Pussy Riot: New Video Attack On Putin

Russian provocateurs Pussy Riot are back in action, releasing a new music video nearly a year after three of their members went to prison for a prank denouncing President Vladimir Putin.

The new video shows the band members in trademark bright-coloured ski masks and short skirts, cavorting on top of an oil rig.

Backed by hectic guitar and a drum fusillade, they liken the president to an Iranian ayatollah.

As they pour oil on a large photo of Igor Sechin, the chairman of state oil giant Rosneft, they shout: "Homophobic reptile - get out of history."

Protesters in France last year calling for the girls' freedom

One member of the collective, who gave only her stage name of Grelka, said: "The main message is that Putin has spread the country's wealth amongst his friends."

She said she hoped there would be a response to the new video, but she did not expect it to amount to much.

"In Russia maybe 1% will support us because society in general is not very interested in politics despite Bolotnaya (Bolotnaya Square where mass anti-Putin rallies took place last year) and other events," she said.

"Comparing it to the West is laughable."

Tolokonnikova remains in prison over an earlier protest

Three members of the band - Maria Alekhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Yekaterina Samutsevich - were convicted last year of "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred" for an impromptu punk protest against Mr Putin in Moscow's main cathedral.

They were sentenced to two years in prison, despite widespread criticism - including from the likes of stars such as Madonna - that Russia was suppressing free speech and opposition.

Samutsevich was later released on appeal. A court in the Mordovia province earlier this year denied parole to Tolokonnikova.

Grelka said the members knew they were taking risks by making another video.

"If the response and effect from this action are big, then, well, we understand, what we are going to face," she said.

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India: 21 Children Die After Eating School Meal

Some 21 children, aged between eight and 11, have died after eating free meals at a primary school in eastern India.

At least another 35 children remain in hospital in Patna, the Bihar state capital. Ten of the youngsters are in a critical condition. 

They fell ill after eating a lunch of rice and lentils in Masrakh village in the Saran district on Tuesday.

They were rushed to hospital in the capital, some 50 miles (80km) south of the village.

A family with their son who fell ill after consuming a free school meal

Some of the other sick children were taken to hospital in nearby Chaapra.

Sky Producer Neville Lazarus, in New Delhi, said: "Masrakh is in one of the poorest of the poor states in the country and in a remote place, so there weren't proper medical facilities."

The meal was cooked in the school kitchen, and police have seized all the ingredients used.

Lazarus said the cook and her two children had also died.

A woman cries after hearing that her grandson was one of the victims

Bihar's Education Minister P K Shahi said a preliminary investigation suggested the food had traces of phosphorous, which is used to preserve rice and wheat.

"It is sad but true that 20 children died after eating their midday meal, which appears to be poisonous," the minister said.

Authorities have suspended a food inspector and registered a case of criminal negligence against the head teacher.

The father of an ill child, Raja Yadav, told reporters that his son was vomiting after returning from school.

Free lunches are used as a way of increasing school attendance

"As soon as my boy returned from school, we rushed to the hospital with him. His condition was not good," he said.

Bihar state Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who has also ordered an inquiry, announced that families of the dead children will be offered financial compensation of 200,000 rupees (£2,200).

Twenty of the children who died were buried near the school on Wednesday morning as angry residents armed with poles and sticks took to the streets in the city of Chhapra to protest against the state government over the children's deaths.

"Hundreds of angry people staged a protest in Saran since late Tuesday night, demanding stern action against government officials responsible for this shocking incident," district government official S K Mall said.

Angry parents take to the streets in protest at the tragedy

Lazarus described the situation as "tense", with locals saying there was a delay in getting medical help to the children, contributing to the high death toll.

Free meals are offered to impoverished students in state-run schools as part of government welfare measures in many of India's 29 states

The lunches are hugely popular with poor families and educators see the meals as a way of increasing school attendance and stemming malnourishment.

But children often suffer from food poisoning due to poor hygiene in school kitchens and the sometimes poor quality food.

More than 130 students were taken to hospital in the western city of Pune last year after eating lunch at school, the Times of India reported.

A probe revealed that the food served to them was contaminated with E. coli bacteria, strains of which can cause food poisoning.

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Costa Concordia Captain In Plea Bargain Bid

The captain of a cruise ship that ran aground off the Italian coast, claiming the lives of 32 people, has asked for a plea bargain deal at his trial over the disaster.

Lawyers for Francesco Schettino, who was in charge of the Costa Concordia liner when it crashed into rocks off the island of Giglio last year, said their client was ready to plead guilty in exchange for a prison sentence of three years and five months.

But the defence also said it held out little hope that the judge would allow such a deal as the trial resumed in Grosseto, the town closest to where the shipwreck happened, after a week long suspension because of a lawyers' strike.

The captain, the only defendant, risks up to 20 years if found guilty in a full trial on charges of manslaughter, abandoning ship and causing the shipwreck that claimed 32 lives.

The request was made after an earlier plea bargain bid was thrown out by the judge in charge of preliminary investigations into what happened.

Domnica Cemortan said she was with Schettino at the time of the crash

Schettino, 52, is accused of abandoning ship before all crew and passengers had been rescued.

His lawyers argue that he prevented an even worse disaster by steering the 290 metre (950 foot) vessel into shallow waters
after the impact and that he was thrown overboard due to the angle of the leaning ship.

The trial began on July 9 but was immediately suspended because lawyers involved were taking part in a nationwide strike against measures to streamline civil trials. The hearing is expected to last for more than a year.

Lawyers for survivors and relatives of the victims attended the trial as it resumed on Wednesday.  

Ahead of the start Francesco Di Ciollo, who represents two Italian families, said: "We're here today to get justice.

"Survivors have to live with anxiety for the rest of their lives. There was darkness, panic, they were stranded inside without a way out."

The cruise ship captain speaks with his lawyers before the trial begins

The Costa Concordia crashed off Giglio on the night of January 13, 2012 with 4,229 people from 70 countries on board, killing 32 people.

Schettino was nicknamed "Captain Coward" for leaving while terrified people were trapped aboard the cruise lliner and then sobbing in the arms of the ship's chaplain.

The 52-year-old has been depicted as a blackguard who was showing off for a blonde female guest when he performed a risky manoeuvre to "salute" the island.

But some lawyers have been saying he should not be the sole defendant and Costa Crociere, Europe's biggest cruise operator, should share the blame.

Massimiliano Gabrielli, a lawyer for some of the survivors who is part of a group called 'Justice for the Concordia', accused Costa of "choosing to save the ship instead of saving people" - a reference to the delay of over an hour between the crash and the order to abandon ship.

Schettino's lawyers, Domenico and Francesco Pepe, have called for 100 witnesses and pledged to show that "no single person was responsible".

Grosseto's theatre is serving as a makeshift court to make room for people

They plan to probe Costa Crociere management, materials used to build the ship, and the apparent malfunction of emergency doors and back-up generators.

"He did not abandon ship," said Donato Laino, another lawyer for Schettino.

"If he had stayed another 10 minutes he would have fallen in the water and not been able to manage the evacuation."

Five other people have been charged over the disaster, including the ship's Indonesian helmsman and the head of Costa Crociere's crisis unit.

The five have negotiated plea bargains which are due to be ruled on at a separate hearing on July 20.

The prosecution says it wants 347 witnesses including Domnica Cemortan, a young Moldovan who was in Schettino's company at the time of impact.

Schettino's lawyer Francesco Pepe speaks to the media outside the theatre

The blonde, who has applied to be a plaintiff in the case, was in court in a white blouse and blue skirt.

The trial is being held in an improvised courtroom in a theatre in Grosseto, with the panel of judges seated on the stage.

The Concordia crashed as many of the passengers were sitting down to dinner, and a delayed and chaotic evacuation saw some desperately throw themselves overboard into the dark sea as lifeboats ran out.

The 290-metre (951-foot) ship still lies beached on its side, its rusting frame dwarfed by blue cranes and a floating hotel for divers and salvage workers.

The vessel is due to be re-floated but technical difficulties have repeatedly hampered the salvage and there have been warnings that its submerged side may be more damaged than previously thought.

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Panama: Cuba 'Owns' North Korean Ship Arms

Cuba has claimed it owns the arms that were found on board a North Korean ship that Panama has impounded.

Panama has called for United Nations investigators to inspect the shipment of missile parts found on the Chong Chon Gang as it tried to enter the Panama Canal last week.

The contraband munitions were hidden under thousands of bags labelled "Cuban Raw Sugar", Panama said.

Cuba claimed ownership in a statement on state television, saying the Soviet-era missile system parts were to be repaired and returned - without mentioning where they were being sent.

The weapons were hiding under thousands of bags labelled Cuban Raw Sugar

Cuba said the shipment contained "obsolete" weaponry "manufactured in the mid-20th century", including anti-aircraft missile arrays, nine disassembled missiles, two MiG-21 Bis jets and 15 engines.

"The agreements Cuba has signed in these areas are based on our need to maintain our defensive capacity to protect national sovereignty," the statement said.

"Cuba reiterates its firm and unwavering commitment with peace, disarmament - including nuclear disarmament - and respect for international law."

Portraits of Kim Jong-il and Kim Il-sung on board the Chong Chon Gang

Cuba is the only one-party Communist regime in the Americas, and is a rare ally of similarly isolated Pyongyang.

North Korea's army chief of staff General Kyok Sik Kim visited Cuba last month and said the two countries were "in the same trench".

The shipment could constitute a violation of the strict UN arms sanctions imposed on North Korea over its nuclear programme and further sour relations between the US and Cuba.

Panama's security minister Jose Raul Mulino said authorities believe the ship was returning from Havana on its way to North Korea.

He said the affair was now a matter for UN investigators.

President Martinelli inspecting the ship

"The Security Council will have to send experts," he said.

The US said it strongly supports Panama's actions over the Chong Chon Gang.

"We stand ready to cooperate with Panama should they request our assistance," said US State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell.

The IHS global information company identified the equipment as an RSN-75 Fan Song fire control radar, also known as the SNR-75 Fan Song, for the SA-2 group of surface-to-air (SAM) missiles.

Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli tweeted a photo of the weaponry with the message: "The world needs to sit up and take note: you cannot go around shipping undeclared weapons of war through the Panama Canal."

Panamanian authorities boarded the ship suspecting it was carrying drugs

He said the North Korean captain attempted to kill himself and violence broke out among the 35-strong crew as the ship was raided.

It had been stopped because it was suspected of transporting drugs.

A Panamanian government spokesman said an examination of the ship by weapons specialists may take as long as a week.

Pyongyang has yet to comment on the case.

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Panama: North Korea Ship 'Smuggling Missiles'

Panama has stopped a North Korean ship which it claims was trying to illegally sneak sophisticated missiles through the Panama Canal.

Panamanian authorities boarded the ship suspecting it was carrying drugs.

However, when they searched it they discovered "undeclared weapons of war" among a shipment of brown sugar, according to Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli.

The North Korean captain attempted to kill himself and violence broke out among the 35-strong crew as the ship was raided, according to Mr Martinelli.

The president posted a photograph of the cargo on his Twitter account and said: "The world needs to sit up and take note: you cannot go around shipping undeclared weapons of war through the Panama Canal."

He told Radio Panama: "We had suspected this ship, which was coming from Cuba and headed to North Korea, might have drugs aboard so it was brought into port for search and inspection.

Leader Kim Jong-Un has threatened to use missiles to attack the US

"When we started to unload the shipment of sugar we located containers that we believe to be sophisticated missile equipment, and that is not allowed."

The ship, called the Chong Chon Gang, is currently being held by the Panamanian authorities.

Hugh Griffiths, an arms trafficking expert at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, said the seized ship is called Chong Chon Gang and has been on the institute's suspect list for some time.

He said the ship had been caught before for trafficking narcotics and small arms ammunition. It was stopped in 2010 in the Ukraine and was attacked by pirates 400 miles off the coast of Somalia in 2009.

Mr Griffiths' institute has also been interested in the ship because of a stop it made in 2009 in Tartus - a Syrian port city hosting a Russian naval base.

North Korea has yet to respond to the incident, however, previously the government in Pyongyang has branded such seizures as a 'double standard'.

North Korea believes it has the right to ship weapons in the same way that most other countries do on a regular basis.

A source familiar with North Korea's defence capability told Sky News he believed the photo showed an anti-ship missile.

The Panama Canal connects the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacfic

North Korea and Cuba are ideologically allied as communist nations and both are seen as politically isolated from the rest of the world. However, arms shipments between the two countries are rare.

"Cuba is often cited alongside the DPRK as the two last hard-line communist holdouts, yet this is misleading in  several ways." Korean analyst Aidan Foster-Carter told Sky News.

"On the external economic front, it is the US - and only the US - that  applies closure to Cuba more than vice versa. Internally, Cuba is finally grasping the nettle of market reforms with a will, rigour, and honesty still wholly missing in North Korea."

North Korea is banned, under several United Nations resolutions, from importing and exporting all weapons, with the exception of small arms.

The UN has said the ban will remain in place until Pyongyang shuts down its nuclear weapons programme.

However, there is no suggestion that the weapons seized in Panama have any nuclear capability.

North Korea defiantly carried out its third nuclear weapons test in February and threatened to attack the United States in the most aggressive act yet by the leader Kim Jong-Un.

It led to banking sanctions being imposed by Washington on Pyongyang.

UN resolution 1718, ratified in 2006 bans North Korea from importing and exporting all weapons with the exception of small arms. The resolution was reaffirmed by the Security Council in March 2013 following North Korea's latest nuclear test and rocket launch. 

Following the 2006 resolution, the North Korean ambassador to the UN branded the ban a "double standard".

Pak Gil Yon told the Security Council: "It [is] 'gangster-like' for the Security Council to adopt such a coercive resolution against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, while neglecting the nuclear threat posed by the United States against his country.  It was a clear testament that the Council had completely lost its impartiality and was persisting in applying double standards to its work."

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British 'Cocaine Smuggler' Arrested In Spain

Spanish police say they have arrested a notorious suspected British drug dealer, Brian Charrington.

The 57-year-old is alleged to have run an international trafficking ring involving cocaine from Venezuela.

Charrington was detained at his luxury home on the Costa Blanca in a joint operation by UK and Spanish officers.

His girlfriend and son were also arrested along with 10 other people in Spain and Venezuela.

A police statement said Charrington was "one of the 10 criminals most investigated by European police and leader of an international drug-trafficking organisation".

The statement said officers seized 220kg (485lb) of cocaine hidden in an apartment in L'Albir near the tourist resort of Benidorm.

They also impounded property and bank accounts worth more than five million euros (£4.33m).

It is claimed Charrington, from Middlesbrough, and others smuggled tons of cocaine into Europe via an armada of yachts.

Charrington is said to have started as a car and drugs dealer in the 1980s and allegedly went on to build an international criminal empire.

He is the third suspected British drugs baron to be arrested in recent weeks.

On July 10, Kevin Hanley, who was wanted in connection with a multimillion-pound drug seizure, was caught in a sting operation in Athens.

Two days before, convicted drug trafficker Mark Lilley was caught hiding naked in a panic room in his luxury villa in Malaga.

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Fugitive Edward Snowden Asks Russia For Asylum

The US intelligence whistleblower, Edward Snowden, has applied for temporary asylum in Russia, according to his lawyer.

The former National Security Agency worker has been holed up at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport since June 23 after leaking details of US surveillance programmes.

Russian lawyer Anatoly Kucherena said he had met Snowden on Tuesday and "the application has been filed with the Russian authorities".

Wikileaks, the whistleblowing website, has been supporting Snowden and confirmed in a post on Twitter: "Edward Snowden today has filed for a temporary protection visa with Russia's ministry of immigration."

Snowden speaks to human rights activists last week

Washington has urged Moscow to return the 30-year-old to the US, where he is wanted on espionage charges after revealing details of secret surveillance programmes.

Speaking to human rights activists last week, after three weeks of silence Snowden said he planned to apply for temporary asylum in Russia until he had won "safe passage" to Latin America, where three countries have offered him political asylum.

Snowden has been able to remain at the airport transit lounge for so long after fleeing Hong Kong, because technically it is not Russian territory.

However, Russian President Vladimir Putin has made clear that Snowden can only stay in Russia if he "stops damaging our US partners".

Sky's Moscow Correspondent Katie Stallard said that Snowden's application for asylum was a "PR coup for Russia".

She said: "It makes Russia look like the only country strong enough to stand up to the US and protect this young man but also that he (Putin) is doing the US a favour.

There have been protests across the world in support of Snowden

"Yes he might be going to take this man in but he will do so by shutting him up by stopping him from passing on any more of America's secrets so it's a bit of a win: win for the Russian President."

On Monday Mr Putin accused the US of "trapping" Snowden in Russia, saying no other country wanted to take him because of pressure exerted by America.

Snowden has consistently made it clear that he does not intent to stay in Russia but eventually wants to move to a Latin American country.

However, the prospects of him successfully travelling there appear doubtful.

More follows...

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Egypt: Mosri Supporters Killed In Clashes

At least seven people have died in overnight clashes between supporters of ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi, opponents and security forces, officials said.

Mohamed Sultan, the head of Egypt's emergency services, said more than 260 people were injured in the latest eruption of violence since the military unseated Mr Morsi, just a year after he was elected.

More than 400 people were arrested, according to the state news agency.

Two people were killed at a bridge in in the Ramses area near Tahrir Square in Cairo, where security forces reportedly fired tear gas to drive the protesters back.

The protesters responded by hurling rocks at the security forces, triggering fresh volleys of tear gas, with clashes continuing in adjacent Ramses Square and elsewhere late into the night.

Five more people died in the capital's Giza district, Mr Sultan said.

A supporter holding a picture of former President Morsi

Security officials said four of the deaths came as Morsi supporters staging a sit-in near the main Cairo university campus clashed with residents of the area.

Thousands of supporters of the former president were calling for him to be reinstated.

Mr Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood said the police used birdshot and live ammunition against the protesters.

Many protesters were treatment at a makeshift ward set up to deal with casualties.

The deputy president of the Muslim Brothehood's political party, Essam el Erian, had stressed the protests and sit-ins must remain peaceful.

"The fact that our protests are peaceful is what makes them powerful," he said.

"We will remain peaceful in our path to continue the January 25 revolution and we will not use violence to respond to the violence that targets us."

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Egypt's interim president said the authorities expect Islamist movements, including the Muslim Brotherhood, to join in plans for a national reconciliation government.

A senior official in the movement said they had not been offered any posts in the transitional government by interim Prime Minister Hazem el Beblawi and would not accept if he did.

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Tornado Tourism: Thrill-Seeking Trend On Rise

By Amanda Walker, US Correspondent

A summer of deadly twisters has not discouraged British tourists from signing up for storm-chasing holidays in America's Tornado Alley.

Roger and Caryn Hill, who run Silver Lining Tours out of Denver, Colorado, say around 30% of their thrill-seeking clients are from the UK.

Roger, one of the most renowned and respected chasers in the business, says: "I've seen 660 tornadoes in my life and every one I've seen is like the first one I ever saw."

The husband and wife team run six-day weather stalking tours, often covering thousands of miles across several states in a convoy of vans, each marked with impressive hailstone dents.

Roger Hill uses a weather tracking system to chase the storms

This could be a rough ride. Roger sits up front, plugged into his advanced weather tracking system as we and 17 eager storm tourists head out onto the Montana plains.

As we motor through Big Sky Country, Roger says the charts look hopeful, not for the blue sky and sunshine you would normally wish for on holiday - but for powerful dramatic tempests.

There's a feeling of anticipation and confidence among the tourists: if a storm is brewing, Roger will find it.

In 25 years of weather hunting, Roger has seen and captured hundreds of tornadoes on camera. A twister has yet to surface on this latest mission, but Roger's appetite for any form of dramatic weather is insatiable and infectious.

A powerful twister tore through Oklahoma City last month

Brit Gayle Dawes says: "When Roger comes on the radio and says we're at code red which means there are storms and they are looking really, really good.

"I think it's the moment when you get out of the van, just before a storm you can feel that tension in the air."

UK tourists spend around £2,000 to join Silver Lining Tours for some high impact, adrenaline pumping storm chasing.

It sounds and looks fun, but these situations can quickly turn deadly - even for the most experienced chasers.

Roger's close friend and established meteorologist Tim Samaras was among the dozens killed by the series of lethal tornadoes that crashed through the Midwest this summer.

Roger's friend Tim Samaras died while chasing the Oklahoma storm

Roger says: "It hit real close to home. He always said 'If I get killed by one of these damned things, it had better be an EF5'. And, lo and behold, he was killed by an EF5 and it was the most violent kind of tornado there is."

The group gather under heavy, rumbling clouds to capture images of a looming "wall cloud" before Roger calls everyone back into the vehicles for a moment the thrill-seeking group have been craving: "core punching" - the industry term for racing through the heart of the storm.

The rain lashing the windscreen is punctuated by huge thumps from what Roger says is golfball-sized hail. The atmosphere fizzes as Roger warns his group to hold on - experiencing a storm from the relative safety of the van is a tour highlight.

Londoner Selvin Reid says his family and friends had reservations about his unusual holiday choice.

Tornado tourists say it's an experience of a lifetime

"The obvious reaction is 'be careful what you're doing, it's going to be dangerous'. Because quite obviously, they've been influenced by the headlines where people have been killed," he said.

Steve Famiglietti, who is partially sighted, has been on eight storm-chasing tours. For him it's about feeling and sensing the magnitude of the weather around him.

"It's so exciting. Roger gets so excited. He's so good at showing us what we're looking at ... to be able to come out here and see that is just something that you don't get everywhere on Earth," he explained.

These people's backgrounds are as varied as the weather they hunt. What binds them is a fascination with the elements - as long as there's a storm, their desire to chase will be irrepressible.

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Halle Berry 'Marries' Olivier Martinez

American actress Halle Berry has married French film star Olivier Martinez, according to reports.

Berry, 46, and Martinez, 47, are believed to have tied the knot on Saturday at a chateau in Vallery, Burgundy.

America's People magazine and French website Pure People said the pair were married at the small Chateau des Conde.

They were reportedly wed in a civil service at 4pm followed by a religious ceremony in the village chapel 90 minutes later.

Monster's Ball star Berry, who is pregnant, was seen arriving in a vintage Citroen DS car that had been decorated with lace.

Onlookers were kept away from the venue by police officers, and security staff held up white sheets in an attempt to thwart photographers.

Halle Berry, who is expecting a child, with Olivier Martinez

Some 60 guests were invited to the ceremony, including the actress' five-year-old daughter Nahla.

Dinner was reportedly served under a canopy and the festivities included a firework display.

The Oscar-winning actress first met Martinez in 2010 during filming of the movie Dark Tide.

Martinez was previously in a relationship with Kylie Minogue.

In January 2012 the Australian singer wished the film stars well and tweeted: "Congrats to Olivier Martinez and Halle Berry!! #wedding."

Berry has been married twice before - to baseball player David Justice and R&B singer-songwriter Eric Benét.

The father of her daughter Nahla is former boyfriend Gabriel Aubry. The couple separated in 2010.

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