Donald Trump has declared his “respect” for John McCain and ordered all US flags on public buildings to be flown at half-mast, bowing to criticism over his initial response to the senator’s death. 

The US president arranged for the military to help transport Mr McCain’s remains from Arizona to Washington DC, where he will lie in state, and asked senior administration figures to attend his funeral.

It came after growing outcry over Mr Trump’s lack of praise for the 81-year-old former Republican presidential candidate, with whom he frequently clashed ever since his 2016 presidential bid. 

Mr Trump declined to answer numerous shouted questions about Mr McCain from reporters in the White House’s Oval Office on Monday morning after an announcement on trade. 

That followed reports that the US president had decided not to issue a statement drafted by White House aides praising Mr McCain as a “hero”, instead sending a brief tweet. 

Mr Trump had written on Saturday night: “My deepest sympathies and respect go out to the family of Senator John McCain. Our hearts and prayers are with you!”

Critics noted that the comments included no praise for Mr McCain’s life and years of service first as a soldier and prisoner of war in Vietnam and then as a US congressman – in marked contrast to the reaction of other leading political figures. 

Anger mounted on Monday when the White House’s flag, which had flown at half-mast on Sunday, returned to normal despite mourning continuing for Mr McCain. 

Mr Trump changed that on Monday afternoon, issuing a statement which read: “Despite our differences on policy and politics, I respect Senator John McCain’s service to our country and, in his honour, have signed a proclamation to fly the flag of the United States at half-staff until the day of his interment.”

He added that Mike Pence, the vice president, will speak at an honouring ceremony in Congress while James Mattis and John Bolton, the defence secretary and White House national security adviser, will attend Mr McCain’s funeral. 

Text of the proclamation Mr Trump signed showed that the half-mast rule will apply to all public buildings, military posts and naval stations in America, as well as all US embassies across the world. 

Mr Trump and Mr McCain clashed a number of times during the 2016 US election. Once Mr Trump played down Mr McCain’s military record, saying: "I like people who weren’t captured."

Mr McCain appeared to use his final message, read posthumously by his campaign manager Rick Davis, to push back against the president’s agenda. 

In full | John McCain's farewell letter

Part of the message read: "We weaken our greatness when we confuse our patriotism with tribal rivalries that have sown resentment and hatred and violence in all the corners of the globe.

“We weaken it when we hide behind walls, rather than tear them down, when we doubt the power of our ideals, rather than trust them to be the great force for change they have always been.”

Mccain obit

The man who ran the Vietnamese prison that held Mr McCain captive for six years was also among those who paid tribute to the former congressman. 

Col. Trần Trọng Duyệt reportedly said: “At that time I liked him personally for his toughness and strong stance… He has greatly contributed to the development of Vietnam-U.S. relations."

Thomas Cook’s chief executive has flown out to Egypt to meet with the country’s Prime Minister amid claims that the company have been prevented from accessing the hotel room where a British couple died.

John and Susan Cooper, from Lancashire, passed away last week within hours of each other whilst on a Thomas Cook holiday at the Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel in Hurghada.

The circumstances of their death are unknown and it is believed that Thomas Cook are still awaiting permission to enter Mr and Mrs Cooper’s hotel room.

However the company’s CEO, Peter Fankhauser, yesterday travelled to meet with the Egyptian Prime Minister, Dr Mostafa Madbouly.

A Thomas Cook spokesman said: "Thomas Cook CEO, Peter Fankhauser, has flown to Egypt today to meet with the Egyptian Prime Minister, His Excellency Dr Mostafa Madbouly.

“They will discuss the recent tragic deaths of Mr and Mrs Cooper in Hurghada and the ongoing investigation by the Egyptian authorities."

The move comes nearly one week after the couple were found dying in their hotel room by their only child, Kelly Ormerod, who insisted her parents had been “in perfect health” the night before their death.

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Mrs Ormerod, who claimed she was prevented from leaving Egypt for several days after the incident by the Egyptian police, said: “I watched them die before my very eyes and they had exactly the same symptoms.

“I believe something suspicious has gone on… something has happened in that room and caused them to be taken away from us.”

Egyptian authorities initially claimed that John Cooper, 69, died from a heart attack and that his 63-year-old wife Susan then collapsed with grief.

They have since ruled out carbon monoxide poisoning as a possible cause of death.

Thomas Cook have admitted there was “a raised level of illness among guests” at the Red Sea resort and ordered the evacuation of 301 guests.

When Monaco’s richest woman was gunned down after visiting her son in a Nice hospital, the gangland-style murder stunned the Principality amid reports of a Mafia hit. 

But rather than a mob boss, it is her daughter’s lover who will go on trial in Aix-en-Provence on Monday, accused of ordering her 2014 killing to gain greater access to her fabulous wealth. 

Hélène Pastor, 77, was a hard-nosed businesswoman who owned a huge slice of some of the world’s most valuable real estate. Closely linked to Monaco’s royal family, she was known as the “deputy princess”.

She disapproved of her daughter Sylvia’s longtime live-in partner, Wojciech Janowski, 69, an elegant, charming and flamboyant Pole, and hired…

More than five million children risk famine in war-torn Yemen as food and fuel prices soar, Save the Children said Wednesday, warning an entire generation may face death and "starvation on an unprecedented scale".

The three-year conflict between Yemen’s Saudi-backed government and Huthi rebels linked to Iran has pushed the already impoverished country to the brink of famine, leaving many unable to afford food and water.

"Millions of children don’t know when or if their next meal will come," said Helle Thorning-Schmidt, CEO of Save the Children International.

"This war risks killing an entire generation of Yemen’s children who face multiple threats, from bombs to hunger to preventable diseases like cholera."

The already dire humanitarian situation is being exacerbated by the battle for the lifeline port of Hodeida, which is threatening to disrupt what little aid is trickling into the country.

Located on Yemen’s Red Sea coast, the city is controlled by the rebels and blockaded by Saudi Arabia and its allies.

Having already identified four million children at risk of starvation, Save The Children warned Wednesday another million could now face famine as the Hodeida battle escalates.

"In one hospital I visited in north Yemen, the babies were too weak to cry, their bodies exhausted by hunger," said Thorning-Schmidt.

Food prices in some parts of the country have doubled in just a few days, and the non-governmental organisation said families faced impossible choices on whether to pay to take a baby to hospital at the expense of feeding the rest of the family.

A total of 5.2 million children across Yemen are now at risk of starvation, according to the Britain-based NGO.

The World Food Programme last year warned that food had become a "weapon of war" in Yemen, where fighting, cholera and looming famine have created what the UN calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

The UN this week said food prices were up a whopping 68 percent since 2015, when a regional military coalition led by Saudi Arabia joined the government’s war against the Huthi rebels.

The cost of a food basket, which contains pantry staples and canned goods, has increased by 35 percent and cooking gas and fuel prices by more than 25 percent over the past year, according to the UN humanitarian agency OCHA.

The United Nations has warned that any major fighting in Hodeida could halt food distributions to eight million Yemenis dependent on them for survival. The country’s economy and population of 22 million people depend almost entirely on imports.

Deadly clashes resumed on Monday night around Hodeida after UN-sponsored talks collapsed in Geneva earlier this month.

"Time is running out for aid agencies in Yemen to prevent this country from slipping into a devastating famine and we cannot afford any disruption to the lifeline we are providing for the innocent victims of this conflict," said World Food Programme director David Beasley.

UN officials are now pushing to find a solution to the Hodeida conflict.

The UN Yemen envoy Martin Griffiths was in Riyadh on Wednesday after a three-day visit to Yemen aimed at restarting negotiations between the government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi and the Huthis.

The United Nations’ humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, Lise Grande, was also in Hodeida Wednesday, according to a high-ranking Yemeni military source.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP on Wednesday that fighting in Hodeida city had "slowed down", but battles were ongoing in other parts of Hodeida province.

Nearly 10,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed since the Saudi-led coalition intervened in the Yemen conflict in 2015.

 

• Donald Trump jubilant after winning battle
• Brett Kavanaugh sworn in during private ceremony
• Republicans hope for midterm "Brett bounce"
• This is why women are angry

Brett Kavanaugh was quickly sworn in as a Supreme Court justice on Saturday night soon after the bitterly polarised  Senate confirmed him by two votes.

His confirmation tilts the bench decisively to the Right, handing Donald Trump a major political victory after a battle that exposed America’s cultural, gender and political divides.

He was sworn in during a private ceremony at the court building, even as protesters tried to storm its doors.

Earlier the US senate voted 50 to 48 to confirm his nomination, ending one of the most bitter confirmation processes in recent US history after Mr Kavanaugh had been accused of sexual misconduct by three women, which he categorically denied. Two senators, one on each side of the debate, agreed to sit out the vote because of a schedule clash. 

There is now a majority of conservative judges on the Supreme Court – something Republicans have sought for decades. Mr Kavanaugh, 53, will be appointed for life. 

It could have a profound impact on US society for decades, potentially influencing where the court comes down on issues such as gay rights and abortion. 

Republicans Jeff Flake of Arizona and Susan Collins of Maine and a single Democrat – Joe Manchin of West Virginia – voted yes in the end after weeks of wavering. 

One Republican senator, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, had announced she would vote no. But she was one of the two senators who did not cast a vote for either side, helping out a colleague who needed to attend his daughter’s wedding. 

Female protesters outside of the Supreme Court were seen crying and hugging each other in consolation as news of the final result filtered out. However Republicans were jubilant.

Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the Senate, said after the vote passed: "This is a good day for America and an important day for the Senate. We stood up for the presumption of innocence.

"We refused to be intimidated by the mob of people who were coming after Republican members in their homes, in the halls."

Mr Trump tweeted: 

On Saturday afternoon, protesters had descended on Capitol Hill in a last-minute attempt to sway senators not to confirm Mr Kavanaugh. 

Pumping their fists and carrying signs, a few hundred people climbed the east steps of the Capitol for the demonstration chanting "November is coming!" and "vote them out!"

A much larger crowd of protesters watched on from behind a barricade. In between, a line of Capitol police officers stood with plastic handcuffs clipped to their belts.

Profile | Brett Kavanaugh

On Friday, a handful of senators who had been wavering for weeks on a decision made announcements on what they would do in the final, binding vote. 

Mr Flake, who had delayed the vote by a week over his demand for an FBI investigation, was first, telling reporters that he would back Mr Kavanaugh “unless something big change”. 

Then came Ms Collins, who spoke for more than 40 minutes from the Senate floor explaining her decision in an address that was 4,000 words long. 

“Certain fundamental legal principles – about due process, the presumption of innocence, and fairness – do bear on my thinking, and I cannot abandon them,” Ms Collins said. 

Ms Collins said that “we will be ill served in the long run if we abandon the presumption of innocence and fairness”, eventually ending with the words: “Mr. President, I will vote to confirm Judge Kavanaugh.”

Minutes later Mr Manchin, who faces a tough battle for re-election next month in a state won comfortably by Mr Trump in 2016, released a statement saying he would also vote yes. 

Speaking to reporters as protesters shouted chants against his decision, Mr Manchin said: “I had to deal with the facts I had in front of me.”

An engineer who had  shut himself into the engine room of a shipwrecked ferry was found alive yesterday, two days after it capsized in Tanzania.  

Bodies continued to float to the surface around the vessel, which initial estimates suggested was carrying more than 300 people. State broadcaster TBC said the death toll had reached 207.

Four navy divers resumed their search inside the sunken MV Nyerere early on Saturday after hearing sounds that suggested signs of life.

They pulled one man out of the overturned ship and he was rushed to hospital, a Reuters witness said. His condition was not immediately known.

On Friday, President John Magufuli ordered the arrest of those responsible for the sinking.

Dozens of relatives stood crying by the shoreline as they waited for information on their loved ones. Coffins were lined up nearby awaiting bodies being pulled from the vessel, which lay belly up in the water just metres from the shoreline.

"The ferry overturned very fast and covered us," survivor Charles Ngarima told Reuters. "I was lucky that I was able to swim under water not knowing where I was swimming to…while trying to swim to safety, I found a number of metal bars that cut my face and the back of my head."

Another survivor, Jennifer Idhoze, blamed the ferry had capsized because it was overloaded. "I was able to jump out of the ferry… That is how I survived," she said.

Works, Transport and Communication Minister Isack Kamwelwe said the government was sending special equipment to aid the rescue effort.

"This equipment will increase efficiency in the rescue operation and we will continue with the search until we are satisfied that we have rescued everyone," he told Reuters.

The ferry sank on Thursday evening just a few metres from the dock on Ukerewe, the lake’s biggest island. 

America watched transfixed – on mobile phones on buses and in gyms, in bars and sitting rooms, and even aboard Air Force One – as Christine Blasey Ford took her seat in front of a Senate committee to give her account of the allegations against Donald Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court.

By the time she had finished her quiet, measured answers, even pundits on Mr Trump’s favourite channel Fox News were worried.

But then came Brett Kavanaugh and his angry denials, venting his fury as he claimed he was the victim of a "grotesque" character assassination.

Viewers will have made up their minds about who they trusted at the end of the day. The final decision about whether Mr Kavanaugh will be confirmed to the Supreme Court probably now lies with just three undecided Republican senators.

Here’s what we learned:

How did she do?

Prof Ford was hesitant, quiet and clearly nervous. She asked for several breaks and regular caffeine shots in the form of coffee or Coca Cola. 

But as she responded to the forensic probing of Rachel Mitchell, the prosecutor brought in by Republican senators, her steady account of what happened three decades ago never wavered. And she offered a plausible account of why she waited so long to reveal her story.

She never wanted to make her name public, she said, and came forward only because it was her "civic duty" rather than out of any political motive.

In fact she described how she came forward before Mr Kavanaugh was nominated, when his name began circulating on lists of possible candidates. Throughout she gave the impression of someone who only wanted to be a million miles from Washington – and a far cry from the Democratic activist described by Republicans.

She admitted when she could not remember details – such as the date of the attack – and even apologised, saying "I wish I could be more helpful.

But on the key details she was firm. Asked how certain she could be that Mr Kavanaugh was the attacker, she declared: "100 percent."

How did he do?

Mr Kavanaugh ripped up the statement that had been circulated in advance of the hearing. So rather than the mild-mannered judge of this week’s Fox News interview, we got the fire and fury of a man wronged.

His face contorted with anger, he issued a blistering statement declaring the confirmation process "a national disgrace" and warning other men their careers could be ruined if his confirmation was wrecked by what he called a "character assassination".

And then he cried, as he described the impact on his family and the way his daughter had offered to pray for his accuser. "That’s a lot of wisdom from a 10-year-old," he said.

He even echoed Prof Ford in his denial, saying he was "100 percent certain" he did not commit any assault.

Who is Brett Kavanaugh, Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee?

But he also left the door open to investigators wanting to pick over his youthful years. He admitted drinking a little too much beer on occasions, but denied ever suffering memory loss.

And his explanation about vomiting after drinking beer – that he was known for having a weak stomach – provoked scepticism among Democratic senators.

What did Donald Trump think?

By all accounts the US president was glued to every moment of the hearing. Insiders said he and his allies were unnerved by Prof Ford’s emotional appearance but heartened by Mr Kavanaugh’s forceful pushback.

He reportedly kept abreast of what was happening from his office on Air Force One, as he travelled from New York to Washington, and then once back in the White House

Trump missed hardly a moment of the proceedings, relying on DVRs to keep up on the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Thursday first from his private office on Air Force One as he travelled from New York to Washington, and then back at the White House, using DVRs to fill in the gaps.

His verdict came within minutes of the hearing’s end.

That could yet be enough to save Mr Kavanaugh’s nomination.

What happens next?

With the president’s support clear, Republican senators gathered to work out how to proceed. After a private meeting they emerged to say they would press ahead with a vote of the judiciary committee on whether to recommend him for conformation as planned at 9.30am on Friday.

If that goes along party lines it would then trigger a procedural floor vote in the Senate, possibly on Saturday, with a full vote early next week. 

The Republican race to confirm Brett Kavanaugh

Republicans have a tiny margin on error in the Senate. Two Republicans voting against Mr Kavanaugh would be enough to end his nomination.

His fate probably rests with three undecided Republicans – Jeff Flake, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski. They met privately on Thursday evening. And they aren’t saying anything yet.