Argentina 'Superhero' Menganno Is An Ex-Cop

A self-styled superhero from Argentina has been unmasked as a retired policeman after an alleged shoot-out with petty criminals.

Buenos Aires' answer to Batman was named as Oscar Lefosse, a 43-year-old who drew headlines in 2010 when he began patrolling the outskirts of the city while wearing a blue mask and armour.

Named 'Menganno', which means Joe Blow in Spanish, his identity was revealed after he was charged with carrying an unlicenced gun after apparently firing at would-be muggers.

He told police the alleged criminals shot at his car while he was driving with his wife, prompting him to return fire with his Glock pistol.

It later emerged his gun licence had expired last year.

Menganno's Facebook picture of what he said was his bullet-ridden car

Menganno, who has 33,000 followers on Facebook, posted a photo of what he said was his bullet-ridden car.

But a Buenos Aires policeman told Argentinian news agency Telam that the shots all came from inside the car.

The police official added: "He could have killed somebody, an innocent bystander. He is irresponsible."

In 2010 Menganno was quoted as saying: "My goal is for all of us to be better and show more solidarity. Injustice makes me sick."

He added that he only defended himself with a flashlight, pepper spray and a compass.

Lefosse worked as a policeman from 1986 to 1996.

However, stories of his alter ego Menganno actually tackling criminals are difficult to find - and for some he is seen as a joke figure rather than a true vigilante.

Speaking on Argentinian TV after his unmasking, he said: "I do not walk around the street armed. I keep my gun at home."

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Israel Reviews Military After West Bank Deaths

By Tom Rayner, Middle East News Editor

Israel's military has called for an immediate review of its terms of engagement after a spate of fatal shootings provoked violent clashes in the West Bank.

The funerals of a female student and teenage boy on Wednesday night were followed by hundreds of Palestinian youths attacking an Israeli check point in Bethlehem.

Tear gas and plastic-coated steel bullets were fired at the angry crowd and at least three people were seriously injured and remain in hospital.

Earlier in the afternoon 22-year-old Lubna Hanash had been shot in the face by an Israeli soldier.

A checkpoint in Bethlehem was attacked on Wednesday night after the funeral

The shooting occurred outside the al Aroub refugee camp near Hebron, with the Israeli military claiming the civilian car in which the soldier was travelling in was attacked with fire bombs.

Local witnesses say two other people were also shot, but were not seriously injured.

Fifteen-year-old Salih al Amarin from Bethlehem also died on Wednesday, after being shot on Friday.

Israel's commander of operations in the West Bank, Brigadier Hagai Mordechai, has ordered an immediate review of the rules of engagement used by soldiers.

Traditionally Israeli military are expected to shoot below the knee when using live rounds, but at least six Palestinians have been shot dead this month alone.

A military police investigation has also begun into the shooting of Lubna Hanash.

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad called for an "immediate intervention to compel Israel to desist from these serious attacks on our people".

UN Middle East Peace Process Envoy Robert Serry also expressed concern at the increased use of live fire by Israeli forces in the West Bank.

A spokesman for the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) said: "We are very concerned about six Palestinians killed by the Israeli Defence Force in different incidents in the past couple of weeks, including the two who died yesterday.

"We have raised these cases with the Israeli Ministry of Strategic Affairs and the relevant Israeli authority for the OPTs (COGAT).

"The UK has repeatedly made clear to Israel our longstanding concerns about the manner in which the IDF polices non-violent protests and the border areas, including use of live ammunition."

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Bindi Irwin Furious Over Clinton Essay Snub

Wildlife campaigner Bindi Irwin has withdrawn an essay she submitted to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's e-journal after she claimed it was edited to remove lines about over-population.

The 14-year-old wrote the 1,000-word essay which was due to be published in the December issue of the journal entitled Go Wild Coming Together For Conservation.

She had been asked to write the piece on why she had chosen to dedicate her life to wildlife conservation as part of Mrs Clinton's endangered species initiative.

But she said after submitting it, the Department of State returned it for final approval with large parts edited out.

In the essay, she wrote: "I believe that most problems in the world today, such as climate change, stem from one immense problem which seems to be the 'elephant in the room' that no-one wants to talk about.

Hillary Clinton's Department of State is thought to have edited the essay

"This problem is our ever expanding human population. We are experiencing Earth's sixth mass extinction right now.

"I must ask the question, how is it possible that our fragile planet can sustain these masses of people?"

The teenager used the analogy of throwing a party and having too many guests arrive to explain her point of view.

But she then pulled the essay from the publication after it was apparently edited.

Her mother, Terri Irwin, told news.com.au: "It's interesting that she was asked to write an essay about the environment and included the consideration of population and they returned her essay edited and completely edited that out.

"So Bindi wrote to Hillary Clinton's organisation and said 'what happened to freedom of speech? This is my opinion and I don't want that edited out'."

Bindi, daughter of the late "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin, has followed in her father's footsteps in championing wildlife conservation since his death in 2006.

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North Korea Plans Nuclear Test 'Aimed At US'

North Korea plans a nuclear test and more long-range rocket launches, aimed at what it calls its "arch-enemy", the United States.

A declaration by the National Defence Commission, said: "We do not hide that the various satellites and long-range rockets we will continue to launch, as well as the high-level nuclear test we will proceed with, are aimed at our arch-enemy the United States."

The commission, which is commanded by the country's leader Kim Jong-Un, added: "Settling accounts with the US needs to be done with force, not with words, as it regards jungle law as the rule of its survival."

The Unha-3 rocket launched by North Korea in December

The threat is seen as a direct response to the UN Security Council's decision two days ago to increase sanctions against Pyongyang in response to its long-range rocket launch last month.

It marks an escalation in North Korea's hostility towards the West.

Sky's Asia Correspondent Mark Stone said: "We know that North Korea is always defiant on this issue but what's different here is that all along North Korea claimed that these rocket launches and these nuclear tests have been peaceful.

"Now, today, in a remarkable turn, they are saying from now on their rocket launches and their nuclear tests will be aimed at the United States."

The commission statement, carried by the official Korean Central News Agency, did not mention when the test might be carried out, nor did it give explanation of the meaning of "high level".

The test would mark the country's third detonation of a nuclear device, the previous two were held in 2006 and 2009.

Kim Jong-Un in the rocket-launch command centre

North Korea's foreign ministry had denounced the move on Wednesday, when it also gave the first hint that Pyongyang would react with a nuclear test, saying the country would take "physical actions" to boost its nuclear deterrent.

China, North Korea's sole major ally, was quick to urge restraint following the announcement from Pyongyang.

Foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei hoped that North Korea would "stay calm, be discreet in words and deeds and look at the long term interest and push for the resumption of the six-party talks".

The six-party negotiations over the North's nuclear programme have long since stalled, however, China's incoming leader Xi Jingping has indicated he is keen to see them resume.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency, citing a South Korean intelligence source, reported that Pyongyang had finished technical preparations and could conduct an atomic test within days of a decision by Kim Jong-Un.

The declaration signed by Kim Jong-Un authorising last month's launch

Last month, a US think-tank reached a similar conclusion based on satellite photos, suggesting the North had repaired rain damage at its nuclear test site and could conduct a detonation at two weeks' notice.

However, experts doubt North Korea has rockets capable of reaching the west coast of the US, despite reports from South Korea saying the rocket launched in December could have hit San Fransisco.            

The United States has condemned the threat.

"North Korea's statement is needlessly provocative," said White House spokesman Jay Carney.

He added that a nuclear test would be a significant violation of UN sanctions and would further isolate Pyongyang.

Earlier Glyn Davies, the US envoy to North Korea, said: "It is important that they heed the voice of the international community."

He said that if North Korea begins "to take concrete steps to indicate their interest in returning to diplomacy, they may find in their negotiating partners willing partners in that process."

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Austrian Police Bust 'Nazi' Network

Police in Austria have broken up an extreme-right network arresting 10 and discovering a cache of explosives and weapons.

The group is suspected of illegal arms trading, burglaries, illegal prostitution, and other crimes, which police estimate have caused damage of at least 3.5m euros (£2.9m).

Police say they found weapons, explosives, flags with Nazi symbols and neo-Nazi literature in a search of the group's headquarters in the village of Desselbrunn, 120 miles west of Vienna.

Officers are now holding 10 suspects for questioning but had originally detained 24 suspects in the operation.

They estimate the group had at least 200 members in Upper Austria.

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Lebedev 'Braced For Prison' Over TV Punch-Up

By Katie Stallard, Moscow Correspondent

Newspaper tycoon Alexander Lebedev has told Sky News he is bracing himself for the possibility of being sent to prison, after a televised punch-up with another oligarch on TV which has seen him charged with politically-motivated hooliganism.

Speaking outside Moscow's Ostankinsky court, Mr Lebedev said he would fight the charges, but that he was also preparing himself for the worst.

"I have to brace myself for it, because of the mere fact that we don't have a lot of acquittals in Russian courts unfortunately on hooliganism (charges), but we are definitely looking at winning the case," he said.

The former KGB spy does not deny that he punched property magnate Sergei Polonsky, knocking him off his stool, during a recorded studio debate on NTV, a Kremlin-controlled TV channel, in 2011.

But he claims it was in self-defence, and that the case against him has more to do with his stake in Novaya Gazeta, one of the only independent newspapers in Russia, and a prominent critic of the Putin administration.

Mr Lebedev is being prosecuted under a section of the same law used to convict feminist punk band Pussy Riot last year so as well as straightforward assault charges, he is also accused of "hooliganism motivated by political hatred".

The charge carries a maximum sentence of five years.

Mr Lebedev is a former KGB spy

He said the case was clearly absurd: "The accusation is not based on law at all, you can never prove that I had any political hatred which emerged during the programme because I haven't even talked to him (Polonsky), he doesn't have any political views, at least not that I am aware of.

"I don't have any political views, we haven't had a discussion - so how can you prove that I have any political hatred?"

Mr Lebedev likened his trial to a McCarthyite witch hunt, but offered an olive branch to the administration, pointedly refusing to lay the blame at President Putin's door. 

"When Senator McCarthy was doing the witch hunt in America, there were two presidents - one was Truman, the other one Eisenhower - nobody blamed on them what McCarthy was doing, so probably we have some McCarthys here in the country - what on earth they are doing? We don't put the blame on the political authority."

The billionaire tycoon's interests include a Russian bank and a significant stake in the national airline, Aeroflot, as well as the London Evening Standard, which he bought in 2009, famously telling reporters he had read it daily as a young Russian spy posted to London in his earlier career.

He went on to buy The Independent, but says both titles are now owned by his London-based son, Evgeny Lebedev, and that they will be protected should he be sent to prison.

The case has been adjourned until February 7, but they may have trouble summoning the main prosecution witness - Sergei Polonsky.

Mr Polonsky is currently under arrest in Cambodia, where he is accused of kidnapping local sailors aboard a boat he hired during what appears to have been a particularly lively holiday.

The controversial tycoon is well known in Russia for his unusual antics, which have included eating part of his tie after losing a bet, naming both his son and his dog after his company - Mirax - and sacking 90% of his company over the course of one year after being told to make cutbacks.

Mr Lebedev said that he had offered to pay Mr Polansky's bail, but that the oligarch had refused to accept the money.

He said court documents showed that Mr Polansky did not wish to pursue the case, but a source close to Mr Lebedev explained that, even if Mr Polansky refused to press charges, the state could still pursue him on the more serious charge of hooliganism.

Mr Lebedev has many powerful enemies in Russia, not least among the ranks of the criminal and the corrupt, whose dealings his newspaper investigates.

He has said he fears for his safety if he is sent to prison.

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Antarctica: Plane Missing, Three On Board

Attempts to find a small plane carrying three Canadians on an Antarctica trip, which disappeared on Wednesday, have been delayed because of bad weather.

The Twin Otter aircraft was on a routine supply trip between bases when it lost contact with the ground and disappeared over a mountain range.

A rescue plane circled the area where the plane disappeared but could not find it due to high winds and heavy cloud cover, the Rescue Co-ordination Centre New Zealand said.

Rescue co-ordinator John Ashby said a DC-3 Dakota aircraft circled the area for five hours but could find no sign of the missing plane amid 105mph winds, solid cloud cover and heavy snow.

"The forecast for the next 12 hours is for similar conditions, but if there is a break in the weather the joint New Zealand and US field rescue team is ready to go from McMurdo Base at short notice," he said, as the search was suspended overnight.

RCCNZ said the search involving fixed wing aircraft and helicopters was concentrating on a rugged area midway between the South Pole and Terra Nova, which lie about 870 miles apart.

RCCNZ spokesman Steve Rendle said there were hopes the three men, whose names have not been released, were still alive.

"If the beacon is operating, which it is, that's a good sign as a heavy landing can tend to prevent the beacon working, so that's a positive sign at this stage," he told Radio New Zealand.

The plane was equipped with survival equipment, including mountain tents, and supplies sufficient for five days, RCCNZ added.

Antarctica has no permanent residents, but several thousand people live there in the Southern Hemisphere summer as a number of countries send scientists and other staff to research stations.

The US runs the largest programme, with about 850 staff at its McMurdo Station and another 200 at its Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, where the Canadians' flight originated.

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World Trade Centre Workers Scrawl Graffiti

Workers building New York's tallest tower at the World Trade Centre site have been encouraged to leave messages of remembrance on the concrete and steel.

The graffiti appears on beams, walls and stairwells of the skyscraper that is being built to replace the towers.

The messages range from tributes to 9/11 victims to sketches and poetry.

The words "change is from within" have been scrawled on an iron beam in the 104-storey high-rise that soars above the site.

Graffiti on a steel column on the 104th floor of One World Trade Centre

One of the last beams for One World Trade Centre hoisted up last year has a special handwritten message: "We remember. We rebuild. We come back stronger!"

The message is signed "Barack Obama".

Ironworker Kevin Murphy says the graffiti is a way for workers to express their feelings about 9/11.

One World Trade Centre under construction in December

"This is not just any construction site, this is a special place for these guys," he said.

"Everyone here wants to be here, they want to put this building up. They're part of the redemption."

Some beams are covered in a spaghetti-like jumble of graffiti hearts, flowers and messages.

Families of victims invited to go up have left names and comments too, as have firefighters and police officers who were among the first to respond to the attack.

Former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff wrote: "With you in spirit - those who perished, those who fought, those who build."

People on the ground below will never see the spontaneous private thoughts high in the Manhattan sky.

The graffiti will disappear as the raw basic structure is covered with drywall, ceiling panels and paint for tenants moving into the three million square feet of office space by 2014.

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British Nationals Urged To Leave Benghazi

The Foreign Office has urged Britons to leave the Libyan city of Benghazi in response to a "specific and imminent threat" against Westerners.

The FCO has been advising against travel to most of the country since last September, but has now stepped up its warning.

A spokesman said: "We are now aware of a specific and imminent threat to Westerners in Benghazi, and urge any British nationals who remain there against our advice to leave immediately.

"We have updated our travel advice to reflect this. The British Embassy in Tripoli has been in contact with British nationals for whom we have contact details to alert them to the advice."

Sky News foreign affairs editor Tim Marshall said: "As I understand it there are somewhere between one and two dozen Britons in Benghazi.

A "specific threat" has been made against Westerners in Benghazi

"This is not to do with the oil fields. This is to do with the city of Benghazi and its immediate surroundings itself.

"I believe all of the Britons have been told of this credible threat to them. Benghazi airport is working, so they have a choice to go or not."

Libya has responded to the FCO's warning, saying the call for Britons to leave Libya's second city was not justified.

"Nothing justifies this reaction," Libya's Deputy Interior Minister Abdullah Massoud said.

"There are question marks about this communique," he added.

The threat against Westerners comes one day after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton responded fiercely to a review of security at US diplomatic missions.

The review followed an attack on the US mission in Benghazi in September last year which killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

In her last formal congressional testimony on Capitol Hill as America's top diplomat, Mrs Clinton took full responsibility for the department's mistakes leading up to the attack.

"Nobody is more committed to getting this right. I am determined to leave the State Department and our country safer, stronger, and more secure," she said.

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Taiwan And Japan In Water Cannon Sea Skirmish

Japanese and Taiwanese coastguards duelled with water cannon in the latest skirmish over disputed Japanese-controlled islands.

The two vessels squared up in the East China Sea

The two sides clashed after Japanese coastguards fired water at a fishing boat carrying Taiwanese activists which had planned to land on the islands, forcing them to turn back.

The Taiwanese coastguards stepped in to defend them.

The disputed islands, in an area where the seabed is believed to harbour valuable mineral reserves, are known as Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese. Both China and Taiwan claim them.

A Japanese coastguard vessel sprays water cannon

Adding to tensions, as the stand-off unfolded, three Chinese surveillance vessels were spotted close by, a Taiwanese coastguard said.

The coastguard added that it was the first time ships from China had been spotted near a Taiwanese-Japanese incident, and that it had sent a radio message to the three boats to keep their distance in order not to complicate matters.

The incident came at a time of growing regional concern because of intensified friction over the islands between China and Japan, with both Beijing and Tokyo recently scrambling fighter jets to assert their claims to the area.

The patrol boat turns its spray on the fishing boats

The Japanese coastguard confirmed that it took action after encountering the Taiwanese vessel.

"Our patrol boat carried out restrictions on the vessel such as blocking its path and discharging water," it said in a statement.

Taiwan's coastguard said four of its vessels on routine patrols in the area had protected the activists' boat.

The Taiwanese boat was forced to turn back

"The coastguard will protect our people's voluntary actions to defend the Diaoyu islands. Coastguard vessels will go wherever the fishing boat is ... to defend our sovereignty and protect our fishing rights."                

A Japanese foreign ministry spokesman said: "We have repeatedly called on the Taiwan side to take proper action in order to prevent an unfavourable situation from arising in the favourable Japan-Taiwan relations."

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