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Wikileaks documentary spotlights complexity of Julian Assange

Fri, 24 May 2013 19:28:17 +0800

By Zorianna Kit LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Wikileaks founder Julian Assange may claim to be a champion of transparency, but when an Oscar-winning filmmaker wanted to shine a light on his rise to fame after publishing secret U.S. diplomatic cables on his website, Assange was none too pleased. Alex Gibney set out to uncover the story behind Assange, 41, and the website he founded in 2006 to leak classified information submitted by anonymous sources, but received little cooperation from the former computer hacker. ...

Cars, schools ablaze in fifth night of Stockholm riots

Fri, 24 May 2013 19:27:29 +0800

More than a dozen cars were torched and schools, shops and a police station were set ablaze as riots swept through Stockholm's immigrant-dominated suburbs for the fifth straight night, police and firefighters said Friday.

N.Korea says will take "positive steps" for peace

Fri, 24 May 2013 19:24:39 +0800

By Terril Yue Jones and Sui-Lee Wee BEIJING (Reuters) - A North Korean envoy told China's president on Friday that his reclusive country was willing to take "positive actions" to ensure peace and stability on the Korean peninsula, as China steps up diplomatic efforts to bring Pyongyang back to talks. Choe Ryong-hae, a special envoy of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, met Chinese officials, including President Xi Jinping, in the highest-ranking visit by an official from Pyongyang in about six months. But Choe made no new offer to abandon the North Korea's nuclear programme. ...

Massive Far East quake felt in Moscow, no casualties

Fri, 24 May 2013 19:20:42 +0800

A massive undersea earthquake Friday in Russia's Far East prompted a tsunami warning and unleashed tremors across Russia including in Moscow around 10,000 kilometres away, but caused no casualties or damage.

US bridge collapse sends cars, people into river

Fri, 24 May 2013 19:07:54 +0800

A bridge carrying a freeway over a river in the northwestern US state of Washington partially collapsed Thursday, sending cars and people plunging into the water below, police said.

Pakistan remains opposed to drones after Obama speech

Fri, 24 May 2013 19:01:50 +0800

The Pakistan government Friday repeated its view that US drone strikes in its territory were illegal, after President Barack Obama laid out new guidelines for their use.

IMF chief grilled for second day over payout scandal

Fri, 24 May 2013 18:33:20 +0800

French prosecutors began questioning IMF chief Christine Lagarde for a second day Friday to decide if she should be charged over a state payout to a disgraced tycoon during her time as finance minister.

Militants kill four soldiers in Indian Kashmir

Fri, 24 May 2013 18:32:30 +0800

Militants killed four soldiers Friday in an ambush outside Srinagar, the main city of Indian Kashmir, sparking a gun battle in which one rebel also died, local officials said.

British Airways plane makes emergency landing at Heathrow

Fri, 24 May 2013 17:56:50 +0800

A British Airways plane made an emergency landing at London's Heathrow airport on Friday after a "technical fault", forcing officials to close both runways.

Syria regime agrees to attend peace conference: Russia

Fri, 24 May 2013 17:30:25 +0800

Syria's most powerful ally Russia said Friday that the Damascus regime had agreed "in principle" to attend an international peace conference on the crisis that world powers hope will take place in Geneva in June.

Belmokhtar group threatens more attacks in Niger

Fri, 24 May 2013 17:14:07 +0800

The jihadist group led by Algerian Mokhtar Belmokhtar that claimed twin suicide car bombings in Niger which killed at least 20 people threatened on Friday to launch further attacks in the country.

Turkish parliament passes law curbing alcohol sales

Fri, 24 May 2013 17:13:12 +0800

Turkey's parliament on Friday passed a controversial law restricting the consumption and advertising of alcohol in the predominantly Muslim country.

Video shows British police shooting soldier's suspected killers

Fri, 24 May 2013 17:09:28 +0800

LONDON (Reuters) - Dramatic video footage showing the moment when police shot the two men suspected of hacking to death a soldier in London was published on a British newspaper's website on Friday. The shaky, 10-second clip shows one of the men sprinting towards a police car with a knife in his hand before he is shot and tumbles to the ground. The second man appears to aim a gun at the police and is then shot. Soldier Lee Rigby, a 25-year-old who served in Afghanistan, was hacked to death near an army barracks in south London on Wednesday. ...

Tornado-hit US city mourns and rebuilds

Fri, 24 May 2013 16:40:22 +0800

Relief workers and clean-up crews defied thunderstorms while families and friends gathered for the funeral of one of the Oklahoma tornado's youngest victims.

Russia's oldest human rights group fights "foreign agent" tag

Fri, 24 May 2013 16:03:15 +0800

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's oldest human rights group went to court on Friday to try to stop state prosecutors forcing it to register as a "foreign agent" under a law it says is intended by President Vladimir Putin to silence dissent. Memorial, which has fought political repression since Soviet times, refuses to comply with the law which critics describe as a crude attempt to reassert Putin's authority after tens of thousands called for him to quit during protests last year. ...

Obama seeks end to perpetual U.S. 'war on terror'

Fri, 24 May 2013 13:07:25 +0800

By Matt Spetalnick and Warren Strobel WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Twelve years after the "war on terror" began, President Barack Obama wants to pull the United States back from some of the most controversial aspects of its global fight against Islamist militants. In a major policy speech on Thursday, Obama narrowed the scope of the targeted-killing drone campaign against al Qaeda and its allies and took steps toward closing the Guantanamo Bay military prison in Cuba. He acknowledged the past use of "torture" in U.S. ...

Syria opposition peace talks enter second day

Fri, 24 May 2013 12:35:52 +0800

Syria's main opposition group is set to hold a second day of talks Friday, mulling a new US-Russian peace initiative to end the two-year civil war while the regime vows to crush the insurgency.

Boy Scouts of America votes to end century-old ban on gay scouts

Fri, 24 May 2013 11:29:51 +0800

By Marice Richter GRAPEVINE, Texas (Reuters) - The Boy Scouts of America voted on Thursday to lift a century-old ban on openly gay scouts in a major victory for gay rights activists, but the decision means a sea of change for an organization that depends heavily on faith-based groups. More than 60 percent of the group's National Council, comprised of some 1,400 delegates, voted in favour of ending the ban, effective January 1, 2014, the group said in a statement. A prohibition on openly gay adult leaders remains in place. ...

US Boy Scouts to allow gay youths, not leaders

Fri, 24 May 2013 11:05:12 +0800

The Boy Scouts of America agreed for the first time to allow openly gay youths to join the organization, but will maintain a ban on gay adult leaders.

Police make new arrests in London soldier killing

Fri, 24 May 2013 10:28:30 +0800

British police made two further arrests and raided houses across London following the brutal murder of a serving soldier who survived a tour of duty in Afghanistan.

Obama shifts U.S. from 'perpetual war-footing,' limits drone strikes

Fri, 24 May 2013 10:26:54 +0800

By Matt Spetalnick and Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Thursday shifted the United States away from a "boundless global war on terror," restricting deadly drone strikes abroad and signaling that America's long struggle against al Qaeda will one day end. In a major policy speech, Obama narrowed the scope of the U.S. targeted-killing campaign against al Qaeda and its allies and took new steps toward closing the Guantanamo Bay military prison - controversial elements of the U.S. counterterrorism fight that have drawn condemnation at home and abroad. ...

Obama seeks to redefine the US war on terror

Fri, 24 May 2013 10:08:34 +0800

President Barack Obama laid out new guidelines for drone strikes and launched a fresh bid to close Guantanamo, warning that a "perpetual" US war on terror would be self-defeating.

Jury fails to decide on US murderer death sentence

Fri, 24 May 2013 09:38:07 +0800

A US jury failed to agree on whether to sentence Jodi Arias to death for the grisly killing of her boyfriend in 2008, after a trial which has gripped America.

New theft rocks Cannes film festival

Fri, 24 May 2013 09:09:15 +0800

Thieves have made off with a diamond necklace worth 2 million euros ($2.6 million) made by Switzerland's De Grisogono in the second jewellery theft at this year's Cannes Film Festival, the company said.

FBI reviews death of Chechen man shot during Florida questioning

Fri, 24 May 2013 08:40:14 +0800

By Barbara Liston and Mark Hosenball ORLANDO, Fla./WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A special Federal Bureau of Investigation team from Washington on Thursday began reviewing the death of a Chechen immigrant linked to the Boston Marathon bombing suspects, a day after he was shot and killed by an agent during questioning in Orlando. The dead man, Ibragim Todashev, 27, was a friend of suspected bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev and was under investigation for alleged ties to a triple homicide in Massachusetts in 2011, according to media reports citing law enforcement officials. ...

Repatriating detainees to Yemen key to closing Guantanamo

Fri, 24 May 2013 07:54:36 +0800

By Susan Cornwell and Jane Sutton WASHINGTON/MIAMI (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's pledge on Thursday to lift a ban on transfers of detainees to Yemen from the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, addresses one of the core obstacles to clearing out the detention camp. Of the 86 detainees who have been cleared for transfer or release, 56 are from Yemen, where al Qaeda has a dangerous presence. There are 80 more prisoners who are not cleared and an unknown number of those are Yemeni as well. Most of the Yemeni prisoners were captured more than a decade ago. ...

Obama shifts US from 'perpetual war-footing,' limits drone strikes

Fri, 24 May 2013 07:38:32 +0800

Islamists kill 21 in suicide attacks in Niger

Fri, 24 May 2013 07:08:55 +0800

By Abdoulaye Massalatchi NIAMEY (Reuters) - Islamist suicide bombers struck an army barracks and a French-run uranium mine in Niger on Thursday, officials said, killing 21 people and wounding dozens more in attacks that showed militant violence spreading in West Africa. The coordinated dawn assaults on Areva's mine at Arlit and the military base in Agadez were claimed by the MUJWA militant group in retaliation for a French-led offensive this year against Islamist insurgents in neighbouring Mali. ...

British police ponder conspiracy after soldier murder

Fri, 24 May 2013 07:04:01 +0800

By Guy Faulconbridge and Michael Holden LONDON (Reuters) - Police investigating the murder of a soldier hacked to death on a busy London street were looking on Friday into whether the two suspected killers, British men of Nigerian descent, were part of a wider conspiracy. The two suspects, aged 22 and 28, are under guard in hospitals after being shot and arrested by police following the murder of 25-year-old Afghan war veteran Lee Rigby on Wednesday in broad daylight. They have not yet been charged. ...

Obama tackles drones, Guantanamo in reset of war on terror

Fri, 24 May 2013 06:54:37 +0800

President Barack Obama Thursday laid out new guidelines for drone strikes and launched a new bid to close Guantanamo Bay, warning that a "perpetual" US war on terror would be self defeating.