CAR: More Violence As Foreigners Set To Leave

More violence has broken out in the Central African Republic (CAR) capital of Bangui following the resignation of the country's president and prime minister.

At least three people were killed in the clashes, including a Christian vigilante, an ex-Seleka rebel and a civilian, according to the Central African Red Cross.

The fighting came as the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) prepared to evacuate thousands of stranded foreigners caught up in the fighting. 

Sporadic gunfire was heard in Bangui and there were widespread reports of looting in the city.

The head of the Central African Red Cross, Pastor Antoine Mbaobogo, said many looters were targeting Muslim-owned shops.

Crowds gather in the streets of Bangui after the president's resignation

"Those who were looted when the (mainly Muslim) Seleka arrived (in March last year) are now looting in turn," he said.

President Michel Djotodia, the first Muslim leader in the majority Christian nation, resigned on Friday alongside his prime minister, Nicolas Tiengaye.

During his tenure, Mr Djotodia set up a transitional council and promised open elections but unrest and sectarian fighting began within months of his appointment. 

It was hoped his resignation would help ease tensions in the country.

The CAR has seen spiralling violence between the mainly Muslim Seleka rebels who brought Mr Djotodia to power last year, and Christian militias.

Michel Djotodia was the nation's first Muslim leader

More than 1,000 people have been killed in the past month alone and signs of sectarian conflict remain in Bangui where a mosque was targeted by a gang of young looters.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has called on the African Union to provide promised troops to help end the "terrible crisis" in the nation. 

So far, France has deployed 1,600 troops to help support the African Union MISCA force, which is meant to have up to 6,000 troops but has not yet reached 3,500.

European nations on Friday agreed in principle on a plan to launch a joint military operation in the country, with a final decision expected later in the month.

An interim parliament will hold a special session on Monday to discuss Mr Djotodia's replacement.

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Video Of Plane Crashing During Beach Take-Off

A pilot in New Zealand made a safe emergency landing on a beach following engine failure - only to crash his plane later on take-off.

Miraculously, Dennis Horn and his co-pilot Manfred Scherbius walked away from both white-knuckle dramas unhurt.

It all unfolded after the aircraft's new engine cut out and the pair were forced to glide for several minutes before spotting the suitable shoreline landing site.

One young girl on the beach said: "All we saw was a plane coming towards us."

A faulty fuel valve was quickly identified as the cause of the single-engined aircraft's difficulties, and repairs were carried out.

Mr Horn said: "Basically the engine stopped.

"Sort of thing the pilot doesn't want to hear, especially if he's only got one engine.

"We actually landed along some rocks there which was a bit rough but it only damaged the aircraft slightly."

With the makeshift runway cleared it was time to beat the incoming tide and fly home.

Things did not go to plan, and the aircraft careered into the surf ending up on its nose in the sea.

"Because we were too cautious staying away from the trees and the boat and whatever," explained Mr Scherbius.

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Shangri-La: Ancient Homes Destroyed By Fire

A 1,300-year-old Tibetan village has been partially destroyed by fire, according to state media.

The fire began at around 1.30am in Dukezong, in Shangri-La, in China's southwest Yunnan province, and destroyed more than 100 traditional wooden houses, Xinhua news agency said.

More than 1,000 firefighters were called in to battle the blaze

More than 1,000 firefighters were called in to battle the giant blaze, which at times had flames more than 10 metres high.

Local authorities said strong winds hampered efforts to control the fire, which was still spreading by mid-morning on Saturday.

Villagers were evacuated as the fire broke out and no casualties have been reported.

Strong winds hampered efforts to control the fire

The cause of the fire is still unknown but the cost of damage is expected to reach 100 million yuan (£10m), according to the Chinese news portal Zhongguo Xinwen Wang.

Dukezong, which means "town of the Moon", was founded around 1,300 years ago, and is known for its well-preserved ancient streets and traditional culture.

The fire is estimated to have caused £10m of damage

Earlier this week another high-profile site of Tibetan culture, the Buddhist Serthar institute in the nearby province of Sichuan, also went up in flames with ten buildings destroyed.

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Indian Diplomat's Family Slam 'Inhuman' US

The family of an Indian envoy whose arrest in the US has sparked a diplomatic crisis have slammed her "inhuman" treatment.

Uttam Khobragade, father of Devyani Khobragade, hit out after his daughter was strip-searched when arrested over allegations that she lied about how much she paid her maid.

He told a news conference in Delhi: "As a family, we would not like to touch the soil of the country which treats human beings in such an inhuman way, in an utter violation of human rights, an utter violation of the Geneva Convention."

Mr Khobragade said he expected his daughter to arrive in India with her husband and children "very soon" after she was ordered to leave the US, where she could not be prosecuted because of her diplomatic immunity status.

India has today ordered the US to withdraw a diplomat "of similar rank" as the tit-for-tat diplomatic dispute rumbled on.

The American envoy is suspected of having helped the family of the maid at the centre of the case to travel to the US, where they were granted protection by prosecutors.

Ms Khobragade, India's deputy consul general in New York, was held in December on charges of visa fraud and underpaying a maid.

Uttam Khobragade attacked the handling of his daughter's case as 'inhuman'

Delhi said it was "shocked and appalled" and demanded an apology after she was handcuffed and strip-searched at the time of her arrest.

She left New York on a flight from JFK airport on Thursday night hours after she was indicted on criminal charges and India refused to waive her immunity.

Prosecutors accused Ms Khobragade of sometimes forcing the maid to work 100-hour weeks, even when sick and without a day off, for as little as $1.22 an hour.

Indian foreign ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said: "At the time of her departure to India, Counsellor Khobragade reiterated her innocence of charges filed against her.

"She affirmed her gratitude to the government of India, in particular to the external affairs minister, and the people of India, as also the media, for their strong and sustained support during this period."

Ms Khobragade could be arrested and forced to answer the charges if she returned to the US without diplomatic immunity.

Ms Khobragade's arrest sparked street protests in India

The row began when Ms Khobragade was arrested following a complaint by her maid Sangeeta Richard.

She in turn accused her employee of theft and attempted blackmail.

The circumstances of her arrest prompted protests on the streets of India and diplomatic reprisals from Delhi.

Senior Indian politicians and officials snubbed a US delegation on a recent visit and security barricades around the American embassy in Delhi were removed.

On Wednesday, the US embassy was ordered to stop "commercial activities on its premises" and a club with a pool restaurant and tennis court was reportedly told to shut down.

The Indian government also said drivers of US diplomatic cars could be charged with traffic offences.

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Ex-Miss Venezuela: Funeral For Murdered Model

The funerals are taking place of a former Miss Venezuela beauty queen and her British ex-husband who were murdered as they returned from holiday.

Monica Spear and Thomas Henry Berry are being laid to rest a day after their families held a private wake in Caracas before allowing fans of the model-turned-actress to view her body.

The pair were killed in a robbery on an isolated stretch of highway while they were returning to the Venezuelan capital with their five-year-old daughter.

Mourners line up to pay tribute to the Venezuelan star

Although the weapon used in the robbery has not been found, it has emerged that a digital camera stolen during the attack led police to a criminal group which allegedly preyed on motorists on the stretch of road between Puerto Cabello and Valencia.

The camera was found at the home of one of seven people arrested over the killing and helped officers trace other suspects in the case.

According to Jose Gregorio Sierralta, chief of Venezuela's criminal police, at least 11 people were involved in the crime - four of whom remain on the run.

The pair had been returning to Caracas from holiday with their daughter

The commissioner claimed the 32-year-old alleged ringleader of the group, known as Fat Danilo, supplied younger men in the gang with guns and drugs.

The deaths of Ms Spear and her ex-husband provoked a national uproar over Venezuela's rampant violent crime.

Hundreds of mourners waited in long lines outside the Caracas chapel to pay their respects to the 29-year-old, who had a starring role in a popular TV soap series.

The former Miss Venezuela had become and actress

District mayor Ramon Muchacho said: "It is a crime that shakes the foundation of the country. And that puts in front of our eyes the awful reality we live in.

"Sometimes Venezuelans live in escapism, looking one way or the other, trying to forget what happens every day. But this crime reminds us that there are more than 20,000 families, who are left in mourning every year in Venezuela (due to violence)."

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California Suffers Worst Drought Since 1970s

By Greg Milam, US Correspondent

While most of the United States has been gripped by the polar vortex, one part of the country is suffering a very different weather extreme.

California, the most populous state in America, is experiencing its worst drought since the 1970s.

Last year was one of the driest on record and farmers across the state are warning of devastation and rising food prices unless rain arrives soon.

Water levels in reservoirs are down to around 20% of normal levels and officials say it is only conservation efforts that have prevented a state-wide catastrophe so far.

Water levels in California reservoirs are down to 20% of normal levels

The level has dropped so low at Folsom Lake reservoir in Northern California that a Gold Rush-era village, which was deliberately flooded in the 1950s, has re-emerged.

Tourists have flocked to see the foundations of Red Bank, close to an area called Mormon Island, and pick through remnants and debris scattered the now-exposed lake bed.

But the drought could have serious costs with farmers warning of rising food prices if it goes on.

The drought in California is the worst since the 1970s

Paul Van Leer, who farms land adjoining the Pacific Ocean near Santa Barbara, says the irony is not lost on farmers that the rest of the country has had more than their share of wet weather.

"It is a shame we just can't pipe it down here," he told Sky News.

"I have never seen it this bad. Everyone is feeling it. We're looking out of the window wondering when it is going to come.

"We're in the heart of a rainy season right now and if we don't get it in the 30 to 45 day window, we're pretty much done."

The drought may take a major toll on farmers and food prices

A third of the water for Californians comes from the snow pack in the Sierra Nevada mountains - measurements this winter have shown it to be at just 20% of the required level.

Even the state's famous vineyards have been affected. Growers have been forced to begin irrigating vines much earlier than normal, or face seeing them dying off.

Brad Goehring, who grows wine grapes in the San Joaquin Valley, said: "It is the same as real rain but it the best we can do."

Weather forecasters have little good news - there is no significant rain forecast for the weeks ahead, increasing the prospect of the drought worsening.

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Belgium Shoots For World Cup 2014 Success

By Robert Nisbet, Europe Correspondent

With just 11 million residents, Belgium is one of western Europe's smallest nations, but it's hoping to kick above its weight at international football's biggest tournament.

The Red Devils, who make up the country's national team, are now ranked 11th in the world, having powered up FIFA's rankings from 68th just four years ago, in one of the game's most extraordinary revivals.

A glimpse at the talent in the Belgian squad gives you a clue as to how they've achieved it, with eleven of the squad playing in the English Premier League, the most competitive and lucrative in the world.

Vertonghen, Mignolet, Vermaelen, Fellaini, Dembele, Hazard, Chadlhi, De Bruyne, Benteke, Lukaku and Mirallas all play for English clubs, gaining valuable experience in the league and often in UEFA's European championship.

Those gained skills, the argument runs, are imported back into the national squad.

Many of Belgium's most talented players have sought contracts overseas

A decade ago Belgium adopted the German model of coaxing and shaping young talent: improving coaching in technique, feeding young players through a honed academy system and ensuring early first team exposure to gain experience.

The exceptional players who benefited from the new regime are now in their teens and early twenties, but the success of the national programme has, conversely, stripped the Belgian league of its finest exponents.

Sky News spoke to fans outside an Anderlecht match, which is Belgian's biggest club but has just a fraction of the wealth of English Premier League stalwarts like Manchester United.

"They always want more money and better clubs, so the players go abroad, they never come back to Belgium to play," said one man with a Belgian shrug.

A lifelong Anderlecht supporter told us: "I've been coming here for 25 years and I've seen a lot of players go."

Belgium is one of western Europe's smallest nations

The success of the Belgian players may have been at the expense of the national league, but the Red Devils are experiencing a bump in support at home they would not have dared dream about five years ago.

Maarten Breckx, the sport anchor at Brussels-based VTM News told me: "It's cooler to support a good team than a bad team.

"There was this period when Belgium was playing teams like Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan and they had one or two fans who would travel with them.

"A few months ago when Belgium played Scotland, several thousand supporters were there. They don't mind being associated with winners, but steer clear of a bunch of losers."

However, Maarten said captain Vincent Kompany has cautioned against inflating expectations ahead of the World Cup in Brazil.

Belgium has risen from 68th in the Fifa rankings to 11th in just four years

"It's a very young group of players right now and if we reach the second round that will already be a big success. He's reaching for the European Cup in 2016. That's more like the goal of this generation of Belgian players," Maarten said.

We visited an Under-9s match in Watermael-Boitsford, a Brussels suburb where coaches are already looking for new talent, but concentrate more on fostering team spirit over individual glory.

Coach Alain Caron said that much of the credit for today's team must be given to the manager Marc Wilmots who speaks all the national languages of Belgium: French, Dutch and German, thereby leapfrogging the linguistic divide which still tears at Belgium's unity.

England's FA says it has been watching the experiment in Belgium and taking note of the good practice on display there.

The director of elite development Dan Ashworth told Sky News he is pursuing a number of strategies to ensure England produces its own crop of technically gifted players, while noting the wealth of the Premier league makes it harder for homegrown players to gain first team experience.

The people of Belgium are hoping for success in Brazil

"I think you see some cycles. At some stage France were all the rage, then it was Spain and Holland and Germany, now Belgium," he said.

"I think every so often there's a country which has a good crop of young players which everyone gets excited about and I'm just hoping that in a few years' time people will be coming here to watch us and our young technical players."

Manager of the Under-21 squad, Gareth Southgate hopes the FA's Elite Player Performance Plan which is attempting to fix transfer fees between academies and improve coaching will help England replicate Belgium' success.

"In the Premier League we are now attracting the best players from around the world and the standard needed to get in is much higher. That's a challenge for both English players - and English coaches," he said.

There are nay-sayers, who it is just luck that so many good Belgian players came through at the same time. If a second generation emerges and builds on the current team's successes, then those critics may be silenced.

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Ukraine Protests: Ex-Minister Among 10 Injured

Ten people have been injured in early morning clashes between riot police and protesters outside a courthouse in Ukraine's capital, witnesses said.

Police used tear gas and batons to control the crowd of several hundred people who were protesting in Kiev against the sentencing of three activists.

Among those injured is former interior minister Yuri Lutsenko, who served under jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko.

Police said they have no information about injuries in the protests

Despite witness accounts, police said in a statement they have no information about injuries during the protest.

Meanwhile, 10km away in central Kiev, several thousand people have set up camp to protest against President Viktor Yanukovich's decision to spurn a European Union trade deal and strengthen Ukraine's economic ties with Russia.

The demonstrations began when Ukraine suspended talks with the EU on November 21 and have grown in size and intensity after unsuccessful attempts by police to clear the protest camp.

Demonstrations began in November last year and have since escalated

Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets on December 15 in a huge rally dubbed the 'day of dignity', where they demanded the resignation of the government and called for European human rights.

Ukraine remains deeply divided, between the European-leaning west, and Russian-speaking east.

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'Bulldozer' Sharon Was Ruthless But Courageous

In October 1953, Israeli paratroops and commandos from the Jewish State's first special forces unit, attacked the Arab village of Qibya, on the West Bank.

Some 69 villagers, many of them women and children, were killed. International condemnation followed.

But the raid did nothing to slow down the rise of the then leader of the SF - Unit 101 - Ariel Sharon.

He went on to personify all that Israel stood for - not among moderates but among those who most hated Israel, and among many who most loved it.

Many in Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Jordan and beyond will celebrate the final passing of Mr Sharon.

His cunning, tactical finesse, brutality and uncompromising belief in the secular Zionist cause, meant he usually won battles and sometimes wars, against those who would annihilate Israel.

Mr Sharon (c) was an architect of Israel's victory in the 1967 Six Day War

He will be mourned as one of the leading lights of Israeli statesmanship who began fighting for the nation before it existed, who shattered the Egyptians in the Sinai in 1967, and saved Israel from defeat in 1973.

But for one man Mr Sharon's death is a particular blow.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the current Israeli Prime Minister, will now inevitably face comparisons with Mr Sharon, and be found significantly wanting.

Mr Sharon was brave. He was ruthless. He may even have been murderous. But he also had political courage.

As prime minister of Israel from 2004-2005, he ordered the withdrawal of illegal Jewish settlements from the Gaza Strip.

He had been the champion of the settlements as both a Zionist enterprise and a tactical necessity.

But to advance peace with the Palestinians he turned on his own.

Some of his confidantes even believe that when he split with the Likud party to form Kadima, shortly before his stroke eight years ago, he had been planning to pull Israeli troops out of the West Bank too. 

Mr Sharon at the al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, sparking the Second Intifada

Such dramatic moves could only be contemplated by a man who had impeccable hardcore credentials among Israel's right.

He had the medals, and he had earned international opprobrium in defence of Israel.

As defence minister he brought disgrace on the Jewish State after the massacre of Palestinians by Lebanese Christians allied with Israel at the Sabra and Shatila camps in 1982.

An Israeli government investigation found him personally responsible for the atrocity.

In September 2000, he ignited the al Aqsa Intifada by provocatively exercising his 'right' to enter the al Aqsa Mosque complex in a move which sparked immediate bloodletting.

Yet after all this hard-headed belligerence, Mr Sharon recognised that Israel could not survive indefinitely in a regional sea of hatred.

His plans to end the most poisonous aspect of Israel's relationship with her Arab neighbours, the occupation of Palestinian lands, were cut short when he suffered a stroke.

His political heir, Mr Netanyahu, was an officer for a while in Sarayet Metkal, Israel's special force founded by Mr Sharon.

He has led the Likud party and been prime minister for longer than the man they called "the bulldozer".

But his critics fear he does not have Mr Sharon's military credibility, popularity, nor the political backbone or the personal dash that Israel so badly now needs.

This will be the year in which Bibi gets the chance to prove that he is Mr Sharon's political son, not his shadow.

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Ariel Sharon Dead: Israel's Ex-PM Dies

Former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon has died following a long illness.

The 85-year-old's son was quoted as saying he had died, eight years since a stroke at the height of his powers left him in a coma.

Gilad Sharon said: "He has gone. He went when he decided to go."

Gilad Sharon announces his father's death

Sheba Medical Centre, where he was being treated, said he died at around 2pm (midday UK time).

Mr Sharon's condition suddenly deteriorated on January 1 when he suffered serious kidney problems after surgery.

Sharon's 2000 visit to a disputed Jerusalem site caused the second Intifada

Nicknamed 'The Bulldozer', the veteran soldier fought in all of Israel's major wars before beginning a turbulent political career in 1973.

Long considered a pariah for his personal but "indirect" responsibility for the 1982 massacre of hundreds of Palestinians by Israel's Lebanese Phalangist allies in Beirut's Sabra and Shatila refugee camps, he was elected premier in 2001.

Ministers in Israel's right-wing government and the political opposition mourned a leader who left big footprints on the region through military invasion, Jewish settlement building on captured land and a unilateral decision to pull Israeli troops and settlers out of the Gaza Strip in 2005.

President Shimon Peres said: "My dear friend, Arik Sharon, lost his final battle today.

"Arik was a brave soldier and a daring leader who loved his nation and his nation loved him. He was one of Israel's great protectors and most important architects, who knew no fear and certainly never feared vision."

Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz said in a statement: "The nation of Israel has today lost a dear man, a great leader and a bold warrior."

Mr Sharon was accused over the 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacre

There was no immediate comment on the death from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, with whom Mr Sharon's Likud party successor, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has been holding US-sponsored peace talks.

But in Gaza, Hamas welcomed Mr Sharon's death.

"We have become more confident in victory with the departure of this tyrant," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zurhi said.

"Our people today feel extreme happiness at the death and departure of this criminal whose hands were smeared with the blood of our people and the blood of our leaders here and in exile."

Prime Minister David Cameron said: "Ariel Sharon is one of the most significant figures in Israeli history and as prime minister he took brave and controversial decisions in pursuit of peace, before he was so tragically incapacitated.

"Israel has today lost an important leader."

US President Barack Obama offered his condolences to Mr Sharon's family, saying: "We join with the Israeli people in honouring his commitment to his country."

More follows...

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