Gunmen Attack Air Force Base In India

At least one helicopter could be seen firing at an area inside the Pathankot air force base and shots rang out from inside.

Earlier, four gunmen and two Indian soldiers were killed when unknown attackers invaded the base, about 267 miles north of New Delhi.

The gunmen entered the living quarters but failed to penetrate an area housing helicopters and other equipment, an air force spokeswoman said.

Police were investigating whether the attackers came from the Indian part of Kashmir or from Pakistan.

The whole of India's Punjab state has been put on alert following the incident.

Attacks are common in Kashmir where rebels have been fighting for independence or a merger with Pakistan since 1989.

The latest incident comes just a week after India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi made an unannounced visit to Pakistan to meet his opposite number Nawaz Sharif.

The visit was seen as a potential sign of thawing relations between the two neighbours, which both have nuclear weapons.

The two leaders also had an unscheduled meeting at the Paris climate change talks.

India accuses Pakistan of arming and training Kashmir's insurgents, a charged denied by Islamabad.

More than 68,000 people have been killed in the violence in the Indian part of Kashmir.

India's Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Saturday the country wanted peace with Pakistan, but warned: "If there is any kind of terror attack on India, we will give it a fitting reply."

In July, gunmen attacked a police station and a bus near Gurdaspur, a border town in Punjab, killing four officers and three civilians.

Oyster card glitch means free travel in London

Passengers in London have been travelling for free after a technical glitch left people unable to use their Oyster cards.

A system fault with the card readers has affected buses and Tube stations, with passengers being waved through by Transport for London (TfL) staff.

A TfL spokesperson said it was working to resolve the issue "as quickly as possible".

People could still travel across the Tube, bus and rail networks, it added.

'Selfish' Litterbugs To Face New £150 Penalty

Ministers are hoping to "create a lasting cluster-free legacy for England" - and believe current penalties set by councils, which fluctuate between £50 and £80, are not enough of a deterrent.

As part of proposals by the Department for Communities and Local Government, the minimum fine for littering will be doubled from £50 to £100, according to The Daily Telegraph.

Usually, councils offer those caught dropping cigarette butts, wrappers and gum a discount for early payment - but offenders who settle the bill late could pay a fixed penalty of £150.

Communities minister Marcus Jones told the newspaper: "Dropping litter is the kind of anti-social behaviour that really gets people's backs up, and rightly so.

"It's thoughtless, selfish and ruins shared spaces for everyone. Not only that, litter clearance and disposal costs hundreds of millions of pounds for councils every year - money that could be going on vital services."

The potential law change comes as campaigners urge Britons to challenge litterbugs who think it is their "human right" to dispose of rubbish in the street.

Adrian Evans, who is leading a nationwide clean-up operation ahead of the Queen's 90th birthday in March, told The Telegraph: "It can be quite a scary thing because you are pointing a finger of blame, you are casting aspersion on the character of the person who has chucked the litter.

"But the way I have done it in the past is to treat it as though they have made a mistake and something has inadvertently fallen out of their bag or pocket - sort of … 'Oh no, did you mean to drop that?'"

French soldiers shoot car attacker outside mosque

According to the police, the driver injured one of the four soldiers, who were guarding the mosque in Valence.

The driver has been hospitalised after being shot in the arm and leg but his injuries are not life-threatening, the government said.

French security forces remain on high alert following the 13 November attacks in Paris.

The motive for the attack, which occurred between prayer sessions when many people were outside, is not known.

Stray bullet

Police say the man drove twice at the soldiers. They shot him when he reversed his car and came at them again after the first attempt, AFP reports.

The driver is said to be 29 years old and from Lyon, an hour away from Valence.

A stray bullet hit an elderly bystander in the calf.

Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said in a statement that the soldiers had used defensive fire.

The local mayor, Nicolas Daragon, has praised their "remarkable" self-control.

He also told local media that the mosque is "moderate". 

Some 10,000 security personnel remain deployed around France to protect sensitive sites.

Sian Blake: Former EastEnders Actress Missing

Sian Blake played the character Frankie Pierre in EastEnders

Sian Blake, 43, who played Frankie Pierre in the soap, went missing from Erith, Kent .

She was last seen on Sunday 13 December in Waltham Forest, east London, with eight-year-old Zachary and four-year-old Amon.

Officers believe they are still in the London area - but Ms Blake also has links to Cambridge and Colchester.

Zachary (left) and Amon are also missing

Relatives have received text messages from her but she has not been seen since she went missing, the Metropolitan Police said.

The force added: "Officers are increasingly concerned for Sian and the children's wellbeing."

Ms Blake reportedly suffered from motor neurone disease and had been "looking very thin and frail" before she disappeared, her neighbour Sandra Metzgen told The Sun.

The actress appeared in 56 episodes of EastEnders between 1996 and 1997, according to the IMDb website.

She is described as being black, 5ft 2in and slim with short black hair.

She wears glasses but can also wear contact lenses.

:: Anyone with information should call police on 101 or Missing People on 116000, quoting reference 15MIS050346.

Saudi announces execution of 47 'terrorists'

Saudi Arabia has executed 47 "terrorists", according to the interior ministry, including Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr and al-Qaeda-affiliated Faris al-Zahrani.

In a press release read on state TV on Saturday, the ministry listed the names of all those it said were already convicted on charges of terrorism.

The death sentence of Nimr al-Nimr, who led the anti-government protests in the country's east, was confirmed by the the Supreme Court in October.

Al-Zahani, once considered one of Saudi Arabia's "most wanted terrorists", was detained in 2004 while allegedly in possession of weapons.

Among those executed were one Egyptian and one Chadian, the ministry said.

It added that the convicted had participated in attacks against residential compounds and government buildings.

Roadways begin to reopen in flood-ravaged St. Louis

 a rare, record-setting winter flood was receding in the St. Louis area Friday, allowing some major roadways to reopen and offering hope for flood-weary residents that the worst of this sudden catastrophe was behind them.

For others, the worst is still to come, with expected crests in coming days in southern Missouri, southern Illinois, then onto Arkansas, Tennessee and other southern states.

But the impact isn't expected to rival what was seen this week in suburban St. Louis. The city itself, protected by a flood wall and a sloping geography that keeps downtown and most homes out of harm's way, remained mostly dry. The southern suburbs were another story. The Mississippi River fellshort of a record crest by about 7½ feet at St. Louis, and damage on the Missouri River was limited.

The biggest problem was the Meramec River, a smaller tributary of the Mississippi. Some points along the river topped the 1993 record by 4 feet, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of homes and businesses in southwest St. Louis suburbs like Pacific, Eureka, Valley Park and Arnold. Several hundred homes took in water, and residents are just beginning to assess the damage.

With water finally going down, the Missouri Department of Transportation was able to reopen northbound lanes of Interstate 55 south of St. Louis on Thursday, about a day after they were closed, and southbound lanes opened Friday morning.

MoDOT spokeswoman Shaunda White said 76,000 vehicles pass through that area on a typical day, "so that's going to be a significant relief."

Water also shrank from Interstate 44, where a 24-mile stretch southwest of St. Louis has been closed for two days. White said crews still needed to clear debris and ensure the roadway was safe before reopening it, though that also could happen Friday.

The devastating flood, fueled by more than 10 inches of rain over a three-day period that began last weekend, is blamed for 20 deaths. Four others are still missing — two teenagers in Illinois and two men in southwest Missouri.

In Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, south of St. Louis, the Mississippi was still rising but there was good news: The crest forecast for late Friday or early Saturday, once expected to be a record, was now expected to fall about 2 feet short of the 1993 mark. Many downtown merchants had cleared out, just to be on the safe side, in case the levee gave way.

"We are breathing a bit easier," said Sandra Cabot, director of tourism for the historic French settlement that dates to the 18th century. "We are very confident in our levee. We've never been tested at this level before."

Other southern Missouri and Illinois towns were getting ready for the high-water mark. A record-tying crest was expected by the weekend in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, but a floodwall offers protection and is not considered endangered. Cairo, Illinois, where the Ohio and Mississippi rivers meet, seemed safe, despite a near-record crest prediction.

It appeared the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would not need to blast a hole in the Birds Point waterway in southeast Missouri, as it did in 2011 to relieve pressure from the flood protection at nearby Cairo, Illinois. The Corps said the intentional breach would be considered if the Ohio River reached 60 feet at Cairo, but the weather service projects it will top out at 57.5 feet on Sunday.

In Eureka, Missouri, firefighters and their boats have been in high demand, accounting for roughly 100 rescues of people in their homes, businesses or vehicles since Tuesday, said Scott Barthelmass, a Eureka Fire Protection District spokesman.

Nine levees — five on the Mississippi River, three on the Missouri and one on Illinois' Kaskaskia River — were topped by water this week, but those earthen barriers protect farmland and otherwise unpopulated areas.

MoDOT said it has begun an assessment of damage caused by the historic flooding, local news reported.

“You’ve seen the videos of the houses floating down and hitting the bottom of bridges. We have to inspect all those bridges and make sure it didn’t damage them and make sure they are safe,” Greg Horn, an MoDOT employee, told KMOV news channel. “This will be in the millions. Compared to snow, we usually spend about $50 million a year on snow."