Egypt: Police And Protesters Clash

Four people have been killed in Egypt during clashes betwen police and protesters on the second anniversary of the revolution.

Police fired tear gas to disperse thousands of opponents of President Mohamed Morsi, gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square.

At least 186 people and 45 security personnel were hurt during protests in various cities, including Cairo, Alexandria and Suez, according to medics. The fatalities were in Suez.

In Ismailia, hundreds of demonstrators broke into local government offices after the headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood in the city were set ablaze.

On Thursday, clashes erupted after protesters tried to dismantle a wall of concrete blocks closing a street leading to the square.

An anti-Morsi protester tries to escape from a tent sent on fire by police

The secular-leaning opposition has called for mass protests against Mr Morsi and his party, the Muslim Brotherhood, using the same slogan that brought Egypt to its feet in 2011 and ousted Hosni Mubarak: "Bread, freedom, social justice."

Opposition leader and former head of the UN's atomic agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, wrote on his Twitter account: "Go out into the squares to finally achieve the objectives of the revolution."

Tahrir Square is the iconic birthplace of the 2011 revolution, and demonstrators gathered in front of the presidential palace, where anti-Morsi rallies last December erupted into deadly clashes with Islamist supporters.

The Muslim Brotherhood has not officially called for its own rallies, instead marking the anniversary by launching a charitable and social initiative called: "Together we will build Egypt."

A man in Cairo works on graffiti representing the Muslim Brotherhood

Mr Morsi urged Egyptians to spend the anniversary in a "peaceful and civilised way" in a speech on Thursday to mark the birthday of the Prophet Mohammed.

The violence broke out ahead of a court verdict due on Saturday in the trial of dozens of defendants over the worst football disaster in Egyptian history.

More than 70 people were killed in Port Said in February last year during clashes in the Suez Canal city between fans of home side Al Masry and diehard supporters Cairo's Al Ahly, known as Ultras.

Al Ahly supporters warned of violent protests and a "new revolution" if Saturday's verdict goes against them.

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Irish Garda Police Detective Shot Dead In Dundalk

A Garda detective has been shot dead in Ireland during a botched hold-up.

Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe was with a colleague escorting a cash delivery to a credit union in Dundalk, County Louth.

Several shots were fired during the incident at the Lordship Credit Union, on the Cooley Road in the town at around 9.30pm.

It is believed the force is now hunting four men in a grey Volkswagen Passat which fled the scene.

Sky's Ireland correspondent David Blevins said: "There is a very significant security operation under way with the Garda helicopter hovering overhead.

"The Irish police have set up checkpoints on the southern side of the Irish border and the Police Sevice of Northern Ireland have checkpoints on the northern side of the Irish border."

The officer, who was based at Dundalk Garda station, was fatally injured in the shooting.

Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan said: "I am deeply saddened to hear of the death of my colleague Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe.

"Detective Garda Donohoe died as a result of injuries sustained in the course of his duty following a shooting incident in Dundalk.

"At this time my thoughts and prayers and those of the entire force are with the family, friends and close colleagues of Adrian."

Det Donohoe is understood to leave behind three children. He lived in the Lordship area, around a kilometre (0.6 miles) from the credit union where he was killed.

Local councillor Jim Loughran described him as a quiet, decent family man.

"I just spoke to him last week on the street in town. I can't believe this has happened," he said.

The Sinn Fein councillor, who knew the detective through their local GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association) club St Patrick's, also condemned those responsible for the shooting.

"This was not just an attack on a Garda detective, it was an attack on the whole community," he said.

It is believed staff at the credit union were locking up when the shooting occurred.

Councillor Declan Breathnach said it was not unusual for it to remain open late into the evening.

"It would be fairly busy on a Friday evening, with some people just getting their week's pay or wanting to sort out money for the weekend," he said.

"This was just such a despicable, heinous act. I still can't believe it but I utterly condemn it."

Gardai have appealed for witnesses to contact them at Dundalk Garda Station on 042-9388400.

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Bethlehem Clashes Continue After Killings

By Tom Rayner, Middle East News Editor

Clashes between youths and Israeli soldiers have continued for a second day in Bethlehem following the deaths of two young Palestinians.

The violence began last night following the funerals of a female student and a teenage boy, who died after being shot by Israeli soldiers in two separate incidents.

The UK Foreign Office has contacted the Israeli government to protest against its use of live ammunition for crowd control purposes.

This afternoon scores of youths took to the streets for the second day to launch rocks and Molotov cocktails at military positions near the security wall that separates Bethlehem from Jerusalem.

Tear gas was fired back at them from checkpoint towers.

Last night at least 10 young people were injured, three seriously, as plastic-coated steel bullets were fired at the angry crowds.

One of those injured was 15-year-old Ahmed al Qadi, who was hit in the face by a tear gas canister, causing serious wounds to his face which required emergency plastic surgery.

Speaking to Sky News in the Beit Jala hospital, his father insisted his son had been an observer to the violence, and had not been throwing stones at the Israeli checkpoint.

The clashes began following the deaths of 22-year-old Lubna Hanash, a female student, and 15-year-old Salih al Amarin, who were both from the Bethlehem area.

Ms Hanash was shot yesterday outside the al Aroub refugee camp near Hebron.

A Palestinian protester uses a catapult against security forces

The Israeli military claim the soldier that fired the fatal shots was travelling in a civilian car that had been attacked with fire bombs.

Salih was shot last Friday near the site of the recent clashes, but he died in hospital yesterday evening.

The deaths mean that a total of six Palestinian civilians have been killed by the Israeli military this month.

Abdi Fatah Hamayel, the governor of Bethlehem, told Sky News: "Those soldiers sitting in their towers behind the wall - are they really in danger? When a Palestinian child throws a stone or an empty bottle?

"They know for sure that none of their soldiers' lives are in danger from the rocks. We don't encourage this, but when the kids see this everyday from the Israelis, what do you expect from them? There is no excuse to shoot the kids with live bullets."

The recent spate of killings has prompted Israel's commander of operations in the West Bank, Brigadier Hagai Mordechai, to call for an immediate review of its rules of engagement .

A military police investigation has also begun into the shooting of Lubna Hanash.

But the situation has already provoked condemnation from the international community.

In a statement to Sky News a spokesperson for the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) said: "We are very concerned about six Palestinians killed by the Israeli Defence Force in different incidents in the past couple of weeks, including the two who died yesterday.

"We have raised these cases with the Israeli Ministry of Strategic Affairs and the relevant Israeli authority for the OPTs (COGAT).

"The UK has repeatedly made clear to Israel our longstanding concerns about the manner in which the IDF polices non-violent protests and the border areas, including use of live ammunition."

UN Middle East Peace Process envoy Robert Serry also expressed concern at the increased use of live fire by Israeli forces in the West Bank.

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad called for an "immediate intervention to compel Israel to desist from these serious attacks on our people".

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Mumbai Attack: American Plotter Gets 35 Years

A Pakistani-American who helped plan the 2008 terrorist attack on Mumbai has been sentenced to 35 years in prison.

David Coleman Headley conducted meticulous scouting missions before 10 gunmen carried out the devastating assault that left 160 people dead, including children, and is often referred to as India's 9/11.

The 52-year-old was sentenced on 12 counts, including conspiracy to aid the Pakistani-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, which mounted the attacks on the landmark Taj Mahal Hotel and other targets.

"I don't have any faith in Mr Headley when he says he's a changed person and believes in the American way of life," said US District Judge Harry Leinenweber in imposing the sentence, which was in the range of what prosecutors had requested for Headley's widespread cooperation.

Headley faced a maximum sentence of life in prison. He pleaded guilty and cooperated to avoid the death penalty and extradition to India.

The bloody scene at a Mumbai train station after the attack

The attackers arrived by boat on November 26, 2008, carrying grenades and automatic weapons, and fanned out to hit multiple targets, including a crowded train station, a Jewish centre and the Taj Mahal Hotel. TV cameras captured much of the three-day rampage live.

Before the judge imposed the sentence, a victim shot in the attack gave emotional testimony.

Linda Ragsdale, a Tennessee children's author, spoke through tears describing how she lost friends in the attacks and her own injuries. She said she was haunted by the sounds of people suffering and her recovery from the wounds continues.

"I know what a bullet can do to every part of the human body," she said. "I know the sound of life leaving a 13-year-old child. These are things I never needed to know, never needed to experience."

The attack heightened the strain in an historically strained relationship between India and Pakistan, which have fought three major wars. Indian officials accuse Pakistani intelligence of helping to plan the assault - an allegation Pakistan denies.

Last year, India secretly hanged the lone surviving gunman, Mohammed Ajmal Kasab.

Headley was born Daood Gilani to a Pakistani father and American mother. He changed his name in 2006 to travel more easily to and from India.

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Clinton Promises Better US Security Abroad

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has insisted the department is moving swiftly and aggressively to strengthen security at US missions worldwide after the deadly September 11 raid on the Libya consulate.

In her last formal congressional testimony on Capitol Hill as America's top diplomat, Mrs Clinton once again took full responsibility for the department's mistakes leading up to assault at the US mission in Benghazi that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

Her voice cracking at one point, Mrs Clinton said the experience was highly personal.

"I stood next to President Obama as the Marines carried those flag-draped caskets off the plane at Andrews (Air Force Base). I put my arms around the mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, sons and daughters," she told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at a packed hearing.

Ambassador Chris Stevens

Her voice rising at another point, she fiercely defended UN Ambassador Susan Rice, who was vilified for widely debunked claims five days after the attack that protests precipitated the raid rather than terrorism.

"The fact is we had four dead Americans. Was it because of a protest? Or was it because of guys out for a walk one night who decided they'd go kill some Americans?

"What difference, at this point, does it make?" a clearly frustrated Mrs Clinton told Republican Senator Ron Johnson.

"It is our job to figure out what happened and do everything we can to prevent it from ever happening again, senator," she added.

Mrs Clinton said the department is implementing the 29 recommendations of an independent review board that harshly criticised the department as well as going above and beyond the proposals, with a special focus on high-threat posts.

The review board report faulted "systematic failures and leadership and management deficiencies at senior levels within two bureaus of the State Department" and four employees were put on administrative leave.

"Nobody is more committed to getting this right," she said. "I am determined to leave the State Department and our country safer, stronger, and more secure."

Three weeks after her release from a New York hospital, Mrs Clinton was at times defiant and willing to chastise lawmakers.

The four American victims are brought home

She will appear before the committee on Thursday to introduce her likely successor, Democratic Senator and former presidential candidate John Kerry.

Mrs Clinton refused to back down from withering Republican criticism of the Obama administration's shifting explanations about the assault.

She complained about the congressional holds placed on foreign aid and bilateral assistance. "We have to get our act together," she told the panel.

Her testimony focused not only on the attack but the growing threat from extremists in northern Africa, pointing out that Libya was not an isolated incident.

She said the Obama administration is pressing for a greater understanding of last week's hostage-taking and rescue effort in Algeria that left three Americans dead.

Clinton had been scheduled to testify before Congress last month, but an illness, a concussion and a blood clot near her brain forced her to postpone her appearance.

Politics play an outsized role in any appearance by Mrs Clinton, who sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008 and is the subject of constant speculation about a possible bid in 2016.

The former first lady and New York senator - a polarising figure dogged by controversy - is about to end her four-year tenure at the State Department with favourable ratings.

A poll early last month by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press found 65% of Americans held a favourable impression of Mrs Clinton, compared with 29% unfavourable.

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Pentagon To Open Combat Roles For Women

Pentagon chief Leon Panetta has decided to remove the military's ban on women serving in combat, senior US defence officials say.

The decision opens hundreds of thousands of front-line positions and potentially elite commando jobs for women after more than a decade at war.

The ground-breaking move recommended by the Joint Chiefs of Staff overturns a 1994 rule prohibiting women from being assigned to smaller ground combat units.

Mr Panetta's decision gives the military services until January 2016 to seek special exceptions if they believe any positions must remain closed to women.

A senior military official says the services will develop plans for allowing women to seek the combat positions.

Some jobs may open as soon as this year. Assessments for others, such as special operations forces, including Navy commandos and the Army's Delta Force, may take longer.

The official said the military chiefs must report back to Mr Panetta with their initial implementation plans by May 15. The announcement on the decision is not expected until Thursday, so the official spoke on condition of anonymity.

Mr Panetta's move expands the Pentagon's action nearly a year ago to open about 14,500 combat positions to women, nearly all of them in the Army. This decision could open more than 230,000 jobs, many in Army and Marine infantry units, to women.

In recent years the necessities of war propelled women into jobs as medics, military police and intelligence officers that were sometimes attached - but not formally assigned - to units on the front lines.

Women comprise 14% of the 1.4 million active military personnel.

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Texas College Shootout: Three People Injured

A shootout between two gunmen at a Texas community college has left three people wounded, including the two suspects.

Harris County Sheriff's spokesman Armando Tello said the shooting was the result of an altercation between two people, and at least one was a student.

He said both people involved in the altercation at Lone Star College in north Houston were wounded and taken to hospital.

Mr Tello said a college maintenance man was injured after getting caught in the crossfire and taken to hospital, and a female student was treated for a medical complication.

Lone Star College is in Houston

The college earlier posted a message on its Twitter feed that said the shooting was "between two individuals" and that the situation was under control.

Relatives identified Jody Neal, 24, as one of the people shot and said he was taken to Harris Health Ben Taub Hospital Emergency Centre.

"All I know he got shot three times. That's all I know," Reginald Neal, who identified himself as Jody Neal's uncle, told KPRC-TV. "He got shot in one of his arms, in the stomach and the leg."

Stacy Neal, Jody Neal's sister, said: "He was sitting in the study room. There (were) three people on the computer and a guy walked up the stairs and opened fire on him. They said it was just one guy that came in with a gun."

Heavily armed police patrolled the campus

Aerial footage from local television stations showed police cars and ambulances parked on the Lone Star College System campus about 20 miles north of downtown Houston.

Emergency personnel could be seen tending to people on stretchers, while others ran from a building led by officers.

The college issued an alert on its website telling students and staff to take immediate shelter or avoid the campus. The school later announced the campus had been evacuated and would remain closed for the rest of the day.

Cody Harris, 20, said he was in a classroom with about six or seven other students waiting for a psychology class to start when he heard eight shots. He and other students looked at each other, said "I guess we should get out of here," and fled.

"I was just worried about getting out," Mr Harris said. "I called my grandmother and asked her to pick me up."

The Lone Star College System has an enrolment of 90,000 students and six college campuses, according to its website.

Along with the college, four nearby schools in the Aldine Independent School District went into lockdown, a district spokesman said.

Lone Star student Daniel Flores, 19, said he was in a tutoring lab on the second floor doing homework when he heard six to seven shots.

"I didn't think they were shots," he said. "It sounded like someone was kicking a door."

About 60 people were in the lab, and they began running out of the room once they realised the sound was gunfire, he said. They fled to a nearby student services centre, where authorities kept them there for about 30 minutes before letting them go.

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Netanyahu Claims Win In Israel Election

By Tom Rayner, Middle East Editor

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed victory in the country's parliamentary elections, but suffered losses to new parties on the left and right.

Mr Netanyahu told his supporters he feels a great sense of responsibility to build "the broadest possible coalition" when forming a new government.

His Likud Beitenu party won the largest number of seats in the election, meaning he can retain the position of prime minister if he can persuade enough other parties to join an alliance.

Mr Netanyahu was welcomed to a victory rally in Tel Aviv with cheers and the beating of drums by the few hundred supporters who had waited for his midnight appearance.

But the Likud Beitenu party's popularity has been significantly eroded by the rise of new parties on both the left and the right.

As he took to the stage, Mr Netanyahu outlined his priorities for the next term as preventing Iran obtaining nuclear weapons, lowering the cost of living, bringing about equality in Israeli military service and striving for peace.

"There are many possible partners for this mission," he said, confirming he had already begun the process of speaking to potential coalition partners.

Exit polls broadcast by several Israeli media outlets have predicted the Likud Beitenu party will win 31 seats, well below expectations.

In a big surprise, Yair Lapid's party came in second, exit polls show

Voter turnout was particularly high throughout the day, which is likely to have benefited the centrist and leftist parties that have performed better than expected.

The centre-left Yesh Atid party, led by former TV presenter Yair Lapid, looks to have won the second largest number of seats, with exit polls estimating a haul of 19.

On the right, the hard-line Jewish Home party, led by millionaire former commando Naftali Bennett, is also likely to pick up enough seats to push for a role in a new government.

Jewish Home look set to take 12 seats, lower than the 16 that had been predicted in some opinion polls last week, but well above the position they were in just six months ago, when most counts put them at just two seats.

Naftali Bennett's party has surged in the vote

The surprise success of Yesh Atid and the strong showing by Jewish Home mean horse-trading over their prospective roles in any future coalition government will be critical to Mr Netanyahu's hopes of building an alliance of parties to give him an overall majority.

One senior Likud adviser told Reuters: "We anticipated we would lose some votes to Lapid, but not to this extent. This was a Yesh Atid sweep."

If Mr Netanyahu fails to pull Yesh Atid into a coalition then the 17 seats expected to be won by Labour, combined with seven seats likely to go to the party of former foreign minister Tzipi Livni, could form the basis of a left-wing bloc to challenge Mr Netanyahu's right to lead a government.

The negotiating process could continue for several days, and will ultimately be approved by Israel's President Shimon Peres.

Turnout among the country's 5.6 million eligible voters stood at almost 67 per cent, the highest in a decade.

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Israel's Extremist Right Set For Cabinet Posts

By Tom Rayner, Middle East News Editor, Jerusalem

Israelis go to the voting booths in an election that could have a devastating impact on hopes for a future peace deal with the Palestinians.

While prime inister Benjamin Netanyahu is predicted to win the most seats, opinion polls have suggested support for his Likud Beitenu party has been steadily eroded by a surge in the popularity of smaller right wing parties.

Analysts have observed that a weak performance by his party at the ballot box could leave Mr Netanyahu having to accept demands from more extremist groups in order to form a coalition government.

Last Friday the publication of the final opinion polls before the vote showed the overall bloc of Israel's right-wing and religious parties winning a slim parliamentary majority of 63 out of 120 seats.

In the course of the campaign, the man who has generated more headlines than any other is Naftali Bennett - leader of the hard-line Jewish Home party.

Naftali Bennett heads the Jewish Home party

The party has surged in the polls. Six months ago they were predicted to win just two seats. Now they are expected to win as many as 15.

Running on a platform of outright refusal to countenance land deals with the Palestinians or the creation of a Palestinian state, the growing strength of Jewish Home is indicative of a general shift to the right amongst the Israeli electorate.

If the polls are right Mr Bennett is likely to end up being given a senior role in Mr Netanyahu's next cabinet.

Bennett, who once served as Chief of Staff to Mr Netanyahu, is a multi-millionaire businessman and a former Major in the Israeli army.

He also led the main organisation representing Jewish settlers in the built-up West Bank outposts, which have been deemed illegal under international law.

Speaking to Sky's Middle East Correspondent Sam Kiley in Jerusalem, Mr Bennett explained why he would rather opt for continuation of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories than discuss a peace deal.

He said, "Establishing a Palestinian State within the land of Israel would spell eternal war, bloodshed and sorrow between us and our neighbours.

"We've had it in Gaza and look what happened - we handed over 100% of the land to the Arabs and days after they started shooting thousands of rockets at us."

In recent years these kinds of arguments were the preserve of the hard-line minority, but the fact Mr Bennett has emerged as a potential king-maker in the election suggests such views are becoming increasingly mainstream.

Such negative attitudes towards the potential for a renewal of peace talks between the two parties have a become a major concern for many western diplomats, including those from Britain, as well as more left wing candidates in Israel.

Yaakov Peri, a former head of Israel's internal intelligence agency the Shin Bet, is standing as a candidate for the Yesh Atid - a centre-left party led by a well-known former television journalist.

He told Sky News the shift to the right, and the absence of any unity amongst the left wing and centrist bloc spelt trouble for the future stability of the region.

"I think it's a disaster. It's a disaster from all aspects you can imagine."

Officials in the Palestinian Authority will also be watching the results carefully.

In anonymous briefings there have already been suggestions that the election of a right-wing government will prompt an attempt by the Palestinians to use their new UN non-observer status to push claims of Israeli war crimes at the International Criminal Court.

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Israeli Vote Could Kill Peace Process Patient

She was mobbed by journalists but not by ordinary Israeli voters as she toured a Tel Aviv shopping mall canvassing.

On the eve of the country's general elections, Tzipi Livni, a former Israeli prime minister, told Sky News that Israel's left had failed to reach a coalition deal to see off the right because "there have been a lot of policy issues but I am campaigning for peace".

Rare is the politician who campaigns for the opposite. But today, January 22 2013, may be the election day when Israelis irrevocably kill the peace process with the Palestinians.

Let's face it. It has been in a coma for most of the last decade.Israel

It briefly emerged from the darkness of the second intifada, which erupted 12 years ago, during the premiership of Ehud Olmert in 2007.

But a Palestinian refusal to accept then what many Israelis saw as dangerously generous terms offered by Mr Olmert, caused it to slump back into oblivion.

Tzipi Livni lamented the left's failure to reach a coalition deal

Its chances of revival now, according to William Hague, the British foreign minister, and many others both inside and outside Israel, are rapidly vanishing.

In Mr Hague's view, the Peace Process Patient has only a year to live.

Today though, Binyamin Netanyahu's coalition of Likud and Yisrael Beitenu (Israel is our Home) is expected to take around 35 of the 120 seats in the Knesset.

Aggressive horse-trading will follow the voting.

But a right wing block which will include a new party, Jewish Home lead by Naftali Bennett, is likely to be asked to form a government.

This will be an historic moment. It will be the moment when an Israeli government is formed that explicitly rules out negotiating a two-state solution.

It will be the moment when the Peace Process Patient is declared dead - or that further treatment is fruitless because it is in a persistently vegetative state.

Mr Bennett has made it clear in an interview with Sky at the Hebrew University which sits on the edge of the West Bank in Jerusalem that a two-state solution is off the cards.

"I think that a Palestinian state 200 metres from here within the Land of Israel - we're in Jerusalem right now, would spell eternal war, bloodshed and sorrow between us and our neighbours.

"We've tried it in Gaza and look what's happening we gave 100% of Gaza over to the Arabs and days after they stared shooting thousands of missiles at us."

He favours a deal in which Israel no longer occupies the Palestinians - they rule themselves, but have no open borders and Israeli maintains a security presence in the Palestinian state - in other words a continuation of the status quo but without the bother of actually running areas inhabited by Arabs on the West Bank.

This week Mr Netanyahu, who has said he would talk to the Palestinians if they drop their demands for an end to the building of Jewish settlements in the Occupied Territories, announced that the "days of bulldozing Jewish areas are over" - meaning that he would never agree to a peace deal that would involve the dismantling of any settlement.

Any agreement with the Palestinians, including the Clinton proposals of a decade ago, would inevitably include the withdrawal of Jews from some settlements.

But Mr Bennett has said he would leave a government that agreed to any swap of territory in return for a long-term peace.

And Mr Netanyahu's government has announced the expansion of thousands of settlement dwellings into the West Bank in the first month of this year.

Israel has been steadily drifting into the hands of the hawks for more than a decade.

Naftali Bennett has taken an uncompromising approach to the peace process

Continued belief in a peace process with the Palestinians requires a subtle mind and an act of faith.

The subtlety is in understanding that, while it is true that diplomatic breakthroughs such as the Oslo Peace process in the 1990s, or the withdrawal of Jewish settlements in the last decade, were met with "Palestinian violence", the violence was not generated by all Palestinians.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad have a record of, literally, blowing up the road to peace with suicide bombs and missiles from Gaza.

But a majority of Palestinians want peace with Israel and are prepared to live alongside a Jewish State.

The need for Israeli "faith" derives from a gamble that if Israel ends its occupation of the West Bank then the Palestinians and their Arab allies won't use the newly-minted Palestine as a bridgehead to drive the Jews into the sea - a threat heard from Beirut through Baghdad to Tehran.

The last six heads of the Shin Bet, Israel's internal intelligence service responsible for spying on the Occupied Territories, interviewed in the Oscar nominated documentary 'The Gatekeepers' have subtle minds - and insist they have faith.

Every one of them said that Israel's future security depends on ending the occupation.

An opinion poll last December showed that 68% of Israelis still believe that a two state solution is desirable.

Yet this week it is likely that Israel will emerge from general elections with a far-right dominated government that will not engage with a two-state solution.

Gaza's missiles and the charisma of Mr Netanyahu and Mr Bennett have eclipsed the subtlety of the arguments of peace being advanced by the left - leaving the field open to the vocal minority on the settlements.

Many Israelis have simply lost their faith in peace and now want to hide under an Iron Dome.

As the bulldozers advance across Palestinian lands, chewing into ancient olive groves and farms, Palestinians see their land being eaten up by Israel and abandon hope.

This is a victory for Hamas which remains committed to destroying the "Zionist Entity".

"I think it's a disaster, it's a disaster from all aspects that you can imagine," says Yaacov Peri, a centre left candidate with the Yesh Atid party. He should know, he used to run the Shin Bet.

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Algeria: Freed Brit Hostage Describes Ordeal

A freed British hostage has told Sky News how he fled the Algerian gas complex through a fence in a 'Great Escape' style scene.

BP employee Alan Wright spent days hidden in a pitch-black room with colleagues at the In Amenas plant after hearing gunfire.

Eventually, the 30 or so workers in the building decided to cut through a perimeter fence and make a break for it.

He said: "It was like the Great Escape. We all climbed through the fence and ran into the desert as gunfire chattered behind us as the fighting went on."

But he said feared he had made the "biggest mistake" of his life when the troops who intercepted them in the desert split them into ex-pats and locals - and he assumed they had fallen into the hands of the terrorists.

The siege happened at a gas complex in Algeria

"You just think 'that's it'. If you'd been captured there was pretty much no escape from them, and you know it's going to take a miracle to get you out."

The ordeal began on Wednesday morning, when he and colleagues locked themselves in their office after hearing gunshots.

The 37-year-old health and safety adviser, from Portsoy, Scotland, told Sky's James Matthew's that a terrorist attempted to entice the workers out of the room, with a friendly greeting.

"At around about 9.30am we heard … a very friendly national voice say 'good morning' in Arabic, and we're certain that was the terrorists coming in and trying to lull people into coming out friendly.

"That was the first moment that you thought 'we're in big trouble here'."

Images have emerged of some of the hostages surrendering

For the next nine hours they could hear sporadic gunfire, which stopped at about 11pm.

When the sound of loud gunfire resumed, he feared the worst.

"We just assumed we were surrounded, and (the terrorists) were waiting, just going round and gathering people up."

Along with three other workers, he decided to move to another room where they closed the blinds, leaving them in total darkness for three days.

Eventually, Algerian employees in another room convinced them that no-one was coming to get them, and they cut the fence and made their daring break for it.

Mr Wright disguised himself as a local, and made his escape.

He said it was important not to run and attract attention to themselves.

"You know these guys are behind you and if they see you, you don't know if they're going to be shooting at you, you just don't know where everybody is.

"There was a mixture of relief, but you've no idea of what is out there.

"We got about a kilometre into the desert and you can see the military point with eight or nine military personnel with guns pointing into our spot but also that they had identified us and were making tracks to come our way.

"Then you think 'Is it the terrorists or is it the gendarmes?'"

"And for 20 minutes you're still not sure - we're down on your hands and knees with our hands up."

When the group was split into Algerians and ex-pats, Mr Wright thought they had walked into the hands of the terrorists.

He said: "You're thinking you've just made the biggest mistake of your life.

"That was a horrible, horrible thing, that you have escaped then into the hands of the terrorists, or so we thought.

"You fear the worst, you can't put into words how bad you feel, it's something you never want to go through again."

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Hostage Crisis: Three Britons Confirmed Dead

Three Britons have been killed and another three are believed to have died in the Algerian hostage crisis, David Cameron has announced.

The Prime Minister said a British resident is also thought to have been killed in the four day stand-off in the desert which dramatically ended on Saturday.

Mr Cameron called the attack on the In Amenas gas plant "appalling" and warned there are "decades" of terrorist struggle ahead.

The death toll includes the Briton already known to have died on Wednesday in the initial raid staged by a band of Islamist militants.

Survivor Alan Wright, who is now back in the UK, told Sky News how he hid in an office and then managed to escape through a hole in a perimeter fence.

Freed British hostages Peter (left) and Alan (right). No surnames available

Mr Cameron said: "We now know that three British nationals have been killed, and a further three are believed to be dead. A further British resident is also believed to be dead.

"I know the whole country will want to join me in sending our sympathies and condolences to the families who have undergone an absolutely dreadful ordeal, and now face life without these very precious loved ones."

He described the attack as a "stark reminder" of the continuing terrorist threat and vowed to use Britain's chairmanship of the G8 to ensure that it was at the top of the international agenda.

"This is a global threat and it will require a global response. It will require a response that is about years, even decades, rather than months," he said.

"It requires a response that is patient and painstaking, that is tough but also intelligent, but above all has an absolutely iron resolve and that is what we will deliver over these coming years."

Algerian police escort freed Norwegian hostage Oddvar Birkedal

The over all death toll is now said to have risen to 81, according to Algerian security sources, with 107 foreign workers and 685 local employees released.

The private Algerian television channel Ennahar is also reporting that five kidnappers have been found, still alive.

Despite this, the Algerian oil minister has said that operations at the plant will resume in two days.

Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond said two Scots, or people with immediate family connections in Scotland, are believed to have been killed.

Carlos Estrada, a Colombian man who lived in London with his family and worked for BP, has been confirmed dead by President Juan Manuel Santos.

At least one American died before Saturday's assault, and Japanese engineering firm JGC Corp said 10 of its Japanese and seven of its foreign workers are still unaccounted for.

Despite the major loss of life, Mr Cameron refused to criticise Algeria's handling of the crisis.

"The responsibility for these deaths lies squarely with the terrorists who launched these vicious and cowardly attacks," he said.

"When you are dealing with a terrorist incident on this scale with up to 30 terrorists it is extremely difficult to respond and get this right in every respect."

An Algerian army truck in a street of In Amenas, near the gas plant

He added: "What we face is an extremist, Islamist, al Qaeda-linked terrorist group. Just as we had to deal with that in Pakistan and in Afghanistan so the world needs to come together to deal with this threat in north Africa.

"It is linked to al Qaeda, it wants to destroy our way of life, it believes in killing as many people as it can.

"We need to work with others to defeat the terrorists and to close down the ungoverned spaces where they thrive with all the means that we have."

Foreign Secretary William Hague said 22 British nationals had survived the crisis and were already back in the UK.

Britain's ambassador is currently in Algiers and will travel to the south of the country today to help any other Britons trying to leave.

He told Sky's Murnaghan show: "These are cold-blooded murderers and we must remember that. There is no political excuse that justifies behaving in this way."

He also defended Algeria's response, revealing that he had been told the terrorists had been planning to blow up the whole installation - causing even more deaths.

The drama started on Wednesday when a group of around 30 heavily-armed militants mounted a dawn raid on the plant which is close to the Libyan border.

They seized hostages from among the 700 Algerian and foreign workers at the site. Two members of staff, including one Briton, died in the initial assault.

Algerian special forces mounted an operation to take back the plant 24 hours later, without informing any other governments in advance.

The Algerians insisted later that they had to act due to fears that the militants were about to flee into the desert, taking hostages with them.

Algerian police guard the entrance of a hospital located near the gas plant

Fears for the hostages' safety grew amid reports of fierce fighting and multiple deaths.

By Friday, it was being claimed that around 100 foreigners - from a total of 132 - and 573 Algerians had been freed.

Provisional figures put the death toll at 12 hostages and 18 militants but it was clear one group of terrorists was still holding out.

On Saturday, Algerian troops launched a final assault on the site and brought the stand-off to a bloody conclusion.

The state news agency, APS, reported that the terrorists had executed seven of the remaining hostages before they themselves were killed.

Algerian security forces escort a bus carrying freed hostages

Troops later found an arsenal of six machine guns, 21 rifles, two shotguns, two 60mm mortars with shells, six 60mm missiles with launchers, two rocket-propelled grenades with eight rockets and 10 grenades in explosive belts.

The terrorists also booby-trapped the sprawling plant with explosives before the last shoot-out.

Algeria's interior ministry has strongly defended the rescue operation.

"To avoid a bloody turn of events in response to the extreme danger of the situation, the army's special forces launched an intervention with efficiency and professionalism to neutralise the terrorist groups that were first trying to flee with the hostages and then blow up the gas facilities," it said in a statement.

The kidnappers are part of the Masked Brigade - a terrorist splinter group led by the veteran jihadist, Mokhtar Belmokhtar, which broke away from al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.

They initially claimed the attack was in retaliation for the French military intervention in neighbouring Mali.

The gas plant is in the desert in In Amenas

It was subsequently reported that they were demanding the release of two terrorists held in the US, including 1993 World Trade Centre bombing mastermind Omar Abdel Rahman, in return for the release of two US captives.

Belmokhtar has reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack and called on France to halt air strikes in Mali.

Mauritanian news website Sahara Media said Belmokhtar declared in a video: "We in al Qaeda announce this blessed operation."

The video was not shown and it is not immediately possible to verify the information.

The Mauritanian news agency, ANI, also carried a statement apparently from the group which warned further strikes on nations involved in combating the Mali rebels.

It said: "We remind our Muslim brothers of the need to clear out from sites run by foreign companies, especially the French ones, to save their lives."

Algeria has fought its own Islamist rebellion since the 1990s, elements of which later declared allegiance to al Qaeda and then set up new groups in the poorly patrolled wastes of the Sahara, where they flourished.

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Bulgaria: Turkish Politician Escapes Gun Attack

A man jumped on stage and pointed a gas pistol at the leader of Bulgaria's ethnic Turkish party before security guards wrestled him to the ground during a live televised conference.

Ahmed Dogan, the long-time leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) escaped unscathed - and it was not immediately clear why he had been targeted at the party congress in Sofia.

Television footage showed a man jumping out of the audience and interrupting a speech by the 58-year-old Mr Dogan, who has led the party for almost a quarter of a century.

Security guards were seen beating and kicking the man, who was also carrying two knives, after he pointed the non-lethal weapon at Mr Dogan's head.

The attacker was later escorted from the conference by security guards

"Ahmed Dogan is in good health. Everything is under control," MRF official Ceyhan Ibryamov told journalists.

Police said they had arrested a 25-year-old man from the Black Sea town of Burgas. They said the attacker was also carrying two knives.

The liberal MRF party represents ethnic Turks and other Muslims, who make up about 12% of Bulgaria's 7.3 million population.

Mr Dogan is seen as one of Balkan country's most influential political figures. The MRF was a junior partner in the previous
Socialist-led cabinet.

He tendered his resignation hours after the attack, saying: "This time my decision is categorical."

He was widely expected to step down from his position, even before the attack.

In 1996, former Prime Minister Andrei Lukanov was found shot dead near his home in Sofia - although attacks on politicians are actually rare.

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Algeria Hostage Crisis Ends, Brits Feared Dead

Five British nationals and a UK resident are believed dead or missing after the Algeria hostage crisis reached a violent and bloody climax.

Algerian special forces mounted a "final assault" on the last Islamist militants holding out at the remote BP gas plant at In Amenas on Saturday, bringing to an end the four-day stand-off in the desert.

Afterwards the Algerian interior ministry reported that, in all, 23 hostages and all 32 terrorists had died, while 107 foreign workers and 685 local employees had been released.

The Algerian authorities were working to dismantle explosives left by the terrorists who booby-trapped the sprawling plant before the final shoot-out.

The interior ministry strongly defended the rescue operation, despite criticism of the high death toll.

Freed British hostages Peter (left) and Alan (right). No surnames available

"To avoid a bloody turn of events in response to the extreme danger of the situation, the army's special forces launched an intervention with efficiency and professionalism to neutralise the terrorist groups that were first trying to flee with the hostages and then blow up the gas facilities," it said in a statement.

It said that troops had recovered an arsenal of six machine guns, 21 rifles, two shotguns, two 60mm mortars with shells, six 60mm missiles with launchers, two rocket-propelled grenades with eight rockets and 10 grenades in explosive belts.

The state news agency, APS, reported that the terrorists had killed seven of the hostages they were still holding before they were killed themselves by the special forces.

David Cameron said he had spoken to Algerian prime minister Abdelmalek Sellal, who confirmed that the military operation against the terrorists was "effectively ended".

In a statement, the Prime Minister added: "It is our priority now to get people home as quickly as possible and to look after the survivors. Many are already home or on their way back.

Algerian police escort freed Norwegian hostage Oddvar Birkedal

"Let me be clear. There is no justification for taking innocent life in this way.

"Our determination is stronger than ever to work with allies right around the world to root out and defeat this terrorist scourge and those who encourage it."

Foreign Secretary William Hague said that on the basis of the available information they believed five British nationals and a UK resident were either "deceased or unaccounted for" - in addition to the Briton killed on the opening day of the terrorist attack.

He insisted that it was too early to come to any judgement about the Algerian operation.

"I don't want to at this stage enter into criticism or judgement because there will be a lot to be learned yet about this operation," he said.

Japan's Prime Minister tells reporters 10 Japanese workers remain missing

In contrast, French president Francois Hollande gave his immediate backing to Algeria's tough tactics, saying they were "the most adapted response to the crisiss".

Several hours after the troops stormed the gas plant, President Barack Obama said the US was seeking from Algerian authorities a fuller understanding of what took place, but added that "the blame for this tragedy rests with the terrorists who carried it out".

Meanwhile, BP chief executive Bob Dudley said the company was "unable to confirm the location or situation" of four employees at In Amenas and had "grave fears" that they are likely to have suffered fatalities.

The situation at the plant remains unclear and Mr Dudley said that it could be some time before they establish exactly what happened. Two BP employees suffered injuries although they are not life-threatening.

"Our focus remains on our colleagues, who we have not yet been able to locate, and on supporting their families through a time of agonising uncertainty," he said.

An Algerian army truck in a street of In Amenas, near the gas plant

He said 25 of the 56 BP workers in Algeria at the time of the attack have now left in a "staged process" of withdrawing all non-essential staff from the country.

The kidnappers, who call themselves 'Those Who Sign In Blood', had earlier told a Mauritanian news agency they were in contact with that they were holding seven foreigners: one British, three Belgians, two Americans and one Japanese.

The drama began on Wednesday when a group of about 30 heavily-armed militants mounted a dawn raid at the plant close to the Libyan border, seizing hostages from among the 700 Algerian and foreign workers at the site. Two workers, including one Briton, died in the initial assault.

The following day, Algerian special forces mounted an operation to take back the plant, to the initial dismay of the British and other governments who were not notified in advance despite offering assistance to the Algerian authorities.

The Algerians, however, insisted that they had to act immediately amid fears that the militants were about to flee into the desert, taking hostages with them.

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond with US Secretary of Defence Leon Panetta

By Friday it was reported that about 100 foreigners, from a total of 132, and 573 Algerians were freed, with a "provisional" figure of 12 hostages and 18 militants killed in the fighting, although the kidnappers claimed 35 foreigners died.

But it was also clear that a group of militants, still holding hostages, was continuing to hold out.

The kidnappers, part of the Masked Brigade - a terrorist splinter group led by the veteran jihadist, Mokhtar Belmokhtar, which broke away from al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb - initially claimed the attack was in retaliation for the French military intervention in neighbouring Mali.

It was subsequently reported that they were demanding the release of two terrorists held in the US, including 1993 World Trade Centre bombing mastermind Omar Abdel Rahman, in return for the release of two US captives.

The plant at In Amenas is jointly operated by BP, Norwegian company Statoil and Algerian state oil company Sonatrach.

Algerian police guard the entrance of a hospital located near the gas plant

As freed hostages began to leave the plant, accounts emerged of their horrific treatment at the hands of the kidnappers.

One Algerian worker, who gave his name only as Chabane, described how from his hiding place he heard the militants speaking among themselves with Libyan, Egyptian and Tunisian accents. At one point, he said, they caught a Briton.

"They threatened him until he called out in English to his friends, telling them 'Come out, come out. They're not going to kill you. They're looking for the Americans'," he said.

"A few minutes later they blew him away."

The family of British survivor Darren Matthews, from Saltburn-by-the-Sea in Cleveland, expressed their relief that he had escaped unhurt.

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