Kenya Siege: Heavy Gunfire Heard Inside Mall

Heavy bursts of gunfire have been heard from inside a Nairobi shopping centre where gunmen have killed at least 62 people.

It comes only hours after Kenya's interior ministry said security forces were "in control" of the Westgate mall following a three-day siege.

All hostages trapped by the attackers have been evacuated from the Nairobi complex, according to government spokesman Manoah Esipisu.

But he cautioned that some of the insurgents could still be hiding after up to 15 of them stormed the building on Saturday in a grenade and gun attack targeting shoppers.

Troops have been combing the building overnight, going from floor to floor looking for "anyone left behind", said the interior ministry.

The gunmen were believed to be members of al Qaeda-linked Somali militant group al Shabaab which said the assault was in retaliation for Kenya's military helping the government in Mogadishu.

Victims: Ross Langdon, Eliv Yavus and eight-year-old Jenah Bawa

Kenya's Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed said a British woman and "two or three Americans" were among the militants.

Six British nationals are believed to have been killed in the terror attack. Among the dead were eight-year-old Jenah Bawa and 33-year-old Ross Langdon.

Almost 200 people were hurt in the attack, and 63 others had been recorded missing by the Red Cross - a figure thought to include hostages as well as those possibly killed.

Mr Esipisu said: "Our special forces are inside the building checking the rooms. Obviously it's a very, very big building.

"We think that everyone, the hostages, have been evacuated but we don't want to take any chances. The special forces are doing their job and yes, I think we are near the end."

Smoke is seen rising from the shopping centre

He also told AFP: "The special forces call this sanitising. It's a very complex and very delicate operation.

"At the moment they have not met any resistance, but of course we are not ruling out the possibility that there are a couple of them hiding in a remote room or corner."

Earlier, Islamist militants were reported to be "running and hiding" in stores as security forces closed in.

Kenyan police said three terrorists had been killed and others were hurt after the military launched a major assault.

Eleven soldiers from the Kenyan Defence Force were wounded in the fighting, and more than 10 people have been arrested over Saturday's attack.

Interior minister Joseph Ole Lenku said there was "no way out" for the militants and "no room for escape".

Around lunchtime on Monday, four huge explosions were heard followed by a barrage of gunfire at the shopping complex in the Kenyan capital.

Police and volunteers react after hearing gunshots

Black smoke poured from the top of the building as troops lay siege to the mall while military and police helicopters circled above.

Security officials at the scene said the explosions had been caused by Kenyan forces who set off blasts to get in through the roof.

However, Mr Lenku said the smoke had been down to the al Shabaab fighters setting fire to mattresses as a decoy.

The atrocity is the worst in Nairobi since an al Qaeda bomb attack on the US embassy in 1998 that killed more than 200 people.

The Kenyan Red Cross has set up a webpage for anyone worried about friends or relatives who might be caught up in the siege.

:: A helpline has been set up for people in the UK who are concerned about relatives in Kenya: 020 7008 000.

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Kenya Siege: British Woman 'Among Attackers'

A British woman and "two or three Americans" are among the militants who took part in an attack on a shopping centre in Nairobi.

Kenyan Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed confirmed al Shabaab fighters were responsible for the attack.

In an interview with the PBS Newshour programme, Ms Mohamed said: "Both the victims and the perpetrators ... came from Kenya, the United Kingdom and the United States.

"From the information that we have, (there are) two or three Americans, and I think so far I have heard of one Brit."

Asked about the British woman, Ms Mohamed added: "A woman, woman, and I think she has done this many times before."

Samantha Lewthwaite is known to be in East Africa

The announcement will fuel speculation that British terror suspect Samantha Lewthwaite, who was married to the July 7 bomber Jermaine Lindsay, was involved in the Kenya attack.

Lewthwaite, dubbed the "White Widow", is known to be in East Africa and is wanted by Kenyan police over alleged links to a terrorist cell that planned to bomb the country's coast.

In March last year officials said she had fled to Somalia and that officers were hunting a woman who used several identities, including hers.

Ms Mohamed said the Americans involved in the shopping centre attack are aged about 18 or 19 years.

Kenya's Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed spoke to the PBS Newshour programme

"The Americans, from the information that we have, are young men. About between 18 and 19, of Somali origin or Arab origin, but ... lived in the US in Minnesota and one other place," she said.

"I think that just goes to underline the global nature of the war that we're fighting."

A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said: "Aware of the Foreign Minister's comment, we continue to liaise very closely with the Kenyan authorities and to support their investigation into this attack.

"The UK will do everything it can to support the Kenyans bringing everyone responsible for this vicious attack to justice."

Somalia's al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which began on Saturday.

Kenyan security forces took control of the shopping centre after a final assault on the militants.

Police are conducting a sweep of the complex following the rescue of the remaining hostages.

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Kenya Stand-Off: Explosions In Final Assault

Kenyan troops are carrying out a major assault against al Shabaab gunmen in Kenya in an attempt to end the stand-off inside a Nairobi shopping centre.

At least three loud explosions and heavy gunfire have been heard coming from the Westgate shopping complex where 68 people, including three Britons, have died since the siege started on Saturday.

The Kenyan Defence Force said on its Twitter feed this morning that it was making every effort to bring the siege "to a speedy conclusion".

It said it has secured most of the Westgate shopping complex, and most of the hostages have been rescued.

Officials say up to 15 al Shabaab militants may still be inside the centre.

Troops gather outside the Westgate shopping centre

Kenyan military spokesman Colonel Cyrus Oguna told Sky News: "We cannot reveal the numbers of gunmen we suspect are there, but we estimate the operation will end very soon.

"We do not negotiate with terrorists and that position has not changed. Everyone who has been rescued is being checked to make sure none of the terrorists escaped during the dragnet."

Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta said there have been "numerous offers of assistance from friendly countries" to help end the stand-off, but that for now it remains a Kenyan operation.

However, a Kenyan security source has confirmed that Israeli agents "are rescuing the hostages and the injured". The Westgate shopping complex is part Israeli-owned.

The Kenyan Red Cross confirmed 68 people have been killed, at least 49 remain missing and around 200 have been injured.

Kenyan soldiers enter the main gate of the shopping centre

Police have conceded that the death toll could be "much, much higher", after reports emerged that there are multiple fatalities still inside the shopping centre.

The Foreign Office confirmed three Britons were among those killed and warned that number was likely to rise.

It also said it was "looking into" unsubstantiated claims that a list of names of those purported to be linked to the attack had been published on Twitter.

Prime Minister David Cameron condemned the "despicable attack", saying it was an act of "appalling brutality".

"Because the situation is ongoing, we should prepare ourselves for further bad news," he added.

A Kenyan army soldier takes cover behind a wall near the centre

Also killed in the attack were two Canadians, two French citizens, two Indian citizens, a South Korean, a South African, a Dutch woman and the former UN envoy Kofi Awoonor.

The Kenyan Red Cross has set up a webpage for anyone worried about friends or relatives who might be caught up in the siege.

Security forces have taken control of the upper and lower levels of the shopping complex, and an army spokesman told Sky News they were trying to secure the second floor where the terrorists may be hiding.

Other reports suggested the attackers are holed up in a toilet block next to a supermarket on the ground floor of the complex.

The Somalia-based al Shabaab militant group has claimed responsibility and warned of further attacks.

Onlookers watch as the stand-off continues at the Westgate complex

Mr Kenyatta said one of his nephews and his nephew's fiancee were among the people confirmed killed.

"They shall not get away with their despicable and beastly acts," the president said in an emotional speech to the nation. "We will punish the masterminds swiftly and indeed very painfully."

The attack is the worst in Nairobi since an al Qaeda bombing at the US embassy killed more than 200 people in 1998.

:: A helpline has been set up for people in the UK who are concerned about relatives in Kenya: 020 7008 000.

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Merkel Romps To Victory In German Election

By Robert Nisbet, Europe Correspondent

Angela Merkel has triumphed by securing a third term as German chancellor, but she will have to find new coalition partners to govern Europe's largest economy.

Her conservative Christian Democratic Union and its sister party the Christian Social Union saw their combined share of the vote rise by 8% in an unexpectedly strong endorsement of her austerity policies.

Ms Merkel told supporters it was "a super result" but she did not immediately speculate about the shape of the next government.

"I see the next four years in front of me and I can promise that we will face many tasks, at home, in Europe and in the world," she said during a television appearance last night.

"The party leadership will discuss everything when we have a final result but we can already celebrate tonight."

Preliminary official results showed that overall the CDU/CSU won 41.5%, seeing off the main opposition Social Democrats who managed 25.7%.

It was a poor night for the liberal Free Democratic Party, which was Ms Merkel's coalition partner since 2009, and saw its support plummet by nearly 10% to 4.8%.

It fell beneath the 5% threshold of national support and so is barred from the Bundestag, the national parliament.

Ms Merkel will have to forge alliances with traditional opponents

Its humiliation almost handed Ms Merkel an absolute majority, as its exclusion lowered the number of seats the CSU would have needed to control the chamber.

But she is just shy of that total, so will need to forge alliances in order to govern.

It seems most likely she will seek a "grand alliance" with the SDP, which will be expected to seek promises in return for its support.

They could include a greater emphasis on growth across the eurozone, rather than austerity, and the introduction of a minimum national wage.

But Ms Merkel's support from the electorate is so strong, it will strengthen her hand in any negotiation.

It is unlikely there would be an obvious sea-change in the government's political trajectory.

That will be welcomed by many in the EU and leaders around the world who know that a change of direction might spook the markets and raise borrowing costs for indebted nations.

It will also cheer Prime Minister David Cameron, as Ms Merkel appears to share his conviction that the EU could be strengthened if power flows from Brussels back to member states.

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Iraq Suicide Bombers Kill Almost 100 At Funeral

Almost 100 people have died after two suicide bombers targeted a funeral in the Shi'ite neighbourhood of Sadr City in Baghdad, police have said.

One bomber detonated his explosives-laden car as he drove up near a tent where mourners had gathered and another on foot blew himself up nearby.

A third explosion followed as police, ambulances and firefighter were gathering at the scene.

The explosions set several cars on fire, sending a towering plume of thick black smoke over the city.

One of the mourners, Sheik Sattar al Fartousi, said: "I saw several charred bodies on the ground and tents on fire and also burning cars. Wounded people were screaming in pain.

"The scene was horrible. The funeral turned into an inferno."

He said the first blast went off as dinner was being served in one of several tents set up for the funeral of a member of the al Fartousi tribe. He estimated that more than 500 people were attending the event.

A plume of black smoke was sent over Sadr City

Hussein Abdul Khaliq, a government employee who lives in the area, said: "This funeral was not a military post or a ministry building, yet it was still targeted. This shows that no place and no one is safe in Iraq."

The attack happened at sunset on Saturday, hours after insurgents launched a suicide attack on a police headquarters in the city of Beiji, about 110 miles north of Baghdad, killing seven policemen and wounding 21 others.

In that attack, police said guards managed to kill one suicide bomber, but three other bombers were able to set off their explosive belts inside the compound.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. Al Qaeda's branch in Iraq frequently targets Shi'ite civilians and security forces in an attempt to undermine public confidence in the Shi'ite-led government in Baghdad.

Thousands of Iraqis have been killed in violent attacks in recent months - a level of bloodshed not seen since Iraq pulled back from the brink of civil war in 2008 - despite appeals for restraint from Shi'ite and Sunni political leaders.

More than 4,000 people have been killed in violent attacks between April and August, according to the United Nations.

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Bo Xilai Found Guilty Of Corruption In China

By Mark Stone, China Correspondent in Jinan

Communist Party politician Bo Xilai has been sentenced to life in prison by a Chinese court following a sensational scandal that culminated in one of the country's highest-profile trials in decades.

Bo, 64, was given a life term for taking 26.8 million yuan (£2.73m) in bribes. The court also gave him 15 years in prison for embezzlement and seven years for abuse of power.

The verdict marks the end of a protracted legal and political saga which began with the murder of a British businessman and caused political ripples right to the heart of China's Communist leadership.

Bo's five-day trial ended last month at the Intermediate People's Court in the eastern city of Jinan.

With unprecedented openness and moments of genuine suspense, it was a Chinese trial like no other before it.

Through televised highlights and minute-by-minute microblog updates from the court, the Chinese public was able to follow Bo's robust self-defence and disdainful cross-examination of witnesses.

Bo Xilai with wife Gu Kailai, who he dismissed as 'crazy'

Performing with the charisma and trademark flair which has set him apart in Chinese politics, he laughed-off the central accusation against him that he had illegally obtained the 26.8 million yuan.

He said money did not interest him, claiming, rather unusually, that even his underwear was 50-years-old.

In one of the most dramatic moments of the trial, Bo dismissed the two star witnesses against him - his wife, and his former chief of police - as "crazy" and a "liar" respectively.

In reference to some of the bribery allegations, he complained that "not even the worst TV script writers could come up with such plots".

At times though, the trial itself resembled a soap opera, with Bo revealing a complicated love triangle between himself, his wife Gu Kailai, and Wang Lijun, his former police chief.

The prosecution produced documentary and anecdotal evidence which it claimed showed the Bo family to be extremely wealthy with bulging bank accounts, access to private jets and a villa near Cannes in France.

Stories emerged in court regarding the antics of Bo Guagua, the son of Bo and Gu Kailai.

Bo Guagua, son of Bo Xilai, was accused of enjoying a 'playboy' lifestyle

The young Bo, who studied at Harrow, Oxford and Harvard had, according to the prosecution, jetted across Europe and Africa and been allowed to enjoy a playboy lifestyle which went against all Communist Party principles.

Many of the trips and other financial deals were, the prosecution claimed, the result of Bo Xilai's corrupt dealings with businessmen.

Bo had abused his various positions of power over decades. He had instigated corrupt deals with numerous business associates with whom his relationship should never have been financial.

For almost two decades, from 1985, Bo Xilai had climbed up the Communist Party ladder from mayor of the north-eastern port city of Dalian, to governor of Liaoning Province.

He served as the Chinese government's Commerce Minister and wowed many foreign counterparts with his relaxed domineer, modern and apparently capitalist outlook and his political drive.

At one point, it was almost certain he would be chosen as one of the seven men on the Standing Committee of the Politburo who run the country.

The sensational trial grabbed the attention of China's media

However, his career came to a spectacular halt four and a half years after he became Communist Party Secretary in the central Chinese city of Chongqing.

The fall from grace was swift and almost inevitable after his wife was accused of the murder of a friend and business associate of the Bo family, a Briton called Neil Heywood.

In a dramatic sequence of events over the winter of 2011-2012, the conspiracy began to unravel.

Bo's chief of police in Chongqing, Wang Lijun, left his post and fled to a US consulate. Mr Wang asked for political asylum and told the Americans that Bo's wife had poisoned Mr Heywood.

His asylum request was rejected but the lurid claim could not be ignored. The fact Mr Wang had chosen to tell the Americans and not his own superiors was an acute embarrassment for the Communist Party. Within months, Wang and Gu were tried, convicted and jailed.

The Chinese government presented Bo's trial as the downfall of a corrupt crook.

However, it was widely seen as being far more a political purge of a man who posed a threat to the current leadership of President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang.

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Assad To Destroy Chemical Weapons 'In A Year'

Syrian leader Bashar al Assad says he is committed to destroying his stockpile of chemical arms - but warned it would take a year to do so.

In an interview with Fox News, Mr Assad said he was committed to getting rid of the arsenal but conceded it would cost at least £600m ($1bn).

He also insisted that his decision to destroy the weapons was not forced upon him by the threat of US strikes.

And he said that a UN report that found "clear and convincing evidence" of a sarin nerve gas attack in Syria last month is "unrealistic" and denied responsibility.

Mr Assad denied responsibility for the gas attack (pic: Fox News)

During an interview with the US crew at the presidential palace in Damascus, Mr Assad said destroying the weapons was "a very complicated operation, technically".

"And it needs a lot of money, about a billion," he continued.

"So it depends, you have to ask the experts what they mean by quickly. It has a certain schedule.

"It needs a year, or maybe a little bit more."

Mr Assad also used the one-hour interview to criticise the American stance in the Syrian crisis.

He said that, unlike the Russians, Washington had tried to get involved in Syria's leadership and governance.

Mr Assad's comments came after a senior Russian diplomat said Damascus would stick to its commitment to eliminate its chemical weapons by mid-2014.

After talks in Syria, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said President Assad was "very serious" about the disarmament plan.

Mr Ryabkov also said that Syrian officials had shown him "material evidence" implicating rebels in the sarin attack.

And the Russian diplomat criticised the United Nations for being "one-sided" in its recent report on the attack.

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Egyptian Security Forces In Cairo Gun Battle

Egyptian security forces exchange gunfire with armed groups on the outskirts of Cairo, according to state television.

Troops stormed into the Kerdash district to arrest people accused of torching police station and killing 11 security officers during clashes that followed the ousting of President Mohamed Morsi last July.

More follows...

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Gunman Aaron Alexis Had PTSD After 9/11

US Deadliest Shootings

Updated: 10:49pm UK, Monday 16 September 2013

The shooting at the Washington navy yard has been described by Barack Obama as "yet another mass shooting". It is part of a grim list in modern US history.

:: Sandy Hook, Connecticut, December 14, 2012:

Adam Lanza, 20, killed his mother before opening fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, killing 20 children and six adults. He then turned the gun on himself.

It is the worst school shooting in America's history and second only to the Virginia Tech massacre in terms of the country's deadliest ever attacks.

Both attacks make up a grim history of mass murders using firearms in the US.

:: Aurora, Colorado, July 20, 2012:

A masked gunman burst in on the Century 16 cinema during a midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises throwing tear gas before opening fire.

He killed 12 and injured 58. James Eagan Holmes, 24, is the sole suspect and was arrested at the scene. He will appear in court in January.

:: Fort Hood, Killeen, Texas, November 5, 2009:

A 42-year-old US Army Major, serving as a psychiatrist, opened fire inside the US military base killing 13 and wounding 29 in an attack deemed an act of terrorism. Hasan was shot and captured and is paralysed from the waist down.

Before the killing he had been in touch with the late al Qaeda recruiter Anwar al Awlaki to ask whether he would be considered a martyr if he died shooting US soldiers.

:: Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, April 16, 2007:

Seung-Hui Cho, 23, killed 32 and injured 17 in America's deadliest shooting. He launched two separate attacks at the campus two hours apart before killing himself.

Cho had a history of mental illness and was in therapy through his school years.

:: Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania, October 2, 2006:

Charles Carl Roberts shot dead five and injured five in an attack at an Amish school. The 32-year-old dish washer at a local restaurant then killed himself.

He was driven by anger at God over the death of his premature daughter.

:: Red Lake Indian Reservation, March 21, 2005:

Sixteen-year-old Jeffrey Weise killed his grandfather and grandfather's companion before opening fire at Red Lake High School. He killed nine and injured seven, then took his own life.

He blamed years of school bullying for the attack.

:: Forth Worth, Sept 25, 1999:

Unemployed white supremacist Larry Gene Ashbrook opened fire on the congregation of Wedgwood Baptist Church, killing seven and wounding seven. He then turned the gun on himself.

Ashbrook, 47, was a member of a group that advocated killing minorities.

:: Atlanta, July 29, 1999:

Mark Orrin Barton, a trader, opened fire in two investment offices killing nine and wounding 12. He killed himself after a six-hour police manhunt.

The 44-year-old had been upset by big financial losses.

:: Columbine High School, Colorado, April 20, 1999:

Students Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, opened fire on schoolmates after bombs they had planted in the cafeteria failed to go off. They killed 13 and injured 21 before killing themselves.

The students were motivated by their anger at society. Harris had a history of depression.

:: McDonald's, San Ysidro, California, July 18 1984:

Welder James Huberty walked into a McDonald's and opened fire killing 21 people and wounding 19 before being shot by a police sniper.

The 51-year-old thought society was about to collapse. When asked where he was going as he left the house for the killing, he told his wife: "hunting humans".

:: University of Texas, Austin, August 1, 1966:

Engineering student Charles Joseph Whitman, 25, opened fire on students from the 28th floor of the main campus building. He killed 13 and wounded 32 before being shot dead by a police marksman. He also killed his wife and mother.

In a note he said he was suffering irrational thoughts and wanted to relieve his wife and mother from suffering but offered no explanation for the university attack.

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Syria: Chemical Weapons Were Used, UN Says

A report which provides "clear and convincing evidence" that chemical weapons were used in Syria makes for "chilling reading", the UN Secretary-General has said.

Ban Ki-moon said the evidence published by UN weapons inspectors was "overwhelming and indisputable".

He described the attack in Damascus on August 21, in which the US believes more than 1,400 people were killed, as a "war crime and a grave violation ... of international law".

In their 38-page report, the inspectors said chemical weapons had been used on a "relatively large scale".

Rockets tested at the attack site were found to contain sarin, while the area in which they landed was contaminated with the deadly gas.

UN chemical weapons inspectors collected samples in Damascus

Blood and urine samples taken from patients injured in the attack tested positive for the nerve agent, while survivors said they had experienced symptoms including loss of consciousness, shortness of breath and blurred vision, all of which are consistent with intoxication.

The inspectors said the findings had left them with the "deepest concern".

The report does not blame forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al Assad or opposition fighters for the attack.

However, photographs taken by the inspectors appeared to show possible Cyrllic, or Russian, engravings on one of the rocket casings.

Russia is a close ally of Syria and strongly opposed threatened US air strikes against the Assad regime.

Fierce fighting has left towns and cities across Syria in ruins

Sky's Foreign Affairs Editor Tim Marshall said: "It doesn't prove Mr Assad's army had (the weapons) because so many were looted by the opposition.

"Nevertheless, many experts will say much of the evidence points to (the involvement of) Mr Assad."

Both the UK and the US claimed the evidence presented by the UN proved the Syrian government was behind the attack.

Mark Lyall Grant, the British ambassador to the UN, said there was "no remaining doubt" the Assad regime was responsible.

White House spokesman Jay Carney added: "The information ... that the sarin agent was delivered on surface-to-surface rockets that only the Assad regime has makes clear the responsibility."

William Hague, Lauren Fabius and John Kerry in Paris

Earlier, British Foreign Secretary William Hague met his French counterpart Lauren Fabius and US Secretary of State John Kerry to discuss the Syrian chemical weapons handover hammered out by the US and Russia.

Speaking after the UN published its findings, he said: "We're hopeful but very mindful of all the difficulties of identifying and securing probably the largest arsenal of chemical weapons in the world in a country that is a contested battlefield.

"However, this report illustrates the very pressing need to do so."

Meanwhile, Mr Kerry warned Mr Assad the allies would "not tolerate anything less than full compliance" with the agreement.

They want the agreed framework to be put into a "strong and binding" UN resolution, under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which can authorise both the use of force and non-military action.

However, Russia believes a military option should only be on the table in the event of non-compliance from Syria.

:: Read the UN inspectors' 38-page report in full

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