Two people have been killed in the devastating floods that have hit Australia’s coastal north east.
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Newspaper review
Papers keep prison riot in focus
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S Korea stands firm on Pyongyang
South Korea’s President Lee Myung-bak says the door to talks with the North remains open, if Pyongyang’s ‘military adventurism’ ends.
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Keep control orders, warns peer
The controversial control orders were introduced under the former Labour government in 2005 Related stories
The government would not be forgiven if control orders on terror suspects were scrapped and there was another 7/7 style attack, Lord Carlile has warned.
The Liberal Democrat peer, the independent reviewer of UK counter-terrorism laws, told the Sun control orders were essential for security.
Lord Carlile said he agreed the orders need to be reformed.
It had been reported that a deal had been reached to scrap them but the Home Office said no decisions had been made.
Lord Carlile, who is stepping down as the government’s independent reviewer of anti-terrorism legislation, has long argued there is no alternative to control orders, which can include curfews, electronic tags, travel and mobile phone curbs.
He said that while he did not like the idea of the controversial orders, they were necessary.
“Security and police chiefs have made clear the necessity for the orders. We ignore their advice literally at our peril,” he said.
“The courage to protect public safety surely will be recognised. The failure to do so will not be forgiven if some terrible terrorism event happens.”
A review of counter-terrorism legislation was due to report before Christmas but has been delayed until early 2011 because of ongoing negotiations between ministers.
The issue has divided the coalition because the Lib Dems promised during the election to abolish control orders.
Introduced under the former Labour government in 2005, they have been strongly criticised by civil liberties campaigners.
The review, which is also looking at the 28-day limit on holding terrorism suspects before they are charged, was announced by Home Secretary Theresa May in July.
It is being overseen by former director of public prosecutions and Lib Dem peer Lord Macdonald.
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India shivers in deadly cold snap
Indian-administered Kashmir has been hardest hit by the cold weather Related stories
An intense spell of cold weather has disrupted life across northern India, reportedly claiming two dozen lives.
The capital, Delhi, has been hit worst by the cold snap, along with Indian-administered Kashmir, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.
In Leh in Kashmir, temperatures dropped to -23.6C – this winter’s lowest – on Sunday, weather officials said.
Delhi, which is experiencing one of its coldest winters in years, has been hit by thick fog which disrupted flights.
Sunday was Delhi’s coldest day this winter with temperatures dipping to 7.8C.
The cold wave is being felt most intensely in Kashmir with the summer capital, Srinagar, recording sub-zero temperatures.
The highway linking Kashmir with the rest of India has been shut due to snowfall, officials said.
Homeless people have taken to gathering around street fires to try to keep warm and the night shelters for the poor in Delhi are overflowing.
Five more people – including a 70-year-old man and a two year-old boy – suffered cold-related deaths in Uttar Pradesh, reports said.
The Press Trust of India news agency reported three more cold-related deaths in Indian-administered Kashmir.
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Egyptians clash with police over bomb
Angry Coptic Christians in Egypt clash with riot police for a second day after 21 worshippers were killed in a bomb attack on a church in the city of Alexandria.
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Ex Russian deputy PM jailed for 15 days
One of Russia’s most prominent opposition politicians, former Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov, is sentenced to fifteen days in jail.
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A thousand birds fall from sky
Wildlife officials are trying to determine what caused more than 1,000 blackbirds to fall dead from the sky over a small town in the US state of Arkansas.
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UN points to Ivory Coast killings
The UN says it has been blocked from investigating alleged abuses The UN official investigating alleged abuses in Ivory Coast after a disputed election says he has evidence of extra-judicial killings.
Simon Munzu told the BBC his staff had verified some cases, while others were reported by families.
But he said a campaign of intimidation by incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo’s supporters appeared to have receded.
Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga is travelling to Abidjan to help try and resolve a post-election stalemate.
Mr Gbagbo has so far refused demands from the world community to stand down in favour of his rival in the 28 November presidential polls, Alassane Ouattara, who is internationally recognised as the victor.
Mr Odinga, the African Union’s representative, is due to travel from Nigeria – where he has held discussions with President Goodluck Jonathan – to meet Mr Gbagbo and Mr Ouattara along with delegates from the West African regional group, Ecowas.
Sierra Leone’s information minister, Ibrahim Ben-Kargbo, told the BBC the leaders will call on Mr Gbagbo to step down, and did not intend to negotiate with him.
Human rights groups claim allies of Mr Gbagbo have been abducting opponents.
The UN says some 200 people have been killed or have disappeared in the past month – mostly supporters of Mr Ouattara.
Peacekeepers from the UN mission (UNOCI) have been instructed to do all they can to investigate sites of alleged human rights violations, but say security forces loyal to Mr Gbagbo have twice blocked them from visiting the site of one of two alleged mass graves.
The Gbagbo government has repeatedly denied the existence of any mass graves.
The UN has also expressed concern that some of the homes of opponents to Mr Gbagbo have been marked to identify the ethnicity of their occupants, indicating signs the country could be heading for ethnic violence.
Ivorian refugees flee to Liberia
Almost 19,000 refugees have crossed into Liberia to escape the crisis, more than half of them children, says Ranjan Poudyal, Country Director for Save the Children in Liberia.
“Arriving in Kissiplay and Duoplay, we found whole families of up to 10-12 people sharing a room in public school buildings and churches. To feed themselves, many families, whether or not they are physically fit, have taken up work on farms. Liberian families hosting the refugees, meanwhile, are concerned that there will soon not be enough food to go around. Safe drinking water is also now becoming hard to find.
We came across multiple cases of diarrhoea, malaria, and skin infections. We also came across cases of physical wounds from beatings received in Ivory Coast needing medical attention. But many of these settlements are several hours walk from the nearest clinic.
As is found in all emergencies where there is a mass upheaval of communities, in the six villages where we carried out our assessment, we came across 39 children who had been separated from their parents during the move, 20 unaccompanied minors, and eight parents who were devastated at having lost their children”.
Speaking to the BBC World Service’s Newshour programme, Mr Munzu said the UN had received many reports of killings.
“In some cases the information has bee verified by our own staff of the human rights division right across Ivory Coast but for others we rely on information reported by family members,” he said.
He cited an example of a report from one person who said his uncle and another man disappeared before their bodies were found in a mortuary with signs of “foul play”.
Denials by Mr Gbagbo’s camp lacked credibility while the UN was not allowed to investigate, he said.
He condemned reports that ethnic groups were being targeted, but said it would be an exaggeration to suggest this indicated the start of a genocide.
The UN was “horrified” by reports about the marking of doors, he said, but added that “to jump from that to the extreme of saying that we are on the brink of civil war in [Ivory Coast] is an exaggeration.
He said a campaign of intimidation by supporters of Mr Gbagbo appeared to have been aimed at blocking Mr Ouattara’s side from taking control of the state’s institutions.
“The attempt by the Ouattara camp to take over those institutions having appeared to have receded if not failed, I suppose the Gbagbo camp is breathing more easily now and that is reflected in a lowering of the atrocities that are committed to intimidate the people.”
UN peacekeepers are protecting Mr Ouattara, who is holed up in a hotel in the main city, Abidjan.
Mr Gbagbo has called on them to leave the country.
The election was intended to reunify the country which has been divided since a 2002 conflict.
Mr Ouattara was initially proclaimed the winner by Ivory Coast’s election commission, but the Constitutional Council said Mr Gbagbo had won. Both men have been sworn in as president.
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