Video - Raising the Costa Concordia, live stream.

Video - Raising the Costa Concordia, live stream.HT: Telegraph.

Engineers attempt one of the most expensive wreck removal operations in history: raising an Italian cruise ship that capsized in 2012.

The latest press briefing has just taken place on Giglio, where officials have confirmed that the operation is going to plan and that the ship has been pulled free from the rocky reefs on which it was wedged.

Nick Squires reports:

The ship has been raised by three degrees - that means there's another 62 degrees to go before it is upright."Things are going as planned, so a certain amount of optimism is justified," said Franco Gabrielli, the Italian official in overall command of the operation.

"The game is not over but things are going according to plan."

So far the ship has not emitted any dirty water or debris, he said. "The water is clean for now. But we are conscious of the fact that we are right at the beginning."
Sergio Girotto, a chief engineer, said the side of the ship that has been lying in water for 20 months had suffered "huge damage" and deformation.
That damage is apparently no worse than expected by the engineers, but they will be keeping a close eye on it as the parbuckling process continues. 

China Earthquake has claimed 156 lives, with more than 5,500 injured (VIDEO, PHOTOS): LIVE UPDATES.

China Earthquake has claimed 156 lives, with more than 5,500 injured (VIDEO, PHOTOS): LIVE UPDATES.HT: RussiaToday.The disaster has struck the country's south-western Sichuan province at 00:02 AM GMT (8:02 AM local time) on Saturday, at a depth of around 13 kilometers (7,6 miles), according to China's Xinhua news agency.

China's seismological bureau initially measured the earthquake’s magnitude at 7.0 on the Richter scale, while the US Geological Service estimated the magnitude at 6.6.

Preliminary reports indicate at least 156 confirmed deaths, Reuters reported, and around 3,000 people injured, many of them seriously, in the quake in the city of Ya'an, Sichuan. It is quite close to where a huge quake hit in 2008, claiming the lives of almost 70,000 people.

China’s Earthquake Administration has reported that over 1.5 million people have been affected by the earthquake and aftershocks. Since the rescue operation began 54 people, two children and a pregnant woman among them, are reported to have been dug out alive from under the collapsed buildings. According to unofficial estimates, up to 90 per cent of all buildings in the Ya’an area have been somehow damaged by the earthquake.

Nearly 8,000 troops are already assisting in the rescue operation and 10,000 more remain on standby ready to be dispatched into the disaster zone.

China's state-owned CCTV channel said that currently only emergency vehicles are allowed access into Yan'an, athough Chengdu airport is once again functional.

It has been reported that a bus transporting 17 soldiers to the earthquake area crashed into a river from a cliff. One of the soldiers died in hospital, while five more were seriously injured.

Thousands of prisoners have been evacuated from the local prisons in Sichuan. No deaths have been reported among the prisoners.Read and see the full story here, live updates here.

Live Twitter stream: Marching to Jerusalem.

Live Twitter stream: Marching to Jerusalem.(JPost).The Jerusalem Post will provide live coverage including tweets, pictures and video clips as worldwide demonstrations take place to mark the 36th anniversary of Land Day, when Israeli Arabs and Palestinians hold a general strike and protest Israeli government policies they say infringe on their land rights.Land Day demonstrations have historically seen Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and elsewhere rallying in solidarity. This year's Land Day coincides with the Global March to Jerusalem, a planned multi-pronged rush on Israel's frontiers with Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan as well as marches in the Palestinian Authority, Gaza and east Jerusalem. Worldwide demonstrations are also planned in a range of countries from the US to Greece.See the full story developing here.