South Korea Votes In First Woman Leader

By Mark Stone, Asia Correspondent

Conservative politician Park Geun-hye has become South Korea's first female president, after narrowly beating her liberal opponent.

Moon Jae-in conceded on Wednesday night to the daughter of late dictator Park Chung-hee, several hours after polls closed in the close fought race.

Her victory came despite analysts' speculation that high voter turnout would favour Mr Moon.

Mr Moon is the son of North Korean refugees and a former human rights lawyer while she is the daughter of a former dictator.

It is understood that more than 70% of the eligible population braved temperatures of well below zero to vote.

The leadership of North Korea still remains a problem for South Korea

Initial predictions during the counting phase were of a race too close to call.

Ms Park is the first female president of a nation which is still heavily dominated by men.

According to analysts, her victory is likely to shatter a national 'glass ceiling' and will be seen as a massive step forward for women's rights.

Ms Park's rival Moon Jae-in was once a special forces soldier

She is the daughter of General Park Chung-hee, the former South Korean dictator whose autocratic rule over the country lasted for 18 years before he was assassinated by his own spy chief in 1979.

Despite his dictatorship, he is widely credited for pulling South Korea out of poverty and turning it into the economic and technological success that it is today.

Pundits said Ms Park's vote was boosted by a conservative base of older voters with fond memories of South Korea's rise from poverty.

Mr Moon was once jailed for his opposition to Ms Park's father's rule - he is the son of North Korean refugees who fled to the south during the Korean War.

Ms Park's challenges are numerous: she is faced with a belligerent North Korea, a slowing economy and rising welfare costs.

On North Korea, both candidates had a desire for further engagement though Ms Park's approach is more cautious. Mr Moon had promised to resume aid to the country without preconditions.

A British diplomat in Seoul described to Sky News the difference between the two approaches on North Korea as: 'Stick then large carrot from Park; large carrot then small stick from Moon.'

Ms Park, 60, has wide support with women voters in South Korea

Relations between the North and the South are tense. The two are still technically at war. The border between the two - the 38th parallel - is the most fortified and heavily mined border in the world.

The relationship worsened with the shooting by North Korea of a tourist from the South in 2008, the sinking of a South Korean warship; an incident which North Korea says it had nothing to do with and the shelling of a South Korean island in 2010.

Although North Korea remains a pressing issue for Ms Park, it did not play heavily in the campaigning despite the successful launch of a three-stage rocket by the North last week.

"It has been very much sidelined," Brendan Howe, a professor of International Relations based in Seoul told Sky News.

"Both sides want engagement but neither side put it at the forefront of their campaign. It has not a massive issue in the election." he said.

An equally pressing issue for Ms Park is the widening gap between rich and poor in South Korea and the dominance of family-owned conglomerates like Samsung and Hyundai.

Wooing the crucial centralist voters resulted in significant overlap between the two candidates' policies during campaigning. They had both talked about 'economic democratisation' - reducing the social disparities that have come with rapid economic growth.

Ms Park is now one of a number of new leaders in the region. Japan has recently voted in right-wing candidate Shinzo Abe and China's new communist leadership, with their opaque direction, will take office in March.

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'Earth-Like' Planet Discovered By Scientists

Scientists have discovered a planet with conditions that could support life - orbiting a sun that is visible to the naked eye.

Tau Ceti is thought to be the lowest mass solar system yet detected

The world is one of five thought to be circling Tau Ceti, a star 12 light years away which is almost identical to the sun.

Astronomers estimate the Tau Ceti planets to be two to six times bigger than Earth. And one of them, with five times the Earth's mass, lies in the star's "habitable zone".

The orbital region is also known as the 'Goldilocks zone', as it is neither too hot nor too cold to allow liquid surface water and, potentially, life.

Details of the discovery are to appear in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.

Scientists found the Tau Ceti planetary family using a highly sensitive technique that combined data from more than 6,000 observations from three different telescopes.

Dr James Jenkins, a member of the international team from the University of Hertfordshire, said: "Tau Ceti is one of our nearest cosmic neighbours and so bright that we may be able to study the atmospheres of these planets in the not-too-distant future.

"Planetary systems found around nearby stars close to our sun indicate that these systems are common in our Milky Way galaxy."

More than 800 planets have been discovered orbiting stars beyond the sun since the 1990s.

Those found around the nearest sun-like stars are the most interesting to astronomers.

Professor Steve Vogt, another team member, from the University of California at Santa Cruz, said: "This discovery is in keeping with our emerging view that virtually every star has planets, and that the galaxy must have many such potentially habitable Earth-sized planets.

"They are everywhere, even right next door."

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Crocodile Jumps Into Swimmer's Face

A tourist swimming in a river in Australia has had a shock after a crocodile leapt onto him, slapping him in the face in the process.

The reptile had been sunning itself on a rock in a national park in the Northern Territory but then seemed to want to cool off.

The animal launched itself directly at Swedish tourist Felix Andersson, hitting him in the face before landing in the water.

Mr Andersson and his friend Ulrik Bergsland quickly swam away laughing and were not hurt in the incident.

In fact the pair were so unfazed they carried on swimming in the lagoon.

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US Benghazi Report Slams 'Inadequate' Security

An inquiry into the September 11 attack in Libya that killed the US ambassador and three other Americans has said security arrangements were "grossly inadequate".

The independent panel blamed systematic management and leadership failures at the State Department for the attack on the mission in Benghazi.

The report singled out the Bureau of Diplomatic Security and the Bureau of Near East Affairs for criticism.

It said there appeared to have been a lack of co-operation and confusion over protection at the mission in a country that had been left relatively lawless after the revolution that toppled Muammar Gaddafi.

The report found the number of Diplomatic Security staff in Benghazi before and on the day of the attack "was inadequate despite repeated requests ... for additional staffing".

Despite those failures, the Accountability Review Board said no individual officials ignored or violated their duties and recommended no immediate disciplinary action.

But it also said poor performance by senior managers should be grounds for disciplinary recommendations in the future.

Christopher Steven's murder was the first of a US ambassador since 1988

The two most senior members of the panel - Retired Ambassador Thomas Pickering and a former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, Admiral Mike Mullen - are set to testify behind closed doors before the House and Senate foreign affairs on Wednesday.

Their testimony will set the stage for open hearings the next day with Deputy Secretary of State William Burns, who is in charge of policy, and Deputy Secretary of State Thomas Nides, who is in charge of management.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was to have appeared at Thursday's hearing but cancelled after fainting and sustaining a concussion last week while recovering from a stomach virus that dehydrated her.

The report appeared to break little new ground about the timeline of the Benghazi attack, during which Libyan Ambassador Christopher Stevens, information specialist Sean Smith and former Navy Seals Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods were killed.

But it confirmed that, contrary to initial accounts, there was no protest outside the consulate and said responsibility for the incident rested entirely with the terrorists who attacked the mission.

In the immediate aftermath, administration officials linked the attack to the spreading protests over an anti-Islamic film made in the US that had begun in Cairo, Egypt, earlier that day.

The review board found there had been no immediate, specific tactical warning of a potential attack on the 11th anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks.

However, the report said there had been several incidents of concern in the run-up to the attack that should have set off warning bells.

The report made 29 recommendations to improve embassy security, particularly at high-threat posts.

Mrs Clinton said she accepted all the recommendations.

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US Shooting: Doubts Over Lanza Asperger's Claim

By Brian Donathan, Sky News Online

A psychologist has told Sky News the actions of mass killer Adam Lanza were not consistent with someone who has Asperger's syndrome.

The gunman's parents reportedly informed friends and divorce mediators that their son had that form of autism.

But Dr Beth Weiner said Friday's shooting that left 20 children and six adults dead inside Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut sounded more like the act of "an individual with an anti-social personality disorder".

She said: "If you bump into someone with Asperger's in the hallway, they might not process it correctly and they might lash out, but they don't plan out something in a premeditated way."

No evidence has been found to suggest Lanza, 20, was taking medication for mental illness, and authorities are still trying to determine whether he was ever formally diagnosed with any mental health disorder.

The massacre, in which Lanza's own mother Nancy was also shot and killed by him, has left a community in mourning and people around the world searching for answers on how similar acts can be prevented in the future.

Dr Weiner, a clinical psychologist and the director of the psychology and therapy master's degree programme at Long Island University-Hudson in West Chester, New York, said "early intervention is key".

The mother of victim Jessica Rekos is comforted at the child's funeral

She said: "Kids have to be targeted early, and the front line people are the school personnel," adding that schools are "overloaded" and cannot be blamed when these types of incidents occur.

"Their hands are tied. They can't do the kind of emotional assessments that some of these kids need," she went on.

What is needed, Dr Weiner said, is a closer relationship between school personnel and outside clinicians - people who are trained in treating clients with mental health disorders.

"We're talking about having more security guards at schools ... maybe we need to look at how we can bring in more mental health professionals into the schools systems on a consulting basis," she said.

Dr Weiner also said people have to start overcoming the stigma that is attached to mental illness, which often keeps parents from pursuing the help their child needs.

"It's not the same when it comes to mental illness," she said. "Parents are not going to be as quick to check off the box that asks whether their child has behavioural problems."

The psychologist said she hopes the Newtown shooting would help people realise the need to be more proactive when it comes to treating children and adults with mental illness.

"In this day and age we're still putting labels, we're still calling people crazy as opposed to asking what can we do for them so they are not shut away from their peers," she said.

"Sometimes that isolation can breed dangerous thinking."

:: Watch USA: The Gun Debate on Sky News on Wednesday at 8:30pm.

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School Shooting: Obama Wants New Gun Policies

Barack Obama is tasking Joe Biden to head up a new government panel to formulate fresh policies to deal with gun violence, following last Friday's school shooting.

The president will formally outline the role of the vice president - a longtime gun control advocate - at the White House on Wednesday.

The panel will explore possible new gun legislation to rein in the sale of assault rifles and high-capacity magazines, but will also look at mental health policies and violence in popular culture.

The president has vowed to use "whatever power this office holds" to safeguard the nation's children after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut.

Twenty children and six adults were killed by 20-year-old Adam Lanza, who earlier shot dead his mother Nancy at the home they shared, and then killed himself at the school as police closed in.

Adam Lanza killed his mother before shooting dead 20 children and six staff

The massacre has re-ignited the debate over gun control in the US, with some calling for a clampdown on firearms.

President Barack Obama backs a new bill to reintroduce a ban on assault weapons that expired in 2004.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said Mr Obama is "actively supportive" of an attempt by Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein to write the bill early next year.

The president has also telephoned pro-gun senator Joe Manchin, who has shifted his position on firearms laws since Friday's carnage in Connecticut.

Mr Manchin, along with fellow democrat Mark Warner, who have so-called "A" ratings from the National Rifle Association, said the Newtown massacre has convinced them the time for reform has come.

West Virginia's Senator Manchin told MSNBC it was time to "move beyond rhetoric" on gun control. He said: "I don't know anyone in the sporting or hunting arena that goes out with an assault rifle. It's common sense."

Senator Warner said "the status quo isn't acceptable" and in a later interview called for "rational gun control".

The NRA has broken its silence over the Sandy Hook school massacre, saying its members were "shocked, saddened and heartbroken by the news of the horrific and senseless murders".

The group also said it wanted to give families time to mourn before making its first public statement.

It pledged "to help to make sure this never happens again" and has scheduled a news conference for Friday.

On Monday, 75 activists demonstrated outside the NRA's headquarters in Washington DC.

They chanted: "Shame on the NRA," and demanded the organisation drop its hardline stance and make way for new gun control laws.

Protesters outside the NRA's headquarters in Washington DC

"More than anyone else, the NRA is responsible for the more than 12,000 people murdered by guns every year in this country," said Josh Nelson, the campaign manager for the progressive Credo Action group that organised the protest.

"We call on the NRA's lobbyists to stand down and allow Congress to pass common-sense gun laws."

:: Watch USA: The Gun Debate on Sky News on Wednesday at 8.30pm.

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Delhi Bus Gang Rape Sparks Angry Protests

Police have fired water cannon to disperse protesters angry over the gang rape of a 23-year-old woman on a bus in New Delhi.

Demonstrators outside New Delhi's Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit's official residence tried to tear down steel barricades after chanting "we want equal rights for women".

There has been an outpouring of anger across the country since the brutal attack that left the student and her male companion in intensive care.

Police are still searching for two of the six men who were on the off-duty school bus when it picked up the pair. Four, including the bus driver, have already been arrested.

The woman was abused for 40 minutes while her companion was fought off with a metal rod. The attackers then pushed the couple off the vehicle.

"Women are told that if they go out late at night, they will be raped," A female protester from Delhi University said.

National crime records show that 228,650 of the total 256,329 violent crimes recorded last year were aimed against women and rape cases more than doubled between 1990 and 2008.

Delhi police commissioner Neeraj Kumar says rape laws need to be rethought.

Sunday night's attack was the latest in a series of particularly brutal attacks in the capital.

Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh joined his ruling Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi in condemning the rape as "heinous".

New Delhi's police chief has demanded the death penalty for the rapists, a crime that currently carries a maximum punishment of 10 years in prison.

"We will seek the most severe punishment of life imprisonment for the culprits and we will send a proposal to the government for the death sentence for rapists," New Delhi police commissioner Neeraj Kumar told reporters.

Some politicians including Sushma Swaraj, leader of the main opposition BJP party, also called for rapists to be hanged.

New Delhi's Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde announced in parliament that there would be an immediate crackdown on tinted curtains and heavy glass in buses and has ordered increased police patrols on the streets.

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Anti-Gay Attack Amid Zenit Football Row

Gay rights activists have been attacked outside the Russian parliament - a day after a leading football team was forced to deny it was both homophobic and xenophobic.

Anti-gay activists threw eggs at equality campaigners near the State Duma, before scuffles broke out between the two sides.

Several activists on both sides were detained by police amid the protest against a controversial new bill banning "gay propaganda".

Gay rights activists have said if adopted the new law will violate the rights of members of the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) community in Russia.

Zenit St Petersburg fans' manifesto opposed gays and blacks

Police also arrested 15 demonstrators protesting against a proposal to ban foreign adoptions of Russian orphans, according to activists.

The attacks and arrests come a day after football team Zenit St Petersburg was forced to address claims of racism and anti-gay policies.

A "manifesto for traditional football" published online by Zenit supporters warned against employing African players.

The manifesto added: "We object to Zenit players being representatives of sexual minorities."

A Zenit executive denied the claims made by the supporters' manifesto

Asked if the club employed a racist policy, director of sport Dietmar Beiersdorfer said: "Of course we have no restrictions related to the origin of a football player, the colour of his skin or religion!"

"Our goal is to win the Russian championship and perform well in Europe.

"To do this, we need both players that we can grow in our academy, and experienced Russian players, and the best talent from around the world."

Meanwhile the fans' manifesto said the team had gained success in the last decade by employing Zenit youth team members, aided by Russian and foreign players "with a similar mentality".

The team has a large working class fan base among St Petersburg's 4.5m population.

Zenit fans in a confrontation with supporters of a Moscow team

The manifesto also complained that football was increasingly profit-based and corporate-run, and slammed players who "constantly changed" clubs.

"Now we fear that the club can turn from this road and take the path of Manchester City and London's Arsenal," it said.

"And many other clubs who buy packs of players from around the world and does not represent a region or city that they represent."

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WWII Arctic Convoy Veterans To Get Medals

Veterans of the Second World War Arctic Convoys who delivered supplies to the Soviet Union are to be awarded medals, the Prime Minister has announced.

The decision caps a long battle for recognition by the veterans, who embarked on what Winston Churchill called the "worst journey in the world" to keep supply lines open.

More than 3,000 seamen died in Operation Dervish, which for four years, starting in 1941, delivered material to the Soviet ports of Murmansk and Archangel.

David Cameron told MPs he had accepted the recommendations of a review of military medals carried out by former diplomat Sir John Holmes.

He added that "the heroic aircrews should be awarded a Bomber Command Clasp".

"Sir John has recommended and I fully agree, there will be an Arctic Convoy Star medal," Mr Cameron announced at Prime Minister's Questions.

"I am very pleased that some of the brave men of the Arctic Convoys will get the recognition they so richly deserve for the very dangerous work they did."

Only a few hundred veterans are thought to still be alive.

Their efforts to secure formal recognition had been repeatedly rebuffed over many years on the grounds of protocol and because the Cold War had made the decision politically unpalatable.

Commander Eddie Grenfell, a veteran and leading campaigner for recognition, said he was "pleased but not delighted" and accused Mr Cameron of taking too long.

"In the meantime God knows how many of my Arctic Convoy chums have died waiting," said the 92-year-old from Portsmouth.

Cmdr Grenfell, one of the few to be rescued when his ship was blown to pieces on one mission, served in a number of theatres during the war but said none was as horrific as the Arctic.

Operation Dervish started in 1941. Photo provided by Greenpeace

Once the conflict ended, he said, it was impossible to campaign for a medal for helping the Russians since Moscow was then the enemy.

When relations thawed after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, an attempt to secure recognition was refused because of a rule saying medals can be awarded only within five years of the end of a war.

Gosport MP Caroline Dinenage, another prominent campaigner, welcomed the decision to address what she said was a "huge injustice" but urged the Government to act swiftly on its promise.

"After years of waiting, time is no longer a luxury that these brave men have on their side," she said.

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Libor Rate-Rigging: UBS Pays £940m Penalty

The Swiss bank UBS is to pay £940m, including £160m to regulators in Britain, to settle Libor rate-rigging investigations.

The fines, which amount to the second biggest penalty paid by a bank in the wake of the £1.2bn money laundering settlement announced by HSBC in the US last week, relate to manipulation of yen Libor and euroyen contracts.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) said the case was "all the more serious" as UBS had attempted to manipulate Libor submissions at other banks, making corrupt payments to reward brokers for their efforts.

The FSA's report revealed incriminating conversations between UBS traders and brokers, saying they would "play the rules" and "return the favour".

One trader said: "I need you to keep it (the six-month Japanese Libor rate) as low as possible ... if you do that ... I'll pay you, you know, $50,000, $100,000 ... whatever you want ... I'm a man of my word."

The Libor scandal cost Bob Diamond the top job at Barclays

Bankers, the FSA said, also referred to each other in congratulatory terms, such as "the three muscateers (sic)", "Superman", and "Captain caos (sic)".

The £940m fine goes to regulators in the US, UK and Switzerland and the bank said it could not rule out further penalties in future.

The total comes to more than three times the $290m fine levied on Barclays in June for rigging the Libor benchmark rate used to price financial contracts around the globe from home loan rates to complex derivatives.

UBS said today that around 40 people have left or been asked to leave the bank as a result of the Libor investigation and it now expected to report a loss of up to £1.7bn for the fourth quarter as a result of the case.

Chief executive Sergio Ermotti added: "We deeply regret this inappropriate and unethical behaviour.

"No amount of profit is more important than the reputation of this firm, and we are committed to doing business with integrity."

In its statement, the FSA said UBS made "corrupt payments" of £15,000 per quarter to brokers for at least 18 months to reward them for helping the Swiss bank manipulate global interest rates.

It said that at least 45 individuals including traders, managers and senior managers were involved in, or aware of, the practice.

Kweku Adoboli lost UBS £1.4bn

The regulator recorded at least 2,000 requests for inappropriate submissions and said many more would have been made orally.

Tracey McDermott, FSA director of enforcement and financial crime, said: "They manipulated UBS's submissions in order to benefit their own positions and to protect UBS's reputation, showing a total disregard for the millions of market participants around the world who were also affected by Libor and Euribor."

The FSA had already fined UBS £29.7m for failings which allowed a rogue trader to rack up losses of £1.4bn in an unrelated case.

Kweku Adoboli was jailed for seven years in November after being found guilty of fraud.

The Libor scandal, which is expected to engulf other banks including RBS, has resulted in pledges to reform how the rates are set.

The British Banking Authority, which currently oversees Libor, has agreed to give up that responsibility as part of the changes.

A criminal investigation in the UK, led by the Serious Fraud Office, resulted in its first arrests last week,

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