North Korea Video Shows Obama In Flames

A new North Korean video shows President Barack Obama and American troops in flames and blames US hostility for its recent nuclear test.

The footage was uploaded on YouTube - two weeks after a separate video that showed New York City burning after an apparent missile attack.

Both videos were uploaded by the North's official website, Uriminzokkiri, which distributes news and propaganda from the state media.

The latest video came with a series of Korean-language captions, arguing that North Korea had been forced into conducting its latest nuclear test on February 12 because of US hostility.

"The North's high-level nuclear test aimed at US invaders, is the nuclear deterrent to safeguard our sovereignty," one caption read.

"The US practically guided the North towards conducting the nuclear test," it added.

The video showed images of Mr Obama waving and preparing to deliver his State of the Union address - all superimposed against a background of rising flames.

It ended with an animated sequence of a nuclear bomb being detonated in an underground bunker and the message: "The whole world is now watching. The US must answer now".

The North's latest test was its biggest yet in terms of explosive yield and, according to Pyongyang, marked a breakthrough in its efforts to develop a "miniaturised" warhead that could fit on a ballistic missile.

The earlier video posted by Uriminzokkiri had to be withdrawn, after it emerged that the footage of a burning New York was taken from the Call of Duty video game.

The makers of the game, California-based Activision, filed a copyright complaint.

The US is negotiating in the Security Council for stronger UN sanctions against Pyongyang following its nuclear test in the far northeast, the country's third since 2006.

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India: Sisters Raped And Dumped In Well

Three sisters aged six, nine and 11 were raped and murdered before their bodies were dropped in a village well in rural India, police said.

The children's bodies were found last week, two days after they went missing on February 14 from their home in the Bhandara district of Maharashtra state, police superintendent Aarti Singh said.

"The bodies of the three young girls were found in a well, with their schoolbags and footwear," he told reporters.

"The post-mortem has confirmed that the girls were raped and then murdered."

No arrests have been made but the superintendent said four people had been detained for questioning and investigations were still under way.

Family members said the girls had gone out to look for their mother and no one heard from them again.

India's NDTV broadcaster reported their grandfather as saying they were lured away by strangers who promised them food. 

The girls, who lost their father four years ago, live in abject poverty. 

The incident has led to protests in the village, echoing angry rallies in the capital New Delhi after the gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old student on a bus in December.

That incident sparked a nationwide debate about the treatment of women and girls and their safety in India.

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Oscar Pistorius: Prosecution Outlines Case

Prosecutors have directly challenged two of Oscar Pistorius' key claims about the night he shot and killed his girlfriend.

Investigating officer Hilton Botha says a witness saw lights on after the shooting - despite the Paralympian earlier claiming he was too frightened to switch on the light fearing intruders were inside his home.

A statement on behalf of the 26-year-old athlete - read out in court on Tuesday - also said he was not wearing his prosthetic legs at the time and felt vulnerable.

But Mr Botha said that the trajectory of the shots fired through the bathroom door was downward, suggesting that he was firing from a standing position at a height where he must have a been wearing the limbs.

The court was also told that "non-stop shouting" was heard coming from Pistorius' home before Reeva Steenkamp was shot dead.

A diagram of Oscar Pistorius' bathroom was shown to the court

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel said the prosecution team has a witness who heard the shouting between 2am and 3am.

The details were revealed as the second day of the 26-year-old athlete's bail hearing began at Pretoria Magistrates' Court.

In an affidavit, Pistorius has denied murdering the model Miss Steenkamp, 29, at his home in the early hours of Thursday.

He has said the couple were in love and he fired through a closed toilet door within the bathroom, hitting the victim, thinking a burglar or burglars were inside.

Mr Botha described the moment he arrived at the athlete's house in the early hours of the morning and found Miss Steenkamp's body lying on the ground floor at the bottom of the stairs.

Miss Steenkamp's funeral was held in Port Elizabeth

He said she was dressed in white shorts and a black top, and covered in towels.

The officer told the court that he saw a firearm on the shower mat, and one bullet cartridge in the passageway and three in the bathroom.

He said unlicensed .38 calibre ammunition was found at his home, and he wanted the Olympian charged with unlawful possession.

Needles and testosterone were also found in his bedroom, the court heard.

The court heard that he had previously arrested Pistorius for assault after a woman complained the athlete had assaulted her - the case was later dropped.

Later in the day Pistorius' lawyers launched a strong defence of the star, and Sky's Alex Crawford said it had been a good day for the defence.

Earlier the Paralympian arrived at the court in the back of a police car with a blue blanket covering his head. He entered the courtroom wearing a dark suit and tie just after 8am UK time.

The chances of Pistorius being given bail lessened at the first bail hearing on Tuesday after Magistrate Desmond Nair ruled the case a schedule six offence - meaning premeditated murder.

It means his lawyers now have to prove "exceptional circumstances" for him to be granted bail until he goes to trial.

Mr Botha told the court that Pistorius is a "flight risk" and could flee if given bail.

He admitted that he initially had no objections to Pistorius being given bail, but changed his mind after speaking to the forensics team.

He said the athlete has offshore accounts and a house in Italy, and stresses that South Africa does not have extradition agreements with all countries.

Pistorius has said he had been a victim of crime and received death threats, but the court heard there were no records of this.

His father Henke and brother Carl - who have supported him in the two previous hearings - looked on from the public gallery.

The proceedings were delayed as more than 100 journalists squeezed into court to report the hearing.

There were chaotic scenes as one reporter fainted, an overflow room was set up to provide more space and courtroom screens had technical problems.

The hearing was adjourned until Thursday, but one court official has speculated that it could run until Friday.

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Oscar Pistorius' Defence Team Grills Top Cop

The police detective investigating the killing of Reeva Steenkamp has admitted there were no signs that she had defended herself against an assault before she died.

Oscar Pistorius' defence lawyer Barry Roux grilled investigating officer Hilton Botha as the South African sports star sought bail.

He also raised doubts over the reliability of a witness who said they heard screaming and saw lights on in Pistorius' house after the shots were fired – in direct contradiction of the star's earlier statement.

Mr Roux pointed out that the apparent witness was hundreds of metres away from the house.

The prosecution, which wants to prove that the runner had deliberately planned to kill Miss Steenkamp, was also forced to admit that Pistorius's claim that he mistook her for an intruder matched the crime scene.

"It sounds consistent," Mr Botha said.

He also admitted that he walked through the crime scene without foot covers, possibly contaminating it.

"You were in the house walking with unprotected shoes," Mr Roux said. "That should not happen."

Oscar Pistorius denies murdering his girlfriend

A prosecution claim that Pistorius sleeps on the right side of the bed was also challenged.

Mr Roux said: "He normally sleeps on the right side of the bed. But he had a shoulder problem so that evening he slept on the left side."

Mr Botha told the court on Wednesday that a police search found testosterone and needles in Pistorius' bedroom, amid speculation that performance-enhancing drugs may have influenced his mental state.

But Mr Roux said the substance was not testosterone but an acceptable supplement: "It's a herbal remedy and he can use it and he has used it before."

Sky's Alex Crawford, reporting from the court, said: "I think very much the family feels this has been a good day for the defence."

Pistorius, the first double amputee to compete against able-bodied athletes in the Olympics, says he shot her by mistake through a locked bathroom door, believing she was a burglar.

The 26-year-old said he kept a firearm under his bed at night because he had been a victim of violence and burglaries before and had received death threats.

But the state prosecutor said the athlete would face an additional charge of possessing unlicenced .38 special calibre ammunition.

Magistrate Desmond Nair said he could not rule out that there was some planning involved in the killing, which may be considered as a premeditated murder, setting a high bar for bail.

The bail hearing was adjourned until Thursday.

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Murdered Eystna Blunnie 'Repeatedly Threatened'

By Tom Parmenter, Correspondent

A man on trial for murdering the mother of his unborn child has been accused of making multiple threats to kill her.

Tony McLernon is charged with murdering his former partner Eystna Blunnie, who was found battered by a road in Harlow, Essex last June.

Miss Blunnie was days away from giving birth and their baby was also killed in the attack.

Opening the case prosecutor Andrew Jackson said: "He repeatedly kicked and stamped on her in an act of brutal and sustained violence.

"He knew he was not only killing her but their unborn child as well."

Jury members were told that shortly after the attack McLernon hid in nearby woods and texted his father.

The message read: "Scared, please call me."

In the subsequent conversation it is alleged McLernon told his father: "I think I have killed Eystna."

The jury was also told that McLernon had previously attacked and made threats towards Miss Blunnie.

In one incident before her death he is accused of saying: "I'm going to ******* kill her, I'm going to stab her."

The prosecution said in another text message he wrote: "I ******* swear bro I'm going to knife Eystna soon."

In another message to a cousin he is accused of texting: "I swear I'm going to prison Monday."

The court heard the couple's relationship began over a year before Miss Blunnie's death and there had been many violent episodes.

Mr Jackson told the jury they would hear from relatives of Miss Blunnie's who would tell them how they saw bruises on her body with "outlines of knuckles."

The 20-year-old catering student had been excited about becoming a mother and used the ultrasound image of her baby as her Facebook profile picture.

McLernon, 24, from North Grove, Harlow, Essex denies murder and the destruction of an unborn child.

The trial is expected to last four weeks.

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Vicky Pryce Jury Fails To Reach A Verdict

Pryce Trial: Jury's Questions

Updated: 3:58pm UK, Wednesday 20 February 2013

Here are the 10 questions the jury in the Vicky Pryce case put to the judge on Tuesday.

1. Can a juror come to a verdict based on a reason that was not presented in court and has no facts or evidence to support it, either from the prosecution or defence?."

Judge: "No."

2. "Can you speculate about the events at the time Ms Pryce signed the form or what was in her mind at that time?"

Judge: "No."

3. "If there is debatable evidence supporting the prosecution's case, can inferences be drawn to arrive at a verdict?"

Judge: "The drawing of inferences is a permissible process, speculation is not."

4. Can we infer anything from the fact that the defence did not bring witnesses from the time of the alleged offence, such as an au pair or neighbours?

Judge: "You must not speculate on what witnesses who have not been called might have said or draw inferences from their absence. Her evidence is that no one else, other than Mr Huhne, was present when she signed the form."

5. Is the defendant obliged to present a defence?

The judge said: "There is no burden on the defendant to prove her innocence. On the contrary there is no burden on the defendant to prove anything at all."

6. Can you define "reasonable doubt"?

The judge replied: "A reasonable doubt is a doubt which is reasonable."These are ordinary English words that the law doesn't allow me to help you with beyond the written directions that I have already given."

7. Can you expand on the definition of the defence of marital coercion, providing examples, and whether it requires violence or physical acts?

The judge said it did not require violence or physical threats and meant a woman was so affected by pressure from her husband that she was "impelled" to commit an offence and truly believed she had no real choice.

8. Would religious conviction be a good enough reason for a wife to feel she had no choice, because she promised to obey her husband in wedding vows?

The judge said the question was not about the case, and Pryce had not suggested any such reasoning was behind her decision to take Huhne's points.

9. Which facts in the court bundle can we consider when reaching a verdict?

The judge said: "You decide the case on the evidence. That means it is for you to review all of the evidence and decide which of it you consider to be important, truthful and reliable, and then decide what conclusions, common sense conclusions, you can safely draw by way of inference from that evidence."

10. "In the scenario where the defendant may be guilty but there is not enough evidence provided by the prosecution at the material time when she signed the Notice of Intended Prosecution between May 3-7, 2003, to feel sure beyond reasonable doubt, what should the verdict be, not guilty or unable/unsafe to provide a verdict?"

The judge told them they could only convict if at least 10 of them were sure Pryce was guilty.

He added: "If for whatever reason any one or more of you feel less than confident that you understand and are able to apply my directions of law then it will be wholly wrong for any juror in that position to reach a verdict one way or the other.

"If after further consideration you find yourselves in a position that you are simply not able to agree no matter how much longer you continue to debate and that's going to remain the position, then you must of course have the courage to say so by your foreman sending me a note to that effect."

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Oscar Pistorius: What Police Found At The Scene

During the second day of Oscar Pistorius' bail hearing, police described what they found in his house after the body of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp was discovered at the foot of stairs on the ground floor.

Bedroom

:: Investigating officer Hilton Botha told the court police found two boxes of testosterone, needles and injections in the bedroom.

Defence lawyer Barry Roux said the box contained herbal medication called Testocompasutium co-enzyme, not testosterone.

:: Mr Botha said a gun holster was found on the left side of the bed where Ms Steenkamp's slippers and overnight bag were.

::  Pistorius illegally possessed .38-caliber ammunition in a safe in his bedroom, according to Mr Botha but the defence lawyer said it belonged to the athlete's father.

A diagram of Pistorius' house shown in court

Bathroom

:: Mr Botha said he saw a firearm on the shower mat, one bullet cartridge in the passageway and three in the bathroom.

:: Mr Roux said there was a spent bullet inside the toilet bowl, which Mr Botha had failed to find.

:: An iPhone 4 and iPhone 5 were found on the shower mat, which Mr Botha said had not been used to call the ambulance. However, Mr Roux said Pistorius had called Netcare hospital at 3.20am and the housing complex manager received a call asking for help.

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France's Goodyear Workers 'Too Lazy To Save'

An American tycoon has ruled out the rescue of the Goodyear tyre factory in France because he thinks its workers are "too lazy" to make the business viable.

French minister Arnaud Montebourg had hoped Maurice M Taylor Jr, the president of the American Titan group, would step in to keep the plant in the north of the country going.

But in a letter sent earlier this month to Mr Montebourg, the American said a very emphatic "non".

"I and Titan have a 40-year history of buying closed factories and companies, losing millions of dollars and turning them around to create a good business paying good wages," he wrote.

"Goodyear tried for more than four years to save part of the Amiens jobs that are some of the highest paid around but the French unions and French government did nothing but talk.

Police in Paris are hit with paint at a protest at the closure of Goodyear

"I have visited that factory a couple of times. The French workforce gets paid high wages but works only three hours. They get one hour for breaks and lunch, talk for three and work for three. I told this to the French union workers to their faces. They told me that's the French way!

"You are a politician so you don't want to rock the boat. The Chinese are shipping tyres into France - really all over Europe - and yet you do nothing. The Chinese government subsidises all the tyre companies. In five years, Michelin won't be able to produce tyres in France.

"Sir, your letter states that you want Titan to start a dialogue. How stupid do you think we are? Titan is the one with the money and the talent to produce tyres. What does the crazy union have? It has the French government.

"The French farmer wants cheap tyres. He does not care if the tyres are from China or India and these governments are subsidising them. Your government doesn't care either: "We're French!"

Goodyear announced last month it is to close its main French plant and cut its workforce in the country by almost 40%, as car demand falls and labour disputes increase.

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Ben Fogle Hospital Scare After Drink Spiked

TV presenter and adventurer Ben Fogle has taken to Twitter to recount an incident which left him in hospital at the weekend after his drink was spiked.

"Whoever spiked my drink with mind altering drugs and put me in A&E with a psychotic fit. Did you think of the damage you would cause?" the 39-year-old tweeted.

He revealed earlier how he had suffered what he described as a "full-on psychotic episode" on Friday night when he returned from a pub in Gloucestershire, where he was staying with friends.

Fogle explained how he had been fine when he returned from the pub, having had no more than half a bottle of wine.

Fogle was one of last year's Olympic torch bearers

But, on going to check his children, he realised something was not right.

"I started feeling hypersensitive and I knew something was wrong," he told the Daily Mail. "I picked my daughter up and she felt incredibly light, like a grain of rice.

"I suddenly had this compulsion to jump through a window."

Fogle asked his wife Marina if she was all right and she said she was. Then, he said, he "just flipped ... I was ranting, marching up and down, hitting walls, trying to jump out of windows".

Marina and his friends "corralled" him into the sitting room and kept him there until an ambulance arrived.

Fogle spent about 12 hours in A&E, but because the hospital did not do toxicology tests he was not able to say for sure that the cause of his behaviour was definitely down to a spiked drink.

However, he then spent three days having tests on his heart and brain and being seen by psychiatrists. They have ruled out a neurological or psychological problem, he said, and believe his "turn" was brought about because of a spiked drink.

From what he has now learned - Fogle said he had never taken recreational drugs - he thinks the most likely drug was the hallucinogenic drug LSD.

"Why would someone do it?" he asked. "I have no idea. It seems a bit of a coincidence that I was out with my wife and friends and I was the only person targeted."

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Body In Hotel Water Tank Is Missing Guest

A woman's body found in a tank that supplied water for showers and sinks in a US hotel is that of a missing Canadian guest.

Elisa Lam, 21, was identified using body markings, and investigators are trying to find out if there was foul play or "a very, very strange accident".

A maintenance worker at the Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles found the corpse on Tuesday after guests complained of low water pressure.

Officials spent much of the day struggling to remove it from one of four tanks on the roof.

"The location of the water tanks is very small and configured in a very tight way, so it's a little more difficult to get the body out," said police spokeswoman Sara Faden.

Around two dozen firefighters could be seen cutting through the tank under a canopy that shielded them from news helicopters overhead.

A spokesman for the LA County Department of Public Health said it was investigating the 4ft-by-8ft tanks to determine if the hotel's water supply had been contaminated.

Fire captain Jaime Moore reportedly said the tank where the body was found supplied rooms with water for showers and sinks, as well as being used to clean the hotel's linens.

Victim Elisa Lam travelled alone to California

Captain Moore said a water sample had shown "no biohazard concerns" and the hotel's water tanks were not connected.

Ms Lam, of Vancouver, British Columbia, travelled to California alone on January 27 and was last seen by staff at the hotel on January 31.

At the time of her disappearance, police said it appeared suspicious.

A security video taken in a lift at the hotel and released by police last week showed Ms Lam acting strangely, hiding in a corner and repeatedly peering around the lift doors into the hallway.

She was travelling to Santa Cruz, about 350 miles north of Los Angeles, and officials said she tended to use public transport, including trains and buses.

She had been in touch with her family daily until she disappeared.

The hotel is located in downtown LA, which is near Skid Row, where drug addiction and homelessness is rampant.

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