Egypt: Call For Daily Protests As Dozens Die

Key Events In Egypt Since 2011

Updated: 12:32pm UK, Thursday 15 August 2013

January 25 - February 11, 2011 - Egyptians stage nationwide demonstrations against nearly 30 years of President Hosni Mubarak's rule. Hundreds of protesters are killed as Mubarak and his allies try to crush the uprising.

February 11 - Mubarak steps down and the military takes over. The military dissolves parliament and suspends the constitution, meeting two key demands of protesters.

November 28, 2011 - February 15, 2012 - Egypt holds multistage, weeks-long parliamentary elections.

In the lawmaking lower house, the Muslim Brotherhood wins nearly half the seats, and ultraconservative Salafis take another quarter.

The remainder goes to liberal, independent and secular politicians. In the largely powerless upper house, Islamists take nearly 90% of the seats.

May 23 - 24, 2012 - The first round of voting in presidential elections has a field of 13 candidates.

The Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi and Ahmed Shafiq, the last prime minister under Mubarak, emerge as the top two finishers, to face each other in a run-off.

June 14 - The Supreme Constitutional Court orders the dissolving of the lower house of parliament.

June 16 - 17 - Egyptians vote in the presidential run-off between Morsi and Shafiq. Morsi wins with 51.7% of the vote.

June 30 - Morsi takes his oath of office.

November 19 - Members of liberal parties and representatives of Egypt's churches withdraw from the 100-member assembly writing the constitution, protesting attempts by Islamists to impose their will.

November 22 - Morsi unilaterally decrees greater powers for himself, giving his decisions immunity from judicial review and barring the courts from dissolving the constituent assembly and the upper house of parliament. The move sparks days of protests.

November 30  - Islamists in the constituent assembly rush to complete the draft of the constitution. Morsi sets a December 15 date for a referendum.

December 4 - More than 100,000 protesters march on the presidential palace, demanding the cancellation of the referendum and the writing of a new constitution. The next day, Islamists attack an anti-Morsi sit-in, sparking street battles that leave at least 10 dead.

December 15, December 22 - In the two-round referendum, Egyptians approve the constitution, with 63.8% voting in favour. Turnout is low.

January 25, 2013 - Hundreds of thousands hold protests against Morsi on the two-year anniversary of the start of the revolt against Mubarak, and clashes erupt in many places.

February - March 2013 - Protests rage in Port Said and other cities for weeks, with dozens more dying in clashes.

April 7 - A Muslim mob attacks the main cathedral of the Coptic Orthodox Church as Christians hold a funeral and protest there over four Christians killed in sectarian violence the day before. Pope Tawadros II publicly blames Morsi for failing to protect the building.

June 23 - A mob beats to death four Egyptian Shi'ites in a village on the outskirts of Cairo.

June 30 - Millions of Egyptians demonstrate on Morsi's first anniversary in office, calling on him to step down. Eight people are killed in clashes outside the Muslim Brotherhood's Cairo headquarters.

July 1 - Huge demonstrations continue, and Egypt's powerful military gives the president and the opposition 48 hours to resolve their disputes, or it will impose its own solution.

July 2 - Military officials disclose main details of the army's plan if no agreement is reached: replacing Morsi with an interim administration, cancelling the Islamist-based constitution and calling elections in a year. Morsi delivers a late-night speech in which he pledges to defend his legitimacy and vows not to step down.

July 3 - Egypt's military chief announces that Morsi has been deposed, to be replaced by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Constitutional Court until new presidential elections. No time frame is given.

Muslim Brotherhood leaders are arrested. Tens of thousands of Morsi supporters remain camped out in two mass sit-ins in Cairo's streets.

July 4 - Supreme Constitutional Court Chief Justice Adly Mansour is sworn in as Egypt's interim president.

July 5 - Mansour dissolves the Islamist-dominated upper house of parliament as Morsi's supporters stage mass protests demanding his return. Clashes between pro and anti-Morsi groups in Cairo and Alexandria, and violence elsewhere leave at least 36 dead. A Brotherhood strongman, deputy head Khairat el-Shater, is arrested.

July 8 - Egyptian soldiers open fire on pro-Morsi demonstrators in front of a military base in Cairo, killing more than 50. Each side blames the other for starting the clash near the larger of the two sit-ins, near east Cairo's Rabaah al-Adawiya mosque.

Mansour puts forward a time line for amending the constitution and electing a new president and parliament by mid-February. The Brotherhood refuses to participate in the process.

July 9 - Mansour appoints economist Hazem el-Beblawi as prime minister and opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei as vice president. A military announcement backs up the appointments.

July 26 - Millions pour onto the streets of Egypt after a call by the country's military chief for protesters to give him a mandate to stop "potential terrorism" by supporters of Morsi. Five people are killed in clashes.

Prosecutors announce Morsi is under investigation for a host of allegations including murder and conspiracy with the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

July 27  - Security forces and armed men in civilian clothes clash with Morsi supporters outside the larger of the two major sit-ins in Cairo, killing at least 80 people.

July 30 - The EU's top diplomat Catherine Ashton holds a two-hour meeting with detained Morsi at an undisclosed location. She is one of a number of international envoys, including US Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham, to visit Egypt to attempt to resolve the crisis.

August 7  - Egypt's presidency says that diplomatic efforts to peacefully resolve the standoff between the country's military-backed interim leadership and the Muslim Brotherhood have failed.

August 11 - Egyptian security forces announce that they will besiege the two sit-ins within 24 hours to bar people from entering.

August 12 - Authorities postpone plans to take action against the camps, saying they want to avoid bloodshed after Morsi supporters reinforce the sit-ins with thousands more protesters.

August 14 - Riot police clear two sprawling encampments of supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi, sparking running street battles that kill hundreds of people.

The presidency declares a month-long state of emergency across the nation as Vice President Mohamed ElBaradei resigns in protest over the assaults.

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Ferry Carrying 870 Crashes Into Cargo Ship

A ferry with over 800 passengers and crew on board has sunk after colliding with a cargo ship near the Philippine city of Cebu.

The coastguard said the MV Thomas Aquinas listed after hitting the Sulpicio Express Seven Cargo vessel and the captain gave the order to abandon ship.

Officer Joy Villegas said the collision occurred on Friday evening close to the shore. The ferry was travelling from Cebu to Manila.

At least 24 people including children were confirmed dead, 572 were rescued and 274 were still unaccounted for, the coastguard said.

Two rescue vessels were dispatched and other boats helped to get passengers out of the water.

Danny Palmero, a former fisherman, said he was with friends who responded to the ferry's distress call and rescued seven people on their motorized outrigger canoe.

"I saw many flares being shot," he said. "As a former nautical student, I knew it was a distress signal."

Rachel Capuno, a security officer for the ferry's owners 2Go, told Cebu radio station DYSS that the vessel was sailing into port when it collided head-on with the cargo ship.

Some of the rescued passengers

"The impact was very strong," she said, adding the ferry sank within 30 minutes of the collision.

Hundreds of passengers jumped into the ocean as the ship began sinking, said survivors. Many were asleep at the time of the collision.

Jerwin Agudong said he and other passengers leapt overboard after the ferry began taking on water and the crew distributed life jackets.

He told radio station DZBB that some people were trapped and he saw bodies in the water.

"It seems some were not able to get out. I pity the children. We saw dead bodies on the side, and some being rescued," he said.

"One of the persons who jumped with us hit his head on metal. He is shaking and he is bloodied."

According to news reports, an 11-month-old baby was among those saved.

Accidents at sea are common in the Philippine archipelago because of frequent storms, badly maintained boats and weak enforcement of safety regulations.

In 1987, the ferry Dona Paz sank after colliding with a fuel tanker in the Philippines, killing 4,341 people in the world's worst peacetime maritime disaster.

In 2008, the ferry MV Princess of the Stars capsized during a typhoon, killing nearly 800 people.

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Lebanon: Beirut Car Bomb Kills 14 People

A powerful car bomb has exploded in Beirut, killing at least 14 least people and injuring more than 200.

The blast ripped through a busy street in the Lebanese capital's southern Rweiss district, trapping people in burning cars and houses.

Lebanese citizens help emergency services in the aftermath of the blast

Dozens of ambulances carried away the wounded as firefighters climbed ladders to reach those unable to leave their apartments.

Rweiss is a stronghold of the militant group Hizbollah, which has fought in Syria alongside President Bashar al Assad's forces.

A number of people were trapped in their homes following the explosion

Syrian-based rebels and militant Islamist groups have threatened to target Hizbollah because of its involvement in the conflict.

Ali Ammar, a spokesman for the organisation, claimed the blast was the work of terrorists and said Hizbollah's political rivals were responsible for creating an atmosphere that encourages such attacks.

The blast destroyed several vehicles parked in the busy street

The explosion - thought to be the deadliest in south Beirut in almost 30 years - is the second in Lebanon in as many months.

In July, a car bomb exploded in the nearby Beir al Abed district, wounding more than 50 people.

Smoke rises above the city following the explosion

The latest blast was condemned by both Maura Connelly, the US ambassador to Lebanon, and Alistair Burt, the British Foreign Office Minister.

"Terrorism and extremism have no place in Lebanon," he said. "I call for the Lebanese state to investigate this urgently and bring the perpetrators to justice."

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Egypt Defends Crackdown As UN Council Meets

Key Events In Egypt Since 2011

Updated: 12:32pm UK, Thursday 15 August 2013

January 25 - February 11, 2011 - Egyptians stage nationwide demonstrations against nearly 30 years of President Hosni Mubarak's rule. Hundreds of protesters are killed as Mubarak and his allies try to crush the uprising.

February 11 - Mubarak steps down and the military takes over. The military dissolves parliament and suspends the constitution, meeting two key demands of protesters.

November 28, 2011 - February 15, 2012 - Egypt holds multistage, weeks-long parliamentary elections.

In the lawmaking lower house, the Muslim Brotherhood wins nearly half the seats, and ultraconservative Salafis take another quarter.

The remainder goes to liberal, independent and secular politicians. In the largely powerless upper house, Islamists take nearly 90% of the seats.

May 23 - 24, 2012 - The first round of voting in presidential elections has a field of 13 candidates.

The Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi and Ahmed Shafiq, the last prime minister under Mubarak, emerge as the top two finishers, to face each other in a run-off.

June 14 - The Supreme Constitutional Court orders the dissolving of the lower house of parliament.

June 16 - 17 - Egyptians vote in the presidential run-off between Morsi and Shafiq. Morsi wins with 51.7% of the vote.

June 30 - Morsi takes his oath of office.

November 19 - Members of liberal parties and representatives of Egypt's churches withdraw from the 100-member assembly writing the constitution, protesting attempts by Islamists to impose their will.

November 22 - Morsi unilaterally decrees greater powers for himself, giving his decisions immunity from judicial review and barring the courts from dissolving the constituent assembly and the upper house of parliament. The move sparks days of protests.

November 30  - Islamists in the constituent assembly rush to complete the draft of the constitution. Morsi sets a December 15 date for a referendum.

December 4 - More than 100,000 protesters march on the presidential palace, demanding the cancellation of the referendum and the writing of a new constitution. The next day, Islamists attack an anti-Morsi sit-in, sparking street battles that leave at least 10 dead.

December 15, December 22 - In the two-round referendum, Egyptians approve the constitution, with 63.8% voting in favour. Turnout is low.

January 25, 2013 - Hundreds of thousands hold protests against Morsi on the two-year anniversary of the start of the revolt against Mubarak, and clashes erupt in many places.

February - March 2013 - Protests rage in Port Said and other cities for weeks, with dozens more dying in clashes.

April 7 - A Muslim mob attacks the main cathedral of the Coptic Orthodox Church as Christians hold a funeral and protest there over four Christians killed in sectarian violence the day before. Pope Tawadros II publicly blames Morsi for failing to protect the building.

June 23 - A mob beats to death four Egyptian Shi'ites in a village on the outskirts of Cairo.

June 30 - Millions of Egyptians demonstrate on Morsi's first anniversary in office, calling on him to step down. Eight people are killed in clashes outside the Muslim Brotherhood's Cairo headquarters.

July 1 - Huge demonstrations continue, and Egypt's powerful military gives the president and the opposition 48 hours to resolve their disputes, or it will impose its own solution.

July 2 - Military officials disclose main details of the army's plan if no agreement is reached: replacing Morsi with an interim administration, cancelling the Islamist-based constitution and calling elections in a year. Morsi delivers a late-night speech in which he pledges to defend his legitimacy and vows not to step down.

July 3 - Egypt's military chief announces that Morsi has been deposed, to be replaced by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Constitutional Court until new presidential elections. No time frame is given.

Muslim Brotherhood leaders are arrested. Tens of thousands of Morsi supporters remain camped out in two mass sit-ins in Cairo's streets.

July 4 - Supreme Constitutional Court Chief Justice Adly Mansour is sworn in as Egypt's interim president.

July 5 - Mansour dissolves the Islamist-dominated upper house of parliament as Morsi's supporters stage mass protests demanding his return. Clashes between pro and anti-Morsi groups in Cairo and Alexandria, and violence elsewhere leave at least 36 dead. A Brotherhood strongman, deputy head Khairat el-Shater, is arrested.

July 8 - Egyptian soldiers open fire on pro-Morsi demonstrators in front of a military base in Cairo, killing more than 50. Each side blames the other for starting the clash near the larger of the two sit-ins, near east Cairo's Rabaah al-Adawiya mosque.

Mansour puts forward a time line for amending the constitution and electing a new president and parliament by mid-February. The Brotherhood refuses to participate in the process.

July 9 - Mansour appoints economist Hazem el-Beblawi as prime minister and opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei as vice president. A military announcement backs up the appointments.

July 26 - Millions pour onto the streets of Egypt after a call by the country's military chief for protesters to give him a mandate to stop "potential terrorism" by supporters of Morsi. Five people are killed in clashes.

Prosecutors announce Morsi is under investigation for a host of allegations including murder and conspiracy with the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

July 27  - Security forces and armed men in civilian clothes clash with Morsi supporters outside the larger of the two major sit-ins in Cairo, killing at least 80 people.

July 30 - The EU's top diplomat Catherine Ashton holds a two-hour meeting with detained Morsi at an undisclosed location. She is one of a number of international envoys, including US Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham, to visit Egypt to attempt to resolve the crisis.

August 7  - Egypt's presidency says that diplomatic efforts to peacefully resolve the standoff between the country's military-backed interim leadership and the Muslim Brotherhood have failed.

August 11 - Egyptian security forces announce that they will besiege the two sit-ins within 24 hours to bar people from entering.

August 12 - Authorities postpone plans to take action against the camps, saying they want to avoid bloodshed after Morsi supporters reinforce the sit-ins with thousands more protesters.

August 14 - Riot police clear two sprawling encampments of supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi, sparking running street battles that kill hundreds of people.

The presidency declares a month-long state of emergency across the nation as Vice President Mohamed ElBaradei resigns in protest over the assaults.

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Sky News Cameraman Killed In Egypt

Sky News cameraman Mick Deane has been shot and killed in Egypt this morning.

Mick, 61, had worked for Sky for 15 years, based in Washington and then Jerusalem.

The married father of two was part of our team covering the violence in Cairo. The rest of the team are unhurt.

The Head of Sky News John Ryley described Mick as the very best of cameramen, a brilliant journalist and an inspiring mentor to many at Sky.

Mick Deane was described as an inspiring mentor

"Mick Deane was a really lovely, lovely guy," he said. "He was great fun to work with, he was an astonishingly good cameraman who took some brilliant pictures.

"But he also had a first class editorial brain. He had brilliant ideas.

"He was also good fun after the job was done. He was laid back, and I'm really going to miss him, like lots of people here."

Sky's Foreign Affairs Editor Tim Marshall called Mick "a friend, brave as a lion but what a heart… what a human being".

He added: "Micky was humorous in a dry way, he was wise and when you're on the road with small teams, people like that are diamonds to be with.

"Our hearts go out to his family. He died doing what he'd done so brilliantly for decades."

Prime Minister David Cameron tweeted: "I am saddened to hear of the death of cameraman Mick Deane, covering Egyptian violence.

"My thoughts are with his family and the Sky News team."

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Egypt: 278 People Killed In Nationwide Clashes

More than 270 people have been confirmed killed in violence across the country, after Egyptian security forces opened fire as they tried to clear two protest camps loyal to deposed president Mohamed Morsi in Cairo.

A month-long state of emergency has been declared as violence spread from the capital to other parts of the country including the Mediterranean city of Alexandria. The move has been opposed by the US.

A curfew from 7pm to 6am has been declared in Cairo, according to reports, as well as ten other provinces including Alexandria and Suez.

The health ministry put the number of dead at 278 - including 43 police officers - with hundreds more injured.

Hazem Al Beblawi, the Prime Minister, said he remained committed to the democratic process under a civilian state.

Security forces at one of the camps in Cairo

But he justified the use of force saying that Morsi loyalists had been sowing chaos around the country, "terrorising citizens, attacking public and private property".

"The state had to intervene to restore security and peace for Egyptians," he said. "No democratic country would impose an emergency state unless it is absolutely necessary."

US Secretary of State John Kerry called the events "deplorable".

"Violence will not create a roadmap for Egypt's future. Violence only impedes the transition."

He added that the promise of the 2011 revolution has not yet been fully realised.

Morsi supporters look up at a burning vehicle

Egypt's vice president, Mohamed ElBaradei, has announced also his resignation. Meanwhile two Brotherhood politicians have reportedly been arrested.

Sky's Middle East Correspondent Sam Kiley, reporting earlier from inside the Rabaa al Adawiya camp in the capital, said it was "under very heavy gunfire" and was a "massive military assault on largely unarmed civilians in very large numbers".

He said government forces were using machine guns, snipers, AK-47 and M16 rifles and were firing into the crowd.

Kiley added: "There are machine gun rounds, and snipers on the roof, that are preventing people from getting any closer to the field hospital (in the camp).

"I haven't seen any evidence yet of any weapons on the side of the pro-Morsi camp. The camp is very full of women and children."

Riot police fire tear gas at members of the Muslim Brotherhood

He said it was a scene of "extreme chaos and bloodshed" and "many hundreds of troops and interior ministry police and special forces are involved".

"The dead and dying are on the steps of an improvised field hospital. The scenes here are absolutely graphic.

"I have covered many wars and this is as severe a battlefield as I have witnessed, with the exception of scenes in Rwanda. There are dozens and dozens of people who have been shot in the head, neck and upper body."

Among those reported killed in the camp was Asmaa al Beltagui the 17-year-old daughter of senior Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed al Beltagui.

Meanwhile, Egyptian authorities have released video footage taken from a helicopter which it said showed gunmen in the camp firing at security forces.

Plumes of smoke rise from a damaged petrol station

The unrest spread beyond the capital, as pro-Morsi supporters clashed with police in the Nile Delta cities of Minya and Assiut, as police stations, government buildings and churches were attacked or set ablaze.

In Alexandria, tear gas canisters rained down on a pro-Morsi march in the Sharq neighbourhood, amid repeated bursts of automatic gunfire.

Residents, armed with clubs, came out of their homes and shops to help the police, detaining Morsi supporters and handing them over to officers at the Sharq police station.

Morsi supporters, carrying Egyptian flags and pictures of the deposed leader, then clashed with his opponents on a road carpeted with rocks.

Earlier, riot officers in Cairo backed by armoured vehicles and bulldozers also fired tear gas in the camps at the demonstrators who are demanding Mr Morsi be reinstated as the country's leader.

Raids on the Rabaa al Adawiya and Nahda Square camp

The interior ministry, which is in charge of police, warned its security forces would deal firmly with protesters acting "irresponsibly" and said it would guarantee safe passage to those who want to leave the two sites.

The larger is the Rabaa al Adawiya camp described as a 'mini town' in Nasr City, while the other is in Al Nahda Square outside the main campus of Cairo University in Giza.

The interior ministry later said security forces had "total control" over the smaller camp and police have managed to remove most of the tents in the square.

The Muslim Brotherhood that backs ousted Islamist president Mr Morsi claimed over 250 people had been killed and 5,000 hurt in the crackdown, which is almost certain to deepen political turmoil in Egypt.

It urged Egyptians to take to the streets in their thousands to denounce the "massacre".

A medic tends to a child at the scene

"This is not an attempt to disperse, but a bloody attempt to crush all voices of opposition to the military coup," Brotherhood spokesman Gehad al Haddad said on Twitter.

The Rabaa al Adawiya protest camp, where several Brotherhood leaders are staying, "is calling on Egyptians to take to the streets to stop the massacre," Haddad said.

At least three members of the security forces were confirmed to have died in the crackdown, while the health ministry said nine protesters were killed and over 80 were injured.

The raids came after international efforts failed to mediate an end to a six-week political standoff between Morsi's supporters and the army-backed government which took power after he was ousted on July 3.

Regional television networks showed images of collapsed tents and burning tyres at both sites, as well as protesters being arrested and led away by troops.

A television feed by a pro-Morsi TV station showed thousands of protesters gathered at the centre of the Nasr City site, with many covering their faces to fend off the tear gas.

It said most of the protesters at the other camp fled to the nearby Orman botanical gardens and inside the sprawling university campus.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said he was "deeply concerned at the escalating violence in Egypt, and regret the loss of life on all sides".

He added: "I condemn the use of force in clearing protests and call on the security forces to act with restraint."

Qatar, Turkey and Iran were among the other countries criticising the deadly crackdown.

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Israel Starts 'Peace Move' Prisoner Release

Israel has released 26 Palestinian prisoners in a move that is a precondition for restarting Middle East peace talks.

The Israeli prison service said buses carrying the inmates left a jail in central Israel late on Tuesday.

Celebrations are planned in the West Bank and Gaza where they are viewed as heroes.

Their release is very painful for Israelis who view them as terrorists.

Palestinians in Ramallah celebrate the release of the prisoners

Israel released them late at night to prevent a spectacle. Some were taken to the West Bank. Others went to Gaza.

Several of the prisoners were said to have been members of Palestinian political groups Fatah and Hamas. Others were violent criminals who carried out offences including murder and robbery more than 20 years ago.

Among the most controversial of the prisoners to be released is 40-year-old Atiyeh Salem Abu Musa, who was arrested in 1994 for the murder of Holocaust survivor Issac Rotenberg. A member of Fatah, Abu Musa attacked Rotenberg with an axe during Passover.

Buses carrying Palestinian prisoners leave the jail in Israel

Another, Khaled Mohamed Asakreh was convicted in 1991 of the murder of French tourist Annie Ley. Ms Ley was dining at a restaurant where Asakreh was employed when he stabbed her to death.

Israelis and Palestinians are due to launch talks in Jerusalem on Wednesday, following a preparatory talks which took place two weeks ago in Washington.

The prisoner release was part of an agreement to restart the direct talks, which have been suspended for more than three years.

The Palestinians had refused to resume negotiations with Israel unless it halted settlement construction. Israel has refused.

Protesters try to prevent buses leaving the Israeli prison

After six trips to the region, US Secretary of State John Kerry managed to persuade Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to drop the settlement issue as a condition for negotiations to start.

In exchange, Israel will release a total of 104 Palestinian prisoners serving long sentences. All of those released had been jailed before 1993.

Israel's Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected an appeal by families who lost loved ones in Palestinian attacks to block the release.

A last ditch attempt by terrorism victims to stop the release failed

Just before the release, Israel moved forward with a plan to build nearly 900 new homes in east Jerusalem - a decision that angered Palestinians.

It is not known yet whether the Israeli announcement will affect Wednesday's talks.

However, Mr Kerry insisted on Wednesday that the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas was committed to the talks despite the issues of Israeli settlement building.

The last round of talks collapsed in late 2008, and negotiations have remained stalled mainly over the issue of Israeli settlement construction on territories claimed by the Palestinians for their future state.

A new housing project at the Jewish settlement of Gilo near east Jerusalem

The Palestinians say the settlements, now home to more than 500,000 Israelis, are making it increasingly difficult to carve out their own state and that continued Israeli construction is a sign of bad faith.

The latest construction is to take place in Gilo, an area in east Jerusalem that Israel considers to be a neighbourhood of its capital.

Israel's annexation of east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians claim as their capital, is not internationally recognised.

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India Submarine Sinks With 18 On Board

An Indian navy submarine with 18 sailors on board has caught fire and sunk at a Mumbai base.

The explosion was caught on camera by a witness

After the fire, the boat became submerged at its berth in the naval dockyard with only a portion visible above the surface.

The Indian navy has launched an investigation

"The cause of the explosion is not known. We are searching for the 18 personnel," navy spokesman Narendra Kumar Vispute said.

The 16-year-old Russian-made submarine, INS Sindhurakshak, had recently returned from Russia after undergoing an overhaul and upgrade, according to reports.

More follows...

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'Whitey' Bulger: Victims' Families Want Peace

By Amanda Walker, US Correspondent

Bulger was born in 1929 in Boston's 'Southie' neighbourhood - an area he went on to dominate.

He was first arrested at the age of 14 when a life of crime and violence was born.

Over the years local folklore portrayed him as a Robin Hood-style figure - dedicated to protecting the area's streets and their residents.

In court a very different picture was painted - the prosecution called Bulger "one of the most vicious, violent and calculating criminals ever to walk the streets of Boston".

They said he made millions of dollars from drug trafficking and extortion of drug dealers, bookmakers and local businesses - committing multiple murders along the way.

Patricia Donahue, along with her three sons, has attended every day of the seven-week trial. She believes Bulger murdered her husband, a family man with no criminal record, because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

In 1982 Michael Donahue was leaving the Pier 4 restaurant in the then-notorious waterfront area with his friend and former gang member, Edward Halleran, who had asked him for a lift home. The prosecution claimed Bulger opened fire on their car, killing them both. Halleran was his target but Donahue lost his life

Patricia said: "How can anybody do the things that he's done?

"The people that he's hurt ... The people that he's killed ... I don't understand that. My children come from a family where there was no violence so now all of a sudden I have to tell them that not only was he killed but he was shot to death."

Bulger lived his later years in Santa Monica

Fueling the anger of Patricia and other families, Bulger chose not to testify during the trial but his defence team said he vigorously denied two things; being an informant, or "rat", and killing two women.

People close to the trial said for Bulger it was all about legacy and making sure he was remembered as a "good" bad guy.

He opted to live out his days quietly, hiding from law enforcement in laid back Santa Monica.

But the modest apartment he shared with his wife soon gave up the dark secrets of his past.

Guns, fake IDs and over $800,000 in cash were found hidden in the walls of his small apartment. The jury raised a question over what should be done with that money.

Steve Davis is the brother of Debra Davis, one of the women Bulger was accused of killing.

"He goes away (but) we're still scarred with this," he said.

"You know, these people gonna forget his name three months from now. 'Whitey who? What trial?' But the victims' families, we're scarred. We got to serve a life sentence on this."

Boston author Kevin Cullen has written extensively on the case. He says the FBI giving Bulger immunity is what allowed him to commit his crimes over such a long period.

"What separates him from a John Dillinger or an Al Capone or a John Gotti is that he had the nation's premier law enforcement agency, the FBI, actively assisting him," he said.

"So in some respects, he tops all those guys. He was able to get the FBI to help him kill people.

"The FBI didn't just look the other way because he was their informant. They actively assisted in targeting people. They told him who might be talking about him, who might turn him in to other authorities. And he went out and killed these people."

A 1953 mugshot shows a square-jawed Bulger in the vigour of defiant youth, with lawless decades stretched out ahead of him.

His last photograph in custody, taken two years ago, shows a white-haired bearded old man, with countless vicious crimes behind him, still challenging the camera.

Hollywood stars are clamouring to turn the years that span the two into a movie. But for his victims and their families, this is a reality that has haunted them for decades.

Now they are ready for some peace.

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James 'Whitey' Bulger Guilty Of 11 Killings

Boston gangster James 'Whitey' Bulger has been found guilty of gangland crimes including 11 murders and racketeering.

The 83-year-old faces life in prison after being convicted of committing or playing a role in the killings during the 1970s and 80s while he led the city's Winter Hill Gang.

Bulger showed no reaction upon hearing the verdict, which brought to a close a case that not only transfixed the city with its violence but also exposed corruption inside the Boston FBI.

Bulger's lawyer JW Carney Jr said he intends to appeal, because the judge did not let him present an immunity defence.

A 1953 Boston police booking photo after an arrest

Sentencing has been set for November 13.

The former mob boss was one of the nation's most wanted fugitives after fleeing Boston in 1994, and was finally captured in Santa Monica, California, in 2011.

He was charged primarily with racketeering, a catch-all offence that listed 33 criminal acts - among them, 19 murders that he allegedly helped orchestrate or carried out himself.

The racketeering charge also included acts of extortion, money-laundering and drug dealing.

The jury had to find he committed only two of those acts to convict him of racketeering.

A surveillance image of Bulger entered as evidence. Pic: US Attorney

The panel of eight men and four women deliberated for nearly five days before deciding Bulger took part in 11 of the 19 killings, and found him guilty on a list of other counts, including possession of machine guns.

One woman in the gallery taunted Bulger as he was being led away, apparently imitating machine-gun fire as she yelled: "Rat-a-tat-tat, Whitey!"

US Attorney Carmen Ortiz said afterwards that she hoped the verdict would mark "the end of an era that was very ugly in Boston's history".

During the two-month trial, federal prosecutors portrayed Bulger as a cold-blooded, hands-on boss who killed anyone he saw as a threat, along with innocent people who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Bulger, who was the model for Jack Nicholson's underworld character in Martin Scorsese's 2006 film The Departed, was seen for years as a benevolent tough guy who bought Thanksgiving turkeys for south Boston's working-class residents and kept hard drugs out of the neighbourhood.

Machine guns said to belong to Bulger's gang

But that image was shattered when authorities started digging up bodies.

"This is not some Robin Hood story about a guy who kept angel dust and heroin out of Southie," prosecutor Fred Wyshak told the jury in closing arguments.

Bulger's disappearance in 1994 proved a major embarrassment to the FBI when it came out at court hearings and trials that Bulger had been an informant from 1975 to 1990.

The gang leader fed the bureau information on the rival New England Mafia as well as members of his own gang while he continued to kill and intimidate.

Bulger and his gang also paid off several FBI agents and state and Boston police officers, dispensing Christmas envelopes of cash and cases of wine to get information on search warrants, wiretaps and investigations to stay one step ahead of the law.

At his trial, Bulger's lawyers detailed the corruption inside the FBI and accused prosecutors of offering absurdly generous deals to three former Bulger loyalists to testify against him.

The defence portrayed the three key witnesses - gangster Stephen 'The Rifleman' Flemmi, hit man John Martorano and Bulger protege Kevin Weeks - as pathological liars who pinned their own crimes on Bulger so they could get reduced sentences.

But overall, the defence barely contested many of the charges against Bulger, and even conceded that he ran a criminal enterprise that raked in millions through drugs, gambling and loan-sharking.

His lawyers did, however, strongly deny he killed women, something Bulger seemingly regarded as a violation of his underworld code of honour.

They also spent a significant amount of time disputing Bulger was a "rat" - a label that seemed to set off the hotheaded gangster more than anything else, causing him to shout obscenities in the courtroom.

Bulger had hoped to argue he was given immunity for all his crimes by a now-dead federal prosecutor. But Judge Denise Casper disallowed such a defence, and Bulger did not testify.

"I feel that I've been choked off from having an opportunity to give an adequate defence," he complained to the judge as the trial wound down.

Bulger's life story fascinated Bostonians for decades.

He grew up in a south Boston housing project and quickly became involved in crime, while his younger brother, William, rose to become one of the most powerful politicians in Massachusetts as state Senate president.

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Egypt's Police To Clear Pro-Morsi Camps

Egyptian police are expected to clear protest camps supporting the country's ousted president in Cairo within 24 hours.

In a move which could trigger more violence and bloodshed, security and government sources said action against the sit-ins could start by daybreak on Monday.

The camps are the main flashpoints in the confrontation between the army, which toppled Mohamed Morsi last month, and supporters who demand his reinstatement.

Western and Arab mediators and some members of the Egyptian government have been trying to persuade the army to avoid using force to disperse the protesters, who at times can number as many as tens of thousands.

But Army chief General Abdel Fattah al Sisi, who toppled Mr Morsi, has come under pressure from hardline military officers to move against the protesters, security sources say.

Almost 300 people have been killed in political violence since the overthrow, including dozens of supporters shot dead by security forces in two incidents.

Thousands of people want Mr Morsi reinstated

Any further violence would almost certainly deepen Egypt's political crisis and keep the government from dealing with vital issues such as the fragile economy.

"State security troops will be deployed around the sit-ins by dawn as a start of procedures that will eventually lead to a dispersal," said a senior security source, adding that the first step will be to surround the camps.

Another security source said the decision to take action, just after celebrations following the holy month of Ramadan, came after a meeting between the interior minister and his aides.

Mr Morsi's supporters, mainly from his Muslim Brotherhood, have turned the camps into something resembling fortresses.

Sandbags and piles of big rocks have been set up all over.

Guards with sticks wear motorcycle helmets in anticipation of a raid that would require security forces to crack down in a heavily congested area that includes children.

Egyptian authorities have warned the protesters to leave the camps or face the consequences.

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Peace Talks: Israel To Free Palestinian Inmates

Israeli Swap Soldier Shalit Returns Home

Updated: 10:48pm UK, Tuesday 18 October 2011

Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit has returned home after being freed as part of a prisoner swap deal with Palestine.

Sergeant Shalit, 25, was met by huge crowds lining the streets in the village of Mitzpe Hila in northern Israel.

He had earlier been flown to Tel Nof air base by helicopter where he was met by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his family.

The soldier was freed after more than five years in captivity in the Gaza Strip in an exchange which will see 1,027 Palestinian prisoners in total also released.

Hundreds of those being freed under the deal with Hamas were serving life sentences for killing Israelis.

Sgt Shalit was greeted by a national outpouring of emotion in his home country, echoed by jubilant scenes in Gaza and the West Bank as their nationals returned.

As Palestine released the young soldier and he was flown home, Israel simultaneously released 477 Palestinian prisoners.

A military statement said the solder was in good health but witnesses said he felt nauseous and weak and had needed oxygen when he landed.

Mr Netanyahu told the soldier's parents as he waited with them: "I brought your boy home."

He insisted he felt the paid of relatives of Israelis killed by Palestinians and admitted the price of Sgt Shalit's release had been high. "It is a difficult day," he said.

:: Read the updates from the Sky News team as they happened

The freed soldier, appearing on Egyptian television, said he hoped his release would lead to peace between Israel and Palestine.

"You can't imagine how I felt when I heard I was going home," he said. "I received this news a week ago and I felt then that this would be my last chance to be free.

"They were long years. But I always thought the day would come when I finally get out of captivity. Of course I miss my family very much. I also miss my friends.

"I hope this deal will lead to peace between Palestinians and Israelis and that it will support cooperation between both sides."

However, there was little sign from either side that the deal could be the starting point of a new dialogue.

Tens of thousands of people at a rally in Gaza for freed prisoners urged fighters to capture more soldiers to help free other Palestinians still being held.

Crowds awaiting them at a West Bank checkpoint hurled rocks at Israeli soldiers, who responded with tear gas.

Mr Netanyahu warned the former prisoners they would be "taking their life into their own hands" if they "returned to terror".

Sgt Shalit was only 19 when he was captured by three Gaza-based militant groups in a deadly cross-border raid on June 25, 2006.

Three days after he was snatched, Israel launched a huge military operation against Gaza to try to secure his release. It lasted five months and left more than 400 Palestinians dead.

But the operation was unsuccessful and in June 2007 Hamas seized power in Gaza, holding the young soldier at a secret location until now.

Egypt helped broker the deal between Israel and Hamas that allowed him to finally be freed.

Israeli officials have acknowledged it will be painful for the bereaved relatives but said it was the best agreement that could be reached.

Under its terms, 450 male and 27 female prisoners have been released, with a second batch, whose names have yet to be decided, to follow in the coming two months.

Among the freed Palestinians are Walid Anjas, who received 36 life sentences over a 2002 attack on a Jerusalem bar that killed 11 Israelis, and Nasr Yateyma, who was convicted of planning the 2002 Passover bombing which killed 29.

Others were involved in kidnapping and killing Israeli soldiers.

Sgt Shalit's father Noam described the last five years as a "long, hard struggle" after the family returned home with the solder.

"Today we can say that we have gone through a rebirth of our son," he said.

But he admitted that even for his own family, the deal struck with Hamas for his release "is not easy".

He said his son was "feeling well" but had some minor injuries and would not come out to speak himself.

On the other side of the divide in Gaza, a national holiday was declared and flag-waving young men drove through the streets.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh embraced the freed prisoners as they piled out of buses.

Other former prisoners also received a heroes' welcome in Ramallah, the headquarters of Abbas's West Bank-based Palestinian Authority.

"This is the greatest joy for the Palestinian people," said Azzia al-Qawasmeh, who was waiting for her son Amer, who she said had been in prison for 24 years.

Meanwhile, international efforts to revive peace talks have failed to bring both sides together for a meeting due in Jerusalem on October 26.

Envoys from the Quartet of mediators - the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations - will instead hold separate meetings with each party.

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Syria Airstrikes Leave More Than 30 Dead

More than 30 people have reportedly been killed in Syrian government air strikes in Latakia province and the northern city of Raqa.

Seven children were among at least 13 civilians who died in an air raid on Raqa, the only provincial capital in rebel hands, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group.

It said the raid was apparently aimed at positions of the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) which largely controls the city.

ISIS has been the dominant force in the city since its capture by rebels in March.

Residents have held several protests against the policies of ISIS which follows an extremist line of Islam, according to the Observatory.

Government forces attack Raqa, the only provincial capital in rebel hands

An Italian Jesuit priest and activist, Paolo Dall'Oglio, who hoped to negotiate with ISIS in Raqa, went missing in the city at the start of August.

In the coastal Latakia province of northwest Syria, at least 20 people were killed in several air strikes on the Sunni rebel town of Salma, the Observatory said.

At least six of those killed were Syrian rebel fighters while four were foreign volunteers, said Rami Abdel Rahman, who heads the Observatory.

Latakia province is a stronghold of the Alawite minority of Syrian President Bashar al Assad, apart from rebel-held pockets.

Islamist rebel forces have captured about 10 Alawite villages in Jabal al-Akrad, a mountainous area of the province.

The army has hit back, sparking fierce fighting that has left dozens dead on both sides.

Smoke rises in the town of Salma

Rebels have kidnapped a leading Alawite cleric, Sheikh Badreddine Ghazal, said the Observatory, which relies on a network of activists on the ground and medics for its information.

In Damascus, a car bomb ripped through the Shaghur district of the capital late on Saturday, wounding several people, three of them children.

In Aleppo province, further east, government troops stormed a village overnight, killing 12 people, the Observatory said.

Al-Nusra Front jihadists and other rebel fighters in the eastern city of Deir Ezzor seized control of the offices of Syria's ruling Baath party in the Howeika district, sparking regime bombardment, the Observatory said.

More than 100,000 people have been killed in the past 29 months of conflict.

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Idaho: Teenager Rescued After Suspect Killed

US Abductor 'May Have Explosives'

Updated: 5:28pm UK, Saturday 10 August 2013

The car of a man suspected of killing a woman and her son, and then abducting her 16-year-old daughter, has been found in Idaho.

San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore said horseback riders reported seeing two people matching the description of the suspect and girl in the Cascade area 70 miles northeast of Boise on Wednesday.

Investigators have said an "unusual infatuation" with the teenager might have driven suspect James Lee DiMaggio, 40, to flee with Hannah Anderson from his burned-out home on the California-Mexico border.

"That is kind of a working theory, that it may be something of a motivator," San Diego County Sheriff's Captain Duncan Fraser said. "It's definitely something that we're looking at."

Evidence found in the rubble of the home lead police to believe DiMaggio may have explosives and might abandon his blue Nissan Versa after rigging it to explode.

"In the event that someone comes across the car, they need to use caution," Captain Fraser warned.

On Sunday night, authorities found the body of 44-year-old Christina Anderson when they extinguished flames at DiMaggio's rural home. A child's body was also discovered as they sifted through rubble in Boulevard, a tiny town 65 miles east of San Diego.

The body was identified several days later as eight-year-old Ethan Anderson.

DiMaggio allegedly told Hannah a couple of months ago he had a crush on her and would date her if they were the same age. 

A 15-year-old friend, Marissa Chavez, witnessed the remarks when DiMaggio was driving them home from a gymnastics competition.

"She was a little creeped out by it. She didn't want to be alone with him," she said.

DiMaggio is wanted on suspicion of murder and arson in a search that began in California and quickly spread to Oregon, Washington, Nevada, British Columbia and Mexico's Baja California state.

A possible sighting was reported in northeast California near Alturas on Wednesday afternoon, followed by another about 50 miles along the same road near Lakeview, in south-central Oregon.

Captain Fraser, whose office has had hundreds of leads on DiMaggio's whereabouts, said the Oregon tip appeared "very credible". "We're taking it very seriously," he said.

DiMaggio, a telecommunications technician, was said to have been like an uncle to Hannah and Ethan Anderson and had been close to both of their parents for years.

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