Egypt: Protester Killed Amid Fresh Clashes

One person has been killed and dozens injured during clashes between police and protesters in the Egyptian capital of Cairo.

Egypt's health ministry said a 23-year-old man died after being shot in the chest and forehead on Friday. Some 53 people were wounded in protests that took place across the country, mainly in Cairo.

Demonstrators are demanding the overthrow of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi.

Protesters throw fireworks at police in front of the presidential palace

Youths threw petrol bombs and shot fireworks at the outer wall of President Morsi's Cairo presidential compound as night fell.

Police responded by firing water cannon and tear gas leading to skirmishes in the surrounding streets.

The president has warned his security forces will act with "utmost decisiveness" to protect state buildings following the clashes outside the presidential palace.

Police fire tear gas at demonstrators

The trouble there follows anger on the streets of Port Said where thousands protested to mark the first anniversary of a football stadium riot that left 74 people dead.

The renewed violence brought an end to a few days of calm after the deadliest week of Mr Morsi's seven months in power.

Protests marking the second anniversary of the uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak have killed nearly 60 people since January 25, prompting the head of the army to warn this week that the state was on the verge of collapse.

Protesters chant anti-Morsi slogans

There were also scuffles earlier near Cairo's central Tahrir Square, where police fired tear gas at stone-throwing youths. In Alexandria, protesters blocked roads, staged a sit-in on the railway and tried to break into the TV and radio building.

The protesters accuse President Morsi of betraying the spirit of the revolution by concentrating too much power in his own hands and those of his Muslim Brotherhood.

The Brotherhood accuses the opposition of trying to overthrow the first democratically elected leader in Egypt's 5,000-year history.

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Turkey: US Embassy Attack 'Act Of Terror'

A suicide bomber has carried out an attack at an entrance to the US embassy in the Turkish capital Ankara, killing himself and a guard.

The bomber's device went off as he was going through an X-ray machine at a security gatehouse, Sky sources said.

The White House condemned the suicide bombing as a "terrorist attack," but said it did not yet know who was behind it.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said "we strongly condemn" the attack, adding: "A suicide bombing on the perimeter of an embassy is by definition an act of terror. It is a terrorist attack.

"However, we do not know at this point who is responsible or the motivations behind the attack. The attack itself is clearly an act of terror."

Damage can be seen at a side entrance of the embassy

Turkey's Prime Minister said an outlawed Turkish Marxist group was responsible for the attack.

Tayyip Erdogan said on Turkey's HaberTurk television that it was the work of the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front, or DHKP-C. The group has been designated a terrorist organisation by the United States and the European Union.

Mr Erdogan said: "It is my principle to speak only after receiving the final result, but I can say clearly that it is DHKP-C."

The perpetrator had reportedly spent time in prison on terrorism-related charges. He was believed to be aged about 30 and used plastic explosives in the embassy atrocity.

The DHKP-C is a Marxist-Leninist group that has claimed responsibility for suicide bombings against police stations in recent years. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Friday's attack.

A Turkish guard was killed in the blast and another Turkish citizen, believed to be a journalist, was wounded.

Medics treat a woman who was injured in the blast

TV footage showed a door blown out at a side entrance and there was scattered masonry from a wall, although there did not appear to be any more significant structural damage.

Police cordoned off the area following the explosion, which sent smoke and debris flying into the street.

Americans were warned to avoid visiting the embassy or US consulates in Istanbul and Adana until further notice, and were told to register on the State Department's website.

"The Department of State advises US citizens travelling or residing in Turkey to be alert to the potential for violence, to avoid those areas where disturbances have occurred, and to avoid demonstrations and large gatherings," said a statement by the US Consulate in Istanbul.

The State Department said the explosion occurred on the perimeter of the embassy.

"We can confirm a terrorist blast at a checkpoint on the perimeter of our embassy compound in Ankara, Turkey, at 1.13pm local time, or 6:13 am ET," spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

"We are working closely with the Turkish national police to make a full assessment of the damage and the casualties, and to begin an investigation," she added.

Foreign Secretary William Hague condemned the bombing, and UK businesses in Turkey have been urged to be vigilant.

The British consulate in Istanbul said in a statement: "There has been a suspected terrorist attack on the US embassy in Ankara.

"Due to the nature of this incident we advise you to be extra vigilant and to take appropriate security measures to safeguard your staff and assets."

Ilnur Cevik, a journalist who was near the scene, told Sky News: "There was a huge bang which really shook everywhere."

Far-left groups in Turkey oppose what they see as US influence over Turkish foreign policy.

Turkey is a key US ally in the Middle East with common interests ranging from energy security to counter-terrorism.

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Mali: Desert Tests Troops Heading To Timbuktu

Mali: Troops Welcomed In Timbuktu

Updated: 3:09pm UK, Thursday 31 January 2013

By Alex Crawford, Special Correspondent

French foreign legion paratroopers are scouring Timbuktu, Mali, for al Qaeda cells still hiding in the town.

The residents we spoke to are convinced that many of the armed militants did not make it out of the ancient town before the French bombardment.

"They're still here. I know they are. They're hiding in homes in the town," Abdau Warabacha told us.

As we sat on the sand floor of his mud hut, Mr Warabacha explained how French jets had bombed Timbuktu for two days.

Then on Monday, teams of French legionnaires parachuted into the airport, which is several kilometres from the town centre.

The Sky News team arrived at the airport with French ground troops shortly afterwards.

Inside the Blindé (armoured personnel carrier) the soldiers were heady with excitement.

"This is what we have been working towards," Corporal Max told us. (The French military only give first names for security reasons).

We left them behind at the airport, setting up a base and securing their position there, and were the first journalists to enter Timbuktu town, ahead of both the Malian and French armies.

People were already gathered at a stone archway marking the entrance to the town, frantically waving the French Tricolore alongside the Malian flag.

"Viva la France!" they shouted, as we swept into town in two cars draped with the red, white and blue French flag colours to ensure against any random air strikes.

At this stage I had a sneaking feeling the Timbuktu residents thought the camera crew of Garwen McLuckie, Jim Foster, Nick Ludlam and myself were all French. At that moment, we weren't going to dispose them of that notion.

Crowds were careering across town in pick-up trucks, cheering and applauding the French.

"Merci, merci, merci France," they repeatedly shouted.

Hordes of people guided us to some of the tombs which had been destroyed by the militants. Eight hundred-year-old monuments had been reduced to rubble. Historic buildings, preserved for centuries, were now gone forever.

The crowd around us was quiet inside the area known as the tomb of the three saints, as they gazed at the pile of stones that was once their heritage.

At the Ahmed Baba Institute we saw mounds of ash with pieces of manuscripts sticking through the cinders where the jihadis had destroyed an estimated 3,000 ancient documents dating back to the 12th century.

But other manuscripts had been smuggled out by the people, who knew that if they had been discovered by the jihadis, they could have been executed or flogged.

Professor of Archaeological History, Abdullah Cisse, managed to sneak out hundreds of books from the library which militants were threatening to destroy. He had kept them hidden, locked up in a back room of his house.

On top of his bedroom cupboard he was keeping boxes of ancient manuscripts which he had been able to surreptitiously take out of the institute to safety.

"If they'd found these, they would have burned them," he told us. "They were destroying everything."

People were coming up to us, telling us unprompted tales of how the jihadis had terrorised them during the 10 months they had ruled Timbuktu.

They spoke of public executions, of people being buried up to their necks and stoned, of others, including women, being flogged for breaking Islamic "law".

Many women told us they were jailed, beaten and even raped if they were deemed to have acted inappropriately by the Islamic police. Offences included not covering their faces or talking to men outside of their family.

Several hours after we had been in Timbuktu, a platoon of French legionnaires arrived on foot. They seemed a little tense, guns drawn, not quite sure of the reception they would get.

They were soon surrounded by flag-waving and cheering crowds. Someone was beating a drum in welcome.

"Bienvenue Timbuktu!" they shouted.

Caches of weapons and ammunition had been left behind in the homes and the streets of shops run by the militants.

Less than 24 hours later, the ecstasy of the French army's arrival had given way to rage and anger. We heard the banging and shouting as we woke in the early morning.

A few streets away in the old city, hundreds of people, many of them women and children, were breaking into the shops and homes which they said were once owned by the Arab 'militants'. They were tearing the places apart, ripping off even the door frames and electrical sockets in their frenzy.

A few soldiers tried rather half-heartedly to restore order but gave up.

"This is our stuff," one man screamed at a soldier. "This belongs to us."

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Mexico: Pemex Oil Company HQ Blast Kills 14

Fourteen people are dead and 80 injured after an explosion at the headquarters of Mexican oil company Pemex.

Injured workers were seen being evacuated after the blast at the state-owned firm blew out windows and damaged three floors of the tower in Mexico City's commercial centre.

There are reports that as many as 30 people could be trapped in the debris from the explosion, which occurred in the basement of an administrative building next to the iconic, 52-storey skyscraper.

Ana Vargas Palacio was distraught as she searched for her missing husband, Daniel Garcia Garcia, 36, who works in the building. She last heard from him at 1pm.

"I called his phone many times, but a young man answered and told me he found the phone in the debris," she said.

The two have an 11-year-old daughter. His mother, Gloria Garcia Castaneda, collapsed on a friend's arm, crying "My son. My son."

Television images showed people being carried out of the building on office chairs and gurneys. Most of them showed injuries likely to have been caused by falling debris.

"We have 13 dead at the scene and one more at the hospital. there are more than 80 wounded and we continue to look for survivors in the debris," Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong told reporters.

The blast happened in a busy central district of Mexico City

Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, said in a Tweet that several workers were injured in the blast but no one answered at its offices.

There was no immediate cause given for the blast, but in an earlier Tweet, the company said it had evacuated the building because of problems with the electricity.

"It was an explosion, a shock, the lights went out and suddenly there was a lot of debris," employee Cristian Obele told Milenio television, adding that he had been injured in the leg. "Co-workers helped us get out of the building."

The tower, where several thousand people work, was evacuated. The main floor and the mezzanine of the auxiliary building, where the explosion occurred, were heavily damaged, along with windows as far as three floors up.

"Right now they're conducting a tour of the building and the area adjacent to the blast site to verify if there are any still trapped so they can be rescued immediately," Interior Ministry spokesman Eduardo Sanchez told Milenio.

"We were talking and all of sudden we heard an explosion with white smoke and glass falling from the windows," said Maria Concepcion Andrade, 42, who lives on the block of Pemex building.

"People started running from the building covered in dust. A lot of pieces were flying."

Police landed four rescue helicopters to remove the dead or injured. About a dozen tow trucks were furiously moving cars to make more landing room for the helicopters.

Streets surrounding the building were closed as evacuees wandered around, and rescue crews loaded the injured into ambulances.

"I profoundly lament the death of our fellow workers at Pemex. My condolences to their families," President Enrique Pena Nieto said via his Twitter account.

Shortly before the explosion, Operations Director Carlos Murrieta reported via Twitter that the company had reduced its accident rate in recent years. Most Pemex accidents have occurred at pipeline and refinery installations.

A fire at a pipeline metering center in northeast Mexico near the Texas border killed 30 workers in September, the largest-single toll in at least a decade for the company.

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Giffords Appeals To Congress on Gun Control

Former US representative Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head in 2011, has appealed directly to Congress for tougher gun controls, saying: "Too many children are dying."

Ms Giffords, who suffered significant injuries in the mass shooting and still struggles with language, was speaking as a surprise witness in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Supported by her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, Ms Giffords said: "Speaking is difficult. But I need to say something important.

"Be bold, be courageous, Americans are counting on you."

Ms Giffords and her husband, who are both gun owners, have formed a political action committee to back politicians who support tighter gun restrictions.

Gabrielle Giffords was supported by her husband Mark Kelly

Their Americans For Responsible Solutions group aims to counter the influence of America's powerful gun lobby, the National Rifle Association.

Mr Kelly described to the panel how the man who shot his wife fired 33 bullets in 15 seconds and was stopped only when he paused to reload.

He said the handgun would not have been illegal under a federal assault weapons ban that lapsed more than seven years ago, but the magazine that held more than 30 bullets would have been prohibited.

"We are simply two reasonable Americans who have said 'Enough'," Mr Kelly said. He added that the nation was "not taking responsibility for the gun rights our founding fathers have conferred on us".

The NRA also testified in front of the committee in the first gun control hearing since 20 children were shot dead in Connecticut by 21-year-old Adam Lanza.

NRA executive vice president Wayne LaPierre said gun control measures had failed in the past "and will fail again in the future".

He instead expressed support for better enforcement of existing laws, stronger school security and to better the government's ability to keep guns from mentally unstable people.

He said: "Law-abiding gun owners will not accept blame for the acts of deranged criminals."

Mr LaPierre's statement had a milder tone than recent NRA remarks.

These included a television ad that called Barack Obama an "elitist hypocrite" for voicing doubts about the NRA proposal of armed guards in every school in the country while his own children were protected at their school.

NRA executive vice president Wayne LaPierre says gun laws "will fail".

Mr Obama this month proposed a package that includes banning military-style assault weapons, requiring background checks on all firearms purchases and limiting ammunition magazines to 10 rounds.

The US has the world's highest rate of gun ownership, and gun sales have jumped since the Newtown shooting as some fear that the government will take their guns away.

The Constitution guarantees the right to bear arms, but some argue that the country's founding fathers more than two centuries ago could not have foreseen the speed and power of today's weapons.

Even if gun control proposals make their way through a Congress that is already busy with fiscal issues, some law enforcement authorities at the local level have already threatened not to enforce them.

The chairman of the panel, Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy, said closing loopholes in the background check system for gun purchasers will not threaten firearms owners' Second Amendment rights to own a gun and is a matter of common sense.

"The Second Amendment is secure and will remain secure and protected," he insisted.

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Arizona Office Shooting: Gunman On The Run

Police are still searching for a gunman after three people were shot - one fatally - during a dispute at an office complex in Phoenix, Arizona.

The suspect has been named as 70-year-old Arthur D Harmon.

Police reportedly served a search warrant on Harmon's house seven miles from the office park, but found nobody inside.

The shooting victims were taken to hospital after the incident on Wednesday morning where one man, 48-year-old Steve Singer, later died.

The other two victims, a 43-year-old man and a 32-year-old woman, remain in critical condition.

Emergency crews were at the scene

Fire Captain Scott McDonald said all the victims had sustained life-threatening wounds.

Officer James Holmes said police believe there is only one suspect, but witnesses gave conflicting information about how he left the scene.

The shooting did not appear to be a random act, said Sergeant Tommy Thompson.

He said a dispute with someone at the building became heated, and the suspect pulled out a gun and started shooting. He said he did not know what type of gun had been used.

The shooting happened as the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on gun control issues, and former astronaut Mark Kelly broke news of the shooting during his testimony.

Mr Kelly is the husband of former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head two years ago. Ms Giffords also testified on Wednesday, appealing to her former colleagues for stricter gun laws.

The central Phoenix building has been evacuated and police are still looking for a suspect and any additional victims.

Vanessa Brogan, who works in an insurance office in the three-storey complex, said she heard a loud bang that she first thought had been made by someone working in or near the building.

She said other people thought they heard multiple loud noises. She said people locked themselves in offices until police evacuated the business park.

The complex houses insurance, medical and law offices.

Becky Neher, who also works in the building, said she heard two gunshots and saw two victims lying on the ground outside the back of the building.

"Someone yelled 'We have a shooter', " she said.

Ms Neher said medical workers who have offices in the complex came out to help the victims.

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Syria: 'Aleppo Massacre Leaves 65 Dead'

A Syrian opposition group says 65 people have been found shot dead in Aleppo - in what it calls a "new massacre".

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the men were found with their hands bound, and that the death toll could reach 80.

Photos posted online by opposition activists showed the muddied bodies of several men lying by a small river near the western outskirts of the city in northern Syria.

Close-up shots of some of the corpses showed they had what appeared to be gunshot wounds to the head.

Most have their hands tied behind their backs. It is not clear who carried out the killings and restrictions on independent media in Syria make it difficult to verify reports from activists.

The fighting has claimed at least 60,000 lives since it began almost two years ago. More than 700,000 people have fled the violence, according to the United Nations.

Human rights groups have accused both government forces and the rebels of carrying out summary executions.

Aleppo, the country's most populous city, has seen fierce fighting since the summer. The rival forces are stuck in a stalemate, with the city divided roughly in half between the two.

Both sides blamed the other for the killings.

An officer with the Free Syrian Army, the rebel force, told the AFP news agency that at least 68 bodies, including some of teenagers, had been recovered and that many more were still being dragged from the water.

He said they had all been "executed by the regime".

Fighting in Aleppo has left the city divided between the two sides

A senior government security source told AFP that many of the victims had been reported kidnapped earlier.

The source accused "terrorists" - the term usually used by the government to refer to the rebels - of carrying out the executions and spreading propaganda to deflect responsibility.

In the video, a cameraman is walking along a river filming more than 50 bodies lying on a concrete path, blood seeping from their heads.

Some of the men were dressed in jeans, shirts and trainers.

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Mali: Angry Looters Hit Timbuktu's Streets

Crowds of looters have taken to the streets of Timbuktu in Mali after it was liberated of Islamists, raiding the homes and businesses of suspected jihadist supporters.

The angry crowd plundered shops they said belonged to Arabs, Mauritanians and Algerians who they accuse of supporting the Al Qaeda-linked radicals during their 10-month rule over the ancient city.

Speaking from Timbuktu, which was taken by French forces on Monday, Sky News Special Correspondent Alex Crawford said: "This is months and months of frustration and repression finally erupting and there's no one here to police these people."

Crawford has spoken to residents who suffered beatings under Islamic police when the militants ruled, including one woman who was flogged for talking to a man unrelated to her.

Her brother was shot and killed by the militants days before the French troops arrived.

Others had their hands amputated in public for supporting the government of Mali, Crawford reports.

It comes amid concern in the UK about plans to send hundreds of British troops to aid the French-led mission in Mali.

Up to 200 British military personnel could be deployed to West Africa to help train a regional intervention force, the Government has said, in a further deepening of the UK's involvement in the conflict to drive out radical militants.

Downing Street said the troops would be in addition to up to 40 personnel that Britain is offering to contribute to an EU training mission to build up the Malian army.

In addition, the UK has offered to supply a roll-on, roll-off ferry to help transport heavy equipment to the French intervention force currently spearheading the fight against militants.

It will also allow allies such as the United States to fly air-to-air refuelling missions from British airbases in support of the French operation.

With around 90 UK personnel already committed in the region with the RAF Sentinel surveillance aircraft and two C-17 transport aircraft already operating in support of the French mission, it could take the numbers involved to more than 300.

A spokesman for David Cameron said the Prime Minister remained adamant that British troops would not be involved in combat operations against the militants.

Answering an urgent question from Labour in the Commons, Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said the 200 British troops would assist Anglophone West Africa countries.

He said the role of UK soldiers "is clearly not a combat role and will not extend to a force protection role".

When pressed by the opposition party about exit strategies, Mr Hammond said he shared plans outlined by France that it should be a "short intervention to stabilise the situation on the ground".

For Labour, shadow defence secretary Jim Murphy expressed concern at the way the mission had expanded so rapidly.

"The UK commitment to Mali has grown from lending the French two transport aircraft to the deployment of perhaps hundreds of troops to the region," he said. "UK trainers may be non-combat but that does not mean they are without risk."

Mr Murphy told Sky News that Labour supported the Government's decision to send troops to Mali for training purposes.

But he said the public were "wary" about military commitments after the UK's involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Veteran Tory backbencher Sir Peter Tapsell said in the Commons: "The more frequently Western forces intervene in Muslim countries, the greater will be the spread of jihadism throughout the whole Islamic world and the higher the threat of terrorism in this country."

The mission to train a West African force known as Afisma - which has been under consideration since late last year - was being discussed at a donor conference for Mali being organised by the African Union in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

British personnel will be involved in training troops from countries, such as Nigeria, which is expected to be one of the largest contributors to Afisma which is slated to take over from the French once their mission is over.

Local troops had been unable to fight off militants entering Timbuktu last year and simply put down their weapons and fled - leaving the already armed radical jihadists with further weaponry.

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Mali: French Troops Advance In Timbuktu

French troops are inside the historic city of Timbuktu in Mali after advancing north into an area held by Islamist militants.

As they fled, the insurgents apparently set fire to a library that is home to thousands of ancient manuscripts, an act described by the city's mayor as a "devastating blow" to world heritage.

Sky's Special Correspondent Alex Crawford was the first journalist to enter Timbuktu as the French were heading into the city.

Empty boxes which once contained valuable manuscripts

She said: "In the centre of the town they are celebrating, they're going absolutely bonkers with flags, cheering and waving and saying thank you to the French."

But amid the apparent relief among local people, she reported the anger of those who said they were helpless to stop the Islamists burning ancient documents at the city's main library, the Ahmed Baba Institute of Higher Islamic Studies and Research.

Inside the building, which had reportedly been used as a sleeping quarters by the Islamists, Crawford said the empty boxes strewn around her had contained thousands of historic manuscripts.

The tombs of three Sufi saints have been destroyed

"Some of the documents date back to the 13th century," she said. "This was all the documentation they'd built up over centuries of life in Timbuktu - all either burned by the Jihadists or they have disappeared."

The city's mayor, Ousmane Halle, said: "They torched all the important ancient manuscripts. The ancient books of geography and science. It is the history of Timbuktu, of its people. It's truly alarming that this has happened."

During their rule, the militants systematically destroyed UNESCO World Heritage sites in Timbuktu, long a hub of Islamic learning.

Crawford, who is embedded with the French forces, visited the tombs of three local Sufi saints, which were centuries old. Her report showed they had been reduced to piles of rubble.

French troops received an enthusiastic show of support from locals

UNESCO says that one of those destroyed was the tomb of Sidi Mahmoudou, a saint who died in 955.

A spokesman for the al Qaeda-linked militants has said the tombs were destroyed because they contravened Islam, encouraging Muslims to venerate saints instead of God.

Ground forces backed by French paratroopers and helicopters had taken control of Timbuktu's airport and the roads leading to the town in an overnight operation.

Sky's Special Correspondent Alex Crawford is embedded with French troops

It is part of the French-led mission to oust the radical Islamists from the northern half of Mali, which they seized more than nine months ago in the wake of a military coup in the distant capital of Bamako.

The French and Malian forces so far have met little resistance.

Timbuktu lies on an ancient caravan route and has entranced travellers for centuries. It is situated some 1,000km (620 miles) northeast of Bamako.

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Missing Mexican Band: Survivor Tells Of Attack

The survivor of a deadly attack on a 16-member Colombian-style music group has told authorities how at least 10 gunmen entered a private party and kidnapped the band and four crew members.

A member of the Kombo Kolombia band told police that the 20 hostages were blindfolded before being driven away in a number of vehicles.

The band member then heard gunshots and a conversation about where the assailants would dump the bodies, according to Nuevo Leon state security spokesman Jorge Domene.

Mr Domene said the survivor, who is being protected by soldiers, was able to reach a nearby ranch and get help.

The bar in Hidalgo town, where the band members went missing

The man later led authorities to a well where searchers found several bodies, Mr Domene said.

"Until yesterday, four bodies had been pulled (from the well) and all indicates that they belonged to this group," Mr Domene told Radio Formula.

Mr Domene said three of the four bodies first pulled from the well were wearing T-shirts with the name of the band, but that authorities were still waiting to officially identify them.

By Monday afternoon, searchers had pulled 10 bodies from the well along a dirt road in the town of Mina, about 140 miles from Laredo, Texas.

Soldiers and police seen during the operation to locate the band members

The bodies recovered showed signs of torture, an official said.

It was hard to determine how many more bodies were submersed in the water, he said.

Sixteen members of the band Kombo Kolombia and four crew members were reported missing early on Friday after playing at a private party held at a ranch called La Carreta, or The Wagon, in the town of Hidalgo north of Monterrey.

People living near the ranch in Hidalgo reported hearing gunshots at about 4am on Friday, followed by the sound of vehicles speeding away.

Kombo Kolombia has played a Colombian style of music known as vallenato, which is popular in working class neighborhood in the city of Monterrey and other parts of Nuevo Leon state.

Most of the group's musicians were from the area, though the singer is a Colombian citizen with Mexican residency.

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Egypt: State Of Emergency In Three Cities

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has declared a state of emergency in three Suez Canal cities hit by rioting which has left dozens dead.

In an address on state television, Mr Morsi said the emergency measures, which include night curfews, would be in place in Port Said, Suez and Ismailia for 30 days.

"I have said I am against any emergency measures but I have said that if I must stop bloodshed and protect the people then I will act," he said.

Curfews would be imposed on the three provinces from 9:00pm until 6:00am, he added - and he warned he would take further steps to confront threats to Egypt's security if need be.

Morsi acted after a second day of rioting rocked Port Said on Sunday. The violence left another six people dead and more than 460 injured, according to medics.

Mr Morsi warned that he was ready to take further measures if the deadly violence that has swept over Egypt does not end.

Egyptians react in Port Said to the death sentences

"If I must I will do much more for the sake of Egypt. This is my duty and I will not hesitate," he said.

He also held out an olive branch to the opposition and political leaders across Egypt, inviting them for talks on Monday, saying "there is no alternative to dialogue".

The opposition threatened to boycott upcoming parliamentary polls if Mr Morsi did not find a "comprehensive solution" to the unrest.

The worst violence this weekend was in the Mediterranean coastal city Port Said, where at least 44 people have been killed in clashes that started on Saturday.

The violence was sparked by a court conviction and death sentence for 21 football fans involved in a riot in at city's main stadium that left 74 dead last year.

A bus was set on fire outside the Port Said prison

Most of those sentenced to death were from Port Said, deepening a sense of persecution that the city's residents have felt since the stadium disaster.

Crowds attempted to storm three police stations in Port Said and others torched a social club belonging to the armed forces, looting items inside, security officials said.

Unrest also erupted on Sunday in Suez, where protesters surrounded a police station, attacked security forces and blocked the road leading to the capital, officials said.

At least another 11 died elsewhere in the country on Friday during rallies marking the second anniversary of the uprising that toppled authoritarian president Hosni Mubarak.

In Cairo, overnight clashes on the outskirts of Tahrir Square - the symbolic heart of the uprising against Mubarak - continued into late Sunday afternoon, with one bridge blocked off and the heavy smell of tear gas hanging in the air.

Protesters used the anniversary to renounce Mr Morsi and his Islamic fundamentalist group, the Muslim Brotherhood, which emerged as the country's most dominant political force after Mubarak was toppled.

Ending the state of emergency - which allowed authorities to detain people without charge and them them in emergency security courts - was a key demand of protesters who ousted Mubarak in 2011.

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Nightclub Blaze: Brazil Mourns The Dead

Brazil is in mourning after more than 230 people died when a fire broke out in a packed nightclub, leading to a stampede.

Witnesses said a flare or firework lit by members of a band onstage started the blaze in Santa Maria, a university city of about 260,000 people.

Officials say 233 people died, and around 117 others were injured.

The blaze broke out while the band, called Gurizada Fandangueira, was performing at the Kiss club in Santa Maria.

Some of those who escaped the building tried to smash a hole in the wall to allow other trapped people out.

Relatives at a wake in Santa Maria

Fire chief Guido de Melo said there was panic after the fire started and many revellers were trampled. He said the main cause of death was asphyxiation.

Mr Melo said that firefighters had a hard time getting inside the club because "there was a barrier of bodies blocking the entrance".

Officials at a news conference said the cause was still under investigation.

However, police inspector Sandro Meinerz told the Agencia Estado news agency the band was to blame for a pyrotechnics show and that manslaughter charges could be filed.

Television images showed black smoke billowing out of the Kiss nightclub as shirtless young men who had attended a university party joined firefighters using axes and sledgehammers to pound at windows and pink exterior walls to free those trapped inside.

Men try to break through a wall to help the victims

Bodies of the dead and injured were strewn in the street and panicked screams filled the air as medics tried to help.

There was little to be done; officials said most of those who died were suffocated by smoke within minutes.

Within hours a community gym was a horror scene, with body after body lined up on the floor, partially covered with black plastic as family members identified relatives.

Many of the victims were under 20 years old, including some children.

"There was so much smoke and fire, it was complete panic, and it took a long time for people to get out, there were so many dead," survivor Luana Santos Silva told the Globo TV network.

Another survivor, Michele Pereira, told the Folha de S Paulo newspaper that she was near the stage when members of the band lit flares that started the fire.

The packed club had only one exit

"The band that was onstage began to use flares and, suddenly, they stopped the show and pointed them upward," she said. "At that point, the ceiling caught fire. It was really weak, but in a matter of seconds it spread."

Guitarist Rodrigo Martins told Radio Gaucha that the band started playing at 2:15am.

"We had played around five songs when I looked up and noticed the roof was burning," he said.

"It might have happened because of the Sputnik, the machine we use to create a luminous effect with sparks. It's harmless, we never had any trouble with it.

"When the fire started, a guard passed us a fire extinguisher, the singer tried to use it but it wasn't working."

He confirmed that accordion player Danilo Jacques, 28, died, while the five other members made it out safely.

The fire took place in Santa Maria

Brazil President Dilma Rousseff arrived to visit the injured after cutting short her trip to a Latin American-European summit in Chile.

"It is a tragedy for all of us," Ms Rousseff said.

Britain's Foreign Office Minister Hugo Swire said: "I am deeply saddened by the news of the tragic accident in Santa Maria.

"My thoughts and sincere condolences are with the families and loved ones of those who have lost their lives, and I wish a swift recovery to the hundreds who are now being treated in hospital."

The blaze was the deadliest in Brazil since at least 1961, when a fire that swept through a circus killed 503 people in Niteroi, Rio de Janeiro.

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Egypt: Death Sentences Spark Deadly Riots

Two football players are among 30 people killed in riots in the Egyptian city of Port Said following the sentencing to death of 21 fans.

Violence erupted after a judge sentenced the 21 people to death over a post-match riot in February last year that killed 74 fans of the Cairo-based Al Ahly team.

All of the people sentenced to death were fans of Port Said's main team, Al Masry.

Minutes after the Cairo court handed down the sentences, protesters rampaged through Port Said, attacking police stations and setting tyres alight.

Fans of Al Ahly football club celebrate the verdict in Cairo

Relatives tried to storm the prison in Port Said where those convicted were being held, leading to fierce clashes with security forces that killed two policemen.

The two players were shot to death as they were apparently on their way to practice near the prison.

The director of hospitals, Dr Abdel Raham Farah, said Mahmoud Abdel Halim al Dizawi, a football player in the city's Al Marikh club, had been shot three times and died.

He said Tamer al Fahla, who used to play for the Al Masry team, had also been shot dead on his way to the Al Marikh club.

Shops in Port Said were closed and armoured personnel vehicles deployed as fighting raged in streets around the prison.

Al Ahly fans were considered by many to be the victims of the riot

Unidentified assailants used automatic weapons against police, who responded with tear gas, witnesses said.

Both inside and outside the Cairo court, there were explosions of joy at the verdict, which was broadcast live on Egyptian TV.

Relatives of those killed hugged each other and shouted "God is greatest".

A man who lost his son in the February clashes wept outside the court and said he was satisfied with the sentences.

Football fans from both teams hold the police at least partially responsible for the deaths and criticised Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi for doing little to reform the force.

Doctors treating the victims of the February riots said some had been stabbed to death. One player caught up in the rioting described it as "a war".

Joy: Families of fans killed shouted 'God is great' after the verdict

Witnesses said most of the deaths involved people who had been trampled in the crush of panicked crowds, or who fell from terraces.

The post-match riot - the world's deadliest football violence in 15 years - also sparked days of protests in the capital, in which another 16 people were killed.

The judge said in his statement that he would announce the verdict for the remaining 52 defendants on March 9. Among those on trial are nine security officials.

As is customary in Egypt, the death sentences will be sent to religious authority, the Grand Mufti, for approval.

Executions in Egypt are usually carried out by hanging.

The latest violence came a day after nine people were killed in protests against the president on the second anniversary of Egypt's uprising against the former president, Hosni Mubarak.

Some of the defendants accused of involvement in the violence

Violence also broke out in Suez on Saturday night after hundreds of masked militants stormed a police station and set fire to the building. All prisoners being held at the station were also freed.

There have been hours of clashes in Suez, with police firing tear gas to try to hold back the demonstrators.

Britain's Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt said such violence "can have no place in a truly democratic Egypt".

"We call on all parties to exercise maximum restraint and to ensure that all protests remain peaceful. I offer the condolences of the UK to the families of all the victims," he said.

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Mali: US Offers Refuelling Services To France

US military aircraft will be used to refuel French warplanes fighting Islamist militants in Mali, the Pentagon has confirmed.

The offer of assistance to the French-led effort to push al Qaeda-linked fighters out of the north of country came as the 16-day offensive enjoyed its biggest success, recapturing the city of Gao.

In an overnight assault backed by French warplanes and helicopters, French special forces seized the town's airport and a key bridge over the River Niger while, killing a number of Islamist fighters without suffering any casualties, the French army said.

"The Malian army and the French control Gao today," Malian army spokesman Lieutenant Diaran Kone said.

Fighting was, however, reported to be continuing in the city, which was seized by a mixture of al-Qaida-linked fighters over nine months ago, into the night.

Sky's special correspondent Alex Crawford, travelling with French troops, said the latest offensive was the biggest push into jihadist-held territory since the operation began.

"There are at least five militant groups waiting for them in and around this desert region.

"Clearly the militants have spotted this huge convoy coming. It is not hard to spot, there are nearly 100 vehicles in the convoy and it takes up more than 1km of space in this pretty barren landscape."

French troops and fighting alongside the Malian army

Malian army officers said the Islamist insurgents were pulling back to avoid French air strikes.

"They are all hiding. They are leaving on foot and on motorcycles," Malian Army Captain Faran Keita said in Konna, about 310 miles southeast of Gao.

US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta confirmed the US would offer its support to the operation "to deny terrorists a safe haven in Mali" after speaking to French Minister of Defense Jean-Yves Le Drian.

Pentagon spokesman George Little said: "Secretary Panetta informed Minister Le Drian that US Africa Command will support the French military by conducting aerial refuelling missions as operations in Mali continue."

They also discussed plans for the US to transport troops from African nations, including Chad and Togo, to support the international effort in Mali, he added.

A total of 7,700 African troops are expected to be sent to ali under a UN mandate, according to regional army chiefs.

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