North Korea Reactor 'Could Produce Plutonium'

New satellite images of North Korea suggest it is nearing completion of a reactor designed for generating electricity - but which will have the capability to produce plutonium.

US academics who visited the site at the Yongbyon nuclear complex in 2010 concluded the reactor was being built for electricity.

Kim Jong-Un shut down a reactor in 2007 during aid negotiations

But analysts say that once complete the reactor will have a residual capability to produce weapons-grade plutonium.

The pictures have been published on 38 North - the website of the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins' School of Advanced International Studies.

The images - the most recent taken last month - show what appear to be external finishing touches made to the complex.

North Korea revealed an industrial-scale uranium enrichment facility in 2010 designed to provide fuel for the light-water reactor.

This development caused international alarm because of the potential for the centrifuges to be reconfigured to produce highly-enriched uranium - another means of creating fissile material for weapons.

If North Korea has produced enough low-enriched uranium to run the new reactor, it could commence the lengthy process of starting it up in the coming weeks, and be fully operational during the first half of 2014.

Containing the nuclear fuel and keeping the reactor cool pose major challenges - as would unforeseen events like natural disasters that caused a meltdown in Japan's Fukushima reactor in 2011, the analysis says.

"Pyongyang is probably planning to build additional power reactors to end its electricity shortage and help solve its economic problems," said Joel Wit, a former State Department official and editor of 38 North.

The latest image taken in March 2013 shows what could a water channel

"It may have some residual ability to produce plutonium for nuclear weapons, but the biggest concern about these reactors is whether they are safe or not," he added.

North Korea announced in April that it was restarting an older reactor at Yongbyon from which it is estimated to have derived enough plutonium for six bombs.

The reactor was closed in 2007 during aid-for-disarmament negotiations.

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Somali President Says Terrorists Are Defeated

By Alex Crawford, Special Correspondent, in Mogadishu

Al Shabaab terrorists operating in Somalia have been "defeated as a fighting force" after decades of creating havoc, according to the country's president.

But President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has warned that the extremists are an international network with links to al Qaeda and they still have the ability to mount attacks both inside Somalia and abroad.

The president is travelling to England next week to jointly chair an international conference with the British Prime Minister on Somalia's future.

He will be trying to convince backers like Britain and America that, despite more than two decades of financial support, their help is not only still needed but as crucial as ever.

"Somalia is so close to coming out of the quagmire," he told Sky News in his only television interview ahead of the conference.

"I say, please bear with us and stretch your patience just a little bit and you will get the kind of Somalia you have been dreaming of for 22 years."

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has asked for patience

The president is the first elected leader in more than two decades and is heading up the first permanent government in that time.

He has only been in his job for eight months but with United Nations support there finally seems to be some progress in a country known as being the world's most fragile state.

International money along with the 18,000 African Union peacekeepers in the country has meant tentative stability in a nation more used to war.

The extremists have mostly been driven out of the capital Mogadishu and the joint Somali and African Union troops continue to take territory once held by the Islamists.

Many Somalis who once fled to safety in exile are now returning from their bolt holes around the world to set up businesses and live once again in their homeland.

There are big efforts to train the newly bolstered national army and police force, and the first permanent government is widely seen as legitimate and progressive.

But the terrorists' capacity to wreak havoc was demonstrated just a few weeks ago when al Shabaab extremists stormed the capital's court buildings, firing guns and setting off explosions.

The attack triggered a gunfight between the terrorists and the Somali security forces and at least 20 people were killed.

And over the past few days the capital has been virtually locked down due to fears of another attack.

But there is still a definite feeling of confidence among the Somali forces and the African Union peacekeepers that progress is being made bit by bit.

A new British embassy has been opened in the terror-ravaged country

Colonel Kassim Roble is one of the returning diaspora, lured back to his motherland after becoming convinced Somalia has turned the corner.

He had spent the previous eight years in Leicester before deciding to return home last year.

"Security is getting better every day, every month, every hour," he told Sky from the newly renovated Ministry of Defence in the capital. "We are in charge of 85% to 90% of the city (of Mogadishu)."

He put much of the change down to a fresh focus by the country's new president who has insisted funds be used to improve conditions for the troops with better salaries, better food and better training.

"The morale is now very good," said the colonel.

His words were echoed by peacekeepers from the African Union who are involved in helping secure areas but also mentoring and training the Somali security forces.

"Peace is coming back to Somalia," one Nigerian commander said. "The people are out on the streets, doing business again. The danger is not so much now. There's is a lot of difference even since a few months ago."

But the insecurity is never far away and there are concerns that without international community help, the fragile stability will shatter and be reversed.

"Al Shabaab is an international operation. They are operating inside Somalia but they are part of an international terror network," the president told Sky News.

"Somalia is just a small country, ill-equipped and ill-trained. Shabaab is defeated as a fighting force. Soon there will be no front line or no place they are in control of.

"But when they are defeated militarily, the way they work is they go into the society - so the suicide bombers and roadside bombings and grenade-throwing will go on for some time.

"But they will be defeated. They are about to be defeated and they are on the run."

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Man Jailed For Selling Fake Bomb Detectors

A businessman who made £50m selling fake bomb detectors that allegedly caused the deaths of innocent Iraqis has been jailed for 10 years.

James McCormick was sentenced at the Old Bailey, after he was found guilty of three counts of fraud last month.

Judge Richard Hone said the 57-year-old, of Langport, Somerset, was responsible for a "callous confidence trick".

He added: "Your fraudulent conduct in selling so many useless devices for simply enormous profit promoted a false sense of security and in all probability materially contributed to causing death and injury to innocent individuals."

The kits also came with fake sensor cards to detect drugs and people

During his trial, the court heard the devices, which were sold for up to £27,000 each, had no scientific basis and were based on novelty golf-ball finders.

They were marketed to the military, police forces and government departments around the world using glossy brochures, and were said to be capable of finding bombs hidden underground or under water.

McCormick boasted: "It's a phenomenon. It's been known for a number of years."

McCormick showed salesmen how to use the fake devices

However, Richard Whittam QC, prosecuting, said: "The devices did not work and he knew they did not work."

Mr Whittam told the judge that former senior British officers in Iraq believed the detectors had cost lives - although McCormick's defence said there is no evidence to support such a claim.

In a statement read in court, Brigadier Simon Marriner said: "The inescapable conclusion is that devices have been detonated after passing through checkpoints. Iraqi civilians have died as a result."

African soldiers were among those who trialled the useless detectors

As well as Iraq, McCormick sold detectors to police in Kenya, the prison service in Hong Kong and the army in Egypt.

He said one of them had been used to check a hotel in Romania before the visit of an American president in the 1990s.

Det Supt Nigel Rock, of Avon and Somerset Police, said the profits made by McCormick "fed his greedy and extravagant lifestyle".

"He has shown no shame or remorse and carried on with a complete disregard for the consequences of his con trick," he added.

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Three British Soldiers Killed In Afghanistan

Three British soldiers have been killed in a roadside bomb attack in Helmand Province in Afghanistan.

The soldiers from The Royal Highland Fusiliers, 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, were killed when their vehicle struck an improvised explosive device (IED) whilst on a routine patrol, the Ministry of Defence said.

The attack took place on Tuesday in the Nahr-e Saraj district. The three were evacuated by air to the military hospital at Camp Bastion but could not be saved, the MoD said.

Their families have been informed.

Sky's Defence Correspondent Alistair Bunkall says another six have been injured.

Prime Minister David Cameron said the country has paid a "very high price" for the work it is doing in Afghanistan.

The soldiers were aboard a heavily-armoured Mastiff vehicle

"It is important work because it's vital that country doesn't again become a haven for terrorists - terrorists that can threaten us here in the UK," Mr Cameron added.

"But today our thoughts should be with the families and friends of those that have suffered."

Labour leader Ed Miliband called the deaths "tragic news".

The deaths bring to 401 the overall number of British troops killed in Afghanistan in the past 12 years, with total losses at 444.

Six have now died in 2013.

A ministry spokesman said the attack "underlines the threats faced by our personnel as they continue to hand over security operations to their Afghan counterparts ahead of UK combat operations concluding by the end of next year".

"Security in Helmand, where most UK forces are based, is steadily improving with Afghan forces already responsible for the bulk of the province - but the environment in which our troops operate remains risky and dangerous, including the threat of improvised explosive devices and insurgent attack.

"We will continue to do all we can to minimise these risks but they can never be removed entirely."

The attack came on the third day of what the Taliban has called its spring offensive. In past years, spring has marked a significant upsurge in fighting between the Taliban and Nato forces with their local allies.

This fighting season is a key test, as the international coalition is scheduled to hand over security responsibilities to Afghan forces next year.

Sky News' Foreign Affairs Editor Tim Marshall said: "The Taliban have announced their annual spring offensive in a brutal manner.

"By carrying out this attack they are not only saying that spring has come, they are also underlining that even though everyone knows the British are leaving, they will still be coming after them all the way to the end."

The Royal Highland Fusiliers, 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland is an infantry battalion.

They deployed to Afghanistan in March from their base in Penicuik, Midlothian, near Edinburgh.

The last time so many UK soldiers were killed in one attack was in March 2012, when six died as their Warrior armoured vehicle was blown up by a massive improvised explosive device near the town of Lashkar Gah.

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Irish Backpacker Murder In Oz: Guilty Plea

A martial arts enthusiast has pleaded guilty in court to killing an Irish backpacker in Melbourne last August.

Luke James Wentholt , 31, appeared in the Supreme Court via video link from prison and pleaded guilty to the murder of David Greene.

He also pleaded guilty to one count of recklessly causing serious injury to another Irish backpacker, David Byas.

Wentholt's then girlfriend, Shayla Pullen, said the group had been having drinks at a hostel in St Kilda, a suburb of Melbourne, on August 26, when an argument broke out.

"He wouldn't stop stomping" on the two, she told Melbourne Magistrates' Court.

Another witness, Christine Babuczki, who also lived in the house, said Wentholt acted like a "crazy monster".

Mr Greene, 30, died in hospital on September 7, almost two weeks after the attack.

Mr Byas, 28, suffered serious injuries and was in a coma for four days before being transferred to a rehab facility.

Ms Pullen said Wentholt was drunk. She believed he was angry because Mr Greene had joked about accidentally seeing her partially naked earlier that week.

"He said, 'Dave, I want to talk to you outside,' in a stern voice," Ms Pullen told the court.

Then she heard "smashing noises" and ran up to Wentholt to try and stop him.

"They were both bleeding, (blood) was just everywhere," Ms Pullen said.

Wentholt trained in jujitsu up to five times a week, she said.

Outside court, Australian Irish Welfare Bureau president Marion O'Hagan said Mr Greene's family was suffering.

"It's been horrific. It's been devastating," she said.

Wentholt is due to appear in court again on July 30.

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Kercher Family 'Not Interested' In Knox Book

Meredith Kercher's family has no interest in reading Amanda Knox's book, the sister of the murdered British student has said.

Stephanie Kercher's comments came after Miss Knox appeared in her first television interview since being freed from an Italian prison to promote her memoir.

She said she would like to visit Miss Kercher's grave, but only with the permission of the Kercher family.

Stephanie Kercher said in a statement: ''We are not interested in this book, as well as all the others regarding the case and we will not be reading it.

''The Italian legal system still has an appeal procedure underway and as a result a new trial will be heard. The sentence can still be overturned."

Miss Knox insists she was at Mr Sollecito's home on the night in question

She did not address the wish expressed by Miss Knox, but said: "I have no doubts that even on the other side there is a story of pain and loss and of enormous lack of trust, but on the other side there is also one of hope and an opportunity of life.

"Something that Meredith will never have and something that we will never share with her. Meredith is the victim in this tragic case."

Italian prosecutors say Miss Knox and her then-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, killed Miss Kercher, 21, in a drug-fuelled sex game along with another man in 2007.

Miss Knox's alibi rests on her claim that she was at Mr Sollecito's house on the night of the murder, and not at the Perugia flat she shared with Miss Kercher.

But during a police interrogation she said she was at home with Miss Kercher.

Miss Knox says she wants to visit the grave of Miss Kercher

When questioned by ABC News' Diane Sawyer, she insisted the partial confession was the result of her "breaking down".

"I didn't confess. I was interrogated," Miss Knox told ABC News. "(The police) acted like my answers were wrong, they told me I was wrong, that I didn't remember correctly, that I had to remember correctly, and that if I didn't I would never see her family.

"I can only describe it as breaking down, I didn't know what I remembered and what I didn't remember anymore. I was incredibly vulnerable at that time."

As she expressed her desire to visit Miss Kercher's grave, she said: "Eventually I can have their permission to pay my respects at her grave and I would also like them to know that she talked about them to me."

In the memoir, called Waiting To Be Heard, she writes about how she also considered suicide while in prison.

Miss Knox - who is facing a retrial over the killing - insists in the interview that she did not leave Mr Sollecito's home.

"We stayed in, had dinner, we watched a movie, we smoked, we had sex, we were together.

"We just hung out together, we talked, we talked about his mum, we made silly faces at each other.

"We stayed in the whole night."

The 25-year-old said she returned to the home she shared with Miss Kercher the next morning, but despite the front door being wide-open and spotting blood on the sink she took a shower.

"At the sink when I was taking out my earrings I noticed there were speckles of blood. But speckles, a few drops."

She said that when she got out of the shower she noticed a bloodied bath mat, adding: "I thought it was strange."

She returned to Mr Sollecito's home, and says she told him of her concerns after breakfast. He called police, who discovered Miss Kercher's body.

"It never occurred to me that I would ever be considered a suspect. Ever."

Miss Knox denied claims there had been any tension with Miss Kercher in the run-up to her death.

"It bothers me when people suggest that she wasn't my friend," she said. "I was stunned by her death, she was my friend."

During her original trial, much was made of Miss Knox's apparent lack of grief following Miss Kercher's death.

Miss Knox admitted she "could have been more sensitive" but said people deal with grief in different ways.

Her murder conviction was overturned in October 2011, but in March an Italian court ordered a retrial for both her and Mr Sollecito, 29.

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NYC Hit-And-Run Suspect: 'Accidents Happen'

A driver charged over the hit-and-run deaths of a pregnant woman and her husband in New York City has played down his part in the fatal smash, telling a local TV reporter that "accidents happen".

Julio Acevedo told WABC in an exclusive interview recorded in prison that he was deeply sorry.

But he insisted he was not speeding when his car crashed into a taxi carrying ultra-orthodox Jewish couple Nachman and Raizy Glauber in the Williamsburg district of Brooklyn on March 3.

"I can't bring 'em back; it was an accident," he said. "I apologise deeply."

The 44-year-old admitted he shared some guilt but attempted to shift some of the blame to the cab driver.

The remains of the cab the couple was travelling in

"Sure I played a part. I couldn't stop. Accidents happen," he went on.

"Let's ask the cab driver why did he run the stop sign. He was more in a rush than I was. He was rushing the woman to the hospital."

The couple's premature baby was delivered afterwards but died a day later.

Acevedo fled the scene but was arrested four days later in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

He told the New York Daily News he was attempting to get away from a gunman who was trying to shoot at him.

He had previously served about 10 years in prison in the 1990s for manslaughter after being convicted of shooting the infamous Brooklyn gang member Kelvin Martin - known as the original "50 Cent".

Acevedo has pleaded not guilty to three counts of vehicular manslaughter.

He is facing life in prison.

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Syrian Prime Minister Survives Bomb Attack

Syria's prime minister Wael Nader al Halqi has reportedly survived an assassination attempt after a bomb blast targeted his convoy in Damascus.

According to state-run television, the explosion happened near a school in the capital's western neighbourhood of Mazzeh.

It said: "The terrorist explosion in al Mazzeh was an attempt to target the convoy of the prime minister.

"Doctor Wael al Halqi is well and not hurt at all."

Wael Nader al Halqi is said to have been unhurt in the explosion

Mazzeh is where many government and military institutions are situated and where senior Syrian officials live.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the blast killed one of the prime minister's bodyguards. His driver and a second bodyguard were also seriously injured.

A government official said an improvised explosive device had been placed under a car parked in the area and was detonated as the convoy drove past. No one has claimed responsibility.

Mr al Halqi was appointed prime minister last year after his predecessor Riad Hijab defected to Jordan.

Damascus has been hit by a string of bomb blasts in recent months. Hundreds of people have been killed or wounded.

The Syrian government blames Muslim extremists trying to overthrow President Bashar al Assad for the attacks.

In July last year, an explosion at the Syrian national security building in the capital during a meeting of Cabinet ministers killed the defence minister and his deputy - Mr Assad's brother-in-law.

In December, a car bomb targeted the Interior Ministry in Damascus, killing several people.

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Prague Explosion Leaves Dozens Injured

A powerful explosion in the centre of Prague has injured up to 40 people and left several others buried under rubble, police have said.

The blast in a building on Divadelni Street, close to the National Theatre, was heard as far away as Prague Castle, over a mile away across the Vltava river.

It blew out the windows on many of the surrounding buildings which were evacuated.

A police spokesman said the explosion was probably caused by natural gas and that there had been around 15 people in the building, which included an office of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and an art gallery.

Pensioner Venceslava Sehnotkova, who lives in a nearby house, told Reuters: "I was sitting quietly in my flat, making coffee. Then there was an incredible explosion. I thought the building would collapse. I looked out the window, and there was only dust everywhere." 

"We have treated up to 20 people, and we are trying to find out if there are people buried in the rubble," Prague emergency service spokeswoman Jirina Ernestova told AFP.

The explosion was near the National Theatre in the city

She said there were fears three people may be buried in the rubble of the damaged building which police said was a former block of flats now used as office space.

Ms Ernestova said ambulances were staying at the scene "in case someone was pulled out of the rubble".    

Zdenek Schwarz, head of the rescue service in Prague, said up to 40 people have been injured but mainly suffered bruises and cuts from glass.

"I was in the bathroom, no windows, the door was closed, honestly, if I had been in my bed I would have been covered in glass," said Z B Haislip, a student from the US.

A fire department spokeswoman said there had been no reports of any deaths.

Prime Minister Petr Necas said in a statement he was "deeply hit by the tragedy of the gas explosion."

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Obama Warns Syria Over Weapons 'Game Changer'

Syria: Evidence Is No Smoking Gun

Updated: 2:39pm UK, Friday 26 April 2013

By Lisa Holland, Foreign Affairs Correspondent

Vital questions remain unanswered over the use of chemical weapons in Syria. Like the scale of casualties. Who fired the weapons? Who gave the orders?

To get that kind of information the Syrian government would need to allow in international inspectors and that isn't going to happen.

If chemical weapons have been deployed by government forces President Bashar al Assad won't cooperate in arranging a noose for his own neck.

If there is to be conclusive proof of the crossing of a "red line" Mr Assad would have to carry out an atrocity akin to the actions of Saddam Hussein against the Kurds in Halabja in 1988, where chemical weapons were used to kill at least 5,000.

It's estimated a further 7,000 were injured or suffered long-term illnesses. The nerve agents tabun, sarin and VX, as well as mustard gas, were believed to have been used at Halabja.

But Mr Assad is far too clever to carry out an attack like Halabja. He knows such an undeniable use of chemical weapons would leave the international community with no choice but to make good on its threats.

It would leave the Russians with no option but to finally and publicly turn their backs on him. For now having the Russians sitting on the diplomatic fence renders the United Nations Security Council impotent. Russia has the power of veto enabling it to block meaningful sanctions and actions against Syria.

The UN says it has a  fact-finding team on stand-by in Cyprus ready to go into Syria within 24 hours. They may well have a long wait.

The UN team has been given permission to investigate claims of chemical weapons use in Syria's second city of Aleppo but they say they will not go in unless they are given permission for a country-wide investigation. That's something the Syrians have refused.

The British Government is keeping up diplomatic pressure to try to get investigators and evidence-gatherers into Syria. But just like all other aspects of diplomacy in Syria right now there's a lot of "keeping up pressure" but little progress.

David Cameron knows only too well the consequences of rushing to conclusions without proof. Anyone remember the fruitless hunt for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq?

Astonishingly, the US Republican Senator John McCain said "it's pretty obvious that red line has been crossed".  Sorry Mr McCain but where is the evidence of a smoking gun?

US President Barack Obama is being much more cautious. With America now out of Iraq and heading towards the finishing line in Afghanistan he doesn't want to rush into another war in another Muslim country.

And keeping Americans safe isn't all about the Middle East. The despot who cried wolf in North Korea - otherwise known as Kim Yong Un - hasn't entirely gone away.

North Korea's new young leader has been threatening to launch a war against America. It seems like a cry for attention rather than a promise.

But just in case Mr Kim means business it wouldn't be ideal to have American troops deployed to north-east Asia and Syria just as quickly as they had got out of Iraq and Afghanistan - which leads us to the conclusion that we are no nearer military intervention in Syria than we were before this latest round of intelligence claims.

So whatever Mr McCain says this is not a game-changing moment. Expect more deaths, more refugees, more atrocities and more heart-rending stories of despair from Syria.

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