Russia Threatens EU And US Flight Ban

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has said the country is considering a ban on flights from Europe and the US to Asia.

Speaking at a government meeting he said the "serious measure" of blocking Russian airspace was a response to sanctions that recently stopped Dobrolyot, one of Russia's low-cost airlines, from flying.

It comes as Mr Medvedev confirmed the country has banned transit flights for Ukrainian airlines via its territory.

If Russia goes ahead with the ban on Western airlines, passengers could see ticket prices rise because carriers would be forced to use more fuel to reach destinations using longer flight paths.

The move could hit major European airlines such as British Airways, Lufthansa and Air France, leaving them faced with multibillion-pound losses.

Mr Medvedev said a response to sanctions against Russia was needed

Meanwhile Russia announced further details of its sanctions on food and agricultural products from the West.

Mr Medvedev said an immediate ban has been put on fruit, vegetable, meat, fish, milk and dairy imports from the European Union, United States, Australia, Canada and Norway.

He said: "Until the last moment, we hoped that our foreign colleagues would understand that sanctions lead to a deadlock and no one needs them.

"But they didn't and the situation now requires us to take retaliatory measures."

He said the food ban would last for a year, but could be lifted earlier if the West reacted with a "constructive approach".

Responding to the decision, the European Commission warned it was ready "to take action".

In a statement it said: "This announcement is clearly politically motivated.

"Following full assessment by the Commission of the Russian Federation's measures, we reserve the right to take action as appropriate."

In 2013 the EU's agricultural exports to Russia were worth €11.8bn (£9.4bn), while the US says its food and agricultural exports amounted to $1.3bn (£77m).

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Khmer Rouge Leaders Sentenced To Life In Prison

Two Khmer Rouge leaders have been sentenced to life in jail for their part in the deaths of up to two milllion people in Cambodia.

The UN-backed tribunal's verdicts were announced against Khieu Samphan, 83, the Maoist regime's former head of state, and Nuon Chea, 88, who was leader Pol Pot's deputy.

The charges centred on the forced exodus of millions of people from Cambodia's cities into the countryside, where they were starved or worked to death.

The case also involved an execution site in the northwest where thousands of people were shot and buried in mass graves.

Nuon Chea (L) and Khieu Samphan remained impassive as they were sentenced

Nuon Chea, wearing his trademark sunglasses, sat in a wheelchair in the dock as the verdict was read in the capital Phnom Penh, while Khieu Samphan stood next to him.

A man whose father and siblings died during the regime cries outside court

Survivors of the brutal regime - which oversaw the torture and execution of tens of thousands of Khmer people - cried and applauded as they were jailed following the two-year trial.

Skulls at a memorial at the Killing Fields where thousands were butchered

"This is the justice that I have been waiting for these last 35 years," said 70-year-old survivor Khieu Pheatarak.

"I will never forget the suffering but this is a great relief for me. It is a victory and an historic day for all Cambodians."

Cambodian and international journalists watch the trial

She was among tens of thousands of Cambodians taken from their homes at gunpoint in 1975 by the Khmer Rouge's peasant army.

A woman holds a traditional Khmer scarf as she awaits the sentencing

They were forced into agricultural work in an attempt to create a totally self-sufficient and classless agrarian society.

The men's lawyers said they would appeal the verdict.

Torture instruments used by Khmer Rouge activists displayed at Tuol Sleng

"It is unjust for my client. He did not know or commit many of these crimes," Son Arun, a lawyer for Nuon Chea, told reporters.

Despite both defendants denying any knowledge of the Khmer Rouge's crimes, they both eventually expressed remorse for the suffering inflicted.

Former Khmer Rouge leader Ieng Sary died while facing trial

Survivors fear the ageing men will not live long enough to serve more than a year or two of their sentence.

Former foreign minister Ieng Sary died aged 87 last year while on trial on charges of genocide.

An undated photo of Pol Pot (left) with Ieng Sary (centre)

His wife Ieng Thirith was released in 2012 after it was ruled she was too ill to stand trial.

Pol Pot was arrested by former Khmer Rouge colleagues and sentenced to life under house arrest in 1997. He died a year later.

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Ukraine: Russia Troop Build-Up Invasion Fear

Russia has built up the number of combat ready troops on the Ukrainian border to 20,000, according to Nato.

Officials fear the troop movements are a precursor to an invasion, which could be carried out under the pretext of a humanitarian or peacekeeping mission.

It comes as Russia bans beef, pork, fruit and vegetable produce, poultry, fish, cheese, milk and dairy imports from the EU, US, Australia, Norway and Canada. The move is a response to sanctions against Russia.

Fighting has continued in eastern Ukraine, where some 1,300 people have been killed since April, according to the United Nations.

The rebel leadership in the city of Horlivka, about 22 miles (35km) north of Donetsk, said 33 civilians had been killed and 129 wounded by shelling over the past few days.

The Ukrainian military said 18 of its soldiers had been killed and 54 injured in fighting over the past 24 hours, the highest number killed or injured in weeks.

Refugees fleeing fighting in south eastern Ukraine take shelter in Donetsk

It was also accused of carrying out its first airstrike on the rebel stronghold of Donetsk, as Ukraine said it was getting ready to recapture the city. 

Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk said: "The threat of a direct intervention (by Russia into Ukraine) is certainly greater than it was even a few days ago."

Nato spokeswoman Oana Lungescu added: "This is a dangerous situation."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to use his influence with the rebels to help stabilise the country.

Moscow said making claims about the movement of its troops was like "selling soap bubbles".

Russian defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenikov said: "Movements of such forces of thousands of troops and equipment are not possible in such a short time."

Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen is visiting Ukraine to hold talks with President Petro Poroshenko.

A man inspects damage after what Donetsk locals described as an 'airstrike'

Many EU nations and US politicians blame Russia for the continued escalation of fighting in Ukraine, which resulted in Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 being shot down.

Since the jet was shot down, the EU, US and some other Western nations have engaged in a tit for tat exchange of sanctions with Russia.

Ukraine has made major military advances during the last month and says Donetsk has now almost been cut off from the Russian border and the second rebel stronghold of Luhansk.

More than 285,000 people have fled their homes in the last few months because of the fighting, according to the UN refugee agency UNHCR.

Luhansk is said to be without power, running water, phone connections or fuel, while food supplies have been running low.

Meanwhile, investigators working on the MH17 crash site were forced to suspend their work on Wednesday due to shooting in the area.

Australia's Prime Minister Tony Abbott vowed that those responsible for shooting down the Malaysian airliner and killing all 298 people on board would be brought to justice.

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Thailand Surrogacy Raid Uncovers Nine Babies

Police have found nine babies in a Bangkok apartment, fuelling concerns about Thailand's surrogacy industry.

A Japanese millionaire is reportedly the father of the youngsters, who are believed to have been born to Thai surrogate mothers.

Officers who raided the luxury home also found nine nannies and a pregnant woman who claimed to be a surrogate mother, according to reports in Thailand.

It follows a scandal that erupted after an anonymous Australian couple were accused of abandoning a baby boy with Down's syndrome, while taking home his twin sister.

Seven-month-old Gammy, who also suffers from a life-threatening heart condition, was left with his impoverished Thai surrogate mother Pattharamon Janbua, 21.

There were no documents found with the nine children, who are thought to be between two weeks and two years old.

Gammy with his surrogate mother Pattharamon Janbua

Thai authorities said they will carry out DNA tests to determine who their biological fathers and mothers are.

The nannies told police they were paid the equivalent of £180 a month to look after the children.

Surrogacy is illegal in Thailand - unless it is with a relative - and offering money to carry a baby is also prohibited.

But following worldwide publicity of Gammy's case, Thai authorities have vowed to increase punishments and close loopholes which they say are being exploited by foreigners seeking Thai surrogates.

Meanwhile, Australian child protection officials have finally contacted the couple accused of abandoning Gammy after visits to their home in Bunbury, south of Perth, went unanswered.

They would not comment on the nature of the discussions with the pair, who cannot be named for legal reasons, or the welfare of Gammy's twin sister.

It came after it was reported the 56-year-old father is a convicted paedophile.

He was jailed in the 1990s of 22 child sex abuse charges involving girls as young as seven, ABC said.

Ms Pattharamon said she wanted to take back Gammy's twin sister if the allegations are true.

More than 6,000 people around the world have so far given more than £140,000 to a website set up to help Ms Pattharamon who says she is unable to afford Gammy's medical bills.

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France Calls For Urgent UN Meeting Over Iraq

Iraqis Suffer In Nineveh As World Watches Gaza

Updated: 4:40pm UK, Wednesday 06 August 2014

By Sam Kiley, Foreign Affairs Editor

An ancient landscape that was once the envy, perhaps the centre, of the civilised world.

Now a desert hell for hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, Nineveh faces a religious pogrom while the eyes of the outside world are fixed on Gaza.

In the past week the self-styled Islamic State, which captured Nineveh a few weeks ago from Iraq's army, has attacked the heartland of the Yezidis.

This religious movement has roots that predate Christianity, Islam and Judaism.

Its community is a living tie to the global past of monotheism with a theological tradition that incorporates Zoroastrianism, Judaism, and paganism.

Now some 300,000 - the core population - are reported to be under pressure from the IS to leave their villages near Mosul or face death.

They have joined tens of thousands of Christians from Nineveh's capital and surroundings who were given the choice to convert to Islam or die.

Now 50,000 are reported to be starving in the nearby mountains.

The reported exodus of Yezidis came as the IS launched an offensive aimed at driving Kurdish forces from the neighbouring semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan, from the area.

Kurdish officials are reporting that tens of thousands of ethnic Kurd Yezidis have fled into the mountains of the region and are trying desperately to reach safety behind Peshmerga lines.

The Iraqi central government has sent aircraft to support the Peshmerga to recapture the Sinjar Mountain area.

The Kurds have claimed success but there has been no independent verification of the claim.

What is less in doubt is the cultural vandalism that the IS has unleashed in the region.

Nabi Yunis, an ancient tomb said to be that of the Old Testament's Jonah, has been reduced to rubble.

An architectural gem, it was an important shrine for Muslims, Christians and Jews and sat on top of a mount that experts believe was probably an Assyrian temple before it became a Zoroastrian temple, a church, and later a mosque.

The Sunni extremist fighters have removed or destroyed more than a dozen tombs, statues, mosques and shrines.

Nabi Yunis was wired with explosives and blown to dust by IS which is emulating the Taliban's destruction of ancient monuments in Bamiyan Province.

But IS has gone to a different level. The Taliban did not attack religious shrines that did not show representations of the human form not tear down Sufi monuments.

IS has introduced a regime of total religious intolerance and even, reportedly, ordered that all women in the regions under its control submit to Female Genital Mutilation - a practice that is almost unknown in northern Iraq but has been imported from outside.

The spokesperson for the Yezidi Spiritual Movement, Hadi Babasheikh, told Rudaw, a Kurdish news agency, that the situation of the Yezidis "is getting worse and worse".

Many Yezidi women have been taken hostage and sexually abused by the Islamic militants, he added.

Mr Babasheikh said he had met the US and British consuls in Erbil on Monday, urging them to come to the rescue of his community.

The Kurdish administration has, meanwhile, been appealing for donations of modern weapons to combat those stolen by IS from the Iraqi army when it collapsed.

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WHO Under Pressure To Support New Ebola Drug

Ebola Cure 'A Long Way Off': Facts About Virus

Updated: 12:08am UK, Thursday 07 August 2014

A cure for the deadly ebola virus, which has killed hundreds of people in West Africa, is "a very long way off", an expert has told Sky News.

David Evans, a professor of virology at Warwick University, said ebola is the latest disease to be transmitted "very efficiently" because of international travel.

More than 670 people in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and Nigeria have fallen victim to the viral illness, which has a fatality rate of up to 90%.

Those with ebola will often be overcome by a sudden onset of fever, as well as weakness, muscle pain and headaches.

The body is then gripped by vomiting, diarrhoea, rashes, kidney and liver problems and bleeding.

The time between infection and symptoms appearing is anything from two days to three weeks.

Ebola is spread through the direct contact with the blood, organs or other bodily fluids of those infected.

The liquid that bathes the eye and semen can transmit the disease, Prof Evans said.

Horseshoe bats are believed to be the natural host of the viral disease, he said.

"These bats transmit the virus between themselves, but periodically it then ends up in probably primates or other types of bushmeat which are then hunted by villagers and the virus is then transmitted from the sick animals to humans," he said.

Transmission has also been documented through the handling of chimpanzees, gorillas and porcupines.

One of the reasons for the disease's rapid spread is a tradition at burial ceremonies for mourners to have direct contact with the body of the deceased.

"Therefore barrier methods that prevent that direct contact, including things like washing of hands and things like that provide a reasonable level of protection," he said.

Healthcare workers treating patients are particularly at risk.

Public Health England said in a risk assessment published earlier this month said that the current outbreak could increase the risk for Britons working in humanitarian and healthcare delivery.

But the threat to tourists, visitors and expatriates is still considered "very low if elementary precautions are followed".

Prof Evans said there had been "periodic outbreaks" of ebola since the first recorded instances in 1976, but this is the deadliest so far.

There were two simultaneous outbreaks in Nzara, Sudan and Yambuku, a village in the Democratic Republic of Congo located near the Ebola River.

Data from the World Health Organisation shows the previous deadliest outbreak was the one in the DRC, when 280 out of 315 people infected died.

In the same country in 1995 another outbreak claimed 254 lives, with 315 patients infected.

In 2000, there were 425 cases in Uganda and 224 people died.

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Pistorius 'Armed Himself And Planned To Kill'

The man prosecuting Oscar Pistorius has summed up his case by insisting the athlete committed premeditated murder involving a "deliberate weighing up of actions".

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel said the athlete acted with intention when he fired four shots through a toilet door at home, fatally wounding his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

Ms Steenkamp was shot dead in February 2013

"We argue there was no reasonable reason as to why he fired four shots," said Mr Nel. "If you fire four shots into a small cubicle with 'black talon' ammunition, you cannot escape that.

"He never said to anybody that it was an accident. That he fired by mistake.

"We put it to the court that he followed the sound when he fired the first shot and heard her fall onto the toilet, he then angled the following shots that way. They were all angled at the toilet.

"If the accused argues that it was in self-defence, then he needs to explain why. What we have and what the court cannot lose sight of is, we have the accused armed."

Mr Nel explained how the pair exchanged messages, proving their romance had "ups and downs" and added: "10% of the messages suggested she was unhappy. And seven days later she was dead."

The athlete's lawyers were accused by Mr Nel of presenting a dishonest defence.

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel accused Pistorius of being a 'deceitful' witness

He said Pistorius' defence team argued the athlete acted in self-defence as he feared an intruder was in his house, but also suggested he shot Ms Steenkamp on Valentine's Day last year because he was "startled".

"It's two defences you can never reconcile," said Mr Nel, who went on to accuse the runner of being an "appalling, vague" and "deceitful" witness.

Pistorius was "more interested in defending his life" than the truth, Mr Nel said.

Mr Nel used Pistorius' career as an athlete as a metaphor for the trial, which the prosecution suggested was like a race with Pistorius holding the "baton of truth".

As Mr Nel summed up some 100 pages of evidence submitted to the court last week, Pistorious occasionally shook his head in disagreement and held his head in his hands.

Sky's Alex Crawford, reporting from the court in Pretoria, said: "It was like watching flashbacks from a horror film. Gerrie Nel picked up what he believed to be (Pistorius') most devastating moments in court.

"He drew a very ugly picture of Oscar Pistorius, the man and the personality."

Reeva's parents June and Barry Steenkamp listen to the hearing

Prosecution and defence lawyers will sum up their cases over the next two days before judge Thokozile Matilda Masipa reaches her verdict, expected in around two weeks' time.

Pistorius, 27, faces at least 25 years in prison if found guilty of premeditated murder. He could also be convicted on lesser charges, such as culpable homicide or murder without premeditation.

The prosecution says Pistorius intentionally shot Ms Steenkamp in anger after they quarrelled. His defence insists he fired by mistake, thinking an intruder was in the toilet and that Ms Steenkamp was in the bedroom.

Ms Steenkamp's parents have been in court for the closing speeches at the hearing, which resumed on Thursday after being put on hold last month.

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Oscar Pistorius Detective Told 'Blatant Lies'

The former lead detective in the Oscar Pistorius investigation told "blatant lies" to incriminate the Paralympic champion, a court has heard.

The athlete's lawyer Barry Roux made the claim against Hilton Botha as he gave the defence's closing arguments in the murder trial.

He was responding to prosecutor Gerrie Nel, who earlier told the court Pistorius intended to kill when he shot his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

Mr Botha resigned from the investigation after it emerged he was facing charges of manslaughter in another case.

He was also criticised for giving contradictory evidence at Pistorius' bail hearing.

Mr Roux noted that evidence at the scene had been moved around by investigators, calling it "unintentional tempering", rather than a conspiracy.

Pistorius is accused of murdering Ms Steenkamp at his home in Pretoria on Valentine's Day last year.

He shot her four times through a locked toilet door where she was taking refuge after a heated argument.

The double-amputee athlete claims he killed her by accident after mistaking her for an intruder hiding behind the door.

If found guilty of premeditated murder, he could face life in prison.

A potential lesser charge of culpable homicide could carry a sentence of 15 years.

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Ebola Outbreak: First Case Treated In Europe

A Spanish missionary priest infected with ebola has become the first person to be treated in Europe during the deadly outbreak which has hit West Africa.

Miguel Pajares, who contracted it while helping ebola patients at a hospital in the Liberian capital Monrovia, is in hospital in Madrid after being flown in from Liberia.

The disease has killed at least 932 people in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria since it first emerged in remote tropical forests earlier this year.

A specially equipped military Airbus A310 brought Mr Pajares, 75, to the Torrejon airbase along with a Spanish nun, Juliana Bonoha Bohe.

Doctors at the Torrejon airbase

She had worked at the same Liberian hospital but did not test positive for ebola.

Immediately after landing, ambulances took the pair to Carlos III Hospital, which specialises in tropical diseases, and they were kept in isolation.

The priest was stable and showed no sign of bleeding while the nun appeared to be well but would be re-tested for ebola just in case, health officials said.

Miguel Pajares was taken by ambulance to hospital

Meanwhile, a state of emergency has been declared in Liberia where bodies lay in streets, with passers-by too scared to touch or help them.

In Sierra Leone, troops were sent to guard hospitals and clinics handling ebola cases.

Bodies lay in Liberian streets with passers-by too scared to touch them

Two Americans who worked for Christian aid agencies in Liberia and were infected with ebola while taking care of patients in Monrovia were recently flown to the US for treatment.

They have shown signs of improvement after being given an experimental US-developed drug known as ZMapp, which is hard to produce on a large scale.

The priest and nun have been transported to Carlos III hospital in Madrid

Nigeria is holding out hope that it could receive ZMapp - a drug which is proving controversial as it not being made available to victims in Africa.

There is growing pressure on the World Health Organisation to sanction the use of such drugs in Africa.

But US President Barack Obama said it was too soon to send ZMapp to the continent, adding: "We've got to let the science guide us."

He said: "I don't think all the information is in on whether this drug is helpful. What we do know is that the ebola virus - both currently and in the past - is controllable if you have strong public health infrastructure in place."

Ebola - which has a mortality rate of up to 90% - cannot spread through airborne or waterborne methods, say experts.

It is transmitted primarily through contact with bodily fluids such as saliva, blood, urine and other secretions.

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Russia Extends Snowden Asylum By Three Years

US National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden has been granted permission to stay in Russia for three more years, according to his lawyer.

The American was last year granted temporary asylum of 12 months in Russia, but that ran out at the beginning of this month.

The former NSA systems analyst has not been granted political asylum, his lawyer Analtoly Kucherena told Russian news agencies.

It is not clear if Mr Snowden is applying for such status, which would allow him to stay in the country indefinitely.

The document granted by Russia

He faces espionage charges in the US that carry a sentence of up to 30 years.

This week it was reported that Mr Snowden marked one year of asylum in Russia by visiting the historic Bolshoi Theatre.

In a rare public appearance, the American was photographed smiling as he watched the Tsar's Bride opera.

Mr Snowden fled to Hong Kong and then Moscow last year after he leaked extensive details about US electronic surveillance programmes.

Since receiving temporary asylum, his whereabouts have not been made public.

He said in a television interview in May: "If I could go anywhere in the world, that place would be home."

Mr Snowden marked a year of asylum by visiting the historic Bolshoi Theatre

Mr Snowden, who reportedly took 1.7m digital documents, has continued to leak the material.

Mr Kucherena said his client is working as "a high-class IT specialist" in an unspecified sector under the protection of private guards.

"He leads a rather modest lifestyle, but nevertheless we proceed from the tone of statements that come from the US State Department and other political figures," said the lawyer.

"The security issue should not be treated as a secondary one."

A papier mache Snowden figure on a German carnival float

Mr Kucherena was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying that he is writing a novel based partly on the Snowden case.

US film director Oliver Stone has bought the rights to the book, according to Mr Kucherena.

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