Syria: Rebel Prisoners On Their Religious War

Interviewing people who, under different circumstances, might kill you is a strange experience.

To the soundtrack of multiple rocket launchers and small arms fire, I met six men who the Syrian authorities told us were jihadist rebel fighters captured by the army.

We were in a Ministry of Interior prison near Damascus in an area now close to the front lines.

The men, four Syrian, an Iraqi, and a Turk, said they had indeed been in the jihadist movement fighting President Assad's forces, but now renounced the armed struggle even though they continued to espouse Salafist ideology. All are awaiting court appearances.

Jamil Us Turk, Ahmed al Rabido, Hamid Hassan al Attar, Bahar al Bashah, Ali Hussein and Mahmoud al Ahab said they were happy to be interviewed and had not been badly treated.

At one point I asked the guards to leave, spoke with the men alone and checked them for obvious signs of mistreatment, which were not apparent. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International both accuse the Syrian regime of routinely torturing prisoners.

As far as I could ascertain, the men were who they said they were. The Turkish man spoke Turkish, the Iraqi had an Iraqi accent, they displayed religious knowledge of the sort taught to those with a Salafist mindset.

The captured fighters are from Turkey, Iraq and Syria

Most of the rebel militias are not radical jihadists, but in the last few months there appears to have been a sharp increase in the number of foreign fighters coming to Syria.

The Syrian authorities are keen to promote the view that they are fighting an al Qaeda type force which partially explains why, after much pushing, we were allowed rare access into the jail.

Mahmoud al Ahab, who described himself as a Palestinian Syrian, told me he was in the al Nusra Front which he said was an al Qaeda group. He had sworn an oath of allegiance to al Nursa but now felt this was a mistake.

Ahmed al Rabido, a 48-year-old Syrian, said he was a religious leader, a Mufti, in the Free Syrian Army.

"I joined because I wanted to demolish the secular state... I don't believe in this anymore because the country is being ruined," he said.

Bahar al Basah, 35, another Palestinian Syrian, told me he was influenced by the writings of Abu Qatada, the radical cleric currently under house arrest in the UK.

The men only became animated when I showed a little knowledge of Salafist ideology and brought up the works of Islamists such as the Egyptian Sayyid Qutb.

Sky's Tim Marshall interviewed the men awaiting trial

This led to a question about the future of Syria's minorities such as the Christians. Ahmed, Basah, and Hamid Hassan all agreed - Christians could only live there if they either converted, or paid the 'Jizyah' - a special tax levied on non-Muslims in previous centuries in the Middle East. If not said Bahar, they could be killed.

When asked why, the answer was, to them, quite simple - because the Prophet Mohammed said so. I was then invited to become a Muslim.

The conversation verged on the surreal. There we were talking in a quite friendly manner, with the occasional joke, about killing people because they wouldn't pay the Jizyah, which critics regard as effectively obtaining money through menaces.

The interview ended with Ahmed volunteering that eventually Muslims must reclaim Andalucia in Spain for the Islamic Caliphate.

His logic, that it was justified because Spain used to be under Islam, was somewhat undermined when he went on to say that Islam should move on to bring the UK under its control and indeed, eventually, the whole world.

Rebel fighters want an end to President Assad's regime

This was a rare first-hand glimpse into the jihadi mindset.

The men are not representative of the FSA, indeed many militia units are deeply suspicious of the jihadists' aims.

However, it appears that a lot of the best weapons are reaching the jihadist groups, and they are using these to gain influence and territory. 

Even if the rebels overthrow the government, they won't just have a problem dealing with militia from the minority groups, they will have problems with each other.

As the men left to go back to their cells, we shook hands.

Two of them were still trying to convert me, asking me, with a smile, to say the Shahada 'La ilaha il Allah' - there is no God but Allah.

Men like this scare Syria's Christians, Allawites, Shia, Druze, and Kurds, indeed they frighten many of the countries Sunnis, but the war here is now so steeped in blood that compromise seems almost impossible to achieve, and there are now people on both sides who reject compromise out of hand.

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Naeem Davis: 'On Drugs, Heard Voices In Head'

A homeless man accused of pushing another man in front of an oncoming subway train has reportedly said he was high on drugs and fighting voices in his head at the time of the incident.

Naeem Davis, 30, was charged with second-degree murder on Wednesday and ordered to be held without bail following the death of 58-year-old Ki Suk Han in New York City.

In an interview in prison with the New York Post, Davis said Mr Han had grabbed and threatened him, and that the voices in his head coaxed him into pushing Mr Han.

Davis said he did not mean to kill Mr Han.

"From the depths of my heart, I didn't mean to kill him", Davis said.

He said he had no time to pull Mr Han off the tracks because "it happened so fast". He also said he was "under the influence".

Davis is due back in court on Tuesday.

Earlier in the week, Davis told reporters he was attacked first.

Davis told reporters he was attacked first

Prosecutor James Lin told the judge at Davis' court hearing that Davis saw the train strike Mr Han before leaving the Times Square station on Monday.

"The defendant never once offered any aid to the victim as the train approached the platform and in fact, this defendant watched the train hit the victim," Mr Lin said.

But Davis' legal aid lawyer, Stephen Pokart, said his client reportedly "was involved in an incident with a man who was drunk and angry".

A witness, Leigh Weingus, told The New York Times that Mr Han appeared to be aggressive toward Davis.

"The victim kept saying 'Hey! Hey!' at the suspect, getting closer and closer to him," she said. "At first Davis appeared calm, saying 'I don't know you, you don't know me, get out of my face'."

Mr Han's wife had said she had argued with her husband that morning and that he had been drinking.

Mr Han's death got widespread attention not only for its horrific nature, but because he was photographed a split-second before the train trapped him and seemingly no one attempted to come to his aid.

A freelance photographer for the New York Post was waiting for a train when he said he saw a man approach Mr Han at the station, get into an altercation with him and push him into the train's path.

A Post photo showed Mr Han with his head turned toward the train, his arms reaching up but unable to climb off the tracks in time.

The photographer, R. Umar Abbasi, said he was trying to alert the driver to what was going on by flashing his camera, adding that he was shocked that people nearer to the victim did not try to help.

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Italy's Silvio Berlusconi Says He Will Run For PM

Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has said he will run for the office again in next year's general election.

Speaking near the northern city of Milan, the leader of the right-wing People of Freedom party said: "I'm returning sadly to public service.

"And again, I'm doing it out of a sense of responsibility."

Mr Berlusconi, 76, stepped down in disgrace last year as Italy was on the brink of financial disaster.

His resignation paved the way for a government of unelected technocrats led by current PM Mario Monti.

Mr Berlusconi has since been convicted of tax fraud and now faces plunging poll numbers.

He is also on trial on charges of paying for sex with underage prostitute Karima El Mahroug - an allegation he has denied.

But the ever-combative conservative leader was not deterred. "I am running to win," he said. "The campaign is already on."

His centre-right camp has been in disarray recently, weakened by corruption scandals and infighting over who might succeed Mr Berlusconi as leader.

Karima El Mahroug is at the centre of Mr Berlusconi's sex case

Italy is to hold a general election in 2013, though the date has not been set.

Mr Berlusconi has been increasingly critical of the government's austerity measures, and this week his party pulled parliamentary support for Mr Monti's government, increasing the likelihood of a snap election.

It will be the sixth national election that Mr Berlusconi contests since he stepped into politics in the mid-1990s on the back of a business empire that includes the country's largest private broadcaster, publishing interests and a football team, AC Milan.

He has won three times and is already the longest-serving Prime Minister in post-war Italy.

Mr Berlusconi will be up against Pierluigi Bersani of the Democratic Party, who has just won a strong endorsement in primary votes held among centre-left voters across Italy.

Mr Bersani is widely seen as a front-runner, though Mr Berlusconi is a formidable campaigner with a history of comebacks.

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Boy Killed In Pennsylvania Gun Shop Tragedy

A seven-year-old boy has been shot dead outside a western Pennsylvania gun shop, according to police.

The incident happened on Saturday morning at Twigs Reloading Den, 60 miles north of Pittsburgh.

Store owner Leonard Mohney said the boy was shot in the car park.

KDKA-TV reported that he was in a booster seat in a car while his father was backing out of a parking space when the gun went off.

It is not clear exactly how the tragedy happened.

A woman working at a meat packing company next door told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review newspaper that there had been a single gunshot.

A local emergency worker said police found the boy wounded in the chest.

Pennsylvania State Police and the Mercer County coroner are still investigating.

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Dallas Cowboys Star Charged Over Fatal Crash

An American football player with the Dallas Cowboys has been charged with intoxication manslaughter after his teammate was killed in a car accident.

Defensive linesman Josh Brent was arrested in the early hours of Saturday following the death of Jerry Brown, a linebacker with the team's reserve squad.

Both players were travelling in a Mercedes on East State Highway 114 in the Dallas suburb of Irving when the accident happened.

According to police, Brent's car was travelling at high speed along the 45mph road before it hit a curb at approximately 2.10am.

The car flipped over at least once and skidded an estimated 900ft before coming to rest in the middle of the road, police said.

When officers arrived, Brent was attempting to pull Brown from the burning vehicle.

Jerry Brown died as a result of the crash

But Brown was found to be unresponsive and was taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Officers conducted a breathalyser test on Brent, and subsequently arrested him.

Brent was charged at around 4.15am and he is being held at Irving city jail, police said.

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said in a statement: "We are deeply saddened by the news of this accident and the passing of Jerry Brown.

"At this time, our hearts and prayers and deepest sympathies are with the members of Jerry's family and all of those who knew him and loved him."

Brent, 25, and Brown, 24, were football teammates at the University of Illinois and shared accommodation, according to reports.

Another tragedy hits NFL: Jovan Belcher took his own life last week

While in Illinois, in February 2009, Brent was arrested on another drunk driving charge, according to county records.

He spent time in the county jail and was suspended from the team, local media reported. He eventually left college and was drafted by the Cowboys.

Brent, a promising nose tackle, has played in all 12 games with the Cowboys this season. He made his first career start in the season opener against the New York Giants.

Brown's death is the second tragedy to hit the National Football League in the space of a week.

Last Saturday, Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher fatally shot his girlfriend Kassandra Perkins before killing himself in front of his coach and general manager.

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Venezuela: Chavez To Have Surgery In Cuba

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says he will have surgery in Cuba after his cancer returned.

The recently re-elected president has also revealed for the first time that if his health worsens, his successor would be Vice President Nicolas Maduro.

"We should guarantee the advance of the Bolivarian Revolution," Mr Chavez said on television, seated at the presidential palace with Mr Maduro and other aides.

The president said that tests had shown a return of "some malignant cells" in the same area where tumours were previously removed.

Referring to his "new battle," he said he would return to Cuba to undergo surgery in the coming days.

The planned surgery will be Mr Chavez's third operation to remove cancerous tissue in about a year and a half.

Mr Chavez celebrated his re-election as president in October 2012

The 58-year-old first underwent cancer surgery for an unspecified type of pelvic cancer in Cuba in June 2011, after an operation for a pelvic abscess earlier in the month found the cancer.

He had another cancer surgery after a tumour appeared in the same area in February 2012. He has also undergone chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

Mr Chavez arrived back in Caracas on December 7 after 10 days of medical treatment in Cuba, but until Saturday night had not referred to his health.

His unexplained decision to skip a summit of regional leaders in Brazil on Friday had raised suspicions among many Venezuelans that his health had taken a turn for the worse.

Mr Chavez said that he was requesting permission from lawmakers to travel to Havana and that he hoped to have good news after the surgery.

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Kate Prank: Jacintha Saldanha Family's Grief

British police may want to speak to two Australian DJs following the death of the nurse who answered their prank call to the Duchess of Cambridge's hospital.

The Australian authorities confirmed they have had contact from the Met Police concerning 2Day FM presenters Michael Christian and Mel Greig.

The pair hoaxed King Edward VII's hospital staff where the pregnant Duchess was treated for extreme morning sickness.

Jacintha Saldanha - the nurse who took the call and put it through to colleague who divulged private information about Kate's treatment - was found dead on Friday.

The nurse's family are finding it hard to come to terms with her death

New South Wales Police Deputy Commissioner Nick Kaldas said Scotland Yard had been in touch - but emphasized there was no suggestion that a crime had been committed.

He said: "There has been a request for assistance from London's Metropolitan Police to the New South Wales Police through the Australian Federal Police.

"The request has gone to the city central command - the area where the 2Day FM office is.

The company which owns the Australian radio station has called an emergency meeting to discuss the DJs' future.

Mr Kaldas added: "I have to stress, it hasn't been indicated to us that an offence has occurred, they haven't actually asked for anything yet - they've simply touched base, let us know of their interest and they'll get back to us if they want something done.

"Nothing has been requested of us yet."

A bouquet left in memory of the nurse at her digs in London

Scotland Yard confirmed contact had been made with the authorities in Australia but did not elaborate further.

Meanwhile, Ms Saldanha's family in the UK and India have been paying tribute to the mother of two teenagers.

Her daughter Lisha wrote on Facebook, "I miss you, I love you", while her husband Ben Barboza has set up a tribute page on the social networking site.

He wrote: "I am devastated with the tragic loss of my beloved wife Jacintha in tragic circumstances. She will be laid to rest in Shirva, India."

In India, her sister-in-law Celin D'Souza said: "I will really miss her a lot. She was a good-natured sister-in-law. I cannot forget her, she was so good."

Prince William was without Kate at the Winter Whites Gala in London

The hospital where Ms Saldanha worked has condemned the stunt as "truly appalling" while a prominent Conservative MP has called for the DJs to be sacked.

In a letter to the Australian radio station 2Day FM's parent company, Lord Glenarthur, Chairman of King Edward VII's Hospital, said he wanted to "protest" against the "extremely foolish" gag.

The letter to Southern Cross Austereo said the immediate consequence of the station's "premeditated and ill-considered actions" led to the "humiliation" of Ms Saldanha and another nurse.

"The longer term consequence has been reported around the world and is, frankly, tragic beyond words," it added.

Tory MP Conor Burns, a member of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, said: "The presenters should lose their jobs and there needs to be a serious review as to what they regard as entertainment and what is inappropriate."

News of the nurse's death has led to a huge backlash against the two presenters, Mel Greig and Michael Christian, who pretended to be the Queen and Prince Charles during the prank on their 2Day FM show.

Southern Cross Austereo said the pair are being "babysat" and kept away from hostile media coverage.

Spokeswoman Sandy Kaye said: "We're seriously concerned about their welfare and we're doing whatever we can to help them."

The Duke of Cambridge made no comment on the situation as he attended a charity function in London on Saturday night without Kate - who is resting after her three day stay in hospital.

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Philippines: Storm Hits Days After Typhoon

A storm is set to reach land in northern parts of the Philippines just five days after the year's strongest typhoon killed 540 people in the south.

The country's weather bureau issued storm alerts for northern provinces on the main island of Luzon, as greatly reduced winds of about 35mph changed course back towards land after heading into the South China Sea.

Typhoon Bopha first hit land on Tuesday with winds stronger than Hurricane Sandy that devastated the US East Coast in October.

Residents in typhoon-hit areas on southern Mindanao island have been appealing for food, water and other relief supplies.

Typhoon Bopha devastated the country

On Saturday, President Benigno Aquino declared a state of national calamity in the typhoon-hit areas to control prices of basic commodities and allow local governments to draw special calamity funds for relief operations.

The official death toll rose to 540 people and nearly 850 are still missing, mostly in the Mindanao provinces of Compostela Valley and Davao Oriental. More than 1,000 were injured and about 370,000 are in temporary shelter areas.

"They have neglected us," said farmer Cresencia Blanco, 57. "They are focused on New Bataan," she added, referring to another town in the valley.

"Since the typhoon struck, we only got a total of four kilos of rice, that's all."

Benito Ramos, executive director of the national disaster agency, said the United States had offered to send transport planes and helicopters to help bring food supplies to remote and isolated areas.

Security forces were sent to guard government warehouses and commercial centres to prevent looting after people raided a rice warehouse in a coastal area in Davao Oriental province.

Humanitarian agencies said some 5.4 million people affected by the typhoon urgently need food, potable water and shelter after Bopha wiped out 90% of houses in the worst-hit towns in Compostela Valley and Davao Oriental.

Donations from the international community have poured in, with US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta also ordering the Pacific Command to support relief and rescue operations.

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Egypt: President Morsi Backs Down On Powers

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has annulled a decree he issued last month expanding his powers, an official has said.

But a referendum on a draft constitution would still go ahead as planned on December 15, Islamist politician Selim al Awa added.

He explained that constitutionally President Morsi was unable to change the date, as Mr al Awa spoke to reporters after talks between the President and political leaders.

The two issues -  the decree and the referendum - have been at the heart of anti-Morsi protests that have rocked Egypt in the past two weeks.

But the initial signs are that Mr Morsi's concession will not satisfy an increasingly fierce opposition which is calling for the vote on the new constitution to be cancelled as well.

Overnight, protesters continued to gather in Cairo's Tahrir Square, which has become a focal point for anti-Morsi activists, and news of the annulled decree sparked no celebrations.

"This will change nothing," said Mohamed Shakir, 50.

"Even if they offered us honey, it would not be enough," added Hisham Ezzat.

Over the past seven days, the demonstrations have left seven people dead and hundreds injured.

Mohamed Morsi is abolishing an unpopular decree

The main opposition bloc, the National Salvation Front, has said it is ready for "serious and objective dialogue" as soon as Mr Morsi met its demands to scrap both the decree and the referendum.

It had rebuffed his offer on Thursday to open talks because he failed to give way on those two points.

On Saturday the Front spoke of the possibility of organising a general strike in protest.

However Islamist groups supportive of Mr Morsi have categorically refused to consider even delaying the constitutional referendum.

Egypt's military has said it will not allow violence and has called on rival political groups in the country to talk.

The controversial decree, issued on November 22, had put the president's decisions beyond judicial review - a measure fiercely denounced as dictatorial by the opposition.

Opposition leaders demanded it be rescinded and the referendum be scrapped before they entered into any dialogue with Mr Morsi to calm a crisis which led to street clashes this week that left seven people dead and hundreds injured.

Egypt's powerful military warned Mr Morsi and the opposition to sit down for talks, otherwise it would take steps to prevent a "disastrous" degradation of the situation.

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Mandela 'Comfortable' In Hospital, Says President

Former South African president Nelson Mandela is "comfortable" in hospital, the country's leader Jacob Zuma has said.

President Zuma visited Mr Mandela at the hospital in Pretoria after the 94-year-old was airlifted to hospital on Saturday.

Mr Mandela is "comfortable and in good care," presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj said in a statement.

On Sunday morning worshippers gathered at the Regina Mundi Catholic church in the Soweto area of Johannesburg to pray for him.

The church was a centre of anti-apartheid protests and funerals.

"Yes, it really worries us because he is a great person," churchgoer Shainet Mnkomo said as she left an early morning service.

"He did so many things to the country, he's one of those persons who we remember most."

Mr Mandela, who spent 27 years in prison for fighting racist white rule, became South Africa's first black president in 1994 and served one five-year term.

He later retired from public life to live in his remote village of Qunu, in the Eastern Cape area, and last made a public appearance when his country hosted the 2010 World Cup soccer tournament.

US Secretary Of State Hillary Clinton visited Nelson Mandela in August

Many in this country of 50 million people view Mr Mandela, who led the African National Congress to power, as a father figure and an icon of integrity and magnanimity amid the nation's increasingly messy politics.

Inside the church, a stained glass window depicts him, in a grey suit and blue tie, raising his hands to wave at a crowd.

His image stands next to another portraying a man carrying the corpse 13-year-old, Hector Pieterson, who was gunned down by police in the black township of Soweto in June, 1976, as students protested peacefully against the white government.

A statement from Mr Zuma's office announced that Mr Mandela had been admitted to hospital for tests and was receiving medical care "which is consistent for his age".

In February, Mr Mandela spent a night in a hospital for a minor diagnostic surgery to determine the cause of an abdominal complaint.

In January 2011 he was admitted to a Johannesburg hospital for what officials initially described as tests but what turned out to be an acute respiratory infection. He was discharged days later.

Mr Mandela contracted tuberculosis during his years in prison. He also had surgery for an enlarged prostate gland in 1985.

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