Billionaire Feared Dead In Helicopter Crash

A Chinese billionaire and his young son are among four people feared dead after the helicopter from which they were viewing his newly-purchased French chateau crashed into a river.

Lam Kok, the 46-year-old head of the Hong Kong-based Brilliant group, had just bought Chateau de la Riviere, a major Bordeaux vineyard.

The accident happened at the end of a festive day marking Thursday's sale of one of the region's oldest wine estates reportedly worth 30m euros (£25m).

He and his 12-year-old son were on the helicopter piloted by James Gregoire, the former owner, when the accident happened on Friday. An interpreter was also a passenger.

Rescuers search the Dordogne river for the victims of the helicopter crash

Emergency workers pulled a still-unidentified body from inside the helicopter after finding the wreckage in the Dordogne river, said local officials.

A large search operation was called off just before midnight with the helicopter's other three occupants still missing. The search is due to resume.

Lam Kok's wife had pulled out of the aerial tour at the last minute, saying she was "scared of helicopters", said a photographer at the event.

After a press conference, an introduction to the staff and dinner, Mr Gregoire was taking his buyer on a short tour of the 65-hectare (160-acre) vineyards and surrounding grounds.

When they did not return after 20 minutes, employees at the vineyard contacted emergency services.

A major search operation was launched using emergency helicopters, inflatable boats, rescue divers and around 100 officers on foot.

Lam Kok and his wife pose among the vines hours before the crash

Emergency workers managed to locate the wreckage in the river after police received a call from a witness who had seen the helicopter go down.

A previous owner of the Chateau de la Riviere, Jean Leprince, was killed in a plane crash in 2002.

Mr Gregoire bought the property, the largest in Bordeaux's Fronsac wine-producing region, the following year.

Earlier on Friday, the vineyard's managing director, Xavier Buffo, said during a press conference the sale marked the largest Chinese investment in Bordeaux property to date.

Hong Kong-based Brilliant, which specialises in rare teas and luxury hotels in China, had said it wanted to turn the chateau into a high class tea and wine tasting centre with a hotel nearby.

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Lockerbie Anniversary: Cameron Praises Victims

Relatives of those killed in the Lockerbie bombing are due to attend memorial services in the UK and US to mark the 25th anniversary of the atrocity.

Pan Am flight 103 was on its way from London to New York when it exploded above Lockerbie, in southern Scotland, on the evening of December 21 1988, killing 270 people - everyone on board and 11 on the ground.

British Prime Minister David Cameron described it as "one of the worst aviation disasters in history and the deadliest act of terrorism" ever committed in the UK.

Eleven people were killed on the ground in Lockerbie

He said: "Though 25 years have passed, memories of the 243 passengers, 16 crew and 11 Lockerbie residents who lost their lives on that terrible night have not dimmed.

"Over the last quarter of a century much attention has been focused on the perpetrators of the atrocity. Today our thoughts turn to its victims and to those whose lives have been touched and changed by what happened at Lockerbie that night.

"To families, friends, neighbours, loved ones, and all those caught up in the painful process of recovery, let us say to them: our admiration for you is unconditional. For the fortitude and resilience you have shown. For your determination never to give up. You have shown that terrorist acts cannot crush the human spirit. That is why terrorism will never prevail.

"And even in the darkest moments of grief, it is possible to glimpse the flickering flame of hope."

Memorial events attended by politicians, officials, families and members of the community are to take place in Lockerbie, London and at Arlington National Cemetery in the US, where most of the victims were from.

Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond and Lord Wallace, Advocate General for Scotland, will attend a service at 2pm at Dryfesdale Cemetery in the Dumfries and Galloway town, followed by a 30-minute wreath-laying ceremony.

Later, simultaneous remembrance services in Lockerbie and the States will get under way from 6.30pm (UK time) during which relatives will read the names of the victims and hold a minute's silence at 7.03pm (UK time) to mark a quarter of a century since the tragedy.

Westminster Abbey will also hold a service for the victims, from 21 countries, which will begin at 6.45pm and will include readings and a moment of silence.

Mr Salmond said: "As the community of Lockerbie marks the milestone, memorial events will be held in Westminster Abbey, Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia and at Syracuse University which lost 35 students in the bombing.

"But, inevitably, a focus of the day will be on the memorial in Lockerbie and it is there that I will pay my respects and condolences on behalf of the people of Scotland."

Abdelbaset al Megrahi was the only person to be convicted of the bombing

Dr Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora died in the disaster, told Sky News: "Anniversaries aren't in a sense that big a deal for the families of victims because we have to live with the lovely memories of those that we lost all that time ago, every day of every year. Bereavement in itself is sometimes a life sentence."

Graham Herbert, former rector at Lockerbie Academy which lost three students in the atrocity, said the market town "has always tried to move forward".

He told Sky News: "I know today there will be a lot of closed doors. A lot of people will not go out of their houses. The memories are just too bitter, there are still open wounds there.

"There are quite a lot of American families in the town today. Each year it just comes back to them, they are not allowed to heal. They want to commemorate, they want to be here where their loved ones fell, but it's hard, it's tough."

Libyan Abdelbaset al Megrahi was found guilty of the bombing in January 2001 and given a life sentence.

He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2008, leading to a decision to free him under compassionate release rules.

Scotland's Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill took that decision on August 20 the following year, sparking a row among politicians on both sides of the Atlantic.

Megrahi died in Tripoli, Libya in May last year. His family is considering lodging a fresh appeal to clear his name.

British relatives of victims who believe he was wrongfully convicted of the bombing are also planning another appeal against the conviction when they meet with lawyers in the new year.

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Morsi Faces Trial Over Egypt Prison Break

Egypt's ex-president Mohamed Morsi will stand trial for a prison break during the 2011 uprising against dictator Hosni Mubarak.

The deposed former leader and 132 others, including members of the Palestinian group Hamas and Lebanon's Hizbollah, face charges including killing policemen.

The case relates to a mass prison break during the protests against ex-president Hosni Mubarak.

Several Hamas and Hizbollah members were in jail and escaped during the unrest.

Almost 70 of the defendants are members of the Palestinian and Lebanese militant groups, who will be tried in absentia.

Protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square in July 2011

It marks the third set of charges brought against Mr Morsi since he was ousted by the army in July following major demonstrations against his rule.

He also faces trial along with 35 other Muslim Brotherhood leaders over allegations he conspired with foreigners to carry out terrorism in his country.

The investigating judge did not name any members of Hizbollah or Hamas in the latest charges.

Mr Morsi is already standing trial for inciting violence during protests outside the presidential palace a year ago when he was still in office.

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South Sudan: US Military Aircraft Hit By Rebels

Two US military aircraft have been fired at during an evacuation mission in South Sudan, wounding three service personnel, according to reports.

One is said to be in a critical condition. It is thought at least one of the planes was damaged.

South Sudan has blamed the attack on renegade troops.

Officials said the aircraft were heading to Bor, the capital of the state of Jonglei and the scene of some of the country's worst violence in the past week.

After being fired at the planes turned around and headed to Kampala in Uganda. From there the wounded service personnel were flown to Nairobi, Kenya for medical treatment.

Fighting broke out in the South Sudanese capital Juba between army factions last Sunday and has since spread to other regions.

Men displaced by the fighting in South Sudan

Kenya said on Saturday it will be sending troops to South Sudan to evacuate some 1,600 citizens. Many are trapped in Bor, which has been taken by rebels.

President Uhuru Kenyatta has "ordered the KDF (Kenya Defence Force) to commence immediate evacuation of the 1,600 Kenyans stranded in South Sudan", a spokesman said in a statement.

"Despite the relative calm in Juba, a number of other South Sudan towns have come under fire," he added, saying that Kenyans "are mainly in the town of Bor".

Others, in the towns of Rumbek, Ayod, and Panyabol "will also be airlifted to safety."

People being evacuated to Uganda in a RAF C17 plane

"The president has also ordered the immediate delivery of food, water and medicine to South Sudan (to help) tackle the emergency," the spokesman added.

"The delivery of these emergency supplies started this morning. Kenyan military aircraft are delivering consignments to South Sudan."

Kenya, which hosted the peace talks that ended the 1983-2005 civil war in Sudan, and which paved the way for South Sudan's independence two years ago, is also supporting efforts to end the latest crisis.

On Friday Uganda deployed troops to South Sudan to boost security and help its people escape safely.

A number of other nations including Britain have sent in emergency flights to evacuate their citizens.

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South Sudan Evacuations Amid Deadly Violence

A second flight will be sent to evacuate Britons fleeing fighting in South Sudan, after three United Nations peacekeepers were killed amid escalating violence.

The three Indian soldiers were killed when armed youths breached a UN compound in the country's Jonglei state.

The government says it has lost control of the region's capital, Bor, and fighting continues to spread through the newly-formed East African state following a reported coup attempt in national capital Juba on Sunday.

President Salva Kiir, above, blamed the coup on his ousted vice president

An estimated 20,000 people have sought refuge at two UN compounds in Juba, and another 14,000 in Bor.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has strongly advised all remaining British nationals to leave the country as fears grow that it may prove difficult to get out if the situation continues to deteriorate.

One group of British nationals has already left on a Foreign Office flight and a second is due to leave from the city.

Displaced men wait inside a UN compound in Juba

An FCO spokesman said: "The UK plans to send a second flight to South Sudan to evacuate British nationals who wish to leave from Juba airport on Friday December 20, following the evacuation of some British nationals on December 19.

"We strongly advise all British nationals in South Sudan to leave the country if they can do so safely. You may have difficulty leaving in the event of a further deterioration in security."

US President Barack Obama has deployed 45 military personnel to help bolster security at the US Embassy.

A young boy waits for supplies of water at the Juba compound

Non-emergency government personnel were ordered to leave earlier this week and a fifth evacuation flight is due to arrive.

In a written statement, Mr Obama said: "South Sudan stands at the precipice. Recent fighting threatens to plunge South Sudan back into the dark days of its past."

The United Nations has estimated that up to 500 people have been killed in fighting between rival factions following the coup attempt against the president by soldiers loyal to his former deputy, Riek Machar.

An estimated 34,000 people have been displaced by the violence

South Sudan's numerous ethnic groups have battled each other for decades.

On Sunday, violence broke out when the presidential guard splintered along ethnic lines.

Guards from the president's majority Dinka tribe tried to disarm guards from the Nuer ethnic group, triggering violence in the capital which has extended out into the country.

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Russia: Khodorkovsky Freed After Putin Pardon

Mikhail Khodorkovsky has been freed from a Russian prison camp after receiving a pardon from President Vladimir Putin.

The former oil tycoon was released within an hour of the Kremlin publishing a decree, which stated: "Guided by humanitarian principles, I decree that Mikhail Borisovich Khodorkovsky... should be pardoned and freed from any further punishment in the form of imprisonment.

"This decree comes into force from the day of its signing."

Mr Putin surprised journalists at the end of his annual end-of-year news conference on Thursday by announcing that he was planning to pardon Mr Khodorkovsky.

Mr Putin meets Mr Khodorkovsky at the Kremlin in May 2001

The 50-year-old former Yukos oil tycoon has been in prison since 2003 after being convicted in two trials on charges including fraud and embezzlement.

Human rights groups criticised both trials and have said they considered Mr Khodorkovsky a political prisoner.

The circumstances surrounding the pardon remained unclear.

Mr Khodorkovsky, once the richest man in Russia, previously said he would not request one because he would be seen to be admitting guilt.

Mr Khodorkovsky has been held at a prison camp in Segezha, northwest Russia

However, the newspaper Kommersant reported that he changed his mind after a meeting with Russian security services, who raised the possibility of a third trial and warned him that his mother's health was deteriorating.

"This conversation, which was conducted without lawyers, forced Mr Khodorkovsky to turn to the president," the article said. 

Mr Khodorkovsky gained considerable political influence under President Boris Yeltsin in the 1990s as one of the so-called "oligarchs" who surrounded the ailing leader.

However, when Mr Putin became president in 2000, their influence quickly faded.

Pussy Riot's Maria Altokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova are set to be freed

Economic and political analysts said the announcement was an attempt by Russia to improve its human rights record and international image ahead of the Winter Olympics in February.

Meanwhile, a Kremlin-backed bill is set to end the ordeal of a group of Greenpeace activists who were arrested near an Arctic oil rig in September, and allow two Pussy Riot protesters to be freed.

The amnesty laws would allow investigators to drop charges against the 30 activists, including six Britons who have not been allowed to return home.

Protesters Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina, who were jailed for two years after a demonstration in a Moscow cathedral, would be released early.

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Tuscany Hit By Mafia Toxic Waste Dumping

The Mafia has expanded its multi-billion pound toxic waste disposal racket to middle-class holiday hotspot Tuscany, a top prosecutor has warned.

Franco Roberti said that after flooding their Naples backyard with poisonous materials, the Camorra syndicate is now polluting one of the country's most famous tourist regions, as well as moving beyond Italy to eastern Europe.

The discovery of poisoned farmlands around Naples prompted street protests

Mr Roberti, Italy's national anti-Mafia prosecutor, said investigators have uncovered Camorra toxic waste-dumping in the Prato area just 10 miles (17km) north of Florence, the capital of Tuscany.

He said Italy is also investigating a trail of waste being shipped to countries in eastern Europe, although he would not reveal which ones because the probe is ongoing.

Franco Roberti warned the toxic waste trade has spread to Tuscany

Until recently, the toxic waste - mostly from industries in northern Italy - had been dumped in Naples and the surrounding area.

Investigators recently discovered that farmlands around Naples are contaminated with dangerous levels of arsenic, lead and other harmful materials.

The revelations prompted tens of thousands of people to march through the city's streets last month.

Mr Roberti said the southern territory where the Camorra holds sway "is a little saturated", pushing the mob into new areas.

Increasingly close ties between the Naples-based gangsters and Chinese organised crime make the Prato area a logical choice for new dumping grounds.

The Camorra has a long-running and profitable relationship with Chinese mobsters, who use the Prato area as a base for the manufacturing and illicit sale of fake designer clothing.

Mr Roberti said the Camorra has no need to shop around for customers among the factories, processing plants and hospitals of northern Italy.

Rows over the waste business have led to rubbish piling up in Naples

After two decades in the racket, the Camorra are the go-to people for anyone who wants toxic waste to disappear for a fraction of the cost of what it takes to do it legally.

Past probes have found that the Camorra and their Chinese contacts have schemed together in the lucrative waste racket.

A 2005 operation code-named Marco Polo, carried out by Carabinieri paramilitary police, resulted in the confiscation in Naples' port of 20 containers loaded with toxic waste and hospital refuse ready for shipping to China and Hong Kong.

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Woolwich Killer Adebolajo 'A Hero' In Kenya

By Alex Crawford, Special Correspondent, in Mombasa

The young man, who we believe is an al Shabaab recruit, glared at me.

"If it wasn't for the cleric being here with us, I would cut off your head," he said.

His view is not unusual among his particular Muslim group in the Kenyan coastal town of Mombasa.

Michael Adebolajo was found guilty of murdering soldier Lee Rigby

Here, Michael Adebolajo is considered a hero, while British soldiers and even, in some quarters, British people, are considered justifiable targets because of what is perceived to be the British Government's aggressive involvement in Islamic countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq.

It is the same terror network which British intelligence believes Adebolajo plugged into when he set off from south London to try to join the al Shabaab fighting brigade in Somalia in 2010.

It is the same network and the same people which the British woman Samantha Lewthwaite, also known as the White Widow, connected with and moved amongst. Lewthwaite is being hunted by Interpol in connection with a string of terror incidents in Kenya.

Influential Muslim leader Makaburi says Britain is "at war" with Islam

The cleric he is referring to tells me he isn't a cleric, although everyone else says he is.

He is undoubtedly an influential leader and he has delivered several speeches inside a number of mosques. He is known by most people in Kenya as Makaburi, meaning grave in Swahili, although his real name is Abubaker Shariff Ahmed.

He is named by the United Nations as a recruiter and facilitator of al Shabaab. His response to that accusation when I put it to him is always: "Let them prove it. There is no proof whatsoever I even know anyone from al Shabaab."

His views, and those of the young men who dote on his words, are astonishingly similar to the 'defence' put up in court by Adebolajo: that he, and others like him, are soldiers of Allah, fighting a Holy war.

Sky's Alex Crawford meets the alleged al Shabaab recruit

So the young man in front of us tells us with absolute conviction: "Britain is killing Muslims all over the world - in Iraq, in Afghanistan, in Pakistan. We are just defending ourselves. Adebolajo is a hero and he will receive glory from Allah."

And in Kenya, a significant number of Muslims feel persecuted and vulnerable.

They are the ones who are bitterly opposed to Kenya's military involvement across the border in Somalia, where soldiers are trying to stop the flood of al Shabaab recruits from crossing the border.

Police chief Samuel Obara says border security is an international problem

They believe Britain's support of that action - in words as well as in deeds through their training of Kenyan troops - justifies attacks against British soldiers, British targets, British interests.

Al Shabaab's claim that it carried out the attack on the Westgate shopping centre in Nairobi in September which killed nearly 70 people has made some Muslims in Kenya only feel more at risk and hunted.

It has resulted in much more intensive attention on the activities on the coast in Mombasa and further afield in Lamu County - the favoured route for radicalised youths to travel through to Somalia.

The residents of Faza island on the Lamu archipelago where Adebolajo stayed when he was trying to reach Somalia were very reluctant to talk to us. The few who did spoke in no uncertain terms about how virulently against al Shabaab they are.

The island is very much off the tourist trail. It is undeveloped and remote. A perfect cover for those who want to disappear under the authorities' radar and make their way to Somalia. It seems inconceivable that a young man from south London would be able to get around without some help and guidance.

The route from Lamu County into Somalia is favoured by radicalised youths

Senior Supt Samuel Obara, the head of Lamu East Border Police, told Sky News the border - part water and part land - is porous and difficult to monitor.

"We need international help," he said. "This is an international problem and we need other countries to help us."

He went onto say many of the border villages and towns were now 'cleansed' of al Shabaab.

"You can walk around here safely now," he said.

But he admits it is still being used as a route by extremists wanting to reach al Shabaab in Somalia, and British intelligence services believe there are several hundred Britons with links to the terror network.

Most have gone on to fight in Syria but there are concerns about those who may return to Britain, like Adebolajo, to carry out attacks on home territory.

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The World's Newest Country May Not Last

The world's newest country may not last the decade if the violence seen in South Sudan this week escalates.

Up to 500 people have died in days of fighting in the capital Juba and thousands, including foreign oil workers, are sheltering in or outside UN compounds. 

Amid talk of a possible coup attempt 10 senior politicians, including former cabinet ministers have been arrested and a night-time curfew imposed.

The authorities deny that the violence is on tribal lines, but the evidence suggests otherwise.

South Sudan, an oil-rich country, became independent from Sudan in 2011 following a long guerrilla war but has yet to knit itself into a unified nation.

During the war years the main ethnic groups in southern Sudan, the Dinka and the Nuer, each formed militias to fight the Sudanese army. Now the South Sudanese army is made up of units which are still divided on tribal lines.

President Salva Kiir Mayardit is a Dinka. In July he dismissed the vice president, Riek Machar, who is  Nuer, after Mr Machar announced he would compete for the presidency in the 2015 elections.

The fighting appears to have started after a Dinka unit was deployed at the presidential guard barracks which is dominated by soldiers who are Nuer. The Dinka came out on top, tensions rose throughout the capital, and the fighting spread. 

Although the city is reported to be calmer today there have been incidents of inter-ethnic violence outside of the capital.

The UK has sent an aircraft to Juba to evacuate some of the estimated 500 Britons in the country and has temporarily withdrawn some staff and dependants from its embassy.

Other countries are taking similar measures but the airport is still open and some commercial flights are operating.

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Gaia: Huge Billion-Star Telescope Launched

The world's most powerful satellite camera has been launched into space aboard a rocket.

Gaia blasts into space on the Soyuz rocket

The £620m observatory lifted off from the Sinnamary launch complex in French Guiana on time at 9.12am (UK time).

The huge telescope is going to map the precise positions and distances to more than a billion stars.

It is hoped that Gaia will give astronomers the first realistic picture of how the Milky Way galaxy is made up.

The observatory's exceptional sensitivity may also detect many thousands of previously unseen celestial objects, including new planets and asteroids.

As many as 50,000 planets outside our solar system could be spotted during the satellite's five-year life.

It will also keep a watch for exploding stars - supernovae - which are rarely observed in real time.

Gaia was aboard the Soyuz rocket which blasted off on time

The European Space Agency (Esa) satellite was sent up on a Soyuz rocket and Gaia was being released from the rocket 40 minutes later.

Gaia has been in development for more than 20 years.

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