Saudi Arabia breaks off ties with Iran after al-Nimr execution

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir was speaking after demonstrators had stormed the Saudi embassy in Tehran.

Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr and 46 others were executed on Saturday after being convicted of terror-related offences.

Mr Jubeir said that all Iranian diplomats must leave Saudi Arabia within 48 hours. 

Saudi Arabia was recalling its diplomats from Tehran, he said.

Mr Jubeir said Saudi Arabia would not let Iran undermine its security, accusing it of having "distributed weapons and planted terrorist cells in the region".

"Iran's history is full of negative interference and hostility in Arab issues, and it is always accompanied by destruction," he told a news conference.

US state department spokesman John Kirby said: "We will continue to urge leaders across the region to take affirmative steps to calm tensions".

"We believe that diplomatic engagement and direct conversations remain essential," he said.

A diplomatic rupture between the major Sunni and Shia powers in the region will resonate across the Middle East where they back opposing sides in many destructive wars and simmering conflicts. 

Players are already lining up along sectarian lines to support either Tehran or Riyadh. 

Last year had ended with a bit of hope that talks on ending Yemen's strife had, at least, begun. Syria was to follow this month. It looks an awful lot harder now. 

In October Saudi sources told me they only dropped their opposition to Iran's presence at Syria talks after the US persuaded them to test Tehran's commitment. 

But they doubt Iran will do a deal, and see it as key source of regional instability. 

On the other side, Iranian officials don't hide their contempt for the Saudi system and its support for Islamist groups. 

There's been barely-concealed anger for months. Now it's boiled over. 

Earlier, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned that the Sunni Muslim kingdom would face "divine revenge" for the execution - an act which also angered Shia Muslims elsewhere in the Middle East.

Ayatollah Khamenei called Sheikh Nimr a "martyr" who had acted peacefully.

Protesters stormed the Saudi embassy in Tehran late on Saturday, setting fire to the building before being driven back by police. The Saudi foreign ministry said none of its diplomats had been harmed in the incident.

Iran is Saudi Arabia's main regional rival - they back opposing sides in the conflicts in Syria and Yemen.

Relations between the countries have been strained over various issues in recent decades, including Iran's nuclear programme and deaths of Iranians at the Hajj pilgrimage in 1987 and again in 2015.

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

Sheikh Nimr was involved in anti-government protests that erupted in Saudi Arabia in the wake of the Arab Spring, up to his arrest in 2012.

The execution sparked new demonstrations in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, where Shia Muslims complain of marginalisation, as well as in Iraq, Bahrain and several other countries.

The top Shia cleric in Iraq, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani denounced the execution as an "unjust aggression".

The leader of Lebanon's Shia Hezbollah movement, Hassan Nasrallah, launched his sharpest attack yet on the Saudi ruling family on Sunday, accusing them of seeking to ignite a Shia-Sunni civil war across the world.

He said the blood of Sheikh Nimr would "plague the Al Saud [family] until the Day of Resurrection", prompting cries of "Death to the Al Saud!" among an audience watching his address.

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Who was Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr?

• 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

Sweden begins border ID controls to halt refugee influx

Fences have been mounted to separate domestic and international travellers at Malmo train station [EPA]

Sweden has begun ID controls as part of the government's efforts to limit the number of refugees entering the country.

Everyone entering Sweden from midnight on Sunday by bus, train or ferry from Denmark will be checked and those lacking valid ID documents will be turned back.

Sweden, which until recently was known as one of the most welcoming countries in the world for people fleeing wars, has said it can no longer cope as the influx of refugees and migrants reaches record numbers.

With more than 160,000 asylum-seekers arriving to the country of 9.5 million in 2015, mainly from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, accommodation for new arrivals is running out.

"We must get the number of asylum seekers down. ID controls are one way to achieve this," Morgan Johansson, justice and migration minister, said in December.

Of those seeking asylum in Sweden in 2015, about 80 percent lacked passports or equivalent IDs at the time of filing their applications, according to the Swedish Migration Agency.

The controls follow the reintroduction of border checks in Germany, Austria, France, Belgium and several other European countries.

The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, has said refugees will face increasingly slim chances of asylum in Europe should more countries follow Sweden and impose stricter entry requirements.

Mattias Axelsson, UNHCR spokesperson in northern Europe, said governments must understand that refugees are under tremendous strain and that those fleeing do not always have the possibility to bring ID documents.

"You can't expect that those who have the right to asylum also have the right documents with them from the beginning, that is simply impossible," he told Swedish news agency TT.

"We follow this with growing concern."

Besides refugees, ID controls will have a big effect on passengers travelling from Denmark, as about 70,000 people - many of them commuters - cross the Oresund bridge each day.

The plans have been heavily criticised by operators and commuters on both sides of the strait, as the controls are expected to add at least half an hour to a journey that normally takes 35 minutes.

Rights groups have also been critical, saying that the ID controls are part of measures that limit refugees' possibilities to seek asylum.

Sweden has seen a decrease in the number of people seeking asylum in recent weeks, following news of tighter border checks and stricter rules for residency permits.

In November, the Migration Agency said Sweden was no longer able to provide shelter for all asylum seekers, saying families with children would be given priority.

Deadly earthquake rocks northeastern India

One man was reported dead in Bangladesh after apparently suffering a heart attack following the quake [EPA]

At least five people have been died after a strong 6.7 magnitude earthquake struck northeast India near the country's borders with Myanmar and Bangladesh, sending panicked residents fleeing into the streets.

The Indian government confirmed the death toll on Monday morning, saying at least 33 people were also injured in the earthquake which struck near the city of Imphal.

Another man was reported dead in Bangladesh after apparently suffering a heart attack following the quake.

Dozens more were injured in the scramble to escape buildings in India and Bangladesh after they were woken by the early morning tremor.

Police in Dhaka said 40 people were being treated at a major hospital in the Bangladeshi capital, including one university student who jumped from a fourth-floor balcony and was in a critical condition.

The US Geological Survey said the quake hit at 4:35am local time (23:05 GMT Sunday), 29km west-northwest of Imphal, capital of Manipur state, where dozens of buildings were damaged.

A resident in Imphal told Al Jazeera that the earthquake was the largest he has ever felt.

"People came running out of their homes screaming, some crying," he said, adding that a heavy bell at a nearby temple began ringing immediately after the quake.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted that he had spoken to local authorities in Assam about the impact of the quake.

The tremors were felt as far away as Kolkata some 600km distant in the Indian state of West Bengal, where buildings shook.

Saudi Arabia severs diplomatic relations with Iran

Saudi Arabia has announced that it is severing diplomatic ties with Iran following Saturday's attack of its embassy in Tehran during protests. 

Adel al-, Saudi foreign minister, made the announcement on Sunday as the foreign ministry announced that it would ask the Iranian diplomatic mission to leave the kingdom within 48 hours.

The Saudi foreign ministry has also announced that the staff of its diplomatic mission have been evacuated, and are now on their way back to Saudi.

At the press conference, al-Jubeir also said that during the violent protest in Tehran on Saturday, Saudi's diplomatic representative asked for help from the Iranian Foreign ministry, but their requests were disregarded three times. 

Skeleton Found Under School Could Be Pirate

A facial reconstruction has been created from the man's skull

A facial reconstruction of the man, believed to have been in his fifties, has been created from the skull with the help of a forensic artist.

The skeleton, uncovered at Victoria Primary School in Newhaven, Edinburgh, has been carbon dated to the 16th or 17th centuries.

The school, which is the city's oldest primary, is near Newhaven harbour where a gibbet once stood 600 years ago.

It is thought the man could have been executed for piracy or other crimes before being buried in a shallow, unmarked grave.

The condition of the bones and location of the burial close to the water and gibbet, rather than in nearby graveyards, suggests he was killed before being displayed to act as a deterrent to other pirates, said archaeologists.

The skeleton has been carbon dated to the 16th or 17th centuries

Councillor Richard Lewis, culture convener for the City of Edinburgh Council, said: "Edinburgh has an undeniably intriguing past and some of our archaeological discoveries have been in the strangest of places.

"Thanks to carbon dating techniques, archaeologists now know that the skeleton was likely to have been a murder victim - and quite possibly a pirate.

"It's fantastic that through the council's archaeology and museums service, we are able to investigate such discoveries and add to our understanding of Newhaven's heritage."

Head teacher Laura Thompson said: "The pupils think it's fantastic that a skeleton was found deep underneath their playground.

"The archaeologists will hold a special lesson with some of the children about how they have used science to analyse the remains and it will be a good learning opportunity for them."

Indian consulate in Afghanistan attacked

The Indian consulate in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif has come under attack, with gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades rocked the surrounding area.

With an unknown number of gunmen holed up in a house across the street from the consulate, special forces units on Sunday night prepared an operation to clear the attackers, police spokesman Shir Jan Durani said.

Two loud explosions and gunshots were heard earlier as the gunmen launched an attack from a nearby house, Muneer Ahmad Farhad, a spokesman for the Balkh province governor said.

Al Jazeera's Qais Azimy, reporting from Kabul, said some casualties had been reported but initial details were scarce.

"It's not the first time an Indian diplomatic post has been attacked in Afghanistan. A couple of years ago, the Indian embassy in Kabul was attacked," he said.

Farhad said the attackers had hidden in a house near the consulate and struck after darkness fell.

He said the attackers had tried to enter the consulate but had not been able to and had shut themselves into a house across the street.

All Indian consular staff were safe, the Indian consul-general confirmed. 

Sunday's attack came as Indian security forces were still trying to suppress an assault on an air base near the border with Pakistan that has killed at least seven military personnel and wounded 20 others.

Video shows ISIS fighters executing 5 'spies'

A video circulating online purports to show ISIS executing five men accused of spying for Britain in Syria.

The footage Sunday bears the markings of the ISIS media wing, and shows five men "confessing" to filming and photographing sites in exchange for money within Raqqa, the capital of the group's self-declared caliphate. It could not be independently verified.

The men, speaking Arabic, are introduced as "the enemy" and "apostates." Later they kneel lined up in orange jumpsuits in the desert, where they are shot in the head by masked executioners.

Before the shooting, a masked man with a British accent mocks British Prime Minister David Cameron, calls the men "spies," and says ISIS will one day invade Britain and impose their version of Islamic law.