Middle East Peace Talks To Resume, Says Kerry

US Secretary of State John Kerry has announced that an agreement has been reached between the Israelis and Palestinians for the basis to resume Middle East peace talks.

It follows a stalemate of almost three years.

"I'm pleased to announce that we've reached an agreement that establishes a basis for resuming final status negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis," Mr Kerry told reporters in Amman, Jordan.

"This is a significant and welcome step forward. The agreement is still in the process of being finalised so we are absolutely not going to talk about any of the elements now."

John Kerry meets Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank

Secretary of State Kerry also said that Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat and his Israeli counterpart Tzipi Livni would meet him in Washington "to begin initial talks within the next week or so".

The announcement came at the end of four days of intense diplomacy by Mr Kerry as he consulted Israeli and Palestinian leaders from his base in the Jordanian capital.

Talks between the Israelis and Palestinians have been frozen for three years, after Israel refused to agree to a new suspension of settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank.

In his brief comments to the press, Mr Kerry praised the courage of Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Mr Kerry is hoping to get Israel-Palestine peace talks back on track

He said: "No one believes the long-standing differences between the parties will be resolved overnight or just wiped away. We know that the challenges require some very tough choices in the days ahead.

"Today, however, I am hopeful. I am hopeful because of the courageous leadership by President Abbas and Prime Minister Netanyahu. Both of them have chosen to make difficult choices here and both of them were instrumental."

President Abbas' office said there had been "progress" towards resuming peace talks with Israel in the meeting with Mr Kerry.

But a presidency spokesman stressed there were still "specific details that need to be resolved," without saying what these were.

An Israeli official said if the peace negotiations with Palestinians did resume, they would take months.

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Costa Concordia: Five Guilty Of Manslaughter

Five people have been found guilty of manslaughter over the Costa Concordia cruise ship disaster which left 32 people dead.

The court in Grosseto in Italy handed down the highest sentence to the crisis co-ordinator for the Italian cruise company Costa Crociere, Roberto Ferranini, who could serve two years and 10 months.

The ship's hotel director was sentenced to two years and six months while two bridge officers and a helmsman got sentences ranging from one year and eight months to one year and 11 months.

None are likely to go to jail though as the sentences of less than two years are suspended, and the longer sentences may be appealed or replaced with community service, judicial sources said.

On Thursday, Francesco Schettino - the captain of the Costa Concordia and the main defendant - asked the judge at his manslaughter trial to order tests on the cruise liner's wreckage to determine why electrical and other systems failed after the vessel struck a reef off the Italian island of Giglio.

Schettino talks to his lawyers in Grosseto

The outcome of his request will not be known until at least September.

His trial was adjourned until September 23 for a summer's break.

Schettino is also charged with causing the shipwreck in January 2012 and abandoning ship before all aboard had been evacuated.

His defence claims that no one died in the collision itself, but that the failure of a backup generator and supposedly water-tight compartments that were flooded created problems during the evacuation, when the deaths occurred.

If convicted, Schettino could receive up to 20 years in prison.

The cruise company Costa Crociere was given an administration fine of one million euros (£860,000) earlier this year, under a law in which companies whose employees commit crimes can be sanctioned. It has put the blame for the collision on Schettino.

Salvage experts are still attempting to work out how to right the ship, which remains stuck on a reef off Giglio, and float it away to the mainland for demolition.

The boat has become a macabre tourist attraction in the area.

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Beijing Airport Blast: Smoke In Arrivals Hall

Chinese media report that there has been an explosion in an arrivals hall at Beijing airport.

Pictures posted on the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, Weibo, show smoke in Terminal 3 after the blast at around 6.30pm local time.

There are reports that the explosion may have been caused by someone in a wheelchair.

Police appear to tend to a casualty. Pic: @mild_luna

Eyewitnesses have claimed that a man was sitting in the arrivals hall, shouting before the explosion took place.

One person is believed to have been injured.

The Sina Weibo microblog of state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) said a man detonated a package of black gunpowder used to make firecrackers just outside the international arrivals exit.

More follows ...

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Dreamliner Turns Back After Fuel Pump Warning

A Boeing 787 Dreamliner has been forced to return to an airport in the United States because of a possible fuel pump problem.

The Japan Airlines flight from Boston to Tokyo turned back as a "standard precautionary measure" around five hours after taking off, according to a company spokeswoman.

Pilots landed the plane safely after a maintenance warning indicated a possible fault.

Japan Airlines only resumed its 787 operations in June, five months after a battery caught fire on board one of the planes in its fleet.

At the time, company president Yoshiharu Ueki said he would "ensure safety, security and reliability in operations of every aircraft in the group's fleet".

The Dreamliner has been beset by glitches since its first commercial flight in October 2011.

The aircraft was grounded worldwide in January after batteries overheated on two Japanese-operated jets.

Damage caused to an Ethiopian Airlines 787 following a fire at Heathrow

It resumed commercial service in May after Boeing installed a redesigned battery system.

However in June, a 787 operated by United Airlines was forced to make an emergency landing because of an issue with its braking system.

Days later, another of the company's fleet landed safely when pilots became aware of a potential oil filter problem.

Meanwhile, a fire on an Ethiopian Airlines 787 that caused major disruption at Heathrow Airport earlier this month is believed to have started in the battery of an emergency locator transmitter.

A report from the UK's Air Accident Investigation Branch said that if a similar fault occurred mid-flight, "it could pose a significant safety concern and raise challenges for the cabin crew in tackling the resulting fire".

British Airways and TUI Travel have both taken delivery of Dreamliners this year, while Virgin Atlantic is awaiting the arrival of 16 of the planes.

More than 900 787s have been ordered worldwide since 2004.

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Alexei Navalny: Russia Blogger Freed For Appeal

Russian anti-corruption blogger and Putin opponent Alexei Navalny has been freed from custody after just 24 hours behind bars.

The release came after a surprise request by prosecutors, who said that because Navalny is a candidate in this autumn's Moscow mayoral race keeping him in custody would deny him his right to seek election.

He will remain free until any appeals against his conviction for embezzlement are completed.

After the decision, Navalny emerged from the caged-off defendants' section of the courtroom and thanked supporters who had held protest rallies on Thursday after his conviction.

Navalny talks to the media following his release

"What happened now is a completely unique phenomenon in the system of Russian justice," he said.

Navalny, a popular blogger and corruption-fighting lawyer, rose to prominence among the opposition during a series of massive protests in Moscow against President Vladimir Putin's re-election to a third presidential term in March 2012.

His conviction prompted criticism from the United States and the European Union.

Navalny, 37, has blogged about his investigations into corruption at state-owned companies where he owned shares.

Navalny wants to challenge Mr Putin for the presidency

He and his team of lawyers and activists have sifted through property registers abroad to identify top officials and politicians who own undeclared foreign assets and hold foreign citizenship.

On Thursday, 40 people were arrested during protests against his five-year sentence.

Navalny has said he wants to challenge Mr Putin for the presidency in the next election, and believes the prosecution was politically motivated.

He will not be allowed to travel outside Moscow while the appeals process is under way.

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Kerry Heads To West Bank In Peace Talks Push

US Secretary of State John Kerry is flying to the West Bank in an attempt to salvage his Middle East bid.

He will meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as part of an attempt to get peace talks back on track.

A Palestinian official announced the surprise move after Mr Kerry met twice with Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erakat on Friday morning in his Amman hotel.

A senior US State Department official confirmed the report saying: "Secretary Kerry will travel to Ramallah this afternoon to meet with President Abbas."

The whirlwind diplomacy came after the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah rejected Mr Kerry's proposals for a framework to guide the relaunch of peace talks with the Israelis, which have stalled for nearly three years.

Talks have stuttered and started for decades in the elusive bid to reach a final peace deal between the Arab world and Israel.

But they collapsed completely in September 2010 when Israel refused to keep up a freeze on settlement building in Palestinian territories.

A State Department official said in a statement issued just after midnight that serious Palestinian debate over resuming talks was "appropriate and encouraging".

Mr Kerry arrived in the Jordanian capital on Tuesday and has met twice already with Abbas. He also won endorsement from the Arab League for his proposals to resume talks.

More follows...

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Alexei Navalny Jailed For Embezzlement

A Russian judge has sentenced protest leader Alexei Navalny to five years in a penal colony for embezzlement.

Navalny, one of President Vladimir Putin's biggest critics, was led away from court in the industrial city of Kirov following the sentencing.

The 37-year-old has said the case is politically motivated because of his opposition towards Mr Putin.

In a final tweet after he was led from the court, he wrote: "Don't miss me and don't do nothing."

Prosecutors had asked the court to jail the anti-corruption blogger for six years.

Judge Sergei Blinov found Navalny guilty of colluding to steal 16 million rubles (£326,000) in a timber deal while acting as an unpaid adviser to the local government in 2009. 

He said: "Navalny... committed a grave crime.

"The court has established that Navalny organised the criminal act and led the execution of this large-scale embezzlement."

Navalny had said he wants to challenge Mr Putin for the presidency in the next election. He had been campaigning against corruption by state officials and companies since 2007.

He emerged as a powerful new political force in mass protests against Mr Putin that broke out in December 2011.

It was Navalny who coined the phrase "the party of crooks and thieves" to describe the ruling United Russia party. The phrase became a rallying cry for the opposition to Mr Putin.

Navalny with his mayor candidate registration card

Katie Stallard, Sky's Moscow Correspondent, said: "The real question is what happens from now on. This is a gamble from the Kremlin's point of view.

"On the one hand they are taking this man out of the public spotlight, they are removing him from the position from which he could campaign.

"That will either silence him and kill off the nascent opposition or it will give them a martyr, it will give them a figure to rally behind."

Navalny claimed the embezzlement case had been personally ordered by Mr Putin in order to silence him.

Ahead of the verdict, Navalny had a rare victory after he was accepted as a candidate in a Moscow mayoral election.

The conviction does not immediately nullify his candidacy, which will only happen once the appeals process is over.

The case is seen as the biggest trial in Russia since the jailing of oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky in 2005 on tax evasion and fraud charges after he fell out with Mr Putin.

Lilia Shevtsova, a political analyst and author from the Carnegie Centre in Moscow said:  "Khodorkovsky was a kind of warning to the business elite - 'don't meddle in politics'. 

"Navalny was a warning to political elite, to the younger generation - 'don't even dare to fight with us'."

Ms Shevtsova said Navalny is a symbol of a new regime.

"The new regime introduces the new rules of the game for Russia, for the the country and for the state, which are based on the rule of total, absolute loyalty. No step to the right, no step to the left. Loyalty means you don't dare," she said.

"You don't dare to have ambitions, you don't dare to take part in the struggle for power."

Moscow's stock exchange, Micex, dipped by more than 1% after the sentencing.

Alfa Bank economist Natalia Orlova said: "Very few people believe that he is truly guilty. Even if he had some financial dealings, it's difficult to imagine that he must spend five years in prison.

"This is not a good sign."

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India School Deaths Caused By Insecticide

Post-mortems on children who died after eating a school lunch in India indicate insecticide was present - either in the food or cooking oil.

As protests continue over the tragedy and the subsequent poor hospital treatment, the Bihar state education minister PK Sahi pointed to the rice served with the meal as the likely point of contamination.

He said it was believed the rice had not been washed before it was served to the children.

Local villagers, however, have said the problem appeared to be with a side dish of soya and potatoes, not rice.

Children who did not eat the side dish were fine, even though they had eaten the rice and lentils, several villagers said on Wednesday.

Some 25 children are still being treated in hospital

Patna Medical College hospital superintendent Amarkant Jha Amar said a detailed chemical analysis of the ingredients was still pending.

The free midday meal was served to the children on Tuesday in Gandamal village in Masrakh, 50 miles north of Patna, the Bihar state capital.

The children, aged from five to 12, fell ill soon after eating the meal. Some 22 died and dozens were taken to hospital.

A total of 25 children and the school cook are still being treated but are unlikely to suffer from any serious after effects from the tainted food, Mr Amar said.

"There will be no remnant effects on them. The effects of poisoning will be washed after a certain period of time from the tissues," Mr Amar said.

He said on Thursday that the post-mortem reports on the children who died confirmed that insecticide was either in the food or cooking oil. He said authorities were waiting for lab results for more details on the chemicals.

Thousands of school children are now refusing the free meals.

Some were seen dumping their meals in bins or refusing to touch them, despite pleas from school officials that the tragedy would not occur again.

Sky producer Neville Lazarus, in New Delhi, said that "stringent laws" are likely to be introduced following the tragedy.

He added that some of the anger stems from the poor treatment the children received, with some being forced to lie down on the floor of the hospital due to a lack of beds.

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Nelson Mandela: 95th Birthday Marked Worldwide

Mandela's Love Affair With Winnie

Updated: 8:15am UK, Thursday 18 July 2013

By Claude Colart, Mandela family friend, in South Africa

"My love for her remains undiminished." These were the words Nelson Mandela used on April 13, 1992, when he announced to the world his separation from Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.

A few years later the couple legally divorced.

But it wasn't the end of a long-lasting love story. When he saw her at a bus stop in 1957, it was love at first sight. Nelson Mandela (aka Madiba, as per his clan name) has always admitted that.

And Winnie Madikizela-Mandela has remained a presence in his life, even after his marriage to Graca Machel in 1998 - on his 80th birthday. In private, Mrs Machel sometimes refers to herself and Winnie as "Madiba's two wifes".

To many in the outside world Winnie remains labelled as the anti-apartheid fighter, who, in 1986, said: "With our boxes of matches and our necklaces we shall liberate this country." Necklacing was a brutal practice of "punishing" suspected traitors and apartheid collaborators by burning them alive using tyres and petrol.

But even more, Winnie's image remains tarnished when she was found guilty of kidnap and assault of 14-year-old Stompie Moeketsi, whom she and her supporters suspected of being an apartheid informer.

Stompie was found dead in a field in Soweto. Winnie's six-year jail sentence was reduced to a fine on appeal.

In 2003 Winnie was found guilty of fraud related to a funeral fund. Her five-year sentence was changed to a suspended one of three years and six months.

But these dark pages in Winnie's life are probably, sadly, hiding a truly deep story of love, affection and commitment. And thus the more accurate, full story of Nomzano Winnie Madikizela is much lesser known. A love story amid the darkest days of South Africa's apartheid past and into Nelson Mandela's long walk to freedom and pension.

Winnie was born on September 26, 1936, in Pondoland, in South Africa's Eastern Cape. A social worker by training, she married Nelson in 1958, three months after Nelson divorced his first wife Evelyn Mase. Nelson had to ask the apartheid government for a six-day reprieve of his banning order to attend his own wedding.

The social worker was thrown into the heart of the anti-apartheid struggle.

The love story grew even stronger as Nelson was sentenced to life and sent to Robben Island. His prison letters are the proof of how he missed his wife and family - Winnie and Nelson had two daughters.

Winnie took over the megaphone of activism and the apartheid government punished her severely for it.

She was detained in solitary confinement between May 12, 1969, and September 14, 1970. And tortured, too. In one instance, although suffering from a heart condition, she was interrogated by the apartheid security police continuously and without a break for five days and five nights.

Winnie faced banning orders, detentions, about a dozen political trials, house arrest, and was banished to a rural town where she did not speak the same language as the local population. Nelson himself, and family friend and co-Robben Island prisoner Ahmed Kathrada said on many occasions how the hardship from prison can never be compared with the brutal suffering of those on the outside. And it hurt Nelson very deeply, as expressed in his prison letters, that he wasn't there to help, protect, assist Winnie. And hold her, and comfort her. That might well be his deepest regret. How his political activism pushed his family life to the brink of the impossible.

Winnie, still respected in her Soweto community (and beyond) as the Mother of the Nation, is also a solid mother of a big family. A shoulder to cry on for daughters and grandkids. A source of guidance. A pillar of strength.

She had to be treated for shock when her grandchild Zenani (Jr) was killed in a car accident in 2010. She was present all the time when her granddaughter Zoleka went for weekly chemotherapy in 2013. She accompanied her eldest daughter Zenani to the Johannesburg international airport when she left earlier this year to become South Africa's ambassador to Argentina. And she was at that same airport last week collecting her grandson returning from the US.

That's her. The mother, grandmother, great-grandmother.

In August 2010, the family gathered at Winnie's Soweto house to remember little Zenani, who died a month earlier. The end of a traditional mourning period. It was an intimate family lunch gathering... and Nelson was there, too. It was an amazing moment that had all the signs of any family anywhere in the world coming together to think of loss but also salute the family bond.

Winnie has always attended family events and especially Madiba's birthday on July 18. Be it in his Qunu homestead, be it in his Houghton residence. Graca Machel and Winnie have a good relationship and accept each other's position in Nelson's life and in his heart.

When Nelson's health started to deteriorate in 2011 and he ended up being admitted to hospital, Winnie was there at his bedside, every day. She felt it her duty to their kids, and certainly to the man she loved and still loves so much.

Since their eyes met at that bus stop in 1957, their souls have been interconnected … until eternity.

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Arabian Al Qaeda Number Two Killed By Drone

A Saudi who was freed from Guantanamo Bay only to become second-in-command of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has been killed.

Said al Shehri died in a US-led drone strike in Yemen, senior AQAP official Ibrahim al Rubaish said in a video statement posted online.

"I present my condolences to all the Mujahideen on the martyrdom of Said al-Shehri who was killed in a US drone attack," said Rubaish.

He did not say when the strike took place.

Shehri was taken to the Cuban detention facility in 2002 after Pakistan handed him to US authorities.

He was returned to Saudi Arabia in late 2007 and later fled to Yemen to join the al Qaeda branch there.

Shehri's death has been announced several times by the Yemeni authorities, most recently on January 24.

Last October, Shehri himself denied a September announcement by Yemen's defence ministry that he had been killed in an army raid, in an audio message posted on extremist internet forums.

An official Yemeni statement in January called him "one of the (al Qaeda) leaders who played a major role in the planning of local, regional and international terrorist acts".

It said he was "the military commander of terrorist elements" during deadly clashes with the army in the southern Abyan province, which Islamist rebels largely controlled for a year before Yemeni forces recaptured it in June 2012.

In April, AQAP released an audio message purported to be a newly-delivered address by him.

AQAP, which has planned attacks on international targets including airliners, has been described by Washington as perhaps al Qaeda's most dangerous and innovative affiliate.

AQAP took advantage of the weakness of Yemen's central government during an uprising in 2011 against now-ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh to seize large swathes of territory across the south.

But after a month-long offensive launched in May last year by Yemeni troops, most militants fled to the more lawless desert regions of the east.

AQAP is led by Nasser al Wuhayshi, who in July 2011 reaffirmed the group's allegiance to Ayman al Zawahiri, head of the worldwide al Qaeda network since the killing in May 2011 of its founder, Osama bin Laden.

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