FBI Director Fears 9/11-Style Attack On US

The outgoing head of the FBI fears another 9/11-style attack on the US, saying the fallout from the Arab Spring has bred a number of "violent extremists".

Robert Mueller, who leaves his post on September 4, said that he fears terrorists will target planes, or attack America using a weapon of mass destruction.

He warned that the US does not have the capability to defend a cyberattack on the country's energy sector.

Mr Mueller said: "I always say my biggest worry is ... an attack on a plane. And secondly, it's a weapon of mass destruction in the hands of a terrorist and that includes a cyber capability that trumps the defences that we have."

The underpants bomber's plot was foiled during Mr Mueller's tenure

The FBI director said terrorism has shifted from Osama bin Laden's global brand in the aftermath of the 2001 attacks to splintering threats arising in the fallout from Middle East uprisings.

He said: "Every one of these countries now has cadres of individuals who you would put in the category of extremists, violent extremists, and that will present threats down the road."

Mr Mueller, who started as FBI head a week before 9/11, has been credited as the architect of the bureau's transformation into a terrorism-fighting agency in his 12 years at the helm.

He said: "I had in my own mind some ideas about where the bureau needed to go and then a week later we had September 11.

"I did not expect I would be spending my time preventing terrorist attacks." 

During Mr Mueller's time at the bureau US authorities have had dealt with significant terror threats and attacks, including the underpants flight bomber in 2009 and the cargo plane printer bomb threat in 2010.

Authorities capture a suspect after the Boston Marathon bombings

He has also dealt with the Boston Marathon bombing, and the 2009 shooting that killed 13 and injured more than 30 at Fort Hood, Texas.

Speaking to reporters at the FBI headquarters, Mr Mueller also defended the National Security Agency's classified surveillance programmes, exposed by whistle-blower Edward Snowden.

He said it was "tremendously important to the protection, not only from terrorist attacks, but from other threats to the United States".

Mr Mueller made the comments on the same day that a new round of revelations about the surveillance showed that the NSA scooped up as many as 56,000 emails and other communications annually over three years by Americans not connected to terrorism.

The director's last day on the job is September 4. His successor, former Justice Department official James Comey, will be on hand next week for the transition.

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Microsoft Boss To Leave Amid 'New Direction'

Microsoft Revamp Amid PC Decline

Updated: 3:28pm UK, Friday 23 August 2013

By Thomas Moore, Sky News Science Correspondent

Microsoft has struggled as the PC market has declined.

Five years ago more than 90% of computers ran a version of the Windows operating system, according to tech analysts Forrester.

By 2012 - with Apple and Google dominating mobile computing - it was found on just 30% of devices.

In an effort to revamp its image for the touchscreen era, the company launched Windows 8 late last year.

But the lack of the iconic 'start' button and the new interface of tiled apps irritated users tied to a keyboard and mouse.

It's now done a U-turn and a soon-to-be-launched update - Windows 8.1 - will restore the start button.

Microsoft will hope the tweaks will breathe life into the operating system.

It has failed to convince PC users to upgrade so far, despite a marketing budget that's estimated to top $1bn  (£600m).

Eight months old and Windows 8 is still only found on 5.4% of computers, according to data from Net Applications.

Windows 7 still dominates, with a share of 44.5%.

The malaise is affecting PC makers.

HP recently reported that sales of desktop and notebook computers had slumped by 8% in a year.

So the stakes are high for Microsoft and the industry that relies on its software.

If the new-look Windows fails to stop the slide in sales many will ask whether the PC has a future.

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Hague: Syria Massacre 'Was A Chemical Attack'

Foreign Secretary William Hague has said for the first time that the "atrocity" in Syria "was a chemical attack" carried out by Assad forces.

Mr Hague said that the chances of the attack being a conspiracy by opposition forces was "vanishingly small" and that the only "plausible explanation" for the mass deaths was an attack by the regime.

He said it was essential to get UN inspectors already in the country to the site outside Damascus and that "time was of the essence".

If inspectors were not allowed in, the evidence, he said, would deteriorate.

Girls who survived the apparent attack take refuge in a mosque

Syria's opposition said it was "critical that the UN inspectors [get to the site] within 48 hours".

Forces loyal to President Bashar al Assad have been carrying out air strikes on the area, which could already have considerably damaged any proof of the use of nerve gas.

And Mr Hague warned the Assad regime that if they did not comply with the UN request to carry out inspections at the scene of the attack then Britain would be prepared to go back to the UN Security Council for a mandate "for the world to speak more forcefully about this".

A child receives treatment in a make-shift hospital

He stressed that inspectors were just 20 minutes away from the site where 1,300, including scores of children, are said to have perished on Tuesday.

Mr Hague said: "The only possible explanation of what we have been able to see is that it was a chemical attack and clearly many, many hundreds of people have been killed, some of the estimates are well over 1,000.

"There is no other plausible explanation for casualties so intense in such a small area on this scale.

"I know some people in the world would like to say this is some kind of conspiracy brought about by the opposition in Syria - I think the chances of that are vanishingly small.

Activists inspect the bodies of the victims of the alleged gas attack

"So we do believe this is a chemical attack by the Assad regime on a large scale but we would like the United Nations to be able to assess that so those who don't believe that, those who doubt that, the evidence can be gathered.

"But that is certainly our opinion."

He said it "seems the Assad regime has something to hide" and questioned why it had refused to allow the UN inspectors, who are staying in a hotel in Damascus, to investigate.

A map showing the area targeted in the apparent chemical attack

Footage and images released by the opposition has showed scores of children lying dead, some seemingly gassed as they slept in their beds.

Other pictures appear to show adults foaming at the mouths from the effects of gas and row upon row of corpses, some being loaded into vans.

The images, Mr Hague said, were "something that a humane or civilised world cannot ignore".

UN chemical weapons inspectors have been in the country since Sunday on a mission to investigate sites where previous gas attacks are alleged to have been carried out.

The chemical weapons inspectors arrive in Damascus

Activists said on Friday they were smuggling body tissue samples from victims to the UN inspectors in their hotel but that it had been a struggle because they were heavily guarded by government forces.

One activist, Abu Nidal, said: "The UN team spoke with us and since then we prepared samples of hair, skin and blood and smuggled them back to Damascus with trusted couriers."

In his first comments since the footage of the attacks emerged, US President Barack Obama said it was a "big event of grave concern" and that " this is something that is going to require America's attention".

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that the use of chemical weapons would constitute "a crime against humanity".

Significantly, Syria's key ally Russia has joined international calls for the inspectors to be given access to the site of the alleged massacre.

Moscow suggested the attack could be a "premeditated provocation" by opposition forces but urged Mr Assad and the UN to agree to a visit to the site in the Damascus suburbs of Ein Tarma and Zamalka.

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Death Toll In Lebanon Explosions Rises To 42

At least 42 people are believed to have been killed and hundreds injured in two powerful explosions in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli.

The blasts occurred outside two mosques on the Muslim day of prayer, when the buildings are likely to have been packed.

The first explosion happened near Taqwa mosque, close to the home of outgoing Prime Minister Najib Mikati, although his office said he was not in the city at the time.

It was followed minutes later by a second blast outside Salam mosque, near the home of former police chief Ashraf Rifi.

Television pictures showed a column of thick, grey smoke rising over the city, with reports suggesting the blasts caused significant damage.

Speaking to local TV channel al Jadeed, Lebanese health minister Ali Hassan Khalil said 42 people were killed and another 352 injured.

A number of children were among those killed, according to the AFP news agency.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the explosions, which come a week after a suicide car bombing in Beirut killed 27 people.

The bomb ripped through a stronghold of the Lebanese Shi'ite group Hizbollah, which is fighting in Syria alongside forces loyal to President Bashar al Assad.

In July, another car bomb exploded in the nearby Beir al Abed district, wounding more than 50 people.

Tripoli, a mostly Sunni Muslim city, has seen frequent clashes between Sunnis and Alawites, a Shi'ite group to which Mr Assad belongs, although explosions are relatively rare.

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Dave Lee Travis Faces Sex Charges In Court

By Tom Parmenter, Sky News Correspondent

Broadcaster Dave Lee Travis has appeared in court over 12 alleged sexual offences.

The 68-year-old is charged under his real name of David Patrick Griffin and faces 11 indecent assault charges and one of sexual assault.

As he arrived at court he rebuffed repeated questions from journalists and said that if he wanted to elaborate he could talk for "three hours about it".

He sat in the dock during the short hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court in central London, where he confirmed his name and address.

Travis was again faced by a media scrum as he left court, and said little apart from a reference to the blood sport of hare-coursing.

He said: "I am supported by my wife and my friends.

"My wife is not here today, and the reason she's not here today is because I detest hare-coursing."

The charges Travis faces span from 1977 to 2007 - the youngest of the nine alleged victims was 15-years-old.

The DJ has consistently denied any wrongdoing since he was first arrested at his home near Leighton Buzzard in November 2012.

During a long career in broadcasting, Travis was perhaps best known as the host of the BBC Radio One breakfast show between 1978 and 1980.

The broadcaster famously resigned from the station while on air in 1993.

Recently, he worked for the Magic network of radio stations but has not been on air while the police investigation has been taking place.

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Ibiza: Brit John Sharp Found Dead In Sea

A British man has been found dead in the sea off Ibiza after a night of partying on the holiday island, reports say.

John Sharp, 31, died last Thursday, and his body was reportedly found in the ocean on Saturday morning.

Mr Sharp had taken several drugs including cocaine, ecstasy and speed, according to a post-mortem examination, it was reported.

Witnesses also reported seeing Mr Sharp drinking heavily.

Police believe he was dead for at least 24 hours before his body was pulled from the sea near the Playa d'en Bossa resort, reports say.

Mr Sharp's parents are said to have arrived on the island to identify him after being contacted by the Foreign Office.

The FCO said it is providing consular assistance to his family.

The Spanish island has long been seen as a mecca for clubbers, with some of the venues drawing crowds of thousands in peak season. 

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Taste Map Of The Tube Gives Capital Flavour

Travellers on the London Underground may be well-acquainted with the sights, sounds and smells of the capital's busy transport network but taste is unlikely to be one of them.

However, for one man the Tube offers a smorgasbord of flavours from roast lamb and tomato soup to jelly tots and minstrels.

That is because James Wannerton can taste words due to a neurological condition called synaesthesia.

And the 54-year-old systems analyst from Blackpool has now completed a "flavour map" of the Tube, showing what each station tastes like.

These range from the good - fruit cake and ice cream - to the bad - hairspray.

Mr Wannerton told the Telegraph that the map was the realisation of a 49-year quest, having first noticed as a child each station created a distinct taste when travelling to school.

He told the newspaper: "It is incredibly consistent. These tastes and textures never change. All I did was traverse the underground lines. It was very natural and involuntary; when the taste popped up I made a note of it."

Mr Wannerton who is the president of the UK Synaesthesia Association, describes his experience of the condition on his website.

He writes: "I get these tastes whenever I verbalise a written word or hear a spoken one - even in my dreams. I get taste after taste after taste, one after another.

"It could, if I let it, take over completely, causing a sort of sensory overload or slowdown. A little like I've been told a proper drug trip is to experience."

And his taste sensations do not stop at the Tube.

He says: "I live in a house that tastes of mashed potato in a fruit gum town.

"My next door neighbours are a mix of yoghurt, jelly beans and a subtle hint of a waxy substance."

There are also the less palatable sides of life. "I have a friend whose wife tastes of vomit - I've never told them."

And: "If you are called Virginia, Denise, Donna, Helen or Christine, my brain unfortunately places you at a disadvantage. Sorry. I can't help it."

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Spain: Police Hunt For Roaming 'Black Panther'

Spanish authorities are using night vision equipment to hunt for a panther-like big cat that has been spotted by residents.

More than half a dozen people have reported seeing the black "large feline" in farmland around Berja, just inland from the south coast.

Several cages containing meat and image intensifying cameras have been set up in an attempt to catch the beast.

Search coordinator, Jacinto Navarro, said on Friday: "From all the witnesses' descriptions it seems it is a black panther but we're not sure.

"This very morning, almond farmers called us saying they were stunned to see this animal walking around.

"They are worried because we are dealing with an animal that is dangerous in the wild.

"We guess that someone who had the animal as a pet let it loose in this area."

The area where the beast has been seen lies about half way between Granada and Almeria, about ten miles inland from the Costa Tropical and not far from the Costa del Sol.

Mr Navarro, an environmental officer for the Andalusia regional government, said there had been no reports of such an animal going missing in the area.

But the authorities were having to take it seriously as it was feared it could be roaming around the Sierra Nevada National Park.

The park is popular with walkers and the local government feels it cannot take any risks.

The "absolute priority" of the team of three environmental officers and three police was to catch the feline alive, he said.

Earlier, despite setting up two cages in the area with large chunks of meat inside, they trapped no more than a domestic cat and a fox, both of which were released.

On Friday, two more cages and two night-vision cameras were added.

If the animal is trapped, officers hope to shoot it with a tranquiliser gun and hand it over to a zoo in the neighbouring town of Tabernas which has offered to take it in.

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Debenhams Recalls Steam Irons Over 'Fire Risk'

Debenhams is recalling thousands of steam irons as a "precautionary measure" after one of the products caught fire.

The department store said one of its customers reported an electrical fault when using the iron, which caused the power cable to ignite.

"A flame came from the cord area where it enters the iron," a company spokesman said.

The potentially dangerous fault involves Debenhams' Best Buy Value Steam Iron Model S13WH.

More than 4,200 of the £12 irons were sold in stores in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland or online between June 2011 and April 2013.

People who bought one are urged to check the batch number on the rating plate, which is located on the heel at the back of the iron.

Products with batch numbers MIC161031/0411, MIC161103/1111 and MIC161174/1212 should not be used but returned to store for a full refund.

"If you cannot reach a Debenhams store, please contact our customer services department and dispose of the iron by taking it to a recycling dump or placing it in your domestic recycling bin," the spokesman added.

It is the second major recall issued by Debenhams in the last six weeks.

Last month, the store asked customers who bought some of its electric blankets to return them after it found a possible electrical fault.

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Fort Hood Shooting: Major Nidal Hasan Guilty

Major Nidal Hasan has been found guilty of killing 13 people and wounding more than 30 others at the Fort Hood military base.

More follows...

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Queen's Swan Found Cooked Near Windsor Castle

A swan owned by the Queen has been found barbecued on the banks of the Thames in the shadow of Windsor Castle.

The Royal bird was found on Baths Island, in the middle of a picnic area popular with children and tourists.

It had been cooked with its feathers still attached, and meat had been stripped from its carcass.

Park wardens made the gruesome discovery in Windsor, Berkshire, at 3pm on Sunday, and called Swan Lifeline, which cares for sick or injured birds along the Thames.

Wendy Hermon, treatment centre co-ordinator for Swan Lifeline, told Sky News Online: "They were in the middle of their walkabout when they phoned us to say we've found what looks like the remains of a cooked swan.

"It's absolutely disgusting doing something like that. We've heard for years that sort of thing goes on; we've never actually seen it.

The Queen has the right to own any swan in the UK she chooses

"But to barbecue a swan and leave its body in the centre of Windsor with all the tourists and children about is absolutely disgraceful."

She added: "We have shot swans from time to time, and swans attacked by dogs and foxes, but that's nature and we accept it.

"But when it's something like this it's disgusting. It was so so selfish and wrong just to leave it there in the middle of the grass.

"They'd stripped the meat off it, they'd carved the breasts off the bones. There were no remains of a fire, but they're always having barbecues up there even though they're not allowed.

"And I think that's why the park wardens had gone up there, to tell people not to barbecue."

She said the carcass was taken back to the Swan Lifeline centre to be cremated.

The first record of the swan as a Royal bird dates back to the 12th century

David Barber, The Queen's Swan Marker, said he was appalled by the incident.

"It's an absolutely shocking situation and as far as I'm concerned the police are investigating this," he told Sky News.

"All swans are considered by people to be Royal birds and it's quite a shock to people to see this in a middle of a picnic lawn in a public area."

He said all swans on the Thames belong to the Queen, apart from those owned by the Vintners and Dyers livery companies.

The suspects face a maximum six months jail sentence and £5,000 fine because wild swans are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

But Mr Barber said if the dead swan is claimed by the Crown, the suspects could also be prosecuted for damaging Crown property.

The first written record of the swan as a Royal bird dates back to the 12th century.

Cygnets were highly prized for their gourmet qualities and were often served at banquets. Anyone caught stealing the birds was severely punished.

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Taxi Crash: 'Devastated' Father Flies To US

The father of a British woman who had part of her leg severed by a New York taxi says the family is "devastated" by what happened.

Sian Green, 23, suffered the leg injury when a yellow taxi mounted the pavement in the centre of New York and struck her.

Sian Green was with a friend when she was hit. Pic: Instagram

"We are a really close family we are all devastated by what has happened," her father Jason told the Leicester Mercury.

"We don't know what to say.

"We just want to be at our daughter's side right now," he said, adding that he is flying to New York to keep a bedside vigil.

He added: "She is in recovery now, and they have had to amputate what's left of her foot."

A street vendor helps by packing the severed foot with ice. Pic: NBC

The cab hit a cyclist and then ploughed into Ms Green in front of a fountain outside the Rockefeller Center at 49th Street, news reports say.

Ms Green was walking down the road with her friend, eating a hot dog she had just bought nearby, when she was hit, according to the New York Post, which cited witnesses.

Among those who helped the victim was also celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz, who records his talk show in a nearby studio.

Dr Mehmet OZ and plumber David Justino. Pic. Facebook

Dr Oz said emergency medical crews were already treating the injured woman.

A plumber who was working in the area, David Justino, used his belt to make a life-saving tourniquet for Ms Green's leg.

Mr Justino said: "I just grabbed my belt, went over, lifted her up, put it on and held it.

"From the shin down, (her leg) was gone."

He added: "I just worried about the blood, there was too much blood."

A friend witnesses the accident. Pic: NBC

Mr Justino told the New York Daily News that she "was conscious the whole time, the poor thing. I wished she would have passed out".

A street vendor reportedly raced to put her severed foot on ice. She was then transport to the hospital.

Sergeant John Buthorn of the New York Police Department said: "The circumstances are still under investigation, whether it was some sort of rage or an accident.

Ms Green is taken to hospital on a stretcher. Pic: NBC

"It looks like her leg or part of it was severed during the accident."

Reports said Ms Green is being treated at Bellevue Hospital, where she underwent surgery to reattach her leg.

According to the New York Daily News, the cab driver was issued a summons for being an unauthorised driver, but was then set free.

Ms Green, 23, had reportedly just started her holiday. Pic: Instagram

Both the driver and the cyclist were treated for injuries, police said.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "We are aware of a traffic incident involving a British national in New York City.

"Staff at the British Consulate General in New York are providing consular assistance at this difficult time."

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Dolphin Leaps Out Of River In Rare Sighting

A dolphin has been photographed leaping out of the water 20 miles from the sea in the River Dee in North Wales.

The stunning picture was taken by a member of the Environment Agency's flood defence maintenance team and the mammal is now being monitored by the charity British Divers Marine Life Rescue and the coastguard.

The dolphin, nicknamed Dave, was originally spotted by members of the public at Connah's Quay docks but then swam up river to Saltney, near Chester.

The dolphin is said to be swimming happily. Pic: @RussellMBaker

The coastguard said the dolphin was happily swimming up and down and doesn't seem to be in a rush to go back out to sea.

But they have said they are worried about the size of crowds gathering on the banks of the river and are warning people that harassing a dolphin is a criminal offence.

They said they are aware of reports of someone trying to go into the water earlier to swim with the dolphin.

An Environment Agency spokesman told Sky News the sighting was extremely rare but that it was a good sign of the water quality in the area.

He said the mammal probably started swimming up the river at high tide to chase and feed on fish.

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Arthur Hutchinson Appeals Whole-Life Term

A triple murderer has become the first Briton to challenge his whole-life tariff following a European court ruling that it breaches human rights.

Arthur Hutchinson, who murdered the parents and brother of a bride hours after her 1984 wedding, has appealed to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

The 73-year-old was jailed for stabbing to death Basil and Avril Laitner and their son Richard at their home in Dore, Sheffield, before repeatedly raping another wedding guest.

The ECHR in Strasbourg ruled last month that it was "inhuman and degrading" for prisoners to face death in jail.

The initial case was brought following an appeal by three killers including Jeremy Bamber, who shot dead five members of his family in 1985.

Some 49 prisoners are currently in British jails serving whole life tariffs.

The family of Hutchinson's victims said the judges due to rule on the case should "be thrust into our position" before making a decision.

A spokesperson for the Laitner family told ITV News: "Whenever even the name Arthur Hutchinson rears its ugly head, it does nothing but create fear and distress to the victims of this heinous crime.

"Let the Human Rights judiciary members be thrust into our position for just a day and maybe they would understand this.

Jeremy Bamber, Peter Moore and Douglas Vinter brought a case to the ECHR

"We are confident that justice will be done and more importantly, be seen to be done, so that this matter can finally be put to rest."

Justice Secretary Chris Grayling said: "I have repeatedly made clear how profoundly I disagree with the recent ruling by the European Court.

"Our judges should be able to tell those who commit the most heinous crimes imaginable that they may never be released.

"To be told this breaches human rights is absurd - and an insult to those who wrote the original Human Rights Convention. What about the rights of the victims and their families?

"I continue to strongly believe that whole life tariffs are appropriate for the worst murder cases. This is why I want wholesale reforms to our human rights laws."

The Daily Telegraph reported the Government has been asked to provide a full response to Hutchinson's claim and could face a full hearing next year.

The newspaper said if the claim was backed, 73-year-old Hutchinson could be released from prison.

Five years ago, Hutchinson had a domestic appeal against whole-life tariffs kicked out by the Court of Appeal.

The judge at Hutchinson's original 1984 trial at Sheffield Crown Court ruled that he should serve 18 years but then home secretary Leon Brittan later ruled he should face the whole-life tariff.

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Manning Jailed For 35 Years In WikiLeaks Case

Bradley Manning has been sentenced to 35 years in prison for giving classified documents to whistleblowing website WikiLeaks.

The former US Army intelligence analyst - convicted on 20 counts, including six violations of the Espionage Act - had faced up to 90 years behind bars.

WikiLeaks described the sentence as a "strategic victory" as Manning will be eligible for parole within nine years.

Manning, 25, was not convicted of the more serious crime of aiding the enemy, which could have carried a life sentence without parole.

Manning supporters outside the court

Manning will get credit for the more than three years he has been held, but he will have to serve at least one-third of his sentence before he is eligible for parole. 

Colonel Morris David, a military lawyer who was third chief prosecutor in the Guantanamo military commissions, said the sentence meant Manning would probably be released in between eight and nine years.

His rank was reduced, he was dishonourably discharged and he forfeited his pay.

Guards hurried Manning out of the courtroom after sentencing as about a half-dozen supporters shouted from the back: "We'll keep fighting for you, Bradley!" and "You're our hero!"

The American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International and other activists decried the punishment.

Among the evidence was a photo of Manning in a blond wig and lipstick

"When a soldier who shared information with the press and public is punished far more harshly than others who tortured prisoners and killed civilians, something is seriously wrong with our justice system," said Ben Wizner, head of the ACLU's speech and technology project.

But Gabriel Schoenfeld, a senior fellow at the conservative Hudson Institute think tank and author of the book Necessary Secrets, welcomed Manning's punishment.

"The sentence is a tragedy for Bradley Manning, but it is one he brought upon himself," he said. "It will certainly serve to bolster deterrence against other potential leakers."

The sentencing in a military courtroom at Fort Meade, near Baltimore, capped a 12-week trial and a much longer legal battle over Manning's intentions when he reached out to WikiLeaks.

Manning and his defence team maintained he was an idealistic soldier

Prosecutors, who had asked for at least a 60-year sentence, portrayed Manning as "the determined insider", an anarchist hacker and traitor.

They said Manning started working within weeks of his 2009 deployment to Iraq to provide WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange with exactly what they wanted.

Manning and his defence team maintained he was an idealistic soldier who wanted to expose brutal truths about America's military and diplomatic corps.

Manning, from Oklahoma, digitally copied and released more than 700,000 documents, including Iraq and Afghanistan battlefield reports and State Department cables.

He also leaked video of a 2007 Apache helicopter attack in Baghdad that mistakenly killed at least nine people, including a Reuters photographer.

At his trial, Manning said he gave the material to the secrets-spilling website to expose the US military's "bloodlust" and generate debate over the wars and US policy.

During the sentencing phase, he apologised for the damage he caused, saying: "When I made these decisions, I believed I was going to help people, not hurt people."

His lawyers also argued that Manning suffered extreme inner turmoil over his gender identity - his feeling that he was a woman trapped in a man's body - while serving in the macho military, which at the time barred gays from serving openly.

Among the evidence was a photo of him in a blond wig and lipstick.

The judge on Wednesday did not say where Manning would serve his time, but a spokeswoman for the Military District of Washington said Manning would likely go to Fort Leavenworth.

The Kansas-based facility is the only military prison for service members sentenced to 10 or more years of confinement.

Inmates there are highly restricted, graveyard work shifts are common and jobs pay just pennies per hour.

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Russian Navy Hovercraft Lands On Busy Beach

A huge military hovercraft has made an unexpected landing on a packed beach in Russia.

Hundreds of people were sunbathing on the beach when the vessel powered towards them.

No one was injured, although witnesses said beachgoers were surrounded by paratroopers and asked to move on.

A spokesman for the Russian defence ministry told local newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda that the hovercraft was on a tactical mission in an area owned by the military.

"Docking at the beach ... is a normal event," a spokesman was quoted as saying. "What people were doing at the beach on the territory of a military (base) is unclear."

However, the newspaper said the base the ministry was referring to was in Khmelevka, several kilometres away.

The hovercraft is believed to have been one of the Russian Navy's Zubr-type crafts, which are built in St Petersburg and can travel at speeds of up to 60 knots (110kmh, 68mph).

They weigh around 550 tonnes and measure nearly 60 metres in length.

The vessels carry up to 500 troops and can be fitted with missile launchers, automatic gun mounts and equipment to lay mines.

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Banks Hit By £1.5bn ID Theft Mis-Selling Bill

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

Britain's banks will face up to another major mis-selling scandal on Thursday when the City regulator announces details of a compensation scheme for insurance customers that could cost the culpable lenders up to £1.5bn.

Sky News has learnt that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is finalising a statement that will set out the terms of a redress scheme for consumers who bought identity theft and credit card protection from CPP, a York-based company, over a period of several years.

The FCA is to announce that about a dozen financial institutions – including all the major high street names, such as Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group, HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland – have signed up to the deal.

Insiders said the figure contained in the FCA statement, which will be timed to coincide with the credit card insurer's half-year results announcement, would fall between £1bn and £1.5bn – slightly lower than some recent estimates.

Some of the banks involved will make separate announcements detailing their individual financial exposure.

Under the terms of the agreement, the banks which sold CPP products will write to customers to inform them that they may be eligible for compensation.

The industry along with CPP and the FCA will then administer a mechanism called a solvent scheme of arrangement, sanctioned by the courts, to deliver the funds.

The initiative will be unusual because CPP customers will be asked to vote in favour of it before it can get underway.

Although the £1.5bn payout pot is significant, it is tiny by comparison with the deluge of funds that banks have had to set aside for compensating customers who were mis-sold payment protection insurance.

Recent additions to the provisions by the biggest banks have taken the total to more than £15bn, while they are also confronting a multibillion pound bill for mis-selling products designed to protect against sharp movements in interest rates.

Details of the CPP compensation scheme will emerge almost a month after it secured its immediate future by negotiating a new financing deal with its lending banks.

The agreement involves deferring £23m of commission payments due to be paid to the banks over the next year, and a £13m borrowing facility.

The agreement with Barclays, HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland and Santander UK came as a relief to hundreds of CPP staff employed who have faced an uncertain future during on-off talks about a takeover of the company.

Under the terms of the new financing deal, however, CPP would be in default if more than 25% of its customer base successfully applies for compensation as part of the redress scheme.

CPP, which calls itself an "international life assistance provider", operates across more than a dozen countries and expanded rapidly after listing on the London Stock Exchange in 2010.

It was accused by the regulator of overstating the risks of identity theft, and of providing expensive insurance policies which were effectively already provided automatically by the banks.

The company sold more than four million policies to customers, many of which were the result of introductions by the major high street banks.

It recently disposed of its US business in an attempt to raise funds following a £10.5m mis-selling fine imposed by the City regulator last year.

CPP is one of several specialist insurers to have fallen foul of regulators in recent times. Homeserve, which provides insurance against household mishaps, was also the subject of mis-selling allegations in 2011.

CPP, the FCA and the major banks all declined to comment on Wednesday.

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Syrian Rebels: '1,300 Killed In Gas Attack'

More than 1,300 people have been killed in a chemical weapons attack near Damascus, according to Syria's main opposition group.

The National Coalition claims toxic gas was used by President Bashar al Assad's forces during a bombardment of rebel-held areas outside the Syrian capital.

It described the attack as a "coup de grace that kills all hopes for a political solution in Syria".

The government said the claims were "totally false" and the international news organisations reporting them were "implicated in the shedding of Syrian blood and support terrorism".

Attacks are alleged to have occured in the towns of Zamalka aand Ein Tarma

It comes three days after a 20-strong team of UN weapons inspectors arrived in Damascus to investigate whether chemical weapons have been used in the conflict.

The European Union has demanded an independent investigation, and Russia a "fair and professional" probe into the alleged poison attack - which if confirmed would be the worst attack of its kind since Saddam Hussein killed an estimated 5,000 people in the Kurdish town of Halabja in 1988.

The US said it was "deeply concerned" by the reports and also called for an "urgent" investigation, demanding the Syrian government grant "immediate access" to the UN weapons inspectors.

"If the Syrian government has nothing to hide and is truly committed to an impartial and credible investigation of chemical weapons use in Syria, it will facilitate the UN team's immediate and unfettered access to this site," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest.

The United Nations said its chief weapons inspector was in talks with the Syrian government over the alleged attack, as the UN Security Council announced an emergency meeting behind closed doors later to discuss the situation.

Activists posted videos showing children apparently hurt in the attack

Earlier, Sky sources said at least 200 people were killed in the shelling in Zamalka and Ein Tarma, but could not verify whether chemical weapons were used.

Mohammed Saeed, an activist in the area, said hundreds of dead and injured have been taken to six make-shift hospitals in the eastern suburbs of Damascus.

"This is a massacre by chemical weapons," he said via Skype. "The visit by the UN team is a joke ... Bashar is using the weapons and telling the world that he does not care."

Opposition groups said government forces had fired "rockets with poisonous gas heads" in the attack.

Videos posted on YouTube by activists show children being treated in make-shift hospitals. Some are having convulsions and difficulty breathing. Others are not moving.

Sky News cannot authenticate the footage.

"Regime forces after midnight stepped up military operations in the East Ghouta and West Ghouta zones of the Damascus region with aircraft and rocket launchers, causing several dozen dead and wounded," the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The YouTube images cannot be authenticated by Sky News

The Local Co-ordination Committees, another Syrian pro-opposition group, said hundreds of people were killed or injured in the "brutal use of toxic gas by the criminal regime in parts of Western Ghouta".

Videos claiming to show the shelling were posted on YouTube by the Syrian Revolution General Commission, another activist group.

They showed what it called "a terrible massacre committed by regime forces with toxic gas, leaving dozens of martyrs and wounded".

Professor Fawaz Gerges, director of the Middle East Centre at the London School of Economics, examined the motive behind a chemical weapons attack.

He told Sky News: "Why would the Assad government use poison while you have a very strong UN team in Damascus?... and his army has the upper hand in the Ghouta area? He has done everything in his power to prevent western intervention."

Prof Gerges said the pressure would be "overwhelming", not just on the US but on Britain and France too, "to retaliate militarily" if a UN probe found evidence of a chemical weapons attack in the region east of the Syrian capital.

Casualties are much higher than in previous allegations of chemical attacks

"So it in this particular sense, it is very strange, it doesn't make sense, it's illogical, though we have learned in the last two-and-a- half years that irrationality is as important as rationality when it comes to the Assad regime," he added.

Both the rebels and government forces have accused each other of using chemical weapons in the conflict, which began in March 2011 and has killed more than 100,000 people.

The UN team is investigating three sites where chemical weapons have allegedly been used: the village of Khan al Assal, just west of the northern city of Aleppo, and two other locations, which are being kept secret for security reasons.

If confirmed, this alleged chemical attack would be the most serious in the conflict since the incident in Khan al Assal on March 19, when at least 30 people were killed.

Foreign Secretary William Hague said the UK would be raising the incident at the UN Security Council.

"I am deeply concerned by reports that hundreds of people, including children, have been killed in airstrikes and a chemical weapons attack on rebel-held areas near Damascus," he said.

"These reports are uncorroborated and we are urgently seeking more information. But it is clear that if they are verified, it would mark a shocking escalation in the use of chemical weapons in Syria.

"Those who order the use of chemical weapons, and those who use them, should be in no doubt that we will work in every way we can to hold them to account.

"I call on the Syrian Government to allow immediate access to the area for the UN team currently investigating previous allegations of chemical weapons use."

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Peru: Women Due In Court After Being Charged

Why Peru Became The Cocaine Hotspot

Updated: 10:35pm UK, Wednesday 14 August 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.

Last week the UN 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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Davidson 'In Clear' Over Yewtree Allegations

Comedian Jim Davidson is "pleased" to have been told he will face no further action after he was arrested on suspicion of sexual offences, his solicitor has said.

The 59-year-old was held in January by detectives from Operation Yewtree, the national investigation sparked by the Jimmy Savile abuse scandal, and re-arrested in March after further allegations emerged.

His solicitor Henri Brandman of Henri Brandman and Co solicitors said: "My client Jim Davidson was, of course, arrested a number of months ago in respect of allegations of a historical sexual nature.

"He is pleased to have received news today that there will be no further action relating to the allegations."

More follows...

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