'Incredible Talent': American Idol Singer Dies

A former contestant in the TV singing competition American Idol has died at the age of 35.

Michael Johns was a finalist in the seventh series of the Fox music show and finished eighth after being knocked out in April 2008.

The Australian-born singer died on Friday and his family said the loss of "a wonderful husband, son, brother, uncle, and friend" was devastating.

Former American Idol judge Simon Cowell was among those who also paid tribute to Johns.

He tweeted: "I just heard the very sad news that Michael Johns has passed away. A truly great guy. Rest in peace Michael."

Another ex-judge Paula Abdul tweeted: "Heartfelt condolences to the family of @michael_johns from @AmericanIdol season 7. He will be missed.#RIPMichaelJohns

Simon Cowell called Johns a 'truly great guy'

"I'm heartbroken over the loss of @michael_johns. His enormous talent, gigantic heart & infectious personality will live in my heart forever."

Fox said: "Michael Johns was an incredible talent and we are deeply saddened by the news of his passing.

"He was a part of our American Idol family and he will be truly missed. Our hearts and prayers go out to his family and friends during this difficult time."

After the show, Johns released an album, Hold Back My Heart, in 2009.

His cause of death has not been revealed but the Hollywood Reporter said he suffered a blood clot in his ankle.

TMZ said he had twisted his ankle and it appeared it triggered the clot.

Johns leaves behind his wife, Stacey. The couple met in West Hollywood in 2003 and married four years later.

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Royal Navy Rescues British Nationals From Libya

By Alistair Bunkall, Defence Correspondent

The Royal Navy has assisted the evacuation of around 110 British and EU nationals from Libya.

HMS Enterprise was earlier moved into position off the coast of North Africa before sailing into Tripoli.

There has been a severe deterioration in the security situation

The ship was moored offshore as her survey boat, Spitfire, collected people from the Port of Tripoli.

A detachment of armed personnel, usually Royal Marines, are providing force protection to the ship in the event of attack.

A Foreign Office (FCO) statement said: "A number of passengers were transferred to Enterprise by boat and given supplies for the journey."

Britain is also planning to temporarily suspend its embassy operations in the troubled north African country, the FCO said.

HMS Enterprise. File picture

The routine follows a similar scenario in 2011 during the uprising when HMS Cumberland, a Type 22 frigate, evacuated foreign nationals and refugees from the civil war.

Many of the consular staff were evacuated last Monday but the ambassador and core staff remained.

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said: "The Royal Navy is helping British citizens leave Libya based upon Foreign and Commonwealth Office advice.

"I thank the crew of HMS Enterprise for their support and professionalism in carrying out this important task."

Although the United States used F-16 fighter jets for air cover when their citizens left Libya by road for Tunisia last week, it is not thought any British aircraft will be involved in this mission.

Britain is one of the last countries to wind down its diplomatic mission in Libya following a severe deterioration in the security situation as rebel groups continue fighting each other.

France and America, two of the other principal players in the 2011 war, closed their embassies last week.

The Ministry of Defence said: "As the Foreign Office has made clear, the UK Government will provide assisted departure for a number of UK nationals before suspending consular operations on Monday.

"For operational reasons we will not discuss further details including whether, and in what ways, the MoD could support these efforts."

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UN: Gaza School Attack A 'Criminal Act'

The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has strongly condemned a third deadly attack on a UN school in Gaza, saying Israel was "repeatedly informed of the location of these sites".

The UN chief described Sunday's apparent Israeli airstrike on the school in Rafah as a "moral outrage and a criminal act".

He said it was a "gross violation of international humanitarian law," and called for those responsible to be held accountable. 

At least ten civilians were killed and 30 wounded in the attack, the second in less than a week on a UN-run school sheltering civilians.

Palestinians carry an injured man after an Israeli strike on a UN school

At least 15 civilians died in a strike in Jabalya on Wednesday, days after 19 people died at a UN-run school in Beit Hanoun.

The Israeli army has said it is investigating the latest attack.

Robert Serry, the UN's Middle East Special Coordinator, confirmed the school was housing 3,000 displaced people.

"It is simply intolerable that another school has come under fire while designated to provide shelter for civilians fleeing the hostilities," he said.

The attack came as the total Palestinian death toll rose to more than 1,770, with at least 30 people killed in multiple strikes on Sunday.

Quadruplets born in Gaza this week

Israel, meanwhile, held a funeral for Second Lieutenant Hadar Goldin, who it reported missing on Friday.

Israel initially said it feared he had been kidnapped by Hamas militants, although it has since confirmed he died in combat.

"A special committee led by the Israel Defence Forces Chief Rabbi, announced the death of the IDF infantry officer of the Givati Brigade, Lieutenant Hadar Goldin, who was killed in battle in the Gaza Strip on Friday, August 1, 2014," an army statement said.

Confirmation of the soldier's death follows Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's warning to Hamas that he is prepared to continue the operation in Gaza for as long as it takes to return his citizens to safety.

Troops in an Israeli tank give a thumbs up after withdrawing from Gaza

"We do not accept a continuation of the shooting," he told reporters, referring to ongoing Hamas rocket attacks.

"It (Hamas) will have to understand, however long that takes, that it will pay an intolerable price, from its perspective, for continuation of the shooting."

Meanwhile, a set of quadruplets born in Gaza on Wednesday have been discharged from hospital - but the shelling means they cannot return to their family home.

Grandfather Mefleh al Arjah said: "We live in Jenah but when the airstrikes and shelling started we fled to Tal Sultan, staying with extended relatives of our son, Ali. We left everything behind staying with them. We had nowhere else to go.

"We hope the war will end soon so we can return to our home."

Israel launched its aerial offensive on July 8 with the declared aim of ending "persistent" rocket fire by militants.

It subsequently sent in ground troops, shifting the focus of the operation to the destruction of a complex system of cross-border tunnels.

Israeli military officials have reported that 31 tunnels have been destroyed, fuelling speculation the offensive could soon wind down. Tanks have been seen returning to Israel and Palestinians in northern Gaza were told this weekend they could return to their homes.

Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Lerner said: "We are releasing troops from the front line but the mission is ongoing. Ground forces are operating. Air forces are operating."

On the Israeli side, 64 soldiers and three civilians have lost their lives.

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PM Warns Nato 'Russia Could Be A Threat'

Nato must bolster its military presence in eastern Europe so it could respond quickly to any threat from Russia, David Cameron has warned.

The Prime Minister has written to his Nato counterparts urging a rethink on relations with Moscow following its "illegal" actions in Ukraine, including the annexation of Crimea earlier this year.

He wrote: "We must review our long-term relationship with Russia. While Nato has only ever sought to be a partner to Russia, not a threat, it is clear that Russia views Nato as an adversary.

"We must accept that the co-operation of recent years is not currently possible because of Russia's own illegal actions in Nato's neighbourhood and revisit the principles that guide our relationship with Russia."

Measures should include sustaining a "robust" defensive presence in eastern Europe, adopting a new schedule of military exercises, positioning equipment and supplies in key locations and boosting Nato's Response Force.

The letter comes days after a report from the House of Commons Defence Committee warned that transatlantic defence forces were not prepared for any threat from Russia.

A Russian tank rolls outside a former Ukrainian military base in Crimea

Mr Cameron wants to use next month's Nato summit in south Wales to agree "long-term measures to strengthen our ability to respond quickly to any threat, to reassure those allies who fear for their own country's security and to deter any Russian aggression".

He believes the summit comes at a "pivotal" time in the organisation's history.

"In 2014, the world is more unpredictable than ever," the Prime Minister said. "To the East, Russia has ripped up the rulebook with its illegal annexation of Crimea and aggressive destabilisation of Ukraine. To the South, an arc of instability spreads from North Africa and the Sahel, to Syria, Iraq and the wider Middle East.

"So we must use the summit to agree how Nato should adapt to respond to and deter such threats; and to ensure the continued collective defence of all its members."

Meanwhile, Russia's Foreign Ministry has accused the European Union of withdrawing a ban on supplying Ukraine with military equipment "on the quiet".

Its statement also urged Europe not to be "goaded" by Washington over events in east Ukraine.

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Pesticide Blamed For High Cancer Rate In India

By Neville Lazarus, Sky News India Producer

It's nine o'clock at night and 39-year-old Sukha and his family are waiting to board the 339 Abohar train, infamously called the Cancer Express. Sukha's wife and mother suffer from the disease.

The family is not alone on this journey. Scores of patients board the Cancer Express every night from Punjab.

Locals tell us there are about 50 to 60 patients every day and on a Sunday the train is packed. They are all headed to the government hospital, 200 miles away in Bikaner, Rajasthan. 

Navdeep, 25, is taking his grandmother for her monthly check-up. He tells Sky News: "The pesticides and chemicals used on crops has infected the food and that's why so many people are getting the disease."

It's early morning now and the Acharya Tulsi Regional Cancer Treatment and Research Center (RCC) in Bikaner hospital is overflowing.

Some wait outside on the side walk. The hospital provides all medication free of charge to those who are too poor to pay.

Many cancer patients have to travel 200 miles for treatment

Dr Ajay Sharma, director of the centre, has been working here for over two decades. He has since seen a steep increase in the number of patients and says the 8,000 fresh cases are a worry.

Though he attributes the numbers to an increasing population and change in lifestyle, he tells Sky News: "Nowadays everything is polluted. People use insecticides and injections to grow more and bigger vegetables."

The cancer centre deals with almost 400 patients a day. Last year 80,000 patients walked through the doors and a large number from the Malwa region of Punjab. 

Records at the Health Department of the Government of Punjab show 34,430 people died due to cancer in the last five years - 20 deaths each day.

In the 1960s there was concern that India would be unable to feed its growing population.

It embarked on the green revolution - increasing agricultural output with the use of modern farming, hybrid seeds chemicals, fertilisers and pesticides. Punjab led this revolution and became the breadbasket.

The use of pesticides has been blamed for the high cancer rate

Sky News travelled to the cancer belt of the Malwa region. The village of Jajjhar has an unusually high rate of cases and deaths. The disease carries a stigma and no one wants to talk about it. 

The headman, Baba Gyan Das, says the village is in disrepute, and that no outsider wants to marry into the community. He shows us file after file of young and old people who have died. 

"It's been disastrous for us. Pesticides have killed young men, women and the elderly and the government is doing nothing."

Umendra Dutt, of the Kheti Virasat Mission, wants farmers to switch to organic farming. He believes the indiscriminate and unscientific use of chemicals on the land has made it medically and environmentally unsustainable.

"Punjab is a victim of intensive agriculture based on mechanisation and chemicalisation, and due to this Punjab has a cancer crisis, reproductive health crisis, farmer suicides, debt and water crisis," he tells Sky News.

Punjab is one of the most prosperous states in India, but this prosperity is not without a price.

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British Woman 'Murdered' At Safari Lodge

A British woman thought to have been murdered in South Africa has been described as a "wonderful lady" and "very kind".

Christine Robinson, 59, who had been living in the country for about 10 years, is believed to have been found stabbed to death and robbed at her safari lodge.

Her body was discovered on Wednesday in her bedroom in Limpopo, near Thabazimbi, 150 miles north-west of Johannesburg.

The wages she had just withdrawn to pay staff were missing, according to a family spokesman.

Mrs Robinson, a former primary school teacher who was originally from Liverpool, jointly owned the lodge with her husband, Robbie, who died from cancer two years ago.

Ms Robinson's body ws found in her bedoom near Thabazimbi, Limpopo

Her niece Lehanne Sergison, 43, from Bickley, Kent, said friends and relatives were "heartbroken".

She said the Foreign Office confirmed there was a suspect but he could have "fled" to Zimbabwe.

She said of her aunt: "She was wonderful, she really was a wonderful lady. Very kind, humble woman. It's hard to express how wonderful she is.

"Christine was the most wonderful woman anyone could wish to meet, a warm, cheerful, compassionate, kind-hearted and very popular human being, who enriched the lives of everyone she met.

"She was also bubbly and full of fun. She was adventurous, too, and travelled the world - Europe, the Middle East and China - teaching English to foreign children in international schools."

Ms Sergison added: "We know very little (about the incident). She was murdered on Wednesday. We haven't had much joy out of the police in South Africa, so we don't really know anything more than that."

She also said her aunt treated her employees "as family".

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "We were notified of the death of a British national on July 30 in South Africa. We are providing consular assistance to the family at this difficult time."

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World War One: A Cemetery's Poignant Story

By Alistair Bunkall, Sky's Defence Correspondent

The small Belgian cemetery of St Symphorien, nears Mons, has a poignant story which makes it an appropriate venue to commemorate the outbreak of World War One.

The first shots on the Western Front were fired at dawn on August 23, 1914.

The morning was misty and damp and the British Expeditionary Force, newly arrived in Belgium, was camped in defensive positions on the bank of the Mons-Conde Canal. Facing them was the German invasion force they had come to repel.

By 10am the summer sun had risen and burnt through the fog. For the first time the enemy was revealed to the British soldiers, larger and better armed than anything they had expected.

Despite fighting valiantly through the day, the men of the BEF II Corps were overrun. By nightfall it was all over. The Germans had won the Battle of Mons, the first victory on the Western Front was theirs.

The British began the long, hard retreat towards Paris.

There are 229 Commonwealth and 294 German graves in the cemetery

The following year, 1915, after much heavy fighting, German soldiers dug up the dead around Mons. A local landowner gave them a patch of land on the edge of the small suburb of St Symphorien.

But it came with one condition attached: he insisted the German troops bury the Commonwealth dead with the same dignity and respect they do their own comrades. The Germans agreed.

Today, the cemetery is cared for by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. There are roughly an equal division of graves: 229 Commonwealth, 284 German.

Two stand out: That of Private John Parr of the Middlesex Regiment. He was shot and killed by a German sniper on August 21, 1914, and became the first soldier to die on the Western Front.

His grave, by sheer coincidence, faces that of Private George Ellison of the Royal Irish Lancers. He was killed on November 11, 1918, hours before the Armistice Declaration was signed - the last British soldier to be killed on the Western Front.

On Monday, relatives, members of European Royal families and senior politicians will gather at this small cemetery to remember the outbreak of the war 100 years ago.

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Four Dead As Flash Floods Hit Italian Festival

Four men have died at a festival in Italy after a thunderstorm caused flash floods.

Another 20 people were injured when around water around six feet high swept away festival goers.

About 100 people were enjoying an annual gathering by a stream near the northern town of Refrontolo when the violent downpours began.

Emergency workers clear up near the town of Refrontolo

Mirco Lorenzon, a local civil protection official, said: "Nobody had ever seen anything like it.

"There were two metres of water. People grabbed on to trees to save themselves."

The storm caused about 50 mudslides as well as damage to property, Mr Lorenzon added.

Several cars were also swept away.

Up to two metres of water swept away festival goers

Luca Zaia, governor of the Veneto region, said: "There was an hour-and-a-half of rain so heavy that you couldn't see anything.

"Within the hour, I will sign papers declaring a state of emergency for the area."

It is not the first time floods have led to fatalities in Italy over the past year. In November storms in Sardinia caused floods that killed 18 people.

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Deadly Quake Topples 12,000 Homes In China

At least 150 people have been killed and more than 1,400 injured by an earthquake in southwest China.

Some 12,000 homes collapsed in Ludian, a densely populated county in Yunnan province, according to the Xinhua news agency. 

News reports said rescuers are still trying to reach victims in more remote towns.

Rescuers carry an injuried child on a stretcher in Ludian county

The epicentre was in the town of Longtoushan where one official was quoted as saying: "Too many buildings were damaged."

Ma Liya, a resident of Ludian county, which was a few miles away, said the streets were like a "battlefield after bombardment". 

"The aftermath is much, much worse than what happened after the quake two years ago," Ma said.

A paramilitary policeman carries a baby in his arms after the quake

"I have never felt such strong tremors before. What I can see are all ruins."

She added that her neighbour's house, a new two-storey building, had toppled.

Many of the homes that collapsed in Ludian, which has a population of about 429,000, were old and made of brick.

Electricity and telecommunications have also been cut off in the county

Power lines and communications have been badly affected

Xinhua is reporting at least 49 people dead and 102 people injured in Qiaojia county.

The US Geological Survey said it had a 6.3 magnitude, while China Earthquake Networks Centre measured it at 6.5.

The earthquake hit at a depth of six miles at about 4.30pm (9.30am UK time).

Pictures posted online by state media showed troops taking people away on stretchers.

Power lines and communications have been badly affected by the strongest earthquake to hit Yunnan in 14 years.

In 1970, a magnitude-7.7 earthquake in Yunnan killed at least 15,000 people, and a magnitude-7.1 quake in the province killed more than 1,400 in 1974.

In September 2012, 81 people died and 821 were injured in a series of quakes in the Yunnan region.

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US Doctor With Ebola 'Seems To Be Improving'

An American doctor infected with the ebola virus in West Africa "seems to be improving," according to a US official.

Aid worker Kent Brantly was flown back to his home country on Saturday and is now being treated at a hospital in Atlanta, Georgia.

Wearing a white bio-suit, he was seen walking slowly into the medical facility which has a state-of-the-art isolation unit.

Another person in an identical suit was holding both Dr Brantly's gloved hands outside the Emory University hospital.

Doctors say they are confident the deadly virus will not escape.

Dr Kent Brantly and missionary Nancy Writebol were infected in Liberia

Tom Frieden, the director of the Atlanta-based Centres for Disease Control, told CBS: "It's encouraging that he seems to be improving.

"That's really important, and we're hoping he'll continue to improve. But Ebola is such a scary disease because it's so deadly."

More than 700 people have died in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia during the current outbreak but Mr Frieden is confident it can contained.

"The plain fact is, we can stop it. We can stop it from spreading in hospitals and we can stop it in Africa," he said.

"In fact, we have stopped every previous outbreak, and I'm confident we can stop this one."

More than 700 people have died in the latest outbreak

The disease has a fatality rate of 60-90%.

Dr Brantly, who had been treating people in Liberia, was transported in a specially equipped plane to contain infectious diseases.

A second American with the virus, missionary Nancy Writebol, is due to arrive on a later flight as the plane is only equipped to carry one patient at a time.

Meanwhile, one of Britain's leading public health doctors has said drug companies are "morally bankrupt" for failing to invest in research into the virus.

Doctor John Ashton, who is president of the faculty of public health, also accused the West of "tardiness" in its response to the disease.

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