Britain In Revamped EU 'Best Answer', Says PM

The Prime Minister said the "prize" of an improved membership package was "closer than it was", but indicated he was ready to delay the in-out referendum until next year if an agreement could not be finalised in February.

Mr Cameron also refused to be drawn on whether he would impose restrictions on in-work benefits to young Britons in a bid to stop the "almost unnatural draw" of the UK's welfare system for European migrants.

Speaking on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show, the PM said of his attempt to negotiate a new relationship with Brussels: "It's hard work.

"I am hopeful of a deal in February and if we do that we can go ahead and hold the referendum.

"My aim is clear. Best of both worlds for Britain.

"The massive prize of sorting out what frustrates us about Europe but staying in a reformed Europe."

He added: "To me the substance matters much more than the timing so if I can't get the right deal in February I will wait and keep going and keep plugging away because it is such an important issue for our country.

"I think the best answer for Britain is staying in a reformed European Union if we can get those changes but as I have said before if we don't get them I rule nothing out."

Asked whether the Government was preparing contingency plans for the UK to leave the EU, Mr Cameron said: "I don't think that is the right answer for the reasons I have given.

"Were that to be the answer we would need to do everything necessary to make that work.

"The civil service are working round the clock to support my negotiation."

Mr Cameron said his proposal of a four-year ban on in-work benefits for migrants, seen as one of the most difficult demands to secure, was "still on the table", but he was open to any alternative that would be "equally powerful".

Pressed if there could be a compromise where British citizens were also subject to the restriction and then compensated with a "social" payment, Mr Cameron said: "I am in the middle of a negotiation.

"I have got hard work to do and when I have an announcement to make I will make it."

The PM ruled out resigning if the country voted for the UK to leave the EU.

He also said it had "always been my intention" to allow eurosceptic ministers to campaign for a so-called Brexit in a "personal" capacity.

Eurosceptic former Defence Secretary, Liam Fox told Sky News' Murnaghan programme: "I think we need to get onto the issues of substance in the referendum now and not constantly go on about process.

"For me it's a point of principle.

"I think that If you don't make your own laws and you don't control your own borders you are not a sovereign nation, which is why I want to leave the European Union."

Former shadow Europe minister Pat McFadden, who was sacked in Jeremy Corbyn's recent reshuffle, said: "The Conservative Party is split from top to bottom on Europe.

"I think there's both an obligation and responsibility on the Labour Party in those circumstances."

He hoped the latest changes in Labour's frontbench team did not lead to a "watering down" of the party's position, which was to stay in the EU.

The nicest cabins in the world?

You'd have to travel to the island of Kulusuk - off the coast of Greenland, just south of the Arctic Circle - to see the view from this cabin for real. 

Neatly perched on a rocky outcrop, with ice floating by, it is a prime example of something that might inspire cabin envy.

Put together by journalist Steven Leckart and web entrepreneur Zach Klein, the Cabin Porn book was inspired by the forest community of Beaver Brook - in upstate New York - where residents had been sharing photos of cabins online to encourage new creative constructions.

Leckart says the book celebrates cabins as the simplest form of architecture - that almost anyone can learn and attempt to build.

For the book's American examples, Leckart travelled to meet the people behind each project to try to "demystify" cabin life. 

In the Rocky Moutains he discovered this tree-house - sitting 30 feet above ground near Sandpoint, Idaho.

The structures hug Western Larch trees - a strong, slow-growing species.

The man who created the tree-house, Ethan Schlussler, wanted to avoid bolting timber to the tree trunks - and instead developed an intricate clamping system.

Wooden struts are arranged vertically around the trunk and held in place by a metal cable. 

The wires that hang down from the tree-house's front porch - not easy to spot in these images - are part of the bicycle elevator. 

As you pedal, the bike travels either up or down.

Further south - in Scottsdale, Arizona - this next cabin was built by Dave Frazee, while he was studying at the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture. 

The shelter is one of many student constructions found in the vast campus grounds - land which Wright himself purchased in 1937.

While hiking in 2007, Frazee discovered the remains of an old derelict shelter - including a concrete chimney - dating from the 1950s.

Over the next few years, until his graduation in 2011, he added his own design elements - including a glass box, cold-rolled steel panels, plywood and redwood. 

In 2014, Frazee returned nervously to see his cabin for the first time in three years. 

He was delighted to see that everything was essentially as he had left it.

Outside of the United States, a love of lodges is shared by the Scandinavians and northern Europeans. 

The book is filled with eye-catching constructions that overlook Nordic and Alpine vistas.

This is a 200-year old stacked stone summer home at Linescio in the Swiss Alps - renovated in 2011 by Buchner Brundler Architekten.

And the diagonal lines of this next house look out on the hills of Saxony in eastern Germany.

Built at Oberwiesenthal, close to the border with the Czech Republic, the cubic home looks like it has been wedged into the hillside.

The Roundhouse at Bodrifty Farm - near Penzance in Cornwall - is a replica of a structure which is thought to have existed at a nearby Iron Age settlement.

With granite walls and a thatched roof - it measures 35ft (13m) wide, and 36ft (13.1m) high.

School parties visit the roundhouse and the nearby Iron Age remains out of the holiday season - while in the warmer months holidaymakers can book and stay. 

Emma Mustill, whose family owns the farm, compares the view of the roof inside to that of a cathedral.

The wooden cross beams are supported by an intricate circular structure - known as a double-edged hex ring beam.

Staying circular - this yurt was built by Alec Farmer and Uula Jero in Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland.

The book describes itself as providing "inspiration for your quiet place somewhere". 

But that doesn't mean your "quiet place" has to be luxurious. 

This is a fisherman's cabin alongside Killary Harbour at Leenane in the Republic of Ireland.

And keeping a watery theme - the hull of a boat will keep you dry in this cabin at Machynlleth in north Wales.

Finally, a cabin with a sinking feeling? 

No, it's a boathouse sitting in the clear waters of the Obersee - in Bavaria, southern Germany.

Thousands march in Hong Kong over missing publishers

Thousands of protesters in Hong Kong have taken to the streets, demanding answers over the disappearance of a book editor and four of his colleagues.

Sunday's march is the largest since the publishers, linked to a shop selling political books critical of China's communist party leaders, began to go missing two months ago.

The last of the five men, Lee Bo, was last seen in Hong Kong on December 30. At the time of his disappearance, Lee was the chief editor of Mighty Current, which sells books banned in the mainland.

Mighty Current and its Causeway Bay Bookstore are known for titles about Chinese political scandals and other sensitive issues popular with visiting tourists from the mainland.

Beijing has yet to officially confirm that the five men are being held.

But Lee has reportedly called his wife to tell her that he is assisting Chinese authorities with an investigation - and that they should not make a scene about his disappearance.

The case has raised fears that China is undermining Hong Kong's press freedom.

Al Jazeera's Rob McBride, reporting from the protest scene in Hong Kong, said that "several thousands" had taken part in Sunday's event, with organisers estimating up to 6,000 demonstrators were in attendance.

"Many here regard this [case] as the latest evidence on [Hong Kong's] semi-autonomous status being undermined," McBride said.

In addition to the threats they feel the case poses to press freedoms, protesters also consider this case an attack on judicial independence, he added.

The possibility of Lee being abducted from Hong Kong and smuggled across the border "really scares people here", he said.

How to Spot a Trafficking Victim at an Airport

Every time a new horror story about sex trafficking pops up on our radars, about women held for years against their will, or forced to be child brides, or ensnared in a prostitution ring, the same question also surfaces: why didn’t anyone notice anything?

One of the reasons sex trafficking is frequently overlooked is that it’s hiding in plain sight. Victims are not always bundled across borders in cars vans with blacked out windows or transported in shipping containers. Sometimes they’re simply brought in with thousands of other international travelers on an airplane, and forced to service johns at a local hotel.

Law enforcement authorities are beginning to work together with businesses—particularly hotels and airlines—to spot people who are being moved around against their will. While many of their techniques are proprietary, and the companies don’t want to say too much about them, there are a few measures that anyone might use.

Delta airline employees are now being trained to ask certain questions at check-in, Letty Ashworth, general manager of global diversity for Delta, told a packed Concordia Summit symposium on human traffickingin New York City on Sept. 29. They’re told to carefully watch for anyone whose documents are not in their own possession. “If for instance you are at a gate and there is an unaccompanied minor, do they know the name of the person they’re traveling with, or where they’re going?” she said.

Crewmembers also watch for unusual activity on a plane, such as when kids don’t answer questions or avoid eye contact when addressed. Other telltale signs might be bruising or other wounds, or a ravenous appetite. (Insert your favorite “you’d have to be starving to eat airline food” joke here. Or actually, don’t.)

Don’t expect trafficking victims to be foreign: 83% of people forced into prostitution in the U.S. are from the U.S. They’re often runaways and sometimes have been at the mercy of their traffickers for so long they see themselves not as women being pimped out for sex but as girlfriends helping their boyfriend pay the bills. “We’ve had women testify on behalf of their abuser, that they loved them and were not there against their will,” even though they had been severely abused, said Manhattan D.A. Cyrus Vance at the event. He’s seen at least one woman tattooed with a barcode by her trafficker, as a mark of ownership.

Vance’s office is also working with hotels to prosecute sex traffickers. One of the big red flags is people who have a pattern of frequently booking a series of hotel rooms on a credit card then paying in cash. Because sex trafficking spikes around the Super Bowl, hotel employees are being asked to be particularly vigilant during that time. And the NFL has been asked to only host the Super Bowl in states that have robust anti-trafficking laws.

The response that trafficking activists are hoping for is similar to the response for suspected acts of terror: “If you see something say something.” Vance is a bit more circumspect. “First people have to decide they care about it,” he said in an interview. “Unless you acknowledge that it happens and are prepared to talk about it it’s not going to change. It all starts at the grass roots. We had 3,500 homeless kids come to New York City last year; they’re a target for traffickers. It has to start from people understanding these aren’t kids in Africa. These are our kids.”

France remembers victims of Charlie attacks

President Hollande laid a wreath in the Place de la Republique, where a commemorative oak tree was unveiled, and a minute's silence was observed. 

In the attacks, jihadist gunmen killed 12 people at the satirical Charlie Hebdo magazine, four hostages at a Jewish supermarket, and a policewoman.

On 11 January 2015, a huge protest against the attacks was held in Paris.

Those protests focused on the Place de la Republique. Sunday's ceremony remembered that show of unity, which attracted more than a million participants. 

Relatives of some of the victims also attended Sunday's event, the culmination of a week of ceremonies. 

French rocker Johnny Hallyday sang a song with the French army choir which recalls the 11 January unity march. 

France is still under a state of emergency following the 13 November attacks in Paris, in which gunmen linked to the Islamic State group killed 130 people. 

A plaque unveiled in the Place de la Republique pays tribute to victims of both the Charlie Hebdo and November attacks. 

The words of the writer Victor Hugo, on his return from exile in 1870, were also read out, including the observation: "Paris is a sacred city. Whoever attacks Paris attacks the whole of humanity."

President Hollande continued on from the Place de la Republique to the Grand Mosque in Paris. 

His visit comes as French mosques have been opening their doors to non-Muslims over the weekend to overcome prejudice against Islam.

Paris Attacker Lived In German Refugee Shelter

North Rhine-Westphalia state police said they searched the shelter in the western city of Recklinghausen after receiving "concrete evidence" from French security authorities.

In a statement, they did not specify that the man was an asylum seeker - but a source close to the matter told the AFP news agency he was indeed registered as one.

They said the results of the search were still being evaluated with their French counterparts, but that there was no evidence of further possible attacks being planned.

The man was shot dead by Paris police after trying to storm the police station on Thursday, brandishing a meat cleaver and wearing a fake suicide vest.

The incident happened minutes after French President Francois Hollande paid tribute to police officers killed in the line of duty, including those killed in the Charlie Hebdo attacks.

Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said on Friday that a piece of paper found on the man's body pledged allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State group and said "his act is linked to the dea

His link to an asylum seeker shelter in Germany risks further inflaming a debate over the 1.1 million asylum seekers that the country took in last year.

Tensions are already running high after a wave of sexual assaults during New Year's Eve festivities in Cologne, with police saying suspects of the crimes were mostly asylum seekers and migrants.

Cologne police said on Saturday that they have recorded 379 cases of violence during the rampage that night.

Syrian airstrike hits prison of Al-Qaeda affiliate, kills dozens

 at least 39 people in a Syrian rebel-held town in the northwest on Saturday when it struck a courthouse and an adjacent prison, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

The Observatory said that the prison was run by Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Syria, the Nusra Front, and that many of those killed were Nusra fighters and their detainees in the northwestern town of Maaret al-Numan in Idlib province.

The airstrike also wounded a large number of people, many of whom were in critical condition, the Observatory said. 

The Local Coordination Committees, another activist group, said the airstrike killed 51. Conflicting figures are common in the aftermath of airstrikes in Syria.