US Missiles And Troops To Protect Turkey

The US is deploying two Patriot missile units along with 400 troops to Turkey as part of a Nato force to protect Turkish territory from potential Syrian attack.

US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta signed a deployment order on Friday on his way to Turkey from Afghanistan.

The order calls for the American soldiers to operate two batteries of Patriots at undisclosed locations in Turkey.

The move is part of a wider Nato effort to bolster Ankara's air defences amid growing tension on the Turkish-Syrian border.

Germany and the Netherlands are also sending Patriots, which are designed to knock out cruise and ballistic missiles as well as aircraft.

Turkey is a founding member of Nato and requested the help from the alliance after siding with opposition forces battling President Bashar al Assad's regime.

Leon Panetta has been meeting troops and politicians in Afghanistan

The Turkish government has vowed to defend its territory after cross-border artillery fire wounded civilians and one of its fighter jets was  downed.

US and European leaders have warned the Assad regime not to use its arsenal of chemical arms, calling it a "red line" that would trigger international military action.

During a brief stop at Incirlik Air Base Mr Panetta told US troops that Turkey might need the Patriots.

He said he had approved the deployment "so that we can help Turkey have the kind of missile defence it may very well need to deal with the threats coming out of Syria."

Mr Panetta did not reveal how soon the two Patriot batteries will head to Turkey or how long they will stay.

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Russia Journalist Murder: Ex-Policeman Jailed

A former policeman has been jailed for 11 years in a prison camp over the murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya.

Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov admitted tracking Ms Politkovskaya so that she could be assassinated in 2006 and providing the gun to shoot her.

The journalist was well known for her hard-hitting reporting and her criticism of the Kremlin under Vladimir Putin.

Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov admitted tracking Ms Politkovskaya

Ms Politkovskaya was shot dead in the lift of her flat block in Moscow on October 7, 2006.

She was shot twice in the chest, once in the shoulder, and once - at point blank range - in the head.

Ms Politkovskaya made her name with her reports from Chechnya, which became the subject of several books. She won many international awards for her writing, mainly with the Russian newspaper, critical of Putin, Novaya Gazeta.

She published her reporting experiences in the book Putin's Russia, which won global acclaim.

Pavlyuchenkov made a plea bargain with the court which meant he was given a reduced sentence.

He was ordered to pay 3m rubles (£60,500) compensation to Ms Politkovskaya's family. They had asked for 10m rubles (£201,360).

The former policeman was tried separately from five other men accused of the reporter's murder.

Anna Politkovskaya with former spy Alexander Litvinenko before her death

The other defendants include three members of the same Chechen family.

Rustam Makhmudov is accused of firing the shot that killed Ms Politkovskaya, and his brothers Dzhabrail and Ibragim are accused of acting as getaway drivers.

They were tried in 2009 and acquitted but the Russian Supreme Court ordered their retrial.

Meanwhile, Russia has denied any links to the murder of a former spy and Kremlin critic in London in 2006.

It comes after a coroner in London was told that Russia was involved in the murder of Alexander Litvinenko.

Russian foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich responded by saying: "We hope that as a result of the (legal process) ... all the baseless allegations about some kind of a Russian involvement in this affair will be dispelled once and for all."

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School Shooting: Calls For Stricter Gun Laws

The husband of the US politician Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in Arizona, has called for action on America's gun laws following the latest mass shooting.

As America deals with the aftermath of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Captain Mark Kelly, a Nasa astronaut, wrote on his Facebook page that tightening the gun controls could wait no longer and called on politicians to act now.

He said: "As we mourn, we must sound a call for our leaders to stand up and do what is right."

He added: "The children of Sandy Hook Elementary School and all victims of gun violence deserve leaders who have the courage to participate in a meaningful discussion about our gun laws - and how they can be reformed and better enforced to prevent gun violence and death in America. This can no longer wait."

Barack Obama wipes away a tear as he calls for "meaningful action"

His wife was one of the people shot by Jared Loughner in Arizona in 2011. She survived with serious head injuries but six others were killed in the attack.

Barack Obama hinted at the possibility of gun law reform following the shooting in Connecticut, signalling it was time to come together to take meaningful action, "regardless of the politics".

There have been 61 mass murders involving firearms since 1982.

The most recent, where Adam Lanza shot dead 27 people on Friday, ranks as the country's worst school shooting.

Of all shootings, it is second in its gravity only to the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007, which claimed 32 lives.

A call for action at the White House vigil for the victims of the shooting

Already there have been protests outside the White House calling for reform of America's liberal gun laws.

Michael Moore, the director of Bowling For Columbine, a documentary which explored America's relationship with guns, tweeted: "Too soon to speak out about a gun-crazy nation? No, too late. At least THIRTY-ONE school shootings since Columbine."

He added: "The way to honour these dead children is to demand strict gun control, free mental health care, and an end to violence as public policy."

But with the right to bear arms enshrined in the second amendment to the US constitution and an increasingly strong gun lobby in the National Rifle Association, it is thought to be unlikely that will take the form of an outright ban.

Part of the problem with the US gun laws is that they vary widely between different states.

Connecticut, the state at the centre of the latest shooting, has the fourth strongest gun laws in the country, the US political commentator Charlie Wolf, told Sky News.

Yet Lanza, who it has been reported has a history of mental health, managed to amass an arsenal of at least six lethal weapons.

Two handguns and semi-automatic rifle found at the scene appeared to be legally purchased by the mother of the mass shooter.

Cho Seung-Hui killed 32 at Virginia Tech - America's most deadly shooting

Mr Wolf said the Sandy Hook shooting would not lead to an outright ban on gun ownership and that there were other issues which needed to be addressed, such as mental health.

He said: "I'm sure if this guy really wanted to he would have found guns elsewhere. It didn't stop Derrick Bird in this country (UK)."

He said that the right to bear arms was enshrined in the constitution but that it was possible the law could be strengthened to make sure people who shouldn't own guns couldn't buy them.

On top of the differences in gun laws across the states, the federal government regulates very little.

The so-called Brady law, signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1993, requires federal background checks on firearm purchasers in the United States.

It is intended to detect any potential red flags in an individual's criminal and mental health history.

But 40 per cent of arms sales are not affected by the law, because they take place between private individuals, through websites, or at gun show stands. These sales are not regulated by the federal government.

Loughner, who carried out the attack that wounded Ms Giffords, obtained the green light from the background check system before purchasing his guns.

He was cleared even though he was suspended from school for misconduct and had a history of drug use.

Gun ownership in the US is now at an all-time low and there is a suggestion that the public increasingly supports some gun control measures.

A recent CCN/ORC poll found a majority supported background checks and a ban on semi-automatic weapons.

Perhaps the killing of 20 children all aged under 10 will come to mark the beginning of a discussion that could lead to a rethink on America's gun laws.

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Egyptians Vote In Constitution Referendum

Queues have formed at polling stations in Egypt as the country votes on a constitution many hope will lead to long-term stability.

The referendum, which is taking place over two days, asks Egyptians to accept or reject the charter, which must be in place before a parliamentary election can take place next year.

Opponents say the constitution does not guarantee basic rights for Egyptians and places emphasis on Islam and Sharia law.

Queues formed across Egypt as polling stations opened

Supporters of President Mohamed Morsi say it is needed to secure democracy, nearly two years after the fall of military-backed former leader Hosni Mubarak.

If the charter is voted down, a new assembly will have to be formed to draft another version - a process that could take up to nine months.

Mr Morsi, who was among the first to vote, was shown on television casting his ballot and dipping his finger in ink - a measure designed to prevent people voting twice.

President Mohamed Morsi casts his vote in the referendum

Security has been tightened around polling stations and government buildings, with 120,000 troops and 6,000 tanks and armoured vehicles deployed by the army.

It follows weeks of violent clashes between supporters and opponents of Mr Morsi.

On Friday, at least 19 people were reportedly injured in a sword fight in Alexandria, Egypt's second largest city. Cars were set alight and a mosque was surrounded, trapping a preacher who had criticised those planning to oppose the constitution.

In Cairo, at least eight protesters have died and hundreds have been hurt since Mr Morsi assumed sweeping new powers to push through the constitution.

The president later annulled the decree but demonstrations have continued in the capital's Tahrir Square.

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Emotional Obama Responds To School Shooting

Barack Obama wept as he addressed the nation in the aftermath of the school shootings in Connecticut.

And a day after the shooting, the US President used his weekly address to call for solidarity in the wake of the massacre, where 20 children and seven adults were killed.

Many of those killed in the shooting in the small town of Newtown were between the ages of five and 10.

On Friday, Mr Obama paused repeatedly as he struggled to keep his composure while speaking of the children who had been killed and the milestones in their lives they would never have - birthdays, graduations, weddings.

"Our hearts are broken today," he said, at times using a finger to wipe tears at the corners of his eyes.

Mr Obama said he had reacted to news of the elementary school shooting first as a parent.

He added that he and First Lady Michelle would do what any other parent in America would do - "hug our children a little tighter".

Mr Obama called for "meaningful action" regardless of politics.

"As a country, we have been through this too many times," he said in the televised address from the White House.

Mr Obama said in his weekly address that Americans need to "come together" to prevent tragedies like the school massacre, one of the worst mass shootings in US history.

"While nothing can take the place of a lost child or loved one, all of us can extend a hand to those in need - to remind them that we are there for them; that we are praying for them; and that the love they felt for those they lost endures not just in their own memories, but also in their community, and their country," he said.

"Every parent in America has a heart heavy with hurt.

"We grieve for the families of those we lost. And we keep in our prayers the parents of those who survived. Because as blessed as they are to have their children home, they know that their child's innocence has been torn away far too early."

Mr Obama said the tragedy was all too familiar, after similar deadly shootings at a shopping mall in Oregon, at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin, and at a cinema in Colorado earlier this year.

He did not give details, but some US politicians called for a serious look at gun control laws, a subject which Mr Obama did not tackle strongly in his first term.

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Immigrants Killed As Boat Capsizes Off Greece

By Anthee Carassava, in Athens

Greek coastguards have retrieved the bodies of at least 18 immigrants who drowned in the northeast Aegean Sea after their boat capsized in choppy waters.

Their rubber raft had set off from Turkey's western shores, carrying its captain and 27 passengers, according to a survivor who was rescued near the island of Lesvos.

Neither the identity nor the nationality of the victims have been confirmed, although Kalliope Gerakitou, a spokesman for the National Greek Coast Guard, said those on board the boat included men, women and children.

The island of Lesvos is close to Turkey's western coast

In a similar incident four months ago, more than 60 people, among them unescorted children, drowned off Turkey's western coast, near the Greek island of Samos.

Coastguards in Lesvos said a search and rescue operation was continuing on Saturday in the hope of finding survivors.

Tens of thousands of illegal immigrants, mainly from African and Asian countries, cross through the Greek islands every year, risking their lives in a bid to make their way to other European Union member states.

Human smugglers have been known to charge migrants thousands of dollars to make the journey to Lesvos, using unseaworthy vessels for the crossing.

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Newtown Principal Dawn Hochsprung Among Dead

A headteacher and a school psychologist went to the aid of their pupils after hearing gunshots at a Connecticut school, according to reports.

Therapist Diane Day was in a meeting with head Dawn Hochsprung and the school psychologist at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown on Friday morning when the gunman began shooting at around 9.30am.

"We were there for about five minutes chatting, and we heard Pop! Pop!, Pop!" Ms Day told The Wall Street Journal.

"I went under the table."

But Ms Hochsprung and the psychologist jumped out of their seats and ran out of the room, Ms Day said.

Ms Hochsprung was confirmed to be among seven adults and 20 children killed during the rampage. The school psychologist was also reported to have been killed.

"They didn't think twice about confronting or seeing what was going on,"  Ms Day said. 

Ms Hochsprung is also believed to have switched on a loudspeaker system in the school to alert students and staff to the danger.

"She was just an amazing woman... the kids loved her. It's a huge loss for our school and our town," said assistant librarian Maryanne Jacobs.

A candlelit vigil was held for the victims

Fourth-grade teacher Theodore Varga said: "You could hear the hysteria that was going on.

"Whoever did that saved a lot of people. Everyone in the school was listening to the terror that was transpiring."

He added that a school caretaker also ran out warning people there was a gunman on the premises.

The masked gunman has been named as 20-year-old Adam Lanza.

Robert Licata, whose six-year-old son was in one of the classrooms when the gunman burst in and opened fire, said he told him the shooter did not say anything.

He said: "That's when my son grabbed a bunch of his friends and ran out the door.

"He was very brave. He waited for his friends."

First-grade teacher Kaitlin Roig barricaded her 15 students inside a tiny bathroom with a bookshelf and told them to be "absolutely quiet".

She told ABC News: "I said, 'there are bad guys out there now. We need to wait for the good guys'.

"They asked, 'Can we go see if anyone is out there? I just want Christmas. I don't want to die, I just want to have Christmas.'"

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Golden Dawn Party: Protests Held In Athens

By Anthee Carassava, in Athens

Activists from 20 countries are preparing to pour onto the streets of Athens to demonstrate against rising attacks by a neo-Nazi movement critics call the most dangerous in Europe.

The protest is backed by scores of civil rights groups, anti-racist movements and imposing intellectuals, including Nobel laureates Dario Fo and Bernard Kouchner.

It comes amid heightened shows of vigilantism and attacks on migrants by Golden Dawn, the once-tiny far-right group that catapulted onto Greece's tumultuous political scene last June after winning 18 seats in the country's 300-member parliament.

Organisers planning a silent yet symbolic march from the nation's sprawling legislature to the Acropolis - one emblem of democracy to another - say the demonstration will trigger a wake-up call not only for Greece but for other European nations facing rises in far-right extremism.

"In Greece, like elsewhere in Europe, racism, anti-Semitism and neo-Nazism are growing without any strong and determined mobilisations from the democrats," said Benjamin Abtan, the chief organiser and president of the European Grassroot Antiracist Movement (EGAM).

"The whole of European society must get involved.

"All individuals have the responsibility to make neo-Nazis understand that their success story in Greece will not whet the appetite of other far-right extremists in Europe."

With 80% of Asian and African migrants entering Europe through Greece, the country has seen a dramatic influx of undocumented refugees in the past decade.

That upsurge has drastically changed the make-up of what used to be a fairly homogeneous but traditionally xenophobic society.

Rising rates of crime, which have spiked in the wake of the Greek financial crisis, have led many disillusioned Greeks to side with extremist parties like Golden Dawn.

The party campaigned on an anti-immigration platform in the June elections, proposing the planting of mines along Greece's northeast borders to prevent the entry of illegal immigrants.

At least four of its elected lawmakers face criminal investigations for allegedly aiding and abetting anti-immigrant attacks - something the party vehemently denies.

Controversy over Golden Dawn has spawned domestic and international resistance.

Last month, Facebook stripped the party's page from its site for inciting racial violence.

However, a recent opinion poll showed the group's support base has nearly doubled from the 7% of votes it picked up in June, overtaking the socialist PASOK party.

"We're here to stay," said Ilias Kasidiaris, a spokesman for Golden Dawn. "We'll consolidate our support as other parties crumble.

"Let them have their march. Let them say whatever they want.

"We know we are in the hearts of the people. We are a party of Greeks for the Greeks."

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Mandela Recovering After Gallstones Removed

Nelson Mandela is recovering from a successful operation to have gallstones removed, the South African government has confirmed.

The 94-year-old former president, who has been in hospital for a week with a lung infection, had the procedure this morning.

"The former president underwent a procedure via endoscopy to have the gallstones removed ... The procedure was successful and Madiba is recovering," the government statement said, referring to Mr Mandela by his clan name.

Mr Mandela was admitted to the 1 Military Hospital in Pretoria on December 8 for tests, which revealed the recurrence of the infection.

Doctors wanted to treat him for this first before carrying out the gallstones procedure, the government said.

Mr Mandela's latest hospital stay has caused growing concern in South Africa, which idolises him as the nation's first democratically-elected president after the apartheid era.

He made his last public appearance when his country hosted the 2010 World Cup football tournament.

In January 2011, he was admitted to a Johannesburg hospital for what officials initially described as tests but turned out to be an acute respiratory infection.

The chaos that followed saw the South African military take charge of his care and the government control information about his health.

South African President Jacob Zuma has wished Mr Mandela a "speedy recovery".

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US Shooting: Gunman Forced His Way Into School

The gunman who massacred 26 children and adults in America's worst school shooting forced his way into the building, police say.

Lieutenant Paul Vance told a news conference that the suspect was not voluntarily let into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton.

Authorities say 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot his mother on Friday, drove her car to the school, then shot 20 children and six adults.

After storming through several classrooms, Lanza, who was wearing a bullet-proof vest and carrying two handguns, turned one of the guns he was carrying on himself.

"It's believed he was not voluntarily let into the school at all, that he forced his way into the school, but that's as far as we can go on that," Lt Vance said.

He confirmed that all of the victims have been positively identified, and next of kin informed.

The painstaking investigation of the crime scene itself is ongoing, and likely to continue for a further two days, he added.

When asked whether any emails or notes had been discovered that could shed light on the gunman's motive, he said "very good evidence" had been found.

"Our investigators at the crime scene, the school and secondarily at the secondary crime scene … did produce some very good evidence in this investigation that our investigators will be able to use in hopefully painting the complete picture as to how and more importantly why this occurred."

He said a woman at the school who survived the shooting is doing well and will be a key part of the investigation.

"She is doing fine. She has been treated, and she'll be instrumental in this investigation, as I'm sure you can understand," he said.

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