Dieudonne Questioned Over 'Bailiff Assault'

The controversial French comedian behind a gesture that critics claim is anti-Semitic has been questioned by police after allegedly assaulting a bailiff.

Dieudonne M'Bala M'Bala owes thousands of euros in unpaid fines for a range of offences, including discrimination and hate speech because of his sketches.

Bailiffs arrived at Dieudonne's home in the centre of France on Monday to demand payment and tried to get in by climbing over a fence, his lawyer Sanjay Mirabeau said.

Mr Mirabeau added that they were asked to leave.

Sources close to the investigation quoted by AFP said the bailiff claimed he was assaulted by Dieudonne and targeted with rubber bullets. Investigators said the search found a "bullet-launching device".

Dieudonne went to a police station voluntarily along with his girlfriend Noemie Montagne to answer questions for several hours. The couple also filed a complaint accusing the bailiff of breaking into their home.             

Mr Mirabeau said: "Dieudonne wants to be left alone or at least to be treated in a normal manner, that is to say for the bailiffs to turn up at his house during regular hours."

His 'quenelle' gesture, which involves pointing one arm downwards and touching the shoulder with the other arm, has been defended by his supporters as an anti-establishment gesture.

But critics say it is a Nazi salute in reverse, and Dieudonne has been banned from performing in France.

Fans have performed the quenelle outside the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp and at Holocaust memorials.

The name comes from the French word for dumpling. It gained widespread exposure when Premier League footballer Nicolas Anelka performed it during a goal celebration in December.

Anelka, who plays for West Brom, was charged by the Football Association for the gesture on Tuesday and will face a minimum five-match ban if he is found guilty. He has previously claimed he performed the salute simply to show support for Dieudonne.

The striker has until 6pm on Thursday to respond to the charge.

In light of the controversy, West Brom's sponsor Zoopla decided not to renew a lucrative sponsorship deal with the club when it expires at the end of the season. The property website was co-founded by a Jewish-American businessman.

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Sochi Olympic Teams Receive 'Terror Threats'

A number of countries say they have received terrorist threats against their athletes ahead of the Winter Olympics in Russia.

Britain, Italy, Germany and Hungary are among countries whose Olympic Committees have confirmed they have received threatening emails.

Statements suggested that some or all of the committees may have received the same message - warning of attacks against competitors or delegates if they travel to the games in Sochi.

The British Olympic Association and the International Olympic Committee described the email threat as "not credible". 

Hungary said the messages it received had also been investigated and declared "non-threatening".

Germany said it had received the same emails as Hungary and believed the same message had been circulated widely.

Slovenia's Olympic Committee also said it had been sent a terrorist threat letter written in Russian.

"We've had it translated and have forwarded it to the police," spokesman Brane Dmitrovic told Reuters.

This train station in Volgograd, Russia, was targeted by a suicide bomber

German Olympic Committee spokesman Christian Klaue said: "We take all tips on security questions seriously and are in close contact with the relevant German authorities."

The Hungarian committee's international relations director Zsigmond Nagy said a letter written in Russian and English had been investigated by both the International Olympic Committee and the Russian organising committee.

He said: "Both the IOC and the Sochi organising committee ... officially declared after the analysis of the letter that this threat is not real, and this person has been sending all kinds of messages to many members of the Olympic family."

Sky News Sports Correspondent Paul Kelso said: "The British Olympic Association say they've shown the message to their security experts and they don't think it's credible.

"That's also the message that's coming from the International Olympic Committee based in Switzerland and they're saying that it seems to be the same communication that's gone to a number of big Olympic organisations across Europe.

"What it does tell us is that the level of twitchiness about security is incredibly high. The games start on February 7 and the security situation in Russia is pretty volatile."

The suspected threats come after Russian security officials said they were hunting three potential female suicide bombers ahead of the games.

One of the suspects, 22-year-old Ruzanna Ibragimova - the widow of a suicide bomber - was reported to be at large in Sochi itself.

The other two suspects were identified as Zaira Aliyeva, 26, and Dzhannet Tsakhayeva, 34.

Police information states that all three women have been trained "to perpetrate acts of terrorism".

Last month, the southern city of Volgograd was rocked by two suicide bombings, which killed 34 and injured dozens more.

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Syria: Clash Ends 'Constructive' Start To Talks

The Syrian foreign minister and the UN Secretary-General have clashed at the start of crucial peace talks aimed at ending the country's bloody civil war.

Walid al Muallem ignored Ban Ki-moon's appeal for him to end an opening speech that lasted more than 30 minutes, saying: "You live in New York. I live in Syria. I have the right to give the Syrian version here in this forum."

He also launched a blistering attack on the Syrian opposition, asking them: "Where is your vision for this great country? Where are your ideas? Where is your political programme? What are the tools on the ground? I am quite sure you have nothing."

Mr Ban said the "constructive mood" with which the talks began had been shattered and warned: "I hope this will not be repeated."

Earlier, the US Secretary of State said world leaders have an "opportunity and an obligation" to find a way to end a conflict that has killed more than 100,000 people and created an estimated 2.3 million refugees.

The city of Montreux, Switzerland, is hosting the Geneva II talks

John Kerry said millions of Syrians "are relying on the international community to find a solution to save their lives and their country".

He said it had taken "a lot longer than many of us wanted" for world leaders to attempt to thrash out a resolution but said he was "as determined as ever" to end what he described as the "horrors of human catastrophe".

The conference on the banks of Lake Geneva is going ahead despite a last-minute dispute over the UN's decision to withdraw an invitation to Iran, after it refused to endorse a plan for a transitional governing body in Syria.

Groups fighting the rule of Bashar al Assad, who counts Iran as one of his closest allies, had threatened to pull out of the so-called "Geneva II" talks unless the invitation was rescinded.

In his opening exchange, opposition leader Ahmed Jarba accused the Syrian president of war crimes comparable to those committed by the Nazis during World War Two.

Mr Kerry and Mr Ban meet ahead of the Syrian peace conference

He demanded Mr Assad stand down as president and called on the government to commit to a transition of power - an issue expected to be central to the success of the talks.

However, Mr al Muallem has rejected any discussion of Mr Assad quitting his post.

"The subject of the president and the regime is a red line for us and the Syrian people and will not be touched," he said on the eve of the talks, according to the Sana news agency.

The conference also begins in the shadow of allegations of large-scale torture and execution of prisoners by government forces.

The day before the talks, a group of international lawyers published allegations of the "systematic torture and killing" of up to 11,000 people by the Syrian regime.

Smoke rises after a bomb blast in the Syrian city of Aleppo

Foreign Secretary William Hague urged both sides in Syria to "seize the chance" to end the civil war as he arrived in Switzerland.

"Opposition has been tested and has come. Now regime must be tested on willingness to seek a political solution," he wrote on Twitter.

Mr Hague added that it was a "great shame" that Iran, which has enjoyed a thawing of relations with the West in recent months, had failed to endorse the principles of the talks.

US President Barack Obama and Russia's Vladimir Putin had a "business-like" conversation about the Syrian conflict by phone on Tuesday.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also met Mr Kerry in Montreux ahead of today's opening of negotiations.

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Boy Dies Saving Relatives From New York Fire

An eight-year-old boy has saved six relatives from a fire at a trailer home in New York, but died trying to rescue a disabled uncle.

Tyler Doohan's body was found in the bedroom of his grandfather's small trailer in Penfield, a suburb of Rochester.

Nine people were inside the trailer when a fire broke out shortly before 5am on Monday.

Tyler managed to wake six people up, including his grandmother, aunt and two children aged four and six.

He then went back inside to help the remaining occupants of the trailer.

The scene of the fire in Penfield

Tyler was found near the bed of his uncle Steve Smith, a wheelchair-user, and investigators believe he was trying to wake him up.

Mr Smith and Tyler's grandfather Louis Beach also died.

The family's pets - cats, a dog and hamsters - were also killed in the blaze, according to local newspaper Democrat & Chronicle.

Tyler had gone to his grandfather's trailer on Monday, the Martin Luther King Day holiday, because he did not have school.

Penfield Fire Chief Chris Ebmeyer said the death toll would likely have been much worse were it not for the boy's bravery.

"He saved those other six people," he was quoted as saying by USA Today.

The boy was hailed as a hero by neighbours and officials at his school.

"The kid has more guts than I know of," an uncle, Joseph Bereyette, told Rochester-based station WHEC.

"I mean, to run back in there and go through what he went through to try to save his uncle - what can you say for the kid?

"He was a great kid."

A statement released by East Rochester Central School District said: "It is extremely important to remember that according to emergency personnel, (Tyler) was the person who discovered the fire and tried to wake the eight other people in the residence at the time.

"In bravely and selflessly giving his own life, he was able to save the lives of six others, and he is truly a hero."

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Amnesty Fears Over Trial Of Chinese Lawyer

By Mark Stone, China Correspondent, In Beijing

A prominent Chinese lawyer is standing trial in Beijing charged with "gathering people to disturb order in a public place".

Xu Zhiyong, a lawyer and a lecturer at the Beijing University of Post and Telecommunications, was arrested in July last year and has been in custody at Beijing's Number 3 Detention Centre since then.

Among Mr Xu's alleged crimes are charges including "making a racket" and "attracting onlookers".

Security around the Number 1 Intermediate Court in the far west of the Chinese capital has been extremely tight.

Mr Xu has appeared in the Chinese edition of Esquire

Scores of uniformed and plain-clothed security officials circled the courthouse.

Foreign news organisations, including Sky News, were bundled away as they tried to film despite being allowed to cover the trial from outside court.

Mr Xu, 41, is one of the founders of an organisation called the New Citizens Movement.

In May 2012, he wrote an online article entitled China Needs A New Citizens' Movement. Its aim was to promote government transparency and expose corruption.

It attracted a following around China large enough to raise concerns among the Communist leadership. A number of other lawyers, academics and known activists put their name to it. Many of them have also been detained.

The central plank of the New Citizens Movement's online manifesto is the desire to "utter farewell to authoritarianism" within the "ancient nation" of China.

Mr Xu's day-long trial was closed to foreign media and the dozen British, European and American diplomats who tried to observe proceedings. There was no opportunity to witness proceedings or see evidence presented to the court.

In a statement, Amnesty International said: "We consider Xu Zhiyong to be a prisoner of conscience and he should be released immediately and unconditionally.

"Anything less would make a mockery of the Chinese government's ongoing anti-corruption efforts.

"Instead of President Xi Jinping's promised clamp-down on corruption, we are seeing a crackdown against those that want to expose it.

"The persecution of activists associated with the New Citizens Movement has to end."

Since Chinese President Xi Jinping took office in March 2013, a government campaign against official corruption has run in parallel with a concerted effort to silence those who try to expose corruption or who criticises the authorities.

In August last year, a month after he was arrested, Mr Xu managed to record a video from behind bars. It was smuggled out of the jail and posted online.

If convicted Mr Xu faces up to five years in jail

Handcuffed, he speaks for just over a minute in Chinese, with a defiant message.

"No matter how this society is, how defeated or how absurd it is, this society needs brave citizens who can stand up and hold fast to their beliefs; who can take their rights, responsibilities and their dreams seriously," he said.

"I'm proud to put the word 'citizen' before my name, and I hope everyone does the same. Put the word 'citizen' before your name.

"Let us unite, and work together to make our rights as citizens matter, to make our identities as citizens matter - working together to promote democracy, rule of law, fairness and justice in our country."

The Chinese authorities remain extremely sensitive about any forms of discontent or large gatherings which criticise authority. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the student uprising and subsequent massacre by the Chinese military in Beijing's Tiananmen Square.

The Chinese government claims the tighter online restrictions against criticism are in place to prevent the "spreading of rumours and bias against China".

In an interview with Sky News last week, the Chinese ambassador defended his government's stance on internet freedoms.

"What we are concerned about is healthy content and whether it is in the interest of improving mutual understanding between China and the world." Ambassador Liu Xiaoming told Sky's Jeff Randall.

Mr Xu has featured in an edition of Mr Fashion magazine, China's version of Esquire.

Neither the Chinese government nor the judiciary have commented the proceedings, but Sky sources understand that the trial has concluded after just a day. The verdict will be issued at a date yet to be determined. 

If convicted, Mr Xu faces up to five years in jail.

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British Drug Smuggler Escapes Death Penalty

A British woman has escaped the death penalty after admitting smuggling crystal meth into Indonesia from China.

Andrea Waldeck has instead been jailed for 14 years and fined £100,000.

The 43-year-old admitted to taking three pounds of the drug through an airport in Java in April hidden in her underwear, but claimed she was coerced into it by her boyfriend in exchange for around £3,000, according to her indictment.

The former Police Community Support Officer with Gloucestershire Police, who left the force in February 2012, hung her head as she was led down to the cells at the court in Surabaya.

The ex-Gloucestershire Community Support Officer is considering an appeal

The sentence was lower than the 16 years recommended by the prosecutor. Under the country's strict anti-drugs laws Waldeck could have been given a death sentence.

The judge in the case said: "Andrea Waldeck has been proven legally and convincingly guilty of offering to sell or become a middle person to sell drugs."

He added that the punishment was lenient because Waldeck had "honestly admitted her mistake, which helped the trial proceed smoothly".

Waldeck's mother and brother at a hearing during her trial

The indictment against her said that Waldeck was arrested at a hotel after she managed to get through airport security with the drugs hidden in four plastic bags in her underwear.

It added that two members of a drugs gang had been on their way to the hotel to pick up the crystal meth, but police knew what was going on and got there first and arrested Waldeck.

She is considering whether to appeal against the ruling.

Waldeck is not the first foreigner to be punished in Indonesia for drug smuggling. 

Grandmother Lindsay Sandiford was sentenced to death in January 2013 after being caught trying to smuggle £1.4m worth of cocaine into Bali. The sentence was unanimously upheld in August by Indonesia's Supreme Court.

On Monday, Frenchman Michael Blanc was freed on parole after 14 years in prison for transporting hash, a purified form of cannabis, into the country.

His early release has raised hopes that Australian Schapelle Corby, who was given a 20-year sentence for smuggling nine pounds of marijuana into Bali in 2005, might also be released.

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Police Held Over 'The Voice' Singer's Murder

Seven police officers have been arrested in connection with the kidnap and murder of a former contestant from the Mexican version of The Voice.

Gibran David Martiz Diaz, 22, was found dead with gunshot wounds on Saturday in the Gulf Coast state of Veracruz.

Authorities believe Diaz and another victim were killed moments before security forces arrived to free them.

Two kidnapping suspects were also killed during the shootout, officials said.

Diaz and his friend had been missing since January 7 when they were abducted from his house - allegedly by men wearing police uniforms.

His family had appealed on Twitter and Facebook to try to find the 22-year-old, who featured in the last season of the singing show.

Kidnapping is not an unusual event in Mexico and is said to be on the rise. Some 105,000 abductions took place in the country in 2012.

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Mafia Suspect Leaps To Death Before Arrest

By Nick Pisa, Sky News Producer

A businessman jumped more than 100ft to his death after police arrived to arrest him in connection with a multi-million pound mafia money laundering operation.

Giuseppe Cristarelli, 43, was one of 90 people rounded up by police in a series of dawn raids on Wednesday as part of the blitz against organised crime.

Officers said Cristarelli calmly asked for a glass of water, before then running through the fourth-floor apartment, opening a window and leaping more than 100ft to his death in front of his horrified wife.

The incident happened in the Tor di Quinto suburb of Rome and a planned police press conference about the operation was hastily cancelled at the force's city centre headquarters.

Cristarelli was originally from the southern Italian city of Naples, heartland of the local mafia known as the Camorra, and had been named on a judicial investigation document as wanted for questioning on money laundering.

A Rome police spokesman said: "There was no indication of what he was going to do. He asked for a glass of water, then just ran to a window, opened it and jumped out.

"His wife was also in the apartment and she was as shocked as the officers.

"An investigation has been launched and his body is now been taken away for autopsy. A press conference about the operation has been cancelled."

Neighbours reported hearing the father-of-two's wife screaming in the early hours of the morning following the police raid.

One said: "Everyone in the block heard her screaming. It was terrifying. People came out and that's when we found out the husband had jumped from the window.

"No one can quite believe it. They are a lovely family with two children. The wife was taken away for questioning and the block is surrounded by police.

"All I know is that the man is a businessman from Naples. I'm not sure what business exactly though - I think maybe construction but I'm not sure."

In the past, various crime bosses and their associates have chosen to commit suicide both in prison and out rather than face a trial or investigation.

Earlier, police had said the raids were in connection with an operation against the Contini crime family and had involved arrests all over Italy as well as the confiscation of property worth more than 250 million euro.

Detectives said that the blitz was against Camorra money laundering facilities and that businesses seized included around two dozen bars, restaurants and ice-cream parlours in tourist-heavy areas of the capital, near Piazza Navona and the Pantheon, as well as luxury clothes shops in Naples.

The operation was the biggest carried out to date against the Naples-based Contini clan, which launders money and traffics drugs in the Campania region, Tuscany and Rome.

The clan's boss, 64-year-old Salvatore Botta, is already serving time in a Naples prison.

His wife and nephew, who are accused of running the business for him while he is behind bars, were taken into custody during the sting, Rome's anti-mafia unit said in a statement.

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Ukraine Protesters 'Shot Dead By Police'

Three people have reportedly died during clashes between police and protesters in the Ukrainian capital Kiev.

Medical staff in the city told Sky News that two had died after being shot, and one after falling from a height.

Police threw stun grenades and broke through protesters' barricades, made from burnt-out buses, early on Wednesday morning.

Some protesters lobbed petrol bombs at police as fighting continued on the city's snow-covered streets.

The latest violence follows three nights of clashes that have left hundreds wounded in the Ukrainian capital.

A man holds a petrol bomb during fighting with police on Wednesday

Sky News' Moscow Correspondent Katie Stallard said protesters claim one of the dead was killed by a police sniper in the early hours.

A criminal investigation has also started after prosecutors said live ammunition had been used - a claim which authorities deny.

One of the dead protesters was named locally as Serhiy Nihoyna.

Image said to show one of the dead, Serhiy Nihoyna (Pic: Serhiy Proskurnia)

Tensions in the country have reached boiling point after several months of protests over President Viktor Yanukovych's refusal to sign a new deal bringing the country closer to the European Union.

Mr Yanukovych instead opted for closer ties with former communist master Russia.

Tough new anti-protest laws have also been rushed through to try to bring the situation under control, but have only increased protesters' anger.

Opposition parties and the government both put out statements blaming each another for the deaths.

Protesters take cover during clashes on Kiev's snow-covered streets

"The Interior Minister, the bloody murderer (Vitali) Zakharchenko, bears personal responsibility for this act of terror of dictatorship against citizens," the parties said.

But Ukraine's prime minister, Mykola Azarov, called the protesters "terrorists" and said the casualties were their responsibility.

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov yesterday warned the situation was spiralling out of control.

Opposition politicians, including former world boxing champion Vitali Klitschko and Arseniy Yatsenyuk, have repeatedly appealed for calm since protests turned violent on Sunday.

Police are not to blame for the deaths, says the Ukrainian government

Some 200,000 took to the streets at the weekend in a show of anger over the new anti-protest laws rushed through by President Yanukovych.

The laws allow for jail terms of up to five years for those who blockade public buildings. They also ban protesters from wearing masks or helmets.

The president agreed to negotiate with the opposition following a meeting with Mr Klitschko over the weekend, however no such talks have yet been held.

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Russian Mine Blast: 15 Trapped Underground

Fifteen miners remain underground after a blast at a Russian coal mine, reports Interfax citing an emergency official.

More follows...

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