Mubarak Retrial: Judge Withdraws From Case

The retrial of former Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak has been plunged into chaos after the judge quit on the first day.

Mubarak returned to court on Saturday to face a new trial over the deaths of 800 protests during the 2011 revolt that led to him being ousted.

But Judge Mustafa Hassan Abdullah said he had decided to refer the case to the Cairo appeals court because he felt "unease" in reviewing it.

Sky's Tom Rayner said Mr Abdullah also blamed health problems and suggested he did not want to embarrass himself - which may be connected to his sympathies with the Mubarak regime.

A man calls for Mubarak to face a court in the Hague

As he filed out of the courtroom after a hearing that lasted just seconds, there was uproar with people shouting and waving their arms.

Civil society lawyers attending the trial chanted: "The people want the execution of the president."

Last October, the same judge acquitted the defendants in the infamous "Battle of the Camels" trial, who were accused of sending men on camels and horses to break up a protest during the 2011 uprising.

"This judge and this circuit acquitted all the defendants in the battle of the camels and there is a lot of doubt over their position. This prevents him from conducting this trial," said Amir Salem, a lawyer for the victims of families.

There was uproar in the courtroom as the judge walked out

Mubarak is facing retrial on charges of complicity in the murder of more than 800 protesters killed during the revolt.

Last year, he was sentenced to life imprisonment on the same charges, which include indictments related to corruption.

But the conviction was overturned due to failings in the prosecution case after a successful appeal in January.

He will now face those charges again, alongside his former interior minister Habib El Adly and four aides.

The findings of an independent fact-finding report, leaked to the Guardian newspaper, may bolster some of the evidence against him.

It indicates that Mubarak and other senior officials may have had knowledge or been complicit in the widespread use of torture and killings by the regime's forces during the height of the revolution.

Some families of the victims gathered outside court

Earlier on Saturday, television footage showed Mubarak, dressed in white and wearing sunglasses, wheeled out of an ambulance on a stretcher and taken into the capital's Police Academy in a suburb of the capital for the hearing.

In the courtroom, he was seen sitting up, smiling and waving from inside a barred cage before the proceedings were adjourned.

He was flown in from a military hospital where he is being treated.

The 84-year-old has suffered several health scares and the official news agency MENA even reported him clinically dead at one point as he slipped into a coma.

Outside the compound, pro-Mubarak demonstrators outnumbered opponents with the two groups kept apart.

Relatives of victims of Mubarak's security forces held posters of young men killed in the revolt.

"What can I expect from this trial? If there was justice in this country, the first trial would have been fair," said Eman Saeed, whose 24-year old son Mohab died in January 2011 after marching to Tahrir Square

Until Saturday's courtroom turmoil, the fate of the ousted strongman has been largely eclipsed by deadly violence and economic woes currently gripping Egypt.

Mohammed Morsi's presidency has been plagued by unrest and deadly clashes between protesters and police, a revolt in the canal cities, sectarian violence and a devastating economic crisis.             

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North Korea Missile Alert After Japan Blunder

A Japanese official mistakenly announced the launch of a North Korean missile instead of sending an alert about a strong earthquake.

An official at the western Osaka aviation bureau emailed 87 airport offices to say a North Korean missile had been launched, Japan's transport ministry said.

The official was trying to send a message to check on possible airport damage immediately after the 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck near the southwestern city of Kobe, injuring dozens of people and destroying several homes.

But instead the official dispatched a pre-prepared alert ready to go in the event of a North Korean missile launch.

The incorrect message was retracted six minutes later but at least one domestic flight was delayed due to the mistake.

Japan is on full alert ahead of an expected mid-range missile launch by North Korea, with Patriot missiles stationed in its capital to protect the 30 million people who live there.

In addition to PAC-3 batteries, Aegis destroyers equipped with sea-based interceptor missiles have been deployed in the Sea of Japan (East Sea).

On Wednesday officials in the Japanese city of Yokohama were left red-faced after mistakenly announcing the launch of a North Korean missile to 40,000 followers on Twitter.

Saturday night's earthquake was in the area where a magnitude 7.2 quake killed more than 6,400 people in 1995.

The Meteorological Agency warned there may be aftershocks for about a week.

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Plane Plunges Into Water Near Bali Airport

A plane with more than 100 people onboard has overshot a runway on the island of Bali and plunged into the sea.

Despite dramatic pictures showing the Lion Air jet with a broken fuselage, officials said everyone on board had survived.

The Boeing 737-800 plane came to rest in shallow water near the shoreline and bright yellow life jackets could be seen littering the nearby water and shore.

A passenger being attended to a hospital in Kedongan, near Denpasar

Bali police chief Arif Wahyunadi told local TV One that everyone had been evacuated and taken inside Denpasar airport.

An Indonesian official cited by the AFP news agency said around 130 passengers and crew were on board but other reports said it was more than 170.

At least seven passengers were taken to Sanglah hospital for treatment to head wounds and broken bones, according to hospital officials and paramedics.

Many passengers arrived with wet clothes and bruises.

The cause of the accident is still unclear and crash investigators are preparing to launch an inquiry.

Local residents at the fence of the airport near Denpasar

Mr Wahyunadi said the plane originated from Bandung, the capital of West Java province, and was landing in Bali.

The twin-engined aircraft was operated by local carrier Lion Air, whose operating base is at Bandung.

Access to the crash site was made difficult because of large concrete shore erosion protection blocks.

Some rescuers appeared to have paddled out to the stranded aircraft on surfboards.

Lion Air began operating in 2000 with just one aircraft in its fleet.

It quickly expanded operations to more than 36 locations in Indonesia.

Bali is a popular tourist destination in Indonesia

It also flies to foreign locations including Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam and used a fleet Boeing 737 aircraft.

Bali is a hugely popular holiday destination, welcoming millions of foreign tourists from around the world every year.

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Tornadoes And Severe Storms Hit US Midwest

A severe spring storm in the US midwest has left at least one person dead and several injured.

The fatality came after a tornado hit eastern parts of Mississippi, with one resident capturing a huge twister in Noxubee County on video.

In Missouri, the National Weather Service says that the St Louis suburb of Hazelwood was hit by a tornado on Wednesday night.

A National Weather Service meteorologist said emergency crews were still assessing whether tornadoes were to blame for other damage in Missouri and neighbouring Illinois.

Lightning strikes across the skies of Patterson, in Arkansas

Missouri governor Jay Nixon has declared a state of emergency.

The storms have also brought ice and snow to much of the midwest and parts of the south east of the US.

The latest one formed a giant T on Thursday, NBC News reported, leading to snow in upstate New York, ice-covered roads in Wisconsin and heavy rain in Ohio and New Orleans.

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North Korea: Defector Reveals Harrowing Escape

Visiting Secretive North Korea

Updated: 11:52am UK, Wednesday 10 April 2013

Despite the current tensions on the Korean Peninsula, tourists have been able to travel to North Korea.

A Sky News employee has just returned from a four-day trip. Journalists are strictly banned from the county without visas, which are rarely issued, so we are not revealing her name, but here is her story:

I flew from Beijing to Pyongyang. On the flight with me were lots of North Koreans with plenty of excess baggage: TVs, vegetables and meat.

Nothing felt abnormal. There was no feeling of tension.

Only when I arrived at the Demilitarised Zone were we prevented access to some of the buildings because of the current situation.

Throughout the four-day trip, which was organised by a Chinese travel company, we were assigned two North Korean minders.

One of them was more senior than the other. She watched us and watched her colleague too.

They did not want the war but were also determined to fight if the country decided to start a war. They emphasised to us that they believed in the country from their hearts.

We were not allowed to move freely. We could only do tourist things according to the guidance of the tour "guards".

We were not allowed to take photographs in the car or anywhere without the minder's permission. We were told not to photograph anything that looked bad or makes North Korea look bad.

"Don't bring bad impressions out of Pyongyang," they said.

People were very friendly. There was little traffic, so people would stare at our bus wherever we drove.

People there are very aware of the potential war.

Every time we arrived at the places of interest, the tour guides would always ask us in Korean (the minders would translate into Chinese) about the latest situation and our opinions about the situation, particularly our opinions about the US, as they all believe the tensions are the fault of America.

When we asked the minders what would happen if the war breaks out tomorrow, they said: "If the war breaks tomorrow, until midnight tonight, we are still building the socialist constructions."

We also asked them whether they know where Kim Jong-Un lives and works, as we explained to them that in Beijing, all the top leaders work and live in a place called Zhongnanhai. They all said they had no idea.

The two minders liked to sing. One of the songs they sang was apparently written by a South Korean musician to express his admiration toward Kim Jong-Il.

On one of the days we went to Myohyang San, a North Korean mountain. The six of us on the tour were locked in the restaurant because the North Koreans were so afraid that we would wander around.

There is a museum near the mountain, where gifts from foreign countries are displayed. A lot of them came from Japan.

We asked them how could they receive so many gifts from Japan given that North Korea considers the Japanese as enemies. They told us that the Japanese really admire the leaders, so they gave us many gifts.

We stayed in the Yanggakdo International Hotel, where we could watch international TV channels including the BBC, NHK, (Japanese TV), Phoenix (Hong Kong TV) and CCTV (Chinese TV).

The minders live on a specific floor where they only have three North Korean channels to watch. They never ate with us and when we asked what they had eaten, they always refused to tell us.

We were not allowed to use the local currency, and they never showed us their money. We could use Chinese RMB, US dollars or euros.

There were not many opportunities to see any ordinary North Korean people apart from the shopkeepers, tour guides or waitresses in the hotel.

There is a casino on the underground floor of the Yanggakdo International Hotel, where most of the staff members come from Liaoning Province over the northern border in China, and North Koreans are not allowed to enter.

The casino is managed by people from Macau. The staff there told us it was empty because the tensions mean far fewer people are travelling to North Korea.

Staff at the casino are all Chinese. When we asked to go to the casino, one of the minders said to us: "You must be non-communists, because communist members don't go to casinos."

Wherever we go to visit, they always asked us if we think their places or things are pretty. They only wanted to show us the good side of the country.

As soon as we travelled outside the capital city, it felt very like the real North Korea: rural, no tall buildings, only farmland.

We never felt the tension of war on our trip. On the streets, on our tour, in the hotel and even at a school we visited, the students were studying as normal.

The people we spoke to asked us if it was true that living in Beijing is hard. They think living in North Korea is the happiest thing in the world.

It feels as though those North Koreans who have travelled outside the country have never mentioned what the outside world really looks like.

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'We Stand With Allies': US Warns North Korea

US Secretary of State John Kerry has warned North Korea it would defend its allies after holding talks in the South Korean capital Seoul.

Speaking at a joint news conference with South Korean counterpart, Foreign Minister Yun Byung Se, Mr Kerry said the US would never accept North Korea as a nuclear power and described rhetoric from Pyongyang as "unacceptable".

He added that a missile test would be another "unwanted contribution to an already volatile situation" and a "huge mistake".

He said: "It would indicate who was being provactive with an exclamation point again.

"We will defend our allies. We will stand with South Korea, Japan and others. We will defend ourselves.

"Kim Jong Un needs to understand, as I think he probably does, what the outcome of a conflict would be."

A US agency believes that Kim Jong Un does have nuclear weapons

Intelligence reports from the Japanese, South Koreans and Americans have indicated that a North Korean missile test could take place at any time, though there has been silence from the leadership in Pyongyang.

The focus in the North Korean capital has been on a weekend of celebrations to mark a year in office for Kim Jong Un, which fell yesterday, and the anniversary of Mr Kim's grandfather, Kim Il Song, the founder of the nation.

The level of rhetoric to emerge from North Korea is unprecedented.

Over several weeks, the regime has declared itself to be in a "state of war" with the South, announced that a mothballed nuclear site is to be reopened and threatened to carry out nuclear attacks against the US.

Mr Kerry arrived in the region as confusion surfaced in Washington over the true status of North Korea's nuclear capability.

North Korea is celebrating a year in office for Kim Jong Un

The broad consensus is that while Kim Jong Un does poses nuclear devices and has crossed the "nuclear threshold", he does not have the capability to launch a nuclear missile.

However, at a congressional hearing on Thursday night, it emerged that one US government agency believes that Kim Jong Un does have nuclear weapons which could be placed inside a ballistic missile and fired.

Republican US Representative Doug Lamborn, quoting from a March 2013 DIA report which was inadvertently labelled "unclassified", said: "(The) Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) assesses with moderate confidence the North currently has nuclear weapons capable of delivery by ballistic missiles, however the reliability will be low."

The Pentagon was quick to issue a written clarification on the matter.

Spokesman George Little said: "In today's House Armed Services Committee hearing on the Department of Defence budget, a member of the committee read an unclassified passage in a classified report on North Korea's nuclear capabilities.

Flower displays for the anniversary of Kim Il Sung's death feature missiles

"While I cannot speak to all the details of a report that is classified in its entirety, it would be inaccurate to suggest that the North Korean regime has fully tested, developed, or demonstrated the kinds of nuclear capabilities referenced in the passage."

Washington added it was concerned about unexpected developments linked to the inexperience of 30-year-old Kim Jong Un.

One official said: "Kim Jong Un's youth and inexperience make him very vulnerable to miscalculation. Our greatest concern is a miscalculation and where that may lead.

"We have seen no indications of massive troop movements, or troops massing on the border, or massive exercises or anything like that that would back up any of the rhetoric that is going on."

North Korea has said that it does possess advanced nuclear devices.

President Barack Obama, speaking after White House talks with UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, said "nobody wants to see a conflict".

He added: "We both agree that now is the time for North Korea to end the kind of belligerent approach that they've been taking.

"It's important for North Korea, like every other country in the world, to observe basic rules and norms."

This whole crisis stems from Pyongyang's desire to pursue a nuclear programme which it says it needs to defend itself from "American aggression".

By manufacturing this crisis, Kim Jong Un is likely to be demonstrating strength domestically and thus bolstering his legitimacy.

Internationally, he is determined that his country is taken seriously as a nuclear power.

He would want an acceptance from the Americans that he is part of the 'nuclear club' as a pretext to any negotiations to end this crisis.

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Syria Airstrikes 'Targeted Civilians'

By Lisa Holland, Foreign Affairs Correspondent

The Syrian Air Force has been accused of repeatedly carrying out indiscriminate airstrikes against civilians.

A new report by the campaign group Human Rights Watch (HRW) says in some cases government forces deliberately targeted civilians from the air.

HRW said the attacks were a serious violation of international human rights law and that those responsible were guilty of war crimes.

The report is based on visits to 50 government air strike sites in opposition-controlled areas of Aleppo, Idlib and Latakia, plus more than 140 interviews with witnesses and victims.

HRW said at least 152 civilians were killed in the air strikes they documented.

A network of local Syrian anti-government activists put the number at 4,300 civilians killed in air strikes across Syria since July 2012, although this cannot be independently substantiated.

A Syrian man walks amid destruction in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo

Ole Solvang, from HRW, said: "In village after village we found a civilian population terrified by their country's own air force."

Mr Ole, who is an emergencies researcher and visited the sites, interviewing many of the victims and witnesses, added: "These illegal air strikes killed and injured many civilians and sowed a path of destruction, fear and displacement."

HRW said it has gathered information which indicates government forces deliberately targeted four bakeries where civilians were waiting in bread lines a total of eight times. It claims other bakeries were hit by artillery attacks.

The report said there were aerial attacks on at least two hospitals. During visits by HRW, staff said the hospitals had been attacked a total of seven times.

HRW concluded in 44 other cases that air strikes were unlawful under rules of engagement. It said methods used included unguided bombs dropped by high-flying helicopters which could not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

The report said civilians may have been deliberately targeted but more information is needed before that can be stated conclusively.

The campaign group said it only visited sites in opposition-controlled areas in northern Syria because the government had denied it had access to the rest of the country.

It said whilst further investigation was needed, interviews with witnesses and victims of air strikes in other parts of the country indicated a similar pattern of unlawful attacks had taken place.

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North Korea's Missiles 'In Upright Position'

Visiting Secretive North Korea

Updated: 11:52am UK, Wednesday 10 April 2013

Despite the current tensions on the Korean Peninsula, tourists have been able to travel to North Korea.

A Sky News employee has just returned from a four-day trip. Journalists are strictly banned from the county without visas, which are rarely issued, so we are not revealing her name, but here is her story:

I flew from Beijing to Pyongyang. On the flight with me were lots of North Koreans with plenty of excess baggage: TVs, vegetables and meat.

Nothing felt abnormal. There was no feeling of tension.

Only when I arrived at the Demilitarised Zone were we prevented access to some of the buildings because of the current situation.

Throughout the four-day trip, which was organised by a Chinese travel company, we were assigned two North Korean minders.

One of them was more senior than the other. She watched us and watched her colleague too.

They did not want the war but were also determined to fight if the country decided to start a war. They emphasised to us that they believed in the country from their hearts.

We were not allowed to move freely. We could only do tourist things according to the guidance of the tour "guards".

We were not allowed to take photographs in the car or anywhere without the minder's permission. We were told not to photograph anything that looked bad or makes North Korea look bad.

"Don't bring bad impressions out of Pyongyang," they said.

People were very friendly. There was little traffic, so people would stare at our bus wherever we drove.

People there are very aware of the potential war.

Every time we arrived at the places of interest, the tour guides would always ask us in Korean (the minders would translate into Chinese) about the latest situation and our opinions about the situation, particularly our opinions about the US, as they all believe the tensions are the fault of America.

When we asked the minders what would happen if the war breaks out tomorrow, they said: "If the war breaks tomorrow, until midnight tonight, we are still building the socialist constructions."

We also asked them whether they know where Kim Jong-Un lives and works, as we explained to them that in Beijing, all the top leaders work and live in a place called Zhongnanhai. They all said they had no idea.

The two minders liked to sing. One of the songs they sang was apparently written by a South Korean musician to express his admiration toward Kim Jong-Il.

On one of the days we went to Myohyang San, a North Korean mountain. The six of us on the tour were locked in the restaurant because the North Koreans were so afraid that we would wander around.

There is a museum near the mountain, where gifts from foreign countries are displayed. A lot of them came from Japan.

We asked them how could they receive so many gifts from Japan given that North Korea considers the Japanese as enemies. They told us that the Japanese really admire the leaders, so they gave us many gifts.

We stayed in the Yanggakdo International Hotel, where we could watch international TV channels including the BBC, NHK, (Japanese TV), Phoenix (Hong Kong TV) and CCTV (Chinese TV).

The minders live on a specific floor where they only have three North Korean channels to watch. They never ate with us and when we asked what they had eaten, they always refused to tell us.

We were not allowed to use the local currency, and they never showed us their money. We could use Chinese RMB, US dollars or euros.

There were not many opportunities to see any ordinary North Korean people apart from the shopkeepers, tour guides or waitresses in the hotel.

There is a casino on the underground floor of the Yanggakdo International Hotel, where most of the staff members come from Liaoning Province over the northern border in China, and North Koreans are not allowed to enter.

The casino is managed by people from Macau. The staff there told us it was empty because the tensions mean far fewer people are travelling to North Korea.

Staff at the casino are all Chinese. When we asked to go to the casino, one of the minders said to us: "You must be non-communists, because communist members don't go to casinos."

Wherever we go to visit, they always asked us if we think their places or things are pretty. They only wanted to show us the good side of the country.

As soon as we travelled outside the capital city, it felt very like the real North Korea: rural, no tall buildings, only farmland.

We never felt the tension of war on our trip. On the streets, on our tour, in the hotel and even at a school we visited, the students were studying as normal.

The people we spoke to asked us if it was true that living in Beijing is hard. They think living in North Korea is the happiest thing in the world.

It feels as though those North Koreans who have travelled outside the country have never mentioned what the outside world really looks like.

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Israel: Police Arrest Five Women at Wailing Wall

Five women have been arrested by Israeli police at the Wailing Wall for wearing prayer shawls that Orthodox tradition states should only be worn by men.

The women were all members of the Women of the Wall group that opposes police-enforced segregation of worshippers according to sex at the Jerusalem holy site.

The arrests occurred during a monthly prayer session organised by the group.

"Police detained for questioning five women who prayed with religious garments at the Wall," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.

A girl watches men praying at the Wailing Wall from behind a barrier

The group's monthly gatherings at the Western Wall often end with arrests of women who don prayer shawls or read publicly from the holy scriptures, a rite also reserved under Orthodox ritual for men.

Jewish modernisers have long called on senior rabbis to relax laws in Israel preventing men and women worshipping together at the Wall.

Women are not allowed to pray with men at the Wailing Wall

On Wednesday, officials said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was considering a plan to convert an old archaeological dig south of the Wall into an area where men and women would be allowed to mix and worship freely.

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Yeonpyeong: The Island In Kim Jong-Un's Sights

Visiting Secretive North Korea

Updated: 11:52am UK, Wednesday 10 April 2013

Despite the current tensions on the Korean Peninsula, tourists have been able to travel to North Korea.

A Sky News employee has just returned from a four-day trip. Journalists are strictly banned from the county without visas, which are rarely issued, so we are not revealing her name, but here is her story:

I flew from Beijing to Pyongyang. On the flight with me were lots of North Koreans with plenty of excess baggage: TVs, vegetables and meat.

Nothing felt abnormal. There was no feeling of tension.

Only when I arrived at the Demilitarised Zone were we prevented access to some of the buildings because of the current situation.

Throughout the four-day trip, which was organised by a Chinese travel company, we were assigned two North Korean minders.

One of them was more senior than the other. She watched us and watched her colleague too.

They did not want the war but were also determined to fight if the country decided to start a war. They emphasised to us that they believed in the country from their hearts.

We were not allowed to move freely. We could only do tourist things according to the guidance of the tour "guards".

We were not allowed to take photographs in the car or anywhere without the minder's permission. We were told not to photograph anything that looked bad or makes North Korea look bad.

"Don't bring bad impressions out of Pyongyang," they said.

People were very friendly. There was little traffic, so people would stare at our bus wherever we drove.

People there are very aware of the potential war.

Every time we arrived at the places of interest, the tour guides would always ask us in Korean (the minders would translate into Chinese) about the latest situation and our opinions about the situation, particularly our opinions about the US, as they all believe the tensions are the fault of America.

When we asked the minders what would happen if the war breaks out tomorrow, they said: "If the war breaks tomorrow, until midnight tonight, we are still building the socialist constructions."

We also asked them whether they know where Kim Jong-Un lives and works, as we explained to them that in Beijing, all the top leaders work and live in a place called Zhongnanhai. They all said they had no idea.

The two minders liked to sing. One of the songs they sang was apparently written by a South Korean musician to express his admiration toward Kim Jong-Il.

On one of the days we went to Myohyang San, a North Korean mountain. The six of us on the tour were locked in the restaurant because the North Koreans were so afraid that we would wander around.

There is a museum near the mountain, where gifts from foreign countries are displayed. A lot of them came from Japan.

We asked them how could they receive so many gifts from Japan given that North Korea considers the Japanese as enemies. They told us that the Japanese really admire the leaders, so they gave us many gifts.

We stayed in the Yanggakdo International Hotel, where we could watch international TV channels including the BBC, NHK, (Japanese TV), Phoenix (Hong Kong TV) and CCTV (Chinese TV).

The minders live on a specific floor where they only have three North Korean channels to watch. They never ate with us and when we asked what they had eaten, they always refused to tell us.

We were not allowed to use the local currency, and they never showed us their money. We could use Chinese RMB, US dollars or euros.

There were not many opportunities to see any ordinary North Korean people apart from the shopkeepers, tour guides or waitresses in the hotel.

There is a casino on the underground floor of the Yanggakdo International Hotel, where most of the staff members come from Liaoning Province over the northern border in China, and North Koreans are not allowed to enter.

The casino is managed by people from Macau. The staff there told us it was empty because the tensions mean far fewer people are travelling to North Korea.

Staff at the casino are all Chinese. When we asked to go to the casino, one of the minders said to us: "You must be non-communists, because communist members don't go to casinos."

Wherever we go to visit, they always asked us if we think their places or things are pretty. They only wanted to show us the good side of the country.

As soon as we travelled outside the capital city, it felt very like the real North Korea: rural, no tall buildings, only farmland.

We never felt the tension of war on our trip. On the streets, on our tour, in the hotel and even at a school we visited, the students were studying as normal.

The people we spoke to asked us if it was true that living in Beijing is hard. They think living in North Korea is the happiest thing in the world.

It feels as though those North Koreans who have travelled outside the country have never mentioned what the outside world really looks like.

18.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

North Korea: South On Alert For Missile Launch

Visiting Secretive North Korea

Updated: 11:52am UK, Wednesday 10 April 2013

Despite the current tensions on the Korean Peninsula, tourists have been able to travel to North Korea.

A Sky News employee has just returned from a four-day trip. Journalists are strictly banned from the county without visas, which are rarely issued, so we are not revealing her name, but here is her story:

I flew from Beijing to Pyongyang. On the flight with me were lots of North Koreans with plenty of excess baggage: TVs, vegetables and meat.

Nothing felt abnormal. There was no feeling of tension.

Only when I arrived at the Demilitarised Zone were we prevented access to some of the buildings because of the current situation.

Throughout the four-day trip, which was organised by a Chinese travel company, we were assigned two North Korean minders.

One of them was more senior than the other. She watched us and watched her colleague too.

They did not want the war but were also determined to fight if the country decided to start a war. They emphasised to us that they believed in the country from their hearts.

We were not allowed to move freely. We could only do tourist things according to the guidance of the tour "guards".

We were not allowed to take photographs in the car or anywhere without the minder's permission. We were told not to photograph anything that looked bad or makes North Korea look bad.

"Don't bring bad impressions out of Pyongyang," they said.

People were very friendly. There was little traffic, so people would stare at our bus wherever we drove.

People there are very aware of the potential war.

Every time we arrived at the places of interest, the tour guides would always ask us in Korean (the minders would translate into Chinese) about the latest situation and our opinions about the situation, particularly our opinions about the US, as they all believe the tensions are the fault of America.

When we asked the minders what would happen if the war breaks out tomorrow, they said: "If the war breaks tomorrow, until midnight tonight, we are still building the socialist constructions."

We also asked them whether they know where Kim Jong-Un lives and works, as we explained to them that in Beijing, all the top leaders work and live in a place called Zhongnanhai. They all said they had no idea.

The two minders liked to sing. One of the songs they sang was apparently written by a South Korean musician to express his admiration toward Kim Jong-Il.

On one of the days we went to Myohyang San, a North Korean mountain. The six of us on the tour were locked in the restaurant because the North Koreans were so afraid that we would wander around.

There is a museum near the mountain, where gifts from foreign countries are displayed. A lot of them came from Japan.

We asked them how could they receive so many gifts from Japan given that North Korea considers the Japanese as enemies. They told us that the Japanese really admire the leaders, so they gave us many gifts.

We stayed in the Yanggakdo International Hotel, where we could watch international TV channels including the BBC, NHK, (Japanese TV), Phoenix (Hong Kong TV) and CCTV (Chinese TV).

The minders live on a specific floor where they only have three North Korean channels to watch. They never ate with us and when we asked what they had eaten, they always refused to tell us.

We were not allowed to use the local currency, and they never showed us their money. We could use Chinese RMB, US dollars or euros.

There were not many opportunities to see any ordinary North Korean people apart from the shopkeepers, tour guides or waitresses in the hotel.

There is a casino on the underground floor of the Yanggakdo International Hotel, where most of the staff members come from Liaoning Province over the northern border in China, and North Koreans are not allowed to enter.

The casino is managed by people from Macau. The staff there told us it was empty because the tensions mean far fewer people are travelling to North Korea.

Staff at the casino are all Chinese. When we asked to go to the casino, one of the minders said to us: "You must be non-communists, because communist members don't go to casinos."

Wherever we go to visit, they always asked us if we think their places or things are pretty. They only wanted to show us the good side of the country.

As soon as we travelled outside the capital city, it felt very like the real North Korea: rural, no tall buildings, only farmland.

We never felt the tension of war on our trip. On the streets, on our tour, in the hotel and even at a school we visited, the students were studying as normal.

The people we spoke to asked us if it was true that living in Beijing is hard. They think living in North Korea is the happiest thing in the world.

It feels as though those North Koreans who have travelled outside the country have never mentioned what the outside world really looks like.

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Ignorance And Minders: Life Inside North Korea

Despite the current tensions on the Korean Peninsula, tourists have been able to travel to North Korea.

A Sky News employee has just returned from a four-day trip. Journalists are strictly banned from the county without visas, which are rarely issued, so we are not revealing her name, but here is her story:

I flew from Beijing to Pyongyang. On the flight with me were lots of North Koreans with plenty of excess baggage: TVs, vegetables and meat.

Nothing felt abnormal. There was no feeling of tension.

Only when I arrived at the Demilitarised Zone were we prevented access to some of the buildings because of the current situation.

Throughout the four-day trip, which was organised by a Chinese travel company, we were assigned two North Korean minders.

One of them was more senior than the other. She watched us and watched her colleague too.

A newspaper article on Kim Jong Un

They did not want the war but were also determined to fight if the country decided to start a war. They emphasised to us that they believed in the country from their hearts.

We were not allowed to move freely. We could only do tourist things according to the guidance of the tour "guards".

We were not allowed to take photographs in the car or anywhere without the minder's permission. We were told not to photograph anything that looked bad or makes North Korea look bad.

"Don't bring bad impressions out of Pyongyang," they said.

People were very friendly. There was little traffic, so people would stare at our bus wherever we drove.

People there are very aware of the potential war.

Every time we arrived at the places of interest, the tour guides would always ask us in Korean (the minders would translate into Chinese) about the latest situation and our opinions about the situation, particularly our opinions about the US, as they all believe the tensions are the fault of America.

When we asked the minders what would happen if the war breaks out tomorrow, they said: "If the war breaks tomorrow, until midnight tonight, we are still building the socialist constructions."

We also asked them whether they know where Kim Jong-Un lives and works, as we explained to them that in Beijing, all the top leaders work and live in a place called Zhongnanhai. They all said they had no idea.

The two minders liked to sing. One of the songs they sang was apparently written by a South Korean musician to express his admiration toward Kim Jong-Il.

Articles seen by the Sky News journalist

On one of the days we went to Myohyang San, a North Korean mountain. The six of us on the tour were locked in the restaurant because the North Koreans were so afraid that we would wander around.

There is a museum near the mountain, where gifts from foreign countries are displayed. A lot of them came from Japan.

We asked them how could they receive so many gifts from Japan given that North Korea considers the Japanese as enemies. They told us that the Japanese really admire the leaders, so they gave us many gifts.

We stayed in the Yanggakdo International Hotel, where we could watch international TV channels including the BBC, NHK, (Japanese TV), Phoenix (Hong Kong TV) and CCTV (Chinese TV).

The minders live on a specific floor where they only have three North Korean channels to watch. They never ate with us and when we asked what they had eaten, they always refused to tell us.

We were not allowed to use the local currency, and they never showed us their money. We could use Chinese RMB, US dollars or euros.

There were not many opportunities to see any ordinary North Korean people apart from the shopkeepers, tour guides or waitresses in the hotel.

There is a casino on the underground floor of the Yanggakdo International Hotel, where most of the staff members come from Liaoning Province over the northern border in China, and North Koreans are not allowed to enter.

The casino is managed by people from Macau. The staff there told us it was empty because the tensions mean far fewer people are travelling to North Korea.

Staff at the casino are all Chinese. When we asked to go to the casino, one of the minders said to us: "You must be non-communists, because communist members don't go to casinos."

Wherever we go to visit, they always asked us if we think their places or things are pretty. They only wanted to show us the good side of the country.

As soon as we travelled outside the capital city, it felt very like the real North Korea: rural, no tall buildings, only farmland.

We never felt the tension of war on our trip. On the streets, on our tour, in the hotel and even at a school we visited, the students were studying as normal.

The people we spoke to asked us if it was true that living in Beijing is hard. They think living in North Korea is the happiest thing in the world.

It feels as though those North Koreans who have travelled outside the country have never mentioned what the outside world really looks like.

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Iran Opens Two Nuclear Sites On 'Atomic Day'

Iran has announced it has opened two nuclear sites, just days after talks with world powers to limit the country's atomic programme.

State television said that operations are under way at a uranium production facility in Ardakan and at the country's biggest uranium mine at Saghand.

Tehran's announcement was made to mark the country's Atomic Energy Technology Day and comes just four days after talks with six world powers over curbing its nuclear ambitions.

The mines in the city of Saghand in central Iran operate 1,150ft (350m) underground and are within 75 miles (120km) of the new yellowcake production facility in the city of Ardakan, according to the report.

It gave few details of the Ardakan facility but said it had an estimated 60 tonnes of output of yellowcake, which is an impure state of uranium oxide later used in enrichment processes.

The country already has a number of smaller uranium mines and processing facilities.

Workers at a uranium production plant near Isfahan in 2005

In October, a report from the Institute for Scientific and International Security warned that Iran could produce enough weapons-grade uranium to make a nuclear bomb within two to four months.

The study, which used figures from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said it would take a further 10 months to actually build the nuclear weapon.

Its conclusion echoed a warning in September from then US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta who said Tehran could have a nuclear weapon within a year if it wanted to.

The US has come under increasing pressure from Israel to take military action over Iran's nuclear movements as Tehran remains defiant in the face of sanctions.

However, the US favours talks.

Last week, the five members of the UN Security Council plus Germany, known as the P5+1, met with Iranian negotiators in the Kazakh city of Almaty in a bid to coax Iran into curbing its programme in exchange for the easing of some sanctions.

The Israeli PM explains Iran's nuclear programme to the UN

Iran continues to insist the programme is for peaceful purposes. However, it is looking to expand its own enrichment programme amid UN sanctions that prevent it buying in nuclear material.

David Cameron last week named the country as a potential atomic threat as he argued that Britain should retain its own nuclear defence system, Trident.

Iran enriches uranium to both 3.5 and 20% levels in its Natanz and Fordo enrichment facilities.

Uranium purified at high levels can be used in a nuclear weapon.

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Serbia: Gunman Kills 13 In Shooting Spree

A gunman has killed 13 people, including his mother and son, as he went house to house on a shooting spree in Serbia, authorities have said.

The 60-year-old suspect, identified by police as Ljubisa Bogdanovic, allegedly opened fire at around 5am local time with a pistol in a village near the capital Belgrade.

Residents told reporters the gunman first killed his son before leaving his home and shooting his neighbours, some of whom were still asleep.

The victims in the apparently random shootings in Velika Ivanca were six men, six women, and a two-year-old child.

Twelve were killed at the scene, 30 miles southeast of the capital, and one person died in a Belgrade hospital, police said.

The gunman, who had a semi-automatic 9mm pistol, also shot his wife before turning the gun on himself.

The pair were both seriously injured and in a critical condition in hospital.

Police officers among those at the scene of the atrocity

Another person was also hurt in the attack, which lasted around half an hour.

Police, who blocked off the village while they investigated the attacks, said the motive for the killings was unclear.

They added the suspect lost his job in 2012 and fought as a Serb soldier in the war in Croatia in 1992.

Villager Radovan Radosavljevic said of the shootings: "He knocked on the doors, and as they were opened he just fired a shot.

"He was a good neighbour and anyone would open their doors to him. I don't know what happened."

Milorad Velijovic from the interior ministry said: "Most of the victims were shot in the head as they slept.

"They were killed in five houses, mainly relatives and neighbours."

Mr Velijovic said the gunman had a firearms permit and he and his son had been made redundant last year.

Belgrade emergency hospital spokeswoman Nada Macura said the suspect was not believed to have a history of mentally illness.

Although such apparently random shootings are rare in Serbia, weapons are readily available mostly from the war in the Balkans in the 1990s and there is a tradition of possessing firearms.

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North Korea: Japan Deploys Missile Defence

By Mark Stone, on Yeonpyeong Island, South Korea

Japan has deployed missile-defence systems in key locations around Tokyo as North Korea warned foreigners in the South to take evacuation measures in case of war.

The Patriot missile batteries were set up as a precautionary measure, and the Japanese newspaper Sankei Shimbun reported that North Korea would launch a missile test on Wednesday.

The batteries were deployed in the defence ministry headquarters in Tokyo and in two suburbs of the Japanese capital, officials said.

Tokyo also reportedly has warships with missile interception systems on alert in the Sea of Japan.

A Musudan missile, pictured in 2010

North Korea's latest warning to foreigners intensified the threat of an imminent conflict, keeping up the fiery rhetoric employed for weeks by officials in Pyongyang.

"The situation on the Korean Peninsula is inching close to a thermo-nuclear war," said the statement by the Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee.

"Once a war is ignited on the peninsula, it will be an all-out war, a merciless, sacred, retaliatory war waged by the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea)," it went on to say.

"We do not wish harm on foreigners in South Korea should there be a war."

Last week, the North Korean government told embassies in the capital it could not guarantee the safety of their staff.

However, US and South Korean defence officials have said they have seen nothing to indicate that Pyongyang is preparing for a major military action, in which it would be heavily outgunned.

North Korea has also suspended its operations at the Kaesong industrial complex, its last major economic link with the South, and recalled all 53,000 of its workers.

North Korea's young leader, Kim Jong-Un, is seen as unpredictable

The work stoppage at a key source of hard cash for the North suggests Pyongyang is willing to hurt its own shaky economy in order to display its anger with South Korea and the US.

Amid rising tensions on the peninsula, the US and South Korea have also raised their defence postures.

North Korea is believed to have moved two missiles - possibly the medium-range Musudan - to its eastern coast on the Sea of Japan, loading them on to mobile launchers.

The Musudan missile has a range of about 3,000km (1,800 miles), meaning it is capable of reaching South Korea and Japan and perhaps also the US territory of Guam in the Pacific Ocean.

US Secretary of State John Kerry visits Seoul this week

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

Foreign Secretary William Hague has said the threat posed by North Korea must be treated "very seriously" and the US has delayed the testing of an intercontinental ballistic missile in an effort to defuse the situation.

North Korea is furious at UN sanctions imposed after Pyongyang conducted its third nuclear test in February, and at joint military exercises between the US and South Korea, with B-2 stealth bombers dispatched from US bases.

Seoul and Washington say those exercises are routine but Pyongyang has unleashed a torrent of threats against the allies.

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Bali Court Upholds Briton's Death Penalty

A British grandmother sentenced to death in Bali for trafficking cocaine has lost her appeal.

Lindsay Sandiford, 56, was sentenced to capital punishment in January for taking almost 5kg (10.6lb) of cocaine onto the island.

She launched an appeal but on Monday the Bali High Court ruled the original punishments was "accurate and correct" and confirmed it.

Sandiford, from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, has 14 days to appeal to the Supreme Court.

If the Supreme Court also rejects her plea, she can seek a judicial review of the decision from the same court.

After that, only the president can grant her a reprieve.

The sentence would see her shot by a firing squad.

Sandiford after her arrest at Bali airport

The Government said it was disappointed at the high court's decision.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "The UK strongly opposes the death penalty and has repeatedly made representations to the Indonesian government on this matter."

Sandiford was arrested in May 2012 at Bali airport when customs officers found the drugs, worth £1.6m, in her luggage.

She said she had been forced to smuggle the drugs into Bali from Thailand by a criminal gang and that the safety of her children was at risk.

She has cooperated with the police and local authorities, which has led to other arrests.

January's death sentence came as a shock because prosecutors had recommended a 15-year jail term.

Sandiford's lawyer has said the punishment is out of proportion, given she has admitted her crime, expressed regret and helped police in the investigation.

Paul Beales (L), Rachell Dougall and Julian Ponder received jail sentences

But the court ruled she had damaged Indonesia's hard-line stance on drugs as well as Bali's reputation as a tourism destination.

Three other Britons arrested in connection with the case received lighter sentences.

Julian Ponder was sentenced to six years in jail after being found guilty of possessing cocaine in his luxury Bali villa.

Rachel Dougall was sentenced to 12 months for failing to report Sandiford's crime, and Paul Beales received four years for possession of hashish but was cleared of drug trafficking.

Indonesia enforces stiff penalties for drug trafficking, but death penalty sentences are commonly commuted to long jail sentences.

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Nutella Heist: 5.5 Tonnes Of Spread Stolen

Thieves in Germany have stolen 5.5 tonnes of Nutella, the chocolate-hazelnut spread.

They stole the jars from a parked trailer in the central German town of Bad Hersfeld.

The haul of Nutella, which is manufactured by the Italian company Ferrero, is worth around 16,000 euros (£13,600).

5.5 tonnes of Nutella is worth £13,600

Police said that an unknown number of culprits made off with the spread over the weekend.

Germans news agency dpa reported that thieves had previously stolen a load of energy drinks from the same location.

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Syria: Car Bomb Explodes In Damascus

A car bomb has exploded in the business district of the Syrian capital killing 15 people and leaving at least 47 injured.

A government official said the explosion occurred at one of the capital's biggest roundabouts in Sabaa Bahrat, the city's main business district, which houses the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance.

A resident described the explosion as the biggest she had heard in the capital and said that large plumes of smoke were rising from the area.

A car bombing at the Baath Party headquarter in February

Footage on state television showed scenes of devastation, with plumes of thick black smoke billowing up around buildings in the area, and bodies being pulled from wreckage.

According to one broadcaster, the bombing happened near to a school and some of the dead were believed to be children.

It is the latest attack on government-held Damascus by Syrian rebels who have increased the number of mortar and car bomb attacks on the city in recent months.

Free Syrian Army fighters run for cover from snipers in Damascus yesterday

On March 21 an explosion ripped through a mosque in the city killing at least 49 people.

In February, a car bombing near the ruling Baath Party headquarters killed 53 people and injured 200 others. It was the deadliest attack in nine months.

The attack comes as the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, said that he had a team of chemical weapons inspectors ready to deploy to Syria within 24 hours to investigate claims of chemical weapon use by both sides.

Speaking after meeting with the head of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague, Mr Ban said: "The use of chemical weapons, by any side under any circumstances, would constitute a crime against humanity."

Mr Ban said he is waiting for agreement from the Syrian government to allow him to send the team, which is currently awaiting orders in Cyprus, and urged Bashar Assad's regime to be "flexible" so the investigation could be launched as soon as possible.

Both the rebels and the government have claimed chemical weapons have been used in attacks and that each has the capability to deploy the devices in the ongoing conflict.

The Syrian-based human rights group, Violations Documentation Centre, reported that 9,000 government troops have been killed in the two years of fighting between President Bashar Assad's forces and the Free Syrian Army of rebels trying to overthrow him.

More than 70,000 people have died since the Syrian uprising started in March 2011.

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Nelson Mandela Leaves Hospital After 10 Days

Former South African president Nelson Mandela is spending his first day at home after 10 days in hospital being treated for pneumonia.

The 94-year-old was allowed to return home "following a sustained and gradual improvement in his general condition".

An ambulance is understood to have taken him back to his residence in Johannesburg.

President Jacob Zuma's office said Mr Mandela would now receive "home-based" care.

Mr Mandela is believed to have been transported home in this ambulance

A statement said: "President Zuma thanks the hard working medical team and hospital staff for looking after Madiba so efficiently."

He also extended his gratitude to all South Africans, friends of the nation and to people around the world for their support.

Spokesman Mac Maharaj told Sky News: "We are all very happy with the news and grateful to the doctors and the hospital staff for looking after him so well.

"The doctors say that given his age, they have to monitor him very carefully and they have to remain cautious all the time.

"He is frail, and we need to take into account his age ... but Madiba is a fighter and he is not ready to say goodbye to us."

It has been the third health scare in four months for the anti-apartheid leader.

He was in hospital briefly in early March for a check-up and before that in December for nearly three weeks with a lung infection and following surgery to remove gallstones.

The Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, who became South Africa's first black President in 1994, is a global symbol of tolerance and the struggle for equality.

Mr Mandela stepped down as President in 1999 and has not been politically active for a decade.

He has a history of lung problems dating from when he contracted tuberculosis as a political prisoner.

He spent 27 years on Robben Island and in other jails for his attempts to overthrow the white-minority government.

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India Houseboat Murder: 'Dutch Man Confesses'

By Alex Rossi, India Correspondent, in Kashmir

Police sources tell Sky News that a Dutch man they have been questioning over the murder of a British woman has now confessed.

Sarah Groves, 24, was found in a pool of blood inside the houseboat she had been living on for up to two months on the Dal Lake in Srinagar, Kashmir.

Officers have named the suspect as Richard de Wit, 43, and said he claimed to have been under the influence of drugs.

He had been staying on a neighbouring boat. When he was arrested 60 miles away he was carrying only his passport and was not wearing shoes.

The victim was staying on a houseboat on picturesque Dal Lake

Local police said Miss Groves, from Guernsey, had been stabbed at least 25 times with what was described as a "mountain knife".

The door to her room had also been forced open.

Her body is being sent for medical examination to determine whether she was sexually assaulted before being killed.

Deputy General Inspector Ahafadul Mujtaba told Sky News: "He has told us he killed the girl - we don't know why. He also says he had taken drugs, cannabis.

Shoes sit outside the door of the houseboat where Sarah Groves was staying

"We have taken his blood samples and have sent them away for testing. We have also not ruled out a sexual motive but there was no direct evidence at the scene. We are awaiting medical results."

Under Indian law a confession to a police officer is not admissible in a court of law.

The police say de Wit will be held in custody for the next 14 days whilst they continue to gather evidence.

Friends have paid tributes to Miss Groves on Facebook. Underneath a photograph of her smiling, Charlene Carter said: "That beautiful smile I will never forget."

Donna Stacey said: "Waste of a beautiful life just goes to show the world we live in."

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North Korea: US Missile Test Delayed Amid Row

The US has delayed the testing of an intercontinental ballistic missile over the growing tensions with North Korea, according to a defence official.

A Pentagon source said the Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel decided to postpone the long-planned Minuteman 3 launch until next month because of concerns it would exacerbate the crisis.

North Korea's military warned this week it was authorised to attack the US using "smaller, lighter and diversified" nuclear weapons.

South Korean officials said the North has moved at least one missile with "considerable range" to its east coast - possibly the untested Musudan missile, believed to have a range of 1,800 miles.

The US has been carrying out joint military exercises in the area with South Korea involving warships and bombers.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said the US was right to cancel the launch and that a "calm and united" response is needed to North Korea's "frenetic rhetoric".

The US brought forward deployment of a Global Hawk spy plane to Japan

He said there was no evidence the country was preparing for all-out conflict.

He told Sky's Murnaghan show: "We have not seen evidence of redeployment or repositioning of troops on the ground.

"All the evidence is that this rhetoric is about the regime in North Korea, just its actions and existence rather than positioning for all-out conflict on the Korean peninsula or elsewhere."

Mr Hague also backed Prime Minister David Cameron's suggestion that North Korea's threats show why Britain must make plans for a successor to its Trident nuclear deterrent.

Sky News Asia Correspondent Mark Stone says the postponement of the US missile launch marks a change in approach.

He said: "Two weeks ago the US military was issuing media releases announcing the deployment of B52 and B2 bombers to the region, as a show of strength and North Korea's response was to increase its own bellicose statements.

"China and Russia have collectively called on both North Korea and America to back down and in the past few days there have been signs that the Americans are altering their stance."

Meanwhile, China's Foreign Ministry expressed "grave concern" about escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula and asked for assurances about the safety of its diplomats.

China's President said no country should throw "the whole world into chaos"

And Chinese President Xi Jinping appeared to up the pressure on Pyongyang when he said in a speech that no country "should be allowed to throw a region and even the whole world into chaos for selfish gain".

North Korea held its most recent nuclear test in February and in December launched a long-range rocket that potentially could hit the continental US.

It has been angered by increasing sanctions and the exercises which are scheduled to continue to the end of the month.

This week, the US said two of its missile-defence ships were being moved closer to the Korean peninsula and a land-based system was being deployed to the Pacific territory of Guam later this month.

And deployment of an unmanned spy plane to northern Japan was brought forward to boost US surveillance after North Korean threats.

Japan will further boost its defences by ordering its armed forces to shoot down any North Korean missile headed towards its territory, according to press reports.

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