Music School Helping Soweto Children At Risk

By Alex Crawford, Special Correspondent

A South African music school set up by a British woman to help the poorest children in Soweto is in danger of closing down because of lack of funds.

Buskaid, a charity, has helped thousands of poor children discover classically focused music in the former township.

Some have gone on to win scholarships at some of Britain's finest music institutions, such as the Royal Academy of Music.

A British viola player named Rosemary Nalden started Buskaid in the 90s. Its aim was to give disadvantaged young people in Soweto a better life through music.

Cecilia Manyama is now one of their leading lights. She has been at the school for 12 years and is now one of their leading violin players and singers.

For Cecilia, it meant a way out of poverty and a glimpse of a life she could only dream of before. She played to international audiences and now has a solid job playing in the Buskaid Ensemble and teaching other young students.

Life is still tough for many in the former South Africa township

Ms Nalden said: "I want to show them they can actually have a life through music, that they can earn a living as well as enjoy it."

Soweto has come a long way from the apartheid years when racial segregation meant the township was a by-word for poverty and crime.

But life is still tough for youngsters in a country where one in four South Africans is out of work. Pule Lekarapa was headed for a life of crime before Buskaid took him on.

He said: "I have no idea where I would be without Buskaid. I would be doing something terrible, that's for certain."

Instead though, at the relatively old age of 16 he turned up on the doorstep of Buskaid wanting to learn a musical instrument.

He now plays and teaches the double bass.

He added: "I love it, I really do and I am so grateful to Rosemary for giving me this chance to do this and have this life."

It gives the young people a purpose, a focus and a direction which they would not otherwise have.

The charity gives people a chance of a better life through music

We followed 10-year-old Solly home to his house around the corner from the Academy, which is in Deipkloof.

"He's here day in and day out," said Ms Nalden. "[He's] absolutely fanatical about his playing and determined to do something with his life."

Solly walks past groups of children skipping on the street or sitting on doorsteps, his violin case firmly in his hand.

He is going home to practise after spending most of the day at the Academy. His grandmother looks on proudly as he puts the violin through its paces.

But Solly's future and that of Buskaid is seriously under threat  because of lack of funds.

Ms Nalden said: "In a nutshell, we risk going under before the end of next year unless someone or people come forward to help us."

The charity not only pays for the children to receive lessons and the upkeep of the music school but it also funds two or three students to travel to England every year to study music.

And that involves even paying the £18,000 tuition fees if they feel the student is talented enough.

In a country with startling statistics like more than 70% of black South African children live in low-income households, Buskaid has been their hope, a chance of a future.

And that, Ms Nalden, insists, has got to be worth fighting for.

:: Find out more about Buskaid and make a donation

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School Shooting: Tributes To British Victim

The family of a six-year-old British boy killed in the Sandy Hook shootings have paid tribute to their "joyous" son at his funeral.

Dylan Hockley was one of 20 children shot dead by gunman Adam Lanza at the elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, last Friday.

The little boy died in the arms of his favourite teacher Anne Marie Murphy, who was also killed in the shooting.

Mother Nicole Hockley told the congregation at Walnut Hill Community Church in Bethel, Connecticut, that Dylan - who had a form of autism that hindered his language development - would flap his arms when he got excited.

When she asked him why, he replied: "Because I am a beautiful butterfly."

Hundreds of family and friends filled the church to commemorate Dylan's life.

Purple and white balloons were released at the end of the funeral to symbolise the 20 children and six adults killed at Sandy Hook school. Purple was Dylan's favourite colour.

He was born in Hampshire to a British father and American mother - Ian and Nicole Hockley - and the family moved to Newtown two years ago.

They praised staff at the school including headteacher Dawn Hochsprung and teacher Vicki Soto, who have been hailed as heroes as they tried to protect pupils from the gunman. Both women died in the attack.

A statement from the family after his death read: "Everyone who met Dylan fell in love with him. His beaming smile would light up any room and his laugh was the sweetest music.

"There are no words that can express our feeling of loss. We will always be a family of four, as though Dylan is no longer physically with us, he is forever in our hearts and minds.

"We love you Mister D, our special gorgeous angel."

It comes after America's leading gun lobby, the National Rifle Association, called for armed guards to be placed in schools to prevent shootings.

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Egypt: Polls Open In Vote On New Constitution

Egyptians have begun voting in the second and final phase of a referendum on an Islamist-backed constitution.

Supporters of President Mohamed Morsi say the constitution is vital to restoring stability and moving the country towards democracy two years after Hosni Mubarak was overthrown in a popular uprising.

Critics say the document is divisive as it favours Mr Morsi's Islamist allies and ignores the rights of Christians and women.

Egypt has been in turmoil for about four weeks, with protests over the president's powers and the draft constitution.

The latest street violence took place on Friday, when supporters and opponents of the president clashed in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria.

Dozens were hurt.

The vote is taking place in 17 of Egypt's 27 provinces with about 25 million eligible voters.

The clashes Friday in Alexandria were the latest in four weeks of turmoil

The first phase on December 15 produced a "yes" majority of about 56% with a turnout of some 32%, according to unofficial results.

The opposition has alleged abuses, and called for a re-vote of the first stage.

But the committee overseeing the referendum said their investigation had turned up no major irregularities.

Polling stations close at 7 pm (1700 GMT) but, with long queues forming at some stations, voting could be extended, as it was last week.

Unofficial tallies are likely to emerge within hours of the close, but the referendum committee may not declare an official result for the two rounds until Monday, after hearing appeals.

If the constitution is adopted, a parliamentary election will be held in about two months.

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Sandy Hook Survivors: Date For New School Term

The survivors from Sandy Hook Elementary are to return to school immediately after the New Year's holiday.

Nearly 600 students from kindergarten to the fourth grade will start attending the former Chalk Hill Middle School in neighbouring Monroe, Connecticut, on January 3, Danbury's The News-Times reports.

Sandy Hook in Newtown has been closed indefinitely after last Friday's shooting that left 20 children and six adults dead.

The surviving students - aged five to 10 - will be given classrooms at Chalk Hill equipped with desks, chairs and other items from  Sandy Hook.

Their families will be allowed to inspect Chalk Hill on January 2, according to The News-Times.

Officials have been working around the clock to prepare the old middle school, which is seven miles (11 km) south of Sandy Hook.

Volunteers helped fire marshals and building inspectors get the building compliant with state safety codes. The school - built in the 1960s - has been mainly used as a parks and recreation facility since closing its doors to students in 2011.

Sandy Hook Elementary has been closed indefinitely

Representatives from both the Newtown and Monroe school districts hope to make the transition to the new school as seamless as possible for the young students.

A retired former principal from Sandy Hook Elementary, Donna Page, has agreed to reprise her role once the students start at Chalk Hill, her husband told the Hartford Courant.

Meanwhile, funerals for the victims continued on Thursday as five more children were laid to rest, along with teacher Anne Marie Murphy.

A memorial service was also held for teacher Lauren Rousseau.

In Washington, Vice President Joe Biden reiterated on Thursday the White House's commitment to taking action to prevent future gun violence in the US, saying something has to get done "even if we could only save one life".

Barack Obama has commissioned Mr Biden to oversee a panel tasked with creating proposals to curb gun violence. Mr Biden met with cabinet officials on Thursday, including Attorney General Eric Holder and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

The massacre's far-reaching impact was underscored by an Associated Press poll conducted this week that named the mass shooting as 2012's top news story.

The annual survey of editors and news directors ranked the US election second and Superstorm Sandy third.

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Nancy Lanza: Private Funeral For Killer's Mum

A private funeral has been held for the woman whose son shot her dead at their Connecticut home and then drove to an elementary school and killed 20 children.

Kingston police Chief Donald Briggs said around 25 family members attended the ceremony at an undisclosed location in the town, where Ms Lanza once lived.

She was killed in her bed by her 20-year-old son, Adam Lanza, at their home in Newtown last week.

Adam Lanza then drove to Sandy Hook Elementary School, where he killed 20 children and six school employees before shooting himself.

The Newtown massacre is the second-worst shooting in US history after the 2007 Virginia Tech rampage, which left 33 people dead.

Lanza used an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle owned by his mother during his rampage - which has led to fresh calls for more restrictive gun laws.

President Barack Obama commissioned a panel to create proposals designed to curb gun violence in the US.

It comes as the National Rifle Association (NRA) was set to stage a news conference on Friday at a hotel opposite the White House in Washington DC.

Support has grown for a ban on assault weapons

NRA chief executive Wayne LaPierre and President David Keene will then appear on separate Sunday television talk shows for their first interviews since the murders last Friday.

The group kept quiet in the days after the shootings, but broke its silence on Tuesday to say it wanted to contribute to the gun control debate.

A school district in Boise, Idaho, cancelled planned assemblies at a number of its 50 schools after receiving threats that "something bad" would happen on Friday.

Authorities in Phoenix also arrested a 16-year-old girl on Thursday after she made threats on YouTube to kill herself and other students at a suburban high school.

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Apocalypse? Not Now, As World Survives

An ancient prediction that the world would end this morning has failed to come true.

As the clock counted down to - and then passed - 11.11am, people around the world used the moment as an excuse for a party.

December 21 marks the end of the 5,125-year Mayan calendar, which some said represents the end of the world.

But the claim was dismissed by everyone from Nasa and the US government to the Vatican.

The tiny French village of Bugarach drew global attention

People who paid just under £1,000 to take refuge in the underground bunker of former Soviet dictator Josef Stalin now stand to qualify for a 50% refund.

In the tiny French village of Bugarach in the Pyrenees, UFO watchers were left disappointed when aliens said to inhabit a jagged mountain failed to board a spacecraft and flee the Earth.

In Serbia, the place to be was Mount Rtanj, a pyramid-shaped peak, where local legend has it that the mountain once swallowed an evil sorcerer who will be released on doomsday in a ball of fire.

The end is nigh! How some were counting down the seconds

Old coal mineshafts were opened up as safe rooms for the dozens who arrived early.

Sirince, a small Turkish village known for its wines, was also being touted as a safe haven, thought to be because it is close to an area where the Virgin Mary is believed to have lived her final days.

In China, the authorities have been detaining more than 500 members of a fringe Christian group, Almighty God, who got into trouble after spreading rumours about the world's impending end, with leaflets, CDs, books and other material all seized.

A man in China made tsunami-proof survival pods

Closer to home, hundreds of people converged on Stonehenge for an End of the World party that coincided with the winter solstice.

In London, themed events included a Last Supper club.

Many scientists and historians argue that the Mayans had a cyclical sense of time, so that the end of a calendar simply signifies the end of one period and the beginning of another.

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Oz Customs Staff Held Over Drug Smuggling

By Jonathan Samuels, Australia Correspondent

An alleged major drug smuggling operation involving a network of customs officials has been uncovered at Australia's biggest airport.

Eight people have been arrested - with more expected - after police swooped on Sydney Airport following a two-year corruption probe.

It is claimed that large quantities of drugs were smuggled through the airport in backpacks and suitcases, with corrupt officials using their knowledge of security systems to allow the narcotics to pass through the international terminal undetected.

Australian Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare said one customs officer, one quarantine officer and two members of the public were arrested this week.

The other four were arrested in August and October.

"There is no place for corruption in our law enforcement agencies," he said. "Where it exists we have to weed it out."

Local media reported that customs officers at Sydney Airport had allegedly been working with organised crime figures to import drugs.

Up to 20 officials are suspected of being involved in either serious misconduct or corrupt dealings, ranging from criminal association to leaking information, drug trafficking and bribery.

They are suspected of importing pseudoephedrine, cocaine, steroids and possibly even weapons.

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Tony Negus said alleged couriers were sent overseas to collect drugs before returning through customs with the help of people in trusted positions.

It is understood more arrests are possible.

Mr Clare said the majority of law enforcement officers were good, honest, hard-working people.

"But we can't be naive," he said, adding there would always be people who would be tempted.

"There will always be the risk that our law enforcement officers could end up working for the crooks."

Mr Clare said the thousands of customs officers heading to work on Thursday morning would be disgusted by the reports of corruption.

"My message to them is this: you can expect more stings, you can expect more arrests and you can expect more reform," he said. "If you're corrupt we'll hunt you down and lock you up."

The Australian Government will now establish a Customs Reform Board to provide advice and recommendations to ministers on how to bolster integrity in the agency.

Australian Customs and Border Protection Service acting chief, Michael Pezzullo, said his job now was to drive further integrity reforms.

"I'm not so naive as to think that criminal elements will not attempt to penetrate this service, its systems and its staff," he said. "We're going to root out these cells."

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Knife Attacks: Pupils Taught To Combat Threat

Chinese schools are teaching young students how to fight off knife-wielding attackers following a string of stabbings aimed at children.

Twenty-seven people have been killed and more than 80 injured since March in a spate of knife attacks that have alarmed the public.

The most recent school attack, on Friday, saw Min Yongjun stab and slash 22 students at a primary school in the central Chinese province of Henan. 

No-one died in Friday's violence but the official news agency Xinhua said eight of the children were taken to hospital for surgery for facial wounds.

The previous day, a man wielding a knife injured 15 students and a teacher at a primary school in southern China.

One of the children hurt in Friday's attack talks to her mum on the phone

And on Sunday, a man injured six women with a cleaver in southern China before killing himself by jumping from a building.

With much of the violence taking place on school grounds, there have long been calls for stronger protection for students.

The deaths of children strike an especially deep chord in a country where most urban families are allowed to have only one child, said Yang Dongping, an education expert at the Beijing Institute of Technology.

The attacks also fuelled concerns about the social malaise underneath China's rapid economic growth, as some attackers - usually young men - had recently lost jobs or felt left out of the country's economic boom.

There are also calls for the government to offer more psychological consultations across the country.

Earlier this week police released surveillance footage of Friday's school attack showing the attacker pursuing a group of children through a school gate.

Students stand behind a policeman as they learn to defend themselves

Panicked children stream out of the school gates to escape Min, before adults appear holding straw brooms and chase him out.

Authorities said that Min, 36, had been "influenced by rumours of the end of the world", which some people believe is due to occur on December 21, in line with supposed Mayan prophecies.

The attack happened on the same day that 20 children were shot dead at a US primary school in Connecticut.

Chinese social media users complained that while the US massacre received ample coverage, the Henan attack barely registered with official state media.

"The headlines are still dominated by the American attack, I haven't seen reports about the attack in Henan which happened on the same day," wrote one user of Sina Weibo - a website similar to Twitter.

"Aren't Chinese children's lives also important? It's a tragedy."

Another user said: "On the same day as the US shooting, 22 children were slashed at the school in Henan, but mainstream media were virtually mute on this. Are the lives of Chinese children worthless to them?"

According to instructions obtained by the China Digital Times - a website following social and political developments in China and run by the University of California -  the government's central propaganda department told Chinese media to play down the Henan attack.

It quoted officials as telling media not to put the news on the front page or lure readers to it, and not to produce reports or comment on it other than those provided by Xinhua.

Criticism of official media coverage follows the installation last month of a new Communist Party chief, Xi Jinping, who has told the media not to shy away from focusing on genuine news.

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India Elections: Modi Inches Closer To Top Job

By Alex Rossi, India Correspondent

Early election results in the Indian state of Gujarat suggest the controversial Hindu nationalist leader Narendra Modi will win a fourth successive term by a landslide - sealing his status as a frontrunner in the 2014 national polls.

According to the latest polling data, Mr Modi's BJP party is on course for an overwhelming victory.

He has won at least 60 seats and should win a further 56 in the 182-seat assembly.

The massive win will only enhance Mr Modi's standing as a potential future prime minister of the country - he has long been tipped for the top job.

The next national elections are due by 2014.

Mr Modi addresses his supporters during an election rally in Dokar

But Mr Modi is seen as an extremely divisive figure in a country with a sizeable minority non-Hindu population.

He was chief minister during the Hindu-Muslim riots in Gujarat in 2002 in which more than a 1,000 people were killed - most of them were Muslims.

Mr Modi stands accused of not doing enough to stop the unrest.

It is a charge though that he vehemently denies and this election result will be a huge boost for him and his party.

It is also a sign that he is a real contender for the top office.

Internationally, there are signs of acceptance as well.

In October, the British Government decided to end a 10-year diplomatic boycott of Mr Modi.

After the 2002 violence, the UK, the US and some European nations imposed a travel ban on Mr Modi.

But that has now been lifted by Britain - much to the anger of many Indian human rights campaigners.

The UK has been accused of cosying up to Mr Modi because of the possibility that he may one day lead India.

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School Shooting: NRA 'Shocked And Saddened'

The National Rifle Association has broken its silence over the Sandy Hook school massacre, saying its members were "shocked and saddened" by the murders.

After a self-imposed media blackout, the powerful gun rights organisation made its first public statement on Friday's gun rampage by 20-year-old Adam Lanza.

He killed 20 pupils, aged six and seven, as well as six female members of staff after opening fire at the elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut.

Lanza earlier shot dead his mother Nancy at the home they shared, and then killed himself at the school as police closed in.

The NRA said its members were "shocked, saddened and heartbroken by the news of the horrific and senseless murders".

Protesters demonstrated outside the NRA's headquarters in Washington DC

The group also said it wanted to give families time to mourn before making its first public statement.

It pledged "to help to make sure this never happens again" and has scheduled a news conference for Friday.

The massacre has re-ignited the debate over gun control in the US, with some calling for a clampdown on firearms.

President Barack Obama backs a new bill to reintroduce a ban on assault weapons that expired in 2004.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said Mr Obama is "actively supportive" of an attempt by Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein to write the bill early next year.

Adam Lanza killed his mother before shooting dead 20 children and six staff

The president has also telephoned pro-gun senator Joe Manchin, who has shifted his position on firearms laws since Friday's carnage in Connecticut.

Mr Manchin, along with fellow democrat Mark Warner, who have so-called "A" ratings from the NRA, said the Newtown massacre has convinced them the time for reform has come.

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".

On Monday, 75 activists demonstrated outside the NRA's headquarters in Washington DC. They 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."

:: Watch USA: The Gun Debate on Sky News on Wednesday at 8.30pm.

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US Benghazi Report Slams 'Inadequate' Security

An inquiry into the September 11 attack in Libya that killed the US ambassador and three other Americans has said security arrangements were "grossly inadequate".

The independent panel blamed systematic management and leadership failures at the State Department for the attack on the mission in Benghazi.

The report singled out the Bureau of Diplomatic Security and the Bureau of Near East Affairs for criticism.

It said there appeared to have been a lack of co-operation and confusion over protection at the mission in a country that had been left relatively lawless after the revolution that toppled Muammar Gaddafi.

The report found the number of Diplomatic Security staff in Benghazi before and on the day of the attack "was inadequate despite repeated requests ... for additional staffing".

Despite those failures, the Accountability Review Board said no individual officials ignored or violated their duties and recommended no immediate disciplinary action.

But it also said poor performance by senior managers should be grounds for disciplinary recommendations in the future.

Christopher Steven's murder was the first of a US ambassador since 1988

The two most senior members of the panel - Retired Ambassador Thomas Pickering and a former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, Admiral Mike Mullen - are set to testify behind closed doors before the House and Senate foreign affairs on Wednesday.

Their testimony will set the stage for open hearings the next day with Deputy Secretary of State William Burns, who is in charge of policy, and Deputy Secretary of State Thomas Nides, who is in charge of management.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was to have appeared at Thursday's hearing but cancelled after fainting and sustaining a concussion last week while recovering from a stomach virus that dehydrated her.

The report appeared to break little new ground about the timeline of the Benghazi attack, during which Libyan Ambassador Christopher Stevens, information specialist Sean Smith and former Navy Seals Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods were killed.

But it confirmed that, contrary to initial accounts, there was no protest outside the consulate and said responsibility for the incident rested entirely with the terrorists who attacked the mission.

In the immediate aftermath, administration officials linked the attack to the spreading protests over an anti-Islamic film made in the US that had begun in Cairo, Egypt, earlier that day.

The review board found there had been no immediate, specific tactical warning of a potential attack on the 11th anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks.

However, the report said there had been several incidents of concern in the run-up to the attack that should have set off warning bells.

The report made 29 recommendations to improve embassy security, particularly at high-threat posts.

Mrs Clinton said she accepted all the recommendations.

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South Koreans Vote For A New President

By Mark Stone, Asia Correspondent

Polls have closed in the South Korean presidential election with the result hanging on a knife-edge.

Voters have chosen between the centre-right candidate for the ruling Saenuri Party, Park Geun-Hye and her centre-left Democratic United Party rival Moon Jae-In.

It is understood that more than 70% of the eligible population braved temperatures of well below zero to vote and exit polls suggest the race is too close to call.

According to the Associated Press, an exit poll jointly sponsored by TV stations KBS, MBC and SBS showed conservative candidate Ms Park won 50.1% of the vote, compared to Mr Moon's 48.9%.

The leadership of North Korea still remains a problem for South Korea

The stations said, however, that the gap was within the plus-or-minus 0.8% margin of error.

A telephone survey by the YTN television network said Mr Moon got between 49.7 and 53.3%, while Ms Park received between 46.1 and 49.9%.

If Ms Park, 60, wins she will become the first female president of a nation which is still heavily dominated by men.

A victory for her will, analysts believe, shatter a national 'glass ceiling' and be seen as a massive step forward for women's rights.

Mr Moon when he was a special forces trooper

She is the daughter of General Park Chung-Hee, the former South Korean dictator whose autocratic rule over the country lasted for 18 years before he was assassinated by his own spy chief in 1979. Despite his dictatorship, he is widely credited for pulling South Korea out of poverty and turning it into the economic and technological success that it is today.

Mr Moon is a former human rights lawyer who was once jailed for his opposition to Park's fathers rule. He is the son of North Korean refugees who fled to the south during the Korean War.

Whoever wins the election will be faced with a belligerent North Korea, a slowing economy and rising welfare costs.

On North Korea, both candidates have a desire for further engagement though Ms Park's approach is more cautious. Mr Moon has promised to resume aid to the country without preconditions.

A British diplomat in Seoul described to Sky News the difference between the two approaches on North Korea as: 'Stick then large carrot from Park; large carrot then small stick from Moon.'

Relations between the north and the south are tense. The two are still technically at war. The border between the two - the 38th parallel - is the most fortified and heavily mined border in the world.

The relationship worsened with the shooting by North Korea of a tourist from the South in 2008, the sinking of a South Korean warship - an incident which North Korea says it had nothing to do with - and the shelling of a South Korean island in 2010.

Ms Park, 60, speaks to supporters of the Saenuri Party

Although North Korea will be a pressing issue for whoever wins, it has not played heavily in the campaigning despite the successful launch of a three-stage rocket by the North last week.

"It has been very much side-lined," Brendan Howe, a professor of International Relations based in Seoul told Sky News.

"Both sides want engagement but neither side is putting it at the forefront of their campaign. It has not a massive issue in the election."

An equally pressing issue is the widening gap between rich and poor in South Korea and the dominance of family-owned conglomerates like Samsung and Hyundai.

Wooing the crucial centralist voters has resulted in significant overlap between the two candidates policies.

They have both talked about 'economic democratisation' - reducing the social disparities that have come with rapid economic growth.

The new president will be one of a number of new leaders in the region. Japan has recently voted in right-wing candidate Shinzo Abe and China's new communist leadership, with their opaque direction, will take office in March.

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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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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 and underwent heart surgery in America in 2008, and was treated for exhaustion in Jordan in 2007.

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.

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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Japan: New PM Shinzo Abe Fires China Warning

By Mark Stone, Asia correspondent

Japan's new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has issued an early warning to China, just hours after a landslide victory for his right-wing Liberal Democratic Party.

Speaking at his first news conference, Mr Abe reiterated Tokyo's claim of sovereignty over a group of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea which is contested by Beijing.

"China is challenging the fact that [the islands] are Japan's inherent territory," Mr Abe said.

"Our objective is to stop the challenge. We don't intend to worsen relations between Japan and China," he said.

The election result represents a dramatic lurch to the right for Japan.

The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) led by Yoshihiko Noda suffered a significant defeat winning just 57 seats, down from 230 in the last election.

Mr Abe's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) won 294 seats, up from 118.

When combined with the New Komeito Party, its junior coalition partner, the LDP now has a two-thirds majority in the 480-seat lower house, enough to override the upper house in which no party has overall control.

PM Yoshihiko Noda resigned after his landslide election defeat

Mr Abe, 58 - who has already served as Prime Minister for a year between 2006 and 2007 - is seen as having a hawkish foreign policy and a radical economic agenda.

He characterised the win as more of a protest vote against the DPJ than a strong endorsement of his party.

"I think the results do not mean we have regained the public's trust 100%. Rather, they reflect 'no votes' to the DPJ's politics that stalled everything the past three years," he said.

"Now we are facing the test of how we can live up to the public's expectations, and we have to answer that question."

The win by his LDP Party is widely expected to produce a government with a hardline stance on the ongoing territorial dispute with China.

Japan bought the Senkaku islands from a private owner - and sparked a row

Mr Abe has said he wants Japan to play a bigger role in global security. He has pledged to change the country's pacifist constitution signed after World War Two.

A new right-leaning government combined with changes to the constitution and growing nationalist movement within Japan could significantly increase tensions in East Asia.

"We must strengthen our alliance with the US and also improve relations with China, with a strong determination that is no change in the fact the Senkaku islands are our territory," Mr Abe said after the victory.

China and Japan, who have a historically hostile relationship, both claim the group of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea. Beijing calls them the Diaoyu Islands and Tokyo refers to them as the Senkaku Islands.

China's claim had been dormant until the Japanese Government bought the islands from an individual who owned them earlier this year.

The sovereignty dispute has prompted mass protests in China

Last week, Japan scrambled fighter jets to the skies above the islands after a Chinese surveillance plane was spotted in air-space deemed by Tokyo to be Japanese.

Fixing Japan's economy will be the biggest domestic challenge for the incoming government. Mr Abe's policy is for 'unlimited' monetary easing and big spending on public projects.

Japan could be about to enter its fourth recession since 2000 and has a public debt twice the size of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Some of Japan's most famous companies like Sony and Sharp are struggling in the face of competition from rivals in China and South Korea.

Their woes are compounded by a strong yen, which has forced the price of their products in foreign markets up considerably.

Mr Abe's party also has a pro-nuclear energy policy despite last year's disaster at the Fukushima nuclear power station.

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Afghan Landmine Blast Kills 10 Young Girls

By Mustafa Kazemi, in Kabul

Ten young girls have been killed by a landmine explosion in eastern Afghanistan, officials say.

The children were collecting firewood when one of them accidentally struck the mine with an axe, according to Chapahar district governor Mohammad Seddiq Dawlatzai.

The victims were aged nine to 13. Two other girls were critically injured and are being treated in hospital.

"An old mine left over from the time of the jihad (against Soviet troops in the 1980s) exploded, killing 10 girls and wounding two others," Mr Dawlatzai said.

However police chief General Abdullah Stanikzai said Taliban insurgents were to blame.

Afghanistan is one of the most heavily-mined countries in the world

Since 1989, when the Soviets withdrew after a 10-year military occupation, nearly 700,000 mines and more than 15m other explosives left over from decades of war have been destroyed, according to UN figures.

But despite international clearance efforts, more than three decades of war have left Afghanistan one of the most heavily-mined countries in the world.

The explosives were laid during three recent conflicts: the 1980s war against the Russians, the 1990s civil war, and during fighting between the Northern Alliance and the Taliban before they were ousted from power in 2001.

The Taliban also plant bombs, or improvised explosive devices, to target Afghan and Nato troops but these regularly kill civilians.

A car bomb explosion injured several people in Kabul

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has repeatedly appealed to the insurgents as well as the Nato-led forces in Afghanistan to avoid civilian casualties.

In the first six months of 2012, 1,145 Afghan civilians were killed and around 2,000 wounded, mostly by roadside bombs.

Women and children account for about 30% of this year's casualties.

Meanwhile there are reports that one person has been killed and at least 30 injured in a blast in the capital Kabul.

It happened outside the compound of US military contractor Contrack. Afghan police say the attacker drove a car packed with explosives into the compound's wall.

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Shooting: Lanza's Mum 'Prepared For Worst'

The mother of the Connecticut gunman, who was the first of his 27 victims and was killed with a rifle she owned, was "prepared for the worst", according to people who knew her.

Adam Lanza's aunt said Nancy Lanza had a survivalist mentality and was worried about protecting her home if the US economy nosedived.

She is reported to have been stockpiling food, water and guns in the large home she shared with her 20-year-old son in Sandy Hook, Newtown, Connecticut.

Nancy Lanza, 52, who friends said kept her private life private, owned and registered the two handguns and rifle her son used in Friday's shooting.

The divorced mother-of-two was found dead in her pyjamas in bed after being shot four times in the head with the rifle.

After leaving the house, the gunman then went to the elementary school in Newtown with the weapons he took from her.

He got inside by breaking a window and began blasting his way through the building and murdering 20 children and six women.

Investigators said Nancy Lanza had visited shooting ranges several times and that her son also went to a range.

Nancy Lanza was the first victim before 26 others were shot

Ginger Colburn, a spokeswoman for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, said it was still not clear whether Nancy Lanza brought her son to the range or whether he ever fired a weapon there.

Adam Lanza's aunt Marsha Lanza told the Chicago Sun-Times that Nancy Lanza wanted guns for protection.

"She prepared for the worst," Marsha Lanza told the newspaper. "I didn't know that they (the guns) would be used on her."

Dan Holmes, who got to know Nancy Lanza while doing landscaping work for her, told The Washington Post: "Guns were her hobby. She told me she liked the single-mindedness of shooting."

Mr Holmes said Nancy Lanza never invited him in. She would pay him in the yard and the landscaper never saw Adam.

"I would ring the bell on the front door, and she would come out the side and meet me," he said. "It was a little weird. It's stranger now thinking back on what happened."

Lanza in his high school yearbook

One law enforcement officer said Adam Lanza had been diagnosed with Asperger's, a mild form of autism characterised by social awkwardness.

The gunman has been described as "socially awkward", "shy", "a nerd" and "super smart".

As a teenager he would scuttle from class to class, pressing himself against walls and clutching a black briefcase "like an eight-year-old with a teddy bear".

Marsha Lanza could not confirm reports that Adam Lanza had Asperger's or any other learning disability.

But she said his mother had disputes with the local school district and eventually ended up educating Adam Lanza at home.

"(Nancy) had issues with school ... She battled with the school district. I'm not 100 per cent certain if it was behaviour, learning disabilities, I really don't know. But he was very, very bright. He was smart."

The car Lanza drove to school for his gun rampage is towed away

Education officials said they had found no link between Nancy Lanza and Sandy Hook school, contrary to news reports that said she was a teacher there.

Investigators said they believe Adam Lanza attended the school many years ago, but they had no explanation for why he went there on Friday.

Neighbour Rhonda Cullens said she knew Nancy Lanza from get-togethers she hosted where they played Bunco, a dice game. She said her neighbour had enjoyed gardening.

"She was a very nice lady," Ms Cullens said. "She was just like all the rest of us in the neighbourhood, just a regular person."

Louise Tambascio, who became a shopping and dining companion of Nancy Lanza said: "Her family life was her family life when we were together. She kept it private. That was her own thing."

Marsha Lanza described Nancy Lanza as a good mother. "If he had needed consulting, she would have gotten it," she said. "Nancy wasn't one to deny reality."

But friends and neighbours said Nancy Lanza never spoke about the difficulties of raising her son.

Mostly she noted how clever he was and that she hoped, even with his problems, that he would find a way to succeed.

Court records show Nancy Lanza and her ex-husband, Peter Lanza, were divorced in 2009. He lives in Stamford and is a tax director at General Electric.

When the couple divorced, he left their spacious home to Nancy Lanza and told her she would never have to work another day in her life, said Marsha Lanza.

The split was not acrimonious and Adam Lanza spent time with both his mother and father, she said.

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Victoria Soto Shot Dead After Saving Pupils

Gunman's Family Release Statements

Updated: 4:22am UK, Sunday 16 December 2012

The father of and uncle of dead gunman Adam Lanza have released statements, as America comes to terms with its most deadly school massacre.

Peter Lanza, who has been interviewed by police, said: "Our hearts go out to the families and friends who lost loved ones and to all those who were injured.

"Our family is grieving along with all those who have been affected by this enormous tragedy. No words can truly express how heartbroken we are.

Mr Lanza, who is an executive with General Electric, added: "We are in a state of disbelief and trying to find whatever answers we can. We too are asking why.

"We have cooperated fully with law enforcement and will continue to do so.

"Like so many of you, we are saddened, but struggling to make sense of what has transpired."

Meanwhile, Ms Lanza's brother has also released a statement for the families struggling to cope in the aftermath of the shooting spree.

James Champion, an ex-policeman who lives in Kingston in New Hampshire, said: "On behalf of Nancy's mother and siblings, we reach out to the community of Newtown to express our heartfelt sorrow for the incomprehensible loss of innocence that has affected so many."

According to the New York Times, Mr Champion confirmed that FBI agents questioned family members about Adam Lanza on Friday night.

Mr Champion declined to reveal what the FBI was told about his nephew, or if the gunman suffered from developmental disorders or mental illness.

He added that his sister had not working recently however she was previously a stockbroker.

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Mandela Recovering As ANC Chooses New Leader

By Alex Crawford, Special Correspondent, in Johnnesburg

Nelson Mandela is spending his ninth day in hospital, recovering from a lung infection and gallstones, while the party he once headed meets amid widespread squabbling over who should be their next head.

There is heavy security around the conference in Bloemfontein which meets every five years. It has drawn more than 4,000 delegates to the city, which is also known by its African name, Mangaung.

Whoever wins the election as African National Congress (ANC) leader is almost certainly going to be the next president of the country.

Eighteen years after their first democratic election, the ANC is still overwhelmingly dominant in South African politics.

The sitting president, Jacob Zuma, who is known to dance and sing in public, faces a challenge from his quiet, unassuming deputy Kgalema Motlanthe. His challenge is seen as evidence of very obvious discontent right at the heart of the ANC hierarchy.

The run-up to Mangaung has seen shootings and threats towards local ANC officials and a flurry of accusations that the voting figures were being manipulated in Mr Zuma's favour.

The 70-year-old president remains the hot favourite and commands a lot of influence amongst the Zulu population - the largest ethnic group in the country.

But there is huge discontent and unease over his leadership, and the party in general, elsewhere in the country.

South Africa's ruling ANC still dominates politics

A week before the conference, a group of the country's most influential religious leaders wrote a letter to the party accusing it of "moral decay".

Much of the South African media has been exorcised over reports that Mr Zuma has spent more than 200m rand (about £15m) on upgrading his homestead in Kwazulu Natal.

At the same time, his government was bulldozing homes in Lenasia, south of Johannesburg, which had been apparently illegally built.

This at a time when South Africa has seen his credit rating downgraded and there is still much industrial unrest over poor wages and conditions.

For many black people, life post-apartheid may have meant getting the vote, but very little access to the country's wealth.

American civil rights activist Rev Jesse Jackson told me at the ANC's centenary celebrations in Bloemfontein at the start of the year he believed most people in South Africa were enduring an "economic apartheid".

Although there is a growing black middle class, the gap between rich and poor in the country is widening too - to such an extent that South Africa is considered one of the most unequal societies in the world.

Mr Zuma is the man who is drawing most of the ire about this inequality. He is a man with little or no formal education and apparently taught himself to write while cattle herding as a boy.

President Zuma has been blamed for his handling of the Marikana massacre

He has sterling ANC credentials having served time in prison during the fight against the country's racial segregation laws known as apartheid.

He rose through the party ranks and, apart from heading the party's intelligence branch, he went on to be deputy president but was fired by the then president, Thabo Mbeki, after being implicated in a corruption scandal involving an arms deal.

He is a polygamist who has been married six times and currently has four wives. He has 21 children but admitted in 2010 that he had fathered a child out of wedlock.

He stood trial accused of raping a family friend and told the court before being acquitted in 2006 that he had unprotected sex with the woman who was HIV-positive but had taken a shower believing it would protect him from Aids.

It was Mr Zuma and his poor stewardship of the government and industry which was largely blamed by the public, at the time at least, for the mining massacre at Marikana in August this year when police gunned down 34 striking miners outside the Lonmin plant.

It was the ANC and Mr Zuma as its head who was largely seen as responsible for causing so much discontent. The handling of the tragedy led to a number of other strikes across different sectors as workers fought for better wages and conditions.

It is in this atmosphere that the ANC elective conference is taking place - and despite the expectation that Mr Zuma will be re-elected, his return to leadership is not expected to see the dissolution of the mountain of problems the country is facing.

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British Boy Dies In US School Shooting

A British-born boy has been named as one of the victims of the worst school shooting in America's history, Sky News has learned.

Dylan Hockley, 6, was shot dead by a gunman at an elementary school in Connecticut.

He was born in Hampshire to a British father and American mother.

The family are understood to have recently moved to Connecticut, and their former neighbours in the UK described them as a "very beautiful family".

Two women like candles in Newtown in memory of the victims

Sky's Enda Brady said: "People here have very fond memories of the Hockley's, they were very popular indeed.

"(Neighbours) all describe a very beautiful family, a very popular family, and they say just what wonderful children the two boys were."

Twenty children and seven adults, including the gunman's mother, died before Adam Lanza, 20, turned a gun on himself at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown.

It has been confirmed that US President Barack Obama will attend a memorial service in Newtown later today, and will speak at an interfaith vigil for families of the victims.

Until recently the Hockley family lived at this house in Hampshire

Meanwhile, a father has paid an emotional tribute to his murdered six-year-old daughter, after police released the names of the gunman's 27 victims.

Robbie Parker said his final conversation with Emilie was in Portuguese, the language he was helping to teach her.

"She told me 'good morning' and asked how I was doing, and I said that I was doing well," he told reporters.

"She said that she loved me, and I gave her a kiss and I was out the door."

A woman and child pray outside a church in the town

Headteacher Dawn Hochsprung and school psychologist Mary Sherlach both died as they tried to confront the gunman.

The pair were in a meeting with therapist Diane Day on Friday, when the gunman began shooting at 9.30am.

On hearing the shots, they both jumped out of their seats and ran out of the room.

"They didn't think twice about confronting or seeing what was going on," Ms Day said.

Ms Hochsprung is also believed to have switched on a loudspeaker system in the school to alert students and staff to the danger.

"She was just an amazing woman ... the kids loved her. It's a huge loss for our school and our town," said assistant librarian Maryanne Jacobs.

Fourth-grade teacher Theodore Varga said: "You could hear the hysteria that was going on.

"Whoever did that saved a lot of people. Everyone in the school was listening to the terror that was transpiring."

Another hero was said to be first-grade teacher Vicki Leigh Soto, 27, described by police as someone who "put herself between the kids and the gunman's bullets".

Her body was found huddled with the students in a classroom closet, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Youth soccer coach David Flook, originally from Northampton, England, told Sky News of the turmoil his town is now in.

"Everybody is absolutely devastated. People don't know what they can do," he said.

He described Newtown as the "least dangerous place on earth".

He added: "It was the perfect town."

The father of gunman Adam Lanza released a statement on Saturday night. He said: "Our hearts go out to the families and friends who lost loved ones and to all those who were injured.

"We are in a state of disbelief and trying to find whatever answers we can. We too are asking why."

On Saturday, police released a list of all the victims of Lanza: Charlotte Bacon, age 6, Daniel Barden, 7, Olivia Engel, 6, Josephine Gay, 7, Ana M Marquez-Greene, 6, Dylan Hockley, 6, Madeleine F Hsu, 6, Catherine V Hubbard, 6, Chase Kowalski , 7, Jesse Lewis, 6, James Mattioli, 6, Grace McDonnell, 7, Emilie Parker, 6, Jack Pinto, 6, Noah Pozner, 6, Caroline Previdi, 6, Jessica Rekos, 6, Avielle Richman, 6, Benjamin Wheeler, 6, Allison N Wyatt, 6, Rachel Davino, 29, Dawn Hochsprung, 47, Nancy Lanza, 52, Anne Marie Murphy, 52, Lauren Rousseau, 30, Mary Sherlach, 56, and Victoria Soto, 27.

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