Helicopter crashes into East River in New York City

At least seven boats joined the rescue effort, along with divers

A helicopter has plunged into a river in New York City, killing a woman and critically injuring two other people.

Witnesses described how the privately owned Bell 206 aircraft spun out of control after take-off and fell into the East River near 34th Street in midtown Manhattan.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg told reporters it is thought the helicopter was upside down when it crashed.

He said it was not clear what caused the crash.

Aboard the helicopter were a pilot and four passengers - a husband and wife, both British citizens, the wife's daughter, who is also British and died at the scene, and the daughter's Australian friend.

The 40-year-old victim was recovered by rescue workers and pronounced dead at the scene.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg: ''It's a sad day''

She was trapped inside the back of the chopper as it sank about 50 feet (15.2m) below the surface of the water, police said.

As rescue workers pulled the helicopter wreckage out of the water, witnesses said it appeared to be outwardly intact.

The aircraft was lowered by crane on to a recovery boat and will be taken to the Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn.

Cardiac arrest

At least seven boats joined the rescue effort earlier.

Witnesses described a man in the water diving down and coming back up, possibly in an attempt to free a trapped passenger.

Eyewitness Joy Garnett said the helicopter was ''out of control from the moment it lifted''

But police divers recovered the body of the dead woman about an hour after the aircraft went down at 15:22 (19:22 GMT).

The pilot - named in US media as Paul Dudley - was able to make his own way to the river bank and remained at the scene.

Two women - one of whom suffered cardiac arrest - and a male passenger were admitted to hospitals.

Sunhe Dudley, the pilot's wife, said to the Associated Press news agency: "These were actually very dear friends of ours that were in the helicopter."

Weather conditions were clear with visibility of up to 10 miles (16km) and wind gusts at up to 20mph, according to the LaGuardia airport weather station.

'Splashed and sank'

Dan Sweeney, manager of nearby restaurant, told US news outlet NBC New York that the helicopter appeared to be landing when it crashed.

"It looked like it was trying to land at the heliport and missed the landing," he said.

Joy Garnett, a witness on a nearby dock, told the Associated Press that the aircraft had risen about 25ft (8m) off the ground, before spinning two or three times and dropping into the water.

The helicopter flipped over, its blades sticking up out of the water, and was "obviously out of control", she said.

Mayor Bloomberg said "a tragedy like this just breaks your heart", adding that the passengers had come "to see the best of our city".

A spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board said the pilot was being interviewed as part of the investigation into the crash.

The US Coast Guard said the East River had been closed to commercial traffic.

Apple unveils refreshed iPhone 4S, but no iPhone 5

Rory Cellan-Jones looks at Apple's new iPhone 4S

Apple has unveiled the latest iteration in its iPhone range, but there was no sign of the widely rumoured iPhone 5.

The iPhone 4S, as the model will be known, boasts an improved camera and significantly extended battery life.

It will run the latest iOS5 operating system, which is set for release on 12 October.

The event was the first major announcement for new boss Tim Cook who took over from Steve Jobs in August.

The iPhone 4S, which will go on sale on 14 October, will be available in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models - in both black and white.

It has the same look and feel as the existing iPhone 4 which was launched 15 months ago.

However, Apple said that updates to iOS meant the phone would boast some "200 new features".
Shares in Apple fell by almost 5% within minutes of the eagerly anticipated launch, with analysts saying that investors and Apple fans had expected the latest version to be a more radical improvement over its predecessor.

However, the company's shares later regained most of their losses to close down just 0.6%, albeit underperforming the NASDAQ index as a whole.

Voice control
Among the additions is an "intelligent assistant" that allows users to ask questions aloud and receive detailed answers back.

Apple Inc.

LAST UPDATED AT 04 OCT 2011, 20:01 GMT


Siri, which began life as a third-party app, was purchased by Apple in 2010 but has yet to appear within its software.

Luke Peters, editor of gadget magazine T3, said that the software announcements would do just enough to keep Apple fans interested in the face of strong challenges from rival smartphone manufacturers.

"Some people were looking for a brand new phone and they haven't got that today, so some will be disappointed," he told BBC News.

"But with the update to iOS5 and Siri that could be enough to sway people to make the investment."

Disappointment
Other industry watchers were less charitable about the iPhone refresh, and the non-appearance of the iPhone 5.

Gareth Beavis, phones editor at TechRadar said that the new hardware would leave many people underwhelmed.

Details of the new phone were unveiled by Apple's Philip Schiller

"It was quite disappointing. I think there is going to be a lot of anger from users expecting something big bold and quite exciting after a long time of waiting from the iPhone 4.

"People will buy this in their droves, but Apple has missed a trick by just releasing the exact same phone again with marginally upgraded specs."

For Apple's new chief executive, the event was as much about making a statement about his leadership as it was new products.

Tim Cook had previously acted as interim boss, looking after the company while Steve Jobs was on sick leave.

Unlike his charismatic predecessor, Mr Cook left the biggest announcement of Tuesday's event to a colleague - marketing boss Phil Schiller.

"Maybe he wants to bring other people to the forefront by letting others speak on his behalf," said Gregory Roekens, chief technology officer at PR firm Wunderman.

"But in terms of style, it was underwhelming. People were expecting iPhone 5, but instead it's almost fixing the weaknesses the previous phones had.

"It will be interesting to see how people react to that."

TB smoking toll 'could reach 40m'

Smoking is a risk factor for TB

Forty million smokers could die from TB by 2050, research suggests.

Smokers are about twice as likely to get the lung infection and die from it, compared with non-smokers.

Many of the new TB cases will be in Africa, the eastern Mediterranean and Southeast Asian regions, according to projections published in the BMJ.

A lung charity said global efforts to fight TB are being undermined by the tobacco industry's "aggressive promotion" of smoking in some places.

Dr John Moore-Gillon is a TB specialist and honorary medical advisor for the British Lung Foundation.

He said: "It is nearly 20 years since the World Health Organization declared tuberculosis to be a 'global health emergency'.

"Since that time rates have risen rather than fallen, and smoking increases the risk of getting - and dying from - TB.

"Concerted international efforts are now under way to try and turn the tide of TB, but this important research shows that all these efforts may be undermined by the tobacco industry's continuing aggressive promotion of smoking in many parts of the world."

Mathematical model
Nearly a fifth of people in the world are smokers; many in countries with high rates of TB where multi-national tobacco companies have expanded their markets.

Smoking is a known risk factor for TB, and may reduce the ability of the lungs to fight off infection.
Dr Sanjay Basu and colleagues from the University of California set out to predict the impact of smoking on future TB rates.

X-ray of the chest of a patient with TB

According to their mathematical model, worldwide smoking could lead to 40 million extra deaths from TB from 2010 to 2050.

If current smoking trends continue, the number of new cases of TB will rise by 18 million.

Smoking alone could undermine the worldwide goal of reducing TB mortality by half between 1990 and 2015, they say.

Writing in the BMJ, the team concludes: "Tobacco smoking could substantially increase tuberculosis cases and deaths worldwide in coming years, undermining progress towards tuberculosis mortality targets.

"Aggressive tobacco control could avert millions of deaths from tuberculosis."

Contagious
Tuberculosis is a contagious infection that mainly affects the lungs, but can spread to other parts of the body.

If not treated, it can damage the lungs to such an extent that a person cannot breathe properly.

Sometimes, people do not experience any symptoms for many months or even years after being infected.

TB can treated with antibiotics but is sometimes fatal.

Italy credit rating slashed by Moody's from Aa2 to A2

The Italian Prime Minister said he had been expecting the announcement from Moody's

The Italian government's credit rating has been slashed by Moody's from Aa2 to A2 with a negative outlook.

The ratings agency blamed a "material increase in long-term funding risks for the euro area", due to lost confidence in eurozone government debts.

Despite Rome's low current borrowing needs, and low private-sector debt levels in Italy, Moody's said market sentiment had turned against the euro.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said the decision was expected.

"The Italian government is working with the maximum commitment to achieve its budget objectives," said Mr Berlusconi.

He said that a plan to balance the government's budget by 2013 had been approved by the European Commission.

Sell-off

The initial market reaction to the downgrade was muted.

The news broke half an hour after the close of trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

But after-hours trading in stock market futures suggested that at least one percentage point of a late 4% market rally may have been wiped off.

The euro meanwhile immediately dropped 0.5% against the dollar on the news.
Analysts say the downgrade is likely to be followed by similar cuts in the credit rating of Italy's banks, which would put severe pressure on their ability to borrow.

"This downgrade will make it even harder for Italy to borrow," says BBC business editor Robert Peston. "However, that is not the worst of it.

"If Italy is looking like a more risky place to lend, its banks... will find it harder and more expensive to borrow. The [eurozone] banking crisis will be exacerbated."

Slow response
The rationale for Moody's downgrade will also be worrying for other eurozone governments, such as Spain, whose borrowing costs have also risen like Italy's as markets have lost confidence in their creditworthiness.

Moody's also raised warnings about Italy's growth outlook, citing structural economic problems in Italy, as well as the global economic slowdown.

Another problem noted by the rating agency was what it called political and economic "implementation risks".

"The question is, if [eurozone governments] will move fast enough... to really put in place a credible solution," says Robert Peston.
An expansion of the eurozone's bailout fund already approved by the euro's 17 governments in July - which is now seen by markets as inadequate - has still yet to be ratified by all the national parliaments.

The slow political response to the emerging crisis, necessitated by the European Union's institutional set-up, has been criticised by many commentators, including European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

In hock
However the key issue for Moody's was the change in the market's attitude towards eurozone government debts.

The Italian government has for several years earned more in tax revenues than it spends. However, the government also has a large outstanding debt - equivalent to nearly 120% of GDP.

The government relies heavily on the markets' willingness to relend these debts as they come due, and to lend it the cost of meeting its interest payments.

Moody's said that Italy could be further downgraded to "substantially lower rating levels" if a further deterioration in investor sentiment made it even harder for the country to raise cash from the markets.

Italy's cost of borrowing rose sharply over the summer on market fears that a slowdown in Italian growth could make existing debts unsustainable.

That prompted the European Central Bank to intervene by buying up Italy's debts - a controversial policy in Germany. But despite the ECB's action, Italian borrowing costs have begun to creep up again in recent weeks.

China and Russia veto UN resolution condemning Syria

There have been six months of protests in Syria and reports of some 2,700 deaths

China and Russia have vetoed a UN Security Council resolution condemning Syria over its crackdown on anti-government protesters.

The European-drafted resolution had been watered down to try to avoid the vetoes, dropping a direct reference to sanctions against Damascus.

But Moscow and Beijing said the draft contained no provision against outside military intervention in Syria.

The US envoy to the UN said Washington was "outraged" by the vote.

The result is a huge blow to European and US efforts on the Syria issue, the BBC's Laura Trevelyan in New York says.

More than 2,700 people have been killed across Syria since the crackdown began in March, the UN estimates.

The government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says it is in the process of introducing reforms and is speaking to members of the opposition. It blames the unrest on armed gangs.

'Unacceptable'

Nine countries backed the resolution in the 15-member council, while four more abstained during the vote late on Tuesday.

But the resolution - which was drafted by France with the co-operation of Britain, Germany and Portugal - was still defeated because of the vetoes from two of the council's five permanent members.

This was despite the fact that the text had been changed three times by the European allies, who had tried to accommodate Russia's and China's objections.

The resolution referred to "targeted measures" - instead of sanctions - if the clampdown in Syria continued.

But Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov earlier said the resolution was "unacceptable" because it envisaged sanctions and did not call on President Assad's government to start talks with the opposition, Russia's Interfax news agency reported.

Moscow also said that the draft contained no provision against outside military intervention.

China's UN ambassador Li Baodong said that Beijing opposed the idea of "interference in (Syria's) internal affairs."

He added that "sanction or threat of sanction does not help resolve the question of Syria" but "may further complicate the situation".

The Libyan conflict has sharpened divisions among Security Council members, with both Moscow and Beijing saying that the resolution authorising the use of force to protect civilians was misused by Nato to bring down Col Muammar Gaddafi's regime.

Our correspondent says Tuesday's vote exposes the deep rift at the UN between the major powers, and the completely difference of approach in how to deal with Mr Assad's government and its crackdown.

After the vote, France's UN Ambassador Gerard Araud said the veto showed "disdain for the legitimate interests that have been fought for in Syria" since the protests in the country began.

The US envoy, Susan Rice, said: "The United States is outraged that this council has utterly failed to address an urgent moral challenge and a growing threat to regional peace and security."

Washington had said before the vote that it hoped the council would send a strong message to Syria. Germany said the world had to show solidarity with Syrians on the streets.

Amanda Knox 'overwhelmed' at US return

Amanda Knox speaking in Seattle: ''Thank you for being there for me''

A tearful Amanda Knox has said she is "overwhelmed" at being back on US soil after her acquittal for the murder of UK student Meredith Kercher in Italy.

After landing at Seattle, she thanked all those who had supported her.

Knox, 24, and ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, 27, were on Monday cleared on appeal of the 2007 killing, having spent nearly four years in jail.

The family of Leeds University student Miss Kercher, 20, from south London, say their fight for justice continues.

Speaking at Seattle International Airport, Knox joked that she had to be reminded to speak in English, rather than Italian, before telling reporters: "I'm really overwhelmed right now.

'Believed in me'
"I was looking down from the airplane and it seemed like everything wasn't real. Thank you to everyone who has believed in me, who has defended me, who has supported my family."

She added that she was just looking forward to spending time with her relatives.

Meredith Kercher was murdered in her bedroom in November 2007

Her parents, Curt Knox and Edda Mellas, praised the family's supporters and legal team to the assembled media.
Ms Mellas said: "It's because of the letters, calls and amazing support we have received from all over the world - and especially in Seattle - that we have been able to endure and make sure Amanda had the support she needed."

The family's lawyer, Theodore Simon, had earlier described the family's situation as a "gruelling, four-year, nightmarish marathon that no child or parent should have to endure".

"Meredith was Amanda's friend. Amanda and the family want you to remember Meredith and keep the Kercher family in your prayers," he added.

Members of the Kercher family held a press conference on Tuesday in Perugia, where Miss Kercher was studying at the time of her death.

'Search for truth'
Her brother, Lyle, said they accepted the court's decision to acquit Knox and Mr Sollecito.

However, he said: "We are now left looking at this again and thinking how a decision that was so certain two years ago has been so emphatically overturned, which raises other questions.

"It feels very much like back to square one. The search goes on to find out what really happened."

His sister, Stephanie, added: "Until the truth comes out, we can't forgive anyone because no-one's even admitted to it knowing there was someone out there who was responsible."
An eight-member jury cleared both defendants of Miss Kercher's murder after doubts were raised over procedures used to gather DNA evidence.

The Kercher family say they are "back to square one" after the acquittals

The judge upheld Knox's conviction for slander for accusing bar owner Patrick Diya Lumumba of carrying out the killing. But he set the sentence at three years, time that Knox has already served, meaning she was free to leave.

During a separate earlier trial, Rudy Guede was convicted of Miss Kercher's murder for his role in the killing and sentenced to 30 years in prison. On appeal, his conviction was upheld but his sentence reduced to 16 years. A lawyer for Guede said on Tuesday he would seek a retrial.

It was said in court that Guede did not act alone - raising questions following the acquittals as to who had also been at the murder scene.

The prosecution, which maintains Miss Kercher was killed in a brutal sex game which went wrong, is to appeal to Italy's highest court over the acquittals.

'Time to adjust'
However, it appears unlikely that Knox would be extradited back to Italy from the US.

Mike Heavey, a friend of the Knox family, told the BBC she would need time to assimilate to normal life.

"It's going to be very difficult but Amanda is amazingly effervescent and resilient."

Knox would probably re-enrol at the University of Washington to finish her degree, he said.

Meanwhile, fellow member of the Friends of Amanda Knox group Jim Lovering said she was likely to wait a month or two before giving her full account of the ordeal.

She would have to sell her story to pay off debts accrued by her family in fighting her case, he added.