Zanzibar Acid Attack: 'Screaming' Priest Hurt

A Catholic priest has been badly injured after acid was thrown at him on the island of Zanzibar - a month after a similar attack against two British teenagers.

The clergyman was assaulted as he walked down the street after leaving an internet cafe in a crowded part of Stone Town.

Rev Joseph Anselmo Mwagambwa suffered burns to his face, chest and legs and is being treated at the main Mnazi Mmoja hospital.

"He had just left the internet cafe, but a few minutes later he came back screaming and begging for help," said Rukia Abbasi, who works there.

"We gave him water and rushed him to hospital."

Police spokesman Mohamed Mhina said: "He sustained burns in his face and shoulders. The acid burnt through his shirt."

British acid attack victims Kirstie Trup (L) and Katie Gee (R)

Officers have not yet made any arrests and are appealing for witnesses to the attack.

It is the fifth such acid assault on the Indian Ocean island since November.

Last month, Britons Katie Gee and Kirstie Trup, both 18, who were doing volunteer work were injured when two men on a motorbike threw acid in their faces.

It prompted officials to offer a £4,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the suspects, describing the assault as "a shame on the people of Zanzibar".

The attackers have yet to be caught.

A few days after the incident, Ms Trup left hospital while Ms Gee - whose burns were described as "horrendous" by her mother - was still being treated.

Two Christian leaders were killed in Zanzibar earlier this year in separate attacks and there have been arson attacks on churches.

A Zanzibar Muslim leader, Sheikh Fadhil Suleiman Soraga, was taken to hospital suffering acid burns last November.

A separatist group in Zanzibar, Uamsho (Awakening), has been blamed by some but authorities have not linked the group with the violence.

Uamsho wants the archipelago to end its 1964 union with mainland Tanzania, which is ruled as a secular state, and wants to introduce Islamic Sharia law in Zanzibar.

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Narendra Modi Named India PM Candidate

By Neville Lazarus, Asia Producer

One of India's most polarising politicians, Narendra Modi, could become the country's next Prime Minister.

The Chief Minister of Gujarat state has been chosen as the candidate for the right wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in next year's general election.

Mr Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat when riots took place in 2002.

He is accused of holding back the police force against rioters who went on a rampage killing between 790 AND 2,000 Muslims.

It was one of India's worst riots of recent years.

Mr Modi has denied the charges and has not been convicted in any court - and investigations have not directly implicated him.

Supporters of Mr Modi celebrated his selection as election candidate

However, some people claim he used the incident for political gain.

The then BJP Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who visited the state after the riots, told Mr Modi to follow Raj Dharam (ethics of governance) and make no distinction between people on the basis of caste, creed and community.

The US also rescinded his visa and Britain boycotted the politician.

But, sensing a rise in his fortunes, Britain and some European Union states have re-established relations.

Britain's High Commissioner and other diplomats were seen falling over themselves to woo the man who could be India's next leader.

Mr Modi is credited to have turned around Gujarat into one of the most prosperous states in the country.

He has ruled for three terms and is popular among businessmen in the country.

Mr Modi evokes fierce emotions among some of the public

Mr Modi's selection as the BJP's election candidate has not been easy however.

Insiders say his dictatorial style does not make him popular with older leaders in the party.

LK Advani, the patriarch of the BJP, has been opposed to the move and even went to the extent of resigning from all party forums.

When Mr Modi's name was formally announced Mr Advani showed his displeasure by not attending the Parliamentary Board meeting.

In a letter to BJP chief Rajnath Singh, he said: "I had expressed my pain to you and I am disappointed with the way you are running the party."

BJP veteran LK Advani (left) is firmly against Mr Modi's selection

Political pundits say people either love or hate Mr Modi - but you definitely cannot ignore him.

The BJP has chosen a leader who is decisive and is popular among a large number of the majority community.

A hardliner, he has the backing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a right wing Hindu nationalist organisation.

The RSS has been banned three times since India's independence in 1947, once for the killing of Mahatma Gandhi. 

Recently it has come into focus for its militant nature and for attacking minorities.

Government formation is complex in India and in the age of coalition politics consensus is key.

Mr Modi will have to find a way to get the support of other political parties if he wants to become the Prime Minister of the third largest Muslim-populated country in the world.

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Mexico: Riot Police Break Up Teacher Protest

Riot police have fired tear gas and water cannon at thousands of angry teachers to end their weeks-long occupation of Mexico City's Zocalo Square.

They swept into the historic heart of the capital city to re-take control of the iconic plaza and its surrounding streets, the culmination of weeks of demonstrations where the teachers had set up a massive protest camp.

Although many teachers had acted upon an eviction notice calling for the removal of their camp in time for Independence Day celebrations, a group of protesters vowed to stay on.

Armed with metal pipes and wooden clubs, they tried to defend themselves but were quickly overwhelmed by the police.

Protesters accused the authorities of using excessive force to clear their camp.

"With a lot of viciousness, they grabbed me and (put me) on the ground, holding my feet. They caused injury on my septum and hit my body," said one teacher called Alejandro.

President Nieto is due to deliver a speech to the nation

In keeping with tradition, President Enrique Pena Nieto is scheduled to deliver Mexico's Cry of Independence from a balcony of the National Palace that looks over Zocalo Sqaure.

The striking teachers are angry at Mr Nieto's reforms to introduce a universal evaluation system which would change the way they are hired, evaluated and promoted.

They have marched through the capital at least 15 times over the last two months.

Mexico's record on student achievement is one of the worst among countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development despite dedicating more than a fifth of its budget to education.

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Argentina: Teen Hacker 'Stole £30,000-A-Month'

Argentine police have arrested a 19-year-old "super-hacker" suspected of breaching numerous websites to divert more than £30,000 ($50,000) a month into his bank account.

Police believe the suspect was part of a six-strong gang which planted viruses on a gaming site which infected the computers of website visitors.

The viruses allowed the attacker to remotely intercept online banking money transfers and steal payments to gaming sites.

To complete the attack the teen is suspected of ordering an army of pre-infected 'zombie' computers to overload the sites, taking them offline so users could not access their accounts while their money was taken.

The youth is reportedly the son of an IT engineer and was detained at his home in Buenos Aires in July as part of Operation Zombie, which included five raids in the capital and the city of Rosario in Santa Fe province.

Police raided the teenager's Buenos Aires home and seized sophisticated computers and other technological equipment.

Operation Zombie began in 2012 after a businessman offering web-hosting services noticed a hacker was remotely breaking into his servers to intercept money transfers.

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Japan's Laptop-Controlled Space Rocket Launch

Japan has sent a rocket into space with a launch co-ordinated from two laptops in a control centre manned by a crew of just eight people.

Up to 1,000 people gathered at a public viewing site in Tokyo to see Epsilon - the nation's first new rocket in 12 years - successfully blast-off into space from the Uchinoura Space Centre in Kagoshima, in southwestern Japan.

The Epsilon rocket blasts off into space

Lift-off had originally been scheduled for August 27 but was aborted with just seconds to go following a computer glitch.

Epsilon - which is carrying a telescope to observe the solar system - was launched at half the production and launch costs of the previous M-5 rocket at 3.8bn yen (£24m) because of a new computer system that can perform its own checks and can be assembled quickly.

A much smaller crew was involved, compared with the about 150 people needed when Japan has previously launched its mainstream H2-A rocket.

Epsilon is half the size of the H2-A and a successor to the solid fuel M-5 rocket that was retired in 2006 due to its high cost.

Japan hopes it will be a cheaper and more efficient method of sending satellites into space, paving the way for a more competitive operation in a growing, international industry.

The three-stage Epsilon - 24 metres long and weighing 91 tonnes - released the SPRINT-A telescope at an altitude of about 620 miles as planned.

People watch the launch on a giant screen in Tokyo

It has been hailed as the world's first space telescope for remote observation of planets including Venus, Mars and Jupiter from its orbit around Earth, by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

Epsilon has also been equipped with artificial intelligence "for the first time in the world" that allows autonomous launch checks by the rocket itself, according to JAXA.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the success of a genuinely homemade rocket was a fruit of Japan's expertise and technology in space development.

"It demonstrates Japanese space technology is highly reliable," he said in a statement. He added that the success would lead to a self-sustainable space transportation system and to help Japan's economic growth.

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Google Street View Driver In 'Triple Smash'

A driver filming footage for Google's Street View maps in Indonesia slammed into two vehicles after trying to escape responsibility for an earlier crash, police have said.

The Indonesian man had been driving a Subaru hatchback in the Bogor district on the outskirts of the capital, Jakarta, with Google's logo and a camera poking from the roof, when he hit a public minivan.

"He did accompany the minivan driver to the garage, but he said he was scared the repair fee would be high, so he got in his damaged car and fled," Bogor district police operations chief Hendra Gunawan told AFP.

The minivan driver got in his vehicle, Gunawan said, and gave chase for around two miles before the Google car smashed into a second minivan.

"He tried to flee again, but soon crashed into a parked truck before he gave up," he said.

The man, who has not been named, was detained after the third crash and taken in for questioning.

"He has been released and all the payments for the vehicles have been sorted out. The damage to the first one would probably have cost 200,000 rupiah (£11) to repair," Mr Gunawan added.

Google could not be contacted for comment.

Google has previously run into trouble with Street View, which allows users to zoom in on everyday images recorded with the company's cameras that take 360-degree footage.

Images of an Australian couple having sex on a car bonnet on a highway appeared on Street View in April, and in March, Google struck a deal with US authorities to pay a $7m fine for collecting people's personal data without authorisation.

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Colorado Floods: Helicopters Rescue Stranded

National Guard troops have used helicopters and military trucks to rescue residents stranded by floods that have claimed four lives in Colorado.

The number of people unaccounted for has risen to 172 after the worst floods to hit the state for decades cut off towns and devastated communities over a 4,500 square mile (11,655 square km) area.

Taking advantage of a break in torrential rains that have unleashed floodwaters up and down the state, Guard members rumbled into the hard-hit town of Lyons through waist-high water and went door to door to pull out up to 2,500 trapped residents.

"These individuals are not only coming with just themselves, but with their suitcases and their precious household items along with their pets and everything, all getting loaded in the back of these vehicles," said First Lieutenant Skye Robinson, a spokesman for the Colorado National Guard.

Deborah Haynes is led from a helicopter after being rescued from Jamestown

Helicopters were evacuating 295 people - plus pets - from the mountain hamlet of Jamestown, which was isolated by flooding throughout the canyon the town sits in.

Mike Smith, incident commander at Boulder Municipal Airport, said pilots would continue flying in and out late into the night, dropping food, water and other supplies to those awaiting an airlift.

Rescue teams were also evacuating some stranded residents by boat, while some farmers managed to move to high ground on their tractors, Weld County sheriff's spokesman Steve Reams said in an interview with a local ABC television affiliate.

A National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration image of the storm system

Thousands of evacuees have sought shelter in cities that were nearly surrounded by rivers bursting their banks.

Governor John Hickenlooper said evacuations were the highest priority and advised people to stay out of debris and sand-filled floodwaters that were "almost like liquid cement."

He told a news conference: "It's got to be the largest storm that I can imagine in the state's history."

The flooding, so intense it toppled buildings in some places, began overnight on Wednesday.

Boulder residents survey flood damage to the city's Topaz Street

It was triggered by unusually heavy late-summer storms that drenched Colorado's biggest cities, from Fort Collins near the Wyoming border south through Boulder, Denver and Colorado Springs.

Boulder and a string of other towns along the so-called Front Range of the Rockies north of Denver were especially hard-hit as water poured down rain-soaked mountains and spilled through canyons that funnelled the runoff into populated areas.

Lyons, north of Boulder, was virtually cut off when floodwaters washed out US Route 36, and residents have been without water and power for 48 hours, said Mike Banuelos, a spokesman for the Boulder County Emergency Operations Center.

At least four people were killed, including a couple swept away in floodwaters after stopping their car northwest of Boulder.

Levin Sliker and Elizabeth Aisenbrey in their water-damaged living room

The man's body was recovered on Thursday and the woman had been missing and feared dead before her body was found on Friday.

Also killed were a person whose body was found in a collapsed building near Jamestown, an evacuated enclave north of Boulder, and a man in Colorado Springs, about 100 miles (160 km) to the south, officials said.

The Boulder Office of Emergency Management listed 218 people as unaccounted for following the floods, stressing that while they were not yet considered missing or in danger, relatives and authorities had not been able to contact them.

Authorities said many western mountain communities remained isolated with no drinking water or working septic systems.

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Genoa Coach Caught Spying On Rivals Sampdoria

A coach from Italy's Serie A side Genoa has been caught spying on local rivals Sampdoria dressed in Rambo-style camouflage ahead of their derby clash on Sunday.

Luca De Pra was reportedly spotted hiding in a wood next to Sampdoria's training ground Bogliasco by fans who alerted staff.

Team manager Giorgio Ajazzone and communications director Alberto Marangon chased after Mr De Pra, who tried to flee the scene.

However, he was caught hiding behind a tree dressed in full military attire and, as a popular figure in the city, was instantly recognised.

The Genoa youth team coach and nephew of Giovanni De Pra, the club's finest ever goalkeeper, was suspended by the club, which said it had nothing to do with Friday's undercover operation.

"No director or member of the coaching staff sent Luca De Pra, goalkeeper coach for the youth team, to watch the training session at Bogliasco. It was a personal initiative," Genoa said in a statement on their website.

"This has never been done before and is not part of the club's modus operandi. The club makes it known that De Pra has been suspended with immediate effect pending further explanations."

Sampdoria posted a picture of Mr De Pra caught in the act on their website.

"That the derby is a question of nerve, tactics and strategy we already knew, but that it could turn into a case of espionage - frankly we could never expect that," the club statement said.

It described the move as a "real secret mission ... a military action undertaken with appropriate outfit and equipment, camouflage outfit and mountain boots".

The statement continued: "Like Rambo hidden among the branches on the hill, Luca De Pra, Genoa goalkeeping coach and man of noble footballing ancestry, failed to overcome Sampdoria's intelligence and counter intelligence operations.

"However, no prisoners were taken, and no blood was shed. Once he was tracked down and caught red-handed, the opposing side's soldier was let free to return to base.

"One should always forgive one's enemies, as nothing annoys them more."

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Syria Has One Week To Detail Chemical Weapons

Syria: How The Crisis Has Developed

Updated: 2:33pm UK, Saturday 14 September 2013

:: March 2011 - Protesters stage demonstrations in Damascus and security forces in Daraa shoot dead several campaigners, leading to unrest and violence.

:: May - The Syrian military deploys tanks in a bid to quash demonstrations.

:: July 19 - The UK freezes £100m of Syrian assets.

:: August 18 - US President Barack Obama calls on Bashar al Assad to step down. The US freezes all assets of the Syrian government.

:: November 16 - The Free Syrian Army attacks a military base near Damascus.

:: February 4, 2012 - A UN Security Council resolution on Syria is rejected for a second time by Russia and China.

:: March 1 - Government troops seize the Baba Amr district of Homs after an intense battle lasting for several weeks.

:: April 12 - A UN-brokered ceasefire comes into force after fierce fighting in the country.

:: May 23 - Dozens of people, many of them women and children, die in Houla, near Homs. Foreign Secretary William Hague says they were "massacred at the hands of Syrian forces". The UN later accuses the Syrian military of committing war crimes.

:: August - Barack Obama says the use of chemical weapons against civilians would represent the crossing of a "red line".

:: March 6, 2013 - Foreign Secretary William Hague says Britain will provide opposition forces with "non-lethal equipment for the protection of civilians".

:: April-May - Britain says there is credible evidence to suggest Syrian forces have used chemical weapons in Adra, Darayya and Saraqiq and calls for an investigation by the UN.

:: April 29 - Syrian prime minister Wael Nader al Halqi survives an assassination attempt as a car bomb explodes in Damascus.

:: May 14 - Footage of a Syrian rebel commander apparently cutting out a soldier's heart is condemned by the country's National Coalition.

:: June 6 - Syrian forces, backed by Hizbollah fighters, recapture the strategic border town of Qusair.

:: June 6 - Human Rights Watch releases footage which it claims shows Syrian troops shelling school buildings.

:: July 25 - The UN says the number of people killed in the civil war has reached 100,000.

:: August 21 - An alleged chemical attack in Damascus kills 1,300 people, according to the opposition. Doctors Without Borders says 335 people died from "neurotoxic" symptoms.

:: August 25 - Foreign Secretary William Hague says a chemical attack by the Syrian government is the only "plausible explanation" for the deaths.

:: August 26 - UN inspectors brave sniper fire to gather "valuable" evidence from one site of the alleged chemical attack, as the US Secretary of State John Kerry says the Assad regime would face action over the "moral obscenity".

:: August 27 - The UK recalls Parliament to hold a vote on August 29 on the use of chemical weapons in Syria. David Cameron and Barack Obama agree there is "no doubt" the Assad regime is responsible for the alleged attack.

:: August 28 - Britain tables a draft UN resolution condemning the alleged attack and "authorising all necessary measures".

:: August 29 - David Cameron is forced to rule out military action after narrowly losing a Commons vote on the principle of intervention.

:: August 31 - President Obama says the US "should take military action" in Syria but confirms he will seek authorisation from Congress before launching any strikes against the Assad regime. He says the US is "prepared to strike whenever we choose".

:: September 2 - a French intelligence reports claims the Assad regime was responsible for a "massive and coordinated" chemical attack in Damascus.

:: September 3 - Israel says it has carried out a joint missile test with the US in the Mediterranean.

:: September 4 - The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approve a draft US resolution authorising the use of military force in Syria. Meanwhile, MPs in France debate whether to join any possible military intervention, although they do not vote on the subject.

:: September 5 - World leaders meet at the G20 summit in Russia, with the crisis in Syria high on the agenda.

:: September 6 - Britain pledges £52m in aid to Syria, as David Cameron hits back at a reported jibe from Russia that Britain is a "small island".

:: September 8 - The RAF sends up two Typhoon jets in Cyprus as warplanes, thought to have come from Syria, enter international airspace. Meanwhile John Kerry says more nations than his country can use are prepared to join military action against Syria.

:: September 9 - Russia urges Syrian President Bashar al Assad to hand over his chemical weapons to avert a US-led military strike on Damascus.

:: September 10 - President Barack Obama delays a Congress vote on air strikes as Russia gives the US its plan for putting Syria's chemical weapons under international contral.

:: September 11 - A UN report confirms at least eight massacres were carried by the Assad regime and one by rebels over the past 18 months.

:: September 12 - Syria formally applies to join the Chemical Weapons Convention. Russia and US hold two days of talks on the issue.

:: September 14 - The US and Russia agree on a giving Syria a deadline of one week to produce a list of chemical weapons they possess. 

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Jeweller Charged After Shooting Robber In Back

A French jeweller who shot dead a teenager after being held at gunpoint during a robbery is under house arrest at a secret location after being charged with murder.

Stephan Turk, 67, shot the 18-year-old victim in the back as he and another robber were fleeing on a scooter with gems stolen from Turk's shop in the centre of Nice on the French Riviera.

The thieves had punched and kicked the jeweller before forcing him to open his safe at gunpoint.

He ran after them and fired three shots as they sped away.

Stephan Turk (L) who shot the 18-year-old robber as he fled

After a court hearing on Friday, Turk was charged with murder and released from custody on condition that he stays at an agreed residence and wears an electronic tag.

"Armed, aggressive thugs attacked me," Turk said in a brief statement to French television.

Stephan Turk's defence lawyer Franck de Vita

"I regret what happened, I regret that he is dead. But it is him who decided to do what he did. It is normal that I would defend myself."

If convicted of voluntary homicide, the jeweller could spend the rest of his life in prison, and his fate has triggered a national debate over what constitutes reasonable self-defence.

By Saturday morning, a Facebook page set up in Turk's support had attracted nearly a million "likes".

French law allows for killers to escape conviction for murder if they can show they acted in "legitimate defence".

The jeweller reportedly told magistrates that he had fired his first two shots with the intention of demobilising the scooter and a third one in response to his victim threatening to shoot at him with a rifle.

The dead youth, identified only by his first name, Anthony, had a string of convictions for theft, assault and driving offences.

The scene of the killing in Nice

"It is true that he did a lot of stupid things," his father told local newspaper Nice Matin. "He was a little delinquent, a scooter thief. But he had the face of a child and no child should have to die like that.

"I'm not defending what my son did, but, there, he has been shot like a pigeon."

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