Vietnam Firework Factory Explosion Kills 21

An explosion at a fireworks factory in northern Vietnam has killed at least 21 people and left dozens more injured.

An army official said the blast was at a military-run facility in Phu Tho province which employs around 300 workers, mostly women.

"Twenty-one people are dead and 98 others are injured - most of them have sustained burns," a military rescue official told AFP by phone, requesting anonymity.

The most critical burns cases were being moved to a specialist burns centre on the outskirts of Hanoi, 120km away.

"I couldn't recognise my daughter, she was burned from her face to the soles of her feet," one woman told state media. "She was pregnant, she couldn't escape the explosion quick enough."

Images posted on Vietnamese blogs showed charred frames of motorcycles, and nearby houses with roofs ripped off and windows blown in by the force of the explosions.

Smoke from the fire could be seen from miles away

The online newspaper VNExpress quoted Major General Le Quang Dai as saying that fewer people than usual were working at the time of the explosion because it was a Saturday.

Authorities had tried to isolate the blast in Thanh Ba district to prevent it from reaching two explosives warehouses nearby, he added.

A police officer said the blast could be heard 10km away and around 2,000 residents living near the factory were evacuated.

Loudspeakers urged people within 15km of the facility to leave the area.

"The first blast was at 7.55am - and then there were continuous explosions for some hours," Phi Xuan Trung, chairman of the local Khai Xuan commune, told VNExpress.

"There was a strong smell of gunpowder, the ground was shaking many kilometres away," he added.

An investigation has been launched into the cause of the explosion.

The factory is the only facility in Vietnam that produces fireworks to be used for Lunar New Year festivals and other major public events.

In 2010, fireworks being prepared at Hanoi's My Dinh stadium for use in the city's 1,000th anniversary celebrations exploded, killing three foreigners and one Vietnamese national.

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Cyclone Phailin: Thousands Flee In East India

More than 250,000 villagers have fled their homes as a huge cyclone gathers strength and heads towards India's east coast.

Cyclone Phailin - which is already so large it has nearly filled the Bay of Bengal - is expected to be the fiercest storm to hit India since a devastating cyclone killed 10,000 people 14 years ago.

Large waves have already been pounding beaches in the state of Andhra Pradesh before the storm is due to hit.

Villagers along the coast were evacuated to schools in the north of the state and in neighbouring Odisha, while panic buying drove up food prices.

Authorities have been evacuating villagers along the coast to government-run shelters and schools in three districts of Andhra Pradesh state and five districts of Orissa state.

People in the coastal village of Podampata watch as waves gather force

But many villagers said they had not been told to evacuate, and others were refusing to leave their homes.

"Of course I'm scared, but where will I move with my family?" said Kuramayya, 38, a fisherman from the village of Bandharuvanipeta, while 12ft waves crashed behind him. "We can't leave our boats behind."

Satellite images showed Phailin some 310 miles (500km) off the coast and likely to make landfall tonight (3pm-6pm UK time), with widespread flooding expected.

Some forecasters likened its size and intensity to hurricane Katrina, which devastated the US Gulf coast and New Orleans in 2005.

The Indian Meteorological Department said Phailin would hit between Kalingapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and the port of Paradip in Odisha state and predicted storm surges 10ft above normal tides.

The storm is due to hit Andhra Pradesh and Odisha Pic: Tropical Storm Risk

It described it as a "very severe cyclonic storm" with winds of 130-135 mph but resisted upgrading it to a stronger "super cyclone".

However, London-based storm tracking experts Tropical Storm Risk said Phailin was a super cyclone and placed it in the most powerful Category 5 of storms.

That was the same strength of storm that battered Odisha in 1999, killing thousands.

"Phailin will be no less than the 1999 super cyclone," said Odisha state's Special Relief Commissioner Pradeep Kumar Mohapatra.

He said half a million people were expected to move to shelters in the state.

Indian authorities warned of extensive damage to crops and buildings, and disruption to power, water and rail services.

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Migrant Sinking Kills 34 As More Boats Spotted

The Italian navy has been called out to another migrant boat in distress in the Mediterranean as at least 140 Syrians arrived in Malta after being rescued from a sinking vessel.

At least 34 people, including three children, are understood to have died on Friday as the overloaded boat went down between Malta and the Italian island of Lampedusa.

It was the second such tragedy in the region in a week.

Survivors were spotted clinging to a life raft while awaiting rescue

Speaking to Sky News, Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said: "This morning our armed forces are following another four cases which are currently on their way.

"At least 34 people died last night, many more are expected to be found dead in the next couple of hours.

Rescuers worked through the night to recover the dead

"The difference to last week's tragedy is that, instead of Somalia, they hail from Syria, which makes the case even more complicated and shows the immense human tragedy the Mediterranean is experiencing right now."

The Maltese navy dispatched rescue ships and helicopters and diverted commercial vessels to the area to assist the Syrians, while Italy sent two naval vessels and helicopters carrying inflatable life rafts.

Recovered bodies are unloaded in Malta. Pic: Mark Micallef/Times of Malta

Helicopters airlifted the injured to Lampedusa Hospital where a large medical team treated them as soon as they arrived.

Hospital director Pietro Bertolo told journalists: "They are wet and very scared, but they are doing well."

The boat is the second migrant vessel to sink off Lampedusa in a week

He added that among the migrants was a "little boy, around two years, who is very beautiful" with his "young" mother.

After the rescue, Mr Muscat warned: "We cannot allow the Mediterranean to become a cemetery."

And he told Sky News that this week's tragedies were an indication of what he described as the bigger problem north African migration was playing in the region.

"The rules the EU have were drafted in the 80s and 90s when the situation was completely different," he said. "We are using the tools of the past to face a problem that is very new.

Police have arrested a Tunisian man suspected of driving the last boat

"Our forces and the Italian forces are guarding European borders but we're left on our own and we feel totally abandoned by Europe and we're hearing only empty talk from Brussels."

The EU's asylum policy has been criticised for being overly restrictive and it is claimed that is forcing refugees to resort to desperate measures to reach Europe.

Protesters in Lampedusa have criticised the EU's strict asylum policy

Italy has appealed to EU states for help in coping with the thousands of migrants arriving in the country every month, and wants migration to be put on the agenda of summit talks in Brussels at the end of the month.

European Union Commissioner for Home Affairs Cecilia Malmstroem said she was following the rescue operations "with sadness and anxiety".

Some 155 migrants were rescued following last week's disaster

"These new horrible events are happening while we still have the shocking images of the tragedy in Lampedusa in our minds," she said, adding the latest disaster highlighted the need for expanded search and rescue operations "to better detect and assist boats in distress".

The sinking came as Italian divers found another body from last week's  shipwreck off Lampedusa, raising the death toll in the tragedy to 339.

Only 155 survivors were rescued out of an estimated 500 people, most of them Eritreans and Somalis, on the boat which departed from Libya.

Immigration charities estimate that between 17,000 and 20,000 migrants have died at sea trying to reach Europe over the past 20 years.

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Foxconn Admits Student Intern Labour Breach

An Asian company that assembles products for Apple and Sony has admitted breaching labour laws with its interns.

Taiwanese firm Foxconn revealed that students worked night shifts and overtime in violation of company policy in its Chinese facility.

"In the case of recent allegations regarding the internship programme at our Yantai campus, we have conducted an internal investigation," the company said.

"(We) have determined that there have been a few instances where our policies pertaining to overtime and night shift work were not enforced."

The statement came after Chinese media reported that an information engineering university in the city of Xian allegedly forced students to join the Foxconn internship programme in Shandong province in order to graduate.

The Oriental Morning Post quoted some students as saying they were assigned to assembly lines to make Sony PlayStation games consoles instead of doing any work relating to their course and were sometimes forced to work 11 hours a day.

When some students wanted to drop out, they were told they would lose their internship credits and would be unable to get their diplomas, the report said.

Foxconn said it had taken immediate action "to bring that campus into full compliance with our code and policies".

The company said it would reinforce its policy of no overtime and no night shifts for student interns, and would remind interns of their right to end their participation in the programme at any time.

Foxconn, the trade name for Taiwan-based Hon Hai Precision Industry Company, is the world's largest contract electronics maker.

It assembles products for Apple, Sony and Nokia, among others, in huge plants in China where it employs more than one million workers.

The company has come under the spotlight in recent years after a number of suicides and unrest among workers at its Chinese plants.

In 2010, at least 13 Foxconn employees in China died in apparent suicides, which activists blamed on tough working conditions, prompting calls for better treatment of staff.

Although Foxconn denied the accusations, it raised wages by nearly 70% at its Chinese plants in 2010.

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Nobel Peace Prize Goes To Weapons Watchdog

Full List Of Nobel Peace Prize Winners

Updated: 11:10am UK, Friday 11 October 2013

Here is the full list of Nobel Peace Prize laureates from 1901, when the prize was first awarded:

2013: The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)

2012: The European Union (EU)

2011: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Leymah Gbowee (Liberia), Tawakkul Karman (Yemen)

2010: Liu Xiaobo (China)

2009: Barack Obama (US)

2008: Martti Ahtisaari (Finland)

2007: Al Gore (US) and the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

2006: Muhammad Yunus (Bangladesh) and the Grameen Bank

2005: International Atomic Energy Agency and Mohamed ElBaradei (Egypt)

2004: Wangari Maathai (Kenya)

2003: Shirin Ebadi (Iran)

2002: Jimmy Carter (US)

2001: Kofi Annan (Ghana) and the United Nations

2000: Kim Dae Jung (South Korea)

1999: Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders)

1998: John Hume and David Trimble (Northern Ireland)

1997: Jody Williams (US) and the International Campaign to Ban Landmines

1996: Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo and Jose Ramos-Horta (East Timor)

1995: Joseph Rotblat (Britain) and the Pugwash movement

1994: Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres (Israel) and Yasser Arafat (PLO)

1993: Nelson Mandela and Frederik de Klerk (South Africa)

1992: Rigoberta Menchu (Guatemala)

1991: Aung San Suu Kyi (Burma)

1990: Mikhail Gorbachev (Soviet Union)

1989: Dalai Lama (Tibet)

1988: United Nations Peacekeeping Forces

1987: Oscar Arias Sanchez (Costa Rica)

1986: Elie Wiesel (US)

1985: International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War

1984: Desmond Tutu (South Africa)

1983: Lech Walesa (Poland)

1982: Alva Myrdal (Sweden) and Alfonso Garcia Robles (Mexico)

1981: Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

1980: Adolfo Perez Esquivel (Argentina)

1979: Mother Teresa (Albania)

1978: Anwar Sadat (Egypt) and Menachem Begin (Israel)

1977: Amnesty International

1976: Betty Williams (Britain) and Mairead Corrigan (Northern Ireland)

1975: Andrei Sakharov (Soviet Union)

1974: Sean MacBride (Ireland) and Eisaku Sato (Japan)

1973: Henry Kissinger (US) and Le Duc Tho (Vietnam, declined)

1972: prize not handed out

1971: Willy Brandt (Germany)

1970: Norman Borlaug (US)

1969: International Labour Organisation

1968: Rene Cassin (France)

1967: prize not handed out

1966: prize not handed out

1965: United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)

1964: Martin Luther King Jr (US)

1963: International Committee of the Red Cross and the League of Red Cross Societies

1962: Linus Carl Pauling (US)

1961: Dag Hammarskjoeld (Sweden)

1960: Albert Lutuli (South Africa)

1959: Philip Noel-Baker (Britain)

1958: Georges Pire (Belgium)

1957: Lester Pearson (Canada)

1956: prize not handed out

1955: prize not handed out

1954: Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

1953: George Marshall (US)

1952: Albert Schweitzer (France)

1951: Leon Jouhaux (France)

1950: Ralph Bunche (US)

1949: Lord (John) Boyd Orr of Brechin (Britain)

1948: prize not handed out

1947: Friends Service Council (The Quakers), American Friends Service Committee (The Quakers)

1946: Emily Greene Balch (US), John Raleigh Mott (US)

1945: Cordell Hull (US)

1944: International Committee of the Red Cross

1943: prize not handed out

1942: prize not handed out

1941: prize not handed out

1940: prize not handed out

1939: prize not handed out

1938: Nansen International Office for Refugees

1937: Viscount Cecil of Chelwood (Britain)

1936: Carlos Saavedra Lamas (Argentina)

1935: Carl von Ossietzky (Germany)

1934: Arthur Henderson (Britain)

1933: Sir Norman Angell (Ralph Lane) (Britain)

1932: prize not handed out

1931: Jane Addams (US) and Nicholas Murray Butler (US)

1930: Nathan Soederblom (Sweden)

1929: Frank Billings Kellogg (US)

1928: prize not handed out

1927: Ferdinand Buisson (France) and Ludwig Quidde (Germany)

1926: Aristide Briand (France) and Gustav Stresemann (Germany)

1925: Sir Austen Chamberlain (Britain) and Charles Gates Dawes (US)

1924: prize not handed out

1923: prize not handed out

1922: Fridtjof Nansen (Norway)

1921: Karl Hjalmar Branting (Sweden) and Christian Lous Lange (Norway)

1920: Leon Victor Auguste Bourgeois (France)

1919: Thomas Woodrow Wilson (US)

1918: prize not handed out

1917: International Committee of the Red Cross

1916: prize not handed out

1915: prize not handed out

1914: prize not handed out

1913: Henri La Fontaine (Belgium)

1912: Elihu Root (US)

1911: Tobias Michael Carel Asser (The Netherlands) and Alfred Hermann Fried (Austria)

1910: Permanent International Peace Bureau

1909: Auguste Marie François Beernaert (Belgium) and Paul Henri Benjamin Balluet, Baron d'Estournelles de Constant de Rebecque (France)

1908: Klas Pontus Arnoldson (Sweden) and Fredrik Bajer (Denmark)

1907: Ernesto Teodoro Moneta (Italy) and Louis Renault (France)

1906: Theodore Roosevelt (US)

1905: Baroness Bertha Sophie Felicita von Suttner (Austria)

1904: Institute of International Law

1903: William Randal Cremer (Britain)

1902: Elie Ducommun (Switzerland) and Charles Albert Gobat (Switzerland)

1901: Jean Henri Dunant (Switzerland) and Frederic Passy (France)

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'White Widow' Lewthwaite 'Key' In Al Shabaab

By Alex Crawford, Special Correspondent, In Kenya

Sky News has obtained a Kenyan intelligence report which for the first time shows the reach of the al Shabaab terror network - which carried out the Nairobi shopping mall attack - and the extent of British involvement within the group.

It suggests that Samantha Lewthwaite - the British woman known as the 'White Widow' because she was married to one of the 7/7 London bombers - is an important figure in the terror outfit, plotting multiple bomb attacks across Kenya.

Sky has also been given access to a personal diary of hers which gives a fascinating insight into her mind, where she talks about her ambitions for her children and her love for her husband.

The intelligence report, which is 35 pages long, gives a detailed breakdown of how the network is operating throughout Africa with recruits and cells working in a huge range of countries including Somalia, Uganda, Burundi, Zambia, Tanzania, Mali and South Africa as well as further afield in Yemen and Pakistan.

The report says Lewthwaite is a 'logistician' in a six-person terror cell

But what seems clear is that the group's stronghold and focus is in Kenya with major operational bases in the capital Nairobi and Mombasa.

The report is highly damaging for the Kenyan authorities as it also shows there were clear warnings up to eight months ago that a "Mumbai-style attack" was being planned in Nairobi on the Westgate shopping mall.

It goes on to identify 29-year-old Lewthwaite as a "logistician" within a six-person terror cell which the Kenyans believe was co-ordinated by Abdulkadir Mohamed Abdulkadir, whose alias is Ikrima.

Ikrima is a Kenyan who the authorities believe has been elevated to al Shabaab management.

He was the target of the US Navy Seals' mission last weekend which set out to "capture or kill" him from the Somalian port town of Barawe.

She is implicated in the Nairobi shopping centre attack in September

The mission was aborted when the Seals encountered tougher resistance than expected when they landed.

The other members of the terror cell Ikrima was co-ordinating include Fahmi Jamal Salim, who is apparently the cell leader and who the intelligence agencies believe is now married to Lewthwaite.

Other members are said to be Jermaine Grant, who is currently on trial in Mombasa on terror charges which he denies.

The report details how the group was plotting multiple attacks targeting the Kenyan parliament buildings, UN offices in Nairobi, restaurants and a string of assassinations focusing on senior politicians within Kenya.

Londoner Jermaine Grant is also believed to be part of the same group

Kenyan intelligence believes Lewthwaite was living in an exclusive villa in the Shanzu area of Mombasa when the attacks were being planned.

A police raid on a nearby apartment rented by Grant - which led to his arrest - then prompted a subsequent raid on the upmarket villa where Lewthwaite was living with her children.

But the mother-of-four was not there. The police say they found a stash of ammunition there as well as a laptop and excerpts of a diary or journal which Lewthwaite had begun writing.

Lewthwaite's husband Jermaine Lindsay (L) on a dry run for the 7/7 attacks

The journal appears to be the start of a book which Lewthwaite was working on entitled I Want To Be A Mujahid (Islamic military fighter).

It outlines questions she was going to pose to interviewees as well as gives an insight into her love for her husband and reveals a little about how she is bringing up her children.

She writes with pride about how two of her children want to emulate their father - Jermaine Lindsay, who was one of the London 7/7 bombers in the Tube and bus attacks in 2005 which killed more than 50 people.

She recounts how her husband had asked her children what they wanted to be when they got older.

Lewthwaite writes: "Both had many answers but both agreed to one of wanting to be a mujahid."

Extracts from Lewthwaite's diary recovered by police

She goes on to express her commitment and desire to be a good Muslim and how blessed she believes she is to have been married to a shaheed (martyr) in reference to her suicide-bomber partner.

We managed to persuade one of Kenya's most controversial religious scholars to sit down with us and talk about his views - which have led to him being accused by the UN of recruiting al Shabaab fighters and raising funds for the outfit.

Sheikh Abubakar Shariff, who is also known as Makaburi, told us the accusations against him were all "b*******".

Interpol recently issued a 'Red Notice' for Lewthwaite's arrest

He accused the Kenyan government of waging a religious war and allowing the persecution of Muslims who he believes are all being targeted and labelled as terrorists in the wake of the Westgate mall attack.

"Because of the failings of our Government and our military and police in stopping the attack, we, as Muslims, are all being targeted now," he told me.

Makaburi who is also accused by the Kenyan authorities of inciting violence and of encouraging young men to take up jihad (or Holy war) in Somalia, denied he was a member of al Shabaab but said: "I am a Muslim. I speak truthfully. I might have association with al Shabaab without me knowing they are from al Shabaab.

"I cannot say no, I don't know al Shabaab. Maybe one of my friends is a member of al Shabaab without me knowing. But do I have, what you call it, ties with al Shabaab? No, I don't."

He went on to say under his interpretation of the Koran, the Westgate attack was justified because of all the wrongs being meted out to Muslims by the West, the Kenyan Defence Force (who are fighting al Shabaab in Somalia), Ethiopians and other military in "Somalia, Guantanamo Bay, Iraq and all over the world every day".

There is little chance the woman being hunted by Interpol is still in Mombasa, but what the intelligence report indicates is it is now a major hub as well as gateway to terrorism for those bent on violence.

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Kidnapped Libya PM Ali Zeidan Is Released

Libya's Prime Minister Ali Zeidan has been freed several hours after being kidnapped at dawn by gunmen at the Tripoli hotel where he is living.

The brazen abduction seemed to be in retaliation for a raid by US special forces in the capital over the weekend that seized a suspected al Qaeda leader.

Government spokesman Mohammed Kaabar told the state news agency that Mr Zeidan, 63, had been "set free" and was on his way to his office.

It appeared Libyan forces had intervened in some way and the abductors did not free Mr Zeidan voluntarily.

People had reportedly opened fire at the building where he was being held to demand his release, a Reuters journalist said.

A militia commander affiliated with the interior ministry told a private Libyan TV station the PM was freed when members of a Tripoli-based militia stormed a house where he was held hostage.

Haitham al Tajouri, commander of the so-called Reinforcement Force, told Al Ahrar television that his men exchanged fire with the captors but that Mr Zeidan was not hurt.

A group of ex-rebels said it had "arrested" Mr Zeidan after US Secretary of State John Kerry confirmed Libya's role in the US capture of Libyan Abu Anas al Libi.

Mr Zeidan pictured with Prime Minister David Cameron

A spokesman for the group, known as the Operations Room of Libya's Revolutionaries, said: "His arrest comes after ... (Kerry) said the Libyan government was aware of the operation."

The militia group, which had been hired by the government to provide security in the city, said it had seized Mr Zeidan "on the prosecutor's orders" for "crimes and offences prejudicial to the state" and its security.

But the public prosecutor's office said it had issued no such warrant for Mr Zeidan's arrest.

His abduction reflected the weakness of the government, which is virtually held hostage by powerful militias, many of which are made up of Islamic militants.

He was detained at the interior ministry's anti-crime department, said an official there, and he was reported to be in "good health and was treated well".

He had been taken from the luxury Corinthia Hotel after being seized by up to 150 armed men who arrived in pick-up trucks.

Witnesses said a large group of them entered the building, some stayed in reception while others headed to the 21st floor where Mr Zeidan was staying.

The gunmen scuffled with the prime minister's guards before they seized him and led him out at around 5.15am (local time), said the witnesses, adding he offered no resistance while he was being led away.

Al Qaeda suspect Abu Anas al Libi was seized by the US last Saturday

Sky sources said the man believed to be behind the abduction was Abu Obeiida, who is thought to have taken over the militia group.

The group appeared to post a warning of its intentions on Facebook on Monday. It said it "holds everyone who is involved in co-operating with foreign intelligence" responsible for the "kidnap" of al Libi and "will pursue them and bring them to justice".

Two years after a revolution toppled Libya's Muammar Gaddafi, the fragile central government has been struggling to contain tribal militias and groups of former rebels who spearheaded the uprising.

Sky's Tim Marshall said: "The prime minister of Libya's jurisdiction runs about to the end of his hotel corridor and then stops because there is no real government, certainly in the sense that we understand it.

"It is a lawless place that is falling apart into different factions, tribes, regions, areas and groups. The fact this man has been detained does not alter the trajectory of Libya's spiral into chaos.

"What is very important about the fact that the PM can be taken from his hotel by armed men is symbolic of how bad things have got."

There has been anger among militant groups over the US special forces operation that seized al Libi, whose family met Mr Zeidan hours before the PM's abduction.

Several groups accused the government of colluding in or allowing the weekend raid, though the government denied having any prior knowledge of the operation.

Al Libi, who was whisked away to a US warship in the Mediterranean, is suspected of being involved in the twin bombings of US embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in 1998.

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Woman Denied Help Gives Birth On Hospital Lawn

A photograph of an indigenous woman in Mexico taken as she gave birth outside a clinic where she was denied help has led to the suspension of the health centre's director.

Irma Lopez and her husband were turned away from the health centre by a nurse who said she was only eight months pregnant and "still not ready" to deliver.

But an hour-and-a-half later, her waters broke, and she gave birth to a son, her third child, on her own, as her husband pleaded with the nurse to call for help.

The 29-year-old said: "I didn't want to deliver like this. It was so ugly and with so much pain."

The photograph of her giving birth, her newborn still bound by the umbilical cord and lying on the ground, emerged in several newspapers, including the front cover of La Razon de Mexico, and was widely circulated on the internet.

It was taken by a witness to her ordeal at the Rural Health Centre in the village of San Felipe Jalapa de Diaz.

Mrs Lopez, who is of Mazatec ethnicity, and her husband had walked an hour to the clinic from the family's one-bedroom hut in the mountains of northern Oaxaca.

She was eventually taken in by the clinic after giving birth and discharged the same day with prescriptions for medicine and products that cost her about £19, she said.

"I am naming him Salvador," said Mrs Lopez, which means saviour in English. "He really saved himself."

Authorities in the southern Mexican state have now suspended the health centre's director, Dr Adrian Cruz, and launched an investigation into the incident, which happened on October 2.

The case has pointed to the persistent discrimination against Mexico's indigenous people, and the shortcomings of its health care system.

Hundreds of women still die during or right after pregnancy.

Mayra Morales, Oaxaca's representative for the national Network for Sexual and Reproductive Rights, said: "The photo is giving visibility to a wider structural problem that occurs within indigenous communities.

"Women are not receiving proper care. They are not being offered quality health services, not even a humane treatment."

Nearly one in five women in the state of Oaxaca gave birth in a place that was not a hospital or a clinic in 2011, according to Mexico's census.

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US Suspends Millions In Aid To Egypt Military

The United States is suspending the handover of hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of aid and support to the Egyptian armed forces.

The US government said it was "recalibrating" its $1.3bn (£0.8bn) annual aid to Egypt, putting on hold the delivery of large military systems and withholding some of its cash assistance.

A spokesman said military aid would be frozen "pending credible progress toward an inclusive, democratically elected civilian government through free and fair elections".

In recent weeks the country has been hit by intensifying violence, which follows the toppling of elected president Mohamed Morsi.

Hundreds have been killed during demonstrations, the vast majority of whom were supporters of Mr Morsi.

The move by the US raises expectations that the Obama administration will describe Mr Morsi's ousting as a coup.

Under US law it is illegal to fund a regime that has taken power as a result of a military coup.

Many have claimed the overthrow of Mr Morsi was a coup because it appeared to have taken place with the support of Egypt's powerful military.

It also involved the removal of a democratically elected leader, and his replacement with a non-elected ruler whose appointment was announced by the military.

Egypt's armed forces have been funded with aid since the Camp David Accord in 1978, which was seen as a crucial move in the promotion of peace in the Middle East.

The amount it receives is second only to the amount received by Israel, which was also a signatory to the accord.

Egypt uses much of its aid to order US-made defence equipment such as Apache attack helicopters and F-16 warplanes.

The spokesman did not say exactly how much of the aid would be suspended, but among the shipments delayed would be one for a number of M1A1 Abrams tanks and Apache helicopters placed on order four years ago.

Egypt will still receive crucial spare parts for certain military equipment, and training for the country's armed forces will continue.

The US will also continue to provide aid that helps "secure Egypt's borders and bolsters counterterrorism and security in the Sinai".

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Bangladesh Factory Fire: Seven Killed

A fire at a Bangladesh factory where workers were making clothes for labels including Next, Gap and H&M has killed seven people.

Firefighters battled through the night to douse the flames at the Aswad Knit Composite factory at Sripur, on the outskirts of the capital Dhaka.

Although the fire was put out by early Wednesday, parts of the two-storey building were still smouldering.

Police said that the fire was so intense that most of the bodies that have been recovered were too badly burned to be identified.

The fire killed seven people

It comes about six months after a factory building collapse that killed 1,100 people exposed the harsh and often unsafe conditions in the industry.

Workers said the latest blaze, which broke out on Tuesday evening, appeared to have been started by a malfunctioning knitting machine which had caught fire on a number of previous occasions.

Mohammad Abu Saan, who works at the factory, said: "There have been quite a few small fires in the machine recently, but we managed to douse them. This time it was big."

Earlier police and fire officials said the blaze started in a boiler.

The blaze is the latest tragedy to hit the retail industry

A correspondent with the AFP news agency found work order books at the scene containing names of the factory's clients in September, which included US brand Gap, British retailer Next,  Swedish fashion label H&M and French supermarket Carrefour.

A fabric swatch book marked with Walmart's brand George and labels were also reportedly seen.

Revising an earlier death toll which put the number of dead at nine, local police chief Amir Hossain said seven bodies had been recovered after a thorough search of the building.

He said: "Two bodies have been identified and handed over to their relatives. Five other bodies were charred beyond recognition."

The fire appears to have been started by a faulty knitting machine

Industrial accidents are common in the country, where the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory block in April killed 1,129 people in the nation's worst industrial disaster.

Since then, protests over poor wages, benefits and working conditions have shaken the sector, the country's economic mainstay.

Fire service director Mahbubur Rahman said the blaze spread because emergency services took more than an hour to reach the site.

He said: "There is no fire station within an 18 mile (30km) radius of the factory."

Safety standards at Bangladesh's 4,500 garment factories, where workers toil for 10 to 12 hours a day for a monthly minimum wage of $38 (£23.65), are notoriously lax and fires are a common problem.

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UK Tibetan Monk 'Stabbed To Death' In China

By Mark Stone, China Correspondent in Beijing

A Tibetan Monk with British citizenship has been murdered in the Chinese city of Chengdu.

Choje Akong Tulku Rinpoche, 73, was well known within the Buddhist community.

The founder of the first Buddhist monastery in Britain, he was killed in a residential district of the western Chinese city on Tuesday, according to a statement by local police.

It claimed the monk was with his nephew and a driver when they were involved in a dispute over money.

All three were stabbed to death. The perpetrators, also said to be Tibetan, have been arrested.

"Following a verbal dispute between the two sides, the three suspects stabbed the three victims to death with knives they were carrying," the police statement read.

"They went to the victims home to negotiate at 11am on the day of the case. The two parties had a verbal quarrel and fight. Three suspects then stabbed the three victims.

"After the arrest, the three suspects confessed the killing of the three victims. This criminal case is undergoing investigation at the moment."

Akong founded the Samye Ling Monastery on the banks of the River Esk in Scotland in 1967.

His younger brother is the abbot of the monastery and released a statement on its website.

"To all dear friends of Samye Ling and Choje Akong Tulku Rinpoche, I am very, very sorry to inform you all that tragically, my brother Choje Akong Rinpoche, my nephew and one monk who was travelling with them, were all assassinated in Chengdu," it read.

"Rinpoche's body has been taken to hospital where a post mortem will be carried out. That is all the news I have so far. If I receive further news I will let you know."

Sky News understands that UK consular officials, likely to be based at the British consulate in Chongqing, are currently trying to establish the facts of the case in Chengdu.

The British Foreign Office in London has confirmed the death of a British national but has not identified the victim.

According to the victim's brother in Scotland, Abbot Lama Yeshe Rinpoche, the Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader, has been informed of Akong's death. He is understood to have known the victim.

Akong was born in 1940 and fled to India following the Chinese occupation of Tibet.

In 1980 he founded ROKPA International, described on its website as a humanitarian aid organisation.

Part of his role in the organisation was to expand humanitarian visits to Tibetan areas of China and Nepal.

It is not clear if he was on such a visit when he was killed.

In order to sustain his humanitarian work, Akong managed to maintain unusually stable relations with the Chinese government.

He is credited for seeing the opportunities presented by China's 'open-door policy' of the 1990s. This allowed him to visit China freely.

In 1992, he was a key figure in choosing the person who could succeed the Dalai Lama.

With the agreement of Beijing, Akong brought Apo Gaga, then seven years old, from a remote village to the Tsurphu Monastery near Lhasa where he was installed as the 17th Karmapa Lama - the second most important figure in Tibetan Buddism after the Dalai Lama.

The Kamapa Lama later fled Tibet for India amid concerns that Beijing was using him for their own political gain.

In June 2011, British Home Secretary Theresa May honoured Akong for his role in the contribution that refugees have made to British society in the 60 years since the UN Refugee Convention was formed.

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Egypt: Ousted President Morsi To Face Trial

The trial of ousted President Mohamed Morsi on charges of inciting the murder of protesters is due to start on November 4.

Morsi will stand trial with 14 other members of his Muslim Brotherhood over the killings of at least 10 protesters outside his presidential palace in December 2012, according to state news agency MENA.

The deadly clashes between Islamist groups and Morsi supporters broke out after Brotherhood supporters dispersed a sit-in by secular leaning opponents.

They had gathered to oppose a temporary decree passed by Morsi placing his decisions beyond judicial review.

Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood claimed that most of those killed were Islamists.

Morsi's predecessor Hosni Mubarak is also on trial

The deaths came almost six months before he was deposed in a military coup in July.

Morsi, who became Egypt's first democratically elected president, has been detained in a secret location since.

Following his departure, security forces launched an extensive crackdown on his backers that has killed over 1,000 people, while strangling the Muslim Brotherhood with mass arrests and a ban on the organisation.

Hundreds of the Islamists' loyalists were killed on August 14 when security forces violently dispersed two protest camps set up by his supporters in Cairo.

Much of the Brotherhood's leadership, including Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie, are standing trial on other charges.

Western mediators including EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton had demanded Morsi's release as a good will gesture, but were rebuffed by the government which accuses the Brotherhood of "terrorism".

Although the Brotherhood publicly demands Morsi's reinstatement, its leaders privately say they would settle for their leaders' release and that officials responsible for the killings of protesters be held to account.

The movement has called for more marches on Friday to head to Tahrir Square in central Cairo, in a repeat of Sunday's protests that turned deadly.

Morsi is the second Egyptian president standing trial over the killings of protesters.

His predecessor Hosni Mubarak, overthrown in early 2011, is on trial for complicity in the deaths of protesters during the 18-day uprising that forced him to resign.

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Syria Inspectors 'Face Unprecedented Danger'

UN inspectors face a year-long mission of unprecedented danger in trying to destroy Syria's chemical weapons arsenal, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has warned.

And as Mr Ban set out a blueprint for the most dangerous disarmament operation ever staged, rebels launched a major offensive.

The assault in northwest Syria highlighted the looming threats to inspectors from the joint United Nations and Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) mission.

In a letter to the Security Council, Mr Ban said the experts "will seek to conduct an operation the likes of which, quite simply, have never been tried before".

It normally takes years to complete the destruction of a country's chemical weapons arsenal.

Mr Ban highlighted the threat to the experts and Syrian civilians

Mr Ban said: "The joint mission will be expected to support, monitor and verify the destruction of a complex chemical weapons programme involving multiple sites spread over a country engulfed in violent conflict.

"The timelines associated with this destruction phase would be ambitious under the most peaceful and benign of circumstances."

The 11-page letter was Mr Ban's required response to the resolution adopted unanimously by the Security Council on September 27, ordering Syria's chemical weapons stockpile be secured and destroyed.

After months of diplomatic sparring, Russia and the United States agreed to work together to disarm Syria after a toxic gas attack near Damascus on August 21 in which hundreds died.

Mr Ban said an advance team of 35 personnel from the OPCW and UN have already arrived in Damascus.

On Sunday, Syrians - under the supervision of the OPCW and supported by the UN - began to destroy the weapons.

Gas canisters in Syria's chemical arsenal

They used "cutting torches and angle grinders to destroy or disable a range of materials, including missile warheads, aerial bombs and mixing and filling equipment," Mr Ban said.

"I welcome this historic step, and urge all parties to do their part to ensure that this encouraging progress is maintained and indeed accelerated," he said.

Mr Ban highlighted the threat to the experts and Syrian civilians from the sarin, mustard gas and other chemical weapons which will have to be moved amid ongoing fighting across the country.

The experts will have to work in "dangerous and volatile" conditions, particularly in urban areas such as Damascus, Homs and Aleppo, the UN leader said.

"Heavy artillery, air strikes, mortar barrages and the indiscriminate shelling of civilians areas are commonplace, and battle lines shift quickly," he added.

UN weapons inspectors at the site of the August 21 attack

Two mortars landed near the Damascus hotel the team is using just before they arrived last week.

Mr Ban added that roadside bombs "have detonated in close proximity" to the inspectors.

"My two highest priorities are the elimination of the Syrian chemical weapons programme and the safety and security of joint mission personnel who have volunteered to perform this vital but dangerous task," he said.

Under a timetable drawn up by Russia and the US, the experts have until the end of June to supervise the transport and destruction of the chemicals.

The Syrian government remains responsible for the actual destruction of the weapons, however.

Western countries blame President Bashar al Assad's forces for the August 21 chemical attack near Damascus which the United States says left more than 1,400 dead. The Syrian government and Russia accuse the opposition of having carried out the attack.

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Brazil Teachers' Pay Protest Turns Violent

Clashes erupted in Rio de Janeiro as thousands of people gathered for a march in support of striking teachers.

The march began peacefully on the Brazilian city's main avenue, but chaos broke out once night fell.   

A small group of protesters threw fireworks, grenades, tear gas and smashed a gate at City Hall, where legislation was recently passed changing public teachers' pay and working hours.

Masked demonstrators also torched a bus, broke into banks, and tried to break open and set alight cashpoints.

Some protesters also pulled furniture out of banks to use as barricades as they squared off with police.

Chaos broke out once the protesters reached city hall

The police responded with tear gas to break up the crowds.

Protesting teachers were joined by students, civil groups, leftists and anarchist groups, some of whom are known for their violent demonstrations.

Teachers have been on strike for almost two months demanding better pay.

They said 50,000 people marched to support them before the violence broke out, but police would only confirm 10,000.

Brazil's security situation is an ongoing challenge ahead of it hosting the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games. 

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Debt Ceiling: Senate Seeks To Break Impasse

Senate Democrats will put forward a measure to raise the federal debt ceiling, trying to break a political impasse that could lead the US to default on its debt.

The majority leader in the upper house, Harry Reid, could unveil the stand-alone measure to raise the debt ceiling as early as today, setting the table for a vote later in the week.

The measure is expected to provide enough borrowing room to last beyond the 2014 election, which means it is likely to permit $1trn (£622bn) or more in new borrowing above the current $16.7trn (£10.39trn) debt ceiling.

The administration says the current ceiling will be hit on October 17.

It is not clear whether Mr Reid's gambit will work. Republicans, who control the House, are expected to oppose the measure if it does not contain budget cuts to make a dent in deficits.

But some Democrats are betting that a bipartisan majority on a "clean" debt-limit increase exists.

The shutdown is frustrating citizens

The latest move on Capitol Hill came as the partial federal shutdown entered its second week with no end in sight - and much attention shifting to the debt-ceiling battle.

The shutdown was sparked by House Republicans' insistence that a temporary funding bill contain concessions on President Barack Obama's signature health care law, known as Obamacare.

It has put some 800,000 on unpaid leave, shut down national parks, museums and tourist attractions such as the Statue of Liberty and Alcatraz.

Even the White House is working with a "skeletal" staff, and agencies, including NASA, are mostly shuttered.

House Speaker John Boehner has ruled out any measure to finance and reopen the government or raise the borrowing limit without concessions from Mr Obama.

"Really, Mr President, it's time to have that conversation before our economy is put further at risk," Mr Boehner said on the House floor.

Some 800,000 'non-essential' workers are on unpaid leave

But Mr Obama has resisted that approach, saying he will not negotiate until Congress fulfils its basic responsibility of reopening the government and keeping it solvent.

The prolonged political wrangling in Washington appears to frustrate citizens and business leaders alike.

A survey by The Washington Post and ABC News found that 70% of Americans disapprove of the way Republicans are handling budget negotiations, up from 63% last week.

Disapproval of Mr Obama's role was unchanged at 51%.

Howard Schultz is trying to ratchet up the pressure on Capitol Hill

Meanwhile, the CEO of Starbucks has urged fellow business leaders to ratchet up the pressure on Washington to end the stalemate.

Howard Schultz wrote in a letter posted on the company's website that he was "utterly disappointed by the level of irresponsibility and dysfunction we are witness to with our elected political leadership."

"This weekend I heard from several business leaders who shared their concern about our relative silence and impact in urging the political leadership to act on behalf of the citizenry," he said.

"It is our responsibility to address the crisis of confidence that is needlessly being set in motion."

 "I don't pretend that both parties are equally to blame for this crisis. But I do think they are equally responsible for leading us to a solution," Mr Schultz said.

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Egypt: Dozens Dead After Pro-Morsi Protests

At least 50 people have been killed in Egypt in clashes between security forces and supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi.

The figure, from a health ministry official, comes as Morsi supporters protested in several cities during army celebrations to mark the anniversary of the 1973 Arab-Israeli war.

Hundreds of people are also reported to have been wounded.

Journalist Bel Trew, in Cairo, told Sky News the military had been expecting the unrest and described seeing "chaotic side street clashes with lots of gunfire and tear gas".

She added: "There's quite a lot of anger here toward the Morsi supporters by local residents and those who wanted to go to the streets to celebrate their military on this day that Egyptians regard as one of the most proud moments of their history.

"What we're looking at is rival protests on the streets together."

A heavy security presence with tanks and armoured vehicles gathered in Cairo to try to deter the protesters, said Trew.

Supporters of Mr Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood movement had tried to get close to Tahrir Square, the focal point of pro-army demonstrations since the coup in June.

Protesters in Cairo

But security forces guarded entrances to the square, frisking people arriving for the celebrations.

Mr Morsi, who became Egypt's first democratically elected president, was removed from office in July.

Since then, the military-backed government of General Abdel Fatah al Sisi has cracked down on members of the Brotherhood.

Hundreds of Mr Morsi's supporters were allegedly killed in August as protest camps were cleared, while the government said around 100 members of the security forces also died.

Away from the main squares, Cairo's streets were largely deserted on Sunday, a public holiday to commemorate the October War, known as the Yom Kippur War in Israel.

The conflict is remembered proudly by the Egyptian army because it caught Israel by surprise and led to the recovery of the Sinai Peninsula in a 1979 peace treaty.

Supporters of the Army regime waved flags as warplanes flew over Cairo in a show of force and patriotic songs boomed out from loudspeakers.

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Kerry Defends Terror Suspect's Capture

John Kerry has defended the capture of a suspected al Qaeda leader by US forces in Libya, after Tripoli demanded an explanation over what it called the "kidnapping" of one of its citizens.

The US Secretary of State said the seizure of Nazih Abdul-Hamed al Ruqai, known by his alias Anas al Libi, complied with American law.

Libi was wanted in connection with the 1998 bombings of two US embassies in east Africa.

Mr Kerry said Libi "is a legal and an appropriate target for the US military".

"The United States of America is going to do anything in its power that is legal and appropriate in order to enforce the law and to protect our security," he said on the sidelines of a regional summit in Bali, Indonesia.

Libi - who was added to the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorist List after it was brought following the September 11 attacks and was the subject of a $5m bounty - was reportedly taken to a US Navy warship in the Mediterranean Sea where he was being questioned.

The suspect was on the FBI's most wanted terrorist list

It was said that there was no lawyer present and that he  might be eventually sent to New York for prosecution.

However, the US government has not confirmed where the al Qaeda suspect was taken after he was seized of a Libyan street on Saturday.

The Libyan government demanded an explanation for the raid which it said took place without them being informed in advance.

John Kerry was speaking in Bali

Asked whether Washington had alerted Tripoli before the raid, Mr Kerry said: "We don't get into the specifics of our communications with a foreign government on any kind of operation of this kind".

Libi is accused of involvement in the bombings of the US Embassies in Tanzania and Kenya, which killed more than 220 people.

US prosecutors say the computer expert carried out surveillance of the embassy in Nairobi and other potential targets in 1993.

In Britain, Home Secretary Theresa May is to be questioned by MPs over why Libi was given asylum in Britain.

Libi's family has denied he was ever a member of al Qaeda but said he was part of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, an Islamic militant group opposed to Muammar Gaddafi.

Libi's son, Abdullah al-Raghie, said his father was seized by masked gunmen armed with pistols, some of them Libyans.

The Tripoli operation was one of two US raids at the weekend, with US Navy Seals also storming the home of an alleged al Shabaab leader in Somalia. The success of that assault was unclear.

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Egypt: Security Forces 'Targeted' In Attacks

Gunmen have killed an army officer, lieutenant and four soldiers in an attack on a patrol near the Suez Canal city of Ismailia, security officials said.

The attack took place north of the city, where suspected militants have repeatedly targeted security forces in recent weeks.

Officials said the six were on patrol in a pickup truck when masked gunmen in another vehicle opened fire at them.

Ismailia and the areas around it have seen regular attacks on police and military personnel, especially since the military toppled Islamist president Mohamed Morsi on July 3.

Meanwhile officials said a massive explosion, possibly from a car bomb, has hit the security headquarters in a southern Sinai town, killing two people and wounding 50.

A soldier fires tear gas at protesters near Cairo's Tahrir Square

The security officials said the attack in the town of al Tour significantly damaged the four-storey building and set off small fires.

Rockets were reported to have also been fired at a state satellite station in Cairo, wounding two people.

Attacks by Sinai-based militants have risen sharply since the army toppled Mr Morsi and promised a roadmap that would lead Egypt to free and fair elections.

Almost daily attacks by al Qaeda-inspired militants in the Sinai have killed more than 100 members of the security forces since early July, the army spokesman said on September 15.

On Sunday clashes in the capital between security forces and Islamist protesters left 51 people dead.

Street battles raged for hours after supporters of Mr Morsi and backers of the military that deposed him poured into the streets and turned on each other.

It was the highest death toll in a single day in violence in Egypt since August 14, when security forces raided two sit-in protest camps by Mr Morsi's supporters in Cairo, killing hundreds.

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Al Shabaab: US Forces Abort Somalia Terror Raid

US special forces have aborted a mission to capture an al Shabaab leader in Somalia after coming under heavy attack.

Their target was Mukhtar Abu Zubeyr, also known as Ahmed Godane, who claimed responsibility for last month's Nairobi shopping mall massacre that killed at least 67 people, according to a Somali intelligence official.

A Navy Seal team staged a pre-dawn raid on a house in the southern town of Barawa after swimming ashore before the al Qaeda-linked militants rose for morning prayers.

Reinforcements arrived at the house and Seal Team Six, the same unit that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011, encountered fiercer resistance than expected, a senior US military source told The Associated Press.

Al Shabaab released photos of US gear it says was left behind in the raid

After a 15 to 20-minute firefight, the unit leader decided to abort the mission and they swam away, the source said.

Al Shabaab later posted pictures on the internet of what it said was US military gear left behind in the raid, including bullets, a GPS device and a stun grenade.

US Secretary of State John Kerry, in Bali for an economic summit, spoke about the failed US operation, and said terrorists "can run but they can't hide".

A Pentagon spokesman confirmed that US military personnel had been involved in a counter-terrorism operation against a known al Shabaab terrorist in Somalia, but did not provide details.

A GPS device apparently used by the Seal team

He said there were no US casualties in the raid.

Within hours of the attack, the US Army's Delta Force carried out a raid in Libya, and captured an al Qaeda leader wanted for the 1998 bombings of the US Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed more than 220 people.

The aborted Somalia operation came 20 years after the famous "Black Hawk Down" battle in Mogadishu, in which a mission to capture Somali warlords went wrong when militia forces shot down two US helicopters and killed 18 American soldiers.

Residents in Barawa, a seaside town some 150 miles south of Mogadishu, said they woke up to the sound of heavy gunfire.

One of the gunmen in the Kenyan shopping centre attack

The SEAL team killed a guard and battled their way inside a two-storey beachside house, where al Shabaab fighters reportedly lived, before being driven back.

A US official said the mission was aimed at capturing a "high-value target" while trying to avoid civilian casualties.

A Barawa resident called Mohamed Bile said militants closed down the town in the hours after the raid, and were carrying out house-to-house searches to find evidence that a spy had tipped off the US.

"We woke up to find al Shabaab fighters had sealed off the area and their hospital is also inaccessible," he told The Associated Press by phone. "The town is in a tense mood."

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Syria: UN Begins Destroying Chemical Weapons

Weapons experts have begun destroying Syria's chemical stockpiles and production facilities, a UN source has told AP news service.

The source said members of the team from the UN and The Hague-based Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) "have left for a site where they are beginning verification and destruction".

"Today is the first day of destruction, in which heavy vehicles are going to run over, and thus destroy missile warheads, aerial chemical bombs and mobile and static mixing and filling units," the source added.

A UN weapons inspector at the site of the August 21 attack

An OPCW official said earlier this week that all "expedient methods" would be used to destroy the arsenal and production facilities.

Methods used could include explosives, sledgehammers, and pouring in concrete.

The inspectors arrived in Damascus on Tuesday to begin verifying details of the weapons programme handed over by President Bashar al Assad's regime.

The UN published a report into the chemical weapons attack last month

"Phase one, which is disclosure by the Syrians, is ending and we are now moving towards phase two - verification and destruction and disabling," the UN source said.

The team is in Syria under the terms of a UN resolution, agreed after long talks between Russia and the US, for Damascus to hand over its chemical weapons for destruction.

The deal was hammered out in the wake of a sarin attack on the outskirts of Damascus on August 21, which killed hundreds of people.

US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russia's Sergey Lavrov agreed the deal

The United States has blamed Mr Assad's forces for the attack - a claim disputed by Russia, and denied by the Syrian government.

Washington threatened military strikes in response to the chemical atrocity, but action was averted following intense negotiations between US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.

Under the UN agreement, Syria's chemical weapons are to be destroyed by the middle of next year.

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Suicide Bomber Kills 15 In School Attack

A suicide bomber has driven a truck packed with explosives into the playground of a primary school in Iraq.

The blast killed 14 students and their headmaster at the school in Tel Afar in northern Iraq.

More follows...

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