Egypt Temporary Leadership Names Interim PM

Egypt's presidency will appoint former finance minister Hazem el Beblawi as interim prime minister in a transitional government.

Acting head of state Adli Mansour also appointed former UN nuclear agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei as deputy to the president, responsible for foreign affairs.

Egypt's Islamist Nour Party has said it does not object to el Beblawi's nomination, but it was studying the likely appointment of el Baradei, the party's leader said in a statement.

Soldiers in gas masks on patrol in the Cairo suburb of Nasr City

The news comes as Egypt is set to hold parliamentary elections by early 2014 as part of a swift timetable for social change.

According to an earlier decree issued by Mr Mansour, Egyptians will have five months to amend the constitution - suspended after Mohamed Morsi was removed from power in a military coup - before heading to the polls three months later.

Mr Mansour, a top judge who was picked by the military to steer the country through another period of transition, has promised a quick return to civilian rule.

However, Zaid al Ali, a constitutional lawyer, said the 33-article decree was "vague" enough to allow Mr Mansour to draw out the parliamentary vote.

Adli Mansour's decree comes after clashes between protesters and the army

"The way it was worded suggests they plan to have the entire election within that timeframe," he said, but warned the interim president may only require candidates to start registering within the schedule set.

The decree was issued after 51 people were killed close to the gates of the Republican Guard officers' club in Cairo.

Many of those who died were supporters of Mr Morsi, who they believe is being held inside the building. Authorities have so far arrested 650 mostly pro-Morsi protesters after the killings.

Brotherhood leader Asem Abdel Maged delivers a speech to supporters

Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood, which has led demonstrations against last week's military overthrow of the Islamist leader, have called for an "uprising" in response to the "massacre".

"Each province is organising funerals and rallies, and each province will have a central sit-in," Brotherhood spokesman Gehad El-Haddad said.

Video footage obtained by Sky News showed soldiers firing tear gas and volleys of automatic rifle fire during an apparent pre-planned operation to clear the streets of protesters.

A man holds a bloodstained shirt following earlier clashes with the army

A spokesman for the Nour Party, the country's second-biggest Islamist movement after the Muslim Brotherhood, said it would accept the choice of former finance minister Samir Radwan as interim prime minister.

Political sources said Radwan had emerged as the favourite for the post.

UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon has condemned the latest wave of bloodshed and called for an independent inquiry.

Supporters of Mohamed Morsi say their supporters were 'massacred'

He urged Egyptians "to be mindful of the precarious path the country is now on and to do everything possible to avoid further escalation", his spokesman Martin Nesirky said.

Meanwhile, Middle East envoy Tony Blair has told Sky News there are "no easy solutions" to the crisis. Speaking to Sky's Dermot Murgnahan, Britain's former Prime Minister said Egypt needed to change its way of thinking for democracy to work.

"This wasn't a situation of people electing a Muslim Brotherhood government and then immediately the army stepping in," he said. "The army and people gave the government a chance to work but it lost support as was literally not governing.

"One the one hand you want to condemn the intervention of the military, on the other hand you think 'what else realistically could happen?' and how do we get the country back to stability?

"There is a big argument going on right across the Middle East right now of 'what is the proper place of religion in politics?' and how do you create a genuine democracy in these countries because democracy is not just a way of voting, it's a way of thinking."

Egypt stocks have risen during early trading following hopes a political solution to the crisis can be found that would allow an interim government to be formed before elections, after Cairo's benchmark index fell 3.6 percent on Monday.

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Prehistoric Rock Art Discovered In Mexico

Researchers have discovered one of the largest collections of prehistoric rock carvings created by desert nomads that lived 6,000 years ago.

Archaeologists believe the 8,000 images carved into 500 rocks in Mexico's white desert of Coahuila, could provide valuable clues to the way pre-Hispanic hunter-gatherer tribes communicated with each other.

So-called petroglyph images often have deep cultural and religious meanings and many are believed to represent primitive forms of symbolic language combined with hallucinations from psychedelic drug use.

The style of the runes varies from place to place, suggesting that in addition to religious meanings, territorial boundaries and regional dialects existed between clans.

The rocks were discovered by scientists at Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History who have developed the site so it can be visited by the public.

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China Pollution 'Cuts Lives By Five Years'

By Mark Stone, Asia Correspondent, in Beijing

The dire quality of the air in China will shorten lives by an average of five-and-a-half years, according to a major new study.

Scientists from four universities collaborated to produce ground-breaking research which provides the first-ever scientific evidence of the health implications of China's air pollution.

The study, by scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US, Tsinghua University and Peking University in Beijing, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, used data covering an unusually long time span - from 1981 to 2000.

Published today, it concludes that the effect of air pollution will reduce China's workforce by one-eighth.

"We can now say with more confidence that long-run exposure to pollution, especially particulates, has dramatic consequences for life expectancy," Michael Greenstone, the Professor of Environmental Economics at MIT, said.

This year has been the worst on record in the Chinese capital.

In January, the Air Quality Index (AQI) reached a level of more than 700. The World Health Organisation's recommended safe limit is just 25.

Since then, there have only been 20 days when the pollution levels in Beijing recorded an AQI of below 50.

China's air quality was 28 times above safe levels in January

"Everyone understands it's unpleasant to be in a polluted place," Professor Greenstone said.

"But to be able to say with some precision what the health costs are, and what the loss of life expectancy is, puts a finer point on the importance of finding policies that balance growth with environmental quality."

The study focused on northern China where pollution levels are at their worst.

The scientists compared pollution levels with mortality rates north and south of the Huai River, which runs west to east through central China.

In the 1980s, the river was used by the Chinese government as a boundary determining access to free heating.

The population living north of the river, who endure extreme winters, received free coal for fuel boilers and had access to a municipal heating system fuelled by coal power stations, which was switched on and off automatically.

The scientists linked pollution data to mortality statistics from between 1991 and 2000.

The results highlighted a stark difference in mortality rates on either side of the river.

For many years the Chinese government has been accused of ignoring the country's worsening air quality.

Until recently, state media would refer to 'fog' rather than 'smog'.

The swift rise of China's economy poses serious health risks for its people

But last year the Chinese government changed its policy and began to publish data for air quality - first in Beijing and then around the country.

The move came after the US government's decision to place an air quality monitor on the roof of its Beijing embassy. It published its data, initially causing a diplomatic row, but eventually prompting the Chinese to publish their own data.

The worsening air quality is the result of a variety of factors. Coal-fired power stations are only believed to be part of the problem.

The sharp and continuing rise in the number of cars on China's roads, combined with low quality fuel, is a contributing factor.

China's breakneck economic growth over the past three decades has effectively prompted what amounts to a frightening human health experiment.

The effect of China's modern-day industrial revolution will probably not be known for a generation.

In cities across the country, the air is unsafe to breathe, the water is unsafe to drink and the soil contaminates whatever is grown.

As China's population becomes more physically mobile and technologically connected, they are becoming more aware of the dangers posed by the environment.

Pollution issues are increasingly the focus of social unrest and public protests.

The Chinese government is now fully aware of the pressure to act and has introduced measures to improve the quality of vehicle fuel, limit the number of cars on the roads and invest in greener energy models.

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San Francisco Crash: Trainer Was New To Job

The trainer charged with guiding the pilot of an Asiana Airlines plane that crashed in San Francisco was on his first day in the job, the airline has confirmed.

Asiana said Lee Jung-Min was in a new role as trainer to Lee Kang-Kuk, 46, who was at the controls when the jet clipped a sea wall short of the runway and skidded out of control.

Lee Jung-Min had previously built up more than 3,000 hours of flight time on the Boeing 777, a spokeswoman told the AFP news agency.

The airline had earlier revealed that Lee Kang-Kuk had just 43 hours of experience on the aircraft, although he had accumulated more than 9,000 hours of flying on other planes.

Asiana CEO Yoon Young-Doo defended both men at a news conference.

He said the pilot had flown into San Francisco 29 times on an A320, while the trainer had landed at the airport 33 times in a Boeing 777 like the one involved in the fatal crash.

Fire officials have also admitted that one of the two teenage girls killed in the crash may have been struck by an emergency vehicle attending the scene.

Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White and Assistant Deputy Chief Dale Carnes both raised the possibility at a news conference with first responders.

The planes tail section was torn away in the crash. Pic. NTSB/Twitter

"There was a possibility one of two fatalities might have been contacted by one of our apparatus at one point during the incident," Mr Carnes said.

San Mateo County Coroner Robert Foucrault said his office was conducting a post-mortem to determine whether the victim survived the Boeing 777 crash, but was run over and killed by a responding vehicle.

He said his staff had been notified of the possibility by senior San Francisco Fire Department officials at the crash site on Saturday.

National Transportation Safety Board chief Deborah Hersman said investigators have reviewed airport surveillance video, but had not been able to reach any conclusions.

She said the possibility that the girl had been run over was a "very serious issue".

"I can tell you that the two fatalities were located in seats towards the rear of the aircraft," Ms Hersman said.

"This is an area of the aircraft that was structurally significantly damaged. It's an area where we're seeing a lot of the critical of serious injuries." 

Wang Linija (left) and Ye Mengyuan died in the crash

Ms Hersman said the lower portion of the plane's tail cone was found embedded in rocks forming part of the sea wall.

A "significant piece" of the tail of the aircraft was in the water and other plane parts were visible at low tide, she said.

Remarkably, 305 of 307 passengers and crew survived the crash, and more than a third did not even require a trip to hospital.

Only a small number were critically injured.

Survivor Kim Jee-Eun told how she blacked out after the impact and then scrambled from the plane as the cabin filled with smoke.

She said: "All hell broke loose. In the blink of an eye people around me were gone.

"Some people's seat belts were unbuckled - they bounced off their seats like a spring.

"Seats were upside down, bags were everywhere and oxygen masks were hanging like spider webs.

Pictures of the plane interior show the damage caused by the impact

"I can't explain the horror I felt when I woke up, with no-one there in the back of the plane.

"I tried to get up but my leg was stuck. Passengers and cabin crew were running around so I thought I should help myself.

"I jumped on to the wing but there were sharp objects and it was slippery because of the liquid that the firefighters had sprayed."

Some passengers, who said the plane's emergency slide was punctured and stopped working, suggested the damage was caused by suitcases carried by some people as they escaped.

Investigators said Asiana Airlines Flight 214 had been travelling "significantly below" the target speed during its approach and the crew tried to abort the landing just before it smashed onto the runway.

What they do not yet know is whether the pilot's inexperience with the Boeing 777 and landing at San Francisco airport played a role.

Officials said the probe would also focus on whether the airport or plane's equipment could have malfunctioned.

Firefighters said they encountered smoke, leaking jet fuel and passengers coming down on chutes when they arrived at the crash site.

Lt Christine Emmons said she and her partner ran up a chute into the plane and found four passengers trapped in the back.

The conditions in the plane were changing rapidly, with the fire coming down on rescuers and the smoke thickening as the trapped passengers were pulled out to safety, she said.

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Fraudster Held After 'Catch Me' Twitter Taunt

A fraudster who cheekily tweeted to US authorities to "catch me if you can" after skipping her trial for an insurance scam is now behind bars.

Wanda Podgurski was captured on July 4 in Rosarito Beach, Mexico, a popular retirement spot for American expats only 15 miles south of San Diego.

She pleaded not guilty on Monday to failure to appear while free on bail.

The 60-year-old was sentenced in absentia by a California court last month to more than 20 years in prison and ordered to pay more than $1m in fines and restitution.

Three weeks after her initial tweet on June 5, Podgurski's Twitter feed read: "Help find me before I con anyone else."

Two other posts were links to stories about her vanishing act.

Her profile stated: "On the run possibly in Iran."

New Twitter messages have appeared on the account

Newer unverified messages since her capture appear to show she was tired of life on the run.

"For justice sake, I am glad you caught me," reads one tweet.

Podgurski follows 32 people and agencies, many of them FBI branches and other law enforcement authorities. 

The District Attorney's Office declined to say how authorities tracked down the taunting fugitive, saying only that information from her Twitter account was turned over to its Computer and Technology Crime High-Tech Response Team, known by the acronym Catch.

Podgurski was convicted of receiving $664,555 in disability payments in January.

While earning $44,000 a year as a clerk for rail service Amtrak, she allegedly held six insurance policies with premiums that topped $60,000.

She made claims with all six insurance companies after reporting that she fell at her home in August 2006.

Private investigators working for the insurers reported seeing her walk up and down stairs without assistance and drive to the shops.

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'Troll' Jailed For 200 Facebook Death Threats

A man from South Shields who threatened through Facebook to kill 200 people in the US has been jailed for 28 months.

Reece Elliot posted the messages on an online memorial page for a girl from Tennessee who had been killed in a car crash.

Using a false profile, Elliot, 24, wrote: "My father has three guns. I'm planning on killing him first and putting him in a dumpster. Then I'm taking the motor and I'm going in fast.

"I'm gonna kill hopefully at least 200 before I kill myself. So you want to tell the deputy, I'm on my way.''

The court heard the father-of-one had also directed abusive messages at the deceased girl, who was a popular pupil at Warren County High school.

"I'm glad the fat bitch is dead. Let's drink to drink driving. No-one gives a sh*t that she's dead, get over it."

One 15-year-old girl, whose identity cannot be reported due to her age, was told: "You have been chosen tomorrow at school to receive one of my bullets."

With heightened sensitivities following the Newtown shooting in which 20 children were killed, schools in Warren County went into lockdown and 3,000 pupils missed school the next day.

Inquiries made by the FBI and Homeland Security traced the username to Reece's address in Newcastle.

Judge James Goss QC, the Recorder of Newcastle, told Reece the offences were driven by "no more than self-indulgent nastiness".

The judge took into account Elliott's early guilty plea and genuine remorse in passing a sentence of 28 months.

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Dozens Injured In South Beirut Explosion

A car bomb at a shopping centre in southern Beirut has injured 37 people, according to security officials in the city.

Southern Beirut is a stronghold for the Lebanese pro-Syrian Shiite Hizbollah militant group.

The group said the blast, in the Beir el Abed area, was caused by a car bomb in the parking area of the shopping centre.

Earlier reports of several deaths have not yet been confirmed.

The explosion was close to Hizbollah's 'security square' where many of the party's officials live and have offices.

Two men at the scene of the blast

The group's Al Manar TV station broadcast pictures of black smoke rising into the sky and people rushing to help the wounded.

Hizbollah members, some of them carrying Kalashnikov rifles, cordoned off the site with yellow ribbons.

Around 100 supporters of the group marched in the area after the blast, shouting slogans in support of Hizbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah.

"The Shiite blood is boiling," Hizbollah supporters shouted.

Tensions have been high following the intervention of Hizbollah fighters in the Syrian war where Sunni Muslim rebels are trying to topple President Bashar al Assad.

Hizbollah fighters gave vital help when Syrian government forces regained control of the strategic town of Qusair, close to the Lebanese border.

Some Syrian rebel groups, which are mainly made up of Sunni Muslims, have threatened to strike in Lebanon.

In May, two rockets hit southern Beirut and injured four people.

That attack came hours after Sheik Hassan Nasrallah promised to help the Syrian regime defeat rebel forces.

Hizbollah, much like the Syrian regime, accuses Syrian rebels of being agents of the US and Israel.

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British Bank Body Hands Libor To US Exchange

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

The administration of the controversial Libor benchmark interest rate will be handed to a US stock exchange under a deal to be announced on Tuesday that will remove it from British oversight.

Sky News understands that NYSE Euronext, owner of the New York Stock Exchange, has seen off competition from financial data providers including Thomson Reuters to win a contract to oversee the scandal-hit benchmarks.

An announcement is expected to be made to the New York Stock Exchange later on Tuesday, according to people familiar with the situation.

The UK Treasury is understood to be co-ordinating the announcement in London.

The buyer is understood to be paying a token sum of £1 to acquire BBA Libor Ltd, the company which has previously had responsibility for administering Libor.

The choice of an American company to oversee the crucial benchmark rates is significant because of the fierce criticism of Libor's oversight by US regulators.

So far, three banks - Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland and UBS - have been fined more than £1.5bn by regulators for their role in the global rate-rigging scandal, with a queue of others waiting to settle.

A review of the rates by Martin Wheatley, chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), found that the rate was open to manipulation and made a series of recommendations including sharply reducing the number of rates set as part of the process.

The new Libor administrator will still be subject to FCA regulation and supervision, according to a source close to the situation.

The British Bankers' Association and the Treasury were unavailable for comment.

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Ohio Kidnap Victims In 'Thank You' Video

Three women who were abducted and held captive in a house in Cleveland, Ohio, for a decade have thanked the public for their support in a YouTube video.

Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight broke their silence in the video, saying the encouragement of family, friends and the public had allowed them to restart their lives.

Former bus driver Ariel Castro is alleged to have kidnapped the women off the streets between 2002 and 2004.

Ariel Castro is charged with 329 crimes and could face the death penalty

He has pleaded not guilty to 329 charges, including 139 counts of rape, and aggravated murder over the death of an unborn child.

The women were rescued in May when Ms Berry broke through a door at the home and yelled to neighbours for help.

"I'm getting stronger each day and having my privacy has helped immensely," she said in the video.

"I want everyone to know how happy I am to be home with my family and my friends. It's been unbelievable.

"I want to thank everyone who has helped me and my family through this entire ordeal."

Ms Berry, now 27, was reportedly forced to give birth to her daughter Jocelyn in an inflatable children's paddling pool, while fellow captive Michelle Knight gave the baby mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

In the video, Ms Knight said she had "been through hell and back", but she was doing well and did not want to be "consumed by hatred".

Ms Berry, who was snatched at the age of 20 and is the eldest of the three women, spoke of how her faith in God had helped her deal with the situation.

The three women before they were taken between 2002 and 2004

"I have no problems expressing how I feel inside," she said.

"Be positive. Learn that it is important to give than to receive. Thank you for all your prayers. I'm looking forward to my brand new life."

The three victims' rehabilitation has been helped by more than $1m (£670,000) of public donations to the Cleveland Courage Fund.

Gina DeJesus, now 23 and the youngest of the kidnapped women, spoke briefly only to say "thank you for the support".

The three women were apparently held at Ariel Castro's home

However, her father, Felix DeJesus, and aunt Nancy Ruiz, also spoke in the video to thank people for being "awesome".

Castro, 52, was last week refused a visit with the six-year-old girl he fathered with Ms Berry, with a judge calling the request "inappropriate".

An upcoming meeting will discuss the possibility of seeking the death penalty for the alleged crimes.

Castro's lawyers had previously hinted that he might plead guilty if talk of capital punishment was taken off the table.

A trial is scheduled for August 5, but the judge said it could be delayed.

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Edward Snowden 'Accepts Political Asylum Offer'

Confusion surrounds claims from a Russian politician that US intelligence whistleblower Edward Snowden has accepted an offer of political asylum from Venezuela, after the statement was deleted from Twitter.

In a tweet, the head of the Russian parliament's foreign affairs committee, Alexei Pushkov wrote: "Snowden has given his agreement to (Venezuelan President Nicolas) Maduro's offer of political asylum."

However the tweet was quickly removed from his account and replaced by the clarification: "I got the information from the 18pm news bulletin from (Russian state TV channel) Vesti 24. All questions to them."

Pushkov then added a further tweet, which said:  "As Vesti 24 reported sourcing Maduro, Snowden has accepted his asylum offer. If that is so, he's chosen that option as most reliable."

But the statement has led to confusion as Vesti has only been reporting that Venezuela had received an asylum request from Snowden.

Since Snowden's arrival in Russia, Alexei Pushkov has acted as the Kremlin's unofficial spokesman on the affair.

Former National Security Agency employee Edward Snowden leaked details of a US intelligence programme used to monitor Internet activity and is on the run after espionage charges were filed against him.

He is believed to have been in a transit zone in Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport since June 23 after arriving from Hong Kong and reportedly failing to board an onward flight to Cuba.

The whistleblower has appealed to around 20 countries for political asylum and Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that he should choose a final destination and go there as soon as possible.

But how exactly Snowden would get to another country is unclear, as his passport has been invalidated by the US authorities and flying through American or European airspace could cause complications.

More follows...

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