West Bank Settlement Plan Blow To Peace Hopes

By Dominic Waghorn, US Correspondent

Palestinians say the two-state solution to the Middle East conflict is at death's door after Israel announced it is reviving plans to build on occupied land in a controversial area of East Jerusalem.

William Hague called on Israel to reverse the plan, saying the move undermined Israel's international reputation and created doubts about its commitment to achieving peace.

The British Foreign Secretary said he was "extremely concerned" at the plans to create 3,000 new homes, warning it would make the two-state solution "difficult to achieve".

The US government also criticised Israel for the move.

"This administration - like previous administrations - has been very clear with Israel that these activities set back the cause of a negotiated peace," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in Washington.

E1 is the only large area of empty land left between East Jerusalem and the West Bank, sandwiched between Israeli settlements.

Reviving plans to build a settlement there could be fatal for the peace process, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad told Sky News in Washington.

"It would kill it. This would be the last nail in the coffin of the peace process a process that fulfils that which has been and has become a matter of international consensus. The two-state solution to this conflict. It simply cannot happen if E1 is implemented."

Palestinians say they cannot sign any peace deal that does not have at least a part of Jerusalem as their capital, for religious and political reasons.

An Israeli settlement on E1 would make a land corridor between that capital and the rest of a Palestinian state impossible.

That makes building on E1 a very different proposition to other Israeli settlement plans. For that reason former US President George Bush made then Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon promise not to build on E1 and put construction plans there on ice.

Danny Seidemann, from Jerusalem NGO Ir Amim, told Sky News: "E1 is the fatal heart attack of the two-state solution.

"If E1 is built there is no possibility of a contiguous viable Palestinian state and no possibility of connecting East Jerusalem and its hinterland on the West Bank."

An Israeli government spokesman told Sky News those plans are now being unfrozen.

"Planning is now going ahead," he said.

No decision to build has yet been taken but extensive plans are known to already exist.

Israel is responding to a vote in the United Nations General Assembly to recognise Palestine as a non-member state. Some 138 countries voted in favour of the move, only eight supported Israel in opposing it.

Israel has also said it will build 3,000 new units in existing settlements.

Under all interpretations of international law, Israel's settlements on occupied land are illegal.

Israel agreed to freeze settlement construction under the Roadmap For Peace plan in 2002, but has failed to comply with that commitment.

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UK Eyes Oz's Tough Anti-Smoking Laws

By Jonathan Samuels, Australia Correspondent

The British Government is considering following Australia's lead by stripping all branding and logos from tobacco packaging.

From today, Australia becomes the first country in the world to put all tobacco products in standardised packs which are a drab olive colour and have the manufacturer's brand in a simple uniform font.

The packs are covered in graphic health warnings portraying dying cancer sufferers, diseased feet and ill babies.

The law bans the use of logos, brand imagery, symbols, other images, colours and promotional text.

Australia's plain packaging laws are a potential watershed for the global industry, which serves one billion regular smokers, according to World Health Organisation statistics.

Australia's government says the aim is to deter young people from smoking by stripping the habit of glamour.

It is relying on studies showing that if people have not started smoking by the age of 26, there is a 99% chance they will never take it up.

The potential hitch, experts say, is the popularity of social media amongst the very demographic the plan is targeting.

After a series of Australian laws banning TV advertising and sports sponsorship and requiring most sellers to hide cigarettes from view, online is the final frontier for tobacco marketing.

"If you are a tobacco marketer and you've only got this small window left to promote your products, online is the compelling place for you to be in," said Becky Freeman, a public health researcher at Sydney University.

Australia has become the first country to introduce plain cigarette packs

The tobacco industry recently lost a High Court bid to have the legislation stopped.

Scott McIntyre of British American Tobacco Australia, the maker of Winfield cigarettes, says the new packs are easier to fake and will boost black market trade, leading to cheaper, more accessible cigarettes.

"There will be serious unintended consequences from the legislation," he said. "Counterfeiters from China and Indonesia will bring lots more of these products down to sell on the streets of Australia."

The industry has shifted its focus to potential copycat legislation elsewhere. Ukraine, Honduras and the Dominican Republic have filed complaints with the World Trade Organisation, funded by the tobacco industry, claiming the laws unfairly restrict trade, although their trade with Australia is minimal.

Many smokers in Australia say the new packs won't change their habit. "As a 14-year veteran smoker the packets make no difference to me," one man told Sky News.

Another smoker said she may be more inclined to keep the packet, with its gruesome health warnings, hidden from view, but that it wouldn't stop her smoking.

Earlier this year, the British Government launched a consultation on plans to introduce similar standardised packaging. Information generated by the consultation, which closed in August, is still being analysed by health officials.

Dr Harpal Kumar, Cancer Research UK's chief executive, said: "The Australian Government is to be applauded. Today marks the day when tobacco companies are further stymied in their efforts to recruit Australian children into a lethal addiction.

A UK Department of Health spokesman said: "We have received many thousands of responses to the tobacco packaging consultation. We are currently in the process of carefully collating and analysing all the responses received.

"The Government has an open mind on this issue and any decisions to take further action will be taken only after full consideration of the consultation responses, evidence and other relevant information."

Australia aims to cut the number of people smoking from 15% of the population to just 10% in six years' time.

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Chinese Home In Middle Of Road Is Torn Down

A home that was left standing in the middle of a busy new road in China after its owners refused to leave has been demolished.

The couple living there, duck farmer Luo Baogen and his wife, were the lone holdouts from a neighbourhood that had been demolished to make way for the road.

Builders built it despite their stubbornness and their home ended up being surrounded by asphalt with motorists having to navigate around it.

The five-storey building was bulldozed on Saturday after the pair finally accepted compensation of 260,000 yuan (£25,000), officials said.

Luo Baogen, 67, points to his now-demolished home

Pictures of their home became an internet sensation in recent weeks and the building was a symbol of resistance by homeowners against officials accused of offering residents unfair compensation to move out.

Officials said Mr Luo, tired of the media attention, had consented to the deal voluntarily.

"Luo Baogen received dozens of people from the media every day and his house stands in the centre of the road. So he decided to demolish the house," Xiazhangyang village chief Chen Xuecai said.

Property has helped drive China's growth in recent decades, but it has also raised objections from homeowners who have been forced out to make way for new constructions.

Once complete, the highway through Xiazhangyang village, on China's eastern coast, will lead to Wenling railway station, which is served by the country's super-fast bullet trains.

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North Korea Unveils New Rocket Launch Plan

By Mark Stone, Asia Correspondent, in Beijing

North Korea says it is to launch a long-range rocket later this month.

The launch, planned for between between December 10 and December 22, has significantly increased already strained tensions with South Korea ahead of its presidential election later this month.

South Korea's Foreign Ministry reacted swiftly to the news saying that it had "grave concern" and that Pyongyang could face severe repercussions from the international community.

North Korea tried in April to launch a long-range rocket but it broke apart shortly after lift off. It crash landed in the Yellow Sea 60 seconds after it was launched.

Critics believe leader Kim Jong-un is flexing his military muscles

The country's space agency, the Korean Committee for Space Technology said that it had studied the mistakes made in the April launch and had improved the rocket.

"Scientists and technicians of the DPRK analysed the mistakes that were made during the previous April launch and deepened the work of improving the reliability and precision of the satellite and carrier rocket, thereby rounding off the preparations for launch," it said.

Pyongyang claimed that the much-hyped failed April launch was intended to put a polar-orbiting earth observation satellite into orbit.

However, the US, South Korea and the UN all insisted it was a disguised ballistic missile test using a three-stage variant of the Taepodong-2 inter-continental ballistic missile.

The April test put a halt to the latest international effort to engage with North Korea, with the US calling off plans to deliver badly needed food assistance.

Saturday's announcement confirmed more than a week of speculation that a new launch was imminent.

Satellite imagery, released by DigitalGlobe, showed a marked increase in activity at a North Korean launch site.

Comparisons with earlier satellite imagery of the Sohae Satellite Launch Station near the Chinese border showed an increased number of people, trucks and other equipment.

"Given the observed level of activity... a new tent, trucks, people and numerous portable fuel/oxidizer tanks, should North Korea desire, it could possibly conduct its fifth satellite launch event during the next three weeks." DigitalGlobe said in a statement last week accompanying its image.

Reports also emerged from Japan and the US suggesting their intelligence analysts were also concerned about an increase in activity.

On Thursday, the UN Security Council had cautioned Pyongyang against going ahead with another launch, saying it would be "extremely inadvisable".

South Korea has reacted with anger to the latest launch plan, saying the "so-called rocket launch" is a long-range missile that violates a UN ban.

Voters in South Korea go to the polls on December 19. The neck-and-neck contest is between the ruling conservative party candidate Park Geun-hye, daughter of former South Korean leader Park Chung-hee and her Democratic Union Party rival, Moon Jae-in.

The policies they are expected to adopt in relation to North Korea differ markedly. Democratic candidate Mr Moon is expected to adopt a "carrot & stick" approach. Ms Park's stance is more "stick then carrot".

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Chimpanzee Attack: Victim Gets $4m Settlement

A woman who was blinded, lost both hands and underwent a face transplant after being mauled by a chimpanzee has agreed a $4m (£2.5m) settlement.

Attack victim Charla Nash's family had filed a lawsuit seeking $50m (£31.2m) in damages from chimp owner Sandra Herold, who died in 2010.

Ms Nash was attacked outside Ms Herold's home in Stamford, Connecticut in February 2009.

"The case is resolved," said Brenden Leydon, the lawyer representing Ms Herold's estate. "I think it was a fair compromise on all sides."

Ms Nash, 57, now lives in a nursing home outside of Boston.

She had gone to Ms Herold's on the day of the attack to help lure the 200lb (91kg) chimpanzee, Travis, back into her home.

But the animal went berserk and ripped off Ms Nash's nose, lips, eyelids and hands before being shot dead by a police officer.

A month after the mauling, Ms Nash's family sued Ms Herold for alleged negligence and recklessness.

The lawsuit alleged Ms Herold knew Travis was dangerous, but failed to confine him to a secure area and allowed him to roam her property.

Travis had previously bitten another woman's hand and tried to drag her into a car in 1996. Two years later he had bitten a man's thumb.

In 2003, he escaped from Ms Herold's home and roamed around the town for hours before being captured, according to the court papers.

The family is trying to sue the state for $150m (£93m), but is awaiting permission from the state claims commissioner.

Ms Nash also wants to sue the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, which she holds responsible for not seizing the animal before the attack despite a state biologist's warning it was dangerous.

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Palestinian Status Upgraded After UN Vote

The UN General Assembly has voted overwhelmingly in favour of upgrading the Palestinians' status to a non-member observer state, defying the wishes of Israel and the US.

It marks a major diplomatic triumph for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who had met fierce opposition from the US and Israel over the vote.

The resolution was approved by a vote of 138-9, with 41 abstentions. It gives the Palestinian Authority the same status as the Vatican and enables it to join UN agencies, sign international treaties and access bodies such as the International Criminal Court (ICC).

A Palestinian flag was quickly unfurled on the floor of the General Assembly, behind the Palestinian delegation.

Thousands of Palestinians who had gathered in the West Bank city of Ramallah celebrated the news by firing shots into the air, embracing each other and chanting "God is greatest".

In his speech to the General Assembly before the vote, Mr Abbas said the assembly was "being asked ... to issue the birth certificate of Palestine".

His speech angered the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Mr Abbas celebrates the result of the vote

"The world watched a defamatory and venomous speech that was full of mendacious propaganda against the IDF (army) and the citizens of Israel," he said in a statement.

Mr Netanyahu said the UN move violated past agreements between Israel and the Palestinians and that Israel would act accordingly, without elaborating what steps it might take.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton dubbed the vote as "unfortunate and counterproductive", saying it would "place further obstacles in the path to peace".

She said: "Only through direct negotiations between the parties can the Palestinians and Israelis achieve the peace that both deserve: two states for two people, with a sovereign, viable and independent Palestine living side-by-side in peace and security with a Jewish and democratic Israel."

The UK abstained in the vote after Foreign Secretary William Hague said he could only back the move if the Palestinians gave a commitment to an immediate and unconditional return to the negotiating table with Israel.

He said he respected the decision but added: "We continue to believe that the prospects for a swift return to negotiations on a two state solution - the only way to create a Palestinian state on the ground - would be greater ... if President (Mahmoud) Abbas had been able to give the assurances we suggested, and without which we were unable to vote in favour of the resolution."

The vote had been certain to succeed, with most of the member states sympathetic to the Palestinians.

Several key countries, including France, this week announced they would support the move to elevate the status of the Palestinians.

Some countries fear the Palestinians' new access to the ICC could become a springboard for pursuing Israel for alleged war crimes or its ongoing settlement building on war-won land.

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New York Good Cop Explains Act Of Kindness

It was meant to be a private gesture, but the New York policeman who bought a homeless man a $100 (£62) pair of boots has won international and official praise.

Officer Larry DePrimo appeared before throngs of reporters and cameras on Thursday after being awarded a pair of cufflinks by his boss, NYPD Commisioner Ray Kelly.

The 25-year-old explained that he had been inspired by his grandfather to buy the anonymous barefoot man a pair of shoes, after encountering him during his beat near Times Square on a cold evening in early November.   

"He told me when I was much younger, 'If you are going to do something, do it 100%. And do it, or don't do it at all,'" Officer DePrimo said.

"I didn't really think anything of it at the time," he added. "What sticks out in my mind is he was such a kind gentleman that I had to help him. I wanted to."

Larry DePrimo's family home in Suffolk County, where the officer lives in a basement apartment, was also besieged by satellite trucks and journalists.    

And both he and the tourist who secretly snapped the photo - a civilian police worker from Arizona - were doing the rounds of US breakfast TV shows on Friday.

Jennifer Foster posted the image to the NYPD's Facebook Page and kicked off the internet phenomenon which has seen millions viewing the story and thousands of 'likes' and positive comments.

Officer Larry DePrimo pictured in 2011 on the NYPD Facebook page

But amid all the praise, there has been inevitable cynicism and some concern for the unidentified man at the centre of the modern-day fairytale of New York. 

"I walked by this man in Union Square Wednesday, November 21," wrote Melissa Gallaher-Smith. "And he was again barefoot. I remember very clearly because his pants were also hiked up and his feet were very large."

Several others reported seeing the same man - always without shoes. One told how she had bought a pair for him on a previous occasion, leading to speculation among others that he may be working some kind of scam.

Homeless charities also waded in, praising Officer DePrimo's actions but pointing out it is not in line with the NYPD's usual treatment of vagrants.

Patrick Markee, from the Coalition for the Homeless told the LA Times that successive New York mayors had sought to clean the city's streets of rough sleepers.

"It was a really moving photo and a moving story," he said, "and a stark contrast to a mayor who has largely ignored the homeless crisis that has spiralled out of control on his watch."

Whatever the truth of the situation, others argue, it does not detract from the young officer's caring and inspirational gesture.

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Napoleon: Coded Document Up For Auction

A document containing Napoleon's coded secret order to blow up the Kremlin is going up for auction in France.

The single line of numeric code - dated October 20, 1812, and signed "Nap" in the emperor's hand - told Paris of his desperate attempt to win victory against the Russians.

It reads: "At three o'clock in the morning, on the 22nd I am going to blow up the Kremlin.

"My cavalry is in tatters, many horses are dying."

By the time authorities in France received the letter three days later, the Russian czar's seat of power was in flames and the diminished French army was in retreat.

Napoleon bemoaned the loss of his cavalry in the coded document

The Napoleon code, used only for top-secret letters when the French emperor was far from home, aimed to stop enemies from intercepting French army orders.

It was regularly changed to prevent it from being cracked.

Jean-Christophe Chataignier, of Fontainebleau Auction House where the document will go under the hammer on Sunday, said it was unique.

He said: "Not only is it all in code, but it's the first time we see this different Napoleon.

"He went into Moscow in 1812 at the height of his power. He returned profoundly weakened.

"In Moscow, the Russians had fled days before and burnt down the city. There was no victory for Napoleon, nor were there any provisions for his starving, dying army.

"When he wrote this letter, he thinks he will be victorious."

Napoleon's "Grand Army" - 600,000 men - entered Russia in June 1812 but was woefully unprepared for the harsh weather and Russian tactic of scorching ceded ground.

In September this year, the Kremlin held huge celebrations 200 years after Russia's victory over Napoleon, including a re-enactment of the Battle of Borodino - one of the most damaging clashes for Napoleon's troops.

The document, which is accompanied by a second decoded sheet, is estimated to sell for up to £12,200.

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Afghan Girl's Throat Slit Over Refusal To Wed

A 15-year-old girl in Afghanistan has been murdered after her family refused a marriage proposal.

The teenager had her throat slit as she was carrying water from a river to her village home in the northern Kunduz province on Wednesday.

Two men have now been arrested over the attack.

Police said one of suspects had earlier proposed to the girl but the offer had been rejected by her family.

A police spokesman added: "The two men attacked her and slit her throat with a knife.

"They were arrested and are in police custody."

Extreme violence against women and girls remains a major problem in the conservative Muslim nation more than a decade after US-led troops brought down the notoriously brutal Taliban Islamist regime.

Figures from Oxfam show 87% of Afghan women have experienced physical, sexual or psychological violence or forced marriage.

Last month a 20-year-old woman was beheaded by her husband's family in the western province of Herat after she refused to become a prostitute, police said. Four people were arrested over the brutal killing.

And in September, five people were arrested over the public flogging of a 16-year-old girl for allegedly having an affair.

The girl was whipped 100 times in front of village elders and family members in the central Ghazni province. Her alleged boyfriend was fined.

Unmarried girls are often confined to the home and forbidden from maintaining any contact with men outside the immediate family.

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Tornado Hits Huge Steel Factory In Italy

A freak tornado has smashed into Europe's largest steel plant in the Italian city of Taranto, leaving one person missing and dozens injured.

Video footage shows the storm rolling in off the sea and tearing through the port city before hitting the huge IVLA site.

It brought down a chimney stack and caused significant damage to buildings at the factory's docks.

A total of 38 people - including 20 staff at the plant - are reported to be injured and divers have been searching for a worker who is unaccounted for after a dockside crane collapsed.

Three other people on the crane were rescued.

One worker is unaccounted for

The sudden storm filled the sky with grey swirls of cloud that ripped across the harbour.

It is the latest blow to IVLA, which has become one of the most pressing issues confronting the government of Prime Minister Mario Monti.

Workers stormed the plant on Tuesday to protest about a planned closure announced on Monday. Managers have been attempting to address health concerns amid reports of an elevated incidence of cancer in the area.

The government wants to save the factory, which employs around 20,000 people in a region of high unemployment, saying its closure would have devastating effects on the wider economy.

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