Australia On Alert For Extreme Summer

By Jonathan Samuels, Australia Correspondent

Australians are being warned to brace themselves for an increase in heatwaves, cyclones, severe thunderstorms and ferocious bushfires as the country heads towards summer.

Australia has recently sweltered through record breaking weather and meteorologists say they are expecting more records to be broken after the country's hottest 12 months on record, including the hottest ever September, hottest ever day, and second warmest winter.

Tom Saunders, senior meteorologist at the Sky News Australia Weather Channel, says: "Through this summer we are expecting another hot one for Australia, above average temperatures throughout the country with at least one or two heatwaves through the southern states.

"We are expecting 11 to 14 tropical cyclones off our northern coastline, and we are expecting an above average number of severe thunderstorms for eastern and southern parts of Australia."

Australia's seas are said to be getting hotter

Warmer than average sea surface temperatures around Australia's coast are partly to blame, adding heat and moisture to the atmosphere.

"Our seas have been warming up over the past few decades and even in the past 12 months the sea surface temps off the west coast and south coast of Australia have been the highest on record," says Mr Saunders.

Last January, Australia recorded its hottest ever day - hitting a national average of 40.3 degrees Celsius, the hottest place being Oodnadatta in South Australia's far north which reached a blistering 47C.

While hot, dry, breezy days might be welcomed by tourists and those living near Australia's beaches, for many living inland such conditions raise the frightening prospect of fierce bushfires.

Windsor in New South Wales was affected by bushfires last month

The 2013 bushfire season began early in Australia and firefighters, many of them volunteers in rural areas, are preparing for a dangerous few months ahead.

"It's a wake up call to everybody living in bushfire prone areas," says commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons from the New South Wales Rural Fire Service.

"We've got a vegetation growth the likes of which we haven't seen for many decades and with the sign ahead for a continuing hot dry period as we lead into summer, it shapes up for a signal to a long hot difficult bushfire season."

Many in Australia know the pain such fires can cause. In what became known as 'Black Saturday' in February 2009 as many as 400 blazes killed 173 people, and injured 414.

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Greenpeace Arrests: Briton Writes From Jail

A British video journalist arrested for piracy after covering a Greenpeace protest against drilling in the Arctic, has said he is preparing for a long prison sentence.

Kieron Bryan was on board Greenpeace's Arctic Sunrise ship carrying 30 people, including six Britons, who attempted to occupy the Russian drilling platform Prirazlomnaya in the Pechora Sea.

The cameraman from London says those arrested feel like 'pieces in a game'

Mr Bryan, 29, said in a letter sent to his family in Devon that he is suffering from "horrible uncertainty and anxiety" after being denied bail by Russian authorities last week.

The offence of piracy carries a 15-year prison sentence in Russia.

Protesters outside the court in Murmansk where Mr Bryon was denied bail

"The food is basic or grim but I'll not starve," he wrote. "The guards can't communicate but are polite and harmless, likewise my cell mate can barely string two words of English together but he is fine with me.

"We draw pictures and speak pigeon (sic) versions of the other's language - it's funny in a farcical way.

Six of the Greenpeace team arrested by Russian police

"Lack of communication has been really tough - I just hope my lawyer can get messages to you. I will ask him to send you the prison address - packages are allowed (with restrictions, keep the nail file out!).

"Things to keep me occupied are always welcome - I'm running out of books since we've swapped between the group already. Hopefully Greenpeace and the embassy can help there too."

Greenpeace campaigners attempt to occupy the platform

Images released by Greenpeace showed Russian security forces abseiling from a helicopter before seizing the ship and crew at gunpoint.

Mr Bryan added that those arrested were "pieces in a game we didn't want to participate in".

He went on: "I'm trying to prepare myself for a lengthy sentence. Everyone says it's very unlikely but all of this feels unlikely.

Russian security forces abseiled onto the ship and arrested the activists

"I'll get through this, we all will."

Mr Bryan's family have stressed he is a journalist rather than an activist, and that he is not a member of Greenpeace.

"If everyone was arrested for writing an article, journalists would not exist," Mr Bryan said in his final address to a court in Murmanks last week when his appeal was refused.

He is currently being held in a Russian detention centre awaiting trial.

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Boris And Osborne In China To Push Trade

By Mark Stone, China Correspondent in Beijing

The Chancellor and the Mayor of London will announce a raft of deals during separate trade visits to China, including a partnership to develop Manchester Airport.

Shortly after his arrival, George Osborne said 'Airport City' - five million square feet of land next to the airport which will become  retail, office and manufacturing space - would be built in conjunction with Beijing Construction Engineering Group.

"£800m of investment; 16,000 new jobs; one of the biggest developments since the Olympic games, and I think it shows our economic plan of doing more business with China and also making sure that more economic activity happens outside the city of London is working," he told Sky News.

"That's good for Britain and is good for British people."

Similar projects in Amsterdam and Frankfurt have proved successful and eased congestion at other airports.

Alongside the commercial strands of his visit, the Chancellor will also hold governmental meetings with his Chinese counterpart Ma Kai, the first face-to-face bilateral ministerial contact between the UK and China for over a year.

The UK has been in the political dog house with China since May 2012 when David Cameron and Nick Clegg chose to meet and be photographed with the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader of Tibet.

The meeting enraged Beijing given the controversial claim China holds over Tibet.

An £800m investment in Manchester Airport will create thousands of jobs

Asked by Sky's Dermot Murnaghan about the conflict between China's human-rights record and forging stronger business links with the country, Boris Johnson said his job was to promote the interests of London.

"My job as Mayor is not to have a foreign policy but to get on and promote the interests of the greatest city on earth which is what we're doing," he said.

"There are many interesting foreign policy problems around the world I could get involved in, whether or not that would improve global hopes for a resolution, I have my reservations.

"This is not the reason I'm here in China. I think we can respectfully move on to the real agenda which is intensifying links between London and China."

Mr Osborne is travelling with the UK Trade Minister Lord Green, City Minister Lord Deighton and the Minister for Science and Innovation, David Willetts.

With them are executives from a variety of British technology companies who will try to showcase the best of Britain's digital technology industry in China.

The delegation will hope the trip allows UK companies to gain access to the rapidly expanding Chinese market.

"The Chinese economy is changing," Mr Osborne said.

Chinese tech company Huawei is investing £1.3bn in British broadband

"Those who think it is just a low-wage, low-tech economy are making a mistake.

"It is becoming a cutting edge player in industries like technology and this is a huge opportunity for Britain."

The Chancellor will lead the delegation to the Shenzhen-based headquarters of Huawei, the world's largest telecommunications manufacturer, and TenCent, the world's third largest gaming and social media firm.

Huawei's growing footprint in Europe and America has caused controversy, with some suggesting that Chinese involvement in Western telecoms firms poses a security risk.

Despite that, Huawei has already pledged to invest £1.3bn in the UK's broadband network over the next four years.

Mr Osborne's visit is a clear endorsement of the company.

Diplomats point out that inward Chinese investment to the UK in the last 18 months has been greater than the past 30 years combined, despite the row over the Dalai Lama meeting, for which the UK has refused to apologise.

The London Mayor's trip is separate but the broad objectives are the same.

Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg met the Dalai Lama last year

Mr Johnson is travelling with the chief executives of several large companies including Justin King of Sainsbury's and Marc Bolland of Marks & Spencer.

He will spend three days in Beijing, where he will visit a UK brands fair, take a ride on the subway and attend a private meeting with China's richest man, Wang Jianlin, whose company Dalian Wanda is investing heavily in the Nine Elms area of London.

Mr Johnson will then travel to Shanghai before ending his trip in Hong Kong.

Both men are effectively cashing in on the thawing of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

By the end of the week, they hope to have signed a variety of deals, forged new relationships and facilitated meetings between UK and Chinese firms.

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Migrants 'Caught In Firefight' Before Sinking

Syrians rescued after their overcrowded boat sunk near Malta on Friday say they were fired upon by trafficking gangs as they left Libya.

Thirty-one people died and at least 200 more were rescued in the disaster, a week after a migrant boat capsized in the same area which left 369 migrants dead.

Survivor Molhake Al Roarsan, 22, told newspaper La Stampa that three people were shot in the arms and legs in what he thought was a dispute between trafficking groups.

"There was a furious fight, screaming on the radio and on the phone with someone who demanded we return to land, but the captain did not stop," he said.

Migrant survivors at Mater Dei Hospital in Tal-Qroqq, Malta

La Repubblica newspaper claimed the shots were fired by a "Libyan patrol which is probably part of a criminal gang".

Citing interviews with survivors, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees spoke of "several injured passengers", after shots were fired "perhaps by militiamen who shot to kill".

Italy has caled for Europe to do more on the migrant crisis

News agency Ansa said witnesses reported that two people had been killed during the shootings.

"They were shooting in all directions, on board there was panic with people trying to protect each other," one of the survivors said.

Once they reached Malta, the Tunisian captain was arrested after being recognised by survivors, according to reports.

Italian navy ships recovered 34 bodies after their boat sank on Friday

Those who attempted the journey were mostly Syrians who reportedly paid traffickers $1,000 (£630) each.

Malta's prime minister, who earlier this week warned the Mediterannean was becoming a "cemetery" for migrants, is visiting Libya to discuss the issue.

Some 30,100 migrants arrived in Italy and Malta in the first nine months of 2013, compared with 15,000 in all of 2012, according to the UN refugee agency.

Italian police arrest a Tunisian man suspected of being the boat's captain

Italy's prime minister said additional naval patrols would begin on Monday in an attempt to tackle the problem.

"This operation will be an Italian military and humanitarian task force. A joint Navy and Air Force operation.

"This operation is needed in order to guarantee that the Mediterranean sea can become a safer sea, especially since the Mediterranean has become a grave these last few days."

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Temple Stampede Kills Scores Of Worshippers

More than 91 people have reportedly been killed in a stampede at a Hindu temple in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.

Some reports said the stampede occurred when police used batons to control a huge crowd that had gathered at the Ratangarh Temple near the village of Chand Pur, in Datia District.

As the devotees attempted to flee, hundreds of people ran towards a bridge across the Sindh river and an unknown number are believed to have fallen in.

Dozens are feared to have died and at least 100 were injured in the incident on Sunday.

A map showing the location of Datia

Others claimed the stampede happened when a rumour swept through a crowd of 20,000 crossing the bridge that it was about to collapse.

Many of those who drowned did so while trying to save the lives of others, India's News Tribe website reported.

The true cause of the stampede, which happened about 200 miles southeast of the capital Delhi, has yet to emerge.

The incident happened at a spot on the Sindh river where more than half-a-million pilgrims have gathered to take part in rituals.

Local Deputy Police Inspector General D K Arya denied that a baton charge had taken place.

The body of one of those who died in the stampede

He said: "More than 100 others have been injured ... There was no baton charge."

Rescue teams have been combing the water to pull out bodies and in an attempt to find survivors.

The worshippers were gathering at the temple as part of the celebrations for the Navratri festival.

The 10-day festival includes an event marking the victory of the Goddess Durga over the buffalo demon in Hindu mythology.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan announced he had ordered a judicial probe into the incident.

Madhya Pradesh's government said it was offering Rs150,000 (£1,540) to the families of those who were killed and Rs50,000 (£513) to those who were seriously injured.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh tweeted: ''On this day of festivities, our hearts and prayers are with the victims and their families.''

In 2006, at least 35 devotees died at the same spot after they were washed away when a dam in a neighbouring province opened its sluice gates causing a deluge.

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Cyclone Phailin Destroys Land But Spares Lives

A huge evacuation effort in India has spared its eastern states from widespread loss of life after cyclone Phailin flooded towns and destroyed thousands of homes.

The storm, which brought winds of over 125mph (200kph) and heavy rain, was the strongest to hit India in more than a decade.

However, authorities said only 14 deaths have been confirmed so far.

This toll is expected to rise because officials have been unable to reach some areas that have become isolated by blocked roads and downed communication links.

Around one million people left Orissa and Andhra Pradesh states before the storm made landfall.

People fled their villages as the weather worsened

"Damage to property is extensive," said Amitabh Thakur, the top police officer in the Orissa district worst-hit by the cyclone. "But few lives have been lost."

In Gopalpur, where the storm made landfall, power lines sagged nearly to the ground and a strong surf churned off the coast.

"Everyone feels very lucky," said Prabhati Das, a 40-year-old woman who came from the town of Behrampur, about 7 miles (10km) inland, to see the aftermath at the coast.

But for the people living along the coast, many of whom live as subsistence farmers in mud-and-thatch huts, the economic toll will be immense.

Seawalls were damaged in the winds

Heavy rains and surging seawater destroyed more than 500,000 hectares (1.23 million acres) of crops worth an estimated 24 billion rupees (£246m), according to Orissa's disaster minister, S N Patro.

British Prime Minister David Cameron described the damage as "shocking," and said in a Twitter message that Britain would do "what it can to help".

A cargo ship carrying iron ore, the MV Bingo, sank on Saturday as the cyclone barrelled through the Bay of Bengal, and its crew of 18 - made up of 17 Chinese and one Indonesian - went missing for a day, coast guard officials said.

They were rescued on Sunday after their lifeboat was found about 115 miles (185km) off the Indian coast, coast guard Commandant Sharad Matri said.

The cyclone was rated as a level 6 when it hit

The storm weakened significantly after making landfall early on Saturday night, with some areas reporting little more than breezy drizzles on Sunday.

Indian officials spoke dismissively of American forecasters who had warned of a record-breaking cyclone that would drive a massive wall of water - perhaps as large as 9m high (30ft-high) - into the coastline.

"They have been issuing warnings, and we have been contradicting them," said L.S. Rathore, director-general of the Indian Meteorological Department. "That is all that I want to say.

"As a scientist, we have our own opinion and we stuck to that. We told them that is what is required as a national weather service - to keep people informed with the reality without being influenced by over-warning," he said at a news conference in New Delhi.

The Indian government had faced immense public criticism after its slow response to a series of deadly floods and mudslides in June in the northern state of Uttarakhand, where more than 6,000 people were killed.

But officials took few chances with Phailin, especially given memories of a 1999 Orissa cyclone that devastated the coastline and left at least 10,000 people dead.

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Peru Drug Pair Transferred To Notorious Prison

Why Peru Became The Cocaine Hotspot

Updated: 2:26am UK, Sunday 15 September 2013

By Pete Norman, Sky News Online

Peru has overtaken Colombia as the world's leading cocaine producer, according to experts.

Home to the ancient Inca civilisation, Peru is rugged, remote and the ultimate source of the mighty Amazon river.

It is also home to a long-running guerrilla campaign by the leftist Shining Path group.

While urban and coastal inhabitants have benefited greatly from market-focused economic development since the early 1980s, when military rule ended, the rural poor have gained little.

Its hilly, isolated and fertile regions are home to the guerrillas, who rely on cocaine production, hostage-taking and corruption for funds.

According to the CIA, Peru was the world's largest coca leaf producer until 1996, when neighbouring Colombia took the lead.

It says that in 2009 Peru had 100,000 acres under coca leaf production compared to Colombia's 286,000 acres - with the potential to produce 225 metric tons of pure cocaine.

US-supported efforts to reduce or eradicate coca leaf in Colombia have now tipped the scales of production towards Peru.

Aerial spraying of herbicide in Colombia has affected coca crops covering 250,000 acres while manual eradication has been done on another 150,000 acres.

The UN has said Colombia reduced its area under coca cultivation by 25% in 2012 - the biggest annual reduction since the international body began monitoring it in 2001.

Around 30 Britons are now in Peruvian prisons on drug-related convictions, according to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

The UN Office of Drugs and Crime is expected to release its official 2012 Peru coca crop estimate in September.

Its World Drug Report 2011 said that although the area under coca leaf production was around 75% of the 1990 area, the current yield might be up to a third greater.

While Colombia still supplies virtually all of North America's cocaine, the CIA said much of the drug exported from Peru through land, air and sea routes is destined for Europe and other markets.

North America and Europe cocaine consumption has stabilised in recent years while growth has increased in Oceania and Asia Pacific regions.

It said: "Finished cocaine is shipped out from Pacific ports to the international drug market, (while) increasing amounts of base and finished cocaine, however, are being moved to Brazil, Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia for … trans-shipment to Europe and Africa."

Smaller quantities are carried through air routes by so-called drug mules, while larger loads travel by sea to west Africa prior to distribution throughout Europe.

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American Found Hanged In Egyptian Police Cell

An American man has been found hanged in a police cell in Egypt, security officials have said.

Police in the Suez Canal city of Ismailia said James Henry committed suicide.

Mr Henry was arrested about six weeks ago after he was stopped for violating a curfew on the road between El Arish and Rafah in north Sinai.

In August, The Egyptian Independent reported that he told officials he was a retired US Army officer who was on his way to the Gaza Strip as he was a "historical documentation enthusiast".

Officials have now revealed that he arrived in Cairo from the Gulf kingdom of Bahrain on August 25.

They said Mr Henry was detained in the turbulent region of northern Sinai three days later. He was then flown to Ismailia and held in police custody pending charges.

His body was found at noon on Sunday at Ismailia Awal police station, on the canal that marks the border of Sinai and the rest of Egypt.

A map showing the location of Ismailia, Rafah and El Arish.

Egyptian officials told AFP that a US embassy delegation had visited Mr Henry in his cell last week.

His death comes a day after he was told authorities were extending his preventative detention by a further 30 days.

The US embassy in Cairo confirmed the death, saying: "A US citizen prisoner in Ismailia died from an apparent suicide."

"The embassy is in contact with authorities regarding the case and continues to provide all consular services."

The apparent suicide occurs at a time of heightened tensions between Egypt and the US, with many in America expressing concern about the government's crackdown against supporters of Mohamed Morsi.

On Thursday, the US suspended millions in aid to Egypt's military until democratic progress is made.

On Friday, two Canadians who had been held in an Egyptian jail after being detained while on their way to Gaza to make a film about Palestinian doctors, revealed they had been badly beaten in prison.

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Dublin Bar Gunman 'Could Have Killed Many'

A gun attack on a crowd of birthday party revellers that left four people injured, one seriously, could have resulted in numerous fatalities, Irish police have said.

Detectives said the gunfire outside a north Dublin bar in the early hours was "indiscriminate".

The attack happened in front of Hanlon's pub on the Old Cabra Road at around 2.30am. The area is one of the city's popular night-time destinations.

A 28-year-old man sustained serious injuries in the attack and three women - aged 19, 28 and 33 - were also shot.

Superintendent David Taylor appealed for witnesses to come forward

It is understood the women were shot in the legs. Their injuries have been described as not life-threatening.

The injured man was said to be in a serious condition in the Mater Hospital.

Superintendent David Taylor appealed for witnesses to come forward.

"It was an indiscriminate shooting of people enjoying themselves out at a 21st party. The consequences are very serious. The consequences could have been absolutely awful," he said.

Forensics on the Old Cabra Road

The officer added: "We are calling on anybody who may have any information in relation to this shooting to come forward and assist us."

Police particularly want information as to the whereabouts of a car seen driving off at speed from the scene of the shooting.

No arrests have been made so far. The area has been sealed off for forensic examination.

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Seven Red Cross Workers Kidnapped In Syria

Seven International Committee of the Red Cross workers have been kidnapped after gunmen attacked their convoy in northern Syria.

Spokesman Saleh Dabbakeh said gunmen abducted the team after stopping their convoy near the town of Saraqeb in Idlib province on Sunday morning.

He said six of the people are ICRC workers and one is a volunteer from the Syrian Red Crescent.

It was unclear what nationalities the workers were.

Syria's state news agency said the gunmen opened fire on the ICRC team's four vehicles before seizing the Red Cross workers. It blamed "terrorists", a term the government uses to refer to opponents of President Bashar al Assad.

The team had been in the field since October 10 to assess the medical situation in the area, described as a "difficult area to go in".

Much of the countryside in Idlib has fallen into the hands of rebels over the last year, and kidnappings have become rife.

It comes after Syrian rebels claimed they had shot a government warplane on Sunday near the southern city of Deraa.

Fighters used anti-aircraft machine guns to hit the plane, but it was able to make an emergency landing at nearby Thala military airport.

Syrian state media has not confirmed the incident.

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