Mandela's Granddaughter: My Battle Of Survival

By Alex Crawford, Special Correspondent

Nelson Mandela's granddaughter Zoleka has told Sky News how her grandparents inspired her in her battle to beat breast cancer.

Her interview with Sky comes as a leading South African newspaper reported her grandfather could no longer speak because of all the "tubes that are in his mouth to clear (the fluid off) his lungs".

The South African Sunday Independent splashed the news across its front page this morning following an interview with Mandela's second wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. 

The former South African president is considered to be medically stable by doctors although still critical and is being cared for at a 24-hour medical unit set up at his home in Houghton, a suburb of Johannesburg.

When Hope Whispers was published last week

The newspaper reports that Mr Mandela now communicates using facial gestures.

"He can't actually articulate anything," the newspaper reported Mr Mandela's ex-wife as saying.

The news coincides with the publication of a book by Zoleka in which she charts her painful journey with breast cancer, but also goes into startling detail about her drink, drug and sex addiction and touches on her childhood sexual abuse.

She stops short of explaining who was responsible for the sex abuse or how it happened.

"That's a story for another book," she told me when we met.

"It's still too painful."

The life of 33-year-old Zoleka has been anything but staid.

Her book, When Hope Whispers, begins with the words: "By the time I was born, on 9 April 1980, my mother (Zindzi Mandela) knew how to strip and assemble an AK-47 in exactly 38 seconds.

"She was 20 years old, trained in guerrilla warfare and already a full-fledged member of Umkhonto we Sizwe (the armed wing of the African National Congress)."

Her family's fight against South Africa's apartheid laws, which discriminated between different skin colours, dominated their lives and left a personal legacy which they are still coping with.

For Zoleka that meant a descent into drink and drug addiction and multiple sexual partners - but also the loss of two children; one was killed in a car accident, the other died after being born prematurely. And now, it has meant coping with breast cancer.

Zoleka said when she was first diagnosed she refused treatment for three months.

"I think I was in denial," she said.

She feared the chemotherapy and surgery would mean she would be unable to be a healthy mother to her surviving son.

Nelson Mandela can no longer speak, according to a newspaper report

It is a decision she regrets and the aim of the book, she says, is to provide some hope and inspiration to others coping with addictions, loss of children or a potentially terminal disease.

She detailed her chemotherapy in video blogs and pictures too. They show her hair being shorn and a sobbing Zoleka speaking about the pain of being bald. "I feel so ugly," she says.

She was persuaded by her medical team to save her eggs so she could possibly try for a family in the future but talks movingly about how heartbreaking it was for her to come to terms with the fact that with a double bilateral mastectomy, she would never be able to breastfeed again, should she become pregnant.

And she pays tribute to her grandparents. Her grandmother Winnie was by her side through much of her cancer treatment.

"Having the name I have, means there is a certain responsibility that I can't run away from," she said.

"And one of the things I learned from my grandparents is that everyone has the power to make a difference in other people's lives, no matter how difficult their own circumstances, and that's what I'm trying to do."

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Libya: Deaths As Militias Fire On Protesters

At least 40 people have been killed and 400 wounded after militiamen fired on a demonstration demanding their eviction from Libya's capital Tripoli, the prime minister said.

Hundreds of people carrying white flags in a sign of peace, as well as the national flag, and singing the national anthem had assembled in the capital's Meliana Square.

They then marched to the Misratah militia headquarters in the Gharghour district when gunmen inside fired into the air to scare them off.

But when the crowd continued to move towards the building, the gunmen started firing at them, according to witnesses.

Footage aired on the privately owned al-Nabaa television network showed protesters running from gunfire while carrying others covered in blood.

A Reuters reporter said they saw an anti-aircraft cannon firing from the militia compound into the crowd.

The protesters fled at first but came back heavily armed to storm the gated buildings, where militiamen when were holed up until nightfall.

Dozens of army trucks later arrived to attempt to separate the crowds and militiamen in the compound, sealing off roads to prevent more armed people joining the battle.

Witnesses said some of the militiamen were wounded or arrested, while the remainder eventually fled.

Some of the protesters were armed with weapons too

The commander of the militia, Al Taher Basha Agha, vowed in a telephone interview with Libya al-Ahrar accused the protesters of opening fire first.

"Who is the person who is inciting them?" he said. "The evil ones who are using the civilians as a bridge to cross to power.

"Tripoli has not seen a war yet, it will see it soon," he threatened.

Many residents of Tripoli are frustrated with the continued presence of the militia, who are hangovers from the 2011 uprising that ousted dictator Muammar Gaddafi and now a powerful force in the increasingly lawless North African country.

The militia frequently fight with other armed factions in the city.

Prime Minister Ali Zeidan, who was briefly seized by militiamen himself last month, said his embattled government was working on a plan to drive out all militias from Tripoli.

"There will be no exception," he said. "All militias - including those in Tripoli - will be out."

Sadat al Badri, president of Tripoli's city council, which called for the protest, said tensions were rising over the militias.

"We're going to announce a general strike and launch a civil disobedience campaign until these militias leave," he said.

The militias have rejected calls from the weak central government to leave the capital.

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Hague: 'UK Visit Put Spotlight On Sri Lanka'

The Foreign Secretary has insisted it is in Sri Lanka's own interests to hold an independent inquiry into alleged war crimes, as international pressure would only continue to grow.

Speaking on Sky News' Murnaghan programme, William Hague also defended the attendance of the UK at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm) in Colombo, arguing it had shone a "spotlight" on human rights concerns.

David Cameron has come under fire from campaigners for not joining the leaders of Canada, India and Mauritius in boycotting the summit in protest over the regime's record.

But the Prime Minister said he had used the occasion to highlight issues, and raise them directly with Sri Lanka's president Mahinda Rajapaksa.

During his visit Mr Cameron became the first world leader to travel to Sri Lanka's war-torn north since the country gained independence in 1948.

As many as 40,000 civilians are estimated to have died in the final months of the regime's 26-year fight with Tamil Tiger separatists in 2009, according to the UN, whose call for an international investigation if no new inquiry is held are backed by Mr Cameron.

Mr Cameron is the first world leader to visit Sri Lanka's war-torn north

But these demands have been rejected by Mr Rajapaska, who denies claims of war crimes and ongoing abuses.

Mr Hague told Sky News: "Clearly the Sri Lankan government don't want to do that.

"But the point we have been making and the Prime Minister's made very forcefully to the President is that they do need to do that unless there's going to be more and more international pressure, including when the United Nations Human Rights Council meets next March."

He added: "It would be in the interests of Sri Lanka to build real reconciliation in this country after a terrible war, and that means respecting human rights, it means making sure that there's a true feeling of reconciliation among the people of Sri Lanka, and accountability for what's happened in the past.

"I think what's happened at this Commonwealth heads of government meeting is that it has shone a spotlight.

"The attendance of the UK at this meeting has shone a spotlight on these things and has put them under greater international pressure.

"Unless they take some action to set up their own thorough, independent, credible inquiry into allegations about the past, then that international pressure not just from the UK but from many other countries is going to grow and I think that does cause them concern."

Mr Hague also said the UK government raised human rights concerns with countries around the world, including Zimbabwe.

He said: "Do we meet, have we met ministers in the government in Zimbabwe and discussed human rights issues with them? Yes of course we have.

"We do that with countries all over the world."

Many Commonwealth countries face claims of human rights abuses, with 41 out of 53 states having laws that make homosexuality illegal.

Mr Hague hailed the Commonwealth a remarkable "network", but went on: "Does that mean we agree about everything? No it doesn't.

"You are right that many of them have laws about homosexuality we don't agree with."

But meetings provided the opportunity to lobby on cases of discrimination.

"These meetings do put peer pressure on those countries.

"There's a lot of positive pressure that comes from these meetings and we should keep that up," he said.

But human rights activist Bianca Jagger argued Mr Cameron had been wrong to attend the meeting in Sri Lanka, and said it have the regime in Colombo credibility.

She said, also on Murnaghan: "If he had not gone it would have challenged not just what happened in the northern part of Sri Lanka, and the fact that this country probably committed war crimes, and it would have as well questioned whether the Commonwealth is committed to human rights, good governance and democracy."

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Afghanistan Bomb: Car Blast Near Talks Venue

A suicide bomber has detonated an explosives-packed car in west Kabul near a compound where Afghan elders will debate a security pact with the US next week.

At least six people were killed and 22 wounded in the blast, said Sediq Sediqqi, an Interior Ministry spokesman. He said the casualties included soldiers and civilians.

Around 2,500 tribal elders and civil leaders are expected to take part in an assembly known as a "loya jirga" next Thursday, to decide whether to accept the draft Bilateral Security Agreement between Afghanistan and the US.

Nasrullah, a witness, said: "I heard a big bang near the jirga site, later saw ambulances carrying people in blood. I saw at least three wounded in army uniforms."

Firefighters clear the area around where the car exploded

A statement issued by the Afghan interior ministry said the attacker was being pursued by security forces shortly before the explosion.

"The attacker driving a vehicle had been identified and was being pursued by security forces. He detonated himself after police opened fire on his vehicle."

Earlier in the day, President Hamid Karzai called on the Taliban and their allies to join the assembly.

He said: "We invite them, please come to this national jirga of Afghanistan, raise your voice, raise your objection, and share your views."

The draft pact was hammered out in Kabul last month during a visit by US Secretary of State John Kerry.

But he left without a final deal as Afghan President Hamid Karzai said only a jirga had the authority to decide the contentious issues.

The car blew up in west Kabul

These include a US demand to retain legal jurisdiction over its troops in Afghanistan, which would give them immunity from Afghan law. The request emerged as the main sticking point after Mr Kerry's visit.

The Taliban, whose government was toppled by a US-led invasion in 2001, has rejected the jirga and warned members that they would be punished as "traitors" if they endorsed the deal.

If the agreement is passed by both loya jirga and parliament, between 5,000 and 10,000 US troops would stay in Afghanistan to help fight al Qaeda remnants and train the national army.

Washington had been pushing for the agreement to be signed by the end of October to allow the US-led Nato coalition to plan the withdrawal of its 75,000 combat troops by December 2014.

The collapse of a similar security agreement with Iraq in 2011 led to the US pulling all its troops out of the country, which is currently suffering its worst sectarian violence since 2008.

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Antibiotics Warning: Resistance 'Growing'

By Enda Brady, Sky News Reporter

The world faces "unimaginable setbacks" unless it tackles the growing threat of resistance to antibiotics, according to an international group of experts.

The latest research by the 26-strong group predicts major problems unless governments work together immediately.

Antibiotic resistance happens when bacteria evolve mechanisms to withstand the drugs which are used to fight infection.

Lead author Professor Otto Cars, of Uppsala University in Sweden, said: "The causes of antibiotic resistance are complex and include human behaviour at many levels of society.

"The consequences affect everybody in the world.

"Within just a few years, we might be faced with unimaginable setbacks - medically, socially, and economically - unless real and unprecedented global co-ordinated actions to transform the way antibiotics are regulated and developed are taken immediately."

In the UK, research is focusing on how plant chemicals keep insects at bay

In September, the UK Government announced plans for a five-year strategy to tackle the problem, setting aside £4.5m.

Recent decades have seen vast increases in the use of antibiotics across medicine and agriculture, but the scientists argue that without adequate regulatory controls and better patient awareness, the huge global surge in antibiotic resistance will continue.

They say the problem is compounded by a desperate shortage of new drugs to treat multi-drug resistant bacterial infections.

Prof Cars added: "Antibiotic resistance is a complex ecological problem which doesn't just affect people, but is also intimately connected with agriculture and the environment.

"We need to move on from 'blaming and shaming' among the many stakeholders who have all contributed to the problem, towards concrete political action and commitment to address this threat.

Prof Laura Piddick says more funding is needed to develop new treatments

"Consumers and providers of antibiotics alike need to be empowered to tackle antibiotic resistance, as well as ensuring that those in need benefit from affordable, effective antibiotics."

One of the British scientists who helped compile the report said that alarm bells have been ringing - and ignored - for many years.

"For a long time there has been a sense of crying wolf over this," said Professor Laura Piddock, from the University of Birmingham.

"Science has been telling us about this problem for years. We need more academic research and funding. New treatments have been hampered by a lack of funding. It has always been viewed that this is something that the pharmaceutical industry should do."

At the John Innes Centre in Norwich scientists are going back to nature for the answers, studying how plants like eucalyptus trees produce chemicals to keep insects at bay.

"Plants have a distinct disadvantage in that they can't move out of the way of predators," Tony Maxwell, the centre's head of biological chemistry, told Sky News.

"And they have no end of predators, large and small animals, insects and bacteria. They have to produce a whole array of chemicals to defend themselves. What we are trying to work out is how we can use those chemicals for our own usage in antibiotics."

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Kurt Caselli: Motocross Star Dies After Crash

Motocross star Kurt Caselli has died after crashing during a race in Mexico.

The 30-year-old was leading the 833-mile off-road Baja 1000 race when he reportedly hit a small animal and crashed.

He later died as a result of severe head trauma.

Roger Norman, the president of race organiser Score International, said: "Our desert racing family has lost a very special person in Kurt.

"Kurt was a superb racer and this is a tragedy that affects us all.

Caselli pictured in action in January this year

"We extend our deepest condolences, thoughts and prayers to the Caselli family.

"Their loss is immeasurable and we grieve with them."

Caselli's team KTM Racing said in a statement that traces were discovered on the remains of his bike "that indicate he had collided with some small animal, which apparently caused the crash".

The statement added: "We are hugely shocked and saddened to hear of the death of Kurt Caselli.

"A huge loss to his family, team and to our sport. Kurt was a wonderful competitor and an all round top guy."

The crash happened on Friday, and there were initial reports that a booby trap was responsible for the crash.

Caselli was a decorated American racer who won the 2011, 2012 and 2013 American Motorcyclist Association National Hare and Hound National Championships.

He was also named the 2007 AMA Sportsman of the Year and won several races at the association's International Six Days Enduro competitions.

He had just started to compete in international races and in June he won the Desafio Ruta 40 Rally in Argentina - only his second career international race.

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Motorcyclist Set Ablaze In China Lorry Crash

The moment a motorcyclist was set on fire after she was hit from behind by a lorry has been captured on video.

The CCTV footage shows the moment the motorcyclist was struck by the lorry, sending the vehicle underneath the wheels in Foshan City in southern China.

As the motorbike cartwheels along the road, the friction caused by the surface ignites fuel from its damaged fuel tank, engulfing the vehicle and the rider.

The woman managed to reach some bushes were witnesses put out the flames

The injured woman manages to hop into some nearby bushes, where witnesses rush to help put out the flames.

Zeng Lizhi, a fireman who attended the scene, said the quick thinking of the witnesses managed to avoid serious injury.

The woman is still being treated in a local hospital. Her condition is not known.

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Arab-Israeli Metal Bands On Tour Together

By Richard Suchet, Arts and Entertainment Correspondent

Two heavy metal bands - one Israeli, the other Palestinian - are touring Europe together to promote coexistence.

Israeli group Orphaned Land and Arab rockers Khalas are playing 18 gigs in six different countries, including the UK and Ireland.

This week they played in Manchester, London, Dublin and Bilston.

Orphaned Land lead singer Kobi Farhi says of Palestinian guitarist Abed Hathut: "We have succeeded to grow above the conflict.

"Whether we come from an Arab, Jewish, Israeli, Muslim background, we adopted music as our religion above anything else.

"We share ideas, we talk about life. We talk about history. It's a strong, deep friendship. One of the most interesting friendships I have discovered in my life. And I'm learning every day, being a friend of Abed, how much we are brainwashed."

Farhi (left) says he enjoys a 'strong' friendship with Hathut (right)

The musicians are sharing a stage and a tour bus for three weeks.

The pair say there is never a bad word exchanged between them, even when they hear reports of violence from the region.

Hathut told Sky News: "It's easy. When you know the person before everything, you know the person you are talking to, you know his story, where he is coming from, any issue that comes after that is easy to solve.

"And this is the main problem between Palestinians and Israelis. We don't know each other."

There are a handful of those on social media who accuse Farhi and Hathut of validating Israeli occupation or Palestinian terrorism by standing together.

But Orphaned Land and Khalas say their message of understanding is a sign to everyone that peace is possible.

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Typhoon Haiyan: HMS Daring Arrives To Help

British warship HMS Daring has arrived in the Typhoon Haiyan disaster zone, as the president of the Philippines visited devastated areas.

The Type 45 destroyer and her crew docked at the island of Cebu ready to provide humanitarian assistance, the Department for International Aid and Development said.

It has spent the last three days carrying out reconnaissance work in and around the southeast Asian nation, using a helicopter to survey 48 islands, including areas which have not yet been reached by international relief teams.

The Lynx helicopter will now be used to fly shelter kits, food and medical supplies to those remote areas.

Members of a 12-strong medical team from the UK, which arrived in the Philippines earlier this week, will also be flown to different areas to treat injured victims of the typhoon.

The Lynx helicopter is on board HMS Daring

HMS Daring Commander Angus Essenhigh told Sky News: "We're very much looking forward to getting into the fight tomorrow and delivering some of the aid where it's most needed."

Sky's Defence Correspondent Alistair Bunkall, on board the warship, said: "They will no doubt be the first outsiders to reach some of these devastated areas since typhoon struck."

The typhoon - said to be the strongest ever to make landfall - slammed into the Philippines on November 7, killing thousands of people.

The typhoon hit the country on November 7

President Benigno Aquino, caught off guard by the scale of the disaster and criticised by some for the sometimes chaotic response, has been visiting affected areas.

Not for the first time, he sought to deflect blame for the problems onto local authorities whose preparations he said had fallen short.

Mr Aquino delivers a speech in Guiuan

In Guiuan, a hard-hit coastal town in eastern Samar province, he praised the city mayor for conducting a proper evacuation that had limited deaths to less than 100, saying that was a contrast to other towns.

"In other places, I prefer not to talk about it. As your president, I am not allowed to get angry even if I am already upset," he said.

"I'll just suffer through it with an acidic stomach."

Mr Aquino spoke of his appreciation for the volunteers, and also promised his nation that those who have been affected will receive continued support.

"Your government will not be remiss in providing everything, everything, everything that you will need," he said.

While aid packages have begun to reach more remote areas, much of it carried by helicopters brought by the USS George Washington aircraft carrier, the United Nations said people were still going hungry in some mountainous provinces.

It said information about several provinces in the west of the Visayas region remained "limited", with 60% of people in towns in the northeast part of Capiz province needing food support.

Victims run to an aid helicopter in a mountainous area west of Tacloban

More than a week after Typhoon killed at least 3,633 people, the UN has doubled its estimate of homeless to nearly two million.

There are still 1,179 people missing, according to national figures.

A number of Britons are missing following the disaster, Foreign Secretary William Hague confirmed on Saturday.

Among those feared dead is Colin Bembridge, 61, from Grimsby, who was staying with his partner Maybelle, 35, and their three-year-old daughter Victoria near Tacloban when the storm hit.

British Prime Minister David Cameron pledged an additional £30m on Saturday for international aid agencies working in the country. It brings the total amount pledged by the British Government to £50m

The amount the British public has donated to the Disasters Emergency Committee's (DEC) typhoon appeal has reached 35m. 

Sunday mass still went ahead in adestroyed cathedral in Palo

Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious is also being sent to replace HMS Daring.

The aid effort continues as the DEC appeal charities warned leaders meeting at UN climate talks in Warsaw that the disaster offers a glimpse of the future if urgent action is not taken.

Aid agencies including Christian Aid, Cafod, Care International, Oxfam and Tearfund said ministers meeting in the Polish capital must act urgently because climate change is likely to make such extreme weather events more common in future.

Climate models forecast that typhoons could become more powerful and that weather-related events around the world will be more extreme and frequent, they warned.

Delegates from 195 countries are taking part in the annual UN climate talks, which are taking place until November 22.

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Dozens Killed As Plane Crash Lands In Russia

A Boeing 737 has crashed while attempting to land at Kazan airport in western Russia, killing all 50 people on board.

The plane took off from Moscow and crashed at 7.25pm local time, according to Russia's Emergencies Ministry.

The aircraft was making a second attempt to land when it exploded upon striking the runway.

Some 44 passengers and six crew members were on board the plane at the time. 

The flight was operated by the regional Tatarstan airline, according to a ministry spokeswoman.

Firefighters extinguished a blaze at the scene. The airport in Kazan, the capital of the region of Tatarstan, has been closed.

More follows...

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