Russian Paratroopers' Mothers Plead For Release

By Katie Stallard, Moscow Correspondent

The wives and mothers of some of the Russian paratroopers captured in Ukraine have appealed to President Vladimir Putin to help bring them home.

Recording their messages on camera phones, the women pleaded for the men to be returned alive.

They spoke from the office of the Committee of Soldiers' Mothers, a human rights organisation in Kostroma, the central Russian town where the men are based.

"Dear President, Minister of Defence and commanders," the first woman said. "My child, Yegor Valeryevich Pochtoev, is at the moment in captivity on Ukrainian territory.

"I am begging you in the name of God: give me my child back. Get him back alive and all the other boys who were captured with him.

"My son, boys, we are with you. Guys, we will get you out of this trouble in any case. If the commanders don't help us, we will do it ourselves; your mothers will do it."

Russia says the men crossed the border "by accident"

The mother of Sergei Arkhipov addressed her son: "Serega, we love you, we are waiting for you, we are doing everything we can.

"We are addressing everyone: Please, help us."

The mother of paratrooper Sergei Smirnov tried to speak but broke down in tears and had to ask her husband to make the appeal for her.

"We are asking the President and the Minister of Defence to help to resolve this conflict, so that they would send guys wisely in the future," he said.

"So that everyone would come back alive. Please, help us."

Paratrooper Alexey Generalov's wife sobbed as she said: "Lesha, we love you and wait for you at home. Save them and help us to bring them home alive and in good health.

"I am addressing everyone, all the government, the Minister of Defence and the President. Please, bring them back to us as soon as possible."

The men are apparently being held in the Ukrainian capital Kiev

The 10 paratroopers were detained close to the village of Dzerkalnye, approximately 19 miles (30km) from the Russian border, according to Ukraine's state security service.

Russia's defence ministry says they crossed the border "by accident".

Speaking at a news conference in Kiev on Wednesday, the men repeated their earlier assertion that they had not known they were crossing into Ukraine.

Sergeant Vladimir Savosteyev said: "Only the highest command probably knew what would happen. We didn't know. No one had any idea."

Paratrooper Ivan Romantsev explained: "We are ordinary soldiers and we don't want to fight.

"We are not informed at all. We were sent there. We either got lost or not, we were sent there, we didn't know the way and where we were going.

"And when it all happened - shelling - and when we came to your boys, we realised that it's war indeed. There is a war, but by this time we don't know who runs this war."

A spokesman for Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council said the men were being held at a pre-trial detention centre in Kiev.

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Ukraine-Russia Talks Yield No Breakthrough

Talks between the leaders of Ukraine and Russia have ended without a major breakthrough towards ending fighting between government forces and pro-Moscow separatists.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin sat down for one-on-one talks in Belarus, hours after Kiev said it had captured 10 Russian paratroopers on its territory.

Mr Poroshenko said there were "some results" but there seemed to be no significant compromises to help end four months of fighting in east Ukraine that has left more than 2,000 dead and forced more than 400,000 people from their homes.

Russia has long been accused by Kiev of backing the separatists, charges Moscow has repeatedly denied.

Mr Putin has faced criticism from Ukraine and the West over the crisis

Mr Putin said he would "do everything" to help a future peace process but did little to ease tensions when he shrugged off the claims about the paratroopers.

"I have not yet received a report from the defence ministry. But from what I have heard, they were patrolling the border and could have ended up on Ukrainian territory," Mr Putin said, adding that Ukrainian troops had previously crossed into Russia.

Mr Poroshenko (right) demanded action, not words, to end the fighting

"I am hoping that there won't be any problems with the Ukrainian side over this case."

Military sources in Moscow said they crossed over the border "by accident".

Ukraine's military released footage purporting to show the captured paratroopers, who were detained around 30 miles (50km) southeast of the rebel stronghold of Donetsk.

The two leaders also discussed aid to the east and the gas dispute

At the talks all sides "without exception" agreed to a Kiev peace plan, Mr Poroshenko said, but he demanded "decisive actions", not words, afterwards.

But Mr Putin said only Kiev can agree a ceasefire with the separatists, insisting: "This is not our business. This is Ukraine's business."

Moscow could only "create an atmosphere of trust for this important and necessary process", he claimed.

One of the Russian paratroopers Kiev claims to have captured

Russia's decision to send an aid convoy to east Ukraine last week also raised tensions, but Mr Putin claimed to have "reached certain" agreements at the talks on sending aid there.

Moscow announced on Monday it was planning to send a second convoy to the area this week.

Mr Putin also said the two countries agreed to restart gas talks after Moscow turned off the taps to Kiev over a pricing dispute.

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Cops 'Regret' Arrest Of Black Film Producer

The Los Angeles Police Department has apologised for the mistaken arrest of a black film producer who it said looked like a bank robber.

Harvard graduate Charles Belk was detained on Friday as he left a restaurant to top up a parking meter before a pre-Emmy television awards party.

The 51-year-old says he was taken to Beverly Hills Police Headquarters, where he was photographed, finger-printed and held on $100,000 (£60,000) bail.

He says he was finally released six hours later after police reviewed surveillance video of the robbery and realised the man in custody was not the armed robbery suspect.

Charles Belk poses with an Emmy award

Mr Belk wrote on Facebook: "I get that the Beverly Hills Police Department didn't know that I was a well educated American citizen that had received a BS in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California, an MBA from Indiana University … and an Executive Leadership Certificate from Harvard Business School.

"Hey, I was 'tall', 'bald', a 'male' and 'black', so I fit the description."

LAPD initially said Mr Belk had "matched the physical characteristics of the second suspect and was in the area of the bank shortly after the robbery".

On Tuesday, the department maintained it had "properly detained" him, but offered an apology.

"The Beverly Hills Police Department deeply regrets the inconvenience to Mr Belk and has reached out to him to express those regrets and further explain the circumstances," officials said in a statement.

A photo of Mr Belk sitting handcuffed on the kerbside at Wilshire Boulevard with officers standing over him has been shared more than 32,000 times on Facebook.

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Oz Mid-Air Emergency: Passenger Charged

Pilot Hailed A Hero After Mid-Air Fight Drama

Updated: 12:41pm UK, Tuesday 26 August 2014

By Jonathan Samuels, Australia Correspondent

A young pilot is being described as a hero for landing a light aircraft in a field after fighting off a passenger who tried to cut the plane's engine and grab the controls.

The mid-air drama happened in the skies over New South Wales, Australia, during a flight in a twin-engine aircraft.

It is alleged that the 82-year-old passenger on the charter flight flicked a switch in the cockpit to shut down the engine and then seized the control column.

The quick-thinking 23-year-old pilot issued a Mayday call and wrestled the man back into his seat. He restrained him and then managed to land the plane safely.

The passenger had booked the flight with Australia By Air from Sydney to Cowra, with the plane departing Bankstown Airport about 2pm on Monday.

The man, who apparently did not know the pilot, said he had booked the flight because he needed to go to the rural town to sign some papers, reported the ABC.

He was sitting next to the pilot in the four-seater aircraft.

Australia By Air managing director David Trevelyan praised the pilot saying he had issued an emergency 'Pan-Pan' announcement before landing safely.

A pan call is when the pilot is in trouble but not in a life-threatening situation.

"I would like to praise the actions of the pilot. He showed fantastic skill," Mr Trevelyan said.

"He did an excellent job in an amazingly difficult scenario ... and under tremendous pressure."

It was the first time Australia By Air had conducted a flight for the elderly man.

"Nothing about the guy made us suspicious," Mr Trevelyan told Sky News. "He walked in and said he wanted to go to Cowra to sign some papers, that would take 15 minutes and then he'd fly back. It was a very normal request for us."

With the engine cut, the pilot managed to glide the plane into the field.

Emergency services arrived at the field where the plane landed and immediately attended the two men.

The pilot's efforts left the elderly man with head and facial injuries.

The passenger was taken to Sydney's Westmead Hospital while the pilot was taken to Oberon Hospital suffering from shock and was released on Monday night.

Police will get the elderly man's version of events once he is fit enough to be questioned.

It is understood the pilot has been fully qualified for only two years.

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US Border Control Warns Off Armed Militias

The US Border Patrol has warned private militias to stay out of the battle to stem the flow of illegal immigrants into the country.

A number of volunteer armies have appeared along the US-Mexico border in recent weeks as the country faces an unprecedented surge of migrants from Central America.

But the agency tasked with policing the border says those militias cause more problems than they solve.

Border Patrol agent Joe Gutierrez told Sky News: "Generally we don't encourage people to take the law into their own hands. We are uniquely qualified to do this job specifically. The public do act as our eyes and ears and we encourage them to do that."

The US government has flooded the border area with extra resources in recent weeks in an effort to tackle the growing crisis. Texas Governor Rick Perry has also deployed the National Guard to the region.

Sky News joined Border Patrol agents in the Rio Grande Valley - so far this year, more illegal immigrants have been apprehended in the valley than in the rest of the United States put together.

The militias are heavily armed with automatic weapons

While we were filming with agents, a group of migrants emerged from the bush. They had been dispatched across the Rio Grande on a raft by people smugglers.

Patty, a young woman from Honduras, had been travelling with her two-year-old son for six weeks. She told us the journey had been hard because she was walking without shoes. Many of those in the group were unaccompanied children, hoping to be allowed to stay in the US.

Militia groups say they are not concerned with women and children arriving. They fear drug cartels, criminal gangs and terrorists following the same path.

Kelli Gordon runs one of the private militia now patrolling the Rio Grande Valley.

She told Sky News: "My country is being invaded. If the government isn't going to protect our borders then that leaves we the people.

"We do need a militia because without it you need more police and we don't want more police.

"No-one wants to do this. We don't want to be out here but the militia is very important. We won't be unarmed because we are the last line of defence against tyranny."

No-one knows how many migrants are actually making it across the border but even those who do face a perilous journey north.

To avoid a checkpoint 80 miles inside Texas at Farfallas, many migrants head off across farmland, risking heat and exhaustion.

The bodies of more than one hundred migrants were found dumped in a mass grave at the Sacred Heart Cemetery in Farfallas.

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Gaza Ceasefire: A Truce, Not A Peace

By Tom Rayner, Middle East Reporter, Jerusalem

The phrase 'open-ended ceasefire' suggests a lasting end to the fighting in Gaza.

But this is a truce, not a peace – and few would say with confidence this arrangement prevents, rather than simply delays, the next round of violence.

After 50 days of extraordinary bloodshed, the halt in fighting is no doubt welcome by all sides.

But the discussion of how to resolve the core issues have been pushed down the road, for renewed talks in Cairo in a month's time.

For now, the immediate ceasefire rests on agreements that effectively replicate the last ceasefire arrived at in November 2012.

These are a halt to rocket and mortar fire from Gaza, and an end to Israeli military action; the relaxation of border restrictions to allow passage of humanitarian aid and reconstruction equipment into Gaza, and an extension of the fishing limit off the Gaza coast from three to six nautical miles.

Israel is easing a blockade of Gaza to allow in humanitarian aid

If the current ceasefire holds for a month, there are some low-hanging fruit that may also start to be introduced.

The possible extension of the fishing limit to 12 nautical miles; the transfer of responsibility for Gaza's borders with Egypt and Israel from Hamas to the Palestinian Authority, and a narrowing of Israel's 'no-go zone' within Gaza's borders from 300 to 100m – allowing farmers access to their land.

But these are all secondary to the thorny issues that will need addressing if another cycle of war is to be avoided.

Hamas, and the wider Palestinian leadership, want an end to Israel's blockade of Gaza – the opening of border crossings so that Gazans may travel, the creation of an airport and the creation of a seaport.

They want the block on the transfer of wages to officials in Gaza to be removed, and the release of what they see as political prisoners in Israeli jails – both long-serving and those rounded up in the West Bank following the murder of three Israeli teenagers in June.

Over 2,100 Palestinians and 68 Israelis were killed in the conflict

A possible exchange may be in the offing that would see Hamas hand over the bodily remains and personal effects of two Israeli soldiers killed in the ground operation.

For Israel's part, it is demanding any concessions be in exchange for demilitarisation in Gaza and steps towards Hamas recognising Israel's right to exist.

There is international pressure for these issues to be resolved, but no illusions about how difficult it is going to be.

There is scepticism amongst some western diplomats that the Egyptian mediation which brought about the ceasefire, has the capacity to get firm agreements on these points.

So there's likely to be a significant push – led by the US, but based upon a European initiative – at the UN Security Council to try and impose a resolution dealing with these issues.

But imposing external solutions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has a far from successful track record.

While the bombs and rockets may have been put on hold, the belligerent positions have not – which doesn't bode well for prospects this truce might lead to peace.

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North Korea Accuses US Over Human Rights

North Korea has claimed that the police shooting of a black teenager in Missouri is proof that the US is a "graveyard of human rights".

The secretive state called the US a nation "where people are subject to discrimination and humiliation due to their race".

A statement issued by the state-run Korean Central News Agency claimed there was "an urgent need to force the US to sit in the dock of a human rights court".

North Korea's Foreign Ministry spokesman added: "The US issues a report every year taking issue with the 'human rights performances' of other countries, as if it were an 'international human rights judge'.

"But this time, it suffered disgrace and became a laughing stock of the world owing to what happened in it.

South Koreans staged a protest against Kim Jong-Un's leadership in January

"The US had better honestly accept the unanimous accusations of the broad international community and mind its own business, instead of interfering in the internal affairs of other countries."

North Korea has been known to grab any opportunity to turn the tables on Washington's ongoing criticism of its government, led by Kim Jong-Un.

The death of Michael Brown in Ferguson triggered nearly two weeks of often violent protests nationwide.

His funeral took place yesterday, with several White House officials paying their respects.

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UN Accuses Syria Over Chemical Weapons

A United Nations report has accused Syria of using chemical weapons eight times in April - and highlights mass atrocities by Islamic State militants.

The report by the independent Commission of Inquiry said it believed chlorine, dispatched in barrel bombs, was the agent used on multiple occasions.

It also highlighted mock crucifixions, public executions, amputations and the beheading of children by Islamic State militants in parts of Syria.

The accusations came amid reports that Syrian rebels had seized control of the Syrian crossing with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said there had been heavy fighting between rebels - including the al Qaeda affiliated al Nusra Front - and the army.

An Israeli army officer stationed in the Golan Heights has been injured after errant fire, sources said.   

Islamic State fighters in northern Raqqa province

The UN's 45-page report accused the Syrian regime of dropping barrel bombs on residential areas and highlighted atrocities meted out by Islamic State members. 

"Reasonable grounds exist to believe that chemical agents, likely chlorine, were used on (northern Syrian villages) Kafr Zeita, al Tamana and Tal Minnis in eight incidents within a 10-day period in April," it said.

"Witnesses saw helicopters drop barrel bombs and smelled a scent akin to domestic chlorine immediately following impact," it pointed out.

President Assad was sworn in for another seven years in July

Victims suffered "symptoms compatible with exposure to chemical agents, namely vomiting, eye and skin irritation, choking and other respiratory problems".

It marks the first time the UN has assigned blame for the use of the chemical agent. 

Bashar al Assad and the opposition have accused each other of using chemical agents, including chlorine, in the bloody uprising, that began in March 2011.

The report also outlines atrocities being carried out by IS militants in Syria, including public executions, amputations, lashings and mock crucifixions.

The document describes beheadings of boys as young as 15 and men flogged for smoking or accompanying an "improperly dressed" female relative.

Women have been publicly lashed for not following the group's strict dress code, the report says.

IS is also recruiting and training children as young as 10, with teens being used in active combat and suicide-bombing missions, the report said.

"This is a continuation - and a geographic expansion - of the widespread and systematic attack on the civilian population," according to the report.

The four-member commission was created three years ago by the UN Human Rights Council to investigate abuses committed in the war.

Syria has said it is ready to cooperate with the international community in the fight against the militants who have taken over areas straddling both Iraq and Syria.

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Panda May Have Faked Pregnancy For Buns

Panda Facts - In Black And White

Updated: 1:34pm UK, Tuesday 12 August 2014

Edinburgh Zoo is hopeful that Tian Tian the panda is expecting a little panda. Here are some facts about what she can expect.

:: The foetus does not start to develop until the final weeks of pregnancy.

:: A cub weights around 5.3oz (150g) at birth - that is 1,000th of a fully grown female panda. It grows up to 10 times its birth weight in the first five to six weeks of life.

:: The cub is born pink, finely covered in short, white, hair with tightly-closed eyes. These partly open at between 30 and 45 days and open fully a week or two later.

:: It starts to develop black patches after around a week. The cub starts to grow black hair on its patches a few weeks later.

:: After a month, the cub is beginning to resemble its giant panda parent but it has a longer tail. 

:: It takes several weeks before the cub can crawl, and before then it cries loudly and often so its mother is aware of its needs for food and sleep.

:: Panda mothers lick their cubs often and stay with the cub for up to a month, by which time the cub can regulate its own body temperature and does not need its mother to keep it warm.

:: By 75 to 80 days cubs can stand and walk a few steps. Their eyesight is improving, as is their hearing and they are beginning to teethe. 

:: At four months cubs are active, running about and climbing on their mother's back in play.

:: At five months they follow their mother and mimic her as they eat bamboo and climb trees.

:: The cub starts to eat solids at around six months.

:: It will get its permanent teeth at around the time of its first birthday when it will now weigh between 50lb and 60lb (23kg-27kg). It will be suckling only once or twice a day.

:: By the age of two, the same age that the cub starts to make its own way in the wild, the cub is likely to go back to China.

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Syria Hostage Peter Theo Curtis Back On US Soil

An American journalist held hostage in Syria for almost two years has thanked the hundreds of "brave and determined people" who helped secure his release.

In his first public remarks since touching down in the US, Peter Theo Curtis said: "I had no idea when I was in prison that so much effort was being expended on my behalf.

"Now that I have found out I am just overwhelmed with emotion."

Mr Curtis, 45, was reunited with his mother Nancy after landing back on home soil on Tuesday.

Nancy Curtis was pictured with her son on his return. Pic: Curtis Family

The journalist, originally from Boston, was released by al Qaeda's official wing in Syria, al Nusra Front, two days earlier after 22 months in captivity.

His voice trembling at times, Mr Curtis told reporters he was also overwhelmed that total strangers had been coming up to him and saying "we are glad you are home, welcome home, I'm glad you are back, glad you are safe."

"To all those people I say a huge thank you from the bottom of my heart," he said.

Shortly after being reunited with her son, Nancy Curtis told reporters he was "so excited to be home".

Peter Theo Curtis was captured by al-Nusra Front in 2012

She said while she was "overwhelmed with relief", his arrival home was a "sober occasion", given recent events in Syria.

Mr Curtis' release came days after the execution of fellow journalist James Foley who was captured by al Nusra's rivals, the militant group Islamic State (IS), in 2012.

IS posted a video showing the beheading of Mr Foley, which they said was in retaliation for US airstrikes on IS positions in northern Iraq.

Journalist James Foley was killed by a rival extremist group last week

The group also threatened to kill another American journalist in their captivity, Stephen Sotloff.

"My heart goes out to the other families who are suffering," Diane Curtis said, adding that she had written to Mr Foley's mother Diane.

"We've been through so much together, and I didn't want her to hear it from the media first," she told ABC's Good Morning America programme.

Fears had risen for Mr Curtis over the last month after the FBI revealed it had received a video of him pleading for his life, saying he had just three days to live.

Qatar, whose diplomacy helped secure Mr Curtis' release, is believed to be working to free remaining hostages in Syria.

Meanwhile the US is preparing military options in Syria, including surveillance flights, in an effort to eradicate IS. 

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