Kenya Governor Held Over 'Al Shabaab Massacres'

Police in Kenya have arrested the governor of a coastal district in connection with a spate of killings which left more than 60 people dead.

The detention of Issa Timamy, who runs the Lamu area, came as the country's president Uhuru Kenyatta blamed "local political networks" along with an "opportunist network of other criminal gangs" for the attacks.

This is despite Somalia's al Shabaab militants claiming responsibility for the violence.

Blaming domestic political rivals could ease pressure on the Kenyan government, which has faced strong criticism about its handling of security in recent months.

Mr Timamy is a member of the opposition United Democratic Forum (UDF) party.

Tourism has suffered in recent years due to the escalating violence

The attacks over two consecutive nights in the town of Mpeketoni and a nearby village killed at least 60 people.

Another five people were killed in a further raid.

Survivors of the attack in Mpeketoni reported gunmen speaking Somali and carrying al Shabaab flags.

Non-Muslims were reportedly targeted by the gunmen who said their actions were revenge for the presence of Kenyan forces inside Somalia.

Commenting on the arrest, Kenya's CID chief said: "The governor is in custody.

"There are various charges lined up for him that are related to the attack."

Mr Timamy was due to appear in court on Thursday.

The attacks took place over two nights. Pic: Dihoff Mukotu/eNCA

Police have also arrested 13 alleged separatists suspected of planning more attacks in the country's coastal region.

An interior ministry statement said those held were plotting "ethnic cleansing", and were members of the Mombasa Republican Council (MRC), which campaigns for independence in the area.

After the attacks, Kenyan security forces killed five people they suspected of involvement in the massacres, recovering AK-47 assault rifles as well as ammunition.

Three others have been charged in connection with the killings, including a police officer, the owner and driver of a vehicle used by the attackers, and a suspect accused of running fake al Shabaab social media accounts.

Foreign tourists have been warned to stay out of Kenya.

Lamu had previously been popular with foreign visitors, but tourism has suffered in recent years because of increasing violence.

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Missing Malaysia Airlines Jet 'On Autopilot'

Australian officials have said they are confident missing flight MH370 was flying on autopilot when it disappeared.

The Malaysia Airlines plane vanished on March 8, with 239 people onboard, while travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

The search area in the hunt for the missing jet has shifted several hundred miles south from the intensely examined site in a remote stretch of Indian Ocean, where a remote underwater drone had been scouring 330 square miles of seabed.

Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss said the new search area, about 1,100 miles off Australia's west coast, is based on fresh analysis of existing satellite data.

He said: "The new priority area is still focused on the seventh arc, where the aircraft last communicated with satellite.

"We are now shifting our attention to an area further south along the arc based on these calculations."

A huge search of an area in the Indian Ocean has failed to find the plane

Martin Dolan, chief commissioner of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, said: "Certainly for its path across the Indian Ocean, we are confident that the aircraft was operating on autopilot until it ran out of fuel."

However, why the autopilot would have been set on a flight path so far off course, and when exactly it was switched on remains unknown.

The new search zone of up to 24,000 square miles (60,000 sq km) is in the southern corridor and is based on where the aircraft last communicated with an Inmarsat satellite.

A survey will be carried out by two surface vessels to map the ocean floor of the area, which will take three months.

A comprehensive underwater search, using powerful side-scan sonar capable of probing depths of more than four miles, will start in August and take up to 12 months to complete.

Mr Truss said he was optimistic the latest search zone is the most likely crash site, but warned finding the plane remains a huge task.

He said: "The search will still be painstaking. Of course, we could be fortunate and find it in the first hour or the first day - but it could take another 12 months."

Families of the missing have been left increasingly angry and frustrated

The switch in the hunt comes after it emerged acoustic pings thought to have come from the plane's two flight recorders were not from the aircraft after all, leaving search teams scouring the wrong area.

It is thought the sounds came from a search boat or the ping detector itself, ruling out the area originally thought to be where the plane had come down.

Earlier this month, the relatives of missing passengers announced they were seeking to raise $5m (£3m) to offer as a reward to any "whistleblower" who can offer information leading to the discovery of the lost plane.

Many of the families believe there has been a cover-up and are hoping the money will tempt an insider to come forward.

The Boeing 777 is believed to have crashed in the southern Indian Ocean, but an extensive search has turned up no sign of wreckage so far, leaving families increasingly frustrated.

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Missing Jet Clue From Satellite 'Handshakes'

Missing Malaysia Airlines Jet 'On Autopilot'

Updated: 1:33pm UK, Thursday 26 June 2014

Australian officials have said they are confident missing flight MH370 was flying on autopilot when it disappeared.

The Malaysia Airlines plane vanished on March 8, with 239 people onboard, while travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

The search area in the hunt for the missing jet has shifted several hundred miles south from the intensely examined site in a remote stretch of Indian Ocean, where a remote underwater drone had been scouring 330 square miles of seabed.

Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss said the new search area, about 1,100 miles off Australia's west coast, is based on fresh analysis of existing satellite data.

He said: "The new priority area is still focused on the seventh arc, where the aircraft last communicated with satellite.

"We are now shifting our attention to an area further south along the arc based on these calculations."

Martin Dolan, chief commissioner of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, said: "Certainly for its path across the Indian Ocean, we are confident that the aircraft was operating on autopilot until it ran out of fuel."

However, why the autopilot would have been set on a flight path so far off course, and when exactly it was switched on remains unknown.

The new search zone of up to 24,000 square miles (60,000 sq km) is in the southern corridor and is based on where the aircraft last communicated with an Inmarsat satellite.

A survey will be carried out by two surface vessels to map the ocean floor of the area, which will take three months.

A comprehensive underwater search, using powerful side-scan sonar capable of probing depths of more than four miles, will start in August and take up to 12 months to complete.

Mr Truss said he was optimistic the latest search zone is the most likely crash site, but warned finding the plane remains a huge task.

He said: "The search will still be painstaking. Of course, we could be fortunate and find it in the first hour or the first day - but it could take another 12 months."

The switch in the hunt comes after it emerged acoustic pings thought to have come from the plane's two flight recorders were not from the aircraft after all, leaving search teams scouring the wrong area.

It is thought the sounds came from a search boat or the ping detector itself, ruling out the area originally thought to be where the plane had come down.

Earlier this month, the relatives of missing passengers announced they were seeking to raise $5m (£3m) to offer as a reward to any "whistleblower" who can offer information leading to the discovery of the lost plane.

Many of the families believe there has been a cover-up and are hoping the money will tempt an insider to come forward.

The Boeing 777 is believed to have crashed in the southern Indian Ocean, but an extensive search has turned up no sign of wreckage so far, leaving families increasingly frustrated.

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Video: Toddler Tries To Stop Attack On Mother

Police are searching for a woman caught on video brutally beating a mother as the victim's child pleaded for her to stop.

The video, shot in a Salem, Massachusetts street, contains violent images.

"Police in this county deal with this type of violence every day. Yet, this video is physically sickening to watch," Salem Chief of Police John J Pelura III said.

Police have identified the attacker as Latia Harris

The video shows the 27-year-old victim being thrown to the ground, beaten repeatedly, kicked and spat on.

As the attack continues, the victim's two-year-old son urges the attacker to stop and kicks her legs.

The child is then threatened with a kick in the face.

The victim is left on the ground beaten.

Police chief Pelura said she was "disoriented, confused and bleeding from the face".

The attacker has been identified as Latia Harris, 25, but police have not apprehended her yet.

The suspect faces charges of aggravated assault and two counts of making terroristic threats, police chief Pelura said.

The video was shot by a bystander, reports said.

It is not clear what started the attack, which took place on a pathway through a grassy area near a McDonald's restaurant where police believe the suspect might have worked.

The attacker, using foul language, is heard saying something about possibly losing her job.

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Mouse-Like Creature Has 'Elephant's Trunk'

A mammal that looks like a mouse but has some of the characteristics of an elephant has been found scampering around an African desert.

Macroskeledies micas is a new species of elephant shrew with a long tail and small furry body but also a long, trunk-like nose.

Dr Galen Rathbun, of the California Academy of Sciences, told KPIX 5 News: "They're actually more closely related to elephants than they are to mice.

"Think about crossing a miniature antelope and an anteater."

Dr Rathbun came across the animal while walking through the desert in Namibia.

Dr Jack Dumbacher, curator of ornithology and mammalogy at the academy, said: "When we sequenced the DNA and looked at them a little more closely, we said, 'This thing is really different.'"

The creature eats termites and insects like an anteater and is unusual in that it is monogamous.

The species usually gives birth to twins or triplets, which are covered in fur and ready to run straight away.

Details of the research are due to be laid out in the Journal of Mammology.

The California Academy of Sciences scientists will return to Namibia in September to study the animal's habitat and how it survives in such harsh desert conditions.

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Cleric To 'Shake The Ground' Fighting Militants

Iraq's Shia cleric Moqtada al Sadr has warned his supporters will "shake the ground" fighting the Sunni insurgency sweeping through the country.

In a televised address, al Sadr also expressed opposition to US military advisors who are providing Iraqi commanders with tactical assistance to repel the Sunni militants that have overrun swathes of the country and reportedly killed more than 1,000 people.

Hundreds of Iraqi villagers have been fleeing insurgent incursions orchestrated by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) and have crowded at a checkpoint on the edge of the country's relatively safe Kurdish-controlled territory.

Three Iraqi military helicopters have reportedly landed at rebel-controlled Tikrit University and clashed with Islamist militants, according to a security source at the scene.

Al Sadr warned the US against meeting with Iraqi commanders

Iraq's beleaguered military were initially overcome by the ferocity of the insurgency that captured several strategic cities in Iraq, including Qaim, Rawa, Haditha and Ramadi.

Government forces have since recovered ground and repelled further assaults on other towns and infrastructure, although there are reports the offensive has been bolstered by Islamist rebels from Syria joining their counterparts in Iraq.

Al Sadr also called for "new faces" in a national unity government after elections in April saw Prime Minister Nuri al Maliki win with the most seats, although he failed to secure a majority.

But al Maliki warned he would not be sidelined by rivals seeking to use the insurgency and fragile state of the country to try to oust him. 

Mehdi Army women loyal to al Sadr parade in Baghdad

Such a move was "an attempt by those who are against the constitution to eliminate the young democratic process and steal the votes of the voters," he said.

US officials claimed Syria launched airstrikes on militant positions close to the Iraq-Syrian border near Qaim on Tuesday in an attempt to disrupt the militants who are fighting both the Syrian and Iraqi governments.

Syrian President Bashar al Assad has been locked in a bloody civil war with opposition groups since 2011.

Maliki reportedly confirmed the airstrikes, adding that Iraq did not request the raid but that it was "welcomed".

William Hague said 'polital unity' was the most important challenge

Some reports suggested the attacks were directed at militant positions in Iraq, while others claimed they hit sites in Syria.

The US has made concerted efforts to unite Iraq's fractious political leaders in the face of the offensive, although they have shown little sign of coming together.

Foreign Secretary William Hague has also arrived in Baghdad to meet political and community leaders to stress the importance of political unity. 

"The Iraqi state is facing an existential threat, with huge ramifications for the future stability and freedom of this country," he said.

"The single most important factor that will determine whether or not Iraq overcomes this challenge is political unity."

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Sao Paulo Drug Addicts Gripped By 'Cracklands'

By Alex Rossi, Senior Correspondent

Brazil's leading addiction expert has told Sky News a generation of young people are being lost to the country's growing crack epidemic.

Ronaldo Laranjeira said the problem with crack use has become so acute over the last decade it is like a war.

He claimed the latest research shows one-third of all users die within 12 years of getting hooked.

"We say they're like zombies because they've lost a lot of weight ... they've lost some of humanity," he said.

"That's why the crack can produce a sort of brain damage - if you use crack cocaine for years on end, the structure of your brain changes."

Former addict Desiree: 'In five seconds it goes to your mind'

Many of Brazil's cities now have places known as 'Cracolandias', or Cracklands.

They are open street markets where the highly addictive drug is bought and consumed.

Prince Harry is expected to visit one of the worst areas in the mega-city of Sao Paulo, as his tour of Brazil comes to an end.

He will tour the area with Mayor Fernando Haddad, who will explain how they have adopted a policy of providing housing, food and work for addicts in a bid to tackle the drug problem.

The Prince recently described how he was reduced to tears by the moving stories of young Brazilian children who had lost parents to drugs, violence or prison.

Ronaldo Laranjeira: 'They are like zombies. They have lost some humanity'

Sao Paulo's Cracolandia is dangerous and chaotic, with rambling users lighting-up openly under the gaze of the police who look intimidated.

Addict Bruna told Sky News there are often fights and people will commit murder for the cost of a hit of the drug.

Crack cocaine in such areas has effectively been decriminalised.

The problem is so big the best the authorities can do to contain it is to try and stop it spreading to other neighbourhoods.

Recovering addict Desiree, who has been clean for three years, said the crack epidemic is destroying parts of Brazil.

There are more than a million crack-cocaine users in Brazil

"You use it and in five seconds it goes to your mind and you need the drugs every time," she said.

"It's an epidemic in Brazil. It's terrible. When you look, it's a war."

There are more than one million users in Brazil - about 1% of the adult population - and the social cost of rising crime is enormous.

As the economy has grown, so too has the appetite for drugs.

Competition among the drug lords means prices are kept low and a user can stay high all day for just a few pounds.

Clarice Sandi Madrugo, a substance abuse researcher, said it is because of this that crack is so deadly.

"It's much easier to get crack than getting anything else and we're talking about a very addictive drug that's the cheapest in the world," he said.

"Brazil has the cheapest crack cocaine in the world."

Sao Paulo has set up a number of treatment centres to help addicts but in most cities there is little in the way of drug policy.

Experts claim it means Brazil's struggle with the crack cocaine addiction is likely to get worse before it gets better. 

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Twitter Introduces Ramadan 'Hashflags'

Twitter has introduced a set of "hashflags" for users observing the month-long religious festival of Ramadan or celebrating Eid.

Anyone tweeting #Ramadan or #Eid, in Arabic or English, will see a crescent moon or Arabic calligraphy icon respectively, next to the hashtags.

State-specific flags currently appear on Twitter when people tweet the names of countries as a hashtag.

Twitter users can also use the social network to find out when they can break their fast each day.

From Friday, anyone can tweet Arabic news channel al Arabiya to find out what time iftar - the evening meal when Muslims break their fast at sunset - occurs at.

Users just need to tweet the hashtag #iftar along with their location to be provided with a time.

The system also works to find the time of imsak, which is the breakfast meal before the beginning of each day's fast.

Twitter said: "This week, more than 1.5 billion Muslims around the world will observe the ninth month of the Islamic Calendar as Ramadan, the month of fasting.

"And they will also gather on Twitter to share their celebration. In fact, based on our research, people sent more than 74.2m tweets about Ramadan from around the world last year."

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Jailed Journalist Outraged Over 'Political' Trial

Al Jazeera journalist Peter Greste has revealed his "devastation and outrage" after being sentenced to seven years in an Egyptian prison.

Mr Greste, 48, and his colleague Mohamed Fadel Fahmy were convicted by a Cairo court on Monday of "spreading false news" about the Muslim Brotherhood. He had been in Egypt for just two weeks when he was arrested.

Producer Baher Mohamed was sentenced to 10 years in prison following a high-profile trial that was watched closely by news organisations around the world.

The verdict enraged fellow journalists and colleagues of Mr Greste who claimed the verdict was politically motivated.

"Throughout this trial, the prosecutor has consistently failed to present a single piece of concrete evidence to support the outrageous allegations against us," Mr Greste said in a statement posted on the Free Peter Greste Facebook page.

Mr Greste's trial was closely watched by news organisations worldwide

"At the same time our lawyers have highlighted countless procedural errors, irregularities and abuses of due process that should have had the entire case thrown out of court many times over.

"The verdict confirms that our trial was never simply about the charges against us… It has been an attempt to use the court to intimidate and silence critical voices in the media.

"That is why I know that our freedom, and more importantly the freedom of Egypt's press, will never come without noisy, sustained pressure from individuals, human rights groups, governments and anyone who understands the fundamental importance of a free press to Egypt's fledgling democracy."

Journalists around the world have come out in support of their colleagues

After their son was jailed, Mr Greste's parents described his sentence as "a slap in the face and a kick in the groin".

Lois and Juris Greste held an emotional news conference in Brisbane and said the family was in a state of shock and struggling to think straight in the wake of the sentencing.

"We're not usually a family of superlatives, but I have to say... my vocabulary fails to convey just how shattered we are," Juris Greste said.

Mr Greste's parents had said their family was in 'a state of shock'

Eleven of 20 defendants who stood trial were given 10-year sentences in their absence, including one Dutch journalist and two Britons, including Al Jazeera correspondent Sue Turton.

"We really believed the judge would recognise these were politically motivated charges," Ms Turton told Sky News.

"We don't understand what it is they're accusing us of. They're trying to stop anyone having an opinion that doesn't tally with the government's narrative."

Since the Egyptian army ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi last year, the country's authorities have been enraged by Al Jazeera's coverage of their deadly crackdown on his supporters.

They consider the satellite network to be the voice of Qatar, and accuse Doha of backing Morsi's Brotherhood, while the Emirate openly denounces the repression of the Islamist supporters.

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Suarez Bite Suspension: Uruguay FA To Appeal

Life And Times Of Luis Suarez: Factfile

Updated: 4:26pm UK, Thursday 26 June 2014

From humble origins the controversial Uruguayan has risen steadily up the football ladder to become one of the best players in the world.

1987: Born January 24 in Salto, Uruguay.

2005: Makes professional debut with Montevideo club Nacional, scoring 12 goals in 29 games in his one and only season in South America.

2006: Signs for Dutch side FC Groningen and fires 10 goals in 29 appearances for the club.

2007: February 8 - Makes debut for Uruguay against Colombia and is sent off in the 85th minute.

August - Joins Ajax in a deal reportedly worth 7.5m euros (£6m).

2010: May - Enjoys his most prolific season in Holland, with 35 goals in 33 Eredivisie matches.

June - Scores three goals to help Uruguay reach the World Cup quarter-finals but is then sent off for a goal-line handball against Ghana in the last eight. Ghana miss the resulting penalty before Uruguay go on to triumph in a shoot-out.

November - Banned for seven matches after being found guilty of biting PSV Eindhoven's Otman Bakkal.

2011: January 28 - Liverpool agree a deal worth up to £22.8m with Ajax for Suarez.

February 2 - Scores on his Liverpool debut in a 2-0 victory over Stoke at Anfield.

July - Scores four goals and is named player of the tournament as Uruguay win Copa America.

October 15 - Manchester United defender Patrice Evra claims Suarez racially abused him during the 1-1 draw between Liverpool and United.

November 17 - Suarez is charged by the Football Association with racially abusing Evra following a month-long investigation.

December 7 - Charged with improper conduct following a gesture to fans as he left the pitch following the 1-0 defeat at Fulham.

December 20 - The FA bans Suarez for eight matches and fines him £40,000 for the Evra incident. Liverpool issue a strongly-worded statement in defence of the player.

December 28 - Suarez banned for one match and fined £20,000 after admitting improper conduct charge relating to his gesture towards Fulham fans.

2012: February 11 - On his return to the first XI, refuses to shake Evra's hand before going on to score in Liverpool's 2-1 loss to Manchester United. Afterwards, Sir Alex Ferguson says he is "a disgrace to Liverpool Football Club", adding: "I would get rid of him if I were them."

February 12 - Apologises for his refusing to shake Evra's hand.

August 7 - Signs new long-term contract with Liverpool.

2013: April 21 - Bites Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic on the arm before going on to score equaliser in 2-2 draw at Anfield. Apologises for his "inexcusable behaviour" soon after the match.

April 22 - Fined by club and charged by the FA with violent conduct for Ivanovic incident. Pledges to donate money to Hillsborough Family Support Group. Managing director Ian Ayre issues statement saying the club want Suarez to see out his contract, which runs until summer 2016.

April 24 - Handed 10-game ban by an independent regulatory commission for biting Ivanovic, confirmed by the FA.

May 31 - Signals his intentions to leave Liverpool.

August 6 - Repeats his desire to leave after a bid from Arsenal of £40,000,001 is turned down. Made to train away from the first team.

August 14 - Returns to first-team training and apologies for trying to leave.

September 25 - Makes his return from suspension.

December 20 - After scoring 17 goals since his return, signs a new long-term contract with the Reds.

2014: April 20 - Scores the second goal in a 3-2 win over Norwich to become the first Liverpool player to score 30 league goals in a season since Ian Rush in

1987. April 27 - Wins the Professional Footballers' Association's Player of the Year award.

June 24 - Finds himself at the centre of further controversy, and the subject of Fifa disciplinary proceedings, when footage shows him appearing to bite Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini while playing for Uruguay in a World Cup Group D match.

June 26 - Fifa announces Suarez has been suspended for nine international matches and banned from all football activity for four months. He is also fined 100,000 Swiss francs (just under £66,000) for the incident.

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