Briton Arrested In Somalia's Puntland Region

A British man has been arrested in Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland region, accused of illegally collecting mineral samples.

He is being held alongside a Frenchman, who faces the same charge, in the main city of Garowe while investigations continue, say officials.

The two men were arrested on Thursday after a three-month investigation into Oversight International, the company they work for, according to officials.

Two Somali staff members have also been arrested.

Puntland Security Minister Khalif Isse Mudan said: "Oversight International engaged in the illegal activity of collecting mineral samples without permission of Puntland Government."

Mr Mudan also accused Oversight International of "sharing classified information with foreign entities". He did not elaborate.

On its website, Oversight International describes itself as a Puntland-focused consultancy firm and said it is "allowed and registered as a Private Security Company with the Government of the State of Puntland".

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We are aware of reports of the detention of a British national in Somalia (Puntland) and we are in touch with the Somali (Puntland) authorities."

Somalia has been without a strong central government since the fall of the regime of president Siad Barre in 1991.

Puntland, situated on the Horn of Africa in Somalia's northeast, declared full autonomy in 1998 but has stopped short of declaring full independence like its neighbouring region Somaliland.

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Syria: Ex-German Footballer Killed In Air Raid

A former Germany youth international who quit football to become a Jihadist has been killed in Syria.

Burak Karan played alongside stars like Sami Khedira and Kevin-Prince Boateng for two of Germany's youth sides.

According to his brother Mustafa, he died on October 11 when the Syrian air force dropped a bomb on a village near the Turkish border.

An image of Karan clutching a Kalashnikov assault rifle has appeared in tributes to him on social networking sites.

Mustapha told the German newspaper Das Bild that his brother, who was 26, "didn't want to fight".

Image of Burak taken from YouTube video

When civil war erupted in Syria in 2011, he said he began to raise funds to buy medical supplies for victims of the fighting.

"But when some of the supplies didn't turn up he decided to leave with his wife and two sons and organise distribution himself near the Turkish border."

Karan made five appearances for the German under-16 team and played twice for the under-17s.

Mustafa said: "Burak said money and career were not important things to him.

"Instead he searched the internet constantly for videos of war zones. He was desperate, full of compassion for the victims."

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Typhoon Aid 'Just In Time' From UK Warship

By Alistair Bunkall, Defence Correspondent

HMS Daring has delivered its first aid relief to remote Philippine Islands hit by Typhoon Haiyan.

After surveying an area north west of Cebu by helicopter, the Royal Navy warship dropped anchor off the coast of Guintacan, an island with a population of around 6,000.

No one had made it to the island in the 10 days since the storm battered it. Not a single building was untouched by the typhoon.

Building shelters on the island of Guintacan

The island was in desperate need of water and shelter. At the request of community leaders, the Royal Navy rebuilt the school roof.

On Wednesday, the children will gather in the classroom for the first time since the night Haiyan terrified their young minds. Their parents will bring them here for counselling.

Aid workers and medics travelling with HMS Daring distributed food, shelters and set up clinics at two locations on the island.

People waited for days for aid after the typhoon

The painted plea for help on the basketball court went unanswered for almost two weeks.

The island had drawn up a list of its dead and those with the most urgent needs.

The coast took the brunt of the storm.

No more so than the village of Dup-Dup - the first dwelling in the storm's path, the few trees left standing, now bowed in defeat.

HMS Daring off the coast of Guintacan

And for all this, we found astonishing resilience. Not a hint of self-pity.

They were resigned to the prospect that no one would ever come for them. As it was, help arrived just in time.

There are hundreds, if not thousands of islands just like this, still waiting. The scale is daunting.

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Last Guantanamo Briton Speaks From Cell

A British prisoner who has been held at Guantanamo Bay for 11 years without charge has spoken from his prison cell for the first time.

Shaker Aamer, who is accused of being a close associate of Osama bin Laden - a charge he denies - said he was being treated like an animal and begged to be left to die.

Earlier this year, Prime Minister David Cameron raised Aamer's case with President Barack Obama at a G8 summit and the British Government has repeatedly stated that it wants him returned to the UK.

Shouting from his cell, Aamer told CBS's 60 Minutes show: "Tell the world the truth ... Please, we are tired. Either you leave us to die in peace - or either tell the world the truth. Open up the place. Let the world come and visit. Let the world hear what's happening.

"Please colonel, act with us like a human being, not like slaves."

He added: "You cannot walk even half a metre without being chained. Is that a human being? That's the treatment of an animal...

"It is very sad what is happening in this place."

Aamer has been cleared for transfer by both the Bush and Obama administrations, according to Reprieve, the legal charity and human rights group that is representing him.

Shaker Aamer says he is being "treated like an animal"

Despite having British residency and a British wife and four children living in Battersea, south London, US authorities have repeatedly threatened to send him back to Saudi Arabia, his birthplace, against his wishes.

Clive Stafford Smith, his lawyer and Reprieve's director, said: "CBS' show gives a very rare and very shocking glimpse inside Guantanamo Bay. Everyone in the prison - the guards and the men - is suffering horribly, day after day.

"Obama must fulfil his promise to close the prison and Shaker Aamer must come home to his family in the UK, which is what David Cameron has said he wants."

According to Reprieve, Aamer was detained in Kabul in Afghanistan in 2001 after he went to the country to carry out voluntary work for an Islamic charity.

It is alleged that he was tortured at the Bagram air base while being questioned by US forces.

In February 2010 it emerged that the Metropolitan Police was investigating allegations of MI5 complicity in his torture.

A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: "Mr Aamer's case remains a high priority for the UK Government and we continue to make clear to the US that we want him released and returned to the UK as a matter of urgency."

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Sardinia: Deadly Floods After 'Apocalyptic' Storm

At least 16 people have been killed after heavy thunderstorms triggered flash flooding on the Italian holiday island of Sardinia.

Up to 40cm of rain fell in just 24 hours, causing river levels to rise to as high as three metres.

The torrent of water swept away cars, submerged homes and caused bridges to collapse.

Italian prime minister Enrico Letta declared a national emergency amid fears the number of confirmed deaths could rise.

Streets were inundated with water as up to 40cm of rain fell in 24 hours

Rescue workers struggled to reach an isolated, mountainous area around Nuoro, where people scrambled onto roofs and climbed up trees to escape the rising waters.

Further north in Olbia, where thousands of residents have been evacuated, firefighters were called out more than 600 times, La Repubblica reported.

The city's mayor Gianni Giovanelli said the city had been destroyed by the "apocalyptic" storm.

Among the victims were an entire family of four Brazilian immigrants who drowned in their basement flat in the town of Arzachena.

Many bridges collapsed as heavy rain caused river levels to rise

In Dorgali, a policeman helping to escort an ambulance was killed when his car sank near a collapsed bridge, L'Unione Sarda reported.

Three people died when their van was crushed by a road bridge in Gallura, the newspaper added.

Sky News weather presenter Nazaneen Ghaffar said further heavy downpours are expected across the Mediterranean over the coming days.

"There should be a brief respite of drier conditions during the middle of the week before conditions turn more unsettled again into the weekend, with further heavy rain and thunderstorms leading to the chance of flash flooding," she said.

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Iranian Embassy Blasts Kill 23 In Beirut

Two explosions at the Iranian Embassy in Beirut have killed 23 people and injured 146, Lebanon's health minister has said.

Ali Hassan Khalil said the number of victims, which include the embassy's cultural attache, was not final and could rise further.

Lebanese officials say security footage showed a suicide bomber and car bomb were behind the blasts in the neighbourhood of Janah, in the south of the Lebanese capital.

The area is a stronghold of the militant Hizbollah group, which is a main ally of President Bashar al Assad in neighbouring Syria's civil war. It is unclear if the blasts are related to that conflict.

State television in Syria said: "The Syrian government firmly condemns the terrorist attack carried out near the Iranian embassy in Beirut."

The front of the embassy was badly damaged in the blast

Iran accused Israel of being responsible for the attacks.

The bombings were "an inhuman crime and spiteful act done by Zionists and their mercenaries," ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said in remarks reported by the official IRNA news agency.

Al Qaeda-linked group the Abdullah Azzam Brigades has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The neighbourhood has been hit by several blasts in recent months that have killed and wounded scores.

Shi'ite Iran has been bankrolling Mr Assad's fight against the mainly Sunni rebels and has given military support.

Southern Beirut is known as a Hizbollah stronghold and has been hit by at least three other explosions this year.

Those attacks were blamed on groups linked to the rebels, believed to be in retaliation for its involvement in Syria's civil war.

Hizbollah fighters have been supporting Mr Assad's forces in several strategic battles across Syria, a move that has also increased sectarian tension in the two countries.

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Paris Shootings: Police 'Have Gunman's DNA'

French police have said they have the DNA of a gunman suspected of carrying out shootings at two media organisations and a bank.

A massive manhunt is under way in Paris, a day after the shooter critically wounded a photographer at the offices of major daily newspaper Liberation.

Sky's Europe Correspondent Robert Nisbet, in Paris, said: "We're still not entirely sure how they (police) managed to get the DNA. 

"We think that it may be because he touched an object inside the car where he took that hostage to drive from the outskirts, the town of Puteaux, into the centre of Paris, the Champs-Elysees where he then melted into the crowd and the metro system."

A CCTV image of the gun-wielding intruder at BFMTV

After fleeing the newspaper's offices in the east of Paris, the gunman is believed to have crossed over to the western edge of the city, where he fired several shots outside the main office of the Societe Generale bank. No one was hurt.

He then reportedly hijacked a car driven by a priest and forced him to drop him off close to the Champs-Elysees in the centre of the city.

Le Parisien newspaper earlier reported that the suspected shooter was arrested in the seventh arrondissement of the city, but prosecutors on the case swiftly denied this.

The photographer, who was arriving for his first day of freelance work at the newspaper, suffered wounds to his chest and stomach in the shooting on Monday.

Police also believe the gunman was behind an incident on Friday in which staff members at news television station BFMTV were threatened by a gun-wielding intruder.

Paris is on high alert after the shootings

In that incident, the gunman emptied several cartridges on the floor, while warning a senior editor: "Next time, I will not miss you."

Investigators have so far been unable to identify the gunman - described as white and aged between 35 and 45 - and branded as a "real danger" by Interior Minister Manuel Valls.

Investigators have issued a new photograph of the suspect taken by a CCTV on Monday in Paris' central Concorde Metro station, near the Champs-Elysees.

Liberation executive Nicolas Demorand said the photographer was "still critical", although he was "in a slightly better state".

The newspaper devoted four pages to the unprecedented attack and an employee described the moment the gunman walked in.

"The guy pulled out a gun from his bag and fired twice at the first person he saw," the staff member said.

"It lasted no more than 10 seconds, and anyone of us could have been hit. The shooter said nothing and left immediately."

France's President Francois Hollande warned that the gunman "could still kill tomorrow or at any time".

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Virginia's Creigh Deeds 'Critical' After Assault

A prominent Virginia politician has been taken to hospital and another person has been found dead after an assault at his home, police have said.

Democratic Senator Creigh Deeds, who unsuccessfully ran for governor four years ago suffered serious injuries, Virginia State Police said.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that Mr Deeds was stabbed and that his son Gus was found dead from a gunshot wound inside the senator's home in rural Bath County.

Police have not identified the dead person or released details about the assault.

Mr Deeds, 55, was listed in critical condition. He was being treated at University of Virginia Hospital in Charlottesville.

More follows...

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Russia: Seven Greenpeace Activists Granted Bail

A Russian court has granted bail to another seven Greenpeace activists involved in the Arctic oil rig protest.

They are the first foreigners to be become eligible for release from jail while awaiting trial over the action.

It comes after three Russian nationals were freed on Monday.

Ana Paula Maciel of Brazil, New Zealander David Haussmann and Argentina's Miguel Orsi will be freed pending payment of two million rubles (£38,000) each, Greenpeace said.

Also granted bail on Tuesday were Paul Ruzycki from Canada, Tomasz Dziemianczuk from Poland, Italian Cristian D'Alessandro and Camila Speziale, who holds dual Italian-Argentine citizenship.

Orsi, clutching a photograph of his baby daughter, broke into tears when the judge announced his decision.

Maciel held up this note in court

Maciel also began crying as she was led away from the courtroom.

Thirty people including six Britons aboard the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise were detained after the protest in September.

They were initially charged with piracy but are now accused of hooliganism, which carries a shorter maximum jail term of seven years.

Video filmed by Greenpeace showed some of the activists trying to climb on to the oil rig, Russia's first in the region.

The protest at the Prirazlomnaya oil platform

On Monday the Primorsky court refused a bail application by Australian Colin Russell and remanded him in custody for another three months.

Russell told the judge: "I don't understand the reasons why I've been detained. I've done two months' hard time for nothing."

The three Russians - Yekaterina Zaspa, the Greenpeace vessel's medic, photographer Denis Sinyakov and activist Andrey Allakhverdov - were granted bail by another court in St Petersburg.

Other bail hearings were also expected to be held on Tuesday.

The jail in Murmansk where the activists were originally held

The six Britons on remand include journalist Kieron Bryan, whose lawyer has reportedly asked for his case to be adjourned until Wednesday.

His father, Andy Bryan, described the bail application as "very much in the balance".

Prosecutors had originally asked the courts in St Petersburg to keep all 30 arrested in jail beyond November 24, when their current detention period runs out.

They had been detained in Murmansk in the Arctic but have been moved to prisons in St Petersburg.

Greenpeace denies any wrongdoing and is urging Russia to release all the detainees - who come from 18 different countries - and their ship.

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New Gibraltar Row: Ambassador Summoned

The Foreign Office has summoned the Spanish Ambassador amid a standoff over a ship that entered Gibraltar waters.

The Spanish survey ship has been in Gibraltar Territorial Waters for more than 18 hours and repeatedly refused direct orders from a British Royal Navy patrol boat  to leave. 

As a result, the Foreign Office has summoned Spanish Ambassador Federico Trillo to try and resolve the situation.

A Royal Navy Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat (RHIB) had previously pulled alongside the ship to try and prevent it lowering equipment into the sea. 

More follows...

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