American Shot Dead In Saudi Capital Riyadh

By Sky News US Team

One American has been shot dead and another wounded after their car was fired upon in Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh.

A suspect, identified as a Saudi man born in the United States, was arrested after the shooting on Tuesday in the city's eastern district, a police spokesman told state media.

The gunman opened fire on the Americans at a petrol station, according to the statement carried by the SPA state news agency.

The suspect was also wounded during an exchange of gunfire with security forces, the statement said.

His condition and the condition of the surviving victim was not immediately known.

Both were taken to hospital.

An investigation is under way to determine a motive for the shooting, Interior Ministry spokesman Major General Mansour Turki said.

A third US national in a separate vehicle witnessed the shooting, Mr Turki said.

The gun attack resulted in the first killing of a Westerner in Saudi Arabia in years.

In 2007, three French nationals were shot dead while camping in the northwest of the kingdom.

The group of gunmen suspected of carrying out that attack allegedly had ties to al Qaeda. They are awaiting a verdict in the case.

From 2003 to 2006, al Qaeda carried out a series of attacks across Saudi Arabia on foreign and government targets that killed hundreds before being crushed by the kingdom's security forces.

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Violent Clashes Outside Ukraine Parliament

Violent protests have broken out in Ukraine, with thousands of demonstrators clashing with police outside the Parliament in Kiev.

Many of the masked protesters were armed with metal chains and batons, with smoke bombs and stones being hurled through the building's windows.

Air guns have also been used to smash most windows on the first floor.

The clashes forced politicians, who had just passed anti-corruption laws and voted in a new defence minister, to go into recess, ahead of national elections on 26 October.

Zoryan Shkiryak, an aide to Ukraine's interior minister, said: "This is a provocative action directed on destabilising the situation in Ukraine."

Some of the protesters, numbering in the thousands, are armed with chains

It remained unclear what the demonstrators were demanding. According to a Reuters photographer, some of the young people on the ground declined to state their political affiliation.

The Interior Ministry said 36 people were detained.

Stepan Poltorak, a former National Guard chief, was confirmed as the country's new defence minister by an overwhelming majority of 245-1.

On Tuesday, he pledged to establish an army capable of standing up to Russia - but his main challenge will be boosting morale within a force that has lost 1,000 soldiers in the past six months.

"Ukraine needs peace, and only a modern, well-trained and well-supplied mobile armed forces can guarantee this peace," Mr Poltorak added.

The violence forced politicians to begin a parliamentary recess early

Meanwhile, Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, is scheduled to hold talks with John Kerry, the US secretary of state.

But in a press conference beforehand, Mr Lavrov insisted Moscow was unwilling to negotiate over requirements for the removal of sanctions.

"Whoever introduced them should cancel them. We are not going to implement someone's far-fetched demands," he told reporters.

"We don't know who is losing out more in terms of the economy: Russia or the European Union."

Despite his defiant tone, Mr Lavrov stressed that the Kremlin was prepared to strengthen its ties with Europe once again.

"I think that no clear-headed person in Europe would dispute an idea that there is no sensible alternative to improving ties between Russia and the EU," he added.

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Russia Shrugs Off Oz PM Threat To Putin

A threat of a physical confrontation made by Australia's prime minister against President Vladimir Putin has been dismissed by a Russian diplomat as "immature".

Tony Abbott threatened to "shirtfront Mr Putin" over the downing of a Malaysia Airlines plane in Ukraine in July as he pledged to make the Russian president cooperate with investigators into the crash.

A total of 298 people died in the crash, including 38 Australian residents and citizens.

There are allegations the jetliner was downed by pro-Russian separatists armed with surface-to-air missiles provided by the Kremlin.

Mr Abbott's "shirtfront" threat is the Australian Rules Football term for a head-on shoulder charge to an opponent's chest aimed at knocking the opponent backward to the ground.

Mr Putin at a judo training session

The PM said he was going to confront Mr Putin at some stage during a summit of the world's 20 biggest economies being held in Brisbane next month.

However, senior diplomat Alexander Odoevski pointed out that his 62-year-old president - a former KGB officer - is also a judo black belt.

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1. Gallery: Vladimir Putin - Man Of Action

   Vladimir Putin has earned a reputation as something of an action man. Here in 2013 he is seen shaking hands with a walrus on a visit to the under-construction Primorsky Aquarium.

2. Seemingly always keen to be seen with members of the animal kingdom, he was also pictured touching a dolphin during his trip to the new attraction on the Russky Island, in the far eastern city of Vladivostok.

3. Here, at a Moscow sports complex in St Petersburg, he shows off his judo skills.

4. He joined a group of scientists in the Arctic to help tag endangered polar bears.

5. In the Siberian mountains, he rode bare-chested on a horse.

6. Mr Putin walks along the Khemchik River in southern Siberia's Tuva region.

7. The Russian leader with a big catch from a fishing trip in Siberia ...

8. ... during which he was also photographed getting familiar with some other wild animals.

9. On a trip to Chkalov island, Mr Putin attached a satellite tracking tag to a Beluga whale.

10. He has taken to the skies...

12. Here, the president rolls in the snow with excitable dogs.

13. During a dive to an underwater archaeological site at Phanagoria on the Taman Peninsula, he returned to the surface with a precious artefact - but it later emerged that it had been planted in advance.

14. Mr Putin also made a grand entrance on a Harley Davidson at a biker festival in the town of Novorossiysk.

15. Mr Putin sits in a car from the Renault Formula One team before test driving it at a racing track in Leningrad Region.

"We consider the recent statements tough talk; we consider it immature," Mr Odoevski said.

"Hopefully there's no fight. Well, definitely we admire the Australian prime minister. He's very fit, but the Russian president, he's a professional judo wrestler." 

While Mr Abbott's threat was not seen as serious, the embassy's rare public response indicates Russia was annoyed with the comment.

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1. Gallery: Putin Leads Cranes In Microlight

   The Russian President took to the skies in a microlight to lead young cranes in flight in 2012

3. He donned white overalls before strapping himself into the deltaplane

4. He was pictured on the aircraft alone before take-off, but a second man on board appeared to pilot the flight

5. The flight was a partial success, with at least two birds following him in flight for a time

6. After the flight, Mr Putin said the birds were "cute" and praised their efforts

7. He then gathered at a camp fire to eat with workers at the nature reserve, in the Yamal peninsula

Mr Abbott played down the remark - made on Monday - and refused to talk further about it.

He did say, however: "I am absolutely determined to have a very robust conversation with the Russian president.

"We've all seen the impact of Russian policy on the innocent people on board flight MH17.

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1. Gallery: Impact Marks On MH17 Fuselage

   These stills were released by the Dutch Safety Board on September 9, 2014

2. They show clearly visible puncture marks scattered across the fuselage of MH17

3. On July 17, the Malaysia Airlines flight lost all 298 passengers and crew

4. The plane was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur

5. The disaster occurred over an area of Ukraine controlled by pro-Russian separatists

6. Crash investigators say it was probably downed by "a large number of high-energy objects"

7. The Dutch Safety Board has ruled out technical fault or human error

"I think the very least I can do, speaking for Australia's dead and speaking for the families of Australia's dead and indeed speaking for the world's victims is to have a very robust conversation with President Putin," he added.

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Hong Kong Camps At Heart Of Protest Ripped Up

By Sky News Beijing Team

Hundreds of police officers in Hong Kong have dismantled barricades erected by pro-democracy protesters.

Using sledgehammers to smash cemented barricades and chainsaws to cut down bamboo structures, they cleared up the main road in Hong Kong's financial centre of Admiralty.

The police hope to open the road linking the east and west of Hong Kong Island, which has been under occupation by protesters for two weeks.

Protesters from the Umbrella Movement were visibly upset by the dismantling

The operation on Tuesday morning was the continuation of a two-day operation to remove barricades.

Scuffles broke out on Monday between pro-democracy protesters and anti-occupy activists.

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1. Gallery: Hong Kong Police Remove Barricades

   Police officers remove barricades of pro-democracy protestors in the Admiralty district in Hong Kong

2. Pro-democracy supporters continue to occupy the streets surrounding Hong Kong's Financial district after talks break down with the government

3. The protesters are calling for open elections and the resignation of Hong Kong's Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying. Continue through for more pictures

Some members of the anti-occupy movement hid their identities with masks, leading to accusations that the anti-occupy campaign is being funded behind the scenes by the Beijing government.

In a statement issued by Hong Kong Police and the Fire Services Department, the police condemned the actions of protesters who have been reinforcing some of their barricades.

"People illegally occupying the roads have caused traffic congestion and chaos in different districts and seriously affected the daily life of people. They refused to take the police's continual advice to clear the barriers blocking the roads as soon as possible," it read.

Pro-democracy protesters, mainly students, who are calling for genuine "universal suffrage" to elect the city's political leader in 2017, began their occupation of Hong Kong's financial centre, near the government's headquarters two weeks ago.

Video: October: 'Fighting For Our Future'

Speaking to Sky News, veteran pro-democracy campaigner Lee Cheuk-Yan said he was deeply disappointed by the police action.

"The government keeps on delaying the dialogue with the students. The responsibility lies on the government who are never willing to talk to the students. So we hope it will be resolved through dialogues but disappointingly the government is resolving the problem just through police action." he said.

The demonstrations expanded to other areas in Hong Kong Island and Kowloon after police used tear gas and pepper spray to disperse the crowd on the night of 28 September. Their action caused widespread anger and criticism.

Hong Kong's chief executive, CY Leung and other government leaders have repeatedly called for the protesters to disperse peacefully – but in an interview at the weekend, he did not rule out the use of force.

Video: October: Hong Kong Talks Called Off

Protesters showed peace and restraint this morning while watching the police take apart the barricades they put up after Monday's confrontations. Groups of young protesters were seen sitting quietly aside.

China has ruled Hong Kong under the "one country, two systems" formula since the handover from Britain in 1997. The framework gives the former British colony a degree of autonomy and freedoms not permitted in mainland China.

The "Basic Law" agreement signed by China and Britain pledged universal suffrage – one man, one vote – would be the eventual goal for the city state.

However, in August, the Communist government ruled that the people of Hong Kong could vote for their new chief executive in 2017, but only from a list of candidates selected by Beijing.

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Nurse Arrested Over 'Killing Annoying Patients'

Italian police are investigating a nurse suspected of killing at least 38 of her patients because they or their relatives annoyed her.

Daniela Poggiali, 42, was initially charged with murder over the unexpected death of an elderly patient.

Rosa Calderoni had been admitted for a routine illness, but a post-mortem examination found high levels of potassium in her bloodstream.

But prosecutors believe Poggiali, from Lugo in northeastern Italy, killed more patients she found hard to treat or those with difficult relatives.

Police are reviewing 37 other deaths, with 10 of those described as "very suspicious".

A prosecutor on the case, Rossella Materia, claimed the suspect is a sadist "who draws pleasure in provoking the death of the patients in her care".

Since Poggiali's arrest, a colleague described her as a "cold person who was always eager to work".

Another co-worker has made further allegations about the nurse, claiming that she gave strong laxatives to patients as her shift ended to make work more difficult for the nurses taking over.

Pictures reportedly found on the nurse's mobile phone showed her posing next to a patient who had died minutes earlier. In one of the images, she reportedly had her thumbs up.

Poggiali denied wrongdoing when questioned by prosecutors - and maintained she was the victim of a conspiracy orchestrated by her enemies, according to the ANSA news agency.

Another prosecutor on the case, Alessandro Mancini, told Il Resto Del Carlino, an Italian newspaper, that there are "insurmountable difficulties" with their murder investigation as a lot of time has passed since some of the deaths.

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North Korea's Kim Jong-Un Seen In Public

North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Un has been seen in public for the first time in more than five weeks, scotching rumours of a coup.

State media said early on Tuesday, local time, that Mr Kim visited a residential district and a scientific establishment.

The failure of Mr Kim to appear on TV since 3 September has led to a mass of speculation about what could have happened to the 31-year-old.

Most North Korea watchers believed the leader's absence from the public eye was because he was suffering from illness.

But others suspected power struggles at the heart of one of the most secretive regimes in the world was the explanation.

Video: Is Kim Jong-Un Really Back?

The report from the official KCNA news agency did not touch on the leader's prolonged absence from public view.

His last public appearance was to attend a concert with his wife.

Since then he has missed a key political anniversary and a recent session of the country's parliament.

Video: Kim Missing Due To 'Pulled Tendon'

The report - typical of the way the state media discusses Mr Kim's activities - said he "gave field guidance" to workers at a new facility called Wisong Scientists Residential District.

It added that he also visited the newly-built Natural Energy Institute of the State Academy of Sciences.

However, Sky's Asia Correspondent, Mark Stone, has cast doubt over whether the images can be trusted.

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1. Gallery: Kim Jong-Un Inspecting Things

   Before recently disappearing from public view North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un was making regular public appearances across the country

2. The state media followed him as he enjoyed visits to factories, military installations and construction sites. Continue through for more pictures

"There's nothing to prove beyond doubt that the images were taken on Monday," he said.

"They could be unpublished photos from a previous visit - albeit a recent one, given that he is carrying a walking stick. The North Korean regime also has form in releasing doctored or inaccurate photographs."

It is not known on which day the visit was made.

Video: 8 July 2014: Kim Seems Unbalanced

Mr Kim was quoted as saying: "Our scientists are patriots who are devoting all their lives to building a rich and powerful nation."

Among the conditions he has been rumoured to be suffering from are gout, obesity, a pulled tendon and fractured ankles.

His country's state news agency admitted he was suffering "discomfort" but has not elaborated.

Video: Inside North Korea: Full Programme

Diplomatic sources had already ruled out a coup, as there has been no evidence that one had taken place, but it is thought feasible that his sister could have been in charge if Mr Kim had been too ill to rule.

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Budget Shuts Controversial Irish Tax Loophole

By David Blevins, Ireland Correspondent

The Irish government has confirmed that it is phasing out a controversial tax regime that has allowed multinational companies to save billions of euros.

Finance minister Michael Noonan signalled the closing of the loophole known as "double Irish" when he delivered his first non-austerity budget in seven years.

He said: "I am abolishing the ability of companies to use the 'double Irish' by changing our residency rules to require all companies registered in Ireland to also be tax resident in Ireland."

Until now, an Irish subsidiary has been able to shift taxable profit to another Irish subsidiary in a tax haven such as Bermuda or the Cayman Islands.

Apple is a multinational corporation that may have benefited from the rules

Apple, Google, Microsoft and Facebook - all of which are thought to have benefited - will be given until 2020 to adapt to the change.

The tax advantages have been a major incentive for multinationals, so the government has introduced new measures to ensure the country remains attractive to investors.

Video: EU Gets Tough On Apple And Ireland

A "patent box" scheme, similar to that in the UK, will reduce the level of corporation tax on patents and similar types of intellectual property.

The European Commission has been investigating tax deals between Ireland and Apple, and provisionally found that they were generous enough to amount to state aid.

Brussels had urged the Irish government to end the controversial tax policies or face a full-blown investigation which carried the risk of multimillion euro penalties.

Video: Ireland Exiting Financial Rehab

Other aspects of the budget delivered in Dublin included funding to increase the number of teachers and police officers, along with measures to encourage house building.

Tax rises and spending cuts of €30bn (£23.8bn) have been imposed since 2007, but a stronger economic performance has signalled the end of austerity measures.

Unemployment remains high at more than 11%, and the introduction of water charges saw one of the largest protests for years in Dublin last Saturday.

Video: Tax Expert On EU Apple Accusations

The government has also unveiled a scheme for claiming tax back on water charges, three days after a candidate opposed to them won a by-election.

Video: Facebook Profits Triple

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10,000 New Ebola Cases Per Week By Xmas: WHO

There could be 10,000 new cases of ebola per week within two months, health officials have warned.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said 8,914 cases of ebola have now been reported in West Africa, including 4,447 deaths.

WHO assistant director general Bruce Aylward told a press conference in Geneva that the total was expected to top 9,000 by the end of this week.

He warned that the death rate from the current outbreak has now risen to 70%. It was previously estimated at about 50%. 

When asked how the situation would emerge over the next couple of months, he said: "It's impossible to look into a glass ball and say we're going to have this many or that many (cases) but we anticipate the number of cases occurring per week by that time to be somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 per week.

Video: Liberia Gripped By Ebola Virus Fear

"It could be higher, it could be lower, but somewhere in that ball park."   

But he said there were some positive indications that the rate of spread of the disease may be slowing in some of the areas where it first struck.

Some 95% of the cases are occurring in the same limited number of districts of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea which were affected a month ago, he said.

Dr Aylward said it was "too early to say" whether this meant that the epidemic was slowing down and that the feared exponential growth in cases may not materialise.

The plateau in reported infections may simply be due to limitations in the ability of authorities in the region to check and record cases, he said.

Dr Aylward said there were "positive" signs of a slowing down in the rate of new cases in the epicentre of the outbreak in northern Liberia and Guinea, probably due to behaviour changes among the local population.

But he warned: "This is ebola, this is a horrible, unforgiving disease - you've got to get to zero.

"What gets you down to a level of control may not be - and usually isn't - what gets you down to zero. With a bit of change in the behaviour of populations, with some burials happening safely, with a little bit more case management and a couple of new centres opening, you are going to slow this down very quickly.

"That's not going to stop ebola. To stop ebola, you've really got to have great contact tracing in place, same-day isolation.

"Those pieces are not systematically in place in these places."

Video: On Board The Ebola Hospital Ship

Dr Aylward said that it was "concerning" that the disease was continuing to expand geographically within all three countries, with escalating case numbers in their capital cities.

"In certain areas, we are seeing the disease coming down and it appears to be for the right reasons, but that doesn't necessarily mean they are going to get to zero," he said.

"Even more concerning is the geographical expansion and the disease in the capitals.

"Any sense that the great effort that's been kicked off over the last couple of months is already starting to see an impact would be really, really premature."

In other ebola developments:

:: Enhanced screening of passengers travelling to the UK began at Heathrow airport

:: A UN worker died while receiving treatment for the disease in Germany

:: An American nurse who contracted ebola while treating a dying patient received blood from a survivor of the virus

:: Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg said he is to give $25m (£19.7m) to help fight the outbreak

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Emergency Landing As Cabin Panels Come Apart

By Sky News US Team

A Dallas-bound American Airlines flight has made an emergency landing after some of the cabin's wall panels cracked loose, officials said.

The captain of the Boeing 757 decided to turn around an hour into the flight from San Francisco because of a possible blown air duct, airline spokesman Matt Miller said.

No one on the plane, which had 184 passengers and six crew members on board, was hurt, but people started panicking in the cabin when pieces starting coming off.

The plane being towed away

James Wilson, of Kyle, Texas, said he felt the fuselage violently shake and heard popping noises coming from outside of the plane as it made its initial ascent.

Then passengers watched in horror and screamed for the flight attendants to come as interior panels on both sides of the aircraft pulled apart from the walls.

"It was the whole row 14 on all sides, from the floor to the ceiling," Mr Wilson said.

"It sounded like it was popping and banging so loud at first I thought stuff was coming out of the overhead compartments.

"It was terrifying, we didn't know what was going on, we were all shouting to the flight crew."

Despite the concerns of nervous passengers, the captain announced that the flight would continue on to Dallas because the pressure inside the cabin was stable, Mr Wilson said.

But he said the captain changed his mind and decided to make the emergency landing after he saw the damaged panels for himself.

Aviation safety experts said that while it is disconcerting for passengers to see any piece of the plane break, the cabin's wall panels are not part of the plane's structure.

The cabin did not lose pressure and oxygen masks did not deploy.

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Steenkamps Rejected Pistorius 'Blood Money'

Oscar Pistorius offered the family of Reeva Steenkamp 375,000 rand (£21,274) as compensation for killing her, a court has heard.

But the Steenkamps rejected the payment which they called "blood money" and promised to hand back other payments Pistorius had given them, a prosecutor said.

Pistorius' probation officer Annette Vergeer, called by the defence, revealed the payments on the second day of the athlete's sentencing hearing in Pretoria, which was watched by his father Henke and Ms Steenkamp's mother June.

The athlete arrived without his usual phalanx of police and minders

Ms Vergeer said Pistorius had been paying 6,000 rand (£350) per month to the Steenkamps as a form of maintenance, or compensation - though the payments stopped a while ago.

Suggesting the athlete was genuinely remorseful for the killing, she told the court he sold one of his cars for 375,000 rand and offered the money to the Steenkamps as a lump sum.

Video: Prison Term would 'Break' Pistorius

Ms Vergeer said: "He sold his last asset, his motor vehicle and requested the amount be paid into the account of the Steenkamps' lawyers should they wish to accept the amount.

"I was informed they did not want the amount of money offered by the accused."

Cross examinaing Ms Vergeer, prosecutor Gerrie Nel said: "Did you know that the deceased's mother went so far as to say she does not want blood money?"

Ms Vergee replied: "You can place it on record now m'lady, that the money was in fact rejected and no further legal action would be taken."

Reporting from Pretoria, Sky's Alex Crawford said: "These payments had not been known before.

"The Steenkamps' lawyer said this was because Pistorius' defence team asked for it to be kept secret."

When asked about the payments, the Steenkamp's lawyer Dup de Bruyn said: "I am not commenting because I'll get cross-examined about it. They are going to pay back every cent of it."

Ms Vergeer also said Pistorius was sorry and heartbroken at what had happened and that prison "would not assist him but break him".

Fanning herself while in the witness box, Ms Vergeer said Pistorius did not appear to be "such a danger to society" that a prison sentence was required.

However, prosecutor Mr Nel suggested she gave evidence on issues she knew little about.

The athlete arrived at the North Gauteng High Court without his usual phalanx of police or minders, while in an unusual move, Judge Thokozile Masipa appeared flanked by six armed guards.

Mikey Schultz, who South Africa's media has described as a self-confessed 'hitman', was also in court watching proceedings.

Pistorius, 27, was cleared of murdering his former girlfriend but found guilty of culpable homicide - the equivalent of manslaughter in the UK.

The double-amputee Olympian could receive a fine and a suspended jail sentence or up to 15 years in prison for the convictions.

The prosecution are pushing for him to serve a prison sentence for the killing, while his defence team submit he should serve no more than house arrest or community service. Sentencing continues on Wednesday.

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