Australia Shark Attack: Teen Bodyboarder Dies

A teenager has died after being attacked by a shark on Australia's east coast, just one week after a surfer was fatally mauled in the nation's west.

New South Wales police said they were called to a popular surf beach near Coffs Harbour, about 280 miles north of Sydney, after reports of the attack.

"A man, believed to be aged 18, was bodyboarding with friends around 100 metres off shore when he was bitten on the legs by what is believed to be a shark," police said in a statement.

Onlookers were stunned after the attack at a popular surfing spot

"His friends managed to get him to the beach where he was treated by paramedics. He was pronounced dead a short time later."

An ambulance spokeswoman said the victim had severe leg injuries, but he is understood to have died from a traumatic cardiac arrest following the attack.

Police said the boy was sitting upright on his boogie board off secluded Riecks Point when he was bitten on both legs.

"A struggle has taken place and he has managed to break free," Coffs Harbour police inspector Joanne Reid told Sky News.

The teen's body was taken away by rescue helicopter

"It has taken a bit of time to get him to shore and he lost a fair amount of blood on the way."

She commended his friends for going to his aid and bringing him to shore.

"It's just a tragic, tragic incident," she said.

Locals said the sharks were rarely seen in the area and incident had shocked the community.

The death comes a week after a 35-year-old surfer was killed by a shark near Gracetown, about 160 miles south of the Western Australian capital of Perth.

His friends witnessed the attack and were interviewed by police

Sharks are common in Australian waters but deadly attacks are rare, with only one of the average 15 incidents a year typically proving fatal.

Until last week there had not been a fatality since July 2012 when a surfer was bitten in half off the coast of Western Australia, capping an unprecedented spate of five deadly attacks by the marine predators that sparked calls in that state for a cull.

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Bulgaria Builds Fence To Keep Out Immigrants

Bulgaria is building a razor wire fence on a 30-kilometre (19-mile) stretch of the country's border with Turkey, which it claims is to try to stop illegal immigration.

The three-metre-high fence is expected to be ready by February. It it will run mainly through forested, hilly areas where visibility for border patrols is limited.

During the Cold War, Bulgaria's barbed-wire borders prevented its citizens from fleeing to the West, but after the country joined Nato in 2004 all fences were removed.

Turkey's border with Bulgarian is 170-miles long

"The number of incoming illegal immigrants in Bulgaria has now been reduced several times," Defence Minister Angel Naydenov told a news conference in the border village of Golyam Dervent.

"We have enhanced the border patrols, had additional activities in border surveillance, backed by the presence of the troops right here (in the village of Golyam Dervent).

"I'd like to add something else. No illegal immigrants have entered Bulgarian territory in that particular controlled area."

Border controls have been increased

The authorities have denied claims that the fence is intended to stop refugees from Syria and other war-ravaged countries from entering the country.

More than 11,100 refugees, most of them Syrian, have entered Bulgaria illegally this year, crossing the porous 170-mile border with Turkey, and the country has faced an influx of migrants that far outnumbers its capacity.

Grozyo Milushev Georgiev, a villager from Golyam Dervent, said the flow of refugees has been "really big".

More than 11,000 refugees have crossed the border this year

"In early summer, it periodically started to rise, five to 10 people, then to 20, 40, 50, and finally reached 100 people a day," Mr Georgiev said.

"Mothers with young children, pregnant women, elderly men and women, all kinds of people - but since the authorities took urgent measures, this flow has stopped."

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North Korea: Detained American 'Admits Crimes'

An American veteran of the Korean war detained for "hostile acts" against the communist North has released an apology allegedly confessing to his alleged crimes.

Merrill Newman, an 85-year-old from California, was held in October after entering North Korea "under the guise of a tourist", the country's official KCNA news agency said.

The alleged four-page confession with thumb prints

It is the first time the reclusive state has officially admitted holding Newman, whose family said he was detained on October 26 shortly before take-off from Pyongyang following a 10-day tour.

KCNA said Newman had committed crimes both as a tourist and during his participation in the Korean War six decades ago and published an apology running to nearly 600 words in which the American allegedly confessed to his crimes.

Mr Newman reading the alleged apology

Pyongyang has been accused of previously coercing statements from detainees, but it was riddled with stilted English and grammatical errors, such as "I want not punish me."

Mr Newman, a retired financial executive who served three years during the war, has been accused of infringing upon the "dignity and sovereignty" of the secretive state and "slandering its socialist system, quite contrary to the purpose of the tour", the report said.

The American had also masterminded espionage and subversive activities during the 1950-53 Korean War and was involved in the killing of North Korean soldiers and innocent civilians, it said.

"I realise that I cannot be forgiven for my offensives but I beg for pardon on my knees by apologising for my offensives sincerely toward the (North Korean) government and the Korean people and I want not punish me," Mr Newman was quoted as saying by KCNA.

The Korean War veteran had intended to meet surviving soldiers and pray for the souls of the dead, KCNA said, adding he had asked his guide for help.

He had also criticised North Korea during his trip, it said.

North Korean released an undated photo of lleader Kim Jong Un on Saturday

"I will never commit the offensive act against the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) government and the Korean people again," Mr Newman said in his apology.

North Korea released video showing Newman reading his apology, which was dated November 9.

Officials also showed an email printout dated April 19 which allegedly showed Mr Newman was formerly a military advisor to a special forces unit known as Donkey 6 who tried to meet with survivors of the guerilla United Nations Partisan Forces-Korea (UNPFK).

According to the US Special Operations Forces Handbook, the so-called Donkeys - nicknamed after the Korean word for liberty - operated behind enemy lines on missions that remained classified for 30 years.

North Korea issued an alleged email from Mr Newman dated April

It said: "From tiny islands off the Korean coast, the Donkeys conducted raids, rescued downed airmen and maintained electronic facilities.

"Under the guidance of the special forces and other US cadre, (UNPFK) eventually numbered 22,000 and claimed 69,000 enemy casualties."

According to Mr Newman's son, Jeff, his father was on an organised tour and detained due to a "misunderstanding".

"My father is a veteran, and wanted to see the country and culture he has been interested in for years," he said.

North Korea is also holding US national Kenneth Bae, a 45-year-old tour operator arrested a year ago who was sentenced to 15 years' hard labour on charges of seeking to topple the government.

The State Department recently issued an updated travel advisory urging Americans to avoid North Korea, which was reportedly "arbitrarily detaining US citizens and not allowing them to depart the country".

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Falklands Oil Row: Argentina's Threat To Firms

Argentina has threatened oil firms seeking to operate off the Falkland Islands with 15-year jail terms, huge fines and confiscation of assets.

It is just the latest chapter in the dispute with Britain over sovereignty.

Its London embassy announced that new laws have been passed by the Argentine Congress to punish exploration it claims is in breach of a UN resolution.

But the Foreign Office insisted the activities were "wholly legitimate and legal" and entirely under the control of the Government of the island - a British overseas territory.

A spokesman said: "The UK Government unequivocally supports the right of the Falkland Islanders to develop their natural resources for their own economic benefit.

"This right is an integral part of their right of self-determination, which is expressly contained in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

"Argentine domestic law does not apply to the Falkland Islands or South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, which are UK overseas territories."

Buenos Aires has issued repeated written legal warnings to firms that they face administrative, civil and criminal action for operating off the islands - which Argentina calls Las Malvinas.

In a statement, the embassy said the new law "provides for prison sentences for the duration of up to 15 years; fines equivalent to the value of 1.5 million barrels of oil; the banning of individuals and companies from operating in Argentina; and the confiscation of equipment and any hydrocarbons that would have been illegally extracted".

It added: "The Argentine Government has protested against and rejected all of the United Kingdom's attempts to promote and authorise such hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation activities in the area of the Argentine continental shelf."

Islanders voted by 1,513 to three to remain a British overseas territory in a referendum in March but Argentina has since stepped up its claim over the territory at the UN.

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Brazil Stadium Bosses 'Warned Of Safety Fears'

Construction bosses were warned about safety at the World Cup stadium where a giant crane collapse killed two workers, a union has claimed.

Antonio de Sousa Ramalho, president of Sao Paulo's civil industry workers' association, said supervisors pressed ahead with the operation to finish the roof of the Corinthians Arena despite several rainy days that soaked the soil.

He said a safety engineer warned his supervisor that it appeared the ground was not stable enough to support the 500-tonne piece of roofing the crane was lifting.

"To his surprise, he was told by the supervisor that nothing was wrong and work should continue," said Mr Ramalho, who declined to provide the worker's name for fear of possible reprisals.

"They discussed the matter for a while but in the end the supervisor's decision stood."

Odebrecht, the Brazilian construction company behind the stadium project and three other World Cup venues, strongly denied the claims, and a civil defence official said an initial inspection of the construction site a day after the accident showed no evidence the ground was unstable.

Ronaldo Oliveira dos Santos, 44, a fitter, and driver Fabio Luiz Pereira, 42, were crushed to death when the crane collapsed as it hoisted a 500-tonne structure.

Aerial pictures showed the extent of damage to the crane and stadium

According to Brazilian media, investigators are looking into human or mechanical error and amateur footage of the incident is likely to be analysed as part of the probe.

One video that has emerged shows the huge structure falling and crashing into the corner of the stadium. 

A vast cloud of dust can be seen rising into the air and bystanders rush towards the scene of the crash seconds after the impact.

The footage was shot by architect and urban planner Marcio Campos, who said he happened to be filming at the construction site just seconds before accident.

Mr Campos was visiting the construction project on a technical visit with a group of architects just before the tragedy, local media reported.

The crane damaged the outer walls of the 70,000-seater venue - popularly known as the Itaquerao - and a giant LED screen.

Work on the stadium, which is due to stage the opening World Cup fixture, was due to be finished by December 31.

The competition's organisers Fifa said they now expect a delay of between 45 and 60 days.

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China Scrambles Fighter Jets In Islands Row

China Island Strategy 'Risky'

Updated: 2:13pm UK, Friday 29 November 2013

By Lisa Holland, Foreign Affairs Correspondent

Politically, nothing happens by accident in China.

It was no co-incidence that as China sent its fighter jets into the newly declared 'air defence identification zone', President Xi Jinping was visiting a site connected with the country's war-time struggle against Japan.

Mr Xi was quoted as saying "though life is becoming better, history can't be forgotten and those who made sacrifices for the new China's founding must be remembered".

Every few months the issue of islands in the East China Sea disputed by both China and Japan raises its head.

This is probably the first time since Mr Xi was made China's new leader that the country has flexed its muscles over the islands.

It is Mr Xi sending a message that China will not roll over when it comes to ownership of the islands.

The issue has become a hot topic in various (state-controlled) newspapers. 

The Global Times praised the government for its "calm response in the face of provocations". 

This kind of comment article doesn't appear by chance.

It means the Communist Party wants to send a message to the world and in particular to Japan and Japan's allies in the Pacific region, America.

Ties between China and Japan have become increasingly fraught over recent years. 

The deep-rooted mistrust and regional rivalry goes back to Japan's occupation of part of China and the perceived lack of contrition by Japan over war-time atrocities.

But by raising the stakes over the islands China may have put itself in an awkward position.

It has informed the world that foreign aircraft passing through the new air defence zone - including passenger planes - would have to identify themselves to Chinese authorities. 

Japan's two biggest airlines have defied the identification order. South Korea and the US have also flown through the zone.

China's Defence Ministry has said it would be "incorrect" to suggest China would shoot down aircraft which entered the zone without first identifying themselves. 

But quite how China will respond and police its unilaterally declared zone appears unclear.

China wants to annoy its neighbours and assert its power in the region - particularly with America looking on.

There is a lot at stake - both in an economic sense but crucially also in terms of prestige.

With the islands come seabed resources which need to be explored along with local fisheries stocks.

But it is a risky strategy. Things can easily spiral out of control in the fast-moving air zone - and mistakes happen.  If that is the case China will need to show it is no paper tiger. That could be dangerous.

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Germany: 'Cannibal Cop' Buried Victim In Garden

A German policeman has been arrested after the butchered body of a man he met on a fetish website for cannibalism was found buried in his garden.

The 55-year-old confessed to slashing the throat of his willing victim and then cutting his body into small pieces and burying them, police said.

But prosecutors said there was no evidence that the suspect, identified by media as police officer Detlev G of the eastern state of Saxony, had eaten any of the body parts of his victim.

Maik Mainda laid out the details of the investigation at a news conference

The victim, a 59-year-old man from Hanover, Lower Saxony, had "since his youth fantasised about being murdered and eaten", Dresden police chief Dieter Kroll told a news conference.

When the Hanover business consultant went missing, police began a search and weeks later tracked him down using his electronic communications with the suspected killer, whom he met for the first time on November 4.

Dresden head of criminal investigations Maik Mainda told the press conference the pair had had extensive email, text and telephone contact since October to arrange their fatal date.

The two men met at Dresden railway station before driving back to the suspect's house in the town of Hartmannsdorf-Reichenau.

"The agreement was that the killing should take place immediately," Mr Mainda said.

The suspect "then used a knife to cause a life-threatening wound on the throat of the victim, which led to his death", he said.

"The suspect has told us that he then cut the victim into separate pieces, including many very small pieces, and that he also cut through bones. The suspect then buried the body parts on the sloping lawn of his property."

Police wait outside the scene where the victim was found buried

The suspect was cooperating and had pointed investigators to the sites where he buried the remains, police said.

The investigation has echoes of the case of Armin Meiwes, dubbed the "Cannibal of Rothenburg".

In 2001, Meiwes made international headlines for admitting to killing, mutilating and eating the flesh of a lover whom he had met on the internet via an advertisement looking for a "slaughter victim".

Armin Meiwes admitted killing and eating a lover in 2001

Meiwes was originally convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison in 2004, but another court found him guilty of murder in a retrial and jailed him for life.

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Comet Ison: Nasa Suggests Chunk Lives On

A streak of light seen streaming away from the Sun has given astronomers hope that a chunk of the much-anticipated "comet of the century" has survived its fiery encounter.

Telescopes tracking Comet Ison saw at least part of it emerge on the other side of the star around six hours after disappearing from view.

Experts at Nasa said the white smear seen in pictures from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory suggests at least part of Ison's icy nucleus is still intact.

However, they warned the comet appeared to have shrunk in size and may yet turn out to have disintegrated altogether, with a trail of debris being all that remains.

Ison had given a dazzling display on its way to the Sun. Pic: Nasa/MSFC

Karl Battams, an astrophysicist at the US Naval Research Laboratory in Washington DC, described the comet as a "ridiculous, crazy, dynamic and unpredictable object" that continues to "amaze, astound and confuse".

"Right now it does appear that at least some small fraction of Ison has remained in one piece and is actively releasing material," he said.

"We have no idea how big this nucleus is, if there is indeed one. If there is a nucleus, it is still too soon to tell how long it will survive.

There was no sign of Ison in a Nasa space observatory picture from Thursday

"If it does survive for more than a few days, it is too soon to tell if the comet will be visible in the night sky."

Mr Battams said the remnants of Ison temporarily faded from sight after appearing on the other side of the Sun before rising from the solar corona "like an icy phoenix".

"This has unquestionably been the most extraordinary comet that I have ever witnessed," he said.

"The universe is an amazing place and it has just amazed us again."

The comet's impressive tail was photographed by Waldemar Skorupa

Comets are frozen balls of space dust left over from the formation of stars and planets more than four billion years ago.

Ison, which is officially known as Comet C/2012 S1, had been hurtling through space at speeds of 845,000mph.

It was expected to be met with temperatures of about 2,700C (4,892F) and an intense gravitational pull as it passed within 730,000 miles of the surface of the Sun.

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Romanian PM Warns UK: We're Not Second-Rate

Romania's Prime Minister has called on Britain not to treat Romanians as "second-rate citizens" when work restrictions for Romanian and Bulgarian workers are lifted in January.

It follows Prime Minister David Cameron's pledge to toughen welfare rules for migrants from the European Union, amid concern in the UK that people from Romania and Bulgaria will exploit the British welfare system.

Mr Cameron has said one million people from Central and Eastern Europe are living in Britain, with migration at a level not seen since wartime.

Some fear a rise of Romanian camps, like the 400 estimated sites in France

Romanian leader Victor Ponta said people should be punished for abusing Britain's welfare system, but restrictions should not be used to "generate or justify abuse or discrimination toward European citizens".

"We will not accept being treated as second-rate citizens," Mr Ponta said.

He added that research showed "there is no reason for concern regarding a migrant wave" from Romania to Britain.

Millions of Romanians had already chosen to work abroad in "southern Latin states", referring to Spain and Italy, which have a Latin-based language like Romanian.

Ford has closed facilities in the UK and moved some to Romania

He said he hoped Mr Cameron was not trying "to attack the fundamental principles of the EU, among which the freedom of movement is one of the most important values".

Mr Cameron's comments were criticised on Wednesday by European employment commissioner Laszlo Andor as an "unfortunate over-reaction".

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Trial Marine 'Had Mental Health Issues'

A former US Marine who died in hospital while awaiting trial over the deaths of six people ingested Ajax in his prison cell, his lawyer has said.

Itzcoatl Ocampo, 25, apparently stockpiled the cleaning product while being held in custody, said Michael Molfetta.

The revelation raises questions over the level of supervision Orange County jail deputies were giving Ocampo, who had mental health issues.

He was found shaking and vomiting in his cell on Wednesday and was pronounced dead in hospital the following day, Lieutenant Jeff Hallock said.

No cause of death has been given, but an autopsy will be performed next week.

Mr Molfetta said: "If you spend three minutes with Ocampo, you are acutely aware of the fact that he has some mental issues.

"They were severe and they were obvious and they definitely were not contrived.

"With that being said, this was a guy who should have garnered the highest level of scrutiny... and it wasn't done."

Prosecutors alleged that Ocampo, a native of Mexico, stabbed four homeless men in what they called a serial thrill-kill rampage in late 2011 and early 2012.

Ocampo targeted his homeless victims because they were vulnerable and because he felt they were a blight on the community, authorities said.

He was charged in January 2012 with four counts of murder, with special allegations of multiple murders, lying in wait and use of a deadly weapon. 

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