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A gunman who shot dead four US police officers as they sat in a cafe in Washington State will be brought to justice, a police chief has vowed. Lakewood Police Chief Bret Farrar described the four victims as “good people and great officers”. Earlier, police laid siege for several hours to the Seattle house where the chief suspect in the case, named as Maurice Clemmons, was believed to be. But when officers stormed in, the property turned out to be empty. Police said warrants for first-degree murder had been issued against Mr Clemmons and the search for him was continuing. Police have issued arrest warrants for Maurice Clemmons Chief Farrar, his voice breaking with emotion, told a news conference that he had visited the families of the murdered officers. “It was the hardest thing I have ever done and I hope I never have to do it again,” he said. “We will get through this, although it is a very difficult time for us and the families. He praised police teams involved in the hunt for the killer and added: “There is no doubt in my mind that this person will be brought to justice.” The four police officers – Sgt Mark Renninger and officers Ronald Owens, Tina Griswold and Greg Richards – were shot dead at the cafe in Parkland, 40 miles (65km) south of Seattle, on Sunday morning. On Monday, detectives revealed that the killer had himself been shot during the attack. “We don’t know if he’s still alive,” Pierce County sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer told CBS television. “If he isn’t, it’s because he succumbed to the wound he received yesterday when he was in the struggle with the police officer that managed to get a shot fired at him before he was killed.” Acting on a tip-off, officers sealed off part of the Leschi area of Seattle on Sunday night, while armed Swat team members ringed the house where Maurice Clemmons was believed to be holed up. As the siege continued through the night, witnesses heard loud bangs, breaking glass, explosions and shots. But it was later revealed that Mr Clemmons was not in the house. The Seattle Times reported that police were also searching the University of Washington campus following a reported sighting of Mr Clemmons. US media said Mr Clemmons has a long criminal history including a recent arrest for allegedly assaulting a police officer in Washington state.

Five Britons have been detained by the Iranian navy while sailing a yacht from Bahrain to Dubai, the Foreign Office (FCO) has said. The sailors were crewing a boat belonging to Sail Bahrain when they were stopped on 25 November. In a statement, the FCO said it was possible the crew, who are still in Iran, may have “strayed inadvertently into Iranian waters”. The five are understood to be safe and well and their families have been told. FCO officials have had contact with Iran’s ministry of foreign affairs and the Iranian embassy in the UK. The BBC’s diplomatic correspondent Bridget Kendall said the FCO had wanted to keep the matter “private” in order to increase the chance of a resolution. But after five days the details emerged and they had no option but to confirm the story, she added. It is not known where the sailors are being held nor which club they had come from, but the FCO did confirm they were on their way to a Dubai-Muscat race. Foreign Secretary David Miliband said he hoped the issue would be resolved “soon”. “FCO officials immediately contacted the Iranian authorities in London and in Tehran on the evening of 25 November, both to seek clarification and to try and resolve the matter swiftly. “Our ambassador in Tehran has raised the issue with the Iranian foreign ministry and we have discussed the matter with the Iranian embassy in London,” he said.

US President Barack Obama has issued new orders for the US military in Afghanistan after deciding how many more troops to send, officials say. Mr Obama told senior military leaders about his long-awaited decision on troop numbers on Sunday night, a White House spokesman said. The president is now briefing the UK, French and Russian leaders on the plan. The moves come as British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he would send 500 more soldiers to the country. According to US media reports, Mr Obama is set to formally announce that a further 30,000 troops are to be sent to Afghanistan in a televised address on Tuesday. He has been considering a request from the US military commander in Afghanistan, Gen Stanley McChrystal, for 40,000 soldiers. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Mr Obama held an unannounced meeting on Sunday night with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Associated Press reported. He then spoke to senior staff including Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and National Security Adviser James Jones before holding a videophone conference with the head of the US operation in Afghanistan, Gen Stanley McChrystal and Karl Eikenberry, ambassador to Afghanistan. We should be failing in our duty if we didn’t work with our allies to deal with the problem where it starts British PM Gordon Brown UK commits extra Afghan troops Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who is currently visiting Washington DC, was told of the plans in person. The US currently has about 68,000 troops in Afghanistan, which contribute to total foreign forces of more than 100,000. In his address, the president is also expected to tell the American public again why the US involvement in Afghanistan is necessary and how long the commitment is expected to last. Last week, Mr Obama said he intended to “finish the job” in Afghanistan. ‘Political surge’ The White House said Mr Obama was in the process of speaking to all the key US allies in the Afghan conflict, including Italy, France, Britain and Russia. Afghan and Pakistani militancy Afghans ‘blame poverty for war’ Mapping the militant nexus The leaders were informed of the new strategy but were not told exactly how many extra troops the US intends to despatch, the Associated Press reported. On Monday, Mr Brown said he was sending a further 500 soldiers to Afghanistan, taking the country’s total deployment in the country to 10,000. He said all conditions had been met to send the extra personnel and that eight other countries had also offered additional troops. Mr Brown told parliament “the safety of people on the streets of Britain” depended on the UK taking action to address the militant threat from al-Qaeda at its source – along the Afghan/Pakistan border areas. “We should be failing in our duty if we didn’t work with our allies to deal with the problem where it starts,” Mr Brown told parliament. Mr Brown said the military surge would be followed by a political surge, with an enlarged and reformed Afghan police force and more effective and accountable local administration. Italy’s foreign minster, Franco Frattini, said on Monday that Rome was also prepared to increase its presence in Afghanistan from the current 3,200. Italy’s Ansa news agency quoted Mr Frattini as saying the conflict was a test of Nato’s “credibility” and that it was “clear that Italy must finish the job started with NATO and make a greater contribution if it is needed”.

A lawyer for John Demjanjuk, accused of helping to murder 27,900 Jews at a Nazi death camp, has accused German prosecutors of double standards. Mr Demjanjuk, 89, denies he was a guard at Sobibor camp, in wartime Poland. As the case began in Munich, his legal team said in previous cases Germans assigned to the camp had been cleared. The Ukraine-born accused, who was extradited to Germany from the US in May, was twice carried into court, first in a wheelchair then a stretcher. Doctors have said Mr Demjanjuk is in poor health, and asked that hearings be limited to two 90-minute sessions a day. Over 60 years after the end of World War II, this may be Germany’s last big war crimes trial. Under duress But the BBC’s Oana Lungescu in Munich says that, as the first to focus on a low-ranking foreigner rather than a senior Nazi commander, it breaks new legal ground. AT THE SCENE Oana Lungescu, BBC, Munich After a delay of 70 minutes John Demjanjuk entered the court in a wheelchair, wearing glasses and a dark blue baseball cap, and covered in a blanket. He mumbled at first , but then settled down to listen to a Ukrainian interpreter – his eyes apparently shut. His lawyer immediately went on the offensive – accusing German judges of double standards. “How can John Demjanjuk, a Ukrainian prisoner of war, be found guilty,” he asked, “when several German SS officers, who served in the death camps, have been previously acquitted.” Facing Thomas Blatt, an 82-year-old survivor of Sobibor, the defence lawyer said he and John Demjanjuk were both victims. Chaotic scenes as trial opens Defence lawyer Ulrich Busch said it should never have gone to trial. “How can you say that those who gave the orders were innocent… and the one who received the orders is guilty?” Mr Busch told the court. “There is a moral and legal double standard being applied today.” Mr Busch has said even if it could be proved his client – who was captured by the Nazis while fighting in the Soviet army – was in Sobibor, he would have been there under duress. A retired Ohio car-worker, Mr Demjanjuk stands accused of having helped the Nazi death factory to function. Prosecutors say he was a guard who pushed thousands of Jews to their deaths in the gas chambers at Sobibor. Lawyers for Mr Demjanjuk – who denies being at the death camp – say he will not speak at all during the trial. The trial is expected to last until May and, if found guilty, Mr Demjanjuk could be sentenced to 15 years in jail. A leading French Nazi-hunter voiced disappointment over the case as he said the accused would only have been a minor figure. Serge Klarsfeld told AFP news agency on Monday: “It’s a bit disappointing – a bedridden non-German, occupying a subordinate position and who would have died of hunger in a prison camp” if he had refused to serve as a guard. ‘Hollywood, not Sobibor’ Mr Demjanjuk arrived on Monday in an ambulance at the courtroom, which was crowded with people, including journalists and relatives of Holocaust survivors. DEMJANJUK – PROSECUTION CHALLENGES 89 years old, health failing Described by prosecution as low-ranking guard No death camp survivors to testify against him personally Prosecutors relying heavily on about 30 joint plaintiffs and circumstantial evidence Profile: John Demjanjuk Escaping death camp life of ‘hell’ John Demjanjuk in pictures A pale Mr Demjanjuk, his eyes closed for much of the time, was taken into court in a wheelchair. A doctor who examined Mr Demjanjuk two hours before proceedings began said his vital signs were stable. After the first session, the accused was returned to court lying on a stretcher and covered in blankets. Doctors ordered the second session to be cut short after examining Mr Demjanjuk, who was complaining of serious pain. But Efraim Zuroff, director of the Nazi-hunting Simon Wiesenthal Center, said: “Demjanjuk put on a great act. He should have gone to Hollywood, not Sobibor.” ‘No revenge’ Prosecutors say statements from a now-dead Ukrainian place Mr Demjanjuk at Sobibor. DEMJANJUK CASE TIMELINE 1952: Gains entry into the US, claiming he spent most of war as German POW 1977: First charged with war crimes, accused of being “Ivan the Terrible” 1981: Stripped of US citizenship 1986: Extradited to Israel 1988: Sentenced to death by Jerusalem court 1993: Israeli Supreme Court overturns conviction, ruling that he is not Ivan the Terrible 2002: Loses US citizenship after a judge said there was proof he worked at Nazi camps 2005: A judge rules in favour of deportation to his native Ukraine 2009: Germany issues arrest warrant; deported by US and charged The statements – which the defence says are inconsistent – say he “participated in the mass killing of Jews”. There are no living witnesses in this case, but over 30 people listed as joint plaintiffs are expected to testify about what happened at Sobibor, described by investigators as hell on earth. Two are camp survivors, others lost relatives or their entire families among the 250,000 people murdered there. One of the plaintiffs, Sobibor survivor Thomas Blatt, told journalists on his way into court he was not looking for revenge. “I’m here to tell the way it was years ago, I don’t know Demjanjuk in person,” he said. This is the second time John Demjanjuk has appeared in court. Two decades ago, he was sentenced to death in Israel, convicted of being Ivan the Terrible, a notoriously sadistic guard at the Treblinka death camp. But that ruling was overturned after new evidence showed that another Ukrainian was probably responsible. If Mr Demjanjuk is acquitted it is not clear where he will go as he has been stripped of his US citizenship.

Germany has warned Iran it faces new UN sanctions after Tehran announced plans for 10 uranium enrichment sites in defiance of international demands. Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, whose country is involved in talks on the dispute, said Iran must know the world’s patience was “not endless”. Iran, he said, must fulfil its international commitments. Western powers say Tehran is trying to develop nuclear arms while Iran says it needs nuclear energy for its economy. The head of Iran’s nuclear programme, Ali Akbar Salehi, accused the West of provoking his country into launching the plan to build 10 new plants. It is clear that if Iran rejects the outstretched hand of the international community, it must expect further sanctions Guido Westerwelle German foreign minister Q&A: Iran and the nuclear issue Iran – new sanctions on the way? Iran’s key nuclear sites However, Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Ali Larijani, said he believed that a diplomatic solution was still possible. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner accused Iran of “playing an extremely dangerous game” and a source in Russia’s foreign ministry was quoted as saying Moscow was “seriously concerned by the latest statements of the Iranian leadership”. Asked by the BBC if military action by Israel against Iran was now more likely, Israel’s ambassador to the UK, Ron Prosor, called for “all options to be on the table” without being more specific. ‘Without ifs and buts’ “Iran’s announcement of the expansion of its uranium enrichment clearly goes in the wrong direction,” Mr Westerwelle said in a statement in Berlin. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. “Iran must know that the international community’s patience is not endless. “Iran is urged to co-operate with the International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA] without ifs and buts and to fulfil its international commitments. “It is clear that if Iran rejects the outstretched hand of the international community, it must expect further sanctions.” Germany has – along with the US, UK, France, China and Russia – been involved in co-ordinating the UN Security Council’s position on Iran. Existing UN sanctions are meant to prevent the flow of any items or technology which might aid Iran in enriching uranium or developing nuclear weapon delivery systems. The sanctions range from actual sales or supplies to dealings with named individuals. ‘We had no intention’ Iran’s proposed new plants would be of a similar size to its main existing enrichment plant at Natanz. Iran is set on processing its own uranium Mr Salehi, who is also a vice-president, said: “We had no intention of building many facilities like the Natanz site but apparently the West doesn’t want to understand Iran’s peaceful message.” He accused foreign powers of pushing the UN’s nuclear watchdog to rebuke Iran for covering up another uranium enrichment plant near the town of Qom. “The action by 5+1 [the US, UK, France, China, Russia and Germany] at the IAEA prompted the [Iranian] government to approve a proposal to build 10 sites like that of Natanz,” Mr Salehi said. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told his cabinet at the weekend that parliament had ordered that Iran should produce 20,000 megawatts of nuclear energy by 2020. It therefore needed to make 250-300 tonnes of nuclear fuel a year, he said, which would require 500,000 centrifuges for enriching uranium. Natanz has nearly 5,000 working centrifuges, with existing plans to build 54,000 in all. Mr Larijani told reporters in Tehran that it was in foreign powers’ interests to find a diplomatic solution. “I still think there is a diplomatic opportunity and it is beneficial to them [world powers] to use this, so that Iran continues its work under the framework of the agency [the IAEA] and international supervision,” he said.

Somali pirates have captured a tanker carrying oil to the US, officials say. The Greek-owned Maran Centaurus was about 1,300km (800 miles) off Somalia when it was hijacked on Sunday, said the EU Naval task force (Navfor). The ship weighs some 300,000 tonnes and is believed to be one of the largest yet seized by Somali pirates. There are 28 crew members on board. Pirate attacks have been common off the Somali coast and international navies have been deployed to counter them. A spokesman for the Greek coastguard told Reuters news agency that about nine armed pirates attacked the ship close to the Seychelles. The agency reported the Greek defence ministry as saying that a Greek navy frigate which had been involved with the Navfor operation was now shadowing the vessel. Navfor said the ship had been sailing to New Orleans in the US from Jeddah in Saudi Arabia but was now heading towards Somalia. Its crew is made up of 16 Filipinos, nine Greeks, two Ukrainians and one Romanian. Maran Tankers Management, which operates the vessel, told Reuters the crew were “well”. ‘Mother ships’ War-torn Somalia has had no functioning government since 1991, allowing pirates to operate along the lawless coast almost with impunity. A $3m ransom was paid for the release of the Sirius Star In recent months, the pirates have started operating further from the Somali coast. They are believed to use “mother-ships” to reach the high seas, before using small skiffs to carry out their attacks. An EU naval spokesman told the BBC 11 vessels and 264 crew members are currently being held in Somalia. In November 2008, the Sirius Star, carrying two million barrels of oil – a quarter of Saudi Arabia’s daily output – became the largest ship ever seized by pirates. It weighs 318,000 tonnes. The vessel was released in January after a ransom of $3m (then ?1.95m) was paid. Navfor is one of several international naval forces patrolling the oceans off the country to try to prevent the captures of ships using the vital sea routes. Nato and the US also lead task forces. Earlier this month, the US began using unmanned drones to scour the Indian Ocean for suspect vessels.

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) experiment on the French-Swiss border has set a new world record for energy. The LHC pushed the energy of its particle beams beyond one trillion electron volts, making it the world’s highest energy particle accelerator. The previous record was held by the Tevatron particle accelerator in Chicago. Officials say it is another milestone in the LHC’s drive towards its main scientific tests set for 2010. The LHC is designed to smash together beams of sub-atomic particles to just under the speed of light. Researchers hope to see signs of new physics in the aftermath of the collisions, helping them unlock the secrets of the Universe. Operated by the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (better known by its French acronym Cern), the LHC is built inside a 27km-long circular tunnel. ‘Pilot beam’ “We are still coming to terms with just how smoothly the LHC commissioning is going,” said Cern’s director general Rolf Heuer. “It is fantastic. However, we are continuing to take it step-by-step, and there is still a lot to do before we start physics in 2010. I’m keeping my champagne on ice until then.” Until now the LHC had been operating at a relatively low energy of 450 billion electron volts. On Sunday, engineers increased the energy of this “pilot beam”, reaching 1.18 trillion electron volts at 2344 GMT. The previous record of 0.98 trillion electron volts has been held by the Tevatron accelerator since 2001. The LHC is eventually expected to operate at some seven trillion electron volts. Last week, the machine circulated two beams of protons for the first time and carried out its first low-energy beam collisions. Researchers working on the collider have said they are delighted with the quick progress made since the machine restarted on 21 November. The LHC had to be shut down for repairs shortly after its inauguration in September 2008 when an electrical fault cause one tonne of liquid helium to leak into the collider’s tunnel.

Middle-aged men and women may be risking arthritis if they overdo their exercise regime, research suggests. A US study of more than 200 people aged 45 to 55 and of “normal” weight found those doing the most exercise were the most likely to suffer knee damage. Running and jumping may also do more damage to cartilage and ligaments than swimming and cycling, researchers said. One arthritis charity said it was important to keep fit and most people would not have any problems. Osteoarthritis – the most common form of arthritis – is a degenerative joint disease that causes pain, swelling and stiffness and affects 8m people in the UK. People with higher physical activity levels may be at greater risk for developing knee abnormalities Dr Christoph Stehling University of California, San Francisco It is more common in women, and the risk increases with age and weight. Presenting the findings at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America, the researchers said their study included people who had not reported any previous knee pain. Activity Based on a questionnaire designed to work out how much exercise they do, participants were split into low-, middle- and high-activity groups. A typical high-activity individual would do several hours of walking, sports or other types of exercise per week, as well as gardening and other household chores. They then underwent MRI scans of the knee, looking for tears, lesions and other abnormalities in the cartilage and ligaments. The damage seen was associated solely with activity levels and was not age or gender specific, the researchers said. And it also seemed to be linked to the type of exercise a person did, although the researchers said this needed to be looked at in other studies. Study leader Dr Christoph Stehling, a researcher at the University of California, San Francisco said: “Our data suggest that people with higher physical activity levels may be at greater risk for developing knee abnormalities and, thus, at higher risk for developing osteoarthritis. “This study and previous studies by our group suggest that high impact, weight-bearing physical activity, such as running and jumping, may be worse for cartilage health. “Conversely, low-impact activities, such as swimming and cycling, may protect diseased cartilage and prevent healthy cartilage from developing disease.” A spokeswoman for the Arthritis Research Campaign said that the gains of exercise far outweighed any potential risks. “We have known for years that certain high impact sports and jobs are associated with an increased risk of osteoarthritis, particularly of the knee, but for the vast majority of people exercise is good, not only for the cartilage but for total body health. “Most people can exercise without any problems, but if you have had a joint injury or torn cartilage or ligaments you should be cautious about weight-bearing exercise, and swimming and cycling may provide a better option for you.”

The central bank of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has said it will provide banks with extra liquidity. The news comes days after the state-owned Dubai World said it would ask for an extension on repaying its debts, sending world stock markets tumbling. The move appeared designed to head off a possible run on UAE banks when they open after a four-day break for the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday. Dubai’s government is expected to make a statement before the market opens. The International Monetary Fund has welcomed the decision by the UAE central bank. “The United Arab Emirates is a strong resource-based economy and we welcome today’s announcement,” an IMF statement said. There are fears that the stock market could plunge by up to 10%. But Asian markets saw clear gains early on Monday, with Japan’s Nikkei rising 2.39% in morning trading, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng boosted by more than 3% within minutes of opening. Meanwhile, neighbouring Abu Dhabi has said it will “pick and choose” how to assist Dubai. “We will look at Dubai’s commitments and approach them on a case-by-case basis,” an Abu Dhabi government official said on Saturday. “It does not mean that Abu Dhabi will underwrite all of their debts,” he added. ‘More sound’ The announcement from the central bank came the day before markets in the Middle East reopen after the Eid holiday. “[The] central bank has issued a notice to UAE banks and branches of foreign banks operating in the UAE, making available to them a special additional liquidity facility linked to their current accounts at the central bank,” it said in a statement. The bank added that the banking system in the UAE was more sound and liquid than a year ago. As a result of Dubai’s debt problems, banks face heavy losses and the risk that depositors could rush to remove cash from the system. “It might support the market a little bit but I don’t think it is enough,” said Shawkut Raslan from Prime Emirates brokerage. “I think some foreigners will take their money out of the country and others will be afraid to put their money into these markets.”

The trial of John Demjanjuk, accused of helping to murder more than 27,000 Jews at a Nazi death camp, is set to begin in Munich. Mr Demjanjuk, who is 89 and was deported from the United States earlier this year, denies he was a camp guard at Sobibor, in Nazi-occupied Poland. This case looks likely to be the last big Nazi-era trial. It is expected to last until May and, if found guilty, Mr Demjanjuk could be sentenced to 15 years in jail. John Demjanjuk is a retired US car worker, who is expected to enter court in a wheelchair. But he stands accused of having helped the Nazi death factory to function. DEMJANJUK CASE TIMELINE 1952: Gains entry into the US, claiming he spent most of the war as a German prisoner 1977: First charged with war crimes, accused of being “Ivan the Terrible” 1981: Stripped of US citizenship 1986: Extradited to Israel 1993: Israeli Supreme Court overturns conviction, ruling that he is not Ivan the Terrible 2002: Loses US citizenship after a judge said there was proof he worked at Nazi camps 2005: A judge rules in favour of deportation to his native Ukraine 2009: Germany issues an arrest warrant for him; deported by US; formally charged with 27,900 counts of accessory to murder Profile: John Demjanjuk Prosecutors say that, as a camp guard at Sobibor, he pushed thousands of Jewish men, women and children to their death in the gas chambers. Mr Demjanjuk was born in Ukraine and captured by the Nazis while fighting in the Soviet army. He denies even being at Sobibor. Over 60 years later, this may be Germany’s last big war crimes trial. But as the first to focus on a low-ranking foreigner rather than a senior Nazi commander, it breaks new legal ground. As Mr Demjanjuk is 89 and in poor health, doctors have asked that hearings should be limited to two 90-minute sessions per day. There are no living witnesses in this case, but over 30 people listed as joint plaintiffs are expected to testify about what happened at Sobibor, described by investigators as hell on earth. Two are camp survivors, others lost relatives or their entire families among the 250,000 people murdered there. This is the second time John Demjanjuk appears in court. Two decades ago, he was sentenced to death in Israel, convicted of being Ivan the Terrible, a notoriously sadistic guard at the Treblinka death camp. But that ruling was overturned after new evidence showed that another Ukrainian was probably responsible.