Fireball Was Russian Spy Satellite, Experts Say

Military experts believe a mystery object spotted streaking across the sky over the US was a Russian spy satellite.

More than three dozen witnesses reported seeing a bright object that broke apart into three "rocks" with glowing red and orange streaks as it moved northward over the Rocky Mountains on September 2.

Russia has denied claims that the fireball spotted at 10.30pm was a piece of the Cosmos 2495 satellite, which was designed to shoot reconnaissance photos and send them back to Earth in capsules. 

But Mike Hankey from the American Meteor Society said a meteor would have burned up too quickly to be seen over such a large area, while fragments from the unidentified object were big enough to show up as a weather event on radar east of Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Charles Vick, an aerospace analyst with military information website Globalsecurity.org agreed that the object was probably a piece of the Russian satellite, which was launched in May.

The mystery fireball was spotted blazing across the Rockies

Globalsecurity.org's director John Pike said Russia continues to spy on similar targets to those it focused on during the Cold War.

"Deployed hardware, airplanes, ships, tanks, factories, new intelligence facilities, all that stuff," he said.

"They're looking for the same things that our spy satellites are looking for."

The US Strategic Command, responsible for American nuclear war fighting forces, confirmed that Cosmos 2495 re-entered the atmosphere and was removed from the US satellite catalogue on September 3. 

Russia's defence ministry denied the claims and said its military satellites had been operating normally.

A spokesman said: "One can only guess about the condition representatives of the so-called American Meteor Society were in when they identified a luminescent phenomenon high up in the sky as a Russian military satellite." 

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Migrant Shipwreck Dead May Have Been Murdered

People traffickers deliberately wrecked a boat that sank in the Mediterranean with 500 migrants feared dead, survivors have claimed.

Two survivors plucked from the water by a freight ship have said the criminals rammed their boat after they refused to switch to a vessel they feared was too small to hold them.

Dozens of Gazans are suspected to be among those who may have died last week, a Palestinian official has revealed.

The Palestinian survivors told the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) that around 500 passengers had been on the stricken vessel, which set off from Egypt bound for Europe on September 6.

The passengers, who also included Egyptians, Sudanese and Syrians, were forced to change boats several times during the crossing towards Europe, they said.

The IOM described the sinking as the "worst shipwreck in years," and said that if the survivors' claim was true it would amount to "mass murder".

Fayez Abu Eita, a Gaza spokesman for president Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, said: "We have information that 15 (Palestinians) drowned and dozens more are missing after trying to emigrate to Italy.

"The severe living and humanitarian conditions of the Palestinians are forcing people to emigrate."

A relative said 15 members of a single family were among the missing.

The relative told the AFP news agency: "Fifteen people from the Masri family, including two brothers, a woman and two of her children, left to emigrate to a European country through a broker, and got on a boat from Alexandria headed for Italy.

"We've no news of them, whether they've drowned or survived."

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Ukraine PM Demands 'Full Battle Readiness'

Ukraine's prime minister has warned the country must be ready for battle with Russia, despite a 12-day ceasefire with Moscow-backed separatists.

Arseny Yatseniuk said: "Russia will not give us peace so I am asking the defence minister for full battle readiness."

Mr Yatseniuk said enacting Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's peace plan did not mean "relaxing the work of the defence and interior ministries".

He added: "Full readiness (is required). We can't believe anyone, especially the Russians." 

A firefighter tackles a blaze after an apparent rocket attack in Donetsk

He spoke as Russia's defence minister called for the deployment of reinforcements to Crimea and southern Russia, claiming a response was needed to the build-up of "foreign" forces nearby.

Sergei Shoigu said it was a "priority" to deploy a "full and self-reliant group of troops in the direction of Crimea".

Ukraine's prime minister warned the country should be ready for battle

According to Russian news agencies, he said the "situation in Ukraine has sharply worsened and the foreign military presence has increased very close to our border".

The fragility of the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine has been exposed again by reports of a deadly rocket attack in Donetsk.

A journalist working for Associated Press reported seeing the remains of what appeared to be a Grad rocket that had hit the building in the north of the city, where fighting over the government-controlled airport has caught some residential areas in the crossfire.

One body was said to be visible at the scene, although it was unclear if there were more casualties.

Resident Alexander Dudnik said: "They started to shoot at each other and a shell hit a gas pipeline. Then there was a strong fire, flats started to burn.

"Firefighters did a great job, high-level professionals, they did everything they could. Unfortunately there was a disabled man on the third floor. He died."

Despite the truce and a law passed by the Ukrainian parliament on Tuesday granting greater autonomy to rebel held parts of the east and an amnesty for separatist fighters, civilian casualties have continued to rise, adding to the estimated 3,000 people killed.

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Colossal Squid Tests Could Reveal 'Kraken' Clues

Scientists have defrosted a colossal squid in a bid to unlock the mysteries around this rarely seen monster of the deep.

The creature is one of the ocean's most elusive species and this specimen is the length of a minibus.

Weighing in at 350kgs (770lbs), it is so big that a forklift truck had to be used to get it to the examination tank.

It was hauled up by fishermen from a mile below the surface of Antarctica's remote Ross Sea, and had been frozen for eight months until experts in New Zealand got the opportunity to thaw out the animal and inspect it this week.

The squid is a female, and its eight arms are each well over a metre (3.3ft) long.

It is estimated its two tentacles would have been about double that length, if they had not been damaged.

Kat Bolstad, a squid scientist from Auckland University of Technology who is leading the team examining the creature, described it as "very big, very beautiful".

She said: "This is essentially an intact specimen, which is almost an unparalleled opportunity for us to examine.

"This is a spectacular opportunity."

Footage of the autopsy, streamed online, was watched by around 142,000 people from 180 countries.

While colossal squid are the stuff of seafaring legend, they have rarely been seen in the flesh.

The squid is the second caught by Captain John Bennett and his crew.

Their first was hauled in seven years ago and is now on display in New Zealand's national museum.

Mr Bennett said given the excitement around his previous catch, he thought he should save the latest one for research.

He said: "It was partly alive, it was still hanging onto the fish.

"Just a big bulk in the water. They're huge, and the mantle's all filled with water. It's quite an awesome sight."

Susan Waugh, a senior curator at the museum, said scientists hope to find out more about the species, including where it fits in the food chain, the extent of genetic variation between different squid types, and basic facts about how the animal lives and dies.

Scientists will assess the condition of the squid before deciding whether to preserve it for public display.

Dr Bolstad said it is possible ancient sightings of the species gave rise to tales of the legendary kraken sea monster.

She said sperm whales often eat colossal squid and are known to play with their food.

Sailors may have mistaken this behaviour for epic battles at sea.

But she joked: "On the other hand, we don't really know what the grog rations were like at that time at sea, either.

"So it may be that we've got a bit of a fisherman's story going on there, too."

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Ebola Spiralling Out Of Control, Says Obama

President Barack Obama has warned of a "potential threat to global security" if ebola-stricken West African countries break down, as he announced 3,000 US troops would be sent to the region.

"If the outbreak is not stopped now, we could be looking at hundreds of thousands of people affected, with profound economic, political and security implications for all of us," Mr Obama said at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia.

The virus has claimed nearly 2,500 lives out of almost 5,000 cases this year - mostly in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

Outlining measures to prop up health services in areas overwhelmed by the epidemic, Mr Obama said: "It's spiralling out of control, it's getting worse."

The president met former ebola patient Dr Kent Brantly at the White House

But he stressed the chances of an outbreak in the US were "extremely low".

Under the plan, engineers, medical personnel and other service members will build 17 treatment centres in West Africa, each with 100 beds.

The US also aims to train 500 medical staff a week and establish a military control centre for co-ordinating the relief effort.

The cost of the aid is expected to be $500m (£308m).

The US has already spent $100m (£62m) in response to the outbreak

It is expected to take two weeks to get US personnel on the ground.

Earlier on Tuesday Mr Obama welcomed Dr Kent Brantly, an American missionary who caught ebola in Liberia and made a full recovery in the US, to the White House.

Four Americans have been or are being treated for ebola in the US after evacuation from Africa.

The World Health Organization warned the number of ebola cases could start doubling every three weeks, threatening a "human catastrophe".

Bruce Aylward from the WHO warned the outbreak was 'unparalleled'

The UN health agency's assistant director General Bruce Aylward said the crisis was "unparalleled in modern times".

Doctors Without Borders president Dr Joanne Liu told a UN special briefing on ebola in Geneva: "The window of opportunity to contain this outbreak is closing.

"We need more countries to stand up, we need greater deployment, and we need it now."

In addition to the US response, the WHO said China has promised to send a 59-person medical team to Sierra Leone to help fight the epidemic.

The UK is planning to set up an ebola clinic in Sierra Leone, while Cuba has promised to send some 160 health workers to the country.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will launch a "global response coalition" in New York on Thursday.

The virus, which has also reached Nigeria, Senegal and Democratic Republic of Congo, is spread through direct contact with the bodily fluids of sick patients. There is no vaccine or approved treatment.

The US ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, has called for an emergency meeting of the Security Council, warning the virus could "set the countries of West Africa back a generation".

US efforts will include medics and corpsmen, engineers to help build treatment facilities and logistics specialists to assist in patient transportation.

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Chinese Critic Goes On Trial For 'Separatism'

By Mark Stone, Asia Correspondent in Beijing

A Chinese economist and university lecturer has gone on trial in western China, charged with separatism.

Ilham Tohti, who is China's most prominent Uighur Muslim scholar, was detained in Beijing in January.

He appeared at a closed hearing at the Intermediate People's Court in Urumqi, the capital of China's far western Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region.

As a member of China's minority Uighur Muslim population, he was a vocal but moderate critic of the Chinese government's policies in Xinjiang.

"Tohti has consistently, courageously and unambiguously advocated peacefully for greater understanding and dialogue between various communities and with the state," said Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch.

He was arrested on January 15 in Beijing and transferred to a jail 2,000 miles to the west in Urumqi.

He was denied access to lawyers for the first five months of his detention.

Police raided his home and seized computers, telephones and his students' theses.

At the time, his wife, Guzaili Nu'er, described how 30 police officers raided the family apartment and searched it for six hours.

Mr Tohti was a professor at Beijing's Minzu University.

He founded a website focusing on Uighur issues, called UighurOnline.

It is understood that seven of his students and volunteers at UighurOnline were detained alongside him.

In Communist China, separatism is the most serious of crimes.

The authorities have not provided evidence for Mr Tohti's alleged crimes but according to his lawyers, the charge sheet accuses him of being the leader of an eight member separatist organisation.

Prosecutors accuse him of using UighurOnline to encourage violence, ethnic hatred and Uighur independence.

"If this is Beijing's definition of 'separatist' activities, it's hard to see tensions in Xinjiang and between the communities decreasing," Ms Richardson said.

In January 2011 Mr Tohti wrote an online essay. The lengthy article outlined his motivation.

"Uighur Online is managed to prevent any pro-independence, separatist, or irresponsible inflammatory postings, and it does not post subversive materials.

"However, it does not forbid posts that expose social ills in Xinjiang or elsewhere, so long as they show good intentions and the content is authentic." he wrote.

Nearly half of Xinjiang's 22 million people are Uighur Muslims.

The province is China's largest and borders Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Many of the indigenous Uighurs claim they are persecuted by Han Chinese migrants from the rest of China.

They say their religious, cultural and economic freedoms are being eroded by the influx of Han Chinese.

The Chinese government says the Han Chinese are being threatened by a growing movement of Islamist extremism among the Uighur, a narrative strengthened in October when a jeep, said to have been driven by Uighurs, ploughed into a group of tourists in Beijing's Tiananmen Square.

Earlier this month, Sky News spent a week travelling in Xinjiang. We found no evidence of extremism but considerable resentment among the local population and anger at new policies banning beards, veils and in some cases, a ban on fasting during Ramadan.

If convicted of separatism, Mr Tohti faces at least 10 years to life in prison.

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Hackers 'Swooped' On Biological Warfare Study

Security researchers have uncovered a group of hackers that broke into 300 banks, corporations and governments for 12 years without being caught.

The hacker collective from Germany exploited a loophole in the UK which enabled them to obtain security certificates to allow them to target organisations in Germany, Switzerland and Austria and access sensitive, confidential data.

The damage suffered by their victims in terms of loss of data and compromised security has been described by researchers as "immeasurable".

The group were able to access biowarfare plans, according to CyberTinel

"We're talking about things like studies on biological warfare and nuclear physics, infrastructure security plans, corporate financial documents," said Kobi Ben-Naim from CyberTinel, the security company that blocked the attack.

"They were after very specific items," he added. "Their method of operation was to swoop in and get out very quickly in the hope that nobody would notice. It feels more like an organised crime operation than something a government would do."

CyberTinel says it knows the identity of the group, which set up 883 front companies in the UK to take advantage of Britain's tolerant requirements for obtaining SSL security certificates. 

UK internet regulators apparently failed to notice that each company had the same IP address and contact information.

The certificates are small files that activate secure connections over the internet between web browsers and servers to authenticate and verify an organisation's details.

With these certificates and an authentic corporate identity, the hackers camouflaged the attacks and were trusted by their victims, giving them control over the organisation's computers to eavesdrop on their networks.

The operation behind the so-called Harkonnen Operation attack continued for so long that cyber-security firms expect to discover companies in other European countries, including the UK, were also hacked.

"The damage to the organisations in terms of loss of valuable data, income or the exposure of information related to employees and customers is immeasurable," said Elite Cyber Solutions chief executive Jonathan Gad.

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American Arrested On Swim To See Kim Jong-Un

An American man has been arrested by South Korean border guards after trying to swim to North Korea to meet the reclusive state's leader, Kim Jong-Un.

He was detained while lying on a bank of the Han River, located in a restricted military area near the border, according to a South Korean defence official.

The man is aged around 29 and is a computer repairman from Texas who came to South Korea 10 days ago, according to the Yonhap news agency.

He was apparently suffering from exhaustion, according to a South Korean government official cited by Yonhap.

The border is one of the most heavily militarised in the world

The news agency also reported that the man told investigators he wanted to meet Kim Jong-Un.

Americans have been arrested after entering North Korea from China before, but a US citizen trying to enter the country from South Korea is unusual.

South Korea's defence ministry was not able to immediately confirm details of the report, but an official confirmed an American man was picked up late on Tuesday and was being questioned.

The US embassy in the South Korean capital, Seoul, said it had been in contact with authorities in the country over the issue.

Matthew Miller was sentenced to six years hard labour on Sunday

"We do not have any additional information to share at this time. We have been in touch with the appropriate South Korean authorities regarding the reports," embassy spokeswoman Nida Emmons said.

It comes after an American man, who was detained in the North after entering the country as a tourist in April, was sentenced to six years of hard labour at the weekend.

Matthew Miller was held for committing "hostile acts" towards the North Korean state.

North and South Korea are technically still at war after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce rather than a peace treaty.

The border between the two countries is one of the most heavily militarised in the world.

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Thai Police Question Brothers Over Beach Murders

Two British brothers are being questioned over the murders of two backpackers on a beach in Thailand as tests revealed more about how the victims died.

Chris Ware and his brother James, from Jersey, have been asked to stay in Thailand as experts wait for the results of DNA tests on Thursday.

The brothers were questioned as police continued to hold six Burmese suspects in connection with the deaths.

Thai Police Colonel Kissana said there was "strong evidence" possibly linking the Burmese to the murders, including blood stains on clothes.

Chris Ware being interviewed by Thai police

"We also have two British suspects but they have not been detained," said Mr Kissana.

"We cannot rule them out. They were close friends and knew all about the victims."

The developments came as forensic experts revealed David Miller died from drowning and a blow to the head. Hannah Witheridge died from head wounds. 

Police investigate the killings on the beach

Pornchai Sutheerakune, head of the Thai Institute of Forensic Medicine, said Mr Miller also had wounds on his hand, indicating a struggle had taken place.

Sky's Jonathan Samuels, on Koh Tao, where the murders happened, said Chris Ware has been spoken to by police after he booked into a hotel at Bangkok airport.

It is the second time he has been questioned. He was initially quizzed in the hours after the murders by officers concerned about an injury to his arm.

Koh Tao is one of Thailand's most popular backpacker islands

Police were satisfied with Mr Ware's explanation and he was told he was free to go, but officers later caught up with him in Bangkok to speak to him again. 

Samuels said James Ware had also spoken to police.

The semi-naked bodies of Mr Miller, 24, and 23-year-old Miss Witheridge were discovered on a beach early on Monday.

Police say there had been a beach party in the hours before the murders

Police said the pair sustained horrific injuries, with both suffering deep wounds to the head and face.

A bloodstained garden hoe, believed to be the murder weapon, was found near to the bodies.

Samuels said it was understood Chris Ware was a friend of Mr Miller's.

Police say they are keen to trace an Asian man captured on grainy CCTV footage shortly after the murders.

The man of Asian appearance caught on CCTV

It shows what appears to be a topless man who officers say was acting suspiciously as he left a beach party near the murder scene.

He is captured running past the security camera at 3.44am and is seen again an hour later walking down the same street.

In another image, Mr Miller, from Jersey, and Ms Witheridge, from Great Yarmouth, are seen walking hand-in-hand after leaving a bar at around 1am.

It was taken hours before their bodies were discovered semi-naked on Sairee beach.

Tributes to Hannah have been posted online

Sky's Tom Parmenter, on Jersey, says police there are assisting the mother of Chris and James Ware.

He said officers are working to ensure Barbara Ware is kept up to date with investigation, but she did not want to comment at this stage.

Parmenter said someone claiming to be a friend of the Ware brothers had written about them on a Thai travel message board.

Police outside the Ware family home on Jersey

"I grew up with Chris and Dave and know them both very well, and I'm totally shocked to what has happened," the post read.

"He (Chris) has known Dave since 4 years old at primary school in Jersey, they are like brothers."

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US General: Half Of Iraqi Army Not Capable

Around half of Iraq's army is incapable of working with the US to recapture territory from Islamic State (IS) in western and northern Iraq, according to the top US military officer.

General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that military teams that spent much of the summer in Iraq assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the security forces found that only 26 of 50 army brigades were capable partners for the US.

Gen Dempsey, a former wartime commander of US training programmes in the country, described them as well led and well equipped, adding: "They appear to have a national instinct, instead of a sectarian instinct."

These would still need to be partially rebuilt with US training and more equipment, he added.

The other 24 brigades were found to be too dominated by Shias to be part of a credible national force.

Shiite fighters, who have joined the battle against IS, train in Najaf

Gen Dempsey was speaking with reporters travelling with him to Paris, where he met with his French counterpart for talks on the conflicts in Syria and Iraq and other issues.

The trip followed on from Gen Dempsey's appearance in front of a Senate panel, when he said US ground forces could be deployed again in Iraq.

His remarks were soon contradicted by the White House's spokesman however, who said President Barack Obama "will not deploy ground troops in a combat role into Iraq or Syria".

Iraq's new prime minister, Haider al Abadi, has also said foreign ground troops are neither wanted nor needed in the country's fight against IS.

Meanwhile, the group has released a video warning the US that fighters await it in Iraq if troops are sent there.

Kurdish peshmerga troops participate in a security deployment against IS

The 52-second clip, entitled "Flames of War", shows fighters destroying tanks, wounded US soldiers and others about to be killed.

It includes a clip of Mr Obama saying combat troops will not return to Iraq, ending with a text overlay that reads "fighting has just begun".

Renewed US efforts to train Iraqi troops could revive the issue of gaining legal immunity from Iraqi prosecution for US troops who are training them, Gen Dempsey said on his way to France.

The last Iraqi government refused to give immunity to US troops who might have stayed behind as trainers after the US military mission ended in December 2011.

Gen Dempsey also warned that US firepower alone would not be enough to stop IS.

Islamic State fighters have seized large parts of Iraq and Syria

The solution, he said, hinged on the formation of an Iraqi government that is able to convince Kurds and Sunnis that they will be equal partners with the Shiites.

The US launched airstrikes on IS last month, and Gen Dempsey said fighters from the extremist group will have reacted to the strikes by making themselves less visible.

He predicted they would "literally litter the road networks" with improvised explosive devices in the days ahead.

That would then mean more counter-IED training and equipment for Iraq's army, Gen Dempsey said.

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