Sandy Hook Shooting: New School For Survivors

By Brian Donathan, in Monroe, Connecticut

Officials have admitted the Connecticut school where 20 children and six adults were shot dead may never reopen, as new classrooms are set up nearby for survivors of the massacre.

Staff and volunteers have been working around the clock, moving desks, chairs and filing cabinets from Sandy Hook Elementary, Newtown, to the former Chalk Hill Middle School in neighbouring Monroe.

Sandy Hook has been shut down indefinitely following Friday's massacre.

Lieutenant George Sinko, of Newtown Police Department, said he "would find it very difficult" for students to return to the same school but added: "We want to keep these kids together. They need to support each other."

A Newtown school employee, who wanted to remain anonymous due to the sensitive nature of the process and because his son attended Sandy Hook, said the furniture being moved to Chalk Hill was from sections of the school not affected by the shooting rampage.

He said officials have examined the floor plans of both schools to help make the young students' secondary home as familiar as possible.

"The classrooms will be set up to be as seamless as possible, so they'll think they're walking into their old classrooms," he said.

Survivors will study at the old Chalk Hill Middle School, seven miles away

The worker added that despite some people in the town saying it was too soon to send the children back to school, he believes the sooner they are back in the classroom the better.

"My son is getting on that bus," he said. "I'll follow him to school, and when he gets off the bus I'll give him a wink. He'll be fine. They're all going to be fine."

Lieutenant Brian McCauley, a spokesman for the Monroe Police Department, said: "These kids have been through something that none of us ever, ever want to go through in our lives, and we want to make their transition back to school as easy, simple and sensitive as possible."

Officials have not determined an exact start date at Chalk Hill, but Monroe Fire Marshal William Davin said the process of making sure the school meets fire and state building codes should be completed in "a matter of days".

Representatives from the Newtown school district will make the final call on when the students will return, Lt McCauley explained.

He said police had been stationed at all schools in Monroe and that officers will be on hand once Chalk Hill opens.

Monroe resident Vicki D'Auria expressed pride in knowing that her town had reached out to aid survivors of the Sandy Hook massacre.

"I've never been more proud to live in Monroe," she said. "The fact that all those kids can now come ... they don't have to go back to that school, it's very nice."

She said her 10-year-old son, who is a fourth grader at Fawn Hollow Elementary next to Chalk Hill, is hoping he gets to make a welcome poster before the Sandy Hook children arrive.

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South Africa Poverty Survey Shows Slow Progress

By Alex Crawford, Special Correspondent, in Johnnesburg

A government study has shown more than half of the people in South Africa live in poverty.

The survey, which is the latest to be conducted by the government's statistics agency but dates back to 2009, shows that South Africa is one of the most unequal countries in the world.

And the first census done in a decade indicates that white South Africans still take home six times more pay than their black compatriots - nearly two decades after the end of apartheid.

The reports come at a difficult time for the South African president, Jacob Zuma, who is fighting to be re-elected as leader of the ruling ANC party.

The outcome of that vote will determine who leads the party into the next election - and therefore who'll likely be the South African president until 2019.

The reports show the country's black middle class is growing fast. It's now the same size as the white South African middle class, helped by the country's employment laws which were drawn up to redress decades of inequality and unfairness by previous white regimes.

A protest in Cape Town in August against the government

But a report by Statistics South Africa shows two-thirds of the country's youth live in poor households which have a per capita income of less than 650 rand a month (around £47).

Mr Zuma applauded the results of the census which indicates that the numbers of those living without basic amenities has been halved. The incomes of black households have increased by 169% over the past 10 years. But he conceded the country had a long way to go.

For Seth Maggagane, who lives in the township of Alexandra in Johannesburg, progress can't come soon enough. He has been in the same one-room shed for the bulk of the post-apartheid years.

Here he fends off rats during the night and works as a gardener to try to support his family living miles away in Petersburg.

"The rats come and bite us at night. Even I have been bitten here," he says, gesturing towards his bed which takes up most of the room of his home.

President Zuma is fighting for re-election as leader of the ANC

He has been supplementing his income by catching rats and handing them into Lifeline, a charity which has started an initiative to try to crackdown on the rat problem in Alexandra. For every 60 rats that Seth can catch, he will be given a free mobile phone. He's on his second so far. Not as good as Peter Kapolo who is on his third and has brought in 93 rats in a single day.

It's a world away from Dainfern and the life of Puleng Mash-Spies, who recently shot to fame when she appeared on the popular television programme Come Dine With Me South Africa.

Despite coming from Sebokeng township and witnessing a 'necklace' murder when she was nine, she now runs her own beauty business with all the comforts of a very wealthy woman including Christian Louboutin shoes and a diamond in her front tooth.

But she is extremely critical of the slow pace of change in the country for the millions of her fellow black South Africans.

"It didn't come easy and I wasn't lucky. My parents worked hard for me to become the woman that I am today. That's why for me Sebokeng is so touchy. And I do feel bad for those who are still there," she says with tears running down her cheeks.

"But I'm glad now they can't see the things that I saw. I was only nine …

"The ANC did some good things but now they are losing the plot. We don't want to go back there. I don't want my kids, my family to go back and see what I saw. If we don't change things in South Africa, we will go back there."

She means that the growing feelings of discontent against the country's leaders, against those who have such a lot while so many have so little, will lead to even greater outpourings of dissatisfaction than already seen in the country.

The deputy president, Kgalema Motlanthe, who is challenging Mr Zuma for the ANC leadership, has said South Africa is at "tipping point" after the deaths of 34 miners shot by police during violent strikes at the country's mines.

Mr Zuma has denied that is the case - but there are plenty in the country who would disagree with him.

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China Cracks Down On 'Doomsday Cults'

Hundreds of members of a Christianity-inspired religious sect have been arrested by Chinese authorities and accused of spreading rumours about the end of the world.

Official state media said the Almighty God group had been using doomsday prophecies linked to the ancient Mayan calendar to encourage followers to rise up against the Communist Party.

More than 400 followers of the sect, also known as Oriental Lightning, were held in just one province, state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) said.

"These cult members recently latched on to the Mayan doomsday scenario to predict the sun will not shine and electricity will not work for three days beginning on December 21," the state-run news agency Xinhua reported, citing the public security bureau of Xining, capital of the southwestern province of Qinghai.

Police seized leaflets, DVDs, books and other material forecasting the end of the world during raids across eight provinces and regions.

"The investigation into the 'Almighty God' evil sect forms an important aspect of our maintenance stability work and we will closely link it up with our anti-self-immolation fight," CCTV cited Qinghai police as saying.

Nearly 100 Tibetans have set themselves on fire since 2009 in protest at China's rule of its Tibetan-inhabited regions, which include Qinghai.

China's ruling Communist Party has brutally suppressed other religious groups that have refused to toe the party line, including the Buddhist-inspired Falun Gong, which was banned in the late 1990s.

The country has a long history of religiously-inspired anti-government movements, most notably the nineteenth century "Taiping Heavenly Kingdom", led by a man who claimed to be the younger brother of Jesus Christ, gathered hundreds of thousands of followers in an attempt to overthrow the emperor.

Church of Almighty God was reportedly founded in Heilongjiang province in 1989 and later began to teach that Jesus Christ had returned to Earth in the form of a Henan woman named Deng.

On its website, the group calls China "a fortress of demons and a prison controlled by the devil".

The suggestion that the apocalypse is imminent has also been blamed for the stabbing of 23 children at a school in Henan province.

"Initial police investigation found Min (the suspect arrested by police), a long-term epilepsy sufferer, had been strongly psychologically affected by rumours of the forthcoming end of the world predicted by ancient prophecy," the Xinhua agency reported.

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Hazing Death: Two Dozen Students Face Charges

Nearly two dozen students at Northern Illinois University are facing charges after a new fraternity member died in a suspected alcohol-fuelled initiation ceremony.

Arrest warrants were issued on Monday for 22 members of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity in DeKalb. 

Five members are charged with felony hazing connected to the apparent student ritual. The others are facing misdemeanour charges.

There was no reaction from the fraternity to the development.

First year student David Bogenberger was found unresponsive at the fraternity house in November.

The local coroner ruled the 19-year-old died from cardiac arrhythmia, with alcohol intoxication as a contributing cause.

The coroner said the student's blood-alcohol level was about five times the legal limit for driving.

Northern Illinois University has temporarily removed the fraternity as a recognised student organisation.

The Bogenberger family have released a statement asking college and fraternity officials to help bring an end to potentially deadly "hazing and initiation rituals".

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Jalal Talabani: Iraqi President Has Stroke

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani is fighting for his life after suffering a stroke, an official has said.

Mr Talabani is being treated at a hospital in Baghdad but may be flown to another country for treatment, said Prime Minister's spokesman Ali al Moussawi.

Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki is visiting the president at the hospital in the Iraqi capital.

Mr Talabani, 79, a veteran of the Kurdish guerrilla movement, is Iraq's first president from the ethnic group.

He has struggled with his health in recent years. He was treated for exhaustion in Jordan in 2007 and underwent heart surgery in the US in 2008.

Mr Talabani has lived through decades of conflict with the central government and other Kurdish groups, including a period in exile, before the fall of Saddam Hussein.

He assumed the largely ceremonial presidency in the years after the 2003 invasion, and has often used the role to mediate between sectarian and ethnic groups.

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Pakistan: Polio Vaccination Workers Shot Dead

Gunmen on motorbikes have shot dead four women giving polio vaccinations in Pakistan.

The attacks were carried out in three different areas of Karachi, the country's biggest city.

The women - all Pakistanis - were killed on the second day of a three-day nationwide drive against the disease, which is endemic in Pakistan.

The health minister for Sindh province said he had ordered a halt to all polio vaccinations in Karachi following the shootings.

Police said another polio worker was shot dead there on Monday, although the circumstances of his death only became clear later.

Karachi is on the coast of southern Pakistan

Senior police officer Shahid Hayat blamed the killings on "militants who issued a fatwa against polio vaccination in the past".

Pakistan is one of only three countries where polio, a highly-infectious and crippling disease, remains endemic, along with neighbouring Afghanistan and Nigeria.

But efforts to tackle the problem have been hampered over the years by suspicion over vaccination drives.

Warlord Hafiz Gul Bahadur and the Pakistani Taliban banned polio vaccinations in the country's tribal northwest, where polio is a particular problem, last June.

They claim the anti-polio campaign is a cover for spying activities by the West.

Officials say the ban is putting the health of 240,000 children in North and South Waziristan at risk.

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Instagram Pic Policy Change Prompts Backlash

Some Instagram users are threatening to abandon the service after the firm announced it was giving itself the right to sell people's photos to advertisers.

The Facebook-owned photo-sharing network is introducing new terms of service on January 16 which are an automatic opt-in - unless people decide to leave.

The new terms mean Instagram can share information about the people using the service with Facebook - and with its advertisers.

As well as giving itself the right to sell people's pictures, the new terms mean users will receive no payment themselves and will receive no notification about what is happening to their images.

Tech website BuzzFeed said: "There's an adage that's basically a cliche in tech now: if you are not paying for it, you're not the customer. You're the product being sold.

"Well, there's a reason that it's become cliche, and that's because it's true - over and over and over again."

Instagram users were quick to take to social media such as Twitter to voice their concern - and in some cases their outrage.

User Wardina Safiyyah tweeted: "Shud we all leave IG now? Instagram says it now has the right to sell your photos."

Fellow user maggielmcg wrote: "Bye Instagram. As of Jan they will be able to sell user's pics as stock photos with no revenue share."

John Frankel was more forthright, tweeting: "DISGUSTING: Instagram says it now has the right to sell your photos."

Wired even wrote an online article telling users How to Download Your Instagram Photos and Kill Your Account.

Instagram explained the changes in its new terms of service, saying: "Some or all of the Service may be supported by advertising revenue.

"To help us deliver interesting paid or sponsored content or promotions, you agree that a business or other entity may pay us to display your username, likeness, photos (along with any associated metadata), and/or actions you take, in connection with paid or sponsored content or promotions, without any compensation to you."

Sarah Byrt, of intellectual property specialist Mayer Brown, said: "Instagram may face another user backlash once people see how their photos are used.

"It makes it all the more important that users check their privacy settings. Legally, it doesn't mean Instagram can ignore other rights.

"For example, if the user had taken a picture of someone famous without their consent, or had taken a picture of something protected by copyright, Instagram - or the company using the picture in an ad - still need to think about those issues."

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Fiji: Cyclone Evan Leaves Trail Of Destruction

Tropical Cyclone Evan has left a swathe of destruction across Fiji, destroying homes, flooding rivers and stranding thousands of tourists.

The storm hammered the Pacific nation for more than 12 hours.

But, despite the damage, officials reported no fatalities as the storm headed out to sea on Tuesday morning and was downgraded a notch to category three.

Neighbouring Samoa had no advance notice when Evan pummelled it late last week and officials there said the official death toll had risen to five, with up to 10 people still missing.

Fears that Evan would rival the deadly force of Cyclone Kina, which killed 23 people when it swept through Fiji in 1993, proved unfounded, largely due to extensive planning as the storm advanced.

However, Fijians face a long road to recovery on an island where entire houses have been blown away.

Scene in the village of Sanasana, east of Natadola Bay

Almost 8,500 people had sheltered in evacuation centres and thousands of tourists, many of whom were relocated from other islands for their own safety, rode out the storm on main island Viti Levu's resorts.

"Everyone was hunkered down, the winds were so strong last night (Monday) you couldn't even open your doors, it was over 200km per hour (125 mph)," said Marc Hinton, a New Zealander visiting Fiji.

Western parts of Viti Levu saw the most destruction, as Evan tore through the area overnight.

The Fiji Times have described the township of Lautoka in Viti Levu as a "war zone".

"The destruction this cyclone has caused is beyond words. Not one house has been spared here," Lautoka resident Melaia Waisele said.

Samoa's Disaster Management Office (DMO) said almost 5,000 people were still in evacuation centres and power remained off in much of the country.

DMO spokeswoman Filomena Nelson said the damage caused by the storm, estimated by the government to cost $130m (£80m), was more extensive than when a tsunami hit the country in 2009, killing 143 people.

"While the cost in lives has been less, the destruction is greater than the tsunami because it's affected a far larger area," she said.

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Samsung Drops Attempts To Ban Apple Products

Samsung has withdrawn lawsuits which seek to ban the sale of Apple products in Europe, although the companies' legal battle over copyright continues.

A statement by the South Korean company said it strongly believed companies should compete in the marketplace, not in court.

"Samsung remains committed to licencing our technologies on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms," it said. 

"In this spirit, Samsung has decided to withdraw our injunction requests against Apple on the basis of our standard essential patents pending in European courts, in the interest of protecting consumer choice."

The announcement came shortly after a US judge rejected Apple's call to ban the sale of several Samsung smartphone models in the US.

Apple applied for the ban after a jury found in its favour in August, saying the Seoul-based firm had illegally used Apple technology.

District Judge Lucy Koh's decision is part of a series of rulings that she is releasing over several weeks to address the many legal issues that were raised in the case.

Apple was awarded $1.05bn (£648m) in damages after jurors found Samsung had copied critical features of the iPhone and iPad.

Samsung was found to have copied features of the iPad and iPhone

It had urged the judge to permanently ban the US sales of eight Samsung smartphone models, while also seeking to add millions more to the award.

"The phones at issue in this case contain a broad range of features, only a small fraction of which are covered by Apple's patents," Judge Koh wrote in her ruling.

"Though Apple does have some interest in retaining certain features as exclusive to Apple, it does not follow that entire products must be forever banned from the market because they incorporate, among their myriad features, a few narrow protected functions."

Earlier this month, she appeared ready to trim the $1.05bn in damages that had been awarded by the jury, but gave no indication as to how much.

Adding to the legal tangle, Apple filed a second lawsuit earlier this year, alleging that Samsung's newer products are unfairly using Apple's technology.

That trial is scheduled to go ahead in 2014. The two companies are also locked in legal battles in several other countries.

Earlier this year, Apple lawyer Harold McElhinny claimed Samsung "willfully" made a business decision to copy Apple's iPad and iPhone.

He called the jury's $1.05bn award a "slap on the wrist".

Samsung lawyer Charles Verhoeven argued Apple was trying to tie up Samsung in courts around the world rather than competing with it in the marketplace.

Samsung also claimed it had been deprived of a fair trial as the California courthouse is located just 12 miles from Apple's headquarters in Cupertino.

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Sandy Hook Shootings: Protest At Gun Lobby HQ

Protesters have marched on the headquarters of the US gun lobby as the clamour for tighter firearm controls grows in the wake of the Newtown school massacre.

As the first two funerals for young victims of the Sandy Hook shooting took place, 75 activists descended on the Washington DC headquarters of the powerful National Rifle Association (NRA).

The protesters chanted: "Shame on the NRA," and demanded the organisation drop its hardline stance and make way for new gun control laws.

"More than anyone else, the NRA is responsible for the more than 12,000 people murdered by guns every year in this country," said Josh Nelson, the campaign manager for the progressive Credo Action group that organised the protest.

"We call on the NRA's lobbyists to stand down and allow Congress to pass common-sense gun laws."

The activists' cause has been backed by two pro-gun US senators, who have come out in favour of reform after the murder of 20 children and six adults at the elementary school.

Democrats Mark Warner and Joe Manchin, who have so-called "A" ratings from the NRA, said the Newtown massacre has convinced them the time for change has come.

Gunman Adam Lanza

West Virginia's Senator Manchin told MSNBC it was time to "move beyond rhetoric" on gun control.

He said: "I don't know anyone in the sporting or hunting arena that goes out with an assault rifle. It's common sense."

Senator Warner said "the status quo isn't acceptable" and in a later interview called for "rational gun control".

Connecticut governor Dannel Malloy called for changes to the law during an emotional news conference, where he broke down while describing the ordeal of parents who lost their children at Sandy Hook.

He said: "You try to feel their pain, but you can't. You try to find some words that you hope will be adequate, knowing that they will be inadequate, and you see little coffins and your heart has to break."

He added: "I'm a big believer in hunting rights and a big believer in supporting the Second Amendment, but there's a reality that this stuff has gone too far and is too easy to own.

"Do I think Washington DC needs to get its act together and enact stricter gun control laws at the federal level? You bet I do."

New York's popular mayor Michael Bloomberg made an appearance flanked by relatives of shooting victims and demanded that President Barack Obama make good on his promise to tackle gun violence in the US.

On Sunday, Mr Obama told residents at a vigil in Newtown the US must do more to protect its children.

Since then, White House spokesman Jay Carney has said tighter gun control laws are part of the answer to violence in the US, but the president did not have a specific policy to announce.

Mr Obama is understood to support reinstating a ban on assault rifles that expired in 2004.

Since the shootings, the NRA has been silent.

Requests for comments have gone unanswered, and officials are turning down interview requests until they have more details.

The NRA's 1.7 million-strong Facebook group has disappeared, and the group's Twitter account - which is a favourite platform to communicate with supporters - has not sent a message since before the grim reality of Friday's shootings set in.

Governor Dan Malloy was emotional after victim Noah Pozner's funeral

The massacre has prompted private capital group Cerberus Capital Management to sell its shareholding in Freedom Group, which manufactures the the Bushmaster AR-15 assault rifle used. 

The Dick's Sporting Goods chain also announced it was suspending sales of modern rifles and removing all guns from display at stores near Newtown during "this time of national mourning".

But the industry remains powerful, directly employing more than 98,000 people and generating another 111,000 jobs in supplier and ancillary industries, according to the US firearms trade association, the National Shooting Sports Foundation.

It also says the firearms and ammunition industry was responsible for as much as $31.84 billion in total economic activity in the country in 2012 and, along with its employees, paid $2.07 billion in taxes.

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