Batman Cinema Shootings: Hearing Delayed

A judge has delayed the arraignment of suspected gunman James Holmes until March, as his lawyers had requested.

Judge William Sylvester granted the defence motion on Friday, setting the date of the new arraignment as March 12. The hearing, where Holmes will have to enter a plea, had been scheduled for Friday.

The decision came a day after he ruled that Holmes should stand trial in the shooting. He is accused of killing 12 people and injuring dozens more in a July massacre during the midnight premiere of the Dark Knight Rises film outside of Denver.

Holmes' attorneys did not give a reason for requesting the delay, but may want to use the time to seek a mental health evaluation by a doctor of their choosing

They have said their client is mentally ill, possibly indicating they will mount an insanity defence. 

The 25-year-old has been charged with a total of 166 offences. He could face the death penalty if convicted.

During this week's preliminary hearing prosecution witnesses said Holmes' demeanour was calm the night he was arrested, and described the carnage of the shooting scene. 

Officer Jason Oviatt testified this week during Holmes' preliminary hearing

Other witnesses testified Holmes put months of preparation into planning the attack, stockpiling weapons and intricately booby trapping his apartment with homemade napalm.

A promising neuroscience student, Holmes had begun to see a university psychiatrist and then dropped out of his course shortly before the attack.

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Syria: Rebels Capture Key Military Base

Rebels have taken control of a key military base in northern Syria after weeks of fighting with Government forces.

Rebels were pictured celebrating inside Taftanaz airport, close to helicopters and tanks which had been used to attack them.

"The fighting at Taftanaz military airport ended at 11:00 am (0900 GMT) and the base is entirely in rebel hands," said Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman.

Soon afterwards, it was raided by government jets, the Britain-based Observatory said.

"Warplanes are bombing Taftanaz military airport in an attempt to destroy it," a statement said.

Capturing the base is an important gain for the rebels who control vast swathes of Syria's north and east.

They are battling President Bashar al Assad's forces in most major cities and on the outskirts of Damascus.

"This is the largest airbase to be seized since the revolt began nearly 22 months ago," Abdel Rahman said.

The rebels had previously taken the relatively small Hamdan airport in Albu Kamal on the border with Iraq in the east.

They had also taken Marj al Sultan military airport in Damascus province.

The news came as UN-Arab League special envoy on Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, met Russian deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov and US undersecretary of state William Burns in Geneva.

After more than five hours of talks, Brahimi expressed an urgent need to end the conflict, but reported no major progress.

"We all stressed the need for a speedy end to the bloodshed and the destruction and all forms of violence in Syria," he told reporters.

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Death Star Proposal Rejected By White House

The White House has rejected a petition signed by thousands of people calling for a Death Star to be built.

Started by a John D, from Colorado, the petition demanded that work should begin on the project within the next four years.

He claimed having a Moon-sized space station and inter-stellar weapon from the Star Wars film series would strengthen national security and create jobs.

But Paul Shawcross, chief of the White House's Office of Management and Budget's Science and Space Branch, has replied to the 35,000 signatories saying: "The Administration shares your desire for job creation and a strong national defence, but a Death Star isn't on the horizon."

He explained in the letter, titled This Isn't The Petition Response You're Looking For, that the estimated cost of constructing a Death Star would be over $850,000,000,000,000,000 ($850 quadrillion).

"We're working hard to reduce the deficit, not expand it."

US officials are forced to respond if a petition on the We The People site gets more than 25,000 signatures - this one received over 34,000.

Mr Shawcross wrote that the White House "does not support blowing up planets" but highlighted that there is "something already floating in the sky".

"Yes, we already have a giant, football field-sized International Space Station in orbit around the Earth that's helping us learn how humans can live and thrive in space for long durations."

And he showed himself to be something of a Star Wars fan, signing off the letter with the line: "Remember, the Death Star's power to destroy a planet, or even a whole star system, is insignificant next to the power of the Force."

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Texas House Explosion Hurts At Least Three

At least three people, including two firefighters, have been hurt in what may have been a natural gas explosion that destroyed a home and scattered rubble throughout a North Texas neighbourhood.

Investigators are looking into what caused the blast on Friday afternoon in the town of Lewisville, 20 miles northwest of Dallas.

Lewisville Assistant Fire Chief Brian Freed said officials were waiting for natural gas lines to be shut down before going through the debris, but that they do not think anybody else was in the house at the time of the blast.

Mr Freed said a gas leak had been reported in the area earlier in the day.

A spokeswoman at Medical Centre of Lewisville, said the two inured firefighters were in fair condition while the third victim was in intensive care in hospital following surgery.

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China Landslide Leaves Dozens Dead

A landslide sweeping through a village in the snow-dusted mountains of southern China has killed 46 people, including many children.

The last three bodies were pulled out of the debris on Saturday morning, after a night of rescue efforts by more than 1,000 workers.

The landslide smashed into the remote village of Gappo, in Zhenxiong County, on Friday morning, leaving 16 homes in complete ruin.

Those buried included 27 adults and 19 children, the official Xinhua news agency said. Two other people have been taken to hospital.

Rescue crews used construction machinery to sift through piles of mud and earth, but efforts were hampered by the unusually cold temperatures that have hit the country.

Soldiers, police and firefighters joined the rescue efforts.

Li Yongju, 50, said she had heard the crash of the landslide while cleaning her yard, and immediately rushed with other villagers to the disaster site with shovels and hoes.

"We pulled out several people, one of whom was breathing weakly. But after a while he died," Xinhua quoted Ms Li as saying.

Rescuers carry the body of a victim after a landslide hit Zhenxiong county

Another resident wept as she recounted hearing the rumble of the landslide and how her relatives had been killed.

"My grandma, brother, uncle and my aunt's family members died," Zhou Benju told the agency.

A preliminary investigation blames saturation from more than 10 days of rain and snow for the disaster, the local county government of Zhenxiong said in a statement posted on its website.

Premier Wen Jiabao travelled to the scene overnight to comfort survivors, many of whom had taken shelter in tents erected on a public square.

Zhenxiong County, in northeast Yunnan, is a mountainous area prone not just to landslides but also earthquakes.

Two quakes in September - one of magnitude 5.7 - left 81 people dead and hundreds injured.

A month later, a neighbouring county was hit by a landslide that left 18 children dead.

As a relatively impoverished area of China, Yunnan's rural houses are often cheaply constructed and easily demolished when natural disasters strike.

Zhenxiong County is best known for tobacco and Pu'er tea production.

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Dreamliner Safety And Design Review Ordered

America's aviation watchdog has ordered a comprehensive review of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner after a spate of incidents involving the aircraft.

The head of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said he is confident the Boeing 787 is safe, but he remains concerned about recent events, including a fire and a fuel leak earlier this week.

Michael Huerta, the FAA administrator, said there is nothing in the data the agency has seen to suggest the plane is not safe.

The watchdog announced it is undertaking a comprehensive review of the 787 to include "critical systems, including design, manufacture and assembly".

The manufacturer responded to fears over the plane and said: "Boeing is confident in the design and performance of the 787. It is a safe and efficient airplane that brings tremendous value to our customers and an improved flying experience to their passengers.

"The airplane has logged 50,000 hours of flight and there are more than 150 flights occurring daily."

Boston fire crews attend the JAL plane after it filled with smoke

The move by the US aviation authority was prompted after a fifth Dreamliner fault this week was reported on Friday morning.

Oil was discovered leaking from the left engine of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner flight operated by All Nippon Airways (ANA).

An ANA spokeswoman said the leak was found after the domestic flight landed safely at Miyazaki airport in southern Japan.

It came on the same day another Japanese 787 suffered a cracked cockpit window while in flight on a domestic route.

ANA said crew noticed a spider web-like crack in a window in front of the pilot's seat about 70 minutes into Friday's flight, which was close to its destination.

The Dreamliner, the world's first carbon-composite airliner, which has a list price of $207m (£128m), has been beset by problems this week.

The plane was designed to use power plants made by General Electric and Britain's Rolls-Royce.

On Wednesday, a domestic flight was halted by ANA because brake parts to the rear left undercarriage needed replacing, a spokesman at Yamaguchi Ube Airport said.

An investigator in the US examines a Boeing 787

A Japan Air Lines (JAL) jet was also grounded at Boston Logan International airport in the US following an engine fuel leak.

About 40 gallons of fuel spilled from the jet that was supposed to be bound for Tokyo.

That event followed the first incident of the week, which also occurred at Boston, on Monday.

Emergency services had been called after another JAL 787 filled with smoke shortly after passengers and crew had disembarked.

Firefighters used infrared cameras to locate the fire in a battery pack in the belly of a different Boeing 787 and extinguished the blaze within 20 minutes.

Sky sources revealed that if the battery fire had occurred during a transocean flight the aircraft may have been brought down.

The 787 Dreamliner made its first commercial flight in late 2011, after a series of production delays put deliveries more than three years behind schedule.

By the end of last year, Boeing had sold 848 Dreamliners, and delivered 49. JAL and ANA operate 24 of the planes.

After the Boston events, British carriers including BA, Virgin Atlantic and Thomson Airways reaffirmed their plans to integrate 787s into fleets this year and next.

In India - where state-owned Air India has taken delivery of six Dreamliners and has more on order - a senior official at the aviation regulator said there was concern at the recent spate of 787 glitches.

Meanwhile, an Air India spokesman said the airline's debut Dreamliner flight from India to Paris on Thursday went without a hitch.

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Mali: French Air Strikes Drive Back Militants

Mali's army has driven back Islamist rebels from a strategic central town after France intervened with air strikes to stop militants controlling the country's desert north from advancing.

One French pilot has been killed in the military action and hundreds of French soldiers have been deployed in the West African country.

French President Francois Hollande took action at the request of interim President Dioncounda Traore, who has declared a state of emergency.

Western governments expressed alarm on Thursday after an al Qaeda-linked rebel alliance captured the town of Konna, a gateway towards the capital Bamako 600km (375 miles) south.

The Malian army has said it was attacking the "last pockets of resistance" by insurgents in Konna after they recaptured it with the help of the French.

It said as many as 100 Islamist fighters had been killed in the battle for Konna.

The UN's Sahel envoy Romano Prodi, left, and President Dioncounda Traore

Mr Hollande said the "terrorist groups, drug traffickers and extremists" in northern Mali "show a brutality that threatens us all." He vowed that the operation would last "as long as necessary".

The West African regional bloc ECOWAS has now authorised the immediate deployment of troops to Mali.

The bloc's commission president Kadre Desire Ouedraogo said it made the decision "in light of the urgency of the situation".

For the past nine months, the Islamic militants have controlled a large swathe of northern Mali, a lawless desert region where kidnapping has flourished.

Mr Hollande said the operation was aimed in part at protecting 6,000 French citizens in Mali, including seven who are being held captive.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Senegal and Nigeria also responded to an appeal from Mali's president for help to counter the militants.

Late last year, the 15 nations in West Africa, including Mali, agreed on a proposal for the military to take back the north, and sought backing from the UN.

The Security Council authorised the intervention but imposed certain conditions, including the training of Mali's military, which has been accused of serious human rights abuses since a military coup last year sent the nation into disarray.

Al Qaeda's affiliate in Africa has been a shadowy presence for years in the forests and deserts of poverty-stricken Mali.

Most Malians adhere to a moderate form of Islam, but in recent months the terrorist group and its allies have taken advantage of political instability, taking territory they use to stock weapons and train forces.

The Islamists have insisted they want to impose Sharia only in northern Mali, though there long have been fears they could push further south.

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Somalia Hostage Raid: French Agent 'Killed'

France has said one of its soldiers and an intelligence agent have been killed in a failed hostage rescue attempt in Somalia.

The agent, who is code-named Denis Allex and was captured by militants in 2009, died in the fighting with Islamists overnight, the French government said.

However, the Al Shabaab militia has said he is still alive.

Another special forces soldier is missing following the fighting, France's defence minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said.

He said 17 Somali Islamists had been killed and that the operation was not linked to a separate military operation in Mali aimed at quashing a push by Islamist fighters.

Al Shabaab has reportedly said Mr Allex remained in their captivity and was being held far from the base where French helicopters attacked in the early hours of Saturday.

The al Qaeda-linked insurgents also said they were holding an injured French soldier.

Both sides described a fierce firefight during the raid on the Horn of Africa country that France said was carried out by the intelligence agency that Mr Allex worked for.

Sky's Middle East Correspondent Sam Kiley said questions remained about whether the raid was planned because France feared repercussions from its operation in Mali.

He said: "It seems a long way away but ideologically - and, according to some intelligence agencies, physically - the Shabaab have been linked into a network of radical Islamist groups (in countries including Mali).

"There may have been some sense among French decision-makers that because they were getting involved in Mali, they ought to trigger this operation."

However, Kiley said it was more likely that France had received local intelligence in Somalia that there was a threat to the hostage.

The French government said: "Faced with the intransigence of the terrorists, who refused to negotiate for three-and-a-half years and who were holding Denis Allex in inhumane conditions, an operation was planned and carried out."

Authorities in Bula Marer, a town about 120km (75 miles) south of Mogadishu, said helicopters attacked at around 2am local time.

France said Mr Allex was kidnapped - along with another agent who later escaped - when he was carrying out an official aid mission with the Somalian government.

France has previously said the two men were in the Somali capital to train local forces.

After his abduction Al Shabaab issued a series of demands, which included an end to French support for the Somali government and the withdrawal of African Union peacekeepers, whose 17,600-strong troops are helping battle the rebels.

A video of Mr Allex pleading with French President Francois Hollande to negotiate his release appeared on a website in October.

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Man Gets Life For Burning Woman Alive In Lift

A handyman who burned a 73-year-old woman to death in a Brooklyn lift has been sentenced to a minimum of 50 years in prison.

Prosecutors said Jerome Isaac, 48, was sentenced for killing Deloris Gillespie inside her Brooklyn apartment building in December 2011.

Isaac had pleaded guilty to first degree murder charges in November. A plea deal had called for a 50-year sentence.

The attack was captured on a security camera.

Isaac went to the fifth floor and lay in wait for his victim, who was returning home from shopping.

He is said to have first glued shut the locks on Ms Gillespie's apartment and then doused the lift door with accelerant.

As she opened it, Isaac sprayed her in the face, then covered her from head to toe in flammable liquid.

Ms Gillespie crouched down and threw her hands up to her face.

Having cornered the woman in the lift, he then ignited a Molotov cocktail - a wine bottle filled with accelerant with a rag stuffed in its neck.

The CCTV video went white as Ms Gillespie was set on fire using the bottle's wick.

Isaac then threw the bottle inside the lift, after crouching behind the door "as if he was anticipating an explosion", according to one policeman.

Isaac turned himself in the next day.

Police said Isaac attacked Ms Gillespie because he believed she owed him money.

Prosecutors said he told probation officials conducting a mental health evaluation that he acted on orders from the devil.

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Costa Concordia To Be Removed By September

The stricken ship Costa Concordia will be removed from the Italian coast between June and September - later than originally planned, officials have said.

The vessel has been resting on its side off the Tuscan coast since it capsized last year killing 32 people.

Speaking on the eve of the first anniversary of the disaster, officials highlighted the difficulties of the salvage operation, including the huge size of the vessel and environmental concerns.

Franco Gabrielli, the chief of Italy's Social Defence Department, said officials were looking to remove the ship between June and September depending on weather conditions.

Originally, they had hoped to have it removed in the spring.

The Concordia slammed into a reef off the island of Giglio on January 13, 2012 after its captain took it off course in a stunt to bring the ship closer to the island. As it took water in, she ship rolled onto its side.

The salvage efforts will also require 400m euro (£331m) - up from the 300m euro originally estimated.

The Concordia sinking shortly after it struck rocks

Sky's Europe correspondent Robert Nisbet says the delays and overspending are linked to the technical complexities of an unprecedented operation involving a ship the length of 11 football fields and weighing twice as much as the Titanic.

Officials want to remove it as opposed to breaking it up on the site because the waters surrounding Giglio are of particular environmental significance - part of a marine sanctuary and a favourite spot for scuba divers.

The ship's captain, Francesco Schettino, has been accused of multiple manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and leaving the ship before all passengers were evacuated.

Since the tragedy, the Costa Concordia has turned into a macabre tourist attraction, with hundreds of sightseers catching a ferry from Porto Santo Stefano to Giglio so they can look at the ship and take pictures before returning to the mainland.

Francesco Schettino remains under house arrest

Sunday's anniversary commemorations in Giglio include a ceremony to honour rescue teams and a mass held in the island's tiny church, where many of the injured were treated.

A memorial in honour of the 32 dead will also be unveiled.

But the commemorations have been marred by controversy over a letter reportedly sent by ship owner Costa Crociere to survivors, telling them not to bother attending the ceremonies.

The company cited logistical difficulties on the tiny island and the desire for privacy expressed by the families of the victims, according to news reports.

Some 4,200 people between passengers and crews survived the tragedy.

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