Nigeria: Three Attacks Kill At Least 90

Two car bomb explosions at a busy marketplace in Nigeria have killed at least 51 people, while 39 people were killed by gunmen nearby.

The blasts happened in the northeast city of Maiduguri which is the birthplace of the country's Islamic extremist terrorist group, Boko Haram.

The explosions took place on Saturday night, and caused some buildings to collapse, burying people in the rubble.

The victims included children dancing at a wedding celebration and people watching a football match at an outdoor cinema.

The first blast came from a truck carrying firewood and caused few casualties. Most people were killed by a car which exploded as people rushed to the scene of the first blast.

Women wait for news of loved ones outside a hospital

Survivors said they captured a man who jumped out of the car, grabbed a tricycle taxi and tried to make off. He was badly beaten and taken to nearby Umaru Shehu General Hospital.

Some 30 miles away in Mainok, dozens of attackers dressed in military uniforms fired rocket propelled grenades and Kalashnikovs as people prepared for prayers.

Resident Yahaya Umar said: "They came in around 7pm and opened fire indiscriminately with RPGs, explosives and AK-47 rifles.

"They killed 39 people who were buried this morning and destroyed the whole town."

The attacks are a major setback to a new army and air force offensive under new commanders against the Islamic uprising, after President Goodluck Jonathan fired his entire military command in January.

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Pistorius' Family Says 'We Believe In Oscar'

Paralympic star Oscar Pistorius' family say they will stand by him during his trial for the Valentine's Day killing of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

The 26-year-old will appear in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, South Africa, on Monday accused of the murder of his model girlfriend on February 14 last year.

The double amputee, known as the Blade Runner, had been in a relationship with Ms Steenkamp, 29, for a few months.

He says they were deeply in love and he mistakenly shot her through a locked toilet cubicle believing she was an intruder.

The prosecution claims he deliberately killed her after a row.

The athlete's uncle Arnold Pistorius said in a statement: "We love Oscar, and believe in him, and will be standing by him throughout the coming trial."

He added: "With less than two days before the commencement of Oscar's criminal trial, the family as well as the legal team, will not be distracted by extraneous issues that have no bearing on, or relevance to, the legal process that must now be allowed to unfold.

Arnold Pistorius addressing the media at an earlier hearing

"We will not be commenting on any media reports, nor will we be engaging the press on any issues that belong in court.

"The time for public commentary is over. The focus is now entirely on a very serious trial that is set to start this Monday."

Pistorius' trial - which is set to hear from more than 100 witnesses - will be partially televised, but his testimony will not be shown.

Pistorius says he was deeply in love with his girlfriend

The mandatory sentence for someone convicted of premeditated murder in South Africa is life with a minimum of 25 years in prison.

The South African legal system does not have trials by jury, so a judge will ultimately pronounce Pistorius innocent or guilty.

Pistorius also faces charges of illegal possession of ammunition and two additional gun-related charges.

:: Sky News will have live coverage of the trial from Monday, with a special highlights programme at 9.30pm.

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Ex-Marine Michael Pepe Jailed For Sexual Abuse

A former US Marine captain has been given a 210-year sentence after being convicted of the violent sexual abuse of young girls in Cambodia.

Michael Pepe, from Oxnard, California, was working part-time as a professor at a Cambodian university in the capital, Phnom Penh, when he was arrested by the Cambodian National Police in 2006.

Two years later he was convicted. There was a delay in sentencing him because of allegations of an affair between a US investigator and a local interpreter.

US Federal Judge Dale Fischer said the former soldier had shown "absolutely no remorse".

He said: "He went to Cambodia because it was easy to molest little girls there.

"He raped and tortured them ... while maintaining the facade of being interested in the education of Cambodian children."

Passing judgement at a federal court in Los Angeles, Judge Fischer imposed a maximum 30-year sentence for each of Pepe's seven convictions. They will run consecutively.

"Despite the sincere efforts of defence counsel, the court finds no justification that would allow Mr Pepe ever to be released from prison," Judge Fischer added.

Restitution of $247,000 (£147,000) was also awarded to organisations that house and care for the victims.

Money from Pepe's military pension will be used to help pay that amount.

"As far as I'm concerned, every last dime of it should go to the children," Judge Fischer said.

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Russia Stands With Putin Over Ukraine Gamble

President Vladimir Putin asked his parliament for permission to use Russian troops in Ukraine, but the result was never in doubt.

His senate voted unanimously in favour with almost palpable glee, applauding themselves as they did.

Where much of the international community sees a leader dangerously poised on the verge of annexing Crimea, his supporters see much to like.

The case that Mr Putin is making is one that resonates well in Russia: that he is being forced to act to protect the lives of Russian citizens, compatriots, and Russian armed forces in Ukraine.

In other words, that he is defending Russian national interests and lives.

That much of the rest of the world considers those interests to be part of the sovereign territory of Ukraine is not necessarily a problem for Russia.

In Moscow, the state propaganda machine is already in overdrive, dismissing Oleksandr Turchynov as the "self-imposed president" and dismissing the mass protest movement as extremists and armed gangs.

Mr Putin has made his case and he will likely stick to it: that a legitimately-elected president has been overthrown and Russian citizens are under threat.

Mr Putin is ignoring international opinion to defend Russia's interests

And there are ever-increasing numbers of them to protect. An estimated 143,000 Ukrainians have been issued with Russian passports in the last two weeks, including members of the Berkut riot police.

The old Kremlin tactic of passport politics seems to be alive and flourishing in Ukraine.

The next 24 hours will see the inevitable volley of stern diplomatic warnings and rhetoric from all sides, but Moscow will be scrutinising all those words for any real threat of action, and so far there is not much to fear.

One commentator characterised US President Barack Obama's latest statement on Ukraine as: "Stop, or I'll say stop again."

The US has now paused preparations for this summer's Russian-hosted G8 summit.

Mr Putin does not respond to threats of condemnation. He has never sought approval, just respect.

He wants Russia to be seen as a great superpower once again, and himself as its strongman president.

If that means playing the bad cop in the West and weathering a diplomatic storm, he probably will not lose much sleep.

For Russia, this is about more than just the loss of Ukraine joining the EU. It's about Europe, Nato - the old Cold War bogeyman of the West - advancing right up to the Russian border, and Moscow does not like that at all.

Mr Putin wants to defend his sphere of influence and the national interest. They count for much more in the Kremlin than whether Mr Obama does or does not come to Sochi for G8.

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China Stabbing: 33 Killed In Station Massacre

By Mark Stone, Asia Correspondent

At least 33 people have been killed and more than 130 wounded in a mass stabbing at a Chinese railway station.

The "organised and premeditated" attack at Kunming train station in the country's southwestern Yunnan province was carried out by separatists from the volatile Xinjiang province in the far west, state media claimed.

Reports from the city suggest a group of people armed with knives entered the train station at about 9pm local time on Saturday and attacked travellers with knives indiscriminately.

Photos on Chinese social media show horrific scenes with blooded bodies and luggage strewn across the station concourse.

According to the People's Daily Weibo account, the attack lasted just 12 minutes, meaning there was a stabbing about every four seconds.

One local resident, Yang Haifei, told China's Xinhua news agency he was attacked and sustained injuries on his chest and back.

Police sealed off the scene of the attack

Mr Yang said he was buying a ticket when he saw a group of people, most dressed in black, rush into the station and start their attack.

"I saw a person come straight at me with a long knife and I ran away with everyone," he said.

Unconfirmed reports suggest police shot and killed some of the attackers and detained others.

Chinese police are not routinely armed which may explain why the perpetrators were able to attack so many people before being stopped.

Eyewitness reports, seen by Sky News, said there is tension across Kunming amid concern that further attacks may be planned at other locations in the city.

Train stations in Chinese cities are vast and usually extremely busy.

A man is treated after being injured in the mass stabbing

The Kunming city government said the attack was orchestrated by ethnic separatists from Xinjiang Province, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

China's state-run Global Times newspaper used its Sunday editorial to describe the attack as "China's 9/11".

"It was a typical terrorist attack and also a severe crime against the humanity. It was China's "9/11" the editorial read.

"Any explanation for the attack, like those in previous cases elsewhere in China, would be feeble at the bloody scene, where mothers, sons and daughters were slaughtered by strangers. Nothing justifies such a carnage against innocent civilians."

Extreme elements of the Muslim population who live in Xinjiang, 2,500 miles to the North of Kunming, have carried out attacks in the past - most recently in Beijing's Tiananmen Square last year.

The Uighur Muslim population in Xinjiang believe their freedoms, culture and religion are being eroded and severely restricted by the Chinese authorities.

Xinjiang has experienced repeated outbreaks of violence but the Chinese authorities have, until now, largely managed to contain the violence within the province.

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Oscars: Will UK-Style Weather Prove Good Omen?

By Greg Milam, US Correspondent

Organisers of the 86th Academy Awards are praying for a break in the weather to save the iconic Oscars red carpet for a Sunday night wash-out.

Hollywood has seen 72 hours of torrential rain, thunder and lightning and flash flooding, hampering preparations around the Dolby Theatre ahead of the movie industry's biggest night.

Even a plastic roof, erected to protect the walkway which will host the great and the good of Hollywood, started to spring leaks under the weight of the deluge.

The rain has been hampering preparations

The rain would normally be welcomed in a state suffering its worst drought on record and the British-style weather might prove an omen for the more than 20 Oscars nominees from the UK.

The epic 12 Years A Slave is among the favourites to be named Best Picture with its British director Steve McQueen and star Chewitel Ejiofor up for Oscars as well.

McQueen told Sky News: "You can win and you can lose so therefore let us appreciate it for what it actually is: a celebration of film. So I'm hoping to take a back seat."

But 12 Years faces tough competition from the "made in Britain, set in space" Gravity and the 1970s true crime caper American Hustle.

Hustle's Christian Bale is also up for Best Actor while Dame Judi Dench's performance as Philomena Lee has put her in the Best Actress Category.

Sally Hawkins has been nominated for the first time as Best Supporting Actress for her role in Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine.

The movie's star Cate Blanchett is favourite to be named Best Actress after sweeping the board at awards show leading up to the Oscars.

Similarly Matthew McConaughey is odds-on favourite to pick up the Best Actor prize for his striking performance in another true story, the Dallas Buyers Club. His co-star Jared Leto could make it a double as Best Supporting Actor.

Matthew McConaughey has already walked away with a Golden Globe

So where could the big surprises come from?

Steven Gaydos, the executive editor of movie industry bible Variety, told Sky News: "By the time the Oscars happen there are almost no surprises left. But there's always one.

"I'm studying it and asking people and we're perplexed. Matthew McConaughey, for instance, is perceived as the front runner but there's Leonard Di Caprio there so maybe the upset is there."

British talent fills a number of the technical categories, particularly those who worked on Gravity at Pinewood and Shepperton studios under British-based director Alfonso Cuaron.

This year's event is expected to be shown in more than 200 countries with 40 million people expected to watch in the US alone.

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

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Ukraine: Gangs 'Smuggle Weapons Into Crimea'

We travelled by road from the Ukrainian capital Kiev to Crimea in the far south.

The journey takes you through endless farmland, ploughed fields of the famous black earth and soviet monuments to the fallen of the Second World War.

As we approached the border we were stopped at a checkpoint by unidentified armed men in combat fatigues.

At first they tried to grab our camera, but Sky News' Moscow bureau cameraman, Vadim Nechaev, managed to talk them around.

They searched our car and wanted to take our body armour - we could see several of the guards already sporting 'press' flak jackets, new press helmets in hand.

Our team is usually based in Russia and our foreign ministry accreditation seemed to help - eventually they were persuaded to allow us in and they decided they wanted to show us their side of the story instead.

Katie Stallard was stopped at the border

They describe themselves as 'peaceful citizens' - local volunteers providing security against what they claim is a coup being perpetrated by 'fascists and thugs'.

"I'm from Sevastopol I'm a peaceful citizen, I'm a pensioner," one guard told us.

"I'm just making sure that everything is in order here at the entrance to Crimea, that no-one is smuggling anything that could turn our Crimea into another Maidan (Kiev's Independence Square)."

They took us to see a stockpile of weapons they claim they have seized from cars on the way into Crimea.

They showed us shotguns, hunting rifles, axes, and ammunition, along with a photo they say shows a sniper in army fatigues.

Evidence, they insist of armed gangs from Kiev.

Some of the weapons seized by the militia

A masked man told us: "I am asking you please look at this. I think these barbarians and Nazis, these nationalists, were trying and are still trying to turn our Slavic world into hell."

As we were filming we saw a man and woman being forced out of their car at gunpoint - the guards claimed they had found rifles.

The woman was crying, the man was handcuffed.

It is not clear what they planned to do with them.

Some of the guards were Cossacks from Kuban in southern Russia.

They told us they had come to help their countrymen fight against fascists and thugs.

"This is the land of our ancestors," their leader told us, "who spilled their blood in the Second World War."

"Now the fascists are on the rise again and we are here to show that it's not going to work."

They were flying the Russian flag from the checkpoint and we saw an empty Russian army truck leave their camp, but they insisted they were not acting on orders from Moscow.

They said the Kremlin should send troops to help them fight, to defend Russian citizens' rights.

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California Drought Will Go On Despite Storm

The drought in California is set to go on despite parts of the state experiencing the highest levels of rainfall in years this weekend.

The storm brought 10 inches of rain to Cogswell Dam in the Angeles National Forest, according to the National Weather Service. Downtown Los Angeles suffered three inches.

The system has now moved across southern California in time for Sunday's Oscars in LA, and forecasters are warning that heavy rain would need to become a common occurrence to reverse the effects of the recent drought.

A car drives through a flooded intersection in Studio City, California

At the start of the week, just 10% of the normal rainfall had materialised.

Numerous accidents occurred across California's flooded roads as a result of the storm. One truck driver died after falling from a freeway overpass about 60 miles east of Los Angeles.

Power outages hit some 32,000 customers as warnings for flash flooding and tornadoes were issued.

Mari Poblete (left) and neighbor Lorenzo Tatone survey the hillsides

National Weather Service meteorologist Eric Boldt said: "We need several large storms and we just don't see that on the horizon. This is a rogue storm. We will dry out next week."

About 13 homes were evacuated on Friday night in Palmdale in northern Los Angeles County, where a mudslide closed a main road.

Some 1,200 homes in Monrovia, Glendora and Azusa were evacuated over fears of mudslides. Just a few weeks ago the area was hit by a wildfire.

Preparations for the Oscars continue in the rain

At particular risk were a dozen or so homes in Azusa backed up against a steep fire-hit hillside several hundred feet high that authorities at one point feared would collapse.

To the east in San Bernardino County, a levee failed, leaving eight houses in danger of serious flooding, but fire crews were working to protect them and no evacuations have been ordered.

Winter storm warnings were in effect in the Sierra Nevada. About 15 inches of fresh snow fell by midday on Friday at the University of California, Berkeley's Central Sierra Snow Lab.

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Pistorius Case Will Hinge On Forensic Evidence

Forensic evidence will play a major part in the murder trial of paralympian Oscar Pistorius which begins tomorrow and will be broadcast live around the world.

The double-amputee athlete has always insisted he and model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp had had a quiet night in together at his house, a closely guarded compound in Pretoria.

He claims he got up in the early hours to bring in a fan from the balcony. But when he went back into the bedroom again, in the pitch dark, he says he heard a noise.

Believed there was an intruder in the house, he says he grabbed a 9mm pistol that he kept under his bed that he kept for security purposes and ran down the passageway leading to the bathroom, without his prosthetic legs on.

The bloody bathroom where Pistorius shot Ms Steenkamp

There he fired four shots into the toilet door, which was closed. He insists it was only when he went back into the bedroom and realised his girlfriend was not in bed that it dawned on him it was her in the toilet.

Pictures inside the house show a trail of blood from the bathroom as the paralympian carried Ms Steenkamp downstairs after shouting for help, with flecks of blood on the wall, on the sofa downstairs and on the landing.

The case is likely to hinge on forensic evidence, with specialists for both the defence and prosecution trying to glean everything they can from the site of the shooting.

Ballistics expert JC de Klerk speaks to Sky's Alex Crawford

Ballistics expert JC de Klerk has told Sky News how every shot fired will have left a trail.

"The trajectory of bullets through the door will give an indication of where the firearm must have been held," he said.

Forensic experts say every drop of blood can help show what happened, and whether Ms Steenkamp was sitting, standing or moving at the time she was shot.

Pistorius insists he was "deeply in love" with Ms Steenkamp, who he had been dating for just a few months.

Pistorius says he loved Ms Steenkamp

When the world's best-known paralympian appeared at Pretoria Magistrates' Court during a bail application hearing, he said when he realised his mistake he did everything to save his lover, battering the toilet door with a cricket bat to get to her.

During the trial, science and forensics will help build a picture of what happened, and it will be down to a judge to decide whether the death of Ms Steenkamp was a tragic accident or murder.

 :: Sky News will have live coverage of the trial from Monday, with a special highlights programme at 9.30pm.

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Ukraine Accuses Russia Of Declaring War

Ukraine's leader has accused Russia of declaring war on his country and warned the nation was on the "brink of disaster".

Appealing to the international community for help Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said: "This is the red alert, this is not a threat, this is actually a declaration of war to my country."

Ukraine has mobilised its military and called up all its reserves after Russia gave the go-ahead to send more troops into the country, in what has become the biggest confrontation between Moscow and the West since the Cold War.

Suspected Russian troops have surrounded a Ukrainian military base

It came amid warnings the deepening crisis is just "a pace away from catastrophe", where the smallest act could take it "over the edge".

The US Secretary of State John Kerry has condemned Moscow's "incredible act of aggression" in Ukraine, and warned of "very serious repercussions" including sanctions to isolate Russia economically.

"You just don't in the 21st century behave in a 19th century fashion by invading another country on a completely trumped up pretext," he told the CBS programme Face The Nation.

Nato's Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has called on Russia to de-escalate tensions.

"What Russia is doing now in Ukraine violates the principles of the United Nations charter. It threatens peace and security in Europe," he said.

Ukrainian soldiers have blocked the entrance to the base with a tank

In response to the military action in Ukraine, Britain and France have pulled out of preparations for a summit of world leaders in the Russian resort of Sochi in June.

UK Foreign Secretary William Hague, who is flying to the Ukrainian capital Kiev, said the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity had been "violated".

He said: "Our response is diplomatic and peaceful and it should be. That is our response but it will be a very united diplomatic response and not just from the Western world, I think, but from many other countries in the world and that is something that Russia will have to think hard about."

Russian forces have taken over the Ukraine's southeast Crimea region where Moscow has a naval base, and more troops are on their way, prompting accusations of a "military invasion".

Despite mounting international condemnation, Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared he has the right to protect Russian citizens and interests in Ukraine.

This is the same justification used in the 2008 invasion of Georgia over two breakaway regions, which have large ethnic Russian populations.

People attend a rally in Kiev against Russian intervention in Ukraine

US president Barack Obama warned Mr Putin during a 90-minute phone call that Russia had flouted international law and urged him to withdraw forces.

In the latest development of the unfolding crisis, hundreds of suspected Russian troops have surrounded a Ukraine military base, preventing soldiers from going in or out.

The convoy blockading the site near the region's capital Simferopol includes at least 17 military vehicles, which have Russian number plates.

The Ukrainian personnel inside have blocked the gate with a tank.

Meanwhile, Ukraine withdrew its coastguard vessels from two ports in Crimea and moved them to other Black Sea bases, in a sign that Russia was completing its seizure of the peninsula.

However, Ukraine claims it still has a fleet of 10 ships in the Crimean port of Sevastopol, which remain loyal to Kiev.

There have also been more pro-Moscow demonstrations in east Ukraine, where most people speak Russian.

But in Kiev's Independence Square, where months of protests led to the downfall of pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych, there were demonstrations against military action.

People pose for a picture in front of an armoured vehicle in Crimea

Speaking about the Ukraine, former Liberal Democrat leader Paddy Ashdown, who served in the special forces, told Sky's Murnaghan programme: "I think we are a pace away from catastrophe at the moment.

"It would require one foolish act, I don't know, a trigger happy Russian soldier, a Ukrainian guard who acts aggressively at one of these institutions that has been taken over by Russia or Russian supporters.

"A foolish act now could tip us over the edge.

"The one thing that is absolutely essential now is that the West speaks with a single voice."

"The smallest tremor, the smallest act now could take us over the edge."

This was echoed by Sir Tony Brenton, the former British ambassador to Russia, who told Murnaghan: "It only requires one person to make a mistake for things to go very badly wrong."

Former Foreign Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind also warned of the dangers posed by the deepening crisis.

He told Dermot Murnaghan: "There is no doubt this is probably the most serious crisis since the Cold War.

"This has to be a defining moment in the West's relationship with Russia.

"There are very serious implications for the whole of Europe."

Ukraine's population is divided in loyalties between Russia and the West.

Much of western Ukraine advocating closer ties with the European Union. However, the eastern and southern regions look to Russia for support.

Crimea has 2.3 million inhabitants, most of whom identify themselves as ethnic Russians and speak Russian.

More follows...

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