Robben Island Jail: Obama Visits Mandela Cell

Barack Obama and his family have been "deeply humbled" by a visit to Robben Island where Nelson Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years in prison during the apartheid regime.

The US President, his wife Michelle and two daughters Sasha and Malia were guided around the prison by politician Ahmed Kathrada, who was held there with Mr Mandela for nearly two decades.

Mr Obama wrote in a guest book in the courtyard: "On behalf of our family, we're deeply humbled to stand where men of such courage faced down injustice and refused to yield.

The Obama family listen to a prison guide who was an inmate with Mandela

"The world is grateful for the heroes of Robben Island, who remind us that no shackles or cells can match the strength of the human spirit."

The prison has been preserved as a tribute to the anti-apartheid icon, who is critically ill in hospital.

The family was also shown Mr Mandela's cell, an expansive quarry where prisoners endured hours of backbreaking work and a guard tower from where Mr Mandela was watched during his incarceration.

Mr Obama commented on the "hard labour" the South African endured and asked the guide to tell his daughters how the African National Congress party got started.

Barack and Michelle Obama tour the Robben Island jail

Mr Obama has been to the prison before, when he was a senator in 2006, but wanted to return with his family.

"For me to be able to bring my daughters there and teach them the history of that place and this country ... that's a great privilege and a great honour," said Mr Obama.

After the tour, Mr Obama will deliver the signature speech of his three-nation Africa tour.

South Africa's first black president will be the focus during the address at the University of Cape Town later where Robert F Kennedy gave a speech in 1966 linking the struggles against apartheid and the US civil rights movement.

Barack Obama visiting a prison cell as senator in 2006

Mr Obama will use the platform to cite Mr Mandela's unifying legacy as a blueprint for a new generation in emerging Africa.

Pointing to Africa's crippling lack of electrical power, Mr Obama is also expected to announce a $7bn initiative over five years to double access to power in sub-Saharan Africa.

Mr Mandela's illness placed Mr Obama in a tricky political spot, forcing him to balance his desire to push for a new economic relationship with Africa, with the need to properly honour his hero and "personal inspiration".

On Saturday, Mr Obama called Mr Mandela's wife Graca Machel and privately visited several of his daughters and grandchildren to offer support and prayers.

Nelson Mandela visiting his old prison cell in 1995

But he did not push for a visit to the Pretoria hospital where the 94-year-old is being treated, worried that he would disturb his peace.

"I expressed my hope that Madiba draws peace and comfort from the time that he is spending with loved ones," Mr Obama told Mrs Machel according to a statement.

Mrs Machel said she drew "strength from the support" from the Obama family.

After bilateral talks with Mr Obama, South Africa President Jacob Zuma said Mr Mandela remained in a "critical but stable" condition with a recurring lung infection.

Mr Obama has been faulted for lacking a grand programme to benefit Africa like the HIV/Aids initiative launched by George W Bush or the broad reductions of trade barriers achieved by Bill Clinton.

Many Africans have been disappointed at what they see as Mr Obama's hands-off approach to the continent, noting that his first extended trip the continent has not come until his second term in office despite his African ancestry.

Mr Obama's father was a native of Kenya.

The president's aides say he has been held back by the need to wind down two wars and to right the US economy after the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.

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Bus Crash Video Studied By Turkey Police

A CCTV camera has filmed the moment a bus full of tourists veered across a busy road before flipping over and crashing into a pole.

People were seen climbing out of the vehicle as it lay on its side.

Bystanders ran to the scene to help victims following the crash, which happened as the bus turned a corner in the southern Turkish resort city of Alanya.

A 15-year-old Swede and a 68-year-old Dane were killed in the crash.

The "Danish Spies" travel agency said a group of 27 Scandinavians - 11 Swedes, 10 Norwegians and six Danes - were on their way back from a trip to nearby mountains on Friday when it tilted over.

The other tourists were said to have sustained minor injuries in the accident, which is being investigated by police.

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Man Left Paralysed After Saving Girl Has Died

A man who was paralysed after diving into a creek to save a four-year-old girl has died after nearly three weeks in hospital.

Polk County Coroner Trey Litesey confirmed 43-year-old Michael Patterson died from complications resulting from his injury.

Mr Patterson was hailed a hero after authorities said he saved a girl from drowning in Euharlee Creek, Georgia, on June 8.

US authorities said Mr Patterson managed to pull the girl unharmed from the water, but struck his head during the dive and became paralysed.

Mr Patterson with his son Cole, nine, before the accident (Pic: Facebook)

"After a valiant battle, Mike succumbed to his injuries and related complications early this morning," read a statement on the Friends of Mike Patterson Facebook page.

"Mike's family was by his side at the time of his death."

The statement said in addition to paralysis, Mr Patterson battled pneumonia, a bacterial infection and a blood clot.

"His life and the lives of others are forever changed by his courageous, split-second decision to save another's life,"  the statement said.

"Mike's tragic story made news headlines around the globe. His heroic act stirred an outpouring of emotion and a desire to help Mike in his time of need. His caring nature will forever be honoured."

Mr Patterson received more than 60,000 prayers and messages of support through the Facebook page, which also helped raise money for his care.

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Tour De France Team Fined As Bus Blocks Finish

A team at the Tour De France has been fined 2,000 Swiss Francs (£1,400) after its bus blocked the finish line to the opening stage, leading to a chaotic finale.

Cyclists had been left battered and bruised after a huge crash which followed the Orica-GreenEdge vehicle getting wedged under the finish line banner.

Panicked officials had tried to free the bus after it got stuck just minutes before riders were to cross the line.

Organisers decided to move the finish line forward 3km so that riders would have a clear end to the stage, from Porto-Vecchio to Bastia on Corsica.

But then they told riders they had restored the original route because the bus, which had apparently taken a wrong turn, had finally moved on.

Moments after the announcement was relayed to cyclists, a huge crash happened in the suburbs in the town of Bastia, a few kilometres from the finish line.

The smash brought down dozens of riders including pre-race favourite Alberto Contador.

British cyclist Mark Cavendish saw his hopes of wearing the yellow jersey dashed as he was held up behind the crash, describing the situation as "carnage".

He said: "What caused the problems was the change to the finish.

"We were hearing in the radios with 5km to go the finish was in 2km. Then a kilometre later, it's at the finish.

"It's just carnage. I'm lucky I didn't come down. I was behind it. My team-mates were a lot worse. Tony Martin's in a bit of a state. I can count myself lucky."

Germany's Martin, Cavendish's team-mate at Omega Pharma-Quick Step, was among those who crashed and he was carried by stretcher into an ambulance.

He suffered from concussion, a contusion on his left lung, widespread bruising, and a deep cut on his left elbow.

Due to the confusion in the final moments of the race, all riders were awarded the same time for the stage.

German Marcel Kittel got the yellow jersey after picking his way through the fallen riders.

Organisers fined Orica-GreenEdge for "not respecting the timetable put in place for auxiliary team vehicles arriving at the stage finish".

A spokesman for the team earlier said on Twitter their bus driver had been following instructions when he ended up at the finish line.

"Joking aside, our bus driver is devastated," he wrote.

"He's an awesome guy and (unlike me) a great driver. He was being told to keep moving forward."

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Al Shabaab Commanders Killed By Own Group

Two top Islamist militants in Somalia, including one with a $5m (£3.2m) US bounty on his head, have been killed by members of their own extremist group.

The pair - Ibrahim Haji Jama Mead, better known as Al Afghani, and Abul Hamid Hashi Olhayi - were both co-founders of al Shabaab which is linked to al Qaeda.

Afghani, who was wanted by the US and got his nickname due to his training and fighting with militants in Afghanistan, opposed the command of top al Shabaab leader Ahmed Abdi Godane.

Godane, who America has offered a $7m (£4.6m) bounty for, ordered Afghani and at least a dozen other leaders to be arrested earlier this month, reported the AFP news agency, citing security sources.

Al Shabaab gunmen also killed Olhayi, named as another senior commander.

"We have informed their widows of their deaths, as they must now wear the clothes of mourning," the group's spokesman Abdulaziz Abu Musab told AFP.

The deaths show the splits in the long-running insurgency to topple the internationally-backed government.

But the killings also signalled Godane's efforts to sweep away opposition to his command and cement his more radical leadership.

Family members - including Afghani's sister - said the pair were arrested and then executed, but al Shabaab said they were killed during a gun battle.

"We deny reports that the men were killed after capture," Musab told AFP.

"The two men were killed in a shoot-out when they were resisting arrest on court orders."

Al Shabaab is fractured into multiple rival factions, some based along clan lines and others ideological.

Some are more attracted by a nationalist agenda to oust foreign forces from Somalia, while others - including Godane - have more international jihadi ambitions.

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Croatia PM Dismisses Fears About Joining EU

Croatia's prime minister has told Sky News his people have a "reasonable amount of scepticism" about entering the European Union, with just hours until the country becomes a member.

Zoran Milanovic sought to dispel doubts about becoming the bloc's 28th addition as fireworks are prepared and foreign leaders arrive for celebrations at midnight on Sunday.

The ex-Yugoslav country is the first to join since Bulgaria and Romania came on board in 2007 and the government is hoping the move will attract badly needed foreign investment and boost the economy.

Mr Milanovic told Sky's Murnaghan show there was a "plethora" of good reasons for being part of the EU, despite the bloc's economic woes of recent years which have undermined the public's support.

Seven years of EU-guided reforms - including the sale of deeply indebted shipyards - in exchange for membership are seen to have dampened the enthusiasm of many Croatians.

Croatia PM: 'Economic failure not likely'

Support for membership is now at just about 50% down from the 66% recorded during a referendum last year.

Referring to the low turnout for recent elections of Croatian MEPs, which Mr Milanovic said was below 21% of the electorate, he told Sky News: "When you say people are not enthusiastic, I think people are sober because this succession has been long overdue.

"Croatian citizens always retain a pinch of scepticism, so in relation to the EU you would hardly ever get in Croatia 100% support for any grand idea.

"It's a rational and reasonable amount of scepticism that's always present in Croatian society."

Concerns have been raised in other member states, such as Germany, that another new member with its own economic difficulties could prove to be a drain on the bloc, which itself is struggling with recession in nine member states and with the eurozone debt crisis.

Figures from the EU's statistics office show that Croatia, which has a population of 4.2 million, would be among the poorest members.

Mr Milanovic said: "We've been so closely scrutinised in the past that such failure is not likely to repeat.

"Our banking sector is doing well - it's kind of robust, but also inert in that people don't lend and people don't borrow, but that's a problem we see throughout Europe, don't we?"

Croatia is joining two decades after declaring independence from federal Yugoslavia, which triggered four years of war in which some 20,000 people died.

It will not yet join the 17-nation single currency zone, nor the visa-free Schengen zone.

The transition will be marked at midnight with the "Customs" sign being removed at a border crossing with Slovenia, the only other ex-Yugoslav republic to have joined the EU since the break-up of the ex-communist federation.

At the same time the EU sign will be put up on the border with Serbia.

Both events will be broadcast live at the main square of the Croatian capital, Zagreb.

Heads of state from all six former Yugoslav republics will attend the celebrations, but leaders of EU members including Britain, France and Germany will not be present.

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Snowden Spying Claims: US 'Bugged EU Offices'

The European Union has "confronted" the US over fresh spying allegations that its offices in Brussels and the US were bugged by Washington.

The German weekly news magazine Der Spiegel reported the new claims by the former US intelligence analyst, Edward Snowden, who is on the run from US authorities seeking his extradition over intelligence leaks.

The reports are likely to strain America's relations with its European partners with one top German official already accusing the US of using "Cold War" methods against its allies.

The newspaper said its report was based on confidential documents, some of which it had been able to consult via Snowden.

Snowden's face appears on a TV at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport

One document describes how the US National Security Agency (NSA) installed microphones in a building housing the EU's diplomatic mission in Washington.

The "strictly confidential" paper, dated September 2010, also shows its computer network had been infiltrated to provide access to emails and internal documents.

The EU delegation at the UN was also subject to similar surveillance and leaked documents referred to the Europeans as "targets", according to the report.

And the spying also extended to the 27-member bloc's Brussels headquarters.

Der Spiegel referred to an incident "more than five years ago" when EU security experts discovered telephone and online bugging devices at the Justus Lipsius building.

EU Parliament President Martin Schulz

In 2003, the EU announced it had found phone taps in the building targeting the offices of several countries, including Britain, France and Germany.

It was not immediately clear if Der Spiegel was referring to this case.

European Parliament President Martin Schulz has demanded a full and speedy clarification from Washington.

He said: "I am deeply worried and shocked about the allegations of US authorities spying on EU offices.

"If the allegations prove to be true, it would be an extremely serious matter which will have a severe impact on EU-US relations."

In a statement the European Commission said: "We have immediately been in contact with the US authorities in Washington DC and in Brussels and have confronted them with the press reports.

"They have told us they are checking on the accuracy of the information released yesterday and will come back to us."

Meanwhile German Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger said: "If the media reports are accurate, then this recalls the methods used by enemies during the Cold War.

"It is beyond comprehension that our friends in the United States see Europeans as enemies."

Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn also waded into the row, saying the US was "out of control".

"The US would do better to monitor its intelligence services instead of its allies," he added.

EU Commission at the EU headquarters in Brussels

US Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes refused to be drawn into commenting directly on the allegations in a briefing in Johannesberg but said it was "worth noting" the US was "very close" to EU security services.

Even before the latest allegations, the EU's Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding wrote to US Attorney General Eric Holder earlier this month calling for answers about its internet spy programme.

In a speech on June 14, he said: "Fundamentally, this is a question of trust.

"Trust of citizens towards their governments and to the governments of partner nations."

Earlier this month, Snowden revealed details of the top-secret Prism programme operated by the NSA.

He subsequently fled to Hong Kong before escaping to Moscow where he is currently in transit in an airport awaiting asylum from a country that will accept him.

Snowden has been supported by the whistleblowing organisation Wikileaks.

Founder Julian Assange, who himself is living inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London, told US network ABC: "This isn't a situation that Wikileaks is in charge of.

"This is a matter for states at a very very serious level to understand and to sort out - and to behave responsibly."

Prism collects and analyses information from internet and phone users around the world, with access to data from Google, Yahoo! and other internet firms.

US officials say the information gathered is vital in the fight against global terrorism.

Meanwhile, the diplomatic squabbling over the fate of Snowden continues.

Ecuador's President Rafael Correa said that US Vice President Joe Biden had, in a telephone conversation on Saturday, asked him to reject any asylum request from Snowden.

But in a television interview later, Mr Correa said Snowden's fate was in Russia's hands as Quito could not process his asylum until he was on Ecuadoran soil.

The president said his government would listen to opinions from US authorities, but that the final decision rested with Ecuador.

"We have not sought out this situation," said Mr Correa.

"Snowden is in contact with (WikiLeaks founder Julian) Assange, who recommended he seek asylum in Ecuador," he added.

Ecuador has already granted refuge to Australian activist Assange, founder of the anti-secrecy WikiLeaks website.

Assange, who is wanted for questioning in Sweden on sex assault allegations, took refuge at the Ecuadoran embassy in London a year ago to avoid Britain putting him on a plane to Stockholm.

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Heatwave: Man Dies As Temperatures Hit 50C

A man has died and dozens more have been treated in hospital during a heatwave in the western United States.

The temperature in Phoenix, Arizona, hit 48.3C, while in Las Vegas, Nevada, the mercury rose to 46C, two degrees short of the city's all-time record.

Large swathes of California also sweltered in the extreme heat, although temperatures in Death Valley were around 3C cooler than the 53C that was forecast.

The area's record high of 56.6C, set a century ago, stands as the hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth.

Temperatures reached 50C in Death Valley National Park

The first fatality of the heatwave was confirmed in Las Vegas, where paramedics found an elderly man inside a house without air conditioning.

Fire and rescue spokesman Tim Szymanski said the man had pre-existing medical issues, although the heat was thought to have worsened his condition.

Another elderly man suffered a heat stroke when the air conditioner in his car went out for several hours while he was on a long road trip.

He stopped in Las Vegas, called for help and was taken to hospital in a serious condition.

People in Los Angeles shelter under a parasol

More than 40 other people have been seen in hospital in Las Vegas since the heatwave began on Friday, although no life-threatening injuries were reported.

"We will probably start to see a rise in calls on Sunday and Monday as the event prolongs," Mr Szymanski said in a statement.

"People's bodies will be more agitated the longer the event lasts and people may require medical assistance."

The heatwave is expected to last into Tuesday night and possibly longer.

To make matters worse, ocean breezes that would normally cool the region's valleys and deserts have not travelled far enough inland.

Cooling stations have been set up to shelter homeless and elderly people who cannot afford to run air conditioning units.

Rangers took up positions on trails around Lake Mead, Nevada, to persuade people not to hike, while zookeepers in Phoenix tried to keep animals cool, hosing down elephants and feeding tigers frozen fish snacks.

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Cameron Meets Newly-Elected Pakistan PM

Afghanistan: PM Knows Risks Needed

Updated: 4:49pm UK, Sunday 30 June 2013

By Joey Jones, Deputy Political Editor

For years, the focus of British involvement in Afghanistan has been reasonably straightforward.

Fight the Taliban; force them into some form of submission or docility; limit the casualties among British troops as far as possible; try to prepare the Afghans (politically and militarily) to go it alone.

Now that British military involvement is drawing to a close, things are getting more complicated.

The political situation is in flux. President Hamid Karzai is due to leave office next year, creating instability on the government side.

The Taliban are coming to the negotiating table, and are likely to exhibit all the same qualities of aggression, unpredictability, disunity and stubborn endurance as have characterised them on the battlefield.

The process is already chaotic, and even if it succeeds is bound to collapse and be resurrected again along the way.

But the fact David Cameron went to the presidential palace days after an attack on the outskirts of the compound shows he thinks the main protagonists should react with a shrug of the shoulders to such bumps on the road.

Meanwhile, neighbouring countries are weighing the situation with an eye to extending their own sphere of influence.

Amid this maelstrom, for a British Prime Minister, there are decisions to be made, all in the knowledge that each decision could lead to a trap; each judgment could come back to haunt him.

Mr Cameron plainly knows risks have to be taken. He acknowledged as much when he effectively endorsed General Nick Carter's view that the Taliban should have been engaged in a political process way back in 2001.

Speaking in Lashkar Gah, Mr Cameron told Sky News: "I think you can argue about whether the settlement we put in place after 2001 could have been better arranged.

"Of course you can make that argument. Since I became Prime Minister in 2010 I have been pushing all the time for a political process and that political process is now under way.

"But at the same time I know that you cannot bank on that, which is why we have built up the Afghan army, built up the Afghan police, supported the Afghan government so after our troops have left, and they will be leaving under the programme we have set out, this country shouldn't be a haven for terrorists."

Drawing the Taliban into peace talks months after 9/11 would indeed have been thinking the unthinkable, but the Prime Minister is of the view  - though even he might not have been in 2001 -  that unless all sides are engaged, a political settlement will not hold.

Then there is the involvement of neighbouring countries.

Pakistani links with the Afghan Taliban have been until now a source of considerable frustration for the British, who have decried the often malign influence of elements within Pakistan on Afghanistan.

Now, though, those very links are seen as an opportunity - an avenue through which Pakistani politicians might put leverage on the Taliban to show themselves reliable partners for peace.

The risk, as ever, is that if Pakistan throws its weight around within Afghanistan, there is a tendency for the Afghan leadership to rush to the arms of Pakistan's arch enemy India, with the potential only to escalate the problems.

All in all, it is hard to calculate what the situation will look like in a month, let alone a year. Come back soon, Mr Cameron!

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Egypt: Crowds Gather For Anti-Morsi Protests

Hundreds of thousands of protesters went on to the streets of Cairo as part of mass demonstrations across Egypt exactly a year since President Mohamed Morsi came to power.

Some 200,000 people descended on Tahrir Square, the seat of the uprising of 2011, while others were outside the presidential palace several miles away, which was under heavy guard.

Police and troops have deployed to protect key buildings around the country, security officials said. The health ministry said hospitals have been placed on high alert.

Andrew Pochter was killed in Alexandria

A senior security official said the Suez Canal, the vital waterway that connects the Mediterranean with the Red Sea, has been placed under "maximum security".

Liberal leaders say nearly half the voting population - 22 million people - have signed a petition calling for change. Mr Morsi's opponents have promised a "second revolution".

But the president's Muslim Brotherhood and militant allies pledge to defend what they say is the legitimate order.

Several people have been killed and hundreds wounded in days of street fighting across the country.

An American student who was killed during violent clashes in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria on Friday was identified as Andrew Pochter, 21, from Maryland.

Mr Morsi has called his opponents bad losers backed by "thugs" from the rule of deposed Hosni Mubarak.

He is banking on the "Tamarud - Rebel!" coalition fizzling out, as other challenges in the streets have done since he took power.

US President Barack Obama called on Egyptians to focus on dialogue. His ambassador to Egypt has angered the opposition by suggesting protests are not helping the economy.

Liberal leaders, fractious and defeated in a series of ballots last year, hope that by putting millions on the streets they can force Mr Morsi to relent.

Recent days have seen intense street fighting

Religious authorities have warned of "civil war".

The army has said it will step in if violence gets out of control but insists it will respect the "will of the people".

Mr Morsi, who on Saturday met the head of the military he appointed last year, interprets that to mean army support for election results.

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