosmopolitan before recently joining a new company called TripleLift, according to her LinkedIn profile.

High-rise dramas are a staple of life in Manhattan and Thursday's was the third to make the news in recent days.

In 2010, after a 24-year-old social worker fell to his death when the railing gave way at his 24th-floor apartment terrace, the city conducted safety inspections on hundreds of residences.

Tenants at 16 buildings were ordered to stay off their balconies because they were deemed unsafe.

Some 800 building owners failed to file mandatory inspection reports on the safety of their balconies and terraces, officials found.

They are required to file every five years. For Ms Rosoff's building, the inspection report was last filed in February.

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Iran Leader: Israel 'A Wound To Be Cleansed'

Iran's president-elect Hassan Rouhani has called Israel an old "wound" that must be removed and cast doubt on efforts to revive peace talks with the Palestinians.

"The Zionist regime is a wound inflicted for years on the body of the Muslim world that must be cleansed," Mr Rouhani told reporters attending annual Quds Day rallies in remarks reported by Iranian media.

His words echoed those of outgoing president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who earlier whipped up anti-Israel sentiment at a Quds Day rally in Tehran.

He said: "I will inform you with God as my witness, a devastating storm is on the way that will uproot the basis of Zionism. 

He added Israel had "no place in this region". 

Mr Ahmadinejad has often questioned Israel's legitimacy

Mr Rouhani will formally assume the presidency of Iran this weekend after winning elections held in June by a landslide.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately criticised Mr Rouhani's comments, saying they revealed the Iran government's real thinking.

"The true face of Rowhani has been revealed earlier than expected," he said in a statement.

"Even if the Iranians work to deny these comments, this is what the man thinks and reflects the regime's plans," he said.

In his remarks, Mr Ahmadinejad accused Israel and its Western supporters of fomenting discord in the Middle East, saying "it was their dream to see the will of regional countries bent on destroying (Israel) diverted towards civil war".

"Who is happy for what is happening in Egypt and Syria?" he asked, charging that Israel was celebrating the unrest in those countries. 

Iran staged massive rallies to mark annual Quds Day, with speeches and sermons supporting the Palestinian cause and condemning Israel.

Mr Rouhani has pledged to follow a "path of moderation" and promised greater openness over Iran's nuclear program, which has placed it at odds with the West.

His remarks about Israel - his country's archenemy - follow in a long tradition of remarks made by former Iranian leaders.

Quds Day is an annual event in Iran since 1979, traditionally held on the last Friday of Ramadan, to express solidarity with the Palestinian people.

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Taiwan MPs Fight: Nuclear Vote Sparks Brawl

Water and punches were thrown by MPs in Taiwan's parliament, ahead of a vote on whether to hold a referendum over a new nuclear power plant.

Dozens of legislators threw bottles and cups from a balcony, while politicians wrestled in scrums and on the floor below.

The scuffles took place between members of the ruling Nationalist Party and the anti-nuclear Democratic Progressive Party before a vote on whether to allow a referendum over the completion of Nuke 4.

Members of the DPP waved placards, while attempting to barricade the doors to the parliament building in an effort to disrupt the vote.

Opposition members block the doors to Parliament with rope and chairs

If the referendum Bill is passed, it will allow citizens on the densely populated island of 23 million decide whether Taiwan's fourth power plant should be completed.

Opposition party DPP has been strongly against building any more nuclear sites due to the high incidence of earthquakes, especially in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan.

But economic analysts suggest that power shortages will become inevitable without completion of Nuke 4.

Opposing legislators grapple on the floor of the Parliament

Passage of the Bill is expected to be relatively easy given the large Nationalist majority in the 113-seat legislature, but the referendum itself may not be so straightforward.

Anti-nuclear sentiment in Taiwan is high and polls suggest that if people are asked whether they agree with completion, a majority would disagree.

Construction of Taiwan's fourth power plant began in 1997 but was halted while the DPP was in power between 2000 and 2008.

If the referendum is passed it could become operational by 2016.

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Buenos Aires Fire Rages Near City Centre

A huge fire in Argentina's capital has engulfed an ecological reserve just a few hundred metres from the city's political and financial centre.

Buenos Aires Mayor Mauricio Macri said there were suspicions that arsonists were to blame for the inferno, which began on Wednesday.

Authorities say at least eight fire crews fought to bring the blaze under control after flames raged more than 30ft (10m) in the air.

The ecological reserve is on the banks of the Rio de la Plata

No injuries have been reported.

The Ecological Reserve covers more than a square mile (300 hectares) bordering the Rio de la Plata.

Mr Macri said it had not yet been determined how much of the park had been destroyed.

The reserve is considered the "lung" of Buenos Aires, and its vegetation is home to lizards, snakes, turtles, frogs, bats, voles and weasels.

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Zimbabwe Poll 'A Huge Farce, Null And Void'

Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has dismissed the country's national elections as a "huge farce" and the results invalid because of intimidation and ballot-rigging by President Robert Mugabe's ruling party, which has claimed victory.

"In our view, that election is null and void," he said, after a senior Zanu-PF source earlier claimed a resounding victory for President Mugabe in Zimbabwe's presidential and parliamentary elections.

The unnamed senior official said the outcome was already clear and told Reuters news agency: "We've taken this election. We've buried the MDC. We never had any doubt that we were going to win."

The opposition, Mr Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), immediately claimed the elections had been "a monumental fraud" and held an emergency meeting.

A woman with a child casts her vote in Domboshava, north of Harare

"Zimbabweans have been taken for a ride by Zanu-PF and Mugabe, we do not accept it," a senior source told Reuters.

Releasing results early is illegal, and the police had warned they would arrest anybody making premature claims before the official five days the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission had said it could take to announce the result.

Riot police took up positions outside the Zanu-PF party's headquarters in central Harare and other key locations in the capital, including an MDC office.

The party later withdrew what it said was an unauthorised message on its Twitter feed claiming a landslide win, and insisted that it was awaiting the release of the official count.

The Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) - the country's leading domestic election monitoring agency - said the credibility of the vote was "seriously compromised" by irregularities on polling day.

A police officer keeps watch as Zimbabweans queue to cast their votes

It said as many as one million eligible voters were not on the electoral roll, and urban voters, who mainly favour Mr Tsvangirai, had been turned away from polling stations in their thousands.

Conversely, only a small number had been prevented from voting in the countryside, where President Mugabe has most support.

It also cast doubt on the authenticity of the voters' roll, noting that 99.97% of voters in the countryside were registered, compared to 67.9% in urban areas.

"It is not sufficient for elections to be peaceful for elections to be credible," ZESN chairman Solomon Zwana said. "They must offer all citizens ... an equal opportunity to vote."

Separate reports claimed key MDC members had lost their seats, even in the capital, and that the election was looking like a "disaster" for Mr Tsvangirai.

Polling rivals Robert Mugabe (L) and Morgan Tsvangirai cast their votes

To win an outright victory, one of the candidates has to secure more than 50% of the vote.

Half the country's 12.9 million population was eligible to vote at the more than 9,000 polling stations nationwide.

The dispute erupted as polling stations closed and counting got under way amid fears of a repeat of the violence that marred the 2008 election.

Turnout was high, particularly in urban areas where the polling stations stayed open late into the evening to allow everyone in the queues to cast their votes.

The presidential contest pit the 89-year-old incumbent President Mugabe against his main rival Mr Tsvangirai, who his supporters believed a big turnout would favour, blunting the impact of any manipulation of the vote.

A ballot paper with the images of all the presidential candidates

Zimbabweans voted in large numbers despite concerns about the credibility of the electoral process, and the vote was relatively peaceful compared to disputed and violent polls in 2008.

However, the fiercely contested election was dogged by claims of intimidation and vote rigging, despite assurances by official poll monitors of "a peaceful, orderly and free and fair vote".

It is the third time Mr Tsvangirai has tried to unseat President Mugabe, who denies vote rigging and said he would step down if he failed to extend his 33-year grip on power for another five years.

Sky Correspondent Emma Hurd, in South Africa, said: "Analysts inside Zimbabwe say it was going to be close anyway - that Robert Mugabe was not going to be wiped out in a landslide victory by the opposition.

"But what all independent observers seem to agree on is that there will have been some element of rigging in the process.

"The question remains how much, and whether Robert Mugabe really needed to do it in the first place to win."

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Zimmerman Pulled Over For Speeding In Texas

George Zimmerman, the neighbourhood watch volunteer cleared over the killing of Trayvon Martin, has been stopped for speeding on a highway in Texas.

A police dashcam video shows an officer interacting with Mr Zimmerman and letting him go with a warning.

Some of the officer's comments suggested Mr Zimmerman had a gun, though no weapon can be seen in the video.

"Just take it easy. Go ahead and shut your glove compartment. Don't play with your firearm," the officer tells him.

Mr Zimmerman had a concealed weapons permit in Florida that would be also recognised under Texas law.

The gun used in Trayvon's shooting remains in the custody of the federal government, which is looking into a possible civil rights case.

Tryvon Martin was visiting his father when he was shot in February 2012

The officer, who stopped Mr Zimmerman in Forney outside Dallas, asked him where he was headed.

After an unintelligible response, the officer asks, "Nowhere in particular? Why you say that?"

"You didn't see my name?" Mr Zimmerman replies.

"Nuh-uh," the officer says.

"What a coincidence!" the officer adds. "Are you clear of warrants and stuff?"

"Absolutely sir," Mr Zimmerman says.

The speed limit on that stretch of road is 60mph (96kph), but police records do not show how fast Mr Zimmerman was driving.

Rallies were held across the US after Mr Zimmerman's acquittal

On July 13, Mr Zimmerman was acquitted of second-degree murder in the shooting of Trayvon, a black, unarmed 17-year-old, in Florida.

The case prompted rallies nationwide calling for a civil rights probe and federal charges against him.

Mr Zimmerman, who identifies himself as Hispanic, rejected accusations he had racially profiled Trayvon, saying he fired his weapon in self-defence during a confrontation in a gated community in Sanford.

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Fugitive Edward Snowden Leaves Moscow Airport

Fugitive Edward Snowden has left Moscow airport where he has been holed up for more than a month.

The wanted US intelligence whistleblower has been granted a year's asylum in Russia, his lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena revealed.

An airport spokeswoman added he had left within the last two hours - crossing the Russian border for the first time.

Mr Kucherena said the American had left in a normal taxi on his own. 

"His location is not being made public for security reasons since he is the most pursued man on the planet. He himself will decide where he will go," the lawyer said.

Snowden, 30, is wanted by the US on felony charges after leaking details of vast surveillance programmes, but Russia has refused to extradite him.

Snowden had been stuck in the Moscow airport for more than five weeks

Interviewed by Rossiya 24 television, Mr Kucherena held up a scanned copy of his client's certificate granting him a year's temporary asylum in Russia.

"He has gone to a safe place. I hope you will be understanding about this information," he told the TV station.

The whistleblower had been stuck in the transit zone of the Sheremetyevo airport outside Moscow since he flew in from Hong Kong on June 23.

His awarding of asylum status in Russia comes two days after US soldier Bradley Manning was convicted of spying for leaking US secrets to anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks.

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Israeli-Palestinian Talks Set Nine-Month Goal

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators have set a nine-month goal for reaching a so-far elusive peace deal.

Barack Obama and Joe Biden met with the Israeli and Palestinian negotiators

US Secretary of State John Kerry said the sides agreed to meet again within two weeks to continue negotiations on reaching a pact.

Speaking as the two sides wrapped up an initial round of talks on Tuesday, Mr Kerry said they were committed to "sustained, continuous and substantive negotiations on the core issues" that divided them.

Mr Kerry opposite Tzipi Livni and her Palestinian counterpart Saeb Erekat

He said the next round of negotiations would take place in either Israel or the Palestinian territories.

"The parties have agreed here today that all of the final status issues, all of the core issues and all other issues are all on the table for negotiation," Mr Kerry said.

"And they are on the table with one simple goal - a view to ending the conflict. Our objective will be to achieve a final status agreement over the course of the next nine months."

Shuafat refugee camp is seen behind the Israeli barrier in the West Bank

Earlier, President Barack Obama invited the negotiators to the White House to give a boost to his administration's third bid to relaunch the stalled Middle East peace talks.

Mr Kerry said he was aware of the deep scepticism surrounding the new push for peace and acknowledged the road ahead would be difficult.

However, he said he was hopeful an agreement could be reached.

Refugee camps are a key area of contention - this one is in the Gaza Strip

"While I understand the scepticism, I don't share it. And I don't think we have time for it," he said.

Mr Kerry said the negotiations, to be mediated on a day-to-day basis by his new Middle East peace envoy Martin Indyk, would be cloaked in secrecy and the parties had agreed he would be the only person to comment on them.

Israel and the Palestinians remain deeply divided over so-called "final status issues" - such as the fate of Jerusalem, claimed by both as a capital, the right of return for Palestinian refugees and the borders of a future Palestinian state complicated by dozens of Jewish settlements scattered across the occupied West Bank.

At the State Department ceremony, Mr Kerry was flanked Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat, who each spoke briefly about the need to resolve the long-standing conflict.

"It's time for the Palestinian people to have an independent sovereign state of their own," said Mr Erekat, who spoke first.

"It's time for the Palestinians to live in peace, freedom and dignity within their own independent, sovereign state."

Ms Livni allowed that she and Mr Erekat had been involved in failed negotiations before, notably the Annapolis Process that former president George W Bush initiated in 2008, but she said this time could be different.

"You know, Saeb," she said to Mr Erekat, "we all spent some time in the negotiations room ... but we didn't complete our mission.

"And this is something that we need to do now, in these negotiations that we will launch today. And the opportunity has been created for us, for all of us, and we cannot afford to waste it.

"I believe that history is not made by cynics; it is made by realists who are not afraid to dream. Let us be these people."

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Thailand Oil Spill: Koh Samet Slick Spreads

An oil spill that has blackened the shores of a popular Thai tourist island has spread to nearby isles despite a major clean-up operation.

About 50,000 litres of oil has leaked from a pipeline operated by PTT Global Chemical Plc (PTTGC) in Rayong province since Saturday morning.

The black tide has washed into Prao Bay on Ko Samet Island, a popular getaway destination for Thai citizens and foreign tourists.

About 600 metres of the white sand beaches has been covered with sticky crude oil, while a 12-inch (30cm) thick oil slick floated off the shoreline.

Progress has been made on cleaning the oil that washed into Prao Bay, but rough seas and strong winds spread thin films of oil to a rocky bay farther north.

Marine and Coastal Resources provincial director Puchong Saritdeechaikul said his team detected a clear oil sheen that had spread to smaller isles off Samet's eastern shore.

The clean-up operation continues on Ko Samet Island

A naval commander also said there was a risk the oil would wash ashore on the mainland.

"A thin film of oil may reach the mainland. It has started to go towards there," Vice Admiral Roongsak Sereeswad said.

Tourists have checked out from the three resorts on Prao Bay, which has been declared a disaster zone.

Chairat Trirattanajarasporn, president of the Rayong Tourist Association, said about 30% of the tourists have left the island.

"There are no tourists coming in any more, only people leaving. Some groups already cancelled bookings. Some are scared and started to leave," Mr Chairat said.

One Bangkok tour operator even launched an appeal for people to donate hair to make a boom to absorb the oil.

"An oil expert said hair can absorb spilled oil so we will collect hair to make a hair sausage," Thammtorn Junprasert said.

"I'm now contacting hotels for donation of old pillows stuffed with duck feathers."

A cleaning vessel works on the sick of Ko Samet as part of the operation.

Fishermen in Rayong have also demanded compensation from PTTGC, saying the leaked oil will cause long-term damage to the environment.

The company apologised on Monday and said the bay would be cleansed within three days - a goal questioned by environmental activists.

Mr Saritdeechaikul said that "there's no way it will be finished by that time".

Conservationist group Greenpeace also said much more work needed to be done.

"There is a lot of oil still in the bay," Greenpeace campaigner Ply Pirom said.

"It's very disappointing that this global company has no emergency plan to deal with the crisis."

Satit Pituthecha, a Democrat Member of Parliament for Rayong, said the country's tourism and fishing industries would take six months to recover from the spill.

Crude oil from an Omani tanker moored offshore was being transferred via a pipeline to a refinery when the leak was detected.

It is the fourth major oil spill in Thailand's history, according to the Energy Ministry.

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Zimbabwe Presidential Election: Voting Begins

Voting has begun in Zimbabwe's election as Robert Mugabe looks to extend his 33-year-rule amid suspicions of vote rigging.

The 89-year-old has said he will stand down as president if he loses and claims the army will respect any victory for his main rival, Morgan Tsvangirai.

But many have dismissed the president's words and Mr Tsvangirai himself has said he takes the promise "with a pinch of salt".

Fresh suspicions of vote rigging were sparked by a Research and Advocacy Unit study which said the electoral roll includes one million dead voters or people who have emigrated.

Voters appear keen to have their say, with some queuing up wrapped in blankets fours hours before polling stations opened.

Several hundred people waited to vote in green tents in Mbare, the oldest township in the capital, Harare.

"I am happy to have cast my vote," said Ellen Zhakata, 66.

Queues formed as Zimbabweans waited for the polls to open

"I just want an end to the problems in our country.

"All my children are outside the country because of the economic troubles here. I am so lonely. How I wish they could be working here."

Zimbabwe's economic problems have seen millions leave the country to find work in recent years.

Hyperinflation reached 231,000,000% five years ago but a scarcity of US dollars - now the country's main currency - means the economy has stabilised and inflation is back in single digits.

Violence marred the last election in 2008, with Morgan Tsvangirai pulling out of a second round run-off against Mr Mugabe after 200 of his supporters were killed.

The African Union and the The Southern African Development Community have both sent observers to monitor this year's elections.

However, there are still worries that violence and intimidation could be used.

"We are very worried that if the result does not go Robert Mugabe's way we could see a return to the violence that marred the 2008 election," said Tiseke Kasambala, Southern Africa Director for Human Rights Watch.

She told Sky News: "The heads of his security forces have made clear that they are not going to accept a victory by the opposition or by Morgan Tsvangirai."

The opposition leader has based his latest campaign on a plan to lure back foreign investors, create a million jobs in five years and improve public services.

Casting his vote in Harare, Mr Tsvangirai predicted his MDF party would win "quite resoundingly" and called it a "historic moment".

Mr Mugabe has focused his promises on expanding the redistribution of wealth to poor black Zimbabweans, as well as making threats of violence against homosexuals.

Some 6.4 million people are eligible to vote before polling stations close at 7pm local time on Wednesday. Final results are expected in about five days.

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Pakistan Jailbreak: Taliban Moves Prisoners

The Taliban claims to have smuggled more than two dozen militants they broke out of a prison to one of Pakistan's tribal regions.

Two Taliban commanders said the 25 militants had arrived in the South Waziristan tribal area and were travelling on to North Waziristan, Pakistan's main sanctuary for Taliban and al Qaeda militants.

Monday night's deadly jailbreak in the town of Dera Ismail Khan was codenamed Freedom From Death, cost 11.5 million rupees (£75,600) and took six months to plan, according to the commanders, who remained anonymous.

Eighteen of the 150 militants who took part were given special commando training, they claimed.

Guards at the prison said they were totally overwhelmed when the heavily-armed Taliban fighters staged the attack.

More than a dozen people were killed in the assault, including two of the attackers.

Police said more than 47 of the 252 prisoners who escaped have been captured.

The attack took six months to plan, according to the Taliban

Senior prison officials had reportedly been tipped off that an attack was likely but the security forces were still unprepared for the raid.

Hidayat Ullah, a policeman who was guarding the prison when the attack started, said he and several colleagues jumped into an armoured vehicle inside the prison grounds and drove to the main gate to defend the compound.

They directed fire at the gate after the militants blew it up, but a mortar or rocket-propelled grenade hit their vehicle, killing two policemen and wounding Mr Ullah and two others.

"After that, I don't know what happened," the policeman said from the hospital where he is being treated.

The Taliban carried out a similar attack on a prison elsewhere in the northwest less than 18 months ago.

The assaults raise serious questions about state institutions' capacity to battle the Taliban insurgency that has raged for years and killed tens of thousands of security personnel and civilians.

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David Tebbutt: Death Sentence Over Kenya Murder

A Kenyan who led a gang of pirates to a holiday resort where they murdered a British tourist has been sentenced to death for his part in the attack.

Ali Babitu Kololo was found guilty of robbery with violence, two years after the gang burst into David Tebbutt's villa in the remote Kiwayu Safari Village, shooting him dead before kidnapping his wife Judith.

She was held hostage in Somalia for more than six months before eventually being released.

Kololo, who was sacked from his job at the resort several months before Mr Tebbutt was killed, was convicted following an investigation by the Kenyan authorities and SO15, the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command.

In addition to the death penalty, Kololo was given seven years in jail for his part in Mrs Tebbutt's abduction.

"I am innocent," he said after the sentence was announced. "Let the court do what it wants to do. I have been victimised in this, since I was also kidnapped."

Judith Tebbutt was staying with her husband David in a grass-woven hut

Commander Richard Walton, head of SO15, said: "Kololo played a key role in this murder and kidnap, bringing the attackers to the resort and helping them search for victims.

"The Kenyan investigation remains ongoing and we are committed to helping them bring David's killers and those who put Judith through such a long ordeal to justice.

"I'd like to pay tribute to Judith, her son Oliver and their family who have all shown extraordinary courage and dignity.

"The investigation team have also shown great skill and tenacity in assisting this Kenyan investigation."

The Tebbutts, from Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, travelled to Kiwayu Safari Village after visiting the Masai Mara game reserve in September 2011.

The beach at Kiwayu Safari Village resort where Mr Tebbutt was killed

Mrs Tebbutt, who is believed to have been freed after her family paid an £800,000 ransom, is said to have felt nervous about security after arriving to find no other guests were staying at the resort.

She was allegedly forced to run along the beach and was hit on the back of the head with a rifle before being bundled into a boat.

She was only told of her husband's death two weeks after she was kidnapped.

Kenya has not carried out the death penalty for 26 years and most sentences for death row prisoners are commuted to life imprisonment.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We welcome efforts by the Kenyan authorities to bring those responsible for the kidnap of Judith Tebbutt and the murder of her husband, David, to justice.

"Today's news that Ali Babitu Kololo has been found guilty of robbery with violence is a positive development, but the wider Kenya investigations continue."

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Italy Crash: Funeral Mass Held For Victims

A mass has been said ahead of the funerals of 38 people who died in a coach crash in Italy.

Relatives and friends of the victims gathered at an indoor sports arena in Pozzuoli, about 40 miles from Naples, to mourn their lost loved ones.

The coffins were laid out in rows at the Monterusciello Palasport as hundreds of people attended.

Italy's Prime Minister Enrico Letta also joined the mourners.

"I'm very disturbed by what happened. Nothing like this has ever happened in Pozzuoli and I'm very, very upset," said one man, who gave only his first name Salvatore.

Firefighters inspect the bus after the crash

Bruno Iuvane lost one of his closest friends in the crash.

"She found herself aboard this death bus by pure coincidence, and probably we'll never find out who is to blame," he said.

At least 10 people, including five children, are still in hospital.

The tragedy happened when the bus lost control after smashing into several cars that were slowed by heavy traffic and plunged off a motorway into a ravine on Sunday night.

The travellers were returning from a weekend trip to a religious site

The crash occurred near the small town of Montefiore Irpino about 40 miles from Naples - most of those killed were returning home to towns and villages in the Naples area.

Officials say they do not yet know why the bus driver lost control of the vehicle, but prosecutors are investigating technical problems and have ordered a post-mortem on the driver.

Relatives gathered outside the gym where the bodies were taken

Another possibility that seems to be emerging is that he tried everything to keep control of the vehicle after a tyre had blown, according to Corriere della Sera, Italy's largest newspaper.

It quotes the uncle of a passenger who survived the crash.

"My niece told me that the left tyre had blown," Vincenzo Rusciano said.

"The driver tried in every way to keep control of the vehicle but he couldn't, and the bus swerved, plunging in the ravine," he said after visiting his niece in hospital.

Avellino Prosecutor Rosario Cantelmo said some people have been placed under formal investigation, but did not say who or how many while La Repubblica newspaper said the prosecutor is looking into possible manslaughter charges.

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Egypt: Mohamed Morsi 'Well', Says EU's Ashton

Egypt's ousted president Mohamed Morsi is doing "well" and has access to information, the EU foreign policy chief has said.

Baroness Ashton said she had "friendly, open and very frank" talks with Mr Morsi, who has not been seen in public since the army coup which removed him from power on July 3.

Speaking hours after their meeting, she said she could not reveal precise details of their two-hour discussion.

"He has access to information in terms of TV and newspapers so we were able to talk about the situation and the need to move forward," said Baroness Ashton.

The EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy said she saw the facilities Mr Morsi has access to, but did not know the location.

Calling for Egypt to build a "deep democracy", she added: "All the people that I have been talking with are absolutely aware that this great country has to move forward and has to do so in an inclusive way.

"I've urged everyone to think very carefully about how you include everybody in the process."

It has not been revealed where the meeting with Mr Morsi took place but it is understood that Baroness Ashton headed there by military helicopter early on Tuesday.

The deposed president is being kept at an undisclosed location by the new regime.

Thousands massed in Cairo at the weekend in support of Mr Morsi

The meeting comes during a visit where she has also met General Abdel Fattah al Sisi, the head of the army and the man behind Mr Morsi's overthrow.

The visit follows a weekend of violence that saw 82 people killed during a pro-Morsi rally in Cairo.

Government officials have rejected witness accounts that police fired on crowds and an investigation is under way.

Baroness Ashton said she had urged all sides to "find a calm resolution to the situation on the ground".

"We've made it clear that there is no place for violence in this and that peaceful demonstration is important.

"The authorities have a huge responsibility to make sure that happens," she added.

The EU foreign affairs chief arrived in Cairo on Sunday and has also had meetings with interim vice-president Mohamed ElBaradei, interim president Adly Mansour and representatives of the Muslim Brotherhood's political wing.

The European Union is keen to mediate in what has become an increasingly violent situation.

Before arriving in Egypt, Baroness Ashton said she would press for a "fully inclusive transition process, taking in all political groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood".

Morsi supporters clashed with police in a number of Egyptian cities

During her last visit, on July 17, she unsuccessfully asked to meet Mr Morsi and urged for him to be released.

The democratically-elected former leader is being held on suspicion of crimes relating to his escape from prison during the 2011 uprising that overthrew ex-president Hosni Mubarak.

He was removed from power on the back of huge popular protests against his rule.

Mr Morsi, his Muslim Brotherhood group and its Islamist allies have rejected the military-appointed leaders who have replaced him.

The interim government is pushing ahead with a fast-track plan to return to a new democratically-elected government by early next year.

Protesters from the Anti-Coup Alliance of Islamist groups, which organised the weekend protests, has called for a "million-person march" on Tuesday.

They called on Egyptians "to go out into the streets and squares, to regain their freedom and dignity".

France's foreign minister Laurent Fabius also came out on Tuesday and called for Mr Morsi's release.

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Syria: Dramatic Images Of Destruction In Homs

Aerial photos show the destruction that fighting has wreaked on a district of Homs city as Syrian government troops take control.

All photos: AFP/Ho/Shaam News Network

The neighbourhood of Khalidiya had been a rebel stronghold since the start of the two-year-old conflict but has now been seized by forces loyal to President Bashar al Assad.

The images released by the opposition and which cannot be independently verified show buildings reduced to mere shells after intense clashes between the two sides.

The scene appears to be a bleak and lifeless wasteland.

Footage claiming to show ongoing battles in Khalidiya has also emerged.

The video uploaded online and purporting to be from the area, shows shelling across the skyline of the city which appears to hit the minaret of a local mosque.

Smoke from heavy fighting can be seen in another video as loud explosions shake the camera.

The regime's capture of the district is a setback for the rebels in the strategic central heartland, bringing President Assad's forces closer to their goal of capturing all of Syria's third largest city.

Government troops had launched a sweeping offensive to retake rebel-held areas of Homs a month ago.

In early June, regime forces captured the strategic town of Qusair in Homs province near the border with Lebanon. Troops have also taken Talkalakh, another border town in the province.

The province of Homs is Syria's largest, running from the Lebanese frontier in the west all the way to the border with Iraq and Jordan in the east.

The city holds strategic value because it serves as a crossroads: it is on the main highway from Damascus in the south to the north of the country as well as to the coastal region, which is a stronghold of President Assad's Alawite sect.

Meanwhile, at least 10 people have been killed in a mortar attack on a government-held district in Homs city, an official and opposition activists said.

Around 26 others were wounded after three mortar rounds hit the neighbourhood of Dablan before dawn.

Many living in the area had fled there to escape fighting elsewhere in the city.

Elsewhere, at least 12 rebel fighters were killed as they were taking flour from a mill on the eastern outskirts of the capital Damascus, according to opposition activists.

The rebels had only just captured the mill on the Damascus Airport road following a battle that lasted several hours, in the hope they could relieve a food shortage caused by a siege of the area by loyalist forces for the last two months.

In the northern city of Aleppo, several rebel factions including the al Qaeda-linked Jabhat al Nusra, or Nusra Front, reportedly attacked army posts in two neighbourhoods in an offensive titled "amputating infidels".

Rebels apparently captured the district of Dahret Abed Rabbo and several buildings in Lairamoun there, and eight government soldiers were killed.

One hundred thousand people have been killed in Syria's two year conflict, which started with peaceful protests against Mr Assad's rule in March 2011.

Homs has strategic value

Nearly two million refugees have fled the war, which has become an increasingly sectarian conflict between the mainly Sunni Muslim rebels and supporters of Mr Assad.

Complicating the conflict has been the increasing involvement of foreign fighters from neighbouring countries and even, in small numbers, from the West.

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'Miracle' Survivors Amid Italy Bus Crash

Passengers who walked away from a coach crash that killed at least 38 people in southern Italy had a "miraculous" esacpe, say rescuers.

The coach, carrying around 49 people, split in half after plunging 100ft off a motorway flyover near Avellino.

It first smashed into several cars that were slowed by heavy traffic before plowing through a guardrail and concrete barriers.

Witnesses said that the coach appeared to suddenly lose control moments before the incident.

Despite the carnage, emergency services said some passengers managed to walk away after being cut free.

The wreckage was recovered from site on Monday morning

"They're talking about the miraculous escape of 10 people from the wreckage of this bus," said journalist Tom Kington, who is at the scene.

"They're saying 'we can't explain it'.

"People just got up and walked out of the wreckage, including, miraculously, a whole family of four."

Many of the dead were discovered lying outside of the vehicle, while others were found inside the mangled wreckage.

A number of people in the cars received minor injuries

Two people later died in hospital and relatives have been arriving at a local school, serving as a morgue, to identify their relatives.

No children are believed to have died but Santobono Pausilipon hospital in Naples told Italian media that five children had been admitted and that none had their parents with them.

Several of those children are in a serious condition and two in a coma, said the hospital's medical director Enrico De Campora.

An investigation into possible manslaughter charges has begun and the wreckage is being examined for signs of mechanical failure.

A post-mortem examination is also being carried out on the driver of the coach.

Coffins were lined up at the scene of the crash

Rescuers with electric saws worked throughout the night to cut through the twisted metal of the coach and help survivors, stopping occasionally to listen for any cries for help.

The bodies of the dead were laid out on the roadside, covered in white sheets as emergency crews attended to the injured.

Doctor Maurizio Abbenante, the first person to give first aid to those on the coach, told La Repubblica he had to choose who to help.

A number of wooden coffins were also brought to the scene, about 30 miles east of Naples.

Highway officials said the coach had been warned about heavy traffic on the A116 motorway near Avellino.

Flashing signs near the flyover were also in place to warn vehicles to slow down.

The coach crashed in a rural area about 30 miles inland from Naples

Officials said the driver, for reasons not yet clear, appeared to have lost control of his vehicle.

Some witnesses told Italian media the coach was travelling at "normal speed" before suddenly veering off course, and describe hearing a noise as if the vehicle had blown a tyre.

However, Tom Kington said there were some conflicting reports from the scene.

"Others are talking about it arriving on the flyover way too fast," he said.

"There were signs apparently warning vehicles to slow down, there was thick traffic on the flyover.

"Some have said the bus came in too fast, didn't have enough time to slow down, hence the smashing into the other vehicles."

Another line of investigation is that the bus was seriously damaged before the crash.

"Possibly the bus was losing parts of its engine, which have now been found on the road as far back as a kilometre before the incident, suggesting some kind of huge malfunction," said Kington

The braking system will also be closely examined, as no signs of heavy breaking were found on the road.

As well as those killed and injured in the coach, 14 people travelling in cars on the flyover also received minor injuries, reported Italian media.

The A116 highway links western and eastern Italy across the south and the passengers had been on a weekend trip visiting a religious site in nearby Benevento province, as well a thermal bath.

Most of the passengers were from the area around Naples.

"They were working class Italians," said Tom Kington. "They club together and take trips like they were taking this weekend."

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Fast Food Strike: Workers Walk Out In US Cities

Fast food workers in seven cities across the United States are staging a one-day strike over wages they say are too low to survive on.

Staff at well known chains including McDonald's, Burger King, KFC and Wendy's were due to walk out on Monday in New York, Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, St Louis, Kansas City and Flint, Michigan.

They are calling on fast food restaurants to pay $15 per hour, which compares to the New York state average pay of $8.25 per hour and the minimum wage of $7.25.

The action is being organised by Fast Food Forward, a movement of employees from fast food outlets in New York City aimed at raising wages and increasing workers' rights.

A statement on the group's website says: "In America, people who work hard should be able to afford basic necessities like groceries, rent, childcare and transportation.

"While fast food corporations reap the benefits of record profits, workers are barely getting by - many are forced to be on public assistance despite having a job.

"Raising pay for fast food workers will benefit workers and strengthen the overall economy."

The website also says that the $11,000 average annual salary of fast food workers in New York compares to a $25,000 average daily salary of fast food firm chief executives.

Jonathan Westin, director of Fast Food Forward, told New York radio station 1010 WINS that fast food workers are not paid a living wage despite having to raise families.

"A lot of the workers are living in poverty, you know, not being able to afford to put food on the table or take the train to work," he said.

"The workers are striking over the fact that they can't continue to maintain their families on the wages they're being paid in the fast food industry."

He said it was hoped the action would attract interest and gather momentum for the movement across the country.

The action - which follows a walk-out last April - comes as a survey suggested four out of five adults in the US suffer from unemployment, near-poverty or reliance on welfare for at least parts of their lives.

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Zimbabwe: Mugabe Warned About Election 'Theft'

By Emma Hurd, Sky News Correspondent

Zimbabwe's opposition leader has warned of renewed unrest in the country if President Robert Mugabe attempts to "steal" this week's election and extend his 33-year grip on power.

Voters go to the polls on Wednesday, five years after the last national vote descended into violence as Mr Mugabe fought to avoid defeat. 

"I am sure there is the potential for unrest if people are not given the opportunity to vote and if the result does not reflect their national mood," Morgan Tsvangarai, the opposition leader and Zimbabwean Prime Minister said.

Mr Tsvangarai's party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), has been governing in a tense power-sharing agreement with Mr Mugabe for the past four years.

He believes he has the support to oust the 89-year-old from office, but has flagged up irregularities in the voter registration rolls that could mar the credibility of the election.

Human rights organisations say the existence of up to a million "ghost voters" - people who have died but have not been removed from the electoral register - could be exploited by Mr Mugabe. 

Mr Mugabe addresses a rally in Harare on Sunday

Six hundred African observers, invited to monitor the vote, have reported no incidents of violence in the final days of campaigning.

President Mugabe promised a "free and fair" vote during his final campaign rally in front of a crowd of 40,000 people in the capital, Harare, on Sunday. 

"We are not forcing people to vote this way or that way," he told reporters. 

There are no official opinion polls in Zimbabwe, but Mr Mugabe - now the world's oldest leader - can still count on significant support across the country and the election is expected to be close.

He has shrewdly claimed the credit for the successes of the power-sharing government - while blaming any ongoing problems on the opposition. 

The country's crippled economy has started to recover since the MDC's Tendai Biti took over as finance minister, bringing an end to the food shortages that led to starvation in rural areas. 

The spiralling inflation rate - the Zimbabwean dollar was famously printed in 100 trillion dollar notes - has been tackled by abandoning the local currency in favour of the US dollar and South African rand.

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Syrian Forces Recapture Homs Rebel District

The Syrian army have retaken a part of the strategic city of Homs which had been held by rebel forces amid heavy fighting.

The central city has been at the heart of the two-year uprising against President Bashar al Assad.

"Units of our noble army have completely restored security and stability to Khalidiya neighbourhood," state news agency SANA said.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition monitoring group, said clashes were continuing in Khalidiya on Monday morning.

But it said Mr Assad's forces had retaken most of the district, tightening their siege on the few remaining rebel areas in the centre of the city.

Homs has strategic value

The army gains come exactly a month after it started an offensive in Homs as part of a drive to secure an axis linking Damascus to the Mediterranean.

The capture of Khalidiya would be the second major setback for rebels in central Syria in as many months.

In early June, regime forces captured the strategic town of Qusair in Homs province near the border with Lebanon. Troops have also captured the town of Talkalakh, another border town in the province.

The province of Homs is Syria's largest, and runs from the Lebanese frontier in the west all the way to the border with Iraq and Jordan in the east.

Destruction in the Khalidiya neighbourhood of Homs

The city of Homs holds strategic value because it serves as a crossroads: it is on the main highway from Damascus in the south to the north of the country as well as to the coastal region, which is a stronghold of President Assad's Alawite sect.

One hundred thousand people have been killed in Syria's two year conflict, which started with peaceful protests against Mr Assad's rule in March 2011.

Nearly two million refugees have fled the war, which has become an increasingly sectarian conflict between the mainly Sunni Muslim rebels and supporters of Mr Assad.

Complicating the conflict has been the increasing involvement of foreign fighters from neighbouring countries and even, in small numbers, from the West.

A government forces vehicle with text in Arabic saying: "Assad's Syria"

The UN has been relatively powerless to take action as the countries that are members of the Security Council have differing allegiances and views over how best to resolve it.

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