John Lennon's Killer Sorry For Being 'An Idiot'

The man imprisoned for killing John Lennon has apologised for being "an idiot" in his pursuit of notoriety nearly 34 years ago.

In a transcript from a parole hearing last week Mark David Chapman said he still gets letters about the pain he caused by murdering the ex-Beatle in 1980.

"I am sorry for causing that type of pain. I am sorry for being such an idiot and choosing the wrong way for glory," he said at his eighth parole board hearing.

In again denying his release, the three-member panel said it would "so deprecate the serious nature of the crime as to undermine respect for the law".

Chapman fired five shots on December 8 outside the Dakota apartment house where Lennon lived on Manhattan's Upper West Side, striking him four times.

Lennon with his wife Yoko Ono

After pleading guilty to second-degree murder, Chapman was sentenced in 1981 to 20 years to life in prison.

Last week, he told the parole board members that he would understand if they denied him release based solely on the number of people he hurt.

"Many, many people loved him. He was a great and talented man and they are still hurting," Chapman, 59, said.

"I get letters so that's a major factor. It's not a regular crime."

Chapman, who is at the Wende Correctional Facility, east of Buffalo, can try again for release in two years.

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Platini Will Not Take On Blatter For Fifa Job

Platini Plays It Safe On Long Road To Zurich

Updated: 2:53pm UK, Thursday 28 August 2014

Michel Platini's decision to duck a contest with Sepp Blatter will disappoint those desperate to see a credible challenge to the Fifa president in next year's election.

Platini still counts himself among their number, but in a meeting with the heads of Europe's 54 national federations in Monaco he made it clear he is not willing to gamble his reputation or his political future in a race with Blatter.

Fifa has been mired in scandal throughout Blatter's 16-year tenure as president, latterly with a series of corruption allegations around the awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar.

As Fifa's reputation has become more toxic, frustration in Europe has grown, particularly as Blatter promised in 2011 that this would be his last term.

Anger bubbled over before the World Cup in Brazil, when Platini and a number of European football leaders, FA chairman Greg Dyke among them, told the Swiss his time was up.

Platini said he could no longer support Blatter, while Dutch FA president Michael van Praag spoke for many when he said Fifa could not be credible with Blatter at the helm.

With Europe anxious for change, the way was clear for Platini to stand as the most credible opponent.

But after a summer of reflection he has opted out.

Platini said he had not been able to convince himself to run, and will instead seek re-election for a third term as head of Uefa next year.

As incumbent leaders often do, he claimed to have unfinished business, and pledged himself to the cause of European football.

Some will suspect the Frenchman lacks the courage of his convictions.

He said on Thursday he hopes someone will oppose Blatter, just not him, even though he insisted he could beat the Swiss.

He will certainly have an easier life steering Uefa's steady ship. And whatever the motivation, Platini is also bowing to the electoral reality of a race he almost certainly cannot win.

Uefa may control 25% of the votes in Fifa but most of the rest are already pledged to Blatter.

In Brazil the Fifa president received support from all five of the other continental federations before he visited Uefa.

With the odds against him perhaps Platini cannot be blamed for keeping his powder dry for a run at Fifa in 2019, when surely even the indefatigable Blatter, 78, will have had enough.

With Platini out of the running the search for an alternative is likely to be brief and futile.

Van Praag is considering a possible run, but without Platini's profile it would be a largely symbolic gesture.

Former Blatter advisor Jerome Champagne has said he will run, but concedes he has no chance of beating Blatter, and may not even get a nomination.

That leaves the prospect of Blatter standing unopposed for a second successive time. It is a spectacle that is unlikely to do much to restore Fifa's reputation.

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Israel 'Did Not Accept Any Hamas Demands'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has brushed off critics of the Gaza ceasefire, saying "Hamas was hit hard".

The premier has been under pressure after agreeing a truce with the Palestinians following a 50-day war which has left some of the Palestinian territory in ruins.

In a speech on Wednesday night, he said the military campaign had dealt a heavy blow to Hamas and a ceasefire deal had provided the militant organisation with no concessions.

The operation in Gaza had resulted in "great military and diplomatic achievements", he claimed, adding that Israel "didn't agree to accept any of Hamas' demands".

His comments came after Hamas declared victory in the seven week conflict, which saw hundreds of rockets sent into Israel and, according the Gaza's health ministry, left more than 2,100 Palestinians dead.

The armed wing of Hamas' at a rally following their declaration of victory

On the Israeli side, 70 people were killed. All but six were soldiers.

Abu Obeida, a spokesman for the Hamas' military wing, said: "Gaza achieved victory because it has done what major armies failed to do. It forced the enemy to retreat.

"We must know that no voice is louder than the voice of the resistance."

Mr Obeida said that his organisation had crushed Israel's ego after it was denied any strategic gains.

He also claimed that Hamas had proved that negotiation alone was not sufficient as Israel only understood the language of force and the only road to the liberation of Jerusalem was via resistance.

Israelis remember the last victim killed by a mortar before the ceasefire

"There is no room for those Arabs who favour surrender. Our message must be one of strength," he said.

The open-ended ceasefire appeared to be holding, raising hopes it would eventually lead to a peace deal.

Thousands of people went on to the streets of Gaza to celebrate the truce, which was brokered in Egypt and came into effect at 4pm GMT on Tuesday.

The terms allow for an easing of Israel's blockade of Gaza to allow humanitarian aid and construction goods to enter for the rebuilding of the territory. Any goods taken in must do so under international supervision.

Demands that Hamas regards as important will only be addressed next month in Cairo.

A young girl joins the 'victory' celebrations at a Hamas rally in Gaza

Hamas wants a complete end to the Israeli blockade, which will include the reopening of Gaza's sea and airport.

It also wants Egypt to reopen the border crossing at Rafah. Israel, meanwhile, wants Hamas to be fully disarmed.

Mr Netanyahu said Israel "will not tolerate" any more rocket fire, and if the attacks resume, "we will respond even harder."

Israel carried out thousands of airstrikes and sent its troops into Gaza to attack Hamas targets. It also destroyed several tunnels it said led from Gaza into its territory.

Israel said that Hamas was responsible for the deaths of Palestinian civilians, claiming that the militants used flat blocks, mosques and schools to launch or store their weapons.

An estimated 100,000 people were left homeless by the Israel airstrikes. Several homes were also damaged and destroyed in Israel by militant attacks from Gaza.

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Jiff The Pomeranian Is Fastest Dog On Two Legs

A talented dog has a new reason to wag his tail after setting two world records for walking on its hind legs and front paws.

Jiff the Pomeranian from Los Angeles, California, practises his crowd-pleasing stunts every day.

Yes, but can you sit? Pic: Guinness World Records

Now the pet has set a new record for the fastest 10 metres on hind legs (6.56 seconds) and the fastest five metres on front paws (7.76 seconds), according to Guinness World Records. 

The pooch prodigy is also able to shake hands, bow, skateboard and even stamp autographs.

Now you're just showing off Pic: Guinness World Records

Jiff's bipedal shenanigans have won him a legion of followers on social media.

The four-year-old canine has even starred in a Katy Perry music video.

After all those antics he must be dog-tired.

The deft doggy looks like one of the cuddly toys in the background

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Cops Kill TV Crew Member During Robbery

A crew member with the long-running TV show Cops has been shot dead by police while recording officers trying to foil a robbery.

Sound operator Bryce Dion, 38, died from a gunshot wound when police opened fire, hitting him by mistake.

The robbery suspect, 32-year-old Cortez Washington, was also shot dead by police.

The incident began when a police officer responded to a request for back up at a Wendy's store in Omaha, Nebraska.

Two Cops crew members were with the officer, and accompanied police as they entered the restaurant.

As police confronted the suspect, Mr Dion, who was wearing a bullet-proof vest, became separated from his cameraman.

Officers then fired upon Washington as he fled the restaurant. He collapsed and died of his injuries.

Police later discovered that Washington was armed with a pellet gun, which officers thought was a real handgun.

The robbery suspect, Cortez Washington, was also shot dead by police

Police Chief Todd Schmaderer told a press conference that during the gunfight, a single bullet also struck Mr Dion's arm, "slipped into a gap in the vest" and went into his chest.

Mr Schmaderer defended the actions of police, saying his officers reacted properly.

"My concern with my officers is that they are taking this very hard. Bryce was their friend," he said.

Cops is a Fox reality TV programme which shows law enforcement officers in action. It has been filmed in at least 140 US cities.

The executive producer of Langley Productions, which carries out work for the show, said the crew only had one week of filming left when the shooting occurred.

"Bryce has been with us for seven years. This is very hard for us," said Morgan Langley.

In 2010, a TV crew for the reality show The First 48 filmed a Detroit police raid in which a seven-year-old girl was accidentally killed by police.

The incident highlighted concerns about whether TV cameras influence the behaviour of police by encouraging showboating.

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Qantas Posts Worst Annual Loss Of £1.6bn

Qantas has posted a record annual loss of A$2.84 (£1.6bn) but says clearer skies lie ahead thanks to a change in Australian law.

The Australian flag carrier's dive into the red was the result of a huge writedown on the value of its ageing international fleet - blamed on currency movements.

Aggressive cost-cutting measures, which landed the airline with big redundancy bills, also hit the bottom line.

They were a result of a recovery plan announced in February which led to 5,000 job losses, routes being cut and new aircraft deliveries being deferred.

But the airline, which has also been battling record fuel costs and fierce competition from subsidised rivals, said it believed the worst was now behind it and it expected to return to profit in its current financial year.

Qantas wants to invest in more new planes

It cited a cure to its biggest headache, with Australian law soon allowing an opening of the door to greater foreign investment in its international arm - a division which is to be split from its domestic business.

Qantas, whose main domestic rival Virgin Australia is majority-owned by state-backed Singapore Airlines, Air New Zealand and Etihad, regularly complained that the 1992 Qantas Sales Act restricted its access to capital.

The airline said the amendment to ownership legislation would allow it to expand its interests and invest in new planes, partly through its partnership with Emirates.

Qantas boss Alan Joyce sees a brighter future ahead

The positive outlook gave the airline's shares their largest one-day percentage gain in a year.

Chief executive Alan Joyce said: "There is no doubt today's numbers are confronting, but they represent the year that is past.

"We have now come through the worst. With our accelerated Qantas Transformation programme we are already emerging as a leaner, more focused and more sustainable Qantas Group.

"There is a clear and significant easing of both international and domestic capacity growth, which will stabilise the revenue environment."

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China Furious As Japan's PM Makes War Tribute

The Japanese Prime Minister is facing condemnation from his Asian neighbours after he described more than 1,000 war criminals as "martyrs".

Shinzo Abe praised the contributions of those detained during World War Two in a note sent to a little-known memorial service.

He wrote: "I humbly express my deepest sympathy for the martyrs… who sacrificed their souls to become the foundation of peace and prosperity in Japan today."

The note has prompted an angry response from China and South Korea.

Both countries have accused the politician of showing no remorse for the wartime aggression seen from Tokyo during WWII.

They are calling on him to "make a clean break with militarism".

Shinzo Abe has been accused of having a 'revisionist' attitude towards WWII

Qin Gang, a spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry, said: "We urge Japan to reflect on the invasion and take action to win the trust of the international community."

Meanwhile, South Korea's Foreign Ministry claimed that Mr Abe's message of condolence had made them question the sincerity of Tokyo's apology over WWII.

Many of the Asian nations which felt the brunt of Japanese militarism during the early 20th century see honouring war criminals as proof that there is no remorse.

Before news of Mr Abe's message emerged, Japan's relationship with China and South Korea was already strained.

Last December, Mr Abe was criticised for praying at the Yasukuni Shrine, which pays tribute to 2.5 million Japanese war dead, and 14 "Class A" war criminals.

As a result, the Prime Minister is yet to chair bilateral conferences with fellow leaders in the region - even though he has been in office for 20 months.

Yoshihide Suga, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary, has insisted Mr Abe sent his controversial message in his capacity as party leader, but not as Prime Minister.

Japan has formally accepted the convictions for the "Class A" criminals, as decided by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East after the war.

But Mr Abe has insisted that the judgement does not apply under Japanese law.

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Ebola Outbreak Could Infect 20,000 People

More than 20,000 people could become infected with the deadly ebola virus, the World Health Organisation has said.

The UN health agency warned the actual number of current ebola cases in hard-hit areas could be 12,000 - four times higher than the number confirmed at present.

In what amounted to be a bleak assessment of the disease, the WHO said it believed the virus was still being spread in a "substantial number of localities" and added that "the outbreak continues to accelerate".

It also expressed concern at the unprecedented number of health workers who have died after treating patients in West African countries including Liberia, Guinea, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.

The WHO's assistant director-general, Dr Bruce Aylward, said: "This far outstrips any historic ebola outbreak in numbers, as the largest outbreak in the past was about 400 cases.

The outbreak has put immense strain on medical resources in West Africa

"What we are seeing today, in contrast to previous ebola outbreaks, are multiple hotspots within these countries - not a single, remote forested area, the kind of environments that have been tackled in the past. And then not multiple hotspots within one country, but international disease."

Of the 3,069 cases reported since the outbreak began, 40% of them have emerged in the past three weeks, according to the latest figures.

Its update on the outbreak came shortly after GlaxoSmithKline announced it was forming a new consortium to accelerate development of a vaccine to treat ebola.

Developed in partnership with the US National Institute of Health, it is set to be tested on healthy human volunteers within the next couple of weeks to see if it is safe and effective.

As the trials take place, the pharmaceuticals giant is set to manufacture 10,000 extra doses of the vaccine which can be used by the WHO if the clinical tests are successful.

William Pooley, a health worker, was the first Briton to contract ebola

Speaking in Geneva, the agency said it hopes to stop the spread of ebola across West Africa in the next six to nine months, with a particular focus on ensuring the virus doesn't spread internationally.

Dr Aylward said its plan will cost £300m to implement, with 12,750 health workers needed around the globe to tend to patients.

"Response activities must be adapted in areas of very intense transmission and particular attention must be given to stopping transmission in capital cities and major ports, thereby facilitating the larger response and relief effort," he added.

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Ukraine: Russian Tanks 'Enter' The Country

A senior Ukrainian official has said two columns of Russian tanks and military vehicles fired at a border post, before entering the southeast of the country.

The comments by Col. Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for Ukraine's National Security Council, followed Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's assertion that Russian forces had "entered" the country.

It is reported the tanks moved into an area of the eastern Donetsk region which was seized by the separatists for the first time earlier this week.

They now control the southeastern town of Novoazovsk and have threatened to take the strategic port city of Mariupol, marking a new front in the conflict which has claimed more than 2,100 lives since April. 

According to the Interfax news agency, Mr Poroshenko said Russian troops had come "to the rescue" of pro-Moscow separatists battling Ukrainian forces.

A Nato official, meanwhile, said at least 1,000 Russian troops had entered Ukraine with sophisticated equipment and had been in "direct contact" with Ukrainian forces resulting in casualties.

The reports support claims from the West and Kiev that Russia is operating in the east of the country.

Satellite image provided by the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe

Ukraine's Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of having "deliberately unleashed a war in Europe".

In a statement, Prime Minister David Cameron said he is "extremely concerned by mounting evidence that Russian troops have made large-scale incursions into southeastern Ukraine, completely disregarding the sovereignty of a neighbour.

"The international community has already warned Russia that such provocative actions would be completely unacceptable and illegal."

He called on Russia to immediately cease all military activity in Ukraine or face "further consequences."

A Ukrainian serviceman exchanges fire with rebels

Moscow has consistently denied arming the rebels and sending troops across the border.

Responding to the latest allegations, the Defence Ministry said reports of the presence of Russian military vehicles in Ukraine bore "no relation to reality."

The UN Security Council is to hold an emergency meeting to discuss the crisis today, while Nato is due to hold a separate emergency meeting on Friday.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said an EU summit on Saturday would discuss the prospect of further sanctions on Russia in light of the latest reports and has demanded an explanation. 

Russian paratroopers captured in Ukraine on Monday

French President Francois Hollande has said it would be "intolerable and unacceptable" Russian forces they were involved in any fighting.

Mr Poroshenko has cancelled a working trip to Turkey and called an emergency meeting of Ukraine's security and defence council.

Earlier the defence council said Ukrainian government forces had withdrawn from Novoazovsk "to save their lives" and were now reinforcing troops in the port city of Mariupol.

On Wednesday a top rebel leader, Alexander Zakharchenko, admitted Russian troops were fighting alongside his insurgents, but said they were on "holiday" after volunteering to join the battle.

Mr Putin and Mr Poroshenko at the talks in Minsk on Tuesday

Zakharchenko, prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, told Reuters there were about 3,000 Russian volunteers serving in the rebel ranks.

The spiralling tensions come two days after Mr Poroshenko and Mr Putin held their first talks in three months and agreed to work towards launching a peace process.

The day before Ukraine captured 10 Russian paratroopers around Amvrosiivka, a town about 12 miles (20km) from the border with Russia.

The Russian stock market dived on Thursday amid fears grew the country was escalating its role in the five-month conflict, with the MICEX index dropping nearly two percent.

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IS Fighters 'Executed' 250 Syrian Soldiers

IS fighters say they have "executed" 250 Syrian soldiers, as President Barack Obama prepares to hold crisis talks with his security aides.

The soldiers were captured at the weekend when the Sunni militant group seized an air base in the province of Raqqa, in northern Syria.

The Reuters news agency said a video posted on YouTube on Thursday and purportedly showing dozens of bodies was confirmed as genuine by an Islamic State fighter.

In Washington, the White House said Mr Obama was due to meet with Vice President Joe Biden and members of his National Security Council.

The meeting will take place at 4pm local time (9pm UK time) in the White House Situation Room.

The video appears to show the men being made to march in their underwear

The video shows the bodies of scores of men wearing nothing but their underwear lying face down.

The line of bodies appears to be dozens of metres long.

A caption written underneath says: "The 250 shabeeha taken captive by the Islamic State from Tabqa in Raqqa have been executed."

Shabeeha is the name of armed militia forces loyal to President Bashar al Assad. Tabqa is the location of the Syrian airbase that has been captured by IS in the last few days.

An Islamic State fighter in the Syrian city of Raqqa who spoke to Reuters over the internet said: "Yes we have executed them all."

Head of the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights later confirmed that Syrian soldiers had been "executed" at three different places, resulting in the deaths of at least 160.

Rami Abdel Rahman said it had happened after jihadists defeated the garrison of 1,400 at Tabqa, of whom 200 were killed in fighting, 700 escaped and dozens of the remainder were captured as they fled.

Meanwhile, the United Nations says an armed group has detained 43 peacekeepers in Syria's Golan Heights. A further 81 peacekeepers are also trapped, the UN has said.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the peacekeepers were detained early on Thursday during a "period of increased fighting between armed elements and the Syrian Arab Armed Forces."

The detained peacekeepers are from the Philippines and Fiji, a UN official told Reuters. 

Soon after, more UN troops were seen crossing from the Israeli-controlled side of the Golan Heights to the Syrian side. The Golan Heights straddles the disputed border between Israel and Syria.

A UN statement said negotiations were under way to release those trapped or being held.

French President Francois Hollande said opposition forces fighting IS militants in Syria and Iraq should get more Western support.

But he ruled out regarding Assad as an ally saying: "There is no choice to be made between two barbarisms."

More follows...

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