Yeonpyeong: The Island In Kim Jong-Un's Sights

Visiting Secretive North Korea

Updated: 11:52am UK, Wednesday 10 April 2013

Despite the current tensions on the Korean Peninsula, tourists have been able to travel to North Korea.

A Sky News employee has just returned from a four-day trip. Journalists are strictly banned from the county without visas, which are rarely issued, so we are not revealing her name, but here is her story:

I flew from Beijing to Pyongyang. On the flight with me were lots of North Koreans with plenty of excess baggage: TVs, vegetables and meat.

Nothing felt abnormal. There was no feeling of tension.

Only when I arrived at the Demilitarised Zone were we prevented access to some of the buildings because of the current situation.

Throughout the four-day trip, which was organised by a Chinese travel company, we were assigned two North Korean minders.

One of them was more senior than the other. She watched us and watched her colleague too.

They did not want the war but were also determined to fight if the country decided to start a war. They emphasised to us that they believed in the country from their hearts.

We were not allowed to move freely. We could only do tourist things according to the guidance of the tour "guards".

We were not allowed to take photographs in the car or anywhere without the minder's permission. We were told not to photograph anything that looked bad or makes North Korea look bad.

"Don't bring bad impressions out of Pyongyang," they said.

People were very friendly. There was little traffic, so people would stare at our bus wherever we drove.

People there are very aware of the potential war.

Every time we arrived at the places of interest, the tour guides would always ask us in Korean (the minders would translate into Chinese) about the latest situation and our opinions about the situation, particularly our opinions about the US, as they all believe the tensions are the fault of America.

When we asked the minders what would happen if the war breaks out tomorrow, they said: "If the war breaks tomorrow, until midnight tonight, we are still building the socialist constructions."

We also asked them whether they know where Kim Jong-Un lives and works, as we explained to them that in Beijing, all the top leaders work and live in a place called Zhongnanhai. They all said they had no idea.

The two minders liked to sing. One of the songs they sang was apparently written by a South Korean musician to express his admiration toward Kim Jong-Il.

On one of the days we went to Myohyang San, a North Korean mountain. The six of us on the tour were locked in the restaurant because the North Koreans were so afraid that we would wander around.

There is a museum near the mountain, where gifts from foreign countries are displayed. A lot of them came from Japan.

We asked them how could they receive so many gifts from Japan given that North Korea considers the Japanese as enemies. They told us that the Japanese really admire the leaders, so they gave us many gifts.

We stayed in the Yanggakdo International Hotel, where we could watch international TV channels including the BBC, NHK, (Japanese TV), Phoenix (Hong Kong TV) and CCTV (Chinese TV).

The minders live on a specific floor where they only have three North Korean channels to watch. They never ate with us and when we asked what they had eaten, they always refused to tell us.

We were not allowed to use the local currency, and they never showed us their money. We could use Chinese RMB, US dollars or euros.

There were not many opportunities to see any ordinary North Korean people apart from the shopkeepers, tour guides or waitresses in the hotel.

There is a casino on the underground floor of the Yanggakdo International Hotel, where most of the staff members come from Liaoning Province over the northern border in China, and North Koreans are not allowed to enter.

The casino is managed by people from Macau. The staff there told us it was empty because the tensions mean far fewer people are travelling to North Korea.

Staff at the casino are all Chinese. When we asked to go to the casino, one of the minders said to us: "You must be non-communists, because communist members don't go to casinos."

Wherever we go to visit, they always asked us if we think their places or things are pretty. They only wanted to show us the good side of the country.

As soon as we travelled outside the capital city, it felt very like the real North Korea: rural, no tall buildings, only farmland.

We never felt the tension of war on our trip. On the streets, on our tour, in the hotel and even at a school we visited, the students were studying as normal.

The people we spoke to asked us if it was true that living in Beijing is hard. They think living in North Korea is the happiest thing in the world.

It feels as though those North Koreans who have travelled outside the country have never mentioned what the outside world really looks like.

20.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

North Korea: South On Alert For Missile Launch

Visiting Secretive North Korea

Updated: 11:52am UK, Wednesday 10 April 2013

Despite the current tensions on the Korean Peninsula, tourists have been able to travel to North Korea.

A Sky News employee has just returned from a four-day trip. Journalists are strictly banned from the county without visas, which are rarely issued, so we are not revealing her name, but here is her story:

I flew from Beijing to Pyongyang. On the flight with me were lots of North Koreans with plenty of excess baggage: TVs, vegetables and meat.

Nothing felt abnormal. There was no feeling of tension.

Only when I arrived at the Demilitarised Zone were we prevented access to some of the buildings because of the current situation.

Throughout the four-day trip, which was organised by a Chinese travel company, we were assigned two North Korean minders.

One of them was more senior than the other. She watched us and watched her colleague too.

They did not want the war but were also determined to fight if the country decided to start a war. They emphasised to us that they believed in the country from their hearts.

We were not allowed to move freely. We could only do tourist things according to the guidance of the tour "guards".

We were not allowed to take photographs in the car or anywhere without the minder's permission. We were told not to photograph anything that looked bad or makes North Korea look bad.

"Don't bring bad impressions out of Pyongyang," they said.

People were very friendly. There was little traffic, so people would stare at our bus wherever we drove.

People there are very aware of the potential war.

Every time we arrived at the places of interest, the tour guides would always ask us in Korean (the minders would translate into Chinese) about the latest situation and our opinions about the situation, particularly our opinions about the US, as they all believe the tensions are the fault of America.

When we asked the minders what would happen if the war breaks out tomorrow, they said: "If the war breaks tomorrow, until midnight tonight, we are still building the socialist constructions."

We also asked them whether they know where Kim Jong-Un lives and works, as we explained to them that in Beijing, all the top leaders work and live in a place called Zhongnanhai. They all said they had no idea.

The two minders liked to sing. One of the songs they sang was apparently written by a South Korean musician to express his admiration toward Kim Jong-Il.

On one of the days we went to Myohyang San, a North Korean mountain. The six of us on the tour were locked in the restaurant because the North Koreans were so afraid that we would wander around.

There is a museum near the mountain, where gifts from foreign countries are displayed. A lot of them came from Japan.

We asked them how could they receive so many gifts from Japan given that North Korea considers the Japanese as enemies. They told us that the Japanese really admire the leaders, so they gave us many gifts.

We stayed in the Yanggakdo International Hotel, where we could watch international TV channels including the BBC, NHK, (Japanese TV), Phoenix (Hong Kong TV) and CCTV (Chinese TV).

The minders live on a specific floor where they only have three North Korean channels to watch. They never ate with us and when we asked what they had eaten, they always refused to tell us.

We were not allowed to use the local currency, and they never showed us their money. We could use Chinese RMB, US dollars or euros.

There were not many opportunities to see any ordinary North Korean people apart from the shopkeepers, tour guides or waitresses in the hotel.

There is a casino on the underground floor of the Yanggakdo International Hotel, where most of the staff members come from Liaoning Province over the northern border in China, and North Koreans are not allowed to enter.

The casino is managed by people from Macau. The staff there told us it was empty because the tensions mean far fewer people are travelling to North Korea.

Staff at the casino are all Chinese. When we asked to go to the casino, one of the minders said to us: "You must be non-communists, because communist members don't go to casinos."

Wherever we go to visit, they always asked us if we think their places or things are pretty. They only wanted to show us the good side of the country.

As soon as we travelled outside the capital city, it felt very like the real North Korea: rural, no tall buildings, only farmland.

We never felt the tension of war on our trip. On the streets, on our tour, in the hotel and even at a school we visited, the students were studying as normal.

The people we spoke to asked us if it was true that living in Beijing is hard. They think living in North Korea is the happiest thing in the world.

It feels as though those North Koreans who have travelled outside the country have never mentioned what the outside world really looks like.

20.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

South Korea Meets North's Threat With Boredom

Visiting Secretive North Korea

Updated: 11:52am UK, Wednesday 10 April 2013

Despite the current tensions on the Korean Peninsula, tourists have been able to travel to North Korea.

A Sky News employee has just returned from a four-day trip. Journalists are strictly banned from the county without visas, which are rarely issued, so we are not revealing her name, but here is her story:

I flew from Beijing to Pyongyang. On the flight with me were lots of North Koreans with plenty of excess baggage: TVs, vegetables and meat.

Nothing felt abnormal. There was no feeling of tension.

Only when I arrived at the Demilitarised Zone were we prevented access to some of the buildings because of the current situation.

Throughout the four-day trip, which was organised by a Chinese travel company, we were assigned two North Korean minders.

One of them was more senior than the other. She watched us and watched her colleague too.

They did not want the war but were also determined to fight if the country decided to start a war. They emphasised to us that they believed in the country from their hearts.

We were not allowed to move freely. We could only do tourist things according to the guidance of the tour "guards".

We were not allowed to take photographs in the car or anywhere without the minder's permission. We were told not to photograph anything that looked bad or makes North Korea look bad.

"Don't bring bad impressions out of Pyongyang," they said.

People were very friendly. There was little traffic, so people would stare at our bus wherever we drove.

People there are very aware of the potential war.

Every time we arrived at the places of interest, the tour guides would always ask us in Korean (the minders would translate into Chinese) about the latest situation and our opinions about the situation, particularly our opinions about the US, as they all believe the tensions are the fault of America.

When we asked the minders what would happen if the war breaks out tomorrow, they said: "If the war breaks tomorrow, until midnight tonight, we are still building the socialist constructions."

We also asked them whether they know where Kim Jong-Un lives and works, as we explained to them that in Beijing, all the top leaders work and live in a place called Zhongnanhai. They all said they had no idea.

The two minders liked to sing. One of the songs they sang was apparently written by a South Korean musician to express his admiration toward Kim Jong-Il.

On one of the days we went to Myohyang San, a North Korean mountain. The six of us on the tour were locked in the restaurant because the North Koreans were so afraid that we would wander around.

There is a museum near the mountain, where gifts from foreign countries are displayed. A lot of them came from Japan.

We asked them how could they receive so many gifts from Japan given that North Korea considers the Japanese as enemies. They told us that the Japanese really admire the leaders, so they gave us many gifts.

We stayed in the Yanggakdo International Hotel, where we could watch international TV channels including the BBC, NHK, (Japanese TV), Phoenix (Hong Kong TV) and CCTV (Chinese TV).

The minders live on a specific floor where they only have three North Korean channels to watch. They never ate with us and when we asked what they had eaten, they always refused to tell us.

We were not allowed to use the local currency, and they never showed us their money. We could use Chinese RMB, US dollars or euros.

There were not many opportunities to see any ordinary North Korean people apart from the shopkeepers, tour guides or waitresses in the hotel.

There is a casino on the underground floor of the Yanggakdo International Hotel, where most of the staff members come from Liaoning Province over the northern border in China, and North Koreans are not allowed to enter.

The casino is managed by people from Macau. The staff there told us it was empty because the tensions mean far fewer people are travelling to North Korea.

Staff at the casino are all Chinese. When we asked to go to the casino, one of the minders said to us: "You must be non-communists, because communist members don't go to casinos."

Wherever we go to visit, they always asked us if we think their places or things are pretty. They only wanted to show us the good side of the country.

As soon as we travelled outside the capital city, it felt very like the real North Korea: rural, no tall buildings, only farmland.

We never felt the tension of war on our trip. On the streets, on our tour, in the hotel and even at a school we visited, the students were studying as normal.

The people we spoke to asked us if it was true that living in Beijing is hard. They think living in North Korea is the happiest thing in the world.

It feels as though those North Koreans who have travelled outside the country have never mentioned what the outside world really looks like.

20.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

Ignorance And Minders: Life Inside North Korea

Despite the current tensions on the Korean Peninsula, tourists have been able to travel to North Korea.

A Sky News employee has just returned from a four-day trip. Journalists are strictly banned from the county without visas, which are rarely issued, so we are not revealing her name, but here is her story:

I flew from Beijing to Pyongyang. On the flight with me were lots of North Koreans with plenty of excess baggage: TVs, vegetables and meat.

Nothing felt abnormal. There was no feeling of tension.

Only when I arrived at the Demilitarised Zone were we prevented access to some of the buildings because of the current situation.

Throughout the four-day trip, which was organised by a Chinese travel company, we were assigned two North Korean minders.

One of them was more senior than the other. She watched us and watched her colleague too.

A newspaper article on Kim Jong Un

They did not want the war but were also determined to fight if the country decided to start a war. They emphasised to us that they believed in the country from their hearts.

We were not allowed to move freely. We could only do tourist things according to the guidance of the tour "guards".

We were not allowed to take photographs in the car or anywhere without the minder's permission. We were told not to photograph anything that looked bad or makes North Korea look bad.

"Don't bring bad impressions out of Pyongyang," they said.

People were very friendly. There was little traffic, so people would stare at our bus wherever we drove.

People there are very aware of the potential war.

Every time we arrived at the places of interest, the tour guides would always ask us in Korean (the minders would translate into Chinese) about the latest situation and our opinions about the situation, particularly our opinions about the US, as they all believe the tensions are the fault of America.

When we asked the minders what would happen if the war breaks out tomorrow, they said: "If the war breaks tomorrow, until midnight tonight, we are still building the socialist constructions."

We also asked them whether they know where Kim Jong-Un lives and works, as we explained to them that in Beijing, all the top leaders work and live in a place called Zhongnanhai. They all said they had no idea.

The two minders liked to sing. One of the songs they sang was apparently written by a South Korean musician to express his admiration toward Kim Jong-Il.

Articles seen by the Sky News journalist

On one of the days we went to Myohyang San, a North Korean mountain. The six of us on the tour were locked in the restaurant because the North Koreans were so afraid that we would wander around.

There is a museum near the mountain, where gifts from foreign countries are displayed. A lot of them came from Japan.

We asked them how could they receive so many gifts from Japan given that North Korea considers the Japanese as enemies. They told us that the Japanese really admire the leaders, so they gave us many gifts.

We stayed in the Yanggakdo International Hotel, where we could watch international TV channels including the BBC, NHK, (Japanese TV), Phoenix (Hong Kong TV) and CCTV (Chinese TV).

The minders live on a specific floor where they only have three North Korean channels to watch. They never ate with us and when we asked what they had eaten, they always refused to tell us.

We were not allowed to use the local currency, and they never showed us their money. We could use Chinese RMB, US dollars or euros.

There were not many opportunities to see any ordinary North Korean people apart from the shopkeepers, tour guides or waitresses in the hotel.

There is a casino on the underground floor of the Yanggakdo International Hotel, where most of the staff members come from Liaoning Province over the northern border in China, and North Koreans are not allowed to enter.

The casino is managed by people from Macau. The staff there told us it was empty because the tensions mean far fewer people are travelling to North Korea.

Staff at the casino are all Chinese. When we asked to go to the casino, one of the minders said to us: "You must be non-communists, because communist members don't go to casinos."

Wherever we go to visit, they always asked us if we think their places or things are pretty. They only wanted to show us the good side of the country.

As soon as we travelled outside the capital city, it felt very like the real North Korea: rural, no tall buildings, only farmland.

We never felt the tension of war on our trip. On the streets, on our tour, in the hotel and even at a school we visited, the students were studying as normal.

The people we spoke to asked us if it was true that living in Beijing is hard. They think living in North Korea is the happiest thing in the world.

It feels as though those North Koreans who have travelled outside the country have never mentioned what the outside world really looks like.

20.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

Iran Opens Two Nuclear Sites On 'Atomic Day'

Iran has announced it has opened two nuclear sites, just days after talks with world powers to limit the country's atomic programme.

State television said that operations are under way at a uranium production facility in Ardakan and at the country's biggest uranium mine at Saghand.

Tehran's announcement was made to mark the country's Atomic Energy Technology Day and comes just four days after talks with six world powers over curbing its nuclear ambitions.

The mines in the city of Saghand in central Iran operate 1,150ft (350m) underground and are within 75 miles (120km) of the new yellowcake production facility in the city of Ardakan, according to the report.

It gave few details of the Ardakan facility but said it had an estimated 60 tonnes of output of yellowcake, which is an impure state of uranium oxide later used in enrichment processes.

The country already has a number of smaller uranium mines and processing facilities.

Workers at a uranium production plant near Isfahan in 2005

In October, a report from the Institute for Scientific and International Security warned that Iran could produce enough weapons-grade uranium to make a nuclear bomb within two to four months.

The study, which used figures from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said it would take a further 10 months to actually build the nuclear weapon.

Its conclusion echoed a warning in September from then US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta who said Tehran could have a nuclear weapon within a year if it wanted to.

The US has come under increasing pressure from Israel to take military action over Iran's nuclear movements as Tehran remains defiant in the face of sanctions.

However, the US favours talks.

Last week, the five members of the UN Security Council plus Germany, known as the P5+1, met with Iranian negotiators in the Kazakh city of Almaty in a bid to coax Iran into curbing its programme in exchange for the easing of some sanctions.

The Israeli PM explains Iran's nuclear programme to the UN

Iran continues to insist the programme is for peaceful purposes. However, it is looking to expand its own enrichment programme amid UN sanctions that prevent it buying in nuclear material.

David Cameron last week named the country as a potential atomic threat as he argued that Britain should retain its own nuclear defence system, Trident.

Iran enriches uranium to both 3.5 and 20% levels in its Natanz and Fordo enrichment facilities.

Uranium purified at high levels can be used in a nuclear weapon.

20.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

Hi-Tech Firms Join Forces Against Google

A group of companies led by Microsoft has asked European officials to investigate Google over alleged unfair practices in the mobile smartphone market.

"FairSearch" - which consists of 17 hi-tech firms including Microsoft, Nokia, Expedia, TripAdvisor and Oracle - has claimed that the internet giant acted unfairly with its Android operating system.

"We are asking the commission to move quickly and decisively to protect competition and innovation in this critical market," Thomas Vinje, Brussels-based counsel for FairSearch, said in a statement.

"Failure to act will only embolden Google to repeat its desktop abuses of dominance as consumers increasingly turn to a mobile platform dominated by Google's Android operating system."

FairSearch said it had filed a complaint with the commission, charging that the internet giant wanted Android operators to use its leading applications such as Maps or YouTube.

It said Google's Android is the dominant smartphone operating system, accounting for 70% at the end of 2012, while it had 96% of mobile phone search advertising.

Samsung's S4 is the flagship Android smartphone device

A spokesman for Google told Sky News: "We continue to work cooperatively with the European Commission."

Google has been under investigation by the commission for practices related to its dominance of online search and advertising markets since 2010.

Last week, six European countries including France and Britain, launched joint action against Google to try to get it to scale back new monitoring powers that watchdogs believe violate EU privacy protection rules.

The European Commission is not obliged to take any action other than reply to the complaint.

Android operating systems have the largest share of the smartphone market, followed by those made by Apple. Blackberry, Microsoft and others are far behind.

The European move comes as Taiwain's HTC saw its shares rise 1.5% even though the smartphone maker posted a record-low quarterly profit.

HTC's first-quarter net profit slumped 98% from a year earlier after sales suffered from the delayed launch of the company's new flagship smartphone.

The phonemaker saw its net profit fall to 85m New Taiwan dollars (£1.85m) for the quarter ending March 31, down from NT$4.47bn (£97m) a year earlier.

:: During 2010 HTC was the biggest seller of smartphones in the US operating on the Android system.

20.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

Serbia: Gunman Kills 13 In Shooting Spree

A gunman has killed 13 people, including his mother and son, as he went house to house on a shooting spree in Serbia, authorities have said.

The 60-year-old suspect, identified by police as Ljubisa Bogdanovic, allegedly opened fire at around 5am local time with a pistol in a village near the capital Belgrade.

Residents told reporters the gunman first killed his son before leaving his home and shooting his neighbours, some of whom were still asleep.

The victims in the apparently random shootings in Velika Ivanca were six men, six women, and a two-year-old child.

Twelve were killed at the scene, 30 miles southeast of the capital, and one person died in a Belgrade hospital, police said.

The gunman, who had a semi-automatic 9mm pistol, also shot his wife before turning the gun on himself.

The pair were both seriously injured and in a critical condition in hospital.

Police officers among those at the scene of the atrocity

Another person was also hurt in the attack, which lasted around half an hour.

Police, who blocked off the village while they investigated the attacks, said the motive for the killings was unclear.

They added the suspect lost his job in 2012 and fought as a Serb soldier in the war in Croatia in 1992.

Villager Radovan Radosavljevic said of the shootings: "He knocked on the doors, and as they were opened he just fired a shot.

"He was a good neighbour and anyone would open their doors to him. I don't know what happened."

Milorad Velijovic from the interior ministry said: "Most of the victims were shot in the head as they slept.

"They were killed in five houses, mainly relatives and neighbours."

Mr Velijovic said the gunman had a firearms permit and he and his son had been made redundant last year.

Belgrade emergency hospital spokeswoman Nada Macura said the suspect was not believed to have a history of mentally illness.

Although such apparently random shootings are rare in Serbia, weapons are readily available mostly from the war in the Balkans in the 1990s and there is a tradition of possessing firearms.

20.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

North Korea: Japan Deploys Missile Defence

By Mark Stone, on Yeonpyeong Island, South Korea

Japan has deployed missile-defence systems in its capital as North Korea warned foreigners in the South to take evacuation measures in case of war.

The interceptors were set up as a precautionary measure, and the Japanese newspaper Sankei Shimbun reported that North Korea would launch a missile test on Wednesday.

Two Patriot Advanced Capability-3 surface-to-air missile launchers were stationed at the defence ministry in Tokyo before dawn, and other batteries are to be installed in the semi-tropical island chain of Okinawa, officials said.

The deployment isn't unusual. Japan has responded to North Korea tests in the past by positioning interceptor missiles.

"The government is making utmost efforts to protect our people's lives and ensure their safety," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said.

In addition to the PAC-3, Aegis destroyers equipped with sea-based interceptor missiles have been deployed in the Sea of Japan.

A Musudan missile, pictured in 2010

North Korea's latest warning to foreigners intensified the threat of an imminent conflict, keeping up the fiery rhetoric employed for weeks by officials in Pyongyang.

"The situation on the Korean Peninsula is inching close to a thermo-nuclear war," said the statement by the Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee.

"Once a war is ignited on the peninsula, it will be an all-out war, a merciless, sacred, retaliatory war waged by the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea)," it went on to say.

"We do not wish harm on foreigners in South Korea should there be a war."

Last week, the North Korean government told embassies in the capital it could not guarantee the safety of their staff.

However, US and South Korean defence officials have said they have seen nothing to indicate that Pyongyang is preparing for a major military action, in which it would be heavily outgunned.

North Korea has also suspended its operations at the Kaesong industrial complex, its last major economic link with the South, and recalled all 53,000 of its workers.

North Korea's young leader, Kim Jong-Un, is seen as unpredictable

The work stoppage at a key source of hard cash for the North suggests Pyongyang is willing to hurt its own shaky economy in order to display its anger with South Korea and the US.

Amid rising tensions on the peninsula, the US and South Korea have also raised their defence postures.

North Korea is believed to have moved two missiles - possibly the medium-range Musudan - to its eastern coast on the Sea of Japan, loading them on to mobile launchers.

The Musudan missile has a range of about 3,000km (1,800 miles), meaning it is capable of reaching South Korea and Japan and perhaps also the US territory of Guam in the Pacific Ocean.

There has been speculation that Pyongyang might schedule a missile launch to coincide with the birthday of the country's late founder Kim Il-Sung - the current leader's grandfather - in mid-April.

Foreign Secretary William Hague has said the threat posed by North Korea must be treated "very seriously" and the US has delayed the testing of an intercontinental ballistic missile in an effort to defuse the situation.

US Secretary of State John Kerry visits Seoul this week

North Korea is furious at UN sanctions imposed after Pyongyang conducted its third nuclear test in February, and at joint military exercises between the US and South Korea, with B-2 stealth bombers dispatched from US bases.

Seoul and Washington say those exercises are routine but Pyongyang has unleashed a torrent of threats against the allies.

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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.

20.18 | 0 komentar | Read More