Vietnam-China row over South China Sea plane landing

The Vietnamese foreign ministry said the airfield was built illegally on a part of the Spratly archipelago that lies within its territory.

China said it has complete sovereignty over Fiery Cross Reef and had used a civilian plane to test the airstrip. 

Several nations dispute China's territorial claims in the area.

China claims almost the whole of the South China Sea, resulting in overlapping claims with several other Asian nations including Vietnam and the Philippines.

They accuse China of illegally reclaiming land in contested areas to create artificial islands with facilities that could potentially be for military use.

The United States has said it was concerned that Saturday's flight had exacerbated tensions.

Pooja Jhunjhunwala, a spokeswoman for the US State Department, said there was "a pressing need for claimants to publicly commit to a reciprocal halt to further land reclamation, construction of new facilities, and militarisation of disputed features".

"We encourage all claimants to actively reduce tensions from unilateral actions that undermine regional stability, and taking steps to create space for meaningful diplomatic solutions to emerge," she said.

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said China conducted the flight to test whether the airfield facilities met the standards for civil aviation.

"China has indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and their adjacent waters. China will not accept the unfounded accusation from the Vietnamese side," she said, referring to the Spratly Islands by their Chinese name.

Hanoi's foreign ministry said Vietnam handed a protest note to China's embassy and asked China not to repeat the action, the Reuters news agency reported.

It called the flight "a serious infringement of the sovereignty of Vietnam on the Spratly archipelago".

Images released

Satellite images published by IHS Jane's Defence Weekly in April showed China making progress with building the airstrip on reclaimed land on Fiery Cross Reef in the Spratly Islands. 

The landmass could accommodate a runway about 3,000m long, the report said.

It also showed dredging to the south of the reef, in apparent work to improve the reef's port facilities. 

China says its work is legal and needed to safeguard its sovereignty.

Trump Clip Used In Terror Recruitment Video

The al Qaeda-affiliated group's production used an excerpt from the Republican White House front-runner's speech last month calling for a "total and complete shutdown" on Muslims entering the US.

The 51-minute video, which is aimed at African Americans and Muslims, depicts the US as a country of institutionalised prejudice against blacks and Islam.

It uses footage from recent racial conflicts in the US as well as historic quotes from Malcolm X.

The video concludes that blacks and Muslims will always face discrimination in the US and should therefore fight back with jihad.

It uses the Trump soundbite preceded by a speech from US-born radical imam Anwar al Awlaki calling on Muslims in America to "flee the oppressive Western atmosphere for the lands of Islam".

Al-Awlaki, who Washington alleges was a senior al Qaeda operative, was killed by a US drone strike in Yemen in September 2011.

"Yesterday, America was a land of slavery, segregation, lynching and Ku Klux Klan, and tomorrow, it will be a land of religious discrimination and concentration camps," Awlaki says in the video, which was filmed before his death.

The footage also shows African-American men protesting and in jail, apparently performing Islamic prayer rituals.

It was uploaded to Twitter on Friday by the Al Kataib Media Foundation, which often publishes the group's material, according to the SITE Intelligence Group.

 speech, Mr Trump proposed barring Muslims from entering the US until the authorities were "able to determine and understand this problem" of Islamist violence, following the killing of 14 people by a radicalised couple in California.

Last month, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said Mr Trump's anti-Muslim rhetoric was a gift to jihadist propaganda.

Al Shabaab is fighting the internationally backed Somali government.

The insurgents were driven out of Mogadishu in 2011 with the help of African Union troops.

Lawmakers blast White House delay on Iran sanctions

akers, including supporters of President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran, rapped the White House for delaying fresh sanctions on Tehran over its missile program, warning that the move would embolden it to further destabilize the Middle East.

The abrupt reversal by the administration came as Iranian President Hassan Rouhani publicly ordered his military to dramatically scale up the country’s missile program if the sanctions went ahead.

Senior U.S. officials have told lawmakers the sanctions were delayed because of “evolving diplomatic work” between the White House and the Iranian government.

The administration had notified Congress on Wednesday that it would impose new financial penalties on nearly a dozen companies and individuals for their alleged role in developing Iran’s ballistic missile program, but pulled back later that day.

Top U.S. lawmakers, including White House allies, said they believed failing to respond to Tehran’s two recent ballistic missile tests would diminish the West’s ability to enforce the nuclear agreement reached between global powers and Tehran in July.

“I believe in the power of vigorous enforcement that pushes back on Iran’s bad behavior,” Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware, a supporter of the nuclear deal, said Friday. “If we don’t do that, we invite Iran to cheat.”

Iranian state media reported American and Iranian diplomats undertook intensive deliberations in recent days to discuss the sanctions issue.

White House and State Department officials declined to comment on what was discussed with the Iranian side. U.S. officials said Secretary of State John Kerry has been in nearly constant contact with his Iranian counterpart, Javad Zarif, in recent days.

Iran’s most powerful political figure, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has repeatedly warned that any new sanctions imposed by the U.S., including in relation to Tehran’s missile program, would violate the nuclear agreement.

Critics of the White House accused President Obama of backing down on his promises to take action in the face of Iranian provocations such as missile launches. They drew parallels to Obama’s failure to follow through on threats to launch military strikes on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in 2013 in response to its alleged use of chemical weapons against civilians.

“I fear that pressure from our ‘partners’—or threats from the Iranian government that it will walk away from the deal or threaten the U.S. in other ways—have caused the administration to rethink imposing sanctions for Iran’s violations of the testing ban,” said Sen. Bob Corker (R., Tenn.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The sanctions would have been the first imposed on Iran since the nuclear agreement was reached in July. U.S. and European officials said that, if imposed, they would test whether Khamenei was serious about backing away from the deal.

Iran: Saudis face 'divine revenge' for executing al-Nimr

Ayatollah Khamenei described Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr as a "martyr" who acted peacefully.

Protesters stormed the Saudi embassy in Tehran late on Saturday, setting fire to the building before being driven back by police.

Sheikh Nimr was one of 47 people executed for terrorism offences.

But Ayatollah Khamenei said the cleric had been executed for his opposition to Saudi Arabia's Sunni rulers.

"This oppressed scholar had neither invited people to armed movement, nor was involved in covert plots," the ayatollah tweeted.

"The only act of #SheikhNimr was outspoken criticism," he added, saying the "unfairly-spilled blood of oppressed martyr #SheikhNimr will affect rapidly & Divine revenge will seize Saudi politicians".

Sheikh Nimr had been a figurehead in the anti-government protests that erupted in the wake of the Arab Spring up to his arrest in 2012.

Iran - Saudi Arabia's main regional rival - has led condemnation among Shia communities over the execution.

• In his 50s when he was executed, he has been a persistent critic of Saudi Arabia's Sunni royal family
• Arrested several times over the past decade, alleging he was beaten by Saudi secret police during one detention 
• Met US officials in 2008, Wikileaks revealed, seeking to distance himself from anti-American and pro-Iranian statements
• Said to have a particularly strong following among Saudi Shia youth

Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr: Figurehead Shia cleric

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The foreign ministry in Tehran said the Sunni kingdom would pay a high price for its action, and it summoned the Saudi charge d'affaires in Tehran in protest. 

Some of the protesters at the Saudi embassy in Tehran hurled petrol bombs and rocks. Forty people have been arrested, officials said.

There have also been demonstrations in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, where Shia Muslims complain of marginalisation, as well as in Iraq, Bahrain and several other countries.

For its part, Saudi Arabia complained to the Iranian envoy in Riyadh about what it called "blatant interference" in its internal affairs.

The execution has worsened long-running tensions between the two Middle Eastern nations, which support opposite sides in the Syrian and Yemen conflicts.

The US and UN have both called for restraint.

In a statement after the executions, US state spokesman John Kirby appealed to Saudi Arabia's government to respect and protect human rights, and to ensure fair and transparent judicial proceedings.

Mr Kirby also urged the Saudi government to permit peaceful expression of dissent and, along with other leaders in the region, to redouble efforts to reduce regional tensions.

Most of the 47 executed by Saudi Arabia were Sunnis convicted of involvement in al-Qaeda-linked terror attacks last decade.

Saudi Arabia carried out more than 150 executions last year, the highest figure recorded by human rights groups for 20 years.

Thousands More Face Flood Risk, Ministers Told

More frequent extreme weather events combined with less investment in defences would put many more properties in danger by 2035, the document warned.

Details of the report, drawn up in November by the Association of Drainage Authorities, were published by The Observer as parts of the UK prepared for more heavy rain.

The report warned that "failure of assets and networks is more likely as extreme weather events become more frequent and unpredictable".

Referring to spending cuts, it added: "Annual flood and storm damage costs are approximately £1.1bn, according to the Association of British Insurers, and those households at significant risk (of flood damage) through a reduction in our capacity to manage water levels could increase from 330,000 today to 570,000 in 2035."

Budget cuts had left local authorities having to reduce funding to organisations and landowners who manage river levels, the document said.

"Such reductions in investment mean that some river, watercourse and sea defence systems and structures are maintained only to a minimal level; consequently the useful lives of those assets will be reduced," it added.

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has said funding is in place for schemes to protect hundreds of thousands of homes.

Meanwhile, it has been announced that more than £40m will be spent strengthening flood defences which were overwhelmed by Storm Eva over Christmas.

A significant portion of that has been earmarked for York, where hundreds of homes were flooded after the Foss Barrier struggled to cope with record levels of rainfall.

Repairs are also expected on defences along the Derwent, Aire, Calder and Ouse in the county - as well as the River Wharfe, which became so swollen that an ancient bridge in Tadcaster collapsed and split the town in two.

The investment is in addition to the £50m pot set aside for local authorities co-ordinating the clean-up effort, and the cash promised to those affected by Storm Desmond in the North West.

The Prime Minister said: "I have seen at first-hand the devastation caused by flooding. And that's why this work to repair and improve flood defences is so vital.

"We are already spending £280m over the next six years to protect thousands of houses from flooding in Yorkshire as part of our £2.3bn investment to protect 300,000 houses across the country."

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron, whose constituency in Cumbria was among those badly hit by flooding, has described the latest package as a "short-term fix", and questioned whether the "small down-payment" of £40m was actually new funding.

An amber "be prepared" warning of heavy rain is currently being enforced by the Met Office for parts of Scotland, with forecasters predicting more than 200mm of rain will fall on saturated ground by Monday.

Yellow warnings are also in place for parts of Wales, Northern Ireland, northeast England and southwest England - with another band of downpours expected on Sunday.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency has issued 23 flood warnings and three flood alerts, while in England and Wales, there are currently 16 flood warnings and 95 flood alerts.

Clinton campaign says it raised $37 million in fourth quarter

The campaign released its fundraising totals for the fourth-quarter on Friday. Clinton's team also says it raised $18 million for the Democratic National Committee and state Democratic parties nationwide.

Heading into the January sprint toward the leadoff Iowa caucuses on Feb. 1, Clinton's campaign says it has nearly $38 million in cash on hand.

The Clinton campaign says more than 60 percent of its donors in 2015 were women.

"Thanks to the hundreds of thousands of Americans who have joined together and powered this historic campaign, we are now heading into Iowa and New Hampshire with the resources we need to be successful," campaign manager Robby Mook said in a statement.

Clinton's campaign had set a goal of $100 million for the primary in 2015.

Clinton's rival, Bernie Sanders, did not immediately report his fundraising totals for the quarter that ended on Dec. 31. But the Vermont senator has collected more than 2 million individual contributions and raised money online at a vigorous pace, taking in about $40 million through the end of September and ending that period with about $27 million in the bank.

His campaign has noted that most of its donors have given in small increments — about $20 to $30 apiece — allowing Sanders to return to them repeatedly.

While Clinton has built a steady lead in national polls, Sanders remains competitive against her in Iowa and holds a slight advantage in New Hampshire, his New England neighbor which holds its primary on Feb. 9.

The third major Democrat in the race, former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, has lagged behind Clinton and Sanders in fundraising and polls.

Helped by several fundraisers headlined by former President Bill Clinton, most of Hillary Clinton's money came via traditional fundraising events, where the price of entry was often the legal maximum donation of $2,700 for the primary.

The presidential candidates have until Jan. 31 to report such details to federal regulators.

Clinton isn't alone in releasing some selective details ahead of that schedule. Earlier this week, Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz's campaign said it had raised nearly $20 million in the fourth quarter.

Cruz's campaign said in a memo to supporters that he will finish the year having raised more than $45 million, but it did not disclose how much the campaign has spent or how much cash it has on hand.

Hundreds Evacuated During 'Huge' Gas Leak

Sergeant Lance Chenery from the Bromley neighbourhood policing team described the evacuation as "large".

He said on Twitter: "On scene with MPSBromley dealing with a serious gas leak in Penge SE20 large evacuation of residents."

The incident happened in Queen Adelaide Road in Penge, shortly before 11pm on Saturday. Around 200 residents were evacuated.

Four reception centres opened to provide shelter for those who were forced to leave their homes.

At around 5am the police account tweeted: "Delighted but cold residents start returning to their homes in Penge ... Christmas slippers coming in useful!"