Ben Needham's Grandfather Returns To Kos

The grandfather of missing British toddler Ben Needham has made an emotional return to the site where his grandson disappeared 21 years ago.

Eddie Needham is helping a joint force of English and Greek officers who are carrying out a fresh search on the island of Kos.

New doubts have recently emerged about whether parts of the site were examined thoroughly at the time. 

One theory police are working on is that Ben, who was 21 months old, may have been accidentally buried beneath rubble from excavators working at the spot. His grandfather was renovating an adjacent farmhouse when the boy disappeared.

Detective Superintendent Matt Fenwick of South Yorkshire Police is leading the search operation. 

He said: "He (Eddie) is walking our experts right around the scene and he's giving some detailed description of exactly what it looked like back in 1991; how the earth has changed even down to what the terrain was like, whether it was just soil or farmland, whether there were crops growing.

The investigation is expected to take between seven and 10 days

"It is all important to the level of search that is being undertaken. Eddie is pivotal to this."

Mr Fenwick paid tribute to Mr Needham saying: "It is a really difficult time. I have just met him there walking around with the search advisers. He really is emotional about this. It's a difficult thing for him to go back to the scene."

Mr Needham himself put out a statement through the police saying that, although he found it difficult to return to Kos, he was "pleased" he had.

"Can I please thank the local teachers, council workers, factory workers and everyone who is giving up their own time to volunteer to help.

A computer prediction of how Ben Needham would look now

"I have in the past found it hard to return to the island but today, seeing the efforts being made by everyone, especially the search team, and seeing thesupport from all the media, I was so pleased. Many thanks."

Search specialists include a team of metal detectors and officers with specialist dogs.

Ground-penetrating radar equipment will be used once more superficial methods have finished.

The police team say they are making good progress with the operation, which is expected to last between seven and 10 days.

Ben's mother Kerry is also expected to visit the search site some time over the next few days. 

She took Ben from her home in Sheffield to Kos in 1991 "to start a new life" with her parents who had already settled on the island.

She has said that she is pleased the Greek authorities are committed to the new search but still believes Ben is alive and the operation is an important part of the "process of elimination".

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Armstrong Tells Of 'Difficult Few Weeks'

Lance Armstrong has said he has been through a "difficult couple of weeks" and urged supporters of his cancer-fighting charity to stand behind its mission.

The former champion cyclist made the remarks last night at the 15th anniversary celebration for Livestrong, the charity he founded in 1997.

He stepped down as chairman earlier this week in an effort to ward off damage caused by doping charges against him.

The event drew 1,700 supporters, cancer survivors and friends who gave him a standing ovation before he spoke.

Armstrong, who denies using performance enhancing drugs to win the Tour de France seven times, did not address doping evidence presented last week by the US Anti-Doping Agency (Usada).

Usada banned Armstrong for life because of his involvement in "the most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping programme that sport has ever seen".

Armstrong did not fight the charges, although he insists he never cheated.

The Usada report sent shockwaves through the sport of cycling.

On Wednesday, Armstrong was dumped by Nike, Anheuser-Busch and other sponsors.

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Shock Fate Of India's 'Stolen' Slum Children

By Alex Rossi, Asia Correspondent

Shocking new crime figures have revealed as many as 50,000 children are going missing from the streets of India every year.

Campaigners claim the youngsters are often 'stolen' by criminal gangs to fuel a growing black market in child labour and prostitution.

For the parents of the victims the not knowing what has happened to their son or daughter is often the hardest part.

Kunwar Pal is overcome with grief. His 12-year-old son Ravi went out for a bike ride two years ago but never returned.

He said: "My life revolved around my son but since he disappeared I have lost everything including my happiness and my job."

It is the poorest families who are most at risk from the growing problem.

Children from the slums are easily snatched from the streets as their parents are often both working and struggling to make ends meet.

One of the worst affected areas is New Delhi.

According to recent crime data, as many as 20 children go missing in the capital every day and at least five of them are never traced.

The police say their job as investigators is made much more difficult because poorer parents often do not even have a photograph of their missing child.

They have now launched a scheme using theatre to try and educate children about the dangers of stranger danger.

They are also taking portraits of children in the areas the human traffickers target, so if the worst does happen, the parents at least have a photographic record of the child they can show detectives.

But many parents with missing children say the police are simply not doing enough.

Tajwar Sultana says her granddaughter, who was three when she vanished in 2009, is just another statistic for the police to ignore.

The family were at a wedding party when their little girl was taken.

She said: "Her mother is in a terrible state. Our situation is worse than death."

There are now demands for tougher punishments for the human traffickers who prey on India's children.

But activists fear as the police struggle with the enormity of the challenge the problem of India's 'stolen' sons and daughters will continue to get worse.

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Pope To Name First Native American Saint

A woman who survived smallpox as a child and died at just 24 is to become the first Native American saint.

Kateri Tekakwitha was born in 1656 and is known as Lily of the Mohawks.

She lived in an area that is now on the border between the United States and Canada and is worshipped by believers in native religions as well as Catholics.

Tekakwitha, who had an Algonquin mother and a Mohawk father, was converted by Jesuit missionaries as a child.

A wooden statue of Tekakwitha at St Peter's Chapel in Fonda, New York

After surviving smallpox and being orphaned, she earned a following for her spiritualism before dying at 24.

She will be canonised in St Peter's Basilica on Sunday at a lavish ceremony that follows her beatification in 1980 by Pope John Paul II.

At least 1,500 Canadian pilgrims - many of them American Indians - are expected to attend.

Pope Benedict will name six other new saints including a French missionary to Madagascar, a Philippine martyred at the age of 17, a German migrant to the United States who took care of lepers and a Spanish nun who campaigned for women's rights.

Tekakwitha will be canonised by Pope Benedict on Sunday

Vatican watchers said the choice to name these particular saints now was linked to the Roman Catholic Church's efforts to highlight the need for a "new evangelisation" as church pews in Europe and the United States empty out.

The new canonisations will bring to 44 the number of saints named by the pope since the start of his pontificate in 2005.

Catholic saints must have two miracles to their names which have to be certified by the Vatican in a years-long procedure.

The canonisations come amid a synod of 262 bishops from around the world.

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Panama Canal: Protests Over Land Sell-Off

A 10-year-old boy has been killed during violent protests in the Panamanian port city of Colon.

The child was shot once in the stomach and died in hospital - at least six other people were treated for gunshot wounds and several others for pellet wounds, one doctor revealed.

The protesters were demonstrating over a new law allowing the sale of state-owned land in the duty-free zone next to the Panama Canal.

Anti-riot police used tear gas and fired into the air to disperse hundreds of people who burned tyres and threw objects at police in Colon's city centre and a curfew was declared on Friday afternoon.

The rioting came a few hours after the National Assembly approved legislation to allow the sale of land in the duty-free zone to private companies already leasing land there to handle the import and export of goods. President Ricardo Martinelli signed the law hours later.

Protesters say the land is already being rented and it makes no sense to sell it. They say the government should instead raise the rent and invest the money in Colon, a poor and violent city.

"We do not want the land to be sold because these are assets that belong to Colon," said Felipe Cabezas, head of the Colonense Broad Movement.

"Why sell if the country is not going through economic problems?"

The duty-free zone has about 2,000 companies that rent land and employ 30,000 people, according to authorities.

The government estimates land sales could raise $2bn (£1.2bn) over the next 20 years.

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Iran: Deaths As Bus Overturns 'At High Speed'

At least 26 people have been killed after a bus packed with students overturned in southwestern Iran, according to the country's state radio.

The driver lost control because the vehicle was going at high speed in wet conditions, senior police official Colonel Mohammad Reza Mehmandar was quoted as saying.

Some 19 other people were hurt in the accident and have been taken to hospital for treatment.

The crash happened on the Izeh-Lordegan road, about 300 miles southwest of the capital Tehran.

Iran has one of the worst road safety records in the world, with more than 400,000 accidents and about 20,000 deaths every year.

The high death tolls are blamed on high speed, unsafe vehicles, widespread disregard of traffic laws and inadequate emergency services.

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Lebanon: Protests After Beirut Bomb Blast

Protesters in Lebanon have burnt tyres and set up roadblocks amid growing anger over a car bomb that killed eight people, including one of the country's top security officials.

There are fears that the devastating attack threatens to bring Syria's civil war to Lebanon.

Lebanese troops stood guard at road junctions and official buildings in the capital, Beirut, as the Lebanese cabinet held an emergency meeting to decide on what, if any, action to take.

Prime Minister Najib Mikati later said the blast was linked to the civil war in neighbouring Syria and revealed that he had agreed to stay on as premier at President Michel Sleiman's request because of "national interest".

Among the victims of the Beirut blast was Brigadier General Wissam al Hassan, head of a Lebanese intelligence department and an opponent of Syrian President Bashar al Assad.

Politics in Lebanon and Syria are closely connected

Brig-Gen al Hassan, 47, headed an investigation over the summer that led to the arrest of former information minister Michel Samaha, one of Mr Assad's most loyal allies in Lebanon.

Mr Samaha, who is in custody, is accused of plotting a campaign of bombings and assassinations to spread sectarian violence in Lebanon at Syria's behest.

Also indicted in the August sweep was Syrian Brigadier General Ali Mamlouk, one of Mr Assad's highest aides.

Dozens were left wounded in the blast in Beirut's mainly Christian Achrafieh neighbourhood.

Lebanon's fractious politics are closely entwined with Syria's.

The countries share political and sectarian ties and rivalries, often causing events on one side of the border to have a "knock on" effect on the other.

Lebanon's opposition is an anti-Syrian bloc, while the prime minister and much of the government are pro-Syrian.

The civil war in Syria has laid bare Lebanon's sectarian tensions as well.

Many of Lebanon's Sunni Muslims have backed Syria's mainly Sunni rebels, while Shi'ite Muslims have tended to back Mr Assad.

Brig-Gen al Hassan was a Sunni whose stances were widely seen to oppose Syria and Shi'ite Hezbollah, the country's most powerful ally in Lebanon.

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Banana Boat Sunscreen Recalled Over Fire Risk

Bottles of spray-on Banana Boat sunscreen are being recalled following reports that some people have caught fire after applying the product and coming into contact with open flames.

St Louis-based Energizer Holdings revealed it was withdrawing 23 varieties of UltraMist sunscreen off store shelves due to the risk of the lotion igniting when exposed to fire.

The recall includes aerosol products such as UltraMist Sport, UltraMist Ultra Defence and UltraMist Kids.

There had been five reports - four in the US and one in Canada - of people suffering burns after using the sunscreen in the last year, a company spokesman said.

The problem appears to have been caused by a spray valve, Energizer said in a statement. As a result the lotion is taking longer to dry, which raises the flammability risk.

"If a consumer comes into contact with a flame or spark prior to complete drying of the product on the skin, there is a potential for the product to ignite," the company said.

UltraMist's label warns users: "Keep away from sources of ignition - no smoking."

But dermatologists say most people do not read such labels.

"So many people put this on outside, while they're on their way to activities, so I just don't think people are aware of that," said Dr Michele Green, a dermatologist at New York's Lenox Hill Hospital.

Aerosol sunscreens have become popular in recent years because they are faster and easier to apply than traditional creams, Dr Green said.

Doctors and burn experts said the problem appears to be extremely rare.

"I've been doing this for 30 years and I've never seen or heard of this happening before," said Dr Darrel Rigel, professor of dermatology at New York University.

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Israeli Navy Boards Gaza-Bound Boat

The Israeli military says its navy boarded a boat carrying 30 pro-Palestinian activists that was trying to break the naval blockade on Gaza.

The boarding happened after the passengers' "unwillingness to co-operate" and they "ignored calls to change course", the military added.

Soldiers went on to the Finnish-flagged Estelle in the Mediterranean Sea, about 30 miles from Gaza, and it was being led to the southern Israeli port of Ashdod.

The military said the troops boarded the boat peacefully, and there was no harm to the passengers who were offered food and drinks.

When the boat arrives at the Ashdod port, the passengers will be transferred to the custody of the police and immigration authorities.

Victoria Strand, a spokeswoman for Ship to Gaza in Sweden, which sent the Estelle, said armed, masked soldiers boarded the boat and cut their communications 30 miles from Gaza.

She said activists on board told her six naval boats surrounded their vessel. "This is a demonstration of ruthlessness," Ms Strand said.

The Estelle is the latest in a series of activist-manned boats challenging Israel's blockade on Gaza, which was imposed after the militant group Hamas seized power of the territory in 2007.

The boat left Naples, Italy, on October 7 with passengers from eight countries, carrying items like cement, basketballs and musical instruments.

An Israeli military statement said: "The boarding was carried out in accordance with international law, with directives of the Israeli government and after all attempts to prevent the vessel from reaching the Gaza Strip were made, both via direct contact and through diplomatic channels, but to no avail.

"The boarding was carried out only after numerous calls to the passengers onboard; as a result of their unwillingness to co-operate and after ignoring calls to change course, the decision was made to board the vessel and lead it to the port of Ashdod."

In 2010, an Israeli naval raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla killed nine Turkish activists on board.

The incident sparked international condemnation that forced Israel to ease much of its blockade, although it maintains restrictions on key exports and imports of raw materials.

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Gaddafi's Ex-Spokesman Moussa Ibrahim Captured

Muammar Gaddafi's ex-spokesman Moussa Ibrahim has been captured - exactly a year after the death of the Libyan dictator.

Ibrahim, who was the mouthpiece of the Gaddafi regime during last year's war, was caught in the town of Tarhouna, 40 miles south of Tripoli.

"Moussa Ibrahim has been arrested by forces belonging to the Libyan government in the town of Tarhouna and he is being transferred to Tripoli to begin interrogation," a statement from the prime minister's office said.

Muammar Gaddafi was captured in Sirte a year ago

Fluent in English, Ibrahim would hold regular press conferences in the luxury Tripoli hotel where journalists stayed during last year's war.

His whereabouts have been unknown since the fall of Tripoli in August 2011 but there have been past reports of his capture.

Saturday marks one year since Gaddafi's capture and death in his hometown Sirte, after he was caught hiding in a drain pipe.

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