Yemen Terror Alert: Embassy Staff Withdrawn

Britain and America have told citizens to leave Yemen "immediately" as the al Qaeda terror threat intensifies.

The UK and the US State Department have also instructed that their embassies should be evacuated and all non-emergency US government staff have been ordered to leave the country "due to the continued potential for terrorist attacks".

A statement from the UK Foreign Office said: "Due to increased security concerns, all staff in our Yemen embassy have been temporarily withdrawn, and the embassy will remain closed until staff are able to return.

The US embassy in Sana'a has been evacuated

"There is a very high threat of kidnap from armed tribes, criminals and terrorists. Be particularly vigilant during Ramadan, when tensions could be heightened."

Military planes have already been used to return a number of people to the US.

The developments in Yemen came as it was disclosed that an intercepted telephone call between al Qaeda leaders triggered the terror alert that led to the temporary closure of 19 US diplomatic posts across the Middle East and Africa.

During the conversation, al Qaeda chief Ayman al Zawahri instructed the head of the terror affiliate in Yemen, Nasser al Wuhayshi to carry out a major attack as early as last Sunday.

The plot is thought to have been one of the most serious against American and other Western interests since the September 11, 2001, attacks, according to US intelligence officials.

One American official, who had been briefed on the intelligence report, told the New York Times: "This was significant because it was the big guys talking, and talking about very specific timing for an attack or attacks."

Al Wuhayshi, head of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), is a significant player and was groomed for leadership in the terror organisation by Osama bin Laden.          

The drone strikes hit four al Qaeda suspects in Marib Province

It also emerged that a five-missile drone strike had killed four alleged al Qaeda members in Yemen's central Marib province. The hit targeted a vehicle, turning it into "a ball of fire", according to Yemeni officials.

Speaking on condition of anonymity because they are not allowed to talk to the media, they said they believed that one of the dead is Saleh Jouti and another Saleh al Tays al Waeli.

Waeli was on a list of 25 "most wanted" al Qaeda operatives included in a list released by the Yemen government on Monday.

The men are wanted in connection with an alleged plot to launch a major attack before Ramadan ends and the Eid al-Fitr feast begins, either on Thursday or Friday.

Tuesday's drone strike is the fourth of its kind since July 28. The raids have killed 17 suspects in one week.

Aqap is seen as the terror network's most capable franchise following the decimation of its core leadership in Afghanistan and Pakistan in recent years.

Ayman al Zawahiri, al Qaeda's leader, is unable to act out of Pakistan

The Yemen-based group has attempted a number of attacks on US soil, including a bid to bring down a passenger plane in 2009 by a man wearing explosives in his underwear and a failed plot to send bombs concealed in printers.

The US, in turn, has launched scores of drone strikes in Yemen, where the militant groups thrive in vast, lawless areas largely outside government control.

Several US allies, including Britain, France, Germany and Norway have also announced closures of some of their missions in the region.

An attack on September 11 last year killed the US ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, and three other Americans in Benghazi.

US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham told CNN at the weekend that the recent actions taken to close the embassies showed President Barack Obama's administration had learned lessons from Benghazi.

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Japan Unveils Largest Warship Since WWII

Japan has unveiled its biggest warship since World War II, a huge flat-top helicopter carrier.

The ship is the largest surface combatant of the Japanese navy

The ship has raised eyebrows in China and elsewhere because it bears a strong resemblance to a conventional aircraft carrier.

The Izumo, which has a flight deck that is nearly 250 metres (820ft feet) long, is designed to carry up to 14 helicopters.

Japanese officials say it will be used in national defence - particularly in anti-submarine warfare and border-area surveillance missions.

The ship can carry up to 14 helicopters

It will also be used to bolster the nation's ability to transport personnel and supplies in response to large-scale natural disasters, like the devastating earthquake and tsunami in 2011.

Although the Izumo has been in the works since 2009, its unveiling comes as Japan and China are locked in a dispute over several small islands located between southern Japan and Taiwan.

For months, ships from both countries have been conducting patrols around the isles, called the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyutai in China.

A sailor looks on with a smile at the launch of the warship

The tensions over the islands, along with China's heavy spending on defence and military modernisation, have heightened calls in Japan for improved naval and air forces.

China recently began operating an aircraft carrier that it refurbished after buying it from Russia and is reportedly planning to build another one itself.

Japan, China and Taiwan all claim the islands.

The warship seen before the launching ceremony in Yokohama, south of Tokyo

Some experts believe the new Japanese helicopter carrier could be used to launch fighter jets or other aircraft that have the ability to take off vertically.

That would be a departure for Japan, which has one of the best-equipped and best-trained naval forces in the Pacific, but which has not sought to build aircraft carriers of its own because of constitutional restrictions that limit its military forces to a defensive role.

Japan has one of the best-equipped navies in the Pacific

Japan says it has no plans to use the ship in that manner.

The Izumo does not have catapults for launching fighters, nor does it have a "ski-jump" ramp on its flight deck for launching fixed-wing aircraft that have a short take-off capability.

There are suggestions the ship could be converted into an aircraft carrier

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Woman Offers Gay Parents Breastfeeding Service

A woman is offering to breastfeed babies of male gay parents for 100 euros (£86) a day.

The 29-year-old describes herself as a trained nurse in an advert posted on a French website.

The post, which the 'e-loue' website said is genuine and legal, reads: "I am a young mother in perfect health, a trained nurse of 29, and I am renting my breasts to milk-feed infants."

The woman promises up to 10 breastfeeds a day, and adds that she is mobile and based near Paris.

Same-sex couple figurines at a wedding fair in Paris

In response to queries via the website, she said many people had replied to the proposal.

"I've received more than a dozen requests, but only half of them were serious. The rest were from perverts," the poster of the offer, run under a pseudonym like all adverts, said in an exchange with Reuters news agency.

Alexandre Woog, chief executive of the website, said its staff had contacted the person and had no doubt about her identity and the seriousness of the proposal, nor the legality of the service proposed.

"Our legal advisers are sure of this. It's illegal in France to sell maternal milk but this is a person proposing a service, not selling the milk in flasks," said Mr Woog.

The advert comes just weeks after a divisive and historic vote to legalise same-sex marriages in the country.

France's gay marriage law was fiercely opposed by many residents

The change in the law to permit gay weddings came into force in May and made France the 14th country to allow gay weddings.

But in a nation both predominantly Roman Catholic and fiercely attached to the separation of church and state, there has been major opposition to the new law amid nationwide protests.

French law also permits the adoption of children by same-sex couples. It does not allow surrogacy or assisted reproduction for gay and lesbian couples.

Mr Woog said his website, created in 2009 as a platform where users can offer or hire anything legal online, checks all posts that raise eyebrows.

The breastfeeding offer is the second eye-catching advert to appear on the website, he said.

Another user previously offered to rent out two goats as lawnmowers.

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Morocco And Spain In Paedophile Mix-Up Jail Row

A paedophile who raped 11 children but was mistakenly pardoned by Morocco's king has been sent to prison after being recaptured in Spain.

Daniel Galvan Vina was wrongly freed from prison in Morocco by King Mohammed VI and returned to Spain in a mix up which triggered riots in the north African country.

The King rescinded his pardon and an international arrest warrant was issued for Galvan, who was then recaptured in the Spanish city of Murcia.

Now a Spanish court has ruled the 63-year-old should remain in prison while officials from both countries meet to decide his fate.

Galvan was convicted of raping 11 children aged between four and 15 in Morocco and sentenced to 30 years in prison there.

Last month Spain says it asked Morocco to pardon 18 Spaniards in prison there and transfer 30 others, including Galvan, back to Spain to serve their sentences.

However, in an apparent misunderstanding, the king pardoned and freed all 48 on Throne Day on July 30.

The release of Galvan sparked protests in Morocco's capital, Rabat

The decision sparked furious protests last week as thousands rallied in front of the parliament in the Moroccan capital Rabat, leading to violent clashes with police.

On Sunday, the king rescinded his pardon and an international arrest warrant was issued.

Morocco is now seeking Galvan's extradition but under a bilateral agreement he could be allowed to serve out his sentence in Spain.

The case is also complicated by the fact that in Spain the government cannot revoke a pardon.

The Spanish National Court heard that Galvan was born in Iraq but was granted Spanish nationality after marrying a Spaniard, from whom he is now divorced.

The court said he has spent most of his life in Spain and Iraq but has also lived in Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Britain and most recently Morocco.

The affair has caused embarrassment in both Morocco and Spain, with questions being raised about Galvan's background.

Daily newspaper El Pais reported that Galvan told his Moroccan lawyer that he was a former official in the Iraqi army who had worked with foreign secret services to oust Saddam Hussein.

The name Daniel Galvan was "an identity that was fabricated by secret services when they got him out of Iraq, they provided him with Spanish documentation and converted him into a retired professor from Murcia," the newspaper said.

Galvan worked at the University of Murcia until 2002, before moving to the Moroccan port of Kenitra in 2005.

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Fort Hood Massacre: Court Martial Begins

The court martial of a US soldier charged with killing 13 at Fort Hood military base has begun, with the gunman facing his victims for the first time.

Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, has never denied carrying out the 2009 attack on his fellow soldiers.

He told the jury on Tuesday: "The evidence will clearly show that I am the shooter."

He is representing himself at a trial charging him with murder and attempted murder for the attack, which also wounded more than 30.

Hasan, a US-born Muslim of Palestinian descent, had wanted to argue that he carried out the shooting "in defence of others" - Muslim insurgents fighting US soldiers in Afghanistan - but the judge has refused to accept that argument.

The judge has also said the 42-year-old will not be permitted to make speeches about his beliefs.

Many of the wounded will take the witness stand, alongside others who were inside the post's Soldier Readiness Processing Centre when the shooting began.

Thirteen people died during the shooting at the Texas base in 2009

Hasan, who was shot in the back by officers responding to the attack, is now paralysed from the waist down and uses a wheelchair.

Before the trial, wounded soldier Alonzo Lunsford said: "That man strikes no fear in my heart.

"What he did to me was bad. But the biggest mistake that he made was I survived. So he will see me again."

Another soldier, mental health specialist Shawn Manning, is also expected to give evidence.

He said: "I have to keep my composure and not go after the guy.

"I'm not afraid of him, obviously. He's a paralysed guy in a wheelchair, but it's sickening that he's still living and breathing."

The government has said that Hasan sent more than a dozen emails starting in December 2008 to Anwar al Awlaki, a radical US-born Islamic cleric killed by a drone strike in Yemen in 2011.

If he is convicted and sentenced to death, it would likely take decades before he was executed. The military has not executed an active-duty soldier since 1961.

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George W Bush Undergoes Heart Procedure

Former US President George W Bush has successfully undergone a heart procedure after doctors discovered a blockage in an artery.

His spokesman Freddy Ford said a stent was inserted during a procedure on Tuesday in Texas. The blockage was discovered on Monday during his annual physical examination.

The blockage was opened with no complications. The 67-year-old is expected to be discharged on Wednesday.

Mr Bush was described as being "in high spirits" and eager to return home. He plans to resume his normal schedule on Thursday.

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Python Attack: 'Snake Kills Two Sleeping Boys'

Police in eastern Canada have launched a criminal investigation after a python apparently escaped from a pet shop and killed two children by asphyxiating them in their sleep.

The two boys - named locally as Noah Barthe, five, and his brother Connor, seven - were at a sleepover at their best friend's flat in the town of Campbellton when it is believed they were attacked by the snake.

It is understood the animal had escaped from the Reptile Ocean pet shop, which specialises in exotic pets and is run by family friend Jean-Claude Savoie, located on the ground floor of the building.

The boys were sleeping in the living room of the residence on Pleasant Street when they were reportedly attacked by the snake early on Monday morning. Police were called to the scene at 6.30am local time.

Corporal Alain Tremblay from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) told Canadian news station CBC News that officers were in the first stage of a criminal investigation.

He said: "I can tell you it's a criminal investigation right now to determine if any criminal act is responsible for the death of the two boys."

Cpl Tremblay confirmed that the snake involved is an African rock python, as long as 4.5 metres and weighing about 45kg. The animals are non-venomous and would usually kill by constricting victims.

Police outside the exotic pet store in Campbellton (Pic: CBC News)

Police have suggested the python entered the upstairs apartment via the two-storey building's ventilation system.

The RCMP said in a statement: "The preliminary investigation has led police to believe that a large exotic snake had escaped its enclosure at the store.

"(It) got into the ventilation system, then into the upstairs apartment. It's believed the two boys were strangled by the snake."

The boys' mother, Mandy Trecartin, lives close to the Reptile Ocean store. She is a good friend of the shop owner and regularly let her sons stay over there.

A former shop employee is reported to have called Ms Trecartin as soon as he heard about the tragedy to find out what happened.

Tim Thomas told Canada's National Post: "She told me straight up, it was her two children that died; I didn't know what to say, I was in shock."

Mr Savoie, who described the dead brothers as "like an extended family", told Global News that he found a "horrific scene" when he checked on the boys at about 6am.

An example of an African rock python (file pic)

"I thought they were sleeping and I've seen the hole in the ceiling, (and) everything has fallen. I turn the lights on and I've seen this horrific scene," Mr Savoie said.

He added: "The snake was gone but I found the snake ... it went through the ceiling and was sleeping in the living room.

"I have so many mixed emotions right now. I can't believe this is real."

The python, which he had owned for 10 years, has been recaptured.

The local community expressed shock at what had happened. One neighbour said: "We could not believe that something like this could happen, but it has happened."

But another Campbellton resident was less sympathetic. She said: "The fact that you have an apartment with animals like that below, the risk is always there."

Experts said attacks on humans by exotic snakes are extremely rare and, according to local officials, the reptile owner was fully licenced.

Connor Barthe (L) and Noah Barthe (Pic: Facebook / Mandy Trecartin)

Exotic snake seller Alexandre Tremblay suggested the snake must have been "way under-fed and badly housed".

"For a snake to be able to get out of that size it just has to be really hungry and not in good conditions. Because usually snakes are very easy-going ... it's rare that snakes get out," he told Sky News.

Lisa Janes, co-owner of Little Ray's Reptile Zoo, a zoo and education programme in Ontario, told CBC News that snakes do not usually see humans as food, pointing out that more people are killed by dogs than by snakes.

According to a report in the the Toronto Sun, snake expert Michel Leblanc is baffled over how the snake was able to kill both boys.

"It is rather odd ... because usually the snakes feed on rabbits, for example.

"Generally, it will only attack something he can swallow. It will not kill for nothing," he said.

Reptile Ocean's Facebook page was flooded with criticism when news of the deaths spread and has now been shut down, the National Post reported. An unknown administrator earlier replied to the angry comments saying it had been "a terrible accident without a meaning".

"There is nobody to blame. The snake broke out of its enclosure. The enclosure was locked. There was no negligence. This is a terrible accident," the message posted on Monday afternoon read.

An online petition calling for the shop, which reportedly has three employees, to be shut down had been started prior to the deaths. It has been open for almost 17 years.

Post-mortem examinations on the two boys' bodies are due to be carried out today.

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Iran's Rouhani Urges Nuclear Talks With West

Iran's new President Hassan Rouhani has said he is "seriously determined" to resolve a dispute with the West over Tehran's nuclear programme.

Addressing his first news conference as leader, Mr Rouhani said was ready to enter "serious and substantive" negotiations on the issue without delay.

"We are the people of interaction and talks, with seriousness and without wasting time, if the other sides are ready," he said.

"As the president of the Islamic republic, I am announcing that there is political will to solve this issue and also take into consideration the concerns of the other sides.

"If the other party is also prepared like we are, then I am confident that the concerns of both sides will be removed through negotiations within a period which will not be very long."

Mr Rouhani said he wanted to allay Western concerns but would not surrender Iran's rights.

"Iran's peaceful nuclear programme is a national issue ... we will not give up the rights of the Iranian people," he said.

He said Iran would not abandon its nuclear programme, which it would uphold "on the basis of international law".

"We will preserve our rights based on the international regulations," he added, in reference to Iran's insistence that it has the right to peaceful use of nuclear power as a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Mr Rouhani also used the speech to hit out at a call by 76 US senators for tougher sanctions from Washington.

Former leader Mr Ahmadinejad (C) at a nuclear enrichment facility in 2008

He said Friday's letter from the politicians to President Barack Obama, which was published on Monday, showed a lack of understanding of Iranian politics.

"Recent declarations from the the White House show that some US officials do not have a correct and realistic assessment of the situation here and the message that the Iranian people gave in the election," the new president said.

"They are still sending contradictory messages," he said, adding: "We care about the US response in deeds, not in words."

On Sunday, the White House said Iran will find the United States a "willing partner" if Mr Rouhani is prepared to engage substantively and seriously on its nuclear programme.

Mr Rouhani headed Iran's nuclear negotiating team in the early 2000s and Western leaders have expressed hope of a more constructive approach in the protracted talks.

The hard line policies of Mr Rouhani's predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, prompted crippling EU and US sanctions against Iran's oil and banking sectors that he has vowed to seek to relax.

Iran's critics say that it has used previous nuclear talks as a delaying tactic while continuing to develop nuclear weapons-related technology - something Tehran denies.

Western powers believe the Iranian nuclear programme is being used to develop an atomic bomb but Tehran insists it is for peaceful purposes.

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Farm Shooting: Boss Among Two Men Killed

A father has been shot dead and his son seriously injured in a farm shooting in which a third man also died.

Emergency services were called to Meadowhead Farm near East Kilbride in South Lanarkshire, just after 8am.

Police have not identified the dead pair, but Sky sources say one of them was the owner of the farm, 59-year-old Peter Thompson.

The 53-year-old man who also died has not yet been named. He had a firearms licence and was found nearby in a vehicle.

Police sealed off a road leading to the farm

Mr Thompson's 36-year-old son, John, suffered a leg injury when he was shot. He left the scene to drive to the nearest pub to raise the alarm and was found by police on a road.

He is now reportedly being treated for serious injuries in hospital, but he is expected to live.

Police say they are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident and the public are not at risk.

Meadowhead Farm is a licensed equestrian centre which offers riding lessons and treks.

A statement on the centre's Facebook page in the hours after the shooting said the centre had been closed.

Messages of condolence were posted on the site below the statement.

A floral tribute left at the scene read: "RIP Peter. A true gentleman. You will be sadly missed."

Sky's Jane Chilton, in South Lanarkshire, said there had been reports that Peter Thompson had been involved in a dispute over plans to expand his equestrian centre. "There were very strong objections to these plans and it all revolved around an access road," she said.

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Dewani To Fight Extradition In Supreme Court

Lawyers acting for honeymoon murder suspect Shrien Dewani are launching a bid to take his extradition case to the Supreme Court.

More follows...

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