Bali Court Upholds Briton's Death Penalty

A British grandmother sentenced to death in Bali for trafficking cocaine has lost her appeal.

Lindsay Sandiford, 56, was sentenced to capital punishment in January for taking almost 5kg (10.6lb) of the drug onto the island.

She launched an appeal but on Monday the Bali High Court ruled the original punishments was "accurate and correct" and confirmed it.

Sandiford, from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, has 14 days to appeal to the Supreme Court.

If the Supreme Court also rejects her plea, she can seek a judicial review of the decision from the same court.

After that, only the president can grant her a reprieve.

The sentence would see her shot by a firing squad.

Sandiford after her arrest at Bali airport

The Government said it was disappointed at the High Court's decision.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "The UK strongly opposes the death penalty and has repeatedly made representations to the Indonesian government on this matter."

Sandiford was arrested in May 2012 at Bali airport when customs officers found the drugs, worth £1.6m, in her luggage.

She said she had been forced to smuggle the drugs into Bali from Thailand by a criminal gang and that the safety of her children was at risk.

She has cooperated with the police and local authorities, which has led to other arrests.

January's death sentence came as a shock because prosecutors had recommended a 15-year jail term.

Sandiford's lawyer has said the punishment is out of proportion, given she has admitted her crime, expressed regret and helped police in the investigation.

Paul Beales (L), Rachell Dougall and Julian Ponder received jail sentences

But the court ruled she had damaged Indonesia's hard-line stance on drugs, as well as Bali's reputation as a tourism destination.

Three other Britons arrested in connection with the case received lighter punishments.

Julian Ponder was sentenced to six years in jail after being found guilty of possessing cocaine in his luxury Bali villa.

Rachel Dougall was sentenced to 12 months for failing to report Sandiford's crime, and Paul Beales received four years for possession of hashish but was cleared of drug trafficking.

Indonesia enforces stiff penalties for drug trafficking, but death penalty sentences are commonly commuted to lengthy prison terms.

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Kayaker Rescues Family From Sinking Car

A kayaker rescued a family-of-five from a river after the vehicle they were travelling in veered off a cliff into the water and nearly hit him.

The family's SUV slammed into a concrete bollard then hit a tree and a boulder before the wreckage ended up in the middle of the river.

Mark Divottori, who was kayaking in the American River near Sacramento in North California, said the out-of-control vehicle hit the water just behind him.

He told local channel KCRA: "It was fortuitous that they didn't actually land on me. I was kayaking right there moments before they plunged off the cliff."

The three children managed to take off their seatbelts and swim from the car. Mr Divottori ferried them to safety.

However, the driver of the car was unable to get out of the vehicle and was pinned upside down with his wife trying to hold his head above water, according to the KCRA report.

He was eventually rescued by El Dorado County firefighters but suffered serious injuries in the crash, which happened on Saturday.

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Nutella Heist: 5.5 Tonnes Of Spread Stolen

Thieves in Germany have stolen 5.5 tonnes of Nutella, the chocolate-hazelnut spread.

They stole the jars from a parked trailer in the central German town of Bad Hersfeld.

The haul of Nutella, which is manufactured by the Italian company Ferrero, is worth around 16,000 euros (£13,600).

5.5 tonnes of Nutella is worth £13,600

Police said that an unknown number of culprits made off with the spread over the weekend.

Germans news agency dpa reported that thieves had previously stolen a load of energy drinks from the same location.

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Syria: Car Bomb Explodes In Damascus

A car bomb has exploded in the business district of the Syrian capital killing 15 people and leaving at least 47 injured.

A government official said the explosion occurred at one of the capital's biggest roundabouts in Sabaa Bahrat, the city's main business district, which houses the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance.

A resident described the explosion as the biggest she had heard in the capital and said that large plumes of smoke were rising from the area.

A car bombing at the Baath Party headquarter in February

Footage on state television showed scenes of devastation, with plumes of thick black smoke billowing up around buildings in the area, and bodies being pulled from wreckage.

According to one broadcaster, the bombing happened near to a school and some of the dead were believed to be children.

It is the latest attack on government-held Damascus by Syrian rebels who have increased the number of mortar and car bomb attacks on the city in recent months.

Free Syrian Army fighters run for cover from snipers in Damascus yesterday

On March 21 an explosion ripped through a mosque in the city killing at least 49 people.

In February, a car bombing near the ruling Baath Party headquarters killed 53 people and injured 200 others. It was the deadliest attack in nine months.

The attack comes as the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, said that he had a team of chemical weapons inspectors ready to deploy to Syria within 24 hours to investigate claims of chemical weapon use by both sides.

Speaking after meeting with the head of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague, Mr Ban said: "The use of chemical weapons, by any side under any circumstances, would constitute a crime against humanity."

Mr Ban said he is waiting for agreement from the Syrian government to allow him to send the team, which is currently awaiting orders in Cyprus, and urged Bashar Assad's regime to be "flexible" so the investigation could be launched as soon as possible.

Both the rebels and the government have claimed chemical weapons have been used in attacks and that each has the capability to deploy the devices in the ongoing conflict.

The Syrian-based human rights group, Violations Documentation Centre, reported that 9,000 government troops have been killed in the two years of fighting between President Bashar Assad's forces and the Free Syrian Army of rebels trying to overthrow him.

More than 70,000 people have died since the Syrian uprising started in March 2011.

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Nelson Mandela Leaves Hospital After 10 Days

Former South African president Nelson Mandela is spending his first day at home after 10 days in hospital being treated for pneumonia.

The 94-year-old was allowed to return home "following a sustained and gradual improvement in his general condition".

An ambulance is understood to have taken him back to his residence in Johannesburg.

President Jacob Zuma's office said Mr Mandela would now receive "home-based" care.

Mr Mandela is believed to have been transported home in this ambulance

A statement said: "President Zuma thanks the hard working medical team and hospital staff for looking after Madiba so efficiently."

He also extended his gratitude to all South Africans, friends of the nation and to people around the world for their support.

Spokesman Mac Maharaj told Sky News: "We are all very happy with the news and grateful to the doctors and the hospital staff for looking after him so well.

"The doctors say that given his age, they have to monitor him very carefully and they have to remain cautious all the time.

"He is frail, and we need to take into account his age ... but Madiba is a fighter and he is not ready to say goodbye to us."

It has been the third health scare in four months for the anti-apartheid leader.

He was in hospital briefly in early March for a check-up and before that in December for nearly three weeks with a lung infection and following surgery to remove gallstones.

The Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, who became South Africa's first black President in 1994, is a global symbol of tolerance and the struggle for equality.

Mr Mandela stepped down as President in 1999 and has not been politically active for a decade.

He has a history of lung problems dating from when he contracted tuberculosis as a political prisoner.

He spent 27 years on Robben Island and in other jails for his attempts to overthrow the white-minority government.

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Afghanistan: Taliban Kill Six Americans

Taliban militants have killed six Americans, including a young female diplomat, in the deadliest day in Afghanistan for the US in eight months.

Three members of the military, two US civilians and an Afghan doctor died after being hit by an explosion while travelling to donate books to a school in the south.

In a statement, Secretary of State John Kerry paid tribute to the diplomat killed in the "despicable attack" in the province of Zabul.

He said: "She tragically gave her young life working to give young Afghans the opportunity to have a better future.

"We also honour the US troops and Department of Defence civilian who lost their lives, and the Afghan civilians who were killed today as they worked to improve the nation they love."

Officials said the suicide car bomber struck just as a coalition convoy drove past a caravan of vehicles carrying the governor of Zabul to the same event.

Joint Chiefs chair Martin Dempsey was in the country at the time

Another American civilian was killed in a separate insurgent attack in eastern Afghanistan, the US military said in a statement.

It was the deadliest day for Americans since August 16 2012, when seven American service members were killed in two attacks in Kandahar province, the birthplace of the Taliban insurgency.

Six were killed when their helicopter was shot down by insurgents and one soldier died in a roadside bomb explosion.

Saturday's violence came hours after the US military's top officer General Martin Dempsey landed in Afghanistan for talks with local and coalition officials as foreign forces work to pull nearly all of their combat troops out of the country by the end of 2014.

Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi claimed responsibility for the attack in Zabul and said the bomber was seeking to target either a coalition convoy or the governor.

"We were waiting for one of them," Ahmadi said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "It was our good luck that both appeared at the same time."

Insurgents have stepped up attacks around the country in recent weeks as Afghanistan enters what could be one of the most critical periods following the US invasion in late 2001 that ousted the Taliban.

US troops hold the American flag during an Afghan re-enlistment

The majority of US and coalition forces are expected to begin a significant drawdown in the latter part of this year, leaving Afghan forces in charge of security across the country within months.

Afghanistan is also gearing up for a presidential election next spring, and the Taliban have not yet accepted an offer to engage in peace talks in the Gulf state of Qatar.

There are about 100,000 international troops in Afghanistan, including some 66,000 from the US and around 9,000 from Britain.

The US troop total is scheduled to drop to about 32,000 by early next year, with the bulk of the decline occurring during the winter months.

British troop numbers are expected to fall from 9,000 to around 5,200 by the end of 2013.

While there has been no final decision on the size of the post-2014 force, US and Nato leaders say they are considering a range of between 8,000 and 12,000 - most of them trainers and advisers.

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North Korea: US Missile Test Delayed Amid Row

Foreign Secretary William Hague has warned that the international community must unite and treat the threat posed by North Korea "very seriously".

Speaking to Dermot Murnaghan on Sky News, Mr Hague warned of the danger of "miscalculation" as Kim Jong-Un's bellicose statements ratchet up tensions on the Korean peninsula.

The Foreign Secretary spoke after a defence official revealed the US has delayed the testing of an intercontinental ballistic missile in an effort to defuse the situation.

He praised the US move as a "sensible decision" and said: "One of the dangers is of a miscalculation and the North Korean regime coming to believe their own paranoid rhetoric.

"We have to take this very seriously - this is a regime developing its nuclear weapons in contravention of all international treaties and resolutions."

Mr Hague urged a "calm and united" response to Kim Jong-Un's "frenetic rhetoric" but said there was no evidence the country was preparing for all-out conflict.

The US brought forward deployment of a Global Hawk spy plane to Japan

He said: "We have not seen evidence of redeployment or repositioning of troops on the ground.

"All the evidence is that this rhetoric is about the regime in North Korea, just its actions and existence rather than positioning for all-out conflict on the Korean peninsula or elsewhere."

Mr Hague also backed Prime Minister David Cameron's suggestion that North Korea's threats show why Britain must make plans for a successor to its Trident nuclear deterrent.

A Pentagon source said the Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel decided to postpone the long-planned Minuteman 3 launch until next month because of concerns it would exacerbate the crisis.

North Korea's military warned this week it was authorised to attack the US using "smaller, lighter and diversified" nuclear weapons.

South Korean officials said the North has moved at least one missile with "considerable range" to its east coast - possibly the untested Musudan missile, believed to have a range of 1,800 miles.

The US has been carrying out joint military exercises in the area with South Korea involving warships and bombers.

Sky News Asia Correspondent Mark Stone says the postponement of the US missile launch marks a change in approach.

China's President said no country should throw "the whole world into chaos"

He said: "Two weeks ago the US military was issuing media releases announcing the deployment of B52 and B2 bombers to the region, as a show of strength and North Korea's response was to increase its own bellicose statements.

"China and Russia have collectively called on both North Korea and America to back down and in the past few days there have been signs that the Americans are altering their stance."

Meanwhile, China's Foreign Ministry expressed "grave concern" about escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula and asked for assurances about the safety of its diplomats.

And Chinese President Xi Jinping appeared to up the pressure on Pyongyang when he said in a speech that no country "should be allowed to throw a region and even the whole world into chaos for selfish gain".

North Korea held its most recent nuclear test in February and in December launched a long-range rocket that potentially could hit the continental US.

It has been angered by increasing sanctions and the exercises which are scheduled to continue to the end of the month.

This week, the US said two of its missile-defence ships were being moved closer to the Korean peninsula and a land-based system was being deployed to the Pacific territory of Guam later this month.

And deployment of an unmanned spy plane to northern Japan was brought forward to boost US surveillance after North Korean threats.

Japan will further boost its defences by ordering its armed forces to shoot down any North Korean missile headed towards its territory, according to press reports.

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India Houseboat Murder: 'Dutch Man Confesses'

By Alex Rossi, India Correspondent, in Kashmir

Police sources tell Sky News that a Dutch man they have been questioning over the murder of a British woman has now confessed.

Sarah Groves, 24, was found in a pool of blood inside the houseboat she had been living on for up to two months on the Dal Lake in Srinagar, Kashmir.

Officers have named the suspect as Richard de Wit, 43, and said he claimed to have been under the influence of drugs.

He had been staying on a neighbouring boat. When he was arrested 60 miles away he was carrying only his passport and was not wearing shoes. His shoes had been found outside the door of Miss Groves' room, along with hers.

The victim was staying on a houseboat on picturesque Dal Lake

Local police said Miss Groves, from Guernsey, had been stabbed at least 25 times with what was described as a "mountain knife".

The door to her room had also been forced open.

Her body is being sent for medical examination to determine whether she was sexually assaulted before being killed.

Deputy General Inspector Ahafadul Mujtaba told Sky News: "He has told us he killed the girl - we don't know why. He also says he had taken drugs, cannabis.

Shoes sit outside the door of the houseboat where Sarah Groves was staying

"We have taken his blood samples and have sent them away for testing. We have also not ruled out a sexual motive but there was no direct evidence at the scene. We are awaiting medical results."

Under Indian law a confession to a police officer is not admissible in a court of law.

The police say de Wit will be held in custody for the next 14 days whilst they continue to gather evidence.

Miss Groves' brother, Tom, posted on his blog, Justice for Sarah, that his sister had been on the houseboat because she was the girlfriend of the owner's son.

An RIP Facebook site has been set up for tributes to Miss Groves

He wrote: "The media are reporting that Sarah was just a tourist on the houseboat, who had become friends with the owner's son. The truth is that she went up there as his girlfriend."

Samir Shoda, one of the sons of the house boat owner, has been helping the police with their inquiries after finding the body.

Owner Hafeeza told Sky News: "She was very dear to me, she was just like my daughter."

Friends have paid tributes to Miss Groves on Facebook. Underneath a photograph of her smiling, Charlene Carter said: "That beautiful smile I will never forget."

Donna Stacey said: "Waste of a beautiful life just goes to show the world we live in."

Kim Paiva wrote: "I cannot believe it. Such an amazing vibrant friendly person. Your smiling face will be missed. Rest in peace sweet lovely girl."

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India: Survivor Found Day After Tower Collapse

Rescuers have pulled out alive an injured woman from the wreckage of a Mumbai tower block - 36 hours after it collapsed leaving as many as 72 dead and 70 injured.

The 65-year-old was dragged from the building on Saturday morning after rescue workers heard her voice and used camera equipment to pinpoint her location under the rubble. She is said to be in a stable condition in hospital.

It came as the search for further survivors was called off after more than 40 hours and the rescue of 126 people in total.

A 10-month old infant was pulled from the debris on Friday.

Dozens are still missing, while some 36 of the injured remain in hospital.

A 10-month-old child rescued from the rubble

Most of the dead and missing are migrant construction workers who were living on the site in Thane, on the outskirts of the city, with their families.

At least 17 of those killed are children.

The building collapsed "like a pack of cards within three to four seconds," one witness said on Thursday night.

As rescue teams combed the rubble for survivors immediately after the collapse, two young children were plucked out alive to cries of "God is great".

A toddler is pulled out alive from the wreckage

Rescue workers with sledgehammers, gasoline-powered saws and hydraulic jacks struggled to break through the tower of rubble in their search for possible survivors. Six bulldozers were brought to the scene.

An investigation has now been launched into what has been described as one of the worst incidents of its kind in the western Indian state of Maharashtra.

The collapse is being blamed on shoddy construction and unstable foundations.

The building was only supposed to be four storeys high but three extra levels had been illegally constructed on top and an eighth was being added when it collapsed, said police.

Rescue workers search for survivors in the rubble

Police said they have arrested the builder and his associates. They face a number of charges including manslaughter.

A local resident who gave his name as Ramlal said: "The building collapsed like a pack of cards within three to four seconds.

"Only labourers used to stay there. No rich person or well-to-do family stayed here. Only poor people stayed here."

The neighbourhood where the building collapsed was part of a belt of more than 2,000 illegal structures that had sprung up in the area in recent years, said Malvi, the town spokesman.

"Notices have been served several times for such illegal construction, sometimes notices are sent 10 times for the same building," he said.

A crowd watches the rescuers at work

GR Khairnar, a former top Mumbai official, said government officials who allowed the illegal construction should be tried along with the builders.

"There are a lot of people involved (in illegal construction) - builders, government machinery, police, municipal corporation - everybody is involved in this process," he told CNN-IBN television.

As the economy has grown, so has the appetite for property and the quick profit that comes from unauthorised construction.

In one of the worst collapses, nearly 70 people were killed when an apartment building in a congested New Delhi neighbourhood crumbled in November 2010.

That building was two floors higher than legally allowed and its foundations appeared to have been weakened by water damage.

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North Korea: US Deploys Spy Plane To Japan

Tensions remain high on the Korean Peninsula amid reports the US has deployed an unmanned spy plane to Japan to boost its surveillance after North Korea readied missile launchers on its east coast.

The Global Hawk will be stationed at the US airbase in Misawa, northern Japan, in the first ever deployment of the aircraft in the country, the Sankei Shimbun reported, quoting government sources.

The US military informed Japan last month about plans to deploy the plane between June and September but has brought the date forward.

It comes after North Korea warned foreign diplomats they may not be safe in the country if war breaks out.

The spy plane will be stationed at the US airbase in Misawa, northern Japan

Pyongyang asked foreign embassies whether they were considering evacuating staff, saying the government could not guarantee their safety in the event of conflict from April 10.

The British Foreign Office dismissed the warning as "rhetoric".

However, an urgent international effort to defuse the situation is under way.

The heads of EU missions are to meet to hammer out a common position on the crisis, while the US works its diplomatic channels to resolve the stand-off with Pyongyang.

US Secretary of State John Kerry has been holding talks with officials in South Korea, as well as China - historically North Korea's ally - to see if the Chinese can put any more pressure on North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un to back down.

Kim Jong-Un holding up a pistol as he supervises firing drills

Reporting from the South Korean capital Seoul, Sky's Asia Correspondent Mark Stone, said: "In the skies above the Korean Peninsula there are spy planes operating.

"There will be drones - American drones - operating before long from a base in Japan.

"They are trying to get as much of a sense as possible of what it is that Kim Jong-Un is doing on the ground with his weaponry.

"We know he has some pretty sophisticated weaponry.

"There are artillery rounds just over the border. They could in theory hit Seoul. That's a big concern for South Korea.

"That's why they are trying to put these intelligence reports together, as well as the diplomacy behind the scenes, to try and work out what Kim Jong-Un might be up to."

A South Korean soldier looks to the north at a border observation post

He continued: "The diplomats were warned by Pyongyang to leave by April 10 - no one quite knows why that date should be significant.

"It seems pretty clear, certainly speaking to western diplomats based in Pyongyang, their belief is this is just the latest round of rhetoric from North Korea.

"You would assume that if North Korea was planning some sort of war, it would actually want the diplomats from foreign countries to remain there so that they could be used as some sort of a bargaining chip - not kicked out of North Korea.

"I think it is alarming, but I think it's also probably just more rhetoric," he added.

Most governments have made it clear they have no immediate plans to withdraw personnel from the area.

A rally in support of Kim Jong-Un's order to put missiles on standby

Western tourists returning from organised tours in Pyongyang - which have continued despite the crisis - said the situation on the ground appeared calm, with life going on as normal.

"We're glad to be back but we didn't feel frightened when we were there," said Tina Krabbe, from Denmark, arriving in Beijing after five days in North Korea.

The embassy warning on Friday coincided with reports that North Korea had loaded two mid-range Musudan missiles on mobile launchers and hidden them in underground facilities on its eastern coast.

The Musudan have never been tested but are believed to have a range of around 3,000km (1,860 miles), which could theoretically be pushed to 4,000km (2,485 miles).

That would cover any target in South Korea and Japan, and possibly even reach US military bases located on the Pacific island of Guam - which Pyongyang has threatened to strike.

Tensions have soared on the Korean peninsula since December, when the North test-launched a long-range rocket. In February, it conducted its third nuclear test and drew fresh UN sanctions.

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