Bowe Bergdahl: Video Shows US Soldier Alive

US officials have obtained a video of the last remaining US soldier being held prisoner by the Taliban - suggesting he is still alive since his capture in 2009.

Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl was detained in the Paktia Province of Afghanistan on June 30, 2009.

He is now understood to be held in Pakistan by the Haqqani, an Islamist insurgent network known to operate in the northwest frontier.

The existence of the video, which reportedly contains a reference to December 14, 2013, has been confirmed by Sgt Bergdahl's family who released a statement pleading to his captors to let him go.

"As we have done so many times over the past four-and-a-half years, we request his captors to release him safely so that our only son can be reunited with his mother and father," the statement said.

Sgt Bergdahl was taken on June 30, 2009

"BOWE - If you see this, continue to remain strong through patience. Your endurance will carry you to the finish line. Breathe!"

Sgt Bergdahl's father, Bob, has previously published a video to raise awareness about his son's ordeal and to try to secure his release.

His captors have previously suggested they would free him in exchange for a number of senior operatives currently detained at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

The group has released tapes of Sgt Bergdahl to journalists before, including one video a few months after he was captured.

In the grainy video he can be seen saying he is scared he will not be able to go home and how "unnerving" it is to be a prisoner.

But it is not clear how US officials obtained this latest video, which reportedly shows him in poor health. The film has not been released by Washington.

A Pentagon spokesman said: Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has been gone far too long, and we continue to call for and work toward his safe and immediate release."

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

23.31 | 0 komentar | Read More

Lebanon: Bomb Blast In Hizbollah Stronghold

At least three people have been killed and 25 injured in a car bombing in Lebanon close to the Syrian border - the latest attack on a Hizbollah stronghold.

The explosion, thought to have been a suicide attack, ripped through the main square of  the northeastern town of Hermel, in front of a main government administration building.

A large plume of smoke could be seen rising from the square and the twisted wreckage of a car.

The blast happened during the morning rush hour, according to officials.

Eyewitness Ali Shamas, the headmaster of a Hermel college, said: "The explosion was huge. People are really scared and upset.

The rush-hour explosion is thought to have been a suicide attack

"It took place just as people were on their way to work and to go about their daily business in the middle of town.

"There was a lot of smoke rising from the scene."

Security forces and army troops were deployed in the square shortly after the blast.

It is the latest in a wave of attacks to hit Lebanon in recent months as the civil war in Syria increasingly spills over into its smaller neighbour.

Hermel has previously been targeted by mortars, while the capital Beirut has been hit by a series of explosions.

The violence has further stoked sectarian tensions in Lebanon, mainly over the civil war in neighbouring Syria, where the Shiite Hizbollah group has been involved in fighting alongside President Bashar al Assad's forces.

It also came as the trial in absentia of four men accused of murdering former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri in 2005 began at a UN-backed court in the Netherlands.

It is alleged the suspects had links to Hizbollah.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

23.31 | 0 komentar | Read More

Australian Open Tennis Halted By Extreme Heat

Tennis players at the Australian Open have spoken about the difficulties of competing in blistering temperatures, with some arguing matches should not have started in the first place.

As large parts of the country sweltered in a heat wave, play was halted for several hours on outer courts at Melbourne Park after organisers implemented the Extreme Heat Policy as the mercury hit 43.4C (110F).

Matches on the main show courts continued after the retractable roofs were closed.

There had been criticism of the decision on previous days to allow play to continue in searing temperatures.

Australian Open bosses invoked part of the special conditions before play began, allowing women's matches to have an extended break after the second set and players to wear ice vests during changeovers.

Spectators at the tournament got into a fountain to try and cool down

However, with players having to finish their set before play ceased or the roofs were closed, Maria Sharapova's match on Rod Laver Arena continued in the full glare of the sun for 50 minutes.

The third seed eventually beat Italian Karin Knapp 6-3 4-6 10-8 to reach the third round.

Sharapova said: "There is no way getting around the fact that the conditions were extremely difficult, and have been for the last few days."

Agnieszka Radwanska, who beat Olga Govortsova 6-0 7-5 under a closed roof, said: "Some of the girls can't even talk after the match or practice."

Varvara Lepchenko was the player to struggle most, the American taking a medical time-out during the second set of her second-round match against Simona Halep.

Lepchenko lay down across two chairs while a doctor examined her and had ice rubbed over her body before continuing.

Having won the first set she managed only one more game in a 4-6 6-0 6-1 defeat.

Lepchenko said: "I think they definitely should have just not started the matches in the first place. In the second set I couldn't focus on my returns, I couldn't see the ball."

The hot weather is forecast to continue into Friday before a dramatic drop in temperatures at the weekend.

In the meantime, health officials have urged residents to keep cool.

"We need to respect the heat. This is a serious event. It's not normal and it's unprecedented," Paul Holman of the Victoria State Ambulance Service told reporters in Melbourne.

Climate scientists have warned the extreme, sustained heat is likely to become more common in Australia.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

23.31 | 0 komentar | Read More

Nuclear Missile Launch Officers 'Cheated Tests'

Dozens of officers responsible for launching US nuclear missiles have been accused of cheating over routine proficiency tests and removed from duty.

The officers, 34 in total, are accused of either cheating or tolerating cheating by others at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana, over monthly tests on how to operate the missiles.

"This is absolutely unacceptable behaviour," Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said.

"It is completely contrary to our core values in the Air Force and as everybody here knows the number one core value for us is integrity.

"Some officers did it. Others apparently knew about it and it appears they did nothing or at least not enough to stop it or to report it," Ms James added.

The scandal follows the sacking in October of the commander of the nuclear missile force who had engaged in embarrassing behaviour, including drunkenness, while leading a US delegation to a nuclear exercise in Russia.

The alleged cheating was discovered during a separate probe of drug possession by 11 officers at several air force bases.

Two of the suspects in the drug investigation are in the nuclear force and are also alleged to have participated in the cheating ring.

Officials insisted the safety of the nuclear arsenal was not compromised.

"This was a failure of some of our airmen. It was not a failure of the nuclear mission," Ms James said.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

23.31 | 0 komentar | Read More

Ecclestone To Stand Trial On Bribery Charge

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

German prosecutors have confirmed that the Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone is to stand trial this year charged with offences related to the sport's sale in 2005.

In a statement on Thursday morning, a spokeswoman for the Munich court said the case against Mr Ecclestone would get underway in the spring following his indictment last July.

"Under current planning, the main trial should start in late April," the statement said, with sources indicating that it had been provisionally scheduled for April 23.

Sky News exclusively revealed on Wednesday that the Munich prosecutor was preparing to file formal charges against the F1 supremo, who has exerted an iron grip on the sport's commercial rights for the best part of half a century.

Board directors of F1's parent company convened a meeting on Thursday morning to discuss the developments, sources said.

Mr Ecclestone is expected to continue running F1 on a day-to-day basis although he will step down from the board of the company on a temporary basis while he fights to clear his name, insiders said.

An official statement from the board of F1 is expected later.

The charges against Mr Ecclestone relate to a $44m (£27m) secret payment to Gerhard Gribkowsky, a banker who was involved in organising F1's sale nearly a decade ago.

The bribery trial will represent the latest, although not the only, legal setback to confront Mr Ecclestone in recent times.

He is a defendant at a High Court case in London at which a German media group has accused the F1 chief executive of conspiring to undervalue the sport when it was sold to CVC Capital Partners in 2005.

The "corrupt bargain" to which Mr Ecclestone was a party enabled him to remain at the helm of F1's commercial rights-holder, Constantin Medien has alleged.

Mr Ecclestone has consistently denied any wrongdoing.

He conceded that he had made part of the relevant payments to Mr Gribkowsky but said that he had done so because he was concerned that the German would make unfounded allegations about his tax affairs to Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs.

CVC has made billions of pounds from its original investment in F1 and has drawn up plans to float the company on the Singapore stock exchange.

It has conceded that that plan is unworkable until the legal issues surrounding the sport are resolved.

The private equity firm instead reduced its shareholding in the sport by selling a series of minority stakes to investors from the US and Norway.

Donald Mackenzie, the CVC founder who sits on the board of F1, said at the High Court in November that it was right to have retained Mr Ecclestone's services despite the legal maelstrom surrounding the sport.

"If Mr Ecclestone had done anything criminal or wrong, we would fire him," he said.

The phrasing of that statement is understood to mean that CVC has decided to allow Mr Ecclestone to continue running the sport even during his trial.

However, insiders suggested that he was likely to step down from the company's board with the possibility of being reinstated if he is subsequently cleared of wrongdoing.

Peter Brabeck, the chairman of the Swiss consumer goods giant Nestlé who also chairs F1's parent company, is likely to take on a more hands-on role during the coming months.

In a statement, the board of Delta Topco, F1's parent, confirmed that it had met on Thursday, saying: "Mr Ecclestone has reassured the Board that he is innocent of the charges and intends to vigorously defend the case which will commence in late April 2014.

"After discussion with the Board, Mr Ecclestone has proposed and the Board has agreed that until the case has been concluded, he will step down as a director with immediate effect, thereby relinquishing his board duties and responsibilities until the case has been resolved."

The board said it  believed that F1 would be best-served by Mr Ecclestone retaining his management responsibilities but said he would be "subject to increased monitoring and control by the Board."

Approval for significant commercial contracts would become the responsibility of Mr Brabeck-Letmathe and Mr Mackenzie, the deputy chairman, the board added.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

23.31 | 0 komentar | Read More

Conrad Murray Conviction Upheld By Court

A court has unanimously upheld the involuntary manslaughter conviction of Michael Jackson's doctor, Conrad Murray.

The ruling came less than three months after the former cardiologist was released from prison after serving two years for causing the singer's death in 2009.

Murray was convicted in 2011 of giving Jackson a lethal dose of the anaesthetic propofol while the star was preparing for a series of comeback concerts.

The six-week trial focused on Murray's care of Jackson, including nightly doses of the drug to help the entertainer sleep.

The California 2nd District Court of Appeal determined that Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor was within his right to impose the maximum sentence of four years.

Murray's "callous disregard for Mr Jackson's health and safety was shown throughout the trial from the manner in which he administered a number of dangerous drugs to Mr Jackson without the appropriate medical equipment, precautions or personnel in place, and to the manner in which he left Mr Jackson unattended," the court's opinion states.

"The evidence demonstrated that Mr Jackson was a vulnerable victim and that (Murray) was in a position of trust, and that (Murray) violated the trust relationship by breaching standards of professional conduct in numerous respects," it said.

The former physician was released from jail in October due to a change in California law requiring non-violent offenders to serve their sentences in county jails and as a result of credits for good behaviour.

Jackson's mother believes promoter AEG was negligent in her son's death

In his appeal, Murray argued that the judge who oversaw the case improperly excluded jurors from hearing key evidence and should have sequestered jurors.

The appellate court disagreed and said it found no errors in the judge's rulings, including one allowing the trial to be televised.

Murray's trial lawyers attempted to introduce evidence of Jackson's financial difficulties and his treatment by other doctors, but Judge Pastor ruled testimony on those issues would be irrelevant.

Lawyer Valerie Wass, who represented Murray in the appeal, said she was disappointed but not surprised by the ruling and is carefully reviewing it to assess the next steps.

She said she has not spoken to Murray since the opinion was issued but his intention has been to challenge his conviction to higher courts if necessary.

On Monday a judge rejected an attempt by Jackson's mother Katherine for a new trial in her lawsuit claiming AEG, the promoter of her son's ill-fated comeback concerts, was negligent in his death.

AEG's lawyers argued that there was no mistake in the verdict form and the motion for a new trial should be denied.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

23.31 | 0 komentar | Read More

Supermarket Shooting Leaves Three Dead

A gunman has opened fire inside a supermarket in Indiana, killing two women before being shot dead by police.

One of the victims was an employee in her late teens or early 20s, the other a shopper in her mid-40s, authorities said.

The shooting took place on Wednesday night in Martin's Super Market in Elkhart, a city of some 50,000 residents.

The suspect died in a police shootout

The gunman used a semi-automatic handgun to shoot and kill a woman, then walked to another aisle and shot and killed the otehr woman.

"We believe it was a single shooter and he is dead," said Indiana State Police spokesman Trent Smith.

The gunman, who has not been identified, was believed to be in his 20s. A large knife was found near his body.

There was no indication that he knew the victims.

"At this time, it appears that it's just random," Mr Smith said.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

23.31 | 0 komentar | Read More

12 Years A Slave Wins Oscar Nod For Best Film

American Hustle and Gravity lead Oscar nominations with 10 nods each, while 12 Years A Slave got nine.

All three movies were nominated for best picture. 

Captain Phillips, Dallas Buyers Club, Her, Nebraska, The Wolf of Wall Street and Philomena also got a nod for best movie.

The nominations were announced by actor Chris Hemsworth and Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs at a ceremony in Beverly Hills.

Directed by Briton Steve McQueen, 12 Years A Slave is based on the true story of a man from New York who is captured and sold into slavery in America's Deep South. 

It stars Chiwetel Ejiofor and Michael Fassbender, both nominated for best actor and best supporting actor respectively.

Steve McQueen directed 12 Years A Slave

McQueen was also named for best director.

The movie has already picked up 10 Bafta nominations and recently took the best movie drama title at the Golden Globes.

American Hustle won nods for Amy Adams and Christian Bale in lead roles and for Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence in the supporting actor category.

The Wolf Of Wall Street also won nominations for Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese.

Also nominated for best actor were Bruce Dern in Nebraska and Matthew McConaughey in Dallas Buyers Club, which also earned Jared Leto a supporting actor nod for playing a transgender woman.

Along with Adams, Cate Blanchett was nominated for best actress for Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine, Sandra Bullock in Gravity, Judi Dench in Philomena, Meryl Streep in August: Osage County. 

Notable omissions included Tom Hanks for his lead performance in Captain Phillips, and Robert Redford for the shipwreck drama All Is Lost.

The nominations for best foreign-language movie are: The Broken Circle Breakdown from Belgium, The Great Beauty from Italy, Danish thriller The Hunt, The Missing Picture from Cambodia, and Palestinian movie Omar.

The Oscars are handed out on March 2 in a ceremony hosted by comedian Ellen DeGeneres in Los Angeles.

:: Follow Sky News For Live Updates 

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

:: You can also watch the Oscars live on Sunday, March 2 on Sky Movies from 11.30pm.

23.31 | 0 komentar | Read More

Ohio Killer Executed With New Drug Mix

An Ohio killer has been put to death with a type of lethal injection never before tried in a US execution.

Dennis McGuire received the death penalty for the 1989 rape and fatal stabbing of Joy Stewart, a pregnant woman, in Preble County in western Ohio.

State officials used intravenous doses of two drugs, the sedative midazolam and the painkiller hydromorphone, to put McGuire to death.

McGuire appeared to gasp several times during the more than 15 minutes it appeared to take him to die.

It was one of the longest executions since Ohio resumed capital punishment in 1999.

Officials opted for the new lethal injection method after supplies of the state's previous drug dried up.

Prior to the execution, McGuire's lawyers warned that he was at substantial risk of a medical phenomenon known as air hunger, which would cause him to experience terror as he strained to catch his breath.

Ohio officials presented counter evidence disputing the air hunger risk.

Ms Stewart's slaying went unsolved for 10 months until McGuire, jailed on an unrelated assault and hoping to improve his legal situation, told investigators he had information about the woman's death.

His attempts to blame the crime on his brother-in-law quickly unravelled and soon he was accused of being the killer.

More than a decade later, DNA evidence confirmed McGuire's guilt, and he acknowledged that he was responsible in a letter to the state's governor last month.

McGuire, 53, unsuccessfully sought a reprieve in recent weeks to try to become an organ donor, the AP news agency reported.

But he could not identify a family member who would receive his organs, as required under prison policy.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

23.31 | 0 komentar | Read More

French Actress Sues Over Hollande Affair Claim

Actress Julie Gayet is to sue a magazine which claimed she was having an affair with French president Francois Hollande.

More follows...

23.31 | 0 komentar | Read More