'Taliban Terry' killed in Mosul suicide mission

Authorities in Ireland are investigating reports that a former Catholic altar boy has been killed in an Islamic State suicide mission.

The group's Amaq news agency has reported that 49-year-old Terence Kelly died after driving an armoured truck packed with explosives into Shia militia southwest of the Iraqi city of Mosul on Friday.

The city is under siege from Iraq forces, Shia militias, Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and other groups backed by US-led coalition airstrikes who launched a campaign to retake the city from Islamic State last month.

Image Caption:Another image purportedly shows the vehicle exploding outside Mosul

A statement released by the group said: "Brother martyr Abu Osama Irelandi, may Allah accept his soul, attacked a group of animals from the Shia militia in the village of Ghzayel al Kabir."

One picture released by the group shows Mr Kelly dressed in black, wearing a white beard and carrying a Kalashnikov rifle while standing in front of an armoured car, while another picture purports to show the vehicle exploding.

:: Ireland Introduces Tougher Anti-Terror Laws

Mr Kelly converted to Islam 16 years ago after he was jailed in Saudi Arabia for selling alcohol and he set up al Qaeda support group 'Islam for Ireland' upon his return.

Nicknamed Taliban Terry, or Khalid Kelly, and referred to by Islamic State as Abu Osama Irelandi, the former nurse from Dublin is a high profile jihadi who appeared on Ireland's Late Late Show in 2003 with Islamic cleric Anjem Choudary.

Referring to the perpetrators of the September 11 attacks Mr Kelly said: "It's easy to speak about these people in a bad way but you have to look at the oppression they suffered over years and years.

"These 19 Muslims answered a cry (for help) from the Palestinians, the Iraqis and the Afghanistanis."

He once said he hoped to see "the black flag of Islam" flying over the Irish Assembly and has declared Barack Obama an "enemy" of Islam. "Personally, I would feel happy if Obama was killed," he said.

Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs said it was monitoring reports of Mr Kelly's death and a spokesman said: "The Department is aware of reports concerning an Irish citizen in Iraq and is seeking to clarify the situation."

ISIL claims responsibility for Diyarbakir car bomb

ISIL said on Friday that it was behind a car bombing that killed nine people in Kurdish-dominated southeastern Turkey, according to US-based monitors.

"An insider source for Amaq Agency: Fighters from the Islamic State detonated an explosives-laden vehicle parked in front of a Turkish police headquarters in Diyarbakir in southeastern Turkey," the SITE Intelligence Group said, citing Amaq, which is a name ISIL often uses when claiming responsibility for attacks.

In an audio message released earlier this week, reclusive ISIL leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi broke a nearly year-long silence to call for attacks against Turkey, as well as Saudi Arabia, and for his fighters to hold their ground in their stronghold of Mosul, Iraq.

Ankara has troops stationed at a base just outside Mosul and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's escalating rhetoric has raised fears of an expanded Turkish military intervention in Iraq.

"[The attack] could be retaliation by [ISIL] for the fact that Turkey is now participating in the coalition against [ISIL]," Bulent Aliriza, the director of the Turkey Project and senior associate at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, told Al Jazeera.

Aliriza said, though, that Turkish support of Syrian opposition fighters "effectively prevented the establishment of a Kurdish belt across northern Syria, and that was something that must have annoyed the YPG".

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook investigated for hate posts

German prosecutors are investigating Mark Zuckerberg and other Facebook executives following a complaint alleging the company broke national laws against hate speech and sedition by failing to remove racist postings.

A spokesman for the Munich prosecutor's office declined on Friday to provide further details. German attorney Chan-jo Jun had filed a complaint with prosecutors in the Bavarian city in September and demanded that Facebook executives be compelled to comply with anti-hate speech laws by deleting racist or violent postings from its site.

Facebook's rules forbid bullying, harassment, and threatening language, but critics say it does not do enough to enforce them and has failed to staunch a tide of racist and threatening posts on the social network during an influx of refugees into Europe.

Prosecutors in Hamburg earlier this year rejected a similar complaint by Jun on the grounds that the regional court lacked jurisdiction because Facebook's 

Lucky escape for pregnant woman who reverses car off harbour wall

A pregnant driver has been rescued after reversing her car off a harbour wall.

Emergency crews were called to Military Road, Ramsgate, just before 6.30pm on Friday.

They found the woman trapped inside the car, which was wedged between the jetty and a pontoon.

Fire crews secured the vehicle using a winch, which allowed them to reach the driver and help her to safety.

According to the news website Kent Online, she did not suffer any injuries.

Kent Fire and Rescue Service said they would use a crane to lift the vehicle back onto the jetty.

Clinton attracts celebrity firepower as Trump goes it alone

Beyonce and Jay Z have delivered a powerful endorsement to Hillary Clinton as the US presidential campaign enters its final phase.

The Democratic candidate joined music's power couple on stage at a free concert in Cleveland, in the critical battleground state of Ohio.
Thousands had packed into a university venue to hear Jay Z - before the billionaire rapper and producer introduced his wife as a special guest.
People picking up tickets to the event had been encouraged to register to vote nearby.
The event was designed to encourage young and African-American voters to go to the polls.

Mrs Clinton asked the Cleveland crowd: "Will we reject a dark and divisive future and embrace a unified America?"

:: The Hillary Problem - a Sky News special programme on the Democratic Party candidate - at 9pm tonight

In 2008, Jay Z performed free concerts in support of Barack Obama's presidential run.

He told fans that Donald Trump was "divisive" and would not be a president for him.

Beyonce said: "We have the opportunity to create more change. I want my daughter to grow up seeing a woman lead our country and know her possibilities are limitless."

But Mr Trump defended his go-it-alone approach, saying he did not need stars to draw thousands to his events.

"I didn't have to bring J-Lo or Jay Z," the Republican candidate told a crowded rally in Hershey, Pennsylvania. "I am here all by myself. Just me. No guitar, no piano, no nothing."

:: Trump: Made In America - a Sky News special programme on the Republican Party candidate - at 4pm on Sunday 

On the campaign trail, Mr Trump has continued to hammer the former Secretary of State's record and said she could not keep America safe.

He told a crowd in New Hampshire: "Her plans would mean generations of terrorism, extremism and radicalism spreading into your schools and through your communities."

He again promised to restore America and build a wall between the US and Mexico.

"To all Americans, I say we need new leadership."

And the current president has also returned to the campaign trail in North Carolina. 

Mr Obama interrupted his speech on a university campus to defend the right of a pro-Trump supporter in the crowd. He told them to "sit down and be quiet" and urged supporters to remain focused.

He is due to continue campaigning for Mrs Clinton through the weekend and until the night before election day on Tuesday.

Mr Trump and Mrs Clinton are spending Saturday campaigning in Florida, their last-ditch efforts to win support in a state where early voting has already exceeded 2012 levels.

The latest set of polls will provide a source of comfort for the Clinton campaign, in a race that appears to have tightened over recent days.

A Reuters/Ipsos survey shows Mrs Clinton ahead by five points, an ABC news poll puts her four points in front, and a Fox News poll has her two points ahead. 

But in the RealClear Politics polls of polls, Mrs Clinton's lead remains tight: 1.6 points ahead of Mr Trump.

Meanwhile, it has been reported that Mr Trump's wife Melania may have worked in the US as a model without the correct visa.

According to accounting ledgers, contracts and related documents from 20 years ago provided to the Associated Press, Mrs Trump was paid for 10 modeling jobs worth more than $20,000 that occurred in the seven weeks before she had legal permission to work in the US.

In another development, intelligence services have warned that al Qaeda might be preparing attacks in three states ahead of Tuesday. Security is being tightened in New York, Texas and Virginia.

Sting gig to reopen Paris Bataclan concert hall before terror attacks anniversary

Sting will reopen the Bataclan concert hall in Paris with a gig on 12 November - a day before the anniversary of the terror attacks.

The British rock star said the concert would "honour" those killed in the attack a year ago.

Concertgoers at the venue were attacked on 13 November during coordinated terror attacks across the French capital.

Gunmen and suicide bombers also targeted the Stade de France and restaurants in the city.

Of the 130 people killed in the atrocities, 89 were at the Bataclan.

Announcing the concert in a statement on his website, the British rock star said: "In reopening the Bataclan, we have two important tasks to reconcile.

"First, to remember and honour those who lost their lives in the attack a year ago, and second to celebrate the life and the music that this historic theatre represents.

"In doing so we hope to respect the memory as well as the life affirming spirit of those who fell. We shall not forget them."

All revenues from the show will be donated to two charities - Life For Paris and 13 Novembre: Fraternite Verite - working with victims of the attacks.

In February, Eagles of Death Metal, the band on stage during the gun attack, played a gig for survivors of the shooting at the Olympia venue, a few miles from the concert hall.

South Korea's Park 'heartbroken' over scandal

South Korea's president has said she is "heartbroken" over a political scandal which is threatening her leadership.

She said she took sole responsibility for her close friend Choi Soon-sil's access to government documents and was willing to be investigated. 

Ms Choi is suspected of using her friendship with Ms Park to solicit business donations for a non-profit fund she controlled.

She was detained on Monday. A former aide to Ms Park was held on Thursday.

On Thursday, a spokesman for Seoul Central District Court said it had accepted a request from prosecutors to issue an arrest warrant for Ms Choi, on charges of fraud and abuse of power. 

Prosecutors have also said they are expanding their official investigation.

'Sad thoughts trouble my sleep'

The scandal has left Ms Park with an approval rating of just 5%.

She has already replaced her prime minster, reshuffled her cabinet and dismissed several aides, but there are growing calls for her resignation or impeachment. 

Ms Park has admitted letting Ms Choi help her with speeches, without security clearance, while there are also reports that Ms Choi was closely involved in forming government policy. 

In a brief televised address on Friday, an emotional Ms Park again apologised, saying she "put too much faith in a personal relationship and didn't look carefully at what was happening".

"Sad thoughts trouble my sleep at night. I realise that whatever I do, it will be difficult to mend the hearts of the people, and then I feel a sense of shame and ask myself, 'Is this the reason I became president?'"

She said anyone found to have done wrong would be punished, and "if necessary, I'm determined to let prosecutors investigate me and accept an investigation by an independent counsel too".

But she denied speculation that her presidency had been influenced by a cult or that shamanistic rituals had been held at the presidential compound.

Ms Choi, a long-time friend of Ms Park's, is the daughter of Choi Tae-min, a shadowy quasi-religious leader who was closely linked to Ms Park's father, then-president Park Chung-hee.