India: British Woman Murdered In Kashmir

A Dutch man has been detained after a 24-year-old British woman was found murdered on a houseboat in Indian-administered Kashmir, police have confirmed.

The woman had apparently been stabbed and police said she was found in a pool of blood on the vessel at Srinagar's Dal Lake, a popular tourist destination.

Senior police officer Abdul Ghani Mir said the man was picked up as he tried to flee the valley with only his passport.

A police officer at Dal Lake, a popular tourist destination

The woman's body is being sent for medical examination to determine whether she was sexually assaulted before bieng killed.

He said: "A 24-year-old British national was found murdered in a local houseboat this morning. A Dutch national, De Wit Richard, has been detained for investigations.

"While preliminary investigation has confirmed that the woman was murdered, we are investigating other angles. Forensic evidence is being collected.

Forensics officers are looking for clues at the scene

"The Dutch national had fled from the houseboat in the night, leaving behind his belongings. He was trying to flee from the valley, carrying only his passport. We flashed an alert for his arrest."

Another officer, superintendent Tahir Sajjad told AFP: "We walked into a pool of blood in her room. We found a sharp-edged knife close to her body. The young lady had multiple stab wounds."

The attacker smashed the latch on the cabin door, according to AFP.

Onlookers gathered near the scene of the murder

The man was held at Qazigund, in south Kashmir's Anantag district, around 100km (62 miles) from the lake where the woman's body was found.

He had allegedly fled in a small boat which capsized as he was trying to reach the shore, forcing him to swim.

Speaking near the murder scene, Deputy Inspector General of Police for central Kashmir Syed Afadul Mujtiba said: "There is one houseboat over here in which there were two tourists living.

"One tourist was there for about one month. She has been living here, an English tourist, and a Dutch tourist arrived two days ago, and now today in the morning the dead body of the female tourist has been found with incision wounds, sharp-edged weapon wounds, and the Dutch tourist has tried to escape.

"It appears that he has murdered this female tourist."

Sky's India correspondent Alex Rossi said: "Police say preliminary investigations have confirmed that this woman was murdered, but they are investigating other angles.

"Forensic evidence is being collected and the Dutch national is being questioned."

The weeping owner of the Kashmir houseboat, named Hafeeza, said she was shocked by the tourist's murder.

She said: "She was very dear to me, she was just like my daughter."

The Foreign Office says it is in touch with local authorities and the victim's family have been informed.

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India: Survivor Found Day After Tower Collapse

Rescuers have pulled out alive an injured woman from the wreckage of a Mumbai tower block - 36 hours after it collapsed leaving as many as 72 dead and 70 injured.

The 65-year-old was dragged from the building on Saturday morning after rescue workers heard her voice and used camera equipment to pinpoint her location under the rubble. She is said to be in a stable condition in hospital.

It came as the search for further survivors was called off after more than 40 hours and the rescue of 126 people in total.

A 10-month old infant was pulled from the debris on Friday.

Dozens are still missing, while some 36 of the injured remain in hospital.

A 10-month-old child rescued from the rubble

Most of the dead and missing are migrant construction workers who were living on the site in Thane, on the outskirts of the city, with their families.

At least 17 of those killed are children.

The building collapsed "like a pack of cards within three to four seconds," one witness said on Thursday night.

As rescue teams combed the rubble for survivors immediately after the collapse, two young children were plucked out alive to cries of "God is great".

A toddler is pulled out alive from the wreckage

Rescue workers with sledgehammers, gasoline-powered saws and hydraulic jacks struggled to break through the tower of rubble in their search for possible survivors. Six bulldozers were brought to the scene.

An investigation has now been launched into what has been described as one of the worst incidents of its kind in the western Indian state of Maharashtra.

The collapse is being blamed on shoddy construction and unstable foundations.

The building was only supposed to be four storeys high but three extra levels had been illegally constructed on top and an eighth was being added when it collapsed, said police.

Rescue workers search for survivors in the rubble

Police said they have arrested the builder and his associates. They face a number of charges including manslaughter.

A local resident who gave his name as Ramlal said: "The building collapsed like a pack of cards within three to four seconds.

"Only labourers used to stay there. No rich person or well-to-do family stayed here. Only poor people stayed here."

The neighbourhood where the building collapsed was part of a belt of more than 2,000 illegal structures that had sprung up in the area in recent years, said Malvi, the town spokesman.

"Notices have been served several times for such illegal construction, sometimes notices are sent 10 times for the same building," he said.

A crowd watches the rescuers at work

GR Khairnar, a former top Mumbai official, said government officials who allowed the illegal construction should be tried along with the builders.

"There are a lot of people involved (in illegal construction) - builders, government machinery, police, municipal corporation - everybody is involved in this process," he told CNN-IBN television.

As the economy has grown, so has the appetite for property and the quick profit that comes from unauthorised construction.

In one of the worst collapses, nearly 70 people were killed when an apartment building in a congested New Delhi neighbourhood crumbled in November 2010.

That building was two floors higher than legally allowed and its foundations appeared to have been weakened by water damage.

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North Korea: US Deploys Spy Plane To Japan

Tensions remain high on the Korean Peninsula amid reports the US has deployed an unmanned spy plane to Japan to boost its surveillance after North Korea readied missile launchers on its east coast.

The Global Hawk will be stationed at the US airbase in Misawa, northern Japan, in the first ever deployment of the aircraft in the country, the Sankei Shimbun reported, quoting government sources.

The US military informed Japan last month about plans to deploy the plane between June and September but has brought the date forward.

It comes after North Korea warned foreign diplomats they may not be safe in the country if war breaks out.

The spy plane will be stationed at the US airbase in Misawa, northern Japan

Pyongyang asked foreign embassies whether they were considering evacuating staff, saying the government could not guarantee their safety in the event of conflict from April 10.

The British Foreign Office dismissed the warning as "rhetoric".

However, an urgent international effort to defuse the situation is under way.

The heads of EU missions are to meet to hammer out a common position on the crisis, while the US works its diplomatic channels to resolve the stand-off with Pyongyang.

US Secretary of State John Kerry has been holding talks with officials in South Korea, as well as China - historically North Korea's ally - to see if the Chinese can put any more pressure on North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un to back down.

Kim Jong-Un holding up a pistol as he supervises firing drills

Reporting from the South Korean capital Seoul, Sky's Asia Correspondent Mark Stone, said: "In the skies above the Korean Peninsula there are spy planes operating.

"There will be drones - American drones - operating before long from a base in Japan.

"They are trying to get as much of a sense as possible of what it is that Kim Jong-Un is doing on the ground with his weaponry.

"We know he has some pretty sophisticated weaponry.

"There are artillery rounds just over the border. They could in theory hit Seoul. That's a big concern for South Korea.

"That's why they are trying to put these intelligence reports together, as well as the diplomacy behind the scenes, to try and work out what Kim Jong-Un might be up to."

A South Korean soldier looks to the north at a border observation post

He continued: "The diplomats were warned by Pyongyang to leave by April 10 - no one quite knows why that date should be significant.

"It seems pretty clear, certainly speaking to western diplomats based in Pyongyang, their belief is this is just the latest round of rhetoric from North Korea.

"You would assume that if North Korea was planning some sort of war, it would actually want the diplomats from foreign countries to remain there so that they could be used as some sort of a bargaining chip - not kicked out of North Korea.

"I think it is alarming, but I think it's also probably just more rhetoric," he added.

Most governments have made it clear they have no immediate plans to withdraw personnel from the area.

A rally in support of Kim Jong-Un's order to put missiles on standby

Western tourists returning from organised tours in Pyongyang - which have continued despite the crisis - said the situation on the ground appeared calm, with life going on as normal.

"We're glad to be back but we didn't feel frightened when we were there," said Tina Krabbe, from Denmark, arriving in Beijing after five days in North Korea.

The embassy warning on Friday coincided with reports that North Korea had loaded two mid-range Musudan missiles on mobile launchers and hidden them in underground facilities on its eastern coast.

The Musudan have never been tested but are believed to have a range of around 3,000km (1,860 miles), which could theoretically be pushed to 4,000km (2,485 miles).

That would cover any target in South Korea and Japan, and possibly even reach US military bases located on the Pacific island of Guam - which Pyongyang has threatened to strike.

Tensions have soared on the Korean peninsula since December, when the North test-launched a long-range rocket. In February, it conducted its third nuclear test and drew fresh UN sanctions.

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North Korea Moves Two Missiles To East

By Mark Stone, on the South Korea border

North Korea has moved two missiles to its east coast and loaded them on mobile launchers, South Korea's Yonhap news agency has said.

The move fuels fears of an imminent firing, which would further ramp up tensions in the peninsula, and the British Embassy in Pyongyang was asked by North Korea whether it intended to evacuate staff.

The North Korean government said it would be unable to guarantee the safety of embassies and international organisations in the country in the event of conflict from April 10.

A Foreign Office spokesperson said: "The DPRK (The Democratic People's Republic of Korea) has responsibilities under the Vienna convention to protect diplomatic missions, and we believe they have taken this step as part of their continuing rhetoric that the US poses a threat to them.

"We are considering next steps, including a change to our travel advice."

The Yonhap report cited what it said was a top government official as saying: "It has been confirmed that North Korea, early this week, transported two Musudan mid-range missiles by train to the east coast and loaded them on vehicles equipped with launch pads."

The official said the mobile launchers had since been hidden in special underground facilities, according to the report.

South Korea said earlier it had been seeking urgent information on one Korean missile that had been moved.

Intelligence officials from the US, Japan and South Korea are monitoring the movement of the weapons.

North Korea's young leader Kim Jong-Un has escalated his rhetoric

The Musudan missile is a mid-range weapon, meaning it is capable of reaching South Korea and Japan and perhaps also the US territory of Guam in the Pacific Ocean.

"The range is between 3,000 to 4,000km (1,864 to 2,485 miles). There are major US military forces in Guam and a fixed number of troops to deal with the Korean peninsula, so I think these facts can reduce the possible danger there," said Kim Min-seok, South Korea's Defence Ministry spokesman.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon said daily reports from Pyongyang were "really alarming and troubling" and urged North Korea to ease tensions.

"Nuclear threat is not a game, it is very serious," he said, adding that any misjudgement or miscalculation could have "very serious implications".

Speaking to Sky News, a security adviser to the South Korean government said there is no doubt that North Korea's capability is concerning.

US soldiers give a demonstration of their chemical equipment in South Korea

"The technological level of North Korean weapons has become much improved and better - especially their missile capability and their long-range artilleries," Kim Byungki said.

"It is more uncertain, it is less predictable, there are more ways for them to destabilise us and there are more ways for us to respond ... so it is more complex."

North Korea which, incensed at fresh UN sanctions and South Korea-US military drills, has issued a series of apocalyptic threats of nuclear war in recent weeks.

America says it is taking "all necessary precautions" to respond to the daily threats from the North Korean leadership.

President Barack Obama's spokesman, Jay Carney, said the barrage of rhetoric fitted a "regrettable but familiar" pattern of North Korean behaviour.

The South Korean military during an exercise near the border

The Musudan, which is manoeuvrable on the back of a specially designed mobile launch pad, is untested and its accuracy is unknown. Most experts believe the North Koreans lack the technological ability to mount a nuclear warhead into its tip.

However, it can carry a significant load of conventional explosives which could cause considerable damage.

It is not clear whether military commanders in North Korea have been given orders to fire the weapon in anger or as a test.

There has been speculation that Pyongyang might schedule a firing to coincide with the birthday of the country's late founder Kim Il-Sung in mid-April.

The US is preparing to move an advanced missile defence system to Guam

Given the recent level of rhetoric delivered by North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un and the number of US and South Korean military assets that are now in the region, the missile would be shot down within minutes of any launch.

The concern is that this could then lead to an uncontrollable escalation in military action by both sides.

Sky News' Asia correspondent Mark Stone says South Korean people are "remarkably unconcerned about the threats that are coming from the North. Why? Because they're used to it. They've heard it for so many decades now.

"They don't believe he'll press the button."

He added that governments are, however, concerned because Mr Kim, North Korea's new young leader, "is very unpredictable".

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India Building Collapse: At Least 41 Dead

By Alex Rossi, Sky News India Correspondent

Rescuers pulled two toddlers from the wreckage of a Mumbai tower block after it collapsed leaving as many as 41 dead and 50 injured.

Most of the dead and missing are migrant construction workers who were living on the site in Thane, on the outskirts of the city, with their families.

Eleven of the dead are children.

As rescue teams combed the rubble for survivors two young children were plucked out alive to cries of "God is great".

Rescue workers with sledgehammers, gasoline-powered saws and hydraulic jacks were struggling to break through the tower of rubble in their search for possible survivors.

A toddler is pulled alive from the wreckage

More than 20 people remained missing and three floors of the building remained to be searched, said R.S. Rajesh, an official with the National Disaster Response Force who was at the scene.

"All the three floors are sandwiched ... so it is very difficult for us," he said, adding that rescuers were continuing to pull survivors from the wreckage.

An investigation has now been launched into what has been described as one of the worst incidents of its kind in the western Indian state of Maharashtra.

The collapse is being blamed on shoddy construction and unstable foundations and an investigation has been launched.

Rescue workers search for survivors in the rubble

The building was only supposed to be four storeys high but three extra levels had been illegally constructed on top.

Police say they have arrested the builder and his associates. They face a number of charges including manslaughter.

A local resident who gave his name as Ramlal said he could only watch as the disaster unfolded because it happened so quickly.

A crowd watches the rescuers at work

"The building collapsed like a pack of cards within three to four seconds," he said.

"Only labourers used to stay there. No rich person or well-to-do family stayed here. Only poor people stayed here."

Building collapses happen often in India.

As the economy has grown, so has the appetite for property and the quick profit that comes from unauthorised construction.

In one of the worst recent collapses, nearly 70 people were killed in November 2010 when an apartment building in a congested New Delhi neighborhood crumpled.

That building was two floors higher than legally allowed and its foundation appeared to have been weakened by water damage.

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Fernandez Called 'Old Hag' By Uruguay President

The President of Uruguay has been caught on microphone calling his Argentine counterpart, Cristina Fernandez, an "old hag".

Jose Mujica was caught at the beginning of a news conference while speaking quietly with another official during a visit to a farming area in Uruguay to discuss trade with Brazil and Argentina.

The microphone picked him up saying: "This old hag is worse than the cross-eyed man."

President Jose Mujica is not the first politician to be caught out

The "cross-eyed man" is apparently a reference to Mrs Fernandez's late husband, the former president of Argentina Nestor Kirchner, who had a lazy eye. He died suddenly of a heart attack in 2010.

El Observador newspaper, which posted the audio on its website, said Mr Mujica was referencing the Kirchners and did not realise that the microphones were on.

The clip attracted so much web traffic it shut the newspaper's website down.

Jose Mujica with the Argentinian president Cristina Fernandez

Argentina's government has responded with an official protest, calling the comments "unacceptable."

The Argentine Foreign Minister, Hector Timerman, said the remarks were "denigrating" and added that they offended the memory of the dead.

The Uruguayan ambassador Guillermo Pomi was summoned and presented with a protest letter, which said: "The Foreign Ministry would like to let the Uruguayan Embassy know of the deep discomfort created by President Jose Mujica's statements regarding late President Nestor Kirchner."

However, Mr Mujica told the online version of La Republica newspaper that he had not talked about Argentina and was not going to clarify anything.

George W Bush has his 'Yo Blair' moment

Mr Mujica, a popular president, was elected in 2009. He shunned his grace and favour house and instead lives on a farm on the outskirts of Montevideo with his wife and three-legged dog.

Known as "the poorest president in the world", the former left-wing revolutionary gives 90% of his income to charity.

Mrs Fernandez, whose frequent rhetoric about taking back the Falklands Islands continues to provoke David Cameron, has refused to comment on the incident.

Mr Mujica is not the only leader to fall prey to an open-microphone gaffe. George W Bush memorably greeted Tony Blair with "Yo Blair" at a G8 summit in 2006, while Gordon Brown was caught calling a 66-year-old widow a "bigoted woman" on the 2010 election campaign.

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Argentina Floods: Dozens Die As Rain Continues

At least 52 people have drowned in their homes and cars, or were electrocuted as floods swamped Buenos Aires.

Thousands have been evacuated from their homes

At least 46 died on Wednesday in and around the city of La Plata. Six deaths were reported a day earlier in Argentina's capital.

Many people climbed onto their roofs in the pouring rain after storm sewers flooded forcing water into houses.

"It started to rain really hard in the evening, and began to flood," Augustina Garcia Orsi, a 25-year-old student, said.

"I panicked. In two seconds I was up to my knees in water. It came up through the drains - I couldn't do anything."

Many claim officials have not done enough

The rains also flooded the country's largest oil refinery, causing a fire that took hours to put out.

The La Plata refinery suspended operations as a result, and Argentina's YPF oil company said an emergency team was evaluating how to get it restarted.

"Such intense rain in so little time has left many people trapped in their cars, in the streets, in some cases electrocuted," Governor Daniel Scioli said.

"We are giving priority to rescuing people who have been stuck in trees or on the roofs of their homes."

The region of Buenos Aires has been worst affected

President Cristina Fernandez visited Tolosa, a La Plata neighbourhood where she grew up and where her mother was among those evacuated.

She announced security measures to combat vandalism, help for identifying the dead, and three days of national mourning for the victims.

At least 2,500 people were evacuated from their homes to about 20 centres in the La Plata area, which is about 37 miles (60km) southeast of Argentina's capital.

The rains are expected to ease later

The flooding threatened to ruin food supplies across La Plata's metropolitan area, which has nearly one million people.

National Planning Minister Julio de Vido estimated that 280,000 people remain without power across the city and surrounding province of Buenos Aires, where most Argentines live.

"Our job is focused on restoring service, but we're going to wait until the equipment dries to guarantee the safety of the electricity workers, because we don't want any deaths," he said.

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North Korea Army: 'War Could Break Out Today'

By Mark Stone, in Seoul, South Korea

The North Korean military says it has ratified a "merciless" attack against the United States, potentially involving a "cutting-edge" nuclear strike.

"The moment of explosion is approaching fast," the army said in a statement on state news agency KCNA.

War could break out "today or tomorrow", the statement said, quoting a spokesman for the General Staff of the Korean People's Army.

"The merciless operation of (our) revolutionary armed forces in this regard has been finally examined and ratified.

"The US had better ponder over the prevailing grave situation."

The North's rhetoric has been met by a display of US military strength

The North's Committee for Peaceful Reunification of Korea was later quoted by KCNA as threatening to withdraw its 53,000 workers from the joint industrial zone it shares with the South.

Pyongyang informed Seoul on Wednesday that it was stopping the daily movement of South Koreans to the Kaesong complex, the last real surviving point of contact between the two countries.

And the committee said: "If the South Korean puppets and conservative news media keep badmouthing (us), we will order all our workers to pull out from Kaesong."

North Korea's latest pronouncements came as Washington scrambled to reinforce its Pacific defences, preparing to move an advanced missile defence system to the island of Guam.

Mr Hagel said North Korea posed a "real and clear danger"

The land-based weapon, which is primed to shoot down short and medium-range missiles, will be sent to the US territory to defend its bases there.

The Pentagon has already sent bombers, stealth aircraft and ships.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the North had moved a mid-range Musudan missile to its east coast.

The missile is believed to have a range of 1,875 miles (3,000km) or more, which would put all of South Korea and Japan in range and possibly also the US territory of Guam in the Pacific Ocean.

North Korea is not believed to have tested these missiles, according to most independent experts.

Tensions have been soaring on the Korean peninsula since the North launched a long-range rocket in December and conducted its third nuclear test in February.

A military checkpoint linked to the Kaesong joint industrial complex

North Korea has threatened missile and nuclear strikes against the US and South Korea in response to UN sanctions and joint military drills.

European diplomatic sources speaking to Sky News from the North Korean capital have said there is nothing there to suggest war is imminent: no sign of conscripts being signed up or unusual troop movements.

US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Wednesday that North Korea's "bellicose, dangerous rhetoric" posed a "real and clear danger" to America and its allies South Korea and Japan.

"They have nuclear capacity now, they have missile delivery capacity now," he said.

"We take those threats seriously, we have to take those threats seriously.

"We are doing everything we can, working with the Chinese and others to defuse that situation on the peninsula.

"I hope the North will ratchet its very dangerous rhetoric down."

The UK Government said it was not warning of an immediate risk to British citizens travelling to or living in South Korea.

In a statement to Sky News, the UK Embassy in Seoul said: "We have noted North Korea's most recent statement, we are monitoring the situation and are in close contact with allies.

"We have been clear to North Korea that its long-term interests will not be served by threatening the international community and increasing regional tensions.

"We have updated our Travel Advice, advising British nationals in Korea and those travelling here to follow the advice of local authorities and subscribe to our travel advice, Twitter feed and Facebook page. We currently assess there is no immediate risk to British nationals in or travelling to Korea."

The tensions surrounding Kaesong - established in 2004 and a crucial source of hard currency for North Korea - carry enormous significance.

Neither of the Koreas has allowed previous crises to significantly affect the complex, which is the only surviving example of inter-Korean cooperation and seen as a bellwether for stability on the Korean peninsula.

China, the North's sole major ally, appealed for "calm" from all sides, repeating Beijing's oft-declared position.

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Tarantula The Size Of A Human Face Discovered

Scientists have found an enormous, previously unknown, species of venomous spider in a remote Sri Lankan village.

The newly-found spider (Pics: British Tarantula Society/ Ranil Nanayakkara)

The giant tarantula is as big as a human face.

Its legs, which have unique daffodil-yellow markings, span a massive 20cm (eight inches). The arachnid also has a distinctive pink band around its body.

The new species was found in the war-torn north of the South Asian country by scientists from Sri Lanka's Biodiversity Education and Research (BER) organisation.

It has been named Poecilotheria rajaei, in recognition of a senior police officer called Michael Rajakumar Purajah who guided the research team through a hazardous jungle overrun by civil unrest in order to seek out the spider.

The spider is said to prefer living on old trees

The arachnid had originally been presented to BER three years ago by villagers in Mankulam who had killed a male specimen.

Scientists immediately realised the dead spider was not like anything they already knew and a group was charged with finding any living relatives.

The living Poecilotheria rajaei were eventually discovered in the former doctor's quarters of the village's hospital.

According to wired.com, Ranil Nanayakkara, the co-founder of BER, said: "They are quite rare.

The tarantula is characterised by its yellow legs and pink band

"They prefer well-established old trees, but due to deforestation the number have dwindled and due to lack of suitable habitat they enter old buildings."

The website described the tarantula as "colourful, fast and venomous".

The species is said to be related to a class of South American tarantula that includes the Goliath bird-eater, one of the world's largest spiders.

In other reports Mr Nanayakkara is quoted as saying none of the tarantulas found in Sri Lanka have bites that are deadly to humans. However, the Poecilotheria rajaei would be able to kill animals as large as mice, lizards and small birds and snakes.

A male member of the Poecilotheria rajaei species

Peter Kirk, who covered the discovery for the British Tarantula Society's journal, told Sky News: "Ranil has been working on these spiders since 2009 out in Sri Lanka and this is the first of what is thought to be a number of new species he has discovered in what was previously the inaccessible northern region of the island.

"It demonstrates that wildlife continues to survive whilst we are in the throes of conflict and that they can adapt to its changing environment - but also highlights that we risk destroying the habitats of species new to science and condemning them to extinction before they are even discovered."

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Gaza Strip Comes Under Israeli Air Strikes

Israel has launched air strikes on the Gaza Strip, its first such attack since a ceasefire ended an eight-day war in November.

The Israeli military said the strikes, which targeted "two extensive terror sites in the Northern Gaza Strip", were in response to rocket fire from Gaza towards southern Israel.

Officials from Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement that controls the territory, said no one was hurt in the air strikes.  No damage was reported.

The air raids followed the third rocket attack to hit Israel since the ceasefire.

The Egyptian-mediated truce between Israel and Hamas has kept the frontier relatively quiet. Some 170 Palestinians and six Israelis were killed in the brief cross-border war.

A rocket launched from Gaza Strip fell close to Sderot

Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon said the military would not sit back while Palestinian militants attack southern Israel.

"We will not in any way allow a routine of rocket fire steadily dripping on our civilians and soldiers," he said.

An al Qaeda-linked group, called Magles Shoura al Mujahedeen, claimed responsibility for the rocket salvo, saying it was in response to the death of a Palestinian inmate in an Israeli jail.

Maysara Abu Hamdeya, 64, was serving a life sentence over an attempt to bomb an Israeli cafe. He died of cancer on Tuesday.

His death sparked some protests in the region, including in East Jerusalem and in the occupied West Bank, and the Palestinian territories were due to hold a general strike and day of mourning on Wednesday.

Palestinian Hamas militants hold a symbolic coffin of Maysara Abu Hamdeya

Palestinians in several jails banged on their cell doors and hurled objects after news spread of the death.

In the West Bank city of Hebron protesters threw firebombs and rocks at Israeli soldiers. The troops responded with tear gas.

Palestinian prisoner affairs minister Issa Karakeh blamed Israel, saying: "This is a serious, ugly crime committed against the prisoner Maysara due to medical negligence and reluctance to release him."

Israeli Prisons Authority spokeswoman Sivan Weizman said Abu Hamdiyeh had been treated well by Israeli specialists and had died in a hospital.

Ms Weizman said the prison service asked the parole board for the prisoner's early release after his cancer was diagnosed as terminal last week, but the appeal was still being processed at the time of his death.

US President Barack Obama visited the region last month

Israel said it holds Hamas responsible for any violence emanating from Gaza.

Along with the US and most Western governments, Israel views Hamas as a terrorist group for its refusal to recognise the Jewish state or to renounce violence that included suicide bombings in a Palestinian uprising a decade ago.

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South Korea Warns Military Action An 'Option'

South Korea's defence minister, Kim Kwan-jin, has said that military action is an "option" to protect its citizens in its stand off with North Korea.

The news comes as the United States has said it will "not accept" North Korea as a nuclear state, after Pyongyang raised tensions by refusing the South entry to a joint industrial complex.

The North says it will restart all nuclear facilities including its mothballed Yongbyon reactor, which is able to produce bomb-grade plutonium.

Standing firm: Kerry stated he will not accept N Korea as a nuclear state

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un insisted it was only seeking a deterrent and did not repeat recent threats to attack South Korea and the US.

But the North delayed the daily opening of its Kaesong industrial zone with South Korea on Wednesday morning, in a move that could represent a sharp escalation of tensions between the two countries.

The North had previously threatened to close the joint complex as part of a stand-off with Washington and Seoul.

"We are waiting for access from the North Korean authorities," a Unification Ministry official said.

More than an hour after the time the daily entry clearance is normally granted, the ministry said 861 South Korean workers were in the industrial complex while 179 workers awaited access.

The complex is a rare lucrative source of income for the impoverished North since it was established as a form of joint-Korean cooperation in 2002.

Sky News Asia Correspondent Mark Stone said the site was the only place where relations between the two countries existed.

"As with everything, it's hard to know whether this is more game playing or whether they plan to keep it closed for a while," he said.

Face off: South Korea's Kim Kwan-jin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un

"But a number of analysts who have studied the Korean problem for some time said last week that while the park remained open, the situation was not overly worrying. Now it appears to be shut."

Both Washington and Seoul stressed their countries' military readiness and said de-nuclearisation was the only way forward for North Korea.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said: "What Kim Jong-Un has been choosing to do is provocative, it is dangerous, reckless and the United States will not accept (North Korea) as a nuclear state."

America's deployment of advanced aircraft and warships to South Korea was a signal that "the United States will defend our allies and that we will not be subject to irrational or reckless provocation," he said.

Vehicles wait to cross the border to the Kaesong complex

The parading of US air and naval power with nuclear capability within view of the Korean peninsula, is as much about psychological war as real war.

The US is keen to discourage North Korea's unpredictable leader from starting a fight that could get out of control.

Mr Kerry, who will visit South Korea next week, reminded the North Koreans that "they have an option, and that option is to enter into negotiations for de-nuclearisation ... and to begin to focus on the needs of their people".

Meanwhile, China has expressed "serious concern" over the escalating situation on the Korean peninsula.

South Korean trucks return after they were refused entry to the facility

An official from China's Foreign Ministry met ambassadors from the US, North Korea and South Korea, following the closing of Kaesong.

China hopes the differences can be resolved through talks and diplomacy, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon appealed for dialogue and negotiation to resolve the crisis.

South Korean soldiers after a military drill near the demilitarised zone

"Nuclear threats are not a game," he said. "Aggressive rhetoric and military posturing only result in counter-actions, and fuel fear and instability."

Meanwhile, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister, Igor Morgulov, has expressed concern that even a simple human error could cause the crisis to escalate.

The country shares a short border with North Korea south of Vladivostok. In the current crisis, Moscow has steered clear of openly criticising North Korea.

"Russia has to be worried as we are talking about an explosive situation in the immediate vicinity of our Far East borders," he said.

US and South Korea Navy ships in formation west of the Korean peninsula

"In the current tense atmosphere, it would only need an elementary human error or technical problem for the situation to go out of control and plunge into a critical dive.

"We urge all sides to refrain from any comments or actions which could further complicate the situation," said Morgulov.

A speech by the North's young leader, Kim Jong-Un, given on Sunday but published in full by the Korean Central News Agency on Tuesday, appeared to dampen any prospect of a direct confrontation with the US by emphasising that nuclear weapons would ensure the country's safety as a deterrent.

"Our nuclear strength is a reliable war deterrent and a guarantee to protect our sovereignty," Mr Kim said.

"It is on the basis of a strong nuclear strength that peace and prosperity can exist and so can the happiness of people's lives."

The crisis flared after Pyongyang was hit with US sanctions for conducting a third nuclear test in February, before America and South Korea staged military drills that North Korea viewed as "hostile".

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'Innocent' Man Freed After 42 Years In Jail

A man who was locked up for more than 40 years for starting a deadly fire at an Arizona hotel has walked free from prison after years of doubt about his conviction.

Louis Taylor was just 16 when he was arrested following the inferno which killed 29 people at the Pioneer Hotel in Tucson in December 1970.

"It's a tale of two tragedies: the Pioneer Hotel fire and my conviction," he told reporters gathered outside the prison.

Taylor, who turns 59 on Saturday, had faced a difficult choice in court in Tucson earlier in the day.

He could have continued his fight to fully clear his name or have entered a plea and got out of prison straightaway.

Louis Taylor chose not to press for a new trial. Pic: CBS News

He chose to plead "no contest", rather than wait another two to three years.

However, the deal negates his ability to sue the state for compensation.

That could have happened only if he had been exonerated at a new trial.

Taylor was sentenced to 28 consecutive life sentences but continually professed his innocence.

He contends he was wrongly convicted by an all-white jury, alleging police failed to investigate other suspects.

Fire engulfed the Pioneer Hotel in Tucson in December 1970. Pic: CBS News

Reports at the time indicated Taylor was actually helping people escape the blaze before being arrested later that night.

Even the presiding judge expressed scepticism about the conviction. 

Taylor's lawyers believe they would have prevailed eventually at a new trial, but the process could have taken a long time.

Prosecutors still believe he is guilty, but said they would not be able to pursue a new conviction due to a lack of evidence and living witnesses.

The hotel fire was one of the worst in Arizona history.

Many guests were trapped in their rooms as the blaze engulfed the building.

The fire truck ladders were too short to reach the upper floors.

Some people jumped to their deaths while others burned in their rooms.

Most victims died from carbon monoxide poisoning.

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Jackson Trial: Mum 'Seeks £25bn' From AEG

By Greg Milam, US Correspondent

Michael Jackson's family is taking the promoter of his ill-fated comeback tour to court, reportedly claiming tens of billions of dollars from AEG Live.

The civil proceedings in downtown Los Angeles will focus on the Jacksons' claim the company was guilty of the "negligent hiring" of Dr Conrad Murray, the physician now in prison for killing Jackson.

One of the headlines in the US promises that this will be "The Wildest Jackson Trial Yet" - as the life and death of the King Of Pop is about to get another airing in court.

Jackson's mother Katherine and children are believed to be seeking £25bn, including £5bn loss of future earnings - figures which are staggering even to seasoned US legal analysts.

As the court begins the task of selecting jurors for a trial that could last nine weeks, the media war between the two sides has stepped up a notch.

Jackson's son Prince is expected to testify at the trial

The Jackson family were already thought to be planning to call the star's 16-year-old son Prince to give evidence. The teenager is expected to testify about witnessing his father's last moments.

Now we hear that another Prince, the pop star of that name, could also be called by the Jacksons to testify about his experiences with AEG.

Already many of the emails the Jacksons will rely on in court - electronic conversations between senior figures at AEG - have been leaked to the media.

It is understood AEG will argue  they were not responsible for Murray or what happened to Jackson.

As part of their evidence, the judge has ruled they can bring up details of Jackson's child molestation trial.

Conrad Murray has refused to give evidence

It has been reported they will also seek to show that the star had drug issues well before he met Murray.

Murray himself is said to have refused to give evidence in the case while his own appeal against conviction is ongoing.

One of the most significant moments will come before the trial even starts: the judge Yvette Palazuelous will rule on an application for live television cameras to be in court.

She has refused so far but those challenging that ruling say the very principle of justice for the millions who will not have a seat in court means them being able to watch it on TV.

They point to the massive global television interest in the trial of Murray and the importance of the public seeing justice at work.

It is an argument that holds a lot of sway in the US and especially in California, with decades of precedent for televising court proceedings.

Her ruling is eagerly awaited by the media and by Jackson's millions of fans around the world, many of whom have lingering questions about his death.

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North Korea To Restart Nuclear Reactor

North Korea will restart all nuclear facilities including its shuttered Yongbyon reactor, the official KCNA news service has said.

It will rebuild and resume its mothballed uranium enrichment facility and the 5 MW Yongbyon reactor, which was closed in 2007 as part of international disarmament talks that have since stalled.

When it is fully running the reactor is capable of churning out one atomic bomb worth of plutonium - the most common fuel in nuclear weapons - a year.

A nuclear energy spokesman said the move was being made in line with a policy of "bolstering the nuclear armed force both in quality and quantity" as well as solving "acute" electricity shortages.

Kim Jong-Un has said the North is at war with South Korea

But the step will boost fears in Washington and among its allies about North Korea's push for nuclear-tipped missiles that can reach the US, technology it is not currently believed to have.

The North's leader Kim Jong-Un has been issuing daily war-like threats in recent weeks, including one to launch missile attacks on American targets in the region. He also claims the North is in a "state of war" with South Korea.

Pyongyang conducted its third nuclear test in February, prompting UN sanctions that have angered its leaders and led to the current tensions.

The country has since declared that making nuclear arms and a stronger economy are the nation's top priorities.

The country added the 5 MW graphite-moderated Yongbyon reactor to its nuclear complex in 1986 after seven years of construction, adding the operation is aimed at generating electricity.

A cooling tower being demolished at Yongbyon nuclear plant in 2008

It takes about 8,000 fuel rods to run the reactor. Reprocessing the spent fuel rods after a year of reactor operation could yield about seven kilogrammes of plutonium - enough to make at least one nuclear bomb, experts say.

North Korea began building a 50 MW and a 200 MW reactor in 1984, but their construction was suspended under a 1994 nuclear deal with Washington.

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Brazil: CCTV Catches Police 'Ignoring' Murders

Eight Brazilian police officers have been arrested after security camera footage showed two teenagers being murdered as officers in a police car parked metres away apparently did nothing.

The footage, which was shown on Brazilian television, showed two men on a motorcycle gunning down two youngsters in the popular Bras neighbourhood of Sao Paulo.

Images from a separate camera show that at the time of the murders, a military police vehicle was parked around 50m away from where the victims were shot.

Police on patrol in a shantytown in Rio

After the shooting it was seen simply driving off in scenes that the Civilian Police Director of Sao Paulo described as "shocking".

She said: "We are working to find the third youth who was seen in the images and managed to flee."

The arrests came as police in Rio de Janeiro arrested three men in connection with the rape of an American student on a minibus.

The 21-year-old, who was studying in the city, was subjected to a horrific six-hour sex attack on the vehicle as her French boyfriend was forced to look on.

The couple boarded the bus in Copacabana and headed to Lapa, a trendy area home to popular bars and dance clubs.

Police in riot training preparation for the World Cup in 2014

Two men who also boarded the minibus ordered the rest of the passengers to get off and handcuffed their victims.

They then proceeded to beat the young man with a metal bar and rape the young woman as they rode around the city.

The incidents will be a damaging blow to Brazil, which is seeking to improve its image on crime, ahead of the World Cup next year and the Olympic Games, which will be hosted in Rio in 2016.

Sao Paul has seen a surge in violent crime in recent years and police in the country have been accused of excessive use of force and taking bribes from drugs gangs.

Reconstruction works at the Maracana stadium in Brazil

In December, Brazilian authorities arrested 61 police officers accusing them of taking bribes from drug traffickers to turn a blind eye to criminal activity in Rio.

The country had to reassure soccer fans on Saturday after rioting erupted before a match at a 2014 World Cup venue among angry fans in the northeastern city of Salvador.

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