Video shows S Korean ferry captain escape sinking ship 
Hong Kong, April 28
South Korea's coastguard today released a video showing the trouserless captain of a sinking ferry scrambling to safety as hundreds remained trapped inside, a move expected to intensify criticism of the crew over the disaster.

Cairo, April 28
Muslim Brotherhood chief Mohamed Badie and his 682 Islamist supporters were today sentenced to death by an Egyptian court in one of the country's largest mass trials, raising fears of tension ahead of next month's crucial Presidential elections.

The convicts were accused of involvement in killings and attempted murder of policemen in the southern Minya province on August 14, the day when security forces violently disbanded sit-ins held by ousted Islamist President Mohamed Morsi's supporters and killed hundreds of them in clashes in Cairo.

In a separate case, the same court in Minya today reversed 492 death sentences out of 529 it passed last month, commuting most of the death penalty to life in prison.

Judge Said Youssef referred his ruling on the 683 death sentences to the Grand Mufti, Egypt's top Islamic authority.

Under Egyptian law, the verdicts must be ratified by the Grand Mufti before they can be carried out.

The court has set June 21 for the final verdict after the Grand Mufti's decision, a move widely considered a formality. The law allows the verdicts to be appealed.

If 70-year-old Badie's sentence is confirmed, it would make him the most senior Brotherhood figure sentenced to death since one of the group's leading ideologues, Sayed Qutb, was executed in 1966. Badie, a white-bearded professor, became supreme guide of Egypt's largest movement in 2010. He had condemned the removal of president Morsi by the Egyptian military in July last year. Of the 683 accused sentenced today, about 50 are in custody while the rest are either out on bail or on the run.

A lawyer said the hearing lasted only eight minutes. Defence lawyers branded the hearing "farcical".

Several woman relatives of the accused waiting outside the courtroom fainted on hearing news of the death penalty. A large crowd chanted: "Where is the justice?" BBC reported.

Morsi belongs to the Brotherhood, an Islamist movement which swept all elections in Egypt following the fall of military dictator Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

Morsi's term was marked with political uncertainty and violence in a deeply polarised country that ultimately led to his ouster by the powerful military.

Some 16,000 people have been arrested since the military ousted Morsi, including most of the Brotherhood's top leaders.

Brotherhood has been designated a terrorist group by Egypt's military-backed regime, blaming it for a series of bombings and attacks. The group has denied the accusations.

Egypt has been in political turmoil since the overthrow of Mubarak during the 2011 Egyptian Revolution.

Analysts said today's verdict could raise tension as Egypt heads to presidential polls on May 26-27 in which former Egyptian army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is the leading contender. — PTI

The US on Monday imposed a fresh round of economic sanctions on Russian officials and entities, ratcheting up pressure on Moscow in an effort to halt its meddling in eastern Ukraine.

The US Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions on seven Russian government officials, including two key members of the Russian leadership's inner circle known as oligarchs, and 17 entities.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the US was also implementing additional restrictive measures on defence exports to Russia. The Department of Commerce imposed additional restrictions on 13 of the sanctioned companies.

US and European sanctions so far have failed to change Russia's calculus. "We have been very clear that we are going to keep ratcheting up the cost on Russia for continued destabilisation and violation of international law," a senior US official said on background.

"Clearly [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin's calculus has not changed significantly… We don't expect there to be an immediate change in Russia policy," the official said. However, he added, the sanctions are intended to send a message to Russia that there will be "much for severe economic pain, much more political isolation" if it doesn't deescalate the situation.

At a meeting with the US and European Union on April 17 in Geneva, Russia and Ukraine agreed to take steps to de-escalate the situation in Ukraine. "Russia has done precisely nothing to fulfil its obligations," a second senior U.S. official said on background.

"We can see the impact of our actions in Russia. President Putin acknowledged last week that the sanctions are causing damage," he added. The EU was also expected to announce fresh sanctions on Monday, however, the same individuals and entities may not be targeted.

European nations, which depend on Russia for their energy needs, have been less enthusiastic about imposing sectoral sanctions on Russia. However, US officials said on Monday that they are confident "that the Europeans are with us in their commitment to impose the sectoral sanctions should the Russians move across the border."

Hong Kong, April 28
South Korea's coastguard today released a video showing the trouserless captain of a sinking ferry scrambling to safety as hundreds remained trapped inside, a move expected to intensify criticism of the crew over the disaster.

The 10-minute video, taken by rescue officials and aired on the YTN news channel, shows 69-year-old captain Lee Joon-seok, wearing a sweater and underpants, hastily escaping the bridge of the tilting ship before it sank on April 16.

All 15 of the surviving crew responsible for sailing the huge ferry are in custody, facing charges including negligence and abandoning passengers.

Victims' families have bitterly criticised the official response to the disaster, saying delays in accessing the submerged ship may have robbed any survivors of their last chance to make it out alive. The video attracted caustic online comment.

Prosecutors today carried out a series of raids, including on a coastguard office, as part of their widening investigation into the disaster that left 300 dead or missing. The confirmed death toll from one of the country's worst ever maritime disasters stood today at 189. — AFP

Washington, April 28
Powerful tornadoes killed at least 17 people as they flipped cars, ripped up homes and uprooted trees across south-central United States, emergency officials reported today.

The Arkansas Department of Emergency Management said that 15 people were killed when tornadoes touched down yesterday, while an official with the Oklahoma Emergency Management Agency said there were at least two tornado victims in the state.

"It's chaos right now," the mayor of the Arkansas town of Vilonia, James Firestone, told CNN yesterday as emergency crews used searchlights to comb through the debris overnight in some of the hardest-hit areas.

The central part of the town of 4,000 "seems like it's completely levelled. There's a few buildings partially standing, gas lines spewing. Fire lines down. We've had some casualties." Forecasters warned the twisters would threaten much of the region through tomorrow.

Firestone said that police and firefighters from nearby cities as well as National Guard troops were heading to Vilonia. Twisters also devastated large sections of the town of Mayflower, population 2,300, just northwest of the Arkansas state capital Little Rock.

Pictures of tornado damage posted by Arkansas TV station THV 11 showed smashed cars, homes ripped in half, and whole residential blocks reduced to rubble.

Officials said that parts of Interstate 40, a major east-west highway across the United States, was closed due to debris and overturned vehicles in the Mayflower area. Two regional utility companies, Entergy and First Electric Cooprative, said that more than 15,000 customers were in the dark. — AFP