Greece Strike Amid Anti-Racist Rapper Killing

By Anthee Carassava, in Athens

Thousands of civil servants in Greece have taken to the streets in protest against looming jobs cuts, as a 34-year-old anti-racist hip hop artist was stabbed to death by a neo-Nazi.

Described by politicians and police as one of the worst shows of political violence in decades, the rapper's murder sent shock waves across a country that has seen the extreme-right Golden Dawn party surge in popularity since its election to parliament last year.

Authorities told Sky News that a 45-year-old member of the neo-Nazi party had confessed to the brutal stabbing hours after he was arrested and taken to police headquarters in central Athens.

"We are now conducting police raids at the party's main headquarters in Athens," a senior police official said.

Local media said Pavlos Fyssas - otherwise known as Killah P - was ambushed by a mob of youths dressed in black after an altercation at a football cafe in the working class district of Keratsini, west of the Greek capital.

"As he moved to leave the building the assailant emerged from a crowd, stabbing him twice in the heart," said a senior police officer.

Reports said Fyssas managed to whisper the name of his killer to his girlfriend before being taken to a local hospital, where he died of his wounds.

A banner advertising the two-day strike

The attack comes less than a week after teams of around 50 men wielding crowbars and bats set upon a group of communist steel workers as they distributed posters near the port of Perama.

Golden Dawn immediately denied any involvement, but authorities fear the incident will exacerbate an already explosive social situation in Greece.

Police said they were taken urgent security measures to shield protests against Golden Dawn.

Meanwhile, two separate rallies were planned in Athens on Wednesday where tens of thousands of public workers walked out over proposed job losses.

It was the first stoppage ever to hit Greece's bloated and costly civil sector.

The 48-hour strike has affected all public services across the country. Schools, state bureaux and courts have closed, while hospitals have been operating on skeleton staff. Trains were due to stop running for four hours.

Journalists suspended industrial action and a media blackout to cover the attack on Fyssas.

Hit hard by the economic crisis, Greece is experiencing a sixth consecutive year of recession which experts fear is fuelling an increase in violence.

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Foss Lake: Bodies Found In Submerged Cars

The skeletal remains of at least six people have been discovered inside two cars found at the bottom of a lake in Oklahoma.

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol said the cars had been found in Foss Lake, near Elk City, during a training session with a new sonar device.

The first was an early 1950s model Chevrolet car that had three bodies inside.

It was initially believed to include a couple who were last seen in Canute in the 1960s and were reportedly on their way to Foss Lake - but were never seen again.

The three teenagers thought to be in one of the vehicles

But it was later suggested the car belonged to Alvi Porter, who went missing 44 years ago when he was 69 years old.

The second car pulled from the lake had three bodies inside, believed to be teenagers reported missing from the Sayre area in 1970.

They could be that of 16-year-old Jimmy Allen Williams, 18-year-old Leah Gail Johnson and 18-year-old Thomas Michael Rios.

The teenagers were reported missing on November 27, 1970, and were last seen riding around Sayre in Jimmy Williams' 1969 Chevrolet Camaro.

Alvi Porter, suspected of owning one of the cars, went missing in 1969

Custer County Sheriff Bruce Peoples told KWEY radio: "It's just been under water for 40 years. It's a mucky mess."

Authorities have not formally identified the bodies.

Debbie McManamman was 13 years old when her grandfather Alvi Porter went missing.

"I remember that green car," she said.

The cars were found by police officers training with sonar devices

"It's sad. I can see his tall, lanky body walking up to the car. He always had a smile on his face.

"It's been very traumatic. I can remember my dad having dreams at night and getting in the car as soon as he finished his day job, taking my mom, and they would look and look and look."

It is thought the car belonged to Mr Porter, prompting new questions as to the identity of the other two bodies.

Mrs McManamman added: "There's a lot of mystery, it's a mystery."

Map shows the lake in Oklahoma

Betsy Randolph, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, said the vehicles were located by dive teams last week.

"So they went back and did a scheduled dive today and were going to recover the cars," she said.

"When they pulled the cars out of the water, the first one that came out they found bones in the car.

"We thought it was just going to be stolen vehicles and that's not what it turned out to be, obviously."

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Mexico Storms: Tourists Evacuate Acapulco

Emergency flights are starting to evacuate some of the 40,000 tourists who have been left stranded at a Mexican holiday resort cut off by floods.

Landslides, rockslides, floodwaters and collapsed bridges severed links to Acapulco after Tropical Storm Manuel hit the coast on Sunday.

Thousands of stranded tourists lined up outside an air force base north of the city to try to get a seat on one of a handful of planes flying to Mexico City.

Families dressed in shorts and sandals stood for up to eight hours outside the base as they waited for a flight.

As well as two passengers planes being used in the evacuation operation, the army has pressed five helicopters and seven cargo aircraft into service.

Acapulco's international airport is swamped by floodwaters

Some flights were also being operated out of the swamped international airport by two of Mexico's largest airlines, Aeromexico and Interjet.

Priority was being given to those with tickets, the elderly and families with young children.

Passengers were being taken directly to the runway from a concert hall which is being used as a shelter and operations centre for the airport.

"We're deciding whether we return by plane or wait for the road to open, but the problem is food," Andres Guerra Gutierrez, a Mexico City resident with 14 family members, said as he waited in line.

Guerrero state's government said 40,000 tourists were stuck in the city, but the head of the local chamber of business owners said reports from hotels indicated the number could be as high as 60,000.

The military is helping with the relief effort

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said it was aware of the problems being caused to British tourists by the storms.

A statement said: "We are in close contact with local authorities and are providing consular assistance to British nationals in the affected area.

"British people who require assistance should contact the British embassy in Mexico City."

David Jefferson Gled, a 28-year-old from Bristol, who teaches English at a private school in Mexico City, said: "It's probably one of the worst holidays I've ever been on.

"It wasn't really a holiday, more of an incarceration."

Interior Secretary Miguel Angel Osorio Chong told Radio Formula that 27 people had been killed in the Pacific coast state of Guerrero, where Acapulco is located.

Up to 60,000 tourists are believed to be in Acapulco

Another 20 people have died across the country, many as a result of former hurricane Ingrid, which struck the Gulf coast on Monday.

It is the first time since 1958 that two storms have hit both the country's coasts within 24 hours, according to meteorologists.

Many parts of Acapulco are without water or electricity, with knee-deep floodwaters inside the city's airports.

Federal officials said it could take two more days to open the main road to the city, which was hit by more than 13 landslides during heavy rain, and to bring supplies to the more than 800,000 people in Acapulco.

The US National Hurricane Centre said Manuel was expected to strengthen near resorts at the tip of the Baja California Peninsula.

More than 23,000 people have fled their homes in the state and at least 20 highways and 12 bridges have been damaged.

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Syria: Nato Defends Military Strikes Option

Syria: How The Crisis Has Developed

Updated: 11:34am UK, Wednesday 18 September 2013

:: March 2011 - Protesters stage demonstrations in Damascus and security forces in Daraa shoot dead several campaigners, leading to unrest and violence.

:: May - The Syrian military deploys tanks in a bid to quash demonstrations.

:: July 19 - The UK freezes £100m of Syrian assets.

:: August 18 - US President Barack Obama calls on Bashar al Assad to step down. The US freezes all assets of the Syrian government.

:: November 16 - The Free Syrian Army attacks a military base near Damascus.

:: February 4, 2012 - A UN Security Council resolution on Syria is rejected for a second time by Russia and China.

:: March 1 - Government troops seize the Baba Amr district of Homs after an intense battle lasting for several weeks.

:: April 12 - A UN-brokered ceasefire comes into force after fierce fighting in the country.

:: May 23 - Dozens of people, many of them women and children, die in Houla, near Homs. Foreign Secretary William Hague says they were "massacred at the hands of Syrian forces". The UN later accuses the Syrian military of committing war crimes.

:: August - Barack Obama says the use of chemical weapons against civilians would represent the crossing of a "red line".

:: March 6, 2013 - Foreign Secretary William Hague says Britain will provide opposition forces with "non-lethal equipment for the protection of civilians".

:: April-May - Britain says there is credible evidence to suggest Syrian forces have used chemical weapons in Adra, Darayya and Saraqiq and calls for an investigation by the UN.

:: April 29 - Syrian prime minister Wael Nader al Halqi survives an assassination attempt as a car bomb explodes in Damascus.

:: May 14 - Footage of a Syrian rebel commander apparently cutting out a soldier's heart is condemned by the country's National Coalition.

:: June 6 - Syrian forces, backed by Hizbollah fighters, recapture the strategic border town of Qusair.

:: June 6 - Human Rights Watch releases footage which it claims shows Syrian troops shelling school buildings.

:: July 25 - The UN says the number of people killed in the civil war has reached 100,000.

:: August 21 - An alleged chemical attack in Damascus kills 1,300 people, according to the opposition. Doctors Without Borders says 335 people died from "neurotoxic" symptoms.

:: August 25 - Foreign Secretary William Hague says a chemical attack by the Syrian government is the only "plausible explanation" for the deaths.

:: August 26 - UN inspectors brave sniper fire to gather "valuable" evidence from one site of the alleged chemical attack, as the US Secretary of State John Kerry says the Assad regime would face action over the "moral obscenity".

:: August 27 - The UK recalls Parliament to hold a vote on August 29 on the use of chemical weapons in Syria. David Cameron and Barack Obama agree there is "no doubt" the Assad regime is responsible for the alleged attack.

:: August 28 - Britain tables a draft UN resolution condemning the alleged attack and "authorising all necessary measures".

:: August 29 - David Cameron is forced to rule out military action after narrowly losing a Commons vote on the principle of intervention.

:: August 31 - President Obama says the US "should take military action" in Syria but confirms he will seek authorisation from Congress before launching any strikes against the Assad regime. He says the US is "prepared to strike whenever we choose".

:: September 2 - a French intelligence reports claims the Assad regime was responsible for a "massive and coordinated" chemical attack in Damascus.

:: September 3 - Israel says it has carried out a joint missile test with the US in the Mediterranean.

:: September 4 - The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approve a draft US resolution authorising the use of military force in Syria. Meanwhile, MPs in France debate whether to join any possible military intervention, although they do not vote on the subject.

:: September 5 - World leaders meet at the G20 summit in Russia, with the crisis in Syria high on the agenda.

:: September 6 - Britain pledges £52m in aid to Syria, as David Cameron hits back at a reported jibe from Russia that Britain is a "small island".

:: September 8 - The RAF sends up two Typhoon jets in Cyprus as warplanes, thought to have come from Syria, enter international airspace. Meanwhile John Kerry says more nations than his country can use are prepared to join military action against Syria.

:: September 9 - Russia urges Syrian President Bashar al Assad to hand over his chemical weapons to avert a US-led military strike on Damascus.

:: September 10 - President Barack Obama delays a Congress vote on air strikes as Russia gives the US its plan for putting Syria's chemical weapons under international contral.

:: September 11 - A UN report confirms at least eight massacres were carried by the Assad regime and one by rebels over the past 18 months.

:: September 12 - Syria formally applies to join the Chemical Weapons Convention. Russia and US hold two days of talks on the issue.

:: September 14 - The US and Russia agree on a giving Syria a deadline of one week to produce a list of chemical weapons they possess. 

:: September 16 - British, French and US foreign ministers meet in Paris and warn "there will be consequences" if Syria fails to abide by the plan to hand over its chemical weapons arsenal.

:: September 18 - Syria hands Russia "new materials" on the Damascus gas attack which it claims implicate rebels. Russia also calls the UN report into the incident "biased" and "politicised".

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Costa Concordia Salvage Operation Completed

By Tom Kington, on Giglio

Twenty months after it capsized off the Tuscan island of Giglio, killing 32 people, the Costa Concordia has risen from the Mediterranean after a successful £500m salvage operation

Dozens of giant pulleys hauled the cruise ship back to an upright position in a 19-hour operation, exposing a section of the white ship's exterior that was stained by rust and algae after months under water.

By 4am on Tuesday, the 950-foot-long, 114,000-ton vessel had been pulled through 65 degrees to stand on a bed of over 1,000 concrete sacks and six huge underwater platforms.

Italy's civil protection chief Franco Gabrielli speaking at a late night press conference on Giglio, where he was applauded and cheered by residents, said: "The rotation has finished its course, we are at zero degrees, the ship is resting on the platforms."

The image shows how the ship was righted overnight

Franco Porcellacchia, an engineer working on the salvage for ship owner Costa Cruises, said: "It could not have gone better than this. It was a perfect operation."

The Costa Concordia grounded near the port of Giglio in January 2012 after its captain, Francesco Schettino, smashed it into coastal rock during a so-called "sail past".

He is now standing trial on charges of manslaughter and abandoning his ship.

The ship eventually stood on 1,000 concrete sacks and underwater platforms

Some 4,200 passengers and crew scrambled into lifeboats or plunged into shallow water after the ship ran aground and came to rest impaled on its side on two underwater outcrops of granite.

As it rose out of the water in the early hours of Tuesday, two large indentations could be seen on the side of the ship where it had been pinioned on the rocks.

After the operation started on Monday morning, 6,000 tons of pressure were required to pull the ship free from the rock, which had penetrated 18ft into the hull.

The ship was tilted heavily on its side before the operation

The ship was then slowly turned through the afternoon until 11 massive metal boxes welded to the exposed side of the ship, some the height of 11-storey buildings, splashed into the water.

By midnight, salvage workers were able to switch off the pulleys and open valves in the boxes to allow water in at 1,000 cubic feet a minute, adding the necessary ballast to bring the ship down onto the platforms.

When the ship is deemed stable, metal boxes will also be added to the formerly submerged side of the ship. Then, water will be pumped out of the boxes, floating the vessel so it can be  towed next spring to a port, probably on the Italian mainland, for breaking up.

More than 30 people were killed when the ship hit rocks

Mr Porcellacchia said: "We have already looked at the side of the ship to see where the boxes will go and we will quantify the work to do. The starboard side looks pretty bad, as we expected."

Fears that a polluted slick of paint, residual fuel, small quantities of heavy metal and rotting food would emerge from the ship, proved unfounded, officials said on Tuesday.

Sergio Girotto, the project manager for Italian salvage firm Micoperi, which has managed the salvage with US firm Titan Salvage, said: "Now we will see what support and adjustments the ship needs."

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Chinese Dissident Arrested After TV Interview

By Mark Stone, Asia Correspondent

An outspoken Chinese dissident has been placed under house arrest a day after he appeared in an interview with Sky News.

Hu Jia, 40, criticised his government in the interview and in a daily stream of blogs on social media.

He agreed to speak to Sky News in the knowledge that he could face arrest, but in a phone interview this morning he said he did not think the interview alone had prompted his arrest.

"House arrest is a norm in my life," he said on the phone from his home. "Having freedom is abnormal for me.

"Like the times when I have been arrested before, I have not been told why I am being detained, nor have I been told when this period of house arrest will end.

"There are four people, sometimes more, in the courtyard of my home. If they see me leave my home they will stop me and tell me I am not allowed to go out. 'Please do what we say' they tell me. This is the most polite way. Sometimes they behave really badly.

"This is nothing new. Just big guys to stop me from going anywhere; making my home into a prison, that's how they do it."

The Chinese government wants to 'drain toxic lies from the internet'

In last week's interview Mr Hu described the Chinese Communist Party as no different from the former Soviet government.

"This country has a regime which rules by fear. Citizens are surrounded by a wall of fear, unable to express themselves," he said.

"I think the Chinese communist government are the same as the former Soviet Union, even the German Nazi Party.

"This is one big prison. I don't want to be inside a prison, I want to be a free man. I will express myself freely. Nothing should stop me from expressing my opinions."

He is used to house arrest having already spent several years unable to leave his own home. That had followed three years in jail as punishment for his outspoken views.

Mr Hu's Sky interview was aired last Friday, but it was filmed several days before. By coincidence, a number of other outspoken individuals were arrested on the same day, prompting some commentators in Hong Kong, where the media operates with more freedom, to refer to it as "Black Friday".

The Chinese government is significantly intensifying its efforts to crack down on those who speak out against it.

The government claims the tighter restrictions are in place to "drain toxic lies from the internet" and to rid social networks of "malicious" and "libellous" content.

However, there is growing evidence that the authorities are simply rounding up critics of the communist leadership at an unprecedented pace.

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Washington Navy Base Killer: An Armed Buddhist

Aaron Alexis, who the FBI said carried out a deadly rampage at the Washington Navy Yard, lived a life of dramatic contrasts.

The 34-year-old was a former Navy reservist, a defence subcontractor for IT giant Hewlett-Packard and a convert to Buddhism who was taking an online course in aeronautics.

But Alexis, who grew up in Brooklyn, New York, also had flashes of temper that led to run-ins with police over shootings in Fort Worth, Texas, and Seattle.

Alexis had converted to Buddhism

While some neighbours said he was "nice", others said they were afraid of him.

But authorities are still trying to establish what motivated Alexis to carry out the shooting, killing 12 people before being gunned down by police himself.

It has been reported that Alexis was suffering from mental health issues at the time of the shooting and had been hearing voices.

When Alexis was arrested over a shooting incident in Seattle in 2004, he told police he was present during "the tragic events of September 11, 2001" and described "how those events had disturbed him".

At the time, his father also said his son had anger management problems related to post-traumatic stress brought on by the terrorist attacks.

Seattle police said Alexis was arrested and charged for shooting out the tyres of a vehicle in what he later described to detectives as an anger-fuelled "blackout".

Two construction workers had parked their car in the driveway of their work site, next to a home where Alexis was staying, the police report said.

When detectives interviewed workers at the construction site, they told police Alexis had stared at construction workers at the job site daily for several weeks prior to the shooting.

Alexis shot 12 people dead before being killed by police

The owner of the construction business told police he believed Alexis was angry over the parking situation around the site.

According to the police account, Alexis had also told detectives he thought he had been "mocked" by construction workers on the morning of the incident.

Then in May 2007, Alexis enlisted in the Navy reserve. He was discharged for misconduct in early 2011.

"There is definitely a pattern of misconduct during his service," a US military officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told news agency AFP.

But Alexis did receive the National Defence Service Medal and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.

Both medals are issued to large numbers of service members who have served since the 9/11 attacks.

It was while he was still in the reserves that a neighbour in Fort Worth reported she had been nearly struck by a bullet shot from his downstairs apartment.

The neighbour told police she was scared of Alexis and felt he fired intentionally because he had complained about her making too much noise.

Police outside the home of Alexis's mother in Brooklyn, New York

Fort Worth police arrested Alexis about the neighbour's report.

Alexis admitted to firing his weapon but said he was cleaning his gun when it accidentally discharged. He was released without charge.

After leaving the reserves, Alexis was a popular waiter and delivery driver at the Happy Bowl Thai restaurant in Fort Worth.

He visited Thailand and learned some of the local language so could speak to Thai customers in their native tongue.

"He was a very nice person. It kind of blows my mind away. I wouldn't think anything bad at all," former co-worker Afton Bradley said.

Other friends say Alexis was contemplating moving to Asia.

A former acquaintance, Oui Suthametewakul, said Alexis lived with him and his wife from August 2012 to May 2013 in Fort Worth.

Alexis died after a shoot-out with police at the Navy Yard

He said they parted ways because Alexis was not paying his bills.

Despite this, Mr Suthametewakul described Alexis as a "nice guy" - but he sometimes carried a gun and would frequently complain about being the victim of discrimination.

Mr Thairintr said Alexis told him he was upset with the Navy because "he thought he never got a promotion because of the colour of his skin. He hated his commander".

Mr Thairintr said Alexis was "very devoted Buddhist" who prayed at a local temple.

"We are all shocked. We are non-violent. Aaron was a very good practitioner of Buddhism. He could chant better than even some of the Thai congregants," said Ty Thairintr, who last saw Alexis five weeks ago.

"There was no tell-tale sign of this behaviour."

In the early 2000s, before he moved to Seattle, Alexis lived with his mother in New York City, said Gene Demby, who said he dated one of Alexis' younger sisters at the time.

"He was insecure. He was like a barbershop conspiracy theorist, the kind of guy who believes he's smarter than everyone else," said Mr Demby, the lead writer for National Public Radio's Code Switch blog about race and culture.

"He also was kind of like perpetually aggrieved, but not megalomaniacal or delusional."

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Washington Navy Yard Killer 'Hearing Voices'

US Deadliest Shootings

Updated: 10:32am UK, Tuesday 17 September 2013

The shooting at the Washington navy yard has been described by Barack Obama as "yet another mass shooting". It is part of a grim list in modern US history.

:: Sandy Hook, Connecticut, December 14, 2012:

Adam Lanza, 20, killed his mother before opening fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, killing 20 children and six adults. He then turned the gun on himself.

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

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

:: Aurora, Colorado, July 20, 2012:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He blamed years of school bullying for the attack.

:: Forth Worth, Sept 25, 1999:

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

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

:: Atlanta, July 29, 1999:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Turkey: Police And Protesters In New Clashes

Riot police fired rubber bullets and water cannon at thousands of anti-government protesters overnight in two Turkish cities.

In the Kadikoy district of Istanbul a rally began peacefully with a series of concerts, but as night fell chaos erupted when police charged at protesters who wanted to march to the ruling AK Party's headquarters.

Protesters set fire to barricades in the street while police tried to control the crowd by firing plastic bullets and tear gas.

Several demonstrators were arrested and an elderly man was taken to hospital.

Meanwhile, demonstrators and riot police faced off for a sixth straight night in the southern city of Antakya in Hatay Province, near the border with Syria.

Police used gas canisters on the protesters, who had blocked off a street with barricades that were set on fire.

Thousands took to the streets in downtown Istanbul

They later moved in with water cannon to extinguish the flames.

There have been ongoing but relatively minor protests across Turkey since the major clashes of three to four months ago.

But anger intensified again last week after a 22-year-old man, Ahmet Atakan, died during clashes between demonstrators and the police in Antakya.

Mr Atakan died after falling from a building, but investigations are ongoing.

His family claim he was hit by a gas canister while police deny responsibility for his death.

The latest unrest comes six months before local elections, the start of a voting cycle which also includes a presidential election next August - in which Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan is expected to run - and parliamentary polls in 2015.

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Costa Concordia: Ship Heaved Off Rocky Seabed

By Tom Kington, in Giglio

Crews attempting to right the Costa Concordia have successfully detached the wrecked cruise liner from the rocks on which it was impaled.

The salvage operation got under way this morning, after a three-hour delay due to bad weather.

Engineer Sergio Girotto said the crippled vessel would not budge for some three hours after the operation began.

After 6,000 tons of pressure was applied, the vessel was pulled free from the rocks.

Mr Girotto said: "We saw the detachment." The officials are following the operation thanks to undersea cameras.

The rescue effort will see the giant ship gradually rotated and hauled 65 degrees back to upright position for eventual towing.

The operation just outside the small Italian island of Giglio, off the Tuscan coast, is expected to last up to 12 hours, taking it into Monday evening.

Engineers say the lifting can continue after darkness falls.

So far, the ship has been raised three degrees, said Mr Girotto.

The Costa Concordia hit granite outcrops on the night of January 13, 2012

As it rose, an ever wider strip of rusted hull has emerged from the sea.

The cruise liner capsized in shallow water 20 months ago after smashing into rock, prompting the chaotic evacuation of 4,200 passengers and crew, and causing the deaths of 32 people.

Two bodies are still missing, and officials said they saw no sign of them as the ship was detached from the rocks.

The first two hours were considered critical in the €600m (£503m) "parbuckling" operation.

"Images show the lifting is happening as planned," said Italian Civil Protection Agency chief Franco Gabrielli, who added that no pollutants had been seen escaping from the vessel as it rose.

"There is significant deformation of the side of the vessel, showing the parbuckling operation needed to happen as soon as possible," he said.

Parbuckling is a proven method to raise capsized vessels, notably used by the US military to right the USS Oklahoma in 1943 after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

But the 114,000-ton Concordia has been described as the largest cruise ship ever to require the rotation, making this one most complex and costly maritime salvage operations ever attempted.

A storm hit Giglio on Sunday night, delaying the start of the operation

Engineers are using remote controls to guide a synchronised leverage system of pulleys, counterweights and huge chains looped under the Concordia's carcass to delicately lift the ship upright.

They started the operation by applying bursts of pressure on the pulleys, which are attached to the underwater platform and to towers on the landward side of the ship.

The ship will continue to be pulled upright by the pulleys, Mr Girotto said, "but we will get to a point when we need less pressure".

Soon, massive tanks attached to the exposed side of the ship will touch the water, providing buoyancy.

About 29,000 tons of water will pour out of the ship as it is pulled upright, and an even greater amount, 43,000 tons, will enter the ship.

What does come out will be polluted water that has swilled inside the ship for months in a mix of residual fuels, heavy metals and rotten food, including more than three tons of melon, 500 litres of olive oil, 14,000 packets of cigarettes, 18,000 bottles of wine, eight tons of beef and over 11 tons of fish.

But officials say the risk of an environmental damage is limited.

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