Americans Warned Over Uganda Terror Operation

The US embassy in Uganda has told its citizens to take shelter as Ugandan authorities act against a suspected terrorist cell.

The embassy warned that al Shabaab militants in the country planned to carry out an "imminent attack".

"All US citizens are advised to stay at home or proceed to a safe location," the embassy said in a message posted on Twitter.

"Ugandan authorities are conducting operations against a suspected terrorist cell in Kampala."

On its website, the embassy added: "At this point we are not aware of specific targets, and the Ugandan authorities have increased security at key sites, including Entebbe International Airport."

The embassy has said in the past that Uganda faces a "continued threat" from terrorists.

Other alerts have been issued during the year about possible attacks.

In July, the US warned of a "specific threat" made by an unknown group to attack the Entebbe international airport.

Al Shabaab, which is aligned with al Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the attack on the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi in neighbouring Kenya a year ago.

Earlier this month the Islamist group warned of revenge attacks against its enemies after its leader Ahmed Godane was killed in a US airstrike.

Al Shabaab militants also carried out a bombing at a sports bar in Uganda while people were watched the 2010 World Cup on television.

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Pistorius Family 'Never Doubted' Athlete's Story

Oscar Pistorius' uncle Arnold has said the family never doubted his version of events on the night he killed his girlfriend.

He said Reeva Steenkamp's death at the athlete's house in Pretoria, South Africa, was a "tragic event" and his family remained "deeply affected" by it.

Arnold Pistorius also said he was grateful to Judge Thokozile Masipa for finding the runner not guilty of murder and it was a "big burden off our shoulders and Oscar's".

The double amputee was convicted of a lesser charge of culpable homicide, which is the equivalent charge of manslaughter in the UK.

Oscar Pistorius pictured leaving court after his bail was extended

Judge Masipa said Pistorius had acted negligently when he fired four shots on Valentine's Day last year into a locked toilet door, killing the 29-year-old model who was behind it.

But she also said he did not intend to kill anyone and could not have seen that the intruder he thought was hiding in his toilet was actually Ms Steenkamp.

Arnold Pistorius said: "We always knew the facts of the matter. We never had any doubt in Oscar's version of this tragic incident."

He said "there were no victors" and added: "It won't bring Reeva back but our hearts still go out to her family and friends."

Pistorius was also convicted of discharging a firearm at a Johannesburg restaurant on January 11, 2013.

But he was acquitted of firing a gun through a car sunroof while with his then-girlfriend Samantha Taylor and friend Darren Fresco on November 30, 2012, and cleared of illegally possessing ammunition.

The Paralympian and Olympian was freed on bail and will return to court in Pretoria on October 13 to be sentenced.

Nathi Mncube, for the National Prosecuting Authority, said he was "disappointed" Pistorius was convicted of only two charges.

Speaking outside the court he said: "We respect the judgment that has been delivered.

"We believed in this instance there was enough evidence to secure a conviction under premeditated murder.

"Of course we are disappointed. We are disappointed we did not secure a conviction under premeditated murder and also there was acquittal on the other two (gun) charges."

He said it was too early to decide whether prosecutors would launch an appeal.

The victim's parents June and Barry Steenkamp were in court for the judgement but the family has not yet commented on any of the verdicts.

However, her close friends Gina and Kim Myers were very disappointed, very tearful and left court shaking their heads, according to Sky's Alex Crawford in Pretoria.

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Islamic State May Have 31,500 Fighters, Says CIA

The Islamic State (IS) may have as many as 31,500 fighters in Syria and Iraq - three times higher than previously feared, the CIA believes.

A review of intelligence reports from May to August estimates the militant group can muster between 20,000 and 31,500 jihadists, up from a previous figure of 10,000, it said.

The new total reflects stronger recruitment by IS after its military successes and declaration of a caliphate in Iraq and Syria, said CIA spokesman Ryan Trapani.

US Secretary of State John Kerry is pressing Arab states to support an expanded American military campaign against IS, including airstrikes in Syria.

On Thursday, key Arab allies promised to "do their share" to fight IS, including stopping the flow of fighters and funding to the militants, but Nato member Turkey refused to join in.

The 10 Middle East allies announced their backing for a strategy to "destroy" the group "wherever it is, including in both Iraq and Syria," following a meeting with Mr Kerry in the Red Sea city of Jeddah.

John Kerry with Arab foreign ministers in Jeddah

Nearly 40 countries have agreed to contribute to what Mr Kerry said would be a worldwide fight to defeat the militants, however Germany said it would not take part in airstrikes.

"The devastating consequences of extremist hate remain fresh in the minds of all Americans, and to so many of our friends and allies around the world," said Mr Kerry on the 13th anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks.

"Those consequences are felt every day here in the Middle East."

Moscow said any unilateral US airstrikes in Syria would be a violation of international law.

"In the absence of an appropriate decision of the UN Security Council, such a step would become an act of aggression, a crude violation of the norms of international law," said a spokesman for the Russian foreign ministry.

Turkey attended the Jeddah meeting, but did not sign the final agreement over fears for 49 Turkish citizens kidnapped from its consulate in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul when it was overrun by IS in June.

Some Gulf states could in theory help with US airstrikes, as the United Arab Emirates and Qatar did in the aerial campaign over Libya in 2011, as well as assisting with weapons, training, intelligence and logistics.

America has launched more than 150 airstrikes in Iraq over the past month, and has sent military advisers into the country.

It also announced on Friday nearly $500m (£307m) in humanitarian aid for people and countries hit by Syria's civil war.

Some three million Syrian refugees have fled to neighbouring countries, but many remain trapped by the IS onslaught, says the UN.

On Monday, officials from the US, UK, France, Russia and China, and possibly other countries including Iran, are due to hold talks in Paris on how to stabilise Iraq.

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Pistorius: Televised Trial Exposed Legal System

By Martin Brunt, Crime Correspondent, in Pretoria

The live television coverage of the Oscar Pistorius trial has exposed a slow and sometimes bizarre criminal justice system and some shoddy policing.

It has allowed the two principal lawyers to showboat and frighten witnesses into choosing not to be seen on camera.

And it was unable to stop grim images of the victim's shattered head being flashed on screen.

But most here believe the bold decision to let cameras into a South African court for the first time was the right one.

State prosecutor Gerrie Nel

It has allowed justice to be seen to be done, a right that's been denied to most of the population in this fledgling democracy where, for so many years, justice was colour blind.

The judge deciding the Olympic athlete's guilt or innocence is a former tea girl from the Soweto township.

When Thokozile Masipa became a judge at the age of 43 she was only the second black woman to do so.

But she has presided over a trial that's been excruciatingly embarrassing at times.

It was supposed to last three weeks, but has limped on in fits and starts for six months and a tougher judge might have clamped down on the delays.

Pistorius' chief defence lawyer, Barry Roux

She has also, in some observers' views, allowed the principal lawyers, prosecutor Gerrie Nel and defence barrister Barry Roux, to play to the gallery.

There has been no jury to sway, so who else can their showboating have been aimed at but the television audience?

And Nel's mocking and goading of Pistorius in his cross-examination was courtroom behaviour that would never be tolerated in the Old Bailey or any British court.

But, oddly, the judge suddenly one day reprimanded the prosecutor for calling Pistorius a liar.

The whole trial was predicated on the prosecution's belief that the defendant was lying. If Mr Nel thought Pistorius was telling the truth, there would not have been a trial.

The witness translation was sometimes laughable, with interpreters translating from Afrikaans into English which was their third language.

The runner sold his house to pay for his legal team

So poor was it that some witnesses who had chosen to speak in Afrikaans gave up and delivered the rest of their testimony in often perfect English.

Cross-examination of police witnesses revealed some shoddy detective work.

An officer who handled a gun without gloves, a door that was kept in a senior detective's office instead of contamination-free storage, and a valuable watch that appeared to have been stolen from Pistorius' house in the early hours of the investigation.

Seemingly important evidence introduced early on, but never revisited.

The court was shown photographs of blood splatter on the wall above Oscar's bed and a bullet hole in a door frame.

The images hinted at a fight, but that was the first and last we saw or heard of them.

And the defence promised we would hear sound test recordings that would demonstrate that Oscar Pistorius screams like a woman. The recordings were never played.

For all its delays, faults, inconsistencies and omissions, few people who have followed the Oscar Pistorius trial could argue that it was wrong to televise it live.

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Mayor Rob Ford Withdraws From Election Race

Troubled Toronto mayor Rob Ford has withdrawn from the mayoral race after being diagnosed with a tumour in his abdomen.

Mr Ford, who gained global notoriety after admitting using crack cocaine in a "drunken stupor", checked in to a Toronto hospital on Wednesday complaining of abdominal pains.

The 45-year-old, who is currently undergoing medical tests with biopsy results expected in a week, will stand, instead, for his old council seat, after his nephew pulled out of that contest.

Even as he dropped out of the mayoral race, his older brother and campaign manager Councillor Doug Ford picked up the 'Ford Nation' banner and filed papers on Friday to run in his place.

Doug Ford (R) puts his name on the mayoral ballot

Rob Ford said in a statement: "My heart is heavy when I tell you that I'm unable to continue my campaign for re-election as your mayor.

"I have asked Doug to run to become the next Mayor of Toronto, because we need him. We cannot go backwards."

He had been campaigning energetically ahead of the October 27 vote.

Mr Ford acknowledged last November - after months of denial - that he had smoked crack cocaine, and said he had driven after drinking.

He also admitted using "every drug you can probably think of".

Mr Ford entered a rehabilitation facility in May and returned to work the following month.

His father died of colon cancer in 2006.

Doug Ford, 49, will face two other main candidates: John Tory, a conservative businessman, and left-leaning Olivia Chow.

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Ukraine PM: Putin Wants All Of Our Country

Ukraine's prime minister has accused Russia of seeking to to control all of the country and restore the Soviet Union.

Addressing business leaders at a conference in Kiev, Arseny Yatseniuk warned President Vladimir Putin was a threat to global order and added that only Nato could offer Ukraine proper protection.

"We are still in a stage of war and the key aggressor is the Russian Federation," he said. "His (Putin's) goal is to take all of Ukraine. Russia is a threat to the global order and to the security of the whole of Europe."

A Russian aid convoy drives through a Russia-Ukraine border crossing

Kiev and the West have accused Moscow of sending Russian troops and tanks into eastern Ukraine in support of pro-Russian rebels fighting a bitter war with government forces.

A fragile ceasefire appears to be holding in the region, despite sporadic reports of outbreaks of violence, and Ukrainian troops and rebels exchanged prisoners on Friday.

The transfer of 67 prisoners of war, said to include Russian citizens serving alongside the rebels, took place near the separatist stronghold of Donetsk under the watch of international observers.

People waiting to cross the border from Russia and walk into Ukraine

The prisoner exchange was a key pillar of Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko's argument that his country can benefit from formulating a deal with the rebels.

Asked about the possibility of his country being admitted to the Nato alliance, which would create further rifts between the West and Russia, Mr Yatseniuk conceded it was unlikely Ukraine would be allowed in any time soon.

But Kiev has stepped-up co-operation with Nato and worked hard to persuade alliance states to provide arms and equipment to use against the rebels.

Ukrainian prisoners-of-war wait to be exchanged, north of Donetsk

Meanwhile, another humanitarian-aid convoy has reached the rebel-held city of Luhansk will ease the plight of civilians caught up in the fighting, according to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Some 100 vehicles arrived on Saturday morning with another 100 expected to reach the city later in the day. It is the second such aid convoy dispatched by Moscow into Ukraine.

A convoy sent in August was denounced by Kiev and the West for crossing the Russia-Ukraine border without permission.

A senior human rights official with the United Nations has declared the death toll in the conflict is likely to be above 3,000 if the victims of the MH17 plane crash are included.

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Reeva's Family: 'Verdict Is Not Justice'

Oscar Pistorius has been released on bail after being convicted of manslaughter for shooting dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

The South African athlete was flanked by guards as he left court in Pretoria and was hurried into a nearby car amid chaotic scenes of screaming supporters and a media scrum.

Judge Thokozile Masipa said the double amputee had acted negligently when he fired four shots into a locked toilet door, killing the 29-year-old model who was behind it.

But she decided to extend his bail and he will return to court for sentencing on October 13. He is expected to stay with relatives in the meantime.

Judge Masipa in court in Pretoria

Pistorius, 27, showed little emotion as the guilty verdict of culpable homicide, which is South Africa's equivalent of the UK's manslaughter charge, was handed down in North Gauteng High Court.

The punishment for culpable homicide ranges from a suspended sentence to a maximum jail term of 15 years.

The Paralympian and Olympian, dubbed Blade Runner due to his prosthetic limbs, had always admitted he shot Ms Steenkamp at his luxury Pretoria home but said he mistook her for an intruder.

Victim Reeva Steenkamp was kiled on Valentine's Day last year

Judge Masipa criticised Pistorius' decision to reach for his gun and shoot rather than raise the alarm or fire a warning shot.

She has also accused him of being a poor witness, muddled over his defence and a liar.

The judge told him: "A reasonable person, therefore, in the position of the accused with similar disabilities would have foreseen that the possibility that whoever was behind the door might be killed by the shots.

"And would have taken steps to avoid the consequences and the accused in this matter failed to take those consequences."

Ms Steenkamp's father Barry leaned forward in his seat when the verdict was read out. Her mother, June, showed no reaction.

On Thursday, the athlete broke down in the courtroom as he was cleared of two, more serious, murder charges over the shooting.

The judge said he did not intend to kill anyone and could not have seen that the intruder he thought was hiding in his toilet was actually Ms Steenkamp.

The prosecution had argued Pistorius was deliberately trying to kill his girlfriend after a row, but the judge ruled they had failed to prove the allegations.

She told the courtroom: "Having regard to the totality of this evidence in this matter, the unanimous decision of this court is the following: on count one, murder... the accused found not guilty and is discharged.

"Instead he is found guilty of culpable homicide."

Later, Ms Steenkamp's parents later attacked the judge's decision to acquit Pistorius of murder.

"This verdict is not justice for Reeva," June Steenkamp told NBC News. "I just want the truth."

She said Reeva died a "horrible, painful, terrible".  "He shot through the door and I can't believe that they believe it was an accident."

The judge had begun the day's events by dealing with the three firearms charges which were unrelated to last year's Valentine's Day shooting.

Pistorius was found guilty of discharging a firearm at a Johannesburg restaurant on January 11, 2013.

But he was acquitted of firing a gun through a car sunroof while with his then-girlfriend Samantha Taylor and friend Darren Fresco on November 30, 2012.

He was also cleared of illegally possessing ammunition. Pistorius denied all the charges.

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Family Of UK Hostage Tell IS Captors: Contact Us

British Aid Worker Held By IS Militants

Updated: 6:10pm UK, Thursday 04 September 2014

David Cawthorne Haines is an aid worker with more than a decade of experience in areas including South Sudan, Libya and the former Yugoslavia.

A father-of-two, he was abducted in March 2013 at a Syrian refugee camp close to the Turkish border, according to aid workers.

The 44-year-old grew up in Perth, Scotland, but is believed to have lived in Croatia with his wife Dragana, where he was a consultant director at Astraea - a kitchen supply company.

He had previously been a security manager with the Belgium-based Nonviolent Peaceforce.

Tiffany Eastholm, of the group, confirmed Mr Haines had worked with the company for six months in 2012 in South Sudan.

She told NBC News he was "very familiar with insecure locations". She added: "He was very caring, had a good sense of humour."

Mr Haines is thought to have gone to Syria with Agency for Technical Co-operation and Development (ACTED), a French international relief agency founded in 1993.

The threat to his life came in a video which showed US hostage Steven Sotloff being killed by a masked militant.

In the video footage of Mr Sotloff's murder, a masked Islamic State (IS) militant says: "We take this opportunity to warn those governments who have entered this evil alliance with America against the Islamic State to back off and leave our people alone."

Mr Haines, wearing an orange jumpsuit, is shown to the camera as the militant grabs his collar and a caption underneath gives his name.

He is thought to have been captured along with Italian aid worker Federico Motka, 31, who was released in May.

British Foreign Secretary Phillip Hammond said the UK was looking at "every possible option to protect" Mr Haines after he appeared in the video.

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Pakistan Blows Up Dykes To Divert Floodwaters

Military specialists have blown up dykes in central Pakistan to divert swollen rivers after rising floodwaters killed hundreds of people in Kashmir.

Authorities have been using helicopters and boats to evacuate people who have been left stranded by the floods, which were triggered by heavy monsoon rains earlier this month.

The breaches were made in dykes on the overflowing Chenab River. Pakistani news channels showed footage of the floodwaters rushing through the dykes.

Pakistani residents gather on high ground in Sher Shah

Some 280 people have been killed and a further 500 injured by the flooding in the Pakistani-controlled region of Kashmir.

Another 200 people have died in Indian-controlled Kashmir, where the floodwaters have partly receded, allowing many to return home.

Pakistan's military said is it carrying out food drops in the districts of Multan, Muzaffargarh and Jhang, while army medical teams are treating injured patients.

Medical teams in Srinagar, the main city in Indian-held Kashmir, have stepped up efforts to prevent the spread of waterborne diseases.

Elsewhere in Indian-controlled Kashmir, the army has evacuated nearly 150,000 people whose homes were flooded.

Troops and army engineers are also working to restore the vital Jammu-Srinagar highway, which links Indian Kashmir to the rest of the country.

Flood victims stand beside their belongings in Multan, in Punjab province

The highway has been shut for the past 10 days due to landslides and fallen rocks.

Heavy monsoon rains hit another mountainous region of Pakistan in 2010, killing 1,700 people.

Pakistan-administered Kashmir also suffered a devastating earthquake in 2005 which killed 73,000 people.

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Radio Station Donates To Hoax Victim's Family

The Australian radio company behind a hoax phone call to the hospital where the Duchess of Cambridge was giving birth has donated £289,000 to the family of a nurse who killed herself after taking the call.

Southern Cross Austereo offered the money after an inquest  on Friday ruled Jacintha Saldanha committed suicide after presenters posed as members of the royal family.

Ms Saldanha's body was found hanging in nursing accommodation three days after staff at London's King Edward VII Hospital were tricked into revealing details of the Duchess of Cambridge's stay in 2012.

The mother of two, 46, was the first nurse to answer the on-air call by Australian DJs Mel Greig and Michael Christian, who pretended to be the Queen and Prince Philip.

Jacintha Saldanha killed herself after the call in 2012

During the inquest Ms Greig broke down in tears as she apologised to the nurse's family for her part in the hoax.

"I really just wanted to say I am truly sorry," she sobbed. "I've wanted to say that for so long. This tragedy will always stay with me and serve as a constant reminder.

"To the second nurse involved, I am so deeply sorry for what you have had to endure. I pray you have found the strength to live on as best you can.

"I was always concerned about the wellbeing of both nurses and I wish I'd tried harder to stop that prank from being aired."

A statement released by Southern Cross Austereo said: "We do not assume, of course, that this donation or any amount of money could relieve the feelings of loss felt by Ms Saldanha's family, but it is our hope that it may help them in the future.

"The production of radio programmes, like television programmes, is a collaborative process. Radio announcers are an important part of the process, but they are not the final decision makers.

Ms Saldanha took the call at the King Edward VII Hospital in London

"There is no fair or reasonable basis on which blame can be apportioned to any individual, including the presenters of the programme.

"Southern Cross Austereo has always accepted full responsibility for the making of the call and its broadcast."

The two-day inquest at the High Court heard that Ms Saldanha held herself responsible for the mistake, despite the private hospital's management supporting her and the other nurse as victims of a cruel joke.

Westminster coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox said there was evidence the hoax had been "pressing on the mind" of the nurse before she killed herself, along with her difficult relationship with a junior colleague who had made a complaint of bullying and harassment against her, which had recently been dismissed.

Ms Wilcox did not criticise the DJs or the radio station but, addressing four calls made to the hospital by production staff to gain Mrs Saldanha's consent before the recording aired, added: "If she did take these calls I find it inconceivable she would have consented, as a participant in the call, to its broadcast."

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