Kidnapped Nigerian Schoolgirls Tell Of Escape

Schoolgirls who escaped from the Islamist militant group Boko Haram in Nigeria have told of their harrowing ordeal as the search for those still held captive continues.

One described being shot at as she ran from the gunmen when she was sent to fetch water.

Another spoke of how she and a friend jumped from a moving lorry as it slowed down, despite the threat of being killed, and spent a night in the bush before making their way to safety.

The schoolgirls gave their accounts to the distraught mothers of those still being held hostage.

One girl was shot at as she fled while another jumped from a lorry

"They took us away in a convoy of lorries," one of them said.

"We travelled through the night before reaching the final destination in the forest.

"The following day we were sent to fetch water. That was when we seized the opportunity and bolted.

"Even when they were shooting at us, we took the chance and God helped us arrive in Chibok two days later."

The other girl added: "They threatened to shoot anyone who tried to escape. As the vehicle slowed down along the road I jumped down with my friend.

"We spent the night in the bush and trekked back to Chibok the next day."

The girls' accounts came as it was reported the kidnapped girls had been split into four groups, complicating the search to find them and making any potential rescue more difficult.

The UK has sent a group of experts to offer advice and logistical support in the hunt for the 276 missing girls, who were kidnapped from a boarding school in the northern village of Chibok almost four weeks ago.

Air and satellite surveillance is to be extended to the neighbouring countries of Cameroon, Chad and Niger amid fears the girls may be trafficked across the border to be sold as slaves by their captors.

The leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, has threatened to sell the girls "on the market".

Their kidnap triggered international condemnation and led to a high-profile campaign calling for their release.

Prime Minister David Cameron told Sky News the abduction is "a ghastly situation, an act of pure evil".

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Putin Condemned For Marking Victory In Crimea

Hague's Whirlwind Diplomatic Tour Of Europe

Updated: 10:57am UK, Saturday 10 May 2014

By Tim Marshall, Diplomatic Editor

When you travel with the Foreign Office, you travel at speed.

Foreign Secretary William Hague lives his working life in blocks of time allocated according to timetables, worked out by staff, who liaise with their counterparts around the world.

For his trip around Eastern Europe they had arranged 21 meetings in four countries over four days.

To achieve that they had chartered a 13-seat charter jet. It's expensive, but the RAF planes sometimes used by government officials were unavailable or didn't have the range required.

The view was that if they travelled on scheduled flights they couldn't make all the meetings.

On board were the Foreign Secretary, several advisors, his private secretary, security men, and a two-person Sky News team including cameraman Pete Milnes.

We were inside what is called "The Bubble".

On Monday the first call was to Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, where we were met by various government officials and whisked into town in an eight-vehicle convoy, with lights flashing and sirens blaring.

The trip was about signalling to the countries he visited, but also to Russia. The message was that the UK will support Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia.

Britain sent a similar but stronger message to the Baltic States and Russia when it flew four fighter jets to Lithuania last month, but they are Nato members. On this tour he only had political and economic weapons at his disposal.

For the Moldova leg he had penned an article for a leading newspaper and acknowledged to Sky News that is was written for two audiences.

"You have to get through to the publics of the countries you visit, but you also know that the Russians are reading it ... Moscow needs to understand that there is a long-term price for violating the sovereignty of other nations," he said.

After a series of meetings, Mr Hague was back in his vehicle and preparing to return to the airport.

At this point it is essential all 13 of us, and the 30-odd pieces of kit and luggage, are all ready to move because the only people the convoy will wait for is the Foreign Secretary and his security detail.

After each meeting there is a flurry of activity with people throwing bags into cars, which occasionally might even be moving.

We get back to the plane and head for Vienna.

On board the protocol is that on the rare occasions a reporter is travelling with the Foreign Secretary he or she sits at the back, thus allowing the diplomats to spend the flight time working and talking privately.

Their area is for the duration of the flight their private office. Occasionally the Foreign Secretary will come back for a chat.

This is usually a mixture of everyday pleasantries, light humour over an incident which may have occurred at the previous location, and genuine insights into aims and strategies of HMG.

At dusk we land in Vienna and are two-thirds of the way through a 15-hour day.

In the Austrian capital the following morning Mr Hague attends the Council of Europe meeting on the Ukraine crisis.

The Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is present, but there is no meeting of minds.

Back at the airport the Foreign Secretary meets the acting Ukrainian Foreign Minister who is hitching a lift to Ukraine.

Mr Hague jokes: "We've thrown someone off to make room." He then takes the rare opportunity to spend the 90-minute flight to Kiev for a proper and private conversation with his opposite number.

When we arrive there is moment of light comedy.

The Minister, Andrii Deshchytsia, gets off first, followed immediately by Mr Hague, before the Ukrainian turns around, and as protocol demands, shakes hands with Mr Hague and welcomes him to his country.

The Bubble moves into Kiev where the Ukrainian Acting Prime Minister is in his own bubble which is running five minutes late.

For the first time in two days things slow down. We wait in a huge meeting room with the UK diplomats chatting to each other in a relaxed manner before the Prime Minister arrives and its back to business.

The following day the convoy passes the Ukrainian revolution The Maidan where most of the fighting during the winter took place. It's a reminder of just how serious the trip is.

Back on the plane I ask the Foreign Secretary what his favourite part of the job is and he replies: "It's knowing that we are not dealing with trivial stuff here. This matters, and it matters what we do."

On to Georgia, a country where a lot of people have long names, which for a native English speaker can present difficulties.

I ask Mr Hague if he ever forgets anyone's name.

"No, but then I've usually got people's names written down and I have a team of people to help me.

"If you are unsure, then the first thing you do when you land is ask the ambassador to take you through names and pronunciations."

Tbilisi is an attractive city with excellent wine and food, but Mr Hague can't concentrate on the architecture due to work, and says he's learned over the years not to enjoy the food too much.

Most meetings involve at least coffee and biscuits, and more usually a meal at which the host will pile up every local delicacy as a way of showing off their country's food.

Towards the end of day four we end up back in London after a five-hour flight. During the flight, the Foreign Secretary was slightly more relaxed for the first time.

He was still working but his mind was now clear of the 21 meetings. As we approached RAF Northolt the focus was returning.

On the tarmac, under grey skies, he greeted an air force officer with the words: "What have you done with the weather while we were away."

The sunshine of the previous weekend had given way to a chilly breeze, but in Ukraine the temperature was rising.

I worked out that most of us had, by Thursday afternoon, worked for about 55 hours so far this week.

I was now out of The Bubble and so drove home. The Foreign Secretary got into another car, in another convoy, and headed for the Foreign Office.

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Nigeria Kidnappings: Michelle Obama 'Outraged'

How To Tackle Nigeria's Growing Insurgency?

Updated: 1:09pm UK, Friday 09 May 2014

By Sam Kiley, Foreign Affairs Editor

American "experts" have arrived. British "advisers" are on their way - phew. It may only be a matter of time before Nigeria's missing girls are found and rescued.

Baloney.

Boko Haram is not a new problem. It's been violently opposing Nigeria's governments since 2009, leaving 4,000 dead, laying waste to villages, and not long ago killing 58 schoolboys in their classrooms.

It's had links to al Qaeda in the Islamic Mahgreb (AQIM).

It kidnapped a French family in the Cameroons, and is reported to have netted $3m (£1.78m) for their safe release.

The militant Islamist group has achieved international notoriety over the abduction of the girls, all aged between 12 and 15  - but only after releasing a video threat to sell them into slavery.

But it has been closely monitored by Western security agencies for some time.

In 2012, British special forces troops were at the sharp end of a failed rescue operation in Sokoto aimed at releasing Chris McManus, a British engineer and his Italian colleague.

They had been held by Boko Haram for over a year. It was thought they were about to be moved or sold to an al Qaeda group operating in the lawless Sahel.

The connections to al Qaeda, which intelligence sources say extends all the way to Somalia but is more tightly entwined with AQIM, have meant that Boko Haram has been of considerable interest to the West.

This has been mostly manifest in sharing intelligence with and getting information from Nigerian agencies about the threat that the movement might pose beyond Nigeria's borders.

Dealing with the growing domestic insurgency has been seen as a strictly Nigerian matter.

Very often Western commentators will see the involvement of Western troops or spooks as a panacea to turmoil in a Third World nation.

They are not.

It took the British army half a decade to get to grips with the complex tribal structures that dominate Helmand in Afghanistan, where the UK sent some 10,000 troops.

American forces never got to grips with the complex world of Somalia's clan structures after its UN/US intervention there in 1991.

And Western allies have left chaos in their wake after their invasion of Iraq.

Foreign experts can, however, help with technical intelligence surveillance, planning, and perhaps even offering troops for a final assault on a complex target.

But all other matters must remain domestic issues because only locals can fully understand the complexities of the social landscape they live in.

There may, ultimately, be a useful military option involving a strike at the leadership of Boko Haram that the West can help with.

But Nigerians know that finding a solution to a growing insurgency involves far more complex issues.

Nigeria's economically-neglected north will need a greater share of the nation's annual oil revenues of $50bn (£29.8bn) if it's going to reverse the growing north-south schism that has always threatened the coherence of the former British colony.

Locally, Boko Haram's foot soldiers will need to be lured out of the bush with offers of amnesty and employment. Surviving leaders may need to be given a role.

But, of course, this "proves" the argument that politics in Nigeria can only be advanced through the barrel of a gun - the nation has suffered at least eight military coups since independence from Britain in 1960 and is now taking nervous steps along a democratic pathway.

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Brazil World Cup Stadium Worker Electrocuted

An eighth construction worker has been killed while building one of Brazil's World Cup stadiums.

Muhammed-Ali Maciel Afonso was installing communications equipment at the Arena Pantanal in the western city of Cuiaba when he was electrocuted.

The 32-year-old's death, which caused building work to be halted temporarily, is the latest setback in rushed preparations for the tournament.

The Arena Pantanal in Cuiaba, western Brazil, holds 40,000 people

Several stadiums have been delayed, often by telecoms work, as organisers struggle to get wi-fi and mobile phone networks up and running.

A number of key transportation projects have been abandoned altogether.

Four times as many workers have now been killed in preparations for the competition than in South Africa four years ago.

Fifa secretary general Jerome Valcke and Brazilian sports minister Aldo Rebelo both sent their condolences to Mr Afonso's family, as well as his colleagues at Etel Engenharia.

Many of Brazil's World Cup stadiums are still not finished

The Arena Pantanal held a test match last month but the venue is one of the most-delayed of the tournament, with seating and wiring yet to be finished.

A fire in October caused structural damage, although that has since been repaired.

Four group stage matches will be played in the stadium, one of a dozen built by Brazil especially for the World Cup, which gets under way on June 12.

Critics warn the 40,000-seat venue could be one of the tournament's biggest white elephants, given that Cuiaba's biggest football team normally plays in front of crowds of just 2,000.

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Pistorius Trial: Witness Plays Part Of Reeva

A weapons expert has recreated the moment Oscar Pistorius' girlfriend was shot dead by playing the part of the former model in a court reconstruction.

Thomas Wolmarans was being questioned about the injuries Reeva Steenkamp suffered on Valentine's Day last year, when he asked to enter a mocked-up version of Pistorius' bathroom.

As he stood behind the door, he mimicked the movements he believes Ms Steenkamp made when the bullets struck her body.

The judge looks on as a laser is shone through Pistorius' bathroom door

It came after Judge Thokozile Masipa and lawyers huddled around the door as a court official used a spray to reveal a laser beam set up by prosecutors to show the trajectory taken by one of the bullets.

Earlier, Pistorius sat with his head in his hands as Mr Wolmarans spoke in detail about the wounds Ms Steenkamp suffered.

As the trial entered its 29th day, the witness, called by the defence, also talked about the various bullet fragments found in the bathroom of the athlete's home on a luxury development in Pretoria.

Pistorius denies murdering his girlfriend Ms Steenkamp. Pic: Stimulii

During an intense cross-examination, Mr Wolmarans admitted altering one of his reports but insisted the only changes he made were grammatical corrections.

Asked exactly what he had corrected, however, he replied: "I can't remember."

Mr Wolmarans also revealed he supervised a sound test involving a gun and the cricket bat Pistorius says he used to break down the bathroom door, even though he is not an expert in the field and has tinnitus, which causes a ringing noise in his ears.

Mr Wolmarans faced an uncomfortable day of questioning

He said he had "never" discussed the case with Pistorius, even when he went to remove a piece of the athlete's prosthetic leg for forensic examination.

On Thursday, the court heard from a social worker and probation officer, who claimed Pistorius was "not putting on a show" - a reference to allegations he had been taking acting lessons.

Yvette van Schalkwyk, who sat with the 27-year-old at the time of his initial court hearings, said he vomited twice and told her he shot Ms Steenkamp accidentally.

"What I saw ... was a man who was heartbroken," she said. "He cried, he was in mourning, he suffered emotionally."

Pistorius denies a charge of premeditated murder, claiming he mistook his partner, a model and reality TV star, for an intruder.

The trial continues.

More follows...

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Ukraine: Eight Killed As Putin Lands In Crimea

Eight pro-Russian militants have been reportedly killed in eastern Ukraine as Vladimir Putin landed in Crimea for his first visit since it was annexed by Moscow.

Ukrainian troops used large-calibre weapons as they tried to take an occupied police HQ in the southeastern port city of Mariupol.

Sky's Katie Stallard, in Mariupol, said there is black smoke over the city and heavy fighting.

She said the police HQ was taken by pro-Russian gunmen on Thursday night, and Ukrainian forces are now trying to retake it.

Mr Putin joined veterans at the annual Victory Day parade in Moscow

The building holds one of the largest armouries in the city, and separatists are using the weapons to defend their position.

The bloodshed occurred as Mr Putin attended an event in Sevastopol to mark Soviet victory over the Nazis in World War Two - which comes days ahead of a referendum in eastern Ukraine.

A similar Victory Day parade - marking 69 years since Nazi Germany surrendered its forces - took place in Moscow's Red Square on Friday morning.

Around 11,000 troops are taking part in the Victory Day parade

About 11,000 servicemen took part in the annual event, which began with troops marching to the sound of brass bands as Mr Putin watched from the stands, flanked by veterans.

"This is a holiday when all-conquering patriotic force triumphs, when we all feel especially strongly what it means to be true to the Motherland and how important it is to be able to stand up for its interests," he told troops to shouts of "Hurrah!"

Some 150 military vehicles and 70 combat aircraft also took part in the show.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu (right) salutes during the event

Pro-Russians in eastern Ukraine are pressing ahead with plans to hold referendums on Sunday, despite calls from the Kremlin to postpone them.

There are fears the vote in the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk could spark further violence between Ukrainian troops and separatists.

Militants have seized government buildings in about a dozen cities in the east of the country.

Mr Putin wants the vote postponed so talks can take place with the Kiev government.

However, many in the east say the referendum is the only way to prevent war against what rebels and Moscow call the "fascist" politicians in the capital.

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Oscar Pistorius 'Is Not Putting On A Show'

Oscar Pistorius was not "putting on a show" and seemed genuinely heartbroken after shooting his girlfriend dead, the athlete's murder trial has heard.

Social worker and probation officer Yvette van Schalkwyk said she came forward as a witness on Tuesday after reading reports that the athlete had been "taking acting classes" and that his tears in court may not be real.

Ms van Schalkwyk, who was asked in February 2013 to assist Pistorius at his first court appearance, said he "cried 80% of the time" when she was with him.

She told the court: "What I saw from the first time I saw him was a man who was heartbroken... he cried, he was in mourning, he suffered emotionally.

"He was very sorry for the loss, especially for the parents, what they were going through."

She said that when she sat with Pistorius in the cells at the time of his intial court hearings he vomited twice and told her he shot Reeva Steenkamp accidentally.

Ms van Schalkwyk denied feeling sorry for Pistorius, saying: "After 24 years in probation you've got empathy. There's a difference."

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel said her evidence should be inadmissable because it did not relate directly to the charges - but Judge Thokozile Masipa turned down his objections, pointing out that he had earlier questioned the Paralympian's sincerity.

An anaesthetist cast doubt on prosecution claims that Oscar Pistorius had a late-night argument with Ms Steenkamp before he shot her.

Professor Christina Lundgren - who has a PhD in deaths due to anaesthesia - explained why she was qualified to give expert evidence on gastric emptying and its use to determine the time of death.

State Pathologist Gert Saayman has previously testified that food found in Ms Steenkamp's stomach had been eaten no more than two hours before she was shot dead at 3am on February 14, 2013.

His evidence challenged Pistorius' claim that she ate early the previous evening and suggested she was awake when a neighbour said she heard what sounded like a woman arguing in the house where Pistorius shot her.

Pistorius arrives at court ahead of the trial's 28th day

But Prof Lundgren said the prosecution case that Ms Steenkamp's stomach should have been empty if Pistorius was telling the truth was "purely speculative".

She explained that before surgery patients are typically told not to eat for six hours to ensure their stomachs are empty.

But she said that some ingredients in a chicken stir-fry Ms Steenkamp ate, such as vegetables and fatty foods, could take longer to digest.

Gastric emptying could also be delayed in pre-menopausal women and by sleep, eating disorders or some medications such as anti-depressants and slimming drugs, Prof Lundgren told the court. 

Mr Nel worked to eliminate the factors that could have delayed the digestion process in Ms Steenkamp's case, saying that she had not drunk alcohol, smoked or taken medication and did not have an eating disorder.

He said that made Professor Saayman's evidence more probable.

The witness acknowledged to Mr Nel that if Ms Steenkamp had been involved in a long argument that caused her anxiety before her death, the gastric emptying process could have been delayed.

Ms Steenkamp's friend Kim Myers, who Pistorius was accused of intimidating on Tuesday, was back in court to hear the anaesthetist's evidence, reportedly accompanied by her mother Desi and sister Gina.

Pistorius is accused of murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, but he claims he shot her by accident.

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Girls' Kidnap Will Be 'End Of Nigeria Terror'

The abduction of more than 200 girls in Nigeria will be the "beginning of the end of terror" there, says Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Nigerian capital Abuja, he also thanked the international community for its support and said "by God's grace we will conquer the terrorists".

Mr Goodluck has been criticised for his response to the kidnapping, and for not acting sooner to recruit help.

His words come as military and intelligence experts from around the world head to Nigeria to help in the search.

Michelle Obama has joined the social media campaign to free the girls

The UK, France, China and the US are among the countries lending their support.

Britain is sending a small team of advisers - possibly including some military officers - to help with planning and coordination. However, they will not take part in operations on the ground.

The US is flying out a group including experts in intelligence, law enforcement and hostage negotiations, with fewer than 10 military troops going.

Prime Minister David Cameron told Parliament the kidnapping was "an act of pure evil".

Many people in Nigeria are angry at the government's response

"There are extreme Islamists around our world who are against education, against progress, against equality and we must fight them and take them on wherever they are," he said.

The 276 girls were abducted from a boarding school in the village of Chibok in Borno state, north Nigeria, on April 14.

Islamist group Boko Haram claimed responsibility and its leader, Abubakar Shekau, has threatened to sell the girls "on the market".

Some of the group have already reportedly been trafficked to neighbouring Chad and Cameroon.

A further 11 girls, aged 12 to 15, were taken from the northeastern village of Warabe on Sunday.

The search is focussed around the huge Sambisa Forest - the 'hideout' of Boko Haram which extends to some 60,000 square kilometres - three times the size of Wales.

Boko Haram is also thought to be behind the killing of up to 300 people reported to have been killed on Monday in the northeastern Nigerian town of Gamboru Ngala.

Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for the abduction

A witness told the AFP agency that fighters in armoured trucks and motorcycles overran the town, leaving it "littered" with bodies.

A social media campaign to raise awareness of the kidnapping has ramped up in recent days, with the Twitter hashtag #BringBackOurGirls being promoted by the likes of US First Lady Michelle Obama.

Malala Yousafzai, the schoolgirl who survived being shot by the Taliban for promoting girls' education, has also spoken out over the kidnapping.

The girls were taken three weeks ago in the village of Chibok

The Nigerian government has now put up a 50m Nigerian naira (£182,000) reward for information leading to the location and rescue of the female students.

Sky News Special Correspondent Alex Crawford, in the Nigerian capital Abuja, said the situation is likely to be a key concern for politicians at the World Economic Forum, currently being held in the city.

"It's very poor advertising for Nigeria. This international outcry, the fact it's taken so long for the Nigerians to react is not going to play well.

"There's going to be a lot of whispering and diplomatic chat behind the scenes to try to galvanise them into action.

"Of course, there is a great deal of anxiety and anger right here in Nigeria against the government and what's perceived to be their sluggish response."

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Separatists Set To Defy Putin On Ukraine Vote

Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine plan to hold a vote on independence this weekend despite President Vladimir Putin's call to delay it.

The co-ordinating committee of the self-proclaimed 'Donetsk People's Republic' announced it would have a referendum as planned on Sunday, following a meeting.

But some people fear the vote in the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk could spark further violence between Ukrainian troops and the pro-Russian militants.

The separatists have already seized government buildings in about a dozen cities in the east of the country.

Russian leader Mr Putin wants the vote postponed so talks could take place with the Kiev government.

President Putin wants the independence vote postponed

However, many in the east said the referendum was the only way to prevent war against what the rebels and Moscow call the "fascist" politicians in the capital.

Head of the rebel elections commission Denis Pushilin said the suggestion to put off the vote "came from a person who indeed cares for the people of the southeast" of Ukraine.

"But we are the bullhorn of the people," he said.

There have been clashes between rebels and troops in the east

The Russian stock market fell on the news and Kiev officials promised to continue with their "anti-terrorist campaign" to retake control over Donetsk and Luhansk regardless of the poll decision.

The European Union said the rebel vote has "no democratic legitimacy" can "only further worsen the situation".

Mr Putin's comments appeared to be an attempt to try to defuse the row with the West over Ukraine.

The president also declared Russia has pulled its troops away from the Ukrainian border.

But Nato and the US said they saw no signs of this.

Mr Putin also spoke more positively about the Ukrainian interim government's plan to hold a presidential election on May 25.

He called it a "step in the right direction," but reiterated Russia's view there should be constitutional reforms beforehand.

Also, Russia's defence ministry said Ukraine had assembled 15,000 troops on its border with Russia.

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Thailand PM Yingluck Shinawatra Dismissed

Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has been dismissed from office after the country's constitutional court ruled she was guilty of abusing her power.

According to the court ruled, by transferring a senior civil servant in 2011 to another position, Ms Yingluck was carrying out a "hidden agenda" that would benefit her politically powerful family.

Therefore, the court ruled, the act violated the constitution - a claim the PM has denied.

"The judges unanimously rule that Yingluck abused her prime minister status and interfered in transferring (Thawil Pliensri) for her own benefit," said court president Charoon Intachan in a televised ruling.

May Day protests took place last week against the government

"Therefore her prime minister status has ended ... Yingluck can no longer stay in her position acting as caretaker prime minister."

Several cabinet ministers who endorsed the decision to transfer the security chief will also be stripped of their status.

The ruling means Ms Yingluck and nine members of her current caretaker Cabinet must step down from office.

Anti-government protests have been taking place in Bangkok for months

Thailand's first female prime minister has been in power for more than two years but there has been considerable opposition to her position because of her brother, former PM Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a military coup in 2006.

Despite becoming skilled at fighting off political opponents, Ms Yingluck has spent recent months facing mass political demonstrations in the capital, Bangkok, with the Thai people calling for her to step down.

She came under strong criticism for her government's reaction to the flooding of 2011, which threatened to overwhelm Bangkok and ruin the economy.

The new PM of the caretaker government has been named as Niwattumrong Boonsongpaisan.

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Hamza Trial: 'Cleric Helped Yemen Kidnappers'

One of 16 Western tourists kidnapped in Yemen in 1998 has told Abu Hamza's New York terror trial how she feared they would all be killed.

Retired Margaret Thompson, who was shot during a rescue bid and now walks with a heavy limp, was testifying against the hate preacher, who is accused of providing the kidnappers with a satellite phone and paying for credit to use it.

The group of British, US and Australian workers, mostly aged between 45 and 60, was seized on December 28, 1998, while driving to the port city of Aden.

The hostage-takers from the Islamic Army of Aden, who were armed with rifles, hand grenades and rocket-propelled grenades and claimed they were opposed to air strikes in Iraq, drove them into the desert and stripped them of cash and jewellery.

Ms Thompson told how the hostages were caught in a gun battle and used as human shields by their kidnappers when the Yemeni army mounted a rescue attempt the following day.

The former oil company employee said that as the gunfire got more frequent, one of them told the Westerners: "It's goodbye to you all."

Asked what she thought that meant, she replied: "I hoped it meant they were getting ready to release us but I feared it meant we were going to die."

Three of the hostages were grabbed by their shirts and had rifles shoved in their backs as they were made to walk forward towards the gunfire, she told the court.

The hostages were seized in the port city of Aden

It was then that Thompson was shot in the left leg from behind, a bullet shattering her femur. She fell backwards and slid down into a bush.

She tried to staunch the bleeding with a scarf before the Yemeni soldiers rescued them and took her to a clinic.

Four of the hostages were killed in the operation.

Mustafa Kamel Mustafa, 56, better known in Britain as Abu Hamza al Masri, has pleaded not guilty to all the charges in the Manhattan federal court.

Blind in one eye and with both hands blown off in an explosion in Afghanistan, he has sat quietly day after day in tracksuit bottoms and a T-shirt, taking notes.

Paul Sykes, 54, who works for the communications company that sold Hamza a satellite phone, told the court the defendant phoned him at 9am British time on December 29 to top up the phone's credit.

But his first two credit cards were declined, causing him to become agitated. Ten minutes later he offered a third card that worked, Sykes said.

Hamza is also charged with conspiracy to set up an al Qaeda-style training camp in Oregon in late 1999, of providing material support to al Qaeda, of wanting to set up a computer lab for the Taliban and of sending recruits for terror training in Afghanistan.

He was indicted in the United States in 2004 and served eight years in prison in Britain before losing his last appeal against extradition in 2012.

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Hague 'Frustrated' By Speed Of Nigeria Rescue

Nigerian Kidnaps: What Can Really Be Done?

Updated: 2:46pm UK, Tuesday 06 May 2014

By Sam Kiley, Foreign Affairs Editor

The temptation to "do something" is almost overwhelming. Some 270 school girls abducted, many already raped, dragged into the bush and now threatened with being sold into slavery.

Of course the "do something" instinct comes to the fore.

In fact it's only really become an international cry since the leader of Boko Haram, which means Western education is sinful, delivered a 57-minute diatribe in Hausa, Arabic and English, threatening the girls with slavery this week.

Inside Nigeria, the government has been under growing pressure to "do something".

Dr Sakyimah Akilu, a presidential adviser and spokeswoman on national security, told Sky News that it was true that there was a general impression that the Nigerian government had failed to react to the mass abductions.

"The truth is that we are pursuing every lead we have had. But you have to understand that they have been taken into the Sambisa forest and perhaps into the mountains in Cameroon - there are many places to hide," she said.

This fatalism may explain why the Nigerian administration of Goodluck Jonathan appears to have been flat footed in hunting down the radical Islamist group which is now threatening the girls with a most un-Islamic torment.

William Hague said: "Using girls as the spoils of war and the spoils of terrorism is disgusting and immoral. It should show everybody across the world that they should not give any support for such a vile organisation …

"Britain is offering assistance, but of course the primary responsibility will rest with the Nigerians, and I hope they will do what is necessary to reunite these girls with their families."

The British Foreign Secretary is vague on what that "assistance" could be.

In all likelihood, it would take the form of Special Force advice on how to track the girls. Perhaps some help, too, with surveillance.

But both would be limited. More of a gesture than anything else.

Special Forces from South Africa, Britain, the United States and other Western nations have been on the trail of the similarly horrible Lord's Resistance Army in the Central African Republic for decades.

Their analysis has been that while they could probably kill the leadership of the LRA, a capture operation would be almost impossible.

A similar military analysis would emerge on Boko Haram - finding and saving the missing girls would be almost impossible - slaughtering elements of Boko Haram would not.

But killing won't solve the problem.

The sad truth is that Nigeria's missing children are likely to stay that way.

Efforts to negotiate a peace deal with Boko Haram's leader Abdulbakar Shekau over the last four years - while 4,000 Nigerians died - have come to nought.

Now he has the attention of the whole world, he won't want to give up on the limelight the missing girls have given him.

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Plane Smashes Into House But Pilot Is Unhurt

A pilot whose light plane crashed into a house in Colorado has walked out of the wreckage virtually unhurt.

The man even tried to put out the fire with a garden hose before he was forced away by burning fuel, authorities said.

The house near Denver was unoccupied at the time of crash on Monday afternoon.

The pilot suffered minor injuries.

Five teenagers were playing soccer at a nearby track when they saw the plane.

"We were over at the field when it started going down. We said, 'That plane is way too close,'" said 15-year-old Ryder Munera.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the aircraft was an agricultural and pest control plane.

It was towing a banner for an insurance company and was supposed to fly over a Colorado Rockies baseball game when the crash occurred, according to Tom Mace, who said he hired the pilot.

Mr Mace said the engine apparently malfunctioned and the pilot ditched the banner before the crash.

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Oscar Pistorius Neighbours 'Did Not Hear Reeva'

By Alex Crawford, Special Correspondent, in Pretoria

Oscar Pistorius' next-door neighbour has told a court he heard "very loud" cries from someone "desperate for help" on the night the athlete's girlfriend was shot dead.

But Michael Nhlengethwa, whose house is just 11 metres from the bathroom where Reeva Steenkamp was fatally injured, said he did not hear a woman screaming.

It appears to contradict the claims of an earlier witness, who said she heard "blood-curdling screams" on Valentine's Day last year, despite living further away from Pistorius' home.

The trial also heard from Mr Nhlengethwa's wife, Eontle, who was asked to repeat the noise she heard while her husband was searching their house for intruders after the couple were awoken by a loud bang.

Oscar Pistorius arrives at court in Pretoria for day 27 of his trial

She made a loud shrieking noise - at which point Pistorius leant forward, covering his ears with his hands - but insisted the "vibrating, high-pitched noise" was the sound of a man crying, not a woman screaming.

The prosecutor, Gerrie Nel, has suggested Ms Steenkamp ran into the toilet to take refuge after a furious row with Pistorius.

It is claimed she was facing the toilet door, talking to the runner, when he fired four shots.

However, the Nhlengethwas told the court they did not hear sounds of any argument.

Ms Steenkamp was shot dead on February 14, 2013. Pic: Stimulii

Instead, they said, they heard wailing coming from a man who sounded like he could have been in danger.

"The cry we heard was from someone who was desperate for help," Mr Nhlengethwa said. "It was very loud."

When asked during cross-examination whether he heard the sounds of a woman screaming, the witness replied: "No, not at all."

Another neighbour, Rita Motshuane, also imitated the noises she heard, hunching her shoulders and letting out a series of loud, painful wails.

She said the sound, which was so haunting it left her unable to move from her bed, came from a man, not from a woman.

The Nhlengethwas were originally on the state's list of witnesses but neither were called by the prosecution.

Mr Nhlengethwa said Pistorius, who always greeted him by walking over to talk and shake hands, once introduced Ms Steenkamp as his fiancee and said he was moving out of the Silver Woods estate in Pretoria to Johannesburg in order to be closer to her.

The witness said he expressed regret that his neighbour was leaving but added: "If it's for her, then it's worth it. That one's for keeps."

It was the first time the court had heard evidence the couple were apparently engaged.

Mr Nhlengethwa also spoke about the moment he arrived at Pistorius' house after the shooting and peered through the front door to find Pistorius kneeling over Ms Steenkamp.

"What I saw is difficult to explain," he said, telling the court he chose to wait outside as the scene was so distressing.

Pistorius, 27, denies murdering Ms Steenkamp in a premeditated attack, claiming he mistook her for an intruder.

The case was adjourned at lunchtime and will resume on Thursday after a public holiday in South Africa.

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Nigeria Schoolgirl Kidnap: Britain Offers Help

The UK is offering "practical help" to help Nigeria secure the release of more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped by Islamist militant group Boko Haram.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague revealed the country's potential involvement in the case after the organisation threatened to sell the abducted girls.

"We are offering practical help," he told reporters as he arrived for a Council of Europe meeting in Vienna to discuss ways to defuse the crisis in Ukraine.

"What has happened here ... the actions of Boko Haram to use girls as the spoils of war, the spoils of terrorism, is disgusting. It is immoral.

"I called the Nigerian foreign minister when this first arose ... to offer help from Britain, to express our concerns."

He said he did not want to discuss exactly what help Britain was offering, just as US authorities have avoided going into detail.

It is thought Nigeria has so far not accepted either country's offer.

Boko Haram militants stormed an all-girl secondary school in the village of Chibok, in Borno state, on April 14 and packed the teenagers, who had been taking exams, on to trucks. They then disappeared into a remote area along the border with Cameroon.

The raid has shocked Nigerians despite a bloody five-year-old Islamist insurgency in the north of the country, and there have been claims that other countries should have done more and been quicker to offer help.

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau has appeared in a video, chuckling as he stands in front of an armoured personnel carrier with two masked militants wielding AK-47s on either side of him.

"I abducted your girls. I will sell them in the market, by Allah," he says.

"Allah has instructed me to sell them. They are his property and I will carry out his instructions."

Boko Haram, seen as the main security threat to Nigeria, Africa's leading energy producer, is growing bolder and extending its reach.

The kidnapping occurred on the day a bomb blast, also blamed on Boko Haram, killed 75 people on the edge of Abuja, the first attack on the capital in two years.

The group's name means "Western education is sinful" and Shekau makes reference in the video to the fact the girls were undergoing Western education.

The girls' abduction has been hugely embarrassing for the government and threatens to overshadow the World Economic Forum for Africa it hosts from May 7 to 9.

On Sunday, authorities arrested a leader of a protest staged last week in Abuja that had called on them to do more to find the girls, further fuelling outrage against the security forces.

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Cornered 'Drugs Dealer' Shot In Face In Gang Hit

An alleged drug smuggler has been shot and killed in a busy Dublin street in a suspected gangland hit.

Christopher Zambra was shot in the face while cowering in a garden after abandoning his car close to the city centre, according to reports.

Zambra had been driving along Cooley Road, Drimnagh, at about 3pm on Sunday, when he was hemmed in by a Nissan Qashqai and a silver saloon car.

Six shots were then fired from a handgun into his Audi A4 before he got out of the car and sought cover, the newspaper said.

He ran along the pavement and into the garden of a house three doors away where his attackers caught up with him and shot him two or three more times.

Cooley Road, where Christopher Zambra was shot dead

The hitmen then made their escape and abandoned the Qashqai a short distance away on Benmadigan Road, where they set fire to it with the handgun inside.

The gun was later recovered and police are now examining it and the remains of the vehicle.

Forensic specialists have been at the scene of the shooting where a number of spent cartridges were seen littering the ground.

RTE said a post-mortem on Mr Zambra was due to be carried out but he is believed to have been hit several times by gunfire.

The Irish Independent claimed Zambra, from Drimnagh, in south Dublin, was aged 39 and a full-time drug dealer.

The Irish Times referred to him as a well-known gang figure who was known to associate with another man suspected of ordering the 2012 murder of a member of the Real IRA.

Zambra had been tried for the murder of another known trafficker John Carroll but was acquitted.

He was also an amateur musician who promoted his music on his own website.

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Pilot Dies As WWII Plane Stunt Ends In Flames

A vintage biplane has crashed in an upside-down stunt at a California air show, killing the 77-year-old pilot.

Edward Andreini was flying his plane low over the tarmac at Travis Air Force Base when the aircraft crashed.

The 1944 Stearman biplane caught fire, with a thick plume of black smoke seen in video of the aftermath.

Nobody else was injured.

The plane was flying close to the tarmac.

Mr Andreini had been flying since he was 16 and was a veteran of air shows in the US.

The plane was trying to perform a manoeuvre known as "cutting a ribbon" where it inverts and flies close to the ground so that a knife attached to the plane can slice a ribbon just off the ground, Colonel David Mott, 60th Operations Group commander at the base, told the San Francisco Chronicle.

A witness, retired photo journalist Roger Bockrath, said Mr Andreini was flying into a sometimes gusty wind on Sunday afternoon.

The National Transportation Safety Board is conducting an investigation

"He got down too low and hit the tarmac. He skidded about 500ft and just sat there," Mr Bockrath told The Sacramento Bee.

"The plane was essentially intact, just wrong side down," he said, adding that by the time fire crews arrived the aircraft was enflamed.

Remaining events at the Thunder Over Solano show, attended by an estimated 100,000 spectators each day over the weekend, were cancelled.

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Oscar Pistorius Trial: Athlete Was 'Frantic'

One of Oscar Pistorius' former neighbours has told the athlete's murder trial how he "begged" her to save his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp's life.

Carice Viljoen, who raced to the 27-year-old's home after he called her father for help, said the distressed athlete was "frantic" from the moment she stepped inside his house on Valentine's Day last year.

Pistorius covered his ears with his hands as an emotional Ms Viljoen told the court: "He was saying, 'Please, please'. He was begging me to put her in the car and take her to the hospital.

"I was kneeling at Reeva's side and there was blood everywhere."

Ms Steenkamp was shot dead on February 14, 2013. Pic: Stimulii

Earlier, Ms Viljoen's father, Johan Stander, who worked on the luxury estate in South Africa where Pistorius lived, recalled the desperate phone call from the sprinter in the early hours of the morning.

He told the court: "He said, 'Please, please, please come to my house, please. I shot Reeva. I thought she was an intruder. Please, please come quick.'"

He said he arrived at Pistorius' house around three minutes later to find the athlete "broken", "screaming" and carrying Ms Steenkamp's body down the stairs.

"Oscar was crying, really crying," he said. "He was in pain. He asked us to help him. He wanted us to put Reeva in a car and take her to hospital.

"We tried to calm him down. He was broken. He was screaming, crying, praying."

Ms Viljoen said that after getting Pistorius to lay his girlfriend on the floor, she ran upstairs, grabbed a handful of towels and used them to try to stop the bleeding.

"Oscar was holding pressure on her hip," she said. "He had his finger in her mouth, trying to help her breathe.

"He just kept asking me, 'Where's the ambulance, where's the ambulance?'

"We tried our very best to keep her alive."

Mr Stander, who used to look after Pistorius' dogs while the athlete was competing overseas, told the court his neighbour was "committed" to saving Ms Steenkamp.

Mr Stander said he found Pistorius carrying his girlfriend down the stairs

The witness, a former administrator at the Silver Woods estate in Pretoria, also said Pistorius would ask to be kept abreast of local crimes when he returned from his travels.

In one incident, he said, thieves broke through a fence and used a ladder to gain access to a house - a scenario the athlete has previously said he was concerned about.

A woman was tied up by intruders during another break-in, he added.

Pistorius' legal team are set to call ballistics, audio and psychological experts over the coming days, as the trial enters what is likely to prove a critical phase.

Sky's Special Correspondent Alex Crawford, in Pretoria, said: "The defence has to counter several prosecution claims - not least that there was a pause between shots which, crucially, would have given Ms Steenkamp time to shout out in anguish before the fatal head shot."

Pistorius admits shooting his partner but denies a charge of premeditated murder, claiming he mistook her for an intruder.

The trial continues.

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Mombasa Hit By Bus And Beach Resort Blasts

At least three people have been killed and several others injured in twin bomb blasts in Mombasa, Kenya, officials say.

One blast happened at a busy bus station in Mwembe Tayari, near the city centre, when a grenade was thrown into a crowded minibus killing at least three people, and wounding more than 20.

At the bus terminus, victims were sprawled in a pool of blood and the road was littered with shattered glass from a bus.

"I didn't see who threw the object, but I heard a loud explosion before I fell to the ground. I then felt my legs go numb," Halima Sidi, 26, who works at a local supermarket, told Reuters at a hospital as nurses bandaged her wounded legs.

Mombasa county commissioner Nelson Marwa said: "What happened is a grenade was thrown at passengers.

The bombings happened at a bus station and the Reef Hotel

"The attackers were riding on a motorbike, and lobbed the grenade at the crowd of people at the bus terminus."

Another explosion occurred at a well-known beach resort hotel, the Reef Hotel, in the Nyali area of the city, although no casualties have been reported.

An unattended bag had been found on the beach, which was abandoned at the gate of the hotel after it was found to contain what turned out to be an explosive device, which subsequently went off.

One of the bombing victims is put on a stretcher. Pic: Daily Nation

Hotelier Mohammed Hersi told Sky News there had been no injuries and all the guests were safe.

A police official said: "We had two incidents. One at the bus station where three people have lost their lives. In the second incident that occurred near a hotel in Nyali there were no casualties."

While no one has immediately claimed responsibility for the blasts, Kenya has been targeted in the past by gun and grenade attacks in Mombasa and central Nairobi, which the government has blamed on the al Qaeda-linked Somali group al Shabaab.

Blood stains are visible on the side of a bus at one of the blast sites

Last year, a terrorist attack on a shopping mall in Nairobi left at least 67 people dead.

Sky's Foreign Affairs Editor Sam Kiley said the bombings bore the hallmarks of an attack by Islamic militants.

He said: "This could be seen as a counter-attack by radical al Qaeda-related groups against the body politic and the economy of Kenya by targeting an environment where tourists are likely to be."

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Landslide Buries Village: Rescuers Lose Hope

Rescue teams have abandoned the search for survivors after a landslide buried a hillside village in northern Afghanistan, killing at least 350 people under a tide of rock and mud.

Local people and emergency workers using shovels tried in vain to find victims trapped under the massive landslide that engulfed Aab Bareek village in Badakhshan province.

There are fears of further landslides in the area

Officials said that the final death toll could rise as high as 500 after Friday's disaster, updating earlier information that 2,500 people were feared dead.

"Based on our reports, 300 houses are under the debris," Badakhshan governor Shah Waliullah Adeeb said at the scene.

"We cannot continue the search and rescue operation anymore, as the houses are under metres of mud. We will offer prayers for the victims and make the area a mass grave."

Thousands of people have been displaced

The tragedy came after heavy rain earlier in the week.

The community in Badakhshan province which borders Tajikistan in the country's northeast, has been buried in more than 300ft of mud (100 metres).

Gul Mohammad Bedar, the deputy governor of Badakhshan, said: "The first figure (of 2,500 feared dead) that we announced was obtained from local people, not from our technical team.

"We think the death toll will not rise beyond 500."

Local people and dozens of police officers equipped with only basic digging tools began searching for survivors from first light on Saturday.

But it quickly became apparent there was no hope of finding anyone.

Afghan National Army troops in Kabul load supplies for survivors

The United Nations says the focus is now on the thousands of people who have been displaced by the disaster.

A memorial service was planned, and the site is expected to be designated as a mass grave, according to UN spokesman Ari Gaitanis.

He added the survivors need water, medical support, counselling, food and emergency shelter.

British charities are mobilising teams to help with the rescue effort. Save the Children sent five ambulances to the scene and are planning to distribute blankets and give medical assistance.

Other charities are monitoring the situation and stand ready to provide assistance if necessary.

The US and the Nato-led coalition in Afghanistan have offered to send help

There are also fears that another section of the mountainside could collapse, threatening the homeless and hundreds of rescue workers.

The Afghan military flew rescue teams to the search area on Saturday because the remote mountain region is served by only narrow, poor roads that have been damaged by more than a week of heavy rain.

Nato-led coalition troops are ready to assist, but have not yet been asked for help by the Afghan government.

US President Barack Obama has also offered to send help.

Seasonal rains and spring snow melt have brought destruction to large parts of northern Afghanistan, killing more than 100 people.

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Kiev Forces 'Making Advances' In Eastern City

Ukrainian government forces say they have reclaimed a television tower as they continue efforts to suppress pro-Russian activists in the east of the country.

Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said on his Facebook page that armed forces and the National Guard had launched the raid in Kramatorsk at dawn.

Insurgents set alight buses in the city on Saturday in an effort to ward off attacks.

A rebel blockade burns in the city of Kramatorsk

Russian television claims that 10 people have already died in violence.

Armed personnel carriers were seen driving through Kramatorsk on Saturday but appeared to later return to their airfield base on the edge of the city.

Ukraine's efforts to fight the pro-Russian insurgency has so far concentrated on the nearby stronghold of Slavyansk, where they launched an offensive on Friday and reportedly seized a number of checkpoints.

Separatists in Luhansk have been bolstering barricades, fearing an attack

The rebels have seized government buildings in around a dozen cities as they push for autonomy from Ukraine, with some ethnic Russians fearing oppression by the authorities in Kiev and calling on Moscow to intervene.

Ukraine, which was plunged into crisis following the ousting of President Yanukovych in February, says it is fighting "terrorists" who are being encouraged and helped by the Russian regime.

A deadly fire in the southern city of Odessa on Friday pushed tensions to a new high.

A wrecked tanker blocks the road in Kramatorsk

At least 31 pro-Russian activists died when a trade union building was petrol-bombed during fighting with groups loyal to Kiev.

Witnesses say some people were overcome by smoke, while others were killed jumping from windows in desperate attempts to escape. Police have been accused of standing by and doing little to prevent the tragedy.

A total of 42 people died in the violence, according to the Interior Ministry.

Flowers at the scene of the deadly fire in Odessa

Russia said it was "outraged" and denounced the "criminal irresponsibility" of the pro-Western authorities in Kiev.

Sky News Correspondent Katie Stallard, in Odessa, said people are still bringing flowers to lay outside the building during a second day of official mourning.

"There are real fears about where this goes from here," says Stallard.

"There is already talk of pro-Russian separatists publishing names and contact details of who they say are pro-Ukrainian protesters, who they accuse of being involved in the violence."

Some people died when they jumped from the building

Separatists are also gearing up for a government attack in Luhansk, close to the Russian border.

Pro-Russians have been pictured fortifying barricades and have imposed a curfew on the city's population of 400,000.

Ukrainian forces were also killed on Friday when two helicopters were shot down in Slavyansk during the government's operation to take over the checkpoints.

Kiev claims the aircraft were downed by sophisticated rocket launchers, contradicting Russia's repeated claim that it is not secretly helping the separatists.

Russia currently has tens of thousands of troops near Ukraine's border, and Kiev says its neighbouring country is preparing to invade under the pretext of protecting ethnic Russians in the east.

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