Toronto Mayor Rob Ford 'Considering' Rehab

Toronto's troubled mayor, who smoked crack cocaine and was taped drunkenly issuing threats to kill, is considering rehab, according to his lawyer.

Video was made public on Thursday of Mayor Rob Ford pacing around a room, swearing and threatening to "kill that ******* guy". It came two days after his public admission of smoking crack cocaine.

His lawyer, Dennis Morris, said on Friday that Mr Ford was "considering his options" in regards to treatment.

However, he said it was "best we hear from his (Mr Ford's) lips".

"When you go left, he goes right," Mr Morris added.

Rob Ford admits the latest video is "extremely embarrassing"

The mayor acknowledged he had a drinking problem for the first time on Sunday while on his weekly radio show.

He told listeners that he was "hammered" at a street festival in August and "out of control" drunk, carrying a half empty bottle of brandy around city hall after St Patrick's Day last year.

Mr Morris said Thursday was a defining day for the Mayor, after a video emerged of him threatening murder.

In the video, Mr Ford said: "I'm going to kill that ******* guy. I'm telling you it's first-degree murder.

The Toronto Mayor has refused to resign or take a leave of absence

"He dies or I die, brother ... But when he's down, I'll rip his ******* throat out. I'll poke his eyes out!"

The date and location of the video, which appears on the Toronto Star's website, is unknown and it is unclear who Mr Ford is addressing.

Mr Ford told reporters he was "extremely, extremely inebriated" in the video.

"It's extremely embarrassing. The whole world is going to see it," he said.

The Mayor was previously caught on video using a crack pipe

Mr Ford has been under pressure to quit since allegations surfaced months ago that he had been caught on video using a crack pipe.

He continues to brush aside calls to resign or take a leave of absence.

City Councilor Denzil Minnan-Wong says he plans to amend a motion he has filed that would ask Mr Ford to take a leave of absence.

The amendment takes the unprecedented step of asking the province of Ontario to pass legislation to remove the mayor should he not agree to take a leave of absence.

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Lampedusa Boat Victims 'Raped And Tortured'

Italian police have arrested a Somali man accused of raping and torturing asylum seekers fleeing Libya on a boat which sank off the island of Lampedusa last month killing more than 365 migrants.

Mouhamud Elmi Muhidin, 34, faces charges of kidnapping, sexual assault, people trafficking and criminal association with the goal of aiding illegal immigration after he was identified by survivors.

Some 130 Eritreans were assaulted in Libay according to police

Some 130 migrants from Eritrea told police they were held for ransom at a detention centre in the Libyan desert by people traffickers from Somalia, Libya and Sudan.

A 17-year-old Eritrean girl interviewed by police said: "They forced us to watch our men being tortured with various methods including batons, electric shocks to the feet; whoever rebelled was tied up."

The migrants were forced to pay up to $3,500 (£2,180) for their freedom and their onward journey to the Libyan coast and a boat that due to take them to Italy.

Those who survived the crossing are held at detention centres in Italy

"The women who could not pay were assaulted," the girl said.                 

She also described in her own sexual assault, claiming Muhidin was one of three men who raped her.

"They threw me on the ground, held me down and poured fuel on my head. It burnt my hair, then my face, then my eyes.

"Then the three of them raped me without protection. After a quarter of an hour I was beaten and taken back to the house."

Muhidin was arrested on Lampedusa after he was spotted by some of the survivors on the island. He has now been flown to Sicily where he faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted.

Police also held this Tunisian man suspected of driving one of the boats

Investigators say he arrived on the island last week and had been staying in the local migrant centre, pretending to be one of the refugees.

"He was one of the leaders of the trafficking organisation," a police spokeswoman said, adding that he may have come to Italy to look for criminal contacts.

Italian authorities have vowed to crack down on the people trafficking rings that have been behind the influx of more than 35,000 asylum seekers so far this year to the country's coasts.

Most of them come from Eritrea, Somalia and Syria and Italy has asked for the European Union to step up assistance in dealing with the arrivals and countering the criminal networks behind them.

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Iran Nuclear Talks Make 'Very Good Progress'

British Foreign Minister William Hague has said global powers negotiating with Iran over its nuclear programme must "seize the moment" as talks enter an unscheduled third day.

Six world powers - the US, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany - are working on a deal to cap some of Iran's atomic programme in exchange for limited relief from economic sanctions.

As delegates arrived on Saturday, Mr Hague told reporters: "We are very conscious of the fact that real momentum has built up in these negotiations and there is now real concentration on these negotiations and so we have to do everything we can to seize the moment.

However, he cautioned that it was not clear whether a deal could be reached by the end of the day.

France's Laurent Fabius said the sticking points were a call for Iran to halt operations at its Arak research reactor - a potential producer of bomb-grade plutonium - while the negotiating process continues and questions about Iran's stock of uranium enriched to 20%.

Both issues reflect Western concerns that Iran is enriching uranium for use in atomic weapons rather than in a civilian nuclear energy programme as it claims.

US Secretary of State John Kerry, who cut short a Middle East tour to attend the talks in Geneva, Switzerland, had also struck a note of caution after a five-hour meeting drew to a close last night.

Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (centre) is at the talks

"There is not an agreement at this point," Mr Kerry told reporters. "There are still some very important issues on the table that are unresolved."

Iran's deputy foreign minister Abbas Araqchi had stressed: "It was productive but still we have lots of work to do."

Earlier on Friday, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov raised hopes after he said the six countries and Iran could agree a "road map" to end the differences over the programme at the talks.

He told reporters he did not wish to prejudge the outcome but said Iran should be allowed to have a peaceful nuclear programme under the watch of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Unlike previous encounters between Iran and Western powers in the past decade, all sides have remained quiet about details of the negotiations, without the criticism and mutual allegations of a lack of seriousness that have been typical of such meetings in the past.

Diplomats involved in the talks say this is a sign of how serious all sides are.

If some sort of agreement is reached, it would be a breakthrough after a decade of negotiations between Iran and the six world powers.

A potential deal could see Tehran freeze its nuclear efforts for as long as six months in exchange for some relief from the sanctions that have battered its economy.

But Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday that his country "utterly rejects" a deal being forged, adding that "Israel will do everything it needs to do to defend itself and defend the security of its people".

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Super Typhoon Haiyan: At Least '1,200 Dead'

An aid agency says it has received reports that 1,200 people have been killed in only two of the six areas of the Philippines hit by Super Typhoon Haiyan.

The country's Red Cross says it has been told there are 1,000 dead in Tacloban and 200 in Samar alone.

No figures for the precise number of casualties were available on Saturday but there are fears many hundreds more could have died as the tropical cyclone smashed through the country with winds gusting up to 170mph.

A man walks amid shattered homes in Tacloban

When asked how many had died in just the coastal town of Palo and its surrounding area, Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla said: "I think hundreds. Palo, Ormoc, Burauen... Carigara, they all looked the same."

Manila-based journalist Mike Cohen told Sky News: "The video images we are seeing are so gruesome we cannot show them. There are bodies piled up upon bodies in several areas.

"This is from Leyte and Samar provinces. We are still not through the other four provinces."

A mother weeps beside the dead body of her son

Dozens of towns and villages are thought to have been inundated with water after storm surges flooded low-lying areas, drowning many it their path.

TV pictures showed cars, trees and rubble from houses strewn across streets after they were picked up by giant waves and carried inland.

One survivor said: "We thought it was a tsunami."

Children play among downed power lines

"Almost all houses were destroyed, many are totally damaged. Only a few are left standing," said Major Rey Balido, a spokesman for the national disaster agency.

A British team of humanitarian experts is due to fly out to the far eastern country to help the UK Government decide what aid to send.

An appeal launched by the British Red Cross has already raised more than £100,000. US Secretary of State John Kerry said that America stood "ready to help".

Residents carry the body of a loved one

About a million people who were evacuated because they were living in the typhoon's path have been returning to find out what is left of their houses.

Hundreds of thousands are said to have lost their homes.

Many of the most heavily damaged areas are still to be contacted because power and telephone lines are down, suggesting the final death toll could be much higher.

Soldiers walk outside of Tacloban's shattered airport terminal

Captain John Andrews, deputy director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, said he had spoken to colleagues in some of the affected areas by radio who had told him there were bodies lying in the street.

There were "100-plus dead, lying on the streets, with 100 plus injured" in Tacloban, the airport worker had told him.

Tacloban is the capital of Leyte, a large island of about two million people that suffered a direct hit from Haiyan on Friday morning when the storm was at its strongest.

Many children became seperated from their parents and were left in tears

Leyte Island, about 350miles south of the capital Manila, is one of five islands that was in the path of the super typhoon.

A news team for local television network GMA reported counting at least 20 bodies in a church, 20 more at a pier and a further 11 that had been washed ashore, including one child.

An AFP photographer who reached the city aboard a military plane said large areas of Tacloban had been flattened.

A map showing the path of the typhoon and affected islands

Minnie Portales, a spokesman for the aid agency World Vision, said: "As we wait for early reports from some of the hardest-hit provinces, we fear for the worst. This could be very bad."

At one point before it hit land the super typhoon had been even stronger, with winds gusting up to 235mph, which made it among the most powerful ever.

Meteorologists said that it had slowed to 100mph after passing over the Philippines but could pick up strength again as it sweeps across the South China Sea toward Vietnam.

Hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese have been moved away from coastal areas as authorities prepared for Haiyan to make landfall around 10am Sunday. Millions are thought to be living in its path.

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Iran Nuclear Deal 'Utterly Rejected' By Israel

Israel's prime minister has dismissed an agreement expected to made between world powers and Iran over its nuclear programme as a "bad deal".

Six world powers - the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany - are working on a deal to cap some of Iran's atomic programme in exchange for limited relief from economic sanctions.

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said the six countries and Iran could agree a road map" to end the differences over the programme at the talks in Geneva, Switzerland.

He told reporters he did not wish to prejudge the outcome but said Iran should be allowed to have a peaceful nuclear programme under the watch of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Sergei Lavrov is hoping for a "concrete result"

But Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu - who last year drew a red line across a cartoon bomb to illustrate the point at which Iran will have amassed enough uranium to fuel one nuclear bomb - said his country "utterly rejects" the deal being forged.

"I understand the Iranians are walking around very satisfied in Geneva as well they should because they got everything and paid nothing," he said.

"They wanted relief of sanctions after years of gruelling sanctions, they got that. They paid nothing because they are not reducing in any way their nuclear enrichment capability.

"So Iran got the deal of the century and the international community got a bad deal.

Iran's president denies his country wants to make nuclear weapons

"This is a very bad deal and Israel utterly rejects it. Israel is not obliged by this agreement and Israel will do everything it needs to do to defend itself and defend the security of its people."

Meanwhile, a senior US State Department official travelling with US Secretary of State John Kerry in Amman, Jordan, said he was going to Geneva "to help narrow differences in negotiations".

Foreign Secretary William Hague and the foreign ministers of France and Germany will also attend the talks, further raising hopes a deal could be imminent.

If an agreement is reached in Geneva, it would only be the start of a long process to reduce Iran's potential nuclear threat, with no guarantee of ultimate success.

US Secretary of State John kerry

But even a limited accord would mark a breakthrough after nearly a decade of mostly inconclusive talks focused on limiting, if not eliminating, Iranian atomic programmes.

The talks are primarily focused on the size and output of Iran's enrichment programme, which can create both reactor fuel and weapons-grade material suitable for a nuclear bomb.

Iran insists it is pursuing only nuclear energy, medical treatments and research, but the US and its allies fear that Iran could turn this material into the fissile core of nuclear warheads.

Iran's new president, Hassan Rouhani, has indicated he could cut back on the nuclear programme in exchange for an easing of sanctions.

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Syria Refugees 'Could Spread Polio To Europe'

Refugees fleeing the civil war in Syria could cause an outbreak of polio in Europe, two German infection experts have warned.

Writing in The Lancet medical journal, they say the polio vaccine used in Europe is not effective enough to withstand transmission of the virus.

There are fears it may have been carried to neighbouring countries by refugees living in unsanitary conditions ideal for the transmission of disease.

The inactivated polio vaccine (IPC), which is injected, usually forms part of a combined diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough and polio jab.

Syrian refugees cross the border into northern Iraq

IPC provides protection from infection but it does not prevent the spread of the virus.

Professor Martin Eichner, from the University of Tubingen, and Dr Stefan Brockmann, from the Department of Infection Control in Reutlingen, point out that because only one in 200 polio infections cause symptoms, the virus could be circulating for nearly a year before a single case occurs.

By this time, hundreds of individuals may be carrying the virus.

Prof Eichner and Dr Brockmann wrote: "Routine screening of sewage for polio virus has not been done in most European countries.

"But this intensified surveillance measure should be considered for settlements with large numbers of Syrian refugees.

"Vaccinating only Syrian refugees - as has been recommended by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control - must be judged as insufficient; more comprehensive measures should be taken into consideration," they wrote.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has confirmed an outbreak of at least 10 cases of polio in Syria, where vaccination coverage has dramatically decreased because of the civil war.

Nearly all Syrian children were vaccinated against the disease - which begins with fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck and pain in the limbs - before the civil war began more than two years ago.

Polio was last reported in Syria in 1999.

In 1998, polio was endemic in 125 countries and there were an estimated 350,000 cases but that had fallen to just 223 cases in 2012 and it was endemic in just Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

However, WHO warns that if just one child remains infected the risk of the disease spreading again remains and eradication efforts in Nigeria and Pakistan have all been harmed by attacks by Islamist militants.

On Wednesday, the WHO increased the number of people it said must be vaccinated to 20 million as part of a vaccination campaign that will target children in Syria, Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories.

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Arafat Poisoning: Israel Is 'Only Suspect'

Who Poisoned Yasser Arafat?

Updated: 6:13pm UK, Thursday 07 November 2013

He fell ill on October 12, 2004. On the 29th he was flown to a French hospital for emergency treatment. By November 11, he was dead.

The mystery of the Palestinian leader's sudden medical decline while under Israeli siege in his Ramallah headquarters has been, partly, solved by Lausanne University.

Scientists there found between 18 and 36 times the anticipated amount of the deadly radioactive Polonium-210 and ruled out accidental contamination.

Sixty samples of soil around his body, his hips and ribs, disinterred from his mausoleum in Ramallah last November were sent to the Swiss experts as well as scientists in France and Russia.

The Swiss findings, couched in scientific language, leave little room for real doubt.

They said: "Taking into account the analytical limitations, mostly time lapse since the death and the nature and quality of the specimens, the results moderately support the proposition that the death was the consequence of poisoning with polonium-210."

The French results are not due until magistrates finish their murder investigation into Arafat's death. The Russian findings are due out any day.

Surrounded in his palace, the Muqata, Arafat may have been one of the world's first Polonium poisonings - a victim of a method usually associated with a nation state.

As Suha Arafat, his widow, said: "Answer lies in the Muqata (Palestinian government headquarters), where my late husband had spent his last three years under siege.

"And the head of the investigation committee Mr (Tawfik) Tirawi is, I'm sure, willing now to go further for investigation to know who committed this shameful crime, this assassination - political assassination - of an elected leader."

Now - whodunit? Israel will inevitably face accusations - but the killers themselves may have been close members of Yasser Arafat's own entourage - an embarrassing allegation to face for the heirs to the father of the modern Palestinian nation.

"You don't accidentally or voluntarily absorb a source of polonium - it's not something that appears in the environment like that," said Patrice Mangin, director of the Lausanne University Hospital's forensics centre.

"Our results reasonably support the poisoning theory," said Francois Bochud, director of the Institute of Radiation Physics that carried out the probe, though he was careful to emphasise the lingering questions that will require further investigation to answer.

That Mr Arafat may have been poisoned by someone close to him, by someone perhaps acting for a foreign power, is not something that either the Palestinian Authority nor Israel, nor indeed many Palestinians want to reflect upon too hard - not right now, anyway.

Israel and the PA are locked in tense and acrimonious negotiations aimed at ending the Israeli occupation of the West Bank.

They are hung up on the thorny old issues of the Palestinian insistence on invoking the right of return of refugees and their descendants from territory captured by Israel in 1948 and 1967.

On Palestinian insistence that Israel end its illegal constructions of Jewish settlements on Palestinian land.

On Palestinian claims, which Israel rejects outright, on East Jerusalem as a future capital.

On Israel's insistence that it needs to keep troops in the Jordan valley and control Palestine's eastern border as part of its defences.

These are issues that Arafat and successive Israeli negotiators failed to resolve but which are now the object of intense diplomacy that the US secretary of state, John Kerry, has thrown enormous personal energy into.

A solution to the Arab-Israeli puzzle remains extremely hard to see. It would be impossible to discern if the puzzle was thrown to the floor over Arafat.

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Super Typhoon Haiyan Hits The Philippines

At least four people have been killed after Super Typhoon Haiyan, one of the most powerful typhoons ever recorded, hit the Philippines.

The victims are reported to include a mother and child who drowned in South Cotabato, and a boy who was struck by lightning in Zamboanga City.

AP said a fourth was killed by a falling tree but the death toll was expected to rise as the worst affected areas are currently cut off.

Children have been left in tears by the typhoon in Cebu city

Three-quarters of a million people were ordered to leave their homes in villages in Haiyan's path amid fears the storm damage could be the worst in the Philippines' history.

President Benigno Aquino III threatened to use guns to force people living in high-risk areas, including 100 coastal communities, to move in a desperate bid to save lives.

War-like preparations were swung into place with three C-130 air force cargo planes and 32 military helicopters and planes on standby, along with 20 navy ships.

"No typhoon can bring Filipinos to their knees if we'll be united," Mr Aquino said in a televised address.

The US Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Centre in Hawaii said Haiyan's maximum sustained winds were 195mph (314kph), with gusts up to 235mph (379kph).

On land, wind speeds were measured at 170mph (270kph), although local meteorologists are understood to measure wind speeds differently.

Residents of Legazpi city in Albay province, south of Manila

Some meteorologists have claimed it is the strongest severe tropical storm to make landfall. The previous record holder, according to Reuters and AP, was Hurricane Camillie in 1969 which had winds up to 190mph.

The cyclone whipped up the seas, producing waves that reached 6m (19ft) high, threatening to inundate low lying areas.

Local journalist Mike Cohen told Sky News: "We're seeing a lot of strong winds but not a lot of rain.

Damage to buildings in Ormoc City. Credit: Ritchel M. Deleon

"There are already reports of some landslides and very strong storm surge entering towns and villages in the path of the storm.

"Trees are falling and there is lots of damage reported across the region."

The typhoon is believed to have made landfall on the northern tip of Cebu Province, about 350 miles south east of the capital Manila.

Children sheltering in Cebu. Picture: Red Cross

Up to 12 million people live in the affected areas, including the tourist districts of Leyte Island and Borocay Island.

At the moment the cyclone  - known locally as Yolanda - is about 300miles across. It is expected to pass over the south end of Mindoro Island around noon on Friday, hitting Busuanga at about 1pm.

According to Mr Cohen, power has been cut to the worst-affected areas, mainly as a preventative measure to avoid electrocution, but this was making communications difficult.

Waves up to six metres high have been reported as a result of high winds

Among the 720,000 evacuated are thousands of refugees from a 7.2 magnitude earthquake in Bohol last month, who have been living in tents since the tremor hit.

Jeff Masters, a former hurricane meteorologist who is a director at the private firm Weather Underground, warned that there would be "catastrophic damage".

He said: "195mph winds; there aren't too many buildings constructed that can withstand that kind of wind. The wind damage should be the most extreme in Philippines' history."

A closer look reveals the eye of the storm over the Philippines

The strength of the wind made it one of the four most powerful typhoons ever recorded in the world, and the most powerful to have made landfall, he added.

But other meteorologists forecast lower readings, saying the storm's speed at landfall had sustained winds at 145mph (234kmph) with gusts of 170mph ( 275kmph).

Haiyan is expected to sweep through the Philippines' central region before moving toward the South China Sea over the weekend, heading towards Vietnam.

A map showing the path and predicted path of Typhoon Haiyan

Meteorologists fear that it could intensify further as it approaches the Vietnamese coast.

The head of the government's main disaster response agency in the capital Manila said people are still being moved from communities prone to landslides and flooding.

But there is hope that, as Haiyan is a fast-moving storm, flooding from heavy rain - which usually causes the most deaths from typhoons in the Philippines - may not be as bad.

Haiyan is the 24th tropical storm to hit the Philippines this year. Last year, Typhoon Bopha, which had maximum sustained winds of 175mph, killed 1,100 people in the country.

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Castro Victim: I Was The Most Hated One

One of the three women held captive in an Ohio home for a decade has said she was forced to help captor Ariel Castro prepare a chamber for a fellow victim.

In a long interview with TV host Dr Phil McGraw, Michelle Knight has given the most detailed account so far on the ordeal the women  endured.

The 32-year-old spoke of her relationship with the other captives, Gina DeJesus and Amanda Berry, and of her feelings the moment police rescued them in May last year.

Knight, who was Castro's first victim, said she had seen TV reports about the disappearance of Ms DeJesus, then 14, when Castro forced her to help prepare the room.

She said she had heard screams coming from the house.

"All I hear is fighting in the basement. I could hear things crash and I could hear somebody screaming, 'Get off me. Get off me,'" Ms Knight said.

"All I could hear was a girl screaming for help and nobody comes, nobody helps her."

Ariel Castro's home has been torn down

Castro told Ms Knight that Ms DeJesus was his daughter and that she was coming to visit – but she knew that was not true.

"He was telling me that I needed to help him prepare another room and I didn't want to prepare that room," Knight said.

"I had to help him drill holes in the wall to put the chains through to hook us together."

Ms Knight said she and Ms DeJesus were chained together often and they became close.

Ms Knight said there were times when she stopped Castro from hitting Ms DeJesus, taking the beating herself and telling him: "I'm the one you hate."

The three women endured beatings, starvation, rape and other abuse during their time in Castro's home in Cleveland.

Ms Knight said she became pregnant at least five times while in Castro's home. Each time, she said, Castro beat her brutally until she miscarried.

Amanda Berry (L) and Gina DeJesus at the time of their abduction

"I was the most hated one," she said.

The woman said Castro liked Ms Berry because of what she called his "obsession with blondes", and said she helped deliver Ms Berry's baby.

Asked how she feels about Ms Berry, Ms Knight said, "We're OK. Not the best of friends, but OK."

Castro, 53, pleaded guilty to kidnapping the three women, imprisoning them and repeatedly raping and beating them. He was sentenced to life in prison.

Ms Knight said she became pregnant at least five times

A month into his sentence, Castro was found dead in his cell. His death was initially ruled a suicide, but a prison report indicated he may have died accidentally as a result of auto-erotic asphyxiation.

Ms Knight recalled being scared when she heard police come in, saying it was a "roller coaster of mixed emotion".

"I wanted to kiss the ground that I was walking on and thank God for letting me get out of that hellhole."

Police came to the house after a dramatic 911 call in which Ms Berry cried for help.

Castro had gone out, Ms Knight said, and they were scared because they thought it might be intruders.

"So we're hiding, because we're scared. We're terrified. We didn't know that the cops were down there," the woman said.

"We thought somebody was breaking in, because it was a bad neighbourhood."

Ms Knight says she heard an officer shout, "Police!" but still did not feel safe - until she saw a badge.

"I just ran," she recalled. "I jumped on her (the officer) and I never let go."

The three women have been trying to readjust to life after their ordeal.

Ms DeJesus and Ms Berry are reportedly planning to collaborate with a Pulitzer Prize-winning team of reporters for a book about their experience.

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Philippines Braced For Typhoon Haiyan

Thousands of villagers, including those from an area devastated recently by an earthquake, have been forced to leave their homes as a powerful typhoon approaches the Philippines.

Typhoon Haiyan has already built up winds of 134mph and gusts of 155mph and there are fears it could get even stronger before it reaches Eastern Samar on Friday.

The head of the government's main disaster response agency said people are being moved from communities prone to landslides and flooding.

These include residents of Bohol, many of whom are still living in tents following the earthquake.

Haiyan is expected to cause massive damage

Haiyan is not expected to hit the province directly but it will almost certainly be lashed by strong wind and rain, say forecasters.

The military says Army troops are helping to deliver food packs and other items to communities that are hard to reach and rescue helicopters are on stand-by.

The typhoon is forecast to barrel through the country's central region on Friday and Saturday before heading towards the South China Sea on Sunday.

Manila, the densely-populated capital in the north, should not be affected.

Haiyan will be the 24th such storm in the Philippines this year, even more than usual. The annual average is 20.

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Woman Tries To Sell Baby In Airport Toilet

A woman has been arrested in Turkey for allegedly trying to sell her baby to a couple in a toilet at an airport.

Turkish police released CCTV showing the 22-year-old, identified as Dinara A, arriving at Istanbul's Sabiha Gokcen airport in a taxi with her mother - and the child in a carrycot.

The Turkish-born German couple arriving at the airport

Once the cab leaves, the woman can be seen speaking on her mobile phone.

The security footage then shows a couple at the airport - the woman with a handbag and man with a red suitcase - heading to meet her.

Dinara A enters the toilet with the baby, followed by the other woman who is seen leaving the facility with the baby.

The pair on their way to the meeting

Police said the woman agreed to hand over the child to the Turkish-born German couple in an airport toilet on September 14 in exchange for 1,000 Turkish Liras (£310), Dogan News Agency reported.

According to police sources, the German woman decided to return the baby to the toilets after she realised she could not pass through passport control with the child.

She later called police claiming she had found the baby in the toilet.

She emerges from the toilets with the baby in its carrycot

Dinara A, her baby, and mother were later deported from Turkey.

The German woman was released after providing testimony.

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Giant Panda Released Into Wild In China

A two-year-old female giant panda bred in captivity has been released into a protected wild area in China.

Zhang Xiang is the third panda to be returned to its natural habitat in the country in the past seven years, according to state television.

Her keepers dressed in specially-scented panda costumes to avoid scaring her and jeopardising the operation.

CCTV pictures showed Zhang Xiang was initially reluctant to leave the cage when the door was opened.

But her confidence grew and after some sniffing and exploring she disappeared into the forest, in Sichuan province.

Experts have put a GPS collar on her neck to keep track of her.

Baby Zhang Xiang gets a cuddle from her mum

Zhang Xiang will spend two weeks in an interim area where there is plenty of water and bamboo before she is allowed to go off into the real wild.

She has been given survival lessons at a training base in the Wolong Nature Reserve in Sichuan since she was born.

Another six panda cubs are being prepared for reintroduction to the wild there, according to the official English newspaper China Daily.

Chinese media reported that of 10 pandas released into the wild since 1983, only two are still there.

Six were brought back to the breeding centre after severe weight loss, one was found dead and another is missing presumed dead.

Giant pandas are one of the world's most endangered animals with roughly 300 living in captivity.

Fewer than 1,600 live in the wild in China, mostly in Sichuan and neighbouring Shaanxi province.

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Dublin Police Identify Mystery Street Woman

Police have identified a woman who was found wandering the centre of Dublin nearly a month ago - just hours after releasing a photograph of her.

Officers said that with the assistance of the public they were now "following a definite line of enquiry" and were "liaising closely with the Australian Police and the Health Service Executive to finalise the matter".

The woman, who was thought to be as young as 14 and from eastern Europe, is now understood to be an Australian aged 19-20 who appears to have travelled voluntarily, according to Sky sources.

"Police no longer believe there was any criminal involvement in the case of the girl found on O'Connell Street," a source said.

They hope to reunite her with her family soon, but for now she remains in the care of the HSE.

She was found in a dazed state in the Irish capital on October 10, but has yet to speak to the police.

It was thought the woman, now thought to be Australian, was eastern Europe

Interpol had been called in to try to identify the woman.

The woman, 5ft 6in tall, of slim build, with long blonde hair, was found wearing a purple hooded top, tight dark coloured jeans, flat black shoes and a grey woollen jumper.

It is believed her clothes were bought in major retailers in Ireland, but detectives could not determine when they were purchased.

The woman also has a brace, but paediatric orthodontists contacted in Ireland were unable to shed any light on her identity through their records.

A major investigation was launched into the circumstances surrounding the discovery of the woman.

The probe has so far involved more than 2,000 man hours and more than 115 lines of enquiry.

These include door-to-door enquires, vehicle and pedestrian checks in the area where the woman was discovered, and the seizure and viewing of CCTV from the city centre.

Police also showed her picture to specialised child interviewers throughout the country.

Officers sought High Court approval to release the picture of the woman, who is under an interim care order, after their early enquiries drew a blank.

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Greenpeace Arrests: Dutch Take Russia To Court

By Katie Stallard, Russia Correspondent

Representatives of the Dutch government will go to an international maritime court later to try to secure the release of the Arctic Sunrise and its crew.

The Greenpeace ship, which was sailing under the Netherlands flag, was seized by Russian security forces in September after a protest near an arctic oil rig.

Thirty people on board, including two freelance journalists, a cook and the ship's doctor were arrested at gunpoint and taken to a pre-trial detention centre in Murmansk.

Last week, without explanation, they were transferred to a prison in St Petersburg.

Initial charges of piracy have reportedly been downgraded to hooliganism, an offence punishable by up to seven years in prison. But Greenpeace said the original charges also remain in place.

Russian security services seize Arctic Sunrise

The Dutch government has applied to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea to order the immediate release of the ship and its crew.

Based in Hamburg, the tribunal was set up to resolve global maritime disputes.

A hearing has been set for Wednesday, but Russia has already said it will not take part, and does not accept decisions that concern its national sovereignty.

The tribunal's website says its has no means to enforce its decisions.

But Greenpeace legal counsel Daniel Simons told Sky News the Netherlands had a very strong case, and it would be more appropriate for Russia to contest the issue of jurisdiction in court.

He said: "Russia has failed to indicate any legal basis for the boarding and detention of the vessel and those persons on board.

"So I think there's every prospect the tribunal will order their release, pending the arbitration case that the Netherlands has filed against Russia."

The Netherlands insists the ship was in international waters when it was stormed.

Inside the detention centre in Murmansk

Russia has said it was in its exclusive economic zone, endangered a Russian oil platform, and should be subject to Russian laws.

Relations between the two countries have been strained since the incident.

The Netherlands and Russia celebrate 400 years of cultural ties this year.

That is not quite going according to plan.

Two weeks after the Arctic Sunrise was seized, a Russian diplomat was arrested and, he has claimed, treated roughly by police in The Hague.

Ten days later, a senior Dutch diplomat was assaulted in his Moscow flat.

Now Russian public health officials are investigating concerns about the safety of imported Dutch tulips and cheese.

Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans told reporters ahead of the hearing: "The Netherlands is hoping now that all this, eventually, will mean that pending a final solution of the issues, the crew will be released and that also the ship is going to be released."

"Our interpretation of the law of the sea is that nothing happened which justifies the crew being in prison.

"The judge must now decide."

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New Jersey Governor Chris Christie Wins Poll

Chris Christie has been re-elected as New Jersey governor in a landslide victory over his Democrat rival.

Mr Christie won 60.5% of the vote against 38% for Barbara Buono, with 99% of precincts reporting.

The 51-year-old Republican - whose popularity soared after his response to Superstorm Sandy last year - is seen as a possible 2016 presidential contender. 

The margin of victory makes Mr Christie the first Republican in 25 years to receive more than 50% of the vote in the state, which voted overwhelmingly in favour of President Barack Obama last year.

Mr Christie told supporters: "We have a big, big win tonight.

"I did not seek a second term to do small things. I sought a second term to finish the job - now watch me do it."

Mr Christie, who attracted national attention by working closely with Mr Obama after the storm that devastated the New Jersey coastline, said Sandy had brought people together.

He said: "The spirit of Sandy will stay with us well beyond the days that the recovery will take. I will govern with the spirit of Sandy."

Speaking around 40 minutes after polls closed on Tuesday night, Ms Buono told her supporters she had called Mr Christie to congratulate him.

In Virginia, former top Democratic Party official Terry McAuliffe defeated Ken Cuccinelli, the state attorney general.

Mr Cuccinelli's campaign was damaged by his ties with the Tea Party movement, which was widely blamed for instigating last month's federal government shutdown.

Meanwhile, New Yorkers voted to elect Democrat Bill de Blasio as their new mayor.

And Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed was re-elected to a second term, defeating three little-known challengers. Mr Reed is perhaps best known for his strong support of Mr Obama.

In Boston, Congressman Martin Walsh narrowly defeated fellow Democrat John Connolly in a hard-fought race to succeed long-time mayor Thomas Menino.

Final results posted on the city's website showed Mr Walsh with 52% to 48% for Mr Connolly.

And in financially troubled Detroit, Mike Duggan defeated Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon. The city was taken into bankruptcy in July by emergency manager Kevyn Orr.

In Seattle, Ed Murray, who led the successful campaign to legalise gay marriage in Washington state, was leading the mayoral race after early returns.

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Knox's Ex Sollecito Gives Evidence At Retrial

Raffaele Sollecito, the former boyfriend of Amanda Knox, has been giving evidence in an Italian court at a retrial hearing in Florence.

The 29-year-old is attending the appeal trial, which sees the former lovers accused of killing the British student in Perugia in November 2007.

The trial is the latest in a drawn-out legal process that saw Knox, 26, and Sollecito convicted and jailed in Perugia in 2009, before being released after four years when they were cleared on appeal, only for that verdict to be overturned by Italy's supreme court this year.

Knox has refused to travel to Italy for the new appeal

While Knox has refused to travel from her home town of Seattle to appear in court for the new appeal, Sollecito has returned from a holiday in the Dominican Republic, an island with which Italy does not have an extradition treaty and which has hosted numerous Italian fugitives from justice.

Sollecito's father Francesco played down suspicions that his son was preparing to head back there after the hearing.

He said: "It was just a holiday - you can't be a fugitive for life."

He added that Raffaele Sollecito will now go back to his family home in Puglia, in southern Italy.

At the hearing, results will be revealed from a DNA test ordered by the judge on a knife found in Sollecito's apartment, which prosecutors believed to be the murder weapon.

Police originally claimed to have found both Miss Kercher's and Knox's DNA on the knife, but the Kercher DNA was challenged by a forensic evidence review during the appeal.

The latest trace to be analysed, which was considered too small to test during the review and is known as Trace "I", is likely to be Knox's DNA, results have shown.

Meredith Kercher was found dead in her room in Perugia in 2007

Carlo dalla Vedova, a lawyer representing Knox, said: "The trace is a low copy number which the police say is not male, not Kercher, and could be Knox."

Mr Sollecito said: "The result means it was just a kitchen knife used by Knox in Raffaele's kitchen.

"The new trace is between the blade and the handle, the normal position for a finger when cutting bread.

"The DNA review has already excluded the possibility of Kercher's DNA being on the knife and the Supreme Court did not contest that, and now this new test shows again that there is no trace of Kercher on the knife."

Mr Dalla Vedova said that by showing the trace was not Miss Kercher's DNA, the test had bolstered Knox and Sollecito's defence.

"It's another element of the prosecution that falls down," he said.

However, apart from considering the knife, the court will also consider the Supreme Court's ruling that the appeal acquittal was full of "shortcomings, contradictions and inconsistencies".

After Wednesday's hearing, the trial will pick up again on November 25 for final arguments from the prosecution.

Dates will then be set for the final arguments from defence lawyers and rebuttals.

Francesco Sollecito confirmed his son has visited Miss Kercher's grave in the UK last year, apparently in defiance of the Kercher family who have asked for the grave to be kept private.

"It was before the Supreme Court ruling," he said. "Raffaele was in London and was taken by a friend whose idea it was."

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Nazi Art Loot: Unknown Marc Chagall Work Found

German authorities say the trove of Nazi-looted art seized in a Munich flat included works dating from the 16th century by artists such as Canaletto, Courbet, Picasso, Chagall and Toulouse-Lautrec.

"A total of 121 framed and 1,285 non-framed works ... were seized," said Augsburg state prosecutor Reinhard Nemetz.

"There were oil paintings, others in Indian ink, pencil, water colours, colour prints, other prints from artists like Max Liebermann and others."

A reproduction of a painting by artist Marc Chagall

A previously unknown work by Marc Chagall was among the collection found in a nondescript flat owned by Cornelius Gurlitt the reclusive elderly son of a war-time art dealer.

The late Hildebrand Gurlitt was a specialist collector of the modern art of the early 20th century that the Nazis branded as un-German or "degenerate" and removed from show in state museums.

Investigators said they searched the apartment on February 28, 2012, as part of a tax investigation that started with a routine check on a Zurich-Munich train in late 2010.

Meike Hoffmann, art historian at Berlin Free University, said another unknown masterpiece by fellow modernist painter Otto Dix was also part of the haul.

She said the Chagall painting, an allegorical scene dating from the mid-1920s, had a "particularly high art-historical value". The Dix work is a rare self-portrait believed to have been painted in 1919.

A combination of two formerly unknown paintings by German artist Otto Dix

Augsburg state prosecutor Reinhard Nemetz told a news conference: "Regarding these artworks with an ideal value so high that it can not be estimated, there are concrete indications that this is so called 'degenerate art' or stolen art."

Siegried Kloeble of Munich Custroms Office said: "When we investigated the matter we immediately noticed that these were classic modern works.

A formerly unknown Ernst Ludwig Kirchner picture "Melancholic Girl"

"Let me name a few of the artists: Max Liebermann, Max Beckmann, Otto Dix, Oskar Kokoschka, Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, August Macke, Emil Nolde, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Pablo Picasso, Carl Spitzweg, Marc Chagall, Renoir, Schmidt-Rottluff, Hofer."

Ms Hoffman said: "When you're standing in front of these works which for a long time were believed to have disappeared or to have been destroyed, it is an incredible feeling of joy.

"They are in relatively good condition, some of them are dirty but not damaged. As far as I can see, these works are of an absolutely outstanding quality, aesthetic quality but also in a good condition so they represent a huge scientific value.

"I pointed out that a lot of the works were not known at all until now. So this will mean a great challenge for the research on the individual artists once this case has been evaluated fully and the works can be displayed publicly."

The story of the artworks was revealed in a report by news magazine Focus over the weekend.

Focus estimated that the works found amongst stacks of hoarded groceries in the flat of Cornelius Gurlitt, could be worth well over 1 billion euros.

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Norway Bus Murder Suspect 'Due To Be Deported'

A man arrested on suspicion of stabbing three people to death after hijacking a bus in Norway had been due to be deported today, police have revealed.

The bus driver, who was in his 50s, and his two passengers, a 19-year-old woman and a Swedish man in his 50s, were killed in the attacks.

The 30-year-old suspect was an asylum seeker from South Sudan who had been living at Ardal reception centre, near the scene of the stabbings.

And police officer Aage Loeseth said the man had been scheduled to fly alone and without security to capital city Oslo on Tuesday before being transported out of the country.

He said his asylum application had been refused because he had made an earlier application in Spain, where he was to be sent.

The deputy director of the organisation managing the reception centre in Ardal, Tor Brekke, said the attack had been "completely unexpected".

Ambulance workers at the scene of the killings

"There was nothing to indicate any imbalance, or that he could do this," he said.

The nearest police patrol when the alarm was raised after the attacks at around 5.30pm on Monday was 55 miles away.

The first emergency workers to arrive at the scene were firefighters followed by ambulance staff, with the hijacking initially reported as a traffic accident.

Norwegian newspaper VG said an ambulance worker approached the man while firefighters armed with hammers helped overpower him by spraying him with powder extinguishers.

Police arrived around 1 hour and 20 minutes after the alarm was raised and took the man into custody. He is now being held under armed guard at Haukeland hospital in Bergen, having reportedly suffered only minor cuts.

Olaug Holme, from Hordaland Police, told Dagbladet: "We have police on site who are guarding him.

"There will be a medical assessment as to when he may be transported elsewhere, (but) I cannot say much about the medical situation now."

Emergency terror police were initially scrambled to the location of the stabbings from Oslo, but turned back when it became clear the suspect had been arrested.

Forensics officers remained at the scene overnight, while a centre was set up nearby for relatives of those affected.

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Bangladesh Sentences Mutinous Troops To Death

More than 150 Bangladeshi border guards to death over a mutiny in 2009 that left 74 people dead, including several senior officers.

Another 160 mutineers were jailed for life, including a former politician of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party.

"The court announced the death sentence to them for the heinous killing of the country's brave sons," Prosecutor Mosharraf Hossain Kajol said.

The sentences were handed out after a mass trial which involved 846 defendants, leading to criticism from human rights groups.

An army soldier cries as he carries the coffin of a fallen officer

"Trying hundreds of people en masse in one giant courtroom, where the accused have little or no access to lawyers is an affront to international legal standards," Brad Adams of Human Rights Watch said.

More than 256 people received prison terms between three and 10 years and 277 soldiers were acquitted. 

The 30-hour revolt by members of a unit known at the times at the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) was motivated by poor pay and conditions.

The victims were hacked to death, tortured or burnt alive before their bodies were dumped in sewers and shallow graves.

"The atrocities were so heinous that even the dead bodies were not given their rights," Judge Mohammad Akhtaruzzaman told the packed court as he read out the verdicts.

Army soldiers inspect the assembly hall damaged by the mutineers

The violence began at the BDR headquarters in Dhaka - which has its own rose garden and zoo - before spreading across the country.

An official probe into the mutiny blamed years of pent-up anger over ignored pleas for pay rises and improved treatment of the ordinary troops, who resented their better-paid superiors.

The judge said that the soldiers should have been given better pay and privileges to defuse the resentment, saying they could not afford to send their children to military-owned schools.

Nearly 6,000 soldiers have already been convicted by dozens of special courts.

The mutiny shook the stability of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's newly elected government, which ended the revolt by negotiating a settlement.

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Dublin: Picture Of Girl Found In Street Released

Police have released a picture of an unidentified teenage girl who was found wandering the centre of Dublin nearly a month ago.

The girl, who could be as young as 14, was found in a dazed state in the Irish capital on October 10, but has yet to speak to the police.

Interpol has been called in to try to identify the girl, who may be from Eastern Europe.

She is described as 5ft 6in tall, of slim build, with long blonde hair. She was found wearing a purple hooded top, tight dark coloured jeans, flat black shoes and a grey woollen jumper.

It is believed her clothes were bought in major retailers in Ireland, but detectives could not determine when they were purchased.

The girl also has a brace, but paediatric orthodontists contacted in Ireland were unable to shed any light on her identity through their records.

Police said a major investigation was under way into the circumstances surrounding the discovery of the girl.

The probe has so far involved more than 2,000 man hours and more than 115 lines of enquiry.

It is thought the unidentified girl may be from eastern Europe

These include door-to-door enquires, vehicle and pedestrian checks in the area where the girl was discovered, and the seizure and viewing of CCTV from the city centre.

Police have also shown her picture to specialised child interviewers throughout the country.

"As a result of these enquiries 15 possible names were provided to investigators. These were fully checked but unfortunately her identity remains unknown as present," a police statement said.

Officers sought High Court approval to release the picture of the girl, who is under an interim care order, after their enquiries drew a blank.

The statement added: "Gardaí are appealing to anyone who may recognise the girl from the photo. Do you recognise this girl?

"Did you have any interactions with her? Did you pass her in a distressed state in the city centre in and around October 10?

"Any information is vital to the investigation and the welfare of the child. Any information passed to us will of course be treated in the strictest of confidence."

:: Anyone with information is asked to contact the team in Dublin on +353 1 666 8100 or by email at storestreetappeal@garda.ie.

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Ryanair Moves To Fully Allocated Seating

Ryanair has announced a plan to move to fully allocated seating on all of its flights.

The budget carrier said the new system will be in force from February 1.

The move comes after numerous customer complaints about the frenzied rush by passengers to secure the best seats.

The company said in a statement: "This return to allocated seating is Ryanair's response to the enormous demand from our customers in recent weeks via Ryanair's 'Tell MOL' customer feedback initiative.

"Ryanair's decision to launch fully allocated seating is also part of the airline's commitment to listen to its customers."

The announcement comes as the company revealed a profit rise of just 1% to £510m, in the six months to September 30.

Two months after Ryanair issued its first profit warning in a decade, the Ireland-based firm has now cut its profit forecast further for the financial year ending in March, to £423m and £440m.

It had previously estimated the full-year profit at £487m.

Ryanair, Europe's largest carrier by seats sold, said traffic rose 2% to 49 million passengers in the period, but said intense competition was pushing down winter fares by around 10%.

Shares in Ryanair were down more than 11% in early Monday trading, as investors fled from airline stocks.

Easyjet and IAG, the parent company of BA, were also down as a result.

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Edward Snowden's Plea For Clemency Rejected

The White House and intelligence officials have rejected Edward Snowden's plea for clemency, saying he should face justice for disclosing classified documents.

The former National Security Agency contractor has called for international support to stop what he says is Washington's "persecution" of him.

White House adviser Dan Pfeiffer said: "Mr Snowden violated US law. He should return to the US and face justice."

He added that no offers for clemency were being discussed.

Snowden's revelations, including allegations that the US has eavesdropped on allies including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, have led to calls by allies to cease such spying.

The disclosures also prompted moves by Congress to overhaul US surveillance laws and curb the agency's powers.

The revelations have led to protests in the US and abroad

The head of the Senate Intelligence Committee said if Snowden had been a true whistle-blower, he could have reported it to her committee privately.

"That didn't happen, and now he's done this enormous disservice to our country," said Senator Dianne Feinstein.

"I think the answer is no clemency."

The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Mike Rogers, called clemency for Snowden a "terrible idea".

"He needs to come back and own up," said Mr Rogers.

"If he believes there's vulnerabilities in the systems he'd like to disclose, you don't do it by committing a crime that actually puts soldiers' lives at risk in places like Afghanistan."

The US has charged Snowden with espionage. But to his supporters the 30-year-old, who was granted asylum in Russia for at least a year, is a human rights champion.

The NSA has allegedly listened in on Angela Merkel's phone calls

In A Manifesto For The Truth published in German news magazine Der Spiegel on Sunday, Snowden said current debates about mass surveillance in many countries showed his revelations were helping to bring about change.

"Instead of causing damage, the usefulness of the new public knowledge for society is now clear because reforms to politics, supervision and laws are being suggested," he wrote.

"Citizens have to fight against the suppression of information about affairs of essential importance for the public.

"Those who speak the truth are not committing a crime."

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Crash Driver Was Looking At Images Of Women

A fuel tanker driver was looking at pictures of semi-naked women on his mobile phone when he crashed into police cars and emergency vehicles, killing a safety officer, it has emerged.

Information obtained by the Arizona Daily Star through a public records request shows Jorge Espinoza was driving at 65mph on cruise control when the crash occurred on the Yuma County highway.

The 33-year-old, who escaped unhurt, initially claimed he did not see the police vehicles because he was looking in his mirror at a passing lorry.

He also told investigators he never used his phone while driving because it was against company policy.

But dashcam video and information taken from the mobile shows he was on the internet looking at "photographs of several women in provocative positions, wearing little clothing".

Espinoza used his mobile phone to look at Facebook, YouTube, female escort sites, porn sites and social networks on other occasions while driving, according to investigators.

Public safety officer Tim Huffman died when Espinoza ran into three stationary police cars and two fire department trucks on Interstate 8.

Huffman, who was 47 and had been in the job for 14 years, was in his patrol car writing a report at the time.

He was declared dead at the scene.

Espinoza, from Yuma, has pleaded not guilty to 20 charges including one count of second-degree murder, endangerment and criminal damage.

He was on his way to Phoenix when the crash happened on May 6 this year.

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Egypt: Morsi Trial Halted Due To Chanting

The trial of former Egyptian leader Mohamed Morsi and 14 others has been postponed until January 8 amid defiant chanting by the defendants.

The adjournment - on the first day of the controversial trial - also followed a two-hour delay when Mr Morsi refused to change into prison uniform.

Proceedings were stopped twice due to the chanting of slogans including "Down with military rule", before the judge decided the disruption was too great and adjourned the case.

Mr Morsi and his supporters do not recognise the trial's legitimacy and insist he was removed from power illegally.

Some 20,000 police officers were deployed to maintain order as Mr Morsi went on trial accused of inciting the deaths of at least 10 protesters outside the presidential palace in December 2012.

Hundreds gathered outside the trial to support him.

Morsi supporters have been protesting outside the trial

Egypt's first democratically-elected president could face the death penalty or a life sentence if found guilty.

A statement from the deposed leader, published in the Al Ahram newspaper, said: "I am the legitimate president of the country. I refuse to accept that the Egyptian judiciary be a cover for the criminal military coup.

"I am present here by force and I demand that the head of this court not participate in the coup and restore my authority as president."

Mr Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood, which is now a banned group, accuse the army-installed government of fabricating the charges and has called for protests, raising fears of new clashes.

His defence team also claimed on Monday that they were not being given full access to court documents.

The trial is being seen as a test for Egypt's new authorities, who have come under fire from human rights groups for their heavy-handed approach in dealing with dissent.

Riot police are keeping watch at the police academy

Mr Morsi, who has been held by the army at a secret location since he was ousted on July 3, was flown to the police academy in east Cairo for the start of proceedings.

Tahrir Square, the main site of protests in the past, was sealed off ahead of the trial by army vehicles and barbed wire.

Sky News' Sam Kiley, who is in Cairo, said supporters of Mr Morsi chased away some media organisations outside the trial.

"(They) have taken the view that the Egyptian media - the Arab media in general - has not represented their side of the story, has not sufficiently examined whether or not this was a coup."

Kiley added: "The latest information is that Mr Morsi is going to be moved to the Tora prison - the first time we actually know his location since he was deposed."

Protesters attack a TV truck outside the court

The Muslim Brotherhood gained power in elections after the 2011 uprising against former president Hosni Mubarak - also on trial over similar charges.

However, millions of Egyptians soon grew disillusioned with the group's rule and took to the streets this summer to demand Mr Morsi's resignation.

The army removed him from power, saying they were responding to the will of the people.

More than 1,000 people have died in a security crackdown since the military took charge, including hundreds on August 14 when security forces broke up two protest camps.

During a six-hour visit to Cairo on Sunday, US Secretary of State John Kerry urged Egyptians to ensure a return to a democratically-elected government.

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