French Journalists Held In Syria Return Home

Four journalists have returned home to France after being held for 10 months by Islamic extremists in Syria.

Edouard Elias, Didier Francois, Nicolas Henin and Pierre Torres, who were covering the conflict in the Middle East country, were released on Saturday on the border with Turkey.

Mr Francois, a war reporter for Europe 1, said: "It's such a delight and a relief to be free, to see the sky... to breathe the fresh air, to walk, to talk to you."

A helicopter carrying the men lands at Villacoublay air base near Paris

Mr Henin said he was "not always" treated well and said he was held in "about 10 places of captivity, prisons, mostly with other people".

President Francois Hollande said their return was a "moment of joy" for France.

He said: "This is a day of great joy for them as you can imagine, for their families... but it is a day of great joy for France."

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius insisted "France does not pay ransom" and no weapons were exchanged with the extremists to secure the release of the four men.

He said: "There was no question of contact with the Syrian government."

Syria is considered one of the most dangerous places for journalists.

The Committee to Protect Journalists said this month that 61 journalists were kidnapped in the country last year.

More than 60 have been killed since the conflict began in 2011.

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South Korean Ferry Families Clash With Police

S Korea Ferry: Final Contact From Doomed Vessel

Updated: 11:11am UK, Sunday 20 April 2014

A transcript of communications between the stricken Sewol ferry and the coastguard has lifted the lid on the final minutes before the order was given to abandon ship.

The conversations show panic setting in on board the vessel, with officers asking for help to "please come quickly" as it began to tilt to the left, three hours from its destination of Jeju Island.

The transcript also appears to back up claims that the evacuation order may have come too late for some passengers as officers said the ship was tilting so much it was "impossible to move" to check on them.

The communication, which begins with the first distress call made by the ferry on Wednesday morning, has been translated by The Associated Press.

It reads:

8.55am

Sewol: Harbour affairs Jeju, do you have reception of The Sewol?

Jeju Vessel Traffic Services Centre (VTS): Yes, Sewol, this is harbour affairs Jeju.

Sewol: Please notify the coastguard. Our ship is in danger. It's listing right now.

8.56am

Jeju VTS: Where's your ship? Yes, got it. We will notify the coastguard.

Sewol: This ship has listed a lot. Can't move. Please come quickly. We're next to Byeongpung Island.

Jeju VTS: Yes, we got it.

8.58am

Jeju VTS: Sewol, this is harbour affairs Jeju. Do you have reception? Sewol, harbour affairs Jeju.

8.59am

Sewol: Harbour affairs Jeju, this is Sewol.

Jeju VTS: Sewol, this is harbour affairs Jeju. Channel 21, please.

9.00am

Jeju VTS: Sewol, this is harbour affairs Jeju.

Sewol: Jeju, Sewol here.

Jeju VTS: What's the current situation?

Sewol: Currently the body of the ship has listed to the left. The containers have listed as well.

Jeju VTS: OK. Any damage of the human life?

Sewol: It's impossible to check right now. The body of the ship has tilted, and it's impossible to move.

Jeju VTS: Yes, OK. Please wear life jackets and prepare as the people might have to abandon ship. 

Sewol: It's hard for people to move.

Jeju VTS: Yes, got it.

9.05am

Sewol: Harbour affairs Jeju, do you have reception of Sewol?

Jeju VTS: Yes, this is harbour affairs Jeju, Sewol.

Sewol: What's going on with the coastguard?

Jeju VTS: Yes, we have notified the coastguard. Currently we are calling Jindo VTS and Wando VTS. Please hold for a moment.

After this, Jeju VTS notified other ships and Wando VTS.

9.24am

Sewol: If this ferry evacuates passengers, will they be rescued right away?

Jeju VTS Even if it's impossible to broadcast, please go out and let the passengers wear life jackets and put on more clothing. The rescue of human lives of Sewol ferry... the captain should make your own decision and evacuate them. We don't know the situation very well. The captain should make the final decision and decide whether you're going to evacuate passengers or not.

Sewol: I'm not talking about that. I asked, if they evacuate now, can they be rescued right away?

Jeju VTS then said patrol boats would arrive in 10 minutes, but did not mention another civilian ship had already arrived near the scene.

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Teen Punished For Asking Miss America To Prom

A Pennsylvania high school student has been suspended for asking reigning Miss America Nina Davuluri to a prom during her visit to the school.

Nina Davuluri is the reigning Miss America

Ms Davuluri was taking part in a question and answer session at Central York High School when 18-year-old Patrick Farves asked the beauty queen to be his date to the school's upcoming formal dance.

He stood up and popped the question, then walked to the stage with a plastic flower.

The proposal sparked cheers from fellow students in attendance.

But school officials, who heard about Mr Farves' plan in advance, had warned him not to go through with it.

The move resulted in a three-day, in-school suspension.

Mr Farves told local television station WPMT-TV he could not resist.

He said: "She just kind of laughed and I gave her the little flower I got.

"And I went up and I gave her the flower and asked her if I could get a selfie with her. And she was like, 'Maybe later', and I never got the selfie."

Mr Faves later apologised for disrupting the event.

The school said students are disciplined for breaking rules and this incident is no different.

Ms Davuluri was at the school to discuss diversity and the importance of subjects, including science and technology.

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Best Of British Gear Up For China Car Show

Some of Britain's most famous cars are on parade today at one of the most important days in the motoring calendar.

Ford cars on display at the 50 years celebration ceremony of Ford

UK brands such as Rolls-Royce, Jaguar and Land Rover are showing their new models at the China Motor Show in Beijing to help boost sales in an intensely competitive market.

An original 1965 Ford Mustang Convertible alongside today's model

More than 1,100 vehicles will be on display at the exhibition which will also be attended by General Motors, Toyota, Volkswagen and Hyundai, along with SAIC and Dongfeng, China's domestic carmakers.

Although sales growth is forecast to slow from last year's 15.7% to 8 to 10% this year, China remains the world's biggest auto market with 17.9 million vehicles sold last year.

Car sales are expected to slow in China this year

The expo comes as a growing number of Chinese cities are restricting the number of cars on the road in a bid to battle pollution and congestion, moves that analysts warn could cut into purchases.

The eastern city of Hangzhou, a popular tourist destination, last month became the sixth major city to implement such a restriction, with some estimates placing the limit at 80,000 cars a year.

More than 1,100 vehicles will be on display at the exhibition

The boss of Mercedez-Benz in China told Sky News earlier this year that survival in the automotive industry is based largely on success in China.

German auto giant Daimler also announced recently it had signed a $1.4bn deal with Chinese partner Beijing Automotive Industry Corporation to expand production at their joint venture in Beijing.     

Among the cars on display at the exhibition will be one of the first 1965 Ford Mustang Convertibles.

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Prince George Goes Walkabout With Bilbies

Prince George made his first walkabout on the Australian leg of the royal tour when he met some indigenous animals at a zoo.

The youngster looked fascinated as he was shown a bilby - a rabbit-like type of marsupial.

At one point, as he was held by his father Prince William, he held out his hand to attempt to touch the creature which was being fed by a keeper who has named the animal George in his honour.

George, dressed in a blue and white striped collared t-shirt and royal blue shorts, looked a little frustrated and waved his arms as he was unable to reach the animal, which was about a third of his size when standing on its hind legs.

Just before he was brought out for the cameras, the Royal family had been shown round the nocturnal house where several of Australia's animals who are awake during darkness are housed.

Staff said George coped well and was interested in what he saw, reaching out to a feather tailed glider and staring intently at some hopping mice and an echidna.

He was later given a soft bilby toy, which he promptly threw on the floor.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who was wearing a lemon yellow Stella McCartney skater dress, were visiting Taronga Zoo in Sydney where the new bilby enclosure will be named after their son.

The Royal couple went on, without their son, to be shown a few of the zoo koalas.

The zoo keeper who showed them round the enclosure, Paul Davies, said afterwards about George: "He was brilliant. He was regal. It was amazing how he coped with the dark environment of the nocturnal house.

"They seemed comfortable feeding (the bilby). Kate let him get really close. At one point he tried to grab the bilby by the ears.

"He was like any other child. He had a short attention span and wanted to go and look at something else. It was just like meeting any family."

Earlier, thousands of well-wishers turned out to see the Duke and Duchess mark Easter Sunday by attending a traditional church service in Sydney.

The couple arrived at St Andrew's Cathedral in the centre of the city and were greeted - as they have been throughout their tour of Australia - by officials and cheering crowds.

Kate looked elegant in a stylish dove grey Alexander McQueen coat and Jane Taylor hat, while William was in a smart suit.

If a Sunday falls within a Royal tour, visiting members of the monarchy usually attend a church service joining local parishioners.

At the cathedral's steps, the Royal couple were met by the Most Reverend Dr Glenn Davies, Archbishop of Sydney, and the Very Reverend Phillip Jensen, Dean of Sydney, and chatted to the senior clerics before the service began.

The Easter service was private and the large group of media covering the event were not allowed inside.

A bilby is an endangered desert-dwelling marsupial, the name of which comes from an aboriginal language from New South Wales meaning long-nosed rat. There are only about 10,000 left in the wild.

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Farage 'Slandered' Front National, Le Pen Claims

The leader of the French Front National has claimed Nigel Farage slandered her party by calling it "anti-semitic".

Marine Le Pen, 45, told The Sunday Times Mr Farage had made "defamatory" and "extremely disagreeable" statements about her party.

Mr Farage has refused to join Ms Le Pen's right-wing alliance in the European parliament, siding with Nicolas Dupont-Aignan - a member of the EU Democrats party.

He claimed "anti-semitism is still embedded" in the FN and last week referred to the party's "compromising historic baggage", the newspaper reported.

Farage has sided UKIP with the EU Democrats led by Nicolas Dupont-Aignan

But Ms Le Pen has hit back, saying: "He is often reproached for the behaviour and comments of... his members.

"Slandering your neighbour to try and make yourself look whiter than white, it's not correct. He's doing it simply for electoral purposes."

Ms Le Pen was joined by UKIP founder Dr Alan Sked, who described Mr Farage as "alcoholic, dim and racist" in an interview with the think-tank Parliament Street.

He said: "He's got no idea. He can repeat things about how nasty the European Union is and how it's a threat to the working class but that's about it.

"Anything sophisticated is beyond his grasp."

It comes after two opinion polls showed UKIP was gaining ground ahead of European Parliament elections in May.

A poll for The Sunday Telegraph puts the party in second place in next month's European Parliament elections, three percentage points behind Labour on 30% and, crucially, pushing the Conservatives into third place.

Another, reported in The Mail On Sunday, reveals Nigel Farage could be on track to win a seat in the House of Commons. According to Survation, UKIP polled 32% in the Hampshire constituency of Eastleigh - four points ahead of the Conservatives - where the party narrowly lost out on winning in a by-election last year.

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Sleeping Woman Killed As Car Crashes Into Home

A Florida woman sleeping in her bedroom has been killed after another woman allegedly fleeing from police crashed her car into her home.

Jakeilah Weeks faces several charges

Police say 24-year-old Jakeilah Weeks was attempting to drive away from officers sent to a reported break-in at a nearby home.

Officers were running after the car when Weeks crashed through the side wall of Eleanor Ball's home.

One witness told local television station WTVT-TV it "sounded like a grenade" when the car slammed into the home.

Ms Ball, 62, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Weeks was taken to hospital with minor injuries and later booked into the Sarasota County Jail.

She is charged with vehicular homicide, burglary, battery, petit theft, and obstruction.

Ms Ball's cousin Carolyn Hoosier described her to WTVT as someone you "could say nothing bad about".

She said: "She was just beautiful. I am going to miss her."

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Dozens Of 'Al Qaeda Militants' Killed In Yemen

Dozens of suspected al Qaeda militants have been killed in a weekend of air strikes in Yemen.

About 25 died on Sunday when training camps were targeted by drone attacks in a remote mountainous region in the south of the country, reports said.

A defence ministry source was quoted as saying "terrorist elements were planning to target vital civilian and military installations".

Local tribal sources said about 25 bodies had been transferred from the sites of Sunday's attacks to nearby towns.

They said at least three separate strikes had taken place after dawn prayers, all targeting al Qaeda camps.

The assaults were the latest in an intensified aerial campaign

One official said the militants were among the "leading and dangerous" elements of al Qaeda and were of different nationalities.

On Saturday, a drone strike killed 10 al Qaeda militants and three civilians in central Yemen.

Pictures showed the wreckage of a car after an attack in the province of al Bayda.

It is not known who carried out the raids but the US has admitted in the past using drone strikes in Yemen to target al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

Anti-government activists burn poster of Yemen's PM Mohammed Salem Basindwa

The assaults were the latest in an intensified aerial campaign in the impoverished country, where AQAP is based.

They come less than a week after AQAP chief Nasser al Wuhayshi pledged in a rare video appearance to fight Western "crusaders" everywhere.

He addressed a large gathering of fighters in an undisclosed mountainous region of Yemen and vowed to attack the US.

The US had admitted carrying out drone strikes in Yemen

AQAP has been linked to a number of failed attacks on American soil, including plots to bomb a Detroit-bound airliner in 2009 and US cargo planes in 2010.

The group has taken advantage of a Yemeni government weakened since a 2011 uprising that forced President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down after 33 years in power.

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British Tourist Killed In Ravine Bus Crash

A British tourist has died after a double-decker bus skidded and rolled down a ravine in Malaysia, say reports.

The victim was identified by the Foreign Office as Harry Christopher Woolhouse, 32, from Peterborough.

The bus was taking foreign tourists to Singapore when it plunged down a 45ft slope next to an oil palm plantation in Pekan, the New Straits Times said.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We are providing consular assistance to his family at this sad time."

Photos showed emergency services removing people on stretchers from the wreckage.

It is not known how many of the 39 people on board were injured.

The tourists were from the UK, US, France, China, India and Singapore, according to the New Straits Times.

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Ukraine: 'Five Killed At Separatist Checkpoint'

A gun battle at a checkpoint manned by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine has left five dead, it has been claimed.

Russia's state-run Rossiya 24 news station said the five died when gunmen attacked the post near the city of Slavyansk, which is under separatist control.

A separatist interviewed by Reuters at the scene said three of the dead were with the pro-Russian militia.

The attack had happened at 2am local time, he said.

"We had three dead, four wounded," a fighter called Vladimir told the news agency at the checkpoint, where there were two burned-out jeeps.

But Sky's Katie Stallard, who has been to the scene, said there are inconsistencies in the separatists' accounts and there is no coherent evidence to back up what they are saying.

Reuters TV footage of the scene showed two bodies, one of which appeared to have gunshot wounds to the head and face.

Kiev's interior ministry said one person had been killed and three injured in an armed clash.

It said police were trying to establish more details about what happened.

A map showing the location of Slavyansk

The separatists claimed the attackers were members of Right Sector, a hard-right fringe group that was part of the anti-Russia movement whose protests in Kiev and western Ukraine forced the former president to leave office. 

Right Sector denied being involved, instead blaming Russian special forces in an illustration of the claim and counter claim that has been rife during the crisis.

The event prompted the self-declared leader of the pro-Russian faction in Slavyansk to appeal to Moscow to send in peacekeeping troops.

Ukraine and many in the West fear reports of clashes could provide a pretext for Russia to seize more Ukrainian territory.

Russia's foreign ministry said it was outraged by the shootout, describing it as a "provocation".

Pro-Russia separatist gunmen maintain a firm grip over a string of towns across eastern Ukraine, despite an international deal signed last week demanding they leave state buildings they are occupying.

On Sunday afternoon they declared a curfew in Slavyansk.

Russia, the US, the European Union and Ukraine struck a deal on Thursday aiming at de-escalating the crisis, part of which involves the separatists agreeing to lay down their arms.

Authorities in Kiev, who vowed to remove the separatists, said they have suspended military operations against the rebels until after Easter to give the militia time to comply with the agreement.

The deadline runs out on Monday, after which the US and the EU have said they will consider further sanctions against Russia.

Earlier, Ukraine's Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of having "a dream to restore the Soviet Union".

Meanwhile, the heads of the Ukrainian and Russian Orthodox churches traded barbs over the crisis in the country as believers flocked to church for Easter services.

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