Camacho: Family To Make Life Support Decision

The family of boxer Hector "Macho" Camacho are holding discussions about whether he should be taken off life support as he remains in a coma after being shot in the face.

Doctors are conducting tests on the 50-year-old with medical staff warning the prognosis remains bad.

The former boxing champion's family are gathered at his bedside in hospital in the Puerto Rico capital of San Juan.

Doctors at the Centro Medico trauma centre in San Juan said Camacho had irregular and intermittent brain activity.

"We can't declare him brain dead," the centre's director Dr Ernesto Torres said. "We're going to ask the people of Puerto Rico to keep praying.

The former boxing champion at an awards ceremony in February this year

"The changes have been more negative than positive," he said, adding that Camacho does not have enough blood going through his brain.

Doctors initially had said Camacho was in a critical, but stable condition and was expected to survive after the shooting. But his condition worsened overnight and his heart stopped at one point, Dr Torres said.                 

Camacho's mother, who flew in from New York, will lead the discussion about whether he should be removed from life support, said Ismael Leandry, a longtime friend and former manager who was also at the hospital.

Camacho won 79 out of 88 fights

"We just have to wait to see if 'Macho' gets better. It's a hard battle," Mr Leandry said.

A godson, Widniel Adorno, said the family has discussed the possibility of organ donation but no final decision has been made.

Camacho was shot on Tuesday as he and a friend sat in a Ford Mustang parked outside a bar in the city of Bayamon.

His friend Adrian Mojica Morena, 49, died in the attack. A police spokesman later said officers found nine small bags of cocaine in the friend's pocket, and a tenth bag open inside the car.

Police said two assailants fled in an SUV but no arrests have been made and no motive has been revealed.

Camacho is considered one of the more controversial figures in boxing, but is popular among fans and those who work in the sport.

"The Macho Man was a promoter's dream," renowned promoter Don King said. "He excited boxing fans around the world with his inimitable style. He was a nice, amiable guy away from the ring."

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Man Charged Over New York Shopkeeper Slayings

Police in New York have charged a discount clothing dealer they suspect of being involved in the murder of three city shopkeepers of Middle Eastern descent.

New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said 63-year-old Staten Island resident Salvatore Perrone was arrested on Wednesday on murder charges in the Brooklyn shooting deaths.

Police said Perrone had tried to sell clothing to the shopkeepers.

A bag containing a sawn-off rifle believed to have been used in the killings was recovered by officers looking to question a person they called 'John Doe Duffel Bag'.

Officers said balding Perrone appeared on surveillance footage carrying the bag moments after the most recent shooting last Friday.

The other killings happened in July and August. All three shopkeepers were alone in stores that had no video cameras.

"It's reasonable to assume he was going to continue doing this," Commissioner Kelly said in a news conference on Wednesday.

"He went to other locations and asked questions that indicated he may have been planning to come back."

The most recent killing claimed Rahmatollah Vahidipour, a Jewish man from Iran.

He was shot three times in the head and chest at his She She Boutique.

Detectives matched the spent .22 calibre cases to the fatal shootings of two other shopkeepers.

On July 6, Mohamed Gebeli, 65, a Muslim Egyptian immigrant was found shot in the back of his shop, Valentino Fashion Inc.

On August 6, Isaac Kadare, 59, also Egyptian but Jewish, was shot in the head in his store, Amazing 99 Cent Deal.

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Chinese Twitter User Arrested: Wife Missing

By Mark Stone, China Correspondent

Friends of a man arrested in China over an anti-government Twitter posting have told Sky News they have now lost contact with the man's wife.

Zhai Xiaobing, who writes on Twitter under the handle @Stariver, was arrested by Beijing police in the suburb of Miyun on November 7 and held at a local police station.

It is understood Mr Zhai was arrested because of a tweet he had posted three days before his arrest. The tweet is said to have offended the ruling Communist Party during their once-in-a-decade power transition.

Speaking by telephone to Sky News, a close friend said he was very worried for Mr Zhai and his wife.

"We don't know what's going on inside there with him. Now we have even lost contact with his wife," the friend, who asked not to be named, said.

"I have told the police that if they want to investigate those around him, talk to me, not his family."

Examination of Mr Zhai's Twitter account, which is still active, shows a number of tweets which refer to the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party. The congress ended last week with the secretive selection of new leaders.

The tweet, which his friends believe incriminated him, reads: "The Great Hall suddenly collapsed, more than 2,000 people attending the meeting, only seven escaped, but then all died one after another mysteriously.

"Is it God's game? Or the angry fire of the death? How could the mysterious number of 18 opens the door of hell? 8 Nov, global theatres, shockingly releasing."

The tweet believed to have led to the arrest of Zhai Xiaobing

The 'Great Hall' refers to the Great Hall of the People where the party congress was held. The numbers he refers to correlate with several facts about the Congress.

Two thousand delegates attended the Congress and the number of men selected for the top jobs was reduced from nine to seven, the Congress was the 18th to be held and began on November 8.

Mr Zhai is understood to be being held at Beijing's Miyun Detention Centre. Police at the centre, contacted by Sky News, refused to comment on the matter.

However, Sky News has obtained some further details about Mr Zhai's arrest from other sources.

It is understood he was arrested on November 7 - the day before the Communist Party Congress began.

He was alone at his Beijing home when the police arrived. His wife then received a phone call at 2am the following morning. She went to the police station and was shown a certificate detailing his arrest.

The certificate claimed he had been arrested for 'spreading rumours of terrorist information'. She was refused access to him. Under Chinese law, applications can be made by family and lawyers to see detained people, but the authorities have the right to refuse all access.

A photo, obtained by Sky News, shows Mr Zhai with dissident Chinese artist Ai Wei Wei who is constantly clashing with the Chinese authorities. Mr Zhai and Mr Ai are said to know each other.

The opening of Congress on November 8

Mr Zhai's friend, who agreed to speak to Sky News by phone, described him as a "regular, ordinary person".

He was born in 1976, graduated from Beijing University and works in the finance industry. He is said to have "no particular political background whatsoever".

"He is lively, thinks a lot, likes to make jokes and has liberal views." the friend said.

Twitter is banned in China. The vast majority of the population have no access to it because of a nationwide firewall. Nicknamed the 'great-fire-wall of China', it blocks access to Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and international versions of Google's search engine.

It is possible to bypass the firewall with the use of a Virtual Private Network (VPN). It is likely this is what Mr Zhai was using to access the site.

A domestic version of Twitter, called Weibo, is available although it is monitored and key words are blocked.

Just before the Communist Party Congress, known dissidents were put under close supervision under house arrest or ordered to leave Beijing. Their restrictions were lifted at the end of the congress.

It is not clear why Mr Zhai would be detained and held for so long for that single tweet.

However, other tweets in his timeline refer to the purged Communist Party official Bo Xilai. Mr Bo is currently awaiting trial for corruption. His wife was convicted of  murdering British businessman Neil Heywood.

Mr Zhai's tweets appear to suggest that he is a supporter of Mr Bo, a fact that might also explain why he has been detained.

A growing online petition is calling for his release.

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Bin Laden Burial Details Revealed In Emails

Secret internal military emails have revealed that Osama bin Laden's body was referred to as "the package" before its burial at sea.

No sailors watched as the al Qaeda leader's body was dropped into the North Arabian Sea from the USS Carl Vinson.

The operation was shrouded in secrecy, which included the corpse being referred to as "the package" delivered by "Fedex".

The emails, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, are heavily blacked out but are the first public disclosure of government information about the terrorist's death.

Bin Laden was killed on May 1, 2011, by a Navy SEAL team that swooped on his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

One email stamped secret and sent on May 2 by a senior Navy officer briefly describes how his body was washed, wrapped in a white sheet, and then placed in a weighted bag.

According to another message from the Vinson's public affairs officer, only a small group of the ship's leadership was informed of the burial.

"Traditional procedure for Islamic burial was followed," the May 2 email from Rear Admiral Charles Gaouette reads.

"The deceased's body was washed (ablution) then placed in a white sheet. The body was placed in a weighted bag. A military officer read prepared religious remarks, which were translated into Arabic by a native speaker.

"After the words were complete, the body was placed on a prepared flat board, tipped up, whereupon the deceased's body slid into the sea."

Bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan

The email also included the cryptic reference to the intense secrecy surrounding the mission.

Gaouette, then the deputy commander of the Navy's Fifth Fleet, used code words to discuss whether the helicopters carrying the SEALs and bin Laden's body had arrived on the Vinson.              

"Any news on the package for us?" he asked Rear Adm. Samuel Perez, commander of the carrier strike group that included the Vinson.

"Fedex delivered the package," Perez responded. "Both trucks are safely en route home base."

Although the Obama administration has pledged to be the most transparent in American history, it is keeping a tight hold on materials related to the raid.

In a response to separate requests for information about the mission, the Defence Department said in March that it could not locate any photographs or video taken during the raid or showing his body.

It also said it could not find any images of the corpse on the Vinson.

The Pentagon also said it could not find any death certificate, autopsy report or results of DNA identification tests, or any pre-raid materials discussing how the government planned to dispose of the body if he were killed.

The Defence Department also refused to confirm or deny the existence of helicopter maintenance logs and reports about the performance of military gear used in the raid.

One of the stealth helicopters that carried the SEALs to Abbottabad crashed during the mission and its wreckage was left behind.

People who lived near bin Laden's compound took photos of the disabled chopper.

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Dubai Taxi Sex: British Woman Is Jailed

A British woman and Irish man accused of engaging in sexual activities in a Dubai taxi have been sentenced to three months in prison and then deportation.

Rebecca Blake and Conor McRedmond denied charges of "breach of honour with consent" and committing "an indecent act in a taxi" when they appeared in court last month.

They pleaded guilty to a third charge related to consumption of alcohol in public.

Ms Blake and Mr McRedmond's lawyer, Shaker al Shammary, said a court had sentenced them to a three-month term and deportation, in addition to a fine of 3,000 dirhams (£512) each.

He said they plan to appeal.

There have been a number of cases in recent years in which Westerners have been accused of violating decency laws in the United Arab Emirates, a country that has sought to maintain its Muslim identity while catering for the tourism industry.

In 2008, a British couple was found guilty of engaging in drunken sexual activity out of wedlock and in public on a beach in Dubai.

They were sentenced to three months in prison followed by deportation but saw their jail terms overturned on appeal.

Islam bans alcohol for Muslims. In the UAE, where expatriates make up more than 90% of the population, non-Muslims can drink at most hotels and beach bars.

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NZ Chopper Crash: 'Body Of UK Tourist Found'

The wreckage of a helicopter that went missing in New Zealand eight years ago carrying a local pilot and a British tourist has been found in a remote part of the country.

Police have confirmed that a helicopter found in Fiordland was the Hughes 500 that went missing in 2004 carrying 27-year-old pilot Campbell Montgomerie and 28-year-old tourist Hannah Timings.

An extensive two-week search at the time did not turn up any sign of the missing craft.

Police say the wreckage was spotted in rugged terrain at the edge of the original search area on Wednesday by helicopter pilot Brendan Hiatt.

"I immediately knew what it was just from the coloration, some of the shapes that remained there," said Mr Hiatt, who went on to say that he was pleased for the sake of the young woman's family.

"They can perhaps take her home now. So that should be special for them."

Police on Thursday recovered two bodies and say they plan to formally identify them by using DNA samples.

Officers have notified the families and say they hope the discovery brings some closure.

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Tottenham Hotspur Fans Attacked In Rome

A group of English football fans have been injured in a late-night clash in Rome ahead of a Europa League match.

One fan was in serious condition after being stabbed, and at least four other Britons, one American and one Bangladeshi were hurt when masked assailants attacked a pub in the Italian capital, according to police.

The Britons were in the country to support Tottenham Hotspur, who are due to play Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico on Thursday night.

They were out drinking at The Drunken Ship, a popular pub in downtown Rome, when knife-wielding thugs believed to be "Ultras", or fanatical fans, smashed their way in, according to police and witnesses.

The pub trashed in the attack is in the vibrant Campo de Fiori square

Spurs fan Dave Webster, who witnessed the attack from a nearby bar, described a chaotic, violent scene, saying the attack had left some Tottenham fans "covered in blood, heads bleeding, arms bleeding".

"The first thing we heard was broken glass - the main pane of glass at the bar got broken, and then all of a sudden we heard women screaming and running out and running away from the bar, and then it was sort of a back-and-forth chase between the two set of fans and more Italians started pouring in," he told Sky News.

"Then eventually, 15 minutes after it happened the Carabinieri turned up."

The cobblestones outside the bar were blood-stained, chairs and bits of wood were strewn across the floor and windows were broken.

Police named the critically injured as Ashley Mills, and said the American had also been stabbed.

Some of the other hurt Britons were identified as Dave Lesley, Stephen Tierney and Christopher Allen.

Earlier reports said nine fans had been hurt, and a statement by a club spokesman said: "We understand from local police that nine of our supporters suffered injuries last night following an incident in the city centre. Three of these supporters were taken to hospital for further treatment."

Tottenham Hotspur are due to play Lazio

Police said around 50 Italians were involved in the assault, and that some had been arrested. They were on the hunt for 15 more suspects.

A spokesman for the mayor's office said the attack had been "obviously organised" and Italian newspaper La Repubblica described the scene as "urban warfare".

The aggressors, who were believed to be Lazio fans, had their faces covered by motorcycle helmets or scarves when they launched their assault shortly after 1am.

However, Lazio president Claudio Lotito said his club supporters "had nothing to do with it", according to the Italian news agency ANSA.

Bar owner Marco Manzi said the assailants had converged on the pub from two directions, armed with "every possible thing".

"They penned them in the back and they threw everything at them: cobblestones, metal rods, metal bolts, pieces of belts," Manzi told The Associated Press after returning to survey the damage Thursday morning.

Witness Giuseppe Tamborra said: "I saw four people lying on the ground, one with his forehead cut open from here to here, probably with a stool taken from the bar.

"The Italians were very organised, with helmet, bats, even balaclavas," he said.

The Drunken Ship, a popular drinking spot for tourists and foreign students, is located in the Campo de Fiori - one of the most visited squares in the Italian capital's historic centre.

Three Middlesbrough fans were stabbed in the same pub in 2006 when they were in the city for a Uefa cup match.

A Foreign Office spokesman confirmed they are investigating the clash.

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Uganda Halts British Producer's Gay Trial

By Tim Marshall, Foreign Affairs Editor

A British theatre producer, facing two years in jail for staging a play featuring a homosexual, has had his case postponed again by a Ugandan court.

The postponement comes at a time when the Ugandan parliament is about to debate a bill allowing the death penalty for "aggravated homosexuality".

David Cecil, 34,  was arrested in September after refusing to allow government censors to review the play The River and the Mountain which was performed in August.

He was charged with "disobeying lawful orders".

A petition to drop the case against him has been signed by more than 2,500 people including British celebrities Stephen Fry, Sandi Toksvig and Simon Callow.

A pre-trial hearing was adjourned shortly after his arrest, and his latest appearance in court was only to hear that the case has been postponed until January.

Sky sources say the court will allow Mr Cecil to leave the country before his next hearing, but that his family will not in order to ensure he returns.

Activists following the case suggest it may have been put on hold because the Ugandan parliament looks set to pass a law allowing the death sentence for certain homosexual acts.

Homosexuality is already a crime in Uganda, and can lead to up to 14 years in prison. 

A banner promoting the play

The new Bill, called "Kill the Gays Bill" by opponents, is thought to propose a life sentence for same-sex relationships, and the death penalty for "serial offenders".

The wording has not been fully revealed but the bill will prohibit the promotion of gay rights and the funding or sponsoring of homosexuality. It has been condemned by world leaders, including President Obama.

Uganda is a deeply conservative society with many government figures, religious leaders and the tabloid press engaging in routine insults of gay people and claiming that homosexuality is a western import.

The bill was re-introduced to Parliament by Speaker Rebecca Kadaga who promised it as a "Christmas gift"  to the Ugandan people.

Religious groups protesting against homosexuality in Kampala

Jeff Ogwaro of the Ugandan Civil Society Coalition, which is fighting the proposal, told Sky News: "We are 95% sure that the bill will go to Parliament before the end of the year, and 100% sure that, if it does, it will pass." 

If it does, President Museveni can veto it, but Parliament can then overturn his veto.

Earlier this year Ms Kadaga was in Canada and became embroiled in a row with Canada's foreign minister John Bairs who deplored the bill.

Ms Kadaga referred to Uganda's colonial past and said: "If homosexuality is a value for the people of Canada they should not seek to force Uganda to embrace it. We are not a colony or a protectorate of Canada."

Upon her return to Entebbe airport she was enthusiastically greeted by several hundred anti-gay activists, among them many religious leaders.

Some gay activists believe Mr Cecil's case has been postponed in order to try to limit UK media coverage of homosexuality in Uganda ahead of the bill being debated.

Several countries are considering withholding aid to Uganda if the bill becomes law.

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Stair-Climbing Robot May Head To Nuclear Zone

Toshiba has developed a robot which it says can withstand high levels of radiation to work in nuclear disaster areas - and has the crucial ability to climb stairs.

The four-legged robot can climb over debris and venture into irradiated areas that are off limits to humans.

Operators should also never lose track of the device because it can move automatically to an area with a better signal if the connection becomes weak.

However the machine - a bulky camera on wobbly metal legs - also appears to be prone to glitches.

The robot was winched into place at the start of the demo

The robot broke down during a demonstration to reporters, freezing with one leg up in the air, and had to be lifted by several people and rebooted.

It was also notably slow in climbing a flight of eight steps, cautiously lifting its legs one by one, and taking about a minute to go up each step.

Stairs have eluded robots in science fact as well as science fiction for decades.

Initial incarnations of the Daleks failed to manage the feat - even needing smooth surfaces rather than rough ground over which to travel.

And ED-209 famously fell down a flight of stairs while pursuing Robocop, ending up on its back kicking and screaming like a baby.

The Toshiba bot succeeded where ED-209 failed - it climbed the stairs

Toshiba wants the robot to enter Japan's crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, which suffered a meltdown following the earthquake and tsunami that struck in March 2011.

But the firm has admitted it may need as long a 10 minutes to work out how to clear objects when they are not as even and predictable as steps.

And if the robot ever falls over, it will not be able to get up on its own.

The robot did break down once, and had to be rebooted

Nevertheless, Tokyo Electric Power Co, which operates the Fukushima plant, said it might use the robot to inspect the suppression chamber.

Toshiba began developing the robot in the hope that it would prove useful in helping to decommission the plant.

No human has been able to enter the highly irradiated chamber since the tsunami disaster, and decommissioning Fukushima Dai-ichi is expected to take decades.

Debris at the Fukushima nuclear plant

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Gaza: Rockets Fired Hours After Ceasefire

Twelve rockets were fired into Israel hours after a ceasefire was brokered, it has been claimed.

An Israeli Police spokesman said the attacks caused no injuries or damage, with the rockets mostly landing in open fields in the south of the Jewish state.

A truce brokered between Israel and Hamas came into effect on Wednesday evening, bringing eight days of fighting to an end.

Both sides quickly claimed victory, with Hamas insisting it had defeated Israel.

The Israelis, meanwhile, said they have severely impaired the military capability of Hamas, which governs Gaza.

The ceasefire deal calls on Israel to "stop all hostilities ... in the land, sea and air including incursions and targeting of individuals" and urges the Palestinian factions to end "rocket attacks and all attacks along the border".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said he was prepared to give peace a chance.

Hillary Clinton called it a "critical moment" for the region

"Netanyahu spoke with President Barack Obama and agreed to his recommendation to give a chance to an Egyptian proposal for a ceasefire and thereby give an opportunity for the stabilisation of the situation and a calming of it," said a statement.

Meanwhile, police are still investigating a bus bombing in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv that left at least 21 people wounded.

The explosion took place near the military headquarters hours before a ceasefire was announced and threatened to derail negotiations.

And a Palestinian woman in her late 30s has been arrested after trying to stab an Israeli border guard at the entrance of an east Jerusalem police station, police said.

It was not immediately clear what prompted the woman to attack the border guard, who suffered only scratches, according to a statement.

But the incident drew the attention of Palestinian youths in the neighbourhood, with about 100 people gathering around the station after the incident to show their support for the woman.

Benjamin Netanyahu says he is prepared to give the ceasefire a chance

Police arrested three of them before dispersing the crowd.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said it was a "critical moment" for the region.

Gaza City's streets were dark and deserted in the minutes after the truce took effect at 7pm UK time.

Soon afterwards people poured out of their homes to hail the "victory".

Celebratory gunfire could be heard throughout the Gaza Strip and fireworks were released into the sky, where Israeli drones still buzzed overhead.

"The resistance has triumphed," some shouted.

After urging the two sides to uphold the accord, the 15-member UN Security Council also called in a statement for an international effort to get "emergency aid" into Gaza.

There had to be "expeditious and unimpeded delivery of such humanitarian assistance, including of food, fuel and medical treatment," said the statement.

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