Bloodbath on the high seas: Israel faces world fury after deadly raid on blockade-busting Gaza aid convoy

An Israeli army helicopter approaching a convoy of ships carrying aid to the Gaz





Taking aim: An Israeli soldier points his from the deck of one of the Turkish ship





This video image released by the Turkish Aid group IHH purports to show Israeli soldiers aboard a military vessel in international waters off the Gaza coas




Israeli patrol boats are silhouetted against the backdrop of a large civilian vessel before the pre-dawn assault in which up to 19 people die




Angry Islamic protesters try to pass a barricade during a demonstration in Istanbu




Israel faced global condemnation yesterday after a bloody commando raid on a convoy to Gaza which left up to 19 dead.

Another 30 were injured as special forces marines arriving from boats and helicopters stormed the flotilla of six aid ships and fought with activists.
As bullets flew across the decks and soldiers were beaten with iron bars, the carnage was beamed around the world on television.

Horror as woman stamps on her baby after being accused of stealing a mobile

This was the shocking moment a woman accused of stealing a mobile phone in China threw her baby on the ground and stamped on it.

The hideous incident came after a high school student had challenged the woman and a female friend, both holding babies, after being told by witnesses that they had stolen her phone.
The confrontation turned physical and the police were called in Zhengzhou, Henan province.

Officers arrived along with some of the student's relatives. One of these family members pushed one of the suspected thieves who, shockingly, responded by throwing her baby on to the road and stamping on it while shouting in protest.

Flow of oil into the sea is stemmed as BP blasts mud deep into the leaking well

Seal: Heavy mud is being pumped into the pipeline, with a view to then shutting it completely with cement

Live feed: A TV camera shows the oil leak as BP starts the 'top kill' on the ruptured well

BP’s gamble to plug the torrent of oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico by pumping mud to block the leak appears to have paid off.

US Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen said the risky ‘top kill’ operation had succeeded in dramatically dropping the oil pressure from the leak one-mile under the ocean.

Once the oil flow is stemmed completely, engineers will begin filling the hole with cement to entomb the well.
‘We’ll get this under control,’ said Admiral Allen, the National Incident Commander, who has been put in overall charge of the operation by President Obama.

The breakthrough came as US scientists claimed the amount of oil that has flooded into the sea was up to four times more than BP estimates and has easily eclipsed the Exxon Valdez disaster to become the worst oil leak in American history.
The British-based oil giant was said to be cautiously optimistic over its latest bid to cap the leak.

It was given a 70 per cent chance of success when the risky operation was launched on Wednesday afternoon.

Obama holds BP responsible for oil spill-President Obama Takes Responsibility For Fixing Oil Spill-La. Residents Welcome Obama, but Want Action-Obama Defends, but Isn't Defensive, on Oil Spill-Obama: Fixing Oil Disaster My Responsibility

BP: 48 hours before clear if mud stops oil leak-BP calls Gulf oil leak 'environmental catastrophe'

 

BP is expected to announce within two days whether its top-kill procedure to plug the leak on the seabed has been a success

The chief executive of BP PLC says it will be about 48 hours before they know if pumping heavy mud into a blown-out well is successful in stopping the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

CEO Tony Hayward said on the CBS "Early Show" that his confidence level in the well-plugging bid remains at about 60 to 70 percent.

North Korea threatens to launch 'immediate physical strikes' as South Korea stages anti-submarine drills off coast

Tensions: A South Korean soldier hits an effigy of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il during a rally in Seoul

Drills: The South Korean navy has been carrying out anti-submarine exercises off the coast, despite warnings from the north

Anger: More than 10,000 protesters gather at a rally today after the sinking of a South Korean warship in March

North Korea annouced today that it will scrap an agreement aimed at preventing accidental naval clashes after Seoul blamed it for a torpedo attack which sank a South Korean warship.

Tensions between the two countries have risen dramatically since a team of international investigators said last week that a torpedo fired by a North Korean submarine sank the warship on March 26, killing 46 sailors.

North Korea has denied any involvement in the sinking and warned any retaliation would mean war.
The country's military said in a statement released by the official Korean Central News Agency: 'Immediate physical strikes will be launched against any South Korean ships that intrude into North Korean waters.'

Colombian beauty queen accused of getting models to smuggle cocaine is arrested in Argentinian youth hostel

 
Valencia is escorted by police after being arrested at a youth hostel in Buenos Aires

Valencia's mother, Janeth, speaks to the press after her daughter was arrested in Buenos Aires

Sanclemente is accused of leading a drug-trafficking gang that persuaded young women to smuggle cocaine to Mexico

A Colombian model accused of leading a drug-trafficking gang that persuaded pretty young women to smuggle cocaine to Mexico was arrested yesterday after evading Argentine police for five months.

Angie Sanclemente Valencia had been hiding out in Buenos Aires since December, when airport police caught a 21-year-old Argentine woman with 121lbs of cocaine in her baggage boarding a flight to Cancun.

WORLD CUP 2010: Fabio Capello's clear vision for England success

For those starting to wonder if Fabio Capello's loyalty to the flag of St George might be tested by Inter Milan's millions, there came comforting signs yesterday.

From England's retreat in the Austrian mountains, Capello spoke with a rare depth of feeling about the players under his control and his passion for the job.
Speaking in his native tongue, in an interview for an Italian television channel, he was able to portray some of the emotion which is so often absent when he uses his limited English.

Capello explained how God Save the Queen gives him 'goosebumps' before a match and how he adores the work ethic and training ground commitment of the English players.

Park de Triomphe - the day French farmers turned the Champs-Elysees into a garden

Business as usual: How the busy Champs-Elysees usually looks, clad in concrete and choked with traffic

Rustic charm: Visitors walk between planted fields on the Champs Elysees near the Arc de Triomphe monument in Paris. French farmers have organised a two-day event to draw attention to their trade

With its designer shops, cafes, boutique restaurants and bars - and non-stop traffic - there is nothing rural about the Champs-Elysees, Paris's most famous avenue.

Yet, for the next two days, it is the closest destination for Parisians who want to escape to a country garden.

Diego Maradona demands luxury toilets be installed at World Cup training base

 
Demands: Diego Maradona has demanded luxury toilets be installed at his World Cup suite

 
Luxury: Maradona's toilet is believed to be similar to this one, which features heated seating and a warm air blow dryer

Base: Maradona and the Argentinian football team will stay at the High Performance Centre in Pretoria during the World Cup tournament

Diego Maradona has demanded two state-of-the-art bidet toilets be installed for him at Argentina's World Cup base camp in South Africa.

Builders were rushed in to carry out a £1,400 overhaul of the football legend's private suite after his aides complained that the existing bathroom facilities would not meet his 'high standards.'

DIEGO'S DEMANDS

Two bidet toilets
All rooms must be painted white
Six Playstations for the footballers
Ten hot dishes to be served every day
Every dinner must include three desserts
Icecream must be available at all times

Israel holds defense drill amid regional tension

In this Feb. 26, 2009 file photo, Israeli soldiers wearing gas masks carry a dummy on a stretcher as they take part in a home front command army drill simulating a chemical missile attack at an army base near Tel Aviv. Israel launched a dress rehearsal for disaster on Sunday, May 23, 2010, as it began a five-day civil defense drill to test the response of soldiers, emergency crews and civilians to simulated rocket and missile attacks, mega terror attacks and biological and chemical attacks.

Israel held a dress rehearsal for disaster Sunday, beginning a defense drill to test the response of soldiers, emergency crews and civilians to simulated missile barrages, terrorist attacks and chemical strikes.

Lovesick pilot 'threatened to crash passenger plane after row with girlfriend'

The JetBlue pilot threatened to kill himself 'in spectacular fashion' by crashing his plane following an argument with his flight attendant girlfriend.The incident occurred at Logan Airport in Boston, America. Officials played it down and said the pilot was removed from duty for 'health-related reasons'


A lovesick pilot threatened to crash his plane after a row with his girlfriend, it was claimed yesterday

The distraught JetBlue pilot was held in a crew lounge an hour before takeoff after threatening to kill himself 'in spectacular fashion'.

It was reported on local radio that he had emailed his girlfriend, a flight attendant, saying that if they did not resolve their differences he would crash the plane.

Poland says flooding has killed 9 people

 
Firefighters deliver food to residents in Cisek, in southern Poland, on Thursday, May 20, 2010. Massive flooding that has killed seven people in the south of Poland started to recede Thursday but Warsaw braced for trouble as the swollen Vistula River pushed that way and fresh rain fell. Heavy rains have flooded homes and fields in parts of southern Poland since last weekend. Emergency workers have rescued people and pets


from roofs and balconies
.

A bird sitting on a sign prohibiting swimming on a river bank across Warsaw's Old Town , Poland, Thursday, May 20, 2010. The meteorological institute expects dangerously high water levels on Vistula River late Thursday, following days of heavy rain that have brought devastation to southern Poland.

I'd veto EU power grab says Cameron: PM's threat appeases his party's Eurosceptics

'Positive engagement': German Chancellor Angela Merkel chats with Prime Minister David Cameron during a welcome ceremony in Berlin yesterday

Smile and smile and... :French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Prime minister David Cameron give a press conference after their dinner at the Elysee Palace on Thursday night

David Cameron yesterday signalled he was ready to veto any EU treaty to prop up the ailing euro - as he sought to calm pressure within his own party for a referendum on Europe.

Speaking in Berlin alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Mr Cameron became the first British Prime Minister to threaten a veto since John Major.

Afghan Nato base comes under attack -Taliban Claims Responsibility for Assault on Kandahar Air Base

The attack came days after a Kabul car bombing killed 18 people, including six foreign troops

Suspected fighters have launched a rocket and ground attack on Nato's main military base in southern Afghanistan, days after a similar assault on the coalition's military base in Bagram.

Thai PM extends curfew; no polls until unrest over-Cleanup start in city.

Thai school children and locals wash and sweep a road during a cleanup operation after Wednesday's Thai army assult on anti-government protesters in downtown Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, May 23, 2010. Thousands gathered in the Thai capital to begin the massive clean up following the worst political violence in decades. Officials said at least 85 people were killed in the political violence of the past two months.


Thai school children and locals wash and sweep a road during a cleanup operation after Wednesday's Thai army assault on anti-government protesters in downtown Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, May 23, 2010. Thousands gathered in the Thai capital to begin the massive clean up following the worst political violence in decades. Officials said at least 85 people were killed in the political violence of the past two months.


Debris waits for collection at the former anti-government rally site Sunday, May 23, 2010, in Bangkok, Thailand. Thousands gathered in the former anti-government held areas to begin the massive clean following the worst political violence in decades that culminated in a military crackdown that sparked a rampage by supporters. Officials said at least 85 people were killed in the political violence of the past two months.


A girl gives roses to a Thai army soldier as a mark of appreciation during a clean up drive after Thai military crackdown on anti-government protesters on Wednesday in downtown Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, May 23, 2010. Thousands gathered in the Thai capital to begin the massive clean up following the worst political violence in decades. Officials said at least 85 people were killed in the political violence of the past two months


Thai women talk to Thai army soldiers carrying roses during a clean up drive following Wednesday's military crackdown on anti-government protesters in downtown Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, May 23, 2010. Thousands gathered in the Thai capital to begin the massive clean up following the worst political violence in decades. Officials said at least 85 people were killed in the political violence of the past two months


A girl gives roses to Thai army soldiers as a mark of appreciation during a clean up drive after Thai military crackdown on anti-government protesters on Wednesday in downtown Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, May 23, 2010. Thousands gathered in the Thai capital to begin the massive clean up following the worst political violence in decades. Officials said at least 85 people were killed in the political violence of the past two months


A Thai person looks on as school children participate in a clean up drive Sunday, May 23, 2010 after Thai army assault on anti-government protesters on Wednesday in downtown Bangkok, Thailand. Thousands gathered in the Thai capital to begin the massive clean up following the worst political violence in decades.


Thai school children clean a statue of an elephant during a cleanup operation Sunday, May 23, 2010 after Thai army crack down on anti-government protesters on Wednesday in downtown Bangkok, Thailand. Thousands gathered in the Thai capital to begin the massive clean up following the worst political violence in decades.


Thailand's prime minister on Sunday extended a nighttime curfew in the capital and said he will consider early elections only after the violence that has wracked the nation for the past two months is completely over.

Elections are seen as a key step toward healing the deep divide that has split Thailand between supporters of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and the so-called Red Shirts, who are made up mainly of the urban and rural poor and see Abhisit's government as elitist and illegitimate.

Evidence of oil spill's devastating ecological impact emerges as Obama sends in senior officials

Oil floats on the surface of the waters near the Louisianan coast.Nesting pelicans are seen landing as oil washes ashore at the island

 
Waves from the Gulf of Mexico wash oil onto the beach near the Mississippi River on the Louisiana coast.Pelican eggs stained with oil sit in a nest on an island in Barataria Bay in Plaquemine

A dead Northern gannet covered in oil lies along Grand Isle Beach in Grand Isle, Louisiana. A month after the well blowout sheets of rust-coloured oil are starting to clog fragile marshlands on the fringes of the Mississippi Delta, damaging fishing grounds and wildlife

President Obama announced today that former Florida Sen Bob Graham (left) and former EPA Administrator William K. Reilly (right) will lead a presidential commission investigating oil spill

Three top Obama administration officials are returning to the Gulf Coast to monitor the massive oil spill that seems to have no end in sight - the devastation underscored by oil-stained pelicans and their eggs on an island where hundreds of the birds nest.

A pelican colony off Louisiana's coast was seen awash in oil yesterday with birds and their eggs coated in the ooze.