Washington 'More Dangerous' Than North Korea

Two US rappers who have been to one of the world's most secretive countries, North Korea, have told Sky News their home city of Washington DC is a more dangerous place.

Anthony Bobb and Dontray Ennis - known as Pacman and Peso - also said the North Korean people should not be seen as "bad" just because of controversial leader Kim Jong-Un's actions.

It is almost universally accepted that North Korea has the worst human rights record in the world.

As many as 200,000 political prisoners are locked up in labour camps around the country. Escapees have said that torture is routine.

Last month, Mr Kim had his uncle executed, hailing the elimination of "factional filth" within his ruling party.

He accused General Jang Song-Thaek, who was once considered the second most powerful individual in the North, of trying to build his own power base.

The rappers raised $10,000 on a crowd funding website to fund a trip to the nation which they say everyone should see for themselves.

Their manager, who had a friend going on a personal trip there, suggested they went along too.

Kim Jong-Un had his uncle executed last year

The rappers' video for their song Escape To North Korea, filmed in and around the capital Pyongyang, has been seen more than 150,000 times after going viral.

Peso told Sky: "You can't say a whole nation of people is bad just because of one person's actions.

"I think the reason why that's put on the North Korean people is because of the leaders.

"What the people where I'm from don't realise is what they (North Koreans) were taught and how they came up as a nation off of that one person.

"What we learned was that it was for him (the leader) protecting his own people, they didn't compromise, they wanted to stay independent. That's what happened."

Pacman said: "Nothing that goes on there is any more than goes on in my streets. Nine times out of 10 you get robbed on my streets more than out of North Korea."

Denis Rodman sang Happy Birthday to the North Korean leader

News of their trip came as another high-profile American, former basketball star Dennis Rodman, also visited the country.

He led a team of retired American players in a game to celebrate the birthday of Mr Kim which may help break down barriers between the US and the North.

The colourful sportsman sang Happy Birthday to the leader, but his side were defeated by the North Korean players chosen to play them.

Under the North Korean regime's "three generations of punishment" system, individuals found guilty of a crime are sent to the labour camps with their entire family.

The subsequent two generations of that family are then born in the camp and live their lives locked up inside.

In his New Year message, broadcast on state television, Mr Kim said of his uncle's execution: "Our party took resolute action to remove ... scum elements within the party last year."

South Korean media said they believed he was killed by machine gun, a relatively common form of execution in the North.

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Black Rhino Hunt: Permit Sells For $350k

A US hunting club has been criticised for selling a permit to kill an endangered black rhino in Namibia for $350,000 (£212,000).

Dallas Safari Club defended the sale, saying the cash would go towards animal conservation in the cash-strapped African country.

The permit allows the unnamed buyer to kill a single, post-breeding bull, with Namibian wildlife officials on hand to make sure an appropriate animal is targeted, said club executive director Ben Carter.

"Biologists in Namibia were hopeful that a US-based auction would produce a record amount for rhino conservation, and that's exactly what happened," he said.

There are around 4,000 black rhinos left on the plant

"These bulls no longer contribute to the growth of the population and are in a lot of ways detrimental to the growth of the population because black rhinos are very aggressive and territorial.

"In many cases, they will kill younger, non-breeding bulls and have been known to kill calves and cows."

Wildlife campaigners protested outside the Dallas convention centre where the sale took place, and 70,000 people signed an online petition calling for the auction to be scrapped.

They argued that all black rhinos should be protected, given their endangered status.

"This auction is telling the world that an American will pay anything to kill their species," said Jeffrey Flocken, North American regional director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).

Protesters said all black rhinos should be protected

"This is, in fact, making a spectacle of killing an endangered species."

The FBI said it was investigating "multiple" death threats against members of the club.

Mr Carter says his family and club staff have received threats.

There are an estimated 4,000 black rhinos left on the planet - down from some 70,000 in the 1960s. Nearly half of those left are in Namibia.

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Venezuela: Vow To 'Rip Heads Off' Corrupt Cops

Venezuela's interior minister has given out his mobile phone number on television and asked police to call him and report corruption in their ranks.

Miguel Rodriguez said authorities would act on the information and "rip the head off" crooked officers.

It comes amid soaring crime levels in the country, which has one of the highest murder rates in the world.

Officers only solve eight out of every 100 murders and police corruption is often seen as part of the problem.

The nation's violent crime wave was highlighted in recent days by the murder of a former Miss Venezuela beauty queen and her British ex-husband, which provoked a national uproar.

Actress Monica Spear, 29, who had a starring role in a popular TV soap series, and 39-year-old Thomas Henry Berry were shot dead in front of their five-year-old daughter, who was wounded, during a robbery.

Murder victims Monica Spear and Thomas Henry Berry

The parents were killed after they had locked themselves in their car, which had broken down on a northwestern highway.

Their daughter, Maya, was treated in hospital after being shot in the leg.

The double murder is putting more pressure on President Nicolas Maduro for his failure to bring down the crime rate that has soared during 14 years of socialist rule.

And Mr Rodriguez said rooting out corruption was a way for police to regain the public's trust.

In a speech carried on state TV, he said: "New police will always have some great superiors, well-prepared ones.

The funerals have taken place in Caracas for the couple

"But they also are going to get some bad eggs. Report them fearlessly because their (corruption) undermines police authority for the Venezuelan people.

"Just give me the information right away, and we will rip the head off that immoral police superior."

Seven people, including a woman and two teenagers, have been arrested in connection with the double murder.

Although the weapon used in the robbery has not been found, it has emerged a digital camera stolen during the attack led police to a criminal group.

The group allegedly preyed on motorists on the stretch of road between Puerto Cabello and Valencia.

Two members of Venezuela's security forces

The camera was found at the home of one of the seven people arrested over the killings and helped officers trace other suspects in the case.

According to Jose Gregorio Sierralta, chief of Venezuela's criminal police, at least 11 people were involved in the crime - four of whom remain on the run.

The couple were buried in the capital Caracas on Friday while their daughter was being looked after by grandparents.

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Ariel Sharon: Ex-Leader's Body Lies In State

The body of former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon is lying in state at his country's parliament building, the day after he died aged 85.

Mr Sharon's coffin is sitting in the plaza outside the Knesset in Jerusalem until 6pm local time (4pm UK time) for mourners to pay their respects.

Earlier, Israeli ministers held a minute's silence as they met for their weekly cabinet meeting.

Current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the cabinet: "He will be remembered in the heart of the Jewish people forever as one of our most outstanding leaders and most daring commanders."

Mr Sharon will be buried on Monday afternoon at his ranch in the Negev desert, in southern Israel, during a military ceremony.

Israel generals salute Mr Sharon's coffin

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair was among those expected to attend.

Mr Sharon had been in a coma since suffering a stroke in January 2006.

His condition deteriorated on New Year's Day when he suffered serious kidney problems after surgery.

Mr Netanyahu said "his memory will forever be held in the heart of the nation", while President Shimon Peres said he would be "greatly missed".

World leaders also sent condolences, with US President Barack Obama describing him as a leader who "dedicated his life to the State of Israel".

Vice President Joe Biden will lead a US delegation to the memorial service due to be held in parliament on Monday before the burial.

Nicknamed "The Bulldozer", Mr Sharon was a veteran soldier who fought in all of Israel's major wars before beginning a turbulent political career in 1973.

He was elected premier in 2001 despite experiencing a period in the political wilderness because of his personal but "indirect" responsibility for the 1982 massacre of hundreds of Palestinians.

As an army officer addressing his troops of the famous Unit 101 in 1955

Ministers in Israel's right-wing government and the political opposition have mourned a leader who left big footprints on the region through military invasion, Jewish settlement building on captured land and a unilateral decision to pull Israeli troops and settlers out of the Gaza Strip in 2005.

In Gaza, Hamas has welcomed Mr Sharon's death and celebrated in the streets.

"We have become more confident in victory with the departure of this tyrant," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zurhi said.

"Our people today feel extreme happiness at the death and departure of this criminal whose hands were smeared with the blood of our people and the blood of our leaders here and in exile."

Prime Minister David Cameron said: "Ariel Sharon is one of the most significant figures in Israeli history and as prime minister he took brave and controversial decisions in pursuit of peace, before he was so tragically incapacitated.

"Israel has today lost an important leader."

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California Suffers Worst Drought Since 1970s

By Greg Milam, US Correspondent

While most of the United States has been gripped by the polar vortex, one part of the country is suffering a very different weather extreme.

California, the most populous state in America, is experiencing its worst drought since the 1970s.

Last year was one of the driest on record and farmers across the state are warning of devastation and rising food prices unless rain arrives soon.

Water levels in reservoirs are down to around 20% of normal levels and officials say it is only conservation efforts that have prevented a state-wide catastrophe so far.

Water levels in California reservoirs are down to 20% of normal levels

The level has dropped so low at Folsom Lake reservoir in Northern California that a Gold Rush-era village, which was deliberately flooded in the 1950s, has re-emerged.

Tourists have flocked to see the foundations of Red Bank, close to an area called Mormon Island, and pick through remnants and debris scattered the now-exposed lake bed.

But the drought could have serious costs with farmers warning of rising food prices if it goes on.

The drought in California is the worst since the 1970s

Paul Van Leer, who farms land adjoining the Pacific Ocean near Santa Barbara, says the irony is not lost on farmers that the rest of the country has had more than their share of wet weather.

"It is a shame we just can't pipe it down here," he told Sky News.

"I have never seen it this bad. Everyone is feeling it. We're looking out of the window wondering when it is going to come.

"We're in the heart of a rainy season right now and if we don't get it in the 30 to 45 day window, we're pretty much done."

The drought may take a major toll on farmers and food prices

A third of the water for Californians comes from the snow pack in the Sierra Nevada mountains - measurements this winter have shown it to be at just 20% of the required level.

Even the state's famous vineyards have been affected. Growers have been forced to begin irrigating vines much earlier than normal, or face seeing them dying off.

Brad Goehring, who grows wine grapes in the San Joaquin Valley, said: "It is the same as real rain but it the best we can do."

Weather forecasters have little good news - there is no significant rain forecast for the weeks ahead, increasing the prospect of the drought worsening.

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Ariel Sharon Dead: Israel's Ex-PM Dies

Former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon has died following a long illness.

The 85-year-old's son was quoted as saying he had died, eight years since a stroke at the height of his powers left him in a coma.

Gilad Sharon said: "He has gone. He went when he decided to go."

Sheba Medical Centre, where he was being treated, said he died at around 2pm (midday UK time).

Mr Sharon's condition suddenly deteriorated on January 1 when he suffered serious kidney problems after surgery.

Nicknamed 'The Bulldozer', the veteran soldier fought in all of Israel's major wars before beginning a turbulent political career in 1973.

Long considered a pariah for his personal but "indirect" responsibility for the 1982 massacre of hundreds of Palestinians by Israel's Lebanese Phalangist allies in Beirut's Sabra and Shatila refugee camps, he was elected premier in 2001.

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Ex-Miss Venezuela: Funeral For Murdered Model

The funerals are taking place of a former Miss Venezuela beauty queen and her British ex-husband who were murdered as they returned from holiday.

Monica Spear and Thomas Henry Berry are being laid to rest a day after their families held a private wake in Caracas before allowing fans of the model-turned-actress to view her body.

The pair were killed in a robbery on an isolated stretch of highway while they were returning to the Venezuelan capital with their five-year-old daughter.

Mourners line up to pay tribute to the Venezuelan star

Although the weapon used in the robbery has not been found, it has emerged that a digital camera stolen during the attack led police to a criminal group which allegedly preyed on motorists on the stretch of road between Puerto Cabello and Valencia.

The camera was found at the home of one of seven people arrested over the killing and helped officers trace other suspects in the case.

According to Jose Gregorio Sierralta, chief of Venezuela's criminal police, at least 11 people were involved in the crime - four of whom remain on the run.

The pair had been returning to Caracas from holiday with their daughter

The commissioner claimed the 32-year-old alleged ringleader of the group, known as Fat Danilo, supplied younger men in the gang with guns and drugs.

The deaths of Ms Spear and her ex-husband provoked a national uproar over Venezuela's rampant violent crime.

Hundreds of mourners waited in long lines outside the Caracas chapel to pay their respects to the 29-year-old, who had a starring role in a popular TV soap series.

The former Miss Venezuela had become and actress

District mayor Ramon Muchacho said: "It is a crime that shakes the foundation of the country. And that puts in front of our eyes the awful reality we live in.

"Sometimes Venezuelans live in escapism, looking one way or the other, trying to forget what happens every day. But this crime reminds us that there are more than 20,000 families, who are left in mourning every year in Venezuela (due to violence)."

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Ukraine Protests: Ex-Minister Among 10 Injured

Ten people have been injured in early morning clashes between riot police and protesters outside a courthouse in Ukraine's capital, witnesses said.

Police used tear gas and batons to control the crowd of several hundred people who were protesting in Kiev against the sentencing of three activists.

Among those injured is former interior minister Yuri Lutsenko, who served under jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko.

Police said they have no information about injuries in the protests

Despite witness accounts, police said in a statement they have no information about injuries during the protest.

Meanwhile, 10km away in central Kiev, several thousand people have set up camp to protest against President Viktor Yanukovich's decision to spurn a European Union trade deal and strengthen Ukraine's economic ties with Russia.

The demonstrations began when Ukraine suspended talks with the EU on November 21 and have grown in size and intensity after unsuccessful attempts by police to clear the protest camp.

Demonstrations began in November last year and have since escalated

Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets on December 15 in a huge rally dubbed the 'day of dignity', where they demanded the resignation of the government and called for European human rights.

Ukraine remains deeply divided, between the European-leaning west, and Russian-speaking east.

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Cockroach Burrows Into Sleeping Man's Ear

A man in Australia had to be rushed to hospital in terrible pain after a large cockroach crawled into his ear as he slept, and an attempt to suck it out with a vacuum cleaner failed.

Medical treatment initially only caused the inch-long insect to burrow further into the head of Hendrik Helmer.

The unwelcome invader was eventually extracted by a doctor with forceps, but only after Mr Helmer had endured the unpleasant sensation of it being in the "throes of death-twitching".

His ordeal began in the early hours of Wednesday morning when he was woken by a sharp pain in his right ear, according to Australian TV.

He said: "I was hoping it was not a poisonous spider ... I was hoping it didn't bite me."

As the pain got worse, Mr Helmer said he tried to suck the insect out with a vacuum cleaner before squirting water in his ear.

"Whatever was in my ear didn't like it at all," he told the broadcaster.

With the pain now excruciating, his flatmate rushed him to hospital where a doctor put oil down the ear canal.

Friends of Mr Helmer, from Darwin, are now going to bed with headphones on

But this only forced the two centimetre cockroach to crawl in deeper.

Mr Helmer, from Darwin, said: "Near the 10 minute mark ... somewhere about there, he started to stop burrowing but he was still in the throes of death twitching."

The doctor then pulled the insect out of his ear.

"She (the doctor) said, 'You know how I said a little cockroach, that may have been an underestimate'," he said.

"They said they had never pulled an insect this large out of someone's ear."

Mr Helmer said he would not be taking any added precautions when sleeping, although friends of his said they were so concerned over his experience that they had begun going to bed with headphones on.

Cockroaches are among the hardiest insects on the planet.

They are capable of surviving for long periods on little food and can even tolerate high doses of radiation.

They will eat almost anything, and some species can produce over 20,000 young in their lifetime.

Famous for their hissing, cockroaches can reach nine centimetres in length, although most species are much smaller.

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Indian Diplomat's Family Slam 'Inhuman' US

The family of an Indian envoy whose arrest in the US has sparked a diplomatic crisis have slammed her "inhuman" treatment.

Uttam Khobragade, father of Devyani Khobragade, hit out after his daughter was strip-searched when arrested over allegations that she lied about how much she paid her maid.

He told a news conference in Delhi: "As a family, we would not like to touch the soil of the country which treats human beings in such an inhuman way, in an utter violation of human rights, an utter violation of the Geneva Convention."

Mr Khobragade said he expected his daughter to arrive in India with her husband and children "very soon" after she was ordered to leave the US, where she could not be prosecuted because of her diplomatic immunity status.

Ms Khobragade, India's deputy consul general in New York, was held in December on charges of visa fraud and underpaying a maid.

Delhi said it was "shocked and appalled" and demanded an apology after she was handcuffed and strip-searched at the time of her arrest.

Uttam Khobragade attacked the handling of his daughter's case as 'inhuman'

She left New York on a flight from JFK airport on Thursday night hours after she was indicted on criminal charges and India refused to waive her immunity.

Indian foreign ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said: "At the time of her departure to India, Counsellor Khobragade reiterated her innocence of charges filed against her.

"She affirmed her gratitude to the government of India, in particular to the external affairs minister, and the people of India, as also the media, for their strong and sustained support during this period."

Ms Khobragade could be arrested and forced to answer the charges if she returned to the US without diplomatic immunity.

The row began when Ms Khobragade was arrested following a complaint by her maid Sangeeta Richard.

Ms Khobragade's arrest sparked street protests in India

She in turn accused her employee of theft and attempted blackmail.

The circumstances of her arrest prompted protests on the streets of India and diplomatic reprisals from Delhi.

Senior Indian politicians and officials snubbed a US delegation on a recent visit and security barricades around the American embassy in Delhi were removed.

On Wednesday, the US embassy was ordered to stop "commercial activities on its premises" and a club with a pool restaurant and tennis court was reportedly told to shut down.

The Indian government also said drivers of US diplomatic cars could be charged with traffic offences.

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